A Flood of New Music

Heaven is whenever we can get together; sit down on your floor, and listen to your records...(The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever)

Early this year I was disappointed in the lack of new interesting music and I wrote about it in 2010: What's In Store. Then a few cds began to trickle out, like the terrific Broken Bells debut. Now the trickle has became a flood. Here is a list of new releases and future new releases:

• The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
• The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
• The New Pornographers - Together
• Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
• The Sadies - Darker Circles
• John Prine - In Person & Onstage (Tuesday, May 25)
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Mojo (June 15)
• John Mellencamp - On the Rural Route 7609 (Box Set) (June 15)
• The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang (June 15)
• Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine (June 22)
• Alejandro Escovedo - Street Songs of Love (June 29)
• Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust (August 3)

In addition to these, U2's Songs of Ascent and the Darkness on the Edge of Town box set from Bruce Springsteen are expected some time this year. 2010 is shaping up after all.

Broken Bells: One of the Best This Year

Use your intuition, it's all you've got... (Broken Bells - The Malls and Misery)

My favorite cd of the year so far is Broken Bells by Broken Bells. The question is who the heck are the Broken Bells. James Mercer of The Shins and musician/producer Dangerous Mouse met in 2004 at a Danish music festival and being fans of each others works decided to record together. In 2008 they finally got together in the studio and started recording as the Broken Bells. The result is a great blend of The Shins quirky melodies and lyrics with the experimental/hip-hop (trip-hop) of Dangerous Mouse previous works.



The cd opens with The High Road which starts with electronic swirling keyboards and then a hip-hop drum beat and when the singing starts it immediately evokes The Shins. Vaporize is powered by a driving organ, tight brushed drumming and very melodic bass; The Ghost Inside echoes the sound of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy (Gnarls Barkley was the name the band that Dangerous Mouse and Cee-Lo recorded under; Crazy was one of the best singles of 2006); The Mall and Misery is another winner that begins slow with a acoustic instruments and then breaks into an alluring tune with a great guitar sound.

Broken Bells is a solid recording with no low spots. The music is hypnotic and captivating.

The Jayhawks: Big Star

I'm gonna be a big star someday... (The Jayhawks - Big Star)

Don't feel too bad. I sort of missed it too. The Jayhawks were a tremendous band, but never really made the impact that they should have. I didn't get on board until 2000 with the release of Smile, but with last years Music From the North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology release I have been revisiting this terrific band.


Here's a quick summary about the band. The Jayhawks formed in Minneapolis, MN in the mid-80's. The band consisted of Gary Louris (guitar & vocals), Mark Olson (guitar & vocals), Mark Perlman (bass & vocals) and Norm Rogers (drums). The Jayhawks music was sort of an off-shoot of the Flying Burrito Brothers/Byrds; kind of country rock, but a better description would be roots rock. Their early sound was marked by the fine harmony singing of Louris and Olson.

After a couple of small label recordings the Jayhawks signed with Def American. Their major label debut was 1992's Hollywood Town Hall which featured the song Waiting For the Sun. The song got quite a bit airplay and the video was in MTV's rotation. Then in 1995, the band released Tomorrow the Green Grass, which included their classic songs Blue and I'd Run Away. Another prominent song, Miss Williams Guitar; a song about singer/songwriter Victoria Williams. By the end of the year, Mark Olson left the band so that he could spend time and record with his future wife, Victoria Williams.



With the dynamic of the band changed,Gary Louris and company continued onward. The band now included Karen Grothberg (on piano and vocals), Tim O'Reagan (drums), Kraig Johnson (guitar) along with Louris and Perlman. The bands next release 1997's Sound of Lies, a great straight ahead under-rated rock album. In 2000 the Jayhawks went in a slight new direction with the Bob Ezrin produced popier Smile. The album featured new sounds for the Jayhawks, including synthesizers, drum loops, but enough harmony singing to make Brian Wilson smile. A New York Times critic said it best with the question "What If You Made a Classic and No One Cared? If the band didn't make their big breakout after this one, it may not happen.

The Jayhawks released their final album to-date in 2004, the excellent Rainy Day Music, a more acoustic/folky style. The album really showcased the writing and singing tallents of Gary Louris.


In a perfect world, the Jayhawks would have became the big stars that sang about in 1997.

We Want Monkeys!

My propeller won't spin and I can't get it started on my own... (Arctic Monkeys - My Propeller)

My computer has been sick and I am a bit behind blogging. I think I found a cure; there's an amazing amount of information (and misinformation) on the world wide web.

Well to catch up, last weekend I (along with my beautiful daughter) ventured to Covington, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati, OH to see the English band Arctic Monkeys. The concert site was The Madison Theater, a small theater with no seats except in the balcony. We made our way to the front row in the balcony.

A band from San Francisco called Sleepy Sun opened the show. Their sound was sort of 2 parts Pink Floyd and 1 part Grateful Dead with a dash of Jefferson Airplane. Sleepy Sun featured nice harmony singing from it's 2 main singers, a male and female.

The Arctic Monkeys took the stage around 9 or so with the familiar guitar sounds of Dance Little Liar. The Monkeys rolled through material from their three albums including Brianstorm, I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor and Potion Approaching. The crowd was appreciative, especially in the pit area where hands waved, fists pumped and crowd surfing started at every opportunity. My highlights were Crying Lightning and My Propeller from 2009's Humbug and Fluorescent Adolescent from 2007's My Worst Nightmare. At the end of the show at around 11 the crowd was left chanting WE WANT MONKEYS! All in all an excellent show.

