Sep 9, 2009
Sep 8, 2009
31 Country Music Themes: 28-30
Sep 7, 2009
Sep 6, 2009
YouTube Gems: Jon Lajoie
An unnamed informant, who has provided me with humor inspiration and fodder in the past, sent me a link to a hilarious satire by Jon Lajoie called "Radio Friendly Song." Since I try to maintain at most a hard PG-13 rating on this blog, I'm not going to embed that video here, but if you don't mind quite a few swear words, look it up on YouTube - it's witty and catchy! There are a ton of other skits and satires by Jon on the YouTubes so look around, if his brand of humor suits you. Here's his less-likely-to-offend tune, "Stay at Home Dad," which reminds me a little of Diddy's (P, Puffy, Puff Daddy, Puffwad) rock remix of "All About the Benjamins."
Sep 5, 2009
Best of 2009 So Far: September
There weren't many changes or releases in August so I didn't post this last month, but there has been a lot of movement lately... both in my preferences and in new albums released (and yet to be released albums that I've heard full previews of). Let me know if there's anything I'm missing. New additions are in bold.
1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day
2. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine
3. Son Volt - American Central Dust
4 Ben Nichols - The Last Pale Light in the West
5. Chris Knight - Trailer Tapes II
6. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park (*based on sampler and live tracks)
7. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
8. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
9. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right
10. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is
11. Joshua James - Build Me This
12. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
13. Guy Clark - Somedays the Song Writes You
14. Scott Warren - Quick Fix Bandage
15. Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
16. Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night
17. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...
18. Krizz Kaliko - Genius
19. Pete Bernhard - Straight Line
20. Steve Earle - Townes
21. George Strait - Twang
22. Tom Russell - Blood and Candle Smoke
23. Old Californio - Westering Again
24. Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
25. The Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours
26. Phosphorescent - To Willie
27. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
28. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
29. Eric Church - Carolina
30. Sister Hazel - Release
Sep 2, 2009
31 Country Music Themes: 24-27
Sep 1, 2009
Farce the Music Sells Out #4: Scott Warren
Scott Warren - Quick Fix Bandage
Scott Warren is a singer-songwriter with a charming folksy pop-rock sound that probably could have garnered him a hit or two back in the 90's when folks like Del Amitri, Duncan Sheik and Toad the Wet Sprocket still graced the airwaves. On Quick Fix Bandage, that sound is pulled towards the Americana genre with some subtle sweeps of steel guitar, mournful lyrics and Scott's warm Westerbergian rasp.
There's also an obvious AAA contemporary bent that makes it easy to imagine nearly any of the songs on the album playing in the background of an overly emotional scene on One Tree Hill or Melrose. Mind you, they would be among the best tunes to ever set that schmaltzy mood. Never fear guys, only the slightly annoying "Laugh Through the Pain," with it's repetitive "I love you's," sounds overly chick-oriented. There are enough touches of harmonica and rustic atmospherics to maintain a degree of alt-country cred.
The opening "Before You Say Goodbye" is a moody but catchy pop rocker that should be a hit, but likely won't ever get enough attention to pull it into the mainstream. "Along for the Ride" is a standout track, reminiscent of Buffalo Tom's most commercial output. Another of the album's highlights is the down-tempo cover of America's "Sister Golden Hair" which bestows a completely different emotional personality on the classic tune.
QFB, to me, feels like the soundtrack to a wistful fall afternoon. It's a solid, memorable album that pop-rock lovers along with fans of the likes of Ryan Adams, Rhett Miller and Pete Yorn should definitely enjoy.
Check him out here: http://www.myspace.com/scottwarrenmusic
Free, legal song download here: Before You Say Goodbye
Buy the album on iTunes or at Amazon
$4.99 Review - Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band "Live From Bonnaroo"
None of the recent singles on iTunes have struck me lately as anything interesting to blog about (including tolerable tunes by Tim McGraw and Easton Corbin that I didn't feel all that snarky about) as a 99 Cent Review, so here's a review of an EP.
