Jim Ford's overlooked masterpiece gets a reissue. Some great albums explode like fireworks, engendering a whole constellation of successors and admirers; some shine with a more self-sufficient light, an end in themselves. Jim Ford's 1969 masterpiece Harlan County is one of the latter, for Ford was an artist whose fortunes never lived up to his talent. A timeless mix of country, funk, and hillbilly music, Harlan County was only esteemed in cult circles and by the more knowing of Ford's peers. Without...
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Just picked up a few classic tracks this morning courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard . Maybe I am in need of a summer roadtrip...just maybe listening to these tracks will help me to forget there isn't a sniff of one looming in my near future. Free mp3: Ramsay Midwood - Spinning On This Rock Free mp3: Jim Ford - I'm Gonna Make Her Love Me [...]
(Our friends at Light In The Attic Records have gone ahead and done justice to one of our favorite records, Jim Ford's Harlan County. We are giving away a copy of the deluxe vinyl reissue. To enter, leave a comment with your favorite LITA reissue, below. The following is an old AD post on Ford [...]
Things happen quickly. Good times are had. New friends are made. Fresh experiences teach us about ourselves and the world. There's always that one person who wants to drag you out of the present and into the past. Don't bother. It's not worth the effort. Just keep rolling. But remind yourself to take a moment [...]
We're on Day 4 of WFMU's 2011 fundraising Marathon ! Tune in now through March 13th to join in on the radio party of the year with DJ tag teams , prize giveaways, and tons o' swag (like our fantastic Woof Moo sticker!). We've also put together a fine batch of DJ Premiums : any of these handcrafted CDs, Books, & DVDs are available for a pledge of $75 or more. Check the blog daily to sample what's available from today's DJs and don't forget to support WFMU ! [...]
This week I have been taking a stroll down memory lane, recapping some of my most successful Sunday Mix Tapes. The next new one will be number 200, you know. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that this is a very exciting time for us all. Although I must say, if I'm still doing this after 200 more mix tapes I might have to consider making some big changes in my life. After mix tape number 100 I decided to make a change. It was January 14th, 2008 when I unilaterally (is that what you'd call [...]
Good times tonight watching KT play softball and then eating at Canter's for the first time (not including matzoh ball soup take-out). It was good! That's about all I have to say about today. Part of it was good. I haven't posted one of these in a while, so here are the best Google search results of the day which have directed Internet users to Swan Fungus during the last hour: 10. Sinbad re-married his ex-wife 09. Reasons to go for it and date 08. Coolness burger king sex 07. I realize what is my [...]
Printer cartridge instructions from Asia are always a hilarious find. This came out of an ink package at work. It's hard to believe a technical writer somewhere in the world was actually paid to write this. Oh, to be a college graduate during the Internet boom of the '90s. I could have been retired by now... Instead, I'm working at a record store and compiling mix tapes for people I don't know or even care about (well, maybe ten of you I care about). How depressing. Rather than wallow in my self-pity any longer, I'll just skip ahead [...]
Sorry I forgot to post this on Sunday! RULES for uninitiated noobs : With roughly 100MB of webspace, I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I'll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. This week includes a couple live cuts (Will Oldham, Yndi Halda), and a bunch of randomly selected tunes. The final track was recorded by [...]
Download: "Oh Yes, Los Angeles" mixtape by When You Awake Jody from the fantastic blog When You Awake—your sympathetic destination if homesick, lonesome, riled, fiery or any mindstates in between—presents us with this week's mixtape, dedicated to cosmic cowboy/cowgirl rock songs about the city of Los Angeles. (City of doom and freeways, too.) Listen to Jody's [...]
In honor of my renewed appreciation for classic radio (spurred on by Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour"), I present a Baker's Dozen of great tracks about the dying medium.
I have to admit this tenpack formula is a rather lazy affair, but heck, it´s summer, right? Let´s milk it some more then. Today we´re going completely country, with a varied selection of originators, outlaws and outsiders of the genre. So take that rocking chair outside, pour yourself a tall cool one (may I suggest the Lone Star brand?) and "sing a little bit of these working man blues..." Merle Haggard - Workin´ Man Blues MP3 Louvin Brothers - Let Her Go, God Bless Her MP3 [...]
Is everybody sober yet? Did you enjoy your holiday with family, loved ones and friends? Mine was pretty disappointing, seeing as how for the first time in my life I didn't know what my "plans" were until the middle of the afternoon. I guess as long as there is a barbecue at the destination things can't be too bad, but it certainly felt a lot different from past July 4ths. I think next year maybe we'll have a Swan Fungus party with fine beers and a room filled with despicable elitists. This website should have a massive enough audience by [...]
Oh, man. Softball last night took a toll on my body. I didn't fall - or even injure myself - but I'm pretty sure my 26-year-old body doesn't appreciate me trying to go from zero-to-sixty out of the batter's box without having performed any pre-game stretches. My quadriceps feel like they're rejecting my legs, and are very sore today. A full recap of last night's game will be posted on Monday, because Friday/Saturday/Sunday is always Top Ten/World News/Mix Tape. I guess I could move the news to another, slower day... Hey, does anybody have any cool plans tonight? If not, [...]
In the liner notes to recent cd reissue Sounds of Our Time Nick Lowe describes Jim Ford: "Jim Ford's reputation was not the best. He told a lot of terrible stories and he used to bend the truth a bit. I think deep down he was no rock star, but he noticed people provided him with money when he pretended to be one. Many people...
Horror... Ever have one of those weeks when you're reminded too often of just how petty and self-centered some of your fellow adults can be? Man, oh Manischewicz, I'm having the second of such weeks out of my last three---don't worry, it's none of you and no one you know! Thankfully, over the course of the last two unseasonably chilly and gloomy days I've found comfort in some recently purchased songs. In case you're feeling anything like I'm feeling and have a lot of stuff on your mind that's better left unsaid, I thought I'd share [...]
[mp3] Jim Ford: "Big Mouth USA" So, for someone who delves relatively deep into the old-country-roots-Americana world, it was really a surprise to me that I didn't know artist Jim Ford . After exploring his seminal work Harlan County , packaged with rare singles and B Sides as Sounds of Our Time , my error became even more egregious. It's country music played they way it should be -- with a mix of folk, soul, R&B, and true bluegrass-style country. Harlan County is [...]
Jim Ford - Mixed Green [ buy ] Lord we got dinnertime! Jim Ford pulls thru with this week's dinner jam. Man hits the spot every time.
Hi friends. It's been an eventful 48 hours. My bank account has been frozen by Bank Of America, leaving me with...$12 in cash that has to last me until my new debit card arrives this week. Supposedly there was "suspicious activity" reported by Mastercard, but when I called to ask what happened, I was told that they were not allowed to reveal what the activity was. I called bullshit, and they held their ground. So, really, I don't know why they froze my assets. Maybe someone got ahold of my account information, maybe they didn't. We'll never know. I just [...]
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Tanning Mom Releases The Worst Dance Music Video Of 2013
