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Friday Link Session

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Murder by Death Is Coming to Cleveland

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Murder by Death

 

The best voices in modern music are not those that are technically proficient but those that are dented and torn, so full of character that they could tell a whole story just by humming a few notes. Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen… as their careers continued their lives seeped into their voices, expanding, contracting, cracking, causing deep crevices. Adam Turla of Murder by Death is well on his way to becoming a member of this camp. In the early days of MbD, Turla’s voice was like a flower bud, green and simple. Now, a decade on, his voice has a timbre closer to another one of those vocal icons, Johnny Cash.

 

 

And like those other singular singers, Turla is not relying merely on his battered vocal chords to carry him forward. He integrates it with A) a great band, and B) great stories. While this is clearly a band with a sense of humor – not only are they named after the 1976 murder spoof starring Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, and more, but titles in their catalogue include “Spring Break 1899”, “Intergalactic Menopause”, and “Killbot 2000” – their strongest suit is balancing this voice, this music, and these stories to create transportive moods. This craft is at its most whole on their latest album – their sixth full-length album and their first for Bloodshot Records – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon.

 

“Foxglove” – Murder by Death (Violitionist Sessions)

 

Murder by Death will be bringing it all to the Grog Shop in Cleveland on February 22 when they co-headline with the quite different, but also great Man Man. Damion Suomi will open. To get more of a live taste of these exciting bands, check out this Murder by Death concert at NPR and this Man Man performance at Amoeba Music.

Bonus: Enjoy Adam Turla navigating an interview with a couple of kids.

 

Grog Shop Official Website

Murder by Death Official Website

Murder by Death @ Twitter

Murder by Death @ Facebook

Man Man Official Website

Man Man @ Twitter

Man Man @ Facebook

Damion Suomi @ Facebook

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Video: The Rest, Always On My Mind

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Always On My Mind is absolutely my favorite song from The Rest‘s SEESAW, so I was very excited when a link for the video below appeared in my inbox.

The video itself is kind of weird but in an awesome way. I can’t decide if it’s a love story, a ghost story, a murder mystery, or all of those things at the same time, but it’s beautifully shot and lit and contains my favorite romance trope, which is young lovers dancing in their living room.

They also spend a good deal of time wearing giant animal masks and wandering mournfully through fog, which is really just the slightly hallucinatory cherry on top.
 

The Rest - Always On My Mind

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Video: Fall Out Boy feat. 2 Chainz, My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up)

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So, y’all, this is how my day went today:

7:15 AM: While going about my normal morning business of GChatting with a friend and scrolling through Tumblr, I clicked on something purporting to be the “New FOB single!!” – rumors have been swirling for a while now, but more intensely in the last week or so; evidence had surfaced of their appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show later this month; and my pre-caffeine judgement is often poor – and was Taylor Swift-rolled.

Well, I suppose I deserved that, I typed into the GChat window, as the strains of We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together emanated from my computer. (Yes, I left it on. That one and I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In have grown on me, and not like a fungus, either.)

My friend commiserated with my rueful amusement, and the conversation moved on.

8:15 AM: Hum Hallelujah floats up on shuffle as I’m walking to the train. I spend a few minutes pondering pop music; Pete Wentz’s pirate smile and tendency to throw himself off the stage and into the pit; the shimmery golden quality of light in Harlem in the morning; whether it is really so terrible that I enjoy popular pop music that makes me feel things (conclusion: no); the frequently frustrating and often agonizing condition of being a fan of a band that is on “hiatus” or “is working on a new record” and how those things often go together and sometimes lead to one another; and the various bands for whom I have waited, including Guns N’ Roses (well, really Axl Rose)(15 years), Mötley Crüe (8 years), Bon Jovi (2 years and 3 years, for separate hiatuses) My Chemical Romance (2 years) and Panic! at the Disco (18 months), and Ryan Ross (2 years and counting); and how the internet and Internet Time have probably warped my sense of what constitutes a long time to wait.

9:15 AM: I check in with the intertubes and discover that somewhere in the time I left the house and got to work, Fall Out Boy came off hiatus.

That there is a song, a video, a record, a bunch of shows in tiny clubs planned the next month – for tomorrow, in New York – and a bigger tour scheduled for May.

I wasn’t able to get a ticket for the show tomorrow, but I’m not the tiniest bit upset. Why? Because five years ago when I fell (back) into being a rock fan, I also fell into a community of fans – some local, some far away, all connected via the internet – and in the last five years, we have mourned a lot of bands. Today we got one back, and that shared joy is just the best feeling.

