All the Dark Horses
This tune came out of nowhere one day, swooped me right up and carried me along with it. Beautiful song, beautiful lyrics, and judging by the strong 2004 album that this song is a part of (‘Weightlifting’), a grossly underrated band.
They’re Trashcan Sinatras, the boys are from Scotland, and this is “All the Dark Horses”…
Trashcan Sinatras – All the Dark Horses
Links: Official Site
Video: Clapton Joins the Allman Bros. for “Little Wing”
Anyone out there lucky enough to catch any of the Allman Brothers shows during their current Beacon run? They’re trotting out some great special guests: Trey and Page from Phish, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rojas from Los Lobos, and, a couple nights ago, Erick Clapton showed up for a few.
I just sat mesmerized for the last 7 minutes watching this version of “Little Wing”…
The Friday Five: March 20, 2009
For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday 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 more the merrier!
The Five:
“Golden Age” by TV on the Radio (from Dear Science)
I listened to this record quite a bit when it came out and the following month or so but can’t say that it’s gotten much play in 2009. I’ll have to remedy that this weekend.
“Turn on, Tune in, Find Joy” (mp3) by Freak Power (from The Rebirth of Cool 3)
This represents another random selection from my vast collection of mid to late 90’s trip-hop and abstract acid jazz. Freak Power was a collaboration between Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim) and Ashley Slater.
“In Between Days” (mp3) by The Cure (from Staring at the Sea: The Singles)
It always struck me as odd how easily Robert Smith could whip out a sprightly and joyful pop tune. This ranks among my favorites.
“All About Love” (mp3) by Earth, Wind & Fire (from That’s the Way of the World)
I had a “Quiet Storm” listening marathon earlier this week and forgot all about this tune. Complete with the “Lemme take a minute and talk at you” break this is soulful music meant for making sweet love to your lady (or man, have mercy). This is baby-making music at its finest, dig it.
“Animal” by Def Leppard (from Vault: Greatest Hits 1980-1995)
Seriously, the lyrics to this tune make no damned sense.
What is bringing it home for you this weekend?
Ick’s Pick (Week XI): Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
This week’s new releases were a pretty blah bunch as far as I was concerned. I lost my focus listening to Old Californio’s new album over and over. But alas, I committed to listening to one new album every week of this year. So week 11 (xi), here we go.
It’s SXSW week, and as much as I try to ignore the mountain of e-mails and Tweets and coverage everywhere I turn, the fact is I’m jealous, and I’d drink a gallon of hot sauce to be in Austin right now. I’m shooting for next year as my 1st SXSW experience.
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears are from Austin, and they’re playing around town this week in support of their brand new album, ‘Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!‘
This release stuck out from the rest as something I clearly needed to hear: Black Joe Lewis channels his inner James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding for some soul revival craziness. This album clocks in at 30 minutes, and is filled with Lewis’s spirited, good humored (and sometimes explicit) hootin’ and hollerin, tasty retro (60’s) soul grooves, and a great horn section courtesy of some members of Austin’s Grupo Fantasma.
This one will be perfect for a weekend barbecue and some cold beer. You may wanna grab a babysitter though, unless you want your kids jumping around to “Get Yo S***”, “Humpin'”, and “Big Booty Woman”. You can thank Black Joe for leaving “Bitch, I Love You”, another one of his songs, off this record (don’t worry, Joe’s no misogynist – even you ladies will be groovin’).
BUY Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
Links: Official Site | Twitter
Take a listen to the horn blasts on “Gunpowder”, the album’s opener:
Old Californio’s Mother Road [instant fave]
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
Westering Again will be released on April 7th.
Links: Old Californio’s Bandcamp.
Bang the Bodhran, It’s St. Patty’s Day…
…and I hope you boiled the breakfast early. Be safe out there. It’s Amateur Hour, you know.
The Friday Five: March 13, 2009
For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday 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 more the merrier!
The Five:
“Big Bottom” (mp3) – Spinal Tap (from This Is Spinal Tap, 1984)
“The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'”
Seriously, what more can I say? So say we all: “Tap into America!”
