blogsurf express 12/28/07

Lots of great end-of-year/best-of 2007 posts, but really like this one:

http://musicforants.com/blog/?p=595

blogsurf express 12/14/07

Bunch of pretty good Velvet Revolver rarities (acoustic stuff, covers) here:

http://licorice-pizza.blogspot.com/2007/12/lethal-injection.html

Introducing its The Foxboro green Hot Tubs day

Well, maybe...thanks CWB for the tip. If it isn't Green Day, it's good fun free music anyway, and I'm just helping spread the Internet Rumor de Jour. I like the tunes so I can live with that!

Band Site http://www.foxborohottubs.com/

Or just follow the shortcut and grab the 6-pack o'songs from this link: http://www.foxborohottubs.net/foxbororecord.zip

Here's a sample mp3 (locally mirrored, easy on my server please) Stop Drop and Roll

Enjoy!

Amazing Grace

I'm headed to Philly Saturday night to see Grace Potter, and man, I haven't been as psyched for a show in a long time.

Last summer, I was supposed to get the XPN all about the music fest, for at least two of the days, but some sort of real-life nonsense screwed that up. Anyway, the one and only Brian H waxed eloquent about the fest on some music mailing list, and in particular raved about Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I had heard of them but hadn't heard many of their songs at that point. But knowing Brian's excellent taste in music, I checked 'em out right away. After finding the excellent studio albums, I also found that these guys pop all their live shows over on archive.org.

A no-brainer, people -- this is a great band in a very classic vein. Grace has a strong bluesy voice and great rock & roll attitude. And, she cranks up the B-3 about as hard as anybody has since the 70s. You may have heard Bonnie Raitt comparisons, but Bonnie never had the balls to make music like this! Lots and lots of good songs, and solid musicianship. You can hear a little Feat, a little Traffic, a little early Fleetwood Mac maybe. Like they said in those old Prego TV commercials: "It's In There"

(And since I'm admittedly a total sucker for a good looking rocker chick and for a B-3 screaming through a Leslie, this is just right in my wheelhouse.)

Recent shows have been opening for Government Mule, so they're relatively short. Here's a decent sounding one from earlier this month:

meantime (dedication ;-)
ah mary
stop the bus
sinking man (unreleased)
water parts 1 and 2

whole show (11/1/07)

Another nice show for your listening pleasure is from the paradise in early 06

sweet hands
mystery train
house of the rising sun/gumbo moon

paradise show 2/18/06

Enjoy!

Marty Balin's Prettiest Song

I'm not a huge devoted fan of the Airplane or Starship, but I do love a number of their songs, and I think Red Octopus is a great record. I was surprised to find some shows on archive today, and even more surprised when I streamed a show from The Tin Angel in 2000, to hear the long-lost syrup "Hearts", from Marty Balin's first (only?) solo record.

What a damned pretty song this is.

hearts mp3

whole show here and it's a nice one, not quite unplugged but acoustic-room mellow, delicate. Damn he's got a great voice.

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Ok so it's been clear for quite awhile that Marc Broussard is a real gem. But did you know he went out on the road this summer doing a set of mostly 70s funk and soul covers by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Al Green, supporting the covers album "Save Our Soul"? Somehow I didn't...

Anyway, for those of us who missed the tour, some real fun stuff here, including a mixed-bag mini set with the pride of Cherry Hill NJ (um...), Toby Lightman. Actually I think she's tolerable on the Aretha stuff but clearly ymmv.

Broussard's band is more than just rock-solid on this material, they are on fire. Definitely sound tighter than they did at SXSW, and they were good then. But biggest props to Broussard for doing songs that very few, if any other white guys on the planet could sing in public without embarrassing themselves: You Haven't Done Nuthin' and Inner City Blues. Not only can he sing it, but he gets it. If only our political leaders had that kind of conviction...

