E2TG 4/30/2021 - Featured Friday - Blockbuster Mix (Dirty Fingers Remix)

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Another week, another Featured Friday Playlist.  This week's list is slightly longer than last, and equally as full of great new and recent music. 

 

 

    Featured Friday Playlist

Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Take Me to Los Angeles Mix

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My heart is overflowing....  Last night's Friends of Jon Latham show at The 5 Spot was better than I ever could have imagined.  Overall, we raised over $600 to help with Jon's expenses. The spirit was lively and joyful and filled with love - just like Jon.  The music was top-notch.  Thanks to Kristen Englenz, Nick Nace, Darrin Bradbury, Matt Benjamin, and Sean Quinn and the Tremblers. Thanks to everyone who came out.  I still would have preferred to have Jon up their playing, but this was the next best thing.

If you could not make it out or didn't have cash to donate, there is a GoFundMe account set up.  Give and share freely...

Next, I gear up for next week's show featuring David Olney (Band) + Sergio Webb (Band). I am super excited for this show.

Being about to be a part of something like last night is just another reason that I so grateful that I started doing E2TG six years ago. It is Thursday, and this month, I am using Thursdays to highlight some of the music I have featured or presented in some way over the last six years.  Some of these bands are no longer active, some I have lost touch with, but they are all a part of the E2TG Story. Enjoy....

WOW Wednesday Music Shuffle - No Excuse Mix

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I just recently found out that the five year old daughter of Joseph "Taco" Russell is fighting a courageous battle with childhood cancer.   #E2TG sends all kinds of love and good thoughts and prayers to the entire Taco Land family.  I sometimes think of the bands/artists, I've gotten to know as part of an extended Ear to the Ground Family, and Taco Land has been a big part of that for a good portion of our history.

Right now you can get an "Audrey Strong"  bracelet plus a free download of Heart of Texas by Taco Land for a $1 (or more) donation (proceeds go to St. Jude.)  Here is the link to bandcamp...

from Taco Land:

Support bracelet for Taco's 5yr old daughter whom is fighting childhood cancer. Bracelet is Gold. This color represents the fight against all Childhood Cancers. All monies will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Bracelet comes with free download of song "Heart of Texas" which has Audrey opening the song by saying, "I love Daddy!"

Includes unlimited streaming of Heart of Texas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Shoot Out the Lights 2013 Mix

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Bang! And with this post, #E2TG closes the door on our extended recap of some of our favorite music of the past 12 months.  The Video Playlist ends up at just over 100 videos. Our Amazon Web Store comes in at 54 items.

Monday - we jump right into 2014 and hit the ground running....

Further ado avoided...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Tooth and Consequences Mix

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Mix after the JUMP

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Brain is Hanging Upside Down Mix

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Another month here at Ear to the Ground, and suddenly, we find 2013 is half over... oh, how can it be? 

Oh, it be....

We start 2013 Act II with yet another scintillating mix of music.  Sometimes, especially when time prevents me from adding very much in the way of commentary, exactly what my role is.  But, in an attempt to up my pretentiousness factor, I have decided to call what I do Curating.  So, for you listening pleasure, here is the latest E2TG mix curated by yours truly...

PRE-SHUFFLE: (Not in order)

We feature two songs from the new album by the awesome band, Beijing.  The album Night is rapidly turning into one of our favorites of a year jam-packed with great music. Today, we heard: "Violent" and "The Sun Will Set."  This band (from Connecticut not China) packs a powerful and melodious punch.

The pre-shuffle also includes two songs from Arkansas/Tennessee band Canopy Climbers. "Garden" is a bonus track from their recent Noisetrade sampler, and Always" is the opening track on their brand new album Miles.

Let's continue the twofers with a pair of songs from New York punk legends, The Ramones.  "We're a Happy Family" is from their third studio album, Rocket to Russia (1977); and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" sometimes subtitled "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down" was released first as a single in 1985 and then subsequently included on the band's ninth studio album, Animal Boy (1986).

