Can’t believe I almost let this day pass without posting the best song ever to have Halloween in the title.
This was released on the Love Is Hell, Volume 1 EP as a bonus track in the UK (and as a promo single). It was also the first Ryan Adams song I ever recall hearing (or actually listening to). I love the little tinny piano jangle in the background –it sounds like something out of a Rolling Stones song– and the wry lyrics can’t be beat. Enjoy!
I am a little confused by the AOL Music Indie Blog. The first time I heard of it, it just sounded like a non-sequitur to me, like a math equation that does not compute. AOL = indie?
They are using their gigantic corporate conglomerate muscle and huge subscriber base to draw these great podcasts from a wide variety of (mostly) smaller independent artists.
I suppose I could just enjoy and keep my mouth shut, but I just have to admit my hesitancy in having AOL be my source for, like, a Josh Rouse interview. Isn’t that what smaller labels and independent radio stations are for? The performances are great so I can’t complain, but I have to admit that the concept kind of rubs me the wrong way.
I know, I know – get over it, and listen to these:
RECENT PODCASTS (the links are to mp3 of podcast) -
M. Ward (performing Chinese Translation, To Go Home, Paul’s Song)
Cat Power (performing Love & Communication, John John, Satisfaction, Ramblin’ Man)
Noel Gallagher (performing It’s Good To Be Free, Whatever, Slide Away)
The Lemonheads (performing No Backbone, Why Do You Do This To Yourself, My Drug Buddy)
Nada Surf (performing 8 songs — now that’s just crazy talk: Concrete Bed, What Is Your Secret?, Always Love, Hyperspace, Blizzard of ’77, 80 Windows, Happy Kid, Blankest Year)
As previously mentioned here, this is the week that Ed Vedder will be featured in the Sundance Channel’s show Iconoclasts, which pairs him with another “leading innovator in their field,” surfer Laird Hamilton. The two will discuss their passions and share some waves.
PREVIEW (8 minutes) – nice placement of “Given To Fly” which just feels like a surfing song and a couple of songs from the new album, as well as Ed on uke:
I am still too cheap to have the Sundance Channel, but I have another surfing movie I can watch instead, thanks to Netflix.
So who did win that contest for the autographed copy of Ben Folds’ new album? I was thinking the same thing, especially after I got my own copy in the mail this weekend and enjoyed listening to it. I could definitely appreciate the remastering in several of the songs – drum crescendos were crisper, and I noticed sounds I hadn’t heard in the original. My copy is, of course, not autographed (come on, it’s lifestyles of the obsessive and carpal-tunnel afflicted in blogland, not the rich and famous and privileged).
The superspecial winner of the poetry contest was . . . “Kev”! His simple poem echoed very closely my own trigger into a freefall of darkness and money-spending called: Visiting The Record Store.
Kev wrote:
i cant go down to the record store, im afraid what i might do the last time i went to that old place i stayed the whole day through
i cant go down to the record store, if i do, my girlfriend says she will just go shes jealous of bruce, ryan and bob pearl jam, ben kweller, wilco
for the things that i see at the record store are just too tempting for a boy like me fuel for friends i know you can save me by sending me that special cd
How can I resist? Thanks for composing, everyone. Runners up (who get absolutely nothing) were Ryan who used a gazillion Ben Folds song titles in a story/Mad Libs type thingie, and Aaron who composed “rebuttal haikus” to each of the previous entrant. Unfortunately, Aaron lost because “bee-yotch” is actually two syllables.
TUNE SAMPLE: “Rent-A-Cop” – Ben Folds (Lyrics: “I’m ‘trolling food court for girls, Yeah, it’s the best job in the world, They know they’re safe with me, They love my little mustache, They love a man in uniform.”)
This week the sixth food group becomes Very Small Candies of Different Varieties. So far I’ve sampled some Nerds, some Twix, a few Almond Joys and a tiny box or two of Milk Duds (my favorite). Thank god this only comes once a year or you’d have to hoist me out of the house in a specially designed lift for the very obese, after removing the doors from the hinges.
A newspaper reporter from New Hampshire contacted me the other day for a story she is writing on the shrinking Fun Size candy as we know it (she found my previous post on this travesty). While I am pleased that this “important” issue is getting some coverage in the media (!), she had some extremely deadpan journalistic questions to ask me on the phone. The very very best one was: “Do you believe that these candies now accurately represent the size of fun?” There was a beat of serious silence on the phone line, and then I burst into laughter, for which I immediately apologized. Because she was not joking as I had thought.
