OPO: Mekons

"last dance" is a good choice, though.

Where Were You : 16
Chivalry: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion 8
Last Dance 6
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Memphis Egypt: 4
Snow: 4
The Building: 6
I Am Crazy: 4
Hard To Be Human Again: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Millionaire: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 1
Big Zombie: 1
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 1

Nothing at all from Curse... you folks are weird!

Though it's tough not to vote for "Thee Olde Trip To Jerusalem," "Slightly South of the Border," or "Bob Hope and Charity."

almost split my ballot for that one...

Where Were You: 26
Chivalry: 13
Last Dance: 12
Hard To Be Human Again: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion: 8
Snow: 8
Memphis Egypt: 7
The Building: 6
Never Been In A Riot: 5
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 4
I Am Crazy: 4
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Orpheus: 4
Brutal: 4
The Curse: 4
Millionaire: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Trouble Down South: 2
Letter’s In The Post: 2
Not A Bitter Man: 2
Darkness and Doubt: 2
Chop That Child In Half: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 2
Big Zombie: 1
Hello Cruel World: 1
Rescue Mission: 1
Garage D’or: 1
Psycho Cupid: 1
I’ll Have To Dance Then On My Own: 1
Only You And Your Ghost Will Know: 1
Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet: 1
Funeral: 1
Revenge: 1
Oblivion: 1
Fantastic Voyage: 1

Obvious, but come on.

Why no love?

1. Lost Highway - 625
2. Where Were You - 583
3. Chivalry - 313
4. Hard to Be Human Again - 225
5. Last Dance - 206
6. Darkness and Doubt - 189
7. Country - 184
8. Flitcraft - 170
9. Club Mekon - 167
10. Dancing in the Head - 166

(ie., "Fear and Whiskey" is far and away the most popular album among this group of youngersters.)

Documentary is on:

“Revenge of the Mekons” Documentary Reaches
And Exceeds Kickstarter Campaign Goal

After an outpouring of support from around the world, the Kickstarter campaign for the forthcoming documentary film “Revenge of the Mekons” has concluded. Not only did the project meet its initial goal of $20,000, but exceeded it by a staggering $15,000! The film will now be completed and see release in the near future thanks to the help of its 301 backers.

With funding now an overwhelming success, rewards for the film are now guaranteed. Rewards ranged from CDs from the Mekons extensive catalog to dinner with the band. Two fans even pledged $5,000 and will receive Executive Producer credits and tickets to the film’s world premiere. Some famous fans of the band have also supported the documentary, including SNL’s Fred Armison, Hugo Burnham of Gang of Four, former REM manager Jefferson Holt and author /comedian John Hodgman.

“Revenge of the Mekons” is directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Joe Angio, who also directed "More than a Game," and "How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)." According to Angio, the successful campaign would not have been possible without the great support from the Mekons themselves. Jon Langford said that the Kickstarter campaign “really energized” the band and reaffirmed why the Mekons should keep doing what they do so well.

Trouble Down South is about to drive me to tears.
The backing vocals are soo gorgeous.
Fear and Whiskey friday.

I've been loving "Myth" from Journey to the End of the Night lately. The whole album has such a great, bleary-eyed, defeated, 4 AM sort of atmosphere.

Yeah, that one, "OOOH" and "Natural" are downright post-apocalyptic in their sadness.

Earlier last month, Mekons announced their return with the band's 26th record, Ancient & Modern, which will be released on September 27th on the band’s own, newly reformed Sin Record Label. The band are taking their new (and old) songs on the road, and have divided up their shows, billing the performances as “A quiet night in with the acoustic MEKONS" or "A wild night out with the electrified MEKONS".

I really like the new song on first listen, nice to hear them sounding more charged-up.

Don't get *too* excited. The new album is mostly mellow - only a couple of rockers - though of course, still Mekons, still a bit weird and still good.

That's too bad. US tourdate list is pretty short so far, but it says they're gonna addd more.

Plus you've got to figure there'll be more shows when the movie comes out.

divided up their shows, billing the performances as “A quiet night in with the acoustic MEKONS" or "A wild night out with the electrified MEKONS".

Where was this from, and have they announced which of the announced shows are which category?

never mind, found it, and they have:

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?storyID=50641

Just purchased a&m (heh), anyone else? Seeing em in Brooklyn Friday.

Seeing them tonight. If Evanston wasn't a pain in the ass, I would have seen them last night, too. Though acoustic Mekons shows can be a mess (or messier).

Can't make the Sat night acoustic show here, maybe they'll show up at Occupy Wall St. (who?)

In Arlington VA at Iota outside W. DC tonight Thursday for an acoustic gig. I might skip it and go to a Latin Colombian thing instead (love the Mekons live though; it's a tough call)

did you make it? shoulda! mekons live is a greatthing

taking my cue from D Wolk:

Mekons shows are heavily populated by grouchy old guys.

PRESENT!

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/15869-mekons-ancient-modern-1911-2011/

x-post -I did the Colombian (Pernett) thing instead. Have seen the Mekons a number of times plus a great, tiny room Sally Timms gig.

They were not only totally together in Chicago (not surprisingly), but they were even funnier than I've ever seen them before. Literally tears in my eyes, I was laughing so hard. Totally ridiculous.

apparently there was a free show in Philly today at noon.

Hear the band play live from WXPN in Philadelphia on Friday at noon ...

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/07/141086823/live-today-the-mekons-in-concert

Oh, and - spoiler! - Tom now has a big mustache.

the longevity of this band warms my heart, and inspires me in my encroaching old age.

I saw the Mekons today at the free World Cafe Live show in Philadelphia. Of course they were wonderful, and the new songs sounded very fine. After the broadcast they played a few more, including Orpheus and Hard To Be Human Again. I was able to tell Tom Greenhalgh that I would buy his solo album if he ever made one, and Lu Edmonds promised it would happen if I could come up with the cost of 10,000 copies.

Orpheus is such an awesome deep cut.

Good show in Brooklyn w/ all the 1985-89 hits at the end. Timms called a do-over in the middle of "Learning to Loive on Your Own" bcz her voice was going. Sounds like Langford is going to OWallSt tomorrow. I think Christgau was standing next to me.

Tom usta look like Artaud, now he's getting near to Terry-Thomas.

also I met da croupier

That WXPN NPR radio gig sounds good

Seeing the Mekons/Freakwater supergroup next week, I think. Calling themselves Freakons, which is awesome. Also, Mekons doc is apparently locked and about to go on the circuit. And finally:

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/q74/s720x720/1230063_210296325797656_1944161666_n.jpg

Thanks

"organisers"

obviously outside agitators!

I think they're in Canada?

well, that doesn't make sense, everyone knows it is a socialist paradise

documentary website hasn't been updated

It's a joke flyer, Morbs! "They will try and force: higher wages, workplace safety, paid holidays, sick leave , pensions and more DOWN YOUR THROATS! We wouldn't want that would we?"

Hi everyone, I've a few things to share.
Firsts, we've reached a significant milestone: "picture lock". What that means is the film is complete as far as editing, graphics and titles go. Hallelujah! Next up: heading into the studio for color correction and adding the end credit roll, and the sound mix. That should happen within the next few weeks. We need to finish quickly because…
I've accepted the invitations to three film festivals in November! I hate to be coy but I can't yet say which ones until the festivals are ready to make their official announcements. But you'll be the first to know as soon as I'm given the green light. Once again, Hallelujah!
Last, to help defray the cost of aforementioned color-correction and sound mix, I'm hosting a fundraising event in Chicago on Sunday, October 20. I'll send out details soon but if the event we had in NYC in April is any indication, it will be a fun event. Dogfish Head Brewery is on board as a sponsor. Some special guests will be on hand and I'll screen a 20-minute sneak peek of the film. Stay tuned.
That's it for now. As ever, thanks to all of you for your continued support of and interest in the project. It's been five-plus years, but i can finally say the finish line is in sight. (And this time I mean it!)
More soon.........Joe

I think he means Sun. October 22, btw, which is the same night as Freakons. Or maybe Friday Oct. 20. I'll check.

Oh, wait, October. Never mind. Freakons is 9/22.

I understood the flyer

I like that Fanglord is eating Smarties. Very European.

world premiere of film at DOC NYC in 3 weeks

http://www.docnyc.net/film/revenge-of-the-mekons/#.UmaqXvleaSo

Great choice of a picture on that site!

Do they have anything else that sounds like Ghosts of American Astronauts? I love that song.

Maybe "Millionaire"? You probably want to look at the albums like Rock and Roll, Curse of the Mekons, or I <3 Mekons.

Specifically? They've got a lot of lovely ballads, many sung by Sally Timms, but really, if you like that one, you'd like a lot of later Mekons. I'd check out the rest of that album, "So Good It Hurts," to start. Then maybe go to "Curse of the Mekons," or "OOOH" or "Journey to the End of the Night" or "I Heart Mekons."

Or maybe the Sally Timms solo album "To the Land of Milk and Honey," if you can find it.

Learning to Live on Your Own has a similar vibe.

Wow, thanks for all the great advise. I'm excited to discover some more of their stuff.

Advice too ;)

Gonna start with Curse of and look for the solo album by Sally Timms.

"Oblivion" off of The Edge Of The World is my favorite Sally sung track.

or the cover of Eric Anderson's "Wild and Blue"

John Anderson.

right

Saw her solo with a small band in a tiny 40 seat club once. Was an awesome show

or the cover of Eric Anderson's "Wild and Blue"

... on Curse, which I also highly recommend, I think it's my favorite.

Langford, Timms, Rico Bell will be at the film tnite... "Q&A to follow with director Joe Angio and the Mekons band members, moderated by Greil Marcus."

Def a must-see for fans... There are sequences about Lu's and Susie's pursuits (and now I'm curious what Tom does for a living that "should be done by robots"), and them all eating between writing and recording in Wales for Ancient & Modern. The Q&A took awhile to get going because everyone except Greil Marcus was in the loo; Sally expressed skepticism about all music documentaries, "but people seem to want them." Jon expressed amazement at the size of Steve Goulding's head.

Ha. Langford doesn't exactly have a small noggin himself. But seriously, Mekons banter is the best.

The last time I saw the band with Tom, who lately doesn't seem to travel much, Jon made fun of him a bunch for being a Hobbit farmer, tending to his many kids in the country. And Tom was rail-thin and mustached! The last time I saw them with him before that he was jetlagged and drunk and a mess, but so was the rest of the band.

Lu I know about. What does Susie do in her downtime? I love Rico's art. Steve is ... a paralegal or something like that?

Susie co-runs (or ran?) an art gallery, it seems. Dunno about Goulding.

Jeezus, Tom and Sally were primo sexbombs in the '80s. (which I remember, but it's nice to be reminded)

Luc Sante and Melvin Van Peebles (director's last film subject) were apparently in the audience too.

Steve pointed out that Kevin Lycett's head looked even bigger.

Wow, the Mekons doc is great. I actually learned quite a bit! Not least that the cover of "Curse" is written partly in Jon's blood but also features an honest to goodness pagan curse scribbled in real runes. I never thought about it before.

http://brooklynbugle.com/2014/07/10/this-is-the-greatest-rock-n-roll-song/

documentary gets week run in NYC late October, presumably treks across the US after.

good to hear! Thanks, will keep an eye open, very much wanna see this one.

Me too.

Langford was/is just doing some gigs in the UK. What's Sally Timms up to these days?

opening UK shows for Robbie Fulks the next two weeks

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/tours-events/205

(Langford appears to be on most of those as well)

It's more than opening for Fulks. It's a full-on self-proclaimed "Mini Mekons," with the line-up of Jon Langford, Rico Bell, Sally Timms, Susie Honeyman *and* Robbie Fulks.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/p370x247/10491065_10152326095011475_1453763667825830305_n.jpg

They had a send-off for Fulks, Langford and Timms here a week or so ago.

Oooh nice...

has to be said, if you follow jons facebook, the man looks to be loving every minute of his world at the moment.

its a joyous insight into the world of a man happy with his art and music.

He's a force of nature, and we are lucky to have him in Chicago.

He has a new band called Bad Luck Jonathan. Of course.

re chicago : yup.

used to be a constant presence of excellence in leeds during my time there.

you f*ckers got lucky.

(dont think we had the pleasure of a FAP when i was there a few years back josh ? shame .. was a great night !)

that said, if you were there, that just proves the night was even better than i thought !

met several of the chicago ile crew that night ..

some very nice clips of the mini-Mekons & Fulks expedition to Orkney, Jura, etc are on the Youtubes. Implied in this one is that they are making a recording there. "One of the best 100 records ever made on Jura...until they make more than 100": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMQZUahnahU

Hadn't seen this thread, or I would've already mentioned how Jon Langford & Skull Orchard's Here Be Monsters hooked me right away. An ever-timely track, not nec. the best, but 'twill serve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJO6KR5A9wg

"Drone Operator" (above), one of the best of his recent songs, definitely

That latest Skull Orchard effort is very impressive

His extracurricular activity has been uniformly excellent: love Three Johns, his stuff with Sally, his collaboration with Richard Buckner is a hidden gem, and his solo albums. Oddly, the one he did with The Sadies fell completely flat for me.

The debut Mekons albums deserves a deluxe reissue with all associated singles - a singular vision for sure.

yeah I'm sure that Virgin CD with the 6 extra singles tracks is oop, might be tough to get licensing for the two Fast singles though

I don't know about that, EMI have put that stuff out on more than one occasion (most recently I think all 5 songs came out on that "Rigour, Discipline and Disgust" CD) and since EMI = Virgin these days it wouldn't seem impossible. Of course I've no idea about the actual licensing arrangements, so for all I know it has got more difficult since the last time.

The October 30th Mekons Symposium in NYC, listed below on the press email, looks interesting

REVENGE OF THE MEKONS will play for one week, October 29 – November 4, at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St (W. of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, and 9:30.

Mekons-related events in NYC on opening week:
After-party concert by Mekon Jon Langford at Bell House
in Brooklyn on Wed, Oct 29 at 9pm.
Go to www.thebellhouseny.com for tickets/more info.

Mekons Symposium at Columbia University
Thurs, Oct 30 at 7:30 pm.
Panelists include: Langford, Vito Acconci, Mary Harron, Jonathan Franzen, Greil Marcus, & Luc Sante. Free and open to the public. At Buell Hall, Maison Francaise (via main entrance, 2960 Broadway).

Ha, basically the "cast" of the film minus all the Mekons save Langford.

I guess none of the rest of them can make it to NYC

I imagine not. Tom can barely make it to Mekons gigs these days!

Wait doesn't Steve Goulding live in NYC? Think sometimes he plays drums for my neighbor. Maybe he's not considered a Mekon anymore.

Steve is a Mekon for life at this point. Maybe in the studio? Touring? Working his real job?

Must be doing something else those days as the press release says re folks involved with the movie:

Jon Langford will be in NYC for interviews October 29-30; Joe Angio and Steve Goulding are based in NYC; Sally Timms and the other Mekons are available for phone interviews

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10678669_10205021437838721_3332215468360547687_n.jpg?oh=7a5d6065e9333e829daace7443bf996a&oe=54B930AB&__gda__=1421025748_2d94d0f056147bf263f2559e6dfebad0

Just Jon Langford, hangin' with Robert Plant, as he is wont to do.

sort of Mekons week in NY, tho i'm not sure i'll have time for anything

Ed Roche, the manager of Quarterstick, an independent label that has released more than a dozen of the band’s albums, says that a “good-selling” Mekons record amounts to about 8,000 copies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/movies/a-documentary-celebrates-the-mekons.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

So Sally Timms is a paralegal by day

Nice article in the Voice by Stephanie Zacharek:

The Mekons are Still Here, Still Great -- and In a New Doc

I wonder how that panel with Marcus, Harron, Sante et. al. was last night?

chickened out, too far upown. :/

Zacharek Voice doc review:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2014-10-29/film/the-mekons/

Guessing James Redd didn't make it up to Columbia U either

Nope, but thanks for thinking of me.

http://www.vulture.com/2014/11/franzen-marcus-and-harron-on-the-mekons.html

Here's some of what they talked about

"Revenge of the Mekons" doc will be showing at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto, Saturday, Jan 24. With beer, appropriately enough. And a "post-screening Skype Q&A with band members from the Mekons"

http://boxoffice.hotdocs.ca/WebSales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=33548~fff311b7-cdad-4e14-9ae4-a9905e1b9cb0&

Jon's mom just passed. :(

Oh, hadn't seen that. Sad.

Gonna see Jon do a solo gig out in DC exurb Gaithersburg tonight. Have never been out there or even knew they had gigs in the 99 seat theatre.

Oh, and Josh in Chicago posted this nice interview Sally did of Kim Gordan on the thread for Kim's book, but it is also of interest for Sally and Mekons fans I'd say http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/kim-gordon-girl-band-memoir-interview-sally-timms-cuddy/Content?oid=16661865

Gonna miss the workshop Jon is doing out there today--

The afternoon workshop offers an extraordinary opportunity to get to know the artist and his process as well as the performer and his completed works. It is a memorable chance for music students to exercise creative muscle and hear Langford’s valuable professional perspective.

Can't believe no one (including me) mentioned "Beaten & Broken."

x-post--Turns out the solo gig was actually Jon with violinist Jean Cook from the Skull Orchard band. A great show. They did a bunch of songs from the 2014 Langford & Skull Orchard album; a Waco Brothers tune; "Millionaire" from the Mekons; The Go-Betweens song "Streets of Your Town," a Roger Know song (he's an Aboriginal singer who did a record with the Pine Valley Cosmonauts) and lots of great and funny stories

Roger Knox

Got tickets to the Chicago show before it sold out, I believe NYC tickets are available now. Sad to miss Mekonception, but $75 plus a flight to NYC is a little steep.

hey, I'm here, but the Mekons don't need my help in making an album. I'll go to the 'normal' show at Bowery Ballroom if I can.

hmmmmm, so this is what you folks are talking about

July 23, 2015 at Red Hook, NY, United States in Red Hook, NEW YORK.

mekonception is a once in a lifetime event for the mekons…we will record our new album in the presence of 75 audience members at a cost of $75 per person. the audience will form a mekon feral choir and participate and be featured on the final release. all attendees will also be named and thanked on the record when it is released…songs will be performed and played in real time into a solitary microphone, there will be experimentation, there will be brand new songs never before heard in public, there will be communal singing, there will be strangeness, there will be libations to keep us going at the bar…there will be no overdubs and the album will be done and finished by the time we all go home. the event will last about two hours…

Mekons - 2015 Tour Dates
05/21/2015 - Jersey City NJ - Monty Hall (Revenge of the Mekons screening)
06/02/2015 - Denver CO - Sie FilmCenter (Revenge of the Mekons screening)
07/11/2015 - Chicago IL - The Hideout
07/13/2015 - Chicago IL - The Poetry Foundation
07/14/2015 - Mineral Point WI - Mineral Point Opera House
07/16/2015 - Cleveland OH - Music Box Supper Club
07/17/2015 - Harrisburg PA - Herr Street Stage
07/18/2015 - Rehoboth Beach DE - Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats
07/20/2015 - Philadelphia PA - Boot & Saddle
07/21/2015 - New York NY - Bowery Ballroom
07/23/2015 - Brooklyn NY - Jalopy
07/24/2015 - Portsmouth NH - 3S Artspace
07/25/2015 - Cambridge MA - Middle East

Now I understand the Dogfish Brew connection

http://firstwefeast.com/drink/dogfish-beer-labels-jon-langford/

His first label for Dogfish Head was for their Olde School Barley Wine, which depicted a Woodie Guthrie-type of character brandishing some hops.

