Burnside Exploration not indie rap

I grabbed a promo copy of the Burnside Exploration's cd The Record from work thinking it was some indie rap group(based on the cover and the first song title Bitch You Lie). I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be reved up blues. Even cooler is the fact that the duo is comprised of R.L. Burnside's son and grandson. They have a fairly simple website up with a more detailed bio here.
Download - Burnside Exploration - Boogie
Download - Burnside Exploration - Bitch You Lie

Math and Physics Club

For some reason my ipod played the song Sixteen and pretty by The Math and Physics club twice while on my way to work today. I don't know what it's trying to tell me, but this Seattle based band is pretty sweet. They've gotten some positive attention for their new self titled release and I've been enjoying the album for a couple of weeks now. Check out the songs below and their web site.
Download - Math and Physics Club - Sixteen and Pretty
Download - Math and Physics Club - La La La Lisa

The visit

My brother is in town this week which explains the lack of posts. Caleb's first game was this week, he was on the home team. You are reading the score correctly.
My brother getting his shop on.
My brother gives the best christmas presents.

Arcade Fire Intervention

Here is a performance of Intervention from KCRW. That bad ass pipe organ in the new version is a nice improvement.

Arcade fire

Yes, we finally have some news from everyones favorite Canadiens The Arcade Fire. The band have set up a phone service where you can call in to hear the new song Intervention from the upcomiing album Neon Bible. The number is 1-866-Neonbible ext 7777. This album will undoubtable be pretty huge. Their upcoming five date stands in London and Montreal both sold out in something like two minutes. One of my goals for next year will be to see them again, looks like i might have to be on my toes to get that done. False 45th and i have talked about the amazing fact that the most anticipated indie release in years has been leak free so far. I guess as soon as the record company gets involved the chances of something getting out will skyrocket but they've done a great job so far.

Henry and Glenn 4-Ever

Alright, I found my copy of the Igloo Tornado created comic Henry and Glenn 4-Ever. It was hard to keep from just posting the whole thing but i didn't. Some of the funniest panels are very "blue". I don't know if they have any issues left(my copy is from 2005) or if a reprint is on the horizon but you can check in on the Igloo Tornado crew at their website. They always seem to have a few irons in the fire so bookmark their site and check in often.

Art

edit- For some reason i didn't post the song that i meant to put up with that creepy sculpture.

Download - The Dead Milkmen - Jason's Head

Mississippi John Hurt/Library of Congress Sessions

I recently picked up Mississippi John Hurt's album D.C. Blues Vol 2. It's an amazing set recorded for the library of congress soon after John was rediscovered. Apparently he went in and recorded every song he could remember.
Download - Mississippi John Hurt - Chicken Song The booklet for the discs is really interesting, it basically runs down the story of John's rediscovery. Everyone thought he was dead because after recording a few sides in 1928 he just disappeared. 35 years later a group of folk blues enthusiast noticed that on the song Avalon Blues he sang "Avalon's my hometown". After consulting a map they discovered that there was an Avalon Mississippi. One of the group was headed to New Orleans and decided to stop in Avalon to check things out and within 10 minutes had found John. The next three and a half years saw the reemergence of Mississippi John Hurt.
Download - Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues

Download - Mississippi John Hurt - Stackolee(alternative)

Glen and Henry 4 ever

I was just surfing around on the net and came across this picture that reminded me of a great comic by a couple of guys from the Igloo Tornado collective. I'll try to dig up my copy and maybe post a page or two(i'll ask Scot first). Anyway the primise of the comic is a huge "what if...", What if Glen Danzig(Misfits, Danzig) and Henry Rollins(Black Flag, Rollins Band) were a couple? Are you laughing already? Download - Rollins Band - Burned Beyond Recognition

Still waiting

I still haven't heard any reports on the Black Keys show at the Cain's Ballroom that fully half of my friends attended. I did recieve a ten second phone call from the show with the keys blasting in the background but i don't think that counts as an update. But there is a lot of stuff on the web about Ryan Adams three night stand at Town Hall in NYC. I can't tell you how tempted i was to pack up the car and drive down there. Some of the best videos from the shows are on Stereogum.

