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:
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 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. )
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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)
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.
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?
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
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.
Name: Heather Browne
