
The Waifs are probably one of the best and most decorated folk/roots rock bands that you've never heard of. Coming out of West Australia, the band is made of sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) and they are joined by Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocals). Two years ago they emerged from a three year hiatus to release Sun, Dirt, Water , which they toured on last year. Two shows from that tour were culled into Live From The Union Station , a 14 track live album that combines songs spanning their entire discography with [...]

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 [...]

Back in 2007, I posted these train songs. After three days of being around trains, I decided to repost those and add to them. Eliza Carthy ∞ Train Song Vashti Bunyan ∞ Train Song Mediski, Martin & Wood ∞ The Train Song Eilen Jewell & Dan Fram ∞ Train That Carried Jimmie Rogers Home Kris Delmhorst ∞ You're No Train The Waifs ∞ Bridal Train [...]

Still no baby! Maybe a pony ride would do the trick! The Waifs ∞ Pony Erin McCarley ∞ Pony Tom Waits ∞ Pony Which song do you dig best? Or did I leave out your favorite "Pony" song? Leave a hullabaloo. More: Homonyms Use some of you 50 FREE Downloads from eMusic to get more of Homonyms.
You guys are lucky today. You get two posts for the price of one! Or maybe you're being jibbed and you're getting half as much as you should be getting. I dunno. Why don't we forget the maths and just enjoy the tracks? Ok? What a top idea. Taiwan's largest bus company is teaching its drivers [...]
Pippi Longstocking is probably not the quintessential example of sugar and spice, but she's definitely full of spirit and pluck. Hopefully these songs cover all of those elements, and then some. I'm definitely not the first person to do a girl's names mix, and there are a couple of old faves here, but hopefully there's [...]

What better way to celebrate St. Patty's Day than to review an Americana album performed by Australians ? If you have been reading The Late Greats for a while, you know I love The Waifs . If you Hype Machine or Elbows them, you will see a gaggle of Late Greats Waifs posts As for their new album, sundirtwater , it's more of what makes them great. Dirty guitar sounds, blues harmonica swells, beautiful sisterly vocal harmonies, lyrics about love (both un- and [...]

Okay, i'm not really - i procrastinate with the best of 'em - but i'm trying to talk myself into becoming a good student. Just for like the next 2 months. Then no more school. Ever. i know it's been a while since my last post, but i've just had no time. The plan was to catch up on school work during Spring Break, but Vegas and a few days back home totally nullified any chances of that happening. This week i've got 2 (late) midterms and then there's that online class i [...]

I had a request to repost this mix. And what better time than today? 1. Los Straitjackets ∞ My Heart Will Come On (Love Theme from Titanic) 2. John Butler Trio ∞ Peaches & Cream 3. The Jayhawks ∞ A Break In The Clouds 4. Joe Henry ∞ Rough And Tumble 5. Joni Mitchell ∞ A Case Of You 6. Vienna Teng ∞ Harbor 7. Sarah [...]

Normal Wednesday features take the week off to bring you this special report: Last year, Heather, Bruce and I gave you 30 Great Love Songs For Valentine's Day . This year... Heather's list of broken hearted songs: Give Judy My Notice - Ben Folds Untouchable Face - Ani DiFranco I Do - Jude Cardinal Song - The National Hard Way To Fall (live) - Ryan Adams Dry Your Eyes - [...]

Today is Australia Day upon which our brethren 'down under' commemorate the founding of the first white settlement in Australia in 1788. Recorded celebrations go back to 1808 so for a full history go here . Its celebration is a sore point for some of Australia's Aboriginal community who consider they were invaded by the British on that day in 1788. There are many musical themed events amongst the many festivities. The Triple J Hottest 100 is in its 15th year with its countdown of the most popular songs of the year according [...]

The big news around these parts is we will be leaving these parts. For Thanksgiving , The Duchess, Duke Jr. and I are flying back to the Midwest. To stay at my parents house on the Mississippi River . To get me (and you all) in the mood for my time at the river, here are 30 " river " songs, and 3 " Mississippi " songs (1 overlap) and one named after the woman who is named after my hometown. Some you've heard here before, some you haven't. [...]

The Waifs are probably one of the most decorated folk/roots rock bands that you've never heard of. Coming out of west Australia, the band is made of sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson, and they are joined by Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocals). In 2003, they won Best Blues and Roots Album for Up All Night at the ARIA awards, an award they were also nominated for in 2005, for their live album, A Brief History . Their new release, Sun, Dirt, Water , debuted at #2 on the ARIA Album Chart this month. [...]

I think it was when I posted the title track a while back that this series got its humble beginnings in my mind. Maybe because this would be my number one choice of albums. Maybe it's because The Waifs have a new album out and I can't wait to hear it. Any way you slice it, I love this album. Listen: Lighthouse Sweetness Up All Night Further study: website myspace Wiki [...]

Thursday features take the week off… Since this is like the first full week you have probably worked in a while, I figured you might be in need of some party music by today. I made this mix at the tail end of '03, made up of songs that came out that year. 1. Andrew Bird ~ Skin 2. Zwan ~ Baby Let's Rock! 3. Ben Harper ~ Bring The Funk 4. [...]

With the success of my last mentor of the Sisters Simpson, I have decided to make them a guilty pleasure, even though I feel NO GUILT what so ever LOVING this band. Just seemed like the right mid-week slot for this Australian wonderband. I have included a song from each of their releases. I implore you, buy UP ALL NIGHT. One of my desert island albums. I couldn't live without it. And according to their website, [...]

'Nother new feature. Songs that feature drummers using brushes. A sound The Duke is quite fond of. The Waifs ~ Up All Night RIYL: Hot sisters, Australian Americana or hot sisters playing Australian Americana Use some of you 25 FREE Downloads from eMusic to get more brush strokes.

I wanted an excuse to post Guillemots ~ Trains To Brazil because it is a great song and more people need to hear it. And I "tracked" down a few others for ya (in no real order): Eliza Carthy ~ Train Song (Which was the other song I REALLY wanted to post, and I owe Bruce some Velvet Love . Thanks, B!) Ryan Adams ~ Trains (live) Hem ~ Betting On Trains (live) Sonya Kitchell ~ Train [...]
So I've been pretty slack in posting here of late. This is because I'm simply not finding the time of late, between work giving me more hours (this is actually a good thing) and a ton of other things that I've currently got going on. For the indefinite future, posting will probably down to something like three or four posts a week or something. I'll write when I get time and have something to share. Tonight though, we've got a pretty lazy post. There's no stunning new music here, no tiny band you should be [...]