Femi Kuti – Day By Day (CD)

From the first beats of Oyimbi to the final cymbal crash of Inside Religion, this is a party album that will create joy and tears and lots of good spiritual conversation. “All in the name of peace”. The dance flow is just right, a few fast songs, coupled with slow songs to calm the feet and heart. “Day by day by night by night we work and pray for peace to reign.” This CD will have a prominent place by my player for many parties to come. I love making people think while they dance, and Femi provides very thoughtful poetry to deeply consider. Flavors are jazz, rock, reggae, funk, soul and groove, spiced with gospel. Femi Kuti

Kaylah Marin - Loving Life!

“We’re all MC’s sharing the mike’s heat.” This is a great hump-day CD, but I’m shouting it out a day early because Kaylah has me loving life too much to hold on to this knowledge till tomorrow. Kaylah manages to pull memories out of the right places “dancing in class to our own beats, raising our hands jumping out of our seats, giving our own I have a dream speech”. I did that, and my students last year did that. It’s universal – the power of music to raise us up and dream. The sooner you order this CD the sooner you’ll be up dancing and loving life right alongside everyone else lucky enough to hear this. “Everyday I’m loving my life.” Kaylah captures the power of joy in her soul and it’s great she’s willing to share this strength with all of us. Shoutouts for the dance-floor ready Everybody, the sweet flavors of Good and Bad, and the anthem sing-a-long, Driving In My Car (“oh yeah, feel so good!”). Go ahead and buy this summer CD that’ll keep you smiling for many years to come. Your ears will thank you, your feet will thank you. Keep dancin’! Kaylah Marin

Calaveras - A City And A Life And A Girl

“Tuesday morning without any coffee, and too many chores to do – along came Sally, backin’ down the alley, to show me her new tattoo.” First, I have to confess that when I lived in a city I never understood language like ‘backin’ down the alley”. Up here in the hills in this small town I now know exactly what’s going on in the song. In fact, I was surprised that the narrator of this song knew Sally. Maybe every town has a Sally. But, back to the real world of music – the music has a jazzy country feel that fits comfortably in my world. The story is fun, the singer sounds like he loves tellin’ the story. They ended up in D’Hanis – you know that place behind the store – “a little speakeasy, down in the shadows, where nobody I know goes.” Well, except Andrew, but that’s to be expected – he kinda makes a living finding these places. Anyway, back to the story, “we got up and danced to an old time record, until I started to fall.” If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Calaveras was there that night, but it sounds like the narrator simply knows how it goes in real time, and these little ‘speakeasies’ must still exist here and there around the world. What’s really scary is that D’Hanis is known mostly for its brick factory – two blocks away from the hidden speakeasy - and the lyricist carefully inserts the line “fall like a brick into the mix of a city and a life and a girl”, followed by a good old fashioned Sabinal fiddle. These folks claim to be from California, but they sure have some good Texas roots showing. And, hey Sabastian, check out the title of the CD – freakout time =:-) Great fun. PS - anyone who clicked on the brick factory link might get a kick outta the link to "old D'Hanis". I challenge anyone to come on out here and find a new D'Hanis - LOL!!! Calaveras

Woodstock.com

Woodstock defined something special for me – integration. It was a special time in music, and celebrated lavishly. Beautiful young multi-cultural bands like Sweetwater and Santana were playing alongside Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone. The best part of those days is we didn’t even have terms like multi-cultural. There were simply great musicians who got together to play music based on the integrity of their ability, not the color of their skin. Don’t get me wrong, this was happening before Woodstock, but it was hidden from view. What Woodstock did, as an enterprise, was to put it in people’s faces – big time – big screen. That did several things – for some of us, it caused celebration. But for society in general it caused many changes. Music, especially radio stations, went back to racially stereotyped music. In 1969 you could hear Otis Redding, Frank Sinatra, Tiny Tim, Sly And The Family Stone, Desmond Dekkar, The Doors, Glen Campbell and Marvin Gaye all played in the same hour on the same station. The only place you can hear such variety today is on the “oldies” stations. In some respects it was because of the visuals presented in Woodstock – the people who ran the media did not ever want that repeated. So far they’ve gotten their wish, but it’s my hope that Sony making a big deal out of this 40th anniversary will start some young people to thinking and asking questions. And hopefully some of the old people – Sony is just as much to blame as everyone else – will start remembering that total, complete spiritual and physical integration of the arts and society is still an ethical possibility that we could strive for as an intellectual reality. Woodstock.com

