"The Ruling Class"

The Ruling Class is probably one of the catchiest songs Jeff Tweedy has ever penned and that’s saying a lot because the guy’s got great songs coming out of his ears. This tune appeared on Loose Fur’s last album Born Again In The USA, which on the whole is a little uneven but still very much worth a listen. As an added bonus I’m posting a solo performance by Tweedy (with about 5 extra minutes of crowd work) from a charity show he did in April and a really sweet performance of Passenger Side from the same show. Now enjoy whistling for the rest of the day…

Yesterday's Originals

Yesterday I posted a couple of covers by Pavement but didn't have the originals handy, but now I do and here they are...

File Under Easy Listening

If anyone out there dug those Eleventh Dream Day tracks I posted a while back, make sure you check this album out. Sugar’s File Under Easy Listening is a little bit misleading as a title, but given who it’s coming from, it kind of makes sense. This collection of songs is not nearly as hard rocking as most of Bob Mould’s discography, but it is by no means easy listening in the traditional sense. The thread of Mould’s seasoned songwriting is what holds together an album that sometimes bleeds distortion and feedback and sometimes relaxes into easy going jangle tunes. Enjoy two of it’s finer songs…

*By the way, for those of you in the LA area, I saw a stack of these for a buck each at Amoeba just last week.

Built To Spill Still Got It

Clearly I’m on a “founders of indie rock” kick today, which is why I’m posting a couple tracks from Built To Spill’s last release You In Reverse. I really didn’t see this album coming at all. I picked it up cheap at a clearance sale and popped it in and was blown away by how great it was. Doug Martsch and company sound as energized as ever and there are several truly inspired tracks here. The two I’m posting, Liar and Goin' Against Your Mind are on par with the best the band ever released. Can’t wait to see what they do next.

2 Covers By Pavement

For those of you who can’t wait for the re-release of Terror Twilight, which should be here in four years or so (because we still have Brighten The Corners to look forward to first) here’s a couple of excellent covers from the Major Leagues EP which will probably appear on that release: Echo & The Bunnymen’s Killing Moon & The Fall’s Classical. As they always do, Pavement makes them completely their own and goes well beyond doing justice to the originals. Unfortunately, I don’t have the originals on this computer, but I’ll put them up tomorrow!

The Blue Ridge Rangers

While I rarely reach for a Creedence Clearwater Revival album, I always turn up the volume when they come on the radio and think of Vietnam movies. But one album I do go to plenty is John Fogerty’s first solo effort, The Blue Ridge Rangers. On this album Fogerty masks his presence by never putting his name or photo anywhere on the cover (that's it pictured above) and liner notes, opting to create an anonymous five-member band instead. The reality is that this album is nothing but Fogerty. He produced every track in addition to singing and playing all the instruments. The resulting twelve covers are a beautiful ode to the country tradition of which Creedence owed an incredible debt.

Madlib Goes To India

I grabbed Beat Konducta Vol. 3-4: India at the record store the day after I saw Darjeeling because I was fiending bad for some Indian music. Not really knowing anything about Indian music, I figured who better to get me started than the ultimate music guide himself, Madlib. I really liked The Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2, but I never got hooked on it the way I’ve been hooked on this one. It’s really addictive and unique. Most of the tracks groove really well, but these are two I always look forward to.

"Any Day Now"

What makes Scott Walker the most interesting crooner to me is that unlike Sinatra or Dean Martin (or any other crooner for that matter) he doesn’t ooze self-confidence in every note he sings. Many of his songs have his characters exposing their most vulnerable neurotic thoughts. Any Day Now has Walker awaiting the end of a relationship he dearly wants to hang on to. Don’t fall for it’s cheery flute and it’s boom-snick-booms, this is not a happy song. The only place I was able to find this song on CD was on The Collection, but if you’re going to start investigating Scott Walker start with Scott 3 & Scott 4, there’s a lot of gems there.

