C1S7CD7 I get confused between what is Americana, or Alt Country, or just Country music and suspect it doesn't matter really good music is good music. So this album sits in my section that covers all of those genre's and includes, Johnny Cash, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle, Grand Drive, Drive By Truckers etc. This album sits within this sector unless someone can tell me differently as a country tinged masterpiece.
This was the first album that Jenny Lewis made outside of the wonderful Kilo Riley (who might turn up here one day) and she is backed by the Watson Twins, gospel singing siblings from Texas. The Watson Twins have gone on to make great music on their own and Jenny has released quality recording under various guises the latest being Jenny and Johnny.
So on to the album, as you would expect beautiful harmonies can be found throughout this album no more so than on the opening track Run Devil Run which is sung acapella.
The rest of the tracks are a great slice of country with quality songwriting taking centre stage. All of the tracks are original other than the cover of The Traveling Wilburys Handle With Care, where Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) duets with Jenny.
The songs on the CD are timeless and could have been written anytime over the last 30 or 40 years and that is a complement to the artists as the CD transports you back in time to America maybe around the time of the depression, when music was played in sitting rooms for entertainment.
This is a quality album by some quality artists who have proved that they can release music either together or in collaboration and keep the music to an exceptional standard.
After last month I thought I would keep a track of what I bought on a monthly basis so here we go.....
Radiohead - King of Limbs Like most of the world I downloaded this last week, at first it felt like background music but 5 listens in their album is a grower, it's not as accessible as In Rainbows but it certainly has tunes on it. If you believe the Internet hype this is only half of the album and the rest coming in the summer. Oh yeah if you get chance check out this Thom Yorke mash up on Youtube of him dancing to Single Ladies brilliant!
Edie Bricknell and The New Bohemians Shooting Rubber Bands At the Stars Had this on cassette years ago saw it in a charity shop and thought why not, great album including What I Am.
Midlake - Bamnan and Silvercork Always knew Midlake had released an album prior to the beautiful Trails Of Van Occupanther and this is it, sounds more like Grandaddy and appears to be Midlake before they discussed Fleetwood Mac, good all the same but different to the band I know and love.
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House I love Grizzly Bear but only have Veckatimest this is good and has all the hallmarks of Grizzly Bear and only cost me £5 a bargain!
The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain recommended by my mate @samwass as part of his Twitter #masterpieces (see previous post) bought on his recommendation and a nice album, Sam was convinced they were going to be massive, guess we all have a few bands like that in our music collections!
Rush - Times Stand Still :The Collection about 30 years ago when I was a spotty teenager all my mates were into Rush, and although I didn't really listen to them I was sure for some reason I didn't like them. So 30 years on and Rush are still going and I still listen to rock music sometimes so I thought I would give them ago. All I can say is that I haven't been missing anything for the last 3 decades hated every second of this and it's already on the pile to give away. Bombastic twaddle. Sorry Rush fans it's not for me!
Air - Moon Safari my second re-purchase of the month, the older I get the more copies of the same album I buy, damn you technology! I had a Mini Disc (remember them?) copy of this album. I have always loved this album and would say Air have never bettered it.
The Czars - Before.....But Longer I can now relax as my Czars back catalogue is complete love this band and hoping that John Grant plays a couple of Czars tracks when I see him in concert next month. Like all their other releases this is quality Americana. Beautiful stuff. Oh Yeah and only £3 I love Fopp Records!!!
The National - The Boxer I was very very late to the party with regard to The National and I have really been missing out. Now that I have my Czars back catalogue sorted I have started on The Nationals.
Dave Matthews Band - Live In New York City some people that would know me would say why do I need another DMB live album? I have at last count 37 Dave Matthews Band CD's the vast majority being live concerts, and 3 box sets of live concerts and 6 DVD's of live concerts but hey I can guarantee there will be something new on there for me. There always is! I love this band and it might be very uncool to say that in the UK but I don't really care!.
Adele - 21 This will the year that Adele takes over the world, and on the back of this album it won't take long. Her tickets for a concert in Newcastle sold out in 3 minutes recently. The album is amazing songs showcasing her powerhouse voice. Oh yeah and for the guy that the album is written about unlucky mate!
