Happy Fifth of July

That's right, I'm not forgetting about America just because its Saturday.

Anyways.....what are we listening to nowadays?

I'm looking for some new shiz and I can't say i've been 100% completely happy with my recent emusic purchases.....but that's just the way that goes. Lend me a helping hand and guide me towards something new down yonder in the comments. I'm growing desperate.

On to other important matters....

Kendall gave a less than glowing review of the new MMJ album down below (i believe the word turd was even used). I'm not going to be so harsh. Yes, parts (read: HIGHHHH-LEEEE SUH-SPISH-OUS!!) are a little difficult to handle.

There are some parts that are very worthwhile to listen to, and the more I've done so, the more I've liked it. I kinda think MMJ is one of those bands (a la Wilco) whose albums need to be taken with a small grain of salt (and that salt is typically served in the form of their live performances). I'm guessing that after we get the opportunity to hear some live cuts of these songs we'll find they grow a bit.

Example #1: Saturday Night Live. I heard both "Evil Urges" and "I'm Amazed" first on SNL. And I'll concede that SNL isn't exactly the place where masterful performances are produced, it was the first chance I had to hear these songs and I really liked them then.

Particularly the breakdown in the middle of Urges and the entire version of Amazed. They both come across a bit more.....hard hitting, i guess. Anyways, here's the mp3 of their performances from SNL which was hosted by everyone's favorite former Disney star turned Indiana Jones sidekick, Shia Lebouf.

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (live at SNL)
My Morning Jacket - I'm Amazed (live at SNL)


As for new things.....I haven't found much recently. I kinda like this Liam Finn fellow (liken him to Elliott Smith-type on anti-depressants). The "new" Stephen Malkmus is pretty good....but I still don't find myself listening to it that often. So, like i said if there's anything out there......send it my way.

Liam Finn - Second Chance
Stephen Malkmus - Baltimore

RR

Conor Oberst gettin' his solo on

Even though I kinda always considered Bright Eyes a solo gig for Oberst, he's putting out an album under his own name. Its just him and some people he calls The Mystic Valley Band......catchy.

The album drops in August but you can stream two songs, "Danny Callahan" and "Souled Out", now from the "band's" official web site here.

Of the two I prefer "Souled Out". Its gotta nice rocky feel to it. "Callahan" has an interesting western, honky tonk piano feel. I get a different vibe from these than I did the last Bright Eyes album....which is a good thing, because never took to the last one.

If you end up giving it a listen, let me know what you think.

For now I'm off on vacation. Florida is callin' my name.

Holla

RR

The Hold Steady, Centro-matic, My Morning Jacket holy shit!

I am good at generalizing. See, based on looking at this guy, I generalize that he is a hit with the ladies.

Generalizing. Despite the bad rap that moral or nice people want to give it, generalizing people and things based on an initial impression is the best way to proceed through life. Analyzing something or getting to know people is just a waste of time. With that in mind, I am going to generalize three new albums, two of which are some of the summer's most anticipated.

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

As, Rutledge mentioned yesterday, this bad boy is now available for download at Itunes. I've listened to it sporadically over the last month and gave it the full treatment on Tuesday. This album is ok, not even close to Separation Sunday or Boys & Girls...in my mind. Nothing jumps out to me. Some pretty kick ass guitar rifts throughout, but alot of them don't really go anywhere in my mind. It just kind of stalls with less hooks, making much of the album less accessible than the aforementioned albums. When it's great, it's great (see Sequestered in Memphis, Lord I'm Discouraged, Slapped Actress - the best song on the disc) but the rest hasn't done much for me yet. Hence, it's meh rating (Navy Sheets by itself almost warrants a meh rating). I will say that it has much potential for getting better, unlike our next album...........

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Look, I get it Jim James. I understand that you like to "evolve" and keep pushing musical boundaries. I understand that many of the greats have done this. That's fantastic, I'm just disappointed with where you took it or how it came out in this instance. There are some good ones: Evil Urges, where James' voice heads to areas his studio albums have rarely gone but works surprisingly well, I'm Amazed with the more classic James sound but with lesser lyrics (an unfortunate theme throughout), and Aluminum Park.

Much of the album falls flat for me unfortunately. Even songs with a killer pedal steel whining in the back ground, such as Sec Walkin, just don't work for me. It lacks punch and seems fluffy - something I would find on my local adult contemporary, soft rock station. I haven't even mentioned Highly Suspicious, there is plenty of discussion about it. I come down on the side that says it's a turd.

Despite the disappointment in the album, I'm not giving up on MMJ. I don't love this direction, but it's not really surprising considering some of the territory covered on Z. Jim James has proven to be a badass in my book and every great artist makes a bad record every now and again, right?

Centro-matic / South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks

While I had fully embraced the other two bands, Centro-matic has always been a mixed bag for me. I've always recognized Will Johnson's prolific talent and I've enjoyed many of his past offerings (hell, I rated Fort Recovery in my Top 10 of 2006) but for some reason it had failed to click, until now. See, some guys write so much music, they need multiple outlets, and that's how Johnson operates. He does solo stuff, but works mainly for Centro-matic with a little South San Gabriel on the side. This time, he released albums from both bands, at the same time. The result: a freaking 90 minute set of incredible songs. The first disc is Centro and brings their trademark rock that Centro-matic is known for. Caution: it isn't for the faint of heart and might take some listens (yeah, I know this goes against what I railed on in the beginning) but do not fear, you will be rewarded in the end. Crunch and hook - I like it!

Here's one of my favorites (among many) from the album:

Centro-matic :: All Your Farewells

The South San Gabriel disc is something different. It's still Johnson writing great songs and much of it is still catchy. But, the songs are much more mellow and composed much differently. It works as a perfect contrast to the grit and forwardness of Disc 1; Disc 2 is a little more haunting and ambient. Take a listen to my favorite on this side, Kept On The Sly. I was looking forward to this entire album less than the two above, but I clearly enjoy it more than the other two.

So yeah, I lied about the generalizing.

Later chumps.

BK

LAPTOP'S BACK!!!

Yeah, so i kinda "lost" my laptop three weeks ago. By "lost", I clearly mean I left it at my brother's house 5 damn hours away.....but everyone can relax, i've got it back.

So, that means I've got my music back too (an unfortunate outcome of my "switch" to digital music as opposed to CDs and such is that if my laptops MIA then most of my music is as well).

So, I'd first like to mention that The Hold Steady's new album Stay Positive is available for download over at iTunes. The actual tangible copy of it doesn't come out until July sometime, but you can download it now. Good enough for me.

Kendall so far has given it the raving review of "meh", but if I had to guess I'd say that he probably changes his mind before too long. I like it. I don't love it yet....but i definitely like it. The songs "Sequestered in Memphis" and "Both Crosses" are early highlights for me. One thing that is not down concerning this album is the lyric quality....they're as awesome as ever. My fave so far is "In barlight, she looked alright......In daylight, she looked desperate."



In other pleasantly surprising news, Coldplay has a new album for those that haven't seen the ipod commercial like 4700 times. Its called Viva la Vida and its pretty good....maybe that makes me gay (a la 40 Year Old Virgin) but whatever. I really like this album so far. Check out the opening instrumental track, "Life in Technicolor" and the 7:00 min + "Yes". This album isn't nearly as sappy/ridiculous as their last one. I'd put it on par with the first two in terms of quality....



Both these albums are a little to new for me to post anything from....but you should definitely check them out.

As for something to listen to.....how's this:

Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma: If you're like me, the non-English major in you googled "Oxford Comma", found out what is was, and then thought to yourself...."Yeah, who does give a fuck about an Oxford comma."



Port O'Brien - I Woke Up Today: Their album
All We Could Do Was Sing came out back in April and apparently it was their official debut. I guess The Wind and the Swell doesn't count for some reason....i liked it for what its worth. This song lead off both albums (i feel like i've got 35 different versions of this song for some reason....its probably more like 3) but this is my favorite version so far. The drums are a little more prevalent in this one.

You can download both these albums over at emusic. They're quality.

Oh well, take it easy.

RR

The Queen of Soul

Aretha's got steps

I'm going to take a stab and guess that you've never really listened to Aretha Franklin. Guys don't want to get caught listening to "Respect" and girls can't stop listening to "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman". Am I wrong? Well, I was the same way, but dammit, she's the Queen of Soul and she deserves better. And, dammit, you like good music, so you deserve better. So, here I am for ya, with sounds to salve the soul by Aretha Franklin. Give em a listen, I know you won't be disappointed.

She can get seriously funky with Rock Steady

You know she's got soul on You'll Lose a Good Thing

And check out some grass roots on her version of The Weight

[buy] some Aretha

AG

(three posts in three days, booyaah)

Once

So, maybe "I'm Not There" was a bit academic or maybe abstract for me, but here's a music-related flick that is pretty sweet. You need to check out "Once" this very moment. It's about a street musician in Dublin trying to make his first demo and get a record deal. Of course, there's a love interest and drama ensues. Best part is that Glen Hansard (plays "guy" in the movie) and Marketa Irglova (plays "girl" in the movie) are both real musicians and this movie is really based around their songs. So, the tunes are freakin sweet and it turns out to be a very powerful movie, I'd say. I would very much recommend that you go out and rent this movie. Maybe watch it with your special lady/gentleman friend. Then I'd recommend you check out the sound track because it is also remarkable. In fact, I'm not going to post any songs from the soundtrack because it would ruin your movie experience. So, check it out on your own!

AG

I'm Not There

Cate makes for an attractive man.

Sorry for not posting in a very very long time...

So, I finally saw "I'm Not There" this weekend. I was pretty excited to check this Dylan "biopic" out. It got some props at some festivals and such and Cate Blanchett definitely got some hype over her portrayal of one aspect of Dylan's personality. It was pretty interesting. It wasn't quite what I expected though. I found it very abstract as there was no plot to speak of. I don't think you can look at any particular scene to understand what the movie was saying or what Dylan was all about. I guess you have to screw up your eyes and see all two hours of it in one flash of personality and complexity. It's difficult to describe, as Dylan was. The music was good and it got me back in the mood for some more Dylan. As such, I picked up Highway 61 Revisited, so I'll post some good Dylan stuff soon.

AG

Haha I'm posting about Dave Matthews

Sorry, how can I not? His band, along with Timmy Reynolds [giving this usually punchless band some punch], played a pretty hot show in Pennsylvania last night. In addition to their usual stuff, they also played the Allman's Melissa and encored with Money (Pink Floyd) and the Motown classic Money (That's What I Want) (Barrett Strong).

You can stream the entire show here.

BK

Gordon and I went and done it, thanks to a little help from Gerdon..

That's right fuckers, Gordon and I went and done it. I almost hate to give Gerdon credit but I have to. See, Gerdon got 'hold of me the other day to tell me that Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters fame is playing in Louisville. On a Saturday night. For $15 bucks.

Damn, pure robbery.

We got our tickets and are making the short drive down I-71 to Louisville. I can't remember being so excited for a show. Kozelek is an enigma wrapped in an enigma...a cat I was sure I would never see live.

But here he is...close to home and on the heels of his new album April. A fantastic album from one of the most underrated artists going today. Don't be a chump...if you think it's too mellow or depressing or too long the first time around...listen a few more times. You'll come around.

Check this stuff out...first from April then a "new" version from SKM's classic, Ghosts of the Great Highway.

SKM Tonight in Bilbao
SKM Carry Me Ohio (jam version)!

BK

Wading through the turds of the last 10 years...

Ten years ago I was approaching my high school graduation. Crazy to believe it was ten fucking years ago! Since then, I've experienced a lot of shit and listened to a lot of music, including a lot of turds. Because of this, it's a pretty joyous experience to go back and listen to some of that music and find something you still can dig. I did that very thing tonight when I revisited a band called The Samples. I listened to these cats a lot back in 1998 - it was the soundtrack to my last two years of high school. Like many a thing, we grew apart as I grew older and they grew crappier (sorry it's true - their later stuff is junk). But, some of their stuff was fantastic and that's what I bring you tonight. The two tracks featured below still resonate with me for their countrified, uplifting happiness on one hand and the melancholy, reflective beauty on the other. As always, there is a nice use of the pedal steel guitar, the baddest instrument in all the land.

The Samples -- Take My Heart
The Samples -- Prophet of Doom

BK

NKOTB is Back in the house....

....and not a moment too soon. I hope everybody's still got their lunchboxes handy.


Yeah, so I'm minding my own business this morning, getting ready for work whilst watching the Today show, and who do they have playing???

New Kids on the Block........sigh.

They're back and they're touring.....and probably putting out a new album of predictably killer "hits".

It was at that moment this morning that I realized the true purpose of this blog and the thousand others like it. Somewhere this morning and young child was watching the Today show with his stay at home mom. Subconsciously this child was thinking to him or herself...."is this really all there is? Is this the music I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? This sucks."

Well, young child, yes....that would suck. But fortunately there is more out there than your standard NKOTB, Nsync, Backstreet Boys crap. And that is why we're here. If we can help one child find something good to listen to, then I say we've done our jobs.

So, with that......some non-NKOTB to get everyone's weekend started.

Pavement - Stop Breathin

This one's off the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain album....I love guitars throughout the second half of this song. Its probably my favorite Pavement song.

RR

Coming out of hibernation.....

Man, feels like its been damn near two months since our last pos.........wait.....what's that......it HAS BEEN TWO MONTHS!! Well, how about that?

How terrible. I mean, on one hand you can kinda understand where we're coming from....Kendall's house is buried in snow still, and well....let's just say Gerdon is taking the Bretty Favre thing rrreeaaalllyyy hard. As for me? I don't particularly have a good excuse. Chalk mine up to pure, unadulterated laziness.

Never again, I say!! I make you, the KGB reader (edit: listener) the solemn promise to never let this happen again.* Nothing but good tunes, and up-to-date** music news.

*Promise comes with the caveat that similar breaks will most certainly occur in the future.

**Music news actually not likely to be that up-to-date.

I must mention that I am certainly not speaking for the rest of us involved here at KGB. But I'm climbing back on the horse and am giving it another go-round.

So, to get us kick-started back into gear its gonna take a truly special song.

There's tons of new stuff we could listen to, but I'm saying lets go back to our roots. How about some Dylan.....

Bob Dylan - Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

See, that helps.

Now, how bout one more for the road. Let's hit up some Dead with this one.....I've been listening to a retarded amount of Dead recently.

Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower

Until next time.

RR

Snowed In EP

Alright, it wasn't this bad but still.....come on.

Damn! The Cincinnati area received a foot of snow over the last two days, relegating me to the abode. Other than a few visits outside with the pup (who would never come in if it were up to her), I've been snowed in. Not all is lost however; I've had lots of time to do very important things including my taxes, preparing for my fantasy baseball draft (booyah), cleaning, and drinking whiskey of course. Thus, in honor of my snowed-in weekend, here's an EP of songs that tell you all about my cold, snowy, sleepful weekend.

Mendoza Line -- Tax Me
Dolorean -- Violence In Snowy Fields
Wrinkle Neck Mules -- Failure of Liver
Ass Ponys -- Last Night It Snowed
Jack Johnson -- Sleep Through The Static
The Band -- Acadian Driftwood
Avett Brothers -- Go To Sleep

It's good stuff, ya'll.

BK

I miss you already Brett

The breaking news of the century is that gunslinger Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, your favorite QB and mine, is going to hang up the cleats for a better life in greener pastures. He's retiring folks. After 18 years in the NFL (17 of which with the Packers) he's amassed numerous outstanding records and accolades, he's excited and entertained the nation, and he's proven himself to be an outstanding person. He sure did some great things for the Packers and as a Packers fan I can say he will be missed. So, here are a few songs to let you know how I'm feeling about this whole mess.

My first notion is to say don't go Favre. You're still at the top of your game. You have a young and exciting team to lead and that second Super Bowl title could be yours. I think The Band said it the best:

The Band - Don't Do It

Next I'd like to remember Favre for what he was and still is - a bad ass on and off the football field. The Drive-by Truckers pay homage well to Steve McQueen for kicking ass and being an all around tough guy. I think we can substitute the name Brett Favre in for Steve McQueen in a couple choruses:

Drive-by Truckers - Steve McQueen

And, to finish out my man-crush on Brett, let's just remember the good times with Norah Jones.

The Little Willies - For the Good Times

AG

[buy The Band, Drive-by Truckers, The Little Willies]

Top 5 Songs of Drink

Dispensers of fine ale at Young's in Hammersmith, UK

It’s finally time for another Top 5 here at KGB and I will gladly raise a glass to that. In fact, many glasses, as was done this fine weekend when music cohort Bryan Kendall and posse rolled into Santa Barbara for a weekend in the sun. We sampled many home, local, and regional brews and didn’t turn one away. So, in honor of that festival of beer, let’s hear about some songs relating to the honest brew, press, and distillation that we love so well. These can be songs about drinking (in moderation or otherwise) or about a specific drink. So, with out further mention, give me your best:

Top 5 Songs of Drink

AG

Another man done gone...

Thank you The Onion for this bad boy. Communism never looked more fun.

A sad turn of events for Communists all over the world. One of the leading comrades has decided to retire (really, can you ever retire from Communism? I think not). Fidel Castro was no member of the KGB, but they were boys, no doubt about that. Sometimes reality has a way of kicking you in the nuts and it appears Castro's hath finally been kicketh. Lucky for him (if you can say that for someone with the health problems he currently has), his reality is not like the reality described by one Nick Lowe in the following. Check it out:

Nick Lowe -- Nutted By Reality from Jesus of Cool (Reissued)
[buy Jesus of Cool here]

In other completely unrelated news, the Hold Steady is currently preparing to release a new album, much to the enjoyment of myself and probably Rutledge too. The band shares some of the details with your friends at Pitchfork, right here.

BK

Finding a job sucks

So, one of the reasons I haven't posted much lately, is that I'm finishing up graduate school. Lame excuse, I know....but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) its true.

With that comes the horrendous, unenviable task of finding a job, or in my case.....finding yet another place to go to school for the next two years. It really is never ending. But its something that has to be done.

Now the funny thing is, I'm excited about the opportunity to move somewhere new. I've lived in Kentucky and Nashville (the urban version of Kentucky) for my entire life....so this will be exciting. But over the course of the past few weeks I've all but convinced myself that I'm living in like 10 different places. It changes every two or three days. So, I figured I'd give you a small bit of insight into some of those places that I've told myself, "Yep, that's the place. Can't wait to move there" only to change my mind the next morning.

So, let's get going. Here are a few....in no particular order.

1. Boston
Pros: See Picture. A. W. E. S. O. M. E. city.

Cons: Very cold. Gerdon lives there. HA! Just kidding buddy.

Song: Ben Harper - She's Only Happy In the Sun

2. Denver

Pros: Beautiful. Never been there. Skiing.

Cons: Snow. Lots of snow.

Song: Yonder Mountain String Band - High on a Hilltop

3. Louisville

Pros: Familiarity. Lots of Friends there. Comfortable.

Cons: What's the saying......Everything changes, everything stays the same? Something like that.

Song: Ben Kweller - Different but the Same

4. South Carolina
Pros: I like living in the south. Close to the ocean.

Cons: Hot.

Song: Ryan Adams - Carolina Rain


5. Dayton, OH
Pros: Meh.

Cons: Meh.

Song: Elliott Smith - Whatever

6. San Francisco
Pros: Probably the most different than what I'm used to.

Cons: Mapquest says its 2307.83 miles away from Nashville. Damn.

Song: Coconut Records - West Coast

7. Florida (either Gainesville or Tallahassee) Pros: Currently the favorite. I've wanted to live there my entire life. Wife wants to live there, too.

Cons: Hurricanes

Song: The Hold Steady - Citrus


So, I suppose we'll see. I still have a couple months before this process rrreeeaaaalllllyyyyy gets underway. I'm excited though.

RR

B-A-N-J-O

So, I've been meaning to make a couple posts recently, but haven't exactly gotten around to doing so....

To remedy this, I shall make a couple of posts today. And what better way to get us going than with a couple of banjo songs. Banjo.

The Avett Brothers - Talk of Indolence

Sufjan Stevens - The Transfiguration

Old Crow Medicine Show - I Hear Them All

That's good for now.

RR

Big Sur

Big Sur at sunset

I spent the weekend up in Big Sur - an area of costal California between San Fransicso and San Luis Obispo known for it's mountainous terrain, great ocean views, giant redwoods, and sweet wild life. It was an awesome trip involving some camping and some hiking. Big Sur was home to Jack Kerouac for a year in the 60's and got me thinking quite a bit about the Grateful Dead. I reckon they made their way through Big Sur in their hay day as well. So, here are a couple songs I was jamming to as I drove that long and winding Highway 1 along the cliffs at the edge of America.

Grateful Dead - Casey Jones

Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie

AG

Billy Bragg

Billy, out promoting his music

I’ve found myself enveloped in some Billy Bragg goodness as of late. I decided to check Billy out due to his collaboration with Wilco. I really enjoyed Mermaid Avenue (1998), though I still haven’t checked out Mermaid Avenue, Vol II (2000). At some point I ran across some music of Billy’s yester-years and decided to give it a go. So, I picked up Life’s a Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) and found it sticking with me. I don’t know much about punk, but I like this stuff because it’s short and to the point and stripped down to his loan, harsh guitar and even more harsh voice (similar to JJ Cale in some ways). Sometimes his singing is almost bad – but that seems to add to the aggressiveness of the song (see “To Have and To Have Not). It’s simple, good song writing and I can appreciate that. Unfortunately, I also picked up Talking With the Taxman About Poetry (1986) and found it a bit too 80’s for my taste. I may still pick up Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) hoping that’s more like Spy Vs Spy.

If you like what you’re reading, check out these two tracks:

Billy Bragg – A New England

Bill Bragg – The Milkman of Human Kindness

[buy Bill here]

AG