Tag: links

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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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Friday Link Session

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  • Viva Joe Strummer: The Clash and Beyond turned up for free viewing on Hulu recently. I haven’t watched it yet, but a glance around the web shows fair-to-middling reviews. (But I’m a completist, so you know it’s going into my eyeholes.)

     

  • Through some happenstance of internet serendipity, I learned of Cleveland band Harvey Pekar. As a fan of late Cleveland comics writer Harvey Pekar, I can’t imagine the jazz-loving worrywart listening to this heavy band, but I feel better about the world just knowing they exist.

     

  • A recent episode of the Nerdist podcast had me digging up this ’90s treasure:

     

    “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” – Crash Test Dummies

     

    I still like the song, but I know haters are gonna hate. I wouldn’t have brought it up here, though, if it hadn’t led me to this “Weird Al” Yankovic parody. Those of you who were cognizant in the ’90s might want to brace yourselves for the time warp.

     

    “Headline News” – “Weird Al” Yankovic

     

    Then, confluence as Al joins the Crash Test Dummies for a performance at the 1994 Canadian Music Video Awards.

     

    “Headline News” (snippet) – “Weird Al” Yankovic with Crash Test Dummies

     

    Now step outside for a moment and appreciate the fact that it is no longer the ’90s.

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Deep Blues Festival Cleveland 2012

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It’s coming back! They showed ’em it could still be done, last summer in Cleveland, spawning the Year of Deep Blues this year with the return of the original DBF in Minnesota last month and DBF Northwest coming up early next month. And Cleveland will be doing it again this year, with another great line-up.

Favorites will return from last year, like Scissormen, Ten Foot Polecats, and the incomparable Molly Gene One Whoaman Band. And new don’t-miss acts are on the slate for this year, like Husky Burnette, the uniquely entertaining Bob Log III, and the great Robert Belfour. Damn!

 

 

 

 

Here’s the info:

Saturday September 22 2012
THE BEACHLAND BALLROOM
15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, Ohio
$20/all ages/5pm EST start/4pm EST doors

Scheduled bands:
BOB LOG III
ROBERT BELFOUR
SCISSORMEN
TEN FOOT POLECATS
HUSKY BURNETTE
MOLLY GENE ONE WHOAMAN BAND
THE BLUE TREADS
THE MISERY JACKALS
SHANE SPEAL

If you’re outside of Cleveland, you can purchase your tickets through Ticketweb. Though I recommend locals purchase tickets from one of your friendly local establishments.

This year’s DBF Cleveland will be dedicated to late musician Jeff Norwood, who passed away this spring.

 

Deep Blues Festival Cleveland Official Website

 

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Give: Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil

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Through the blog, I have the immense fortune to listen to fantastic musicians I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Few have been finer than Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Follow the link to pre-order their new album, which is sure to be a gem, and help them raise funds for the album’s release. They have 30 days to raise $6,000. The more of Doc Dailey’s music there is in the world, the better the world is.

Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil @ indiegogo

 

 

Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil Official Website

Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil @ Facebook

 

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Feel Bad For You, July 2012

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The new phonebook’s here! The new phonebook’s here!

What’s that you say? No one uses phonebooks anymore, yet the things keep piling up on your doorstep every year? Well, how about something you can use that takes up absolutely no space on your doorstep. The new FBFY mix is here! The new FBFY mix is here! Contributed to by your friendly internet-neighborhood bloggers, musicians, tweeters, etc., and brought to you by the good people at Feel Bad For You, it is, as always, an eclectic mix.

 

 

Download

 

1. Title: The Crease
Artist: Arliss Nancy
Album (year): Simple Machines (2012)
Submitted By: Captainsdead
Comments: great rock record, nothing more, nothing less

2. Title: I Love Lucy
Artist: The Producers
Album (year): The Producers/You Make The Heat (2000, CD Reissue of the band’s first two albums)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: I make no apologies for my love of all things ‘power pop’. The Producers put out a couple of albums in the early 80s and seemed to fly under the radar of most people, which is too bad because these guys crafted some great songs.

3. Title: Travel On
Artist: Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Album (year): Americana (2012)
Submitted By: @mikeorren
Comments: This song IS summer in America. Drive fast on a long highway and put it on repeat.

4. Title: I Wanna Be Your Marianne
Artist: Amy Cook
Album (year): Let The Light In (2010)
Submitted By: Hoosier Buddy
Comments: The most summer-soaked tune from an album produced by Alejandro Escovedo. A tasty confection: swirl cupcake in which relaxed rhythm guitar mixes with strangled cat lead tones, topped with Amy’s buttercream vocal track. You can never eat just one.

5. Title: Gotta Go Out West
Artist: The Woolly Bushmen
Album (year): The Woolly Bushmen (2012)
Submitted By: Autopsy IV (ninebullets.net)
Comments: Retro rock and roll from a group of kids from Orlando. I caught them live at Tropical Heatwave this year and they were a complete and total blast. Album came out last week and is available on Bandcamp.

