Category Archives: Bands/Artists

Free Download: Lyrics Born – “Make It Good” and other news

Posted on by
1

Our favorite ‘Yay Area MC has partnered with LG to help promote their new Chocolate 3 phone by recording a “three” themed tune to be used in commercials and available for free from LG’s Chocolate 3 Site.

The site is heavy-Flash content, but once the page loads click to play Lyrics Born, wait for some more bloaty Flash content to load (srsly– sitting using the free wireless at the airport, this is taking minutes to load!), change the category to “Music”, and then you can choose “Download the Tracks” where you can pick free downloads from LB, Goapele, and Bitter:Sweet.

LB mentioned the track in a recent edition of LBTV and he said that he was very happy with it. It is trademark LB, but it does sound a bit like the topic came before the inspiration a bit as he exclaims “Three is my favorite number!” He saves it a bit by giving it a romantic spin– and frankly his enthusiasm is infectious and it’s pretty catchy.

I love the irony of loading this song on my iPhone…

Click Here to get to the LG Chocolate 3 Site

In other LB news, he has been tapped to be the voiceover announcer of a new Cartoon Network franchise on Friday nights called You Are Here. Pretty much a cartoon character himself, I hope that they take advantage of his sense of humor. The first airing is this Friday night, October 3rd.

Update: 10/12/08: Lyrics Born has canceled his Fall tour to help with the campaign for Barack Obama. Click Here to read my article on this.

As if that wasn’t enough, Lyrics Born is kicking off a Fall tour of the U.S. If you’ve been following this blog that long you’ve read the 2006 and 2007 reviews of his stops in Minneapolis at the Foundation. I’m not sure what the deal is with the Foundation in oh-eight, but he is coming to the fantastic Fine Line on November 8th, which is a great venue although my wife isn’t sure it is condusive to the obligatory ass-shaking that occurs with his show. I guess we’ll find out, as we will be returning for a threepeat. With Joyo’s album hitting in January I’m sure we can count on a couple of solo songs!

Elbee, if you’re reading this– what’s up with hitting the Snowy Apple in frigging November the last three years? I’m happy you stop, but it’s pretty cold…

Fall Tour Dates (lifted from MySpace)

Oct 16 2008 8:00P
SF Weekly Show – Ruby Skye San Francisco, California
Oct 27 2008 9:00P
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct 28 2008 8:00P
The Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 29 2008 9:00P
Highline Ballroom New York, New York
Oct 31 2008 8:00P
Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 1 2008 9:00P
Sonar Baltimore, Maryland
Nov 4 2008 8:00P
Agora Theater Cleveland, Ohio
Nov 5 2008 8:00P
The Eagle Theater Pontiac, Michigan
Nov 7 2008 8:00P
Majestic Theater Madison, Wisconsin
Nov 8 2008 8:00P
Double Door Chicago, Illinois
Nov 9 2008 8:00P
Fine Line Music Cafe Minneapolis, Minnesota

Click Here for Lyrics Born’s MySpace Page

Click Here for Lyrics Born’s Official Page

Click Here for Lyrics Born’s Blog

More Tortoise Vinyl Back in Print!

Posted on by
Reply

While I was in Madison, WI yesterday for the Snake on the Lake Festival at UW Madison I stopped at a couple of record stores– Mad City Music and B-Side Records. I’ll be providing a B-Sides in the Bins article soon, but while I was in these stores I was shocked to find NEW, SEALED copies of Tortoise’s TNT and It’s All Around You! Notably they had the new red sticker that says that there is a coupon for free mp3 downloads inside– which wouldn’t have been on them originally. They also had copies of the new red-vinyl version of Standards previously reported on here as well.

TNT was $16.99 for a 2-LP at Mad City, and It’s All Around You was $12.99 at B-Side. If you go to Thrill Jockey’s page for It’s All Around You, sure enough there are copies of it on vinyl available for purchase for $11.00. On the TNT page, they mention that there are a limited supply of these back in print, however at this moment, there isn’t a working link to order one.

