My featured eMusic playlist & Music Blogger Awards

Independent online music store eMusic is partnering with the new Music Blog Awards to see what you guys thought was the best music of the blog world in 2006.

A bunch of us bloggers were asked for our picks of the year (although not many of mine seem to have made it into the final voting options) and you guys finally get to have your say. It’s fun to see what was nominated. The survey will command you in dictatorial tones to vote in every category, but if there is a category for which you feel ill-informed and you know you have no business voting in — for me that was the rap categories — I have discovered that you can select “Other” and put n/a. Y’all can VOTE HERE until June 15.

But wait, there’s more.

The thing I am most excited about is that I’ve got a featured playlist now on eMusic, in conjunction with these awards!

If you vote and are new to eMusic, they give you the chance at the end of the survey to get 40 free tunes – so you could get my whole playlist, and have 20 left over for a binge. They really do have an excellent selection, almost everyone you could want, with non-protected mp3 files that work on any player. Me gusta.

So check it out, I experienced much joy in making this:

Featured playlist: I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS
I could have picked hundreds of songs for this playlist out of the largesse I’ve found on eMusic, but instead I narrowed it down to 20 fantastic songs, all of which I love. Any of these artists and their catalogues deserve a closer look.

And even though this is an independent music site, I still managed to sneak in a guest vocal appearance by Eddie Vedder.

Figures.

*Dancing Song – Washington Social Club
(off Catching Looks)
*Hello Conscience – The Zutons
(off Help: A Day In The Life)
*Radio – Teenage Fanclub
(off Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty Seconds)
*Take A Walk – Spoon
(off Girls Can Tell)
*Good To Me – Brendan Benson
(off Lapalco)
*This Charming Man - Stars (Smiths cover)
(off A Lot Of Little Lies…)
*From The World Of The Lonely – Luce
(off Never Ending)
*My Favorite Mutiny – The Coup
(off Pick A Bigger Weapon)
*Disillusion – Badly Drawn Boy
(off Disillusion CD1)
*Sacred Heart – Deadstring Brothers
(off Starving Winter Report)
*Only Living Boy In New York - David Mead
(Simon & Garfunkel cover)
(off Everwood: Original Television Soundtrack)
*Southern Cross – Mason Jennings
(off Use Your Voice)
*I Don’t Want To Know – Matthew Sweet
(off Kimi Ga Suki Raifu)
*Stuff and Nonsense – Neil Finn (with Eddie Vedder)
(off 7 Worlds Collide)
*Down In The Valley – The Brokedown (aka Broken West)
(off The Dutchman’s Gold)
*Thirteen – Wilco (Big Star cover)
(off Big Star, Small World)
*Another One Goes By – The Walkmen
(off A Hundred Miles Off)
*The First Single – The Format
(off EP)
*The Emotional Kind – Superdrag
(off The Anniversary/Superdrag EP)
*Come Together – The Smokin Mojo Filters
(Paul Weller, Paul McCartney & Noel Gallagher, Beatles cover)
(off Help)

[Boo - I just noticed that they messed up my exquisite and intentional sequencing on the eMusic site. If you get the songs, you might humor me and drag and drop yourself an iTunes playlist with it in the right order. You and I will both feel so much better with the overall effect, I promise]

So, go ahead and vote if you like, and get my playlist so we can all rock simultaneously.

The Kinks at San Francisco’s Winterland – 1977

Winterland in San Francisco was a legendary live music venue in San Francisco in the ’70s, converted into a concert hall from an old ice-skating rink at Post & Steiner Streets. Along with nearby sister-venue The Fillmore, Winterland welcomed some of the most amazing musicians of the day.

The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Tom Petty, Springsteen, and The Band (their Last Waltz tour movie was shot there by Scorsese) all played here. The Sex Pistols rocked their last show ever at Winterland in 1978.

And on February 19, 1977 (my parents’ 5th wedding anniversary, incidentally. I doubt they were in attendance, although they did see Bob Dylan once), The Kinks took the stage for this awesome two hour show. It’s filled with some fantastic renditions of their best songs — and great audience participation (“Lola” becomes the singalong it always wanted to be). This show was broadcast on the beloved KSAN progressive-rock station (before they became “107.7 The Bone”) and as such is a widely-cherished boot from the Kinks.

