So, it was Johnny Cash’s birthday yesterday and I didn’t get a chance to post something. I feel like I’ve let myself down.
Johnny Cash was more than just a singer of songs. He was a shining light and although many find his baritone to be somewhat depressing, I always found his voice and music (regardless of the subject matter) to be uplifting. I firmly believe that there’s a Johnny Cash song for everyone … he’s written things down that will relate to someone, somewhere.
I first heard Johnny Cash when a Levi’s ad carried ‘Ring of Fire’. I never really thought that much about country music. My ol’ man had a cassette with ‘A Boy Named Sue’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, which I later discovered were recorded at San Quentin. But, I never really thought that much about the man or the music other than the cool song about the boy with the girls name, the one with the trumpets and shooting “a man in Reno/just to watch him die”.
A good few years later I discovered the music of Johnny Cash. I had stumbled upon a cassette with ‘I Walk the Line’, ‘I Still Miss Someone’ and I remembered ‘A Boy Named Sue’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. I duly purchased the ‘Man In Black’ compilation and I found myself immersed in the music and the words. I pretty much went from there.
There’s much more to Mr. J R Cash than ‘Hurt’.
Filed under: Albums of Year, Downloads, Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan, Radio Sessions, The Gutter Twins | Tags: Greg Dulli, Idle Hands, Mark Lanegan, The Gutter Twins
9 days till ‘Saturnalia’ arrives. I have to confess, I’ve been unable to prevent myself listening to the stream each time I’ve been online. I can honestly say that the wait has been worth it …
For those who missed the free MP3 of the album track ‘Idle Hands’, here it is courtesy of those good folks over at Sub Pop: ‘Idle Hands’
“2 posts in two days, Jim!?”
Yeah, why not? Now I’ll go figure out which bootleg to post this month.
In the meantime, check out Lanegan with the Soulsavers at ‘WXPN World Cafe’.
Have a splendid weekend.
Filed under: Adventures in Stereo NEWS!, Albums of Year, Downloads, Random | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourites, Because of the Times, Downloads, Earth, Forum, King, Never, Never Land, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Pale Horse and Rider, PJ Harvey, Random, T.I., The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull, The Gutter Twins, UNKLE, Video, Wu Tang Clan
Firstly, HOORAY!!! for the end of the working week.
Secondly, I can’t wait to have another listen to The Gutter Twins album that has been streaming online for a few weeks now (see ‘The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia’ post).
Thirdly, I’ve been sitting around thinking “I really have to watch ‘Intacto’ at some point”. A friend of mine loaned it to me several months ago and I still haven’t watched it. But I shall … this week (unless I watch the remake of ‘3:10 to Yuma’ again, as it’s that darn good).
… my music collection has been largely neglected these last few months. I’m still listening to Kings of Leon’s excellent ‘Because of the Times’ quite a bit, and aside from that the playlist has included UNKLE’s ‘Never, Never Land’, ‘Uh Huh Her’ by the wonderful PJ Harvey (who, according to the BRITS, isn’t deserving of BEST FEMALE ahead of Kate Nash), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ ‘The Boatman’s Call’ (getting ready for the release of ‘Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!’) and Pale Horse and Rider’s ‘Moody Pike’.
I’ve also recently discovered ‘King’ by T.I. I know that many folk will know who this guy is and be thinking “old news, Jim”, but give me a break. On the subject of Hip-Hop, not so old news is The Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘8 Diagrams’, which is a stunning return (as is Ghostface Killah’s recent release, ‘Big Doe Rehab’).
But, the one album that I really can’t get enough of at the moment is Earth’s astounding ‘The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Head’. I’ve liked a few of their previous records, but found this one to be instantly captivating … and joyous! I’d encourage anyone – having heard their previous work or not – to go out and purchase this album.
If you’d like to know more about Dylan Carlson’s Earth, give this place a visit.
… and from The Southern Lord website, here’s the brilliant track that opens 2008’s brilliant ‘The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull’: ‘Omens and Portents I: The Driver’ (MP3)
As well as all this, there’s an Adventures in Stereo forum in operation. It might not last long, but I figured it’s worth it.
