Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Focused on March Mix

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Today, I am shuffling up a playlist of music which has been added to my MP3 over the past couple of months or so. This includes some music I specifically wanted to highlight in March.

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Can See No Reason Mix

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Before we get to the shuffle, I have to take a moment to send out lots of prayers, good thoughts and love to everyone affected by the tragedy in Connecticut on Friday.  And let's face it, it affected most of us in some way.  Several bands we follow regularly here at Ear t the Ground live not too far from Newtown. The Velveteens who were featured artists a couple of months back had family members who attend the school. Thankfully, they were okay. For those of us with children, for those of us who have any compassion - this was an unspeakably devastating event.  But talk we must.  So, I sent out the prayers and good thoughts and love to those in Newtown and those in Connecticut and those in the United States of America and those in the world.  We are sick of violence, but we feel powerless in the face of it.  But, if there is power to break the cycles and change the old ways, it will... it must come from within us.  And it won't all come in these fleeting moments of national and international grief and outrage.  The necessary changes have to come over time, even as the immediacy of the horror begins to fade and blend with all the previous horrors which were once in our immediate path.
 

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Representin' Mix

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Well, well, well... my Americana weekend doesn't officially begin until tomorrow, but the music starts tonight.  Freehold, New Jersey's own Jo Wymer, who is a fantastic blues singer was one of part of our first class of Featured Artists back in June, is part of an in-the-round tonight at 7:00 at the Red Rooster on Demonbreun St. at the very end of Music Row near the Musica statue.  Get out to Red Rooster if you can.

I also want to send out a reminder to check out our Featured Artists of the Month - you can find out about them by going to the Featured Artist Page on the right sidebar or HERE:

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First up we have some Punkcore music out of Salt Lake City.  You never know what is going turn up on Ear to the Ground do you?  I got connected to S3X via a #FF from a really awesome group called The Foresters  from Connecticut (if you keep up with on Facebook or Twitter you already know about these kids.  We'll have more about them here - very soon - let's just say they make Northbrook Garage look like the Rolling Stones - agewise) - Here S3X is representing their hometown with 801 which also features Fronz from the band Attila - an Atlanta rock band. This is some serious hardcore that kicks in with a killer hook  - you'll want to scream along and shake your fist in the air and generally look like a doofus 'cause you are 46 years old... wait that's me.  You'll like it.

Next up, we have Welcome to Pittsburgh by River City Extension who are from Tom's River, New Jersey of their most recent release Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger. This is a great record - please check it out.

 

Next up, we have Rumi who is from St. Legier which I think is in Switzerland.  Living in the Mirror  is some cool, mellow Pop/Folk. It comes off an album called Stand Against.

And finally, we close out this decidedly eclectic mix of music with I am the Man, Thomas a gospel bluegrass song written by Ralph Stanley and Larry Sparks and performed here by Mr. Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.  

How does one get from Punkcore to Gospel Bluegrass in one simple shuffle?  As I written before, I believe in connections when it comes to music.  I'll admit, I was hard pressed to explain this connection, but here goes.... While looking up info on the Ralph Stanley song, I found an unattributed quote: “Bluegrass is to country what heavy metal is to rock and roll.”

 Which it occurred to me could be paraphrased as follows: “Bluegrass is to country what hardcore is to punk.”  So... think that puts a neat bow on the shuffle, brings things full circle, ties up the loose ends and whatever other expression you want to use.

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The Banjo of Ralph Stanley (From Old-Time to Bluegrass). By Ralph Stanley. DVD/Instructional/Folk Instrmt. DVD. Guitar tablature. 1 pages. Homespun #DVDRALBJ21. Published by Homespun

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Losing Grounds Mix

Well... some bummer news yesterday.  It appears that one of our Featured Artists from July - The Raindoggs are going on indefinite hiatus due to some personnel issues. We will keep you informed, but let's hope they come back soon with some more amazing music like this:

Well, let's get to the shuffle:

First up, we have a song from the latest album by Damien Jurado.  We recently featured Arkansas from his next to latest release, St. Bartlett.  This time we have Working Titles off of his fabulous Maraqopa.

