Jon Jackson wrote the other day with news of more uploaded video’s. And I swear him sitting in his trailer somewhere on the outkirts of Nashville is somehow better that each and every overproduced video I’ve seen on the web or CMT for God’s sake. I’m thrilled he put up “Green Apples” but also excited to hear his ode to the Waffle House girl song, “Excuse Me”, for the first time.
His debut record Green Apples is a Songs:Illinois must-buy recommendation here (do we even have that!?).
P.S. John will be playing the latest incarnation of the Songs:Illinois House Concert series on June 6 along with Joe Pug from Chicago and Michael Fracasso all the way from Austin, Tx. If you’d like to come email me here - cbonnell@gmail.com.
Fred Prellberg’s new record Ten Pennies Make A Dime is unapolagetically retro. Each song can be traced back to it’s influences which extend to rockabilly, Springsteen or the 6 minutes of hard rock of the track below. Ten Pennies is the follow up to Fred’s much lauded (in Europe anyway) debut Last Of The Rock Stars.
Not to toot my own horn, but what the heck, I was one of the few bloggers that picked up on the atmospheric roots music of Dao Stroma few years back. Now that she’s back with a new record I’ll be glad to get out in front again. Everything That Blooms Wrecks Me is out now after a recent cd release party in Alaska. It’s a more accomplished record than her first, or at least it seems that way, since it’s a little more fleshed out with a variety of instruments and a slightly more full sound.
Dao is more well known for her critically acclaimed fiction than for her earthy, unusual, and heady music. Her first two books were well received, as was her 2005 debut record Send Me Home. Musically Dao is firmly planted in the indie folk/out-there alt-country genres. It’s clear that her music is informed by her life experiences and her diverse cultural and ethnic background (Dao is Vietnamese but grew up in the mountains of Northern California and now lives in Juneau, Alaska).
This new record has a very rural feel to it. It oozes modern hippie. Not in a bad way of course, but more along the lines of the freak folkers like Devandra, Alela Diane and Marie Sioux. The title track is a beautiful cello and piano based number with Dao’s vocals front and center.
You can buy Everything That Blooms Wrecks Me or Send Me Home or her novels for that matter all here.
There’s a bit of sad record label news this morning. Asaurus Records has announced it’s taking a permanent vacation. Asaurus is/was one of the coolest little lofi records on the planet. Their catalog consists of seminal recordings by Colin Clary, the Mathletes, Pants Yell!, Red Pony Clock and Capstan Shafts.
The last threatened release should be something new from The Mathletes in June. It may or may not include these cover songs released this year as a free download. Here’s “What Goes On” by VU and “Seeing Other People” by Belle and Sebastian. In the meantime head over to the Asaurus store before it closes for handmade, cdr releases from all of the above plus many more.
The Old 97’s long awaited record Blame It On The Gravity will suck the oxygen from every other Americana release over the next month or so. Which is a shame because from the songs I’ve heard from Old 97’s bassist Murry Hammond’s new record I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way deserve to be heard. Murry Hammond is the bassist in Old 97’s but he’s also connected to the new folk movement though his marriage to Grey Delisle.
The track “Lost At Sea” has a Paul Simon circa The Graduate feel. While “I Believe, I Believe” is more of an old country gospel song along the lines of something you might hear on Johnny Cash’s Hymns record. The new disc was recorded in analog which makes the slight reverb and uncompressed layering of instruments a wondefull byproduct of this technique. These songs were written during a period of time when Murry lost his parents, got married, had a child and was a leader at the Burbank Christian Church. So thematically the songs are a bit heavy, but musically they’re rather refined and quietly somber.
Rhett Miller will surely have that last laugh with the new Old 97’s record, but Murry may have made the better record. Ain’t that always the way of things.
There was an interesting possibility of a serious discussion about the state of internet music piracy, royalties, and copyright issues cut short by Adam from Beggars Banquet this morning on the Elbo.ws forum. The issue came up when Adam linked to a mix containing songs by Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Arthur Russell, Mose Allison and many more. The mix is being used to promote a for profit event in Philadelphia. I know for a fact that these artists and their estates do not allow posting of their copyrighted material. So the question is: at this point in the music/internet game is it fair to illegally link to mp3’s?
Ironically, Beggars is a big proponent of using Web Sheriff to shut down music bloggers who dare link to mp3’s from their own stable of artists. The implication is that fresh young talent needs it’s material protected but for an artist that has passed away or is past his prime they’re fair game to rip off.
