July 18, 2008
nice shot
do yourself a favor & browse through the treasure trove of photos over at morrison hotel gallery...wow.
the offender meets the pretender
this is a pretty well known bootleg, recorded in vrpo studios in hilversum, holland back in december of 1976...what's interesting is that even though jackson browne was arguably at the height of his fame, the dutch radio host & those in attendance seem more interested in warren zevon, who had only just released his self-titled second album & was on his first solo tour as browne's "special guest"...to be honest, i probably would have been more excited to see him as well, nothing against jackson browne, it's just a matter of preference...what's equally cool though, is how invested browne seems in sharing the spotlight & showcasing the work of his good friend...check it out.
download: the offender meets the pretender.zip
01. intro
02. these days
03. cocaine blues
04. linda paloma
05. mohammed's radio
06. frank and jesse james
07. hasten down the wind
08. desporados under the eaves
09. excitable boy
10. for a dancer
11. something fine
12. carmelita
13. werewolves of london
"our songs are sing along songs"
the hold steady don't really have many casual fans, you're either all in or you probably haven't spent enough time with their music (& definitely haven't seen them live)...the only problem with being all in though, is that sometimes you tend to get a little too attached to the songs, the ones that you've sung along to countless times, & when new ones come along it might be kind of hard to accept them as easily as the old favorites...at least that's how i felt the first couple times i listened to stay positive, which officially came out earlier this week...while there were certain tracks that immediately struck a chord, i couldn't help sizing up almost everything on the album to the band's previous work, & was actually sort of let down...but for some reason, when i came back to it a few days later, i was completely blown away...every song sounded better, tracks i had dismissed as weak retreads like "one for the cutters" & "yeah sapphire" had taken on new life, while standouts like the title track, "constructive summer", & "lord, i'm discouraged", now sounded like absolute classics...i've been playing this album into the ground for about a month now, & it seems to get better & better, the songs have all resonated & i'm starting to get pretty attached to them...& when the band takes the stage at union park tomorrow evening, you can bet i'll be there...singing along.
download: the hold steady - stay positive
download: the hold steady - slapped actress
related: vbs vs. the hold steady
download: the hold steady - stay positive
download: the hold steady - slapped actress
related: vbs vs. the hold steady
July 14, 2008
j. lo's dead?
is everyone watching generation kill? last night's premiere episode was pretty awesome, thanks in large part to some hilarious david simon penned dialogue...not too much really happened story-wise, but if we've learned anything from the wire, it's that the little things tend to add up...get some!
July 13, 2008
poor elijiah
(left to right) eric clapton, delaney bramlett, bonnie bramlett, bobby whitlock, & dave mason.
previously: dave mason
July 11, 2008
friday funk & soul
i know absolutely nothing about this song...except that it's awesome.
download: mallory graham - queen bee
dave mason
any of you catch dave mason on conan a couple nights ago, performing "feelin' alright" with joe cocker & his band?...it was pretty cool to see him show up so randomly like that, but i couldn't help feeling a little bad that his career never took off the same way some of his early contemporaries did...after the dude left traffic in 1969 & fell in with the leon russell/delaney & bonnie crew, he was at the top of his game...he was turning up on albums from the stones & george harrison, & was all set to join derek & the dominos, when he decided to go into the studio & record his solo debut, alone together, instead, which in my opinion is one of the finest all around rock albums of the seventies...with a ridiculous array of musicians in tow, including leon russell, carl radle, jim capaldi, delany & bonnie bramlett, & even eric clapton on a couple tracks, it's still the bouncy folk-rock melodies of mason's well-crafted songs, every one of them fantastic, that carry the album (well, that & clapton's solo at the end of "look at you look at me")...mason released a few more really good solo albums, & had a couple soft rock hits near the end of the decade, but then he kind of disappeared in the eighties...now he tours the country, playing small festivals, like the one tonight in itasca (a suburb of chicago)...maybe not what he expected back in 1970, but at least he's still playing...& why not when he's got songs like these to play.
download: dave mason - just a song
download: dave mason - look at you, look at me
related: those soft rock hits he had at the end of the decade, by the way, were very well deserved...mason's biggest commercial success came in 1977, with these breezy gems off let it flow...oh yeah.
download: dave mason - we just disagree
download: dave mason - let it go, let it flow
blitzen trapper - furr
this inspired, low-key folk number is the title track to blitzen trapper's new record, which will be available in september...it's really good, & a big leap for a band that already stepped up with a few twangy country flavored tunes off last year's wild mountain nation...but something tells me the feedback filled freakouts won't be going away just yet.
download: blitzen trapper - furr
July 10, 2008
recapturing zz top
there was some interesting news from billboard last week, that zz top has signed with american recordings & will head into the studio with rick rubin in hopes of recapturing some of their early-seventies glory...it's hard not to be a little skeptical, especially after the trio has spent the past twenty years living off the slick grooves, canned drums, & cheesy (though admittedly awesome) music videos of their eighties heyday (turning out a dynamite performance in back to the future part 3 in the process, i might add)...still, it would be pretty cool if rubin could strip away all that glossy polish that's built up over the years, & turn out a dirty, bare bones, blues-rock record...kind of like the group's criminally underrated first album, which was recorded almost forty years ago, before the fully grown beards & cheap sunglasses, when zz top actually was just a lil' ol' band from texas...even better, why not just rerelease that record with the special treatment that tres hombres got from rhino a couple years ago...as of now, the only way to hear the original mix is on vinyl, so here are a couple rips.
download: zz top - (somebody else been) shaking your tree
download: zz top - brown sugar
download: zz top - goin' down to mexico
download: zz top - (somebody else been) shaking your tree
download: zz top - brown sugar
download: zz top - goin' down to mexico
the donkeys - walk through a cloud
i'm really digging this little laid-back new track from the donkeys, which believe it or not, sounds a bit tighter than those loose, lazy numbers off their equally impressive self-titled 2006 debut...look for the forthcoming album, living on the other side, to drop september 9th.
download: the donkeys - walk through a cloud
download: the donkeys - come on virginia (s/t)
download: the donkeys - in the morning (s/t)
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