Album of Week 25
The Go-Betweens : 16 Lovers Lane Capitol, 1988
Posts
Good Things
record stores, dogs, mangos, the breeze, minneapolis, bruce springsteen, russ feingold, martin luther king jr., books, you can count on me, peter sellers, tim russert, centro-matic, sam cooke, the yankees, parks, animals, cincinnati, postcard, postcards, barack obama, band t-shirts, nick drake, the ocean, n, lindz, mom, pals, the gourds, my ipod, the wire, vw, plants, austin, the sky, pictures, brooklyn, mike's, independence, amsterdam, bob dylan, baseball, murakami, nickel and dimed, baltimore, mercury lounge, texts, wilco, sushi, headphones, hbo, grass, edson, floors, netflix, cereal, coffee, quiet, barns
Introducing Big Light
Last night's show at 12 Galaxies was one of the most inspired sets I've seen in months. When you can upstage a band as dynamic as Apollo Sunshine, then you're clearly heading to good places. Now go buy the EP and if they stop into your town, head on out. Here's their itinerary: Jun 26 2008 12 Galaxies - EP Release Party w/ Apollo Sunshine San Francisco, California Jul 4 2008 High Sierra Music Festival Quincy, California Jul 6 2008 High Sierra Music Festival Quincy, California Jul 8 2008 Spaceland - opening for Surprise Me. Mr. Davis Los Angeles, California Jul 9 2008 SoHo - openeing for Surprise Me Mr. Davis Santa Barbara, California Jul 11 2008 Moe’s Alley - Opening for Surprise Me Mr. Davis Santa Cruz, California Jul 12 2008 Cafe Du Nord - opening for Surprise Me Mr. Davis San Francisco, California Jul 18 2008 Little Fox Theatre - opening for The Mother Hips Redwood City, California Jul 31 2008 12 Galaxies w/ Charles Gonzalez & The Stereo Glitte
The Wrens' "Sleep"
It's been five years since New Jersey's The Wrens released, yes I'm serious, one of the best records of all-time. Since the release of The Meadowlands , we've only heard snippets of what might be on the way. We've heard about a new record for about three years, yet nothing's surfaced. Charles Bissell has played a few solo gigs and most recently, has joined Okkervil River on tour. But still nothing from the beloved Wrens. Until today. With no advance warning, up shows a new track. The first new song in about half a decade. And good lord is it a beauty. I will say no more: The Wrens "Sleep" (song four in the player).
Best Records @ Mid-Year
#1 Thao : We Brave the Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars) #2 The Baseball Project : Vol 1. Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails (Yep Roc) #3 My Morning Jacket : Evil Urges (ATO) Most Anticipated Upcoming Release Hotel Lights : Firecracker People (8/19) (Bar/None)
The Music Industry & The Music
Since the advent of Napster in the late 90s, fans, musicians, industry-insiders and even the public at large have experienced an endless barrage of news about the impending collapse of the music industry. The RIAA launched suit-after-suit targeting their customers. Some labels inserted damaging rootkits into CDs. And some of the more paranoid artists went after their fans, tech folks and anyone and everyone who "stole" their music. What's been lost in this has been the music itself. I can't think of one article in the last decade that focused on the possible harm, if any, that these changes will have on those creating the music that we all live to hear. In other words, how will downsizing at the majors impact artist budgets and ultimately the ability of the great acts to continue recording great records? If there's a young Nirvana out there just getting started, will they have the opportunity to reach anyone outside of their hometown? Are there A&R reps. still
Paste Magazine's 17 Coolest Record Stores in America
* Amoeba Records, Los Angeles, CA * Criminal Records, Atlanta, GA * Other Music, New York City * Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale, MS * Waterloo Records, Austin, TX * Aquarius Records, San Francisco, CA * Dusty Groove America, Chicago, IL * Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Nashville, TN * Shangri-La Records, Memphis, TN * Music Millennium, Portland, OR * Ear X-Tacy, Louisville, KY * Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans, LA * Newbury Comics, Boston, MA * Grimey's New + Pre-Loved Music, Nashville, TN * Turntable Lab, New York City * The Electric Fetus, Minneapolis, MN * Jerry's Records, Pittsburgh, PA
My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges"
I've never fully "gotten" My Morning Jacket. Sure, I hear the resemblance to Neil Young (who's one of my favorite artists of all-time), but I've always found Jim James' overreaching vocal delivery to be too extreme and too narrow. I remember buying At Dawn and not understanding the almost universal praise being spouted by nearly every music fan I knew. I subsequently passed on It Still Moves , but returned for Z , which had more staying power than any MMJ record I'd heard prior. But still, there just wasn't enough. I even coaxed myself into seeing them on New Years Eve at The Fillmore a few years back. I left the show early. And then came the June 10 release of Evil Urges . The reviews have been extremely mixed, but a few trusted friends were adamant that I spend some time with this record. Reluctantly, last week I spent one afternoon listening front-to-back. About thirty minutes later, I found myself returning. And a number of times over the weekend.
