I am currently working on compiling a new mix CD for an additional RMAS Mix CD Project that I am participating in. Since I never posted last years CD notes I thought I might as well publish it here as I have decided to keep this blog updated.
2007 RMAS Mix CD - Final Cut
Creating compilation CD’s are always hard, almost as hard as creating a ‘best of’ list. What songs to include often depend on how the tracks flow from one to the next. Choosing artists is only half the battle, and often it is just easier to omit a group than decide which one of their tracks to include. Take The Beatles for example. Choosing one song out of their amazing catalog to include here was too difficult to even try, as so many of them could fit, and choosing one would must make me question why it was chosen over others. So, I consulted a dynamic list I have been keeping lately and picked songs from there to include, putting them in an order I believe flows very nicely. I am sure you have heard most of these songs before, but not in the same context that I am submitting to you. I hope you enjoy this collection. While some of these would be included on an all time favorite list (if I ever had the guts to try to create one), there are plenty of others that would not, but just fit in with the flow of the music. I hope you enjoy it and welcome any and all comments, positive or negative.
Colorful – The Verve Pipe, The Platinum & Gold Collection. The first time I heard this song was when I saw Mark Wahlberg ‘sing’ it with his non heavy metal band at the end of the movie Rock Star (which is a move I happen to like). The song immediately caught my attention but it took me a couple of years to take the time to identify the name of the song and who really performed it. There is something about the song, and quite possibly how it was used at the end of the movie, that caught my attention. With the slow start and gradual build-up, this is a song I wish I could write, and one of those songs that I love playing on the piano. The lyrics are meaningful as well, with the line “I know I can be colorful, I know I can be gray. But I know this losers living fortunate. Cause I know you will love me either way” showing us that none of us are perfect and that we are often lucky to find the love that we have.
Big Railroad Blues – Phil Lesh & Friends, NJPAC 11/22/05. I was very close to including a Grateful Dead song but really had a hard time making a final decision and coming up with a song that fit in perfectly. Most people think the Dead died with Jerry, but Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends have carried the torch nicely, and have even turned it up a few notches. This one will certainly make you take notice.
Let It Ride – Ryan Adams, Cold Roses. To me, Ryan Adams is one of the those artists that 20 years from now we are going to look at his amazing body of work and just say wow, as long as he doesn’t self-destruct before it occurs. There are so many songs of his I considered for the compilation and I kept on coming back to this standout from Cold Roses.
Suddenly I See – KT Tunstall, Eye Of The Telescope. One of my favorite releases of 2006 and one of my favorite new artists I have recently started to listen to. This woman is an amazing talent and this song showcases what she can do. If you haven’t picked this release up yet, I highly recommend it.
In State – Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me. The Tom Petty influence is key to this song, and that is a good thing. The guitars sing, and Benmont Tench’s organ creates a swelling undercurrent of sound as Edwards sings a warning to her man that he better straighten himself out or else, because she knows where the cops hang out and maybe some time in prison will change his mind.
Welcome To Struggleville – Edwin Mccain, Lost In America. Originally written and released in 1996 by the Vigilantes Of Love, Mccain takes this song up another level on his latest release. There is unbelievable guitar work here that is strong, yet does not overpower the very descriptive and poignant lyrics.
Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) – Wilco, Summerteeth. I just ‘discovered’ Wilco about 18 months ago. Since then I have seriously made up for lost time, and have been lucky enough to see them once in a small venue here in Jersey (Starland Ballroom). I wanted to include a Wilco song and there were a gazillion and a half songs of theirs that I considered for this compilation, including my favorite song of theirs Jesus, Etc. However, none of them fit musically and I wanted a bit of a poppy type song that will bridge the opening set of songs with what amounts to a bit of time travel back to some of rock’s roots with the songs that come next.
My Pledge Of Love – The Joe Jeffrey Group. Found on Beg, Scream & Shout, Disc 5. Catchy lyrics, soulful horns and an amazing rhythm section. Upbeat and catchy, the perfect song to follow the pop song that precedes it here.
