Garcia and Grisman – Sitting in Limbo
Just a random offering here, from my Grateful Dead Hour tape archives. David Grisman on mandolin, Jerry Garcia on acoustic guitar, and their blissful, laid back, powerful take on this Jimmy Cliff tune.
Check out Grateful Dawg, a film documenting the relationship between Garcia and Grisman, a friendship and musical collaboration that lasted from 1964 until Jerry’s passing in 1995. It’s streaming for Prime members here on Amazon.
Pomegranates are good for you
I have a love/hate relationship with my city: I love to hate it and I hate to love it. One of the things I do love about this place is that, on occasion, Cincinnati can produce some pretty amazing musicians. Like one of my current favorite bands, Pomegranates.
Even though these guys are local, and play out a fair amount, I hadn’t managed to catch them live until earlier this summer when they opened for Ra Ra Riot (also amazing) at The Gypsy Hut here in Cincinnati. My first thought during their set was, “these boys are adorable!” I don’t know if that’s necessarily the image they’re going for, but it’s the truth.
Adorableness aside, they are charismatic, talented performers and have put out some incredible music. Reviews I’ve read have compared them to early Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie (two bands I’ve been over for a long time, so I find that kind of funny). I was completely blown away by them and when I learned that they were one of the openers for Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s a couple of weeks ago, that was enough to get me to haul my lazy ass down to that show, despite the fact that no one would go with me (Margot was good, too).
You can find pretty much everything you might want to know about them on their MySpace, their blog or on their label’s site (incidentally, they are labelmates with two of my favorite Chicago bands, Baby Teeth and All City Affairs). They are touring quite a bit this month, including dates with Ra Ra Riot, French Kicks, Headlights and stops at the Monolith Festival and the Midpoint Music Festival (which I have to miss because I’ll be at a conference for work…grrr!), so you should check them out if they’re coming to a city near you. Besides recommending you buy their stuff, I also suggest you download their woxy.com Lounge Acts (they have two).
Pomegranates – Whom/Who (mp3)
Pomegranates – We Could’ve Escaped, But No One Was Interested (mp3)
Conor Oberst’s Sausalito
With his new album, Conor Oberst is right back to the rootsy vibe he had going with Bright Eyes’ great album ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning‘. Conor recorded the album in Tepoztlán, Mexico (a town outside of Mexico City).
It’s this tune that suits my taste like hand to glove. It restores my faith in the man after watching his – umm – sub par job of sitting in with the Boss on “Thunder Road” early this year. All is forgiven.
we should move to Sausalito
living’s easy on a house boat
let the ocean rock us back and forth to sleepin the morning with the sunrise
look in the water see the blue sky
as if heaven has been laid there at our feetConor Oberst – Sausalito
Buy Conor’s brand new self-titled album: Conor Oberst
Oberst Linkage: Official Site
Be Here to Love Me – A Film about Townes Van Zandt
It’s through my old friend Mark that I discovered the music of Townes Van Zandt a dozen years ago, and through Steve Earle that I’ve learned more about Townes the man. I don’t think I’ve seen a Steve show where he doesn’t take 5 minutes to tell you about his close friend and mentor.
‘Be Here to Love Me’ is a 100 minute film about the life of Townes Van Zandt. Thanks to Snag Films, you can watch the entire film online for free. Thanks to Heather at Fuel/Friends for making me aware…
What Laura Says CD Release Party
It takes a lot to get my arse out on a weekday night, and Wednesday night I will do just that and head down to the Rhythm Room in Phoenix for What Laura Says‘ CD release party. I’ve been playing the hell out of their label debut, Thinks and Feels, for the last couple of weeks. These guys are the real deal folks…. killer harmonies, a retro feel, an indie folk vibe – just really refreshing.
If you’re in the Phoenix area, join me down at the Rhythm Room.
Here’s one of the tunes from their new CD…
What Laura Says – July 23
Check out some more tunes on their MySpace page.
I’ll have a lot more on these guys soon.
Thinks and Feels was released last week. Check it out.
Live Boss: Magic in Charleston
(Photo courtesy of Backstreets)Bruce’s Magic tour rolls on with ferocity. With every show, Bruce and the band seem to get looser, honoring requests from the audience with more frequency (if you’re in the pit, bring a sign, odds are he’ll play it!), and honoring Phantom Danny Federici’s memory by going back to their roots with an infusion of (even more) joy, energy, and longer shows.
