NYC Moments: This time with the Highline

Moments like these are the reason this is home...ahh, New York City.

Yesterday we were doing some stuff around the apartment when we randomly heard brass music.  Looking outside we saw The Hungry Marching Band cruising literally right past my window...they were Second Linin' Down The Highline!
It was part of Make Music NYC.  I couldn't get my camera in time, but eerily almost the same thing happened today. 

The Yellow Building in the back is home...

Will getting some ducks in a row, it started pouring rain outside...when the rain stopped I could have swore I heard some drums.  Looked outside and there was a jazz band playing the pop-up beer garden right under the Highline!
Sorry for the narrow video (first on my new iphone!) but I managed to run down and catch the last snippet of the bands set amidst the puddles and brave souls drinking in the rain.  Ahh small moments make me love this town more and more...however, it is a touch bizarre that 4 years ago people were getting shot here and now there is a legit art installation.

How the city reinvents itself is astounding....Now we have tourists were their only used to be hookers...Progress!

Glide Review - Steve Earle I'll Never Get Out Of This Alive

What's up killers?

Got a new review up on Glide.

Read it right c'here!!!

It is of Steve Earle's newest release I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.

Gotta say off the bat I think it is one of his best releases in years.  I caught him recently opening for Levon Helm and Ramble back at the Beacon in November and he put on a solid one man show hitting on most of these tunes.  The disk is primarily about him as well, focusing on his story tunes and love numbers, but T-Bone Burnett's country/folk influence is everywhere too...

Earle can be all over the map but the one word that kept coming to mind with every song was "solid".  There is very little to critique about this disk...complete songs, interesting lyrics and passionate performances dominate.  If anything the whole piece may be too "one-note" but that adds to the albums place and time I feel.  I also feel this one may end up on a few  best of lists come December time...

Judge for yourself with a few tunes that I like the best from it:
"This City"  GodDamTootin' That's a good one....

"God Is God" with some cool background info...

"Every Part Of Me"  Pretty close to a perfect song, no joking.

R.I.P. Clarence "The Big Man" Clemons

Unfortunately Clarence Clemons passed away this weekend after complications from a stroke.  He was 69.

 I have loved the man's playing since I first heard it, but a friend with deep connections wanted to chime in on the passing, so I am handing them the proverbial floor of the blog to do so...

First up is Steve Janasie.

Old Friends You Never Knew

In a cynical world, it is all too easy to write off the magic that exists between an entertainer and his fans.  Some will call it silly, overly sentimental, or go so far as to suggest that it holds no meaning.  If you can help yourself, try to never go to that place.  Each of us has the opportunity to experience innumerbale loves in our lifetime, of innumerbale variety.  But love is love is love, and any love is a thing to be nurtured and cherished.

Growing up in Jersey in the 80's and the 90's, you had to make a vital decision that would ultimately define you in the eyes of your fellow statesmen and stateswomen.  You had to declare allegiance to one of two tribes - Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen. Neutrality was unacceptable. From the moment I could start dressing myself, I was blue jeans and white t-shirts all the way.

As magnetic as the Boss was to a young boy, there was a second force of nature on E Street who literally blew me away.  I was lucky to catch on to the magic of music at a fairly young age and around 1984 or 1985 I understood two concrete facts about the world around me - Walter Payton and Clarence Clemons were the two coolest people alive.

For me, Clarence's saxophone has simply always been around.  In third or fourth grade, I got a small evergreen for Arbor Day.  I named it Clarence and planted it in our backyard as a monument to Clemons' unsurpassed soul.  The relationship between Bruce and Clarence taught me one of the most important lessons of my life - that a black American and a white American could not only get along, but share profound and complete love for one another.  I think they taught a lot of people that and it is something Bruce has already subtly remarked upon with the Big Man's passing.  Sly and the Family Stone showed a generation that black and whites could work together to make something beautiful.  Bruce and Clarence took it a step further, at times becoming one, and showing the world that blacks and whites can simply BE something beautiful.

