Merry Christmas Baby Otis Redding Silent Night Johnny Cash Far Away Christmas Blues Johnny Otis and Little Esther Christmas in the Mountains Faron Young Christmas Time at Home Rhonda Vincent Even Santa Claus Gets the Blues Marty Stuart Holly Trees and Christmas Leaves Elvis Presley White Christmas Tammy Wynette Away in a Manger Dwight Yoakam Hannukah Snowman Phranc White Christmas Merle Haggard Christmas is Near Ralph Stanley Christmas on TV Chris Isaak Yamei Ha'Hanukah Miriam Avigal Silent Night All Day Long John Prine Christmas Must Be Tonight The Band Jingle Bells Earl Scruggs Christmas in Jail Chip Taylor Blue Christmas Ernest Tubb Merry Christmas from the Family Robert Earl Keen Old Time Christmas Randy Travis O Come All Ye Faithful Patty Loveless O Little Town of Bethlehem Elvis Presley
1) Shaun has a new blog. I assume I am allowed to tell people.
2) Lazy journo slapdown re: Leonard Cohen. You may have seen that inferior cover versions of Hallelujah are number one and two on the UK charts in the coveted Chrissie week. Not bad for a song that is merely ninth best on its original album.
3) Stereogum's 50 Most Popular MP3s of 2008 (or as Bob Dylan would say 2000 and 8) available for free/legal download. Some 200MB later I can confirm I really just don't dig indie rock/pop very much. What is it about the human voice that is so hateful it must be smothered so far back in the mix? See also: country, alt. I tried, dagnabbit! OTOH, YMMV.
4) An amusing macrumors forum post (h/t Barry Saunders on Twitter) from October 2001 on the announcement of "Apple's New Thing", known to you and I as "the iPod." I had a grand old time laughing at the retrospectively couldn'tbemorewrongness of the "who could possibly ever want more than 64 meg of space for music!!! Steve Jobs has gone CRAZEEEE" sentiments. But really, in 2001 I was still using an audio tape walkman and a few years later someone showed me mini discs and I kind of thought that would be all too much trouble to bother with. Our thinking about portable music has so utterly changed in such a short period of time. Then we didn't know we NEEDED it. Now I am 99% digital. I don't regret it at all, for lots of reasons. I have a small flat and a goodly percentage of living room wall space is taken up with CDs racks, which I barely look at these days let alone flip through. I had an idle thought the other day I could get rid of the racks, shift up the lounge and then I wouldn't have to smash my shins on the filing cabinet/telephone table everytime I try to squeeze through to get to/from the computer. But then the idea of a home without too many CD racks made me sad, and I banished the idea. Also, seems a waste of the nice callouses I have on my shins now. Barely notice.
5) Ta-Nehisi Coates's blog just because I have enjoyed it a lot this year.
6) Skepchick's Top 10 Jackasses of the Year.
7) An epochal moment: the last time any dumb awards show will have a chance to snub The Wire. You won't have Bunky to kick around any more!
8) 2008 Golden Winger Awards for Excellence in Wingnuttery
Boxing Day 8.30pm on SBS The Night James Brown Saved Boston As it Happened - April 5 1968, the morning after the assassination of Martin Luther King, America's inner cities began to implode. In Boston there was a fragile peace. A concerned Mayor of Boston decided to cancel a long-scheduled James Brown concert, but after warnings had a change of heart, asking: "Is there something James Brown can do to help?" When the mayor came on stage and urged attendees to honour Dr. King peacefully fans rushed to the stage. It was James Brown who called off the security and managed to talk everyone back into their seats. The Night James Brown Saved Boston tells the story of that amazing night - rarely seen footage of the Godfather of Soul's concert plus personal reminiscences from those in attendance
Sunday 28th Dec. 1020 on ABC2 I've been meaning to get a copy of this, but now I don't have to: Festival: Folk Music At Newport 1963 - 1966 Murray Lerner's film Festival! is a cinematic synthesis of four Newport Folk Festivals from 1963-1966. Featuring Bob Dylan's notorious first 'electric' live performances; and other greats including Joan Baez and Johnny Cash.
A couple of reissues/compilations etc that need mentioning:
Tell Tale Signs Bob Dylan NATCH Veteran's Day: The AnthologyTom Russell (link is to his blog which you should read) Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 Various Artists This specific song isn't on there but same ballpark.
UPDATE: Here is the 8tracks. Songs from the below and above lists plus a couple of ring-ins from 2008 albums not here. As always, listen at the site or below. Enjoy.
More or less. In some kind of vagueish order for the first quarter then much of a muchness after. I'll do a relevant 8tracks for it too. Large Hearted Boy has the definitive list of end of year lists.
The Good Life -- Justin Townes Earle Rattlin' Bones -- Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson Gurrumul -- Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Virtual Landslide -- Pete Molinari (will talk about later) Just a Little Lovin' -- Shelby Lynne One Kind Favour -- BB King Little Honey -- Lucinda Williams Crossing the Field -- Jenny Scheinman Trouble in Mind -- Hayes Carll Harps and Angels -- Randy Newman Waylon Forever -- Waylon Jennings (last recordings, classic songs, produced by son Shooter) Same Old Man -- John Hiatt Venus on Earth -- Dengue Fever (Cambodian-Californian psychadelic south east Asian surf rock) All is Yes -- The Blessing Como Now: The Voices of Panola County, MS -- Various (acapella gospel from the Daptone label) Backwoods Barbie -- Dolly Parton Recovery -- Loudon Wainwright III Honky Tonks and Cheap Hotels -- Whitey Morgan and the 78s (outlaw country) The C.P.T Theorem -- Greydon Square Recapturing the Banjo -- Otis Taylor Modern Hymns -- Darrell Scott Seeing Things -- Jakob Dylan (it grew on me very slowly) Honey Songs -- Jim Lauderdale Akh Issudar -- Terakaft (Tourareg "desert rock") Umalali -- The Garifuna Women's Collective (Afro-Belizean) Mother Earth! Father Sky! -- Huun-Huur-Tu (alt.tuvan Like many people I find the whole throat singing thing pretty fascinating without actually wanting to listen to it while nursing a Strongbow out on the balcony at a summer's dusk. This one I would. Very jaunty! Turkic bluegrass! And they have a girl singer who breaks up the throaty stuff.)
Additional list: some more 2008 jazz I liked in addition to the Jenny Scheinman and The Blessing above. Treat Me Gently -- Dale Barlow, George Coleman, Mark Fitzgibbon, Sam Anning This is Australian. John Shand just happened to review it in the Herald last week, and it just happened to be on eMusic and it just happened to have seven tracks and I just happened to have seven credits left so I got it. And I liked it a lot. De Cuba y de Panamá -- Billy Cobham and Asere The Coalition of the Willing -- Bobby Previte Roll With It -- Corey Christiansen
So like the rest of the world I am pondering my Best of 2008 albums list; revisiting some early faves to see how they stack up, trying to squeeze in some late comers and generally obsessing. These are a couple of songs from albums which prob won't make the list, but I really like these songs.
In fact, I really love this song, "Acid Tongue" by Jenny Lewis. One of those put on repeat for half an hour or so songs. The rest of the album didn't grab me like her previous one Rabbit Fur Coat did.
Another good one is "Arrowhead" from Grayson Capp's Rott 'n' Roll:
This is a jazzy, funky, rocky one. No country because my country Chrissie songs are in a format not supported by 8 tracks so I'll do a twangy one when I've done some conversion.
White Christmas -- Bobby Timmons
You're a Mean One Mr Grinch -- Aimee Mann
Christmas is Coming -- John Denver and the Muppets
Do You Hear What I Hear -- Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
Stone Soul Christmas -- Binky Gripite & The Dee-Kays
A Christmas Duel -- Cyndi Lauper and the Hives (a bit NSF kiddies)
Pretty Paper -- Roy Orbison
Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow -- Jethro Tull
Santa Claus is Coming to Town -- Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
I Need a Man Down my Chimney -- Barbara Carr
Christmas Now is Drawing Near -- Sneak's Noyse
Angels We Have Heard on High -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman -- Los Straitjackets
Darlin' (Christmas is Coming) -- Over the Rhine
We Wish You a Merry Christmas -- John Denver and the Muppets
O Come All Ye Faithful -- Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
Jingle Bells -- Ed Calle, Arturo Sandoval and Jim Gasior
Auld Lang Syne -- Martin Sexton
I beg forgiveness dear reader for having to mention Coldplay on this fine blog, but I would like to do so in correcting some misonceptions of an alleged music journalist.
It was on ABC's PM radio show on Wednesday night. SMH journo Bruce Elder had this to say about the Joe Satriani/Coldplay plagiarism case:
"It is almost that it is almost impossible to define what constitutes plagiarism in music, particularly in popular music because there are so many songs that are very similar. I mean all you have to do is listen to a very old classic which is the Archies' Sugar, Sugar and I believe that the chord progression in Sugar, Sugar has been used in something like 20 or 30 other pop songs."
The 12 bar blues is one of the most widely used chord progressions in music history. Yet no-one bothers fighting a plagiarism case over using it (and not just because establishing the origins of the progression would be almost impossible) because it is not the chord progression that gets people into trouble for music plagiarism cases. It is the melody. Elder would known that if he would have done some simple research. UK guitarist Garry Moore recently was busted because a guitar solo of his was very similar to a German pop song. And then there is the case of George Harrison and My Sweet Lord.
Of course, bands do copy their influences. But that is a different kettle of fish. The copying of influence tends to relate to more intagible elements such as style and sound.
So Elder has it wrong but that does not mean Satriani has a case. But to my ears, there is a definite similarity in the melody and it will be an interesting case to follow if it gets to the courts.
"In country music, it used to be that the performers' hair was unreal but their songs were down to earth. Now their hair looks more or less natural but their songs are bouffant wigs."
The Oxford American music issue is out. Always worth it, if you can find it here. If you can. tell me where. If not, or until you do, there are some free articles on this here website.
As Zoe snarkily pointed out in comments, now I have these tickets all I have to do now is not forget the show is on. True, I have only really done that once this year but I have already committed to two different parties next Saturday night so such muck ups are never far from happening. So, I made a list of things I am doing so I can obsessively check it every day for the next two months to reassure myself.
Townes Van Zandt; Utah Phillips; Ray Wylie Hubbard; Hopeton Lewis; Miriam Makeba; Babatunde Lea, Greg Landau and John Greenham; Irene Kral; Jenny Scheinman; Asha Bhosle, Rahul Dev Burman; Pete Molinari; Anita O'Day; The Dirty Dozen Blues Band; Jakob Dylan
So there is a pre-sale of Lucinda Williams tickets starting today (ten minutes ago, at 0900. That link is for Sydney, other states have different outlets). I signed up to get the pre-sale password. They didn't send it to me. I emailed the promoter who is running the pre-sale, they didn't reply.
So I guessed the password. AND GOT FRONT ROW CENTRE.
Go, me!! it wasn't sophisticated hacking -- I guessed "honey" since her new album is Little Honey and the password is usually related to the artist like that, in my experience. BUT STILL. I rock. And my ticket buying mojo IS BACK, BABY. After a lamentable Ticketbastard-lead trough. I'm back.
Update: Just got the official email with the password, at 9.12. TOO LATE, I ALREADY GESTED UT RITE111!one!1!!!ONE.
Lucky music/yummy food fans of the mountains have reason to celebrate, with the opening of the Mount Vic Cafe (and on MySpace) this weekend. Cletis and Athena had a previous restaurant with music in Sydney a few years ago and it was excellent. Cletis is a great muso himself and I can tell you the performers there will be the best.
DO NOT click on the "Menu" page if you are hungry and unable to get to food, because it will make your mouth water.
Special note to breeders: Our KidsZone room is equipped with computer and video games as well as DVD movies so Mums and Dads can relax and enjoy their day.
"If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta's would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognise time"
- Maya Angelou
Really, where on earth would you even start? Odetta constantly surprised me, I'd turn up a new record and it'd be something I'd never heard before -- not just the individual songs, but she must have covered just about every musical style in the American vernacular book.
Well, so that was one amazingly great gig. I've seen a couple of other very special ones this year but there were a few unique aspects to this one. It is very rare that I get the feeling of being in on the ground floor of a future great career, of being there at the beginning and being dazzled at the prospects of an artist in that early creative phase. It was a packed crowd in a small room. I got the impression many were quite unfamiliar with him really so amongst the usual hollering and clapping and yelping were almost shocked groans of pleasure at just how goddamn bloody exhilarating it was. I think a lot of people went on spec and were somewhat stunned. I kept encouraging people to go and telling them the next time he's out here you won't get to see him in a tiny room at a pub for thirty bucks. It'll be double at the Enmore or wherever. Happy to be vindicated! There's a quote on the Bloodshot artist page so I'm not alone: ""I have a feeling that in a few years we'll need backstage passes at the Ryman auditorium to get anywhere near him. He's just THAT good." --Chattanooga Free Press"
He was not accompanied by the mando player featured in most of the other YouTube videos, so it was JTE solo acoustic. He picked and pounded the guitar with great skill and versatility, commanding the joint with his amusing anecdotes and searing old school Opry country voice. Played most of The Good Life (everything except "Who Am I To Say" I think) plus most of the Yuma EP -- six songs recorded before album but released after -- plus covers from TVZ, Blind Blake, Buck Owens, Gram (a stunning "A Song For" in the encore) and others. AND some new songs from the forthcoming (March) Midnight at the Movies including one about Earle, Snr which had a few jaws dropping.
One thing I loved about The Good Life was that it reached through the alt.country era, the singer-songwriter era, the outlaw era and found roots in 1950s country. A lot of references from the classics come to mind watching Justin, and by classics I don't mean Uncle Tupelo. There's as much if not more Ray Price about the record as Steve Earle or TVZ. Aside from the genuinely top shelf songwriting, his physicality brings an edge of drama even when singing songs of sweet vulnerability. He is all orthogonals. I couldn't decide whether young Johnny Cash or young Raymond Massey was the image I was looking for; that lean and hungry look, that mad, bad and dangerous to know thing.
After the gig he came straight out to sell and sign CDs, we left (already got it and I never know what to say anyway) but there was still a huge line and many photos being taken. I've loved this album since it came out so I'm really happy for him that this tour has been a success. Come back soon.
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