These United States cover this Bob Dylan :: “To Ramona”

The marvelously raw and literate These United States recently recorded a cover for a French compilation called Dylan Mania (which also features Magnet’s version of “Lay Lady Lay,” and Antony and the Johnsons knocking on heaven’s door alongside many French bands).

Where Dylan’s original of “To Ramona” waltzed and lilted in courteous measured style, These United States keel off into the hayloft as we hasten the jamboree. The thrumming and playfully creative drumbeat (courtesy of mohawked Robby) builds and drives the song along, while Jesse’s voice earnestly cracks exactly where you hope it will. There’s also some pedal steel bringin’ the lonesome, and a particularly nice clattery-taptastic breakdown towards the end.

Ramona come closer, shut softly your watery eyes
The pangs of your sadness will pass as your senses will rise
For the flowers of the city though breathlike get deathlike sometime
And there’s no use in trying to deal with the dying
Though I cannot explain that in lines.

To Ramona (Dylan cover) – These United States

One reviewer said that TUS plays their folk “the way it was meant to be played: hard, fast, big, slow, long, loud, loose, and at last unburdened. They play it like they mean it.” Personally they describe their music as cumulonimbus wordpop for the jangly railyard dreamer — I really like that.

Their 3rd full-length release in 18 months Everything Touches Everything (oooh!) is out September 1st; I think last year’s excellent Crimes was underrated and overlooked.

They have more live shows than anyone you’ve ever met, so go see ‘em. They put on one of the best live shows I’ve seen in a long time; we adored them at SXSW and our Hillbilly Prom they played.

For completists, here’s the original and a cover that David Gray did on his 2007 cover album A Thousand Miles Behind. And as David says at the beginning of the recording, “I absolutely loved this one from the first time I heard it…”

Oh, me too.

To Ramona – Bob Dylan
To Ramona (Dylan cover) – David Gray

I’d forever talk to you but soon my words
would turn into a meaningless ring
for deep in my heart I know there’s no help I can bring
Everything passes, everything changes
just do what you think you should do
And someday maybe, who knows baby
I’ll come and be crying to you

[photo taken in a sweaty bar at SXSW by one Todd Roeth]

In your love, my salvation lies

On Friday afternoon while a summer rainstorm poured outside, I played a bit of hooky and sat inside the gorgeous Mayan Theater in Denver, taking in a matinee of the new Sam Mendes/John Krasinski/Dave Eggers supernova Away We Go. I was reeled in and my insides were prodded about by this humble little film. I laughed an immense amount (this is a fabulous film) but also walked out with a head full of messy, braided thoughts to hash over with my partner in afternoon-work-ditching crime.

Solitary Scottish songwriter Alexi Murdoch scores a wistful yet pointed soundtrack to the journey of our young couple into unknown landscapes. Slowburning and smoky, his original songs stand alongside ones by George Harrison, Bob Dylan, The Stranglers, and a particularly devastating placement of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin.” The music was as much a part of the lifeblood to the film as the characters.

All My Days – Alexi Murdoch

and over the closing credits:

Orange Sky – Alexi Murdoch
(is it just me or is this just one of the best songs? Oh, I so want to dream tonight of orange skies and salvation)

Alexi has a new limited-edition EP available now called Towards The Sun, and you can (and should) stream the full soundtrack here.

If you’ve ever wondered what pure, unfettered joy looks like….

…it’s the look on Brian Fallon‘s face this weekend as he sings his song of youth and music into a microphone with Bruce Springsteen.

The ’59 Sound, live at Glastonbury (June 27, 2009) – The Gaslight Anthem with Bruce Springsteen

UPDATED WITH AUDIO:
The ’59 Sound (with Bruce Springsteen) – Gaslight Anthem

(And yeah, hey my right side feels warmer just by association)

rocked my world / you know you did

So first I was all, “Wow, that’s sad news but I am not qualified to blog anything about this musician, since I never could’ve honestly counted myself as a real fan.” And then I went home and the first thing I typed into my iTunes search box was “Michael Jackson” and then before I knew it I was mouthing, “I’m not gonna spend my life bein’ a color,” dancing around the kitchen. It happens.

RIP Michael.

You Rock My World (Trackmasters remix feat Jay-Z) – Michael Jackson

PREVIOUSLY: Jackson 5 audition for Motown Records

and UPDATE: I absolutely loved this with all the soft parts inside me.