I’m happy to see that these are available, I’m hoping that it will help lend some sanity to the current used pricing for OOP Tortoise vinyl. It will be interesting to see if Millions Now Living and the first album get re-pressed.

New Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Cardinology Live Previews

Posted on by
1

On the 17th it was announced by Lost Highway that Ryan Adams and the Cardinals will be releasing a new album on October 28th titled Cardinology. As expected, Ryan and Co. are already pulling the songs out on their Fall tour. Yours truly will be seeing Ryan again this year and shooting pix for a review at the Ames show on October 7th. The songs I’ve heard so far are pretty good and certainly on par with Easy Tiger. Since Archive.org has a pretty good collection of Ryan shows, I thought I’d provide links to individual mp3’s so you can listen to a live version of the album before its release. All of the tracks from the album aren’t represented by shows on archive.org, yet, but as shows are recorded and shared there, I’ll update the links here until the release of the album.

BTW: We are going to be able to download “Fix It” on Tuesday. I’m not sure which sites, yet, but I’ll update this when I find out. According to some folks on the ryanadamsarchive.com forum, “Fix It” was released to radio today. The single will be available for download on October 7th.

Update: Ryan is providing a streamed sample of “Fix It” from his blog site:

Check out the beautiful cover art for the vinyl version of Cardinology by Adam’s chum Leah Hayes— author of the graphic novel Funeral of the Heart. According to a poster-in-the-know on the ryanadamsarchive forum this limited vinyl release will have colored vinyl, artwork by Leah Hayes including illustrated lyric book and the exclusive 7″ of “Orange” b/w “Asteroid” and will also include an mp3 download! I’ll have to try to score some record flats of this!!

Click here to read the post and to play the sample (requires Flash)

Here is the track list for Cardinology:

“Born Into a Light” (10-16-2008)
“Go Easy” (9-26-2008)
“Fix It” (9-4-2008)(9-7-2008)(9-25-2008)(9-26-2008)
“Magick” (9-4-2008)(9-7-2008)(9-25-2008)(9-26-2008)
“Cobwebs” (9-7-2008)(9-25-2008)
“Let Us Down Easy”
“Crossed Out Name” (9-4-2008)(9-25-2008)(9-26-2008)
“Natural Ghost” (9-25-2008)
“Sink Ships” (9-7-2008)(9-25-2008)
“Evergreen” (9-30-2008)
“Like Yesterday” (9-25-2008)
“Stop” (10-16-2008)

B-Sides in the Bins #30 – Chicago – 9/12/08

Posted on by
Reply

Jazz Record Mart, Chicago

My wife and a friend of hers wanted to go to Chicago for a Gluten-Free Cooking Conference. This left her friend Sharon’s husband Bob and I with lots of time on our hands. Bob Najouks is one of the Sunday morning jocks on Kirkwood College’s Jazz and Blues station KCCK, so I thought a trip to the infamous Jazz Record Mart was in order. I hadn’t been to JRM in over two years so it was time for me to come back and Bob had never been there!

This weekend was wet. Lots of rain dumping on Chicagoland from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ike pulled out of the Gulf of Mexico. Friday was blessed with small spots of light-to-no rain so hoofing it around downtown was an okay proposition. Our plans after breakfast was to hit Jazz Record Mart, lunch, and then to hit the Art Institute of Chicago then call it a day.

Bob teaches sketching classes at Kirkwood currently, but– in addition to his radio gig– also is a freelance artist. In the early 60’s he did some cover art for Franz Jackson who passed away in May. JRM had a number of still-sealed copies of Good Old Days by Franz Jackson and the Original Jass All-Stars (Pinnacle Recordings: PLP 109) that Bob did the cover art for, which was a neat dose of kismet. Bob picked up a copy to play– he still had the original 1965 pressing of the album at home.

Gorilla – Deal With It (CD, Thrill Jockey, Thrill 003-2, 1993)($5.99) Interesting find. Not Jazz-related at all. The third release on Thrill Jockey from back in the day. The mailing address was New York, so this is before Bettina moved to her current Chicago digs. Seattle Grunge band, I guess. Sounds very early-Nineties. Kind of punk, kind of retro 60’s sound with organ. Not great, but not horrible, really. Mostly a collector piece for me. It would appear that while the CD for this is very much out-of-print, the LP is still available?

