Saturday Roundup

Everyone and their dog has a blog. Or so it seems. And this bloggy overabundance can make it hard to find good writing and interesting content. There are a lot of blogs that are nothing but fluff, bad writing, celebrity nipples and the very latest information about what Paris Hilton ate for breakfast. But there are also a lot of needles in the blogosphereic haystack that offer quality writing and unique voices. Leah and I are making an attempt at this ourselves, and I think we're making pretty good progress. We’re trying to find a readership by offering interesting posts, without posting pics of Tara Reid's latest wardrobe malfunction.

Many other blogs already have distinctive voices and have earned a devoted readership (including myself), and every Saturday I'm going to point out some of my favorite posts from around the web:

Hero Hill wrote a nice post about how MP3 blogs should review albums and not just individual tracks.

An Aquarium Drunkard wrote about one of the best albums of all time - Murmur by R.E.M.



Said the Gramaphone posted a quirky, interesting piece about a quirky, interesting band, The Red River.

You Ain't No Picasso talked at length about The Essex Green.

Downloads (Courtesy of Pitchfork):
Stereophonics | Dakota (Live) [Zipped MP3]
Aloha | Your Eyes [MP3]
The Octopus Project | Malaria Codes [MP3]

Random Wiki | Flint River (Alabama)

Flashback Friday: Miles Davis

Earlier this week, Leah and I had the opportunity to visit our local Social Security office, so Leah could change her last name (she is assimilating). If you’ve never been to a Social Security office, just think of a DMV, running with the efficiency of a one-legged turtle. For an hour and a half, Leah and I sat in uncomfortable chairs behind a woman who liked to hit herself in the head. We tried to read our books, but head-hitting is fun to watch.

Finally, our number (E43) was called.

Our trip to the counter was brief, but, as always, I tried to make things interesting. I asked the nice lady behind the counter if she ever changed her name just for fun. She said no, that it would require managerial approval. But she did say that a guy came in once with no identification or paperwork, wanting to change his name to Miles Davis. I asked her if he could play the trumpet? She said she didn’t know. I said okay. And then we left.



One of my favorite albums - an often overlooked Miles Davis record - is Someday My Prince Will Come. Some critics say it’s not Miles at his best, but that’s okay with me. The album is relaxing and beautiful and (forgive the adjective) cool. Recorded in March of 1961, it marked the end of an era – it was the last time John Coltrane recorded with the Davis Sextet. Coltrane plays on two of the original six tracks: Someday My Prince Will Come and Teo.

The album also has the coolest named song in the history of the world – Pfrancing. And the album cover is graced with Davis’s’ wife, Frances.

Accompanied by soft piano and gracefully understated drums, Davis and Coltrane play with quiet confidence. They play slow and mournful, like a one-legged turtle.

Wormholes and Dirty Words

Between 4:45 and 5:08 this afternoon one of three things happened. I either went through a wormhole, time slipped or there was a ripple in the space time continuum.

Why, you ask?

At 4:45 this afternoon I turned around to speak to someone for approximately four minutes. When I turned back around and looked at the time on my computer, 23 minutes had passed. It reminded me a little of Kurt Vonnegut’s Timequake (great book) and way too many Star Trek episodes. Looking around at my coworkers, I realized no one else had noticed. It was a disturbance unique to me. Very odd.



If you haven’t heard A Gilded Age or Minor Daughter by Norfolk & Western, your last day to legally download these songs from Hush Records is today. They’re great tracks – if you like M. Ward or The Decemberists (or just dig bands with Dalmations) check ‘em out…

Norfolk & Western | Gilded Age [MP3]
Norfolk & Western | Minor Daughter [MP3]

Oh, and if you speak about them, please annunciate. I asked for their album at my local independent music store, and the pink-haired employee thought I said Norfuck. She thought I was being dirty.

Portastatic

Even though I left UNC and the Tar Heel state in 1997, my blood still runs Carolina Blue and I'm still partial to anything from Chapel Hill.



Portastatic is no exception. Leah and I saw them open for Wilco last month, and I was thoroughly impressed. Their latest album, Bright Ideas, has been out since last year, but it's nice to circle around and give albums a second look.