Prine Time

Radio's on, windows rolled up and my mind's rolled down... (John Prine - Long Monday)

I got some exciting John Prine news today. First of all John is releasing a new live cd in May called In Person & On Stage! This will be John's third live cd, including 1988's John Prine Live and 1997's Live On Tour. The new disc includes some live tunes from John's last original cd 2005's Fair and Square and some exciting duets, including the hilarious In Spite of Ourself with Iris Dement and Angel From Montgomery with Emmylou Harris. To wet your appetite the song She is My Everything can be downloaded from here.

If that is not enought to satisfy your John Prine needs, Oh Boy Records is also releasing a John Prine tribute cd on June 22 entitled Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine. The contributing artists include Old Crow Medicine Show, Drive-By Truckers, Justin Townes Earle, Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket & The Avett Brothers, among others.

Alex Chilton

Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home... (The Box Tops - The Letter)

I was saddened to hear that Alex Chilton had passed. He was taken to a hospital in New Orleans on March 17 and later that day died from an apparent heart attack. I was in college in the 80's and a friend introduced me to the music of Alex Chilton.

I found out that Alex was the voice behind the wonderful late 60's pop song The Letter by The Box Tops, the late 1960's band from Memphis, TN. The Box Tops played a sort of blue-eyed soul and had other hits with Cry Like a Baby and Soul Deep.

In the early 70's Alex was in the band Big Star who's importance isn't measured in their record sales, but in their influence on alternative music. Big Star played sort of a 70's power pop which influenced alot of the alternative/college music of the 80's.



The Replacements wrote a tribute song about him. "Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round. They sing "I'm in love. What's that song? I'm in love with that song."
The Replacements - Alex Chilton

The Bangles cover Big Star's September Gurls


Wilco covers Big Star's Thriteen (My favorite Big Star song)

Alex, you will be missed.

Drive All Night

I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charms; And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms ... (Bruce Springsteen - Drive All Night)

From 1973 through about 1984, Bruce Springsteen was a very prolific song writer. In 1980 The River, Bruce's great double album was released. The album was a great mix of rockers and ballads. One of those great unsung ballads was a song called Drive All Night. In this song, the singer yearns to see his girl; not promising to buy her the moon, but vowing to her that he would drive all night just to buy her some shoes. Nothing is going to stand in his way; not snow; not rain; not wind.

I was recently checking out Backstreets.com and saw this cover of that song. This is one of the best Bruce covers that I have ever heard. Awesome...

Better Things On The Way

Here’s wishing you the bluest sky and hoping something better comes tomorrow. Hoping all the verses rhyme and the very best of choruses to follow all the doubt and sadness; I know that better things are on the way... (The Kinks - Better Things)

I've recently read some exciting musical news:


Ray Davies has recently recorded some Kinks classics with various artists including Lucinda Williams, Alex Chilton (of Box Tops and Big Star fame), Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen. Ray and Bruce recorded Better Things from The Kinks great, under-rated 1982 album Give the People What They Want. According to raydavies.info the albums will be finished in the next few months and will be released late this year or early next.

In other Springsteen news, I've read that the Darkness on the Edge of Town Box Set may be released sometime between "June and December" of this year. One of my favorite blogs, Blogness on the Dark Side of Town recently ran an interesting poll on the subject.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have just announced on their website the upcoming release of a new CD - Mojo. In addition they have announced a major North American Tour this summer. The tour will include a stop at one my favorite venues, Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, OH and The Drive-By Truckers will be the opening act for that particular show.

Who Were Those Guys?

The exodus is here; the happy ones are near; Let's get together before we get much older... (The Who - Baba O'Riley)

When I first heard that The Who had been selected to play the Superbowl halftime show I was a bit nervous. I thought that they might not be able to pull it off and stumble in front of over a hundred million television viewers. The halftime show has become a must play for the elite elder statesmen of rock; The Rolling Stones, U2, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Paul McCartney. The Who certainly were an elite band, but with only one album's worth of material released since 1982 (almost 30 years) and with only 2 of the original 4 band members still living, I think it is fair to say they are passed their prime. However with all that said, I believe The Who pulled it off!

Although the song choices were predictable (I guessed their set list before I heard any news), I was pleasantly suprised at Roger Daltrey's still powerful vocals and Pete Townshend's stage presence. I thought both looked great for men in their mid-60's. Also, late great drummer Keith Moon could never be replaced, but Ringo Starr's son Zac Starkey is the perfect drummer for the band (much better than Kenny Jones who played drums immediately after Moon's death). Starkey adds the punch and energy. Additionally the stage was awesome.

Sunny on a Winters Day

Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain; Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain; The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here my Sunny one shines so sincere... (Bobby Hebb - Sunny)

The great song Sunny was a hit for Bobby Hebb in 1966. According to Wikipedia the song was written after 2 major event in Hebb's life, Hebb's older brother was killed in a knife fight outside a nightclub in their hometown of Nashville and after John F. Kennedy's murder. The song is one of the most covered songs of all times.

Another cover of the song has just been released. After last years great self-titled solo album Rhett Miller, Sunny by Rhett Miller is now available at the Old 97's.