I feel Dirty/We Jam Econo

Some how i ended up selling three Nickelback CDs in the space of an hour. One was completely my fault. One woman was buying the new Nickelback album for her son and asked me if this one was popular, i told her that i thought the famous(i didn't say goo) songs were on their second disc(how i knew this i'll never know) so she ended up buying both. For a moment i felt a Barry(from Hi Fidelity) moment coming on "Do you even know your son?" but i didn't, i just felt dirty. To clense myself i watched the Minuteman cocumentary We Jam Econo when i got home. What an excellent movie. It probably only appeals to people that like music but it was right up my alley. I've never been a big Minuteman fan but Phil and i listened to Mike Watt's Ball Hog or TugBoat like mad in the early 90's.

Rayan Adams Lets talk about robots

My favorite altcountry genius just updated his web site with a shit load of new music. I usually try to keep my love for Ryan Adams in check but some of this stuff is superb(in a messy way). I really like the crazy stuff he's doing with breakbeats. I will say that the new stuff doesn't really mesh with his new claims of sobriety. Not a week goes by that i don't think about driving to NYC to stalk him for a few days.
My god this stuff is funny. At least listen to Unicorns(prob. don't exist) and SexFuck and Doctor Robot.

Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith isn't going to burn through the blogosphere like fellow Canadians The Arcade Fire(I know Win isn't Canadian but still) or revolutionize rock and roll but he can write one hell of a melodic pop gem. I've been listening to his latest album Time Being quite a bit lately. His voice has that melancholy quality to it that makes even his upbeat songs sound just a little bit sad(Ship of Fools illustrates this pretty well).

I don't know if this is something that most people enjoy in their pop music but i love it. In fact some of my favorite songs are borderline depressing, does this mean I'm a depressed person or am i so happy i need depressing music to regulate my overall disposition? But i digress.

Most of the songs on it are pretty simple pieces featuring his voice and acoustic guitar, a format we've all heard a hundred times but he does it sooo well. Check him out if you get the chance, he's based in Toronto but maybe he'll swing through Vermont sometime soon.

Download -Ron Sexsmith - Snow Angel

Download - Ron Sexsmith - Ship of Fools

edit - Obviously I've been reading too much Chuck Klosterman lately, sorry.

Congrats

I created this blog almost two years ago for the express purpose of talking about music and making fun of Ryan. Yesterday Ryan and his wife had their first child Abigail so congratulations to the new parents and good luck getting any sleep. This crappy picture is all I had to post even though his sister is a professional photographer.
Thank god she isn't ugly like Ryan.
P.s. I got a message on my answering machine yesterday informing me that Abigail's first words were "Mark is gay".

Uncle Tupelo/No Alternative

I was introduced to the band Uncle Tupelo through the CD No Alternative, a benefit CD for some aids charity. I bought the album in the midst of my R.E.M. crazy because Pavement had contributed the track The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence, a song about R.E.M. The disc was packed with some of the biggest "college radio" bands of the time(was anyone using the term indie) like Mathew Sweet, Buffalo Tom, Soundgarden, American Music Club, Dinosaur Jr, Urge Overkill etc. It also contains what would become my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song of all time, Glynis. Anyway Uncle Tupelo has a great tune called Effigy on the compilation that became one of my favorite songs on the disc. Why i didn't immediately go out and buy every Uncle Tupelo album i could find is one of those things i can't quite remember. By the time i followed up on the sound that made Effigy so great i was fully aware that the band had broken up and so i ended up buying SonVolt's Trace and later Wilco's AM. I'm sure there is a musical moral to the story but I'll skip it and leave you with a couple of MP3's from it.
Download - Uncle Tupelo - Effigy
Download - Pavement - Unseen Power of the Picket Fence
Download - The Smashing Pumpkins - Glynis

Ryan's Birthday idea #2

This would be a perfect gift for the soon to be birthday boy. Go here to see what the kit contains. I'll bet it even works on shoe polish.

