He can’t look at your skin, ‘cos it’s doing him in. But as for me, I’ve got a sweet Graham Coxon double 7″ vinyl for the taking.
It’s got “I Can’t Look At Your Skin” + “What’s He Got” on the a-side and “Time For Heroes” and “Outta My League, Dear” on the b-side. Plus, there’s fancy-pants packaging with all the artwork done by Graham himself. It’s nice with the lightning bolts and all, but it could use a liger or two — it’s pretty much my favorite animal.
To win, leave me a comment telling me what the hell the lyrics are to Song 2. Actually, just kidding. Leave me any comment, one winner will be chosen randomly. We’ll run it one week, through Wed, Feb 7.
Iggy Pop is releasing his first new CD with The Stooges in 33 years, and he clearly still has a bone to pick with you. Take a listen to the aggressive new track (we would expect nothing less):
The new Stooges album The Weirdness is slated for March 6, and it’s got 12 tracks with picturesque titles such as “Greedy Awful People,” “End of Christianity,” and “Mexican Guy.”
My bass hero Mike Watt joins all the other original members, as he’s been doing with the Stooges since 2003 (great pic here), and holds down the low notes on the album in relentless form. Sounds good to me.
Thanks to happenin’ friend Clea, I’ve been listening to this free track from Edinburgh artist Num on repeat.
His website has a full EP available for free download, and this song is sunshine and lo-fi harmonies and even some banjo, but don’t hold that against it. I’ve learned that when Clea gives tips, it’s best to listen.
Between this and the oddly infectious synth + children’s choir goodness of the “Justice” track (that I will play if I am ever DJing at a European dance club, and those of you who have spent time in one will see exactly what I am talking about) over at Gorilla vs. Bear, my ears are happy at the moment. Maybe a little embarrassed for liking this, but happy.
“You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static.”
— Bob Dylan in Rolling Stone magazine
The ranting of a cranky old man? Perhaps.
One man’s opinion? Hardly.
In August, an open letter from a music industry executive on the state of commercial compact disc mastering and manufacturing was sent to an industry tip sheet/e-mail list run by a music pundit named Bob Lefsetz.
The letter was written by Angelo Montrone, a vice president for A&R (the folks who scout and sign music acts) for One Haven Music, a Sony Music company.
“There’s something . . . sinister in audio that is causing our listeners fatigue and even pain while trying to enjoy their favorite music. It has been propagated by A&R departments for the last eight years: The complete abuse of compression in mastering (forced on the mastering engineers against their will and better judgment).”
This compression thing has been a topic of discussion among audiophiles and music fans for nearly a decade. But hearing a music industry executive cop to it was pretty unusual. The letter was almost immediately reprinted online in audio discussion forums.
“The mistaken belief that a ‘super loud’ record will sound better and magically turn a song into a hit has caused most major label releases in the past eight years to be an aural assault on the listener,” Montrone’s letter continued. “Have you ever heard one of those test tones on TV when the station is off the air? Notice how it becomes painfully annoying in a very short time? That’s essentially what you do to a song when you super compress it. You eliminate all dynamics.”
For those already confused, Montrone was essentially saying that there are millions of copies of CDs being released that are physically exhausting listeners, most of whom probably don’t know why their ears and brains are feeling worn out.
Dear lord, this site is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a loooong time.
I was laughing out loud (like, rest-your-head-on-the-desk, hope-no-one-hears-your-stifled-guffaws laughing). It was a thing of beauty. ThingsMyBoyfriendSays.com was new to me, and exactly what it sounds like, a gal documenting random funny things that her boyfriend says — no more, no less. Choice cuts:
“I think I’ll ask the dentist to install tusks in my face so I can fully embrace my orcish heritage.”
or
(When I finally made him shave his damn beard:) “See, this is why I won’t let you have nice things. Because you won’t let me grow majestic facial hair.”
It’s voyeurism perfected in hilarious fashion. Now for your recommended weekly musical allowance:
Big Chair Travis Here’s a radio rip from the BBC of the new one from Scottish rockers Travis– a driving bass line combines with some chattery electronic effects and the smooth vocal delivery of Fran Healy. This’ll be on their fifth studio album, Open, due in the Spring. Ben Stiller is rumored to have laid down some cowbell for one of the tracks; if I ever got to do that for a band, I think I’d die happy. Travis is also headed for the scenic Indio desert of Coachella in April, if you’re lucky enough to catch that fantastic line-up.
Rhythm & Soul (live) Spoon I’ve been listening a lot to uber-talented Austin indie/punk/rock/etc band Spoon lately, digging the eclectic combo of often-acoustic guitar, thumping beats, and funky confident vocals. I think this new track (performed live this past August at the lovely Greek Theatre in Berkeley) will sound divine with the full studio treatment. Hooray! [thx Matt]
All My Loving (Beatles cover) The Smithereens I am still a little unsure as to why this album was actually necessary; it’s a complete cover of the seminal Beatles’ album Meet The Beatles (1964) by New Jersey rock band The Smithereens. Overall it is interesting to listen to, as the band walks through a series of covers that are largely faithful to the arrangments of the originals but with an edge of their own; The NY Times says, “The album manages to scream Beatles 1964 and Smithereens 2007 all at once.” See what you think of this tune — for all the hype, I don’t exactly know why anyone would listen to this when the original is available.
