03.28.09

Gravelly. Politics and/or drinking. You can choose.

Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't - March 28th, 2009 at 3:19 pm by Mick

Ryan Purcell – Kick The Dirt

This might sound stupid but when I go to a bar I want to hear songs about a bar. I want to hear whiskey and beer and screwin’ around with dangerous women. I want a soundtrack, really. On Kick The Dirt Ryan Purcell manages to give me some of that wrapped up in a lengthy nine tracks. Like I said, Purcell only gives me some of that. Half of these songs are about drinkin’ and women, the other half about politics.

The first song, “Guantanamo”, nearly put me off because of the sarcastic nature of the lyrics but I stuck around for the rest because of Purcell’s gravelly voice (nearly every singer I like sounds like emphysema amplified) and I’m glad I did. The second and third song here are sweaty, drunk, country blues bar band music. I swear I thought Faces were playing when I first heard “Palmer’s Pickup Blues”. Purcell himself even sounds like Rod Stewart momentarily. Another one I really enjoy, “Enough”, continues in the same vein with a little Neil Young influence. If I knew dick about chords and notes I could probably figure out if he was ripping off “Alabama” or not.

All definitely worth more than $5

Posted in cricket spazzes, news - March 28th, 2009 at 3:02 pm by Cricket

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know at least two things about me: I love Lucero and I love Drag the River. The other things you may have gleaned about me from reding these pages are probably better left undiscussed.

This week I’ve been rattling around, as I do, slightly disorganized and trying to do way more than I have time for. As always I start my day by reading 624,729 blog posts from various sources. Often I make lists of things I want to share with you all and mostly I never ever get around to doing that. I swear, I’m working this I am totally going to get better about it. Sometimes I don’t share because it’s just too personally depressing. Like this post about Lucero’s Ben Nichols at SXSW. These are the moments in life that I knowing I missed them just breaks my heart. If nothing else to have heard new songs and finally have seen Last Pale Light in the West performed live [You're missin' out, lady. Although it's comparable to any time Ben closes out with an acoustic, my love of the book bumps those songs up a notch--Mick]. You know, assuming there is the possibility of a Lucero related show that I was sober enough remember. Which would totally happen at SXSW, right? Right? Yeah, maybe it’s better that I wasn’t there…

03.20.09

Somewhere in the middle of the cylone is a song

Posted in a little bit rock and roll, some albums we done liked others we ain't - March 20th, 2009 at 12:41 pm by Mick

Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

I’m convinced Neko Case is a damn siren. She is one of the very few female artists I consider myself a fan of even though I don’t particularly like a good majority of her music. There is a confidence in her song writing you don’t often see among women (sorry, but it’s fucking true) and a voice that is equally unmatched. [Your links and comments in your last post directly contradict the previous two sentences. It's okay, it makes me love you more.—Cricket] I was discussing her sound with my friend and couldn’t quite verbalize it. We were sitting on my deck under the trees and a full moon and listening to a raccoon climbing somewhere and realized that that was it. There is something very closely tied to nature not only in her lyrics but in the grand and layered arrangements of her songs. Similarly, there is a uniquely haunting, almost magical element in her voice that conjures up some other unworldly, ethereal place.

03.19.09

Well that took just about forever

Posted in cricket spazzes, news, random - March 19th, 2009 at 2:20 pm by Cricket

I know, I know, it’s been like a year, right? A year of few posts and many promises. But really we are almost there. I’m settling the last details incrementally. And doing this slow, slow, slow rolling launch of the new stuff. In the meantime, there’s like a million little things I should be telling you about.

First up, you all met Mick, right? He’s an asshole [So very true--Mick], but I kind of love him, which hopefully means you will too. I didn’t bring him in for a dissenting viewpoint or anything. I mean his musical tastes mostly mirror mine but I expect he’ll like things I won’t, and vice versa.

Nextly, we’ve got message boards. Yep, right here! I surely haven’t ironed out all the kinks yet, and they are really only a skeleton of what I am planning for the future. For now, they are there, you can register, and poke around, and post, and hopefully that will help me find and solve what problems there might be there.

03.17.09

The voice that launched a thousand ships

Posted in east nashville, some albums we done liked others we ain't - March 17th, 2009 at 12:34 pm by Mick

Amanda Shires – West Cross Timbers

I admit that I am a sucker for attractive female singers, and especially so when those singers’ voices cause them to sound like they could crumble into nothing at any second. Oh my god does Amanda Shires sound wounded. On West Cross Timbers she sings in such an emotionally fragile tone you could almost begin to feel bad for listening. Hell, even I started to feel bad about the way I’ve treated girls.

03.16.09

This afternoon I just got finished…

Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't - March 16th, 2009 at 7:36 pm by Cricket

D. S. Yancey’s album, Lonely Riders, has been the soundtrack to my life for the last two weeks. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve had the album for much longer than that, but finally just gave it a spin, and good goddamn, I cannot stop listening. More than that, I keep forcing everyone around me to listen as well. I suspect it’s super annoying when I prance around, making people stop what they are doing to listen, as I softly chant, “How good is this? For reals, so good!” but in this case everyone has agreed with me, so I will keep doing it.

Seriously, y’all, Lonely Riders is the album you didn’t yet know that you absolutely have to have. I know almost nothing about Yancey. He is, I believe, an honest-to-god trucker. He plays guitar. He writes good songs. I like the way he sings them. That sums up entirely the knowledge I have of him. Internet searches weren’t much help. All I have to go on is the music itself.

03.10.09

Sometimes it’s better if someone else does it, sometimes not so much

Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't - March 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am by Mick

[Because the least I can do, if I am not contributing as I should, is introduce you to our new (only) man about the place, Mick, and let him do some work.--Cricket]

Waylon And The .357’s – Waylon Forever

It’s hard for me to think about Waylon Jennings and not think about The Dukes of Hazzard. I grew up watching that show and the theme song, “The Good Ol’ Boys”, will forever be in my memory. Another song, “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”, was one that my father sang to me and my brothers as children dozens of times. Even though these songs had a prominent role in my youth I didn’t know who Waylon Jennings was. I only knew him as The Balladeer, the narrator for the Dukes. I have to admit (and this is total country blasphemy) that outside of the Dukes theme and a handful of other songs, I have never had a strong interest in Waylon Jennings’ music. His actions towards Nashville have always interested me more than his song writing.

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