Halloweenhead

Happy Halloween!

Five Long Years

It's five years today since we lost Elliott Smith. I wish I could visit Solutions Audio in LA to write on his memorial wall featured in these videos. The wall has recently been repainted due to grafitti obscuring most of the original work and fan notes/writing, including those seen below:

Too Many Bubbles

The Wildhearts release their 'Live In The Studio - A Film By Tim Smith' DVD tomorrow. Mine turned up in the post early and I'm just watching it at the moment. It captures the awesomeness of The Wildhearts live in a very intimate environment. And it's so funny! The talk and antics between songs very tongue in cheek and hilarious. Check out this clip:

The DVD see's the band playing their 2007 self-titled album in full. As well as the promo videos from that album, including the awesome 'Destroy All Monsters', which is really messed up.

Here's the video for 'The Revolution Will Be Televised' from the DVD:

The DVD can be ordered here and here.

MAdM

Melissa Auf der Maur released her debut solo album four years ago after working with Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. Since then not much has been heard from her.

In an interview in 2007 she mentioned that she had finished her second album, which would go hand in hand with a graphic novel and a concept film. The album would be released under the name MAdM, whereas the comic and film would go by Out of Our Minds (OOOM for short). Other than a website with teasers being set up in 2007, not much has happened with these projects, until recently.

A MySpaz page sprung up for MAdM in September and a live date has been announced for November 1st in Montreal. No other details have been anounced as yet.

The trailer for Out of Our Minds looks pretty cool:

It's Thursday...

I thought it was Friday.

Down In A Hole

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals cover Alice In Chains:

Unlplugged version of the song by Alice In Chains:

Girl In The War

Josh Ritter, 'Girl In The War':

Download the song here.

Mako

Cyclefly were alternative rock act in the late 90's who released two albums. I caught them supporting Bush soon after they'd released their debut album in 1999 and again in 2002 when I saw them headlining. They had such presence and great songs and really didn't release enough music into this world. Thankfully two members of the band have a new project called Mako.

Declan O'Shea (vocals) and Christian Montagne (guitar and bass) formed Mako after a brief project called Hueman (also featuring other members of Cyclefly) following the breakup of Cyclefly in 2003. Hueman did not release any records, but there are still a few songs streaming on their MySpaz page.

Mako, on the other hand, released their debut album this year. Living On Air keeps the great songwriting of O'Shea, but stips down the sound of the previous band withour losing any of the integrity. Check out the video for 'Grace' and get lost in his voice:

Living On Air can be purchased here.

Flight Of The Conchords

"Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo"

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are Flight Of The Conchords, a Grammy award winning folk-comedy-duo who are also stars of their own TV and radio series. They are also sometimes known by their rap aliases, Rhymenocerous & Hiphopopotamus.

I've been a big fan of the TV series since a friend recommended it to me about a year ago. It's so funny and original and works on so many different levels. The show is about Bret and Jemaine trying to make it as a band in New York along with their manager Murray and their only fan, Mel. Each episode has a musical performace in it, which is part of the plot. My favourite one of these would probably be in the episode 'Bowie', where they pay homage to David Bowie:

They released their debut album earlier this year, which features a lot of the songs from the TV and radio shows, all re-recorded with producer Mickey Petralia for the album, which has now been certified Platinum. Their previous EP 'The Distant Future', won a Grammy award in 2007.

To promote the release of the album, the band played an instore performance at Amoeba records in Hollywood back in April. It's about an hour long, but well worth watching if you have time:

Doesn't the Amoeba record store look awesome? I'd love to go there, it looks like a proper record store should, cluttered, loved, full of passion and with lot's of good music. Wish we had one in the UK.

Seeing Things

Jakob Dylan released 'Seeing Things' earlier this year, his first solo album away from The Wallflowers. The album was produced by super-producer Rick Rubin and is a pretty laid back affair, a long way from the full band sound of The Wallflowers.

Jakob is the youngest of four of four children born to Bob Dylan and ex-wife Sara Dylan. His Dad has cast quite a big shadow on his career, which is one of the reasons I think he's kind of hidden behind The Wallflowers all these years.

The solo effort is a breath of fresh air for both listeners and Dylan alike. He was said to be "weary of the band" and had "creatively bottomed out with what to do with the band". He was asked to open a tour for T Bone Burnett in Sping 2006 where he played alone and acoustic, which is where the idea of a solo album was born. "I liked the isolation of it, the simplicity of what I was doing," says Dylan. "And out of that I started getting songs together".

I absolutely love the mainly acousitc album, in fact it's probably one of my favourite releases of the year. It's a quiet album that demands attenton, certainly not something you can have on as background music. Check out the video for 'Something Good This Way Comes', a song from the album that has such a lovely, warm opening:

You can still stream the album in it's entirety on his MySpaz page.