Enjoy the show –

THE KINKS
Winterland, San Francisco, CA, 02-19-77

You Really Got Me (intro)
One of the Survivors
Sleepwalker
Rush Hour Blues
You Make it All Worthwhile -> Ordinary People -> Everybody’s a Star
Lola (snippet) -> Banana Boat Song
Well Respected Man
Sunny Afternoon
Waterloo Sunset
Celluloid Heroes
Schooldays
Hard Way
Education
Brother
Stormy Sky
Life Goes On
Full Moon
Lola
Alcohol
You Really Got Me
All Day and All of the Night
Life on the Road
Victoria

WHOLE SHOW AS ZIP

God save the Kinks indeed.

Blues Singer’s Woman Permitted To Tell Her Side

This is beyond awesome.

Blues Singer’s Woman Permitted To Tell Her Side
From The Onion, Sept 16, 1998

CLARKSDALE, MS–Ida Mae Dobbs, longtime woman of Willie “Skipbone” Jackson, called a press conference Tuesday to respond to charges levied against her by the legendary Delta blues singer.

“Despite what Mr. Jackson would have you believe, I am not an evil-hearted woman who will not let him be,” Dobbs told reporters. “I repeat: I am not an evil-hearted woman who will not let him be. To the contrary, my lovin’ is so sweet, it tastes just like the apple off the tree.”

Dobbs, accused of causing Jackson pain and breaking his heart by calling out another man’s name, categorically denied treating him in a low-down manner.

“He says he sends for his baby, but I don’t come around,” Dobbs, a brownskin woman, said. “He says he sends for his baby, but I don’t come around. Well, the truth is, I do come, but he is out messing with every gal in town.”

During the press conference, Dobbs also disputed an Aug. 27 statement made by Jackson, who compared her to a dresser because someone is always going through her drawers.

“My drawers have not been gone through by any man but Willie “Skipbone” Jackson,” Dobbs said. “Neither Slim McGee nor Melvin Brown has ever been in my drawers. Nor has Sonny ‘Spoonthumb’ Perkins, nor any of those other no-good jokers down by the railroad tracks. My policy has always been to keep my drawers closed to everyone but Mr. Jackson, as I am his woman and would never treat him so unkind.”

In addition to denying Jackson’s drawer-opening allegations, Dobbs disputed charges of unrestricted sweet-potato-pie distribution, insisting that her pie is available only to Jackson.

“I do not give out my sweet potato pie arbitrarily, as I am not the sort of no-good doney who engages in such objectionable behavior,” Dobbs told reporters. “Only one man can taste my sweet potato pie, and I believe I have made it perfectly clear who that man is.” Dobbs noted that the same policy applies to her biscuits, which may be buttered only by Jackson.

While most of the accusations levied against Dobbs relate to her running around town with other men, she does face one far more serious charge, attempted homicide. On May 5, 1998, Jackson was rushed to the hospital and narrowly escaped death after ingesting nearly five ounces of gasoline. Jackson claimed that Dobbs tried to murder him, serving him a glass of the toxic fuel when he requested water. Dobbs dismissed the episode as “an accident.”

Dobbs, a short-dress, big-legged woman from Coahoma County, said it is not she but Jackson who should be forced to defend himself. According to Dobbs, Jackson frequently has devilment on his mind, staying up until all hours of the night rolling dice and drinking smokestack lightning.

“Six nights out of seven, he goes off and gets his swerve on while I sit at home by myself. Then he comes knocking on my door at 4 a.m., expecting me to rock him until his back no longer has any bone,” Dobbs said. “Is that any way for a man to treat his woman? I don’t want to, but if he keeps doing me wrong like this, I am going to take my lovin’ and give it to another man.”

Added Dobbs: “Skipbone Jackson is going to be the death of me.”

Dobbs said that until she receives an apology from Jackson and a full retraction of all accusations, he will not be given any grinding.

“Mr. Jackson says that I stay out all night and that I’m not talking right. He says he has rambling on his mind as a result of my treating him so unkind. He says I want every downtown man I meet and says they shouldn’t even let me on the street,” Dobbs said. “Well, I refuse to allow my name to be dragged through the mud like this any longer. Unless my man puts an end to these unfair attacks on my character, I will neither rock nor roll him to the break of dawn. I am through with his low-down ways.”

