Police & Thieves

I had a rough day yesterday, friends. Burglars broke into my house while I was at work and pretty well cleaned me out -- my computer, stereo equipment, my camera and iPod, my kids' Xbox 360, games and DVDs. Not to mention tons of personal information -- e-mails, passwords, tax returns, electronic receipts, web bookmarks, etc. -- that I pray isn't going to come back to bite me in the ass down the road. But the toughest loss of all, the one I'm still struggling to stomach 14 hours later? That would be the little 300GB Seagate external harddrive that contained every picture I've taken over the last 5 years -- every vacation, every kid's birthday, every concert, everything worth remembering -- not to mention every piece of music I've ever digitized, including literally hundreds of bootlegs. All of it, gone, just like that. The electronics they took is just stuff. But the contents of that harddrive, in very large measure, are irreplaceable.

So it seems that I'll be out of commission for a while, as any sort of music blogger anyway. (That whole "no computer, no music" thing does present a bit of an obstacle.) There are insurance companies to deal with, an iMac to replace, and then a mammoth music collection to start rebuilding from scratch. But I'll be back as soon as I can -- there are new releases to talk about, which I haven't been doing enough anyway, and hey, those sorry, thieving bastards didn't get everything, so the Classic Bootleg Series will be back as well. And I know Rich will continue to post when he can. So please hang with us, be patient if the content doesn't come as frequently as it has been for a little while, and give us a week or two to get back on our feet. As our patron saints, The Clash, once said, "I've been beat up, and I've been thrown out, but I'm not down, no I'm not down."

I Like Fish And Mango Pickles

M.I.A. can probably be classified in countless genres, including rap, electronic, and dancehall (just to name a few of the more recognizable ones), but her attitude is straight-up punk rock. Born in London, but mostly raised in Sri Lanka, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, a.k.a. M.I.A., combines third world patois and British street slang into a grimy hip-hop bouillabaisse that sounds like nothing else -- nothing else on these western shores, anyway. I imagine that M.I.A. is the distilled embodiment of the archetype that Malcolm McLaren was trying to create with his Adam and the Ants double drummers and his Bow Wow Wow Burmese lead singer, Annabella Lwin. Only McLaren wasn't close, and M.I.A. gets there without even trying.

M.I.A.'s outstanding new record, Kala (named after her sister), is one of the most exciting and subversive albums I've heard in a while -- maybe since her last one, Arular (named after her Sri Lankan militant father). Kala (the record) was born in countries all over the world, including India, Jamaica, Japan, and Australia, and as a result, the international influences come fast and furious. From the aboriginal Australian children (the "Wilcannia Mob") featured in "Mango Pickle Down River" to guest "Afrikan Boy" who tears up "Hussel" (to the ultimately unnecessary appearance of American rapper/producer Timbaland in "Come Around"), this record feels like Around The World In Twelve Tracks.

Right from the get-go, she lets us know -- on "Bamboo Banga" -- that "M.I.A.'s coming back with power, POWER!", perhaps in answer to critics (see Pitchfork) who have wrongly suggested that she may be more the product of good producers than individual talent. Other highlights include the otherwordly "20 Dollar," which is based ambiguously on the bass line of New Order's "Blue Monday" and refers to the cost of AK-47s in Africa, where "stains," rather than chains, hang low on shirts. Also of note (especially to a blog so named as this one) is the excellent "Paper Planes," which is unambiguously based on the intro of The Clash's "Straight To Hell" and features a chorus of children singing "All I wanna do is . . . [insert the sound of gunshots and a cash register] take your mon-ey."

Kala, which is an unintended testament to Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat, is a must for the adventurous, or even the curious. Joe Strummer would be proud.

MP3: M.IA. - "Bamboo Banga" from Kala

YouTube: M.I.A. - "Birdflu" from Kala

Don't Call It A Comeback

"The revolution will not be televised . . ." said Chuck D of Public Enemy, the voice of a generation of rap, once upon a time. Turns out, the revolution whereby rock was replaced by rap music -- at least as the music designed to keep the generation gap alive -- was highly televised, with ubiquitous gangsta videos brought to you by everyone from N.W.A. to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre to Tupac to Jay-Z to 50 Cent and shoved down the throats of the youth of America. This is not what Chuck D had in mind.

That point is made, loud and clear, on the new offering from Public Enemy, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? Chuck D once accurately called rap "the CNN of the streets." (Personally, I always loved PE because I saw them as rap's version of The Clash). But things have changed over the last 20 years, and PE were not able to sustain the incredible level of scorched earth creativity they established on the classics It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear Of A Black Planet. And, like the rest of the news, rap has gone from reporting from the streets to highly predictable sensationalism.

