Yesterday I hurriedly made a mix of songs by The Band for a friend. Said friend likes Levon Helm, so naturally I made a mix where Leeeeeeevon figures prominently into the songs. Thought I would share the mix with you guys--both for those of you who love The Band (who wouldn't?!) and for those of you who need a good introduction to songs by The Band. It's early release-heavy, but we all know that the newer a release is, the worse it is for these guys. So, enjoy! All the songs should be pretty easy to find on iTunes, etc.
The Band - Levon
1. "The Stones I Throw (Will Free All Men)" - Levon and the Hawks (A Musical History) 2. "Go Go Liza Jane" - Levon and the Hawks (A Musical History) 3. "We Can Talk" - The Band (Music from Big Pink) 4. "Chest Fever" - The Band (Music from Big Pink) 5. "Katie's Been Gone" (Outtake) - The Band (Music from Big Pink) 6. "Keys to the Highway" (Outtake) - The Band (Music from Big Pink) 7. "(I Dont Want To Hang Up My) Rock 'N' Roll Shoes (Live 12/28-12/31/71, The Academy Of Music, NYC)" - The Band (A Musical History) 8. "Ain't No More Cane on the Brazos" -The Band (A Musical History, The Basement Tapes) 9. "Baby Lou" - The Band - (A Musical History) 10. "Bessie Smith" - The Band - (A Musical History, The Basement Tapes) 11. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Band (The Band) 12. "Up on Cripple Creek" - The Band (The Band) 13. "Jemima Surrender" - The Band (The Band) 14. "Rockin' Chair" - The Band (The Band) 15. "Ophelia" - The Band (I used the version from The Last Waltz, which I think is better than the version on Northern Lights - Southern Cross 16. "The Weight" - The Band (again, I used the Last Waltz version. 17. "Strawberry Wine" - The Band (Stage Fright) 18. "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" - The Band (Stage Fright) 19. "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" - The Band (Stage Fright) 20. "When I Paint my Masterpiece" - The Band (Cahoots) 21. "The River Hymn" - The Band (Cahoots)
Red Blondehead has been on pins and needles about posting some tracks from Birmingham, AL natives Through the Sparks' debut full-length record, Lazarus Beach. It's darkly beautiful and upbeat-sounding yet often menacing thematically. Lyrically clever and musically dense, the record always features something interesting to focus on, even in the songs with more downbeat tempos.
But that's enough talking about a record that can speak volumes for itself, so why not giddy up and have a listen.
No River City is an American band (thanks, John Seay)
I used to hate having to stand through the performances of opening bands, so I find it ironic that I first heard one of my now-favorite bands whilst I stood waiting for Iron and Wine to play in the now-defunct Echo Lounge in Atlanta.
No River City is the band that opened that night, and I have been hooked on the Atlanta natives ever since. One of the reasons is that I love a good story, and Drew deMan is one of the best songwriting storytellers since Whiskeytown. In fact, if you're a fan of the croonings of the Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary pair, I think you'd like deMan's music. It gives one a feel for his love of all things western, all things beat culture, and all things egalitarian. That means calling up the wandering spirits of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly and at times the defiant mood and it's-all-out-on-the-table morality of Henry Miller. In short, it's a gem for those of us who appreciate neo-folk and good storytelling.
Here's one of my favorites from No River City's first album, This is our North Dakota: 100 Mile Dance
These are from the band's new release, Wolves and Fishes:
If you're in Birmingham, come out to Bottletree this Saturday night, April 21, to hear No River City play with Birmingham's own folk outfit The Saturdays and Athen's Nate Nelson.
April 2007 20th Album Release Party, Redlight Cafe, Atlanta, w/ Blake Rainey & Little Country Giants 21st Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
May-June 2007 - Westerly Tour May 2 Brentwood Pub, Nashville, TN May 3 Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO May 4 Blue Fugue, Columbai, MO May 5 TBA, Lawrence, KS May 7 Mooch And Burn, Tulsa, OK May 11 3 Kings, Denver, CO May 17 Old Ironsides, Sacramento, CA May 18 Hotel Utah, San Francisco, CA May 22 Radio show, LA, CA May 23 Silverlake Lounge, LA, CA May 24 Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown, CA May 25 The Hut, Tucson, AZ May 31 Common Ground, McCall, ID June 1 Neurolux, Boise, ID June 5 In-Store, Music Millennium, Portland, OR June 8 John's Alley, Moscow, ID June 9 In-Store, Cactus Records, Bozeman, MT June 14 High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI June 15 The Mill, Iowa City, IA June 16 The Busted Lift, Dubuque, IA
The Go Find, the indietronica project of Belgian native Dieter Sermeus, will release its second album Stars on the Wall next Tuesday. It's been 3 years since the debut of Miami and Sermeus has added a few new touches to his sound (like check out the banjo on "Monday Morning") and toned down some of the electronica aspects. If you enjoy the music of Styrofoam, you should check out The Go Find because Arne Van Petegem of Styrofoam produced Miami and you can definitely hear the influence.
Some things you might not know about Los Angeles' Let's Go Sailing (LGS):
-Shana Levy of LGS, who studied classical piano as a child, has played keys for Rilo Kiley, Irving, and Dios Malos. -You might've heard LGS between sets at the last Flaming Lips show you attended. -Watch Grey's Anatomy? Specifically, the episode that aired March 22? Then you've heard not one, but two LGS songs. -Some of our promoters caught LGS at SXSW and fell in LOVE. -You can go right now to KCRW and hear LGS on Morning Becomes Eclectic. -You can come out to Bottletree Monday night for a two-band (read: home early) set featuring LGS and Louisiana pop songsters We Landed on the Moon!
I thought Leah might post some stuff from The National's upcoming album (release date - May 22) but it seems she started the weekend early (I heard her mutter something about an appointment with someone named Riesling as she ran from RB headquarters and she's been gone for hours). So that leaves me to share a few favorites from Boxer. I've only listened to it a few times but it looks like it's going to be in high rotation for a while.
The National will be opening for The Arcade Fire for a select few dates this spring, including Atlanta.
A few years ago I saw Broken Flowers with a friend and although I left the theater disappointed with the movie, the song playing during the closing credits left a lasting impression. We hung around until the end of the credits to get the artist and title of the song and I made a mental note to track it down. I must have filed that mental note pretty far back in the filing cabinet because it took me 2 years to find the song. But here it is. The Greenhornes and Holly Golightly - There Is An End
Songs from St. Vincent's upcoming album "Marry Me" are slowly leaking onto the internets. Another to savor... St. Vincent - Now.Now.
Menomena, the band with the best album art of the year so far (their music's not bad either), will be playing at Bottletree tonight with Kiss Me at the Gate.
How about some mp3s instead of Leah and me writing endless posts about SXSW? At this point, we're like your great aunts who arrived home from their vacation armed with photo slideshows and now they won't stop yapping about their trip for another 6 months. Not that I've completely abandoned the detailed accounts of our every move (doesn't that look threatening in italics like that?) in Austin, just taking a break. I know that probably no one really cares to read another indulgent South By blog, especially 2 weeks after the fact but I've made it a personal goal to finish what I started. Sorry to involve you in my own self-improvement quest for personal fulfillment...my deepest apologies. However, procrastination in action results in some new music so please accept the tunes as an offering of penitence.
I can't get enough of Headlights' Kill Them With Kindness...I love almost every song. Their music makes me think of Stars, which is a high compliment in my book.
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