SEVEN SONG CIRCLE #4

Today is 7/7, so it seems appropriate that I post another one of them 7 song circle things. Of the lists I've created, this one is probably my least favorite.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great tunes on the list, it's just that all but one of the connections are based solely on titles. I prefer to have a bit more variety throughout.

Oh well. I do what I can. At least 5 out of the 7 are non-album tracks.

On with the show:

(files expired)

1 UTwo - "Boy / Girl" (demo)
2 Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin" (alternate)
3 The Guggenheim Grotto - "Girl with the Cards"
4 Charlie Sexton with Shannon McNally - "American Girl" (live)
5 The_Cure - "Young Americans"
6 The Junk Monkeys - "Boys Don't Cry"
7 Blur - "Girls and Boys" (remix)

1 My first ever posting by the mighty band who's name I purposely misspelled in hopes of not attracting the attention of the take-down po-po. This is a demo version of a track from their first EP. A fully mastered version is now available as a bonus track on the re-issue of Boy. (buy deluxe)
2 An alternate version of the track from The Sheppard's Dog (buy), given out free and legally by the man himself on his website.
3 The only actual album track on the list, but then it should be no surprise that I'm a fan of The Grotto, and will feature them every chance I get. From Happy the Man. (buy)
4 A live Tom Petty Cover, courtesy of The Live Music Archive. The sound quality isn't great, but it's not real often I find any of Charlie's stuff. Maybe I should do a post on him someday.
5 A David Bowie cover, which was unreleased for many years, until Robert & Co. put out the rarities box set Join the Dots. (buy) So, it's kind of an album track now.
6 The Cure cover, performed by Detroit's own Junk Monkeys. This was a b-side of their single, "Bliss".
7 A remix of the classic song from Parklife. (buy) I used the remix in order to stick with the non-album theme. In all honesty, I think it's one of the worst remixes I've heard. The original is FAR better.

On an unrelated note, there are a few re-issues coming out today that visitors to this blog might be interested in:

Screaming Blue Messiahs - Gun Shy (buy)
Screaming Blue Messiahs - Bikini Red (buy)
Various Artists - Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt (buy)

THE GUGGENHEIM GROTTO LIVE

I did a post on Irish band The Guggenheim Grotto a few months back. Since then they've toured the States (but not my state), gone back home, and come back again.

I recently stumbled upon a live recording done for the folks over at NPR while they were over here, and figured I'd put it up here for all to enjoy. While I'm at it, I'm putting up a collection of other radio sessions they did for their first album.

Most of these are from streaming audio, so don't expect perfection.

(files expired)

These first four are from the recent NPR show. An acoustic set with just Kevin and Mick, recorded in April. The original version of the first track is from the Tigers ep, the rest are on Happy the Man.
The Guggenheim Grotto - "The Universe is Laughing"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Her Beautiful Ideas"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Lost Forever And"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Just Not Just"

Some tracks from a KCRW session done in London in 2006, with the full band (4 guys, at the time). The first two tracks are from the Lifetime in Heat ep, the third was unreleased at the time, but after some electronic influences were added, wound up as a single from Happy the Man.
The Guggenheim Grotto - "A Tear Isn't Such a Bad Thing"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "A Lifetime In Heat"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Her Beautiful Ideas"

Some older acoustic sessions, from the touring promoting Waltzing Alone:
The Guggenheim Grotto - "I Think I Love You" (World Cafe, Sept. 06)
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Told You So" (World Cafe Sept. 06)
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Philosophia" (FLRT radio session May 06)
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Wonderful Wizard" (Arden Session, date unknown)

Listen to the full KCRW session here. Listen to the full World Cafe session here.

