Category: E2TG Hall of Fame

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix – Pt. One

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It’s here… time to begin our look back at the year which was 2013.  In true E2TG style, for the remainder of 2013 we will shuffling up a special playlist which includes some of our favorite songs from the past year.  I’ll let the song speak for themselves, but we will be highlighting some of our favorite E2TG related albums of the year as we move along.

About Band of the Year.  After two successful Band of the Year polls (by page view numbers, Band of the Year and Band of the Month polls dominate our statistics page for most viewed), so it is only after careful consideration that I’ve decided to forgo the Band of the Year poll for 2013.  Basically, it comes down to the fact that I would rather see independent bands cooperating and collaborating than competing.  We had some memorably good fun with some of our polls – especially the first annual Band of the Year poll and the legendary February 2012 Band of the Month poll that came down to a dogfight between MAKAR and The End Men.  As time went by, and I began featuring more and more bands, the idea no longer seemed to be in the spirit of this site.  

I will be naming the third annual Band of the Year within the next couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, enjoy yourself as we relive this year that almost was.  If you feel so inclined, share some of these posts with your friends near and far.


Before we jump into the first of our Favorites’ shuffles for 2013, I need to rectify something….


#E2TG Hall of Fame (Notable Omissions):

More names will be added to the Hall of Fame in early 2014 – and my progress on the completion of the Hall of Fame page has hit some unexpected delays, but I’ve became increasingly uncomfortable knowing that two of my favorite E2TG artists have not been added to the Hall as of yet. 

1.  Ubiquity Machine/Howard Rabach  – In using the tagging feature to determine our Hall of Fame, one thing I failed to take into account were the many fine bands/artists you came to prominence in the months when E2TG was still housed on the now defunct Posterous site.  Howard Rabach was one of the first readers of the blog to step out of the shadows.  His band, Ubiquity Machine, was one of our early Bands of the Week. The band finished second in our first annual Band of the Year poll, and he has remained a good friend of Ear to the Ground ever since.  UM has been kind of dormant of late, as Howard has been doing some freelance stuff.  Check out his Facebook page here. So it is with great pleasure, that I usher in UM/HR to a spot of honor in our Hall of Fame.




2. The Grimm Generation – Another thing I failed to take into account in my tagging system of Hall of Fame eligibility is the variant tagging which sometimes occurs. Blogger places a 200 character limit on tagging so sometimes I have to shorten band names – like leaving the “The” off.  That is the only explanation I have for The Grimm Generation not being in our top 20 tagged artists. Still this unique and frankly awesome collective from Connecticut (headed up by the amazing Jason Krug and Carmen Champagne), are well deserving of a prime spot in our Hall of Fame.  Hell their latest album, The Big Fame even has “fame” in the title. They have consistently made music which I love and which seems timeless in its wonderfulness.




Now… let the 2013 Shuffles begin


“When I Cry” by Jeanette Lynne (from You’ve Got Me)


“Infatuation” by Dog Without Warning (from Bark)


“Temporary Thought Exchange (AKT A Cappella) by Its Teeth (from Divided)


“Goodbye Summer” by Jonny Fritz (from Dad Country)


“Spittin’ Lies” by Nikki Sue and the Bad News (from Nothing Gold)


Highlights:  Of note, in our first shuffle of the year end playlist, we have a couple of talented female artists from the Northeast who came my way directly or indirectly via the visionary music guru Popatunes.  Jeanette Lynne is from Philly and Nikki Sue is from New Jersey.  They both write great songs that fall into the Americana/Countryish/Folk-like genres (if you are into genres).  The important thing is that make great music and they both had releases which were among my favorites for 2013. 

Dog Without Warning hail from the greater bay area of California.  They came to my attention via CXCW and I featured some music off their indie flavored concept? album Go Girl.  The follow up was released as an EP earlier this year, and it was a revelation. Bark uses acoustic arrangements which serve to highlight the songwriting skills and humor of this band.  Bark quickly moved into my favorites category and has stayed there as the year has progressed.

We recently featured the Its Teeth track which features Gabriel from The Gabriel Construct as well as the Jonny Fritz track from the fantastic Dad Country album.

SHOP

 
 


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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Superstar Mix

We’ve reached the end of the week.  To get us into the weekend, I have a long list of additions to the E2TG Hall of Fall, and a pretty sweet little music shuffle.

