Wilco - Rare Tracks, Vol. 1

When you have a back catalog as strong as that of Wilco, there are bound to be a multitude of songs that become b-sides, get tossed aside or overlooked, or used for other projects. I have about 3 cds worth of just such tracks sitting in my iTunes, and today (and later this week) I’m going to share my 12 favorites with you. So, here are numbers 12-7, with numbers 6-1 coming soon. Enjoy!

12. MP3 :: More Like The Moon

This song is from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Australian Bonus EP, and was an interesting first look at where the band might go without the presence of longtime member Jay Bennett. It’s a beautiful song that was not revisited during the A Ghost Is Born sessions (a la “Handshake Drugs”) that is filled with long instrumental passages with some expertly picked acoustic guitar.

11. MP3 :: Cars Can't Escape.mp3

“Cars Can’t Escape” was a leftover from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sessions. A version surfaced on the infamous YHF Demos bootleg, but this one was released by the band via their website sometime between the release of YHF and A Ghost Is Born.

10. MP3 :: This Is New

“This Is New” appeared on The Wilco Book soundtrack, which was a collection of songs left over from the highly experimental A Ghost Is Born sessions. Interestingly, this song was recorded with Jeff Tweedy isolated in a booth, unable to hear his bandmates, who were simply reacting to what he was playing. It’s slow and moody, relying on Tweedy seemingly inventing some heavily reverbed melodies as he goes. Like most of this CD, it’s more of a song experiment than an actual song, but the results are beautiful nonetheless.

9. MP3 :: Let Me Come Home

This song is another leftover from the YHF sessions. It first appeared on the bonus disc of the DVD documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, and later on the Amos House Collection, Vol. 3. Its plaintive and elegiac arrangement is in stark contrast to the rest of the music coming from this time period, and also features some of Jeff Tweedy’s first attempts at the falsetto voice that he has become much more comfortable using over the past few years.

8. MP3 :: A Magazine Called Sunset

The recording sessions around YHF were wildly productive, and here is another example. “Magazine” did appear on the Australian Bonus EP along with “More Like The Moon”, but this version is a slightly brighter mix that was originally included on the YHF Demos CD. Perhaps one of Wilco’s only attempts at pure pop, the song sparkles in large part due to the heavy reverb and Glen Kotche’s inventive drumming.

7. MP3 :: One Hundred Years from Now

This is a cover of the Gram Parsons-penned Byrds tune, originally appearing on their classic Sweethearts of the Rodeo album. Wilco covered it for the Parsons tribute, 1999’s Return of the Grievous Angel. The original was laid back, West Coast-country rock at its finest. Wilco transformed it into a rollicking bar-band rave-up, and was maybe the last straight ahead roots-rock song they ever did before the move towards more progressive sounds.

Check back soon for the 6 best rare Wilco tracks…………

"It All Comes Down To Choosing Sides..."

I recently posted about the new You Am I album, Convicts, which was released via Yep Roc Records in the U.S. this past January. The album contains about a handful of the best straight forward hard rock songs you’re likely to hear in 2007. The band recently finished their U.S. tour and are heading home to their native Australia for additional dates.

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Hearing the new material got me excited to go back and revisit their old stuff for the first time in a while, and in doing so I rediscovered some of the old gems that had been collecting dust for far too long. One of my favorite You Am I songs is this little nugget from 1996’s Hourly, Daily. “Please Don’t Ask Me To Smile” displays the band’s sensitive side, with rich acoustics that recall Beggars Banquet era-Stones, and captures the awkward middle school years better than just about any other song I’ve ever heard. Essential listening for anyone who’s ever had an awkward phase.

MP3 :: Please Dont Ask Me To Smile

(from Hourly, Daily)
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Visit You Am I’s website

Purchase Hourly, Daily from Amazon

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Talkin' New York, Vol. 2 - Matt Singer

Matt Singer is a Brooklyn based singer/songwriter who has spent the better part of the past few years playing some of New York’s finer small music venues. He has delighted audiences in rooms such as Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room, Pianos, The Bitter End, and the Sidewalk Café, and recently played before a sold out crowd at Joe’s Pub when he opened for The Undisputed Heavyweights. Having seen him perform twice I can safely say his live shows thrive in such intimate settings, as they revel in audience participation, whether he makes them laugh out loud to his often quirky lyrics, whistle along with the tune as he sings over them, or clap along to provide a little rhythm.

