songs:illinois

Here’s another band from Lawrence, Arthur Dodge (And The Horsefeathers) sings his heart out with a rough gruff voice at times comparable to Van Morrison and at other times Bruce Springsteen. He’s a midwesterner through and through and that plays out in his simple, staight ahead earnest music. Arthur picks one theme or even one line of a song and beats you over the head with it, but he’s so convincing by the time the song is done you’re on his side of whatever domestic dispute is chronicled in the song.

Room #4 is his newest recording and is available through Remedy Recordings in the states or through Blue Rose everywhere else. Here’s two from Room #4 and then a couple from his back catalog (including the Tom Waits inspired “Stripper In A Cab”):

Creature Of The Night **Standout Track**
California Hustlin’

Stripper In A Cab **Standout Track**
The Domestic Dream

All week long we’ll have incredible, edible music from Lawrence Ka (or thereabout). Shout out to the indespensible Kansas music storehouse of knowledge – Lawrence.com. First up is a side-project of Appleseed Cast’s Chris Chrisci. The band says they’re a mix of folk, punk, indie and bluegrass. I’d like to hear that concoction how about you?

The bands name is the Old Canes and their debut record came out in the summer of `04. Titled Early Morning Hymns these songs have as much in common with church hymns as I do with Tom Cruise. More like folk-rock on speed but very catchy and uplifting musically. Stream the whole thing here. Buy it here. Download two songs below.

Face It
Taxi On Vermont

P.S. Paddington Dc over at Swedesplease.

CBGB’s soundman, he was signed to and released his major label debut on Sony records. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett. Much has changed since that first record but David Poe continues to release exquisitely produced and carefully presented pop music.

His new record Love Is Red was recorded entirely live in Berlin. It sounds as though David has taken a sound created by T-Bone and made it his own. A lush backdrop is a perfect accompaniement for his deep smooth vocals. Give David Poe some more time and he could become the heir apparent to Leonard Cohen and David Sylvian.

Here’s a couple from Love Is Red. Buy it here.
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So Beautiful
Love Is Red

Whether it’s the William Brothers, Finn Brothers, Boo Hewerdine, Darden Smith or any harmonizing group from the 80′s or 90′s there’s something great about a band that is instantly appealing and accessible. I found such a band the other night online called Westrin & Mowry. They’re a duo and there’s a bunch of useless bio info on their site but needles to say they claim to have all the qualifications necessary to be a success in the music business (i.e. none).

Presently completing work on their second disc, these songs are from their debut record One Week Epiphany.

You’ve Got It All
Saturday

Baby Blue Live

I missed a lot of great bands’ inceptions. Too young, too late or too stupid. The ones that I’ve been with since the beginning have left an indelible mark on me. The list includes but is not limited to Poin dog Pondering, The Feelies, Yo La Tengo, Throwing Muses, Pixies, Big Dipper, Meat Puppets and on and on. A key band on that list and a band that influenced my thought about southern rock and folk was Drivin’ N’ Cryin’.

Fronted by Kevn Kinney and Tim Nelson, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ seemed to be ahead of their time. The explanation behind the band’s name was that the band played drivin’ rockers and cryin’ ballads. It seemed that the rockers were usually sung by Tim and the folky weepy ballads by Kevn Kinney. The first record and the only record to appear on an independent label was Scarred But Smarter and that was quickly picked up and re-released by Island in 1986. What was different about this record was the punk energy of the title track but the beauty behind and amid songs like “Count The Flowers” and “Gotta Move On”. Here’s two from Scarred But Smarter:
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Scarred But Smarter
You Mean Everything

Future records walked this same line with powerhouse rockers fit for rock radio, arena or festival shows and mtv airplay and gentle folk songs that would be a perfect fit for Americana radio today. The band was successfull, with many near misses and many nearly gold records for Island Records. While I’ve been writting in the past the band still exists and still does shows with three schesuled in the coming months in the south. They have new releases available but these are compilations and video dvd’s. Check out their up to date website for more info. Here’s a couple from Whisper Tames The Lion and Wrapped In The Sky:

Catch The Wind
The Friend Song
Good Day Everyday

Indian Song
Telling Stories

Kevn Kinney meanwhile has been the busiest of the Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ boys and has made some of the best music since the bands recording break.

Now on Compadre records Kevn’s new record Kevn Kinney’s Sun Tangled Angel Rivival is as close as you’ll come to a new DNC record with it’s balls out rockers and thoughtfull folk songs. Here’s a couple from that one. Purchase these you must! Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ at Amazon. Kevn Kinney at Amazon.

Welcome To The Sun Tangled Angel Review
Everythings So Different Now
Madman Blues

Mattias Hellberg (Hellacopter and Soundtrack Of Our Lives) new disc up on Swedesplease

Not really but this San Francisco band plays straight-up bluegrass at an escalated speed and with a little extra bite. All Wrecked Up site influences as diverse as the Carter Family to Freakwater. These guys are young and hip and are not what you’d think of as your typical bluegrass band.

Check out their very well designed website (someone in the band must be part of a silicon valley braintrust) for more information about individual members, tour dates and stuff to buy. Here’s the link for their newest record A.P. Carter Highway. And a song off that one and two others for fun.

Cindy

Elzie’s Farewell
The Coo Coo Bird

Consafos is a four piece from L.A. creating provactive and experimental indie rock in the style of Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth. Their new record Tilting At Windmills is available April 19th and features musicians Dave Max Crawford (Poi Dog) and Stefanie Drootin (Bright Eyes).

