Vote: Boston's Best Folk Venue

(Hint: You should vote for Club Passim.)

Image by Thom C via Flickr

How life should sound: Michael Franti's "Say Hey"

Feeling down? Take a gander at "Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti:



I don't think it's possible for a bad mood to survive this.

The Golden Age of Video

By way of Benoc, we get this music video:



Apparently created by a gent named Ricardo Autobahn (presumably not his given name).

"Autobahn...their music is a sort of - ugh - techno-pop."

Jape, "Floating" Video

Odd tune, and very cool/weird video of "Floating," by Jape:




HT to Benoc for the video.

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 34th anniversary

	34 years ago today, on November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald - aka "Mighty Fritz," - foundered and sank during a storm on Lake Superior. Launched on June 8, 1958, the Edmund Fitzgerald was . . . more

Aural Pleasure

I love it when I'm listening to an old '70s or '80s track and something about it clicks, and all of a sudden I say to myself, "Hey! 'Black Cow' by Steely Dan is sampled in 'Déjà Vu (Uptown Baby)' by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz!"

I was just listening to my iTunes on random, and "Straight to Hell" by The Clash came on. It sounded so familiar and then I realized: the intro riff is sampled in "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. So weird and random.

These things make me inexplicably happy. It's like solving a puzzle.

Hear for yourself: (Update: unfortunately some of these are just clips - click thru for full track)

New Old Music: Rosanne Cash - The List

I downloaded The List yesterday on a whim. It's the latest from Rosanne Cash, daughter of the late, great Johnny Cash. I wasn't familiar with Rosanne's music at all, but I heard her on Fresh Air on Monday, the day before the album was released, and the story behind it was interesting. The 13 songs on the album are taken from a list of 100 songs that Johnny Cash gave to his daughter when she was 18 - classic, essential country songs to inspire her in her musical development. It's a wonderful collection of beautiful, melancholy music. Really well done. There are also appearances by a few big names: Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Rufus Wainwright, and Neko Case.



Here's the entire album for your persual:


The List

Dear Lily,

Lily Allen's been having a hard time recently. Called out for being a hypocrite after she ranted about copyright piracy, then oh-so-gently mocked in this brilliant ditty by Dan Bull:




Hat tip to TBP for the story and vid.

40 Day Dream

I recently downloaded an Indie Spotlight Sampler from iTunes. I don't know anything about these guys, but I love this tune:


Gotta back a 12-person ensemble with an accordion.

I like this song.

In 10 minutes' worth of VMA-viewing (non-continuous), I saw:

1. Lady Gaga perform a macabre, blood-soaked thanatopsis (wtf?)
   
2. Pink à la Cirque du Soleil
3. Jay-Z blow up NYC. Hova!
   

(Also I heard Kanye was a DB.)

Recession Music

A little Merle Hazard for y'all, singin' about the financial crisis:

Musical Mashup: Jaydiohead

Jaydiohead is a mashup of Jay-Z's vocals mixed with Radiohead's music by producer and DJ Max Tannone (aka Minty Fresh Beats). I'm a big fan of incongruous collaborations, mixes, etc. (Plant & Krauss; Cornell & Timbaland; Jay-Z & Linkin Park to name a few). One of the premiere players in the game's lyrics laced over Radiohead's moody, atmospheric tunes - it is brilliant. Download the album for free here and the Encore album here. Check out Tannone's Facebook page.

Out and about with the visiting Xanadu last night we heard "No Karma" come on at Flattop Johnny's, presumably off the bartender's iPod. "Is this Jay-Z mixed with Karma Police?" Indeed it was ("No Hook" & "Karma Police" - all the tracks are so cleverly named). I immediately seeked it out on the internets when I got home and discovered that the rest of the tracks by Minty Fresh Beats are just as awesome (esp. "Song and Cry").

You need to check this out.

Unbelievable

For two years running, James Montgomery's first show at the Blues Barge is canceled due to weather.

Is Boston the new Seattle? Or the new Amazon basin?

Treatful

Because I know how you like it: Barnstar covering the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care," downloadable at Mark Erelli's website. Barnstar is the "fake" band of Zack Hickman's with varying members, recently including the Old Train himself (Taylor Armerding), Charlie Rose, and Mark Erelli. This clip is from Barnstar's show in March at the illustrious Cantab Lounge. Of course I was in attendance, along with a couple other bluegrass fans.

I swear I can hear Amanda laughing when Hickman first croons on this track.

If you're feeling just slightly sketchy you can rip all the past songs of the month from Erelli's parent directory. They were free before so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this, right? (I plan on buying a couple CDs, Mark, I swear!) A lot of great tunes in there, including some from past Covers Nights at Club Passim.

Buy This Amazing Music Right Now

Taylor Armerding's premiere solo album, Head That Way, for sale over at jakearmerding.com. I'm blasting "Northern Rail" right now and my life is pretty much complete.

Bluegrass!

"I'm gonna riiiiide that northern rail...."

And does it get any better than Jake & Taylor singing "Working on a Building?" No, no it does not.

Free Tunes!

I'm not the biggest Coldplay fan in the world - I think they have some good tunes although a lot of them start to sound like the same song after a while - but they've done a very cool thing in offering a free album (presumably recorded from one or several concerts) as a thanks to their fans.

Go here to download.

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Seems to be a lot of this going around: check out Jake Armerding's free release "Songs in Stained Glass" here.

And do yourself a favor and pick up his nearly co-released, secular album "Her" here.

Panoramic Pickin'

The Scottographer has some great panoramic shots up from last week's show at the Cantab Lounge: Jake & Taylor Armerding playing with Zack Hickman and Charlie Rose (not that one).

Brand New Day

(Just got that song from the new Target ads - "Brand New Day" by Tim Myers ft. Lindsey Ray. Upbeat and infectious - much like yours truly.)

I don't have to tell you that watching the Sox sweep a two-game series in the Bronx on a drizzly evening in early May is not a bad way to spectate. Big props to 45 for organizing yet another great event in which things were to be had. 30 pts. Guess it's always gonna rain when I watch the kids play Satan's team. The new stadium is nice, certainly, but I have to say it scores a goose egg in the character department. Of course it's hardly fair to compare anywhere to Fenway in this regard. No beer lines, if you're eager to spend nine bones on one.

The "Yankee Clipper" - definitely the way to travel from Hoboken to the Bronx.

Megabus - definitely the way to travel from the Hub to Gotham. Functionally it's very similar to the Fung Whoa but get your tix in advance and you can pay almost nothing. The poor man's Limoliner.

MFNYY fans - abhorrent in general, but exceptions do exist.

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On a more serious note, let's hope Remy has a complete recovery soon. Just found out about this a couple days ago.

The Taxman Cometh

A little tax day humor in song, courtesy of Ray Stevens - "If Ten Percent Is Good Enough for Jesus."