I was at one of the Dogfish restaurants in Virginia last year and almost fell out of my chair when I saw a huge Langford portrait of Johnny Cash on the wall.

That Dogfish exec loves Langford.

This looks like fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfWTHm7Sdc

Yeah, I was there with my daughter. Great show, great setlist. Seeing them tonight and Wednesday night, too.

Very very envious!

It was great, I'll be there tonight!

Tons of fun tonight. Played some songs I haven't heard them do for a while ("Prince of Darkness"), plus a song from "ME," which I forgot existed. Sang a belated happy birthday to Rico, then Jon's son Jimmy passed out cake to the crowd.

https://scontent-atl1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11539761_10153451968539935_841966120589811668_n.jpg?oh=60d5a0a6bc65a01155ca2b1c203305a1&oe=565C5557

closest shows to me are Friday night in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Saturday night in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Not sure I will make the 2 plus hour drive for either.

Tonight in Mekons deep cuts: the male Mekons singing "Powers and Horror." Also, Lu Edmonds leading the ribald Billy Cotton novelty song "I Lost My Little Yoyo:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGwEzgiIzDg

at the Poetry Foundation he sang "The Hole in the Elephant's Bottom"

going Tuesday

Very very envious!

― Jaq

seconded

Greatly looking forward to seeing them tomorrow night! A mere five minute walk from my apartment, too.

Funny note from Saturday's show: Sally made a Spinal Tap reference, immediately recognized her mistake and dutifully accepted what appears to be a band ritual of spinning around four times.

Did not make the several hours journey to see the closest Mekons gigs to me (as wife had made prior committments). Did see pics of the Rehoboth beach Dogfish Ale show and they made me wish I was there. Plus a pal who did go, also posted photos of hanging out the next day at the nearby place of former Maxwell's owner Steve Fallon.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/17/mekons-tour-diary-episode-one-in-which-lu-goes-awol/

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/20/mekons-tour-diary-episode-2-beached-in-rehoboth/

Writing new songs in the van...

excellent, thanks

well they are recording an album at the gig... Thursday

all those deep cuts ment'd above in the touring repertoire

from 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1X8P5nZiII

a magic moment from Tuesday night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z0P1hu1ljM

Yeah, watch Rico tumble over the amp around a minute or so in!

"I remember when I had my first pint, Eric."

i was looking elsewhere when that happened so it's nice to have video.

Sally Timms on her Facebook page: "One of the greatest moments in mekon history at 1.40, laughing till I cried."

i havent gotten deets on recordmaking gig last Thurs

You know what I've always wondered? Why a band composed of so many visual artists and artists in general is always light on t-shirts and such. They were selling tour posters at one of the gigs I went to, and it would have sucked as an ad in a free weekly.

http://www.nyctaper.com/2015/07/mekons-july-21-2015-bowery-ballroom-flacmp3streaming/

i still have an intact white-on-black tee w/ a Langford-distressed portrait of Patsy Cline.

(20+ years old)

Yeah, I've got a couple, too - just a plain Mekons on black, as well as a I Heart Mekons shirt. But I'm afraid to wear either anymore, since they are falling apart. Langford once gave my daughter a yellow kids Mekons shirt, but dunno what became of that ...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/27/mekons-tour-diary-episode-three-where-we-please-everyone-by-playing-like-utter-bloody-garbage/

The opening band is called the UnGnomes (strangely healthy looking hardcore punks, average age 17) and they introduce their final song (possibly “Kill Rahm!”) by announcing that the old people will be up next. I accidentally channel too much punk spirit and mosh our accordion player Rico off the side of the stage during our 23rd encore. He is caught by our bass player’s wife and is undamaged, but this is a prelude of things to come!

UnGnomes is Langford's son Jimmy.

notes on the recording of the live record: http://killingthebreeze.com/mekons-this-is-what-punk-and-survival-look-like/. "The band repeatedly reminded us that they’d “never done this before,” and it soon became clear that they had never played many of the songs through before."

Nice piece. One of my favorite aspects of the Mekons is that almost every piece you read over-romaticizes and emphasizes the punk stuff so much that when neophytes finally hear the band, and hear stuff not totally unlike crossover Clash or the Pogues plus a bit of Johnny Cash (Langford's Waco Brothers were once ingeniously and accurately described as "part Cash, part Clash"), I can imagine them taken aback by the fun, hooks, relative accessibility. The pre-"Fear and Whiskey" stuff, sure, that's a mess, but almost everything since has been relatively straight forward and/or rousing.

couple of ex-ILXors were at the rekording

The pre-"Fear and Whiskey" stuff, sure, that's a messthe best

fixed this for u

It's both! A mess and ... well, I won't call it best at all, but it's great.

part the last

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/29/mekons-tour-diary-the-season-finale-mekonception-in-redhook/

man "psycho cupid" is a wholesale rip-off of "on some faraway beach" but I can find only one reference to this similarity on google??

new album on Nov. 27th RSD

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-robbie-fulks-and-cowpunkers-the-mekons-wild-beaten-and-broken-20151105

So there will be two new Mekons albums then? This collaboration with Fulks plus the one they recorded live in July in NY?

as I understand it, yes - this new one is news to me

Yeah, this isn't a Mekons album, per se, so much as some of them and Fulks as recorded in ... Scotland I think? The other album, recorded live in NYC, is a proper Mekons album.

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/10/454998315/songs-we-love-the-mekons-go-from-my-window

Lu Edmond's touring the US now with PIL again.

Debating seeing the min-Mekons on Fulks this weekend. Let's see if this pastes ...
https://video-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xtp1/v/t42.1790-2/10496296_310934385733849_360339034_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjc5NSwicmxhIjo1MTIsInZlbmNvZGVfdGFnIjoibGVnYWN5X3NkIn0%3D&rl=795&vabr=442&oh=29fb804280002972b2be023829a01900&oe=564E5B00

Have a copy of "Jura" I'll listen to tomorrow. In the meantime, show tonight was slight but fun. Jon, Sally, Rico and Robbie Fulks, the last of whom told stories of subbing for Tom on their Scottish sojourn, only to have Tom (who he did not know) show up and steal back the spotlight. Amusingly, Will Oldham was on hand tonight singing some backup on "Last Dance," meaning not one but two past or current Tom substitutes were performing.

