Here is an excellent acoustic set from Richard Ashcroft (former frontman of the Verve, whose new solo album Keys To The World is getting very solid reviews, and is a frequent listen ’round these parts). Recorded March 7 of this year at a sold-out show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. The setlist has excellent flow, and the stripped-down accompaniment really allows his voice to shine. Those who were there say it was an incredible, intimate night.
01. Intro 02. Check the Meaning 03. Break The Night With Colour 04. Music is Power 05. Sweet Brother Malcolm 06. Lucky Man 07. Words Just Get In The Way 08. Keys To The World 09. Encore Break 10. History 11. Why Not Nothing 12. Bittersweet Symphony
Music Will Not Last Jamie Lidell One of THE best recommendations to me last week was to check out an artist named Jamie Lidell, and his new blue-eyed soul disc (after his past history in electronica, which nicely evidences itself in the rich sonic layers here). I give this song my highest recommendation; it weaves together elements that I just can’t get enough of. Sounds like if Ray Charles was practicing in one studio, circa 1965 Atlanta, and The Temptations strolled on through with Prince & Sly on their arms, poked their head in the room. And this goodness commences. The percussion alone is enough reason to listen; the hi-hat just about kills me.
Please check out Jamie’s whole excellent album Multiply (2005, Warp Records). There are several other great tracks on there, it was tough to choose just one for today’s roundup: notably the title track “Multiply” is almost flawless (falsetto harmonies, a kickass bassline, and enough soul to meet your daily quota – and you DO have one), and “You Got Me Up” made me dance around this morning in ways that I half thought white girls couldn’t do.
Unnamed Leona Naess This is my second highest recommendation for download this week – a new one from Leona Naess‘ upcoming unreleased album (Thirteens). This rip is from a track streaming on her MySpace page and is definitely her most singable, radio-friendly, and excellent sounding song in a while. With great couplet lines like “Shake these hips and let them persuade you / Take my songs – they’re always about you,” and a catchy chorus about the perils of loving someone who is also a famous singer (?): “I can hear your songs / Through my radio Singing soft / Singing slow Songs I love / the songs I know“
The lyrical writing style is classic but the sound is uptempo & fresh. I love her voice, and how she can switch from that rich sing-song to the bluesy yowl, which she gives glimpses of on this track, towards the end. Good stuff.
In The Morning The Heavy Blinkers I’ve been reading about Canadian orch-pop quintet The Heavy Blinkers on a few different blogs, and finally downloaded some songs because of the inevitable Beach Boys connection that everyone points out. Listen to this and you will understand why. Bring on the summertime and the sun/sand/surf, which we all know to associate (obviously) with the Heavy Blinkers’ hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Their fourth studio album The Night and I Are Still So Young will be released next week in the US on the Cooking Vinyl label. And the link above (on their band name) will lead you to a free mp3 download for the title track.
Rain All Summertime (45 second clip) Darren Hayman One just for fun, and I am posting only a 45 second clip of it – since I can’t find a full-length. I heard it last week, featured by my co-podcaster Mike (from Take Your Medicine, out of Sheffield, UK) on the Best of 2006 So Far show.
From Darren Hayman’s oddly named, limited edition April 2006 EP Ukulele Songs From The North Devon Coast. Lighthearted ukulele joins with fuzzy guitars & synth beats for a feel-good electronica summer song. The clip jumps in at kind of an odd place in the song, so wait until it hits about 20 seconds in to hear the riff that drew me to post this. The sample here is so you can buy it from Static Caravan and enjoy it all summer long. You can also hear the whole song on this video.
Shelter (RAY LAMONTAGNE cover) Kelly Clarkson I . . . I can’t even speak about this one, I just thought you might like to hear it. I will admit that it is better than I had anticipated, but still it feels like an unnecessary affront for some reason. It was marginally okay when Taylor Hicks covered “Trouble” on American Idol. But OHKELLYCLARKSON! Not so much for me.
My mom rocks. There will surely be a lot of maternal affirmation floating around on the blogosphere this weekend, so why not add a bit to it and boast about how great my particular mother is?
