So What Ya Listen To?
Man it has been a long time since I informed the world on what it should be listen to. Since leaving H'burg and the radio station I don't have access to all the awesome music I had before. Still since I have moved, I have had two good resources on finding new/good music to listen to. The first is Paste Magazine. Ever issue comes with a CD sampler. Now I don't love everything on any of the samplers, but I usually can find one or two songs that grab my interest. This will of course leads me to try and find out more about that artist/band. Strangely the other resource is MySpace. One of the reason I am on MySpace to the keep me informed about bands I like. Luckey, bands that are similar to bands I like forward their info to me to give a listen. Now I think probably 95 to 99% of music on MySpace is crap. But from time to time you can find a band you like. The two best examples of this are Zydepunk and Radio Moscow.
All that said, You must be asking, "What the hell are you talking about? What the hell does this have to do with what you are listening to?" That said, here is what I am listen to.
Stax Records: 50th Anniversery Collection: How can anyone not like this collection of music.This is a reocrd label that had Booker T. and the MGs("Green Onions" and "Time is Tight") as a house band. They brought us Otis Redding(Most famous for "Sitting on the dock of the bay"), Sam and Dave ("Soul Man" and "Hold on I'm Comin'"), Albert King(I'll Play the Blues for You" and "Born Under a Bad Sign"),and Isaac Haynes ("Shaft" and the as Chef from South Park). This is a two disc primer to the Stax Record massive volume of music. My friend Mik has a 6 disc collection, but for me, for now, this two disc set will do.
Sacred Steel Live!: This album is the the second of the four sacred steel recordings. I bought the first back in 2001 in Boone, NC. This was after I discover a band called "The Word". The Word was a side project for John Medeski, the North Mississippi Allstars and a then unheard of steel guiatr player named Robert Randolph. The Sacred Steel is the basically the origin of Randolph style. The first album was short studio or church records, but it is the live albums(Live!, Convention, and the Instrumental) that you truely see the root of Randolph playing.
The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers and The White Stripes Icky Thump: Years ago I went to Memphis with the Reid family and Lucas Sparks. While there we ate at a restaurant. Erica, looked at the wall of booth we sat at and then went crazy. This restaurant had a tradition, people could sign the walls. Erica saw that some one she hate, for stealing her life had signed the wall next to her, Claire Danes. For years I have laughed at this, becasue it funny. But now I understand it. BECAUSE JACK WHITE STOLE MY LIFE!!!! No not really, but I find I like alot of the stuff Jack White is involved with.The Raconteurs album maybe the best rock album in a decade. Every song on it reminds me of something else. The open guitar on the first song sounds like it should be on a Pixies album. Some songs have Led Zep feeling, others sound like Velvet Underground era Lou Reed was writing the lyrics. Icky Thump, the new White Stripe album, isn't as good, but I still think it is better than their last one. It is a return to more of a garage rock sound, but a bit more full in the sound.
Odell Harris: So for the best new blues album I have heard this year. Raw in its production values, but awesome it is quality, as an Punk album or Lomax blues recording. It reminds me of R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, or Charles Caldwell. Odell Harris could find himself the savior of Punk Rock Blues. God Have Mercy on His!
Dinosaur Jr.'s Beyond: I guess the best thing I can say about this new album from DJr. is that is sound like it could have been recorded in 1992. It sounds like it could have been a follow up to "Green Mind".
There is no single or one song that jumps out, but it is a solid, whole CD of music. You could put it on in the car for the first hour of road trip or as the background music of a party. It also re-awakened my interest in this band, which made me relisten to Green Mind.I realize that like Tripping Daisy's Bill, Green Mind is one of those unheard of(by the masses anyway)album that are a snap shot of my past.
Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen: Both are rough talking, hard partying ladies from England. Both are also, musically speaking, throwing back to an earlier era. Winehouse seems to be a mix of The Ronettes and Stax Records. Allen seem to shot for a mix of 80s pop and reggea dance music. Both are good and it will be interest to see what both do next.
