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Feel Bad For You, January 2013

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New FBFY for you all!

“It’s a New Year! It’s a new curator (@BoogieStudio22)! It’s a new mixtape! We are starting afresh, in 2013, by looking back on 2012. Our motley crew of malcontent, miscreant, ne’er-do-well music lovers have chosen their favorite songs, their “Choice Cuts”, of 2012. Crank up the volume and check out 20 cuts from a variety of artists and genres.”

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Feel Bad For You, January 2013 - Choice Cuts

1. Title: All Over You
Artist: Dead Exs
Album (year): Resurrection (2012)
Submitted By: tincanman (http://tincanland.wordpress.com)
Comments: Rock and roll doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it rarely should. Guitars. Attitude. Mud (see song video: http://bit.ly/Wcnsod). The Dead Exs (http://thedeadexs.com) are my favourite new band of 2012; what the Black Keys would be if Dan Auerbach didn’t have his head so far up his own ass.

2. Title: I Gotta Get Shorty Out of Jail
Artist: Andre Williams & The Sadies
Album (2012): Night and Day
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: Canada’s soul singer/cult legend Andre Williams with The Sadies’ Jon Langford, long-time line-up of Dallas Good on guitars and keys, his brother Travis Good on guitars and fiddle, Mike Belitsky on drums, and the mighty Sean Dean on the bass, Matt Verta-Ray of Heavy Trash, Danny Kroha of Detroit’s own gutter-blues The Gories, featuring fabulously retro cool back-up vocals by Sallie Timms and Kelly Hogan and directed by Jon Spencer

3. Title: Impossible Sky
Artist: Woods
Album: Bend Beyond (2012)
Submitted by: Erschen
Comments: This is a sunny power pop gem. “without looking up, I can see the most impossible sky”. They can make a gloomy line like that so optimistic.

4. Title: Everyone
Artist: Ancient Whales
Album (year): Ancient Whales Birthing (2012)
Submitted By: The Mad Mackerel music blog
Comments: This track comes from a six track album released right at the beginning of 2012, which may mean it didn’t garner the attention it truly deserved. Everyone is anchored by a huge, catchy, insistent riff and a simple lyric while drums clatter away behind it. An absolute sonic treasure!

5. Title: People Of This Land
Artist: Lincoln Durham
Album: The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones (2012)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: I discovered this song by listening all the way to the end of one of Bill Frater’s great Freight Train Boogie podcasts (ftbpodcasts.com) early in 2012. Great track in my opinion.

6. Title: Teenage Gravity
Artist: Kasey Anderson & The Honkies
Album (Year): Let The Bloody Moon Rise (2012)
Submitted by: Simon (Beat Surrender)
Comments: Love this version of the track from the 2012 album Let the Bloody Moon Rise, it first appeared on Kasey’s album Nowhere Nights that was released in 2010, I was in two minds whether to submit this track or one of the versions of his song Exit Ghost that’s also a big favourite of mine too, links for the Daytrotter version and with Star Anna. The man himself his currently on a hiatus – hope to hear from him sooner rather than later.

7. Title: Some Kind of Devil
Artist: Flint Hill Specials
Album (year): The Wigg EP (2012)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: This project from Jeff Moore of National Grain is pretty awesome, especially when you throw a few District Attorneys into the mix for the live show.

8. Title: Turn Away
Artist: forgetters
Album (year): forgetters (2012)
Submitted By: scratchedsoul
Comments: This record was the long awaited return of Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil). He had last been heard from in 2012 with an (excellent) 4 song single and this full album is a real treat. Blake’s quality songwriting is throughout the record, this song being a highlight for me. The record was produced by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Office of Future Plans) and his crisp production just adds to the enjoyment of the record. Only a full-length Paul Westerberg record would have been more exciting for me in 2012. There’s always 2013 for that.