A couple of Saturdays ago, the train rolled into Charleston, South Carolina. The audience got treated to an opener of “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)”, and a closer of “Twist & Shout”. In between was a spirited set of tunes, including “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart”, “No Surrender”, “Spirit in the Night”, “Growin’ Up”, “Two Hearts”, and “Out in the Street”.
I meant to send this only on to a friend, but when the goosebumps hit during “Double Shot”, I knew I couldn’t keep this to myself.
Bruce Springsteen
August 16, 2008
North Charleston Coliseum
Charleston, SCIntro > banter
Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love)
Radio Nowhere
Out In The Street
Two Hearts
Intro to…
Spirit in the Night
Intro to…
Light of Day
Growin’ Up
Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart
Audience
No Surrender
Atlantic City
Because the Night
She’s The One
Livin’ In The Future
Mary’s Place
Hungry Heart
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
Encore applausePSA
Streets of Fire
Jungleland
Born to Run
Rosalita
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
Encore applause
Twist and Shout
Applause / outroLive Los Lobos
You know, this blog will turn four years old this year, and it turns out I’ve never graced the pages with live Los Lobos before. Huh? That’s just wrong.
Here’s a great soundboard show from last year’s Edmonton Blues Festival. The crowd is great, and they go bonkers when the band pulls out Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” for the encore. Another highlight is David Hidalgo’s guitar wizardry on “Mas y Mas”.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again): Los Lobos are an American treasure, and hands down one of the best bands around.
For the whole show, download the ZIP.
Los Lobos @ the Edmonton Blues Festival
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
August 27th, 20071. Pigfoot Shuffle
2. The Neighborhood
3. Don’t Worry Baby
4. Evangeline
5. David Hidalgo intro to Fat Man
6. The Fat Man
7. Manny’s Bones
8. Let’s Say Goodnight
9. Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio
10. Volver, Volver
11. I Got Loaded
12. Mas y mas (mp3)
13. Cinnamon Girl (mp3)Keep up with the boys at Los Lobos.com.
Let Me Introduce Myself
She’s from Ohio, she’s nuts about music, and she’s here to give this joint a woman’s touch. Please welcome Kelly – our newest contributor to Ickmusic! – Pete
Hello, Ickmusic readers! I’m thrilled to be contributing to Ickmusic, and I want to thank Pete for asking me to join the team. Some of you may know me as the commenter “Skittles” here on Ickmusic (most of my comments have been on the Friday Five). I am also the owner of the almost-defunct blog, Looking at Them. Because I am in the process of shutting my blog down, Pete’s offer to contribute to Ickmusic couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m excited to be able to still write about the music I love and not constantly have a guilt complex because I’m just too busy to post often.
Before I jump in with my first “real” post, I wanted to give you a little of my musical background, so to speak. I have been obsessed with music since I was a little girl, rifling through my parents’ modest, but excellent, record collection. I grew up on Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Chicago, just to name a few. Some of my fondest memories from childhood involve sitting around the turntable with my dad, listening to his favorite records and hearing him tell me why he loved a certain song so much.
As I got older, my music taste became more diverse. I loved almost all genres of music and always fancied myself a more sophisticated music lover than any of my friends. I remember one trip to the record store when I was 13. The friends I was with bought Color Me Badd and Vanilla Ice. I bought Prince & The New Power Generation’s Diamonds and Pearls. They were just as confused about my purchase as I was about theirs. There were times when I did follow the crowd and listened to what was popular, but when I strayed from the pack, I really strayed from the pack.
High school brought “alternative rock” to my attention and I think that time in my life had the biggest influence on my current taste in music. I started listening to WOXY (“97X…BAM! The future of Rock and Roll) and my discovery of some of the most amazing music I’ve ever heard came from the hours and hours I listened to that station. My collection now is more diverse than ever and I’m discovering new things to love every day.
I must tell you that I do tend to get obsessed with certain artists and won’t stop until I have everything they’ve ever done and every version of my favorite song I can get my hands on. I will see them live as many times as I possibly can (and, if finances and time allow, I have no problems getting on a plane or going on a long road trip in order to see my favorites perform) and I always do my best to meet the artist. So, don’t be surprised to see me post some of my tales of these adventures.
Now that you know a little bit more about me, I’d like to share some random songs I’ve been listening to a lot this summer. I hope you enjoy!
