DeadBilly's Steaming Pile of Vinyl

POST #304

2012-01-27T10:34:00.001-08:00

The Ex-Girlfriends Club - The Witch (The Sonics Cover)

POST #303

2012-01-24T05:18:00.000-08:00

Whistlejacket - Aurora

POST #302

2012-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

Alabama Shakes - I Ain't the Same No More (Live)

POST #301

2012-01-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Plants and Animals - Lightshow by SecretCityRecords

POST #300

2012-01-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

Dot Dash - The Color and The Sound

POST #299

2012-01-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

POST #298

2012-01-08T20:55:00.001-08:00

4th And Vine by sineadoconnor

POST #297

2012-01-03T19:31:00.001-08:00

As usual for me, I spent the entire month of December posting holiday tunes. During that time a bunch of music was sent my way, but I haven't had a chance to pass any of it on - until now. Here's a quick round up of some of the best new songs that have been hanging out in my in box for the past month.

Mutts' Pray For Rain has been growing on me more with each listen. I posted one track of theirs on my year-end compilation, but the album is fairly eclectic, so one track doesn't really give a full picture. Here's another one. By the way - the album is available as a pay-what-you- want download at muttsmusic.com. Definitely worth a listen.

Mutts - Throwback

I don't yet know much about Alexis Gideon, but I'm liking the single, "Skyrock". Can't wait to hear more.
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://africantapegroup.bandcamp.com/album/skyrock-galaxy-3-single"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Skyrock (Galaxy 3 Single) by Alexis Gideon&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

King Washington have a new album, The Gears, on its way in February. Here's a sneak peek track from it. (More info on them at kingwashingtonmusic.com)

King Washington - 4th Of July

And one final note. That image at the top is one of the shots I took at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix a couple months ago. If you ever get the chance to swing over there, it's an amazing place.

POST # 296 (Favorites Of 2011)

2011-12-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

POST #295 (XMAS 2011, WK 4)

2011-12-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

((Get It Here))

POST #294 (XMAS 2011, WK 3)

2011-12-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

((Get It Here))

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://ambulances.bandcamp.com/track/the-true-meaning-of-christmas-featuring-the-lovely-young-ladies-of-denbeath-parish-church-choir"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The True Meaning Of Christmas (featuring the lovely young ladies of Denbeath Parish Church Choir) by AMBULANCES&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

((Get It Here))

Turbo-Laser - Sexual Christmas (Free Download) by Turbo-Laser

POST #293 (XMAS 2011, WK 2)

2011-12-07T23:50:00.001-08:00

((Get It Here))

POST #292 (XMAS 2011)

2011-12-01T01:54:00.000-08:00

((No preview on this one. Download here.))

(No preview - get it here)

POST #291

2011-11-22T21:56:00.001-08:00

(MINI) POST #290

2011-11-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

We Were Promised Jetpacks: Live at KDHX 11/3/11 by KDHX

POST #289

2011-10-24T11:25:00.001-07:00

POST #288

2011-10-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

POST #287

2011-10-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

POST #286

2011-09-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://hollowmoon.bandcamp.com/album/rising-in-the-blue-sky-flows-like-a-river"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Rising In The Blue Sky/Flows Like A River by Hollowmoon&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Twilight Sad -- Kill It In The Morning

POST #285

2011-09-17T10:39:00.001-07:00

POST #284

2011-09-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

POST #283

2011-08-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

POST #282

2011-08-17T11:42:00.001-07:00

Satellite by BrandonSchott

Promises, Promises by pocketbooks

POST #281

2011-07-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

POST #280

2011-07-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

POST #279

2011-07-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Peter Kernel - Anthem of Hearts
Ken Lusk - Whisper

POST #278

2011-06-29T21:07:00.001-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://sonofthesunmusic.bandcamp.com/track/my-best-mistake-free-single-download"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;My Best Mistake (Free Single Download) by Son of the Sun&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Luck of Eden Hall - Jupiter

POST #277

2011-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

POST #276

2011-06-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Scott Hutchison & Rod Jones - I Forgot the Fall by Frightened Rabbit