Here’s the brief discussion. I didn’t feel like my question was off base but apparently it ruffled a feather or two.
Adam From Beggars Banquet -
Philebrity Belle & Sebastian Dance Party Pre-Game Mixtape
‘You Are Not Needed Now’ by Townes Van Zandt
‘Did I Say’ by Teenage Fanclub
‘Downtown Sundown’ by Thin Lizzy
‘Manchester’ by The Times
‘A Little Lost’ by Arthur Russell
‘I Just Want A Little Bit’ by Magic Sam
etc etc
Songs:Illinois -
That’s a funny yayblog coming from someone who works at a label that often complains about copyright infringement. Who’s paying the Van Zandt estate for rights to that song or Mose or Magic Sam for that matter? Or doesn’t it matter as long as they’re not on Beggars?
Adam From Beggars Banquet -
yup - i’m a conundrum!!!!
and often complain? hardly. i have issues, but it’s generally just with douchebags like you.
Songs:Illinois -
nice
Does anyone have any thought about this? Songs:Illinois has been a free and legal mp3 blog for 4 years. All of that legality makes the blog harder to run but I think in the end it is the right thing to do.
This new record from Rancho Deluxe should go a long way in separating the band from their Californian alt-country brethren. True Freedom is the band’s second album and features a sterling cast of supporting characters including Don Heffington on drums and Skip Edwards on piano.
“Maintenance Man” may be the first time in song that the lonely janitor get his due. It’s an odd litle ode to the working man but it works due in part to the layers of guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, bass and drums.
You can order this July release a little early here now.
These are a couple half-written posts from the last month. I never had the gumption or the wherewithal to fine tune them individually. So I added them altogether for a nice little group post. Enjoy.
This record, The Sun Is always Brighter, by Joshua James has been kicking around for a year or so. Due to his popularity, tour dates opening for some pretty fine artists (Justin Townes Earle, Lex Land and The Swell Season) and great press it will be be remixed and reissued on CD and vinyl in June.
Annie Keating is a NYC based Americana artist who has been compared to Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch. But her slow tempo, often langorious alt-country is more in the realm of Mary Gauthier. Her vocal delivery always traverses the same range as well…it’s like a low growl. Her new record is called Belmont and is available here.
The title track shows why this genre is perfectly suited to nostalgic songs about growing up, growing old and remembering it all like it was just yesterday.
Matt’s recently moved from the West coast to NYC and I wonder if that move has influenced this new batch of songs. On “Don’t Let Me Out” there’s a bit more to the production (including a dissonant accordion) than just the acoustic guitar of the past. I’m really looking forward to this new record from Matt Bauer.
It’s a rainy, dreary day here in Chicago and what better way to spend it than with the Baroque English folk of Nick Hudson. Nick Hudson’s new record, The Elegy, is out on Kiddiepunk Records in June.
On the song “Atlantic Dash” Nick hits just one note: somber. But listening to some of the other songs that are streaming on MySpace show an experimental side to this artist that’s not apparent from this one song.
“Real” publications do it, so why not Songs:Illinois? Here’s a letter to the editor, music blog style, with links to live shows from Mark Jungers, Scott Nolan and Danny Schmidt. Thanks to Chad for sending this along.
Hey man-
Got a bunch of links and info for you, that you may or may not know.
Saw your post on the new Adam Carroll record. It’s great. It was produced by Scott Nolan (who wrote the song “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart’ on Hayes’ new record), and recorded in Mark Junger’s garage, and engineered by Jungers, who might have helped out with some of the production too, not sure.
Here’s one of my favorite shows that I went to in 2007: Mark Jungers, with Scott Nolan and Adam. Adam plays, for the first time ever live (i think), Oklahoma Hustler and Hi-Fi Love, and perhaps the funniest version of “Werewolves of London” i’ve ever heard. Mark’s cover of “Powderfinger”, with Scott Nolan on lead, is however, one of the best cover versions I’ve heard.
If you don’t know Scott Nolan, check him out. He’s got a bunch of videos on YouTube. He and Joanna Miller play as a duo, and get a sound that sounds like a 5 piece band.
Also, a buddy of mine (who taped the above show also), recently taped Danny Schmidt, and Danny played a bunch of new ones. Thought you might want to check that out:
Danny Scmidt (Flac) (listen for Danny’s great new song about globalization)
Lastly, I discovered The Lonelyhearts through your site. Really really dig their tunes. Don’t know if you knew or not, but their first band has a ton of downloads available at www.rustbeltmusic.com
Figured I’d gotten enough stuff from your site that I should share a bit.
