Video: Old Californio – “Chilao”
I stumbled upon Old Californio’s YouTube page tonight, and they just uploaded a bunch of sweet video action from a recent in-studio performance at SoCal’s KPFK.
If you don’t have their Westering Again album, which came out earlier this year, youse a fool baby. Buy It.
Here’s a kickass tune called “Chilao” which isn’t on the album but I sure wish it was! It sums up everything I love about these guys: the earthy Southwest vibe, the unique arrangements and instrumentation… Gah! I love ’em!
Ick’s Pick: Gina Villalobos
Okay, as the story goes around here, it’s not too often that I gravitate toward female singers – but I do have my favorites: the Patty Griffins and the Lucindas, and some good finds the last few years with artists like Mary Gauthier and Girl in a Coma (badass ladies)… and God bless her, despite all her troubles, Amy Winehouse is such an amazing talent.
We can tack another one to the list – another female singer-songwriter who will receive a permanent spot in my iTunes library: her name is Gina Villalobos.
A California native, Gina’s well known in CA’s folk / alt-country / Americana set – and she just released her 4th CD this week: Days On Their Side. Gina’s got a killer voice. She’s got the sweet tone of a Sheryl Crow, but with a sandy, relaxed disposition like Lucinda Williams. Laid back, and really pleasant to the ears.
I’m finding the album surprisingly strong – great hooks, strong, talented players, and the showcase: Gina’s sweet n’ scratchy vocals.
Standout tracks: “String It Out”, “Take a Beating”, “Crazy”, and…
Listen: Sun In My Eyes (mp3)
Buy: Days On Their Side
Visit: Official Site | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter
Wilco w/ Feist on Letterman
Before I venture off to watch Paul McCartney on Letterman, I thought I’d post last night’s Letterman, in which Wilco and Feist took over the Ed Sullivan Theater for a nice version of “You and I”. The band is clearly completely in synch and enjoying their time together. The vibe is relaxed, loose, and just pretty damn nifty.
Hello In There
I was eating dinner with my family earlier tonight at one of those Pay-$9.00-and-gorge yourself types of restaurants (rhymes with “Pete Potatoes”). Sitting in the booth behind me was an old gentleman – probably 80 or so. He sat there alone, eating his dinner. On my trips to the salad bar, and the soup bar, and the drink refills, and taking my 3 year old to the rest room (so she could tell me that she didn’t have to go) – on my way back from those trips – I’d see him. He’d look up my way with a vacant look in his eyes, and I’d purse my lips into a respectful smile and pass by. He didn’t look happy, nor did he look sad. Just – vacant. Expressionless. He was just having dinner.It was late afternoon, and the hot desert sun was creeping down the western sky outside. The sunlight was beaming through a window, moving down on his booth, and the last time I passed him, the bright sun was shining directly into the old timer’s face like a spotlight. He sat there unfazed, finishing his meal.
For some reason, the image of the sun on the old man’s face made an imprint in me. I felt compassion for him. Not knowing a thing about him, I thought of the worse case scenarios – that here was an old man in the twilight of his life, eating alone on a Sunday night. Maybe he’d recently lost his wife. Maybe he was a sad and lonely man. Maybe the only human interaction he has left in his daily life is a dinner at a local restaurant. Maybe it would make his day if a random stranger approached him and said “How ya doing?”
I immediately thought of the John Prine song, “Hello In There”, this verse in particular:
So if you’re walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don’t just pass ’em by and stare
As if you didn’t care, say, “Hello in there, hello.”All it takes is a hello. Taking a minute or two out of your life to look someone in the eye and let them know someone in this world cares.
So did I act on it? Of course not. We rarely do in this day and age, right? As we got up to leave, the old timer’s booth was empty, and an opportunity was lost. And I felt a tinge of shame. I still do tonight.
Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe he has a rich and fulfilling life. Or maybe he’d rather just be left alone. The frustrating thing for me is that I didn’t take the time to find out.
John Prine | Hello In There (mp3) – from John Prine
The Friday Five: July 10, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
Foo Fighters – “My Hero” (from The Colour and the Shape, 1997)
One of, if not my absolute favorite Foo Fighters track.