POST #275

2011-06-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

POST #274

2011-06-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ken Lusk - The Stars and You

POST #273

2011-05-31T11:49:00.001-07:00

POST #272

2011-05-27T09:32:00.001-07:00

Admiral Fallow - The Sad Clown Cast

POST #271

2011-05-22T21:38:00.001-07:00

POST #270

2011-05-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Rabble Rabble - Why Not

John Lamonica - Heartling

Red Light Driver - Diamond Rough

POST #269

2011-05-05T12:32:00.001-07:00

POST #268

2011-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

POST #267

2011-04-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

POST #266

2011-04-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

A while back, I was passed a batch of demos from Glasgow-based band Johnny Reb. The demos were impressive enough that I gave them a shout out here, and posted a couple of the songs. Since then, the band have hit the studio, and today they are releasing their first album, The Portugal Years.

Oh, and it's free.

In order to hype the album a bit, I asked one of the guys from the band if he'd be willing to answer a few quick questions. He agreed (otherwise this would be a pretty pointless post) . So now I give you. . .

A cozy promotional chat (via email) with Johnny Reb:

DeadBilly -- Introductions, please.

Johnny Reb. Born and Brazed in the north of England. Seduced by Glasgow.

DB -- How’d the group come together?

JR -- This tends to differ depending on who you ask. At the moment I’m telling people it was a lonely hearts column ad that was misprinted.

DB -- Who would you say are your biggest influences?

JR -- The Close Lobsters & chronic Alopecia.

DB -- How did the hook up with Boz Boorer (producer of the album, and Morrissey’s guitarist) come about?

JR -- A sordid exchange of emails loaded with innuendo. Boz agreed to take us if we walked his dogs and washed up after dinner. It was a fair deal. His wife is an exceptional cook.

DB -- You’ve got a couple of big name guests on the album. Anyone you haven’t worked with that you’d like to?

JR -- Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star fame..

We invoked the spirit of John Tams at rehearsals last week. He was a bit of a tosser though..

DB -- Since it’s not likely I’ll be in Scotland anytime soon, tell me a bit about the local music scene.

JR -- Sadly it's dominated by pale Snow Patrol imitations..

Beauty lurks under rocks.. Edinburgh School For The Deaf are really something. Dam Mantle is a load of bollocks though. Frankly we’re embarrassed to say we’re part of the Glasgow music scene since that bag of warts got hold of synth players.

DB -- How did you come to the decision to put the album out for free download?

JR -- My grandmother is quite hard up at the moment.

DB -- On the same subject, since the music is free, do you still have your day jobs?

JR -- Yes, sadly these celestial scores we produce are still clearly sectioned under ‘Hobbies and Interests’ for the meantime.

DB -- The amazing cover art was done by your guitarist, Joseph Bucklow. Since I was an art major way back in the college days, I have to ask where did he study art/ how long has he been creating pieces?

JR -- Joseph has been churning out his turgid nonsense for too long. No formal art schooling as such, just fortunate to have a lot of pens and paper lying around as a small child.

DB -- I see you have some shows planned for the locals. If you’re ever in Arizona can I get on the guest list?

JR -- Of course. On the condition that you take us out for cocktails and dancing afterwards at the most questionable venue that comes to your mind.

Arizona seems a big enough place to lose a rather tiresome lead singer. I can see the headlines now.

Big thanks to Johnny Reb for taking the time to talk. For more info on the band, and to sample the tracks or download the album (again, it's free!), head on over to their Bandcamp page.

POST #265

2011-04-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

POST #264

2011-04-02T10:31:00.001-07:00

POST #263

2011-03-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

POST #262

2011-03-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

POST #261

2011-03-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

POST #260

2011-02-16T11:53:00.001-08:00

POST #259

2011-02-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

POST #258

2011-02-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

POST #257

2011-01-25T11:52:00.001-08:00

POST #256

2011-01-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

POST #255

2011-01-07T05:32:00.000-08:00

(NPR) (Daryl's House)

POST #254

2011-01-03T23:41:00.001-08:00

POST #253

2010-12-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, I had someone recommend the debut album from Seattle-based indie band The Volcano Diary to me. After giving the gorgeously understated folk-rock disc a few listens, and liking it more and more each time, I sent out an email to see if the band would have the time to chat a bit for the blog. Happily, lead singer and songwriter Alicia Dara was willing to oblige me.