Check out this video of Adele performing at The Brits she stole the show with this performance.
Angus & Julia Stone - Down The Way this is my find of the month, recommended by Amazon as someone I might like I took a chance and ordered the CD blind. I haven't stopped playing it since. It is brilliant Brother and Sister? taking turns to sing lead vocals on what are some of the most fragile and beautiful songs I have heard in a long time. The line from Walk It Off 'I never wanted you to go, but I'd be the last to tell you so' breaks my heart every time I hear it. Buy this you won't regret it!
So that's it I think I haven't managed to get all this for around £50 which ain't bad but 2 months on I now realise I but a lot more music the I used to admit to myself!
.....and if anybody wants a Rush CD just let me know!!
C7S5CD13 I know very little about White Rabbits, I bought this in a record shop sale for £3 as I was looking for some new music and I thought I had read somewhere that these guys were good and fairly new to the music scene. I haven't learnt much since other than I think this is their second album and they are a 6 piece band from New York City.
I suspect the fact that I don't know much about the band reflects how much of an impression this album made on me when I first listened to it. If I really like an album I start researching the band to understand where they have come from and whether they have anymore music I can get my hands on. A case in point is John Grant and The Czars. The Czars had always been on my radar but I had never bought any of their music then I heard John Grants solo album Queen of Denmark and within 3 weeks had bought the whole of The Czars back catalogue. White Rabbits didn't have that effect on me but listening to it now I think I might start doing a bit research!
I defy anybody who has heard Adam Ants - Ant Music not to start singing it over opening track Percussion Gun, pinched drum beat aside the track is great and sets the pace for the rest of the album.
The quality of the 10 tracks over all is good, with drum beats featuring heavily on a lot of the tracks, If I had to compare the band I would say their sound fall somewhere between The Editors and The National with a pinch of Local Natives thrown in for good measure.
Stand out track for me are Percussion Gun, Midnight and I, and They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong.
If you like your indie pop on the melodic side of the fence then this is a a great album that might be a little off the beaten track.
C3S6CD10 I suspect that more people in the world have heard of Fleetwood Mac than haven't heard of them and says something about how big Fleetwood Mac are.
This is the second incarnation of Fleetwood Mac after Peter Green decided to go for a walk in San Francisco and never came back! Fleetwood Mac were originally a blues band playing amazing blues but when Peter Green left so did the main creative talent. Mick Fleetwood had to re-invent the band and boy did he!
Mick recruited Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and turned the band into a West Coast of America rock band, Changing the dynamics with Stevie, Lindsey and Christine McVie all sharing lead vocals on what would become a sound that would carry on for a further 35 years and then some.....
This album is often overlooked as it was the forerunner to Rumours the multi million selling album that would continue to be seen as a rock classic for ever more. But back to this album in hand, this as a great album which has all the hallmarks of rumour if not all the killer tunes. Gentle ballads, pacey rockers, all held together by John McVie's (bass) and Mick Fleetwood's (drums) tight rhythm section. My favourite tracks are Rhiannon and Say You Love Me which stand out as classic Fleetwood Mac tunes.
If you love Rumours then this is worth investigating but if you haven't heard Fleetwood Mac start with Rumours it is brilliant.
C9S5CD16 The Random selector takes me into my blues collection, and even though this is called in part Blues & Ballads it's not really a blues album, it's really a jazz album. So although I won't be giving this CD away maybe I might be re-categorising it!
I have played this CD hundreds of times and I never get bored with it, for a while it was all I ever played on a Sunday morning whilst drinking great coffee and pouring through the Sunday papers. It reminds me on sunshine as I can remember sitting on a balcony in Indian Rocks Beach (Florida) with amazing pastries from nearby bakery and great coffee watching the pelicans dive for fish, anticipating another great day on sunshine. Even in the coldest winter day in the UK playing this CD makes me warm and that's got to say something about this release!
