5 posts tagged “jam”

Hank Williams - Howlin' At the Moon

Hank Williams

5 comments

Yep, this week's theme is country music.

Whenever I meet people and I ask what type of music they're into, I can tell you 90% of them will answer vaguely: "I am into all kind of music... well except for rap and country music." It saddens me to hear that. (Incidentally, whenever someone tells me they're into all genre of music, I think the opposite: they only like one kind of genre).

Trust me, we get "all kind of music" and shopping around for reviewers is tough because, let's face it: we like what we like. No one is going to go out of their way to devote one or two hours listening to music genres they're not familiar with.

So basically, country music is a very popular genre that no one seems to like! I grew up on country music, so I've always had a soft spot for it. What I like about country is that they often teach us a lesson, like a story within the song. And often the story is about RL (real life) and you can relate to their flawed characters.

Below are some albums we've received that's by real singers, singing about life.

GLEN CAMPBELL glencampbellshow.com ♥ myspace.com Glen Campbell - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) 1 comment The Rhinestone Cowboy is back with a Greatest Hits album, released earlier in February. While he is known for writing original songs (his legacy expands over 50 years in the music industry!), his 2008 album, Meet Glen Campbell, is an all-covers album. What's surprisingly is his choice in covers are strangely modern contemporary, including U2 ("All I Want Is You"), Foo Fighters ("Times Like These"), Green Day ("Good Riddance") and best of all Travis ("Sing"). Just as his title suggest: meet Glen Campbell for the first time, forget his roots in country pop music. Some of the best cover, at least to me, is his version of "Sing" (you can hear it on myspace) and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". While Green Day's version is all-acoustic and somber, Campbell brought a bit of a jingle, jangle and banjo to the song. It's like a going away party, and you wouldn't think this was a Green Day song. As a cover-lover, I wholly recommend these "re-imagined" songs to fans of the bands he covers. Find out more details over at meetglencampbell.com for the cover album (available on CD, Limited Edition Vinyl, and of course digitally). Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy 2 comments Bonus: "Rhinestone Cowboy" is a favorite among such acts as Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian.		NATASHA JAMES natashajames.com ♥ myspace.com Natasha James - Modern Life 1 comment Natasha James is a country singer from Sonoma, California, which is close to both Sacramento and San Francisco. I get the impression that James knows and loves her liquor. Take a look at the evidence: tequila in "Tequila Time", beer on "Modern Life", and whiskey on "Boy Do We Drink". The later song is all about drinking and fighting, but I don't take it too seriously as the tone seems pretty tongue-in-cheek. My favorite song is "Modern Life". It does a great job in painting you the picture of: lonliness, our busyness, divorces, cellphones, internet games, etc. The song is bundled in what sounds like a steel guitar and violins. While the song has a sad tone to it, it's not as sad as the weepy "The Wind". She's also doing a few dates throughout California: 08/08/09 Sonoma County Fair Santa Rosa, California 08/21/09 Iron Door Saloon Groveland, California 08/22/09 Iron Door Saloon Groveland, California Tequila Time is available at most online shops, including eMusic and Amazon. Bonus: As I have previously mentioned, we don't get too many DVD submissions, so here is the video for "Tequila Time". Natasha James - Tequila Time
RUSTED ROOTS rustedroot.com ♥ myspace.com Rusted Root - Driving One 1 comment Rusted Root is a toe-tapping, bluegrass/jam fusion band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They have been around since the late 80s, and have survived to this day with their recent release of Stereo Rodeo (released May 5, 2009 on Touchy Pegg/Adrenaline/DKE). I lassoed the band on this article because I thought they look country, I mean look at this pyschedelic cover artwork: a cowboy ropping a japanese geisha over flames and skulls. The album cover is basically an interpretation of the song "Stereo Rodeo", a slower song that tells the story of a man going to Japan to find a girl. One thing is certain, I feel the shock of the insane cover artwork never quite live up in the song, because the song sounds a bit... normal. As far as the rest of their songs, they're full of funk and percussions and background vocals, I get the sense that the band wants the audience to be involved with them. Their songs were designed to get you to dance with the band, perhaps contributing to hand claps or singalong. Like most jam bands, they're meant to be seen live. I felt "Driving One" would best sum up the band: check out that funky percussion beat! It sounds like something out of Africa, yet feels like it belong in this American bluegrass band. Stereo Rodeo is available now, at amazon ($8!) or eMusic.		AMY LENNARD amylennard.com ♥ myspace.com Amy Lennard - Forever Tonight 3 comments I actually really love Amy Lennard's I Need To Love the first time I heard it last year, I think mostly because her voice reminds me of Bonnie Raitt. Music's always been part of Lennard's life, playing guitar since nine, then moving on to composing original songs. She moved from New York to live out in California for a while, playing festivals and jamming campfire songs with friends. Ten years later, she moved back to New York, and started working on I Need To Love. Half of the album was, from what I've gathered, written and recorded in 2006 with the help of Ben Wisch. The other half is with engineerer Jon Gordon (who's previously worked with Suzanne Vega). You might think that two different producers working on the album might result in an uneven sounding album, it's actually not. Most of the songs feels like pop radio, with strong modern country music influences. There is one very pop-sounding song, it's a love song called "Forever Tonight". It's my favorite song and the easy-to-follow lyrics will cause you to sing along. You can find I Need to Love from amazon, CD Baby, and, of course, iTunes.
MIKE KOTULKA mikekotulka.com ♥ myspace.com/nycmk Mike Kotulka - Dumb Mike Kotulka is another Philadelphian, if that's a word, his sophomore album Hi-Lows will be available July 7th. Everything tells me he's a cowboy, from hat to the harmonica that starts off his intro song, "Born To Try". While not entirely country, Koulka is more like from the Bob Dylan school, which is not a bad association. The title of the album comes from the same titled song, "Hi-Lows". The song is about standing tall, standing for what you believe in, despite the "shit" trying to keep you down. It's a bit inspirational, especially in this economic time. The songs that I did enjoy are the louder ones, "Dumb" and "Gimme Love". "Dumb", with its hand-claps, and "Gimme Love" with its catchy "gimme love gimme love" chorus, will both make excellent live songs. However, as of this writing, there are no tour dates. The nine-track album, feels really short. I decided to track down more music from Kotulka, and the good news is his album The Good, The Bad and the Ugly was available for free via the official website or empty-k.com. Hi-Lows will be available in early July at amazon.		SWAY swaymusic.com ♥ myspace.com Sway - Cowgirl Scene 1 comment Perry Martin and Gina Quartaro are basically the country band Sway, based out of California. The two musician met at a doctor's office, and I suppose while waiting in the waiting room (as one do), the two started talking about music. As the turned out, both Quartaro and Martin have a lifetime of music in them. Quartaro's written and co-produced over 200 songs to day and was even called the "Female Elton John" by Russ Regan (record executive of UNI records, 20th Century Records, and Motown Records). And Martin's biography lists him as band member on "The Donny James Show". They took the show to South Vietnam from 1968-69, and did a show for radio & television called "Nashville Vietnam". I'm not going to list the other two band members' (Laurens Vernot, Trevor Hands) biography, but let's just say that each member bring a rich history of music with them. Sway's music, with its honky-talk and lyrics tells me "good times are all we need" (from "Cowgirl Scene"). Like "baseball and Chevrolet", these songs are pretty standard country love song ("When Love Finds Its Way", "I'm Over You"). Where love is the power that transcend reality. Sure, "the banks are callin' and bills are late", but we've got love, from "In The Hands Of Love". Gina Quartaro sings on all the songs on the album, minus two songs sung by Martin. Quartaro is currently doing some dates: 07/05/09 The Art A Fair Laguna Beach, CA 07/16/09 OC Fair (Mainstage) Costa Mesa, CA 07/25/09 Art A Fair Laguna Beach, CA Sway's debut album, Let It Roll, was released last year, and you can get it via CD Baby.

