Just got my hands on a soundboard bootleg of an old Meters show from '75. You know, back when they were really good at doing drugs. Sounds like a good time.
The Meters - Right Place, Wrong Time
The Meters - Stand By Me>Cupid>Don't Play That Song>He Don't Love You>Stand By Me
Rain. Then scorching sweatbox. Then humid cloud cover. No doubt, Lollapalooza 2009 brought its notorious weekend of shitty weather to the Windy City.
Cold War Kids
Pleasant discovery: Portugal. The Man
Badass in the studio, and even more so on stage. These Alaskan indie freaks have a Zeppelin-like live sound that their records don't seem to capture.
P.TM's (relatively) poppy "Lay Me Back Down", from last year's Censored Colors, has made the rounds, but do yourself a favor and pick up 2007's Church Mouth.
Here's the title track.
Their latest, Satanic Satanist, is no Jimmie Vaughan either.
Also, their keyboardist is smoking. (Um, the female one).
OK, I take it back. The new Wilco is alright. Those who have streamed it will agree that Wilco (The Album) sounds a hell of a lot better as a package than what the individual leaked tracks had suggested.
That said, a couple more á la carte items:
Wilco - You And I (with Leslie Feist)
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On to the new Rhett Miller. Rolling Stone gave his latest solo effort four stars, calling it his best yet. I don't know about that, but it's definitely more ballsy than his first two. The Instigator and The Believer were poppy and radio-hopeful, and that's sort of what we've come to expect from his solo projects: a softer, more melodic side to his Old 97s' grittier-but-still-not-that-gritty sound. Sounds like Rhett tried to bridge that gap with this one, and the arrangements are headier than anything he's put out to date — either on his own or with his day-job band. Loyal fans might not call it his best, but it's definitely his most interesting set. And for you purists yearning for "Terrible Vision"-era Rhett, this is as close it gets on this record:
Rhett Miller - Another Girlfriend
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...or so the Super Mash Bros. describe their sound. Couldn't have said it better myself.
As we sit in painful anticipation of Street Sweeper, Stanton Moore dropped us some waiting-room muzak a couple months ago.
Actually it's pretty damn good, even if Emphasis! (on Parenthesis)*—much like his past solo effort—does sound a bit like a Robert Walter record.
But the hard-hitting drummer found himself a fitting formula on Emphasis. Keyboardist Walter and guitarist Will Bernard (T.J. Kirk) accompany, the latter injecting a six-string riff-rock attack not heard on any of Moore's previous solo efforts. Nawlins funk, Zep rock and Garage-a-Trois jazz...with a smudge of curried hip-hop, as heard on "Wissions (of Vu)"
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Stanton Moore — Wissions (Of Vu)
Stanton Moore — (Who Ate The) Layer Cake?
Stanton Moore — (Late Night At The) Maple Leaf
Stanton Moore — (Proper) Gander
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Buy Emphasis! (On Parenthesis)
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But back to Streetsweeper. Word is the Moore, Tom Morello, Boots Riley joint is recorded and being mixed. No release date, but I'm guessing winter '08/'09.
A look at this savage in action. This gets filthy a little less than halfway through. Wait for the cowbell beat:
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Bonus:
Andrew Bird — Heretics (Early Version)
* plural = parentheses, Stanton. Learn it.
The hype is real, folks. My Morning Jacket took a giant step with Evil Urges. Purists will say otherwise, but for my money, Urges is MMJ at its best. The band proves with these 14 tracks that you can go poppy and catchy without compromising a tried and true formula rooted in experimentation.
My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious
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