Happiness is a warm E.P.

Happiness is indeed a warm EP, so says reader Russell in his entry (one of 90) on my Ryan Adams contest to win the new EP Follow The Lights. I’ve randomly drawn 2 winners (I couldn’t possibly pick based on the “best” answer for this one) and contacted lucky readers Matt C. and Jon from Dance Hall Hips. Congrats guys, and I absolutely loved reading all the entries.

Wanna hear snippets of the two “new” songs on the Ryan Adams EP?

Follow The Lights (streaming clip)

My Love For You Is Real (streaming clip)

Now onto this “favorite EP” madness from the contest. Guess what, I made you a mix. These are lots of your suggestions, all songs that appeared on great EPs. One listen through this bad boy and you’ll see why I celebrate and love and adore the EP format.

“HAPPINESS IS A WARM E.P.” MIX
Feeling Better – Sugar [from Beaster EP]
Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) – R.E.M. [from Chronic Town EP]
Lush and Green – Grandpaboy [from Grandpaboy EP]
Shocker in Gloomtown (GBV cover) – Breeders [Head to Toe EP]
Gimme Shelter – Keith Richards [from Eileen EP]
Twisting By The Pool – Dire Straits [Twisting By The Pool EP]
Michigan – Josh Rouse [from Bedroom Classics Vol 1 EP]
Stull (Part 1) – Urge Overkill [from Stull EP]
Meet Me In The City (Junior Kimbrough) – The Black Keys [from Chulahoma EP]
Stranger Than Fools – Jesse Malin [from The Wendy EP]
Nothing – Pedro The Lion [from Whole EP]
Bad (live) – U2 [from Wide Awake In America EP]
Come See About Me (Supremes cover) – Afghan Whigs
[from Uptown Avondale EP]
Sugar Pill (demo version) – Ambulance LTD [New English EP]
Passenger Side (live) – Wilco [from All Over The Place EP]
Butterfly Nets – Bishop Allen [from May EP]
Panama – Casados [from Passages EP]
I Got Id – Pearl Jam (with Neil Young) [from Merkinball EP]
Cosmopolitan Pap – M. Ward [from To Go Home CDS]
Round Are Way – Oasis [from Wonderwall EP]
Woman King – Iron & Wine [from Woman King EP]
Last Nite (early version) – The Strokes [from Modern Age EP]
Technicolor Girls – Death Cab For Cutie [Forbidden Love EP]
The Man – Pete Yorn [from Westerns EP]
Just A Memory – Elvis Costello [from New Amsterdam EP]
Black Star (live, Radiohead cover) – Gillian Welch
[like the one on Black Star EP]
Born To Run (live, acoustic) – Bruce Springsteen
[from the chill-inducing Chimes of Freedom EP]

WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T ZIP HAPPINESS?
(zip only re-upped)

For a full and robust appreciation of the impact these EPs have had in our own little corner of the music ocean, you gotta read the original comments from the readers who suggested them. And there were enough suggestions for a full second mix – sorry I couldn’t fit all of them on here. Maybe someday.

Rock on, in compact 4-to-7 song packages.

New Rockies World Series anthem, fresh outta Denver

My friend Fecher has composed the hottest (I mean “illest”) new rap track to come out of Denver this week, and it’s in honor of the red hot awesome Rockies.

He wrote to me, “btw, I made a Rockies World Series Anthem yesterday, I didn’t even know that I could rap, let alone be such a def producer. Now that I’ve mastered this rap game, expect to see me wearing fur coats, hanging with Pam Anderson on PDiddy’s yacht very shortly…”

I derived immense enjoyment from this song, and I’ve really hit the jackpot to have it here as a Fuel/Friends exclusive. I might have to gently squelch Fecher’s dreams of becoming a hip hop icon, but the Pam Anderson thing could totally happen. I hear she’s, like, not picky at all.

Rockies Ain’t Leavin Without The Trophy – Hot To Death

A Thousand Miles Behind :: New live covers album from David Gray

When I saw David Gray last year in Denver, his cover of Tim Buckley’s ethereal “Song To The Siren” hit me in the gut and sliced diagonal across my heart. I have the boot of that show, and I still sometimes can’t listen to that track; there’s a funeral-playable quality to the song itself, and I loved the haunting, circuitous way Gray performed it. He also covered (and endearingly flubbed) Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” at that show as well, so it’s like I got a mini-preview of this concept album back then. I loved his take on both songs.

You can find excellent versions of both those tunes on David Gray’s new self-produced live covers album A Thousand Miles Behind, as well as 11 others from varied original artists — three Dylan, two Springsteen, Will Oldham (devastating), Barry Gibb (surprisingly fantastic), Johnny Cash, and more.

The cover of British songwriter John Martyn’s “Go Down Easy” is emotive and amazing and sounds like something Gray could have penned himself. And wow, I just recognized the Randy Newman cover as being sung by Bette Midler on the Beaches soundtrack, of which I just remembered in a horrifying flashback that I used to own on cassette.

One With The Birds (Will Oldham) – David Gray
In The Morning (Barry Gibb) – David Gray

The album is available exclusively through DavidGray.com, as of last week.

While you’re on his site, also take a listen to 1 of the two new original songs from his forthcoming Greatest Hits collection (Nov 13) — “The World To Me” is streaming at the bottom of the main page.

A THOUSAND MILES BEHIND: TRACKLIST
1. Song To The Siren (Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley)
2. To Ramona (Bob Dylan)
3. One With The Birds (Will Oldham)
4. Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin)
5. One Too Many Mornings (Bob Dylan)
6. I Think It’s Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman)
7. Mansion on the Hill (Bruce Springsteen)
8. In The Morning (Barry Gibb)
9. I Tremble For You (John Cash, Lewis Calvin De Witt, Jr.)
10. Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan)
11. Go Down Easy (John Martyn)
12. Streets of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen)

And hey! Why not go see him on tour too?

UPCOMING DAVID GRAY TOUR DATES
Nov 6 – Newcastle Carling Academy
Nov 8 – Glasgow Academy
Nov 9 – Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Nov 10 – Manchester Apollo
Nov 12 – London Roundhouse
Nov 13 – London Roundhouse
Nov 14 – London Roundhouse
Nov 17 – Dublin National Stadium
Nov 18 – Killarney INEC
Dec 2 – Toronto, ON Massey Hall (On-sale Oct 19)
Dec 4 – New York, NY Beacon Theatre (On-sale Oct 19)
Dec 5 – Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre (On-sale Oct 20)
Dec 7 – Denver, CO Paramount Theatre (On-sale Oct 20)

Monday Music Roundup

The game’s on tonight. I love taking three or four hours to watch baseball — the pace of it, the grace and the subtlety. I am having so much fun watching The Rockies’ brand of baseball – it’s young and hardworking and fun, and it’s all coming together for them into a very very likely World Series run (becoming more likely after that 4th inning tonight)! It’s a fun time to live in Colorado. They need to win just one more against the Diamondbacks to go to the Series, and this Giants fan is cheering for them without qualms.

The Feeding Of The 5000
Ian Brown
There’s a Matt Nathanson song called “Everything You Say It Sounds Like Gospel,” a sentiment that also applies to much of what former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has been putting out lately. In addition to a storyline here straight out of The Good Book, Brown is drawn to using these dramatic orchestral foundations that make it all seem even more epic and important. But I don’t find it pretentious; I get into the way the strings combine with cool electronic flourishes and his effortlessly swank vocals. His new album The World Is Yours is out now in the UK, not in the U.S. yet.

The Hustle
Marah
This came on my shuffle on my iPod at the gym while I was trying to top my personal best at sit-ups (oh, like 33. Something mindblowing), and it gave me an instant rush of energy. This is a Marah tune that has comfortably been living on my iPod for a good two years or so without receiving my full unabashed love — until now. Without reading the shuffle display, at first I thought this urgent, perfectly ebullient song was maybe Westerberg because of the yowly crack to Dave Bielanko’s voice, with delightfully jangly rock guitars. I now love this song, it’s my new favorite — off their 2005 album If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry. This Philadelphia-based, brother-helmed band has got a lot of cool stuff going on now, including a new EP/10″ vinyl this month (Can’t Take It With You) and a forthcoming album called Angels of Destruction.

Needles
Lisa Hannigan
I wrote about the Cake Sale compilation last year when the Oxfam benefit album featuring the talents of lots of good folks (Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Josh Ritter, Glen Hansard, Gemma Hayes, etc) was released in Ireland. At the time, it was a UK-only release, and for those of us on this side of the pond not hardy enough to weather the pounds-to-dollars conversion, it’s finally gained a U.S. release tomorrow on Yep Roc. This particular song (written by Damien Rice) is as haunting and lovely as everything Hannigan loans her vocals to. Allow me to repeat at this point that it’s truly a crying shame that things didn’t work out musically with her and Damien Rice; I can’t get enough of the way she sings.

The Way I Am
Ingrid Michaelson
I’ve mentioned my love/hate relationship with Old Navy music and also lately their ’80s carnival of wide-necked, very long, big-buttoned, “they-think-I-am-11″ items. However, this song which they tapped for their latest sweater commercial is a nice home run for deserving songwriter Ingrid Michaelson from Staten Island. Despite her being my MySpace friend for, like, ever — somehow this infectiously cheery, handclappy sweet ditty slipped my notice. Okay, it’s a bit syrupy, but you know when the girl-group harmonies of that chorus hit, you kinda like the sugar rush. Her new album Girls and Boys is out now.

Avril 14th
Aphex Twin
Since we’re already talkin’ TV, here’s one other one on the airwaves lately. I’d never listened to ambient musician Aphex Twin (born Richard David James) until I started seeing articles about the licensing flap about the sampling of this song in the recent hi-larious Samberg digital short on SNL, “I Ran.” This original is a lush, gorgeous piano song from the 2001 Aphex Twin album drukqs, and count me as a new fan . . . but I can’t really listen to it purely without thinking of lines like, “You ain’t wrong to me, so strong to me, you belong to me . . . like a very hairy Jake Gyllenhaal to me” (which, incidentally, may be one of the best rhymes ever written). If you haven’t seen it:

The Alternate Routes: “Aftermath” (live in Colorado Springs last night)

So I’ve verified it, The Alternate Routes are good and reckless and true, and last night in concert at the Black Sheep their catalog of expansive, soaring melodies really took flight, as the crowd sang along and yelled requests.

They are currently touring with Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers (who, as always, put on a sweaty tequila-soaked show of exceedingly enthusiastic proportions) which is a good pairing; I would love for them to also come back through on a solo tour in 2008 — or maybe I’ll just convince some promo folks to send me on the Rock Cruise. I’ll work on that.

THE ALTERNATE ROUTES: AFTERMATH (live 10/12/07)
I think Aftermath is probably my favorite song on that album. Just fantastic.

With this next video, the sound and shooting skill is a bit worse (sorry), but definitely worth watching to get a feel for their new material — and to see how very very cool this amplified toolbox sound effect is! As frontman Tim Warren lifts and drops it to the beat, hear that huge earthy whooomp. It kinda made my stomach jump, and I loved it. This is a new song (with sexy-dramatic Latin flamenco vibe) called “The Future Is Nothing New.” It’s allegedly about a fortune teller, and the intro reminds me of Justin Timberlake’s “Senorita.” Oh, I’ll admit it.

THE ALTERNATE ROUTES: THE FUTURE IS NOTHING NEW
(live 10/12/07)

I know, I stopped recording too soon. Then there’s also one other video here (I believe this is the other new song they performed for the first time last night, a scorching rocker called “Toe The Line”), and some still shots from the concerts can be seen here.

They’ve got about a dozen more tour dates listed for this year; they are an excellent, affable, talented group of musicians – and if you go see them, make sure to stop by the merch table to get one of their free EPs with 4 tracks from their debut album (Good and Reckless and True, Vanguard Records).

Now the only question that remains is whether I should head up to Boulder for tonight’s sequel.

ALTERNATE ROUTES TOUR DATES

(With Will Hoge)
Oct 17 – The Pub – Harrisonburg, VA
Oct 19 – Visulite Theatre – Charlotte, NC

(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
Nov 23 – Tupelo Music Hall – Londonderry, NH
Nov 29 – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
Nov 30 – High Fidelity – Rochester, NY
Dec 1 – Iron Horse Music Hall – Northampton, MA
Dec 21 – Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
Jan 19-24, 2008 – The Rock Boat – Miami, FL

New from Nada Surf: “See These Bones”

Hey, Friday afternoon inbox surprises don’t get much better than this bolt out of the clear blue sky: a brand new song from New York trio Nada Surf!

“See These Bones” is a layered, lovely, mid-tempo tune that just builds and grows as it ambles along, with lots of backing vocal “oooooohs” and shimmery guitar melodies. This is the final track on their forthcoming 5th album LUCKY, which will be out on Barsuk Records on February 5, 2008.

It’ll be the follow-up to 2005′s elegant, eloquent, melodic indie-pop of The Weight Is A Gift. The new album features artists such as Ben Gibbard (who I think I hear on this track, no?), John Roderick of The Long Winters, Ed Harcourt, and guitarist Phil Wandscher of Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter (whom I will be seeing open for Josh Ritter this Thursday in Boulder). I am excited for this; the sample is a nice way to start the weekend.

See These Bones – Nada Surf

NADA SURF TOUR DATES (with Sea Wolf)
10/13 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
10/15 Columbus, OH – Basement
10/16 Cincinnati, OH – 20th Century
10/17 Louisville, KY – Jim Porters
10/18 Indianapolis, IN – Birdy’s
10/19 Chicago, IL – Schubas
10/20 Chicago, IL – Schubas
10/22 St. Louis, MO – Gargoyle Club
10/23 Nashville, TN – Exit Inn
10/24 Birmingham, AL – Bottle Tree
10/26 Tampa, FL State – Theatre
10/27 St. Augustine, FL РCaf̩ Eleven
10/29 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
10/30 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
10/31 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
11/1 Charlottesville, VA – Satellite Ballroom – UVA
11/2 Baltimore, MD – 8 x 10

The week before the album comes out, they’ll also play some fine little acoustic shows down the West Coast and then hop over to NYC:

1/30 Seattle, WA – The Triple Door (acoustic)
1/31 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge (acoustic)
2/2 San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall (acoustic)
2/7 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

[photo credit Peter Ellenby]

Guest post: Chris from North Carolina, redux

In August, I wrote about the fabulous reader Chris from NC who took the time to send me five mix CDs and liner notes, and I posted some of the tracks off the first rock-themed collection.

There were four more discs full of goodness that were left shivering outside the blog love, so I wanted to move on to the next offering for your distinct enjoyment.

On this Friday afternoon, I’ll share a little mini-mix of five excellent selections from mix disc #2, along with his comments, on today’s guest blog. Let me repeat how much I enjoy hearing songs through other people’s ears, filtered through their own experience. Dig these fresh tunes:

DO NOT MIX WITH ALCOHOL:
Lots of humble opinions, sad songs, and covers

We Will Become Silhouettes – The Shins
Love the Postal Service, but this one’s better

Brilliant Disguise – Elvis Costello
Not so much a fan of Bruce’s version, but I love the lyrics and EC’s delivery. In easily the most surreal conversation of my life, Westerberg once told me you can call him E, but never Declan (his real name). You’ve been warned.

I Figured You Out – Mary Lou Lord
An Elliott Smith song that I could never find him doing. I think I really like this song in no small part because I can hear him singing it in my head.

Only Love Can Break Your Heart – Saint Etienne
Imaginative re-working of the old Neil Young song

More Than I Can Do – Steve Earle
Stalker song sometimes mistaken for a love song, along the lines of “Every Breath You Take.” Only less played out.

Another contest: Win Ryan Adams’ new EP

Never one to let the dust settle under his boots, Ryan Adams‘ newest release with The Cardinals is coming on October 23.

The Follow The Lights EP (Lost Highway) will offer a brand new tune, an official studio version of his Willie-Nelson-loaned “Blue Hotel” (LOVE that song), and a couple older songs re-recorded & an Alice in Chains cover. Tasty.

Follow The Lights EP tracklist
1. Follow The Lights (new song)
2. My Love For You Is Real (older song, never released)
3. Blue Hotel (first official Ryan release, recorded live in studio)
4. Dear John (from JCN, new version live in studio)
5. This Is It (Cardinals version, live in studio – originally on RnR)
6. Down In A Hole (Alice In Chains cover, live in studio)
7. If I Am A Stranger (originally on Cold Roses, live in studio)

Forget girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, EPs really are one of my favorite things. I love how the best ones possess that perfectly digestible sense of flow and pull throughout the six or seven songs. Like one of those mini-desserts in a shot glass, or tapas.

To win the new Ryan EP, let’s talk in the comments what your favorite EP is and why you love it. Make sure I have a way to contact you (and you may want to spell out the email addy — not sure if that fools the spambots, but it’s worth a try), and the contest will go until Tuesday, so the winners might even get the EP before the street date? We’ll see.

TWO winners will be chosen; I haven’t yet decided whether to pick winners on merit or randomly. But you can’t win unless you enter, so DO IT.

Superdrag? Not a drag, even in demos

One show down, six to go. The original four members of Superdrag kicked off their mini reunion tour this past weekend in Nashville, and from what I’ve read, it was an electric evening that one attendee wrote was “the best damn superdrag show i’ve been to. no, it was the best damn rock show i’ve ever been to.”

I would love to see these guys live but since I can’t, the “rocking in the unfinished-basement” vibe of this new double album helps ease the sting. Superdrag will be self-releasing a limited pressing of their new collection of old demos called 4-Track Rock !!! 1992-1995 + Complete ‘Bender” Sessions that will only be for sale at the upcoming shows.

I’ve gotten to spin this whole opus a few times now and even though it is rough in places, it’s still diamonds in the dirt, baby. These songs were all recorded between 1992-1995, which would predate any of their formal releases. Many of these songs showed up on their first EP (The Fabulous 8 Track Sounds of Superdrag, 1995), or first full-length (Regretfully Yours, 1996).

But these demos trace an interesting evolution, sometimes with more than one version of the same song from different years — the full-on Weezeresque “Six-Eight” is showcased both as acoustic and fuzzy-screaming electric. The demos preserve all of the young, explosive, roughhewn punk-pop glory of Superdrag.

Six-Eight (Bender sessions demo) – Superdrag
[finished version was on their first EP]

Pine Away (1-17-94) – Superdrag
[would later appear on their underrated masterwork Head Trip In Every Key]

Sucked Out (demo, 10-22-95) – Superdrag
[liner notes indicate that this early version of their one and only radio/MTV ‘Buzz Bin’ hit was recorded at “1030 Eleanor St., Apt A, Knoxville, TN 37917″]

In keeping with the source and era of these demos, the album has cool cassette-influenced packaging, which makes me like it even more. The outer cover shows one of those zippered foam cases that we’d all tote around our cassettes in; just call it the original iPod.

Sweeeet!

REMAINING SUPERDRAG SHOWS
October 13 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
October 19 – Knoxville, TN @ Barley’s Taproom (added!)
October 20 – Knoxville, TN @ Barley’s Taproom
November 02 – New York, NY @ The “Fillmore”
November 03 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
November 08 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

Superdrag’s Myspace

Sigur Ros: new DVD and midnight acoustic set

There’s something otherworldy, icy, and enchanting about Sigur Rós. This collective from Reykjavik, Iceland makes astoundingly rich atmospheric music that lopes and meanders, sounding like it belongs in a dream about floating on an iceberg or walking through a frozen black forest, shoes crunching in the snow underfoot.

They’re really hard to talk about in person for a number of reasons:
1) I’m still not completely sure if Rós is pronounced like the Friends character or the flower, despite being told numerous times by pals
2) my favorite album by them is called ( )
3) they have song titles like Njósnavélin, Með Blóðnasir, and Ágætis Byrjun.

So it’s better to type about them to hide my lack of mad Icelandic skills, plus that way you can give them a listen, even if you think that the description of them doesn’t sound exactly like something you would be into. Give ‘em a chance; I was blown away the first time I did.

Sigur Rós was in NYC this past weekend to screen their new live DVD/companion album Heima (out in November). The film traces the band on a two-week tour of their homeland through “ghost towns, outsider art shrines, national parks, small community halls and the absolute middle-of-nowhere-ness of the highland wilderness,” including the largest gig of their career –and in Icelandic history– at their triumphant homecoming Reykjavik show. Check the trailer:

SIGUR ROS: ‘HEIMA’ FILM TRAILER

Their tour page lists upcoming screening dates worldwide; at the New York one they played an acoustic midnight set at the Florence Gould Hall. They performed three songs over a gorgeous twenty minutes, including the new title track for the film.

Listening to studio material from Sigur Rós lets you hear the dense and magical production, but I also really enjoy letting my ears and my imagination experience their ability to spin stories in sound just as effectively in an acoustic setting.

Sigur Rós, midnight acoustic show
Oct 6, 2007 – Florence Gould Hall, NYC
Ágætis Byrjun
Heima
Njósnavélin

[thanks to nyctaper for recording. Photo from this Flickr photo set]