Best of 2011 (so far)

Been awhile. Here's the latest. No particular order.

1. Romance -Wild Flag (from the album Wild Flag)
2. Wake And Be Fine -Okkervil River (from the album I Am Very Far)
3. Helplessness Blues -Fleet Foxes (from the album Helplessness Blues)
4. Never Quite Free -The Mountain Goats (from the album All Eternals Deck)
5. So American -Portugal. The Man (from the album In The Mountain In The Cloud)
6. Towers -Bon Iver (from the album Bon Iver)
7. Unluck -James Blake (from the album James Blake)
8. Cruel -St. Vincent (from the album Strange Mercy)
9. Chinatown -Destroyer (from the album Kaputt)
10. Little By Little -Radiohead (from the album The King of Limbs)
11. Vocal Chords -Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (from the album It's A Corporate World)
12. Heart In Your Heartbreak -The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (from the album Belong)
13. Honey Bunny -Girls (from the album Father, Son, Holy Ghost)
14. Chapel Song -We Are Augustines (from the album Rise Ye Sunken Ships)
15. Sweet Louise -The Belle Brigade (from the album The Belle Brigade)
16. Bronx Sniper -Mister Heavenly (from the album Out of Love)
17. Hockey Teeth -Bahamas (from the album Pink Strat)
18. Free's -Bill Callahan (from the album Apocalypse)
19. Illuminine -Thurston Moore (from the album Demolished Thoughts)
20. Level With Yourself -David Bazan (from the album Strange Negotiations)
21. The Honest Truth -Typhoon (from the album A New Kind of House)
22. Don't Carry It All -The Decemberists (from the album The King Is Dead)

Immanuel

So...this inspired this:

1. Come Immanuel -Twila Paris
2. All Creatures of Our God and King -Patty Griffin
3. Hail To The Lord's Anointed -The Welcome Wagon
4. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing -Sufjan Stevens
5. I Repent -Barry & Michelle
6. Intro to 'I Repent' -Derek Webb
7. I Repent -Derek Webb
8. Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Weary -Fernando Ortega
9. Amazing Grace -Sufjan Stevens
10. Recovering Pharisee -Del McCoury
11. Blood of the Lamb -Wilco
12. Step By Step -Rich Mullins
13. Just A Closer Walk With Thee -Damien Jurado
14. Be Thou My Vision -Pedro the Lion
15. Nearer My God To Thee -Mississippi John Hurt
16. Help Me -Johnny Cash
17. I'll Be Glad -Bonnie Prince Billy
18. He Never Said -Martyn Joseph
19. Yahweh -U2
20. Take To The World -Derek Webb

Best of 2011 (so far): The Mix

In no particular order, excepting what makes for a good mix:

Don't Carry It All -The Decemberists (from the album The King Is Dead)

Helplessness Blues -Fleet Foxes (from the album Helplessness Blues)

Our Hearts Are Wrong -Jessica Lea Mayfield (from the album Tell Me)

We Need A Myth -Okkervil River (from the album I Am Very Far)

Baby's Arms -Kurt Vile (from the album Smoke Ring For My Halo)

Drover -Bill Callahan (from the album Apocalypse)

Age of Kings -The Mountain Goats (from the album All Eternals Deck)

January -Thurston Moore (from the album Demolished Thoughts)

Eating Paper -David Bazan (from the album Strange Negotiations)

Little By Little -Radiohead (from the album The King of Limbs)

Parenthesis -The Antlers (from the album Burst Apart)

The Wilhelm Scream -James Blake (from the album James Blake)

Calgary -Bon Iver (from the album Bon Iver)

Kaputt -Destroyer (from the album Kaputt)

Make Some Noise -Beastie Boys (from the album Hot Sauce Committee Part 2)

Heart In Your Heartbreak -The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (from the album Belong)

Do You Believe In Destiny? -The Fresh & Onlys (from the album Secret Walls)

Chapel Song -We Are Augustines (from the album Rise Ye Sunken Ships) 

Best of 2011 (so far): The Mix

In no particular order, except what makes for a good mix:

1. Eating Paper -David Bazan (from the album Strange Negotiations)
2. We Need A Myth -Okkervil River (from the album I Am Very Far)
3. Helplessness Blues -Fleet Foxes (from the album Helplessness Blues)
4. Our Hearts Are Wrong -Jessica Lea Mayfield (from the album Tell Me)
5. Every Part of Me -Steve Earle (from the album I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive)
6. Drover -Bill Callahan (from the album Apocalypse)
7. Age of Kings -The Mountain Goats (from the album All Eternals Deck)
8. January -Thurston Moore (from the album Demolished Thoughts)
9. Baby's Arms -Kurt Vile (from the album Smoke Ring For My Halo)
10. Calgary -Bon Iver (from the album Bon Iver)
11. The Wilhelm Scream -James Blake (from the album James Blake)
12. Parenthesis -The Antlers (from the album Burst Apart)
13. Kaputt -Destroyer (from the album Kaputt)
14. Little By Little -Radiohead (from the album The King of Limbs)
15. Make Some Noise -Beastie Boys (from the album Hot Sauce Committee Part 2)
16. Heart In Your Heartbreak -The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (from the album Belong)
17. Do You Believe In Destiny? -The Fresh & Onlys (from the album Secret Walls)
18. Pushing Onlys -Woods (from the album Sun and Shade)
19. Chapel Song -We Are Augustines (from the album Rise Ye Sunken Ships) 

Close To Me

Can't stop listening to The Cure this week. You're welcome.

Rise Ye Sunken Ships

Yet More Best of 2011 (so far)

Digging the new Dawes





And the new Woods





And, if you haven't discovered Cults yet, you should

I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive

(Song)Writer and recording artist Steve Earle stopped by BookPeople this week. Yours truly got a chance to interview him. A real gentleman and a heck of a nice guy.

Even More Best of 2011 (so far)

Steve Earle puts out his best album in over a decade and the Beastie Boys their best in close to 20 years.

More Best of 2011 (so far)

As I continue to discover great stuff from 2011 that looks to make this years "best of" list:

The Fresh & Onlys

If you haven't heard The Fresh & Onlys, you absolutely should. They have this fuzzy throwback feel that a lot of bands are going for and few quite capture. Their recent EP, Secret Walls, is a bit of a departure, but in a good way, in the way that shows that this band is still growing, still becoming. Here's my mix of favorites from what they've been/become so far:

1. Love & Kindness -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
2. Invisible Forces -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
3. I'm All Shook Up -from the album Play It Strange
4. Imaginary Friends -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
5. No Second Guessing -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
6. Waterfall -from the album Play It Strange
7. Feelings In My Heart -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
8. Grey-Eyed Girl -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
9. Tropical Island Suite -from the album Play It Strange
10. Endless Love -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
11. Dude's Got A Tender Heart -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
12. Who Needs A Man? -from the album Play It Strange
13. On The Verge -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
14. What's His Shadow Still Doing Here? -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
15. Summer of Love -from the album Play It Strange
16. I Saw Him -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
17. I'm Gonna Be Your Elevator -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
18. I'm A Thief -from the album Play It Strange
19. Let's Hang -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
20. Do You Believe In Destiny? -from the album Secret Walls
21. Clowns (Took My Baby Away) -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
22. Be My Hooker -from the album Play It Strange
23. Arm's Advice -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
24. Wash Over Us -from the album Secret Walls
25. D.Y. -from the album Grey-Eyed Girl
26. Shattered Moon -from the album The Fresh & Onlys
27. Poison Wine -from the album Secret Walls

Bill Callahan

Bill Callahan's Apocalypse is out in stores and is his best work since going solo. As with David Bazan (see previous post) I have already edited my Callahan mix to include tracks from this newest release. 

1. Jim Cain -from the Bill Callahan album Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
2. In The Pines -from the Smog album A River Ain't Too Much To Love
3. Riding For The Feeling -from the Bill Callahan album Apocalypse
4. Hit The Ground Running -from the Smog album Knock Knock
5. Easily Led -from the Smog album Dongs of Sevotion
6. Rococo Zephyr -from Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
7. I Feel Like The Mother of The World -from A River Ain't Too Much To Love
8. Baby's Breath -from Apocalypse
9. Cold Blooded Old Times -from Knock Knock
10. Dress Sexy At My Funeral -from Dongs of Sevotion
11. Too Many Birds -from Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
12. Rock Bottom Riser -from A River Ain't Too Much To Love
13. Drover -from Apocalypse
14. Held -from Knock Knock
15. Strayed -from Dongs of Sevotion

David Bazan

Received the pre-release download of the new David Bazan album Strange Negotiations yesterday. Solid stuff on it. Make sure to pick it up in May.


