Feist acknowledges her popularity with the 4-year-old set

Feist was in Denver last night and I missed it, but this recent performance from Sesame Street is clearly a match made in heaven. Kids love the original "1234" song, even if they tend to be a bit troubled by the way she skips 7 and 8 -- this cheerfully makes up for it.

Ms. Leslie Feist joins a fairly formidable pantheon of past performers on one of my favorite kid's shows since back in the day, when the youth were all so much more fashionable:

R.E.M.


Johnny Cash


Stevie Wonder


There are also some unfortunate missteps, and this one always always makes me feel sad for undefinable reasons, not having to do with Aaron's regrettable earring.

And my goodness my head kind of just exploded from vivid nostalgia (the crayons!!).

You do something to me that I can't explain

Oh, Feist, you do it again. I simply adore the first listen of this cover with my favorite Canadian songstress (clearly a close winner over Celine) and The Constantines. They take the Bee Gees & Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers guilty-pleasure song that I admittedly love to sing along with, and reconstruct it as something that is breathy, ethereal, and almost sad.

I give it a serious bravo.

Stream: Islands In The Stream

Fuel Favorites of 2007

For each year so far that I've been dabbling in this music-blog-writing hobby, there seems to be a greater proliferation of choices for my ears to make. It seems like more artists are making their voices heard, more albums getting out there in one form or another, more people being turned on to music outside the mainstream 35 songs you hear on the radio.

This is good news for ears, hearts, and souls, and bad news for listmakers.

After much struggling, I've picked out ten albums that I'm happy with being my favorites from 2007; add all of these to your collections and be happy too. There were some very good albums that I left off this year (I am sure you will point them out to me in the comments) but these 10 are the ones that connected with me uniquely and viscerally. And they're listed in alphabetical order because even numerically ranking them defeated me.

If you would like to hear me talk more about these albums, and discuss my perspective as a music blogger in the digital music world in 2007, please tune in to NPR's World Cafe on January 1st. I'll be doing a piece with David Dye, Tom Moon from NPR and Marco Werman from BBC's "The World" program.

And yes . . . this is my poker face. I'm doing little freakout backflips on the inside.


TEN FUEL FAVORITES OF 2007

BECAUSE OF THE TIMES
Kings of Leon
Folks complain that this album isn't as loose and rough and gut-punch raw as earlier KOL efforts, and they're right. This album is bigger and hazier and more anthemic, but I find myself craving the riffs, the melody, the scowly drawl of the lyrics, and the unabashed rock. I agree with the fantastic Daytrotter piece that called this one "a sneaker" (as in it sneaks up on you, not a shoe). I like that KOL are experimenting with their sound and pushing the edges. Plus, they absolutely have the best live show I saw (twice) this year, all caged energy, confident strut and rock and roll.
Fans - Kings of Leon


BOXER
The National
This is the richest album in my top ten this year, in that the songs seep under your skin and percolate slowly. As we discussed, so much of this is 4am music; the late-night special, flawed but transcendent. Woven through songs that pulse restlessly with thumping drums, elegiac strings and evocative piano melodies, the lyrics here destroy me. Absolutely. They lament "another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults," then ruefully note that "we’re so disarming darling, everything we did believe is diving diving diving diving off the balcony / Tired and wired we ruin too easy, sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave." The purity of elemental urges and gorgeous expression makes me wants to live inside the stories of this album.
Fake Empire - The National


DIRTY BOMB
The Star Spangles
Here to save the rock and roll crown from the hands of slicker entries this year, The Star Spangles from New York are filthy and gritty and raw, making pub-chant punk with strong melodies. Full of heart, they are the real deal so don't mess with their work ethic. In addition to playing roughly 3,528 fiery live shows this year, they're not above doing things like playing a recent show at the Jesse Malin/Ryan Adams hangout Niagara in NYC wearing only a trenchcoat and a fedora (all the better to rock with less friction, I guess). Listen to this vibrant album loud, and feel the ebullient crush of youth.
Take Care of Us - The Star Spangles


