Here is one of the best songs you’ve likely never heard, despite the fame of those involved: I have long been a huge Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes fan and when this album came out in 1991 I thought it would finally be the vehicle to take SSJ to the top nationally, instead of …
“She’s Long Gone” – The Black Keys. Dirty, gritty, and true, like a freight train running off the tracks. You cant look away. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
“Rope On Fire” – Morphine. No other band in history has come close to their smoldering baritone ferocity; this song is perfect. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUAQJxKfSfw
The answer to the riddle of “why didn’t Britain’s most popular band make much of a dent here in the States?” has been debated forever. The truth is, there are a number of reasons why The Jam wasn’t huge here, why even the most savvy of radio listeners barely heard from them until all their …
“Nightbirds”- Ryan Adams. Swim around inside these simple piano chords and shimmering strings. Indigo-blue and haunting. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days Here’s the tune on Rhapsody. And here’s a live version:
I probably wasn’t the only suburban American youth who wished, at age 16 in 1984, that he was a handful of years older — and living in England. Los Angeles came in second on the desired locales list, but even at that tender age, my gut told me that the enormity, social disconnect and relative …
I love this. Cesária Évora is great and sorely missed. I wonder if there is a softer, more delcious language anywhere than Portuguese. I can always just about but never really quite understand it. – Kevin Hendrickson
Robbie Robertson must’ve been feeling generous on this day, because he gave Richard Manuel a co-songwriting credit on this beautiful haunting song. – Randy Rendfeld http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKnPYcsf508
Stevie Nicks wrote “Silver Springs” for the Rumours album, but it was bumped in favor of a shorter song, an omission forming one of the few, perhaps the only, Fleetwood Mac mistake in the creation of that wildly successful album. Richard Dashut, Rumours’s engineer and co-producer, has described the song as, “The best song that …
I don’t know who else could pull this off. Jack White is the definition of cool. He doesn’t worry about the gender problem with this Dolly Parton song. He just lets it fly. Come to think of it, Bob Dylan sang “House of the Rising Sun” — a Dave Van Ronk arrangement — from the …
Among the dozens and dozens of Paul Weller-penned jewels, “The Butterfly Collector” has always been of the most intriguing, most fascinating songs to digest and ponder. I’ve always felt it was about disdain for an aging groupie living vicariously through a never-ending succession of “butterflies” in her collection. Rumour has it that I’ve been correct …
“The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore” – PJ Harvey. When I need release I plug in, turn my amp up loud and rip this out. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT5AjPyxaPI
One of East Portland Blog’s readers noticed the educational mission of East Portland Blog, which is a serious one, and sent us this announcement. Thank you, Jenna, and good luck with your fundraiser: Hello East Portland Blog team, I was reading your blog and noticed while you have a wide variety of subjects that you …
Psalm 23 from ocbibleteacher on GodTube.
Antigone Rising, or AR as they are known to fans, has long been known for its “grass roots” touring. They shed this reputation recently when they were chosen by the US State Department to be Arts Envoys in Israel from February 18-28, 2012. They brought to Israel and the West Bank the hope of good …
Elvis Costello burst onto the music scene in the late seventies, riding on the wave of punk & new wave that took over the world at the same time. His political lyrics and ability to fly in the face of the establishment earned him a place in the punk genre. His refusal to be censored …
“Helpless” – KD Lang. One of the greatest living singers covers Neil Young. Renders you (title). When I miss Vancouver I put it on. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT2z9TO0bfQ
In the late 1970s and early 80s, Jam proved that you could be really pissed off AND carry a tune, at the same time. Paul Weller’s trio had legitimate reasons for their anger: massive unemployment, a recession, a conflict in Northern Ireland, a government long out of touch with the working class — and with …
Williamsburg hipsters from Greenpoint to Bedford-Stuyvesant have been flocking in droves to hear tributes to The Ink Spots at local watering holes and music venues. From what we can gather, a full-scale revival Ink Spots revival is in progress. “This has gone critical,” sneered one local Williamsburg hipster standing outside the Trash Bar. “Yeah, we’re …
The Jam had Paul Weller, of course, but they also had a great rhythm section, and even on a ballad like this, the bass and drums complete the sonic picture:
Apparently some of the enmity that exists among surviving members of The Band revolves around songwriting credits. Levon told Robbie about this thing he’d seen years ago — W.S. Walcott’s Medicine Show — and Robbie wrote it down. Wouldn’t it be the proper gentlemanly thing to do to record this as a collaboration and give …
How do you know if a video is any good? If there’s a dog waking up, you know it’s golden…
I always knew I loved this band. Wow and wow again. One more. I love this band. Go here. – Ron Swanson
“Lover You Should’ve Come Over”- Jeff Buckley. To know me is to love this song. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days
FOE, whose real name is Hannah Clark, is an arts and crafts school dropout, a pensive lepidopterist and introvert who expresses herself through a penchant for brightly coloured fright wigs and a grunge troll obsession. Her music delves into the playful recesses of her darkly anarchic mind, conjuring up twisted fairy tales of dietary vulnerability …
“Ai Du” – Ry Cooder + Ali Farka Toure. Strange, sultry blues/ afro-pop hybrid, + shivery haunting vocals. Like nothing else. – Alicia Dara – @thevolcanodiary – #100songs100days Ali Farka Toure-Ai Du – Funny videos are here
“Dead Run” first aired on 2/21/86. When I went down to San Francisco to do the session, it was during the “flood of the decade.” I left my house in Sonoma in a torrential downpour. I drove out to Hwy 37 and soon realized there were no other cars on the road. I got onto …