Author Archives: mike

(Upcoming Release) Calexico – Spiritoso LP – Record Store Day Release

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spiritoso

In the list for the Record Store Day 2013 (April 20, 2013) releases I noticed under LP’s that there will be a LP + CD release of Spiritoso by Calexico. The notes say that this was originally available only as a vinyl release on tour. While I’m not sure about that, it was part of the special box set release of Algiers— Calexico’s most recent album release. Here is what City Slang (Calexico’s European label who put out the box set) said about it:

Spiritoso [is] a full album of superb live recordings from two shows in Vienna and Potsdam [last] summer, with full symphonic orchestras. Here’s the tracklisting:

1. Frontera /Trigger *
2. Epic **
3. The News About William **
4. Black Heart **
5. Minas de Cobre **
6. Inspiracion **
7. Two Silver Trees **
8. Para *
9. Quattro (World Drifts In) **
10. Crystal Frontier **
11. The Vanishing Mind *
12. Fortune Teller **

* Live with the Radio Symphonic Orchestra Vienna
** Live with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg

Here is a video of “Para” with the Radio Symphonic Orchestra Vienna.

Calexico is normally a band with a very complex sound, but having them backed by a symphony is a whole new experience as you can tell from the video above. If you didn’t order or missed out on the box set that included this– here is your 2nd chance!

(Upcoming Release) Miles Davis – “The Kinda Blue Sessions ’59” 180g LP + CD- Record Store Day 2013

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Kind of Blue Sessions '59

At this point the importance of Miles Davis groundbreaking work on his 1959 release Kind of Blue is well-established. Recorded over two dates in 1959 (March 2nd and April 22nd at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio) and featuring the legendary “First Sextet” lineup of  Davis, Julian Adderley, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly/Bill Evans (Kelly was on “Freddie Freeloader”), Paul Chambers and James Cobb. This is the band that Davis started his experimentation with modal jazz and the move away from his hard bop style. Though Kind of Blue is heralded as the pinnacle of modal style, Davis had already been working with it on his 1958 release Milestones, suggesting that Coltrane was the catalyst of this move.

Kind of Blue stands head and shoulders above many other jazz releases in popularity– depending on who you believe, it may be the greatest selling jazz release of all time. It certainly represents an important release in my jazz collection. When people who are unfamiliar with jazz ask me where to start listening, it is a safe bet to suggest Kind of Blue. So much about the album lends itself to being a springboard of sorts to more jazz– Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans’s participation alone will send the newly motivated jazz investigator down some very important and landmark releases in the jazz canon.

Of course, these facts are not lost on the label custodian of Miles Davis’s catalog– Sony/BMG. I don’t think I can even count the reissues of just Kind of Blue that have happened over the years. For the 50th Anniversary of Kind of Blue in 2008, Sony Legacy released a beautifully-packaged release that included a clear-blue vinyl stereo LP (which fixed the long-standing mastering error that had side 2 at the wrong speed), 1 CD of Kind of Blue with an alternate take of  “Flamenco Sketches” and session chatter, 1 CD with five tracks from a May 26, 1958 session and a live version of “So What” from April 9, 1960 in Holland. There was also a DVD documentary of the album, and a beautiful book, posters and photos. This is the version I have in my collection.

So, I was surprised to see in the Record Store Day list diligently maintained at Wax Poetic the mention of an LP called The Kinda Blue Sessions ’59. Some quick googling turned up some information about it, but not a lot of details. It is on Birdland Records and distributed by RedEye. (Birdland also has an interesting Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Munich ’59 live release). At SpinCD’s website, they provide the tracklist and credits:

Side One
1.Freddie Freeloader session
2.So What session

Side Two
1.Blue in Green session
2.All Blues session.

Musicians: Miles Davis – Trumpet, John Coltrane – Tenor sax, Bill Evans – Piano (S1 T2. S2 T1&2) Wyn Kelly – Piano (S1 T1), Julian Adderly- Alto Sax (All except S2 T1), Paul Chambers – Bass James Cobb- Drums

Based on the research I’ve done, I suspect that this is possibly a partial release of the bootleg commonly known as Kind of Blue Studio Sessions and Outtakes.