Stop your parents’ car, I just saw a shooting star

I am riveted every time I see the Avett Brothers perform their gloriously pure-hearted, bold music in any setting — whether it’s a gondola, a tour bus, a garage in Concord, backstage before a show, or at the desk of a lucky NPR editor. I still do not know any live band like them, and I’ve done quite a bit of research on the matter. They play three songs here, and I am particularly drawn to the first (new) one, “Laundry Room”:

“Close the laundry door, tiptoe across the floor
Keep your clothes on . . . I’ve got all that I can take.”

Watch the whole desk concert at NPR

The Avetts come through Colorado for four shows the week in August of my thirtieth birthday. I spent my 29th birthday with them last year, and I think this will be a pretty damn fine way to welcome a new decade.

Their big Rick-Rubin-produced major label debut album I And Love and You is out September 29th and you can hear four new songs (plus four old ones) from the Non-Comm Convention in Philly a few weeks ago as well.

UPDATE: The title track from the new album was just posted today over on Spinner (!!):

I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers (via Spinner)

AVETT BROTHERS TOUR DATES
(there are many)
6.25.09 – The Pageant, St. Louis, MO
6.26.09 – Hoyt Sherman Theatre, Des Moines, IA
6.27.09 – Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater, Minneapolis, MN
6.28.09 – House of Blues, Chicago, IL
7.02.09 – Comerica Cityfest (FREE!) Detroit, MI
7.09.09 – Harrison Opera House, Norfolk, VA
7.10.09 – The National, Richmond, VA
7.11.09 – Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Roanoke, VA
7.12.09 – Forecastle Festival, Louisville, KY
7.16.09 – St. Augustine Amphitheater, St. Augustine, FL
7.17.09 – House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL
7.18.09 – The Cuban Club, Tampa, FL
7.19.09 – The Parker Playhouse, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
7.24.09 – House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
7.25.09 – House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
7.30.09 – Thursday At The Square (FREE!) Buffalo, NY
7.31.09 – Westcott Theater, Syracuse, NY
8.01.09 – Folk Festival 50, Newport, RI
8.02.09 – Calvin Theater, Northampton, MA
8.04.09 – Bottle & Cork, Dewey Beach, DE
8.08.09 – Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
8.14.09 – Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music, Ozark, AR
8.15.09 – Crossroads, Kansas City, MO
8.16.09 – Sokol Auditorium, Omaha, NE
8.19.09 – Sunset Concert Series, Telluride, CO
(FREE FOR HEATHER’S BIRTHDAY)
8.20.09 – Steamboat Springs Free Summer, Steamboat Spgs, CO
8.21.09 – Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO
8.22.09 – Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
8.25.09 – Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City, UT
8.26.09 – Knitting Factory Concert House, Boise, ID
8.28.09 – Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
8.29.09 – Britt Festival, Jacksonville, OR
8.30.09 – Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
9.01.09 – HSU Van Duzer Theater, Arcata, CA
9.03.09 – Grand Sierra Theatre, Reno, NV
9.04.09 – Strawberry Music Festival, Camp Mather, CA
9.05.09 – Orpheum Theatre Los Angeles, CA
9.17.09 – North Charleston P.A.C,, North Charleston, SC
9.18.09 – Westobou Festival, Augusta, GA
9.19.09 – The Moon, Tallahassee, FL
9.20.09 – Bama Theatre, Tuscaloosa, AL
9.22.09 – The Lyric Oxford, Oxford, MS
9.24.09 – Minglewood Hall, Memphis, TN
9.25.09 – Robinson Center Music Hall, Little Rock, AR
9.26.09 – Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa, OK
9.27.09 – Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
9.29.09 – Baton Rouge River Center Theatre, Baton Rouge, LA
10.01.09 – House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
10.02.09 – Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, TX
10.03.09 – Rose State PAC, Midwest City, OK
10.05.09 – Lovett Auditorium Murray, KY
10.15.09 – Rams Head Live,, Baltimore, MD
10.16.09 – Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
10.17.09 – Terminal 5, New York, NY
10.18.09 – House of Blues, Boston, MA
10.20.09 – Englert Theatre, Iowa City, IA
10.21.09 – The Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI
10.23.09 – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
10.24.09 – The Canopy Club, Urbana, IL
10.26.09 – Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI

The warm and wooly colorful sounds of Brooklyn’s Yarn

Tonight I stumbled into my own little slice of aural heaven, a converted house near my neighborhood that is not only a fabulous bar + dinner joint, but also has a young man who works there and plays Ryan Adams over the house speakers while he works – and rare tracks too, like the Caitlin Cary duet “The Battle.” It made me a bad dinner companion because I kept fixating off into the audio ether, listening to whatever marvelous song he was going to play next. I of course accosted him at the bar after my friends left, and we discussed all manner of things about the music he’d played. Caitlin Cary has been keeping busy since Whiskeytown disbanded with a vibrant solo career, and I was telling my new friend Mike about the latest song I’ve heard her appear on that has snagged my heart.

