Crazy times....

Wooo...crazy times for me in this last week. I haven't spent much time with my headphones on, as work has been insane and I am continually enthralled by the Billy Donovon to UK chatter. However, I did come across this tidbit that I wanted to share. As some of you know, the Drive-By Truckers are my favorite band out there these days. They're about to hit the road for a medium run of shows, including a short batch billed as "The Dirt Underneath". Known for ringing electric guitars, DBT will leave them at home for these shows, focusing instead on a stripped down approach. The following video is a preview of these shows and was filmed at Grimey's New and Pre-Loved Music, a Nashville staple.



Enjoy!

BK

Webcast 2 - Musical Learnings of Ryan for Make Benefit Glorious Blogdom of KGB

Yeah, that's right.....we've got webcasts coming at ya from all different directions. Any why? Well, because we like you. Its been an interesting first month here at KGB and I have to say my favorite part was throwing together the first Webcast. So, here is my first attempt to recreate the magic we all shared together in what was a glorious first webcast experience. I've got no one particular topic to dwell on with this blog, but rather an assortment of topics that I've been thinking about recently. Keeping this in mind, I've entitled this Webcast "Brain Stew". I wanna dwell a bit on some cover songs I enjoy, the new Modest Mouse album, my take on alt.country, as well as a few other things. So, I hope you enjoy my second webcast.....let me know what you think about the songs......

Ryan Webcast 2 - Brain Stew

1. The Fugees - No Woman, No Cry
2. The White Stripes - Jolene
3. The White Stripes - The Denial Twist
4. Ola Podrida - Cindy
5. Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything
6. Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty
7. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
8. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
9. Whiskeytown - Jacksonville Skyline
10. Old '97s - Jagged
11. Weezer - Only in Dreams


And then there were two.........

AG Webcast - Episode 3

>>>>> AG Webcast - Episode 3 <<<<<

Indie What?

1. Uncle Tupelo – Acuff-Rose from Anodyne (1993)
2. Uncle Tupelo – If That’s Alright from Still Feel Gone (1991)
3. Ox – Stolen Car from Dust Bowl Revial (2004)
4. Ox – Miss Idaho from American Lo Fi (2006)
   Check out some free Ox Downloads!

5. Capstan Shafts – Feed Me Flowers
6. Capstan Shafts – The Days Don’t Pass In Wonder
   Nice article about Dean Wells, who is Capstan Shafts.
   Lots of free Capstan Shafts downloads: Beat The Indie Drum, Yellow Mica Recordings, Asaurus, SCTAS

7. The Magnetic Fields – Fear of Trains from The Charm of the Highway Strip (1994)
8. The Cat Empire – Sly from Two Shoes (2007)
   Got this from a Paste Magazine Sampler

9. Broken Social Scene – Major Label Debut from Broken Social Scene (2005)
10. Broken Social Scene – Pacific Theme from You Forgot It In People (2003)
11. The Shins – Australia from Wincing the Night Away (2007)
12. The Shins – Sea Legs from Wincing the Night Away (2007)
    Nice article about this album!

13. My Morning Jacket – It Makes No Difference from Endless Highway (2007)
14. Death Cab for Cutie – Rockin Chair from Endless Highway (2007)
    Article from Paste Magazine about this album!
    

Take this job and shove it!!

Yeah, that's right.....I'm at work and I'm posting on a blog. And I believe it's safe to say that most of us have come to the conclusion that work sucks. Yeah, I hate to break it to you like this, but its a damn fact. And to be quite honest, I'd say there's a decent chance that you're reading this here blog in the midst of your own procrastination from work. So, in honor of work sucking....here are five songs either loosely (or not at all) related to work sucking. Here goes.......

Johnny Paycheck.....Giving it to the man since 1977-------->

1. Beck - End of the Day: As it creeps ever closer, I take comfort in the fact that my work day shall end approximately 2 hours earlier than Gerdons. HA! And they say California has everything.....

2. Dashboard Confessional - So Long, So Long:.......is the work day. Wait a minute...is that Adam Duritz of Counting Crows fame?? Yes, yes it is.

3. Jack Johnson - Wasting Time: For obvious reasons.

4. Thom Yorke - The Clock: I've checked it like 5000 times today and its never moved slower.

5. Phantom Planet - The Guest: Just a good ass song, for good ass songs sake.

By the way.....the new Modest Mouse CD came out today. Crazy excited about this one....i just bought it online and I'm listening to it now. I'll give a little update and my opinion on it later this week.......

RR

Hell Hath Frozen Over....

I can't believe I am doing this. An anonymous comment left in yesterday's entry asked for a Neil Diamond song and not only am I going to respond, I am going to deliver a Neil Diamond mp3.

Music royalty! Oh yeah, Neil Diamond too (in the blue coat and shades).

This will be the only Neil Diamond reference that I will ever make on this blog. The only redeeming factor of this mp3 is that it's from The Last Waltz and with The Band. Otherwise, I expect to hear no more mention of Neil Diamond on this here blog. Here ya go:

The Band with Neil Diamond -- Dry Your Eyes

Thank you, come again.

BK

March Madness Blues....

As you've likely noticed by now, all three of us are sports nuts. Let me begin by congratulating my fellow bloggers for their Vanderbilt Commodores reaching the Sweet 16; their win against Washington State yesterday was one of the better tourney games. On the contrary, I'm feeling a little blue tonight after my beloved Kentucky Wildcats were sent home from the NCAA tournament this afternoon by a far superior Kansas team. It's not that I expected to win really; UK hadn't played well enough all year to give me any hope they could put together the perfect 40 minutes necessary to upset the Jayhawks. I am more blue with the state of Kentucky basketball at this time as we're currently no longer elite, simply decent. Nine years since our last Final 4 (our longest stretch in history) and next year will likely be worst. Sigh.....


At least we still have Ashley

I figured I oughta post a few songs to reflect my mood....and of course The Jayhawk's Blue would've been a great place to start, but I don't have the music in front of me. These other tracks will have to illustrate my current mood and this weekend in general...

Dwight Yoakam -- This Drinkin' Will Kill Me
Deadstring Brothers -- Talkin' Born Blues
The Bottle Rockets -- Feeling Down


On a more exciting note and as my fellow bloggers have pointed out, baseball season is here and with that, I can slip into my favorite Cardinals' attire and be myself once again. Look for me at a ballpark near you very soon and to all you Cubs' fans out there, I say "Get a brain, MORANS!"



BK

the National Lights

Since the existence of this blog type thing, I've slyly, or not so much, pimped the female voice as one of my latest musical obsessions. Some of my most pimped stuff has involved fantastic harmonies. The National Lights, on their album The Dead Will Walk, Dear, are rich in exactly what I'm digging. Yet, like sweet sweet crack, the album offers so much more thanks to its heavy Americana instrumentation. If that wasn't enough, this is also a sort of concept album as it delves into the story of a murder in a Midwestern town and the emotional ramifications of such an event. Check out the record, The Dead Will Walk, Dear, released on February 27.

BK




the National Lights -- Buried Treasure
the National Lights -- Swimming In The Swamp

"Neil Young is good people"

Neil Young is indeed good people, especially for his latest release from his vast archive of live performances. Taken from his 1971 performance at Massey Hall in Toronto, this gem is pre-Harvest and includes some early versions of songs that went on to become classics, including Old Man, Needle, and Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold from that album, not to mention others that wound up on After the Goldrush and Zuma. In addition to this, the sound quality is fan-fucking-tastic, much better than I expected from an early 70s recording. Finally, you get Neil at his most intimate: nothing but him, a guitar and piano, and some great banter.

Also check out the movie links to Neil's performance of Old Man and Ohio from the same show.

BK

Neil Young -- Dance Dance Dance

Movie: Neil Young -- Old Man
Movie: Neil Young -- Ohio

Throwdown at the Hoedown

Well, thanks to the Roadtrip Top 5, there's been enough interest to dig this setlist out of the archives. The history is a little unclear, but this may well have been the first mix CD I ever really made. As the story goes, it was a smashing success at Hanover College back in 2000 or so and I think it was a turning point in my musical career. Touching, eh? Anyway, most of these songs came on the suggestion of one John Howard, but I put them together into this little mix. There are a lot of great songs, but still more great songs remain out there. I've thought about putting together Hoedown II, but haven't completed it yet.

1. Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Southern Cross
2. Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
3. Otis Redding - Sitting On the Dock of the Bay
4. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
5. Steven Stills - Love the One You're With
6. Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
7. Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
8. Buffalo Springfield - For What Its Worth
9. Pure Prarie League - Amie
10. Allman Brothers Band - Ramblin Man
11. Alabama - Mountain Music
12. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
13. Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
14. Neil Young - Old Man
15. The Gourds - Gin and Juice
16. Alabama - Dixieland Delight
17. Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider

~AG

Debunk that bunk Ipod of yours....

Got an Ipod that's jumped the shark? Ready to throw down 300 bones to replace the wonderful but moody machinery that doesn't want to boot? If so, check out this website from the Tech-nerds from the Crunch Gear blog that come up with an ingenious, do it yourself way to fix the problem.

For your face melting experience of the day, I suggest checking out the following:





BK

March Madness!!

In honor of the March Madness, fellow bloggers MerrySwankster.com have decided to introduce even more bracketology into our lives. They are using a bracket system to determine the best album of the 90's. Go to their link above and scroll to the bottom to get a full description of the idea and a complete list of the albums as well as their seeding into the bracket. Readers will then be allowed to vote on each individual matchup until a Championship is crowned in the coming weeks. I highly recommend you check it out...however, make sure you have plenty of time, because once you start, you'll become addicted.

Just to give you a little peak into what they've done...they've broken the 64 team bracket into four brackets (a la college basketball) and labeled them: The Lou Reed Bracket, The Bob Dylan Bracket, The Eric B. Bracket, and The Ian Curtis Bracket.

I think its an awesome idea.

RR

Odds and Ends

Hey there KGB readers. No one particular thing on my mind today, but there are a few things I've been thinking about or meaning to share with you. So here are some interesting tidbits of information in no particular order:

Iron and Wine/Calexico - So, there's this really cool indie radio station called kexp. KEXP is a radio station out of Washingtion state, sponsored by the University of Washington that broadcasts all the latest and greatest indie music. Cool thing is, its also broadcasted free over the internet at kexp.org. Another cool thing is they have in studio guests play either a few songs or an entire concert. These concerts are then available for streaming On Demand at their web site. I just finished listening to a stream of an Iron and Wine/Calexico concert that is EXCELLENT. I highly recomment you check it out. I'll leave a link in a sec. "He Lays In the Reins" and "Red Dust" are particular highlights of this laid back set.

Iron and Wine with Calexico live at KEXP

Arcade Fire - They just released a new album on Tuesday and Pitchfork has already given it a rating of 8.4, meaning one of two things....either (1) the album is really, really good....or (2) its really cool to like Arcade Fire right now. I'll let you be the judge. I don't personally have the album yet, but I have the first one and absolutely loved in for like a month and then stopped listening to it for no explainable reason. I'll give this one a try, but until I do, check out this old Arcade Fire song and let me know what you think.....Arcade Fire - Wake Up.

The Long Winters - The Long Winters just announced they are going on tour. I suggest that if they are venturing your way, and you have a spare $20 that you go to this show....even if you've never listened to a single Long Winters song. It is my belief that you will not see a wittier, more entertaining show all year. Actually.....





The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds

The Long Winters - .




There....now you've heard at least two of their songs, so no excuses. A couple of notable stops on their tour include: Zagreb, Croatia (I hear they have a very big Long Winters following there), SanFran, St. Louis, and Newport, Ky (but i think we can skip the crap and just say Cincinnati).

Ryan Adams - Nothing I read will surprise me anymore with this dude. Pitchfork said today that he's going to play a concert at Stonehendge.....not even sure what I think of that.

Fall Out Boy - That's right, and finally, Green Day/Blink182 wannabees Fall Out Boy. A couple of weeks ago, I was shopping at a mall with my wife and we happen to stroll into an Aeropostale store to look for a pair of jeans. Not two seconds after we walk through the door we were greeted with, "Hello, welcome to Aeropostale! Would you like to purchase a copy of the new Fall Out Boy cd for only $15?!?!?" First off....NO! Second off....if I did, why the hell would I go to an clothing store to purchase this cd? That makes no sense to me. Nothing says "sell out" more than selling your cd in a trendy clothing store. I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now, and realized that nothing has pissed me off more in the past two months than seeing that. Now, this is not to say I was ever a Fall Out Boy fan or even like their music at all, but this basically sealed their fate with me in that sense. I probably would never have mentioned it had it not been for this douchebaggery of a Rolling Stone cover I saw today...


Put on a shirt, ass------------------>

Now, before I sign off, I want to add that if I later find out that Fall Out Boy and Aeropostale teamed up to sell this CD and in turn were donating the proceeds to cure some disease (i.e. cancer), I will rescind these comments and admit error on my part. But until then I am officially declaring Fall Out Boy my least favorite band on the planet.

RR

Top 5 Roadtrip Songs/Albums

I have arrived. A long and arduous journey, it was. It was 32.5 hours in a car with nothing but gas, bathroom, and drive through stops. What keeps a man sane in that kind of deprivation-chamber environment? Music, my friends, music. A sole source of inspiration on the Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California highways. So, what do you listen to? What are your Top 5 road trip songs? I still live in the age of CDs, so I'm so inclined to include Top 5 albums as well. So, lets lay it on that steaming pavement.

You'll find my Top 5 in the comments, but here's a taste of one of them:

Caste Iron Filter - Americana Motel

New Wilco album streaming tonight!

Two days after three tracks from Wilco's new album Sky Blue Sky were leaked, the folks over at Wilcoworld.net have decided to open the vault, sort of. Starting at 1100 PM EDT tonight, Sky Blue Sky will be streamed in its entirety at: http://smartley3.wilcoworld.net/sbs/

It doesn't look like I'll be catching it due to prior plans, so I expect a full report!

In other Wilco news, apparently the band will release one of the tracks from the new album for free download on Monday, March 5th. Read about it here. If I were a betting man, I'd say it'll be one of the three that leaked.

BK

And All is Right in the World Again.......

For those that don't know, my second major passion (other than music) is baseball. I am a HUGE Cardinals and a slightly less than huge Red Sox fan. And finally, after 4 months of waiting, real, honest-to-goodness baseball games are being played again.

Ladies and Gentleman.....Your 2006 World Champs --------->

Spring Training games started yesterday and Fantasy Baseball drafts are in full swingSo, in honor of the optimism of a brand new season that's upon us, I've decided to give you my top songs that make me think of baseball. Here they are, in no particular order:


1. The Standells - Dirty Water: Red Sox Nation classic. This is played after every home win in Fenway Park.

2. Belle and Sebastian - Piazza, New York Catcher: Does everything from quoting his batting average (.318) to questioning his sexuality. Though outdated, the title sounds better than "Piazza, Oakland Designated Hitter".

<---------No longer New York's catcher

3. Bob Dylan - Catfish: So, not only did Catfish Hunter have a Hall of Fame career, he also had a song penned in his name by arguably the greatest songwriter we're ever likely to hear.

4. Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline: Thanks Fever Pitch.

5. John Fogerty - Centerfield: Quite possibly the best non-Take Me Out to the Ballgame baseball song ever written. And to be perfectly honest, if that jackass coach had listened to Mr. Fogerty in the first place, their outfield situation could have been solved a lot earlier.

Honorable Mention: Glen Frey - The Heat is On: Apparently the Cardinals used to play this song after every win back in the '80s. I didn't know that, but it allows me to give a shout-out to my boy Ozzie Smith!!!

Let me know if you can think of any I've forgotten.

RR