Initially I was a little concerned that this would be a release of only the additional tracks on the first CD of the 2008 Sony Legacy release of false starts and studio sequences. In fact, these are in exactly the same order, but it’s missing the tracks from “Flamenco Sketches” making this a release that– including the “Flamenco Sketches” chatter and false starts would have only been 10 minutes long!

7. Freddie Freeloader studio sequence 1 from the 3/2/59 sessions (0:51)
8. Freddie Freeloader false start from the 3/2/59 sessions (1:25)
9. Freddie Freeloader studio sequence 2 from the 3/2/59 sessions (1:26)
10. So What studio sequence 1 from the 3/2/59 sessions (1:53)
11. So What studio sequence 2 from the 3/2/59 sessions (0:59)
12. Blue in Green studio sequence from the 3/2/59 sessions (1:59)
13. Flamenco Sketches – studio sequence 1 from the 4/22/59 sessions (0:42)
14. Flamenco Sketches – studio sequence 2 from the 4/22/59 sessions (1:09)
15. All Blues – studio sequence from the 4/22/59 sessions (0:18)

But, the notable absence of the “Flamenco Sketches” sequences and the one outtake that they released on the Legacy release of  “Flamenco Sketches” would make this, although interesting from a collector’s standpoint, a pretty lame release out of the context of full songs. Especially at $29 MSRP.

The Kind of Blue Studio Sessions and Outtakes notes lists this track listing:

Tracks 1,2,3 > March 2, 1959 (2:30pm to 5:30pm and 7:00pm to 10:00pm)
Tracks 5,6 > April 22, 1959 (2:30pm to 5:30pm)
Columbia 30th Street Studio, New-York, USA

Tracks:

1. FREDDIE FREELOADER SESSION (13’38)
2. SO WHAT SESSION (12’53)
3. BLUE IN GREEN SESSION (11’13)
4. FLAMENCO SKETCHES SESSION (24’10)
5. ALL BLUES SESSION (11’53)

Since we know that an LP can be at the most 24 minutes per side, if  you take out the 24 minutes of “Flamenco Sketches,” it would fit on one LP. Though, they could include “Flamenco Sketches” as a bonus track on the CD they are including.

The only caveat I’d mention here is that these recordings are direct dumps of the safety masters of each of the sessions (Columbia 62290, 62291, 62292, 62293, 62294) and include the tape starts and stops and have some cut outs– possibly from the tape edits? I suspect that due to the very few extra full takes available, this may include takes that were used on the official release of Kind of Blue, which begs the question about the legitimacy of the release.

Based on the wonderful Miles Ahead Sessions Information database which articulates all of the details of the sessions down to the studio chatter, here is what I know about the possible tracks:

1. Freddie Freeloader Session – This is Take 2, Take 3, Take 4 – An Edit of Take 4 was used on the official release.

2. So What Session – This is the full Take 3- An Edit of Take 3 was used on the official release. The bootleg includes Cannonball Adderley singing “with a song in my heart…” at the end.

3. Blue in Green Session – Take 2, Take 3, Take 4, Take 5 – An Edit of Take 5 was used on the official release.

4. All Blues Session – Take 1 – An Edit (faded) version was used on the official release. The bootleg includes the unfaded end with Paul Chambers panting at the end and saying “Damn…” part of  “Damn that’s a hard mother!”

If this release is the Kind of Blue Sessions and Outtakes version, I’ll be happy to have this in my collection! The sound is incredible– which isn’t surprising considering the source, but certainly one I’d play. It’s great to hear the musicians working through what would become one of the most important jazz albums in history.

Read this interesting piece on NPR called “Between the Takes” by Ashley Kahn which was also used in the hardbound book included in the 50th Anniversary box of Kind of Blue.

(Upcoming Release) New Calexico Tour-Only Release : Anceinne Belgique Vol 2

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John Convertino of Calexico holding the vinyl LP of the new Ancienne Belgique Volume 2

John Convertino of Calexico holding the vinyl LP of the new Ancienne Belgique Vol 2

This morning via their Facebook Page, Calexico announced that they will be selling CD’s and vinyl of a new tour-only live release titled Anceinne Belgique Vol 2. 

