The Long Cut ...we'll get there eventually

RIYL71

Dang but there's a whole lot of cool new discs coming out this week!

Birdie Busch Penny Arcade It's a little strange having someone you often see down at your local farmers market show up on music blogs from all over the place, but local girl Birdie Busch's sophomore album certainly deserves the national attention. On Penny Arcade she's got a stronger voice singing in front of a much more complex sound than she did on her first album.

Birdie Busch - "Mystical" [mp3]

Erin McKeown Lafayette Remember last January, when I wrote about how great a show McKeown put on? No, of course you don't. But thanks to this new disc, now you can hear for yourself just how good she is live. The disc covers her entire young-but-already-much-varied musical career.

Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog Sam Beam - who pretty much is Iron & Wine - started out making the lowest of lo-fi music but he's always seemed willing to expand his reach by working with other artists, like the disc he made with Calexico a little while back for example. Calexico shows up on The Shephard's Dog and helps make it the least lo-fi-est of Beam's albums so far, and the best since his debut.

José González In Our Nature The quiet vocals and guitar strumming that make up the backbone of González's sound always pulls me into his music way more than something so seemingly uncomplicated has any right doing. More of the same on the new disc, which is streaming this week at MSN.

Matt Pond PA Last Light You have to admire a band that mixes rock with some old-time (as in late-80's/early 90's) pop and does it well, without resorting to the goofy hipster irony of bands like Weezer. But something about Last Light just isn't clicking with me. Musically it sounds perfect and the songs sound catchy, but it's just not catching with me. Maybe I need to listen to it a few more times. It's streaming this week over at AOL's Spinner.

Joni Mitchell Shine For the longest time, I hated Joni Mitchell. Hated. Would not listen to her at all. All because of "Little Yellow Taxi." Then I heard Blue and I completely forgave her for that one annoying song (though I'll never forgive her for letting the Counting Crows cover it). "Taxi" shows up on Joni's new disc, made over a bit and sounding somewhat more tolerable. Luckily, the rest of the album sounds closer to Blue (no, not as good as Blue, but I doubt anything she - or anybody - puts out will ever be that great again.) It's streaming at MSN.

Nellie McKay Obligatory Villagers Nellie McKay is that girl from college who looked all sweet and innocent until you talked to her and found out she had a mouth like a sailor and was as funny as hell. (I'm speaking theoretically, of course, since no girls at my college would dare speak to me). Villagers sounds great, is funny as hell, and should not be played in front of your children. Samples are at her website.

Sea Wolf Leaves in the River The late, great Elliot Smith used to get compared to the even later, even greater Nick Drake, and it would drive me crazy. Smith was good, but he was no Nick Drake. Now here comes Sea Wolf (mostly made up of Alex Brown Church) out of L.A. with their dreamy pop and they're being compared to both Smith and Drake. I still think the Drake comparison is a bit too much, but Church does remind me a lot of Smith's more upbeat stuff. His new disc is streaming this week over at Spinner, and the first single from it, "You're a Wolf" is one of my favorite songs of the year so far.

Steve Earle Washington Square Serenade On his last few albums, Earle has moved away from his biggest strength - his storytelling - and started making Songs With Important Messages For All To Hear (his last studio disc was titled The Revolution Starts Now, for Christ's sake). I've only listened to the new disc a couple times so far, but if the storytelling has returned I'm not hearing it yet - especially on the first single, the Indigo Girl-ish (and I mean that in a bad way) "City of Immigrants." Try and guess what that one's about. I'm sure I'll give the disc more listens, but this ain't Guitartown, that's for sure.

This week's list:

1. IRON & WINE The Shepherd's Dog
2. BIRDIE BUSCH Penny Arcade
3. THE A-SIDES Silver Storms
4. JOSE GONZALEZ In Our Nature
5. JONI MITCHELL Shine
6. NELLIE MCKAY Obligatory Villagers
7. JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
8. SEA WOLF Leaves in the River
9. MATT POND PA Last Light
10. ERIN MCKEOWN Lafayette
11. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
12. LYLE LOVETT It's Not Big It's Large
13. MARK KNOPFLER Kill to Get Crimson
14. JOE HENRY Civilians
15. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
16. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
17. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
18. RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
19. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
20. STEVE EARLE Washington Square Serenade
21. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
22. THE GO! TEAM Proof of Youth
23. THE NATIONAL Boxer
24. FEIST The Reminder
25. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
26. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
27. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
28. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
29. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
30. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away

Dropping off the list this week:

• MICHELLE SHOCKED To Heaven U Ride
• NICK LOWE At My Age
• BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
• TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
• KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
• PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
• THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
• THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
• MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos

RIYL for the week beginning September 24, 2007. Backstory here.

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Quickies!

The A-Sides Silver Storms The Philly band with the Kinks-flavored debut are back with a bigger and more varied sound on their second disc. Their myspace has a few songs streaming, as does their website. Plus, they're playing the Free-at-Noon concert this Friday, for which I could not be more excited.

The A-Sides "Cinematic" [mp3]

Lyle Lovett It's Not Big It's Large The title refers not to Lyle's hair, but to his longtime "Large Band" and on about half of this album the spotlight definitely belongs to the boisterous backing band. The other half of the songs are more sedate but work just as well, thanks to Lovett's very large songwriting skills. Lyle's got samples of each song on his website, but none of them is very big at all.

Mark Knopfler Kill to Get Crimson And speaking of songwriting, Knopfler has always been an excellent storyteller, but his post-Dire Straits move towards more traditional (as in 100-year-old traditional) folk music has put his songwriting skills front-and-center, and they just get better and better with each album. Then, of course, there's also his guitar-playing, which I doubt could get any better than it already is. MSN is streaming the new disc all this week.

This week's list:

1. THE A-SIDES Silver Storms
2. JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
3. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
4. LYLE LOVETT It's Not Big It's Large
5. MARK KNOPFLER Kill to Get Crimson
6. JOE HENRY Civilians
7. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
9. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
10. RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
11. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
12. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
13. THE GO! TEAM Proof of Youth
14. THE NATIONAL Boxer
15. FEIST The Reminder
16. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
17. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
18. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
19. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
20. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
21. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
22. MICHELLE SHOCKED To Heaven U Ride
23. NICK LOWE At My Age
24. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
25. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
26. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
27. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
28. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
29. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
30. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos

Dropping off the list this week:

• GREG BROWN Yellow Dog
• LINDA THOMPSON Versatile Heart
• TRAVIS The Boy With No Name

RIYL for the week beginning September 17, 2007. Backstory here.

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Yeah, I'm cheating this week - but I totally agree with these reviewers, if that means anything.

Joe Henry Civilians

"Mr. Henry has been almost as artistically diverse and sophisticatedly ragged as Elvis Costello or Tom Waits, and Civilians is as populated with beautiful losers as his previous works. But it strives for straightforward clarity with deliberately understated musicianship. With help from players such as jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and pianist Van Dyke Parks, Mr. Henry gives the lounge-bar ballad 'I Will Write My Book,' the postmodern blues 'Time Is a Lion' and the polished anti-anthem 'Our Song' the honesty of a man whose heart and mind have finally negotiated a truce, however unsteady. A softly gorgeous disc that makes the name Joe Henry one to remember." - Dallas Morning News

Joe Henry - "Civilians" [mp3]
Joe Henry - "Time is a Lion" [mp3]
Joe Henry - "Our Song" [mp3]

The Go! Team Proof of Youth

"Proof of Youth not only picks up where their storied debut left off, it stocks even more happy-faced enthusiasm and body-moving exuberance than a dozen first-graders riding a serious sugar high. If tunes like 'Titanic Vandalism' and 'Universal Speech' don’t have you doing back-flips off of the top bunk, you might want to check your pulse." - Chicago Tribune

[Full album stream at AOL this week.]

This week's list:

1. JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
2. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
3. JOE HENRY Civilians
4. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
6. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
7. RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
8. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
9. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
10. THE GO! TEAM Proof of Youth
11. THE NATIONAL Boxer
12. FEIST The Reminder
13. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
14. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
15. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
16. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
17. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
18. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
19. MICHELLE SHOCKED To Heaven U Ride
20. GREG BROWN Yellow Dog
21. LINDA THOMPSON Versatile Heart
22. NICK LOWE At My Age
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
24. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
25. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
26. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
27. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
28. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
29. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
30. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos

Dropping off the list this week:

• AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
• THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele

RIYL for the week beginning September 10, 2007. Backstory here.

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In keeping with my new "blog less, dig more" credo, this week I offer you three quickie mentions of new discs from artists too cool to not write about. And a bonus sneak preview from perhaps the coolest artist of them all. I mean, c'mon, he's from Jersey - you can't get any cooler than that.

Greg Brown Yellow Dog You can't find a more laid-back-sounding folk singer than Greg Brown, but he's pretty pissed about plans to open a metallic-sulfide mine (sounds perfectly safe to me) in the Yellow Dog Watershed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He did a benefit back in 2005 and has now released this recording of that concert, with all proceeds going to the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. Pretty cool. No free downloads, but you can watch a video with him playing "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" live over a slideshow of the Yellow Dog area.

Michelle Shocked To Heaven U Ride For a former critics' darling, Michelle Shocked doesn't get much press these days. Still, I do remember her being on Fresh Air a few years ago talking about how into gospel music she had become. Well, someone recorded a bootleg of a concert of hers from around that time and Shocked has just now released it. The woman can pretty much sing in whatever genre she chooses (punk, swing, folk), but she sounds really, really good here. She's even offering a free download from the disc at her website.

Michelle Shocked "Quality of Mercy" [mp3]

The New Pornographers Challengers I've been listening to this one quite a bit (it came out a couple weeks ago) and it sounds like AC and the band have managed to somehow top their last disc, 2005's excellent Twin Cinema. They've stretched out in all kinds of new directions on the new disc but don't worry, they're still bringing the catchy pop songs - they're just bringing them in a whole bunch of different ways this time around. Oh, and Long Cut favorite Neko Case is highlighted on a few songs, which is always a good thing. Always. They too offer a free download from the disc.

The New Pornographers "My Rights, Versus Yours" [mp3]

This post is already much longer than planned, but here's the promised preview - Springsteen's new video from his upcoming Magic album. And yes, it does sound like he lifted the intro straight from Tommy Twotone's "867-5309."

This week's list:

1. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
2. JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
3. RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
4. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
5. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
6. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
7. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. MICHELLE SHOCKED To Heaven U Ride
9. GREG BROWN Yellow Dog
10. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
11. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
12. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
13. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
14. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
15. LINDA THOMPSON Versatile Heart
16. NICK LOWE At My Age
17. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
18. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
19. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
20. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
21. THE NATIONAL Boxer
22. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
23. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
24. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
25. FEIST The Reminder
26. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
27. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
28. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
29. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
30. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos

Dropping off the list this week:

• SON VOLT The Search
• G. LOVE A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce
• ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep

RIYL for the week beginning September 3, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL67

I skipped RIYL while I was down in DC last week, so I'm playing catch up with a couple discs that are already a week old. Of course, that means I'll still be catching up next week with the albums that came out this week.

Josh Ritter The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter Perhaps it's appropriate that Josh Ritter starts his new disc with a Dylanesque track. Dylan famously made waves when he went electric, and with this release Ritter has boldly made the move from troubadour to rocker. He hasn't grown a mullet or anything, but he's definitely shifted his music style (and by his ever-present smile at last week's free-at-noon concert - photos to come - I'd say he's very much enjoying the change). That first Dylan-like track is followed what sounds (for the most part) Rockpile-like to me (a lot of Nick Lowe, a little of Dave Edmunds). One of the best albums I've heard so far this year, and the best concert I've seen in a long time. [Myspace page]

Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight Like Josh Ritter, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis knows about changing styles, too. Last year she successfully dipped into Loretta Lynn territory on her first solo disc, and now she's back with her band on a new disc that dabbles in a bunch of different genres.  The power pop songs are strongest, but the albums got some soul on it, some folk, a little of that alt-country, and a whole lot of hand claps. It's even got a song ("Dejalo") that sounds a bit like Gloria-Estefan-does-indie-rock (with maybe a little Abba pseudo-salsa thrown in there) that somehow actually works. Maybe not one of the best of the year (the disc fades a bit towards the end) but still pretty darn good. [Myspace page]

This week's list:

1. JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
2. RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
3. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
4. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
5. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
6. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
7. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
8. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
9. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
10. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
11. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
12. LINDA THOMPSON Versatile Heart
13. NICK LOWE At My Age
14. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
15. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
16. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
17. G. LOVE A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce
18. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
19. THE NATIONAL Boxer
20. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
21. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
22. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
23. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
24. FEIST The Reminder
25. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
26. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
27. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
28. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
29. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
30. SON VOLT The Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
• SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime

RIYL for the week beginning August 27, 2007. Backstory here.

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One I haven't had a chance to listen to very much and one that came out a couple months ago that I'm just getting into now.

Linda Thompson Versatile Heart I gave son Teddy and ex-husband Richard both the RIYL treatment this year, so why not Linda? While Richard has mostly moved away from his Fairport Convention-era English folk roots, Linda has stuck with them. On 2002's brilliant Fashionably Late, Linda somehow made very old-fashion-sounding music without sounding dated (I don't mean it no longer sounds "traditional," I mean it doesn't sound like it's been pulled out of a time capsule from 1972). From what I've heard of the new album, it sounds like she's done it again. AOL and MSN are both streaming it this week, and her myspace page has four of the new songs on it.

Nick Lowe At My Age I heard on WXPN that it was exactly 31 years ago today that Stiff Records had its first release - Nick Lowe's "And So It Goes" B/W "Heart of the City." That reminded me that I had neglected to add Mr. Lowe's new disc to the big list.

Lowe's voice sounds nothing like it did thirty-one years ago, and - like many other aging rockers (such as Steve Forbert) - as he gets older he seems to write more songs about getting older. While both his style (which has crept into the same Americana/country/blues sound that Mark Knopfler has adopted in his old age) and his song topics may have mellowed, his current sound fits the older him very well. And c'mon, he's still the Jesus of Cool - he just looks more like God than Jesus these days. Nick only has one new song streaming at his website, but NPR has an excellent interview that he did with Terry Gross archived here.

This week's list:

1. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
2. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
3. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
4. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
6. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
7. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
8. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
9. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
10. LINDA THOMPSON Versatile Heart
11. NICK LOWE At My Age
12. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
13. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
14. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
15. G. LOVE A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce
16. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
17. THE NATIONAL Boxer
18. SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime
19. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
20. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
21. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
22. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
23. FEIST The Reminder
24. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
25. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
26. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
27. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
28. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
29. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
30. SON VOLT The Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
• FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather

RIYL for the week beginning August 13, 2007. Backstory here.

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Nothing that came out today is really doing anything for me (not even the new Okkervil River disc, and I've been reading all kinds of good things about that one). Now would probably be a good time to go back and hit a couple albums that I missed when they first came out earlier this year. Especially since both of them might very well be on my year-end top ten.

Julie Doiron Woke Myself Up Julie Doiron lives way way way out in the boondocks of the Great White North and there's a total of maybe eleven web pages on the whole Internet that mention her and her own website is about three albums out of date and her myspace page has a grand total of one song on it. Maybe I'm wrong, but she strikes me as the type of person who isn't real concerned about any of that publicity nonsense, she just wants to make good music and live a quiet life with her kids.

But it does make it real hard for anyone to find out about her, so I'll try to help her out here: Doiron has that type of voice that is so emotional and so authentic that it instantly connects with me and I find myself searching out everything she's ever recorded and penciling her in on that year-end best of. Beth Orton has that same voice, as does (the Cowboy Junkies') Margo Timmins, Michelle Shocked, Neko Case and Cat Power. Joni Mitchell, of course, owns the patent on that voice.

Not that Doiron sounds exactly like any of those women. Fellow Canuck Timmins comes closest, but Doiron's music is a mix of kitchen-table folk with higher-end production. She comes from the indie music world and isn't afraid to dip into a more current and upbeat sound every once in a while. The new album's songs ofter the perfect mix of loss and sadness and happier songs about her family. The first single (if you can call it that), "No More" is a great song, but it isn't the best example of what the disc really sounds like. It is, however, the only thing her record company has put out on the web (Amazon doesn't even have the usual thirty second song samples for her new disc).