So onto the music, guitar, drums, bass, keyboards and saxophone, it's as simple as that 5 stunning musicians who fill this CD with with 70 minutes of amazing music. All of the songs here are instrumentals a mix of originals and covers, but the covers disappear into the arrangements so you hear snippets of the original songs but really you are just immersed in the sound. Although there is break in between the songs this doesn't make any difference. I have never put this CD on and not listened to it all the way through. I couldn't tell you the titles of the songs or which is my favourite track. The album is complete and deserves to be listened to all the way through.
David 'Fathead' Newman plays sax on 6 of the 12 tracks and that is a treat in itself, I first become aware of 'Fathead' (no I don't know why he is called that) via Van Morrison, on one of the live Van Morrison CD's I have you can hear Van Morrison shouting something at his saxophone player, I realised after awhile he is saying "play it like Fathead" and if Van Morrison rates you as a musician then you have to be good!
I'm not a huge jazz music fan and other than having a few Miles Davis releases can't say I have much jazz music but this is so accessible I defy anybody not to like it. Although perfect for backing music it isn't bland. there is so much to like here and I do over and over again.
I once gave somebody a copy of this CD, that person was only really into R 'n' B and hip hop but on my request listened to this, although her first comments were " there is no point in me listening to it, I know I won't like it" well she still listens to it, three years on, and has loved it from the moment the opening bars of Alabama kick in.
If you want to be transported to another time of place where everything is just a little bit warmer, or if you already live somewhere hot and want a soundtrack for a very chilled relaxing time then go out and buy this.
Mark 10/10 ( my first perfect mark!)
I can't find a track from Grateful Heart on the Internet but this track gives you a feel for what Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters are about. Enjoy!
I love the Dave Matthews Band and like a lot of Dave Matthews Band fans #41 is my favourite song.
I spend a lot of time watching versions of the song from live concerts and there is some amazing versions out there. I stumbled across this version a while ago and have just come across it again, I know nothing about the opera singer Ashleigh Semkiw but seemingly this is her vocal warm up. I is simply brilliant, it showcases her beautiful voice and also the quality of the song.
C2S4CD2 I love The Black Crowes and I love Led Zeppelin but when I bought this I did it with a certain amount of reservation. Why would it be a good idea for The Black Crowes to become a Led Zeppelin tribute band for the night? I know why they would do it, if Jimmy Page asked any rock band to be his house band for the night they would all say yes, why wouldn't you? But I suspect once they had said yes, it was followed by a few days of wow what have we done! Saying that they must be pleased with the results as they decided to release the concert.
So what have we got here? 20 tracks 13 Zeppelin classics and 7 blues classics. The Led Zeppelin songs are at worst OK and at best good, Chris Robinson doesn't have the range of Robert Plant ( not many people do!) but he carries off the songs in his own style without trying to impersonate Plant, the band are tight and Jimmy Page does what he always does adding beautiful guitar work to all the songs. Of the Led Zeppelin tracks Ten Years Gone and the opening Celebration Day are the best but really if you want Led Zeppelin then go buy a Zeppelin album.
The interesting stuff is the non Zeppelin stuff when the Crowes and Page get stuck into some classic blues, you can see them relax and really start to enjoy themselves. It's no secret that Zeppelin were heavily influenced by the blues and at some point even pinched some of the blues classic for their own, but you can feel Jimmy Page's love for these songs in his playing he really steps up a gear and lets fly as the structure of playing the Zeppelin songs is removed. Willie Dixon's songs feature heavily but it's the cover of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac Oh Well, that just sizzles. Chris Robinson's vocal are great and Pages guitar work is just amazing.
This isn't a Black Crowes album nor is it a Led Zeppelin album but what this is a group of very accomplished musicians having a great time and allowing us to experience it with them. There are better Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin albums but this is a fun album which is worth a listen if you are a fan either band or if you like your blues on the rockier side then their is much to like on here as well.
C8S11CD2 takes me to into my soul collection and a compilation of one of the lesser know soul artists from that spans his career from Gospel to Disco!
For every Al Green, Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye there are any number of other great soul singers that didn't get the household recognition that they deserved. O.V Wright, Sly Johnson and Johnnie Taylor are three of the many I could name and it's with Johnnie Taylor that I'm concentrating on today.
