• Indie

    My intro to Nicole Atkins

    Nicole Atkins has evaded me all these years, but thanks to a friend pointing me to her latest release earlier this year (Italian Ice), and the last 24 hours of deep diving into her music, I am on board.

    Her voice blows me away. Songs like “The Way It Is” that just hit me in all the right spots. A throwback 60’s pop diva feel… the voice as an instrument, one that is completely at her command.

    Or “Forever,” where the intro and verses have a familiar ring (I hear “Time After Time” and “Little Red Corvette”) and then changes gears into a catchy chorus.

    I’ve been discovering her collaborations with other artists too. A couple of really cool covers:

    One collab I would love to see: Nicole teaming up with New Zealand’s Marlon Williams, who captures that same shimmery retro vibe.

    Italian Ice pays homage to her Jersey Shore upbringing, and is a great listen. It was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and features session legends Spooner Oldham and David Hood, as well as friends like Spoon’s Britt Daniel. The final song on the album is “In the Splinters”, and this live video from a July WFUV performance really sums up Nicole: fun, enthralling, entertaining, and a voice that can kill.

    So, watch! And check out NicoleAtkins.com for more. For me, file under Late to the Party, and… On. board.

  • Punk

    Midnight to Stevens – The Clash Pay Tribute to an Original

    I’m about a quarter of the way through Marcus Gray’s Route 19 Revisited: The Clash and London Calling. It’s a meticulously detailed account of absolutely everything having to do with the landmark 1979 album. Gray also wrote one of the best full biographies of the band, The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town.

    Needless to say, I’ve been buried pretty deep in Clash music over the last few weeks, listening to the albums, live shows, outtakes, B-sides and the like. This includes listening to my old Clash on Broadway CD collection, and encountering a great song I don’t recall hearing before. Apparently, when I bought the box set back in the 90’s, I didn’t give it the listen it deserved. Shame!.

    Guy Stevens and Mick Jones

    “Midnight to Stevens” is an outtake from the Combat Rock demo sessions, cut in September of 1981. The subject is music industry/producer Guy Stevens, who produced Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople in the late 60’s and early 70’s – and who, along with the Clash, produced London Calling. From what I’ve read, Guy was wild, unpredictable, and a raging alcoholic. Underneath it all though, he was loved by the musicians he worked with – in spite of the his behavior (he’d pace the studio during takes, throw chairs and ladders, and get in the face of the musicians). Clash guitarist Mick Jones, for one, was a huge Mott the Hoople fan, so would have been excited to have Guy on board for London Calling. Guy was absent for a good portion of the LC sessions, but his eccentric spirit likely helped fuel the creative and unpredictable spirit of the album – inspiring the band to produce a multi-genre masterpiece.

    Sadly, on August 28, 1981, Guy Stevens died of an overdose of prescription medication, which he was taking to try and combat the alcoholism. He was only 38 years old. Just three weeks later (Sept 17), at the People’s Hall in London, with the Rolling Stones mobile studio parked outside, the Clash recorded this tribute to Guy.

    The song itself is a more subdued, pop-oriented tune than one is used to hearing from the Clash. It’s a sad, beautiful tune if you ask me – and I know you are. It was a nice surprise to discover this after all these years.

    So here’s a short clip of the London Calling sessions at Wessex Studios in London, where you can see Guy exhibiting his Guy-ness:

    And here is the song (available on the Clash mega set Sound System).




  • Indie,  Soul

    Hold Me – Oz Soul from The Teskey Brothers

    If you close your eyes and throw on The Teskey Brothers latest record, Run Home Slow, you may think you’re hearing some recently unearthed Memphis Stax soul. What you’re actually hearing is the soulful voice of Melbourne, Australia’s Josh Teskey and the throwback sounds of the Teskey Brothers. Josh definitely channels the spirit of Otis Redding.

    “Hold Me” strays just a little from the Stax formula and mixes in some folk/roots with infectious foot stomps, hand claps and harmonies. The video adds to its allure, with its atmospheric, earthy, outdoorsy setting (directed and produced by local filmmakers We Are The Moon House, and filmed at sunrise in the Teskeys hometown of Warrandyte).

    This one hit my radar recently on a Tidal video mix. I’m thankful for the recommendation engines churning behind the scenes on Tidal, Spotify, Apple Music and such. This one’s a keeper.

    The Teskey Brothers

  • Indie

    In Appreciation of: Honey in the Sun

    Please add me to the Tracyanne Campbell appreciation society. The Scottish lead singer/guitarist for Glaswegian Indie Pop band Camera Obscura caught my attention recently when “Honey in the Sun” rang out sweetly from my Mac speakers (hard to romanticize, ha).

