Austin, Texas' BROTHERS AND SISTERS should not be confused with Glasgow, Scotland's SONS AND DAUGHTERS, Los Angeles, California's THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS, Sydney, Australia's WOLFMOTHER, Belleville, Illinois' UNCLE TUPELO, or London, England's GAY DAD or ADAM ANT.This is alt-country music, or what you get when you cross Texas rock with California rock (New Mexico rock?). In this case: unassuming & appealingly awkward stuff.BROTHERS AND SISTERS on MySPACE.
From the LP FORTUNATELY, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "You're Gone"
[MP3] "Can't Hold Me Back"
From the LP BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 2006 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "One Night"
This wasn't how this was supposed to be.
I had six other songs all picked out and ready to go. Six brand-spankin'-new songs specially-designed to kick you in the ass and then rub it all better. So brand-spankin'-new they still had that new-song smell. Yep, no question, you would have loved 'em. But now you'll just have to wait. Because today, instead of those, we have these....
See, what happened was, I was going through my old mix CDs again (always a dangerous thing), and the song "Woman in Love" by BARBRA STREISAND (yes, that Barbra Streisand) got itself lodged in my medulla oblongata (or wherever the hell it is that songs go to get lodged). Much of the blame for this must go to my old nemesis -- nostalgia. For, you see, Barbra Streisand's is one of those voices of my youth. The '70s, specifically. You know: "Memories/Misty, water-colored memories"; "Love/Soft as an easy-chair"; "Flowers/You don't bring me flowers/Anymore." And, as it turns out: "I am a woman in love/It's a riiiiiight I defeeeend/Over and over agaiiiiiin."
(Hoo boy. I've lived my entire life in an effort to never be this queer.)
But let's be clear here. It's not just nostalgia and Babs' ability to hold a note that are to blame for this sudden, left-field, We-Interrupt-Your-Regularly-Scheduled-Programming post. Blame it, also, on THE BEE GEES. BARRY GIBB, specifically. For, you see, Seductive Barry wrote and sang backing vocals on "Woman in Love." You know: those synthesized, eunuch-android backing vocals that infected JOHN TRAVOLTA with Saturday Night Fever, broke DIONNE WARWICK's heart, and ate DIANA ROSS alive.
You have much to answer for, Mr. Gibb. Not least of which: this here sudden, left-field, We-Interrupt-Your-Regularly-Scheduled-Programming post....[MP3] BARBRA STREISAND/"Woman in Love" [1980]
[MP3] SAMANTHA SANG/"Emotion" [1977]
[MP3] BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB/"Guilty" [1980]
[MP3] DIONNE WARWICK/"Heartbreaker" [1982]
[MP3] BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB/"What Kind of Fool" [1980]
[MP3] ANDY GIBB/"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" [1977]
Some of my most favoritest tunes from the past few years have come courtesy of the currently label-less Tennessee collective THE FEATURES. Citing TALKING HEADS, THE KINKS, ELVIS COSTELLO, RANDY NEWMAN, and ROXY MUSIC as influences, these four young-fresh-fellows know from "infectious." I suppose one might also invoke THE KILLERS in describing a sound that genre-hops from indie rock to power pop to new wave (with a veneer of glam trappings, just for black-lipsticked kicks).
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across an all-new, full-length Features' effort (SOME KIND OF SALVATION) while surfing me some cyberspace the other day. AMAZON has it listed, but not (it would seem) for sale to the public. A strange state of affairs, if I do say so (and I do) (say so). Strange, too, is the fact that the very-American Features have been able to make quite a splash in the UK, but barely raise a ripple here in their home nation. For shame, people! Open your ears! Your arms! Your hearts! Your wallets! The MP3 files below! Do it now! Help these lads land a label! I command thee, dammit! (And I seriously need to back off on the caffeine.)
(Rumor has it that SOME KIND OF SALVATION may see an October release, so keep your ear to the ground and your eye on their MySPACE.)From the LP SOME KIND OF SALVATION, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "The Drawing Board"
[MP3] "All I Ask"
From the EP CONTRAST, 2007 >>>
[MP3] "Wooden Heart"
[MP3] "Commotion"
From the LP EXHIBIT A, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "The Idea of Growing Old"
[MP3] "Blow It Out"[VID] "Leave It All Behind"
I live alone. In a house. In Michigan. It's the house I grew up in. We moved there when I was three years old, in 1973. Above, you will find a picture of the house, taken in 1973, before we moved there. I'm working on this blog right now from behind the lower-left window. It's obstructed by a "For Sale" sign, and the picture was taken in 1973, or otherwise you would see me waving to you right now. Or flipping you off. Depending... you know... on my mood.
Here's the thing: It's a reasonably large house, and, at 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 135 pounds, I don't take up much space. Yet, I'm running out of places to put things. Specifically, my many, many mix CDs. I have hundreds of them. Actually, probably, 1000+. My bookshelves overfloweth. My closets... drawers... niches... cubbyholes... packed to the rafters. And the rafters are all-full-up, too.