The Cliks - Dirty King

“I could do the dishes, I could climb your walls”. Bass driven energy wakes this Monday up with a howl. “I could be the motor, you be the gasoline!” Get your motors running, head out for the highway, roll the windows down and shout along! The music calls for moving around, preferably at a fast surf rock speed. The story seems to be about trying to keep up with the daily grind even while succeeding in other life endeavors. Good wake-up to the working week song. Shoutouts for Not Your Boy (“when the voices disappear there’s nothing left inside”), Henry (“Can you hear the sound of your mother calling?”), and Animal Farm (“hold onto my bleeding heart and feed it to your soul”). The Cliks

Pela - Juarez

"I've got jukebox tears on the turquoise skies."



"Now my demons are counting rosaries."

Pela

Aly Tadros - Swingset

“Watching you watching me in my shades, could you see my smile hiding underneath? Seems like each moment your eyes find mine, I lose a little less reason to hide.” Sunday is good for a walk in the park, and recalling years gone by when going to the park and holding hands is a perfectly good way to spend an afternoon. I dream away while a dreamy voice sings of love “swinging so sweetly on a swingset so fine.” Even as Aly sings, she recalls that “talk is overrated”. A funny thing for a poet to say, but it’s true. Shoutout for the word-filled short story called Paper Mache (“baby, don’t you let them change you”). Aly’s voice is strong and self-assured causing an instant acceptance and understanding that her voice will be one we’ll be hearing for many years to come. Make contact at Myspace & watch for the release of “Things Worth Keeping”. A huge thanks to Jeff Smith for getting the word out. Aly Tadros

Ha Ha Tonka and More for the Fireworks!!!

Ha Ha Tonka - Hold My Feet In The Fire b/w Walking On The Devil's Backbone
Catherine Maclellan - Set This Heart On Fire b/w Everything'll Be Alright
Levon Helm - Stuff You Gotta Watch b/w When I Go Away
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away b/w Keep Me In The Dark
Charlie Straight – Nothing b/w She Is A Good Swimmer
Aimee Allen - Change In Weather b/w A Little Happiness, On Vacation & God Talks
Cheap Trick - California Girl
Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey – Widescreen World
Florence And The Machine - Kiss With A Fist b/w Hurricane Drunk
Ha Ha Tonka - Close Every Valve To Your Bleeding Heart b/w Thoreau In The Woods

Nuke The Soup – Yin And Yang

“We moved all summer like separate spirits dancing in the sand, and we moved into another gear never knowing when we’d land.” The story moves along at a steady pace. The poetic trick is to take a word, define it in terms of the relationship the narrator is pursuing, and playing it with a medium dance beat. Very cool. The individual words could become a game – like those email games – define your relationship in terms of temptation, frustration, elation, flirtation, trepidation, and inspiration. The narrator seems confused about the reality of the relationship – on the one hand he’s saying “we fit like yin and yang”, then a line later he’s saying “but I don’t know what you want.” In other words, it sounds real – no easy answers here. Gotta work on it, no matter how good the fit.

I’m shouting out Big Green Jungle for the same reason – no easy answers. We all have to make the decision – chase the mighty dollar, or live from day to day. The narrator here is encouraged to go for the jungle, but he is quite realistic in reciting the fact that “in the big green jungle there’ll always be disparity.” It’s a daily war. The intrigue here is – either choice is a war. Survive from day to day, paycheck to paycheck – daily struggle. Go for the con game of American finance, and it’s still a daily struggle. You can’t let up because the moment you do another will be considered more fit, and in this war only the fittest survive. Sure, while you’re on top you have the nest egg and finances are not your worry; but it’s a constant stress to stay in the game. Nuke The Soup says – no easy answers, but life has some interesting questions =:-) Nuke The Soup

