Back around late September/early October, Langhorne Slim released his th
ird album, Be Set Free. Slim was one of the few artists whose performance I missed entirely at this years Folk Festival 50 in Newport. I was a bit disappointed as I'd heard he puts on a good show. Ah, perhaps another time.When I first put Be Set Free on, my initial reaction to the record was "eh." It just didn't do anything for me really. I didn't think it was a bad record. It just didn't grab me. But, I put it on again a week or so later and thought to myself, "hm, this really isn't as "eh" as I remember it being. Maybe I should give this a closer listen." After that revelation and another week or so, I gave the record that closer listen. Guess what folks? I like Be Set Free! It's records like this that support my "listen to it again even if it didn't do anything for you" theory. Yes, I have a theory. It being, just because something doesn't grab you on initial listen, doesn't mean you won't appreciate it later on down the line. This has happened on several occasions in my life. The theory also has something to do with loving a record and then down the line not being able to tolerate it. But, that's a discussion for another time!Back to Langhorne and his record. The record kicks off with "Back to the Wild" which is one of the five songs on this 13 track effort that I find myself diggin' the most. The other songs that usually end up having me hit the repeat button on my nifty little media player of choice are, "I Love You, But Goodbye," "Cinderella" which ironically was my least favorite song on the album when I first heard it, the title track, "Be Set Free" and the one that I like the most, "For A Little While." Of course, the whole record is well worth listening too. Give Be Set Free a listen if you haven't already especially, if you're a fan of the modern day semi-alternative folk troubadours. It's an excellent piece of work; one of which I'm glad I gave another chance.
Track Listing
- Back to the Wild
- Say Yes
- I Love You, But Goodbye
- Land Of Dreams
- Cinderella
- Be Set Free
- For A Little While
- Sunday By the Sea
- Leaving My Love
- Yer Wrong
- Blow Your Mind
- So Glad That I'm Coming Home
- Boots Boy
www.langhorneslim.com
www.myspace.com/langhorneslim
www.facebook.com/langhorneslim
twitter.com/langhorneslim
2009 was a great year from fans of The Beatles. Their entire catalog was digitally re-maste
red, they are now a Rock Band video game, former Beatle Paul McCartney released a big ol' honkin' live set and a compilation disc from fellow former bandmate, George Harrison was released. Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison was released back in June, the 16th to be exact. This is the first collection that covers Harrison's entire solo career. I have a love/hate relationship with best of's, greatest hits, retrospectives, collections or whatever you want to call them. They're great when you're being introduced to an artist or you don't feel like pulling out your whole collection. But, inevitably, there's always something I feel should have been included or left off but, wasn't. Everyone feels that way about these types of productions. There are some glaring omissions on this Harrison compilation but, those omissions have made appearances on some of his other compilations. It still would have been nice to see "Crackerbox Palace," "I Dig Love" and "Cloud Nine" on the collection as well as some of his work with The Traveling Wilburys. But, in all fairness, The Traveling Wilburys records weren't solo efforts. I know, someone will point out that songs he recorded with The Beatles are on here but they're not those versions. The versions that appear on this album come from Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh record thus, a part of his solo career.What we get with Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison is a very nice look into Harrison's solo career. So many people tend to focus on the Lennon/McCartney songwriting machine that Harrison's songwriting is often overlooked and not as lauded as the solo efforts of Lennon and McCartney. The quiet one wrote his own fair share of classic songs and from beginning to end, you're reminded of that with this record.How do you review a compilation? Heck, I don't know! Well, lets see, it has a good selection of songs. It covers most of the bases with the casual fan, fan friendly, well known songs. It has some not as well known songs to make the more serious fans happy. I haven't given it a spin on a big fancy stereo system but it sounds great on my media player of choice. There's nothing new or radical here, just 19 songs of good ol' George. If you haven't updated your Harrison collection from vinyl or cassette or for some odd reason need to be introduced to the solo music of George Harrison, this is a good overall place to start.