FIGHTING TREES
The Swimmers
The owner of some trusted ears remarked upon first hearing this Philly band that "this is what Wilco might sound like if they just let their popness run rampant." Fighting Trees is a shimmering, delicious, intelligent album full of pop goodness but not too sugary-sweet. It's got the jangle and the thump, the three-part harmonies and the cohesive storyline lyrics that sweep me off to somewhere else; they weave a dream-sequence where you are floating above yourself, watching the actions below with a distanced eye. Loosely based around the 1964 short story "The Swimmer," both the grad-school premise and the resulting album deserve massive props.
[stream here, buy CD at shows, out via Mad Dragon in early 2008]
Heaven - The Swimmers


GOOD AND RECKLESS AND TRUE
The Alternate Routes
In a year when I was really hoping for a grand, rootsy, golden album from Ryan Adams that never materialized for me, The Alternate Routes warmed the speakers of my car all summer long with their expansive, windows-down, wholeheartedly good brand of alt-country rock. One of my favorite lyrical pictures all year comes from these opening notes: "I've been wasting my days good and reckless and true, I have danced in the dark at the edge of the water, swingin my hips at the black and the blue..." The songwriting is solid and incisive, highlighted by the aching tenor of lead singer Tim Warren -- and speaking of Ryan Adams, current Cardinals drummer Brad Pemberton pitches in on the skins here as well. Although the album swings effortlessly from rollicking to pensive, the common thread that I find appealing is the earnest commitment to simply playing their blessed hearts out.
Ordinary - The Alternate Routes


THE HISTORICAL CONQUESTS OF JOSH RITTER
Josh Ritter
A pal recently asked me who I thought the best modern-day songwriter was. At the time it was 2am, and I mumbled something about how I thought Josh Ritter was pretty dang incredible. Upon coherent reflection, I take that back; I think Josh absolutely may be the best songwriter of our generation that I've heard. His penetrating lyrics consistently blow me away, and the rock influences of his new album ramp up the folk sounds I've loved in the past into something that definitely hits harder and leaves me all itchy and excited-like. You must see him live in 2008, the new material is amazing in concert. As Josh weaves his intricate, literate songs on stage, he overflows with each lyric as if he were birthing every line afresh for the first time. That same refreshing joy is palpable on this album, and we are grateful for it.
To The Dogs or Whoever - Josh Ritter


I CAN'T GO ON, I'LL GO ON
The Broken West
When I first heard this new Merge Records signing last January, my post title was "I want to listen to The Broken West all weekend long, maybe until my eardrums crystallize into sugar." That pretty much sums up how vividly I crave the sounds on this disc. Catchy hooks and fuzzy power-pop sounds blend with a blast straight from the '60s in terms of sheer listenability -- and you're having 100% Fun with Matthew Sweet while the Kinks play in your garage. Hailing from Los Angeles, the guys in the Broken West wrap up all kinds of California imagery while also underscoring a bit of the shadow as well: "Sun down, blood horizon, now it feels all right/ No one feels the darkness down in the valley tonight." Musical novocaine.
Down In The Valley - The Broken West


NIGHTTIMING
Coconut Records
This clever, humble, and thoroughly enjoyable album from Coconut Records (the nom de rock of actor Jason Schwartzman) came out of absolutely nowhere this year in a stealth digital-only release that spread like wildfire. Normally we can all agree that actors making music spells disaster, but in this case it absolutely spells y-a-y. Schwartzman blends some of the jangly California indie-pop of his previous work with Phantom Planet with his experience in composing film scores for this aural delight. No two tracks alike: the Weezer rock of "Back To You" flips over the lo-fi duet on "Mama" (with Zooey Deschanel?) and the scratchy dabble into Beatles pop with "Easy Girl" is a million miles from the disco beats of the title track or the Franz Ferdinand stomp on "Minding My Own Business." The album is eclectic, stripped of pretension and ready to make you smile.
Back To You - Coconut Records


