Nick Lowe 's 1978 album, Jesus of Cool is a mockery of the music business. The album cover says it all; music is a living parody of itself, which in turn, becomes a product. Who does Nick Lowe want to be? Whoever the hell he feels like... One thing is for sure. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. He imitates other musician's hit songs throughout the album. At this time I would like to bring up some outstanding similarities: "So It Goes" Sounds like: [...]

I listened to k.d. lang 's album "Drag" on repeat while I was quitting smoking last year, so she'll always have a special place in my heart. Her new LP, "Watershed" came out in January and what I've heard of it is outstanding. The steel guitar alone on "I Dream of Spring", an appropriate track for a rainy English Sunday, is worth the price of admission. MP3: k.d. lang - "I Dream of Spring" London's Blah Blah Blah firmly occupy a strange patch of musical turf somewhere [...]
Pop nirvana. Let's first take a moment and all give a collective high five to Yep Roc for reissuing Lowe's 1978 debut, as it had been out-of-print for years (they nail the packaging too, so you can toss that 4th generation, burnt, CD-R in your closet). I'm pretty sure I am not alone [...]

This week we're treated to a deluge of new releases; so many, in fact, that I don't even know where to begin. I've yet to listen to many of these, which currently sit on my overflowing stack of promo discs waiting to be heard. A few that I can recommend right now include the sophomore effort Some Racing, Some Stopping from Headlights , Throw Me the Statue's Moonbeams and The Raveonettes' Lust Lust Lust . I just received the new Mountain Goats album, so [...]

Nick Lowe, "Hope for Us All" I'm not thinking about this song from Nick Lowe's latest album, At My Age , necessarily, although it's a song I like hearing a second time whenever I spin it once. The reason it's being used as a part of this post is because of two Academy Award-nominated films I've seen over the last month, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood . It's not even the [...]

The Sapiens Genre: Indie / Electro / Rock From: Chicago, Illinois United States Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which occur in a meaningful manner, but which are causally un-related (thanks Wikipedia). Todays post comes courtesy of a huge dollop of synchronicity. Earlier this week The Devil sat down to watch the story of Stiff Records [...]

Artists and record labels have always maintained a somewhat tentative alliance. Here's five on that relationship today from the artist's point of view and a bonus sixth track from the other point of view, Joni Mitchell 's tribute to David Geffen, Free Man In Paris . All kind of inspired today by the release of Nick Lowe 's rare track, I Love My Label which will be a bonus track on the upcoming 30th anniversary edition of the classic Jesus of Cool . 1 : [...]

A little reprieve from the Christmas music for a moment. A totally random mix of ten old and new songs to clear the palate a bit. Stay tuned, the best of 2007, more giveaways and other fun stuff coming up soon. Expecting Rain - Emily The Poseur Gang Green - Alcohol Magnetic [...]

Those of you who have clicked over to my about page have probably noticed that the only info you'll really find there is a list of the books I've read this year and the year before. In January of 2006, in hopes of reigniting my love of reading, I resolved to make it through 36 books before the end of the year - and succeeded. This year I'm doing it again, and I'm proud to say that earlier this week I completed book number 33, so I'm on track to finish by the end of this [...]
This final installment of Nick Lowe posts was the hardest to write because after 1982's Nick The Knife, his career started to lack trajectory and focus. Between the 1984 album, Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit and 2007's At My Age, most of his collections were a hodgepodge of styles, moving away from high octane pop and vacillating between laid-back rock and country. Each of the 90's albums had a worthwhile song or two, but not much more than that. Nick The Knife marked the end of Nick's [...]
I titled this post, Nutted By Reality, because at this point of Nick Lowe's career, every one step forward ended up two steps back. Each album put him on the verge of stardom, only to have manager or personal problems that caused momentum to sputter. Perhaps his greatest downfall was his self-admitted alcoholism, which he thankfully eventually gained control of. Pretty much everything Lowe recorded during this time was with Rockpile , which was made up of guitar-hero Dave Edmunds , drummer Terry Williams and guitarist Billy Bremner . At the beginning [...]
Nick Lowe "I Trained Her To Love Me (Kimmel 10/03/2007)" Nick Lowe Audio Here & Here Nick Lowe - Official Site Nick Lowe - MySpace Site
This is on a BBC trailer at the moment for some drama with the annoying Irish guy out of Cold Feet. What a track though! Covered by Johnny Cash and featured on the Sopranos soundtrack which I guess is where the BBC picked up on it. Nick Lowe - The Beast In Me ( iTunes )

In the very first post here on the Boogie Woogie Flu, we listened to some records that more than likely Elvis had in his record collection. Today we'll do the same, with a few of the tracks Elvis recorded on The Memphis Record in 1969 - the greatest recordings and best batch of songs he made outside of his Sun sessions. Elvis, fearing he'd lost his vitality with the younger portion of the record buying public, returned to Memphis to make this record with the very hot American Studios house band, produced by "Chips" Moman. Neil Diamond [...]
I'm not sure why I've never tried to get into Nick Lowe. I'm a die-hard Elvis Costello fan, and between Costello's beautiful cover of Lowe's "(What's So Funny Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" and Lowe's amazing production on Costello albums, you'd think I would have checked him out long ago. I had heard his hit "Cruel To Be Kind," but otherwise I was a neophyte. I was recently sent his new record At My Age, and it's a great set of music, full of understatement, self-deprecation, humor, and sweetness. Nick Lowe - The Club. This actually isn't my favorite track...

After 40 years in the music business, singer-songwriter Nick Lowe knows how act his age, and his latest album ( At My Age - his first in six years,) plays to the strengths of his 58-year old voice. In his younger days, Lowe was known as "The Basher," but when he plays Conan tonight, you'll surely note it's less bash and more sashay, with his turn toward a more casual croon. It's a career move not unlike the great Charlie Rich before him, mixing pop with country [...]

After 40 years in the music business, singer-songwriter Nick Lowe knows how act his age, and his latest album ( At My Age - his first in six years,) plays to the strengths of his 58-year old voice. In his younger days, Lowe was known as "The Basher," but when he plays Conan tonight, you'll surely note it's less bash and more sashay, with his turn toward a more casual croon. It's a career move not unlike the great Charlie Rich before him, mixing pop with country [...]
There is a busy week ahead of me. There is a busy week ahead of us all, I suppose, but since this is the place where I write about myself, I am most comfortable asserting things about my own life. I hope you understand. Some of you readers are very nice, by the way. I just thought I'd throw that out there. I've never really said "thanks" for all your kind e-mails and such, and this is as good an opportunity as I can get, considering this is probably going to be a fairly successful mix tape. Speaking [...]

From: Labour of Lust (Demon, 1979) Download Learn Home

As all but the most tolerant, patient, and dedicated fans of Nick Lowe probably agree, shortly after Nick's first two albums, the lone Rockpile album, and the breakup of the entire Rockpile working arrangement, the guy's career hit a long stretch of mostly unsatisfying releases. Surely one of us is a greater fan of Nick the Knife or Party of One than the rest of us, and there's probably even a Nick Lowe fan who regrets his breaking up His Cowboy Outfit , but let's be honest, the guy lost his spark when [...]