Category: The Gypsy West

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:


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

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix – Part Five

Stupid winter bugs…. well, I was out sick Friday – so no shuffle.  But, today’s shuffle includes music I would have featured on that day – plus a few more.   I’m actually going to be away for the rest of the week.  Ear to the Ground will return Monday December 30 to present the 3rd Annual Band of the Year award (for the first time not based upon a poll).

Let’s get to the music…



“I Guess That’s True” by Calicocat
“Lincoln” by EdTang
“Hey Grace, Hey Tony” by Grace and Tony
“May the Road Rise to Meet Your Face” by James Crawford
“Afraid to Die” by Monks of Mellonwah
“Screwdriver” by Prince
“Arrival in a Distant Land” by The Gabriel Construct
“Patience” by Mr. Kind
“Halo Day (4 ‘Drew)” by Tim Lee 3
“Bill, I Believe This is Killing Me” by EdTang
“Davey Jones” by The Blind Owl Band
“I’d Rather be High” by David Bowie
“Lonesome Street” by The Blind Owl Band
“Knocking on Heavens Door” by You and Me
“Divine Restlessness” by Marla Mase
“On the Watch (Parts V- XII)” by The Gypsy West
“Tennessee” by The Coal Men
“New Jerusalem” by Valued Customer
“Saint” by Mission South

NOTES:

Sadly, Nashville’s Calicocat called it quits this year, but first, they dropped their brilliant Mighty Superfluous.

Look for Grace and Tony to continue to light things up in 2014. Their debut album November dropped in… well November. 

Reuniting with old classmates on social media can be a hit or miss endeavor. From acrimonious political rankling to endless game requests, there can definitely be a downside.  On the other hand, there are people I didn’t know too well in school who I’ve gotten to know and like through the web.  And then there is James Crawford who just happened to make one of my favorite albums of the year.

Prince and David Bowie released excellent new music in 2013. Go figure.

The Gypsy West kicked off 2013 with the release of the final part of their Accomplices trilogy. We loved it.

Valued Customer.

I saw Mission South at the Basement when I went out to see my friends Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray. They are from D.C. and pretty freakin’ awesome.

SHOP
WATCH
(all of our 2013 favorites)
 
 


!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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js
–>

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

Wednesday/Thursday Evening/Morning Music Shuffle – Luckiest Guy in the World Mix


Railroad Bridge – Nashville

Good morning, I am back after a day off… my new earphones are still In-Transit, so today I presenting my mix of yesterday’s drive home and today’s drive in to work.  Jump through to the marvelous musical mixture…

Yesterday on my hot and sweaty drive home, I listened to the following songs:

“Nashville” by Casey Black (It’s always cool to hear a song about the city that has been my home for the past twenty-something years. It’s also cool anytime I can hear a Casey Black song)

“Paul Revere” by Beastie Boys (a history lesson and the first of three by Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock)

“Most People” by Dawes (This.)

“She’s Crafty” by Beastie Boys (I don’t think they are talking about Wendy Russell, but I could be wrong)

“That’s the Story of My Life” by The Velvet Underground (That’s the difference between wrong and right)

“My Whole Life” by EdTang (Seriously though EdTang is very cool. Check it out)

“Frank Lloyd Wright” by Joseph Mooradian (a singer-songwriter from Nashville. I first heard him sing at a coffee house show at our church a few years ago.  A mesmerizing vocal style. Check out his Soundcloud for tons of great originals and covers)

“Time to Get Ill” by Beastie Boys (song #3 of this mix from the Boys!)

“This Morning” by Human Face (New music from UK band Human Face!)

Music from this morning:

“The Witching Hour” by The Gypsy West  (I don’t always listen to psych prog rock stuff from Brooklyn, but when I do, it is likely to be The Gypsy West)

“Crows on a Phone Line” by Let’s Active (One of my favorite songs.  I don’t remember if I first loved this song because I used to write a bunch of bad poetry about crows or if I wrote a bunch of bad poetry about crows because I loved this song.  I’m not sure it matters at this point, but the bottom line: This song is awesome, most of my old poetry about crows was not awesome.)

