George Porter with Professor Longhair
Okay, I suppose the Heads posts were enough of a segue to steer us out of the indie/alt.country/folk territory for awhile and into some deep New Orleans funk & soul. And I do mean funk, this shit is greasy — gets right under your fingernails funky.
Humid, hot, sticky grooves [...]

Next to the Jonathan Demme’s Live documentary Stop Making Sense, Speaking In Tongues may be my personal favorite “proper” Heads album. While the excellent Remain In Light is their most fully realized work, Speaking In Tongues walks the thin line between the band’s art house sensibilities and the more mainstream pop sound they would [...]

Believe the hype. Talking Heads were one of the finest/inventive bands of the 20th century and this album is their opus. Coming on the tails of Fear of Music, Byrne and company fused post-punk, funk, latin-rhythms, pop, and everything else available in the mix on this, their fourth album. “Polyrhythmic” gets thrown around a [...]

As promised, the Lost Album Series continues with yet another unofficial Ryan Adams record. The Suicide Handbook is said to have been originally slated as the follow-up to 2000’s Heartbreaker. The uber-sparse, acoustic, and downbeat arrangements must not have wowed Adams’ new label, Lost Highway, as he shelved the sessions and moved to Los Angeles [...]

There have been many a “Gram parsons tribute album” over the past 30+ years, but this 1999 release is one of the best. A major factor being Emmylou Harris’s involvement, lending both credibilty and her amazing talent to the project. Most of the usual suspects are in attendance (Wilco, Whiskeytown, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, etc.) [...]

Recorded live w/ full band in Malmö, Sweden 3.3.02
DOWNLOAD:MP3: Josh Rouse :: MiracleMP3: Josh Rouse :: Christmas With JesusMP3: Josh Rouse :: Women & MenMP3: Josh Rouse :: LaughterMP3: Josh Rouse :: Feeling No PainMP3: Josh Rouse :: Ugly StoriesMP3: Josh Rouse :: Under Cold Blue StarsMP3: Josh Rouse :: Marvin GayeMP3: Josh Rouse :: [...]

Continuing with the occasional loose Texas-themed post leading up to SXSW, here is Jerry Jeff Walker off the excellent Jerry Jeff Walker – Live from Gruene Hall album.

DOWNLOAD:MP3: Jerry Jeff Walker :: I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight———–Amazon: Jerry Jeff Walker – Live from Gruene Hall

Well, I was going to try and keep things under wraps until a proper website was up and running, but recent events (PASTE magazine’s best living songwriter poll) have changed that.

An Aquarium Drunkard has started a small label called Autumn Tone Records, and I am honored that one of our first releases will be [...]

Austin’ own, Alejandro Escovedo, has a new LP, The Boxing Mirror, out on May 2nd. This new track should help you get ready for the BBQ and tunes at next month’s, rapidly approaching, SXSW conference.
DOWNLOAD:M4A: Alejandro Escovedo :: Arizona ———-www.alejandroescovedo.com
www.sxsw.com

DOWNLOAD:MP3: Neko Case :: Hold On, Hold On (You Send It Link)———- Amazon: Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

In my opinion this is easily the record that should have followed up 2001’s Gold. Instead a few of the cuts were cherry-picked for the 2002 Demolition release. Recorded shortly after the Gold sessions in Los Angeles — with longtime producer Ethan Johns at the helm — 48 Hours is classic Adams, mining country and [...]

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, come out to the Silverlake Lounge tonight (2/23) to see Canadian native Kathleen Edwards tear into it with her Crazyhorse-esque Live act. MP3s courtesy of Kathleen Edwards website.

DOWNLOAD: MP3: Kathleen Edwards – WestbyMP3: Kathleen Edwards – Six O’clock NewsMP3: Kathleen Edwards – Lone WolfMP3: Kathleen Edwards – One [...]