Am I crazy or is Ryan Adams?

I think chances are Ryan is a bit more nuts than myself, not that I want to paint the wrong picture or anything, he makes awesome music, but... well... what can I say? The dude seems a little unstable. See "Halloween Head", this, or his blog. I like him just as much as the next guy, but I mean... come on.

Either way, he and his band have a new album coming out soon called "Cardinology". You can pre-order it on itunes, it's going to be good. It doesn't mean you're nuts if you like it, really it doesn't, I promise.

I feel more crazy just trying to find stuff for this post however. I know that he has been releasing cover songs in anticipation of the new album, but I can't find a link to them, and if I keep looking (like I have been for the past 1/2 hour) I might write a song about having a christmas tree head or something.

Here is a cover of Wonderwall by Oasis for your troubles.

Fleet Foxes @ In the Venue tonight

You can still buy tickets at 24tix.com here

Not sure if any of us will be able to make it, but if you end up going take some pictures and send them to us. We'll post them and give you credit of course.

fromtheshiptothesea@gmail.com

Land of Talk

If you made it out to the Broken Social Scene show at the Gallivan Plaza this summer chances are you had a pretty good time. There was also a very good chance that you watched the singer for Land of Talk without even knowing it. Land of Talk has been touring with BSS this summer, and they've been pushing their new album "Some are Lakes", which I must say I enjoy quite a bit.



Land of Talk has been gaining steam recently, with various positive album reviews from various blogs and websites, along with getting a lot of airplay on sirius radio (check out Left of Center online). The trio from Canada plays the rock and the roll just as good as anyone else does, and they've honed in on the incredible sound that occurs when female vocals meet electric guitars (see PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Pink Nasty, Des Ark, etc and etc...).

Do it,
Tim

The Swedes will never stop.

Quickly, let's just get this out of the way, if I was a large body of land surrounded by other large bodies of land separated by political lines drawn on pieces of paper, I would totally marry sweden and make little baby bodies of land... Maybe that has already happened and that's why there are so many islands off the coast of Sweden?

Moving on...

For whatever reason, the Swedes know how to make music. From Abba to Abba cover bands, the music from Scandinavia is incredible.


Immanu El is no exception. They produce a kind of post-rock that I can never resist, no matter how hard I try. Don't be scared by that label though, they only have one song that is 10 minutes long, and it's really good. On top of the classic 2 guitar/vocal/bass/drums lineup they have Jonatan Hammer who also plays keyboards, guitar, cello, trumpet, and does samples. If that doesn't peak your interest you should probably check yourself before you wreck yourself.

They released their first album in the fall of '07, and they seem poised to gain some ground in the industry in the near future. You can buy their album "they'll come, they come" on Itunes.

If you like post-rock (i.e. guitars with delay) you should at least give them a chance.

Ray Lamontagne - New CD, same old beard

Ray Lamontagne's new CD "Gossip In The Grain" was released today. Stop reading this and run to the nearest cd store, or just click over to your itunes and buy it NOW!

Upon first listen (honestly, I'm not even done with the entire CD yet) I think it will be one of my top five albums of the year. It'll probably surpass Ray's last effort, "Till The sun Turns Black", in terms of an overall album when it's all said and done. The songs on Gossip seem much more put together, and dare I say a little more experimental? With a song like "I Still Care For You" that mixes Ray's acoustic strumming with droning guitars and busy jazz drumming, it makes you feel like he is taking his music to another level. However, soft simple songs like "Winter Birds" show you that a good voice and an acoustic guitar is all anyone really ever needs.

The song "Meg White" is not his best work, in fact, I think it's a pretty awful choice for a single, but you have to give him some credit for having the guts to write an entire song about the White Stripes drummer.

We all know I'm still honing the craft of making a well written album review, and we all know that my usual ending to a post is "it's good, trust me, just listen to it". I'll try to not to end with that this time. If you like Ray Lamontagne, even just slightly, I think you'll enjoy this album.

Current song - A Fall Through - Ray Lamontagne

(It's Genius, just listen to it)

interview

here's a link to a local blog that interviewed me recently about the cafe, the local scene, my favorite locals and trends in music.  

gavin's underground

dension witmer show

emme packer has been added to the denison / seafinch show at newsong underground on wednesday, november 5th. tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.