DBT - The Dirt Underneath

This weekend, The Drive-By Truckers kicked off their Dirt Underneath Tour in their homebase of Athens, Georgia. A stripped down affair, the intent for these shows was to play some oldies, play some new ones, and do a few new things with the old ones. Those of you used to the headbanging, rock and roll side of the Truckers will be in for a nice little surprise. I love the hard rocking Truckers as much as anyone, but this acoustic heavy stuff sounds good, with heavy doses of John Neff pushing the steel and Spooner Oldham, a man who has played with some guys named Dylan and Young (maybe you've heard of them), gracing the keys. Below are a couple of songs from the Friday night gig:

DBT - My Sweet Annette
The first DBT song that blew me away many years ago, this features Cooley on the banjo. Yowza!

DBT - Bob
A new Cooley song from what I understand. Dude continues to write great stuff and I'm looking forward to hearing more and more of him over the next few records.

[Buy DBT here and here]

Thanks to all the tapers who 1) do a great job with the recordings and 2) bust their asses to get this stuff out to the masses. Check out http://bt.etree.org to get your hands on the recordings!


If you get the chance (wish I did), check out the Truckers at a venue near you.

Tue May 1 - Austin, TX - Antone's

Wed May 2 - Austin, TX - Antone's

Fri May 4 - Santa Fe, NM - Lensic PAC with Alejandro Escovedo

Sat May 5 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre with Alejandro Escovedo - ROCK SHOW (Not part of The Dirt Underneath)

Sunday May 6 - Indio, CA - Stagecoach Festival - ROCK SHOW (Not part of The Dirt Underneath)

Mon May 7 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

Tue May 8 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

Thu May 10 - Park City, UT - Suede

Fri May 11 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen

Sat May 12 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre & Cafe

Sun May 13 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre & Cafe

Thu June 21 - Knoxville, TN - Sundown in the City

Fri June 22 - Richmond, VA - Brown's Island

Sat Jun 23 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues

Sun June 24 - Athens, GA - ATHFEST

Fri July 6 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival

Sat Jul 14 - Masontown, WV - All Good Music Festival - ROCK SHOW (Not part of The Dirt Underneath)

Thu Jul 19 - New York, NY - Castle Clinton National Monument, Battery Park - ROCK SHOW (Not part of The Dirt Underneath)

BK

Saturday Six Pack II

Homer endorsing both the drinking and the rocking!

Good evening folks. I was hoping to simply cut and paste last week's 6 pack entry, since the Cardinals and Cubs were supposed to be on TV here. Unfortunately, we got stuck with the Yankees and Red Sox. I'm sick of hearing about these teams. It seems all ESPN talked about this past week was Boston-New York and Brady Quinn. Anyway, enough of my complaining, let's get to the good stuff.

This week I had a hankerin' for rock and roll songs. All of these bad boys have some killer riffs that'll get you headbanging like these two guys

Guided By Voices -- Atom Eyes from Under the Bushes Under the Stars
I've been on a big indie rock kick from the early to mid 1990s. I'm a relative newbie to GBV, but I look forward to diving in even more.
[Buy Guided By Voices here and here]

Pearl Jam -- State of Love and Trust from Thunder Bay Canada 9/9/05
Talk about a hot riff, this live cut has got it!
[Buy Pearl Jam here]

The Drams -- Unhinged from Jubilee Dive
Brent Best and company rocked for years in Slobberbone. With The Drams, that rocking continues.
[Buy The Drams here and here]

Dinosaur Jr -- Let It Ride from Bug
Dinosaur Jr's new record hits stores this Tuesday and it smokes! I have not stopped listening to it for the last month. Let It Ride, dating back to 1988, gives a little taste of the band that might have created the best album of 2007 when it's all said and done.
[Buy Dinosaur Jr here and here]

Lucero -- San Francisco from Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
Two Cow Garage's new CD brought me back to these guys and their great album from 2006. Songs of lost loves....refreshing.
[Buy Lucero here]

The Hold Steady -- The Swish from Almost Killed Me
By now, all 3 of you know my love for their 2006 album Boys and Girls In America. However, this song, dating from 2004's Almost Killed Me, might be their hardest rocking of all.
[Buy The Hold Steady here and here]

Hope you enjoy this week's Six Pack. Be sure not to chug all of these in an hour or you'll likely be falling down. As Homer Simpson says, "Don't Stop A Rockin'"!

BK

Top 5 - Quick Three Minute Ditty

JJ Cale - the master of the demo

Let's try a Top 5 a little more academic, because you gotta be able to mix opinion with fact if you're gonna get any where in this blog. But, don't worry, it's not too tricky. Everybody's got their favorite little ditty they can hum along with. Sometimes if a song gets too long and too complicated, it loses all its meaning. Plenty of artists out there can say all they need to in an easy melody and a few short minutes. I figure most songs are between 3 and 5 minutes long. So, what about those quick three minute ditties? Let me have em - what are your Top 5 Song Under 3:00? I'm sure there are plenty of them.

Here's a great example, just to get you started. Blues songs can be really simple and get their point across pretty quickly. I particularly like this Spencer Davis Group song (Steve Winwood singing). Hopefully, it'll get you started.

Spencer Davis Group - The Hammer Song (2:16)
[buy Spencer Davis Group here]

AG

AG Webcast Episode 4

Guest Rosemary White and Accessible Jazz

>>>>> AG Webcast Episode 4 <<<<<

I’m bringing back the guest host this week, by inviting Rosemary White onto the webcast. Rose has offered up 5 songs she enjoys, told me why she likes them, and answered a few other questions. I’m excited about having guests on the show to bring in some new music (and allow me to do a little less preparation!). Thanks a lot to Rose for being the test case in this little experiment. After that we hear a little jazz that I’ve been digging on lately. Here’s the setlist:

Rose’s Ass-kicking Songs

1. Regina Spektor – On the Radio
2. Dropkick Murphys – I’m Shipping Up to Boston
3. Jack Johnson – We’re Going to Be Friends
4. Gary Jules – Princess of Hollywood Way
5. Kenny Rogers – The Gambler

Accessible Jazz

6. Harry Connick, Jr – Mardi Gras in New Orleans from chanson du vieux carre (2007)
7. Harry Connick, Jr – Ash Wednesday from chanson du vieux carre (2007)

Review of this album

8. Norah Jones – Sinkin Soon from Not Too Late (2006)
9. Norah Jones – My Dear Country from Not Too Late (2006)
10. Norah Jones – More Than This (Roxy Music cover)

Paste Magazine Interview of Norah Jones

11. Paris Combo – Fibre de Verre from Putamayo Presents French Cafe (2003)
12. Medeski, Martin, and Wood – Chubb Subb from Get Shorty Soundtrack (1995)

~AG

What the hell is an Icky Thump??

Well, its the new album by the White Stripes coming out June 12. However, the single was released to a radio station last night at midnight. So now, I've got the link to it. I've already listened to it and I love it. If this single, also the title track, is any indication, then they've gone away from the blues/country sound of the last album and are ickily thumping there way through this one. Give the single a listen and let me know what you think.

White Stripes - Icky Thump

I will now continue sitting at my desk staring at the calendar, anxiously awaiting June 12.

RR

Edit: Sorry, kids. It looks like the mp3 has been removed. However, have no fear. One can purchase the song for $0.99 on iTunes. Highly worth it, in my book.

Rock and/or roll from Columbus

Taking a look at Two Cow Garage's myspace page, I see enough to know that these guys are a really great band. First, the actual music. They play rock and roll music, loud rock and roll music. If you like the Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, or a band like Glossary, you'll probably dig these guys. Second, PBR is their number one friend on their myspace page. Wa wa wee wa!

With their third release, Two Cow Garage continues its tradition of hard rocking guitars. However, they also shows signs of growth from their second album, The Wall Against Our Back, with horn arrangements on songs like Mediocre and more poignant song writing included in songs such as Should've California and No Shame. Here's my favorite track from the album, probably because it describes me in many a thing:

Two Cow Garage -- Mediocre

[Buy Two Cow Garage here and here]

BK

Borders Recommendation

I was in Borders this weekend, strutting around the store, sporting a $10 gift card (Easter present from my girlfriend’s Mom – pretty sweet), looking for some CD to take a chance on. I picked a Yo La Tengo album as a safe bet (can’t just get one CD when at the store) and continued my search for some risky business, when I passed by the recommendations posted by the Borders employees. Right damn smack in the middle was an album by The Snake the Cross the Crown – an Alabama band. The sticker on the front of the CD suggested this work for fans of Wilco and the hand written recommendation suggested it to be a diamond in the rough, signed “the entire Borders staff”. Alright, sounds promising. I’ll give it a go. And so I did. I gave it three or four listens today and while nothing in it was objectionable, nothing jumped out at me either. I sort of found it to be: blah. We love to talk about our favorite bands here at KGB, but I’d like to take this opportunity to warn listeners about so-so music and, more importantly, about Borders employees recommendations. That recommendation must have just been some dare from one of the stock boys. My second choice for a shot in the dark CD was a Putamayo Presents – Acoustic African music. I bet that one would have been sweet.

AG

R.I.P. Boris Yeltsin

Tough day here at the Radio KGB headquarters, what with the passing of Boris Yeltsin and all. I offer up this song, that has nothing to do with Boris Yeltsin, but is by a group called Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Not even sure if he would've liked this song, but here's paying my repect....

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Oregon Girl

I'd like to use this opportunity to advertise a site I recently stumbled upon. The website is Daytrotter.com. Daytrotter is a site in which travelling indie rockers stop by and offer up recordings on their way across the country. The bands usually record B-sides or alternate versions of songs on their albums live in the Daytrotter studio. Four songs are always recorded and are made available for FREE download at the Daytrotter website. The above tribute to Boris Yeltsin was taken from the Daytrotter website. There's still a lot of bands on the site that I've never heard, but I figured why not give some of these touring bands a chance.

I've decided to give you a listen to two other songs I got from Daytrotter. These songs are from two of the bigger names currently on the indie circuit. Enjoy.

Peter and the Wolf - Lightness (Alternate Version)

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Goodbye Dear Old Stepstone

RR

Saturday Six Pack I

Happy Saturday to everybody! It's a beautiful spring afternoon here in southern Ohio and I've just settled in to watch the Cardinals-Cubs and opened my first Budweiser. Here's to spring days and drinking in the afternoon! Speaking of drinking, today begins a new feature on KGB. Circa every Saturday, or perhaps some early morning Sundays, I'll be posting my Saturday Six Pack of songs. These will be 6 songs that I'm jonesing on for the last few days. The more great music, the better!

Whiskeytown -- Angels Are Messengers From God from Rural Free Delivery
RA and CC singing blissfully as always.
[Buy Whiskeytown here]

Great Lake Swimmers -- Various Stages from Bodies and Minds
Indie band out of Canada. They just released a new album in 2007, but this is from their 2005 release.
[Buy Great Lake Swimmers here]

Son Volt -- Highways and Cigarettes from The Search
My favorite song from my favorite album of the year thus far. Farrar, with Shannon McNally accompanying on harmonies, sounds as good as ever.
[Buy Son Volt here]

Mark Kozelek -- Cruiser from Little Drummer Boy
One of Kozelek's many fine originals. This is taken from his live acoustic album released this year.
[Buy Mark Kozelek here]

Gillian Welch -- Black Star from Black Star EP
Gillian Welch covering a Radiohead song? Yes, and very well at that.
[Buy Gillian Welch here]

Bloodkin -- End of the Show from Good Luck Charm
Loved this song for years thanks to WIdespread Panic and JB's heart felt delivery. The Hutchens have written great songs for years, this included.
[Buy Bloodkin here]

BK

Squarepusher

Here’s an interesting guy with interesting music that at least seems to be positively influencing hip-hop, rap, and other music (something I’m all for). Squarepusher, or Tom Jenkinson, is a middle-aged Brit that’s bucking all the trends and pushing music in a new direction – a digital direction. Let’s make music with computers. At first thought, being a saxophone and guitar player, this troubles me. It just doesn’t seem as real as belting out that high note, altering your air flow to change intonation, or bending a note by moving a guitar string. But, what is playing piano, if not pushing some buttons. Music always has to be processed through something – vocal cords, the metal and wood of a saxophone. Why can’t it be processed through electronics? I’m starting to warm to the idea. Squarepusher warmed to it long ago and is making it all happen now. What I think most impresses me about Squarepusher is that behind all the computers he’s really one of the best bass players in the world (see the clips below). Dude can really move. But, he’s doing more than just playing bass, he’s making it different. In some ways I think that makes the music harder to follow – a sort of inaccessibility that is sometimes associated with jazz or even jam bands. An interesting quote from the end of an interview posted on his website: “But I'm still left thinking about the music. Six pints later: ‘what are you supposed to do when you listen to your stuff?’ Tom says, ‘You can put it on and dance around like a chicken on fire.’ Enough said.” Well, that’s one way to do it.

Now, how is he influencing hip-hop and rap? Well, they love him! Everybody from Outkast to Tom Yorke to Flea thinks this guy’s bad ass. If that brings some creativity to other genres of music, I’m all for it.

So, if you’re as intrigued as I am, here’s more info on the master:

Squarepusher Website – lots of clips, interviews, and videos
Wikipedia site – interesting squarepusher philosophy, not sure about its validity

Some buddies from Vandy (Leilord and Brian) actually introduced me to this guy. Here are the tracks that they recommended:

Squarepusher – Go Plastic
Squarepusher – Red Hot Car

Can’t get by with out some YouTube clips!

AG