Monday Music Roundup

I know that I should try to be less of a punctuation stickler because, well, it annoys most everyone who is NOT as obsessed (same goes with my proper pronunciation of bruschetta, but don’t get me started). However, sometimes you just can’t turn a blind eye. I happened to have a camera in my bag this weekend while waiting at a red light, and wanted to comment on this sign I noticed a few weeks ago – one that taunts me every time I sit at this intersection:

If there’s one thing worse than incorrectly used apostrophes, it’s gotta be inconsistent application of your made-up rule for where they go. If you’re gonna be wrong, can you please have the gusto to do it consistently all the way through your sign? Thank you.

[end rant]

Onto this week’s batch of tunes to cheer up your ear’s (ouch).

The scent of hypocrisy

This is a replay of an actual conversation in my head recently.

Me: Standing overwhelmed in the deodorant aisle, facing the bewildering array of choices. Amongst the ‘Shimmering Luminous Lily’ and ‘Peach Pizazz Sparklerama’ choices (in a variety of clear gel, sheer solid and wow-I-can’t-see-it formulations) I see a new scent: Vanilla Chai.

I say to myself, “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Come on, yuppies. Vanilla CHAI deodorant? Who the flip needs vanilla CHAI . . . Wow. That smells good.” (toss into handbasket).

So now my underarms smell like a $4.75 beverage from Starbucks, at the cost of my dignity.

Win yourself some Spidey-tastic music, I won’t even make you hang upside down in the rain

It’s Friday, which must mean a contest or something, right?

Spiderman 3 came out last week and it’s, well, a Spiderman movie – all villains and stunts and improbable choices. The thing that makes it notable is the dope soundtrack, which features folks like Rogue Wave, Wolfmother, The Killers, JET, The Walkmen and recent Fuel favorite Coconut Records.

I have one Spiderman prize pack to give away, and it kind of cracks me up because it would be a total bonanza especially for a 12-year-old male reader if I have some of those. My winner will get the soundtrack (yay!), a webblaster thingie that straps to your arm and shoots silly string (okay) and a Spiderman dog thing that hooks up to your iPod and dances on your desk. He has a crush on Hello Kitty, but you totally didn’t hear that from me.

SOUNDTRACK LISTING (on iTunes too)
Signal Fire – Snow Patrol
Move Away – The Killers
Sealings – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pleased to Meet You – Wolfmother
Red River – The Walkmen
Stay Free – Black Mountain
The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love – The Flaming Lips
Scared of Myself – Simon Dawes
Twist – Chubby Checker
Sightlines – Rogue Wave
Summer Day – Coconut Records
Falling Star – Jet
Portrait of a Summer Thief – Sounds Under Radio
Letter from St. Jude – The Wasted Youth Orchestra
Small Parts – The Oohlas

This was one so easy to think of a challenge question for:
In the comments, tell me what your superpower would be if you could pick any one you wanted. The one I enjoy the most, wins. (You have one week to think)

AND: As for last week’s contest to win the Arctic Monkeys vinyl, the winner for “worst band name” suggestion is Ashley, who stole my heart and completely echoed my sentiments when she left a one-word submission. Her choice is one that I have always thought of as so . . . retarded (sorry, but it is) that I can’t hardly even say it. Hoobastank. It’s like Huffamoose, only worse.

Congrats Miss Ashley, please send me your info so I can get that neato 12″ mailed out to you and you can have your very own jumparound Arctic Monkeys dance party.

Under the covers with the Counting Crows

It’s been raining covers and rarities on the Counting Crows‘ MySpace page lately, and right now they’ve got up 4 great studio tracks from their so-called “Under The Covers” sessions. Their distinctive touch on each of these songs is thoroughly enjoyable, even on the Rod Stewart/Faces ditty (a man who, in general, I cannot abide, due to flagrant violations such as these).

Adam Duritz fills us in:

To celebrate what a great week we had in the studio, I decided this was going to be Covers Week on our Myspace page, so all the songs will be from the unreleased “Under The Covers” we recorded by ourselves one weekend during the “Hard Candy” sessions when Lilywhite was out of town.

Dig it cats, these are the songs we love. Hope you love ‘em too.

