the guy that wrote that one song from the VW ads

as requested... mr. drake's three full studio albums.


five leaves left - '69


bryter layter - '70... includes John Cale and a bit of Richard Thompson.


pink moon - '72

The Thrills-Teenager

The Thrills=Irish Beach Boys-Bipolar Disorder

The Thrills are an Irish band that get their primary influence from the Beach Boys. This is not a bad thing. Van Dyke Parks wrote a few songs for them on their excellent last album.

This is album number 3.

Excellent driving, chilling, beach, lounging, party, boating music.

Mum-Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy

Mum=Sigur Ros + Woman Singer.

Enough Said.

Happy Wedding Tretter, this is my gift to you!

Interpol-Our Love To Admire

One of my favorite acts, especially live, do not dissapoint on their new album. This just leaked so I don't fully know the quality, but what I have heard I love.

Check out the first single Heinrich Maneuver.

Volta-Bjork

Why write a review when there are so many out there.

Games for May Tribute Concert

Here is my last Syd Barrett related post until more obscure Syd recordings are unearthed. For the 40th-anniversary of the Games For May at Queen Elizabeth Hall concert hall, Robyn Hitchcock, Graham Coxon, and heavy friends performed a Syd Barrett tribute concert. The set list included songs performed 40 years ago and other Barrett favorites. Robyn Hitchcock does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of Syd and his music. The files were downloaded from the internet archives.

Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring

http://www.theirheartswerefullofspring.com/index.php

Today I bring to you a band I had never heard of, but quickly fell in love with.

Their Hearts Were Full of Spring hail from London and play, according to their MySpace Page, "Life affirming magical indie pop."

This album, These Are Our Songs, We Wrote Them For You, is a long lost debut album by the band when it was only 3 members. Currently on tour in London and working on a new album, the band now consists of over 6 members.

Their sound is very unique while still holding on to that britpop, indie twee sound that so many of us love.

Highlights: As Long As The Sun Shines, Fall Into These Arms and Stars.

Icky Thump - The White Stripes

Probably the most anticipated album of the early summer, if not the year, Icky Thump is not the return to the garage band roots of their earlier work, as some would hope. It caries some elements of their self titled debut, and De Stijl; but it also throws in the touch of experimentalism that made Get Behind Me Satan such a head scratcher.

The Detroit Duo's 6th studio album is a head scratcher and will divide many a fan. I find the album quite enjoyable. Not as great as Elephant, but really what could be? Jack White really stretches himself in his songwriting on this album. This album seems to be more a collection of small stories then other efforts. From the title track's bombastic recounting of a trip gone wrong south of the border, to Rag and Bone, a tale of gypsy like junk pickers.

Great hi-lites are 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues, and the closer, Cause and Effect. Songs that I do not care for are St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air) and Conquest. The later I heard was a cover, but I can find no information beyond that.

I would be remissed if I did not mention Meg White's drumming. I can not say anything better then what was said here.

Well enjoy and let me know what you all think.

***This post updated while listening to the Cubs v. Braves***

PBW in the Hizzee!

Lately I've been on a mixtape craze. Don't know why, I just am. Kyle's mention of a Licensed to Ill cassette made me wax nostalgic for my old collection of cassingles, mixtapes, and assorted commercially released cassettes, long since buried deep in the landfill. Since tape decks are very nearly in the same historical heap as the 8-track player, it's hard to make a true mixtape, and hard to listen to any tape you might stumble across.

Which means we've gone digital. Totally fine with me, because it makes these things easier to copy, record and distribute. There's nothing like the muted distortion on a well-used cassette, and frankly, it's nothing that I truly miss.

With all that said, here's a mix of rare/unusual covers by Peanut Butter Wolf, the head of the nonpareil Stones Throw Records, called "Cover Me Badd". This beast is an appeal to the rare record dork in us all; watch as he throws down all kinds of wack cuts. Who records these? Who releases them? And why on earth does PB Wolf have copies of them?

Beastie Boys - The Mix Up

I'm a huge fan of the Beastie Boys. I have been ever since I ended up with a tape of License to Ill in my car one summer while in high school. I'm not sure where it came from, probably accquired while picking up Mr. Jackson in Baraboo or stolen from Kevin on one of his visits home from Minneapolis. None the less, that tape made many trips from Madison to Mauston and back worth the ride. Like many suburban white kids, it was my introduction to Hip-Hop. The B-Boys showed me that Hip-Hop could be fun and accessable to everyone.