You Haven't Done Nuthin'
You Can Leave Your Hat On
I've Never Loved A Man
Inner City Blues
Come Around
Hot Pants

Whole Show

Covering Bob - The Right Way

So my son Jake is insisting on watching some Fox evilness named "The Next Great American Band". Tonight's show apparently required all participants to cover a Dylan tune.



Call me an old curmudgeon, but wow did all these groups just suck! I really mean suck. The lack of dynamics and lyrical sensitivity in their arrangement, playing, delivery was complete. Covers should change the delivery and flavor, but never lose the soul of the song. The very best covers ever (Bruce's encores in the early days, for example) renew the soul, and practically force the fan to (re)turn to the original artist! How many Gary US Bonds albums do I have, you ask?

Anyway, I play in cover bands sometimes. I just hate bad covers, and I especially hate bad Dylan and Springsteen covers. This is religion to some people, and you just have to respect that. If you can't do it well, please, just do not do it at all.

Anyway, while this travesty was blaring in the background, I'd been thinking a bit about Bruce Hornsby, as he's playing in NJ this evening while I'm up in Boston visiting friends and suffering 40-odd hours of Red Sox Withdrawl. (Off nights in the world series are just torture, especially up here!) Hornsby just did a jazz album with a couple of stellar players, Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette, which I haven't picked up yet. But a number of samples from the tracks are stream-able here and it sounds sophisticated and a tad experimental, very intriguing.

Originally planning to write on Hornsby in particular, but unable to find a critical mass of free stuff worth posting, I turned to archive.org for tunes from his tenure with The Grateful Dead in 90/91. Now I admit I am largely stuck in the 70s when it comes to the Dead -- I love 72-74 specifically -- but I did enjoy the shows with Hornsby quite a bit. What I didn't realize was that the band did a wide variety of Dylan covers over this period, some of them done really nicely (unlike the TV posers that I may not soon forget no matter how hard I try.) Even when they don't get close to the intensity of the original (Tom Thumb, Queen Jane) they still demonstrate their reverence for Bob, and I love them for it.

Here's a smattering of Dead/Hornsby on Dylan worth checking out:

it's all over now baby blue 5/10/91 shoreline
maggie's farm 5/10/91 shoreline
memphis blues again 12/30/90 oakland coliseum
when i paint my masterpiece 9/15/90 msg
all along the watchtower 9/15/90 msg
just like tom thumb's blues 9/21/90 boston garden
queen jane approximately 12/12/90 mcnichols, denver

and here's Hornsby's original tune "Valley Road", absolutely renewed with the Dead as a joyous shuffle.

valley road 12/30/90 oakland

blogsurf express 10/24/07

Now this is one great post (and not just for the Liz pic :-)

License, registration, I ain't got none

Quick hit 2 - Bruce+Arcade Fire, "State Trooper", video clip here on Bruce's site. (Wow they're almost getting clueful in their old age!)

A four-eyed cartoon monster on the T.V. screen

As promised, a quick "one-hitter" for you guys -- how apropos ;-) Derek Trucks covering Stevie Wonder's "Too High", 11/11/2000

too high mp3
whole show

(which also includes great covers of "The Chicken", "Cissy Strut", "Yield Not To Temptation" and other fun fusion-jams.)

The Voice of New England in Autumn

Well it's finally feeling like fall, and once there's a little chill in the air, I start thinking back to living in Boston. Someone said something today that made me think of Passim, the folk institution in Harvard Square, where I once saw Bill Morrissey. I really love a few of his Rounder albums -- his voice is so perfectly matched to his very New-England backwoods themes. A wonderful storyteller and songwriter.

A quick trip to his not-quite-maintained, very 1995-looking site yielded a few gems he's offered up for our collective enjoyment:

http://www.billmorrissey.net/BMInside2000Apr.mp3
http://www.billmorrissey.net/bmsmalltown830130s112.mp3
http://www.billmorrissey.net/bmwinterlaundry970111s112.mp3
http://www.billmorrissey.net/bmifyoudontwantmebaby.mp3

And it seems rather incongrous to me, but he has a myspace page too.

