Category: A Good Read, A Good Listen and a Good Drink

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Popa’s Tunes

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

 

We first “met” David Horton, a.k.a. @popa2unes, at the inaugural Couch by Couch West, where he was rightfully voted “Favorite Twitterer”. It was clear from the start that “Popa” was an enthusiastic and proactive guy who loved to help promote the writers and musicians he liked. So proactive that he sent this read/listen/drink submission in without even having to be asked! But we are more than happy to celebrate David for all the love he’s thrown our way.

Now David is funnelling that proactive enthusiasm into his own gig, writing for his music blog Popa’s Tunes.

Without further ado, the incomparable Popa…

 

Good Read:
In His Own Write by John Lennon
Sometimes it’s hard to herd your words into a sentence let alone curb the words you heard in your head. I love to sit down with this book after a tasty toke or two or three and just let John Lennon’s play on words meander around in my head. It is an adventurous journey into the English language by someone who has been a hero to me throughout my life.

Good Listen:
A Space in Time – Ten Years After
Released in 1971 this is the bands seventh album and a departure from their earlier Alvin Lee fast fingering heavy blues releases, here they mix a more progressive rock flavor into the songs, with more acoustic guitar and echoey vocals and a bit more social commentary content in the lyrics. On no other Ten Years After album will you find, for instance, two tracks as moody as ‘Here They Come’ and ‘Let The Sky Fall’. ‘Here They Come’, is based on a slow, entrancing acoustic riff with a slight medieval influence; it’s dark and a little bit creepy. ‘Let The Sky Fall’, on the other hand, features a reworking of the ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’ riff, but with an entirely different purpose: the song is supposed not to let you rock your ass, but to contemplate some vivid psychedelic associations, what with all the backwards guitars and special synth effects.

 

 

As with the above book it is best served with a tasty toke or two or three, cause everywhere is freaks and hairies, man.

Good Drink:
A cooler full. Cause really, is one enough?

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: The Wind-up Birds

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

Our feature on the Wind-up Birds has only just scrolled off our front page, and I’ve already brought them back. But when a band is named after a novel (in this case, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami), it’s a cinch that they should take part in this series. That and the fact that I fucking love them and their smart, meaty “noisy pop”. I’ve been compelled to listen their album The Land at least once a week since first hearing it, and it will easily make, and possibly top, my favorite albums of 2012 come December.

So, I’m very happy to have these lovely gentlemen – Oli on drums, Ben on bass, Mat on guitar, and Kroyd pulling vocals – share some great recommendations with us.

 

“Meet Me at the Depot” – The Wind-up Birds

 

Oli

Good Read:
American Psycho by Brett Eastern Ellis
I saw the film then read the book. The book delves a lot deeper into Patrick Bateman’s psychotic and pedantic nature which made me laugh, especially the entire chapter on Phil Collins.

Good listen:
Days – Real Estate
Ha. Bet the rest of the band thought I’d put Wowee Zowee (by Pavement). Real Estate are sort of mellow and have ace guitar melodies. The drums stand out cause they sound really well thought out and the vox reminds me of Wayne Coyne at times.

Good drink:
Ginger Real Ale (link is example of one brand of ginger real ale)
I’ve found this in a few pubs and it’s ace. Like the best beer combined with ginger biscuits/cake/snaps. Goes down brilliantly.

 

Ben

Good Read:
Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets by David Simon
An incredible book about an appalling subject: a year in the life of Baltimore’s Homicide Department, who deal with almost a murder a day. Absolutely compelling from the first page, the fact that Simon manages to capture the horror, the hopelessness, the camaraderie and black humour of the job, whilst wrapping it all into a gripping narrative is quite astonishing.

Good Listen:
Curses – Future of the Left
If you ask me this tomorrow it’ll be different, but today it’s Curses by Future of The Left. A storming debut: brutal, angry, snarly guitars and spiky synths over great slabs of filthy bass, and punishing drums. Best thing to come out of Wales since The Holy Bible (The Manic’s album, not the rather fanciful book….).

