<$BlogRSDUrl$>

20050830

Bob Dylan | No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
Bob Dylan's 7th volume of his bootleg series is also the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary called No Direction Home, which airs on PBS on Sept 26 and 27. Look at how far the folk idol turned rock star had come between his last year in a Minnesota high school and 1966's contentious UK tour. The double CD is sequenced chronologically and features 26 rare and unreleased recordings (most between 1961 and 1966), including 1959's muddied "When I Got Troubles,' reportedly the first song Dylan ever put to tape, and Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," performed live soon after Dylan's arrival in New York. While the usual classics are present--"Don't Think Twice It's Alright," "Masters of War," "Mr. Tambourine Man"- this collection unravels the unexpected, including a live version of "Man of Constant Sorrow," an outtake from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan ("Sally Gal"), captivating alternate takes of "She Belongs To Me," "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and "Visions of Johanna" (with full band) and the ripping electric version of "Maggie's Farm" that throttled the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

(0) comments

20050829

Pink Floyd Floydhead | The Floydian Propulsion Project
A very spacy electronic take on the grand masters of psychedelic rock, mashing up Pink Floyd with other beats and phrases and making the whole thing very danceable, like psy-trance. Standout tracks include the version of "Any Colour You Like (As Long as it's Black) Mix" and "Pigs on the Wing (Pigs in Space) Mix" and "Have a Cigar (Close, but no Cigar) Mix". Worth a listen to at least one creative track for sure. - TK

(0) comments

20050828

Black Mountain | Black Mountain
Once you get past the sensible pop opener, the rest of Black Mountain's debut album takes you on a heavy rock journey with mammoth guitars, ham-fisted rhythms and smoky male/female vocals. Fans of Wolfmother and Black Sabbath will feel right at home here, as will anyone who digs great songs cloaked in fuzzy space rock. - E.S.
Black Mountain plays tonight at 8pm at the Independent with Parchman Farm.

(0) comments

20050824

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon | Sixty Six Steps
Sixty Six Steps is about the catchiest acoustic album I can handle. Leo is a master and Gordo is always creative, generally always a likable fellow musically. Together, they push each other's quirky buttons to come up with some wonderous lyrics. For pure acoustic bliss, check out "From Spink to Correctionville" and for the classic, check out the "Sweet Emotion" and "Ya Mar" covers. - TK

(1) comments

20050823

Steve Kimock Band | Eudemonic
Eudemonic: (adj.) 1. producing happiness and well-being. 2. Of or relating to a theory of ethics whose primary goal is happiness and well-being through personal enlightenment and experience. Eudemonic also happens to be the name of the new Steve Kimock Band album, released today on SCI-Fidelity label. Well worth a listen, Kimock's soothing guitar tones have aged gracefully, and this tight band of Rodney Holmes on drums, Alphonso Johnson on bass, Mitch Stein on guitar, and Jim Kost on keyboards. Rodney's work really stands out, so deft, tasteful but never overpowering. There are classic Kimock guitar sounds on this ("In Reply" and "Tongue 'N Groove"), as well as some country-flavored rock ("Bouncer"), and even some hard rock ("The Bronx Experiment.") For the sake of your own well-being, give Eudemonic a listen for sure! - TK

(0) comments

20050822

American Minor | American Minor
The balls-out riffery of "Buffalo Creek" presents a slightly misleading picture of American Minor, because while they clearly owe a debt to Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes, the likes of John Lennon and even Glenn Danzig get a sound in over the course of this remarkably genuine LP. This is guitar music with both brawn and brains. Single track rec: "Sleepwalking" - JD

(0) comments

20050819

Hal | Hal
If breezy pop layered with sun-kissed harmonies and a reverential nod to pop maestros such as Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson is your thing (and how could it not be?), allow us to introduce you to the Irish quartet, Hal. Gorgeous songs such as "Play the Hits" and "Worry About..." earn Hal a place at the right hand of Spector. -LR
TK's Quick 1-Track Rec: "Don't Come Runnin'":
(But do your best tryin' - You got problems, go ahead and deal with them - But don't come runnin, cryin'...You need sunshine coming through that window

(0) comments

20050816

DUNGEN | Ta Det Lugnt
Oy oy! Düngen mi Düngen! Finally! Dungen the Swedish psychedelic rock prince has some of his flash of brilliant music up for digital consumption in our country. It's about time. Ta Det Lugnt is the real thing and must be listened to immediately. Dungen comes lunging out of the speakers with the fierceness of all the great power trios. But Dungen is just one man -- an uber man playing mindblowing acid rock 'n' roll from decades past with a freshness and cohesion that must be heard to be believed. Get it in ye. - TK

(0) comments

20050809

Jerry Garcia | Ten Years Gone (a playlist for 08/09/05)
I can't believe it's been ten years since we lost Jerry. Wasn't it just last summer we did all the shows from RFK to Giants Stadium? Wasn't it just a few years ago we caught the Garcia Band at the Spectrum? Time has passed, but legends like his grow larger. Jerry was the first man who inspired so many of us on such a level that we chose to devote our lives to music. And not just any music, but those sounds which transcend both space and time, the kind that shows you the light in the strangest of places, just by playing those cascading notes with otherworldly force, spinning your soul. Do what you will to honor the memory today.
If Rhapsody can help in some way, here is a playlist of songs Jerry played on, including some rare improvs from the Zabriskie Point soundtrack, some Grisman/Garcia stuff, some Europe '72 (including an outtake not on CD) and and some undeniable classics: "Attics of My Life," "Ripple," "He's Gone," and "Brokedown Palace." I only wish we had the whole JGB and Dead catalogs, I'll get to work on that today. Fare thee well... - TK

(0) comments

20050804

Shpongle | Nothing Lasts...but Nothing Is Lost
Shpongle return with another delicious helping. Their unique style is part psy-trance and part dreamlike memories of beats and melodies once heard. Vocals stutter and echo across the wash of insistent sound, and flamenco guitars peel out lush refrains -- a seductive combination of otherworldly musical disciplines forming a new and uplifting whole. Great song titles too, like "Shnitzled in the Negev." - NB

(0) comments

20050803

Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman | Song X
Guitarist Pat Metheny has always been a visionary, but the general public is most familiar with the world music/jazz fusion side of his personality. On this famed 1986 platter, Metheny teams up with free jazz blueprinters Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden for a wild journey that balances controlled insanity with freewheeling swing. - ND

(0) comments

This Rhapsody Blog is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?