Isobel Campbell: WXPN Live Performance

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan's Ballad Of The Broken Seas has received a lot of well deserved praise from music critics and fans. Here's the artists' description of the project:

Scottish chanteuse Isobel Campbell has inked a long term worldwide recording deal with V2 Records. Isobel, formally of Belle & Sebastian, has spent the initial part of this year completing work on Ballad of the Broken Seas, the collaborative album recorded with former Screaming Trees & Queens of the Stone Age singer, Mark Lanegan. Although much of the album was recorded with Campbell in her native Glasgow, and Lanegan in Los Angeles, the two actually came together in the studio in L.A. in May to cut a number of new tracks for the release, including a new Lanegan penned song, "Revolver" and a version of the traditional blues tune, "St James Infirmary". Isobel initially met Mark Lanegan in Glasgow while he was on tour with Queens Of The Stoneage. Professing to be a big fan of her music, Lanegan made an offhand comment about how he would love for them to make a record together. Isobel took the idea and ran with it, writing a number of songs with Lanegan in mind, communicating with him via the internet, and posting over tracks for him to add his vocals to.

"His voice is rough and a lot of people say mine is angelic," Campbell says of Lanegan. "It's the two sides of the coin, really. That's how we both always looked at it. It's very unlikely. It's a very feminine/masculine thing as well."

As for the sound of Broken Seas, which features a "quite nasty" cover of Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" that Campbell says would fit well in a Quentin Tarantino movie, the artist offers, "I was going for an old-school kind of approach. I'd been listening a lot to the American Recordings by Johnny Cash and I'm a huge, huge fan of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. It's kind of sun-bleached and psychedelic, with a little bit of folk or country."

Any project involving Mark Lanegan is a winner in my book, and this record is no exception. Campbell stopped by WXPN a while back to promote the record, and though her pal Lanegan was not present, she did have a friend from Glasgow join her to sing Lanegan's parts. The interview segments are well worth listening to if only because of Campbell's voice. I could listen to her beautiful Scottish lilt for days and be completely mezmorized.

Isobel Campbell
WXPN Live Performance

Interview #1
Revolver
Interview #2
Ramblin' Man
Interview #3
Might Have Been
Band Intros
Honey Child What Can I Do?
Outro

Download the set here.

Cracker: WXPN Live At Noon On Fridays

WXPN offers free concerts on Friday afternoons at their fantastic venue near the University of Pennsylvania campus, World Cafe Live. I went down to see Cracker this past Friday and had a blast. They played a few songs from their new release, Greenland, as well as a couple from their back catalogue. One of the best things about WXPN is that they almost always post their on-air live performances on their website. This Cracker show was no exception, so I recorded the stream for posterity.

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Cracker: WXPN Live At Noon On Fridays
07-28-06
World Cafe Live

Something You Ain't Got
Euro Trash Girl
Everybody Gets One For Free
Darlin', Give Me One More Chance
Heaven Knows I'm Lonely
Happy Birthday To Me
Darling, We're Out Of Time

MySpace Goodies

If only every artist would use their MySpace page to post rare/interesting songs instead of the standard slew of radio singles...like these folks!

Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel fame has a live version of the CW song "Heal" on his page. The performance was recorded during Dickinson's solo acoustic tour in support of his excellent solo album, Fresh Wine For The Horses.

Heal (live acoustic)

Former Veruca Salt member Nina Gordon posted four songs from her forthcoming sophomore solo effort, Bleeding Heart Graffiti, on her page. This is the first single (ok, not a rarity but so what?).

Kiss Me 'Till It Bleeds

Rocking Irish songwriter Gemma Hayes has a live acoustic rendition of new song called "You Came" on her page. Hayes is playing a few more shows at UK festivals before heading into the studio this fall to record her next record. Her latest, The Roads Don't Love You, was only released overseas but is well worth the cost of an import. In addition to the tune below, she's posted a live track, a demo version of an album cut, and a studio version of an unreleased song. Go raibh míle maith agat, Gemma!

You Came (live acoustic)

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WBOS Live Sessions

I stumbled across these live performances on the WBOS website. There are a bunch more sessions from lots of different artists at the site. These are just a couple of my favorites.