Good Drink:
Grand Marnier
My Mum got me into this, telling me it was an old family recipe to help get rid of a cold. Doesn’t exactly cure colds, but after a few you don’t feel too shabby anymore. It’s a bit decadent, but I love a glass of this over ice whilst working through a good box set of DVDs. It’s seen me through Battlestar Galactica, Eastbound and Down, Boardwalk Empire and most of The Wire so far!

 

Mat

Good Read:
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
He writes without pretention and he understands how different people think. Both things I find very impressive.

Good Listen:
Overcome by Happiness – The Pernice Brothers
The difference between an average songwriter and a great one isn’t that huge. A slightly different angle taken on a familiar theme. There is nothing ground breaking about the music on this album, but it is the sound of Joe Pernice, a classic songwriter at the top of his craft. The title track has my favourite middle 8 of all time.

Good Drink:
Margarita
Not the washing-up liquid of bought margarita mix or the big bowls of watery rubbish from Mexican Restaurant chains. Four shots tequila, three shots freshly squeezed lime, two shots triple sec. Shake with ice, serve in salt rimmed glass and feel alive!

 

Kroyd

Good Read:
Retromania by Simon Reynolds
Its a great but fairly depressing book about the cul-de-sac that modern music finds itself in. Endlessly referencing, recycling and cataloguing the past and the effect of Ipod culture on how we absorb music etc.

We find ourselves in a time where most music is about music and most bands just talk about other bands and records etc. I think most art is in the same predicament at the moment, dangerously closeted and distant from the issues that need tackling. Sorry, bit miserable there!

Good Listen:
Cut – The Slits
Having said all that an album I am currently obsessed with was released in 1979! I think this is one of the best debut albums ever and sounds as new and exciting as ever. Funny, fresh, organic and cool. Go listen to this album if you haven’t already…No do. Do it now!

Good Drink:
Dandelion and Burdock
One of the songs on our album is called “Pop Man” and references the fact that when I was a kid there was a guy who came round the area delivering pop (I guess you would say soda in the U.S.!) door to door. Its a kind of obsolete way of doing things now and those guys don’t exist. So in tribute my recommended drink is a classic British pop flavour – Dandelion and Burdock!

 

“Some Slum Clearances” – The Wind-up Birds

 

The Wind-up Birds Official Website

The Wind-up Birds @ Bandcamp

The Wind-up Birds @ Facebook (If you’re in the Leeds, UK, area, check out their FB page for some upcoming shows.)

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Mudlow

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photo credit: Nhung Dang

 

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

Much like my appreciation for Skip James, my interest in Mudlow was originally piqued not by their music, but by a photo of the band. The photo you see above, in fact – taken by Nhung Dang with a pinhole camera made from a biscuit tin. Anyone who has ever purchased a record by an artist they’ve never heard before based solely on the sleeve art knows that art/graphics/image can convey much about sound. When I saw this blurred, rough photo of a bunch of hard men, holding big knives and wearing spattered aprons, I knew they made music I had to hear.

And, well, not only can you sometimes judge a book by its cover, you can also occasionally judge a band by their press photo because I can now put a Mudlow album in the player and happily leave it there for days of repeated listening. The noir grit of their music sits perfectly in that spot where all my favorite music hits me, somewhere between the gut and the pelvis – music for fucking and fighting. All the Mudlow elements, from Trimble’s sinuous saxophone to Tobias’ one-more-whiskey vocals, combine to create a sound that nearly dislocates your jaw with a strong uppercut before confidently seducing you into bed… or vice versa.

The men of Mudlow have favored us with some great recommendations. If these aren’t men you’d like to raise a glass with… well then, I’ll just take your place at the bar.

 

“Zane Merite” – Mudlow

 

TOBIAS

Good Read:
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.
Amid the staggering brutality and violence in this book I love the way ‘the kid’ keeps on surviving. The descriptive way in which McCarthy writes is epic beyond anything else I’ve read. Also it’s a western and who doesn’t love a western!

