Rocking the Seine with Calexico
Some fine Frenchman recorded Calexico at the Rock en Seine music festival in St. Cloude, France yesterday afternoon. Originally from Tucson, these boys bleed the sound of the southwest through their music… South-spaghetti-western, Mariachi mavens of the indie music world.
They kicked off the festival with this short but suh-weet set.
Calexico
Rock en Seine
Domaine National De St-Cloud, France
August 25th, 20061.
Frontera/Trigger
2.Lost In Space
3.Roka
4.Deep Down
5.Minas De Cobre
6.Not Even Stevie Nicks
7.Alone Again Or
8.Letter To Bowie Knife
9.Crystal Frontier- Calexico’s Official Site.
- Buy their music.
Reckless Kelly Rocks La Zona Rosa
There’s just something about me and Texas music. Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Old 97’s, the Reverend Horton Heat, Jerry Jeff Walker, Blaze Foley, Joe Ely, etc. etc… some damn fine music has its roots in that big ol’ state. There are two music meccas I have yet to visit, but one day certainly will: New Orleans and Austin, Texas. Since the late 90’s, Reckless Kelly has been one of the greatest roots rockin’ Austin bands around.
Reckless Kelly is made up of brothers Willy and Cody Braun, David Abeyta, Jimmy McFeeley, and Jay Nazz. Willy and Cody, originally from Challis, Idaho, started off touring with their dad in a Western Swing band called Muzzle Braun & the Boys. They relocated to Austin in 1997 and have been tearing it up as Reckless Kelly ever since. They can count Joe Ely as one of their fans. I just posted about Joe Ely. It’s all connected, man. Scary.
On August 8th, Sugar Hill Records will release ‘Reckless Kelly Was Here‘, a 2-CD collection of a live performance at La Zona Rosa in Austin. Also included is a very impressively shot DVD of the performance. I’ve been getting more and more into these guys the more I hear ’em. Come to Arizona, boys.
Here’s a couple of special sneak peeks at the upcoming release. One showcasing their great version of a Richard Thompson tune, and another that shows off their sense of humor, which really comes across in their live show. As a father of two little girls, anyone who can work the Wiggles into a wild Texas rock n roll show is OK by me.
Reckless Kelly:
1952 Vincent Black Lightning(mp3) | Richard Thompson cover
Reckless Kelly:Wiggles & Ritalin(mp3)- Buy Reckless Kelly Was Here.
- Check out their Official Site here, where they’re streaming the entire album, and have a whole lot more cool stuff too.
New Bruce Cockburn: Life Short Call Now
Flying completely under my radar last week was a brand spankin’ new release from my other favorite Bruce, Mr. Cockburn. ‘Life Short Call Now‘ is his first studio offering since 2003’s ‘You’ve Never Seen Everything‘. I was introduced to Bruce’s music back in 1994 when I heard “Southland of the Heart” on the radio. Back in 1994 there was one cool station in Phoenix: 101.5 KZON (now one of those “Free FM” stations). “Southland” came from ‘Dart to the Heart‘, an album that zeroes in on matters of the heart, relationships, longing, L-O-V-E baby. From there, I dug into Bruce’s catalog, and was hooked.‘Life Short’, released July 18 here in the U.S., is Cockburn’s 29th – yes 29th – album. It’s everything you’d expect from a quality Cockburn album: the intelligent and insightful lyrics, calm yet urgent vocals, and an array of eclectic and wholly original melodies. Check out the falsetto on the haunting “Beautiful Creatures”; the unwavering faith of “Mystery”; the pounding rhythm of the instrumental “Jerusalem Poker”.
I’m not sure why Cockburn isn’t as popular down here in the US as in his native Canada, but that’s just fine by me (and Bruce is probably okay with that too). But by all means, if he stops through your town on his current tour supporting this album, go and see a living legend.
Here’s one off the new record with Ani DiFranco lending a hand with background vocals.
Bruce Cockburn (w/ Ani DiFranco): See You Tomorrow (mp3)
And while you’re at it, check out this cool version of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom”:
Bonus Tune: Bruce w/ Yossou N’Dour: Chimes of Freedom (mp3) – 8/3/1994, Columbia Records Hour
- Buy Life Short Call Now.
- See Bruce’s Tour Dates.
Emmylou and Mark Make Beautiful Music
For those of you who caught Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris on tour, I envy you. I’ve been playing and replaying the last show of their tour over the weekend. It took place Friday night at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, Cal. Yeah, things move fast around these internets. We’re spoiled.
