'New Words of Wisdom' : Brendan Benson

In case you've been feeling productive lately, let Nashville artist Brendan Benson put you to shame. He's nearly half way through his song-a-month campaign of 2013. The newest track is a waltzing little number called "New Words of Wisdom." My words of wisdom to you? Give it a listen and then get crackin' on whatever it is you do. 

Adventures in Mix Making

In an earlier post I mentioned that I'm involved with some ruffians in a mix club. The basic premise is that we're taking turns creating Spotify playlists and posting them on the Facebooks. Wild stuff. My turn finally came around this week, which is good because I've been crafting this sucker for about a month and I'm damn near sick of it.

In any case, I thought I'd post it here (since who doesn't like a little injection of new music) and tell you a bit about it. (Hiyo process story!)

One of my favorite conversations has always been about how people make mixes. For me, my default mode is finding music that matches sound-wise, whether it's jangly indie guitar, or breathy songwriter stuff, or whatever. For this mix I got stuck on what I consider to be a kind of dirty guitar sound. I went through about 4 drafts of the mix before I settled. The biggest challenge was dealing with Spotify, which sadly lacks many of the tracks that I was most excited about including, like:

A Story of Nashville by Oblio
Nice by Thisway
The Silence Between Us by Bob Mould
Sewn Together by The Meat Puppets

Bad luck, right? I think I found suitable replacements. It sounded ok when I took the final incarnation for a test drive yesterday. Oh, and that's the other thing. I test drive my mixes. Before anyone else hears one, I've heard it at least twice.  One positive turn that came from the swap outs, is that I got to put "Trouble Comes Running" by Spoon back in. The song hadn't survived the first draft edits, but somehow at the end, it was just what I needed.

The name of the mix comes from a line in the second track "Good To Be" by Backyard Tire Fire. I think basic mix protocol is to use a lyric that somehow fits the mix. In this case, I picked "I Just Don't Know When to Stop" because most of the songs are upbeat and energetic, and that violates my pacing rule of putting in two slow songs in the middle and a kind of slow song second to last. I tried. Sort of did it. But you know, I hate slow songs. I want a mix, not an Ambien.

Ok. Quick word about some of the artists. The past few years, I've had a hard time making a mix that didn't include Brendan Benson. His 2005 album Alternative to Love is a mix maker's dream. "Feel Like Myself Again" is the kind of song that'll get you through a gloomy afternoon. Suzanne Vega's "Frank & Ava" is  probably one of my most listened to songs. Her lyrics are *mwuah* excellent. I also got to work in the very first Wilco song I ever knew, one that I actually had the lyrics to in my high school locker. Then there's the Candy Butchers, the most underrated pop/rock act of the 90s. Also, let's not forget Pictures and Sound, from Nashville dude Luke Reynolds. Again, you want to talk about under-appreciated, Picture and Sound's one and only album had more than a few standouts.

Anyway, that's enough about that. If you're so inclined, give it a listen. Happy Friday.

Adventures in: A Week in Music

Oh my God. The Alabama Shakes.

One of the entertaining parts of having a blog is occasionally jabbering about yourself. That and coming up with your own house style... but that's a separate bag of j-nerdiness you probably don't care about. That said, I thought I'd write up a week in music that was more eventful than most. 

+Monday: I broke out of the house and caught a CD release show at The Basement here in Nashville, for a charming Irish duo called The Lost Brothers. My reoccurring thought throughout the night was "I'm so glad I'm not covering this." Words fail me. But I'll keep typing. It was everything that makes Nashville the best city to see a show. The Lost Brothers are very good live. They're even better when accompanied by top flight musicians including a talented lap steel player, trombonist, and violinist. Brendan Benson joined them on stage for a song to play washtub bass, and then touring partner Glen Hansard popped up to sing a few songs as well. The night went like this: "Hey Jim, you out there? Did you bring your guitar? Come on up here."  I never want to see an arena/stadium concert again. 

+Tuesday: The new Mumford and Sons record came out and much to my dismay, Target sold out of the deluxe version, which has three bonus tracks, including their cover of "The Boxer" featuring Paul Simon and Jerry Douglas. Really, this little story has more to do with saving a few bucks thanks to Amazon. I ordered it for $11.99 instead of Target's $13.99. Shipping is free with my Prime account, and then Amazon kicked me back a buck to put toward a future purchase. Unless I'm able to get Grimey's, Amazon– I'm all yours. 

