Cool Video: Iron & Wine

Here is a really cool version of God Made the Automobile by one of my favorite bands, Iron & Wine.

Lucky Now

The new Ryan Adams album, Ashes And Fire, is as great as I had hoped it would be as evidenced by the first official single from the album, Lucky Now. I am also even more excited for the live show after hearing the recent Denver show posted on I Am Fuel. Take a look at that setlist, cuts from his Whiskeytown days, a piano version of New York, closing with Come Pick Me Up, pretty astounding show. I can't wait.

Anticipate: Ryan Adams

I can't wait for the new Ryan Adams record. If the various live versions of tracks from the album floating around on the web are any indication this is going to be another great album. Most of the press reports are comparing it to his Heartbreaker album and the unreleased music that he created during that period and that is a good thing. Most people cite Heartbreaker as their favorite and he garnered a lot of critical praise for that album before really striking a chord with his Gold album. Adams seemed to lose some fans as he got jammy with the Cardinals and rocked out with his Spacewolf side project but I've been into everything he put out. This album was recorded on analog equipment in his new Pax-Am studio and will be released on his Pax-Am label.

I bought my ticket to his Paris show, in November, ten minutes after they went on sale. I don't know how popular he is here but he booked into a mid sized venue, La Trianon. I've seen Adams several times, from the tour for Gold to his stint with the Cardinals and he has never disappointed. I saw him freak out in Dallas, Texas, rock a festival audience in Austin, Texas and play a beautiful set in a quiet, intimate space in Burlington, Vermont and each time I walked away saying "Wow."

Battle - Ice Cream

What a great video for an even better song. I can't wait for the new Battles album to drop. Gloss Drop should be here soon.

What's being played

I just looked at my itunes most played list, check out the rundown.

1. God made the Automobile - Iron & Wine
2. Belated Promise Ring - Iron & Wine
3. How I needed you - Puggy
4. On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
5. Generator First Floor - Freelance Whales
6. Jump On Stage - Girl Talk
7. Airplanes - Local Natives
8. Tony the Beat - The Sounds
9. kilojoules - Freelance Whales
10. Oh No - Girl Talk
11. This is the Remix - Girl Talk
12. Tree By the River - Iron & Wine
13. We Share the Same Skies - The Cribs
14. Finish Line - Fanfarlo
15. Bottled in Cork - Ted Leo

The only real surprise to me is that How I Needed You by Puggy is so high. I love the song but didn't realize I listen to it so much. I'm a little surprised that no Titus Andronicus made the list because it feels like my wife is always telling me to turn it off. I think it was in November that I had to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything so itunes has only been keeping track since then.

Bootie Mash ups

Bootie has their best mash ups of 2010 all available for download right here. While this is nothing like the artistry of Girl Talk, some of these are pretty entertaining.

So Dope

This is so awesomely bad and so NSFW. Rhymes this dope are rare.

Will Farrell as Bowie

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

This is Christmas magic.

Michael Stipe Photo Project

Our boy Michael Stipe is busy, R.E.M. has a new album on the horizon and he finished a cool photo project that Slam X Hype did a great write up on complete with behind the scenes video.

Grammy Predictions Part two

More grammy predictions!
21. Best Rock Album. Backspacer - Pearl jam
I know that Muse album kicks ass but man that Pearl Jam album is good.
22. Best Alternative Music Album. Brothers - The Black Keys
Toughest category by far.

23. Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Faith Evans
I voted for Faith because i've never heard of anyone else in this category, oh wait, I know who Monica is maybe I should vote for her.
24. Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Usher
Is that Debarge, Debarge? I'm still going with Usher.
25. Best R&B Performance by a duo or group. The Roots.
Ok, I guess it's John Legend and The Roots but the Roots are where it's at.
26. Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. john Legend and The Roots
R. Kelly is in this category, is he still peeing on ladies?
27. Best Urban/Alternative performance. Cee Lo Green
None of these are alternative bands.

