Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Scary (Good) Mix

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Happy Halloween!

First off - we have a treat!  How about the brand new video of a song we presented a week or so ago.  Our friends Those Mockingbirds released the song "How to Rob a Bank" back on the 22nd of October.  Now they have an instructional video.  An Official Video anyway... Here it is!



I never quite have it together enough for a holiday-themed shuffle... but today, the Randomizer came up with alien arachnids, electrical discharges, monks, extinct birds, and puppets.  Which can create some pretty frightening images if you use your imagination.

Jump to see what I am rattling on about... if you dare... bwahahahahaha!

The Grimm Generation - The Ear 2 the Ground Interview

It's not secret that I love music.  Honest - it's not a secret - ask anyone.  And, it's part of my nature to constantly seek out new music.  I don't just do it because of this blog - this just gives me a more legitimate excuse for doing so (as if I need an excuse - legitimate or not).  I make presenting and featuring new music an important part of what we do here.  You also may know that I have pretty eclectic taste in music. Jazz, Punk, Experimental Hip-Hop, Americana, Alt-Rock, Alt-Country, Alt-Pop-Folk, Acoustic Baroque Dubsteppy Metal - I don't care what you call it - if it's got a good beat and I can dance to it, I'll give it an '8'!

What was I talking about... oh yeah, Music - good music.  I've tried from the start to keep the energy positive. If I like it, I'll write about it; if I don't, I probably won't.

Now, that being said - out of all the music I've "discovered" in course of writing this silly blog - the number of times I've been blown out of the water by a band or song or record has been very low. By blown out of the water - I'm talking about being bowled over - on the spot.  Love at first thing: The Music Edition. I am not going to attempt to name those few bands for one because I'll leave somebody off and two because... just because...

Bottom line here people is that The Grimm Generation was one of those handful of bands that rocked my world and didn't even buy me dinner first. But, now I'm hooked and they can't shake me off - like that person you met at a dark bar and...well you see where I'm going with this.

In an earlier post, I said something to the effect that The GG make music that sounds like it has always existed. They make unabashedly great music.  Every time, I hear The Grimm Generation, I find myself thinking - why doesn't everybody in the world know about this.  And then I blame myself, and say I could've done more!  So I find an excuse to write more.  If asked why I love this band so much, I would not have been able to say for sure, but recently, I had a chance to "talk" via good old fashioned e-mai to Jason and Carmen of The Grimm Generation and as you will see, everything became crystal clear...








E2TG: How long has The Grimm Generation existed and what has changed since the early days of the band?
THE GRIMM GENERATION: The Grimm Generation formed in 2010 based on the post-divorce transcripts, hang ups and habits that we each brought to the online dating table where we first met in 2007. It started off the two of us trading stories and then singing them. And we’ve grown a sound now that serves the songs, with a band who bring colors in we never considered . We still write too much and release online too easily, but we seem to be getting heard.
 
E: Why The Grimm Generation?

GG: We felt we grew up at a strange age in time: post Free Love and firmly ensconced when Reagan was in the white house. Our older kin was squarely in the 70s drug culture and we got 'just say no'. We felt gypped and decided to sing about it. Which is why so much of our material is based on the consequences of 'kicks'. We are boho hedonists, but can't help but feel guilty about it. We self-titled the age group The Grimm Generation, reflecting on how 'we believe in fairy tales and we believe in nothing at all'.
 
E: What do you like best about being in a band?

GG:Starting something in the kitchen that ends up on the stage. Watching the songs flourish with the additional instruments and the way they make the song shine.

E: What do you dislike the most?
 
GG: The pay.


E: How does the songwriting process work for the band?

Carmen Champagne: All songs are written by both Jason and I. We pick through the best of them and send to Lys (guitars, banjo, bells, lapsteel, mandola), Eric (bass) and Julie (cello). And then, magic. We met everyone online or at gigs, so we didn't have a long history with the band, but what they bring is the sound we needed, turning our acoustic threats into fully arranged promises. 


E: Your latest release is called Coming Home, how did that come about?