Julie Doiron - "No More" [mp3]

Goldrush The Heart is the Place This is my first and (so far) only taste of Goldrush, so I'm not sure how accurate past comparisons to Neil Young (they are, after all, named Goldrush) and the Byrds were, but this new one's got a definite Flaming Lips vibe to it. They're not as trippy as the Lip's Wayne Coyne (who is?) and they're from Oxfordshire, not Oklahoma, but between the beautiful (and appropriately named) opening, "Aperture," and the joyous final chapter (no, really, it's called "a Joyous Final Chapter"), there's a flow to the songs that give the disc an almost concept-album feel. Strong from start to finish. They've got four songs rolling at myspace, and have offered up a free download as well.

Goldrush - "Every One of Us" [mp3]

Also, I'm adding Rosie Thomas' These Friends of Mine back onto the RIYL 30 (after only being off of it one week). She's another one of those authentic-sounding female singers I go gaga for, and I've started listening to her disc a lot again. Really don't be surprised to see that one end up high on my top ten in December.

This week's list:

1. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
2. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
3. JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
4. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
6. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
7. GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
8. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
9. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
10. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
11. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
12. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
13. G. LOVE A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce
14. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
15. THE NATIONAL Boxer
16. SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime
17. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
18. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
19. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
20. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
21. FEIST The Reminder
22. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
23. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
24. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
25. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
26. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
27. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
30. SON VOLT The Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
• VOXTROT Voxtrot
• RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars

RIYL for the week beginning August 6, 2007. Backstory here.

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A couple new discs from a couple guys that were both born in 1972.

Josh Rouse Country Mouse City House Josh Rouse's vocals are understated. They're not 21st century understated - he's not mumbling or whispering - they're 1970's understated. Steely Dan's "Peg" or Jackson Browne's "These Days" understated.

Rouse is famous for wearing his seventies influences on his sleeve, but that's all they are - influences.  He can get away with this older sound because he's not mimicking it, he's updating and building upon it. That way his music avoids sounding stale or dated.

The music that backs Rouse's voice could also be called understated but it still manages some surprises, like the Herb Albert horn vibe that keep popping up throughout the album. If you want some good, unobtrusive dinnertime music, County Mouse fits the bill. But it's actual full of complex and catchy songs if you pay it some attention. Listening to it this morning with the headphones on, I counted four or five songs (out of the disc's nine songs) that could very easily become Adult Alternative radio favorites. There might even be one or two that gets some mainstream attention. Good pop music that sneaks up on you.

Rouse has songs from the album streaming on his myspace page and on Virb.com.

G. Love A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce Even after he shilled for Coke, and even after hearing his "Hot Cookin'" day and night on the Food Network, you've still got to love G. Love. Seriously, - here in Philadelphia you must love G. Love. That's the law. The man wrote a song that manages to praise both the 76er's and the Philly shortcut know as Route 676. Lately G's been eclipsed by his protege, surfer-turned-singer Jack Johnson, but if you want both laid-back coolness and some Fishtown funk, you've got to go back to the real thing. A Year and a Night is the companion disc to a live DVD, taped last year right here in the City of Brotherly Love. While I can't say that the former Garrett Dutton III has changed his style all that much since his first disc came out way back in 1994, he's still a lot of fun to listen to - and he sounds like he'd be a lot of fun to see in concert, too.

AOL is streaming G. Love's live disc all this week.

This week's list:

1. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
2. JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
3. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
4. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
6. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
7. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
8. SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime
9. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
10. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
11. G. LOVE A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce
12. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
13. THE NATIONAL Boxer
14. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
15. VOXTROT Voxtrot
16. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
17. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
18. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
19. FEIST The Reminder
20. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
21. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
22. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
23. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
24. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
25. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
26. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
27. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
30. SON VOLT Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
• WARREN ZEVON Preludes

RIYL for the week beginning July 30, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL63

A couple really good discs - one that's a couple weeks old and one that comes out today - from a few female artists who aren't afraid of trying something different.

Kelly Willis Translated from Love I first heard Kelly Willis on the Thelma & Louise soundtrack - doing an outstanding cover of Dave Alvin's "Little Honey" - and I've been a fan ever since, though it hasn't ever been easy following her career. Despite consistent critical praise, Willis has gotten very little airplay. She's yet another one of those artists who aren't mainstream enough for country radio and are too country for any other kind of radio (Dave Alvin knows a thing or two about that, too).

Since her last album came out four years ago, Willis has left Nashville for the more flexible music scene of Austin - and become a bit more flexible herself. Translated features songs written with (or by) Chuck Prophet (who also produced the album) and Jules Shear (poor Jules, he's one of the best songwriters around but his songs always sound better when they're sung by a woman). She's even thrown a David Bowie/Iggy Pop song in there.

The result is probably her most accessible disc ever - one that's built on rock (and/or rockabilly) and pop, but never tries to cover up Willis' authentic country music roots or the powerful country twang in her voice. A strong album, from start to finish. Willis has a few of her new songs streaming over at myspace.

Tegan and Sara The Con The first time I heard Tegan and Sara was when they were featured on the excellent mp3 blog 3hive a few years ago. 3hive had posted a few songs from their 2004 disc So Jealous, which has since gotten quite a bit of radio airplay - especially the stuck-in-your-head single "Walking with a Ghost." Back then, 3hive described Tegan and Sara as "mildly punky twin sisters."

I'd say that "mildly punky" is still an accurate description of the Quin sisters, but they also seem to have matured quite a bit since their last album. The Con features better songwriting, better production, and a more varied collection of songs. Their music is still catchy, it's just more interesting this time around. They too have put a bunch of new songs on myspace, plus their album is streaming all this week at AOL (which is also offering up the video below).

This week's list:

1. KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
2. TEGAN AND SARA The Con
3. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
5. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
6. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
7. SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime
8. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
9. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
10. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
11. THE NATIONAL Boxer
12. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
13. VOXTROT Voxtrot
14. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
15. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
16. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
17. FEIST The Reminder
18. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
19. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
20. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
21. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
22. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
23. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
24. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
25. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
26. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
27. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
30. SON VOLT Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
• STEVE FORBERT Strange Names & New Sensations

RIYL for the week beginning July 23, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL62

Just a couple quick notes. Work today was spent doing one of my least favorite chores - employee evaluations (our fiscal year ended June 30). I spent all day trying to come up with different ways to say "efficiently."

Suzanne Vega Beauty & Crime I've had a few chances to hear this disc already and while it's got Vega's trademark sultry whisper, nothing from it has really caught my attention just yet. Then again, Vega's music tends to sneak up on you rather than hit you over the head. It's been six years since she released her last album, the very strong Songs in Red and Gray and, vibe-wise at least, Beauty seems to pick up right where that disc left off. Hopefully the new one will grow on me like that disc did. You can hear the the new album for yourself over at MSN all this week.

Teddy Thompson Up Front and Down Low The son of Richard & Linda Thompson has put out two discs before this new one and is still less known for his music than for his being the son of Richard & Linda Thompson. For his third album he's dropped his own stuff (or at least most of it - one of his songs did make it) and has released a disc of cry-in-your-beer country standards that puts his voice front-and-center, and he nails that old-time Nashville sound. It helps that he's picked some really good old artists to cover (Ernest Tubb, George Jones) and some really good musicians to help him out (Tiff Merritt, Iris DeMent, his dad). It might not be the disc that finally gets him recognition (it's a little too county for alt radio, way too country for country radio), but it sure does sound real purty. He's got a few songs streaming over at myspace.

This week's list:

1. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
3. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
4. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
5. SUZANNE VEGA Beauty & Crime
6. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
7. TEDDY THOMPSON Up Front and Down Low
8. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
9. THE NATIONAL Boxer
10. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
11. VOXTROT Voxtrot
12. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
13. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
14. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
15. FEIST The Reminder
16. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
17. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
18. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
19. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
20. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
21. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
22. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
23. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
24. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
25. STEVE FORBERT Strange Names & New Sensations
26. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
27. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
30. SON VOLT Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
• WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square

RIYL for the week beginning July 16, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL61

Alright, this is going to be quick. The All-Star Game is on right now and if I spend too much time here I might miss hearing something important about Barry Bonds. Though I believe the only person they haven't asked about Bonds yet is the ballpark's head janitor. At least Joe Buck is asking everyone the important question - is Barry Bonds great, really great, or super-duper great?

On to the new music:

Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga I have to admit that I'm a recent passenger on the Spoon bandwagon. The biggest song from their last album was "Sister Jack," and 'XPN here in Philly felt the need to play it over and over and over again. I never much liked it to start with and after hearing it so often I just assumed that Spoon was some one-note pretty boy indie pop band. Once I gave their music a chance (after hearing the catchy and offbeat "I Turn My Camera On"), I quickly changed my tune, so to speak. Turns out that Spoon is a willing-to-take-chances pretty boy indie pop band. That willingness carries right over to Ga Ga. The band has a reputation of over-thinking their sound, but never to the point of weighing down their songs - if you wanted to, you could dissect every cool little quirk on the album (Ga Ga gives you plenty of opportunities to), but you're more likely to just bop along to it (well, most of it - "the Ghost In You Lingers" doesn't have much of a dance beat, but it's still a good song and is the source of the album's babblesque title). One of the best discs I've heard so far this year.

Spoon - "The Underdog" [mp3]
Spoon - "The Ghost In You Lingers" [mp3]

Kim Richey Chinese Boxes It's a pleasant surprise whenever a Kim Richey song pops up during an iTunes shuffle, and it was an even more pleasant surprise to find out that she was releasing her first album since 2002's Rise. With her country-tinged pop-folk sound, it's easy to lump Richey in with other singer-songwriters like Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter, but Richey's music has always had a little more bite and been a little more daring than most other female folkies. On Chinese Boxes she moves further away from the country sound and receives a little help with the writing of most of the songs. The result is a bit uneven, but the majority of the songs show a shift to a less forceful sound that reminds me a lot of Aimee Mann. Richey is streaming a couple of the new songs over at her website.

This week's list:

1. SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
3. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
4. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
5. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
6. KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
7. THE NATIONAL Boxer
8. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
9. VOXTROT Voxtrot
10. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
11. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
12. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
13. FEIST The Reminder
14. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
15. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
16. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
17. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
18. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
19. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
20. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
21. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
22. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
23. STEVE FORBERT Strange Names & New Sensations
24. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
25. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
26. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
27. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
28. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
29. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
30. SON VOLT Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
• ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha

RIYL for the week beginning July 09, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL60

The record industry continues its slow march towards the July 4th holiday (a week where nothing notable is scheduled to be released - good thing I'll be on vacation that week). For now we have two artists who recently preformed at WXPN Free-at-Noon concerts.

Ryan Adams Easy Tiger When I saw Adams and the Cardinals in concert last week, I still wasn't all that impressed with his new release, but I thought it had the potential to grow on me. Sure 'nuff, with each listening (Adams and Albert Hammonds Jr. are on heavy rotation in the minivan right now) a new song or two distinguishes itself from the disc's other songs.

While every other indie singer right now seems to want to sound like a young Neil Young (except those that strive to emulate Brian Wilson, that is) give Adams credit for going for that other early-seventies alt-country rocker, Gram Parsons - a little more country and a less rough than Neil's sound. Not that he's as good as Parsons was (where Parsons had Emmylou Harris backing him up - and Neil did quite all right with Nicolette Larson behind him - Adams has... Sheryl Crow?), but Parson's style is a good fit for Adams' singing and storytelling talents.

MuchMusic is still streaming Easy Tiger on their site. And so is his label, the outstanding Lost Highway Records.

Steve Forbert Strange Names and New Sensations I have to admit, when I saw Forbert in concert a couple of weeks ago I was more impressed with his older stuff than the songs from this new disc, but that had more to do with the subject matter (a lot of tunes about facing middle age) than the quality of the music itself.

Forbert seems to be one of those old school folkies who still doesn't trust the Internet enough to put up a couple of free downloads or stream a song or two. His site does have the video for the goofy "Strange Names (North Jersey's Got Them)," but it's not exactly the strongest song from the disc. Plus, even though he gets it right in the song's title, in the lyrics he refers to "North New Jersey" which - like "Southern New Jersey" - no one from Jersey ever says.

This week's list:

1. RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
2. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
3. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
4. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
5. THE NATIONAL Boxer
6. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
7. VOXTROT Voxtrot
8. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
9. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
10. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
11. FEIST The Reminder
12. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
13. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
14. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
15. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
16. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
17. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
18. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
19. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
20. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
21. STEVE FORBERT Strange Names & New Sensations
22. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
23. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
24. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
25. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
26. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
27. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
28. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
29. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
30. SON VOLT Search

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
• THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense

RIYL for the week beginning June 25, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL59

This week's new releases feature a battle between two bands most folks either love or really, really, hate.

The White Stripes Icky Thump In anticipation of this new release from Jack & Meg, I've been listening to their last disc,  Get Behind Me Satan, on the old (and I do mean old) iPod shuffle. I doubt I'm the first to think of this, but as I listened to that disc I kept being reminded of Led Zeppelin. Despite their current reputation as a stoner classic rock band, Zeppelin's sound was all over the place. The band got away with playing in whatever style they wanted to - hard rock, slow blues, ballads, goofy songs - they were talented enough that their fans were willing to go along with pretty much anything. I don't know if Jack White grew up a Led Zeppelin fan (his band's website does have Zep-like symbols for its navigation), but he's using Robert Plant's formula and proving that it can still work. Its eclectic sound makes Icky Thump hard to describe (other than the Stripe's usual "unusual"), but it's a lot of fun to listen to and shows that the White Stripes continue to successfully find new directions to take their music in (like, say, bagpipes and Mariachi trumpet). No downloads, but he's the pretty creepy video for the title song:

[Nuts, all the embeddable clips seem to have been removed. You can still see the video here and here. For now at least.]

The Polyphonic Spree The Fragile Army If you only know the Polyphonic Spree from the appearance of their song "Light & Day" on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack, well, that's probably a good thing. That means you like their music without ever seeing the strange cult-like choir shtick that accompanied their previous discs. Their new disc has the seemingly-hundred-member-strong band in black jumpsuits instead of white robes, but the sound is pretty much the same - nasal (but uplifting) vocals over spacey choral harmonies over soaring symphonies. The music on the new disc has a much stronger and more structured sound to it than the band usually has but it still should only be taken in small doses since, like most of their stuff, it all starts to sound the same after a while. Here's the pretty cool video for the new album's first single, "Running Away":

This week's list:

1. THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
2. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
3. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
4. THE NATIONAL Boxer
5. VOXTROT Voxtrot
6. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
7. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
8. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
9. FEIST The Reminder
10. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
11. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
12. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
13. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
14. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
15. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
16. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
17. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
18. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
19. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
20. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
21. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
22. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
23. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
24. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
25. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
26. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
27. SON VOLT Search
28. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
29. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
• BJORK Volta

RIYL for the week beginning June 18, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL58

The record companies continue their slow pre-summer period, so yet another week of very few notable new releases. And by "very few" I mean "one."

Immaculate Machine Fables Just a couple weeks ago I noted that now would be the perfect time for a band to sneak in their take on the Song of the Summer. It might already be too late - I'm betting on Feist's "1-2-3-4" and/or Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks" to be blaring on all the hipsters' car radios downtheshore this year. Canada's Immaculate Machine doesn't get the press that Feist and PB&J get, but they do have a great summer song of their own on their new disc. "Dear Confessor" does a nice job of showing off the trio's strengths - the boy-girl interaction, the harmonies, the driving drumbeat, the chiming 80's keyboard, and the urgency that comes from three very talented musicians trying to cram as much music as possible into a three-minute rock song.

Interspersed between the album's more energenic songs are a few slower, softer, and more experimental numbers that sometimes work well with the other tunes and sometimes do not. But overall, a great disc to have in the car for that long drive down the A.C. Expressway this summer.

Immaculate Machine - "Dear Confessor" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
3. THE NATIONAL Boxer
4. VOXTROT Voxtrot
5. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
6. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
7. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
8. FEIST The Reminder
9. IMMACULATE MACHINE Fables
10. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
11. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
12. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
13. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
14. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
15. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
16. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
17. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
18. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
19. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
20. BJORK Volta
21. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
22. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
23. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
24. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
25. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
26. SON VOLT Search
27. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
28. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
29. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• PATTI SMITH Twelve

RIYL for the week beginning June 11, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL57

Hey, did anyone else's ears start bleeding as soon as they walked into Starbucks today? How about we get to some much different new music from a much different old guy?

Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band Live in Dublin Woo! Yeah! Springsteen live! The Boss! Brooooooce!