On How You Sell Soul, Chuck D expresses his frustration and disappointment that rap's message went from "Fight The Power" and "Don't Believe The Hype" to "Gin And Juice" and "Big Pimpin'". Fortunately, that frustration has been poured into a new mix that allows Chuck D to capture a little bit of the old magic. Not surprisingly, PE's got plenty to say about the current administration, but most of the shots are fired back at the community.

Gone is Chuck D as the slick MC. He's been replaced by an older, angrier Prophet of Rage whose voice is a little more ragged and lot more in your face. Flavor Flav returns from the embarrassing reality shows to provide comic relief that's somewhat less novel after watching him swoon over a garish Brigitte Nielsen on The Surreal Life. Terminator X's blips, beeps, and sirens have been replaced by more traditional grooves, and the typical plethora of sound bites from Malcolm X, etc., have given way to self-referential samples from PE's rich history.

No matter. For my money, nobody does it better than Chuck D, and while How You Sell Soul may not quite reach the heights that PE attained years ago, it's still way better than 99% of the shite that rap has become. Bring the Noise indeed.

MP3: Public Enemy - "Harder Than You Think" from How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 19: Jeff Buckley - Glastonbury Festival 1995

Although many of my musical heroes died much too soon, only two of them threaten to choke me up whenever I think of them. One is Elliott Smith, who I'm sure we'll get to at some point in this series. The other is Jeff Buckley.

Grace was nothing less than a revelation to me in 1994. Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, there was this guy who wrote exquisite songs, could rock like Zeppelin, could melt even the steeliest resolve with a romantic ballad, and had the sweetest, most angelic voice I had ever heard. It was a stunning, near-perfect debut by an immense talent, it positively blew me away, and it was exciting to consider the prospect of watching Jeff grow and evolve, and to imagine the decades of great music that were surely in front of him. Then came that horrible week in May of '97 when he disappeared while swimming in Memphis, then turned up dead a few days later. I remember precisely where I was when I got the news, and again, I get rattled just thinking about it.

But less talk, more Jeff. Here's his tremendous turn at the Glastonbury Festival in June of '95, as recorded by the BBC. It's an exceptional tape, and the setlist is heavy on songs from Grace (which means it's great), with a then-unreleased song ("What Will You Say") and an MC5 cover tossed in for good measure. If only I had dozens or hundreds more Jeff Buckley shows, recorded over all the years since, to have to weed through and choose from. But even if I did, I bet this one would still be tough to top.

JEFF BUCKLEY - Live at Glastonbury, June 24, 1995

Artwork:
Front cover
Back insert

01 intro
02 Dream Brother
03 Lover, You Should Have Come Over
04 So Real
05 Last Goodbye
06 What Will You Say
07 Mojo Pin
08 Eternal Life
09 Kick Out The Jams
10 Grace

The Night Starts Here

Montreal's Stars walk a fine line between the cinematic and the melodramatic, quite often (intentionally, one might suspect) blurring that line along their way in search of perfect chamber pop bliss. The band's new record, In Our Bedroom After The War, is certainly no exception. (As an aside, the record, set to be released next month, was made available via paid download only four days after it was mastered in an effort to thwart those nasty internet traders -- you know who you are).

As the title perhaps suggests, In Our Bedroom plays like a song cycle about battles, more often of the between-the-sheets variety than the in-the-streets kind. The songs are quite theatrical in nature, and could easily provide the soundtrack to some hip Off-Broadway show. As such, they are artfully constructed and arranged, with a primary basis in keyboard and piano structures, and peopled with interesting characters. Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell ably provide the thespian-inspired lead vocals, most often in tandem and neatly juxtaposed against each other, both within songs (e.g., her pleading desperation, his icy heartlessness in "Personal") and between songs (e.g., his defeated pessimist in "Life 2: The Unhappy Ending," her hopeful optimism in "Today Will Be Better, I Swear").

Stars seem to march to the beat of their own drummer, so to speak, although the influences are there. The chorus of the great "The Ghost of Genova Heights" would be at home in an '80s hit by someone like Level 42, while the title track and the aforementioned "Life 2" have Prefab Sprout written all over them. And one of the record's highlights, "Take Me To The Riot," is possibly the best Morrissey song I've heard in years. (I highly recommend that you Moz-heads seek it out).

Most of all, the record, in its entirety, feels like a cohesive set piece, served best by listening all the way through. It is sophisticated music, though treacly in some places ("Barricade"), charming in others ("My Favorite Book"), but ultimately, solid pop fare. Although technically "indie" I suppose, Stars come off more like a night at the theater than the stuff of college radio. Much more than a lovely diversion, In Our Bedroom After The War is among the most original and interesting records of the year.

