Ickmix 3
‘Tis time for another Ickmix. This is my best one yet, if I may toot my own horn. Toot.
Take a little trip with me, yah? Oh and check my fancy intro.
Download Ickmix 3 (57MB, 41:38)
Playlist :
1.“Brother Lee” – Citizen Cope
2. “Revolution Rock” – The Clash
3. “Freedom Park” – Marah – from 20,000 Streets Under the Sky
4. “Big Fish” – Giant Sand
5. “Hey Truckers” – Andre Williams & the Sadies- Amazon
6. “Helicopter” – M. Ward
7. “John Allyn Smith Sails” – Okkervil River
8. “Parachutes” – Pearl Jam
9. “Teresa” – Los Super Seven
10. “Panama” – Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons
Jon Regen – Let it Go
Photo: Merri Cyr
Sometimes an album just hits the mark. Let it Go is one of those records. There is something to it that just feels like home. I’ve spent two weeks soaking up the tracks, something that as Pete pointed out in a recent post is sometimes hard to do with all the music we listen to. Jon Regen has taken on the singer/songwriter genre from a point of view not often seen. The New Jersey native has a Jazz pedigree but the heart of a pop songwriter with the ability to make words and music move your heart through the arc of a relationship’s highs and lows.
From the first notes of the opening title track through to aptly titled “The Last Song” there is no emotional stone left unturned. I really struggled with what tunes to share with you all as there are no duds here. I choose the heartfelt “Better Days” and the beautiful “Finding My Way Back to Me”. Check these out and pick up the record at the links below so you can tell all your friends that you were listening to this guy before he hit it big.
*Note: I’ve reloaded the audio files and they should be working now. My apologies to those who have tried to listen.
Jon Regen – Better Days (MP3)
Jon Regen – Finding My Way Back to Me (MP3)
Buy Let It Go: CDBaby | iTunes
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
Austin City Limits Festival Lineup Announced
Yippee kay-yay MF’ers! The Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup has been announced, and it’s a doozie. Check out the list of artists after the jump.
I have my 3-day pass already. Who’s with me?
And who lives in Austin and wants a music blogger sleeping on their floor?? 😉
Ready for the lineup? Deep breath and…
New Tunes: Kris Delmhorst’s Shotgun Singer
One bonus (and frustration at the same time) of this bloggin’ hobby of mine is the flood of music that comes my way. In a just and perfect world, I could spend all day giving these tunes a fair listen. Just so you know, my wife and I are in the market for a sugar daddy or sugar mama to finance our family while I sit and listen to music. Well, my wife probably wouldn’t be totally up for that, but it sure sounds good to me.
Kris Delmhorst is one of those established, respected singer-songwriters that I’d never heard of. I’ve spent the last couple of months listening to her upcoming album, Shotgun Singer (Signature Sounds Recording Company). It’s her 5th album, and really grows on me with each listen.
Kris spent a lot of time holed up in a rural Massachussets cabin with a minimal amount of recording gear and a bunch of instruments: guitars, cellos, a Rhodes electric piano, mandolins, vibraphones… and she brought in reinforcements like Sam Kassirer (who produced Josh RItter’s latest album) to help her arrange, mix, and chip in on percussion and keys. The result is a strong, adventurous album of indie-folk-pop.
The “poppiest” of the record is this catchy tune. Other standout tracks for me are the seamless, flowing “To The Wire” and the haunting rhythm of “Heavens Hold the Sun”. This album will be hanging on my iPod for a while. There’s something fresh and new to discover about it with every listen.
The Ickmusic *ding* of approval is hereby affixed to Kris Delmhorst’s Shotgun SInger….
Kris Delmhorst – 1000 Reasons
Shotgun Singer will be released on April 22nd.
Budos Band’s Chicago Falcon
They bill themselves as “the unheralded emperors of Instrumental Staten Island Afro-Soul”. They are white, they are bearded, and they know how to get down in that old school “Dirty Harry” kinda way (this could fit right into ‘The Enforcer‘). Check ’em out….
The Budos Band – Chicago Falcon
Links: Official Site
Songs To Wrestle To – WWE, The Music
I can’t call myself a fan of the rasslin’, but my buddy Charlie sure is. It’s time for Charlie to spread the good word of the WWE… – Pete
Professional wrestling is a lot more than big, sweaty men throwing each other around in tights. True to their name, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) truly tries to entertain their fans. Music plays a huge role in wrestling today. Back in the early 80’s wrestlers started playing music to accompany their walk to the ring. Wrestlers would use popular rock songs when this practice first started. Welcome to the future. Now, most of the songs used for entrance themes are all original.