C C: Jason played with Adam Hagymasi in The Citizen Spy and kept in touch. Adam was a crazy-good guitar player. Adam offered to have us out to his place in Collinsville to record a couple songs. We jumped at the chance.
The songs were two new songs (Blink, Im Gone and Your Body Betrays You) we wrote and three old ones we loved and never had a chance to record. We went to Adam’s a couple of nights and recorded basic guitar and vocals to drum clicks and let Adam have at it. He created five beautiful pieces of work. Sound, stylistically, hitting upon different moods. Very Grimm mood music.

E: Any big plans for 2013?

GG: Recording the new CD is what we’re all about for 2013. We tend to turn gigs into themed events and we have a couple of those coming up as well. We try to make everything we do fun for us and hopefully that joy translates. So far, so good.

Shifting gears:

E: What is the first music you can remember hearing?

C C: AM pop/rock mixed in with the Morning Voice of WTIC and French Canadian pop tunes playing on my parents stereo.

Jason Klug: For me it’s my older sister play Black Sabbath 'Volume 4' and Deep Purple 'Machine Head' while I played with the album covers.

E: When do you begin making music?

J K: I wrote my first song at 13 and did my first gig at 15 at a local teen center. I eventually learned to play some guitar and started writing solo around 18.

C C: When I met JPK.

E: Was there a moment, when you thought, this is it - this is what I'm meant to do?

GG: When we first got together, it was just one guitar and two singers writing something, hopefully meaningful…and kind of catchy. We love these songs like our dumb, errant children and as we meet people and play with them, the songs grow and learn to walk on their own. We thought (and maybe sometimes still think) our stuff is a little outside for rock. But when the songs hit people, lyrically, it gets meaningful.

E: Did you get much encouragement when you began playing music? Any discouragement?

GG: Liquid courage but no encouragement.

E: What music is in the Grimm Generation record machine these days?

GG: Well, the Grimm Generation, lol! But we also are digging The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Mountain Goats 'All Hail West Texas'. Also a lot of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and M Ward.

E: Any music that you really dig that would surprise the casual observer of the band?

GG: Jason’s a big Belle and Sebastian fan. We both listen to a lot of Prince. Carmen enjoys some Goth industrial from time to time. We tend to wear our influences on our sleeve, like Morphine and Elvis Costello.

E: Social Media and other technology has changed the way music is made and distributed. This can be a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think the bad out weighs good or vice-verse?

GG: In our case, the internet has been good to us. It gave us the opportunity to present what we do without going through traditional channels. We adapted to what would ever get our songs heard. We met most of our band through social media. The internet has been good to us.

E: All things being equal and time and monetary restrictions aside, do you see The GG releasing tons of music in a short time or releasing less music to focus more on each song.

GG: The answer is always releasing tons of music in a short time. We’ve got words We are spazzes. It’s a core Grimm element.

E: If you could pull any band from any time to see play live, which band and from which part of their timeline would you choose? Not thinking in particular about an historic show but more a hypothetical scenario?

C C: Queen, 1977. One of my biggest regrets is not having been able to experience the super showmanship of Freddy Mercury live.

J K: Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Imperial Bedroom Tour...to me, Elvis and The Attractions were the hottest, ballsiest, smartest and most emotionally effective of rock bands.

Don Ryan - Vultures (New Song Download + Video)

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Some very eagerly awaited new music from Don Ryan comes to us by way of a new song called Vultures.  It is pretty wicked, bad (and by bad I mean awesome).  The song is available for pocket change at Bandcamp.  In conjunction with the song release, we get some behind-the-scenes footage of Don and his band in the studio.  So check it out and download the damn song.

While you are at it - if you haven't go get the Don Ryan's last album Tangle Town now!

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VIDEO PREMIERE: Cosmonauts "Cold Harbor" plus Free MP3

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A little over a month ago, we posted Cold Harbor, a brand new song from Glen Falls, New York band Cosmonauts along with an interview we did with Bill Hunsinger.  You can check out that interview here.

The band has been teasing the video for the song for a while.  Here's what Bill had to say about it back back in August:

EttG:  What can you tell you about making the video?

C: That it was a lot of hard work! We filmed all of it, by ourselves, over the course of twenty hours, with multiple locations, tons of extras, and two fantastic actors (including our own guitarist James White). There's a particularly gruesome scene at the end, and I think it makes for a powerful ending.