Also, the song they released is the best thing I’ve heard for a while. Hand claps, thudding, roaring drums, aggressive guitars, sly and lacerating lyrics, and Patrick Stump soaring upwards over the tumult. It doesn’t get better than that, ladies and gentlemen.
 
http://youtu.be/HsfY8iFbYjE

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Feel Bad For You, February 2013

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A new FBFY mix is live, and I’d personally like to thank our FBFY commander-in-chief for not choosing a Valentine theme this month.

“…and we’re back! I considered and then threw out a number of ideas for different themes and went with goulash (def: an eclectic and uncoordinated mixture of something). What a mixture we’ve got! We are spanning quite a few genres and yet it works! Thanks to Matt (@truersound) for this month’s artwork.”

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Feel Bad For You, February 2013

  1. Title: Cleaning Out My Closet (Eminem cover)
    Artist: Angel Haze
    Album: Classick (2012)
    Submitted By: @tincanman2010 (http://tincanland.wordpress.com/)
    Comments: NSFW! wtf, rap on FBFY? Yeah, deal with it bitches. Eminem broke through rap’s colour barrier and Haze threatens to shatter it’s gender ceiling, so a cover seems appropriate. Similar styles, too

    2.  

  2. Title: 1965 (Duas Tribos)
    Artist: Legião Urbana
    Album (year): As Quatro Estações [2007]
    Submitted By: hoosier buddy
    Comments: First, thanks go out to my last.fm friend Vitória for turning me on to this album. This song reminds me a little of The Refreshments circa 1996 – and also reminds me walking barefoot on hot beach sand, driving too fast in cars with bench seats, the big knobs on Silvertone guitar amps, Sandy Nelson of Superdrums! fame, first kisses, cool water when you’re super thirsty, and Deputy Dawg’s hat in the episode titled “National Spoof Day”.

    3.  

  3. Title: King’s Flashlight
    Artist: Elliott, Rose, Da Costa
    Album (year): CA TX NY Vol. 1 (2012)
    Submitted By: @philnorman
    Comments: An indie-songwriter supergroup kicking out a catchy jam
    from Raina Rose. The whole 6 song EP is fantastic.
    http://store.thefamilyrecords.com/products/ca-tx-ny-vol-1-ep

    4.  

  4. Title: Pale Rider
    Artist: Heavy Horses
    Album (year): Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs
    Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
    Comments: The Heavy Horses are the band I am currently and completely crushing on.

    5.  

  5. Title: Abandoned
    Artist: Phil Norman
    Album (2010): Four Februarys
    Submitted By: @popa2unes
    Comments: Well there’s February, a short month it will go by like that, then there’s March with cxcw in the middle of it which will go by too fast, really it’s almost spring. There’s this guy Phil Norman, who does this February Album Writing Month (FAWM) thingy 14 songs in 28 days so there is sure to be some great new tunes coming from him, you may have heard of him and or it, He’s also in the excellent band called Blue Moonshine which rumors are they are close to releasing some new material which mayhaps will coincide with cxcw? Anyhoo I have a playlist on my Ipod with this song from Four Februarys ’07-‘10 in it and when it comes on I have to hit repeat, I dig it so much. Hope you enjoy it to, and follow along this year’s FAWM and nudge him and the band about cxcw, They’re on twitter and stuff.

    6.  

  6. Title: Manchester
    Artist: Kishi Bashi
    Album (year): 151a (2012)
    Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
    Comments: Stepping out of my Southern band box for this earworm that I discovered thanks to the end of the year lists. Though technically, still from the South.

    7.  

  7. Title: This Boy Is Exhausted
    Artist: The Wrens
    Album (year): The Meadowlands (2003)
    Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow @ altcountrytab.ca)
    Comments: I think this is at least the third Wrens song I have submitted to this comp. I can’t help it – I love the heck out of them and keep dreaming of a day when they actually release some new material. 10 years is a long time gone, but I digress – this is just a great example of a rock and roll song, about the tedium and glory of playing in a band and playing live. Crank it up.

    8.  

  8. Title: Lay Down
    Artist: Alberta Cross
    Album (year): Daytrotter Session, 2KHz, 1/3/2013
    Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
    Comments: Damn! I like these guys. Daytrotter Studios seems to be regular stop for these guys and they trotted out a new session in early January. I’m lovin’ this song right now. I keep meaning to buy some Alberta Cross, but never get around to it. I will buy one of their albums this month!