You Ain’t Going Nowhere (Dylan cover) – Counting Crows

Ooh La La (Faces cover) – Counting Crows

Blues Run The Game (Jackson Frank cover) – Counting Crows

Start Again (Teenage Fanclub cover) – Counting Crows

My PS – I think I prefer the breathless purity-of-the-moment with this live version of Blues Run The Game, even though I can’t complain on the good studio version:

Blues Run The Game (live) – Counting Crows

Say hello to a little slice of heaven with Chris Cornell, live in Seattle last night

Oh, man, this would have been so cool to attend.

Chris Cornell (oh he of the mighty pipes, the Soundgarden/Temple Of The Dog/Audioslave legacy) played last night in Seattle at the Fenix Underground, a “private” show for fans and some Microsoft folks (?). 100 tickets were given away to fans through his MySpace for this cozy gig with a killer, killer setlist. Most of my favorite Cornell songs are here in fine form, as well as a handful off the new album, Carry On (out June 5, another collab with Lillywhite, with some guitar work by Gary Lucas – Jeff Buckley cohort).

Yeeeah.

You can stream the whole concert video here.

CHRIS CORNELL
Live @ The Fenix, Seattle
Tuesday 05/08/07

Spoonman
Outshined
Original Fire
No Such Thing (new)
Say Hello 2 Heaven
Mission
You Know My Name
Seasons
Scar on the Sky (new) <---LOVE IT
Can’t Change Me
Sunshower
She’ll Never Be Your Man (new)
Rusty Cage
Billie Jean
Black Hole Sun
Jesus Christ Pose
Like A Stone
Burden In My Hand
Cochise
Safe and Sound (new)
Hunger Strike

ZIP IT UP, CHRIS

Now that’s fresh: The Swimmers

I recorded something for Blog Fresh Radio out of New York City last month and didn’t realize they’d aired it at the start of April. Head on over to hear me chatter for a few minutes about The Swimmers on this new format online radio show.

You can listen to the show here: http://blogfreshradio.com/show/20070402/

My piece is about 23 minutes in — even though they mis-christen my blog name and I think I make up a word – surrealistically? Is that a word? It makes sense to me.

I’ve mentioned The Swimmers here before, they are a fantastic new four-piece band out of Philadelphia whose album Fighting Trees is an enjoyable offering from start to finish. You get alternating upbeat jangly pop with layers of keys and thumping drums, but also alternating tracks with these lush dreamscape lyrics and swirly guitars that almost invoke that feeling of floating above yourself, watching the surreal situation below.

Why do they sound like this? Check this ace backstory:

The band itself was started by Steve Yutzy-Burkey after he read a surreal, dreamlike short story called “The Swimmer” from 1964, written by John Cheever. What I know of this story is that the lines between reality and dreams become blurred for a fellow who decides to literally swim home from a cocktail party through a series of neighbors pools in suburbia. Therefore, the album is a complete concept experience where you can read the short story, listen to the collection of songs as a whole, and feel uniquely satisfied in the coherence. The same feeling from the short story of dreamy drifting, and a recurring water/drowning theme, definitely bleeds over into the lyrical content of this album and I love it.

You can listen to their entire album streaming at theswimmers.com in anticipation of the Spring release. Here’s the song I contributed to the radio show — I had a hard time picking which song from the album to play because all the tunes lay side-by-side so nicely to make up the whole, and all are great.

Pocket Full Of Gold – The Swimmers

That interview was a phone-in, and I really enjoyed the process. I am also available to talk with you about music on the phone on a one-to-one basis for the low price of $1.95 a minute. Ha.

Happiness is so cheap.

Ed Vedder with Flea, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) and Jack Irons: “The Kids Are Alright”

Vedder turned out this past weekend for a star-studded musical evening in Hollywood for Hullabaloo 2007, a fete arranged by Flea of the RHCP to benefit his Silverlake Music Conservatory which helps to provide music lessons for underprivileged kids. Some absolutely fantastic videos of the night have turned up here (thanks for the tip, Bill). Vedder’s set also included Driftin’, I Am Mine (!!), the new one No More War, and Betterman & Corduroy with Flea and Co.

VIDEO: “The Kids Are Alright” (direct link)

I love how Flea goes pogoing past in the background like that little hyperactive kid in your third grade class that the teacher could never get to sit down. Plus, it’s great to see Jack Irons wail again. I think he’s my favored drummer in the Pearl Jam pantheon.

The Kids Are Alright (Who cover) – Ed Vedder, Flea, Steve Jones & Jack Irons