Umm… have I mentioned yet that I’m going to Lollapalooza this year (against my better judgment/bank account)? Cuz, well I am. And despite the $200 (USD) + price tag, it should be fairly awesome. For real. Like the entire Chitown rap scene is playing! From Lupe to the Cool Kids (who might show this time, versus at last year’s Music Fest NW when they didn’t show and I got stuck watching the fucking Clipse play… ugh.) to Kid Sister (who still doesn’t have an album) and of course to the biggest drama queen in the rap industry… Kanye. The lineup’s not quite as exciting as Intonation two years ago, but still I get the Raconteurs, Cat Power (again), Dr. Dog (!!!!), Dierks Bentley (random choice on their part, but whatever, I’ll run with it), Ha Ha Tonka (!) (formerly known as amsterband who I’ve seen a handful of times and they are clearly the most successful band to come out of the SW MO scene [which I grew up with], so this is hellza exciting!), and Wilco, and Girl Talk and Mark Ronson and the Black Keys, etc. So all in all, it’s expensive for what it is, but I love the Chi and haven’t been there since Intonation, I’m going with Heather and Paloma and I’ll be fresh off the boat from Argentina, so it should all-in-all, at the very least, be something.
It makes me nervous that anytime you google any one of my Reed professor’s names, my blog comes up… Lord knows all I need is that lady in charge on my thesis to be reading my comments about Weezy F. B.
Filed under: Música | Tags: Alejandro Escovedo, alt-country, Huntsville, Jackie Chain, James McMurtry, Lil Wayne, No Depression, Stay Positive, The Hold Steady
Oh-kay. So I haven’t written in approximately 12 years, but I feel justified since I had a whole lot of nothing/commuting/hospital chilling to do for the past month back in glorious Carthage, MO. But, now that I’m back in the winter wonderland known as South America (i.e. Buenos Aires) in June where all the locals are bundled up while I walk around in my cute new dress and jacket, hesitating to come back to my house where the building was built so perfectly over 100 years ago to keep the heat of the Argentine summer out, that it is actually about 15 degrees colder inside than outside, which basically means: BLOG TIME!
Basically, I’ve sorta drifted a bit away from the hip-hop/rap I love so much and have been really focused on alt-country as of late. So if you’re here for the rap, sorry (but maybe a surprise will follow as this post trials off); if alt-country’s your thing, you’re welcome. Pop/dance/country/gospel/et al: sorry, not today.
No Depression put out its last official print magazine this month (well May/June, really) and I have to say I was saddened by that. They promise to stick around and do the blog/site thing and issue 75 promises a bi-annual bookazine. So, to them, I say thanks for the years of advice and continually good-excellent music journalism!
The Hold Steady’s fourth studio album Stay Positive is set to drop in the US on July 15th. Obviously, I will buy it upon my return on the 31st (in addition to watching the X-Files movie!); however, being as I’m impatient and Hardie’s dad somehow bought a copy already (?), I gave into my Generation MySpace tendencies and got an early-release, less-than-legal copy…. but I will buy it. I promise. Since the internet freaked out last time I posted a Hold Steady single (“Sequestered in Memphis” fyi), I won’t even post another song from it. Yet. But I will write about it.
The thing I’ve loved for years about the Hold Steady is that as much as they do change (on the musical level), the music never really changes. The themes sorta stay the same, the beats/instruments kinda stay the same, sure-as-hell Craig Finn’s vocals never change. But it never grows old. Each new album seems a little better (if not a whole lot better… meaning Boys & Girls in America versus Separation Sunday versus The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me). But they are all alike. They all sound like the Boss if the Boss got a better band and wrote lyrics like a good version of the Decemberists. So I guess, what I’m saying, is maybe if Bubba followed the Hold Steady’s lead and didn’t feel the need to reinvent/popiffy himself with every new album, then Deliverance wouldn’t stand alone as his greatest (although I do enjoy Dark Days) album ever.