Mull Historical Society

Mull Historical Society is one of those bands that is really one guy, but you can’t have a sweet name like that and not have a sweet photo of a bunch of 70’s historians to go with it, so I went ahead and posted one, (for the record that’s the San Joaquin County Historical Society pictured above). But had I not posted that picture, you’d be looking at a Scottish guy named Colin MacIntyre who writes some of the most beautifully arranged songs you can find in the echoed hallways of indie rock. You can hear traces of ABBA and Brian Wilson in his songs, and I’m sure I don’t need remind you that that’s a GOOD thing. He has a great habit of starting his songs small and then letting them flourish as they progress until they seem like they’re about to burst. The only album of his I own is 2001’s Loss, and I highly suggest you own it as well. Here’s a couple of tracks to persuade you…

Arthur

After seeing Darjeeling Limited a few weeks ago I was launched full force back into my Kinks obsession. So I’m posting a couple tracks from my favorite album of theirs, Arthur. Ray Davies took many a stab at the concept album in his day, but never was he more successful than with Arthur. All the Davies themes are present here: boredom, growing old and a longing to go back to simpler times. Most importantly though, throughout the story of a man named Arthur moving from England to Australia, Davies never forgets to rock. So many concept albums get so caught up in telling their story that the music suffers at the hands of clunky exposition, but Davies knew better.

To illustrate my point I’m posting Victoria one of the hardest rocking late-Kinks songs ever and Nothing To Say which is just one of those perfectly cynical Ray Davies gems that would have been at home on whatever album it decided to hang it’s hat.

Albert Hammond Jr. Covers Frank Black

I don't how long this has been on the Amoeba site, but in this clip from Hammond's in-store set, the first song is a very faithful cover of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" off of Black's first solo album. A great tune brought to you in that glorious Amoeba-vision! Why can't everyones' embedded video look as nice as this?

The Foundry Field Recordings

Part of me likes to think that the members of The Foundry Field Recordings really spend their free time walking around in open spaces with vintage recording equipment collecting sounds like so many precious gems. And while I know that they probably just did it that day because there was a photographer there, I shut down that logic when I’m playing this album.

I heeded the enthusiastic losanjealous endorsement a while ago and still find myself reaching for this album pretty often. Prompts/Miscues is an amazing debut that is ridiculously solid throughout. I’m posting my two favorites from the album and I think you’ll find that these guys have an incredible amount of range. Enjoy!

“Broken Strings” is an inspired ballad that is performed with unfettered sincerity. If you’ve ever had your heart broken, prepare yourself to feel that way all over again for the next five minutes.



That said, these guys can also bring the heat. “Buried Beneath The Winter Frames” starts off as a likable and catchy pop song, but grows a serious set of fangs as it progresses. And it becomes a serious addiction thereafter. This diddy has popped up on just about every playlist in my iPod.



** Also as a side note, I just discovered while collecting links that they have a new album for sale, Fallout Stations. I’ve already ordered mine, if it’s anywhere as good as this stuff you’ll be hearing about it real soon.

The Nice

When I was in high school I was way into ELP, which led me to Keith Emmerson’s first band, The Nice. At the time I sort of tossed these guys aside because, (and I’m embarrassed to admit this) there wasn’t enough keyboard. But I’ve done a lot of growing since then. So when I saw this amazing double disc compilation, Hang On To A Dream, during the 70% off days at Tower (R.I.P.) a while back, I just had to have it. This comp strolls from psych to prog as Emmerson’s signature sound matures right before your ears. Here’s a couple of my favorite tracks from the band’s earlier days. And should you find yourself longing for more keyboards, you know where to go.

Finally The Punk Rockers Are Drinking Islands

These guys are cool! They call themselves Abe Vigoda and I stumbled upon them when looking up shows around town. They’ve got that whole Islands calypso rock thing going, only with way less precision and focus. It sounds like they just found their instruments on the beach, but in a good way. Maybe there’s a secret wave of Unicorns/Islands inspired bands on the way, we can only pray. This track is alright, but I liked the song ‘Animal Ghosts’ a lot more over at their myspace page.

