Neil Young Sparks an Electric Car Revolution

Neil Young has never been shy about his love of Big Old American Cars. There on his album covers, in his garage, and he's even written songs about them. . But you always had to wonder how that jibbed with his outspoken environmental views. Wonder no longer. Young has recently been touting a new venture known as LincVolt. The media bait of the project is the transformation of Neil's 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Convertible into a zero emission eclectic car and it's subsequent cross country road trip.


But what's really going on here is that Young is attempting to breathe life into the languishing electric car movement. On videos and blog postings on the site, Young extols the virtues of plug-in self-charging electric cars (SCEVs) vs. the other "green options" currently being explored. Primarily the ability to develop a car that is large enough to be comfortable, yet is still able to travel long distances without re-fueling. The values section of the Mission Statement puts it this way:

We want to build a zero emissions automobile that eliminates roadside re-fueling entirely, a safe powerful automobile that is comfortable and economic on both long trips and the commute to work, an automobile that can generate power to the home when it is parked, potentially creating an income stream for the owner.

It is essentially the holy grail of green vehicles for this country. A car that is good for the environment yet does not infringe on American driving sensibilities. The site is loaded with great videos of the the build, and will soon allow you to track the road trip. Neil is hardly a silent partner in the project. He contributes articles, files video updates and plans on driving most of the trip. In my mind, this is a perfect example of how artists can cash in on their celebrity to change the world. It should be an interesting project to follow.

I'm Proud to Have a President That's Better Than Me

You know, there has been a lot of talk in the last few elections about people choosing a president based on the person they’d most like to have a beer with. That sentiment shot to a whole new level with the reaction of a certain sector of the electorate to the nomination of Sarah Palin for the GOP ticket. Suddenly it went from “someone I’d like to have a beer with” to “someone just like me”. This attitude has always baffled me. I always expected the President of the United States to be an exceptional person. Someone who would emit an air of intelligence and leadership that was palpable when they entered the room. Certainly someone more impressive than me! Not that I’m an idiot, but I’m sure not presidential material. And that’s why once again, I was impressed by our President Elect’s reaction to the on-going election post mortem. In the past few days he has proven to be that exceptional type of person who is uniquely qualified to be the leader of the free world.

This week President Elect Obama (still fun to sat that isn’t it?) has made it clear that he would be happy to have Joe Leiberman stay in a position of power within the Senate. I have to admit, if it was up to me I’d say throw Joe to the curb. Not because of his endorsement of John McCain, but for his nasty attacks on Barack Obama at the Republican convention and later during the campaign. The Democrats are not likely to get a 60-person filibuster-proof caucus, and regardless of where Lieberman ends up he is going to vote with Democrats on the majority of issues. To allow him to retain his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, controlling the discourse and oversight on one of the issues where he differs greatly from many of the democratic base, seems wrong. I say punish him for his disloyalty! But Barack Obama is smarter and more rational than I am. He intends bury the hatchet and move forward. In the end it is probably what’s best for the country, but I doubt there are many of us who can honestly say they would do the same thing in his position.

Reconciling with former allies is one thing. But what about opponents who did everything they could to attack your character when they couldn’t handle debating the issues. Every since her dog sled pulled up to the campaign trail, Sarah Palin made it her mission to tear down Barack Obama with personal attacks. She claimed he palled around with terrorists, questioned his patriotism and stood ideally by as crowds hurled all sorts of nasty insults at her rallies. Yet our new President is even willing to forgive this type of mud-slinging according to Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. Yesterday on CNN, Jarett responding to Palin’s comment that she would be honored “to assist and support our new president and the new administration” not with scoff as I might, but with open arms. Now in reality it is hard to imagine a situation where they would call on the Alaskan Governor for help, but the fact that they remain open-minded is admirable.

Let’s face it, this election managed to bring out the best and the worst in the American population. In the end bitterness and fear lost to optimism and hope. As we move this country forward, isn’t it refreshing to have a President that leads by example? A leader that challenges us to look beyond out petty difference and to embrace the dreams we share. That is a change we’ve needed for decades. THAT is change we can believe in.