His 2006 album, All Us Heathens, is full of folk/rap songs that are at once socially conscious, heartfelt, and hilarious. His lyrics, while always whip-smart and aberrant, stay well above the parody line because of their base in reality - more informed wise-guy than naive wise-ass. Every off-color story he tells, or trendy pop-culture reference he makes, finds a way to convey a real human truth, similar to the way Eef Barzalay (of Clem Snide) does in his “Ballad of Bitter Honey” from his 2006 solo album Bitter Honey. In addition to the new album, a few of Singer’s recent songs have found their way onto pretty prominent NY-based compilations. “Stacy J” (streaming at his myspace, and laugh-out-loud funny. Seriously, you have to hear it!) and “VHS” were both recently featured on Cross-Pollination: The Mixtape Vol.1 and the AntiComp Folkilation, respectively.

According to his bio:

Twenty-two years ago, Matt Singer’s kindergarten teacher recommended that he be seen by a child psychologist for a formal evaluation. The doctor said this:

“Although he exhibits skills in many areas, he seems unable to deal with frustration. When presented with something unfamiliar, his typical response is ‘I can’t’, rather than ‘I’ll try’. He was referred for testing to determine whether he is unable or simply unwilling to try new things.”

Nowadays, Matt tries new things on stage and in recordings, telling his listeners all about his ugly demons while blending social commentary and humor. He writes personal and expressive music, bridging folk, alternative, and hip-hop, to share genuine feelings about family, romance, anxiety, higher education, and occasionally New Jersey. Matt’s been writing songs since age four, when he spawned “Beep-Beep-Bop-Bop-Bop-Beep,” a whimsical yet touching piece about a boy’s love for eating toothpaste. Matt still brushes regularly, but now focuses most of his musical energy on his relationships, his fantasies, and of course, George W. Bush.

Matt has plenty of noteworthy upcoming NY performances. Check him out at one of the following:

4/13 - Sidewalk Café, Manhattan (“this is a benefit to raise money for kids from low income families to attend an awesome camping trip in upstate NY“)

4/19 - The Baggot Inn, Manhattan

4/30 - Rockwood Music Hall, Manhattan

MP3 :: Constellations
(from Heathens)

MP3 :: VHS
(from the AntiComp Folkilation)

MP3 :: The Clones
(from the Words of Mass Destruction EP, 2004)

MP3 :: Scary
(from Sublimation, 2003)

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Visit Matt Singer’s website for more information
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New Music - Handsome Furs

A huge part of the success of Wolf Parade’s remarkable 2005 debut, Apologies To The Queen Mary, was its duel songwriters, Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner, going back and forth on the record Hart/Mould style. It seemed though that more listeners were ready to deem Krug the band’s resident genius, while Boeckner took somewhat of a back seat to the former Frog Eyes contributor. OK, fair enough. Krug’s songs were certainly wildly enthralling, displaying a slightly erratic genius that hit many a soaring height. On the other hand, to me Boeckner was the band’s steady hand, adding a solid group of emotionally charged mini-anthems, infused with plenty of power chords and gritty Will Johnson-meets-Beck-meets-“Eddie and the Cruisers” vocals. Since the album Krug has been involved with several noteworthy side-projects (Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown) while Boeckner has stayed quietly out of sight. Until now.

Boeckner’s new side project, Handsome Furs, will release their debut album - Plague Park - on Sup Pop May 22. The band consists of little more than Boeckner, his fiancée Alexi Perry, some loud electric guitars, and a new drum machine. Sub Pop had this to say about the record: “dark and minimal while noisy and earnest, the point was to be as sparse and repetitive as possible”. The two advance tracks I’ve heard, and available below for you to sample, certainly back off from Wolf Parade’s aggressive guitar approach. They are decorated with more electronics, but that should not suggest a calmer mood - if anything the heightened artificial surroundings add to Boeckner’s very real, intense, conveyance of his gruff paranoia. The songs are everything you‘d expect from the man responsible for half of one of 2006‘s best records, and suggest that Plague Park is certainly an album to look forward to.