Next up, we have the late, great Bobby Bland with "Second Hand Heart". Bland, who died on June 23 at the age of 83, left behind a legacy of great music. This song is on his 1986 album, After All.

"Mourning Train from Memphis" by Christopher Paul Stelling from Songs of Praise and Scorn (2012)  A favorite of mine. Beautiful, and as I've said over and over again, I am a sucker for a train song.

"Beach Day" by Beach Day - just discovered this great band from Hollywood, Florida.  Great mix of surf rock, girl group and punk.  From their brand new TripTrap Attack album.

And finally, we just grabbed a live recording of Radiohead from June 1995 which just released on Noisetrade (in conjunction with Paste magazine). Coincidentally, I actually saw Radiohead live a couple of months after the show recorded here (opening for R.E.M. in Nashville), and between the time this recording was made and the show I saw, my amazing daughters were born.  We have "The Bends" - the title track from what was then the latest Radiohead album (released March 1995).

We have an amazing shuffle after the jump...

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Power of Equality Mix

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 Time is short, and we have some nifty tunes to bring you...




Pre-Shuffle: 

We started with an early morning wake up call from our new friend The Gabriel Construct. Yesterday, we featured the first track on his brand new Interior City album.  Today, we heard "Curing Somatization" the last track on the album.  A blistering, challenging 10 plus minute powerhouse filled with some glorious and amazing noise.  

Next, "I Wanna Live" by the Ramones

"Leave it All Behind" by Nikki Sue and the Bad News

"Don't Wanna Die Anymore" by Ivan and Alyosha

"Are You Hung Up?" by Wheelchair Sports Camp

and "Little Mascara" by The Replacements


SHUFFLE NEXT:

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Take It Mix

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I am very excited and pleased with today's mix of music.  I know, I know, I'm always pleased with the mix of music, but today especially we have a great mix of new and old music that darts across the vast field of genre and styles.

PRE-SHUFFLE:

We begin with another direct from my e-mail inbox to my ear-hole.  Liquid Casing is a four-piece progressive/rock band from Houston, Texas. Their brand new album A Separat|Divide is out today and takes on the subject of borders and illegal immigration. Today, we got our first listen via an instrumental track called "Non-Linear Solution", and I have to say I was very impressed.  Combining elements of hard progressive rock and at times dissonant.  I hope you will check this band out, and I know I can't wait to hear more.

Next up some awesome Americana from William Pilgrim and The All Grows Up with "About a Girl" which is on their debut EP The Great Recession which was released last September.

 How about some music from the legendary jazz artist Charles Mingus.  This live recording of "Mingus Blues" comes from an album called Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert which was released on Columbia in 1972.

 Periodically, I check out Noisetrade and read descriptions of some of the selections to see what catches my fancy. When I read the description of The Weight of Glory by Heath McNease which stated that it was a hip hop remix of the works of C.S. Lewis, I was skeptical but intrigued. They had one track available to preview and I listened and was pleasantly surprised enough to download. Today, the track "Surprised by Joy" came up, and I have to say I really dig it.

We next have another great track from the new album, Miles, by Canopy Climbers. This one is called "Melody".

How about the new one from The Civil Wars.  "The One That Got Away" is our first taste of the band's follow-up to the break-through Barton Hollow. My first impression is that it is a strong song that moves things forward nicely.

 We close out the Pre-Shuffle with another track from Christopher Paul Stelling's Songs of Praise and Scorn. "Solar Flares" is flat out an amazing song.

SHUFFLE NEXT

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Boy They Can't Ignore Mix

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 Warner E. Hodges from this past Saturday's Royal Court of China Reunion at Foobar. Nashville.

Had a blast this past Saturday witnessing a reunion show by Nashville Rock legends Royal Court of China with special guest Warner E. Hodges on guitar.  As an added bonus, the band was introduced by the cover model from their self-titled debut album (she was actually Japanese).

Onward and upward, we have another great collection of music this morning, and as usual, the accompanying Playlist includes the songs from the Mix or if the actual song was not available (or locatable) in video form, another song by the same artist.