Throught The Cracks: Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline

Through the cracks is a series on classic albums you should own if you don't. These aren't the most popular albums by the artist, but more likely one you may have overlooked.

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
There have been thousands and thousands of pages spent trying to figure out what goes through the mind of Bob Dylan. You can make a career out of it. And that's just the way he likes it. There is probably no other artist that is so influential, yet so mysterious. The beauty of being Bob Dylan is that you have the ability to create whatever you want, for better or worse, without considering what people think. He has released 45 albums since his self-titled debut album hit the stores in 1962, some great, and some unfortunate. By the age of 21 he already created an evolving mythology about himself. Robert Zimmerman, scrawny Jewish boy from Minnesota had converted himself into road-wise hobo Bob Dylan. He claimed to have traveled the rails and learned songs from obscure musicians that he never met. He told stories about life on the road, populated with characters that existed only his mind. Along the way he picked up an affected Okie accent, reminiscent of his idol Woody Guthrie, and started using his own form of retro-hip slang. It didn't really matter that no one bought the wild stories or contrived persona. It created an aura around Bob Dylan that was bigger than himself. It was this new persona that could sing stories of pain, love and sorrow with the crackle of an old wanderer. Something a skinny kid from Minnesota could never have gotten away with. Throughout his career Dylan has been an enigma to even his "closest colleagues". He would often show up hours late for recording sessions. Walk in the door without saying anything, plug in, count off the beat and start playing. Many times the frantic musicians were hearing the music for the first time, straining to see Dylan's fingers so they could figure out the chord progressions. Rag tag numbers would be cut in single takes, while others would require intricate work. The time or attention didn't seem to affect the out come. Some classic Dylan songs were cut with less thought than the average advertising jingle might receive.

So, who knows what was going through Dylan's head as he laid down the tracks for Nashville Skyline in 1969? Although many of the studio musician assembled for the session had been on hand to record his two previous albums, John Wesley Harding and Blond on Blonde, none of them had more than a passing conversation with the elusive songwriter. They had no idea what they were to record. The first track cut for the album was the classic Lay Lady Lay (intended for the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy but delivered too late). It was at this session that everyone would get their first hint of the "new sound" that Dylan would use on the upcoming album. First there was the issue of the drum track. Dylan told drummer Kenny Buttery that he wanted bongos on the track. Buttery then asked producer Bob Johnston what he thought, and Johnston suggested a cowbell. In part to show how silly and unfocused the direction was, Buttery had the studio janitor (a young Kris Kristofferson) hold a pair of cheap bongos and an old cowbell next to his set as he beat out an odd tick tock pattern. It turned out to be just what Dylan was looking for, and lends off-kilter timing to the song. The weirdness continued when Dylan stepped up to the mic and recorded his vocal. Instead of the throaty, croaking voice they were used to, Dylan unleashed a smooth croon. More Roy Orbison than Woody Guthrie. The lyric itself isn't necessarily remarkable, a standard love song, but the delivery shimmers. This is true of most of the songs on Nashville Skyline. The performance out shines the writing, certainly a change for Dylan. His countrified voice really stands out on the album's first song, a remake Girl from the North Country with Johnny Cash. This take was the result of an impromptu two-hour jam session between the two friends (a bootleg of this session circulates widely). Here the song sounds haunted, the two men playing sparse guitar and trading vocal leads. At one point they harmonize the chorus, Dylan's ethereal tenor floating above Cash's powerful baritone. While the looseness of the session is apparent, it is still a powerful remake of one of Dylan's most popular songs (first released on Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963). One of the things that make this album work is the band. A collection of seasoned studio musicians that lend a polished, professional edge to the albums rag-tag country blues. They really shine on the instrumental Nashville Skyline Rag and the southern fried To Be Alone With You. As with most Dylan albums, not everything is perfect here. But whether he's delivering the emotional performance of I Threw it All Away or the vaudevillian sway of Peggy Day, it is all heartfelt. And some tracks, like the rockin' Country Pie whose fiery jam fades out at the end, makes you wonder what we didn't get to hear. Dylan has of course gone on to become one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. At 61, the enduring road warrior still criss crosses the country, delivering inspired performances night after night. That voice that seemed unlikely for a 20-year-old kid has matured into a powerful tool befitting an aging icon. Who knows why he chose to show the world another side on Nashville Skyline, but I'm sure glad he did. It's an album that could only be made by Bob Dylan, even if it sounds like someone else entirely. But maybe that's the moral of the Story of Bob. You can keep people wondering for 30 years and they'll always come back for moreas long as have the talent to back it up.

