The Story Of - Billy Bragg - 1983 - 2013

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Billy Bragg releases his first new studio album in five years, Tooth & Nail, on March 18 2013

Tooth & Nail Tracklist:

01. January Song

02. No One Knows Nothing Anymore

03. Handyman Blues

04. I Ain’t Got No Home (Woody Guthrie)

05. Swallow My Pride

06. Do Unto Others

07. Over You (Bragg/Henry)

08. Goodbye, Goodbye

09. There Will Be A Reckoning

10. Chasing Rainbows

11. Your Name On My Tongue (Bragg/Henry)

12. Tomorrow’s Going To Be A Better

Billy Bragg 2013 Tour Dates:

03/23 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre

03/24 -Albuquerque, NM @ KiMo Theatre

03/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom

03/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre

03/29 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

03/30 – Petaluma, CA @ McNear’s Mystic Theatre

04/02 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater

04/03 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune’s

04/04 – Victoria, BC @ Alix Goolden Hall

04/05 – Vancouver, BC @ Vouge Theater

04/06 – Nelson, BC @ Live at the Royal

04/08 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall

04/09 – Regina, SK @ Orr Centre

04/10 – Winnipeg, MB @ Garrick Centre

04/12 – Chicago, IL @ City Winery

04/13 – Chicago, IL @ City Winery

04/15 – Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theatre

04/17 – Nashville, TN @ The Belcourt Theatre

04/19 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle

04/20 – Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre

04/21 – Morgantown, WV @ WVU Creative Arts Center

04/22 – Annapolis, VA @ Rams Head On Stage

04/24 – Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere’

04/26 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre

04/27 – New York, NY @ Town Hall Theatre

04/28 – Cincinatti, OH @ The Southgate House Revival

05/01 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark

Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - 2013

Adam Green first came to prominence as one-half of the Grammy-winning Moldy Peaches before embarking on a solo career. Binki Shapiro was one-third of Little Joy, the Brazilian-accented Los Angeles trio formed with Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes) and Rodrigo Amarante that won many fans with its critically acclaimed self-titled 2008 album.

Together the pair make beautiful music over lo-fi guitars, more low-budget copies of 50s rock ‘n roll records than the better-produced garage rock of Green’s recent break-up/breakdown album Minor Love. The highlight here is ‘Casanova’ (“to the mentally ill”), with keyboards straight from a Beach House song, some Ronettes-style backing vocals and a DIY Roy Orbison guitar solo in the middle.

Ocean Blue - Live - 1994

Live At Ventura, California

The Ocean Blue promo cd live album, recorded by Westwood One Radio Networks on June 20th, 1994 concert in Ventura Theatre

01. Don't Believe Everything You Hear

02. Sublime

03. Bliss Is Unaware

04. Between Something & Nothing

05. Marigold

06. Drifting, Falling

07. Ballerina Out Of Control

08. Cerulean

09. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Grimes - Genesis - 2012

Lots of fun this video...

The End of Christianity

In this successor volume to his critically acclaimed first anthology, The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, John Loftus—a former minister and now a leading atheist spokesperson—has assembled a stellar group of respected scholars to continue the critique of Christianity begun in the first volume. The contributors include Victor Stenger, Robert Price, Hector Avalos, Richard Carrier, Keith Parsons, David Eller, and others. Loftus is the author of Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity. Taken together, the Loftus trilogy poses formidable challenges to claims for the rationality of the Christian faith. Amazon

twenty | one | pilots - Guns For Hands

Described as “schizoid pop” (a term I am not ready to accept), Twenty One Pilots – duo, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun – became a hot buzz word in 2012 when they signed with Fueled by Ramen and then released a three-song teaser EP, aptly titled, “Three Songs.” With their debut full-length album, “Vessel,” the Columbus, Ohio natives are poised to take over the music scene.

I know what you think in the morning

When the sun shines on the ground

And shows what you have done

It shows where your mind has gone.

And you swear to your parents

That it will never happen again

I know, I know what that means

I know

That you all have guns

And you never put the safety on

And you all have plans

To take it, don't take it

I'm trying, I'm trying to sleep

I'm trying, I'm trying to sleep

But I can't, but I can't when you all have

Guns for hands, yeah.