THE REMINDER
Feist
The completely charming and effortlessly cool Leslie Feist covers a lot of ground on this album, her third of original solo material, in addition to her releases with the Broken Social Scene. Feist is musically adventurous with a sound that is impossible to pin down. Moving easily from intimate songs like "The Park" that aches like a midnight dirge sung lying flat, looking out a darkened window, to the spiritual-gospel handclap community of "Sea Lion Woman," you never know what the next track will bring. The only common thread among the songs is her gorgeously honey-drenched, knowingly sly voice. Feist possesses a welcome imaginative streak that she’s not afraid to reveal on this album. She deserves every ounce of recognition that Apple commercial got her in 2007; anyone who conceives of the idea to do a rainbow-hued dance video clothed in spangles to a song that good gets my respect. I wait in breathless anticipation to see what she does next.
My Moon, My Man - Feist


WE BELONG TO THE STAGGERING EVENING
Ike Reilly Assassination
Call it defiant pre-punk, cranked-up '50s rock'n'roll that slipped past the censors, or just some seriously good music. Ike Reilly writes unflinching rock songs full of bluesy, boozy, humid, rock riffs and intelligent, biting, evocative lyrics that make me want to take off with him through the desert on the run from the cops, the windows down and a knowing glance between us. Ike's not ripping off a halcyon era of memories past like some of the retro-influenced acts today (Brian Setzer, I love you, but I'm talking to you), but rather he feels like an earnest, fierce character who somehow slipped in from a time when the music was rawer, the sex was furtive, and the liquor was bootlegged. This is a fiercely fantastic album that provocatively edged itself into my top ten the first time I listened to it.
Valentine's Day in Juarez - Ike Reilly


And yes, since you asked, my membership in the bloggers guild is currently under review for revocation for not listening to Arcade Fire or Radiohead in 2007. I'll keep you posted.

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New contest: Win the Hottest State soundtrack, and read the book you lazy summer slacker

I am generally a really upbeat person but I can't help myself -- I truly despise heat coupled with humidity. This is why it is good that I don't live in, say, Georgia or West Virginia because I would be the most grumpy person you know all through the month of August. Plus my hair would be very frizzy.

I am rambling about hot weather as a seamless tie-in to my newest contest: two lucky winners will win a soundtrack+book prize pack for the upcoming Ethan Hawke film The Hottest State. My first listens have been very enjoyable - it's a fairly mellow and eclectic collection, and features the superb songwriting of new Fuel-favorite Jesse Harris. When forming the concept for the film adaptation, Hawke and Harris delved into the collection of 80+ songs that Harris had penned over the years, and then enlisted a dream team of folks like M. Ward, Feist, Bright Eyes, Cat Power, Black Keys, Willie Nelson, and Emmylou Harris to record them. You can stream the entire record here and then pop over to see the full tracklisting on their MySpace.

The movie is based on Hawke's book (I didn't know he wrote), so the two winners will each get a CD soundtrack plus the book for good end-of-summer reading as you lay by the pool and perfect that tan that will have to sustain you as the last vestiges of summer slip away.

So depressing, I know, stop it.

I'll pick TWO random winners from all entrants by next Friday August 17th. If you'd like to win, please leave me a way to contact you (or promise to check here to see if you won, and then email me if you do) and answer this question:
What is one of your favorite hot weather/summertime memories? Random, funny, serious, whatever - it just has to effectively include that "hot" business. Godspeed.

From the soundtrack:
If You Ever Slip - The Black Keys
It Will Stay With Us - Jesse Harris

Feel something with Jesse Harris

I first decided to take a listen to Jesse Harris when my little brother recommended him to me recently. After several years of my brother being heavily into Japanese pop and questionable Final Fantasy music (the game, not the band), I'm finding lately that our tastes are becoming more in-line. Plus I love him, so I try and move his suggestions to the top of the long "to listen" list. On this one, Brian -- definitely a good call.