Good Listen:
Big Time – Tom Waits
This is like a ‘best-of’ from his most creative period. I think that the re-worked songs, recorded live with a full band (one hell of a band too) are better versions than most of the studio originals.

Good Drink:
Wild Turkey bourbon
It picks you up when you’re down and knocks you down when you’re up. Cheers!

 

MATT

Good Read:
Jolie Blon’s Bounce by James Lee Burke
I hadn’t read any James Lee Burke novels before this one, I picked it up at a second-hand store because I liked the cover. It’s the last book that I read more than once and it’s still my favourite of his.

Good Listen:
Burnside on Burnside – R.L. Burnside
For me, there’s two really great live albums that I listen to regularly (Tobias chose the other one) and R.L. Burnside tears me a new earhole every time I put this one on. Superb sound and a ferocious set from R.L., Kenny and Cedric. It begs to be played really LOUD every time.

Good Drink:
Brooklyn Lager
Ice cold and from the bottle, this is my new favourite lager, flavourful but not too sweet. (there may be a slight emotional bias…my girlfriend is from Brooklyn too!)

 

PAUL

Good Read:
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
This is my current read. A ‘true crime’ classic. Hmm… Seems like we choose books with rather dark themes, huh.

Good Listen:
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground
I have way too many (ever-changing) musical ‘likes’ to choose just one but I re-visit this album more than most and it’s a good one to drink and read to.

Good Drink:
Metaxa
I regularly go on holiday to visit my Dad in Corfu and this sweet, Greek brandy is my drink of choice when I’m there.

 

TRIMBLE

Good Read:
The Life of Lee – Lee Evans (autobiography)
I tend to read factual stuff on the whole, so I don’t really have a favourite but this is what I’m reading at the minute and it’s pretty funny.

Good Listen:
Smell of Female – The Cramps
It’s EP length really but it’s the Cramps at their best, it always makes me want to go out for a good time, as a result this record has got me into a lot of trouble over the years!

Good Drink:
Tequila Sunrise
It’s a ‘boat drink’. The kind of drink that puts you somewhere better, somewhere with the sun on your face. I hardly ever drink it coz I never go on holiday and you wouldn’t ask for this in the kind of english pubs i go to.

 

“Evol” – Mudlow

 

Mudlow Official Website

Mudlow @ ReverbNation

Mudlow @ Google+

Mudlow @ Facebook

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: The Payroll Union

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

Is it right to describe someone’s voice as “woody”? (Another hurdle: is it possible to do so without calling a particular Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch to people’s minds?) Because I realize that is what Pete David’s voice makes me think of: a dark, polished wood. Perhaps mahogany or a particularly richly-hued and knotty cherry. It’s pleasing to the senses, but its many rings and swirls have stories tucked into them.

So, too, could be described the music of Pete David’s band, the Payroll Union. I’ve heralded the Payroll Union here before for their instantly-effecting music and the rich history that makes up the bulk of the stories told in their songs, and I’m happily anticipating their first full-length album, slated for release this autumn. The band is offering a free track from their forthcoming album, one new track each month, at their site (click “free song” in the header) through September.

Today, Pete shares a few recommendations with us.

 

“Mary Lamson” – The Payroll Union

 

Good Read:
1776 by David McCullough
I’m currently in the middle of The Civil War, Shelby Foote’s epic narrative and though it’s engrossing, he still doesn’t beat David McCullough for bringing history to life. McCullough’s research, his even-handedness and his economy of words all combine to create an incredibly vivid picture. He is able to give such a strong sense of presence to history and show how extraordinary – and in some cases, unlikely – events were. For this reason, I’ve chosen 1776, his book on events of the Revolutionary War during that year. You understand why New York delegates to the Continental Congress were wary of supporting the Declaration of Independence as 30,000 troops gradually sailed towards their city. They would have been hung as traitors, if caught. To give that figure some context, Philadelphia was then the largest city of the thirteen colonies, with a population of around 30,000. The sense of fear and trepidation is brilliantly conveyed by the author. Ultimately, McCullough’s skill is in presenting ‘his’ characters as real people and not just impressive figures. Washington, Howe, Greene, they all emerge with their flaws and strengths painted without – seemingly – any great bias.