The Patty Duke Syndrome

Before the Cardinals and Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams was in a band called The Patty Duke Syndrome. He'd previously perfomed in a few other local bands, but it was with The Patty Duke Syndrome that he released his first record in 1994. It was a split 7" with 'Texas' & 'History' by the band on one side and two songs by GlamourPuss on the flipside. Since then a collection of demos have surfaced on the internet, you can easily find if you look in the right places.

In August this year, someone uploaded two live videos of The Patty Duke Syndrome that were recorded February 4, 1994 at the Brewery in Raleigh, NC. The videos feature a very young Ryan Adams along with Jere McIlwean on bass and Brian Walsby on drums. The sound of the band was quite raw and draws comparism to Husker DU.

'Maybe I':

'Texas':

"Finding Diamonds In The Dirt"

When I read a blog on MySpaz by Art Alexakis of Everclear last night saying that they were releasing a brand new song for free today I got quite excied. Then I saw the title of the song, 'Jesus Was A Democrat' and my excitement started to wane. Art talks in the blog about the song saying,

"I have been wanting to write this song for a long time, if this song offends you....then dont listen to it. If you do not believe that everclear is the proper forum for political opinons, then you havent been paying attention, I have been writing political songs from the very beginning. But if you do believe that i,like you have the right to speak my mind and respect what I think regardless if you agree or not(which incidentally IS what being an AMERICAN IS ALL ABOUT!!!)....then I urge you to read the lyrics and listen to the song with an open mind."

I agree that the band have been writing political songs from the beginning, but they were written in a subtle way. The lyrics for 'Jesus Was A Democrat' leave no room for interpretation, they're there to get the point across. Musically though, the band are on top form, with the sound more like their gritty earlier work from the 'Sparkle & Fade' and 'So Much For The Afterglow' albums, both of which will always have a place in my record collection and heart.

Maybe the lyrics don't mean too much to me because I'm not caught up in the political situaion in America at the moment, as I live in the UK and am watching it all from a distance. Maybe I'm a bit biased towards the band since Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund left the band in 2003. The orignal three piece had a spark, a creativity and a sound that grew and grew. I'm hoping that Art can continue to grow with the 'new' Everclear and not go stale.

You can download 'Jesus Was A Democrat' for free from here, where you can also view the lyrics in full.

Rocking The Cradle

I've never been a huge Dead Head, but the new live album from The Grateful Dead sure looks tempting to me, just look at that packaging! It was recorded in Egypt in September 1978, when the band played a three night stand at the Sound & Light Theater, outside Cairo, nestled in the dunes just a short mummy-walk from the Great Pyramid and the mysterious Sphinx.

The band had to set up in 110 degree heat and even managed to max out the local power grid. The final show on September 16th was played during a total lunar eclipse. A live album was orignially going to be put out soon after the dates were played, but upon return to the States they found that due to technical issues pretty much all of the first night and some of the second were unusable. The project got put on the backburner while they completed their Shakedown Street album, which was released in November of the same year. That is until now...

I think that this release appeals to me even more as I fell in love with Egypt this year when I went on holiday there with my girlfriend. I would go back there in a heartbeat and the combination of one of my favourite places on the planet and great music seems irresistable.

My links to the Grateful Dead's music are through Ryan Adams who has played with Phil Lesh (founding member and bass played of the Dead) on many occasions and the Counting Crows who covered 'Friend Of The Devil' for their Films About Ghosts compilation. Both Bob Dylan (who also released a live album called 'Dylan And The Dead' with the band) and Tom Petty have covered the band's songs many times.

The album is released on October 31th and can be pre-ordered here or here.

American Blues Vol.1

Pete Yorn recently posted a new song on his MySpaz page. 'American Blues Vol.1' is more somber in content than his previous releases, with Yorn seeming a bit wrary and at odds with the world. Lyricaly it's quite a departure from his usual style. He's been in the studio recently with producer Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek records fame) and Frank Black (of The Pixies). The track is apparantly available for download through the MySpaz page, but it doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment.

'Nighcrawler' was the last release by Yorn in 2006 which was preceded by 'muscforthemorningafter' (2001) and 'Day I Forgot' (2003). The three albums make up a kind of trilogy, that are "more of a diary of sorts; a person gaining new life experiences and simply commenting on them in linear." Hopefully a new album next year, which is rumoured to be called American Blues.

Here's the music video for 'Life On A Chain' from 2001's 'musicforthemorningafter' album:

I Started Out With Nothin'. . .

I think I'm going to have to get the new Seasick Steve album. I caught his performace on Later with Jools Holland the other night and absoluetly love the warm sounding blues that he plays. His voice and guitar sound from 'Walking Man' on that show blew me away. He seems to sing from the heart and with real passion.