This is the email she sent me, my sister, and my brother on Thursday:
“Let’s start a tradition this year that I do not need any Mother’s Day gifts. All of you are on budgets and I don’t want you to have to bust your budget for me. What means the most to me to receive a card from you with whatever heartfelt sentiment you want to include. That’s the best.
Unless Taylor Hicks comes to Denver. Then I want tickets.
Love, Mom”
How could you NOT LOVE THAT?
Here’s a few tunes for you, Mom. Sorry, I know your first choices, but I just didn’t have “If I Had A Hammer” by Peter, Paul, and Mary on my computer.
“Take Your Mama (Hot Chip remix)” – The Scissor Sisters (worth noting in this song, when it sings about getting your mom jacked up on cheap champagne and letting the good times all hang out? For my mom, that would be about half a glass. Then, she’d be red-faced and talking louder. After two glasses of alcohol, she will stand up on her chair at the behest of the DJ and dance, as we once did in Cancun. It was fabulous. It is from her that I inherited all of my mad drinking skills.)
“Mama Said Knock You Out” – LL Cool J (My mama never said that, but maybe LL’s did, which is what led him down such a sordid career path. My dad did regularly tell me not to spit on any boys. Seriously. And I never have).
I just stumbled upon a phenomenal resource for those of us who love ourselves a bit of the Counting Crows, especially the wrenching and lovely renditions of their songs that they perform live in concert. I love the experimentation in a live Counting Crows show: it’s always different melodies, different lyrics, but a common thread of beauty. “Humm” runs the Hummingbird’s Nest fansite, stocked with dozens of complete live shows for download.
I ran amok on the website and here are some of the favorites that I found. There is a ton more (and this is a doozy of a long post because I can’t be succinct on the topic of Counting Crows).
SHOW: 2003 Shim Sham secret show, New Orleans For the last few years (maybe not so much this year), Adam Duritz, “Immy” (David Immergluck), and assorted friends play a secret show in New Orleans at the Shim Sham club – usually 90% cover songs with a few CC tunes thrown in. Here are two great ones (which I had before, but crappy sounding copies. These are excellent sound quality):
“Winding Wheel” (Ryan Adams cover) (Adam Duritz: “Pretty much, my schedule during the day is I work all day in our studio, then I go at night to [Ryan's] studio, and then we kinda go streetwalking down Hollywood Boulevard, stopping in all the bars. Cuz Ryan . . . Ryan, while being a very good drinker, is also probably a better songwriter than I am. In any case, he’s a lot of fun. This is off his first album; his new album is the best thing I’ve ever heard, pretty much, but you’ll find that out when it comes out.”)
“Unsatisfied” (Replacements cover) I love the desperation in this song, even though Adam’s voice isn’t as wavering and on-the-edge strained as Westerberg’s is when he sings it.
SHOW: March 10, 2004, Ahoy, Rotterdam This show was broadcast on the radio, and as such the sound quality is, again, excellent. It was hard to pick just this many (3) to share:
“St. Robinson and His Cadillac Dream” (acoustic) Hmmm. I think this is my favorite Counting Crows song, partly because of the lyric “Yeah, but the comet is coming between me and the girl who could make it all clean” (but ask me tomorrow and it might be a different fave). This acoustic version is practically unrecognizable from the original, especially in the intro, but I LOVE IT.
“Tuesday in Amsterdam” (unreleased original) I am so stoked to have a clean and clear version of this song, which I had previously been unable to find. Crushing. He repeats the line “Come back to me” so many times that it just becomes a sad plea, and by the end of the song I think it must hurt to keep asking. The lyric “she is the film of the book of the story of the smell of her hair” somehow captures just how complicated another person can be, yet anchored by something so simple (a scent).
“Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby“ This Desert Life was released while I was studying abroad in Italy, and my sister brought me a taped copy down from London when she came to visit me mid-semester (ah, those surreal days). As such the entire album is The Soundtrack to many, many train rides and many quiet mornings trying to recover from the vino. I love so many lyrics in this song, “If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts,” or “If you’ve never stared off into the distance, then your life is a shame,” or “It’s just a brief interruption in the swirling dust sparkle jetstream.” Plus I wonder who Mrs. Potter is. Songs about married women are always so intriguing.
SHOW: Warner Theatre, Erie, PA April 23, 2003
“Miami“ The fantastic percussion intro of this songs gets even more interesting here in this live version, and I love the way that Adam lyrically plumbs the depths of self-deluding, one-sided relationships with the lines:
“It just gets hard to believe That God sent this angel to watch over me But my angel, she don’t receive my calls Says I’m too dumb to f*ck Too dumb to fight Too dumb to save Well, maybe I don’t need no angel at all” (ya think?)
SHOW: Konocti Harbor, CA July 3, 2004 I used to hear commercials about this resort/spa/playground-of-the-yuppies on the radio all the time when I lived in CA. The drunk, rich crowd ambient noise bugs me (MUST you scream that loud, oh urban cougar?) but this is such a great song:
“Holiday in Spain“ Just sounds exactly like the vacation I need right now – “Everybody’s gone, they left the television screamin’ at the radios on. Someone stole my shoes, but there’s a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze . . . well Happy New Year’s baby, we could probably fix it if we clean it up all day, or we could simply pack our bags and catch a plane to Barcelona ‘cos this city’s a drag.”
SHOW: Orlando House of Blues, August 30, 2001 Another excellent-sounding recording, full show.
“Up All Night“ This is THE BEST song for driving off somewhere on the open road on a summer night with the windows down, in part because of the opening lyric, “Is everybody happy now? Is everybody clear? We could drive out to the dunes tonight ‘cos summer’s almost here . . .” (an obvious soundtrack). Feel the humidity in the air.
“Black and Blue“ In the studio version of Hard Candy, the lovely Ms. Leona Naess provides the haunting backing vocals to this very sad song. The live version always seems a bit lacking to me without her, but it is such a gorgeous & melancholy song that I’ll let it slide.
SHOW: Denver University December 2, 1999 The Crows visit scenic Colorado
“Kid Things“ (hidden track, This Desert Life) Rocking and fun, with somewhat throwaway lyrics (which may be why is was selected for the hidden location on the CD) – even though the one about “No, no, no – you can’t get any lovin’ – it’s a Sunday” always makes me smile.
“Return of the Grievous Angel” (Gram Parsons cover) Some good ole expansive ’70s country from Gram Parsons, suitable for a show out here in the somewhat-wild-West.
SHOW: Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA Sept 12, 2000 I was there for this one. I miss the Greek, it is a fabulous setting in which to see a show. This had an excellent setlist, and was a dual bill with Live (who I will be seeing next Friday).
“Live Forever” (Oasis cover) Truly lovely version of this song; Adam says that “seeing Oasis a bunch really got me into how perfect pop songs are . . .”
“Murder of One” (with Paris/Rome tag) I’ve heard Counting Crows do this song live with this tag before, and I loved it but I could never find it. It’s simple, but sticks in your head: “I have been to Paris I have been to Rome I will go to London And I am all alone”
Whew! And that is just getting started on Hummingbird’s Nest. Have fun, muchachos.
Oh, and there is a new Counting Crows live album, New Amsterdam, coming out on June 20.
Ûž Ahhh, Friday. So hard to stay focused. You can while away the hours at work looking at pictures from the Hot Chicks with Douchebags blog. Captions include phrases like “Spot The Douchebag,” “SpongeBob SquareDouche,” and “Yayyy! We’re Douchebags!” Here’s my favorite, with the header “Yeah, but They Wouldn’t”:
Ûž I posted about Jackie Greene a while back, and I wanted to point out a very cool site if you are looking to hear more from him (he’s quite good): Stream Jackie Greene. The site was created by a fan, with Jackie’s help and approval, and features totally exclusive free content, rare songs, demos, b-sides, live stuff along with some of the albums. Not a bad way to occupy your ears.