Good Listen:
Tonight’s the Night, Neil Young
There’s plenty of good recent music I’m listening to at the moment – Slim Cessna’s Autoclub, Neva Dinova, Waters – but there are only a handful of albums I consistently return to and one I’ve recently put on the player again and have done for the past 11 years, is Neil Young’s Tonight’s The Night. A couple of years ago, I finally got round to getting it on vinyl and it’s given me another burst of enthusiasm for what is probably – if I really had to pick one – my favourite record. To describe it as ragged would be an understatement. The vocals, cracked and drunk, are beautifully broken; guitars crash and tumble; piano keys are clumsily tinkled. It swells around you in a similar way to Exile On Main Street, but Tonight’s The Night is both drunk and sad. This is an album about grief, and the sense that the band are on the edge of falling apart pervades the whole record. I love Neil Young, and he has consistently made great records, but none better than this.

 

 

Good Drink:
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord
No doubt about this one. My desert island beer is and always has been Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Full, hoppy but not overpowering and a perfect 4.3% ABV. Every pint is deeply satisfying. Tastes great from a bottle too, which has, on the label, a lovely picture of a jolly, bald, rotund man (presumably the landlord) grasping firmly a tankard of the foamy beverage. Great beer from one of the many great Yorkshire breweries.

 

“Jake the Pistol” – The Payroll Union

 

The Payroll Union @ Bandcamp

The Payroll Union @ Facebook

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Daniel Knox

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

 

I am pleased to have the king of sardonic heart taking part in this series. Sardonic heart? you ask. Yes, because while Daniel Knox will make you laugh – if your humor is of a certain darker inclination – if you dig further down, you will find deep and jagged truths that might catch you on their barbs as they cling to your clothes with their familiarity. Yes, the world is broken, and we’re broken in it, but sit here a while, and we’ll share a grim laugh together.

 

 

Good Read:
Ask The Dust by John Fante
The most prominent in a series of novels about Fante’s alter-ego Arturo Bandini. I love all of Fante’s work but I’ve read this book more times than I can remember. Bandini is pure ego and contradiction, cursing someone and admiring them in the same breath. His writing style is full of a rambling honesty that doesn’t hold back. Anyone who has ever tried to write or create something will recognize Bandini’s courage and doubt as their own.

“The Road To Los Angeles” makes a good companion to this, as does “Dreams From Bunker Hill” which Fante wrote blind and limbless from his deathbed.

There was a piece of shit movie made of “Ask The Dust” in 2006. Don’t even bother watching the trailer. It’s the worst.

Good Listen:
“Gondola No Uta” (from Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru) by Traditional.
I’ve always favored voices with character over ones with skill. I work as a projectionist and this song from the end of the film “Ikiru” always made me run out to the balcony to take it in whenever it showed. His voice is so small and on the verge of cracking, but I can’t imagine it sung better.

 

 

Good Drink:
I quit drinking a few years ago but not out of any great dramatic epiphany. I knew I was either bad at it or too good to keep going. But the best times I had were drinking alone and getting lost.

I used to drink the hell out of scotch but if I had to recommend a drink recipe to anyone it would be this:

wake up disoriented on a winter morning when you have nothing to do
take a box of DayQuill® gelcaps
follow this with a bottle of vodka
close your eyes
open them and you will be outside
now you are on a bus
sit on the back middle seat where it is warm and slightly elevated
feel the arms of the bus wrap around you as the city you live in passes both very fast and very slow all at once
show up someplace you haven’t been before.

