Autumn Souvenir

I'm worn out by the non-stop talk of the end days for all physical media. From music to the news to books and films, it's all doomsday. I was talking about this with N recently and we both agreed: Do we really want ALL of this on our damn computers? She was reading a magazine (the print kind) and we both agreed: absolutely not. As more folks move towards storing all entertainment on their laptops and phones, I seem to be moving back to where I was ten years ago. I'm buying more physical music than ever, we have a Sunday subscription to the NY Times, I buy 2-3 books per week and well, the movie side of things doesn't concern me as much (since it's a visual media, I think it's fine if it goes the way of the computer). I miss Harp Magazine, No Depression and Magnet arriving in my mailbox. I miss Tower Records and the local CD shop. I wonder how long it will take for all the others to vanish. I know one thing for certain: I will never ever buy a damn Kindle. Maybe i...

Townes Van Zandt : Delta Momma Blues Fat Possum, 1971 Jay Bennett & Edward Burch : The Palace at 4am Undertow, 2002

Seriously?

PCH 1 , originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

Glorious Noise has gone to the trouble of searching the ASCAP/BMI databases for Tweedy/Bennett co-writes. If you look at the list, it's pretty clear that Bennett not only played a critical role in the production and evolution of Wilco's sound, but also in the songwriting. He shares credits on a good portion of the tracks on Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot , as well as the fantastic Mermaid Avenue records. The list: 1. AIRLINE TO HEAVEN (Mermaid Avenue) 2. ASHES OF AMERICAN FLAGS (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) 3. BLOOD OF THE LAMB (Mermaid Avenue) 4. CALIFORNIA STARS (Mermaid Avenue) 5. CAN'T STAND IT (Summerteeth) 6. CANDYFLOSS (Summerteeth) 7. CHRIST FOR PRESIDENT (Mermaid Avenue) 8. ELT (Summerteeth) 9. FEED OF MAN (Mermaid Avenue) 10. HOODOO VOODOO (Mermaid Avenue) 11. HOW TO FIGHT LONELINESS (Summerteeth) 12. I'M ALWAYS IN LOVE (Summerteeth) 13. I'M THE MAN WHO LOVES YOU (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) 14. IN A FUTURE AGE (Summerteeth) 15. JESUS ETC (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot...

My friend and former lead singer of Star City, Jason Lewis: I feel like I have to say a little more about Jay's passing. He was one of those rare people that came into my life at a time when I was ready to learn and he taught me more than I can say about recording, music and how to be an open, giving, presence in life. He taught me how to hear and record music in ways I'd never imagined. And now I'll never have the chance to properly thank him. I am profoundly grief stricken. I got the chance to record with Jay back in 2002-2003. I was just coming out of my band of six years and Jay was not long out of Wilco. I needed to do something on my own, but I felt I needed a guide. Jay and I had met several times before and when I had a batch of songs together I got in touch with him and went out to Chicago for a week to work on the songs, just the two of us. When I got to the studio I came up the stairs to the loft space and found the door open, a pile of stuff in the stairway, an ...

Before Bennett joined Wilco, he was in the Urbana, IL power-pop outfit Titanic Love Affair.

Of all the lineups, none topped Jeff Tweedy, Jay Bennett, Ken Coomer, Bob Egan and John Stirratt. These shows, during the Being There tour, were simply a blast. I'll never forget the Irving Plaza show when a full-on food fight broke out when the band brought out the deli tray. My buddy Bob got drilled in the temple by a Coomer-hurled tomato. Back to the ski resort. Egan's faceplant at 3:08 is classic.