After a bit of research and a bit of YouTube watching, I've found out that he plays his own personalised instruments as well as the normal acoustic and electric guitars. The Three String Trance Wonder is a normal guitar, but with only three strings in the wrong positions. And The One Stringed Diddly Bow is a one stringed instrument that he plays with a slide, usually a screwdiver. He has travelled the world extensively and once worked as a recording enginner, carnie, producer and a cowboy.

Here's the performance from Later With Jools of 'Walking Man':

When asked about his nickname, Steve said: "because it's just true: I always get seasick."

Infinity Blues

I've just preordered my copy of Infinity Blues, the first book to be published by Ryan Adams. Infinity Blues is a collection of poems and short fiction and is according to Adams "the jewel of my life's work."

The preorder includes a signed HARDCOVER edition of Infinity Blues, with a BONUS poetry chapbook by Ryan Adams titled Sad American Mythology. The chapbooks will all be signed and numbered; Sad American Mythology is a limited edition available ONLY here as part of this preorder. The official publication date for the book is April 2009, but these pre-orders will be sent out on or before the 19th December.

I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into this. You can preorder the book here.

“Ryan Adams, one of America’s most consistently interesting singer-songwriters, has written a passionate, arresting, and entertaining book of verse. Fans are going to love it, and newcomers will be pleased and startled by his intensity and originality. The images are vivid and the voice is honest and powerful.”—Stephen King.

Busking For Change

Since my recent post about Raine Maida busking in 2007 to raise money to build a school in the Congo, he's only been up to it again. This time with his band Our Lady Peace who, along with many other Canadian musicians, took to the street of Toronto on Thursday to raise money for War Child Canada. Students from across Canada were also busking for change on campus.

Busking for change was inspired by Raine's efforts last October. Check out a fan video of 'Clumsy' that was played on Thursday:

Our Lady Peace are in the midst of finishing up their seventh studio album. Here's what it says on their My Spaz page:

"We've gone about this recording process much differently than any album we've made before. For one, we chose not to work with an outside producer. Collaboration has always been essential to art, especially music, but we felt we needed to keep the collaboration between to the 4 of us. We were very curious to see how the music would end up without any outside influence. "Trust ourselves".... that was the mantra. Safe to say the songs we've recorded so far have been some of the most special and rewarding pieces of music the band has ever put to tape."

Donations to Busking For Change - War Child can be made here.

Brooklyn

Since I seem to have a bit of an obsession with the music scene in Brooklyn of late after blogging about Joseph Arthur, Scary Mansion and Creaky Boards who are all from there, I thought I'd post a pretty cool live video of the song 'Brooklyn' by Jesse Malin, that was recorded at the Mercury Lounge in 2007.

There's a great story at the beginning of the video about Jesse and his 'man with a van' business, where they moved a bed for Barbra Streisand. It's always great to catch Jesse at his solo shows as he's not only a gifted musican, but also a great story teller. Check it out:

'Brooklyn' is featured on Jesse's debut album, which was produced by Ryan Adams.

Jesse is playing a three night stint at the Bowery Electric, NYC this weekend. It's called 'Almost Grown - An evening of songs and stories with Jesse Malin'. I'd love to go to the show, it's been too long since I've caught Jesse live.

You can check out more Jesse goodness at his MySpaz page. I'm off to check out some more music from Brooklyn. Feel free to post a comment if you know of any good Brooklyn based bands I should check out.

Autumn De Wilde

Autumn De Wilde is a photographer who has photographed album covers for the likes of Elliot Smith, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, The White Stripes, Beck and The Raconteurs. Last year she published a book of her photos of the late Elliot Smith, which also included handwritten lyrics and interviews with close friends and family.

She has also directed numerous music videos, including this one for 'Gamma Ray' by Beck, which I've really been enjoying lately, taken from his new album 'Modern Guilt' (which I still need to get):

And this video by The Raconteurs for 'Salute Your Solution':

You can check out more of her work at her official website.

Drever McCusker Woomble

Roddy Woomble released his debut solo album, 'My Secret Is My Silence' in 2006. The sound was quite a departure from his band Idlewild and ventured into new and different territory where he really pushed himself as a songwriter and musician. I've been a big fan of Idelwild for years now and really loved the album. Here's an awesome live version of the title track from the album:

Since then he has released a new Idlewild album and now a new collaborative effort along with fellow Scotsmen, Kris Drever and John McCusker, 'Before The Ruin' was released in September.

There are a few tracks streaming on the band's website, which sound really nice. Say Woomble of the collaboration "The solo record was the first time I'd really pushed myself in other directions, and that's given me the confidence to take it further: Kris and John each have such a different take on things like melody and lyrics, but we're all working equally on the songs together, so the whole thing feels totally new."