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?

It Tolls for Me

I heart Joanna Newsom. Seriously, with her harps and her Steve Albini production and her Van Dyke Parks string arrangements, and her warbling voice. She also is dating Bill Callahan (smog), which is pretty cool, as well. I do wish she performed more frequently. Alas, not so much.

Here is the big solo centerpiece of Ys, the amazing "Sawdust and Diamonds." Enjoy.

Joanna Newsom - Sawdust and Diamonds

Yes, lame short post, I know. Tired. But going to stick with posting this time. Also, here is a good Joanna fansite.

And Life Goes On and On and On

I have been really digging the Magnetic Fields again lately, in particular 69 Love Songs. They are actually on tour this winter, which would doubtless be an amazing show, were they playing anywhere near DC, where I am currently living. Stephin Merritt's work has, unfortunately, gotten spottier over the years, but then, there are more good songs on 69 Love Songs than many artists write in their entire careers, so perhaps it is forgivable.

Merritt and his labels don't seem to be big on making downloads available, so I hope I don't get any threatening letters as a result of this, but here is one of my favorite tracks from 69 Love Songs. Enjoy.

The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want to Get Over You

Jana McCall

Pandora really is a delightful little invention, isn't it? I find it really helps me turn up the most interesting obscure stuff, sometimes so obscure it's hard to obtain any information about it. Case in point: Jana McCall. I can tell you approximately three things about Jana McCall. 1) She played bass in an obscure grunge band called Dickless. 2) She put out two albums on Up Records, one in 1998 and one in 2002. 3) She has a MySpace with a newer, non-album track on it. That's about it.

If I had to take a stab at describing her music, I'd say it's sort of like if you crossed pre-You are Free Cat Power with Codeine-type grunge. That doesn't quite capture it, but it'd be hard to get closer on the basis of comparisons alone. Sad, slow-to-mid tempo, female vocals, good stuff. If she still plays shows, or even puts out records, I can't find any information about it.

Here are two tracks from the Up Records site, where you can also buy her albums. They are actually not my favorite songs of hers, but they are pretty good:

Jana McCall - Bloodlines
Jana McCall - Today

...And, We're Back

After a longer-than-intended hiatus, I have returned. Hopefully no more disruptions for awhile now. I am preparing a post right now; it should be up by the weekend, if not sooner. Hopefully tonight.