Let's take this one second at a time

Let's take this one song, this one rhyme

Together, let's breathe

Together, to the beat

But there's hope out the window

So that's where we'll go

Let's go outside and all join hands

But until then you'll never understand...

We've turned our hands to guns, trade in our thumbs for ammunition,

I must forewarn you, of my disorder, or my condition,

'Cause when the sun sets, it upsets what's left of my invested interest,

Interested in putting my fingers to my head,

The solution is, I see a whole room of these mutant kids,

Fused at the wrist, I simply tell them they should shoot at this,

Simply suggest my chest and this confused music, it's,

Obviously best for them to turn their guns to a fist.

Guns for Hands’ is the showpiece of the album. If you have to choose one song to listen to, make it this one. The heart-pounding chorus explodes in waves, the drums and vocals combine to give us a nice ebb-and-flow that will keep listeners coming back. The verse is deceivingly mild; the message hidden within is more serious than the light-hearted tone lets on. It’s big, it’s deep, and it’s the best song on the album. ‘Trees’ follows, and it gives ‘Guns for Hands’ a run for its money. It makes the album go out with a bang before ‘Truce,’ the softest song on the album. ‘Truce’ ends the album on a somber note, but one of freedom and hope. TD

The Deep Freeze Is On - 2013

Today's Temperature Hit - 40 Degrees... 

From Weather Station:

The bitter cold continues to make the province of Quebec shiver. Extreme wind chill conditions are affecting a portion of Southern Quebec as well as western, central and part of Eastern Quebec. In some of these regions, these conditions will continue through Friday morning. The intense cold should persist across the province until the end of the week. In addition to this very cold weather, blowing snow is strongly reducing visibilities along the St. Lawrence River east of Rivière-du-Loup and in Schefferville. Winds could even be severe this evening over the northern part of the Gaspé Peninsula.

Sleepy Vikings - They Will Find You Here - 2013

Bandcamp

Sleepy Vikings had previously and unsuccessfully described it's sound as "southern shoegaze", but this tag is really just window dressing for hick towns and beer plus Pavement and Sonic Youth. This is a band that accepted an invitation to play its first show before it even had a set of music to play, so fitting into a genre is not a top priority.

What really is tops is the band's music. The songs on 'They Will Find You Here' are filled with dreams and nightmares that have already caused the local press in Florida to call Sleepy Vikings "...a swooning squall" (Orlando Sentinel) and note that the band is "...king-hell committed on blazing a trail" (Miami New Times). 

Surly Gates - "Pisces"

Surly Gates

Game On!

After 510 cancelled games and over 41% of the season cancelled the NHL has begun once more after a long negotiation process.

Our team lost their first 2 to 1... The sprint is on!

Fans were wooed with a beer, a hot dog trio and a water bottle. Long live the Habs...

Eddi Front - 2012

"It took a long time for me to not hate the sound of perfection," says 27-year-old Brooklyn-based songwriter Ivana Carrescia, who records as Eddi Front. Ever since she was a kid-- an only child, Vegas-born, who moved around constantly with her restless mother-- she has gravitated towards dark, murky sounds.

The violin that her conductor father gave her when she was five was too shrill ("I thought it sounded like a whiny cat… especially if you kind of suck"); she wanted a viola or cello instead. Her favorite music as a teenager followed a similar pattern: the gloom of the first few Cat Power records, the cassette hiss and dark humor of Liz Phair's self-recorded Girlysound tapes. These were the albums that inspired her to create her own brooding, decidedly unpolished bedroom recordings. "I was sending around demos which I thought were a finished product," she laughs. "Some of my friends were like, 'Maybe you should try to record these in a studio.'" pitch

The Pogues in Paris - 30th Anniversary - 2012

HOME

Tracklist:

01 – Streams of Whiskey

02 – If I Should Fall From Grace With God

03 – The Broad Majestic Shannon

04 – Greenland Whale Fisheries

05 – A Pair of Brown Eyes

06 – Tuesday Morning

07 – Kitty

08 – The Sunnyside Of The Street

09 – Thousands Are Sailing

10 – Repeal Of The Licensing Laws

11 – Lullaby Of London

12 – The Body Of An American

13 – Young Ned Of The Hill

14 – Boys From Teh County Hell

15 – Dirty Old Town

16 – Bottle of Smoke

17 – The Sicked Bed of Cuchulainn

18 – Sally MacLennane

19 – Rainy Night in Soho

20 – The Irish Rover

21 – Star Of The County Down

22 – Poor Paddy On The Railway

23 – Fairytale of New York

24 – Fiesta

Mothersday - 2013

Lonesome Heights - 2013

An astonishing debut from Lonesome Heights. A strange mix of indie, anti-folk, psychedelic blues and quintessential English song writing. Catchy tunes, bold intelligent lyrics. A simply smashing first album.