MP3 :: Dead + Rural
MP3 :: Handsome Furs Hate the City
(from the forthcoming Plague Park)
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Visit Handsome Furs Sub Pop website and myspace.
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Some Tuesday Morning Links....

Perhaps in quick response to some of the average reviews Cassadaga has been collecting (here and here and here), Saddle Creek sent along a note that Bright Eyes recently stopped by AOL's New York City studios in late February to record a short set and interview. The set consists new songs from Cassadaga and the Four Winds EP as well as a John Prine cover. M. Ward even drops by for a couple songs! Here is the set list:

"Crazy as a Loon" (John Prine cover)
"Smoke Without Fire" (w/ M. Ward)
"Tourist Trap"
"Middle Man"
"Four Winds"
"Cartoon Blues"
"Soul Singer in a Session Band" (w/ M. Ward)

Go here to watch the video.
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There are a hundred blogs just like mine out there. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that you're reading this right now, and I think I'm doing something worthwhile of a few minutes of your time every day or two, but some "bloggers" aren't really bloggers. They are actual music journalists who "blog" in their spare time. They basically make the rest rest of us look bad, what with their "big words" and "smart things" they write about music. Over at Marathon Packs there is an amazing new song from a band called The Twilight Sad, and it features, as usual for that site, a really "smart", inciteful write-up with many "big words". It's called "That Summer, I Had Become The Invisible Boy", and if you are a fan of the "dense and pretentious" new Arcade Fire, as Marathon Pack-writer Eric gently suggests, then this song will most likely appeal to you. It appeals to me. It's really good, and now I'm going to have to check out their new album, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters. You can find it here.
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Finally, I've got to say that my favorite new blog out there is That Truncheon Thing. It's run by 2 guys in Atlanta (I know the Braves just took 2 of 3 from the Mets guys, but you're gonna have a long season of futility trying to keep up with us...) who have an indelible taste in music and always provide accurate, thoughtful incites into it. They seem to be into the same type of new stuff as I am, yet feature classic concerts in their entirety on a semi-regular basis. They've recently had an Elvis Costello show from '77, The Clash from '81, Uncle Tupelo from '93, and Radiohead from '97. Keep up the great work guys!
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And this just in - thanks to Krist over at The Punk Guy for the heads up about this. And I thought I loved Pavement!

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"The Unplucked Gems": An Introduction to the Music of The Tragically Hip

I recently posted “In View” from the new Tragically Hip album, World Container. The Hip were my favorite band from about 1994 until about ‘99, and that song re-sparked my interest in them after a few years of indifference. The thing about the Hip that always amazed me was just how regional the band has always been. Cities like Buffalo and Detroit have accepted the band with open arms, but few other areas have done the same. They were all over rock radio in Western New York while I was in college (during the aforementioned years), yet wouldn’t sell out a venue like Manhattan’s Irving Plaza if it wasn’t for the willingness of their homeland fanbase to make the long trip south.

If you’ve never given The Tragically Hip a fair shot, I’ve compiled a series of tracks to give you a short introduction to what the band is capable of at their best. The following songs have been live staples from the time of their release, and act as a sort of mini-Best Of comp for the uninitiated. Their real Best Of compilation, Yer Favorites, was a double album released in 2005, and serves as an excellent introduction to one of the most under appreciated bands of the past 20 years.

