August 26:  Song of the Day.  My Morning Jacket–Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2

Here’s another really cool animated video that has popped up in recent days, this time for one of my favorite tunes off of My Morning Jacket’s latest album Evil Urges.  (And you guys know how much I love the animation and the My Morning Jacket.)  In this new video for “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2) both the look of the video and the song itself are both really well done.  I’ll be interested to see what you guys think.

We’re just a little over a week away from the band’s upcoming performance at the Charlottesville Pavilion on Thursday, September 4.  Tickets are still available for this general admission show being billed simply as “An Evening With My Morning Jacket”.  For ticket info click here.  Gates open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm.  [”Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2″ video after the break] »Read More

Popularity: 7% [?]

August 22:  Song of the Day.  Jeff Hanson–If I Only Knew

Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Jeff Hanson has a voice that was once described as a cross between Alison Krauss and Art Garfunkel (which can be a good thing for some folks, maybe not so good for others).  His debut album Son was released back in 2003, which followed by his self-titled release in 2005, and now his brand new album Madam Owl which hit stores just last week.  All three albums appear on the Kill Rock Stars label.

But what attracted to me to this video for “If I Only Knew” wasn’t Hanson’s voice or his past work.  Instead I’m loving this one for its use of construction paper cut-outs to create the action.  I’m assuming it was all done stop-motion and it reminds of days spent finger-painting and creating Christmas tree ornaments out of popsicle sticks and concentrated orange juice lids when I was just a wee lad.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have some Elmer’s glue that I need to peel off my hand. (Come on, admit it, you used to put Elmer’s glue on your hand, let it dry, and then peel it off like skin. It’s cool) [video after the break]

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Popularity: 19% [?]

August 21:  Song of the Day.  Jeff Tweedy–Sunken Treasure (solo acoustic)

[Jeff Tweedy photo by Damon Green] 

If you’re a fan of Jeff Tweedy and his band Wilco then it’s been a pretty good week.  Just in case you missed it, here are a couple of the treasures I’ve recently discovered.

[There’s a link to a free download of a Tweedy solo show, news of a new Wilco album, and sweet solo performance of “Sunken Treasure” all after the break]

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Popularity: 22% [?]

August 18:  Song of the Day.  Fleet Foxes–Blue Ridge Mountains

We just featured these guys in our Song of the Day spotlight a couple of weeks ago but now they’re back.  The Fleet Foxes continue to gather steam and a ton of critical buzz following the release of their self-titled debut earlier this year.  This song has me scratching my head, reaching for the Kleenex, and saving up my gas money.  It has even created an ‘evil urge’ or two.  Plus, if it’s good enough for Letterman, it’s good enough for me. [video after the break] »Read More

Popularity: 30% [?]

August 15:  Song of the Day.  The Verve–Love Is Noise

It took almost 8 years for the British rock band The Verve to put aside their personal conflicts and to begin gathering the pieces back together after calling it quits back in 1999.  The band announced last summer that they had decided to re-unite with their original line-up and now a little over a year later, the Verve is preparing to release their first album since 1997’s Urban Hymns.  The new album, titled Forth, hits stores in the U.S. on August 26th.

In addition to the personal problems which led to their break-up, the band was also plagued by the legal issues involving looped samples used in their most known well-known song “Bitter Sweet Symphony”.  The samples, taken from Rolling Stones song  ”The Last Time”, resulted in the band not only having to give songwriting credits to both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, but they also were forced to give up all of the royalties and publishing rights for the song as a result of an out-of-court settlement reached with the Stones’ record label ABKCO Records.  The Verve reportedly has not seen a single penny from what is still their biggest hit.

The video for the sample-free first single “Love Is Noise” from the Verve’s “forth”-coming album is after the break.  Tell us what you think. »Read More

Popularity: 52% [?]

August 13:  Song of the Day.  Bob Dylan–Dreamin’ of You

On October 7, Columbia Records will be releasing Bob Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs:  The Bootleg Series No. 8 which will contain 2 CD’s worth of previously unreleased studio recordings, demos, live tracks, and rarities that were recorded between 1989 - 2006.  During this time period Dylan released four studio albums Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times.  All four are fantastic but it is 1997’s Time Out of Mind that is the true gem of the bunch and I’d easily put it in the category of one of Dylan’s Top 5 albums from his entire career.  The album went on to win three Grammys including Album of the Year and it was Dylan’s first platinum selling album since the late 1970’s.

