Hey kids, do you like songs? You do! Well then you're in luck because today you can download 13 of them.
Check out the latest Pot Kettle Mix. 1 full hour of rock. I tried to keep it fairly clean, but there might be a few "objectionable work words." Click here to Download the rock. Also, apologies to @CraigC for completely ripping off his idea. You should also download his monthly mix if you want some quality hip hop. You can check that out here.
Pot Kettle Mix 08.10 Tracklist
Compliments - Band of Horses
Ativan Eyes - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Guilty Cocker Spaniels - Modest Mouse
Birthday Boy - Drive-By Truckers
Last Dance - The Raveonettes
Love and Hate - Blitzen Trapper
Morning Light - Ida Maria
Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
Orphans - The Gaslight Anthem
Mondegreen - Yeasayer
Unknown Brother - The Black Keys
Ask Her For Adderall (Live) - The Hold Steady
Battles On - The Ghost is Dancing
Click here to download it all. Be sure to let me know what you think after you give it a listen, or create and share your own mix.
You know Hanson, don't act like you don't. At bare minimum you remember them from their 1997 teenybopper pop single "Mmmmmbop" (Note: I'm not actually sure how many 'Mmm's are in the song's official title and I'm not willing to look it up). What you may not know is that they are still together recording, touring, and maintain a loyal fan base (they'll be at the Cleveland House of Blues Thursday August 19).
Now get this: they're good. I can admit it. They know how to write a good pop rock song and have stuck to their guns recording catchy 1970s-style blues pop rock tunes. While I don't actually own any Hanson music, I recognize they got a good thing going on and hope they keep it up.
Need more proof that it's OK to admit Hanson is alright, check out the music video for their latest single which not only features a pretty spot on reenactment of the "Shake a Tail Feather" scene in "The Blues Brothers," but also Weird Al Yankovic on tambourine. For reference, I also posted the original "The Blues Brothers" scene below.
Are there any other "guilty pleasures" that you can admit are OK to like? Leave a comment to let us all know.
If you are not following me on Twitter (and if you're not, why not?), then you have been missing out on your daily dose of Phil Collins News. Yes, THAT Phil Collins. In a scientific attempt to see if I can find 1 interesting item about Phil Collins on a daily basis (M-F), I present to you Last Week in Phil Collins News:
Whether you wanted one more or not, Cleveland, you're getting one more!
Pearl Jam performed last weekend on the iconic PBS program 'Austin City Limits' this past weekend. Actually, the performance was filmed last August when Pearl Jam was in town headlining this year's Austin City Limits Festival (which is where the picture above is from), but the episode aired this weekend.
Pearl Jam played for a full hour at the historic venue recently designated a rock and roll landmark by the R&R Hall of Fame. Their setlist, which ranged from mellow acoustic tunes to explosive rock, included songs off of their new album Backspacer including Just Breathe and Fix It, oldies such as Porch and Lukin, and one of my personal favorites Red Mosquito (w/ Ben Harper).
We have reached the end of Live Music Week. What a long, strange trip it's been. For my encore performance I am featuring a random mixture of a bunch of performances.
First, K'naan. If you aren't familiar with K'naan, he is a Somali-born rapper who fills his songs with his unique outlook on the world, and the troubles of his home country, all to soul, pop, reggae, and even rock beats (Metalica guitarist Kirk Hammet guests on his new album Troubadour). Here K'naan performs three songs, stripped down and unplugged as a part of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts. Watch it here.
Next up, Blakroc, a new collaboration between Akron's own The Black Keys and some talented MCs including Mos Def, RZA, Jim Jones, Nikki Wray, Billy Danze, Raekwon, and others. The combination of The Black Keys dirty blues sound works well with these artists. Their album "drops" on Nov. 27. Here is the first single from it, Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)-featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Yes, I realize I'm cheating here a little. The song itself is not a live performance, but the video is ... kind of. Just roll with it.
Finally, a little something from Beck's Record Club. This is a little experimental project that Beck and his friends are doing. I'll let him explain:
"Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is posted once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to 'add to' the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren't familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions."