MP3 :: New Orleans Is Sinking
(from Up To Here, 1989)

MP3 :: Little Bones
(from Road Apples, 1991)

MP3 :: At the Hundredth Meridian
(from Fully Completely, 1992)

These three songs are a few of the many highlights from the band’s most consistent time period. Each should be a staple of classic rock radio.
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MP3 :: Grace, Too
(from Day For Night, 1994)

MP3 :: Ahead by a Century
MP3 :: Scared
(from Live Between Us, 1997)

“Grace, Too” is my personal favorite Hip song, and always the best live show opener. It scaled back the straight ahead rock of the earlier songs to something more carefully nuanced and moody, resulting in this amazing, subdued anthem. “Scared” and “Ahead By A Century” are both from the Hip’s only live album, Live Between Us, and capture the band doing what they do best.
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MP3 :: Bobcaygeon
MP3 :: Fireworks
(from Phantom Power, 1998)

These two songs, from the reinvigorated Phantom Power, are fine examples of why the Hip are so loved in their native land and ignored in America. “Bobcaygeon” is a shuffling folk-influenced song, name-dropping Willie Nelson and featuring some fine acoustic guitar picking. However, the song’s title comes from a small town in Northern Canada, thereby most likely doing little more than confusing fans unaware of this fact. “Fireworks” is bristling modern-rock, perhaps their slickest and catchiest song up to then, but mixing hockey memories, Canadian-Russian foreign relations as a metaphor for dealing with the inter-personal, and the way culture jumps from hot item to hot item like they were exploding fireworks, although brilliantly interweaved, wasn’t the way to reach us simple-minded Americans.

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MP3 :: The Dire Wolf
(from In Violet Light, 2002)

After Phantom Power the Hip’s output seemed to get stuck in a rut of relying on past song structures and sounds, while Downie’s lyrics lost some of their striking imagery for something decidedly more opaque. “The Dire Wolf” breaks that mold, presenting once again interesting lyrics, full of sea imagery and Canadian settings, against a wall of rising guitars and a memorable melody.
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Purchase any and all of the above albums at Amazon

Check out the Hip’s website for lots of tour information, live music, and videos. Their new album, World Container, is also streaming there.
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Music News - The Mendoza Line

Word straight from The Mendoza Line camp (i.e. - Timothy Bracy, via email) is that the band is currently holed up in the studio working on the follow up to 2005’s excellent Full Of Light And Full Of Fire. No release date or further info is available yet, however Tim did pass on a few noteworthy news items. The band will release a long awaited EP (their website has been promising a “new EP in winter 2006/Best-Of Comp in 2007” for going on a year now) sometime this summer, most likely July. Entitled Thirty Year Low, the EP will contain all new material, including a duet between the band’s Shannon McArdle and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. The advance tracks I’ve heard, including the duet, reaffirm the band as one of the finest Americana songwriting collectives out there.

Speaking of McArdle, her songs over the past few Mendoza Line albums have improved by leaps and bounds. She has found her voice, both literally and as a songwriter, and really come into her own on her contributions to both Full of Light and 2004’s Fortune. This was most obvious to me on “They Never Bat An Eye”, a song placed back to back with Bracy’s brilliant Metro Pictures on Fortune. Everything in the song is nailed - McArdle’s knee-shaking vocals, the calm paranoia of the lyrics, and the band’s expert piano/pedal steel interplay. In fact, McArdle’s voice has developed to the point of allowing it to be safely compared to that of Neko Case - maybe not quite as huge and expressive, but certainly more feisty and down-to-Earth. Hearing her trade verses with Sheff is a real treat, and I hope to be able to share that song with you in the near future……until then, enjoy this one:

MP3 :: They Never Bat An Eye
(from Fortune)
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Visit The Mendoza Line at their website and myspace to hear more music
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Purchase Fortune (and other Mendoza Line albums) from Amazon and eMusic
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Album Review - Bright Eyes, "Cassadaga"

If the Four Winds EP reaffirmed anything about Bright Eyes it was that the strength of Conor Oberst and co. is firmly rooted in the reflective folk he has steadily improved over the past 4 or 5 years. An even split between folk and folk-rock, the EP’s 6 songs spoke volumes as to where his strengths lay. “Stray Dog Freedom” took a familiar Bright Eyes melodic progression and amped it up with electric guitar and a rock beat, coming off more as a clunky ode to 70’s rock than a daring attempt at breaking new ground for the band. On the other hand, “Tourist Trap” (yes, still the best of all the 2007 Bright Eyes’ songs) was another in a long line of terrific folk-infused tunes, meshing weepy acoustics with percussion that sounded like someone skipping in slow motion down a gravel road. The arrangement was spacious enough to allow Oberst’s vocals to be at the forefront, and displayed the full fruition of the maturity in Oberst’s writing and singing that was hinted at on 2005’s I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning.