The Monkey Time – Major Lance. Found on Beg, Scream & Shout, Disc 5. Bruce Springsteen included the first couple of lines of this song as an introduction to Mary’s Place during The Rising Tour. I had never heard of this song until then and when I finally stumbled upon it on this box set it quickly became a big favorite of mine. Too bad Springsteen didn’t sing the entire song, that would have been a lot of fun.
Ordinary Joe – Terry Callier – I recently stumbled upon this song when listening to the Mojo Chess Classics compilation that came with the August 2005 issue of Mojo Magazine. I still don’t know much about Callier but by Googling him I can see that he has had a long and well respected career. A lot of soul, with some folk thrown in. This song will make you sit up and take notice from the beginning.
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show – The Band, Rock Of Ages. There are so many songs that you can pick by The Band. However, this one from one of my favorite live albums of all time just had to be included on this compilation. This song was one of those from this set that include a five member horn section that absolutely rocks and brings out the soul and early rock sounds that influenced The Band. If you never heard this song before, this is your chance to sit up and take notice.
Rumble In Brighton – Brian Setzer Orchestra, Guitar Slinger. I wanted another song with a lot of horns in this slot, and this was the first song that came to my mind. It is a gutsy move to take a song from your original band, add some more ‘meat’ to it (in this case sensational swinging horns) and turn it up a few notches. Setzer does his and then some on this song and this is the perfect fit after the great horns of the previous song.
Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2, Zoo Europa, 8/28/93, Dublin Ireland. This is from my favorite and (I think) the best sounding bootleg from the Zoo TV tour. This is also one of my favorite U2 songs. When they went into the studio to record Achtung Baby, one of their goals was to re-discover their rhythm section, as the band felt that was a little lost with their previous studio release The Joshua Tree. Listening to Achtung Baby and the subsequent tour, you can hear that they more than re-discovered it, but brought it out with full force. Listen to how Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen sound like a well tuned factory running with reckless abandon and you can almost picture machines at work. And, even more importantly, about 2/3 of the way through the song listen to The Edge’s unbelievable slide guitar work.
I Am Mine – Pearl Jam, 7/9/03 Madison Square Garden Official Bootleg series release. Quite possibly my favorite Pearl Jam song. Starting off slowly, with an amazing build up, a great melody, and a sensational guitar solo at the end. This is a prefect song for this compilation.
Get That Girl – Joe Jackson, I’m The Man – Almost buried as the second to last track on Jackson’s second album, this track is often overlooked when compared to the ‘hits that came off of this album (On Your Radio, It’s Different For Girls). However, this is the track in which I think his band really shines as Jackson sings that if he is lucky he is going to get the girl at the club who has more in common with him than her boyfriend that she is with.
I Found A Love – Eric Clapton – Crossroads, Disc 3. A previously unreleased track recorded in September 1974 during sessions for the There’s One In Every Crowd album. Very un-Clapton like in which there is very little true ‘Clapton like’ guitar until the very end. To me, the draw of this song is the amazing rhythm brought out by the drums and piano, along with Claptons passionate plea like singing.
Be True – Carrie Newcomer, Regulars And Refugees – I actually don’t own this album yet but will soon. I ‘discovered’ this song on the Paste Magazine 18 compilation and just had to include it here. Newcomer has an amazing voice that just has to be heard and shared. The first time I heard this song I was stunned by it, and it has since become one of my favorite songs of the last couple of years.
I Believe In Miracles – Pearl Jam, Live At Benaroya Hall. This semi-acoustic show of theirs is one of my favorites, as it showcases how good this band can be even when not rocking out. They have performed this great Ramones song many times, but there is something about this “almost unplugged” version that makes it different enough that you want to sit up and take notice. Definitely a keeper.
Fall On Me – REM, MTV Unplugged, April 10, 1991. From the Hitting The Note Acoustika bootleg. My favorite REM song and my favorite version of it. Stripped down to its simplicity, this song still powerful.