I have had the opportunity to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on many occasions and I can tell you without a trace of hyperbole that every single time they thoroughly rocked my world.  I firmly believe that they are without peer, the best live band in America today, and perhaps in the country's exciting musical history.  They bring it every night with the knowledge that this might be the only time that YOU get to share a room with them.  This is the ultimate expression of love from a band back to its fans.  I don't know where E Street runs from here, I can't fathom how they will go on, and yet I feel certain that they will.  They found a way to live on past and pay tribute to Danny's organ and accordion, and they will do the same for Clarence.  Family doesn't stop being the family with the passing of kin.

The last time I was on E Street I was with my wife at her first Springsteen show.  At one point, we were standing in one of the hockey stadium's upper gates overlooking the crowd and the light show, holding one another and listening to Clarence Clemons blow out the majestic solo from "Jungleland".  I consider it one of the watershed moments in our young love and I refer back to it often.  I feel privileged that Jennifer, Clarence, and I had the opportunity to share that moment and our love for one another.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, appearing stage left in heaven's orchestra, weighing in at 265 pounds, the king of the world, the master of the universe, a man who needs no introduction, the Big Man, Clarence Clemons.  Blow that celestial horn, my brother. 

- Clarence Clemons 1942-2011

Thanks Steve....and now a tribute from Bono, The Edge and crew as they dedicate "Moment of Surrender" to The Big Man.

Dylan Cover #17 The Unknown Origins "Silvio" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune comes from The Unknown Origins and is a live cover of "Silvio" 

Thoughts on Dylan Original:
One of the bright spots on the stinker Down in The Groove, and I have always felt that this ha a lot to do with Robert Hunter helping Bobby out on this one.  Co-written by Hunter with Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland and Bobby Weir helping out on the studio recording this track feels very mid-career Grateful Dead.  It got even more so live, picking up the rollicking pace and sticking with Bob for the rest of his career, something none of the other Groove tracks managed to do.  I have always loved "Silvio" because of the Dead connection and because I caught a ripping version of it at my first and still to this day favorite Dylan show...    
Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Never heard of The Unknown Thoughts, and not much on line about them.  Looks like a cover band from VA if I can read the minimal websites correctly.  Any more info would gladly be appreciated.

Thoughts on Cover:
Wow...again one of the main reasons to do this series was to find new/unique/different acts and this week was a head bopping discovery.  The group goes for the goat and takes the song full steam ahead with organ solos, crashing cymbals and a hell of a lead guitar.  They accelerate the pace of the song without sacrificing one verse of the mystical lyrics, providing a smooth delivery with excellent backing vocals in the chorus...even chucking out the dated sounding woo-hoo's!

The guitar playing earns special attention with Sean Loomis killing it on solo's, adding flairs to the actual intro, and unique runs throughout the whole song.  This is a get out of your chair and boogie version, ain't not a damn thing wrong with that.

Grade: Solid A. 

Wilson's Take:

Friday Funday - Free Music - RtBE Freegal Mix # 2

It's back!  The free warped mix that you crave and this time things are really sprouting eclectic. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MUSIC!!!

Again this comes from the excellent music database Freegal.

Yeah all over the map this time...you got the ever present minstrel starting things off, with an amazing live reinterpretation of one of his best songs.  Brandi Carlile is a new comer to my life but good ol' Charlie Mingus sure ain't. 

 Things take a turn for gangsta with Ghostface and then vacillate with some folksy T-Bone, the Motor City Madman's best tune "Stranglehold" and the funky/sexy Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "Booty Ooty" which you need to love for the title alone.

The ending duo couldn't be more divergent as we have all-time country bad boy Billie Joe Shaver rocking out to the fantastic "Black Rose"  while that guitar moves me (as do the lyrics) it doesn't make me smile as much as this BJS ditty...


Then we end with the pulsating noise of Sunn 0))).  If you Mary's can't take the drone I understand, but give it at least one spin...Enjoy the tunes, and enjoy your weekend. 

(By the Way...the first one is here in case you missed it)

Happy Bloomsday...and other things

So it is a Thursday with lots going on...for one it is Bloomsday and I hope to be toasting to the fantastic James Joyce very soon...

See, the best read Joyce...