Go back a few years to the last Bright Eyes studio albums for more proof. There’s a reason that the confessional folk of I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning was a far superior album to the adult-alternative electronica of Digital Ash In The Digital Urn, and it’s only partially due to the fact that it features better written songs. More so, it’s because Oberst’s emotive singing and lyrics are more immediate and striking when presented with a backdrop that doesn’t allow them to be ignored or dismissed as an after-thought. A rarity both at his age, and in this age, his lyrics are the type that should not be overshadowed. They are certainly not perfect, often featuring somewhat embarrassing intimacies that don’t demand revelation, yet more often can be filled with the kind of imagery and metaphor that used to lead to “new-Dylan” monikers for every songwriter who aced 12th-grade English. I’m Wide Awake It's Morning was, and still is, Bright Eyes’ strongest release largely due to the submission to the idea that Oberst’s vocals would be more widely appealing if they allowed for more subtlety and nuance, and weren’t so often completely histrionic.

All this leads us to the 7th Bright Eyes studio album from Saddle Creek Records, the soon to be released Cassadaga. Oberst spent much of 2006 in the studio crafting the album, and the results display a more sonically diverse and polished record than any of his previous ones. Cassadaga’s songs are crammed with lush detail, featuring background singers, electric guitars, and string arrangements in addition to all the already familiar Bright Eyes sounds, resulting in an album that at times puts these flourishes ahead of all else. For the most part the album works because of these new details, and sometimes in spite of them, finding a balance in which Oberst and band fit together to produce a more mature, less overtly personal, record.

Surprisingly, and in contrast to the Four Winds EP, Cassadaga is most successful when it lets loose and gets rowdy. The song “Four Winds” sets the scene of the album, coming on with plenty of Biblical references and war-torn imagery, belied by the bounding country-rock of the music. The song directly mentions Cassadaga, a Florida town known as a haven for psychics, and the extended metaphor running through much of the album is revealed - trying to cope with the fact that we never know where the world will take us, and consequently have little control over our own destinies. “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” offers more in the way of undetermined travel: “I’m headed for New England, or the Paris of the South, I’m gonna find myself somewhere to level out”. “I Must Belong Somewhere” presents a series of seemingly unrelated images that all possess a sense of place (“just leave the restless ghost in his old hotel, leave the homeless man out in that cardboard cell, let the painted horse on the carousel remain”), with the singer struggling to figure out where his place is.

Much of the rest of the album continues this similar theme. At first it seems as though Oberst has abandoned detailing his own personal anguish in favor of something more worldly, but instead he is using the accounts of others, combined with his own reactions to them, to illustrate his own sense of estrangement and alienation. The words “Oh, I've made love, yeah, I've been fucked, so what? I'm a cartoon, you're a full moon, let's stay up” from “Hot Knives” are seemingly written from the song’s female protagonist point of view, but could easily double as Oberst’s own admission. And the projection of the “Soul Singer In A Session Band” as someone who is overlooked and forgotten is a none-too-subtle hiding place for an artist who may occasionally feel the same way.

All of the above songs work in their arrangements because the strength of what Oberst is saying comes through over the lavish production. Ironically, it’s the slower songs, usually a strength for Oberst, that suffer most from the new production techniques. “No One Would Riot For Less”, “Coat Check Dream Song”, and “Lime Tree” all fail to match their inventive arrangements with equally memorable lyrics or melodies. Opener “Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed)” begins with a female recorded voice, seemingly a psychic talking on the phone (which continues Bright Eye’s somewhat annoying habit of beginning his albums without actually beginning the song). The song uses noise effects, the same taped voice, and strings to present an experimental sound collage, one that should be more successful if the lyrics weren’t as clunky (“Corporate or Colonial/The Movement is unstoppable/Like the body of a centerfold, it spreads”). The album also suffers from a few songs that contain instantly familiar rhyme schemes for Bright Eyes - “Soul Singer In A Session Band” especially, and despite being good songs, seem too rote to really stand out.