Special thanks to azurehum for this one, a really cool album.

Timid, the Brave - 2012

Genre: lo-fi, folk soul

Bandcamp

The first song opens things up instrumentally with simple light acoustic picking, some reeds, and the occasional fiddle embellishment. The vocals are what carry the piece along opening up am autobiographical story of writers block ... leaving the listener to wonder if the writing of this very song may have been an exercise in confession and rejuvenation.

Overall songs on the album are very well written... they accompany the vocals quite well setting a subtle mood. ex

Despite its decidedly quaint proclivities, one needs only look at the success and critical acclaim of Ray LaMontagne or Iron & Wine to answer the question of whether traditional folk music is still relevant today. It's been said many times before, but there really is something universal communicable through good folk music, and when it's good enough to find its way into your heart and mess around with your emotions, the feeling is always fresh and special. Hamilton, Ontario's Tim Selles, recording solo as Timid, the Brave, has managed to pen a self-titled album of that type of folk. Released November 16 on Other Songs, Timid, the Brave is a strong, deeply honest album best enjoyed alone with one's thoughts...IYS

Neil Young - Live - 1971

All songs written by Neil Young.

"On the Way Home" – 3:42

"Tell Me Why" – 2:29

"Old Man" – 4:57

"Journey Through the Past" – 4:15

"Helpless" – 4:16

"Love in Mind" – 2:47

"A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold Suite" – 6:39

"Cowgirl in the Sand" – 3:45

"Don't Let It Bring You Down" – 2:46

"There's a World" – 3:33

"Bad Fog of Loneliness" – 3:27

"The Needle and the Damage Done" – 3:55

"Ohio" – 3:40

"See the Sky About to Rain" – 4:05

"Down by the River" – 4:08

"Dance Dance Dance" – 5:48

"I Am a Child" – 3:19

Live at Massey Hall, 1971

Though the set of songs featured that night was similar to other concerts during the tour, the bulk of the songs played would have been unfamiliar to the audience. Of the eighteen songs Young performed during his second set that night, only eight had already appeared on record. These include songs that Young recorded with the bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, or had released on one of his three solo albums to date.

Blanket Truth - Urban Wildlife - 2012

Genre: indie folk

Bandcamp

Blanket Truth have a real genuine feel to their musical arrangements. Acoustic guitar reminds me of a Jeff Mangum strum, while the vocals are raw but true à la They Might Be Giants; the female voice helps tame an otherwise singular tone. These guys make fun music with tons of cool beats... me thinks some serious beatboxing is happening here! All quite endearing.

VA - One For The People - 2012

This is a great selection of sounds. They all push the other to force the max, but it works in my garage rock, lofi kinda world.

Bandcamp

Kim The Lion - 2012

bandcamp

"This is the brainchild of young Ontario singer-songwriter Stephen Pepler. He makes his debut in impressive fashion with this understated, but subtly convincing release. Pepler has a slightly breathy and sweetly melodic voice that perfectly complements his soft folk-rock approach. Reference points include the likes of David Gray and Jose Gonzalez. Pepler co-produced with Toronto roots stalwart David Baxter, who contributes typically tasteful guitar. 

The cast list of instrumentalists include such Baxter regulars as Blake Manning, Burke Carroll and Treasa Levasseur, while Pepler and Dave Saliba impress with their guitar work. Judiciously employed mandolin, banjo, accordion and pedal steel add a rootsy tinge, but Pepler’s voice is unaffected and twang-free. Kim The Lion saves the best for last, closing with the potentially anthemic “We Will Rise” and the rousing “I Walk This Road.” EXCLAIM REVIEW

Parquet Courts - American Specialties - 2012

Genre: lo-fi country garage rock

Bandcamp

I missed this album when it was first released, and just love it. It has a great lo-fi quality to it, plus killer tunes - rhythmic and true to their nature. If you haven't heard of these guys yet, stop waiting!