You’re A Big Girl Now – Bob Dylan, Blood On The Tracks. Almost lost in an album of amazing Dylan classics (Tangled Up In Blue, Simple Twist Of Fate, Idiot Wind, Lily, Rosemary…), this song opens starts out with some beautiful acoustic guitar accompanied by soft piano and percussion. After about 40 seconds, Dylan’s voice starts to tell us a story about a love found and then suddenly lost. In my view, this is one of his greatest works.
Take Me As I Am – October Project, 1993 self titled debut. Probably a band you have never heard of. Even 13 years later I still think this is their finest release, and one of the most overlooked releases of the 1990’s. And the lyrics of this song in particular have always had more meaning than others, with the line “Even if you shine a light into the mirror you won’t see me any clearer” being so profound that I just had to not only include this in this compilation, but make this the last song.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Favorite 2007 Releases
Favorite Releases In 2007
I probably bought about 20 or so CD’s this year. Not a lot by any means compared to previous years. A lot of the music I listened to in 2007 was from discs received in music magazines Paste, Uncut, and Mojo, which is a great way to hear a lot of new music and often old music you might have missed or forgotten about. The whole concept of “Backtracking” (discovering a band you had heard about for years but never really listened to) fascinates me. In addition, I spent a lot of time listening to legally available live shows by such bands as Phish, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Grateful Dead, Moe, Wilco, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, The Dave Matthews Band, etc….all grabbed from Etree or the DMB and Ryan Adams archive torrent sites. The wealth of live material made available by bands for free (or a small stipend) continues to grow and I see this as something that is never bad.
In any event, out of the approximately 20 or so CD’s purchased this year that are not magazine compilations or live shows, the following seven are those that made me stand up and pay attention to, and reaffirmed my long standing belief that you can never have enough good music to listen to, if you just listen carefully. As usual, there is always too much music and not enough time to listen to it all.
Note: These are not in any particular order.
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Lovely tunes, upbeat, great guitar work by Nels Cline. Tweedy’s songwriting is excellent, the band is stable and very talented, and if you don’t like Impossible Germany there is something wrong with you. We saw them in 2007 on the tour to support the release and it was clearly one of the best rock shows I have ever been to. Hard to believe this is only their sixth studio release. There is a lot of warmth to this music and Tweedy’s songwriting that has not been seen before. They are heading in an exciting direction
Springsteen – Magic – Back with the ESB after a two album absence. Shows more punch than The Rising and anything else he has done for a long time. Very much a true rock and roll record that in concert allows the band to shine. The lyrics are tricky and need to be paid attention to because they tell a complex story, mixing love with anti-war sentiments and how it feels to be a 50 something rock and roller with a family. The songs are tough and focused and while he often strays to do things outside of the ESB, he seems to always come back with a vengeance like this.
Rilo Kiley – Under The Backlight – Fleetwood Mac’ish? Nah, yeah, sometimes. With Jenny Lewis leading the way the sound is radio friendly (not that any listens to it anymore) and the tunes memorable from the onset. My first exposure to the band was from the previous release, More Adventurous, which is a bit mellower and more melodic, so my first listens to Under The Backlight were positive but I felt that they had taken a different turn. However, after repeated playing UTB has enough hook and panache to keep me coming back for more.
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black – While ignoring her personal transgressions in 2007 is hard, it is easier when you just listen to this release. When I bought this my dad was ill in the hospital in NYC and I was driving in every other day to visit with him, always during the evening rush when I had time on my hands to really listen to music. Note to others….if you are going to get stuck in traffic on the Helix leading to the Lincoln Tunnel for 45-60 minutes, make sure you have some good music with you. Winehouse made those rides bearable. I hope this amazing talent does not pull a Brittany train wreck and fall off the tracks. Oh, and listen to those horns!!! Motown should be proud.
