At the moment I’m uploading all my cd’s onto iTunes in anticipation of some sort of music in the cloud announcement coming in June. Occasionally I’ve been posting little tweets like “Best Felt record = A Poem By The River and “Best Steve Earle record = Train A Comin’“.

So anyway I’m going to do a tweet saying “Best Michael Hall record = All of them.” I thought I would expand a bit here on the music of Michael Hall. There’s plenty of biographical info on the web but I know Michael Hall as the lead singer of the 90′s band Wild Seeds. He’s since become an eclectic and until the past few years prolific songwriter. I’m taken in one way or another by all of his records and 99% of his songs. It seems like the majority of his catalog including his work with The Wild Seeds and the Austin supergroup The Setters (Walter Salas Humara and Alejandro Escoveda) is still available. Click here to order anything from his catalog. Here’s a sampling:

The Song He Was Listening To When He Died
America (the band not the country)
Put Down That Pig
Dead By Dinner

Michale Hall is now a writer with a social justice slant with Texas Monthly. Here’s a link to a number of his investigative articles and features.

If Boo Hewerdine is known nowadays it’s for being the former lead singer of the English band The Bible. But for me I’ll always associate him (even though I loved some of the stuff The Bible put out) with one record he did with Darden Smith in 1989 called Evidence. It was a strange collaboration since Boo was known for gorgeous indie rock and Darden for southwestern rootsy folk. But they pulled it off and in fact it was those contrasting approaches to music that did it.

Boo Hewerdine’s first record in almost a decade is out Oct 26. It’s called God Bless The Pretty Things. As you can hear from the song “Muddy Water” Boo has one of the most beautiful male voices in music. Buy it here.

Muddy Water

Bonus: Boo Hewerdine is very generous on his website with mp3′s from his discography available for sampling. Here are a couple I like.

Love Thieves
Mapping the Human Heart
Bell Book and Candle

From The Bible

Crystal Palace

I may not be the most rabid dB’s fan on the internet. Nor the most knowledgable. But goddamn it I’m first to the party and that should count for something. Man I loved their power pop meets punk meets jangly southern rock sound.

Here’s the title track plus an unreleased b-side from the upcoming Bar/None project from Stamey and Holsapple. The new record is called Here and Now and comes out on Bar/None June 9.

Here and Now

Bonus:

From A Window To A Scream

—Tour Dates

Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey

June 8, 2009 Arlington, VA Iota
June 9, 2009 New York, NY City Winery
June 27, 2009 Carrboro, NC Cat’S Cradle
July 4, 2009 Durham, NC Enofest
July 10, 2009 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle
July 11, 2009 Nashville, TN The Basement
July 29, 2009 Durham, NC Duke Gardens

Jill Sobule’s all grown up. She’s given up on the label system and like several of the artists this week is releasing a fan funded record on her own label. I’ve never been a big fan of Jill Sobule (I liked her “hits” as much as the next guy though) but since Songs:Illinois’ mission statement is to support artists that are independent and doing it mostly themselves I can’t help but do a post on this new record.

California Years comes out April 14 on Jill’s own label. The song “San Francisco” continues to explore the lesbian characters and relationships Jill Sobule has spotlighted her entire career. While “Good Life” is a quirky little tale of love populated with aliens, earthquakes, and total armageddon. The record was produced by Don Was. So even though it’s diy its still got great sound.

Pre-order the new record here.

San Francisco

Bonus:

A Good Life

More about Jill’s new fan funded record via CNN:

P.S. Jill Sobule temporarily replaced “Honky Tonk Friday” so if you need your fill check out the songs posted by Aquarium Drunkard from the new compilation God Less America.

Anyone my age who had a broad interest in music probably has a Michelle Shocked story. Whether it was seeing her live or simply being struck by those darned crickets in her debut release. She was surprisingly successful for a few years back in the late 80′s. I only say surprisingly because her music was so great but also so rural that her success was a complete anomaly.

Over the last decade or so she has been an outsider, experimenting with various genre’s and sounds (most recently reggae and gospel). While her new record, Soul Of My Soul, doesn’t return her completely to her roots, it is more accessible than recent works and probably more palatable to her early fans. The song “Pompeii” takes jabs at the US way of life with it’s failed democracy and corporate hegemony but it does so with a tropical beat, soothing backup singers, and her new “soul” sound.

