Hopedaddy

2009-05-01T17:30:00.001-04:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 2/18/09

2009-03-10T23:44:00.002-04:00

Ben Sollee, "A Few Honest Words," Learning to Bend *
Nick Drake, "Cello Song," Way to Blue *
Bon Iver, "Blood Bank," Blood Bank EP *
Patty Griffin, "Love Throws a Line," Impossible Dream *
J.D. Souther, "Journey Down the Nile," If the World Was You *
Chris Smither, "The Devil's Real," Live as I'll Ever Be *
Pierce Pettis, "I Am Nothing," That Kind of Love *
Bap Kennedy, "Angel is the Devil," Domestic Blues *
Steve Earle, "I'm Lookin' Through You," Train a Comin' *
American Analog Set, "The Postman," Know By Heart *
The Bad Plus, "Barracuda," For All I Care *
Nikka Costa, "Stuck to You," Pebble to a Pearl *
Thievery Corporation, "Mandala," Radio Retaliation *
Califone, "The Orchids," __________________ *
Iron & Wine, "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven," Woman King (EP) *
Dan Auerbach, "Heartbroken, In Disrepair," Keep it Hid *
The Fireman, "Highway," Electric Arguments *
Neil Finn & Friends, "There is a Light That Never Goes Out," 7 Worlds Collide: Live *
E.T. Mensah & the Tempos Band, "Save Me," Last King of Scotland (S/T) *
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, "Let Them Knock," 100 Days/100 Nights *
Madeline Peyroux, "Dance Me to the End of Love," Women of Jazz *
Al Green, "Can't Get Next to You," Greatest Hits *
Adrian Belew & The Bears, "Save Me," Rise & Shine *
Guggenheim Grotto, "Her Beautiful Ideas," Happy the Man *
Bill Mallonee, "She's So Liquid," Perfumed Letter *
Songs from the Ground, "The Gift," Bright White Light

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 3/4/09

2009-03-06T21:27:00.002-05:00

Avett Brothers, "Yardsale," The Gleam EP *

Josh Ritter, "You Don't Make it Easy, Babe," Hello Starling *

Bonnie Prince Billy, "You Don't Love Me," Beware *

Uncle Tupelo, "No Depression," No Depression *

My Morning Jacket, "The Way That He Sings," At Dawn *

Ben Nichols, "The Last Pale Light in the West," The Last Pale Light in the West *

Justin Townes Earle, "Can't Hardly Wait," Midnight at the Movies *

Billy Bragg, "The Milkman of Human Kindness," Must I Paint You a Picture *

Neko Case, "This Tornado Loves You," Middle Cyclone *

Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3, "Saturday Groovers," Goodnight, Oslo *

M Ward, "Absolute Beginners," Hold Time *

Dave Alvin, "King of California," Best of the Hightone Years *

The Decemberists, "Crane Wife 3," The Crane Wife *

AA Bondy, "Lover's Waltz," American Hearts *

Daniel Martin Moore, "That'll Be the Plan," Stray Age *

Eddie Vedder, "Setting Forth," Into the Wild (Soundtrack) *

Dan Auerbach, "Heartbroken, in Disrepair," Keep it Hid *

Alvin Youngblood Hart, "Tallacatcha," Territory *

Los Lobos, "The Big Ranch," Good Morning, Aztlan *

Watson Twins, "How Am I to Be," Fire Songs *

Rickie Lee Jones, "Rebel, Rebel," Traffic From Paradise *

David Bowie, "Ashes to Ashes," Best of Bowie *

Alejandro Escovedo, "All the Young Dudes," Live: Official Bootleg *

The Fireman, "Highway," Electric Arguments *

Beck, "Tropicalia," Mutations *

Gilberto Gil, "Maracatu Atomico," The Early Years *

Rachid Taha, "Rock the Casbah," The Future is Unwritten (Soundtrack) *

The Soul of John Black, "Betty Jean," Black John

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 2/4/09

2009-02-05T23:31:00.002-05:00

Grizzly Bear, "On a Neck, On a Spit," Yellow House *
Mark Kozelek, "Up to My Neck in You," What's Next to the Moon *
Damien Jurado, "Denton, TX," And Now That I'm In Your Shadow *
Ben Kweller, "Sawdust Man," Changing Horses *
M Ward, "Never Had Nobody Like You," Hold Time *
Tim Easton, "Before the Revolution," Ammunition *
Mark Olson and Gary Louris, "The Rose Society," Ready for the Flood *
Emmylou Harris, "Boy from Tupelo," Songbird *
Medicine Wheel, "Telluride," Pure and Simple *
Neko Case, "People Got a Lot of Nerve," Cyclone *
R.E.M., "Voice of Harold," Dead Letter Office *
Her Space Holiday, "New Kid Revolution," Her Space Holiday *
Animal Collective, "My Girls," Merriweather Post Pavillion *
Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, "Big Country," Uncommon Ritual *
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, "Eleanor Rigby," Live from WFHB *
The Beatles, "Mother Nature's Son," The Beatles (the White Album) *
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, "Sweetest Waste of Time," Rattlin' Bones *
Jason Fickel, "Bells of Avignon," Kerosene Cologne *
Astrud Gilberto, "Bim Bom," Verve Remixed *
The Bird & The Bee, "Diamond Dave," Ray Guns are Not Just the Future *
Pink Floyd, "San Tropez," Meddle *
The Bad Plus, "Lithium," For All I Care *
Stewart Copeland, "Don't Box Me In," Rumble Fish Soundtrack *
Adrian Belew, "Oh, Daddy," Mr. Music Head *
The BPA, "Spade," I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat *
The Newno2, "Another John Doe," Another John Doe

Hopedaddy's Inauguration Mix (streaming)

2009-01-18T01:13:00.001-05:00

WFHB Top 100 of 2008

2009-01-14T09:53:00.005-05:00

1. Blind Boys of Alabama / Down in New Orleans / TimeLife
2. Bob Dylan / Tell Tale Signs / Columbia
3. Cat Power / Jukebox / Merge
4. Carrie Newcomer / The Geography of Light / Philo
5. Taj Mahal / Maestro / Kan Du
6. Jim White / Transnormal Skiperoo / Luaka Bop
7. Bon Iver / For Emma, Forever Ago / Jagjaguwar
8. Catherine Russel / Sentimental Streak / World Village
9. Sia / Some People Have Real Problems / Sia Music
10. Krista Detor / Cover Their Eyes / Corazong
11. Randy Newman / Harps and Angels / Nonesuch
12. Lucinda Williams / Little Honey / Lost Highway
13. Mavis Staples / Live Hope at The Hideout / Anti
14. Dengue Fever / Venus on Earth / M80
15. Calexico / Carried to Dust / Quarterstick
16. Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs / Dirt Don't Hurt / Transdreamer
17. Lizz Wright / The Orchard / Verve Forecast
18. George Clinton / and his Gangsters of Love / Shanachie
19. Ani DiFranco / Red Letter Year / Righteous Babe
20. The Helio Sequence / Keep Your Eyes Ahead / Sub Pop
21. Eli "Paperboy" Reed / Roll With You / Q Division
22. Vampire Weekend / Vampire Weekend / XL
23. John Mellencamp / Life Death Love and Freedom / Hear Music
24. My Morning Jacket / Evil Urges / ATO
25. TV on the Radio / Dear Science / DGC
26. Greg Brown / Yellow Dog / Earthwork Music
27. Thievery Corporation / Radio Retaliation / ESL
28. Cowboy Junkies / Trinity Revisited / Zoe
29. British Sea Power / Do You Like Rock Music? / Rough Trade
30. Dr. John / The City That Care Forgot / 429
31. Various Artists / The Harlem Experiment / Ropeadope
32. Kentucky Nightmare / Take Her Favour / Kentucky Nightmare
33. Juliana Hatfield / How to Walk Away / Ye Olde
34. Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis / Two Men with the Blues / Blue Note
35. Arlen Roth / Toolin' Around Woodstock / Aquinnah
36. Maceo Parker / Roots & Grooves / Heads Up
37. David Byrne/Brian Eno / Everything That Happens.. / Todomundo/Opal
38. Ray Davies / Working Man's Cafe / New West
39. Solas / For Love and Laughter / Compass
40. Neil Halstead / Oh! Mighty Engine / Brushfire
41. Chicha Libre / Sonido Amazonico / Barbes
42. Rory Block / Blues Walkin' Like a Man / Stony Plain
43. Rodney Crowell / Sex & Gasoline / Work Song/Yep Roc
44. Michael Franti & Spearhead / All Rebel Rockers / Anti
45. Galactic / From the Corner to the Block / Anti
46. Amp Fiddler / Afro Strut / PIAS
47. Tim O'Brien / Chameleon / Proper American
48. Ben Solee / Learning to Bend / Sonablast
49. Hot Chip / Made in the Dark / Astralwerks
50. Thea Gilmore / Liejacker / Rykodisc
51. Ry Cooder / I, Flathead / Nonesuch
52. Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere / Nudge It Up a Notch / Stax
53. Amos Lee / Last Days at the Lodge / Blue Note
54. Richie Havens / Nobody Left to Crown / Verve
55. Alejandro Escovedo / Real Animal / Back Porch
56. Drive-By Truckers / Brighter Than Creation's Dark / New West
57. Mysteries of Life / Great Lakes / Musical Family Tree
58. Amp Fiddler/Sly&Robbie / Inspiration Information / Strut
59. BB King / One Kind Favor / Geffen
60. Lambchop / OH (Ohio) / Merge
61. Black Mountain / In the Future / Jagjaguwar
62. Blue Sky Back / Blue Sky Back / Upstairs Ape
63. Basia Bulat / Oh, My Darling / Rough Trade
64. James Combs / To Know You Is To Save You / James Combs Music

65. Jerry Douglas / Glide / Koch
66. The Watson Twins / Fire Songs / Vanguard
67. Tim Grimm / Holding Up the World / Vault
68. The Stairwell Sisters / Get Off Your Money / Yodel-Ay-Hee
69. Evangelicals / The Evening Descends / Dead Oceans
70. The Waybacks / Loaded / Compass
71. Abigail Washburn / and The Sparrow Quartet / Nettwerk
72. Herbie Hancock / River: The Joni Letters / Verve
73. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals / Cardinology / Lost Highway
74. James Jackson Toth / Waiting in Vain / Rykodisc
75. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Real Emotional Trash / Matador
76. The Breeders / Mountain Battles / 4AD
77. Mia Doi Todd / Gea / City Zen
78. Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile / s/t / Nonesuch
79. The Sacred Shakers / The Sacred Shakers / Signature Sound
80. Al Green / Lay It Down / Blue Note
81. Sam Phillips / Don't Do Anything / Nonesuch
82. Of Montreal / Skeletal Lamping / Polyvinyl
83. Devotchka / A Mad & Faithful Telling / Anti
84. Rebecca Martin / The Growing Season / Sunnyside
85. The Horse Flies / Until the Ocean / Pest Control
86. The Black Keys / Attack & Release / Nonesuch
87. Otis Taylor / Recapturing the Banjo / Telarc
88. Wyclef Jean / Carnival Vol II / Columbia
89. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! / Anti
90. Mason Jennings / In the Ever / Brushfire
91. Elf Power / In a Cave / Rykodisc
92. Giant Sand / proVISIONS / Yep Roc
93. Beck / Modern Guilt / DGC
94. Stanton Moore / Emphasis! on Parentesis / Telarc
95. Throw Me the Statue / Moondreams / Secretly Canadian
96. Marcia Ball / Peace, Love & BBQ / Alligator
97. Moby / Last Night / Mute
98. Medeski Martin & Wood / Radiolarians I / Indirecto
99. Menahan Street Band / Make the Road By Walking / Dunham/Daptone
100. Dan Tyminski / Wheels / Rounder

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 1/7/09

2009-01-09T16:34:00.007-05:00

Aqualung, "Slip Slidin' Away," Words & Music *
Ron Sexsmith, "Hands of Time," Time Being *
Jason Collett, "We All Lose One Another," Idols of Exile *
Fleet Foxes, "He Doesn't Know Why," Fleet Foxes *
Grant Lee Phillips, "Soft Asylum," Strangelet *
Peter Bradley Adams, "I'll Forget You," Leavetalking *
Glenn Tilbrook, "Untouchable," Transatlantic Ping-Pong *
Josh Rouse, "Under Cold Blue Stars," Under Cold Blue Stars *
Abigail Washburn, "Banjo-Pickin' Girl," Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet *
Leo Kottke, "Snorkel," One Guitar, No Vocal *
Tom Morello/The Nightwatchman, "The Fabled City," The Fabled City *
Jim White, "Static on the Radio," Drill a Hole in that Substrate and Tell Me What You See *
R.E.M., "Half a World Away," Out of Time *
Truckstop Honeymoon, "He Ain't Out of Date," Great Big Family *
Cowboy Junkies, "Anniversary Song," Great Big Family *
Luke Doucet, "Bomb's Away," Blood's Too Rich *
Sun Kil Moon, "Neverending Math Equation," Tiny Cities *
Los Super 7, "The El Burro Song," Heard it on the X *
Nil Lara, "Fighting for My Love," Nil Lara *
David Byrne & Brian Eno, "Strange Overtones," Everything that Happens Will Happen Today *
Of Montreal, "An Eluardian Instance," Skeletal Lamping *
Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, "Ham & Cheese," Meyer/Thile *
Parts & Labor, "Nowheres Nigh," Receivers *
Anthony Smith's Trunk Fulla Funk, "Freaky Revelation," Life as We Know It *

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 12/31/08

2009-01-09T16:22:00.002-05:00

Scud Mountain Boys, "Massachusetts," In a Ditch *
Pretenders, "Chill Factor," Isle of View *
Pernice Brothers, "Talk of the Town," Nobody's Watching *
Chrissie Hynde & Emmylou Harris, "She," Return of the Grievous Angel *
Neil Young, "Mr. Soul," Sugar Mountain, Live 1968 *
Radiohead, "Faust Arp," In Rainbows *
Spoon, "My Japanese Cigarette Case," Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga *
Blonde Redhead, "Falling Man," 23 *
Wilco, "Impossible Germany," Sky Blue Sky *
Jenny Lewis, "Black Sand," Acid Tongue *
Crowded House, "Lester," Afterglow *
Jeff Buckley, "Forget Her," Grace (Legacy Edition) *
Antony & the Johnsons, "Another World," Another World *
Dungen, "Det Tar Did," 4 *
Bruce Cockburn, "When You Give it Away," Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu *
Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts, "Look Into the Sky," Temporary People *
Love Psychedelico, "Everybody Needs Somebody," This is Love Psychedelico *
M. Ward, "Chinese Translation," Post-War *
Ben Sollee, "Built for This," Learning to Bend *
SMV, "Tutu," Thunder *
Jose Gonzalez, "Killing for Love," In Our Nature *
Beth Orton, Concrete Sky, Daybreaker *
Luke Doucet, "Long Haul Driver," Blood's Too Rich *
Mark Erelli, "Baltimore," Delivered *
The Postmarks, "7-11," 1-12 by the Numbers *
Medeski, Marin, & Wood, "Cloud Wars," Radiolarians I *

