I'm writing this to you in reverse...
4:10 minutes (3.87 MB)
For those of you who have been living under a rock the last few months: Spoon put out a new album. It's called Transference. Better late than never, eh? Take a listen to the single, Written in Reverse.
Buy the new album, Transference.
Teagarden by Kaleidyscope
6:03 minutes (8.9 MB)
Well, I think it's time to get that damn picture of Train off the top of the page. Blogging time has been limited lately, but I'm hoping that I'll have some consistent posts for all of you a few times a week going forward.
First up, Smashing Pumpkins news. I'm sure most of you are scratching your heads at this - after all, Zeitgeist pretty much sucked. And by pretty much sucked, I mean it was quite possibly the worst musical disappointment I'd had in the past 5 years. The Pumpkins were always one of my favorites - always a bit more "out there" then the other 90's acts that I got first heard in my early "enlightenment era". Things have certainly gone south since Melon Collie, but I'd still been holding out until I listened to Zeitgeist. That was the straw that broke the camel's back.
I'd heard some rumors about Jimmy quitting and Billy hiring a 19 year old drummer to keep on keepin' on. This news didn't do much to encourage me to follow Billy anymore.
After shutting ignoring the Pumpkins for a few months I started hearing that not only was there new material, but it was actually good. Shocking, I know.
It seems that Billy is starting up a new project - the 44 track Teagarden by Kaleidyscope. When will it be done? No one knows. But Billy is releasing it for free, one track at a time. Two tracks are up so far over at smashingpumpkins.com, freely available to download as many times as you'd like. I've put a stream up of "Song for a Son", may favorite of the two here so you can take a gander before clicking away. I'll do my best to keep you updated as more tracks become available.
[MP3] A Song for a Son (via smashingpumpkins.com)
[MP3] Widow Wake My Mind (via smashingpumpkins.com)
Train - "Hey, Soul Sister": The horrible truth...
So this has been on my mind for quite a while. On the surface this song has a pretty catchy melody, some clever rhymes and on the whole a good return to form for the boys of Train. Upon further listen, however, is this little lyrical gem (italics mine, horrifying):
"I'm so obsessed / My heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest."
Yech. I'm gonna go take a shower.
iChristmas Tunes Extravaganza!
Christmas tunes are a bit of a fetish for me. Why? Well, I suppose it all started when my wife and I were put in charge of the Christmas music for the in-law Christmas party a few years ago. As I recall, we weren't married yet - still a few months off from being engaged really, but we got our task and went about it.
Every other year I'd been to the big party I'd had to suffer through a few hours of Bing. I'm sure he means well, but after a couple of tunes I've had enough of Bing. You'd think that 12 months off would make it more tolerable, but to me it doesn't really help. So, my task became clear - I needed to scrounge up enough Christmas tunes that WON'T increase my desire to off myself while in the midst of a giant in-law x-mas party - a rather daunting task at times.
Obviously I'm still standing here - I even made it through the last party on Friday 12/18/09 with no scratches, so clearly it works. These tunes are the fruits of many hours of labour. I have plenty more, but this is a selection of my favorites - about 1/4 of my stash. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays.
