Posted by Eric Snider on Jun. 30, 2009, at 12:35 pm
Uh oh, the 40th anniversary of Woodstock is about a month and a half away. Did you remember? If not, it’s probably due to the distinct lack of buzz, seeing as there is no official concert scheduled, although boosters keep adding “as yet” in hopes that original co-producer Michael Lang will manage to put together a show in New York’s Prospect Park.
A handful of mostly lame events are planned for different parts of the country, and a tour called Heroes of Woodstock — featuring Mountain, Jefferson Starship, Tom Constanten (repping Grateful Dead) and others — has 16 dates on the books (none in the Southeast). In all, though, it would seem as if folks have other things on their mind than memorializing the watershed cultural event.
That doesn’t mean it’s a complete wasteland. Sony Music has released a well-thought-out group of reissues called The Woodstock Experience, five two-CD packages pairing a classic 1969 album and a complete Woodstock performance. Sony catalog artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane and Sly and the Family Stone got the treatment.
Thirty-three acts performed at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair from Aug. 15-18, 1969, including such long-forgotten names as Quill, Sweetwater, Keef Hartley Band and Bert Sommer. (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Byrds and a handful of lesser-knowns declined invitations. Jeff Beck, Iron Butterfly and Joni Mitchell canceled.)
Only a handful of the performances have been immortalized, mostly via the 1970 film Woodstock and its soundtrack. And Sony can legitimately boast three of them in this collection: Sly, Santana and Joplin. Winter did not make it into the movie and while Jefferson Airplane were represented with two songs in celluloid, their set has not earned the same historical cachet as the top three.
Let’s have us a closer look at these twofers. I’ve ranked them on their merit as live performances. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite leaning heavily on the signature instrument for the bratwurst-and-polka crowd, Bob Dylan’s new album, Together Through Life, manages to wring rhythm and soul from an overgrown squeezebox.
David Hidalgo of Los Lobos plays accordion on each of the album’s 10 tracks and much of the backing band’s beat reminds us of the best work by Hidalgo’s group. Hidalgo adds great Flaco Jiminez touches to Dylan’s new songs, and at times Together Through Life sounds as if we’ve wandered into a Ry Cooder album.
But it’s Bob Dylan, of course. That blown-speaker growl of his is unmistakable, and although this is an album of purported love songs — what else would the title Together Through Life suggest? — nothing is ever so simple or straightforward in Dylan’s world. And, for that matter, when was the last time he wrote a conventional love song?
Case in point: “My Wife’s Home Town.” A stock-in-trade tuneslinger from Tin Pan Alley might come up with a rhapsodic reverie about visiting the place where his beloved grew up. But not Dylan. The refrain on this tune is “Hell is my wife’s home town.” And then . . . and then . . . a couple of times during the song, Bob . . . cackles. In his 47-year recording career, has he ever cackled before?
Posted by Vinyl Fever on Apr. 28, 2009, at 10:02 am
Black Crowes – War Paint Live Clutch – Slow Hole To China (remastered rarities) Rivers Cuomo – Live at Fingerprints Omar Kent Dykes w/ Jimmy Vaughan – Big Town Playboy Bob Dylan – Together Through Life (regular and deluxe edition with bonus Theme Time Radio Hour CD and DVD!) Esquivel – Infinity in Sound, Volumes 1 & 2 Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella (Best of Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five as performed by University a cappella groups. Selected and produced by Ben with his own a cappella versions of Effington and Boxing.) Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know (members of Black Sabbath, you know?) Mike Jones – The Voice Kool Keith & H Bomb – StonedRead the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on Apr. 20, 2009, at 4:14 pm
It’s 420. Another chance for a songlist. This one I think should be kinda special, since there’s been 420 songlists since the dawn of mankind. Or since people started making lists and smoking pot and using “420″ as code for pot-smoking. Ironic that by the time I get this thing up, it will actually be right around 4:20 p.m.
For those who are curious, the origins of the number 420 are smoke-shrouded in urban legend. I found a few things today in honor of the unofficial holiday, but my fave is the thoughtful piece by the Huffington Poston the meaning of 420. Not so surprising that the Grateful Dead were at least partially responsible for 420’s propagation into pot culture. Here’s an excerpt:
It was Christmas week in Oakland, 1990. Steven Bloom was wandering through The Lot – that timeless gathering of hippies that springs up in the parking lot before every Grateful Dead concert – when a Deadhead handed him a yellow flyer.
