All kinds of interesting things to pass along this week!
What’s NEW, right now!
DWIGHT TWILLEY – Soundtrack – I’ll have a full review on the album soon but just got a copy of it and, man, the guy continues to be on a major roll with delivering wonderful Twilley albums. This is the last album to feature Bill Pitcock IV, sadly – and he is on display here. Buy and listen to samples – HERE
Nice review at AMG on the album – HERE
Kool Kat – HERE
PHIL SEYMOUR – Get ready, power pop geeks. Finally! It’s called: “Archive Series 2”. And….well, I’ll let the links do the talking!! (Start smiling!) It starts shipping, like…Today! It’s Phil’s second album(minus one song) finally out on CD with 10 unreleased track. Manna!
AMG Review – HERE
Kool Kat – HERE
Amazon order link – HERE
MIKE VIOLA – This came out a few weeks ago but wanted to make sure you all are aware of it. It’s a full-on new studio album. I just ordered so not heard heard but will post a review at PGH soon.
Order direct from Mike!
CD – HERE
Digi-Album – HERE
Kool Kat – HERE
Amazon links w/ soundbites – HERE
BEN FOLDS – a special 3 disc, $20 career retrospective looks pretty darn tasty! The Amazon link coming up has a pretty funny video from Ben talking about it. 1 disc best of and 2 discs of 40 previously unreleased and rare home demos, studio outtakes, alternate mixes, live tracks and three brand new tracks by Ben Folds Five. NICE! Check it out – HERE
BUTCH WALKER – no new music coming but he has a…BOOK! It’s called “Drinking with Strangers: Music Lessons from a Teenage Bullet Belt”
From the book’s bio: “Walker offers a clear-eyed yet humorous look at the music business—the greed, the booze, the drugs, the infighting, the swindles, the unfulfilled promises—and explores its bad side, too. In documenting his rise to the middle, Walker frankly describes the delicate balance between success, selling out, and just knocking back another shot of whiskey to numb the pain. ” It comes out on October 25th – more info – HERE
RYAN ADAMS – I’m a whore for Ryan Adams. I think he’s a genius – I am un-apologetic. If I could have his children…well, let’s not go there as I’m just being hyperbolic(imagine that!) but the dude can write a tune. Always has, always will. His new one comes out tomorrow, October 11th. Amazon’s got the soundbites – HERE
THE MOMMYHEADS – Delicate Friction, this is a new album from them. Not heard it, only heard about it. It drops(gotta use those old-school music industry terms – say with ‘irony’, please) on October 18th – HERE on Amazon and info from the label – HERE
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A new favorite power pop blog that arrived on the scene in 2011 has been Power Pop Square that inform us all about the artist-driven projects going on – check out the good work – HERE
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BIG STAR Fans – Here’s a Big Star blog you can get lost in for a bit. Worth a book mark. For the record, Big Star may be my favorite band of all time. On January 10th, 1975 my world opened up to new vistas of what music could do the soul when this 12 year old bought “Radio City” for .94 cents at Woolworth’s in Needham, MA. (Also, picked up The Hot Dogs and Bowie’s “Man Who Sold The Earth” Bowie in drag version that day, too)
The Big Star blog is – HERE
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First off, an old high school friend-still good friend(my 30th is coming up next month – ahh!) reminded me a few days ago about Darryl Hall’s web site. I lost touch with the “Live From Darryl’s House” web series.
I think Darryl Hall may have one of my favorite singing voices of all-time and “Along The Red Ledge” is still one of my favorite albums from the late 70s and Hall And Oates’ catalog from 1974-1984 is mind bogglingly fantastic.
Anyway, go to the site – HERE
You’ll see a drop down box on the right of all the episodes he’s shot – around 45 of them. The musicians set up in his farm house, hang out, chit-chat, laugh and eat around the table and, in and around all that, they play.
Hall introduces some fringe and developing artists. Many of them elicit confusing responses from me but let’s focus on the good. Check out the shows w/ Fitz & The Tantrums, John Oates, Todd Rundgren, Grace Potter and Guster. And more.
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Seth Swirsky is familiar to most here at PGH with his solo work and albums recorded with Mike Ruekberg under “The Red Button” moniker. If you’ve not heard his music, it’s time.
I mention him here not in connection to music, though. Swirsky, tragically, is a New York Yankees fan. (Boston Red Sox haters, have at it – I’m only joking! I’m over it – Red Sox Nation has won two World Series in my life time. It’s all gravy now!) Seth is a not only a big fan of the game of baseball(he recently sang the national anthem at Wrigley Field), he’s an accomplished author with three books to his credit on the subject of baseball and he’s a proud owner of the infamous “Bill Buckner baseball” from the ’86 World Series.
True. Very true. (want to see what else he owns? HERE)
He is putting it up for auction this coming Saturday, October 15th. Check out the ESPN story on it – HERE
Not what you’d expect from the world of ‘power pop’ – but here it is. It’s rich, deep and interesting backdrop with the lives of so many poppers and Swirsky, this week, can stand as “Exhibit A”.
Swirsky, also, has recently finished a fascinating documentary called “Beatles Stories” which gathers up recollections and stories of people’s first encounters with The Beatles.
You will find his list of interviewees fascinating – read about it – HERE
Find out more about Seth and all his work – HERE
Check out The Red Button – HERE
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Completely off the subject of music, but I read about this in the Wall Street Journal last week – a new tablet computer that has a really interesting, new design for an OS interface for tablets called Grid 10. If that sort of thing interests you, as it does me, check it out – HERE
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File Under: “Go Figure”
The last three quarters of sales for the music industry are…UP.
I make no comment, only part of the story of the ‘facts’. HERE
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Here’s an interesting article from New York Mag about the stories behind 5 of MTV’s most influential videos. I beg to differ that Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film” should have that designation(despite me being a fan of the video’s producers, Godley & Creme of 10cc) but, nonetheless, it’s a fun, quick read if you have the time for music fans. The article is – HERE
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SPIN magazine announced last week that they are going to a new publishing schedule and will publish their magazine in a bi-monthly format so look to ‘enjoy’ Spin six times a year now.
Honestly, I’ve subscribed to the mag since it started and Rolling Stone since 1974. Sure, they can be on the lame side with great consistency(my favorite is when Rolling Stone gave Mick Jagger’s “She The Boss” 5 stars – that’ s a classic!) but they are always cheap and have moments of great readability for even the most jaded music fan.
Well, almost.
Article on SPIN is – HERE
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