28. Best R&B Song. Shine - John Legend and the Roots.
Debarge is up for another award.
29. Best R&B Album. John Legend and The Roots
30. Best Contemporary R&B Album. Usher
Contemporary means older folks listen to it right? If so I gotta go with Usher, he's harmless and the old people like that.
31. Best Rap Solo Performance. Eminem
Just as long as it's not Kanye. i wonder if he would interrupt an acceptance speech by Eminem?
32. Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz
I haven't heard any of these songs but it's Jay-Z.
33. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz
Again, it's Jay-Z.
34. Best Rap Song. Empire State of Mind
Great song, maybe the song of the summer, I heard it a lot in New York this summer.
35. Best Rap Song. The Blueprint 3

Grammy Predictions Part one

The nominees for the 53rd Grammy awards were announced this week. What could be more fun then making predictions, 90% of which will be wrong? The Grammys have never really meant much to me but it's fun to see where the bands I like (I do have superior musical taste) rank within the confines of the pop leaning Grammys. i should mention that there are 110 categories so I might be skipping around.
1. Record of the year. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Based on plays on my itunes I have to go with Cee lo with Jay Z a close second.

2. Album of the year. The Suburbs - The Arcade Fire
What's the difference between Record and Album of the year? I know full well that Lady gaga will win this one and Boobalicious Katy Perry will be right behind her but who would I be if I didn't cast my lot with one of the greatest bands in the world?
3. Song of the year. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
I know that Ray Lamontagne is in this category and he put out a good record this year but damn that Fuck You song is good. What are the chances he'll perform and what will he wear?
4. Best new artist. Mumford & Sons
My head tells me that it's Justin Bieber but my heart says it's between Mumford & Sons and Florence & the Machine and they actually put out good music.

5. Best female pop vocal performance. Lady gaga
It's gotta be Lady Gaga, right? She did wear that meat dress. Wait, Norah Jones has a new album? Then again, Katy Perry has those breasts...
6. Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Half of My Heart - John Mayer
Ugh, what horrible choices. I chose based on tattoo quality.
7. Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals. Don't Stop Believing - Glee Cast
I like Glee.

8. Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. California Gurls - Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry
Snoop Dogg!
9. Best Pop Instrumental Performance. orchestral Intro - Gorillaz
The Gorillaz album is one of my favorites of the year.

11. Best pop vocal album. The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
She's going to win a bunch of awards right? This is a good bet.
12. Best Dance Recording. Rocket - Goldfrapp
I'm going Goldfrapp but La Roux has awesome hair.
13. Best Electronic/Dance Album. La Roux - La Roux
Really awesome hair.
14. Best traditional pop vocal album. Crazy Love - Michael Buble
The older ladies love Buble and they are the ones voting, right?
15. Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. Angry World - Neil Young
Why is everyone in this category old except for John Mayer?
16. Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Tough category, there are actually several good groups in this one.
17. Best Hard Rock Performance. Let Me Hear You Scream - Ozzy
There is no one I'd rather see on stage accepting an award.
18. Best Metal Performance. World Painted Blood - Slayer
Never bet against Slayer.
19. Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Black Mud - The Black Keys
Man that Black Keys album is gooooood.
20. Best Rock Song. Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Again, that Black Keys album is good but the Mumford & Sons song has a great shot.

Iron & Wine

After years of nothing (Around the Well wasn't new material), there is a lot of cool stuff happening with Iron & Wine in the next few months. Sam Beam dropped a pretty amazing single last Friday for the black Friday Record Store Day event. The track, Walking Far From Home, is streaming on the Iron & Wine myspace page (there's still a myspace?). Check it out, this is another big musical leap forward for Sam.
The new album Kiss Each Other Clean drops here in Europe on January 24th and in the states a day later. Check out the track listing for the new album. There's a song called Monkeys Uptown, how kick ass does that sound?

Walking Far From Home
Me And Lazarus
Tree By The River
Monkeys Uptown
Half Moon
Rabbit Will Run
Godless Brother In Love
Big Burned Hand
Glad Man Singing
Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me

Iron & Wine hit the road in January and will be playing a show in Paris at Alhambra on February 17th. This is one of the bands on my Must-See-Before-I-Die list (the Pixies were a long shot on the list for years but were finally crossed off) so I'll be making a big effort to make it to this show. If the countless bootleg shows i've listened to are any indication it should be a hell of a show. I've narrowly missed seeing the band twice and have kicked myself ever since so keep your fingers crossed.

Girl talk Breakdown

The Girl Talk obsession continues unabated here and since we can't get enough of the new disc now we can listen to the entire album and watch exactly where he drops each sample on this site.

A big thanks to Matt for the heads up on this one.

Here's another site that does the same thing but in a slightly less visual way.

Looking for a cool way to support GT and pick up a Christmas gift for someone? Check out the t-shirts here. I'm torn between "Night Ripper" and "I'm not a Dj".