 

Daniel Knox Official Website

Daniel Knox @ Tumblr

Daniel Knox @ Twitter

Daniel Knox @ Facebook

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Rubber City Review

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Tim Quine blowin' harp with Bo Diddley

 

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

 

Though he’s been vilified in the press (see “blues-snob uncle” in Rolling Stone‘s profile of the Black Keys, January 19, 2012), Tim Quine, the head honcho at the Rubber City Review, has been nothing but kind and supportive to us up here by the lake. I learned of RCR when a link to the Akron-based music blog was posted to the Black Keys’ Myspace page (shush), and I was immediately taken not only with Tim’s deep and wide knowledge of music ranging everywhere from blues to western swing to jazz, but also with what a good read it was. No dry scholar Mr. Quine, his prose is generous with engaging information and abundant humor.

I’m very happy to have him here, sharing some wonderful recommendations with us.

 

Good Read:
Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper
I’ve always had this weakness for West Coast jazz: guys like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz and Paul Desmond. But my favorite is Art Pepper… The cool, seductive sound of his horn always knocks me sideways. So of course I had to dive right into “Straight Life,” the riveting autobiography that he co-wrote with his wife Laurie. Most of it is a harrowing account of his life as a heroin addict, including brutally honest stories of various acts of crime, his time in prison and his eventual recovery. Much like Miles Davis, it’s hard to reconcile the man with his music. And I found Pepper’s account of his legendary session with Miles’ rhythm section especially mind-blowing. He’d been strung out for some time and hadn’t even played in six months. In fact, the mouthpiece of his sax practically fell apart in his hands when he tried to clean it only hours before the gig (he ended up taping it together before heading out the door). But he somehow pulled himself together to record a jazz classic, “Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section.” I’d owned the album for years before reading the book… It still shocks me that he could play so flawlessly (with three guys he’d never met before, by the way) while struggling with so many demons.

 

Here’s the first song recorded at the session. The jazz standard was suggested by Miles’ pianist, Red Garland. Pepper was familiar with the song but had never played it, so he sort of made up the melody. One reviewer credited him with making it sound better than the actual tune, implying that Pepper was intentionally toying with the melody. In reality, he was doing his best to recreate it from a dim memory!

 

Good Listen:
The Complete Stax-Volt Singles: 1959-1968
I normally have my iPod to keep me sane during long drives, but it somehow dumped all of my music right before a trip to Lexington. So I quickly grabbed four discs from “The Complete Stax-Volt Singles,” and it dawned on me somewhere just south of Mansfield that I should have someone hardwire my stereo so the entire set plays on a permanent loop. Jelly Bread by Booker T, Able Mable by Mable John, Memphis Train by Rufus Thomas, A Place Nobody Can Find by Sam & Dave, I’ve Got No Time to Lose by Carla Thomas, Come to Me by Otis Redding… You simply can’t improve on any of this stuff. Since I’m such a guitar hound, I always find myself honing right in on Steve Cropper, who seemed to have an otherworldly sense of what to add and, maybe more important, what to leave out.

 

 

Good Drink:
Old Fashioned
Fine Kentucky bourbon (not the cheap shit), Angostura bitters, maraschino cherry, orange, a little sugar and a splash of water or club soda. My dad used to make one or two of these every night when he came home from work. Today it’s considered bad form to drink in front of small children. Back then, most of the kids in my Catholic grade school could make drinks like these for their dads. RIP Pops.

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: The Imperial Rooster

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

One of the best perks about this music blogging gig is the like-minded friends you can make. I got to know Dusty Vinyl thanks to the appearance of everyone’s favorite porch-dwellers The Imperial Rooster at the inaugural Couch by Couchwest in the spring of 2011, and the Rooster drummer has been a good buddy ever since (and simpatico enough that he chose one of my favorite books for his read).

The Imperial Rooster has two albums under its belt now, and has been gigging hard whenever it can. If you’re in the Santa Fe area you can catch them:

April 27 w/Split Lip Rayfield @ Sol, Santa Fe
May 22 w/The Misery Jackals @ The Underground, Santa Fe

 

“April” – The Imperial Rooster
(They tell me it’s a coincidence that this song has my name on it, but I’m not buying it.)

 

Good Read:
Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad.
I’m probably preaching to the choir in this space but I’ve been surprised before by how many folks with similar tastes in music have never read this book. It tells the story of most of the important underground rock bands of the 80s up until their breakup or signing to a major label.

