Category: L.A. Symphony

WOW Wednesday Music Shuffle – No Excuse Mix

!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”); I just recently found out that the five year old daughter of Joseph “Taco” Russell is fighting a courageous battle with childhood cancer.   #E2TG sends all kinds of love and good thoughts and prayers to the entire Taco Land family.  I sometimes think of the bands/artists, I’ve gotten to know as part of an extended Ear to the Ground Family, and Taco Land has been a big part of that for a good portion of our history.

Right now you can get an “Audrey Strong”  bracelet plus a free download of Heart of Texas by Taco Land for a $1 (or more) donation (proceeds go to St. Jude.)  Here is the link to bandcamp…

from Taco Land:

Support bracelet for Taco’s 5yr old daughter whom is fighting childhood cancer. Bracelet is Gold. This color represents the fight against all Childhood Cancers. All monies will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Bracelet comes with free download of song “Heart of Texas” which has Audrey opening the song by saying, “I love Daddy!”

Includes unlimited streaming of Heart of Texas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Today, we hit our mid-week stride and explore the underbelly of my phone’s memory card (not really, but we do shuffle through the entire memory banks to come up with Morning Shuffle for today).    I’m not sure that there is any sort of theme or sense to today’s shuffle…. but that works for me…

“Pretty Little Rebel” by John Eddie from John Eddie

The iconic singer-songwriter John Eddie has been making great music for decades.  These one goes all the way back to his self-titled debut album (1986).   Trivia: Eddie did a simple awesome cover of The Cure’s “In Between Days” on the Elektra Records 40th Anniversary album Rubaiyat.

“Accomplices” by The Gypsy West from Accomplices III: No Barcodes

Things have been quiet since The Gypsy West completed their epic and awesome Accomplices set of EPs.  You may remember #E2TG reviewed the last album of the trilogy back in January of 2013. If you don’t remember – check it out here.

“Brick x Brick” by Christopher Paul Stelling from False Cities

A very cool song from the latest album by this NYC singer/songwriter who I failed to see in Nashville due to The Bluebird show selling out… 😦

“No Excuse” by L.A. Symphony from The End is Now

Nothing like some west coast  alternative hip-hop vibe to shake things up…

“Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” by Herman’s Hermits from the album of the same name.

Just ’cause Peter Noone was dreamy….

“Lovable” by Elvis Costello from King of America
And a song from Elvis Costello’s legendary  mid 80’s  T. Bone Burnett produced album.. ’cause. Elvis is still the king!

“newestish” by Joseph Mooradian from Soundcloud

Joseph Mooradian is the college-aged son of a friend of mine.  I saw him as a high schooler playing coffee house shows at our church.  He is fond of Damian Jurado among others, and I dig his songs and his voice.  When I get a chance, I grab songs off Soundcloud to add into my mix.  This is an untitled demo from sometime ago (unless “newestish” is the title in which case I stand corrected).  The video is for one of favorite songs of his. 

“Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen from Various Positions

Leonard Cohen is a good addition to any shuffle.  By the way, if your local library participates in the Freegal program, The Complete Studio Album Collection has recently been added to that site.  And yes, in case your wondering, the video for the song from the Jools Holland show that is newish East Nashville resident Julie Christensen (Divine Horsemen) singing background vocals.  Good eye.

“Let it Go” by The Black Ryder from Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

We close out things with a cool track from the 2010 album from Australia’s The Black Ryder.

HERE IS THE DAILY VIDEO PLAYLIST:


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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Alternate Reality Mix

Shuffle after the jump:

1.  Song: Gonna Be Alright  Artist: L.A. Symphony  Album: The End is Now (2003) – (Not the Los Angeles Symphonic Orchestra, but a hip-hop band. Nashville hip-hop producers rapper extraordinaire, Hayden Coleman, who is my go to guy for anything hip-hop related was telling me about this group who had recently reunited.  Right after that, I went to Goodwill and was digging through the CD bin and came across this album.  Seemed like fate or at least coincidence.  I dig it)

2. Song: Love Letters Artist: Lincoln Durham Album: The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones (2011) – (Austin-based Roots/Americana/Rock/Folk/Bluesy Stuff – whatever you call it, I’m digging this one)

3.  Song: Trainwreck  Artist: The Bluefields  Album: Pure (2012) – (Even if The Bluefields was not made up of members of legendary bands like Georgia Satellites, Jason and the Scorchers and Royal Court of China, this would still be a hell of a record.  Oh and Joe Blanton has one of the best voices in Rock.)

