A best of DVD compilation from years 2 and 3 of the Makeshift Music co-produced concert/festival benefiting the Church Health Center.  The film features exclusive live performances from Snowglobe, The Magic Kids, John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives, River City Tanlines, Antenna Shoes, Al Kapone, Lord T and Eloise, The Coach and Four, J.D. Reager, Two Way Radio, Jason Freeman, Jeffrey... read more

Re-issue of the classic LP by Jay Reatard’s original band, The Reatards.  Also includes 21 bonus songs that were previously only available on long out-of-print cassettes.  Released by our friends at Goner Records. Tracklist: 1. I’m So Gone 2. Stacye 3. I Love Living 4. When I Get Mad 5. C’mon Over 6. Out Of My Head Into My Bed 7. You Fucked Up My Dreams 8. It Ain’t... read more

East Coast rockers from Queens, New York, the Vagrants are as OG as they come. Admired from across the Forest Hills High School cafeteria by future members of the Ramones, they ripped across the city and state with ecstatic abandon and an explosive stage show. They pissed off Bill Graham on a mini West Coast tour and were told they’d never play there again. Full of damage and pure... read more

Ten More Years: Shangri-la Records cd spans the time of 1989 through 1999, documenting the first ten years of naïve Shangri-la Projects madness. The collection features the greatest hits of the 1990s by bands as diverse as 611, the Grifters, the Simple Ones, Strapping Fieldhands, the Memphis Goons, Citizens’ Utilities, Doug Easley, and even the legendary Mr. Will Roy Sanders. A great... read more

Two Cups for a Tale, the Simple Ones’ second cd, was produced at Rakapolis Studios under the production guise of legendary drummer Roy Berry, now in Lucero.  While studying under their friends the Grifters, the Simple Ones pop crafted their own niche of ’90s guitar rock that will leave your headphones wanting more.  Currently lead guitarist/singer Jared McStay can be found... read more

The first Simple Ones cd Worth the Weight combines many of their great early singles plus some new heavy hits to sway your head.  Important safety tip for Lucero fans:  Roy Berry drums for this band! Tracklist: 1. Hubba Hubba 2. Rift City 3. The Wrath of God 4. Drunken Kiss 5. Pen 6. Left in Space 7. Disco Infernal 8. On My Nerves 9. Watch This Sucker (Come On, Let’s Go!) 10. Jim’s... read more

A full-grown mouth of a meal of great Memphis bands rocking the sweat shops and apartments of the ‘90s. Many of these folks you have heard of — the Oblivians, ’68 Comeback, & Impala — and others you gotta hear.  17 tracks in all and not a clunker in the bunch.  A great period of Memphis music represented here! Tracklist 1. Gibson Bros. “Emulsified” 2. Monsieur Jeffrey Evans... read more

More rockin’ tunes from back in the day – 16 tasty morsels in all! Tracklist: 1. The Breakers “Don’t Send Me No Flowers” 2. Ole Miss Downbeats “Geraldine” 3. The Shades “Shady Lady” 4. The Percussions “Your Love” 5. The Merits “Please, Please Little Girl” 6. The Scepters “Little Girls Were Made To Love” 7. The Chasers “I Need Your Lovin” 8. The Ponees... read more

This cd contains 15 unforgettable gems from the golden era of Memphis music.  Liner notes from garage rock authority Eric Friedl of Wipeout! and Goner Records’ fame round out this excellent slice of Memphis history when the Beatle boots met the soul of the South in garages all over Memphis! Tracklist 1. Flash and the Casuals “Uptight, Tonight” 2. LeSabres “Rising Mercury... read more

All Music Guide sez: Telecaster-wielding John Paul Keith has been rattling around the fringes of the roots rock arena since around 1994. He has racked up hundreds of smoking shows with a variety of outfits including the V-Roys, one of his earliest, with little to show for it. The Knoxville, TN based guitarist/vocalist moved operations to Memphis in 2005, took a few years to put together a... read more

