H arry Chapin's fourth album, Verities & Balderdash , was his best studio effort and his most commercially successful, working its way up the US charts and eventually going gold. Its success is attributable, in part, to Chapin's excellent batch of tunes, which display his trademark narrative sensibility (Chapin's songs often unfold like short stories), literate wit, and knack for melody. Verities & Balderdash also works because its arrangements and production move away from the heavily orchestrated drama that mars some the artist's other studio work towards a cleaner sound that [...]
Janis Joplin 's second masterpiece (after Cheap Thrills ), Pearl was designed as a showcase for her powerhouse vocals, stripping down the arrangements that had often previously cluttered her music or threatened to drown her out. Thanks also to a more consistent set of songs, the results are magnificent -- given room to breathe, Joplin 's trademark rasp conveys an aching, desperate passion on funked-up, bluesy rockers, ballads both dramatic and tender, and her signature song, the posthumous number one hit " Me and Bobby McGee ." The unfinished " Buried Alive in the Blues " [...]
R ecorded with a portable tape player on a borrowed guitar in the kitchen of his London flat, the impact of Bert Jansch 's debut has been somewhat blunted by time, but it was a vastly influential work. His masterful acoustic picking, which blended elements of traditional British folk, blues, and jazz, inspired not just other folk players, but rockers who frequently used acoustic guitars. Specifically, Jimmy Page and Neil Young have gone on record as noting their heavy debts to Jansch 's early material. He was also a talented songwriter, and [...]
11 years ago today the unique singer Tiny Tim passed away. Most people know him as the singer of the popular song " Tiptoe Through The Tulips ", but he has a great collection beyond that song as well. I became a fan of Tiny Tim only a couple years ago when I found out he had lived only a few cities over from me in the last few years of his life, and in fact died in a hospital I had driven by many times. Naturally, being a curious person I decided to look more into his music and [...]
1983-2007 Sean Taylor.com
A collection of studio outtakes/alternates and demos recorded for Mind Games. Quality: Excellent stereo quality probably from very low gen tapes. The studio cuts are obviously better quality than the demos. For demos they are still very nice quality and enjoyable to listen to. 1. Mind Games 4:05 2. Tight A$ 4:14 3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) 4:37 4. One Day (At A Time) 3:17 5. Bring On The Lucie (Freda Peeple) 4:00 6. Nutopian International Anthem 0:04 7. Intuition 2:50 8. Out The [...]
I haven't seen this movie yet, so I can't comment on how good or bad it may be, but as far as the soundtrack goes, it's very good. The premise for the movie as I understand it is there are 6 actors who play different characters throughout the movie. Now, while none of them have the name of Bob Dylan, the inspiration for their names and characters can all be pointed back towards him. The most interesting casting choice to me was Cate Blanchett , who really when you look at all the characters above, most resembles Dylan. Another [...]
A t the time of this incredible two-disc set's release in 2007, the Gram Parsons rarities well had been wrung so dry that Amoeba Records co-founder Dave Pinz had to nose around another band's vaults (the notoriously deep archives of the Grateful Dead) for these Flying Burrito Brothers tapes. The material--recorded by Bear Stanley, the Grateful Dead's legendary live engineer--comprises two honky tonk-heavy sets from April 4, 1969 and April 6, 1969, when the Brothers opened for the Dead at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom. While the Parsons-era Burritos were never the tightest [...]
T hroughout his 30-year-plus career, Scottish musician John Martyn had touched on an eclectic range of sounds and styles. His continuous work in the jazz, blues, folk and rock fields has resulted in some fantastic music though, somehow, Martyn never really got his full props. The title track on Solid Air is a tribute song to his then depressed friend Nick Drake , which immediately lends a sentimental streak to the LP. The rest of the album reveals its charms in a respectful manner, slowly but surely crystallising much of his earlier work into a [...]
The appearance of " Rocket Man "-era cohorts Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as backing vocalists touches this CD with one of the trademark sounds of Elton John's 1969-75 LPs. John has acknowledged those records--his most typically singer-songwriterish--occasion ally, if mostly to revisit audience favorites in concert (1987's Live in Australia , a late-'90s VH1 show). But on Songs from the West Coast , his admiration of Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright (a guest here) inspires him to recall the stripped-down, lyric-driven sensibility of his early days. The tone of the words Bernie [...]
I'm not a big fan of the recent SNL casts, there really hasn't been a decent one since the early 90's, but the saving grace the last couple years has been the Digital Shorts. Here are a few of my favorite ones, they are pretty well known but definitely still hilarious.
Well it took a little longer than I expected, but the Woodstock journey is finally completed. This is the final set of the Festival, the amazing Jimi Hendrix performance. Hope everyone enjoyed a little nostalgia as much as I enjoyed being able to share it. Day Four Performer Three 8-16-69 Jimi Hendrix Disc 1 1. CHIP MONCK INTRO/JIMI INTRO 2. MESSAGE TO THE UNIVERSE 3. GETTING MY HEART BACK TOGETHER [...]
November 5th was two of my favorite artists birthday's. Gram Parsons would have turned 61 yesterday had he still been alive, and Ryan Adams turned 33. Is it just a coincidence these two have the same birthday, or was it part of God's master plan? Both have similar musical styles, as well as both of them being under appreciated and misunderstood at times. One big difference is that Ryan thankfully has seemed to beaten the demons that sadly took Gram from us far too soon. The following is a show at the Seattle Pop Festival of [...]
Review: A great example of the early coffee house shows before Bob was picked up by CBS Records can be heard in the Chapter Hall concert. He was, of course, newly signed at this point, but was still doing the coffee house type show. He jokes and interacts with the small crowd, and sings his young heart out. Two songs of particular interest are Woody Guthrie's 1913 Massacre , (Bob stole this tune for his own ' Song to Woody ') and Bukka [...]
I got a chance to check out the Tim Buckley documentary " My Fleeting House " the other night and have since been obsessed with one song in particular (even though it's not even included on the DVD), a song called " Love From Room 109 At The Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway) " from the album " Happy Sad ". It's a pretty roaming sounding song, and doesn't really fit it any specific genre, but it is really one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Clocking in at [...]
Day Four Performer Two 8-18-69 Sha-Na-Na TEEN ANGEL WIPE OUT WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF LOVE DUKE OF EAR AT THE HOP/NA NA THEME Click To Download
"For a limited time, name your own price for a one-year subscription to Paste . Yes, it's up to you. What is a good read and a good listen, delivered to your door once a month, worth to you? 11 issues and 11 CDs (roughly 220 songs) covering the best in music, film and culture—and we even made it easy for you to give gifts. For more about the Paste Magazine, including previous covers, [...]
Robert Holmes, a Belfast boy with a road-movie soundtrack in his heart, is a raconteur of all the dead trees in his native city. His debut release ' Hazard Hill ' is a surreal mix of dream sequenced musicianship and lyrical poetry most of which dwells on his fair weathered friend, Belfast. Holmes commands and unsettles his audience with a blend of psychedelic undertones taking the listener on a journey that finishes at the feet of a time travelled, road weary shaman. Not As They Wilt [...]
I've really been neglecting blogging recently,and I've been trying to figure out why. I've come up with this: sometimes I feel like blogging about things other than music. I am an amateur photographer, a sports fan, and a lover of books, so why should I limit myself to only music? So, I've decided to kind of put a little twist on the blog here. Most of the postings will still be primarily music related, but a couple a week most likely will be about other topics, whether it be something as simple as a picture(s) I've taken recently, a sports [...]
Music For Humans
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