George Freeman – Birth Sign (CD, Delmark, DD-424, 1993)($13.99) My first non-Thrill Jockey related Delmark purchase. This was playing on the stereo in the store while I was checking out and I impulse-purchased. George Freeman is the guitar-playing brother of tenor sax player Von Freeman (apparently the more famous of the two). Birth Sign is his debut album. Great album of Hammond-B3 fueled jazz typical of the late 60’s.

John Coltrane – Blue Train (LP, Blue Note, BST-91577, 1993)($11.99) This is the CEMA/Capitol Special Products pressing of the seminal Blue Note release. I own this on CD as well. In fact, my CD pressing of this is on 24-karat gold UltraDisc II from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. This is the album that broke open the gates of jazz for me.

Jeff Parker – The Relatives (LP, Thrill Jockey, Thrill 129, 2005) ($12.99) Wow, a really cool and rare find! The vinyl for this release has been out-of-print for a while, as is usually the case from Thrill Jockey vinyl. According to the price sticker, this has been in the bin since its release. Jazz Record Mart carries most of the Thrill Jockey releases, but it seems that a lot of the clientèle there don’t follow this label, which accounts for the fact that this release is still in the bins. I saw a couple of other rare TJ releases as well. Maybe I’ll come for them later.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Jazz: Red Hot and Cool (LP, Columbia, CL 699, 1954) ($3.99) This is an upgrade for me. My first copy was in pretty good shape, but this one is in much better shape and comes with the original Columbia paper inner-sleeve! The record is in immaculate shape and the cover is also very beautiful. I had never noticed before today that the vivid photograph of a young Brubeck entertaining a young, smoking (literally) woman leaning on his piano was taken by none other than Richard Avedon! Avedon, who died in 2004, took some famous shots of the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe as well as the well-known picture of Nastassja Kinski with a python.

All-in-all a good trip and it was cool to be there with a jazz afficianado. Bob and I will be back, I think.

Hey Love Mixtape Download from Joyo Velarde Has Tracks from Upcoming Solo Album

Posted on by
2

The much-anticipated solo release from Lyrics Born-sidekick and frequent collaborator Joyo Velarde has been in the works for literally years and this week we get a teaser in the form of a mixtape. It includes tracks from her upcoming Quannum Projects release Love & Understanding as well as tracks where she lent her amazing pipes for other acts including Lyrics Born as well as some tracks exclusive to this mix.

This mix is pretty similar to the recurring Lyrics Born Show mixes that LB puts out, and this is also credited to his label Mobile Home Recordings.

The mix is available now through Lyrics Born’s download store for $5.99. If you are a fan, like I am, go download this!

Tracklisting:

1. Hey Love Intro
2. Build This World
3. Time To Wake Up – DJ Zeph & Azeem ft. Joyo Velarde
4. I Need You Boy
5. Oh Joy* – Lyrics Born & Proof Positive
6. Rise and Shine – Lyrics Born ft. Joyo Velarde
7. Bay Luv* – Lyrics Born and Joyo Velarde
8. I Can’t Wait For Your Love – Lyrics Born ft. Joyo Velarde
9. Beautiful You – Maroons ft. Joyo Velarde
10. People Like Me
11. Jenny and Georgie*
12. Certain Special Way – Joyo Velarde ft. Trackademicks
13. Those Days*
14. Doobie-Doo*
15. The World Is Calling – Lyrics Born ft. Joyo Velarde
16. Take You Home
17. Spirit of Love*
18. Love Me So Bad – Lyrics Born ft. Joyo Velarde
19. King’s Daughter*
20. We Made It* – produced by Proof Positive

*mixtape exclusives/previously unreleased

Backyard Tire Fire – The Places We Lived (Review)

Posted on by
1

My discovery of Backyard Tire Fire is thanks to MySpace. I’d heard of the band– references have shown up in a few of the RSS feeds I follow– but I hadn’t heard their music. Apparently, their enterprising “web guy” saw that I was a fan of Cracker and Johnny Hickman and reached out. Hickman is quoted as saying that Backyard Tire Fire is his favorite band right now. After listening to the streaming tracks from their MySpace page and samples on their website as well as a full album stream of their previous album Vagabonds and Hooligans on Indie911 I, too have become a fast fan of their Midwestern brand of country-tinged rock. Hickman compares them to early Wilco, Son Volt and Flaming Lips.