DeadBilly -- Please introduce yourself, and let everyone know a bit about you.

Alicia Dara -- I was born and raised in Canada. My parents were professional symphony musicians. I started singing when I was 7. I studied musical theater in New York City but have been primarily based in Seattle for over a decade. I've released 5 solo records, played countless shows, toured a whole bunch, been both a signed and unsigned artist, sung on a few commercials, written over 500 songs, and taught singing and songwriting to hundreds of people. And I'm a passionate amateur pie maker. NO cupcakes!

DB -- What’s the band line-up these days?

AD -- Myself on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Gus Palaskas on electric and lap-steel guitars and vocals, and Dave Bush on drums and percussion. We alternate bass players.

DB -- You’ve been recording as a solo artist for more than a decade. Why did you decide to record this album as a band?

AD -- When I got back from the national tour for my record, "The Secret Dream of Tigers" in 2008 I felt like I had acquired some kind of degree that took ten years. I didn't realize until then how comfortable I had become with the solo-artist thing, how many shows I'd played. I suddenly knew that I was ready to be part of a tribe. A whole bunch of new songs started showing up, and everything came together quickly after that.

DB -- How did the group come together? Did you choose who to work with specifically for this project, or had you worked with them in the past elsewhere?

AD -- I've known Gus for over 10 years, mostly as a singer and guitarist. But I watched him develop his skills as a lap-steel player and was amazed at how creative he is with that thing. His live set-up is unconventional, to say the least, and gear heads always run right up to the stage to look at his gear when we finish our set. Dave came to us later in the game but his skills are diverse, which is what this kind of band needs. Because we play in a part of the dynamic spectrum that is not loud and crunchy you can't just pound out any old beat. We work extremely hard on our dynamics and Dave is a lot of the reason why it works so well.

DB -- The new album was produced by Steve Fisk, who has worked with Nirvana, Low, Soungarden, Screaming Trees, etc., etc. He’s also recorded as a solo artist, and with Pigeonhead. So, he’s obviously a pretty talent and creative guy. Was he a hands-on producer, bringing in his own ideas, or a more laid-back, let it happen type in the studio?

AD -- It's not so much what Steve knows about music (although that is considerable)... it's what he understands about it that makes him great. He completely inhabits the sonic landscape, he lives there, so you can trust that he will work hard for you if he invites you in. Steve and I had a bunch of meetings before we ever went into the studio, to learn about each other and look into the future a bit. I told him right away that I wanted this project to be a true collaboration, for him to feel part of it almost like another band member. What surprised me is how much care he took with his choices, and how much room he left for my voice, for my melodies. But he also made some stunningly beautiful sonic textures for me to play against, like in "Revival", "Pacifica", and "Lightning Seed". I would say that the entire process was organic, and happened very naturally.

DB -- Was the writing process different for this record than it has been as a solo artist?

AD -- Only in the sense that I wanted to bring my "A" game to everyone involved. I became a ruthless editor: I had about 27 songs prepared but I only showed 12 of them to Steve, and we came out with 9. We agreed early on about the quality over quantity equation. It was a risk but I think the record is a complete statement from start to finish.

DB -- Where did the band name come from?

AD -- It kind of describes how artists feel when we write songs and play music: vulnerable (hence the diary) but powerful (volcanic forces of nature).

DB -- I’ve seen reviews comparing your music to that of Aimee Mann and Rufus Wainwright. Who were your biggest influences starting out, and have they changed over the years?

AD -- Growing up in Canada we had the "holy trinity" of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Neil Young. But I was also a huge Kate Bush fan, and Tori Amos, Jane Siberry, Chris Whitley, Jeff Buckley, Daniel Lanois, and Lucinda Williams. Some current artists I love are Junip, Jose Gonzales, Ryan Adams, Bat for Lashes, Sigur Ros, Grinderman, and The National. Seattle artists that amaze me are Land of Pines, Cober, Mutiny Mutiny, Another Perfect Crime, Like Lightning, Mia Katherine Boyle, Jason Dean, and Elliot Knapp.