MP3: Stars - "The Night Starts Here" from In Our Bedroom After The War

Stars' previous album, Set Yourself On Fire, comes highly recommended as well.

MP3: Stars - "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" from Set Yourself On Fire

Red-Headed Woman

I'll admit it -- I have a problem. I'm a hopeless sucker for a beautiful woman with a great singing voice. And for some reason, if that woman also happens to be a redhead, well, then I'm really in trouble. Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, Allison Moorer -- I am putty in their hands. (Or I wish I was, anyway.) So you'll have to pardon me for being a little rattled since Monday night, when I went to see Neko and Rufus Wainwright at The Tabernacle. I figured I'd be safe and sound at least through the opening act, A Fine Frenzy, which I knew nothing about. But on the stroke of 8PM, the lights went down, and out strode one Alison Sudol. I'll let the photos above and at that link speak for themselves, except to say that, if anything, they don't even do her justice. And then -- accompanied by herself on piano, with a bass player and drummer -- she started to sing, with a stunning, ethereal voice. Within 30 seconds, I was done. Toast. History. This girl (she's 22) has got the goods. Her songs are strong, too -- melodic and pretty, but with a hypnotic quality that recalls early Radiohead and Sigur Ros. The debut record is called One Cell In the Sea. So I know at least one thing I'll be picking up at Criminal this weekend. And, like kryptonite to Superman, I guess there's another red-headed singer before whom I am powerless.

MP3: A Fine Frenzy - "Rangers" from One Cell In The Sea

It's Business Time

Rich has already mentioned what huge fans we are of the brilliant Flight of the Conchords series on HBO. As the cult of the Conchords continues to spread, I've been frustrated that so little of their music is available (crappy TV rips notwithstanding), and wondering why Sub Pop didn't get a CD out in time to coincide with all the buzz from the show. Word from Sub Pop now is that a full-length Conchords record won't be out until early 2008. But last Tuesday they did finally release an EP, The Distant Future, featuring three studio tracks (a teaser for the long-player to come) and two more songs recorded live. Still no studio version of "The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room" (a/k/a "Part-Time Model"), but for now, I guess it'll have to do.

MP3: Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time" from The Distant Future EP

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 18: The Band - King Biscuit Flower Hour 1976

Of the groups that are indisputably among the greatest of all time, the most criminally underappreciated has to be The Band, due reverence for which still seems to come only from critics and a devoted group of obsessives (like me). As The Hawks, they backed Ronnie Hawkins in the early 60s, and then Bob Dylan on Blonde on Blonde and his incendiary 1966 tour. Retiring to a house called "Big Pink" near Woodstock, New York, they recorded the "Basement Tapes" with Dylan, and then, striking out on their own and rechristened The Band, more or less invented the music we now call Americana (even though psychedelia was the order of the day and all but one bandmember -- drummer/vocalist/Arkansan Levon Helm -- was Canadian). In the process, they gave us some of the finest, most timeless music of the last 50 years (including two literally perfect albums, Music From Big Pink and The Band) and graced us with three of the greatest singers in rock history: my main man Levon (whose memoir, This Wheel's On Fire, is a fascinating read, by the way), and the late, great Rick Danko and Richard Manuel (gone way too soon, bless both their hearts). I wish I had time to write more in the way of introduction. Damn, I do love The Band.

This is probably by favorite Band boot, a show recorded in July of '76, only four months before "The Last Waltz," for the old King Biscuit Flower Hour radio broadcast. The performance is tight, the recording is terrific, and the setlist looks an awful lot like a greatest hits collection (if only Danko had done "Stage Fright" that night). It just doesn't get much better than this.

THE BAND - King Biscuit Flower Hour (Live at the Carter Baron Amphitheatre, Washington, D.C. - July 17, 1976*)

[Sorry, all, but we got a complaint and had to take this boot down.]

Artwork:
Front cover
Back insert

01 intro
02 Baby Don't You Do It
03 The Shape I'm In
04 It Makes No Difference
05 The Weight
06 King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
07 Twilight
08 Ophelia
09 Tears of Rage
10 Forbidden Fruit
11 This Wheel's On Fire
12 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
13 The Genetic Method
14 Chest Fever
15 Up On Cripple Creek
16 W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

*The August date on the artwork is incorrect.

Not Too Long Ago

Nick Lowe has been referred to as the "Headmaster of British Rock." On his graceful new album, At My Age, this Headmaster gives a master class on how to age gracefully in the music business. Not too long ago, or so it seems to me, Mr. Lowe helped form the cutting edge of pop music, penning the classic "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding," and teaching us that one has to be "Cruel To Be Kind" -- well, in the right measure, anyway. At this point in his career, At My Age represents not so much a victory lap as a comfortable stroll down memory lane.

