Maggie

This one is sounding really good! Listening to some live versions right now, I like her new touring band.

http://www.cbc.ca/ra...s/20120114kathl

It does sound great, like all of her records. I'm sad to say that Kathleen's playing near me in a couple weeks and once again I'm going to miss her.

It's interesting to see this album get a good bit of media coverage. I guess the Bon Iver connection goes a long way, but she's deserved this attention for years.

Kathleen Edwards - next week!

Son Volt / Jay's & Friends doing Woody Guthrie

Justin Townes Earle

Decemberists (live album)

I'm having a hard time coming up with a top 10 or 20 for 2011, so I'm liking the shorter list idea. Here are my five definite keepers:

1. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

2. Wilco - The Whole Love

3. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

4. Centro-Matic - Candidate Waltz

5. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Honorable mentions go to Dawes, Laura Marling and My Morning Jacket. Earlier in the year I though Kurt Vile would be on the list for sure, but the charm wore off. Still not sure about The Black Keys. I like El Camino a lot, but I think it may wear off eventually.

Many of you have favorites lists longer than my entire 2011 concert calendar! Still, I loved every show I saw:

The Decemberists w/ Justin Townes Earle ( Initially I was more interested in Justin, but The Decemberists converted me to a superfan by the end of the night.)

Josh Ritter w/ The David Wax Museum (The Animal Years is the only Josh Ritter album I ever fully loved, but his live show was surprisingly fun. The David Wax Museum was a nice suprise.)

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (I'm not a huge fan - especially since their last album - but the concert was free and they put on a great show. The opening act was forgettable.)

My Morning Jacket w/ Neko Case (Second time seeing MMJ, first time finally seeing Neko. Possibly my favorite concert ever.)

Justin Townes Earle w/ Shovels & Rope (I was excited to see Justin as a headliner. Very entertaining show with beautiful music. Shovels & Rope were another great surprise.)

Drive-By Truckers w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield (I finally got to see DBT as a headliner after a disappointing show with the Hold Steady. DBT were incredible as expected, Jessica needs some work but shows potential.)

I knew of Wilco during the 90's but took no interest in them. They'd pop up periodically throughout the following years, but I never gave them a chance. Finally in 2005 after a Ryan Adams binge I knew I needed to broaden my horizons or suffer Ryan overload.

I started searching the internet for "similar" artists and came up with Wilco. After sampling some stuff online I purchased Kicking Television. By the end of "Misunderstood" I was blown away. I could not stop listening to them. To this day when I listen to that album I have flashbacks to December days listening to that album on my iPod: Riding the bus at night, walking to class, standing in elevators.

I haven't listened to Aimee in a long time. Thanks for the reminder! Your comment about her being an "old" artist is probably accurate in that I had more or less forgotten about her over the last year or two!

I don't own all of the records, but Bachelor No. 2 is a must-have. I was also a big fan of Lost in Space.

Does anyone else hear the opening of Drive-by Truckers' "Ronnie and Neil" in "Little Black Submarines"? Not as hugely popular as the Petty song of course, but that's what I hear every time.

Overall I'm really liking El Camino. It doesn't excite me in the way Brothers did, but it's still very solid and catchy. "Sister" is probably my favorite song so far.

However, I still buy physical CDs of the artists that I like, though I rarely "listen" to the CD itself, I seldom play the disc.

This is what I do with the majority of my music these days, though sometimes on the weekend I'll put a CD in the stereo and blast it.

I'd hate to see the CD disappear, but I've got to admit that I enjoy all of the options that are out there today. Each format fills a different need for me. I mostly buy CD's, but I also buy the occasional vinyl record or mp3 album. Lately I've been doing a lot of my listening on my iPod via MOG. I've been having fun listening to older albums I've never heard before. For instance, I just listened to Blue by Joni Mitchell. One of those classics I'd been curious about but never wanted to commit to purchasing.

I finally got to see DBT again last night. It was about 3 years ago that I saw my first show, which was on the tour they did with The Hold Steady.

I went with my Dad last night. He likes his share of Southern Rock, so I've been wanting him to see DBT for a while. He was only vaguely familiar with their music ahead of time but he loved the show. He's been online checking out videos, posting on their Facebook page and telling his friends about the show. The highlight for him was "Buttholeville," which I think is kinda funny. I thought the show was great too, but the best part is seeing how much he enjoyed it.

The opening act - Jessica Lea Mayfield - was pretty boring unfortunately. I think I understand what she's trying to accomplish musically, and I appreciate it, but something just isn't right there.

I got into her after streaming Actor at a listening station and buying it. I thought it was one of the best records of the year. She performed on several late night TV shows and Austin City Limits (TV show) and all sounded great. I liked it so much I eventually ordered Marry Me, but never really felt compelled to listen to it. I haven't had the chance to listen to the new one a lot yet to form an opinion.

I think anyone who is on the fence about St. Vincent should try to catch the Austin City Limits performance. I'd been listening to her since the first album, but I didn't fully appreciate her work until I saw that show. Seeing a live performance really brought the music to life and added a human quality I had never gotten from the albums. I'd love to see her in person.

I'm loving Strange Mercy in a way that I never appreciated the previous albums. It's probably in my top 5 for the year. Top 10 at the least.

I like Capitol City a lot. I've been thinking it would make It's a little cutesy, but nothing over the top in my opinion. Based on some of the comments I read leading up to the release of the album I was expecting something wacky.