“We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais,” reads the message, which Bloom dug up and forwarded to the Huffington Post. Bloom, then a reporter for High Times magazine and now the publisher of CelebStoner.com and co-author of Pot Culture, had never heard of “420-ing” before.
The flyer came complete with a 420 back story: “420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late ’70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb – Let’s Go 420, dude!”
Bloom reported his find in the May 1991 issue of High Times, which the magazine found in its archives and provided to the Huffington Post. The story, though, was only partially right.
It had nothing to do with a police code — though the San Rafael part was dead on. Indeed, a group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos – by virtue of their chosen hang-out spot, a wall outside the school – coined the term in 1971. The Huffington Post spoke with Waldo Steve, Waldo Dave and Dave’s older brother, Patrick, and confirmed their full names and identities, which they asked to keep secret for professional reasons. (Pot is still, after all, illegal.)
Posted by Leilani Polk on Apr. 15, 2009, at 2:49 pm
This Saturday marks the second annual Record Store Day, a national salute to the more than 700 indie music stores located across the country and the positive impact they make on their communities. In honor of the event, several Bay area stores are offerings specials and carrying limited edition, exclusive Record Store Day releases.
Daddy Kool gives 10 percent off all new albums and 20 percent off all used inventory, and hosts some yet-to-be-announced activities.
Other area stores, like Sound Exchange, Mojo Books & Music and Vinyl Fever, have stocked up on an array of exclusive Record Store Day releases available only at indie stores. Amid the offerings are an array of split 7”-ers, including a double 7” of live tracks from Atlanta and Edinburgh by Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams, and a split 7” featuring covers of songs from Warner Bros.’ back catalog – Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs performing Madonna’s “Borderline,” and The Black Keys doing Captain Beefheart’s “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles.” Guided By Voices re-releases its Hold On Hope LP with three bonus tracks, My Morning Jacket offers a limited run CD and double 10″ vinyl release recorded live in Louisville at Ear X-tacy record store, and Wilco makes its forthcoming concert DVD, Ashes of American Flags, available solely to indie stores and on its website on Record Store Day. Other exclusive RSD vinyl releases come from Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Mastodon, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction, The Stooges, Modest Mouse, Slayer, The Decemberists and Black Kids, among many others. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on Feb. 15, 2009, at 1:47 pm
We all know the standard classic mixtape love songs – “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton,” Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love,” Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady,” “I Will Always Love You,” (Dolly or Whitney, you pick the version), “At Last,” by Etta James, most of the Beatles’ early catalog. But what about modern, 21st century love songs, i.e., those that came out after January 1, 2001?
Up until I started preparing this, I never really thought much about it, but surprisingly, I came up with a wealth of ideas, almost too many. The songs I thought up are not necessarily traditional ballads (though there are several), are not always romantic or saccharine or even very nice, do not always offer bold statements of devotion or everlasting ardor. But in each, the meaning is clear even if it isn’t always spelled out clearly.
“Fell in Love with a Girl,” The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)
The song made stars of pasty, Detroit-based indie alt blues duo Jack and Meg White, both because it was nice and short and tasty raw, and because it has a really cool Lego video. Check it out, if you haven’t already seen it a few dozen times.
A simple poll today. Do you care about the Grammys, airing tonight?
For an event whose most-cited moments include Milli Vanilli’s 1990 Grammy for Best New Artist and the Bob Dylan soy bomb dancer, we’re guessing probably not.
OK, here’s my list. Stay tuned for Top 10s by Snider and Leilani.
1. Lucinda Williams: Little Honey (Lost Highway)
On Little Honey, alt-country queen Lucinda Williams returns to the more focused, rock-oriented sonics of her breakthrough 1998 album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. In doing so, she reveals a newfound sexual confidence (”Honey Bee”) and celebrates domestic bliss (”Tears of Joy”). The singer/songwriter also manages to mine pathos for humor on the superb Elvis Costello duet “Jailhouse Tears.” Williams can still break your heart, though. “Little Rock Star” plays like a much-needed note to Amy Winehouse, penned by a sympathetic female singer who has already survived the perilous, do “whatever it’ll take to get them to listen” phase. Williams closes Little Honey with a fun treat: A surprisingly awesome swamp-rock cover of the AC/DC road warrior anthem “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna to Rock ‘n Roll).”
2. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
Lil Wayne’s stoned, whisper-y flow and high-drama delivery is spellbinding. The dude opens his mouth, and you listen, hanging on each dazzlingly whack rhyme. On Tha Carter III, Weezy’s scattered-brain brilliance is in top form – as is the big budget production that dutifully follows Weezy’s serpentine flow like a hypnotized lover. The New Orleans native’s boasts, observations and musings are weirdly striking at nearly every turn (”I’m a young millionaire, tougher than Nigerian hair.”) Wayne still bulks at straight story telling, but to fault him for this would be like dissing Dali or Picasso for rebuking realism.
3. My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges (ATO)
Genre-hopping indeed rock outfit My Morning Jacket’s juiciest disc to date features a smattering of styles, all of which are rendered outstandingly natural by the Louisville band. There are moments of extreme sadness (”Librarian”) and utmost silliness (”Highly Suspicious.”) Leader Jim James’ versatile voice convincingly sells everything from guitar-blazing, kick drum-intensive arena rock (”Aluminum Park”) to somber country-pop (”Sec Walkin.) Unlike other ultra eclectic offerings, Evil Urges never comes across as show-y. You just get the sense that My Morning Jacket is doing what they love. And doing it damn well.
4. Robyn: Robyn (Konichiwa/Cherry Tree/Interscope)
This year former Swedish pop tart Robyn finally witnessed the U.S. release of her 2005 self-titled disc. Britney and the rest of our countrys’ brain-dead blowup dolls blew Robyn away in terms of sales, but the woman born Robin Miriam Carlsson in 1979 proved the most compelling of the bunch. By far. Over thick disco beats, jittery high hat, deep space bleeps and icy strings, Robyn subverts pop platitudes. She exudes sexiness, smarts, poise and vulnerability in a way rarely seen in a world where hottnes is defined by Paris Hilton.
5. Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Columbia)
The magnitude of Dylan’s late-career resurgence is brought into sharp focus here with a collection of “rare and unreleased” tracks recorded between 1989 and 2006. The two-disc set is a dud-free treasure chest featuring previously unreleased gems like the Time Out of My Mind outtake “Red River Shore” (an epic folk tale with spiritual overtones), the unreleased 2005 lament “Can’t Escape From You” and the superior Oh Mercy session version of “God Knows.” Another testament to Dylan’s genius is hearing drastically different “alternate takes” that are every bit as fascinating as the ones that made the final cut. Sequenced judicially, Tell Tale Signs plays like a stellar double-album by popular music’s most vital elder statesman.
What will acoustic funk favorite Christie Lenee perform from '68?
WMNF’s Flee is straying from his typical tribute show tradition. Instead of having a diverse lineup of local acts honor a single artist he has asked all the bands listed below to cover a tune from 1968 for the community radio station’s upcoming New Year’s Eve bash.
Songs I would like to hear from that year? How about killer renditions of The Rolling Stones’ “Factory Girl,” The Beatles’ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” and The Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat.” Seriously, that would be a rad setlist!
Rewind: The WMNF Tribute to the Music and Songs of 1968 w/ Boon/Christie Lenee (pictured)/Crabgrass Cowboys/Ted Lukas/Johnny Zoom/Lush Progress/Midnight Bowler’s League/Rancid Polecats/Roppongi’s Ace/Talk to Mark, Wed., Dec. 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa.
OK, here’s my list. Look for the CL music team’s Top 10 album lists to be posted Dec. 22-24, to coincide with our Top 10 issue that streets Christmas Eve.
Also, I’ve been seeing M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” popping up on other best-of lists. The song topped my 2007 tally, so I decided to leave her off this year’s – or else the Sri Lankan sensation would have definitely given Weezy a run for his cash money.
1. “Mr. Carter,” Lil’ Wayne (pictured) w/Jay-Z
Lil’ Wayne, the self-proclaimed greatest rapper on earth, lives up to the claim on this amazing free-word association with a world-class hook. Weezy’s distinctive Nawlins locution is wonderfully raspy as he bounces from brilliantly wacky pop-culture references (”Hector Camacho Man Randy Savage”) to outstanding boasts like: “Two words you never hear, ‘Wayne Quit?’/ ‘Cause Wayne win, and they lose/ I call them April babies, ’cause they fools.” Jay-Z’s guest verse is boss, but it’s Weezy’s dramatic delivery and mad genius lyrics that make this song my top pick for ‘08.
