Thoughts From My Lunch Hour: Backdoor Sliders with Boris, Bobby, Willie and the Cougar

THOUGHTS FROM MY LUNCH HOUR by Andrew Daniels

On a day where the gang around here is honoring the 1970's, I won't do such a thing, because hey, I like the aughts just fine and plus I know nothing about the 70's except for what happened in Forrest Gump. Lieutenant Dan's got magic legs! So I thought that I should honor something I do know and love a lot about: baseball. The best sport in the world - scientifically proven, don't front - is in the spotlight today because it's the All Star Game, duh. Also, all the steroids. Always with the steroids. But I'd like to point your attention to a couple of baseball-related items of interest today in the music world, but really only two, because this is more like a lunch half-hour. Chief among them being the brand spankin' new song from Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, the loveable indie-pop foursome who won thousands of hearts (mine) last year with the best album of 2008, Pershing. The folks over at Catbird Seat are premiering "Cardinal Rules," which the Missouri boys wrote exclusively about their town's minor league baseball team, the Springfield Cardinals. It (likely) won't be on the band's followup to Pershing, but it still rips. It's really anthemic with only the slightest bit of cheese, which means it's perfect to be blasted in minor league stadiums across the world, or just Missouri.

[mp3] Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: "Cardinal Rules"

I wish an indie band would write about my town's minor league baseball affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Oh! Segue! Read on.

So yeah, speaking of those Pigs, the stadium in which they normally play (Coca Cola Park) is occupied with other swine tonight: namely Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John (Cougar) Mellencamp. I told you guys about this in my last TFMLH, way to be listening, an hour of detention for everyone. I'll be live tweeting from the stadium starting at 4 p.m. today for The Morning Call, and I'm actually really jazzed for it. Or folked, I guess. Again, none of these performers are even close to being in their prime and there's a good chance I might see one of them die on stage tonight, but you don't pass up the opportunity to see a couple of legends and John (Cougar) Mellencamp for free. So tweet I shall. I really hope J(C)M plays "Centerfield" tonight, for obvious reasons. Anyway, you can bet I'll have at least four thoughts on tonight's festivities in tomorrow's column, but I urge you to follow me in real time tonight, because hey, new media, right?

Follow my live updates HERE! For those of you with an aversion to hyperlinks, simply go to www.twitter.com/mcall and watch the tweets get progressively more cynical throughout the night. Until next time!

The Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning

Phosphorescent live on KEXP at The Cutting Room Studios NYC from KEXP RADIO on Vimeo.

[MP3]
Phosphorescent: "Reasons to Quit"
Phosphorescent: "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise"

The last thing I needed first thing this morning was for the damn MUD Coffee Truck to not be at it's usual spot on Astor Place, (No, I'm not going to let that go). While bad, Willie Nelson was clearly having a worse go of it when he recorded the song "The Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning." (UPDATE: Actually written by, A.P. Nunn and D.S. Farar. Thanks, commenter.) Stumbled upon at Rcrd Lbl, we have Matthew Houck a.k.a. Phosphorescent, offering up this fantastically-melancholy song for Seattle's KEXP radio. As an added bonus, he also gives us the Phosphorescent original "At Death A Proclamation." Phosphorescent was to perform on Willie's Sirius XM radio show last night. Just some lovely tunes to put you in a great mood this morning. You're welcome.

Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson Announce Ballpark Tour

Photo Credit: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/2368051286_524d7c7fce.jpg

Rolling Stone just gave Dylan's Together Through Life a four star review. You know they would have gone five, but they would have caught too much heat from us bloggers. Plus, it would just be too easy to give Dylan five stars. He's Bob Dylan. We know. We love him.

Dylan, Shotgun Willie AND the original cougar, John Mellencamp are teaming up to take us all out to a ball game this summer, with a tour of the nations' most famous (or not famous) baseball stadiums. Sure, the sound will probably be shit in most of the venues, but deal with it. See tour dates and venues after the jump.

On a side note, we wish we could catch Tinariwen at Le Passion Rouge this evening, but we have the all important Pomp & Circumstance party to attend. Gotta represent.

