So, I'm all psyched to see Ha Ha Tonka have their First Ave mainroom debut tonight. But yesterday, I'm paging through the Onion and I see that So So Radio is playing at the Whole tonight, too. So it's like my favorite and second-favorite bands. I quick e-mail the lead singer of SSR to find out when they're playing. He said "About 9". HHT is opening for Robert Randolph and the doors open at 8pm, meaning they'll probably start at 9pm, too. Crud, I was hoping for a super night of: HHT show at First Ave, quick departure for the U of MN, and then SSR to cap it off.
Fitting that they'd play at the same time tonight, they're the only bands I care a lot about that like baseball. HHT are 3/4 big Cardinals fans (1/4 Royals fan). And SSR is at least 2/3 Brewers fans (the last third may be ambivalent). I had already committed myself to the HHT show.
However, the $5 cover to see SSR is a pretty good deal. You should go if you can. Here, stream their album. As a counterpoint, here's a little acoustic set from HHT.
Gah! I want to see both shows so bad!
'Running on Faith' - Eric Clapton Clapton Chronicles
'Numb' U2 Zooropa
'What's My Age Again' - Blink 182 Enema of the State
'Here Comes the Sun' - The Beatles Abbey Road
'Melissa' - Allman Brothers Band 20th Century Masters...
'Backwater' - Meat Puppets Too High to Die
'Keep Fishin' - Weezer Maladroit
'Monkey Man' - Rolling Stones Let It Bleed
'Float On' - Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News
'Let My Love Open The Door' - Pete Townshend Empty Glass
random YouTube clip of the day: Robert Plant joins Rockpile for a take on Elvis' "Little Sister". Pretty sweet guitar solo in the middle by Dave Edmunds
httpv://youtu.be/Q5XJX8sjYDE
That's a Doc Pomus tune, wattsy.
1. Sonic Youth “Secret Girl” Evol
2. The Temptations “I Wish That It Would Rain” Soul Food: An E-6 Mix
3. Rocky Votolato “Red River”* True Devotion
4. Soundgarden “Like Suicide” Superunknown
5. Tristen* “Heart and Hope to Die” Charlatans at the Garden Gate
6. Rob Jarvis “Killabite (002)-A1” Richie Hawtin: Decks, EFX & 909
7. Sonic Youth “Pink Steam”* Rather Ripped
8. Sonic Youth “The Empty Page” Murray Street
9. De La Soul feat. Chaka Khan “Is It Good?” The Best of
T. Andy Stott “Tell Me Anything”* Tell Me Anything/Love Nothing 12"
*Notes:
3. This is a great song based on a short story about an American- or Canadian-Indian Vietnam War vet. I know that CarterHayes has an interest the music of that war. I wonder if he's interested in music from last year about that war. Here's a link to a live recording and a little description of the inspiration. Rocky's got some good songs and some great songs, but this one's feels so much higher than any of the others, and it affects me greatly.
5. Tristen is a fun folk-rock gal out of Nashville. I'm not coming up with good descriptions. Here's her Daytrotter Session. Lyric from this song: "Show me how your momma and your daddy made you."
7. Okay, this has to be the best song off this album by a mile, right? I do have a weakness for songs that are instrumental in the first half and then basically repeat that with vocals. (Others: Underworld "Moaner", Ha Ha Tonka "The Horse in Motion".)
T. I think Daneeka's Ghost is the one who's a fan of T++. I've mentioned Andy Stott before, but he's just awesome with dark, dubby house. This one's no exception. I've listened to others in the genre, but no one's grabbed me like Stott has.
Andy Stott is good stuff. I particularly like "Execution".
Stott's latest is streaming here.
My iTunes player seems to have split my playlist in half, the latter half essentially the kind of music you'll hear in my neighborhood bar. Which reminds me that I haven't been there in a while. Oh, wait it's Friday.
1. The Jarmels - A Little Bit of Soap / [single]
2. The Masked Marauders - I Am the Japanese Sandman / The Complete Deity Recordings
3. Bobby Vee - Com Back When You Grow Up / The Very Best of Bobby Vee
4. MFSB - Back Stabbers / MFSB
5. Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get It If You Really Want / The Harder They Come
6. The Band - When I Paint My Masterpiece / Cahoots
7. Johnny Cash - Understand Your Man / The Man In Black
8. Ronnie Milsap - (I'm A) Stand By My Woman Man / 16 Biggest Hits
9. Nancy Sinatra - Here We Go Again / Nancy
T. Waylon Jennings - Crying / Phase One: The Early Years 1958-1964
1. April Fool -- Soul Asylum
2. Loretta's Scars -- Pavement
3. The Last Ray -- This Mortal Coil
4. Corduroy -- The Wedding Present
5. One True Vine -- Wilco
6. Lady Godiva's Operation -- The Velvet Underground
7. Blessed State -- Wire
8. Pigeon Kill -- Big Black
9. Rockaway Beach -- The Ramones
10. Skinny Jim -- Eddie Cochran
Bonus: Newest Industry -- Husker Du
It feels like a college radio DJ came up with my list this week.
A college radio DJ from 1993, maybe.
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01. Iron Maiden - "Face in the Sand", Dance Of Death
02. Judas Priest - "Metal Gods", British Steel
03. Nevermore - "Final Product", This Godless Endeavor
04. Anthrax - "Safe Home", We've Come For You All
05. Bathory - "The Messenger", Nordland, Vol. 2
06. King Diamond - "Twilight Symphony", Them
07. At The Gates - "World Of Lies", Slaughter Of The Soul
08. Anthrax - "I Am The Law", Among The Living
09. Savatage - "Hall Of The Mountain King", Hall Of The Mountain King
10. Running Wild - "Calico Jack", Port Royal
If you are thinking about starting a band and hope for AMR to one of yours fans, might I suggest the following names:
La La Green, Fo Fo Night, or Ci Ci Water.