Hey Everyone we have a new tour only album for sale. It’s a live recording from the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels this past September 2012 featuring new songs off of the album “Algiers” as well as some old songs too. Mixed by Craig Schumacher and mastered by Jim Blackwood, it is available on CD and as a double LP on vinyl. Here’s John with a copy hot off the press. We have copies on tour.

This is volume 2, because Calexico released the first album back in 2009 of their October 2008 show, which was also a tour-only release. I wrote about it here. The first volume also got a vinyl treatment in the amazing Road Atlas Box Set of their previously CD-only tour releases. That box is out-of-print and really scarce. I wrote about the Road Atlas Box here, and made a nifty 32-minute mix of tracks from it as a freely-downloadable mp3.

The band will have copies with them on tour— currently underway in Europe and running until March 3rd. In response to all of the people commenting on the post that they wanted to buy it and couldn’t see them on their current tour of Europe, they said that they will have copies in the band’s website store “hopefully soon.” The band helpfully provided me with the tracklisting:

01. Epic
02. Splitter
03. Para
04. Dead Moon
05. El Picador
06. Sinner in the Sea
07. No Te Vayas
08. Maybe on Monday
09. Corona
10. Hush
11. Close Behind
12. Puerto
13. The Vanishing Mind
14. Güero Canelo

 

Releases I’m Looking Forward to in 2013

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The month of January was named after the Roman goddess Janus who had two faces.  Like the goddess, January is the month of the year when we both look back on the previous year that is over as well as ahead to the year coming up. I just posted my favorite releases for 2012— here is a list of releases that I’m looking forward to in 2013.

Mountains – Centralia (January 22) The Brooklyn duo of Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp is back with another couple of slabs of acoustic/electronic experimental ambient music (a couple of slabs in the vinyl version anyway). I’ve been a big fan since Choral and can’t wait to get this on the turntable.

Camper Van Beethoven – La Costa Perdida (January 22) David Lowery’s non-Cracker concern is back with its first release since New Roman Times in 2004.

Arbouretum – Coming Out of the Fog (January 22) David Heumann is back with another slab of his folk-inspired distortion. If you are one of the early orders at Thrill Jockey, the vinyl comes in “Fog White” – I have one and it is beautiful.

Brokeback – Brokeback and the Black Rock (January 22) – Doug McCombs of Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day returns with his solo project, Brokeback. Started in 1997, Brokeback had two 7″es and three albums, with the last one out in 2003. Ten years later, Brokeback is resurrected in a new lineup which includes Pete Croke and Chris Hansen of Head of Skulls! (emphasis theirs) and James Elkington of The Zincs, The Horses Ha and Freakwater. The album is typical atmospheric reverbby guitar instrumentals.

Local Natives – Hummingbird (January 29) – The Local Natives are back with their sophomore release. I loved their first album Gorilla Manor, and got to see them during the first Daytrotter Barnstormer tour. They managed to tour for two years on that album. If the first track “Breakers” is any indication, Hummingbird is a strong followup.

Jacob Jones – Good Timin’ In Waynetown (January 29) – Just in time for the hubbub over Nashville due to the ABC TV series of the same name, Jacob Jones is releasing his first album in two years. Instead of his typical roadworn acoustic folk country, he hit the studio with an album inspired by the classic R&B of Ray Charles and the “Keep On Movin'” parties on Monday nights at The 5 Spot.

Hiss Golden Messenger – Haw (April 2) – MC Taylor and Scott Hirsch are on a roll. After a very polished release of Poor Moon in 2011 which was followed by a collection of odds and sods in 2012 called Lord, I Love the Rain they are done with another release Haw, which is due to come out on April 2nd and has members of Megafaun on it. Look for a review by me soon.

Golden Gunn – TBD (April) – As if a Hiss Golden Messenger release isn’t enough, Scott and MC are collaborating with Steve Gunn on an album which, from the sounds of the little bit I heard, will be more jamming and more stripped down (if that is possible).

Dawes – Stories Don’t End (April 9)- The mighty Dawes return for a third album. This time they are releasing the album themselves through their management Q Prime— their first two albums were released by Dave Matthews’ label ATO. I’ve heard a couple songs from the new album live already, and it’s sounding like a great one. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Taylor Goldsmith said, “Obviously we have our influences, and I know that some of what we do as a band is of another time, even simple aspects like guitar solos. So I get it, I’m not mad at it, but at the same time, we just wanted to make sure people saw us as a modern band as well. With this album, thanks to what [producer] Jacquire [King] is really good at, we’re able to stay a rock & roll band and maintain classic qualities, but at the same time, it makes sense that this record is coming out in 2013.”