 

 

Next up, we have another artist we ran across over at ReverbNation.  This time it is Buffalo, New York native and current Nashville resident Chris Nathan with some sweet Southern Soul music.  The song came across on my MP3 player as Never Needed Nothing, but when I went back to find it again today, the closest I could find was a song called Nothing 'Til I Needed You and I wasn't able to listen to see if it was the same song.  Either way, check out Chris Nathan and see what think.

Here is the latest from Chris Nathan.  This EP does not contain either of the possibly two songs.

 

And here's a video for a different song

Next up we have Lookout by Orgone from their album Cali Fever.  Orgone are a Los Angeles based Funk/R&B combo who came to our attention when they played a show with Northbrook Garage around the time they were Band of the Week and then Band of the Month.

And finally, we have Run from the British  band Spiritualized's debut album, Lazer Guided Melodies which was released in 1992.  

 

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Grab the latest from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros from Amazon for just $5.00 bucks.

The Envelope Please...

They're a garage band... the come from Northbrook, Illinois. 


Congratulations to Northbrook Garage. They are our Band of the Month for March 2012.


The kids from the suburbs of Chicago, who make amazingly mature music and bring the soul when they have to, brought the votes.  But, hey Northbrook Garage are already old hands at winning...  Here they are doing an Amy Winehouse cover at Ardent Studios in Memphis.  They won the opportunity to record at the legendary studio.

In honor of their latest victory, we are offering their song So What for the bargain price of $0.99 at Amazon* just click on the album cover below.

*Okay fine, .99 is the normal price, but it's less than a dollar and it's a great song, so go download it now!

Congratulation to Northbrook Garage

Last Chance to Vote for March Band of the Month

Just 5 hours to go.  Northbrook Garage has a significant, but not insurmountable lead so far.

<------------the poll is on the left sidebar near the top of the page.

And if you come to this post specifically to vote for one band, be sure to check out all of our nominees.  One last time here they are.

A Social State

Kafka

Calicocat

Northbrook Garage

Finn Bonel

Band of the Month Polls Have Opened

It's time again, where I wash my hands of the this whole thing and let you  the angry mob decide which of the Bands of the Week from March, 2012 are going to be the Band of the Month and received an automatic bid into the Band of the Year Poll.


UPDATE:  I forgot to mention that the poll is on the sidebar to the left.


We had five Bands of the Week this month so let's recap:


Week 1 - A Social State are a fine indie rock band from Scranton, PA 

Week 2 - Kafka - is an excellent singer-songwriter from Burnley, England.

Week 3 - Calicocat - are a cool indie band from right here in Nashville, TN.

Week 4 - Northbrook Garage - those soulful suburban "babies" from Northbrook, IL

Week 5 - Finn Bonel - the amazing artist from South London, England

Vote now!  One vote per person (or at least per computer) (unless you can beat the system) Just vote!

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Tiger of Manhatten Mix

I'm currently reading Jonathan Lethem's rather trippy novel Chronic City (and yes the titular Chronic is what you think).  I'm a big Jonathan Lethem fan, and so far I'm enjoying the book, but I'm just about half way through - it's very long.  Anyway, there are lots of interesting occurrences and references in the book. The novel falls into the classification of what I like to call hyper-realism, which for me means a view of the world which is skewed from what most of us perceive as reality.

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We are in a daze, a haze, a maze

we are amazed

we meet an icon and are surprised

to find the truth behind

their facade

And then we are overtaken with joy

and laughter fills the air around our ears

We look around and fine ourselved

unimpressed

****

Our list today features music added into the MP3 for the month of March - it's our last adds for March.

Here is today's list:

 

Dancing Daze is  from The Avett Brothers' 2006 album Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions  which was recorded in 10 days in early 2005.

 

"Mean" Joe Green comes from recent Band of the Week, Calicocat off of their 2011 set, Unnatural Oasis.

  Couldn't find a video of the band doing this song, so here is the classic Coca-Cola commercial of Mean Joe Greene.

 

The Way You Laugh is by Dawes off of Nothing is Wrong.

 

And finally, we have our brand new Band of the Week, Northbrook Garage with their song  So What.

 

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Affiliated Links:

Chronic City The acclaimed author of "Motherless Brooklyn" and "The Fortress of Solitude" returns with a roar with this gorgeous, searing portrayal of Manhattanites wrapped in their own delusions, desires, and lies. Chase Insteadman, a handsome, inoffensive fixture on Manhattan's social scene, lives off residuals earned as a child star on a beloved sitcom called "Martyr & Pesty." Chase owes his current social cachet to an ongoing tragedy much covered in the tabloids: His teenage sweetheart and fiancee, Janice Trumbull, is trapped by a layer of low-orbit mines on the International Space Station, from which she sends him rapturous and heartbreaking love letters. Like Janice, Chase is adrift, she in Earth's stratosphere, he in a vague routine punctuated by Upper East Side dinner parties. Into Chase's cloistered city enters Perkus Tooth, a wall-eyed free-range pop critic whose soaring conspiratorial riffs are fueled by high-grade marijuana, mammoth cheeseburgers, and a desperate ache for meaning. Perkus's countercultural savvy and voracious paranoia draw Chase into another Manhattan, where questions of what is real, what is fake, and who is complicit take on a life-shattering urgency. Along with Oona Laszlo, a self-loathing ghostwriter, and Richard Abneg, a hero of the Tompkins Square Park riot now working as a fixer for the billionaire mayor, Chase and Perkus attempt to unearth the answers to several mysteries that seem to offer that rarest of artifacts on an island where everything can be bought: Truth. Like Manhattan itself, Jonathan Lethem's masterpiece is beautiful and tawdry, tragic and forgiving, devastating and antic, a stand-in for the whole world and a place utterly unique.

Mean Joe Greene and the Steelers' front four This book is in Used condition

Band of the Week: Year 2, Month 4, Week 4: Northbrook Garage

"I don't mind other guys dancing with my girl
That's fine, I know them all pretty well
But I know sometimes I must get out in the light
Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright
The kids are alright"  - The Who










And yes, the kids are alright....

We were first introduced to  Northbrook Garage by way of their cover of Big Star's Thirteen from this years Couch by Couch West Festival.  In case you missed it, here it is:

The cover was inspired by the band's recent sessions at legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis where Big Star and front man (the late) Alex Chilton recorded (plus many others).  

The most obvious thing you notice about Northbrook Garage is that they are young - like young, young.  I mean, the older I get the older "young" becomes, but Northbrook Garage are in their early to mid teens. But, putting that aside for a minute, because c'mon One Direction are young teens, but the comparisons end there. ***Bloggers Note*** I can honestly say I know absolutely nothing of any substance about One Direction, so this last statement is a huge assumption.  ***End Note***

One can't help but have expectations about what a band of cute kids from the suburbs of Chicago will be and sound like, but this band blows all of those expectations out of the water.  They groove deep and they've got the chops to carry off the music they take on. From their originals to their eclectic and sometimes surprising mix of cover tunes.  They have caught ear of many who know more than me what soulful music is... Read this quote and then watch this video:

“The babies are bringing back soul! Ain’t that something!” - Sharon Jones (of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings)

You can grab the bands debut single from Amazon - click on the pic below:

Northbrook Garage on Facebook

And on Twitter

Finally on You Tube

Obviously these kids are just starting out, and only time will tell where their musical journey will take them.  For now, us jaded old folks can just sit back and marvel and dig the grooves they're laying down.... I'll end with one final video - a cover of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel my Love:

 

Busted Flat in Nashville

Sorry for the lack of a morning shuffle this a.m.  My tire had other plans for me....


If you haven't done so, you must go check out Couch by Couchwest.  This on-line alternative to South by Southwest is a blast, and is garnering some legit press - like No Depression and some rag called USA Today.


Some of your Ear to the Ground favorites have shown up here:  Our friends' The End Men kicked off the whole shebang with some of their brand of gritty bluesy rock.  Great tracks also from The Dead Exs, Those Mockingbirds and probably others - with more to come.


Also we've discovered some great bands so be sure to sit back, grab a cold one, cook up some tacos.  And get ready to enjoy some amazing music.


To whet you appetite, here is a band of yutes called Northbrook Garage doing a cover of Big Star's Thirteen