9. Title: As Close As I Came to Being Right
Artist: Rhett Miller (w/Roseanne Cash)
Album: The Dreamer (2012)
Submitted by: Gorrck
Comment: Rhett played an opening set for the Old 97s shows in Phoenix and played some of his solo work. This is my favorite off his latest solo effort.

10. Title: Museum of Flight
Artist: Damien Jurado
Album (year): Maraqopa
Submitted By: Beldo aka @TheSecondSingle
Comments: I had never really gotten into Jurado, but starting with this song (maybe my favorite of the year) and working backwards through his catalog, I’m starting to think he might make a damn fine successor to Neil.

11. Title: House Carpenter
Artist: Lonesome Sisters with Riley Baugus
Album (year): Lonesome Scenes (2012)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: The Lonesome Sisters were a fantastic discovery for me this year, doesn’t hurt to have Riley Baugus on banjo either, but what really blew me away the first time hearing this album was this hauntingly beautiful rendition of House Carpenter. Also called The Demon Lover and other titles, House Carpenter is one of those timeless english ballads (this one a warning to women about the dire consequences of temptation and infidelity) that have survived the ages thanks to the tenacity of appalachian ballad singers. In this tradition, I think the Lonesome Sisters have done a damn fine job.

12. Title: Nostalgic For….
Artist: The Wind-up Birds
Album (year): The Land (2012)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: I first heard the Wind-up Birds’ first full-length album, The Land, back in May, and it still holds a prominent place in my personal listening rotation. The band are writing songs right now, so I’m excited about more charged and charging songs from the Leeds quartet.

13. Title: One Of Every Color
Artist: Browan Lollar
Album: For The Givers & The Takers (2012)
Submitted by: Corey Flegel (This Is American Music)

14. Title: A Few Towns More
Artist: McDougall
Album (year): A Few Towns More (2012)
Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
Comments: Favorite song from my favorite album of the year.

15. Title: Here Comes My Baby
Artist: Mic Harrison And The High Score
Album (year): Still Wanna Fight (2012)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: When I found out the theme this month was Choice Cuts I knew right away that I wanted to choose a song from this album…then I had to double check that I hadn’t already submitted a song from it this year. THEN my problem was which song from the album was I gonna choose! This was actually really hard, because I love all the songs, and it was a hard choice between this song and “This Is A Notice” (so check out that song too). I might be a little bit partial to these fellers, Mic Harrison and The High Score are as nice and genuine group of guys as you can ever meet. They’re road warriors, going out on to play shows just about every weekend, and then back to their jobs during the week. That’s dedication. Do yourself a favor and download/order this album, and check out their website and see when they’re rolling thru your town. www.micharrison.com

16. Title: Wrecked
Artist: Turnpike Troubadours
Album (year): Goodbye Normal Street (2012)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: One of my favorite songs of the year from one of my favorite albums of the year!

17. Title: Wined And Dined
Artist: Men On The Border
Album (year): Shine! [2012]
Submitted By: hoosier buddy
Comments: This song is from an album of songs by Syd Barrett, as interpreted by Men On The Border. The band chose to emphasize the positive aspects of Syd’s spirit and music, and the resulting music is bright, breezy, and slightly psychedelic. Wined And Dined is a lovely sonic vacation to the countryside. Try the psilocybin tapenade!

18. Title: Movement and Location
Artist: Punch Brothers
Album (year): Who’s Feeling Young Now? (2012)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: No album I listened to more in 2012.

19. Title: The Descent
Artist: Bob Mould
Album (year): Silver Age (2012)
Submitted By: Verbow
Comments: So I had about 12 songs I thought about using, but in the end I went the simpleton’s route and chose my favorite song off my favorite album of 2012. This song is classic Bob all the way – and after hearing this song you will not be able to get it out of your head for days. Rock on Bob!

