Clapton Joins the Bluesbreakers, Mind-Blowing Solos Ensue
This is from John Mayall’s 70th birthday gig a few years ago. Buddy Whittington (from the Bluesbreakers) and Eric Clapton do things to their Fender Stratocasters that mere mortals like us can only dream of. Amazing. And a trombone solo to boot!
I just finished Pattie Boyd’s autobiography, and I’m just cracking open Clapton’s. I knew that drugs and drink played a role in Eric’s life, but holy schmoly batman, that is excess!
Here is “Talk To Your Daughter”:
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: September 12, 2008
Ah Friday it’s time to relax and you know what that means a glass of wine, your favorite easy chair and of course the Friday Five shuffling on your home stereo. So go on indulge yourself, that’s right, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and just enjoy the melodies. After all, music soothes even the savage beast….
Last week’s Five (and ½) brought back the straight shuffle with turns from every genre and era. For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with a bit of insight for each track.
Then it’s your turn! Just share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments and see what your fellow readers are listening to as well.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. Billy Joel – Matter of Trust (from The Bridge)
I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but this is hands down my favorite Billy Joel tune. It brings me back to being a young man and living for the radio on Saturday afternoons. I realize looking back at the last few weeks that Mr. Joel popped up last week as well. We’ll have to see next week if he can take the Shuffle Triple Crown.
2. City and Colour – The Death of Me (from Bring Me Your Love)
I just picked this up from emusic last week and have not had a chance to give it a proper listen. I was a huge fan of Dallas Green‘s first record Sometimes. For those not familiar City and Colour is the mostly acoustic and decidedly singer-songwriter slanted side project of Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire‘s singer/guitarist Dallas Green (the name comes from his own name as he felt uneasy “putting the album out under the name Dallas Green”).
3. Joey Scarbury – Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not) (from America’s Greatest Hero)
I wish I could say that I dislike this song. I don’t and I suspect that many of you dig it too.
4. John Williams – The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) (from Star Wars Trilogy: Anthology)
Performed majestically by the London Symphony Orchestra this is easily one of the most instantly recognizable sections of movie score ever. My sci-fi geek roots are certainly showing today!
5. Jshua – Forever (from The Rose Line)
Occasionally I get the opportunity to listen to music well before its release date, and this is one of those cases. Multi-Instrumentalist Jshua blends Soul, Funk, Beatlesesque progressions and a certain sense of grandeur usually reserved for compositions by a certain diminutive fan of purple. I truly cannot wait to share this one with the rest of the world.
May the Shuffle be with you…
I Listen to What Laura Says, and You Should Too
What Laura Says. A band from my neck of the woods, Tempe, Arizona (where every day I miss my home around the corner from Casey Moore’s). Looking at their pic here, you may be quick to judge. “Oh, hippie music! Deadhead muckety muck, don’t want it!” Ah, but dont ‘be so quick to judge. Sure, they have a side that will appeal to the psychedelic / jamband set. But there’s also a side that taps into late era Beatles. A side that taps into the Beach Boys. Little Feat. Canned Heat. Ben Folds. Dr. Dog…
But let’s stop the comparisons. What Laura Says manages to mix together a veritable tasty stew of genres. This album has followed me around for many weeks now. I’m so happy to have discovered “one of those” albums where you unearth something fresh and new with each listen. One of those albums where one song’s fabric weaves into the next, so if you pop one song on your iTunes, it doesn’t seem right without it’s companions. An album that is wholly original, quirky, and unique.
The album is an adventure – changing tempos and styles. The gentle harmonies of “Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried” kicks off the album with a banjo accompaniment and a happy go lucky lilt. Before you know it you’re off on a piano-driven, hand-clapping pop tune. Then comes “Fashionably Moral”, a haunting nod to raunchy Delta blues with a speeding freight train interlude. The clean joyous harmonies of “Illustrated Manual”. And how to describe “Wish I Could Fly”? Gorgeous harmonies, a melody that will have you singing along before the song ends – “boy I wish I could fly-y-eye-y-eye” – and a most-satisfying percussion frenzy toward the end.