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Matt Nathanson's 2-song set features a new song, "Bulletproof Weeks".

Suspended
Bulletproof Weeks

Brandi Carlile's set features the new song "Cannonball".

What Can I Say
Cannonball

Gomez's acoustic set features two tracks from their latest, How We Operate, plus a rare acoustic version of "Get Miles", a track from their first album.

How We Operate
Notice
Get Miles

Jim James: WXPN All About The Music Festival

Here's Jim James' set from the WXPN All About The Music Festival.

Intro
At Dawn
Hopefully
Masterplan
I Needed It Most
Sooner
It Beats 4 U
Knot Comes Loose
I Can't Wait
What a Wonderful Man
Anytime
Butch Cassidy
Bermuda Highway

Download the show here.

Brandi Carlile: WXPN All About The Music Festival

Here's Brandi Carlile's performance at today's WXPN All About The Music Festival in Camden, NJ. This was recorded from the live stream off of WXPN's website. Jim James' set will be up later.

Intro
The Times They Are A Changin'
Follow
Fall Apart Again
Happy
Downpour
My Song
Throw It All Away
The Story
What Can I Say
Again Today
Hallelujah
Creep

Download the show here.

Catherine Wheel: BBC 08-09-1995

Catherine Wheel was one of the most tragically underrated bands of the ‘90s and a favorite of mine. Here’s a blistering live set that aired on the BBC in 1995 as part of their promotion for Happy Days. Check out the ridiculously awesome 12-minute version of “Black Metallic”. I’ll have to take a thorough look at Catherine Wheel sometime soon.

Catherine Wheel
BBC 08-09-1995

God Inside My Head
Crank
Judy Staring At The Sun
Heal
I Want To Touch You
Waydown
Black Metallic

Buy Catherine Wheel's records.

OK Computer on DVD

From Greenplastic:

A new Radiohead DVD, OK Computer: Classic Album Under Review, will be released via Music Video Distributors and Sexy Intellectual on September 19. The 53-minute film reviews Radiohead's 1997 masterpiece track by track. Contributors include writer/journalist/Radiohead: A Guide to Their Music author Mark Paytress, ex-MOJO editor Barney Hoskyns, Radiohead biographer Alex Ogg, and more.

Rare live and studio performances of each OK Computer song (and Pablo Honey's "Creep") will be featured in good ol' 5.1 surround sound. In addition, the disc will house "The Hardest Interactive Radiohead Quiz in the World Ever", full contributor biographies, and a "Beyond DVD" section, whatever that means.

Soundgarden: 10-24-1989 Providence, RI

Some good pre-Badmotorfinger Soundgarden here. Highlights for me are two of my favorite early SG tunes, "Beyond The Wheel" and "Hands All Over", along with their appropriately sludgey cover of "Come Together".

01 Ugly Truth
02 Get On The Snake --> Loud Love
03 Mood For Trouble
04 Flower
05 Nothing To Say
06 Gun
07 I Awake
08 Big Dumb Sex
09 Full On Kevin's Mom
10 Come Together
11 Beyond The Wheel
12 Hands All Over
13 Earache My Eye

Download the show here.

Buy Soundgarden's records.

Matt Nathanson's "Car Crash"

I was listening to Matt Nathanson's live album, At The Point, and I got to thinking about how I can't wait for his next album of new material. When I saw him play solo in April and with his band in October '05, he played a new song called "Car Crash". It may be his best song to date, and I'm in a sharing kinda mood this morning.

Car Crash (solo acoustic) 04-04-2006
Car Crash (full band live) 10-13-2005

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Thom Yorke on Henry Rollins: Part Deux

In case you haven't yet seen the second song Thom Yorke played on IFC's Henry Rollins Show ("The Clock" made the rounds on the web last week), here's a link to the video and an MP3 of "Cymbal Rush".

Thom Yorke - Cymbal Rush (live on Henry Rollins Show)

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Three Random Songs

I love to troll through XFM's website and listen to their archived live performances. This is Ryan Adams performing "One By One", a song for which a studio version was later released as a b-side on the 7" version of his "Wonderwall" single.

