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....