Pompeii

“Other People” video

John Wesley Harding has such a distinctive voice, singing cadence, and style that it’s hard to label him folk, rock, or pop. His music is consistent from one record to the next. What sets each record apart are the songs and the production. The new record is called Who was Changed and Who was Dead and features guests like the Minus 5, Kelly Hogan and Peter Buck. And as far as I can tell from the one song below we’re in for a treat on line with a new record from Nick Lowe or Elvis Costello.

“Oh! Pandora” is a clever take on the Pandora’s Box story. It’s a song that screams positivity in this era of gloom. It’s a a song that declares the glass half full. Musically it’s upbeat with a glorious horn section and soaring vocals. Who was Changed and Who was Dead will be in stores on March 31 but there are a bunch of special order packages you can order through JWH’s website here.

Oh! Pandora

Bonus rare mp3′s

Moon June
Heavenly Pop Hit (Chills cover)
So Heavenly

This is not going to be an in depth post on the personal/band history of Gordon Gano. Enough’s been written from that vantage point and I can’t add anything new. I will say though, that if you’re too young to have experienced The Violent Femmes in person than you owe it to yourself to go through their entire catalog.

You’ll be rewarded with nuggets of pure punk rock energy, world music eclecticism, lyricism that is quite unmatched, and musicianship that you simply don’t find with this new batch of fly-by-night blog darlings. Then if you still want more, search down Gordan Gano’s one-off Gospel project called The Mercy Seat (here) and his single solo record. Once you’re done with all that you’ll understand why many wait with baited breath for something new from Gordan Gano.

Well, now we’ve got it in a project called Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers. The band is said to have recorded twenty two songs although no release date has been set. They’ve been playing NYC clubs for a bit, but now are scheduled to bring their show on the road with a set at this year’s SXSW. This song, “Wave And Water”, features Gordan’s trademark snarl, as well as a funk driven rhythm section, and a chorus of gospel inspired background vocalists. Lyrically it deals with some of the same themes of death and religion from Hallowed Ground and his gospel project The Mercy Seat.

Wave and Water

Scott Kempner of Dictators and Del-Lords fame has a new record coming out soon on … I’ve got mixed feelings about the record as a whole but it’s nice to hear his voice again and it’s especially nice to hear it singing a song from the perenially under rated singer-songwriter Tommy Womack.

The new record is called Saving Grace and as I said I’m still listening and forming an opinion but Tommy Womack’s “I’ll Give you Needles” as sung by Scott Kempner is a real gem. Saving Grace is due soon from 02:59 Records.

I’ll Give You Needles

PS I just enabled video commenting on Songs:Illinois. And while I’m a little worried about seeing all yer scruffy faces, I would like to hear your comments on this development and/or anything loosely related to roots music.

The Old 97′s long awaited record Blame It On The Gravity will suck the oxygen from every other Americana release over the next month or so. Which is a shame because from the songs I’ve heard from Old 97′s bassist Murry Hammond’s new record I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way deserve to be heard. Murry Hammond is the bassist in Old 97′s but he’s also connected to the new folk movement though his marriage to Grey Delisle.

The track “Lost At Sea” has a Paul Simon circa The Graduate feel. While “I Believe, I Believe” is more of an old country gospel song along the lines of something you might hear on Johnny Cash’s Hymns record. The new disc was recorded in analog which makes the slight reverb and uncompressed layering of instruments a wondeful byproduct of this technique. These songs were written during a period of time when Murry lost his parents, got married, had a child and was a leader at the Burbank Christian Church. So thematically the songs are a bit heavy, but musically they’re rather refined and quietly somber.

Rhett Miller will surely have that last laugh with the new Old 97′s record, but Murry may have made the better record. Ain’t that always the way of things.

You can buy it now here through Amazon.

Lost At Sea
I Believe, I Believe

This may be my second, even third, YouTube Saturday with Boston bands. But, hey, who’s counting?! This time it’s mostly bands from the 80′s and early 90′s and features a historical perspective with video of a Del Fuegos Miller beer commercial and a trailer from a documentary about local video channel V66.

“Thayer Street” Dogmatics

“Stuck In My Car” The Detours

“My Baby’s, She’s Alright” Scruffy The Cat

“Monday Morning” The Neighborhoods

“Tear My Soul” The Neats

“The Girl With The Curious Hand” Digny Fignus

“Bloom” Gigolo Aunts

Trailer for upcoming documentary on V66 – Boston’s video channel

The Del Fuegos – Miller Beer Commercial