This, the sixteenth session of Acts of Volition Radio is a collection of hidden gems. These are great songs that you have likely never heard before (most of them, at least). This session features a super-duper-quadruple-pack of a band you’ve almost certainly never heard of before, Chagall Guevera. Thanks to Dennis for rekindling my love for the band.
More good music. Recorded Thursday, October 28, 2004 by Steven Garrity. Run time: 1hr 6min.
Session Sixteen Playlist:
- The Watchmen – All Uncovered
- Sandbox – Curious
- The Northern Pikes – She Ain’t Pretty
- Toad the Wet Sprocket – Before You Were Born
- Newsboys – Lost the Plot
- Chagall Guevara – Escher’s World
- Chagall Guevara – Violent Blue
- Chagall Guevara – I Need Somebody
- Chagall Guevara – If It All Comes True
For more, see the previous Acts of Volition Radio sessions.
Special geek-recording note: This was my first session recorded under Linux. I had previously been rebooting into Windows to use n-Track to record the sessions. This session was recorded in the open-source and cross-platform audio editor, Audacity, on my Fedora Core laptop. It worked well.
/
RSS Feed
Can you create a catchy intro to your show?
Yay! Another AOV. I have been waiting FOREVER (ok a few weeks?) since #15 was released.
paul@
podstar.com
I haven’t listened yet, but I had to say: Wow! Lost the Plot is one of my favorites from a long time ago… I had completely forgotten about that. What a great song.
Chagall Guevara! I was thinking about them again the other day. I saw them live in 1991, and they were just electric live. Steve Taylor was the perfect frontman. For a moment, it looked as if they were going to break through to the mainstream, but they didn’t quite make it. At least we have a perfect album left behind to remember them by.
Ken: I thought about creating a little jingle, but just never got around to it.
PodStar: Thanks!
Jon: Holy crap! You saw Chagall Guevara live!!! That is really cool.
A few observations…
Overall, a decent AOV Radio session, although I couldn’t really get into the Chagall Guevara stuff, it sounded a bit too early 90s and kept reminding me of the Friends’ theme song.
David, sorry about the buzz – I know what did that. I’ll be careful not to do it again next time (and it’s too difficult to fix in this session).
As for Chagall Guevara, I know it’s not the easiest thing to listen to, but the Friends soundtrack!? Ouch! I put this album up with some of the greatest rock music of the last 20 years.
There – nothing like some hyperbole to discredit by position 🙂
Dennis, Ben, back me up on Chagall Guevara here.
Nice song selection, Steven. I haven’t heard the Newsboys or Toad the Wet Sprocken in a while, especially thos two particular songs. Very refreshing.
A decent multitrack audio recorder is the only thing left for me to get rid of windows all together. I have been giving Audacity plenty of goes with each release but I just dont think its there yet. Hope it gets there soon.
I gotta say, Escher’s World reminded me a hell of a lot of the friends theme song as well (that said, I read the comparison before I listened to it, so that may have influenced me).
Actually, Chagall Guevara might have fit well into a Friends soundtrack in the early nineties, and they would have been in good company. The first ‘soundtrack’ album that was released for the show included songs by Lou Reed, Paul Westerberg, Toad the Wet Sprocket, REM, The Pretenders, Joni Mitchell, The Barenaked Ladies, and Grant Lee Buffalo. The only duds on the cd were a crappy cover of 54-40’s “I Go Blind” by Hootie and the Blowfish, and that mind numbingly boring theme song by the Rembrandts.
Remember, this Chagall Guevara album was recorded in 1990, so its almost 15 years old. It might have a bit of a dated sound, but I think it holds up very well compared to most other stuff released in that time period. Then again, i’ve always liked them. Steve Taylor is a lyrical genius, and if you want to have some fun, google some of his stuff. It will crack you up, and get you thinking.
The Chagall Guevara album was released 4 years before that Friends theme song. I bet they stole the melody from Steve Taylor. Those bastards..
Just like the Barenaked Ladies stole from HoKus Pick.Don’t beleive me? Dig out your old copy of Hokus Pick “Bookaboom” and listen to the opening 30 seconds of “Gelatin” then listen to “Old Apartment” by BNL. I was told BNL even admitted it but I doubt that’s true.
Chagall Guevera kicked so much ass at the time it was ridiculous. I rember seeing the tape in a store in Fredericton in early 1991 and I bought it just because it had a pink sticker on it that said “buy me and see what Steve Taylor has been up to.” I have a second copy still in the shrink wrap. I do believe I did an oral presentation on “Monkey Grinder” from the CG album and “Cash Cow” from Squint in grade 12 english at Bluefield.
Thanks for the “shout out” Steve, although I may have to commit ritual sappuku after having a Northern Pikes song dedicated to me. That song is akin to me digitizing my own ass and making an MP3 file out of it. I fear the next A.O.V. radio might include a retrospective on the career of Barney Bentall. Overlooking the Northern Pikes horrorshow, I remain a loyal fan of the show.
Wow…the Newsboys. Toad. That takes me back to High school. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
I’m not especially into Christian Rock, but let me point you to an oustanding Christian band: The 77’s. Get the album “Sticks & Stones.” It’s a great great album full of riffs and blues and aching, and the lyrics aren’t “in your face.” Highly recommended!
Keep up the great anti-radio! Love the show.
Sandbox was incredible live, I managed to see them twice also at a little crappy local bar. The first time before playing Curious he went into the same story you heard. The second time he told a completely different story, which I really wish I could remember. He did make the same smirky smile at the end of the second story.
I was really into them at the time, singing along at the front of the stage for the whole show, when they had finished their encore, he shook my hand and thanked me. Looking back, this was just before they announced that they had broken up, so I’ve always wondered if they had decided to break up during that tour, never letting on that it was a farewell tour.
I’ll add to the pile- Yowsa! Chagall Guevarra!! I love that album and thought they were going to break but sadly never did. I’d been a fan of Taylor’s lyrics for a decade before this CD (most of his music was a bit novelty) Saw him live on a few occasions in the 80s. I was shocked how partnering with these guys brought him into his own as a vocalist.
Steve, you might check into another wonderful band that “should’ve-could’ve” but didn’t. A power trio called Model Engine. With two previous albums under the moniker Black Eyed Sceva, they changed their name and released “The Lean Years Tradition”, a well honed piece of tight musicianship, storyteller lyrics and melody.
As far as the 77s- Mike Roe is one of my favourite guitarists. Live, that guy plays his soul out. I’ve not been a fan of much of theirs for many, many years now as their musical direction has turned towards the blues/rock mode. I agree, Sticks and Stones is a gem-ironic that it’s an outtake album.
Where have you gone??????
jason, I’ve got playlists almost ready for the next two sessions. I’m still here!
Black Eyed Sceva/Model Engine/Jeremy Post was pre-David Bazan before Bazan was cool. As a testament to the wonderful emergent properties of the internet, a post by a friend on our blog has become something of a where is he now gathering spot.
Why didn’t Chagall break anyway? I still maintain that Steve Taylor is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard. And what happened to that movie he was supposed to be making? What the hell is Steve Taylor doing these days?
Okay, I found Acts of Volition Radio by fluke and I think it’s great!
My only problem is – I’ve worked through all 16 shows on my MP3 player (which I listen to on the bus each day) and I want more. No pressure Steve. But maybe there are other web sites like this with more downloadable broadcasts.
Any sites anyone knows of?
David
Amazing. Was just sitting here at work, having downloaded the Chagall Guevara CD from this website (http://www.onfritz.com apparently Steve Taylor has said ‘download whatever you want, I don’t get anything from it anyway’ or something to that effect..anyway), listening to I Need Somebody and decided to do a google on it and see what I could come up with…
And I find this. Kismet it is. Not that Chagall Guevara is new to me or anything (have had 2 copies on Cassette, but getting one on CD is..hard, or at least expensive), but finding people talking about both it AND the 77s? Amazing..;-)
Two of my favorite concerts were the 77s at Trinity Christian College in the SW Chicago burbs way back when (1991 or something like that) and Steve Taylor at Wheaton College supporting ‘I Predict 1990’ (Whitecross opening) back in 1989 (I think).
I suppose no one will even see this, since it’s from October of 2004, but hey, might as well add my $.02..
Gryfalia
Chagall Guevara played a lot in the Nashville area, since the band members lived there, and I have many good memories of their shows during the brief period of time that they were together. One of their best songs does not appear on their eponymous album, however. “Tale of the Twister” appeared on a demo cassette they recorded and later on the “Pump Up the Volume” soundtrack. The website that Ken Roth mentions in the previous post (3/23/2005) links to it.
Ok, an update on the ‘download the Steve Taylor Music all you want’ theory. It is no more. Seems that ITunes has now made Steve Taylor’s entire Sparrow collection available for download, so the above website no longer has those songs available. But he says he still has later albums available.