Here's the sneak

TAKE NOTICE!
THE VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG GRAPHIC CONTENT AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

You've been warned now go watch:  I've seen it, and it's really, really good video.  To celebrate, the band is releasing a free download of the song for a limited time only - like get it now!  Here's the info:

UPDATE: Here's the Video:

Cosmonauts Official Music Video for "Cold Harbor" ©2012 CosmonautsMusic
Directed by Bill Hunsinger
Director of Photography: Garrett Bean

DOWNLOAD THE SINGLE FOR FREE (Limited time only):http://www.mediafire.com/file/c4u565fn1n1tmnc/01_Cold_Harbor.mp3

Download the band's latest EP, "The Demise of Daniel Raincourt" for FREE: http://www.mediafire.com/?gfinap4da8c6sl3

For more info visit
Cosmonautsmusic.com
Facebook.com/cosmonautsmusic
Twitter.com/cosmonautsmusic


COSMONAUTS "Cold Harbor"
I learned my lonely lesson at sixteen:
"The world is full of girls I'll never touch."
the devil is living inside my head,
And these thoughts won't ever stop.

You learned your
pathetic lesson at seventeen:
"The world is full
Of girls you need to fuck."

She wanted to be left alone,
But you crawled inside her womb.
Just give her some line,
Like "the stars shine only for you."
Some girls just grow up lonely.
You know how to dress yourself
Like a man in your coward body.

Dispose of the body that you tore and used.
Her pregnancy's a burden,
but not for you.
Filling the hills with mounting cries,
Only for the one time you need her.
The warm strain of her breath
In your ear.
Oh, time is running out...
Just give her a sound,

She needs to hear you now.
As you pour yourself a drink,
You know how to dress yourself
Like a man in your cowards body.
She wanted to be left alone,

but you crawled into her room.
Just give her some line,
Like "the stars shine only for you."
Some boys just grow up lonely.
Oh you know how to dress yourself
Like a man in your cowards body.

Heavenly greens and blues
Float around your room.
I'm running out of time
To take what's unholy mine.
I'm burning, burning for you.

Hellish whites and reds
Keep poring out of your head.
Oh, god, please sympathize
With your child, full of sin,
Before you bury me, banish me.

Crawl into her womb,
(you feel me, you feel me close)
Caress the warm bloody edge.
Leech her nutrients
(cold hands that sever the bones)
While a hanger rips open your head.
Oh, bleed for me, bleed for me dear.

Fluorescent blurry stars
(you feel me, you feel me close)
Float inside of her eyes.
Nurses push clear fluids
(cold hands that sever the bones)
Into a washed out skin.
You're dying and dead to me.
Dying and dead to me.

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South of Ramona - Step Inside EP (An Ear to the Ground Review)

08/01/2012

Add the date above to your calendar of choice and set an alarm.  I'll tell you why...

Step Inside is an invitation fraught with danger and mystery and wonder and unimaginable pleasure.  It also happens to the title of the forthcoming EP from Salt Lake City band South of Ramona, and the title fits this remarkable record.

South of Ramona was our Band of the Month for May.  They were also our last ever Band of the Week before we moved to the current Featured Artist format.  They did all this on the basis of a 5 song Demo they they released through the fine folks at Noisetrade. 

You have to understand that I loved the Demo.  I mean, I named them Band of the Week off of that set. Having said that, Step Inside is a gigantic step forward.  The band expands on their signature use of folk instrumentation playing rock leads with a confidence and a delicious taste of a sinister circus on the edge of the dusty plain they crossed on their Demo. 


More than once, I was reminded of Ear to the Ground favorite Don Ryan. 

Step Inside opens with a carny's enticing come-on.  Ladies and Gentleman is a :25 second pitch which sets the tone for this tight, cohesive set. 

Carnival Court (Step Inside) is a dark, sideshow tent filled with those enticing hints while delivering with the band's trademark attention to song and melody.  

Night descends on Purple Sky which starts with a chill-inducing intro before kicking into a creepy groove.  


The Lonesome Soul has a gypsy-like lilt, a persistent melody and a haunting vocal.


I, Narcissus starts with a nifty rock riff and breaks into a foot-stomping rave up with dark undertones.  Love this song!