Well, not quite. Following the release of his Pete Seeger-inspired romp through American folk history, We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions, the Boss took the show on the road. Folks were warned not to expect the usual Bruce concert - instead of Clarence and Little Stevie there would be banjos and fiddles.

Since the Seeger Sessions disc already sounded like a one-take hootenanny, you had to wonder if hearing it live was even necessary. But as much fun as Springsteen sounded like he was having on the studio album, he sounds like he's having even more fun here. And as good as the old folk songs sound live, I have to admit that what I like most about this live disc are Springsteen's own old songs.

Bruce has always seemed to try take at least a few of his songs into new directions in concert, but I doubt he's ever gotten this far away from the originals. "Atlantic City" drops the original's despondent mood and replaces it with a lively, matter-of-fact, Johnny Cash-like freight train beat. Rather than remaining a rebellious anthem, "Growing Up" has a much older Springsteen sounding like he had a lot of fun sticking it to the man all those years ago.

The disc is full of transformations like these. Springsteen even updates the Depression-era "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live" and turns it into Katrina-era blues.

A companion DVD is also being released today, and Amazon has full clips of both "Atlantic City" and "Growing Up." They don't make the clip embeddable like youtube does, but if you click on the image below you should be taken to video's page.

This week's list:

1. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
3. THE NATIONAL Boxer
4. VOXTROT Voxtrot
5. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
6. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
7. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
8. FEIST The Reminder
9. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
10. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
11. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
12. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
13. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
14. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
15. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
16. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
17. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
18. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
19. BJORK Volta
20. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
21. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
22. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
23. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
24. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
25. PATTI SMITH Twelve
26. SON VOLT Search
27. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
28. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
29. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners

RIYL for the week beginning June 4, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL56

Despite sagging album sales, record company executives evidentially can still afford to take long Memorial Day vacations. How else do explain the dearth of new releases this week, right when every artists should be putting out the song of the summer?

Richard Thompson Sweet Warrior It seems fitting that guitar genius Richard Thompson puts his new disc out around Memorial Day, since the first single from it is the anti-war "Dad's Gonna to Kill Me" ("Dad" being shorthand for "Baghdad"). Warrior is being advertised as Thompson's return from his recent acoustic work to the electric guitar of the '90s that brought so many fans (including me) to the former Fairport Convention folky. Thompson's old-school stingy with the free samples, with "Dad's Gonna" being the only mp3 being offered up on his website (and even that doesn't seem to be available anymore). That song isn't doing much for me, though, and while it's always nice to hear an anti-war anything, Thompson's entry comes so late that it already feels dated (which only goes to show how just how long this ridiculous war has dragged on). The 30-second samples at Amazon do sound like Thompson may have returned to his successful Rumor and Sigh/Mirror Blue/Mock Tutor style, but without longer listenings available it's hard to tell if he's using it to move forward to a new stage or to return to where he's already been.

Voxtrot Voxtrot What's it with new discs from American bands that sound like they're from England? Last week it was Boston's Wheat and this week it's Austin's Voxtrot. Voxtrot has been around for a few years without releasing anything longer than an EP, so this disc marks their initiation into the world of long plays and it sounds pretty darn good. In the past Voxtrot has put out some bouncy Belle & Sebastian-style pop - and the new album's "Steven" follows that form - but for the most part on Voxtrot the band uses louder guitars and heavier drums to create a backbeat strong enough to get you hooked on the entire disc. You can hear a bunch of new songs at the band's myspace page.

Voxtrot - "Kid Gloves" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
2. THE NATIONAL Boxer
3. VOXTROT Voxtrot
4. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
5. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
6. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
7. FEIST The Reminder
8. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
9. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
10. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
11. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
12. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
13. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
14. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
15. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
16. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
17. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
18. BJORK Volta
19. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
20. RICHARD THOMPSON Sweet Warrior
21. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
22. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
23. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
24. PATTI SMITH Twelve
25. SON VOLT Search
26. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
27. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
28. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
29. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
• KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills

RIYL for the week beginning May 28, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL55

Two weeks worth of new music to document, so let's get right to it.

Wilco Sky Blue Sky Perhaps you've heard me mention this one before? I might do a separate post just about this disc someday, but for now I'll just say that I'm really digging it. Since the disc has more of the pop sound of mid-career Wilco discs (and a whole lot less of the feedback and loops of recent Wilco discs), a lot of reviewers (and quite a few Wilco fans) see it as a step backward from the expansiveness of Wilco's last two studio albums, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. But I see the album as a nice combination of Wilco's older sound and a few of their newer tricks. No, it's not as strong an album as YHF or Ghost, but it is the band's most approachable disc since Summerteeth, so if you haven't given Wilco a chance before, you might want to try them this time. Wilco had streamed this on their website for the last two months, but I'm not sure that "listen" button is still working.

The National Boxer The soundtrack to Pretty in Pink (stay with me here, I promise this has something to do with this album) is a mostly upbeat collection of songs, but it saves the best for last with two deeper but still singalongable (it is too a word) tracks from Echo & the Bunnymen and the Smiths. The National's Boxer reminds me of those final Pretty in Pink cuts, all smooched together. (That's a good thing.) A mix of baritone vocals, smart lyrics and elaborate (yet catchy) music, I think it's one of the top five discs to come out so far this year. You can hear the whole album over at AOL where they're streaming it all this week.  

Loudon Wainwright III Strange Weirdos: Music from and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up and Rufus Wainwright Release the Stars Let's get the son out (no pun intended) of the way first: Rufus has dropped yet another disc of soaring vocals and orchestral sounds and just like all his other discs, it's the kind of music that I can't see myself buying but somehow always like listening to. I burned this one off a coworker and it's currently in heavy rotation at Long Cut headquarters (aka "my cubical").

Rufus's pop isn't quite as consistent as his son's been, but he still hits the mark more often than not. Loudon writes and sings the type of songs that Randy Newman used to do before he started doing all those Disney soundtracks. And now Loudon has his own movie soundtrack out. Oddly enough, it's first cut "Grey in L.A." is like Newman's "I Love L.A.," only in reverse - Newman wrote what many thought was tribute to the SoCal lifestyle but was actually a put down, and here Loudon sings what sounds like a slam but is actually a love song to the city. It's a great tune, as is "Daughter," the only other song I've heard from this disc. Sadly, I can't find anything more than Amazon's short samples for the rest of the album.

Wheat Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square All I know of this album - from the band who brought the world the uber-catchy "I Met a Girl" a few years back - is what I heard/saw in its first video. Supposedly, this is the brit-pop-by-way-of-Cambridge-Mass-not-Cambridge-England (a description almost as long as their album title) band's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - an ambitious and noisy move away from their previous sound. Myspace page here.

Au Revoir Simone The Bird of Music I was going to describe this Brooklyn trio as the female equivalent of Sweden's Peter Bjorg and John, so it didn't surprise me to see that the two bands will be touring together this summer. Impressively strong for an album made up mainly of bouncy keyboards and pretty voices. Plus I like this picture of them. A lot. There's a video available here, and their myspace page here.

Joe Strummer The Future Is Unwritten I rented the Clash documentary Westway to the World not too long ago (another item I meant to write a post about), and was happy to see that it was made early enough to include interviews with lead singer Joe Strummer before his death. Watching the video, it's pretty easy to see that Strummer was the brains of the operation - and he would be the first to say so. He knew about all kinds of music and was always willing to try different styles (see: Calling, London). This disc serves as the soundtrack to another documentary, this one focusing solely on Strummer. There are some Clash and post-Clash Strummer works here, but it's mostly made up of the music that influenced Strummer the most - the MC5, Eddie Cochran, Woodie Guthrie, Nina Simone - and offers yet another chance to see what went into making the Clash such a great band.

This week's list:

1. WILCO Sky Blue Sky
2. THE NATIONAL Boxer
3. AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
4. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
5. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
6. FEIST The Reminder
7. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Release the Stars
8. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
9. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
10. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
11. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
12. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
13. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
14. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
15. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
16. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
17. BJORK Volta
18. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
19. WHEAT Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
20. JOE STRUMMER The Future Is Unwritten
21. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
22. PATTI SMITH Twelve
23. SON VOLT Search
24. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
25. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
26. ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
27. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
28. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
29. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
• THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
• PAGE FRANCE ...And the Family Telephone
• COWBOY JUNKIES At the End of Paths Taken
• KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
• GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
• TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods

RIYL for the week beginning May 21, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL54

Work's been a bear, so let's cut the chit chat, shall we?

Travis The Boy With No Name It's been over seven years since Travis hit the big time with "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" They haven't gotten much attention since then, but there's been plenty of other bands - like Starsailor and Snow Patrol - who have been more than willing to satisfy those brit-pop cravings of ours. Now Travis is back with an album that doesn't quite hit the high points that 2000's The Man Who hit, but is still a pleasant enough disc to have on in the background while you're stuck in your cubical and you think you might finally be able to cross a few things off your to-do list but no, here comes two other people dropping last-minute needed-yesterday projects on your desk. Sorry - did I mention work's been killer lately? Anyway, the band's streaming their whole new disc on their myspace page.

Björk Volta What's can I say about Ms. Guðmundsdóttir? She's the kind of artist that you either get and love, don't get and hate, or sort of get and kind of like. You can stick me in that last group. Sure, that little voice-cracking thing Bjork (it's too hard to keep putting that umlaut over the o in her name so I'm just going to stop doing it) always does can get annoying at times, but she usually provides a nice mix of catchy beats and affecting vocals that have you singing right along with her, cracking voice and all. Bjork's got one new song and a few samples on her extremely vivid myspace page.

The Clientele God Save the Clientele I guess you could try to use the Clientele's soft and melodic songs as background music at work, too, but it's kind of tough to get things done when so many of the songs are so good that you end up concentrating on them instead of your work (this might explain why I've been so far behind at the office lately). This London band writes some really great lyrics, but even more impressive than that is the way they put out music that's quiet and lush and seemingly unimposing but ends up pulling you in. The new disc is full of songs like that and has already become one of my favorite albums so far for 2007. They've got a couple new songs on their myspace page (as well an older song that I think is still their best, "Since K Got Over Me") or you could head over to their website and hear the whole disc, which I would highly recommend you do.

The Clientele - "Bedroom Casanova" [mp3]

Page France ...And the Family Telephone Last year I described this Baltimore band's last album as "Indie-folk that's cheery without being twee." I have no idea what I meant by that, but it fits this album as well. Maybe even more so. This band doesn't seem to take itself too seriously and likes to use a whole bunch of goofy instruments and offbeat beats, but they're also sounding a lot more cohesive on this disc than they did on their last. Only one song from their new album is on their myspace page, but I was able to find a couple free downloads.

Page France - "Hat and Rabbit" [mp3]
Page France - "Here's a Telephone" [mp3]

Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara Great Lake Swimmers first caught my attention with their self-titled 2005 debut and the song "I Will Never See the Sun," which, like much of My Morning Jacket's stuff back then, had a strong Neil Young vibe to it. But while MMJ's Jim James howled, GLS's Tony Dekker's take on Young was more understated. Ongiara is even quieter than that debut disc (the comparisons the new disc is getting to Iron and Wine's sound are pretty dead-on), and while nothing from it has stood out for me like "I Will Never See the Sun" did, overall it's still a pretty solid album.

Great Lake Swimmers - "Your Rocky Spine" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
2. THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
3. FEIST The Reminder
4. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
5. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
6. TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
7. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
8. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
9. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
10. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
11. BJORK Volta
12. PAGE FRANCE ...And the Family Telephone
13. COWBOY JUNKIES At the End of Paths Taken
14. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
15. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
16. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
17. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
18. PATTI SMITH Twelve
19. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
20. SON VOLT Search
21. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
22. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
23. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
24. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
25. ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
26. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
27. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
28. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
29. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
30. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife

Dropping off the list this week:

• MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
• OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
• JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
• MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
• THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little

RIYL for the week beginning May 7, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL53

Now with visuals! At least for this week.

Feist The Reminder I would hope that Leslie Feist's new disc would still be getting a lot of press even if this wasn't a slow week for new releases (as I write this, Google tells me that there were about 207 news articles in the last week that mentioned Feist). She had a pretty big hit (at least in the indie-music world) a few years ago with her debut, Let It Die, and its catchy little single "Mushaboom." Feist has a quiet but strong voice that sounds great on her softer songs, but she just as often uses that same voice on toe-tapping numbers, somehow without having it overpowered by the busy beats behind her.

The Reminder is being touted as the disc that brings Feist mainstream attention. If it does, it will start with the bouncy "1234." The video for that song is below, and while it might not be the best representation of what a lot of Feist's music sounds like, it's still a pretty cool video. If you really want to hear exactly what Feist can do, head over to her myspace page, where she's streaming the new disc in its entirety.

Warren Zevon Preludes Just this Sunday I read about a new Warren Zevon biography that was written, at his request, by his ex-wife. Even though most of the stories in it came straight from Zevon before he died of cancer, it supposedly isn't all that flattering. In addition to tales of "gun-toting rages, heavy substance abuse, iffy parenting and unflagging ability to chase new women," there's said to be a lot about Zevon's jealousy of his more-recognized So-Cal peers (and friends) like Jackson Browne and the Eagles. I'm not all that crazy about the gun-toting and substance abuse, but I can't blame him for thinking that he should have been more successful, because I think so, too. No matter how he comes out looking, I really want to read this book, if only to understand what was going on in his life while he was writing so many amazing (and often dark) songs.

Another peek into Zevon's life might come from the demos and one-offs collection Preludes. Most of its content comes from tapes from 1976 that were discovered after Zevon's 2003 death. Lots of solo piano and solo guitar and a bunch of early versions of later semi-hits like "Werewolves of London." I couldn't find any full-length samples from this double disc, but Amazon has a low-tech, often extremely pixelized, and completely un-embeddable little home-movie video for "Werewolves" that's got a slightly different beat than the one everyone knows.

This week's list:

1. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
2. FEIST The Reminder
3. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
4. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
5. WARREN ZEVON Preludes
6. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
7. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
8. COWBOY JUNKIES At the End of Paths Taken
9. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
10. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
11. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
12. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
13. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
14. PATTI SMITH Twelve
15. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
16. SON VOLT Search
17. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
18. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
19. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
20. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
21. ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
22. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
23. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
24. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
25. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
26. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
27. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
28. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
29. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
30. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little

Dropping off the list this week:

1. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
2. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim

RIYL for the week beginning April 30, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL52

Let's make this quick, we've got had T-ball tonight!

Cowboy Junkies At the End of Paths Taken Hey, somebody woke up the Cowboy Junkies! I love Margo Timmins' voice as much as the next guy, but her band's sound has been suffering from some serious sameness for the last, what, nine years? I don't think there's been much to get excited about since Miles From Our Home came out in 1998. But the few songs from this new disc the Junkies are sampling at their myspace page sound really good. Crashing cymbals, grinding guitars, a little distortion, and Margo's sweet, sweet, voice sounding very strong.

Golden Smog Blood on the Slacks Just last July this supergroup side project ended an eight-year absence with the uneven Another Fine Day. Now - just nine months later - they're already back with another disc (this one's just an EP, but it's an eight-song EP). Golden Smog has always had a somewhat flexible lineup, but it usually included some Jayhawks, some Soul Asylum, and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Tweedy wasn't on much of Another Fine Day and isn't on this EP at all. And Golden Smog without Tweedy sounds exactly like you would think it would sound, like a mashup of Soul Asylum and the Jayhawks. Frankly, I'd rather just have another Jayhawks disc, but since that hasn't happened for a while I guess I'll have to settle for this. See what you think over at their myspace page.

Patti Smith Twelve The only song from this disc of covers that's getting any kind of radio play is her take on the Stone's "Gimme Shelter," but some of Smith's other choices are look too interesting not to hear at least once. Neil Young's "Helpless"? "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"? "The Boy In the Bubble"? "Smells Like Teen Spirit"?!?! Calling Smith an acquired taste might be an understatement, but if any of these songs hits the mark like her cover of "Gloria" did, it'll be worth sitting through the one's that don't. Unfortunately, "Gimme Shelter" is in the latter group, and it's the only new song playing on her myspace page.

Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worse Nightmare I never bought the buzz that the Arctic Monkey's debut was the best album of 2006 (or the new century, or of all time). I might have been turned off by the hype, but I just never got into their first album. I think this one, which is being streamed this week over at AOL, sounds much better - more focused and less annoying. I don't think it's a stretch to say that this album solidifies the band's position as the greatest musical artists since the beginning of time, if not earlier.