The heart of Brooklyn isn’t necessarily where you’d expect to find a vibrant, bittersweet Americana-bluegrass band, but those are the streets that Yarn hails from. This six-piece has been making music on the mandolin, harmonia and steel guitar for a handful of years now; I was just recently turned on to their music from a fan who wrote me a long, rambling love letter about this band.

One of the latter tracks on their most recent album Empty Pockets features the unmistakable voice of Caitlin Cary, and was an entrée for me into the rest of their wonderful music. Take some time with the rest of their songs; sometimes sad and wistful (“Turn Your Lights On”), or rambling and spirited.

Five guitars, a place to rest my head — sounds like a real nice way to finish tonight.

5 Guitars (featuring Caitlin Cary) – Yarn

I hear their live shows are exceptional; check some out here.

YARN ON TOUR
June 24 – Evening Muse, Charlotte NC
June 25 – Livewire Music Hall, Savannah GA
June 26 – The Handlebar, Greenville SC
June 27 – The White Mule, Columbia SC
June 28 – Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta GA
June 29 – The Pour House, Charleston SC
July 7 – Songs at Mirror Lake, Lake Placid NY
July 8 – Shepard Park, Lake George NY
July 24 – The Purple Fiddle, Thomas WV
July 25 – Floydfest, Floyd VA
July 25 – Downtown Live Raleigh, NC
July 26 – Floydfest, Floyd VA
July 30 – The Bullfrog Brewery, Williamsport PA
July 31 – Bank Street Cafe, New London CT
Aug 7 – Nectars, Burlington VT
Aug 21 – Capital Ale House, Richmond VA
Aug 29 – The Electric Company, Utica NY
Sept 11 – Main Pub, Manchester CT

[photo credit Jay Frederick]

Monday Music Roundup

Yesterday afternoon found me sitting in an upper level of Coors Field with my dad and sister, celebrating Father’s Day with him in the sunshine as we watched the Rockies beat the Pirates. That’s what it looked like:

I was reflecting on how impossible it is to feel like anything is seriously amiss in the world when I get to have an afternoon like that — yelling at the players with my pops, tossing about my feeble knowledge of stats this season (I know just enough to be dangerous), and remembering all the Giants games at Candlestick Park when we were growing up.

It was a good day.

Here are a handful of tunes that have been keeping me company lately…

When The Devil’s Loose
AA Bondy
Formerly of the band Verbena (whose 1999 major-label debut was produced by Dave Grohl), AA Bondy‘s solo songwriting knocked me for an immense loop when I was seduced by his Daytrotter session. Several songs from that session are now due to show up on his forthcoming sophomore release, and this is the title track. You’ll hear a bit of old-time parlor smoke in his voice, reminiscent of the creeping goodness I find in M. Ward, with a fuller sound to the new material. Bondy just announced some dates next month with Conor Oberst, and he hits Denver’s Hi-Dive this very night. You should go. When The Devil’s Loose is out Sept 1 on Fat Possum.

Periodically Double or Triple
Yo La Tengo
This feisty, organ-laced number from Yo La Tengo‘s millionth (ok, I think 12th) album spans all kinds of eras from late Sixties-brilliance to the sexy tease of funkadelica. It’s reminiscent in ways of my favorite song off the last album, the falsetto glory of “Mr. Tough” (which, incidentally makes the best iTunes Genius playlist fodder, if’n you want to dance). Yo La Tengo never seems to stop experimenting; Popular Songs is due Sept 8th on Matador.

Laughing With
Regina Spektor
Never afraid to experiment with an intriguing blend of playfulness and truth, first listens of Regina Spektor‘s new album Far are promising. The first song I heard from it was “Folding Chair” which charmed me with a vignette involving a beach chair, feet buried in the sand, and sea just being a wetter version of the sky. But this song is acutely incisive and couldn’t be further away from playfulness. Armed with her piano and her honesty, she muses, “No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake, no one’s laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else, and they hope that they’re mistaken.” It’s a heady, sharp one. And true, as far as I can tell. You can stream the full album now on her MySpace, Far is out tomorrow on Sire Records.

Waterfall (Judee Sill cover)
Dan Rossen
Back in the sister-goldenhair days of yore, Judee Sill was an important talent in the Laurel Canyon scene. Before her untimely death, Judee originally wrote “Jesus Was A Crossmaker,” covered radiantly by The Hollies and introduced to a bunch of the younguns on the Elizabethtown soundtrack. Here Grizzly Bear‘s Daniel Rossen covers an obscure song of hers with shimmering technicolor beauty and a ukulele. I absolutely love it. He joins folks like Ron Sexsmith, Princeton, and Beth Orton on the upcoming Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill, due Sept 22 on American Dust; Rossen’s mom must be proud.

Poised and Ready (rough version)
Brendan Benson
When Brendan Benson announced a new album last week, the tracklisting included several songs that were first unveiled as “Ruffs” back in March of 2007. Before he began recounting with the Raconteurs, his solo career gave us some of the most intelligent, sharply-crafted power-pop tunes of the last few years. Even on this rough demo version – come on, you can hear how fabulous the new album is likely to be. I was converted to Benson’s songcrafting genius through a prized series of mix CDs from a friend, all heavy on Benson’s best songs — of which there are many to choose.  My Old, Familiar Friend is out August 18th on ATO Records, and I am really looking forward to it. Now go listen to this masterpiece as well, the snappier 2005 version I vastly prefer:

The Alternative To Love – Brendan Benson

Half of the time I feel shiny and new

After all the introspective moping around here lately, I feel ready for this song on so many levels. Over a syncopated beat and shiny summery keys, Massachusetts duo Wheat sings on this toe-tapping new track:

“Half of the time I feel broke, cracked, peeled, weathered, half of the time I feel shiny and new. Half of the time I feel i’m clever, and half of the time I just haven’t a clue.”

Yes, yes indeed. This is a fantastic summer song.

H.O.T.T. (Half Of The Time) – Wheat

Their upcoming fifth album White Ink, Black Ink will be released on July 21st via the Rebel Group, a label run by Thaddeus Rudd (of Wheat’s ’90s-era label, Sugar Free). According to Magnet, Wheat’s Brendan Harney says, “It’s very different from the last [album]. It’s much simpler, much more honed down, much harder-hitting. I think this is our best record to date. Very confident, very pop, but very Wheat.” I missed seeing them at SXSW, but look forward to this release.

[via Bruce’s velvety goodness]

Only Dostoevsky would dream up a pair like us

Ha Ha Tonka has a band name that sounds like something one would yell when opening miniature metal trucks at your seventh birthday party, but actually the name is borrowed from a state park in the Ozarks. This Missouri foursome has just given me the latest zinger straight to the jugular.

Starting with a rueful fingerpicked melody, this immense song crashes cathartically into electric southern swagger akin to musical compatriots Kings of Leon. And the title lyric intrigues me with the jaded competency it boasts; something I’ve never been too good at.

Close Every Valve To Your Bleeding Heart – Ha Ha Tonka

Always thought I was a novelty little creature,
nobody warns you that the death of hope won’t feature
any sort of big event
to mark its significance

I come back here to remember what we were like.

Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South came out earlier this week on Bloodshot Records (Justin Townes Earle, Deadstring Brothers).

For more music, check the four free live renditions at Daytrotter, and through today you can stream the full album here.







HA HA TONKA TOUR DATES
June 19 – Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
June 20 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East
June 22 – Brooklyn, NY – The Bell House
June 23 – Toronto, ON – The Horseshoe
June 24 – Hamtramck, MI – Small’s Bar
June 25 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
June 26 – Cincinnati, OH – Southgate House
June 27 – Indianapolis, IN – Locals Only
July 27 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
July 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
July 30 – Spokane, WA – The Blvd
July 31- Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
August 1 – Portland, OR – Dante’s
August 4 – Sacramento, CA – Blue Lamp
August 5 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
August 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
August 15 – Bloomington, IL – Hot August Nights

I’ll miss the Denver one to be in SF, and leave SF before the show there. Gah.

Swim until you can’t see land

The voices of certain musicians will always reach back into the muddy outlines of my memory, grab particular sentiments tightly around the throat and pull them swiftly into this three minutes, here and right now, heaving and in bloody color. Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit soundtracked a sharp, raw portion of my life last year with unrelenting insight and wow — even tonight when I listen to his voice on this new song, it’s like taking the scalpel and turpentine to everything all over again.

Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit write songs that are wrenchingly honest and completely earnest. And yeah — pretty darn disconsolate. But there’s always intelligence and incisiveness in the lyrics, and a pulsating thrum of gorgeous energy in the music — and all of that bleeds through whether in the studio or on the stage in front of you.

They absolutely remain one of my favorite discoveries these last few years, despite what they do to me. A recurring theme in the things I love, I suppose.

Swim Until You Can’t See Land – Frightened Rabbit

[Video first spotted here; Frightened Rabbit plays Colorado’s Monolith Festival this year. I still really love this interview.]