Soccer video

Looks like a scoregasms match.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving proved to be a busy day. Lots of cooking got done and lots of food was eaten. Download - The Spinto Band - Did i tell you

KT Tunstall/Radiohead

I've been listening to this track a lot lately. It seems like a lot of Radiohead covers are a bit too flimsy but this one is dead on. I don't know much about KT but she looks like she should date Ryan Adams. Somewhere I have a great track of Pedro the Lion covering Radiohead, I'll try to dig it up. Download - KT Tunstall - Fake Plastic Trees

Metallica's good for something/hardcore Classic

It seems like I do most of my driving at night after several days of too little sleep. In order to combat sleep I've put several hard core classics on the ipod to keep me awake. I almost always listen to the ipod on shuffle so the hardcore tracks can pop up at any time. I recently put Metallica's last good album Ride the Lightening on. I can't wait to hear a little "Creeping Death". I'm sure it will be a matter of moments before BJ posts to refute my assessment of Metallica's catalogue.
Hey BJ I need a picture of you sporting one of your classic pushead Metallica shirts. If at all possible please be throwing the devil horns.
Download - Metallica - Fade to Black
Download - Metallica - Creeping Death

Someone roll down the motherfucking window/MC Hawking

Why have I never heard of this? My god, it's been awhile since I laughed that hard. The all knowing Wikipedia classifies this as nerdcore. I love it. Check out the official website, it's got some hilarious pictures. This is from the greatest hits album "A brief history of rhyme".

Download - MC Hawking - Interview part 1 (Start here and try not to laugh)

Download - MC Hawking - E=MC Hawking

Download - MC Hawking - The Dozens (Yes it is what it sounds like.)

Damien Rice "9"

Damien Rice's new album "9" was released this Tuesday although it has been bouncing around the net for the last month. I haven't decided whether I love it or not yet, I've only listened to it all the way through twice but I definitely like it. I loved his last album so much and this new one has been so long in coming that it may have been built up a bit unrealistically high in my mind. I do know that I like the track Dogs and he was smart enough to keep Lisa around for this album. It may be one of those albums that each song grows on you over time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my ears open.
Download - Damien Rice - Dogs - from "9"
Download - Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter - from "O"

Christmas 2007

Ryan i've found the outfits for christmas 2007. I'm Batman.

Iron & Wine Live

I thought i'd post a little show from one of my favorites Iron & Wine. I'll never forgive Ryan for getting married and making me miss his show in Tulsa. Anyway this is from the Amstel Festival on June 28th 2003.

The Rooster Moans
Naked as we came
Lion's Mane
Upward over the mountain
New Song
Waitin on a superman (flaming Lips cover)
Dearest Forsaken
Muddy Hymnal
Jesus the Mexican Boy
He lays in the reins
Promising Light
Her Tea Leaves

Birthday ideas

Ryan's birthday is almost here so it's time to start searching for the perfect gift. What do you think of this?

Cut you down

I don't know how long this has been out but I just came across it. What a great video for a powerful song. I can't believe the stars involved in this video. It's a real testament to how far reaching his popularity was. A good argument for never compromising on what's important.

Chloe breaks it down.

Chloe has been on a roll this weekend as far as music goes so I thought I'd share some of her observations. Chloe and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen on Friday where I have a small speaker system to hook up the ipod to. While fixing lasagna Jane's Addiction's Ain't no right came on so I sang it while she danced. Afterwards she wanted to know how I knew all of the words. I explained to her that I had probably listened to that album hundreds of times, her reply, "You must like them", simple understated.
Download - Jane's Addiction - Ain't no right
Later on tin the Lasagna preparation Regina Spektor's song Samson came on and I sang along. Chloe's comment, "I like that song but you usually like stuff that's more rockin".
Download - Regina Spektor - Samson

To cap it off tonight on the way home from West Leb we were listening to G!'s ipod, which she had set on Coco Rosie. From the backseat Chloe came with "This lady sounds whiney" she then commenced to yell "Waaaaa Waaaa" repeatedly. She's like a reviewer from Pitchfork right there in the car. I couldn't agree more about Coco Rosie.
Download - Coco Rosie - Beautiful Boyz - The song that my six year old daughter ridiculed.