Jesse Harris is from New York City, and is probably most famous these days for being the guy who wrote much of the ubiquitous, breathy Norah Jones album Come Away With Me, and won a whole boatload of Grammy Awards (the year I was there, actually). Feel is his newest album in a string of seven, coming out July 10th on Velour Recordings.

And what an album it is - luminous, fresh, and full of interesting percussion (which is the first thing I noticed). I hear tones of everything from clean Beatles pop, to Graceland-era Paul Simon, tones of the gentle banjo-plucking of Sufjan, to even hints of my beloved David Gray. I think this is a great songwriter album, catchy and nuanced, and it's getting repeated spins in my car this summer. I highly recommend this one, and I love how the album art looks the way the music feels.

Feel - Jesse Harris

After All - Jesse Harris

In equally excellent news, Jesse Harris is also the man behind the entire soundtrack for Ethan Hawke's new film The Hottest State. Jesse wrote all the songs in a continuous suite, which are then sung both by him and also artists such as The Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, M. Ward, Emmylou Harris, and Feist. That anticipated soundtrack will be out August 7th on Hickory Records.

Somewhere Down The Road - Feist

Crooked Lines - M. Ward


Jesse Harris: tour dates & more tunes here

Monday Music Roundup

Oh, I was so lucky to get to spend Friday night seeing Feist. She is a completely charming and talented performer (not just a musician, as my friend Leora noted --"Are you gonna quote me on your blog?"-- after the show). Feist really knows how to engage and enchant the crowd, but she also wields that guitar fearlessly, gets her vocal loops going, dances around in bliss to the crashing drums, and manages to be fashionable all at the same time (brown mini dress, hot pink tights).

The new songs from The Reminder sounded great live (especially "My Moon, My Man" -- hot dang that's fantastically thumping in concert) under the twinkling drapery of Christmas lights. The same imaginative, surreal qualitities that Feist brings memorably into her music videos (flying toast in Mushaboom, everyone deciding to dance in unison on 1234) seeps into her live shows too, through the morphing of her busy hands during the songs into butterflies dancing, waves rolling, or little legs walking down the front of the mike stand.

Despite having sung the song "like 4,000 times," Feist forgot the middle verse to Mushaboom. She asked the crowd if someone who knew it would come up and fill in. An absolutely elated girl hopped up on stage, grabbed the mike as the music played, and effortlessly jumped in at exactly the right moment: "I got a man to stick it out..." It was one of those great moments of geeky fandom that just makes you happy to witness.

A very few other pictures (and the story of the snarly security guard that almost threw me out of the show) are included in this album. Remaining Feist tour dates here. I would totally love to be Feist for a week, that's my new rockstar dream.


Here's your new tuneage for this week's enjoyment:

Dress Blues
Jason Isbell
A kind reader recommended this track from former Drive-By-Trucker Jason Isbell's forthcoming solo album Sirens Of The Ditch (July 10, New West Records), saying that it was "hard to get this song out of my head." I absolutely agree, I've listened to it on repeat: a honeyed slowburner that feels like prophecy.


Can't Get It Out Of My Head (ELO cover)
Velvet Revolver
Taking the cake for the band that the STP/G'n'F'n'R hybrid was least likely to cover, Velvet Revolver takes on an ELO cover on their newest one, Libertad, dropping July 3rd. And you know what? It's actually pretty good and I find myself liking it a lot. Although I sometimes question Weiland's jaunty/naughty sailor look in concert, Slash takes away the guitar solo here in sizzling fashion. Speaking of Slash, I've been pondering the plotline of the November Rain video lately. Have you seen this? I don't know why I think about such things.


