Best of 2009

I had all of these great plans for a big year end best of as well as a decade best of wrap up, which just has not come to fruition yet. The holidays proved to be much more taxing than I had predicted. However, it would be a shame to have been keeping these lists piled up all year/decade and not at least drop them some where.

So without much fanfare, here are my picks for the best of 2009 followed soon by my best of the 2000’s.

Instead of giving a lot of verbiage to these discs, I will just include some tracks and you can decide for yourself what you think:

1.) Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

Too Many Birds

Rococo Zephyr





2.) The Postmarks – Memoirs at the End of the World

No One Said It Would Be Easy

Thorn In Your Side






3.) Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship

Charteroak Foundation
Monument Six One Thousand






4.) The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You

Slight Figure of Speech
Incomplete and Insecure





5.) The xx - XX

VCR

Crystalised

6.) Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Surf Solar

Space Mountain

7.) Justin Townes Earle – Midnight at the Movies

Midnight at the Movies

Mama's Eyes




8.) BLK JKS - After Robots

Molalatladi

Cusror

9.) The Duke and The King - Nothing Gold Can Stay

If You Ever Get Famous

The Morning That I Get to Hell

10.) Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love

Axis: Thrones of Love

Vampire

11.) Atlas Sound - Logos

Walkabout

Sheila





12.) Lucero - 1372 Overton Park

Can't Feel a Thing
Darken My Door

13.) Pelican - What We All Come to Need

Glimmer
Strung Up From the Sky





14.) Yoko Ono & Plastic Band - Between My Head & the Sky

Waitin' On the D Train
Watching the Rain

Tie:


15.) Discovery - LP

Orange Shirt
So Insane





15.) Passion Pit - Manners

Sleepyhead
Little Secrets

Happy Holidays!!

Is there anything that the world needs more right now than a holiday mixtape? Sure world peace, a cure for cancer and a muzzle for Lane Kiffin would be nice, but what about some holiday love from The Raveonettes, Yoko and Animal Collective? Either way, here is my littering of the interwebs with some choice tunes for the holiday season.

One thing to note as you dig into the mix: as a rule I hate Christmas music. That being said (nice Curb reference), I feel pretty good about the tunes here. They are not all actual Christmas tunes, some are just winter themed - and by winter themed I mean that they could easily end up on Alexa Ray Joel's iPod (too soon? - probably).

A couple of highlights to make sure you catch: Both of the Dylan tracks from his new Christmas disc are great. If you have ever wondered what the holidays would sound like channeled through tinsel, phlegm and a child's cowboy hat you are in luck. The unreleased Bob Marley take on White Christmas is also a nice touch, and asks the age old question,"can I make a bong from a snow globe?". I will have to put on my engineering hat and check that out for next year. Lastly, I included a track by The Duke and The Gent that is not festive in the least, but probably my favorite song of 2009. Consider that my present to you.

Enjoy!!

link to mix:
http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com/

Waiting for the D Train

First let me start by saying that I am shocked by how much I have been enjoying the Jimmy Fallon show. He was always the weakest link on SNL, the movies I have seen him in (thanks airlines)are mostly unwatchable, and the first few airings of his show were painful. However he seems to have turned the corner and the show has gotten much better. His skits are still lame, but his uneasiness interviewing his guests is entertaining and he is top notch on bringing in great musical guests.

Before we get carried away and think this was a post to praise Fallon, I better get to the point. On the 11/5, he hosted Yoko Ono and in the process aired one of the musical highlights of what has already served to be a pretty great year for music.

I started writing a review of her new disc "Between My Head and the Sky" when it first came out, but had to stop after I could not fully wrap my head around how amazing the disc is. Plus it came out at the same time as the Beatles remasters, and I knew that anything that I wrote about her would draw some form of backlash from Beatles purists.

Whatever the case, here is a clip of her performance last week and simply put, it was fucking amazing!! At 76, Ono still remains one of the most important voices in avant garde new music.

Enjoy!!

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR6P3mBlkHY

Kicked It in the Sun

Apologies for the delay in getting a new mix up, but it seems like lately finding time to post has been a bigger struggle than douchebag Congressman Joe Wilson trying to get into Mensa. Anyway, here is the mix in a nutshell. I think it is pretty solid, and flows well considering the fact it has everything from Italian disco, to French ambient to Porter Wagoner and an Eagles cover in the mix. I will say you might have to give it a few minutes to get going, it starts out slow and builds to a nice clip in the middle before winding back down and wrapping up with a Smiths cover from Zooey Deschanel (how can you go wrong with that combo?) and then one of my easy top 5 best tracks of the year by the Raveonettes ("Last Dance"), and then a haunting acapella auto-tune max out from Bon Iver. Also in the mix are stellar new tracks from Juilan Casablancas, Girls, jj and the must hear electro sleaze freak out "Rollerskate".

Artwork from an Emek poster for a Melvins in Israel show.

Enjoy, and as always comments are welcomed!!

http://countryclubfothezeroseven.blogspot.com/

Eternal Summers

With Summer winding down and fall around the corner, I thought I would put together a little mix to help ease the transition. From the chilly, cogs slowly winding down sounds of Kim Hiorthøy to the warm campfire vocals of the appropriately named Eternal Summers and ultimately down to the throes of Antony burning out and Yoko fading away, this whole set should help ease the inflamed melanomas of summer with the soft cashmere sweaters of fall.


Enjoy!

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com/

Vishnu and the Magic Elixir

Since everything I have posted lately seeems to have been a mashup of more recent stuff, and a fair amount of it has skirted towards electronic music, I thought I would use this mix to get back to some of my old favorites.

With Harvest Records presenting Brightblack Morning Light, Espers and Bonnie "Prince" Billy at the Diana Wortham Theatre this Friday, and Dungen and Woods playing at The Grey Eagle next week, this seemed like the perfect time to scrape the bong resin out of the old cranium and fire up a psychedelic stew.