The EP closes with Shangri-la which opens with plaintive whistling followed by a surf-guitar ready riff and more gypsyesque melodies which will have you dancing 'round the dying embers of the campfire as the last sparks float up into the air above the tents and wagons.

So yeah, back to the date at the beginning of this post.  Step Inside drops on August 1 which is just a few days off... so start saving your pennies and be the first on your block to own this record.  And spread the word.  Right now you can get a taste by downloading The Lonesome Soul using the widget below.  And then, when that alarm you set goes off next Wednesday you can go get the whole album.

The band will celebrate the release of the EP with an international tour (note the Vancouver date) - if you are in one of these cities go see them do there thing live.


8.3  Las Vegas @ Yayo Taco
8.4  Santa Monica @ TRiP
8.6  Fresno @ Babylon Club
8.7  San Francisco @ Grant & Green Saloon
8.8  Portland @ Mississippi Pizza Pub
8.9  Seattle @ El Corazon
8.10 Seattle @ The Triple Door
8.11 Seattle @ 2bit Saloon
8.12 Seattle @ Blue Moon Tavern
8.13 Vancouver @ The Cobalt
8.14 Spokane @ The Baby Bar
8.16 Boise @ The Crux
8.17 Salt Lake City @ The Woodshed




I will leave you now with South of Ramona's take on the Jefferson Airplane classic Somebody to Love.  Enjoy!

  

Declare Your Independence: Wrong Way Street - The End Men

Our friends The End Men are working hard on a follow-up to their fabulous Build It Up EP.  Just for this holiday, they have released a video of a brand new song.  Stripped down but possessing the wonderful sounds of guitar and drum with Matthew Hendershot's gravely vocals.  Check out Wrong Way Street below:

MP3 & Video: Turbo Fruits and Bad Cop to Release Split 7" on Jeffery Drag Records

via Audible Treats:

Critical Praise for Turbo Fruits:  "When he's excited (like on the spastic album opener, 'No Drugs To Use'), Stein sounds like a hoarse Henry Rollins. When he's feeling mellow (as on the proto-grunge 'Volcano'), a hint of Mark Arm's cultivated ennui creeps into his voice." -Pitchfork "Stein's endlessly engaging melodic style gives nods to Bowie and even Elvis, plus there's a sprinkling of psychedelic dynamism now and then." - The Guardian Critical Praise for Bad Cops:  "It's a soulful, greasy, howlin' whiteboy kind of rant-rock that's even greater than the sum of all its crazy parts, a frantic, no-holds-barred, 'fuck the rules' kind of album that we desperately need right now..." - Impose The 7": Nashville garage rockers Turbo Fruits and Bad Cop are proud to announce the release of a split 7" on Jeffery Drag Records, which is available for pre-order now. The albums will ship on July 15 and be in stores on July 31. There is a limited edition of 300 on clear vinyl. The tracks will be available on iTunes on July 15. The Turbo Fruits track "Love Tennessee" is an anthem of sorts for the radical music scene currently bursting out of Nashville (JEFF the Brotherhood, Pujol, Natural Child) as exemplified by the lyrics, "Whiskey and Coke / Telling our jokes / This is the place to be / We love Tennessee / No place we'd rather be / No place like Tennessee / That's where we'll always be." Like their previous music videos, the video for Bad Cop's single "Wet Lips" also stars an attractive femme fatale and is slightly NSFW. The sixties garage rock sound is amplified by the swirling psychedelic footage- it's a wild rock n' roll party you'll want to be invited to. Turbo Fruits have been on tour with Deer Tick since April and Bad Cop recently toured with Cage the Elephant. Both bands will have full-length LPs out later this year. Attention vinyl junkies: We have a limited amount of 7"s available for review-let us know if you're interested and we'll send you a copy. Check out the premieres at Prefix: http://www.prefixmag.com/media/bad-cop/wet-lips-prefix-premiere-video/66649/ http://www.prefixmag.com/media/turbo-fruits/love-tennessee-prefix-premiere/66641/ Check out the "Wet Lips" video here

Video and Download - Warm Weather - So Far/Vertigo

via: Audible Treats

The Video:


Warm Weather, our favorite LA-based trio of a cappella-infused indie rockers, has released their first official video for the single "So Far/Vertigo" from their latest EP, Looking Through. The comedic video stars the ladies of the Cocoon Central Dance Team clad in workout gear, sprinting along to the music in bursts of synchronized movement as they sport exaggeratedly goofy smiles and play to the camera. You'll need to catch your breath too as the girls pause, winded, and then cheerfully begin to dance in place to the whimsical lyrics and calculated harmonizing.


"Ry and I put together the 'So Far' intro one day when Justin was out of town - quite literally 'far away from home,'" explains Brendan Lynch-Salamon. "That sentiment of being away or getting away fit right into the concept that ties theDances EP together, and 'Vertigo' explores what drives us to go, to change our context."


Check out the premiere at Buzz Bands LA


Watch the video for “So Far/Vertigo” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDKXSjNtc9M


Download Warm Weather’s “So Far/Vertigo” here: http://media.audibletreats.com/Warm_Weather-So_Far_Vertigo.mp3


Critical Praise For Warm Weather:


Artist of the Month (May 2012) – The Deli LA


Best Albums of 2011 (Dances) – I Guess I’m Floating


"Warm Weather is a still-wet-behind-the-ears outfit outta Los Angeles who play kaleidoscopic indie rock replete with vocal harmonies that will have fans of running the spectrum from The Beach Boys to Grizzly Bear snapping their fingers in approval." – My Old Kentucky Blog


"Warm Weather are exactly what you want them to be – a dancey synth pop LA based band with plenty of boyish charm and heart-crushing soaring harmonies." – Listen Before You Buy

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Hills are Alive Mix

Good morning, I've got a lot to do and not a little bit of time to do it so let's get to today's list:

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Dawes are back on our playlist with a track from their  2009 album North Hills:  Love is All I Am

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Delta Spirit have also come back to our list.  Today's song is on Ode to Sunshine (although our version is

from the I Think I Found It -EP which we got from Noisetrade) - People, Turn Around!

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Americana-Country-Folk band Folk Family Revival are from Texas and they are Chasing a Rabbit  from their 2011 album Unfolding.  Check them out:

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And we'll go out today with North Carolina's The Avett Brothers with a rollicking number off their latest I and Love and You - Kick Drum Heart .

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Affiliated Links:

KOL Drum Kick Canada Jr. Tee This Kings Of Leon Jr. tee features the Canadian KOL logo on front. White 100% cotton.

Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels: Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit Is Rich, and Rabbit at Rest When we first met him in "Rabbit, Run" (1960), the book that established John Updike as a major novelist, Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom is playing basketball with some boys in an alley in Pennsylvania during the tail end of the Eisenhower era, reliving for a moment his past as a star high school athlete. Athleticism of a different sort is on display throughout these four magnificent novels--the athleticism of an imagination possessed of the ability to lay bare, with a seemingly effortless animal grace, the enchantments and disenchantments of life. Updike revisited his hero toward the end of each of the following decades in the second half of this American century; and in each of the subsequent novels, as Rabbit, his wife, Janice, his son, Nelson, and the people around them grow, these characters take on the lineaments of our common existence. In prose that is one of the glories of contemporary literature, Updike has chronicled the frustrations and ambiguous triumphs, the longuers, the loves and frenzies, the betrayals and reconciliations of our era. He has given us our representative American story. This Rabbit Angstrom volume is comprised of the following novels: Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit is Rich; and Rabbit at Rest.

Love Is All I Am We believe it is important to preserve what makes music special, and make it easy to craft listening experiences. At MOG, browse millions songs and play them instantly. Or just turn on radio where you can stop and replay songs. You can also create playlists for any occasion, and even download songs to your mobile. We are dedicated to employing the cleanest but most powerful technology so you can enjoy music as much as ever.

People, Turn Around We believe it is important to preserve what makes music special, and make it easy to craft listening experiences. At MOG, browse millions songs and play them instantly. Or just turn on radio where you can stop and replay songs. You can also create playlists for any occasion, and even download songs to your mobile. We are dedicated to employing the cleanest but most powerful technology so you can enjoy music as much as ever.

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

Video - Gabriel (Redding) - Wonderlust

Here is a new official video from Gabriel of his song Wonderlust - enjoy!

You can still grab his 'Untethered' album for the price of an e-mail at Noisetrade (tipping is encouraged). Use the widget below:

And it's official* The Band of the Month is....