Ed Hale - I Walk Alone

“The stars lay scattered in the open sky and these lights by the bridge shine through the night of my eyes.” The poetry is enhanced by the musicians each walking through the melody in a sparse but meaningful way. A fine composition. The heartfelt desolation is honest. “Flowers bloom in the middle of deserted lawns. When the winter comes these flowers will be dead and gone.” Ed Hale

Pama International – Happenstance b/w Dub A Dance

Starting a new month on a hump day is great fun, especially when a funky dance band takes the stage with a beat that encourages sweating out a hard day’s work. The story is the story of any government – they look at the young as martyrs in a cause to make a few rich people even richer. “Don’t matter who you are, or where you land. No discrimination in their plans. Size you up, ship you out. Move along! Bullet to catch.” Is it coincidence that you can twitter this opening line? Ask a rabbi. In the mean-time, dance. I’ve learned it’s necessary because if we focus on what our governments do to young people we will forever be crying, no matter who is in charge. “For us to change, war must end.” Pama International

Pama International on Eartaste

Mams Taylor - United For Neda

The Von Ehrics - A Week Of Living Dangerously

“Well, I got out of work and I headed for the neighborhood beer joint.” He sure did, guitar in hand, with the crowd moving wildly despite the 104 degree heat because if they stop for even one second the electricity will catchy the joint on fire. This band is hot! And a blast to listen to. The singer could probably front a country band – but we’re sure glad he chose to hang out with some rockers. Shoutout for the story about Jimmy Blades. The Von Ehrics



Recorded live 2009 using a Flip Video:

Revolver - Balulalow

The drumbeats start my week with a vision of strength. This is our final week of summer school, and the kids are ready to dance. I’m ready to dance. The beautiful harmonies of these guys take the dance to a whole new level of dancing within my head as my body moves around. It’s a fantastic experience - the physical and the mental dancing going on in two dimensions – one body. That’s what happens when you teach high school biology to one group of children for many hours every day for a month. The mind can travel and perform many marvelous acts while the body stays imprisoned in a classroom. The students feel the same way, so we can laugh together about the absurdity of the situation. So, what’s that got to do with Revolver?

I see Balulalow on an album and my mind floats to Christmas. There’s bunches of famous renditions of a Christmas carol named Balulalow. Well, this dance ain’t no Christmas dance except in the fact it fills the mind with joy. So, I looked the word up. Apparently it simply means ‘lullaby’. Huh? This is one dang modern lullaby. The drums alone will get the 2 month old up out of the crib boogieing all day long. Sure, I admit the harmonies are angelic. So what’s up? Well, it’s not easy to decipher all the lyrics, but I have the feeling the narrator is giving advice to a youngster, or a body who is still dressed in a young mind. “You go out to the river at dawn. You walk around trying to keep yourself warm until the day comes up. Go where you want to, and don’t look back.”

Birds In D Minor has a true lullaby feel, a lone guitar and voice for a verse. The band enters with a ballerina dance. “All that you say will be said back to you.” Complete with string quartet. Luke, Mike & John is a joyful tune with a friendly title (“soon you’ll forget everything you’re supposed to need”). Get Around Town brings a rock and roll guitar waking up the neighborhood, and I swear they’re singing about the “buzz countdown”. Or perhaps the “bud counts down”. Whichever, it makes me giggle in a good way – the video is funny too. Stranger has a tune and lyric that fits the title (“don’t have many friends in this town”), and is a very strong performance. “Things get always better in the past, but today tomorrow cannot pass. Anyone can see I’m a stranger here.” You Drove Me Home is a porch-strumming guitar ditty with the sons of the pioneers swaying in the non-existence 105 degree breeze swooning “you know how it feels to talk to yourself every night. And it’s alright.” Gets even deeper. “You don’t know your ma, you don’t know your pa. You don’t know your friends or yourself, and it’s alright.” Despite what sounds like sorrowed lyrics, this cd brightens my day every time I hear it. This would make a wonderful Christmas in July gift for someone you love, even yourself. Revolver

Balulalow portions:


Get Around Town:


Leave Me Alone:


A ‘wish I had been there’ lullaby party:

Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens - What Is This?

