songs:illinois

It’s a little embarrassing to say but The Lounge Lizards was the group that introduced me to jazz. I’d love to lie and say it was Monk, Miles, or Haden. But it was these guys with their spiky hair and skinny ties that first got me interested. Before the film career, before Fishing With John and before the antics of Marvin Pontiac (listen to one song by Marvin Pontiac below) John Lurie was the leader of this band of downtown jazz provocateurs.

John Lurie was the leader of this NYC based band. They mixed world music, rock and funk with their free jazz to create one of the most popular groups to come out of NYC in the 80′s. The band was solid with contributors from the jazz scene and the avant rock crowd in Curtis Fowkles on Trombone, Arto Lindsay on guitar and Roy Nathanson on Saxophone (both Nathanson and Fowlkes went on to form The Jazz Passengers), John’s brother Evan played piano. Calvin Weston played drums and then went on to perform solo and in the 90′s with Vernon Reid. The band didn’t create a ton of video’s but the ones they did showcase both the killer horn section and the fact that the band could both swing or play noise in equal measure.

“Dutch Schultz” Live In Berlin

“Big Heart” (Directed by John Lurie)

“Uncle Jerry”

“Snakes Can’t Sleep (The Hanging)”

Fishing with Jazz episode with Tom Waits

Down By Law with John Lurie, Tom Waits

Bonus track from John Lurie’s one-off side project Marvin Pontiac – “Small Car”

Bonus track from Roy Nathanson (w/Anthony Coleman)

Bonus track from Calvin Weston

Big Tree

So yeah I’m getting excited about SXSW so I poked around YouTube trying to round up a chronological video history of the fest. I didn’t find anything from the beginning years (1987-1992). But starting with 1993 and the amazing video from Texas Instruments things got better.

Texas Instruments – “Don’t Give Your Life” 1993

The Stranded Lads “Happy Holidays” 1994

Meredith Louise Miller “Words Of Love” 1995

Pineal Ventana “Man Lies” 1996

Spoon “Utilitarian/Don’t Buy the Realistic” 1997

Beachwood Sparks “Sister Rose” 2000

Neil Finn “Sinner” 2002

Sufjan Stevens “The One I Love” 2004

Ben Lee “Catch My Disease” 2005

Carolyn Mark “Fuzzy Slippers” 2006

Jessie Sykes 2007

Usually these “Youtube Saturdays” are reserved for more established artists or sometimes for lost causes from the past (Galaxie 500, The Feelies, Gil Scott Heron). But today’s “YouTube Saturday” is devoted to the future. And someone I believe is an incredible talent.

Emmy The Great is that someone. She’s English and started out a little twee/indie pop but has smoothed out her edges of late and become quite refined. She’s suddenly also very hip as her friends Lightspeed Champion and Jeremy Warmsley are gaining some fame and it’s rubbing off on her.

She’ll be at SXSW this year and I expect her to be the big crossover discovery of the week long festival/conferenc.

Easter Parade

“Easter Parade”

“Gabriel”

“City Song”

Here’s a couple of the above blokes live on “Welcome To Our TV Show”

January 2008 [Part One]

Add to My Profile

Black Cab Sessions

During the height of college radio in the 80′s there were only a handful of dominant labels. One of those that is no longer with us is Twin/Tone (contemporaries included SST and Homestead). Of course Twin/Tone’s bread and butter were the early Replacements releases. But those releases did more that simply put Twin/Tone on the map. They supplied the label the artistic and monetary capitol that allowed them to release a lot of other great records. Here’s what little video I could find from some of these groups.

Agitpop “Stop Drop and Roll” (does anyone else remember these guys? – it’s timeless shit)

The Magnolias “Pardon Me”

The Replacements “Johnny’s Gonna Die” (Twin Tone is hosting tons of great video from a show in 1981; here’s “Something To Du” and “Careless”

The Suburbs “Waiting”

Poster Children “If You See Kay”

Look, you could probably do your doctoral thesis on the effect Gil Scott Heron’s music did/did not have on the music world and whether it was/was not the precursor of hip hop and rap. There’s no way I’m going to add anything meaningful to that conversation, but I will say that when I first heard Gil Scott Heron (and his frequent musical partner Brian Jackson) it was a revelation.