MAKAR!!!!!!

Congratulations!  It was a hard fought battle, and a fair amount of time was misspent (which is always a goal of mine.)  


Of course it's all about the music and all of the bands nominated are great.


Great things are ahead for all of these bands.  And we move forward.  The Gypsy West are the first Band of the Week for February and they will soon be joined by another great band.


I have a very special morning music shuffle scheduled for tomorrow so tune in.


*The End Men are challenging the voting, and have even threatened to bring in the Pauls (Ron and Rand and possible Ru - not sure about the last one).


We'll leave you with MAKAR's classic song, I Hate My Job performed live at Bar East just a few weeks ago, actually - it was a special show just for my birthday (kidding). 




I Hate My Job (Bar East - January 2012) from MAKAR on Vimeo.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Lazy Bastard Mix

Off we go getting good and ground up in the week.... and we added 17 songs (some new, some old - all new to our playlist) - and it's a fine collection of music...

In case you haven't heard the Legendary Leonard Cohen has a brand new album called Old Ideas by all accounts it is an amazing piece of work.  We have the lead track from the album today, Going Home would sound good along side any of Mr. Cohen's classic tracks.






Whenever I load in a new song that blows me away, and  I cannot remember where I obtained it, a good bet is our friend Popa's Tunes.  Case in point, today's song from Black Jake and the Carnies.  It's from their album Sundry Mayhem and it's an amazing rave-up/hoe-down at once dark and fun. I grabbed a download from the Popakazooza 2012 compilation.




Next, we have a live track from reigning Band of the Week, The Gypsy West.  The song Time was recorded live at the Electric Cathedral. And, this gives up a chance to post a more recent video than the ones we posted with the BOTW post. Thanks to the band for the heads up to these videos.  We'll have more later, I am sure. Here is a January 2012 performance by the band of today's song, Time recorded at the Bowery Electric.



Time @ Bowery Electric 1/19/12 from The Gypsy West on Vimeo.


Finally, we have  another live performance.  This one is by the Civil Wars doing a track from the hit Barton Hollow album, My Father's Father was recorded live at Eddie's Attic and was only their second performance together ever.





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Affiliated Links: 

Leonard Cohen : Songs of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen : Songs of Leonard Cohen

The Civil War: The Complete Text of the Bestselling Narrative History of the Civil War--Based on the Celebrated PBS Television Ser The complete text of the bestselling narrative history of the Civil War -- based on the celebrated PBS television series. This nonillustrated edition interweaves the author's narrative with the voices of the men and women who lived through that cataclysmic trail of our nationhood, from Abraham Lincoln to ordinary foot soldiers. Includes essays by distinguished historians of the era.

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Rebel Child in a Gilded Cage Mix

Here go again - promise of change (for the better) on the horizon. Refreshed and revitalized (at least for the moment). And, I'm ready to get into the music shuffle for another week...




Chronic Town - the first EP from Athens, Georgia own R.E.M. - is going to be 30 years old this year. We start out with the song featured in the live performance video above called 1,000,000. You can grab the whole Chronic Town EP plus a slew of early rarities from the Dead Lead Letter Office album - by clicking on the album cover below.  It'll cost you less than $10 from Amazon.

 

Beat Rodeo were a massively underrated band from the 80s.  They released a couple of albums on I.R.S. Records.  I first caught up with them on an episode of the classic show I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge hosted by Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones. 

Our song today comes from the  band's Home in the Heart of the Beat LP.  Song for an Angry Young Man. Purchase and download the album by clicking the album cover below (Amazon.com):

 

Richard Thompson has been making great music for over 40 years now.  Today's song comes from his 2007 release, Sweet Warrior.

It's a track called Dad's Gonna Kill Me.  Purchase and download Sweet Warrior by clicking the album cover below (Amazon.com)

Finally, we jump into the near present with a track from the wildly popular and critically acclaimed album 21 by Adele.

The track is called I'll Be Waiting.  You can get 21 by clicking the album cover below and purchasing and downloading the album.(via Amazon.com)

   

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Adele: 19 British songstress Adele stormed onto the music scene in 2008, and was named Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in 2009. All the songs from her debut album - titled 19 to reflect her age at the time the album was released - are included in our folio. Includes her hit "Chasing Pavements" plus 11 others: Best for Last * Crazy for You * Daydreamer * Hometown Glory * Melt My Heart to Stone * Right As Rain * Tired * and more. Includes black-and-white photos.

