Rocky Pics

@ Club Underground 10/29/07

I'm Not There Soundtrack

Thanks to Tristin at Filter for sending me a copy of the soundtrack to the new Todd Haynes movie about Bob Dylan I’m Not There. I got to spend the weekend listening to this disc, and it features some truly unique covers! If you are a fan of covers or a Dylan fan you should pick it up. I have nothing but respect for Bob Dylan. He is a masterful lyricist, and an impressive songwriter. This said I have to admit that I do not consider myself a Dylan fan. I never grab one of his cds and listen to it front to back; I don’t obsessively collect his back catalog. However, when I hear a song of his I enjoy it, and there are certain songs of his that I’d be happy to hear any time: Tangled Up In Blue, The Times They Are a Changin’, Simple Twist of Fate, Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, I Want You, and Hurricane are at the top of that list.

It is other people’s reworking of Dylan that has always been more my speed. I am probably driving a knife in the heart of all die hard Dylan fans by revealing this, but I like Guns & Roses’ version of Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. I also adore Uncle Tupelo’s take on Moonshiner, Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along the Watchtower. I have a soft spot for Sophie B. Hawkins’ take on I Want You, and The Indigo Girls do an inspired version of Tangled Up in Blue. My appreciation of these covers makes this a perfect soundtrack for me. There are some talented people contributing to this double disc. Some of my early stand out tracks are in bold below.

Disc 1

All Along The Watchtower – Eddie Vedder
I’m Not There – Sonic Youth
Goin’ To Acapulco – Jim James & Calexico
Tombstone Blues – Richie Havens
Ballad of a Thin Man – Stephen Malkmus
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again – Cat Power
Pressing On – John Doe
Fourth Time Around – Yo La Tengo
Dark Eyes – Iron & Wine, Calexico
Highway 61 Revisited – Karen O & the Million Dollar Bashers
One More Cup of Coffee – Roger McGuinn & Calexico
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll – Mason Jennings
Billy 1 – Los Lobos
Simple Twist of Fate – Jeff Tweedy
The Man in the Long Black Coat – Mark Lanegan
Senor (tales of Yankee Power) – Willie Nelson & Calexico

Disc 2

As I Went Out One Morning – Mira Billotte
Can’t Leave Her Behind – Stephen Malkmus & Lee Ranaldo
Ring Them Bells – Sufjan Stevens
Just Like a Woman – Charlotte Gainsbourg
Mama You’ve Been On My Mind / A Fraction of Last thoughts On Woodie Guthrie – Jack Johnson
I Wanna Be Your Lover – Yo La Tengo
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irgova
Can You Please Crawl Out of Your Window? – The Hold Steady
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
The Wicked Messenger – the Black Keys
Cold Irons Bound – Tome Verlaine & the Million Dollar Bashers
The Times They Are A Changin’ – Mason Jennings
Maggie’s Farm – Stephen Malkmus
When the Ship Comes In – Marcus Carl Franklin
Moonshiner – Bob Forrest
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – John Doe
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Antony & The Johnsons
I’m Not There – Bob Dylan & The Band

I can’t wait to see the movie!

Lucero Pics

Slim's 10/19/07

Bobby Bare Jr. Pics

Slim's 10/19/07

Ani Goodies

http://www.spinner.com/2007/10/19/ani-difranco-brings-her-canon-to-the-interface/

Electric 6, Gore Gore Girls @ Club Underground

The Gore Gore Girls are kick ass! I'm so glad I got to see them open for Electric 6 on Monday night. These ladies know how to rock it hard and are damned sexy doing it!! They are on Bloodshot Records, they have a website http://www.goregoregirls.com/, and of course, they are on the space. Look 'em up and get your lady rock on!! Here is the set they played and some snaps from the show ... click to enlarge.

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This is the second time I've seen Electric 6 and they have yet to disappoint me. They're just a good timey balls to the wall rock band. Their set list and a few pics from the show.

Bravo to Club Underground for bringing this show! I am diggin' their fall schedule, check it here. http://www.clubunderground-reno.com/calendar.htm

Oslo

Thanks to Tristen for the Oslo cd and getting me on the list to see the band play at XOXO last Saturday night! We got to XOXO a little after 9 pm and Oslo was setting up. I noticed on the door that Oslo was billed as members of No Doubt. I wonder if the other members of the band have issues with being billed this way; maybe they don’t care if it brings people to see them. Things that make you go hmmmm.