 06/21/2009 13:42:10 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com 

Limbo Jazz

Duke Ellington

“You know, I want you to make a record with me,

And I’m going to write a number specially for you.”

Duke Ellington

We’ve all been there.  We’ve run into an old friend we haven’t seen in a while.  We remember.  We catch up.  And before we part, we promise to get together soon. 

When Duke Ellington ran into Colman Hawkins and said the above quote, I don’t think either of them thought it would take twenty years to put an album together.  It did but they never forget the date.   

With both of their careers firmly established, Ellington as a big band leader and Hawkins as the first great tenor saxophonist, they took a brief moment from their busy schedules to sit down at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on August 18, 1962.

Yes, they only had one day and it was an afternoon session.  There would be no need for practice.  Ellington brought his regulars and Hawkins would only need to a couple songs under his belt to get to speed. 

True to his word Ellington wrote a song for Hawkins called “Self Portrait of the Bean”, which is Hawkins' nickname.  But my favorite song on the album is “Limbo Jazz”, a spry calypso number conceived midway through the session, like Ellington threw on an apron and put together a little number with his bassist and drummer, adding a few horns here and there and asking his guest to add the finishing touches.

Hawkins returned the favor by improvising a wonderful ending solo, his expressive sound as natural as breathing and as beautiful as a warm ocean breeze.

When you listen, take note of the drummer, Sam Woodyard, singing along, completely unaware that not only was their improv being recorded it would also end up as the first song on the album. 

