Fashionable People Wear Denim On Denim

Both of these happening indie pop artists deserve their own post, but this turned into a 2-fer.

Joel Plaskett hails from Nova Scotia. He's been making music for a long time here in Canada, but I'd never heard of him before seeing him open for the Barenaked Ladies recently. He has a website.



Library Voices hail from Regina. They've only been making music for a couple of years but I had never heard of them before seeing them play this past weekend (even though they're from my hometown). They have a MySpace page.

Joel Plaskett performed semi solo when I saw him (joined by guitarist Peter Elkas), but he fronts a three piece band called the Joel Plaskett Emergency which has an Elvis Costello Neil Young Big Star kinda thing going on.

Library Voices is an 8 piece collective, fronted by singer/guitarist Carl Johnson and keyboardist/lyrist Mike Dawson, but they truly are a band...in a Brian Jonestown Massacre Dandy Warhols The New Pornographers kinda way.

Joel Plaskett won a Juno last week for Best Adult Alternative Album for his CD Three.


"Fashionable People" isn't on that CD, but it seems to be the song he's most recognized for.




Library Voices just released a new CD entitled Denim On Denim.


They talk about the making of it HERE. "Haunt This House" is one of the songs on it.

Library Voices - Haunt This House from Andy Dixon on Vimeo.

Joel Plaskett wants to "Go Nowhere With You."




Library Voices want to "Step Off The Map And Float."




Bottom line? Both rock the house live. Smart. Fun. Infectious. Soooo entertaining. Buy their tunes, and definitely see them in concert if you can.

That is all.

(And I've just learned these are two of my eldest daughter and her boyfriend's fav Canadian artists and have been for a while...so I guess this is what the 'kids' are into. Welcome to the present day, old man.)

Punch It Out, Punch It Up, Punch The Clock Even, Brothers

I can now die a slightly happier man having caught Elvis Costello and the Impostors give one of the best live shows I've ever seen (this review from the night before is more in line with what I witnessed). The evening consisted of the Lovell Sisters joining Costello onstage for a wickedly sublime alt folk/country mid-section which he brilliantly bookended with more than a dozen of his old classics:



Genius.

But the road trip also blessed me with the discovery of a new to me and now all-time fav band...The Punch Brothers featuring mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek):



Thile just sparkles fun and charisma, and doing some kind of pop/blues alt-country chamber new grass thingee, this boy...sorry, these boys, like, played their asses off. Took bluegrass to a whole new level...you should hear them do Radiohead. Seriously.

And I'm saying it...masterpiece.



Thank you Winnipeg Folk Festival...Costello smacked me around the ring but Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers knocked me out.

Musical Interlude

Trying to shake my head clear of some of the wonky Canadian TV Biz white noise that's become a recurrent theme round here of late...hopefully some quick and dirty musical notes on some of my preferred recent cd purchases will do the trick...as its now summertime (finally), and the living should be easier.


Life And Times - Bob Mould


Dark, edgy, electric...more Sugar than Solo...'Life And Times' isn't some brand new thing, but any Mould is better than no Mould in my opinion. SAMPLE.




LotusFlow3r - Prince


Two great cd's that could've been one brilliant one (isn't that always the case?), but still plenty worth grooving to, and lotsa lotsa guitar...that boy still can play. SAMPLE.




Townes - Steve Earle


Tribute album to late singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, but Earle still makes the songs his own. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful. SAMPLE.





The Hazards of Love - The Decemberists


A folk rock concept album that tells a story...has a late 60's/early 70's feel, with every song flowing into the next one, which didn't seem like something I would like but I'm enjoying it...a lot. SAMPLE.




Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane - Elvis Costello


Reminiscent of country albums from early in Costello's career like 'Almost Blue' and 'King of America', it's like a nice lazy Sunday afternoon stroll. Nice. SAMPLE.





Enjoy.