So again, I'm kind of cheating, but these songs are recorded live and then released. It's almost like a live performance. Last week the Club started their third album: Skip Spence's 'Oar.' I'll be honest, I know nothing about that album, but now I want to check it out. The album was recorded by Beck and Wilco along with special guests including Feist and Jamie Lidell. Check out the Beck's Record Club website to listen to the songs and watch video of the recording sessions. There are two songs from the album posted to date. If you wish to hear the album in order, scroll down to the second post and work your way up.
And that concludes Live Music Week. What did you think? Did I leave out something big? If so, leave a comment and share it with everyone.
There are some bands that are just better live. Sure, they produce regular studio albums, but they really only exist to give the band new stuff to play on tour; the songs don't achieve perfection until they are played in concert. Bands like Dave Matthews Band (who happen to be the musical act on SNL this upcoming weekend), Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and The Grateful Dead are the easiest examples of bands like this, but non jam bands fit into this category too. Which artists do you like much better live?
One such band that I'm really into right now is The Avett Brothers. While not the coolest band to admit to liking, this folk/rock/country collaboration between two North Carolina brothers produce solid studio recordings that come to life when performed live. That's a rarity for a semi-mellow folk band that borders on the wussy, but the Avett Brothers' enthusiasm and powerful voices put them in unique category of folk artists who can rock.
Full disclosure: I've never seen the Avett Brothers in person, although they tour constantly. They last came to Northeast Ohio last June when they played the Akron Civic Theatre. At that time I had only discovered them a few months prior, and didn't know enough to go see them live. I will not be making that mistake again when they come to the Cleveland House of Blues on Feb. 27, 2010 (purchase tickets here)as they tour on their new album I and Love and You(produced by uber-producer Rick Rubin).
Enough talking. Below are four separate Avett Brother performances/concerts. Give them a listen yourself and let me know what you think.
First up, to continue the Live Music Week theme of late night TV performances, The Avett Brothers played on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" last night (without The Roots)performing one of their more upbeat songs "Slight Figure of Speech":
Here they perform "The Perfect Space" on Spinner.com. They perform three more songs from their new CD during this session, which you can view here.
NPR invited them to perform in their office as a part of their Tiny Desk Concert series, which features small intimate performances recorded in one of their offices. The 3 song performance caused NPR's Bob Boilen to ask Scott Avett, "Did you swallow an amplifier as a child?" You can watch here.
Finally,The Avett Brothers performed an hour long set at the Newport Folk Festival last summer. NPR said of the concert:
"Without fail, the enthusiastic roots-rock band generated massive volume onstage at Newport. The Avetts brought their emotionally charged and frenetic live show to the Fort Stage at Folk Festival 50 less than two months before the release of I and Love and You, stomping and hollering through a set of old and new songs."
I enjoy watching live music, both in person and on TV. So, as a part of Live Music Week, allow me to share with you several performances from The Roots.
The musical performance is often my favorite part of the late night talk shows. Lately some of the best and most diverse musical performances have been on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," which has the good fortune of having hip-hop band The Roots as their house band.
LNWJF definitly does not squander the talent of The Roots, allowing them to often perform as a backing band to the evening's musical guests. As a band The Roots are very good at weaving in and out between musical genres, and usually elevate musical performances that otherwise might put you to sleep at 1:30 am. Want proof?
Last week The Roots backed up hip-hop MC Wale. As hip-hop artists this performance is right in The Roots wheelhouse. I like Wale, but don't really care for this song. (This video will probably go away after 10 days. Sorry for any ads you have to watch before any of these performances)
To see the diverse talents of The Roots get to play with on display, check out the 3 performances below featuring The Roots and 3 very different artists.
Have you discovered any new music via late night television? What performances should we be checking out?
To prove that The Roots are more than just a run of the mill hip-hop band, look no further than this performance with musical icon Paul Simon.