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 12/24/08 - Uncle Matt Edition

2008-12-25T11:36:00.003-05:00

Ray Charles & Willie Nelson, "Seven Spanish Angels," The Essential Willie Nelson *

Mavis Staples, "Wade in the Water," Live: Hope in the Hideout *

Talking Heads, "Take Me to the River," Live: Stop Making Sense *

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, "Nightwatchman," Hard Promises *

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, "Get Down Moses," Streetcore *

Waylon Jennings, "Ain't Livin' Long Like This," Waylon Forever *

Alejandro Escovedo, "Guilty," With These Hands *

Spike Jones & his City Slickers, "Pal-Yat-Chee," Spiked! The Music of Spike Jones *

Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, "Cover of the Rolling Stone," Greatest Hits *

Steve Goodman, "Veg-o-Matic," Anthology *

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, "The House That Never Was," Rattlin' Bones *

John Prine, "Bottomless Lake," Aimless Love *

Tom Waits, "Hang on St. Christopher," Beautiful Maladies *

Deep Purple, "Hush," Greatest Hits *

David Byrne & Brian Eno, "Wanted for Life," Everything That Happens Will Happen Today *

Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's, "Love Song for a Schuba's Bartender," Animal/Not Animal *

Ryan Adams, "Fix It," Cardinology *

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Little Mountain Church House," Will the Circle Be Unbroken II *

Chris Thile, "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," How to Grow a Woman from the Ground Up *

Charlie Louvin, "Wreck of the Old 97," Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs *

Nina Simone, "You Don't Know What It's Like," The Future is Unwritten (S/T) *

The Sea and Cake, "Aerial," Car Alarm *

Beastie Boys, "In 3's," The In Sound from Way Out *

King Curtis, "Ode to Billy Joe," Live at the Filmore *

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, "Shake it Off," Live *

Raphael Saddiq, "Big Easy," The Way I See It *

Medeski Martin & Wood, "Free Go Lily," Radiolarians I

Hopedaddy's Best of 2008: Volume 8 in a Series

2008-12-17T23:21:00.002-05:00

Coming soon to an inbox near you:

Disc One

1. What Would Joe Boxleitner!, “When the Haaaammond is Rrrrockin,” (Unreleased). From one band to another, a glowing endorsement of the next song.

2. The Raconteurs, “Old Enough,” Consolers of the Lonely. The second project from this “supergroup,” showing that Jack White’s presence doesn’t make every Racs song sound like just another White Stripes tune.

3. Alejandro Escovedo, “Always a Friend,” Real Animal. Career-defining (literally!) record from St. Alejandro, who sings his rock and roll biography, punk to Americana, song-by-song.

4. Damien Jurado, “Go First,” Caught in the Trees. With this project, Jurado doesn’t turn down the mopeyness—he amps it up, Crazy Horse style, stomping along, building into full throttle . . . “You can go first, you’re making me nervous with how you leave me here.”

5. David Byrne & Brian Eno, “Strange Overtones,” Everything that Happens Will Happen Today. A great groove from the first project in over twenty-five years from Talking Heads frontman Byrne and ambient pioneer Eno.

6. Bon Iver, “Skinny Love,” For Emma, Forever Ago. Justin Vernon lost his band and disappeared to the northwoods of Wisconsin for a “good winter,” writing and recording the foundation of a beautiful and haunting record that tops many of this year’s “Best of” lists.

7. Vampire Weekend, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” Vampire Weekend. Perhaps the most hyped band all year, I tried to hate this release but eventually caught the fever. Paul Simon comparisons? I still don’t get it.

8. Mates of State, “The Re-Arranger,” Re-Arrange Us. Perfect pop from husband and wife Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, a spun-too-much entry on Hopedaddy’s FUV Morning Music Mix. “Love loud, don’t lose loud . . .”

9. Bell X1, “Rocky Took a Lover,” Flock. The 17^th band out of Ireland to be heralded as the “Next U2,” Bell X1 may have the goods to pull it off. Despite a big push, this great record flew under the radar this year, never quite getting the accolades it deserves.

10. Matthew Ryan, “American Dirt,” Matthew Ryan Vs. the Silver State. Appearance #3 on Hopedaddy year-ends for this Tennessee-based straight-ahead singer/songwriter. Gravel-voiced beauty.

11. Elbow, “The Bones of You,” The Seldom Seen Kid. Horns, electronics, and walls of guitars make for a glorious sonic landscape . . . and the best imitation of Peter Gabriel I’ve ever heard!

12. Ben Sollee, “A Change is Gonna Come,” Learning to Bend. ¼ of the Abigail Washburn quartet, soulful singer/ songwriter Sollee is a clever “Andrew Bird of the Cello.” Here, presumably in honor of the year, he takes (permissible) lyrical liberties with the Sam Cooke classic.

13. Chris Thile/Punch Brothers, “Punch Bowl,” Punch Brothers Punch. Chris Thile breaks free of the trappings of his pop-tinged Nickel Creek, as Thile & Co. take bluegrass soaring in all directions

14. AA Bondy, “World Without End,” American Hearts. We stumbled across a set from Gus Bondy behind a pizza joint on a hot Austin afternoon at SxSW. Brilliant folkie songwriting and a weathered voice that defies his youthful looks. Maybe my most-frequently played record this year.

15. Hayden, “The Van Song,” In Field & Town. Somewhere between Neil Young and Beck is Hayden Desser, armed with his detuned guitar and his misadventures into Falsetto. “The Van Song” is a silly little ditty from his latest release, not perfectly representative, but a smiler that will stick in your head.

16. Rodney Crowell, “Funky and the Farm Boy,” Sex & Gasoline. Funky country, if there is a such thing, from veteran Crowell. “She got tattoo huggin’ her hipbone, y’all!”

17. Luke Doucet, “The Comandante,” Blood’s Too Rich. Canadian singer/songwriter Doucet has been recognized as a quality writer, voice, and guitar player for a few years now, including sideman stints with Canada’s Kathleen Edwards and Sarah McClachlan. With Blood’s Too Rich, Doucet turns his songwriting AND guitar prowess up a couple of notches, releasing a more Americana project with nods in places to (smoother versions of ) Neil Young and Mark Knopfler.

18. Ryan Adams, “Fix It,” Cardinology. Love him or hate him, he’s a fantastic songwriter when he’s focused, and he’s focused in Cardinology from beginning to end. Great rock and roll from the Cardinals, without all of the tiresome Dead-esque noodling. I guess I’m “love him,” as this is his 6^th appearance in 8 volumes . . .

19. Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, “Sugar & Pie,” Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet. A quartet led by a chick banjo player that includes Ben Sollee and Bela Fleck, playing Chinese folk-influenced bluegrass-pop. What? Dig it. Their FHB in-studio performance of “Eleanor Rigby” earlier this Fall sent chills down my spine.

20. Death Cab for Cutie, “Long Division,” Narrow Stairs. I was set to be disappointed, then not disappointed to be not disappointed by Narrow Stairs, the highly-anticipated follow-up to Death Cab’s breakthrough, Plans. Still pop-sensible and catchy, Narrow Stairs is anything but happy, and a bit more complex, lyrically and musically.

21. The Avett Brothers, “Murder in the City,” The Second Gleam. Simple and glorious folk from the recent EP holdover.

Disc Two

1. Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal,” Fleet Foxes. Hopedaddy’s Record of the Year finds this West Coast bearded clan freak-folking, often drenched in reverb, in three and four-part harmony, through eleven heart-stopping songs. Think At Dawn-era My Morning Jacket. Buy it and get your freak-folk on!

2. The National, “You’ve Done it Again, Virginia,” The Virginia EP. This EP is a one-off, full of demos and extras, but frequently as compelling as last year’s standout, Boxer. The EP includes a live “Nationalized” cover of The Boss classic, “Mansion on the Hill,” worth the purchase price alone.

3. Blitzen Trapper, “Furr,” Furr. This record races all over the map, from folk to rock to pop to country to . . . ? A pleasant adventure, including this song about a man whose skin turns to . . . “furr”?

4. TV on the Radio, “Halfway Home,” Dear Science,. Post-punky funky electronic visual artist math rock musicians TVotR made a few critics turn their heads two years ago with Return to Cookie Mountain. With Dear Science, TVotR have hit full-stride, topping many many year-end critics’ lists. Turn “Halfway Home” to 11 and get lost in the syncopated handclaps and vocal meltdowns. Brilliant.

5. Sigur Rós, “Inni Mer Syngur,” Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. S.R. have been around for a number of years, releasing a series of critically-acclaimed records that are more about the sound than anything else. This, their most accessible album (if there is a such thing for an Icelandic art-rock band who sings in a partially-invented language), veers between territory marked out by Radiohead and, particularly on this track, Flaming Lips.

6. Beck, “Gamma Ray,” Modern Guilt. Beck with production from Danger Mouse? Can’t go wrong.

7. American Music Club, “All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco,” The Golden Age. Mark Eitzel & at least one original AMC member kept AMC alive this year, with a release of another well-produced lush set, bouncing around from pop to rock to lounge music.

8. The Hold Steady, “Sequestered in Memphis,” Stay Positive. After years of misplaced Boss comparisons, I finally “got it” this year, as The Hold Steady truly turned positive with this full-fledged beer-fueled no-holds-barred rock record. After a blistering roof-raising opening set at the ‘Bird this Fall, we couldn’t bear to stick around for more than a couple of songs from the headliner, Drive-By Truckers.

9. Medeski, Martin, & Wood, “Free Go Lily,” Radiolarians I. Keepin’ it jambandy funkified, this is exactly the vibe they give off live. This is reportedly the first in a three-part Radiolarians series.

10. The Whigs, “Production City,” Misson Control. Shallow loud fun from this band, clearly raised on equal parts Clash and Replacements.

11. Nikka Costa, “Pebble to a Pearl,” Pebble to a Pearl. Daughter of famed producer Don Costa, Nikka Costa has been performing professionally since age 5. Now 26, she’s perfected her sexy, funky R&B, a bit Winehouse, a bit Macy Gray. “Pebble to a Pearl” is a clear tip-of-the-funk-hat to Stevie Wonder and his classic “Boogie on Reggae Woman.”

12. Loudon Wainwright, III, “School Days,” Recovery. On Recovery, Rufus’ papa and M*A*S*H’s “singing surgeon” revisits songs he has recorded over his 30+ career as a singer-songwriter. Almost all stand the test of time, including “School Days,” an introspective Loudon classic.

13. Marah, “Coughing up Blood,” Angels of Destruction! Coughing up blood, indeed. The Last Rock and Roll Band, poised for greatness, releases a stellar record of rock adventure (hailed by critics as the “first essential rock record of 2008”), secures a favorable NYT Sunday review, appears on Conan O’Brien . . . and breaks up three days later. Hopedaddy will never recover, but will cling to Angels of Destruction! Hopedaddy’s friends, now perhaps forever relegated to rock footnote.

14. Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody,” Only by the Night. Personally, I like the less-slick more-sassy club version of KoL, but this is a fantastic record of arena rock. These fellers are poised for The Big Time.

15. Tokyo Police Club, “Your English is Good,” Elephant Shell. Throwaway harmless turn-it-up rock and roll that I couldn’t put down all year.

16. Kaiser Chiefs, “Never Miss a Beat,” Off With Their Heads. Only slightly more-cred harmless turn-it-up rock and roll that I couldn’t put down.

17. My Morning Jacket, “Evil Urges,” Evil Urges. Jim James and MMJ re-invent their sound yet again, stretching from electronica to swamp rock to Prince to Zep, often within the structure of a single song. The legions of fans who claimed to be alienated by the turn of this record just haven’t been paying attention to the evolution of this band. The title track itself bridges Jim James falsetto parts with staccato guitar straight out of Houses of the Holy. Stay tuned, they always make it interesting.

18. The Black Keys, “Strange Times,” Attack & Release. The Black Keys were set to enter the studio for a special recording project with the legendary Ike Turner, when Mr. Turner opted, instead, to drop dead. Keeping Danger Mouse on board as a producer anyway, the Ohio duo finally changed their sound a bit and put out the most interesting and exciting record of their career.

19. Gilberto Gil, “Gueixa no Tatame,” Banda Larga Cordel. 66-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist Gilberto Gil, once a cultural rebel in Brazil (returning later to be the Cultural Minister of Brazil) released a strong record of world, pop, samba, and reggae, tied together by lyrical social commentary on the rapid advance of technology.

20. Flight of the Conchords, “Bowie,” Flight of the Conchords. The smartest parody since Weird Al, the self-proclaimed “former fourth most popular guitar-based acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo in New Zealand” have the funniest show on television. “Bowie,” a dead-on spoof, comes directly from the episode where Bret is visited by the ghosts of three eras of David Bowie.

Johnny Cash: American XIV

2008-12-11T14:39:00.002-05:00

In this exciting new release, just in time for Christmas, producer Rick Rubin goes to the well one more time, uncovering yet more vocal gems not previously purchased by only the most dedicated fans of the Man in Black.

Track List:

1. "Fire and Rain" (James Taylor)
2. "In Your Eyes" (Peter Gabriel)
3. "And I Would Have Made It (Had it Not Been for You Meddling Kids)" (JC cracks wise in studio with Scooby Doo line to his friend, Chester, 6/14/99)
4. "Margaritaville" (Jimmy Buffett)
5. "Oh, yes . . . a little more to the left . . . yes . . . THERE, THERE!" (audio from tour bus videotape, date unknown)
6. "Mac Doovis" (previously unreleased outtake, blooper introduction of Mac Davis, Johnny Cash Variety Hour, 9/12/1971)
7. "I Write the Songs" (Barry Manilow)
8. "Outgoing Answering Machine Message" (Cash family home, 2001 - Dange Mouse remix, feat. T.I., 2008)
9. "Unforgettable" (posthumous duet with Natalie Cole)
10. "Him and Them Damn Shoes" (previously unreleased)

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 12/10/08

2008-12-11T09:22:00.002-05:00

South San Gabriel, "Charred Resentment Just the Same," The Carlton Chronicles *
American Music Club, "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco," The Golden Age *
Adrian Belew, "Phone Call from the Moon," Young Lions *
Lou Reed, "Lady Day," Berlin *
Ben Weaver, "Red Red Fox," The Ax in the Oak *
Big Star, "Thirteen," #1 Record *
Bonnie Prince Billy, "Cursed Sleep," The Letting Go *
Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan, "Who Built the Road," Sunday at Devil Dirt *
Tim Easton, "Oh People," Ammunition *
Michael Hedges, "Gimme Shelter," Strings of Steel *
New Pornographers, "Myriad Harbour," Challengers *
Her Space Holiday, "The New Kid Revival," XOXO, Panda, and the New Kid Revival *
Kevn Kinney, "Kerouac," The Flower and the Knife *
The Deep Vibration, "Thanks to You," Veracruz *
Doves, "Snowden," Some Cities *
Paul Simon v. Django, "Brazilian Diamonds," (unreleased) *
Cafe Tecuba, "El Ciclon," Re *
Elbow, "The Bones of You," The Seldom Seen Kid *
Nikka Costa, "Pebble to a Pearl," Pebble to a Pearl *
Stevie Wonder, "Boogie on Reggae Woman," Original Musiquarium *
Medeski, Martin, & Wood, "Free Go Lilly," Radiolarians I *
The Sea and Cake, "Weekend," Car Alarm *
Broken Social Scene, "7/4 (Shoreline)," Broken Social Scene *
The Chemical Brothers, "Under the Influence," Electronic Battle Weapons *
My Morning Jacket, "Highly Suspicious," Evil Urges *
Sigur Ros, "Inni Mer . . .," Med Sud . . .