    9.  

  9. Title: Born to Ruin
    Artist: Wildlife
    Album (year): …On the Heart (2013)
    Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
    Comments: I was introduced to this Canadian band on Daytrotter’s Barnstormer 5 tour, and they were so brilliant that they overshadowed nearly all the other bands for me. “Born to Ruin” is the lead single off their second album, which is due out in early March, and when I first heard it, I couldn’t stop playing it. Their big drums, big vocals, and big heart keep getting me.

    10.  

  10. Title: “I See a Darkness”
    Artist: Bonnie “Prince” Billy
    Album (year): Now Here’s My Plan EP (2012)
    Submitted By: Beldo or @TheSecondSingle
    Comments: Will Oldham remakes his own classic as a spirited ’70s-style country rocker.

    11.  

  11. Title: I Still Write Your Name In The Snow
    Artist: Chet Atkins
    Album: Almost Alone (1996)
    Submitted By: toomuchcountry
    Comments: Ahh, love is in the crisp air of winter – and apparently soaked into the new fallen snow. While listening to these romantic lyrics as sung by the original Certified Guitar Player, just remember to pay heed to Frank Zappa’s advice.

    12.  

  12. Title: Victoria
    Artist: The Kinks
    Album (Year): Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire (1969)
    Submitted by: Erschen
    Comments: Been on a Kinks kick lately and really love this overlooked gem.

    13.  

  13. Title: Night Train
    Artist: Oscar Peterson Trio
    Album (year): Night Train (1962)
    Submitted by: Gorrck
    Comment: Old school jazz. Go pour yourself a cocktail and enjoy. NOTE: Not to be confused with GnR’s “Night Train”

    14.  

  14. Title: Ape of Dorado
    Artist: Dorado
    Album (year): Anger Hunger Love and the Fear of Death (2013)
    Submitted By: Mad Mackerel Music Blog
    Comments: Dorado is our first great discovery of 2013. Dorado is one Jody Nelson. Dorado is sonic chaos. Dorado is musical mayhem. Dorado is somehow simultaneously disjointed and perfectly cohesive.While its roots might nominally be in southern rock, there are plenty of other forces at work here – psychedelia, folk, country-noir, art-rock, straight-up indie – the musical cauldron bubbles and seethes with every imaginable ingredient. This track, Ape of Dorado dips into a rockabilly rhythm, gives that up as a bad job and heads helter-skelter into scrappy indie rock, but does it all brilliantly. Dorado is what we imagine Heath Ledger’s Joker might have on repeat on his iPod.

    15.  

  15. Title: Funtimes In Babylon (Demo)
    Artist: Father John Misty
    Album (year): Fear Fun Demos 2012
    Submitted By: Sandy @ Slowcoustic
    Comments: Last year’s album Fear Fun from Father John Misty was one of the albums I was most interested in (due to my appreciation of J. Tillman’s previous work). It ended up being one of the year’s best albums in my opinion and quite frankly surprised me. So then, how about the cross between the older more acoustic J. Tillman and the new indie crooner Father John Misty? The acoustic demo for the opening track of the new album seems to be just that spot.

    16.  

  16. Title: Love Reign O’er Me
    Artist: Pete Townshend
    Album (year): The Quadrophenia Demos 2 (2012)
    Submitted By: Simon
    Comments: This track sounds better every time I listen to it, a wonderful version of a classic Who song from the soundtrack to Quadrophenia, released on a 2012 Record Store Day limited edition 10″ and the Director’s Cut box set.

    17.  

  17. Title: You Gave Your Love To Me Softly
    Artist: Weezer
    Album (year): Angus (Soundtrack) (1995)
    Submitted By: annieTUFF
    Comments: Man, I completely froze on song choice this month….BUT I’ve been revisiting my love for Weezer lately, so here you go FBFY.

    18.  

  18. Title: Answering Machine (home solo demo)
    Artist: The Replacements
    Album (year): Let it Be (orig. 1984, Deluxe Edition 2008)
    Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
    Comments: Went on a “Let it Be” bender this weekend. I think I like this song better than “I Will Dare,” and that song is genius.

    19.  

