Okay, I’ve cast my lot and I am in for Wilco tomorrow night at the Fillmore up in Denver. I have been hearing phenomenal show reviews from folks up and down the West Coast who have caught the Wilco revue in recent weeks, some saying it’s one of the best shows they’ve ever seen, so I am really excited. I was going to pose as a security guard to get in (I’m not lying, friend works there) but thankfully that idea is past. Although I was totally already practicing my cross-arm stance, daring people to mess with me.
So in honor of my first time seeing Wilco, I’ve got a tasty little acoustic set that I’ve been sitting on for a few months, waiting for the right occasion. Most times if you heard that a rock star charged $17,500 to play in someone’s living room, you’d think either a) desperate or b) money-hungry. Right? No, not Tweedy. He’s auctioned himself off for the last three years for the Second City (in Chicago) Letters to Santa Benefit. This raises money for Christmas presents for kids, and in 2006 net over $50,000 through three dedicated groups of fans each coughing up the $17,500 to be the winning bid.
By that logic, each tune that he performed on this fan-directed setlist was worth $472.97. Given the nature of who was requesting the songs (uberfans, willing to pay up dearly), you know the setlist is going to be packed with gems. There’s precisely the intimate, acoustic, chatty, spontaneous vibe here that you would expect from some guy who shows up in your living room to play you a personal concert.
Something utterly important to today’s alchemy of popular music occured on September the 8th, 1965. That was the day when the classified ad ran in Variety Magazine to attract what would ultimately become the first musical group crafted specifically for a television audience, a ready-made pop phenomenon known as The Monkees.
The ad read, “seeking four insane boys, age 17-21 for acting roles in a new series.” Hundreds applied, and Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones were selected to form a Beatles-lookalike group for a zany television show. The hits were penned by a team of tunesmiths who began churning out sugar-sweet three minute instant pop classics. Instantly blurring the lines of television and musical reality, the Monkees sold 5 million copies of their debut album, and burned up the charts. They would go on to sell more records in 1965 than the Beatles. In 1967, I think they sold more records than the Beatles and the Stones combined. You can bet that those holding their puppet strings were pleased.
Despite the confection, I will confess a certain weakness in my heart towards these television bands of yesteryear. I am only an average woman. I cannot resist the guiles of songs like…
And yes, I can sing along each words to all of those songs, a holdover from being 11 and fervently riding my bike to softball practice with my huge pastel Walkman and my parent-approved tunes. I had a tough time once junior high started.
So it’s all just fluff and bubblegum delight, and there’s a place for that in my life, but if we’re gonna be honest, that initial classified ad profoundly changed the face of music — and one could argue for the worse. Sometimes I look at the landscape of recent years and find the ideas of everything from Making The Band to The Spice Girls to the INXS replace-our-dead-singer-on-television contest to be a bit appalling. Sure, it’s a free market, but it’s also prostituting out music to the highest bidder based on looks and sparkle, and not necessarily the quality of the music. Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees.
The Swimmers have put out one of my favorite albums of the year. Except they haven’t actually “put out” just yet. We’re still sweet-talking, trying to coax them into that.
Their delectable debut Fighting Trees is streaming in full over on their website and has been for some time now. This is literate pop, literally. Their music is based on the 1964 short story “The Swimmer” by John Cheever [read about it here]. I find their sound completely irresistible and find myself cueing it up quite a bit this summer.
It is delightful, shimmery fare with rich layers of thumping percussion and chimey harmonies. I hear threads of Wilco and Lemonheads and The Shins, all wrapped up in a fresh and original package. Swimmers frontman Steve Yutzy-Burkey tells me that the group’s proper album should be out locally in the Philadelphia area this fall, and nationally in February or March.
In the meantime, they’ve been selling this limited edition EP at their shows. From what I hear, there’s always a line at the merch booth to pick this baby up — five live tracks and a tasty outtake that’s just as good as anything on the album. You can’t help but enjoy.