DB -- Everybody’s got a favorite band/artist that never made it big. Name one of your current faves that should be far better known than they are.

AD -- There is a woman in Seattle named Sheila Bommakanti who has a project called Cober. She plays a double neck SG through 2 Marshall half-stacks, and uses looping and delay pedals to make incredibly beautiful, heart-wrenching music. I think she's by far one of the best and most original musicians I've ever met. Cober should be the stuff of legend!!

DB -- You’re going to be playing around the west coast in early 2011. Any plans yet for a national tour?

AD -- We're still working it out, but it would be incredible. Because of our various schedules I think we'll be doing different legs of our tour, like one on the West Coast, then the East Coast, then maybe the Southwest. We've been talking about all the places we want to see, how diverse America is. The one thing I know for sure is that travel inspires me like nothing else, so we'll probably come back from our tours with a whole new record ready to go again!

The Volcano Diary's self-titled debut album is available at Amazon, CD Baby, and many fantastic brick-and-mortar record shops near you.

I wouldn't want you to go away without getting to hear some of the music, so here's the album opener, "Revival", and the bluesy "Burning Hands".

The Volcano Diary - "Revival"
The Volcano Diary - "Burning Hands"

Keep an eye on their official page, or their MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter for information on tour dates.

POST #252 (XMAS 2010, WEEK 4)

2010-12-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

(buy)

(buy) (buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

POST #251 (XMAS 2010 WEEK 3)

2010-12-14T23:09:00.001-08:00

(buy book) (buy TMBG)

POST #250 (XMAS 2010, WEEK 2)

2010-12-08T03:57:00.000-08:00

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy) (buy)

(buy)

(buy)

POST #249 (XMAS 2010)

2010-12-01T20:22:00.001-08:00

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

(buy)

POST #248

2010-11-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

The last time I had an interview on the blog, it was handled by friend-o'-the-blog, D. She has since left the country to get away from all the ensuing publicity. Alright, she was actually offered a teaching job in Chile, and went south. Just before a bunch of miners got stuck underground. Conspiracy theorists get to work.

Since I didn't have her to lean on this time 'round, I handled things myself. Being the anti-social guy that I am, it was done via this new-fangled e-mail technology thing, so that I wouldn't have to actually speak to another human being.

The other human being that I didn't actually speak face-to-face with in this case was Ryan from Portland-based band Ten Million Lights, whose album has been in heavy rotation on my car stereo lately, and this is:

A Cozy Computer Aided Chat with Ten Million Lights

DeadBilly -- Introduce yourself.

Ryan Carroll -- This is Ryan Carroll, lead singer and guitarist for Ten Million Lights.

DB -- How’d the band come together?

RC -- Eric Block and I were both in Saturna. He played guitar and I sang. We had quite a run with Saturna, putting out a couple of records, playing all around the country and even touring with Bob Mould. But we were split between two cities with our rhythm section being in Seattle and Eric and I being in Portland, so eventually we weren't able to pull it off and decided to call it quits.

That's when Eric and I started writing the songs that would be Ten Million Lights. We were originally planning on being a two piece, but when we met Emily last spring we knew we had found something special and immediately asked her to join us.

DB -- Portland, Oregon doesn’t seem to have a reputation as a Mecca for music. The only other band that comes to mind from there is Menomena. What’s the music scene like there?

RC -- Actually Portland has quite an active music scene. There are quite a few bands that fill the scene that we play in. Because of the Dandy Warhols there are a handful of bands that play shoegaze/psychedelic music.

There's a label here in town called Reverb Records that are about to put out a compilation that we're on that includes a bunch of those bands like The Upsidedown, Pete International Airport, Go Fever, Hawkeye, The Prids and bands from out of town like The Raveonettes, A Place To Bury Strangers, Serena Maneesh and tons more.