Girl Talk All Day

It looks like my album of the year may have just dropped. Girl Talk is back at his mash-up magic with a new disc, All Day. The term mash-up doesn't do justice to what he's doing. Gregg Gillis plays samples like other artists play instruments to craft pop gems. If this great new album (I'm one listen in) gets as much play as his last disc it will soon dominate my itunes top 25 most played list. Like all his work the new album is free, get it here. The list of all the samples used isn't out yet but I hear some amazing things in this album.

CocoRosie Gallows

I've never been a big fan of CocoRosie's music but they really nailed the creepy vibe with this great song and even greater video. It's not that I think they aren't a good band but I can only take that fragile, high pitched, warbly sound in very small doses. It's kinda like the voice of the guy in The Crash Test Dummies, it sounds really cool for a song or two but drops off into annoying territory pretty quickly. But I digress, the video has some classic creepy elements, Victorian dress, twins and bloody tears ranking high on the creep o meter. Bonus points for making me think they were topless for a moment.

Not much going on there but their official site is here.
You can get their new album Grey Oceans from the Sub Pop site.

Daft Punk and Tron Legacy

When I was a kid Tron was one of my favorite movies so I was a little worried when I heard they were making a sequel. Thankfully, every piece of information that has come out about It has been cooler and cooler. Daft Punk creating the soundtrack is brilliant and obvious at the same time. Check out this video for another taste of what's to come.

Pixies Music relaunch

One of my favorite bands of all time are up to some pretty cool stuff. The Pixies have re vamped and relaunched their web site Pixiesmusic. The site looks great, they've obviously put some thought into it. All the usual components are there, merch links, tour info and current news but the band sets this site apart in a couple of cool ways.
They have shows available for download. If you sign up to the mailing list you get one for free. All the shows are priced at 3.99 USD for the digital download or the CD plus the download. The site says that they plan to release a new show every week. So far they cover a huge span of time, one show from '88 and two from '04. I might have to buy the shows I saw.
Another cool feature is the gigography where fans can upload pictures and video of shows and make them available for everyone else in the pixies universe. I'm gonna have to dig out my old pictures, I wonder if they want shots from Frank's solo acoustic show I attended before the band had officially broken up?
One last note, if anyone wants to get me a super awesome Christmas present the band still has the super deluxe "limited edition" of their minotaur package that contains all the pixies stuff you could ever need for just 449.99 USD.

We were Promised Jetpacks

Besides the fact that they have an bad ass name We Were Promised Jetpacks are a great Scottish band. Their full length album came out last summer entitled These Four Walls but I just got around to checking it out a couple of weeks ago. They had an EP come out a couple of months ago called The Last Place You'll Look that I haven't heard yet but i soon will. I'm a little bummed that they won't be touring anywhere near me in the near future but I'm keeping them on my radar.

Black Flag

I think most music fans of a certain age at least know of Black Flag and their place in the American punk/dyi scene. Acording to my itunes i've listened to "Rise Above" five times and "T.V. Party" twice since i switched to my new computer in mid January so to me they are still plenty relevant. They were a great musical force but you know that, I want to look at pictures.

The band and Henry Rollins in particular photographed really well. I suppose it was simply a mesh of the intensity of the performances and the iffy lighting of the punk clubs but whatever it is it looks great.

I know all of these are from the Rollins Black Flag years and extend into his solo career but my brain can't really diffrentiate the two.

Yea, the back tattoo, who didn't want that on them at some point?

He stays in shape.

Ahh the long haired period.

It made this look even more shocking. Gotta love the classic Vans.

How many sit ups do you think that took?

Short shorts are so punk rock.

The beard just doesn't seem right, but the squinty eye is perfect.

Iconic shot.

Henry is feelin it.

Black and white is really the way to go with these guys.

You've gotta appreciate the fact that he's still singing. I really hope he slapped that bald kid on the top of the head.

Vic remembered

NPR has a great piece on Fresh Air with the interview they did with Vic Chesnutt just a few weeks before he took his life and a second part with three of his closest friends sharing their rememberences of him. Michael Stipe, Guy Piccotto and Jem Cohen all have really heartwarming things to say. It makes me think I should get out and make more friends and do more awesome things so I can field at least three people to say nice things about me when I die.

Thanks to Phil I was lucky enough to see Vic Chesnutt on his second to last tour with Elf Power here in Paris. It was a pretty amazing performance and although I wasn't much of a fan going in for the simple fact that I had never really listened to him, I came out a convert.