In 1990, Michael Martin Murphey took a trip down a musical back road with the release of Cowboy Songs , an album that paid homage to the music of the Old West. At the time, Murphey was riding high on the country singles chart with songs like "From The Word Go" and "Never Givin' Up On Love." Though it was different from what the singer had previously recorded, it helped usher in another successful phase of his career. In the 70s, the singer was a mainstay on the Pop charts with songs like [...]
Ed Sheeran is one of the music industries best kept secrets, why one of the major labels has not put a large advance in his hand and sent him to a studio I have no idea. His music is clever, witty sometimes way beyond his years. Last week he opened a show featuring Iglu & Hartley/New Politics at Norwich Art Centre, the place was half full when Ed started but by the end of his set it was packed. There are many reasons why Ed holds a crowd. [...]
Henry Rollins has contributed an editorial to Vanity Fair with his thoughts on the Tea Party Movement which has become one of the major causes of the right wing in the United States. Henry titled the editorial "We're Gonna Have a Tea Party Tonight!" Some choice words from the article: Then there's Sarah Palin , who, egged on by other intellectually malnourished "real Americans," has said so many startlingly stupid things in the last few days, the comedic furnaces won't be cooling down any time soon! She's a dynamo of [...]
Alright alright. I really can't disagree with Sasha's obsession with France and all their musical byproducts...but I certainly can't neglect Europe's other emerging/amazing music scenes. To begin, let's slide our scope to Ireland. In my inbox, I received some lovely tracks from a pair of seemingly lovely sisters. They go by the name L.A.W. , and they produce a very interesting genre of music. The first track I am posting is best described by the girls themselves: they consider it to be "a surprising, unpredictable, dirty bassy tech-elec remix of a legendary [...]
Ah, new Josh Ritter has graced us. I couldn't be happier to hear new music from my boy, Josh!! I didn't even notice that Josh had a new song out until I read it over at Some Velvet Blog . He is undoubtedly the most underrated musician in the world right now. Album after album, song after song, Josh has been putting out amazing music that deserves to be noticed on a much bigger scale. Get the word out guys!!! His new album is called So Runs The World Away, and it is due out [...]
Wire formed in London, England in 1976, the group consisted of Watford Art College students. Collin Newman was on vocals/guitar, Bruce Gilbert on guitar, Graham Lewis on bass/vocals and Robert Gotobed on drums. Influenced by the emerging UK Punk scene at the time, Wire began playing live shows and gained the interest of Mike Thorne, who was a producer that had connections with EMI Records. Thorne, who was recording local Punk acts at The Roxy for a live compilation album, recorded Wire and included two of their songs on the compilation (titled Live At The Roxy ). Shortly after [...]
In what I consider a major "coup" for this blog, I've received permission from the great Al Kooper (if you don't know who he is go read this ) to post MP3s of his infamous "Kapusta Kristmas Albums". I'm starting with number 3 as I've only got Volumes 3, 4 and 5. Trying to get my mitts on the other two. Tapes of these records have been a massive influence and source of amusement to me and all my musician friends over the last 20 years or so, since my buddy Mark Spencer [...]
Green River Ordinance "Out Of My Hands" Out of all the pablum that the music industry throws out to the public, sometimes quality musicians can emerge. Ft. Worth, TX rockers Green River Ordinance are being increasingly recognized as headed to stardom with their debut album "Out Of My Hands." With a big push by label EMI/Virgin Records, the band has been making the rounds and getting good reviews. If you are into today's modern rock sound (The Fray, Matchbox 20, or Third Eye Blind) then listen to the single "Come On," driven [...]
Bad Lieutenant , the project formed in 2007 by New Order 's Bernard Sumner (guitar, vocals) and Phil Cunningham (guitar), along with Jake Evans (guitar, vocals), is thrilled to announce that the band is coming to America to play four dates that will include a special appearance at the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival . Shows in San Francisco, Chicago and New York are also now confirmed. Tickets for the San Francisco, Chicago and New York dates go on sale this week, (see [...]
18 Wheeler was a Scottish indie band who went big on the remixes and so get to feature here. Dour looking bunch aren't they? Nevertheless, the featured tracks have more warmth and are remixed singles from 1994's "Year Zero" LP. William Orbit's is probably the best. 18 Wheeler consisted of Sean Jackson (vocals, guitar), David Keenan (guitar, vocals), Alan Hake (bass), and Neil Halliday (drums). Original bassist Chris "Pint Glass" Stewart left before any recordings were made, and was replaced by original drummer Hake. They met with [...]