Check Out: O'Death

Imagine if Frank Black and Emmylou Harris had a set of illegitimate quints and kept them locked away in a cabin in WV for 20 years surviving on a diet of grubs, white lightening and gutter blues. The resulting eccentric and perversely talented group of young men might sound an awful lot like O'Death. In a few short months these guys have moved from playing basement rent parties to small theaters. And now this Brooklyn-based punk/bluegrass outfit and blogger bait is set to take the world by storm as they head out on a European tour behind their soon to be released "Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin". I was lucky enough to catch a show at the Williamsburg Music Hall last month and it was amazing. The energy these guys bring to the stage is damn near frightening. Don't get me wrong, their mix of thrashing punk aggression and down-home harmonies is not for everyone. Indie folks might be turned off by the twang, and roots fans might be horrified by the distortion. But for those of us that enjoy bands who push boundaries, O'Death is a revelation. I haven't heard the new album but the last one "Head Home" is very good. However they really shine onstage, where they transform into a sweaty, rollicking band of amp up gypsies. They will be back stateside on November, so keep and eye out for them.

My Space
Band Web Site

Where do you find music? Part 3: Download Sites

As a compulsive music collector, people are often curious about how I discover new music and where all the cd's/bootlegs/mp3s and DVDs come from. So as a service to my friends and readers, here is a little peak inside my demented world of music procurement.

Part 1: Internet Radio
Part 2: RIYL Sites

Part 3: Download Sites
You've discovered some cool new bands on places like Radio Paradise and Pandora, but now you want to investigate further, or better yet, get some tunes. Well you could of course go to iTunes or Amazon or even your local record store, if you have one. But there are lot of other options out there you might not know about. Here are some of the places I go when I want to hear more of a band.

Live Music Archive
Part of the Internet Archive, the Live Music Archive is an out growth of the Jamband Taper Scene. These days it is home to live recordings of 100's of bands ranging from jammy to indie to twangy to techy. All theses are band sanctioned recordings, that are distributed free of charge. Most recordings can be downloaded in MP3 and lossless formats.

Songza
Ok so this isn't technically a download site, but is still a pretty cool way to hear more of an artist that might interest you. It is a very simple site that allows you to type in the name of an artist and then it will create a playlist of songs by that artist. You can stream the songs, but not download them. Great way to decide if you are interested in buyin the album.

eMusic
This is a subscription service that allows you to download a certain number of tracks each month, depending on how much you wan to spend (from 10/month for $5.99 to 300/month for $74.99) . You are not gong to find very many major artists here, but the indie, underground and jazz is very well represented. I've been a member for a long time, and over the years have download Miles Davis, Arcade Fire, Dead Kennedys, LCD Sound System, Cat Power, Creedance Clearwater Revival, moe., Belle + Sebastian, Bill Evans, the list goes on and on. Tons of great music at lower prices than iTunes or Amazon.

Go See: David Byrne

David Byrne kicked off his "Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno" tour last night, and by all accounts it was fantastic (set list below). Looks like he'll be playing lots of fan favorites from the classic Eno-produced Talking Heads albums (More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light) in addition to the two Eno-Byrne collaborations, 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and the just released Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The later is a must have! You can stream or downlaod it at the album web site. I highly recommend getting it!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that NYC dates will be added, otherwise I might be headed to the Borgota!