UPCOMING SHOWS Sep 3 – Schubas, Chicago, IL Sep 14 – Tritone, Philadelphia, PA Sep 15 – Mercury Lounge, New York, NY Sep 22 – PA’s, Somerville, MA
Also, Tom at Bag of Songs has a few more live tracks at the bottom of this post from radio appearances that The Swimmers have done, including a nice ELO cover.
Ben Harper‘s 9th original album Lifeline comes out today on Virgin Records. I’ve been appreciating the relaxed and spontaneous vibe, especially since I found out the story of its birth into this world: it came to be in Paris over a mere seven days, recorded straight to analog tape after being worked out and perfected during soundcheck rehearsals on tour.
I am excited about this one, as I’ve written a couple of times before; there are some delicious songs on it. Here’s a live version of the title track, from a bonus acoustic EP download that you get when you order the new album from his website:
Do the kids know and love Ben Harper nowadays? I can’t tell if the flippant comment from a friend is indicative of larger public sentiment — but I still remember discussing Ben with a pal named Mike who loves good music. With a wave of his hand, Mike dismissed Ben as a stoner hippie festival-type musician. I vehemently objected to this unfairly narrow categorization (although hey I’ll admit those are three things Ben does do exceedingly well).
Ben incorporates elements of funk, gospel, rock, and soul into his music. His lyrics have a depth of poetry and a political/social edge to many of them, but he also writes the introspective, personal, relational lyrics heartbreakingly well.
I first heard Ben when he opened for Pearl Jam on their 1995 tour. He would join PJ for closing renditions of “Indifference” or The Byrds “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.” His early albums are embedded deep within my musical consciousness. I feel like I had less music to listen to back then, before the Internet, when I could only afford a handful of albums each summer, so I listened the bejesus out of both Welcome To The Cruel World (1994) and especially Fight For Your Mind (1995).
Ben’s put out fantastic albums in the last ten years, but the most radio buzz that I remember him having was when he played slide guitar on Jack Johnson’s breakout hit, “Flake.” The first time I heard that song, sitting at the stoplight on El Camino, waiting to turn left into my University for an early morning class, I thought for sure it was new Ben Harper and was truthfully kind of peeved when it was this Jack fella instead. Ah well.
In case that’s all you remember of Ben from the last few years, I’ve put together a little collection of Harper goodness — your ears will thank you.
And on the other hand, some fantastic covers that Ben has applied his unique stamp to . . . The Drugs Don’t Work (Verve cover) – Ben Harper Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye) – Ben Harper Satisfied Mind (Hayes/Rhodes) – Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama Indifference (Pearl Jam cover) – Ben Harper Michelle (Beatles cover) – Ben Harper
And finally, I love his song version of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise“: I’ll Rise – Ben Harper
Ben is a man possessed when he plays the slide guitar. I’ve seen him live a half a dozen times or more, and he always deeply impresses me with his skill and his almost transcendent passion while he improvises and wails on his instruments. He is soulful, mournful, and slack-jaw-inducing impressive to witness. He’s on tour now with the talented Piers Faccini [previous mention], coming through Boulder this weekend (same night as Wilco, I am torn).
Check Ben out in his slip-slidey-guitar element here on the “Ground On Down” video. This is still one of my absolute favorite Ben Harper tunes of all time, back when he’s rocking it old school with the pigtails:
BEN HARPER, GROUND ON DOWN (1995)
Other video: Rolling Stone called the song “In The Colors” (off the new album) a “ladies’ choice” tune, and I can definitely see that — Ben gets all feisty and playful with an early-morning sunshine feel to the song. The minimalistic video for “In The Colors” was directed by the Malloys, of Woodshed Films/Brushfire Records fame. The Malloys also did this much cooler video for “Diamonds On The Inside” (2003), showing Ben’s loves of surfing and sick arm tattoos:
DIAMONDS ON THE INSIDE VIDEO (Ben Harper + Malloy Brothers)
And finally, Ben just wrote an interesting feature for the New York Times this week about music he digs. He says of Ryan Adams, “The lyrical prowess with the sense of melody, the depth of honesty with levity, the soulfulness with hauntedness — it’s all the stuff I want to listen to. . . I was first pulled in when a friend first gave me his disc four years ago. I started listening to everything he put out. I sure have played ‘Easy Tiger’ (Lost Highway) a ton. It won’t leave my rotation; it’s holding. I could go on about him because he’s what modern music — popular music —needs to sound like.”