 Here are some ways to celebrate the nerdy holiday.  Unfortunately I couldn't make it down to Ulysses, I guess that was a mistake...then again:

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

I am no genius, obviously either are the Vancouver Canucks, who blew game 7 pretty badly (yes I was rooting for them).  The riots were something...I am not sure I will ever understand the mentality of "my team just crushed my soul with that loss...so let's burn this car!!!!" but I have to say...when I was flipping open my morning Internet I never expected to see an image as glorious as this (click on it to get the full majesty):

 

That seems to be all that is Holy and strangely Riot in the world...(sorry for the pun...here is the real deal)

Plenty to see and hear and feel yet. Feel live warm beings near you. They aren't going to get me this innings. Warm beds: warm full blooded life.

Amen Brother...One last thing, I also got a give a cheers to Tom and Lindsey....Slainte!

Album Review - Meschiya Lake & The Little Big Horns Lucky Devil

This review is part of the "Over Flow" Review Series. For various reasons these past reviews were not published anywhere else. I am tagging them as "Overflow Reviews" and may add some extra information after if needed but I will keep the ratings and reviews just as I originally wrote them. Enjoy:

Meschiya Lake & The Little Big Horns
Lucky Devil
**** out of *****

Lucky Devil contains the neatest of all tricks when it comes to music; it is impossible to tell just when in time it was recorded.  You could probably pin it to the 20th century but after that it gets tough…1920’s?  It does have the earliest of Blues and Jazz influences but maybe the 40’s or 50’s…nah, not enough be-bop.  To find out it was recorded by a current group of young musicians is a revelation, not only in its production values but also Lucky Devil’s crisp and snappy “old-timey” tracks.  

The group has such a devotion to this classic period in American music that it shines refreshing in a technological filled synth era.  Turning to the classics the group covers everyone from Duke Ellington to Bessie Smith while dropping in a few originals that sound like kindred spirits of the older tracks.  One of those originals, “Slowburn” brings a Spanish sizzle and sexiness when it rolls out.  Meschiya Lake is the headliner and immediate draw with her smoky vocals that can get raspy before soaring in the next measure to mingle with the stars as it does on “Do For Myself”.

Lake has a flare in her performance that transports the listener; in her rendition of "I'm Alone Because I Love You" her warbling intro vocals sound as if they are being filtered through a huge radio as the family gathers around to listen after supper.  The title track "Lucky Devil" is a torch song that has bruised love seeping out of the speakers as Lake croons her pains and desires away; a immediate show stopper.   

The backing Little Big Horns support and solo wonderfully like on the upbeat closer of “Joesph! Joesph!” and the perfectly lazy cover of Jelly Roll Morton's "Sweet Substitue" which does just to their famous fellow New Orleanian.  The brass and cymbal rides call out while tuba bubbles and guitar/banjo strums drive tunes along.  One of the best compliments I can think of for this album and group as a whole is that Lucky Devil and Meschiya Lake & The Little Big Horns are authentic.  Enjoy the time-warp.

_____________________________________________________________________
Extras:
Meschiya and The Lil Big Horns have talent...no doubting it and any jazz fan should check this group out.  Sure they are from the early period and there are no virtuoso displays of free form solos I gravitate towards but Lucky Devil harkens back to a gloriously sounding time...and the band adds to that glorious sound.

Meschiya is the obvious standout and hopefully she will continue to grow as an artist and performer.  She sings in a variety of outfits, from (my favorite) the Rough Seven to duo's with piano player Tom McDermott:

but The Little Big Horns is the group she butter's her biscuits with.  Give the album a whirl and check them out when they come to town...like I am tonight at The Radegast Hall & Biergarten  Come on out and get down if you are around...hopefully pics and video of the show will get up soon, but for now peep some of their older vid's and enjoy:

Glide Review - The Rough Seven Live 5-8-11 Checkpoint Charlies, NOLA

Got a new review up on Glide.


Read it right c'here!!!

It is from The Rough Seven's Live set early on the morning of 5/8/11 (late on the 7th?) down in New Orleans at Checkpoint Charlie's.