Ryan Adams - One By One (live on XFM)

I enjoyed The Like's debut album and found this performance of their single "June Gloom" on XFM Scotland's live archive site.

The Like - June Gloom (live acoustic on XFM Scotland)

I always find a ton of great stuff on Elbo. Just found this awesome version of "Running To Stand Still" performed by U2 in 1993 in Dublin at Mars Needs Guitars.

U2 - Running To Stand Still (live 08-28-1993)

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More New Black Crowes Songs

I had the pleasure of seeing the Black Crowes perform at The NorVa in Norfolk, VA last night. The show was a fan's geeky dream - an acoustic 1st set, and electric 2nd set, two new songs, an "unreleased" song, a slew of cool covers, a b-side, great playing from Marc Ford, etc... The full set is here.

I posted earlier about the new songs that the Crowes are unveiling on tour now. The two I heard last night are below along with recordings of the other new ones that have surfaced.

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Cold Boy Smile 07-14-2006
Magic Rooster Blues 07-14-2006
It Takes One To Know One 07-12-2006
Late Nights Again 04-14-2006
Cut From The Shadow 04-14-2006

Twilight Singers: KEXP Live Performance

This Twilight Singers interview/performance aired on KEXP on June 22, 2006. Greg Dulli and the band played two songs from their outstanding new record, Powder Burns, and also covered a Massive Attack song with Mark Lanegan(!) on vocals.

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Intro
I'm Ready
Interview #1
Live With Me (Massive Attack cover feat. Mark Lanegan)
Interview #2
Candy Cane Crawl
Outro

Muse : Japan-only B-Side

"Glorious" is the bonus track on the Japanese release of Muse's new record. A kind soul posted it here for those of us who can't afford the import.

Also, XFM has posted an interview with Muse in which they talk about each track on the new record one by one.

Audioslave Release New Single

Audioslave released a preview today from their forthcoming September 5 release, Revelations. From the band's website:

In a recent interview with RollingStone.com, Tom Morello described the record as "Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind and Fire," adding that it's a "big hard rock record with a funky bottom." Among the album's many highlights is the groove-driven lead single, "Original Fire," and "Wide Awake," about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "It's probably Audioslave's most political song to date," says Morello.

The band recorded REVELATIONS at Henson Studios in Los Angeles with acclaimed producer Brendan O'Brien. O'Brien, whose myriad credits include Pearl Jam and Bruce Spingsteen, mixed Audioslave's Out of Exile record and the Live in Cuba CD and DVD.

The full track listing for REVELATIONS is as follows:
"Revelations"
"One And The Same"
"Sound of a Gun"
"Until We Fall"
"Original Fire"
"Broken City"
"Somedays"
"Shape of Things To Come"
"Jewel of the Summertime"
"Wide Awake"
"Nothing Left To Say But Goodbye"
"Moth"

Here's the first single, "Original Fire".

Muse: AOL Session

In anticipation of the US release of Muse's new album, Black Holes And Revelations, tomorrow, here's their recent UK AOL Session.

Supermassive Black Hole (live)
Plug In Baby (live)
Knights Of Cydonia (live)

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Thom Yorke on Henry Rollins

Thom Yorke will be performing on the Henry Rollins Show this coming Saturday, so if you've got IFC you best be tuning in. From Greenplastic:

This episode will air July 15 at 10 PM ET with an encore July 20 at 11 PM ET, and will feature another performance by Thom with the help of Jonny and Nigel. Set your Tivos!

Also, from Greenplastic:

"Harrowdown Hill" is set to be released as a single off of Thom Yorke's album The Eraser and will be out on August 21, 2006 according to XL Recordings. It'll be released as 12" vinyl and what's even better is that there will be two b-sides called "The Drunkk Machine" and "Jetstream".

Here's "The Clock" from Thom's upcoming Henry Rollins appearance.

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The Clock (live)

Best Kissers In The World: Yellow Brick Roadkill

I was sifting through my friend's massive CD collection when I came across a promo copy of The Best Kissers In The World's never-released second full-length album, Yellow Brick Roadkill. I'd almost forgotten about this 90's pop-rock gem! Best Kissers... are no longer together, but they were the vehicle for singer Gerald Collier to make his music. I just discovered that Collier is still around making records, and he's put out a few solo albums since Best Kissers In The World disbanded. I'll certainly have to check them out.