20. Title: Guttersnipe
Artist: Bhi Bhiman
Album (year): Bhiman (2012)
Submitted by: BoogieStudio22
Comments: This is singer/songwriter Bhi Bhiman’s second album, but I first learned about him on Noisetrade earlier in 2012. I keep coming back to this album and this song in particular. This song ‘spoke’ to me while I was making some changes in my professional life. I love the last two lines of the song (felt like my mantra for a while in early- to mid-2012):

I never heeded the signs
But I’m well on my way to feeling fine

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Wild Lignu: Drunkula

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Wildmen & Capputtini 'I Lignu

 

A little Italian garage rock for you today.

 

Wild Lignu – Drunkula by SMFSP

 

Wild Lignu is actually the amalgamation of Wildmen and Capputtini ‘I Lignu, and this song, “Drunkula”, is the B side of their split 7″. Side A contains Capputtini ‘I Lignu’s “He Never Tells” and Wildmen’s “Born After Midnight”. You can order the vinyl here and the digital here. Then keep an ear out for the Wildmen’s debut full-length next month.

 

Wildmen @ Facebook

Capputtini ‘I Lignu @ Facebook

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Leticia Rodriguez: La Americana

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Leticia Rodriguez

 

What struck me most early on in listening to Leticia Rodriguez’s album La Americana is how close and warm her voice is. Not only did it sound as though Rodriguez was in the room with me, but it also felt like she was singing to me in the tenderest way, as a mother might sing to her young child. The clearness, of course, can be attributed to top notch recording engineering, but the warmth is all Rodriguez.

 

Menealo – Leticia Rodriguez

 

It makes sense that this album should be imbued with such warmth as it serves not only as Rodriguez’s debut album, but it is also a tribute to her family, especially to her aunt, Decca recording artist Eva Garza. Though Eva Garza’s name is all but forgotten here in the United States, she enjoyed worldwide fame as one of Decca’s first crossover artists. Many of the songs on La Americana, an album of covers, have also been sung and recorded by Garza.

 

Estoy Como Nunca – Leticia Rodriguez

 

One of the aspects I love most about Latin music is that it is music of celebration. The songs of La Americana are full of joy and life, celebrations of the world, but also celebrations of self, as in the above song, “Estoy Como Nunca”. I am better than ever, Rodriguez is saying. People/conditions have tried to beat her down the song tells us, but she keeps her head high and her eyes looking forward. Pretty damn good song to start off a new year, I’d say.

 

Leticia Rodriguez Official Website

Leticia Rodriguez @ ReverbNation

Leticia Rodriguez @ Twitter

Leticia Rodriguez @ Facebook

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Strummer Week: The Family

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This Saturday, December 22, will mark a decade since Joe Strummer died of an undiagnosed heart defect. As Joe is the “patron saint” of NTSIB (our look riffs on Clash imagery, our name is drawn from one of his lyrics, and his attitude about and love for music fuels our mission), we will be featuring bits and bobs from Joe’s life and music this week.

Joe’s spirit is carried on still by the women who called him family: ex-wife Gaby Salter, daughters Jazz and Lola, widow Lucinda Garland, and step-daughter Eliza.

 

“Strummerville” – a film by Don Letts

 

Lucinda began Strummerville soon after Joe’s death, and it has grown into a foundation that continues in Joe’s vision of punk as a do-it-yourself revolution of people helping people by doing everything from supporting UK artists (Frank Turner was a Strummerville beneficiary) to aiding musical education for children in Africa. While Strummerville has always been a part of the Glastonbury festival, where Joe set up a campfire every year and dubbed it Strummerville, the foundation put on its own festival this past August, Strummer of Love. Artists like the Pogues, Billy Bragg, Mick Jones and the Justice Tonight Band, Alabama 3, Seasick Steve, The Jim Jones Revue, Frank Turner and a ton more played to raise funds to continue the Strummerville mission.

“To Have and Have Not” – Billy Bragg, Strummer of Love

 

Read an interview with Lucinda at The Independent from the lead-up to the festival. She recalls her life with Joe and shares some personal photos.