Sept. 16: Bethlehem, Pa. (Zoellner Arts Center)
Sept. 17: Baltimore (Lyric)
Sept. 18: Newport News, Va. (Ferguson Center)
Sept. 20: Atlanta (Chastain Park)
Sept. 21: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)
Sept. 22: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
Sept. 23: Memphis (Orpheum Theatre)
Sept. 25: Austin, Texas (Paramount Theatre)
Sept. 26: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits)
Sept. 28: Albuquerque, N.M. (Kiva Auditorium)
Sept. 30: Phoenix (Orpheum)
Oct. 2: San Diego (Humphrey's)
Oct. 3: Los Angeles (Greek Theatre)
Oct. 4: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Arlington Theatre)
Oct. 6: San Francisco (Davies Hall)
Oct. 8: Santa Rosa, Calif. (Wells Fargo Center)
Oct. 11: Park City, Utah (Eccles Center)
Oct. 12: Denver (Buell Theatre)
Oct. 14: Minneapolis (State Theatre)
Oct. 15: Milwaukee (Pabst Theatre)
Oct. 17: Omaha, Neb. (Kiewit Hall)
Oct. 18: St. Louis (Fox Theatre)
Oct. 19: Kansas City, Mo. (Uptown Theatre)
Oct. 21: Louisville (Palace Theatre)
Oct. 23: Cleveland (Allen Theatre)
Oct. 24: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Theatre)
Oct. 25: Indianapolis (Clowes Hall)
Oct. 26: Chicago (Opera House)
Oct. 29: Toronto (Massey Hall)
Oct. 30: Montreal (Metropolis)
Oct. 31: Boston (Wang Center)
Nov. 1: Atlantic City, N.J. (Borgata)
Nov. 3: Red Bank, N.J. (Count Basie Theatre)
Nov. 5: Albany, N.Y. (Empire State Plaza)
Nov. 7: Pittsburgh (Carnegie Music Hall)
Nov. 8: Philadelphia (Tower Theatre)

David Byrne
September 16, 2008
Zoellner Center (Lehigh University)
Bethlehem, PA

Strange Overtones, I Zimbra, One Fine Day, Help Me Somebody, Houses in Motion, Lost and Found, My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks), Heaven, Home, My Big Nurse, Crosseyed & Painless, Life Is Long, Once in a Lifetime, Life During Wartime, I Feel My Stuff
Encore: Take Me to the River, The Great Curve, Everything that Happens Will Happen Today

Byrne is using groovy dancers on this our as well!

Through The Cracks: Elvis Presley - The Memphis Record

Through the cracks is a series on classic albums you should own if you don't. These aren't the most popular albums by the artist, but more likely one you may have overlooked.

Elvis Presley - The Memphis Record
On June 27, 1968 Elvis Presley waited nervously in the wings of the NBC’s Burbank, CA Studios. He was about to face one of the most important moments in his career. He hadn’t performed in front of an audience in over seven years. He had lost touch with the current music scene. While America’s youth was expanding their consciousness, he’d spent most of the decade making movies and recording soundtracks in Hollywood. Now the world was waiting to see if he still had that special spark. Elvis stepped out on the stage that night, a little nervous, but captivating as ever. Over the course of what has become known as the “The 68 Comeback Special”, Presley showed all the talent that had made him a star 15 years before. The highlight of the show was an informal jam session with a couple band members. Elvis, painted into a leather jumpsuit, his body trim and fit from weeks of dieting and speed, belted through a medley of his old hits. He still had it, and the crowd went wild.

