Vacant Horizon

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellenc...t_b_177836.html

above is a link to an article by john mellancamp discussing his view of the music business these days. i am fascinated by the whole history of music in the US. i love the history of artists, even shitty ones. i also love the history of how we listen to music and how this has changed with technology of marketing and listening devices.

i will post more thoughts, but i wanted to get a thread started on this topic as i always have ideas and wonder what others have to say.

You get sick of his "Here comes midnight with the dead moon in its jaws" vibe?

"the wolves and the owls keep me in the blues"

what is this?

It is for sale on Amazon now so it must be true that it will be coming out.

this has all happened before...

I fell in love with this album on first listen. It immediately became one of my all-time favorites. I'm especially fond of "I've Been Riding with the Ghost."

 

I've tried a sampling of Jason's other work but nothing has hit me quite like Magnolia Electric Co does. Off hand I'm thinking that "Ring the Bell" is a strong song, and I really like most everything on Fading Trails, though I seem to recall that that particular album isn't normally considered to be on of his best works. "The Dark Don't Hide It" is pretty great song as well.

when he wants to he can write an amazing song...farewell transmission, dark don't hide it...at the same time, his heart in that brooding place that is almost impossible to listen to all the time.

Destroyer: good, not great. But worth checking out.

 

48 Hours: his best "alt.country" record he ever made

 

Suicide Handbook: Pure acoustic. Almost solo acoustic. Very, very good (if you like the singer-songwriter aspect of RA).

 

Other interesting unreleased records are the Elizabethtown Sessions and all the Love Is Hell B-sides, rarities, and alternate sessions.

 

All are :ahem: available here.

thanks!

There's a lot of stuff there to be had. Much like the Black Crowes, he shelved albums that were better than what he ended up releasing. At least I think so.

so what are you thinking of? 48 hours, suicide handbook, destroyer? what's the best. i liked that exile on franklin street at one time.

It is like Neil got caught between a Dylan like Bootleg series and this huge archives project, but it is stupid none the less. those who are hardcore and are going to shelve out the money have already purchased Massey and Fillmore. Does anyone know someone who refused to get these upon their release waiting for the Archives? Anyway, I'm looking forward to Vol. 2 with homegrown and chrome dreams and all of that, but we are now talking as if Vol 1 is really going to happen. Bottom line Neil runs the risk of releasing this to a big round of "Who freaking cares?" And that will be his or his own mgmts. doing.

 

Oh, also announced at SXSW relating to Neil's archives was that Vol. 3 was going to consist of only one disc. The Old Ways Sessions prior to being ruined.

is this true?

anyway, yeah, neil really f'd this up. it's kind of like a greatest hits with basically 90% of it already out there. who wants the BF stuff again? really! and i thought neil's vision was to sit down and listen to the set all the way through or listen to the whole albums in the various sets. that ain't gonna happen now. also, some of his best songs are missing...out on the weekend?! i can see why neil only wanted to do BR...the pictures and clips are gonna be the archives here, not the music. it's gonna be released with a big yawn. i for one am not gonna get it at all. prolly download a few tracks.

now, volume two could be great, but again, i think there isn't gonna be as much as we think. homegrown will be kind of cool. after that, all we have is different versions of songs and possibly an acoustic version of the comes a time album and hopefully some studio outtakes from CSNY like love art blues and pushed it over the end. come to think of it, there could be one great disc of unreleased tunes from vol. 2 (hitchhiker, pushed it over the end, try, mexico, kansas, sad movies, separate ways, traces, bad fog, home fires, love art blues, hawiian sunrise, evening coconut, vacancy).

what irks me about this era is that neil had all these amazing mellow songs in the vein of pardon my heart, that, if put together in one double album, could be a masterpiece. i'm thinking of will to love, old homestead, motion pictures, ambulance blues etc. that would be bad ass.

vol 3 & 4 are gonna be complete shit. i mean, are there really any outtakes from any 80s-90s albums that anyone wants to hear, or is aware of for that matter? the good stuff there is gonna be the live albums, hopefully solo gigs from 92 and 99 as well as rusted out garage. these will probably be released separately like massey hall and filmore. i would love to hear the shelved albums old ways I and island in the sun and TOAST! so, if the reports are true that there will be an 'unrleased' albums series, then we will hear these albums apart from the archives. in addition, it looks like the actual albums are gonna get remastered and released. SO, the archives are pointless and really just a joke from musician who is becoming more of a joke with each album. i love him though!

You can go here and dig around:

 

Ryan Adams Archive (torrent section)

 

Also, you can do some research here:

 

Answering Bell

thanks T.REX.

The inclusion of previously released material from studio albums is pure and utter bullshit. Also, the inclusion of Fillmore East and Massey Hall is a joke. Been there. Done that. Paid for that already. No other fucking shows from that era?

well said cortez.