This Town
Frank Sinatra, on the Ocean's 13 Soundtrack
Obviously a movie about swinging crime in Vegas perpetrated by fashionably-dressed men must, by law, include a Frank Sinatra tune. This one is also excellent for adding to your very own mixtape for midnight desert runs to Sin City. The soundtrack to Ocean's 13 (which I haven't seen yet but probably will because George & Brad told me to) is another atmospheric-cool collection by David Holmes, who also scored Fuel-favorite Out of Sight (among others). Niiice.


When Did Your Heart Go Missing?
Rooney
I've been curious about hearing this song since Rolling Stone likened it to a lost Wham! track, and yes, I hear the similarities here; it does kind of make me want to wake you up before I go go. But then I read how it is also in the new Nancy Drew movie, and in a totally geeky move I will confess to reading many Nancy Drew books in my youth. I will not see the new Nancy Drew flick (because it would probably be a similar audience to the time I saw Crossroads on opening night and I don't want to talk about it) but I can picture this song also as a theme to daring teenage intrigue, old mine shafts, and moss-covered mansions. From Rooney's new album Calling The World (out July 17). Tour dates here.


Love (unreleased promo track)
The Cure
This song was, for some reason, dropped off the double disc extravaganza of Lennon covers to save Darfur, Instant Karma (a project of Amnesty International, out now). I could have recommended a few other tracks that could have gotten the boot instead of The Cure, whom I love, even though I can never apply eyeliner as deftly as Robert Smith. Thank God I'm better at the lipstick than he is, though.

Speaking of love and Lennon, today marks 40 years since the first public performance of "All You Need Is Love" on a massive world broadcast. Check out this fascinating post/video. Watching the way Lennon sings makes me really happy here; he just seems . . . pure.

New Feist remix: 1234 (VanShe Technologic remix)

While I prefer the original of this song (one of my two favorite tracks on The Reminder), I do admit that Feist's voice lends itself exceptionally well to remixes since it is so distinctive and always seems to just float over the top of whatever dense beats are laid down.

This is in honor of me seeing the lovely Leslie Feist tomorrow night in Boulder; I am uber-excited.

1234 (VanShe Technologic remix) - Feist

Out July 23rd in the UK

Dance-tastic new video from Feist: "1234"

Okay, Feist is just wonderful in my book. A little crazy methinks, but in a creative and adventurous way. She carries the mantle now of making these surreal videos where everyone starts dancing in unison, this fantastic dream life, kind of the antithesis of Britney. You can watch everyone twirl in unison and not feel guilty.

Towards the end when everyone is crouched down swirling around her, it's like you've got a tiny Feist in the washing machine. And incidentally, where does one get a suit like that? I can't tell if it's vinyl or sparkles or both.

"1234" is off her addictively engaging The Reminder, out May 1 in the US, and the previous Monday (April 23) in Europe.

Feist: new album news (Reminder) / old album sounds (Monarch)

Ms. Leslie Feist (sometimes Broken-Social-Scenestress, songbird solo artist of late, full-time awesome) announced details today of her follow-up release to the spirited Let it Die (2004) and (my #3 of 2006) Open Season: Remixes and Collabs. Due out May 1 in the US and April 23 most other places, the new album is called The Reminder and sports one of the coolest/elegant/imaginative/understated covers in recent months. Feist likes lines.

A few new tour dates also announced:
Brighton, UK April 16 at Komedia
London April 17 at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Printemps de Bourges Festival April 19 in France
Berlin April 23 at Hebbel Am Ufer
Paris April 26 at Le Grand Rex

Canadian & East Coast US tour dates forthcoming, as well as summer festivals worldwide.

This gives me a timely reminder to post the next album in my "Before They Were Blogged" featurette. Unless you lived in or around Toronto in 1999, or have been a fan of Feist since when this was commercially available, her first album Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) is a tough one to locate for your distinct listening pleasure. A limited number of these were made, but these songs are a joy to hear. Of course. (thx Mike!)