I'd settle for that version coming to my locale

Just gave "Jura" a listen. It's pretty nice. Sort of the group (or parts of the group) at its most folky - strumming, droning harmonium/fiddle/accordion, harmonica, no drums, sea shanties and ditties, lots of nautical themes, a few lovely ballads. Fulks (though I am not usually a fan) gives it a novel (for the Mekons) musicality.

(To be clear, Tom ambushed the band during the recording, not last night.)

btw on 2nd viewing I am pretty sure i am dark but prominently left in a floor-level audience shot in the documentary for about 3 seconds (didn't note the timestamp)

really liked the short personal Lu Edmonds and Susue Honeyman scenes

There's a new Waco Brothers album coming in late February

yep---haven't had time to listen yet, but here's info:
https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/going-down-history

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/sites/default/files/styles/product_large/public/BS233_cover_0.jpg?itok=gUMezGqR

(Other Bloodshot goodies linked from that page too)

Ooh, Waco Brothers in my neck of the woods in April. A Small Faces cover on it, sounds potentially good.

I didn't even realize there was a documentary until I saw it at the shop today. God, do I ever have documentary fatigue. But I do heart Mekons. Worth seeing?

Very much so.

I still need to see that too. Was waiting for a big screen DC showing, but don't think that ever or will happen

Waco Bros playing at WFMU's Monty Hall in Jersey City come April too. I should go.

Waco Bros streaming at AVClub

http://www.avclub.com/article/exclusive-stream-new-waco-brothers-record-its-enti-232610

There's not a bad Waco Brothers album. They also just released a fun live album available directly from Bloodshot.

The doc is now streaming on Netflix. Saw it last night and loved it.

There's not a bad Waco Brothers album. They also just released a fun live album available directly from Bloodshot.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:56 AM (1 month

Uh, my first listen to the latest one has me finding it very uneven. I like the songs that Langford sings on, but some of the others are too bar-band rock w/ a touch of country cliché. Maybe more listens will turn me around on this one.

Well, it's not bad but you're right, it's their most uneven release. More listens does help but only so much. I wonder if it's really the end for them.

Meanwhile I listened to Deano's digital album recently and it's good fun.

Saw them live last night (in the midst of a 4 city East Coast tour) and they were a lot of fun. Still like the songs where Langford is lead vocal on the best.

On the waiting list to see the Waco Brothers at a house concert Sunday. Here's hoping ...

They are playing in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware tonight as the Dogfish Head Ale Pub guy there buys and displays Langford's art.

http://www.dogfish.com/files/images/Johnny_Cask.gif

Finally saw the Mekons doc, and I want them to tour again and come closer to me than that beach locale 4 hours away. May have to settle for that I guess next time

Word on Facebook is there'll be California tour dates this fall.

Mekons "Fear & Beer (Hymn for Brexit)" Directed by Barry Mills

An exclusive preview from MEKONS EXISTENTIALISM, a new album/book/video to be released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUxm_Pd0XRw

Mekons in Toronto at Turf Fest Sept. 16 to 18th weekend

Hoping they will come Southeast from Toronto. I also wonder how much of the new album has been recorded?

Weirdly timely, because wasn't the upcoming album the one recorded live (as filmed above) with an audience many months ago? Great song, though.

Watched the doc on Netflix last night. I've only ever been familiar with the albums from Fear & Whiskey thru I <3 Mekons, so all the older and the more recent stuff (as well as the side projects) is mostly a mystery.

As far as the later albums go, Journey to the End of the Night, Natural, and especially OOOH! (Out of Our Heads) are all delightful.

Apparently no PNW tour dates, bah. Currently contemplating turning down a potential job offer in order to go on Mekons vacation in the fall.

OK! all those of you who cried into your beer about us not coming west, well plan your road trips to sunny California, who knows when we will next have the energy to make it to the old U.S of A...ticket links at the events page today..get your tickets now to avoid disappointment

Sept 17th and 18th TURF Fest Toronto, Canada
Sept 19th The Hideout
Sept 20th The Hideout
Sept 22nd Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown, CA
Sept 25th A Ship in the Woods Escondido, CA late afternoon
Sept 28th Henry Miller Library, Big Sur CA
Sept 29th The Crepes Place, Santa Cruz, CA
Sept 30th Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
Oct 1st To be Announced...

I don't know if I can even deal with the idea of seeing Mekons and the Clean in one weekend.

Ha ha, last time I saw the Clean, last year, David was a total grump and left the stage early. Some fan came up to play Tally Ho with Robert and Hamish.

Always love the Mekons here, gonna catch both shows for sure.

Can I get their dayjob bosses to give them more time off so they can do some US East coast dates as well?

LIMITED EDITION OF 1000

Includes 96-page book of writing and art, plus new 12-track CD, plus access to view Barry Mills' Mekonception video.

A book, a cd and a movie all rolled into one glorious, multi-media mekon-tastic package!!

Published by Verse Chorus Press in San Francisco, we (Bloodshot) got our mitts on a few hundred to sell to you directly.

In July 2015, with the help of 75 mekoristers, MEKONCEPTION took place at Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an event dedicated to creating a new record in real time around a single microphone. "Why should a record take more time to record than it does to listen to!" was the concept.

Twelve chapters of writing and art from mekons and mekon friends, inspired by each song on the CD.

MEKONCEPTION footage has been turned into a video art document by Barry Mills. A viewing link and access code is provided in the book.

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/existentialism-book-cd

Great news, thanks. I've got Fear and Whiskey and The Edge of the World, pretty much the peak of their 80s punky tonk, right? I know there's more, and tempted to spring for this relatively pricey cut-out----anybody heard it?
---from xgau's 70s Guide, archived on his site:
Original Sin [Twin/Tone, 1989]
Fear and Whiskey was a triumph in search of a war, and even their fans lost the two EPs that followed in the shuffle. Minus a Merle Haggard cover and plus two other cuts, one of which stinks just in case you mistook them for great artists, all this product comes together on this remastered repackage, and it coheres wonderfully--the EPs resonate off an album that doesn't leave you hungering for something completely different when its thirty-five minutes are through. If you're among the millions who missed Fear and Whiskey, this is a golden opportunity. These guys know how to make the most of failure. That's the kind of anarchist revolutionaries I like. A

It's pretty cool, worth getting for "Beaten and Broken" alone

It's worth hearing; also, among the peak cowpunk period albums, I think Honky Tonkin' is very close in quality to Edge of the World.

o damn, I dont have that one either...

