The Posies recent tribute to Big Star

by Jack Brummet

The Posies were recruited by Alex Chilton when he reformed his band Big Star.  They toured and recorded with Big Star until Alex Chilton's death a few years ago.

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The Posies "Failure" reissued

By Jack Brummet

The Posies played a fantastic show Saturday night at Seattle's Triple Door.  They were alternately fascinated to be playing this, and trepidatious about revisiting the album they recorded when they were seventeen years old.  It was an amazing performance.  Watch the trailer below, and then go buy a copy of their remastered and expanded album, even in Green Vinyl if you have a phonograph. . .


 

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A different pitch: pandhandling outside The Posies show in Seattle last night

By Jack Brummet, Rock and Roll Ed.

We went to the great Posies show last night at the Triple Door in Seattle, celebrating the re-release of the wonderful album that launched their careers.  They recorded this in a basement studio when they were 17 years old.  It was wonderful to see them a little nervously perform this album once again, and see them experience all the emotions of reliving the recording and release, and early moments of their great careers. It's far better than they think.

In any case, leaving the show most happily, we encountered this guy.  Definitely a cut above the usual panhandler.

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Nothing Can Hurt Me Now—The Big Star Documentary

By Jack Brummet, American Music Ed.

I watched "Nothing Can Hurt Me Now" last night. It was moving, informative, and wonderful. Since I discovered them in the early 90's, they have been in my top ten bands of all time. If you love rock and roll, you should watch this documentary--buy it, stream it, do whatever it takes. I feel lucky to have seen them four times when they reformed with Ken Stringfellow AndJonathan Paul Auer a/k/a The Posies. Thank you Jody, Alex, Chris, Andy, and Jon and Ken for the great music that has fueled the soundtrack of my life for the last 20+ years. 

If you haven't heard Big Star, it's time. Probably the most moving part of this film is the number of people—across the music industry—that revered them and were inspired by them. And it wasn't about the money for once; they didn't make any, no one one made any.  It was a losing proposition all around except for the magnificent music that influenced so many great singers, bands, and songwriters. Big Star reverberates all around us now in a crazy lineage, filtered through succeeding rock generations down to current indie bands through bands like REM, Cheap Trick, Teenage Fanclub, The Replacements, The Posies, and all the rest.



And a video from The Tonight Show, not after Big Star reformed during the 1990's:

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The Maldives+Ken Stringfellow at Barboza (with openers Sons of Warren Oates)

By Jack Brummet, NW Music Ed.

The Maldives and Ken Stringfellow played last night at Barboza. Barboza is in the basement below Numoes, which also means there is sonic competition with the metal bands playing upstairs.  This was a really fun, but poorly attended show.  The Sons of Warren Oates opened and were an unknown to me (I'd heard their name before and loved it).  They were one of the most listenable warmup bands I'd heard in ages...a trio with fiddle, guitar, and banjo.  They played for about 40 minutes.   The banjo player  (Kevin?)  joined KS and the Maldives for a couple of tunes on the accordion.  Ken played a lot of his album Danzig and a few earlier nuggets from his album Touched.  I bet there were never more than 60 people there, and at the end, maybe three dozen.  Before the Maldives came out, Ken got off the stage and told us to gather around and he sang un-mic'd with his Telecaster. Then he played a tune on the piano and brought out the Maldives. I look forward to seeing The Maldives on their own sometime soon. 

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Jonathan Auer & Tiz Aramini's Grand Royale Kickstarter project

By Jack Brummet, Music Editor


Jon Auer (singer-songwriter), producer, member of The Posies and Big Star) has a new project--Dynamo Royale, with his partner/bandmate, Tiz Aramini--up on Kickstarter.  They are looking for funding to complete an album they are working on.

This is an easy one for me to kickstart--I have been a fan of his singing and music for more than 20 years.  I look forward to hearing the fruits of this new project.  Jump here to learn more about the project, and to donate!  They take donations anywhere from one dollar to $1,250.

DYNAMO ROYALE'S QUEST FOR STRINGS & THINGS FOR NEW RECORD!

Hi All,

My name is Jon Auer and I've been a longtime musician for the last 20 plus years with varying degrees of success with The Posies, Big Star and as a solo artist as well. I've been working on a new duo project with my band mate/partner Tiz Aramini called DYNAMO ROYALE and I'm very excited with the results. Up to this point, with the exception of a few days at a small project studio, we've recorded everything in two modest domestic home recording locales, one just outside of Paris, the other in Seattle, stretching both our time and resources as far as possible. Alas, we have done all we can on our own and are hoping to enlist the aid of a seasoned session drummer to replace the loops, beats, and clicks we've recorded to and some excellent string players to bring to life the digital sketches we've made on our overworked USB keyboard. In other words: we truly want some real talented humans playing and adding life to this stuff and that is going to cost us more that our self-funded effort currently has to expend.

