David Broderick

My e-quaintance (ha!) David Broderick asked me to give his band a shout-out here, and so I shall. He's a few years younger than me and his recordings sound a lot better than mine. And he sings better too. So, I'll give props where props are due. Plus, I really dig his song "Give a Hand." You'd think I'd have some more info on this matter, but you'd be wrong. Here is what I do know: he lives in Denton, Texas and isn't touring right now. You can check out his music on MySpace here. Anyway, enjoy.

Yes, There Is Something You Can Send Back to Me

I am a big fan of Ida. I have posted about this fact before here. Just like the last time I posted, there isn't much going on with them as far as I can tell. They had a new song in Esopus magazine a few months back. I didn't hear it, but it happened. They also played some shows in NY back in November, but nothing much since then. No word on a new record for the time being.

Anyway, the other day I was poking around to see if I could find any covers of "Boots of Spanish Leather", because I've been listening to a lot of Times They Are A'Changin' lately. It's a wonderful cover, too. I'm not sure why they decided not to divide the verses up between them, since the lyrics are in the voice of a man and a woman, but nonetheless. Some very nice harmony, singing, and playing. Seems to be from this tribute album, which is apparently out of print. Anyway, enjoy.

Ida - Boots of Spanish Leather

Peace on Earth

I should mention that Caleb of It's Hard to Find a Friend has an excellent Christmas compilation up. Benefits charity, too. Buy it here.

It's Already Over in October, Already at Christmas Every Year

Jackson C. Frank's story is perhaps the most tragic in the history of music. Huge statement, I know, but it's pretty hard to even believe once you've read it. He released exactly one full-length record, which has been in and out of print since the mid 60s. The most famous track from it is "Blues Run the Game", which was covered by Simon and Garfunkel, who were friends of Frank's. He recorded some more material in the 90s, but his voice was pretty shot and his various health problems were beginning to catch up with him.

Knowledge of his music has gone by the wayside to some extent, which is a shame, because it's really very good. Even the later stuff has some highlights, including, for example, the excellent "October", which is appended to this post. If you can buy Blues Run the Game, which is a retrospective including Frank's eponymous debut and pretty much every other recording he ever made, I would recommend you do.

Jackson C. Frank - October

Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?

So, I went to see Ted Leo last night at the 930 Club. Some will recall that this is my second time seeing the Pharmacists this year, although the first was under somewhat different circumstances.

Anyway, it was great to get to see a full length show finally. I admit that I am not familiar enough with anything since Hearts of Oak to provide anything approaching an accurate setlist, but I can mention some highlights. There were a couple classic DC punk covers that brought the rock (Government Issue I recognized, the other one (the encore) I did not.) There was the cover of Daft Punk's "One More Time" that ended "Little Dawn," which is a favorite Leo song of mine anyway. There was getting to see a live performance of my absolute favorite Pharmacists song, "Parallel or Together." Oh, and there was that classic Hearts of Oak gem, "Where Have All the Rudeboys Gone?", dedicated to opener Ris Paul Ric (who also put on a pretty good show -- the other opener, Kathleen Young, was unspeakably awful).

Great show, overall.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Where Have All the Rudeboys Gone?