A lot of my favorite bands of all time are represented: Black Flag, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, The Minutemen (whose “History Lesson Part II” is where the book cribs its title from) Husker Du, and the immortal Mudhoney.
Every story is worth reading even if you’re unfamiliar with the band’s music (never been into Beat Happening) as a snapshot of all the different vibrant music regions around the country, as cautionary tales, and as a doorway to your new favorite band.

Good Listen:
For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Jawbox
As the flipside to the overall theme of the book I just wrote about Jawbox’s For Your Own Special Sweetheart is the rare “underground rock band jumps to major label” story where the band’s major label output smokes their indie stuff.
Washinton DC’s Jawbox was a major band in that city’s burgeoning post hardcore scene, alongside Fugazi and Shudder To Think and the jump from super anti corporate Dischord to mega major Atlantic was a shock. Even more shocking was how great the resulting major label debut was. Two big events shape this record: Jawbox went on tour with Helmet and they got a real recording budget. The budget allowed their sonic pallette to expand while at the same time the tour with Helmet inspired their riffs to be big and jagged and muscular. The band remained uncompromising with their hardcore influenced indie rock. The songs are unrelenting, fantastic and multilayered and the album as a whole is a completely satisfying listen. Definitely check it out.

 

“Savory” – Jawbox

“Motorist” – Jawbox

 

Good Drink:
Trippel (New Belgium Brewery)
My beer of choice when I’m going to the store New Belgium’s take on a trippel style ale is perfection in a bottle. Its hoppy and sweet and it’s 7.8 ABV ensures that you’ll be feeling good a couple bottles in without all the beer bloat.

 

“Overunderstimulated” – The Imperial Rooster

 

The Imperial Rooster @ Bandcamp

The Imperial Rooster @ ReverbNation

The Imperial Rooster @ Facebook

 

Graphic by Jenn Bando

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A Good Read, A Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Field Report

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

Though his expression in the above photo borders on psychotic, Christopher Porterfield – singer/guitarist/songwriter of Field Report – is an exceedingly nice person. And though his hair can break laws of physics at times, he appears utterly normal, friendly, well-adjusted. So connecting this kind, seemingly unaffected person to his heartbreaking, gut-wrenching songs can be a fascinating but slightly mystifying exercise.

If you’ve been reading NTSIB for a while “Fergus Falls” may strike a familiar chord. It was originally recorded in an earlier incarnation of Field Report known as Conrad Plymouth (the moniker, CP says, outlived its usefulness). Field Report launched themselves officially at SXSW this year (and had Adam Duritz – yes, that one – stumbling all over himself trying to find the right words to describe the power of Field Report’s music) and is going great guns out of the gate, supporting Megafaun on their current tour. So, we’re very pleased that CP could take a little time before hitting the road to contribute to our series.

 

Fergus Falls by fieldreport

 

Good Read:
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (Raymond Carver)
I had a ponytailed, Kangoled chainsmoking freshman English professor
who turned me on to Carver via showing Robert Altman’s Shortcuts
during our night class to pass the time. I was into it. He lent me his
copy of Where I’m Calling From; I returned it the next class, having
purchased my own.
I kept it with me whenever I traveled- I always bring a Carver
anthology and whatever else I’m reading. In a very Carver moment, I
ended up puking on my copy of Where I’m Calling From. Now I carry the
earlier collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?. I think it might be
more Ray and less Gordon Lish (his controversial editor). All flaws
and holes and love and struggle, and the beauty within the negative
space.

Good Listen:
Klamath (Mark Eitzel)
A heartbreaking work of isolation by former American Music Club
frontman/criminally under-appreciated singer, writer, arranger Mark
Eitzel. It’s all synth and vibes and wood and strings and whispered
croon and brilliant turns of phrase and ache.
Independently released in 2009, I don’t know where you can buy it
anymore. I think he burned 500 copies. If you can’t find Klamath,
“Invisible Man” or “60 Silver Lining” are great places to start.