Brenda Holloway "All Your Love" Cellar Full of Motown
Wilco "At Least That's What You Said" Kicking Televisions
Townes Van Zandt "Panco and Lefty Rear View Mirror
Neutral Milk Hotel "Two Headed Boy" In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
GBV "The Colossus Crawls West" Mag Earwhig!
Jayhawks "Over My Shoulder" Tomorrow The Green Grass Grows
Jens Lekman "F Word" Oh, Your So Silent, Jens
Sloan "Shame" Twice Removed
Fountains of Wayne "Comedienne" Out of State Plates
Magnetic Fields "Reno Dakota" 69 Love Songs
I like the So So Radio that you linked to, it sounds like an English-ed up Okkervil.
Perhaps Jojo Mayer (& the Nerve) qualifies?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA4FcAShaWA
Sorry, Rhu, not close enough to be one of my favorite bands.
However, it doesn't sound that far from some of the "Trip-Hop" I listened to in the late 90's:
Fila Brazillia, Baby Mammoth, the Egg, Jimpster, etc.
Actually, this would fit right on a Fila Brazillia record. I think this might be my favorite piece of music you've linked to.
I tried Gang Gang Dance and Lady GaGa, and while I see varying degrees of merit (#MiltBait), neither did enough for me.
I actually made this joke to one of the guys in HHT.
What I need is:
Guys at least in their late 20's (preferrably exactly my age)
Baseball fans (preferrably of an NL Central team)
From the Midwest (expanded definition).
Name of appropriate style:
Pu Pu Sparta
My My Cherry-o
I missed that you said you liked the SSR, FTLT. I don't really know Okkervil that much, but is Wisconsin that much more English than Texas? I'm listening to "Black", the one song from Okkervil on Black Sheep Boy that immediately appealed to me. Yeah, I guess that's in the same vein.
I usually go for things that are on the edges of genres, but these guys are in the middle of indie pop-rock, but they're good at it. They sound like what I pictured Sloan sounded like before I found out.
Their album is just fantastic, from the songs to the performances to the production.
Having heard the live versions and the radio-show demos, the album at first listen astounded me. I listened to it first on a bus ride in to work and had to e-mail them as soon as I got in to the office to tell them how great it sounded. Having gone through a rough experience about a year earlier with my wife trying to record some of her songs, I was aware of what a big deal getting the right producer is for a self-funded artist. (If anyone's ever thinking of recording in Milwaukee, J Christopher Hughes is a guy you must talk to. This things sounds warm, rich, and polished, but without any of the humanness, joy, or spontaneity polished off. I want him to record my wife's songs.)
I love wrapping my head around how open-ended their lyrics are. Ryan does great with straining his vocals to get the right emotional connection.
In "If We Don't", just the line "I turned on my TV, or should I say that the TV turned on me?" at first seemed so trite, but then, wait... how does he mean the tv turned on him? Stimulate? Titilate? Abandon? Rise against? Does this mean that when he turned on his tv, he means power-up, or does it mean that he did one of those four things.
This was the b-side to the single that got played on "Scrubs" but just barely (I was listening for it and hardly heard it). I'm still trying to figure out if this song is a response to that, or if that's just a very peculiar coincidence. ("That's it? I waited half my life for this?" precedes the "TV" line.) I could ask the guy, but I don't want to have the answer.
I'm not as strong on my recommendation of these guys to others as I am with Ha Ha Tonka. I think Ha Ha Tonka should have wide appeal and could be very big, so I tell everyone to give HHT a listen as long as theit tastes are more mainstream than Cheaptoy or Rhubarb_runner. I thought that So So Radio might just have the right mix to appeal to me, but Magoo and a co-worker both said they really dug their album, too, so maybe I've undersold them.
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This is All I Came to Do - Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Withered - Atomship - The Crash of '47
Something in the Way - Nirvana - Nevermind
1 - Three Trapped Tigers - EP*
My Birth - Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
Run, Pig, Run - Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Heavy Soul - The Black Keys - The Big Come Up
Natures Mortes - Georg Friedrich Haas - Donaueschinger Musiktage 2003**
Dumb - Nirvana - Live at Reading
PS - The Books - The Lemon of Pink
* This band is my obsession of the past couple weeks. Loving this song in particular.
** This is a long orchestral work that just creeps me out. Dissonant and eerie, Haas's work is all about light and dark, and this falls on the dark side of things for sure (if the title didn't already give that away). Great fall/halloween music.
Songs for Syd
1. Reynardine Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) A Boxful Of Treasures
2. Darlin' If Spirit The Family That Plays Together
3. Hurdy Gurdy Man Donovan Greatest Hits
4. Many Rivers To Cross Harry Nilsson Pussy Cats
5. Shouting In A Bucket Blues Kevin Ayers The Kevin Ayers Collection
6. I See The Rain Marmalade I See The Rain
7. Silver White Light Terry Reid Super Lungs
8. A Salty Dog Procol Harum A Salty Dog
9. These Days Nico Chelsea Girl
10. May The Circle Remain Unbroken 13th Floor Elevators Bull Of The Woods
11. Suzanne Fairport Convention Heyday
12. It's Over Badfinger The Very Best of Badfinger
13. Gypsy Cowboy New Riders Of The Purple Sage Gypsy Cowboy
14. Muddy Mouse (C) Which in Turn Leads to Muddy Mouth Robert Wyatt Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
15. Bob Dylan Blues Syd Barrett Wouldn't You Miss Me
16. Scarecrow Song Lindisfarne Nicely Out Of Tune
17. Time of No Reply Nick Drake Way To Blue
18. Another Day Roy Harper The Passions of Great Fortune, Vol. 1