Check out the last four tunes of the show. Two classics from Brothers in Arms, “So Far Away” and “Why Worry”. One from Knopfler’s last solo LP, Shangri-La, and a beautiful, tear-inducing ballad, “If This is Goodbye”, from Knopfler and Harris’ 2006 release.
Emmylou is the perfect compliment to Knopfler’s live show. Her sweet silky voice fits into his soft finger-picking style like hand in glove. The whole show is great, but it’s these that really blew me away. I can only imagine how great it must’ve been in person.
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
Live at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, Calif. (final show of the tour)
June 30, 2006So Far Away(mp3)
Our Shangri-La(mp3)
If This is Goodbye(mp3)
Why Worry(mp3)01. Right Now
02. Red Staggerwing
03. Michelangelo
04. I Dug Up A Diamond
05. Born To Run
06. Red Dirt Girl
07. Band introduction
08. Done With Bonaparte
09. Romeo & Juliet
10. Song For Sonny Liston
11. Belle Starr
12. This Is Us
13. Boulder To Birmingham
14. All The Roadrunning
15. Speedway At Nazareth
Encore
16. So Far Away
17. Our Shangri-La
18. If This is Goodbye
19. Why Worry- Buy All the Roadrunning
- Mark Knopfler’s Official Site.
- Emmylou Harris’ Official Site. I’m not convinced this is her official site, but I couldn’t find anything else remotely “official.”
Chris Whitley and the Bastard Club
Last July, my brother and I headed up to the Rhythm Room in Phoenix to see Chris Whitley. As I wrote not soon after, it was very sad to watch. Chris was part wasted, exhausted, emotional, and enraged. It was ugly to see. The show ended after a handful of songs, with Whitley being helped off the stage. Four short months later, he was dead of lung cancer. It’s impossible to speculate what was going through his head that night I saw him, so I won’t.
What we do have left is the music. Earlier this year, the Red Parlor label released ‘Reiter In’ by Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club. The entire album was recorded in the first few days of June 2005 (just a month before I saw him), with Chris being joined by a bunch of his friends in a NYC studio. I haven’t had a chance to hear the whole album yet, but I have heard this one tune, and I’m drawn more and more to it each time I hear it. It’s hypnotic, shuffling, dirty blues. Harmonica, fiddle, snare & cymbal, and Whitley’s signature National Steel bottleneck guitar. Chris’s vocals are sparse but still powerful.
Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club: All the Beauty Taken from You in This Life Remains Forever (mp3)
- Buy ‘Reiter In’.
- Chris Whitley’s Official Web Site
I’m off to eMusic to pick up some more tracks off this album. Other songs include covers of Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, the Flaming Lips “Mountain Side”, and Gary Numan’s “Are Friends Electric”.
Allison Moorer meets Mr. Earle
I have two words for Steve Earle: You dog!! He must have the charms of Casanova, because he continues to seduce the ladies into taking his hand in marriage. His latest – sixth, seventh, eighth? – bride is none other than the lovely and very talented Allison Moorer. I’m not privy to the story behind their courtship, but they spent Steve’s last tour together with Allison in the opening slot. Steve also produced Allison’s latest release, ‘Getting Somewhere’, which was released last Tuesday (June 13) on Sugar Hill Records.
From the the three tracks I’ve heard, it certainly has that Earle / Twangtrust vibe to it, and – well, I eat that stuff right up like a pint of Cherry Garcia. You certainly hear it on “Fairweather”, which was co-written by Earle. Driving pounding drums, those crunchy guitar riffs…
Allison made quite a splash in 1998, when her song “A Soft Place to Fall” was included on the soundtrack to ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (one of the best soundtracks I own). That same year, her debut, ‘Alabama Song’ was released on MCA Records.
Allison and her older sister, Shelby Lynne (also a country-esque singer/songwriter) overcame quite a tragic event in their childhood to find success in the Nashville music scene. When they were both teenagers, their alcoholic father shot and killed their mother in the driveway of their Alabama home, and then turned the gun on himself – all while Shelby and Allison looked on. Shelby, who was 17 at the time, raised Allison for the remaining years of her adolescence. Sickening and tragic to even comprehend, but Shelby and Allison have persevered.