  19. Title: Girlfriend
    Artist: Slim Dunlap
    Album (year): Times Like This (1994)
    Submitted By: @scratchedsoul
    Comments: Slim was the guitarist in the Replacements after Bobby Stinson left the band. In Feb 2012 he had a pretty massive stroke which sucks. This is a song off his 2nd (and last) album. He played solo in Boston one night on this tour and at the end of his set he said he needed someone to drive him to Cleveland after the gig. If you did he would buy your plane ticket home. I wish I could say I volunteered, but I didn’t. Regrets. There’s a fund set up to help defray costs. More info here http://songsforslim.com

    20.  

  20. Title: What is the Color of the Soul of a Man
    Artist: Jimmy Driftwood
    Album: Voice of The People (1963)
    Submitted by: Truersound
    Comments: Picked this record up recently and it proceeded to blow me away, this song in particular. Then found out it was released in 1963…wow

    21.  

  21. Title: Anymore
    Artist: Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats
    Album: Just Relax, Honey (2009)
    Submitted by: BoogieStudio22
    Comments: Yeah… I added a second song. So what? This band sent us (FBFY) a little press release with some videos. So I say “What the heck, I’ll watch the videos”:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hmOMKCd5M
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ZKos2D9Wg
     
    I liked what heard (a bit of folk, indie, alt-country, americana, etc…) so I headed over to their site (http://www.jonathanwarrenmusic.com) , sampled the songs and bought their two albums. They are operating on the ‘ pay whatever you can afford’ principle, so if you like what you hear and pick up their albums, throw some money their way… like I did. Oh… and they were recently featured over on @pop2unes site too.
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Friday Link Session

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  • Morrissey has been diagnosed with a pre-cancerous throat condition, but he’s determined to be back on the stage next week. Check out Louder Than War for more details. Best wishes, Moz.
  • Continuing in the artists-of-the-’80s-who-remain-mighty vein, Depeche Mode have made a video for their lead single, “Heaven”, from their forthcoming album Delta Machine. Watch the video at Stereogum and tell me they shouldn’t be tapped for the next Bond film soundtrack.
  • Dinosaur Jr. made a stop at World Cafe recently, complete with characteristically painful interview segments.
  • Hearth Music posted a trailer for the upcoming Coen Brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis” to their Tumblr. The intriguing-looking movie is based on the memoirs of folk artist Dave Van Ronk.
  • Cleveland’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest has chosen its dates and venue for this year. Mark August 16 through 18 on your calendar, NEOers.
  • Stupefaction has posted a documentary called “The Britpop Story”. No prizes for guessing what it’s about.
  • Set some time aside for “Wattstax” the documentary of a 1972 concert festival of Stax artists in memory of the 1965 Watts riots. The Staples Singers, Albert King, Isaac Hayes, and Rufus Thomas in pink shorts and white go-go boots – you don’t want to miss that.
  • Closing it out this week, check out our friends Field Report performing their beautiful “I Am Not Waiting Anymore” for Live Nation Labs.
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Video Mix: Madeleine Peyroux, Skyzoo, Everything Everything

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A handful of videos to pique your interest today. We start with the lead single from Madeleine Peyroux’s forthcoming album The Blue Room. It’s a sweet, jazzy, strolling take on Buddy Holly’s “Changing All Those Changes”. The Blue Room releases in March, followed by a tour. Check her official site for more information.

“Changing All Those Changes” – Madeleine Peyroux

 

Next up, Skyzoo pays tribute iconic filmmaker Spike Lee, with a verse from the man, Talib Kweli. It features rapid-fire spitting, majestic horns, and a truly lovely piano outro.

“Spike Lee Was My Hero” – Skyzoo, featuring Talib Kweli

 

Now shake the end-of-the-week dust off with the super danceable “Cough Cough” by UK band Everything Everything. It comes from their EP of the same name, their US debut, which is set for release on February 5. The band will be playing SXSW, followed by shows at the Roxy in L.A. and the Bowery Ballroom in NYC.

“Cough Cough” – Everything Everything

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Fanmix: Warren Ellis, Gun Machine

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Fan mixes: collections of music created as both soundtrack and illustration for other works, usually works of fiction, intended as both appreciation of and enticement to read the work of fiction.

This one is for Gun Machine by Warren Ellis, who is author of, among other things, Transmetropolitan and Crooked Little Vein, and is NOT the dude who plays music with Nick Cave.