From Friday's NYT

2008-12-07T12:05:00.001-05:00

Each of the four contributes to this story, but time and again, it is Joe Strummer’s voice, his dramatic sense of language, that leaps off the page. He says of one song inspired by a line of movie dialogue that “it was like holding one end of a piece of string which had a song attached to it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/Light-t.html?ref=music

Odetta

2008-12-03T14:34:00.001-05:00

RIP

WFHB Add Pool Quick Pick: Sigur Ros, "Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust"

2008-11-30T14:24:00.005-05:00

Date:	11/30/08	Label: XL Recordings
artist:	Sigur Ros
title:	Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
file under:	Rock
grade:	A
Review: With Med Sud . . ., Sigur Ros has managed to make its most accessible record (a relative statement!) to date, without compromising the beauty and subtleties that make them one-of-a-kind. Produced by Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, etc.), this music is indescribable but beautiful and, in places, actually FUN! Once again filled with Icelandic gibberish and quasi-fake invented language, this album soars with strings, strange acoustic guitar play, and Thom York-ish vocals. Any track will do, but try the syncopated organic stomp of “Gobbledigook,” (track 1), the horned-up harmonizing Flaming Lips-ish “Inni Mer . . .” (track 2), the dreamscape of “Med Sud . . .” (track 6), or the sleepy-sleepy first English language track for the band, “All Alright,” (track 11). Put a little Radiohead against it!
comments / tracks of interest: 1, 2, 6, 11 FCC: Are you kidding me? THIS AIN’T EVEN ENGLISH!
reviewer: Hopedaddy

WFHB Americana Genre Director Quick Pick: Bruce Robison, "The New World"

2008-11-30T14:08:00.001-05:00

Date:	11/30/08	Label: Premium
artist:	Bruce Robison
title:	The New World
file under:	Americana
grade:	B
Review: How do you stand out as a songwriter when you are married to Kelley Willis, brother to Charlie Robison, and brother-in-law to Dixie Chick Emily Robison? Well, you write DAMN GOOD SONGS and probably have a hell of a hootenanny around the Thanksgiving table. Robison’s written hits for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, George Strait, and the Dixie Chicks, but his own project is no slacker. A slice of folk / Americana (think Lyle Lovett or a countrier John Hiatt), The New World has a lot to recommend it. Check out the twang plodder “The Hammer” (track 1), the weepy “Bad Girl Blues” (track 3), the poppier “California 85” (track 4), or the banjo folk of “She Don’t Care” (track 9).
comments / tracks of interest: 1, 3, 4, 9 FCC: None
reviewer: Hopedaddy

WFHB Americana Genre Director Quick Pick: Waylon Jennings, "Forever"

2008-11-30T13:45:00.003-05:00

Date:	11/30/08	Label: Vagrant
artist:	Waylon Jennings
title:	Forever
file under:	Americana
grade:	A-
Review: Waylon left us in 2002, but not before (even years prior) he recorded a few tracks with his son, Shooter. His place in rock history well-fixed, this Grammy award winner and Hall of Fame member’s posthumous release was put together by Shooter, who resurrected the tracks from the 95-96 sessions and finished recording them with his own band, the .357’s. Standouts include covers of Rodney Crowell’s “Ain’t Livin Long Like This” (track 3) and Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country?” (track 4). Also spin the golden blues creeper, “Waymore’s Blues” (track 6)—it’s GOLD!. A fitting last project for Waylon, and a bridge to Shooter and the .357’s. Oh, and pop the cover open and check out the photobooth pic with Buddy Holly!
comments / tracks of interest: 1, 3, 4, 6 FCC: TRACK 2 “SHIT”
reviewer: Hopedaddy

WFHB Americana Genre Director Quick Pick: Luke Doucet, "Blood's Too Rich"

2008-11-30T13:19:00.003-05:00

Date:	11/30/08	Label: Six Shooter
artist:	Luke Doucet
title:	Blood’s Too Rich
file under:	Americana
grade:	B+
Review: Canadian singer/songwriter Doucet has been recognized as a quality writer, voice, and guitar player for a few years now, including sideman stints with Canada’s Kathleen Edwards and Sarah McClachlan. With Blood’s Too Rich, Doucet turns his songwriting AND guitar prowess up a couple of notches, releasing a more Americana project with nods in places to (smoother versions of ) Neil Young and Mark Knopfler. Just as the writing gets a little light or the production a little smooth, though, Doucet dirties it up with tasty turns on the guitar. If Doucet can calm his artistic schizophrenia, he will mature into an Americana artist to watch. Check out his (un-Americana) cover of the Cure’s “The Lovecats” (track 3). “The Comandante” (track 7) was recently featured on Nick Hornby’s NYT playlist.
comments / tracks of interest: 2, 3, 7, 11, 12 FCC: none
reviewer: Hopedaddy

WFHB Americana Genre Director Quick Pick: Dave Alvin, Best of the Hightone Years

2008-11-30T13:17:00.003-05:00

Date:	11/30/08	Label: Hightone
artist:	Dave Alvin
title:	Best of the Hightone Years
file under:	Americana
grade:	A-
Review: Alvin’s long and colorful Americana career includes founding member status of the legendary Blasters, as well as stints with the Knitters and, for a time, as Billy Zoom’s replacement in the seminal L.A. punk country band X. Alvin’s sound has always been rooted in blues and Americana music, and his solo records on Hightone are proof. This collection swings between fingerpicked country blues, National slide, and straight ahead country rock. This “Best of” includes unreleased tracks “Dry River” and “Dixie Highway Blues” and “Out in California.”
comments / tracks of interest: Plenty to draw on here, but recommended tracks include the signature acoustic roll “King of California (track 2),” rocker “Haley’s Comet (with Dwight Yoakam, track 3),” an acoustic version of X standard “4^th of July (track 5)” and the smoker 12-bar “Out in California” (track 13). FCC: none
reviewer: Hopedaddy

Can't Get Enough of the new Avett Brothers

2008-11-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 11/26/08

2008-11-26T17:41:00.005-05:00

Crooked Fingers, "Run, Lieutenant, Run," Forfeit/Fortune *

Emmylou Harris, "May This Be Love," Wrecking Ball *

Daniel Lanois, "Falling at Your Feet," Shine *

Luke Doucet, "The Day Rick Danko Died," Blood's Too Rich *

The Band, "When You Awake," The Band *

Afrigo Band, "Kasongo," Last King of Scotland (s/t) *

Paul Simon, "Gumboots," Graceland *

Calexico, "Guero Canelo," Feast of Wire *

Aqualung, "Slip Slidin' Away," Words and Music *

Jethro Tull, "Life is a Long Song," A Little Light Music *

Robbie Fulks, "Cry, Cry, Cry," Man in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash *

Rodney Crowell, "I Walk the Line (Revisited)," The Houston Kid *

The Byrds, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," Sweetheart of the Rodeo *

The Mavericks, "Hot Burrito #1," Return of the Grievous Angel *

James Taylor, "Not Fade Away," Covers *

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, "Natural Born Lover," Naturally *

Arthur Conley, "Sweet Soul Music," Atlantic Soul Classics *

Pete Kuzma, "High and Dry," Exit Music: Songs for Radioheads *

Marvin Gaye vs. Radiohead, "Sexual High," (unreleased) *

Medeski Martin & Wood, "Free Go Lily," Radiolarians I *

Alison Moorer, "Ain't Givin' Up on You," The Duel *

Steve Earle & Del McCoury, "Texas Eagle," The Mountain *

Jim Lauderdale & Ralph Stanley, "I Feel Like Singin' Today," I Feel Like Singin' Today *

Ralph Stanley II, "Train Songs," This One is Two *

Chris Thile, "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," How to Build a Woman from the Ground Up *

Andrew Bird, "Dear Dirty," Fingerlings 3 *

Ben Sollee, "Mute Bullhorn," (unreleased) *

Ray LaMontagne, "You Are the Best Thing," Gossip in the Grain *

Malachi Thompson, "Black Metropolis," Delmark 55 Years of Jazz

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 11/12/08

2008-11-16T17:55:00.002-05:00

Todd Snider, "The Ballad of Cape Henry," Peace Queer *

Josh Ritter, "Come and Find Me," Golden Age of Radio *

AA Bondy, "Black Rain, Black Rain," American Hearts *

Little Feat, "Willin'," Join the Band *

Dan Bern, "Albuquerque Lullaby," New American Language *

Vampire Weekend, "Cape Cod Kwassa Wassa," Vampire Weekend *

David Byrne & Brian Eno, "Wanted for Life," Everything that Happens . . . *

Robbie Robertson, "Code of Handsome Lake," Contact from the Underworld of Redboy *

Blitzentrapper, "Furr," Furr *

Calexico with Iron & Wine, "Sixteen, Maybe Less," In the Reins *

Gomez, "78 Stone Wobble," Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline *

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, "Mega Bottle Ride," Global a-Go-Go *

Thievery Corporation, "Vampires," Retaliation Suite *

Avett Brothers, "Murdered in the City," The Second Gleam *

John Prine, "Everybody Wants to Feel Like You," The Missing Years *

Mark Erelli, "Baltimore," Delivered *

Lucinda Williams, "Circles & X's," Little Honey *

Olu Dara, "Belle & Ponce at the Movie Show," Neighborhoods *

Chuck Prophet, "You Did," Age of Miracles *

Band of Horses, "The Great Salt Lake," Everything All the Time *

Aqualung, "Mr. Universe," Words & Music *

Black Keys, "All You Ever Wanted," Attack and Release *

My Morning Jacket, "It Beats for You," Z *

The Hold Steady, "Sequestered in Memphis," Stay Positive *

Drive By Truckers, "Feb 14," A Blessing & a Curse *

Deerhoof, "Chandelier Searchlight," Offend Maggie

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 10/29/08

2008-11-09T21:42:00.003-05:00

Bruce Cockburn, "Hills of Morning," Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws *

Josh Rouse, "Dressed Up Like Nebraska," Dressed Up Like Nebraska *

Nils Lofgren, "You," Acoustic Live *

Lambchop, "Slipped, Dissolved, and Loosed," OH *

Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, "Please Read the Letter," Raising Sand *

Sam Phillips, "Baby, I Can't Please You," Martinis & Bikinis *

John Doe, "The Real One," Meet John Doe *

Joseph Arthur, "Heart's a Soldier," Lonely Astronauts *

Paul Westerberg, "Knockin' on Mine," 14 Songs *

Chris Whitley, "Terra Incognita," Aerial *

Damien Jurado, "Go First," Lost in the Trees *

Pete Townsend, "Face Dances Part II," All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes *

Of Montreal, "For Our Elegant Castle," Skeletal Lamping *

The Smiths, "Vicar in a Tutu," The Queen is Dead *

Travis, "Sing," The Invisible Band *

Blitzen Trapper, "Furr," Furr *

My Morning Jacket, "Mahgeetah," It Still Moves *

TV on the Radio, "Halfway Home," Dear Science, *

Talking Heads, "Psycho Killer," Stop Making Sense *

Stereolab, "Daisy Click Clack," Chemical Chords *

XTC, "That's Really Super, Supergirl," Skylarking *

Pretenders, "The Nothing Maker," Break Up the Concrete *

Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Rock & Roll All Night," Kiss My Ass *

Bob Schneider, "Big Blue Sea," Lonelyland *

Graham Parker, "Ambivalent," Sins of No Consequence

They Will, and I Will Them, Too

2008-11-09T18:03:00.001-05:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 10/15/08

2008-10-19T23:27:00.003-04:00

Hayden, "The Van Song," In Field & Town *
Josh Ritter, "Daddy's Little Pumpkin," Live at the Record Exchange *
Tim O'Brien, "Don't You," Chameleon *
Bob Dylan, "Dignity," Telltale Signs *
Bruce Springsteen, "Johnny 99," Nebraska *
Todd Snider, "The Ballad of Cape Henry," Peace Queer *
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, "The Yee-Haw Factor," Greatest Hits of the 20th Century *
Gilberto Gil, "Maquina de Ritmo," Banda Larga Cordel *
Blitzentrapper, "Saturday Nite," Furr *
David Bowie, "Thursday's Child," Hours *
Mercury Rev, "Senses on Fire," Snowflake Midnight *
Mates of State, "The Re-Arranger," Rearrange Us *
Blue Sky Back, "Toe the Line," Blue Sky Back *
George Harrison, "My Sweet Lord," All Things Must Pass *
Jim White, "Crash into the Sun," Transnormal Skiperoo *
Lambchop, "Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King," OH *
Jeff Buckley, "Last Goodbye," Live in Paris *
Antony & the Johnsons, "Shake that Devil," Another World *
Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire," Only by the Night *
John Doe, "Golden State," A Year in the Wilderness *
The Clash, "Clampdown," The Essential Clash *
Rufus Wainwright, "Movies of Myself," Want One *
Toshi Reagon, "I Hate/I Love," Toshi Reagon *
Weezer, "Heart Songs," Weezer *
Kaki King, "Saving Days in a Frozen Head," Dreaming of Revenge

Our pal Tim Easton says GET OUT AND VOTE, guerilla-video style

2008-10-19T15:25:00.001-04:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 10/1/08

2008-10-08T23:18:00.003-04:00

Vigilantes of Love, "Parting Shot," Blister Soul *
Loudon Wainwright, III, "Say That You Love Me," Recovery *
Jon Dee Graham, "Swept Away," Full *
Buddy Miller, "Fire and Water," Universal United House of Prayer *
Wilco, "Forget the Flowers," Being There *
Old School Freight Train, "Heavy Metal Drummer," Pickin' on Wilco *
Joshua Bell & Edgar Meyer, "Hang Hang," Short Trip Home *
Jim Lauderdale & Donna
the Buffalo, "Some Other Bayou," Wait 'Til Spring *
Old Crow Medicine Show, "Alabama High Test," Tennessee Pusher *
James Brown, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," Soul on Top *
Vieux Farka Toure', "Tabara," Vieux Farka Toure' *
Stereolab, "Daisy Click Clack," Chemical Chords *
Nina Simone, "Gimme Some," Verve Remixed 4 *
George Clinton & the Gangsters of Love, "Let the Good Times Roll," GC&tGoL *
Blue Mountain, "70's Song," Midnight in Mississippi *
Kelly Joe Phelps, "Lead Me On," Lead Me On *
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, "Mama's Fried Potatoes," The Whole Fam Damnily *
Mother Truckers, "Passing By Again," Broke not Broken" *
Rhett Miller, "Help Me Suzanne," The Believer *
David Vandervelde, "Knowledge of Evil," Waiting for the Sunrise *
Joseph Arthur, "Morning Cup," Could We Survive *
George Harrison, "Isn't it a Pity," All Things Must Pass *
Backyard Tire Fire, "How the Hell Did You Get Back Here?" The Places We Lived *
The Whigs, "Right Hand on My Heart," Misson Control *
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, "Tony Adams," Rock Art & the X-Ray Style *
Glen Campbell, "Times Like These," Meet Glen Campbell

Alejandro Escovedo's Real Animal

2008-09-27T16:58:00.002-04:00

Mellencamp filmed for A&E's "Back Where We Started"

2008-09-24T20:34:00.012-04:00

Surreal, in several respects . . . he is what he is, and part of my "chip" as a 42-year old Hoosier. And hey, we were close to the front, and it was DAMN GOOD!