Not to say that the songs on At My Age make any effort to reconstruct Lowe's Rockpile past. Instead, they settle into a more mature groove that, for lack of a better term, I'll call "country lounge." In many ways, this set is pleasantly reminiscent of some of the music that I remember my parents listening to when I was young, which was a sort of "citified" country, with touches of rock, jazz, and soul, and perhaps best exemplified in some of the music played by Charlie Rich ("Behind Closed Doors"), Ray Charles ("I Can't Stop Loving You"), and even Dean Martin ("Houston").

While the songs on At My Age sound like they were written, and even recorded, contemporaneously with the foregoing, that's not the sum of their charm. They're damn good songs, well-constructed and replete with the requisite hooks, both melodic and lyrical. Each one tells a story, often intertwined with the theme of looking back over a life fully-lived. Whether singing about turning a corner late in life ("A Better Man" and "Hope For Us All") or ruminating on past pain and loss ("The Club"), the songs paint deeply personal pictures.

In "Long Limbed Girl," the narrator comes across a long lost photograph of an all but forgotten girlfriend and wonders what became of her and whether her dreams ever came true. "I Trained Her To Love Me" is sung from the point of view of an aging misogynist whose agenda is to gain retribution for the perceived sins of the fairer sex by seducing them for the sole purpose of breaking their hearts ("Do you see the way she lights up, when I walk in the room? / That's good.") -- in essence, Cruel To Be Cruel.

Chrissie Hynde provides backing vocals on the glass-half-empty warning shot, "People Change," which suggests early 60s British pop. On the jazzy "The Other Side Of The Coin," it's not too hard to picture the Headmaster in the spotlight of a smoky lounge, simply requesting that any judgment of one who may have chosen to do it "My Way" be carefully measured. The sparkling "Love's Got A Lot To Answer For" is simply a timeless classic.

Clocking in at barely over half an hour, At My Age may wind up going to bed early, but it certainly leaves one wanting more. And while it may be that Nick Lowe has grown too old to rock and roll, he's not too old to show everyone else how to play the perfect encore.

MP3: Nick Lowe: "Long Limbed Girl" - from At My Age
MP3: Nick Lowe: "Love's Got A Lot To Answer For" - from At My Age

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 17: The Replacements - Putting On The Ritz (Live in NYC - 1987)

With Rich already incommunicado on the left coast and myself headed to Chicago tomorrow morning for three days of beer, baseball and God-knows-what-else, I thought I'd better toss up another classic boot to keep you kids happy 'til next week. This one will have to do with relatively little introduction, but somehow I think it will, just fine.

In the 80s, The Replacements were the great little band that couldn't. Brimming with originality and passion, and armed to the teeth with Paul Westerberg's consistently brilliant songs, the band never achieved the levels of acclaim and adoration that their material deserved. In the early days, with the ferocious Bob Stinson on lead guitar, this was largely because they rarely played a show even remotely sober. (Of the three 'Mats shows I saw in college, one was absolute genius, and the other two were total disasters, with scarcely a single song played well, or even all the way through, before one or more bandmembers -- and Bob almost always -- passed out.) After Bob's tragic but seemingly inevitable death, Slim Dunlap ably took over on lead guitar, and while the shows thereafter lacked some of the early passion and reckless charm, they at least became more coherent and professional.

This tape comes from that later era, recorded at The Ritz in New York in July of '87 on the Pleased To Meet Me tour. With its excellent sound, the band's quality performance and an absolutely killer setlist that nicely balances songs from the band's entire career to that point (and in rapid-fire fashion -- the 25 songs fit on a single CD), this is among the best live recordings of this legendary band, which remains in my personal pantheon to this day. Westerberg was simply The Man, able to pen a punk anthem like "Favorite Thing" one day and then a perfect, romantic little pop song like "Kiss Me On The Bus" the next. If you're old enough to have been there, you know what I mean. If you aren't, you've got some catching up to do. (And, all you youngsters who've wondered why we call our periodic posts of leaked and advance tracks "Can't Hardly Wait," well, now you know.) Crank it up loud and enjoy.