“Till the End of the Day” (Kinks Cover) by Big Star (I never go far, without a little Big Star… seriously though, a classic Kinks tune done by Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and company – just about all I need…)

“One More Time” by Taco Land (from Pancakes and Pizza – which is truly one of my favorite albums of the year. Joseph Russell’s voice just resonates at the perfect pitch in soul)

“Fields of Clover” by The Box Tops (Before Big Star – 16 year old Alex Chilton recorded what would become a number one hit in 1967. That was “The Letter”. “Fields of Clover” came a year or so later – and was the B-side to a song called “Choo-Choo Train”)

“The Remnant” (Live) by Josh Ritter (recorded at a 2010 show in Dublin.  The Remnant is on the Idaho singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album – So Runs the World Away)

PLAYLIST
 


–> http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Conjuring Mix

Hey ho! It’s Friday! What could be more perfect?

 
 



Music after the jump



!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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js
Today in the Pre-Shuffle we have:

“Pualei” by EdTang (from Goodbye, Zen5, Sushi Dinner)

“Accomplices” by The Gypsy West (from Accomplices III)

“Dromedary” by Dog Without Warning (from Bark – one of my favorite records of the year so far, and they made a video for this song! Check it out in the Playlist at the end of this post)

“Let’s Give It Away” by Taco Land (from Pancakes and Pizza – another favorite

“Hold Onto Hope Love (Andy Hunt Mix/Mastered)” by Amy Stroup (of Sugar and the Hi-Lows)


In the Shuffle

“Corn for Cash” by Alvin Band (from Mantis Preying)

 
“Hurricane” by Katey Laurel
 
This is the brand new single from Katey Laurel.  I hope you grabbed this from Noisetrade because it is not longer available on that site.
 
“Green Eyes” by Callaghan from 40 States and Counting EP
 
 
 
 
“L.A. Freeway” by Guy Clark from Old No. 1 (1975)
 

 
 

A great song from Guy Clark’s debut album. Released about 38 years ago, a young Steven Earle sings backgrounds on this album.

PLAYLIST
 
 



 
 

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – On the Watch Mix

 
 

Nice morning has turned into another dreary day here in Nashville.

Ear to the Ground has been featured by a cool music blog called newgazzi! Check it out.

Currently, the playlist from which the Shuffles are drawn is up over 300 songs.  Tons of new and new old music were added over the weekend, and more will be added soon.

Anyway, we have a great mix of songs – so let’s JUMP to it…


Pre-Shuffle



“Live Forever” by The Dirty Guv’nahs

“Oh, Rose” by Skeletons in The Piano (from Please Don’t Die – one of our favorite albums of 2013, so far – heard rumblings that SITP are working on a new album now!)

“Your Eyes Shine in the Darkness” by Courrier

“On the Watch (Parts V-XII) by The Gypsy West (from another of our 2013 faves – Accomplices III: No Barcodes – by the way, as substitute video, I have included a video of The Gypsy West covering the Talking Heads classic Life During Wartime)

“Prey” by Let’s Active

Shuffle

“Say Goodbye” by Arc and Stones from Arc and Stones EP (2013)

 

Arc and Stones (btw, for some reason the “and sign” does weird things to my formatting, so I use the word “and” even when I know the sign is used by the artist…) are a hard rock band from Brooklyn.  Check it out.

 “Annarexia (Bill Laswell Dubmix)” by Marla Mase from Speak (Deluxe) (2013)


 

 

  Another of my favorite albums of the year.  The Speak album was actually released last year, but the Deluxe Edition which features this version of the song, Annarexia, was released in March. Marla Mase is a powerful artist/performer.  This dubmix features the legendary Bill Laswell who was part of Golden Palominos among other projects.