So, I've had little choice but to "thin the herd"/"cull the crap." Case-in-point: My FOO FIGHTERS mix CD, from 2002. I mean, honestly, do I really need a Foo Fighters mix CD from 2002? Does anyone? When was the last time I listened to Foo Fighters, anyway? Hell, when was the last time I listened to NIRVANA? My mind draws a blank. But I'll hold onto my store-bought copy of NEVERMIND, thank you very much; it will always remind me of what things felt and sounded like when I was 21. The Foo Fighters mix CD from 2002, on the other hand... hell, I don't really want or need to be reminded what it felt like to be 32.I have to tell you: There were 22 songs on that mix CD. No joke. 22 Foo Fighters songs, just sitting there, not being listened to, no doubt wondering why I ever bothered to burn them in the first place. As to that, I haven't a clue. But they're gone now -- banished to the trash to make room for something new that won't be new at all six years from now. And round & round it goes....Here are the four songs of the 22 that seemed worth saving -- for a few more seconds of time, for a few more millimeters of space.... [MP3] "Everlong" [1997]
[MP3] "I'll Stick Around" [1995]
[MP3] "Big Me" [1995]
[MP3] "Ain't It the Life" [1999]
Today, as you may know, is August 8, 2008. In other words: "08.08.08." Which got me to contemplatin' -- what did I post on this here little blog o' mine back on 07.07.07?
Well, it turns out I didn't post anything on 07.07.07. Or 07.08.07. 07.09.07... 07.10.07... not a peep. Checking my handy-dandy, dog-eared 2007 calendar, I see that I was in the midst of a 12-day drinking binge at the time. Indeed, I do seem to recall (vaguely) the days passing in a dull, hollow blur; my acid-reflux-ravaged throat feeling swollen to twice its normal size; and the updating of this here little blog o' mine seeming of very little consequence or concern. Little did I know that I was a mere 20 days away from posing for my first mugshot. I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.
So last year, obviously, was a bit of a washout for me. But what about 06.06.06? Surely things had to have been better back then....
Checking my handy-dandy, dog-eared 2006 calendar, I see that June '06 found me in the midst of a 15-day drying-out period. And, on 06.06.06, I posted songs by... LLOYD COLE. Soberly, I wrote:
"Lloyd Cole is a Brit who formed Lloyd Cole & the Commotions in the early '80s. They had a modicum of success with their relatively gentle brand of folk-rock and Cole's literate lyrics. Then he blew the whole thing up and went solo. Things have been somewhat sketchy for him since. But the man can still write a pleasant tune from time to time...."
A bit of a lukewarm endorsement there, to be sure. Truth is, I've never been able to muster much enthusiasm for the man's music. The critics praise him to the stars, but I find him merely adequate. But "adequate" ain't all bad, and, if he's got CAMERA OBSCURA name-checking him [see below], he must be doing something right....LLOYD COLE on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Fool You Are" [1998]
[MP3] "Baby" [1995]
[MP3] "Weeping Wine" [1991]
[MP3] "Woman in a Bar" [2006]
BONUS TRACK >>>
[MP3] CAMERA OBSCURA/"Lloyd, We're Ready to Be Heartbroken" [2006]
[These last two posts come a day later than intended. Apparently under the mistaken impression that this is a spam blog, Blogger locked me out of the site yesterday. I was still feeling the frustration and helplessness of that development when a fluke, five-minute mini-storm rolled through my neighborhood last night. Cue random bolt of lightning. I am now out two TVs and a VCR. Ain't life grand.]Left-click [HERE] to download July's big bag o' muzak....Portal to previous monthly mixes [HERE].BEST OF JULY 2008 TRACKLIST >>>
01 friska viljor/on and on
02 the displacements/down and out
03 albert hammond, jr./101
04 amanda jenssen/come on (you have arrived)
05 youth group/sorry
06 cansei de ser sexy/left behind
07 black kids/i'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you
08 cazals/we're just the same
09 five o'clock heroes/stay the night
10 boy kill boy/a-ok
11 kristoffer ragnstam/swing that tambourine
12 april march/chick habit
13 the fratellis/my friend john
14 beck/gamma ray
15 dirty pretty things/kicks or consumption
16 parka/dj in the corner
17 wolf parade/it's a curse
18 the lurios/digit's dance
19 sons and daughters/chains
20 clocks/that much better
21 langhorne slim/restless
22 youth group/one for another
23 the walkmen/in the new year
24 the shortwave set/repeat to fade
[Stop back by a little later, kids, for the Best of July mix....][MP3] STEREOLAB/"Daisy Click Clack" [2008]
[MP3] ZEITGEIST/"Bunny" [2008]
[MP3] TWO SHEDS/"WTF?" [2008]
[MP3] GET WELL SOON/"You/Aurora/You/Seaside" [2008]
[MP3] THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS/"Your Daddy Don't Know" [2002]
[MP3] PULP/"Disco 2000" [1995]
And now, apropos of absolutely nothing, a couple of 12-year-old tracks from defunct twee-poppers HEAVENLY. (This is what happens when you start digging around in the archives....)[MP3] "Nous Ne Somes Pas Des Anges"
[MP3] "Space Manatee"
Austin, Texas' BROTHERS AND SISTERS should not be confused with Glasgow, Scotland's SONS AND DAUGHTERS, Los Angeles, California's THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS, Sydney, Australia's WOLFMOTHER, Belleville, Illinois' UNCLE TUPELO, or London, England's GAY DAD or ADAM ANT.