Jack Logan & Scott Baxendale – Bones in the Desert (TBD) – Jack Logan is back with his first release since 2006 or so. This time he’s partnered up with Athens, GA master guitar luthier Scott Baxendale. Joining them on the record are members of Drive By Truckers.

The Right Now – EP (First Half of 2013) In an interview with Chicagoverse, Brendan O’Connell says that the Chicago R&B band has demos collected that they can draw from to make an EP!

Dick Prall – Dick is releasing a song-per month, which he kicked off in October of 2012. The plan is to make the songs freely downloadable with a full-album of the tracks plus some bonuses available at the end of 2013.

Horses Ha – TBD – Carried over from last year’s list. The album is pretty much complete and a continuation of the first album Of The Cathmawr Yards. Here’s hoping that Janet and James, coming off the recent Freakwater tour will be energized and ready to release this.

History – (First half of 2013) The remains of the Iowa City band The Wandering Bears have formed a new band called History.

Har-di-Har – Third EP/LP – I loved the first two EP’s released by the Cedar Falls husband/wife duo Har-di-Har. The third EP in the series is supposed to come out pretty soon. Andrew Thoreen told me that the plan is to bundle the three EP’s together into a physical release (possibly vinyl!).

Fender Brings Back the Legendary Bass VI in Its Pawn Shop and Squier Lines

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Pawn Shop Bass VI Burst

Fender sent out an e-mail blast this week which, among other things, listed some new guitars in their Pawn Shop Line. Most interesting to me was the re-appearance of a Bass VI! I wrote a fairly comprehensive article about the Bass VI back in 2006 (CLICK HERE). At the time I was really interested in the Bass VI as a way to bridge my bass playing skills to 6-string. The Bass VI was a premium guitar from Fender which didn’t fit in my budget, but I tried out a couple of the Baritone Jaguars that Fender put out as a response to demand for a guitar in this class. You can read the article I linked to above where I compare the guitars, but ultimately I didn’t keep either of the guitars I tried and decided to invest in some regular 6-string electrics.

That said, this appearance of the Bass VI in the Pawn Shop line has me pretty interested in the Bass VI again. The guitar is introduced at an MSRP of $1079.99 (street price is estimated at $799) which makes this the most affordable Bass VI in a long time. Keeping with Fender’s tagline of “Guitars That Never Were But Should Have Been” the Bass VI gets a slight makeover and improves the guitar. For one thing, Fender removed the complicated and awkward bank of pickup switches and replaced it with a more conventional 5-position switch. Additionally, they replaced the bridge single-coil pickup with a humbucker that at first glance looked like a P90 or P100 but is in fact the Jazzmaster Humbucker (designated JZHB). This will give the guitar some interesting tone options not available in any of the previous Bass VI or Jaguar Baritone configurations. They did keep the distinctive locking tremolo and floating bridge that the Bass VI had and maintained the 30″ (76.2 cm) scale.

 

The Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-300 in Sunburst

The Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-300 in Sunburst

Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-306 Black

Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-306 in Black

Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-309 in Candy Apple Red

Pawn Shop Bass VI 0143-700-309 in Candy Apple Red

The Pawn Shop Bass VI comes in three colors: Black with tortoise pickguard, Three-tone Sunburst with tortoise pickguard, and Candy Apple Red with painted headstock and parchment pickguard. The Bass VI comes out on March 19th, according to Guitar Center, where you can pre-order it.

In the vast history of electric guitars from Fender, the Bass VI is somewhat obscure and harbors a kind of cultish, rabid fanbase. It remains to be seen if this re-introduction will widen the visibility of the Bass VI, but I think that there is pent-up demand from people who have been unwilling or unable to pay premium prices for a used Bass VI. If Guitar Center here in Cedar Rapids gets one in, I’ll go try it out and report back.

Click Here to read my article comparing the Bass VI to the Baritone Jaguars.

Click Here to Go to Fender’s Pawn Shop Bass VI page.