“There Are Rules” by The Gypsy West from Accomplices III: No Barcodes (2013)

 
 

The Shuffle closes with another track from the Accomplices III EP. This is one of my favorites songs on the EP.

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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js <!– google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5465441380757075"; /* E2TG #2 */ google_ad_slot = "6306625404"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //
–> http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Best Ever Mix

 
(Throw back Friday Pic)


For me, every mix is unique and has value.  Is this the best ever mix? Probably not, that will be Monday or some other time (or many other times in the future).  This is a good mix – a damn good mix.  Why?  ‘Cause it has some of my all time favorites, a couple of brand new (to me) songs that I really dig, a nifty cover, a diverse but not crazily diverse mixture of songs (although I love me some crazily diverse mixtures), and it forces me to break a long-standing officially unofficial blog policy…. but we’ll get to all that.

Meanwhile – let’s just dive right into the mix

(JUMP TO THE PRE-SHUFFLE)

!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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js

PRE-SHUFFLE

“Mission Bells” by Susan James (One of my favorite albums of 2013 so far is Driving Into the Sun.  This is awesome California folksy rock music with a mellow vibe. Americana, but California-style Americana, and it’s a fantastic album)

“Drinkin’ Problem” by Lori McKenna (I think I may have gotten this from a Popa Tunes compilation – I noticed he was a fan of her music page on Facebook. I am too.  This is a great song. Massachusetts Country Music. Nice.

“Ate” by Alvin Band (From a Noisetrade compilation that includes songs from several different Alvin Band albums. I’m realty growing to dig this music.)

“The Music in My Headphones” by Telepathic Teddy Bear (When someone called Telepathic Teddy Bear follows you on Twitter, you follow back.  When they have music for download, you download. You don’t know why you do this, but you do. And, you are glad you did.  I’m glad I did.)

“Into the Mines” by The End Men (The opening track on The End Men’s latest album, Play With Your Toys, makes big promises and prepares you for something beyond what you would expect from the band.  “Into the Mines” seals the deal.  A chillingly dark tale to be sure.  Remember, this is only a show, but it’s a show you do not want to miss…

SHUFFLE

“Cool Me Down” by Promised Land Sound from Summer Sampler 2013 (Jeffery Drag Records)

 





Jeffery Drag Records is a pretty bitchin’ cool label based here in Nashville.  It is the mad brain child of Bad Cop front man Adam Anyone Moult. Last year some time, we reported that Jeffery Drag had become part of the French Kiss Label Group. Anyway, they have this new compilation out on band camp – click on the picture of Promised Land Sound to get to that compilation – and it’s a pretty great mix of music.  Bad Cop, Natural Child, Majestico, and Useless Eaters. Plus it’s got this band.  Promised Land Sound (or Promised Land – I’m kind of confused…) are really great. Hell, they are “Jack White digs them” great (they put out a 7″ on his Third Man label).

“Old School Friends” by Honeyhoney from American Songwriter Sessions (originally on the band’s 2011 album Billy Jack)

 
 
 

Per their Facebook Page, Honeyhoney are from Nashvillle, but now live in Los Angeles. This song left me wanting to hear more from this band.  It’s a song that sounds like a classic, the minute you first lay ears on it.

“Changing” by The Gypsy West from Accomplices III: No Barcodes (2013)

 
 

Another of our favorites of 2013.  We reviewed this record early in the year.  The EP is the finale of a trilogy of songs that tell the story of a revolution.  This is the opening song from this EP and highlights the power and the creativity of this Brooklyn band.

Finally – at some point, I made a solemn vow, or an idle promise … I honest don’t remember the circumstances, but I made a promise that I honestly thought would be easy to keep.  But, today, I find my self (sort of) breaking that promise.  There are only a hand full of bands for which I would even consider breaking that promise.

“Boyfriend” (Justin Bieber Cover) by Valued Customer from “Fun Covers”

 
 

It helps that this isn’t so much a cover as it is a deconstruction.   I do love me some Valued Customer….  I don’t have a video of the song, but I have a video of Patrick from Valued Customer covering another song – plus another cover of this hit song by another familiar face.. You’ll have to watch the Playlist below to find out.