The People's Take:
just ok (3 Stars) – the zac brown band is good, but they should stick to their own stuff. "free" is a great song, but their version of "devil went down to georgia" was not good at all. charlie daniels band did that song so much better. stick to the more popular country.
-fill in da blank
absolutely stunning (5 Stars) – There's nothing better than ZBB live and these few tracks really sum it all up. My fiance and I have been trying to come up with a first dance song and we were torn between Free, Whatever it Is and Into the Mystic by Van Morrisson among a few others. What could be better than the live version of Free with Into the Mystic featured?!?! It's the best of both worlds, you just can't beat it! What an amazing small collection of live tracks. Only wish there were more.
-soxfanjp
My Take:
I need to come clean on a complete change of opinion. I've made more than my share of sport of the Zac Brown Band in the past. Not Chuck Wicks level sport, but they've been in the crosshairs no doubt. To be honest, I based my entire initial opinion of the band on "Chicken Fried" and then filtered their album The Foundation through that skewed opinion. I didn't care for The Foundation after a few listens because of that. Maybe even hated it, aside from a couple of songs.
Time has been a friend to this album, because for some reason I kept being drawn back again and again to give it more chances. Now The Foundation is a friend to my ears. I still skip "Chicken Fried" though.
So anyway, I was something of a fan of ZBB even before I heard about this EP. After purchase and play, I'm a big fan. "Toes," their current hit single is the opening track here and it's even more fun live. While the band isn't flamboyantly entertaining in concert by any means (thank goodness), they bring a warmth and joy to their performance that's hard to describe.
"Free" which flows into a cover of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic" is the centerpiece here. It's a hypnotic display of ZBB's ability to slow it down without boring it down. It's such a compelling track, I defy even the hippest hipster to say they hate this. Applause and backpats are in order for this tune. Awesome.
There's a jam band-ish feel to the proceedings that's not as noticeable on their studio recordings, but don't take that as a red flag. Uh oh, just lost half the audience. In no way do I mean they noodle on the guitar and rub their bleary eyes amid the patchouli smoke. I just mean there's a laid back atmosphere but a real focus on the playing, not the showing off.
There's also a reggae bounce going on, especially in "Who Knows" which is, well, a reggae song. Oh crap, now I've lost the other half of readers. Never fear, ZBB aren't trustafarians or posers, they just happen to incorporate a lot of those elements into their overall package. The blending never sounds awkward or fake, it's an organic experience.
Besides the three songs already mentioned, the EP also includes ZBB's able rendering of CDB's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (which includes no reggae bounce) and a video of the performance of "Who Knows" that really adds to the package and helps those of us who haven't seen ZBB live get a feel for what it's like. It's like... really good, because it's obvious they love what they're doing and they do it well. Hope they come around here soon.
A lot of bands and artists these days make me worry for the future of country music. Zac Brown Band is not one of them.
Total Value: 4.15/4.99
The Checklist:
N/A
Aug 31, 2009
Farce the Music Sells Out #3
Here's another rambling, so-called review at FTM. Though straight reviews shall remain relatively rare here, there will be two more tomorrow - Zac Brown Band and Scott Warren - before we return to the funny with the next edition of "31 Country Themes" and a "Bigger in Texas 2" honest album covers day. For now, please check out this fine album.
Old Californio - Westering AgainWestering Again is a killer country rock album with something for nearly everyone who reads this blog. There is an obvious Beatles influence in many of the melodies and harmonies. There's also sweet jangle pop reminiscent of the Jayhawks going on with some Calexico-esque mariachi spicing things up. In the mellower moments, some of the same dusty landscapes of Richmond Fontaine's story songs are visited here, but the mood rarely gets that somber. Can't help but hear a little Gram Parsons every now and then as well.
