It's hard to believe that the ever-prolific Jack White has never released a solo album, but it's true that Blunderbuss is indeed his solo debut. It's due out April 24 via Third Man Records/Columbia ... Former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman will release Fear Fun under the moniker Father John Misty on May 1 via [...]
While pinning down Kelly's style is impossible as he's always changing, his lyrics are always literate and innocently romantic. He may understand love hurts, but that doesn't stop him from being sucker punched. The Australian rocker Paul Kelly is one of the most popular singer-songwriters of the past four decades Down Under, but he has rarely dented the charts here. That's somewhat surprising in light of the consistent quality of his music. He writes biting lyrics that comment on current social concerns as well as sentimental ones on the vagaries of love and lust. He can rock out on [...]
Paul Kelly : How to Make Gravy [purchase] While this song isn't necessarily "offbeat," it's one that you won't normally hear during the North American version of holidays. Paul Kelly is an Australian singer/songwriter who I think is massively underrated in the northern hemisphere. In this song the narrator, Joe, is in prison, and is making a phone call to his friend Dan. Joe is genuinely regretting and lamenting whatever he did to get himself in trouble, and is asking Dan to kiss his kids on Christmas, [...]

I know the name of course, but in truth my knowledge of the man's music is shamefully limited to a few collaborative recordings with fellow Australian artists and his 2007 album Stolen Apples , thanks to Reviewshine I have had a chance to listen to a handpicked 40 song collection of his work in the form of a greatest hits release that's now out in the US and available as a two-CD set for $14 (or $ 10 for the digital version). In the business for over 30 years, according to Wiki Kelly has released [...]

Paul Kelly treated Toronto to two sold-out nights of his brilliant songwriting at The Dakota this past weekend, playing an alphabetical selection from his vast repertoire. Kelly is touring his popular-back-home-in-Australia A-Z shows, where he plays a song or two that starts with the letter A and works his way through to Z, engaging his audience with little stories along the way. The format is simple and effective. He had me from Adelaide right through to Leaps and Bounds on Friday night. The audience was captivated all the way to Zoe on [...]
Kelly's body of work is now available in a new compilation.
Many thanks to our favebloggers for making the following available.Paul Kelly & the Messengers - Crosstown - Peter's Power Pop - our favorite by these Aussies; as before, we're going with their international name, for obvious reasonsPaul Collins Beat - Walking Out on Love - The Finest KissMatthew Sweet - She Walks Away - Planeta PopThe Wolfhounds - The Anti-Midas Touch - Raven Sings the BluesThe
One of Australia's brilliant and respected artists finally exports the best of his music to the United States.

In North America, Paul Kelly is loved by a fervent following of devoted, discerning listeners. In his native Australia, though, where his songs are lodged deeply in the country's soundtrack, Kelly is virtually a national hero. On September 6, 2011, Gawdaggie Music/CEN through RED Distribution will release Kelly's Songs From the South, Volumes 1 & 2 in the U.S., featuring a quick tour of 40 songs spanning 1985 through 2008. Additionally, Kelly will go to North America in September to perform his "A to Z" repertoire in five [...]
Watch Neil Ginn, Angus and Julia Stone, Daniel Johns and more sing Nick Cave's 'The Ship Song' for the Sydney Opera House.

Paul Kelly: I Won't Be Your Dog Anymore [recent web-only recording; purchase alternate live version here ] For every battered woman who keeps promising herself that this time, she's going to leave. For every man who compromises his ethics daily just to make that next paycheck. For everyone who has ever been a dog. May this be your year.

Looks like I'll be drinking Christmas dinner alone again this year. These songs are for the those of us who think that Christmas is the saddest, loneliest, most depressing time of year. This mix will make you cry. Consider yourself warned. Zippo! 1. Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas.mp3 Buy : It's Christmas Time (2000, orig. 1957) Gotta start off with a classic. 2. [...]
Is Australia the new Canada? Rating: 5.0/ 5 (4 votes cast) Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for links that don't make it onto the blog.

Here's the second part of our unit on prison Christmas songs . I've put a lot of these songs into my annual Christmas mix CDs -- see here and here . (And, of course, John Prine would've made it onto the Country mix if I hadn't had far too much to fit onto one CD.) Most of these songs deal predominantly with the idea of spending the magical day behind bars, but one or two just mention it as a springboard for other lonely sad Christmas ideas. Almost all the songs are first-person prison [...]

If there is one thing in life that I suggest you do as a music fan, it would definitely be to attend a Meredith Music Festival! Returning home on Sunday from what was my second MMF I am still struggling to interpret what had just happened over the Friday/Saturday/Sunday. It's the place to get loose, go crazy, be yourself, do whatever the hell you want (like a beer bong full of Up & Go perhaps?) and the best thing is that no one gives a fuck! The experience itself can barely be described in words to those whom [...]

As promised, a repost of last year's alt country-ish/indie rock-ish Xmas comp. I switched up a few of the songs from last year's post. And I tried not to post too many that my main man at A Truer Sound hasn't already posted. But let's face it, some of these songs are so damn good that they have to be posted twice. I also want to take this time to remind you to donate to your favorite charity this season. Since I like animals more than I like humans, I usually donate to the [...]

Paul Kelly: Dumb Things [ purchase ] At heart, I live in constant fear that everybody knows I'm faking it all, making stupid choices, doing dumb things one after another. I've been told such inner doubt is essential to the human condition, and I guess I have to believe it just to go on. But there are days when I suspect they all say those things just to make me feel better about being an oaf, a laughingstock, and a nigh perfect fool. [...]

Full disclosure: I got several of these country and/or western Christmas tunes from my fellow blogger at A Truer Sound who posted a kick-ass country Christmas mix last year, and recently re-posted it. ZIPPED 1. Adam's House Cat - Santa's Out of Rehab by Christmas.mp3 No clue where this came from. Adam's House Cat is the precursor to one of my favorite bands, the Drive-By Truckers . This track was probably recorded sometime between 1988 and 1990. Its fun listening to [...]
Paul Kelly - "White Christmas" KCRW radio session from 1989. Not the best sound quality, but I wanted to post it anyway. At first I was only going to post this one because it's not something he's issued officially, but it's only 45 seconds long so I decided to include "Gravy" as well. Paul Kelly - "How To Make Gravy" Originally the title track to an EP, also released on the US version of Words and Music . Not so much a rarity, but [...]

Paul Kelly: From Little Things Big Things Grow [ purchase ] Civic pride has caused our comments to swell with debate; without the glare of the TV lights and a high-polish moderator, things seem to have flared up, both modeling and threatening to overwhelm any chance we might have of returning to a normal state of musical celebration. I take partial responsibility, both for fanning the flames and for "calling" this week's theme without considering how quickly we might turn to the right to protest, and those things [...]