Out of Stay Positive’s 11 tracks, the early stand-outs seem to be: the aforementioned “Sequestered in Memphis,” “Slapped Actress,” “Magazines,” and the title track [which really, really runs with the "we do the same thing/themes over and over" idea]. I also really enjoy “Lord, I’m Discouraged.” And you have no idea how hard it is for me to not post these tracks for everyone. Like I said, though, I am buying the album and if you promise you will too, shoot me a comment/email and I’ll hook you up. But basically, I love the Hold Steady and for the 4th time, they did not disappoint. I look forward to the Stay Positive Tour’s inevitable stop in Portland – especially since now as a legal adult (i.e. 21) I can see them wherever they play!
So, outside of bootlegging The Hold Steady new album’s, what have I been doing lately? Well, nothing outside of falling in love with James McMurtry/Alejandro Escovedo, rekindling that high school love affair with the Old 97’s, being paralyzed by the continued awesomeness that is Lil Wayne (seriously, a milli in one week?! Even without that, the number of Weezy F. B/Elvis comparisons I’ve heard all week is absolutely ridiculous.)
In conclusion, it feels really weird to be back in Buenos Aires. Going from summer to winter is way more upsetting than doing the opposite.
Anyways, fuck it all, I had a really good night:
Jackie Chain – “Blinded by the Light”
Soooo not new, but I like it anyways. It kinda shows what the hell the Huntsville scene is up to, and well, since they are up to sooo much, it makes sense to post it.
The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
Okay, I said I would not post any new THS songs, but technically I wrote that yesterday and since then have done a lot and have thought a lot (but mainly drank a lot), so I think it pertinet to show y’all how great the new album is. And please please please buy the fucking thing on July 15th or I’ll feel bad. So, thanks in advance (ditto from the band… although outside of that one night in Canada and Hardie’s dad I have NO connection to them, but still, you understand…)
The Hold Steady I love. You should love them too. Here is a new song off their soon-to-be released fourth album Stay Positive. Appropriate title for this time in my life but anyways — on to the music.
“Sequestered in Memphis” – The Hold Steady
Uh, duh. Download and enjoy.
I, meaning myself and my family, are fucked. In a way that even the fact that I’m now the proud owner of an officially bootlegged leaked a week early copy of Weezy F. B’s Tha Carter III and it is awesome (as expected) can’t fix.
But despite all the family drama, one (i.e. me) can NOT deny how sick Weezy’s new album is. Admittedly the key tracks are the ones that have been slowly leaking this past week. “Mr. Carter” is probably the best of the 23 or so songs on the retail version. Is it possible the Hova totally pawned Wayne on this track? Yes, it is because, well he sticks it to him and, at least in my memory, this is the first time since “Barry Bonds” with Kanye where Lil Wayne pretty much takes a back seat to the other MC on the track. So that’s something. But mainly, Just Blaze’s production on the track, especially the sample, are pitch perfect. We all know I’m a huge sucker for the choir chorus on tracks anyways. (It goes back to my catholic school days).
I posted “Mr. Carter” a few days back, but here’s the link again.
And now I get to make some mixtapes before taking my mom to the airport at 5. I have the distinct feeling this may well be one of the last times I see her. We shall see.
Filed under: Música, Trips | Tags: Cain's, concerts, Hayes Carll, Old 97's, Ryan Bingham, Slaid Cleaves, Wale, whiskey drinking girl
And so begins the promised “epic alt-country post.”
I’m going to write for this magazine. (They don’t know it, yet). This is now officially my only post-college plan (outside, of course, of the trailer in the middle of the New Mexico desert). As I said a few days back now, Sunday Heather and I went down to Tulsa for the Old 97’s show at Cain’s. I really enjoy Cain’s as a venue. I’ve yet to find a more alt-country apt venue in my years of not staying put for more than a few months in a row. Sooo, venue love aside, we actually made it Tulsa on time (early, in fact), so unlike the DBT/Ryan Bingham show where we missed about half of Bingham’s set, we were so prepped (and by prepped I mean only behind two ladies in sequined “Bingham” shirts) for the opener.
In the case of last night, it was no Ryan Bingham; however, Hayes Carll (what a ridiculous name, though) was no disappointment. One might go far enough to say he was at points better than the Old 97’s. I’m not really one for concert reviews, so I won’t go into a whole lot of detail, but I can say three things:
1) Hayes Carll is really, really funny. He’s one of the few artists who actually have good in-between banter.
2) Rhett Miller has not aged well and was wearing an ugly T-Shirt and had a fan blowing on him that made him look like my little brother.
