Dr. Dog Live at Amoeba Records
I got turned on to these guys through a local band here in Arizona, What Laura Says. I was at their CD release party over the summer and heard a Dr.Dog tune on the PA before the show. I pulled out my iPhone, opened Shazam (sweet #&$ app!), and it brought back “The Old Days”. So since then, I’ve bought Fate and We All Belong.
They have a very cool retro, psychedelic, wild sound. Check out this in-store performance at Amoeba Records in Hollywood…
Howard interviews Paul McCartney
Say what you will about Howard Stern, but you gotta admit, the man is one of the best interviewers around. He has a way of putting his subjects at ease, and he delves into territories you won’t find on the morning or late night talk shows. He asks the questions a regular person would want to ask, and goes beyond the prepackaged “tell me about your latest project” crap best exemplified by Mr. Jay Leno.
On Wednesday of this week, Paul McCartney dropped by Howard’s show on Sirius-XM. Now this is how you interview a Beatle…
Howard Stern interviews Paul McCartney (1-14-2009):
Paul discusses, among many other things, his latest album as “The Fireman.”
The Friday Five: January 16, 2009
If you’ve been working for the weekend, well you are in luck because it’s just about that time. That’s right, it’s Friday and it’s time to kick back hit the shuffle button and let the music take us where it will. Today we’re firing up iTunes to battle the post-lunch dip!
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:
“Jamie’s Cryin'” – Van Halen (from Van Halen)
“… Hey you two I was once like you and I liked to do the wild thing”
“Crash Into Me” – Dave Matthews Band (from Live in Chicago 12.19.98)
I’ve recently discovered that Dave Matthews has a twitter account that he uses quite actively (clearly via his iPhone and Twitterific). He provides a view into his twisted head and preoccupation with his farts (and sharing photos of himself in various states of clown make-up).
“Golden Ring (feat. Tammy Wynette)” – George Jones (from The Bradley Barn Sessions)
An absolutely classic tune from the master
“Direct Line to the Telepathic” (mp3) – Flickerstick (from Welcoming Home the Astronauts)
Before American Idol, Rockstar:INXS, Making the Band and other awful music-based reality programs was VH1’s “Bands on the Run” which placed 4 bands in vans and sent them out to tour with challenges along the way. It was sort of like MTV’s “Road Rules” with twice the alcohol and prima donnas’. Dallas, Texas’ Flickerstick won the competition and a recording contract. The band released one major label record and an indie follow up (along with a pair of live recordings) and it was announced late in 2008 that they had decided to go their separate ways. They will play a final show on Jan 24th at the House of Blues in Dallas. In honor of this great band I’m sharing this epic track with you all.
“Jet City Woman” – Queensrÿche (from Empire)
I’ve got a real soft spot in my musical heart for Queensrÿche, specifically this time period between Operation:Mindcrime and Empire.
Okay, I’ve shown you mine, now show me yours!
Lotusflow3r.com updates…
Every day I’ve been cruising over to Lotusflow3r.com, Prince’s new web site, to see if there’s anything new. Well, it’s nothing earth-shattering, but we do have a few changes since yesterday…
First off, snippets of three new tunes have replaced the three previous. “Chocolate Box” is another selection from MPLS, Prince’s “old school” Pro Tools album, which I’m looking forward to the most. “A Colonized Mind” is supposed to play next, but at this point I hear only silence. That one I’m guessing comes from his second new album, Lotus Flower. The third is “All This Love”, which must be off Bria Valente’s new album, Elixir. Only about 30 seconds of each song are streaming…
Secondly, we have an itty bitty little ticket icon on the site. If you click it, you’ll see the ticket pictured here. Looks like January 31st will bring us a show in L.A., or some other item up Prince’s sleeve that will cost $77. Better than $777… You can also enter in your name and email and sign up for updates.
One Last Song
The return of American Idol (and my overall ambivalence towards it) reminded me that 2009 will bring the release of young Josiah Leming‘s record. You may recall Josiah as the most talented contestant to not make it past the second round of auditions last year. After some additional exposure via the Ellen DeGeneres show, Warner Bros. scooped up the singer and sent him to London to record his debut record. In late 2008 he released an EP titled Angels Undercover which provides a small glimpse of the singer-songwriter’s talent. I’m looking forward to hearing the recorded version of this tune “One Last Song”, which sold me on his ability to write a hell of a tune.
Buy Angels Undercover: Amazon | iTunes
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
Ick’s Pick (Week II): Derek Trucks Band
Welcome to week II of my Ick’s Pick series – 52 weeks of hot new album action! My pick for the second “release Tuesday” of the year comes from the Derek Trucks Band. Derek Trucks is the nephew of original Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, so grew up very musically inclined, to say the least. The “Derek” was in tribute to Derek and the Dominos, the blues-rock group put together by Eric Clapton, and whose album included the slide guitar work of Duane Allman. Derek was drawn to the slide guitar at an early age, and by the age of 11 or 12, was playing gigs in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
Derek’s all of 29 years old now, and is already releasing his 7th album with the Derek Trucks Band – Already Free (his first DTB album was released in 1997, when he was 18 years old).