+Wednesday: For the past few weeks I've been slowly crafting a mix (well, Spotify playlist) for a mix club some folks I know started. I was ready to launch yesterday, but for some reason friends can't see certain tracks on my published playlists, and it's not a matter of Spotify not having the music. Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers that the good folks at Spotify shoot me an email back soon with a magic solution. And speaking of said mix, does it ever weird you out when there's a song you like and you can't find out anything about the band? More on that later. 

+ Thursday: I went with some people to see The Alabama Shakes at Live on the Green, a great free outdoor concert series put on by the illustrious Lighting 100. Got there late, left early, had about 10,000 people in my way. This night I also found myself thinking "I'm so glad I'm not covering this." On the bright side, I got to hear "Goin' to the Party" and "Hold On." On a related note, I'm like to commend LOTG. The top of the stage structure looked stunning. 

And Friday? Well. Basically nothing happened Friday. Anyhoodle, that's what's happening in these parts. Until later. 

Singled Out: Benson, Bird, Dr. Dog

January isn't necessarily the most exciting time for music (or for anything, now that I think about it.) There's a lull in between the onslaught of "Best Of" lists and when new releases start rolling out around the end of the month. Fortunately, the gears are beginning to turn again. Evidence? Here are three new singles– call them harbingers of a promising year for music. We hope.

"Bad For Me" by Brendan Benson

I'd like to go ahead and declare Brendan Benson as one of Michigan's favorite sons. (Haven't asked Michigan, but I figure they'd be cool with it.) He's set to release a new album called What Kind of World on April 21, but until then, here's "Bad For Me," a piano-driven helping of drama served with... do I detect the slightest whiff of the Beach Boys on the chorus? Yes. I believe I do. 

Download the song courtesy of Stereogum. - Brendan Benson – “Bad For Me”Download

"Lonesome" by Dr. Dog

Check out the catchy, shuffling open track from Dr. Dog's Feb. 7 release, Be the Void. Paste reports the band said the record will be more of a return to form, showcasing "rough around the edges rock." Sounds accurate.

Dr. Dog - Lonesome by antirecords


"Eyeoneye" by Andrew Bird

We've been waiting for Bird to follow up Noble Beast since 2009, and we are almost there, people. In true Bird fashion, the title makes no sense, but the song features all the quirky sounds we expect from an Andrew Bird tune, like whistling, violin and who knows what else. (Pretty Much Amazing flagged a glockenspiel.) Something different though, is the speed "Eyeoneye" works itself up to at the end. Break it Yourself comes out March 7.

Bits of Things: Insults and Thin Rays of Hope for Music

Stuff has been happening. Here's some of it.

- The war against Nickelback continues. After Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney dissed the ever atrocious Nickelback in Rolling Stone, saying ""Rock & roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world," Nickelback tweeted thanks for the "biggest band" compliment. You're welcome?

- Good news for people who've had mostly bad news. For the first time in seven years, music retailers saw a bump in music sales. It may be a meager 3%, but hey, we'll take it. This also means that the new Nielsen Soundscan report is out, which is just about as exciting as the annual State of the Media Report. I believe a "woot" is in order.

- And speaking of selling music, The Beatles's Abbey Road sold 41,000 copies– vinyl copies, that is– in 2011. That makes it the top selling vinyl record of the year, as it should be. Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Mumford & Sons, and Radiohead rounded out the top five.

- Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs is set to release his fifth studio album, What Kind of World, in April. What's more, he'll release it on his own label, Readymade, which is also brand-spanking new. 

- Another release to look forward to is Of Montreal's forthcoming album Paralytic Stalks, out Feb. 7. Until then, Pitchfork is streaming a song from the album titled "Dour Percentage." Have at it. 

Spit it Out : Brendan Benson

I'm glad there's finally a video on Youtube for this song, because I've been wanting to post about it since late May. It's "Spit it Out" by Detroiter (well, Royal Oak actually) Brendan Benson. You might be familiar with Benson as a solo artist who debuted in 1996 and saw some commercial success in the UK with 2005's Alternative to Love. More likely, you're inadvertently familiar with him as one of the dudes in the Raconteurs.

I caught him at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville in 2010 as part of a tribute to Alex Chilton and Big Star, so about a year later when I ran across Alternative to Love on vinyl at Grimey's New and Preloved Music, I bought it, put it it on and fell in love with track one: "Spit it Out."

I like musicians from Detroit generally because I can hear the city in what they do (Kid Rock exempted). The riff in "Spit it Out" is loose and sort of messy, but something about it evokes yesteryears– kind of like Detroit.

Anyway, take it for a spin.