Still feelin' nice and Luce

You may remember Luce, who I raved about earlier this year. It is in your best interest to take note that they've got a slew of tour dates beginning tomorrow night, thoroughly entertaining my California friends and then going all summer long across the country until they end up in my neck of the woods. Yay! If you get a chance, go see these guys live. Really great music out of San Francisco (represent!). As I wrote before, Luce makes catchy, clean, sharp, melodic guitar rock, with just the right blend of ebullient brass & harmony. Luce cites Lennon & McCartney as influences, and it's hard to feel blue while you listen to this stuff.

I think my favorite track on their 2005 release Neverending is "The Sweetest Smile," which I have been listening to in the sunshine when I go running lately (because it is an outdoor, sunny type of song, even though I think he sings about aliens). I am stoked to see that eMusic has both of their releases for purchase here, because now you have no excuse (oh no! why did eMusic classify them as "emo"? What does that even mean?! Disregard.). Definitely one to look into.

LUCE TOUR DATES
4/1/06 Great Basin Brewing Co., Reno, NV.
4/5/06 The Attic, Santa Cruz, CA
4/7/06 University Of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
4/14/06 The Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
4/21/06 Little Fox, Redwood City, CA
4/22/06 Little Fox, Redwood City, CA
4/29/06 Sweetwater Saloon, Mill Valley, CA
5/5/06 The Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS
5/6/06 Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO
5/8/06 Underground City Tavern, Springfield, IL
5/11/06 Majestic Theater, Madison, WI
5/13/06 Ten Bells, Grand Rapids, MI
5/14/06 Mickey Finn's Pub, Toledo, OH
5/16/06 Wilbert's, Cleveland, OH
5/17/06 Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA
5/18/06 Dogwood Festival, Phoenixville, PA
5/20/06 Harper's Ferry, Boston, MA
5/23/06 Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
5/24/06 Jammin' Java, Vienna, VA
6/27/06 Mitchell Park Bowl, Palo Alto, CA
6/30/06 Dutch Flat Hotel, Dutch Flat, CA
7/14/06 Concerts In The Park, Greensburg, PA
7/19/06 New Town After Hours, Williamsburg. VA
8/5/06 Quixote's True Blue, Denver, CO
8/9/06 Steve's Guitars, Carbondale, CO
8/11/06 Arnold Hall Ballroom, Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
9/8/06 Downtown, Pullman, WA

And here is a lovely little song from their Media Vault on their website:

Good Day (acoustic) - Luce

What a great song to stroll into the weekend with. And if you are an Air Force cadet and go to the show in Colorado Springs, come say hi to me, I might be working the merch booth!

Tim Buckley video: Song To The Siren, Monkees TV Show 1968

I had never actually heard Tim Buckley sing before I found this video, only read about him and seen his pictures. After seeing David Gray perform this amazing song a few weeks ago, I became driven to learn more about it and I found this video to be phenomenal. Probably what I found most interesting is how much Tim and Jeff obviously resemble each other physically, but that they sound so completely different in terms of voice. Where Jeff is dramatic and gorgeous and soaring, Tim is very straightforward Irish-folksy sounding to me. Here is the story behind it, from David Browne's marvelous book I am reading, Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley:

"One fall morning over breakfast, [poet friend Larry] Beckett came over [to Tim Buckley's apartment] with his latest well-honed, slaved-over lyric . . . Guitar in-hand at the dining table, Tim looked at Beckett's lyrics and pushed them away 'like unwanted mail,' Beckett remembers. After eating, Tim took his guitar, pulled Beckett's poem back over, and out of nowhere began playing a melody that complemented the words.

The song, which owed a debt to Homer's The Odyssey as well, was 'Song To The Siren,' a forlorn ode to unattainable love that used the call of a mythic siren as a chilling metaphor. Both its music and lyric captured the fatalistic Irish part of Tim's soul.

Long afloat on shipless oceans,
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang, 'Sail to me, sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am, here I am
Waiting to hold you.

In late November, not long after it was written, Tim premiered the song at a taping of the final episode of the Monkee's television series . . . Tim had befriended wool-hatted Monkee Michael Nesmith at the Troubadour's hoot nights. 'This is Tim Buckley,' announced Monkee Micky Dolenz. With Beckett standing offstage, holding the lyrics in case his friend forgot them, Tim walked onto the set - an old car with a smashed windshield - and slumped atop the hood. Accompanied only by his crystalline twelve-string, he caressed the melody, his large brown afro slowly bobbing back and forth as he sang."

After 16 years, new ones from the 'Mats

Replacements Reunite For New Songs
(Info from Billboard.com, Pioneer Press, and Pitchfork)

The web was abuzz earlier this week after a mysterious photo circulating on the Internet sparked rumors that the Replacements had reunited to record new material.

The picture, which was posted Monday on the gossip site Buddyhead.com, shows Replacements drummer Chris Mars, bassist Tommy Stinson and vocalist/guitarist Paul Westerberg posing in a recording studio with session drummer Josh Freese. By mid-day Tuesday, it had been removed from Buddyhead.com as well as from a Westerberg fan site.

However, as of today 'Mats fans everywhere are doing the happy dance after it was confirmed that Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars reunited to record two new songs for an upcoming retrospective, Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements. Due June 13 via Rhino Records, the set will feature "Message to the Boys" and "Pool & Dive," the band's first new recordings in 16 years.

Session drummer Josh Freese was behind the kit for the new recordings, while Mars, who in recent years has foregone music for an art career, contributed backing vocals. The songs were written by Westerberg and were recorded at producer Ed Ackerson's Flowers studio in Minneapolis. Currently it is unclear if any further activity is brewing within the Replacements' camp.

Westerberg said in 2005 that he still reflects fondly on the Replacements' early days, especially "when we were riding in the van and we ripped the seats out and would just listen to tapes and listen to Black Flag. [We would] sort of slam dance and stuff around in the back of the van and be drinking hard liquor at noon and it was just, you know, carefree times. We didn't give a damn."

Meanwhile, sources say the long-awaited Replacements boxed set is still in the planning stages and will not be out until 2007 at the earliest. Rhino is also working on expanded editions of the Replacements' albums, but no release date has yet been announced for those packages either.

Here is the track list for Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?:

01. Takin a Ride
02. Shiftless When Idle
03. Kids Don't Follow
04. Color Me Impressed
05. Within Your Reach
06. I Will Dare
07. Answering Machine
08. Unsatisfied
09. Here Comes a Regular
10. Kiss Me on the Bus
11. Bastards of Young
12. Left of the Dial
13. Alex Chilton
14. Skyway
15. Can't Hardly Wait
16. Achin' to Be
17. I'll Be You
18. Merry Go Round
19. Message to the Boys *
20. Pool & Dive *


On a related note, Jerry Yeti has recorded an interesting observation about the Replacements. And the zip files of Westerberg and Replacements rarities that I posted a few weeks ago are still live links for the taking.

Stereophonics: Fire burning in their chests

Cymru am byth. My people hearken from Wales way back, and although I have not been there (yet), something inside compels me to listen to the Stereophonics, arguably Wales' best-known export of recent years (not counting Tom Jones, whose tan kind of scares me).

Stereophonics formed in 1992, with the three original members (Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, and Stuart Cable) growing up together in the small Welsh village of Cwmaman. They were originally known as Tragic Love Company, a name inspired by three of their favorite bands Tragically Hip, Mother Love Bone and Bad Company (that is awesome). One of the first groups signed to Richard Branson's fledgling V2 Records label, the Stereophonics have released five studio albums in the last 10 years, with the four most recent all going to the top of the UK charts, including their first #1 single - "Dakota" - off their 2005 release Language. Sex. Violence. Other?.

The gravelly-voiced melodic rockers are coming out with a new live album on April 21 called Live From Dakota. The 2-disc set will feature:

CD1
1. Superman 2. Doorman 3. A Thousand Trees 4. Devil 5. Mr Writer 6. Pedalpusher 7. Deadhead 8. Maybe Tomorrow 9. The Bartender and the Thief 10. Local Boy in the Photograph

CD2
1. Hurry Up and Wait 2. Madame Helga 3. Vegas Two Times 4. Carrot Cake and Wine 5. I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back) 6. Jayne 7. Too Many Sandwiches 8. Traffic 9. Just Looking 10. Dakota

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as comfortable onstage as I have done recently,” says frontman Kelly Jones (on their MySpace page). “We’ve got a lot more confidence than we’ve ever had before too. Getting back to playing as a three piece onstage – as opposed to having extra musicians there – has really worked, it’s what we were originally and we feel stronger for going back to it. We’ve been really fucking energized too.”

“We’ve got that raw feel back too,” adds bassist Richard Jones. “Even just when we were rehearsing it felt really energetic, gritty and in-your-face. As soon as we started playing with [new drummer] Javier [Weyler] it felt so natural. We felt like a unit onstage – it was like the old gang mentality. It was just the three of us and we knew we all had to pull together. The shows last year were among the best we’ve ever played. The energy and excitement was similar to when we first started playing big shows. We have the same fire burning in our chests now as we did then.”

Kelly adds, “We wanted to do a live album because it feels like a celebration of the year we’ve had and also of the ten years that this band has been going. It is hard to re-create the buzz of being at a gig -- when you’re out, you’re tanked up and having a good time with your mates. Hopefully this is as close to being at one of our gigs as you can get."

For a little preview of their blistering live vibe in recent days, here is the urgent & rocking 4-song set they did at the Live 8 concert in London (July 2, 2005, pictured above):

"Bartender and the Thief" (live) - Stereophonics

"Dakota" (live) - Stereophonics

"Maybe Tomorrow" (live) - Stereophonics

"Local Boy in the Photograph" (live) - Stereophonics

Onion News: Two Hipsters Angrily Call Each Other 'Hipster'

From that bastion of hilarity, The Onion:

Two Hipsters Angrily Call Each Other 'Hipster'
AUSTIN, TX—An argument between local hipsters Dan Walters and Brian Guterman has devolved to the point where each is angrily calling the other "hipster," those close to the pair reported Monday. "Hey, hipster! Here's 12 bucks—why don't you go get yourself a bucket of PBRs at the Gold Mine?" Walters, 22, is said to have told Guterman, 22, invoking the name of a local bar known for its "poseur" clientele. "Whatever you say, scenester," Guterman allegedly replied. "Don't you have a Death Cab For Cutie show to be at right now?" Acquaintances of Guterman and Walters trace the long-running conflict back to high school, when they reportedly threw pencils at each other and argued about who was more "emo."

Addendum: Read the HILARIOUS Onion story (37 Record-Store Clerks Feared Dead In Yo La Tengo Concert Disaster) that someone posted in the comments by clicking on the "6 comments" link right below this. It's one of the funniest things I've read all month:

The tax man cometh

Okay, so if you are an American and you ended up owing Uncle Sam on your taxes this year (or if you are procrastinating filing because you fear you owe taxes), you might want to stop reading now because this will only make it smart more. Pouring lemon juice on a papercut, baby.

Through some overly-eager withholding, I have just discovered that we will pleasantly be getting back like $2700 from our various federal and state taxes this year. You know what that means? Same thing it meant last year: New iPod for Heather! It's my commission for doing all the grunt work filing the dang paperwork (well, Turbo-Taxing it).

I am getting a spiffy new 60GB iPod because my 30GB has runneth over. I get butterflies in my stomach looking at all the sexy gigabytes available on the Apple Store website. Does that mean I have crossed the line into uber-nerd?

I like the personalization thing (free), so I need some suggestions on what to etch in the back. What do you all have on yours? I am leaning towards a variation on this most excellent Pearl Jam lyric:

Turn the jukebox up he said
Dancing in irreverence
Play C-3
Let the song protest

I am thinking the first and last lines of it. What else should I consider?

In a tribute to the taxman (I know, I know, I need to adjust my withholding because otherwise it is just an interest-free loan to the goverment, yada yada yada), here is a demo version of a Weezer song from their 2002 Maladroit album (one that didn't make the cut). Nice and poppy, with trademark Weezer "doo-doo-doot"s:

"Mr. Taxman" - Weezer

Jeopardy soundtrack

As I sit here and wait for the online Jeopardy test to begin (03:31 remaining until test time), what, pray tell, is my soundtrack?

Oh, YOU KNOW IT:

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

Yo, His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting...

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo,"


I am compelled. Thanks Eminem.


UPDATE: It was brutal and bloody. We'll just have to wait and see if I am as smart as I think I am, they don't give you a score or anything. What playful American invented the mobile? Who would know "Calder"?? I totally blanked on Gabriel Garcia Marquez, even though he is one of my favorite authors. And a question about Renoir threw me because they gave the English translation of the painting name instead of the French, which is what I learned (sniff). That business is harder than it looks on TV! (but to my delight it even played the Jeopardy music in the browser window)

Counting Crows 1993: "This is the beginning of our first tour, ever, so we're kinda kicked about that"

In around 1993/1994 I used to babysit for this lady that worked at Shoreline Amphitheatre as an usher, and seemed to know a lot of people in "the business" and got all kinds of great music. I would come to her house armed with a secret stash of blank cassette tapes and I would clandestinely dub her good music onto them after her daughter was safely tucked into bed. Naughty nannies, I know (ah, she didn't mind).

In this manner I got lots of good stuff, one of them being a soundboard recording of a very early Counting Crows show at the historic Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado, from 8/27/93.

I absolutely wore out the tape, listening to it so many times that I know the entire set and all the dialogue by heart. Then tapes kind of went by the wayside in my life and now I think I've lost the original. I've spent many hours trolling the web looking for these songs. Then reader Jeff turns out to have this very show on mp3 and just sent it to me and made my WEEK (no, month!). In listening to it again for the first time in years, my ears are extremely happy.

This is a snapshot of the Crows at a critical juncture on the edge of stardom in their career, as the announcer says, "This band is so new, even *I* haven't heard of them yet..." and calls them an "up and coming new hot band" in the Bay Area. And as Adam Duritz says, "Uh, we're Counting Crows and this is the beginning of our first tour, EVER, so we're kinda kicked about that."

The set is full of enthusiasm, affability, and some excellent-quality renditions of rare songs of theirs that I LOVE but that they have never released officially. Both have those fabulous lyrics that I love Counting Crows for. Listen to the story in Open All Night. It's a simple story, evocative of a conversation shared between two strangers. If we were listening to this together, I've put little stars** next to the lines where I would shush you and make you listen closely, favorite parts of the song for one reason or another:

Exit 8 **
Small cafe **
Georgia moonlight **
It's 3am and I've been driving all night
She had a funny air, red-brown hair in the porchlight **
She said 'we're open all night
so won't you come inside
It's gonna be alright...'

She said 'tired?'
I said 'I'm a little bit unstable'
She said 'child, I will help you if I am able
See there's a bottle of relief upon the table
And we're open all night
so won't you come inside
It's gonna be alright...'

She said 'I was born the year the rockets landed **
Circa 1969 and I got stranded **
Yeah but the comet's getting close and I can't stand it **
Said we're open all night
So won't you come inside
It's gonna be alright...'

Exit 8
Small cafe
Georgia moonlight
It's 8am and I've been drinking all night
But there is nothing I will not do to make it alright
She said 'we're open all night
so won't you come inside
It's gonna be alright...'



. . . And Margery - This one is a bit more wordy, but just absolutely beautiful as well. It reads like a poem. As a huge fan of Counting Crows I like to see these early personifications of names that will recur in songs over the next ten-plus years for the Crows (Margery and Anna). Here's partial lyrics. I started starring ** lines in this song and realized it would be every line, so just shush and listen to all of it. Ow, beautiful.