“One Caress” – Depeche Mode (from I Feel You, 1993)
From the underrated Songs of Faith and Devotion, this track is Martin Gore doing what he does best.
“Solitude” (mp3) – Billie Holiday (from First Issue: The Great American Song Book, 1994)
Recorded during her tenure with Verve during the 50’s, this is a prime example of Lady Day at her best. This performance is soulful, intimate and absolutely essential listening for any fan of music in general.
“Stomp” – Brothers Johnson (from Light Up the Night, 1980)
A nice slice of 80’s pop-funk from the Brothers Johnson.
“P Control” – Prince (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
Much like last week’s “Trust” this is the lesser of the funk tracks on The Gold Experience. For my money nothing beats “Billy Jack Bitch” for a straight up jam. Also of note is that fact that this record (as well as last week’s Batman) are currently out of print. Odd? Maybe…
What is whisking you away today?
What the Kids Are Listening to: Flo Rida’s “Right Round”
“You spin my head right round right round when you go down when you go down down.” – Flo Rida, “Right Round”
Sigh.
Yeah, well, this is the #1 song in the country right now. I guess subtlety and any semblance of wit or originality have gone right out the window. This is an epidemic in popular music today (“Right Round” is only the latest example), and one reason I shy away from even listening to snippets of the Billboard Hot 100 singles.
How did Mr. Flo Rida comes across the Dead or Alive ‘80’s hit “You Spin Me ‘Round”, which quite obviously forms the backbone of this song? “[I]t was actually my A&R from Atlantic that brought the beat to my attention.” [source]
Now that’s inspiration.
I hope Pete Burns and Dead or Alive are seeing some fat royalty checks for this mess.
I’m old and grumpy, and this… is what the kids are listening to.
Ick’s Pick (Week X): Cursive – ‘Mama, I’m Swollen’
This week I thought I’d adventure off to unfamiliar territory again. I just couldn’t get myself all geeked up to listen to the new Kelly Clarkson or Chris Cornell / Timbaland over and over. So I decided on Omaha’s Cursive, mostly because of their label, Saddle Creek, which was founded by Conor Oberst.
I can affirm, after a few listens, that:
- Cursive do indeed rock. And…
- Their drummer’s name is Cornbread Compton. That’s reason enough to buy this album as far as I’m concerned.
The album kicks off with “In the Now”, featuring a feedback/effects laden intro, and launching into the repeated chorus “Don’t wanna live in the now / don’t wanna know what I know”; followed up later with “So history repeats / ‘cause present won’t repent”. It’s short, simple and ferocious, like a lot of moments on this record. I find it pretty cathartic myself.
“From the Hips”, which the band kindly offers up gratis on their web site, starts off slow, before singer/guitarist Tim Kasher’s squealing “right?!” brings in the up tempo, double beat madness.
“I Couldn’t Love You” has Kasher channeling his inner Robert Smith – which makes sense – Cursive was picked by the Cure to open for them on their 2004 tour.
You won’t believe how soft and pleasant they can make a song called “We’re Going To Hell”. But there’s also an underlying doom and creepiness. The song has sort of a Pixies-like vibe going on too.
And the boys get downright evil on “Mama, I’m Satan”:
I’m writing out a confession
My fathers and brothers
Raped your sisters and mothers
We are the sons of butchers
All in all we’re pawns
The darkness of mankind stirs in us allSongs like “Mama, I’m Satan”, “Let Me Up”, and “Mama, I’m Swollen” – and really the feel of the record – take the listener into the darkness – some ugly fugly places. I feel like taking a shower and finding a church, and I’m not even that religious. Holy smokes…
For those looking for some quality power-indie-post-punk, and aren’t afraid to step into the shadows for a while, this album fits the bill.
Links: Official Site
“Eruption” Zappa Style
Dweezil Zappa – “Eruption” (YouTube)
My brother-in-law sent this one over… You’ve got to love Dweezil for all his self-deprecating “aww shucks” modesty before ripping a killer version of Van Halen‘s signature crescendo. The 2009 Zappa Plays Zappa tour will be canvasing the rest of the world though June. You can find the dates as well as other goodies at the official site.
