As I expected, after a week off, we have a 65 song 4+ hour Featured Friday Playlist - and it is jam-packed with great music. So, strap in... I have something in mind to get us through the next week, but as usual, we will start with the first segment - this time 15 songs - down below the jump.
Usual disclaimers and stuff - follow the Playlist on Spotify. If you hear music you like, support the artist in a meaningful way - off of Spotify (buy music and/or merch, spread the word, follow on social media and/or sign up for e-mail lists, see the band live if they come to your town...)
Set list from Royal Court of China Reunion Show 6/21/2013
So a longer than usual morning commute in three parts instead of the usual two, and tons of great music. As usual, the Video Playlist at the end attempts to represent the songs in the mix - actual song when possible, alternate song or video if not possible. Only one artist/song is not in the Playlist but more on that later.
Pre-Pre-Shuffle:
"The Turning Quiet" by Joshua Worden (Soulful Pop)
"Two Weeks on the Ocean" by James the Giant (not represented on playlist 'cause I couldn't find any videos - debut self-titled EP and this song is the first "single" - Album due out next month - a song about his brother who was killed in Afghanistan. This one gave me goosebumps)
"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk feat. Pharell (Yeah!)
"Justice'nt Right" by Wheelchair Sports Camp (Yes! Very yes!)
"Stuck" by Canopy Climbers (from their latest - Miles)
"Forget It" by Royal Court of China (they did this one in the show Saturday night. A favorite from the self-titled record)
"The Ballad of Billy Polk" by The End Men (Hell yeah - The End Men back in the shuffle with a favorite from their latest, Play With Your Toys (ah who am I kidding their all favorites)
"Alex Chilton" by The Replacements (if this was all The Replacements had done, it would be enough to immortalize them... "I never go far, without a little Big Star")
"The Walking Dead" by Bella's Bartok (Um... Oh, yeah!)
End of Pre-Pre-Shuffle
Pre-Shuffle
"Coming On a Black Day" by Stomacher (One of our favorites from the early days of this blog. This song - hell this whole album and their subsequent release are brilliant. This may still be my favorite Stomacher song)
"You've Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" Mr. Kind and Picture Atlantic (collab. featuring our friend Brian Bergeron's band Mr. Kind joining forces with San Jose band Picture Atlantic, to take on a Spoon song)
"Psycho Therapy" by Ramones (First you try Psycho Therapy - from 1983s Subterranean Jungle)
ICYMI - please check out Sandy Hook: Somewhere Over the Rainbow featuring the Children of Newtown along with Ingrid Michaelson which was produced by Chris and Tina of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club renown.
It continues to be winter here in Nashville, but we press on... Let's shuffle - after the jump:
Stomacher were our second ever Band of the Week shortly after this blog got started. They are an awesome band from San Francisco with unique, dark and melodic sound. They have been hard at work, Kickstarting and working with some awesome folks, and now the fruits of their labors are ready... I'll let Stomacher tell you about it!
If you like what you hear, please support us and purchase for $9. Your contributions are greatly appreciated and help us continue as an independent band.
Grammy Award-winning Stuart Sikes (Cat power, The White Stripes, Loretta Lynn) mixed the record, and Howie Weinburg (U2, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley) mastered the record, and it sounds fantastic!
Let go - Some music news (feeling like Kurt Loder):
Bon Voyage (or how ever you say that in Italian) to The End Men has they embark on their 2012 European tour.
The Nearly Deads are on MTV part of MTVu Freshmen 5. Go here to vote for them and push them over the top.
Reminder that Sci-Fi Romance's album The Ghost of John Henry drops today. See my recent review with all the details for how to grab your own copy. And then go grab your own copy (digital or CD formats).
Now to the shuffle:
First up, we have Chevrolet from the 2006 Re-release (with extras) of Gather in Song by Damien Jurado. I am a huge Damien Jurado fan, and I love this song.
A video of a different Damien Jurado song cause I couldn't find one for Chevrolet...
Next we go deeper into the fabulous Heart of Texas album by 2011 Band of the Year finalist Taco Land. Today, we have Find My Run which shows off this band's sound which manages once again to confound expectations of what an album called Heart of Texas by a band called Taco Land would sound like while at the same time meeting or exceeding those expectations.
The video is for Wonderful Rain off the fabulous Heart of Texas album. Couldn't find Find My Run
By a technicality, the third song should not be included in today's shuffle. Due to some technical problems, the MP3 didn't play, but I had to post anyway.
Coldplay honored Adam Yauch (MCA) with a piano-led cover of The Beastie Boys classic (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!). Check out the chilling, slow cover and go grab the Boys classic Licensed to Ill album.
And finally, we got one of the new tracks by Stomacher from their forthcoming album. Moonlight Blues finds the band continuing to explore the darker reaches with their usual flair for the melodic. The new album, Clara, is set to drop in June. Check out some of the tracks as well as the band's back catalog - here.
Been away... took a bit of a vacation from the 'net. Work, work, and some play. Had a good visit with an old friend, took to the woods with my camera, and spent some time behind bars.... all in all, a nice trip, but it is so good to be home...
We shall return to our normally scheduled blogging, but in case you've forgotten all about me while I've been away, I offer up a gentle reminder:
A brand new track from one of our early Bands of the Week: Stomacher from their forthcoming album, Clara.