In still water she lies down
shaking through the press of sunlight
We rolled into Lexington
she shakes off a drop of daylight

Water beading off her chest
bleeding down between her knees
Rivers in Kentucky flow
beneath the bluegrass wavy seas

And oh, Margery
sticks the knife once more inside of me

. . .

Dust me off and shut me down
and dream of where I haven't been
Close the door inside my heart
And stuff in the south Atlantic wind

I have hollow eyes
haunting only to myself
Even so I can't stop carving,
scraping hollows in myself

I took the train from California
to the far side of the continent
Woke up in Kentucky
Where the wedding was about to end

I looked up at Anna
she turned back to look at me
It's best to kill the ones that matter
render blind the ones who see

But oh, Margery
takes the blade and walks away from me

Oh, Margery
love like blood is pouring out of me

Oh, Margery
my heart won't stop bleeding over me

Oh, I can't shut it in
it's got far too many doors to block the wind
Oh, I can't shut it in
it's got far too many doors to block the wind


Adam reveals that his favorite song on "our new album" (August and Everything After) is Perfect Blue Buildings, (which is a perfect, opalescent, unspoiled, melancholy gem in my book) because, as he says, "It will never be a single." Plus, the Van Morrison Caravan cover can't be beat. As Adam says, "This is our favorite song, period, and . . . we didn't write it. But I wish we did."

ENJOY, my friends. You are in for a huge treat.

Counting Crows
Live at the Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO
August 27, 1993

01. Intro
02. Round Here
03. Open All Night (unreleased)
04. Rain King
05. Time and Time Again
06. Margery (unreleased)
07. Anna Begins
08. Perfect Blue Buildings
09. Caravan (Van Morrison)
10. Murder of One
11. Sullivan Street

DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE SHOW AS A ZIP FILE HERE
(you need this whole set, not just as piecemeal, yo.)

Jeff Buckley channels Lady Day: Strange Fruit

Lovely reader Lisa, who is like my little Jeff Buckley drug-dealer appearing randomly with small packages of goodness to slip to me, sent me along the version he did of Strange Fruit that many of you were asking about after my recent post.

Lisa says, "I believe it was Billie that inspired Jeff's mournful, cutting, anguished version. This, in 1994, from a young 'white boy' from Southern California. He certainly could inhabit a song, couldn't he?"

[expired] Strange Fruit - Jeff Buckley
KCRW Man on the Moon, Jan 1994


Also, please anticipate that I will be entering into an even larger Jeff Buckley jag than usual, as I just bought the superb Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley (by David Browne, no relation) today. I just finished the introduction and already got a bit emotional in the bookstore. So this could be messy, but beautiful. Such is life.

World Music Wednesday

Aaaah, coffee. The beverage of the gods and the required kickstart for my days.

A nice atmospheric soundtrack to your morning java respite is the lovely Putumayo compilation entitled Music From The Coffee Lands: an aromatic blend representing Peru, Kenya, Hawaii, Uganda, Mexico, Colombia, Zimbabwe, and more. Sounds like . . .


Below The Bassline - by Jamaican jazzmaster Ernest Ranglin

Kothbiro - by Kenyan lyre (nyatiti) player Ayub Ogada. Haunting.

Soltarlo - jazzy acapella scatting and layered vocal "percussion" from Colombian singer/songwriter Claudia Gómez


The slack-key Hawaiian guitar piece by James "Bla" Pahinui and the feisty "Guajira Bonita" track by Julian Avalos & Afro-Andes that opens the CD are both also favorites of mine. Check this one out.



To learn more about where your favorite drink comes from, and to buy fair trade blends, check out Cafédirect.

Mike McCready on KROQ Monday: Pearl Jam news

Mike McCready, one of the god-like guitarists from Pearl Jam, did an interview on KROQ Radio this past Monday (3/27/06). Topics discussed include their new album, opening bands for the tour (Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth), the Surfrider Foundation, and the 30-50 odd songs that they have in their vaults that no one has heard. Mike also talks about how "rocking out is in [his] blood." Amen.

Listen to it here:

Mike McCready, KROQ Radio, 3/27/06 (mp3, about ten minutes)

Odds & ends

1) Where does he find all this stuff? Justin at Aquarium Drunkard has unearthed another Black Crowes lost album, this one even more rare: The Tall Sessions. Amazing. He puts my music-finding skills (skillz) to shame. GOOD stuff.

2) A nice little set of live songs to download here from Norwegian Sondre Lerche from 5/19/03.

3) The excellent Mr. Josh Ritter has announced some West Coast tour dates coming up in June. Mojo and Q Magazine both gave his new record The Animal Years 4 stars (April 11 release in the U.S.), and I still love the epic beauty in Thin Blue Flame.


4) This blog which looks startlingly identical to mine (but it's not) has another new track by The Streets, "You Can't Con an Honest Jon." Yeah, I do not care for this song (but you might). Oh and it starts out loudly and abruptly, so don't download it in your quiet cubicle at work and then go and embarrass yourself when it starts playing.


5) So I cannot listen to this without laughing, I just re-discovered it. It's a Jerky Boys comedy track: "I hit your restaurant!" This was one of the CDs my husband brought into our first home together, and we used to laugh and laugh over this even though it is admittedly lowbrow and, well, The JERKY BOYS. But we would lay in bed at night in the dark, and one of us would be almost asleep and one of us would go, "Ohhhhhhhhhh," (listen to 0:13 through 0:23 for reference). And then we'd just get the giggles all over again. Do you want to go to see The Lion King with me?

"Tarbash's Cab Trouble" - Jerky Boys


6) Eagles of Death Metal continue to make me laugh (and you're still rockin' out to that track I posted last week, aren't you? Don't deny it, it's okay). Even though this song is not as fabulous as the "I Like To Move in the Night," here is the video for their song "I Want You So Hard" (Quicktime required, or go here) Yep, that's Dave Grohl and Jack Black in it. And I kinda wish I had a guitar that could do that.


7) Blog, Blog Me Do is a Beatles blog. Who knew there was still enough fresh information & news about the Beatles to post several times daily? But this blog has a lot of cool obscure stuff on there; memorabilia, news, concert chronology, etc.


8) This just in: Top Ten Worst Albums EVER
(according to The Independent, with their comments IN ALL CAPS)

*Duran Duran: Thank You (pictured) "DOWNRIGHT INSULTING"
*Spice Girls: Any of their solo albums "WRETCHED"
*Various Artists: Urban Renewal "WORSE THAN THE ORIGINAL"
*Lou Reed: Metal Machine Music "TOSS"
*Billy Idol: Cyberpunk "RISIBLE"
*Naomi Campbell: Baby Woman "GOBSMACKING HUBRIS"
*Kevin Rowland: My Beauty "HIDEOUSLY MAWKISH"
*Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool "SOULLESS FUNK-ROCK"
*Westlife: Allow Us to Be Frank "AN UNCALLED-FOR MAULING"
*Tin Machine: Tin Machine II "A DISASTER"

Um, to that list I think I would add this gem. Why was it made? WHY?!


9) Jennings makes me laugh. He says the following about yours truly in his post tonight on The Replacements (with some GREAT bootleg stuff you should download post haste): "One last: Heather, who has kicked every bloggers' ass the past week or so, has more Replacements." At least I kick something! Thank ya sir!


10) Pete Doherty continues to implode. No surprises there. I can't figure out why everyone is still listening.


Finally, kids, today I surpassed 50,000 hits to this blog. I know some of you probably get that before your morning coffee, but that completely blows my mind -- something I certainly never expected when I started this happy experiment a few months back. I am glad you all like hearing my thoughts about music as much as I like thinking them. Here's to the next 50,000!

(Sort of) new from Matt Costa

I was a little confused when I read in the slew of new releases today that 23 year-old acoustic songster Matt Costa was listed as releasing his "new" album Songs We Sing, since this is, in fact, the same title & cover art as his mellow & pleasant independent 2005 release.

So, after some investigative sleuthing I have deduced that this is the re-release of his first album on Brushfire Records. It is apparently remastered, partially re-mixed and with a new track listing. So, if you've never checked him out before, now you can get the new improved version (and who, in today's consumer culture, doesn't like that?). See, you never even knew what you were missing.

One reviewer wrote, "Costa's songs hark back to an age when singer-songwriters were happy to perform, bare their souls and if anyone bought their records, well, that was jolly nice. Costa's output is emotive without being too... emotional, as on the heart-achingly beautiful 'Astair.' His layered vocal harmonies on tracks such as 'Sunshine' recall the halcyon days of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the boy can also rock, as on 'Sweet Thursday' or the mid-tempo'd and haunting 'Yellow Taxi.'"

I like this guy's sincere acoustic vibe. I featured "Sunshine" on a Monday Music Round-Up back in January. Here are live versions of 3 of the four new songs that are on the new release. These are from a great show at El Cid in Los Angeles on 8/7/05. It is soundboard quality, I do believe.


Sweet Thursday - Matt Costa

These Arms - Matt Costa

Ballad of Miss Kate - Matt Costa

Eels Tour & Free NYC Show

News from the 'ole inbox:
"EELS officially announce their 2006 NO STRINGS ATTACHED Tour with many new dates, starting with their traditional tour warm-up shows at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, May 25th & 26th, then winding through the west, midwest and northeast of the United States and Canada on their way to rock Europe for festival shows and more."

Free summertime show in New York City at the World Financial Plaza on June 13! You lucky ducks.

Cuddling in bed with E is probably optional.

May 25 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theater warm-up show
May 26 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theater warm-up show
May 27 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
May 28 Santa Ana, CA - The Galaxy Theater
May 31 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
June 1 Sacramento, CA - Harlows
June 3 Portland, CA - Roseland
June 4 Seattle, WA - Showbox Theater
June 6 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
June 7 Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
June 9 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue Theater
June 10 Pittsburgh, PA - Three River Arts Festival
June 11 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
June 12 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of the Living Arts
June 13 New York, NY - World Financial Plaza - Free show!
June 15 Somerville, MA - Somerville Theater
June 16 Montreal, QUE - Le Nacional
June 17 Toronto, ONT - Mod Club Theater
June 24 London, England - Hyde Park Wireless Festival
June 25 Leeds, England - Wireless Festival
June 26 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
June 28 Rouen, France - Exo 7
June 29 Paris, France - La Cigale
July 1 Rotterdam, Holland - Ahoy Open Air Festival
July 2 Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Festival
July 3 Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
July 4 Vienna, Austria - Flex
July 8 Kildare, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
July 9 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
August 5 Chicago, Illinois - Lollapalooza

LIVE DOWNLOADS
Here are two live Eels tracks, to get you in the mood. These are from the excellent KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic session last May:

Grace Kelly Blues (live) - Eels

Girl From the North Country (live, Dylan cover) - Eels

And one more, a bit more upbeat, from another session at KCRW:

Packing Blankets (live) - Eels


Oh and remember, as Steve Perry says (somewhat inexplicably), "E is real Ball-z."

Monday Music Roundup

This.
IIIIIIS.
Jeopardy!

So this is totally the week I qualify for Jeopardy in a shimmering haze of glory. Well, I mean, I'm gonna try with this online screening on Wednesday. Can't promise anything, but I do routinely impress the figurative pants off anyone watching it with me. Just ask my sister; it borders on abnormal. It's like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day ("What are the Finger Lakes?") - I love that movie. Now I've gone and set myself up, haven't I?

Okay...on with the music!

"Retreat"
The Rakes
This song is from The Rakes' first EP released state-side back in October, and also on their Capture/Release full-length album. I hear that they rocked SXSW, and are getting a lot of buzz for their (albeit becoming familiar) jittery Brit-pop sound. Nothing revolutionary, but quite fun. One gal who saw them in Austin said, "Equal parts updated Blur-pop and JCrew's autumn pullover collection, these savvy Brit rockers got the floor moving with their exuberant performances, and frontman Alan Donohoe has the best angular, nerdy dance moves since Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club."

"My Doorbell"
(White Stripes cover)
KT Tunstall
Scottish folk chanteuse/rootsy rocker KT Tunstall takes on Jack & Meg with really good results. Her thumping acoustic handclap-type guitar rock sound lends itself well to the bluesy groove of this track.



"Cold On Me"
Ringside
I have been meaning to write about these chaps for months now, ever since their self-titled debut album was the unofficial soundtrack of my summer. Now, I find it hard to wrap my mind around this, but half of this duo is actually Balthazar Getty (actor, currently playing reticent, mysterious new special agent on ALIAS). Whoa. Celebrity side-project or no, I like the clean sound and the melding of the electronica beats with an appealing guitar sound - the whole debut album is eminently fresh & listenable. Their sound may remind you of the band Phoenix, and the vocals remind me a bit of E from Eels. I did hear their excellent song "Struggle" in a car commercial, but let's ignore that. Get the album.


"It's Just A Thought"
Creedence Clearwater Revival
I found this lesser-known Creedence track on someone's celebrity playlist on iTunes and it's quickly become one of my favorites. It's honest and takes the classic Creedence sound to a bit slower, poppier level. I remember laughing when I first found it because whoever's playlist it was on (memory failing) said "This is more 'emo' than anything out there today." Ha. Fogerty as emo. It is a great song that I have listened to a hundred times since last year - it was part of my "May" playlist and it just evokes springtime for me. There's just something deeply good about CCR. From their 1986 album Chronicle Vol. 2.


"Storm-Broken Tree"
The White Birch
One of my lovely Italian readers, Fabio, sent me a bunch of good music, and said that this track by Norwegian trio White Birch reminded him of falling snow. The first thing I thought of when I listened to this hypnotic & relaxing piece was that it also reminded me of Sigur Ros, and a little of Radiohead. The restrained ambient disc Come Up For Air is their fifth release, and if you like it they have three other mp3s for free download on their website.


MOODY MONDAY BONUS (you are starting to expect these, aren't you?!) - great Elliott Smith video ("Say Yes") from what sadly was his last concert ever. Such a pretty song; he seems so introspective and inaccessible while he is singing it. Affecting. Thanks pal Chad!

Essential protest songs

Viva la power of music. That's the message behind the list of fourteen "Essential Protest Songs," put together by the American Sociological Association in the latest issue of the journal Contexts.

Here is the list of the 14 they came up with, reflecting a varied and long musical history. I appreciate how the list shows songs from many genres and time periods, and musicians of all stripes. You can listen to a selection of the song clips here. And if I were writing the list, I might also suggest the addition of Otis Redding singing "Change Is Gonna Come" (aching with festering oppression and a longing for a new day) and Marvin Gaye doing "Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)." How 'bout you - what suggestions would you add?

Their list reads:

“Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Lyrics by James Weldon Johnson; music by J. Rosamand Johnson. Key lyric: “We have come over a way that with tears has been watered / We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.” Known as the “Black National Anthem”—the antidote to “America, the Beautiful.”

“Which Side Are You On?” By Florence Reece. “Don’t scab for the bosses, don’t listen to their lies / Us poor folks haven’t got a chance unless we organize.” Written during the labor struggles in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the 1930s, it was later adopted by the civil rights movement.

“Pastures of Plenty.” By Woody Guthrie. “Every state in this union us migrants has been /‘Long the edge of your cities you’ll see us, and then / We’ve come with the dust and we’re gone in the wind.” Guthrie’s ode to America’s migrant workers.