Track Listing
- Got My Mind Set On You
- Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
- Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
- My Sweet Lord
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Live At Madison Square Garden)
- All Things Must Pass
- Any Road
- This Is Love
- All Those Years Ago
- Marwa Blues
- What Is Life
- Rising Sun
- When We Was Fab
- Something (Live At Madison Square Garden)
- Blow Away
- Cheer Down
- Here Comes The Sun (Live At Madison Square Garden )
- I Don't Want To Do It
- Isn't It A Pity
www.georgeharrison.com
Texas blues rock band Arc Angels have released their long awaited live album Living In
A Dream. It's a work that has been what, 5 years in the making?! The live portion of the CD/DVD combo was recorded primarily at Stubb's in Austin and is document of that which is, Arc Angels live.Earlier this year, Doyle Bramhall II (lead guitar/lead vocals), Charlie Sexton (lead guitar/lead vocals) and Chris Layton (drums) reunited and hit the road minus original member Tommy Shannon (bass) whose work is documented on this effort. If you've seen any of these guys be it together or working with other artists or even solo, you know these cats are first rate musicians. They individually and collectively have a strong and loyal base of fans who have been eager to get their hands on this package. I myself was excited.I got Living In A Dream in my quirky little hands and tossed it in my player. I sat back and I listened. The first time I listened to it I couldn't quite figure out why I couldn't fully wrap my head around the record. This puzzled me greatly. After all, these are high caliber musicians and the music and vocals are all very solid. Why wasn't it giving me some sort of guitar based musical orgasm?! So, I listened a second and third time. That's when it hit me. It was missing some fire. Ooh, did I just hear a round of boo hiss boo from my fellow Arc Angels fans?Well, before
I get hunted down and strung up by a bunch of pitchfork toting fellow fans I should point out something. I'm not so sure it's the recording so much as it's the fact that my memory of seeing them back in May is still reasonably fresh in my mind. When you've stood in front of Bramhall and his guitar listening to him blow your friggin' mind, anything less than standing right there in front him (and the rest of the Angels) just doesn't measure up. It wasn't until eight songs in when they got to "Crave and Wonder" that things kick in and made me say to myself, "yeah, these are the guys that blew my mind at Irving Plaza."The package, in addition to containing both the audio and video of the concert at Stubb's, comes with a documentary and a bonus disc that includes three studio tracks, one each by Sexton and Bramhall ("Crave and Wonder" & "What I'm Looking For" respectively) as well as a cover of Paul McCartney's "Too Many People." Overall, this is a good record, one that fans I'm sure already have in their possession. No, I don't think it fully captures their fire. Would I recommend Living In A Dream? Yes. I'd recommend it for the casual fan and I'd recommend it to people who like good old fashioned blues based rock played by top notch musicians.
Track Listing
- Paradise Cafe
- Carry Me On
- The Famous Jane
- Good Time
- She's Alright
- Always Believed In You
- Sent By Angels
- Crave and Wonder
- Nadine
- See What Tomorrow Brings
- Shape I'm In
- Living In A Dream
- Too Many Ways To Fall
Bonus Disc Track Listing
- Crave and Wonder
- What I'm Looking For
- Too Many People
- Spanish Moon (Live At Antone's)
arcangelsmusic.com/index_2.html
www.myspace.com/arcangelsmusic
Back at the beginning of September, The Black Crowes released their latest re
cord, Before The Frost...Until The Freeze. Prior to the records release, I'd heard "I Ain't Hiding" and got a bit excited. My first thought was, glory be, they're going to get back to the more funky and just outright rockin' stuff. While that song wasn't up there with some of their classic songs of yore, it made me look forward to the upcoming release.The record came out. I opened up the package and the first thing I notice is, it's a mini replica of a vinyl LP. The casing looks and maneuvers like album covers from back in the day. The CD even comes in a paper sleeve and the disc itself looks like a vinyl record. Nice. It got me feeling all nostalgic and remembering the delightful Three Snakes vinyl 45 singles box set. Y'all remember that box? It also made me sad thinking about the flooded basement destruction of that box set and about 95% of my other Crowes collectibles but, I digress. Anyway, the record is broken into two parts. Before The Frost... and the bonus download ...Until The Freeze. I popped the disc in. It opens with "Good Morning Captain" which I enjoyed but immediately thought, well, that's not a rocker! "Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)" the second track comes on and is my favorite song on the disc. Nope, that's not a rocker either. As things go on, I begin to wonder how the hell "I Ain't Hiding" fits. Well, it doesn't, not really. I suppose it fits in, in the sense that The Crowes are diverse musicians and aren't hindered by genre labels which is something I always loved about them, especially live. I guess it also fits in the sense that it reminds me of Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and some of their earlier stuff reminds me of Stewart ... "Charming Mess" springs to mind. To this day, I still expect to hear Stewart's voice instead of Chris Robinson's when I hear that song. Did I digress again?"Make Glad" comes the closest to the classic, funky, rockin' Crowes of days gone by. It comes in a close second to being my favorite track on the album. Brace yourselves, I'm going to have one of my questionable comparison moments right now. "And The Band Played On" sounds like some bizarre cross of Little Feat, Led Zeppelin and ELO. Honestly, I can't even tell you how I feel about that song. Before The Frost... ends with "The Last Place That Love Lives" which doesn't do much for me but it's the perfect song to lead you into the bonus ...Until The Freeze portion of the record. That portion of the record kicks off with "Aimless Peacock" which sounds like Uncle Jed went to India to record a record. Were their hookah's involved in the creation of that song? Okay, perhaps that's a bit harsh. My favorite song on that portion of the disc is, "Greenhorn" ... lovin' the guitar work on that one. "Garden Gate" does a nice job of reminding me of Flatt & Scruggs. But honestly, I'd rather slap on the brilliant At Carnegie Hall! instead of hearing The Crowes remind me of them. Maybe down the line I'll toss it on and will feel differently, but right now, I ain't really feelin' the second portion of the record. The Black Crowes are still a stellar band. Overall, Before The Frost...Until The Freeze is a good record. I without a doubt like it better than Warpaint which I'm still not feeling any love for. But, I prefer them to rock, roll and burn with all of their funky, bluesy, rockin' might.