There’s “Dot Dot Dot”, which you could easily argue owes to the likes of Simon and Garfunkel or Kings of Convenience. There’s “Waves” – a lazy summer daydreaming love song, which, for me, delivers the best 1-2 punch of the album with the next song- “Get Better Soon” – a down home double backbeatin’ backwoods jam. “Don’t worry about me, it’s you that needs the help”, it starts (and just gets better).
Harmonies and melodies. Melodies and harmonies. Gah! I love this album!
And then I saw them live. Two words I uttered to myself as I got in the car to drive home from their CD release party at the Rhythm Room a couple weeks ago: “Holy.” and “Shit.” These guys blew my mind live – charismatic, quirky, having a good time, but very serious about delivering a quality set. They seem light years more mature than a young, upcoming band. Their live show is an experience – and if you’re in Texas, California or Vegas, you have a chance to catch them within the next couple of weeks…
Sep 11 2008 10:00P Stubb’s BBQ Austin, Texas Sep 12 2008 8:00P Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar San Antonio, Texas Sep 19 2008 10:00P Bar Pink Elephant San Diego, California Sep 20 2008 9:00P SPACELAND Los Angeles, California Sep 21 2008 10:00P Beatles Revolution Lounge Las Vagas, Nevada Sep 23 2008 8:00P Blakes on Telegraph *CANCELLED* Berkley Sep 26 2008 8:00P The Clubhouse w/DATH Tempe, Arizona So listen, I’m not blowing smoke up your ass because I’m gaga over a hometown band. These guys are the real deal, and I’d be gushing just as much if they were from Nome, Alaska.
————————
What Laura Says – Jasper Corrine – this is a non-album track that sounds like a George Harrison-penned outtake from the White Album. I include it here because I’m not posting anything from the record except for “July 23”, which has the band & label’s blessing – and which you can still hear here.
What Laura Says is: Danny Godbold, James Mulhern, Mitch Freedom, Jacob Woolsey, and Greg Muller
Cruise over to their MySpace and say hi. And make sure to listen to “Wish I Could Fly” and “Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried”, which they have streaming.
BUY….
Thank you. Carry on.
How Keef Handles the Stage Crashers
Okay, granted that Noel Gallagher had no time to react to the idiot who bum rushed him [01:30 in] on stage a few nights ago in Toronto. But I must recommend to Noel and all performing musicians worldwide that they take preventive action, and watch this video.
Learn from the master. Here’s what happens when you try that business on Keef…
Observations: Film Music
I found this post from the summer hiding in my GoogleDocs folder and it somehow never made it to the front page. Better late then never? – Michael
I’ve successfully avoided the urge to rant on about this, that and the other thing in this most public of forums. It all feels very Jerry Seinfeld. But bah, what the hell…
Has anyone else noticed how crappy music in movies has become? Let me frame this, the wife and I have watched a few movies in the last couple of weeks that made me think “would it even be possible to have this much music licensed in a single movie?” It all started with this..
First off, if you have not seen this movie you owe it to yourself to see it. One of the first things that you’ll notice is the fact that there is a bevy of bloody awesome tunes. And not just a 30 second snippet, but a full intro, verse, chorus, solo… you get the point. Cheap Trick, The Ramones, The Clash, Van Halen, Hendrix and The Cars were all well represented in multiple appearances each. And at the end of the movie I say to my wife, “you know, the damned music industry has ruined soundtracks!”
We watched this with my son Miles this evening as Huey Lewis & The News played into Billy Idol‘s “Hot in the City” into Patrice Rushen‘s “Forget Me Nots”. A truly awesome selection of 80’s classics served over the sickly sweet film. And don’t you know that when I got to the end of it I was running to the iTunes to listen to some cheesy 80’s music, dancing around like a fool.
But seriously folks, isn’t it time we get better music in movies?
The Wizard Returns to His….Roots?
Old buddy and Todd Rundgren aficionado Mark (aka Markadelphia) checks out Todd’s upcoming release. Look for more from Mark here on Ickmusic! You can also check out his politics-centric blog, Notes from the Front. – Pete
The first time I listened to Arena, the new 13 track album by Todd Rundgren, I felt like I was listening to the album that record companies were begging him to make… in 1981. Thankfully, he never did and went on to make some of the best music of his career, solo and with Utopia. That’s not to say that I dislike Arena. It’s just that Todd was going to have to really put forth a Herculean effort to beat his 2004 release, Liars
, which I think is one of his best records (everyone who ever wondered what happened to their jet pack or flying car should download the track “Future” from this release – very funny and cool). I always get excited when Todd releases an album of new material. I have been a fan of his since the beginning and the new ones don’t come that often anymore (one every 4-5 years) . So it was with this exuberance that I pressed play the moment I got the CD in the mail.
As I listened to the first four tracks I was seriously wondering if this was the new Scorpions-Foreigner-Loverboy comeback album. Or perhaps the “lost” Scorpions-Foreigner-Loverboy album. Track 2, “Afraid”, does have a very addicting guitar riff that evokes a certain melancholy, but by the time you get to track 4, “Gun”, one has to wonder what Todd is doing. Does he really think it is the year 1981? Then track 5, “Courage”, comes along and we enter familiar territory with that gorgeous wall of vocals/keyboard sound that Todd has mastered for all eternity. This song could have easily been on The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect
.
Tracks 6 and 7, “Weakness” and “Strike”, move us back into power pop, with the latter sounding – and I am not kidding – like a cross between Joan Jett and AC/DC! Todd’s voice, always gorgeous – and this album is no exception – sounds just like Bon Scott. After listening to this track several times, I have to say that I have really grown to love it. Track 8 is where the album’s good stuff really begins. Everything after this point is wonderful – “Bardo” and “Pissin'” being two of the best songs Todd has ever recorded.
Arena, released on September 30, is not Todd’s best album, but die hard Todd Fans will love it, Scorpions-Foreigner-Loverboy-Joan Jett-AC/DC fans will love it, and it will make those A&R guys in the way back machine darned happy too.
Oh, and the cover (above) kicks major ass, dude!
7 (out of 10)
Hear the first single: Mad (streaming Quicktime)
Pre-Order Arena (release date: Sept. 30th)
Todd Links: Official Site | MySpace
Looking Back: Cameo
I know I speak for all middle class suburban white males in their late thirties when I ask: “Where the hell is Larry Blackmon??“
Okay, well maybe not – but I do get nostalgic for the funky old days of Cameo from time to time. They were one of the first live acts I ever saw, back when I was 16 and 17 years old. Most know ’em only for “Word Up”, and maybe for songs like “Candy”, “Attack Me With Your Love”, or “Single Life”. All great tunes from great albums.
But fact is the boys had been around since the early to mid -70’s, when the Julliard-trained Blackmon formed the New York City Players. In ’76, they changed their name to Cameo and signed to Casablanca’s Chocolate City label.
Their debut, Cardiac Arrest, was released in ’77, and gave the world what they never lost: dance-able, funky music with a heavy dose of quirkiness.
I’m all about the quirk.
Cardiac Arrest looks to be wayyy out of print, but you can find “Rigor Mortis” and other classics on the The Best of Cameo…
Hot Video Action
Take a look at this great title track to ’82’s “Alligator Woman”…
VIVA EL CAMEO!!!
Society’s Child
When I was in high school, I listened to a lot of chick singers. I would lay on my bedroom floor and listen to Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Sarah McClachlan, Suzanne Vega, Liz Phair and others and while writing terrible short stories about my angsty teenaged life. The chick singer phase continued into college, though to a much lesser extent (well, except for Tori, which I’m sure I’ll end up telling you about at some point).
One night after work about 10 years ago, I picked up a 3-disc compilation that Rolling Stone put out called The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection. On disc 2 of that set I discovered a song I’d never heard before, but loved immediately, “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian. Outside of that song, however, I never really bothered to seek out any other music by her.
(photo: janisian.com)
A couple of months ago, I was browsing around eMusic and I noticed that Janis’s Stars album was recommended for me. I took a listen and liked what I heard, so I downloaded it and a couple of others and enjoyed everything. It kind of baffled me that I hadn’t discovered her back in high school during my chick singer days. I guess better late than never, right?
Earlier this week, I attended a book signing for her recently-released autobiography, Society’s Child. She spoke for about 30 minutes, telling some stories from the book, did a 30-minute Q&A (I was actually quite proud that not a single stupid question was asked, which is never the norm when I attend Q&A’s), then did the signing. She was very nice and gracious and seemed genuinely happy to talk to her fans. Getting to meet artists in such a low-key, relaxed atmosphere is always a good thing, and I’m glad I went. I recommend you pick up her book and the accompanying CD she just released. And, of course, go see her if she’s going to be in a city near you.
Janis Ian – Society’s Child (mp3)
Janis Ian – At Seventeen (mp3)
Janis Ian – Stars (mp3)
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: September 5, 2008
As I’ve said before four day work weeks always throw me for a loop. This week had the added pleasure of a computer move leaving my music on one while I get the other ready for day to day use. Needless to say, I’m in need of a Friday Five fix to get me through the rest of this day.
Last week we wrapped up the “The Theme Days of Summer” with a send off. This week we’re back in the swing of the general shuffle. For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with some words for each track.
Then it’s your turn! Just share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments and see what your fellow readers are listening to as well.
This week’s Friday Five is courtesy of Last.fm.
Here are this week’s tracks:
½. The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick (from Christmas with the Beach Boys)
Apparently Last.fm does not know it’s not Christmas yet, this was quickly skipped but I thought I should include it here.
1. Rihanna – Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z) (from Good Girl Gone Bad)
For as overexposed of a track as this was I still genuinely enjoying hearing it and have not reached for the ‘skip’ button any time it’s popped up in a shuffle.
2. Prince – When 2 R in Love (from The Black Album)
Featuring the beat Justin Timberlake lifted for his all-too-obvious Prince inspired track “Until the End of Time”. I’m rather ambivalent about this track in particular as it always seemed out of place on the raunchy Black Album. While it’s a great song it’s no “Cindy C.”.
3. Billy Joel – The River of Dreams (from River of Dreams)
I think that this might be the first Billy Joel track to appear on a Friday Five. I have an odd relationship with Billy Joel in that I do truly appreciate and enjoy his music, but own relatively little of it and have not ever really looked to change that. I actually do not even own this record, rather the greatest hits package that covers this period of his career.
4. Eric Johnson – My Back Pages (from Bloom)
While I prefer his instrumental work, this is a great cover of the Dylan classic.
5. Led Zeppelin – Fool in the Rain (from In Through the Out Door)
I know that this may be blasphemy and an act of music-snob hari-kari but this is hands down my favorite Led Zeppelin song. It never fails to lighten even the darkest mood and I’m always up and dancing about during the Samba breakdown.
So what’s bringing you joy this Friday?
Steve Earle. Letterman. Friday.
Hey Steve Earle fans, watch Letterman tomorrow night (Friday, Sept. 5th). Steve will perform a Warren Zevon tune, “Reconsider Me”, in tribute to the late great Zevon who passed away 5 years ago (Sept. 7th, 2003).
I didn’t know it until tonight, but Earle recorded the song (hear it on YouTube) with Texas band Reckless Kelly for a 2004 tribute album, ‘Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon’…
I haven’t posted this one since the first couple months of this blog. It’s only my favorite Steve Earle live track everrr!
Steve Earle – Halo ‘Round the Moon (mp3) – live in Sweden I believe?
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