Ûž On a more serious note: does anyone else not understand why this guy is going to jail? I keep reading articles about that tragic fire, but I have never found anything that led me to believe that the manager showed criminal negligence in causing those people’s deaths. It seems like they just want someone to blame? What’s up, my legal eagle readers?
Ûž At the end of every month, I turn to pillaging eMusic, enjoying the process of finding things to use my 40 monthly downloads on. This month I found a few cool things of note: A whole bunch of Minutemen music (see my Mike Watt post), the soundtrack for the movie Brain Candy (from Matador Records, featuring Matthew Sweet, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Liz Phair, etc), and a live concert recording of the epic R&B label Stax’s 1972 festival in Los Angeles, billed as “the black Woodstock,” with The Staple Singers and Isaac Hayes, among others.
If you’ve been thinking about trying out this newfangled system, do it now because after June 1 you won’t get the 50 free downloads (no strings attached) just for signing up. Click my banner thingie on the right sidebar and I get a little perk from your joining. And you get to select from the best music store on the web. So it’s a “win-win-win” situation.
Ûž KEXP, the awesome public radio station outta Washington, has started a blog with some good reads in addition to the live shows and streaming radio already available on their site. But, really, what I wanted to post was their statement of ethos about their feelings towards the word “blog”:
“If I hear the word “blog” one more time I’m going to vomit — but blogit, I’m going to blogity blog blog right bloggin now! I actually heard a commercial the other day where the guy is saying something like ‘man, I’m online blogging all the time and when I need a break….’ You can SEE the company president saying to his staff, ‘Now LISTEN, I keep hearing about this wacky blog thing out there and I want to make sure we’re hip to that vibe man.’ Then you can see the people making the commercial rolling their eyes at the copy they have to come up with. I feel for you. Hang in there….the commercial still blows though.”
Blog. Such a geeky little word for such a cool concept. Does anyone else have to regularly explain what a blog is, and then feel like a dork doing so? I say “it’s kind of like free-form journalism.”
Ûž HERE is something that is driving me crazy. Okay, I finally watched The 40-Year Old Virgin last night (and I literally was weeping from laughing so hard during the chest waxing scene, and I thought I would vomit because I couldn’t breathe. I want Steve Carell to come live with me and be my personal comedic slave). Anyhow, they use that song:
“Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air I never thought I could feel so free . . .”
When I Google that song, I see that it is from Greatest American Hero TV show. Then how come I KNOW THAT SONG? As far as I recall, I never watched that show. Was that song used in something else? Anyone? It’s driving me crazy. Come on, children of the ’80s. Speak now. And I guess I should apologize for getting that song stuck in your head.
These sound fantastic. Jesse Malin has been working on his third studio album (following The Fine Art of Self Destruction and The Heat) for what seems like an eternity. It will someday be released on Adeline Records, Billie Joe Armstrong’s label, and if the sound of these tracks is any indication it will be a stunner (especially “Black Haired Girl” – I could listen to that one on repeat over and over again. It kind of seems like a very pleasing cross between Yorn and Mellencamp to me, on first impression).
Jesse has a unique voice that takes some getting used to — like the first time I heard Neil Young — but once it grows on you, I think you can appreciate his music for the richness it possesses. I saw Jesse open for Ryan Adams a few weeks ago and was impressed. Plus, I chatted with him a bit after his set and he was very heartfelt, very genuine (despite the sinister-sounding roots of his last name). Good traits in anyone.
I have so been craving me some good and dirty old Nirvana lately. Then, serendipitously, I find this excellent show from one of my favorite European cities: Nirvana live in Amsterdam on November 25, 1991. A killer setlist with gems from Bleach, Incesticide, and Smells Like Teen Spirit; and it’s before they broke in the States, so the energy is live and pure and small-club energy abounds.