Rocking Chair (The Band cover) Death Cab For Cutie DCFC covers familiar ground lyrically (“Oh, to be home again . . .”) in their reinterpretation of The Band‘s grizzled soulful ballad, from the diverse new album of covers Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band (out mañana) which has some good stuff on it. Jakob Dylan’s contribution is interesting to me because The Band first came to prominence in ’65-’66 as the backing band for his pops, donchaknow.
Chasing Heather Crazy Guided by Voices I make myself a mix CD for the car every month. This is the first song on the next one. Just to entertain myself.
Here’s my new auditory love this weekend: The Broken West. Their solid new album I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On came out last week on Merge, and the sound is a completely irresistible blend of ’60s harmonies, luminous melodies, fuzzy layers of electric guitars, and those handclaps. You’ll hear everything from Big Star to The Kinks to Superdrag and more, but there’s a uniqueness and a fresh appeal that may make this the best album I’ve heard so far in this virginal year.
They used to be called The Brokedown but had to surrender the name in a nasty battle of the indie rockers – who had it first? As frontman Ross Flournoy said, “We’re a real band, with a real record coming out, so we don’t have a lot of time for frivolous lawsuits with wayward Nazi-youth punk bands. So we changed it.” They became The Broken West and are still astoundingly good. Definitely, definitely get this album.
So It Goes – The Broken West The most Teenage Fanclub-like song I’ve heard in a while, a shimmery and jangly power pop delight.
Down In The Valley – The Broken West And this is the one I have listened to as if it were aural meth, the one I can’t stop singing (even though I haven’t figured out what they’re saying yet, so it’s an interesting effort). I exult in its cohesive and delicious harmonies when it breaks at around 50 seconds in. And handclaps! Love it. A welcome reprise from their 2005 EP Dutchman’s Gold.
You can stream their whole album here, or buy it here. Listen to live renditions of two other songs from a recent performance on NPR, or tune in to KEXP.org Friday Feb. 9th at 4pm for their appearance at their studios.
THE BROKEN WEST — TOUR DATES 01.29.2007 Los Angeles CA – Spaceland 02.05.2007 San Francisco CA – Cafe Du Nord 02.07.2007 Eugene OR – Sam Bond’s Garage (w/ Hello Stranger) 02.08.2007 Portland OR – Doug Fir (w/ Quasi & All Smiles) 02.09.2007 Seattle WA – Sunset Tavern 02.10.2007 Government Camp OR – The Ratskeller 02.12.2007 Salt Lake City UT – Kilby Court 02.13.2007 Denver CO – Hi Dive 02.15.2007 Phoenix AZ – Modified (w/ The Autumn Defense) 02.24.2007 Tucson AZ – Plush 02.27.2007 Austin TX – Emo’s 02.28.2007 Dallas TX – The Cavern 03.01.2007 Memphis TN – Hi Tone 03.02.2007 Columbia MO – Mojo’s 03.03.2007 Iowa City IA – The Picador 03.05.2007 Cleveland Heights OH – Grog Shop 03.07.2007 Cambridge MA – TT the Bear’s 03.08.2007 New York NY – Bowery Ballroom
All following dates with The Walkmen and Ferraby Lionheart 03.09.2007 Baltimore MD – Ottobar 03.10.2007 Columbus OH – Little Brothers 03.11.2007 Chicago IL – Schuba’s Tavern 03.12.2007 Newport KY – Southgate House 03.13.2007 Louisville KY – Headliners Music Hall 03.18.2007 New Orleans LA – The Parish at House of Blues 03.19.2007 Tallahassee FL – Beta Bar 03.20.2007 Athens GA – 40 Watt Club 03.21.2007 Asheville NC – Grey Eagle 03.22.2007 Chapel Hill NC – Local 506 03.23.2007 Washington DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
Adam Duritz from Counting Crows has formed a new record label called Tyrannosaurus Records (or T-Recs, har har). He’s signed two bands thus far, some high school kids from Chicago who go by the moniker Blacktop Mourning (just added to SXSW), and a rapper named NOTAR. If you’d asked which one I would think I’d like better, it’d be the former, but actually I don’t find them exceptional at all. I like me the NOTAR fella more – oddly compelling, in an 8-Mile sort of way. Check out his hustle and flow on his MySpace.
Cal-fan Adam recently also chronicled his musical MySpace browsing in this journal entry:
I closed out my MySpace wanderings with a trip over to the Low Stars page. Their album is done and it’s coming out soon. It is the most exquisitely beautiful country rock harmony album since the glory days of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, The Byrds, and The Eagles. It’s just amazing.