Bag of Reds

Well it's 90 damn degrees here in the swamps of Jersey. October 8. WTF? Anyway I'm coming off an amazing weekend of Fenway Friday (Manny Moonshot), Boss Magic in Philly (more on that later, but a quick shout out to the great h9/le/nbc crew, and the preacher's daughter who helped me navigate the subway...sort of :), and finally, the Giants blood-pressure-raising win in the Meadowlands Sunday (is there any other kind?) and thanks to Brendan and Tony D for the great tailgate.

I won't need to go out for months after that, but definitely a three for three weekend! And hey Yankee fans, make no mistake, I'm rootin' for 'em now; it just wouldn't be right for the the Sox to cruise through the AL without facing off against the Empire. (And who the hell wants to face the Tribe pitching staff?)

Today I'm resisting the temptation to write that inevitable Bruce post, just because catching up on an archive.org blog feed, I noticed an amazing sounding vintage Feat show. One of my favorite old Feat boots was named "Bag Of Reds", Halloween 75, Orpheum, Boston. It's now been "liberated", as they say. Enjoy, and Brendan, watch this space for The Goblin Girl by month's end!

Bag Of Reds mp3Long Distance Love mp3

Whole Show - totally worth the download & burn; definitive show of the era. Just do it!

Where are you hiding, Ben Arnold?

Steve mentioned last night that the Ryan page has been on the blog too long, and was wondering if I'd given up on this thing. No way, just too damn busy lately. Also, I had really wanted to catch Ben Arnold down in Asbury this past week before posting about him, but reality foiled that plan. Such is life...

I've been wanting to write about this guy for awhile now, but since I have not yet caught him live, felt I should really get the full picture first. I first heard him back 3-4 years ago on XPN, but they only played one or two songs. But I filed the name, and I'm really glad I did. The more I listen, the more I like -- strong gravelly voice, singer/songwriter with rock & roll edge and heart, quieter songs engage rather than induce sleep, lots of variety in instrumentation and arrangement, a talented pro who deserves some success. Philly guy, with a record release party at Johnny Brenda's on October 18th that I'm gonna try to hit.

Anyway, once upon a time he had an actual website with a bunch of great mp3s, but the whole site now seems to have vanished, and a single page with a flash player put in its place. But if you want to take music with you, that's a real problem, so I'm putting these mp3s up on my machine. Pop 'em on yer iPod...money back guarantee on this one! :)

(please ignore web errors you may see about expired security certificates)

suckin_honey.mp3
O_Holy_Ghost.mp3
Nevermind_My_Blues.mp3
Everywhere_You.mp3
Eggs.mp3
Sky_Was_Falling.mp3
Zig_Zag.mp3
Bad_Time.mp3
Timeless.mp3
Worlds_Away.mp3

A few more can be found on his myspace page.

remember when ryan wanted to be paul?

Don't know what I'm talking about? A few years before the oh-so-talented but oh-so-troubled Ryan Adams lost himself in a Deadhead haze, he had left alt-country behind and wanted to rock like, well, Westerberg/mats. And he did a pretty damned good job of it.

I was at this show -- in fact I ate a couple of extra tickets, which IIRC were $25. It was everything a rock show should be. Smoky, dark, started late, Orange amps cranked up to 10, a first set that did not let up one bit.

He had it. And he's now pretty much lost it. Really sad IMHO. But damn what a great recording of a great night, when Ryan was really everything we all wanted him to become.

first set mp3s 1 2 3 4
encore: brown sugar

whole show

(Wait a sec -- Didn't he play candy doll that night? Maybe I'm thinking of a different show at the E Factory after all. I really should get my facts straight :-)

I Love You Rosalie

There are so many artists who never capture their true magic in the studio, but deliver mesmerizing live performances. For me, Alejandro Escovedo is one of those artists, up there with Richard Thompon, Bruce and many others I hope to write about one day soon...