Date City
7/2 Sauget, IL at GCS Ballpark
7/4 South Bend, IN at Coveleski Stadium
7/8 Louisville, KY at Louisville Slugger Field
7/10 Dayton, OH at Fifth Third Field
7/11 Eastlake, OH at Classic Park
7/13 Washington, PA at Consol Energy Park
7/14 Allentown, PA at Coca-Cola Park
7/15 New Britain, CT at New Britain Stadium
7/19 Syracuse, NY at Alliance Bank Stadium
7/21 Pawtucket, RI at McCoy Stadium
7/23 Lakewood, NJ at FirstEnergy Park
7/24 Aberdeen, MD at Ripken Stadium
7/25 Norfolk, VA at Harbor Park
7/28 Durham, NC at Durham Bulls Athletic Park
7/29 Sevierville, TN at Smokies Park
8/4 Round Rock, TX at The Dell Diamond
8/5 Corpus Christi, TX at Whataburger Field
8/7 Grand Prairie, TX at QuikTrip Park
8/11 Glendale, AZ at Camelback Ranch
8/12 Las Vegas, NV at Cashman Field
8/14 Fresno, CA at Chukchansi Park
8/15 Stockton, CA at Banner Island Ballpark

Wille Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, Norah Jones Set List

We just returned from a lively, yet charmingly sloppy set from Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis with guest appearances (nine we believe) from Norah Jones. The trio, backed by Marsalis' amazing band, played 15 songs, most made famous by Ray Charles. The music Mr. Charles played was always rooted in country, blues and jazz --so the grouping of these three modern day interpreters of the Jazz/Country school was a bit of a no brainer. This concert, held in the Rose Theater at Jazz At Lincoln Center, was born of the success of Two Men with the Blues, a previous Nelson and Marsalis concert recorded in 2007 and released on CD by Blue Note Records in 2008. More review and full set list after the jump.

Initially, the arrangements of the tunes seemed a little wobbly, while everyone (except Nelson) tried to find their stride. Yet, the shakiness didn't last long given that these are arguably some of, if not THE best jazz musicians on the planet. The solo sections shined brightest, and Nelson caressed the verses as only he can do. Nelson played numerous solos, while Wynton even shared in a few of the vocal duties. Jones' songs were surprisingly, some of our favorites -- most notably "Come Rain or Come Shine." (Standards record people!). Marsalis was Marsalis... impeccable everything: high energy, precise in every note, playing the trumpet maybe better than anyone ever has. The first set was better than the second, which got a little sleepy (insert weak Norah Jones joke here).

Overall, the vibe was great as these world renowned musicians laughed, joked, and truly enjoyed the opportunity to play the songs of Ray Charles -- songs ingrained in the memory of each player and everyone in the audience who rose to give them several standing ovations.

Thanks to Blue Note Records for setting this up. Also, special shout out to drummer Ali Jackson who blows my mind every time.

Set List

1. Hallelujah I Love Her So
2. Come Rain Come Shine *
3. You Are My Sunshine *
4. Unchain My Heart
5. Crying Time Again
6. Blues in Heaven
7. Hit the Road Jack *

Intermission

8. Movin' On
9. Busted
10. You Don't Know Me *
11. Here We Go Again *
12. Makin Whoopee *
13. I Love You So Much It Hurts
14. What'd I Say *

Encore
15. That's All *

* With Norah Jones

Great Shows This Weekend in NY

WAVVES - So Bored - mp3

So after a lovely evening with Cat Power last night, there are a slew of great shows in NY we are hoping to check out this weekend/next week:

Tonight: LA rising-star WAVVES makes his first NY appearance at Market Hotel with the equally awesome Blank Dogs. Also on the bill are Woods, Gary War and Nodzzz. The same artists play Less Artists More Condos on Saturday night.

Saturday: We won't be making it to Less Artists as we are heading to the Mercury to catch one of our favorite bands of '09 Pains of Being Pure at Heart who just got Best New Music today from Pitchfork.

