POST #214

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.

THE TRAGICALLY HIP

It seems that after nearly three years of posting once or twice a week, I've gotten to the point where most of my new posts are revisiting bands I've mentioned before. That's alright. There's a lot of good stuff I've found since I last posted on many of them.

Besides, December is almost here, and I'm planning to do the same thing I did last year for the holiday season. One festive song a day, through Christmas.

Maybe in December I'll find some new bands, and some new goodies to share in the new year. In the mean time, here's a bunch more from the Canadian rockers with one of the best band names ever, The Tragically Hip.

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The Tragically Hip - "Oh, Honey" From the Men With Brooms soundtrack.
The Tragically Hip - "Daredevil (Reprise)" An alternate version of the track from Day For Night.
The Tragically Hip - "Radio Show" Outtake from Fully Completely, released through the band's website.
The Tragically Hip - "Bobcaygeon" (Acoustic Radio Session) Recorded July 7, 1998 in London. Original version is on Phantom Power.
The Tragically Hip - "Problem Bears" In Violet Light outtake, released through their fan club.
The Tragically Hip - "Reformed Baptist Blues" (Live) One of the first songs they wrote, though they've never issued a studio version.
The Tragically Hip - "Anchor On a Thread" An outtake from the Road Apples sessions.

Here's the albums list:

The Tragically Hip, 1987 (buy) (EP)
Up To Here, 1989 (buy)
Road Apples, 1991 (buy)
Fully Completely, 1992
Day For Night, 1994 (buy) (my personal favorite)
Trouble at the Henhouse, 1996 (buy)
Phantom Power, 1998 (buy)
Music at Work, 2000 (buy)
In Violet Light, 2002 (buy)
In Between Evolution, 2004 (buy)
World Container, 2006 (buy)
We Are the Same, 2009 (buy)


Here's a bonus unrelated video - I seem to be posting a lot of those lately. This is Lisa Hannigan performing a live cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus". A good version throughout, but the end rocks.

DAVID GRAY

A whole slew of US concert dates were recently announced for Lisa Hannigan. If I hadn't just done a post on her a couple weeks back, I'd be doing one now. However, since I already have one on her, I'll turn my attention to the musician that she will be opening for on most of those dates - British singer David Gray.

Way back in the nineties, I was a big fan of David's folk / rock releases. I first discovered him when my store was sent a promo copy of his second album, Flesh. I immediately fell for the album, and had it on heavy rotation for quit some time.

Naturally, given that I'm fairly fanatic about the acts I like, I had to get a hold of his debut album, A Century Ends, too. This was one of the few occasions where, having fallen in love with one album, I bought a second album by the same artist without having heard anything off it, and found that it was even better.

So, of course, I've gathered all the b-sides, radio sessions, etc. that I could find over the years. Though, to be completely honest, I haven't often listened to his post-Lost Songs albums. I gave them each a shot, but they just haven't hooked me the way his early work did.

I did just take a listen to some of the songs on his latest album, Draw the Line, and so far I'm liking it. I don't know if it will grow on me the way his first albums did, but he can certainly still write a good hook.

Here's a bunch of stuff not found on his albums:

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David Gray - "Tell Me More Lies" B-side of one of the "Babylon" singles.
David Gray - "Mighty Wrong Time" (live) Unreleased. I'm not sure of where or when this was recorded.
David Gray - "Monday Morning" From the soundtrack to the movie This Year's Love, the title track of which is also one of David's songs.
David Gray - "Like a Rolling Stone" (live Bob Dylan cover) Recorded at an industry show at The Wetlands in New York, December 18, 1993.
Jools Holland with David Gray - "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" From Jools' album, Friends 3. (buy)
David Gray - "Smile Like You Mean It" (live Killers cover - that's not to say it's a cover from Queen's album Live Killers, but rather that its a Killers' song having been recorded live) Recorded for a BBC Radio session.
Orbital featuring David Gray - "Illuminate" From Orbital's album, The Altogether. (buy) Phil Hartnoll of Orbital is David's brother-in-law, which probably has something to do with how he got this gig.

Pick up some of his albums:

A Century Ends, 1993 (buy)
Flesh, 1994 (buy)
Sell, Sell, Sell, 1996 (buy)
White Ladder, 1998 (buy)
The EPs 92-94, 2001 (buy) (rarities compilation)
Lost Songs 95-98, 2001 (buy) (rarities compilation)
A New Day at Midnight, 2002 (buy)
Life In Slow Motion, 2005 (buy)
A Thousand Miles Behind, 2007 (buy) (live covers - only available through his website)
Draw the Line, 2009 (buy) (buy deluxe)

Here's the US tour dates:

Oct. 22 Gramercy Theatre, NYC*
Oct. 23 The Wang Theatre, Boston MA
Oct. 24 Madison Square Garden, NYC
Oct. 26 Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Oct. 27 Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA
Oct. 29 Chicago Auditorium Theatre, Chicago IL
Oct. 30 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 1 Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
Nov. 2 Kingsbury Hall, Salt Lake City, UT
Nov. 4 Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR
Nov. 5 The Paramount, Seattle, WA**
Nov. 8 Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
Nov. 9 Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 10 Troubador, Los Angeles, CA*

*Lisa Hannigan headlining without David Gray
** David Gray without Lisa Hannigan

LISA HANNIGAN

If you heard Damien Rice's massively popular album O, then you've already heard Lisa Hannigan, weather you knew it or not. Though, chances are you already knew that, but if you didn't, now you do.

Of course, even if you weren't familiar with her from her work with Damien, you may have been introduced to her thanks to the "Colbert Bump" which she received shortly after debut solo album, Sea Sew, was released.

If you managed to avoid hearing her with Damien, and you weren't watching television the night Stephen Colbert introduced her to American audiences, well then I guess you can have your very first taste or her here and now.

Here's a bunch of stuff that's not on Sea Sew. . . and some stuff that is on it, but not the album versions.

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Lisa Hannigan - "My Pirate Disco" (demo) A brand spankin' new song, released in video form on her MySpace page. This would be the audio from that video.
Lisa Hannigan - "Sea Song" (demo) Released as the b-side of the "Lille" single. Original version is on Sea Sew.
Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice - "Desifinado" From the Goldfish Memory soundtrack. She does a couple more tracks on there, too.
Lisa Hannigan - "I Don't Know" (Live on The Colbert Report) The aforementioned Colbert Bump performance. Original version is on Sea Sew.
The Cake Sale - "Last Leaf" The Cake Sale is kind of a super group of musicians mainly from Ireland, that got together to put out a nine song charity album. (buy) This is just one of several songs Lisa does vocals on.
Lisa Hannigan and Paul Noonan - "Your Ghost" (Kristin Hersh cover) Recorded for a radio session.
Lisa Hannigan - "Lille" (demo) Original version is on Sea Sew.

Buy the album:

Sea Sew, 2008 (buy)

Further Lisa Hannigan listening:

A 4 song session she recorded for Daytrotter can be heard (and downloaded) here.
A session she recorded at KCRW earlier this year can be seen and heard here.

And, because I like pushing the local scene, too:

If you're in the Valley, and you want to see some live music on the cheap (is free cheap enough?), there's three bands playing at Hoodlums this evening.

MySpace links: Earthmen & Strangers, Becky Lee & Drunkfoot, The Chandails

BIG BIG LIVE NEWS: Mark your calendars. I never thought it would happen, but The Pogues (yes THOSE Pogues) are scheduled to play The Marquee in Tempe, October 21. For other US tour dates, look here.