This compilation covers Johnnie Taylor's career from his early Gospel days to his foray into Disco towards the end of his career.
Its the bits in between the Gospel and the disco that are the interesting bit here as truthfully people have done the Gospel music better and the disco influenced track Disco Lady is woeful but the other 11 tracks are silky smooth soul of the highest quality. All the usual subject matters are here, being in love, being cheated on (Stop Doggin; Me) and cheating (Who;s Making Love) all backed with what you would expect from the Stax label, polished horns, great arrangements and quality songwriting.
Stand out tracks are the aforementioned Stop Doggin' Me, Time After Time and I Am Somebody
It/s sad that Johnnie Taylor didn't become the household name he should have but for lovers of soul that want something a little bit different from the classics then this is a good place to start.
If you like Al Green and Otis Redding then you'll love Johnnie Taylor.
C1S2CD5 For those who don't know Isobel and Mark, she was the singer in Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian and and he was singer in US grunge band The Screaming Trees and therefore make an unlikely pairing for a dueting couple singing Americana tunes, but they continue with each release to prove that sometimes the most unlikely pairings make the most beautiful noise.
This release was the third for the duet and is billed as an EP as it is only 6 tracks and apparently these were tracks left other from the the recording of Sunday At Devil Dirt and although these were the tracks left off the main release this does not lessen the quality of this release.
Campbell's vocals are all hushed and beautiful whilst Lanegan vocals are somewhere between Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits so there is a real contrast and this is why it works.
This release is a great way to get an introduction to Campbell and Lanegan 5 songs with them sharing the vocals and a instrumental (Violin Tango). Stand out tracks are the title track Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart and Rambling Rose, Clinging Vine which both highlight the beautiful vocals of these two.
This album is over way to quickly and I suspect that you will quickly be buying the duets other 3 albums which are all of exceptional quality.
These 2 artists have released albums individually but it is together that they seem to excel a formula that they would stick to.
C5S3CD16 John Cougar (Mellencamp) looks actually like I tried to replicate when I was about 17 or 18 all denim jacket and old combat jacket looking mean and moody was a look I like to think I carried off, but I suspect I was nowhere near the level of coolest that John Cougar portrayed on the album cover of American Fool.
Called John Cougar as the Record Company thought it was better than Mellencamp it would be a number of years before John would change his name firstly to John Cougar Mellencamp and then to John Mellencamp.
For some reason I feel John Mellencamp has always been seen as a poor relation to Bruce Springsteen especially in the UK. They both seemed to appear at the same time and both played what was called what was called 'blue collar rock'. but although The Boss when on to huge critical and public acclaim in the UK John Mellencamp disappeared off the radar in the UK and although he has continued to release brilliant album after brilliant album I suspect most of the UK public's relationship starts and finishes with the big hit from this album Jack And Diane. Most people know the words to Jack and Diane and you can't help singing along to the song whenever it come on the radio.
John Mellencamp went on to release some amazing albums, Big Daddy, Scarecrow, Whatever We Wanted to name but three and continues to this day to release relevant music pushing the boundaries and still fighting for his political beliefs with all the anger he had when he was in his 20's and ready to fight with anybody that looked the wrong way at him!
So what about the album, truthfully it sounds a bit dated now, lead tracks Hurt So Good and Jack and Diane and Hand To Hold On To,are sing along tracks that demand your attention. The production is very of the time and this dates the album, there are some great tracks but I think if John Mellencamp could make this album again now it would sound very different. Other tracks aren't as strong and John Mellencamp went on the make some outstanding albums better than this one, but really this is where it all started for him.
If you are not aware of John Mellencamp's work you would do better to start with one of his greatest hits albums, Words And Music or The Best That I Could Do but if you want to know where it all really started then buy this album.
C6S11CD2 Of all the music I have Lewis Taylor is possibly the hardest music I have to categories. Funk, Jazz, Soul, Progressive Rock all seem to be find their way into a Lewis Taylor release and that is what first attracted me to his music.