Naomi has something deep in her soul she needs to share. “Whatever it is, I cannot hold back my peace! It makes me love my enemies. It makes me love my friends! It won’t let me be ashamed!” Scrumptious gospel truths couched in tasty blues power. “I just can’t hold my peace! Keep on praising God!” Naomi has the true depths of one that I know I’d spend a few hours with and come away blessed, glad to be alive and glad to know the truth of the Lord. The music feeds a hunger in this list of shoutout tunes you’ll be dancing on top of your pews singing along to - What Have You Done?, Trouble in My Way, By Your Side, and Lift My Burdens. A special shoutout for the powerful message of Am I Asking Too Much? In this song we are reminded of some simple truths that our nation has ignored for far too long. “When a child is hungry, he ought to be fed.” She chastises in a way that shames our “Christian” nation – “it don’t take a miracle to put food on the table”. She keeps the barbs coming. “They take my son and ship him off to Iraq. Am I asking too much to ask when he’s coming back?” Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens

Saturday Singles Serenade

Cledus T. Judd - Christmas In Rehab
Brad Paisley - Catch All The Fish b/w She’s Her Own Woman
Wilco – You And I b/w You Never Know
The Dandy Warhols - The Last High b/w Hit Rock Bottom
The Proclaimers - Notes & Rhymes b/w Shadows Fall
Noa and Mira Awad – Nannina b/w We Can Work it Out
Elizabeth Foster - Blue Again b/w Song No One Knows
Rod Piazza – Sunbird b/w Session Expression
Badi Assad - Rhythms
Colin Hay - Freedom Calling

Rob Thomas - Her Diamonds

“‘Oh what the hell’ she says, ‘I just can’t win for losing’, and she lays back down.” I have a total admiration for the ear of the poet here. We’ll probably never know if he is depressed and creating an imaginary listener, or if he is close friends with an extremely depressed person, or if he has the ear to listen to someone who is living with a depressed person. And in the end, it doesn’t matter what the situation is. He is able to capture in a few words what some live for years trying to cope with and understand and never be able to put into words the depths of the pain. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but if she feels bad then I do too. So I let her be.” The song is uplifting because he is able to put feelings into words that many people have struggled with. The song won’t end the struggle, but will help to define the ache. When we share the word diamonds in our deeply private conversations, we’ll be paying homage to Rob. And, in case you wondered, the music is the catchy pop music that Rob is famous for, so yes, you can sing along.

In Give Me The Meltdown, the narrator gives permission to his loved one to melt down. He will accept the pain and will accept the fact that the “world is spinning round and round” and that the ‘secrets’ held deep inside the person having the meltdown may never come out. The narrator is simply willing to let the person in anguish ‘take it out on me’. Awesome. Many people take this role on and feel they’re all alone. The narrator here lets us know there are others who willingly bear the pain of loved ones. Shoutout also for Cradlesong (“love can be so cruel, but I will sing to you”) and Getting Late (“that’s the way it is, you can’t deny when it feels like this”). Rob Thomas

Rachel Taylor Brown - Susan Storm's Ugly Sister

Knock knock knock. Is anyone in there? Are you listening? Wake up. The band doesn’t barge into my life to wake my body, but it’s obvious they have an intense purpose to wake up my mind. “I can go undercover. I can slap your mind!” The music is at once both relaxing and intense. The narrator makes it clear that even if I want to understand the depths of her intent I should keep some distance because she warns “I could kill you!” And that’s only the first cut. There’s more here that scratch into the depths of my ears enough to keep listening over and over. I’m intrigued by Ambush Bug/Reduviidae (“my brother precedes me, my brother’s a disgrace; no cockroach or bedbug; he chose the human race”), Lonely Galactus, The World Eater (In the interest of humanity I bring you fond regards, with infinity, oblivion and death and all infinity”), Bruce Wayne's Bastard Son (“daddy’s doesn’t know it but I’m sitting over here”), and St Fina (“Jesus love you when you hurt”). The music will challenge, but in a welcoming manner. The lyrics are a heavier challenge, but I feel it’s worth the effort to understand the poetic purpose of the narrator. The musical composition built around the meaning of the words fascinates because that means each movement in this cycle will have a different purpose for the musicians to explore. A challenge for the composer, and one that’s met perfectly here, thanks to some wonderful musicians willing to confront the dreams once held deeply within the mind of someone else. Excellent. Thanks to Alex for introducing us! Rachel Taylor Brown

