This Wednesday lots of hippies old and new will celebrate the 38th anniversary of Woodstock . It took place on August 15-18th 1969 in Bethel, New York, 50 miles from the "real" Woodstock. I wasn't there. I was at overnight camp that summer, barely 11 years old. I remember my counselor Joey took his days off to go and came back completely crazy and turned our bunk on to The Who. If I Was A Carpenter - Tim Hardin Santana - "Soul Sacrifice" [...]

On the days when nothing happens or I'm just too damn lazy to write full-length posts we have THE NEWS ROUNDUP: We were updated on that Devo/Dell commercial and found out it IS a new song. Expect the next track to appear on the newest Ortho Evra ad! [ Rock Sellout...hey wait, that's us!] Carlos D's moustache continues to open doors of opportunity. [ Pitchfork ] Is there a White Stripes/Alicia Keys collaboration in our future? [ The Music Slut ] Despite not having a label, a record title or [...]

Thoughts/impressions from my recent trip to Niagara Falls: 1. Camping in near-gale-force winds really blows, although it does keep the bugs at bay. 2. Canadians are really nice--perhaps too nice to be true. 3. Strangers and family members alike will look askance at you when you burst into song à la Joni Mitchell (O, Canada . . . ) 4. Canadians call restrooms "washrooms." 5. Butterflies [...]

There's a track on the new Okkervil River album called "You Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man." As far as I can tell, neither the song nor the album have anything to do with Joni Mitchell ; nevertheless, the track title is a lyric from my favorite Mitchell song. It appears in the piano-driven "Blonde in the Bleachers," a tune that goes from sorrowing in the loss of one's independence to throwing up one's hands at the hedonistic rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The song appears toward the end of For the Roses [...]
A Hot Summer Day - It's A Beautiful Day Long Hot Summer - The Style Council Summer Breeze - The Isley Brothers This Ain't The Summer of Love - Blue Oyster Cult Make It Through The Summer - The Chamber Strings The Hissing of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell [...]

This week is haunted by what didn't make it into Rhapsody (see below,) but we're still blessed with some sturdy releases from Arctic Monkeys, Dntel and the star-studded Joni Mitchell tribute album . Playlist: New Releases 04.24.07 ------------------------------ ---------------- Album: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell While the album leads off with a bang ( Sufjan Stevens doing "Free Man In Paris" ,) it's not until you [...]

" You'd think at least some bells should ring." Emmylou Harris ~ The Magdalene Laundries from A Tribute To Joni Mitchell performed by Emmylou Harris Joni Mitchell ~ The Magdalene Laundries from Turbulent Indigo by Joni Mitchell full lyrics [...]
"Acid, booze and ass. Lots of laughs, lots of laughs." Sarah McLachlan ~ Blue from A Tribute To Joni Mitchell performed by Sarah McLachlan Joni Mitchell ~ Blue from Blue by Joni Mitchell full lyrics in comments

Yeah, that's right; it's my birthday. In addition to playing Person Pitch nonstop on my brand new stereo system, I actually found some time to track down some birthday related tracks from Andrew Bird, Bright Eyes, Sinatra, and Monroe. They separate into two categories; quick little one-minute renditions of the song people leave on your answering machine every year, and longer tracks that deal with the general idea of birthdays. Some of these are interesting beyond their gimmick, especially the infamous 'Happy Birthday Mr. President'. Andrew Bird - The Happy [...]

Where Sufjan goes, the indie world will follow. While that's one of the basic truths of indie culture, it probably doesn't hurt that on his latest project, Bjork and Prince also helped out a little. Have I peaked your interest yet? Well, these three artists, along with several others, have just put out a Joni Mitchell Tribute album. While Sufjans song is a bit off (not his style?), Prince and Bjork nail their performances. Enjoy. Sufjan Stevens - A Free Man In Paris.mp3 Bjork - The [...]

This party is for the Vernal Equinox. Pop a top and celebrate seventeen songs for spring!!! Jolie Holland ~ Springtime Can Kill You Tom Waits ~ You Can Never Hold Back Spring Sasha Dobson ~ Spring Is Just Around The Corner Joni Mitchell ~ Little Green Greg Brown ~ Spring & All Grant Lee Phillips ~ Spring Released Cheryl Wheeler [...]

It was over a month ago that a marmot meandered above ground to display a mixture of ecclectic skills rivaling those of both a meteorologist and soothsayer. Indeed, it was Punxsutawney Phil who forecasted that winter would soon give way to the warm arrival of spring. While basing when the seasons and your wardrobe will change on a tinpot promise from a chubby little rodent seems skeptical, the science of Mother Nature has led us to today; the last full day of winter. Winter - packed with holidays, colder weather, and less daylight - [...]
Dear regular, semi-regular, once-in-a while, and newbie blog readers (Yes, all of you), I wasn't sure how to start this post. Or whether I should even bother to write it in the first place. To be honest, most of you regular blog readers are friends or acquaintances of mine, and we've already gotten drunk to celebrate the news that I'm about to tell you. And the other 98% of you couldn't really care, and are here to get free MP3s (there's some at the bottom of this ramble, I promise). And then I think it may [...]

For Part One, Visit: L.A. Burnout :: Part One of Three ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------ Running the Drunkard has put me in touch, both through email and in person, with some great folks, many of whom have been eager to share their musical best-kept-secrets, and in the case of this post, their excellent themed compilations. The L.A. Burnout comp was mailed to me in November from a longtime reader based in NYC, which coincidental arrived at the same time I was reading two books ( Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood [...]
The Hot Show on Christmas Day: And Now There Are Two 'Yule Log' TV Loops, One in Hi-Def Great article in WaPo about competing versions of the Yule Log, which is basically a camera pointed at a burning fire for hours while music plays. The original Yule log has been on TV in New York for years. Now there's also a hi-def version. The perfect companion to the aquarium channel (and I'm not joking about that one). Joni Mitchell's Blue 'River' Flows Onto [...]

Chris might write for this site, but he also plays guitar for a really good band. Soft Complex is a five-piece from Washington, DC. If you like 80's Brit pop, melodramatic vocals, chimy guitars, new wave synth, cello... this is the band for you. They recently released their debut and they have big things planned for 2007, so this is the time to become acquainted with them. Band: Soft Complex Location: Washington DC Formed: Current lineup solidified in February of 2005 [...]

photo by Jack Robinson via billboard.com Bjork, Prince Lead Joni Mitchell Tribute Disc Joni Mitchell December 21, 2006, 3:30 PM ET Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. Bjork, Prince, James Taylor and Elvis Costello are among the artists who have recorded covers for "A Tribute to Joni [...]

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, the first of an ongoing (meaning until I get bored) series of tunes from back in the day, from a particular year. We start off with 1975 , a fine fine musical year if there ever was one. I'm starting with this year as it was the year I graduated high school and musically still holds some great memories for me. It is a year, quite arguably, that's one of the best ever musically; I mean take a look at some of the releases for the year (all of which I [...]
there is nothing better than starting your saturday morning off right. after a cup of coffee and a nice calm walk around the park or perhaps its one of those peaceful rainy days in bed, a favorite way to spend this special time is watching a 4 episode mini marathon of six feet under . thanks to the bravo network , its possible to catch up on lost seasons and reflect again on all the tiny details that made this show feel so captivating. for those on the unknown, this was simply a special [...]