Giving Thanks

For a lot of different reasons, I'm especially thankful this year, so this song seemed more than appropriate when I heard it this morning.

Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby - "Let Us Break Bread Together" (mp3)

It was originally released on America, I Hear You Singing in 1964, and though it has never been reissued on CD, you can find a few of the tracks on Frank Sinatra's The Complete Reprise Recordings, which though also out of print is much more attainable.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody

I hate to post to videos in a row, but oh my God... if you haven't seen this yet, take five minutes out of your day RIGHT NOW and watch it. Absolutely effing brilliant. Even if it just stopped after Animal's bit, it'd be one of the funniest things I've seen all year, but it just keeps getting better after that. You'll never hear Queen the same way again.

RIP Velvet Thunder

If you ever spent anytime downtown Nashville in the last thirty years, chances are you saw and heard Velvet Thunder. The guy was an institution, and the exception to the disparaging remarks I made a couple months ago about not being interested in local street musicians. He had a regular post sitting just outside the Spaghetti Factory, and frankly a trip to Second Avenue where I didn't see him was always a bit of a disappointment. The guy seemed to know every song anyone ever requested, and he always had a smile on his face. He told stories about singing with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, and even though the tales were probably bullshit, it didn't make them any less entertaining. He was even the cover star of a seven inch EP put out by legendary local punk label House O' Pain that featured one of my old bands. To me he is just as big a part of Nashville's musical legacy as anyone who ever graced the Ryman's stage.

I was reading the Tennessean yesterday, and Velvet died last week. Second Avenue will never be the same.

You can still toss a few bucks his way... stop by any Bank of America branch to contribute to the Elringo De'Angelino Fund to help pay for his funeral expenses. You'll be helping to commemorate one of Music City's true musical treasures.

Tonight Is The Ghost

Hurricane Bells - Tonight Is The Ghost

Hurricane Bells is the new solo project from Longwave singer/guitarist Steve Schiltz. And you weren't supposed to be hearing it yet. Schlitz originally envisioned it as something he'd release on his own. But then his song "Monsters" got included on the surprisingly stellar lineup for The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack and, well, plans change. His debut album is now being released by Vagrant Records, although the sped up schedule means that a digital release is preceding the actual physical release by three months.

So what does Tonight Is The Ghost sound like? Basically it's a stripped down version of Longwave. It has a similar atmospheric vibe, but much less dense. Schiltz wrote, played, recorded and mixed every note on the album himself, and some of the songs have the kind of laid back, late night quality you often expect from a home recorded solo project. Other songs, like "This Is A Test" or the instrumental closer "Tenterhooks" sound a lot like his main band with a few less layers of guitar, and a few more layers of vocals.

And what about this New Moon movie he's gotten himself involved with? For reasons that I still can't quite explain, I went to a midnight showing of it last night, and it's actually not bad. I thought Twilight was the chickiest chick flick I'd ever seen, but the sequel is a lot better. There's a lot more action, and the story, while still a bit corny, isn't nearly as cringe worthy as the first one. So if you're a guy getting dragged to it by your girlfriend this weekend (which is how I saw it), you can rest easy... it's definitely watchable, and maybe even slightly enjoyable.

Hurricane Bells - "This Year" (mp3)

Witness Blues

Elvis Perkins In Dearland w/ A.A. Bondy
Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

If you were at the Mercy Lounge Tuesday night, you never would have guessed that Nashville had been experiencing sunshine and 75 degree temperatures just two days earlier. It seemed like everyone in attendance had spent the indian summer weekend digging their winter clothes out of the back of the closet. Every other person was wearing either a sweater, scarf, knit hat, or some combination of the three.

For a while it seemed like the openers would be experiencing the familiar curse of a Nashville weeknight crowd, but just as A.A. Bondy and his bandmates were taking the stage, people materialized seemingly out of nowhere, and the place ended up being about two-thirds full. They also were surprisingly attentive and respectfully quiet throughout the mostly subdued hour long set, so much so that Bondy thanked them several times for being such a great crowd. With just three people on stage, the songs from Bondy's most recent album, When The Devil's Loose, were much less atmospheric than on record, making the sound much closer to that of his debut album. The only hints of the former Verbena frontman's rock and roll past were during a distortion drenched ending to "Slow Parade," and the cacophony of noise that "Killed Myself When I Was Young" decsended into. Only two songs approached the lushness of their album versions: "Mightest of Guns," on which his drummer played pedal steel, and the closer "I Can See The Pines Are Dancing," when they were joined on stage by Elvis Perkins and two of his bandmates. Don't take that as a complaint though. It might have been a laid back, bluesy set, but it was also utterly fantastic.

Elvis Perkins In Dearland is one of those bands where every member seems to play at least three different instruments. So despite only being a four piece, it looked like the stage was setup for Arcade Fire or Belle And Sebastian. Perkins kicked off the set solo before being joined by his bandmates. And three songs in, Bondy returned the favor affored during his set by joining them on guitar for "Doomsday," the title track to Perkin's most recent release. While not a huge fan, I'd heard several Perkins songs before. But before Tuesday night it had never occured to me that he often sounds a bit like Paul Simon fronting the Decemberists. That's a cool combination, but it couldn't overcome the fact that I was tired and it was a school night, so I ended up heading home about halfway through their set.

