Friday, May 21, 2010

The Black Keys - Brothers

Three words: Ten Cent Pistol.
I love this band. I even went to the listening party the week before to hear the album ahead of time (granted I think I was there more to hear The Dead Weather, but what a combo! BTW Thanks Amoeba Berkeley, because I won the grab bag of goodies).

Brothers is great. Classic Black Keys, more blues than rock, and an very very organic.

Howlin For You seems to be an ode to Howlin Wolf, which is a huge plus. Sinister Kid, Too Scared to Love You, The Go Getter, Tighten Up are my tops but this album does get a bit depressing at times, but to be fair it is the blues. That's the thing I love about The Black Keys, they pull out that grimy heart-wrenching ache that you're too afraid to admit even exists. (Go buy it!)

And seriously, you need to meet Frank. He's on match.com (lol)

I wanted love
But not for myself
But for the girl
So she could love herself
-Next Girl

Who's excited about World Cup?

Write The Future from Nalden on Vimeo.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Cyndi Lauper - Memphis Blues



How dope is it that Cyndie Lauper has a blues album coming out? I'm pretty excited, there is a sample of the first single out "Just Your Fool" which I enjoy. I'm hoping more will come out as we approach the release date. To hear it click here

Los Rakas - Soy Raka

I love this new video for Loa Rakas! What I love about it is they say that Turf Dancing is also big in Panama, so the link between East Oakland & Colon and the international connections they make with their music is DOPE! Check them out on Facebook Twitter and their website.
(they tend to offer free singles on their Twitter so you should def follow them @losrakas)


Saturday, May 15, 2010

Mos Dub - Max Tannone

You guys know I'm slightly obsessed with all things Mos Def (I think he got knocked off his pedastal by Jack White though) Anyway, This new mixtape by Max Tannone is Dope. Its all dub versions of his songs. And what's even better? It's FREE!!!
Download link here

Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs - You Can't Buy A Gun When You're Crying

Hey this album is great! It's so refreshing to hear some originality, kinda interesting to hear an English person's take on bluesy folk Southern music too. But lyrically, this is an A+ and I'm sad I slept on the album this long. The first song I heard by them I played sometime last year on the podcast is "Gettin High For Jesus" which I was waking up to every morning for a couple months is wonderful, happy and you can't help but get up and want to dance. Devil Do is an amazing opening song, and both that and Time to Go are now my favorites.  Clean in Two,  You Can't Buy A Gun (While Cryin) are classics too.
Granted you have to be into this type of music or open minded, but I LOVE it. To give you an idea, it's almost like a female Tom Waits.
get the album here
it will only be up for about 2 weeks after this post ;)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

If you didn't know about the Nashville flood until the news covered it you should follow me on twitter

I was on it that Monday and this is why.
link to original article

Floods Wreak Havoc On Nashville Music Scene

Brent Ware inspects a 1952 Gibson Les Paul. The instrument had been kept at a Nashville-based storage facility called Soundcheck, which was flooded by the massive rainstorms last week.
Brent Ware inspects a 1952 Gibson Les Paul that was 
kept at Soundcheck.
Jeff Gentner/Getty Images
Brent Ware inspects a 1952 Gibson Les Paul. The instrument had been kept at a Nashville-based storage facility called Soundcheck, which was flooded by the massive rainstorms last week.
text size A A A
May 12, 2010
The flooding in Tennessee last week took more than 20 lives and wrought billions in property damage. In Nashville, it also took a toll on the city's musical heritage and infrastructure. The Grand Ole Opry House was inundated. The Nashville Symphony lost two Steinways when its basement flooded. But the most concentrated instrument loss took place at a facility beside the Cumberland River called Soundcheck, where hundreds of the city's musicians stored their treasured instruments.
Raul Malo, founder of country band The Mavericks and a widely respected singer and songwriter, opens up the case of his beloved 1962 Gibson J-45.
"What? Oh my god. How is that holding up?" Malo says in disbelief.
It's in one piece, but when Malo's guitar repairman turns it over, more than a gallon of water pours out of the sound hole onto the muddy floor.
"That's like my favorite acoustic," Malo says. "That's the one I was going: 'Please, if any acoustics make it, let it be that one.' Look at that. How is that possible?"
Malo and a friend try the soggy Gibson and a waterlogged acoustic bass.
"It kind of sounds good now," Malo says.
And his bass?
"Maybe that's what it needed. If I'd have known that, I would have dropped it in the Cumberland years ago," Malo says, laughing.
It's a rare light moment from a weekend of anguish for hundreds of Nashville musicians. The rest of Malo's collection didn't fare nearly as well as the Gibson. Guitar bodies have swollen up until their backs split in a lattice of cracks. Necks are twisted beyond repair.
"Last night, I was sitting there with my wife, listening to my new album, and I said, 'Those guitar sounds on this record, I will never be able to duplicate again because all of those guitars are gone,' " Malo says.
An Industry Shaken
One of the most devastating losses of historic instruments hit the Musicians Hall of Fame in a heartbreaking instance of bad timing. Less than two months ago, it was forced to store its collection after the city acquired its downtown property to make way for a new convention center. Lost in the flood: a Jimi Hendrix-owned Stratocaster guitar and the bass used in Hank Williams' "Your Cheating Heart." In all, the Soundcheck flood affected an estimated 600 musicians, from stars like Vince Gill to workaday professionals.
Flooded Rascal Flatts tour trucks.
Enlarge Jeff Gentner/Getty Images Instruments weren't the only musical material possessions lost in last week's Nashville floods. Pictured here: Rascal Flatts tour trucks parked at Soundcheck's equipment storage facility.

Instruments weren't the only musical material possessions lost in last week's Nashville floods. Pictured here: Rascal Flatts tour trucks parked at Soundcheck's equipment storage facility.
It's far more than just storage lockers. Soundcheck is a complex of repair shops, product representatives and rehearsal spaces where major country artists gear up for arena shows.
Last weekend, semitrailers idled at the loading docks while the crew for country band Rascal Flatts consulted with insurance adjusters and methodically photographed road cases full of instruments, wireless communication gear and racks of sound processors.
Soundcheck is also a so-called cartage company that delivers gear to the professional studio musicians when they arrive at recording sessions. That means a significant percentage of the great guitars in Music City were stored in the same place. And last week, that place was underwater.
A Community Shaken
Facility owner Ben Jumper acknowledges it's not comparable to the loss of lives and homes. But he says the community has been shaken by the destruction of so many fine and cherished instruments.
"I've seen tears. I've seen hugs," Jumper says. "I've seen real raw human emotion that will stay with me for the rest of my life."
At the same time, Jumper says it hasn't been a complete loss.
"Everybody thought that everything in Soundcheck was destroyed," Jumper says. "But a lot of people had shelving in their lockers and their equipment stayed above the waterline. From 3 1/2 feet down, it's tragic. It's horrific."
Jumper rented space at several nearby warehouses, where repair technicians set up a MASH unit for instruments. In one, a wide-open space hums with dehumidifiers drying out gear and guitars belonging to Peter Frampton, Keith Urban, John Hiatt, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Fogerty and others. Guitarist Steve Farris, a session player and a former member of rock band Mr. Mister, surveyed his collection like a musical autobiography.
"That L5 over there I bought in 1975 when I graduated from high school and took it to the Berklee College of Music," Farris says. "I also took it to L.A. when I wanted to make it as a guitar player. I used to take that guitar down to Watts and sit in with jam sessions down there like an idiot white kid from the Midwest. But that guitar's been all over the place with me. So these guitars have history. That L5, I think, is gonna make it."
Most of his collection was not so fortunate. In general, however, guitar repairman Ed Beaver was somewhat cheered by the survival rate of the vintage instruments he'd worked on.
"If you want to go mathematical, I'd say about 10 percent of the stuff I have is tear-jerking," Beaver says. "About 60 percent of the stuff I have is going to be OK. It might bear the scars of the flood, but, hey, so do we."
Instruments are a category of loss unto themselves. They are not alive, but neither are they lifeless. For their players, they are extensions of their emotions and intimate companions. Years from now, many will say that in the storm of 2010, they didn't lose anybody, but they did lose close friends.

 

I can't get enough of the truth in this song

Effect & Cause
The White Stripes

Sea of Cowards

Is definitely worth the hype. The first song has Jack White quoted: The White girls trip when I sing at Sunday choir.
No really how awesome is that? There is clearly not enough of him on the album (which gives me more hope to the rumor about the White Stripes reunion) but it stands tall on it's own. Its moody in a different way than the last album, not as bluesy, but You can tell that's more of Mossharts influence. Die By The Drop/Gasoline/I Can't Hear You/No Horse are all pretty dope. Jack Lawrence is AMAZING on this one though. He really is the best bassist in the world. Ask your mother.


Just go buy it.
Yes I said BUY it. I was in line yesterday at the store to actually pay for music. That's how awesome this is.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Tennessee Slim (after the flood)

So this is not music related, unless we talk about the historical nature of Blues and Country music in the fine state of Tennessee (which by the way is still dealing with a massive flood and would appreciate your help)

I made up this drink the other day, and it seems like something that would go great with listening to Memphis Minnie while sitting on the porch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

1 700mL bottle of jack Daniels with 1/2 cup removed
3 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
2 star anise pods
1/4 cup raw sugar.
mix all these in the bottle and recap. Let it sit for a week and enjoy this warm spicy drink by itself. It's awesome.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

this is a rumor

But Meg might be feeling better, and The White Stripes might be planning a reunion.


Omg I'm waaaaaaaaaaay too excited!

Muslim Roots in American Blues

This is one of the dopest articles I've read in a LONG time. It compares the vocal tones and pitch of traditional muslim music with that of slave era blues, it also compares guitar styles. This is SO amazing, produced by the Smithsonian.

Be sure to click on the songs, Athaan (Call to Prayer) and Levee Camp Holler and hear the similarities your self.
Thanks @SufiSal on twitter for this gem.

Muslim Roots in Blues

stay green.
By: TwitterButtons.com
By TwitterButtons.com