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 9/3/08

2008-09-05T13:37:00.002-04:00

* Alejandro Escovedo, "Golden Bear," Real Animal
* David Bowie, "Ashes to Ashes," Scary Monsters
* The Impossible Shapes, "I Loved Every One of your Daughters," Impossible Shapes
* Sam Roberts, "Bridge to Nowhere," Chemical City
* Grant Lee Phillips, "Boys Don't Cry," Nineteeneighties
* Jerry Reed, "Guitar Man," The Essential Jerry Reed
* Clint Black, "The Claw," Sounds of Wood & Steel
* Damien Jurado, "Go First," Caught in the Trees
* Rodney Crowell, "I Want You #35," Sex & Gasoline
* Gob Iron, "Death's Black Train is Coming," Death Songs for the Living
* Fleet Foxes, "Your Protector," Fleet Foxes
* My Brightest Diamond, "From the Top of the World," A Thousand Sharks' Teeth
* The New Pornographers, "All the Old Showstoppers," Challengers
* Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell, "Waiting on June," Begonias
* Patty Griffin, "Makin' Pies," 1,000 Kisses
* Gentleman Caller, "Hotel Key," Gentleman Caller vs. The Elephant
* Peter Bruntnell, "Here Comes the Swells," Ends of the Earth
* Marah, "Christian St.," Kids in Philly
* The Whipsaws, "60 Watt," 60 Watt Avenue
* Okkervil River, "Singer Songwriter," The Stand-Ins
* Lucero, "That Much Further West," That Much Further West
* Calexico, "House of Valparaiso," Carried to Dust
* Chris Stills, "100 Year Thing," 100 Year Thing
* Josh Ritter, "Monster Ballads," The Animal Years
* Josh Rouse, "Dressed up Like Nebraska, Dressed up Like Nebraska
* Loudon Wainwright, III, "School Days," Recovery
* Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, "A Fuller Wine," AW & SQ

Jerry Reed, RIP

2008-09-02T17:53:00.000-04:00

(1937-2008)

WFHB Top Ten, 8/27/08

2008-08-27T13:56:00.001-04:00

 1. Calexico                    Carried to Dust            
 2. Richie Havens           Nobody Left to Crown       
 3. Basia Bulat                Oh, My Darling             
 4. Steve Winwood         Nine Lives                  
 5. Juliana Hatfield          How to Walk Away            
 6. Randy Newman         Harps and Angels            
 7. Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis  Two Men with the Blues      
 8. Gentleman Caller        vs. the Elephant            
 9. Teddy Thompson       A Piece of What You Need    
10. The Duhks                  Fast Paced World

And he did . . .

2008-08-26T21:10:00.001-04:00

Alejandro Slated for Democratic Convention Performance

2008-08-25T23:05:00.005-04:00

New York, NY - August 25, 2008

Texas-rocker Alejandro Escovedo has been tapped to perform live from the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on Tuesday evening as part of the DNCC's nighttime program, which will feature Senator Hillary Clinton as the evening's prime-time headline speaker. Escovedo, who is slated to perform "People (We're Only Gonna Live So Long)" from his recent release REAL ANIMAL, will take the stage at 5:45 p.m. (MST).

This will mark Escovedo's first performance at the Democratic National Convention. About the opportunity Escovedo had to say, "These are unbalanced times, and great change is needed. To be included in this celebration of the dignity and freedom of women and minorities is an honor."

Bruce and Dave, Nashville, TN - 8/24/08

2008-08-25T14:49:00.002-04:00

Indeed, Marah-staferians, our boy Dave onstage for an encore of "Rosalita" last night, complete with Bruce encouraging the crowd to go buy Marah's new record . . .

Blue Sky Back - WFHB Benefit Saturday Night

2008-08-21T23:12:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday Joe Strummer (1952)

2008-08-21T19:37:00.004-04:00

Click here to let the late great Joe Strummer take you on a 30 minute ride . . .

AWOL Bondy NOT live in our studios . . .

2008-08-12T19:10:00.004-04:00

Still, American Hearts is a gorgeous record. Buy it. And the show? Sold out! Maybe we'll see AA next time 'round.

Fickel at the Firebay: August 16 7pm

2008-08-12T11:17:00.002-04:00

Jason Fickel presents a special Dog Days of August edition of FICKEL AT THE FIREBAY: An Evening with Jason Fickel and his Band, August 16, 2008 at 7pm at the John Waldron Arts Center's Rose Firebay. Tickets are $5 at the door-- come hear our friend Jason and his band!

Airdaddy: WFHB Morning Music Mix 8/6/08

2008-08-10T21:04:00.003-04:00

Damien Jurado, "Omaha," Where Shall You Take Me? *
Grizzly Bear, "On a Neck, On a Spit," Yellow House *
Page & Plant, "Nobody's Fault But Mine," No Quarter *
Bon Iver, "Flume," For Emma, Forever Ago *
Olu Dara, "Strange Things Happen Every Day," Neighborhoods *
Citizen Cope, "Contact," Contact *
Beck, "Walls," Modern Guilt *
Mates of State, "The Re-Arranger," Re-Arrange Us *
John Hiatt, "Memphis in the Meantime," Bring the Family *
Paul Burch, "John Peel," East to West *
Billy Bragg & Wilco, "Ingrid Bergman," Mermaid Avenue *
Punch Brothers, "Punch Bowl," Punch *
Greg Trooper, "Muhammed Ali (The Meaning of Christmas)," Floating *
Jimmie Rodgers, "Honeycomb," 20th Century Rocks *
Youssou N'Dour, "Dabbaax," Rokku Mi Rokka *
Thom Yorke, "The Eraser," The Eraser *
The Shins, "Sea Legs," Wincing the Night Away *
Calexico, "Guero Canelo," Feast of Wire *
Calexico, "Two Silver Trees," Carried to Dust *
Paul Simon, "Paranoia Blues," Paul Simon *
Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, "Forever," Men Without Women *
The Replacements, "One Wink at a Time," All Shook Down *
Matthew Ryan, "Sadlylove," East Autumn Grin *
Ron Sexsmith, "This is How I Know," Exit Strategy of the Soul *

Airdaddy: WFHB Morning Music Mix 7/23/08

2008-07-24T15:09:00.002-04:00

Jakob Dylan, "Evil is Alive and Well," Seeing Things **
AA Bondy, "Vice Rag," American Hearts **
Chris Whitley, "Phone Call from Leavenworth," Weed **
Elvis Costello, "Brilliant Mistake," King of America **
Aimee Mann, "Freeway," @#%&*! Smilers **
The Whipsaws, "Seven Long Years," 60 Watt Avenue **
Tim Easton, "Not Today," Ammunition **
Bap Kennedy, "Long Time A-Comin," Domestic Blues **
Ben Solee, "A Change is Gonna Come," Learning to Bend **
The National, "Mansion on the Hill (live)," The Virginia EP **
Gilberto Gil, "Guiexa No Tatame," Banda Larga Cordel **
Beck, "Walls," Modern Guilt
Andrew Bird, "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head," . . . and the Mysterious Production of Eggs **
Jingo, "Fever," The Last King of Scotland **
Mates of State, "Re-Arrange Us," The Re-Arranger **
The Flaming Lips, "Fight Test," Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots **
The Shins, "Kissing the Lipless," Chutes Too Narrow **
Gomez, "Whippin' Picadilly," Bring it On **
Adrian Belew, "This is What I Believe In," Inner Revolution **
The Hold Steady, "Sequestered in Memphis," Stay Positive **
South San Gabriel, "I Am Six Pounds of Dynamite," The Carlton Chronicles **
Centro-Matic, "Triggers and Trash Heaps," Fort Recovery **
R.E.M., "Houston," Accelerate **
The White Stripes, "Rag and Bone," Icky Thump **
The Budos Band, "Chicago Falcon," Daptone Records Sampler
Mark Ronson, "Just," Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads **
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, "A Moment So Close," Outbound **
Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban, "Mambo Sinuendo," Mambo Sinuendo

The Hold Steady: "Stay Positive" - Review

2008-07-20T23:09:00.012-04:00

I knew The Hold Steady had finally won me over with Stay Positive on about my fifth listening. Though there were still layers of lyrics and stories to pick through, the record already felt like an old pair of Chuck Taylors, comfortable and very familiar, but designed to kick someone's ass.

My previous problem with The Hold Steady can be blamed on Critic's Shorthand-- you know, "this band sounds like __________, with a bit of ________." Record reviews for The Hold Steady, from earlier releases right through last year's Boys and Girls in America, placed Craig Finn and his band directly on E Street. I'm no prude, but the previous releases were a little too full of drugs, booze, and parties gone bad. It felt a little gimmicky after repeated listenings. As a thirty-year-plus fan of The Boss, I tried and I tried, but I never heard it. Sure, they both have sweeping piano lines over bridges of their songs, but that's where the similarities begin and end.

Look, this girl I dug in 6th grade actually had a little mustache, but she never made me think of Burt Reynolds.

So I put away the Hold Steady, suffering the scorn of many trusted sources, distancing myself from the Bruce references, and I forgot about the Hold Steady . . . until last week's release of Stay Positive, an absolutely blistering set of good old American Rock and Roll. Interestingly, for such a highly-anticipated (and presumably well-funded) record, Stay Positive suffers from some of the worst production/mastering I have heard. It may be the only rock release in recent memory that actually sounds worse on headphones than in the car, and I'm beginning to realize that may be by design. Sure, Stay Positive is art . . . it's gushing with great stories . . . but it's art made to be played at 11, mullet out, T-tops off the Camaro.

From the opening track, "Constructive Summer," Stay Positive serves up throw-up-the-horns rock and roll that demands singing along. In fact, "Constructive Summer," with its refrain, "We're gonna build something this summer," may just be this Summer's unofficial anthem.

Throughout Stay Positive, Finn and company drop 70's and 80's rock references, lyrical and musical, like bait for aging iPod owners. Whether conjuring up Iggy Pop in words ("Constructive Summer") or the Cars and Van Halen in sounds (the spiraling keyboards and guitar crunch of "Navy Sheets"), Finn has cred in this department-- he's just weeks from his 37th birthday.

Underneath the rock din, Finn is, at essence, a very literate storyteller. "Sequestered in Memphis," a less-than-clear story of a bargirl encounter gone bad, finds him re-telling a story that one suspects might be his own. In the hero's responses to a police grilling, Finn finds the biggest hooks of the entire record-- "In barlight, she looked all right, in daylight, she looked desperate. That's all right, I was desperate too, I'm getting pretty sick of this interview. (Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis)." We have no idea what happened to the poor girl, but we can't help but sing along.

Despite the hooks (and the title), the stories and songs on the record are often dark. In "One for the Cutters," a college girl (presumably in Bloomington, Indiana), bored of her college friends, ventures out to the quarries to party with the "townies." Avoiding the spoiler, let's just say that this song may single-handedly scare this Bloomingtonite father of two girls into keeping them in the house after dark well past their twenty-first birthdays.

The only misstep on Stay Positive is "Joke About Jamaica," a song (over-stuffed) with Zep references. Though every rock and roller over forty remembers the friends who couldn't pronounce "D'Yer Maker," because they didn't get it, the remaining references . . . Houses of the Holy, Trampled Under Foot, etc. are numerous, heavy-handed, and eventually render an otherwise good song just . . . Zo-So. (Ugh.)

And so, my apologies for what I may have said about The Hold Steady. I get it. I love it. But Bruce is the complement, not the analog. Bruce and Craig, they're in the same room, but they're not friends. Bruce is Breakfast Club wrestling champ Andy Clark-- successful, polished, and sexy, but also troubled and sometimes annoyingly self-aware. Craig Finn, of course, is John Bender-- dope-smoking, doughy and unloved, casting stones from the outside. But he knows exactly what he's doing, and we laugh at every one of his jokes, no matter how pointed or mean-spirited.

Stay Positive is anything but positive, but it is mature. Like Jeff Tweedy, maimed by rock and roll, music is also Craig Finn's savior. In opening the song (and the record), he proclaims "Our Psalms are sing-along songs." In the title track, he again shouts "the sing-along songs will be our scriptures." Any record that includes a song ("Constructive Summer") dropping both Joe Strummer (this blog's icon, a personal hero, and the patron saint of those of us who never gave up on the power of rock and roll) and a little buddhist wisdom is a must-have: "Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer, I think he might have been our only decent teacher. Getting older makes it harder to remember-- we are our only saviors."

Indeed, Mr. Finn. I hope you come around these parts soon, so I can apologize in person.