Convinced that there was still an audience for his music, Elvis decided to make his next album the following year in Memphis, where he hadn’t recorded since the first Sun Sessions. A last minute call was made to tiny American Studio at 827 Thomas Street. The Memphis music industry had changed a lot since the 50’s. The roots rock of Sun had given way to the country-fried soul of Stax. Elvis may have been out of touch with the latest music trends, but lucky for him American’s musicians were not. The studio was in the middle of a run of 122 hits that would span three years. They utilized the same “Memphis Sound” that made hits for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Al Green. Many of the musicians on the record were younger and hipper that the aging superstar (including one young back-up singer named Donna Thatcher, soon to be Donna Jean Godchaux), but the vibe was not so much Haight Street, as Beale Street…soaked in southern soul. Adding to the energy was the fact that Elvis, now out form under the thumb of Col. Tom Parker, was calling all the shots. He chose the songs he wanted to sing because he liked them, not based on shady publishing deals. The result is the most vibrant music Elvis had made since those first dates at Sun. The songs from this session (originally released on two albums From Elvis in Memphis – 1969 and Back in Memphis – 1970) are re-mastered and reissued here as The Memphis Record. It is not a perfect CD, but even the songs that find Elvis treading familiar territory feature strong playing and passionate vocals.

The energy kicks in right away with the hard snare beat and funky horns of Stranger in My Own Hometown. This sounds like something that could have been recording a few bocks away at Stax. The throbbing bass keeps the groove going as Elvis’s unmistakable baritone begins the lament of a prodigal son coming home. “My so-called friends stopped being friendly, but you can’t keep a good man down,” he belts as the song builds with organ, steel guitar and strings until it’s a down-home romp. Sometimes with all the ridiculous images we see, it is easy to forget that Elvis started out rooted in Gospel and Blues. His roots show in this first track and the following one, The Power of Love, with its blasting harmonica and heavy bass. Elvis almost howls the vocal, his voice quivering with anticipation. Songs like, Only the Strong Survive and Any Day Now, move into a more mellow tone with Presley occasionally trading his baritone for a mostly unsuccessful crack at a Roy Orbison falsetto. Suspicious Minds is probably the most well known song on this album. In coming years Elvis would turn this song into a shagadelic free-for-all in concert. Here it is the startling perfect gem of a pop song we are all familiar with. But the most exciting cut on the album has got to be Rubberneckin’. You can almost see go-go dancers gyrating in a cage as this rocker unfolds with awesome horn work and soaring vocals. The remaining standouts on the album are engaging, but ultimately don’t stray far from the polished Nashville sound that came to mark Elvis’s future albums. I’m Moving On tells a truck driver’s story with accelerating horns and driving choruses. You’ll Think of Me combines a haunting, eastern sounding steel guitar and with Elvis’s sauntering vocals. In the Ghetto, the strongest balled on the disc, builds from a sparse arrangement to a full-on gospel choir. In the end we see a portrait of Elvis at a turning point in his career. Within a year he would trade in the black leather and southern soul of Memphis for the sequined jump-suits and kitchy lounge of Las Vegas, as he began the first of his extended engagements in the city that would drain the last of his magic. But for a couple years as he rediscovered his roots in his hometown, Elvis showed a new generation, and many after, why he’s called the King of Rock and Roll.

Where do you find music? Part 2: RIYL Sites

As a compulsive music collector, people are often curious about how I discover new music and where all the cd's/bootlegs/mp3s and DVDs come from. So as a service to my friends and readers, here is a little peak inside my demented world of music procurement.
Part 1: Internet Radio.

Part 2: RIYL Sites
Say you’re looking for some great new music. Maybe you’ve just discovered a cool new band on Radio Paradise and you want to hear more stuff like that. Well if you’re lucky enough to live in a town that has a privately owned record store filled with music geeks you could probably go ask one of them. Maybe they’ll help you. Maybe they’ll sneer in your general direction and point you toward a bin of death metal. Or you could ask your hippest friend, who’s likely to tell you about the hippest new band that has nothing to do with the band you are actually interested. Here’s a better idea. Check out one of these “Right If You Like” (RIYL) sites and find something sorta like what you like, but different!

