Category: Solardrive

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Whiskey Thunder Mix

Another day, another cool mix of music….  Today we close out a few albums we’ve been spinning for some time, we have a track from one of the coolest and most underrated bands of all time, and we close things out with four tracks in a row from some Ear to the Ground favorites. 

In case you missed it (shameless self-promotion): Check out an audio rendition of a excerpt from my novel-in-progress… 

Shuffle begins right after the jump:

“deep on the inside” by The Lies from whatever

The Lies are from New Jersey.  Like 95% of all New Jersey bands I play, Popa’s Tunes helped make me aware of this rocking band.  We’ve been shuffling songs from their album whatever for a while now, and this really awesome track finishes up the album for us.  The Lies video is one of their contributions to the 2014 Couch by Couchwest (I’m willing to be Popa had a hand in that, too).

“The Bends” by Solardrive from Solardrive

For the second day in a row, we have music from Solardrive.  This closes out this album for us.  In case you are wondering, this is not a cover of the Radiohead song, but an incredible original which I think you will dig.

“Devil on my Back” by Stoney from More Than Animals

A deep blues vibe from Austin, Texas’ Stoney.  Another final track from an album we’ve been featuring for several months.

“Like Calling Up Thunder” by The Gun Club from Miami

You don’t know how much I love having a Gun Club song in my shuffle.  Fronted by the late, great Jeffrey Lee Pierce this California punk, blues band set so many standards, and they were already legendary during my formative musical years in the mid 80s.  This song sounds fresh and even progressive 32 years after the fact.

“Whiskey Rain” by The End Men from Odds and Ends

Reigning E2TG Band of the Year, The End Men return to the shuffle with another track from their latest collection.  Whiskey Rain shows the band at the top of their game.  The accompanying video is from a series of videos about the recording of the song from Songcraft. All the gearheads who read this blog should definitely check that shit out…

“Justice is Due” by Tomas Doncker  from Power of the Trinity

True Groove Global Soul!  Tomas Doncker Band from the Ethiopian influenced Power of the Trinity album with some killer sax work.

“Glory” by Mr. Kind from Wide Awake/Open Hands

The full EP Wide Awake/Open Hands is now available from Mr. Kind.  We’ve presented two of the tracks already.  Here is a third – showing Brian Bergeron and company doing what they do so well…

“Moanin’ at Midnight” by Tomas Doncker Band from Moanin’ at Midnight: The Howling Wolf Project

!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”); And we close out with an encore from The Tomas Doncker Band with the title track from their stunning Howlin’ Wolf tribute. 

VIDEOS

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Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Never Enough Mix

On a Monday which began with a spilled cup of coffee… (and did I mention it was Monday?) the shuffle comes up with a fine collection of music.  No oddball pop gems, none of the usual suspects, just a nice collection of cool music from around the country…

Oh – I recorded a new bit of short fiction to my Soundcloud account.  Check it if you want…

“Lovely” by Solardrive from Solardrive

Our penultimate track from the self-titled Solardrive album which we have been playing for several months.  A cool video accompanies co-directed by Solardrive front man Balthazar Getty.  Solardrive are based in L.A.

“Photographs and Fables”  by Mission South from Migration Vol. 2

Mission South were from D.C. I became a fan after seeing their exuberant performance at The Basement last fall.  Sadly, they broke up just a few months after that, but they left behind some nifty songs.

“Desert Ground” by The Western Den from The Battle Hymn EP

The Western Den are from Boston.  Just a little ambient folk for the shuffle.

“Happy Man” by Sparklehorse from Distorted Ghost EP

The late great Mark Linkous was from North Carolina. This is a sweet song made sadder by time and circumstances…

“Burning Jacob’s Ladder” by Mark Lanegan from Mark Lanegan

A survivor of the Seattle grunge scene.  This is just a purely great song.

“Hide Away Folk Family” by They Might Be Giants from First Album Live

Again, I am reminded of the awesomeness of the first TMBG album.  They Might be from Brooklyn… There May Be Giants.

“Willy’s Song” by Rayland Baxter from Feathers and Fishhooks

Nashville represents….  Man I love this song. Don’t fly away…

“Never Enough” by Trixie Whitley from Fourth Corner

Trixie Whitley is the daughter of Chris Whitley and she is part of Black Dub with super producer Daniel Lanois.  This is good information to have, but it is secondary to the amazing talent and ability evident in this track from her debut full-length solo album.  She is from New York and Ghent.

“SheshBesh” by The Plum Magnetic from Terra Animata!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”);

We finish things up with some amazing fusion/world music from New Orleans.

