Pretty good disk with June's UNCUT

[ForeverAutumn]

I picked this up on the weekend for the interview with Roger Waters. I haven't read it yet, but in true RR spirit I have listened to the accompanying disk which is in no way related to Pink Floyd so everyone feel free to read on....

The June issue's disk is...15-Track Pick of the Best Recent Music . Track list...

The Waterboys - Medicine Bow (long version, previously unreleased)
Richmond Fontaine - Polaroid
Delays - Long Time Coming
Blanche with Jack White - Who's to Say
Todd Rundgren - Afterlife
Franz Ferdinand - Tell Her Tonight (live, prevously unreleased)
John Howard - Goodbye Suzie
Laura Veirs - Icebound Stream
Tom Russell - Tonight We Ride
Lambchop - Action Figure
Bobby Conn & the Glass Gypsies - We Come In Peace
The Shins - Saint Simon
Earth, Wind & Fire - Dirty
Grant-Lee Phillips - Mona Lisa
Arthur Russell - The Platform of the Ocean

Every song on this disk is new to me and there was some very enjoyable stuff. So, who here can comment on the following standouts for me?

Richmond Fontaine - never heard of him.
John Howard - never heard of him.
Lambchop - heard of them, but this is the first time hearing them. I didn't expect to like them based on what I've read, but I did.
Grant-Lee Phillips - Never heard of him.
The Shins - I thought that I had a track or two on comps but I can't find anything. So, is this song their typical sound? I like this song a lot.

The Tom Russell song is also outstanding. I can see the tumbleweeds rolling by as I listen.

The Arthur Russell song is the only one that I can say that I flat-out didn't like.

This disk, alone, was worth the $10 for the mag.

[Davey]

The Shins - I thought that I had a track or two on comps but I can't find anything. So, is this song their typical sound? I like this song a lot.

Yeah, I really like those Uncut monthly samplers, although I haven't picked one up for a couple years now. Always a great feature article on some 60s or 70s icon. The Pink Floyd issue was outstanding with lots of historical info I wasn't familiar with before.

Anyway, that Shins album, Chutes Too Narrow, is one of my favorites from last year. Maybe even my favorite. At least it is at times. That "Saint Simon" song is really outstanding, with a little bit of progressive flair which is probably what grabbed you. Along the same lines as "The Piccolo Snare" on the Super Furry Animals last album. Very nice. I did put the song that precedes it on my Season's Greetings 2003 comp, the quasi-title track "Young Pilgrims" which includes the line, <i>I fell into a winter slide / and ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow</i>. It's a much simpler and more acoustic song than "Saint Simon" which I think Sloshy used on his year-ender, but lots of the same charm. They're a fairly popular indie pop band. Even got a song from their excellent first album in a McDonalds TV commercial which gave them a minor hit song, and last year they made an appearance on the Gilmore Girls TV show performing a song from this album. Shameless sellouts, I know :)

http://members.mailaka.net/davey/seasonsgreetings2003.gif

[ForeverAutumn]

I KNEW that I had them on a comp somewhere. I was looking for something more recent though. I listen to your 2003 comp all the time so I'm surprised that I didn't realize that's where I had heard them. I really like that Wheat track too. And...I bought the British Sea Power disk based on your comp.

Ooooh, could I be tiptoeing into indie territory? Scary. ;)

[BarryL]

Grant-Lee Phillips - Never heard of him.

The Tom Russell song is also outstanding. I can see the tumbleweeds rolling by as I listen.



I have the complete Tom Russell collection. Tom was a taxicab driver in New York who played guitar and wrote songs. He met up with another taxi driver, Andrew Hardin. They decided to form a band and went on the road. In fact, it was Tom and Andrew I was seeing at Hugh's Room the night I had drinks with Sylvia Tyson. He was in TO a few months ago on a Wednesday night, and I couldn't go, but told you that you should go. Russell's thing is story songs, mostly focusing on Cowboys and the southwest. If you like cowboy western music, there is a collection of Russell cowboy tunes available. You'll know it by the name and cover, I can't remember the name. Okay, I don't have all the Russell albums.

Grant-Lee Phllips was in a band called Grant-Lee Buffalo, I think. He's a singer-songwriter, touted by AMG to be one of the best in the past 20 years. I have one of his CDs which is low key, but I think it's great.

[Mike]

Grant-Lee Phillips - Never heard of him.


Yeah I've got a couple of GLP CD's 'Ladies Love' and 'Mobilize' and yes he was formerly with Grant Lee Buffalo. Both albums are pretty good although I think he is at his best when he does his acoustic stuff using his unique voice. I didn't realise he had a new album out I might have to check that one out.

Lambchop - I've a couple of earlier CD's 'What Another Man Spills' and 'Is a Woman' They are fronted by Kurt Wagner and his Lou Reed type vocals it's all very laid back and good stuff with top drawer recordings, they often feature the Nashville String Machine. Of the two I have I prefer Is a Woman but I didn't go for the latest, I don't know why cos I do like them a lot.

Shins - I much prefer the earlier Shins album 'Oh Inverted World' if you ever get the chance to hear it check it out it's well worth it.

Cheers
Mike

[ForeverAutumn]

Yeah I've got a couple of GLP CD's 'Ladies Love' and 'Mobilize' and yes he was formerly with Grant Lee Buffalo. Both albums are pretty good although I think he is at his best when he does his acoustic stuff using his unique voice. I didn't realise he had a new album out I might have to check that one out.

The new GLP disk is called Virginia Creeper. According to AMG it was released in February 2004. According to Uncut, it was recorded in three days. Both sources comment that the music has been stripped back in order to showcase his voice. That certainly seems true from the track on the Uncut disk. It was his voice that attracted me to the song, more-so than the song itself.

Thanks for the feedback Mike.

Oh, and Barry, if you're reading this... It's very generous of you to offer to loan me those CDs you mentioned. Thanks. ;)

[BarryL]

The new GLP disk is called Virginia Creeper. According to AMG it was released in February 2004. According to Uncut, it was recorded in three days. Both sources comment that the music has been stripped back in order to showcase his voice. That certainly seems true from the track on the Uncut disk. It was his voice that attracted me to the song, more-so than the song itself.

Thanks for the feedback Mike.

Oh, and Barry, if you're reading this... It's very generous of you to offer to loan me those CDs you mentioned. Thanks. ;)

You know where to find me.