Pandora
Pandora.com is the most interesting of all the music recommendation options of the web. It is powered by the Music Genome Project, a group of technicians, music professionals and fans that attempt to break down music into a “genetic code” that can be used to connect similar songs in a computerized “Right If You Like” (RIYL) model of recommending music. Pretty crazy stuff! And it works great! Just go to Pandora.com and enter in the names of some songs or artists you like. Pandora will create a streaming radio station based on your entries. You can further refine the selections by indicating the songs you like as they are played. Feel free to check out my Mellow Moods station, which was created by inputting Kruder & Dorfmeister, Morcheeba, Sigur Ros and Thievery Corporation (with further refinements).

Sadly Pandora is having a hard time staying afloat thanks to new legislation that charges royalties to internet radio providers higher than that of satellite radio or traditional radio (which pay none!). Check them out while you can.

Music Emissions
This is a very handy indie-oriented site. It offers both editorial and user reviews. It has a handy RIYL section that will point you in the direction of the other bands. Lots of links where you can hear clips of songs.

iTunes Genius
iTunes has gotten into the RIYL game with the new “Genius” feature on the just released iTunes 8.0. It is still pretty new and I can’t really give a full report on it. It basically allows you to select a song in your iTunes Library and then suggests other similar songs available in the iTunes store. This seems to work very similar to Pandora (except you have to buy the songs), and in my few tests the suggestions seemed to be pretty reasonable. I’ll come back to this later if proves especially useful or useless. Let me know you think!

Up Next: Download Sites

Where do you find music? Part 1: Internet Radio

As a compulsive music collector, people are often curious about how I discover new music and where all the cd's/bootlegs/mp3s and DVDs come from. So as a service to my friends and readers, here is a little peak inside my demented world of music procurement.

Part 1: Internet Radio
There was a time when you could look to the radio dial for new sounds, but in most of America those days are over. Thankfully the Internet is here to fill the void left by corporate radio. These streams have introduced me to countless musicians. Oftentimes ones that later go on to make huge waves in the press:

Radio Paradise - Great community-supported, commercial-free, web radio station. It is one of the stations built into iTunes in the radio section under "eclectic". They play a nice DJ-selected mix of new and classic rock with the occasional classical or jazz selection thrown in. On-site playlists, discussion forums and links make it easy to further investigate artists and even buy music.

WFPK - Louisville, KY has a surprisingly fertile music scene, as evidenced buy the recent accension of My Morning Jacket to the halls of indie-rock stardom. WFPK has long been a driving force behind that scene, pumping out great indie, rock, bluegrass, jazz and more. "Live Lunch" in studio performaces every friday at noon

Radio IO - This is whole network of Web radio stations. They do have ads, but you can pay little fee to go commercial-free if that really bugs you. My two favorites on here are RadioIO Jam (for when I want to relieve my deadhead days) and RadioIO Eclectic.

Next up: RIYL Sites

And we're baaaaaack!

Note to self....

Don't start a project a week before you leave the country for 5 weeks... I can be difficult to get back in the groove! So please excuse my disappearance. I now return you to your regularly scheduled ramblings....

Review: Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal

Full Disclosure: I have been evangelizing about Alejandro Escovedo since my brief stint in Austin, TX in 1990. I could write thousands of words chronicling Alejandro’s storied career, but you can find all that on his site or Wikipedia. I’ll just say that Alejandro has been an important, though little-known force in the underground music since the early 70’s. Along the way he has written some of the most compelling music to come out of America in last 30 years. In my opinion he is the most underrated singer/songwriter working today.

Now that we have that out of the way, on to Real Animal which was released on June 24th. Alejandro has always mined his personal life for songwriting material. Real Animal takes his narrative prowess to new level, laying out the blueprint of a life driven by music. And like the best songs often do, these paint such vivid pictures that the album plays like a movie in your head. A movie with the best soundtrack you’ve ever heard.