Gun Machine is a murder mystery set in New York. But not the New York you usually see on cop shows; the Financial District, which is older and darker. Down there you’re off the grid. The streets are narrow and twisty and reality can be very thin. Depending on how the wind is blowing off the water, it does feel like you could walk around a corner today and stumble into the 17th century, 1926 could be tomorrow and 2018 was last week.

“Off the grid” would actually sum up the book as a whole. It is also bloody, startling, deeply lonely, occasionally bitingly funny, like watching my own city from the wrong end of a telescope, a complex puzzle, and very, very good. If you pick it up, be sure to both read and listen carefully; Ellis uses music and sounds much like Nathaniel Hawthorne used light, that is, as both text and subtext.

The mix below is my attempt at capturing the spirit of the work. The songs chosen are intended to trace the outline of the narrative in broad strokes. All of them, save for two, are available for sale and/or free download from the artist.

The exceptions are Panic! at the Disco’s cover of Karma Police, which is a fan bootleg of a live performance, chosen for the quality of the static, and Kasey Anderson and the Honkies’ Abbaddon Blues, because it is from Let the Bloody Moon Rise, a record which saw only limited release before Anderson went on indefinite-but-hopefully-not-permanent hiatus and which is now (almost) out of circulation.

1.BT, Go(d)t
 


 
2. Panic! at the Disco, Karma Police (Radiohead cover)
 

 
(If you want a visual.)
 
3. Foster the People, Pumped Up Kicks
 
Foster The People - Pumped up Kicks

 
4. Breakfast in Fur, Whisper
 
Breakfast in Fur - Whisper (Official)

 
5. David C. Clements, Oh Child
 

 
6. Blondie, Heart of Glass
 
Blondie - Heart Of Glass

 
7. Jane’s Addiction, Chip Away
 
Jane's Addiction - Chip Away

 
8. Firewater, A Little Revolution
 
FIREWATER: A Little Revolution

 
9. Milan Jay, In the Shadows of Footsteps
 

 
10. BL/\CK CEILING, I’MNLUVWITCHU
 

 
11.Xiu Xiu, Hi
 
Xiu Xiu - Hi [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

 
12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies, Abbaddon Blues
 

 
13. Cage the Elephant, Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked
 
Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

 
14. Blackwater Jukebox, Carousel
 

 
15. Willow Sea, Night Light
 

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Swamp Dogg: Rat On!

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Swamp Dogg a.k.a. Jerry Williams

 

When you look at the cover of Swamp Dogg’s album Rat On! now – on a black background, Swamp Dogg, in beret and fringed vest, sitting astride a white rat, Dogg’s arms held up in triumph – it just looks silly (and has indeed been called one of the worst album covers of all time). But at the time of its release in 1971, it managed to offend some people (evidence that people searching for things to be offended by is not a new development). While the photo was never intended as anything more than a visual component of the title’s play on words, Swamp Dogg hasn’t been one to back away from controversy, so he decided to stoke the fires of the offended by claiming the cover represented “the black man on top of the white man”1.

Clearly, what the cover does denote is an album from someone fond of clowning around. What you may miss from just looking at the cover, though, is that, beyond the silly cover and between some jokey songs are serious responses to race, war, sex, and more, backed by solid soul.

 

“Creeping Away” – Swamp Dogg

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You see, Swamp Dogg is the alter ego of a man, Jerry Williams, Jr., with chops. Williams cut his first record when he was around 12 years old, when he was known as Little Jerry, and he’s been writing and producing music for himself and others since childhood. He’s worked with artists like Solomon Burke, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, Gene Pitney, and, along with writing partner Gary U.S. Bonds, was nominated for a Grammy for the song “She’s All I Got”, recorded by Johnny Paycheck.

Williams has not stopped working, either on his own or for others, and his first two Swamp Dogg albums, 1970’s Total Destruction to Your Mind and Rat On!, are being remastered and reissued on vinyl and CD by Alive Records on March 5.

 

“If I Die Tomorrow (I’ve Lived Tonite)” – Swamp Dogg

Download

 

To hear more about this entertaining man and his interesting career, check out this appearance from public radio program Studio 360 from July 2011, where Williams and writer Ben Greenman talk about their collaboration stemming from Greenman’s novel Please Step Back.

 

And for a little more background, check out his interview with Jesse Thorn on The Sound of Young America from January 2008.

 

Swamp Dogg Official Website

Swamp Dogg @ Bandcamp

 


1interview, North Sea Jazz special, 2010