The band took the stage late, and almost made me miss my flight...they were that good.  As I so casually mentioned in my Sazerwrap-up of this years fest, this was the show of the year for me...The bands were both fantastic with The Rok Boms surprising and The Rough Seven confirming their greatness. 

I can not hype this band enough, I was really moved by their set and wish I lived in town so I can see them play whenever they do.  Talking briefly with the members was a thrill and I hope you all go and grab their album as it will undoubtedly brighten up your life. 

Here they were playing the big stage at the fairgrounds the morning before this amazing late night set:

Keep up the great work ladies and gents!

Dylan Cover #16 Pearl Jam "Masters Of War" Live on Letterman

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune comes from Pearl Jam and is a live cover of "Masters Of War"

Thoughts on Dylan Original:
Ranking as one of his most accusatory and cutting tracks is no easy measure but Dylan condemns the whole "war machine" on this classic and vital track (the "hope that you die" line is so facking cold it is brutal).  Often misrepresented as an attack on war itself (Dylan always said he wasn't a pacifist) this track calls out the government for using war-as-business (the Cold War in Particular) and business-as-war models when lives are put on the line for meaningless reasons.  As alive and burning now as it was in 1962 when he wrote it which I am sure is the reason the Seattle boys covered it...   
Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Pearl Jam are a rare beast in today's musical landscape.  Touring giants who really don't need to put out any more albums but do in order to stay current and relevant.  Not everyone agrees with what they do and not all new records are hits but the band are so well oiled that they can take covers and their own fantastic arena rock songs and mine them for meaning and nuances.  Pearl Jam is one of the great American rock and roll bands ever and currently one of the best live arena acts out there....catch them if you can. 

Thoughts on Cover:
After taking another week off with Memorial Day last week, we wanted to come back strong and what better way then Eddie Vedder belting out a Dylan all-time great?  The first time I heard Eddie's take on "Masters of War" was during the 30th Anniversary celebration at MSG.  Playing with just Mike McCready the duo did a phenomenal job with the tune.  Vedder's baritone vocals add power while the acoustic undertones add some harmony.  Today's version has the full band largely acoustic...except for Eddie's Fender (having him alone playing electric shows how far he has come as a guitarist) and the tune rises in rage and volume towards the end.  The "Hope That You Die" line mellows out to keep its chilling effect.  The group was playing the tune on Letterman before they left for the Vote For Change Tour, and wanted to make a statement.  They certainly did with this fairly straight ahead cover of one of the most powerful songs written in the 60's.

Grade:   Solid B.
    
Wilsons Take:

Unlike most Dylan songs, which can be picked up by any artist, I've never thought "Masters of War" was ripe for the covering. Much like "It's Alright Ma", "Masters of War" was birthed in the early hours of Dylan's genius. It belongs to Dylan. It belongs to that time in American history when young Americans began questioning the military industrial complex. Transported to 2008, as it is played here on The Late Show with David Letterman, the song loses its essence. Pearl Jam's cover of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" is far more relevant to our bizarre age.

The real issue at stake is that a song like "Masters of War" exposes the subsequent generation's failure to write its own political anthems. We needed music of colossal depth to chronicle our times...and it never came. It was as if the Baby Boomers sucked all of the oxygen out of the room and relegated music of true political depth to the basement of cliches. Generation X had front row seats in the theater of "what happens to moments of revolution in America," and the resounding answer was: they get abandoned once they become inconvenient to the pursuit of fun. The tumult of the 1960s devolved into the depression of the 1970s, followed promptly by the cocaine-fueled money crusade of the 1980s. That generational cop-out ruined, for a time, the next generation's will to pursue cultural change with a straight face. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Generation X's music (out of decency, we will politely ignore the generation that filled stadiums for Devo and The Bangles). Thus we get the 1990s. To be sure, Grunge was beautiful, ironic and far more spiritually-honest than the American 1960s. In the 1990s, grunge artists honed in on what America had really been about since its inception: the individual. And by the 1990s, the individual was jaded and socially-ambivalent.