Their website brings up lounge music as a descriptive term for Consafos and it’s not too far off. Lounge music updated for the `00′s maybe, with sharp, edgy guitar added to the mix as well as post-modern lyrics. The song “Broken Record” with it’s odd bits of static and clicking is a great analogy for a broken soul. Here’s that song plus two more from Tilting At Windmills due out April 19th, 2005. Also a bonus song (“Lonely Ones”) from their first EP Such Is the Way Of Things.
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Seneca
Broken Record
Angel From Hell

Lonely Ones

It seems that Sleater-Kinney’s heartfelt plea not to release their mp3′s early on blogs has been listened to. As a result the silence is deafening on music blogs about this new record and other bands have come to the fore in their absence. While they said we can’t post mp3′s, I don’t believe they’ve taken away our constitutional right (isn’t that in there somewhere?) to review the record. I’m not a record reviewer per se but I’ll add my two cents: it sucks. I couldn’t get past the first song about a fox and a duck. When I did get to the second song it was more of the same (i.e. bombastic over the top noise rock with screechy compressed and processed vocals).

So on to someone more worthy of our time and a band that hasn’t banned us from promoting the music. The Mountain Goats have a new record out on 4AD in late April. These confessional, autobiographical songs are a powerful testament to music as emotional therapy. Hopefully John Darnielle got everything out of his system and will decide to stay with us for another year and another record. Produced brilliantly by John Vanderslice The Sunset Tree (April 26) is an immediate lo-fi masterpiece. Here’s two songs enjoy and pre-order now here (15% off with the code goat15)
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This Year
Dance Music

As a bonus here’s a couple rare or hard to find mp3′s courtesy of The Mountain Goats fansite – themountaingoats.net:

Jack And Faye 7″

Raid On Entebbe
There Will Always Be An Ireland

Live WMFU 1/26/05 (recorded over the phone)

Dilaudid
Collapsing Stars

Live on KEXP

The Plague

P.S. Hop on over to swedesplease for a sampling of the experimental Swedish organ duo Sagor & Swing.

Chris Scruggs is one of my new favorites. My last post about him featured songs from his debut record Honky Tonkin’ Lifestyle. His show at Fitzgeralds in Berwyn, Il. on April 22nd should be a great evening of eclectic country. On this new unreleased tune Chris marries Buddy Holly with Buck Owens and gets this singular creation — the song “Love Love Love”.

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Love Love Love

I love it when I band I’m geeked about has a good sampling of mp3′s on their website. Needless to say I can’t afford to buy all of the music I write about and there are so many bands that are not on labels large enough to service music bloggers. One such band is Idaho Falls From L.A. I’ve been hearing about their new release Concrete Prairie for some time and frankly had a hard time finding their or their labels website. Well today I found em.

Concrete prairie must be a reference to the streets of L.A. The band is led by Idaho native Raymond Richards and L.A. city girl Heather Goldberg. The duets and harmonizing by these two singers make this band a little unique in the present alt-country scene. Their blend of country rock can be heard on the three songs below from their new record as well as from the one song from their first LP and EP which have recently be combined as a single 18 track cd. Get it now at Miles Of Music for $9.99

California Day
Jasmine
Country Song

Arizona Air

PS David Fridlund of David And The Citizens has a new solo record out on May 3rd. Go to Swedesplease to preview three tracks.

Cheyenne is a band with a past, on a label of the future. The Record Machine is the label, they have a small but interestingly impressive roster (Colonol Rhodes and The Winston Jazz Review). Cheyenne’s new release and debut long player is called I Am Haunted, I Am Alive. They’ve got some connection to the band Ester Drang, as well being produced by Chad Copelin and James McAlistair (Pedro The Lion, Ester Drang, Sufjan Stevens).

The music they make sounds slightly haunted, it’s got it’s roots in an americana sound but it’s branches spread far and wide. Enjoy. Buy here.

You Were The Sound
Houses **Standout Track**

New music at Swedesplease by Herman Dune

The Greencards are an international group playing a pecularly Ameican artform known as bluegrass. There first release was a fusion of bluegrass with a modern global vision. Their upcoming release Weather And Water (June 28, 2005) sees the band growing up and developing their own sound. Something like Cowboy Junkies meets Allison Krauss.

The Greencards are an up and coming band that has won numerous accolades in their short existence (everything from Best New Band to Best Emerging Talent). They will be playing as part of a triple bill April 17th at Chicago’s venerable Old Town School Of Folk Music (W/Robbie Fulks). It’ll be a great night of music so get there early.

Here’s two from Movin’ On their 2003 debut as well as a world premier from Weather and Water on Dualtone Records. Purchase Movin’ On here.

Movin’ On
The Far Side Of The Hill

The Ghost of Who We Were

I was always planning on devoting a huge chunk of Songs:Illinois to folk music and hopefully I still will. But as a rule it seems folk artists are either not so desperate for publicity or are oblivious to the power of a good mp3 download. Free and legal quality folk downloads are pretty rare. Thus I was happy to come across the music of Laurie MacAllistair.

She has picked two beautiful songs to cover and surrounded herself with an amazing cast of characters including (Cliff Ebberhart, Mark Erelli, and Dar Williams to name a few). These two songs are written by Billy Edd Wheeler and Lynn Miles repectively. So here you go, amazing glorious music for a Sunday morning. Order her music here.

Coal Tattoo
Nobody’s Angel **Standout Track**

Angie Heaton has been in some influential and important midwestern bands (including Liquorette which also contained Matt of the Fiery Furnaces). It’s no surprise that her solo records are a cut above your typical female singer-songwriters. Her discs are distributed through Parasol and they have been kind enough to link to a couple of her songs.

Her new record is 2005′s Let It Ride and you can buy it here.