The Beatles â Here There And Everywhere
Now that I think of it - itâ s like this every three years or so - suddenly, thereâ s a rash of Beatles related music news - and it reminds me just how remarkable they were when I see that they are still not only viable all these years later - but in fact continue to groom new, younger listeners into life long fans. First, the CD â Instant Karma - The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfurâ. The two disc, twenty three song release includes some very good remakes of John Lennon tunes done by a very wide variety of artists, most from the alternative music realm but not all. A few of my favorite tracks include â Instant Karmaâ by U2, â #9 Dreamâ by R.
More from Ryan Adams The Cardinals
Ryan Adams used to blame his prolific writing & recording on the demons of drug and alcohol addiction. Fortunately for all of us, Adams has found sobriety, and in so doing heâ ll need to find something new to blame for his almost unbelievable output of music (nine solo albums, a forthcoming 5 disc box set, this 4th release with the Cardinals, plus a handful of recordings released under various identities). â Follow The Lightsâ could easily be titled â Follow Easy Tigerâ as the first three tracks sound like they could have fit anywhere on that brilliant CD, which came out just three months ago. The remainder of this seven song EP is made up of three excellent remakes of tracks from earlier Ryan Adams releases - and one incredible cover of an Alice In Chains tune (honestly) â Down In A Hole.
Ladies Night
Among the new music added lately are three songs from ladies who pioneered their brand of alternative music as far back as the late 70â s, and one extremely promising new artist. Siouxsie Sioux who set the stage for many artists to come (Garbage, Goldfrapp, the Cranberries, to name a small few) has released her first ever solo recording after nearly 30 years. As the front woman and driving force behind Siouxsie and the Banshees, she was one of punk rockâ s first angry women. Although the new release doesnâ t contain the lyrical goth-horror of her Banshee years, she has by no means softened her approach. Produced by Steve Evans (Robert Plant) and Charlie Jones (Goldfrapp), Siouxsie easily transcends to a sound that is distinctly not 1978, which is a good thing.
Sky Blue Sky â Whatâ s Not To Like About That Title?
While I was aware of Wilco for a long time, I didnâ t become a fan(atic) until the historical â Yankee Hotel Foxtrotâ came out, and became a mainstay on the abs play lists at the time. Looking back at some of their earlier works, â Summerteethâ was my next favorite release from the band. â A Ghost Is Born, â which featured a new lineup for the band, never fell into place for me - looking back, I canâ t think of a single track that really made an impression on me from that release. â Sky Blue Skyâ on the other hand, is just phenomenal - and while it may not be as groundbreaking for the band as â Yankee Hotel Foxtrotâ was, I actually think this is a stronger release.
Red Hot Chili Peppers VS Showtime
Cailfornication, the song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers - weâ d like to introduce you to the Showtime program, Californication. Now, shake hands - and then come out suing. The Chili Peppers have filed a lawsuit against the Showtime cable television channel over the title of its program starring David Duchovny. The band is claiming that the use of the word damages their identity. Huh? The funny thing to me is that, if somebody walked up to me and said the word Cailfornication on the street, I wouldnâ t have thought of a TV show at all - Showtime will most likely get the benefit of some extra publicity for its program out of this. As for the RHCP - I suppose they have an attorney somewhere that has told them they can absolutely claim ownership of this word, and reap some monetary gains from the use of it - which is exactly what the file suit asks for.
Radiohead Breaks From Tradition
Radiohead has taken the unprecedented step (at least for a band this well known) of releasing their new CD in digital format from their website only. They have completely bypassed the major record labels for this, and are not even putting a price on the music - asking instead that their fans pay whatever they are willing to pay for the music. Itâ s available as a downloaded file, or shipped to you in a CD box. The move has garnered quite a bit of notice from the press - and it remains to be seen what impact this will have on future releases from the group. While it is a bold move by the band, the downloaded files that had been legally purchased were already available all over the Internet for free to anyone willing to search for them.
The Cake Sale
The Cake Sale is a band featuring a loose and expansive collective of musicians and writers who have combined to create a 9-song CD of the same name on Oxfam Records. All profits will go to support Oxfams Make Trade Fair campaign and their overseas programme work. Recorded in Dublin last year, the bones of The Cake Saleâ s tracks were laid down by Bell X1 duo Crosby and Paul Noonan along with Crowded House bassist Nick Seymour and drummer Graham Hopkins. All songs were previously unreleased and recorded specifically for the Cake Sale project with all publishing royalties being donated by their writers. Lead vocals were provided from Snow Patrolâ s Gary Lightbody, Glen Hansard (The Frames/ ONCE ), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Gemma Hayes, and Josh Ritter among others.
Musical Glue
A couple of weeks ago, I was heading out of Barnes & Noble when I caught a glimpse of a magazine that had Iron & Wineâ s Sam Beam on the cover. Being a big fan of his music, I stopped to take a peek at the magazine - and within about 15 seconds of peeking, I purchased the copy. The magazine is called â Pasteâ - and I donâ t think Iâ ve seen music that matters to me covered this well since pre-1980â s Rolling Stone. Last night I bought the new issue, and then a year subscription. To give you an idea, aside from Ryan Adams being this monthâ s feature article, there are also articles about Band of Horses, Over The Rhine, Lucinda Williams and the Decemberists.
Head â Westâ
Listening to Lucinda Williams sing is like sipping warm whiskey from an ice-less glass while gently rocking in an antique chair on the wood plank floor of a ranch in Texas - with the temperature over 100 degrees and just enough wind to make the tumbleweed rock slightly every few minutes. She is truly a one of a kind aberration of an artist on todayâ s landscape of singer/songwriters. I would say that she hasnâ t really changed that much over the years, and stylistically, that would be correct - but the truth is she keeps getting better at it - even when you are certain she canâ t top her previous best. â West â is just such a CD. She continues to weave in and out of alt-country, blues, rock, and pure country - and yet somehow listening to her CD this is all absolutely coherent.
Moore Not Less
Itâ s been 12 years since Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore released a solo work - 1995â s â Psychic Heartâ - but much like Dave Grohl, Thurston is not leading an idle life between tours and recordings with his full time band. Among one of his many admirable endeavors is running his own website, Protest records - which is devoted to overturning existing music anti-piracy laws. Heâ s been in countless super-star collective collaborations (including one with the afore mentioned Grohl - with whom he wrote and recorded the music soundtrack for the movie Backbeat along with members from R.E.M. and Afghan Whigs. Working from longtime friend J. Mascisâ (of Dinosaur Jr.