In the aforementioned interview, Lucinda speaks of his daughters and how they are “so like him”, even step-daughter Eliza. Here is Eliza singing with Alabama 3:

“Bulletproof” – Alabama 3, featuring Eliza Mellor

 

Joe’s daughter Lola, who has a clothing line called She Vamps, also sings. She leads her own band called Dark Moon.

 

Email newsletters for bands at ReverbNation.com

 

Joe’s oldest, Jazz, is a crafter and writer, founder and president of the Shoreditch arm of the Womens Institute, Shoreditch Sisters WI, and gave birth this year to Joe’s first grandchild, a girl named Boudicca.

This past summer, The Guardian featured an interview with Jazz and Lola that will bring a few tears to your eyes.

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Feel Bad for You, December 2012

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Time again for the groovin’ internet sensation that all the hip kiddies are talking about, the Feel Bad for You mixtape!

“Hello my little red-nosed reindeers! It’s the last Feel Bad for You mixtape of 2012! And good riddance 2012, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Please welcome The Mad Mackerel from Charlbury, England, as our newest contributor! (FYI: If you accidentally Google “The Mackerel” instead of “The Mad Mackerel,” the top hit is a disturbing Picasso painting.) Thanks to TooMuchCountry for the artwork. Although, after tonight’s game, maybe we should Feel Bad For the Texans.”

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Feel Bad for You, December 2012

Feel Bad for You, December 2012

1. Title: The Money Goes
Artist: The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Album (year): Between The Ditches (2012)
Submitted By: hoosier buddy
Comments: I saw this band at the 8×10 in Baltimore. It was a transformative experience, standing in the middle of a crowd of screaming, stomping, whiskey-fueled, wild-eyed music fans. The Reverend, who hails from Brown County, IN, could teach Jack White a few things about playing guitar…and about performing. I’m completely serious. Catch ‘em if you can.

2. Title: Molotovs
Artist: Dorado
Album (year): Anger, Hunger, Love And The Fear Of Death (2013)
Submitted by: Corey Flegel
Comments: This is a side project by Birmingham badasses Through The Sparks. The Dorado full length will be released 1/5/13 via This Is American Music.

3 Title: I’m Going Back
Artist: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Album (year): Smoking in Heaven (2011)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: I was recently directed to this fun, retro-50s group consisting of multi-instrumentalist siblings. Just good fun.

4. Title: Stupa
Artist: District Attorneys
Album (year): Jr. (2012)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: These guys have my favorite album of the year but this is off their just released free EP from thisisamericanmusic.com!

5. Title: Endeavor
Artist: Timo Räisänen
Album (year): Endeavor (2012)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: Fizz bop Swedish pop! A friend posted this on the tweeters a week or two ago and the damn hook won’t get out of my head. Bonus saxophone solo!

6. Title: Get Me In A Room
Artist: Hallelujah the Hills
Album (year): No One Know What Happens Next (2012)
Submitted by: Simon
Comments: Thanks to everyone who’s contributed and given their time to creating the posts and artwork, so much music, so little time – you filter the great from the mediocre. This is an ear-worm of a track and the video features our erstwhile collator and editor-in-chief Amy https://vimeo.com/38678429.

7. Title: The Cigarette Song
Artist: The Patinettes
Album (year): Bliss (2011)
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: I’m sure like me, this monthly exercise always gets you rooting deep into all the music you’ve accumulated and saying Oh yeah haven’t heard this album in a while! The Patinettes only album Bliss is filled with retro surf rock flair, beautiful vocals and a catchy bluegrass/country vibe and it just found it’s way back onto my pod. They are a five piece crew from Zaragoza, Spain.

8. Title: In Pacific Time
Artist: Micah Schnabel
Album (year): How to Quit Smoking/In Pacific Time CDR (2012)
Submitted By: scratchedsoul
Comments: I travel a lot for work which can be shitty sometimes and sometimes it’s great. At the end of the summer I found myself in Buffalo for work and went and saw Two Cow Garage open for Lucero. Micah and Shane were selling their wares after the show and this is from a CDR Micah was selling. Both songs are ridiculously good.

9. Title: Little Mystery
Artist: Todd Thibaud
Album: Little Mystery (1999)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: Thibaud was one of the early artists introduced to me by the randomness of Pandora. Not terribly edgy – yet this Boston singer has some solid, creative pop tunes. I revisited Little Mystery for FBFY and realized the multiple meanings of that song title this time of year. The song itself tells the story of the girl about town who craves the return of a little mystery in her life – but who is resigned to know it ain’t happenin’. But don’t we all crave the return of a little mystery? Hell, is mystery even possible in a world of Facebook, Twitter and iPhones? Whacked relationships. Gender-known deliveries. Loathed gift cards vs. wrapped presents bought with intent and a smile. The mystery of Santa that recedes with each generation more quickly than any glacier melts. Those damn Mayans. The journey to Bethlehem and the everlasting impact of the events that may have happened there. But hey, Merry Friggin’ Christmas y’all. Thanks for listening, downloading, sharing and/or ignoring my submissions this year. Have a drink on me, kiss the ones you love and pray for the ones you don’t.

10. Title: To Sir With Love
Artists: Lulu
Album (year): To Sir With Love (1967)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: I’ve been listening to Steve Earle’s SiriusXM radio show, and he recently discussed the work of producer Mickie Most. This track stands out among his many, many great recordings.

11. Title: I Wanna Live
Artist: The Ramones
Album (year): This version is from the “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: The Anthology [Disc 2]” (1999) but it’s originally on “Halfway to Sanity” (1987)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: I’ve been on an 80′s Ramones kick in between surf music and crazy Christmas music…so…here ya go.

12. Title: Keep the Boy Alive
Artist: Sebadoh
Album (year): Secret EP (2012)
Submitted By: Ryan (verbow over at altcountrytab.ca)
Comments: I guess the successful Dino Jr reunion has inspired Lou Barlow to revive Sebadoh. They snuck this EP out earlier this year, a teaser for a forthcoming full album in 2013. This is the first song off that EP – and I love the hell out of it. I’ve always dug Lou’s stuff – I wish I had a bunch of enlightening things to say about it, but I don’t. Its just a base instinct I guess. Viva la Sebadoh!

13. Title: God Damned the Rain to Fall
Artist: Horsehead
Album (year): Sympathetic Vibrations (2012)
Submitted By: Trailer
Comments: If you’re gonna do an impression of The Black Crowes, you might as well do it this damn good.

14. Title: Black Tar Carpet Ride
Artist: The Lollipops
Album (2012): Pop Narcotics (2012)
Submitted By: The Mad Mackerel
Comments: “We’ll shoot some heroin, and take to the skies.” Told over a simple acoustic strum, this is an unapologetic, woozy, hypnotically brilliant paean to the delights of chasing the dragon. The best addition to the Sex and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll mantra we’ve heard all year. The only apology? For “the times we almost died.” It comes from The Lollipops sublime May release, Pop Narcotics – available as a Pay What You Want deal from their Bandcamp page.

15. Title: Blood, Sweat & Murder
Artist: Scott H. Biram
Album (year): The Dirty Old One Man Band (2005)
Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets)
Comments: My father was a HUGE Scotty Biram fan. I’m glad he got to see him live before he got sick. This was one of my dad’s favorite SHB songs.

16. Title: Beer Cans
Artist: Old 97’s
Album (year): Too Far To Care (Bonus track, 2012 reissue)
Submitted By: Gorrck
Comments: Sums up my existence these days.

17. Title: Letters Home From the Garden of Stone
Artist: Everlast
Album (year): Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford (2008)
Submitted By: tincanman
Comments: A soldier ponders his place in the battlefield. Masterfully crafted lyrics and production. And that voice is so seductive!

18. Title: Dead Souls
Artist: Joy Division
Album (year): live (1980)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: This is from a show Joy Division played at the University of London Union on February 8, 1980, recently remastered by audio engineer Drew Crumbaugh. I’ve been listening to Joy Division since I was in my early teens, and everytime I listen to them, I still think it is some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard.

19. Title: Armegideon Time
Artist: Willie Williams
Album: Armegideon Time (1978)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: Dec. 21, 2012: Armegideon Time

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Friday Link Session

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  • The best of legendary Punk magazine will be coming out in book form on December 18. Ribbon Around a Bomb notes “The “Best Of” catalog will feature high-quality reprints of early material (HELLO, punk photo comics!) rare and unreleased interviews/art/writing, and a few new contributions from editor-in-chief / legit cartoon artist John Holmstrom, not to mention titans like Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Lester Bangs, Lenny Kaye […] and Andy Warhol.”
  • And if you don’t have enough holiday gifts for the old punks on your list, there’s a new X calendar for 2013 with live, candid, and publicity photos of Exene, John Doe, et al.
  • Dinosaur Jr recently played a show celebrating the 25th anniversary of You’re Living All Over Me, and aside from playing the album in its entirety, they also brought on some guests for some covers and other fun. For instance, Johnny Marr joined them for “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”, Frank Black came on for “Almost Fare” and “Tame”, and Tommy Stinson and Cleveland’s own John Petkovic joined in on “T.V. Eye”. Videos at Slicing Up Eyeballs.
  • Jazz great Dave Brubeck died at the age of 91 this week. NPR.org has an hour-long audio documentary on Brubeck’s life and career.
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Mark Lanegan Revisited

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In my efforts to be a (not very on-the-ball) publicity machine for the criminally overlooked talents of Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, The Gutter Twins), here’s another post focusing on just how awesome he is. First, a 4AD session with the Mark Lanegan Band playing four songs from their most recent album, Blues Funeral:

 

My favorite Lanegan projects tend to be those where he’s stepping into some one else’s project. Bonus points if he’s in a duet with a soft-voiced female. Which brings me to this cover of the xx’s “Crystalised” in which Lanegan twines his vocals with those of Martina-Topley Bird (with members of Warpaint providing musical accompaniment). Ever since she sang with Lanegan and Greg Dulli on “The Body” (from the Gutter Twins album Saturnalia), I’ve been wishing for a trio album of Dulli, Lanegan, and Topley-Bird. This song is a good consolation prize. A very good consolation prize.

“Crystalised” (The xx cover) – Martina Topley-Bird and Mark Lanegan with Warpaint

 

Another great collaboration happened back in 2008 when Lanegan laid down vocals for Bomb the Bass’s “Black River”, off the album Future Chaos.

“Black River” – Bomb the Bass, featuring Mark Lanegan

 

And, finally, as the holidays draw near, a seasonal offering from Lanegan and friends. Dark Mark Does Christmas 2012 is the tour CD currently being offered by the Mark Lanegan Band. While the title and the very concept had me giggling for a good while when I first learned about it, these six tracks (including a Roky Erickson cover) are gorgeous.

Dark Mark Does Christmas 2012

 

Mark Lanegan Official Website

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

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Instagram Mutts

 

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.

 

Earlier this month, I extolled the multi-flavored virtues of Chicago’s Mutts and their latest album Separation Anxiety. It’s a wily, skittering creature of an album, difficult to capture in one of those pigeonholing boxes that music press and label execs seem so fond of – and I like that! Many a rich and long-lasted musical love affair has begun with the question “What the hell is that?”

(And, at the time of that previous post, I didn’t know that singer/keys man Mike Maimone is from Cleveland, so I have to give a little O-hi-o salute for that.)

Mutts covering Tom Waits’ “New Coat of Paint” at 90.3 WRST in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

 

Now these fine gentlemen are joining us to give us their recommendations to aid us in our favorite activities of reading, listening, and drinking, and, oh, it’s a good one they’ve put together for us. Sit back and give it your full attention.

 

MIKE MAIMONE (Keyboard & Vocals)

Good Read: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
If you’ve ever felt embarrassed to be at a table where more people are on their phones than not (even if you were in the majority yourself), this novel is your best friend and your worst nightmare. Set in the not-too-distant future, it uses a middle-aged man’s obsessions with “analog” books and a modern young woman to cast a bleak projection of where our instantly-gratified, plugged-in, debt-laden, class-divided, age-defying nation is heading. And to a degree, it anticipated the Occupy movements in New York.

Good Listen: “Jon Three Sixteen” by The Field Auxiliary
This track from their recent EP is where I would recommend starting on your journey with one the best bands Chicago has to offer. “When in doubt, put records out.” But don’t stop here; the new LP, Nomenclature Fever, is incredible.

“Jon Three Sixteen/When Yer Twenty Two” – The Field Auxiliary (for Audiotree Live)

 

Good Drink: Woodford Reserve, neat.

 

CHRIS PAGNANI (Drums)

Good Read: 1984 by George Orwell
Although not what I would consider to be “light reading,” this would probably count as one of the most important books I’ve ever read. I taught high school English for five years before joining Mutts, and this book was one that I taught the last few years I was working. When I’d introduce it to my students, I’d tell them, “I’m not concerned that you like this book. I care much more about you actually getting something out of reading it and looking a little more critically at your surroundings because of this experience.” Every time I read the ending, I’m surprised at how tragic yet also beautiful it is.

Good Listen: All Ages by Bad Religion
When I was in middle school back in the late nineties, my idea of a punk rock band was Blink-182. This was around the time some friends and I first picked up instruments with the intention of creating music together as a “band.” My buddy, Jason, turned me onto this record, actually a compilation of songs from previous releases, and I don’t think I’ve been the same since. The songs here changed both my taste in music and my world view. I spent hours looking at all the show fliers the band used to decorate the liner notes, and the artwork on the back cover still scares and moves me at the same time. After all these years, I still come back to this record at least once a year and am surprised by how fresh and angry the songs still sound and the way the lyrical content remains relevant.

“21st Century (Digital Boy)” – Bad Religion

 

Good Drink: I love IPAs, so the hoppier the better. The Big Sky IPA is probably my favorite, but I just tried Three Floyds’ Zombie Dust and thought that was pretty tasty as well.

 

BOB BUCKSTAFF (Bass & Guitar)

Take Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s The Letting Go from the top and crack open David Berman’s poetry collection Actual Air. (Both of these fine releases hail from Chicago’s very own Drag City.) By the time the needle lifts from the final track, you’ll be nose deep at war with Berman’s Mirrornauts. An experience unparalleled. It will make sweet molasses of the mind.

“Cursed Sleep” – Bonnie “Prince” Billy

 

Let’s not forget the secret ingredient, a twelve pack of Olys from the corner store. Throw that sugar on top and you’ll be writing in Bukowski and speaking in a slurred sort of iambic pentameter for days to come. That’s some trippy stuff, Bill Shakespeare.

 

Shew, right? A good one.

If you’re in the Chicago area, you can catch Mike and a kick drum playing out live.

11/28, LiveWire Lounge, Chicago
12/5, Mike N Molly’s, Champaign
12/6, The Bridge, Columbia

“So Many, So Many” – Mutts

 

Mutts Official Website

Mutts @ Twitter

Mutts @ Facebook

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Old Gray Mule: Like a Apple on a Tree

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Old Gray Mule

 

CR Humphrey, who is better known under his nom de musicien Old Gray Mule, is a hell of a good guy. It’s clear when you see him play live, when you hear the soulful licks he lays down on tape, when you chat with him, and when you read the notes for the latest Old Gray Mule album Like a Apple on a Tree: everything he does is imbued with lots of heart, humor, and flat-out joy. He gives the lie to the “tortured artist” myth – you rarely meet someone more satisfied with his lot in life, even through the struggles, than Humphrey. And it’s evident in all he does. Take for instance, what he wrote about the song “Thanksgiving ’12” from Like a Apple on a Tree.

“I wrote this song in 2008 the day I got home from the hospital after finding out my three week old son was going to live. He’d died in his sleep 5 days before, I found him in his crib, did CPR on him, got him back…and my wife and I spent the next 5 days awake in the hospital with him. It was a miracle, he was going to be ok. I went home to pick up some clothes for Molly and I and when I walked in the door, I felt a need to play my guitar, so I sat down and played this song all the way through. It was Thanksgiving Day 2008. My son will turn 4 this October.”

And that joyful, tearful relief, that great, big exhalation after five days of breath-holding comes through loud and exhilaratingly clear in the song. This is the sound of a happy, grateful man.

 

 

Throughout the ten tracks, mostly originals, of Like a Apple on a Tree, Humphrey plays that good heart out with guitar work that is so immaculate and sharp, you could cut up your next meal with it. Though let me be clear: it is immaculate and sharp, but by no means clinical. Humphrey has sat at the knee of the best the Mississippi hill country has to offer (and when you’re talking blues, that’s pretty damn good) so these songs are made to play in stripped down, humid, dimly-lit jukes. With the help of friends like Lightnin’ Malcolm, Cedric Burnside, Australian artist Snooks La Vie, the welcome return of frequent Old Gray Mule partner CW Ayon, and others, Like A Apple On A Tree is going to make you feel something, whether its joy, the blues, the desire to strip down with a willing partner or just the need to shimmy your hips way, way down.

 

 

One of the highlights of the album is the above opening track, where Cedric Burnside handles drums and vocals on a cover of “Come on In”, a song originally by Cedric’s grandfather, the great R.L. Burnside. The song is one of two R.L. Burnside covers on the album (and those are the only non-originals in the ten tracks of Like a Apple on a Tree).

Though Burnside the elder isn’t the only great to have a direct influence on this album. As Humprhey writes about “Standin’ There Cryin'” (with vocals from Snooks La Vie):

This song was inspired by a story T Model Ford told me late one night after we’d played 5 hours opening for him at Club 2000 in Clarksdale, MS back in 2010. Less than a week later he had the first of a series of strokes that affected his right side.

 

 

If you’re up for some authenticity, as in authentic heart, authentic joy, authentic feeling, you’re not going to do much better right now than Old Gray Mule’s Like a Apple on a Tree.

 

Old Gray Mule Official Website

Old Gray Mule @ Bandcamp

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Friday Link Session

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  • …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead and The Coathangers have teamed up as Thee Deadcoats to cover Pussy Riot’s “Putin Lights Up the Fires”. Proceeds will be split between the funding of Pussy Riot’s legal defense and the American Red Cross Sandy relief effort.
  • Classic 1981 concert film “Urgh! A Music War” is available to view in full on YouTube.
  • BBC Radio Four’s “Mastertapes” is available as a podcast (meaning non-Brits can listen without any country restrictions). “Mastertapes” is an interview, audience Q&A and performance show, and programs posted so far have featured Billy Bragg, Suzanne Vega, and Paul Weller.
  • Richard Hell is publishing an autobiography called I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp in March of 2013. The book can be pre-ordered at Amazon. There is a review of Chapter 28, which was released as a chap book, at We Who Are About to Die.
  • While most of the output from new Cleveland radio station 87.7 is pretty bland, the station is now the new home of Cleveland-centric showcase Inner Sanctum on Sunday nights from 9 to 11 p.m. Cleveland bands who would like to be considered for inclusion on the show should e-mail their name, e-mail address, telephone number, and links to any social media to wearecleveland@877cleveland.com.
  • Further to local music news, Patrick Sweany is finally coming back to the Cleveland area. Sweany will be playing Mahall’s in Lakewood on November 23. Buy tickets here.