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga – Have liked Conor Oberst’s music from the beginning but always felt his previous releases were a little choppy and unfocused. They had memorable moments, but nothing to hold things together. Listen to this release. Listen to these songs about love and alienation. Listen to Make A Plan To Love Me, and then listen to the whole release again from start to finish. There is space here, space to listen, space to give the music a chance to find itself and for the audience to feel like Oberst and the band are right in the living room with them. This is an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, and this should be exciting to watch.
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger – For me, not in the same vein as Cold Roses, this is nevertheless a strong release. A little bit more laid back, it sounds like this should have been his release after Heartbreaker. There is a lot more to come from Ryan, and while he does in concert often piss a lot of people off, at least he is now clean and ready to roll.
Erin Mckeown – Grand - Yeah, released in 2003 but I just heard her this year and found this release……not sure how. However, if you listen to Cinematic (sample it on Amazon!!!) and are not instantly hooked there is something wrong with you. A little bit of indie-pop, some swing, some folk, all the way to trip-hop. There are 14 songs on this CD and only one is more than about 3 minutes in length. And, the more you listen, the more it will grow on you and you will want to hear more. The first time I heard one of her songs I thought it was Dido singing. Mckeown is better than Dido in that her songs have more breadth, more fascinating lyrics, and a bit more pop mentality.
Honorable mention goes to:
The Sandinista Project – Yeah, my stepbrother Jimmy Guterman put this together, so I have some bias here. And yeah, just like the original release there is a lot of ‘what were they thinking’, but on a whole this is an ambitious piece of work not only by The Clash but by all of the artists that agreed to take part in this undertaking. One of the things I found interesting about this is that some of the songs I considered throwaways on the original actually shine here. Kudos to Jimmy for putting it together. For more info go to: http://sandinista.guterman.com/
Son Volt – The Search – A really, really like this band. For some reason or another I just keep forgetting about them. Perhaps it was because the first time I heard them was on Trace, which did not grab me right away, or perhaps it never has. Others have told me to get Okemah And The Melody Of Riot, which I WILL have to do someday. I need to spend some time with this music, to see if I can get it on my radar screen a little bit more.
And finally, I still need to get:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
K.T. Tunstall - "Drastic Fantastic"
And new releases by Levon Helm, Page & Krause, Neil Young’s Massey Hall release, Josh Ritter, Keane, and a host of others that I have heard on those magazine compilations I need to find out more info on.
And lastly, these are artists that had a bit of an impact in 2007 that I just don’t get, even though I have tried, really tried:
The National (and LCD Soundsystem and The Bravery)
M.I.A
The Hold Steady
Lucinda Williams
I probably bought about 20 or so CD’s this year. Not a lot by any means compared to previous years. A lot of the music I listened to in 2007 was from discs received in music magazines Paste, Uncut, and Mojo, which is a great way to hear a lot of new music and often old music you might have missed or forgotten about. The whole concept of “Backtracking” (discovering a band you had heard about for years but never really listened to) fascinates me. In addition, I spent a lot of time listening to legally available live shows by such bands as Phish, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Grateful Dead, Moe, Wilco, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, The Dave Matthews Band, etc….all grabbed from Etree or the DMB and Ryan Adams archive torrent sites. The wealth of live material made available by bands for free (or a small stipend) continues to grow and I see this as something that is never bad.
In any event, out of the approximately 20 or so CD’s purchased this year that are not magazine compilations or live shows, the following seven are those that made me stand up and pay attention to, and reaffirmed my long standing belief that you can never have enough good music to listen to, if you just listen carefully. As usual, there is always too much music and not enough time to listen to it all.
Note: These are not in any particular order.
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Lovely tunes, upbeat, great guitar work by Nels Cline. Tweedy’s songwriting is excellent, the band is stable and very talented, and if you don’t like Impossible Germany there is something wrong with you. We saw them in 2007 on the tour to support the release and it was clearly one of the best rock shows I have ever been to. Hard to believe this is only their sixth studio release. There is a lot of warmth to this music and Tweedy’s songwriting that has not been seen before. They are heading in an exciting direction
Springsteen – Magic – Back with the ESB after a two album absence. Shows more punch than The Rising and anything else he has done for a long time. Very much a true rock and roll record that in concert allows the band to shine. The lyrics are tricky and need to be paid attention to because they tell a complex story, mixing love with anti-war sentiments and how it feels to be a 50 something rock and roller with a family. The songs are tough and focused and while he often strays to do things outside of the ESB, he seems to always come back with a vengeance like this.