Elvis Perkins - "While You Were Sleeping" (mp3) from Ash Wednesday
Elvis Perkins In Dearland - "Slow Doomsday" (mp3) from The Doomsday EP
A.A. Bondy - "When The Devil's Loose" (mp3) from When The Devil's Loose
A.A. Bondy - "There's A Reason" (mp3) from American Hearts

photo of A.A. Bondy by minervacat

Why You Runnin'

Lissie - Why You Runnin'

As introductions to a new artist go, the debut from Lissie Maurus, is a pretty promising one. Blessed with the pipes of her barbershop quartet champion grandfather, and the vagabond spirit of her train jumping great-grandfather, this Rock Island, IL native has unveiled a stellar EP that is sure to turn heads. With an assist from Band Of Horses' Bill Reynolds and Tyler Ramsey, she sounds like a more homespun version of Neko Case, while the production invites comparisons to Emmylou Harris' work with Daniel Lanois. "Little Lovin' " is a lively opener, but the rest of Why You Runnin' is a more subdued affair. A gorgeous cover of Hank William's "Wedding Bells" shows that her heart's in the right place, and sets the tone for the originals that follow. "Oh Mississippi" is a wistful ode to the river she grew up with, while "Everywhere I Go" and "Here Before" are yearning ballads whose minimal arrangements are the perfect setting to showcase her gorgeous vocals. Lissie is definitely an artist I'm looking forward to hearing more from.

Lissie - "Little Lovin' " (mp3)

A Day In The Life

Friday afternoon I was listening to my ipod at work. In the space of an hour three different versions of "A Day In The Life" came up on shuffle, and not one of them was the The Beatles' original version. What are the chances?

This is probably my second favorite Fab Four song, so it didn't really surprise me that I had so many versions of it (I don't have any covers of "In My Life" in my collection, because anyone who does that song tends to make it overly sappy). All three of these are live versions, and two of them are much, much better than the third one... I'll leave it up to you to decide which is which.

Cheap Trick - "A Day In The Life" (mp3) from Sgt. Pepper Live
Robyn Hitchcock - "A Day In The Life" (mp3) from Live Death
Sting - "A Day In The Life" (mp3) from Demolition Man

Capgun Coup's Maudlin

Capgun Coup - Maudlin

The sophomore album from Omaha, NE's Capgun Coup is frenetic collision of 60's garage rock and 70's punk spirit. Recorded live in the studio, it documents the madhouse atmosphere of the house shows the band is known for in their hometown. Frontman Sam Martin delivers his biting lyrics with a Dylan-esque delivery, conjuring up images of what Mr. Zimmerman might have sounded like had he been five years younger and headed to Detroit or the Pacific Northwest instead of the folk scene of Greenwich Village. Whether it's the Farfisa fueled "Computer Screens and TVs," or the Ventures homage that kicks off "When I'm Gone," Maudlin is filled with a relentless energy that stands in stark contrast to the album's title.

Capgun Coup - "Sitting On The Sidewalk" (mp3)
Capgun Coup - "Bad Bands" (mp3)

Sinatra Live at the Meadowlands

Frank Sinatra - Live at the Meadowlands

Eleven years after his death, you have to wonder if the Frank Sinatra estate is going to run out of new material to release at some point. Three of the four labels he recorded for have already done "complete recordings" box sets, and you can only put out so many themed "best of" compilations. There's always live albums, and with a performing career that spanned seven decades, surely there are a lot of recorded shows in the archives. But even with that you can only release so many before the marketplace gets cluttered, and the CD racks already contain nine live albums, including a five CD boxed set of performances from Las Vegas. Add in countless bootlegs, and it begs the question how many more concerts can actually be worth hearing?

Apparently the answer is at least one more.*

Live at the Meadowlands documents an 1986 concert in New Jersey. And while Sinatra's setlists in the later years of his performing career could be hit or miss, the song selection for this show was pretty spot on. Heavy on the classics, and almost totally devoid of the MOR schlock he sometimes recorded in the 70s and 80s, this sort of homecoming show is full of gems from the great American songbook. With signature anthems like "My Way" and "Strangers In The Night" relegated to the opening instrumental medley, Frank was free to concentrate on the likes of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, the Gershwins, and a triple shot of Rodgers and Hart. And as he did throughout his career, he frequently credits the songwriters and arrangers who were responsible for the foundations upon which his career was built. "Change Partners" is presented in a fantastic non-bossavnoa arrangement, and as great as the studio version of "It Was A Very Good Year" is, here Sinatra gives the song even more meaning with an additional 20 years of living behind him. Following it with "You Make Feel So Young" proved that despite being 61 years old at the time, there was still plenty of life left ahead of him. The only turkey in the set is the inclusion of Quincy Jones' television theme song wannabe "L.A. Is My Lady," but I guess you can't fault the guy for wanting to promote what was at the time his most recent album. Frank was clearly energized performing withing spitting distance of his hometown of Hoboken, and his enthusiasm is apparent throughout the concert. Far from being the kind of CD that only appeals to completists, this is a live album that any level of Sinatra fan would love.

Frank Sinatra - "My Heart Stood Still (Live)" (mp3)

*NOTE: Well, I guess the answer may be more than just one more. Turns out the same day I finish this post, the estate has released Sinatra:New York, a five disc set of live material recorded in the city that never sleeps. With material ranging between 1955 and 1990, this is sure to be a treat. And so my Christmas wish list begins...