If you find the Paul Simon performance surprisingly cool, yet odd, you haven't seen anything yet. Check out The Roots, 70's singer songwriter Christopher Cross, and a VERY special guest sing the 'hit' "Ride Like the Wind." Then be sure to e-mail this post to your dad.
It's Live Music Week here at Pot Kettle Blue. Why? Because I can make it any week I want, that's why! Plus, I've come across a lot of cool live music over the past few days that I want to share with you.
First up: Wilco live from the Paradiso in Amsterdam
If you've never seen Wilco perform live, you're missing out. They are consistently considered one of the best touring bands around right now. They are a group of very skilled musicians that know how to bring it. I've seen them 10 times in different venues across the US and they have yet to disappoint me.
They are touring Europe right now and THIS AFTERNOON @ 2:45 they are streaming their concert from Amsterdam live. I repeat: THIS AFTERNOON, MONDAY NOV. 16 @ 2:45 PM EST (ignore the time on the poster above. They changed the start time).
I'm not sure if the concert will be archived after the fact. If so, I will update this post. Either way, click here to spend the end of your work day rocking out (Quicktime required).
If you give it a listen be sure to stop back here and let us know what you thought of it. Enjoy!
Sooooo .... just like my buddy Calvin here, I lost track of time over the summer. My "summer break" from the blog accidentally lasted longer than I expected. I'm going to blame the weather. It's tough to recognize that summer is over in Cleveland when it's sunny and 70 like it was this past weekend.
So now that I've been gone long enough to have lost my entire audience, I am back from the dead! I have a laundry list of topics to talk about, and sorry Simpsons fans, it will probably not involve anything in Springfield. I never intended this blog to become a Simpsons fan site. I was simply posting random facts on days that I didn't have time to write anything substantial. A few dozen posts later, and I'm receiving 800 hits a day from Scotland so 2 arguing towns can determine who can claim to be the birthplace of Groundskeeper Willie. I like the Simpsons as much as the next guy, but that was never the audience I intended to attract. So I'm going to tone the Simpsons posts down a little.
There is a lot of other cool stuff I want to share with you this week though, including the best music of 2009 debate, adventures in product placement, and Christmas Ale. In the meantime, play around with "Let Them Sing it For You." It's a fun way to send a message by stitching together random song lyrics. It's like sending a musical ransom note, instead of spending all that valuable time cutting out magazine letters. Feel free to e-mail me one @ johndaviddrake@gmail.com. Stay tuned.
Cleveland Twestival – Thursday Feb. 12, Harry Buffalo on E. 4th St., 6p.m. – 9p.m. $15. Proceeds support Charity:Water
This Thursday, in 175 cities around the world, people are using Twitter to organize and promote events to benefit Charity:Water, an organization working to provide clean drinking water to those who need it.
Cleveland’s contribution will take place at Harry Buffalo on E. 4th St. downtown. $15 at the door gets you free wings, pizza, good conversation, a cornhole tournament, and excellent raffle prizes. Cleveland has an active social media community (check out the Cleveland Social Media Club by clicking on the badge on the right) that has worked hard in the past few weeks to organize this event. It should be fun.
For more information or to purchase tickets online, check out the Cleveland Twestival website.
On Friday night a mere $7 will get you access to four bands at a legendary venue. All proceeds benefit the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland. An art auction will also be taking place at the nearby Waterloo 7 gallery (an after party will also be held at the gallery after the shows). Bands performing include Oldboy, Sparrows & Arrows, Tastycakes, & Beardo Bandini.
Remember Soy Bomb? He was the stage crasher during Bob Dylan’s performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards. Where did he go? The Grammys could use him again.
I was finally able to watch the Grammys from Sunday night. I had to watch it on DVR, I wasn’t about to sit through three and a half hours of glad handing and country music for what ended up being 45 minutes of somewhat watchable material.
THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!!?? No awards show should be that long. Especially when you only hand out something like 10 awards (tops), and then fill the rest with endless performances (I lost count around 20). The producers could easily cut an hour from the program. After the jump, let’s see what performances we could have cut from this year’s program to make it shorter and more relevant(take note for next year):
U2: The Grammys is not a show meant to reward music in general, but music from the past year. A new U2 song from an album that has yet to be released does not qualify. Save it for next year.