I'm In Love With (The Music In) My Car

I was thinking about doing a 'year in my music' review last month, but as I started to put it together I was struck by how average and 'mainstream' so many of my choices were...and I ditched it. I mean, pretty much everything I was going to shout about was already on Q Magazine or Spin Magazine or Rolling Stone mags 'best of' lists (which got me wondering...have I become so uncool? Or have all the rags just gone more cool?). Anyhoo. Bo-ring.

But then I was reading an article recently that labelled some of the picks I was planning to highlight as 'recent discoveries', so I decided to do a quick revisit.

First the rules, pretty simple actually...cd's are ranked by the length of time a band or artists' disc spent in the cd player of my car (and who doesn't love their car + great tunes...I mean, really) --- most time in the deck wins.

Yeah, you heard me. This ain't about kudos for bragging about the obscure, hip, cool, rad music I came across... this is about what stayed in the player, playa.


So counting down, or up, the top five:

5) Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology - 3 weeks 4 days

Alt-country meets stadium rock... great cruising music... wrote about it HERE.... check out "Magick"


4) Bob Mould - District Line - 3 weeks 6 days
Beck - Modern Guilt - 3 weeks 6 days

A tie between two alt pop punk mavericks...wrote about 'District Line' HERE...'Modern Guilt' a little bit HERE (it grew on me)... check out "Gamma Ray"


3) Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid - 4 weeks 2 days

Courtesy Callaghan giving a thumbs up...hard to put a finger on what exactly I liked so much about this UK bands' folksy yet richly textured release, but it got played over and over and over...check out "One Day Like This"


2) The Killers - Day & Age - 5 weeks 1 day
Bit of surprise with this one, which after being casually tossed in for a quick 'let's give it a listen', just came out of the car a few days ago. Perhaps it was because of the cold, but I think because there was a whole lots of 80's 'Tears For Fearsy' and 'Human Leaguee' dance fun....check out "Human"


1) My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges - 7 weeks
TV on the Radio - Dear Science - 7 weeks

Yes, another tie. Kind of lame I know, but these were also the only two cd's I bought this year that spent considerable time in the deck, came out of the deck, and then went back in the deck again. So a bit of a cheat in that I combined their time spent in my vehicle's cd player, but whatever... they deserved it. Wrote about 'Evil Urges' HERE and 'Dear Science' HERE...both are brilliant...don't hesitate to purchase.


Other musical year end notes: didn't see a lot of live acts this year...Neil Young was special but the standout show would have to have been Kathleen Edwards and her band kicking out the jams for an hour at a folk festival. Her new cd Asking For Flowers with The Cheapest Key wasn't too shabby either.

And coolest 'very viral' music video of the year (I could take or leave the song)... Weezer's "Pork and Beans".




Just watch it and you'll understand what I mean.

Okay...we all good?

They Came To Dance

You ever hear a new cd and think: "I like this...I like it a lot, but boy does it ever sound like someone else that I used to listen to..."

I've always enjoyed the music of Ryan Adams...from his debut cd Heartbreaker, or his loving tribute to the Big Apple 'New York New York', but his new release Cardinology has really struck a chord. It hasn't left my CD player since last Tuesday. I'm really digging it.

Listen to him and his band The Cardinals perform new tunes Fix It and Cobwebs on Letterman last week. Sweet and yummy alt-country rock goodness.

But it reminds me, especially his delivery and inflection on certain songs, of some other musical artist buried deep in the recesses of my brain.

And then it suddenly hit me...! Yay!

Nils Lofgren.

Nils who?

Nils Lofgren is a rock singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (read: wicked pianist and guitarist). He is also a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

I first discovered Lofgren in the late 70's after learning he'd played on Neil Young's After The Goldrush lp at just seventeen years old. After that he'd had a stint with the band Grin and then a blossoming solo career, plus the fact he played all kinds of instruments really well, and I wanted to hear this guy play. I wore out his double live album Night After Night on my turntable...yes, those were the days of albums and turntables.


Across The Tracks, Goin Back, Delivery Night, Valentine, Moon Tears, Keith Don't Go, No Mercy, and his classic (with a crappy clip) I Came To Dance...these songs were burned into my brain. And though his guitar work was always stellar, it was his singing style that stuck with me....a soft haunting warble that still managed to pierce...that's the essence of Lofgren. And to circle back around to where this post began, that's what finally connected him to Adams for me.

The both sing in a very similar way.

Sure, Lofgren is more rock and Adams more alt-country, but vocally, cut from the same cloth for sure. Not to diminish Adam's accomplishment with Cardinology, it's one of the best CD's of the year...but Adams arrives to us today via the trail blazed by Lofgren. And though both were cult figures in search of a mass audience, they still made it...while still remaining artists through and true.

Someone else arrived last night, also via trails blazed by others before him...but he did it. Yes, he did.

And for anyone to get there, you must believe a little bit in yourself.


(that's Lofgren with Neil Young)


Obama. Adams. Lofgren. They came to dance.

Dear TV On The Radio...

Please consider this letter my small token of appreciation for your new cd Dear Science. Your original blend of funk, soul, jazz, and new wave/punk rock is a juxtaposition worth listening to, not to mention it makes me wanna dance.

I heard some of the new release HERE, and more of it OVER HERE...and then I purchased the cd when it hit the stores yesterday. Plus you put out trippy Webisodes like THIS, and a new video for 'Golden Age' on the Youtubes.

Mmmm. Cool musical goodness.

We have some history together. You got my attention with 'Wolf Like Me' from Return To Cookie Mountain. You sunk your hooks deeper into me with 'Staring At The Sun' off Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. And you hail from Brooklyn...my brother lives in Brooklyn.

Your bizarre sonic stylings inspired by diverse musical influences seems like it shouldn't work, but it does. I am, once again, impressed and entranced.

Some day I'm going to start to act my age...put away the music that my eldest daughter listens to and wants to tell me about but then is almost disappointed when she learns I'm already all over it --- and start being all about the classical and opera.

But until that day comes, I still want my TV on the Radio.


Sincerely,

wcdixon (a fan)

Tripping Over My Morning Jacket

So ill today....sooooooo ill, one of those 'just put me outta my misery now' kinda days. Damn.

But being sick didn't keep me from continuing to groove on Evil Urges, the new release from My Morning Jacket. I fell for this band hard after their 2005 effort Z ("Keep it off the record, baby, off the record!")....and Urges hasn't disappointed.


But why....what makes this band stand out for me so much? They do some funk, alt country, classic rock and prog rock...I'm sure I'm not the first to try to pinpoint this Kentucky bands' sound as Wilco meets Prince meets Radiohead, but that's what I came up with. And yes their first single 'I'm Amazed' is more Wilco than anything else...




...until you hear the songs 'Evil Urges' or 'Highly Suspicious' from the same cd, and pinning them down becomes much more difficult.

I'd definitely liken them to two other young American bands I've enjoyed of late, Band of Horses and TV On The Radio...what with all the psychedelia-influenced classic rock with lotsa falsetto vocals --- my only real complaint about all these artists is the length of time between releases...3 years?? Too long, boys...too long.

But go trip out on My Morning Jacket...you'll be glad you did.

And I'm feeling better already.

Censored Summer Fun

In lieu of a real post, enjoy some 'Toe Jam' from Fatboy Slim's new project Brighton Port Authority featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal and some very imaginative use of the black censorship bar...



Great beach tune. Or nude beach tune even.

Makes me wanna catch some rays...

You Seen My Ghost?

More on the music front, and just so the kids know I'm not only about the old school...be sure to have a listen to Wintersleep's Welcome To The Night Sky. I can't seem to tear this Halifax-based band's third release from my cd player. It transports, titillates, and mesmerizes.


And even though I hear it as a beguiling blend of Arcade Fire meets Coldplay meets early REM meets Radiohead meets Neil Young meets The Waterboy's/World Party (remember them? mmmm...yummy music goodness), it still manages to sound like all the aforementioned artists yet original at the same time.

And like Radiohead, they make some cool videos.



So there you go. Find your ghost.