In Chelsea Hotel 78, a young punker stands on the sidewalk watching his friend Sid be carried off in cuffs for murder, while crunching guitars fight with swirling strings beneath. The “five feet four, trailer park kid” who stars in Real as Animal (a tribute to Alejandro’s beloved Iggy Pop) kicks “like a mule, twist like a tree” to a pummeling four-on-the-floor garage band beat. While the old man in the closer Slow Down takes his lover on a tour of his childhood home to the sweet strains of slide guitar and plucked cello. He tries to show her the beauty he once found there, to show her why he loved this place so much. But in the end all he really has is this sage advice “Slow down, slow down/Yeah, it’s too fast/To love in this moment/Got to let go of the past.”

Throughout this album, from the raucous recitations of youthful hubris in searing tunes like Chip N’ Tony and Nuns Song to the still serenades of an old man remembering his childhood in Swallows of San Juan and Hollywood Hills, Escovedo is exploring his musical legacy as well as his personal one. He manages to touch every genre he has ever dallied in, often combining two or three in a single song. If this album had come out during his near-fatal bout with Hepatitis a few years ago, it might be taken as a swan song. A final exclamation point to brilliant career, not unlike Warren Zevon’s amazing album, The Wind. But with Alejandro now disease free, I think we call look at this as a man assessing how he got to this point in his life, and where he is going next. I don’t know where that may be, but I have a feeling he’ll have some amazing stories to tell when he gets there.

What next?
Listen to some samples on his site

Buy the CD on Amazon

Download it on iTunes and get two bonus tracks plus a digital book with extensive liner notes.

Watch the “making of” video in my previous post.

Alejandro has done it again!

MY OH MY! I have just made it through my first listen of Alejandro Escovedo's new release, Real Animal. All I can say right now is I am blown away. The album is a musical and narrative trip through his career, touching on the nuns, 70's nyc, the loss of friends, his near-death illness and more. I'll be back tomorrow with a full review, for now check out this "behind the scenes" video for a taste.

Willie + Wynton: How'd I miss that one!?!?

Even for an obsessive music junkie like myself, sometimes a show slips under the radar. Such was the case with the January 12 and 13, 2007 shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues." Now it is possible that, having seen Willie several times, I saw this listing and let it fade from my memory. Maybe I assumed it would be the same old Willie show, always entertaining but rarely groundbreaking. Or maybe it was the shock of returning to the NYC winter after a month working my family's grove in Florida that made me reluctant to venture out for this show. To be honest I don't recall. In fact, I heard about it for the first time today, while listening to the stream from wfpk in Louisville, KY (one of the web's most eclectic and entertaining radio streams). But whatever the reason for my oversight, it appears to have been a mistake.

The shows turned out to be Willie performing with Wynton Marsalis and members of the JALC orchestra. For two nights Willie, Wynton and the gang grooved through jazz standards, blues classics and Willie's extensive repertoire. The shows were filled with a brand new take on songs one or both of these musicians had played hundreds, if not thousands of times. Luckily for those of us that missed it, Blue Note will be releasing an album recorded during this run, titled "Two Men with the Blues", on July 8th, 2008.

(Click Image To Visit the Site)

Now since I'm not part of the "Media Elite", I don't receive advance copies of CDs mailed to my door. Someday maybe, but for now I have to get by with the free samples available on the website like the rest of you. And based on the offerings there ("Bright Lights, Big City" and "Georgia on My Mind"), we are in for quite a treat. Wynton's band adds a touch of swing and New Orleans boogie to the songs that seems to lift them to new heights. From the get go, it is clear that this was one of those special events where the musicians and mood hit at the same time, leaving spontaneous renditions of classics songs that will be enjoyed for years to come. In a video on the site, Willie makes this comment:

"I think labels were invented to sell music. You had to know what to call it before you could sell it...But some music encompasses it all. So what do you call that? That's pretty much what I like to play."

And that is an apt description of what you'll find in this CD. Music that draws from every corner of the American Musical Lexicon, and mixes these diverse styles into a new gumbo where New Orleans mingles with Nashville. A sublime marriage of the Big City and the Heartland. And these days, anything that crosses that divide is good for all of us.