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Skidmore Fountain - Cloudless Blue (CD)

It’s not very often an entire album captures my imagination. Skidmore Fountain starts off this CD with two violins introducing a standard rock tune called Asylum. It’s a good tune, and one I would have easily picked for a song of the day. The violins are playing in a different time signature than a tune, but that intro soon leaves room for a standard “take no prisoners” tune that asks “are you having a good time?” I’m sucked in as an audience member & fully convinced that these guys will entertain me and I’ll be totally pleased with the experience, even as one of the characters in the song states he “lost his way.” When they ask again “are you having a good time?” I’m shouting yes!

Then the magic happens. Purple Mountain starts with a drumstick hitting 4 times, but we are not in standard rock 4/4 time. No need to bore with time signatures, etc, just know that many bands have tried this and failed. What makes this succeed? “Sweat is dripping down” is an easy answer, but for my ears, it’s the fact they can play with time signatures AND be melodic. This is not a common experience, so there’s a fresh flavor here that I can only exclaim as awesome. The rock guitar solo helps to ground the experience and enhances the overall dream. I’m impressed, but the journey is just beginning.

Drive By Reflection is a word montage that meanders around the image of a girl who becomes a playground in the narrator’s imagination. The tale in and of itself is fantasy, however, the musical arrangement is fantastic. Guitars meet violins in this symphony of visual metaphors. “Sideways with butterflies, I’m losing my grip. Everything is coming undone.” The poet character is exploring the places we seldom want to reach for, and what’s exciting me is the musicians are reaching those spaces with their personal flights into these spaces. Kudos especially for the percussionist who manages to keep the guitars and violins balanced and not smashing into each other as they do their blue angel behaviors miles above my head.
When The Sun Shines starts with vocal harmonies that perfectly suck me into a party atmosphere. “I would fly away” the narrator explains while a breath later he says “I’ll stay by this house all day”. A lesser poet would simply say “I don’t know what to do with myself”. Again the poetry becomes second to the sonic realities of the musicians. Wisely placed, this central philosophy has a music that is easy to dance to and re-center the musical neurons while still managing to sound fresh and unique.

I could keep on this mode, but I’ll stop and simply say the rest of the CD is just as powerful, and should be on your short list of CDs that you should purchase soon. Cloudless Blue (“we spill our secrets”) is a slow mental picture that approaches a psychedelic feel. Whole World Crashing Down (“we live underground”) has a powerful build, and features some pretty cool contrapuntal excitement. Sun In The Sky returns to a central image in this song cycle with beautiful 3 part harmony while the guitar slowly plucks chords. The narrator begins to sound apocalyptic and anticipates a thematic climax. “One man in charge leaves us standing, our backs against the wall” introduces Have We No Right. We’re brought back down to earth in a very interesting way with Memory. The guitars are slightly off, but so are the voices. Not off to sound bad, just off from what we think we want to hear. Masterful performance and powerful experience.

I’m most impressed by the fact these guys can’t be categorized. They work with jazz rhythms, but have a firm rock foundation. Their melodies are pure pop with story lines nearing pure poetry. I’d bet words like art and experimental follow them, and I hope this doesn’t limit their audience. It’s a music that challenges, but quickly becomes knowable and familiar. A special thanks to Laura for introducing us.

Skidmore Fountain

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CD Baby Music Discovery Podcast #39

The first two acts on this weeks podcast are must-hears. The Ivys sing Never Let You In, a fun pop rock tune, and Jordan Tice has a cool instrumental he calls Salad Days. I'd definitely give them a heads-up if they thought to send CDs here. But they didn't, so head on over to http://musicdiscovery.cdbabypodcast.com/ and listen in to the first few songs on show #39.