Sunday: Lucero comes to the Mercury after two nights playing Terminal 5 with the Black Keys.

Monday: We're heading uptown with our Blue Note friends to catch Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis play Ray Charles tunes as part of Blue Note's 70th anniversary celebration.

Tuesday: Lily Allen plays a free Myspace Secret Show at Bowery.

Wednesday: Lissy Trullie celebrates the release of her great new EP at Mercury Lounge. As you all know, we think she's just tops.

Not to mention a million other great things that are probably happening those nights as well.

Who else is tired?

MP3 Round-up

Harlem

This week, there has been a TON of new music circulating around the interwebs. It's tough to keep up and keep your day job. But since we strive to please, you, our fans - we complied a bunch of new and great stuff in a little post for you. Click through for mp3s from Harlem, Neko Case, Elvis Perkins and Phosphorescent.



mp3s are below...

Yesterday we received a heavily taped, crudely addressed jiffy envelope from Austin, Texas. Inside was the Harlem LP Free Drugs. It immediately hit us in the most visceral way. Played loud, this record is instantly amazing. It's trashy, fuzzed-out and amazingly catchy in that garage rock, hand clapping, tambourine shaking way. Already noted in GVB's top 20 of '08, Harlem is poised for something bigger, but have yet to capture the attention of the more mainstream press in the blog world. Listen, just buy the record and join the party.

Could Neko Case be more lovable? Doubtful. Read below from the press release. We're just doing our part here...
"Anti- Records has released a free download of "People Got A Lotta Nerve," the first single from Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone (March 3), and for every blog that posts the song and iLike user who adds it to his/her profile, Neko Case and Anti- will make a donation benefiting Best Friends Animal Society. Five dollars will be donated for every blog post and one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to his/her profile."

We posted awhile back on the new Phosphorescent LP To Willie, modeled after Willie's To Lefty record. Yet, on To Willie you won't find your run-of-the-mill Willie Nelson songs. The track list culled from Willie's catalog could only have come from a true fan. From what we've heard live, Matthew Houck authentically interprets these songs and makes them his own. Definitely looking forward to more.

Elvis Perkins recently posted 3 new songs from his upcoming record to his website. XL releases Perkins' follow up to his stunningly amazing debut Ash Wednesday on March 10th. These new tracks succeed in that they capture the organic joyous jamming that happens during Elvis' live shows but was (understandably) absent from Ash Wednesday. Here's to you Elvis.


Harlem - "South of France" - mp3
Neko Case - "People Got A Lot of Nerve" - mp3
Phosphorescent "Reasons to Quit" - mp3
Elvis Perkins in Dearland "Shampoo" - mp3

New Phosphorescent LP - "To Willie"

Phosphorescent - "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise" (from Pride) - mp3

Phosphorescent (a.k.a Matthew Houck) follows up their/his widely acclaimed (and excellent) LP, Pride with a Willie Nelson tribute record entitled, To Willie, released Feb. 3 on Dead Oceans. We here at Stark loved Pride; it was dark and haunting, yet somehow uplifting and gorgeous. At Brooklyn Vegan's CMJ party, we caught a great set from Houck, during which he played a few cuts from his upcoming tribute to Nelson.

More, plus track listing and cover art after the jump...

While stripping away some of the mystery and reverb from his voice, we found Houck no less captivating and equally as impressive as on previous efforts. The tunes we heard were accessible and tinged with a greater sense of Americana (they are Willie songs after all). Yet, Houck's arrangements gave the songs a unique sound and kept them away from the straight-shooting, middle-of-the-road country (or alt-country) that can bog down a record. To Willie is, of course, modeled after the classic Nelson record To Lefty from Willie - even the cover art is the same. Here's to hoping the results are as amazing as that seminal album, although I hate to say, I doubt it. We still love you though Phosphorescent.



Track List:
Reasons To Quit
Too Sick To Pray
Walkin'
It's Not Supposed To Be That Way
Pick Up The Tempo
I Gotta Get Drunk
Can I Sleep In Your Arms
Heartaches Of A Fool
Permanently Lonely
The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning)
The Party's Over