Richard Thompson Albums (Music Guide): Richard Thompson Compilation Albums, Richard Thompson Live Albums, Richard Thompson Soundtr Chapters: Rt: the Life and Music of Richard Thompson, (Guitar, Vocal), Sweet Warrior, 1000 Years of Popular Music, Mirror Blue, Mock Tudor, the Old Kit Bag, You? Me? Us?, Watching the Dark, the Bones of All Men, Rumor and Sigh, Amnesia, Live From Austin, Tx, Grizzly Man, Sweet Talker, Across a Crowded Room, Celtschmerz, Live at Crawley, Hand of Kindness, Semi-Detached Mock Tudor, Daring Adventures, More Guitar, Two Letter Words, Small Town Romance, Walking on a Wire, Industry, Front Parlour Ballads, Strict Tempo , Ducknapped , Henry the Human Fly, the Chrono Show, Faithless, Live Warrior, Live , Action Packed. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 113. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson is a box set by Richard Thompson, released in February 2006. This box set gives an extensive overview of Thompson's long career without including content from any of his mainstream albums. While many of the songs included will be familiar to Thompson fans, the actual tracks are mostly live and nearly all previously unreleased, and the arrangements are often different from those of the original recording. Thompson himself granted the compilers access to his personal archives of recordings and photos, and other collectors of Thompsonia (most notably American record producer Edward Haber) also contributed to the set. Thompson retained (and exercised) the right of veto over any aspect of the set. Of particular interest are live tracks by Richard and Linda Thompson (including a few from the 1982 "tour from hell"), songs demoed for his first solo album Henry The Human Fly as well as several of Thompson's comic songs ("Madonna's Wedding" and his lampooning of Janet Jackson's infamous breast baring moment at the Super Bowl) and several songs that Thompson himself has nev...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=402567

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Cool Operator Mix

How is it, in life, that you can feel on top of the world one minute and as low as low can be, the next?  How is it, in life, that you can't avoid meeting assholes? How is it, in life, that we keep going when all signs point to giving up?  How is it, in life, that we forget that we are all in this thing together?

Urg... just some negativity but hey, it's Friday and lots of wonderful things are happening.  Got a tweet back form a founding member of the Manhattan Transfer yesterday, I'm meeting new and wonderfully talented bands almost every day, and just in today's music shuffle and nice fortuitous coincidental timing...

The Clash were for a time the greatest band in the world.  London Calling was and remains one of the best albums of all time (imho).  Their self-titled album is another great one.  I'll admit, I've loved the energy and sound of the album well before I really understood what any of the songs were about.

This morning's shuffle begins with White Man in Hammersmith Palais  and it's a great example of the reggae/punk sound the band perfected.




Just one other song on today's music shuffle. And this is where the fortuitous timing comes into play.

On his solo debut, Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE) brought in a who's who of alt-rock and laid down some truly awesome stuff.  The second to the last song of the album (Ball-Hog or Tugboat?) is a cover of a Funkadelic song called Maggot Brain. This version features some killer bass work, a Watt spiel and J Macias doing a virtuoso take on Eddie Hazel's guitar solo and it also features Bernie Worrell reprising his keyboard work from the original.

And then....  came this news that Watt is going to play with Bernie Worrell Orchestra and perform Maggot Brain and Super Stupid.

Here's the album which leads off with the original version:





And here is what's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?:



 And sad news comes as we learn of the passing of the legendary Etta James...


R.I.P. Etta ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Funkadelic Maggot Brain Subway Print Men's T-shirt MAGGOT BRAIN - BIG PRINT SUBWAY T-SHIRT

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais We believe it is important to preserve what makes music special, and make it easy to craft listening experiences. At MOG, browse millions songs and play them instantly. Or just turn on radio where you can stop and replay songs. You can also create playlists for any occasion, and even download songs to your mobile. We are dedicated to employing the cleanest but most powerful technology so you can enjoy music as much as ever.

Etta James : the Essential Etta James Etta James : the Essential Etta James