Decemberists @ The Metropolis Montreal

Colin Meloy(former high school French Club President) and the rest of the Decemberists put on a fantastic show at The Metropolis in Montreal on Sunday night. Getting across the border was a bit of a bother but with a stomach full of great Sushi and in the midst of a group of very cool, interesting people we arrived at the venue in plenty of time. In true Decemberists style, the hall was filled with the sounds of Peter and the Wolf as we collected drinks and merchandise before making our way to the floor. Let me take a moment to say that the Metropolis is a great venue. Nice sound and not a bad seat in the house. All three shows that I've attended since moving north have been in very cool spaces. You can tell from the picture above that the Decemberist's stage set was decidedly Asian flavored. It's nice to see that the band has put some thought into every aspect of the show.
The set list was dead on. They kicked it off with something from each album before playing the bulk of their new release The Crane Wife and then finished up with a new track and some old favorites. While Castaways is still my favorite album the new offering is a great solid effort. The Decemberist have managed to keep their string of interesting and engaging albums alive.
The band's energy was amazing. Having never really seen them(across a field while waiting for the Arcade Fire at ACL) I expected the show to be a little more sedate. Colin makes a great frontman, engaging the crowd, ironically rocking out and making ample use of his high school level French. The crowd seemed to like the "crooked French-Canadian" line from July! July! Above you can see Colin singing into a fan's cell phone. He also grabbed a few cameras from fans and took pictures from the stage before handing them back.

The band also acted out a battle between the red coats the huganots and the Indians during a break in the song "A Cautionary Song". You can see the new member Leslie in front of the mallet held by Chris, They were right there beside us. Overall it was another great concert experience in a city that I am beginning to like more and more. A big thanks to False45th for the ride(I owe you gas money) and Bill and Emily from Candleblog for the company.

Download - The Decemberists - July! July! - from Castaways & Cut-Outs

Download - The Decemberists - The Perfect Crime #2 - from The Crane Wife

Candleblog has a short post on the show.

False 45th took some good video that I'm sure will be posted soon.

I took a pretty decent video of A Cautionary Tale that is too big for youtube, any suggestions?

Willie Nelson - Songbird

The new Willie Nelson album Songbird is now out. As you know Ryan Adams produced the disc and he and his Cardinals are the backing band for Willie on this great disc. Willie's previous disc Countryman has been growing on me since I picked it up several months ago but this one doesn't take any time to warm up to. Willie sounds great and the Cardinals really breath life into some of Willie's classics as well as some covers and a couple of new tunes.

Download - Willie Nelson - $1000 Wedding(Gram Parsons cover)

Download - Willie Nelson - We Don't Run (Classic)

Download - Willie Nelson - Sad songs and Waltzes(One of Okryan's favorites)

Aquarium Drunkard has an even better review of the album as well as an mp3 of the song Ryan wrote for the album.

NB574

What do you think?

The Decemberists

My gigantic Decemberists ticket came in the mail so I am set for another trek up to the great white north. Can anyone explain why the ticket is so damn big? I thought everyone had gotten together and decided on a standard size(just perfect for sliding into a back pocket)? Maybe the memo on that hasn't circulated to everyone yet.

Ambitious Brew book review

I recently finished the book Ambitious Brew by Maureen Ogle. The book runs down the history of American Beer. This is a book is very easy to read. It doesn't fall into the trap of many non-fiction books of burying each page in facts that slow down the narrative until the reader finally falls asleep. This well written piece keeps the reader engaged by following several of the large brewers from their arrival in America to the present day. The end of the book covers the recent craft brewing explosion that I know several of my friends would enjoy reading. In fact this book would make a great Christmas gift for some of my home brewing friends. The book also has its own website which is pretty cool. You can buy a copy here.
Download - Ryan Adams - The Bar is a Beautiful Place