THE REPLACEMENTS - Putting On The Ritz (live at The Ritz, NYC - July 27, 1987)

Artwork:
Cover insert - front
Cover insert - back
Back insert

01 I.O.U.
02 Nevermind
03 Hold My Life
04 I Will Dare
05 Lovelines
06 Can't Hardly Wait
07 Little Mascara
08 Swingin' Party
09 Bastards of Young
10 Within Your Reach
11 The Ledge
12 Waitress In The Sky
13 Sweet Home Chicago
14 Favorite Thing
15 Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
16 Unsatisfied
17 Go
18 Nightclub Jitters
19 California Sun
20 Another Girl, Another Planet
21 Kiss Me On The Bus
22 Skyway
23 If Only You Were Lonely
24 Color Me Impressed
25 Takin' A Ride

Writing To Reach You

While it's a nice enough listen with a few genuine highlights, the latest record from Travis, The Boy With No Name, never quite fired me up to buy tickets to their show here in Atlanta last night. But when free tickets fell into my hands on Saturday, there was no excuse not to head down to The Tabernacle to swelter in the heat and catch a band that used to captivate me on a regular basis. By the time the gig was over, I felt more than a little guilty that I hadn't purchased my tickets, at full price, the day they went on sale.

I simply had forgotten, after a good five or six years, what a tremendous live act these guys are. And on this particular night, in front of a smallish but adoring crowd that sang along to every word, they positively slayed, with the live setting giving many of Fran Healey's gloriously melodic tunes an urgency and edge (and some sheer volume) that their new album frankly could use a bit more of. And what tunes, too. The newer material sounded mighty fine, and the older songs -- especially "Writing To Reach You", "Turn" and "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" from their best-ever album, 2000's The Man Who . . . -- struck me as something like timeless. They even busted out their classic Britney Spears cover -- which Fran said they were playing for the first time in ages -- and closed with a note-perfect version of "Back In Black". Yes, that "Back In Black".

In short, it wasn't just a good show; it was among the very best I've seen this year. The moral of the story: Whenever Scotland's favorite sons come to your town, don't you dare miss 'em.

MP3: Travis - "Battleships" from The Boy With No Name

Bonus MP3: Travis - "Baby, One More Time" (live at Glastonbury, 2000)

My Brightest Diamond

Just a quick note for our Atlanta readers: Since opening in downtown Decatur scarcely a month ago, Wordsmiths, the new indie bookstore on the block, has established itself as not just a primo literary destination, but a musical one as well. The killer in-store performances continue this Wednesday afternoon, August 1, at 4PM, when Wordsmiths hosts a free, all-ages acoustic set by baroque pop princess and friend-of-Sufjan, Shara "My Brightest Diamond" Worden. Those of us who saw Shara open for Soof when he played the Fox back in September can confirm that she's a captivating performer with a gorgeous voice. If you can make it on a school-day, this outing is highly recommended.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond - "Something Of An End" from Bring Me The Workhorse

Let's Get Moving

Leaving tonight for the West Coast, so it seems appropriate to post about one of my favorite West Coast artists. I shouldn't refer to Rancid as a guilty pleasure, because I have no reason to feel guilty about being such a fan. After all, they are sort of a modern day, California tribute to The Clash in many respects. And Rancid's leader, Tim Armstrong, is an unabashed Joe Strummer devotee -- nothing wrong with that. Not to mention that, in this new world of "punk rock" that is far closer to '80s hair bands than the Sex Pistols, Rancid still come correct.

I recently stumbled across Armstrong's new solo album, A Poet's Life, and a pleasant discovery it is. A Poet's Life is essentially a reggae album, but think old school reggae. It has a definite two-tone feel to it, which is not surprising, given Rancid's ska proclivities. (You remember "Time Bomb," right?) I understand that A Poet's Life was originally intended to be an internet giveaway to the fans, but its instant popularity and radio explosion (thanks, KROQ) forced somebody to rethink that plan.

As far as I'm concerned, A Poet's Life is the perfect summer record. While it's rooted in a time gone by, it still sounds thoroughly modern, with a notable hip-hop influence (and out-of-the-headlines references to Mogadishu and Baghdad). Plus, it sports one of the best aspects of Armstrong's writing style, a ready autobiographical nature. Even if his narratives are pure fiction, they always feel stridently real, and grounded in time and place. But the best thing about this collection of tunes is its ability to get you moving. I dare you not to tap a toe to this, at least. Better yet, crank it up and shake it around the room. Come on, its summer!

MP3: Tim Armstrong - "Into Action" from A Poet's Life
MP3: Tim Armstrong - "Translator" from A Poet's Life

More Adventurous?

The Interwebs are abuzz -- and not necessarily in a good way -- about "The Moneymaker," the first advance track from Rilo Kiley's forthcoming Under The Blacklight, due out on August 21. With it's funky/sleazy attitude, throbbing bassline, simplistic lyrics and initially unrecognizable Jenny Lewis vocal, it's a stunning and, to some, worrisome departure in sound for a beloved indie band on their first major label outing. After numerous listens (and a few viewings of the video, which features fine-as-ever Jenny in the company of several L.A. porn stars), I have to say the tune is growing on me a bit (especially the bridge). But the burning question now is, did the band leak such an uncharacteristic track first in order to throw fans for a loop, or is the whole album going to sound like this? Well I've now heard two more tunes from UTL, and if the pattern holds, I've got news for you. But more about that later.

