What Are You Listening To?

hello everyone

get by (remix) - talib kweli w/jay-z, kanye west, mos def, and busta rhymes

awsome avatar colts13..... great show

Motley Crue- Shout At the Devil

Good morning Snot, Savior, DF, Well, AL, Colts, Jakobe and anyone else I missed!  Hope you're all having a great memorial Day.  Anyone watch the Charlotte 600 last night?  Nice to see kasey Kahne returning to form.  Even nicer to see Jeff Gordon post a 2nd consecutive Top 5 finish; hope his season is starting to turn around.

For my morning commute:

Two Cow Garage:  Three

AMG Review:

The Columbus, OH trio's rather cheeky name flies in the face of songs that serially examine the concept of aging in a punky band like the one in which they play. It that sense and others, Two Cow Garage mirrors the Drive-By Truckers, whose intelligent lyrics likewise tackle serious subjects behind a humorous name. Little has changed in Garage's basic sound on their oddly unimaginatively titled third album III. Horns bolster one song, keyboards a few others, Slobberbone/Drams frontman Brent Best co-produces four tracks and adds guitar on one. It's a tough, tightly rocking sound that is less influenced by country than in the past, especially on the horn enhanced "Mediocre." The experimental tendencies of "Camaro," a song that starts and ends with the tuning of a radio (a sample of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" is particularly startling), brings the ragged C&W back, as singer Micah Schnabel's torn voice rips into the ballad-like tone of Steve Earle after a rough night. The album kicks off with roaring, garagey rockers, but turns introspective, more tranquil, but no less incisive in its final third. The Replacements' comparisons are still valid, but this album shows an evolution and maturity, partly due to the members becoming older and wiser, but also because the songs take more chances as they shift through changes. Apparently the group considered disbanding before this recording, but the results show they took the correct course to write about their insecurities and keep the outfit going. The result is a keeper that demands multiple spins. "Postcards and Apologies," the album's finest and final track, soberly sums up Schnabel's doubts about his life and future. Like his band, he seems intent to soldier on despite reservations. Hopefully he doesn't have second thoughts about album number four.

Now Playing:

James McMurtry:  Just Us Kids

AMG Review:

The further James McMurtry gets from the big leagues of the music business, the better it seems to be for his music. McMurtry was still finding his feet as a recording artist with his first three albums for Columbia, and just began hitting a groove when he signed with the independent Sugar Hill label. Now recording for a renegade start-up label called Lightning Rod Records, McMurtry has cut what may well be his best and most consistently interesting album to date, Just Us Kids, a dozen songs clearly informed by the American malaise of the first few years of the 21st century and the disillusion over the ongoing war in Iraq. While the war is rarely mentioned by name, there's no disguising the source behind the bitter, mordant wit of "Cheney's Toy" and "God Bless America," just as "Hurricane Party" captures the devastation of Katrina without belaboring what we've all seen on the news. Even when the specific tragedies of recent years don't figure into the songs, the aging rebels turned working stiffs of the title cut, the couple struggling to make their lives and relationship work in "Ruby and Carlos," and the drifter with a shaky sense of her own history in "Fire Line Road" are characters whose lives have been battered by the circumstances of the past seven years. As a performer, McMurtry still doesn't possess the most expressive voice in American music, but his lean, plain-spoken drawl has gained a wealth of nuance in recent years, communicating a laconic swagger, an ominous air of menace, or a simple acceptance of the quirks of fate with wisdom and clarity. McMurtry also produced Just Us Kids, and the spare, funky growl of this rootsy rock & roll is a perfect match for the tone of these songs, a sound that's thoroughly American while conjuring the dark clouds gathering on the horizon. Just Us Kids is an album very much of its time that also speaks to the larger ideas of life in America in an uncertain age, and it's brave, smart, and pithy music that captures James McMurtry at the top of his game.

-Greetings, Rock, Colts, et al!

-I am enjoying this little "jazz guitar fest" I've got going, so I think I'll continue...

Now Playing:

Jim Hall  Panorama:  Live At Village Vanguard

AMG:

Jim Hall's previous two Telarcs, Dialogues and Textures, were so adventurous and out-of-perceived-character that this compendium of small-group live dates at the Village Vanguard might seem like a step backwards at a superficial glance. But there is enterprise here too, as the cool, mellow-toned Hall grafts a revolving door full of guest soloists onto his rhythm section (Scott Colley, bass; Terry Clarke, drums), each one of whom offers a different slant on what jazz ought to be. Among the pianists, Kenny Barron's response to the challenge is straight-ahead bebop on "The Answer Is Yes" and a graceful duet with Hall on "Something to Wish For," while Geoff Keezer takes a more contemporary two-fisted approach. Trombonist Slide Hampton inspires a looser feeling in the rhythm section at a relaxed tempo on "Entre Nous" and some loosey-goosey swing on "No You Don't!," but trumpeter Art Farmer sounds rather limp in "Little Blues." The free-minded alto of Greg Osby is the man most capable of pushing Hall a bit outside of his usual game, as well as provoking the bass and drums, on "Furnished Flats" and "Painted Pig." One can only imagine the fascination of the habitually superattentive patrons of the Vanguard at all of this diversity.

joy to the world - three dog night

man i wish i could get to sleep

Every week I try to post my Top Ten Artists list from www.last.fm.  Last.FM is a website that keeps track of the music you play.  Any music I play on my iPod, iTunes, Windows media Player, or on last.FM's radio gets counted.  It also lets you see what your friends and neighbors are listening to.   You can join or create dedicated to your favorite genre or artists and write journal entries.  As a community, it is not nearly as robust as CBS; not a lot of chatting going on.  Still, I find it a great way to keep track of what I am listening to, as well as keeping an eye out for new music from my friends and neighblors.

My Top Ten Artists for the week of 18 may 2008--25 may 2008 on Last.FM:

1. Warren Zevon(49)
2. Foxboro Hot Tubs(46)
3. Lucero(41)
4. Lynyrd Skynyrd(36)
5. Robbie Fulks(26)
6. Los Lonely Boys(25)
7. Whiskeytown(24)
8. The Fleshtones(24)
9. Kathleen Edwards(22)
10. Jerry Lee Lewis(21)