Cassadaga is the sound of a more ambitious, outward looking Bright Eyes, one that is alive with new ideas and the means to present them, and, as usual, one that is most successful when not over-reaching. Unlike many of the characters that populate it, the album has a clear sense of place and purpose - it reflects an artist figuring out his niche in a messed-up world. Long since removed from the hyper-emotional bedroom folk of his early days, Conor Oberst is growing up with each new release, and Cassadaga presents an artist almost done with the transition to full-on adulthood. In 2007 he is less a prisoner to his few limitations, and he’s inching closer to the classic album that he has seemed destined for since 2002’s Lifted…. Cassadaga isn’t quite it, but gives enough reason to think that it isn’t too far away.
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MP3 :: I Must Belong Somewhere

MP3 :: Four Winds
(from Cassadaga)

MP3 :: Tourist Trap
(from the Four Winds EP)

MP3 :: Susan Miller Rag
(Cassadaga outtake, available as a bonus track with preorders)
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Visit Saddle Creek Records, and Bright Eyes website and myspace.
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Purchase Cassadaga, and other Bright Eyes albums, from Amazon.
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Music News - The New Pornographers / Iron & Wine

Pitchfork is reporting 2 pretty interesting news items today . First, the next studio album from The New Pornographers is shaping up to hit stores in the late summer. Tentatively to be called Challengers, the record will in fact once again feature long time Porn-stars Neko Case and Dan Bejar, in addition to primary member Carl (A.C.) Newman. Last year was a busy one for Case and Bejar, what with Case’s Fox Confessor Brings The Flood and Destroyer’s Rubies (#1 on Pop Headwound’s Top 10 of 2006) both serving to considerably further their respective careers. Read the full interview with Newman by clicking here.



Also noteworthy, the first single from Iron & Wine’s upcoming release, The Shepard’s Dog, will be “Boy With A Coin”. It will come out in July via Sub Pop, and will be backed by two exclusive b-sides. Click here for more. Click here for more brand new Iron & Wine songs, recorded live at Pabst Theatre this past February.
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MP3 :: High Art Local News - The New Pornographers
(Twin Cinema ottake, from the compilation Comes With A Smile, Vol. 17)

MP3 :: Boy With A Coin - Iron & Wine
(recorded live, 2/8/07, originally posted by Captains Dead)
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Visit the The New Pornographer’s website
Visit Iron & Wine’s website
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"Start A War If You Want To"

It seems like the exciting news coming from Jagjaguwar never ends. First came the announcement that Okkervil River were busy recording the follow up to 2005’s up-to-now career defining album, Black Sheep Boy, which will see a release sometime later this year, as well as the release of the 2xCD reissue of definitive Black Sheep Boy. Next came the release of new album from The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, which has stayed near the top of my favorite 2007 albums for about 2 months now. Not to mention the huge (for the indie world) news of the merger/partnership of Jagjaguwar to Secretly Canadian, thereby collecting the forces of two of the best indie labels putting music out today.

Hot on their heels comes a press release stating that Ladyhawk will release the follow up to last year’s self-titled debut album. The Fight For Anarchy EP will hit the streets on May 22, to be followed by the next LP in the spring of 2008. To support this new release the band will be on the road for an extended American/Canadian tour, spending time opening for Canada’s The Constantines and Brooklyn’s (by way of Minneapolis) Tapes n’ Tapes. Check below for the dates.