One of the best live shows I own. Link at the bottom. James Alley Blues She's a Jar New Madrid Blood of the Lamb Willow Garden Auld Triangle Another Man's Done Gone Hesitating Beauty Via Chicago Sugar Baby I Got You Forget the Flowers I'm Always In Love The Lonely 1 Summerteeth True Love Will Find You Casino Queen California Stars Hoodoo Voodoo Download

I remember the day Marvin Gaye died. I was only ten years old, but I remember my friend Mark's father telling us that Gaye was dead. I didn't know his music at the time, but perhaps it was my burgeoning love for music that left a mark. I still remember exactly where I was sitting. Amazingly, 25 years later, very few of my favorites have passed away. Johnny Cash was a tough one, but Cash's music never hit me to the core like my favorites. There's music I like and then there's music that drives deep. The latter camp is crowded by the artists I post about relentlessly on this blog: Wilco, Bruce Springsteen, Damien Jurado, Nick Drake, Richard Buckner and a few others. To say that 1994-1996 was a turning point in my life would be somewhat of an understatement. I grew up with Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo was the prologue, but it was Wilco that really changed me. I remember working in Manhattan and hearing that vinyl copies of Wilco's second record, Being There , had been...

The nice owner of my local coffee shop just caught a glimpse of our classic garbageman making his way up the street. She immediately grabbed a cup, filled it up and brought it out to him. And then this kicked in:

As of this day, I have some decisions to make with respect to this blog. As I mentioned briefly in a post a few days back, I have landed full-time work. That job commences on June 1 and it will likely be a very time-consuming role. In addition, as I creep closer to completing a first draft of my book, I would like to spend a good portion of my free time working on that. Will I have to spend a little less time on this here blog? Well, yeah. I mean, I was averaging about 80 or so posts/month over the past few months, and I can't imagine I can sustain that. I'm sure I'll find time.

I watch this and think, "Where are these acts today?" No one even touches this raw talent and emotion, and no one has since, well, I guess Bruce Springsteen. There are some good bands and all, but where's the rock n' roll?

Bruce Springsteen @ Roxy Theatre, Manayunk, PA, November 17, 1973 I was six days old when this show happened. I wonder if I was into Bruce yet. I was definitely into Seger.

It's been some time since I've mentioned the "book I'm working on." First off, no I didn't make the whole thing up. Secondly, I'm still on track to complete it this year. It's been quite the experience. I can easily go three weeks without writing one word and then suddenly a thought hits me and I run to my laptop. After a month-plus of nothing, last night I had a memory from a decade ago. A few hours ago I completed the first version of this story and I'm quite happy with it. After adding some more color, this could turn out to be my favorite story in the book, and as of yesterday morning it didn't exist. I remember watching a recent interview with Neil Young where he talked about his writing process. He basically said that aside from absolute emergencies, everything else must come second. When you're hit with something, you have to drop absolutely everything and let it out. He'd be at important dinners, have a thought and just up and l...

Chuck Berry, Chess Records Box Set , Vinyl, 6 Records $14.99 Also picked up: Silver Jews American Water Whiskeytown's Record Store Day 7" Heartworn Highways DVD

This song's incredible. This is the quickest any Wilco record has grabbed me. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. Tossed into that bill were provisions that basically forced the states to pay unemployment compensation under certain conditions. No, I did not know this history offhand, and yes, I pulled it from Wikipedia. For the first time in my career, I have been a beneficiary of this legislation, and I must say, my standing would've been far more troublesome had it not been for this help. Add to this Obama's stimulus package, which reduced my monthly COBRA payments from about $340 to $125, and well, I suppose I should thank my government for the assists. On June 1 it looks like I can tip my cap and move on. These seven months have passed by mighty fast and I've certainly grown in many respects. Sure, I wish I did some traveling, but not knowing when I'd land the right job again had me moving about things pretty conservatively. Not only am I grateful to have had some help during this period of uncertainty, but I ...

The Essential Joe Pernice Cigarette Sandwich The Pill 7:30 Clear Spot Lift Me Up PCH One Freight of Fire Number Two Hundred Dollar Pocket Waiting for the Universe In a Ditch Baby In Two Flaming Wreck Monkey Suit Penthouse in the Woods Bum Leg Silo "Crestfallen" would've made the cut, but my version skips, so it got the shaft

Okkervil River opening for Wilco on the West Coast.

I think I did this 2-3 days ago, but eh: 1 Wilco (The Album) 2 Chip Robinson Mylow 3 Brakes Touchdown 4 Neko Case Middle Cyclone 5 The Gourds Haymaker!

As I'm sure you've noticed, I rarely, if ever, review records right after they come out. Unlike films or books, records take me months, if not years to fully absorb and offer up a real opinion. That said, I've now listened to the new Wilco record, eh, maybe fifteen times, and I'm gonna say that this is a mighty fine record. "One Wing" sounds like the best song on the record, with "Bull Black Nova" a close second. "You and I" is a pretty little ballad. It's the second part of the record that I'm still trying to wrap my arms around. The first half is very good. My guess is that this one will fall in the middle of the Wilco canon, behind Being There, Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot , perhaps even with Sky Blue Sky and a step above A Ghost Is Born and A.M. . Then again, it's far too early to really say. But thus far, this sounds like another great release by a band that is likely the best American band since R.E.M.

Now that I've grown to love this city, especially with all the free time I've had, I suppose it's time to create my top ten favorite spots in the city. In no particular order: Green Apple Books & Music : I love everything about this place. I always first check out the used store for cheaper fiction, the occasional vinyl find and music books. And they have a massive magazine section. Then I head over to the new books store which is just absurd. Yamo : For $5.25 you get a wonderful Burmese meal. The place fits about ten people total, and the staff basically just chucks stuff everywhere, but this is one of the city's finest stops. Duboce Park : I hang here a few times a week. I head over with a book and my iPod and just sack around, rumble with various dogs and waste a few hours. Amoeba Records : Maybe the greatest place ever constructed by human hands. Peete's Coffee @ Broderick Street : I stop in here after every run. They have a nice little patio where I li...

Sometimes iTunes shuffle can be the greatest gift this world has to offer. Alright, coke slurpees are probably the best, but man, when you get that random track that you'd forgotten about and it starts at the perfect time, just when you seem to need/want it, well, that's about as good as it gets. As always, I'm sitting in my living room alternating between my book, keyboard cat videos and tunes. And then suddenly the first few strums of a song came on and I stopped it all and grabbed my headphones. Wow.

When considering McCartney's career, I'm shocked at how little attention this record gets. This has to be right there with Lennon's Plastic Ono Band as the best post-Beatles releases. I've listened to it more than anything else in the past month. Buy it.

Wilco : (The Album) Nonesuch, 2009

For even middle-of-the-road fans of Rouse, the 2004 DVD/CD companion The Smooth Sounds of Josh Rouse is a must have. First things first, the DVD kinda sucks. There are a few clips that make it worth a viewing, one of which I believe includes a quick shot of the back of my head, but the goods here lie in the companion CD, which must be culled from cuts that didn't make his two best records, 2002's Under Cold Blue Stars and 2003's 1972 . It's amazing that Rouse didn't release this collection as an official release as it's far better than his last three records. The lead track, "Michigan," is among the best songs he's ever done, and every single track on the ten-song-set is quality, including a very nice cover of The Kinks' "A Well Respected Man." It doesn't look like you can buy the set direct from Rouse, but Amazon has it for $15.49. If you got this far in the post, it probably means that you outta pick it up.

I always point to 1997 as the year. My thirst for music, combined with a 12-month period that saw one stellar release after another, changed everything for me. Like an addict, music took precedent over everything else. I skipped a good friend's wedding to go see a Whiskeytown show at Tramps (she stopped speaking to me). I arrived to my girlfriend's own party at about 2am after seeing Richard Buckner at the Mercury (we survived a few more months), and these were only a few of the times I'd chosen music over other life responsibilities. I really couldn't help myself. I'd see Wilco in town and then drive to Boston to see them the next night. There was no end. And then in 1999, I booked my first trip to South By Southwest. I mean, I was seeing a few shows a week as it was, why not just jam about 60 or 70 into four days. I will never forget walking into my first show, Lullaby for the Working Class, at Liberty Lunch, and feeling the spirit of it all. But there was one ba...

Northline by Willy Vlautin, Fiction, 2008: 9.3 Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver, Stories, 1989: 9.6

Medication (Album) - Damien Jurado

I can't recall the last time I looked forward to an album this much. I will now listen from this moment until early Sunday.

New Dylan: $24.99 New Bruce: $19.99 Pretty solid deals.

One of the first stories from This American Life I listened to was the story of a single mother from Eugene, Oregon and her relationship with her two daughters, both of whom ran away at a very young age (one for three months, the other for an entire year). The story's incredibly vivid and follows their journeys from Oregon to Reno to San Francisco all the way down to Texas. You can listen here . Last night I settled down for an hour or so with the Sunday Times. I've always been a fan of the Modern Love stories in the Sunday Styles section. The stories are short and always centered around a relationship, usually between a husband and wife. But this week it was about the family in the paragraph above. The story picks up well after they'd run off, but once again shows the fragility of the relationships. But strangely enough, there's one thing that brings them together after all these years, and that's the music of Tom Waits. Perhaps more than anything outside of ourse...

Me: Jeff Tweedy on My Roof:

I exchange e-mails and text messages with a few friends during and after almost every single Yankee game. We usually complain about the pitching (a whole lot of that this year), bad managerial calls (again, a lot) and how the team's doing overall. After spending $400 million plus in the off-season on three bodies, the first month-plus of the 09 campaign has obviously been a disappointment. But there's one topic that we've barely touched on and that's the new Stadium. The two guys I chat with most both live not too far from the Bronx and it's unfathomable to me that neither has made it to the new ballpark. And neither seems to have any plans to do so in the near future. At first, I thought it was more a case of nostalgia. I mean, each of us had probably been to north of 100 games in the old Stadium. One friend and I witnessed Game 6 of the 1996 World Series from right around the left field foul pole. I'll never forget turning to him about a minute after Charlie H...

I'm about to settle into some light reading or perhaps some work on the potters wheel, when suddenly I hear explosions outside. I head to the roof. , originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

Yes, I am very late to the game. Folks have been recommending this show for years now and I've repeatedly given that, "uhhh, yeah, I'll check it out" look. I've only made it through three episodes thus far (all in the last three days), but boy have they been excellent. This American Life is a once/week radio program on Chicago Public Radio hosted by the calm and engaging Ira Glass. Each show is usually comprised of a few stories based around one topic. Subjects can range from timely and largely-covered issues such as the recession to more personal topics, such as this: Plan B: There's the thing you plan to do, and then there's the thing you end up doing. Most of us start off our lives with some Plan A which we abandon...switching to a Plan B, which becomes our life. But it's not the selection of what to cover that makes these shows so compelling and real; it's the people and the twists and turns that make up the plotlines. Although the delivery o...

Yes, the first four months haven't been all that impressive on the new release front. The Springsteen record's a clunker. The M. Ward, Tim Easton and Bonnie "Prince" Billy records have their moments, but certainly don't measure up to their normal output. So yes, there have been disappointments, but there have also been a few bright spots. Here are a trio of my early-year favorites: Neko Case : Middle Cyclone The record's slightly inconsistent, but the good songs are very good. "This Tornado Loves You," "People Got a Lotta Nerve," "Magpie to the Morning," and "Don't Forget Me" could land on my songs of the year mix. But then there are songs like "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth," which has the writing maturity of a pre-schooler. The Gourds : Haymaker! I need to give this record much more time. The Gourds rarely release a sub-par record, but this one's so good that it stands among their best. Jimmy...

This is the first time I've ever done the comparison. I put on "Wishful Thinking" by Wilco, a song that is fairly simple, but has a lot of subtle sounds kinda floating in the distance. The difference between the two is far from minor. After just a second, it was like I was listening to two different recordings. The song coming from the CD was crisp and clear, while the crappy AAC version was muddy and flat. I either need to re-rip my entire catalog or just punt my computer.