- Dave

Winzenried - Hollywood Drunk Winzenried Discography [2003] Hooray!! [2006] Swell [2007] Hollywood Drunks Christmas Band Members ♥ Eric Winzenried ♥ Carl West ♥ Lloyd Stuart Casson ♥ Paul "Fingers" Sandberg ♥ Sebastian Sheehan Influences David Bowie http://weheartmus... David Bowie is one of those musicians that came slightly before my time. I remember seeing "Let's... Sounds Like Sublime - Don't Push http://messina.vo... Sublime - Don't Push

Winzenried, aka The Hollywood Drunks, are from Los Angeles, California. Listening to their two albums, I get the impression that they were heavily influenced by Sublime, however, it also lists David Bowie and the Kinks as influences on their myspace.

I'm still kind of confuse about their name, I thought perhaps they were once known as The Hollywood Drunks before changing their name to Winzenried (which apparently I can't spell without copy and paste), and their latest release is The Hollywood Drunks Christmas. I really think picking one name is in order!

The thing about them is that it looks like they like comic book (their Swell album artwork looks like something from Image Comics) and they seem to be having a good time on the recordings. I can only imagine what they'd be like jamming on stage.

They also seem to have a great sense of humor, reading their self-written biography. Such as Eric Winzenried's lack of hair to being a "food delivery specialist". These kind of experiences and humor project themselves on recordings such as "Food Delivery" and the Intro on Hooray!!.

Hooray!! features some nice transitional (or bridges) between full songs, I wish this would've continued onto Swell. I guess I did prefer Hooray!! a little more between the two, because it contain some really fun and catchy songs including "Ohio" with it's catchy lyric: "oh why, oh why oh did I leave ohio".

It also contain "Hollywood Drunk" which you can see why I think this should've just been their band's name. I think vox had trouble playing this song, if you can't hear it, let me know and I'll fix it.

Winzenried - I Get It

On Swell, I thought their cover of "Sesame Street" was pretty faithful, adding more of a jam improvisation feel to it.

I thought I'd use "I Get It" as that pretty much represent Winzenried's sound. This song has a bit of dub/reggae and even some ska.

For more information, check out their official website. To hear more songs from Hooray!!, check out myspace.com/winzenried. To hear songs from Swell, see myspace.com/hollywooddrunks.

 01/15/2008 08:25:03  vu my♥posts www.winzenried.org

Photo Fancy Bastard Tour 01 Sep Dempseys & Aquarium - Fargo, ND 20 Sep Station 4 - S t. Paul, MN 28 Sep DownTime Bar- Minneapolis, MN 31 Oct Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN

Fancy Bastard - Rotten

Fancy Bastard are a Phish-like band from Minneapolis, MN. Upon listening to their CD 'As You Were' I felt like they could easily fit into a funk sort of classic rock category with tons of jamming. Some elements of Deep Purple and Carlos Santana were definitely there. But in some songs, I could hear a Red Hot Chili Peppers type of thing going on.

The song I felt was the most accessible is Rotten. The reason I felt this was Fancy Bastard's best cut is because the vocalist and the musicians came together real tight on this one. The lyrics in this particular song are a bit melancholy. But what I like the song for is its harmony and catchy memorable lyric that really stay in your head.

This band would likely appeal to all the Deadheaders and Phishers out there looking for a good jam band to rock out to. Fancy Bastard seem to play a lot of venues and festivals. And right now they have a few dates lined up in the central mid-west area of the United States, so check 'em out.

-- Jessica

I originally mentioned her in this post but she got a good reception by the WeHeartMusic hearters so I figure you won't mind some more.
As I've said all this stuff before, I'll keep it quick. I originally saw her playing guitar for some Australian singer in a small pub in London, knew nothing more other than she was the best guitarist I was ever likely to see play. Had a heart attack when I found out she'd joined my favourite band, then another when she left six months later to return home to Oz (damn you visas). Anyway, like I say she's the best guitarist I've ever seen play, and spends most of her time touring around the place playing with various different bands, but right now seems to spend her time performing as the Hussy Hicks with singer Leesa Gentz.

To demonstrate, here's some stuff that's popped up on YouTube - a young Julz performing with Phil and Tommy Emmanuel, something she'd apparently been doing since she was 15 though she's not quite as young here; and playing mostly on her own with singer Kirsty Lee (skip to the last minute for some good stuff). If you want more, there's extra YouTube vids, Julz's MySpace page and her own band Project Winterhaven. Let you feelings be known in the comments, anyone with a bad word to say will have Vu sent round on his bike to force feed you Durian.

- Christopher

[edit] I think I've fixed it for you, Christopher. Tsk tsk, I don't think you can emb youtube videos (that need to be "added").  Also, remember that I bike in the snow as well.  - Vu