UPDATE: You can now get a regular configuration Bass VI as a Squier! Click the pictures below to check them out at Reverb.com – The Marketplace for Musicians!

(Upcoming Show) Pieta Brown and the Sawdust Collective Live at CSPS Friday 1/18/13 – Boulevard & Wires Photograph Exhibition This Week

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IMG_8084
Pieta Brown is kicking of the 2013 year of shows with a return to CSPS on Friday, January 18th. She’s bringing with her The Sawdust Collective which is her regular collaborators Bo Ramsey on guitars and backing vocals and Jon Penner on bass. The last time I saw Pieta at CSPS was during the Acoustic Cafe show in January of last year along with Kelly Joe Phelps and Carrie Rodriguez (my pictures here).

Since then, both Pieta and Bo contributed songs to the Iowa City Song Project album– a local-artists tribute to the Englert in celebration of the venue’s 100th birthday. I wrote a review of that album for Little Village back in October. You can check out her contribution “Doesn’t Take Long” here:

Martina by Pieta Brown

Martina by Pieta Brown

Boulevard & Wires by Pieta Brown

Pieta also lent a hand with Greg Brown’s new album Hymns to What Is Left and Iris DeMent’s new album Sing the Delta. Pieta also contributed the photographs for the cover art of both albums. These photographs will be part of an exhibit of photographs that will be opened in conjunction with the show Friday night. Titled Boulevard & Wires, it’s a selection of shots she’s taken on the road that she shows on her Blue Streak section of her website. “The communion takes place in just a blink, no flash,” she says.  “The simple process lends itself to chasing the gritty and mysterious essence of any given moment.” The exhibition will be in the Commons Gallery and will continue through February 28th– admission to the exhibit is free.
The performance on Friday night will start at 8PM and will be $17 in advance and $21 at the door.

Information on the Legion Arts Website HERE for the performance, and HERE for the gallery exhibition.

It’s Time to Play B-Sides Top 20 Albums of 2012

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Here we are again at the end of another year. 2012 was the 6th year of existence for this little blog. Looking back, it’s been kind of a year of recovery for me. Lots of fallout from being unemployed in 2011 finally came to rest in 2012 and I’m finally getting into the swing of a new home, job and direction.

From a music perspective, for me anyway, 2012 was a year of next-releases from a lot of my favorite bands– possibly signaling some confidence and support for the hard-working and long-touring truly independent bands out there.

Here are my 20 favorite releases from 2012 in no particular order:

The Right Now – Gets Over You – On my “12 Releases I’m looking Forward to in 2012” post– Chicago R&B powerhouse The Right Now delivered their sophomore release this year. A bit of a disclaimer– these guys are my friends and I helped them put out the vinyl version of their debut album Carry Me Home. The band traveled to L.A. to work with Sergio Rios of Orgone in his studio. The resulting record has a great tape-compressed and raw feel. This band gets better every release.

The Pines – Dark So Gold – A release I was looking forward to. It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth release for The Pines. Again produced by Bo Ramsey, we see the band really falling into their stride. Same formula, but more refined. Brilliant record from beginning to end. Check out their two Daytrotter sessions here and here.

Samuel Locke Ward – Double Nightmare – Iowa City’s most prolific home taper Sam Locke Ward put out an album that was a few years in the making. I was assigned the duty of reviewing this epic release for Little Village Magazine and I loved it. Recommended if you dig Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Dead Milkmen.

Red River Dialect – awellupontheway – I found out about this band/artist through MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, who played a show with him in the UK. He did an indiegogo to fund the release of this album. More British Folk, with a bit of Smiths thrown in for good measure.

Jack White – Blunderbuss – A release that is probably on a lot of lists for 2012. Jack White proves he doesn’t need Meg. This album is better than any single album The White Stripes ever put out, though not better than some of the high points in The White Stripes output. But really damn good.

The Surf Zombies – Lust for Rust – Local guitar hero Brook Hoover returns with the third surf instrumental album as The Surf Zombies. This time be brings in a couple of bratty punks resulting in the edgiest Zombies album to date. I reviewed the release for Little Village.

Har-di-Har – word(s) of whim/Feudal Kind EP’s – Husband and wife band from Cedar Falls, IA manages to create some really amazing Choral Vocals layered on spare instrumentals. I reviewed for the January 2013 issue of Little Village coming up. A surprise Dark Horse addition to this list. Recommended if you like Renaissance, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, and Trip Shakespeare.