Conner Oberst (Bright Eyes) wrote the following about the album:

The first Portastatic album to be recorded in its entirety in a proper studio (Tiny Telephone in San Francisco by Tim Mooney of American Music Club and mixed by producer icon Brian Paulson) it once again features excellent drum contributions by Mac’s brother, Matthew McCaughan, as well as bass work by fellow Superchunkist, Jim Wilbur. Although the trio makes up the bulk of the powerful performances, Portastatic remains a flexible entity willing to incorporate whatever instruments and players are needed to fulfill the promise of the song. From the summertime rock anthems of “White Wave” or “Soft Rewind”, to the eerie Americana of “Truckstop Cassettes”, to the beautiful lullaby “Full of Stars”, the record deepens with each listen. It expands on themes of disillusionment, frustration with the world, love of friends and family, the battle between regret and hope, and the blurry stream of events that connect the past to the present and bring an increasingly terrifying future into focus.

Downloads:
Portastatic | I Wanna Know Girls [MP3]
Portastatic | You Know Where to Find Me [MP3]
Bright Eyes | Gold Mine Gutted [MP3]
Epitonic | Portastic Downloads [MP3]

Readables:
Letter from Here: The Curious Role Played by Raisins
Wiki | Port a static
Random Wiki | Michael Jace

Nocturnal and Energetic

Derek from Pretty Girls Make Graves is running an on-the-road-with-the-band (as opposed to On The Road with Kerouac) kind of blog, titled Cave Singing, and the group's new album, Elan Vital, is getting a lot of good press. It should be an interesting summer for the band. I really dig The Nocturnal House, a track dripping with energy - it has great drums, a whistle, slightly-echoing vocals and choral shouts. What more could a person want?



Downloads from Matador Records:
PGMG | The Nocturnal House [MP3]
PGMG | Medicated Geniuses [MP3]

Readables:
The Village Voice | The Beat Goes On [Kerouac & Ginsberg]
New Blog | The National Book Critics Circle
Random Wiki | Grassland

Tuesday at the Music Store

I dropped by Monster Music on my way home from work and picked up Everything all the Time by Band of Horses. Listening to it on the way home, I wasn’t disappointed - it’ll be moved to the On Heavy Rotation list shortly. The inside packaging is pretty nice too and reminds me of No Code by Pearl Jam – it came with three Polaroid-style photographs taken by Christopher Wilson, who did the cover art too. When I checked out at the store, the pink-haired girl behind the counter also gave me four samplers with my purchase:

Feist | Mushaboom Remix
Big 10-4 | Testing the Atmosphere
The Working Title | Sampler
Monitor This | Apr/May 06



Totally Unrelated Downloads:
Guster | Amsterdam [MP3]
Guster | Barrel of a Gun [MP3]
Guster | Come Downstairs & Say Hello [MP3]
Guster | Full Show [MP3 Flac Ogg]

Non Sequitur:
The new issue of Wired came today, and Al Gore was on the cover. He was also on the cover of Vanity Fair. I guess he’s running in 2008.

Adam Arcuragi

Singer/songwriter and owner of a cool name, Adam Arcuragi has a self-titled album out this year on High Two Records. A poet, Arcaragi won Temple’s Academy of American Poets University Poetry Prize in 2002. Laid back and acoustic, the album brings Arcuragi’s poetry to life. Every now and then his voice reminds of The Decemberists but his music is most definitely not picaresque.



Downloads:
Adam Arcuragi | 1981 [MP3]
Adam Arcuragi | The Christmas Song [MP3]
The Decemberists | Shiny [MP3]

Readables:
When Apes Rule the Earth | R.E.M. Covers Leornard Cohen
Stage Hymns | Radiohead and MySpace
CNN | Bush's Approval Ratings at New Low [32%]
Random Wiki | Interrupter Gear

Band of Horses

NPR's All Songs Considered, Episode 108, features songs from The Racounteurs, Elf Power, Nickel Creek and Band of Horses.

Elf Power and Band of Horses have albums releasing Tuesday - Back to the Web and Everything all the Time, respectively. I wrote about Elf Power yesterday, and I'll write about Band of Horses now...

Pitchfork has given new Band of Horses album an 8.8, and the one song I've heard from the album, The Funeral, is a masterful track. It opens with a quiet guitar riff and soft vocals and then ascends into a louder, more-beautiful crescendo. Both haunting and energizing, the track walks a tightrope and doesn't look down. This is the one album I know I'm buying on Tuesday.