International travel, studio time, and musicians fees will be involved in this for a total of 12 songs-worth of high quality rhythms and nuanced bowing. In addition, in a perfect world, we'd also like to be able to pay for the mastering of our record and an initial run of 1000 CDs so we can honor the rewards we've listed to the right of this message and still have enough to promote the project in its initial stages. So, all said, Tiz and I are hoping to raise $8000 by the end of this Kickstarter 30 day time frame so we can make all of this happen and take our project to the next level artistically and then have something physical and sonic to share. If indeed we can meet our goal, we'll be enlisting the steady aid of Jeremy Stacey on drums, recording at his London studio (formerly Hans Zimmer's studio), and Phillip A. Peterson to arrange and perform strings with whoever he may require. Both are exceptional at what they do and would be amazing to have.

For those who it may apply, I have to say thank you to anyone who has supported the music I've been involved with over the years, be it The Posies, Big Star, or my solo work. In essence, you're the ones who've made it possible for me to be privileged enough to do what I do and that is certainly no small contribution. Honestly, I've wondered to myself if it's a little strange being a professional musician asking for this kind of support... but, times being what they are, it's just getting harder and harder to get financing for these kinds of things in advance, if at all. SO...Thanks for considering to help realize a new musical dream/endeavor here. It is beyond appreciated. Tiz and I have both done other musical things on our own but I really believe this is a unique collaboration and I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to share it in the near future.

Oh yes - a shout out to Jason Tang for the photo above and also a reminder to click on the pic and watch a primitive but heartfelt video showing and telling you a little more...

Thanks for looking!

Jon

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"Enewetak" by The Posies - video and Lyrics

This is a live performance (with lyrics below) of Enewetak, my favorite song from The Posies latest album, Blood/Candy.Some 43 nuclear tests were fired at Enewetak from 1948 to 1958. The first hydrogen bomb test, code-named Ivy Mike, was held in late 1952 as part of Operation Ivy, and it vaporized the islet of Elugelab.  After those 43 tests, the U.S. returned the islands to the islanders.




"Enewetak"
by Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer


Ah, this could have been Enewetak
Stressed, embattled, irradiated, evacuated, and
Something’s on in those isles a foreign power said
Ah this could have been Enewetak, now bathed in comet spray


So many devils were called out now cast in concrete
The land was vapor after Operation Ivy


Hydrogen Megatons Medical 4.1
Has anyone else read HG Wells Shapes have come?


Try to find Enewetak
They say
Man will bury you, but I hope God takes you back in his arms and says “Earth Air Fire + the Sea:
Physics stole them all from me.
But I will try to keep Enewetak out the rising waves”


And all the mothers loved their babies tho they weren’t like us no more
Lay out a heading for the homeworld of a species on parole


Dust in the atmosphere 24,000 years
A radioactive trail of tears in the sand
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Big Star's first show with The Posies in the band

In 1993, the legendary Big Star reconvened to play a show in Columbia, Missouri. They brought in The Posies Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer to sing and play guitars. They've been together, off and on, ever since, with the Posies still pursuing their own efforts and the occasional Posies tour and record. Big Star, with Jon and Ken, released their first record in decades a few years ago. This video is from Jay Leno's show the day before that first show in Columbia. I've seen them three times since they tarted up, but not recently.


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The Posies 20th Anniversary: performing Definite Door at Neumos, May, 2008

We were unable to make this show, alas, being stuck at an under-attended party we couldn't gracefully exit....it looks like it was a good night. . .

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Another Posies Video::::Definite Door:::::::with lyrics, and, of course, with Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer

An oddly dated, but good, music video of The Posies Definite Door...on their "breakout" record, Frosting On The Beater. This song is one of their tunes that sort of bridges the gap aurally and lyrically, instrumentally (is that a word!?) between the more acoustic first two albums and the power pop of Frosting and Amazing Disgrace.

The Posies played at my 50th birthday party and did a great version of Definite Door that night.



Definite Door
(By Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer)

Say goodbye to your friends and family
Pack your promises silently
Leave a note on your kitchen table
This is all you will ever be

So hope for a better place for a better time for a better speed
So hope for a better use for a better word for a better need
And if you listen close enough
You might hear too much
Hard as sharp and razor-rough
You've never seen the such...

It's the definite door
To another dimension
Nothing
No more
(not even a mention...)