Enjoy and have a splendid weekend.
Filed under: Albums of Year, Future releases, Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan, Music News, The Gutter Twins | Tags: Saturnalia, Stream, The Gutter Twins
As most of us now now, Mark Lanegan, Greg Dulli and their friends are on the road. Their debut album as ‘The Gutter Twins’ is still a few weeks away, however, you can listen to it here.
I had been trying to avoid listening to the album until the postman delivers my pre-ordered copy on the day of release, however the urge to hear more of the songs (4 tracks are available to listen to on their MySpace) kinda got the better of me. I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop since.
For those who don’t know, here’s the tracklisting:
The Stations
God’s Children
All Misery/Flowers
The Body
Idle Hands
Circle the Fringes
Who Will Lead Us?
Seven Stories Underground
I Was in Love with You
Bête Noire
Each to Each
Front Street
‘Who Will Lead Us?’ destroyed me. As too did ‘Seven Stories Underground’. I’ll post a review soon enough, but it’s fair to say that it’s been worth the wait. Likely to be one of the albums of 2008.
Filed under: Downloads, Radio Sessions, The Afghan Whigs | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourite, Download, Radio Sessions, The Afghan Whigs
On February 22nd 1994, Greg Dulli, Steve Earle, John Curley, Rick McCollum and Douglas Falsetti took a bunch of instruments to BBC’s Media Vale studios and bashed out a few tunes.
They were amazing (as always). Luckily the songs they performed were recorded by the BBC for a broadcast on a John Peel show in March that year.
And here they are.
The Afghan Whigs and Stone Temple Pilots on the same day? Woah! Enjoy.
Filed under: Bootleg of the Month, Downloads, Stone Temple Pilots | Tags: Bootleg of the Month, Downloads, House of Blues, Stone Temple Pilots
January is gone already!? I get the feeling that this is gonna be a very quick year. Anyway, although it’s slightly late, here’s January’s ‘Bootleg of the Month’. I hope you folk enjoy it.
I was dead set on posting the 1993 MTV Unplugged show from ‘Live’, however, as the news of Stone Temple Pilots’ summer reunion got me kind of excited I thought I’d share that excitement with the visitors of ’Adventures In Stereo’.
The Stone Temple Pilots are one of my favourite bands, though I have to admt to not being particularly keen on the majority of their debut record ‘Core’. I got into them through ‘The Crow’ movie after hearing ‘Big Empty’, deciding to purchase ‘Purple’ and thinking it was absolutely incredible. My friend, on the other hand, dispised them … I believe he called them a ”second rate Pearl Jam”.
But, the output from STP just got stronger (though the band got a little torn up) and ‘Tiny Music … Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop’ (their third effort) remains my favourite. ‘No.4′ was also a fine record, a return to form after the DeLeo brothers and Kretz flirted with a new vocalist on their ‘Talk Show’ project (Weiland also released a solo record, ‘12 Bar Blues’, which I thought was an incredible album, but apparently no-one else did?). Their last album, ‘Shangri-La Dee Da’ has some good moments, but it’s patchy and largely disappointing. However, you’ll find something worthwhile on each of their albums. They were astounding.
They were also quite brilliant Live. I caught them only once, on their ‘Shangri-La Dee Da’ tour and I thought they were quite brilliant. Powerful.
This show, from the ‘House Of Blues’ on Sunset Strip, was STP’s first ‘proper’ show since the 1997 (mainly due to Weiland’s problems and incarceration). I also believe that this was the first time the band had performed ‘Sex & Violence’.
Enjoy.
Stone Temple Pilots, House of Blues, March 15th 2000
01 Crackerman
02 Meatplow
03 Vasoline
04 Tumble In The Rough
05 Big Empty
06 Kitchenware and Candybars
07 Sour Girl
08 Interstate Love Song
09 Plush
10 Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
11 Sex & Violence
12 Down
13 Unglued
14 Dead & Bloated
15 Piece Of Pie
16 Sex Type Thing
17 Roadhouse Blues