This mix does feature a handful of tracks from Dungen and Woods, both old and new, but also some all time favorites like Bardo Pond, Acid Mothers Temple, a vintage classic by Silver Apples and a newly remastered track by 60's Irish psych-folk band Andwellas Dream There are a couple of newish tracks like the ones from The Dutchess and the Duke, Floorian and Flight and some very new tracks by the not so psychedelic (but mind bending nonetheless) Destroyer and Yo La Tengo.

And of course no psychedelic mix would be comlete with out at least one track by the Lemmy helmed, pre-Motorhead, brain melting amalgam that was Hawkwind.

Note: this site not responsible if the colors do not taste like you think they should.

Enjoy!

http://www.countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com

Party out of Bouds - The B-52's Live (1978)

It has been awhile since I posted, and I recently stumbled across this B-52's live set from 1978, and was pretty blown away by it, so figured I might as well share.

Back before they became a campy parody of themselves (before they thought it was a good idea to appear on the CMA awards, before "Love Shack"), the B-52's were a solid standout from the post new wave crash. Any of their first handful of discs are still solid (especially the David Byrne produced Mesopotamia) all the way up through Whammy. With the death of original guitarsit Ricky Wilson, the band largely took a lengthy hiatus before returning bigger than ever with Cosmic Thing (I am not a huge Cosmic Thing fan. I do love "Follow Your Bliss" and "Deadbeat Club", but rarely on the disc do you hear the leaner, meaner bouffainted B-52's featured on this bootleg).

I would have to say I put Whammy in my list of most formative albums of young Scott's taste. I remember lying in my bed in 7th grade watching videos on a tiny black and white TV (Channel 46 for anyone that remembers that grainy UHF station from Atlanta) and seeing the "Legal Tender" video and immediately heading out to Record Bar to pick that album up the next day. I can also credit that album for turning me on to Yoko Ono as well as it features a great duet with her ("Don't Worry"), which was for some reason removed after the first couple of pressings.

Anyway, if all you know of the B-52's is hearing "Love Shack" or "Rock Lobster" from weddings, sorority crush parties or VH1 specials this live show might blow your mind.

Recorded at a club in Athens in 1978 (months before their first album release), this short set shows the band at the height of their frenetic, post-punk, Patsy Cline meets Dick Dale and Stiv Bators on the far side of the moon best.

Enjoy!!

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com

From South Africa to South Carolina

First up, this mixes' title is sort of false advertising as I don't think any of these artists are from South Africa. There is a remote chance that Malcom McLaren used some backup singers from Soweto on Buffalo Gals, but I am not vouching for it. It gets difficult to title these things sometimes, and there is at least a track by Gil Scott-Heron from an album of the same name, so in my book that counts.

This mix came from me having to head to Detroit this week for work, and wanting something to listen to on the plane and in the rental car. My experience with the local radio stations up there has not been very favorable so far, minus a feed from a public radio station in Toronto that you can sometimes pick up.

Anyway, there are a few tracks on here that I cannot offer much commentary on other than I dig them. I don't know much about Beatfanatic who opens and closes this set. Of what I have heard, his discs drag in the middle (as do most electronic and rap discs), but definitely has nailed entrances and exits. There are a handful of tracks from Stones Throw artists, like the one from the late Jaylib, who might rival 2pac for posthumous releases, the Miles Davis cover from Otis Jackson Jr, is off of a Yesterdays New Quintet compilation, as is the Madlib track and the just released new single from Dudley Perkins.

Erykah Badu is easily one of my favorite female vocalists, rivaled only by Gillian Welch. There probably couldn't be a wider contrast of artists, but the heart wants what the heart wants... I know Bady has performed a few times with My Morning Jacket, so maybe a meeting with Welch and Rawlings is in her future someday, right after a duet with Falco and Brigitte Nielsen (oh wait, that actually happened - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xH8Wqdb4U0 ). I put a couple of tracks off of her very underrated Worldwide Underground disc.

Also in the mix are a couple of old school hip-hop tracks. Nothing too obscure, but nothing too obvious either.

The only really new tracks would be the above mentioned Dudley Perkins track, and the track "Ecstasy" by the Swedish band jj. Without a doubt this song is the best of 2009 in the category of "Songs about drugs, that sample Lil' Wayne and hail from Sweden".

The artwork is a photo of funk queen and oft rumored subject of the Stone's "Brown Sugar", Marsha Hunt.

Outside of that, I got nothin'.

Enjoy!

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com

Stuck in Greenville with the chemo blues '09

With the 4th just around the corner, I thought it might be a good idea to put a mix together for any cookouts or parties that might pop up. Also, I thought it might make sense to put together a mix that is insanely fun and full of energy in an effort to make sure everyone around the Hall house is in party mode for the weekend. The irony is that even though I stand by this mix as an absolute uplifter, Katherine hates anything with beats in it, so this will likely get shelved in favor of the new Wilco disc (not a bad substitute but still).

That being said, what's on the plate in the mix? We start off with a track I left off of my funk playlist from a couple weeks back, a smoking cover of Bill WIthers', "Who Is He?" by Me'Shell N'Degeocello. Yeah, I get it, it's a gender fuck mashup, but once you hear that greasy bassline, you can take all of your politics and hangups and toss them in a pot of fatback. This track rawks. Next we have a track from DJ Kaos that is turning out to be one of my favorite tracks of the summer "Love the Night Away". Usually a summer track filled with kettle drums, bongos and xylophones would slide toward the Jimmy Buffet vomitorium, but thanks to some slinky beats and keyboards this thing brings visions of Haircut 100 bouncing around the jungle to mind as opposed to frat boys playing pee pee touch games behind the urinals during "A Pirate Looks at Forty".

In addition to the DJ Kaos track being one of my favorite tracks of the summer, also in that line up is a track by Free Energy called "Dream City". I am not sure where this DFA track came from but it absolutely scorches, and when teamed in a mix with the new Modest Mouse track "Satellite Skin", you have my top three picks of Summer 09. Did you ever think Modest Mouse would be the feel good band of any season, other than that of the witch?

There are two tracks in here from the band Discovery, that I would easily cast as a favorite for any best of 2009 list. The first track jumps all over the place with Art of Noise backbeats, swirling synths and Hot Chip vocals, and the second track features a freaked out Auto Tune take on the Jackson 5 (timely, huh?).

The two blacksheep of the lot are a duet with Scarlett Johannson and Pete Yorn that brings to mind the best duets of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, and makes you think about reconsidering Johannson's unfairly maligned disc of Tom Waits covers. The second is The Lemonheads covering GG Allin's "Layin' with Linda". Sure the song is about murdering your lover, but Evan Dando makes it sound much more sweet and playful than the turd covered suicidal burnouts original.

In the middle we have a little bit of a soul breakdown with a throwaway classic from Maurice & Mac, a sticky sweet nugget from Allen Toussaint that apparently has been co-opted by Axe body spray, and a keyboard shredding beaut from Booker T & the MG's.

Lastly, there is a track by Brakes on here that I swear reminds me of the Pixies, yet I still like it.

Outside of that, just enjoy!!!

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com/2009/06/stuck-in-greenville-with-chemo-blues-09.html

Furious Fists of Funk!!

It has been awhile since I have had the motivation, energy or time to put together a mix, so I am hoping that this one is received with hungry ears. Over the past month I have had a couple of sleepless nights where I do nothing but lie in bed scrolling through my iPod and adding songs to playlists. The one thing I noticed is that in all of the playlists or mixes I have made, none of them are geared toward helping me unwind. Plenty of them are for entertaining, driving or flat out all night drinking. I decided to put something together that would come in handy for just hitting the relax button, taking some deep breaths and slipping outside of my mind. With that said, after scrolling through 14,000 songs, here is what I have come up with. Trust me, this was not an easy task. I wanted to find the perfect seamless balance and keep it at under 2 hours.
Commentary on the tracks will be slim, as a lot of them come from some of the recent Lagos, Nigeria and Jamaica compilations from various labels but here goes...

Leading off is one of my favorite Funkadelic tracks. I never got into the party vibe of Parliament that much, but when it comes to down and dirty, red-eyed funk there is none better. I had a hard time choosing between this or Maggot Brain, but there is a Cymande disc later in the mix that is similar enough in structure to the Eddie Hazel masterpiece to skip it. Along the way is a great Talking Heads track that definitely sets up the groundwork for all of David Byrne's Luaka Bop work; a version of "Whole Lotta Love" by Ike & Tina Turner that makes Adam Lambert's version look like a Lucky Pierre between Clay Aiken and Scott Stapp. Probably the oddest addition is the krautrock "Vitamin C" by the German band Can. Maybe it is just me but I think their improv merges right in. Also there is a second great track by Ike and Tina Turner called "Young and Dumb", that smokes on its own, but is included because I really like to hear Tina growl about being "young, dumb & full of cum". Call me juvenile. I can't help it.

Just about every mix I have made seems to have a Clash track on it somewhere. Usually, they lead off; but in this case I love the tribal drum pattern of "Car Jamming" and like to think as the music fades that somewhere that drum line keeps playing forever in the background.

As always, enjoy and if I can remark without sounding desperate please leave comments. I track my hits, and know that I get a fair amount of listeners, but it makes putting mixes together a lot more fun and interesting when I know what people are thinking about the tunes I am dropping.

AI recap and Seis de Mayo Mix

Last night while watching AI, my daughter tugged at my pantleg, looked up with puppy dog eyes and asked ever so sweetly, "If John Lennon was murdered already, why did that sad little boy just try to kill him again?". Ok, that didn't happen at all, but Kris did take a dump all over "Come Together". All in all, I thought everyone blew last night, especially Adam's take on Zep (despite everyone else on the shows opinon). Yeah, yeah, yeah he can hit the high notes just like Robert Plant, but if you are going to drop the Hammer of the Gods you need to come out rocking a shirtless vest and Plant's frightening, skin tight, veins and all jeans from "The Schlong Remains the Same", not mascara and hair jizz. This guy does have the pipes, but in 25 years you are much more likely to find him in a Rum Tum Tugger costume than in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also, I really respect Slash for coming on and lending a hand to these rookie rock stars by saying, "I will hang out with you for 10 minutes, but will not license any of my songs for you to sing".

My guess is that Kris goes home tonight, Allison next week and thus setting up the showdown between Adam and Danny, in which Danny wins. No, he is not as gifted a singer as Adam, and to be fair he comes off a little bland at times, but he is extremely likeable. I could be wrong, but it just seems like even though Adam's performances never falter, he really comes off quite smug. Plus if voting comes down to what I would consider the Ohio of American Idol, voters my mom's age - yes she actively hits the phone, they are going for the nice guy with glasses over the "weird guy". Plus Danny's wife died.

So here is this week's mix. A fair amount of new tracks, coupled with a few nuggets from bygone days. And by bygone days I mean the glory years of 2004 and 05. There is no overarching theme here, but when I listened to it in its entirety this morning while running ahem...walking, I couldn't help but notice that most of the tracks have a My Bloody Valentine/Kevin Shields sound. So if you were ever into shoegaze music, this might be your lucky day.

Standout tracks: The opener is from the previously mentioned heyday and is an excellent cover of Magnetic Fields done by !!!, quickly followed by The Langley School Project's take on Space Oddity. If you ever need something to restore your faith in music, google The Langley School Project and check out their entire cd. Where I once found this to be more of a novelty, as I daily force feed my daughter her harmonica and maracas, now I find it inspirational. Ok, enough with the sappy shit...

There are two tracks from the San Diego band Crocodiles, and both seem to recall the early work of Jesus Mary Chain and Suicide. Suicide is also included deep down in the mix. On a local note (semi-local, I guess Atlanta would be considered more regional...) there is a great lo-fi track from The Black Lips featuring a guest rap from GZA, and a track from the latest Fischerspooner disc. I highly recommend anyone that is a fan of techno, electroclash, performance art, wigs, 4am in Ibiza and Christ Church of Greenville check out any of their works. Always total fucking brilliance from Greenville, SC to NY ex-pat Casey Spooner and his partner Warren Fischer.

Two last notes, make sure to stick it out to the end for the 9 minute reggae/soul/folk/wtf blast of Devendra Banhart's "White Reggae Troll". Hearing him start chanting at the midway point "that he believes in Africa" gives hope that he is finally back to where he was going with Cripple Crow, before his disappointing turn on Smokey.

And in closing, I have a remix of Adele's "My Hometown" by High Concept. I don't care if she might be struck with the Grammy curse, or is now all over the place in the media, 19 is one of my favorite albums of the past decade or so and could probably include a track from it every week. But likely I won't.

Artwork this week by Kelly Haigh.

Enjoy and comments are welcomed!

Don't Call It a Comeback...

It has been a couple weeks since I have had a chance to post anything, so I am trying to come out swinging. With Sonic Youth tickets going on sale this morning (which I managed to score 4th row center for WOOHOO!!) for their upcoming small venue tour, I thought I would get things started off with a track from their new disc Eternal. Listening to the disc in its entirety, it sounds like they have dropped some of the hardest, darkest material since the Sister or Evol era, which is a very welcome back to form. On that same note, way down in the mix is a track off of the new Dinosaur Jr disc, and like SY this sounds like a very welcome return to the sound of some of their great early work.

Also in the mix are a handful of covers. I keep promising I am going to put together an awesome covers/originals comp, but always get sidetracked. Here I have a couple of standouts from the Torotoise/Bonnie Prince Billy collaboration, including their takes on Springsteen and Elton John. When you think about covers, you can either do a faithful, risk free rendition (like the Justin Townes Earle, take alson included here,on The Replacements included here - very true to the original plus a little twangy flavor), or you can just completely deconstruct the original and make it your own. Sometimes it works, I think the two BPB tracks here are amazing, and sometimes it sort of works but you just can't be sure; like the Lips cover of Madonna included here. Make sure to also check out the stripped down, what the fuck Of Montreal cover of M.I.A.'s "Jimmy". And especially thanks to Mario for turning me on to the Fight Like Apes cover of the mclusky classic, "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues". It is amazing how having a female take the lead on this faithful cover changes the entire dynamic of the song. It's a nice!!!

That being said the rest of the mix sort of follows the form of the title, Breaking Hearts/Making Babies. Spring fever, and N1H1 are in the air so I was tying to create a healthy mix of booty sweat inducing grooves like the Sebastien Tellier, Chromeo, Franz Ferdinand/Dances with White Girls remix, and the seven minute, haunted house disco breakdown of Bigfoot's "Watch Your Step", and Aaron Neville's jazz funk classic "Hercules". Plus if the one two punch of new British soul heavyweights Adele and Baby Charles can't get the panties dropped you are "f*cking out" (apologies to Kenny Powers), and should proceed directly to the mclusky and Black Lips tracks at the end of the playlist.

Not all tracks fit nicely into the mix, but I have been dying to drop Sister Janet Mead's disco take on "The Lord's Prayer" forever, and since I skipped an Easter mix figured why not now. This is truly one of the best "wait, what?" tracks of all times. The beats are nice if not dated, her voice is ok, and oh yeah it is a nun singing a disco version of The Lord's Prayer. What is not to like? I actually have the 45 for this song at home, and have never fully understood where it came from as my parents are pretty anti-religion, and this disc looks like it has been in my collection since the '70s. I doubt any of my childhood friends were cunning enough to hide Studio 54 indoctrination in my stack o' wax, so it might have been divine intervention.

Lastly, I debated long and hard about whether to wrap up with MGMT's thirteen minute freak out "Metanoia" or Patrick Cowley's ten minute disco opus "Megatron Man". "Megatron Man" sounds like it was crafted by a robot that is equal parts titanium, steel, body glitter and cocaine but ultimately lost out to the Queen meets Phantom of the Park psychedelics of MGMT. I am sure the sex robot will find his place on a mix in the near future.

Enjoy!!

AI Roundup and SIlversun Pickups

First, a little AI roundup.

Every time Adam opens his mouth, I expect cock dust to come streaming out, but instead am greeted by one of the most feral rock howls going. I am not sure what kind of Faustian deal this guy had to make to get those pipes, but I am sure his colon’s health will pay the price in the end. There is really no way this guy does not make it to the finals. Every week he destroys (I mean seriously butchers the shit out of) a classic, minus his take on Smokey Robinson and Tears for Fears, and it seems to fly. That is what happens when you have enough swagger to go out there and do whatever you want. I would not be shocked to see him drop a reggae version “Smells Like Teen Spririt”, or put a Christian rock spin on “Shout at the Devil”, it would be absolutely awful, but the dude has the balls to make it work. Whether you watch Idol or not, it is worth checking out the way he made a pure mockery of “Born to be Wild”, but ended up killing it because it sounds like he has an army of castrati in his throat.

This season is pretty impressive, because once you weed out Matt, Chris and Lil’, and they should be leaving 1-2-3 over the consecutive weeks, the talent pool is pretty balanced. Anoop is continually amazing, and gets better every week. I just doubt that his frat brothers have enough pull to out vote the millions of teenage girls that will push Adam and Allison to the finals. I guess when you figure all of the above into the equation, I am still voting for Danny Gokey. His wife died, or something.

On a completely different note: if you have seen a movie trailer or tv spot, or commercial over the past year or so, you have no doubt been assaulted ad nauseum by Silversun Pickup’s “Lazy Eye”. It has been pretty much inescapable. If you were thinking that their Smashing Pumpkins impersonation would go the way of Jonathan Melvion, guess what? You were wrong. Their second disc, Swoon, comes out this week and pretty much goes all Siamese Dream over their debut disc.

I emailed some friends earlier and said I can already feel the floor sagging under the weight of bouncing twentysomethings when these kids hit the Peel on their next tour. Check out this leadoff track, and especially note the ridiculous breakdown when the song hits the 2:55 mark.