The Nightwatchmen One Man Revolution: Chris Reid summed this album up well when he said,"If you had not told me this was Tom Morello, I would have never known." I think that is a great compliment to the man. As the guitar player for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, Tom doesn't always get the spotlight. Even though he is probably the best Rock guitar play out of the road today. You also, as the title implies, get a view into his politics. He never come out and states in the songs, but you definitely feel his rage against the political system and policies of the government. In alot of way this is a protest album, but it is an acoustic rock album that also actually ROCKS!!!!
All that said, You must be asking, "What the hell are you talking about? What the hell does this have to do with what you are listening to?" That said, here is what I am listen to.
Stax Records: 50th Anniversery Collection: How can anyone not like this collection of music.This is a reocrd label that had Booker T. and the MGs("Green Onions" and "Time is Tight") as a house band. They brought us Otis Redding(Most famous for "Sitting on the dock of the bay"), Sam and Dave ("Soul Man" and "Hold on I'm Comin'"), Albert King(I'll Play the Blues for You" and "Born Under a Bad Sign"),and Isaac Haynes ("Shaft" and the as Chef from South Park). This is a two disc primer to the Stax Record massive volume of music. My friend Mik has a 6 disc collection, but for me, for now, this two disc set will do.
Sacred Steel Live!: This album is the the second of the four sacred steel recordings. I bought the first back in 2001 in Boone, NC. This was after I discover a band called "The Word". The Word was a side project for John Medeski, the North Mississippi Allstars and a then unheard of steel guiatr player named Robert Randolph. The Sacred Steel is the basically the origin of Randolph style. The first album was short studio or church records, but it is the live albums(Live!, Convention, and the Instrumental) that you truely see the root of Randolph playing.
The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers and The White Stripes Icky Thump: Years ago I went to Memphis with the Reid family and Lucas Sparks. While there we ate at a restaurant. Erica, looked at the wall of booth we sat at and then went crazy. This restaurant had a tradition, people could sign the walls. Erica saw that some one she hate, for stealing her life had signed the wall next to her, Claire Danes. For years I have laughed at this, becasue it funny. But now I understand it. BECAUSE JACK WHITE STOLE MY LIFE!!!! No not really, but I find I like alot of the stuff Jack White is involved with.The Raconteurs album maybe the best rock album in a decade. Every song on it reminds me of something else. The open guitar on the first song sounds like it should be on a Pixies album. Some songs have Led Zep feeling, others sound like Velvet Underground era Lou Reed was writing the lyrics. Icky Thump, the new White Stripe album, isn't as good, but I still think it is better than their last one. It is a return to more of a garage rock sound, but a bit more full in the sound.
Odell Harris: So for the best new blues album I have heard this year. Raw in its production values, but awesome it is quality, as an Punk album or Lomax blues recording. It reminds me of R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, or Charles Caldwell. Odell Harris could find himself the savior of Punk Rock Blues. God Have Mercy on His!
Dinosaur Jr.'s Beyond: I guess the best thing I can say about this new album from DJr. is that is sound like it could have been recorded in 1992. It sounds like it could have been a follow up to "Green Mind".
There is no single or one song that jumps out, but it is a solid, whole CD of music. You could put it on in the car for the first hour of road trip or as the background music of a party. It also re-awakened my interest in this band, which made me relisten to Green Mind.I realize that like Tripping Daisy's Bill, Green Mind is one of those unheard of(by the masses anyway)album that are a snap shot of my past.
Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen: Both are rough talking, hard partying ladies from England. Both are also, musically speaking, throwing back to an earlier era. Winehouse seems to be a mix of The Ronettes and Stax Records. Allen seem to shot for a mix of 80s pop and reggea dance music. Both are good and it will be interest to see what both do next.
The Nightwatchmen One Man Revolution: Chris Reid summed this album up well when he said,"If you had not told me this was Tom Morello, I would have never known." I think that is a great compliment to the man. As the guitar player for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, Tom doesn't always get the spotlight. Even though he is probably the best Rock guitar play out of the road today. You also, as the title implies, get a view into his politics. He never come out and states in the songs, but you definitely feel his rage against the political system and policies of the government. In alot of way this is a protest album, but it is an acoustic rock album that also actually ROCKS!!!!
posted by IPW at 10:33 PM
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