    Her voice is indeed sweet like honey, and the sun-kissed, wistful beauty of the song itself just hits me right where it counts. “Honey in the Sun” is the last song on their fourth album, My Maudlin Career, released in 2009. The comparisons to Belle & Sebastian are obvious, and after reading up, I came to discover that B&S singer Stuart Murdoch produced their debut album Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi.

    In fact, “Honey in the Sun” gives off the same vibes as my favorite Belle & Sebastian tune, “Another Sunny Day.”

    Long story short, I’ll be exploring Camera Obscura’s discography, and taking in the beauty of Tracyanne’s voice.

  • Jam

    Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country

    There is some sort of magic, some mystical talent, that some songwriters possess – the ability to compose a piece of music that captures the listener just seconds into a song. If you appreciate the rock & roll, the twang of Americana & country roots, the scoot and groove of a tasty guitar lick, then Daniel Donato’s “Justice” is for you. I mean, 20 seconds in, there I was, nodding my head and smiling. That doesn’t happen every day.

    Daniel Donato is a Nashville musician, in his mid-twenties, and a whiz on the Fender Telecaster. He’s professed his appreciation for the country virtuosos of our lifetime – Waylon & Merle and such. And, after discovering their music over the last decade, he’s a card carrying Deadhead. The Grateful Dead in and of itself were a melting pot of influences – folk to psychedelic rock to country to blues – and Daniel Donato soaks it all up into his own “Cosmic Country” style.

    “Justice” is the opening track on his full length debut, A Young Man’s Country, an album that also features covers of Waylon’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This,” John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” and a 9 minute version of the Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain.”

    You can stream it in its entirety on Bandcamp, and pre-order the limited edition vinyl there too. I’m looking forward to what Daniel’s got in store for us down the road. For now, we’ve got “Justice” – and it cooks!

  • Electronic

    Liquid Liquid and Melle Mel – “Cavern” and “White Lines”

    I’ve loved Grandmaster Flash/Melle Mel’s “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” since it was released in the fall of 1983. I was an 8th grader in Racine, Wisconsin. It only took me 37 more years to find out that the funky bass line and some of the recurring vocal styles come from another early 80’s track called “Cavern”by NYC band Liquid Liquid. Who knew? Probably a lot of you. Me? I live in a bubble, and yeah, quality #musicnerd information like this often takes a while to reach me.

    I discovered this listening to Questlove’s great new interview with Rick Rubin. It’s on his latest podcast episode of Questlove Supreme – two and a half hours of Rubin brain picking. It’s staggering the amount of great artists he’s produced since starting off in his NYU dorm room 35+ years ago. Beastie Boys to Slayer to Tom Petty to Johnny Cash to Red Hot Chili Peppers and on and on…

    Check this stuff out..

     
     
  • Soul

    Hours on End – Citizen Cope

    I’ve slept on Citizen Cope’s music for the last bunch of years. His latest release is last year’s Heroin & Helicopters – the title coming from a conversation Cope had with Carlos Santana long ago in San Francisco. “Stay away from the two H’s” (heroin and helicopters), Carlos passed on to Cope as a bit of advice in the music industry. Those words stuck with him.
     
    The standout track so far for me is “Hours on End” – the groove, the chord progressions, the interesting and at times heavy lyrics. Cope has a way of mixing in the grit and grime of the real world with love, longing and matters of the heart.  Great tune and a solid album altogether.
  • Indie

    My Top Tune of 2018: There From Here (Phosphorescent)

    I always find it hard to put together a “best of the year” music list because my listening habits jump all over the map, through different years and eras. When I look through my listening history this year on Last.fm, I see some great new stuff: Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station, Parker Millsap’s Other Arrangements, the great new Tom Petty collection An American Treasure

    But when it comes down to it, it’s Phosphorescent’s C’est la Vie that takes top billing, and in particular, the song “There From Here” – a song that I immediately loved. I won’t go into it too much, but in essence, I recorded myself messing around on guitar on my birthday this year (Aug 3rd). I sang a few made up lyrics, and really liked the melody and chord changes I had come up with (some sadness, some beauty, some bitter-sweetness). Fast forward a couple months later to the release of C’est La Vie and my first spin through the album. When I heard “There From Here,” it felt awfully familiar. Listening back to my noodling in August, there were a lot of similarities in the melody and feel of the songs. I felt like Matthew had written the song I had bouncing around in my head. It was sort of a surreal moment, honestly.

    I said hello to Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck before his Phoenix show back on November 12th,  and got to tell him how much I loved the album, and especially the song. During the show, he dedicated the tune my way before playing it.. 

    Anyhow, I’m so thankful for artists like Matthew – artists who have the talent to take the melodies bouncing around our heads and are are able to bring them properly into this world. 

    Take a listen…

  • Indie

    Some People

    Heard this a while back on Elton John’s Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music. It quickly turned into a favorite of mine, and some friends too. Killer moment when the bass and drums kick in. Great, talented artist, this Parker Millsap.