You've heard Kirsty McColl before. If you read this site and like indie rock, I'd be willing to bet money on it. She's sung backup for the Smiths, done duets with Shane McGowan of the Pogues, and brought life to songs for others (by writing "They Don't Know - an early MTV favorite, sung by Tracey Ullmann) as well as covering songs by other writers ("A New England" by Billy Bragg is particularly good).
You can get a sampling of her work in Real Audio format on the long-running Kirsty McColl Freeworld website. Otherwise, as an introduction, I'd recommend her 'best-of' album Galore, which was released prior to her death. She was hit by a speedboat off the coast of Cozumel in December 2000, just as she was beginning to explore Latin music in greater depth with her last album, Tropical Brainstorm.
Sooz & I saw a great triple bill at the Lizard Lounge the other night (well, I saw 2 of the 3, so she'll have to tell you about Loveless).
First up: Brulee, or as we dubbed him "Elvis Costello in a cowboy hat." This was not meant in a pejorative sense by a long shot -- he just sounds a lot like Elvis Costello. Except when he's in whisper-voice Billy Corgan mode. But I digress. Brulee has the whole one man and his gee-tar thing down pat. If you like Elvis Costello, you'd probably like him a lot, as I caught myself singing Costello lyrics along to the tunes, and they fit just fine.
Reverse, on the other hand, were more rock-riffic. The closest comparison I can come up with is Green Day...and again, that's not meant in a snarky way. I like Green Day -- saw them play with the Mr. T Experience in Prague on the European leg of the Insomniac tour (1996). The best part about bands like this is the palpable energy they send out into the room, energy that makes you want to jump up and down like a two-year-old on a sugar high. Funky Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) bass, catchy choruses, drums that can only be described as rockin'. Yep. Reverse was really good.
Brulee : searched for a webpage to no avail; let me know if you find one
Boston's Mistle Thrush released "Drunk With You" in February 2002 on Ecstatic Records. It was their first full length release since 1997's "Super Refraction." I've lost track of the number of Mistle Thrush CDs I've bought for friends since I was introduced to the band's music in 1994; but what I always prefer is to make the musical introduction at a live show. They don't have any tour dates right now but their label Ecstatic Records posted a few live MP3s that are worth checking out. One added bonus to the live songs is that Valerie's lyrics are much easier to understand than on the albums. "I Scare Myself" is a haunting cover of a Dan Hicks tune. Mistle Thrush's version of the song features a rather gratuitous guitar solo(s) and Valerie on the theremin her dad made. If you like what you hear you can purchase "Drunk With You" at Darla.com.
Live MP3s @ Ecstatic Records.com:
(These links take you directly to the MP3 file posted on Ecstatic Records' website. To download the file, right click the link and chose "save link as" or "save target as".)
Fireball (live)
I Scare Myself (live)
Small : From the album "Drunk With You"
Gems from the past:
(These are links to each song's page at Mistle Thrush's area at MP3.com with additional links to click on for the MP3 file.)
Six Hour Sunday : From Mistle Thrush's first EP "Agus Amarach" released in 1994 on Bedazzled Records.
Moth Like : From Mistle Thrush's 1997 album "Super Refraction" released on Egg Records.
Photo credit: Lindsey Walker
Note to self: If you're driving longer than twenty minutes, bring more than one CD.Driving to Dallas was pretty uneventful, me in a tan Buick Roadmaster, with dual flags flying from the rear windows (it's my Mom's car - honest), rocking out.
Unfortunately, the only CD that I have is the Johnny Socko album, "Oh Boy, I Do Hope It's Roast Beef!" Fortunately, I love the album. In fact, after hearing it 6 times in a row, I still love the album.
"If I didn't have a goiter, I'd ask you out." I always thought it was about elephantitis, but I'm beginning to think that the goiter is a metaphor. If I listen six more times I may have it figured out...
I own their first three albums, but haven't seen them live. If you're in Cleveland or Indianapolis anytime in the next couple months, check them out and let me know how it is. Seriously.
Juliana Nash's self-titled 6-song EP that I blathered on about a few weeks ago is now available at CD Baby. You can also listen to snippets of four of the six songs: "Perfectly Beautiful", "Love is Heavy", "My Name" and "Built for Longing", on Juliana's page at CD Baby. It's hard for me to imagine someone into rock music not liking this CD and her music in general. It's just good music, ya know? And it's well worth the $10. If you do purchase the CD, consider adding "found out about it at listenup.sooz.com" on your order and add a review to CD Baby!
If you live in the Boston/Cambridge, MA area you might want to check out Sparkola's CD Release Party tonight at The Abbey in Inman Square. Live Sex Act are on first, then The Rudds and then Sparkola. I'm not sure what time each band starts since there's no info on the web page or the upcoming shows phone number; but 10PM is probably a safe bet.
I need some new music suggestions for soozradio. What are a few of your new or not so new music favorites? Got any to share?
Words could not express the joy in my heart when I found out that Juliana Nash not only had a show in Cambridge last week but she also recorded a 6-song EP. She even ended her show at The Lizard Lounge with Thomas and Greg, two of her old bandmates from Talking to Animals. Michael and I were trying to recall the last time we saw TTA on a stage together -- sometime in 1999, perhaps? Seeing the band (sans Mike Levesque on drums) together to sing "Mouth Tattoo" definately goes down as one of the most memorable musical moments of 2002. (Next to Michael finding a signed black/white Tragically Hip glossy photo in a book last week at the Harvard Bookstore!)
Juliana is working on making her self-titled EP available sometime soon for purchase online for all sensible music listeners. Until then, here's a special MP3 treat only available (as far as I know!) on Listen Up! This song will only be available for two weeks so grab it now and then check back for info on when the CD will be available for purchase. Juliana wrote this song for Ruby, her first child born (I think) sometime this year. When she introduced the song at her show at The Lizard Lounge, Juliana mentioned that there was no way she was going to write a sappy song so this rocking song came to life instead.
Download the MP3:
Juliana Nash : Perfectly Beautiful
(128kbps MP3 -- only available for download until June 20th)
If you're ever in New York City, you should visit Pete's Candy Store, her bar in Brooklyn. Now if I could just convince Juliana to return to Cambridge in January 2003 to perform a few songs at my Rock and Roll 30th Birthday Bash.