It's Cool To Love Your Family
The Onliest
La Sirena
One Year A.D.
Monarch
That's What I Say, It's Not What I Mean
Flight #303
Still True
The Mast
New Torch

FEIST'S MONARCH AS A ZIP

Feelin' a bit more Feisty

Today I was driving along listening to the new (excellent and enjoyable) soundtrack for the A Brokedown Melody surfing film (I know, with all this talk lately about surf films one might think I actually know how, but one would be so wrong). Track 3 is the Kings of Convenience song "Know How," and I was thinking about how much I enjoy their duets with Feist, when all of a sudden her uncredited and unmistakable voice chimes in, making me very happy with my psychic powers.

Know How (featuring Feist) - Kings of Convenience

I recommend the whole album; I've listened to the Vedder ditty about seven times obviously, and the diversity of laid-back melodies on there are top-notch.

Also, speaking of Feist, a remix of her song "Inside Out" will be featured on a new CD being offered by Urban Outfitter stores in conjunction with Filter Magazine to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. The Give.Listen.Help compilation will also feature folks like Wolfmother, Cat Power, Chris Walla and Thom Yorke, and all offerings look unique (remixes, live versions, etc) so you might want to check it out next time you are picking up a pair of $134 jeans or a tongue-in-cheek bit of urban hipsteria.

The irresistible Feist on The Black Sessions, Paris 2004

If I had to choose between living in Italy and living in France, I'd always said Italy for sure (you know, just in case someone ever asked me, I needed to be prepared). But then you look at something like The Black Sessions (broadcast on Radio France) and it is *almost* enough to change your mind.

A play on the name of the host, Bernard Lenoir (get it? Le noir?), The Black Sessions have brought hundreds of great musicians from all over into Studio 105 in Paris to lay down lovely sets in front of a live audience. It's kind of like their answer to KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, except sometimes longer (up to an hour), and minus Nic Harcourt's charmingly accented questions. The sessions are often released in limited-edition CDs (promos, included with magazine, etc) so these excellent quality sets have their way of seeping out to the fans worldwide.

[Previously on Fuel: Eels, Black Session 2000]

On March 3, 2004 the irresistably lovely Ms. Leslie Feist stopped by The Black Sessions and spent 45 minutes charming the crowd with her fantastic vocal styling and sexy, intelligent, refreshing songs. The Kinks cover is absolutely ace.

01. Gatekeeper
02. Leisure Suite
03. Mushaboom
04. One Evening
05. Lover's Spit (Broken Social Scene cover)
06. Let It Die
07. When I Was A Young Girl
08. Lonely Lonely
09. Fool Proof (Ron Sexsmith cover)
10. That Girl (Kinks cover)
11. Intuition
12. Now At Last

FEIST BLACK SESSIONS AS A ZIP

If you've never listened much to Feist before, this set is a superb live introduction. Most of these tracks are on her 2004 solo debut CD Let It Die, and this year she released the Open Season disc of remixes (both on Arts & Crafts). I read this charming quote from Feist about the remix album:

"At first I didn't really understand what remixes were. If I squinted into the air I knew I could hear old songs with added beats piping out of radios, but I didn't know why or how that happened . . . It was so bizarre and exciting to hear a song that we had so carefully dressed, be undressed and re-addressed, and put into clothes it would have never thought to wear on its own."

Check out songs from & commentary about her Open Season disc here.

And rumor has it that Feist's new album is due in January. Hurrah! Feist makes my short list of female musicians that I would like to somehow inhabit for a kickass week or two, just to see how it feels to be that rad.

Monday Music Roundup

It's Monday, time again for me to open wide the vast musical archives (which are actually quickly filling up my 30GB iPod - I think I need a new 60. Your favorite friendly music blogger is currently accepting donations) to pull out some selections for y'all. And today's caveat is that EZArchive (which stores the songs) may be acting weird. If you can't get the tunes, stop back by later.