Jaded, social-ambivalence does not prepare one for romanticizing human culture. And at its tap root, any protest song is an act of romanticism. The ability to write a song like "Masters of War" requires the writer to be a closet optimist; both an observer and admirer of other people. You have to be somewhat optimistic about mankind's true possibilities to so cuttingly and beautifully identify his horrors. Dylan, in his youth, was a bard of that caliber. The songwriters of the grunge era never embraced the notion that man was fundamentally good. Cobain shot himself and Vedder routinely hinted at that possibility before settling down with a supermodel, having a kid and splicing world tours with social causes.

However, Eddie Vedder is a remarkable talent, especially when he's being authentic. When he's embracing his talent, he's on. He has no superior among his peers. Yet we all know - and this is hardly a knock - that like all admirers of early rockers, he has a strong penchant for inauthenticity (see early emulations of Jim Morrison, and early-90s "I'm on the edge!" camera-pandering to put any politician to shame). It's a testament to Vedder that even when he's faking it, he's still better than most. A far better reprisal of "Masters of War" was given by Eddie Vedder in a 1992 tribute to Dylan...whereas this Late Show performance just doesn't get it done. Musically it sounds flat and Eddie Vedder sings like he's going through the motions. To see the better side of Vedder's appetite for protest, and a simple yet not-half-bad song, check out "No More War".

Friday Funday: Oysters NYPL Blogpost

I Love Oysters...

I know I just posted this last week...but what a pic!

I could eat them for every meal and some days do so when I saw Carmen's blog post over on NYPL.org I got hungry.  When she opens with this paragraph it is hard not too. 

Blue Points, Saddle Rocks, Rockaways, Lynnhavens, Cape Cods, Buzzard Bays, Cotuits, Shrewsburys -- raw on the half shell. Fried oysters, oyster pie, oyster patties, oyster box stew, Oysters Pompadour, Oysters Algonquin, Oysters a la Netherland, a la Newberg, a la Poulette, oysters roasted on toast, broiled in shell, served with cocktail sauce, stewed in milk or cream, fried with bacon, escalloped, fricasseed, and pickled.

Fantastic, my mouth is watering...Then I remembered this was a NYC library blog so I knew it wouldn't be long before she mentioned the excellent Mark Kurlansky book The Big Oyster: History On The Half Shell which is a fascinating look at the oysters history with a specific focus on NYC. 

I won't say much more...except I could really go for a couple of dozen of Phantom Creek's right about now...anyway go read Carmen's excellent blog post, play around in the menu world of NYPL and enjoy your weekend.

RIP Gil Scott-Heron

This past holiday weekend saw the passing of a wonderful and temperamental artist in Gil Scott-Heron. 

There have been a few tributes and recollections posted around the old interwebs today for the man, so I won't go into much detail as you can click the links and read them for yourself, but I was turned on to the artist back in college from my friend Steve who burned me a completion of his tracks.  Of course "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" was on there
and while it is still powerful and his obvious high water mark, I enjoyed the free jazz and musical backing, along with the cutting/poetic lyrics of "H20 Gate Blues" just as much:

 His newest release I'm New Here was gaining some chatter last year, unfortunately I haven't checked out the full album yet, hope to remedy that soon. 
The country lost a very unique American artist this weekend, so if you haven't checked him out yet give him a listen.  Safe travels to the hereafter and whatever lies beyond Gil. 

Sazerwrap up for Jazzfest 2011

 I have been putting off this wrap up of Jazzfest off because mentally I still feel like a part of me is still there and... that is a fantastic feeling.  I will do my best here but it would do more justice to that fantastic town and all the great people to chat about the experience over Abita's in a garden somewhere just west of the river.  (As always click on the pics for bigger versions)

Glide Review - Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

 Got a new review up on Glide.

Read it right C'here!!!

It is the newest release from one of my guitar heroes, Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts.

This time Thurston puts away the feedback and dissonance and breaks out the acoustics and gets some help from violins and harps.  Like another geee-tar hero J. Mascis, Thurston is showing off more of his softer side this time...age?  Artistic direction?  Forget to pay the power bills so they can't plug in the amps?  Who knows, it is kinda cool that they both put these out around the same time and it is was hard not to compare the two in the review.

I think Thurston has taken a few more chances, bringing in Beck as a producer for one and adding many more outside players to the mix.  While I did give J half a star more, I could see myself growing to like Thurstons a bit more in the future....but seriously boys lets plug back in and rock the fuck out already!!!  Sorry where was I... 

The music is welcoming for most of the album with some seriously creepy lyrics popping up, off setting the lush atmospheric sound.   You can stream the whole album for a bit on NPR here...and below are my favorite tracks from the disk for your enjoyment...

"Benediction" (Pretty Great Track)

"Circulation" (Personal Fav...Most Sonic-like)

"Orchard Street"

Glide Review - Warren Haynes Band Live 5/12/11 Beacon Theater, NYC

 
Got a new review up on Glide.

Read it right C'here!!!

It is of the Warren Haynes Band Live 2 set 2 encore show at the Beacon Theater May 12th 2011. 

I had the pleasure of catching Warren post Jazzfest with two friends and the show presented was a good time.  Nothing earth shattering or mind blowing, but solid and workmen like.

I took Tom's line and used it in the review about it feeling like a Clapton show during the 80's (which he insisted was a good thing) and Mattie's overall view that it would have worked better if it was just a Stax cover show.  (Both of your royalties checks are in the mail).

I think the thread that ties both of those together is that Warren's new songs just aren't all that memorable.  He has always been the hardest working man in jamband land, but over the last few years I think he has written so many songs that there is almost a sense of burnout.  I felt it starting back in 2004 when he released Deja Voodoo with Gov't Mule and has seeped into his newest solo release, Man in Motion.  If one artist didn't need a solo release it is Warren.

Maybe I feel that way because I thought his early 00 decade output was some of the best live music out there.  The pain of losing his band mate and great friend Allen Woody produced Mule's best moments (all of The Deep End shows and releases) and his venture into Phil and Friends was the spark that reignited The Dead's catalog as he formed the insanely talented Phil Lesh Quintet before helping "The Dead" proper out with some fantastic tours.

Anyway, I love his voice and his playing, this wasn't the best show I have seen him do, and it wasn't the worst, so check out some live clips of him with his new band or even better, go check them out live yourself.

Warren Haynes Band Live Wanee Music Fest
"Invisible"  (is that Lopez on Bass?!?!)

"Tear Me Down"
"Power and the Glory"

Dylan Cover # 15 Porter Ridge Bluegrass Band "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune comes from the Porter Ridge Bluegrass Band and is a live cover of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"

Thoughts on Dylan Original:
A great song, and one that sounds so simple.  It always felt to me that these are the kind of songs Dylan has seeping out of his pores, with lines like "Tailgates and Substitutes" that anywhere else would sound foolish yet here works wonders.  The musical backing from the original Band version is loose and matched fantastically with the lyrics.  I am sure it wasn't as easy going as it sounds on the final version, but what a gem of a track.  
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Haven't had the pleasure of listening to the Porter Ridge Bluegrass Band before, and this is the first time I am hearing of them, but they seem like a fun little outfit. Can't find too much about them online either, but their other videos are good listens.  Like some other times in this series it is fun to explore new artists...thank you youtube.
 
Thoughts on Cover:
The band probably owes more to The Byrds and their country flavored cover of this tune then they do to Bob Dylan, but since The Byrds released this song first it isn't that surprising.  The group speeds things up and motors through the tune taking some breaks to play some tasty mandolin in the process.  A quick lyrical take but nailing all the lines with some twang, and like most covers in this series shows off the versatility of the bards tunes.  All in all an average admirable bluegrass cover.

Grade: C+

Wilson's Take:

With pop-culture swirling around the brain like electronic stew, ceaselessly, it's nearly impossible to hear bluegrass without thinking of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? - the Coen Brothers' homage to the Greek poet Homer and Deep Fried Southern Culture. 

I've never crossed paths with The Porter Ridge Bluegrass Band and yet there's no call to put stock in that. We've all had run-ins with their musical kin at late-summer county fairs and Colorado rodeos. Bluegrass, like Ragtime, is an American genre that ain't goin' nowhere...it's fixed, unchanged, and sounds the same today as when Jefferson Davis was still representing Mississippi as a respected senator in Washington. Unto itself, this rendition of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" doesn't translate well on video. That's not entirely the band's fault. Bluegrass - dominated by the banjo - is one genre in which I firmly believe that to enjoy it, you have to be present and loaded. That combination is the elixer of some of life's finer moments, but for bluegrass it's essential. Yet bluegrass may just be the perfect home for a song with lyrics ranging from "Ghengis Khan could not keep, all his kings supplied with sleep" and "Tie yourself to a tree with roots, you ain't goin' nowhere" given the fact that while you have no idea what Dylan is talking about, you know exactly what he means. And that takes a very specific kind of genius...things have to get weird and punchy before they make sense, just like bluegrass.

Glide Review -The Dirtbombs- Party Store

Got a new review up on Glide.

Read it right C'here!!!

It is of Detroit's own Dirtbombs with their newest, Party Store.

This is the Motor City bands tribute to the mid 80's techno scene that was fairly popular in their town and when I first heard about it I knew I wanted to review it. 

This seemed such a strange combo that I thought some magic might happen. 

While their are highlights, overall it is a pretty loving tribute with not too much variation from the originals (guitars and feedback for keys and digital bleeps), but it is certainly worth hearing.  It is also a nice musical history lesson to go back and check out some of the original artists the band saw fit to cover. 

Here are a couple of the tunes with their original for comparison purposes...gvie a listen:

"Strings Of Life"

"Strings of Life" Original for comparison:

"Good Life"

"Good Life" Original for comparison.

Dylan Cover #14 - The White Stripes - "Isis" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune comes from The White Stripes and is a live cover of "Isis"

Thoughts on Dylan Original:
Desire is such a thick album, Dylan's most complex story songs seem to hover in and around it, and not all are winners...."Isis" is though.  A great song that manages to engage even without a chorus, it is one of Bob's more "mystical" tunes and lures most people in the first time they hear it...before the mp3 age it came right after the powerful "Hurricane" and transforms the album from timely to timeless. 


Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
My man crush for Jack White has been expressed here before, but unlike most fans of his, The White Stripes are my least favorite of his 3 bands.  I didn't get into them right away when they started, Elephant was the first disk I really liked.  Could be Meg's simple drumming, Jack limiting himself, or simply no bassist but they are lower down the ladder from The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather for me personally.  That said it is hard to hate on Jackie boy anytime he sings Dylan....

Thoughts on Cover:
Since we skipped last week in this series, and at the request of Wilson, it was decided that we should amp it up this week.   Jack White and Bob Dylan are kindred spirits, artists and lovers of music-deception-wimmin's and life; they seem melted from the same block of ice with fire.  Jack can instantly fall into Dylan's world while keeping his own artistic sensibilities and crushing riffs and Dylan paid the ultimate compliment by playing the White Stripes tune "Ball and a Biscuit" with White in Detroit as an encore a few years back.   The two are kin, and needless to say White enlivens this Western tale of greed and backstabbing with power as Meg stomps along.

Jack eliminates the 3 cadaver stealing verses from the song, but by doing so surprisingly tightens the narrative to jewels and fleeting love.  Shortening the story has made it simpler and yet does nothing to illuminate the mystery; which is part of the charm.  This live version from London in 01 is representative of the versions the band did when they played together.  Simple.  Driving.  Electric.    

Grade: A  

Wilson's Take:
If there is a guy built to share Dylan's heightened sense of reality, it's Jack White. He's our modern raconteur who harnesses the core elements of life, injects them with his own energy, and we're all left the luckier for it. In recent years he's been the artist who reminds us that there still are a few original tricks left in the aging bag of rock and roll...and more often than not he's done this by stripping rock music of the three decades of over-produced, digitalized, remastered, over-synthesized theatrics that accumulated like plaque on the sound. Rock - hijacked by those pining for time on MTV - forgot who it was for a time. This past decade, Jack White returned it to its birthright.

It takes balls to cover "Isis"...Dylan's "song about marriage" which leaves many who've inhabited said institution asking "Whose marriage? Certainly not mine..." There are no wedding bells. No joint checking accounts, common calendars and plans to piss away the weekend someplace safe. "Isis" is about Dylan's marriage - one of them anyway. And as Dylan often does, he skirts the drama any marriage avails itself to and closes in on the core reality of his chosen theme. "Isis" doesn't contain any of the heartache-resurrection of Blood on the Tracks - the "divorce album." Instead, on "Isis", Dylan lets the music beat the tale into the listener, creating an accurate sense of what time can be like in a marriage - or any relationship - via  a grinding, halting-tune that repeatedly lifts into moments of hope and then drops just as quick; one that beats along like an old 8-cylinder engine that can't quite get going. Just when you think things are really about to take off, the guitar chords drop, the listener is ripped back, and thus goes life with Dylan's Isis...the goddess whom he married on Cinco de Mayo amid the pyramids.

"Isis" is not Dylan's most devastating heartbreaker nor his deepest passion - it's the muse he seems to like the most amid his canon of work. Isis - the Egyptian goddess, pure in all things, matron of motherhood, vessel of nurturing and the purveyor of magic. Dylan, eternally distracted, is always trying to find her to tell her he loves her. Yet Dylan, being Dylan, always off chasing fate and the treasure hunt that is the heart's affections, "could not hold on to her very long." Nor could Jack White, but they hold on to some of that girl's magic and used it, in White's case, to lay out a helluva cover.

Friday Funday - Thoughts from EWC

I am down in NOLA but wanted to take a second out to highlight some of my friends writing. Wilson has been contributing to RtBE on the Dylan front, but he also writes for The Daily Caller on the politics front.

I wanted to showcase his recent piece regarding the successful campaign to wipe out Bin Laden.

Give it a read here.  

Thanks for writing Wilson, and have a great weekend everyone.  

Glide Review - Alberta Cross Live 4-27-11 NYC

Got a new review up on Glide

Check it out right C'here!

It is of the group Alberta Cross who played a live showcase set at the Hudson Hotel last Wednesday Night.


So for full disclosure, my friend and bandmate Don worked with the group on a new commercial for Ketel One Vodka.  The night was an industry part that showcased the band, the new spots and of course the booze.

One thing that kept coming up was just how into the music all in attendance were (even with the free vodka flowing).  There were many stories and meet up's from the recent SXSW festival and rather then the band acting as a background for the night, the majority of those in attendance were hooked and into everything they did.

Showcasing some southern rock chops and English gloom the band has a good foothold on what they do best.  The new songs are still in flux and could certainly change when the album is released but they seem solid.  One thing I would mention is that all the tracks tend to run on a minute too long, without always going in unique directions; there seems to be a piece of these guys that wants to jam out, but they never crossover to full on exploration. 

Anyhow I am sure I will have more to say when the album comes out for real-io and I had a blast catching them with Don and Kevin.  Until then here are some older tracks:
"ATX"  Set Closer best response of the night.
   
"Low Man"

"The Theif And The Heartbreaker" Live in Rolling Stone Studios

Dylan Cover #13 Magnet & Gemma Hayes "Lay Lady Lay"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune comes from Magnet and Gemma Hayes and is of "Lay Lady Lay"
Thoughts on Dylan Original:
Excellent track and the first time the world heard Dylan's new singing style, which would only last for Nashville Skyline.  This song is the standout track from this album, it is a classic and so simple, yet sweet and timeless.  One of Dylans best tracks, the closest to country he ever got and an fantastic piece of music.     

Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Actually had never heard of Magnet which is the name of Even Johansen, or his co-singer here Gemma Hayes.  Again a pleasant surprise to find out about new artists    
Thoughts on Cover:
Really great bang up job with this one. The duet style is genius as Gemma switches some of the words around to keep things correct and the lush instrumentation backing is complete.  The strings and horns ache and the arraignments are full. The singing is also top notch with the voices complementing each other wonderfully.  If anything it may be a bit too theatrical, but over all not much to complain about with this one.
Grade: B+
Wilsons Take: