Do you need to kick yourself into gear today?
The Honorable South have a song for YOU. It is their take on a 1962 classic by Bunker Hill.
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Rhubarb Whiskey: Same Sad End
Rhubarb Whiskey is Emchy (accordion, vocals), Boylamayka Sazerac (guitar, mandolin, upright bass, vocals) and Sizzle La Fey (violin, mandolin, banjo, piano), and they’re back and better than ever with their second record, Same Sad End.
There are, well, not murder ballads, exactly; maybe a murder waltz? Murder two-step? Songs which could be used to score a romantic montage for Bonnie and Clyde?
Dreamy sad wandering songs:
And this one, which haunts me. I keep listening to it hoping the story will change and Ella will get a happy ending and she never does.
Should you need a revivifying drink after that, the band does have a signature cocktail!
Navy Skies: Cut My Teeth
Today is the first day of spring.
Time to open the windows and get the air moving in the house.
Make sure there aren’t any cobwebs in awkward locations, like, say, stretched across the entrance to your front porch.
Lay out your garden – window gardens count – and start looking at seeds.
Gather up all the projects that fell by the wayside during the winter gloom and figure out which ones you can finish before the heat of summer makes you lazy again.
While you’re doing all of that, you should listen to this song turned up as loudly as possible:
Alex Culbreth and the Dead Country Stars: Heart in a Mason Jar
Heart In A Mason Jar is the new record from Alex Culbreth (Parlor Soldiers) and his band The Dead County Stars. They play both kinds, country AND western.
The record is full of things I like, including some honky-tonk swing:
A variety of melancholy slow jams:
A sobering, bittersweet love song for a hallucination:
And a dollop of full-tilt bluegrass:
And if you need a live performance to sway you, here they are at Ashland Coffee and Tea with Bang Bang:
Bang Bang-Alex Culbreth&Dead Country Stars@AC&T 2012
They are touring just about all over creation in the next couple of months; go out and see them if they’re stopping near you!
Willy Mason: Don’t Stop Now
Around the time Now This Sound Is Brave started, back in 2010, I found myself in the habit of inadvertently seeing Willy Mason play live as he seemed to be opening for everyone I wanted to see. While he clearly had talent and skill, it took a while for me to be won over. Mason had started his career at a young age and was growing into his role.
Seeing his name pop up in the old e-mail inbox after three years is like seeing an old, beloved friend again. Willy Mason is trotting out his first new album in six years, Carry On, and in the run-up, he has an EP titled Don’t Stop Now available for free download from NoiseTrade. It’s a beautiful little thing, ranging from the somber to the downright danceable.
Mason is gearing up to tour the UK and Australia, and will be joining the Gentlemen of the Road tour for four stops this summer.
A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Murder by Death
It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.
In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.
Murder by Death’s latest album, Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, is a product of one of the most successful Kickstarter music campaigns to date, and the endearingly silly video for the campaign helpfully categorizes the band’s sound as “dark whiskey devil music”. But before you go off thinking this is another cheesed-up act pining for a time that never was, littering their lyrics with talk of crossroads and rotgut and deals with the devil, know that the music of Murder by Death is much more complex and elegant than that.
And on Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, Murder by Death have once again stood at the crash site of Americana and indie rock and swept the debris into a new, cohesive whole, honing the finished product into a rich, captivating journey through stories gritty and haunting. Lost girls, boozy wakes, rambling death, and fated (and perhaps fatal) romance, fill the 13 tracks, picking you up where you stand and setting you down somewhere very different, somewhere misty and full of shadows.
In anticipation of their upcoming appearance at the Grog Shop in Cleveland (February 22, co-headlining with Man Man), Murder by Death drummer Dagan Thogerson (who went so far as to offer his skin as canvas to a flush contributor in the aforementioned Kickstarter campaign) shares with us some space-centric recommendations.
“Hard World” – Murder by Death
Good Read: John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I really got in to reading science fiction about three years ago. I’d never heard of the John Carter stories until Disney made a movie out of them that I heard was bad. A friend lent me the first volume containing three novels and I ripped right through all 900 pages. The stories were published in the early 1900’s, so the actual science is all weird and wrong, lending more charm to an already charming lead character. John Carter is a Virginia fighting man who is the noblest of all. When he unintentionally teleports to Mars (what?), he quickly fights his way to fame and glory, falls in love, and unites all of the planet’s races of Martians. All the while refusing to compromise his strict gentleman’s sensibilities. All of the ingredients of the story add up to something that is at once super cool and totally ridiculous, which is sort of the reason that I love sci-fi in the first place.
Good Listen: “Another Space Song” by Failure
My band mates give me shit for my love of nineties music, but I stand by this tune. It’s a song that I can get lost in. The drum beat is really cool and never changes for the entire four plus minutes of the song, and lyrics are a beautiful profession of the singer’s romantic love of space. It’s just a beautiful song.
“Another Space Song” – Failure
Good Drink: Manhattan on the rocks
Dash of bitters, tiny bit of sweet vermouth, and two ounces (at least) of bourbon. Splash of water, swirl it, don’t shake.
“Ghost Fields” – Murder by Death
Murder by Death Is Coming to Cleveland
The best voices in modern music are not those that are technically proficient but those that are dented and torn, so full of character that they could tell a whole story just by humming a few notes. Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen… as their careers continued their lives seeped into their voices, expanding, contracting, cracking, causing deep crevices. Adam Turla of Murder by Death is well on his way to becoming a member of this camp. In the early days of MbD, Turla’s voice was like a flower bud, green and simple. Now, a decade on, his voice has a timbre closer to another one of those vocal icons, Johnny Cash.
And like those other singular singers, Turla is not relying merely on his battered vocal chords to carry him forward. He integrates it with A) a great band, and B) great stories. While this is clearly a band with a sense of humor – not only are they named after the 1976 murder spoof starring Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, and more, but titles in their catalogue include “Spring Break 1899”, “Intergalactic Menopause”, and “Killbot 2000” – their strongest suit is balancing this voice, this music, and these stories to create transportive moods. This craft is at its most whole on their latest album – their sixth full-length album and their first for Bloodshot Records – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon.
“Foxglove” – Murder by Death (Violitionist Sessions)
Murder by Death will be bringing it all to the Grog Shop in Cleveland on February 22 when they co-headline with the quite different, but also great Man Man. Damion Suomi will open. To get more of a live taste of these exciting bands, check out this Murder by Death concert at NPR and this Man Man performance at Amoeba Music.
Bonus: Enjoy Adam Turla navigating an interview with a couple of kids.
Feel Bad For You, February 2013
A new FBFY mix is live, and I’d personally like to thank our FBFY commander-in-chief for not choosing a Valentine theme this month.
“…and we’re back! I considered and then threw out a number of ideas for different themes and went with goulash (def: an eclectic and uncoordinated mixture of something). What a mixture we’ve got! We are spanning quite a few genres and yet it works! Thanks to Matt (@truersound) for this month’s artwork.”
- Title: Cleaning Out My Closet (Eminem cover)
Artist: Angel Haze
Album: Classick (2012)
Submitted By: @tincanman2010 (http://tincanland.wordpress.com/)
Comments: NSFW! wtf, rap on FBFY? Yeah, deal with it bitches. Eminem broke through rap’s colour barrier and Haze threatens to shatter it’s gender ceiling, so a cover seems appropriate. Similar styles, too - Title: 1965 (Duas Tribos)
Artist: Legião Urbana
Album (year): As Quatro Estações [2007]
Submitted By: hoosier buddy
Comments: First, thanks go out to my last.fm friend Vitória for turning me on to this album. This song reminds me a little of The Refreshments circa 1996 – and also reminds me walking barefoot on hot beach sand, driving too fast in cars with bench seats, the big knobs on Silvertone guitar amps, Sandy Nelson of Superdrums! fame, first kisses, cool water when you’re super thirsty, and Deputy Dawg’s hat in the episode titled “National Spoof Day”. - Title: King’s Flashlight
Artist: Elliott, Rose, Da Costa
Album (year): CA TX NY Vol. 1 (2012)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: An indie-songwriter supergroup kicking out a catchy jam
from Raina Rose. The whole 6 song EP is fantastic.
http://store.thefamilyrecords.com/products/ca-tx-ny-vol-1-ep - Title: Pale Rider
Artist: Heavy Horses
Album (year): Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs
Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
Comments: The Heavy Horses are the band I am currently and completely crushing on. - Title: Abandoned
Artist: Phil Norman
Album (2010): Four Februarys
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: Well there’s February, a short month it will go by like that, then there’s March with cxcw in the middle of it which will go by too fast, really it’s almost spring. There’s this guy Phil Norman, who does this February Album Writing Month (FAWM) thingy 14 songs in 28 days so there is sure to be some great new tunes coming from him, you may have heard of him and or it, He’s also in the excellent band called Blue Moonshine which rumors are they are close to releasing some new material which mayhaps will coincide with cxcw? Anyhoo I have a playlist on my Ipod with this song from Four Februarys ’07-‘10 in it and when it comes on I have to hit repeat, I dig it so much. Hope you enjoy it to, and follow along this year’s FAWM and nudge him and the band about cxcw, They’re on twitter and stuff. - Title: Manchester
Artist: Kishi Bashi
Album (year): 151a (2012)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: Stepping out of my Southern band box for this earworm that I discovered thanks to the end of the year lists. Though technically, still from the South. - Title: This Boy Is Exhausted
Artist: The Wrens
Album (year): The Meadowlands (2003)
Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow @ altcountrytab.ca)
Comments: I think this is at least the third Wrens song I have submitted to this comp. I can’t help it – I love the heck out of them and keep dreaming of a day when they actually release some new material. 10 years is a long time gone, but I digress – this is just a great example of a rock and roll song, about the tedium and glory of playing in a band and playing live. Crank it up. - Title: Lay Down
Artist: Alberta Cross
Album (year): Daytrotter Session, 2KHz, 1/3/2013
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: Damn! I like these guys. Daytrotter Studios seems to be regular stop for these guys and they trotted out a new session in early January. I’m lovin’ this song right now. I keep meaning to buy some Alberta Cross, but never get around to it. I will buy one of their albums this month! - Title: Born to Ruin
Artist: Wildlife
Album (year): …On the Heart (2013)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: I was introduced to this Canadian band on Daytrotter’s Barnstormer 5 tour, and they were so brilliant that they overshadowed nearly all the other bands for me. “Born to Ruin” is the lead single off their second album, which is due out in early March, and when I first heard it, I couldn’t stop playing it. Their big drums, big vocals, and big heart keep getting me. - Title: “I See a Darkness”
Artist: Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Album (year): Now Here’s My Plan EP (2012)
Submitted By: Beldo or @TheSecondSingle
Comments: Will Oldham remakes his own classic as a spirited ’70s-style country rocker. - Title: I Still Write Your Name In The Snow
Artist: Chet Atkins
Album: Almost Alone (1996)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: Ahh, love is in the crisp air of winter – and apparently soaked into the new fallen snow. While listening to these romantic lyrics as sung by the original Certified Guitar Player, just remember to pay heed to Frank Zappa’s advice. - Title: Victoria
Artist: The Kinks
Album (Year): Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire (1969)
Submitted by: Erschen
Comments: Been on a Kinks kick lately and really love this overlooked gem. - Title: Night Train
Artist: Oscar Peterson Trio
Album (year): Night Train (1962)
Submitted by: Gorrck
Comment: Old school jazz. Go pour yourself a cocktail and enjoy. NOTE: Not to be confused with GnR’s “Night Train” - Title: Ape of Dorado
Artist: Dorado
Album (year): Anger Hunger Love and the Fear of Death (2013)
Submitted By: Mad Mackerel Music Blog