“The Times They Are A-Changin’.” By Bob Dylan. “There’s a battle outside and it’s raging / It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.” Tough call between this and Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” “Masters of War,” “With God on Our Side,” etc., etc.

(MY NOTE: Speaking of Dylan and his protest anthems, I wanted to post something about "Masters of War." The first time I remember hearing it (in a backwards way, I know) when I was 13 or 14 when Ed Vedder performed it at Madison Square Garden in 1992 at a tribute to Bob Dylan. Some attendees remember Vedder's unbridled emotional performance as the highlight of all the performances that night. While Vedder and I have decided to an "agree to disagree" arrangement when it comes to many political issues, the power he injects into this song cannot be denied. He practically spits the lyrics. Because of Vedder, this was probably the first Dylan song I remember learning by heart.)

"Masters of War" (Dylan cover) - Ed Vedder, Mike McCready, and G.E. Smith. 10/16/92


Back to the list ...

“We Shall Overcome.”Adapted from a gospel song, the anthem of the civil rights movement. “Deep in my heart, I do believe / We shall overcome some day.” Infinitely adaptable.
“Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round.”Also adapted from a Negro spiritual. “I’m gonna keep on walkin’, keep on talkin’ / Fightin’ for my equal rights.” Another powerful civil rights anthem.

“I Ain’t Marching Anymore.” By Phil Ochs. “It’s always the old to lead us to the war / It’s always the young to fall / Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun / Tell me is it worth it all?” An antiwar classic, complete with a revisionist history of American militarism.

“For What It’s Worth.” Performed by Buffalo Springfield. By Stephen Stills. “There’s something happening here / What it is ain’t exactly clear / There’s a man with a gun over there / Telling me I’ve got to beware.” Eerily foreboding.

“Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud).” By James Brown. “Now we demand a chance to do things for ourself / We’re tired of beatin’ our head against the wall and workin’ for someone else.” A Black Power anthem by the Godfather of Soul.

“Respect.” Performed by Aretha Franklin. By Otis Redding. “I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone / Ain’t gonna do you wrong ‘cause I don’t wanna / All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you come home.” The personal is political.

“Redemption Song.” By Bob Marley. “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery / None but ourselves can free our minds.” Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” is also a contender.

“Imagine.” By John Lennon. “Imagine no possessions / I wonder if you can / No need for greed or hunger / A brotherhood of man.” Lennon as utopian socialist.

“Fight the Power.” By Public Enemy. “Got to give us what we want / Gotta give us what we need / Our freedom of speech is freedom or death / We got to fight the powers that be.” An exuberant hip-hop call to arms.


And the last one on their list is another one I want to talk about:

“Strange Fruit.” Performed by Billie Holiday. By Abel Meeropol. “Pastoral scene of the gallant south / The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.” A chilling protest against lynching. Maybe the greatest protest song of all time. Read all the lyrics here.

I've heard this song but never listened to it, you know? I didn't know it was about lynching. Being young enough that I tend to take for granted civil rights and human equality in this country, it really is chilling to the bone to concertedly listen to this song and to picture a time when the reality of life for a black person in the American South could be something altogether terrifying.

"Strange Fruit" - Billie Holiday (1939)

To me, the intro sounds tinny and redolent with sadness - like the soundtrack to an old black and white silent film, the accompaniment to a news reel showing black human beings strung up in trees. Billie's wavering voice is pregnant with sadness and suppressed anger. And I can only imagine what the reaction must have been when this song first came out, when people first heard it over their radio as they stood in their kitchen washing dishes, or when it came on as they drove along a dark highway at night. It is absolutely arresting when you actually listen to it.

When I read the Strange Fruit lyrics, they reminded me of a line from the rich Toni Morrison novel, Beloved. I'll give you the whole paragraph, because it is a resonant, poetic, sad picture (as is the whole book). Morrison's writing gives me chills, and this book is probably my favorite literary work to read in terms of style and depth. This passage is Sethe, an ex-slave, talking about a flashback to her days at Sweet Home, the plantation where she was enslaved:

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"And then sopping the chamomile away with pump water and rags, her mind fixed on getting every last bit of sap off -- on her carelessness in taking a shortcut across the field just to save a half mile, and not noticing how high the weeds had grown until the itching was all the way to her knees. Then something.

The plash of water, the sight of her shoes and stockings awry on the path where she had flung them; or Here Boy lapping in the puddle near her feet, and suddenly there was Sweet Home rolling, rolling, rolling out before her eyes, and although there was not a leaf on that farm that did not make her want to scream, it rolled itself out before her in shameless beauty.

It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves. Boys hanging from the most beautiful sycamores in the world. It shamed her -- remembering the wonderful soughing trees rather than the boys. Try as she might to make it otherwise, the sycamores beat out the children every time and she could not forgive her memory for that."

Recommended reading (and re-reading): Beloved, by Toni Morrison
(and please, I beg you, do not let the movie substitute for reading this stunner)

Keep on singing.

You want more Springsteen? Well bring it, baby. Bring it.

Wow, huge interest in that last Springsteen post - traffic set a new record for the Fuel blog. Thank you for all of your heartfelt comments, I am just glad to see that my emotional ramblings about beauty and madness made some sense to you as well, and that y'all understood the essence of what I was trying to say.

Oh, and how beautiful was that little Pearl Jam trio of songs? I loved 'em the best, Vedder's quavering and earnest renditions, especially of No Surrender, just get me.

Lots of you guys sent me tons of cool Bruuuce-related mp3s. So, here goes again, round two of covers with The Boss:

(LINKS RE-UPPED 11/17/06)

Rain King --> Thunder Road - Counting Crows (gorgeous!)

It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City - Bowie

I'm On Fire - Tori Amos

And then a slew from the UNCUT Springsteen covers CD (thanks Mike!) - Disc 1. Some of these are good, others are kind of ho-hum, pale imitations of the original, with all the soul sucked out of them, but you be the judge:


Thunder Road - Badly Drawn Boy
Atlantic City - The Band
Cover Me - Thea Gilmore
Streets of Philadelphia - Marah
Book of Dreams - Dion
Nebraska - Dan Bern
Tougher Than the Rest - The Mendoza Line
Racing in the Streets - Townes Van Zandt
I'm on Fire - Big Country
Stolen Car - Patty Griffin
For You - Greg Kihn
Jackson Cage - John Wesley Harding
Born to Run - Suzy Quatro
Fire - Link Wray
If I Should Fall Behind - Grant McLennan

Or, you can DOWNLOAD DISC 1 AS A ZIP FILE

CD 2 has Jesse Malin doing Hungry Heart (got it), Steve Earle doing "State Trooper," and The Knack with "Don't Look Back." Anyone have it?

And now I definitely feel done with Springsteen covers for a bit. I crave the original, the real thing.

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BONUS: Kevin Smith writes about his love of Bruce on his blog: "For years, I tried to deny the Boss – simply because I was a quietly rebellious Jersey lad who refused to dig on Bruce simply out of a sense of Central Jersey pride. But by the time I was twenty, I couldn’t escape the fact that I, too, dug Bruce." Read the whole excellent entry.
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No retreat, baby. No surrender.

Feelin' all limericky

You guys all rock. Thanks for making me laugh with all the great limericks submitted in my first Fuel Contest. The world would be a better place with more widespread use of rhythmically metered speech (but I guess that's what P Diddy has been trying to tell us all).

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! I wish you could all win (and I'd like to buy the world a Coke, I know, I know....)

My grand poobah victor who gets the Brandi Carlile CD was actually also the first limerick I received. Congratulations to Jethro at the Phidelity blog, straight outta New Hampshire. His submission made me laugh, it's relevant, and while it's not flawless in terms of the traditional limerick metering, it's apropos for us blog-lovers, so it takes the tops:

there once was a band called death cab for cutie
sufjan stevens, and the polyphonic spree
there was of montreal
and dashboard confessional
forgive me father..... i downloaded them all on mp3


My friend Heidi actually delivered this limerick gleefully in person late Wednesday night while she was out walking her dog ("was that someone knocking at the door?") so she gets bonus points for that, plus she is the one who used the word "ergo" AND her meter is impeccable. BUT if she won it all, I would fear cries of "nepotism!" and a rebellion on my hands, so she gets second prize and a Heather-made mix CD for this one:

In the musical climate we're in
So much of the story is spin
The issue, ergo
is my need to know
If Britney is knocked up again


And finally an honorable mention goes to Mr. Ekko of the Berkeley Place blog, who wrote me this sweet little reflective piece:

I cannot write a limerick
But I do feel really sick
ain't thinking of buyin'
any more Ryan
Cause Lost Highway records sucks dick


Aaah, poetry.

Jeff Buckley: Satisfied Mind (Live at the Knitting Factory)

Oh, it almost hurts:


That is one of my favorite songs that Jeff ever recorded (a raw and unfinished version appears on Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk), and is my favorite rendition of this song out of all the other artists who have also put their unique stamp on it. I love the way the bluesy guitar practically weeps, and how his voice soars and reverberates. The beauty in this song just kills me.

In the liner notes for My Sweetheart The Drunk, Bill Flanagan writes:
"Jeff's mother decided the end the album as Jeff's memorial service ended, with a tape of him singing 'Satisfied Mind.' It's a good reminder that music for Jeff was, more than anything else, a source of joy. These recordings capture him in all his talent and contradictions, full of life. Though the sadness of his death will never fade, his joy will still come through."

Am I actually posting on a band called Eagles of Death Metal?

(Yes, yes I am). Never thought I'd post on Eagles of Death Metal but, by gum, this is a perfect song for the weekend. As Bruce says, don't let The Darkness score all the points on irony.


"I Like To Move In The Night" - Eagles of Death Metal


I came across this yesterday via Ben at the Work For It blog and I was going to save it for the Monday Music Roundup, but this is SO NOT A MONDAY SONG. It's clearly a Friday song. Ben said: "goddamn, i love the eagles of death metal. i love the bluesy-rock sound that they absolutely nail perfectly without sounding fake. the track, 'i like to move in the night' is a phenomenally well put together track. it's got a very sexy rock and roll sound to it that is hard to come by without sounding sleazy. i can imagine myself listening to this album in the summer, shitfaced, in my backyard, grilling up some burgers."

As for me, it makes me want to strut around like Mick Jagger or something, and shake it. It has a sexy, killer, swaggering riff that has Stones written all over it, a driving drumbeat out in front, and the vocals remind me some of the falsetto panache of The Scissor Sisters. This is a great track, although I couldn't listen to this kind of stuff all the time or my head might start to swim with all the testosterone. But come on. There's even cowbell.

From their upcoming album Death By Sexy (yes seriously), to be released 4/11/06 on Downtown Records. They are currently on tour with The Strokes.

Kevin of So Much Silence has another track of theirs, "Don't Speak (I Came To Make A Bang)," over at his site if you like 'em. And Travis at Medication has two tracks: "I Gotta Feeling, Just Nineteen" and "Cherry Cola" (Sample lyric: "I can be your daddy, be your rock and roll-a, you can be my sugar, be my cherry cola").

Travis says of the band: "Turn these jams on anywhere and you've got yourself an instant party. It practically tears people's clothes off and it even makes me (almost) wanna dance (and I don't f*ckin' dance man) . . . like Jon Spencer if he wasn't a total fun vacuum."

Happy rawkin' this weekend. Sunshine is finally coming to Colorado and the BBQ will be fired up!

A weem-o-way, a weem-o-way

I thought this was an interesting article. I know a lot of music historically has been ripped off of the original authors, esp. African Americans, whether we are talking the Lion Sleeps Tonight or blues or rock 'n' roll that was re-recorded by white artists. It's good to see it being addressed, thanks to an investigative exposé by Rolling Stone. I find it to be a fascinating bit of music history:

Women win battle in 'Lion Sleeps' case
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Three impoverished South African women, whose father wrote the song known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, have won a six-year battle for royalties in a case that could affect other musicians. The story surrounding the song that never seems to go out of date amounts to a rags-to-riches tale, replete with racial overtones.

No one is saying how many millions will go to the daughters of the late composer Solomon Linda, who died in poverty from kidney disease in 1962 at age 53. But the family's settlement last month with New York-based Abilene Music gives Linda's heirs 25% of past and future royalties and has broad implications.

Linda composed his now-famous song in 1939 in one of the squalid hostels that housed black migrant workers in Johannesburg. According to family lore, he wrote the song in minutes, inspired by his childhood tasks of chasing prowling lions from the cattle he herded. He called the song Mbube, Zulu for lion.

It was sung, in true Zulu tradition, a cappella. Linda's innovation was to add his falsetto voice, an overlay of haunting "eeeeeees," to the baritone and bass main line. To this day, this style is called Mbube in South Africa. The song sold more than 100,000 copies over a decade, probably making it Africa's first big pop hit.

In the 1950s, at a time when apartheid laws robbed blacks of negotiating rights, Linda sold worldwide copyright to Gallo Records of South Africa for 10 shillings — less than $1.70.

The song became one of the best known songs in the world as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, attributed to George Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. American singer Pete Seeger adapted a version that he called "Wimoweh," making it a folk music staple.

Owen Dean, South Africa's leading copyright lawyer, argued successfully for Linda's family that under the British Imperial Copyright Act of 1911, which was in force in South Africa at the time Linda composed his song, all rights revert to the heirs, who are entitled to renegotiate royalties. "Now the way has been shown," Dean told The Associated Press. "Others in similar circumstances can fight such injustice, and I have no doubt that there are other people in this position." The 1911 act affects all countries that were part of the British Empire at that time — a third of the world.

It remains to be seen how the settlement with Abilene, which holds the copyright to the popular songs that grew from Linda's composition, will affect his family. Abilene couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Kevin Chang, a Jamaican reggae expert, said the case means that "musicians living in poverty, and other artists, may finally be rewarded for their work." Chang believes the decision could be applied to an ongoing British court case in which Carlton Barrett of Bob Marley and the Wailers is suing Marley's estate for royalties, arguing songs he co-authored are being credited only to Marley.

Websites list hundreds of versions of the Lion, including many top of the pops over the years. Folk, swing, minstrel, big band, reggae and R&B versions have been sung over the years. The New Zealand Army had it as a favorite tune for a while. The song's captivating rhythm poured from the soundtrack in Disney's blockbuster musical The Lion King— one of at least 15 movies in which it's been featured.

"The musical was netting millions of dollars and Solomon Linda's daughters were trying to survive as domestic servants, not earning enough to feed their families," Dean told the AP. Along the way, the song is said to have earned some US$15-million in royalties - but not for Linda. The musician died in 1962 with less than R100 in his bank account. His widow couldn't afford a headstone for his grave.

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Also, read this longer, riveting take on the same story from the SouthAfrica.Info page, and here is one example of the song's varied appeal:

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight (live)" - R.E.M.

What a great tune, another one that you can't be unhappy while listening to. It makes me feel like I should be heading off to summer camp in a hot car with sticky, sweaty vinyl seats, singing at the top of my voice with the windows down.

Contest reminder: DO it

Hey guys, if you were going to try your hand at limericking for the Brandi Carlile CD, today is the last day to do so. Please submit a limerick to me about "the current state of music," however you define that, and at the end of today I will pick a winner (but you are ALL winners inside). Gotten some good submissions so far, both by commenting and through email (either is OK) - including one with use of the word "ergo" which is pretty much the most under-used excellent little word ever.

"A Short List of Records My Father Threatened to Break Over My Head If I Played Them One More Time"

One of the most enjoyable books I've ever come across is A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. I tore through it, often laughing OUT LOUD in inopportune public places (you know, when you are reading something funny and you kind of guffaw and then catch yourself, stifle the laugh, and look around to see if anyone is watching?).

