Tooth of Crime (T-Bone Burnett)

though i discovered it late in the year, this noir masterpiece is my favorite album of 2008. it's true that '08 was not a great listening year for me. but, that might be why i really love this record. it GRABBED me and made me listen to it over and over. it demanded my time.

Tooth of Crime features a song co-written by Roy Orbison (Kill Zone), along with one of my favorite voices, Sam Phillips (formerly married to T-Bone Burnett). the album is a soundtrack to the second version of Sam Shepard's play of the same name. the play was re-written with some new music by Burnett in 1996, but the songs were only recently finished. and i am in love with them.

MJB

This clip exemplifies why Mary J. Blige is a heroine... Humble, beautiful, and capable of totally entrancing huge groups of people.

Be patient... It will get you, too.

HistoryMystery

Guitarist Bill Frisell's new album is AMAZING, beautiful, moving, powerful, shake your head and yell "DAMN" kind of music. Oh my gosh I can't even describe it. You can stream it from his label's website. When you buy the CD through them, you also get immediate mp3 downloads. Have a listen and see if it suits you. I won't say how crazy you are if it doesn't. I'm working on my diplomacy.

New Most Favorites: The Archive

THIS blog began when the New Most Faves started to overwhelm the original blog. Here's the archive, from whence we came...

Nouknouk - Confection for the Eyes

MUSE - Absolution

Inara George - It's mellifluous.

Melody Gardot makes new standards like it's 1949.

Ray LaMontagne's new album is like the best of Joe Cocker on codeine (produced by the amazing Ethan Johns), but listening to this music makes my heart beat faster.

Addictive modern take on electronic pop - I am obsessed with Ghostland Observatory

Pandora is like the whole world making a mix tape just for you.

C19H21N3O with a rum and coke

Amon Tobin slays me every which electronic way.

Mary J. Blige's album The Breakthrough is definitely in my top 5 of 2006 and it's only March.

Finally, some Cat Power I can get behind.

Mute Math - These boys rock.

Without Gravity is for fans of mazzy star and sleeping pills.

Roots in Gasoline by Scouts Honor reminds me of Rollins' early Black Flag days.

Kathleen Edwards The guitar work on her latest record makes my heart ache.

Maimou - Juliana Sheffield's lyrics and voice are deliciously haunted.

You can't not listen to Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck).

Everything about Sia's Colour the Small One is beautiful.

The Langley Schools Music Project for aspiring ethnomusicologists everywhere: elementary students covering 70's pop hits in the cafeteria

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Try out the track "How Long Do I Have to Wait for You" and do whatever you have to do to SEE HER LIVE.

Jupiter One Creative, original NEW new wave from NYC

It still amazes me to find people who haven't heard the wonder that is Patty Griffin.

Martha Wainwright, sister of Rufus - Raw weird talent runs in her blood.

and now for something completely different

This just in from my favorite Chicago screamos, Scouts Honor. It's no secret that I adore frontman Jared Grabb. His solo acoustic sets would make anyone swoon. Not to say that this isn't also romantic...

Scouts Honor "Prison Bars" at Substage in Germany on 5-8-08

don't need the work like you need the work done

thanks to Kevin Connor for turning me onto Todd Snider. we share Portland, OR and Austin, TX connections, so about 300 people had already told me to check todd out, but after finally hearing these two songs, i'm sold. i guess it took three hundred and 1.

Watch Beer Run
Watch Lookin For a Job

current girl crushes

i REALLY so love Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward together in the band She and Him. Check out their MySpace site and listen to "This is Not a Test." It's like eating 70's country-tinged pop treats on the most comfy couch with Patsy Cline and Linda Rondstadt.

recently found the sweet sad joy of Sera Cahoone through SXSW:

Link to Sera Cahoon on MySpace for more great songs.

a Sad Waltz and a Theremin

"Pay no attention to what critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic."
Jean Sibelius (composer of Valse Triste in 1903)

performed in 2006 by the German Chamber Orchestra of Bremen:


and staying on the classical tip, here's a beautiful Rachmaninov piece (Vocalise, 1912) performed on THEREMIN. you have to see it.

Beethoven

I've been searching for a pianist who doesn't play Beethoven like there's a pole up his ass. Claudio Arrau is from Chile where, apparently, they have never even HEARD of poles. Halleluia! (further suggestions would be greatly appreciated)

Here is Arrau playing Beethoven's Sonata No. 21 (part one of 3, with links to the others below). It was written in 1804, when Beethoven was 34 years old, for a patron in Vienna who had made it possible for him to study with Haydn. (The Guardian posted a interesting lecture about it, unfortunately with playing that features the aforementioned pole.)



Part 2
Part 3

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Simple. Beautiful. David Rawlings is one of my favorite guitarists, with dissonant tendencies that keep me tied around his fingers.

"Time (The Revelator)" video from the 2001 album of the same name, produced by David himself.


"Caleb Mayer" live version of a song from the 1998 album Hell Among the Yearlings, produced by T Bone Burnett (once married to Sam Phillips, whom I adore).


...and here's a link to Sam Phillips' 2004 set live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic (with a string quartet). sometimes i watch this and pretend she's doing it all just for me.

hope y'all had a merry christmas. 2008 will be a fierce one.

--erin

STARTING OVER

blogs are like the clean, dirty, and in-between laundry piles in my bedroom. i've been in-between with music recommendations/effusions on other sites, but now they're stepping out of the overlap and into Their Own. i'll try to do a little catching up, but mostly moving forward.

it is MUSIC that i truly love. soaking all of me in.  filling all of me up.

...

Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays (Blind) - her voice is clear as a bell, her sweeping melodies are fresh and creative, the band is tight.  perfect little pop songs.  perfect for singing along.  i was once asked in an interview which album i would pick if i could only listen to ONE for the rest of my life.  i picked this one.

Tori Amos (Scarlet's Walk) - to be honest, Tori lost me after Under the Pink.  i could only follow her so far.  but all the reasons i loved her Little Earthquakes album appear again in Scarlet's Walk.  compelling arrangements and orchestration behind vocal hooks carrying her masterfully crafted lyrics.  beautiful and accessible (to me, this is all subjective, of course), but still emotionally charged.

Sarah Vaughan (I'll Be Seeing You memorial album - another crystal clear and acrobatic voice, i first heard sarah vaughan being played in a cafe called 49West in annapolis, maryland (same place i first heard cab calloway).  her control over her voice, all through her range, is jaw-dropping. i really love the uptempo songs on this record. if you find this album, get it!

Martha Wainwright (self-titled debut) - her voice is as erraticly entertaining and deeply controlled as her personality seems to be.  she grumbles and wails, puts her heart out for the taking.  i so appreciate her honest portrayal of the struggle of the inner life (both lyrically and in her physical singing style).  she sings backup for her brother (rufus wainwright) a lot, so you may recognize her unique tone if you're familiar with his music.  she sings her ass off.


they get me over.

KOOP had a great show today (Le Chateau Daddy-O) featuring break-up music.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are back on tour in the U.S. Please don't miss it.