Posts tagged Old Californio
The Friday Five: June 12, 2009
Jun 12th
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:
Willie Nelson – “Always on My Mind” (mp3) (from The Essential Willie Nelson)
I may be committing an act of blasphemy, but this is – in my opinion – the quintessential version of this song. Released in 1982, this earned Willie a Grammy award (Best Male Country Vocal Performance) and the songwriters Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson the Song of the Year and Best Country Song statues. This tune is easily in my top 10 favorite ballads.
Incognito – “Rivers Runnin’ Black” (mp3) (from Life, Stranger Than Fiction)
Not my favorite Incognito record, but this is a specifically strong (mostly instrumental) track. This band never lacks for groove.
Chrisette Michele – “Playin’ Our Song” (from Epiphany)
This record, while good in it’s own right, was a disappointment for me. After the power and range displayed in her debut I Am, this record feels flat. It’s a decent modern R&B record but suffers from the input of her songwriters trying to hard to sell a ‘hit”. The biggest offender here is the track “Another One” which is essentially Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” with different lyrics. Oh, and the real rub here is they were both written by Ne-Yo.
Janet Jackson – “That’s the Way Love Goes” (from Design of a Decade: 1986-1996)
Mmm… Good Tune!
Old Californio – “From the Mouths of Babes” (from Westering Again)
You may recognize Old Californio from Pete’s Ick Pick column (link). This is actually one my favorite cuts from that record and has stood up to multiple listens. As a matter of fact I think that I’m going to go listen to the whole record again now.
What tunes are brightening your day?
Ick’s Pick (Week XIV): Old Californio’s new album, ‘Westering Again’
Apr 7th
Sure, I could steer you toward the new Neil Young, Richard Swift, or Doves albums – all out this week – but this one’s been on steady rotation for several weeks now, and it would be silly of me not to make this my Ick’s Pick o’ the week. A few weeks ago, I announced myself blown away by this band: Pasadena’s Old Californio, and their new album, Westering Again – largely due to the mind-blowing infectiousness of the opening tune, “Mother Road”.
Well, today’s the day the album is unleashed to the masses, and I strongly recommend you visit one of the links below to pick it up. If you’d be interested in a diverse American album drawing on influences ranging from Gram Parsons and Moby Grape to the Grateful Dead and Crazy Horse, you’d be well served by hearing this album. Here’s my “Mother Road” post that goes into the band and album in more detail. And, you can still rock out to “Mother Road”…
BUY Westering Again here on iTunes or here on CD Baby.
HEAR Old Californio – Riparian High (mp3)
VISIT: Old Californio on MySpace
Mother Road [instant fave]
Mar 17th
We all have those friends who decry the state of new music today. “All new music sucks!”, they say. Of course, some of these people think Creed was the best thing since sliced bread. Well, every time I hear these people, I now have another band to fire back with: Old Californio.
Last Friday, I opened up my snail mail to find their forthcoming CD, ‘Westering Again‘, inside. Instead of tossing it on the stack of CD’s I need to listen to, it went right into my car CD player. I don’t know exactly why. Cover art? Cool band name? Fate? How ’bout all of the above.
Less than 30 seconds into the opening track, a spiritual experience ensued. The song is “Mother Road”, and it’s easily the best tune I’ve heard all year. Rootsy, earthy, homegrown, purely American rock n roll – a perfect blend of inspiring, get-out-on-the-road lyrics, unforgettable riffs, great chord changes, and a harmonious sing-along chorus. If the Traveling Wilburys sprung back to life, this could easily lead off their third album.
“You got to get on the mother road
just like a river reflectin’ everything it’s told
You got to get on
Get your story told.”
You’ll understand after you’ve hit the repeat button 5 times and you’re singing along.
Old Californio is singer/songwriter/guitarist Rich Dembowski, Jason Chesny (bass), Levi Nuñez (keys, including some great B3), and Justin Smith (drums). The album was produced by the band along with Alfonso Rodeñas (Mark Olson, Los Tigres Del Norte), and recorded in their old chicken coop garage turned studio in Pasadena, California. There’s clearly a West Coast / southwest-y feel throughout the album. I hear shades of Dylan (“From the Mouths of Babes”), Calexico (the horns on “Riparian High”), and the Grateful Dead (during “Warmth of the Sun”, you’d swear that late 70’s-era Dead were morphing into “Not Fade Away”).
I’m an upbeat person by nature, and maybe that’s why this album connects with me so easily. Among the Californian soundscapes, the reverence for the great outdoors and the escapism, there is an undercurrent of positive energy – an “It’s good to be alive” vibe. I can get behind that.
Old Californio – Mother Road (mp3)
Westering Again will be released on April 7th. I’ll post a links to buy when available. For now, keep these guys on your radar.
Links: Old Californio’s MySpace page.
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