LISTEN: Bobby Jameson - Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest (1965)

Girl from Vernon Mountain

That's the Way the World Has Got to Be Pt.2

There's A War Going On

Following up my BJM post from yesterday, I thought I'd post a few songs up for your listening pleasure. This is a great album. A true lost classic. Definitely a must for fans of Love, The Byrds, Tim Buckley etc. Just came across this excellent review from Julian Cope, which you can read here.

The Love comparison my friend Paul made is right on the nail, the songs here sound like dead ringers for "Da Capo"era Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean, especially Love numbers such as "Que Vida" and "Orange Skies". What's really unique about this record is that it's folk rock without Beatles overtones. In fact Chris is backed on several tracks by what sounds to be a jazz group (kinda like on Tim Buckley albums like "Happy Sad" and "Lorca")

I also just discovered that Bobby Jameson has several different blogs, each covering various aspects of his life. Really interesting stuff! Read more here. 

LISTEN: The Byrds - Ballad of Easy Rider (1969)

Oil in My Lamp

There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)

Gunga Din

'Ballad of Easy Rider' on Rate Your Music

NEW: The Young Sinclairs - We Spoke Our Minds EP

I first listened to The Young Sinclairs only a couple of months back when I managed to get hold of 'The Songs of The Young Sinclairs' and in the first couple of weeks I listened to nothing else. The new EP is equally as groovy and you can listen to the entire EP below Perfect for the warm summer we're having here in sunny Sweden!

Buy it here.

 

VIDEO: The Byrds - Eight Miles High (Live at The Fillmore East 1970)

Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo (2010)

 
The Shins. The Byrds. Neil Young. Band of Horses. Daniel Johnston. Mark Linkous. Johnny Marr. Tortoise. Fleet Foxes. Mercury Rev. Flaming Lips. Love. Syd Barrett. Beach Boys. Weezer. Joanna Newsom. Wilco. Built to Spill. Deerhoof.

I'm just over half way through my first listen of Avi Buffalo's deut album for Sub Pop and was reading through a number of reviews I found through metacritic and thought I'd compile a list of artists mentioned during the reviews. Avi Buffalo don't necessarily sound exactly like any of the above bands, but take various elements from each and you've got Avi Buffalo. Whatever the comparisons may be, this is a summer album and is full of sweet melodies and sunshine guitar licks and makes me wish I was in California, kicking back with a Corona. I'm still only on my first listen and whether or not it'll be a favourite of the year, it's probably too early to say, but I do know this will get some serious playtime over the coming weeks. RYM has it at 3.27, whilst the critics have been much more generous, with a score of 81 on metacritic. The obvious stand out for me is the insanely catchy 'What's In It For?', which you can watch the video for and download below, as well as 'Remember Last Time.'

Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?

COVERED: Buffy Saint-Marie - Codine (1963)

This song was originally written by Buffy Saint-Marie in 1963, after becoming addicted to codeine whilst recovering from a throat infection. The song became a classic of the era and was covered by The Byrds, The Charlatans (US 60s), Donovan, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Janis Joplin and Gram Parsons among others. A great song, with so many great covers.

A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: Forty-Two Songs to Fika to

"Fika, a social institution in Sweden, is both verb and noun in Swedish and has a broad definition. Essentially, it refers to a break from one's activities in order to drink coffee or other drinks with friends, family or acquaintances. This tradition of a coffee break with a snack is central to Swedish culture, and Swedes are one of the world's top coffee consumers."

The mix includes tracks from David Crosby, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, The Zombies, Real Estate, Devendra Banhart, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Fred Neil, Traffic, John Phillips, Kurt Vile, Old 97's, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, The Felice Brothers, The Strange Boys and many more.

Invite some friends over, stick this on and fika Swedish style. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Open 'Forty-Two Songs to Fika to' in Spotify 

White Fence - S/T (2010)

White Fence is Tim Presley. He's singer for Darker My Love, has played in The Fall (on 'Reformation') and is also a member of one of my favourite bands of the moment, The Strange Boys (although he's only credited on their Myspace for vocals and laughs). The album has been compared to those of a lot of my favourites from the 60s, including Love, The Byrds, Skip Spence, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, The Who etc. You get the picture! The comparisons aren't too far off the mark either and makes this a must for any fans of said bands!

"Wander into the sweltering Cali smog to find yourself transported into a lysergic pop netherworld, where White Fence carves broad strokes of color into your mind. Coming on like Love in a Lollipop Shoppe, or Chris Knox abusing a Voxm the record oscillates between a sun-dappled English meadow, a crumbling SoCal suburban bedroom, and a riotous Sunset Strip leather gang knife fight, with the kind of warped precision and purity that marks the wolves from the sheep and the profound from the pretend in this instant online age. You know what I mean."   Woodist Records

"There's hardly a minute of this debut that doesn't remind you of something else, but never in an objectionable, copying sort of way. What you're hearing, if you like 1960s psychedelia, are the skewed, very personal observations of a guy who has the same records as you do, who loves them deeply, but would never stoop to xeroxing them."    Dusted Magazine

The Beau Brummel's - Bradley's Barn (1968)

With the arrival of The Byrds' 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' and The Internationl Submarine Band's 'Safe At Home' (both invloving Gram Parsons) earlier on in the year and Dylan's 'John Wesley Harding' at the tail end of 1967, elements of country were beginning to infiltrate the recent psych-dominated rock scene which had previously taken most of it's inspiration from blues and folk.

This album would be the band's fifth studio release and although not as countrified as The Byrds' release, this album should certainly rank amongst some of the earliest examples of the country-infused rock that would come into favour over the next decade.

All of the band's six albums are on Spotify and well worth a listen.


The Beau Brummel's - Bradley's Barn (Spotify link)

Bullion

Check out these two spacey, psycyedelic and instantly infectious songs! I don't know quite how to label them, with people mentioning The Byrds, Daedulus and many others. I get definite Stones Throw vibes (Dam-Funk's spaced out funk) and The Avalanches and other samplers also spring to mind! The tracks can be downloaded on Bullion's website. Bullion has previously released a J Dilla/Beach Boys tribute entitled 'Pet Sounds: In The Key of Dee', which I am yet to hear, but from the tracks available on You Tube, it sounds pretty damn interesting! See the below video for a sample of the album. This guy is ONE TO WATCH for 2010!