Perlichs Picks

A weekly dig through the creates for the stuff you really need to hear

Perlich's Picks

Two Wings good

Among the most charismatic of all guitar-slinging evangelists in a gospel field packed with church-wrecking holy rollers, the man behind the angel-wing-sporting character known as Elder Utah Smith has remained largely a mystery to spiritual music scholars and collectors alike. So I’m happy to report that Lynn Abbott’s sleuthing expedition into Elder Utah Smith’s life and times has resulted in an excellent anecdote-packed biographical study, I Got Two Wings (CaseQuarter).

Along with informative first-hand accounts, newspaper clippings, label artwork and never-before-published photos of Elder Smith in action (with wings and without), the folks at CaseQuarter behind the superb CD anthologies of Reverend Charlie Jackson, Isaiah Owens and the Spiritualaires of Hurtsboro, Alabama, have also included a fabulous 18-track disc of Elder Smith’s hard-to-find recordings along with those of his Church of God In Christ contemporaries. A revelatory introduction to the explosive spirit-raising experiments blasted out in the name of Jesus years before the advent of rock ’n’ roll. 

Aumfidelity.com/casequarter 

I Got Two Wings compilation CD

Rev. Utah Smith - Two Wings Download associated audio clip.

Elder Curry - Memphis Flu Download associated audio clip.

Eddie Russ - Zaius Download associated audio clip.

Eddie Russ - Take A Look At Yourself Download associated audio clip.

Righteous Russ

Besides being home to the NFL team with the most Super Bowl wins of any football franchise, Pittsburgh has also produced a number of jazz greats, including Mary Lou Williams, Kenny Clarke and the late, great keyboardist Eddie Russ, whose accomplishments are often overlooked. 

After leaving the spiritual jazz crew the Mixed Bag, Russ went on to record the fabulous Fresh Out LP for JazzMasters, followed by late 70s soul jazz cookers for the Monument label See The Light and Take A Look At Yourself, which have been out of print for ages. 

Unlike many jazz reissue operations, “fusion” isn’t considereed a bad thing by those in charge of the UK-based Soul Brother label, who’ve thoughtfully repackaged Russ’s two Monument releases on a single disc that should be of interest to anyone who can’t get enough of what Weldon Irvine and Lonnie Liston Smith were putting down back in the day. 

soulbrother.co.uk 

Witch way

If you type “Wicked Witch of Washington” into Google, chances are you’ll get more hits for Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton than for the DC funk rock band Wicked Witch, formed by students of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts back in the late 70s. 

The hombre known as Witch might look like some crazy Hendrix-inspired psych ripper, but the surviving Wicked Witch recordings released on vinyl as Chaos 1978-86 by Honest Jons are closer in spirit to “Prince Charles” Alexander or maybe a Black Merda-backed Fugi angling for some percussion-heavy Experience Unlimited action. Admittedly, it’s not all gold, but it’s still an intriguing discovery, and the six tracks here are more enjoyable than any of that Elmore Judd rubbish Honest Jons is pushing.

honestjons.com

timp@nowtoronto.com

NOW | February 11-18, 2009 | VOL 28 NO 24
Copyright 2009 NOW Communications
Comments
Posted by Rodney on 02/16/2009, 08:03 PM
Who but Tim Perlich would listen to this crap? Nobody. He promotes music that nobody cares about and shit-cans any music that is moderately popular.

Somebody should take Perlich out back and flog his sorry ass.

Posted by Goon on 02/16/2009, 10:32 PM
Agreed. Fire Perlich. Nuke this column, give it to someone who isn't so out of touch.

Posted by Flexible on 02/19/2009, 12:59 PM
Actually you should be flogged Rodney and Goon (although I think you might like it) Tim has promoted and supported tons of bands that have become popular, and continued to support them. For example Steve Earl, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Tindersticks, Black Keys, Antibalas Orchestra just to name a small fraction. You guys and the rest of the Perlich bashers in Toronto are blind, because he happened to not like your favourite band. Get over that and stop hating.

Posted by Goon on 02/19/2009, 01:30 PM
Well at least I now know Tim's mom's Internet username.

Posted by Goon on 02/20/2009, 12:28 AM
according to Chartattack.com - Tim Perlich is no longer with NOW Toronto.

http://www.chartattack.com/interact/forums/meet-me-at-the-front-bar/791766161

I seriously hope he was fired, because he deserved to be. Not just Toronto, but Canada's worst, most out of touch critic. I would look forward to a 'picks' column from Benjamin Boles.

It is a great step towards finally making NOW's section as good as it can be, and I trust Benjamin to do the job right. Looking at the music section of this weeks issue and having actual reviews that actually talk about the music is already a vast improvement.

Posted by Flexible on 02/21/2009, 07:02 PM
Goon: To be happy for someone's misfortune is such a lame way to live your life. Tim supported ton's of great music and the fact that he is no longer with Now is a drag. He must've dissed your favourite (was it Britney Spears or Nickleback per chance?) for you to be so angry. Sheesh get over it.

Posted by Goon on 02/21/2009, 09:07 PM
No. He got what he deserved. You do a shitty job, you deserve to get canned. He was a music reviewer who didn't review music at least half the time. He'd favor cheap jokes and unrelated asides to giving things their proper due.

I see this weeks reviews and I already know NOW is better off.

"Tim supported ton's of great music"

As opposed to Benjamin Boles, Sarah Liss, Evan Davies and the many other great Toronto critics? And they at least respect the readers enough to do their job.

Posted by explain this on 02/23/2009, 03:59 PM
If there was a firing or a layoff or whatever - why am I reading about it here in these comments and not in the mag or at least posted to explain in some way why there's no current pic...NOW that is LAME!

Posted by jazzjoints on 02/25/2009, 01:34 PM
For the record I enjoyed Perlich's reviews and columns. He has great taste in jazz and his knowledge of the genre is rivaled by only a few in Toronto. Yeah, he wrote about a lot of weird shit but at least he had a sense of adventure and didn't yield to flimsy hipster trends etc. So what happened to him? I will miss reading his columns but I do agree that his heavy handed music snobbery was detracting from his otherwise informative/enjoyable reviews.

Posted by missthepicks on 02/26/2009, 08:28 PM
Tim took notice of quality music, whether mainstream or not. By shining a much needed spotlight on relatively obscure but outstanding artists, he opened many ears to some of the greatest sounds ever recorded! He deserves much gratitude for this.

Without flinging mud back at Rodney & Goon above, I think you've both vastly under estimated the positive influence Tim has had on TO's music scene over the years. I really looked forward to Perlich's Picks each week - best music features in NOW by far in my opinion.

Thanks for the years of knowledge sharing you provided us all Tim. There's lots of folks out here who enjoy your work & will miss your insight.

(P.S. hey Goon, this isn't Tim's mom, dad, brother or sister writing ... although your comment above was kinda funny...)

Posted by Goon on 02/27/2009, 10:58 AM
You got it, Uncle Perlich.

Posted by SerialCDShopper on 02/27/2009, 12:13 PM
I am one of the many people who disliked Tim Perlich's music snobbery, not just towards the latest music trends and top 40 acts, but towards rock music in general. One would think, based on his reviews, that he had an axe to grind with the artist as opposed to being someone who wanted to offer informed opinions on the music itself. His reviews lacked substance and validity in many cases, and this is why so many people disliked him and are now glad he's gone.

However, I will be fair and note that his taste in obscure jazz and fusion music was good, despite the fact that his snobbery towards other genres tainted his overall credibility. Things might have been better if he had stuck to what he knows.

Posted by Goon on 02/28/2009, 09:59 AM
if any comment from this thread ended up in the letters section, I'd vote for the one above. sums it up nicely.

Posted by Alby on 03/03/2009, 12:26 PM
For the record, several people have been laid off from NOW, but i doubt you'll be reading about it in their magazine anytime soon. You can just see it in the poor product they now produce weekly.

Posted by Clay Noseworthy on 03/05/2009, 01:26 PM
I don't live in Toronto but I (used to) read NOW's online music column regularly and really appreciated Tim's column. Yeah, what a horrible thing to do, Tim -NOT review the same stuff everybody else was reviewing.

Great work Tim - glad somebody was paying attention to obscure stuff and not merely reviewing whatever was brand new that week.

For you non-Tim Perlich appreciaters - you'll be happy to know Pitchfork is still reviewing the crappy indie rock, etc. you cherish.

Posted by Goon on 03/05/2009, 03:52 PM
^ Clay, you're only addressing half the picture.

NOW pretty much reviews all the same records everyone else does, and even though its usually not Tim's taste and everyone knows it, they all pass on the mainstream stuff to him anyways, and we end up with shitty reviews, because Tim is too much of a snob to review them properly.

If he only likes certain things, thats fine, but I don't care if you're reviewing some obscure jazz record from Sierra Leone or Motley Crue, you actually REVIEW THE FRICKIN MUSIC and not just pop one liners out, especially if you're not good at it. If Tim didn't like something he became an unreadable ass.

In the end it's not about agreeing or disagreeing with his taste at all (even though I don't share his taste in a lot of ways) - its about doing your fucking job, and Tim failed.

Posted by G on 03/05/2009, 04:03 PM
A good article on Perlich's departure:

http://version30.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/rip-tim-perlich-and-now-mags-unholy-union/

Posted by G on 03/05/2009, 04:11 PM
This article has a different account of why Tim is probably no longer around

http://www.thelastpogo.net/2009/02/slow-moving-and-creaky-music-critic-hobbles-off-the-stage-of-now-magazine/

Posted by yup on 03/12/2009, 12:17 AM
Tim P is a dick. Nuff' said. Enjoy obscurity now...

Posted by JONNY L on 03/12/2009, 12:36 AM
Good riddance... this balding fuck wanted so badly to be a rare groove dj except he was too uncool and unpopular to ever make it. So he wrote a snobby article about records noone cares about and made fun of people he shouldn't have. Loser

Posted by missthepicks on 03/13/2009, 04:04 PM
I agree with Alby above, NOW seems to be headed downhill quick!

Case in point, removing PERLICH'S PICKS (a great column despite all of the knock's above) yet printing the SOUND CHECK feature is laughable evidence. Asking dweebie hipsters what they thought of some show (arguably that "no one cares about"!!) is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT DRIVEL. To quote last weeks insights:

- "I used to stalk one of the guys in the band" - "I liked how BL guitarist looked like SC rockin out" - and my favourite..."I'm here because my boyfriend is in one of the bands"

Ha, ha!!! We used to enjoy insight from a WELL INFORMED WRITER who is PASSIONATE ABOUT MUSIC (of ALL types - stop knockin it just cuz YOU don't like it!!)

Now you're getting "USELESS OPINIONS", about "BANDS NO ONE CARES ABOUT" and coverage that provides "NO INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE BANDS SOUND LIKE". Weren't those the same complaints you had before?! Why have you all stopped whining?? Tim's gone but the problems you identified remain...

Posted by Billy Bob Tweed on 03/20/2009, 04:13 PM
Perlich had an encyclopedic knowledge of music, but he was a snob, often unnecessarily cruel, and sometimes downright dishonest.

I have seen Perlich attend concerts, leave during the third song, and then days later would see his review of the show in NOW. He'd never mention in print that he caught all of two songs and exited -- his emp-loyers might have been as miffed as the readers -- and he would instead write dismissive reviews focused on things the performers' hairstyle.

I always thought it professionally and intellectually lazy that Perlich never submitted material for outside publications, or wrote a book. Then again, did he have an agent? Maybe publishers simply weren't interested.

'Cos the bottomline is, NOW just isn't a very good newspaper, and arguably the worst major independent weekly of any major city in North America.

As bad as Perlich could sometimes be, he was often the only reason worth picking up NOW.

Posted by C on 03/22/2009, 09:43 AM
"and arguably the worst major independent weekly of any major city in North America."

Absolutely not true whatsoever. I've illustrated in countless alt weeklies, they send me comps, and I read them. NOW is actually overall one of the best ones. Its biggest flaw if anything is that it doesnt use even nearly enough illustrators like me and my buddies :P

If Calgary, Edmonton, Madison Wisconsin, Halifax, and countless other midsize cities can successfully budget for illustration, I dont see why NOW cant, especially given the vast amount of local talent.

For the record, the absolute best alt weeklies I've come across are from Seattle and Portland

Posted by diva on 03/26/2009, 11:27 AM
Tim Perlich has forgotten more about musicology than most people will ever know, and I'm sure he's happy not to have to listen to NOW readers whining about how he couldn't have been at the same concert they attended ever again. Miss you Tim.

Posted by replica watches on 11/20/2009, 03:26 AM
I always thought it professionally and intellectually lazy that Perlich never submitted material for outside publications, or wrote a book. Then again, did he have an agent? Maybe publishers simply weren't interested.

'Cos the bottomline is, NOW just isn't a very good newspaper, and arguably the worst major independent weekly of any major city in North America.

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