The article also discusses his affinity for Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Nightwatchman (aka Tom Morello), and Money Mark. Read it here.
I was in Starbucks last night, and every time I pop in there and see this poster I kind of want to smack Paul right in those pouty lips, as much as I love him. But hey, instead, I’ll take a picture and share the joy with you!
Have you seen this? Is it just me? It’s like “McCartney Does Blue Steel.”
“Mom, I find it interesting that you refer to the Weekly World News as . . . ‘The Paper.’ The paper contains facts.”
(Scottish accent) “This paper contains facts. And this paper has the eighth highest circulation in the whole wide world. Right? Plenty of facts. ‘Pregnant man gives birth.’ That’s a fact.”
The Weekly World News published its swansong final issue today, and of course when I read about it this morning, I fondly thought of one of my favorite Nineties movies — the San Francisco-filmed, Mike Myers acted, boppy-indie-rock soundtracked, So I Married An Axe Murderer. If you’ve seen it, you likely remember that quote above between Charlie McKenzie and his momma.
With the WWN gone, where will I turn now for my checkout line perusal needs? I guess it’s all news of Lohan and Britney for me from here on out. I kind of prefer stories of alien babies and massive political/religious conspiracies. Bah.
Here’s your recommended weekly musical allowance:
Brother Toad The Wet Sprocket Since we’re talking about So I Married An Axe Murderer, here’s my vote for the best dang song off that soundtrack. Maybe you are singing, “There sheeeeee goes…” in your head right now (The underrated La’s), or maybe “One two princes kneel before you – that’s what I said now” (the not-underrated Spin Doctors). But this Toad The Wet Sprocket tune from the soundtrack remains a superb Toad b-side, possibly the best track off this album and also off the In Light Syrup rarities compilation. “Brother” always makes me feel really happy inside, from that ebullient opening melody through the heartfelt lyrics of brotherly love. A great one – put it on your next mixtape.
Pass The Buck Stereophonics The new Stereophonics album Pull The Pin is an absolute supernova. I’ve been listening to the forthcoming album from these Welsh rockers all weekend and I woke up with this particular track in my head. Whenever that happens — a song rising unbidden to my mental jukebox player first thing in the morning — that means it’s gotten inside me and I need to write something about it. This is a cocky, flippant, unyielding tune that just makes you feel like the coolest person in the room, with backing vocals on the verses that invoke a surprising bit of catchy bubblegum goodness. Maybe I’m the only one who hears this, but the chorus of this track reminds me a bit of Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like A Lady).” They’re not the same, but they enjoy standing next to each other.
Stereo Parker Mosli I was catching up with Fuel-favorite Bay Area musician Jake Troth, and was really pleased by the danceable melodies and late-night beats of his new side project, Parker Mosli. This project is a collaboration between Jake (who’s also been busy writing a melody featured on the new album of pals Rogue Wave) and fellow relocated Charlotte, NC native Joshua Panda. Recommended for fans of !!! and Mark Ronson, but with some indulgent hand-clappy goodness – love it. They’ve got some more tunes on their MySpace and an EP available.
100 Days 100 Nights Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings Remember my rant on Dreamgirls a few weeks ago? This song is exactly what I would have loved to see in that film, except this tune is a modern day confection that just sounds like it was made in the ’50s. Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings (what a fun band name) hit the Brooklyn music scene in 2002 with their own brand of swinging retro funk and soul, sounding like no one else right now. They’re also the backing band on Amy Winehouse‘s Back to Black album and (stalled) tour. Retro is so hot right now. Their latest full length album, 100 Days, 100 Nights, will be out October 2nd on Daptone Records, and is worth buying just for the subtle fun of that cover alone.