Crime and the City Solution (Wim Wenders, Wings of Desire)
Another early Band of the Week is STOMACHER. We still listen to Sentimental Education quite often. They recently funded a new album using Kickstarter and have been posted about the progress on their Facebook Page.
Now today comes the official release of the first song from the new album. The song is Carnival Rock and you can check it out via bandcamp using the widget above.
The song is true to the STOMACHER aesthetic of dark melodic rock, and it moves things forward in an interesting way. I can't wait to hear the new album. Check out STOMACHER.
In the course of the 8 months I've been writing this here blog-thing, I've had the good fortune to meet some truly amazing and interesting people from all over the world. I gone down some rabbit holes and found gold (is that a mixed metaphor or just a goofy statement). One rabbit hole has lead me to an incredibly rich and vibrant music scene in the New York/New Jersey area. In fact, I'm officially declaring myself the preeminent New York/New Jersey music blogger who lives in Nashville. Anyone care to challenge me for that title? Hmm? No. Okay then, the ayes have it.
One of the first bands that started me on this journey is a hard rocking band Montclair, New Jersey called Those Mockingbirds. On their EP, Fa Sol La (out in a few days on vinyl), they stretch there musical muscles and bring it. "I'm quite drunk on your intimate cocktail" from today's track, The Bloodiest Gums, speaks to an all too familiar pain and is nice counter-part to some of the more straight-ahead rockers on the EP. Not that Bloodiest Gums doesn't rock. In fact, it rocks me all the way to center of my heart.
Take a listen to The Bloodiest Gums
and check out their earlier release No Symmetry over at Amazon - you can grab it for under 4 bucks.
Of course not all of the great music I've discovered since I began writing this blog comes from New York and New Jersey. One of the first contacts I made on Twitter - even before I began writing Ear to the Ground was a group made up of three brothers who currently live right in my backyard (not literally, but if they are willing to fight it out with my three dogs, they are welcome, too.). The Redding Brothers are a pretty impressive lot. They release a song-a-week for an entire year. They delve in to some pretty deep lyrical territory. I was just reading about the acapella group Days of Youth which includes some younger Reddings. Last year, Gabriel, the youngest of the Redding Brothers (band), released an impressive solo album called Untethered. I was pleasantly surprised at the experimental sound of the record which contains a variety of styles. I can't say for sure why I was surprised... The song today is Waterfall.
You can grab Untethered by Gabirel here:
Ben Semmens, who also goes by the moniker BenSem, is a helluva good singer-songwriter from South Wales. He is wrapping up a new album which he recorded on Cumberland Island in Georgia (USA). The album is currently expect out in March, and I can't wait to hear it. In the meantime, I've got his album Western Lights to keep me happy, and I'm pleased today to have heard two great tracks from that album. Science Project and the song that first turned me onto Mr. Semmens - the luscious Carol Ann.
Western Lights can be yours for a song (under $9 bucks actually) by clicking the album cover below:
Stomacher are an awesome band from the Bay Area. They are also wrapping up work on a new album. They used to the wonderful resource kickstarter to um.. kickstart this one. I am waiting with bated breath for this one as well. Their 2009 release Sentimental Education has been burning up my MP3 player since I discovered these guys last year. Amazon will also hook you up with this album and their previous self-titled album. Check it out:
Here is more information about the Bands of the Week for 2011:
Week 1: Maxim Ludwig & the Santa Fe Seven - California based Rock band - Appeared at this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco and has earned a spot at this years SXSW Festival in Austin. Check out the video of a song we like, Stacy C'mon:
Week 2: Stomacher - is a San Francisco based Rock band. They play atmospheric, sometimes dark yet melodic music. They recently had a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund their next album which is currently in production. Check out the video for Untitled/Dark Divider from their Sentimental Education album:
Week 3: Redding Brothers - is a Nashville based indie band. Unlike the Doobie Brothers or Cary Brothers, The Redding Brothers are actually brothers named Redding. The band once wrote, recorded and released a song a week for one whole year. Check out a live video of their song Solid:
Week 4: World Service Project - is a London based - Jazz/Experimental/Punk Band. Here is a recent video of their performace at the London Jazz Festival:
Week 5: You and Me - are Val and James from Montreal Canada. They have been making music for 10 years. They play Folksy, Pop, Bluesy, Rock music. Here is a widget with their self-titled album:
Week 6: The Alternates -are a Los Angeles based indie rock band. They are an exciting band that I expect to hear much more from. Front man, Spencer Livingston recently released a song called Occupy Wall Street. Here's a track we like called The Modern Way.
Week 7: Ubiquity Machine - hail from Arlington, Virginia. Back when I named them band of the week, I didn't know anything about them except that I really liked some of the music I was hearing. They list their genre on Facebook as: AltIndiePopRockSkronkDeathPolkaDancercize which I love. Here is their sublimely lovely international smash hit, A Beautiful Girl: 01 A Beautiful Girl by Ubiquity Machine
Week 8: Inner City Elegance - are Canadian with a connection to Brazil. They are a honest to f**k ROCK band. Don't believe me? Check out their latest video - just released November 13. It's called Swearing Like a Sailor:
