Author: April

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Feel Bad For You, November 2011

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The rabble of bloggers, Twitterers, musicians and miscreants has gathered again to bring you your monthly dose of Feel Bad For You boundary-less musical chaos, which you can stream and/or download below. To make up for last month’s oversight, I’m representing double this month. Thanks, Matt!

Download

Title: Lowdown
Artist: Tom Waits
Album: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)
Submitted By: Brad Kelley
Comments: In honor of his first release of new studio material in seven years, Bad As Me, I give you great song from the 3 CD 2006 compilation, Orphans. This rocks.

Title: Ballad of Fuck All
Artist: Malcolm Middleton
Album: Waxing Gibbous (2009)
Submitted By: Gorrck
This song fits my mood these days. Fuck it all. Burn it all down. Meh, there’s a new episode of “Community” I haven’t seen yet.

Title: Beauty Queen Sister
Artist: Indigo Girls
Album: Beauty Queen Sister (2011)
Submitted By: Phil Norman – @philnorman
Comments: You should have seen the look on Matt’s face when I told him I followed the Indigo Girls around like a deadhead back in ’94. These ladies been writing great song after great song for over 20 years.

Title: I Can Tell
Artist: Jo Wymer
Album: Living With Scars(2011)
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: I have to thank bryan at Ninebullets for turning me on to this great lady in my backyard. So I’ll let him say it: ‘She growls, purrs, and isn’t afraid to hit the high notes throughout her hook-laden debut and it’s literally a tour de force of potential hits, songs that are radio-ready, if radio had any soul left. Check out Ninebullets to get another two songs.

Title: Lionhearted
Artist: 4 On The Floor
Album: 4×4 (2011)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: I reviewed a new CD by this Minneapolis quartet last spring (http://toomuchcountry.blogspot.com/2011/03/cd-review-4-on-floor.html). While the gimmicks are heavy (4 band members, all songs in 4/4 time, songs involve band members kicking their own bass drum, album name 4×4, etc.), the music is pretty dadgum good. Thought it was worthy of submitting for FBFY.

Title: Outlaw Man
Artist: The Eagles
Album: Desperado (1973)
Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
Comments: Deperado, the second studio album by The Eagles, was a concept album loosely based on the infamous Dalton Gang. Anytime people just scoff at the notion the Eagles were ever a good band, I give them this album.

Title: In America
Artist: The Vandals
Album: Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes (1999)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: for the occupiers ;)

Title: Worth
Artist: Powder Mill
Album: Money, Marbles and Chalk (2010)
Submitted by: Shooter Jennings
Comments: Womern

Title: Beautiful Bad Day
Artist: R. Mutt
Album: Leash On Life (2011)
Submitted By: PearlSnapMan

Title: Hold On
Artist: Alabama Shakes
Album: Alabama Shakes EP (2011)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: I’m driving to Alabama in a matter of hours to see this band. I love this EP and not just because this song uses my name. I think you’ll be hearing a lot from these guys (and girl) in the next year.

Title: Fool’s Gold
Artist: The Damn Quails
Album: Down The Hatch (2011)
Submitted By: Trailer
Comments: I’m obsessed with this band at the moment.

Title: Somewhere Else
Artist: Jim Bryson
Album: Live At The First Baptist Church (2008)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: Great live version of a track that appeared on Bryson’s 2003 album The North Side Benches, for the unacquainted Bryson is a long-time sidekick and collaborator of Kathleen Edwards – who recorded a version of this track on her Back To Me album.

Title: Pray on Me
Artist: Kill It Kid
Album: Feet Fall Heavy (2011)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: Matt from Mudlow turned Rick Saunders on to this band, and Rick, in turn, tapped it into my veins. I was about five songs into this album before I could finally close my gaping jaw. Thundering.

Title: What’s the Matter with You
Artist: Split Enz
Album: True Colours (1980)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: Power pop at its finest. Love the keys!

Title: Cleveland Polka
Artist: mr. Gnome
Album: Heave Yer Skeleton (2009)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: My favorite Cleveland band has released their third full-length album, Madness in Miniature. Since I don’t have that album yet, here’s a track from an earlier album that should show you why you need to buy all their LPs and EPs and see them live and buy lots of merch. After all, mr. Gnome is better than porn.

Title: No Happier
Artist: Low Duo
Album: The EP of Fear and Failure (2011)
Submitted By: Slowcoustic
Comments: Something a bit different in it not being just a “guy with an acoustic guitar”, still a bit lo-fi and very UK sounding. Just something that catches my ear now and again.

Title: Fall Asleep
Artist: Courtesy Tier
Album: Holy Hot Fire EP
Submitted By: Cowbelle (www.morecowbelle.net)
Comments: A gem from my inbox. More on these guys soon on the blog.

Title: Oo-Ma-Liddi
Artist: J.J Jackson & The Jackals
Album: The Roots Of The Cramps (2009)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: I always get mixtape anxiety right before I submit a song, and I really, really, reeeeaaaaalllly couldn’t decide what song to use for this month (its was a fierce internal struggle between Roky Erickson, The Undertones, and Screaming Lord Sutch….). So, instead of going with any of the bands I just mentioned I went for a completely different choice. This song never fails to make me dance like a fool, even while driving….which is dangerous AND I look like an idiot. But dang dudes, just listen to this and try not to shimmy and shake.
Also, I believe the original release of this song was 1959, but the 2009 “Roots of the Cramps” comp is really good, check it out.

Title: Safe
Artist: Danny Barnes
Album: Rocket (2011)
Submitted by: Mando_Lines (Jim Warren)
Comments: Nice track off of Mr. Barnes new record. Not representative of the rest of the record, however, which is mainly rock.

Title: God Damn Job
Artist: The Replacements
Album: Stink (1982)
Submitted By: Rockstar_Aimz
Comments: This song is the story of my life right now. Feel bad for me!

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The Black Keys, Bitches!

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“Lonely Boy” (No, it isn’t a Paul Anka cover or an Andrew Gold cover) from the forthcoming Black Keys’ album El Camino, which drops December 6.

 

 

It has great energy, and I think it will pair nicely with “Howlin’ for You” on the Keep April from Slashing Her Wrists playlist. Dan and Pat have promised this is their most rock ‘n’ roll album to date, and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest.

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Taqwacore

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I’ve been saying this a lot lately in conversation with friends: I always thought that my idealism would fade away as I became older. But aside from a supremely apathetic phase in my 20s, my idealism has remained intact. Certainly it has become a crankier form of idealism as I’ve become more informed about the world and watched as humanity has failed to live up to its potential again and again, but I still believe that if everyone put aside self-absorption and pettiness, we could have a great thing going on her on earth. And as an avid/rabid music listener, I’ve always been open to finding good music wherever it may be hiding, from whatever race, creed, class and corner of the globe it may be coming from.

So when I was tripping around Netflix looking for something interesting to watch one day, Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam and The Taqwacores caught my eye quickly and held my attention. I was posting about it on my social media networks before I even watched it.

The Taqwacores is a feature film based on Michael Muhammad Knight’s novel of the same name. Knight is a Muslim convert from an Irish Catholic family who wrote about a fantasy he had of a punk house full of Muslims. Or, at least, he thought it was a fantasy until the book was published and got into the hands of young Muslims across the U.S. who identified with the characters, ideas and music portrayed. Soon, as Knight says, they connected the dots, and a loose network of misfit Muslims was strung together. Friends were made, bands were born and taqwacore become a word used for Muslims living in the spirit of punk, questioning, fighting, learning and living by their own ideals.

Taqwacore: The Birth of Islam Punk is a documentary about Knight and the real-life people and bands that were brought together by his book, ultimately culminating in an all-inclusive celebration and exhibition of the power of music to knock down barriers and draw people together.

I came away from this duo of films invigorated and excited that people are still out there using music as a tool for the betterment of the world, to include the excluded, to give voice to subversive thought, to be heard over the din of blind, self-serving authority figures.

Check out this thoughtful interview conducted by Jian Ghomeshi with Michael Muhammad Knight and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam filmmaker Omar Majeed for Q TV.

 

 

The trailer for The Taqwacores:

 

The trailer for Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam:

 

The Taqwacores soundtrack is well worth a listen on its own. Here are a few tracks.

 

 

 

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JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound: If Life Was Easy As a Song

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JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound release their Bloodshot Records debut, Want More, today and it is a fine, fine soul album that feels and breathes and dances with a deep shimmy, not playing out as a lifeless set-piece as can easily happen when a modern band takes up a sound closely associated with an earlier era. Lyrically, it’s a relatable album that speaks in real terms instead of heart-shaped metaphors. Musically, it’s a straight-up rump-shaker of rich grooves that just seems to grow richer with each listen. And, personally, I was singing along within two or three spins of the album.

JC was kind enough to answer a few questions for us…

 

 

When and why did you start singing? How did the Uptown Sound come together?

Because my mom was always singing, I started singing around the house as a toddler. I did Chorus in elementary and middle school, and formed my first band in high school. JCBUS came together because Ben, our bassist, and I answered an ad put out by Billy, our guitarist, who was looking to make aggressive dance music.

 

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A press release describes your music as “post-punk soul”. What does that mean to you? How do you think your music fits into this era?

Post-punk soul, to me, is emotive music that doesn’t try to fit into the typical “soul” girdle of warmly lit, grease-lensed love. We discuss love in our music, but usually more graphically than traditional soul, and we also don’t only take the point of view that the common portrayal of love is the ‘be-all, end-all’ ultimate goal. We write about the lighter side of lust and the general messiness of love, its hindsight is less hazy and more 20/20 when we write about why a relationship went wrong, etc. I don’t think our music fits into the post-punk era so much, but it does harken to a post-punk aesthetic that’s been pressed through a soul filter.

I hear some Stax influence in your music, like Otis Redding and the Dramatics. Who else are you influenced by?

For me personally: Patti LaBelle and Tina Turner are huge performance influences. Vocally, I draw inspiration from Otis, Teddy Pendergrass, Anita Baker and Amy Winehouse.

For the band: Bad Brains, Gang of Four, Living Colour, The Stooges, Bowie, Tower of Power, The MGs… the list could go on and on.

 

 

How did the idea to soul up Wilco come about?

Well, it started with Billy wondering what Syl Johnson (we were working with Syl at the time for the Numero Group revue) would sound like covering music like Wilco or Bowie, and from there it blossomed into the version we do now.

 

 

How did things come together with JCBUS and Bloodshot?

We stormed the Bloodshot office and held them hostage until they agreed to our demands…

What have you and the band been listening to lately?

Right now, I’m listening to a lot of Adele, Tune-Yards, JD MacPherson, Jill Scott, Joe Bataan… A lot of stuff all the time, really, but the artists I listed above have been getting a lot of play lately.

 

Listen to and download their first single, “Everything Will Be Fine”.

Everything Will Be Fine by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

 

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound Official Website

 

Photos by Nate Burrell, courtesy of KDHX

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Drew Smith: Love Teeth

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We just received this submission minutes ago from Drew Smith, and even though I’m at my day job with limited resources (can’t even get you proper images to go with the post), it’s so heartbreakingly beautiful that I couldn’t wait to share it.

From Drew, the story of the video:

My first ‘real’ job was teaching English as a Second Language in Ontario. I kept in correspondence with many of my students, and was pleasantly surprised to find one of them, Sohee Jeon, had become an established animator in South Korea. She expressed how much she had been enjoying my music, and while I was working on my newest record The Secret Languages she generously offered up her services to make an animated video for my newest single “Love Teeth”.

 

 

You can download the song in exchange for a tweet here.

 

Drew Smith @ Bandcamp

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New Guadalupe Plata Single

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You may recall us covering this dirty Spanish band with sharp edges before. They have a new single out called “Casino El Camino”, and it’s a two-parter. Listen up!

 

Good stuff and available for free download. How many people do you know who love you enough to give you good stuff for free?

Guadalupe Plata @ Bandcamp

Guadalupe Plata @ Facebook

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Founder of Living Blues Needs Your Help

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An important dispatch from Rick Saunders:

JiM O’NEAL (second from the left in the above photo) – Founder of Living Blues Magazine & Rooster Blues Records Has Cancer and No Insurance. Please Help!

Jim O’Neal, the founder of Living Blues Magazine and the late great Rooster Blues Records has been diagnosed with Lymph cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Like so many in the music industry, and blues in particular, Mr. O’Neal does not have insurance. You can help Mr. O’Neal and his family by sending a donation and helping to spread the word. It’s good karma, baby!

A fund has been set up at Commerce Bank in Kansas City.

Checks may be sent to:

Jim O’Neal Blues Fund
P.O. Box 10334
Kansas City, MO 64171.

You can also donate at www.paypal.com to the account “onealbluesfund@aol.com”.

Of course, musicians being who they are are always quick to help their own and a series of benefit shows are being arranged. If you live near any of these locations please show up for a night of great music for an even greater cause. The good that Jim O’Neal done for blues music and musicians can hardly be repaid. But here is your opportunity to try.

THE JIM O’NEAL BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES

OCT. 20, 2011
SURF CLUB, HYATTSVILLE, MARYLAND
With Memphis Gold and others

OCT. 28, 2011
KNUCKLEHEADS, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
Kenny Neal, Memphis Gold and others

NOV. 19, 2011(date is tentative)
BUDDY GUY’S LEGENDS, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Kenny Neal, Memphis Gold, Eddie Clearwater, Eddie Shaw, Billy Branch, Elmore James Jr., Nora Jean Bruso and others

For further details and confirmations of time and artists, please check www.Stackhouse-Bluesoterica.blogspot.com.

photo: Panny Flautt Mayfield

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Giveaway: The Dead Exs

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Regular readers of our blog will recognize the Dead Exs from previous posts by my co-blogger Jennifer and our friend @Popa2unes. Jennifer has described their sound as “a delicious blues-funk stew lightly seasoned with garage-rock flair”, and their dirty, fuzzed-up grooves fit in well here.

Now Popa has generously donated a signed copy of the Dead Exs’ CD Resurrection for one of you lucky people to own. All you need to do is drop a comment below that includes your name or preferred internet handle and a reliable e-mail address and then wait patiently. The giveaway will close on October 24 at 5 PM EST, and the winner will be chosen at random and announced on October 25.

And while you’re here, you can download the song “More Stuff” by right-clicking on the link below. Enjoy!

The Dead Exs – More Stuff

 

 

 

The Dead Exs Official Website

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Bobby Bare, Jr., and Hayes Carll Write a Dirty Song

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Not only do I personally approve of and encourage the writing and performing of dirty songs (rock ‘n’ roll was built on some smutty songs, y’all), but I love to watch collaborations come together. If you feel the same, you’re going to love the new video preview from the folks at Don’t Follow Me (I’m Lost), the upcoming Bobby Bare, Jr., documentary.

A word from Lee Baker, the producer:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE ACCESS! BOBBY BARE JR. & HAYES CARLL

CHECK IT OUT! A clip from the new rock documentary DON’T FOLLOW ME (I’m Lost) — a film about BOBBY BARE JR. – featuring Hayes Carll!

Go to: www.indiegogo.com/dontfollowmeimlost AND click the GALLERY tab to watch!

AND please help us reach our goal-we have 18 days left!! Every $ counts! We can’t do it without you.

Thank you for your support.