6. Title: There Won’t Always Be an England
Artist: The Wind-up Birds
Album (year): The Land (2012)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: This song cemented my love for this fantastic band out of Leeds, England. Even though it’s specifically about rabid nationalism in the UK, it’s an almost effortless exercise to translate it to the jingoistic patriotism that has been promoted in the U.S. over the past decade. The feeling of mounting frustration and anger in this song is a thing of beauty.

7. Title: Wasting Away
Artist: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Album (year): Strung Out in Heaven (1998)
Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow @ altcountrytab.ca)
Comments: Can anyone take the essential elements of 60′s music (garage, pop, psycheldelia, country rock) and blend them as seamlessly as Antone Newcombe? I think not. Great, mellow track from these freaky weirdos. Love the harmonica.

8. Title: You Ain’t Going Nowhere
Artist: Counting Crows (Bob Dylan)
Album (year): Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation) (2012)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: Get your mind off winter time. You ain’t going nowhere.

9. Title: Joe Friday
Artist: Alvin Youngblood Hart
Album (Year): Big Mama’s Door (1996)
Submitted By: Adam Sheets

10. Title: Little Black Star
Artist: Hurray For The Riff Raff
Album (year): Look Out Mama (2012)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: Saw these gals & guy out of Louisiana in Waverly a couple months ago and they blew me away.

11. Title: Here They Come
Artist: The Doc Marshalls
Album (Year): Look Out Compadres (2012)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: I’ve been playing this track repeatedly after first hearing it during one of Bill Frater’s Freight Train Boogie podcasts (a great source of new Americana music). In this month we celebrate our independence and are reminded of the costs paid to defend it, many of the lyrics from this song resonated with me.

12.Title: Like
Artist: We Run
Album (Year): We Run EP (2012)
Submitted By: @popa2unes

13. Title: Fall Skull
Artist: Little Wings
Album (year): Black Grass (2011)
Submitted By: Lord Summerisle
Comments: I didn’t hear this album until early 2012 but it has swiftly become my favourite album of 2011. Brilliant stuff, a touch of Will Oldham, a dash of Bill Callahan and some sweet electronics burbling in the background. Perfect.

14. Title: Give Back My Heart
Artist: Lyle Lovett
Album (year): Pontiac (1988)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: In spring, 1993, I was in college in Chicago at a coffee shop listening to these two other students jam away on their acoustic guitars, really killing it. They were playing some song that I didn’t know, but it stuck in my head all of these years because it was so good. Thanks to the miracle of satellite radio, I finally figure out nearly two decades later on my commute to work that they were covering this Lyle Lovett song, only adding a few curse words and massive blues guitar riffs.

15. Title: Worry About Your Health
Artist: The District Attorneys
Album (Year): Slowburner (2012)
Submitted by: Corey Flegel (This Is American Music)
Comments: this was the song that reminded me to send in a submission…so, it then became my submission.

16. Title: Hard Times In America
Artist: Willie Nile
Album (Year): Live From The Streets Of New York (2008)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: Now that the 4th is over, back to reality.

17. Title: Piledriver Waltz
Artist: Alex Turner
Album (year): Submarine EP (2011)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: I treated myself to a few pieces of vinyl on Record Store Day amongst them a Caitlin Rose 7” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJWiUOIpUS8) featuring a pair of tracks from Arctic Monkeys album Suck It and See and have been ‘spinning’ both regularly over the last month, Piledriver Waltz has got stuck in my head and become a new favourite, I stumbled across another version of the track that appeared on Alex Turner’s film soundtrack for Submarine and thought I’d throw this into this months mix. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/v6cg

18. Title: Prime Mover
Artist: Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction
Album (year):
Submitted By: Gorrck

19. Title: Unk In Funk
Artist: Muddy Waters
Album (year): Unk In Funk (1974)
Submitted By: Bowood
Comments: Muddy Waters just letting us know that funk wasn’t born until he entered the world, presumably 7am on Sunday July 7th, with seven doctors in attendance. Today is July 7, the mojo is still strong..

20. Title: Racing in the Street
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Album (year): Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
Submitted By: tincanman2010
Comments: The bit about the girl sitting on her Daddy’s porch, all her pretty dreams torn is one of the saddest moments in song I know. Bruce’s band doesn’t get enough credit for the way they play this. And it’s not a car song; it just sounds at first like one.

21. Title: Continuous Thunder
Artist: Japandroids
Album (Year): Celebration Rock (2012)
Submitted By: Trailer

22. Title: Too Hot
Artist: The Specials
Album (year): The Specials (1979)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: It’s full blown summer now, and the crazy heat always makes me think of summers as a teenager, and punk. Driving around in my first car (death trap of a car that I scrimped and saved to buy after working my first fast food job) no AC, windows down, sweating like crazy, and cranking music as loud as I could thru my little battery powered tape player that I brought with me (because the stereo in the car kept blowing out the fuses for the lights…see? death trap). So, in honor of all the record breaking heat and summer tunes and memories I’m picking The Specials. And yeah, I know, it’s not punk, it’s ska, but c’mon it’s toooooo hot.