One of the previously unreleased studio tracks from the forthcoming Bootleg Series 8 collection, “Dreamin’ of You”, is actually taken from the recording sessions for the Time Out of Mind record.  If you don’t mind filling out the registration form on Dylan’s website (it only takes a minute), you can download the song for free as .ZIP file which includes the MP3.  The download page on Dylan’s website can be found here.  [Listen to “Dreaming of You” on the still frame video after the break] »Read More

Popularity: 58% [?]

August 12:  Song of the Day.  Nina Simone–Sinnerman

When the name Nina Simone comes up in conversation there will surely be a mention of her take on the old spiritual “Sinnerman” not far behind.  This is the definitive version from Simone’s 1965 album Pastel Blues.  The accompanying video uses the song as a backdrop for a series of clips that trace the ills and evil of mankind throughout history and is the only one I could find that includes the entire 10 mintue and 20 second recording. 

Whenever I listen to this song it gives me the chills.  Simone’s voice and skill at the piano are both stunning.  As an artist her influence is not to be overlooked as the music of Nina Simone has become a touchstone for a whole generation of African-American artists and this performance highlights just one of the many reasons why.[video after the break]

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Popularity: 57% [?]

August 11:  Song of the Day.  Chuck Prophet–Summertime Thing

Yesterday I took the day off.  Actually I took most of today off as well.  I just needed a break.  The long nights seem to be coming with a greater frequency these last couple of weeks and every now and then you just have to stop and enjoy the summer days while they still are here.  So I didn’t think about the MUSE all that much and I didn’t start thinking about what I’ll be filling up the pages with this week, which I normally do on Sundays.  Instead hevenerlee and I jumped into the car, packed up a few towels and a six pack of something cold and headed to a little secret spot on the James to soak up some sun and go for a swim.  Lazy Sundays are a good thing and after a long Saturday of music I needed some Sunday summer lazy.

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Popularity: 45% [?]

August 7:  Song of the Day.  Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, & Eric Clapton–Matchbox

In answer to a comment posed in yesterday’s post Johnny Cash:  The Man, His World, His Music I mentioned a performance that featured three greats from the world of country, blues, rockabilly, and rock n roll. It aired on The Johnny Cash Show, a television variety show hosted by the Man in Black himself that aired on ABC from 1969 - 1971.  The performance brought together Johnny, rockabilly legend Carl Perkins, and Eric Clapton, who was booked to perform with Derek and the Dominos.

Over the two season span of the show, which was recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Cash highlighted not only some of the great country stars of the day including George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Glen Campbell, and Tammy Wynette, but he also showcased a wide-range of artists from across the musical spectrum including Bob Dylan (he was the special guest performer on the very first show in June of 1969), Stevie Wonder (who played piano/organ/harmonica/drums with Johnny on “Get Rhythm”), Neil Young at the onset of his solo career, Tony Joe White (who performed “Polk Salad Annie” which is a personal favorite), Louis Armstrong (a duet with Cash on the Jimmy Rodgers tune “Blue Yodel #9), and  a rare TV appearance by Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys.

The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show was released as a 2 DVD set in the fall of 2007 and aired on PBS that same year as part of their fall fund drive.  All of the performances listed above are included.  There are 66 performances in all.  [The video for “Matchbox” featuring Cash, Perkins, and Clapton from January 1971 is included after the break.] »Read More

Popularity: 30% [?]

August 5:  Song of the Day.  Paleface–We Got All Night

So if you didn’t read any of my FloydFest coverage from the last week of July you’ll probably be in the dark about the fact that Paleface was ever here (on MUSE) in the first place.  But if you did happen to read the reports filed from the fields of Floyd, you know that Paleface was prominently featured.  (You also will receive a FloydFest scratch and sniff sticker.  There are plenty of varieties to chose from including patchoulli, beer garden, funnel cake, sweaty dirty hungover festie, and Nersh).  But for those who missed my Paleface post here’s a brief recap:

Indie folk, North Carolina via NYC, Beck’s old roommate, performed at the Twisted Branch in the last six months, kicked ass and took names at Floyd, next album on Ramseur Records, wrote “Dancin’ Days”, is cool as hell, blew me away, and he was captured brilliantly in photographic form in my post.  Also Paleface is the man and the band.  What I’ll add.    Mo’ is a sweetheart on drums and I just recently discovered this video for “We Got All Night” from Paleface’s most recent album A Different Story.  [video after the break]

[Paleface photo by Crackerfarm] »Read More

Popularity: 29% [?]