Standing O is the one song I can't get into. It doesn't work for me musically, lyrically or vocally.

the pitchfork review is another slap in the face to one of indie rocks best bands. I realize the idea of Pitchfork is to talk about hot up and coming acts, but when they give total mass market garbage like Watch The Throne high marks, and call the Whole Love "their most inconsistent record" you know something is very wrong. They seem to pick favorites over there, and it really comes across in their review scores.

 

I'm not a Pitchfork fan by any means, but I wanted to point this out:

So the weird, winsome Whole Love is certainly Wilco's least consistent LP in a while, but inconsistency has its own rewards.

I read that as a compliment. Maybe somewhat backhanded, but not a slap in the face.

With regard to the scoring, I seem to recall that Pitchfork's ratings are based on more than just the review that we read on the website. So the writer may have thought the record was an 8, but Pitchfork gave it a 6.9. Doesn't make sense to me, but I guess it's their website.

Anyway, I thought the review was mostly fair. I don't think The Whole Love is 9 or 10. I'd give it an 8 myself (I agree with others that the decimal points are pretentious).

after one listen...i'm not there yet. i really like rainy day, and i don't find this one as engaging (for me). it was actually kinda flat the first time through. nothing really jumped out at me.

 

i will spin it some more.

I feel pretty much the same way, except I don't particularly care for Rainy Day Music. I agree that nothing jumps out on the first listen.

Mine was waiting for me when I got home from work! I'm in western PA.

As someone who chose not to listen to the streams/rips I'm especially excited!

I became a Wilco fan in late 2005. As a result, when SBS came out I was still absorbing the back catalog and it was all very fresh and exciting to me. A Ghost Is Born was (and is) my favorite, so you can guess what direction I wanted to see Wilco to continue in.

When SBS came out I was incredibly disappointed. It was verging on depressing for me - that this band I had recently fallen in love with let me down. There were two main problems for me. 1. As a 24 year old I couldn't relate to much of the sentiment in the album. 2. It seemed like Wilco had gone soft on me.

However, I kept listening. Once the shock wore off I spent some time with the album and came to appreciate its beauty. To this day I think SBS is a lovely, elegant album. Not my favorite, but still essential to the Wilco catalog.

Horrible song. I hope it's just an out-take from Backspacer. That is not the direction they need to be headed in.

I too cannot stand the talkers. If all you want to do is drink and talk to your friends there are plenty of other places you can do so without paying admission. At the very least, please stay in the back of the venue.

When I go to a concert the only people I care about are the ones on stage. In fact, at GA shows my companions usually disappear after a couple songs to drift around the venue while I stand as close to the stage as possible. I kinda like it that way.

The only exception is when there's one of those great moments when I find myself surrounded by an audience that is clearly as absorbed in the music as I am. But that cannot happen if the people next to me are deep in conversation.

Last week I saw Shovels & Rope (Carry Ann Hearst and Michael Trent) open for Justin Townes Earle. A few weeks ago I'd never head of them. I'm now officially a fan. (Justin was also a very good opening act for the Decemberist's, by the way).

The biggest one for me was Band of Horses opening for Pearl Jam. I was already a fan, but this was my first chance getting to see them I actually had to hold back tears when they walked out and launched into The Great Salt Lake. They also saved the show for me. My experience during PJ's set was pretty terrible - mostly the audience's fault, not so much the band's. I'm still waiting to see BoH as a headlining act . . .

"Lucky Now" from Ashes & Fire streamin'.

 

http://onethirtybpm....dams-lucky-now/

Nice! That sounds like the guy I fell in love with years ago.

I'm glad Ryan seems to be making a return to quality songwriting. He's one of those few artists who changed my musical life - I hated to think he didn't have it anymore. I might not be a Wilco fan today if it wasn't for Ryan's music.

Justin Townes Earle

Looks like Neko and MMJ teamed up for a duet of "Islands in the stream" (you can watch it on pitchfork), unfortunately I can't watch it hear at work. Not my fave song but I would love to see them do it. I would have loved for Neko to open when I saw them last week, Amos Lee was a snoozer for me.

I was there! That duet was pretty darned adorable!

I thought Neko did a fine job as an opener, but unfortunately there was a lot of talking during her set (and a super tall guy that was standing in the middle of my view of her). I'd like to see her in a theater rather than an outdoor venue full of dudes who are ready to rock out to MMJ. She got a fair share of respect from the audience, but something felt off.

MMJ was absolutely incredible. This was my second time seeing them, but I was still blown away. There's nothing like standing in the middle of a packed crowd where almost every single person is howling along to "Wordless Chorus." It's such a great emotional release to participate in a show like that. I really needed that!

My Morning Jacket and Neko!

I've been listening to their album quite a bit lately and like it a lot.

I'm not a Pitchfork fan by any means (we tend to disagree more often than not), but their 3.8 review of the album was enough to make me ignore this album for a while. I eventually decided to look them up on MOG and I'm glad I did. Im really into the sweet, melodic, folky stuff lately and they fit into that category quite nicely. I'd definitely like to see them live sometime.

I'm not a Deerhoof fan (quite appropriate considering my first name), but this is really cool. I ordered the 7".

I'm loving "Own It" in particular.

At least Wilco has been up front with the various editions/packages. Look at a band like Arcade Fire - they waited more than a year to release the deluxe edition of their last album. If nothing else we've been given the chance to make an informed decision.

I went for the deluxe CD and the vinyl (both from wilcoworld, as I don't leave anywhere near a record store). There aren't a lot of bands I'd spend that much money on, but Wilco is worth it to me. I think the artwork looks cool and I'm happy getting most of the bonus tracks. It was a pretty easy decision for me.