Pre-Shuffle (songs from my morning drive):

"The Moon Dead in the River" by Wendy James
"Bad Feeling" by The Beat Up (formerly known as The Beatings) 
"Who Are You" by Ivan and Alyosha
" This Time Around" by Royal Court of China
"Vanity" by Monks of Mellonwah (from their excellent new EP Ghost Story)
"Blood of the Saints" by Dave Hogan (who I got to see at the Nashville Songwriter Festival a few weeks ago with a h/t to Jason from Grimm Generation)
"Trip" by Canopy Climbers (from their awesom album Miles)

 Shuffle commences right after the JUMP

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Big, Bad Wolfe Mix

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 "Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good!" Run D.M.C.

 Wow.  April is almost toast.  It's been a helluva month for music.  We hope to have a recap up soon.  In the meantime, we're packed with our usual quirky mix of old and new music to enlighten, entertain and excite your senses.

PRE-SHUFFLE

"Did You Lie" by Taco Land
"Being John McEnroe" by The Pistolwhips
"Brick x Brick"by Christopher Paul Stelling
"Soulard" by Taco Land 
"Mary Magdalene" by Game Theory

The two Taco Land tracks are from the band's latest Pancakes and Pizza.  The Pistolwhips song (great title and a great song) is off The Appetizer Sampler put out by the good folks and Built 4 BBQ.  The song by Christopher Paul Stelling is the first track released from his brand new album False Cities which is tearing it up right now! The pre-shuffle ends with the Game Theory song - as we continue to feature the great music of this 80s era San Francisco band in memory and homage to the late Scott Miller.

SHUFFLE commences after the jump...

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Be Careful Mix

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It was a frosty morning, and we've reached that time of year when every sunrise and every sunset seem to be competing to be the most amazing and awe-inspiring.  This morning I was accompanied by a few great instrumental tracks and a couple of songs with words which flowed over me and took me out of myself.  It's Morning and time to Shuffle...

Today we have songs by: 1. A jazz legend 2. A Concord California dark, bluesy rock band 3.  The great-nephew of another jazz legend who was the wife of still another jazz legend 4.  A Nashville based super-duo and 5.  A Brooklyn-based troubadour who navigates the emotional landscape across a promised land laced with pitfalls and landminds

Let's proceed. Shall we?


Charlie Parker is an iconic figure of the jazz age.  He died in 1955 at the young age of 34, but his music and his legacy live on.  Today, we have Hot Blues a faster and (yes) hotter take on his well known Cool Blues. The song is featured in the opening sequence of the 1971 Louis Malle film Murmur of the Heart - right before Laurent shoplifts a Charlie Parker record.  Which lead me to the observation/generalization, "The French love Jazz, but they don't like to pay for it." (see the film Diva for further support of this axiom).

Here's a version of Cool Blues - couldn't find Hot Blues

  




 Featured Artist The Chaw - the Concord, California dark, blues rock band are up next with the instrumental Campaigning Man from their self-titled debut.

Here is the Kickstarter video for the album

I'm running out of time, so I will be quick with the rest of the shuffle - no reflection on the awesome music...

Flying Lotus is the stage name of Stephen Ellison who is the great-nephew of jazz pianist Alice Coltrane who was the wife of John Coltrane.  Flying Lotus makes cool, electronic-based music.  Today we have Putty Boy Strut from his latest release Until the Quiet Comes.

 

Featured Artists Sugar and the Hi Lows (by the way, I use "and" instead of the ampersand because for some reason - at least on my browser, blogger does funky things with the ampersand) as I was saying Sugar and the Hi Lows (awesome singer-songwriters Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs) are one of our Featured Artists.  Today we have See it For Yourself from their self-titled album.  They also have a new Christmas album out.

 

The shuffle ends with another amazing song from the Brooklyn troubadour, Christopher Paul Stelling (also a Featured Artist).  Strange Darkness is from his album Songs of Praise and Scorn.