WFHB Top 10 - 7/16/08

2008-07-16T19:39:00.006-04:00

1. Watermelon Slim - No Paid Holidays **

2. Al Green - Lay it Down **

3. Tim Grimm - Holding Up the World **

4. Solomon Burke - Like a Fire **

5. John Mellencamp - Life Death Love and Freedom **

6. Varioius Artists - Verve Remixed 4 **

7. Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal **

8. The Stairwell Sisters - Get Off Your Money **

9. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! **

10. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges **

Well, Now My Eyes Are Hissing Radiator Tunes . . . of Happiness

2008-07-13T16:15:00.005-04:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 7/9/08

2008-07-09T15:11:00.003-04:00

The Avett Brothers, "Shame," Emotionalism
Whiskeytown, "Don't Be Sad," Pneumonia - The Rough Mix
Bruce Cockburn, "Avalon, My Hometown," Avalon Blues: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt
Matthew Ryan, "Night Watchman," Concussion
Grant Lee Buffalo, "Honey Don't Think," Mighty Joe Moon
Beck, "Gamma Ray," Modern Guilt
Paul Westerberg, "Mannequin Shop," 14 Songs
M. Ward, "Helicopter," Transfiguration of Vincent
Ben Sollee, "How to See the Sun Rise," Learning to Bend
Buddy Holly, "That'll Be the Day," The "Chirping" Crickets
Richard Thompson, "I Can't Wake Up to Save My Life, Mirror Blue
Chuck Prophet, "Doubter Out of Jesus (All Over You)," Soap and Water
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, "Bhindi Bhagee," Global A Go-Go
Bell X1, "Flame," Flock
Bob Marley & The Wailers, "I'm Still Waiting," _____________
Daniel Lanois, "Under a Stormy Sky," Acadie
Pretenders & Emmylou Harris, "She," Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons
Band of Heathens, "Second Line," Band of Heathens
Ron Sexsmith, "Clown in Broad Daylight," Other Songs
Buddy & Julie Miller, "Keep Your Distance," Buddy & Julie Miller
Mason Jennings, "Fighter Girl," In The Ever,
Allison Moorer, "I Ain't Giving Up On You," The Duel
Steve Earle, "Telephone Road," El Corazon
Los Lobos, "Chuco's Cumbia," The Town and The City
The Black Keys, "Strange Times," Attack & Release
Band of Horses, "The Great Salt Lake," Everything All The Time
Jason Collett, "Out of Time," Here's to Being Here
My Morning Jacket, "I'm Amazed," Evil Urges

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 7/2/08

2008-07-02T19:02:00.017-04:00

This week's morning music mix included a set from guest DJ, Sleepy Penguin, accompanying Hopedaddy in her radio debut . . .

She was, by all accounts, a natural "on-air" talent. As the old saying DOESN'T go, this face is NOT made for radio!

A.A. Bondy, "World Without End," American Hearts
Tim O'Brien, "Where's Love Come From," Chameleon
Josh Ritter, "Open Doors," The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
Tim Easton, "Lexington Jail," Break Your Mother's Heart
Vigilantes of Love, "Skin," Blister Soul
Fleet Foxes, "Ragged Wood," Fleet Foxes
My Morning Jacket, "The Way That He Sings," At Dawn
Neko Case, "Hold On, Hold On," Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Elbow, "Grounds for Divorce," The Seldom Seen Kid
***************************************************
(from The Sleepy Penguin)
Mike Doughty, "Move On," The Future Soundtrack for America
The Shins, "Australia," Wincing the Night Away
The Postal Service, "Sleeping In," Give In
Andrew Bird, "Imitosis," Armchair Aprocrypha
***************************************************
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, "Bridges, Squares," Hearts of Oak
Alejandro Escovedo, "Sister Lost Soul," Real Animal
Matthew Ryan, "American Dirt," Matthew Ryan Vs. the Silver State
Gomez, "Detroit Swing 66," In Our Gun
Aimee Mann, "Freeway," @#%&*! Smilers
Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down, "Bag of Hammers," We Brave Bee Stings & All
Pretenders, "Stop Your Sobbing," The Pretenders
The Pernice Brothers, "Talk of the Town," Nobody's Watching
Martin Sexton, "Marry Me," Seeds
Keith Richards, "You Don't Move Me," Talk is Cheap
Dan Bern, "Alaska Highway," New American Language
The American Analog Set, "The Only One," Know By Heart
Eddie Vedder, "Long Nights," Into the Wild (Soundtrack)
The Magic Numbers, "This is a Song," Those The Brokes

WFHB Top 10 - 6/24/08

2008-06-29T16:39:00.003-04:00

1. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges
2. Alejandro Escovedo Real Animal
3. John Mellencamp Life Death Love and Freedom

4. Eli "Paperboy" Reed Roll With You

5. The Watson Twins Fire Songs
6. Ben Solee Learning to Bend

7. Abigail Washburn and The Sparrow Quartet

8. Dr. John The City That Care Forgot
9. Kingman & Jonah Sign Time

10. John Hiatt Same Old Man

Alejandro

2008-06-26T23:16:00.003-04:00

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A638408

Radiohead: In Rainbows at Malahide Castle

2008-06-10T15:21:00.011-04:00

If you truly "get" music, or, more accurately, it gets you . . . stalking you, grabbing you, informing you, and most accurately, reflecting you . . . it is especially difficult to write about it. "Getting it" is not a learned skill, and perhaps not even desirable. If anything, it's a disease. It occupies your headspace, your iPod memory, your consciousness, and your Visa bill.

If you are stricken with the disease, and you are lucky, you don't also need the live show counterpart. You are perfectly content to get your fix online, through your television, through your speakers, or through your headphones, avoiding the cost, the smoke, the crowds, the parking, the spilled beers, the frequently bad sound, and the general frustrations that are attendant to the live music experience.

But if you have the disease in its worst form, your addiction necessarily includes the live show experience. And I'm sorry, my friend, this is the disease in its worst form. Terminal.

Last week, that very form of the disease sent a friend and I to Dublin, Ireland to see Radiohead at Malahide Castle. Unable to begin to put it to words, I won't attempt to describe what transpired. But it happened. It all happened. In one beautiful perfect late afternoon in front of a castle, the absolutely perfect show happened. Despite twenty-five or thirty thousand other fans bearing witness (we were in the very front!), I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there myself. After hundreds of live shows in the past 40+ years, there simply is no close second.

Oh, and Radiohead's new record, In Rainbows? Just before Radiohead took the stage, rain fell for five or ten minutes-- just long enough to make the brightest, clearest, most perfect rainbow . . . make that TWO rainbows . . . appear over Malahide. They took the stage In Rainbows. It really happened.

Radiohead at Malahide Castle, Ireland from Mark Need on Vimeo.

Ellas Otha Bates McDaniel, RIP

2008-06-02T14:32:00.000-04:00

a/k/a Bo Diddley, 1928-2008.

Second Story benefit show!

2008-06-02T13:58:00.004-04:00

Well, if my friends and I are going to make this work (and we are!), we need your help. Hopedaddy will be unable to attend, but that might motivate you to attend even more!

Please join us in celebrating and supporting The Second Story on June 5

The Second Story, a center for young writers opening this fall in Fountain Square, is celebrating its new space with a night of music, mingling and interactive text-based art on Thursday, June 5.

Please join us at 1043 Virginia Ave. Suite 4 (next to Alchemy ) in the Murphy Art Center. We'll open up at 6 p.m. with acoustic music at starting at 7:30 p.m. and lasting until 10 p.m. This evening is intended to help us raise money for our nonprofit space (though no donation is required) and also get everybody together who might want to help with our great cause with their ideas and energy as volunteers.

To find out more about The Second Story and our plans, visit http://www.secondstoryindy.org

The excellent musical entertainment on June 5 comes from local musicians Adam Kuhn and Beat Debris join Real Live Tigers of Austin, Texas and Redbear of Chicago. All donations at the show go to benefit The Second Story, which will begin offering free after-school tutoring and writing workshops to students 6 to 18 starting in August.

The fun will continue on June 6 when the Murphy Art Center is open as part of IDADA’s monthly First Friday Gallery Tour. So, if you can't make it on June 5, come by the next night between 6 and 10 p.m. to check out the space, participate in the text-based art proect and listen to the Tonos Triad http://www.myspace.com/tonostriad who will be playing for us.

Please pass this invitation on and invite anybody to either event if you think they might be interested in The Second Story or just in listening to some great music and enjoying some art in Fountain Square. These events are supported by our friends at Big Car Gallery (http://www.bigcar.org).

You can sample sounds from the bands playing June 5 by clicking on the links below

Adam Kuhn: http://www.myspace.com/adamkuhnmakesthings

Beat Debris: http://www.myspace.com/beatdebris

Real Live Tigers: http://www.myspace.com/reallivetigers

Redbear: http://www.myspace.com/redbearperiod

Quick details:

What: Fundraiser for The Second Story with live music by Real Live Tigers, Redbear,
Adam Kuhn and Beat Debris.
When: 6 p.m. June 5.
Where: 1043 Virginia Ave. Suite 4.
Cost: By donation.
Info: (317) 408-1366, www.secondstoryindy.org.

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 5/28/08

2008-05-29T18:57:00.002-04:00

Alvin Youngblood Hart, "Tallacatcha," Territory

Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band, "Texas Eagle," The Mountain

Tim O'Brien, "Travelers," Songwriter Sessions @ WPLN

Vic Chesnutt with M. Ward and Howe Gelb, "Way it Goes," Por Vida, the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo

Otis Gibbs, "The Weight of the World," unreleased

Vampire Weekend, "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," Vampire Weekend

Youssou N'Dour, "Dabbaax," Rokku Mi Rokka

Oliver Nelson, "Hoe-Down," The Blues and the Abstract Truth

Olu Dara, "Neighborhoods," Neighborhoods

Flight of the Conchords, "Bowie," Flight of the Conchords

David Bowie, "Golden Years," ChangesOneBowie

Gomez, "Machismo," Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline

OK Go, "This Will Be Our Year," The Future Soundtrack for America

Sloan, "Flying High Again," Yoko Goes to the Mission

Yo La Tengo, "Beanbag Chair," I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

Travis, "Sing," The Invisible Band

Cowboy Junkies, "Ooh Las Vegas," Return of the Grievous Angel

Elbow, "The Bones of You," The Seldom Seen Kid

Death Cab for Cutie, "Cath," Narrow Stairs

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?", Hearts of Oak

The Rolling Stones, "Dead Flowers," Sticky Fingers

James McMurtry, "Freeway View," Just Us Kids

Alejandro Escovedo, "Rhapsody," A Man Under the Influence

Hayden, "The Van Song," In Field & Town

Badly Drawn Boy, "Above You, Below Me," About a Boy (Soundtrack)

The National, "Green Gloves," Boxer

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 5/14/08

2008-05-18T13:20:00.003-04:00

Steve Earle, "Satellite Radio," Washington Square Serenade

M. Ward, "Vincent O'Brien," Transfiguration of Vincent

Stewart Copeland, "Brothers on Wheels," Rumble Fish (Soundtrack)

Andrew Bird, "Imitosis (Four Tet Remix)," unreleased

Joe Jackson, "Right and Wrong," Big World

Buddy Holly & The Crickets, "That'll Be the Day," The "Chirping" Crickets

Peter Case, "Put Down the Gun," Blue Guitar

The Decemberists, "The Crane Wife 3," The Crane Wife

Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal," Ragged Wood

Elvis Costello, "No Hiding Place," Momofuku

The Pernice Brothers, "PCH One," Live a Little

Jarvis Cocker, "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time," Jarvis

Death Cab for Cutie, "Long Division," Narrow Stairs

Marah, "Soul," Float Away with the Friday Night Gods

My Morning Jacket, "Evil Urges," Evil Urges

Led Zeppelin, "Darlene," Coda

Elbow, "Mexican Standoff," Leaders of the Free World,

Magnetic Fields, "California Girls," Distortion

Tokyo Police Club, "Your English is Good," Elephant Shell

The Clash, "Police on My Back," The Essential Clash

Joseph Arthur, "Devil's Broom," Our Shadows Will Remain

The Church, "Antenna," Starfish

Jack White and Loretta Lynn, "Portland, Oregon," Van Lear Rose

Alejandro Escovedo, "Always a Friend," Real Animal

Big Star, "When My Baby's Beside Me," #1 Record/Radio City

The Replacements, "Alex Chilton," Pleased to Meet Me

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 4/30/08

2008-04-30T14:31:00.007-04:00

Hayden, "Hollywood Ending," Elk-Lake Serenade
Beck, "Bottle of Blues," Mutations
Fleet Foxes, "Mykonos," Sun Giant EP
The Avett Brothers, "Shame," Emotionalism
Ryan Adams, "A Kiss Before I Go," Jacksonville City Nights
Alejandro Escovedo, "Always a Friend," Real Animal
Chuck Prophet, "You Did," Age of Miracles
Jon Dee Graham, "Tie a Knot," Full
James McMurtry, "Fraulein O.," Live in Aught-Three
Big Joe Turner, "Shake, Rattle & Roll," Atlantic Soul Classics
Bob Dylan, "Rollin' and Tumblin," Modern Times
Drive-By Truckers, "3 Dimes Down," Brighter Than Creation's Dark
The Drams, "Hummalong," Jubilee Dive
The Benevento/Russo Duo, "Becky," Best Reason to Buy the Sun
Radiohead, "Bangers & Mash," In Rainbows (Disc 2)
Mark Ronson with Alex Greenwald, "Just," Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads
The Clash, "Car Jamming," Combat Rock
Matthew Ryan, "Meet Me by the River," Matthew Ryan Vs. the Silver State
The Replacements, "Nobody," All Shook Down
Lucero, "Nights Like These," Tennessee
Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, "Across the Line," Thus Always to Tyrants
The Band, "Look Out Cleveland," The Band
David Byrne, "Glass, Concrete, and Stone," Grown Backwards
Bon Iver, "Flume," For Emma, Forever Ago
Sam Roberts, "Hard Road," We Were Born in a Flame
Calexico, "Not Even Stevie Nicks," Feast of Wire

Jon Dee Graham - National Treasure in a Parallel Universe

2008-04-28T20:13:00.002-04:00

Hang in there for the last minute and a half . . .

Alejandro and Bruce . . . together!

2008-04-20T23:21:00.005-04:00

A long-overdue collision of two worlds . . . and however "impromptu" this was supposed to appear, the E-Streeters have clearly rehearsed Escovedo's "Always a Friend," a still-unreleased song from the forthcoming Real Animal (link)

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 4/16/08

2008-04-19T11:17:00.002-04:00

Whiskeytown, "Lo-Fi Tennessee Mountain Angel," Faithless Street

Caitlin Cary/Thad Cockrell, "Second Option," Begonias

The Byrds, "You Ain't Going Nowhere," Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Iris Dement, "Let the Mystery Be," Infamous Angel

Greg Brown, "Who Woulda Thunk It?," If I Had Known

XTC, "That's Really Super, Supergirl," Skylarking

The Pernice Brothers, "Cruelty to Animals," Live a Little

Spoon, "Take a Walk," Girls Can Tell

Bob Dylan, "Neighborhood Bully," Infidels

M. Ward, "Right in the Head," Post-War

Old School Freight Train, "I'm the Man Who Loves You," Pickin' on Wilco

Wilco, "Venus Stop the Train," YHF Demos

Tim O'Reagan, "Black and Blue," Tim O'Reagan

Jay Farrar, "Feel Free," Sebastapol

White Stripes, "Little Acorns," Elephant

The Raconteurs, "Many Shades of Black," Consolers of the Lonely

Death Cab for Cutie, "Your New Twin Size Bed," Narrow Stairs

Chris Walla, "Two-Fifty," Field Manual

World Party, "Another Thousand Years," Dumb Up

Gomez, "(You've Got to Admit) It's Getting Better," In Our Gun (Bonus)

Rufus Wainwright, "Across the Universe (remix)," Poses

The Beatles, "Dear Prudence," The Beatles

Loudon Wainwright, "So Damn Happy," So Damn Happy

Mike Scott, "Bring 'Em All In," Bring 'Em All In

Rodney Crowell/Johnny Cash, "I Walk the Line (Revisited)," The Houston Kid

Beth Orton/Ryan Adams, "Concrete Sky," Daybreaker

SxSW 2008 - Saturday, March 15 - Day 3

2008-03-28T20:49:00.115-04:00

Saturday morning provides a slow and easy recovery, prepping for another marathon day of rock and roll. As "beer drinkers with a music problem," the only real hangover is of the sonic variety: It seems as though, for the Rogue Wave/Dr. Dog/Tapes N Tapes/Nada Surf string the night before, we had positioned ourselves a little too close to the PA's. Among the casualties: Joe, who rises from the dead and is seeking assistance in removing the 747 that he believes to be flying inside of his right ear.