For now, what's the consensus on "The Moneymaker"? And, especially if you're down with it, are you a longtime RK fan with an open mind or are you hearing them for the first time?

MP3: Rilo Kiley - "The Moneymaker" from Under The Blacklight

UPDATE: Stereogum has UTB cover art and is streaming another new track, "Silver Lining," that is far less likely to freak out the faithful.

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Fleetwood Mac - Nashville 1977

Although it may be more guity pleasure than music geek chic, I have an abiding love for early Buckingham-Nicks era Fleetwood Mac, and rank the band's output from 1975's redefining Fleetwood Mac to 1979's Tusk -- apart from some of the Christine McVie tunes that, frankly, haven't aged too well -- among that decade's most enduring music. In between those two albums, of course, was the commercial and artistic juggernaut called Rumours, still one of the best-selling records of all time (over 30 million copies as of 2003) and one I crank up with surprising frequency to this day.

At bottom, though -- and while I think Stevie Nicks wrote some excellent songs over this period -- what made Fleetwood Mac great in the mid-to-late 70s (and on a few occasions since) was the spectacular songwriting and musicianship of Lindsey Buckingham. A true visionary wrestling with his ravaged heart, and a genius of a guitar player, the tracks he turned out over those three records still thrill and amaze me. And, as if that weren't enough to immortalize the guy, he also succeeded in pulling off one of the most effective acts of revenge against an ex-lover in the history of humankind: not only writing the gorgeously vicious "Go Your Own Way" about Stevie, but forcing her to stand next to him and sing the harmonies on it for the next 30 years.

This is the best boot from the Rumours tour, a fine soundboard tape from the May, 1977 show in Nashville. It has a couple of minor cuts (at the very end of "Gold Dust Woman" and beginning of "You Make Loving Fun"), but it's the best-sounding document of the mighty, mid-70s Mac that I know to be in circulation. Grab the whole thing -- but yes, you're allowed to skip "Oh Daddy," so long as you listen to "Never Going Back Again" or "The Chain" twice.

FLEETWOOD MAC - LIVE IN NASHVILLE - Nashville Municipal Auditorium, May 21, 1977

Artwork:
Front cover
Back cover

Disc 1
01 intro
02 Say You Love Me
03 Monday Morning
04 Dreams
05 Oh Well
06 Rhiannon
07 Oh Daddy
08 Never Going Back Again
09 Landslide
10 Over My Head
11 Gold Dust Woman

Disc 2
01 You Make Loving Fun
02 I'm So Afraid
03 Go Your Own Way
04 World Turning
05 Blue Letter
06 Second Hand News
07 The Chain
08 Songbird

My Lyrics Are Bottomless

A little Friday humor. These guys claim to have invented rap music . . . back in New Zealand. I don't know about that, but this is hilarious. Check out the acoustic version here ("Sometimes when I freestyle, I . . . lose . . . confidence").

Check out Flight of the Conchords on HBO on Sunday nights. Maybe there is life after the Sopranos after all . . .

There's A Hope In Our Hearts

Will there ever come a time when the opening measures of "Waiting For The Sun," the first song on Hollywood Town Hall, don't give me the chills? Probably not. The Jayhawks' first major label release is one of my favorite records of all time. It, along with the follow-up, Tomorrow The Green Grass, marked an impressive burst into the then-burgeoning "alt.county" music scene that still gets regular play around the TTT offices.

But for reasons beyond the scope of this post, it seemed that The Jayhawks 1.0 were over almost as quickly as they started, as founder (and my favorite Jayhawk) Mark Olson walked away from the band at the peak of their ascension to make music and be with his wife Victoria Williams. Even though Gary Louris bravely carried on under the established trademark, he did so in a decidedly different direction, and for whatever reason, I, as a fan, eventually parted company with all of the above. And while Rainy Day Music drew me back in to The Jayhawks, it turned out to be the band's swan song, and a fitting close. Following the Jayhawks' demise, a tour with Olson and Louris held the promise of a spark of the original magic, and we crossed our fingers.

Mark Olson's first actual "solo" record, The Salvation Blues, is at least in part the realization of that promise. Louris makes a significant contribution in both songwriting and backup vocals, and it sounds great to hear the boys back together again on new songs. Still, the most notable aspect of this record is its fantastic, unparalleled songwriting. I hereby nominate Mark Olson as this nation's new poet laureate. Having survived what one might surmise was a bitter divorce with Williams (Olson reportedly lost not only his wife but the beloved house he built in Joshua Tree, California) and two years of wandering and soul-searching, he has returned with a work of true beauty.

