Mike McCready, one of the god-like guitarists from Pearl Jam, did an interview on KROQ Radio this past Monday (3/27/06). Topics discussed include their new album, opening bands for the tour (Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth), the Surfrider Foundation, and the 30-50 odd songs that they have in their vaults that no one has heard. Mike also talks about how “rocking out is in [his] blood.” Amen.
1) Where does he find all this stuff? Justin at Aquarium Drunkard has unearthed another Black Crowes lost album, this one even more rare: The Tall Sessions. Amazing. He puts my music-finding skills (skillz) to shame. GOOD stuff.
4) This blog which looks startlingly identical to mine (but it’s not) has another new track by The Streets, “You Can’t Con an Honest Jon.” Yeah, I do not care for this song (but you might). Oh and it starts out loudly and abruptly, so don’t download it in your quiet cubicle at work and then go and embarrass yourself when it starts playing.
5) So I cannot listen to this without laughing, I just re-discovered it. It’s a Jerky Boys comedy track: “I hit your restaurant!” This was one of the CDs my husband brought into our first home together, and we used to laugh and laugh over this even though it is admittedly lowbrow and, well, The JERKY BOYS. But we would lay in bed at night in the dark, and one of us would be almost asleep and one of us would go, “Ohhhhhhhhhh,” (listen to 0:13 through 0:23 for reference). And then we’d just get the giggles all over again. Do you want to go to see The Lion King with me?
6) Eagles of Death Metal continue to make me laugh (and you’re still rockin’ out to that track I posted last week, aren’t you? Don’t deny it, it’s okay). Even though this song is not as fabulous as the “I Like To Move in the Night,” here is the video for their song “I Want You So Hard“ (Quicktime required, or go here) Yep, that’s Dave Grohl and Jack Black in it. And I kinda wish I had a guitar that could do that.
7) Blog, Blog Me Do is a Beatles blog. Who knew there was still enough fresh information & news about the Beatles to post several times daily? But this blog has a lot of cool obscure stuff on there; memorabilia, news, concert chronology, etc.
*Duran Duran: Thank You (pictured) “DOWNRIGHT INSULTING” *Spice Girls: Any of their solo albums “WRETCHED” *Various Artists: Urban Renewal “WORSE THAN THE ORIGINAL” *Lou Reed: Metal Machine Music “TOSS” *Billy Idol: Cyberpunk “RISIBLE” *Naomi Campbell: Baby Woman “GOBSMACKING HUBRIS” *Kevin Rowland: My Beauty “HIDEOUSLY MAWKISH” *Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool “SOULLESS FUNK-ROCK” *Westlife: Allow Us to Be Frank “AN UNCALLED-FOR MAULING” *Tin Machine: Tin Machine II “A DISASTER”
9) Jennings makes me laugh. He says the following about yours truly in his post tonight on The Replacements (with some GREAT bootleg stuff you should download post haste): “One last: Heather, who has kicked every bloggers’ ass the past week or so, has more Replacements.” At least I kick something! Thank ya sir!
Finally, kids, today I surpassed 50,000 hits to this blog. I know some of you probably get that before your morning coffee, but that completely blows my mind — something I certainly never expected when I started this happy experiment a few months back. I am glad you all like hearing my thoughts about music as much as I like thinking them. Here’s to the next 50,000!
I was a little confused when I read in the slew of new releases today that 23 year-old acoustic songster Matt Costa was listed as releasing his “new” album Songs We Sing, since this is, in fact, the same title & cover art as his mellow & pleasant independent 2005 release.
So, after some investigative sleuthing I have deduced that this is the re-release of his first album on Brushfire Records. It is apparently remastered, partially re-mixed and with a new track listing. So, if you’ve never checked him out before, now you can get the new improved version (and who, in today’s consumer culture, doesn’t like that?). See, you never even knew what you were missing.
One reviewer wrote, “Costa’s songs hark back to an age when singer-songwriters were happy to perform, bare their souls and if anyone bought their records, well, that was jolly nice. Costa’s output is emotive without being too… emotional, as on the heart-achingly beautiful ‘Astair.’ His layered vocal harmonies on tracks such as ‘Sunshine’ recall the halcyon days of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the boy can also rock, as on ‘Sweet Thursday’ or the mid-tempo’d and haunting ‘Yellow Taxi.’”
I like his bright, sincere acoustic vibe. I featured “Sunshine” on a Monday Music Round-Up back in January.
Here are live versions of 3 of the four new songs that are on the new release. These are from a great show at El Cid in Los Angeles on 8/7/05. It is soundboard quality, I do believe.
News from the ‘ole inbox: “EELS officially announce their 2006 NO STRINGS ATTACHED Tour with many new dates, starting with their traditional tour warm-up shows at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, May 25th & 26th, then winding through the west, midwest and northeast of the United States and Canada on their way to rock Europe for festival shows and more.”
Free summertime show in New York City at the World Financial Plaza on June 13! You lucky ducks.
Cuddling in bed with E is probably optional.
May 25 Los Angeles, CA – Roxy Theater warm-up show May 26 Los Angeles, CA – Roxy Theater warm-up show May 27 San Diego, CA – House of Blues May 28 Santa Ana, CA – The Galaxy Theater May 31 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore June 1 Sacramento, CA – Harlows June 3 Portland, CA – Roseland June 4 Seattle, WA – Showbox Theater June 6 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot June 7 Boulder, CO – Fox Theater June 9 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue Theater June 10 Pittsburgh, PA – Three River Arts Festival June 11 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club June 12 Philadelphia, PA – Theater of the Living Arts June 13 New York, NY – World Financial Plaza – Free show! June 15 Somerville, MA – Somerville Theater June 16 Montreal, QUE – Le Nacional June 17 Toronto, ONT – Mod Club Theater June 24 London, England – Hyde Park Wireless Festival June 25 Leeds, England – Wireless Festival June 26 Glasgow, Scotland – ABC June 28 Rouen, France – Exo 7 June 29 Paris, France – La Cigale July 1 Rotterdam, Holland – Ahoy Open Air Festival July 2 Werchter, Belgium – Werchter Festival July 3 Frankfurt, Germany – Batschkapp July 4 Vienna, Austria – Flex July 8 Kildare, Ireland – Oxegen Festival July 9 Balado, Scotland – T in the Park Festival August 5 Chicago, Illinois – Lollapalooza
LIVE DOWNLOADS Here are two live Eels tracks, to get you in the mood. These are from the excellent KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic session last May:
So this is totally the week I qualify for Jeopardy in a shimmering haze of glory. Well, I mean, I’m gonna try with this online screening on Wednesday. Can’t promise anything, but I do routinely impress the figurative pants off anyone watching it with me. Just ask my sister; it borders on abnormal. It’s like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (“What are the Finger Lakes?”) – I love that movie. Now I’ve gone and set myself up, haven’t I?
Okay…on with the music!
“Retreat“ The Rakes This song is from The Rakes‘ first EP released state-side back in October, and also on their Capture/Release full-length album. I hear that they rocked SXSW, and are getting a lot of buzz for their (albeit becoming familiar) jittery Brit-pop sound. Nothing revolutionary, but quite fun. One gal who saw them in Austin said, “Equal parts updated Blur-pop and JCrew’s autumn pullover collection, these savvy Brit rockers got the floor moving with their exuberant performances, and frontman Alan Donohoe has the best angular, nerdy dance moves since Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club.”
“My Doorbell“ (White Stripes cover) KT Tunstall Scottish folk chanteuse/rootsy rocker KT Tunstall takes on Jack & Meg with really good results. Her thumping acoustic handclap-type guitar rock sound lends itself well to the bluesy groove of this track.
“Cold On Me” Ringside I have been meaning to write about these chaps for months now, ever since their self-titled debut album was the unofficial soundtrack of my summer. Now, I find it hard to wrap my mind around this, but half of this duo is actually Balthazar Getty (actor, currently playing reticent, mysterious new special agent on ALIAS). Whoa. Celebrity side-project or no, I like the clean sound and the melding of the electronica beats with an appealing guitar sound – the whole debut album is eminently fresh & listenable. Their sound may remind you of the band Phoenix, and the vocals remind me a bit of E from Eels. I did hear their excellent song “Struggle” in a car commercial, but let’s ignore that. Get the album.
“It’s Just A Thought“ Creedence Clearwater Revival I found this lesser-known Creedence track on someone’s celebrity playlist on iTunes and it’s quickly become one of my favorites. It’s honest and takes the classic Creedence sound to a bit slower, poppier level. I remember laughing when I first found it because whoever’s playlist it was on (memory failing) said “This is more ‘emo’ than anything out there today.” Ha. Fogerty as emo. It is a great song that I have listened to a hundred times since last year – it was part of my “May” playlist and it just evokes springtime for me. There’s just something deeply good about CCR. From their 1986 album Chronicle Vol. 2.
“Storm-Broken Tree“ The White Birch One of my lovely Italian readers, Fabio, sent me a bunch of good music, and said that this track by Norwegian trio White Birch reminded him of falling snow. The first thing I thought of when I listened to this hypnotic & relaxing piece was that it also reminded me of Sigur Ros, and a little of Radiohead. The restrained ambient disc Come Up For Air is their fifth release, and if you like it they have three other mp3s for free download on their website.
MOODY MONDAY BONUS (you are starting to expect these, aren’t you?!) – great Elliott Smith video (“Say Yes“) from what sadly was his last concert ever. Such a pretty song; he seems so introspective and inaccessible while he is singing it. Affecting. Thanks pal Chad!
Viva la power of music. That’s the message behind the list of fourteen “Essential Protest Songs,” put together by the American Sociological Association in the latest issue of the journal Contexts.
Here is the list of the 14 they came up with, reflecting a varied and long musical history. I appreciate how the list shows songs from many genres and time periods, and musicians of all stripes. You can listen to a selection of the song clips here. And if I were writing the list, I might also suggest the addition of Otis Redding singing “Change Is Gonna Come” (aching with festering oppression and a longing for a new day) and Marvin Gaye doing “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler).” How ’bout you – what suggestions would you add?
Their list reads:
“Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Lyrics by James Weldon Johnson; music by J. Rosamand Johnson. Key lyric: “We have come over a way that with tears has been watered / We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.” Known as the “Black National Anthem”—the antidote to “America, the Beautiful.”
“Which Side Are You On?” By Florence Reece. “Don’t scab for the bosses, don’t listen to their lies / Us poor folks haven’t got a chance unless we organize.” Written during the labor struggles in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the 1930s, it was later adopted by the civil rights movement.
“Pastures of Plenty.” By Woody Guthrie. “Every state in this union us migrants has been /‘Long the edge of your cities you’ll see us, and then / We’ve come with the dust and we’re gone in the wind.” Guthrie’s ode to America’s migrant workers.
“The Times They Are A-Changin’.” By Bob Dylan. “There’s a battle outside and it’s raging / It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.” Tough call between this and Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” “Masters of War,” “With God on Our Side,” etc., etc.
(MY NOTE: Speaking of Dylan and his protest anthems, I wanted to post something about “Masters of War.” The first time I remember hearing it (in a backwards way, I know) when I was 13 or 14 when Ed Vedder performed it at Madison Square Garden in 1992 at a tribute to Bob Dylan. Some attendees remember Vedder’s unbridled emotional performance as the highlight of all the performances that night. While Vedder and I have decided to an “agree to disagree” arrangement when it comes to many political issues, the power he injects into this song cannot be denied. He practically spits the lyrics. Because of Vedder, this was probably the first Dylan song I remember learning by heart.)
“Masters of War” (Dylan cover) - Ed Vedder, Mike McCready, and G.E. Smith. 10/16/92
Back to the list …
“We Shall Overcome.”Adapted from a gospel song, the anthem of the civil rights movement. “Deep in my heart, I do believe / We shall overcome some day.” Infinitely adaptable. “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round.”Also adapted from a Negro spiritual. “I’m gonna keep on walkin’, keep on talkin’ / Fightin’ for my equal rights.” Another powerful civil rights anthem.
“I Ain’t Marching Anymore.” By Phil Ochs. “It’s always the old to lead us to the war / It’s always the young to fall / Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun / Tell me is it worth it all?” An antiwar classic, complete with a revisionist history of American militarism.
“For What It’s Worth.” Performed by Buffalo Springfield. By Stephen Stills. “There’s something happening here / What it is ain’t exactly clear / There’s a man with a gun over there / Telling me I’ve got to beware.” Eerily foreboding.
“Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud).” By James Brown. “Now we demand a chance to do things for ourself / We’re tired of beatin’ our head against the wall and workin’ for someone else.” A Black Power anthem by the Godfather of Soul.
“Respect.” Performed by Aretha Franklin. By Otis Redding. “I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone / Ain’t gonna do you wrong ‘cause I don’t wanna / All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you come home.” The personal is political.
“Redemption Song.” By Bob Marley. “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery / None but ourselves can free our minds.” Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” is also a contender.
“Imagine.” By John Lennon. “Imagine no possessions / I wonder if you can / No need for greed or hunger / A brotherhood of man.” Lennon as utopian socialist.
“Fight the Power.” By Public Enemy. “Got to give us what we want / Gotta give us what we need / Our freedom of speech is freedom or death / We got to fight the powers that be.” An exuberant hip-hop call to arms.
And the last one on their list is another one I want to talk about:
“Strange Fruit.” Performed by Billie Holiday. By Abel Meeropol. “Pastoral scene of the gallant south / The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.” A chilling protest against lynching. Maybe the greatest protest song of all time. Read all the lyrics here.
I’ve heard this song but never listened to it, you know? I didn’t know it was about lynching. Being young enough that I tend to take for granted civil rights and human equality in this country, it really is chilling to the bone to concertedly listen to this song and to picture a time when the reality of life for a black person in the American South could be something altogether terrifying.
To me, the intro sounds tinny and redolent with sadness – like the soundtrack to an old black and white silent film, the accompaniment to a news reel showing black human beings strung up in trees. Billie’s wavering voice is pregnant with sadness and suppressed anger. And I can only imagine what the reaction must have been when this song first came out, when people first heard it over their radio as they stood in their kitchen washing dishes, or when it came on as they drove along a dark highway at night. It is absolutely arresting when you actually listen to it.
When I read the Strange Fruit lyrics, they reminded me of a line from the rich Toni Morrison novel, Beloved. I’ll give you the whole paragraph, because it is a resonant, poetic, sad picture (as is the whole book). Morrison’s writing gives me chills, and this book is probably my favorite literary work to read in terms of style and depth. This passage is Sethe, an ex-slave, talking about a flashback to her days at Sweet Home, the plantation where she was enslaved:
————————————————————– “And then sopping the chamomile away with pump water and rags, her mind fixed on getting every last bit of sap off — on her carelessness in taking a shortcut across the field just to save a half mile, and not noticing how high the weeds had grown until the itching was all the way to her knees. Then something.
The plash of water, the sight of her shoes and stockings awry on the path where she had flung them; or Here Boy lapping in the puddle near her feet, and suddenly there was Sweet Home rolling, rolling, rolling out before her eyes, and although there was not a leaf on that farm that did not make her want to scream, it rolled itself out before her in shameless beauty.
It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves. Boys hanging from the most beautiful sycamores in the world. It shamed her — remembering the wonderful soughing trees rather than the boys. Try as she might to make it otherwise, the sycamores beat out the children every time and she could not forgive her memory for that.”
Recommended reading (and re-reading): Beloved, by Toni Morrison (and please, I beg you, do not let the movie substitute for reading this stunner)
Wow, huge interest in that last Springsteen post – traffic set a new record for the Fuel blog. Thank you for all of your heartfelt comments, I am just glad to see that my emotional ramblings about beauty and madness made some sense to you as well, and that y’all understood the essence of what I was trying to say.
Oh, and how beautiful was that little Pearl Jam trio of songs? I loved ‘em the best, Vedder’s quavering and earnest renditions, especially of No Surrender, just get me.
Lots of you guys sent me tons of cool Bruuuce-related mp3s. So, here goes again, round two of covers with The Boss:
And then a slew from the UNCUT Springsteen covers CD (thanks Mike!) – Disc 1. Some of these are good, others are kind of ho-hum, pale imitations of the original, with all the soul sucked out of them, but you be the judge:
CD 2 has Jesse Malin doing Hungry Heart (got it), Steve Earle doing “State Trooper,” and The Knack with “Don’t Look Back.” Anyone have it?
And now I definitely feel done with Springsteen covers for a bit. I crave the original, the real thing.
************************************************* BONUS: Kevin Smith writes about his love of Bruce on his blog: “For years, I tried to deny the Boss – simply because I was a quietly rebellious Jersey lad who refused to dig on Bruce simply out of a sense of Central Jersey pride. But by the time I was twenty, I couldn’t escape the fact that I, too, dug Bruce.” Read the whole excellent entry. *************************************************
You guys all rock. Thanks for making me laugh with all the great limericks submitted in my first Fuel Contest. The world would be a better place with more widespread use of rhythmically metered speech (but I guess that’s what P Diddy has been trying to tell us all).
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! I wish you could all win (and I’d like to buy the world a Coke, I know, I know….)
My grand poobah victor who gets the Brandi Carlile CD was actually also the first limerick I received. Congratulations to Jethro at the Phidelity blog, straight outta New Hampshire. His submission made me laugh, it’s relevant, and while it’s not flawless in terms of the traditional limerick metering, it’s apropos for us blog-lovers, so it takes the tops:
there once was a band called death cab for cutie sufjan stevens, and the polyphonic spree there was of montreal and dashboard confessional forgive me father….. i downloaded them all on mp3
My friend Heidi actually delivered this limerick gleefully in person late Wednesday night while she was out walking her dog (“was that someone knocking at the door?“) so she gets bonus points for that, plus she is the one who used the word “ergo” AND her meter is impeccable. BUT if she won it all, I would fear cries of “nepotism!” and a rebellion on my hands, so she gets second prize and a Heather-made mix CD for this one:
In the musical climate we’re in So much of the story is spin The issue, ergo is my need to know If Britney is knocked up again
And finally an honorable mention goes to Mr. Ekko of the Berkeley Place blog, who wrote me this sweet little reflective piece:
I cannot write a limerick But I do feel really sick ain’t thinking of buyin’ any more Ryan Cause Lost Highway records sucks dick
That is one of my favorite songs that Jeff ever recorded (a raw and unfinished version appears on Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk), and is my favorite rendition of this song out of all the other artists who have also put their unique stamp on it. I love the way the bluesy guitar practically weeps, and how his voice soars and reverberates. The beauty in this song just kills me.
In the liner notes for My Sweetheart The Drunk, Bill Flanagan writes: “Jeff’s mother decided the end the album as Jeff’s memorial service ended, with a tape of him singing ‘Satisfied Mind.’ It’s a good reminder that music for Jeff was, more than anything else, a source of joy. These recordings capture him in all his talent and contradictions, full of life. Though the sadness of his death will never fade, his joy will still come through.”
(Yes, yes I am). Never thought I’d post on Eagles of Death Metal but, by gum, this is a perfect song for the weekend. As Bruce says, don’t let The Darkness score all the points on irony.
I came across this yesterday via Ben at the Work For It blog and I was going to save it for the Monday Music Roundup, but this is SO NOT A MONDAY SONG. It’s clearly a Friday song. Ben said: “goddamn, i love the eagles of death metal. i love the bluesy-rock sound that they absolutely nail perfectly without sounding fake. the track, ‘i like to move in the night’ is a phenomenally well put together track. it’s got a very sexy rock and roll sound to it that is hard to come by without sounding sleazy. i can imagine myself listening to this album in the summer, shitfaced, in my backyard, grilling up some burgers.”
As for me, it makes me want to strut around like Mick Jagger or something, and shake it. It has a sexy, killer, swaggering riff that has Stones written all over it, a driving drumbeat out in front, and the vocals remind me some of the falsetto panache of The Scissor Sisters. This is a great track, although I couldn’t listen to this kind of stuff all the time or my head might start to swim with all the testosterone. But come on. There’s even cowbell.
From their upcoming album Death By Sexy (yes seriously), to be released 4/11/06 on Downtown Records. They are currently on tour with The Strokes.
Kevin of So Much Silence has another track of theirs, “Don’t Speak (I Came To Make A Bang),” over at his site if you like ‘em. And Travis at Medication has two tracks: “I Gotta Feeling, Just Nineteen” and “Cherry Cola” (Sample lyric: “I can be your daddy, be your rock and roll-a, you can be my sugar, be my cherry cola“).
Travis says of the band: “Turn these jams on anywhere and you’ve got yourself an instant party. It practically tears people’s clothes off and it even makes me (almost) wanna dance (and I don’t f*ckin’ dance man) . . . like Jon Spencer if he wasn’t a total fun vacuum.”
Happy rawkin’ this weekend. Sunshine is finally coming to Colorado and the BBQ will be fired up!
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
Mike McCready, one of the god-like guitarists from Pearl Jam, did an interview on KROQ Radio this past Monday (3/27/06). Topics discussed include their new album, opening bands for the tour (Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth), the Surfrider Foundation, and the 30-50 odd songs that they have in their vaults that no one has heard. Mike also talks about how “rocking out is in [his] blood.” Amen.
4 stars (April 11 release in the U.S.), and I still love the epic beauty in 
And the last one on their list is another one I want to talk about:
Name: Heather Browne
