Wild Frank

Just been listening to the 'Tonight At The Arizona' album. The line 'Powder your nose, pull off your panty-hose, let me love you from behind my darlin' from 'The Ballad of Lou The Welterweight' is a beautiful lyric! Great album.

 

So okay Faith Hill fucked up Janis Joplin. There are those who think Janis Joplin fucked up George Gershwin (I have an older friend who won't forgive her for Summertime...), so that's how popular music goes that is covered by someone else. At least Janis is making money off Faith Hill and singing a song that has actually caught your attention, rather than singing crap you don't care about.

 

LouieB

She's been dead for a while now though so isn't really making much money off it

I love Neil Young but I just can't get excited about the Archives set. About 70% is already commercially available. So you are just rebuying the same stuff again. If you put all the previously unavailable tracks on two discs then I'd be all over it. There seems to be no logic to it. Its not comprehensive but seems to have selected tracks of the allready available albums. I already own 'Filmore' and 'Massey Hall'. Just all seems a bit confused to me. Maybe I'm missing something, I don't know. With Dylans 'Bootleg' series you get 99% unreleased stuff which seems a much better approach.

There's a new Felice Brothers album out on April 7th. Loved the previous two but wasn't aware of the new record until I saw it reviewed in Uncut today. It's their album of the month (Five stars) with comparisons to Dylan and Springsteen and sounds like Tom Wait's Mule Variations. I've not read a album review as glowing as this one for a long time.

There's also a review of 'Ashes of American Flags' DVD in Uncut this month. They give it four out of five. "A portrait of a band finding their peak'. "A quiet triumph, and a beautiful document of a confident moment on the life of Wilco".

I'd add "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"--The Band

In terms of The Band, I would say 'It Makes No Difference'. The Last Waltz version. The way Rick Danko sings the line 'I love you so much' gets me every time.

So many to choose. I would have to go for:

M. Ward: 'Lullaby and Exile' (Had this at my wedding and everyone got all emotional)

Van Morrison: 'Country Fair'

Tom Waits: 'I'm Still Here'

Neil Young: 'Out Of My Mind'

Micah P. Hinson: 'Don't Leave Me Now'

Eels: 'The Medication Is Wearing Off'

Candy Staton: 'I'll Sing A Love Song For You'

Lambchop: 'My Blue Wave'

And...

Wilco: 'Reservations'

did anyone get that itunes exclusive EP from a while back? worth checking out?

Definately worth getting hold of. It has a nice laid back vibe to it. There is a great version of 'Knot Comes Loose' on it aswell as a couple of new versions of tracks from 'Tenessee Fire' ('They Ran' and 'From Nashville To Kentucky' off the top of my head)

Sumday is a great album. Not as interesting as Software Slump, but I'd say I like it more for some reason.

I've heard that Jason's new music sounds like Grandaddy, which is good as long as it's not Fambly Cat Grandaddy.

Never understood why Fambly Cat got so much stick. I think it's a grat album. At least the equal of Sumday. Tracks like 'Summer...It's Gone' and 'Rearview Mirror' are as good as they ever made. In fact I'm gonna go and listen to it right now and give it some much needed love.

I saw Grandaddy open once for Elliott Smith and once for Coldplay maybe in 2000? They were a great band. Still listen to Softwareslump once in awhile...

 

Thanks for the heads up!

Softwareslump is a beautiful album. 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot' is one of my all-time favourite tunes. I can't think of many better albums over the past ten years. It's one of those albums you just put on and let it play all the way through.

Jason also contributed to the recent M. Ward album 'Hold Time'. I think he is on the track 'Save Me', providing some nice little keyboard bits.

Not sure if there are any 'Grandaddy' fans out there, but Jason Lytle has his first solo album coming out in May. He has a new website and is heading out on tour soon. Grandaddy were a great little band who unfortunatly disbanded a few years back. If this new album is as good as the Grandaddy stuff then we're in for a treat.

http://www.jasonlytle.com/cgi-bin/WebObjec...wa/page?id=8994

http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog...p;pb=1#more1120

I hope it doesn't sound too like 'Thunder on the Mountain' and 'Rollin and Tumblin' as they are two of the weaker tracks of 'Modern Times'. I still have a good feeling about this new record, and I'm loving the album cover. However, take whatever Uncut says with a pinch of salt, as it would have to be a really bad album for them not to give it a maximum rating (rather like Rolling Stone on your side of the pond). Uncut LOVE Bob Dylan xx

Hi. I was just wondering when the Ashes Of American Flags DVD would be available for UK fans to pre-order. Also, will the audio tracks be available to download, as they are on the US site?

 

Thanks.

Its available on Amazon.co.uk now. You can pick it up for about

Really looking forward to some new Tom Waits. I loved 'Real Gone' and the 'Orphans' package. I can't think of many artists who just keep getting better and have not really put out a bad album. Everything Tom does has been touched by greatness, whereas Neil Young and Dylan have both put out some stinky albums over the years.

I suppose the best place to start would be the 'best of' package they put out last year. That gives a pretty good overview. Electro Shock Blues is the best album, although I am fond of Souljacker. The Live at Town Hall DVD is great aswell.

On a side note, my kids (two and four year old boys) totally love the Eels and jump about laughing whenever 'Hey Man, Now Your Really Living' or 'Last Stop This Town' comes on the i-pod.

If you pop over to the My Morning Jacket website they are advertising a new EP. A double vinyl/CD live recording. Track Listing:

1. Evil Urges

2. Highly Suspicious

3. Gideon

4. Where to Begin

5. Librarian

6. Phone Went West

7. Dondante

This EP will only be available from your local record store folks!

I've seen Bjork six times, each time was a joy to experience (although her last couple of albums were a bit too much for me to stomach). Seen Dylan a bunch of times too. Dylan probably accounts for my best and worst concert experinces. When he good he's untouchable, when he's on an off night....it's hard going.

Those pictures look amazing. He's done some great character acting over the years. His appearances in 'Fisher King' and 'Mystery Men' were quality. Wasn't this 'Parnassus' film the one Heath Ledger was filming when he died?

where can I get it? I didn't think it was out yet.

It came out last week in the U.K. I picked it up for

On a related issue, I have just started reading the new Tom Waits Biography 'Lowside of the Road'. Its a 600 page monster of a book and is a very good read. Books on Tom Waits are pretty thin on the ground because he is notoriously private.

the lyrics on Into The Woods are just horrendous. the song sticks out like a sore thumb as a result and is def the one weak point on Z.

 

as far as MMJ's records...

 

i'd say:

 

Tennessee Fire 8.1

At Dawn 9.2

It Still Moves 8.7

Z 8.5

Evil Urges 7.2

 

so while EU isn't bad, it's still quite a bit weaker than the rest of their catalog in my book.

Z: 9

At Dawn: 8.7

It Still Moves: 8.5

Tenessee Fire: 8.3 (But getting better every time I listen to it)

Evil Urges: 7.5

I think this record is a little uneven, but not nearly as bad as some people here are saying. There are 4 or 5 songs on this record I really like, its solid. Not every album can be amazing. I do agree Z is the better albim...personally I've been listening to Okonokos a lot recently.

The 'Okonokos' dvd is so good. I could watch that all night long. I've been looking for the 'Okonokos' vinyl (with four bonus tracks) recently but can seem to track it down.

Woah, woah, woah/

Into the woods is an amazing song.

it's one of those things were you listen to the album for two years, and all of a sudden you go' holy crap, this song is amazing, how did i not see that before?!'

at least thats how it was with me

I'll look forward to that moment of clarity then!. I know what you mean though. I kind of had that feeling with 'Knot comes loose', which didn't hit me straight away but know I love. There is a lovely version of 'Knot comes loose' on the recent i-tunes EP.

I agree.. I hate to go into a positive thread about Evil Urges and talk negative, but Evil Urges is a very weak album in my book. Too many clunkers on it. I find myself skipping around the tracks all the time, and to me that says its a weak record. I still wonder what the hell they were thinking by letting "Highly Suspicious" be publicly heard, live or on record..

 

Z is where its at. I can listen to that thing start-finish and never lose interest.

The only song of 'Z' which is not essential is 'into the woods'. Every other track is top draw. 'Wordless chorus' is a thing of beauty and gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it.

really?

 

i thought it was pretty good, but would probably have been better as a single album.

Definately would have been better with a bit of editing. Saying that, there are very few 'double albums' that I don't think would have benefited from a bit of quality control. 'Being There' is an exception of course! (apart from King-Pin...which is rubbish!).

The real shame is that Gilmour and Co. were able to call it "Pink Floyd".

I totally agree. The most 'Floyd' sounding album since 'Final Cut' is Roger Water's 'Amused To Death'. That is a great album, but would have been classic if Gilmour had played on it. 'Lapse of Reason' and 'Division Bell' were a pale imitation. That said, Pink Floyd at Earl's Court in '94 was still a great 'event'.