The Salvation Blues, in many respects, picks up where the original Jayhawks left off. It sounds a little more world-weary, maybe, but a fair amount smoother around the edges too, and to paraphrase Jerry Garcia, a touch of gray suits Mr. Olson well. The musicianship is impeccable, and the sound is authentic Americana, timeless and yet well-worn, and completely oblivious to anything like trends or current pop culture. It brings with it an understandable undercurrent of sorrow (e.g., "My One Book Philosophy"), but at the same time an undeniable spirit of optimism. And why not? Mark Olson has recaptured the original magic.

MP3: Mark Olson - "Clifton Bridge" - from The Salvation Blues

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 15: R.E.M. - Rising (Toronto 1983)

I'm almost ashamed that it took me so long to get around to this one. I had the good fortune to grow up in Atlanta, graduate from high school in 1982, and attend college in North Carolina while most of my closest friends were (a) aspiring musicians and (b) going to school in Athens, Georgia. It was the perfect place and time to witness the infancy of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, and to this day, I consider it one of the foremost blessings of my musical life.

To tell the whole story of my 80s obsession with R.E.M. would take a book. Suffice it to say that, from the moment I got the just-released Hibtone "Radio Free Europe" / "Sitting Still" single back to my teenage room in 1981 and needle hit vinyl, I knew my life had changed. I saw them live for the first time at a free festival show in Piedmont Park on May 14, 1982, weeks before my high school graduation. There were maybe 100 people on the grass in front of the stage. And it was mind-blowing. By the time I settled in at Duke University the following Fall, I had seen them several more times, the Chronic Town EP was out, and I just knew I was following the start of something very special. This was not just the best band from my hometown, or the best band from the South. This, I was already certain, was a band for the ages. And I was right.

I took it upon myself to become R.E.M.'s advocate on my Yankee campus in North Carolina, telling anyone who would listen that this was the next great American band, the next "best band on the planet". I became a DJ at the student radio station and slipped an R.E.M. track (or two) into every show. Murmur was released in '83 and the word spread more quickly. If they played anywhere near Durham, I was there, dragging the unconverted along with me when I could. I road-tripped to Athens to see them play the old 40 Watt and the Mad Hatter, and through my musician friends, eventually met and spent an evening or two on the town with Peter Buck. (I don't think he ever paid for a beer when I was around.) I bought every 12" import single to get the obscure b-sides, and saved every scrap of memorabilia (including the poster and gig flyer that hang in my study at home to this day). And when the band played two nights at Duke's Page Auditorium in September of 1984 -- shows that, oddly enough, were recorded for an official live album that was never released, and is now widely booted -- I was front and center both nights, like some proud little brother, and did the interview with Peter on the student TV station, even though I didn't work there, because no one else knew what to ask him. (In retrospect, I guess, the cool kids at school really weren't all that cool.) I could go on and on. But by the time I graduated from college in the spring of '86 and headed to law school in -- you guessed it -- Athens, Georgia, the story of R.E.M. was no longer even remotely obscure. Many of you probably have stories of your own.

But, oh yeah, I'm supposed to be introducing a bootleg. Choosing the best early R.E.M. boot is a tall order. Soundboard tapes of many of the very early shows -- at the 40 Watt and Tyrone's in Athens, at The Strand in Marietta, a sloppy '81 bar show in Greensboro, NC, the '82 Piedmont Park show that was my first, and even an '82 show in San Francisco -- circulate widely today, and are uniformly fantastic. And then there is the show at the Seattle Music Hall in June of '84, recorded for broadcast across the U.S., that many regard as the best R.E.M. gig ever. (It's certainly up there, for sure.) But by then the band had graduated from small clubs to theatres, and the experience of seeing them, while still powerful and amazing, had definitely changed a bit from the earliest days.

When I'm in the mood to hear a great early R.E.M. show -- one that best recalls the days of seeing them in a small, crowded, sweaty club, but with a setlist full of original (now classic) tunes and on the very cusp of breaking bigger -- I return again and again to this one, recorded at Larry's Hideaway in Toronto in July of 1983. It's not a perfect tape by any means. In fact -- and be warned -- there are a few brief cuts, some diginoise and other glitches here and there. But even with a flaw or two, this tape is spectacular -- a great band, at a thrilling time in their career, and on a particularly inspired night. From the chiming arpeggios pouring out of Peter's Rickenbacker, to Mike Mills' dextrous, innovative basslines, to Michael Stipe's singular baritone and oblique poeticism, the R.E.M. machine is firing here in all its early, post-punk glory. And, as I always tell people who've come to the band fairly recently, just listen to the mighty Bill Berry on this tape. He is the engine driving this train, and his rapid-fire playing on this night (as usual) is a marvel. I don't know how else to say it -- these guys were, and still are, something else. I may not have been at this particular show, but I was at countless others just like it. How freaking lucky am I?