 

 

Good Drink:
Old Thompson, by the pint.
From the liquor store by my house, you can get a pint of this blended
“whisky” for under $4. It fits in a pocket, and is weirdly best served
when warmed by body heat. It sounds terrible, but I’ve converted a few
people over the years. The second sip is smoother than the first. And
a pint is just enough to put a Gaussian blur on the world but not
enough to get you sick.

 

I Am Not Waiting Anymore by fieldreport

 

Field Report and Megafaun tour dates

03/27/12 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
03/28/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
03/30/12 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
03/31/12 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
04/03/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
04/04/12 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
04/05/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
04/06/12 – Tempe, AZ @ The Sail Inn
04/08/12 – Santa Fe, NM @ Sol Santa Fe
04/10/12 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
04/12/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
04/14/12 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom

 

Field Report Official Website

Field Report @ Twitter

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: The Parlor Soldiers

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

The Parlor Soldiers’ album When the Dust Settles – with some songs that play like a wink, some that play like a punch, with all sorts of intriguing stories in between – has been one of the first real delights of 2012 for me. (If you haven’t yet, visit their Bandcamp site and be charmed by the album yourself. And check out their tour dates! The more shows you attend, the greater chance I have of seeing them up north sometime.) So, I’m very happy to have Alex, Karen and Dan participate in our series.

 

 

Alex Culbreth – Book: Post Office by Charles Bukowski (very funny novel from one of my favorite writers)

Album: John Prine (no album in particular, he’s a great songwriter and there’s lots to learn from him)

Drink: Gin & Tonic (because I love me some old man drinks!)

 

Karen Jonas – Book: Go Dog, Go – I used to read real books but now I have babies at home.

Album: Gillian Welch, The Harrow & The Harvest – I’ve been listening to this one for a few months, such great americana imagery.

Drink: Water with no ice – though the boys are always trying to get me to drink something else

 

Dan Dutton – Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey; as the author says “enjoy, shipmates, enjoy

Album: 40 oz. to Freedom by Sublime because Eric can’t sing either.

Drink: Unearthly from Southern Tier Brewery because it brought me back to good beer.

 

The Parlor Soldiers – “Shallow Grave”

 

The Parlor Soldiers @ Bandcamp

The Parlor Soldiers @ Facebook

The Parlor Soldiers @ ReverbNation

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Nate Burrell

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

Inaugurating the series is photographer Nate Burrell. An Ohio boy who now makes his home in St. Louis, Nate takes primo shots of exceptional musicians, sometimes as they work the stage and sometimes away from the stage, in more relaxed moments. Regular readers will have seen some of his shots of mr. Gnome and JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, as well as his personal favorites of 2010, graciously shared on this site. Nate has his own site, Before the Blink, featuring some of his beautiful work.

And he’s just a hell of a guy. Take it away, Nate…

 

Good Read:
The Tao of Wu (by RZA) — a really solid read that has a unique way of telling a story page after page that is some parts philosophy, other parts autobiography, with a healthy dose of street knowledge, interpretations of clarity, and tales of everyday life from an extremely talented and insightful man who has certainly walked both sides of the line.

 

Good Listen:
I’m Gonna Live Anyhow Until I Die (various artists from the 1959-1960 Southern Journey Field Recordings by Alan Lomax) — Alan Lomax, who is one of the most important preservationists of American Music, turns in an absolute gem on this 15 song LP. With an extremely raw sense of capturing the soul, love, pain, and yearning from the instruments and voices of folks ranging from Pentecostal choirs to farm hands to prison groups, this album also includes the first known recordings of Fred McDowell, and also documents the first time that field songs were recorded in stereo. The quality is superb, the music is honest, and the feel of the record is timeless. Just a wonderful listen from start to finish.

 

 

Good Drink:
you can’t really go wrong with a nice and simple Whiskey & Ginger poured with a heavy hand into a rocks glass with a few ice cubes; I mean…it’s good in the summer and even tastier in the winter, so it’s got to be okay, right?

 

Photo credit: Corey Woodruff