Archive for the ‘ music ’ Category

on the stereo lately

people keep emailing and asking me what i’ve been listening to lately (this is a flat out lie – no one has emailed me).  here’s what’s been on constant rotation the past few weeks:

jimjames copy

jim james regions of light and sound of god: the my morning jacket frontman can do no wrong in my eyes.  he gets better (and weirder) with age.  check out “state of the art (a.e.i.o.u.)” and “a new life.”

wildcubyouth

wild cub youth: wild cub is making some of the coolest music coming out of nashville right now (and no, it’s not country).  youth came out last fall, but recently it’s been picking up a lot of traction.  they played rebecca minkoff’s runway show during new york fashion week and have been selling out west coast tour dates.  i would recommend jumping on the bandwagon now, because they’re going to be everywhere in a few months.  check out “thunder clatter” and “colour.”

bonus selection:

Emerson Brothers

donnie and joe emerson’s song “baby”: you’re going to need to go ahead and get over the cover art.  trust me, i thought it was a joke too, but it’s not.  there’s a cool story behind this album (click here to read the la times piece on it).  the only track i own is “baby.”  i couldn’t tell you if the rest of the album is good and honestly i don’t care.  ”baby” is my jam and it should be one of yours too.

 

classic christmas album covers

01deanmartinxmas copy

i don’t know about you, but i’m trying to get in the christmas spirit around here. usually i wait until the week of to start listening to christmas music and hanging lights and buying presents, but not this year. this year i’m starting early. (i’m actually listening to dean martin’s winter romance as i type this post.) rather than post a link to a mix you’ll never listen to on spotify, i thought it’d be fun to check out the cover art of some of my all time favorite christmas albums. kids these days ain’t doing it right. click read more for the rest of the list.

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new york, new york

i grew up listening to my dad tell the story of where he was when jfk was shot.  he was in his high school locker room getting ready to go play basketball.  he can remember every detail.  i used to wonder if there would be an event in my lifetime that would shake me the same way jfk’s assassination shook our parents generation.  september 11, 2001 is that event.  i’m not going to bore you with the details of what i was doing when i heard the news or what i did the rest of day.  i will tell you that i remember seeing this video a week or two after the towers fell, and every year on this day i watch it.  it’s an eerie feeling to know it was filmed 4 days before the attacks.  i realize the song is about a breakup, but i like listening to it as a tribute to the most resilient city in the world.  we’ll never forget.  “hell, i still love you, new york.”

current listening: michael kiwanuka

there’s a lot of good new music out right now (e.g. frank ocean, gaslight anthem, dirty projectors), but i can’t turn off michael kiwanuka’s debut album home again.  kiwanuka cut his teeth as a london based session player before stepping out as a solo artist late last year.  home again is a stripped down, raw record of throwback 60′s / 70′s soul.  i tend to stay away from records you can buy at the starbucks counter, but kiwanuka is special.  be sure to check out “tell me a tale”, “i’m getting ready,” and the dan auerbach collaboration “lasan.”

wouldn’t it be nice

the beach boys pet sounds is arguably the greatest album of all time (it’s #2 on rolling stone’s list).  “wouldn’t it be nice” kicks off pet sounds and is one of my favorite summer jams.  i hadn’t seen the video until yesterday.  i was surprised not to see any females in bikinis in the video, but then remembered this was 1966.  

pet sounds was predominately a brian wilson album with the rest of the beach boys only filling in vocals here and there.  wilson obsessed over every detail trying to top the beatles’ rubber soul.  when he presented it to the label, they told him they weren’t going to release it.  good thing for us it was released the way brian intended it to sound and has since become a classic.

here are a few photographs of brian wilson and the beach boys recording pet sounds.  there’s also a couple of outtakes from the album cover shoot.  notice wilson’s black watch plaid pants in the last photo.  i need to find some of those.