Listening to the music, reading along with the lyrics and studying the gatefold sleeve photos was like a mini course in the history of black power and the struggles of people all over the world to free themselves of oppression (most often caused by policies of the US government). I hope this post will inspire someone new to explore the music, politics, and tragic life of Gil Scott Heron.

“The Bottle”

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

“Is That Jazz”

“No Knock”

“B-Movie”

“Winter In America & Whitey On The Moon”

The Avett Brothers premiered their new semi-official video for the song “Paranoia In B Flat Major” on Aol Spinner a couple of days ago. Now it’s up on YouTube for all to see. Usually these YouTube Saturday’s feature more established artists but I can’t think of a band I’ve enjoyed more over the past couple of years than the Avett Brothers.

“Paranoia In B Flat Major”

“Paranoia In B Flat Major” On Conan

“Talk On Indolence”

“Distraction #74″

At Bumpershoot

For those of us who watched MTV when they still played videos, listened to the radio when program directors would take a shot on an artist just cause they liked them and read music publications when they still were relevant then you’ve probably heard of Concrete Blonde.

Concrete Blonde was that once in a lifetime combination of talent and style. The band’s grimy goth rock was a perfect compliment to Johnette Napolitano’s husky vocals.

“Still In Hollywood”

“True”

“God Is A Bullet”

“Joey”

“Everybody Knows”

Here’ what I’ve got. What am I missing? Add it in the comments.

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Robert Earl Keen “Christmas From The Family” (Jill Sobule’s version)

Tom Waits “Christmas Card From a Hooker In Minneapolis”

Antsy McClain “Christmas At the Trailer Park”

Mountain Goats doing John Prine’s “Chistmas In Prison”

Johnny Cash “12 Days Of Christmas”

Rufus Wainwright “Spotlight on Christmas”

Josh Rouse “Christmas With Jesus”

The Pogues “Fairytale Of New York”

Steve Earl and Joan Baez – “Christmas In Washington”

Dar Williams “The Christians and the Pagans”

The new Radar Bros record is one of my most anticipated record of the new year. There’s just something about this bands sound that gets under my skin (in a good way). This band somehow has a knack for taking elements from bands like Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo and combining that East Coast aesthetic with a kind of Arizona meets California laziness and haze that makes them one of the most interesting groups out there.

Unfortunately I’ve got nothing to share with you from the upcoming record but here’s the two video’s that are available and a song or two from the back catalog to keep you satisfied `til the new record comes out on Merge in a month or so.

Shifty Lies (from The Singing Hatchet on SeeThru Broadcasting, 1999)
Government Land (from The Fallen Leaf Pages on Merge)
Capital Gain (from s/t debut on Restless, 1996)

“Stay”

“Papillon” (Mp4 iPod ready download link)

This may be a little obtuse for You Tube Saturday, in the past I’ve featured pretty recognizable names from either the late 80′s/early 90′s or fairly prominent indie acts from today. But today we have a bluegrass inspired folk conglomerate from London called Indigo Moss. This isn’t just some random post though as I first wrote about the band first here during one of my “British Music Weeks” and they’ve got a nice stack of press quotes from the likes of NME. Time Out, The Times, The Guardian, and Mojo. Give these blokes a chance, you won’t be disappointed and then go check `em out at your local pub.

“Start Over Again”

“Dang Nabbit”

New Single “Nature Of This Town”

I grew up in Boston and that means I’ll never love a band more than some the groups I grew up listening to from that area. Bands like The Pixies, Throwing Muses and `Til Tuesday all went on to fame and fortune (Aimee Mann was the lead singer of `Til Tuesday) but as with most things it’s the bands that didn’t quite make it that fascinate me to this day.

