LISTEN/DOWNLOAD: Atlas Sound - Bedroom Databank Vol. 1 & 2

Bradford Cox just posted up 2 free compilations, entitled 'Bedroom Databank Vol.1/Vol. 2'. All the tracks were recorded at home and Volume 1 includes a cover of Kurt Vile's 'Freak Train' and a cover of  Bob Dylan and Rick Danko's 'This Wheel's on Fire.' Both can be downloaded here.

Atlas Sound - "Wild Love" from The Tearist on Vimeo.

LISTEN: Doug Paisley - Constant Companion

No One But You

Don't Make Me Wait

O'Heart

Like The Band? (The album features Garth Hudson on keyboards) Enjoy a bit of JJ Cale? A fan of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy? Love Neil Young? A Dylan fanatic? Or do you just need some new autumnal music?

Give this a listen...

http://www.myspace.com/dougpaisley

MWW FAVOURITE: The Felice Brothers

I first read about The Felice Brothers in an issue of Uncut magazine a few years back and remember them mentioning The Band and Dylan as obvious influences and thinking I had to check them out! Anyway, I forgot about them and then a few months later I remembered the article, but for the life of me couldn't find the issue or what the band was called. All I could remember was that they were called The 'Something' Brothers and I think I ended up listening to The Avett Brothers or The Deadstring Brothers instead and thinking that both sounded pretty cool, but didn't sound like The Band or Dylan. Anyway, I can't remember exactly how I finally found them and I guess it's pretty unimportant...

The first album I heard was 'Tonight At The Arizona', which I had downloaded to check if they sounded anything like Dylan or The Band and obviously they did and that's when the love affair began. But, just to make a point, as Simone once put it in an interview...

"You have to promise not to ask us anything about Bob Dylan and the Band. A lot of people say we sound like them and we're tired of it. We're influenced by everything - Huey Lewis and the News ..."

 When I first heard the album I remember thinking how sad the album sounded and how intimate it all felt. Like real folk music should feel....as if they were playing just for me. 'Roll On Arte' and 'The Ballad of Lou the Welterweight' were the first 2 tracks that hooked me in and I remember weeks later hearing a band busking and cover 'Lou' and feeling like I was part of a special club lucky enough to have heard of the band. And what a chorus! Me and my fiancee still sing it randomly to this day. Don't worry though, I went out and bought the album the following day!

"oh my mouth ain't fed, my lips aint cherry red
and my grin might show my bad teeth
and all the people i pass, they give me a glance
as if im some lower class thief
but to you I'm fine and I'm in your mind
even if I'm not around
and my arms are strong and that's where you belong,
given the love that we've found"

After hearing this album I had to hear all their other work, which up until that point included the out of print 'Iantown' (which I only recently got hold of!), 'Through These Reins and Gone' and 'Adventures of The Felice Brothers Vol. 1'. It would be these first three releases that would pretty much make-up their first official release and some songs, such as 'Frankie's Gun' and 'Whiskey in My Whiskey', would also see a reappearance on their second official album, 'The Felice Brothers'. These first three albums are still essential and contain several tracks that wouldn't make reappearances, such as the excellent 'Her Eyes Dart Around' and 'Trouble Been Hard'.

In 2008 the band released their self-titled album which would be their 2nd or 5th album depending on how you look at things. The album takes on a fuller and sound this time and isn't quite as stripped down and lonely as their first album, but nonetheless is packed full of songs begging to be seen in a live show. If anything the album is more varied, with jams like 'The Greatest Show On Earth' alongside the upbeat classic, 'Frankie's Gun', and the heartbreaking 'Goddamn You Jim' or the epic 'Ruby Mae'.

This album was quickly followed up by 2009's 'Yonder Is The Clock', which would be their first release full of songs not found on any of the 3 earlier albums. This album was picked as Uncut's album of the month and it was such a refreshing change to see them there instead of Paul Weller or The Hold Steady. haha. The review is great and you can read it here. As with their previous album, this one combined heavier tracks ('Penn Station' and 'Run Chicken Run') alongside long ballads such as 'Katie Dear' and the haunting 'Cooperstown' that really make for a complete album.

