Saturday, 13 June 2009
Monday, 28 January 2008
FAT FREDDY'S DROP; Wandering Eye
Awesome, cool 21st century jazzy reggae from New Zealand. For review of album go to http://www.peppermintiguana.co.uk/SOUNDS/SONICREVIEWS/F.html#fatfredrev
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Breadfan by BUDGIE
I can remember it as if it were yesterday not the late 70’s, an adolescent snot nosed kid sat in the bedroom listening to punk, my brother came into the bedroom and said “you don’t wanna be listening to that lightweight stuff, get a load of this” and promptly dropped Breadfan by Budgie on the turn table. He did not dent me my love for punk, which is still with me today, but it was the start of journey down a different avenue that led to many adventures and memories. It was bound to have happened sooner or later with a different band in a different situation, but I still think of it as a life changing moment. For f*ck’s sake don’t tell my brother though, I will never hear the end of it.
The icing on the cake was that they lived ten miles up the road from me and 20 odd years later I put them (or at least a verison of them) on as a support band for Man at a Peppermint Iguana Gig.
Monday, 21 January 2008
Sunday, 20 January 2008
BLACK BETTY: Spiderbait and the Ram Jam Band
After a brief break the daily video bulletin is back.
First track of the year is… BLACK BETTY by SPIDERBAIT
When we first heard this we started shouting at the resident teenage Iguana, how dare she play such noise? Black Betty, the version by one hit wonders the Ram Jam band, played an important part in our growing up when we were first getting into music properly and discovering life beyond the crap pushed by radio one. The track probably has a greater significance to us because of the timing, it helped open doors and send us off in search of music that today forms the back bone of the Iguana music collection, but back then, to impressionable teenagers getting their head around punk, adolescence and cider it was an eye opener.
On first listen we were outraged by the Spiderbait version, but once we got over the initial shock it has grown on us and we aim to find out more about this Australian bunch. Apparently this version has been used for the soundtracks to such films as Dukes of Hazard (a fact that we were blissfully unaware of having never seen the film).
The original version was first recoded in 1933 by James Baker and it has been covered by the likes of Leadbelly, Meatloaf, Nick Cave and even Tom Jones. You can read a history of the song here.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Betty
We could not possibly end this with out also giving you the Ram Jam Band version, so here be it..
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
SKETCHBEAT: My Mama Said
Interesting little outfit from London that caught our eye while surfing a while back. Look out for new album in near future
Monday, 10 December 2007
DJ FARRAPO & YANEZ - Baiano vem Baiano Vai
Check the man out at.. http://www.myspace.com/djfarrapo
Saturday, 8 December 2007
DJ Qbert
If ya sat by your PC on a Saturday night, you MIGHT be thinking, “I wonder what all those people out having fun clubbing are up to”. Well, they MIGHT be watching DJ Qbert. We know very little about the guys doing this, but we got one hell of a scratcher and one hell of a human beat box. Love it or hate it, you cant help be impressed by it.
Friday, 7 December 2007
JUNGLE DRUMMER Vs DJ FU
Live drum and bass like you aint never seen before
Check out http://www.myspace.com/junglevsfu
Thursday, 6 December 2007
P.A.I.N. Grow More Weed
This is not quite new, it’s a classic that dates back to the turn of the century, but still deserves airing. It’s the mighty Propaganda And Information Network (PAIN) performing Grow More Weed with the assistance of notorious purveyor of intoxicating herbs Mr Howard Marks. If memory serves us right we think some of the live footage is from the Megadog Eclipse festival in Cornwall.
PAIN are still going strong, although the line up has changed since this video was shot. John (the singer with the horns cut into his hair) can be seen gigging with the reformed AOS3 these days.