There is very little on the Internet about Lewis Taylor as he has intentionally removed video's, fan pages, etc from the Internet. I'm not sure why he has done this but every man has his reasons.....If I had Lewis Taylor's body of work I would be delighted that people wanted to talk about it.
OK so rant over onto the music, as the title eludes to this is Lewis Taylor's second album, and was much anticipated about his debut the blew critics and music lovers away. That said, Lewis II was a bit of a disappointment, it had all the elements of his debut, soulful vocals, numerous timing and key changes, layered harmonies and blistering guitar work but what it lacks is the killer tunes. Listening to it again it is not as disappointing as I remembered but it is not as good as I wanted it to be. Some of the songs jar you, with too many timing changes and make the songs stop and start where as his debut made he timing changes draw you in and pull you along with the song these seem to push you away. It also seems to try too hard to replicate the successful formula of the debut and because of this seems slightly over produced. There are still things to like on this album tracks Lewis II, And Blues Eyes certainly live up to the expectation but most of the other tracks fail to live up to Lewis Taylor's high standards. The album finishes with a cover of Jeff Buckley's Everybody Here Wants You, and where Jeff Buckley managed to take other peoples songs and make them his own, Hallelujah and Lilac Wine for example, Lewis Taylor's version of Everybody here Wants You is virtually a replica of Jeff;s version and therefore seems pointless.
I seem to have slagged this album off and in truth its not one of my favourites, it's a good few years since I have listened to it and I suspect given the choice I would always pick another one of Lewis' releases and if I I was recommending a Lewis Taylor album to buy I would say buy his debut Lewis Taylor you'll love it!
C7S6CD12 Pete Yorn came to me from the pages from Vogue and Elle as in 2004 he seemed to be all over the pages of the fashion magazines as one to watch. I think it was his brooding dark looks and the fact that he seemed to be hanging round with with the fashionista but truthfully it had all to do with his music which was fresh and burst onto the scene full of purpose.
I remember Just Another being used in the US teen drama Dawson's Creek, it merged into Damien Rice's Blowers Daughter at a point when some young teenage girl had to pick between to guys fighting for her attentions. Just Another seemed perfect for this as the the lyrics go from some guy declaring his love for a girl before stating "you're just another girl...." Pete Yorn's songs are perfect for American dramas giving backing to the most emotional scenes with songs which are understated but heartfelt.
So back to the album, it opens with Life On A Chain which bass line bounces along like as if it's been pinched from a New Order song (maybe it has!) it has a great chorus and I guess Pete's vocals could only be from New York. Other highlights are Just Another, Strange Condition, and my favourite For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is) this has everything that is good with Pete Yorn, driving guitar and great hooks, and in my opinion one of the coolest titles for a song ever!
If I could level one criticism at this album it would be it's too long, 14 tracks and 1 hidden track, (don't get me started on hidden tracks just a waste of time!) we have allowed quantity to overtake quality, this album would have been a great 10 or 11 track album but looses it's way toward the end of the CD. Note to all musicians out there, in the days of vinyl albums were only 40-45 minutes long and that was OK, just because you can fit in excess of 70 minutes on a CD doesn't mean you have to!!
Pete Yorn has gone on to release a further 5 studio albums and a live release all of which are great and the critical acclaimed Break Up with Scarlett Johansson was a gem of a release. (only 32 minutes long) but Musicforthemorningafter is a great place to start with Pete Yorn, like this and you'll like all the rest!
C9S3CD11 Column 9 in my CD collection is mostly blues music in my collection so we could have quite easily be listening to some very traditional blues as I went through a phase of listening to very little other than blues delving back to the roots of blues music of Robert Johnson right up to the more modern take of blues using loops and dubs of Little Axe.
This release sits somewhere between the 2, lets get this straight The Black Keys are very cool, cool like the White Stripes who are recycling blues music in a modern format so that new music purchasers don't even release they are buying the blues and therefore bringing a whole new audience to a new genre of music. This release only contains 7 tracks but all are covers of Junior Kimbourgh songs, for those that don't know Junior Kimbourgh played Juke Blues, in the deep south of America, along with RL Burnside, T-Model Ford, and Robert Cage to name but a few who were all discovered playing in tiny illegal drinking dens for people to dance to for hours on end. Mostly they played electric guitar blues unaccompanied, repeating the same riff over and over whilst people danced in a semi hypnotic state. A lot of these artists were discovered by the Fat Possum Record Label team who went on to release a number of fantastic CD's by these artists and brought them to the music public.