1. Carol of Bells - Phantom Planet
2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Local H
3. Blue Christmas - Collective Soul
4. Run Rudolph Run - Sister Hazel
5. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
6. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - Eels
7. Christmas Time (Is Here Again) - The Beatles
8. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town - Bruce Springsteen
9. Funky Christmas - James Brown
10. We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Weezer
11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
12. I Won't Be Home For Christmas - Blink-182
13. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
14. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Bright Eyes
15. White Christmas - Dishwalla
16. 12/23/95 - Jimmy Eat World
17. Someday at Christmas - Pearl Jam
18. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon
19. Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - Sufjan Stevens
20. O Holy Night - Cary Brothers
21. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Copeland
22. Silent Night - Dishwalla
23. Christmas Is Going to the Dogs - Eels
24. Noel! Noel! - Eve 6
25. Holly Jolly Christmas - The Format
26. Let Me Sleep - Pearl Jam
27. Father Christmas - The Kinks
28. Christmas Baby - G. Love
29. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson
30. When I Get Home For Christmas - Snow Patrol
31. This Time of Year - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
32. Jingle Bells - Pearl Jam
33. I Wish it Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
34. Little Drummer Boy - Dishwalla
35. Joy to the World - The Layaways
36. Sister Winter - Sufjan Stevens
37. Let it Snow - Magnet
38. Just Like Christmas - Snow Patrol
39. All I Want for Christmas - Matt Costa
40. Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance! - Sufjan Stevens
41. Here it is Christmas Time - Old 97's
42. Don't Believe in Christmas - Pearl Jam
43. Back Door Santa - Jet
44. Do They Know it's Christmas? - Pete Yorn
45. Merry Xmas Everybody - R.E.M.
46. Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sexsmith
47. Hey Parker It's Christmas - Ryan Adams
48. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - Sense Field
49. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
50. White Christmas - Sister Hazel
51. Holy, Holy, Holy - Sufjan Stevens
52. Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
54. Santa Claus is Back in Town - My Morning Jacket
55. Christmas Song - Weezer
56. Someday at Christmas - Jack Johnson
57. Star of Wonder - Sufjan Stevens
58. Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
59. Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World
60. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Mason Jennings
61. Winter Wonderland - Radiohead
62. Xmas Eve - The Damnwells
63. Away in a Manger - The Layaways
64. What Child is This? - Black Lab
65. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Hem
Here's a handy dandy zip file with all the tunes.
If you're looking for a bit more "uniformity" in your Christmas mix, I'd suggest checking out these 3 albums:
This Warm December - A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 1
Sister Hazel - Santa's Playlist
Cary Brothers - Father Christmas EP
Those three have been my favorites from the last year or two.
Also - my wife has had me on a mad hunt for a "good" version of Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer. I'm no fan of the song, but she's not satisfied by the original or the Poe version. Anyone have any others?
Merry Christmas!
The long awaited missing tracks from Black Lab
3:06 minutes (3.71 MB)
Black Lab is that classic tragedy of the music industry:
Band makes brilliant album.
Label doesn't push said album.
Band goes to record second album.
Label gets bought by bigger label.
Bigger label drops band and prohibits the release of already recorded material.
Band breaks up.
I have a special place in my heart with bands who went through all this nonsense, but Black Lab reigns supreme even amongst all the Dishwallas and Semisonics. Their quashed dream seemed a bit more harrowing than their contemporaries. That and Your Body Above Me was just flat-out genius - a true masterpiece of the '90s.
The time between Your Body Above Me and See the Sun was excruciating. The boys moved between websites, switched labels, leaked demos and eventually wound up going indie (with only lead singer Paul Durham surviving the whole mess). Only the most devoted of fans could keep up with the whole mess. To this day, despite the frustrations I'm thankful I stuck with them. Ultimately I was rewarded with the brilliance of See the Sun.
Enter Give us Sugar. With their latest release, Paul and co. have one-upped the previous expectations, hopes and dreams of the Black Lab faithful by releasing not 1, but 2 CDs worth of re-mastered demos, b-sides and soundtrack songs encapsulating (mainly) the band's time between recording their first and second albums. All the demos that were leaked in really crappy MP3s 10 years ago now are ready for download in WAV format - full CD quality. Never thought I'd see the day.
I won't stand here and pretend they've delivered 32 tracks of pure bliss. This is essentially a b-sides album, and b-sides are hit and miss. That's why they're b-sides folks. That being said, Lost Dogs from Pearl Jam was one hell of a b-sides album. Give Us Sugar falls more along those lines than say Pisces Iscariot. It's more hit than miss. At just $15 it's quite a deal for 32 tracks. Take a listen to Like I Used To for a taste of what's in store.
Check here for a full track listing, lyrics, stories behind the songs or to order Give Us Sugar.
Review: Silversun Pickups - Swoon
This was an impulse buy for me. I happened to be at a local music store the day Swoon was released. I had heard a song or two by the Silversun Pickups via The Hype Machine, but nothing that really blew me away. I ended up purchasing the album mostly due to a want of something new to listen to (and the lack of perceived quality from other new releases). And man, let me just say I'm glad I did.
This is a solid album from front to back. My description in two words: "dark" and "looming". This theme is embraced throughout, with string and orchestral additions really enhancing the mood on many tracks. Very catchy hooks and tumbling choruses make this album a lot of fun to listen to again and again. Even the androgynous lead vocals, which I thought I would hate in short order, have grown on me considerably.
Try them on for size and ponder if you yourself can (or want to) live without this rock.
From the Mail Box!
Once again it is time to share with you the delightful sounds that have been shared with us by our friends around the webs.
First up is a young lady name Erin McKeown, a very talented singer-songwriter with Regina Spektor quirkiness and Elliot Smith melodic sensibilities (gratefully without the wretched constant-doubled-vocals-gimmick [seriously, don't even get me started on Elliot Smith]). I prefer most of what's on her Myspace to the track that arrived the mail, but take a listen, won't you?
[mp3] Erin McKeown - The Foxes
The Flying Change is great mellow music, that sounds like it's from that bygone era of music when a band slowed things down to really say something, you know? You can stream the album Pain is a Reliable Signal at the band's website, or check out a track right here:
[mp3] The Flying Change - Broken Bow
As always, send us stuff to listen to at sellthelie (at) gmail (dot) com.
More Damn fine demos
Hopefully we are beginning to make up for our lack of coverage on The Damnwells of late. First came One Last Century demos, followed closely by unreleased songs. Today we've got even more demos, these a wee bit older than the last.
My personal favorites of this bunch are Air Stereo and She's The NYC Skyline. She's The NYC Skyline in particular features some poetic verses: "She's constant like the ringing in my ears / she's drowning out the silence of my fears" and "she surrendered 'I love you's with bitter shame". Really, really great stuff.
Sadly, I think this exhausts my supply of The Damnwells demos. If anyone out there has any that they think I'll want to hear (and trust me, I do want to hear), shoot me an email or leave a comment; anything by The Damnwells is well worth the time and the listen.
The Damnwells - More Demos
Air Stereo
Sell The Lie
I Am A Leaver
She's The New York City Skyline
You're Gonna Love Me
Have To Ask
While You Can
Electric Harmony
or download it all in a handy .ZIP file
Buy some already!: iTunes | Amazon
Go on the interwebs: Official | Myspace
More Damnwells: Unreleased
Yesterday there were One Last Century demos to be had (technically they still are to be had, but yesterday was when they were first to be had). Today we move on to unreleased songs. A careful reader may have noticed that I wanted to go all reverse-chronological on yo' asses. Well, try as I might, I had a bit of difficulty placing many of these unreleased gems in their respective time periods. I found myself asking, "did such-and-such track come before Air Stereo and after Bastards of the Beat? Or was it between PMR+1 and Bastards?" I was stumped on more than I care to admit. So it was decided that unreleased goodness comes next followed by some older demos.
Unreleased songs are a vivid reminder of how much awesome music there is that never makes it to its intended audience's ear holes. It's crazy. Why is it that so much crap music gets shoved in one's face on a daily basis and, in order to find the good stuff, you've got to dig? Maybe I should've been an archaeologist.
Allow me to shove the good stuff in your face:
The Damnwells - Unreleased
Ballad of You
Binghampton or Bust
Honeside
How Do I Say Nothing
I'm a Bomb
It's Okay (Hey Now)
Smile Guy
Stay
Sweet Marie
Televised Telephone
The Experts
The Only One Who Laughs
Xmas Eve
or download it all in a handy .ZIP file
(Another big thank you to reader Doug for most of these)
Buy some: iTunes | Amazon
Visit the sites: Official | Myspace
[edit: Ha, screwed up already! Turns out Untitled actually does have a title; it's called You're Gonna Love Me and can be found on the Golden Days single. Removed it for now; it will arrive shortly with the older demos.]
Damn fine demos
This Labor Day weekend brought me back on a Damnwells kick. It made me realize that I had forgotten some great music: demos, unreleased, and otherwise rare material from The Damnwells.
Studio tracks can introduce you to a good band; demos and unreleased songs point out the truly great ones. It's true, pause for a moment and consider: while stuff from the studio exudes a more polished and oftentimes over-produced quality, demos and other long-buried songs showcase a raw, passionate and powerful sound, one with a life all its own. Sorry to wax poetic, but many of my favorite tracks from my favorite bands cannot be found on a major CD release. Back to these particular demos, I prefer to start in the present and work my way back. So, we'll begin with demos from The Damnwells's latest release, One Last Century.
The Damnwells - One Last Century Demos
Like It Is
Bastard Of Midnight
Closer Than We Are
Soundtrack
Jesus Could Be Right
Down With The Ship
Come To Me
(A big thanks to reader Doug for most these excellent tracks)
Buy some: iTunes | Amazon
Visit the sites: Official | Myspace
