Couple of weeks ago I went tand saw JTE at a packed out Factory Theatre in the People's Republic of Marrickville which was great but it wasn't enough so I ponied up the considerable ticket price for an intimate "secret show" at Gardel's Bar in Surry Hills. Gardel's is above Porteno, an Argentinian eatery which is the current it joint of our Harbour city (praised by Anthony Bourdain the other day.) I need to go back and eat there one day, it looked very cool going up the stairs to the bar. Finger food was included in the price and was definitely a higher class than your average party pies, the meat in the wee hamburgers in particular was deliciously smoky and richly flavoured.

The crowd definitely went with the location. I was the only one gauche enough to be wearing a JTE shirt and to turn my head when he walked through the crowd. The word "hipster" is pretty played out at this point but this is my scientific breakdown of the attendees by sartorial category.

He has come a long way in four years, that's for sure.

What hasn't changed is the presence and as usual he had everyone eating out of his heavily inked hands.

Here's a video I took.

I snuck another into here which makes my top ten a top twelve.

Bei Bei and Shawn Lee -- Into the Wind
Another "world fusion" offering that works, this time with guzheng (Chinese stringed thingy) and doofy doofy beats.

Buddy Miller -- The Majestic Silver Strings 'Surple" still makes me laugh.

Lydia Loveless -- Indestructible Machine She's 21 or something ridonkulous.

The Sweetback Sisters -- Looking For a Fight The Sweetback Sisters are quite hilarious, as well as lovely to listen to. My favourite song on the album is "Too Many Experts" because it basically sums up the entire Internet. (this video is not that)

Brennen Leigh -- The Box Just super good country music, we still like that round here.

Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Revelator Susan and Derek, bluesing it all up in you.

Tickets for Byron players' side shows have started going on sale, and so the Easter bottleneck shuffle has begun.

I haven't experienced any great angst with my schedule the last couple of years but in 2012 Lucinda Williams and John Hiatt are playing Sydney the same night, Tuesday 3rd April. What to Do!!!???

Actually the dilemma was not a big one in the end. My devotion to both is equal, really I can't split them. I've seen both live in the last couple of years and neither seem likely to give up touring or recording in the foreseeable future. So it comes then down to the venue, and that is, as the young folk say, "a no brainer." John is playing the Metro and Lucinda the State. The Metro: smallish, general admission where you can get up the front with a bit of rock and roll in the air versus the State where your only option is to sit and clap politely. Lucinda's ads say "One Show Only" so that is sad but man I am looking forward to "Walk On", "Slow Turning", "Tennessee Plates" etc etc in that venue.

Speaking of no-brainers Justin Townes Earle is at the Factory the night after. Never miss him live.

Steve Earle is going solo at the Factory the following week, through an early offer I got some front row seats and Steve solo is still a worthwhile proposition despite my mostly indifference to his last decade of output.

Also at the Factory in March is Charles Bradley, the latest retro soul revelation from Daptone.

I gather Trombone Shorty is also playing at the Metro but tickets aren't on sale yet. I'll also check out Bettye Lavette and Nick Lowe sideshows to see if I can fit them in.

Before all that in January I'll be seeing the Cambodian Space Project at the Vanguard and Hanggai at the Basement. Cambodian Space Project traverse the same general territory combining Khmer pop and western rock as the better known Dengue Fever. although CSP are actually based in Phnom Penh.

Hanggai play Mongolian folk music with electric guitars and a punk attitude. I find them quite enthralling.

Phew.

It's a month since this event, my blogging mojo is gone but it was still constantly on my mind to get this out. The lag should absolutely not be put down to indifference. Indeed, one can check my twitter feed or last.fm record to see the intensity of my excitement re: Randy.

My anxious desire to see Randy live has evident since the early days of the Flop Eared Mule blog, for instance where I proclaimed he would be one of my "musical Mount Rushmores." (some other blasts from the past here and here and here)

And so here we are.

Randy was with the excellent Sydney Symphony (and equivalent state symphonies in Brissie and Melbourne) which was a suitably grand accompaniment for the occasion of his first visit here in almost 25 years. The Opera House venue showed us off to our best, too. On a further Sydney-chauvinist note I was pleased after several weeks of torrential rain and freezing (for us) Winter temps that his week in Sydney was sunshiny and winter-warm.

The setlist was as above (from the programme) both nights with the exception that "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" replaced "Kingfish."

No diss to "Simon Smith etc" (which actually was the almost certainly the first Randy Newman song I ever-though unknowingly-heard on a random vinyl 60s compilation when I was ~14) but I must say "Kingfish" is one of my top 10 Randy songs and I woulda loved to hear it. SO HERE IT IS ANYWAY:

I watched a Ken Burns doco on Huey Long - the subject of Kingfish - recently and it/he is truly fascinating. Oh, don't get me started on the issue of the limits of the state in a capitalist economy! In addition, I really like Levon Helm's cover of it, and I say that about very few covers of Randy. Very few would I listened to voluntarily at home, for pleasure. I like this one.

(Further segue: This reminds me that Randy Newman needs to be on Treme. As a devoted fan of the first two seasons I keep waiting but the closest they've got is a quote from "Rednecks" in second season about "LSU, go in dumb, come out dumb too." Since every other muso who even vaguely thought about ever using a rolling left hand piano line has got a gig it seems natural. As for what he would perform. The NOLA songs are obvious. "Louisiana 1927" is perhaps/hopefully TOO obvious. I'm thinking more "Dixie Flyer", "New Orleans Wins The War" or the above mentioned "Kingfish" which might lead the race as the "Standard Oil" business plays unironically into David Simon's politics and the end of the last season (spoiler) seemed to foreshadow the Deepwater spill. Or something, anything unrelated to New Orleans. I digress. But make it happen, someone!)

But still: Dixie Flyer makes it all OK.

And "Real Emotional Girl" !!

SO ANYWAY. Randy played some songs on piano with the SSO, played some songs on piano solo and conducted a couple of film scores. He joked, everyone laughed (including the orchestra), he got standing ovations. It was a lot of fun. He was very generous about the SSO and encouraged everyone to go see them. I would, probably, if you didn't have to flog off your kidney to afford it. Classical music is one of those things I vastly prefer live than on record; I like the visual quality of watching the orchestra, all the bows zipping up and back together or some beats apart, hearing a something and looking to see where it has come from. On the first night at interval I snuck up from way at the back to one of the boxes over the stage (after a decade or so of getting the rail at Dylan gigs, no Opera House usher is going to out seat-sneak me) - and this was a an excellent spot to get a panopticon view of the orchestra. (On the second night I was in the second row and got a tremendous view of the side of a Steinway & Sons. Learning the lesson when I see Allen Toussiant and the "Legends of New Orleans" show in the same room later this month I got one a bit further back and to the side on the floor.) I enjoyed the orchestral score part, even though my devotion rests on the singer-songwriter work - you can't not be moved by a full orchestra belting out The Natural theme in person, can you?

As you can see from above, I was able to meet Randy after the show (actually, after both nights.) This was arranged through the official fan discussion list, they take names from there to go backstage after every show. Thanks to Susan from the list and Cathy, his manager for arranging it for me! The first night there were a Swedish couple he had met at a restaurant, the second night a couple who had flown up from Melbourne for the show but happened to run into Randy and his wife on Manly ferry that day. So not only does he generously let folks from the "fan club" come backstage via official channels but he also picks up strays for the door list as he goes about his day.

The first night it was me, the Swedes, Glenn A. Baker and some bloke Glenn A Baker brought with him. So it was a small group. G.A.B naturally started in with some anecdote involving his BFF Ray Charles and what Ray told him was the definition of soul. This went on for a while. I was just sort of standing there being a bit pathetic and staring. Randy on several occasions made a point of including me in the "conversation", asking me about what I thought. What a mensch. We had a brief chat, and of course the photo. Our chat was mainly about Faust - Glenn A. had brought it up first, natch -- and he asked me if there were any songs I wanted him to do that he didn't. I think I blurted out "Guilty" and "My Country." He said he would try. Of course he did neither but that is OK! The second night there were a bunch more people - I don't know where most of them came from - and I had already had my chance so I just lurked awkwardly in that special way I have and chatted a bit to manager Cathy and his helpmeet (he probably has a more official title) Beau, who were both super super lovely. So Randy was lovely, a very warm manner and super nice all round.

On the way home I thought I should have requested "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do" or "New Orleans Wins the War" (shockingly, not on YouTube.)

On the second night backstage some guy was pestering him about doing "Rednecks" (I gather he had yelled it out as a request at the Melbourne show) and Randy's like "yeah, no." Which is completely understandable but having seen the orchestra show I'd love to see a solo show, in a more intimate venue where he could stretch out a bit on the song list without necessarily having to satisfy the SSO crowd. He did end the second show saying he would be back, and it wouldn't take another 23 years -"I can't do anything that takes 23 years!" So I hope I might yet get to see that kind of gig, but even if not I am exceptionally grateful for these ones.

Coda: Earlier the week before Randy was on The Circle on Channel Ten. If you have ever wanted to see Ding Dong Drysdale hit on Randy Newman, all your Christmases have come at once.

Couple of good new Cajun releases I'm listening to.

Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys - Grand Isle Stalwart (he's part of Lil Band O Gold too but wasn't in the line up when they were out here last), plus CC Adcock on as producer for the familiar sounds plus an intense rocking-attitude.

There are a couple of songs (apparently, they're in French) about the Gulf oil spill, this being a major theme reinforced by the oily bird on the front cover. Embarrassingly, I didn't recognise it was an oiled-up bird until I read it in an interview; I just thought it was Artistic. My only disappointment was the version of "Non, je ne regrette rien" which I thought they could have done more Cajun-y thingswith; but again I read in an interview it was a deliberate attempt (even getting in vintage equipment) to recreate a 50s sound. So, what do I know.

Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy, and the Cajun Country Revival - The Right Combination
I am really loving this one, a mix of old guard (if you're surname is Savoy or Landry you're basically obliged to be a Cajun player I think) and the Calebd Klauder country band to create a loose and rollicking Cajun sound which emphasises the connections with Gulf Coast honky tonk. You can listen to some here; I really like that version of "Corrina."

(NB if you google them, there is another "Cajun Country Revival" which is a Creedence tribute band rom Queensland .... )

Just got myself a ticket to Bryan Batt's one man cabaret show at The Basement. Batt as you may or may not know is Sal Romano in Mad Men. I really love cabaret although I don't see it that often live, alas. The Mary Gauthier Foundling tour was not cabaret in style of course but a one-person (or one person plus musical accompaniment) style whatever the genre lends itself to an intimacy of experience and a heightened emotion that I like.

Here is poor Sal in a scene from Mad Men which doesn't spoil anything unless you didn't know he was closeted gay and conflicted and Catholic, which you do after a very short time with the series. The "Are you joking?" is a killer.

Batt is also born and raised New Orleans. He and his partner have a shop there still so I assume he lives there outside of work commitments. He has a book out about his upbringing in that special part of the South. So being an New Orleans-a-phile I also think his autobiographical parts of the show will be enjoyable. And the cabaret! Fun!

OK so don't miss this one. Not only perennial FEM hearththrob Andy Baylor but a bunch of other great acts covering yer roots spectrum. Blues with Continental Robert (of Dynamic Heptonics fame), singer-singwriter soul with Tracey Miller and Pia Andersen bringing the vintage heat. So, hello? See you there.

PS get the new Baylor Brothers disc here.

Australia!* You may have all missed his previous tour, just this past November, but the opportunity arises to spare you the #FAIL of missing out twice as Joe Pug is coming back.

Namely:

March 11 Sydney--Notes Newtown
March 12 Port Fairy--Port Fairy Folk Festival
March 13 Port Fairy--Port Fairy Folk Festival
March 17 Adelaide--Grace Emily
March 18 Fremantle--Norfolk Basement
March 19 Victoria--Mossvale Music Festival
March 20 Melbourne--The Toff in Town

Messenger from last year is a stunner and I can attest to the excellence of his live performance. So go, OK?

*Offer applies only to selected states.

I found a lot of great music perusing the various Best of 2010 lists, so much so that 2010 listening is going to bleed way, way into 2011. I also (followed a link from somewhere lost in the tubes of internet time now, apologies) found the Freight Train Boogie podcast a weekly survey of what's new in Americana, roots and country (does that cover everything?) It's hosted by Bill Frater who keeps the commentary personable and informative and still gets in a good 10-15 songs each hour long show and it's a good mix of well known or established artists and a bunch of folk I've never heard of (it even skews a little to the independent since all the tracks are played with permission and they're the most likely group to respond to a request), many of whom have become Must Acquires.

I've been listening religiously the last few weeks, starting with the end of 2010 and first couple for 2011 and going back to download everything in the iTunes archives. This guy is going to cost me some serious money. There's a related blog with each week's new releases. So yeah, can't say enough about it and you should check it out.

One musical release of 2010 I should have mentioned in my retrospective was Rosanne Cash's memoir Composed. It's not music but it's musical and should be considered along with the CDs as a musical event. Open the cover not, those looking for a blow by blow account of Nashville Babylon, her own or her father's (actually I don't think she had one of her own) or even any messy domestic details surrounding marriage/divorce to Rodney Crowell- it's mentioned more than once of course, this being an account of a life, but in a ... mature way that speaks of lessons learnt and growth and whatnot. I do not mean to make it sound precious, for Cash is wickedly funny although for a full exposure to that side of her I recommend her Twitter feed; she's a riot. Rodney Crowell himself has an autobio coming out and at the time of its launch she tweeted something about hoping he was as nice to her in his book as she was to him in hers. LOL.

Composed is very much about an artist, the winding road to knowing you want to be one, to becoming one and living as one.

It's almost January which means minds are turning north, to Tamworth. In an enduring personal failure, I won't be there again this year but, there's always next year, is what I keep telling myself. Because really what could be better than getting to see Andy Baylor every day for a freakin' week?

And when you see him, request "Who Were You Thinkin' Of" for me, which I love but there's no Andy doing it on YouTube so we'll have to slum it with Sir Doug and the boys:

This is the fourth instalment in my 2010 retrospective. They are in no order, I just made a list then took the first five for the first post, next five or six for the next and so on. I might comment on some that they are a cut above the pack but otherwise there is no ranking at all.

Lil Band O Gold, The Promised Land
Wrote up the gig with videos here.

Raul Malo, Saints & Sinners
Raul's fourth album in five years, the others have made my year ending list too. Raul is not those who favour mumbling, ironic alt.country; they are soaring songs from an old fashioned school of pop craft. He's also had five record labels in ten years solo post-Mavericks so I hope at Fantasy he finds what he's looking for and we get more, please.

Chelsea Crowell, self-titled
ACTUALLY, this is a 2009 release (but November, c'mon) but I didn't realise that til I was googling links to write this, so it stays. All complaints should be directed to the Federal Minister for Arts. This is a very charming and catchy collection of folk-pop-country (I particularly like "Tremelo Trees", "Where the Hell is Robert E Lee" and "I Want My Seven years Back") which is worth listening to for itself and as a very promising debut so you can say you knew her way back when. You are welcome.
Plus her Twitter background is Robocop riding a unicorn. Case closed.

UM WHAT there are no videos ANYWHERE for her. But there are couple of songs on the above linked website. Give 'em a whirl.

Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust
Hard to go past Los Lobos for musical talent per square member, or consistency over a couple of decades. Tin Can Trust offers a familiar formula of thoughful Tex-Mex bar rock - um, OK that might not actually be it's own actual formula. But if it is, they invented it. I also today picked up La Pistola Y El Corozan from 1988, because what else would you follow up a gigantic smash hit number 1 ("La Bamba") with but an album of traditional Mexican folk songs?

The Tallest Man on Earth, the Wild Hunt
This dude is a Swedish dude and is quite the hot young thing in singer-songwriter world. For more than that I'm gonna link to Tim and James. (Hey, finding something to write about a million bloody albums every December is hard, walk a mile in my shoes.)

The vid is a cover of "Graceland" (NB: Not on the album)

Mary Gauthier, The Foundling
See here for my thoughts on the new record after Mary's tour out her earlier this year.
Instead of a musicy one (tho it DOES include a song), I'll post here her contribution to the It Gets Better campaign. In the couple of days since I found this and parked it in the draft of this post, I've watched it a dozen times. Mary is adorable and orsm, so warm and expansive in her nature and her music. Plus she wrote "I Drink" iwhich is legitimately one of the greatest pure country songs ever written. She was out her just this past weekend but I missed her Sydney gig due to already having tickets to something else which of course got rained out. Boo. But I'll be there next time for sure.

Tom Jones, Praise & Blame
Well hey now, expecting a few rolled eyes on this, Tom Jones does a record of blues and gospel songs. A cynicism about the trend of aging rockers rediscovering the roots with the help of a hipster celebrity producer (Ethan Johns in this case) is understandable although I've never shared in it. This formula has produced great, good and mediocre albums in the same proportion as any other theory the industry has pursued. A generous dose of opportunism isn't, it turns out, any barrier to producing enjoyable music. Sound Opinions is a podcast of Jim De Rogatis and Greg Kot, two long standing music critics, whose opinions I respect although there's not much overlap for me in their indie rock focus, but they're very knowledgeable on "my kind of music too." So anyway their attitude in this was "WTF the dude that sings Sex Bomb and gets ladies' panties tossed at him should not sing the blues" and gave it a "Trash It" on their (very useful) Buy It, Burn It, Trash It scale. I was rather taken aback with the vehemence of the insistence this record should not even be a thing that exists in the world. But to me even before I heard it I didn't dismiss it. I don't know much about Tom Jones' background really (though I listened to this BBC Desert Islands Discs chat which was interesting) but it didn't seem implausible to me that the atmosphere of the small town Welsh chapel of the 40s and 50s might actually share some sensibilities with Southern Gospel, and while he's a bit older than the Stones and Claptons etc but I didn't see any reason why an interest in this kind of music had to be completely manufactured. So prima facie, bring it on and I vowed to judge on its merits.

Since it is in this list it is probably redundant to say I actually really love it, and its in the top few in terms of albums I've listened most to this year. Naturally if you need to compare everything in music to everything else in music, Tom Jones doing "Didn't It Rain" may not be in the same category with Sister Rosetta Tharp or Mahalia Jackson but I don't see why it wouldn't compare to Little Richard. Some people aren't going to be able to put out of their mind it is Tom Jones which is fine, but if you're not hamstrung by that this is a completely enjoyable album by a guy who still has a great voice, a seeming genuine feel for the music and spot on back up musos and production.

The following vid is Burning Hell, but I'd hardly be fulfilling my sacred duty as a worker in the Dylan-Industrial Complex if I didn't also link to his cover of "What Good Am I?"

Marty Stuart, Ghost Train; The Studio B Sessions

Marty Stuart has a voice, man I would listen to him sing the proverbial phone book. Happily though he has not forced me to make good on that promise and just keeps releasing top notch albums of country fucking music. That is all that needs to be said about that.

(I know you'll probably not watch the second one - psychology y'all! - but he talks about J.R Cash shoving the Washington Monument up his nose so for that reason you might wanta. Sniff. )

Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues
Justin, oh Justin. JTE is continuing his music journey, and while his first, raw album still packs the biggest punch for me I am loving watching him build his musical self from the ground up. He's ratcheded up the production values and sonic scope each album without losing the JTE favoured themes of rootlessness, country mythology and just out of reach possibilities of forgiveness. Plenty to love here in still the most exciting career in development.

Shelby Lynne, Tears, Lies & Alibis

Shelby is keeping the cool, cocktail hour end of country and soul alive. We like this. Not quite as explicitly as on her album last year of Dusty Springfield covers but after doing those old songs she's done a whole album of new ones in the same vein.

Cotton Jones, Tall Hours in the Glowstream

If you like the Phosphorescent sound I listed previously in the series, then Cotton Jones is a band you'll want to check out. There are some differences, CJ is more dreamily languorous lead singer Michael Nau's voice has a crustier (in a good way) edge. Good Sunday morning stuff.

This is "Man Climbs Out of the Winter" which is my fave off the record:

This is the second instalment in my 2010 retrospective. They are in no order, I just made a list then took the first five for the first post, next five or six for the next and so on. I might comment on some that they are a cut above the pack but otherwise there is no ranking at all.

The Secret Sisters, The Secret Sisters
The Secret Sisters are championed by Jack White and their debut is produced by T-Bone Burnett, so that's some serious clout out of the gate. Twitter description: Out of Alabama, Laura and Lydia Roger are a female Everly Brothers at their countriest (and then some), backed up with 50s/60s classic country sounds.

Just so:

My favourite one is "Tennessee Me"

American Graveyard, Hallelujahland
Hellbound Glory, Scumbag Country
Whitey Morgan and the 78s, Honky Tonk and Cheap Guitars

I'll group these together since they represent some solid hard core honky tonk and if you like that why keep you in suspense by dragging them out? I didn't get Hank III's record yet which explains its non-inclusion.

Joe Pug, Messenger
Chris Altmann, Que Paso

If I were ranking these two would be at the very top. Well I guess I raved enough about both of them here. But still I don't think you can listen to "Bury Me far From My Uniform" too often:

This is the first five records in my 2010 retrospective. They are in no order, I just made a list then took the first five for this first post, next five for the next and so on. I might comment on some that they are a cut above the pack but otherwise there is no ranking at all.

Marshall Chapman, Big Lonesome
Found via Fervor Coulee.
Marshall Chapman has an interesting and eclectic tale, one until recently I was in complete ignorance of. She seems to have flirted with some kind of breaking through in the 70s and 80s country/rock and has diversified in recent years into books and movies (she plays Gwyneth Paltrow's manager in the upcoming Country Strong, which looks very Crazy Heart-ish in which a boozy country singer goes on a character arc. Looks like some crunchy country soap so I'll definitely make a date one Cheap Tuesday after its released. And hey looking at that trailer it looks like Tim McGraw can act, which is more than we can say for Colin Farrell.) Big Lonesome is a low key but endearing collection of country-folk, with dashes of blues and swing.

Buddy Guy, Living Proof

Well, I don't think I need to sell this one other than saying Buddy is in top form, and if you are inclined to like Buddy Living Proof won't leave you thinking he should've given it up. No surprises in the fact the duet with Santana adds nothing, but OTOH is the duet with BB King, not that it's earth shattering but it's Buddy Guy and BB King.

The Fabulous Ginn Sisters, You Can't Take a Bad Girl Home

A very fun, melodic and sexy outing from The Ginn Sisters, who have previously worked back up for Fred Eaglesmith. "Hey, Doll" (in vid below) is the stand out in the "find yourself constantly singing the refrain throughout the day" test but the rest is infectious and with a good mix of styles (sometimes reminiscent of the earliest Dixie Chicks, sometimes more a soupy type of country-pop).

Phosphorescent, Here's To Taking it Easy
Tim Dunlop's spruik will suffice here, with the additional comment the songs he particularly disses are some of my faves.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
Sharon Jones has her thing and it shows no signs of being played out, I didn't see her Sydney show last week but reports are good. I thought although I loved their first album i might find I didn't need a new album of it every 18 months or so, particularly in the increasingly crowded retro soul marketplace. But they're still the best at it. Speaking of retro soul I'll also throw Aloe Blacc in here. His Good Things doesn't quite entrance me as much as the Daptone output but the single "I Need A Dollar" is killer and I've got a ticket to his Festival Bar show at the Sydney Festival.

So, seeing these guys next week. The tour has already started taking in Brisbane and Melbourne but if you have a chance, go. My ticket was only $22 which is such a steal it's embarrassing. Joe Pug is a Chicago folky singer-songwriter. He's a playwright in his spare time and you can hear that in the poetic nature of his lyrics, but without skimping on the melodies and astute observations. Chris Altmann is apparently well known in Melbourne rock circles, though he didn't hit my radar til his album this year Que Paso? which is 70s style country rock but done brilliantly, avoiding hollow imitation or pastiche. In fact, Que Paso? (promo video here gives you a good taste) is one of my very favourite records this year. He is solo on this tour doing support for Joe so is obviously not going to reproduce the big band sound and I'm keen to see that other side of him. So yeah even if you can't get to a show get Que Paso? for a good Aussie country time. Two gigs in Sydney one at the Raval in Surry Hills and the one I'm going to at the Red Rattler in the People's Republic of Marrickville. I've been intrigued by the latter for a while, it sounds super-cool, so looking forward also to checking it out.

The Burgo Blog has an extensive review of the Brisbane gig this week, including lots of YouTubes. Has certainly whet that small part of my appeitite that wasn't already, er, whet.

If that doesn't convince, here's a final push from none other than Justin Townes Earle:

With Lech Walensa in Poland, from the brilliant Notes from the Road by road manager Joe Carenza. RSS that puppy STAT.

There were a couple of differences to this show (Monday night) than the two last year. We were up the back which in a dog of a venue like Acer Arena naturally changes dynamics, although everyone around us was thoroughly engaged throughout; I didn't cry until song number 8 and we were privileged to see him dust off "Avalanche" and "A Singer Must Die." Other than that the 2010 United Hearts Touring Co. picked up where 2008 left off and you can see what I thought about that here and here so take the squeee as read.

Another good read is the blog of Dean from Adelaide who is following Len around Oz. Sigh.

And, here's my Varieties of Leonard Cohen 8tracks mix from last year:

Well after whinging about Lil Band O Gold not coming to Sydney when they were down here for Byron this year, I can say it was worth the wait. It's been a most exceptional year for me and New Orleans/Louisiana music, what with a sterling Dr John and every episode of Treme filling my head with evermore delicious sounds. (and Mary Gauthier and Chris Smither - who I saw three times at the Blue Mountains Music Fest but never blogged about FOR SHAME are from New Orleans too even if not working in one of the city's signature genres) And now Lil Band O Gold who put on a hell of a show at The Factory the other night. I've added this swamp pop book to my Book Depository wishlist.

Cajun accordion king Steve Riley despite being advertised wasn't with them (the Mamou Playboys seems to be on tour in Texas) but most of the rest of the line up were, augmented by our semi-own Lucky Oceans on pedal steel. The band is not called a Louisiana super group for nothing, Warren Storm, CC Adcock, David Egan, Dave Ransom, Dickie Landry and Pat Breaux (his grandfather Amedee Breaux is credited for the first recorded version of "Jolie Blon" -- free and legal download here.)

I can't help but digress at this point with this from a NZ interview with Adcock:

But I gotta tell you, the best one - the best one for me, and there have been several moments where I have just felt blessed,, but the best one was when we were doing some work on the Fats Domino Tribute and we're recording with Robert Plant. This is just a great scene already, right, and then Warren - he has no real idea who Robert is and he just keeps callin' 'im 'Fred' all day. All through the session he's telling 'Fred' that he's doin' a good job. So I end up taking him aside and tellin' him, 'Warren, this is Robert Plant, you know from Led Zeppelin, the guy's a rock god', cos, you know, frankly this was all gettin' a little embarrassin' and then I hear Warren saying to him 'thank you for the session Mr Robert Plank!'

Here are two vids I took, both tending towards the ballad but of course the show was high on Louisiana barn burning dance numbers. The beginning of the second is dodgy but I didn't edit out the start of the clip because there's a great moment where some women in the crowd are chanting "Wazza. Wazza" for Warren Storm (this was as they came back out for the encore) and Lucky Oceans translated for CC Adcock, "Wazza is Australian for Warren."

Spoonbread

Lonely Lonely Nights

I got the new Robert Plant Band of Joy with its stellar cast including Patty Griffin, Darrell Scott and Buddy Miller but to be brutally honest found it dullsville. Instantly unmemorable.

HOWEVER you should read Tim Dunlop's "review" which is a wonderful example of the kind of personalised (and yet clear eyed and useful to all) writing about music that I like the most.