All Music Guide sez: Every bluesman needs a catch phrase. Mississippi Fred McDowell’s was, “I do not play no rock & roll.” Well, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans isn’t strictly a blues guy, but it is one of the ingredients in his long-simmering musical stew (along with folk, country, bluegrass, and rock & roll). His catch phrase — at least for the purposes of this... read more

Prefix sez: Matador Singles ’08 may be Reatard’s most complete album-length accomplishment to date. It eschews the “same song over and over” criticism that’s been lobbed at Reatard by people only familiar with his latest works. (When I saw him open for the Black Keys in Minneapolis this spring, one particularly drunk guy kept yelling “Same song!” during every break. I think the... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: This collection of singles from Memphis punk savant Jay Reatard is essentially a bit of housecleaning from his old label (garage-rock-identified indie In the Red) — a way of emptying the vault before an upcoming singles collection from Reatard’s new label (indie-rock behemoth Matador) ushers in a higher-profile phase of Reatard’s rocketing career. The 17... read more

All Music Guide sez: Blood Visions is considerably more listenable in terms of fidelity: R. Stevie Moore’s ’70s and ’80s albums would be a reasonable home-recording touchstone. Musically, it’s also a big step up, as well as a step into the past. Blood Visions has the antic, jumpy quality of many now-obscure new wave records of the early ’80s, from the era when... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: In Spin’s list of 2009′s best albums, it’s no accident that Watch Me Fall lands at #13. Nor is it a surprise that 65 of the 75 assigned words are reserved to attack Reatard’s character. The favored alternate-reality of the press is that Watch Me Fall magically appeared while Reatard spent the entire year inserting the F-word into his Twitter.... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: At a precise moment stuck between what he himself calls a “slippery past” and an “uncertain future,” Harlan T. Bobo crafted this beautiful, shivering hymn to hard-won contentment. From joyfully tongue-in-cheek title to righteous opening (“Sweet Life”) to swooning climax (“Drank”) and every bull’s-eye musical choice... read more

C-60 sez: Backed by members of the Reigning Sound, Fuck and Viva l’American Deathray Music, and recorded at Easley McCain Studio, Harlan’s record has already been hailed as the best Memphis record of the last five years by the Memphis Flyer. Too Much Love made every Memphis music writer’s Best Of list and was named Record of the Year 2005. And rightfully so- it’s a... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: Harlan T. Bobo became an instant icon in his corner of the local music scene with his lovelorn 2004 debut Too Much Love. To his credit, Bobo declined to offer up Too Much Love 2 with this follow-up, which instead investigates the roots and limitations of the romantic messiness that made his debut so popular. And, over time, I’ve found I’m Your Man to be... read more

All Music Guide sez: Yarber’s honesty and delivery, not to mention his appreciation of a well-written song, somehow make this scattered collection of songs sound timeless and essential. Tracklist: 1. White Lie, Black Eye 2. Stupid Cupid 3. Wire Tapper Calling 4. Dollar to Death 5. Teeny Weeny Little Bit 6. Make it Hard 7. Bank, Gun, Jail 8. Head of the Class Clowns 9. Earthquake... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: From the chugging chords that open “Flipside Kid” to the snarling, swinging lyrics of “I Want You,” Jack Yarber, aka Jack Oblivian, lays down yet another incredible rock record. “I don’t care what they say,” he growls on “Golden Age,” playing both guitar and drums and pushing “record” on the four-track... read more

Los Angeles Examiner sez: Jack Oblivian clearly has a nose for good music, a fact that has never been more evident than on his latest record with the Tennessee Tearjerkers, “Disco Outlaw.” Released by Goner Records in May, it’s probably his most well-wrought, completely realized and – dare I say? — poetic effort to date. Each song is like a cut diamond, a small story, a display of... read more

Robby Grant strikes again with another batch of off-kilter pop gems! Highlights include “Naked As a Jaybird” featuring ex-Clear Shelby Bryant, “I’m Your In”, and “Your Black Eye”. Track listing: I’m Your In It’s Not the Things You Want Tell Them All Naked as a Jaybird You Don’t Need It Let The People Sing/The Computer Thing Moments Tune Your Black Eye I Don’t Think Why ... read more