Bright Eyes – Classic Cars
buy Cassadaga (2007)
Going through some of my 2007 pickups, i remembered a few of the best came with entire discs full of bonus material – none of which were advertised or marked as limited edition releases. This has taught me to always pre-order.
It seems the Bonus Disc was a treat reserved for ‘07 – 2008 has given me only one, The Kooks’ Rak, which is really more of an extra album than it is a bonus disc. This year, the trend seems to be the option of vinyl, which may be even better. Nevertheless, today i will share with you some of the best from those ‘07 Bonus Discs:
Spoon – Mean Mad Margaret
It took me a couple months to even find the ‘Get Nice!’ Bonus Disc that came with Spoon’s ‘07 release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – it was unnoticeably hidden behind the plastic backing. A considerably lengthy extra disc, the addition includes alternate versions of some of the album tracks, a few righteously groovy bare-bones tunes, and one scorching punk ballad.
Spoon – 1975
Josh Ritter – Labelship Down
Josh Ritter’s monumental Historical Conquests was augmented with a 4-track bonus disc. The all acoustic collection is highlighted with a short tropical tune and a heartfelt lament.
Josh Ritter – Naked As A Window
Buy The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.
Bright Eyes – Susan Miller Rag
Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga included not only magic-eye packaging complete with decoder film, but an extra single printed on a mini-disc.
Stood at my, uh……….. front gate today.
If you check the archives, i’ve only got 1 previous album release forecast (here). But i did, in fact, write two of them. One day, my second one mysteriously disappeared. My guess is some of the tracks i posted got some people angry, and instead of coming to me, they went to Blogger, who then removed the post – no questions asked.
But thanks to the internet and all its archiving glory, you can still find remnants of it – like here at Elbo.ws.
Anyway, my plan was to get an installment out pretty regularly, as not to miss any big releases. But this summer has been one big blob of uncertain locales and shaky internet service – with even more to come. So that didn’t happen, but i did manage to talk about some releases as i learned of them in single posts.
i will resume with a late summer/early fall album release forecast:
August 5
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
(Merge Records)
This album has been talked about on every other blog and music mag, so i won’t get in-depth. Conor Oberst left behind the Bright Eyes moniker as well as his “better half” and longtime producer Mike Mogis and went deep into Mexico to record his latest effort. The self titled disc is reportedly not as much ’sad-bastard’ but more up-tempo midwest rock – much like Cassadaga, which i really enjoyed.
Conor Oberst – Danny Callahan
stream the whole thing here.
August 5
Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me
(Back Porch Records)
If Norah Jones and Allison Krauss had a love-child, her name would be Carrie Rodriguez and she would be a classically-trained violinist with a twangy, soulful voice. Carrie worked with songwriter Chip Taylor for many years, and in ‘06 released her solo debut, Seven Angels on a Bicycle. It’s a fiddle-driven, mellow album that features mostly songs penned by Chip. Carrie is set to release her sophomore effort in which she took over the writing duties – she co-wrote with Gary Louris and Mary Gauthier, and Lucinda Williams makes a cameo. Not bad.
Carrie Rodriguez – Got Your Name On It
Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez – Keep Your Hat On Jenny
pre-order She Ain’t Me
August 19
Todd Snider – Peace Queer
(New Door Records)
i already talked about this one here.
September 2
Rodney Crowell – Sex and Gasoline
(Yep Roc Records)
The Houston Kid honed his musical chops as a guitar player/singer with ol‘ Emmylou. He ran around with Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and Townes in the 70’s and 80′ – oh yeah, he was also married to Rosanne Cash. Known mainly for his songwriting, he has penned songs that produced hits for Emmylou, Guy, Waylon, George Strait, Keith Urban, etc. With a slew of solo albums since ‘78, Rodney’s last few discs have been politically-fueled rants set to catchy guitar/mandolin riffs.
from Sex and Gasoline:
Rodney Crowell – Closer To Heaven
from 2005’s The Outsider:
Rodney Crowell – Don’t Get Me Started
September 9
Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
(Jagjaguwar)
Will Sheff and band didn’t take long to follow up 2007’s The Stage Names (which, if i could re-do my Best of 2007 list, would make the top 5). That’s simply because they had toyed with the idea of releasing a double album last year. Though the idea was forgone, The Stand Ins picks up where The Stage Names left off. The overall theme is said to carry over, there’s a sequel to the plaintive Savannah Smiles, and even the artwork coincides. Read more here.
here’s a live version of a song that will be on the new disc – my most anticipated of this list.
Okkervil River – Lost Coastlines (WOXY.com Lounge Acts)
September 23
Old Crow Medicine Show – Tennessee Pusher
(Nettwerk)
i posted about this release here as soon as i found out. Since then, i’ve also been informed that an EP will precede the album release. Out next week (July 29th), it will include 2 songs from the full album plus an exclusive track, Back To New Orleans.
The album was produced by Don Was (The Stones, Dylan, Black Crowes) who has his own channel on MyDamnChannel.com - check out the boys playin’ some studio sessions with country legend ‘Cowboy’ Jack Clement:
You can find an older version of Caroline at my original Tennessee Pusher post, but he’s another new tune from The Show that i’ve found:
Old Crow Medicine Show – Soul Rebel (live)
i’ve just about finished going through the hundreds of pictures taken while in Costa Rica. So to show off my newfound hobby of photography (my family kept begging me to take pictures of them, but i feel that people just mess up the shot – trees don’t blink), i’ve decided to post some of the best pictures of Costarrican scenery with a related song (or two) to accompany it.
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(pictures are thumbnails – click them for full size)
mp3: Charlie Robison – Sunset Boulevard
Stay tuned for the first-everThis Mornin’….. guest post.
Normally, i’ll pull up the playlist, scroll through and pick a song i want to post. From there i let shuffle do the rest. There was no question which song was going first today. I’ve been playing this one over and over since i picked it up:
Here is the second post from my myspace blog.
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originally posted on January 13th, 2008 @ 3:42pm
Top 10 Songs of 2007
we will continue without too much rambling…..
you’ll notice a lot of these songs of the year come from my albums of the year, but i planned it so i wouldn’t duplicate any of the songs……..you’re welcome for the free music – but do yourself (and the artists) a favor and go out and pick em up.
10. The Kooks – She Moves in Her Own Way
Inside In/Inside Out – Astralwerks
This was the first song i heard off of Inside In/Inside Out, and i coulnd’t get enough of Luke Pritchard’s super British accent. Once i figured out what he was even saying, it made it all that much better.
9. The Everybodyfields – Aeroplane
Nothing is Okay – Ramseur Records
From the time i first popped Nothing is Okay in the cd player and that fiddle came screamin’ in on the track 1, i was sold The Everybodyfields.
8. Ryan Adams – Goodnight Rose
Easy Tiger – Lost Highway
What a way to kick off an album. No foreplay – just straight into what Ryan does best: a rockin’, memorable guitar riff and powerful lyrics delivered like only he can.
7. Deer Tick – Diamond Rings 2007
War Elephant – Feow Records
Don’t know why he put that 2007 on the end of the title, but it kinda makes sense now doesn’t it? John McCauley gives a jangly, tamborine filled song with enough echoey reverb to make Jack White happy.
6. Feist – 1234
The Reminder – Interscope Records
Most of us first heard this on the iPod nano commercial, and (consequently or not) i soon after starting getting into more indie rock like this. This song starts pretty simply – a little acoustic guitar and Feist’s voice – but turns into one huge party as her vocals soar. Horn sections, dozens of backup vocals, jazzy piano, and lays back down with just a plunky banjo. The video’s pretty cool, too.
5.Spoon – The Underdog
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Merge Records
i consider myself to like pretty tradtional music and always enjoy stripped down acoustic stuff, but the crazy amount of shit goin’ on in The Underdog is what drew me in. There’s a horn section, a booming bass drum, and about a dozen different noise makers (maracas, shakers, tambourines, hand claps, some sort of stick bangin’ on a bottle, and probably much more) that all culminate into a crash landing at the end. And not one bit is unnecesary.
4. The Kooks – Naive
Inside In/Inside Out – Astralwerks
The second gem i came across from the album is a little more rockin’ than She Moves…. but again it’s that accent that makes the song. Somehow i don’t think anyone without a British accent could cover this and do it justice.
3. Josh Ritter – The Temptation of Adam
The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter – Sony USA
Normally a song that mentions the inevitability of WWIII would immediately get skipped on my playlist, but Josh does this futuristic look at Adam and Eve controlling the fate of the world too cleverly not to enjoy.
2. The Avett Brothers – Paranoia in Bb Major
Emotionalism – Ramseur Records
From the first ring of the Scott’s banjo, to Seth’s guttural “yeah’s”, to every single plunk of Bob Crawford’s bass, this song is pure energy manifested into one of the best folk-rock songs ever.
1.Bright Eyes – Four Winds
Cassadaga – Saddle Creek Records
Some the best fiddle solos i’ve ever heard mixed with Conor’s philosopher-like lyrics on top a driving rhythm combine to make my number one song of 2007. Just check out the lyrics:
Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There’s people always dying trying to keep them alive
There’s bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building where…The squatters made a mural of a Mexican girl
With fifteen cans of spray paint in a chemical swirl
She’s standing in the ashes at the end of the world
Four Winds blowing through her hairBut when Great Satan’s gone…
the Whore of Babylon…
She just can’t sustain the pressure where it’s placed
She cavesThe Bible’s blind. The Torah’s deaf. The Qu’ran is mute.
If you burned them all together you’d get close to the truth
Still they’re pouring over Sanskrit under Ivy League moons
While shadows lengthen the sunCast on a school and meditation built to soften the times
And hold us at the center while the spiral unwinds
It’s knocking over fences, crossing property lines
Four Winds cry until it comesIt’s the Sum of Man slouching towards Bethlehem
A heart just can’t contain all of that empty space
It breaks. It breaks. It breaks.Well I went back by rented Cadillac and company jet
Like a newly orphaned refugee retracing my steps
All the way to Cassadaga to commune with the dead
They said, “You’d better look alive”
And now it’s off to old Dakota where a genocide sleeps
In the Black Hills, the Badlands, the calloused East
I buried my ballast. I made my peace.
Heard Four Winds leveling the pinesBut when Great Satan’s gone
The Whore of Babylon
She just can’t remain with all that outer space
She breaks. She breaks. She caves. She caves.
Ok, so first post…….
i started blogging on my myspace page to try it out. i made a couple of ‘Best Of 2007′ posts and really enjoyed it, so i decided to move it over to this site. Here are the original posts.
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-originally posted on January 12th, 2008 @ 11:57pm
so i’ve been thinkin a lot lately about starting a music blog since i spend about 90 percent of my time on the internet reading them. for those that may not know these are blogs where people post best of/worst of lists of music, highlight artists they like, or simply talk about music. the best part however, is that these bloggers post links to mp3’s of songs mentioned. as far as i know this is legal music sharing, as there is always a link to buy the albums/songs, a disclaimer saying the songs are for sampling purposes only, and artists/labels can request that their music be removed. also, the links normally expire within a few months, so you gotta move fast.
if you’re interested in this, try starting out at hypem.com. The Hype Machine tracks a variety of MP3 blogs. If a post contains MP3 links, it adds those links to its database and displays them on the front page.
2007 was a big year for me musically:
- i bought a fiddle; two actually (still workin on that tho)
- i finally took off my ‘texas music’ blinders and have since found some of the best artists around and redefined what i think good music is (i won’t even try to explain what that is).
- i gave in and starting using iTunes as my music library program, and consequently…
- i bought a 160gb iPod to store all this newfound musical goodness (plus, i outgrew my 20gb iRiver).
Because 2007 was good to me, i’ll return the favor my starting my blogging career with some best of 2007 lists.
stay tuned for those…….
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-originally posted on January 13th, 2008 @ 8:28pm (**these mp3’s are linked to other blogs that i found through hypem.com**)
so, as i said, i will commence my music blogging with a look back at the best of 2007.
but first, i’m gonna attempt to explain the music i like:
you can read my interests in music on my page to see a loooong list of artists i like, but i’ll try to explain it a little more.
almost everything i listen to is rooted in country in some way. Texas/Red Dirt is still a huge part of what i like, although removing the aforementioned blinders made me realize that some of the artists in this so-called genre that i used to dig on basically blow. i won’t give any specific names, but i will say that the mention of things like… uh, beer, bait, and maybe ammo in front of a steel guitar used to do it for me. not so much anymore. but i’m glad for all the music i’ve gone through on my way to what i now like. (i’ll probably look back at these lists in five years and think i was an idiot for listening to this music. right now, i find that nearly impossible, but then again, i would’ve said the same thing in my rebel-flag flying, mudding high school days). ok back to the task at hand….
so, over the last year, i’ve gotten into bluegrass music. mainly due to Old Crow Medicine Show (which isn’t technically bluegrass, but that’s for another day). i dig the sound of a mandolin, a stand up bass, and of course a screamin’ fiddle.
i listen to a lot of folk music, which isn’t a very good description of genre, but simplified it means country-tinged, traditionally born music. by getting into folk, i, in a sense, rediscovered some artists that i had previously come across and took for granted: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, etc.
through folk, i found some ‘indie folk’, artists such as Iron & Wine and The Everybodyfields, and blog-hunting led me to discover some artists that could be described as ‘indie rock’: The Kooks, Spoon, Band of Horses, etc.
i’ll stop wastin your time with words and show some results:
My Top 10 Albums of 2007
ok, i’m tired – top 5 tomorrow……