I’ve written about The Zulus and probably mentioned Rich Gilbert and lead singer Larry Bangor’s earlier band Human Sexual Response before but I don’t think I’ve spent a great deal of time on them. They were the Boston equivalent of some kind of new wave Talking Heads meets New York Dolls transgender, cross-dressing, drag, glam-rock band. They predated my live concert going experiences by about 4 years but I heard (and you can see on the first video) that they put on a great show.

Human Sexual Responses demise meant the rise of The Zulus; an influential Boston band that still sounds great today. I was young and impressionable so these guys struck a nerve but now I’m old and jaded and that nerve still tingles when I hear these songs.

“Ann Frank Story” from Figure 14
“Guardian Angel” from Figure 14

“Andy Fell” from In a Roman Mood

“Cool Jerk” live

HSR @ Cantones

“Jackie Onasis”

“What Does Sex Mean To Me”

Instead of featuring one artist, as usual, I’m going to focus on one venue. Schubas is located in Chicago, it’s one of the best clubs in the city and thus one of the best in the Country. Acts range from singer-songwriters to twee to full fledged indie rock. No matter who has booked the club over the last decade the acts brought in remain the cream of the crop. And no matter where you stand in the club you’re no greater than 25 feet away from the stage. Here’s a selection of memorable shows from the last year or so.

Brett Dennen “There Is so Much More”

Tim Easton

Great Lakes Swimmer “Your Rocky Spine”

Rhett Miller

Murder By Death “Brother”

Bowerbirds “In Our Talons”

Chris Mills “Everything About the Heart”

Bottle Rockets w/Jeff Tweedy “Passenger Side”

Sufjan Stevens (pre-histrionics, angel wings and enormous ego) “To Be Alone With You”

Sometimes when you’re known as a fan of “good” music you get some flack when something like Urge Overkill comes up on shuffle or you pull out the vinyl copy of Saturation. It’s hard to explain the appeal of a band like Urge Overkill unless you lived in Chicago at the time and experienced the Nash Kato phenomena first hand. The band was legend; they had the swagger, the major label deal, the sunglasses and the power chords to go all the way. They came damn close, too (or did they make it for a millisecond?).

Their music is power pop on steroids and that’s why I like it. Simple chords, huge choruses and smashing drums; it’s not that far removed from critic’s darlings like The Posies or Mathew Sweet. Just amplified a thousand times. Here’s their two biggest singles, plus a live video from 2004 (apparently this was their fat/bloated period but the Europeans still loved them).

Sister Havana

“Positive Bleeeding”

“Sister Havana”

“The Break” (live)

Usually these “YouTube Saturdays” are based around one artist or a constellation of related artists. However today’s post is unlike the ones I’ve done in the past. These artists have little in common besides being captured live by the same cinematographer from San Francisco. So instead of linking to all the artists page all credit for this post goes out to Chris of The American Opry.

Jolie Holland “Mule On The Mountain”

Elliot Smith “No Confidence Man”

Ora Cogan

Sean Hayes “Same God”

Joseph Childress “Red River”

I’ve been accused of romanticizing the past and focusing on an artists early work and downplaying their new stuff (esp. once it gets popular). But the simple fact is I’m usually right (don’t argue!). And that’s definitely the case with Lucinda Williams. So this YouTube Saturday will focus as much as possible on her records up to and including Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

“Passionate Kisses” w/Mary Chapin Carpenter

“Joy” (Live)

“Drunken Angel”

“Metal Firecracker” (w/Jim Lauderdale and Kenny Vaughn on guitar)

“Metal Firecracker” – Ben Lee (w/New Buffalo)

“Drunken Angel” at ACL

Todd Deatheredge covers “Essence”

Back in the way-back machine again for some of the best songs Steve (or anyone for that matter) ever wrote. I’ve included the video and epk for “Tennessee Blues” from Earl’s new back to basics record Washington Square Serenade.

“Tennessee Blues” from the new record (Washington Square Serenade) – a comeback of sorts (EPK for Washington Square Serenade)

“Fort Worth Blues”

“Hometown Blues”

“Mercenary Song”

“John Walker’s Blues”