Al Green/Justin Timberlake: This was a last minute performance to fill in for Chris Brown/Rhiananana so I can let it slide, but has Al Green sung anything besides “Let’s stay together” in the last 30 years? He had a new NOMINATED album; couldn’t he perform something from that?
Coldplay: Of course they needed to perform, but for the sake of time let’s keep each performer to one song. If they wanted to do this 2-song combo they should’ve opened up the show instead of U2.
Stevie Wonder: Is it in his record contract that he has to perform on the Grammys EVERY YEAR? When was the last time he actually released new music (besides that song he sang at the end)? Unless you are nominated during that year, you should not perform.
Kenny Chesney/Taylor Swift/Carrie Underwood/Sugarland/Kid Rock: Too much country music. Cut back.
Katy Perry: This was just bad; we could have done without it.
Paul McCartney/ 4 Topps/ Neil Diamond: Maybe the most pointless performances of the night. This is exactly what is wrong with the Grammys. If you want to know why the ratings for the 18-34 demographic decrease every year, let’s start here. Stop clinging to the past. For a show meant to award the music of the past year, the Grammys spends too much time being nostalgic for the music of the good ol’ days.
If you want to reward the past, create another awards show and fill it with classic performers singing their hits, reuniting, and singing duets with the up and coming stars of today. Leave the Grammys alone and let them focus on the music of the present and introducing new artists to the mainstream.
During the same year as the Soy Bomb incident, the world was introduced to a new Latin singer who brought the house down with his performance. He was relatively unknown outside of his genre, but after his Grammy performance, he went on to achieve international success for years. He ended up being Ricky Martin, but that’s beside the point. The Kings of Leon are a great live rock band (coming to Cleveland in May) that could’ve benefited from a performance, but instead we got Jamie Fox singing old Doo Wop songs. YAWN!
Bottom line: the show should focus on the music of the past year and the unique artists and performances who contributed to it. Until the old dogs learn some new tricks worth rewarding, let them phone in their old hits someplace else.
EXCEPTION: Honoring the dead. I have no problem with the Bo Diddly tribute. One performance every year honoring the passing of a legend is alright. This tribute to the Clash’s Joe Strummer from the 2003 Grammys was awesome (and the last time I remember seeing an unforgettable Grammy performance):
Today brings the release of Working on a Dream, the second album by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in a little over a year. This comes days before their appearance playing the halftime show at next Sunday's Super Bowl, and a week after Bruce spent several days in Washington D.C playing various inauguration parties and winning a Golden Globe for his musical contribution to the movie The Wrestler (that song is on the album as a final bonus track). It's been a busy month for these guys. Is the album worth the effort?
I'd say so. NPR is still streaming the entire album at their music site. So go hear for yourself. Rolling Stone magazine gave the CD a coveted 5 star review. According to them it can't get any better. While I wouldn't go that far (RS would give 5 stars to Alvin and the Chipmunks if it reminded them of the "good ol days" of Rock N Roll), I agree that Working is Springsteen's most radio-friendly music since Born in the USA, and superior to last year's release Magic.
Following the recording of Magic Bruce and producer Brendan O' Brien had a few leftover songs that didn't quite make the final track list. Feeling inspired, Bruce immediately went back to the drawing board and continued songwriting. Demo tracks and a full recording session quickly followed.
The result is an album from a group of experienced musicians who sound as if they have found a re-energized passion for playing together. The album is full of fun, rocking, optimistic tracks; a direct contrast to Magic's dark look at war, failure, and decaying towns. Working has more in common with Magic's one positive track "Girls in their Summer Clothes." Actually, I am surprised this album was not released in the summer with its constant use of Beach Boys-like keyboards, horns, and backing vocals. In the meantime it can be used to fight the seasonal affective disorder that is sure to come once another 8 inches of snow comes to Cleveland tonight (Ugh!)