The opening track, "Mother Road," is a great, uh, road song (too obvious?) that taps the toe and fills the soul with sunshine. Cheesy description - great song. "From the Mouth of Babes" sounds like Oasis by way of Dylan and features an earworm of a chorus. The only real misstep is "Warmth of the Sun," an over-thought rocker whose mid-tempo groove finally resolves itself into an unfulfilling coda. Fortunately, Westering Again brings it home with three great songs including the epic (in scope not scale) "Lazy Old San Gabriels" and the thoughtful but lilting "California Goodness."
Despite the fact that I played "spot the influences" and "name the similar sounding artists" with this review, Old Californio has its own vibrant personality and fills out this record as a fully realized artist, not just a mockingbird of a "genericana" band. Well worth the purchase. Even fans of more mainstream music would find a lot to love here - this is a very accessible listen.
Check 'em out here: http://www.myspace.com/oldcalifornio
Free, legal song download: "Mother Road"
Buy the album on iTunes or here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oldcalifornio
Aug 30, 2009
Jason Aldean Lyric Parody
Ball-Peen Hammer
(Parody of Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor")
Was out shopping with my wife one Saturday,
The country station on in our Chevrolet
The girls were all shrieking, cutesy and pop,
And the dudes were slangin', brangin' the rock,
They played a Reba song, and it sounded "Strange"
But the straw that broke the camel's back was "That Thang"
When shoppin' was done, we'd planned to see a show
But I said "I'd rather go to Home Depot"
Gonna hit myself hard with a ball-peen hammer
Hell, my IQ can't drop any faster,
These tunes are crappy as turds in the pasture,
To radio execs, it really don't matter,
Long as they sell ads and please soccer moms too
They don't care bout the hell country's gone to
I think those idjits should be put in the slammer
Or I'll hit myself hard with a ball-peen hammer
Said Waylon's cold in his grave but he's rolling around,
This bling and auto-tuner's got him down,
Folks try to stay hip, but these days hip-hop sucks,
It's so two-thousand late to be singin' about butts
Gonna hit myself hard with a ball-peen hammer
Hell, my IQ can't drop any faster,
These tunes are crappy as turds in the pasture,
To radio execs, it really don't matter,
Long as they sell ads and please Nascar dads too
They don't care bout the hell country's gone to
I think those jerkoffs should be put in the slammer
Or I'll hit myself hard with a ball-peen hammer
Dance remixes and sappy teens,
Hank would be thankful he didn't live to see,
This day,
Long as they sell ads and please soccer moms too
They don't care bout the hell country's gone to
I think those morons should be put in the slammer
Or I'll hit myself hard with a ball-peen hammer
Oh no no,
Please just turn it down,
Or I'll put an end to this frown,
With a ball-peen hammer.
Aug 28, 2009
Aug 27, 2009
John Rich Friday
Today is a small celebration of the man, the myth and the legend in his own mind. 2 songwriting tips, a custom JR tattoo and this honest album cover round out the fun, but you can continue the party with a little drinking, fighting, skirt-chasing and badmouthing later today. Enjoy!
John Rich's Songwriting Tips #14 & 15
Any pub is good pub. If anybody lives by that creed, it's yours truly... the Cowboy Stevie Wonder. As a songwriter, it's your job not only to write the best songs, but to make your name stick in the heads of song pitchers, label heads, other writers, skanks on the street and up-and-coming artists. Some methods of branding yourself include: arson, clever hooks, profanity filled phone tirades, middle finger salutes, positive (Conservative) message filled songs, assault and many other meaningful ways of ingratiating yourself to the Nashville community.____________________________
You can't climb the mountains if you stay in Buckfart, Georgia. You gotta move where the damn mountains are. By that fine bit of symbology, I mean to say to you, if you want to get songs cut, you go where they're getting cut. Nashvegas baby! This is where the magic happens. Well, the real magic happens in my king size feather bed with the mirrors on the ceiling, but you know what I mean. Sure, half the population of this town is songwriters, but never mind that, get your shiny white hiney here. My bar needs more patrons - songwriters drowning their sorrows because they should've stayed their asses in Buckfart, Georgia. Ha!
*Not actually written by John Rich.
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