We do feel a bit isolated all the way up in the northwest though, it takes us three hours to get to Seattle and ten hours to San Francisco, so that does create sort of an insular scene.

DB -- Quite a few songs on the album are noticeably influenced by the Shoegaze sound. For some reason, I haven’t listened to much from that scene. Enlighten me on your favorite bands/songs from the scene. Where would be a good place to start if I wanted to give the genre a try?

RC -- Some of my favorite bands from that scene are Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, or Swervedriver.

DB -- Shoegaze is, obviously, not the only style your music is influenced by. What are some other bands/styles that have made a mark on you?

RC -- We're definitely influenced strongly by britpop. One of my favorite bands is The Jesus and Mary Chain. I can't get enough of them. I also love Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, The Cure and Siouxsie. But I'm also really into newer music like new albums from Crocodiles, School of Seven Bells, Grinderman, and Blond Redhead.

DB -- The bio on your website mentions quite a bit about your use of new technology. You also mention that you don’t use a live drummer. How does the rest of the music translate to the live shows? Is it just the three of you on stage, or do you bring along others to broaden the sound?

RC -- Well we all three play guitars and Emily and I sing together, so that is a lot of sound right there, not to mention our robot that we have programmed to do drums, bass and keyboards. Its actually a pretty big sound. We actually try to strip it down in a lot of places, so that you can really hear the vocals. It was tough at first to do, but the effect is really amazing. Its really fun to dance to the big beats too. I love watching people in the crowd moving.

DB -- Here’s a related question that’s been debated for 15+ years, and still has no good answer. What are your feelings on the future of the music industry, given the influences of P2P, the RIAA, etc.?

RC -- I'm really happy with the way things are going. I think the music industry was stuck and stale. It feels good to see the way the internet has opened up the world to being able to put out good music, instead of music being controlled by a select few. I think the smart record companies will change with the times and will be better for it. The ones that fall away will be the ones that can't think outside the box.

Bands are getting more control now and are getting together to form collectives, so there is still a sense of community that the labels once gave them, but bands now have the ability to control their own destiny and reach a world audience that wasn't there before.

DB -- A question you can answer for all the musicians sitting in dorm rooms with no record contract. How difficult was it to self-produce the album and get it on Amazon, iTunes, etc.?

RC -- Its a lot easier than people think. There are some amazing tools out there like CDbaby! They do almost all the work for you. Of course self-producing the record is always a challenge. Sometimes its better if you just record the tracks and then give it to someone you trust to mix and master. They get paid for their ears, use them!

DB -- Being that I was an art major in the college days, I have to ask who designed the cover image and how was it decided upon?

RC -- We really wanted our album artwork to be as clean as possible. We loved the early 4AD album artwork for its simplicity, so we tried to have that feel. Simple, light colors, clear jewel case, but then a fun color for the CD. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. When you open the case, the CD really pops.

DB -- Now that your album is out, and garnering airplay around the country, and hopefully the world, are there any plans to mount a larger tour?

RC -- We would love to get out of Portland and are planning to do so early next year, so keep your eyes and ears open.

Ten Million Lights' debut album is available now on Amazon, CDbaby and iTunes. Here's a couple of tracks to get you all tingly and excited:

Ten Million Lights - "Fast Asleep"
Ten Million Lights - "You Leave Me Hanging"

POST #247

2010-11-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

POST #246

2010-11-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

POST #245

2010-11-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

POST #244

2010-10-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

Find more artists like Johnny Reb at MySpace Music

POST #243

2010-10-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

POST #242

2010-10-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

POST #241

2010-10-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

POST #240

2010-10-04T05:36:00.000-07:00

POST #239

2010-09-29T17:07:00.001-07:00

My Pet Dragon have announced a new single, "Flow", to be released in mid-October. I've had a chance to give it a listen, and I've got to say if you're a fan of the band, you're in for a treat.

If you heard their last single, "Lover in Hiding", than you're familiar with the groups unique brand of ethereal rock. "Flow" follows in much the same footsteps, but with a more driving beat. I don't know if they've listened to a lot of early Cure or Siouxie, but that's what comes to mind for me, musically. Being that I'm a big fan of those, I'm anxiously awaiting My Pet Dragon's first full length.

