Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Bone In Mix

Tweet #E2TG
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);
Cold, cold morning.  Sidewalks and some roads still icy. 

Got a pretty interesting shuffle on tap… let’s get to it.


“The One After 909” by The Beatles

So, this month the Feel Bad for You folks who put out awesome mixtape compilations every month had a theme of short songs.  So, expect a bunch of short songs to filter their way through my shuffles in the next few weeks or so.  Oddly, no Minutemen songs made their list, but relax, I have some Minutemen already cued up…  this track is actually a snippet of The One after 909 with some chatter from the Rooftop concert.

“Selfish Lover” by Gary Floater

Another from the short songs compilation.  This one from legendary country outsider Gary Floater off of a new release called Who Cares.

“Jimmy Jazz” by The Clash

The love affair between the shuffle function and The Clash continues with the lounge-sounding song from London Calling. 

“11 O’clock Friday Night” by Hamilton Leithauser

The second song we’ve had from Black Hours the 2014 album by Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen.

“Yesterday’s Cakes” by Cropdusters

Raucous UK band from their 1989 album, If the Sober Go to Heaven….  I really dig this song – for reference only – think of The Pogues at a hoedown.

“Respirator” by Dead and Lovely

Another track from John and Jayda of Nashville by way of Pennsylvania from their EP Heavy which is awesome.  Really sorry I missed them last month at the Building, but I hope to catch up with them soon.

“Sweet Guy” by Paul Kelly Feat. Vika Bull

This song is originally from the 1989 album So Much Water So Close to Home by Paul Kelly and the Messengers.  This version sung by Vika Bull is from Kelly’s latest album The Merri Soul Sessions.  I really dig this song.

“An Accident” by The Transcendents

Paul Kelly is from Australia, and while we are down under (as somebody says), let’s move over to New Zealand for another cool song from the eponymously titled album by The Transcendents.  The thing I love about writing this blog is being able to discover incredible music from all over the world and then to be able to write about it and hopefully turn someone else on to it. 

“Put the Bone In” by Soul Asylum

After all this time, I just realized or found out that this song from Soul Asylum’s Hang Time is a cover of the b-side of Terry Jacks hit song “Season in the Sun”.  Coincidently (or not depending upon your view of coincidence), at the end of this recording, Soul Asylum quotes The Beatles’ famous line from the Rooftop Concert, “…I hope we passed the audition”.

“Riot Act” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Another great song from Elvis’ Get Happy album!!

“Last Time Around” by Jason and the Scorchers

“You’re the final survivor is my heart’s ghost town.”  The lead track from the album Lost and Found.  Still one of the best rock and roll bands around!

VIDEO PLAYLIST

     window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;       http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js   

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Leather and Chrome Mix

Tweet #E2TG

Back at it after a long weekend…. some days, you just don’t feel it, but you press on and music always helps.

“Little World” by Gretchen Peters

A beautiful song from Peters’ 2012 album Hello Cruel World.  Her next album is due in February and is called Blackbirds.

“Don’t Say You Love Me” by Sean Watkins

From the latest solo record by a founding member of Nickel Creek. The album is called All I Do Is Lie, and it was recently made available on Noisetrade. I dig the well written songs played by top-notch musicians.

“Fisherman’s Blues” by The Waterboys

The lead and title track from one of my favorite albums.  At the time, Fisherman’s Blues was a radical departure from The Waterboys’ signature “Big Music” sound, and although I am huge fan of the early Waterboys’ records, I have always had a soft spot for Celtic Music and this is an album I find myself returning to again and again.

“Big Blue Sun” by Amelia White

Another great track from the Old Postcards album. This is always one of my favorites to hear Amelia perform live.

“Holy Moses” by Echo and The Bunnymen

I’ll be honest, I haven’t really kept up with Echo and the Bunnymen in recent years.  This track is off their latest album Meteorites which came out last year. A friend included on his annual mix CD.  I didn’t immediately recognize this has a Echo and the Bunnymen song, but taken out of context (for me), I have to say I like this song.

“1952 Vincent Black Lightning” by Richard Thompson

What exactly can I say. As I’ve stated before, Rumor and Sigh is a favorite of mine, and this song has gone on to become a modern folk music standard that will likely live on for years. I just don’t seem to get tired of hearing this song.

“Stones” by Dead and Lovely

Another great song from my friends in Dead and Lovely from their EP called Heavy.  I love this music.

“Johnny’s Gonna Die” by The Replacements

From Sorry Ma…. the song was written about Johnny Thunders…. but (and forgive me if I am stating the obvious), but this could easily be seen as prophetically about Bob Stinson.

“The Morning After the Coup” by Grant Peeples and the Peeples Republik

“Meet the New Boss…”  Coups are fun and all, but what comes next?  Another great song from Punishing the Myth.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”); window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”; http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – The Motel Angels Sing Mix

Tweet #E2TG

Temperatures started plunging yesterday in Nashville, but your favorite music blogger didn’t let that stop him from exploring some of the city’s mid-week music offerings.  And neither did I.  Here’s the scorecard: 1. Hanging out with one of my favorite musician’s managers and a top notch Nashville singer/songwriter and watching the granddaughter of an outlaw country music legend rock the house. 2. Meeting said granddaughter and some of her band. 3. Watching three of the absolute best songwriters around kick off their tour. 4. Making triumphant return to Fran’s Eastside (first time since December 17?) and hanging with some cool folks and hearing some amazing music from some of my insanely talented friends.  Yeah!

This morning, it was as cold as… well you’ll have to come up with your own saying, I’m still too cold to think straight.  Here are the songs that valiantly tried to keep me warm… well they sure made being cold more tolerable.

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”); “God Loves a Drunk” by Richard Thompson

Okay, if you consider yourself a fan of modern folk music, and you haven’t heard Richard Thompson’s Rumor and Sigh (or even if you haven’t heard it in a while) then you need to remedy that shit, and I mean now.

“Junkie Love” by Darrin Bradbury

Always a highlight of his live shows…. ladies and gentlemen, the 2014 Artist of the Year for Ear to the Ground! Lesson: when you are in a crappy motel room in New Orleans, and you overhear an interesting conversation in the adjacent room, you put a cup up to the wall and you write that shit down. From the demo collection, When a Car Becomes a House.  Maybe, probably a fleshed out version of this song will be on the forthcoming Darrin Bradbury album.

“Too Much of a Good Thing” by The Sons (featuring Bret Reilly)

Okay, this song is from the Dumb and Dumber Soundtrack, and in my haphazard research, I could not find out anything more about the band or the featured guest.  I found one band called The Sons who broke up some time recently, but it does not appear to be the same band.  It’s a cool song.

“I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You” by The Hold Steady

Sometimes events prompt me to add certain artists to my active playlist.  In late December, Darrin Bradbury was part of a sold out show in New York that featured Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.  Hence, I added this song to the list.  I’m pretty much absolutely glad I did. This is from their latest album, Teeth Dreams.

“Common Mistake” by The Bad Years

Another track from Noisetrade’s Best of What’s Next 2015 playlist.  The Bad Years are from Los Angeles, and Common Mistake is their first single.  Check them out.

“Killing Time” by Dead and Lovely

More from the talented new Nashvillian’s who call themselves Dead and Lovely.  A perfect soundtrack to the beginning of my single digit walk.

“American Dreaming” by Killing Kuddles

The latest music from our favorite punk folk rockers/folk punk rockers. Killing Kuddles is from Atlanta and is associated with the Autumn + Color label.  Hoping to hear much more music in 2015.  In the meantime, get this tune… it rocks!

“No One is Lost” by Stars

Stars is a Montreal band.  This appears to be their latest single, and the title track from their latest album which was released in October.  Groovy tune.

“Down Where The Drunkards Roll” by Richard and Linda Thompson

Another reason why I like using the shuffle to decide the songs and their order each day…  If I had contrived a playlist that began with Richard Thompson’s “God Loves a Drunk” and ended with Richard and Linda Thompson’s “Down Where the Drunkards Roll”, I would have probably chickened out thinking it was too contrived.  But, since it was the shuffle making the decision for me, I can just sit back and revel in the wonder of beginning and ending the shuffle this way. 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

     window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;       http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js   

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Fairytales and Other Legends Mix

Tweet #E2TG

I’m short on time and don’t really have much preliminary banter… so let’s just get to the shuffle – we have a good one today!

“Rain” by Ron Muga

New York songwriter Ron Muga is up first with another lovely track from his Wonderful Doom album. Muga is the driving force behind the No Country Project which is dedicated to deconstructing about every genre of music which is descended from American Roots music. 

“Leaves” by The Western Shore

Fresh off their killer appearance at Monday night’s E2TG Presents event, comes one of East Nashville’s best… This song appeals to me because my (currently unpublished) novel, The Drift uses leaves floating down a stream as an metaphor at an important moment in the book.  This song is on the excellent album, Thunderstorm.

“heavy sleepers” by Dead and Lovely

Brand new Nashville residents, Jayda Hampton and John Levan are Dead and Lovely.  Naming your band after a Tom Waits’ song sets up some high expectations, and as I can attest after seeing them perform at an Eastside Invasion round at Bobby’s Idle Hour, they meet or exceed those expectations.  A pair of unique voices singing excellent songs.  It is great to have their music in the shuffle. This is from their album Heavy which is on their bandcamp page. 

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3199444926/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/

“God Only Knows” by She and Him

As heard on the hit Fox TV series, The New Girl – because Zooey is adorkable, and because it’s a freaking Beach Boys song… jeez!

“Meridian” by The Lucky Jukebox Brigade

Although more and more Nashville music is making its way into the shuffles, I remain grateful and loyal to the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut bands that helped Ear to the Ground to be named “The Best Nashville-Based Music Blog that focuses primarily on music from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – 2012 and 2013)*  The Lucky Jukebox Brigade on one of the most original and one of my favorite bands. If you haven’t gotten you copy of Familiar Fevers (the album which includes this song), I advise you to do so immediately.

*As voted on by a panel of absolutely no one since it’s a self-proclaimed title, but basically undisputed… 

“Fairytale of New York” (Pogues cover) by Paleface!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

An excellent cover of the Holiday classic made famous by The Pogues and the late, great Kirsty MacColl by enigmatic American singer/songwriter Paleface.  I posted this song last year as a Bonus Track, but this is the official shuffle debut. In my hasty research, I could not find out who sings with Paleface on this song, so if you know, please let me know.  I also could not find a video of the Paleface version, and I posted the Official Video of the original song – because The Pogues and Kirsty Maccoll!

“so what?” by Dead and Lovely

How about another from Pennsylvania transplants, The Dead and Lovely with another from Heavy.  They also have some songs up on Soundcloud, so if you like what you hear, head over there as well.

“Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)” by Tom Waits

It seems appropriate to follow up a song by Dead and Lovely with a Tom Waits song, so it’s a good thing my shuffle function did just that.  This one goes way, way back over 40 years to Tom Waits’ first album Closing Time.

“Just Me and These Ponies (For Christmas)” by Corb Lund

A new Christmas song from a brand new compilation called An Americana Christmas put out by New West Records.  The album features new and classic tracks from artists like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Nikki Lane, The Old 97s, The Band, John Prine, and Valerie June.  Corb Lund’s contribution adds to the long line of sad Holiday songs which validates the experiences of many around this time of year.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”; http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js