The new EP will feature the song “War”, a sort of fractured-folk military march that coaxes one to not “just tag along, start a war if you want to”. The song is striking in its directness, filled with war imagery and Duffy Driediger’s gruff voice, which is reminiscent of Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug. Check it out:

MP3 :: War
(from the Fight For Anarchy EP)
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And in case you missed out on “The Dugout” from last year’s debut, here it is:

MP3 :: The Dugout
(from Ladyhawk)
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Visit Ladyhawk’s website and myspace
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Catch Ladyhawk on tour:

04/03/07 Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret w/ The Constantines

04/04/07 Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange w/ The Constantines

04/05/07 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis' Pub w/ The Constantines

04/06/07 Edmonton, Alberta - The Starlite Room w/ The Constantines

04/07/07 Calgary, Alberta - The Hi-Fi Club w/ The Constantines

04/08/07 Calgary, Alberta - The Hi-Fi Club w/ The Constantines

04/09/07 Canmore, Alberta - Canmore Hotel w/ The Constantines

04/12/07 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Plaza Club w/ The Constantines

04/13/07 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar Nightclub w/ The Constantines

04/14/07 Tofino, British Columbia - The Legion w/ The Constantines

05/02/07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/04/07 Portland, OR - Dante's w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/05/07 Seattle, WA - Neumo's Crystal Ballroom w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/06/07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Plaza Club w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/09/07 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/10/07 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/11/07 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/12/07 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/14/07 Ottawa, Ontario - Barrymore's w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/15/07 Montreal, Quebec - Le National w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/16/07 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/17/07 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/18/07 New York, NY - Irving Plaza w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/19/07 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/22/07 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/23/07 Columbus, OH - The Basement w/ Tapes N' Tapes

05/24/07 Newport, KY - Southgate House w/ Tapes N' Tapes
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New Music - A.A. Bondy

A few weeks ago I attended the Friday night Bright Eyes show at the Bowery Ballroom, which I reviewed here. The night started with a very pleasant surprise, show opener A.A. Bondy. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, a small fleet of harmonicas, and about 45 minutes worth of compelling songs, Bondy had a crowd of hungry Bright Eyes fans, eagerly awaiting the man himself, in the palm of his hand. His songs were stripped down, leaving the melodies and lyrics up front, and were delivered in Bondy’s cracked, Southern vocal style. It’s not often that you go to a show and don’t want an opening act’s set to end, but that’s exactly what happened. As soon as he was done I went to the merch table to pick up the homemade EP’s he had for sale, but unfortunately they had already sold out.

The former front man for the band Verbena, Bondy is due to release his solo debut this summer, tentatively titled Witness Blues through Superphonic Records. Based on the advance tracks I’ve heard so far it could be one of the year’s strongest Americana releases. Bondy at once recalls early Dylan on the acoustic “American Hearts”, and then sounds just as comfortable on the hazy, narcotic full band sound of “Out With The Tide”. I’ll pass on more information when I have some, but for now enjoy these songs from the forthcoming record:

MP3 :: Out with the Tide
MP3 :: American Hearts

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Visit A.A. Bondy’s myspace here
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The Mendoza Line - "Metro Pictures"

If there is a voice more suited to convey sadness in music today than The Mendoza Line’s Timothy Bracy I’d like to hear it. His voice is warm with cracked emotion, shaking from the side-effects, trying to keep from sounding like it’s totally wrecked. His winding narratives weave around in his band’s shuffling acoustic instruments and tape hiss, conveying all the details of a heart that’s been stitched back together for the last time.

“Metro Pictures” is filled with the woozy resignationa Bracy has practically become synonymous with. The band sounds like a hootenanny in slow motion, ambling on quietly, only the piano daring to offer glimmers of hope. Bracy’s words perfectly fit the mood, singing to someone (maybe himself?) who’s “captive to the free press, a lazy work in regress”. He goes on until Shannon McArdle steps in to harmonize, lifting up the melody, and seemingly giving Bracy the energy to bring the song to an end. She does a beautiful thing, but I could've listened all night.

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MP3 :: Metro Pictures
(from Fortune)
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Purchase Fortune (and other Mendoza Line albums) from Amazon, Insound
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Visit The Mendoza Line at their website and myspace
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