Warrant – “Heaven” (mp3) (from The Best of Warrant, 1996)
We all have our musical skeletons, mine just happen to have lots of hair… 20 years (!!!) later I still love this tune.
Jason Mraz – “Butterfly” (from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., 2008)
Don’t let his sensitive singer-songwriter facade fool you, Mr. A-Z can write some downright dirty tunes. Our example today: a romantic ode to a lapdance…
Wilco – “I’ll Fight” (from Wilco (The Album), 2009)
I just got around to listening to this record yesterday and am looking forward to listening to it again.
Lazlo Bane – “Overkill” (mp3) (from 11 Transistor, 1997)
I vividly recall the first time I heard this… catching the video (when MTV still cared enough about the ‘M’ to do so) and being glued to the television. Opening on the familiar chord progression followed by Colin Hay in a bellboy outfit and giving to what, to this day, is one of my favorite covers ever. Mr. Hay even comes in after the bridge to lend his signature vocal to the final verse. Brilliant finish to today’s five!
Okay, I’ve shown you mine, now show me yours!
Ick’s Pick: Deer Tick’s Born on Flag Day
Deer Tick is a band that I tracked down because of all the buzz – on the blogs, on Twitter, in the pages of Rolling Stone. I guess I assumed they’d be too “indie” for my tastes, but never judge a book by its cover. What I found instead is the best damn country album I’ve heard all year. No, not Country with a capital C, but country in a raw, dirty, gritty sense – stripped down and real.
The deal sealer for me is the raspy voice of one John Joseph McCauley III. Yeah, I’m a fan of the raspy voiced singers – the Bruces, the Prines, the Earles (and add to the list lately Mr. Ryan Bingham). So hearing a new band that plays with some kick and some twang, with a lead singer that’s anything but smooth & polished – but rough around the edges – that’s always what I’m happy to find.
McCauley and his band mates are only in their early 20’s – but the feel of their latest record, Born on Flag Day, sure doesn’t sound like it came from a bunch of guys fresh out of their teens.
With new music, you tend to have those “oh, this sounds like ___” moments – and this record certainly does have its derivative moments: “Houston, TX” has a bass line reminiscent of the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil”. “Song About A Man” brings Dylan to mind. And the gorgeous 60’s style ballad “Stung” sounds like a country cousin of “You Belong To Me” – if the cousin drank whiskey and raised hell.
There are a lot of standout moments for me on this album…
The opener, and maybe the most “mainstream” of the songs, is “Easy”. Feedback gives way to a twangy guitar solo, the first verse, and lets loose with an explosive chorus: “And you don’t know how easy it is / No you don’t know how easy it is / You were never there/ No never there”.
The late night tavern feel of “Little White Lies” – starting off with a slow tempo, the lazy pedal steel, and launching into an uptempo stomper. Great harmonies by Liz Isenberg.
“Friday XIII”, a catchy shuffle of a tune with some great vocal tradeoffs between McCauley and Isenberg – that traditional banter a la classic Johnny and June Carter Cash. The effects on McCauley’s vocals make me visualize one of those classic old mics from the Elvis days. In fact, those vocal effects show up throughout the album. Sort of a distant echo.
“The Ghost” has one of the more classic country vibes. The rhythm and vocal delivery are punchy and fun. One of my favorites right now…
Hidden in the latter half of the last track, “Stung”, is an intimate, impromptu version of “Good Night Irene” (starting around the 6:00 mark). Beer cans are crackin’, rowdy friends are hollerin’… but the by end, everyone’s singing along, enjoying themselves – and McCauley has them right where he wants them. A lot like the album…
Buy this album: Born On Flag Day
Randoms:
- Deer Tick has has been covering John Prine’s “Unwed Fathers” (including this week’s stop in Phoenix, which I missed). And I hear they cover the Boss too.
- I think I’ve nailed down McCauley’s voice: a mix between Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers and Serge Bielanko, (formerly) of Marah. Anyone?
Discovering Discovery
As side-projects go, the pairing of Rostam Batmanglij (keyboardist for Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (vocalist for Ra Ra Riot) makes perfect sense. The results however, are as far as you can imagine from the twee indie pop of the pair’s respective bands. Trading in guitars, violins and afro-beat for synths and 808 drum machines, Discovery is an unabashed love letter to the days of electro-pop past.
The record opens with the one / two punch of the jubilant summertime “Orange Shirt” followed by the equally brilliant (and insanely catchy) “Osaka Loop Line”. “Can You Discover?” is a chopped and screwed re-imagining of Ra Ra Riot‘s “Can You Tell”. Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projectors lends her vocal shine to the hook of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”. The dynamic “So Insane” is easily my favorite track of the bunch and is shaping up to be a contender for my summertime jam. The record covers the hipster spectrum from reggae-tinged (“Swing Tree”) to R&B through twee-tinted glasses (“Carby” (featuring Batmanglij‘s bandmate Ezra Koenig)) to a timely (albeit, ironic) cover of The Jackson 5 hit “I Want You Back”. The record wraps just shy of 30 minutes and almost begs an immediate second (and third) listen straight away.
It’s not ground-breaking but Discovery‘s LP could very well be the indie-pop record of the summer.
You can stream the entirety of LP at Discovery‘s Official Site.
Discovery – “Osaka Loop Line” (mp3)
Buy LP: Amazon (available for only $3.99!)
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
New from The Heavy: Sixteen
The pride of Noid, England, The Heavy hit my radar back in January ’08 with a hard funkin’ tune called “That Kind of Man”. So when I heard they were getting set to release a new full length album, The House That Dirt Built, my ears perked up. The record doesn’t drop until October, but we do have a chance to hear the first single – “Sixteen”. If this tune isn’t heavily influenced by the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version of “I Put A Spell on You”, I don’t know what is, people.
Listen: Sixteen (mp3)
Watch: Video of “Sixteen”
Visit: Official Site | MySpace
Motivation
So I’m in the early stages of getting back in the gym groove. With all this dying in the celebrity world lately, and all this talk about failing hearts, it was time to drag my sorry ass back into some sort of routine. I started last week.You see, I’ll turn 39 next month…
I eat like a horse.
I love Mexican food.
I love pizza and wings.
I love ginormous plates of spaghetti with garlic bread.
I love Crunch Berries, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, and many other cereals of the junk variety.
I enjoy an occasional beer or four.
And I haven’t exercised regularly in a good 5 months.I’m 6’4″, and roughly 270 pounds. 250 is my target, though I guess my optimal weight is less than that.
Point being, I’m scared shitless of dying, and I’d like to stick around for a while with my wife and two daughters. Hence the self-ass-kicking that is the gym. The one highlight of my gym experience – like many of you – is the chance to hear and feel music in a totally different perspective. The pairing of energetic music with exercise is a match made in heaven, and is always something to look forward to.
In my few trips to the gym this go-around, these are some of the tunes that have kept the blood pumping. Wish me luck in this latest endeavor, and may the motivation stick around for good this time. By the way, that corporate logo up there? There’s something to it. It’s such a simple & powerful mantra, and it’s what I tell myself over and over when I even think about blowing it all off…
[Click on the album covers to check ’em out.]
Lotus – Age of Inexperience (mp3) – The only song I can think of that has a chorus of “I stone teenagers for fun” – at least that’s what I hear. This is a great album. If you like electronica, funk, with a bit of that jam band vibe, you’ll like it too.
Velvet Revolver – Sucker Train Blues (mp3) – Would you believe I hadn’t heard either of the Velvet Revolver albums until a few days ago? “Sucker Train Blues” has everything I love about the Guns n Roses Use Your Illusion era.
Aceyalone feat. Jah Orah – Master (mp3) – Indie L.A. rapper’s reggae/rap fusion record. Jah love.
Reverend Horton Heat – Marijuana (mp3) – I won’t endorse the mary jane before or during the act of exercise. But the song? Absolutely. God Bless the Rev (and Jimbo).
RJD2 – Sweet Piece (Cadence Weapon Remix) [mp3] – This sweet little groove will make you move schmoove.
A Day in the Life: Paul joins Neil Young
Now this had me grinning ear to ear. Last weekend at Hyde Park, Neil Young was closing with “A Day In The Life”, and out strolls Paul McCartney. The look on Neil’s face while they’re singing together is just priceless. Pure joy. And they don’t call it a night until they’ve done a duet on the vibes. Killer!