It's an honor that I got to speak to Mad Professor , one of the true torchbearers for the Dub sound. It was his No Protection remix of Massive Attack 's Protection that helped me fully-realize how far Dub music could go, and from that point I truly started to discover the classics and such, and keep a finger to the pulse of the sound and its evolution. He's recently compiled a huge library of sounds for a Loopmasters ' sample [...]
Director : Jacques Audiard Release Date : January 22 Review by Tara Judah Expectations of writer/director Jacques Audiard have been set high since the success of both Read My Lips (2001) and The Beat that My Heart Skipped (2005), but A Prophet (2009) doesn't disappoint. A Prophet is the story of a young, uneducated man, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), who, when faced with an issue of ethics: kill or be killed, embarks [...]
I still find myself getting hopping mad when I think about missing that Josh Ritter concert at Off Broadway last year. I absolutely love Mr. Ritter's songwriting and his incredibly infectious joy associated everything he does. Unfortunately a few punk kids decided to collect all of my electronics from my home, leaving me to piss and moan (kind of like I'm doing right now). I think the laser-targeting gatling guns I mounted on my roof should defend me from having to miss another [...]
Frank Yang If I'm being totally honest, I wasn't that excited for last night's Magnetic Fields show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. After all, their last few records didn't especially bowl me over and I was feeling somewhat pessimistic about what to expect from a performer who's very much on record as being disdainful of the entire phenomenon of live performance. I had seen them before at their last visit to Toronto in July 2004 and while my memories of that show are fond, I couldn't say it was an especially [...]
Christina Aguilera acknowledges Cher's influence on her career while starring alongside the 63 year old diva in forthcoming movie, 'Burlesque" Christina Aguilera has revealed how much her career has been inspired by Cher. The pair are currently in the midst of starring alongside each other in major Hollywood move, Burlesque, which is being shot right now. The film sees Cher return to the big screen for the first time in more than a decade. The 63 year old plays a former dancer, Tess, who now runs an ailing "neo-burlesque" club. Aguilera plays Ali, a small-town Iowa girl with [...]
Hello everybody, just as promised we are adding a remix competion to the track, which Florian Meindl produced live during two 4 hour lasting WebTV shows @ Berlin Mitte Institut . In his early production time Florian used to be a big fan of these remix competitions too, so he is very happy to host one with us. The two best remixes (or even more, if there are really good ones) will be released on FLASH Recordings together with the original, maybe even as a 123 vinyl [...]
Having taken a decade and four albums to receive recognition on the global stage, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars has revealed that the wait has been well worth it. In addition to the nod from the Grammys, the French soft rockers are working on their first movie soundtrack. "It felt like a weird planet to be on. It felt like deliverance and it was really nice," Mars told BBC Radio 1 after the band picked up the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album for 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.' He continued, "It's closer to a Cirque du Soleil [...]
Hello everybody!!! It is good to be back!! Sorry about the mass hiatus but I was in South America for a couple of months and it has taken me a month to get my head back. Many thanks must go to Adso for the great work at keeping the blog pumping with all your music needs. Now in the same vein as my Top 15 albums of 2007 , my Top 25 of 2008 and Adso's Favourite 15 albums of 2009 I bring my Top 30 Albums of 2009. Now this list has [...]
Every once in a while, I happen upon something at the store that consumes me. At the beginning of this year, I came across a copy of Jerry Garcia's "classic" 1972 album Garcia while processing a record collection. Inside the cover I found some tri-folded pieces of old fax paper that contained a letter from a raver chick to her friend. It was a Found (URL) goldmine. You can read the contents of the letter here . To that point, working at a record store and processing collections was only a cool job in theory. [...]
February 8, 2010 is the day that Massive Attack releases their fifth studio album. Its been seven (wow that long) years since their last effort 100th Window. Somehow I wasn't really impress with 100th Window besides Special Cases which featured Sinead O'Connor. Massive Attack has been the pioneer in Trip-hop. From their mellow R&B/trip-hop sounds from Blue Lines and Protection to the dark electronica sound of Mezzanine. They have been changing and becoming innovative with their sound. Contrary to some reports that this album was going backwards ala Mezzanine era. A part of [...]
Cover That Don't Suck
Reuse Recycle Remix - February 8
This Week's Other Releases