 Warner looks like he’s about kick my ass. Fortunately, I was standing next to his mother at the time.

 4. Song: Sentimental Mood  Artist: Yucca Rose Album: ? ReverbNation Download (2012?) – (Beautiful jazz-based music from the insanely talented Yukke Roswenda Rose aka Yucca Rose from Jakarta, Indonesia).
This is a slide show of some of her art. Did I say she was insanely talented?


5. Song: I Don’t Like You  Artist: The Como Brothers Band Album: The Speed of Sound EP (2012) – (Some nifty Blues-based Pop Rock from this Long Island band. We nabbed this from an Aquarium Weekly sampler)


6. Song:Cigarettes and Wine Artist: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Album: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (2009) – (I know I keep harping on this, but I freaking love Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit!  This is a great song.  Genres are stupid, but this is a better Country song than 90% of what is played on “Country” radio.  Also, bassist Jimbo Hart almost always retweets when I tweet about the 400 Unit. Also, Jason rocks a Kenny Rogers tour jacket better than anyone I know.)
7.  Song: Disco Ghetto  Artist: Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social Album: Love it To Life (2010) – (Great Rock artist from New York – former member of D Generation. Disco Ghetto is just a stone cold cool song)


8. Song: After the Storm  Artist: Mumford and Sons Album: Sigh No More (2010) – (I still really like this band. Another awesome song from this smash hit album)

believe it or not I could not find a video for After the Storm – here’s Little Lion Man

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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Venus Crossing Mix

Well, my day so far has consisted of being stopped by a train which proceeded to come to a complete stop, and then (after turning around and choosing an alternate route) getting mixed up in the CMA Festival set-up. 
Our Band of the Month poll – over on the left sidebar – has less than 12 hours to go, and Sci-Fi Romance had taken the lead away from South of Ramona. Keep voting and most importantly, check out all of the listed bands.

Music:  I added 39 songs to the playlist last night.  My sources: Popatunes’  Rock Mix Volume 7, Stereogum, plus ReverbNation, Bandcamp, a direct submission, CDs purchased at Goodwill, Freegal, Noisetrade and Amazon.com.
I shuffled those 39 songs and here was the result:
1.  We go deeper into the 2003 album, The End is Now, by Los Angeles hip-hop band, L.A. Symphony.  Today’s song is called, 187 on the Dancefloor.
 
2.  Sitting on Top of the World  was one of the best known songs of the Mississippi Sheiks, who were a 1930s guitar and banjo country blues band.  Today’s version is off of a 2009 Mississippi Sheiks tribute album called Things About Comin’ My Way, and performed by modern Old Time String Band, Carolina Chocolate Drops.
 
The Mississippi Sheiks’ Original
The Late Doc Watson doing a version of Sitting on Top of the World.
 
3.  Patrick Watson is a Canadian Singer-Songwriter who is also the leader of a band that shares his name. Patrick Watson, the Band, has a relatively new album  called Adventures in Your Own Backyard. This morning we got a taste of the new record via a partial track download of the song, Words in the Fire.

 
4.  And finally, we offer up a song which released just today.  It’s Boyfriend which is  the A-side of a single from Brooklyn dreamy pop band, Slowdance (the B-side is called Airports). Near as I can tell, it is not a cover of the new Justin Bieber song.

 
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Mississippi Sheiks, Vol.2 (1930 - 1931) Mississippi Sheiks, Vol.2 (1930 – 1931)
For everything you do, there’s a song that hits the spot. MOG brings them all to you: a world of music on demand, unlimited mobile downloads and ways to discover music free from the limitations of Pandora. The music you love, with you everywhere you go.

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Get Ready Mix

Ahhhh….. Well, well, well… here we are again.  I will SPAM you one more time to ask you to please go to the Red Bull Soundstage site to vote for our friends Those Mockingbirds.  The contest ends at 11:59:59 tonight (Eastern Time I think), and you can vote once a day, so even if you voted yesterday, you can still vote again.  Those Mockingbirds are hanging on in first place, but they need all the support they can get to hold off a late surge from that other so called band.   Here is the link.