This release is The Black Keys tribute to Junior Kimbrough with them rattling their way through 7 of his songs. His rougher edges have been smoothed away and what you get is The Black Keys putting their own style of 7 blues classics and as I have said before what's not to like! Classic blues brought to a new audience in a style that makes the youth of today think it's something special just means somebody might go and discover Junior Kimbrough or anyone of the artists I have mentioned and that can only be a good thing.
In their 2010 release Brothers The Black Keys proved that they are a band on top of their game with the world at their feet, but if you stumble upon this CD you won't be disappointed it just goes to show where the The Black Keys picked up some of their licks and why they sound like they do!
C1S4CD11 Column 1 in my collection is Country and Americana, and the random slection leads me to Catherine Feeny. I saw CAtherine Feeny supporting Dr John in 2006 and it seemed a strange choice of support I suspect picked more to promote Miss Feeny's new CD rather than to marry the music style of the main act.
Saying that I enjoyed the support acts 40 minutes or so enough to purchase the CD on the night and have played it on a regular basis ever since. Hurricane Glass looks like it has been released twice once in 2006 (this version) and again in 2007 different cover and couple of extra tracks, that pangs of a strong record company backing believing they have a product that the public what and should hear, but I'm sure that Catherine Feeny didn't make the waves that they expected and truthfully I don't think we have heard of her since.
The album has some beautifully crafted songs on Mr Blue and I Still Don't Believe You are good enough to grace any release and over all I wonder why we haven't heard more from Catherine Feeny, but I think it's just one of those things. I could and might write a blog titled, Trust Me They Will Be Massive as we all have albums by artists that we think will be huge and we never hear from them again.
This is a great debut release that left us with lots of promise, I notice that I also have a version of Bruce Springsteen I'm On Fire by this artist, which was given away with a music magazine which is excellent and shows an artist confident in her skills. If Catherine Feeny was to release another album I would buy it and that is a recommendation in itself.
I must confess that I have cheated already on my vow to only go to see artists that I haven't seen before by going to this gig, as the only reason I went to the gig was to see David Ford who I have seen before. I wouldn't have really mattered who was the headline act, I would have still gone. I can justify this on the basis that I haven't seen Teddy Thompson before but and this fits within my 2011 vow, but I think I'll be tested again soon as I really want to go and see Elbow again and I have seen them on a number of occasions so......
Right back to the gig David Ford was playing 45 minutes solo prior to joining Teddy as part of his band, and strolled out to a good sized audience a lot of which had come to see him play. Although alone David doesn't allow the lack of numbers on stage to handicap him into only playing one instrument, some songs are build using a loop machine to tape instruments and backing vocals so that by the end of a song you could have a dozen instruments and a full choir of vocals supporting David. Before the gig all I could think of was what would David play in such a short set, he started with Nothing At All from his new album, Let The Hard Times Roll, shacking 2 old brief cases filled with rattles and using another old case as a bass drum this was a brave start that silenced the whole of the audience and had them captivated for the whole of the set. What followed was just genius, love songs for Margaret Thatcher (She's Not The One) political observation State Of The Nation, and some of the most intelligent lyrics you will hear. It's hard for me to pick favourites from this short set but, Songs For The Road, To Hell With The World, I Don't Care What You Call Me and the aforementioned State Of The Nation were all amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_aQ8yRVexM check out this version of State Of The Union and you'll get a feel of what David Ford is about.
Teddy Thompson was good, not great but good, a mix of styles sometimes left me a bit confused and the drums seemed to high in the mix but I enjoyed the set, Looking For A Girl is a great little pop song, and an encore of Super Trooper by Abba was a surprise.
So would I go and see Teddy Thompson again, only if David Ford was support, would I go and see David Ford again, absolutely in a heartbeat, if you get a chance go and see him!
