The Ear Hole

Frisco Santa

I like you peoples.

Well, I'm fresh off a solo weekend excursion to Frisco. There was some walking, some people-watching, some seal-watching (I love seals), some t-shirt buying and lots of stimulating internal dialogue; all garnished with the occasional fuel stop at any attractive-looking or -smelling pub/wine bar (of which I found there to be many).

Seal

I'm not generally the goes-to-the-bar-by-himself type of fella. I guess I've always been able to twist a friend's arm to join me. But since I don't know a single soul or seal in San Francisco, there I was: A peculiar bird on a stool, sipping on things and absorbing the vibe of an unfamiliar metropolis. Sounds depressing, but I happen to get off on that junk. I did some reading, befriended a few friendly Friscans and, um, awkwardly played with my phone and learned how to engage myself in bad college football. OK, maybe that is depressing.

Fortunately, there was plenty of music around to keep me busy. I checked out a handful of local bands at a handful of local venues, including the appropriately renowned Elbo Room. I also wound up spending way too much time scouring the racks of Haight Ashbury's Amoeba Records. That place is a like a giant musical fly trap. But for people...not flies.

While my Amoeba experience involved more browsing and listening than it did purchasing, I did come away with a few new toys.

I share with you.

RJD2
Magnificent City Instrumentals

RJD2's latest is actually a re-release of Magnificent City, the tandem record he did with rapper Aceyalone earlier this year. This is the exact same album...without Aceyalone. Yeah, he basically just stripped the vocals and called it Magnificent City Instrumentals, so now it plays like an RJD2 joint, start to finish.

Having been originally produced as a straight hip-hop project, this is a bit more bottled up than a"real" RJ joint. That said, Instrumentals is also more up-tempo and funky, so I guess it depends which way you lean. If you do happen to own a copy of the original Magnificent City, buy this one anyway. The tracks are different animals without the vox, and there's a lot of cool stuff going on that you may have missed the first time around.

"Heaven"

Purchase Magnificent City Instrumentals

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Quanitc Soul Orchestra
Stampede

OK, I didn't actually find this one at Amoeba...it was a little rare soul/funk/jazz shop on Lower Haight with an absurd catalog. Stampede (2003) was definitely off my radar. Maybe that's because I get my QSO knowledge from their label, Ubiquity, which doesn't list this disc on its site. 2005's Pushin' On is a souled-out, funky ruckus, and this predecessor is more of the same.

This is the second track from Stampede. What is it about lo-fi production that sounds so funky? Methinks this would make a good morning-commute track. Makes me want to just aimlessly walk around. In fact, I think I'll go do that now.

"Raw Ingredients"

Purchase Stampede
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Go check out the good folks at Shotgun Reviews for some witty, informed commentary on music, film and all kinds of other stuff. A good read.

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In other news, it looks like O.J. found himself some drugs. Leave it to FOX to end up with the exclusive on this one.

Vote For Haggard

Happy Election Day.

Stop perusing the Net for free music and drag your lazy ass to the polls.*

And while you're up, you may as well drop by your local spin bin and buy yourself a physical compact disc for a change. I intend to.

A couple energy drinks for your trip to the booth, courtesy of Blues "Don't Call Us 'Jon Spencer' anymore, please" Explosion:

"Hot Gossip"
"Calvin (Zebra Ranch remix)" (best absorbed loud)

Purchase Damage by Blues Explosion

...and also Xtra-Acme USA

* If you live in Pennsylvania and support Rick Santorum, keep browsing. Maybe it's time to finally get serious about that apron on ebay with the Jesus-shaped grease stain. Make your bid, sit at home and watch. All day.

Half Nelson

In these latter years of his career, country icon and willing collaborator Willie Nelson has hooked up with a who's who of musicians, lending his distinctive baritone to everyone from Toby Keith to reggae icon Toots Hibbert, a project which presumably spawned 2005's Countryman, a country-reggae fusion album and Nelson's most recent solo release of original material (a tribute album, You Don't Know Me: The Songs Of Cindy Walker, came out earlier this year).

Indeed, this village doorknob has turned out some great stuff in recent years, much of which has found him lurking outside his own skin. Fitting for a guy with a knack for tasteful reinvention.

Sober

Songbird, Nelson's sixth release in three years on the Lost Highway label, is a collaborative effort in its own right, with Ryan Adams behind the knobs and his Cardinals playing house band. Yep, Nelson is dipping his wrinkly toes into that alt-country pool.

But not all the way in. Though the Adams/Cardinals influence abounds in the production and instrumentation, the material itself is a mixed bag of relaxed electric rock, blues, and country tunes. Nelson's lazy voice is the perfect vehicle for the sedated-yet-optimistic feel of this ballad-heavy set, and is complemented nicely by The Cardinals' lush twang.

The byproduct is a pointedly-produced blend of artsy balladry and loose interpretation. Adams' "Blue Hotel" and the ensuing "Back To Earth" embody the generally weighty theme at play on Songbird, while bluesy opener "Rainy Day Blues" and the rolling rocker "We Don't Run" lighten the mood and allow the band some room to stretch.

But front-and-center on Songbird is Nelson's -- and Adams', for that matter -- uncanny ability to make any song sound all his own. Take the haunting interpretation of Jerry Garcia's "Stella Blue" and, more notably, the ballsy, minor-key makeover that likens the album-closing "Amazing Grace" to "House Of The Rising Sun." (Edit: This "Amazing Grace" arrangement originally appeared on the Blind Boys Of Alabama's 2003 record of the same title. Thanks to Tom for that heads-up.)

Critics are harking Songbird as his best effort in a decade. Tough to disagree with that, but many of Nelson's recent boundary-traversing releases have become virtually incomparable to even his own discography.

Furthermore, your first spin will tell you these arrangements are more Ryan Adams than they are Willie Nelson. So this is really just a Half Nelson.

A superb release, yes; but comparisons to recent works should bear the acknowledgment that there are many, many Willies floating around these days.

Still, the collaboration works, and leaves us hopeful that Adams and Nelson's studio stint was a raucous, hazy bender that has them eager to meet again.

Something tells me it was indeed just that.

"Yours Love" by Willie Nelson
"Amazing Grace" by Willie Nelson

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Speaking of Ryan Adams, his recently-revamped site is worth checking out. Hilarious. Take some time to explore and you'll find all kinds of goodies, including an assload of unreleased tunes.

And while you're at it, you may as well read his lengthy rants on the Stereogum blog. Yeah, he basically ransacked a message board to defend himself...at length. Sounds like a dick move, but to me -- and I only skimmed it -- Adams gives some of these pretentious, full-of-shit tools a well-deserved "you know nothing about being a musician."

Scroll down and look for Adams' annoyingly long chunks of text.

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In other news, I posted a handful of my own songs on garageband.com. Well, they're not all my own; some are covers (which, incidentally, you're not allowed to post on Garage Band...but they haven't caught me yet). Anyway, they're rough, homemade and sucky, but I'm sick of being the only one listening to them. Click here to visit the Meat Burglars.