Enjoy!!

Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year

Mondays with Merzbow, pt.2

So last week I posted the first installment of what could be a 50 week series, the entire 50 cd set called Merzbox. Judging from my counter, this was not much of a hit, which is a shame because this is some very exciting if just a wee touch challenging music. Perfect for relaxing or zoning out at your desk.

Unfortunately, week 2 might be even more of a stretch. It contains just one track, the 47 minute opus, " Balance Of Neurosis."


I will give the project a couple more weeks to see if it picks up any steam, but for this week load up and veg out.

Enjoy!

Drunk at the Pulpit, mixtape

After the two and a half weeks of non-stop rain that has been dumped on the ’07, this week’s mix is tailor made for soaking up the freshly rediscovered sun, loading up the grill and partaking in your favorite recreational beverage of choice (mine would be Makers and ginger, but think tonight is more suited to Stone IPA, which I highly recommend you check out).

There are a couple of artists on here with great new discs worth looking up. First is the smoking hot Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears from Austin, TX. These guys shake and shimmy with all the hot buttered, ferocious soul of a Memphis nightclub circa 1967 without all of the unpleasantness of police dogs and fire hoses. “Bitch, I Love You” sounds like The Woggles fronted by Little Richard. Also on here some new tracks from Page France leader Michael Nau’s alter ego Cotton Jones. Paranoid Cocoon, their new disc of psychedelia lite, should be filed in the corner section where Harpers Bizarre meets Grandaddy, and right behind some sweet bubblegum nuggs.

Random tracks on here include great new music from Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, Jenny Lewis, Heartless Bastards and M. Ward.

Be sure to stick around long enough to check out the Two Gallants tracks. I had initially written these guys off as a Walkmen wannabe band, but after a good friend of mine convinced me to check them out live at a local in-store performance I was instantly hooked. Granted their newer material hits closer to lighter Saddle Creek fare, tracks like “Steady Rollin’” would be right at home being covered by Johnny Cash on his later American Recordings.

Sorry, no AI comments for this week. It pretty much played out as expected.

Enjoy!

Mondays with Merzbow pt.1

About three years ago, I was lucky enough to score Merzbow’s ultra-rare 50 disc Merzbox set. The only down side is that they are all CD-R’s, and I am not sure how well they were burned, or what the shelf life of the discs are so am in the process of uploading them all to my hosted Amazon backup. Since I am going to uploading them anyway, I figured I might as well share them with all via this site. Because of the sheer volume of this amount of music, I am going to do one a week (hence “Mondays with Merzbow”).

I will try to include a little more commentary week to week, but for week one just sit back and let the best white noise and experimental mind fucking Japan as to offer wash over you.

Don’t get me wrong, listening to Merzbow can at times be challenging but if you have the stones to stick it out, you will walk away relaxed, refreshed and ready to set the world (if not just your office) on fire.

Yes - Hearts of Sunrise

Even though I have somewhere around 12,000 tracks on my iPod, sometimes I am shocked to find the one perfect song is not on there. I was walking my dog this morning before work, and for some reason I really needed to hear “Hearts of Sunrise” by Yes. After scrolling frantically for a block or two, I realized it just wasn’t there.

Just in case anyone else out there had the same problem this morning, here ya’ go.

Ramblings on AI and a new mix

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Skinny Bobby Harper March Megamix

Since I was not able to get to a mix last week, and I have the benefit of pain medicine this afternoon, I am going to get this week’s mix posted a little early.

No real specific theme this week, other than I would say most of these tracks are from the mid to late 70’s with a touch of early 80’s thrown in. Just a general hodgepodge of some songs I dug as a kid (hence the KISS tracks) and have ended up floating around on my iPod, plus a handful of AM radio faves. Feel free to put on your WSB 750 “Skinny” Bobby Harper throwback jerseys. Random tidbit, Harper a DJ at WSB 750 in the seventies was the inspiration for Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Anyway, back to the mix. Highlights include: a couple of tracks from Suzi Quatro. When I was in third grade I really loved the song “Stumblin’ In”, but I will always remember her as Leather Tuscadero. Playing Leather on Happy Days ensured that she would never be big in the states, but she was able to put together an impressive run in the UK as a glam artist through out the seventies. Also, a nice track from Geordie, better known as Brian Johnson before he met AC/DC, also included is an interesting boogie track from Elf, featuring Ronnie James Dio before his stings with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio. I have also included a couple tracks from Nick Gilder that are from right after his days in Sweeny Todd but before he had his one hit with “Hot Child in the City”.

Feel free to add comments or questions. I would be curious to hear some feedback on some of these tracks.

Against Me! - The Handlebar - 04/19/2009

I haven't been running this blog very long, but for all the shows I have pimped it is hard to believe it has taken me three months to getting around to one at The Handlebar, especially since it is just around the corner from my house.

Not too much I can say here except that I cannot imagine a better deal on a Tuesday night than an $11 dollar show within walking distance in, and crawling distance home.

I have read several great interviews with Tom Gabel, singer/guitarist for Against Me!, and all of them would do a better job talking about their inspirational DIY ethic, and the success they have found while never selling out.

The best I can offer is that if you have ever wondered what it would sound like if you could morph Billy Bragg and Mike Ness into a quasi political, aggro rawker with an acoustic guitar in one hand and a molotov cocktail in the other; this show is for you, so start saving those nickels. Other than that, I will let the music do the talking. Included in this list of originals is a nice Replacements cover, and an interesting choice cover of an Old Crow Medicine Show covering Dylan.

Enjoy!

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Grey Eagle 5/27/09

For the most part, I have seen pretty much everyone live that I want to. Not that there aren’t always going to be new bands I want to see, or old favorites that I want to see again. But for the most part I have been able to check out just about everyone I want minus a list of about 3 or 4. Despite who you talk to, this list doesn't vary often and includes Diamanda Galas (will likely never happen), Leonard Cohen (could still happen one day, but I don’t deserve it because I blew a great opportunity in 1993), New Order (even in the hodgepodge lineup they are currently sporting, they are still one of my all time favorite bands that I have never been able to check out), Van Morrison (I feel pretty good this will happen sooner or later, barring an abrupt death) and Bonnie “Prince” Billy (odds are great, as this is the main reason for this post).

Looks like I will be able to pull out the mental Sharpie and cross one more off that list, as Bonnie “Prince” Billy rolls into The Grey Eagle on May 27th.

From his work with Palace Brothers through his solo career, BPB has emerged over the past decade as one of the great living storytellers/songwriters, and will eventually if not now find a home in the same echelon as Cohen if not Dylan.

I am posting a random variety of some of my favorite BPB songs including mostly originals, a rerecording of one of my favorite Palace Brothers songs, and a few covers including Elton John, Kenny Rogers and an amazing cover of the Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” (which regularly challenges “Sweet Jane” as my favorite song of all time). Plus I am including the video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’” which features BPB and Zach Galifinakis as the result of what happens when the FFA meets LSD.

Tickets are on sale now.

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz

At this stage of the game it is pretty safe to assume that the Yeah Yeah Yeah's are never going to release anything that smokes as hot as their debut EP. Fair enough, that five track beauty contains what might be the best straight up fifteen minutes of rock to be released in the double aughts, with time running out for anyone to snatch that honor away.

Each full length since then has skirted a little closer to the mainstream, while still managing to hang on to just enough edge to get rated favorably on Pitchfork (come on, it doesn't get much more Top 40 than the crushing heartbreak of "Maps").

Their latest disc, It's Blitz will probably find the same fate, and wind up as a soundtrack bullpen for teen dramedies for the rest of the spring. However, that unpleasant nugget aside, Blitz is easily one of the best discs so far of 2009. Dave Sitek's production keeps Blitz loaded with enough dance beats to make even the crustiest indie rock fan discard their Silver Jews disc gently on top of a pile of Coors Light cans and get their wiggle on (no this is not describing anyone I know, present company included). Usually when a disc leads off with its best track ("Zero"), that is a sign of shit to come. Blitz is an exception, and keeps things chugging from start to finish.

Definitely worth checking out.

Morrissey - Pffffffarrrrrt!!!

Morrissey at The Orange Peel - Cancelled!!

Not that I was going to get to go, I sold my tickets on Saturday, but still nice job on the last minute cancellation asshat!!

All I can say is that there are going to be some pissed off hairdressers in Asheville tonight.

Morrissey - I'm Not Sorry

Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - My Ancestors

With the mass influx of Nigerian High Life music over the past couple of years, it is easy to let a handful of releases slip through the cracks here and there. Although most of the releases have been compilations, this gem from Chrissy Zebby Tembo was pressed and released on vinyl in a limited number of copies, 430 to be exact.

I am not sure what kind of mushrooms they grow in Nigeria, but soil soaked from mass bloodshed must make them grow extra psychedelic. This disc has more fuzz on it than that black dude in Hart County that had his eye ripped out.

Here is the full album with all of it’s crackly vinyl goodness, and is it just me or does this guylook like Tracy Morgan?

Enjoy!

Friday Mix - The Wayback Machine - Destination 80's

This Friday mix is sort of thrown together and probably not sequenced the best, but at least it is something. This is largely culled from a collection of 80’s music that I have that represents some of my favorite early No Wave songs, some nice 12” singles from the era and some random and semi obscure tracks that I found later. One note, I remember hearing a lot of these songs the first time on the Georgia State University station WRAS 88.5 when I was in middle school. It is easy to remember your first album, your first cd etc., but I distinctly remember when I first stumbled across Album 88 and the Pandora’s box of great music that had been opened.

On a side note, if you have the ability to stream music at work or at home I can recommend no better website than the one for 91.1 WREK, the radio station at Georgia Tech. Granted at night they selection can slant toward more acquired tastes, but during the workday there is no better soundtrack. Starting with morning classical (not your boring, run of the mill NPR fare, but a nice and eclectic selection), then running into a couple hours of jazz followed by a freeform afternoon. Opening their stream is the first thing I do every morning after logging into my work ‘puter. You should definitely check them out.

As far as the mix goes, if there is anything you particularly like, especially on some of the lesser known stuff, and want to hear more, leave me a note.

Enjoy!

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

First off, there is not much higher praise I can drop on Neko Case other than the fact I named my bulldog after her. I was sold on Neko the first time I heard her belt a note. Her live shows never disappoint, and her albums have always been very listenable. The problem I have had with most of them is that while they have always provided an excellent showcase for her stellar voice, they have often fallen short in the material department; deficiencies she has greatly improved upon recently particularly on Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

On her latest, Middle Cyclone, she has finally put together an album that is solid from start to finish. From the opener of “This Tornado Loves You” (easily one of her best tracks to date), through the thirty one minute ambient noise closer “Marais la Nuit” there is not a drop of filler to be found. Her recent collaborations with M. Ward, Kelly Hogan as well as her role in The New Pornographers have only helped distill her massive pipes into something that has the sweet, soulful, burning taste of a bucket of blackberries soaked in Grey Goose, or whatever the Canadian vodka equivalent is.

Now if we could only get her to reprise her role on ATHF or do some more pinup shots…

Butch Walker - The Orange Peel 3/24/09

Of all the music I listen to, I think I probably catch more shit for my love of Butch Walker than anyone else on my favorite’s playlist. Seriously, some of my guilty pleasures (mix coming soon) include Mariah Carey and Sugarland but for some reason BW is the albatross I cannot shake.

So far my biggest defense of BW has been that his live shows are amazing, and I stand by that. By dragging a handful of naysayers I have been able to convince a couple about his live shows, but they still scoff at the man and his music. I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of Butch’s first band to make waves in Atlanta, the metal-lite Floyds Funk Revival, but by the time he reemerged with Marvelous 3 he was starting to fire on all cylinders. Granted the 3 were probably a little ahead of their time, grunge and other fake indie shit rock (hello, Cranberries) of the like were still flooding the airwaves, but the 3’s glammed out simple three chord mockups and soaring choruses were like manna to those of us who grew up loving The Knack, Billy Squier, Sweet and April Wine.

Even after the demise of Marvelous 3, Walker’s work as a solo artist and producer still brought the goods for everyone that loved the sonic crunch of metal, but longed for the pop hooks of Cheap Trick. Maybe I am just a sucker for cheese, or maybe it is because we are from the same place geographically, or maybe it is because we are the same age and were probably influenced by the same bands, but for whatever its worth I think he is the goods (even after his turn on the nightmarish Rock Star: Supernova).

I have included a generous handful of tracks from M3, and some solo work. Also, toward the end I have added a handful of songs Butch produced that all have his signature sound. If there is anyone out there that can make Pink listenable, it has to be this guy.

Butch’s tour to support his latest disc Sycamore Meadows stops by The Orange Peel on 3/24 and tix are $14. As I stated above, his lives shows are awesome, even if you don’t necessarily dig his recorded output.

Mogwai - The Orange Peel 4/23/09

Looks like time to dig under the sofa cushions and pray for a decent tax return. Immediately after blowing a mint on tickets for two upcoming Wilco shows and one Old Crow Medicine Show, now The Orange Peel adds this show to their lineup. That is usually the way it works, good shows always pop up on the radar when you have just lost a nut on what you thought was already the best thing on the horizon.

At any rate, Mogwai is playing The Orange Peel on 4/23/09 with opening act The Twilight Sad. The only time I have seen Mogwai was opening for The Cure, so catching them as a headliner in a small venue should be sweet.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 27th at noon.

10,000 Feet High and Rising, pt. 2

As promised, here is Part 2. of the mix. Will be back on soon.

Comments on tracks is appreciated.

10,000 Feet and Rising pt. 1

Where's my Brawndo?!? I am ready to kick it X Games style as I head to Park City next week. And by X Games style I mean sitting on the sofa in front of a fire, cold beer in one hand, joystick in the other while rocking SSX on the PS2.

Alright in reality both scenarios listed above are bullshit, but nonetheless I will be hitting the slopes in Utah and trying to chase a buzz while drinking 3.2% Mormon beer.

Since I am going to try to make an effort not to touch my computer at all next week, I am going ahead and loading up two long mixes over the next couple of days. Both parts of this mix should provide the perfect soundtrack to six snowblind days in the land of polygamy and magic underpants, but will also work just as well in the '07.

Of the two, pt.1 is a much more mellow affair - think snow angels and dilaudid while pt. 2 is more like what the inside of your brain might taste like after huffing Krylon for a long weekend.

Band of Horses - The Orange Peel 3/16/2007

I was not able to attend this show, but have a handful of friends that made it and said it was amazing. After doing a little digging around I was able to find a recording of the show that was taped off of the sound board, so the quality is pretty nice.

If anyone out there knows the title of track 7, feel free to post it in the comments. I do not recognize it as either a BOH track or a cover. I hate being stumped, so anyone that can figure it out I owe a couple of shots.

Round and Round and Round and Round...

I saw The Wrestler over the weekend, and was completely underwhelmed. Make no mistake about it Mickey Rourke gives a nice performance, but honestly he was upstaged by Marisa Tomei's forty four year old rack. Overall I would say it was a good movie, but it felt like there was about an hour missing somewhere along the way - the same way Aronofsky left me feeling after The Fountain.

One of the best scenes in the movie featured The Ram calling Kurt Cobain a pussy and preaching the gospel of hair metal while giving Marisa Tomei a lap dance to Ratt's Round and Round.

After seeing that song, and Ratt for that matter, destroyed a few years back by a version of Ratt that replaced Stephen Pearcy with an assclown named Jizzy Pearl (that's right, Jizzy Pearl) the scene was a nice reminder that when Ratt was firing on all cylinders they could on a very limited scale hang with the big boys.

Here is the original Round and Round video that features a bizarre appearance by Mr. Television, Milton Berle (his nephew was the band's manager). Also included are a couple of decent covers of the song. One a folky cover by Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr's Lou Barlow, the other a bluegrass version by The Meat Purveyors.

Ashes of American Flags - 4/18/09

Great news for Wilco fans (as if I know any of those). Even though there have been no solid release dates for Wilco's newest disc (rumored to drop in 2009), they have a release date for their newest DVD, Ashes of American Flags, 4/18.

Also tour dates have been added for this spring, although on sale dates and support acts are still to be announced.

4/18 Knoxville, TN - The Tennessee Theatre
4/20 Athens, GA - The Classic Center
4/21 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

What a difference a couple of weeks make. If I would have reviewed this disc when I first picked it up, I would have given it a much more glowing review than it deserves. Now that I have had a chance to let it sink in, I am a little disappointed with the total result. Make no mistake, I am an apologetic Lily Allen fan, and really wanted to love this disc after waiting for it for so long, but the love just isn’t there. I am not sure if the problem is in the fact that about 4 songs in, the sheen of overproduction starts to become overpowering, or if it is the semi-retarded audacity of the lyrics. That sounds like old man talk, but seriously, I think that if you want to sing a scathing indictment about the Bush presidency (“Fuck You”), it probably holds more weight when not following a song about your predilection for giving head and “sleeping in the wet patch” (“It’s Not Fair”). And that is a shame, because both songs are pretty great, just not in context of each other.

The other standout tracks here are “The Fear”, which manages to encapsulate the entire 13 years of doubt Axl Rose toiled with on Chinese Democracy into a three minute piece of sugary goodness, and the bonus track “Fag Hag”. The latter being one of the catchiest, and most embarrassing songs to get stuck in your head in ages, while Allen sings that “she can be your fag hag, and you can be her gay”, while agreeing that they are both “in their element when down on their knees” and sipping coffee or hitting museums. Yeats and PC it ain’t, but Allen nails it like a chick that is just 50lbs and a bad breakup away from hitting up the Castle on Friday nights.

While It’s Not Me, It’s You might not be as strong as I had hoped for, in the interim between her debut and this follow up, Allen has had a great run of covers from The Kaiser Chiefs to The Clash to E.L.O.

I am including a couple of the best tracks from It’s Not Me, and a handful of my favorite Allen covers.

Friday Afternoon Fish Fry pt. 2

This week’s mix is probably way larger and indulgent than necessary, but it has been 75 degrees all week and I though some back porch music was much needed. Keeping that in mind, the tracks skew toward alt-country, blues and bluegrass: the perfect blend for reaching righteous levels of insobriety and menace.

A quick breakdown of some of the highlights: Great Fleetwood Mac cover by Whiskeytown. The Kathleen Edwards track is my favorite of hers, off of her first album. Grandpa Jones doesn’t really need anything said other than “Hee-Haw”, and he is singing a bluegrass standard. The Gillian Welch track highlights a bass line looser than a truck stop waitress and greasier than her panties. The Dave Dudley track hints of novelty song, but seems to fit pretty well. Anyone that watches Lost will recognize the classic “Shotgun Willie” from an episode early in this season. “Barstool Mountain” is an oft overlooked gem by one of the truly scariest country artists of all time, Johnny Paycheck. The Banjo & Sullivan track is from the Devil’s Rejects soundtrack, and is actually performed by Jesse Dayton. Adrienne Young’s cover of “Brokedown Palace” is my favorite version of that song, next to the original. “Old Enough” features the Dr. Wilbur Larch ether soaked pairing of Ricky Skaggs and Jack White. And finally, if you can hang in til the end “Southside of Heaven” by Ryan Bingham is just about as perfect as a song can come.

Note: I have enabled comments on the site so that you do not have to have to register to leave them. If there are any tracks you really dig, post a note and I can add the tracks for download as opposed to the monster 2 hour mix. Also, if there are any bands you find that you want to hear more of, let me know.

So now to quote Muddy Waters, “bring me champagne when I am thirsty, bring me reefer when I want to get high”.

Enjoy:

Friday Afternoon Fish Fry pt.2 (link) now with streaming goodness

Tracks: Scroll through Box window for access to all 36 tracks

Death is for the Living

I haven't had time yet to put a proper posting of the new Vetiver disc and their upcoming show at the Grey Eagle with Larkin Grimm, but just in case anyone is pining away waiting for that, here is something to bide the time with. This song by Terrastock festival favorites Spires That in the Sunset Rise starts out warm and cozy like a bedtime story by the fire and then takes a chilling turn with touches of opiate nightmares thrown in to make sure nobody has dozed off.

Also, it's ok if you find yourself huddled behind the sofa in the fetal position, sucking your thumb at songs end.

Spires That in the Sunset Rise - Death is for the Living:

The Whitest Chick in America - Taylor Swift

I am going to have to go ahead and drop the title of "Whitest Chick in America" on Taylor Swift. That is not necessarily a slam by the way. As much as I do not want my blog card pulled, or my credibility shat on, I have to admit I am a little bit of a fan of the tear stained 19 year old. In a culture where the media is quick to nut all over vapid talent still births like Miley Cyrus, it is a little refreshing to see someone so young knock 'em out of the park while writing their own songs, playing in a genre geared for grandparents and bible thumpers and going platinum on an indie label all at the same time. Plus "Love Story" was one of the best tracks of 2008.

On the CMT series Crossroads, the gimmick is to take a rock act and have them interchange songs with a country artist. Sometimes this is brilliant, like the Ryan Adams & Elton John episode, or the Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello one. Other times it can backfire uglier than a Pontiac Lemans running on leaded like the shitstorm combo of Keith Urban and John Fogerty or the inexplicable Little Big Town (the country equivalent of Christoper Cross) and Lindsey Buckingham.

But I digress. The reason I am naming her the "Whitest Chick in America" is based on her performance of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" with Def Leppard. Call me crazy, but if you are going to be performing a song that budding strippers cut their teeth on, you might want to come with some moves a little hotter than Bender from Futurama. Seriously, Rick Allen's left arm has more life in it than Swift's hips. Do I have time for one more? It looks like she learned how to dance from Mick Mars. Oh yeah, it also sounds like shit.

Anyway, watch and cringe:

Weezy's World

Weezy's World. See what I did there? By avoiding the easy Wayne's World joke, I think I am entitled to a cloak of invisibilty for the weekend, or at the very least a DJ Nonnahs "Folio Fiend"mixtape.

Anyway with CBS covering the Grammy's, they have had Lil' Wayne working overtime on promotional stops. If you want to be stupefied this Friday afternoon, check out Katie Coruic giving Weezy the Barbara Walters treatment. And then if you need an underwhelming palate cleanser before you get back to work, check out his watered down presentation of the Top 10 list on Letterman from last night.

Couric Interview: pulled from YouTube. Thanks CBS!!
Top 10 List:

What Have We Learned pt. 1 - weekly mix

I had hoped to load a nice lengthy mix for the weekend, however my laptop died and in turn so did the mix.

However, I was able to throw a brief little somethin' somethin' together.

Pretty much standard fare here with a couple of highlights. Two new tracks from M. Ward (one featuring Zooey Deschanel), and probably the best single of 2008, "Graveyard Girl" by M83.

M83's previous discs have been dense electronic and droney affairs. This one swings for the fences with touches of New Order and swirling vocals. I can only hope "Graveyard Girl" is supposed to be tongue in cheek, but either way this should be the theme song for every goth prom from hence forth. Enjoy!!

Also note: I have enabled comments so you do not have to have a membership to post. Comments are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks. Now let's go get our shit on and see Patton Oswalt in Athens tonight.

What Have We Learned pt. 1 Mix (link)

Tracks:

In the Club - White Williams

Graveyard Girl - M83

Straight to Hell - Lilly Allen w/ Mick Jones

Never Had Nobody Like You - M. Ward

Mexico City - Jolie Holland

Car Jamming - The Clash

Electric Feel - MGMT

Jailbird - M. Ward

Pick Up the Change - Wilco