3) Hayes Carll’s bassist is ridiculous, looking that is.
Side note, now that I’m in America, I got to see the video for “Bread and Water” and geez louise, Ryan Bingham’s girlfriend is shit at making videos. Coupled with her little short, her artistic future seems a bit weak. Hmm… celoso?
As the show was my first official mixed concert (with me on the 21+ side), Heather and I officially became whiskey drinking girls. Which, of course, led to me talking to one of the band guys (and blowing him off because I’m ridiculously unfocused) and to us sleeping in my car outside the venue.
The Old 97’s were pretty much exactly like what I expected them to be like. They played a good mix of old and new stuff, including my favorite songs from every album. Indeed, “Question” was what I was vomiting to in the bathroom after realizing that whiskey on an empty stomach isn’t really a great mixture for my tummy.
Hayes Carll – “It’s a Shame”
It’s a cute song. Off his major label debut. Not the best of them all, but I really like it a lot.
Old 97’s – “Oppenheimer”
Well, this seemed to be the biggest hit of the night at the show. Admittedly, my memory a bit fuzzy (seriously, I’ve never taken soooo many blurry pictures in my life before), but “Oppenheimer” along with a few other songs brought the house close to coming down. The band never seemed to really just grab the crowd, which was sad, but, hey atleast you could recognize the songs. So that’s something.
Slaid Cleaves – “Another Kind of Blue”
I pretty much love Slaid Cleaves. “Wishbones” is one of my favorite tracks and I rate him as one of Texas’s best singer-songwriters. Today, I just happened to pick up Unsung, his collection of covers from various artists on the scene right now, such as Adam Carroll, or just shortly before now, such as Peter Keane. “Another Kind of Blue” is a Keane cover. And it is real nice. So yeah, that’s pretty much what I’ve got to say about that. Oh, and you can download a whole lot of Peter Keane’s catalog from his website. I suggest it. Because he’s really good.
[[download "Another Kind of Blue"]]
Slaid Cleaves – “Like Poets Do”
From the same album, this time he tackles the punniest man in Texas/pastor/children’s performer/alt-country champion Steve Brooks. In honor of Steve Brooks, I now publish (without consent, of course) an excerpt from his pun “Tex-Mexistentialism”:
“Our Fajita, who art in Huevos, Pollo’d be Muy Bueno. Thy Corona come, thy Chili be Con, on Cuervo it is El Jefe. Forgive us our Tres Amigos, as we forgive those who Seis Salsas against us. Lettuce not into Tomatillo, but Nuevo us from Fritos. For thine is the Gringo, the Agua and the Chorizo. In the name of the Flauta, and of the Flan, and of the Frijole ghost. A-Menudo.”
Puns aside, this song is my favorite off Slaid’s album.
Wale – “The Opening Title Sequence”
Since Carter III still has a week or so til it drops, Wale’s all I got right now (on the hip-hop front, obviously). The internets finally tossed out a tracked version of the mixtape, and I have to say I’m very glad. For the album’s highlights (“The Perfect Plan,” “The Kramer,” etc), it is sooo nice to skip the two minute A&R skit and the album’s lesser songs (i.e. the slow jam for the ladies). With this in mind, I will go out on that limb that few ever do and say I hate skits, intros, interludes, exitludes, etc. With the exception of Bubba’s intro “Takeoff” on Dark Days, Bright Nights, the opener to Wale’s tape is the most sick of opening tracks in the rap world right around now.
Tomorrow I’m taking a hospital break and heading to Tulsa to catch the Old 97’s at Cain’s. Sooo psyched. Expect a hella tight alt-country post tomorrow.
FYI, Buck’s doing great. Fuck the doctors, he heard me when I said we’d take the bastards down and lord knows he’d never miss a chance to yell at people. Also he saw Jesus. Jesus told him to get his ass over there, to which he replied: uh, fuck you. So he’s hanging in there. Fuck man, I knew the bastard would do this. The second I get here, he’s all getting better. What a douche. And he knows it. He’s laughing about it.
ANDANDANDAND The Carter III is slowly leaking all over the internets.
“Mr. Carter” by Lil Wayne
“Rollerskate Skinny” by The Old 97’s
um. duh. <3 them.