It features singer/songwriters Jude, Chris Seefried (formerly of Joe90), Dave Gibbs aka “Kid Lightning” (formerly of Gigolo Aunts), and Jeff Russo (formerly of Tonic). It’s just amazing record. It was produced by George Drakoulias (The Black Crowes, Tom Petty, Maria McKee, Primal Scream). Immy plays a lot of gtr and pedal steel on it. It’s just really cool.
. . . Dave Gibbs co-wrote “Los Angeles”, one of the songs for our new CC album, with Ryan Adams and me, by the way.
So there you have it, a few additional recommendations for the day if you feel like clicking over in between important work meetings and IM chatting when you are supposed to be finished that spreadsheet. Counting Crows are currently convened in NYC with Gil Norton finally at work on a new album. It’s only been, like, over four years since we had anything new from them? Count me stoked. Here’s Ryan Adams’ collab with them from that album, Hard Candy:
According to a blog post on the Stereophonics‘ site last week, Wales’ favorite son Kelly Jones has stealthily recorded a solo album which will be released January 29th.
Kelly writes:
It’s been a good Christmas break. Went back to Wales and caught up with the old mob, the place is fucking mental!
I’ve got a bit of news you may be interested in. In between takes of making the new album I began recording some new songs with just an electric guitar. It began as something very off the cuff then within a couple of days, in the early hours, an album consisting of ten songs was finished. Every song is a girl’s name and the album is gonna be called ‘Only The Names Have Been Changed.’
It’s pretty dark, filmic, story based, very mellow and in no means a reflection on the new Stereophonics album. It’s sparse, some songs with string arrangements and the voice is way up front in the mix.
The record will be online under my name from Monday 29th January followed by a very limited hard copy release in March. Not enough copies for charts or reviews, it’s purely being released as spontaneously as it was recorded.
I’ve never wanted to do a solo record or go solo, this is far from a vanity project. I just wanted to do something that would break the cycle of a Stereophonics record and do something that had nothing to do with commercial success, radio playlists, marketing etc etc. Something purely about expressing music and releasing it as quickly as its made..as apposed to waiting a year as usual.
I wanted it out there quickly for fans only with no chance of going anywhere near a chart show. I’m going to do a small tour in March to play the songs live and am very much looking forward to making a completely mellow, filmic stage environment to do so.
So keep ya eyes peeled if ya interested and I will see you on the road! Love and colours Kelly x
Updated: The album will be available digitally from Monday 29th January from major online services, with a limited edition hard copy release on the 26th March. The limited edition release will include a bonus DVD of a live studio performance of 5 songs recorded at SARM studios in London.
These songs won’t be on there, but go to show that gravel-voiced Jones already has a head start on the subject matter of what sounds like a fascinating concept for an album:
Next time you are poking around in the bargain bin at your local record store, search hard for this little gem of an anthology: Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (2002).
Trampoline Records is an acoustic, rootsy power-pop label put together by Pete Yorn, The Wallflowers’ Rami Jaffee, and songwriter Marc Dauer. I’ll admit I first investigated the album because of the Pete Yorn connection, but it goes far beyond that with an impressive, quality flow to the songs here. Nary a bad tune on it.
In addition to the unreleased song “Hunter Green” by Yorn, there are also contributions from Peter Himmelman, Pete Droge, Gary Jules, Minibar, Minus 5, Jakob Dylan (in the group Rusty Trucks), and Yorn’s keyboard man (“Joey! Take me there!“) Joe Kennedy in the group Happily Ever After. It is eminently listenable, front to back, and highly recommended.
Only In My Dreams – Mavis (keyboard player for Semisonic, Soul Asylum, Sheryl Crow and Wallflowers takes a pleasing catchy solo turn)
Trading Mistakes – Ethan Johns (Producer of albums by Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Counting Crows, Ben Kweller and Leona Naess -among others- here he shows he can hold his own on the other side of the mic. This track was recorded at home by himself.)
Reader Michael sent me this mp3 after reading the last post about rock photography, and I loved it, the soundtrack to a photo shoot:
“I was just checking out your blog about the photo contest and it reminded me of one of my favorite bootleg moments of all time. It’s a recording of Paul McCartney playing some songs for Linda McCartney as she’s shooting some pictures. You can hear her shutter clicking while she encourages him to keep playing, sometimes singing along sweetly. Paul is game, but he grows increasingly impatient with the process. It’s so intimate, I love it . . .”
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.
He can’t look at your skin, ‘cos it’s doing him in. But as for me, I’ve got a sweet Graham Coxon double 7″ vinyl for the taking.
It’s got “I Can’t Look At Your Skin” + “What’s He Got” on the a-side and “Time For Heroes” and “Outta My League, Dear” on the b-side. Plus, there’s fancy-pants packaging with all the artwork done by Graham himself. It’s nice with the lightning bolts and all, but it could use a liger or two — it’s pretty much my favorite animal.
(2001).
Here’s my new auditory love this weekend: 
Name: Heather Browne