I’ve seen the Allman Brothers a handful of times, and only knew of Derek through his association with the band (he has toured and played in the band over the years). But I’d never taken the time to track down his work with his own band. So in listening to Already Free, there’s an instant familiarity, but at the same time, a sense of wonder at how mature and accomplished Derek and the band sound.
The album features some guests, including another guitar whiz, Doyle Bramhall II (he and Derek have been playing a lot with Clapton the last couple years), and Derek’s wife, blues singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi.
Standout tracks for me include the album opener, a gritty cover of Dylan’s “Down in the Flood”; “Maybe This Time”, which features Bramhall on guitar; “Don’t Miss Me”, one of the many tracks featuring DTB vocalist Mike Mattison, with some great blues riffs and tempo changes; but my favorite out of the gate is “Sweet Inspiration” – a song written by Memphis/Muscle Shoals songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (hear them do it). It’s a raucous and joyful gospel rave up, and it’ll have you dancing around the house. The Hammond B-3 intro sounds straight off the Stax label; and the combination of Mattison and Tedeschi’s harmonies, Derek’s slide guitar, the B3, and the amazing percussion work come together for 4 minutes and 39 seconds of halle-frickin-lujah! Track it down.
Buy: Already Free
Links: DTB Official Site
The Mellowness of the Shug
Like Michael mentioned in his 100 Words post today, when your music library gets too big, the challenge is to figure out what to even listen to. A lot of great artists and songs seem to go underground for a while, and pop up in a shuffle a few months down the road. One that plopped back on to my radar today was Shuggie Otis and his psychedelifunky 1974 album Inspiration Information.
It’s a mellow Monday, so a couple of laid back joints here. “Island Letter” sounds like a cousin of Prince’s “Crazy You”, if you ask me. And I know you did. I heard you.
Shuggie Otis – Island Letter
“Freedom Flight” is thirteen minutes of dream-inducing lite funky jazz and sweet sax & guitar effects. Close your eyes and drift off. But not if you’re at work. NSFW. Definitely NSFW.
Shuggie Otis – Freedom Flight
Check out Inspiration Information.
100 Words on Collections
Have you ever been overwhelmed by the amount of music in your collection? With the advent of the mp3 and the plummeting cost of storage it’s now possible to amass a collection thats only constrained by your resourcefulness. Even pre-internet I was a collector and have amassed a huge collection over the years. It occurred to me today as I was struggling to find something to listen to that the job of finding the right album to suit my mood was increasingly difficult. I combat this with extensive tagging and playlists but there are days where it just fails me.
Year of the Boss, part 1
One more for the mantle And so it begins – the year of the Boss! Bruce picked up a Golden Globe award tonight for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “The Wrestler”. Mickey Rourke looked like he was on cloud nine watching Bruce thank him. That, or he fell off the wagon again. [Congrats also to Mickey for pulling down Best Actor – life imitates art.]
So congrats to the Boss for a great start to a very busy few weeks…
January 11 – Golden Globes
January13 – Greatest Hits released (exclusively at Wal-Mart) – looks funny, but it’s true
January 27 – Bruce’s 16th studio album, Working on a Dream, is released.
February 1 – Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show
April 1 – American Idol ** Untrue. At this point.
The Screen Door Breaks Down the Boss: Speaking of the Boss, Anthony K. is in the midst of an exhaustive album by album “review and reflection” of Bruce’s work, over at his blog The Screen Door. He’s four albums in (Darkness on the Edge of Town), and it’s full steam ahead. So head on over and delve into Bruce’s stuff with Tony, who writes as passionately as any Boss fan I’ve seen.
The Olympic Symphonium
The Olympic Symphonium – More in Sorrow Than in Anger (Forward Music Group, 2008)
What is it about the great white north that fosters such beautiful, introspective and intimate music? I suppose that I could make some crack about folks being locked up in their cabins for months on end, but in reality it’s more attributed to the fact that the Canadian government actually provides funding for the arts. Regardless, there is an abundance of wonderful music coming from our neighbors to the north and my most recent find is The Olympic Symphonium.
The trio of singer/songwriters share vocal duties with a roster of guest musicians filling in the blanks. Contemplative and complex the 10 tracks on More in Sorrow Than in Anger range from pop tinged twangy folk to heartfelt dirge. Where this record truly shines is when it’s pared down to the trio such as on “Malleable” where the intimacy abounds to the point where you can hear birds chirping in the background, the creak of a chair and the slight harmonic overtones of the guitar.
This is a perfect Sunday morning (or snowy afternoon) record. It stood up to many back to back repeat listens and did not for a moment lose its charm. Take a listen to the sunny “Intentions Alone” for a view into More in Sorrow Than in Anger.
The Olympic Symphonium – Intentions Alone (mp3)