Track Listing
Before The Frost… (CD Track Listing)
- Good Morning Captain
- Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
- Appaloosa
- A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound
- I Ain’t Hiding
- Kept My Soul
- What Is Home
- Houston Don’t Dream About Me
- Make Glad
- And The Band Played On
- Last Place That Love Lives
…Until The Freeze (Free Download Album Track Listing)
- Aimless Peacock
- Shady Grove
- Garden Gate
- Greenhorn
- Shine Along
- Roll Old Jeremiah
- Lady Of Avenue A
- So Many Times
- Fork In The River
www.blackcrowes.com
Georgia rockers Dead Confederate have released a live LP, Dirty Ammo. Good folks that th
ey are, they're giving it to you for free! The material was recorded live at The Earl in Atlanta earlier this year, May 27 to be exact. Some details ... they also have a few packages available. There's the $1.00 digital donation package where you get the download which includes hi-res artwork. The proceeds go to help rebuild the Georgia Theatre which was destroyed by fire in June. So, if you have a buck to spare and wanna help out, that's an excellent option. The standard option gets you the vinyl LP and digital download with artwork. The deluxe option gets you everything plus a t-shirt. With both options $1.00 will be donated to help rebuild the theatre. To get your lovely little hands on a copy of Dirty Ammo, visit HERE.
Track Listing
- Get Out
- Start Me Laughing
- Shadow The Walls
- Roman Candle*
- Smoke A Minor**
- Guns
- Tortured Artist Saint
* Elliott Smith cover
** Officer May cover
www.deadconfederate.com
www.myspace.com/deadconfederate
www.dirtyammo.com
www.georgiatheatre.com
Grammy winning songstress Corinne Bailey Rae has premiered the video for "I'd Do It All 
Again." It's the first single from her upcoming record, The Sea which is set to drop on January 26 here in the States. I caught one of Bailey Rae's album preview performances last week (review and photos here) and not only did she put on a good show, it left me looking forward to The Sea. The video for "I'd Do It All Again" was directed by Jamie Thraves. I have to say, the video makes me sad! That's a good thing, right? A work that makes you feel a genuine emotion, nice.
www.corinnebaileyrae.net
twitter.com/CorinneBRae
I've been playing a game of catch up with my email. I'm slow sometimes, but I do read it all. 
During this game, which I play regularly, sometimes, things catch my eye and or ears. One particular email came from a quirky Hoboken chick, we'll call her QHC, yeah, I like that. QHC said, 'hey, have you heard of this Norwegian chick Marit Larsen?' Well, I hadn't heard of Larsen so I did a bit of searching around to find out a bit about her. For those of you like me who are unfamiliar with Larsen, check out the video below for the song "If A Song Could Get Me You" from her album, " The Chase." If I'm not mistaken, the record came out earlier this year.
www.myspace.com/maritlarsen
www.maritlarsen.com
Last month Daisy McCrackin released her debut EP, The Rodeo Grounds. It's been p
laying on my media player of choice since I got it. For those who haven't heard it yet, The Rodeo Grounds is a stunning and poetic bit of folk art. Her vocals are sincere and throughout the record, there's a shyness in her delivery. "Different Girl" and "Run Run Run" are standouts for me though the whole record is a gem.McCrackin is currently finishing up a promotional tour of Europe before heading back to the States for dates here. In the meantime, check out her newest video below. It's for the song "Everything," the EP's closing track. It was animated by her friends Dani Katz and Steven Synstelien.
Track Listing
- Tell Her
- Different Girl
- Say You Do
- Run Run Run
- Mermaid's Daughter
- Everything
daisymccrackinmusic.com
www.myspace.com/daisymccrackin
ird album, Be Set Free. Slim was one of the few artists whose performance I missed entirely at this years Folk Festival 50 in Newport. I was a bit disappointed as I'd heard he puts on a good show. Ah, perhaps another time.