It is a very exhilarating feeling when you’re sitting in a crowded arena and the music of your favorite wrestler blasts across the sound system. People start cheering or booing after the first seconds of the songs. Only sick, demented wrestling fans like myself would understand that feeling. The WWE just released WWE: The Music, Volume 8, the latest installment in the company’s top selling series. There are 14 tracks on the CD, and you’ll find a heavy rock influence to most of the songs. My favorite is the song “Break The Walls Down”. It’s the entrance theme for a guy named Chris Jericho. You might recognize him because he was the lead singer for a group called, Fozzy. The music matches his persona in the ring perfectly.
Check out this cd and the next time the WWE has a live event in your town, buy a ticket and go be entertained for a couple of hours. It beats reality!EndeverafteR – No More Words [mp3] (Jeff Hardy Theme)
Music and Ads: Let Me Sleep On It
By no means do I think it’s a great idea for respected musicians to shill products on TV. But once in a while, as hard as it may be to stomach, I can’t help but be entertained. Case in point, the use of Meatloaf and “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” in a new AT&T “GoPhone” commercial. Oh, and that’s 80’s teen queen Tiffany playing Mom.
Another recent surprise is the appearance of Grandaddy’s music in the advertising world. “A.M. 180” shows up in the new Dodge Journey ads…
Grandaddy – A.M. 180
This one comes from Under the Western Freeway.
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: April 11, 2008
“I spend too much time raiding windmills… “- Toad the Wet SprocketToday is a vacation day for me and in lieu of leaving the faithful fivers without an outlet to share what’s getting them through the day (or night as it may be) may I present the cliff notes version of today’s Friday Five. Here’s what came up in my shuffle before signing off today…
Onto the shuffle!
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. Kiss – Love Gun (from Double Platinum)
Classic guilty pleasure.
2. Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror (from The Essential Michael Jackson)
How did no one cover this song during this week’s American Idol? Speaking of, how about that Jason Castro?
3. Toad the Wet Sprocket – I Will Not Take These Things for Granted (MP3) (from Fear)
I usually write the summary for the Friday Five before Friday (to ensure that I can get it done before the end of the day) and I swear it’s a great irony that a Toad track would come up in the shuffle today. This is a brilliant song from one of my favorite bands.
4. Chet Atkins & Tommy Emmanuel – Road To Gundaghi/Waltzing Matilda (MP3) (from The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World)
Continuing the tradition he started with his classic Chester & Lester records with Les Paul, this is the sound of two masters of the guitar doing what they do best.
5. A Perfect Circle – Judith (from Mer de Noms)
A heavy (in every sense of the word) track to close out the five.
So what’s coming up in your shuffle today?
Ickmusic.com: The Unavailable Weeks
Question for the regulars. Have you had problems over the last few weeks with my web site timing out, or being unavailable? Has it happened more than once for you? And most importantly, is it getting to the point where it’s a nuisance for you?
I’ve been on a new host, Hostmonster, since mid March. While their customer service is great, I’m having trouble with my web site staying up 24×7. I wanted to get some feedback from you all to find out if it’s noticeable.
Bear with me, I’ll get everything going full time. If I have to jump to another host, so be it.
UPDATE (4/14): Okay, I moved back to my old host (IPOWER) – Hostmonster’s customer service was great, but the site would be down multiple times every day. iPower’s customer service isn’t stellar, but at least they keep my site up.
Townes Van Zandt in Heartworn Highways
I just watched Heartworn Highways last night. It’s a great music film, a snapshot of the mid-70’s Nashville and Austin outlaw music scene. It features Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, David Allan Coe, Steve Young, a very young Steve Earle, and Townes Van Zandt (among a lot of others). In this clip, Townes has just got done listening to Seymour Washington talk about his life. Seymour is an old timer, 79 years old at the time this was filmed in 1975. He talks about his life on the farm, of shoeing horses, of the importance of good whiskey.
This clip picks up right before Townes plays “Waiting Around to Die”. You’ll see Seymour in the background – an emotional moment, as you’ll see…