Comments: Dorado is our first great discovery of 2013. Dorado is one Jody Nelson. Dorado is sonic chaos. Dorado is musical mayhem. Dorado is somehow simultaneously disjointed and perfectly cohesive.While its roots might nominally be in southern rock, there are plenty of other forces at work here – psychedelia, folk, country-noir, art-rock, straight-up indie – the musical cauldron bubbles and seethes with every imaginable ingredient. This track, Ape of Dorado dips into a rockabilly rhythm, gives that up as a bad job and heads helter-skelter into scrappy indie rock, but does it all brilliantly. Dorado is what we imagine Heath Ledger’s Joker might have on repeat on his iPod. - Title: Funtimes In Babylon (Demo)
Artist: Father John Misty
Album (year): Fear Fun Demos 2012
Submitted By: Sandy @ Slowcoustic
Comments: Last year’s album Fear Fun from Father John Misty was one of the albums I was most interested in (due to my appreciation of J. Tillman’s previous work). It ended up being one of the year’s best albums in my opinion and quite frankly surprised me. So then, how about the cross between the older more acoustic J. Tillman and the new indie crooner Father John Misty? The acoustic demo for the opening track of the new album seems to be just that spot. - Title: Love Reign O’er Me
Artist: Pete Townshend
Album (year): The Quadrophenia Demos 2 (2012)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: This track sounds better every time I listen to it, a wonderful version of a classic Who song from the soundtrack to Quadrophenia, released on a 2012 Record Store Day limited edition 10″ and the Director’s Cut box set. - Title: You Gave Your Love To Me Softly
Artist: Weezer
Album (year): Angus (Soundtrack) (1995)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: Man, I completely froze on song choice this month….BUT I’ve been revisiting my love for Weezer lately, so here you go FBFY. - Title: Answering Machine (home solo demo)
Artist: The Replacements
Album (year): Let it Be (orig. 1984, Deluxe Edition 2008)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: Went on a “Let it Be” bender this weekend. I think I like this song better than “I Will Dare,” and that song is genius. - Title: Girlfriend
Artist: Slim Dunlap
Album (year): Times Like This (1994)
Submitted By: @scratchedsoul
Comments: Slim was the guitarist in the Replacements after Bobby Stinson left the band. In Feb 2012 he had a pretty massive stroke which sucks. This is a song off his 2nd (and last) album. He played solo in Boston one night on this tour and at the end of his set he said he needed someone to drive him to Cleveland after the gig. If you did he would buy your plane ticket home. I wish I could say I volunteered, but I didn’t. Regrets. There’s a fund set up to help defray costs. More info here http://songsforslim.com - Title: What is the Color of the Soul of a Man
Artist: Jimmy Driftwood
Album: Voice of The People (1963)
Submitted by: Truersound
Comments: Picked this record up recently and it proceeded to blow me away, this song in particular. Then found out it was released in 1963…wow - Title: Anymore
Artist: Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats
Album: Just Relax, Honey (2009)
Submitted by: BoogieStudio22
Comments: Yeah… I added a second song. So what? This band sent us (FBFY) a little press release with some videos. So I say “What the heck, I’ll watch the videosâ€:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hmOMKCd5M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ZKos2D9Wg
I liked what heard (a bit of folk, indie, alt-country, americana, etc…) so I headed over to their site (http://www.jonathanwarrenmusic.com) , sampled the songs and bought their two albums. They are operating on the ‘ pay whatever you can afford’ principle, so if you like what you hear and pick up their albums, throw some money their way… like I did. Oh… and they were recently featured over on @pop2unes site too.
Frank Iero: Be My Baby
Yes, the classic one, written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich and made famous by the Ronettes. But I promise you’ve never heard it quite like this, i.e. as if the person singing it – Frank Iero, of My Chemical Romance and LeATHERM0UTH – might be having both heart and throat destroyed.
It is creepy and beautiful and I love it.
Friday Link Session
- Open Culture has some punk education for you in the form of two documentaries, Punk: The Early Years and Punk’s Not Dead.
- This is a little old (in internet time) now, but in case you haven’t seen it, check out the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds video for “We No Who U R” over at Spacelab.
- Wildlife have a new album coming out February 26. The lead single, “Born To Ruin”, is fantastic. Check it out below.