Downloads:
Band of Horses | The Funeral [MP3 from Sub Pop Records]
Elf Power | Never Believe [MP3]
Nickel Creek | The Fox [MP3 from Sugar Hill Records]
Ear Farm | Lots of live Red Hot Chili Peppers [MP3s]

Readables:
The Village Voice | Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be [Meg & Jack White]
Random Wiki | Albert Anastasia

Spring Charity - The ASPCA

Leah and I have decided that if and when Ashcan Rantings gets enough hits to generate ad revenue (or any other revenue), all of the profit will go to a charity of our choice. Every quarter, we will select a new, worthy charity. While we're not getting enough hits yet to justify ads, we'd still like to choose a charity for Spring 2006, and we've decided upon the ASPCA - The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Leah and I both love animals (we have two dogs and two cats), and every time we go to Charleston's John Ancrum SPCA, we have a hard time leaving without bringing home a new friend (just yesterday there were two perfect dogs and a cute little cat). Given our fondness of animals, the ASPCA is the perfect first charity for our site to promote - and don't forget that charitible gifts are tax-deductible.

Elf Power - Back to the Web

Elves are empirically cool - perhaps even groovy. I've never met an elf I didn't like, even half-elves and Drow. Think about all the hip elves - you have Elrond, Galadriel, Arwin, Drizzt Du'orden, Tanis Half-Elvin, the Keebler elves, Santa's Elves (Will Ferrell included), and Spock (the pointy ears are a giveaway).

Given the inherent liability and coolness of the Elvin population, it's no surprise that Elf Power is a band to make Athens, Georgia, proud. Walking in the footsteps of REM, Elf Power has graduated from the 40 Watt Club to opening for bands like Wilco and Guided by Voices.


Not only does Elf Power make solid music, they have their own label and give back to the community. Their official bio states they run "their own record label/land conservation group called Orange Twin. The label releases records by Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel and many others, proceeds from sales of which go towards supporting the land conservation group, which involves 150 acres of land on the outskirts of Athens, formerly an old girl scout camp, currently being turned into a self sustainable, low impact village and nature preserve."

Their new album, to be released on Tuesday, is titled Back to the Web.

Elf Music:
Elf Power | Never Believe [MP3]
Elf Power | Back to the Web [MP3 from InSound]
Happy Elf | Bingo in the Country [MP3]

Elf Reading:
Wiki | Elf
National Geographic | Elves: A Short History
Random Wiki | Principality of Antioch

Lying Awake with Ellery

We posted a little about Ellery in regards to Paste Sampler 21, but, since Anna was my favorite song on the Paste compilation, I thought the husband-and-wife duo were due a second mention.

Tasha and Justin Golden hail from Cincinnati, and Anna is the first track from Lying Awake, Ellery’s new album from Virt Records. You can listen to four of the tracks on Ellery’s MySpace page and Bunch of Betty’s Podcast posted Anna here [MP3]


There’s a nice interview with Ellery on Jumper; here’s a sample:

You're now known as "Ellery", but your former name was "Dividing the plunder". Shakespeare would ask "what's in a name?" as in Romeo & Juliet: what happened and how this new name represents it and your present?

We began making music together in college, and at the time we knew very little about who we were as people - let alone as individual musicians and as a band. That was five years ago, and since then we've of course been immersed in our relationship, in our music, in traveling, and in getting to know our community in Cincinnati.
Over time we began to realize that the music we were making, the songs I was writing, and the way we were relating it all to our audiences was changing. We had become different people, with a different take on what we wanted to create, even who we wanted to be.
So early on in the process of recording this new EP, the idea struck us to change our name - to give ourselves a fresh start and articulate where we felt like we were headed. And while changing our name was at first a very timid idea, it quickly kind of took us over, and we were sold. We found the name "Ellery" in a book at a shop in Iowa, and by a few days later it had us hooked.

Good Music:
NPR Song of the Day: Central Booking by Bishop Allen
Live Guster | Full Show [MP3 Flac Ogg] | One Man Wrecking Machine [MP3]

Good Reading:
Said the Gramophone | Sam Cooke
Village Voice| Loose Fur
The Independent | Don DeLillo Interview

Random Wiki: Educational Records Bureau

Non Sequitur: I received a bunch of hits from Vietnam last night – this Intarweb thing is amazing.

Flashback Friday: John Coltrane's Lush Life

Since it's Friday and since I've had a long workweek, I thought it time to kick back with some jazz.

My grandfather played in Tommy Dorsey's band during World War II, and, having grown up listening to jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Joe Williams, jazz is ingrained in me – the whole way down to my toes. My grandfather’s clarinet sits on my mantel, and I even have some of his old 78 records sitting in the media closet.

When it comes to the saxophone, my favorite artist is John Coltrane - and one of my favorite Coltrane albums is Lush Life. Recorded in 1957 and 1958, with musicians like Red Garland on piano and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums (cool name), Lush Life is laid back and cool, like the music Coltrane had recently recorded with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk.



Like most albums of the time, the track list is short and the playing time barely cracks 35 minutes. But even though the quantity is slight, the quality is out-of-this-world great with songs written by Cole Porter, Billy Strayhorn and Coltrane himself.

Evening Reading

I don’t have enough time to read everything I want to read - I need more hours in the day and more days in the week. I’m reading five books at once and a new magazine is always arriving in the mail. Today I received The New Yorker and it has a short story by Martin Amis (The Last Day of Mohammed Atta) and an article about how MapQuest works – how can I not read that? I have to know…

My reading dilemma is the catalyst for this post. Since I have too much to read, I thought I’d offer up some reading material for the masses (or at least the 3 people who read this blog), so you’d have more to read too.

The Believer | The Passion of Morrissey
The Believer | Jack Black [Actor & Musician]
Random Wiki | Diagnostic Drone
Michael Chabon | Greasy Kids Stuff

Which is a nice segue into one of my favorite books, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Here’s a review I wrote for The Charleston City Paper a few years back:

Set in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, Kavalier & Clay is an expansive novel, both politically charged and character driven. During the rise of Hitler’s Third Reich, Josef Kavalier escapes Prague in a coffin containing a sacred golem, and his cousin, Samuel Clayman, later known as Sam Clay, unknowingly awaits his arrival in New York City. When Joe arrives, the cousins at first hesitantly and then enthusiastically embrace each other’s company. Sam, a dyed-in-the-wool comic book fan, discovers Joe’s artistic talent and uses it to make a sales pitch to his boss, Shelly Anapol. Sam and Joe want to create their own comic book – a Kavalier & Clay original. Anapol gives them hesitant approval, and during a weekend of nonstop bleary-eyed work, Sam and Joe create their first comic. On the cover is a picture of their costumed hero, The Escapist, punching Adolf Hitler across the page with superhero force.

After the comic’s immediate success, Sam and Joe settle into their roles as writer and artist and begin to live lives both intertwined and divided.

Joe’s life revolves around his love of family and his hatred of Germans. He saves money in hopes of freeing his family from Europe and brawls with German-Americans in the streets. It appears as if he is going out of control and then something happens. He meets Rosa Saks. This beautiful artist sidetracks Joe’s destructive ways and points his testosterone in another more intimate direction. She is Joe’s new love and the inspiration for Luna Moth, a scantily clad comic book heroin who becomes very popular with teenage boys.

Meanwhile, while Joe is getting in fights and getting in bed, Sam is working. He constantly writes Nazi-bashing comic book plots and roughshod pulp fiction. And when he isn’t writing, which isn’t often, he’s wrestling with his sexuality. Sam can’t figure out why he isn’t jealous of Joe’s relationship with Rosa. Why doesn’t he want such a beautiful girl? Sam is burdened with frustrating asexuality until he meets Tracy Bacon, a brawny radio-actor who plays The Escapist, and then he reluctantly, even halfheartedly, falls in love.

In time Sam and Joe become moderately affluent and, in the small world of comic books, famous. They hobnob with Salvador Dali, Orson Welles, and Stan Lee. Everything in their lives is going well, and then all hell breaks loose. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. When America joins the war, Sam can’t enlist because of his scrawny polio-stricken legs, but Joe is more than ready to fight. He enlists with dreams of killing Germans, but, to his chagrin, he ends up in an isolated post in the frozen “Antarctic Waldorf,” and, instead of fighting, Joe just tries not to freeze.

After the war, everything changes for the amazing duo. Joe disappears from society, Sam entangles himself in an awkward situation, and Michael Chabon’s storytelling reaches a fabulous crescendo. After reading the last page, I immediately wanted more of Chabon’s odd literary concoction. Without making anything seem implausible, Chabon mixes comic books with World War II, sexuality with Jewish folklore, and surreal images with brutal reality. Superbly written and flawlessly styled, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a true cliché - a classic in its own time.

Aloha Aloha Aloha Aloha

The new album from Aloha, Some Echoes, is in stores now and for some reason (and I'm not entirely sure why) the track Your Eyes reminds me of Yes. The thing is I don't care for Yes but I really like Your Eyes - what a conundrum. The band's MySpace page says they sound like marching band music, but what I've heard doesn't remind me of parades or high school football games.



You can get the Your Eyes MP3 and a bunch of others at Polyvinyl Record Co - just click on the Audio/Video link.

Daily Concert: Blue's Traveller | 07.24.06 | MP3 Flac Ogg | Jump

Non Sequitur: I saw my first Painted Bunting yesterday - it was like a rainbow with wings. Yes, I think birds are groovy.

The Danielson Ship is Sailing

It's only a few weeks before the release of Ships, the new album by Danielson (aka, Danielson Famile). Aren't you excited? I am (and Leah is cringing in the corner, hoping the album release gets pushed to July of 2013). I read about Danielson Famile in The Believer last year and then downloaded some of their MP3s from Paste Music. Expecting a musical epiphany, I fired up iTunes and listened...



...and I hated it. Then I listened again. And I hated it. Then I listened again. And I hated it, but not quite as much. Then I listened again. And I didn't mind it so much. Then I listened to it again. And then I couldn't stop listening to it...

Said the Gramaphone has posted an MP3 of Cast it at the Setting Sail from the upcoming album, and Did I Step on Your Trumpet can be downloaded directly from Danielson's web site. And don't forget the upcoming documentary - it should be most interesting.

Shannon McNally and Brandi Carlile

Leah and I saw Shannon McNally open for Son Volt earlier this year at the Music Farm in Charleston, and she did a haunting cover of Long Black Veil that caught everyone's undivided attention (even the jerks by the bar who were talking nonstop). Leah and I knew she sounded familiar but couldn't put our fingers on it at the time. The next day I figured out that her song, The Worst Part of a Broken Heart, was on a Paste Magazine sampler that we listened to a lot. Her album Geronimo is a heartfelt alt-country gem that gets played around our house all the time, and she has a new live album, North American Ghost Music that looks just as good.



Speaking of live albums, Brandi Carlile has a new EP out titled Live at Neumo's. If you've never heard her before, you can download an MP3 of Fall Apart Again here. I highly recommend her self-titled debut album - for being as young as she is, her music is amazingly well-crafted and her voice is weathered and heartfelt.

Thelonious Monk wins a Pulitzer

Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize "for a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz."

My favorite Monk album is Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane - Ruby, My Dear is so laid back and smooth, it almost hurts.

Jay Ryan & The Bird Machine

It's 6:00am and I'm sleepy, but writing in the morning wakes me up, so here goes...

Quick Question: I want to read a Neil Gaiman book, but don't know where to start. Anyone have a suggestion?

...when I bought Michael Chabon's book, The Final Solution: A Story of Dectetion, a couple years ago, the first thing that caught my eye was the artwork.



On the dust cover and all throughout the book are sharp styalized drawings. I googled the artist, Jay Ryan, and found his site, The Bird Machine. The majority of Ryan's silkscreen prints are concert posters that are reasonably priced (I own four). Ryan also did the artwork for Andrew Bird's album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs.



...which gets me to why I'm posting about Jay Ryan - he has a cool new Death Cab for Cutie print:

The Black Magic Show

Another album with promise that's releasing tomorrow is The Black Magic Show by Elefant. An MP3 of their Nabokov-inspired track Lolita is available on their web site, and more information is available on their MySpace page and via Kemado Records.

Non Sequitur: In the April 10 issue of The New Yorker there is a Blue Note Records ad with a link to a free CD sampler.

Stereophonics, Live

A few years ago I went to Glasgow, Scotland, and while there, late one night, I turned on a random live music show and the first band on was Stereophonics. I've been a fan ever since. Tomorrow, they're releasing a 2-Disk set, Live from Dakota. See the track list below.



Disk 1
1. Superman
2. Doorman
3. A thousand trees
4. Devil
5. Mr Writer
6. Pedalpusher
7. Deadhead
8. Maybe Tomorrow
9. The Bartender and the Thief
10. Local Boy in the Photograph

Disk 2
1. Hurry Up and Wait
2. Madame Helga
3. Vegas Two Times
4. Carrot Cake and Wine
5. I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back)
6. Jayne
7. Too Many Sandwiches
8. Traffic
9. Just Looking
10. Dakota

The Submarines

A few of the music blogs I frequent have posted tracks by The Submarines, a duo composed of Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti. Their music is Saccharine sweet and relaxing, with Blake and John sharing vocal responsibilities (I prefer Blake's vocals). Two of the band's songs (Peace & Hate and Clouds) can be downloaded from Some Velvet Blog.

Sidenote: Blake is the great-granddaughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald.



Non sequitur: I'm really bummed that there are only three episodes of The West Wing remaining.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

After posting about Neko Case this morning, I had a chance to listen to the majority of her NPR performance and was amazed. I bought a copy of her new album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, this afternoon and it's solid from top to bottom. I also picked up Motherless Brooklyn - a novel by Jonathan Lethem, which Ed Norton is making into a film.

Sidenote: At the grocery story I saw a man and woman walking togther, wearing t-shirts with confederate flag themes - one of which said something like I'm a redneck. I'm not really sure why I'm mentioning this - I thought it interesting at the time.

Quick Post: Wainwright & Case Live

All Songs Considered has downloadable Martha Wainwrite and Neko Case live sets - 30 and 90 minutes, respectively. The Martha Wainwright set is great. I haven't listened to the entire Neko Case set yet (that rhymes) but what I've heard is beautiful.

The New Yorker and Jack White

I read a lot of magazines - Paste, Vanity Fair, Dwell, National Geographic, Consumer Reports, etc... but the magazine I've been reading the longest is The New Yorker. It's a great magazine because it doesn't write down to its readers and assumes they have brains, which is a nice change from what passes as news/media these days. Every now and then, however, I'll read something in the magazine that makes me want to regurgitate. In an old article about Jack White, Sasha Frere-Jones wrote the following:

O.K., Jack, you’re a genius. You could write a hit underwater. But why not bring in a producer like Rich Harrison, write a killer bridge, and get Christina Aguilera to sing the chorus with you? That’s certainly what the song seems to be striving for.

That's like asking Al Pacino to work with Barney. They both do their jobs well, but they have two jobs that should never ever cross paths.

Sidenote: You can pre-order The Racounteurs new album and singles here.

Son Volt

Son Volt is back in the studio, recording a new album, and they're releasing a DVD on May 23rd titled 6 String Belief. The concert was recorded at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, right around the time I saw them in Charleston (set list below) when they made my ears melt.

Sidenote: Rusted Robot's interview with Jay Farrar.

Thank you for Smoking

If you like dry humor about corporate greed, spin and corruption, go see Thank you for Smoking. Aaron Eckhart plays a tobacco lobyist whose job is to spin the tobocco industry out of trouble and into the lungs of Americans. With a supporting cast of William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, Sam Elliott and Rob Lowe, the film has chops and doesn't disappoint. And it's nice to see Rob Lowe in something that isn't Dr. Vegas...

Casey Dienel

Sounding a little like Fiona Apple, Casey Dienel makes music that's timeless. Her bio on Hush Records (where you can download Doctor Monroe from her new album Wind-Up Canary) states the following:

Casey Dienel grew up in a small seaside village with the cockleshells and sandmites. It was a rather quiet hermitage. After a brief romance with books, opera, current events (and maybe a few other strange infatuations), Dienel decided it was time to re-locate and re-prioritize, moving to Boston, where she can now be found hoarding songs like any good pack rat--eager to share them to whoever might listen. Dienel grew up writing songs in her living room with the doors shut so no one would hear. It's an old past-time that she's kept up with, like some people continue knitting or painting. Dienel writes songs about cats and dogs, historians, cowboys, apricots, glasswork, waltzes, switzerland, trains, ferris wheels, gin, candy corn, suitcases, failed love affairs, crazy drunk old men, and traveling.


Her music goes well with a nice glass of red wine and a cool night. And mocacles. Wearing a monacle makes everything better - especially throw-back tunes.

Rainer Maria

I read about Rainer Maria and their new album, Catastrophe Keeps us Together, in The New York Times and listened to some of their songs on their MySpace page. They are definitely worth a listen - you can download some of their older MP3s here. I prefer their newer tracks, however - especially Catastrophe.

Kurt Cobain Action Figure

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association is producing a Kurt Cobain figurine/action figure. I find this a bit creepy and hope all the little Cobains come to life and smash up the NECA - or at least whack their creators in the ankles with their little Fender guitars.

Norfolk & Western

Norfolk & Western has a new EP out this week by the name of A Guilded Age. Rachel Blumberg, the drummer, has played in The Decemberists and for Laura Veirs, and N&W sounds very Decemberistic.

You can download a free MP3 of A Guilded Age (The Single) care of Pitch Perfect PR - and you can find out more about N&W at Hush Records.

MP3 from Hush Records: Minor Daughter

And they have a Dalmatian!

Quick Post: Smoosh

Gorilla Vs. Bear posted some tracks by Smoosh - a band I read about in The Believer last summer. You gotta have respect for two 11-year old sisters who can play like they do.

The Defilers

If you ever get a hankerin' for some good old-fashioned shit-kickin' rockabilly, check out The Defilers. Fronted by Arleigh Hertzler, the band is based in Charleston, SC, and plays up and down the east coast. You can listen to their music and buy their CD here.

Free Blue Note Sampler CD and Whatnot

In the April 10 issue of The New Yorker there is a Blue Note Records ad with a link to a free CD sampler. Can't beat free music. There's also a great David Sedaris piece in the issue - I couldn't find it online but here's another essay he wrote a few months back.

Sidenotes:

Wikipedia now has a music blog page.

Awesome until Proven Guilty posted Yellow Sun and Hands by The Raconteurs.

I read about this on Largehearted Boy, the coolest t-shirt ever:

Violence & Violins

After bowling a 179 yesterday, I hung out with my wife (who bowled a 79). We watched a hailstorm, which was cool because it's like watching marbles fall out of the sky. After our marble-watching was complete, we watched A History of Violence. Now you'd think that as hyped as this movie was it would have been better than falling-marble-watching, but think again. I was very disappointed with the film and give it 2 out of 5 hailstones. The hailstones get 5 out of 5 hailstones, however.

Suprisingly, A History of Violins is more interesting than A History of Violence, which segues me into a band by the name of Final Fantasy. You don't hear too many non-country bands with violins (aka fiddles), but this band fronted by Owen Pallett in an exception. From the Arcade Fire to Final Fantasy, Pallett makes unique music that's worth a listen.


For more information and some MP3s read The World's Most Popular Gay Postmodern Harpsichord Nerd from The New York Times and check out You Ain't No Picasso and Said the Gramaphone.

For more violin-based music, listen to Andrew Bird who was part of The Squirrel Nut Zippers.

WHODAAT Bowling in the Big Big Truck?

I went bowling today to help raise money for Junior Achievement. I only bowl about once every seventy-two years, so I'm not very good, but today I bowled a 179. It's my highest score ever, and I have documented proof:


On the way to bowling a 179, I got stuck behind a car with a license plate of WHODAAT. I'm not sure what it meant, but I think it was a misspelled version of Who dat? which is bad grammar for Who is that? which still doesn't make much sense on the back of a car.

And then, on the way home from bowling a 179, I was tailgated by a pickup truck the size of a small house, who zoooooooomed around me, cut in front of me and then tailgated someone else. I think they may have saved two seconds of drive time, but they sure did look cool.

When a Leak isn't a Leak

From CNN: "The White House on Friday rejected suggestions that President Bush contradicted himself by repeatedly railing against leaks of classified information even though he had approved the release of classified information..."

When I read this sentence it made my brain hurt. I guess it depends on the what the definition of is is - I mean what the definition of leak is.

And then I read this: "The information was released on July 8, 2003, according to the documents. On July 18 of that year, McClellan told reporters "this information was just, as of today, officially declassified."

Would someone please please please introduce GW to Monica Lewinsky.

Willie Nelson

I was raised on Willie Nelson and finally saw him in concert last night (from the 3rd row). At 73, Willie can still tour, sing well and play the shitake mushrooms out of his trusty guitar, Trigger. He played all his standards, some Hank Williams tunes and tracks from his new album, You don't know me: Songs of Cindy Walker. If you don't own any Willie, however, start with Stardust or Red Headed Stranger.

Sidenote: Willie is still involved with Farm Aid and is in the Biodiesel business.

The Raconteurs are Leaking

It appears some tracks have leaked from Broken Boy Soldiers. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not but you can find them here on Your Head's not Right.

Sidenote: Interview in The Guardian

The Flaming Lips, Stephen King and Jon Foer

I picked up the new Flaming Lips album At War with the Mystics and the CD single for The W.A.N.D. I haven't listened to them enough to tell you if they're any good, but I will later. Free with the purchase, came a 7" single of The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song with Why Does it End? as the B-Side.


I also recently finished reading Cell by Stephen King and Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Cell was an average King book, meaning I enjoyed it - but it wasn't as good as The Stand or The Dark Tower series. It reads like a zombie movie, which was King's intent, and moves quickly like one too - I guess it makes sense that it's already being turning into a film.

Everthing is Illuminated is a quirky holocaust novel that's non-linear and at times tedious. I thoroughly enjoyed Foer's most recent book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (a quirky 9/11 novel) but thought that the older book undercut itself on occassion by becoming too odd, which for me says a lot. I'd still recommend it, however, because it's unique, tells a great story and mixes humor with real-world horror, which is not as easy task.

Billy Bragg - Bush War Blues

Here's a new Billy Bragg song, the Bush War Blues and Bradley's Almanac posted a bunch of cool Billy Bragg stuff.

Man in the Sand

Last night I watched Man in the Sand, a documentary about the making of Billy Bragg and Wilco's two Mermaid Avenue albums (which are great, by the way). The documentary tells the story of how Nora Guthrie and Billy Bragg worked together to bring some of Nora's father's unrecorded songs to life - Nora's father being Woody Guthrie. It's also a documumentary about Woody himself - the rambling, womanizing, loving, provocative, song-writing hobo.


