New music Sunday

[Swish]

I just got my latest delivery from DeepDiscountCD.com yesterday, and while I listened to all three of them shortly after opening the cases, my plan is to play the crap out of them today.
First up is the new one from Cat Power, "The Greatest", and I liked it on the first spin. She actually sounds upbeat on a couple tracks, so I was a bit surprise...ok, not really, I read a review that mentioned she did, and he was right. Next is the latest from Clearlake titled "Amber", and it sound pretty good so far, and a bit different than their previous release "Cedars". I think it was J who raved about that earlier CD and he was dead-on. Last but not least is "Arizona Amp and Alternator", the latest project by Howe Gelb, who many of you indie geeks know as the brains behind Giant Sand, and that's a good think. This record may be a true gem, although I really need to explore it a bit more, but it has all the elements I find appealing. It's my favorite of the three so far, but they will all likely be near the top of my list for 2006, although we're still not out 'o the gate.

Swish

[tentoze]

I gots the new Neko Case going on the first listen- 1/2 way through it, and it's a keeper.

[Slosh]

I went to the record store yesterday with three albums in mind (nothing new, though) and of course they didn't have any of them but I couldn't resist the debut Clash LP for only $5.97 new. I kinda almost nearly forgot how good "Janie Jones", "Career Opportunities", and "What's My Name" are but it all came back to me rather quickly.

Last night some friends stopped by and we ended up watching Widespread Panic on ACL in HD with several Spatens thrown in for good measure. Gotta love PBS sometimes.

NP: "Polar Opposites" - Modest Mouse

[MindGoneHaywire]

The Blue Van--The Art Of Rolling.

I've been spending a lot of time listening to the Howard Stern show & some related programming on his channels...flip by the Rolling Stones channel occasionally...and a few sets on Little Steven's Underground Garage...so I haven't heard a ton of new stuff lately. But the Blue Van album rocked.

I wasn't bowled over by the Monk live album from 1957 with John Coltrane, but I did like the recently unearthed Coltrane 2-CD live set quite a bit. Surprising since I'm not a huge fan of his later experimentation, it wasn't quite as free or whatever as I would've expected given the date of the recording. I recommend that highly...but that's not new, is it now...sorry.

Um...Guitar Hot Shots. I think it's on Hightone? A comp with some nice fretwork from Dick Dale, Dave Alvin, Otis Rush, 10 others. Could've been better, but not a bad selection. Oh, and there's something on there from a band that actually IS new & has a new rec out. The Hot Club Of Cowtown, for those of you that share my strong interest in Western Swing. Ghost Train or Ghost Town is the name of the rec, or something like that. Dynamite.

[Finch Platte]

The Blue Van--The Art Of Rolling.

I submitted a song from that for an RR comp a while back, and no one seemed to get it.

fp

[Swish]

The Blue Van--The Art Of Rolling.

I've been spending a lot of time listening to the Howard Stern show & some related programming on his channels...flip by the Rolling Stones channel occasionally...and a few sets on Little Steven's Underground Garage...so I haven't heard a ton of new stuff lately. But the Blue Van album rocked.

Hey J. I just got a Sirius radio from my wife for a Christmas present, but I haven't installed it yet. Do you have it set up on your PC? How do you like it so far? I may actually be selling my car so I didn't install it yet. I plan to by a 2006 that already has Sirius, so I may have to sell my gift on e-bay.

As for the Blue Van, I saw them at the Cameleon in Lancaster last year, and while they rocked pretty hard, I wasn't terribly impressed. They were quite animated on stage, and maybe that took away from the music. The bass player was really whacked! If he goes thru those gyrations every night, he won't make it to 30. He was friggin' crazy. I guess I should give their CD a shot though.

My son-in-law's band, Movies With Heroes, played that night and were pretty good, but I saw them a couple weeks ago, and they have improved dramatically, adding a new band member (a replacement actually) and improving their stage presence and sound by leaps and bounds. Beck's tour manager "discovered" them at a local music festival last summer and is now working with them and trying to get them signed to a major label. He doesn't want them playing tiny venues any longer, and has them busy writing new material and practicing like crazy. I'll be at their CD release party on March 3rd at the Cameleon, and a bunch of my friends will be going as well. Maybe you guys will be hearing about them in the near future?

Regards,
Swish

[Jim Clark]

I haven't bought anything this year. I'm heading off to the record store today to see if anything I want is on the shelves. Doubt it though.

jc