01. Lithium 02. Sliver 03. Breed 04. Been A Son 05. Negative Creep 06. On A Plain 07. Smells Like Teen Spirit 08. Drain You 09. Aneurysm 10. School 11. Floyd The Barber 12. About A Girl 13. Polly 14. Blew 15. Love Buzz
Note: The order of the setlist seems to have some discrepancies when I search on the internet, plus perhaps a song or two may be missing from the whole show as it was played. Just a note for the setlist purists. It still rocks.
Finally, via Last Second Thoughts blog, learn yourself a bit of Nirvana history that I always suspected from the first time I heard the name of their breakout single, but never had confirmed.
Now *I* know this, but a lot of you often greet this concept with disbelief: You don’t have to stop being rockin’ when you become a mama. This is the fundamental idea behind a fascinating (in-progress) documentary by Jackie Weissman for Rock Mama Films, out of Portland, Oregon.
Weissman became interested in exploring the intersection of artistic passions and oft-all-consuming parenting responsibilities after her son was born. As she began reading about rocker mamas who were doing the balancing act, she became inspired.
When her son was three she undertook this documentary to track women such as Kristen Hersh from Throwing Muses (who has four sons, ranging in age from 19 to 2), Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney (who often takes her son Marshall on tour with her), and Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols through their daily lives of rock ‘n’ roll, diapers, and skinned knees.
The segment of this short trailer that I found most fascinating, although all three of these women rock, was the final piece featuring Kristen Hersh of Throwing Muses fame. I appreciated her perspective with what she had to say:
“The challenges of motherhood are only . . . eating and sleeping! It’s kind of a lot to give up — showering, stuff like that (laughs) . . . shaving your legs. But how could you ever care? It’s not over quickly, like people say — not if you’re paying attention every minute of every day. But the fact that it will be over? That’s . . . that’s just crazy. You have no right to complain about giving up everything if someday that amazing universe is gonna be over.”
In the ’80s and ’90s, Kristen Hersh, along with contemporaries The Pixies and The Breeders, helped lay down some important groundwork for the indie punk/rock sound, and Kristen proved from age 19 onward that the girls can rock as hard as the boys. She continues to rock now as a talented mama.
“Money has so polluted the music world that my overwhelming urge right now is to divorce money from recorded music. Over the last 2 years we’ve been relying on standard ‘industry’ channels to help us educate listeners about 50 Foot Wave and we’ve met resistance every step of the way — caused by little other than money — and to an extent I’ve never seen before. So we’re sending free recordings off into the world to do their work. If people enjoy these songs and are excited by them, we ask that they share them with others.
“The music business is about fame and huge profits — egos and greed. Music itself, is not.”
Awesome. Also, if you are in Portland, you might check out the soundtrack release/benefit party on Saturday, May 20 at the Bettie Ford Lounge (1135 SW Washington). Director/Producer Jackie Weissman will host the fete, joined by local rock mama Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols, and all the bands on the Rock N Roll Mamas compilation CD.
Rock on in that amazing universe, gals.
Image header copyright Rock Mama Films, LLC.
Oh, and thanks to one of my favorite rockin’ mamas, Clea, for the heads-up on this interesting film.
Thanks to the lovely Tim Young, and the Contrast Podcast (try saying that title ten times fast!), I have now made my podcast debut as a contributor to his regular hour-long podcast from folks across the blogging community.
The theme of this week’s podcast is “The Best of 2006 So Far,” and my contributions include: a) a fabulous track from The M’s b) some possibly lame commentary that somehow mentions the Peach Pit. It kind of worked its way into the intro, and I decided to leave it there, even though I said to myself, “Self, this could be construed as lame. A 90210 joke? Really?” But my love for Brandon Walsh won out over all you scoffers.
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.
Here is an excellent acoustic set from Richard Ashcroft (former frontman of the Verve, whose new solo album Keys To The World is getting very solid reviews, and is a frequent listen ’round these parts). Recorded March 7 of this year at a sold-out show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. The setlist has excellent flow, and the stripped-down accompaniment really allows his voice to shine. Those who were there say it was an incredible, intimate night.
01. Intro
Ûž KEXP, the awesome public radio station outta Washington, has 
Name: Heather Browne