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early takes: volume 1

you may have noticed i haven’t been posting a lot lately.  without getting into too much detail, let me just say that the last two months have been a complete whirlwind for me.  i’ve been emotionally drained and had little to no energy to focus on anything besides work.  i hate to be vague, but i don’t think anyone comes to this blog to hear about my feelings.

one of the things that’s helped me get through this difficult time is music.  at the beginning of may, a collection of george harrison demos called early takes: volume 1 was released.  i tend to be skeptical of most demos, but i heard the stripped down version of “all things must pass” on some music blog and ended up downloading the whole album (which unfortunately is just 10 songs).  it’s phenomenal and all i’ve listed to for the past month.  if you’re a song at a time kind of a person, be sure to download “all things must pass”, “mama you’ve been on my mind”, “awaiting on you all”, and “run of the mill.”  actually, just download the whole damn thing.  it’s 10 bucks.  you can afford it.

new tune tuesday with jack white

there was a point in my life when jack white could do no wrong.  he reached “genius” level after 2003′s elephant, but then out of nowhere the white stripes broke up.  i assured myself that everything was going to be ok, because white was the driving force behind that band.  shortly after the break up, white moved to nashville and formed the raconteurs with indie favorite brendan benson.  the album came out and didn’t meet expectations.  don’t get me wrong, it was decent, but not stripes caliber.  after the raconteurs, white formed the dead weather with the lady from the kills.  the music was solid, but lyrics and vocals weren’t enough to fill the void left by the white stripes.  in my opinion, jack’s problem was trying to showcase the talent around him instead of his own.

good news: he’s back.  white’s first solo album blunderbuss was released today and it’s a throwback to the white stripes days of old with heavier piano and a few nashville instruments thrown in the mix (fiddle, mandolin, steel pedal).  i’m one spin down and really diggin’ it so far.  one of my friends nailed the description: “it’s not as raw as the stripes, but not as polished as the raconteurs.”  i couldn’t agree more.  it’s good to have jack back at the center of the music.

also released today: ryan adams itunes session.  he plays a whiskeytown song.  seriously.

dan auerbach inspired spring style

i have a bit of a dude crush on dan auerbach of the black keys.  we share the same affinity for red wing boots, nashville eateries, and good denim.  oh, and he makes kick ass music.  if i were rock star, i would treat my style the same way dan does: “the shit that i put on when i wake up every day is the shit that i wear on stage.”  with that said, i’ve put together an auerbach inspired kit for the spring.  i guess it’s time to add some short sleeve snap button western shirts to my arsenal.  after all, i do live in the snap button western shirt capital of the world.

levi’s short sleeve western shirt

gant rugger jean jacket

imogene + willie barton rigid jeans

oliver peoples sunglasses

frye emmett inside zip boots

born in the usa / bruce springsteen kit

bruce springsteen’s 17th album wrecking ball is out today.  i’ve heard a few tracks from it.  it sounds like vintage bruce.  i’m excited to give it a spin this morning.  springsteen occupied the jimmy fallon show last week by playing a couple of new tunes and dressing up like born in the usa bruce (you can check that out here).  i can’t say that born in the usa is my favorite boss album, but it’s hard to argue with the all-american style of it’s iconic cover.  here’s a tiny tribute to it in the form of a kit: 

j. crew broken-in pocket tee – you can save a lot of laundry detergent by buying an already broken-in t-shirt.

red yankees hat – that’s a red baseball hat in bruce’s pocket and not a bandana.  it was given to him by his buddy lance larson.  bruce put it his back pocket as a tribute to larson’s late father.

levi’s shrink to fit 501 jeans – fact: levi’s sales went through the roof after this album came out.

braided belt – i would not recommend a bedazzled belt like bruce is wearing on the cover.

frye engineer boots – the boss wears fryes.  who knew.  who also knew that frye is one of the world’s oldest bootmakers.  not me.

fender telecaster – i have a tele.  i f**king love it.

 

“i’m a long gone daddy in the usa.”

new tune tuesday: sleigh bells reign of terror

sleigh bells second album reign of terror is out today.  if you caught them on snl this past weekend, then you were greeted with a whole lot of noise.  it wasn’t the best performance i’ve ever heard, but that didn’t stop me from downloading the new album.  it’s exactly what you’d expect from the noise rockers: the guitars are turned up loud and the hand claps never seem to stop (which is not a bad thing).  i’m really diggin’ it.  i also love the album cover which i hope is a subtle shout out to the ramones (they wore keds).  bonus: be sure to check out their recent gq photo spread here (i’m a big fan of the levi’s trucker jacket).

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