However, I don’t think that the shades of early Wilco and Son Volt stick around for long on Backyard Tire Fire’s new album The Places We Lived. There is something more at work here. From the treated pianos, chimes, bells, and strings throughout, the plucky bass and the double tracked harmonies– specifically on “Shoulda Shut It.” It at times seems like a darker version of Brian Wilson’s vision and the band toys with some Smile-ish changes in mood and the layering of instruments and sound effects. Is this our Surfer Girl with Seasonal Affective Disorder?

I’m not sure that Backyard Tire Fire would ever claim the Beach Boys as a relative, however. Maybe through a second cousin of Tom Petty or Cheap Trick. Ed Anderson has one of the better voices I’ve heard out of the indie scene with the ability to get very soulful and funky on the stomping “One Wrong Turn,” he evokes his inner Zander with the anti-tribute to the workweek “Welcome To The Factory.” “Bright lights and blank stares through the night,” indeed complete with ratchet and clank over big rock drums delivered by official timekeeper Tim Kramp. This is clearly the sound of a band having fun in the studio playing with all the toys. The album sounds great. I read that Tire Fire likes to work in analog, and this album has a vinyl release to compliment that effort, BTW.

This record seems to owe a bit to Tom Waits as well. Certainly Ed’s voice is easier to listen to, but you can hear it in the slightly boozy songs anchored with treated piano in “Rainy Day (Don’t Go Away),” “One Wrong Turn” and the album closer “Home Today.”

“It’s funny how we forget sometimes,” Ed sings in the album opener and title track, “the places we once lived.” Tire Fire’s new album is as much about the Middle-Class Midwestern perspective of the places they lived that colors the landscape of the songs as it is about the influences of the music that provided the soundtrack to the journey to get to those places. The Places We Lived wears its influences proudly. Each of the songs on the album’s economical 35 minutes stands on its own effectively, but also provides guides to those places they lived from funk and blues to country and classic rock. Mixed together with some impressive studio production we have what I think it one of the standout albums from this Summer! In an interview with JamBase, Ed says that with each album he thinks, “this is the recording that everyone is gonna latch on to” which drives them to “get the job done.” In my opinion, The Places We Lived certainly has the hooks and chops to get them there.

Backyard Tire Fire are currently touring in support of The Places We Lived. Click Here for the updated dates. They are going to be at the Picador in Iowa City tonight (9/10) for an early show and I’ll be there.

Click Here for Backyard Tire Fire’s Website

Click Here for Backyard Tire Fire’s MySpace Page

Click Here for the interview in JamBase with Backyard Tire Fire

Free Downloads: Calexico Secret Show in Berlin 9/6/08 (FLAC)

Posted on by
Reply

I never cease to be amazed at how quickly great free downloads are available on the Internet. This morning at 9:46AM GMT a BitTorrent for a live broadcast from BBC 1 of a show Calexico did YESTERDAY showed up on Dimeadozen! This was a “secret show” that was performed by Calexico as a quartet in Berlin in a small venue. The broadcast part of the show was all new songs and mostly tracks from Carried to Dust which comes out on Tuesday.