Rilo Kiley – Under The Backlight – Fleetwood Mac’ish? Nah, yeah, sometimes. With Jenny Lewis leading the way the sound is radio friendly (not that any listens to it anymore) and the tunes memorable from the onset. My first exposure to the band was from the previous release, More Adventurous, which is a bit mellower and more melodic, so my first listens to Under The Backlight were positive but I felt that they had taken a different turn. However, after repeated playing UTB has enough hook and panache to keep me coming back for more.
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black – While ignoring her personal transgressions in 2007 is hard, it is easier when you just listen to this release. When I bought this my dad was ill in the hospital in NYC and I was driving in every other day to visit with him, always during the evening rush when I had time on my hands to really listen to music. Note to others….if you are going to get stuck in traffic on the Helix leading to the Lincoln Tunnel for 45-60 minutes, make sure you have some good music with you. Winehouse made those rides bearable. I hope this amazing talent does not pull a Brittany train wreck and fall off the tracks. Oh, and listen to those horns!!! Motown should be proud.
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga – Have liked Conor Oberst’s music from the beginning but always felt his previous releases were a little choppy and unfocused. They had memorable moments, but nothing to hold things together. Listen to this release. Listen to these songs about love and alienation. Listen to Make A Plan To Love Me, and then listen to the whole release again from start to finish. There is space here, space to listen, space to give the music a chance to find itself and for the audience to feel like Oberst and the band are right in the living room with them. This is an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, and this should be exciting to watch.
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger – For me, not in the same vein as Cold Roses, this is nevertheless a strong release. A little bit more laid back, it sounds like this should have been his release after Heartbreaker. There is a lot more to come from Ryan, and while he does in concert often piss a lot of people off, at least he is now clean and ready to roll.
Erin Mckeown – Grand - Yeah, released in 2003 but I just heard her this year and found this release……not sure how. However, if you listen to Cinematic (sample it on Amazon!!!) and are not instantly hooked there is something wrong with you. A little bit of indie-pop, some swing, some folk, all the way to trip-hop. There are 14 songs on this CD and only one is more than about 3 minutes in length. And, the more you listen, the more it will grow on you and you will want to hear more. The first time I heard one of her songs I thought it was Dido singing. Mckeown is better than Dido in that her songs have more breadth, more fascinating lyrics, and a bit more pop mentality.
Honorable mention goes to:
The Sandinista Project – Yeah, my stepbrother Jimmy Guterman put this together, so I have some bias here. And yeah, just like the original release there is a lot of ‘what were they thinking’, but on a whole this is an ambitious piece of work not only by The Clash but by all of the artists that agreed to take part in this undertaking. One of the things I found interesting about this is that some of the songs I considered throwaways on the original actually shine here. Kudos to Jimmy for putting it together. For more info go to: http://sandinista.guterman.com/
Son Volt – The Search – A really, really like this band. For some reason or another I just keep forgetting about them. Perhaps it was because the first time I heard them was on Trace, which did not grab me right away, or perhaps it never has. Others have told me to get Okemah And The Melody Of Riot, which I WILL have to do someday. I need to spend some time with this music, to see if I can get it on my radar screen a little bit more.
And finally, I still need to get:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
K.T. Tunstall - "Drastic Fantastic"
And new releases by Levon Helm, Page & Krause, Neil Young’s Massey Hall release, Josh Ritter, Keane, and a host of others that I have heard on those magazine compilations I need to find out more info on.
And lastly, these are artists that had a bit of an impact in 2007 that I just don’t get, even though I have tried, really tried:
The National (and LCD Soundsystem and The Bravery)
M.I.A
The Hold Steady
Lucinda Williams
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