It's hard to explain what it is about, because it is really just what the subtitle says: "Growing Up Small In Mooreland, Indiana." It's an autobiographical collection of impressions, moments, memories, funny stories, dares, characters, struggles, and ephemera from the childhood of a unique & hilarious girl (nicknamed Zippy) as she goes about her days in the late '60s/early '70s in a very small town. Sounds like a totally touchy-feely Babysitters' Club premise for a book, right? But it is intelligent, well-written (she really captures the voice and the perception of herself at 7 or 8), emphatically NOT-schmaltzy, and funny as all get out. And also shreddingly poignant at times when you least expect it.

I am currently ripping through her follow-up novel, She Got Up Off The Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana, and laughing just as much. I recommend both very highly - after I read Zippy, I bought like 7 copies and gave them out like manna from Heaven to my friends and family. Here is an excerpt from She Got Up Off The Couch.

I love lists, especially lists about music:


A Short List of Records My Father Threatened to Break Over My Head If I Played Them One More Time

1. "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," by Paul Simon.
You need only to listen to this song once to realize it is the greatest work of genius since "Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler)"; by The Playmates. Also it provides a person with the bonus of rewriting the chorus 700 times a day. For instance, a girl might say, "I'm ridin' my bike, Mike," or "I'm goin' to my sister's, Mister." She could also string together many sentences, as in, "I'm feelin' sad, Dad. Maybe you could get me some candy, Randy. Don't be such a slob, Bob, just listen to me."

2. "Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler)," by The Playmates.
A morality tale about a little car, a Cadillac, and a transmission problem. This song brilliantly gains momentum, and is sung faster and faster right up to the hysterical ending. Could be sung in the truck so frantically the father in question would sometimes have to stick his head out the window while praying aloud.

3. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," by Elton John.
I understand only one line of this song: "And butterflies are free to fly, fly away." The rest is completely lost on me. I assumed the British did not speak English, which was a puzzle as they were sometimes referred to as the English. Not understanding the lyrics required me to listen to the song hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, filling in with nonsense words, which my sister said made me look oxygen deprived and sad.

4. "Somewhere They Can't Find Me," by Simon & Garfunkel.
In addition to "50 Ways To Leave your Lover," this was probably my most obvious theme song. It could have been written for me. The singer has done something terrible and now his only option is to sneak away: "Before they come to get me I'll be gone, somewhere they can't find me." Oh, indeed. How very, very true.

5. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by the Osmonds, featuring Donny Osmond.
A lie, as anyone who knew my brother could attest. But if it was sung by Donny Osmond I could try to believe. I wanted to believe. This was a favorite to play not at top volume in my bedroom, but downstairs on the stereo that was shaped, improbably, like a Colonial desk. I liked to sing along with Donny (we had the same voice) while simultaneously pretending to draft a version of the Bill of Rights, using a fake quill pen. (In truth, a turkey feather.) This was a combination of activities my father found interesting, blasphemous, and wrong.

6. "Along Comes Mary," by The Association.
A wordy song. A wordy, psychedelic song, the meaning of which has never been determined by humans. Tailor-made for me. From the beginning, the song's just one long puzzle. "Every time I think that I'm the one who's lonely someone calls on me." Who? (Mary, my sister would explain through clenched teeth. Yes, but Mary who?) What follows is so unusual it doesn't bear repeating, although I most assuredly could.

7. "I Started A Joke," by The Bee Gees.
Again, a world-class head-scratcher. He started a joke, and it started the whole world crying. I sensed astonishing depth in the Bee Gees' lyrics, and also were they all boys? Including the one with the Bugs Bunny teeth? Was she truly never funny and that's why the world wept? I knew people like that. Later in the song one of them, a Bee or a Gee, begins to cry and gets the whole world laughing, so everything turns out fine in the end. (An additional work of genius is "The Lights Went Out In Massachusetts." Massachusetts: A state? A prison? Dad was silent on the issue.)

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Buy A Girl Named Zippy here and She Got Up Off The Couch here, or visit your local library. (Ooh! I feel so Reading Rainbow! LeVar Burton would be proud - These are books you might enjoy, but you don't have to take MY word for it!).

Unreleased Black Crowes album at Aquarium Drunkard

Aquarium Drunkard, as usual, rocks my face off. He's got a "lost" Black Crowes album, The Band, from 1997 up on his site. Some good, good stuff. He says:

"The Black Crowes' lost album The Band (aka Meet The Band) recorded in Atlanta in 1997, was to be the follow-up to Three Snakes & One Charm. Mixed and sequenced, it was shelved and Crowes released By Your Side in it's stead. One listen and it is evident The Band is twice the Crowes experience By Your Side is. Crowes fans take note: I consider this album practically in the same realm of quality as Southern Harmony and Amorica."

These have been floating around since 2002, but if you don't have these tracks head on over there to download:
"Never Forget This Song"
"Smile"
"Paint An 8"
"Another Roadside Tragedy"
"If It Ever Stops Raining"
"My Heart's Killing Me"
"Predictable"
"OK By Me"
"Wyoming & Me"
"Lifevest"
"Only A Fool" (I love this song!)

Oh, also, he has a jubilant Replacements post in which he uses the phrase "burst into rock & roll flames," which I think is a pretty apt description.

Have fun!

Let's Shack up

Nice little tune I want to share with you guys. Actually, it's a racy little song, wrapped up in elegant retro brass and pleasant singsong harmonies. So you'd never know unless you really listen, which makes it all the more devious.

The band is called Shack, and they are from Liverpool. Formed by brothers Mick & John Head from the ashes of indie-pop cult-favorite the Pale Fountains, Shack has had a long & rocky 20 years of making music, including a studio fire in 1991 that burned their master tapes for their sophomore album Waterpistol. According to NME, their fourth studio album (The Corner Of Miles And Gil) is due May 15 on Noel Gallagher’s Sour Mash label.

Called a "deep guitar-soul classic – all kaleidoscopic melody and jazzy, dreamscape trumpets," I dig the sound. First single ‘Tie Me Down’ is all about restraint techniques in a sexual relationship, which is always a nice departure from the socially accepted and publicly-discussed norms (ha!). Shack supported Oasis in February 2006 at several of their arena shows. Be their MySpace friend and check out their other site as well if you are hankering to learn more. And if you are in London, they are having a free gig next week (29 March), details in the News section of their site.

"Tie Me Down" - Shack

"And Dad's in the Navy, so use the granny knots next time."
Funniest lyric ever?

"I wrote this today. It probably sucks."

We can all admit that there's just something exciting and memorable about The First Time.

Here is an mp3 of the first performance of "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams on Valentine's Day 2000 (how appropriate) in Seattle. Thanks to Jon for posting it.

This initial unveiling is acoustic & emotional, pre-harmonica, and with different lyrics throughout.

Missing are the lyrics:
When you're walking downtown
Do you wish I was there?
Do you wish it was me?

With the windows clear
And the mannequins' eyes
Do they all look like mine?

Glad he added those later because they are crystalline and scathing in their imagery, a few of my favorites (in a long line).

Come Pick Me Up (acoustic/first performance) - Ryan Adams

And another BONUS for you dear reader, since we are on topic: A tune called "The Battle" written by Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown co-conspirator Caitlin Cary for her album While You Weren't Looking (2002).

This was featured on a limited-issue bonus disc. Man, they harmonize in a such a sublime way together, don't they? Thanks to Tongue-Tied Lightning for the track.


The Battle - Caitlin Cary and Ryan Adams


Word.

The only important thing these days is rhythm and melody, rhythm and melody

Hey - that's catchy!!

Dance Hall Hips posted this Postal Service remix of Feist's Mushaboom, which I know, practically every blog I've been to lately seems to be talking about in one way or another, but it's dang catchy and I thought I'd share. I like the way the beat skitters along. You'll dig it.


Mushaboom (Postal Service remix) - Feist

The great Elizabethtown road trip

So I finally got around to watching Elizabethtown. I had been hearing about this ever since, oh, last August, all about how Ryan Adams had a bunch of music in it, blah, blah, blah. And then I remembered in a flash of glee that my Uncle Dave used to be the big impressive principal at E-Town High School (as those of us in-the-know call it), so I was doubly excited.

Turns out my anticipation was for no good reason. The movie is tolerable, its salvation largely being the soundtrack, and also because Cameron Crowe just *knows* how to make a movie. I mean, all the elements are there - adversity of mythic proportions, family illness, quirky relatives, and even a perky love interest who shows no end to the depth of her random comments and bed-a-bility. What's not to like? Well, the low point for me in the movie = Susan Sarandon tap dancing. Well, most of it was really speedy tap-dancing because it was on fast forward. Holy Moses. Did I mention it was at a memorial service? There was some poignant sighing in the crowd, some tears for the exuberant display of LIFE in the face of DEATH --- aaaaand we're done. No.

While most of the movie was drivel, and even a little annoying (his sister in the film was unworthy of the name Heather because she bugged the crap out of me), the best part of the movie was absolutely the last 20 minutes where lead guy sets out on a roadtrip with many CD mixes made by aforementioned perky love interest girl to accompany his every vista and curve in the road. Also included with the CDs is a heavy-handed and, let's face it, unrealistic handmade "roadmap"/scrapbook that I kept thinking she would have NO time to make, what with the rigors of flight attending, talking to lead guy on the phone at all hours of the night, painting her toenails, apparently knitting her own hats, and just generally being adorable (which is hard work, let me tell you).

But what this roadtrip was really about for me was the glimpse it offered into the always fascinating musical mind of Cameron Crowe, who undoubtedly is THE best soundtracker in the known world. One reviewer referred to it as "Crowe's gold-standard back catalog tastes," and that is exactly what he has. I want to be his friend so we can ride around in his car and listen to his iPod on random. That would be fun.

The best part about the last 20 minutes was not just hearing Crowe's mixes and feeling the flow, but also seeing what images he chose to juxtapose alongside those songs. It tapped into my unfulfilled dormant desire to have an epic road trip with The Perfect Soundtrack to accompany all the amazing things I was seeing. Like I've said before, I wish my life had a soundtrack. This is pretty close. Here are a few gems I enjoyed, either played or mentioned in that poetic and sprawling segment:

That's Life - James Brown
(first song of the journey - I love how it starts out with the trademark James Brown "Hey!" and then a little "Unh!" and a "One more for the road!")

Don't I Hold You - Wheat
("Some music just needs air. Roll down your windows.")

Words - Ryan Adams
(right after lead guy drives across the Mississippi and there is a mention of Jeff Buckley. Also notable is the use of 'English Girls Approximately' at the Farmer's Market - I absolutely LOVE that song and was stoked to hear it in a movie)

Sugar Blue - Jeff Finlin
(singin' about stuff like the "raven's song that breaks the night" - lovely and rough-sounding)

Salvador Sanchez - Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon
(scrawled in the scrapbook list of songs, but I don't think it was played in the movie itself?)


Now where are my car keys?

Odds & ends

1) Traversing along on his musical journey across the 50 States, the Trees Lounge blog has a TON of tunes about everyone's favorite island paradise, Hawaii, just in time for Spring Break. Do the hula with Brian Wilson, The Breeders, Ray Charles, The Cramps, and The Red Elvises singing their Hawaiian Dancing Song. Oh, it's in Russian (I think). Cheeseball Vegas deluxe = fabulous.

2) The new Josh Rouse is available NOW on eMusic (in advance - it's actually released next Tuesday) and it's great. I really dig "Summertime" (can't wait to listen to this in the sunshine), "His Majesty Rides," and the harmonies on "It Looks Like Love" are one step away from celestial. Definitely one to buy.

3) Radiohead & Thom Yorke (solo) are scoring films now, contributing music to the new Richard Linklater movie. And Yorke has a solo album coming out.

4) This is pretty cool: Said The Gramophone has invited modern artist Katy Horan to create images inspired by her favorite music. This is her impression of Ryan Adams' lovely rolling twangy ode to the restlessness of the soul, "Let It Ride." I think she captures it.

5) Speaking of Señor Ryan Adams, I was stoked to find the New Year's Eve show he did with Phil Lesh in San Francisco is up on the Live Music Archive in its entirety. Select beauts are
"Peaceful Valley" and "Stella Blue."

6) If you are perchance an uber-nerd like me, you might like this awesome, awesome PBS series about famous world dynasties. I got the DVD set as a Christmas gift from my hubby, and I was telling him last night that I think it is one of THE best gifts I've ever gotten. Yeah, wow. Hip, I know.

We watched the one on the Medici Family last night, all about Florence, where I studied abroad and lived for the best 4 months of my life. It was amazing to me to see all this history come to "life" on these recreations on the streets where I literally lived and walked on a daily basis. I was yelling at the TV, "I totally walked by there on my way to school each day!" It made my heart thump a bit faster. The 5 disc collection includes The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, The Roman Empire in the First Century, Egypt's Golden Empire, Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire, and The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. I am just a big history dork, apparently. But this stuff gets me excited. Uh, yah.

7) This just in: Rivers Cuomo to wed Kyoko Ito. Mmmm, makes me want to sing a little El Scorcho. I guess he was serious when he sang, "God damn you half-Japanese girls . . . do it to me every time..." (one of my favorite Weezer songs).

8) Finally, I know this made the rounds a few weeks ago, but I never took the time to watch it: Natalie Portman as Badass Rapper on Saturday Night Live: "Leave you screamin, pay for my dry cleanin!" - instant classic! Side note: what's up with the bridge from the Viking (Samberg)? Fabulous. Let's all wear Viking hats (that was my high school mascot so it reminds me of homecoming, et al).

As for Natalie, this is a far cry from her heartfelt portrayal of a dancing elephant with Elmo on Sesame Street.


Yeah, that was great.

Sharpen your pencils: It's time for a contest!

So, brain-dead me forgot that Brandi Carlile's promo folks were going to send me a copy of her stunning debut solo CD. I just got so dang riled up at the show that I went ahead and plunked down my scrilla and bought me a copy (which I have been enjoying ever since and wowing all of my friends, who say, "Who IS that?!").

But it is to your distinct benefit, because now I have an extra copy, and you have a chance to win this excellent CD.

Your mission is simple: Write me a limerick in the comments (or email me) about the state of music today (however you want to interpret that) by this Friday. Whichever one I like best will get the CD in their mailbox, once I can dig out of the snowdrifts currently surrounding my house. Make me laugh, think, cry, shudder. Dig?

PS - I know this is Brandi Carlile Central around here lately on the Fuel blog. You love it.

Now get to writing!

Monday Music Roundup

So, back from a long snow weekend with the gals, I am wishing you all a Happy First Day of Spring! Unfortunately, Colorado did not get the memo, and this is what I awoke to this morning:

As gorgeous as the falling snow is, I think I am ready for the ice to be gone. Over the weekend I was sitting in the hot tub with my friends (looking at the beautiful and dramatic mountains in the moonlight) and as I tried to run back into the lodge barefoot (it was freezing once you get out of the water! and I was wet!) I did an elaborately choreographed (and almost comical) fall down a few steps after I slipped on the copious ice. So I am all scraped and bruised on the skin that was bare. No more ice! Bring on the Spring, says me! Egad, if I keep pulling these slip & fall deals, what will happen to your musical consumption? For the love of all things holy, I think I need to be more careful. Ghastly bruises.