PLAYLIST
 
 


 

 

 

 



 

 

<!– google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5465441380757075"; /* E2TG #2 */ google_ad_slot = "6306625404"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //

Ear to the Ground Presents…. 2013 Part I

So, we mentioned at the beginning of yesterday’s Shuffle that we have gone through almost an entire 1/4 of 2013 without naming a Band of the Week, Band of the Month or Featured Artist.  It’s funny because, it was circumstances beyond our control which initially created this situation, but as with much of what we do, it seemed to be the right thing to do.



You may be aware, that once we feature a band/artist, we kind of add them to our family in a way.  We have Twitter Lists and Facebook Lists that we have created and that we follow regularly.


!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”);


One of the things I wanted to avoid was naming someone a Featured Artist and then barely featuring them. It has happened, though not intentionally.  So, as March winds down, I thought I would look back at the first part of this year.

Ear to the Ground Presents…. after the jump


Old Friends, New Music:

Thus far in 2013, we’ve had the chance to review three new records from three old friends who we already considered part of the Ear to the Ground Family.

Gypsy West  Back in January, we reviewed the 3rd EP in the Accomplices trilogy which was subtitled No Barcodes.  Check out our review here.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=386233350/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/




Tim Lee 3  In February, we did what was one of the first reviews/previews of the highly anticipated new record from Knoxville based Tim Lee 3, called Devil’s Rope. Here is our review.  Did you know that Tim Lee was part of the legendary 80s band, The Windbreakers who recorded with Mitch Easter and collaborated with Richard Barone among others?

  

The End Men  So it’s offical, we have now tagged The End Men more than any other term, band or artist.  So, it’s logical that when we set out to review their incredible new record Play With Your Toys, we did it a four part series of posts.  For your convenience, here is a link that includes all of the record breaking posts that were tagged “The End Men”

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=998121910/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/


Calicocat  Nashville-based Calicocat called it quits, but before they did they released another, final great release.  Mighty Superfluous has been in heavy rotation on our playlist this month, and along with their other releases, leaves behind a great legacy of music.  We wish the band members well as they pursue a number of different projects.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2087387736/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/


New Friends:

We continue to meet new people, and tonight we are going to add three artists/bands/whatever to the Ear to the Ground musical family.  They came to us in different ways and play vastly different styles of music, but that is exactly how we like it. All three of these artists have appeared thus far in Shuffles, although not as often as we would like.  We have it in our heads to review all three of their newest released which made there way to us, but it’s time to present them formally, and we’ll keep working on those official reviews.  Unofficially, all three of these albums are worth buying and all three of these artists are worth getting to know….

Mark Robinson/Mark Robinson Band  


Although Nashville is better known for commercial Country Music and more recently for our indie-rock transplants like Jack White and The Black Keys, the city has a long history of outstanding blues men and women.  Many of the great players spent/spend their days backing some of  the mainstream Country music being produced in Music Row studios, and then gathered in dark, smoky bars to play the music that they really loved – The Blues.  By now, the Nashville Blues scene is pretty well established and is attracting great players from all over.  Mark Robinson moved to Nashville from Bloomington, Indiana a few years ago, and he just recently released his second solo record, Have Axe, Will Groove which features track after track of great sounding modern blues music.  The album features some local players and singers who are well-known enough for even this non-Blues affectionado to know.   


Marla Mase

As I mentioned, our three new featured artists this time, cover a pretty wide range of musical styles and influence.  New York artist Marla Mase covers a a lot of territory on her own, and in fact, really creates her own particular space on the musical spectrum.  Mase is a performance artist in the truest sense of that term, but rest assured, her album Speak – which was released in 2011 and just recently given the deluxe treatment is great music.  We’ve featured a couple of her songs in our Morning Shuffles, and the album is full of a number of challenging and great sounding music.  The Deluxe edition of her album includes a fantastic Dub mix of the title track by the legendary Bill Laswell.  Back in September Mase was invited to perform in China as part of UN Global Peace Day.  