Looking at my trusty schedule foldout, it is apparent that this will be no ordinary "final day" for me. In addition to other great acts, I know of no quicker way to cure what ails us than with three of my all-time favorites in the same day: Tim Easton, Jon Dee Graham, and Alejandro Escovedo. The schedule also includes Chuck Prophet, whose records I own and love, but whom I have never seen live.

After breakfast, we ease back into the music by running out to the Dog & Duck tent on West 17th for a set that would eventually morph into another Cowsills reunion. For a few songs, however, we are treated to Susan Cowsill and her own band. Susan's band now includes Indy-to-Austin transplant Aaron Stroup on guitar and current Indy resident Tad Armstrong on bass.

From the Dog & Duck, we make a quick run back to Jovita's for one of my most anticipated sets of the festival, Tim Easton. I have seen Easton, one of my favorite songwriters, a couple of times before, but always solo acoustic. For this year's festival, Easton is traveling with the Whipsaws, a killer live band from that hotbed of alt-country rock . . . Alaska?

Easton is a killer songwriter, often making you tap your toe to distract you while he drives a stake right through your heart. Reportedly, he is currently choosing from some 50+ new songs for his forthcoming record on New West, Porcupine. With the Whipsaws, he's found a band race-ready for the old or the new. As the Austin air heats up, Easton and the Whipsaws, under the reaches of a couple of beautiful sprawling live oaks, shift us past second gear and directly into full-throttle, to the pleasure of a crowd of thirty or forty on Jovita's back deck.

As with the songs from the prior records, the new songs bounce back and forth between thoughtful slow-burners and straight-ahead rockers. Though I don't believe there are any plans for a permanent association, The Whipsaws are tight and loud, the perfect match for Easton's music, and Easton appears genuinely pleased with them, maybe even inspired by their punch.

At the close of Easton's set, we trot back into the Jovita's indoor heat, seeking to stake out some territory for Chuck Prophet. Before Prophet's set, however, we take in a short set from Windy City garage rockers the Redwalls. In appearance, these guys are all Knacked out-- Bay City roller-coiffed, tight-shirted skinny lads, who look more from across-the-pond than from the Great Midwest. A strong set of guitar-driven Spoon-ish rockers comes and goes quickly.

We move to the center of the room, as Chuck Prophet and his band, which includes his wife on keys, guitar, and vocals, begin setup. Our short wait is duly rewarded. For all of the times that I have finally made it to the live show of an artist whose records I love, only to be disappointed by flesh and blood, this afternoon's experience is quite to the contrary. Chuck Prophet's songwriting typically bypasses solos and hooks in favor of picturesque soundscapes-- "mini-movies" as one of our group later refers to them. Live, however, these same songs are even more glorious-- patterned dead-on versions of their vinyl counterparts, but now tweaked and punctuated by the blistering telecaster work of their creator.

Prophet's performance is captivating-- mood-swinging from dark to light, bouncing around the stage, shooting glances and smirks at his spouse, and . . . those solos. How did I not know this guy could play guitar? Clearly, I was not the fan that I thought I was . . . or that I am now.

And, for the bonus round, as we take a closer study of the Twang Fest banner hanging behind the stage, who are those handsome fellers peeking out from behind the giant guitar pick logo, sharing a microphone? Happier times, indeed.

Prophet closes his set to the rousing cheers and screams of the afternoon Jovita's crowd, now packed in front of the stage like rock and roll sardines. The guitar-frenzy (and rock and roll marriage theme) is by no means over, however, as we are awaiting Blue Mountain, the longstanding roots rock combo fronted by (former) husband-and-wife Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt. If Stirratt's name or face seems familiar, it may be because she is twin sister of John Stirratt, who appeared in an earlier incarnation of Cary and Laurie's bands, and now plays bass for Wilco.

Our fearless leader guarantees satisfaction with Blue Mountain, a favorite of his, and his prediction is dead-on. For fifty minutes or so, Hudson and Stirrat blaze through a set of thumping bottom-heavy roadworthy American rock and roll. Hudson, whose appearance is far more "friendly guy in line at the coffee shop" than "rock guitar hero," proceeds to turn up the volume and, in close sync with his ex-wife, stalks and stomps around the stage, performing guitar gymnastics (and some "old guy" physical ones), the likes of which we had yet to see at this year's festival. Hudson is a genuine pleasure to watch, as he not only has the chops, but is clearly enjoying himself immensely, smiling, mugging, laughing, and, of course, singing. Another note to self: buy more Blue Mountain.

Drained, ears abuzz, we head back home for a brief rest before the Saturday night lineup. After re-energizing, we set out for the new location of the legendary Maria's Taco Xpress. Yes, the food is good, and yes, we are hungry, but we are headed to Maria's for an entirely different reason.

Maria's is also one of the unnofficial stage "homes" of Austin favorite son Alejandro Escovedo. Escovedo's been the source of many of my favorite rock and roll moments, both on record and off over the past six or eight years. Most recently, he's teamed with Chuck Prophet to write the songs and record the June release Real Animal, a brilliant project recalling Escovedo's rock and roll life (see link here).

Tonight, shortly after dinner, Escovedo will raise the roof at the "new" Maria's, leading his current band through songs old and new. By the time we arrive, a good hour before his set is to start, the patio tables are already long-spoken for. The place is abuzz, Escovedo's nephew is onstage with his band, and Escovedo himself is slinking through the standing-room-only crowd, exchanging pleasantries, handshakes, and hugs with old friends. I can't resist the temptation, and I chase him into the alley to say hello.

Before I can choke down a couple of local microbrews and authentic chalupas, Escovedo takes the stage with his band, to the shouts and praise reserved for local heroes. Wasting no time, the band tears into "Wasn't I Always a Friend to You," the lead track from the forthcoming release.

Escovedo's live act comes in a number of formats, from solo to acoustic duo to straight ahead rock four-piece. Tonight's flavor is the now-familiar string-quartet-meets- buzzsaw-guitar version (my personal favorite), in all of its glory. It's a seven piece, counting the cello and violin, the latter courtesy of ex-Chicagoan/ Bloomingtonite Susan Voelz, who also had a tenure with Mellencamp's band years back.

The set includes several of the songs from the new release, touching upon phases of Escovedo's career reaching back to his days with his punk bands the Nuns and the True Believers. Escovedo live standards make appearances as well, including the scorcher "Castanets," a number that Escovedo introduces by announcing he is "bringing it out of retirement."

Generous as he always is onstage, Escovedo is clearly also the bandleader, and tonight he is enjoying the interplay between the musicians, taking turns challenging each of them one-on-one. Toward the end of the set, he turns to guitarist David Pulkingham, shoots him a big grin, and a guitar duel of sorts takes off.

Escovedo finishes the set and appears to be ready to leave the stage (which he has left smoldering, of course). With the crowd on its feet, in a moment of the aforementioned generosity, Escovedo calls out to guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel in the crowd-- "Yeah, you, Eric Ambel!" Escovedo introduces Ambel to those in the band that don't know him, unstraps his Gibson SG and hands it to Roscoe, and shouts, "Go ahead and play!"

Before you can say "Glimmer Twins," the new superpowered version of the band breaks into "Beast of Burden." Now axe-free, Escovedo struts the stage Mick-style, and, in turn, the entire place rises to its feet to do likewise. Inhibitions cast aside, hundreds of "Micks" are strutting around their tables, singing along . . . "Ain't I rich enough . . . Whoo!" It's the perfect close to a perfect set.

Our group thins a bit, and we head back to the Continental Club to start the late-night segment of Day Three. Though I've come to see Jon Dee Graham, we arrive early enough to catch the end of a set from 71-year-old R&B legend bluesman Andre Williams, backed by a local band. I was warned that the Andre experience would be unique, crude, loud, and fun . . . and it was all of that.

Through the door of the Contintental we step directly into what can only be described as an outtake from the Blues Brothers movie that never made it from the cutting room floor. The entire place is on its feet, singing along with Williams, center stage, flanked by a four-piece band in suits and ties. To add to the surreal quality of the set, the far corner of each side of the stage is adorned with a go-go dancer. We step toward the front to watch the pimped-out self-proclaimed "Father of Rap" (grandfather?) sing, shout, and gyrate to such family-friendly favorites as "Bacon Fat" and "Pussy Stank (But so do Marijuana)." Art and musicianship is not the point here . . . this feels authentic, and there is a smile on every face in the crowd.

After a short break, Jon Dee Graham and his band take the stage. Within seconds, I am reminded of why Graham's sets are consistently one of the highlights of Austin excursions that are otherwise stuffed with great live music. Songwriter extraordinaire, Graham has built a catalog of original music that is surpassed only by his guitar skills. Every time I see him live I am blown away that he is relatively unknown beyond Austin. In a parallel universe, he and his pal Alejandro are national treasures, writing and executing original American art while at the top of their games.

Graham's band includes a drummer, a talented but unnecessary side guitarist (who sees a moment in the spotlight only when Graham breaks a string), and Andrew Duplantis, the bass player from Son Volt. The band is fierce and loud, and Jon Dee unleashes his usual growl, both Fender and throat. After pushing the band through an absolutely thrashing version of "Holes," from his 2006 release, Graham steps up to the microphone, beaming, and proclaims proudly (and accurately), "MY BAND SOUNDS LIKE A COUPLE OF DINOSAURS FIGHTING!"

Graham burns through the balance of the set, stopping only to inject a trademark bitter rant here and there. Though I've now seen him three or four times, I still fall slack-jawed at the level of sheer musicianship he consistently puts out. Graham doesn't show off with his strat-- he fills every song with tasteful (but smoking) solos and fills, one after another, until I feel my knees start to buckle. One of our gang gives the most on-target description of his onstage presence and sound with the observation that, "He's the only artist I know whose guitar sounds exactly like his personality. " Indeed. Angry and BAD ASS.

Though I would be satisfied to wave the white flag for this year's festival after Jon Dee, there is an opportunity to catch Tim Easton and the Whipsaws a second time at a midnight set, stamina provided. After a brief stint in a long line to see some already-forgotten band, we sneak in a less-than-memorable set from from Broken Social Scene's Jason Collett at the Parish, and we cut out for the tent behind Opal Divine's to catch Tim Easton at Midnight.

It's late, and, though the set list is relatively similar to what we heard on the Jovita's back deck this morning, the band appears more in their element. Easton again plays part-bandleader and part Whipsaws fan, absolutely raving about the band more than once between songs. The ebullience overflows four or five songs in, when Easton simply walks to the back of the stage and kneels down with a tambourine in hand, letting the Whipsaws let loose on an original. Among the fans under the tent is Lucinda Williams, standing just behind us, who shares a label with Easton (as well as a duet on his 2006 release, Ammunition). Easton closes the set with "Porcupine," the title track from the forthcoming release, and we stagger out of the tent sleepy but satisfied.

Saving our poorest exercise of judgment for very last, our greed leads us to attempt a 1:00 a.m. set back on 6th Street from Sea Wolf. We abort the mission after a partial set paralyzed by soundboard gremlins, far more notable for the soap opera surrounding the technical difficulties than the music itself.

Exhausted, we climb in the car and head home. Stick a fork in SxSW, 2008.

SxSW 2008 - Friday, March 14 - Day Two

2008-03-26T22:17:00.071-04:00

Day two started with a nice morning hike around Zilker Park and the surrounding area, taking in the beginning of a beautiful 80 degree Austin day. We relaxed a bit before heading out in the early afternoon to South Congress, where we strolled over to Gueros and took in a band that Brother Joe remarked, out of honesty, "sound just like Zykos." Smart man, as we were, indeed, watching Zykos, a band with which I possessed no prior familiarity whatsoever.

Crossing the street and heading behind Home Slice Pizza, we checked the schedule ("Hollerado"!) and took in AA Bondy, a cool singer-songwriter who provided just the right mellow morning introduction-- back into the world of music. After a few originals, Bondy closed with a fingerpicked folkie cover of The Boss' "I'm on Fire," with a nice touch. It's noon, the sun is shining, and we're back into beer, greasy food, a little ice cream, and music.

In the not-so-distant future, we foresee our merry band splintering, as Joe and I want to grab a taxi out to 6th Street for Lucero, one of our mutual "must sees" of the weekend. Before doing so, though, the group heads into the end of Mojo's Madness at the legendary Continental Club, where we catch Susan Cowsill in a Cowsills reunion, complete with two Cowsill brothers. The packed club erupts as the siblings, some 40 years after having a #1 hit with "Hair," absolutely nail the highly-arranged harmonies-- shinin', gleamin', streamin' flaxen waxen . . . I am overwhelmed with vivid memories of dancing around the basement as a kid, our 45 of the hit blaring from the stereo. I grab Susan after the set to blurt out this memory, and, from the conversation all around me, realize I am surrounded by a throng of 40-60 year-olds, reliving the exact same memory.

From South Congress, the group indeed splits, and Joe and I head up to see Lucero, one of our mutual "must sees" of the weekend. We get to the venue early enough to grab a couple of beers, wander in toward the stage, and catch whatever mystery band is playing the pre-Lucero set. Surprise! The return of the Black Diamond Heavies, just as loud, angry, and funky as yesterday at Jovita's.

Ears aching, we position ourselves in front of the stage between sets for Ben & Co. This is my third or fourth run at Lucero over the years, and they never disappoint. A big part of the experience is the rabid fan base, all skin-arted and crushing the stage, thrusting fists in the air and screaming every last lyric right back in Ben's face. Lucero puts on a blistering, if short, set, hitting songs from the most recent three releases. I make a note to finally commit to a road trip and see a full show from these guys soon.

Too many beers in for early afternoon, we retire for a bit, put our feet up, eat, and prepare for the evening festivities. We catch an early set on 6th Street from The Parisians, a punchy rhythm guitar/solo-free Strokes-ish affair, that hails from . . . France. A great set.

From there, we head over to the tented festivities behind the Cedar Door, where we will stay for the rest of the night. Over the course of three or four hours, we take in a stellar (and very loud) run of:

Rogue Wave

The unfortunately-named but surprisingly-good Dr. Dog . . .

Tapes N Tapes . . .

and Paste Magazine darlings and "headliners" of sorts, Nada Surf.

