Tampa Calling

A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, July 6: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band (pictured)
Tuesday, July 7: Rob Thomas
Thursday, July 9: Levon Helm
Friday, June 10: Maxwell

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, July 6: Death Cab for Cutie
Tuesday, July 7: Andrew Bird
Thursday, July 9: Playing For Change
Friday, June 10: Ray LaMontagne Read the rest of this entry »

Vinyl:

Fugazi – 3 Songs (7″)
Originally recorded in 1989.

Levon Helm – Electric Dirt
Electric Dirt again finds Levon steeped in tradition in his connection to the land and those who live by it, but this record goes deeper and wider, incorporating gospel, blues and soul elements in a bracing collection of originals and carefully chosen outside songs.

Wilco – Wilco (The Album) LP+CD
Wilco’s seventh combines the intimacy of its previous studio disc, Sky Blue Sky, with the experimentation of A Ghost Is Born in a set that boasts strong melodies and often unabashedly pop arrangements. LP includes the album on a CD.

Pete Yorn – Back & Fourth

Read the rest of this entry »

First Levon Helm survived throat cancer, then, improbably, he started singing again. And then, astonishingly, he returned to form. While his voice is thinner than during his days with The Band — he is 69, after all — Helm still brings the grit, that marvelous blend of Ozark country, blues and gospel.

His first album after recovering, 2007’s Dirt Farmer (Vanguard), was a treasure, an absolutely genuine slice of Americana that won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Its followup, Electric Dirt, is another triumph, extending the reach of Farmer while retaining its rustic character. The new disc, released Tuesday, June 30, is not simply a plugged-in extension of its predecessor. Although electric guitars pop up now and again, it’s still largely an acoustic album. The addition of horns on four tracks — two arranged by Allen Toussaint and two by Stephen Bernstein — gives the new one an added dimension, some extra oomph.

The horns get into the act right way with a springy version of the Grateful Dead’s “Tennessee Jed,” which has a decidedly Band-ish feel and kicks off the disc with a great deal of exuberance. Read the rest of this entry »