I really like these Hollis Brown kids. Hollis Brown is a band, not an individual. Their take on Americana is enervating, boisterous and often merry.
Legendary bluegrass banjo player, Earl Scruggs, died Wednesday at age 88 in a Nashville hospital. According to his sons, Scruggs died of natural causes. He was the last of the bluegrass pioneers. Scruggs’ influence on not only bluegrass and country but all of modern music is extraordinary. He pioneered three-finger, “Scruggs style” picking, an innovation …
“Kitchenette” – Grinderman. Sexy. Saw them last year. Nick Cave was a revelation. How come more people don’t know about him? – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days Here’s a live vid:
“Bleeding Muddy Water” – Mark Lanegan. His voice is the sound of the center of the earth; molten, heaving, and 1000 degrees. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
For you casual Beatles fans, there is a great treat to be found. I guess many of you have never listened to “Love”, a soundtrack remix album of music recorded by The Beatles and released in 2006, I hadn’t until just a few days ago. It features compiled and remixed Beatles music and was produced …
“Reckoner”- Radiohead. Made me want to sing again after a long dark period of ambivalence in 2009. Heaven on earth. Sublime. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmNG2D81x3Y
This is apparently Hate Smile, being performed on college radio recently. I say apparently because it is quite different in pace, and even in overall sound, to the single version. It can’t all be down to having a new tub thumper. Whatever, it’s a fine song and it’ll tide me over while the girls (new …
She’s probably been one of the most adventurous artists of the past 25 years, dipping her toe in more genre-stretching experimentation than almost anyone I can think of and still maintaining a solid melodic & harmonic core. Usually, her experiments have succeeded, but even her “failures” have been noble. The pity is that most folks …
This year I have mainly eschewed all this ‘lists’ business. However, there have been moments that have been truly extraordinary. One of those was hearing this track. It’s a great album – I reviewed it HERE. However, Santa Fe is simply one of the best songs I have heard all year. Samantha has a great …
I saw Wild Flag cold a few Thursdays ago. By which I mean I hadn’t heard a word of them before the gig. At least I thought that was the case, but Romance sounded way familiar. You can read the review (and see my Wild Flag photos) HERE and it’s fair to say I was …
Recently a request crossed my desk to cover an old band with a new album. I’ve been busy with work on the Ghostwood Estates project, so when I received this request to cover Van Halen’s new album, A Different Kind of Truth, and I thought, “really?” I initially demurred but then acquiesced due to previous …
“Miss You Much” Janet Jackson. Guilty pleasure? How come I dont feel guilty? Puts a smile on + rocks you hard. Invigorates. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
Mike Hughes, friend of East Portland Blog and proprietor of Catshoe.org, had an excellent week at South By Southwest (SXSW), the Austin, Texas music festival which takes place annually in March and has become a celebration of the globe’s newest, strongest, wildest, hottest, firmest, most interesting and best music. A world class photographer, young Mike …
“Genuine Pt 1”- Sharon Jones. Helluva singer, never sounded better than this live LP from ’11. Much respect long live SJ!! – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
“So Alive” – Love and Rockets. Silky and sexy with a tough swagger. I used to pretend I was one of the back-up singers. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDnzvGWYCA
Tonight on Steve’s Midnight Video: the brilliant Beautiful South, who have a penchant for making cleverly unconventional clips for their clever songs. – Steve Stav
Melodic rockers Go Radio will be performing at Peter’s Room at Roseland in Portland on April 27 and at Chop Suey in Seattle on 4/26. This will be without a doubt one of the week’s hottest shows. Go Radio is a red-hot rock band from Tallahassee who are headlining this U.S. tour in support of …
The one & only Chilly Gonzales will be performing one of his infamous Piano Talk Shows at the Alberta Rose Theater on April 9! Chilly’s been performing his Piano Talk Shows for several years; some of them feature guests, but mostly he raps, often complains and, between moments of utter musical genius and grace, teaches …
San Antonio band, Girl In A Coma, will perform at Dante’s in Portland on May 4th and at the Vera Project in Seattle on 5/5. Their most recent album, Exits & All The Rest, came out on November 1st on Blackheart Records to tremendous critical acclaim. Come and check out their powerful live show.
“Hard On For War”- Mudhoney. Saw them last night at the Tractor, complete with moshing and crowd-surfing. Epic. Seattle. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
New Season, the latest album from England’s singer/songwriter Luke Leighfield, is easy to listen to and also packs a light punch. Songs like the soulful, It’s You, to the slightly heavier, Slow Down, make this new work from Leighfield a versatile collection of songs. Although there’s nothing really new in Leighfield’s material either musically or …
If you don’t know about them, Skinny Lister is a well loved folk-fusion band from the UK that was dubbed “the hardest working band” in that rainy country and are said to have a sound reminiscent of the Pogues. Below is the video for “If The Gaff Don’t Let Us Down,” which the band describes …
According to Wikipedia, YACHT is “an American band from Portland, Oregon, Marfa, Texas, and Los Angeles, CA.” Whatever their origins, they will perform Thursday, 3/29 at Portland’s Mississippi Studios and in Salem at Wulupalooza on 4/21. (Complete tour info is here.) The dance duo, Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt, will be playing tracks off their …
“Stand Behind the Music” – Anjulie. Going out to all the girls + women I know in the music, biz esp my girl @celiachavez ! – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
“Ice Blink Luck”- Cocteau Twins. Strums you from the inside + lifts you with soaring melodies + perfect beats. Ends elated. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
These kids had a Youtube hit recently where all five of them played the same guitar. This is their clever follow up: And thank you to Scott Shepherd who points out that “Little Boxes” was also a Spanish language hit for Chilean folk singer, Victor Jara, in 1971: http://youtu.be/-7ku1VwAzx0