How big, exactly, is the size of fun?
“Every Day Is Halloween“ (Ministry cover) The Postmarks Okay, well let’s just get this one out of the way. Halloween is tomorrow and so most Americans are busy doing things like scooping the slimy innards out of pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns, and hastily assembling costumes out of what is left in the thrift stores and on the picked-over racks. You? You are cool and collected, listening to this hazy, jangly version of a Ministry song. This is the first of a series of free “seasonal downloads” from Miami’s The Postmarks‘ MySpace page. Their debut album comes out January 2007 on UnFiltered Records.
“To The Floor“ Shrift I mentioned this sexy little album last year; Shrift is a duo composed of Nina Miranda (from Brighton-based Smoke City) and producer Dennis Wheatley. This trip-hop song is a spun-sugar pink confection with a faint ’80s sheen to the floating female vocals, but with an updated twist. More than anything, it reminds me of the Phoenix track in Lost In Translation, and I do believe this song would fit like a glove in the Tokyo nightclub scenes with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson. Listen to this and I defy you to say otherwise. From this year’s Lost in A Moment album (Six Degrees Records).
“Black Magic“ Jarvis Cocker This song is off of former Pulp frontman (and reigning titleholder of pleasantly-smarmiest voice in England)Jarvis Cocker‘s upcoming self-titled album, coming out next month in the UK. The title of this song should really be “Crimson and Clover, Pt. 2″ because it is a huuuuge rip off of that stick-in-your-head psychadelic hippie ’60s singalong — but that’s not to say it’s bad. I actually find it quite enjoyable. And I think we can agree that perhaps this song has a better title than this summer’s “Cunts Are Still Running The World.”
“Nevermind The Phonecalls“ Earlimart Earlimart is originally from Fresno, California, and now relocated to the smoggy hipness of Los Angeles. Pitchfork recently unveiled this, the first of three tracks off their upcoming unnamed 5th full-length album. Earlimart’s last outing, 2004′s Treble & Tremble, was often compared to the work of frontman Aaron Espinoza’s late friend Elliott Smith. Espinoza says, “It’s tricky. I’m never ashamed of my relationship with [Smith] or his effect on me or my life or the band. I could never think that’s a bad thing if people want to put us in the same sentence with him or something . . . and I wouldn’t ever say that the album wasn’t influenced by him, but it wasn’t meant to be a tribute thing.” I can hear those threads in this track, but it is more up-tempo pop with a clean & catchy feel. I like it a lot.
“Blue Hotel“ Willie Nelson Who would have thought that Willie Nelson would have one of my favorite album covers so far this year? Maybe Ryan Adams is rubbing off on him, making him sleek and stylish for the masses. Wait, Ryan isn’t sleek and stylish. Nevermind, maybe not. But Ryan did produce Willie’s new record Songbird and penned this tune off of it (hear Ryan’s original version here, live). Ryan and the Cardinals also played on the album. I think Willie is a national legend but also an acquired taste, like a good strong whiskey on the back porch.
Please let me know today if you have any trouble with these links – it’s my first attempt at the new EZArchive madness.Update: All files are now Savefile. Arrgh!
Judging by the volume of emails and comments I received about my recent post on the unearthed Superdrag EP, many of you guys hold a special place in your heart for the sweet power-pop sounds from John Davis and crew, and rightfully so. In case you didn’t know, John Davis released a self-titled solo album (2005, Rambler Records) that is seriously good and highly recommended, complete with delicious harmonies, soulful piano and distorted guitars.
John Davis has become a committed Christian in recent years following his struggles with alcohol and some seriously “scary visions” (excellent interview here). While his solo debut is not a religious record, per se, it is a searingly honest and earnest work that delves deep into issues of redemption and grace. “People put Christian music into such a category” Davis said. “I tried to give the songs an older, rootsy feel, a real back-to-basics exploration.” [ref]
Stream some of the goodness from his debut album easily by opening his website: www.johndavismusic.com. Notable favorite tracks in my book are the Beach Boys-inflected “Stained Glass Window” and “Salvation”, the fuzzy wall of guitars in “Nothing Gets Me Down,” and the rousing old-time gospel piano of “Jesus Gonna Build Me A Home.” Serious stick-in-your-head goodness. You can download demo version mp3s of every song on his first album in the Media section of his page, as well as some unreleased alternates. Rad.