The band also released an album of outtakes, entitled 'Mixtape', from 'Yonder Is The Clock' last year, but it was only available at live shows, so unfortunately I haven't yet heard it, but hope to one day soon! Last year also saw Simone Felice's departure from The Felice Brothers to concentrate on his writing and his new band, The Duke & The King and they released their incredible debut last year and are very much their own band. If you've not heard the album, do yourself a favour and check it out.

In conclusion, this band is something very special and although they haven't got anywhere near the recognition they deserve, as long as they keep putting out albums of such quality I'll keep buying them. Of their three albums, the first 2 are in the top 100 albums for 2007 and 2008 on RYM and their third is in the top 350 for 2009 (which is a joke as it was my favourite of last year!). I also just read that they might now be coming to Sweden's 'Way Out West' festival this summer, which would be a dream come true for me, as I am yet to see them live!

Their three official albums are on Spotify for those of you lucky enough to have an account and The Duke & The King are also on there:

Yonder Is The Clock (2009) 

The Felice Brothers (2008) 

Tonight At The Arizona (2007) 

Nothing Gold Can Stay (2009) 

It doesn't get any realer than this.

Peace

1969...A Spotify Playlist

 
I've not made a post for a while as I've just started a new job and had some visitors over last week. I've kinda lost track of new releases over the past couple of weeks, so thought I'd kick things off again with a playlist from another favourite year of mine...1969.

1969 is a really interesting year, as it's the beginning of the end of the hippie movement of the previous year. There's a perfect blend of all my favourite genres with classic releases all over the show and of course, this is the year Woodstock happened.

 The psych scene was slowly dying, with bands like The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service turning more towards lengthy jam based material, whilst Jefferson Airplane and Love both released what may have been their last great records. Whilst The Doors opted for a record that included brass, strings and a full orchestra and although often seen as their worst album, I still think it's a great album with some classic tracks.

Artists such as Neil Young, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley and CSN  all helped pave way for the singer-songwriter scene that would explode in the early 70s.

Whereas artists such as The Band, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and The Allman Brothers helped pave the way for country and roots based rock.

There were some great classic rock records from the like of The Rolling Stones, CCR, The Beatles and Blind Faith.

Blues based, heavier stuff was also starting to creep in with Free, High Tide, MC5, Deep Purple, Zeppelin's first two albums and The Stooges debut.

Elements of prog (Yes, King Crimson) also started to appear, as well as early signs of krautrock, with Can and Amon Duul 2 both releasing albums in '69.

The soul and funk scene was really starting to change direction and would explode in the 70s with classics from Sly Stone, The Meters and Isaac Hayes released in '69.

Take a look through the Rate Your Music list below and stick the playlist on shuffle on Spotify and I'm 100% sure you'll find a new favourite or something you'd never heard before. The playlist doesn't include everything, as some albums have not been added to Spotify yet, either due to their rareness or in the case of The Beatles, a greedy record label. Let me know if I've missed anything obvious and please leave a comment! ENJOY!

Listen to 1969 Playlist in Spotify

Rate Your Music - 1969

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks

 Real Estate's album was one of my favourites of last year and I've recently got into Ducktails' album, 'Landscapes'. All of these guys went to high school together in new Jersey and have played together for years. Now we have Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. Alex plays bass in Real Estate and is joined by Martin Courtney on bass and Matt Mondanile (Ducktails) on drums both also of Real Estate and Julian Lynch. Julian Lynch also released his full-length debut last year ('Orange You Glad'), though I haven't heard it yet.

I haven't heard this album yet, but have listened to several tracks on You Tube/Vimeo and really like what I'm hearing. All these guys seem to have a similar sound, but each has their own take on it. Maybe it's just a perfect way for them all to express themselves. Although these are still early days, they kinda remind of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young in the way all the members had solo projects alongside various group offerings. So here are a couple of nice tracks I found on Vimeo...the first being a cover of Mountain Man's 'Animal Tracks' (also included below) which is kinda like a more Crazy Horse style take on the song. The second song, 'Summer>Epilogue' sounds a little Neil Youngesque, mixed with some almost country-style singing and a little Grateful Dead style haziness.



Alex Bleeker and the Freaks - "Animal Tracks" from Elise Oh on Vimeo.


Alex Bleeker & The Freaks - Summer > Epilogue from Chocolate Bobka on Vimeo.