Anyway I was thinking about solidifying my hotel and travel plans for SXSW 2008, having made last-minute arrangements in 06 and 07, and winding up staying way the hell out of town, and was reminded of this gorgeous acoustic song which Alejandro just killed with at the Continental Club Sunday night back in March. Easily my favorite of the evening.



Couldn't find a recording from that night but here's a good-sounding one from this summer:

Rosalie mp3
Whole show

mr & mrs trucks get some mountain air

Oh yeah, this is a real nice one. Setlist caught my eye -- a Derek Trucks show opening with Tell The Truth is a very good sign. How cool is it that two people this talented and reverent toward the blues are
married and making music together?

Will have to check out the Jazz Aspen Snowmass sometime...


mp3 tell the truth
mp3 little by little
mp3 stand back

but really, you should check out the whole show

blogsurf express 9/6/07

Went searching for a song this morning on The Hype Machine (which might just become the new Napster, hint hint) and found a couple of nice posts I wish I'd written:

One on Westerberg
A couple on Wilco (this one and this other one)

rads flashback

Before there were Phisheads, there were Fish-heads. Of course, these were the devoted followers of the party-till-the-money-runs-out kings of Crescent City swamp boogie, the indefatiguable New Orleans Radiators.

Rads are at the Cutting Room in NYC this weekend, hope to get there but in case not, I turn back to the first live show I got back in the tape-trading days, and still perhaps the best set I've heard from them (and I've heard a few!) Order yourself a hurricane and enjoy!

whole show

kickin mule mp3
devils dream mp3
creepin vine mp3hold back the flood mp3
party till the money runs out mp3

She Walks These Hills

So was having dinner with a bunch of good friends last night and my buddy Steve's iPod is programmed with an absolutely great, widely varying playlist. The wives express profound annoyance about how much time we men put into preparing such a playlist, and in particular, doing it right before guests arrive.

While the timing of playlist preparation is perhaps indefensible, there's no question that making a playlist for a party or gathering is an intensely personal statement, very similar to the mixtape phenomenon documented so perfectly in High Fidelity.

Anyway, one of the fine selections on Steve's playlist was the classic Long Black Veil by The Band. I mentioned to Rob, (a huge Band fan - I just love watching his face strain as he sings along :-) that Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of Little Feat do a great job on this tune at their live acoustic duo shows. Here's a nice version:

Long Back Veil mp3
whole show (Bridgeton Folk Fest 2006)

42,000 on tap at the wayback machine

So last week was an awesome week for music here in the swamps of Jersey but for various reasons I didn't see a single show. I did do some playing, reconnecting with old friends, and that was great.

Looking at the calendar, this could be a great week to get into NYC for some jazz. Joe Lovano is simply a monster: emotion, chops, stage presence, tone, stylistic range/facility. A truly inspiring musician's musician.

Then the weekend offers way too many choices, with Marah, Radiators, Bob Mould all playing Friday and/or Saturday. Posts of each of these coming up soon...perhaps :-)

But I leave you this morning with several links to one of the true marvels of the net, that being the Live Music Archive. Over 42,000(!) live concerts archived and available for free download, often in multiple formats. It's just astonishing.

Anyway, there are of course many old favorites on LMA (2000+ Dead shows, hundreds of Feat, Rads, Ryan Adams) but here are a few more contemporary artists you might be getting into, that have a few shows up on LMA.



Spoon (I'm listening to http://www.archive.org/details/spoon2005-06-09.flac16 at this very moment in fact), Mp3 Sample Sister Jack


Josh Ritter (I have this
show on tap for later, still acoustic I think.)






Grace Potter and the Nocturnals who are just fantastic, as Brian H and many others have written so eloquently about in the past few months...