And, sorry, we are temporarily goin' ole school today with uploads to Savefile (right click, open in new window for most links) since EZArchive bastards seem to be taking the morning off. 3pm: It's fixed now, they are direct links.

Crack The Whip
The Spinto Band
Pitchfork's description of this song, by current Arctic Monkeys tour opener The Spinto Band, caught my attention: "Four-on-the-floor 'Crack the Whip' lashes the make-up alternapop zeitgeist, whippin' the Killers at their own neu-dance-wave game before ascending to a gates-of-heaven Beach Boys chorus like this was the Biblical, non-DFA Rapture." That is one of the best-written music review sentences I have read in a while, and I am digging the song in a big way. These guys just rocked SXSW from what I hear. Check out their 2005 release Nice and Nicely Done.


Skinny Boy
Amy Millan
The female-vocals half of fabulously harmonic & smooth Canadian pop band Stars, Amy Millan is releasing a solo album May 30 called Honey From The Tombs. Any album title with the word honey in it is apt for Ms. Millan, since that is usually the word that comes to mind when I hear her lush voice. This song treads familiar Stars ground, with a bit more acoustic touch. I like the way she wraps her voice around the lyric "You've got lips I could spend the day with."


Futures
Zero 7 Featuring José González
The layered electronica sound of Garden-State-darlings Zero 7 ("In The Waiting Line") meet the breathy vocals and gently plucking guitar of Argentinian folkster José González in this pleasing track off the vinyl 7" and 12" limited-run single. The song is from the upcoming Zero 7 release The Garden. Thanks to Connor for tracking this one down, I really like it. Downtime bliss.


The Shining (Capitol K Mix)
Badly Drawn Boy
Funny, I just accidentally typed "Badly Drawn Boi" instead of Boy. No, that would be Avril, who we don't support here (sorry grrrls). I wonder if I hate the word "boi" or "grrrl" more. Tough call. ANYWAY, so this is a sonic assault best listened to on headphones as the remix takes you through dark layers of this song, a thousand miles from the relaxing orchestration of the original. Fascinating. It sounds like the soundtrack to a jerky David Lynch-type film vignette meets Sigur Ros-type atmosphere. From the 2000 remix EP Once Around The Block, Pt. 1.


Always On My Mind
Iron & Wine with Calexico
So, I just "found" this on my iPod, although I've had it for a few months (from their excellent appearance on NPR's All Songs Considered). I somehow hadn't listened to it yet. So I was quite excited to hear this lapping-ocean-tide reinterpretation of the classic made popular by Elvis and Willie Nelson. A touch of slide guitar, Sam Beam's soft and relaxing vocals, and it's an earnestly-sung treat. I think I originally got this off the excellent So Much Silence blog, which, paradoxically, is always giving me good gems to fill the silence.


And you, lucky reader, you get THREE bonuses this morning. First off a kind reader ripped me this mp3 of Brandi Carlile singing Hallelujah from that KCRW stream. So now you can have it on mp3. I got a great response to my posts about her, seems like many of you have been as blown away as I was by this talented gal.

Also, Chad has a simply lovely cover of Norah Jones singing Patsy Cline (with a hot bass line addition), and Aquarium Drunkard has a hilarious post with a little love advice for the non-slick (and a stomach-turning tounge-kiss photo of everyone's favorite ex-VP).

Have fun, champs.

All the redemption I can offer girl is beneath this dirty hood

I am an admittedly late convert to anything having to do with Springsteen, and I am still far from a hardcore fan, but I do deeply appreciate a well-written lyric and this man practically drowns in well-written lyrics that just make me ache. I had kind of dismissed him from a dim memory growing up from the Dancing in the Dark video (you know, that one with Courteney Cox) and just left it at that.

UNTIL I really listened to this amazing, amazing live version of Born to Run that I accidentally downloaded on iTunes when I meant to get something else. It's stripped down with a haunting harmonica and words sung like he feels every ounce of the sadness and the madness. Man alive, I understood what my friend meant when he said it was a song with funeral playability. Something about the lyrics and the way they capture the passion and the hot-bloodedness of being young and feeling the fire & desperation in your veins.

Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
(off Chimes of Freedom)
If you've written Springsteen off in the past, please listen to this. Eyes closed is best. And the lyrics? Ridiculously evocative, especially the way he sings them here.

"Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
strap your hands across my engines."

or

"The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss."

or how 'bout,

"Together we could live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul."


Nick Hornby says exactly what I want to say when I listen to certain gorgeous Springsteen songs that just focus on the incredible imagery and songwriting and the sense of a shot at redemption. From Hornby's excellent Songbook (required reading):

"…Sometimes, very occasionally, songs and books and films and pictures express who you are, perfectly. And they don't do this in words or images, necessarily; the connection is a lot less direct and more complicated than that. . . . Some time in the early to mid-eighties, I came across another version of [Thunder Road], a bootleg studio recording of Springsteen alone with an acoustic guitar (it's on War And Roses, the Born To Run outtakes bootleg); he reimagines 'Thunder Road' as a haunting, exhausted hymn to the past, to lost love and missed opportunities and self-delusion and bad luck and failure . . . In fact, when I try to hear that last line of the song in my head, it's the acoustic version that comes first. It's slow, and mournful, and utterly convincing: an artist who can persuade you of the truth of what he is singing with either version is an artist who is capable of an awful lot.

. . . One of the great things about the song as it appears on Born To Run is that those first few bars, on wheezy harmonica and achingly pretty piano, actually sound like they refer to something that has already happened before the beginning of the record, something momentous and sad but not destructive of all hope; as 'Thunder Road' is the first track on side one of Born To Run, the album begins, in effect, with its own closing credits. In performance at the end of the seventies, during the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour, Springsteen maximized this effect by segueing into 'Thunder Road' out of one of his bleakest, most desperate songs, 'Racing In The Street', and the harmonica that marks the transformation of one song into the other feels like a sudden and glorious hint of spring after a long, withering winter. On the bootlegs of those seventies shows, 'Thunder Road' can finally provide the salvation that its position on Born To Run denied it.

Maybe the reason 'Thunder Road' has sustained for me is that, despite its energy and volume and fast cars and hair, it somehow manages to sound elegiac, and the older I get the more I can hear that. When it comes down to it, I suppose that I too believe that life is momentous and sad but not destructive of all hope, and maybe that makes me a self-dramatizing depressive, or maybe it makes me a happy idiot, but either way 'Thunder Road' knows how I feel and who I am, and that, in the end, is one of the consolations of art."

Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
(acoustic, off War and Roses)

**************************************************************
Anyway, so the impetus for this long and rambling post came from a reader from the lovely campus of Stanford University (the less well-known ugly stepsister to the illustrious Santa Clara University just down the road) who asked me if I had any other good Springsteen covers to post (following the Stars one and the Pete Yorn one).

Why yes, yes I do.

You're Missing - Cowboy Junkies
From their really good 2005 album Early 21st Century Blues out on Zoe Records. This is a collection of reinvented covers from original artists like John Lennon, U2, Springsteen, and George Harrison. I very much like their reinterpretations, with the evocative strings and lazy vocals, which still pack a sadness-drenched punch.

Mansion On A Hill - David Gray
Live from 4/14/2001. Enough said about David Gray - except I love him. But you knew that.

Thunder Road - Matt Nathanson
Live at the Fillmore 11/7/02. The always fabulous-in-concert Mr. Nathanson has a live album coming out April 4th: Live at The Point. But this song isn't on it.

No Surrender - Pearl Jam
Live at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City 9/30/05
Okay, one of my favorite covers EVER. It is incrediby pure and urgent and wavering -- fantastic. Listen to the crowd start in with the "Bruuuuuuuuce" as soon as Vedder says he wants to play something "appropriate for our location this evening."

Atlantic City - Pearl Jam
Live at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City 10/1/05

The Promised Land - Pearl Jam with Sleater-Kinney
Live in Philly 10/3/05

Thunder Road - Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
From the 2006 album The Brave and The Bold. I don't understand the naming of the musicians here, but I liked this cover a lot more than I thought I would. The intro is a bit jarring, but the meat of it is grooving and bluesy.


In closing, if there is a nicer mental image than these lyrics (that open Thunder Road), I am not sure what it is:

"The screen door slams - Mary's dress waves - Like a vision she dances across the porch - As the radio plays - Roy Orbison singing for the lonely - Hey that's me and I want you only . . ."

It's always the right time for a little Stones, I say

With spring coming, thoughts universally turn to love (or something like that). My friend says that this is the ultimate wedding song, and gents, good luck trying to convince your lovely ladies you should be walking down the aisle to this -

"Loving Cup" - The Rolling Stones

I have to admit, them's some hot & lovely lyrics.

Lollapalooza in August

So, the Lollapalooza lineup was announced today (and apparently I missed this news last year, but it is just a three-day festival in August in Chicago now, instead of the touring fiesta that it used to be in the days of yore). It's pretty dang sweet, lots of acts I would love to see. How's this for a partial lineup?

Ryan Adams
The Raconteurs
The Shins
Sonic Youth
Eels
Stars
Nada Surf
The Hold Steady
The Redwalls
The M's
Matt Costa

You can see the full list here. Hoo-wah.

As exciting as this lineup sounds, I jointly wish that I could have gone to the epic, epic 1992 Lollapalooza tour: Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Porno for Pyros, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine...Or how about the year before with Nine Inch Nails & Rollins Band? It's funny how musical tastes change though. As many times as I have repeated that above lineup over the years with the wish that I could have been there, for where I am right now musically, the 2006 lineup sounds more exciting to me. Maybe because it is fresher & people I largely have not seen before.

I would consider a trip to Chicago, could be a fun early birthday excursion. I got a $400 travel voucher on Frontier Airlines for a cancelled flight last month. But then again, I have seriously learned my lesson of never to travel to see Ryan Adams because it seems like he will cancel everytime. It's a hex. What is a girl to do? Anyone else going?

World Music Wednesday

A million thanks to my Mexico City reader Mario for sending me some interesting stuff that is going on south of the border (where I wish I was heading for Spring Break like all you wild young'uns still in college). I was surprised at the depth and variety of the stuff he sent me, I will freely admit to having incorrect and one-dimensional mariachi stereotypes of Mexican music. I am now enlightened and am so enjoying this look at the music of the modern Mexican scene.

Mario writes to me:

"I would like to recommend some music from our local Rock Scene (well, I have to confess, they are from all Mexico, but our "scene" is still wearing diapers)…

Zoe. These guys are from Guadalajara - Jalisco, a state full of beautiful women and the cradle of all the “charro” culture, but this guys are have more influence from Blur, Placebo or The Pixies…if you want to know more about them check their site: www.zoetheband.com

Peace and Love - Zoe

Austin TV. Originally they were a rock-punk band, but they’ve changed their musical style… becoming an instrumental band. As they say, “We try to create a different style of music, taking as influence all the beautiful music we have the opportunity to listen to.”… Nowadays they sound more like a “dream-pop” band. www.austintv.org

Ella No Me Conoce - Austin TV
Olvide Decir Adios - Austin TV

Goma. A guy from Culiacán-Sinaloa…He is the spearhead of the lo-fi movement in Mexico. He says, “Goma's my nick name. In Spanish it means gum or gel or eraser. I've been called Goma by my friends since kindergarten. My parents never call me Goma, they don't like it. They like my name José Gabriel…”

Still I Wake Up In The Morning Thinking of You - Goma
(highly recommended!)

La Live Band. They are noisy, they are nasty… and one of the most energetic live bands I had ever seen… their site is still under heavy construction: http://www.happyfi.com/laliveband/

Baby Baby Baby - La Live Band
(what a great, fun song, slightly retro feel)

Los General Electrics. Yes, I know… They sound like Massive Attack. I like them and they are very easy going guys, as is their music." www.myspace.com/losgeneralselectrics

Un Minuto Para Evacuar - Los General Electrics
(makes me feel like I am floating)

Muchas gracias, señor Mario. It's all eminently listenable, hip stuff. I appreciate hearing something new.

Odds & ends

a) World Music Wednesday is actually ready and sitting on the shelf as I await the recovery of a few songs that I accidentally deleted. Dah! So probably tomorrow.

b) And now, a dispatch from Jerry's Yeti Cave: Play PONG with The Boy Least Likely To. Yeah, let's rock it old school style, like it's 1985. I laughed out loud from the sheer enjoyability factor of this one.

c) It's like some joke from Strange Brew gone awry. Not that I would complain. Gives new meaning to the words "beer on tap."

d) Offer a salute to Captain Funk himself with this tribute post to Sly Stone, with two great tracks for download ("Frisky" and "In Time"). It's Sly's birthday. Give him a little love.

e) Mason Jennings has a new song which I just listened to a snippet of on iTunes from his upcoming album Boneclouds, to be released on May 16. The first single, "Be Here Now," is available now at online music stores. I like Mason Jennings, but generally more so when he is upbeat and makes me dance. This song, not so much.

f) And speaking of Jennings, Jennings over at the rbally blog has Blur from 1997 (live at the Brixton Academy) and Futureheads from the Leeds Festival in 2005. So you can jump around and, uh, feel British?

g) Marathon Packs has Devo covering Rolling Stones (inventive and typical Devo - I can almost see them dancing in their matching suits), and Cornershop covering The Beatles in some other language - sorry, my translator is broken.

h) Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated. Will Ferrell is officially not dead.

i) And finally, many other bloggers have been surprisingly silent on this news story, probably because we are all a bit scared of raising any red flags or drawing attention to ourselves. But in any case, the feds who pressed charges on the Ryan Adams fans should consider this interesting article by Jim DeRogatis, which echoes what my take on the whole issue is.

Pearl Jam album cover revealed, and sweet pre-order deal

So, wow, one of the best things about being a music blogger is that people representing PEARL JAM (who, as you all know are probably my favorite band) send me stuff regarding the new album! I am so excited, this is fab. Here is the cover of the new album. Why is there an avocado? Jury's still out on that one. But they are a fabulous source of healthy fats in your diet.

A few related tidbits that I've found:

• World Wide Suicide debuted on Billboard Modern Rock Audience Chart at number 1 and number 3 overall on the format's chart. Check out this Billboard article. Go boys!

• There is a sweet pre-order deal goin on right now at the pearljam.com site. If you pre-order the album you get a free DVD of their epic 1992 New Year's Eve show at The Academy in New York (opening for Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos). Read the SPIN article here about the show, and download the audio file of Wash from that same show (and read more about it). Sah-weet! For $14 bucks you can't miss.

• Rolling Stone recently had a listen of the album and offered up some more tantalizing details about the music: "The title, Pearl Jam, reflects the group's most collaborative effort yet: It produced the album together, along with Adam Kasper; each member will receive writing credits; and, for the first time ever, guitarist Mike McCready contributes lyrics, to the album closer 'Inside Job.' Gossard's two musical pieces, 'Parachutes,' an island-flavored beauty with acoustic guitars, a Wurlitzer, and shifting time signatures, and 'Life Wasted,' which features a bridge reminiscent of Pink Floyd, are among twelve or thirteen tracks that made the final cut."

Just whap it like this

So I get to make my percussion debut this weekend with a friend's band who was in need of some rhythm. I am playing the djembe, which is African for "I have no idea how to actually play it." I have apparently scorched the skins at rehearsals, garnering nothing but accolades, but truth is, I don't know what I am doing.

Here is where you come in. I figure out of all of my musically astute readers, there must be someone there who can help with the two things I am looking for: a) some sort of lesson in technique, be it on the internet or just some instructions from you or b) a few good songs I can listen to intently where the djembe is used and get some ideas that way about different sounds I can make. Right now my rhythm is good but kind of one-dimensional.

But did I mention how FUN IT IS?!?!

OK Go to Jail

Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go, was arrested last night in Orlando following a show when he apparently disobeyed a police officer's order to move from the sidewalk in front of the House of Blues while he was chatting with the fans.

You can read the whole (actually humorous) story here, but the classic classic thing about it is that Damian was able to convince the arresting officer to watch the band's genius backyard dance music video to "A Million Ways" on his computer while Kulash was in custody. Now that's entertainment.

Seeing David Gray's spit and sweat

David Gray was amazing last night. My sister Kristy and I got to the lecture hall in the Denver Convention Center last night with our tickets in-hand. These were a birthday present from my sis last August, but then the show was canceled in October, so this was the rescheduled date. We walked in to the ushers, who ush us on our way, pointing to the front section. This was delightful, that they told us to keep moving closer. They keep ushing us forward 'til one blazered chap tells us that our seats are, indeed, in the FIRST ROW. Right in the center. Thank you Ticketmaster! I didn't know Ticketmaster loved me so much. What a great late birthday present! I haven't been in the first row of a huge show like that since Pearl Jam in 1995 in San Diego. We kept looking at each other and laughing in disbelief that we were so close!

David Gray absolutely gouges me; his beautiful playing on both piano and guitar, the way he pours his soul into he music (which you can really see up close - he feels it with his whole body), and that *voice,* both the lower register for the verses and then that sweet, affected, honest higher tenor for the emphasis and soaring parts. It was sheerly fabulous. I lack words (yet I keep trying).

And yep, that setlist includes both a Bob Dylan cover (One Too Many Mornings) AND a Tim Buckley cover immediately following (Song to the Siren, which was haunting in its ethereal beauty). I was in heaven. Ain't No Love (read the lyrics on his site - gorgeous) and Lately were also both show-stopping, as well as one entitled Shine. And as many times as I've heard Please Forgive Me, it remains such an amazing song; it could be one of my top ten. I love the lyric, "feels like lightning runnin' through my veins every time I look at you."

I was really hoping for Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (possibly my favorite song he sings, although I was shocked - shocked! - recently to find out that it is a Soft Cell tune), but no such luck. It's okay, I really couldn't have absorbed any more.

AUDIO FROM THE NIGHT [via]:

Alive (new) - David Gray
One Too Many Mornings (Dylan cover) - David Gray
Song To The Siren (Tim Buckley) - David Gray
Far From Here (new song) - David Gray

VIDEO: Simon also took some video of the recent show in Cinci:

Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3

By the way, these cell-phone pics are all I have to regale you with. Not the best quality, but kind of avant-garde artsy, no? I finally figured how to get them off my phone and it wasn't as hard as I thought! They were just getting stuck in my spam filter.

***********************************
Oh, and speaking of good shows, if I were in the San Francisco Bay Area tonight, I would be tempted to head on out to Hotel Utah and enjoy me some Newcastle while partaking in a good show with two local band favorites. Santa Clara University's own favorite good-time band The Otters are playing with 735 Institution at rad historic venue the Hotel Utah Saloon tonight at 9pm:

"Perhaps the most underrated SF institution, the Hotel Utah has outlasted DJ-bar mania, dive-bar revival and every other nightlife trend to hit the city. Since its doors opened in 1908, the hip factor has never been part of the Utah's organic M.O. This classic saloon showcases 20th-century novelties like a walk-in wooden phone booth, old-fashioned, inner-lit streetlamps and hand-carved mahogany bar back. The Utah packs in a casual and virtually ageless crowd."

It's only $6, so if you are one of my readers from Santa Clara, Stanford, San Fran, Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland, etc. etc. etc., head on over. The Otters are preparing a rockin' little acoustic set with some original tunes, and I hear there may also be a sexy little number by the Rolling Stones thrown in the mix.

Ooh, bring on that harmonica.

Monday Music Roundup

"Don't Listen To The Radio"
The Vines
Here's the new one from Australian rockers The Vines, which NME calls "garage rock's equivalent of an acid bath." Jumpin' straight-driving rock with handclaps. I like it much better than the other new single, Gross Out, which I mentioned a few weeks ago. This one will only be up for 48 hours, so snag it fast. Their new album Vision Valley comes out April 4 (or April 3 for you Brits).

"Take A Message To Mary"
(Everly Brothers cover)
Teddy Thompson (with Linda Thompson)
Being the son of British troubador Richard Thompson (sometimes called "The Bob Dylan of Britain") leaves some mighty large musical shoes to fill. But Teddy Thompson does a stand-up job in his own right, having released a great sophomore album called Separate Ways. Here is a hidden track from the end of the CD, a lovely old-fashioned sounding duet with his mum. Dad also plays guitar on five tracks, and fellow second-generations songsters Rufus and Martha Wainwright join Teddy for a song. Nice acoustic songwriter's album - oh, and the album is not as twangy as this song. Don't worry.

"Sewn"
(live on Radio One)
The Feeling
This one's a very pleasant piano-based tune with great hooks from The Feeling, a London five-piece reminiscent of Coldplay, Supertramp, or even a little Chicago. I did think it was funny how one reviewer said it made him want to 'gouge his eyes out with salad tongs,' but he just must have been having a bad day 'cos this is good stuff. Some of the best na-naaing I've heard in a while, this one sticks in your head (but in a good way). They just finished a small UK tour last night with more dates coming in June in anticipation of their debut album release later this year.

"Breakup Breakdown"
Rich Price
A beautiful, drowsy middle-America charmer from Rich Price, who was born in Nigeria (to British/American parents), and has lived in Africa, Asia, and England before settling in San Francisco. But this song evokes a far slower, less-globe-trotting pace of life. The swirling pace, gentle slide guitar in the background, husky vocals, pitch-perfect harmonies make me feel like I am wrapped up warm in a nice fuzzy blanket (like the lyrics suggest). Rich Price has been making great music for the past five years along with his band The Foundation. Like one of my other favorites Ryan Adams, Rich Price has recently shared the stage with Phil Lesh, this time at Slim's in San Fran for a Katrina benefit show. Check out his album Miles From Anywhere on iTunes or CDBaby, or visit him on MySpace.

"Tidal Wave"
(live on KCRW)
David Gray
Oh. This song. Maybe I've been in an admittedly melodramatic mood lately, but this is such an achingly beautiful, elegant little song that it almost hurts to listen to it. Originally from the Lost Songs CD, I am posting this live version (from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic) up today in honor of the fact that I am seeing David Gray tonight in Denver and greatly looking forward to it. Two of my good friends saw him in a tiny intimate private concert with KFOG several years ago when he was just breaking on this side of the pond, but I've never seen him so wish me luck, I'm goin' in.


Bonus News: Did you hear Kevin Smith is making a Clerks 2? It's scheduled for release this summer, the day before my birthday (August 18), and you can follow the progress on their blog. I wonder if the soundtrack will be as era-capturing as the 1994 original.

Brandi Carlile is friggin AMAZING

Brandi Carlile *absolutely* blew me away last night live. She is an unassuming 23-year old with a voice that rips you to shreds. She wails, she mourns, she pours out her soul, and she's really really good.

All throughout her extremely well-received performance at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, her vulnerability and her wavering, rich, gorgeous voice completely reminded me of my beloved Jeff Buckley. So, I felt like I was punched in the gut when she began the intro to her closer. She was all alone on the stage; her band had left her alone for the final song. She started in with the gentle guitar chords and fingerpicking and it hit me that she was performing "Hallelujah." And as she got into it, she was playing the Jeff Buckley version, not the original Leonard Cohen or Rufus Wainwright or any other number of artists who have sung it.

It was clear to me as I stood there and listened to her in that dark and transfixed room that she, like me, had listened to the recording of Jeff singing it a thousand times. She paused where he pauses, she breathed where he breathes, her voice cracked where his did. And it almost felt a bit transcendent, as if she was channeling Jeff through her song. It was a gift of love, belting out a song that she clearly felt deeply inside. And although it sounds silly to type it here the next morning, I couldn't help but fight back some hot tears because it was just so damn beautiful and wrenching.

I talked to her after the show; we both expressed how never seeing Jeff Buckley live was one of our biggest regrets. I asked where I could find a recording of her performing Hallelujah, and she pointed me in the direction of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. I've got it for you here and you must hear it; although it can't capture the same vibe as a live performance, it's dang good:

Open the Real Player to hear her set:
What Can I Say (great song)
Fall Apart Again
Closer to You
Throw It All Away (another great song, posted on the Monday Music Roundup last week)
-Interview-
Happy
The Story (listen to her belt it out. Oh. My. Gosh.)
Hiding My Heart
Hallelujah

If the above link to the player won't open, try here.

I bought her 2005 debut album, Brandi Carlile, at the show last night and I've already listened to it about 3 times through. Deeply impressive & authentic.

Upcoming tour dates: GO SEE HER!
She is playing with Jamie Cullum (who is also a fabulous dynamo on-stage), and Train (who I personally cannot condone in this forum, due to their use of lame lyrics about soy lattes and tae bo. Thank you.). But Train or no, she is worth paying to see.

3.12.06 - St. Paul, MN, Fitzgerald Theater w/ Jamie Cullum
3.13.06 - Chicago, IL, Park West w/ Jamie Cullum
3.14.06 - St. Louis, MO, The Pageant w/ Jamie Cullum
3.19.06 - Atlanta, GA, The Tabernacle w/ Jamie Cullum
3.21.06 - Toronto, CANADA, Harbourfront Centre w/ Jamie Cullum
3.22.06 - Royal Oak, MI, Royal Oak Music w/ Jamie Cullum
3.23.06 - Cleveland, OH, House of Blues w/ Jamie Cullum
3.25.06 - Washington, DC, 9:30 Club w/ Jamie Cullum
3.26.06 - Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballrom w/ Jamie Cullum
3.27.06 - Philadelphia, PA, Kimmel Center w/ Jamie Cullum
3.30.06 - Boston, MA, Opera House w/ Jamie Cullum
4.05.06 - Denver, CO, Paramount w/ Train
4.06.06 - Kansas City, MO, Uptown Theatre w/ Train
4.07.06 - St. Louis, MO, Pageant w/ Train
4.08.06 - Nashville, TN, Ryman w/ Train
4.10.06 - Madison, WI, Orpheum w/ Train
4.11.06 - Milwaukee, WI, Riverside Theatre w/ Train
4.12.06 - Minneapolis, MN, State Theatre w/ Train
4.13.06 - Cedar Rapids, IA, Paramount Theatre w/ Train
4.14.06 - Cincinnati, OH, Taft w/ Train
4.15.06 - Chicago, IL, Chicago Theatre w/ Train
4.17.06 - Cleveland, OH, House of Blues w/ Train
4.18.06 - Toronto, ON, The Phoenix w/ Train
4.19.06 - Detroit, MI, State Theare w/ Train
4.20.06 - Pittsburgh, PA, AJ Palumbo w/ Train
4.21.06 - Atlanta City, NJ, Borgata w/ Train
4.22.06 - Erie, PA, Civic Center w/ Train
4.26.06 - New York, NY, Beacon w/ Train
4.27.06 - Washington, DC, DAR Constitution Hall w/ Train
4.28.06 - Mashantucket, CT, Foxwoods w/ Train

Marathon Packs has Dylan circa 1962

Bob Dylan on Cynthia Gooding's Radio Show 3/11/1962
(from the excellent Marathon Packs music blog: head on over!)

"Here we have a 20-year old Bob Dylan, who'd just made his way to Greenwich Village and had already created quite a name for himself, sitting for an extended interview with New York radio host Cynthia Gooding and playing several songs to boot.

Throughout the hour-long program, he's affable if not a bit shy, denying the "folk" tag, which he obviously should have---part of Dylan's genius was that he was able to transcend simple generic convention, even before they'd been carved in stone through popular discourse. It's completely taken for granted these days that new artists don't want to be pigeonholed into a specific category, but Dylan was the first to preface this sort of artistic independence as part of his public persona (of course, it was reactionary---goaded on by clueless media-types looking for a figurehead).

Gooding seems awestruck during most of the interview segments---early on, sounding amazed that "there was just one man doing all that" and referring to "The Death of Emmitt Till" as being "the greatest contemporary ballad I've ever heard".

It's an amazing document of pre-Columbia debut Dylan."

Head on over to Marathon Packs to get the show:

Lonesome Whistle Blues
Conversation #1
Fixin' To Die
Conversation #2
Tell Me Baby
Conversation #3
Conversation #4
The Death Of Emmett Till
Conversation #5
Standing on the Highway
Conversation #6
Long John
Conversation #7
Stealin'
Conversation #8
Conversation #9
Baby Please Don't Go
Conversation #10

Roy Orbison? Yeah, he's The Man.

Following the stellar enthusiasm that greeted my Zombies post a few weeks ago (over 1,000 hits that day, my most ever!), I feel more comfortable promenading out a few other of the oldie/goodie variety of folks currently in residence inside my iPod.

So you've heard Pretty Woman (like, a thousand times), and Only the Lonely is a bona fide crooner classic. But do you know the depth and quality of the musician that was Roy Orbison? Not as camera-friendly and rico suave as some of his other counterparts, Roy nonetheless made some absolutely superb music that still sounds good and fresh and eminently listenable 50 years later.

Born in Texas in 1936, Roy asked for a harmonica (but received a guitar) for his 6th birthday (I think my 6th birthday was more about the My Little Ponies and the Rainbow Brites. That's awesome). His daddy taught him to play, and Roy used to love to stay up late with the grown-ups and play songs like "You Are My Sunshine."

Roy worked his way up from winning a radio contest for jingles in 1946 to forming his own band that same year, called The Wink Westerners (right). Their band started playing on a weekly local radio show, as well as providing the tunes for dances at the local community center. As Roy entered college, he and his bandmates began playing less country and more rock'n'roll, covering greats such as Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry. They also had a weekly television show in Odessa, and in the fall of 1955, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley appeared on his show. Roy asked Johnny for advice on how he could get some of his music produced onto a record, and Johnny gave him Sam Phillips (owner of Sun Records) phone number in Memphis. He was promptly hung up on.

March of 1956 brought the opportunity at last for Roy to make his record with a local businessman by the name of Weldon Rogers. Under the name of Roy and the Teen Kings, the music was recorded and the single was released two weeks later. Roy took a copy to a well-known record dealer in West Texas, who liked it instantly and played it over the telephone to one of his connections in Memphis. His "connection" loved it as well and asked him to send a copy to the Sun Records offices. Indeed, it was none other than Sam Phillips, who had hung up on Orbison just a few months before.

After recording with Sun, Roy's music grew in popularity in the ensuing years. He had a string of #1 hits of his own recordings, and his songs were recorded by many artists in the day such as Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Rick Nelson. In May 1963 he was tapped to open for The Beatles in England, before they had hit big in the States. The tour was a runaway success and sold out in one afternoon. On the first night, Roy did fourteen encores before The Beatles could get on stage. He also toured with the Beach Boys in '64 and the Stones in '65. The man was versatile and unique in his sound, and the audiences loved him. Let's listen why:

"Claudette" - rollicking harmonica with tasty guitar licks floating over the top, this song was actually popularized by The Everly Brothers after they needed a song for their new single and Roy scribbled the lyrics for Claudette (which he had written) down on the back of a shoebox for them. As recorded by the Everly Brothers, it was the B-side to All I Have To Do Is Dream, and climbed the charts up to #30.