Don't let over-the-top song titles like "They Give Each Other Diseases" and "I Fucked Up Again" belie the fact that Collier is a gifted songwriter with a dark, witty take on disasterous relationships. Enjoy.

Best Kissers In The World: Yellow Brick Roadkill

01 Hit Parader
02 I Suppose
03 They Give Each Other Diseases
04 Diary
05 Dance Of The Spanish Fire Weasel
06 Roadside Attraction
07 Worried About It
08 Royal Pain In The Ass
09 Lonely Enough To Lie
10 I Fucked Up Again
11 Dead Have Everything
12 Countin' Out Dexadrine
13 One Of These Daze

Roddy Woomble Solo Album

Roddy Woomble, singer from the band Idlewild, will release his solo album, My Secret Is My Silence, on July 24th. From the press release:

The album is 11 songs long and features 5 tracks written by Roddy with Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones and others written with the producer John McCusker, Michael Angus and Karine Polwart.

Recorded in South Yorkshire over nine days in March 2006, ‘My Secret is my Silence’ also features Sons And Daughters bassist Ailidh Lennon, as well as folk artists Kate Rusby and Dave Burland.

Roddy Woomble and Friends will play the following UK tour dates

JULY/AUGUST 2006
24: Glasgow, Mono Launch party – accoustic set together with DJ’s tickets from the venue
25: Aberdeen, Lemon Tree 01224 642230
26: Edinburgh, Queens Hall 0131 668 2019
27: Leeds, The Wardrobe 0113 3838800
28: London, Bloomsbury Theatre 020 7388 8822
31: Bristol, St Georges 0845 4024001
01: Salford Quays, The Lowry 0870 7875783
02: Glasgow, Oran Mor 0870 0600100
03: Findhorn, Universal Hall 01309 69110

Support on all shows from Foxface

Below is the track from the album that's streaming on his MySpace page.

Every Line Of A Long Moment - Roddy Woomble

Pearl Jam: VH1 Storytellers

Pearl Jam's Storytellers set was fantastic. Eddie Vedder's story about the song "Alive" was very moving, and I don't recall ever hearing him tell it quite that way before. It was particularly cool that the band decided to use the forum not only to promote their new record, but also to promote discussion about today's political climate. Vedder's solo version, updated for 2006, of the Phil Ochs tune "Here's To The State Of Mississippi" will rankle some and inspire others. A perfect rock n' roll moment.

Disclaimer: VH1 made the astoundingly stupid editorial decision to dub some of Pearl Jam's interview footage over the songs as they played. The MP3s below are taken from what aired on TV, so the talking interrupts a couple of songs. Also, "Insignificance" did not air in the broadcast, but was an internet exclusive on VH1's website. I included it here for semi-completness. Pearl Jam performed three other songs at the taping ("Unemployable", "Sleight Of Hand" and "Army Reserve"), so hopefully a pre-edit full version of the show will surface in the future.

Pearl Jam: VH1 Storytellers
05-31-2006 The Avalon
New York, NY

Intro
"The Truth"
Betterman
"Abusive Relationships"
World Wide Suicide
"Car Songs" + Steven Tyler moment
"Gettin' Out"
Gone
"The Curse"
Alive
Matt talks about Ed
"Climed" question
Phil Oaks Updated
Here's To The State Of Mississippi
"Ideologies" question
"Funeral Song"
Life Wasted
Insignificance

An Inconvenient Truth

I saw An Inconvenient Truth last night, and if there ever was a film people MUST see, this is it. I knew much of what the film presented from reading various articles over the years, but to see all the scientific data presented at once in a compelling visual fashion shook me up big time. I can't fathom any intelligent human being walking out of this film unmoved and, frankly, scared shitless about our impact on the planet. Go see this movie as soon as you can, and take a couple of friends with you.

Watch the trailer:



This is a PDF from the film's website giving suggestions about what we as individuals can do to help the situation.