Jerry Jeff Walker - London Homesick Blues

That's Jerry Jeff on the right, with Willie Nelson & Jack Rodgers.

From the first time I heard this whiskey soaked bar closer of a song, I instantly loved it. I just played it on repeat for a week solid and never grew sick of it. There’s just something about it’s laid back, off-the-cuff performance that draws you in completely and makes you long to be back home with the armadillos, (you’ll know what that means after you listen to it). Viva Terlingua is pretty much the perfect hang out album; it’s easy on the ears, not too demanding, but occasionally makes you sit up and take notice. And yes, I used a semi-colon. I’m not really sure if Walker is even doing the lead vocals on this cut, but I’m reasonably sure that if this song is playing through your car speakers, you’ll be fronting the band.

You Don't Get More Pavement Than This...

For every great band there is usually another band that is great at sounding just like them. For The Velvet Underground, it's The Warlocks. For The Beach Boys, it's The High Llamas. And now for Pavement, it's Hockey Night. I usually enjoy these albums for a spin or three before I long for the source material, but Hockey Night's newest release Keep Guessin' has popped onto my iPod WAY more than that, and it's mostly because of this track. If you're a big Pavement fan, this song will send you on this emotional journey...

Denial - "Nuh uh, this HAS to be Pavement."
Anger - "Fuck these guys, Malkmus should sue them. I mean come on."
Bargaining - "I'll be a better person."
Depression - "Man. I miss Pavement."
Acceptance - "This track actually rules."

Enjoy!

Gondry Ketchup

I'm a pretty big Michel Gondry fan. I own the music videos collection and his movies, but somehow I managed to miss pretty much every clip since the 'Hardest Button To Button' video. Don't really know how that happened (considering there's some perty big names mixed in the batch), but I'd like to think that maybe I'm not alone. And so, for anyone who may need it, I've collected a bunch of videos here from the last few years. They're pretty awesome, especially "Denial Twist" "Walkie Talkie Man" and "Heard 'Em Say". Enjoy!

HP Commercial


Cell Phone's Dead


King Of The Game


Winning Days


The Denial Twist


Heard 'Em Say


A Ribbon


*Note: Left out 'Mad World' on purpose, remember actually seeing this video a lot.

I Wonder


Walkie Talkie Man


Ride

"Track 3" by Panda Bear

Just wanted to post this little video I made for this sweet track from Panda Bear. Enjoy!

Ricky and Blondie

I know all my posts seem in some way connected to the Beach Boys, but…

Before Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin joined the band in ’72, they were in this really awesome band of their own called The Flame. This album is great for anyone who’s down with Beatle-esque pop gems, as you will soon see for yourself with the two tracks below. They only put out this one album before Carl Wilson plucked them from obscurity and made him a part of the new line-up. After you hear these two songs, a part of you is going to wish Carl hadn’t interfered, because they were definitely onto something. Oh yeah, and Ricky went on to join a little outfit called The Rutles. Check them tracks…

You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone

While The Beach Boys were no longer pulling off those glorious studio arrangements with Brian safely tucked away in bed, they still kicked out plenty of jams in the early 70's, and "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" is easily one of my favorites. This here is a really cool video of it. And when is it not awesome to watch Carl Wilson front the band? I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure The Beach Boys called themselves "Carl and The Passions" early in the band's life, hence the name of the album this track comes from. If you've already digested the rest of their golden age stuff, I strongly suggest you pick up the Carl and the Passions – So Tough / Holland double album package, (follow that link, it’s super cheap at Amazon). Yeah, you may hit the skip button here and there, but you'll be extremely happy with your purchase. It has more than a fair share of really great tracks. Oh yeah, Daryl Dragon from Captain and Tennille plays piano in this video. Now you wanna watch...