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Semisweet Tears of Pure Apathy Mix

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 Blah blah blah.... stuff... random blathering...

okay, with that out of the way, let's get right to another packed music shuffle:


Carolina Story are not from North or South Carolina (at least as far as I can tell).  They are a married couple from North Dakota and Arkansas.  They met in Memphis and currently reside across the Cumberland River from where I am right now.    They have been touring with rising Memphis band Star and Micey.  Before the tour the two bands put out a Live sampler on Noisetrade.  That sampler includes a live version of the Carolina Story song, Gold.

Current Featured Artists, The Dirty Urchins join a talented and growing list of young bands who are carving and clawing and digging out their own path playing timeless, soulful and well-crafted music for the post-post modern era. Hand me the Crown is taken from the band's Just in Time EP.

 

New York/New Jersey band The Ugly Club released a live acoustic album called Songs from a 10th Street Apartment.  The original versions of the songs can be found on the band's full-length debut called You Belong to the Minutes.  Today, we have The Mountain.

 

And how the hell did I miss out on this.

For this month, I front loaded my playlist with our Featured Artists for the month (including songs we've had in shuffles before).  This to explain, the repeat appearance of Christopher Paul Stelling with Solar Flares from his Songs of Praise and Scorn album.  I'm not complaining.

Another Featured Artist jumps into the mix.  Paul Davidson with his song California Dreams which he released as a single.

Fidlar are a Los Angeles band.  The band released a single called, Cheap Beer back in September.  I don't know much yet about the band or their music, but I like this song, and I want to hear more.

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Mr. Cheap's Guide to Wine: Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget - The return of the Mr. Cheap's brand in an all-new format    - Perfect for the price-conscious, yet sophisticated consumer   - Wine is gaining popularity with the chic, but budget-savvy mid-twenties to early thirties demographic   Everybody is looking for a bargain these days, especially on wine. But most buyers do not know the secrets necessary to buy just the right wine--without emptying their wallets  This intriguing guide is filled with engaging, enlightening information on:    - The history of wine and the different varieties   - The best wines for $10   - A crash course on wine shopping   - What makes expensive wine expensive (and how to get around it )   - How to pair wine with the right food for an inexpensive party   Complete with a crash course on wine shopping, Mr. Cheap's Guide to Wine is the perfect gift for wine lovers with sophisticated palates and tight budgets

Hopes N Hats: Tears Through Laughter and Laughter Through Tears We had a culture of our own; rules that we lived by, using humor to get us through the tough times. We learned to laugh at ourselves in the face of terror, evil, danger, and to laugh at our misgivings. This book offers something for a broad range of people. Looking back over the sixties and seventies, I have to allow the truth to enter in on occasion. We lived in a simpler time, but still underwent massive changes in our culture. The eighties and nineties, we raised our children, using the faith and values bestowed upon us, by our parents, with a few modifications. Our children are now on their own; given all that we had to give, not monetarily, but from the head and heart to raise their children. Sharing tears is as important as sharing the good times. Our community coming together helped us through it all. We are never too young, too old, too crippled to make a difference in someone elses life.

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - I'm Smilin' not Gloatin' Mix

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 Good morning world from downtown Nashville!


I'll save the rhetoric for now.  Call this shuffle, music for the morning after....


I can't explain how much in love I am with Songs of Praise and Scorn by current Featured Artist, Christopher Paul Stelling. Up today is the lead-off track from that album which is called Mourning Train to Memphis. I'm a sucker for a train song, and I once lived in Memphis; so this song strikes a chord with me. 

Jessica Pratt is a San Francisco based Folk singer (hum-dinger). She just recently released her self titled debut album (called Jessica Pratt interestingly enough).  The lead song from this record is the lovely Night Faces. Head over to Stereogum to get the MP3 of Night Faces.  Like what you've heard? Then go to the Birth Records site to get the album.

Shelly Colvin released her album Up the Hickory Down the Pine on October 30th.  The CD release party is this Thursday here in Nashville, and Ear2theGround will be there!  The album is chocked full of great music, and To the Bone is one of them.