Susan James 

California Singer-Songwriter Susan James reached out to us on Facebook.  She just recently released her latest album called Driving Toward the Sun which is a stunning gorgeous collection of folksy, rootsy music that has California written all over it.  Working with producer Ryan Ulyate who has worked with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison, the album features ex-Lone Justice drummer Don Heffington and guitarist Neal Casal who has worked with Ryan Adams among others.  We’ve already featured a couple of songs in Shuffles and are really in love with this record.   


We are happy to feature these artists, and to add them to the bands and artists we follow.   In the last couple of weeks and in the weeks to come, more great music is making it’s way to our ears and we will continue to bring you as much of it as we can.  Look for new music from our old friends Killing Kuddles and Taco Land plus the highly anticipated new album from 2012 Band of the Year Skeletons in the Piano which is due out soon on Magnetic Eye records.  

In the meantime, please check out this special Playlist featuring all of the bands featured in this post….

!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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js <!– google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5465441380757075"; /* E2TG #2 */ google_ad_slot = "6306625404"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //–> http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Friday Morning Music (Non-Shuffle) – No Barcodes Mix

Today, we are trying something new.  It’s partially out of necessity, but I’m pretty psyched about it.  At Ear 2 the Ground, we usually focus on the Morning Shuffle which allows us to bring you a good cross-section of our eclectic musical tastes.  We will continue to do that.  Recently, however, I have been reminded of an e-mail conversation I had with a few friends who are more knowledgeable about music than I am (but they don’t write music blogs – so there).  But anyway, this was a few years ago, just before all of us were on Facebook, so we mainly had these discussions over e-mail (we are spread across the country). We were talking about the rise of the MP3 Player/iPod or whatever.  On the plus side, it sure makes it convenient to have at least a large chunk of my music collection at my fingertips, but I wondered if somehow, the concept of a record album might be lost.  In the end, I concluded that art is enduring and adapts to whatever changes in medium come along.  But, I still believe in the power of the album as a cohesive form of expression.  So, we do the shuffle, but I always like to point you, dear reader, to the source album, in the hopes (unspoken usually) that if you hear something you like you will check out the album as a whole. 
It is on rare occasions when we do a full-fledged record review, and of late, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I have been unable to doing many posts outside of our daily shuffle. So, when I was recently asked to write about a new record, I was excited, but the current state of my life and technology and time made it difficult to do what I so wanted to… That’s when I came up with this idea.  With my extended listening time in the morning, I usually end up with between 7-10 songs in the morning shuffle.  Coincidentally, that is the approximate length of many albums.  So, I pulled up the record I wanted to review, turned off the shuffle function (so I could hear the record in the order intended) and voila. We have the first ever Morning (Non-Shuffle) Album review, and it’s a great one… keep reading after the jump:

 
So today, we begin a new chapter in the Ear to the Ground saga by presenting the final chapter of another story.  Accomplices III: No Barcodes by Brooklyn’s The Gypsy West.  This is the final part of the rock trilogy about a modern revolution.
 from the band’s Bandcamp page:

“Accomplices is a modern musical trilogy.

It is told in 3 EPs that can be listened to separately or together in sequence.

This is the first part of the story.

The story focuses on personal liberation through public rebellion. It begins as an abstract narrative, weaving through different perspectives and characters. The prism of the Accomplices story is Phoenix. Articulate yet speechless, inspired yet immobile, Phoenix represents the common person and their potential.

The story follows Phoenix to and through a revolution, its many shapes and forms, and the many friends and foes along the way.”

This will be a review of the final EP of the trilogy which is being released today.  

Overall,  Accomplices III is a powerful musical statement.  At times epic and majestic , at other times vulnerable and tender. I make no bones about the fact that I am a non-musician – so my reviews are more about emotional responses, but I will say that from an untrained ear, this record sounds incredible. 