Marc Broussard who sounds way too soulful, world-weary and wise to be in his 20s. (I saw him at SXSW this year, and stood next to his best friend from high school -- a talkative fun Louisiana kid that I suspect had not yet started shaving! :-)

mp3 sample: Hard Times from 10/12/2006

Walt Whitman Bridge

How can you help but to root for these guys? They love the early, 100-words-per-line Bruce, they've had some great acoustic alt-country change-ups, they rock their asses off live, and their hometown apparently could not care less.

Sorry, Philly people, but how else can one explain why a band this good, ten years or so down the road, is playing a 300-capacity room in glorious Fishtown on a Saturday night, back in their hometown to celebrate the release of their 8th record? Indie cred? Right. Sure.

I caught Marah last time they played at Johnny Brenda's and I liked the room a lot, but have to admit to suffering visions of sitting in a gritty police station at 2am after discovering my car gone... (It was fine, of course...and yes, thanks, I am well aware that I've been living in the suburbs way too long.)

Anyway, Dave & Serge have kindly shared some new & improved tunes from the forthcoming record, check 'em out:

east
feather boa
the rough streets below
goin' through the motions

See youse guys at JB's on the 8th. I'll drive :-)

Red Herring

I haven't been to Mexicali Blues in awhile, but the last time I went was quite memorable. I saw Herring, Rodgers, Sipe & Fountain, a jam-fusion supergroup of sorts. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Herring's guitar playing, particularly with ARU and Jazz Is Dead. I know some people think it's "clinical", but man, he just burns it up!

There's a version of Les Brers he did with Derek during the Allmans 2000 tour that was as fiery as any Allman show ever, period. (I'll try to find this and add a link in the next couple of days.)

Anyway, here's a link to a seriously burning opening jam from HRS at Mexicali, 8/11/06. Whole show over here at archive.org
(And while Neil Fountain may not be the next Jaco, he is probably the most talented bass player I've seen since.)

James McMurtry is Pissed

And that's a damn good thing. I'll refrain from political diatribe here, and let the man and his music do it instead.

here's the mp3 of "God Bless America", a reprise of sorts to "We Can't Make It Here" which is IMHO the song of the decade. (Youtube video of an acoustic KFOG performance is here.

Three Chords and the Truth, indeed.

James isn't exactly the most extroverted live artist, but has a west-Texas dry sense of humor that can make his shows very entertaining. And he writes great stuff. He's playing at the very bohemian-cool Mexicali Blues in Teaneck NJ, this coming Thursday night.

Like Sonny

I was in NYC last week, and caught up with my buddy John for the first time in awhile. I love John but let's say his taste in music falls somewhere in the Foreigner/REO Speedwagon space, so I was pretty shocked when he told me he was going on an NYC blues cruise to see Sonny Landreth.


Now I just love Sonny's playing on John Hiatt's best records, and have South of I-10, which is a damn good record in its own right. But I was surprised when I popped on Archive.org to see if I could find something to prep John for the experience, and lo & behold, there are shows of Sonny playing with Little Feat! Had no idea and I'm something of a Feat fan.

While the sound quality is a bit lacking, there's some hot jamming on this version of Let It Roll from the Keswick show in 2006 (mp3) And here's a goodie from Sonny's official site: key to the highway

you can find a bunch more mp3's in the "lagniappe" section of the site

Let's Go Get Stoned

I can't help it, I still love Southside -- not just because he's still the best white R&B singer on the Jersey Shore, not for the decades of salty wisecracks, but mostly because he has often been his own worst enemy, and I can so relate to that.

I pulled the mp3s from johnny's site awhile ago, and just dumped them on this new, $15 cardreader/mp3player toy I picked up, and had a good laugh at this version of Ray Charles' classic, with Gary US Bonds joining in the fun.

The mp3 is supposed to be here (it was just a day or two ago) but if that link isn't working, try here instead.

And of course you know that Johnny is doing the annual Martell's thing this week.