Brakes : Touchdown Fatcat, 2009

I won't be there, but given the large number of quality acts, let's get a little what-if schedule going. I will say this: This lineup far exceeds Coachella. And I hear it's an extremely well-run festival. If I Were There: Fri, June 12 1215 - 115 : Tift Merritt 215 - 245 : Patterson Hood & Screwtopia 245 - 400 : Animal Collective 500 - 615 : Grizzly Bear 630 - 730 : Justin Townes Earle 1000 - 1100 : Justin Townes Earle 1230a - 145a : Public Enemy Sat, June 13 1215 - 115 : Alejandro Escovedo 200 - 300 : Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 315 - 345 : Heartless Bastards 520 - 600 : Brakesbrakesbrakes 600 - 800 : Wilco 900 - 1230a : Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Sun, June 14 1245 - 115 : American Princes 130 - 230 : Ted Leo & the Pharmacists 430 - 500 : Okkervil River 500 - 615 : Merle Haggard 645 - 815 : Neko Case That's a heck of a lot of great music, especially when you consider a bunch of the boring, yet popular, acts that I'm leaving out (Beastie ...

6pm-8pm 9pm-1230am

It's embarrassing how few of these I've read. I've bolded those that I actually completed. I've italicized those that I started reading, but ultimately rifled at a wall. 1. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce 2. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 3. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger 4. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad 5. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 6. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck 7. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner 8. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov 9. Humboldt's Gift, Saul Bellow 10. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster 11. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf 12. U.S.A. Trilogy, John Dos Passos 13. The Untouchable, John Banville 14. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 15. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike 16. All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren 17. American Pastoral, Philip Roth 18. Beloved, Toni Morrison 19. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro 20. Of Human Bondage, W. Somerset Maugham 21. Light in August, William Faulkner 22. My Antonia, Wil...

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon . Justin Townes Earle made it almost until summer as the top show of 09. Well, tonight at Bottom of the Hill, before a near-packed room, Damien Jurado put on a tremendous show. As he closes out a long tour, Jurado looked to the crowd, "Wow, I didn't expect this many people to show up." And for an early week show that got underway around 1030, neither did I. It was basically a best of Jurado set, highlighted by "Medication" (no pin dropped, but you would've heard it), "Coats of Ice," "Ohio" (again with the pin), "Gillian Was a Horse," "Letters and Drawings" (people were pumped), "I Can't Get Over You," and at least a dozen others. And as I just scoured my iTunes to recall the songs he played, I'm amazed at how many incredible songs he didn't play. In ten years or so, this fella has built a massive collection of great songs. On a breezy and misty Tuesday night ...

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

Until 2007, Human Touch was unquestionably Springsteen's worst record. Released in 1992 alongside the stellar Lucky Town , HT includes such dreadful tunes as "Real Man," "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)," and "All or Nothing at All." I'm talkin' songs that really suck. But among the garbage are a few gems, most notably the title track, which much to my surprise, still holds up 17 years later. After 15 years in the Springsteen cellar, with the release of Magic and this year's crappy Working on a Dream , could this early 90s clunker rise from the basement? Perhaps Springsteen thinks so, as he and the band performed the title track in Greensboro two nights ago.

His set at The Independent a few weeks back is the best show I've seen so far this year. Very unique, charming, humble and clearly a performer who couldn't and shouldn't be doing anything else. Golf shirt guy doing the interview is classic.

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

Damien Jurado : On My Way To Absence Secretly Canadian, 2005 Johnny Cash : Unearthed American, 2003

, originally uploaded by ccsbandwagon .

I suppose I could say Crater Lake up in Oregon, Big Sur or perhaps the canals of Amsterdam, but when I think of my favorite spot in this world, right now it's this small corner of my living room. During my six months of downtime, I have spent hours on end, day after day right here. The trees are bountiful, the breeze is often perfect, and an array of colorful birds drop in and out throughout each day. If I look to the right, there's a line or buildings, one yellow, one beige, one green and one light blue. They rise as the street rises and create a bit of a staircase of buildings. Up to the left is a much taller apartment complex that seems to provide proof of life once the sun has fallen. And on a clear night, the moon is almost always resting straight ahead. I sit in this chair and listen to music, sometimes 3-4 records in a row. I read. I make every single phone call from this chair. I think. I find branches and colors and movements that grab me every single day. There's ...

#5 Joe Henry #4 Will Oldham #3 Josh Ritter #2 Damien Jurado #1 Jeff Tweedy