But, hey, don't take my word for it. Have a listen for yourself:

My Pet Dragon - "Flow"

If you like what you hear, keep an eye on their website for news of the single release, which will also include several remixes and a cover of Pearl Jam's "Release". And that full length is also in the works.

Other newsy things:

Fan of legendary punk band Bad Religion? Live in the Valley?

Greg Gaffin will be signing the band's new album, The Dissent of Man, as well as his new book, Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God, on November 9th at Hoodlums in Tempe. Mark your calendars, and buy the album at Hoodlums, or the book at their neighboring book store, Changing Hands. That will establish your place in line for the signing.

Pitchfork have a fantastic interview with Nick Cave and JimSclavunos of Grinderman. You can read it here.

And while we're on the subject of Pitchfork, they've also put up a video of Menomena performing "Five Little Rooms" live in an empty school room. In fact, here's what it looks like:

POST #238

2010-09-27T11:05:00.001-07:00

POST #237

2010-09-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

POST #236

2010-09-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

POST #235

2010-09-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

POST #234

2010-09-07T23:56:00.001-07:00

POST #233

2010-09-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

POST #232

2010-08-29T10:22:00.001-07:00

POST #231

2010-08-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Nothing to download this time 'round. Just wanted to do a quick post of a live set that Frightened Rabbit has been kind enough to share.

On our most recent US tour we saw we had a day off in San Francisco and had no idea what to possibly do to fill our day. Alcatraz? Haight ashbury? Maybe just stroll round this beautiful city and take in the sites...

"I know", someone said, "Why don't we just go to work? It'll be great!! We'll play an acoustic show and get the guys from revision3 in to film it and we'll put it online and people can embed it on their blogs and it'll be totally amazing!"

"I quite fancy the zoo", Scott said.

"Too late now it's 3 o'clock we have to load in our gear and soundcheck."

By the way, Frightened Rabbit will be back in the states in October and November, so you want to see the real thing, check out the dates here.

And buy their albums here.

POST # 230

2010-08-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

POST #229

2010-08-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

POST #228

2010-08-17T21:26:00.001-07:00

POST #227

2010-08-14T18:30:00.001-07:00

One other little note: Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs' new album, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, is out next Tuesday. If you're curious what it sounds like, they have it up for listening at NPR. Click here to give it a listen, or here to pre-order.

POST #226

2010-08-07T21:34:00.001-07:00

A couple of other interesting things to mention:

Frightened Rabbit have released a new song through their mailing list. To join up and get the new tune ("Son C") and a bunch of new images, go on over here.

In other news, I recently heard from a fairly respectable source that they're currently in the beginning stages of work on a new Crow movie. This news alone would mean a thing to me (never been a huge fan of the franchise), but rumor has it that they've hired one Nick Cave to pen the screenplay.

Now, true, this is unofficial news and could mean absolutely nothing, but based on Nick's work on The Proposition (buy) and his novels, And The Ass Saw the Angel, and The Death of Bunny Monroe (buy) I'd love to see what he would do with The Crow.

In further Nick Cave news: Bad Seeds side project Grinderman have a new disc and tour coming up. The album, Grinderman 2, is scheduled for mid-September, with the tour to follow. Dates can be found here.

POST #225

2010-08-03T18:02:00.001-07:00

A few other odds and ends to let you know about:

Blog favorites Jonny Rumble are trying to score a spot on the main stage at the North Coast Music Festival in Chicago. If you'd like to help them out (and you should, after all they gave you their latest album for free) you can go over here and vote for them once a day, every day.

The Frames have announced the first date of the US leg of their 20 anniversary tour. They'll be playing at Terminal 5 in New York on November 20th, 2010. Keep an eye over here for more dates to come.

ATTENTION MUSICIANS (local and otherwise) I've been told of a smallish bookstore in the Mesa, AZ area that is considering having some occasional live music in the store. Any style of music (folk / jazz / rock / blues / whatever) will be considered, but the music has to be family friendly (much of their clientele have kids). If you / your band / the band you manage might be interested in playing such a show, email me ( deadbilly_88 (at) mail.com), and I'll get you in touch with them.