With that, it's two a.m., and we've spent the day with Zykos, AA Bondy, the Cowsills, Lucero, the Parisians, Rogue Wave, (a brief re-appearance of) AA Bondy, Dr. Dog, Tapes N Tapes, and Nada Surf. Not bad for a single day's work. Exhausted, we head for the crash and burn, resting up for a Saturday SxSW marathon.

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 3/19/08

2008-03-24T09:59:00.003-04:00

Chris Whitley, "As Flat as the Earth," Terra Incognita
Alejandro Escovedo, "All the Young Dudes," Official Blue Rose Bootleg
British Sea Power, "Waving Flags," Do You Like Rock Music?
Bell X1, "Bad Skin Day," Flock
Grant Lee Buffalo, "Truly, Truly," Storm Hymnal
Aimee Mann, "One," Magnolia Soundtrack
Bon Iver, "Skinny Love," For Emma, Forever Ago
Jason Collett, "We All Lose One Another," Idols of Exile
James McMurtry, "Fraulein O.," Live in Aught-Three
Jeff Buckley, "Mama, You've Been On My Mind," Grace - Legacy Edition
Adrian Belew, "Oh, Daddy," Mr. Music Head
Barenaked Ladies, "Who Needs Sleep," Stunt
The Beach Boys, "Wouldn't it Be Nice," Pet Sounds
Vampire Weekend, "Cape Cod," Vampire Weekend
Nil Lara, "Fighting for My Love," Nil Lara
Billy Bragg, "The Milkman of Human Kindness," Must I Paint You a Picture
Chris Smither, "The Devil's Real," Live as I'll Ever Be
Bap Kennedy, "Unforgiven," Domestic Blues
George Harrison, "Dark Horse," Dark Horse
Bob Dylan, "I Want You," Biograph
Arthur Conley, "Sweet Soul Music," Atlantic Soul Classics
Nina Simone, "To Love Somebody," The Future is Unwritten (Soundtrack)
Ron Sexsmith, "Clown in Broad Daylight," Other Songs
Mike Doughty, "I Wrote a Song About Your Car," Golden Delicious
The Clash, "The Magnificent Seven," London Calling
Marah, "Philadelphia," Point Breeze EP
Chuck Prophet, "You Did," Age of Miracles
The Flaming Lips, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot," Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot
Jeb Loy Nichols, "Heaven Right Here," Just What Time it Is
Wilco, "Magazine Called Sunset," Yankee Hotel Foxtrot EP

SxSW 2008 - Thursday, March 13 - Day One

2008-03-17T23:14:00.093-04:00

SxSW . . . an opportunity for bands to be seen, promoted, and signed? Perhaps not so much truth as impossibility in that concept in 2008, when somewhere in the neighborhood of 1700 (!) bands descended upon Austin, Texas for four days of live music. The town is overflowing with music, and you can hear great official and unofficial sets in every bar, club, restaurant, art gallery, taco stand, park, and alley. This year's festival offered our crew an embarrassment of riches.

This year's festival excursion, a long, long way from home, kicked off with a familiar face: Wanamaker native Otis Gibbs in an acoustic set on Jovita's back deck. It was a cool and cloudy afternoon, but our friend Otis warmed up the crowd, a crowd populated with loyal Otis fans mouthing every word, singing along with the Otis brand of lefty folk.

The afternoon heated quickly, as Otis was followed by a "supergroup" of sorts: members of SxSW favorites The Drams, Grand Champeen, and Two Cow Garage joined forces, calling themselves This Is American Music, trading instruments, licks, songwriting, and vocals for straight-ahead rock and roll that can only be described as, well . . . American music. I had a good feeling-- the first lead singer gave off a vibe strikingly similar to a guy from another little American band that I've been known to rave about from time to time. TIAM definitely got the blood pumping and the crowd moving. I have no idea if there are any plans for an official release, or if this was a one-off just for the festival.

As TIAM continued its set, much of the crowd's attention was drawn to a cute toddler, hat on head, tiny guitar in hand, hamming it up to every strum, scream, and thump coming from the stage. Before we could work up a collective "awwwww . . .", Junior wandered right onstage, where we quickly learned that one of the guitar players was, in fact, Daddy. As TIAM lit into its next blistering number, Junior, a lefty, jumped up and down and strummed his axe, right alongside Dad. With just the right level of swagger, sassiness, and stage charisma, I think we saw the future of SxSW rock and roll. We wandered inside Jovita's to see who was on the mainstage to the sounds of TIAM ripping through a respectable version of "Born to Run"-- straight-ahead, tongue nowhere near cheek.

Heading in to Jovita's now-familiar hot and sticky indoors, I grabbed a Lone Star and turned from the bar to the stage, where it appeared as though a spaceship had just landed from 1974, dropping off the hilariously scary duo Black Diamond Heavies. BDH, fronted by the bastard child of 1974 Dickey Betts and . . . Satan . . . have taken the White Stripes model in a new direction, creating a monster duo sound from a two-piece drum-and-keyboard arrangement. For about 45 minutes, BDH did their best to remove our heads and destroy our eardrums in the most lovely of ways- pumping ripping chest-thumping gritty excitement, an interplay between the screaming keyboard player and his sidekick, smashing his drums to match the keys beat-for-beat. The set ended, and we staggered back outdoors, deafer and happier.

As we left Jovita's, we enjoyed one of those only-in-Austin moments-- our man Otis, waxing poetic (if not philosophic) with a stranger holding a metal sculpture of a hand. Neither participant appeared to consider this third (fifth?) hand as anything other than normal accessorizing for an afternoon of rock and roll, or in fact paid it any attention whatsoever.

After a lunch break, we headed out to 6th Street to see a set from Akron Ohio's Joseph Arthur. Arthur put on a decent, if forgettable solo acoustic set-- an artist whose electricity in a body of highly-produced studio work (of which I am a fan) didn't seem to translate when stretched thin on on solo acoustic guitar.

We left 6th Street to rest for Thursday's Main Event: a private taping of a radio interview/live performance from R.E.M., debuting tracks from their forthcoming release, Accelerate, in the Austin City Limits studios. A couple of blocks from the studio, we encountered a TV crew interviewing Billy Bragg on the street.

Having seen ACL on PBS for years, just being in the studio was a real treat-- less seating than I expected, but a fun and close look at that same cheesy-but-cool "city" set that has been the signature backdrop of ACL guests for years.

After a short wait, R.E.M. took the stage fifteen or so feet from us, and for the next ninety minutes, we were treated to a combination radio interview/album preview/short live set, aired (and to-be-aired) on NPR stations nationwide in the coming weeks. The record, containing only a single ballad, sounds fantastic. The band (who had taped an ACL appearance for later this year) sounded very tight and rehearsed. They were joined onstage by Scott McCaughey of Minus Five and Young Fresh Fellows fame, a friend of Peter Buck and "unofficial member" of the band for some time now. The interview and live set, especially in that theatre, made for a truly unique and thrilling experience.

We grabbed a bite and we headed back down Sixth Street to secure prime real estate for one of the biggest buzz-generators of the night, if not the festival-- The Clash's Mick Jones was bringing the Stateside debut of his new band, Carbon/Silicon, to Austin. Knowing the mess of humanity that would crush into the small club in which they were scheduled for a midnight set, we headed in early.

Worried we would have to suffer an hour of the prior "mystery" band, we were assured that we would enjoy what they had to offer . . . an assurance that, it turns out, came from the lead singer of that band, Make Model. Make Model, an indie pop band from Great Britain, did not disappoint. Over the course of the next fifty minutes, as scores and scores of people mashed into the tiny barfront, this six-piece warmed up the crowd with a unique brand of drum and keyboard-driven power pop. The crowd grew, the crowd danced and jumped, and the temperature inside the club climbed at least ten or twelve degrees . . .

Anticipation for the arrival of a legend was high as Make Model closed its set, and Mick Jones by no means failed to behave like a snotty rock superstar. As the heat continued to rise in the bar and, fire codes be damned, the bouncers continued to allow a stream of festivalites through the door, the situation in front of the stage became brutal and nearly unbearable. Had we not anticipated something special from a "legend," we would have made our escape. Instead, we suffered in silence until Mick Jones and Carbon/Silicon arrived no less than 30 minutes late. Jones took the stage and, grinning a goofy ear-to-ear grin, apologized for the delay, explaining that the band was, in fact, stuck at the hotel watching its favorite television show. With such an admission, anyone other than a guy who co-fronted the Only Band That Matters would have been promptly beaten to death by the weary and hot crowd. Instead, hundreds of us stood idly by as Mick and his band (which includes the bass player from one of Mick's B.A.D. incarnations) very inoffensively bored us to tears.

Throughout the set, we "almost" left a number of times, changing our minds only when we imagined what we might later learn that we missed . . . a secret special guest? A gem of a Clash Cover? We were treated to nothing of the sort. The only "Clash" appearing in the club was, ironically, a behind-stage banner advertising the entirely-unrelated Clash Magazine.

In fact, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was a question uttered only by us, and it became clear by the end of the set that we gave the wrong answer. It was fun to see Mick Jones up close, but, removed from the chemistry he brought to the Clash or the interesting dub-and-beatbox ideas that fueled Big Audio Dynamite, he sounded like an aging average guitar player with some mediocre songs. We weren't angry, just very, very disappointed. Surely Strummer would never have disappointed us.

We crawled home, tired, buzzed, and reeling from a day that included friends, local heroes, bands from across the pond, elbow-rubbing with bona fide American rock superstars, and sightings of Old Guard Rock Royalty. Not a bad start to the weekend.

Chuck Prophet at Jovita's SxSW showcase - "You Did"

2008-03-17T09:08:00.008-04:00

Whilst I compile pictures, reviews, and assorted other fun . . . here's some lo-res vid I shot of Chuck Prophet at Jovita's on Saturday. I've loved Chuck Prophet for years, never thinking of him as a guitar player, until about the 1:51 mark here . . .

SxSW Update: Coming Soon

2008-03-16T16:53:00.002-04:00

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 3/12/08

2008-03-12T12:00:00.005-04:00

The Black Keys, "I Got Mine," Attack & Release

Paul Westerberg, "Mr. Rabbit," Stereo

The Whigs, "I Never Want to Go Home," Mission Control

Uncle Tupelo, "Gun," Still Feel Gone

Von Bondies, "C'mon, C'mon," Pawn Shoppe Heart

Ted Leo, "The Sons of Cain," Living With the Living

Paul Simon/Django Reinhardt (DJ Shadow), "Brazilian Diamonds (mashup)," unreleased

ELO, "Can't Get it Out of My Head," Eldorado

Mike Doughty, "Move On," The Future Soundtrack for America

Andrew Bird, "Measuring Cups," Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

Nils Lofgren, "A Child Could Tell," Crooked Line

Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul, "Angel Eyes," Men Without Women

Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A. (acoustic)," Tracks

Chris Whitley, "Phone Call from Leavenworth," Living With the Law

XTC, "Poor Skeleton Steps Out," Oranges and Lemon

Peter Mulvey, "Inner City Blues," Ten Thousand Mornings

Marvin Gaye, "Mercy, Mercy, Me," What's Going On

Radiohead/Marvin Gaye, "Sexual High (mashup)," unreleased

Radiohead, "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Can," Amnesiac

Victoria Williams, "Crazy Mary," Loose

Joe Henry, "This Close to You," Kindness of the World

Gillian Welch, "Elvis Presley Blues," Time the Revelator

Jayhawks, "Eyes of Sarahjane," Rainy Day Music

Gary Louris, "She Only Calls Me on Sundays," Vagabonds

Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal," Ragged Wood

Sufjan Stevens, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," Come on Feel the Illinoise

Allman Brothers, "Little Martha," Eat a Peach

Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Soundtrack)

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 3/12/08

2008-03-12T12:00:00.001-04:00

Esquire Music Awards - April 2008: Marah

2008-03-11T11:04:00.003-04:00

Best Roots-Rock Band that Deserves Better than to be Called Roots Rock: Marah. "We can live with the Springsteen comparisons, but Marah plays shows too powerful and immediate to deserve the semantic short shrift of the roots-rock label-- it suggests a fascination with the past when Marah seems more about making you feel as if your future's in jeopardy. For more than a decade, Dave and Serge Bielanko have been America's best bar band, fueled by the intensity an arena band might muster playing a bar gig on a night off. See them live and you'll return home with ears blown and a knot in your stomach: A pairing roots-rock has never quite perfected."

Never Should Have Doubted . . . v 3.0? 4.0? 5.0? Who cares?

2008-02-26T01:39:00.004-05:00

Indeed . . . alive in Spain. This is good news. And the Clash makes the encore? Killer. From PaulMurff, frequent boarder:

"Look... long story short: they f***in' NAILED it. Opened with Coughing Up Blood (the first time it's been played live) as if it was the encore, and just kept going up and up and up from there.

No lie...
I have never seen a Marah show that I could say was a whole hell of a lot better than what I saw in Alicante on the first night of this tour.

No lie...
I didn't see, hear or sense one iota of bitterness, sour grapes, finger-pointing, backstabbing, blame-placing or name-calling. From anyone. About anyone. The whole time I was in Spain. Which is as it should be - but, as all grown-ups know, things are almost never as they should be, so let's recognise and respect the positive forces that are at work within and around this band right now, folks.

No lie...
Did I mention the new guys? Well, they don't feel like new guys any more. I got the impression that they were being thoroughly wound up during some of that first show... but in a 'good' way, if you know what I mean. ('Hey, bro... let's see if these guys can keep up if we play it like THIS...!' kind of thing)."

The Unproud: A Slice of Hopedaddy Rock History

2008-02-25T18:28:00.008-05:00

Whilst digging through a desk drawer, I find a stack . . . Checking my pride at the door of the grand old Market Square Arena, last concert venue for Elvis . . . as well as some of the lesser-hip . . . I ain't sayin' I'm proud of ALL of them

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 2/20/08

2008-02-20T12:08:00.002-05:00

Nirvana, "The Man Who Sold the World," MTV Unplugged in New York
David Bowie, "Jean Genie," ChangesOneBowie
M Ward, "Let's Dance," Transfiguration of Vincent
My Morning Jacket, "The Way That He Sings," At Dawn
Stewart Copeland, "Tulsa Tango," Rumble Fish (Soundtrack)
Elvis Presley, "Crawfish," The Future is Unwritten (Soundtrack)
The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail," London Calling
White Stripes, "Conquest," Icky Thump
Hugh Masakela, "Grazing in the Grass," Last King of Scotland (Sountrack)
Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, "Forever," Men Without Women
Sufjan Stevens, "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," Come on Feel the Illinoise
The Silos, "Tennessee Fire," Cuba
The Beatles, "The Ballad of John and Yoko," The Beatles
Chuck Prophet, "Summertime Thing," No Other Love
American Music Club, "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco," The Golden Age
Joseph Arthur, "Devil's Broom," Our Shadows Will Remain
The Black Keys, "Strange Desire," Magic Potion
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, "Set Out Running," Furnace Room Lullaby
Loretta Lynn and Jack White, "Portland, Oregon," Van Lear Rose
Marah, "Blue But Cool," Angels of Destruction
Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell, "Second Option," Begonias
Paul Burch, "John Peel," East to West
Grant Lee Phillips, "Age of Consent," Nineteeneighteis
Bell X1, "Flame," Flock
Flaming Lips, "Fight Test," Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Gomez, "Detroit Swing 66," In Our Gun
Spoon, "The Fitted Shirt," Girls Can Tell

Bell X1: Flock - Review

2008-02-19T00:24:00.017-05:00

Popping seven bucks, grabbing a couple of friends, donning some stunningly sexy oversized plastic polarized sunglasses, and taking in ninety minutes-plus of the new U2 3D raises damn few questions, and certainly fewer worth any meaningful consideration. Quality sound? Check. Better seats than the Average Joe could afford to an actual U2 show? Check. Fifty-foot version of Bono's goofy-ass racquetball goggles? Check. (Was he also seeing us in 3D?)