Special thanks to my teacher and friend BED for blessing this post in advance.

R.E.M. - RISING - live at Larry's Hideaway, Toronto, Ontario, July 9, 1983

Artwork:
Front
Back (track list slightly incorrect, but close enough)

01 Wolves, Lower
02 Moral Kiosk
03 Laughing
04 Pilgrimage
05 Moon River
06 There She Goes Again > 7 Chinese Brothers
07 Talk About The Passion
08 Sitting Still
09 Harborcoat
10 Catapult
11 Pretty Persuasion
12 Gardening At Night
13 9-9
14 Just A Touch
15 West Of The Fields
16 Radio Free Europe
17 We Walk
18 1,000,000
19 Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)

Blow Out That Cherry Bomb

There was a sampled line in a Big Audio Dynamite (II) song that went something to the effect of "All anyone cares about anymore is rhythm and melody, rhythm and melody . . . " That song, of course, came out in the early 90s, well into the hip hop era, in which all anyone really cares about is rhythm; to hell with melody.

That being said, rhythm and melody, or perhaps "Rhthm & Soul," are what Austin's Spoon are all about. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who does it better. Spoon's sixth album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, released Tuesday, is a perfect blend of accessibility and experimentalism, wrapped in spirited funk and highly infectious tunes. Indeed, there's something for everybody to tap a foot (or shake a booty) to here.

Spoon have always been a creative force to behold. On this new record, the band refines and expands on its distinct sound, and in doing so, takes its game to a whole new level. Unlike their previous outing, Gimme Fiction, which tended to plod along under the weight of heightened expectations, Ga Ga Ga (that's the hip, shortened title) breezes across the room like Paris Hilton at a paparazzi convention. The trademark staccato rhythms remain intact, but the tempos are a little more upbeat, the songs a little more loose, and there's a wicked amount of studio knob-twiddling in which the empty spaces are filled in with found sounds and exotic instrumentation.

The record opens with "Don't Make Me A Target," an overtly political protest song less notable for the venom that it spews at the current administration than for the fact that it sounds exactly like what one might expect John Lennon to be writing were he alive today. "The Ghost Of You Lingers," perhaps the most experimental song on the record, uses enough reverb to choke Neko Case in effectively conjuring the sound of multiple voices echoing in the poor protagonist's head as he suffers through a cinematic montage of aching memory.

These songs are followed by what in a perfect world would be a huge hit, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb," which bounces along to an almost Motown-esque rhythm that's hard not to be completely seduced by, fingers snapping, head shaking, and all. In the past, Spoon tunes could be almost stiff in their mechanical tightness, but "Don't You Evah" and "Finer Feelings" are good examples of how the band's new found looseness frees them to expand their palette. The record rounds out with probably the closest thing to a Spoon ballad, "Black Like Me," which is one of the best songs I've heard this year. I know it's still early, but if this record doesn't wind up on a few best-of lists this year, someone will have to explain it to me. This is must-have stuff.

MP3: Spoon - "Finer Feelings" from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Odds and Sods

While you await the next bootleg in our series -- which I'll try to get up before I go on vacation this weekend -- there's some great stuff to be grabbed elsewhere:

Heather at IAFYAF offers the first of the five nights of "open rehearsals" that R.E.M. wrapped up in Dublin, Ireland last week. (You'll need to scroll down a bit to her July 7 post.) The band sounds tremendous, and from everything I've read, the more-or-less unanimous buzz on the new batch of songs that were debuted during these shows (sorry, Bertis) is that it's their strongest in years. I am seriously excited about the new record.

Another kind-but-anonymous soul has posted Nirvana's set at the 1992 Reading Festival for the taking. There's one less classic boot that we'll need to cover. (via GoldenFiddle)






And the mighty Stereogum got 12 bands, including the likes of John Vanderslice, Cold War Kids, The Twilight Sad and My Brightest Diamond, to record a tribute to Radiohead's OK Computer to commemorate that record's 10th anniversary. (Jeez, how the time does fly.) Better yet, Scott and co. are giving that collection away gratis, complete with artist commentary and cool cover art. We, and other humble music bloggers everywhere, can only shake our heads in awe.


Finally, you just have to get a load of the new Joe Strummer replica Telecaster about to be released by Fender, with a not-very-punk $900 price tag. Lord knows we worship Saint Joe here at TTT, and don't begrudge the Widow Mellor for making sure her kids are taken care of, but does anyone else think this is just a bit too cheesy? (Thanks to DJ Cayenne at BGB for the heads up on this one.)