Gold Motel – Gold Motel – Greta Morgan and band returned with a 2nd slice of sunny pop goodness. Saw them play in a barn in Maquoketa a couple of years ago and still carry a pretty big torch for this band. They did a really great Daytrotter session in 2011.

Gary Clark Jr – Blak and Blu – It seems like this debut release has been coming for a long time. We’ve been hearing live performances for a while anyway. Brilliant album, though some might argue that it doesn’t stay in one style for very long– is it a straight up blues album or is it an R&B album? He did an amazing Daytrotter session that I had the opportunity to hear streaming live while they taped it.

Dynoride – What You Wanted – Quad Cities band brings the sound of the 90’s best noisy energetic punk. I’m not the only blogger who included this on their top list for 2012. I reviewed this for Little Village. It’s free stupid. Listen to it.

Cheyenne Marie Mize – We Don’t Need EP – I had the chance to see Cheyenne at the Mill in Iowa City a few years ago when she was touring for Before Lately. She did a few songs at that show which showed up on this EP. This was a release I was looking forward to.  Check out her two Daytrotter sessions here and here.

Solid Gold – Eat Your Young – After I heard Solid Gold at the Gayngs Affiliyated showcase, I was really looking forward to hearing the next album from them. It took them a couple of years to get this release out the door, but what a release it is! Solid Gold still holds on to their 80’s New Wave roots (think later Talk Talk), but I think that the time spent in Gayngs may have helped refine their art, as Eat Your Young is the most consistent release to date. I look for them to get snagged by a larger label.

Polica – Give You The Ghost – This was on my releases I was looking forward to, but it was kind of a cheat since the band pre-released this album in December of last year. Another band related to Gayngs. Ryan Olson has the Midas touch, I think. Polica moved from his label to Mom+Pop this year and they opened for Bon Iver’s big show in NYC before I got to see them in Dubuque. They played new songs at that show, so I’m hopeful for another album! Check out Polica’s Daytrotter session here.

Calexico – Algiers – With the breakdown of Quarterstick records, I was afraid of the fate of Calexico. Fortunately, they have been picked up by Anti- Records and the band recorded in the flood zone of post Hurricane New Orleans (“Algiers” is a section of the city). Great record– lots of diehard fans are bitching because the album is closer to Garden Ruin than Hot Rail.

Jeff Parker Trio – Bright Light in Winter – On my releases I’m looking forward to. The main guitarist from Tortoise returns for his third-ish solo album on the mighty Jazz and Blues label Delmark Records from Chicago.  This one spent a lot of time in rotation. Jeff’s a busy guy between all of the projects he participates, in so it’s cool that he returned to his own. I could listen to album opener “Mainz” on repeat forever.

Hiss Golden Messenger – Lord I Love The Rain – I mentioned this in the releases I was looking forward to for 2012. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I already heard parts of this release. MC Taylor decided to rejigger the “bonus” LP of outtakes that came with the preorders of Poor Moon called Lord I Love The Rain. He removed a track and added some and resequenced to make Lord I Love The Rain an album that could stand on its own. Check out the Hiss Golden Messenger Daytrotter session here.

The Sea and Cake – Runner – With the four-year gap between One Bedroom and Everybody, I’m always a bit nervous that The Sea and Cake will disappear again. But, since 2007, The Sea and Cake have enjoyed a very fruitful and creative period releasing four albums and one split single in five years. A really great follow up to Moonlight Butterfly— in fact they kind of act as bookends to each other. Check out their Daytrotter session here.

Kopecky Family Band – Kids Raising Kids – The debut album for Nashville chamber-pop band Kopecky Family Band follows two really great EP’s. The band has enjoyed a lot of critical praise and some big festival appearances at SXSW and Bonnaroo. Though this album was released in 2012, It looks like 2013 is when it will get some real traction and buzz. Check the Kopecky Family Daytrotter session here.

Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet – Stellar Pulsations – Mazurek is back with a new release on Delmark with a kind of expanded version of his Starlicker lineup. Nice, kind of subdued album (for Mazurek anyway) really focuses on his playing more than any of his other releases. I love “Magic Saturn”– sounds like a modern Jazz classic to me.