"California Blue" - my favorite song by Roy. I listened to it over and over last month when I was in California, namely as I walked along the pier in Santa Cruz in the sunshine. Picture it. Uh huh. It's that good.

"Heartbreak Radio" - here we go all rock'n'roll, and this song makes me think of big, fast, old cars racing on a Saturday night, or sock hops and things like that.

"Pretty Paper" (live) - cover of a lovely Willie Nelson song, one that Chris Isaak also covered on his recent Christmas album. I know I am going about this backwards, but I have been more of a Chris Isaak fan in the past 10 years or so than a Roy Orbison fan, and I am amazed at just how much Isaak sounds like Orbison. Like, almost identical. Also extremely pronounced on this next track:

"Blue Bayou" - I like the slight Latin backbeat, and, again, the nice harmonica. This song makes me happy. No, seriously, I have to keep checking to make sure that I really am NOT listening to Chris Isaak. Sorry if that's heretical to some of you, but really.

"Crying" (live) - this performance is from his Black & White Night live album (1987), which I find interesting because it kind of shows the respect and admiration he has among today's musicians. Appearing on the stage with him for this CD we have Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, etc. In fact, Bruce Springsteen once said he wished he could write like Bob Dylan and sing like Roy Orbison, and here he plays guitar.

eMusic has a solid selection of Roy Orbison stuff, if you are still looking for ways to spend those 50 free downloads you hopefully got from clicking that little banner on the right side of this very blog. Props also to the interesting and informative Orbison biography on his website, which also has some great audio interview clips with Orbison answering questions such as "Is it true that you have written entire songs in thirty minutes?" and "Sunglasses are your trademark, how did that happen?" Classic.

It's all so, so good, isn't it? You'd be hard-pressed to have a bad weekend with this on the stereo.

Amoeba vs. Jeff Tweedy: Smackdown!

I thought this was a hilarious story, and bitingly well-written, from the CrazyTalk blog by Howie from San Francisco. It is part of his review of the Jeff Tweedy show at the Fillmore in February. He writes:

"Tweedy told a hilarious story about his experience the day before at San Francisco's famous Amoeba Records. Apparently he had bought a used cd there, only to discover when he got back to his hotel room that the cd wasn't in the case. He called Amoeba about it, to see if someone could bring him the cd at his hotel, and the clerk basically said "sucks for you."

When Tweedy suggested that maybe if someone from the store was coming to the show, he could put them on the guest list and they could bring it to him. The clerk replied, "There's like 100 people who work here and I'd have to find like the 2 people who MIGHT be coming to your show, so no - I don't think that's going to happen."

(For those of you uninitiated in Amoeba, it is ground zero for indie-hipper-than-thou-ennui. I think the criteria for employment there involves being in seven "in" bands concurrently, at least 3 of which are signed to nearly-defunct indie labels, 2 of which are scheduled to tour Japan with a band from Merge or Barsuk, and 1 of which got a positive review on Pitchfork; plus some combination of tattoos, mental ward hair cuts (shampoo is a definite no-no), and near-wikipedic knowledge of psych-prog rock. The application process culminates in a 100 yard dash where entrants must wear tight jeans with white belts. I got on the 5 year waiting list last week when I bought my first Members Only jacket). Anyway, determined to get his cd, he walked to the store from his hotel, but when they still couldn't find the cd, he accepted a handy record tote bag in lieu.

I guess Tweedy had told this story at the first Fillmore show (the night before our show), and the clerk at Amoeba got such amazing shit from her co-workers that at the 2nd Fillmore show, Tweedy found an Amoeba hoody (signed by the offending clerk) in his dressing room. He came out for the second encore wearing said hoody."

Now *that's* a good story to tell. It's classic, especially the response from the clerk on the phone. I wish I could be as cool as the Amoeba hipsters, although I did have quite a good time sifting through the vinyl section the last time I was there, coming home with some gems (Jimi Hendrix & Otis Redding at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967, REM Dead Letter Office, Jerry Lee Lewis "Breathless" double LP, Sly and the Family Stone, and The Cure . . . Happily Ever After). Aaahhhh.

Jackie Greene: Wunderkind with a harmonica

Hailing from the scenic California state capital of Sacramento (ok, not really scenic but passable), Jackie Greene has been steadily rolling out a hearty brand of folksy Americana music for the past few years. The 24-year-old songwriter is a multi-talented fellow, who in addition to singing also plays guitar, dobro, piano, harmonica, and percussion.

I was shocked to find out how young he was, for the impressive body of musical work he has already accomplished. He played at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in October of 2004, when he was a mere 23. According to a news article, "Greene not only received standing ovations at two separate stages, but also sold more CDs and DVDs and signed more autographs at the Tower Records booth than any other participating artist. " Not too shabby.

Jackie Greene fell onto my musical plate through the efforts of KFOG last year, with his excellent song (still my favorite by him), "Honey, I Been Thinking 'Bout You." This is a rolling ballad with rousing harmonica and cutting lyrics like:

"I don't wanna be your two-weekend lover,
your boy in the back, your one or the other.
And I ain't lookin' for a wife or a mother,
but honey I been thinking about you.

And maybe you're wrong, and maybe you're right,
and maybe we can sit here and argue all night . . .
or maybe you just better turn out the lights,
cos honey I been thinking 'bout you."

"I don't really care 'bout your hot blooded sister
I'm sure there's a man for to love her and miss her
I didn't mean nothing I just happened to kiss her
But honey I was thinkin' bout you..." (oooh!)

That song was definitely one of my favorites of last year. Get it here:

"Honey, I Been Thinking 'Bout You" - Jackie Greene

Jackie Greene released an independent record in 2000 called Rusty Nails, and was "discovered" shortly thereafter at an open mic in 2001. His second album rolled out in 2002, called Gone Wanderin'. He also gained some notoriety for his album Positively 12th and K: A Tribute to Bob Dylan, with which came a torrent of comparisons to the young Dylan, which are a dime a dozen, but there is substance and talent in Mr. Greene. In May of 2005 he released his third (critically-acclaimed) album, Sweet Somewhere Bound, and he has a new album coming out on Verve Forecast next Tuesday (March 14) called American Myth.

STREAM AUDIO #1:
NPR's World Cafe featured him last summer; Greene performed four songs from Sweet Somewhere Bound & American Myth, and ruminated a bit on guys his age liking artists like Dylan & Clapton, but still doing the things that 24-year-olds do ("...I still chase girls, do stupid things with my friends - I just happen to like that kind of music"):

• Featuring 4 songs: About Cell Block #9, Honey I Been Thinking About You, Love Song at 2:00am, Gone Wanderin'

STREAM AUDIO #2:
You can stream another fabulous set of songs off his new album from just last month on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic (if the above link doesn't work, go to the main page to open the audio player). His new music combines with interesting interview commentary where Jackie discusses his love for the Stones, and how his new album is more of a rock album and less of the solo Americana-folk sound of Sweet Somewhere Bound. I like the sound of the new album very much.

• Featuring 7 songs: Farewell So Long Goodbye (lots of good harmonica!), I'm So Gone, When You're Walking Away, Hollywood, -Interview-, Closer to You (okay, I'll say it because it begs to be said: very Dylanesque. But also with find of a funky gospel tinge to it. I like this song), So Hard To Find My Way (another nice harmonica bridge), Marigold
  

Jackie Greene is a talented and thoughtful songwriter who practically oozes good music. He's an artist whose hearty, rich sound I am looking forward to hearing more of (and of course, the harmonica helps win me over as well). Take a listen to him and consider picking up American Myth on Tuesday.

A few quickies

Just a few things that caught my attention this morning that you should check out:

**Download this mp3 of a podcast with Ryan Adams from the UK Times (thanks Aquarium Drunkard)

**You Ain't No Picasso is putting up a ton of covers that Yo La Tengo did the other day for a WFMU Benefit show. Lennon, Violent Femmes, Dylan, Byrds up now, Beach Boys, Replacements, Clash, Zombies, and even a little Hall & Oates coming soon. If you like Yo La Tengo, make haste to check them out.

**The town of Bristol, from whence hails Aardman Animations and Nick Park of Wallace & Gromit fame, is thinking of putting up a statue of the finger-waggling cheese-loving gent and his canine pal. This would be quite fun. I've loved these two since their animation short days, and the best Halloween costume I've ever seen was my bookish friends Kevin & Sabrina dressing as Wallace and Wendy.

I also read in Rolling Stone that the Queen stopped by the animation studios recently to see the whole claymation process. Nick Park says, "It was very surreal because I am used to seeing her on postage stamps."

Movie music madness

I am a definite s-u-c-k-e-r for a good soundtrack. Set me loose in the soundtrack section of any music store and I will find a few gems to be sure. I love the way that music makes a movie poignant or funny or heartbreaking or memorable. Plus, it's the way I always think of songs in my head anyway when I listen to them - picturing a moment, a situation, a conversation to go along with them as they unfold.

It's like the way you wish life could be sometimes - you know, the perfect song to accompany every moment.

My friend Vangelis the Greek (my nickname, I don't think he actually goes by that in day to day life) sent me a really neat email the other day, filled with his reflections on various movies and drawing my attention to some good forgotten soundtrack songs. I thought I would share them with you. He says:

"First, a song from a movie I saw as a teenager accidentally on television late at night. I will never forget the way that movie made me feel and the discussions I had the following day at school with my friends that also watched it…Pump Up the Volume. The soundtrack (buy here) also contains Pixies, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth..."

Everybody Knows (Leonard Cohen cover) - Concrete Blonde

MY NOTE: See, I had as big of a crush on Christian Slater as the next 11 year old girl back in 1990, but I was not yet, shall we say, "cool" in the musical arena when this soundtrack came out, as I was generally rockin' out to oldies (cool in their own way), New Kids on the Block and gems like Michael W. Smith. Yeah, I'll admit it. I was a late bloomer. Anyway, back to Vangelis:

"Another movie that I really like is Beautiful Girls. I will not send you the song they all sang at the bar (Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond) but the song with the same title as the movie. (Really cool soundtrack, buy it here):

Beautiful Girl - Pete Droge and The Sinners

Also, the Afghan Whigs appear in the movie and play live. You know Greg Dulli spent one summer here in Greece trying to find his Greek roots and where his relatives lived…

Anyway, another great movie and a fantastic soundtrack if you like swing music is Swing Kids. I think it comes from 1993 and in a parallel universe it would have won a thousand Oscars. Two songs from the soundtrack:

Bei Mir Bist Du Schon - Janis Siegel

Shout and Feel It - James Horner

Last, from the movie Pleasantville, a Beatles song from Fiona Apple - Across The Universe. Her voice is simply amazing, I have heard a lot of covers of this song but I think this is the best one ever. The soundtrack also includes Etta James, Buddy Holly and Elvis."

Across The Universe - Fiona Apple

***************************************
Finally, one from Vangelis himself. It is not soundtrack-related, other than the fact that Vangelis compared him and his buddies to the guys in That Thing You Do when they first heard themselves on the radio in Greece (yelling, screaming, calling each other). It is in English (although I think I hear some traditional Greek instruments in the background?) and I think it is pretty good!

Wonderful World - Vangelis & His Band
(sorry, dude, you didn't tell me the band name!)

I'm off to add some good stuff to my Netflix queue. I got Long, Hot Summer with Paul Newman in the mail yesterday so I get to do a little inappropriate salivating over the young & smoldering Paul Newman later today.

Please don't hurt 'em Hammer

MC Hammer has a new blog. In case you were wondering what he has been up to lately (oooh, I know you were!), here’s his latest entry (with the exceptional passages highlighted by yours truly):

"This week I'm going to hit the weights some more and perfect a few new moves I’ve been working on. This is a good time of year to workout. The weather is warming up and summer is ninety days away. I got ahead because I danced for the last six months and now I’m lean.

Still, I like my muscles hard because it helps me execute my moves with more power. I train specifically for dancing. I do full body days. Three days in a row. I work my chest and lower back and abs a lot. No heavy weight. I have to be able to explode and be quick and fast with my hands and feet.

My calves and thighs are most important for the hot moves out today. Squats with no weights will do the trick. I will also do some leg presses with about three hundred pounds just to keep the thighs and hamstrings firing.

I stay about ten days from show ready, so working out and staying fit is a must, plus I love it! I’ve already been performing and perfecting the live versions of at least ten of the new songs and I’m itchy!! They play great. My dancers and I love the freedom of the new music. We only lock up on the choruses, the rest of the song you have to freestyle with power. I’m off to the gym."


He also has some kind of inexplicable pictures of the Santana Row outdoor mall (or "Tha Row" as he calls it) which is about a stone's throw from my old house/work/school. Odd and a bit disturbing, even though I knew he was from the area. Also there is the loooong post about a dream he had, which contains this sentence:

"I walked into the sheriff's office and immediately all eyes were on me. The room went silent and you could hear a rat pissin' on cotton. My dark chocolate skin and my bold jaw line complimented my broad nose and my full lips."

And they say the internet is a forum for all to be heard. Well, thank goodness.


[via IckMusic]

World Music Wednesday

"Mali Bluesman" Ali Farka Touré, one of West Africa's best-known musicians, died yesterday following a long illness with bone cancer. I would be remiss not to feature him today on the World Music Wednesday feature.

I first heard this name of Farka Touré in around 1994/95 when he released a critically acclaimed and excellent album with Ry Cooder called Talking Timbuktu. Over the years his name and his work have popped up on various world music compilations and stations I have been exposed to and I have always been impressed, and with happy ears. This was one amazing musician.

Fascinating to explore the connections and commonalities between West African music and U.S. Southern Blues, which Farka Touré argued shared the same roots.

You can read the interesting obit from the BBC, and listen to a few of his songs here:

Gomni - Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder

Allah Uya - Ali Farka Touré

New Van Morrison: Pay The Devil

Van Morrison's ten thousandth album, Pay The Devil, was released today, and while it is definitely the country album he promised, it's still Van Morrison doin' what he does best: singing big warm songs that make your heart grow two sizes (or was that the Grinch? either way....) and make the world turn a little slower.

Much of his new album I don't personally care for, but some of you more country-leaning folk will like the lazy, twangy feel. It is an interesting combination of clear and distinctive voice of the so-called "Belfast Cowboy" combining with very classic country sounds, reminiscent of Hank Williams (who he covers on several tunes), old Johnny Cash, or Patsy Cline.

One song that I very very much enjoy, though, is actually a cover of an old Chuck Willis number:

"What Am I Living For" - Van Morrison

Morrison makes this track less country-western (but still a languid treat), and has a good dollop of soul in it with a hearty piano base. It's a front porch, barefoot, August sunset tune. I feel like I should pour some Southern Comfort and slow dance around the dusty floorboards. Snag this one.

Alice in Chains can't TOUR

Saw this on Jerry Cantrell's website today:

"Alice In Chains Tour Dates Announced"
More details on Alice in Chains’ first tour in close to a decade have been released. The band will be playing several European festivals over the month of June including two shows in Germany, one in England, one in Ireland and another in Italy. The first leg of the tour will then finish in Austria."

That just seems a little bit . . . weird to tour after Layne Staley, the VOICE of Alice in Chains, died of a heroin & cocaine overdose in 2002. At least they aren't holding a reality-TV competition to find a new lead singer. But still, it seems somehow wrong to me to tour under the same moniker.