POST #224

2010-07-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

An update:

POST #223

2010-07-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

POST #222

2010-07-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

POST #221

2010-07-16T19:58:00.001-07:00

POST #220

2010-07-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

POST #219

2010-07-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

POST #218

2010-07-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

POST #217

2010-06-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Something a bit more recent (just yesterday):

POST #216

2010-06-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of other things to let you know about:

Indie band Oh My God have released a new video, featuring one Miss Tila (Tequila). The song, "My Own Adventure", is off their latest album, The Night Undoes The Work Of The Day (CD) (mp3), which is well worth your attention.

Irish band The Guggenheim Grotto have issued a new album, The Universe Is Laughing. It's been available for download over at their website for a few weeks, and has just been made available on CD here.

For those who've heard their first two albums, this sounds like a cross between the two. That mildly electronic feel that Happy The Man had has been toned down on the new album, giving it a more loosely-produced, small band feel which fits them very well. I recommend giving it a listen.

Here's a taster, courtesy of the band:

NPR has a five song live set by Swedish singer The Tallest Man On Earth streaming on their site. It was recorded during a show at Mountain Stage earlier this year. Hear it here.

POST #215

2010-06-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

POST #214

2010-06-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to get everybody up to date on all the information that has been passed along to me in the past week or so.

First off, the biggest news. Jonny Rumble, who I mentioned a few posts back, is currently giving away their brilliant new album, JR, for FREE. I highly recommend you jump on over here and download it. Then head on over to their page, and sign up for their email list, so you can support them by catching a live show or two - or ordering the vinyl.

You gotta love free music - especially when it's this good.

Several bands (The Swell Season, The Shins, She & Him. . . ) have new music available for free download over at Levi's Pioneer Sessions. By the way, Glen & Markéta's song is a cover of Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free", and it's excellent.

Frightened Rabbit have a new single and video out. "Living In Colour" is available for (paid) download over here, or you can try to get your hands on one of the (not yet available) extremely limited edition 7" single with individually hand-drawn sleeves!

Living In Colour from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.

NPR is currently streaming Herbie Hancock's new album, The Imagine Project. Among the many guests on this outing are The Chieftains and Lisa Hannigan. You can listen to it here. The album will be coming out Tuesday, and can be ordered here.

One more completely random note - if you were to get Bruce Campbell and William Shatner in the same movie, I don't care what the script is (buddy cops / zombie cow apocalypse / two older-than-twenty somethings starting a punk band. . . ) you'd make serious bank. I'm just saying.

POST #213

2010-06-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

POST #212

2010-06-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

POST #211 (UPCOMING RELEASES)

2010-06-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of upcoming albums you might be interested in checking out:

On June 15th, Jonny Rumble will be releasing their fourth album, JR. Not heard of them? They're an indie-rock group out of Chicago that kind of has a similar feel to Arctic Monkeys (but a bit more psychedelic-rock) or Gomez (but a bit more rockin'). Here's a couple of tracks to give you a taster:

Jonny Rumble - "BRZRKR"
Jonny Rumble - "Cox Road"

pick up some albums:

Good For the Market, 2006 (buy)
Almost Dead, 2008 (buy)
JR, 2010 (pre-order vinyl)

Ray LaMontagne has just announced a new disc, coming August 17th. The new album, titled God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise, was recorded over a two-week period at Ray's home in Massachusetts. I don't have anything off the new album to share yet, so here's a couple of lesser-known cuts from him:

Ray LaMontagne - "Trouble" (Radio Remix)
Ray LaMontagne - "You Should Belong To Me" (live)

Ray's discs:

Trouble, 2004 (buy)
'Till the Sun Turns Black, 2006 (buy)
Gossip In the Grain, 2008 (buy)
God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, 2010

POST #210

2010-05-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

POST #209 (THE IDEA)

2010-05-27T16:30:00.001-07:00

Something completely different this time around. There’s not going to be any music in this post, so if that’s what you’re here for, come back another time. I’ll do another one of those posts in a couple days.