John Davis was back in the studio during August this past summer recording his second solo album. He recently posted a studio journal on his MySpace blog. It reads in part: _______________________________________________________
Hello Friends,
I guess it’s been close to a year since my previous blog; most likely they’ll never become any more frequent than that. I figure the world can do without ‘em. But it’s been a couple of months now since I returned home from recording sessions for my next record, so I thought a brief summary and a photo blog might be overdue.
I couldn’t be happier with the record we walked out of there with.
Until this opportunity came up, I hadn’t worked with Nick since 2000. In the meantime, he had done records for Foo Fighters, Probot, Queens Of The Stone Age, Danzig, Ash, Casino, and most recently, Slipknot side-project Stone Sour. His client list is testimony enough to his level of talent. Imagine how honored and blessed I felt to have been invited to come to 606, not only to record my new album, but to re-connect with my friend.
By God’s grace He bridged the gap of 6 years perfectly, and for the duration of the session I really felt like we had picked up precisely where we left off. Yogi Watts and myself showed up on August 3 ready to work. We tracked and overdubbed the record top-to-bottom in 15 days.
(This is what a finished record looks like)
(I worked this ’70s Ampeg Dan Armstrong about half the time)
(Nick rips. No toms.)
I’ve posted a couple of the unmastered album tracks on my page—they’re available for download if you’re interested. Thought that might be a nice goodwill gesture. I hope it will suffice until I’m able to find a permanent home for this record and make it available to you. My trust is in Christ’s faithfulness and goodness, and not the works of men, who shift and change like shadows.
With Love Always, John Davis _______________________________________________________
Well, my trolling through the world of the internet has finally yielded a good quality recording of one of Trent Reznor’s sets at the recent Bridge School Benefit show.
You need to hear his face-melting set; you can read my review here. I reiterate my unbridled desire for Trent to embark on a small-venue tour with these kinds of acoustic reinterpretation of his songs, because they seriously blew my mind.
NEW FILES! Updated 11/2, good quality. #2 and #3 are especially recommended. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find #9, “Hurt,” which was a popular one, so I have re-upped the link to the older, lower-quality version of Hurt from the last set I discovered.
I posted something once before with a similar title [see: Like the Musee D’Orsay come to life] –because I love seeing intelligent and creative interpretations of art set to music.
I nearly minored in art history (which is a fancy way of saying that I love wandering around in old museums but was a bit too lazy to finish the upper-division coursework for the minor), and often “see” music in a visual way, so whenever a band can create something that reminds me of a painting, I am all over that action. Oasis has a new animated video for their b-side song “Masterplan.” It’s mostly a jaunt through hometown Manchester with the boys, but the cool thing about it is how it resurrects the best paintings of L.S. Lowry into an industrial landscape in motion.
L.S. Lowry was also from Manchester, England, and lived from 1887 to 1976. Most of his paintings were muted landscapes of the industrial areas where he lived, often populated by so-called “matchstick men” (fairly simplistic, slim, homogenic folk) with an almost primitive and flat representation of perspective. There’s a certain autumal beauty to the tones he uses, and a charming air about his works.
Here’s one of L.S. Lowry’s paintings — “Coming Out Of School” 1927, Tate Gallery:
Now watch what Oasis does with the same stylistic idea. If you are familiar at all with some of the more well-known works by Lowry, you’ll see that many of his paintings are represented in the content of this video (i.e. Man Lying On A Wall, Fairground At Daisy Nook). Oasis worked with Lowry’s estate and received their blessing on the endeavor, which they hope will bring “a fresh new image” to good ole’ L.S.
The song itself is lovely and I think it’s a nice touch how the original 5 band members walk (well, Liam struts) past actual Manchester landmarks. Good on Oasis for giving props to a fellow Mancunian through their video, possibly even sending a few kids scurrying to crack open an art history reference book. Watch:
Oasis is busy workin’ it in support of the release of a greatest hits collection (Stop The Clocks! It’s out November 13!) and Noel Gallagher is set to appear in NYC at the premiere of the new tour documentary Lord Don’t Slow Me Down (CMJ FilmFest, November 4th).
The more I listen to Kings of Leon, the more I come to think that they may be one of the best things to happen to family musical groups since The Partridge Family, or maybe Jack & Meg White. Consisting of three brothers and a cousin (all in their early 20s), this Tennessee rock band is making a name for themselves through a few quality releases and, most recently, a tour with Bob Dylan. They’ve got a loose Southern-garage rock feel to their music with a classy and restless edge.
Kings of Leon has worked with whiz-bang British producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller, Counting Crows, Ray LaMontagne) for all three of their releases: 2002′s Holy Roller NovocaineEP, 2003′s Youth & Young Manhood (which sounds like the title of a bad After-School Special), and the most recent Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005), which was recorded at Johns’ Three Crows Studio in Los Angeles, using The Beatles’ old Abbey Road mixing desk. Wahoo.
The Australian version of Aha Shake Heartbreak came with a bonus DVD of 5 live songs recorded in Belgium. Here are the audio rips of these energetic tracks. They play like they mean it:
I tell ya people, this having an actual life that takes time away from my blogging is really a pain. That being said, I’ve been busy and it’s been a while since I’ve done a sort of Odds & Ends post, but there’s several good things rattling around in my brain today that I thought I’d share.
Plus it’s Blizzard 2006 here in Colorado so no work, no schools, no nothing except being a homebody all day. I was going to post a few great sets of music, but EZArchive seems to be migrating to a new system and may be unavailable for 24 hours. Bah.
Ûž The first diversion of the day is the Advertising Slogan Generator where you plug in your name and it makes you your very own slogan. Mine is above in the subject line, and it’s awesome. What’s yours? I keep hitting refresh and laughing out loud.
Ûž The charming Mr. Tim Young has assembled a fantastic Contrast Podcast #30: “A Song I Like By A Band I Don’t.” I had several discussions about my possible submissions last week when I was on vacation, but ultimately didn’t get my stuff together in time to submit anything. I had some good ideas, though (sure, sure).
Ûž I posted about the Brokedown Melody soundtrack last week, and got the news today that there are 2 song streams available (thanks “Craig”!) — one for the Eddie Vedder track (without the annoying AOL voiceovers every time he stops to take a breath) and the other for one of the 2 unreleased Jack Johnson tracks:
“Let It Be Sung” – Jack Johnson with Matt Costa & Zach Gill STREAMS: [.asx] [.ram]
Ûž Fuel friend and fellow blogger Bruce makes XPN Radio in Philly one of the coolest stations on the air. They’ve got a few great live performances this week for your streaming pleasure:
-TODAY: (Oct. 26) at 2PM EST, Lindsay Buckingham interview and performance on World Cafe at www.xpn.org -FRIDAY: (Oct. 27) at 12pm EST, it’s Sean Lennon live in concert on www.xpn.org and www.npr.org.
Ûž Chad over at Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands is a huge Elliott Smith fan, as anyone who has ever spent even a little bit of time with him likely knows. In observance of the Oct 21 anniversary of Elliott’s death, he has posted a lovely and heartfelt tribute piece. Recommended reading with soundtrack.
Ûž Howie Payne was that guy from The Stands (who put out a pair of kicking albums), and since they’ve broken up I have been keeping an eye on his solo MySpace page. Finally there are some new streaming songs from him, and they sound great — bluesy & rolling.
Ûž A few of you astute and kind readers have sent me a recent Chris Cornell set from Sweden, with a fantastic blend of solo, Audioslave, and cover songs. J over at Sweet Oblivion has now saved me the time uploading it, he’s got it for ya. Nice set, how ’bout that Michael Jackson cover?
Ûž Aquarium Drunkard has ripped some vinyl audio for us from his much-beloved Bill Withers at Carnegie Hall LP, and it makes me love Withers (and A.D.) even more. Check out the warm snap, crackle and pop of these tracks.
Ûž Finally, Lore Sjöberg over at Wired.com has penned the funniest article I’ve read all week: MySpace, Now With Random Crap. He muses, “I don’t really know what to do with my 319 new online chums, compatriots and cronies . . . I think you just collect them, as they collect you. It is the 21st century, and we are all each other’s Hummel figurines. I think MySpace should take a hint from collectible figure games like HeroClix, and find a way to let you make your friends fight.” Read the entire thing here.
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.
This was released on the Love Is Hell, Volume 1 EP as a bonus track in the UK (and as a promo single). It was also the first Ryan Adams song I ever recall hearing (or actually listening to). I love the little tinny piano jangle in the background –it sounds like something out of a Rolling Stones song– and the wry lyrics can’t be beat. Enjoy!
(Nick steers the ship)
(This is what a finished record looks like)
(I worked this ’70s Ampeg Dan Armstrong about half the time)
(Nick rips. No toms.)
Name: Heather Browne