Here's Shelly with Red June doing Red Dirt Girl

We close out a delightfully consistent set of music with the title track from the album Forget About Wonderland by the band Walking for Pennies.  I'm really digging this record.

 

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The Invention of 'Folk Music' and 'Art Music': Emerging Categories from Ossian to Wagner We tend to take for granted the labels we put to different forms of music. This study considers the origins and implications of the way in which we categorize music. Whereas earlier ways of classifying music were based on its different functions, for the past two hundred years we have been obsessed with creativity and musical origins, and classify music along these lines. Matthew Gelbart argues that folk music and art music became meaningful concepts only in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and only in relation to each other. He examines how cultural nationalism served as the earliest impetus in classifying music by origins, and how the notions of folk music and art music followed - in conjunction with changing conceptions of nature, and changing ideas about human creativity. Through tracing the history of these musical categories, the book confronts our assumptions about different kinds of music.

GREAT TRAIN SONGS MURRAY,ANNE        COUNTRY    DEFAULT    UPC:724382701224

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Ear to the Ground Presents: Featured Artists for November/December (3 and 4 of 20)

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Continuing to unveil our Featured Artists to close out 2012 - we have a fun band from Nashville and a brilliant singer-songwriter from Brooklyn.  Enjoy




3. Cheer Up Charlie Daniels (Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter) - "Beatlesque Pop Rock w/ hint o WEEN" 


Members: Neil O'Neil- Guitars, VOX   Luke Skidmore- Lead Guitar, VOX Adam " Kosher Ham" Selzer- Wurlitzer/M3, VOX  Gary "Sorta Sincerely" Hundley- Bass, VOX Laughter  Skylar Glover- Drums Lydia Elise- VOX, Perc  Tyler Jones- Synth Lead   Rev. Logan Sandrock- The Gospel of Rock and Roll Grace Kelly- BGV's

City: Nashville, TN

Most recent release:

4.  Christopher Paul Stelling (Website, Facebook, Twitter) - "The musical storytelling of Christopher Paul Stelling embodies a long road full of lush folkloric, mythological and religious imagery." - WNYC

Member: Christopher Paul Stelling

City:  Brooklyn

Latest Release:

 

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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Horses and Bayonets Mix

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Here in Tennessee, we are in the midst of Indian Summer.  Highs in the 80s.  It won't last, but I like it.  Let's get to our shuffle:

Christopher Paul Stelling is part of an emerging Brooklyn Music scene.  We've met The End Men, The Gypsy West and The Disappointment among others.  To me, it's an exciting scene. Exciting for the diversity and openness of the players. On his debut album, Songs of Praise and Scorn, Stelling delivers a gorgeous set of songs which emerge out of the old South, travel the twisted highways of life and settle comfortably into the urban Northwest. Solar Flares is simply a beautiful, haunting song. Clean, shiver-inducing guitar licks combine with his emotionally powerful vocals. As I walked through the early morning chill, I felt like I could have staying the moment forever. 

"still waiting on the sun to go and tear on through them clouds: it’ll shine right down when the time allows."

 

Vulture Kult play unapologetic, uncompromising Hard ROCK music. Mixing the pure ROCK power of Zeppelin and Black Sabbath with the break-neck paced raw energy of the best of classic and neo-classic punk rock, Vulture Kult lays it all out everytime, and that makes them a joy to listen to. The Band recently dropped their 2nd album called Don't Let Rock N' Roll Ruin Your Life, and today, we have a double shot from the duo from Saskatoon.  First up, we have the title track from the album and then we have a sonic attack called Cynanide Hand Grenade.  These songs pumped me up and gave me the energy I needed to move forward into my day.

 

 

Sprout the Band are a California Bluesy, Funky Jammy type band who are according to their Facebook page on indefinite hiatus. We came across a track called Running Wild which can be found on their Live in the Barn set which was released via Bandcamp a year ago.

 

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