VIDEOS

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Pure and Noble Breed Mix

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We press on…

In the shuffle today:

 
“Some Day” by Rewpart
 
“Mother of Exiles” by Joseph Arthur
 
“The Devil’s Creek” by The Delta Saints
 
“David Watts” (Kinks Cover) by The Jam
 
“Kayla of Colorado” (2008) by Darrin Bradbury
 
“The Great Airplane Strike” by Paul Revere and The Raiders
 
“Redemption City” by Joseph Arthur
 
“When You Get That Way” by Taylor Brown
 
“Nobody” by Killing Kuddles
 
“Girl/Room” by The Jean Jackets
 
“II. A Common Theme (The Dream; Life’s Odyssey)” by Left of Logic
 
“Hymn for the Road” (2012) by Darrin Bradbury
 
“Go Away” by Solardrive
 
“Diddler” by Sam Davison
NOTES
 
 
Since I began writing Ear to the Ground, I have come to music or music has come to me from a variety of sources: Twittter, Facebook, Google +, Music Promoters, direct contacts from artists, Noisetrade, ReverbNation, Bandcamp, Brite Revolution, and recommendations by friends and family.  Today, I feature my first “discovery” via the About.me website. Nineteen year old British solo dream-pop artist Rewpart (aka Rupert Roberts).  His latest EP is called “1/2”
 
 
More music from recent frequent flyers: Joseph Arthur, The Delta Saints, Darrin Bradbury, and Left of Logic.  Nashville people: The Delta Saints have an upcoming show with our friends Humming House.  Also, I dare you to listen to Darrin Bradbury’s song “Kayla of Colorado” and not sing along.
 
More #MCFK goodness from The Jean Jackets and Sam Davison.
 
The Jam made “David Watts” their own so well that some times I forget that it is a Kinks’ cover.
 
Paul Revere and the Raiders – downloaded on a whim. Silly costumes. Great song.
 
 
A new song from Killing Kuddles!  I repeat, a new song from Killing Kuddles!  It’s every bit as awesome as one would expect!
 
 
I have mentioned in passing that Solardrive is the newish project by one Balthazar Getty.  In case you didn’t know that or why Mr. Getty is so awesome, I present a rare #E2TG list
 
1. He is descended from those Gettys.
2. He starred in the 1990 film version of Sir William Goldings’ classic novel, The Lord of the Flies
3. He starred in TV’s Brothers and Sisters with the totally awesome Sally Field. I like her, I really like her.
4.  He followed me back on Twitter
5.  and most important, Solardrive is some truly amazing music.
 
 
SHOP




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Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Cold Start Mix

Well here we are.  It’s a new year. 2014 is shaping up to be a good one with new music promised from The Foresters, Humming House, The Lucky Jukebox Brigade, and Taco Land just to name a few off the top of my head.

I haven’t finished adding new music to our playlist, but we have some sweet music – new and old already queued up so let’s jump to it.

“Drunken Hearts” by Wallpaper

“Tusk” (Fleetwood Mac Cover) by Kopecky Family Band

“Black Star” (Radiohead Cover) by Gillian Welch

“Lie Awake” by Angel Snow

“No Exchange” by Minutemen

“The Best I Can Do (Is Love You)” by Mr. Kind

“Desperate” by Solardrive (feat. David Gould)

“Your Majesty” by Slack Armada

“Wrecking Ball” by Swear and Shake

“Street Hassle: Waltzing Matilda” by Lou Reed

“F(e)ar O(f)f Place” (Home Demo) by Black Doctor Jr.

“On a Night Like This” by Bob Dylan

“Southern Seamstress” by Humming House

“Urethane” by Grounded

“Lady Stardust” by David Bowie

“The Hungry Wolf” by X

“Happy Good Morning Blues” by Bruce Cockburn

“Themselves” by Minutemen

NOTES:

Wallpaper are from Oakland.  I think we grabbed this from Amazon. Dig it.

A couple of really cool covers. Kopecky Family Band covering the Fleetwood Mac classic, and the incredible Gillian Welch covering Radiohead.

Angel Snow wrote “Lie Awake” with Viktor Krauss and it was included on Victor’s sister’s 2011 album Paper Airplane. Viktor’s sister is Allison Krauss.  Here’s Angel doing the song herself from her self-titled album. 

The great thing about featuring Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen is that it has so many songs, the featured posts carry on for a while.  The Minutemen are always a great way to start the day.

Another from Mr. Kind‘s self-titled release.

Solardrive is the new band/project from Balthazar Getty and this track features David Gould who is bassist in the band Mother Tongue.

We also have some cool music from Slack Armada out of Chicago, Swear and Shake out of Brookyln, Humming House from Nashville, and Grounded from Florida.

The Home Demo we feature from Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen artist Black Doctor, Jr. is pretty damn awesome.

Starting 2014 with a classic Lou Reed epic is a statement of the endless and timeless quality of his music.  This song brings together two of the artists who had a huge influence on my early musical taste and development (via a spoken word bit by Bruce Springsteen).

Great classic music from Bob Dylan, David Bowie, X, and Bruce Cockburn round out this excellent beginning to what is promising to be a great year.

SHOP

 

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