I’m not completely sold on all the young newgrassy bands (how `bout you?). Crooked Still, The Duhks and others just leave me a little cold. The music is pristine and shiny, but at times lacks the passion of less acclaimed and even less purely talented groups.
One of the most acclaimed young groups that stradle this line between polished bluegrass and down to earth country is Nashville’s Infamous Stringdusters. They’ll be releasing their new record on Sugar Hill In June. The guys in the `Dusters can certainly play, and that, along with their age and scruffy appearance, are a few of the reasons the band is treated more like a jam band than a bluegrass band on the road.
So here’s “You Can’t Handle The Truth” from the sophomore long player from the Infamous Stringdusters. Compare and contrast with the Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee song below.
What perfect timing. Here’s an example of an English band playing traditional American music just for kicks around the kitchen table. Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee is the name of Darren Hayman’s bluegrass inspired americana group. Darren Hayman is the former front man for the English cult pop group Hefner. So this will receive a wider release than your “typical” London bluegrass band; it’ll be out on Fortuna POP! via Cargo and iTunes on May 6 (today!).
They literally recorded this around the kitchen table in Darren’s flat. It’s probably a purist’s nightmare and is no doubt riddled with miscues and off key singing. But there’s something to this. The lyrics are original and address topics that are more relevant cold Appalachian winters and/or moonshine stills. So again compare this with the song above and see what you think.
Buy it now here. Here’s the song “Sly and the Family Stone”
This morning there appeared a horrible article in CNET about music blogs. It was filled with inaccuracies, misspellings (Lilly ?! Allen) and downright silliness. Idolator has already taken them to task but I can’t help to point out a few things as well.
First off, this quote - “we pick up the phone and bring original reporting” - by a Rolling Stone staffer about how Rolling Stone with it’s use of the common phone has blogs beat is just classic. I picture an intern or an old geezer with a typewriter, cigar and a rotary phone trying to call Man Man to get an update on the new record. Ironically the guys from Man Man have just abandoned phone use and gone all digital.
Secondly, for an article supposedly about Music Blogs its interesting to note he doesn’t speak with nary a one. None of the people he interviews writes a “real” blog in my opinion. This is not sour grapes I don’t care that he didn’t rush to my doorstep for a quote or two but I do care that he didn’t talk to StG, IGIF, MOKB, GvB etc etc. Maybe none of those guys were sitting by the phone either.
Finally, and maybe I’m wrong about this one, but the dude from Rolling stone is quoted as saying “”I wouldn’t call what they do as writing,” - is that even good grammar? If so it’s awkward at best.
P.S. This article was neither spell checked nor fact checked. And that’s part of the beauty of blogs. If RS even wanted to counteract this post it’d take `em 6weeks, a lot of phone calls (I generally don’t pick up) and a handful of interns. And we’d all be on to the next great band.
I’ve got a couple kids. And they drive me crazy. The most recent incident was a bad fall at the park by my 3 year old resulting in 4 stitches just millimeters from his right eye. Then one day this weekend both kids cried and tantrumed off and on all morning (mostly on). But all of that is quickly forgotten with a hug, a shared book, or a single that makes it out of the infield at t-ball.
Because of my kids I can relate to Lisa Cerbone’s new song for her daughter “Mia Noelle”. The lines in here that strike home about kids are “we have fallen under your spell” and “making friends with everyone”. That’s the truth about little kids.
Lisa’s new record is called We Were All Together and is the first for her in over seven years. Lisa has worked extensively with Mark Kozelek in the past, although on this record she collaborates with some of Baltimore’s finest musicians.
I was introduced to Lisa on a lullaby sampler put out by La Blogotheque. The songs on the new record can be thought of as lullaby’s as well. They’re mostly soft with gentle fingerpicking and subtle instrumentation. Lisa’s voice is stunning and haunting in equal quantities. You can buy this here now at Amazon.
I’m still liking everything I hear from Russian Red, Cable & Tweed mostly agrees but questions her choice of Cyndi Lauper covers.
3Hive expounds on the Joe Pug phenomena (fyi Joe will be performing at the next Songs:Illinois House Concert on June 6 - email me if you’re interested in attending).
The fiendishly good blog Anyone’s Guess has some lofi folk from Nathan Moomah.
Quarterlifeparty has 2 songs from the Wye Oak spinoff Noble Lake.