New album is pretty great, very shambling and sort of seat of pants a la early/mid Mekons (Fear and Whiskey, Edge of World, Honky Tonkin'), flavors of Go4 in there, plus plenty of dub, dark miserable dirges ... the use of the amateur choir recorded I presume at that NYC gig is very spookily effective. Key takeaway lyric from the Timms-sung "Bucket:" "the sky is grey/my bucket's got a hole in it/and every day it rains/we are already dead."

Mostly the hits last night, but lots of stuff from "Curse of the Mekons," not just the title track and "Wild & Blue," which they do all the time, but (with a guest horn section) they did "Blue Arse" and "100% Song," too.

Finally got to the album, though still not the video or book---but it def stands on its own while invoking not to mention flaunting associations with other media, starting with that in-your-face-duh title, Existentialism, ooo-wee. Hear now the brainy Brechtians of Bloodshot ((also shouting out "Adventures In The Skin Trade!" for Welsh homeboy Dylan Thomas and their own claimed exploits, of course): it's rough and slick, theatrical as hell., a series of scenes linked by grabby nuanced mood and attitude and tone, mainly of voice, since this is mainly voices z rhythm section with other sounds coming in on cue, but zinging by: what xpost Josh said about the dub thing, also kind of a skiffle feel at times, and other old rock tie-ins, from the Caribbean influence, and punk---this is all stuff the Clash liked too, and the male voices sometimes make me think of Strummer (and this set reminds me that the Mekons contributed to The Sandinista! Project. wherein many different artists took different kinds of adapt re-shots at the Clash's sometimes chops-challenged three-LP adventure).

So they're still doing what they can to make existence worth continuing, and/or killing time, providing sing-along entertainment on the train, in the lobby, maybe the hipster rest home (ending with, "You seen it all, but ya don't---remember!" But then ya do, then ya don't, and a mention of history at the very end). Getting under my skin, among my nerves at times, but in a gooood way, and also "Bucket" seems like it might be a Masked Marauders-type parody: bootleg f that time of Marianne Faithful met the Mekons, while "Nude Hamlet" has smoked the Complete Basement Tapes and the Clash continuation, before killed in his youth (short-ass track for such a killer, damn) by "These are our orders, sir!": hearty action-packed pagentry of "1848 Now!" and "Simone On The Beach" is "riding naked through the town to expiate the burden of her guilt", tell it Sister!

It all seems like the latest stage, with more immediate appeal, as I hear it, of what they were up to on Natural, where, as xgau put it, death songs come alive--not just Tom's dismal opener and Jon Langford's can't-come climax and everybody's desert prophecy, but the animal fables, the mystery history, the agricultural workers' carouse, the unplugged teeter-totter for the digital age. Except now it's not quite unplugged, they've got some reloadable cards, some kind of budget for incremental juice. Also Sally and Susie and Lu ride through often enough.

I meant "voices x (not z)rhythm section", also "adept (not adapt) re-shots", although those are adaptations too, o course.

"These are our orders sir": a perhaps approximate quote from "1848 Now!"

Their set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (at just past noon!): http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2016/webcast/?mrid=106719

I missed it, having gone to the show the previous night, which was excellent and hilarious as ever. They seem to have a greatest 'hits'/career overview setlist pretty well worked out, though they did play a couple from the new album. Only song I was expecting and didn't hear was "Ghosts of American Astronauts." Susie told an impressively terrible joke after much coaxing. They're pretty much all that gives me hope about aging.

but revenge is not ours
it belongs to those
who seek to destroy us
how much more is there left to lose?

this sounds like a blast

https://www.mekonville.co.uk/home/

That does sound awesome -I need to win the lottery and fly over there for it

and then an ILX bus

lineup incl Bonnie Prince Billy

https://www.mekonville.co.uk/line-up/

For anyone in Seattle, Langford's doing an art show at Hazlewood in Ballard and then an acoustic retrospective thing next door at Hotel Albatross on 4/20.

He's presenting at the Pop Conference too - I'm bummed I'll be missing it.

Haven't taken in all the words, though or maybe in part because they fit perfectly, but this is rich, robust, good and bad time music, with Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Chi and El Lay cats, also splendid female vox, sometimes singing lead. "Four lost aouls! All ablaze as they vanish down the stairway." Kinda wish he'd saved some of this material for a Mekons record, but can't imagine they could perform it any better.

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/sites/default/files/styles/featured_image/public/pages/images/bs255_cvr.jpg?itok=NkEARCe0

Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls

(released on September 22)

Four Lost Souls was recorded over four days starting on November 8th – the day after the 2016 election – at the NuttHouse in Sheffield, AL. The album originated in 2015, though, 100 miles north in Nashville where Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers) produced artwork for Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, the long-running exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Fate had it that one of those Nashville Cats, bassist and producer Norbert Putnam, was so enamored with Langford’s paintings and piratey singing, he invited the stranger to come record in the Shoals.

A year after the album’s beginnings the Welsh-bred, Chicago-based musician and visual artist Langford is in that studio with many of the musicians who put the region, as well as renowned FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, on the musical map. Among them, members of the Swampers, David Hood and Randy McCormick—world famous players who have performed on all the songs you ever loved. Together they dutifully crafted a project brimming with images of killing and hope, Faulkner, the Natchez Trace, and the sea.

READ THE FULL STORY WITH ANNOTATIONS HERE (good pix too)
https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/four-lost-souls

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/tours-events/178

Was just in Muscle Shoals for the first time (at Fame and MSS) and this looks like its worth checking out

Americana legend Jon Langford and journalist Mark Guarino unveil new musical play, Take Me, at Strawdog Theater May 10th - June 22nd

On Friday, May 10th, Americana songwriting legend Jon Langford (Mekons) and veteran journalist and playwright Mark Guarino are debuting the world premiere of their new musical TAKE ME, which opens at Strawdog Theater in Chicago.

Inspired by true events, TAKE ME is the story of Shelly, a woman trapped by the trauma of a husband in a coma, a missing son, and the chaos that followed. Looking for solace, she finds herself pulled in to the realm of wild alien conspiracy theories. Voices from the sky tell her the answer to all her problems is to build an alien themed amusement park in Roswell, New Mexico. TAKE ME is a comic fantasia, a story about having faith in a world where there are more questions than answers.

