broken hearts and dirty windows

I started my morning with a hearty sing-in-the-shower rendition of “Angel From Montgomery” (those acoustics!) in the sticky warmth of Florida, and am ending it tonight back in the ten degree weather in clear cold Colorado. My sister asked over coffee what song I had been singing, and a discussion on John Prine followed. John Prine has stuck in my mind today, all his perfect lyrical constructions and simple folk truth, and was the soundtrack to my flight home this evening (while I finished Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and openly cried fat hot tears on the plane, but hey that’s another story).

If you own an old pickup truck (or can borrow one) to traverse some dusty roads in the countryside, this year’s Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows compilation of John Prine covers sounds especially good. The title of the album comes from the 1972 song “Souvenirs” (“Broken hearts and dirty windows / make life difficult to see”), and I’ve been meaning to mention this comp for months. The whole record is obviously rich because of the fodder to work with and the superb gathering of artists contributing, but I think Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band contribute my favorite cover of the bunch:

My car is stuck in Washington and I cannot find out why
Come sit beside me on the swing and watch the angels cry
It’s anybody’s ballgame, it’s everybody’s fight
And the streetlamp said as he nodded his head
It’s lonesome out tonight

Stylistically this absolutely fits in with the rollicking twang of their own compositions on 2008′s Outer South, and Conor’s caged, restless energy shines through brilliantly.

But there are so many great tracks on this collection, from the Avett Brothers singin’ about blowing up your TV and moving to the country, to Josh Ritter’s “Mexican Home” (which I got to see him perform live in Telluride), to My Morning Jacket’s “All The Best” (reminiscent of the golden buoyancy of the track they contributed to the I’m Not There soundtrack). Add to that a glowing Justin Vernon, the pensive Justin Townes Earle, the heartbreak of Deer Tick, then pin it all together with Prine’s first-rate songwriting and I am sold.

Stream the whole thing and buy it over on Bandcamp for just ten bucks. They’ve got it tagged with classifications of “indie, Nashville.” Sounds about right to me.

My only frown came from the fact that no one covered “Speed of The Sound of Loneliness,” my favorite Prine tune. Luckily Amos Lee did a perfect one in 2003:

Speed Of The Sound of Loneliness (John Prine) – Amos Lee

I know you want to, I just don’t believe that you will

Shiny news from the good folks at Saddle Creek this morning:

Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst) and Nena Dinova have teamed up again to record four new songs for the expanded reissue of their 2004 collaboration One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels.

The original six track release from ’04 will be augmented by these four new songs, and released on Saddle Creek on March 23. You can preorder it here. Details:

“Dividing the songwriting duties, the original tracks were recorded by Conor Oberst and Jake Bellows in basements of houses on quiet, leafy streets in Omaha in the fall of 2003. Those tracks were mixed, tweaked, and sprinkled with magic dust by famed producer-in-residence Mike Mogis at his Presto! Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska. The groups reconvened in the fall of 2009 to write and record four new tracks at Mogis’s renowned ARC Studios in Omaha for the reissue.”

Here’s what they sound like:

nothing makes sense when the wave rolls through

Just in time to prep me for seeing them for the first time on Friday night, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band released “Nikorette” off their forthcoming album Outer South for free download this week, and I can’t stop listening.

…But nothing makes sense when the wave rolls through
Nothing makes sense when the wave comes through
Well, if there’s something in me, well, I know it’s in you
If there’s something in me, well, I bet it’s in you

I don’t want to wait until the moon gets blue
I don’t want to dream if it don’t come true

Nikorette – Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band

This first sample off the new album has a bright and appealing open-road energy to it that also heavily reminds me of “Sausalito” from the self-titled 2008 album. If this is the direction of the whole new album then I am delighted, and as I sang along all day today I’ve been interspersing lines from both into one happy conglomerate.

Sausalito – Conor Oberst

Outer South is out Cinco de Mayo.

**TOUR DATES**
CONOR OBERST & THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND
Apr 9 The Slowdown Omaha, Nebraska
Apr 10 Ogden Theater Denver, Colorado
Apr 11 Belly Up Aspen, Colorado
Apr 12 Barnett Harley Davidson El Paso, Texas
Apr 13 Sunshine Theatre Albuquerque
Apr 14 The Marquee Tempe, Arizona
Apr 15 The Glasshouse Pomona, California
Apr 17 Coachella Indio, California
Jun 17 Black Sheep Colorado Springs, Colorado
Jun 18 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride, Colorado
Jun 19 Star Hall Moab, Utah
Jun 21 Knitting Factory Boise, Idaho
Jun 23 Wilma Theater Missoula, Montana
Jun 24 First Ave. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jun 25 Summerfest Milwaulkee, Wisconsin
Jun 26 Anchor Inn Omaha, Nebraska
Jun 28 Beaumont Club Kansas City, Missouri
Jun 29 The Blue Note Columbia, Missouri
Jun 30 Headliner’s Music Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jul 1 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
Jul 2 Bearsville Theater Bearsville, New York
Jul 3 Toad’s Place New Haven, Connecticut

[photo credit losanjealous]

Monday Music Roundup

So this has been one of the busiest weekends in recent memory ’round these parts, leaving me exhausted, depleted, physically sore. I’m packing up the house I’ve lived in for three years, heading for hopefully greener pastures closer to downtown and the lovely neighborhood where I work. This entails slogging through a lot of crap, selling off everything that’s not bolted down, and getting ready for this stager lady that my realtor provides to come in on Thursday while I am at work and move all my furniture around and decorate in ways unknown to me. So when I come home it will be just like Trading Spaces except no Ty Pennington and no blindfold reveal.