Various Artists – Iowa City Song Project – Compilation of Iowa City artists commissioned by the Englert who was celebrating 100 years ( and, to an extent, The Mill which was celebrating its 50th). Bo Ramsey, Pieta Brown, Greg Brown, Sam Locke Ward, Brooks Strauss, Milk and Eggs, Dave Zollo, Emporer’s Club, and many, many more all lay down tracks inspired by Iowa City. I reviewed the album for Little Village.

Stay tuned for my list of releases I’m looking forward to in 2013!

It Feels Like the Third Time Again as Freakwater Reunites for a 20th Anniversary Tour

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Freakwater

2012 was a year marked with vinyl re-releases from the seminal Thrill Jockey catalog in celebration of 20 years– Tortoise, Sea and Cake, Fiery Furnaces, Califone. In among the releases was a a reissue of a record that many consider to be the beginnings of what we know to be the Americana movement today– Feels Like the Third Time by Freakwater. Thrill Jockey reissued Freakwater’s 1993 third album (and first for the label) on Record Store Day and in 2013 it celebrates its 20th anniversary.

In celebration of this landmark occasion, Janet Beveridge Bean, Catherine Irwin and Dave Gay will be doing a whirlwind tour of shows. Joining them will be James Elkington of The Zincs and Horses Ha (that he is in with Bean). Regarding this tour in support of a 20 year old album Bean said, “We have found a lot of our fans were having babies round the time the record came out and those babies were forced to listen to Freakwater more than any baby should. It turns out those babies, now the record buying public, have some sort of DNA thing going where they gotta hear the Freakwater. So really we’re doing this for the kids.”

It seems that everyone is talking about this upcoming “reunion” tour of Fleetwood Mac (why is it a reunion tour?? Didn’t they just tour?), but the real reunion tour to catch in 2013 is Freakwater. Oh, and bring your kids.

FREAKWATER TOUR DATES 2013
FEELS LIKE THE THIRD TIME 20th ANNIVERSARY TOUR
January 11 The Ninth Ward, Buffalo NY
January 12 The Haunt, Ithaca NY
January 13 Johnny D’s, Somerville MA
January 14 Narrows Center for the Arts, Falls River MA
January 15 The Bell House, Brooklyn NY
January 16 DC9 Washington DC
January 17 Club Cafe, Pittsburgh PA
January 18 Beachland Tavern, Cleveland OH
January 19 Stuart’s Opera House, Nelsonville OH
January 21 The Hideout, Chicago IL
January 23 Private House Party
January 24 Headliners, Louisville KY
Freakwater Fan Page
Freakwater Facebook Page (the real one– you should really click “Like”)
Freakwater Thrill Jockey Page

 

Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell Vinyl Release on Mobile Fidelity in 2013

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Paging through the gorgeous Music Direct Catalog for 2013, I was taken aback by the appearance of the Ryan Adams album Love Is Hell on the Mobile Fidelity Labs “Silver Label” release section.

Love Is Hell is one of many chapters in the story of Adams’s dealings with his record label. Adams had recorded this Smiths-y follow up to Gold and turned it in to Lost Highway, who decided that it wasn’t commercial enough and sent him back to the studio where he cranked out the Strokes-influenced Rock N Roll in two weeks. Lost Highway agreed to release Love Is Hell in the form of two CD’s and a very rare 2 10″ records version. Eventually, Lost Highway created a full-length CD version encapsulating the two EP’s and adding a bonus track (an unedited version of “Anybody Wanna Take Me Home” which ended up on Rock N Roll with a fade out and in).

These days, copies of the original 2 10″ record version of Love Is Hell goes for many hundreds of dollars, and if you are a collector of Ryan Adams on vinyl (as I am), the omission of this release in your collection is a painful one. We had a glimmer of hope back in 2011, when Lost Highway announced as part of their 10th Anniversary that they were doing some special vinyl releases— some of which hadn’t been available on vinyl before. In the initial announcement, Lost Highway listed a 2 LP Gold (which restored the “side 4” tracks making it the original vision of Adams) as well as Love Is Hell, Rock N Roll and Whiskeytown’s Pneumonia among other releases. Of these releases, only the 2 LP Gold saw the light of day from the Ryan-related releases. As you can see from the first link in this paragraph, only Gold is listed in the Anniversary releases. No reason was given as to why Lost Highway pulled the others, but I think it might be the very public dismissal of any vinyl releases on Lost Highway by Adams– he is kind of a purist when it comes to vinyl, and none of the vinyl releases have been mastered from analog.