When I first wrote about Heather Waters and her 2004 record Shadow Of You I was impressed by it’s subtlety and it’s quiet moments of desperation. Heather’s brand new record, Propeller, has gone in a completely different direction. Now instead of being compared to Gillian Welch or Lucinda Williams her new material can more closely be compared to Canadian singer Holly Cole or even L.A. darling Aimee Mann.
It’s a pretty radical shift for Heather. Pedal steel has been replaced by B3 organ, acoustic guitars by electric and brushed drums by a heavy beat. This has been a conscious effort on Heather’s part which she elaborates on in the bio section of her website.
“I don’t want to be restricted by genre, or at least, people’s perceptions of what genre is,” Waters states, adding, “I live in Los Angeles. I’m married to a rock drummer. We own a pit bull named Rosebud. I don’t drive a truck and I haven’t ridden a horse or lived on a farm in ages. I might say “howdy,” but there’s more to me than that and I think the music should reflect that.”
I already have a Honky-Tonk Friday and an occasional Bluegrass Tuesday and I should rightly add an Austin Thursday. Austin is the hub of all things Americana, folk and alt-country. And Band Of Heathens have risen to the top of that heap. This is not just me blowing smoke but the whole town of Austin agrees as the group was named best new band in Austin in 2007.
This group of disparate singer-songwriters (Colin Brooke, Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, Seth Whitney and John Chipman) began playing a casual weekly gig together that quickly turned into the “it” show in town. So they decided to combine talents, come up with a name and work together as a band.
Their debut record is due out soon produced by Ray Wylie Hubbard with special guests Patty Griffin, Gurf Morlix and Stephen Bruton.
“Jackson Station” is the type of soaring anthem that probably goes over pretty well in the bars along Sixth Street. But it’s also nuanced enough to be just right for Songs:Illinois. I like that you get two distinct vocalists as well as Bandesque harmonies throughout. Lyrically the song is filled with iconic images of trains, funerals and gin whiskey.
Canadian singer-songwriter Adam Puddington, formerly of the alt-country group the Gutheries, has his new solo CD Back In Town (HaySale Records) scheduled for release in June. If you like atmospheric alt-country where the pedal steel murmurs instead of screams, and where the honky-tonk vocals and lyrics are replaced with something more thoughtful and sincere, than the new record will be for you.
The song “Deer In The Headlights” hits all these notes and more. The electric guitar shimmers, the pedal steel is a subtle accent, and Adam’s soothing voice a perfect instrument for his haunting lyrics.
I’ve been a big fan of Joshua Marcus since I first heard his yearning, plaintive vocals, his resonating banjo and his updated Appalachian mountain music. His new record, Reverse The Charges, is out in May on Contraphonic and High Two Records. He’s collaborated with a bunch of other artists to make this record and that shows on the one teaser track.
On “So Low So Love So Long” there are beautiful and ethereal backing vocals, an eerie electric saw/Theremin sound, and his trusty banjo and voice. It’s a great introduction to this artist and the upcoming record.
It’s been a while since any twee pop has found it’s way onto Songs:Illinois so it’s fitting that the band that brings it back is the band that also gave us one of the most popular posts ever. I guess it didn’t hurt that the song from that post was devilishly dirty. Cars Can Be Blue is the band that got us thinking about Twee again this morning as they are about to release their new record Doubly Unbeatable.
The new record comes out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me on June 10 but can be pre-ordered now here. From the two songs below it seems like the band’s material may be a bit more mature as it deals with relationships and how to make them work. But they still can’t write a straightforward song. On “Sun Blows Up” Becky sings/screams that she’ll love her boyfriend `til the sun blows up and on “Coattails” she name drops Sebadoh, Pitchfork, and press releases in a song about an annoying band member she meets in her town.
It should come as no surprise to the fans of Bright Eyes that the Connor Oberst label Team Love is re-issueing Simon Joyner’s classic lp-only release The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll. Simon was clearly a big influence on Oberst and vice versa. John Peel famously played this release in its entirety, that was the second and last time John Peel played a record all the way through.
Here’s the song “Javelin” (dig the analog hiss in the background).
Glad you found me at my new url. Songs:Illinois is committed to writing about music that is under-appreciated and unique. I've found that the music I write about shares a couple of traits. And they are: lyrical integrity, musically diverse, and written/performed by compelling characters.
Most songs found here are free and legal and have been provided by either the artist or label. If for some reason you'd like to have a song removed, please email me at cbonnell (at) gmail.com.