The documentary ends with a live performance of Hoodoo Voodoo, a song played at the end of my wedding reception. bub

Hoodoo Voodoo

Hoodoo voodoo, seven twenty one two
Haystacka hostacka, ABC
High poker, low joker, ninety-nine-a-zero
Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance

Blackbirdy, bluejay, one, two, three, four
Trash sack, jump back, EFG
Biggy hat, little hat, fatty man, skinny man
Grasshopper greensnake, hold my hand

Hoodoo voodoo, chooka-chooky-choo-choo
True blue, how true, kissle me now

Momma cat, Tommy cat, diapers on my clothes line
Two, four, six, eight, I run and hide
Pretty girl, pretty boy, pony on a tin can
I'll be yours, you'll be mine

Hoodoo voodoo, chooka-chooky-choo-choo
True blue, how true, kissle me now

Jinga jangler, tinga lingle, picture on a bricky wall
Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close
Hot breeze, old cheese, slicky slacky fishy tails
Brush my hair, kissle me some more

Hoodoo voodoo, chooka chooky choo choo
True blue, how true, kissle me now

Hoodoo voodoo, chooka chooky choo choo
True blue, how true, kissle me now
Kissle me now

Brush my hair
And kissle me some more

Kissle me some more
Kissle me some more

Wilco vs. Son Volt

I've seen both Wilco and Son Volt recently and enjoyed both concerts, but the Wilco show was unbelievable - it was the best show I've seen other than the 2003 R.E.M. show in Raleigh when Bill Berry played. Tweedy and the band were 100% on and sounded as good as they do on their new live CD, Kicking Television. They didn't play Misunderstood, but they played everything else and ended with a great version of Kingpin. Portastatic opened.



Son Volt was another story. They played The Music Farm, and the venue was way too small for how loud they played - by the end of the night everything sounded mushy and my ears rang for days. I saw Jay Farrar at the same venue when he was touring solo, and it was a much better performance. My wife did manage to get the set list, however. Shannon McNally opened and was awesome.

Broken Boy Soldiers, Update

Gorilla vs. Bear posted MP3s of The Raconteurs on BBC Radio.

Broken Boy Soldiers

The release date (05.16.06) and artwork of The Raconteurs upcoming album, Broken Boy Soldiers, has been posted on their web site. They're going to have three 7" vinyl and one CD version of the first single, Steady, As She Goes. I have the first A version of the 7" (sounds great), and the B and C versions release on 05.09.06.

SIMPLMN

This week I saw a SIMPLMN vanity plate on a white pickup truck. I thought it ironic. Wouldn't a simple man not have a vanity plate?

Paste Magazine Sampler 21

I’ve listened to the new Paste Sampler a few more times, and here are my favorite tracks:

Conventional Wisdom by Built To Spill - Good lyrics with a catchy guitar riff - sometime life surprises.

Hunger by Nicolai Dunger – This Swedish soccer player turned musician can sing.


Yeah! by The Golden Dogs - I like this song mostly for the chorus: Bop bop bodda bop bop badodda, with yeahs peppered in between. Reminds me of The Strokes and Kings of Leon.

Skeleton Key by Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – For some reason, it reminds me of a non-country version of Nickel Creek and sounds best with headphones.

Roly Poly by The Little Willies – Having started as a Willie Nelson cover band, Norah Jones’s side project has come a long way, and you have to like a song with lyrics like, Roly Poly, eatin’ corn and taters, hungry every minute of the day. Roly Poly, gnawin’ on a biscuit, as long as he can chew it, he’s okay.

Let Me Go by Sonya Kitchell – Sounding a little like Joss Stone, Kitchell at the age of seventeen has an old soul that emanates from her vocals. Her web site has a live video performance of the song.

Anna by Ellery – Performed by a husband-and-wife duo (image below), this is a beautiful, well-crafted song and my favorite on the sampler.

In your short life, you’ve lived a thousand times
You stood so brave, they robbed you blind
The truth is, there’ll be harder times
It’s okay to say you’re fine
But I’ll be waiting back behind (and)
you can make your troubles mine...


One Man Wrecking Machine by Guster – My second favorite on the sampler – a song about time machines, getting in girls’ pants, high school and friends. It’s fun and has a great chorus: inspired by true events on movie screens, I am a one man wrecking machine.

One More Day by The Wood Brothers – Chris Wood - of Medeski Martin and Wood - and his brother Oliver deliver stripped down folk with great bass and guitar.