Chicago Tribune article by way of Expecting Rain:

Two years for vol.2! no! vol. 3 and 4 are gonna be total garbage!

start with nashville moon from the sojourners box set. all the other albums have their peculiarities that can be off putting to a new fan ie: bad female singers, bad male singers, acoustic dirges, etc.

they have a new album coming out this year and jason did an album with will johnson that should come out this year too.

does that archive of all his unreleased stuff still exist. i'm thinking about getting back into him. is any of that unreleased stuff good?

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.

exactly. would rather have it like dylan. i'm afraid neil's been putting this off because he can't deliver. there's probably 2 discs worth of unreleased stuff. most of it oldways and bluenote outtakes. i'm sure there are many different versions of songs which might be interesting to hear, but not essential. however, neil doesn't seem to be interested in those. as i've said before, the real revelations from this set already came out, massy hall and fillmore. really want to hear riverboat and i REALLY want to hear toast. that that is archives there.

just because he's not a technically accurate opera singer doesn't mean some people can't appreciate his art.

 

as david berman once said "All my favorite singers couldn't sing."

 

 

i haven't seen Will since the _Viva Last Blues_ tour, and i am looking forward to seeing him again.

well, tweedy can't 'really sing' either if we're comparing to opera singers. BUT, tweedy does know how to sound good with his voice and does not make a mockery of himself.

Video for Cough Up The Bucks is on Pitchfork.......yikes. What a pile of shit.

well, the chorus is awesome. the lyrics are pretty bad.

I'll mention to Will not to contact you next time he goes on tour. I'm sure he'll be crushed.

thanks. also, say hi to the rest of you lemmings.

i was really looking forward to beware. heard it was the best yet...but, it's still the same BS. oldham, who can sing if he wants, just rambling. if i was a musician for higher, i would not back this dude. let's be honest, he sux. i am so tired of artists getting all this praise for just being shitty! it's ridiculous and if this is the future of indie music, then i'll just stick with old standbys. when did 'trying to sound' bad and out of key become cool? i'm talking to you will oldham, jim james, conor oberst, etc.

i got their 20th century masters disc which for the most part is good. i've checked out their other albums and they are way hit and miss. i LOVE that song Doraville. living in atlanta, i drive through there all the time. also, their version of spooky is so great!

Let's dream of a duet with Neko

i think her voice would be too powerful?

hope to see him in atlanta...

as an aside, the only really infuriating thing about will is how scattered his music is! all those eps, 7", compilations, singles, albums under different names/spellings....it's crazy. and, some of those random tunes are awesome! for example, his recent single with the bewarers, what ever the hell that is. it's a great song, but not on the new album!!

Link

love love love 89-90 dead. i think i like it more than the 70s! with out a net is just so great!

Wow. I think you are underestimating their capabilities a bit. There's no magical formula, of course, but Warren sounds good to these ears in what I've heard so far. He does have solos, too. I think it's a noble effort on their part to put the time in that they have been with practicing, too. Not sure how you come to the conclusion that they're under-rehearsed. They've got a repertoire of tunes to toy with and interpret that I think will sound fresh. Mimicing older formats (and Garcia solos/parts) would be a lot more painful to my ears than in re-interpreting old tunes.

 

ed. re: big venues= Supply and demand. I'd rather they weren't doing arenas but they can and they are.

 

Differences of opinion, is all. Cheers.

i know it goes without saying, but there's no jerry! and i just don't think warren fits. he's a rock, blues guitarist...balls to the wall...he can't do some sweet solo on sugaree at all. again, no offense to him. if anything, they should have mark karan at least. he doesnt solo either but at least he's a little lighter to the ears when it comes to dead tunes.

Bingo. You are not human if that snare kick does not blow your mind right open.

well, i am human and the snare kick just does not do it for me. too bad!

http://www.dead.net/video09

 

Another Dead rehearsal.

 

Again no speakers on my work computer.

 

also lots of photo's here:

 

http://www.dead.net/dead09-goodies

 

lastly a LOM show with Little Sunflower is played

 

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=523454

i love warren, but he has no place in the dead. mickey seems like he is really annoying. and, i don't care how much the band rehearses, they are ALWAYS under-rehearsed. they have no business playing big venues either. the dead are done man! i mean, there's no way i could sit there, close my eyes, and smile while warren plays a solo. well that would never happen, because he never does solo in the band anyway. they all just plod along looking at each other waiting to see what to do next.....

i'm hot and cold with zimmy. i've desperately wanted to get in to him for years, but it hasn't clicked. i love greatest hits III and i enjoyed most of modern times. this new one i'm excited about. the cover art is quite masterful, if indeed it is to be the cover. i just love his lyrics. i think i'm gonna force myself to live with highway 61 for a while and see if it takes.

they're definitely some skinny MFs!