Anyway, like most people, I'm surprised that the Beastie Boys have held on to their career for this long. I was sure that the six-year hiatious between Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs would've killed any chance of another record. To The 5 Boroughs is not their best work, but it's got some good cuts. It cannot be denied that the Boys are old and don't have the spark that they used to. That's exactly why I'm so please that this new album is something completely different. Like the compilation, In Sounds from the Way Out, The Mix Up is an instrumental album. Deep funk grooves and tight drum breaks make this a fantastic album to just put on and drive around town on a hot summer day. If you like the instrumental tracks from Check Your Head and Ill Communication, then you'll like this.

Enjoy.

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

You can tell the Arctic Monkeys are British because they spell "favourite" with a "u." And everyone knows that British rock is always top.

Cheers.

Supergroups

Here are a few supergroup CD's for your retro listening pleasure. First we have Blind Faith -Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Grech, and the great Steve Winwood. Next we have 4 Way Street (live album)-Crosby Still Nash and Young. Finally a collaboration between Brian Eno and John Cale, Wrong Way Up. Enjoy

SPOON Password

Hey Everyone.

The password for the Spoon album is

nodatta.blogspot.com

SPOON- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

The amazing new SPOON album. For previous fans, it sounds like a mix of Gimme Fiction and Kill The Moonlight.

As a whole, the album works incredibly well. The songs all sound very different alone, but when listening in the correct order, they really seem to lead to the next.

This album will definitely grow on you and could easily be on the Top Ten of 2007 list come December.

Check out Cherry Bomb, Rhythm and Soul, Finer Feelings, and the whole fucking album!!

The Traveling Wilbury's

Supergroups have been something of an odd side note in popular music. A collection of stars playing music often for fun, and releasing a only handful of albums/songs. The first true supergroup was probably Cream, but some could argue it was The Million Dollar Quartet, a jam session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. The strange thing about Supergroups is that it there is always one guy with in the group that seems to be out of place. This is the case with the Traveling Wilbury's. Jeff Lynne though an accomplished musician and producer always seemed out of place in the Wilbury's.

The Traveling Wilbury's were a collection of some of the most important musicians in the 60's and 70's. Comprised of George Harrison (The Beatles); Bob Dylan; Jeff Lynne (ELO); Roy Orbison; and Tom Petty. They all originally got together to record a B Side for George Harrison. The song ended up being "Handle with Care." Their contributions eventually lead to the group to record a full album of original songs. Recording under pseudonyms (a ploy used by another supergroup) they released Traveling Wilbury's vol 1. With the death of Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) vol 2 was never relased, though often thought of as Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever. A third an final volume was released in October of 1990. I have managed to gather from the internets, both official studio releases (vol 1 and vol 3) as well as a collection of outtakes, b-sides, and various performances which have been labeled as vol 2 and 4.

Musically the Traveling Wilbury's isn't that great. The albums are more about the musicians and the fun and joy they have playing music together. On many of the Dylan parts, one wonders if he is trying to sound like if he eats gravel and has lost the ability to enunciate any word in the English language. But he is puts all that he can in Crime/Cop drama of "Tweeter and the Monkeyman." The highlights are always those songs where the group is trading vocal lines, and vocal jabs, such as "Handle with Care," and "End of the Line."

If anyone has any interesting supergroups, I would love to have them posted to the iDisk.

***This post updated while listening to "Overkill" by Colin Hay"***

Coachella 2007 Videos

A little something different. These are some videos I took with my digital camera at Coachella this past weekend.

The first couple are of Jarvis Cocker. Please note I was extremely drunk at this point so the videos are pretty shitty. Fun though, cause Jarvis is great on stage.

The video of the green computer screen is from Bjork. The DJ would put different blocks on the screen, with each block making a different distinct noise. He would then move, twist, replace and generally fuck with them to make the beats. It was pretty amazing. I only wish I had taken a video when he had at least 10 blocks on the screen and was drawing lines between different ones.

The last few videos are from Rage Against The Machine. It truly was an amazing experience. They sounded like they should have, played the greatest hits, didn't preach too much and then rocked the place to the core. Screaming FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME over and over was exactly how I hoped it would be. Ohhhh so much fun.