Keeping track of the eyesight streaming
Isn't part of the regimen
Many hours of sleepless dreaming
Unaware of the mess you're in
And if you didn't have a clue
You probably never will
And all the things you didn't do
Will inundate you still...

It's the definite door
To another dimension
Nothing
No more
(not even a mention...)

Better cross your heart, make it people-proof try to fight the fright
And have a real good trip, see you when you fall don't forget to
Write yourself back...
And if you fail to see the point
Of doubting all you do
Don't forget to blame yourself
There's nothing else for you...

Say goodbye to your friends and family
Pack your promises silently
Funny how they forget to tell you
This is all you will ever be

This is all you will ever be now
This is all you will ever be
This is all you will ever be now
This is all you will ever be...
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Video: John Auer and Ken Stringfellow/The Posies play Solar Sister at the 1994 Phoenix Festival - and they f***ing rock!!!!l

This is a great video of The Posies at one of their peaks, in their big hair phase, playing the s*** out of Solar Sister. Jon and Ken sound great, look great and the drumming is that characteristic thundering up front.


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Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow a/k/a The Posies perform "I Guess You're Right" live

This tune is from their most recent album, "Every Kind of Light." There arent't a lot of high quality videos of these guys out there...especially of their recent work. . .

Animated video with music by Jon Auer, and animation by Michelle Auer

A song/video--Adios--from Jonathan Auer's Songs From the Year of Our Demise, with his wife Michelle's animation.

The Posies: Solar Sister Video

A live, acoustic version of Solar Sister. They look so young. . .they look about 20. I also include a 1994 Phoenix live Solar Sister with the full band. The Posies were in their hair band mode.





The Posies' misfire (e.g., not becoming rich and famous) is one of the great puzzlers of rock for me. They put out a passel of exciting, melodic, moving, harmonic power pop albums:

Failure (1988) [a wonderful, chiming, exuberant, youthful album]

Dear 23 (1990) [ a college hit: beautiful, rapidly maturing]

Frosting On The Beater (1993) [their near-hit that got a lot of MTV and college airplay, with many of their greatest tunes]

Amazing Disgrace (1996) [Probably their greatest. A stunning record, and the greatest mystery of all...why this didn't soar to the top of the charts]

Success (1998) [possibly my least favorite album, 'though it is not without merit either]

In Case You Didn't Feel Like Plugging In (2000) [a wonderful and charming live album: great tunes and banter, and The Posies at the height of their power]

Alive Before The Iceberg (2000) [a middling live album, maybe my least listen to Posies CD]

Last, At Least (Box Set) (2000) [rarities etc. for fans. If you love The Posies, you'll love this.]

Dream All Day(Best Of The Posies) (2000) [as with all Best ofs, puzzling for the omissions]

Nice Cheekbones And A PhD(2001) [A knockout EP with two heartbreakingly great songs: Ken's Matinee, and their gorgeous cover of David Crosby/The Byrd's Lady Friend. When The Posies played my birthday party in 2003, the only song I even requested was Matinee. They kncked it out 0f the park.]

Every Kind Of Light (2005) [the revival album...totally respectable, with several songs as good as anything they ever did. Of course, it stiffed].

And then, there is their great work with Big Star:

Columbia - Live At Missouri University 4/25/93 (1993)
Big Star Story (2003)
Big Star In Space (2005)
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Show: The Posies At The Triple Door In Seattle

We saw The Posies Friday night at The Triple door, at the late show. It was an acoustic show. As far as Posies shows go, it was one of my least favorites. Ken was getting sick, and they just didn't seem to have a lot of energy. The song list had a few gems, but it felt like they'd played their favorites at the first show. And then Ken insisted on slamming the U.S. (citizens, not President), as a French expatriate. Ken, that's cool on your blog, but remember you were in Seattle...home of the WTO riot, two female senators and a governor, and a rock-solid blue state. Let's face it: unlike your adopted homeland, Seattle has remained solidly in the blue column. one of the most liberal towns in the country. But Ken's anti-U.S. tirade aside, it is always better to see The Posies than not see The Posies.

Here are a couple of pretty dark videos on YouTube from the show.







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Big Star video: September Gurls - with lyrics

Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies have been members, now, of Big Star for over a decade. Here is a video of one of Alex Chilton's greatest songs from Stockholm on a recent tour. On drums, Jody Stephens, of course.




September Gurls


September gurls do so much
I was your butch and you were touched
I loved you well never mind
I've been crying all the time
December boys got it bad.
September gurls I don't know why
how can I deny what's inside
even thought I keep away
maybe we'll love all our days.
When I get to bed
late at night
that's the time
she makes things right
ooh when she makes luv to me.
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