 To the list…

Robin Gibb past away last week, and most of the posts I’ve seen referenced the band’s Saturday Night Fever era music. Many people, however, didn’t know that the brothers began performing together way back in 1958.  In their early days, they were primary a pop/folk act, and Robin’s vibrato voice was featured on many of their songs including our first track – I Don’t Think It’s Funny was on the band’s debut album, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs which was released only in Australia.  

 
 
Next  – no really, the next song is called Next it is another track from The End is Now by L.A. Symphony.  Check it out…
 
Finally, we continue to dig into The Ghost of John Henry by recent Sci-Fi Romance.  Steam Drill Blues  is about as gritty as it gets.  As the story moves forward, we find our hero, who represents mankind, facing the challenge of competing with machine in order to maintain his livelihood. We feel the pain and determination through the lyrics and the musical tapestry which weaves the simple with the complex, the quiet with the noisy. And we pull for John Henry even knowing how it all ends…
  
 Here is another track from the album…
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Bee Gees Anthology Bee Gees Anthology
43 of their biggest hits, including: Bodyguard * How Deep Is Your Love * Lonely Days * Love You Inside Out * Night Fever * One * Stayin’ Alive * and more. Also includes discography and notes about the songs written by the band members.

Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of to Kill a Mockingbird Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of to Kill a Mockingbird
“To Kill a Mockingbird” may well be our national novel. It is the first adult novel that many of us remember reading, one book that millions of us have in common. It sells nearly a million copies a year, more than any other twentieth-century American classic. Harper Lee’s first and only novel, published in July 1960, is a beloved classic and touchstone in American literary and social history. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Mary McDonagh Murphy reviews its history and examines how the novel has left its mark on a broad range of novelists, historians, journalists, and artists. In compelling interviews, Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, Oprah Winfrey, James Patterson, James McBride, Scott Turow, Wally Lamb, Andrew Young, Richard Russo, Adriana Trigiani, Rick Bragg, Jon Meacham, Allan Gurganus, Diane McWhorter, Lee Smith, Rosanne Cash, and others reflect on when they first read the novel, what it means to them–then and now–and how it has affected their lives and careers. “Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of “To Kill a Mockingbird”” is a lively appreciation of the many ways in which the novel has made–and continues to make–a difference to generations of readers. Harper Lee has not given an interview since 1964, but Murphy’s reporting, research, and rare interviews with the author’s sister and friends stitch together a brief history of how the novel, as well as the acclaimed 1962 movie, came to be.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Times Like These Mix

Do you remember lying in bed with your covers
Pulled up over your head? Radio playin’ so no one can see.
We need change, we need it fast before rock’s just part
Of the past. ‘Cause lately it all sound the same to me. – Ramones

Radio is a sound salvation
Radio is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don’t give you any choice
’cause they think that it’s treason.
So you had better do as you are told.
You better listen to the radio.- Elvis Costello

A bunch of new songs added to the playlist last night. As of this morning there were 71 songs added in May which have not been featured on the blog.  Today, we knock out four of those 71:

There is a story of this first record.  Back in March, I was chatting with my friend, rapper and beats genius, Hayden, who was talking about this group that was reuniting for a show.  He had been listening to their music all day and posting songs to Facebook.  L.A. Symphony regardless of what I thought originally, is not the Los Angeles orchestra. Rather, they are an independent hip-hop group.  After talking to Hayden, I stopped by the local Goodwill and as I usually do, I perused the bins of used CDs. When I saw a CD by L.A. Symphony, I knew it was fated that I was to buy this, so I did.  The End.

End is Now is the opening track off the group’s 2003 album called The End is Now.

   
Next, we have another track from the recent release by former Band of the Week – Nashville’s own, Calicocat. The song today is called I Said and it is off the Soup Du Jour collection.
You can use the Bandcamp widget thing to download Soup Du Jour for free:

 Next we have a track from top ten Band of the Year nominee Taco Land.  This time, we have their excellent cover of a Ziggy era Bowie song Five Years.  I love their take on this song, which is from one of my favorite albums of all time.

 
 Bowie doing Five Years live from 1972
Here is Taco Land’s Wonderful Rain
Finally, we have a new song from The Holograms  – this is a different Holograms than we featured previously. The other band features our friend Galen Wade. Today’s Holograms come from Sweden, and their debut album is due out in July.  The first track is Chasing My Mind
 
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