Enjoy. If you want to see some photos from the weekend, as well as from SXSW, check out

www.flickr.com/photos/cderekj

Elliott Smith - New Moon

To say Elliott Smith was an under appreciated artist until his untimely death in 2003, is a misnomer. Smith found marginal success with albums such as Figure 8, XO, and Either/Or. Most notably he found true recognition with Miss Misery, the Oscar nominated song from Good Will Hunting. His genius as a musician and a song writer had been widely acclaimed by many in the business. Smith life is truly a strange one. For an interesting read check out Smith's wiki page. Because I would much rather have you read something that can be edited by anyone, rather then my insane ramblings.

It was however his suicide on October 21st, 2003 that really brought him to my attention. His self vocalizing, dark haunting lyrics really hit me. Though I knew about him before his death, but it was the mystery around his death that made me listen to his music. The first album I got was the one finished after his death, From A Basement on A Hill. Probably not the album Elliott would have finished, but a good indication of his style. From that point on I made it my mission to get everything from Elliott that I could get my hands on.

Kill Rock Stars Records will be releasing New Moon. A collection of 24 songs recorded between 1994-1997, the most prolific in Smith's career, which saw the Kill Rock Star Elliott's Self Titled and Either/Or releases. Like many demo and out take albums this has some very familiar songs. However what is great about this is that the audio quality is much better then most of the demo albums floating out there. And the producers made the double album flow like a true Elliott Smith album.

If you are not an Elliott Smith fan, or do not know much about his music, New Moon is probably not the best place to start. For those of you know Elliott's music New Moon is a great listen and really brings his music full circle.

For my next post I will take a vote. Should I post:

1. Traveling Wilbury's - Vols. 1 through 4
   
2. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
   
3. Eef Barzely - Bitter Honey
   
4. Ben Folds - 1990 Demos
   

Let me know in the comments and I will post the album in about a week or so, of course with my clever insight and choppy prose.

****This post updated while listening to Rain Delay Theatre on WGN Radio****

Icky Thump - White Stripes

Don't get excited boys, it is not the The White Stripes forthcoming album of the same name. It is just the single, and not a great copy of that. It is from some XM radio show, it has annoying intro and outro from some DJ with a fake, or seemingly fake British accent. If you want the a good quality single I suggest going to the iTunes Music Store (normally I would give you all the single but with the stupid DRM it was too much of a pain in the ass.)

It will give you a good idea of what the song is all about. In my humble opinion this song kicks all kinds of ass. It is a return to the pre 2005 Stripes. It is just Jack's circling guitar licks and and Meg literally thumping on the drums. The only thing I am not sure about is the lyrics. they fit the song, but towards the end there is a weird part about America or something. It doesn't make much sense to me.

So enjoy.

****This post updated while watching That 70's Show*****

Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

2007 is the year of the crappy album title. From Arcade Fire's Neon Bible to The Shins' Wincing the Night Away artists have had a lot of trouble coming up with a decent album title this year. Rufus Wainwright's 5th studio album is no exception. Release the Stars is a horrible name. It conjures up an image of Rufus shooting stars out of his genitals (which would have been a pretty cool album cover, though). Why? I don't know.

The album itself rises above the terrible name. Rufus is a master of blending a a lush operatic style with pure pop sensibilities. It is not quite as lush as the disappointing Want Two but not as pop as Poses or his self titled effort. The album produced Neil Tennant (of the Pet Shop Boys) and Marius De Vires, at times suffers from the layer upon layer effect, muddling the song into a mass of orchestral movements and lazy enunciation. And really parts of some songs are wholly unnecessary. (ie the part from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera.)

The biggest complaint of the album as a whole is Rufus' enunciation. I think lyrically Rufus is one of the best song writers out there, his songs have a sly wit which make you think, laugh and cry. Most notably on this album is, Between my Legs, which suffers from over production, is lyrically a master peice. If I casually listen to the album I am hard pressed to understand what the hell he is saying half the time. This album demands several listens. Each time you will pick up nuances each time.

It is nice to see Rufus return to the more pop of his earlier work. I think many Rufus fans were afraid that he might turn his back on pop entirely and try to make it big in the Met's revival of La Boheme. All in all a nice solid effort by "The Tit Man".

This post updated while listening to Icky Thump by the White Stripes and Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright.

Wilco-Down at the Dust Bowl

Here is one for all the Wilco fans out there. A friend of a friend gave me a copy of Wilco-Down at the Dust Bowl. I can not find out anything about it on the net. Maybe one of you know more about it. It is mostly live recordings of familiar tunes.