Moreover, after consideration of what it took for a little band from Ireland to grow from pub shows to (sometimes gag-inducing) Three-Dimensional World Domination, another question bubbles up: It's been more than 25 years-- where are the other Irish superstars? Over the years, critics have routinely forecast others as iMax-bound: The Pogues, The Waterboys, Hothouse Flowers, The Cranberries, and, more recently, The Frames-- all great bands, some not seeking superstardom, none achieving. 2008's version, however, may have all of the right elements at the right time. Bell X1, from North County Kildare, have released three critically-acclaimed albums in their native Ireland. This week, Yep Rock gives a stateside release to the band's third full-length project, Flock.

Flock sounds at once both very unique and yet like some strange sampler of every other popular stadium rock band of the past ten years. Inspired, but not derivative, Irish folk underpins strong songs that echo, at times, Radiohead ("Reacharound"), Coldplay ("Flame"), and, all over the record, their most obvious kin, The Frames.

Much of the balance comes from the disarmingly comic lyrics that creep out when the mood becomes insufferably heavy. In "Flame," just as vocalist Paul Noonan challenges the capacity of the cheese-o-meter with "Your flesh melts in my mouth like Holy Communion," he quickly deflates it, funning on Leonard Cohen, "but you don't really care for Jesus, now do you?" As you find yourself joining in on "Flame"'s catchy chorus, you suddenly realize just how un-serious Bell X1 can be, with what sounds like the entire band repeating the silly proclamation, "I wanna be near you and blink in your light, and toast marshmallows on a cold dark night."

"Rocky Took a Lover," an acoustic anthem imagining a conversation between a homeless man and woman falling in love, is the clear candidate for a single (if there is such a thing anymore), with a made-for-stadium-singalong chorus. Again, just as the characters' exchange approaches heavy-handed prose, the woman reflects, "I don't believe in any old Jesus-- If there was a God, then why is my ass the perfect height for kicking?"

By the same token, neither does the periodic giddiness of the lyrics ever dissolve into nonsense or pure novelty. "Bad Skin Day" skips along through a simple drum/acoustic pattern, building into a slow and infectious chant. "Natalie," another slow burner, could easily be mistaken for a Joshua Tree B-Side, punctuated with chiming guitars like the Edge of Old. After an electronic-laden bridge on "Bigger Than Me," a flat-out rocker, Noonan, doing his best David Byrne, shrieks, "Am I a stone? Am I a sponge?", so convincingly that one fully expects him to follow with, "This is not my beautiful wife!"

Flock is not perfect, an observation borne out by the plodding "He Said, She Said" and "My First Born for a Song," the latter introduced with an electric piano riff that sounds as though it was lifted straight from an NPR radio button. These are mere blemishes, however, as Flock is, at its essence, an ambitious and well-formed project, worthy of repeated plays. After all, even The Unforgettable Fire had its "Fourth of July."

The Whigs: Mission Control - Review

2008-02-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

31 years ago this Valentine's Day, a group of friends in Athens, Georgia formed a band, musical skills be damned. Though perhaps more about fun than musicianship, the rise of the B-52's to prominence (and radio dominance) was the tip of an Athens music scene iceberg, with the college town subsequently turning out college and indie rock staples at anything but a glacial pace, including Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, and college-rockers-now-commercial-megagods R.E.M.

Save for a few drips in the bucket, the Athens well has run a bit more dry in the past decade or so. Now, while no one is looking, Athens three-piece The Whigs, who just released their second full-length project, Mission Control, sneak out of Athens. I don't know what the "Athens sound" is, but the Whigs have maintained a wide berth. Instead, Mission Control comes out like a punchier 'Mats project, often a blistering wall of guitar and vocals that demands "going to 11." There's no Westerberg writing here, mind you, but the record often sounds like a respectful tip-of-the hat to the later, more studio-finessed Replacements.

On this sophomore release of 11 quick and tasty tracks, frontman Parker Gispert moves from rock croon to hoarse wail. The voice is impressively strong, never double-tracked, and often harmonized to a lovely end. Songs are frequently built around the explosive drumming of Julian Dorio, who thunders from the very opening track, "Like a Vibration," straight into the machine-gun attack of "Production City." In fact, it's the drumming that eventually detonates the radio-friendly steady romp of "Right Hand Over My Heart" into a full garage-rock explosion.

The writing tries a bit too hard at points, such as in the forced Beatle-esque opening to "Sleep Sunshine," a song saved only by a weeping lap steel at its close. When the band forgets to be at least a little bit loose, they drift toward every other Fighting Foo trying to get on the radio ("I Never Want to Go Home," "1,000 Wives"), but without the cloying smugness or knowing irony that Dave Grohl now appears unable to move beyond. On "Already Young," the carefree grunge that appears toward the end of Mission Control, the Whigs sound more like that other little band that used Grohl was a part of-- as a drummer.

Sometimes you hear a record that you know is a magnetized taste of a looser, louder live act, and Mission Control is just such a record. After the Strokes-like march and tight bass melodies of "Hot Bed" and the screamer "Need You Need You," it may not matter that your car speakers are destroyed, because you may find yourself driving to the next Whigs' gig to see what this band sounds like live. Upcoming dates with the Drive-By Truckers should yield the exposure that the band, and this record in particular, deserve.

Hopedaddy on the Air: WFHB Morning Music Mix 2/6/08

2008-02-06T11:47:00.000-05:00

Herb Alpert with Ozomatli, "Whipped Cream (Remixed)," Whipped Cream and Other Delights (Rewhipped)

Calexico, "Quattro (World Drifts In)," Feast of Wire

Beck, "Hot Wax," Odelay (Deluxe Edition)

Booker T & the MG's, "Green Onions," Atlantic Soul Classics

Betty LaVette, "The Last Time," Scene of the Crime

Travis, "Why Does it Always Rain on Me?", The Man Who . . .

Marah, "Rain Delay," Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight

Tim Easton, "Poor, Poor LA," Break Your Mother's Heart

Jason Fickel, "Some Kind of Love," Kerosene Cologne

Cat Power, "Singer Stallion," Jukebox

Replacements, "I Will Dare," Let it Be

The Whigs, "Production City," Mission Control

Band of Horses, "The General Specific," Cease to Exist

Centro-Matic, "Covered Up in Mines," Fort Recovery

Damien Jurado, "Denton, TX," And Now That I'm In Your Shadow,

The Beach Boys, "Caroline, No," Pet Sounds

Wilco, "Pieholden Suite," Summerteeth

Big Star, "Thirteen," #1 Record/Radio City

Josh Ritter, "Me & Jiggs," Golden Age of Radio

Robyn Hitchcock, "I Wanna Go Backwards," I Wanna Go Backwards (box set)

Gary Louris, "True Blue," Vagabonds

Steve Earle, "Satellite Radio," Washington Square Serenade

Radiohead, "Paranoid Android," OK Computer

Citizen Cope, "Brother Lee," Every Waking Moment

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, "Mega Bottle Ride," Global A Go-Go

Big Audio Dynamite, "Rush," The Globe

Beastie Boys, "In 3's," The In Sound from Way Out

Cafe Tacvba, "El Ciclon," Re

Broken Social Scene, "7/4 (Shoreline)," Broken Social Scene

Review on Deck: The Whigs - Mission Control

2008-02-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

"Right Hand On My Heart"

Alejandro Escovedo's "Lust for Life": Real Animal

2008-01-30T02:21:00.001-05:00

Austin, Texas isn’t known as the “live music capital of the world” for nothing, and you don't need a SxSW wristband to partake. On any given weeknight, a live music addict wandering 6^th Street or South Congress can step through the nearest pub door and find a quick fix of blistering rock and roll-- one-off live shows that would shame more anticipated and choreographed productions taking place only on weekends in other cities.

Even by Austin’s standards, though, Tuesday nights in particular must seem a bit special of late. Beginning last year and continuing through January, Austin's Alejandro Escovedo (link) took up a Tuesday night residency at the famed Continental Club. Listening to the concerts, Escovedo and his band (his frequent mix of string quartet and buzz-saw guitars) sound muscular, confident, and ready to take to the road.

Of all of the residency shows, however, none were more anticipated than a special show last Friday night, when Escovedo and singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet debuted material from their highly-anticipated release, Real Animal. Real Animal, an album of songs reflecting on Escovedo’s life, including the title track, a tribute to one of his biggest influences, Iggy Pop, is slated for release in June. In fact, last Tuesday's show not only “debuted material,” but, following a set by Prophet and his band (touring behind Prophet’s 2007 release Soap and Water), Escovedo, Prophet, and band roared through through Real Animal in its entirety, track-by-track, in order.

Escovedo is no longer by any means Austin’s Best Kept Secret, but for an artist's artist with a rock and roll c.v. reaching back to the 70’s (see here) and a catalog of stunning solo work, neither is he the household name that he should be. Enter Real Animal, a work that, even in its rough live version, gives promise of appeal to more than just the SxSW faithful: a highly autobiographical work touching on the various phases of Alejandro’s colorful rock life, set to music of the very time it describes.

Standout tracks include the opener, “Always a Friend,” in which Escovedo repeatedly begs a lover to “let yourself go, let yourself show.” The chorus is punctuated with “Oh-oh Oh-oh”’s lifted directly (and presumably intentionally) from David Bowie’s "TVC15," and the song sounds as though it could have come from that same era.

The balance of the record skips across All Things Escovedo—a stint at NYC’s artist-haunt the Chelsea is chronicled in “Chelsea Hotel,” wherein Escovedo, recalling life immersed in the artist community, observes, “We came to live inside the myth of everything we heard.” History is laid out clearly in “Sensitive Boys,” a track about the punk/glam scene where “nothin’s ever what it seems,” and “Nun’s Song,” wherein guitars pound along over a foundation of orchestral strings, as Escovedo chronicles the Nuns, one of his first bands that met with “a touch of fame.” In “Chip and Tony,” Escovedo reaches all the way back to his start in Rank & File, shouting, “All I ever wanted was a four piece band!”

This live set portends a full studio production rife with harmonies, dueling guitars (the listener is reminded, Prophet can play!), and classic rock vocal fills, thereby matching musical theme to the story. The timing of its release may coincide closely with an upcoming live music documentary about Escovedo’s life and work. Scheduled to be shot in Austin’s Las Manitas restaurant by Jonathan Demme, who’s resume includes such concert films as Stop Making Sense, Storefront Hitchcock, and Neil Young: Heart of Gold, the film will likely debut in Austin prior to a wider release.

Escovedo’s story has been highly visible in the media in the past couple of years, spurred largely by the release of 2006’s critically-acclaimed The Boxing Mirror, in which Escovedo dealt with his mortality in the wake of a serious health diagnosis. Real Animal will give the public the entire bio, a life inspired by Iggy, whom Escovedo refers to in his introduction of the title track as “a big influence on my life . . . and I’ve paid for it every day since.”

Liam Finn: I'll Be Lightning - Review

2008-01-28T22:09:00.000-05:00

In the late 80's, smack dab between his MTV-friendly Split Enz and his more recent solo singer-songwriter career, Neil Finn commissioned famed luthier Danny Ferrington to build two guitars. Finn was seeking inspiration in writing and performance with his then-band, masters of crafty pop Crowded House. Closely tied to his family, both in his life and in his music, Finn asked Ferrington to inlay the ebony of the first guitar's fretboard with pearl symbols representing each member of his family. Perhaps in a fit of wishful thinking, Finn requested that the fifth fret, representing 7-year old son Liam, be adorned with a drum kit.

Nearly twenty years on, it appears Neil got his wishes, as Liam is playing the drums . . . and the bass, and the guitar, and the piano, and nearly every other instrument appearing on I'll Be Lightning, Liam's solo debut released this month on Yep Roc. Though the project is chock full of lyrical phrasing, melodies, and the voice, that voice, that all draw lines right back to Papa, I'll Be Lightning finds Liam skipping right out of his father's tall shadow.

Lightning is nothing earth-shattering. It's a pop record, and it doesn't attempt to be anything more. But it's a beautiful pop record, fat with double and triple-tracked vocals, keyboards, and infectious melodies that sneak from your iPod into your brain and live there for the afternoon.

The record starts in simplicity with "Better to Be," a bit of a throwaway song built around a loopy keyboard riff. From there, the complexity increases quickly through the strong three-song run "Second Chance," "Gather to the Chapel," and the closer to what feels like the album's first segment, "Lead Balloon," ending in a screaming bit of pop-punk.

Finn's vocals are a bit thin in places, especially where only single-tracked, as on the plodding rhythms of "Energy Spent," or in the silly "Music Moves My Feet." In fairness, the weakness in Finn's voice is due in part to his freshman lack of confidence in delivery, but also to the less-than-conscious comparisons the listener inevitably makes to the more muscular and pop-seasoned pipes of Finn's father.

By the album's close, Finn hits his stride. Reviewers trotting out Brian Wilson references may be a bit cliche, but the references are warranted in this case. More directly, the last half of Lightning references the Fab Four, not so much as mere influence as outright homage at times, especially on the title track, which ends in a beautiful chorus of Finn vocals.

Identifying the weaknesses in this solo release seems almost unfair, as this is a strong solo debut that is a worthy purchase, and not just for Finn completists. Rolling Stone was dead-on in identifying Liam Finn some months ago as one of its "Artists to Watch."

Finn Footnote: That second guitar? Neil had Ferrington build a miniature version of his own guitar to give to boy Liam. Neil immediately borrowed the mini-guitar and carried it into the studio, where it can be heard on "Four Seasons in One Day," "Weather With You," and "She Goes On," three standouts from Crowded House's 1991 pop-gem Woodface.

Review on Deck: Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning

2008-01-28T00:19:00.001-05:00

"Second Chance"

The Inimitable Andrew Bird: Imitosis (live)

2008-01-27T01:42:00.001-05:00

Andrew Bird . . . only fully understood when seen live, in the act

of creation. Layers and loops and layers and loops and . . .

whistling! Love-er-ly!