In order to make the undesirable things (like bleaching the bathroom grout and polishing those hardwood floors) more palatable these days, I’ve been listening to some of these songs and albums. And I feel better.

Last November
Lackthereof
Drummer Danny Seim from Menomena (rhymes with phenomena, now I know) has a bedroom side-project called Lackthereof that actually predates his more well-known endeavors. In this ongoing project he plumbs some wonderfully moody, melodic, and obviously rhythmic depths. “Last November” is good for night-driving home from concerts, for that Lost Highway atmosphere as you watch the lines flick past. It starts with brooding clash and moves into something fairly soaring and surreptitiously suggestive on the choruses, part of an album chock full of rich moments. Your Anchor is out now on Barsuk Records.

Everybody Say
Takka Takka
No, funny you should ask, they’re not from Sweden or Iceland or anything like that. Despite sounding like a lost Sigur Ros cut, Takka Takka is actually a snappily-named quintet from Brooklyn. Their sophomore album Migration is out tomorrow on Ernest Jenning Recording Co, and was “lovingly produced” by Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drumming fame. It was recorded in Brooklyn and features performances by Bryan Devendorf of The National and Lee Sargent of CYHSY. Friend Bruce hears Lou Reed and the Modern Lovers, while I’d cite a definite “Could You Be Loved” on that intro. So yeah, we can agree that it’s eclectic (and intelligent and ear-pleasing).

Danny Callahan
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
I have a strong suspicion that behind the cleanscrubbed 17-year-old impression that meets the eye, Conor Oberst is just an old folkie at heart with a backporch fiddle, great stories, and a rambling beard. Maybe the kind with birds living in it. We all knew that it was just a matter of time before he ran off to Mexico with his Mystic Valley Band. This cut from the upcoming self-titled album was recorded in Tepoztlán, Morelos earlier this year and possesses many of the same loosely rollicking, great storytelling airs that I like from the most alt-countrified of his back catalog … but this time with astral plains, choloroform, and dying children. Spooky. The album is out August 4th on Merge Records, and they’ve got five in-store performances in independent record shops to celebrate over the next two weeks.

Trees
Everest
Remembering to blog this song is one of the greatest aha! moments I’ve had in the last few months. I had listened to this particular tune from L.A.’s Everest on serious repeat in May and heavily dug the muted Buddy Holly classic pop-song vibe with autumnal colors. And then it got lost like a leaf on a fast-moving torrent of my iTunes library, so I’ve been singing unrecognizable parts of the song to myself (mumbling through words I don’t know), Googling desperately trying to find out what it was, and sending myself text reminders late at night when I felt like I’d had a breakthrough on a new relevant detail. Here it is! It’s here and it’s so lovely. The aptly named Ghost Notes is out now on Vapor Records, and the band hits Outside Lands in SF in mere weeks.

By Yourself
The Knew
I had the pleasure of seeing this Denver band explode at the Hi-Dive Saturday night at the record release party for their new Boom Bust EP. The crowd was jumping and dancing to their somewhat unclassifiable blend of sounds – the Denver Post tried to nail it down with “punk, alt- country, classic rock, British dance-punk and garage rock.” Either way, these songs rock in concert and as a bonus their lead singer looks like a slender Will Ferrell. I am looking forward to seeing them again at the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase this weekend. If you live in Colorado, you should be too.

And look! Who’s your daddy?! Thanks, makeout club.

Got forty-fives to play at night :: M Ward / Jim James / Conor Oberst live in 2004

This earthy, warm, rich bootleg is from a shared evening of music that included sets from M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes.

Billed as the “Monsters of Folk” tour, after individual sets it closes with a six-song jam session where they all play together and sometimes (like for the closing Dylan cover) take turns with the verses. The sound quality here is sparkling and pristine with some choice song selections in the mix. Any of their single sets would be a treat in its own right; together they blow my mind a little bit.

Notable track: that Willie Nelson cover! “Always on My Mind” is one of my favorite sad songs as is, but with Jim James taking the lead vocals it aches and ebbs in a new way. There are so many wonderfully melancholy songs in this bunch – in addition to the lonesome starter of “Fuel for Fire,” the way M. Ward’s voice cracks on Undertaker (“Ah, but if you’re gonna leeeeeeaaaaave, you better call the undertaker, take me under undertaker, take me home“) is practically the sound of a heart breaking.

MONSTERS OF FOLK TOUR:
M WARD, JIM JAMES, CONOR OBERST
Feb 20, 2004, Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis

M WARD
Fuel For Fire
Duet for Guitars #3
Let’s Dance (Bowie cover)
Undertaker
Helicopter
O’Brien/O’Brien’s Nocturne
Vincent O’Brien
Outta My Head

JIM JAMES
One In The Same
Like It Should (unreleased?)
I Can’t Wait (unreleased?)
Where To Begin (from the Elizabethtown sdtrk)
How Could I Know (b-side from Off The Record)
The Bear
Bermuda Highway
Golden

CONOR OBERST
Train Under Water
Going for the Gold (from the Oh Holy Fools comp)
Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man
A Celebration Upon Completion
We Are Nowhere And It’s Now
Landlocked Blues (oh how I love this song)
Lua
Waste of Paint

ALL THREE (WARD/JAMES/OBERST)
Seashell Tale (M Ward song)
Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson cover)
Laura Laurent (Bright Eyes song)
At Dawn (MMJ song)
At The Bottom Of Everything (Bright Eyes song)
Girl Of The North Country (Bob Dylan cover)

ZIP UP THE NIGHT
(re-upped, the individual links are removed)

(Note: Mike Mogis and Nick White also performed at this show)

[thanks to the original taper]