I got Oslo’s cd The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate about a week before this show, it is a decent release. I listened to it twice during the week, I enjoyed the tracks: Slowdive, Things Fall Apart, and Crowded Room. The disc began to wear on me about half way through sounding like the same repetitious drone. I was hoping to be more impressed with the live show, and I am happy to say that the band sounded crisp and exhibited less drone.

The lead singer is quite a character; he makes some god awful facial expressions, and does some very fancy tongue wagging (not creepy) along with the songs at times. He entertained me. The rest of the band seem very diverse musically; the bass player was very-low end, and he has some badass dance moves combined with the typical bass player rubberneck (I love that, by the way). The drummer was stuck in the corner of the small XOXO stage so I didn’t see much of him. The lead guitar player had a High on Fire shirt on and he looked very metal. The guy on keys was great; he looks like he stepped right out of the tv series Fame. My girlfriend loved his looks; she kept singing the Fame soundtrack in my ear. All in all, seeing Oslo was a good time; it’s nice to check out new music, and support up and coming bands that come through Reno, as it doesn’t happen often. I think there are good things in store for Oslo, check them out on the space.

myspace.com/oslo

TMBG Pics

Empire Events Center ~ Sacramento ~ 9/28/07

Sea Wolf ~ Leaves in the River

I received a copy of the new Sea Wolf cd Leaves in the River in my mailbox yesterday, a big thank you to Tristen at Filter! I’ve given the disc a few spins now, and am thoroughly enjoying it. It is more of an evening time cold weather cd than a background noise at work cd, but even hearing it on the computer at work has been a pleasure. I am looking forward to hearing it with headphones, as it sounds very layered and intricate with many textures that computer speakers are not doing justice. I quickly fall for vivid lyrics and Alex Brown Church is a masterful lyricist. Throw in the lovely sounds of the cello and accordion, and you’ve hooked me. I have only one critique of the lyrics so far, in the track Song for the Dead the rhyming of thicket and cricket kind of makes me chuckle, forced rhyming is one of my least favorite lyrical tricks. Other than the one lyrical hiccup the lyrics set an enticing blustery fall scene, and bravo to whoever chose October to release this cd.

I enjoy the imagery Church creates in the title track, Leaves in the River, listening to it during a midday lull whisks me out of my stuffy office. It takes me to my house, just past dusk, I start out my front door bundled up in my big coat, three warm and wooly scarves, and I start down my street with leaves rustling at my feet. I’m headed to get a nice hot cup of coffee at a local shop where the windows are fogging up, and this song is the perfect soundtrack for my walk. Any cd that can transport me out of my work environment into a joyful fall evening is a winner in my book. I look forward to spending more time with this cd on many wintry nights to come.

José González

I caught José González performing on Conan last week, go to YouTube, I'm sure it's there. I have to say I was sorely disappointed. Maybe it was the girl singing and (mis) clapping along with him in the most disengaged manner that ruined it for me. I was quite surprised by how much I disliked the performance. I have enjoyed his music since I first heard Veneer. His guitar playing can be astoundingly beautiful at times, and I am generally a fan of the singer-songwriter "quiet is the new loud" folk musician type, but found his live performance to be horribly boring!

Some pals of mine are going to see him at the GAMH later this month, they are the ones who turned me on to him, I am very eager to hear their take on his live set. Sitting through an hour and a half to 2 hours of what I saw on Conan makes me want to curl up for a long winters nap. No sir, I didn't like it, and I am glad we decided not to attend this show.

The National Setlist

They Might Be Giants

There is no "might be" about it, they ARE giants!

They played a great set that put me in a fantastic mood. I'd like to see someone go to a TMBG show and come out in a bad mood. Impossible!

Two tidbits I didn't know before the show. #1 ... The new record is a collab with the Dust Brothers, makes sense when I listen to it after knowing that. #2 ... That song New York City is a cover of a Cub song. Who knew?

The new record is a gem, the art work is superb!

They were selling the vinyl copy of the new album autographed by the whole band. Very clever idea to get folks to buy that format. It worked on me, not like I am a hard sell though.

If TMBG are coming to your town soon, do yourself a favor ... GO!

The Johns rule!