
Photo still: Hotel Chevalier Wes Anderson's long withstanding obsession with mellow, baroque pop and british invasion bands is fascinating to me. I keep uncovering my new, old favorite song every time I see one of his movies. I even have a playlist dedicated to his films, filled with songs and artists I discovered thanks to him and a few more songs that I think would fit in his next hypothetical movie. I've no idea what his next movie will be about but I've been thinking that his mostly muted, awkward characters would develop grandly in [...]

Sailcat: Motorcycle Mama [purchase] For my money, a motorcycle anthem should roar like Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild"-- unmuffled, dirty and heavy. And yet, in 1972, from the Shoals of Alabama, came Sailcat ...strumming acoustic guitars like the Lovin' Spoonful and singing like a pair of frat brothers about sleeping on the grass and living peacefully with squares. The song hit #12 on the Billboard Charts. (Even the concept album about a drifting biker went Top 40). [...]

sailcat - "motorcycle mama" (download) Sailcat's only hit was this song. The title track from their 1972 release Motorcycle Mama . This song was covered in 1990 by The Sugarcubes for Elektra's Rubáiyát compilation.

These are the times that try men's souls and cause them to sweat in places I wouldn't have thought possible. It's freakin' hot and I swear that sweat was beading inside my ears the other day. Our treehouse sanctuary - most of the second floor of an old house - is a delightful place in the spring and autumn with the many windows open and gentle breezes wafting through the dwelling. Summer can be a survival test. (especially a summer as oppressive as this one - technically not even here, yet - [...]
Fiery Furnaces - waiting to know you Sailcat - motorcycle mama Wilco - kamera Red House Painters - I feel the rain fall Kimya Dawson - hadlock padlock Irma Thomas - anyone who knows what love is Image: Jean Lecointre .
Last December, I blogged about the Elektra Records label releasing some of their precious archive material. Well, now these lil' gems are finally available on CD! Elektra's label founder, Jac Holzman , has teamed up with Collector's Choice Music again to release yet another round of rarities. These are both classic albums and long lost recordings by Phil Ochs , The Wackers , Joshua Rifkin , Oscar Brand , [...]