Betty Davis – He Was a Big Freak (from They Say I’m Different)
Edith Piaf – La Vie, L’Amour (from The Voice of the Sparrow: The Best of Edith Piaf)
Zach Galifianakis featuring Fiona Apple – Come on and Get It (Up in ’Dem Guts) (I believe this was all over the Internets a couple of years ago)
New Edition – My Secret (from New Edition)
Dolly Parton – Baby I’m Burning (from Heartbreaker)
Prince hips me to Janelle Monáe
(Photo from Nastassia A. Davis’s Flickr photostream.) There are lots of ways to hear about a new artist. Find a cool blog posting. Hear it on the radio. Have a friend tell you about it. Or in this case, have one of your favorite artists wait outside of the Viper Room for the artist’s gig to end so he can talk to her.
Prince drove down the hill to the Sunset Strip last night to meet with Atlanta-based, futuristic R&B singer Janelle Monáe after her gig. E Online found it newsworthy enough to write about it, and I apparently find it newsworthy enough to repeat it here. It’s just that I often wonder what my purple friend is up to. The man still doesn’t have a functional official web site, which is stupefying to me. For all the fuss he makes about people posting his images, songs, and videos on the internet, you’d think that he would have something to offer us. But nope, still zilch on the internet front.
But on to Janelle. The music is unique, fresh, funky, and you can hear influences from Prince to Outkast to smooth singers like Shirley Bassey (she sang some of the James Bond themes). Janelle was recently signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records, which is okay as long as he keeps his paws off. I don’t feel like hearing his “yeah”s and “uh”s in her songs.
Janelle’s well on her way to establishing herself as the next best thing on the scene. As usual, I’m a little behind. So thanks Mr. Nelson for swinging by the Viper Room last night. I owe you. No, not actual money. Man, that Prince… always looking for a payday!
Ronnie Wood’s Journey
I just wrapped up Ronnie Wood’s autobiography, Ronnie. Now, I consider myself a pretty big Stones fan. Of course, I missed them in their prime (which I consider their career through 1981’s Tattoo You). I didn’t really learn to appreciate them until I was a senior in high school in ’87-’88, when I came of age with albums like Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and Let It Bleed.
I’ve only seen the Stones live once – high in the nosebleed seats at Tempe’s Sun Devil Stadium during their Bridges of Babylon tour in 1997. The wind was swirling, messing the sound up, and I honestly was too far to get any true enjoyment out of it. Not big on stadium shows am I.
When you start to know a band’s music inside and out, you feel you have a pretty good understanding of their background and roots. But after reading Ronnie’s autobiography, I discovered that I had a lot to learn, and that most of my focus over the years has been on Mick & Keith.
Only over the last couple of years have I started to get into Faces, one of Ronnie’s pre-Stones bands (along with the Jeff Beck Group). And I admit to having no idea that Ronnie has a rich solo catalog, which started with 1974’s I’ve Got My Own Album To Do. Ronnie built a studio in his home at the time, called the Wick (I wish my house was impressive enough to name). This album’s recording took place before Ronnie was in the Stones, but he had already befriended Mick and especially Keith. So they show up on the album, as do Mick Taylor, Rod Stewart, Pete Townshend, and even George Harrison, for crying out loud.
One of the amazing things about the British music scene in the late 60’s and early 70’s is that every musician seemed to know eachother – it was a pretty tight knit club . They also knew eachother’s girlfriends. Pattie Boyd, who was married to George Harrison, and would go on to marry Eric Clapton, actually dated Ronnie in between. Ronnie tells some incredible stories about he and Harrison openly cavorting with eachother’s wives. Pattie Boyd must’ve been something – look at the songs she inspired: “Wonderful Tonight”, “Layla”, and “Something”.
If you want an entertaining read, and want some great behind the scenes stories from a legendary musician – not to mention an accomplished artist – check this book out. Obviously, Ronnie is not without his demons. The book details his struggles with cocaine and alcohol – a struggle which continues to this day. Ronnie’s currently in rehab in Woking, England. And the tabloids say he may leave Jo – his wife of 30 odd years – for a 19 year old Russian waitress. No, you can’t make this shit up.
Underneath all the vices though, is a sweet, funny, talented man. And it shines right through in the book. The guy is/was friends with seemingly everyone: from Slash to Kate Moss to Tony Curtis to John Belushi (who tried his best to steal Jo away from Ronnie).
So here’s one from his first album. You’ll hear Faces bandmate Rod Stewart singing background. I’m really enjoying this album. It’s like unearthing a hidden Stones/Faces hybrid. And over the coming weeks, I’ll be picking up the rest of his solo albums.
Get well Ronnie…
Ron Wood – Mystifies Me
Official Site: RonnieWood.com
Buy I’ve Got My Own Album To Do.
Check Ronnie out on Amazon
Any recommendations for top-notch music autobiographies?