This week's list:

1. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
2. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
3. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
4. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
5. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
6. COWBOY JUNKIES At the End of Paths Taken
7. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
8. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
9. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
10. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
11. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
12. PATTI SMITH Twelve
13. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
14. SON VOLT Search
15. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
16. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
17. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
18. GOLDEN SMOG Blood on the Slacks
19. ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
20. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
21. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
22. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
23. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
24. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
25. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
26. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
27. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
28. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
29. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
30. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little

Dropping off the list this week:

• VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
• BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
• AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
• CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder

RIYL for the week beginning April 23, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL51

I can't find anything coming out today to write about, so I'll use this week's post for four older albums I picked up recently. At the encouragement of Smedley Log proprietor Howard, I finally used one of those eMusic free trial offers that seem to pop up everywhere. Nowadays they usually only offer 25 free songs, but I had an old email that linked to a 50 song offer.

eMusic offers real mp3s, without all that protection and authorization crap that makes iTunes so frustrating to deal with. How eMusic works is that you subscribe to one of three levels, each with it's own number of downloads each month. The more you pay, the more songs you get each month, with the smallest package allowing thirty downloads a month for ten bucks. They don't have everything that iTunes has and if you don't use all your download during the month, you lose them. But they do have cool things, like once you buy a song you can download it again as often as you like (as long as you're still a paying member).

Personally, I've got too much music to listen to already, so I took my 50 songs and quickly (and without any hassle) left. Here's what I got:

Matthew Sweet Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu Originally made only for his Japanese fans, Sweet reunited his backing band from his breakout Girlfriend for this disc. For those who felt that Sweet had drifted from the hookiness of Girlfriend, this would seem like a return to form. To someone like me - who's always felt that Sweet has only gotten better since Girlfriend (especially with the quieter In Reverse) - this would seem like a step back. In reality it's a combination of both. There's definitely a lot of the pop that's been missing from Sweet's post-Girlfriend rockers and his post-post-Girlfriend introspective works, but  thankfully he doesn't completely abandon either of those styles for this album. Unfortunately, the combination platter feel of this  disc takes away the almost concept-album-strong singular vibe that usually accompanies his CDs. Still, even at his less-than-best, it's always great to hear some previously unheard (by me) Sweet.

Over The Rhine Live from Nowhere, Volume One This band is the reason Howard had been pestering me to try eMusic. OtR had a beautiful song ("Born") on a Paste sampler a few years ago and I was instantly hooked. In the past year they have released both a best of and this live disc, both of which I figured would be a good starting point for a relative newbie like me. The live disc promised some interesting covers the opportunity to hear "Born" live, so that's the disc I downloaded. Live, Karin Bergquist's vocal style is a bit different than the Margo Timmins/Maria McKee sound I've heard on the OtR songs I had previously downloaded from their website. It's more jazzy and smooth, which works fine for the standards that end the album but takes some getting used to when hearing it applied to band's originals. Ever since I stopped comparing the disc to what I expected to be, it's grown on me quite a bit. Not the album I expected, but Bergquist's voice (however she choices to use it) makes it a quality disc. Below are a couple mp3s from the disc that the band has put on it's website.

Over the Rhine - "Lookin' Forward" [mp3]
Over the Rhine - "Moondance" [mp3]

Laura Cantrell Not The Tremblin' Kind Laura Cantrell does the same city-girl-playing-country thing that Gillian Welsh does (though Cantrell plies the peppier side of Nashville), and like Welsh you can't help but feel the respect and love Cantrell has for that old-timey music - while at the same time not being afraid to put her own mark on it. Cantrell at times can sound like Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and kd lang (and older influences, too, I'm sure), but she's also a fresh voice - more a peer to these artists than an imitator of them. And even if you don't care about all that history and respect, the disc is just a lot of fun to listen to. Below are two downloads from the album, plus I've thrown in what is perhaps my favorite song of hers (definitely the best titled), recorded live at a John Peel Christmas special.

Laura Cantrell - "Not The Tremblin' Kind" [mp3]
Laura Cantrell - "Churches Off the Interstate" [mp3]
Laura Cantrell - "I Lost You (but I Found Country Music)" [mp3]

Pernice Brothers The World Won't End Big thanks to TwoBusy over at TwoBusy for introducing me to these guys, and for recommending I download this album. It's not like I would have discovered them myself, since they seem to be completely ignored by alternative radio. That's a crime, because Joe Pernice and Company write and perform wistful pop music in the fine tradition of public radio favorites like Big Star and Wilco. This 2001 album is full of catchy songs that are so beautiful that you couldn't be blamed for missing the subtle humor that pops up all over the disc (though it's hard to miss a song titled "The Ballad Of Bjorn Borg"). I don't have any samples to offer from this disc, but the band does have streams of some later albums on their website. Give them a listen and just try to get them out of your head.

This week's list (same as last week):

1. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
2. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
3. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
4. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
5. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
6. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
7. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
8. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
9. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
10. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
11. SON VOLT Search
12. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
13. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
14. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
15. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
16. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
17. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
18. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
19. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
20. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
21. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
22. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
23. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
24. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
25. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
26. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
27. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
28. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
29. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
30. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little

RIYL for the week beginning April 16, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL50

Just back from DC and jumping right back into the new releases (or at least a couple of them):

The Rosebuds Night of the Furies This album's release isn't getting as much press as I was expecting to get it, but I know I've been looking forward to it quite a bit. The Rosebuds are yet another husband/wife team who make catchy pop tunes. But where their music was once just bouncy and fun (not that there's anything wrong with that), their sound has now matured and their songwriting has become more substantial, without sacrificing any of the catchiness. This new one full of eighties-era synth-rock-sounding (but not dated-sounding) songs that would fit in quite nicely on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. And yes, I do consider that a good thing. They've put three new songs on their myspace page, and you can even download "Get Up Get Out" while you're there.

Bright Eyes Cassadaga For those who don't already know, Bright Eyes is pretty much the Conor Oberst show. I first heard Oberst when he opened REM and Springsteen at the Philly Move On concert back in '04 and I was impressed by his intensity. He yelped out most of his songs that night, but there was no denying the kid's conviction. I came away thinking that he may be this generation's Dylan and I burned a few of his disc off of a coworker. Since then, however, I've noticed that I can only take him in very small doses, after that it's "alright already, quit yer whining."

Well, I've heard quite a bit from the new album and very little of it makes me feel that way. Oberst's has moved away from having his songs center on his voice so much, and that makes this album his most (his only?) listenable disc yet. It also doesn't hurt that artists like Gillian Welsh and M Ward show up on it. Both MSN and AOL are streaming the whole album this week, but only MSN is offering a free download of the first single, "Four Winds."

This week's list:

1. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
2. THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
3. BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga
4. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
5. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
6. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
7. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
8. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
9. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
10. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
11. SON VOLT Search
12. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
13. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
14. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
15. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
16. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
17. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
18. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
19. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
20. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
21. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
22. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
23. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
24. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
25. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
26. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
27. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
28. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
29. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
30. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little

Dropping off the list this week:

• RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
• BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly

RIYL for the week beginning April 9, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL49

On a week that brings us an end-of-contract demo dump, Spanglish versions of your favorite oldies, one-half-posthumous blues duets and two discs worth of ambient improvisation from the man responsible for creating XTC, one new release stands out. Which is good, because that's all I have time for this week.

Fountains of Wayne Traffic and Weather Sometimes you can judge just how successful a band is by how much free stuff they put out on the web. The bigger the fan base, the less you have to give away. For their first album of new material in four years, the Fountains of Wayne are giving us thirty-second samples of their new songs. I'm not sure even those short clips are necessary for this disc to be a huge hit.

Does anyone not know what this disc will sound like? There's no doubt that it will be filled with the same self-depreciating get-stuck-in-your-head-forever pop that the boys from North Jersey have been giving us for years. The only question is if they continue to get better or if success has made them complacent. Their past history (and the first single, which has already been getting plenty of airplay around here) tells me the former is the more likely scenario.

This week's list:

1. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
2. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
3. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
4. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
5. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
6. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
7. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
8. SON VOLT Search
9. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
10. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
11. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
12. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
13. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
14. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
15. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
16. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
17. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
18. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
19. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
20. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
21. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
22. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
23. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
24. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
25. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
26. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
27. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
30. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly

Dropping off the list this week:

• GRAHAM PARKER - Don't Tell Columbus

RIYL for the week beginning April 2, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL48

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the nine-year-old's got the strep, but the four-year-old hasn't been keeping things down too well. We're in Day Two of this and it's getting sadder by the moment. Today I stayed home with the little guy and he has been a trooper through it all. I'm perhaps the absolute worst sick person - especially when I'm losing my lunch - but I haven't seen this guy even cry since I got home from work yesterday. I know some of it comes from being too worn out to even whine, but somehow that never stops me. Hopefully this is one of those 48-hour things.

Well, now that I bummed everyone out, on to the music!

Grant Lee Phillips Strangelet I've been doing these lists so long that artists are starting to show up on them a second time. Last June I wrote about erstwhile Grant Lee Buffalo leader Grant Lee Phillips and his ability to write some pretty powerful pop songs. Unfortunately, at that time he had put aside his songwriting talent to record an uneven album of eighties covers. No, really. This time he's back to his own stuff, and pretty much playing and doing everything on the disc (Peter Buck helps out on "Soft Asylum," but that's about all the outside help he gets). The four songs he's streaming at myspace - including the aforementioned "Soft Asylum" - sound mighty good.

Kaiser Chiefs Yours Truly, Angry Mob Jeez, first riots, now angry mobs. The best proof that the Chiefs were a throw-back to the early Clash sound was that if you didn't know the title of the band's debut hit "I Predict a Riot," you wouldn't have been able to decipher them singing it. But you probably still would have sang right along anyway. Fun, roll-down-the-windows post-punk. "Ruby," from the new album is a bit more understandable, but should still satisfy fans of "Riot." It and another new song is streaming at myspace (along with a live "Riot") and the entire new disc is streaming at AOL this week.

Bryan Ferry Dylanesque Google Ferry or his former band Roxy Music and you'll find an unusually high number of fan sites. All this fan love must be the reason Ferry feels comfortable tackling a project as risky as an album full of Dylan covers without putting any samples out on the web (even Amazon doesn't have their usual thirty-second clips). Either that, or it's so bad that he'd rather you not hear it before you buy it. As much as I liked Roxy Music, I would have guessed that the latter was the reason. Ferry's suave, and suave and Dylan aren't two words that you see together very often. But this disc is getting fairly good reviews precisely for Ferry's smooth take on Bobby's songs. Dylan may not be smooth, but Ferry's not the first to realize that his songwriting's strong enough to work in other styles. I just wish I could hear some of Bryan's take on it.

This week's list:

1. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
2. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
3. KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob
4. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Strangelet
5. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
6. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
7. SON VOLT Search
8. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
9. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
10. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
11. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
12. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
13. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
14. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
15. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
16. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
17. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
18. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
19. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
20. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
21. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
22. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
23. BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque
24. GRAHAM PARKER - Don't Tell Columbus
25. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
26. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
27. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
28. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
29. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
30. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly

Dropping off the list this week:

• MITCH EASTER Dynamico
• RY COODER My Name Is Buddy
• HAIL SOCIAL Modern Love & Death

RIYL for the week beginning March 26, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL47

Going to a rare Tuesday night concert (who am I kidding, a concert on any night is rare for me), so I'm going to have to outsource the RIYL blurbs this week.

Modest Mouse We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Musically “We Were Dead” is about as clangorous as you might expect — “Steam Engenius” works hard to deserve its mechanistic lyrics — but it also has more of a pop sensibility than previous Modest Mouse efforts. - New York Times

[Full album streaming at AOL]

Modest Mouse - "People As Places As People" [mp3]

Hail Social Modern Love & Death

The vacant souls drifting through Dayve Hawk’s surreal songs tend to find only trouble, but the listener gets a much better deal, swimming happily in shiny synthesizers and spare, dynamic pop topped by teen-idol vocals. - Philadelphia Weekly

 [Hail Social is one of the bands I'm going to see tonight, but I don't know a whole lot about them. Myspace page here.]

Hail Social - "Heaven" [mp3]

Rosie Thomas These Friends of Mine

[A]n album that brims with introspective beauty and exposes Thomas’ song writing ability. Her voice is sweet, clear and perfectly offset by the playful contributions of [long-term collaborator Denison] Witmer and [celebrated folkster Sufjan] Stevens. - BBC

Rosie Thomas - "Much Farther to Go" [mp3]

Tracey Thorn Out of the Woods

Working with Ewan Pearson and other computer-friendly producers, Ms. Thorne [one half of Everything But the Girl], 44, created a sumptuous album full of propulsive dance tracks and mournful ballads, many of which are both. “It’s All True” is a plushly upholstered club track, driven by a robotic bass line and drums as sharp as needles. - New York Times (again}

[Tracey Thorn's Myspace page is here]

This week's list:

1. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
2. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
3. TRACEY THORN Out of the Woods
4. ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
5. SON VOLT Search
6. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
7. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
8. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
9. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
10. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
11. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
12. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
13. HAIL SOCIAL Modern Love & Death
14. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
15. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
16. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
17. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
18. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
19. RY COODER My Name Is Buddy
20. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
21. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
22. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
23. GRAHAM PARKER - Don't Tell Columbus
24. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
25. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
26. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
27. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
28. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
29. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
30. MITCH EASTER Dynamico

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
• THE FRAMES Cost
• SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
• LUCINDA WILLIAMS West

RIYL for the week beginning March 19, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL46

Some old, some new, some new that sounds old, but, alas, no old that sounds new.

Amy Winehouse Back in Black Much like Lauren Hill when she channeled Supremes-era Diana Ross, Amy Winehouse could easily pass for a jazzy sixties R&B singer in the Etta James or Nina Simone mold. Winehouse sometimes distracts from her retro sound with ill-fitting modern day musical interruptions, but the songs that do stay true to that old time vibe are amazing enough to make her album worthwhile. This disc came out back in December, but MSN is streaming some of its songs this week (they claim to be streaming the whole disc, but don't you believe them).

Mitch Easter Dynamico With a certain band from Athens, Georgia entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week, the time is perfect for Mitch Easter - who produced that band's earliest albums - to drop his own album. Unlike REM, Easter has stayed true to that early eighties sound and ends up with a disc that sounds like something the db's might have released back in the day. Interesting, but not very original sounding twenty-five years later, even if Easter and his band at the time, Let's Active, were one of the sound's original purveyors. He's got a few songs going at his myspace page.

Mitch Easter - "Sudden Crown Drop" [mp3]

Graham Parker - Don't Tell Columbus Graham Parker comes from a time before REM & Let's Active, but his sound has evolved along the way. Gone is the angry young man with the angry young voice; he's been replaced by someone who sounds a lot like a chipper British Bob Dylan. While Parker's still writing some angry words, he doesn't seem as interested in sounding as pissed as he once did. His new tunes are nowhere near as good as his old stuff, but they are a heck of a lot catchier.

Graham Parker - "Stick to the Plan" [mp3]

Peter Bjorn and John Writer's Block And now for this week's Swedish band. Why are the Swedes so successful at making good ol' American pop? I don't know enough about Sweden to answer that, but I will use what little I know of that country to review the PB&J sound: it's like IKEA's kids' furniture - colorful and fun, but well-built. Except this stuff's already built for you. They too have a myspace page.

Peter Bjorn and John "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]" [mp3]

Matt & Kim Matt & Kim Matt & Kim are a couple of crazy kids from Brooklyn (okay, I'm not sure they're really, actually, certifiably "crazy," but I do know that they are from Brooklyn). If you like the offbeat male-female interactions of Mates of State, you should like these two just fine. Obligatory myspace page here.

Matt & Kim - "Yea Yeah" [mp3]
Matt & Kim - "No More Long Years" [mp3]

The Postmarks The Postmarks It doesn't take long to figure out that the Postmark's lead singer, Tim Yehezkely, isn't a guy. She's got a soft but peppy little voice that glides over sounds straight out the Burt Bacharach songbook (is there anyone out there not cribbing from Bacharach these days?). You can hear the whole album at the band's website or go to their... wait for it... myspace page and download the song "Goodbye" (if you can get a myspace download to actually work, something I usually can't do).

Dang, that a lot of music.

This week's list:

1. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
2. SON VOLT Search
3. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
4. AMY WINEHOUSE Back in Black
5. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
6. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
7. PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
8. THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
9. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
10. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
11. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
12. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
13. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
14. THE FRAMES Cost
15. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
16. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
17. RY COODER My Name Is Buddy
18. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
19. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
20. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
21. GRAHAM PARKER - Don't Tell Columbus
22. MATT & KIM Matt & Kim
23. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
24. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
25. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
26. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
27. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
28. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
29. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
30. MITCH EASTER Dynamico

Dropping off the list this week:

• JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
• JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
• HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
• KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
• SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
• RON SEXSMITH Time Being

RIYL for the week beginning March 12, 2007. Backstory here.

 

RIYL45

A busy day week month at work and I feel a headache coming on, so this might be short.

Son Volt Search Best to just re-read my write-up of their free-at-noon concert, but I will say that I'm really impressed with the energy on this record. Jay Farrar sounds reinvigorated and willing to try new things. If you go to the band's website you're greeted by the  horns (Horns! from Son Volt!) of "The Picture." Stick around to hear a few more streaming songs.

Kristoffer Ragnstam Sweet Bills Is it me, or is a lot of good music coming out of Sweden lately? Ragnstam's a bit offbeat in a Beck sort of way, but he puts out Rock and Roll that's got a good beat and you can dance to. What more could you ask for? He's streaming a couple new songs at myspace, with "Breakfast by the Mattress" the better of the two.

Kristoffer Ragnstam - "Breakfast by the Mattress" [mp3]

Ry Cooder My Name Is Buddy The album has something to do with a talking cat or something, but whatever - the versatile Cooder takes on the dust-bowl era here and from the few short samples on his website it sounds like one part Woodie Guthrie, one part Garcia/Grisman bluegrass, and one part... Warren Zevon? I'm not sure what the rest of the album sounds like, but those three little samples make me want to find out.

Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha This is an case where I do know what the whole album sounds like, since I've actually got it on my computer. Bird seems to break out of his lo-fi shell a bit here (get it? Bird? shell?) but still keeps the overall sound on the quiet side. He slips in and out of a few different genres and while not all of them work, the one's that do sound great and the others are growing on me. There's nothing here as brilliant as his previous album's "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," but "Heretics" comes close.

Andrew Bird- "Heretics" [mp3]

Albert Hammond, Jr. Yours To Keep A full debut album's worth of catchy pop from the guitarist for the Strokes, who also happens to be the son of the guy who gave the world "It Never Rains In Southern California" (try not to hold that against him). A fun disc that covers the entire pop music spectrum, and the whole thing is streaming at Hammond's myspace page.

Well, that took a lot longer than I expected (just like it always does). Time to get some sleep.

This week's list:

1. ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
2. SON VOLT Search
3. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
4. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
5. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
6. KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM Sweet Bills
7. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
8. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
9. ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. Yours To Keep
10. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
11. THE FRAMES Cost
12. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
13. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
14. RY COODER My Name Is Buddy
15. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
16. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
17. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
18. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
19. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
20. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
21. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
22. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
23. JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
24. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
25. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
26. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
27. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
28. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
29. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
30. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
• THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
• CHARLIE LOUVIN Charlie Louvin
• LUSCIOUS JACKSON Greatest Hits
• BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try

RIYL for the week beginning March 05, 2007. Backstory here.

 

RIYL44

Do you hear that? If you listen real close you'll hear the sound of crickets [not really, so you can stop upping the volume on your computer now]. Metaphorically speaking, that's the sound coming from the new release bin this week. So, like I did with The Band tribute that I talked-up pre-release, I'll spend this down week pointing out another upcoming tribute album.

This one is a song-by-song recreation of the Clash's much-maligned three-platter (and in more recent times two-disc) Sandinista! Personally, I'm one of the many who think the original could have been whittled down to one really great album.

With Sandinista!, the Clash were coming off the brilliantly diverse London Calling [it's only the greatest record ever made] and they were in full experimental mode. Some of the ideas work, most don't. There's a lot of goofing off on the record, and if you're not in the right mood it's pretty annoying. If you are in the right mood, it's kind of fun for a while before it becomes annoying.

That said, Sandinista! contains some of the Clash's best songs, including what might be my favorite non-London Calling track, "Hitsville U.K.," so perhaps it's worthy of another look.

The Sandinista! Project has a different artist or band cover each of the original's thirty-six songs. None of the artists are A-list and some are complete question marks (at least to me), but there are some names I do recognize, including Pittsburgh rocker and FOB (Friend of Bruce) Joe Grushecky doing a pretty good job with "The Magnificent Seven," one of the six songs I was able to find an mp3 of.

The album is due to drop on May 1 and has its own blog. Complete song list after the downloads. [album info via Some Velvet Blog].

"The Magnificent Seven" - Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers [mp3]
"Lose This Skin"- Jim Allen [mp3]
"Charlie Don't Surf" - The Crunchies [mp3]
"Let's Go Crazy" - Storybox [mp3]
"Look Here" - Jim Duffy [mp3]
"Washington Bullets" - Phill Rockrohr and the Lifters [mp3]

1. The Magnificent Seven, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
2. Hitsville U.K., Katrina Leskanich
3. Junco Partner, Jon Langford and Sally Timms with Ship & Pilot
4. Ivan Meets G.I. Joe, Jason Ringenberg and Kristi Rose
5. The Leader, Amy Rigby
6. Something About England, The Coal Porters
7. Rebel Waltz, Ruby on the Vine
8. Look Here, Jim Duffy
9. The Crooked Beat, Wreckless Eric
10. Somebody Got Murdered, Matthew Ryan
11. One More Time/One More Dub, Haale
12. One More Time (One More Time), Ted Harris
13. Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice), London Calling of Chicago
14. Up in Heaven (Not Only Here), The Smithereens
15. Corner Soul, Ethan Lipton
16. Let's Go Crazy, Storybox
17. If Music Could Talk, Steve Wynn
18. The Sound of the Sinners, Bill Lloyd
19. Police on My Back, Willie Nile
20. Midnight Log, Soul Food with Mick Gallagher
21. The Equaliser, Sunset Heroes
22. The Call Up, The Lothars
23. Washington Bullets, Phil Rockrohr and the Lifters
24. Broadway, Stew
25. Lose This Skin, Jim Allen
26. Charlie Don't Surf, The Crunchies
27. Mensforth Hill, Bee Maidens
28. Junkie Slip, Mark Cutler
29. Kingston Advice, Camper Van Beethoven
30. The Street Parade, Dollar Store
31. Version City, Tim Krekel
32. Living in Fame, Lou Carlozo
33. Silicone on Sapphire, The Blizzard of 78 featuring Mikey Dread
34. Version Pardner, Sally Timms and Jon Langford with Ship & Pilot
35. Career Opportunities, Sex Clark Five
36. Shepherds Delight, The Hyphens

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
3. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
4. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
5. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
6. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
7. THE FRAMES Cost
8. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
9. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
10. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
11. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
12. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
13. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
14. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
15. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
16. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
17. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
18. CHARLIE LOUVIN Charlie Louvin
19. LUSCIOUS JACKSON Greatest Hits
20. JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
21. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
22. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
23. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
24. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
25. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
26. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
27. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
28. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
29. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
30. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try

Dropping off the list this week:

• SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
• NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
• YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
• CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
• THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right

RIYL for the week beginning February 26, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL43

A bunch of new releases this fine Shrove Tuesday [mmm.... pancakes...] and one I forgot to mention before.

Jill Cunniff City Beach & Luscious Jackson Greatest Hits On the same day that Capitol Records releases the best of Brooklyn's long-gone, all-girl, sass-and-soul, named-after-a-former-Sixer Luscious Jackson, one of the band's founders drops her first solo album. Folks stuck listening to her former band's last album, Electric Honey, for the past seven years, rejoice! And if you liked Electric Honey (or even Fever In Fever Out) you should enjoy City Beach just fine. This is the smooth side of the LJ equation. There's still a bit of funk in there - as well as a little of a bossa nova beat - but most of LJ's trademark sass has been replaced by a more laid-back vibe. The perfect disc to listen to while you try to figure out just how you're going to afford that week downtheshore this summer. AOL is streaming LJ's Greatest Hits this week, and Cunniff is streaming a couple songs at her myspace page and her whole album at her website.

The Frames Cost Did you know there are good Irish bands other than U2? It's true. Now that you know that, image a talented Irish band that features songs that go from quiet to soaring without its lead singer having to getting all bombastic and melodramatic. It exists, I tell ya. The Frames have been around for a while now, but haven't gotten much attention over here (not that I'm way ahead of the curve on this one, having only heard of them last year). It might finally happen with this release. Lead singer Glen Hansard somehow does the whole broken-hearted troubadour thing that the ladies like so much without getting annoying, which in itself is worth a listen. Their label is serving up a couple free downloads.

The Frames - "Sad Songs" [mp3]
The Frames - "Falling Slowly" [mp3]

Charlie Louvin Charlie Louvin I know I give artists grief for not putting some samples on the web, but I'm going to let country legend Charlie Louvin slide, seeing how he's older than my mom and she only just got her myspace page going a couple of days ago (that's a joke, or at least I pray to God it's a joke). Uncle Tupelo has a song called "Acuff-Rose" that celebrates that Nashville duo's songwriting abilities, but I'm betting that Jeff Tweedy, along with a bunch of other alt-country folks, were listening to the Louvin Brothers, too. Now they all come back and play with their Americana muse. Tweedy joins Charlie on his "Atomic Power" (which was on Uncle Tupelo's first disc, I believe), Will Oldham's here helping out, as is Tift Merritt, Elvis Costello, Bobby Bare, Sr. and some guy named George Jones. I would love to hear what this album sounds like, but all I've got to work with are the thirty second samples at Amazon.

The Autumn Defense The Autumn Defense Remember how I wrote about that America comeback/tribute a few weeks ago and I was all like "eh"? Maybe that's because while I don't necessarily have a problem with softer, gentler seventies-style music, I also don't think you should have to go back to the original source to get it. Two guys from Wilco, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, have proven me right (I love when people prove me right). Working as the Autumn Defense, they provide perfectly pleasant - beautiful even - music without the polyester flashbacks. They give you plenty of opportunities to download stuff from their past releases at their website, but you'll have to settle for a myspace stream for songs ("Canyon Arrow" and "Winterlight") from the new album.

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
3. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
4. THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
5. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
6. JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
7. THE FRAMES Cost
8. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
9. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
10. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
11. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
12. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
13. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
14. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
15. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
16. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
17. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
18. CHARLIE LOUVIN Charlie Louvin
19. LUSCIOUS JACKSON Greatest Hits
20. JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
21. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
22. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
23. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
24. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
25. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
26. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
27. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
28. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
29. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
30. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try

Dropping off the list this week:

• SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
• NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
• YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
• CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
• THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right

RIYL for the week beginning February 19, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL42

After a couple Tuesdays that were full of new releases, the recording industry must be catching their breath this week. I'm only noticing one worth mentioning, but it's a good one.

Lucinda Williams West She's only offering abbreviated samples at her label's website and four streaming songs on her myspace page, but I like what I'm hearing. The lyrics aren't as strong as on her past recordings, but what she lacks in words she more than makes up for in sounds.

By inviting folks like jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, uber-session-drummer Jim Keltner and the Jayhawk's Gary Louris (for backing vocals), Williams has assembled a quiet and beautiful background to complement her trademark rough vocals. It's a perfect mix of Frisell's creativity and Williams sparseness and I would guess that it's the most attention Williams - who usually gets praise for her vocals and lyrics - has given to her music in a long time.

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
3. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
4. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
5. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
6. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
7. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
8. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
9. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
10. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
11. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
12. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
13. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
14. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
15. JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
16. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
17. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
18. YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
19. CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
20. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
21. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
22. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
23. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
24. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
25. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
26. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
27. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
28. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
29. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
30. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone

Dropping off the list this week:

• BLOC PARTY Weekend in the City

RIYL for the week beginning February 12, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL41

I've been doing these RIYL thingies for about [hold on, let me look at the post title] 41 weeks now, and there's only been a few times where I didn't listen to at least part of an album before writing up a little blurb for it. Each time it was from being so busy that I barely had time to look for new music, let alone listen to it. This week I've got a new excuse: nobody is putting their music out there to listen to.

Okay, maybe not nobody - AOL is streaming the new Fall Out Boy release, but I'm nowhere near being interested in that disc. Beyond that, good luck.

Rickie Lee Jones The Sermon on Exposition Blvd. Mark Twain famously commented on the phenomenon that makes your parents grow wiser as you yourself mature. Well, Rickie Lee Jones voice hasn't really changed from the one that used to really annoy me, but as I gotten older I'm astonished at how much better she sounds. Her willingness to try diverse music styles makes her releases somewhat hit-or-miss, so I'd really like to hear this new disc she has out today.

Except you know what you get music-wise when you go to Rickie Lee's website? Nothing. And you know what you get when you go to her MySpace page? "Chuck friggin' E.'s in Love." Thanks, Rickie, nothing tells us what you've been up to better than a twenty-eight-year-old song.

[Update (02.07.07): Today I received an email from New West Records letting me know that Rickie Lee does indeed have some of her new songs posted on her official myspace page. That settles it, I'll never understand myspace.]

Patty Griffin Children Running Through Patty's better known for providing songs for folks like the Dixie Chicks, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Emmylou Harris but, like so many other singer-songwriters, it's often best to go back to the original source.

Now, I don't need to be convinced that Patty Griffin's a great singer, but hearing some of the stuff from her new CD might make me more willing to buy it. Oh sure, Barnes and Noble has a free stream of her sounding very Bonnie Raitt-esque on "Heavenly Day," but that's little more than a tease. Being able to stream the whole new disc would certainly make me that much more excited about seeing her at this Friday's WXPN Free-at-Noon concert.

Joe Ely Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch Someone else I saw live on WXPN's dime was Texas singer-songwriter Joe Ely. About ten years ago I scored a pair of tickets to see him in the Philly 'burbs at the old 23 East Cabaret. Ely was/is also part of the Lubbock supergroup (there's two words you wouldn't expect to see together) the Flatlanders (whose album, you might recall, was my very first Amazon purchase), and I'd be very interested in hearing what his new disc sounds like but, alas, there's nothing at his website. The Philadelphia Inquirer seemed to like it, though.

Sondre Lerche Phantom Punch A friend gave me Lerche's (pronounced "Lerk-Aye") 2003 debut Faces Down a while back and it didn't take long to get hooked. It reminded me of Elvis Costello's late-career take on the cool Burt Bacharach sound, except Sondre was only nineteen when he recorded Faces Down and hadn't spent his youth abusing his vocal cords like Costello did. Now I hear that his new album has him rocking a little more than he usual, but unfortunately he only has a couple short samples streaming so I can't be too sure.

Bloc Party Weekend in the City Okay, Bloc Party does have their new disc streaming over at AOL, but to be honest with you I'm still on the fence when it comes to these guys. I liked a few songs from their first album, Silent Alarm, well enough but I didn't hear anything that made them stand out from the millions of other indie mp3s I have shuffling on my iTunes. Plenty of other people thought it was outstanding so I'm willing to give their sophomore attempt a few tries (though reviews of that one seem more mixed) and maybe I'll figure out what it is that I'm missing.

Over the Rhine Discount Fireworks This Ohio husband-wife duo have always been very generous with the mp3s. They don't have many of the songs from this new best of disc available for free, but they still have enough other songs to get a good-sized sample of Karin Bergquist's Maria McKee-meets-Amiee Mann vocals.

And yes, this is the band that brought you "Poopsmith," the potty-training ode that still brings more visitors to the Long Cut than any other Google search. That song's not on the new disc or even available on their website anymore, but I'm happy to report that "All I Need is Everything" is available on both the CD and from their website.

Over the Rhine - "All I Need is Everything" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
3. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
4. SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
5. PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
6. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
7. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
8. OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
9. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
10. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
11. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
12. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
13. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
14. JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
15. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
16. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
17. YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
18. CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
19. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
20. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
21. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
22. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
23. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
24. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
25. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
26. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
27. RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
28. BLOC PARTY Weekend in the City
29. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
30. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone

Dropping off the list this week:

• CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
• CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
• MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
• THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
• MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
• NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

RIYL for the week beginning February 5, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL40

Another good week for purging some of the older stuff from the list.

Harry Connick Jr. Oh, My Nola At the risk of losing any hipster cred I may have accrued, I'm going to admit that I've always liked Harry Connick Jr. He's never quite matched Sinatra, Toussaint, or Rebennack, but he's still got plenty of talent and, well, I think he's fun to listen to - especially when he's doing his New Orleans thing. Nothing spectacular (or even unexpected), but still a lot of fun.

This disc is, of course, a tribute to his hometown and the Habitat for Humanity down there will be getting a portion of the profits. You can head over to his website and hear the tracks streaming for free, but you won't experience the self-righteousness that comes only with actually buying the disc (and yes, I have already bought the disc). Connick also releases a mostly-instrumental album today, Chanson du Vieux Carre, and it too will help fund to the rebuilding of homes in New Orleans. [The accompanying photo is for the benefit of the missus. Personally, I really don't get what she sees in the guy - he looks kind of dorky sitting there. Now his wife, on the other hand - hubba hubba.]

Erin McKeown Sing You Sinners I meant to mention McKeown's latest album last Tuesday when it came out, but it somehow got lost in all the other new releases. Since then I got the chance to see her live (I've got the pictures to prove it) and now I'm even more into this disc. Everything I said about the concert goes for this album of old-timey tunes as well - unique, enthusiastic and a whole lot of fun. You can hear tracks from the disc at her website, and you can download the following song from it too, courtesy of her label.

Erin McKeown - "Melody" [mp3]

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Some Loud Thunder As if my little Harry Connick admission wasn't bad enough, the world of hipsters already seem poised to be so over this band, and yet, here I am still liking them. What drew me to their first album was their early-Talking Heads sound, a sound that all but disappeared once David Byrne fell hard for the Brazilian beat. CYHSY (nobody spells it out more than once) doesn't sound as much like Talking Heads on their second release, but they do share that band's willingness to let their sound evolve (at least until they discover the samba). Still, if you didn't like Alec Ounsworth's voice before you're not going to like it any better now. Two free mp3s to help you decide if he and his band are still relevant.

CYHSY - "Love Song No. 7" [mp3]
CYHSY - "Underwater (You and Me)" [mp3]

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of U2 No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just no. And that goes for your Radiohead and Metallica ones, too.

Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs Honestly, I'm not too familiar with this band, but apparently they're big with the O.C. crowd (or what remains of the O.C. crowd). All I know is that I've had their "Sorry" mp3 on my iTunes for a while and it's one catchy tune. I added their "Dead Zoo" mp3 today and it turns out, while it isn't quite as catchy, it too sounds pretty good. And look, I've provided downloads for both songs. How very nice of me.

Youth Group - "Sorry" [mp3]
Youth Group - "Dead Zoo" [mp3]

Various Artist Endless Highway: The Music of the Band I wrote about this tribute album a few weeks ago. Just letting you know that it finally hit stores today.

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
3. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
4. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
5. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
6. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
7. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
8. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
9. VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
10. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
11. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
12. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
13. YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
14. CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
15. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
16. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
17. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
18. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
19. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
20. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
21. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
22. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
23. MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
24. CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
25. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
26. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
27. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
28. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
29. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
30. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
• BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
• PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
• SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
• JOSH RITTER The Animal Years

RIYL for the week beginning January 29, 2007. Backstory here.

RIYL39

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning January 22, 2007.
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Finally, finally, finally! Some new releases (and a couple old releases that were somehow overlooked) to kick the cobwebs off the ol' list. Lots of albums to cover, so I'll be brief. Or at least brief for me.

The Shins Wincing the Night Away Perhaps the most eagerly awaited release of the week. The Shins first album in nearly four years is their first release since the film Garden State got everyone humming their "New Slang" [by law, every review of this album - and all future Shins albums - must mention the movie Garden State]. High expectations seem to be met as the band takes some chances without ever abandoning their you'll-never-get-them-out-of-your-head harmonies. The first single is available from the band's label, Sub Pop.

The Shins - "Phantom Limb" [mp3]

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris Real Live Roadrunning This live companion disc/DVD to the not-as-unlikely-as-it-would-seem duo's studio set comes highly recommended. Some would say almost fanatically recommended. Free samples are hard to come by (and the DVD isn't available at NetFlix), but any set that includes Emmylou's "Red Dirt Girl" (one of my favorites) and Knopfler's "Romeo and Juliet" has got the be good. You can hear a beautiful version of Dire Strait's "Why Worry" over at Emmylou's website.

[Okay, this is already taking too long. I've got to make these a lot shorter. Your on your own for samples.]

The Holmes Brothers State of Grace The Blind Boys of Alabama already did it, now it's the Holmes Brothers turn to put their gospel spin on some unexpected covers (like Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" and Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?").

John Hammond Push Comes to Shove Blues legend Hammond turns to Philly's own G. Love (as producer) to put some kick back into his sound and ends up with a hard-rocking and gritty disc. Includes five new songs from someone who usually leans on the blues classics (though there's plenty of those here, too).

Crowded House Farewell to the World The band's 1996 farewell concert finally gets released. Just in time for their reunion tour.

Kristen Hersh Learn to Sing Like a Star Throwing Muses' Hersh tends to put out hit-or-miss releases, but the hits are usually worth putting up with the misses for.

The Good, the Bad & the Queen The Good, the Bad and the Queen Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn is one of those artist that never seem to have enough bands. For this one he teams up with the Clash's Paul Simonon and that right there makes it worthy of a listen, right? [Just say "right."] Bonus points for the band's awesome name.

I think that should hold you over for now.

This week's list:

1. THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
2. MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
3. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
4. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
5. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
6. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
7. KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
8. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
9. CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
10. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
11. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
12. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
13. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
14. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
15. JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
16. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
17. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
18. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
19. JOSH RITTER The Animal Years
20. THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
21. MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
22. CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
23. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
24. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
25. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
26. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
27. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
28. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
29. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
30. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Dropping off the list this week:

• AMERICA Here & Now
• MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
• BOB DYLAN Modern Times
• CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
• THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
• JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
• THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out

RIYL38

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning January 15, 2007.
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I think I'm starting to get this whole music industry thing down. I understand not releasing new stuff right before Christmas - giving an untested disc as a gift is risky, best to stick with the greatest hits compilations the record companies so conveniently put out during the holiday season. And I understand not releasing new stuff right after Christmas - everyone's still trying to listen to all the music they downloaded with their iTunes gift cards. But when, when, will it finally be the right time for new music by noteworthy artists to finally come out?

Well, not this week. This week we have to settle for interesting music, as in, "well, that's... um... interesting."

America - Here & Now Indie bands, take note: being one of the cool bands these days demands name-dropping a seventies act as an influence, and doing it with sincerity - none of that irony you kids like so much. And you better had pick one soon, because there's only so many good ones to go around. After that you'll be forced to take those guys who sang "Sister Golden Hair." Oops! Too late! James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne already beat you to it. Not only have they named the band as an influence, they've even produced the band's latest album.

The mix of new originals (some written by the band, some by Schlesinger) and covers of current indie favs make the band sound like they're out to prove something. They're all like: See how we sound just like a softer Fountains of Wayne? That's because we were doing this before there even was an Adam Schlesinger, punk. And then they're like: Just listen to us sing My Morning Jacket's "Golden" (with MMJ's Jim James on guitar, even). No, no, we don't sound just like them - they sound just like us! If we could just find something to play this old 8-track on we could prove it to you.

Well, kudos to Schlesinger and Iha for properly schooling us. To those too young to know who America are, most of these songs could pass for the retro soft-rock sound of current indie bands. To those of us who somehow never forgot a single word of "Horse with No Name," these songs give the band enough cred to justify proudly humming along to "Ventura Highway" next time you're at the dentist.

I'm not sure these songs are so great that you should give up on the would-be K-Tel stars of today, but most of them are good enough to merit a listen. Lucky for you, MSN is streaming the disc (and a bonus disc of America's classics played live) for free this week. If I had to guess, I would peg their fairly decent take on Nada Surf's "Always Love" as the first single.

The Smithereens - Meet the Smithereens Have you always enjoyed the Beatles early stuff, but felt that it would be much better if it were performed by four lads from North Jersey? Well, you're in luck.

For their first album in eight years the Smithereens, never ones to hide their influences, have chosen a song-by-song take on the Beatles' first "offical" American release. They did this because... because... I have no idea why they did this. What they have on their website sounds a little edgier than the originals, but not enough to justify the project (or its inclusion on this week's list). Speaking of which...

This week's list:

1. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
2. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
3. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
4. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
5. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
6. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
7. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
8. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
9. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
10. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
11. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
12. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
13. JOSH RITTER The Animal Years
14. MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
15. CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
16. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
17. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
18. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
19. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
20. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
21. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
22. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
23. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
24. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
25. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
28. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
29. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
30. AMERICA Here & Now

Dropping off the list this week:

• JIM NOIR Tower of Love

RIYL37

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning January 8, 2007.

We’re back! The first RIYL list of the new year and there’s real live actual new releases coming out today! Okay, so one of them is from a three-year-old concert and the other’s been available in Canada for about a year, but to paraphrase NBC, “if you haven’t heard it, it’s new to you!” (yes, Wikipedia has a list of old NBC slogans. What did we ever do before the Wiki?).

And since she’ll be expecting it, a big Happy Birthday to frequent Long Cut commenter and longtime sister Donna, who will always always always be a decade older much wiser than me. In honor of Donna's turning really old another year wiser, we'll start with a fellow redhead this week.

Neko Case Live from Austin, Texas Neko’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood ended up being my second favorite album of last year, but really it was pretty much a toss up between her and Cat Power for the number one spot. This CD (which is also being released as a DVD) is from Case’s 2003 visit to PBS’s Austin City Limits, and while it only contains one song that would end up on Fox Confessor (“Maybe Sparrow”), fans of that album will find a lot to like here, too.

Case isn’t as pure country as Loretta Lynn, but she continues to remind me of her. The Amazon review of this disc notes the similarities between Case and k.d. lang while she was still in her Patsy Kline mode, and now that I think about it, I would say that’s an apt comparison, too. I can still remember how hooked I was the first time I heard lang’s confident yet affecting voice on her Absolute Torch and Twang (to this day still one of my favorite albums), and Case’s voice has had the same effect on me. No free downloads, but Neko has offered up a stream of the first five songs (and a video!).

Ron Sexsmith Time Being Nobody exemplifies “but he's huge in Canada” like Ron Sexsmith does. The guy wins all kinds of awards up there but get hardly any airplay south of (his) border. This album was released last March in Sexsmith’s frigid homeland but is only coming out down here today (rescued and released by fellow canuck Keifer Sutherland). I first heard Sexsmith on the Ray Davies tribute disc This is Where I Belong, where Sexsmith got to do the title track. That was a hit-or-miss collection of songs, but Sexsmith’s contribution stood out for his perfect take on Ray’s lazy “Sunny Afternoon” vibe. Turns out it wasn’t just an act - Sexsmith’s own singing style closely matches that of Davies, and his songwriting ability isn't that far from Ray's either.

Sexsmith is playing this week’s XPN free-at-noon concert, but I’ll be stuck at work for a very important “getting to know you” meeting with my new executive director, who happened to be my division director for the last twelve years but apparently still doesn’t know me.

Sexsmith is stingy with the downloads, but that always reliable music blog Fingertips tracked one down for us (and seriously, if you want three worthwhile songs delivered once a week, do yourself a favor and check out Fingertips – the guy’s got an ear for finding good, under-appreciated music).

Ron Sexsmith - “And Now the Day is Done” [mp3]

This week's list:

1. RON SEXSMITH Time Being
2. NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
3. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
4. JOSH RITTER The Animal Years
5. MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
6. CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
7. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
8. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
9. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
10. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
11. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
12. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
13. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
14. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
15. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
16. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
17. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
18. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
19. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
20. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
21. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
22. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
23. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
24. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
25. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
26. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
27. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
28. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
29. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
30. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back

Dropping off the list this week:

• CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story [as per Karen]
• TOM WAITS Orphans

RIYL36

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning December 25, 2006.

It's the time of year when wiser bloggers say "see you next year." I'm not what you would call wise, so you're still stuck with me. And that means that my RIYL posts roll on. Sorta. I'm still posting them, but it is supposed to be quality family time around here, so instead of doing my own writing I'm just going to lift some reviews from other sources.

These are discs that are showing up on people's year-end lists but somehow never showed up on the Long Cut. Some of them are kind enough to provide free downloads and others are streaming songs (or whole albums) at their websites. All of them are recommended.

Madeleine Peyroux - Half the Perfect World "Jazzy, smooth, and a little blue: when listening to Madeleine Peyroux, one cannot help but think of Billie Holiday’s effortless brilliance. With songs by Johnny Mercer, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and even Charlie Chaplin, Peyroux’s new album takes a leisurely stroll down a tree-lined boulevard with a glass of champagne." The Santa Barbara Independent

[Peyroux is streaming her whole album (click on "media"), song by song. She may be the first artist to ever do a good job covering Joni Mitchell's "River."]

Josh Ritter The Animal Years "Josh Ritter reaches back to folk-rock that was invented before he was born - not just for its sound, but for its ambitions. He openly draws on Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Band and Simon and Garfunkel. And like them, he sets out to carry a world of ideas on a few basic chords. Love and war, faith and music, restlessness and a longing for home pervade his new songs, which might turn pretentious if they weren't so grounded in folky melody." - New York Times

[Ritter offers up a couple downloads. "Girl in the War" sounds like young Springsteen, minus the growl. "Thin Blue Flame" is loooooong (over nine minutes), but worth it.]

Josh Ritter - "Girl in the War" [mp3]
Josh Ritter - "Thin Blue Flame" [mp3]

Sam Roberts Chemical City "Roberts's new one could be a Ryan Adams record if Adams saved up his good songs for a single release." - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

[Roberts has an audio player set up to play four new songs. They're all great, but try "Bridge to Nowhere" first.]

Centro-Matic Fort Recovery "Tunes like 'Triggers and Trash Heaps,' Patience for the Ride,' and 'Monument Sails' recall the stately yet rootsy side of Neil Young. Keyboards, violin, and vibraphone give the album a chamber-pop filter that makes it extraordinary. Ultimately what makes Fort Recovery a success is Centro-matic's ability to make distinctively American music with uncommon fervor and without cliché." - The Austin Chronicle

[Centro-Matic offer free downloads of a couple of their songs. Don't be fooled by the band's futuristic name, they're Americana through-and-through.]

Centro-Matic - "Triggers and Trash Heaps" [mp3]
Centro-Matic - "Calling Thermatico" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
2. JOSH RITTER The Animal Years
3. MADELEINE PEYROUX Half the Perfect World
4. CENTO-MATIC Fort Recovery
5. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
6. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
7. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
8. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
9. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
10. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
11. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
12. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
13. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
14. TOM WAITS Orphans
15. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
16. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
17. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
18. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
19. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
20. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
21. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
22. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
23. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
24. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
25. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
28. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
29. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
30. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story

Dropping off the list this week:

• MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
• SUFJAN STEVENS Songs for Christmas
• NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
• TERRY ANDERSON AND THE OLYMPIC ASS KICKIN' TEAM Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team

RIYL35

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning December 18, 2006.

Cookies, people. Seven days left and it's still all about the cookies. It certainly isn't all about the new music, that's for sure. There ain't none, I checked.

So, while I usually only mention music that's already available, this week I'm going to point out a tribute album that's due out next month. It's called Endless Highway: the Music of the Band and I'll wait until it hits the street before I actually add it to the big list, but the whole album is already streaming at this website. To hear all the songs, skip that little radio on the front page and click on the "music" tab instead. That will also allow you to only play the songs you want to hear, so you can easily skip right over that Blues Traveler cut.

Oh sure, Jakob Dylan is on it too, but they've also rounded up plenty of good artists. Joe Henry! Roseanne Cash! The Roaches are a perfect choice for "Acadian Driftwood" and Gomez does an exceptional job with "Cripple Creek." My Morning Jacket seems to have the first single off the album - it's already getting some indie airplay and sounds pretty good (but perhaps they played it just a wee bit too safe?).

Tell you what, I'll just list the tracks and let you decide. I've got snickerdoodles to bake.

"I Shall Be Released" - Jack Johnson
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Allman Brothers
"Rocking Chair" - Death Cab For Cutie
"It Makes No Difference" - My Morning Jacket
"The Weight" - Lee Ann Womack
"Acadian Driftwood" - The Roches
"Whispering Pines" - Jakob Dylan
"Up On Cripple Creek" - Gomez
"King Harvest" - Bruce Hornsby
"Unfaithful Servant" - Rosanne Cash
"Rag Mama Rag" - Blues Traveler
"Bessie Smith" - Joe Henry
"This Wheel's On Fire" - Guster
"Chest Fever" - Widespread Panic
"Ain't No More Cane" - John Hiatt & North Mississippi Allstars
"Look Out Cleveland" - Jackie Greene
"Ophelia" - Animal Liberation Orchestra
"Stage Fright" - Steve Reynolds
"When I Paint My Masterpiece" - Josh Turner
"The Shape I'm In" - Gov't Mule
"Life is a Carnival" - Trevor Hall

Not too shabby.

This week's list:

1. SUFJAN STEVENS Songs for Christmas
2. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
3. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
4. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
7. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
8. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
9. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
10. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
11. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
12. TOM WAITS Orphans
13. TERRY ANDERSON AND THE OLYMPIC ASS KICKIN' TEAM Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team
14. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
15. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
16. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
17. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
18. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
19. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
20. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
21. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
22. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
23. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
24. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
25. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
28. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
29. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
30. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story

RIYL34

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning December 11, 2006.

A couple of serendipitous finds:

Page France Hello, Dear Wind Why do some obscure indie bands become big while others remain, um, unbig? Who knows? Thankfully, there's the Internet, where I can listen to a college station 3000 miles away and find out about bands like Baltimore's Page France (why I had to go 3000 miles to hear a band from right down I-95 from me, I don't know). This band has everything needed to achieve indie cred - slightly nasal vocals, sunny harmonies, touches of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys, a glockenspiel - and still I'm willing to bet you've never heard of them. They have a glockenspiel, people! What more does it take?

It's Indie-folk that's cheery without being twee, and it's definitely worthy of greater attention. In addition to these downloads provided by their record company, a couple other songs of theirs are streaming at their purevolume page.

Update: these mp3 links were broken earlier, but they should work now.

Page France - Junkyard [mp3]
Page France - Bush [mp3]

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - The Dust of Retreat Personally, I think the quirky name works against them, seeing how there's no one named Margot in the band, and the lead singer in a guy - which only adds to the confusion. But it's okay, because Margot sounds good enough to succeed despite their mystifying moniker. With Richard Edward's easy on the ears vocals and the band's covertly catchy hooks, they sound like they're poised to take over indie radio, and "Skeleton Key" could easily be the song that opens the door to success. Get it, get it? Key? Door?

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Skeleton Key [mp3]
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Barfight Revolution, Power Violence [mp3]

This week's list:

1. SUFJAN STEVENS Songs for Christmas
2. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
3. MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO'S The Dust of Retreat
4. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. PAGE FRANCE Hello, Dear Wind
7. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
8. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
9. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
10. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
11. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
12. TOM WAITS Orphans
13. TERRY ANDERSON AND THE OLYMPIC ASS KICKIN' TEAM Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team
14. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
15. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
16. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
17. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
18. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
19. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
20. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
21. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
22. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
23. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
24. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
25. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
28. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
29. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
30. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story

Dropping off the list this week:

• YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
• JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight

RIYL33

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning December 4, 2006.

Here at Long Cut Central, we're all about the funny band names this week:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Broom Take an overly upbeat romantic indie-pop band. Then front it with someone who sounds an awful lot like Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, only this Conor Oberst actually, you know, enjoys living. It doesn't sound like a combination that would result in anything worthwhile, but Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin proves otherwise.

A lot of the jangly pop bands I like listening to use bands from the 60's and 70's, like the Kinks and the Beach Boys, as inspiration. But SSLYBY is clearly influenced by bands of the 80's and 90's like the dB's and Fountains of Wayne. So they're inspirited by the bands who were inspired by the bands that I grew up listening to, which makes me feel really, really old. Their website makes no mention of what Vladimir Putin thinks of the band.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Oregon Girl [mp3]
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - House Fire [mp3]

Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team Just when you thought no one was going to out-do Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, comes a band that's not afraid to take their ass-whoopin' up a notch.

Terry Anderson is responsible for the catchy lyrics of the Victor Borge-like "I Love You, Period" on Georgia Satellites frontman Dan Baird's first solo album - and that's pretty much all you need to know about him and his world-class team of ass-kickers. I don't mean that as a put-down - the world needs bands like the Georgia Satellites and George Thorogood the Destroyers and even the Black Crowes (for that first album, anyway). It's not rocket science, but well-played roots rock plus clever lyrics adds up to a lot of fun. Sometimes (like, say, once every four years), it even adds up to Ass-kickin' fun. The band's website offers plenty of Olympic fanfare, some short samples, and zero free downloads.

This week's list:

1. SUFJAN STEVENS Songs for Christmas
2. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
3. TOM WAITS Orphans
4. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN Broom
7. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
8. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
9. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
10. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
11. TERRY ANDERSON AND THE OLYMPIC ASS KICKIN' TEAM Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team
12. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
13. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
14. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
15. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
16. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
17. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
18. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
19. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
20. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
21. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
22. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
25. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
26. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
27. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
28. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
29. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
30. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story

Dropping off the list this week:

• LOS LOBO The Town and the City
• M. WARD Post-War

RIYL32

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning November 27, 2006.

Ugh. Every day this week I'm in a conference, training, meetings, or some combination of the three. On top of that I feel like I'm dangerously close to an all-out throat infection and my laptop's acting all weird. I'm cranky, and since I've been complaining that nothing but box sets and Christmas albums have been released lately, I'm figuring I should just save us all some trouble and write about a box set full of Christmas songs.

Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas The man who has promised to record an album for each of the 50 states (just 48 more to go!) takes a break from that never-ending project to give us all the Christmas music we'll need for this season and maybe even part of the next: 5 discs worth. 42 songs, all yours for under twenty bucks. Or if you're really cheap, like me, you could just go to his record company's website. They're streaming the whole thing, disc by merry disc.

It's not your usually bombastic Christmas collection, but it's not at all downbeat either. It's just a fine collection of classic and original songs that ought to put a smile on your face while you're wrapping up all those gifts you got me. I mean, only a Scrooge would hate a song titled "Get Behind Me, Santa" [If you're not hip enough to get that, looky here]. Plus it comes with a whole bunch of extras like a songbook and nifty holiday stickers.

This week's list:

1. SUFJAN STEVENS Songs for Christmas
2. TOM WAITS Orphans
3. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
4. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
5. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
6. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
7. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
8. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
9. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
10. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
11. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
12. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
13. LOS LOBO The Town and the City
14. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
15. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
16. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
17. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
18. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
19. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
20. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
21. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
22. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
25. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. M. WARD Post-War
28. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
29. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
30. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young

RIYL31

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning November 20, 2006.

Finally! After weeks and weeks of nothing but greatest hits and box sets there are new cds with new music on them! Three new discs, in fact. Three artists who... wait, all three are from one artist? Seriously? Tom Waits put out a triple-album? Dang, that's impressive. But it also means that I'll have to dip into my iTunes, again, to find some more artists who should be on this list but aren't.

Tom Waits Orphans Despite a title that suggests a collection of leftovers and passed-overs, this release contains three full discs of new music from the gravel-voiced Waits. Like the Brooklyn Chocolate Stout I recently reviewed, Waits music is something I tend to enjoy more in small doses - his songs are great, they just get a bit too intense for me after a little while. And 54 songs last a little more than a little while. Still, it's hard to pass up new music from someone so unique and so talented. Just don't attempt to do it all in one sitting. AOL is streaming the the whole thing this week and Pitchfork had recently posted the following three downloads:

Tom Waits - "You Can Never Hold Back Spring" [mp3]
Tom Waits - "Road to Peace" [mp3]
Tom Waits - "Bottom of the World" [mp3]

Bill Ricchini Tonight I Burn Brightly Look around the Internets and you'll find lots of writers coming up with lots of artists who they think Ricchini sounds like: the deep and introspective (Elliott Smith, Ron Sexsmith), the Sixties popsters (Kinks, Zombies) and of course the usual suspect (Brian Wilson). I agree with most of them (though I don't find much of a Wilson vibe, and I tend think that everyone sounds like Wilson), he does sound like a whole lot of artists. But at the same time he doesn't sound like any single one of them. If you want to link his soft, smooth, ultra-cool and straight out-of-the-Sixties pure pop sound to one person, I would say it should be Burt Bacharach. Whether they're romantic or fun, the songs on Ricchini's sophomore album seem to sweet talk their way into your head - never overbearing and never insincere - and isn't that the Bacharach way?

The Philly-based Ricchini has a few free downloads on his site (where he is also streaming a few songs), but he certainly doesn't make them easy to get to (they're on a flash page under "mp3" and they download as zip files that have to be unzipped to get to the songs - troublesome but worth it). Meanwhile, download.com has a free download of the poppiest (and best) track from the album, "I Just Can't Fall In Love" that's slightly easier to access.

Those Transatlantics Knocked Out She lacks her British accent and her love of the Cuban beat, but as the female lead of Those Transatlantics, Kathleen Bracken still very much reminds me of the late, great, Kirsty MacColl. Just as Kirsty somehow made rainy England sound sunny, the Trannies (as they unfortunately refer to themselves) make their chilly Detroit sound like a day at the beach. Fun and clever lyrics backed by a tight band bringing an unconventional sound. They're streaming some stuff at their website and their label is offering some downloads:

Those Transatlantics - "In Your Neighborhood" [mp3]
Those Transatlantics - "The Other Cheek" [mp3]
Those Transatlantics - "Boys and Children Sing for Summer" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. TOM WAITS Orphans
2. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
3. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
4. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
7. BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
8. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
9. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
10. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
11. THOSE TRANSATLANTICS Knocked Out
12. LOS LOBO The Town and the City
13. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
14. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
15. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
16. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
17. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
18. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
19. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
20. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
21. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
22. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
25. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
26. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
27. M. WARD Post-War
28. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
29. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
30. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
• WILLIE NELSON Songbird
• BADLY DRAWN BOY Born in the U.K.

RIYL30

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning November 13, 2006.

The long box set and greatest hits march towards the holidays continues on this week, once again dominating the new release pile. So I'm going to do what I did last week and dip into my iTunes to find a couple artists who should be on this list but aren't. Both of these were recommended by Long Cut readers, who obviously have impeccable taste.

The Brother Kite Waiting for the Time to be Right TwoBusy over at TwoBusy recommended this disc way back in September, calling it the best thing his ears have encountered all year. I've spent way too much time trying to write something up about it without mentioning Brian Wilson or Phil Spector and dammit, I just can't do it. I know the band is young and this is only their second release and they're not the geniuses those two men are (were?), but they may well be on their way.

On Waiting they have created their own version of Spector's legendary "Wall of Sound" by leaving very few moments where you are not engulfed in a sonic mix of guitar, keyboard, and drums. Engulfed, but never smothered - just as the vocals and harmonies, even at quieter moments, avoid being overtaken by the music. Those harmonies owe a lot to Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds work, as does the band's willingness to experiment with some non-traditional instrumentation. The result ends up sounding like a power pop collision of the Flaming Lips and Matthew Sweet. Here's their website, and here are some of the sunnier songs from the album:

The Brother Kite - Waiting For The Time To Be Right [mp3]
The Brother Kite - Get On, Me [mp3]
The Brother Kite - I'm Not the Only One [mp3]

Califone Roots & Crown While Califone's laid-back pace is light-years away from the Brother Kite's fuller sound, the two bands seem to share the same goal of keeping it interesting (as well as an obvious Brian Wilson influence). Since Califone has been around since 1989, it's a little unfair to compare them to a few acts they predate, but fellow Phillies fan Adam only just this week suggested I give them a listen, so I'm going to compare away, timeline be damned.

Califone's got the fluttering vocals of Jeff Tweedy's side project Loose Fur, the sparse sound of Calexico (minus the Tex-Mex influence) and the folkiness of Samuel Beam (better known as Iron & Wine). Why they don't have even the slight recognition that these other artists have, I don't know, but something tells me their obscurity isn't going to last much longer. Plenty of free downloads at their website/blog (on the discography page). Here are a couple from their newest disc:

Califone - Spider’s House [mp3]
Califone - The Orchids [mp3]

This week's list:

1. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
2. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
3. THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
4. CALIFONE Roots & Crowns
5. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
6. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
7. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
8. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
9. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
10. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
11. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
12. THE LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
13. WILLIE NELSON Songbird
14. LOS LOBO The Town and the City
15. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
16. BADLY DRAWN BOY Born in the U.K.
17. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
18. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
19. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
20. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
21. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
22. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
23. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
24. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
25. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
26. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
27. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
28. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
29. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
30. M. WARD Post-War

Dropping off the list this week:

• WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
• JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing

RIYL29

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning November 6, 2006.

A day late and a couple senate seat results short, I'm here with this week's new picks. Except there really isn't anything new coming out this week. A lot of reissues (was anyone clamoring for a Duncan Sheik retrospective?). I'm starting to get worried that box sets and greatest hits discs are going to be the only things released from now until Christmas. Ugh.

So this week I dipped into my iTunes and found a couple artists who should be on this list but aren't. And there's a connection between them, so it's like a two-fer.

Band of Horses Everything All The Time They lack their country twang and non-jam-band jams, but it's hard not to think of My Morning Jacket when you listen to Band of Horses. They share the same Neil Young inspiration and love of the echo-y vocal. Band of Horses isn't quite as impressive as MMJ - mainly because they don't seem as willing to step too far outside their comfort zone (which is essential if you truly want to emulate Mr. Young) - but they're still pretty good, and they make it easy to give them a chance by posting four downloads on their website.

Sera Cahoone Sera Cahoone Cahoone - who played drums on parts of the new Band of Horses album - isn't as generous with the downloads as that band is but she's still worthy of your attention. Actually, she's even more worthy since she is willing to take chances, making it tough to define her sound (and therefore making my job here that much harder).

NPR, which chose her "Couch Song" as their song-of-the-day a little while back (as did KEXP, where I first heard her), describes her as "channeling Patsy Cline by way of Neko Case." Eh. Case is a pretty good comparison for Cahoone's voice, but I'd say the country groove that drives her sound is closer to the comfortable and intimate music of Gillian Welsh (though not as bluegrassy) than the fuller and more emotive music of Kline. See, I told you Cahoone's sound was tough to define, which probably explains why I've found it so impressive. Your best bet to hear Cahoone (other than buying her CD, of course) is on her myspace page.

This week's list:

1. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
2. LOS LOBO The Town and the City
3. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
4. BADLY DRAWN BOY Born in the U.K.
5. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
6. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
7. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
8. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
9. SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
10. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
11. THE LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
12. WILLIE NELSON Songbird
13. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
14. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
15. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
16. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
17. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
18. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
19. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
20. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
21. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
22. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
25. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
26. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
27. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
28. M. WARD Post-War
29. WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
30. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing

Dropping off the list this week:

• STARSAILOR On the Outside
• FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics

RIYL28

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning October 30, 2006.

How was your Halloween? Because let me tell you, mine was exhausting. I had the day "off," but it was spent walking and walking and walking some more (as well as eating and eating and eating some more). Add to that a five mile run and a couple school parades, and you can see why I'm about to fall over.

I don't want to shirk my RIYL duties, but I haven't had the chance to listen to a whole lot of new music lately, and I certainly didn't get the chance to today. So I'm going to cheat a little by posting what others have said about some recent albums that I've been interested in but haven't heard much of. Since my list has long been in need of a serious shake-up, I'm going to use this lazy excuse of a post to add a whopping five new discs to it. I can't guarantee that these are all winners, but I think they all deserve a listen.

Nellie McKay Pretty Little Head "Whether crafting stone-faced chamber pop or flitting around on pink sheets singing bedroom torch songs, McKay shows she's got versatility in bunches on her second album. But even though she's cut down on the snarky commentary, one can't shake the feeling that she's putting more of her head in the music than her heart [...] but it's the brains in her pretty little head that make McKay worth paying attention to." - Pitchfork [A couple downloads here, a few songs streaming here.]

Badly Drawn Boy Born In the U.K. "[Badly Drawn Boy's Damon] Gough is a fine storyteller and pop craftsman clearly trying to explore his most mainstream instincts. When they work, Born In The U.K.'s charming songs breeze by like the best '70s soft-rock: "Degrees Of Separation" chimes and glides in all the right places, the winsome piano ballad "Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind" could sound great performed by anyone from Elton John to Jeff Tweedy, and "Without A Kiss" feels, like Gough's early greats, refreshingly unforced." - The Onion's A.V. Club [Streaming at his website]

Willie Nelson Songbird "Songbird, a collaboration with Ryan Adams (who produced and lent his backing band) is Willie Nelson's finest in a decade. The sound is burly, surrounding his inimitable lilt with shuddering electric guitars. But the slow and stately stuff really sparkles, such as a weirdly menacing cover of ''Amazing Grace'' and the new Nelson composition ''Back to Earth,'' which proves the old troubadour can still write the best weepers around." - Entertainment Weekly [Videos and some samples at his record company's site.]

Los Lobos The Town and the City "A subtly excellent album, with tracks becoming distinct and special with repeated listens. [...] Piece by piece, the album becomes rich, complex and beautiful." - Offbeat [Streaming at the band's website.]

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads "This may not be fair, but it needs to be said: “Black Gown,” the best song on the Lemonheads’ self-titled comeback, isn’t as good as the worst song on the band’s 1992 college-rock classic It’s A Shame About Ray. Still, it’s tough to simply dismiss anything Evan Dando does based on his peak performances, and The Lemonheads features enough solid, backward-looking pop to please anyone who graduated high school between 1990 and 1998." -Magnet [Some streams here.]

This week's list:

1. NELLIE McKAY Pretty Little Head
2. LOS LOBO The Town and the City
3. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
4. BADLY DRAWN BOY Born in the U.K.
5. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
6. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
7. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
8. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
9. THE LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
10. WILLIE NELSON Songbird
11. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
12. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
13. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
14. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
15. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
16. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
17. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
18. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
19. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
20. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
21. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
22. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
23. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
24. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
25. STARSAILOR On the Outside
26. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
27. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
28. M. WARD Post-War
29. WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
30. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing

Dropping off the list this week:

• NEIL YOUNG Living With War
• SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
• GREG BROWN The Evening Call
• CRACKER Greenland
• G. LOVE Lemonade

RIYL27

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning October 23, 2006.

An extremely slow week for new releases, dominated by greatest hits discs for those who like to get their holiday shopping done early. Aimee Mann has even started the season by releasing her Christmas album today, but it's way too early to think about that, let alone add it to the playlist.

Birdie Busch The Ways We Try Here's a CD that's been out for a little while, but that I first heard only a few weeks ago. A co-worker of mine let me borrow his copy of the disc and I was immediately impressed by it, just completely floored. Birdie (nee Emily) is from nearby Collingswood, NJ (so nearby that it's where I pick up the train every morning) and has quickly made an impression on the Philly music scene with this debut album. I wouldn't be at all surprised if her fan base soon outgrows this region.

Birdie's website says the album "was created somewhat the opposite of how songs are usually recorded, with two guitars leading the rhythm, bass and drums chasing off-kilter meters, and piano and organ coloring the lyrics and adding width and depth to the melodies." When all of that backs up a folk singer and her guitar, it's what the kids call "neo-folk."

Whatever you call it, Birdie's music certainly stands out. It a rare style of folk that doesn't get bogged down in either its words or its music. The sound is crisp and original and the lyrics are full of fleshed out stories that never become overwrought. What really makes the music stand out, and what gets it stuck in you head, is its playfulness. The band sounds like it had a ball making the record - most of the songs sound as though they are being sung through a smile - and that fun is infectious. A real change of pace from ordinary folk music.

In addition to her website and her myspace page (which offers streaming music and downloads), Birdie also has a short World Cafe concert that's been archived at NPR's website.

This week's list:

1. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
2. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
3. BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
4. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
5. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
6. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
7. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
8. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
9. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
10. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
11. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
12. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
13. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
14. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
15. WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
16. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing
17. G. LOVE Lemonade
18. M. WARD Post-War
19. CRACKER Greenland
20. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
21. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
22. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. STARSAILOR On the Outside
25. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
26. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
27. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
28. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
29. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
30. NEIL YOUNG Living With War

Dropping off the list this week:

• BECK The Information

RIYL26

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning October 16, 2006.

Just one new entry this week - I've got playoff baseball to watch, people.

Jim Noir Tower of Love It would seem that Jim Noir likes 60's music. A lot. And he's not picky about what style of 60's music, either - folk, psychedelic, Beatlesque, Brian Wilsonesque, maybe even a little crooning.

Noir's debut album, Tower of Love hits them all, switching from the Raspberries to Simon & Garfunkel to the Kinks to "Quicksilver Girl" -era Steve Miller. Noir's melodic vocals tie all the different moods together, somehow managing to avoid any awkward transitions between the (slightly) divergent styles.

Even with all his nods to other artists, Noir manages to pack plenty of originality onto the disc, and ultimately it's Noir's unique take on retro power pop that make the album something special. By putting his own touches on a classic sound, Noir makes himself more of a contemporary to his influences than an imitator of them.

I couldn't find an mp3 of a my favorite song from the album (currently streaming at Noir's website), which is "Eanie Meanie," but you can see the video here. The songs below are pretty good, too.

Jim Noir - "Key of C" [mp3]
Jim Noir - “The Only Way” [mp3]

This week's list:

1. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
2. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
3. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
4. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. JIM NOIR Tower of Love
7. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
8. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
9. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
10. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
11. BECK The Information
12. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
13. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
14. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
15. WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
16. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing
17. G. LOVE Lemonade
18. M. WARD Post-War
19. CRACKER Greenland
20. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
21. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
22. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. STARSAILOR On the Outside
25. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
26. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
27. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
28. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
29. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
30. NEIL YOUNG Living With War

Dropping off the list this week:

• UNCLE TUPELO No Depression

RIYL25

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning October 9, 2006.

I'm a day late with the riyl thing this week. Posting my brilliant playoff picks has got me all screwed up - just like my baseball predictions!

So, what new discs should be added to the list this week? There’s the “new” Rod Stewart, who seems to have finally gotten past destroying the classics and moved on to destroying classic rock. Or there’s Sting teaming up with - this can’t be right – a lutist? Or there’s the new country-ish Jimmy Buffett album, which I’m sure will make people forget all about that one song of his, something- something-ville.

You know what, hows about instead of old-timers, we go with old-timey?

The Be Good Taynas Hello Love I recommended Jolie Holland's disc a while back, so I guess I should do the same for her former band. I can’t say I’m real familiar with the Taynas beyond their chirpy (in a good way, if you can imagine that) “The Littlest Birds (Sing the Prettiest Songs).” What I’ve heard of Hello Love doesn’t sound nearly as peppy as that tune. In fact, the stripped-down traditional sound reminds me very much of fellow Canadian Margo Timmins' earlier work with the Cowboy Junkies.

There’s a few covers on Hello Love, including Neil Young’s “For the Turnstiles” and, as a hidden track, a... um... very interesting take on Prince’s “When Dove’s Cry” that probably should have remained hidden. Not much by way of samples beyond what Amazon offers and the mp3 I've posted below, which was lifted from their label’s website (their own website is woefully outdated).

The Be Good Taynas - "Human Thing" [mp3]

Wayne Hancock Tulsa Shelton "Hank III" Williams may be following in his grandfather’s hard-drinking rebel footsteps, but it’s Wayne Hancock who has inherited the original Hank’s sound. Like Hank the Third (who has recorded some of Hancock’s songs), Wayne “the Train” isn’t out to just imitate that old-time honky-tonk sound and he’s certainly not interested in toning it down to make it more palatable to “country radio” (a term that currently requires quotes around it each time it's used).

His mix of rockabilly and honky-tonk yodeling isn’t for everyone (and even for those who do appreciate it - like me - listening to more than a few songs in one sitting might be a bit too much), but the authenticity in his work earns him at least one listen by those interested in real country music. As with the Be Good Taynas, Hancock is a victim of a less-than-fresh website (these artists need to think of these things before releasing new albums) and a lack of song samples, but his label did offer up the download provided below.

Wayne Hancock - "Shooting Star From Texas" [mp3]

This week's list:

1. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
2. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
3. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
4. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
5. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
6. UNCLE TUPELO No Depression
7. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
8. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
9. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
10. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
11. BECK The Information
12. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
13. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
14. THE BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
15. WAYNE HANCOCK Tulsa
16. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing
17. G. LOVE Lemonade
18. M. WARD Post-War
19. CRACKER Greenland
20. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
21. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
22. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. STARSAILOR On the Outside
25. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
26. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
27. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
28. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
29. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
30. NEIL YOUNG Living With War

Dropping off the list this week:

• THE BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
• THE RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers

RIYL24

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning October 2, 2006.

A good week for new music:

The Pernice Brothers Live a Little I download a lot of mp3s from a lot of different sources, and as much as I try to weed out the sub-par ones I still end up keeping a lot of them. Not all of them are great, but most of them are good enough to hang on to (or at least not bad enough to get rid of). They all sit on my work computer waiting for me to hit "shuffle." Most of those mp3s will kind of just play in the background until one pops up that gets my attention so much that I have to stop and take a peek to see who it's by. That seems to happen a lot with the Pernice Brothers songs that are on my hard-drive. They excel at melodic pop songs, and I'm a sucker for melodic pop songs. You can hear the whole CD at their website, and download the song "Somerville," there too, but you'll have to cough up your email address to do that. Ah, it's a small price to pay.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife If you read anything about this album, you're going to read about how strong and intelligent the lyrics on it are. Lead singer Colin Meloy (brother of novelist Maile Meloy) is best known for putting his degree in creative writing to good use in his songwriting. For me, though, it's they way Meloy's voice is draped over the band's orchestral sound that sucks me in more than his lyrics. Like Michael Stipe when R.E.M. first appeared, Meloy has a voice you wouldn't describe as beautiful, but you wouldn't call it unpleasant either - it's unique, but it's an interesting unique. It makes you listen and it adds a lot to the songs, working almost like another instrument. The album is streaming at MSN this week.

Beck The Information Beck is Beck, right? Either you love him or hate him, I guess. He isn't afraid to try pretty much anything, and he hits more than he misses. That's good enough for me. He certainly hits with the first single off this one, "Nausea," featuring that classic funky Beck beat. I've only heard the funkier stuff from this disc, but reviews promise some more mellow ("mellow" as in Sea Change, not Mellow Gold) tunes, too. Mr. Hansen's website gives me a headache, so I suggest catching what you can of the new album (including "Nausea") on his myspace page.

This week's list:

1. THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
2. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
3. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
4. THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
5. UNCLE TUPELO No Depression
6. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
7. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
8. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
9. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
10. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
11. BECK The Information
12. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
13. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
14. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing
15. THE BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
16. G. LOVE Lemonade
17. M. WARD Post-War
18. CRACKER Greenland
19. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
20. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
21. THE RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers
22. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
23. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
24. STARSAILOR On the Outside
25. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
26. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
27. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
28. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
29. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
30. NEIL YOUNG Living With War

Dropping off the list this week:

• ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO The Boxing Mirror
• LOS LOBOS Ride This
• CAT POWER The Greatest

RIYL23

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning September 25, 2006.

Some good stuff this week:

The Hold Steady Boys & Girls in America I'm never real crazy about describing a band's sound by simply comparing them to other bands, but at the same time I'm not in the mood right now to spend hundreds of words trying to describe the sound of the awkwardly named the Hold Steady, so let's spare me all that writing and you all that reading: The Hold Steady sound like the American version of the Pogues.

Both bands are lead by gravel-throated singers (though I hope the Steady's Craig Finn has a better dental plan than the Pogues' Shane MacGowan), both excel at the all-out rockers and the ballads, and both sound like they spend way too much time at the neighborhood bar. Best of all, the Hold Steady have that same loose let's-do-this-in-one-take sound as their Irish counterparts. If MacGowan could stay sober long enough to ask him, I'm pretty sure he'd agree with me.

The Hold Steady - "First Night" [mp3]
The Hold Steady - "Chips Ahoy!" [mp3]

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos As much as I loved their 2004 album It Still Breaths, I didn't really love love MMJ until I saw them in concert. And as much as I was blown away by their latest studio album, Z, it didn't come close to seeing them perform it live. The thing is, the re-verb-y, multi-layered sound of their studio work (if you can call an abandoned grain silo a studio) shouldn't work well on stage, but it does.

Any compromises that MMJ have to make performing these studio-friendly songs live are more than made up for by the band's all-out intensity on stage. While I don't know how well that intenseness translates to vinyl (or whatever CDs are made of), I'm just thrilled to see that the band has come out with a live album (and reportedly a soon-to-be-released live DVD).

I can't find any samples from the album, but if they sound as good as they did at this NPR/World Cafe concert, I'll be happy.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing The Killer pairs up with only-slightly-younger rockers like the Stones (three of them, anyway), Springsteen, Clapton, Page, Young, and Fogerty (along with contemporaries like Merle Haggard and Little Richard) and holds his own, even as he approaches his seventy-first birthday (which, God willing, he'll celebrate later this week).

This disc isn't some Sinatra-like, late-career, going-through-the-motions take on the oldies. In fact, rather than being carried by his guests, Jerry Lee ends up making his guests sound better - it's been a while since Mick & Keith sounded as good as they do on "Evening Gown" (Jagger) and "That Kind of Fool" (Richards). I haven't heard the whole CD, so I can't guarantee that there aren't some clunkers (I'm looking at you, Rod Stewart), but I have heard more than enough good stuff from it.

No mp3s, but some of the album is being streamed at Lewis' website.

Plus, I put Uncle Tupelo's first album, No Depression, back in the van, so that goes on the list. I can never get enough of that disc.

This week's list:

1. MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
2. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
3. UNCLE TUPELO No Depression
4. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
5. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
6. THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
7. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
8. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
9. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
10. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
11. JERRY LEE LEWIS Last Man Standing
12. THE BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
13. G. LOVE Lemonade
14. M. WARD Post-War
15. CRACKER Greenland
16. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
17. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
18. THE RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers
19. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
20. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
21. STARSAILOR On the Outside
22. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
23. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
24. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
25. ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO The Boxing Mirror
26. LOS LOBOS Ride This
27. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
28. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
29. NEIL YOUNG Living With War
30. CAT POWER The Greatest

Dropping off the list this week:

• GOLDEN SMOG Another Fine Day
• MASON JENNINGS Boneclouds
• STEVE WYNN & THE MIRACLE 3 ...Tick...Tick...Tick
• THE ROOTS Game Theory

RIYL22

My RIYLmusic Top 30 list [where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)] - for the week beginning September 19, 2006.

There seems to be a lot of interesting new albums coming out today, but I've been so busy that all I've been able to do at work is put the ol' iTunes on random and then, you know, actually do work! There was one CD, however, that was just too intriguing not to check out:

Chris Difford South East Side Story - As one half of the eighties version of Lennon/McCartney, Difford, along with partner Glenn Tillbrook, created some of the most clever and catchy songs of that decade as the leaders of Squeeze. That band is long-gone, but now Difford reminds us just how great they were with an album of the band's songs done acoustic [acoustic? acoustically? Neither word looks right].

Much of Squeeze's success was due to their sharp lyrics, and the striped-down acoustic sound of this disc pushs the pair's ingenious writing to the forefront. All the good ones are here, too - "Cool for Cats," "Black Coffee in Bed," "Pulling Mussels," "Tempted." All done to a lonesome-blues-steel-guitar kind of (slightly) country sound.

Difford's record company is offering full-song samples (just click on the little speakers next to the songs) of the entire disc and it really, really, sounds great. Going right onto my wishlish.

So, no mp3s, but you can watch Difford do "Up the Junction" here:

This week's list:

1. CHRIS DIFFORD South East Side Story
2. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass
3. THE CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away the Terror
4. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
5. THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
6. THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
7. JED AND LUCIA Candles In Daylight
8. THE BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
9. THE ROOTS Game Theory
10. G. LOVE Lemonade
11. M. WARD Post-War
12. CRACKER Greenland
13. CAMERA OBSCURA Let’s Get Out of This Country
14. MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
15. THE RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers
16. MIDLAKE Trials Of Van Occupanther
17. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
18. STARSAILOR On the Outside
19. GREG BROWN The Evening Call
20. FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
21. SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
22. ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO The Boxing Mirror
23. LOS LOBOS Ride This
24. NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
25. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
26. GOLDEN SMOG Another Fine Day
27. MASON JENNINGS Boneclouds
28. STEVE WYNN & THE MIRACLE 3 ...Tick...Tick...Tick
29. NEIL YOUNG Living With War
30. CAT POWER The Greatest

Dropping off the list this week:

• SILVERSUN PICKUPS Carnavas