Hello fellow bloggers. I keep meaning to post something profound and eloquent, but working overtime in 110+ degree heat outside of Gila Bend kinda saps my energy. So I'm just saying hi, and letting you all know that I may yet survive the summer and get back to digitizing the KCAC tapes. In the meantime, please do yourselves the following musical favors: (1) buy the new Linda Thompson album, "Versatile Heart"; (2) ditto for Andy Hersey's "Between God and Country" (I've blogged about this one previously); and (3) check out some kick-ass honkytonk music on the new live album by the Tucson-based Hacienda Brothers (www.haciendabrothers.com). And remember that Richard Thompson is playing at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix on September 26th (this time it's a full-band, electric show). And by the way, Teddy Thompson - Richard and Linda's proverbial chip off the old block - has a wonderful new country album of his own, "Up Front and Down Low". Quite a summer for the Thompson family!
Thank you, Jimmy, for keeping the blog alive during the seasonal doldrums. Let's all get talking again once the thermometer dips to tolerable levels.
Tom
4 comments:
Good recommendations, Tom. Here's where you can hear a song from the new Linda Thompson album. It's a song written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, as a soldier's letter home from the Iraq War, called “Day After Tomorrow.” Copy and paste this into your browser to listen:
http://odeo.com/show/16514253/1104965/download/Untitled-WedSep05163756UTC2007.mp3
Inspired by Tom's album recommendations, let's all do a "What I'm listening to now" post, so popular with all the youngsters today.
Here's mine: Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup."
Beirut is the name of a band led by 21-year-old kid from Santa Fe named Zach Condon, who was apparently inspired by Balkan gypsy music. I like the instrumentation: a mix of cello, accordion, mandolin, ukulele, violin, baritone sax, glockenspiel, trumpet and euphonium. Worth a listen:
http://iguessimfloating.net/assets/mp3s/08%20Forks%20And%20Knives%20(La%20Fete)%201.mp3
and
http://iguessimfloating.net/assets/mp3s/04%20Postcards%20From%20Italy.mp3
Jimmy: I tried that Linda Thompson URL and got the following message.
"The page you are looking for is no longer here. Also? We don't know where it is."
Try this link, where the entire album is available in streaming audio. Listen to her version of "The Day After Tomorrow" (a Tom Waits song) for a particularly stunning performance.
http://www.rounder.com/lindathompson/
Also - Jimmy is right about Beirut - very unusual and fascinating stuff, kind of reminds me of Calexico in the way that they create soundscapes that go way beyond traditional song structure. Devotchka is another such group - you may have heard them on the soundtrack to "Little Miss Sunshine."
Other bloggers - are you out there? What are you listening to?
Tom
Thanks for the above link.
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