In terms of posting this on my blog, yes, I know that Alice in Chains is a bit hardcore, but hey, I really liked them when I was 14, when (I am laughing as I type this) I was really, really hardcore too.

Here is one of my favorite songs by them that I still feel confident in standing behind in a public forum:

"Right Turn" - Alice in Chains featuring Chris Cornell
- check out THE Moment at 2:31 in this song!
(from the SAP EP, some of their more milder, acoustic, harmonic stuff - similar to the excellent Jar of Flies EP. Both still sound good to me 11 and 12 years later. )

Chris Brown: Boring name, divine power pop

San Francisco-based independent filmmaker/musician Chris Brown has the misfortune of having a kind of boring name that is really common and makes you think iTunes (or eMusic) carries his music, when, in fact, they don't as far as I can tell - it's just other Chris Browns clogging up the airwaves.

The Chris Brown that I'm talkin' about has released an absolutely fabulous solo debut album called "Now That You're Fed," and I say this with great enthusiasm: He is THE best new artist I have found so far in 2006. Reminiscent of great pop-song-crafters such as The Beatles, Paul Simon, The Beach Boys, or even a happier Elliott Smith, this music shimmered out of my stereo from first listen.

"Perfect power pop is oft-attempted but rarely attained. By which I mean it rises above the standard formula of chiming chords, hook-filled choruses, and clean guitar strumming. When it`s perfect, the unpredictable arrangements, the lyrics that make you wanna rewind to hear them again, the perfectly-timed bridges, and the ridiculously pretty chord progressions all conspire to make the considerable effort involved seem effortless, timeless, classic, and just plain great. Chris Brown's glorious, sunny debut album is all that and more, a gorgeous record produced by Chris Manning of fellow power pop geniuses Jellyfish. Think the Raspberries, BigStar, McCartney. To hear this music is to love it."
- Windy Chien (former owner, Aquarius Records)

I agree wholeheartedly. Here are some samples of his sublime sound, I highly recommend that you buy the whole CD (available at CD Baby) as soon as possible:

"All My Rivals" - Chris Brown

I think that we will be hearing more about Mr. Brown. Several sites are already pegging him as a front-runner for their "Best of 2006." According to Chris himself, "There is at present no plan to tour. However, I have been invited to play the International Pop Overthrow shows in both LA and SFO this summer. Should be fun. Hope I don't suck." You won't Chris, you won't.

Monday Music Roundup

Good morning and happy Monday. Hey, is it just me or was Jon Stewart *extremely* funny last night on the Oscars? He (along with the wonders of the fast-forward button on TiVo) made them bearable. I love Jon Stewart, I don't watch him nearly enough. Anyway, on to the musica!

"Hungry Heart"
(Springsteen cover)
Stars
When I saw Stars in Boulder on Valentine's Day, they performed this and it was one of the highlights of the show for me. For some reason the hipster indie college-student crowd did not offer a warm reception to the Springsteen (just a lot of "meh" expressions), but I just love the smooth-as-honey flow and the honest, open timbre of Amy Millan's voice, and how they infuse this song with their own twist. I have been laboring in vain to find a copy since then. So a HUGE thank you to Casey and those at Mocking Music for posting up this lovely, lovely cover. Danke!

"Waving Not Drowning"
Ocean Colour Scene
These guys are much better-known across the pond in their native U.K., where they were multi-platinum selling artists in the mid-90's. Championed by folk like Paul Weller and Oasis for "keeping the flame of real rock'n'roll burning," the band has been around since the late '80s, when they met at a Stone Roses concert. Poetic. I really dig the epic classic vibe of this song which features harmonica (yay!), nice piano touches & a singalong chorus, with mod forefathers Jools Holland and Weller guesting. From their 2005 album A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad. And for those of you playing along at home, Ocean Colour Scene has a new track "The Word" available to stream on their website.

"Everyday is a Holiday (With You)"
Esthero & Sean Lennon
Piano-based sunny day music with a touch of brass. I admit (yes, I'll say it) to liking Esthero's hit this past summer with Wikked 'Lil Grrrls, and her joint effort here with Sean Lennon also carries a splendid retro feel to it (like 'Wikked'). It's almost like it should be in a Singin' In The Rain-type movie. But I am all over it. Thanks to the excellent ((sm))all ages blog for this and other fun songs. Song from the (dear God) Monster-In-Law soundtrack, which actually features some other good female vocalists, like Rachel Yamagata, Ivy, and Tegan & Sara.

"Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"
(Neil Young/Crazy Horse cover)
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
I mentioned the new covers CD that Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoff have put out under the moniker Sid N Susie, which I think sounds fabulous (laden with covers of '60s hits) and I will definitely purchase it. The title is "Under The Covers, Vol. 1" and it is being released by Shout Factory Records on (my brother's birthday) April 18th. Here is a nice little preview, not one of the songs streaming on their MySpace page. It is interesting the similarities in Neil Young's voice and Matthew Sweet's - I never noticed that before. I'm looking forward to the release of this compilation.

"Throw It All Away"
(live at Neumo's)
Brandi Carlile
This popped into my inbox this week, as Brandi Carlile is coming through Denver on Friday with the (wonderful in-concert) Jamie Cullum and "her people" wanted to draw my attention to that fact. I forgot that I had heard about her before, from Nathaniel on his Girls Have Cooties post, and also from the Valentine From Jesus mix tape. She's opened for folks I really like, such as Ray LaMontagne and Chris Isaak last summer. I thought it was interesting to read other people's thoughts about her music and hear her compared to a female Jeff Buckley. That's not a comparison to be taken lightly, but I do actually hear it. Her honest, sometimes cracking, powerful, wrenching voice also has a hint of that throaty/cabaret/Nina Simone edge that I loved in Buckley. Her music is raw and unproduced, and I believe her when she sings, "All I know is I would throw it all away." You can download more stuff on her website.


BONUS: If you watch The Office (and if you don't, start), you will likely find this as funny as I do. Comic genius.

Odds & ends

This is the best bit of photoshopping that I've seen in a while: Jesus and Bob Dylan - they go way back. Read the whole post over at Jesus' blog. Who knew The Man Himself was so funny. Daily reading for me. Kind of like devotionals.

I forget where I read about this site (It was Last Second Thoughts - thanks Jeffro!), but it is great fun. Now I hold My Sharona by The Knack in an even specialer (not a word) regard, because it was the #1 song on the day I was born, August 19, 1979. You should check out The #1 Song This Day History website, and then leave me a comment telling me what your birthday song is. Who has the coolest one? Hint: It's not my sister, who rings it in with "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor.

Smudge of Ashen Fluff has the excellent KCRW set from Corinne Bailey Rae, who I posted about a few weeks ago on the Monday Music Roundup. She makes some really great, soulful, beautiful, downtempo bliss that you won't feel all R. Kelly listening to. The KCRW version of Like A Star is especially fab.

Although I preferred Rolling Stone in my teen years, I also devoured SPIN and have lots of notable issues that I have saved (including one I recently came across from August 2001 with Eminem on the cover and an excellent "Ten Years of Pearl Jam" article inside). So I laughed at Stereogum's recent posting of the mp3 "(I Was An) Intern at SPIN." Stream of consciousness story about being a grunt at a major music magazine, and all the promo CDs he lifted from his unsuspecting employers. Classic.

There is a new studio Eels track for download on their website, called "I Want To Protect You." It's a pleasant enough ditty, featuring singalong backing and light/lovely strummy (again, probably not a word) musical sound, with lyrics like, "At night in this world /Such a delicate girl / Needs someone to look out for the wolves." Awwwww.

I am SO not a Star Wars person, but the pictures in this blog alone made me laugh in a serious way. What the heck is going on here? It's like someone took some acid, watched Return of the Jedi, and then decided to blog as Chewbacca. Wait, maybe that is exactly what happened.

I am an extremely reluctant convert to anything related to Death Cab For Cutie. I think the name of the band turned me off, followed by the emo rep, so maybe I never gave them a fair shake. However, I will admit to seriously digging these tracks that Matt over at Moroccan Role posted up last week: Ben Gibbard & Andrew Kenny on the Home EP Vol. V from 2003. My favorite is "Farmer Chords." Really, really lovely stuff that suits Gibbard's voice and makes me feel all spring-day-like.

Final note: This has been bothering me for a few weeks now: WHAT IS GOING ON with Robert Plant's pants in that picture I used for my Led Zeppelin post? He leaves very little to the imagination (unfortunately). I apologize for posting such a gratuitous crotch shot on the web. That could be construed as poor form. Or totally rock 'n' roll, depending on how you look at it.

New Pearl Jam (full version): World Wide Suicide

Ha! The new Pearl Jam single is officially going to be available for download this Tuesday from the fabulously redesigned PearlJam.com website, and I was hoping it would surface in advance. Well, yay, it did. Some technologically clever soul ripped the audio from the 107.7 The End radio stream and I am so pleased to present it to you.

I find myself still furiously in love with that guitar riff on the chorus. It's tight and caged and excellent. I was a bit surprised to hear that the sound of the rest of the song is more loping and melodic than the earlier snippet made it seem. The verse portions of World Wide Suicide strongly remind me of an excellent, excellent b-side from the Lost Dogs CD called Undone.

"World Wide Suicide" - Pearl Jam
(updated with official released version - better quality - on 3/7/06)

One thing I am not as crazy about is the title of their new album: Pearl Jam. Yep, self-titled. That seems like more of a debut album move to me, but some say it is a classic in the rock tradition. I would have voted for the "Super-unowned" title myself, but oddly, no one asked me.

Pearl Jam's new album is scheduled for a May 2 release. The confirmed tracklist is:
01 Life Wasted
02 World Wide Suicide
03 Comatose (formerly Crapshoot)
04 Severed Hand
05 Marker In The Sand
06 Parachutes
07 Unemployable
08 Big Wave
09 Gone (previously featured on the Monday Music Roundup in January, go snag it)
10 Wasted Reprise
11 Army Reserve
12 Come Back
13 Inside Job

The first leg of the tour dates have been announced. My stars, do I love these guys & I am stoked for a tour.

A couple of Andrew Bird duets

This post is for my sister's boyfriend Scott, who everytime I talk to him says something to the effect of, "How 'bout that Andrew Bird?" - or when I am talking to my sister on the phone, yells from the background, "Hey, Heather! Andrew Bird rocks!"

So, Scott, this is for you, you wonderful person you. Andrew Bird is indeed splendid, thanks for including him on the mix CD for me (Oh, and thanks for making my sister so happy).

"London Town" - Emily Loizeau & Andrew Bird
(Partly in French! Backstory/song found at Keep It Coming)

"Oh Sister" (Bob Dylan cover) - Andrew Bird & Nora O'Connor
Nora also sang harmonies on his 2005 album The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Thanks Chad from Everybody Cares for unearthing this one)

Paul Westerberg & Replacements: B-Sides, Live Stuff, Non-Album Tracks & Rarities

Sometimes in this world someone takes time to do something nice simply out of the goodness of their heart. Recently, Friendly Guy Jerry took the time to make and mail me two CDs jam-packed with some great rarities, b-sides, live cuts, and non-album tracks from some of my favorite rough rockers Paul Westerberg & The Replacements. Why? Just because.

Now I share my largesse with you. Both are in zip format, and there are some real standouts here (and tons of covers, which I find fascinating to see how they put their own stamp on such a wide variety of influences). And thanks to Dean for filling in some of the provenance blanks.

PAUL WESTERBERG RARITIES DISC

Dyslexic Heart (Singles soundtrack)
Waiting for Somebody (Singles soundtrack)
Seein' Her (b-side of Knockin' on Mine)
Men Without Ties (b-side of Knockin' on Mine)
Dice Behind Your Shades (Festicle version, b-side of Knockin' on Mine)
Can't Hardly Wait (live '93 Whiskey a Go-Go, b-side World Class Fad) (Marah cover here)
Left of the Dial (live '93 Whiskey a Go-Go, b-side World Class Fad)
Another Girl, Another Planet (live '93 Whiskey a Go-Go, b-side World Class Fad)
Answering Machine (live '93 Whiskey a Go-Go, b-side World Class Fad)
Daydream Believer (live, b-side British single?)
(Can I tell you how shockingly happy this song makes me?)
A Star is Bored (Melrose Place Soundtrack)
Backlash (w/ Joan Jett) (Notorious LP)
Let's Do It (w/ Joan Jett) (Tank Girl Soundtrack)
(...you're a rocker, too cool for lovey dovey mixtapes. Throw this one on there.
Sunshine (Friends Soundtrack)
(take that, Ron Burgundy!)
Stain Yer Blood (Friends Soundtrack)
Make Your Own Kind of Music (Eventually Bonus Track Japan)
(I love the slightly off-key warble here, and the grand rebellion in singing along to this, especially if you can't sing)
I Want My Money Back (Grandpaboy Single)
Undone (Grandpaboy Single)
Wonderful Copenhagen (Suicaine Gratification Bonus Track Europe)
33rd of July (Suicaine Gratification Bonus Track Europe)
Nowhere Man (I Am Sam Soundtrack)
Be Bad For Me (Folker Bonus Track Europe)

WESTERBERG RARITIES AS ZIP FILE


REPLACEMENTS RARITIES DISC

If Only You Were Lonely (b-side of I'm In Trouble)
Hey Good Lookin' (b-side of I Will Dare)
20th Century Boy (T Rex cover) (Let It Be Outtake)
Who's Gonna Take Us Alive (Let It Be Outtake)
Temptation Eyes (Let It Be Outtake)
Street Girl (Let It Be Outtake)
Nowhere Is My Home (Boink LP - England)
Bundle Up (PTMM Rehearsal, Jungle Rock w/ new lyrics)
Empty As Your Heart (aka PO Box) (PTMM Rehearsal)
Time Is Killing Us (PTMM Rehearsal)
Kick It In (PTMM Rehearsal)
Run For The Country (PTMM Rehearsal)
Going Out Of My Head (PTMM Rehearsal)
("We'll learn it tomorrow. Think of another one.")
Trouble On The Way (PTMM Rehearsal)
Make This Your Home (PTMM Rehearsal)
Cool Water (PTMM Rehearsal)
Route 66 (b-side of Alex Chilton)
Tossin' and Turnin' (b-side of The Ledge)
(great rockin version of the Bobby Lewis classic)
Ought To Get Love (Don't Tell A Soul Outtake)
Kissing In Action (All Shook Down Outtake)

REPLACEMENTS RARITIES AS A ZIP FILE

What a great way to start the weekend. Bring out the sloppy raw rawk.

Oh! And this reminds me of a great book I read a bit back: Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, by Michael Azerrad. Excellent chapter on The Replacements.

World Music Wednesday

Today's focus on World Music Wednesday is "Songs You Know, In Languages You Don't."

I got the idea from Coverville, which always features a mind-boggling array of amazing covers (I wonder how he does it?), and is the best podcast you can find if you are a covers-whore like me. Enjoy!

Buddy Holly (Weezer cover)
Bidê ou Balde (Brazilian)

Rock El Casbah (Clash cover)
Rachid Taha (Algerian)

Tu Perds Ton Temps (Please Please Me - Beatles cover)
Petula Clark (British, but sung in French)

A Mi Manera (My Way - Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra cover)
Gipsy Kings (French)

A little trouble with editing two of the mp3s, so my apologies if you get more than you asked for. If you are playing them in iTunes, I specified for it to start and end at the correct places, but other software you may get a little extra at the beginning and end of the song than I intended. The perfectionist in me cringes, but, hey, what can you do?