Strawdog Theater is one of the longest-running theaters in Chicago. Founded in 1988 and now in 31st season, Strawdog is home for its celebrated ensemble to work and play with the most sought-after artists in Chicago theatre along with the best emerging talents in the city’s theater scene.

TAKE ME is directed by Strawdog co-Artistic Director Anderson Lawfer, who is an actor, writer and director with decades of experience in Chicago and his hometown of Louisville. TAKE ME features ensemble members Nicole Bloomsmith, Kamille Dawkins, Carmine Grisolia, Michael Reyes, Kristen Alesia, Megan DeLay, David Gordon-Johnson, Loretta Rezos and Matt Rosin. The show runs Thursday-Sunday. Visit strawdog.org for ticket prices and online ordering.

Running through June 22nd, TAKE ME is the first musical featuring all-new original songs by Langford written specifically for the show. However, it is the second collaboration between Langford and Guarino since the success of ALL THE FAME OF LOFTY DEEDS, produced by The House Theater of Chicago. That show, which played to sold-out audiences throughout its run, featured reinterpreted songs from throughout Langford’s long career.

According to Sound Opinions Co-Host Greg Kot, LOFTY DEEDS “explores what that means, in all its swaggering ambition and self-destructive complexity. It’s a work befitting a singer-songwriter-artist who has spent his adult life merging art, music and politics. Guarino’s play makes it a highly entertaining and thought-provoking one.”

Mary Houlihan of the Chicago Sun-Times called it “a show for anyone who loves good music, good art and good storytelling.”

Chicago Tribune Theater Critic Chris Jones called LOFTY DEEDS a show that “could well fill a void in New York and beyond.”

Posted by Langford:

Trying to raise some money for the staff at my favorite Roadhouse FitzGerald's in Berwyn IL which had just burst brightly into a fabulous new era only to be forced to close its doors; thwarted by this tragic pandemic - basically this Saturday at 4pm I'll be playing solo and highly sanitized in a pickup truck crawling majestically through the side streets around the club at least 6 feet from wherever you are...
Here's the good word from the nice people of FitzGerald's:

"(Don't) Join us this weekend for the first ever FitzGerald's Stay-At-Home Concert w/ Jon Langford. On Saturday, April 4th, our mobile concert experience will feature Jon Langford cruising the neighborhood, bringing live music to our community at a safe distance. Take this opportunity to get off the screens and raise a glass as you step onto the porch for some essential live entertainment."

FitzGerald's is a few blocks from, I'm totally down for some mobile Langford

Can’t his wife or someone stream it on Facebook too

New album Friday!

Wha?!

https://www.facebook.com/jon.langford.161/posts/3258442717541440

Wha?! (2)

"How Many Stars" is basically my OPO at this point, at least if not for "I Am Crazy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb1OxUPU-eY&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb1OxUPU-eY

This is fun. Up for 48 hours, I think:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=786070228865165

(Timms and Langford doing a typically hilarious set a the Hideout last night, I believe, with no people but costumes and banter etc. )

Sally’s voice is always great, and those costumes were something

yeah that was fabulous

https://www.gofundme.com/f/joe-camarillo-family-support-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR3u0bzjd71TzsoTvKdeGnE4dy-2O38L7Kk1XnyEpSK-13Pjj7WyNuw04EI

RIP Waco Brothers drummer Joe Camarillo . Langford & others did a tribute tonight in Chicago on the street near the club Metro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x49JaE-kuo

And while I'm at it, I just saw this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mtai7z7h0M

The full version of “This Funeral is for the Wrong Corpse” is a lot stronger than the album version, even if it might be ripping off “Paradise City.”

that 2019 Seattle show was so transcendent.

my OPO has gotta be "Lyric" with a bunch of other Curse tracks close behind. That album is special.

From the five albums I've heard, my one pick might be... "John Barry"?

OPO - OK it's probably Where Were You but that doesn't need any help so gonna say Teeth since nobody else has

"Teeth" is absolutely top tier, good call

yeah, both the original and the Punk Rock version are great.

have a hard time not sticking with "Last Dance," which I decided was my favorite song at age 16 or so. But "Hard to be Human Again" is amazing to see live, and "Orpheus" is probably my favorite of their many self-referential songs (plus it sounds like they've been reading lots of Russell Hoban).

I was listening to Ancient & Modern a couple weeks ago, it's an interesting album, not the first album i'd recommend to people, but quite worthwhile and "Geeshie" is really wonderful.

youtube.com/watch?v=-TSQ1q6u1hw

meh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TSQ1q6u1hw

xp I was SO EXCITED when I saw "Orpheus" in the setlists that I was checking out as the tour progressed, I couldn't place it's origin at first but it's on that amazing art book/CD they did (Mekons United).

Interesting that this thread pops up — I was just thinking earlier this week that the Mekons seem to have disappeared into a black hole as far as cultural relevance; some years ago, people would talk about them much more frequently and now I never see them mentioned as a favorite band, an influence, or anything else. They just seem to have dropped off the radar. Am I wrong?

Well, they were never popular, and they haven't been fore of critical mind since their major label days, I'd say. They've put out a ton of stuff since then, but they don't/can't do a lot of touring, and they don't get a lot of promotion, etc. That they exist at all is miracle enough for me/most.

There was a documentary film made about them which possibly helped explain them to those who didn't already know.
I wonder if they are not well-served by the streaming era, because (to me) they are not necessarily the type of band where you hear one song and feel you have to hear more right away. In other words, it is the concept and history of Mekons which would potentially bring in new listeners, and that aspect is not really fed by hearing one song on a playlist or compilation. (I consider myself a minor, not a major fan, but consider them unique.)

Maybe? Their best stuff is pretty immediate, imo. Recently they've been kind of willfully obscure or high concept, more akin to the shaggy early days. But a couple of the Quarterstick albums are as good and "accessible" as anything they've done.

Shot this on the hottest day of the year at a small backyard festival in Rhode Island in 2019. Sound is crap, but I was practically on the stage. I kept waiting for Tom Greenhalgh to knock the phone from my hand, as I was right up in his grill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTeL5EgCiJk

I guess it was too hot for him to do his high kicks.

This past Sunday I was in Evanston visiting a friend and we went out to get lunch, next to the restaurant was a little alley with a little stage getting set up & a couple of people strumming acoustic guitars. As we are walking up I am loudly mentioning how much I love getting a bite and listening to live acoustic folk music in the afternoon, we realize the place we wanted to go to is closed, so we turn and walk back past these two suburban folkies who are just staring daggers at me at which point I recognize them as Sally Timms and Jon Langford.

Every time I've seen the Mekons, Sally is staring daggers. I think that's her resting face.

Hah, Sally and Jon are the nicest people.

LOL, absolutely. Also, they were just playing acoustic shows around NYC (like earlier this month) - they get around fast!

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/244521540_2072035062957097_117436574389308295_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=A8c48bjH4TQAX9tR9hO&tn=nMaCpl2pu4gQQq4y&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=8f1400515a1f78a9e04cd4bba809e44d&oe=61807186

Freakons is a supergroup of sorts, a pairing of Jon Langford and Sally Timms from long-running UK punk rockers The Mekons and pioneering Kentucky-based alt-country outfit Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. After first connecting nearly a decade ago, Freakons is releasing its eponymous debut studio album this Friday on Fluff and Gravy Records.

...The concept is explained surrealistically on “Dark Lords of the Mine,” the opening track on Freakons.

“There’s this crazy thing on YouTube of [legendary actor] Richard Burton on The Dick Cavett Show, this rambling, fantastical monologue on his family’s experiences mining in Wales and that there’s this thread of coal that runs from the Bay of Biscay, through Wales, and all the way to Appalachia,” Irwin says. “We were like, ‘Is this true? I don’t think it is.’ It’s so deranged. But Jon pulled ideas for the lyrics from the interview.”

...In using coal as a narrative thread, Freakons examines its history and its future. The group tells the stories of men and women who sacrificed their health and safety by working in the mines, but also looks ahead to what’s next for workers who are viewed as obsolete in the face of a rapidly evolving society.

“No one really knows what to do if mines become a generational thing of the past,” says Langford. “It’s an existential thing; a whole way of life is going to be changed. There’s a whole group of people who haven’t been taken care of. Trump whipped them up and said he’d bring back coal, but he didn’t. Governments haven’t shown a plan or worked on training or providing jobs in greener industries.”

https://www.nodepression.com/freakwater-and-the-mekons-unite-as-the-freakons-for-rich-vein-of-songwriting-about-coal/?utm_source=No+Depression+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a6b20ada1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_22_22_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_659325596f-a6b20ada1b-226384157&mc_cid=a6b20ada1b&mc_eid=b850f832a1

Sounds like the Mekons just finished tracking a new album in Spain. Why Spain? Who knows! Will it be another high concept album? Who knows!

I think that was their recording plan for 2020 that got postponed.

They've been sharing a few pics of the recording sessions on Facebook

Maybe it's my non-audiophile old school Koss over-ear headphones, but I've found that listening to the Freakons on free version of YouTube Music while reading lyrics on Bandcamp to be the ideal experience. Words are imaginative enough, without getting(too) arty-gimmicky extending realism through good turns of phrase that streak the coal dust on faces passing through once again, as the compelling music and the people in it push against limits of their situation, which are also limits of the Freakons' basic take: once again, as usual, the miners get reduced, by sympathizers as well as their bosses, so that we get no sense of what made this way of life bearable, and for some, seemingly inevitable--even desirable, financially and otherwise, even while knowing the risks and odds involved----Steve Earle & The Dukes' Ghosts of West Virginia is the only album I know of that speaks to and of this complexity.
But Freakons tunnels through it, for sure, with a tenacious vitality and recurring rowdiness. The women do most of the upfront vocal work, but Langford pitches in back there, and provides a very satisfying closer.

The Mekons’ Jon Langford & Sally Timms and Freakwater’s Janet Bean & Catherine Irwin are joined here by the stellar string and vocal harmonies of Jean Cook (Ida, Tara Jane O’Neil, Skull Orchard) and Anna Krippenstapel (The Other Years, Joan Shelley, Freakwater), along with special guest, the beloved guitar genius Jim Elkington (Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Eleventh Dream Day, Horse’s Ha, Skull Orchard, Freakwater, The Zincs).

Belgian painter Jo Clauwaert created the album’s intricate gatefold cover. Images from song lyrics and related history emerge and recede again in this gorgeously illustrated artistic fever dream.

Thanks for the reminder. I need to listen to Freakons

Saw the Waco Brothers last night in Washington DC. Last show of a 6 night East coast tour. Langford sounded good, and was entertaining and funny with his between song chat. They did a fair amount of songs from their latest album ( and some of those I liked). They also covered Undertones “Teenage Kicks” and Bobby Fuller 4 ( done Clash like) “I Fought the Law” plus a Small Faces song

Langford is going to do some gigs with Will Oldham in the fall ( pr says it will be like a pandemic show they did together earlier)

Saw Langford tonight with Bonnie P Will Oldham. Good show although a bit too much cutting up and goofy sing alongs with audience. I liked when they did Mekons songs. Oldham was in good voice at times. Langford sang one song from the recent Jon Langford and the Men of Gwent album “Lost on Land and Sea”

Thanks, hadn't heard of that album!

I had not either. Langford was just over in Wales for a week publicizing it. No Mekons in that group, other than him.

https://jonlangfordthemenofgwent.bandcamp.com/album/lost-on-land-sea

The Bandcamp bio for Langford and Men of Gwent says the November 10th released album is the group's 3rd one. I missed the first 2.

Thanks! And now I see that this was added last month:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0308921547_10.jpg

Jon Langford wants to share his Gubbins with the world - songs that fell between the cracks, tunes too exuberant and twisted to hang with the popular crowd, stuff he just forgot about and pleasantly surprised the old welsh bugger when he rediscovered them in the basement.
released October 6, 2023

how did I miss Existentialism?!? incredible album, with definite throwbacks to the post-punk sounds of the 2nd LP lo those many years ago

Not sure I ever listened to that one either. It's a live one, recorded in Brooklyn in 2015 I just read.

it's really good - I have almost all their albums, only missing ME now I think, plus that Mekons 77 thing, can't believe I missed this altho to be fair it's from 2016

I did not mention itt that I finally got to see them a second time - the first time was an off night in Portland OR in 1992. this time was a sold out show in Seattle in summer 2019, and they were everything I could have wanted and more. I also had too much to drink and got sick later, but thankfully I remember everything up to the encore, then it gets hazy

I recently watched the Revenge DVD documentary, and was struck (speaking of Mekons 77) how close they all still seemed to be, even the ones who left in the early 80s.