Have already added some tracks from it to my ever-evolving Bazan favorites mix. Here it is, in its current incarnation:

1. Options -from the Pedro the Lion album Control
2. Bands With Managers -from the Pedro the Lion album Achilles Heel
3. The Longer I Lay Here -from the Pedro the Lion album It's Hard To Find A Friend
4. Slow and Steady Wins the Race -from the Pedro the Lion album Winners Never Quit
5. Letter From A Concerned Follower -from the Pedro the Lion album The Only Reason I Feel Secure
6. Future Past -from the David Bazan album Strange Negotiations
7. Selling Advertising -from the David Bazan album Fewer Moving Parts
8. Please, Baby, Please -from the David Bazan album Curse Your Branches
9. Transcontinental -from Achilles Heel
10. Indian Summer -from Control
11. How I Remember -from Selling Advertising
12. Never Leave A Job Half Done -from Winners Never Quit
13. Curse Your Branches -from Curse Your Branches
14. When They Really Get To Know You They Will Run -from It's Hard To Find A Friend
15. Be Thou My Vision -from The Only Reason I Feel Secure
16. People -from Strange Negotiations
17. A Simple Plan -from Achilles Heel
18. Eating Paper -from Strange Negotiations
19. Lost My Shape -from Curse Your Branches
20. Progress -from Control
21. Bad Things To Such Good People -from Winners Never Quit
22. Fewer Broken Pieces -from Fewer Moving Parts
23. Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives -from It's Hard To Find A Friend
24. Big Trucks -from The Only Reason I Feel Secure
25. Hard Times -from the collection "Come O Spirit!" Anthology of Hymns and Spiritual Songs

The Best of 2011 (so far) and Forgetting Delbert McClinton

Sorry to have neglected this blog. Lots been going on. Lots I've been listening to. Just not a lot of blog posting.

There's been some great stuff come out in 2011. Here are some of my favorites:

Oh, and I also participated in a music trivia contest this past Monday in which I blew an answer to a question I should have known. The answer was Delbert McClinton. He's not one to forget. I never will again.

The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology: The 80's (cont.)

Finished reading the 80's section of the ACMA and moving on to the 90's. But, before I do...

The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology: The 80's

Reading through the 80's portion of the recently published Austin Chronicle Music Anthology and enjoying it immensely. To call it a time capsule would be deceiving, since time capsules are full of dusty artifacts, decades disconnected from the here and now. To say it's like reminiscences from older cousins is closer, although that still carries with it the inevitable downsides associated with nostalgia. This is more like a trip back in time, and, for those of us non-native Austinites who weren't there when but wish we'd been, it's just the thing. Favorite quote from a review or interview, thus far, is from Alejandro Escovedo; "There's a lot of people who carry on the tradition, but not the tradition of change."

Here are some of the bands that have served as the soundtrack:

Happy Birthday, Johnny

Listening to a lot of Johnny Cash today, on what would have been his 79th birthday.

What Harry's Listening To

Every now and then, Harry will get the notion to make a mix of new favorites of his. He made 2 or 3 in 2010 and wore them out, but is also attentive to what Rachel and I are listening to and will ask about songs that stand out for him, who the band is, etc. Months ago, he heard "Istanbul, Not Constantinople" and suddenly couldn't get enough of They Might Be Giants. They have since become his new favorite band (knocking longtime contenders, the Beach Boys, into 2nd place) and featured heavily on the mix he's been compiling this week and completed today. So, I've been listening to what Harry's listening to. It's not half bad. Here's the tracklist:

1. Number Three -They Might Be Giants
2. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) -They Might Be Giants
3. Allegro Con Brio (from Beethoven's 5th Symphony) -Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra
4. Video Killed The Radio Star -The Buggles
5. Call Me -Blondie
6. Dinner Bell -They Might Be Giants
7. Barbara Ann -The Beach Boys
8. That's Right (You're Not From Texas) -Lyle Lovett
9. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' -Michael Jackson
10. Hotel Yorba -The White Stripes
11. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart) -Vienna Chamber Orchestra
12. They'll Need A Crane -They Might Be Giants
13. Particle Man -They Might Be Giants
14. Tutti Frutti -Little Richard
15. (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock -Bill Haley & The Comets
16. Such Great Heights -Iron & Wine
17. Boss of Me (Theme from Malcolm In The Middle) -They Might Be Giants
18. Fake Believe -They Might Be Giants
19. We Want A Rock -They Might Be Giants
20. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On -Jerry Lee Lewis
21. Birdhouse In Your Soul -They Might Be Giants
22. She's An Angel -They Might Be Giants
23. Whistling In The Dark -They Might Be Giants
24. Letterbox -They Might Be Giants
25. They Might Be Giants -They Might Be Giants

1986

Mix cd project that I'm a part of has different compilers working on tracks off albums from various years. My assignment is 1986. Which means that I've been listening to a lot of music from 1986. Which has turned out to be a surprisingly good experience. Here's my mix:

1. Kiss -Prince (from the album Parade)
2. The New Style -Beastie Boys (from the album License To Ill)
3. Don't Dream It's Over -Crowded House (from the album Crowded House)
4. In Your Eyes -Peter Gabriel (from the album So)
5. Lives In The Balance -Jackson Browne (from the album Lives In The Balance)
6. Brilliant Mistake -Elvis Costello (from the album King of America)
7. Wild Wild Life -Talking Heads (from the album True Stories)
8. She's An Angel -They Might Be Giants (from the album They Might Be Giants)
9. Begin The Begin -R.E.M. (from the album Life's Rich Pageant)
10. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out -The Smiths (from the album The Queen Is Dead)
11. Back In The High Life Again -Steve Winwood (from the album Back In The High Life)
12. The Way It Is -Bruce Hornsby & the Range (from the album The Way It Is)
13. Guitar Town -Steve Earle (from the album Guitar Town)
14. Graceland -Paul Simon (from the album Graceland)
15. Stuck With You -Huey Lewis & the News (from the album Fore!)
16. Danger Zone -Kenny Loggins (from the Top Gun soundtrack album)
17. Livin' On A Prayer -Bon Jovi (from the album Slippery When Wet)
18. It's Tricky -Run-D.M.C. (from the album Raising Hell)
19. Walk Like An Egyptian -The Bangles (from the album Different Light)

1986 marks the year when I really started buying my own tapes and listening to something besides my parents' music. That makes my memories of the music of '86 particularly sharp and meaningful. In some ways, my parents' influence on my musical taste was evident (Graceland/The Way It Is) in others we were in very vocal disagreement (Raising Hell/The Queen Is Dead). It has been a lot of fun to take this look back and to remember...

Neil Young

Listening to a lot of Neil this week as well. Especially this album:

Okkervil River

Made my sister, Sarah, an Okkervil River mix this week. Here's the track listing:

1. Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe (from the album The Stage Names)
2. A Hand To Take Hold of The Scene (from the album The Stage Names)
3. Pop Lie (from the album The Stand Ins)
4. Lost Coastlines (from the album The Stand Ins)
5. Red (from the album Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See)
6. Black Sheep Boy (from the album Black Sheep Boy)
7. For Real (from the album Black Sheep Boy)
8. It Ends With A Fall (from the album Down The River of Golden Dreams)
9. You're United Again (from the album Sleep and Wake-up Songs)
10. Plus Ones (from the album The Stage Names)
11. Blue Tulip (from the album The Stand Ins)
12. Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas (from the album Don't Fall In Love...)
13. Westfall (from the album Don't Fall In Love...) 
14. The Latest Toughs (from the album Black Sheep Boy)
15. The War Criminal Rises and Speaks (from the album Down The River...)
16. The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion (from the album Down The River...)
17. No Hidden Track (from the album Sleep and Wake-up Songs)

And here's the video for track 7

Will Oldham

Will Oldham came to my register in the bookstore today. So, I'm reminded of how great this is.

Charles Bradley

Fan.tastic.

Nothing Painted Blue

Listening to a lot of Nothing Painted Blue. With so many bad bands in the 90's, how were so few people paying attention to this great one?