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Liars: Cleveland Giveaway

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photo credit: Zen Sekizawa

 

Liars’ Angus Andrew has said, “If we aren’t confusing people, it’s not us. If we aren’t confusing ourselves with what we do, then we’ve failed.” WIXIW (pronounced “wish you”), the new album from Liars, rounds off the sharper edges of their sound and throws a thick blanket of texture over it. That’s not to say they have ditched chaos and gone straight. But instead of bursts of jagged drum, guitar and screams, the chaos is created by layers of found sound (as I listen to the album now, I can hear two or three species of frog chirping and peeping along with hardwood thwacks in a digitized echo chamber and some sort of animal/human cries of panic – that’s what it sounds like to me, at least). The result is a cloud that is soothing and entrancing at times, claustrophobic at others.

 

“No. 1 Against the Rush” – Liars

 

Liars will be bringing this cloud, and more from their 12 years worth of back catalogue, to the Grog Shop in Cleveland on July 27, with Unknown Mortal Orchestra playing support. We have the pleasure of giving away two prize packs, each consisting of two free passes to the July 27 show and a signed Liars poster. To enter, just leave a comment below, with a valid e-mail address (so we can contact you for further information if you win). Two winners will be chosen at random on July 25. Good luck!

Liars
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Friday, July 27
9 p.m. (doors 8 p.m.)
$15
Grog Shop

 

Liars Official Website

Liars @ Tumblr

Liars @ Facebook

 

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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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The Builders and the Butchers: Black Dresses

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It’s been a minute since we mentioned the Builders and the Butchers. Let’s change that.

 

The Builders and The Butchers – Black Dresses from Live & Breathing on Vimeo.

 

For more great session videos like this, visit the fine people at Live and Breathing. They post something new every Tuesday and have amassed a fine collection of people you already love and people you just may love in the near future.

And then, of course, you should go to the Builders and the Butchers’ website and buy up all their music. You know you want more.

 

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Big Black Delta: IFUCKINGLOVEYOU

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Here’s a good tune to take you into the weekend. And contrary to what you might initially pick out from the name of the group (and from this blog’s proclivities), this is not some bluesy moan. “IFUCKINGLOVEYOU” is a weighty, sharp-edged electro blast with a propelling, industrial beat.

 

IFUCKINGLOVEYOU from Big Black Delta on Vimeo.

 

Big Black Delta, a name which refers to a certain type of UFO, is led by former Mellowdrone member and sometimes M83 collaborator Jonathan Bates. The band will be touring this summer with M83 and Jane’s Addiction, and their full-length album is due in the fall.

 

JULY
4th Milwaukee Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI *

AUGUST
1st Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA ^
2nd Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall PA ^
7th State Theater, Portland ME ^
8th Central Park Summerstage, New York NY ^
18th MGM Grand Theatre / Foxwoods, Mashantucket CT #
20th Artpark, Lewiston NY #
22nd Stage AE, Pittsburgh PA #
23rd Old National Centre – Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, IN #
25th Orpheum Theatre, Omaha NE #
26th Pikes Peak Centre, Colorado Springs CO #
28th The Great SaltAir, Salt Lake City UT #
29th Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise ID #
31st Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver BC #

SEPTEMBER
4th Keller Auditorium, Portland OR
5th Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, Reno NV

* With The Joy Formidable
^ With M83
# With Jane’s Addiction

 

Big Black Delta @ Facebook

Big Black Delta @ iTunes

 

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Baby: Wanna Get Down

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Apparently, there was a disco craze in New York circa 2004. I’m glad I missed that. But I’m equally glad that Craig Wedren did not miss it. In the wake of the break-up of his band, the great Shudder to Think, Wedren was looking for something new to pour his considerable energy into, a fresh start. The new project, Baby – which also included Amy Myles, Alex Edinburough, Lee Mars (Nine Inch Nails), Brad Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe) and Charles Scott (Shudder to Think) – only lasted for one, self-titled album, but that one album remains a gem of exuberant, sexy dance euphoria.

 

Get Your Body by craigwedren

 

You may have missed out on Baby’s album the first time around, as it was released independently and without the fanfare it deserved, but you can rectify that now as the album has been re-released this month. It’s great timing as Baby’s vibrant tones and lusty energy are perfectly suited to summer.

 

Giddyup by craigwedren

 

And if you did get in on Baby at the start, the re-release includes un-released songs and demos that you’ll want to get your hands/ears on.

Spinner is streaming the album, sans extras. You can purchase the big, fat re-release through Amazon and iTunes.

 

Baby Official Website

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