Sweet Talk

Sweet 16 - Day Of The Race

Oaks shaking leaves like spiraling fire crackers. Have to go to NYC in the morning.  Should be one heck of a party. My train set list for the Acela is as follows. No Rhyme or reason.

PS: Not really receiving the amount of feedback Sweettalk had hoped for.  Do us a favor and if you like a track let us know by a quick comment on the blog.  Curious to know what our users enjoy and more importantly what they don't.

"Broken Levee Blues" DJ Shadow - saw Spike Lee's doc on NOLA for the third time last night

Download 08_broken_levee_blues.mp3

"Oh! Centra" - Javelin : The best ode to the littlest state in the Union ever put on wax. "Do The Wizard!" check out the hysterical review: infiltrating the UK via Finland Kid Shirt's Javelin review this is by far the most obscure and insanely catchy track I most likely will ever post.  It's funny and sticks in your craw so hard that you start craving it at weird hours.  Like good cough syrup.

Download oh_centra.mp3

"Mercy Mercy Me" (The Ecology) -Dirty Dozen Brass Band (w/ G.Love) - More NOLA creeping into the playlist but with all the rain today feeling kinda soggy and in need of some Marvin Gay come DDBB & G.   Download 06_mercy_mercy_me_the_ecology.m4a

"Create & Destroy" Tommy Guerrero:  I was late coming to Guerrero's work, but thanks to the insistence of my winter surf buddies I have been fortunate over the last two years to become increasingly enlightened.   Download 12_create_and_destroy.mp3

"Song No. 6" Ane Brun (Feat. Ron Sexsmith): To me Ane is a small notch above the Madeline Peyroux, Jill Sobule, Sonya Kitchell;, Jolie Holland rebirth of Billie Holiday class and wire brushed beats , or at the very least eye to eye with Angela McCluskey. Having Sexsmith doesn't hurt.

Download 02_song_no. 6 (feat. Ron Sexsmith).mp3

"Something Left to Say" Roman Candle:  Great song, great band, worth the hype.... which is rare indeed.

"Over My Head": Ray Davies; Old dawg, great tricks.  If there was one brother feud that could be cured and the result was a Kinks reunion I would be first in line at the ticket booth.

"Los Angeles" The Rosewood Thieves: Catfish John and I were discussing how much Wes Anderson is going to love this band.  It will definitely make the cut in my all -Cali Sweet 16 that is in the works.

Download 14_los_angeles.mp3

"It's About That Time (Remix featuring Carlos Santana)" Miles Davis: Just came out on the new Cool & Collected collection.  As a record it doesn't really have many new nuggets but this track is a stand-out.

"Shade And Honey" Sparklehorse: Mark Linkous has always been one to keep a close eye on and the new album is worth every penny. Download 03_shade_and_honey.mp3

"Devil Town" Bright Eyes: Most "rarities & b-sides albums" leave a lot to be desired and most of this is a bit indulgent, but therein lies the beauty of senor Oberst.

"Honey Pie" Langhorne Slim:  True troubadours are as hard to find as it is to say ten times fast. Mister Slim embodies the lonely role by plumbing the depths of broken hearts with aching poignancy. Ben Harper sounding vocals but with punk drum immediacy.  I picked the fast track, so don't be misled.  This is off the EP the full length should be out early 2007  Download 03_honey_pie.mp3

"Fortunate Son" New Orleans Social Club:  CCR via their swamp cousins in NOLA. Shake your fist at the man.  This song deserves more credit for being the most rockin' funky protest song outside of Gaye's "What's Going On".

"Strange Apparition" Beck :  Best song on the best album of the fall.  You can feel good about liking Beck again.

"Would I be the One" Sean Lennon:  He sounds like the old man in a good way, meaning he finally sounds like he has busted out of the nepotist chrysalis.   Download 09_would_i_be_the_one.mp3

Album Cover Wars

This is VERY top notch.  Thanks to the Mulvenator for the find:

Parallel Friend

I realize that my musical dabblings fit in a unique spectrum.  My slant while eclectic may be seen to many as also myopic.  Therefore to fill your musical hope chest with more selection I give you Rene Goulet, yes the infamous scion on Robert Goulet and his fanciful blog: Waxing the Cylinder: Connecting the dots between Edison's Ears and Britney's Spears .  He will offer the other side of the musical rainbow.

Cider Doughnuts

Fall.  The topsfield fair has come and gone.  The great pumpkins weighed and the leaf blower assembled.  The lineup less cluttered at Good Harbor and cider dough-nuts warm. 

Enjoy:

"Stronger Than Me" Amy Winehouse: She fits in with the resurgence of Dorothy Fields type women who can actually sing and bend notes a la Erykah, Missy, and Lauryn Hill.  Download 04_stronger_than_me.mp3

"Beat Up Cars" Moonlight Towers:  Maybe I am a complete boy pussycat but I actually like the whiskey fueled Towers better when they are playing stripped down acoustic sets. Plus they have one of the best band logos going.  Another good Austin burrito band. Thanks to Catfish John for the heads up on this track. Duly noted Download 06_beat_up_cars.mp3

"Job" The Golden Gate Quartet:  "Jubilee" Singing at its finest, 1930's style. Thank You to Brother George for the track.   Download job_the_golden_gate_quartet.mp3