What I like about Allison (and her sister) are their refusal to bow down to the Nashville Country Machine, which churns out the cookie cutter singers as products, ruled by the almighty dollar (which country radio eats right up). I like the Nashville rebels, and Allison’s link-up with Steve Earle (in the musical and poetic sense) confirms what I knew I liked about her: artistic integrity and a perpetual middle finger to the “system” (even though Steve Earle sold “The Revolution Starts Now” to a Chevy commercial, but I choose to overlook that).
So take a listen to some Allison Moorer music. Here’s the song from the ‘Horse Whisperer’…
Allison Moorer:
A Soft Place to Fall(mp3) – from The Soundtrack to the Horse Whisperer.And here’s some RealPlayer goodness from her latest album, ‘Getting Somewhere’, her second release on Sugar Hill Records.
Allison Moorer: Fairweather (rm) | New Year’s Day (rm) | How She Does It (rm) – RealPlayer is required for these three
- Buy ‘Getting Somewhere’ from Sugar Hill Records or Amazon.
- Check out Allison’s Official Site.
- Check out the must for artists these days, her MySpace page – home to teeniebobbers and musicians!
Hangovers
Once again demonstrating my prowess of being on the cutting edge of what’s going on in the music scene, I just discovered this Jason Collett song recently (thanks again, Sirius). It’s been out for a year now, it’s been posted by many mp3 bloggers (my man Craig at Songs:Illinois being one of the first, of course), but I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna throw it on ol’ Ickmusic, because it’s new to me! Besides, I have another related song to go along with it, a theme if you will, so there.
The theme being hangovers of course. I’m 35 now. I’ve had many a hangover in my day. None in recent memory since those crazy party days seem to be a thing of the past with this whole “wife and kids” deal I have going now. My mom will remember one of my worst hangovers. 20 years old. Summer job. My mom woke me up at an ungodly hour to go to the ol’ machine shop for my daily sweeping, painting, and forklift operating. I stumble out of bed, stagger over to the flight of stairs and proceed to fall down them. Bad hangover. That only made it worse. You should have seen how close I parked the front end of my mom’s station wagon to the garage wall the night before. She wasn’t pleased with me that day.
So yes, the song is “Hangover Days”, a happy-go-lucky roots-rockety duet with Jason Collett and Emily Haines. Jason is from Broken Social Scene, a musical collective of sorts from Toronto.
Jason Collett:
Hangover Days(mp3) – from Idols of ExileThe alt-countryish vibe, the hangover subject, and the duet brought to mind this song by the Supersuckers, which showed up on their “country album”, ‘Must’ve Been High’. Lead singer Eddie Spaghetti and Amy Nelson sing softly about the beauty of sharing a hangover.
The Supersuckers:
Hungover Together(mp3) – from Must’ve Been HighWill’s a Piece of Work
Check out this Will Kimbrough song. Jimmy Buffett fans will recognize it, he covered it on his ‘License to Chill’ album. Will is a Mobile, Alabama native whose guitar skills have made him a much sought-after side man for the likes of Rodney Crowell, Buffett, and Todd Snider (Will co-produced ‘East Nashville Skyline’). He also has time for working on his solo stuff – pretty impressive resume.I just like this type of sound. A laid back country-rock vibe, a Bo Diddley-ish beat kicking in, smart-ass lyrics… good stuff.
Will Kimbrough:
Piece of Work(mp3) – from Home Away- Buy his albums from his web site.
Malo, Flaco and Earle
I love the Mavericks. Love the sound of lead singer Raul Malo’s voice. “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” rose out of my mp3 shuffle today. Tex-Mex superstar accordionist Flaco Jimenez adds his signature playing to the tune.
The Mavericks:
All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down(mp3) – from The Definitive CollectionThat led me to listen to Flaco’s early 90’s group the Texas Tornados. The group also consisted of Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm, and Augie Meyers.
Texas Tornados:
Adios Mexico(mp3) – from The Best of the Texas TornadosThat song led me, for obvious reasons (you’ll know when you hear both tunes), to Steve Earle. If you take Adios Mexico’s traditional Tex-Mex accordion riff, strap a NASA booster rocker to it, and turn the amp up to 11, you get this:
Steve Earle:
What’s a Simple Man To Do(mp3) – from JerusalemBlue Live
I posted the studio version of this song last summer, but given that the live version from Lucinda’s ‘Live @ the Fillmore’ album is far superior, in my opinion, I just had to share it with you all.
If you’re not touched by this tune, then brother (or sister), you have no soul.
Lucinda Williams:
Blue (live)[mp3] from Live @ the Fillmore | Lyrics