Yes, the band is planning a summer-long tour to accompany the album. Presently they have no Ohio dates scheduled. The closest Cleveland is getting right now is a Pittsburgh stop on May 19. I wouldn't be surprised if a Cleveland date is announced later given that they can easily sell out the Q, and their current tour dates end on May 23, leaving the whole summer wide open.
Since we now purchase music by the song and not the album, after the jump I will break down the album track by track, letting you know which one(s) I think you may want to skip. Then give it a listen and let me know what you think (or let me know what I SHOULD be listening to instead) Outlaw Pete – An 8 minute opening song. A western-themed opus for fans of the bands old-school operatic tunes like "Jungleland." The guitar part during the chorus is reminiscent of that go-to movie trailer score from the 90s, which I found slightly distracting (I wanna say its Forrest Gump, but I think that's wrong. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Or am I the only crazy one?). A strong start
Lucky Day – One of the strongest songs on the album. Strong guitar-heavy pop song. Will make for a great hit single. Working on a Dream – The title track that Bruce debuted at the Cleveland Obama rally last November. Jingly-jangly pop song. Lyrics are a little corny. A slight problem I have with this album: the music is great but the lyrics sometimes border on too cheesy. Seems like Springsteen doing his best Springsteen impression (A job I believe is already filled, thank you John Couger Mellencamp). Catchy whistles, horns, backup vocals.
Queen of the Supermarket – A Song about the Sun-Maid raisin girl (will someone write her a song, please!!). Really about a guy falling in love with the checkout lady. For fans of ‘Girls in their Summer Clothes’. More 60s style pop w/ backup singers. Good use of checkout beeping noise at the end.
What Love Can Do – Another guitar heavy song. Possibly one of my favorites on the album. Pounding drums. Guitars chugging along like a locomotive. Hard not to like.
This Life – Starts out like a Beach Boys song. Maybe a little too close to "Girls in Summer Clothes?" Second happy love song on album. Almost shocking how optimistic this album is at fist listen. One of the few major Clarence sax solos of album. Again, slightly cheesy lyrics, but grows on me by the end. Maybe cheesy lyrics aren't that bad.
Good Eye – A dirty blues break from all the pop. Gruff voice, harmonica. Seems a little out of place with the rest of the pop feel of the album. Seems like an improvised jam session in the middle of recording. I like it.
Tomorrow Never Knows – Acoustic love song. Finger pickin' and Slide guitar. Another winner.
Life Itself – The one song on the album I suggest you avoid. Sounds like it should have been on Magic instead. Fail. Not very catchy or interesting.
Kingdom of Days – Another string, heavy pop love song. Similar to "Supermarket’", maybe a little too similar musically. Another possible skip unless you like your Springsteen like this.
Surprise, Surprise – Another catchy, yet borderline too cheesy song about a surprise birthday party. I'm not saying its bad, it just seems strange sometimes coming from Springsteen. It might be more suited as a Barenaked Ladies song. “Let your love shine down?!!”
Last Carnival – A sequel to "Wild Billy’s Circus Story" from 1973's The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. Acoustic solo song. Written as a tribute to E Street keyboard player Danny Federici who died last year. This was the last album he worked on. A low-key, touching tribute.
The Wrestler – The previously mentioned Golden Globe winning song and theme to movie with the same name. Tagged on as an extra track. Maybe the strongest song lyrically. I can't believe the song got snubbed by the Oscars when they had 2 nomination slots to fill!! They decided to fill only 3 of the 5 nomination slots instead of nominating this?!
This morning one of the TVs at the gym was playing this: A lost treasure of a music video, which I had completely forgotten about. Watching it makes me exhausted. I should be doing this instead of going to the gym (although in this nasty Cleveland weather I would probably slip and fall).
JD Drake is a advertising/marketing professional residing in Cleveland, OH. He has never had a cavity, but lies awake at night in fear that the streak will soon end.
Hey kids, do you like songs? You do! Well then you're in luck because today you can download 13 of them.
Posts