For PAIN go to http://www.myspace.com/propandinf
For John go to http://www.myspace.com/john_eris
Or just to find out more about peppermint iguana..Wednesday, 5 December 2007
SONNY J: Can't Stop Moving
Thanks to SAT for putting us on to this one. First release from cheeky Sonny J. and it is a belter. Move over Norman Cook, there is a scouser gonna nick ya crown.
For more info go to his myspace or his website.
Oh… and while we are giving SAT a plug, if you want slightly funkier Christmas, download his latest virtual chritmas mix tape on Boombox.
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
ANDY McKEE : Ebon Coast
This is just simply beautiful. Never heard of it till the other day when Bowlez bulletined it on my space (nice one) and blew us away. We don’t know much about the guy, but having sniffed around his website it looks like he has a few albums out and we will be tracking them down in the near future… watch out for a review!
Monday, 3 December 2007
STARING AT THE RUDE BOIS: Gallows featuring Lethal Bizzle.
Cover versions are part and parcel of music culture and there is no harm in doing your own rendition of somebody else’s song. Where would we be for instance without the Clash’s ‘Brand New Cadillac’, Hendrix’s version of ‘All Along The Watchtower’, Them’s version of ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ or Pronghorn’s version of ‘Ace of Spades’?
Some songs are to be messed with at your peril though. To do a version of the Ruts’ ‘Staring At the Rude Boys’ takes either a lot of bottle or a complete lack of respect. How have Gallows faired? Well, we think they have got away with it. It stands up on its own as a half decent record.
It is sometimes unfair to compare covers to the original but apart from making it a bit more shouty and chucking in some rap it has not wandered too far from the Ruts take on it… here on planet Iguana like the new version, but it has to be said the original still stands out as the best version.
What do you think? Stroke of genius? or should it be ten strokes of the whip?
For readers too young to remember ….
Sunday, 2 December 2007
MARTIN HARLEY BAND: Carnival Girl
In contrast to yesterday’s noise fest, today’s video is more laid back, perfect for a Sunday morning. Martin Harley has been about a bit now, travelling the world and perfecting his talent. This was the Martin Harley Band’s first video and is taken from the album Money Don’t matter
Visit the M.H.B. on line
Check out a review of the M.H.B. debut album here..
Saturday, 1 December 2007
ARCADIA: sick sick sick
Italian Bastard Core... 'Ardcore with a captial H
we wont be posting stuff as harcore as this very often... cos, to be honest, this is as hard as it gets!
Check out thier myspace
check out a peppermint iguana review of a gig they played in wales earlier this year.
THE DYNAMICS: SEVEN NATION ARMY
A wicked little reggae/soul outfit from France, they have a new album out but unfortunately it is only available in France. It will be hitting the shores of the UK in the coming weeks and we will be on the beach waiting for it!
They can be found at… http://www.myspace.com/thedynamicsound
LIFE IN THE OLD VIDEO BLOG YET
This blog has been pretty much ignored for ages. Well we have started to post a daily video on the PEPPERMINT IGUANA MYSPACE, so what better opportunity to resurrect this ere site?
Following on from an idea that has grown from a seed planted by out mate Curtis Ian we are going to try to post a video bulletin every day from a band that we recommend (you will have to add us to your friend list to see the bulletins). They will be mostly contemporary bands but we are sure a few golden oldies will slip in there.Hopefully the videos will inform and educate about something new to you, or at the very least entertain.
In case you have not sussed it, we have a very broad taste in music, so if you don't like what you see one day bare with us, the next day might blow you away!
Feel free to tell us about a video you know about, but don't get offended if it does not feature STRAIGHT AWAY, cos we already have a big list that we want to post.
We aim to post something new everyday but obviously that will fall by the wayside when we are on patrol, busy … or if we get bored of the idea. Feel free to let us know what you think of it, or any of the videos. If people tell us they like the idea it will encourage us to keep it goin'. if nobody says anything, we will assume no one is paying any attention!
This blog will now become an ‘archive’ of the videos that we post. In addition, we will add a few choice non-musical videos for your infotainement.