To download the FLAC files using your favorite torrent client, click here (requires account on dimeadozen)

Ballhaus Ost, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany

Setlist:
01 [00:28] [starting a new chapter…]
02 [04:38] Frank’s Tavern
03 [05:14] Victor Jara’s Hands
04 [04:55] Man Made Lake
05 [03:28] [slowness prelude] >
06 [05:29] Slowness
07 [04:32] Two Silver Trees
08 [04:14] Above The Branch >
09 [03:42] The News About William
10 [04:39] Writer’s Minor Holiday
11 [05:35] [unidentified title]
12 [06:25] Fractured Air (Tornado Watch)
13 [03:36] Red Blooms

The lineup was:
Joey Burns: guitars, vocals
John Convertino: drums
Martin Wenck: trumpet, harmonica, vibraphone, whistling
Paul Niehaus: pedal steel guitar, electric guitar

Lucinda Williams New Album Little Honey News and Single

Posted on by
Reply

This week Lucinda Williams released a new digital single to Amazon and iTunes of “Real Love” from her upcoming new album due October 14th titled Little Honey (Lost Highway).

Little Honey follows her 2007 release West, which was a favorite here at playbsides last year. On this record Eric Liljestrand moves from the Engineer role he had on West to a Producer role for Little Honey. Lucinda also brings in some guests including Elvis Costello on “Jailhouse Tears” which is being called a “mini drama” (?), as well as Matthew Sweet and Suzanna Hoffs providing vocal duties on “Little Rock Star” — a six-minute song which was apparently influenced by a photo of Pete Doherty in Rolling Stone Magazine. The album also includes a cover of the AC/DC song “It’s A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).” Williams describes the album as “eclectic.”

Lucinda and producer Hal Willner were so pleased with the basic demo tracks she recorded for West, that he used them in the final album. The result of this was that there was a lot of “bonus” material available in the form of the basic demo tracks. The Best Buy version of West had a second disc with two tracks, there was a separate second CD available via Indie record stores with two tracks, the Japanese version had two additional tracks as well. I hope Lost Highway again brings the bonus material for Little Honey.

Which brings us to the new song “Real Love” available at Amazon and iTunes. The song is pretty much a classic rockin’ Lucinda track which– intentionally or not– has lifted the main guitar riff from Jackson Browne’s song “Boulevard.” It’s a good song, and worth the $.99, I think.

TRACKLISTING for Little Honey:

Real Love
Circles And X’s
Tears Of Joy
Little Rock Star
Honey Bee
Well Well Well
If Wishes Were Horses
Jailhouse Tears
Knowing
Heaven Blues
Rarity
Plan To Marry
It’s A Long Way To The Top

Produced by Eric Liljestrand and Tom Overby

Free Download: The Cool Kids – “Delivery Man”

Posted on by
Reply

Mountain Dew has a free mp3 download from their “Green Label Sound” website of Chicago’s buzzworthy hip hop duo The Cool Kids. The track “Delivery Man” has sparse drums and an organ hook flowing under lyrics that remind me of De La Soul or Black Eyed Peas at times. Fun and funky.

According to the PR, Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks met on MySpace.

Click Here to Download “Delivery Man”

Upcoming Shows: Wye Oak in Iowa City and… Dubuque?

Posted on by
1

Wye Oak is back with another attempt to play Iowa City’s Mill. You may recall that they were scheduled to play the Mill back on June 15th in a bill that had Thrill Jockey new signings Pontiak. Your’s truly was to go and cover this, but the Floods of 2008 (as it will become known) prevented both the bands and me from getting to Iowa City. The route that the Iowa DOT was recommending to get to town took you over 200 miles out-of-the-way!

So, true to their word, Wye Oak is coming back to Iowa City– again at the Mill— on Wednesday 9/17 in a lineup that has Rock Plaza Central headlining and The Lonelyhearts opening.

More interesting than the Mill show (at least to me) is the fact that Wye Oak will be playing at Isabella’s in Dubuque, IA (my other hometown) on Saturday 9/10. Isabellas is a COZY little bar in the basement of the posh-ish Ryan House Restaurant. Since Wye Oak is a two-piece, they would fit on the little stage at the far end of the bar. But, the bar itself probably only holds 100 people or so– it would be a snug affair for certain!

Download four songs from If Children by Wye Oak

See a bunch of live videos of Wye Oak on YouTube