Upcoming Shows
I will be at these: 6/26 Apollo Sunshine & Big Light @ 12 Galaxies 7/12 Surprise Me Mr. Davis @ Cafe du Nord 7/26 Lucero & Glossary @ Bottom of the Hill 7/31 Thao @ The Independent 9/10 Robert Forster @ Great American Music Hall 9/19 My Morning Jacket @ The Greek Theatre 9/27 Silver Jews @ Fernwood Resort
It Simply Doesn't Get Better
I've posted this video before, but there are few songs/videos that represent the spirit, fuel and freedom of rock n' roll better than this one... Centro-matic's "Triggers and Trash Heaps"
The Best in Television
Aside from The Office, baseball and news, my days of watching television are basically over. Okay, so those three (especially given that an election's before us), still take up a pretty good deal of time. Nevertheless, in years past, I would watch entire seasons, and sometimes series, of a particular show. I'm sure HBO will churn out a new slew of thought-provoking and gripping shows in time. But as I reflect on the endless hours that I've spent before a television, I've compiled my favorite television series' of all-time. And here they are: #1 The Sopranos #2 Six Feet Under #3 The Wire #4 Party of Five #5 Curb Your Enthusiasm #6 The Office #7 Cheers #8 The Honeymooners #9 The Wonder Years #10 Three's Company Others Worth Noting: Seinfeld, Sports Night, The White Shadow, High Feather, The Real World, The Late Show With David Letterman, The Charlie Rose Show, Frontline, ER, Diff'rent Storkes, Knots Landing, Flight of the Conchords, The Simpsons, MASH
Check Your Local Listings
On PBS tonight. I believe it's airing at 1030pm here in the Bay Area. I can't recommend this documentary enough.
Just a Rock n' Roll Spirit, With Nothin' Better To Do
One of the most underrated songwriters of the past twenty years. Freedom is A Stranger - Scott Miller Long Goodnight - Scott Miller Dear Sarah - Scott Miller And The Commonwealth
50,000 Songs Later
At some point in the last day or so, my last.fm song-counter surpassed 50,000. I signed up for last.fm on June 23, 2005 and almost exactly three years later, I have listened to 50,049 tracks. Now remember, last.fm only tracks songs listened to via my computer and ipod. Like many last.fm enthusiasts, whenever I'm listening to a cd or a record, I feel cheated since it's not being tracked by the scrob. Nevertheless, after 50k, here are my top ten artists: 1 Josh Ritter 2,002 2 Wilco 1,711 3 Bruce Springsteen 1,560 4 Bob Dylan 1,444 5 Josh Rouse 1,141 6 Richard Buckner 988 7 Bonnie "Prince" Billy 904 8 M. Ward 808 9 Okkervil River 756 10 Eels 661 And scrobbin' right now: Peter Walker's "Young Gravity"
Tim Russert
His legacy should combine everything that he eloquently stood for: honesty, humility, family, passion, understanding, justice and integrity. If there's ever a political/journalistic figure who deserves the accolades that we're hearing from all angles, it's Tim Russert. He was a man of immaculate integrity and warmth. Every single morning for the past two-plus years, I jettisoned out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down for an hour of Meet The Press. Tim Russert sat with and interviewed the most important individuals to traverse this planet, and he delivered his inquisitions with the utmost responsibility and insight. In addition to his work at NBC, Tim Russert was a devout catholic. No, not in the sense of George Bush and Jerry Falwell, but rather as a true believer who held onto something higher. And then there was his family, most notably his father and his son, who clearly meant the world to him. Whether it was his son's accomplishments at Boston College or
Baseball & Tunes
Harvey Haddix - The Baseball Project The Yankee Flipper - The Baseball Project Fernando - The Baseball Project
eMusic
I've had a love/hate relationship with eMusic since signing up in December of 05. For the most part, eMusic is an amazing outlet for those with an endless need for music. The positives of this service are as follows: 1) deep catalog of independent music 2) $20/month for 90 downloads (less than $3/album) and 3) all content is MP3. On the flipside: 1) the search engine is atrocious, and this is done on purpose, in hopes that consumers won't exhaust their downloads each month 2) the labels that I love get screwed (given the "sharing" model, labels only make about $.22/download, whereas they make about $.65-$.70 via iTunes) and 3) few new releases (I mean, how long has CCR's Greatest been in the top 20?). If you're even somewhat new to eMusic, it's a treasure trove. If you've spent many-a-month as a subscriber, you'll come to realize that eMusic is akin to the hours you'll spend perusing the vinyl bins at your local record store. In other words, if
Why This Matters
Barack Obama is the first politician in my lifetime whose every word seems genuine. Whether he's speaking before 75,000 in Oregon or to his campaign staffers in Chicago, there's very little that Obama says that seems forced, contrived or lacking purpose. The below video was shot in his campaign office on the day that he wrapped up the nomination. The last three minutes sums up why this man must be our next president.
The Democratic Nominee
Today is most likely my proudest day as an American citizen. I can't recall a time when a large part of our citizenship stood behind a cause that I felt so passionate about. And I can't recall a time when tha American public so broadly and so vocally embraced progress. For hundreds of years, millions of men and women fought and died to establish equality among the races. The abhorrence that was slavery existed in this country a mere 150 years ago. The historic events in Selma, Montgomery and throughout the South, were only 40 or so years ago. Yet on this day, June 4th of 2008, one of two major political parties in this country has nominated an African-American man as its party's candidate for the highest office in perhaps the World. As I stepped onto the bus this morning, I looked around and noticed the diversity among the fifty or so passengers. I then peered down to the front page of my newspaper and saw folks of all different races glowing as they reached to shake Senato
The Wait Is Over : Centro-matic
Rat Patrol And DJs - Centro-Matic Centro-Matic - Trigger and Trash Heaps - Centro-Matic
Take What You Have Gathered From Coincidence
Essential Bob Dylan Visions of Johanna All I Really Want To Do She Belongs To Me Song To Woody It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry It's All Over Now, Baby Blue Mississippi Girl From the North Country Just Like a Woman A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Tangled Up in Blue The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again Don't Think Twice, It's Alright Not Dark Yet Shelter From the Storm
Aimee Mann's "Freeway"
"Smilers!" is out tomorrow. I really need to get to Largo in LA. Freeway - Aimee Mann
The Honest Things, They Last
Essential Josh Rouse Streetlights Directions Michigan Slaveship Sweetie Late Night Conversation El Otro Lado Ugly Stories Little Know It All Dressed Up Like Nebraska Rise Quiet Town