"Get On The Boat" Prince:  This album didn't get enough love when it came out last year, but when I wanna do my best overbite boogie I still hit the purple wonder.  Download 12_get_on_the_boat.mp3

"How Do You Feel" Howie Beck:  Yummy in that Jon Brion / Joe Pernice zinger kinda way. Download 07_how_do_you_feel.mp3

"Midwest" Hope For A Golden Summer: unflinching track from a delicately stubborn and honest album. They also made great handmade soap which is making my office smell better than bare feet. Band is two sisters and a cast of misfits. Download 03_midwest.mp3

"Time After Time (AnnElise)" R.E.M. : from The Best of the I.R.S. Years my favorite label collection of the last five years.  Songs are indeed like tattoos which made listening to this like remembering a drunken night in Newport at Rosie's Ink Parlor. I can honestly say "Rockville" changed my life in 1984.  So much so that at age fifteen I hopped a Peter Pan with Aaron Grazado to NYC from Boston only to be mugged as I stepped off the bus.  Luckily as a final snide aside my mother had told me to put most of my money in my shoe right before I left.  Mother knows best and I had just enough left over to get a mohawk at Astor Place, a flask of Popov, and a pair of ill-fitting overalls which I wore to the show that night at Radio City Music Hall.  The Three O'clock opened; fantastic "Mrs. Green" with full psychedelic gel lighting. After the first encore, we ended up in the orchestra pit gigging with a bunch of college girls. It was a good eight foot drop and after the show we couldn't climb out so a stage hand let is out the orchestra door which happened to open up into the after-show party.  Peter Buck who had just launched his black and white Rickenboker 10 feet into the air after the third encore where it landed with a satisfying THUD and blazing feedback.  He left it there bleeding as he walked away; no one dared turn it off. The sound was still echoing off a standing ovation from the audience as he walked off stage grabbed a beer and ran straight into us standing there jaws agape. He smirks and Graz opens with, "I worship you", Like out of some Bogart classic he retorts, "Don't worship me I'm a Schmuck; "Just an average guy with a guitar."  We try and "blend in".  Yep.  two fifteen year olds with fucked up hair cuts and braces angling for a couple of backstage beers. That lasted all of ten minutes.  Now, I've had my fair share of all access glory, but those were perhaps the best ten minutes of 'em all.  The whole set is drop dead gorgeous for it has everything from the band worth listening to. I say this begrudgingly because once the band left to go to Warner Brothers you started to understand what the hell Stipe was singing, which took all the  kudzu vines and broken barn mojo out of the mix.  It was much more fun deciphering Seven Chinese Brothers (or Voice of Harold) than Losing My Religion.  I picked this track because of the mysterious AnnElise.  Download 221_time_after_time_annelise.mp3

"Crazy" Ray Lamontagne:  Great cover of Gnarls.  This is only one of four different covers of this track that were played at Lollapallooza this year.  Download Crazy.mp3

"Brooklyn Boy" Kevin Devine:  Overall the album is fair, but I thought this track had some added value. Lyrically the guy has some Elliot Smith chops and a nice solo Stills twang on his easy strumming style.  Download 01_brooklyn_boy.mp3

"Wild Horses" Elvis Costello & Lucinda Williams Yep.  Download 01_wild_horses.mp3

"Save It For Later" Pearl Jam:  As many of you know I am compiling tracks for a book / PASTE blog  on cover tunes... this one is not musically mind blowing but how can you go wrong covering English Beat. Download 04_save_it_for_later_english_beat.mp3

"Airline To Heaven" Jeff Tweedy : One of the best strums in the biz Download 12_airline_to_heaven_live_acoustic.mp3

"Wonderwall" Ryan Adams: Live in Paris covering Oasis Download 10_wonderwall_oasis_cover_acoustic.mp3

"Sunshower" Chris Cornell:  A hard to find gem.  Toad found it way back when on The Great Expectations  soundtrack. So 90's so good. Download 04_sunshower.mp3

"Death's Black Train" Gob Iron:  This is a track from the new Jay Farrar and Anders Parker project called Gob Iron (British slang for mouth harp)  The goal of the project was to re-figure some older blues and folk standards.  They recorded everything in two days.  This is one of the strongest tracks. Download 01_deaths_black_train.mp3

"Kiss Off"  Gasoline Heart:  Another solid track of an otherwise fair album.  A little Vedder with a touch of Lonnie Mack on vocals.  Add it to your quiver of break-up songs /make-up.  Download 12_kiss_off.mp3

Besides the Prince track you may have noticed a dearth of rocker salutes and bass thumping ass shakers, no reason for it other than the down tempo comes on the heels of golden leaves a fallin'

Wayne Coyne loves us, he really does

Our old pal Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips really floored us with the opening of his interview for Austin City Limits.  Along with the comments from you all, his words make the blog worth every effort.   Enjoy.   Download Coyne.mp3

Last Feb. I had the good fortune to sail and surf around the British Virgin Isles with some pirates from the North Shore.  It was made possible by the publisher of SAIL magazine who at the time of the excursion was managing editor and "had to write" a Caribbean sail story. We grudgingly jumped on board.  Somehow it became the cover story and is on stands now.  Here is a link to download the story:   Download 1006_fe_bvi_charter2.pdf (notice the sly mention of My Morning Jacket)

Here was the original cover that was sadly replaced. (notice the perfect form on the diver second from the left)