Ever since my days working at a record store, back in the nineties, I’ve occasionally come up with an idea for an album that I think would be really interesting to create. Once, one of these ideas actually came into existence (someone with real connections apparently had the same idea), and reminded me that sometimes the idea can be better than the results. My idea in that case was to have modern alternative bands cover old Schoolhouse Rock songs. A couple years later, Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks (buy) Was issued, and apart from a couple of tracks, was a total snooze-fest. Most of the covers just seemed really uninspired. Like the bands were doing it for publicity, rather than because they liked the songs.

So, anyway, I’ve had this other idea kicking around in my head for some time, but of course I have no connections within the industry, so there isn’t any chance of me doing anything with it. But since I do have this music blog, I may as well toss it up here, and at least get it out of my own head and into the collective ethers of the internet.

Here’s the idea: First you get Jimmy Scott, the legendary jazz singer (that’s him in the pic, if you haven’t guessed). Now, not everyone is going to be familiar with Jimmy, and that’s the big shame, so here’s how we fix that. Line up a heaping helping of the most acclaimed, and most well known, song writers in the industry today. I’m talking about the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Elvis Costello (particularly if you can get him together with Burt Bacharach again), perhaps a Bono (yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the recent U2 output, but the man has written some great tunes in the past), or a Springsteen (great writer, not sure how he'd do with the jazz style) and maybe Paul Kelly (the Aussie, not the American blues guy, though he might be good, too).

Add in some lesser-known, but equally talented writers like Barry Adamson, Gavin Friday, Ray Lamontagne, Glen Hansard . . .and probably a whole lot more that aren’t coming to mind right this second.

Now have all these folks write songs specifically for Jimmy to sing. I’m not talking about having him do jazz version of their pop/rock/alternative songs (that was done on Holding Back the Years, which many people didn’t like, though I thought it turned out great), I would want them to write specifically for him, in his style. Many of the folks I mentioned are already fans of Jimmy, and so should be able to write some excellent music in his unique style.

Next up, get Jimmy into the studio with his own band, the Jazz Expressions. Many times in the past, labels have put him in the studio with a batch of good musicians that he hadn’t worked with before, and that has made for some uncomfortable recording situations. If you’ve heard the way Jimmy delivers his vocals, you can understand why musicians who aren’t familiar with him may not know how to react the first time they hear him. I had originally thought of bringing in a big name producer, like Rick Rubin, to oversee the sessions, but it may be best to let Jimmy decide that bit, too.

My idea for keeping some of the costs down is fairly simple. In exchange for keeping the songwriting fees down to the bare minimum, you allow the various musician/writers to come into the studio and play the instrument of their choice on each of the songs they wrote for the project. I wouldn’t want vocal duets, the vocal spotlight should remain on Jimmy. Just give them the opportunity to be in the studio with Jimmy while he records their song.

The rest should be simple. Market it as a traditional jazz vocal album by Jimmy Scott, and push the pedigree of the songwriters -emphasizing that all the songs were written specifically for Jimmy to record.

So there you have it. That’s the idea. And if anyone out there has the proper contacts and runs with it, all I ask is that you get me a plane ticket and a hotel room, so that I can attend the recording sessions, sitting quietly in the back, and maybe snap a few pictures.

One parting remark. . . If you haven’t already experienced a Jimmy Scott record (or better yet, a show), do yourself a favor and hunt something down. I couldn’t possibly describe his vocals in words, they have to be experienced.

Here's some of 'em you can still get:

Very Truly Yours, 1955 (buy remaster)
Falling In Love is Wonderful, 1963 (buy import)
The Source, 1969 (buy re-issue)
All The Way, 1992 (buy) (an excellent starting point, if you're unfamiliar with him)
Dream, 1994 (buy)
Holding Back the Years, 1998 (buy)
Mood Indigo, 2000 (buy)
Over the Rainbow, 2001 (buy)
But Beautiful, 2002 (buy)
Moon Glow, 2003 (buy)
All of Me: Live in Tokyo, 2004 (buy)