2. “Highly Suspicious,” My Morning Jacket
Genre-hopping rockers My Morning Jacket’s foray into funk is a stone-cold winner. Frontman Jim James pulls a Prince, singing falsetto about sexy mysteries like “peanut butter pudding surprise” – without a discernible hint of irony. Oh, yeah, and the thumping, make-you-wanna-hump backbeat is irrepressible.
3. “Slapped Actress,” The Hold Steady
This isn’t the first song in which the indie rank’s fiercest bar band name-checks Ybor City, but it is The Hold Steady’s finest. And that’s saying something considering the gutter glory of “Killer Parties.” On “Slapped Actress,” the band has concocted a guitar-centric, articulate rush of adrenaline that rises and falls like a first-rate arena-rock offering – minus the gloss and lyrical goofiness.
It’s that time of year again. Time for holiday hoopla. Time for yuletide cheer. Time for year-end best-of lists, especially if you’re that endangered species known as a “working music critic.” This occupation makes me nervous these days. But I love making lists. And mix CDs. Especially for my siblings.
My younger sister Beth is graduating from college in a few days. I can’t make the flight to Colorado. But I’m sending some custom-made CDs with my mom and my other sister Alli to give her. I burned Beth new albums she would like. I then decided to go ahead and tally my favorite songs of 2008, which took about 2.5 hours and several more glasses of wine. I have a print piece on the topic due at 2 p.m. Thursday.
I came up with a working list of 43 tunes tonight that will be whittled down to a nice round number for my music feature that streets Dec. 17. It will be online earlier than that. I stole the word “streets.” And use it whenever I can.
Here are the songs I put on a CD for my lil’ sister. She’s a nurse now. I’m very proud of her. Beth’s chosen profession will come in quite handy for me. My lifestyle is, well, reckless. It worries her. That’s the flip side to having a blood relative in the medical field. I must sound awful. But she understands.
Beth and I dig many of the same artists. That’s one of the numerous advantages of being the eldest child: You play a significant role in the music tastes of your younger siblings. At least I did. That makes me happy. My siblings and parents make me happy. Good music makes me happy. And several other people and things. But enough of that. Here are the tunes.
Posted after the jump is the official video for “Dreamin’ of You,” an outtake from Oh Mercy that’s the set’s first single. I’m a huge Dylan fan and will be spending the rest of the day soaking up this stuff — most of which hasn’t been previously leaked, at least not to my knowledge, and my Dylan boots collection is larger than I care to admit. OK, now track 2, Dylan’s doing a solo, acoustic guitar and harmonica version of “Most of the Time,” a Dylan favorite of mine. Gorgeous. Gotta go.
Here’s what piqued my interest while sitting outside, soaking up this warmest of winter days and scanning the ‘Net:
Eccentric R&B diva Erykah Badu on her freshly minted album New AmErykah, Part One (4th World War) (New York Times).
More good news for everybody’s favorite singer/tabloid star and recent Grammy winner: “Amy Winehousewill not face charges” (Reuters).”On a related note, New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones weighs in with a rather pedestrian Winehouse “think piece” — did you know “the lens recording her movements is wider than anything a ’60s celebrity would have encountered”? It’s titled “Amy’s circus: The strange power of junkie retro soul.”
Progressive-blues duo the Black Keys team with Gnarls Barkley-producer Danger Mouse on new album (Rolling Stone).
Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy talks to Billboard about his upcoming solo tour — sorry, no Florida dates — and live album due out April 8.
Hipster alert: Ever heard of Neutral Milk Hotel (Slate)?
Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs keep it funky in New Orleans (Village Voice).
The soundtrack to the hit TV series Heroes drops March 18. Album features previously-released tracks by Dylan, Wilco, Bowie, My Morning Jacket and others; plus a new number by Jesus and Mary Chain dubbed “All Things Must Pass” (CMJ). The band recently performed the song on Letterman (here’s the YouTube clip).
Hair metal has-beens like L.A. Guns battle over ownership of the groups’ names (Los Angeles Times).
“Episode 23 of SMAsh Radio features an exclusive interview with local-boys-done-good, Tres Bien! They discuss touring, their love of Britney Spears, the Tampa Bay scene and also give us the scoop about their recent run on Fox TV’s Next Great American Band.” Click here to read my interview with Tres Bien! and check out the comment posted by “Alissa 69,” who questions whether the band “sold out.”
A simple poll today. Do you care about the 