That’s why I was so shocked to see Love Is Hell in the Music Direct catalog, with the Silver Label strip emblazoned across the cover. MoFi’s Silver Label line is apparently their discount line. In the catalog, they say, “Pressed on standard-weight audiophile-quality vinyl at RTI”– so this means it isn’t 180g. The other question is what the release comprises. The catalog mentions that the release used to be two EP’s suggesting that they are rolling the two releases together. Wikipedia lists the running time of the 1 CD version as being 68:01. That would make this release at least 2 LP’s.

At this time, Mobile Fidelity is not listing the release on their website, so this catalog is the only reference to this release. There is a thread over in the Kevin Hoffman forums about the titles announced in this catalog that I’ve contributed to and I’ll keep an eye on. If any other information develops about the release, I’ll update this article.

11/21 Update: I received a response from MoFi on their Facebook account, and the provided the tracklist and some other details! This release will be three LPs, with the third LP made up of the Japanese bonus tracks! They don’t have a release date, yet. But, what an amazing compilation! I’d love to see a Mobile Fidelity release of Rock N Roll with all of the import B-Sides.

Mofi 3-040
Ryan Adams / Love Is Hell

SIDE A
Political Scientist – 4:33
Afraid Not Scared – 4:13
This House Is Not for Sale – 3:53
Anybody Wanna Take Me Home – 5:31
Love Is Hell – 3:19

SIDE B
Wonderwall – 4:09
The Shadowlands – 5:18
World War 24 – 4:17
Avalanche – 5:09

SIDE C
My Blue Manhattan – 2:23
Please Do Not Let Me Go – 3:37
City Rain, City Streets – 3:49
I See Monsters – 3:57

SIDE D
English Girls Approximately – 5:42
Thank You – 2:52
Hotel Chelsea Nights – 5:10

SIDE E
17 Halloween – 3:52
18 Caterwaul – 5:42
19 Fuck the Universe – 7:29

SIDE F
20 Twice As Bad As Love – 4:15
21 Father’s Son – 3:37
22 Gimme Sunshine – 3:55
23 Black Clouds – 4:48

Music Direct has the release listed on their site with date TBA, but lists the price as $64.99.

Power Pop Descends Upon CSPS in the Form of Chicago Rocker Dick Prall

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Well, it’s been a pretty great week for acts at CSPS! The Duncan Sheik show on Thursday night was pretty damn amazing, and I found a couple of acts I want to keep an eye on– that new Alpha Rev album coming out next year will be one that I’m looking forward to.

Tonight the big stage at CSPS will be graced by Dick Prall who used to live in Iowa, but now crafts his Brit Pop-influenced Midwestern Rock from the Windy City. He’s put out a solid run of pop rock masterpieces since his first release Somewhere About Here in 1998.

This year he is kicking off a new project that is a little different than his standard album releases. He is working with Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense to release a series of digital singles which will culminate in a full release with bonus material next year. In an e-mail exchange with Prall he said, “We’re trying a different methodology this time around to hopefully keep folks interested and engaged on a monthly basis – that’s the theory, anyway. All the songs are being done with Pat Sansone, who digs the idea, so I’m in good company.”

If the first single “Wanted Blue” is any indication, it will be one for the “Best of” list for 2013! Prall also said that they are considering vinyl for this release! Listen for yourself and download:

Dick is bringing a band with him tonight that he describes as “drums, bass, violin, & hollow-bodied guitar put together in a sort of laid-back Buddy Holly & the Crickets meets Elvis Costello backed by Spoon sort of way.” Sounds like my kind of lineup!

The show is at 8PM at CSPS, and tickets are $17 in advance and $21 at the door. The opener is Stolen Silver. Details at the LegionArts.org site.

Listen to Dick Prall’s acoustic session on Daytrotter.com (it’s a free trial if you don’t have a subscription)

Here are upcoming shows (from dickprall.com)