Get there music here:

A Lifetime in Heat, 2004 (get free mp3) (ep)
. . . Waltzing Alone, 2005 (buy cd) (buy mp3)
Told You So, 2007 (buy mp3) (ep)
Tigers, 2008 (buy mp3) (ep)
Happy the Man, 2008 (buy cd) (buy mp3)

They're touring The States again, and again they're not hitting my state:

June 06 Norfolk, CT Infinity Hall
June 07 Elmer, NJ Appel Farms Arts & Music Centre
June 09 Exton, PA Eagleview Concert in the Square
June 10 Bearsville, NY Bearsville Theater
June 11 Albany, NY The Linda
June 12 Chester, NY Bodles Opera House
June 13 Staten Island, NY House Concert
June 14 Larchmont, NY Watercolor Cafe
June 17 Portland, ME One Longfellow Square
June 19 Detroit, MI The Whitney Restaurant
June 21 Detroit, MI River Days Festival
June 24 Louisville, KY WFPK's Waterfront Wednesday
June 30 New York, NY The Living Room
July 01 Vienna, VA Jammin Java
July 02 Baltimore, MD WTMD First Thursday Concert
July 09 Easton, MD NightCat
July 10 Greensburg, PA St Clari Park Amph.
July 11 Oxford, MI Karen Joy Theatre at Upland Hills
July 12 Ann Arbor, MI Black Crystal Cafe
July 14 Evanston, IL S.P.A.C.E.
July 17 Red Bank, NJ Riverside Gardens Park

Check out their Myspace page, or their official home page for details.

THE GUGGENHEIM GROTTO

The Guggenheim Grotto are from Ireland. Kevin May and Mick Lynch formed the band in 2003. They released an EP on their own, then added a third member, Shane Power, while recording their debut album, . . .Waltzing Alone. Their first album was released in 2005 in Ireland, and lead to a sizable following in their homeland. While not as well known over here, they did make a splash when the album was released a year later.

Critical acclaim is putting it mildly. Both the music, and the packaging were incredibly well recieved, ending up on many critics best-of lists by the end of the year. Now, more than two years later, and one man shorter, they're back with the follow up, Happy The Man. Released in Ireland a few months back, and available as a download elsewhere shortly after, it's finally getting its physical release in the States on January 27th.

Their style has changed a bit. The strong song writing and harmonies are still intact, but the new one has a bit of an electronic underbelly. Happily, those electronic elements don't overwhelm the heart of the music (like happened with, say, New Model Army's Impurity).

With permission from their label, here's a few album tracks to give you a taster:

(all files expired)

From Happy The Man: (buy)
The Guggenheim Grotto - track one I'm not giving you the song title on this one. Reason being, I first heard this song about a month ago and I think the title struck me as silly, and that negatively influenced me against the song. Not that it's a really bad title, just a bit silly. Having now heard the song in the context of the album, it's grown on me. So, I'm pulling a George Michael and saying Listen Without Prejudice.
The Guggenheim Grotto - "The Girl With the Cards"

A couple from the debut, . . . Waltzing Alone: (buy)
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Rosanna"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Vertigo"

Of course, I've got to get in a few rarities, too:
The Guggenheim Grotto - "The Universe is Laughing" Taken from the Tigers EP (buy)
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Told You So" (World Cafe Radio Session) Recorded live in the studio in November 2006. The full show can be heard here. The original version is on . . .Waltzing Alone.
The Guggenheim Grotto - "An Dragun" This is an Irish language version of "The Dragon", which is on Happy the Man. My copy of this is fairly low quality. For a better sounding copy, you can pick up the Ceol '08 compilation.

The Guggenheim Grotto - "One For Sorrow" From the first EP, A Lifetime In Heat.

The Guggenheim Grotto discography:

A Lifetime In Heat, 2003 (ep) - can be downloaded free from guggenheimgrotto.com
. . .Waltzing Alone, 2005 (buy)
Told You So, 2007 (buy) (ep)
Tigers, 2008 (buy) (ep)
Happy the Man, 2008 (buy)

If you happen to live on the east coast, you can catch The Guggenheim Grotto playing this month:

World Cafe Live in Philadelphia for FREE every Tuesday in January
The Living Room in NYC for FREE every Wednesday in January
Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, M.A. every Thursday in January