In the meantime I will give EZArchive a stern talking-to.

Satisfied Mind
Johnny Cash
I first heard this song done by Jeff Buckley on his Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk). His version is saturated with a gorgeous and rich beauty (and was, incidentally, played at his memorial service - side note). Ben Harper also does a bluesy-gospel version with the Blind Boys of Alabama. But Johnny Cash, as always, puts his signature desolate and wind-blown sound to this song (from the Kill Bill 2 Soundtrack of all places) and it makes me feel all nostalgic and Grapes-of-Wrath-ish just to listen to it. God bless Johnny Cash.

Cayman Islands
Kings of Convenience featuring Feist
I posted on Norway's Kings of Convenience before, but never about the lovely Canadian songstress Feist, who I have been hearing more and more professions of love for from the mouths of my musical friends. Feist paired with Kings for a few tracks on their album Riot On An Empty Street, released in 2004. This is a very mellow song with a nice blending of voices, with folksy finger-picking simple melody and lilting vocals. Check out "Homesick" from the same album for a straight up Simon & Garfunkel reunion.

Hard Times
Eastmountainsouth
This duo has now broken up, but Eastmountainsouth was a lovely surprise discovery that I made in 2004, scoring free tickets to go see them in a small club in San Francisco. Kat Maslich is from Clinch Mountain, Virginia, and she joins Alabama/Tennessee native Peter Adams on their evocative eponymous 2000 release. Maslich's warm and powerful alto voice leads the album, alternating and meshing seamlessly with Adams. The organic and rural-sounding album employs a variety of styles of music, mostly centering around folk and acoustic melody, but incorporating hints of plucky bluegrass guitar and resonant piano. I highly recommend the album, and I wish you could still see them live as they were stunning. Oh, and this song was also featured on the Elizabethtown soundtrack last year.

Sunshine (live 11/13/03)
Matt Costa
I just got reminded (by a little birdie of sorts) of this great track that I've had sitting in my "To Blog" playlist for about three months now. Matt Costa was was number three on Fader Magazine's "Top Ten Things You Didn’t Appreciate Enough In 2005," - an acoustic singer-songwriter in the vein of pal (and informal promoter) Jack Johnson. Costa has toured with Jack, as well as Donavon Frankenreiter (and probably G. Love), so you get a sense of his vibe. Costa also collaborates with Jack on the new Curious George soundtrack, which I buckled and pre-ordered on iTunes so I could get the excellent track "Upside Down," which makes we want to swing in a hammock somewhere. But, again, that's sort of off-topic. Sorry. "Sunshine" is from the 2005 album Songs We Sing. Check it out, you flip-flop-wearing surfer, you.

Reach Down
Pearl Jam with Chris Cornell
Once again, I had something else here in the number 5 spot, but then I realized today's line-up was waaay too sparse and mellow and I am feeling a bit rockin' today myself. So let's rock a bit. I am getting all excited to receive the 2005 Pearl Jam Christmas Single vinyl. 'But it is January,' you say, 'not Christmas.' Well, in the 12 or 13 years as I have been in the Ten Club (the Pearl Jam fanclub), I don't think I've ever gotten the annual record before February. This song was featured on the 2003 Christmas single, and this Temple of the Dog "reunion" took place October 28th of that year at a star-studded evening of music.

Thanks to Franz pointing this out: You can download this entire show at http://www.glidemagazine.com/downloads25.html. This amazing evening featured an acoustic set, and electric set, and three encores - filled with gems. Collaborating musicians include Jack Irons, Chris Cornell (also did 2 solo songs, one of his own and one Audioslave), John Frusciante (RHCP), Jack Johnson, and Lyle Workman. Grab the show for download before it is gone!

My favorite Seattle-ites are the topic of a new photo book coming out this Spring, "5x1: Pearl Jam Through the Eye of Lance Mercer."