So much going on, and yet I find myself constantly pressed for time. So here is a quick and dirty, non-complete run down of some things which have crossed my mind, my desk or my social media filters....
1. RIP Patty Andrews - the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters.
2. The Great American Novel have released a new single...
3. Couch by Couchwest is about a month and a half away. Bands: Submit your videos to Couch by Couchwest - "Where the beer is cheaper and the only hipster is you."
Most of Nashville and the surrounding area woke up around 3:00a.m. to tornado sirens, high winds, and all manner of alarms going off. An apparent EF-2 tornado touched down just outside of Nashville, and a man was killed by a falling tree just north of downtown. For most of us it was just the inconvenience of having our beauty sleep interrupted. It was kind of interesting reading the live tweets. In addition to updates from the local news outlets, I read a fair number of tweets from Nashville-area songwriters, musicians and venues.
Seemed like an appropriate time to post this... The Doors' Riders on the Storm digitally altered from the Minor Key to the Major Key.
And now, a shuffle - after the jump:
Of late, our Morning Shuffles have increased from about 4-6 songs per shuffle to around 10. While I love being able to present more music, the posts have been taking way more time than I actually have. So, I'm going to try something new... we shall see..
1. Song: Living In The 80's Artist: Zero Boys Album: Decade of Disaster - The Toxic Shock Years (Originally released on Vicious Circle (1982))
Old school punk from Indianapolis
2. Song: Heart is Strange (Active Child Remix) Artist: School of Seven Bells Album: Disconnect from Desire (orginal verison on this album) (2010)
First of two remixes in a row. School of Seven Bells is an indie rock band from Brooklyn. Active Child is an electronic music artist named Pat Grossi. The Amazon widget actually includes a different remix of the same song.
3. All to All (Spirit If Remix) Artist: Broken Social Scene Album: Forgiveness Rock Record (original version) (2010)
Okay let's get this straight. All to All is a song by Broken Social Scene from their record Forgiveness Rock Record. Spirt If... was a band presented solo record by Kevin Drew of BSS. This remix was done by Kevin Drew and Ohad Benchetrit. The used the name of the solo album for this radical remix. The remix is not on the Spirit If.. record. Got it?
4. Song: Is that Clear Artist: Nick Waterhouse Album: Time's All Gone (2012)
Jazzy R&B from the full-album debut of this talented L.A. musician.
5. Song: Trees and Parks Artist: The Hunting Accident Album: Trees and Parks (2012)
A Band of the Week in 2011. Made up of members of Piebald and Arlo. L.A. indie rockers.
6. Song: Ten Commandments of Love Artist: Bob Marley Album: Trenchtown Days: The Birth of a Legend (orginally appeared on The Wailing Wailers (1965) )
Do-Wop originnally by The Moonglows. A great history lesson on the early career of this music legend.
7. Song: Wet and Rusting Artist: Menomena Album: Barsuk: 2009 Amazon Digital Sampler (orginally on Wet and Rusting EP (2006))
Portland Oregon indie rock band
8. Song: Shanghai Cigarettes Artist: Caitlin Rose Album: Own Side Now (2011)
Flat out one of the best songs ever. Nashville's own. I saw her at Grimey's Record Store Day celebration this past spring.
Time is marching on. Hey, if you haven't now is the time to vote for the Band of the Year. The E2TG elves are busy, so don't expect much outside of Morning Shuffles and Band of the Year voting SPAM, but we have great things on tap for 2013. Shuffle it up after the jump:
Greetings from Nashville. Back with a long set of music for today's shuffle. So, no more ado about nothing.... Shuffle will follow the.... Might as well.... Jump!
I love warm summer nights... especially being outside and hearing the sounds of the world around me - natural and man-made. Crickets and train whistles and cars on the highway just on the other side of the hill and music coming from somewhere and the laughter of children and unidentified sounds that provide a thrill of fear or of wonder.
Have you ever stood alone the in the dark Under the Willow and just let your mind run wild with possibilities?
Shayfer James from Counterfeit Arcade (One of our featured Artists for June).
there’s no words that I gotta sing back
no “peace on earth,” no hippy shit
it’s best if you just got over it
I keep pressing repeat
cuz the instrumental track
can’t be beat"
The Joy of Painting from Asterisk
Born in the USA was released when I was eighteen years old - around the time I graduated from high school. Some of the themes of the album were beyond my experience, but I got I'm On Fire.Springsteen in his words and his vocals and the understated music captured effectively the unrequited desire that dominated that portion of my life. The L.A. band Brown Shoe recently recorded a cover of the song for Daytrotter. We told you about it here.
By the way, it's not windy here today - just a random bit of words floating through my brain.
It looks like our friends, Those Mockingbirds ended the contest in 1st place! As I understand it, the final decision is now in the hands of the movie's producers. I still don't understand completely what happens now, but when I know you will know.
Let's go... it's Friday before a long holiday weekend here in the States, and I am expecting readership to drop significantly today because everyone is getting a jump start on their holiday plans. In any event, I've been focusing exclusively on the May 2012 playlist this week, but to wrap up the week, I thought I would go to one of our randomly selected playlists.
NUMBER ONE
We begin with a track off legendary British band, The Psychedelic Furs' self-titled debut album. Susan's Strange is classic Furs music, but did you know this song was not on the original UK release of the album?
NUMBER TWO
Next up with a cover song. Long-lived California band, Social Distortion have recently done some arena dates opening for The Avett Brothers, which at first glance seemed like an odd combination, but Mike Ness and company have a long-held affinity for classic county music. They covered June Carter Cash's Ring of Fire on their self-titled Epic records debut, and here we have a song off their second Epic release, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, this one is a cover of a song which topped the Country charts in 1955 for Ms. Kitty Wells. Making Believe was written by Jimmy Work.
NUMBER THREE
Finally, we have a track from one of our 2011 Band's of the Week. The Hunting Accident are an Indie Rock band based in Los Angeles. The band is made up of former members of the bands Piebald and Arlo. The song Aubergine is available now via Soundcloud using the widget below, and will be included on Trees and Parks, a 10" which will be released in July.
Here is an Amazon link to an earlier EP by the band
Everyone is talking about the Grammy Awards even if it's just to slam them. Enjoyed the closing number with Paul McCartney, Springsteen, Joe Walsh etc. Overall, I haven't had much respect for the Grammys in a long time. They seem to honor popularity over quality and they seem very out of touch.
I was sorry to hear of the death of Whitney Houston. Seems like a tragic end to a gifted talent plagued by personal demons. A few things come to my mind. I remember Elvis Costello doing a guest VJ stint on MTV back in the day, and he played a Whitney Houston video and his comment was something like, Whitney you have an amazing voice, but those songs... let me write you some songs. Later she did a Dolly Parton song and helped bring that song to a wider audience.
Today I shuffled songs from my playlist of artists who have been featured on this blog. Currently that playlist stands at 133 songs with some more music waiting in the wings.
First up is Aubergine with a song from their Soundcloud account called Aubergine, we means Eggplant or the dark purple color of the same.
(you can check out the bands EP on Amazon by clicking on the album cover above)
Next is New Jersey's favorite son... no not Springsteen. Don Ryan with Living Avenue off of his fabulous Tangle Town album.
(click on the cool album cover above to learn more about and to purchase Tangle Town)
Jesse Payne makes nifty modern roots rock music with a stripped down sound and nifty lyrics. Skeletons is the song from today's list. It's off an EP called Songs from Beyond the Leaves. You can check out that EP by clicking on the Album cover below:
Waterfall is a track from Gabriel (Redding of the Redding Brothers) you can get his Untethered album which includes Waterfall by using the widget below.
Finally, we ended on a rocking number from Those Mockingbirds. Coast to Coast is off the bands Fa Sol La album which you can download for free from the band's website.You can also find out about a limited edition Vinyl release of the album.
Meanwhile check out the band's earlier No Symmetry EP by clicking on the album cover below:
This is it. The final recap after reading this entry and the previous 2 recaps you will be a well informed voter, which means you will need to vote for your favorite band at the Reader's Poll.
Weel 18: The Hunting Accident - are a Los Angeles based indie rock band made up of former members of the bands Arlo and Piebald. Here's a video for a song we love called Hot Drum:
Week 19: Ben Semmens - is a Welsh singer-songwriter - He writes deeply, beautiful songs. Recently, his fans help fund the recording of a new album. Ben spent several weeks recording in the US (on a island off the coast of Georgia) where at same point he may or may not have swam naked in the Atlantic. Here he is performing Wake Me Up:
Week 20: The Fauns - are an indie, pop, shoegaze band from Bristol UK. I'll be honest, if pressed, I couldn't tell you what shoegaze means. I just know I like The Fauns. I guess introspective yet powerful would be my best attempt. Here's a video for a song called Lovestruck:
Week 21: Two Seasons - are a Toronto based Americana, Pop, Folk band. They made an EP called Made in Basements. They play catchy and rich songs. I couldn't find a video so here's a Soundcloud track we love called I Wouldn't Ask (For Anything to Change):
Week 22: Themselves - are a rock band from Leicester UK. I promised myself I would not make an Adrian Mole reference as I'm sure that is getting irritating. Damn.... Themselves are a rhythmic intensity and they know how to rock. Here's a live video for your perusal:
Week 23: The Nearly Deads - are a Nashville based Alternative Rock band. They play high energy rock and have a powerful female lead singer. They are doing a free show this Friday at a new club in Nashville called The National Underground - so if you're around Nashville check them out. Meanwhile check out this:
Week 24: Taco Land - is a Texas based band - the brain child of Joseph Russell. Taco Land is everything you would expect of a Texas-based band called Taco Land and nothing at all you would expect from a Texas-based band called Taco Land. They have a new album called Heart of Texas. I couldn't find a video - so here is a Soundcloud track - it's the title track from Heart of Texas: Heart of Texas by Taco Land
Week 25: Brother Howe - is a country punk band from Michigan. They know their country and they know their punk. Brother Howe speak truth and cover Johnny Cash. Check out this video for the standout track Heaven is my Retirement Plan:
Week 26: Those Mockingbirds - are a New Jersey based Alternative Rock/Grunge band. The band features some unique sounds for a grunge band, and they write really great songs. Here a video for a track we love called Coast to Coast:
Week 27: Don Ryan -is a New York/New Jersey based singer-songwriter. Think Tom Waits meets something else really cool. I think I've raved enough about Don Ryan - naw! He's really good. Check out this video for the amazing song, This Town:
