Since becoming a parent, actually since I knew I was to become a parent, I've been planning my strategy to avoid spending the next several years listening to The Wiggles. In addition to exposing my baby boy to my favorites, I've been checking out the occasional "kids" compilation by "adult" artists. Last autumn, my partner bought me Nettwerk's " For The Kids Three " which featured tracks by Moby, Over the Rhine, The Barenaked Ladies, Of Montreal and others. This was a great compilation both because it was full of clever and well-played kids music and because it [...]
"When the shadows of this life have gone I'll fly away Like a bird from these prison walls I'll fly I'll fly away..." -"I'll Fly Away" - Traditional Hymn On the rare occasions that I get homesick for the U.S. it's for the Deep South, where I spent about half of my life and the good part of my formative years. The two things that I miss most about Dixie are the food and the music. New Orleans is kind of the hub for both of those things down south. When I heard [...]
As you may or may not know, A Free Man is bound for Down Under. In anticipation of the imminent move, I'm on a mission to discover the best up and coming bands from my soon to be home. We Grow Up is an Adelaide quintet that got some attention last May after winning a Triple J Unearthed competition, they were selected to open for ARIA award winning singer-songwriter Missy Higgins . We Grow Up released their sophomore long player, "Night Kitchen", in February and it's a cracker! This week, Anthony [...]
More frequently these days I find myself veering towards the crotchetiness that advancing years tend to thrust upon men. This often manifests itself by actively ignoring hot new acts with a "these kids today" kind of dismissal. This really doesn't hurt anyone except me, as I miss out on some really great music. I had directed this crotchetiness at Vampire Weekend earlier this year. The singles that got leaked on the net tended to be poorly produced and noisy, so it was easy to write off the Gotham act as unlistenable. Once they started to [...]
A Free Man will be headed Down Under in a matter of weeks. In anticipation, South Australian music blogger Ringo Stalin at Champignons for my real friends hooked us up with his choices for the best bands from SA. Head over and see what Adelaide and environs have to offer . My fav was Home For The Def 's Elliot Smith cover. MP3: The Pogues - "South Australia" Image Credit: SA Memory The Pogues' [...]
The Deal sisters are back with a new LP. The Breeders ' "Mountain Battles" is due on April 7 from 4AD . It's their first since '02 and if the first single, "Bang On", is any indication - a stylistic departure. They come at you with a fuzzy, hip-hop bass beat and Pixies-esque vocals. A must. Pre-order "Mountain Battles" from 4AD or Amazon . MP3: The Breeders - "Bang On" Jim Noir 's 2005 debut "Tower of Love" featured deviously catchy [...]
Larsen & Furious Jane flew onto my radar after an interview with Steve Adams of highly recommended by Steve Adams of The Broken Family Band . Torsten Larsen, frontman for the Danish septet, provided the horns for one of the tracks on "Hello Love". Adams says , "they're a Danish band, based in the fine town of Aarhus. We first met when I rode a borrowed bicycle into him and he tried to fight me, but we later realized that I'd been admiring his album cover in a local café. He emailed his [...]
For about nine months I've been blogging eclectically - music, politics, science and random ramblings - on my personal site. I've caught a little bit of attention with my music blogging and while I have no intentions of trying to make a living off the internets, it would be cool to get more free records. With that very altruistic ideal in mind, I'm establishing this site for my music blogging. I'm going to keep this site reasonably anonymous. This is largely because it allows me the freedom to say what I truly think about the music that I'll [...]
One of the guilty pleasures, among things like beef flavored Rice-a-Roni, that I hang onto from the States is American reality TV. We get the king of that genre, American Idol, a couple of days after it airs in the U.S. I have found a way to get completely hooked again this year. I rarely actually like any of the contestants and am proud to say that I've never bought a single, album or concert ticket from any of the contestants nor voted for any of them. It's just something about the format itself - great damn television. As I [...]
"When I was just a skinny lad on holiday by the sea, I met a girl in a Rancid shirt, and a tape she gave to me With the Black Flag First Four Years and the Minor Threat Discography, And punk rock saved my life." -Frank Turner - "Back In The Day" London based singer-songwriter Frank Turner 's came to some prominence as the singer for London based punk band "Million Dead" in the early Noughties. His solo debut "Sleep Is For The Week" was released at the beginning of last year [...]
A Free Man
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