Bishop Allen played a hell of a show in Tucson last July, and now the Brooklyn band has new record on the way. I have no doubt it'll be more of the ultra-catchy guitar pop that they're known for.The band's preview singles fall right in line with the Bishop Allen catalog, which includes the 2006 monthly EP project.Grrr... is out March 10, the same day the band launches a six-week tour. And
More >
Odds & Ends
Monday Morning QB: Super Bowl Rock
Was Bob Dylan softening up the American football audience for a performance at next year's Super Bowl by agreeing to appear in a commercial during this year's broadcast?Why not speculate about a Dylan halftime show, considering that the last five years seem to be paving the way: Paul McCartney (who Dylan introduced to pot), the Rolling Stones (who covered Dylan when their career needed a shot in
More >
Golden Boots CD release show Friday @ Club Congress
photo by taylor graham The new Golden Boots album, Winter Of Our Discoteque, is all of three days old now, as far as the official release date goes.But, so long as you're in the Ol' Pueblo, the perfect time and place to acquire yourself a copy is down at Plush,
More >
The Hump Day Shuffle: 1990
1. Texas Tornados - Laredo Rose - Texas TornadosDefinitely a curveball addition to the League of SuperGroups, this project brought together Doug Sahm, Freddie Fender, Flaco Jimenez and Augie Meyers for an accordion-heavy brand of Tex-Mex that sounds just about as perfect as it could be. Known mostly for "(Hey Baby) Que Paso?" it's a surprisingly strong album, and in my mind a one-of-a-kind
More >
Submarines & The Morning Benders @ Club Congress Sunday
Los Angeles husband-and-wife duo The Submarines and Berkeley quartet The Morning Benders are teaming up on a tour, and have each recorded one of the other band's songs as a promotional tour single.It's a great idea - and what's more, both songs sound great. I don't know either band, so I haven't yet heard the original versions alongside the covers, but the project is easily enough of a teaser to
More >
Odds & Ends
I'm back from a short blogging absence there - I was helping the new roommate get moved in and situated. This is a friend I've known since I was 12, and we've pulled jackass stunts from time to time ever since. This should be an interesting ride.Anyway, back to some music:There's a new record on the way (Feb. 3) from the Heartless Bastards, a Dayton trio that I caught on their second record,
More >
New Fourkiller Flats tunes
Just in time for their first show in too-damn-long, the Fourkiller Flats have posted two new songs on their MySpace.The Flats will take the stage, such as it is, at Che's Lounge, about 10 p.m. Saturday. There's no better place to catch the fellers, who like to stretch out their two sets and give the faithful plenty of whiskey-drinking time as they rock out. There's a certain magic that makes up a
More >
Tallest Man in Seattle
-
Artist:
The Tallest Man On Earth visited Seattle a couple weeks back to record some songs in the KEXP studio, and the station has just posted a couple clips (check the KEXP blog for more):"Honey, Won't You Let Me In""Where Do My Bluebird Fly"DOWNLOAD:The Tallest Man On Earth - Walk The Line
More >
The Hump Day Shuffle: 1989
-
Artist:
1. LL Cool J - Going Back to Cali - Walking With a Panther This shit was absolutely as cool as it got. 2. Pixies - Dead - Doolittle I didn't come to the Pixies until college, a good eight years after this groundbreaking album was released, but it didn't sound the slightest bit dated. In fact, another 12 years later, it's still an incredibly powerful album. "Dead" has all the elements that make
More >
44!
I'll always mark today by the feelings of joy and pride, intertwined and delivered in waves from inside myself by some seldom-seen nugget of wholesomeness, and from outside, by a country and its people, who decided, collectively and with enormous commitment and struggle, that the inauguration of a president should be an occasion celebrated by all, not just the robber barons. I gladly call Barack
More >
John Clinebell - Stomping Grounds
-
Artist:
Photo by Sarah Stanick When I came across the debut record from Santa Monica songwriter John Clinebell, my mind took a 10-year leap back in time. While Stomping Grounds, released in 2008 by SP&G Records, is his first solo album, I'd seen Clinebell perform probably a dozen times or more with his college band, Tricky Luz. I first came across the group at a coffee shop open mic night, when
More >
Heads up from Yep Roc
-
Artist:
Today we've got a couple good tidbits from the folks over at Yep Roc: First is a new track from Dave Alvin, "Walking with Mr. Lee." It's a tribute to Lee Allen, who taught a couple saxophone lessons to a 15-year-old Dave Alvin, before advising the student to try another instrument. Decades later, Alvin has a long-standing reputation as a rip-roaring guitarist - especially down at the
More >
Obamicon Covers
-
Artist:
I didn't read through the lengthy Obamicon.Me terms and conditions, but I doubt you're supposed to use it for classic album covers... but c'mon, what else is a music blogger to do? Here are some favorites: Any other great Obamicon album covers? DOWNLOAD: Bob Dylan - Let Me Die In My Footsteps (outtake) Bruce Springsteen - Rosalita (live 1974) Nirvana - Lithium (live) Ween - Spinal
More >
2009 Odds & Ends
-
Artist:
After a quick, put-your-best-of-list-together respite from new releases, music fans everywhere are getting hit with flow of new 2009 albums, plenty of which are highly anticipated and already raking in top reviews. Here's some of the best preview tracks: Bon Iver - Blood Bank Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve Handsome Furs - I'm Confused Heartless Bastards - The Mountain A.C. Newman -
More >
The Hump Day Shuffle: 1988
-
Artist:
-
Track:
1. Lucinda Williams - Passionate Kisses - Lucinda Williams The Mary Chapin Carpenter cover version won Williams her first Grammy, but the original version is far superior. Still, it's as close to the glossy Nashville pop-country sound as Williams ever really got, and for that it sounds a bit out of place with the rest of her catalog. Just on that same album, the songs before and after "
More >
Carpe Diem and The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
-
Artist:
Just for the hell of it, I thought I'd post an essay I wrote for a rock 'n' roll history class, back in 2001. I don't think the TA - a graduate student in percussion - had any idea what to do with the paper, short of marking it an A and moving right along. So here goes, all 1,800 words, only altered by chopping it into more paragraphs to make the online reading easier: The New Jersey shore in
More >
Happy Arlo Guthrie Day!
It's the Tenth of January, and I still ain't had no sleep...Once again, it's Arlo Guthrie Day, celebrating what is perhaps my all-time favorite song, "Darkest Hour," a mysterious, dream-like song, with some of the best poetry this side of "Mr. Tambourine Man."The song captured me fully about 11 years ago, and made its way onto my Eighth Street Symphony mix, settling in right between Neil
More >
The Inserts
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
At the Calexico show a couple weeks ago, the band threw a few lines from Bob Dylan's Silvio into the middle of "Victor Jara's Hands," turning the song a little sideways with a borrowed and entirely new vibe. It's a trick I've always liked - not exactly a cover song, but a bit of an homage. Calexico just borrowed the "Silvio" chorus, weaving it seamlessly with their own song. I've seen other
More >