E2TG Hall of Fame:
13. The Foresters (Bethany, CT) (ed. note: Some may say they are too young for a Hall of Fame, but it’s my Hall of Fame, and by their inspiring dedication to their craft, they have already earned their place – even as I acknowledge their best work is ahead of them – I think that is true for most if not all of our inductees)
14. Those Mockingbirds (Montclair, NJ)
15. You and Me (Montreal, QC)
16. MAKAR (New York, NY)
17. The Gypsy West (Brooklyn, NY)
18. Tipi Valley (Swansea, UK)
19. Jo Wymer (Freehold, NJ)
20. Sci-Fi Romance









The inductees will continue. There are still some major favorites of mine who have not been added  yet.  Rest assured this will be rectified sooner than later.  I want to make more progress on the Hall of Fame Page before I add too many more. 

Here’s the Shuffle-

“Superstar” by Sonic Youth (from If I Were a Carpenter.  Sonic Youth covering Richard and Karen Carpenter’s 70s era hit song.)

“Waitin'” by Caitlin Rose (from Goodbye Summer: 2013 ATO Fall Sampler.  From her latest album The Stand-In.)

“Against the Sky” by Theory of Machines (from EP1.  Another track by this awesomely dark and cinematic band from London – mostly instrumental with some spoken words.)

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1877981999/size=medium/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

“Work” by The End Men (a-side to the Work single.  The latest music from our first Hall of Fame inductees. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the incredible video for “Work” which is included in our daily video playlist below.)

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=367747451/size=medium/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

“Heat Wave” by The All-About (from Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen: Section 4.  From Fairfield, CT.  “Dance music written and recorded by people who can’t dance for people who can’t dance.” It’s no wonder I dig this.)

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2911973078/size=medium/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/t=3/transparent=true/

“Winter Pockets” by Wild Child (from Pillow Talk. A perfect song for this frosty morning. Austin based Indie Folk.)

WATCH
 

SHOP

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Ears of a Clown Mix

Off work today, and time is short anyway….  go figure.

E2TG HALL OF FAME – (more)

10.  The Danbury Lie (New Haven, CT)
11. The Great American Novel (New York, NY)
12. Mark Robinson (Nashville, TN)

I’m actually making progress  (a little) on the Hall of Fame Page.

Quick shuffle after the jump

“Telephone” by The Morning Pages (the Lady Gaga song.  It’s definitely a roots/Americanaish take on the song, but for some reason, I can’t help thinking that it sounds like if More Songs era Talking Heads covered this song after a long night of listening to Gram Parsons and Uncle Tupelo.  Or something.  I love it.)

“One More Try” by The Silks  (This Providence, RI band does a nifty cover of a Stones song.  Nifty indeed.)

“The Escape” by Wild Child (from Pillow Talk)

“Fall Around” by False-Heads (from Tunnel Vision)

“Moving On” by Andrew Ferris (from Yellow Lorry)

“Highway to Hell” by Bhi Bhiman (from Substitute Preacher.  The St. Louis, MO singer/songwriter takes on the AC/DC classic, and totally owns it.)

“Cold War World Peace” by Fromage Bleu (from the  Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen Compilation Section 4 – The triumphant return of 80’s minimal synth legends, Colchester’s very own Fromage Bleu.)

WATCH

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Love Hurts Mix

Today we induct three more amazing artists into our brand new (still under construction) Hall of Fame.  As with the first two groups of additions, these names should be very familiar to regular readers of E2TG.

7.  Tim Lee 3 (Knoxville, TN)
8. Killing Kuddles (Atlanta, GA)
9. Don Ryan (NY/NJ)




Welcome to the Hall…

Also, we have a pretty cool shuffle up next…

“Paris by Now” by Adam Hill (from Little Time.  Another track by this Nashville singer/songwriter)

“Love Hurts” by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris (from Grievous Angel. Just stunning.  h/t to Too Much Country who included this on the October Feel Bad for You mixtape.  Both Too Much Country and I were in the audience when Amelia White and Jon Byrd sang this song at the Five Spot back in September on the 40th Anniversary of Gram Parson’s death.)

“Jesus Christ” by Big Star (from Third/Sister Lovers.  One of my favorites. Eef Barzelay, Bill Lloyd, Grimey and others did this song at a Record Store Day event at Grimey’s shortly after Alex Chilton passed away)

“Foxgloves” by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons (from Old Believers.  I first saw Cory Chisel opening for Peter Case a few years ago, and I have been a fan every since.)

“Come a Little Closer” by Cage the Elephant (from Melophobia.  I think Cage the Elephant are simply one of the most exciting bands around. This is the first single from the band’s latest album.)

“TDB” by Its Teeth w/ Travis Orbin (from Divided. Some more awesome Instrumental Post-Rock from this project which Gabriel of The Gabriel Construct turned us onto.)

 
 
 
WATCH
 


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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Tender Mercy Mix

Well, well, well… we managed to stir up some controversy with yesterday’s Hall of Fame inductees due to our blatant omission of the Latin American singing group Menudo.*

*True except for the controversy and the fact that our omission of Menudo was not blatant.

As we prepare to induct the next three E2TG favorites into our HofF, we still do not have Menudo, but we do have a boy band of sorts to head today’s list.  (A Hall of Fame page is still in the works)

 






4.  Valued Customer (Toronto, Canada)
5.  The Dead Exs (New York, NY)
6. The Imperial Rooster (Espanola, NM)

Welcome to the E2TG Hall of Fame!

Shuffle begins in 3….
2….
1….
JUMP

“Obsidian” by Theory of Machines (from EP1.  A heavy rock instrumental from London.)

“Some Say” by Solardrive (featuring TC) (from Solardrive. An interesting new indie-pop band from L.A. which features Balthazar Getty)

“Broken Heartland” by The Coal Men (from Escalator.  More excellent stuff from this Nashville band. The attached video features lead Coal Man – Dave Coleman performing a Daniel Lanois song in the awe-inspiring sanctuary of Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church)

“Mercy” by prattle on, rick. (from Some Quiet Majesty.  Another great track from this Nashville singer/songwriter)

“Blue Moon Howl” by Mark Robinson (from Have Axe -Will Travel. This album has been Nominated by the Nashville Blues Society for the Best Self-Produced CD for the International Blues Challenge.  The winner will be announced in January 2014. Mark is a great ambassador for Nashville Blues music, and Have Axe – Will Travel is one of our favorite albums of this year.)

“Little Time” by Adam Hill (from Little Time. Make it three Nashville artists in a row.  Little Time is the latest album by Singer Songwriter Adam Hill)

“Tenderness” by General Public (from All the Rage.  Digging back to 1984 and this IRS records band headed by Dave Wakeling  and Ranking Roger of The Beat, and their smash hit song.)

“Theatre is the Life of You” by the Minutemen (from Double Nickels on the Dime. San Pedro.)

“Baby Blue” by Jay Farrar (a cover of the 1971 BadFinger classic which has come back into prominence due to it’s inclusion in the final episode of a recent popular television series.  Ex-Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt member Farrar turns the song into a beautiful, dusty alt-country gem.)

 
 
WATCH
 


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Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Grand Company Mix

Introducing:  The E2TG Hall of Fame —– Ta Da!

You may be asking, “WTF?” Basically, it comes down to this: My blogging consultant told me I need to start being more controversial to attract more readers to my site. Whenever, I see posts about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they always seem to attract highly opinionated comments. So, I thought if I came up with my own Hall of Fame, it might create controversy and angry comment wars which might “go viral” as the kids say.*

*All of the proceeding is true except for the following: I don’t have a blogging consultant. I rarely read comment wars about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the only thing likely to “go viral” over here is an actual virus.

Really, I got to thinking about the artists I consider E2TG featured artist. When I began writing E2TG way back in the spring of 2011, I began naming a Band of the Week just about every week.  I did this for a about year, before switching to a featured artist designation – wherein I would name ten or so “featured artists” every month and put them in “heavy rotation” for the remainder of that month.  That carried on for just over six months. Since, then I keep featuring new music, but I haven’t really been very organized about recognizing those bands.  So… I decided to take stock – at this random point in E2TG history and go back and formally recognize all of the bands that I consider part of the E2TG family.  To do so, I decided to use the TAG “cloud” on the sidebar and begin with the most tagged bands and work my way down.  So, for the near future, I am going to name three, two or one band every day to join the E2TG HofF.  It’s a purely honorary title – as currently it does not come with a cash prize nor is there an actual Hall.

I am going to create and maintain a Sidebar linked Page for the Hall of Fame artists – with videos, songs, links, an on-going web-store and more.  It’s still under construction, so will update when I have a Page set up. 

So without much more ado, E2TG is pleased to announce our inaugural class of Hall of Fame inductees:

 
 
 
 


1. THE END MEN from Brooklyn, NY

2.TACO LAND – from San Antonio, TX

3. SKELETONS IN THE PIANO from Saratoga Springs, NY

Stay tuned!  More to come.

Shuffle is up next


“Honey You” by The Dirty Guv’nahs (from Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies. Groovy grooves from Knoxville, TN.)

“Bluebirds Fall” by The Autumn Defense (from the Birds, Beasts, and Flowers EP. A split EP with the band Hem. Lilting harmonies from Chicago by way of Wilco.)

“August” by prattle on, rick. (from A Decade Begins. Summery instrumental goodness from Nashville.)

“Grand Company” by Joseph Mooradian (It’s good to see this kid making lots of new music – I just heard an excellent even newer song this morning.  This one is supposedly a work-in-progress, but it’s an excellent song. CLICK HERE to listen and download.“)

“Last Nite” by Adele (covering The Strokes.)

“Tracks of my Tears by Linda Ronstadt (covering Smokey Robinson and The Miracles classic)

 

WATCH