Hollywood Collective Soul My sister is moaning in agony right now that I am writing about Collective Soul. We kind of had an unspoken pact growing up in the “Shine” era that if either of us ever liked Collective Soul, then the other person should immediately kill us. Sorry, but that song got pretty dang annoying in the summer of 1994. I’ve been out of the loop on the rest of their output, so I could be very, very wrong — because I will freely admit that I find this song absolutely irresistible. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of their new album Afterwords, out tomorrow on El Records and, somehow, through Target.
Just a quick note to point out that little new music search widget feature over on my sidebar under the profile, lovingly provided for me by this Seeqpod group. You can use it to search on artists I’ve written about, and then sit there and listen to tunes immediately. We are working on getting it to first pull up results from my blog, then the rest of the world, but for now it will give you all the goodness you need. Have fun.
I have been waiting to spring on an Alternate Routes tour since I first learned about them a few months ago, and have been listening to their Good and Reckless and True album non-stop ever since. I’m sold on their expansive, golden, rootsy-rock sound and smart lyricism.
And I think you know how I feel about Roger Clyne; together with his band The Peacemakers, they definitely put on one of the best, heartfelt, sweat-drenched, rocking shows I’ve seen. Ticket prices range from like $8 to $20 — an absolute steal for this much heart. I guarantee you will enjoy the show.
With Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers Nov 7- The Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS Nov 8 – Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO Nov 9 – The Music Mill, Indianapolis, IN Nov 10 – The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI Nov 11 – Cambridge Room/House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
This is something a little different today. Instead of perfectly polished tunes, I’ve got some raw and awesomely primal fodder for my drummer/aspiring-drummer/beatbox readers courtesy of Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) during his stint in Queens of the Stone Age.
I’ll be transparent here as always: I’m not gonna pretend to be all “Oh, yeah, I’ve always loved Queens of the Stone Age.” In fact, I was initially totally turned off to them for something as stupid and shallow as their band name. I know, right? But then I was reading up on them, and I saw this interesting quote which explained the name, so it makes more sense to my too-literal brain:
“Kings would be too macho. The Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Age’s girlfriends when they wrestle. And also it was a name given to us by [producer] Chris Goss. He gave us the name Queens of the Stone Age. Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyone’s happy and it’s more of a party. Kings of the Stone Age is too lopsided.”
– frontman Josh Homme (2000)
I can dig that. Plus, I didn’t realize that their first album, the self-titled 1998 debut, was released on Loosegroove Records, operated by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, and their very first show that they played as a band was at the OK Hotel in Seattle (which you and I would, of course, want to call The Java Stop, from Singles). So those two things alone are enough to make me wonder what my problem was.
My friend who sent me these said that they are “perfect headache relief.” Ha! He obviously digs percussion as I do, and loves it fast and furious as Grohl delivers it here. These are the raw tracks from the 2002 album Songs for the Deaf, and most are either just drums or drums with guitar. I agree that for me they are oddly soothing, a bit hypnotic. Definitely fascinating.
The first single from Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming fifteenth studio album, the Brendan O’Brien-produced Magic [due October 2], leaked into the world last night — and it’s a scorcher. It’s got a dark melody that reminds me strongly of the Warren Zevon song “Splendid Isolation” (which has enjoyed a resurgence among the young folk thanks to Pete Yorn doing a whiz-bang cover of it on his latest album).
This is a straight-ahead rocker and I find myself drawn to the prominent guitars and the urgency of the delivery (Bruce is nothing if not urgent, right?). Absolutely a song to drive fast to in the misty rain, with lyrics like these:
I just want to hear some rhythm I just want to hear some rhythm I want a thousand guitars I want pounding drums I want a million different voices speaking in tongues This is radio nowhere Is there anybody alive out there?
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.
Okay, I’ve cast my lot and I am in for Wilco tomorrow night at the Fillmore up in Denver. I have been hearing phenomenal show reviews from folks up and down the West Coast who have caught the Wilco revue in recent weeks, some saying it’s one of the best shows they’ve ever seen, so I am really excited. I was going to pose as a security guard to get in (I’m not lying, friend works there) but thankfully that idea is past. Although I was totally already practicing my cross-arm stance, daring people to mess with me.
The Swimmers
Have you seen this? Is it just me?
This news just made my day – 
Name: Heather Browne