An interesting side note is between the release of the first Accomplices EP and this final EP, something called the Occupy movement occurred. The themes of the trilogy predate and anticipate the themes present in the Occupy movement.

Track 1: Changing  – As the record opens, there is a sense of urgency.  The lyrics “No longer waiting I’m no longer waiting for the changing of the guards or the unknown” are backed by a prog-rock influenced sound and soaring and glorious vocals.  “we’re coming for you now we will not be soothed we will not be owned we will not be sold”

Track 2: On the Watch (parts I-IV) is an instrumental track. Insistant and persistent. This track progresses rapidly through the four parts. Utilizing machine gun like drumming, real honest to goodness horns and some amazing sounding guitar and bass work, this track progresses the story forward without words.

Track 3: On the Watch (parts V-XII) continues this piece of the record adding words to the mix: “all instinct I feel like gasoline I can stop and start the machine it runs on me” wherein the power of the people is claimed. I was struck by the many musical moods of this track. Even as a non-musician, I can hear and sense the eight different parts to this track.  
“you can’t buy your way out.”

Track 4: Accomplices  is another instrumental piece which begins with an extended bit of distortion, adds some ominous string to create a gorgeously noisy wall of sound. The track shifts gears at 1:40 with haunting more muted sounding guitar work. In this part of the track, the string add a touch of delicate beauty. The horns return in an elegiac fanfare that builds into into a majestic and epic crescendo??? (again not a musician) before slipping back into more distortion and chaos. 

Track 5: There are Rules .   “I’m the only thing stopping the Wolves from chewing on your bones” and “the man is talking do not disrupt for there are rules rules for swine” Musically progressive and lyrically challenging, this penultimate track of the record and the trilogy seems to me to represent the beginning of the end of the beginning of the end of a brutal and capitalistic power structure. 

Track 6: The Witching Hour is a contemplative and achingly beautiful song that brings the storyline and the record to an end.   

“in the dark so opaque the witching hour has passed it’s past me now it has let me go but tonight, tonight like always the hour never fades this aching quiet it sees me it never leaves”

There seems to be a sense of looking back, not without regret. 

The Gypsy West a great band. I, for one, can’t wait to see what’s up next for them.  If you’ve been following this band and have already picked up the first parts of the Accomplices trilogy, I think you will be pleased with how the story concludes. If you are just now finding about The Gypsy West, do yourself a huge favor and get on board.  You can go back and begin with Accomplices and Accomplices II: You Might Get Caught before leaping into this final part of the whole, or you can listen to and appreciate Accomplices III: No Barcodes as an excellent stand-alone record, and then go back and see what you’ve missed.

Here is the widget to download the new record:

 Get the first two parts of the trilogy here:

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3159452783/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/
 
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3570079607/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/

If you happen to be kicking around Brooklyn (or if you are anywhere in the general area), stop by The Trash Bar tonight (1/25/2013) – Here is a link to the event. The first ten people are going to get a free CD. 

Get your warpaint on, and prepare to be loud as the band will be recording the show.

 !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”);https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js <!– google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5465441380757075"; /* E2TG #2 */ google_ad_slot = "6306625404"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //–> http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Featured Artist for June – Page Finished + other stuff

At long last, I have completed (sort of) the Page for the Featured Artists for June 2012.  The page is linked on the sidebar to the right or you can just click on the underlined “page” link earlier in this sentence.


Here’s a video from one of our featured artists:  Dean Fields



Here’s another: Shayfer James covering Leonard Cohen

In other news, the May Band of the Month poll is still going on.  South of Ramona have a big lead, but it’s still anyone’s game. The Joy of Painting and Sci-Fi Romance could easily mount a 11th hour charge.  Stay tuned, and more importantly, if you haven’t done so, please vote now.  The poll is located on the left sidebar.  If you need a refresher course on who these bands are – here’s the link to the the poll announcement — (link)

Our friend’s The End Men have completed their late Spring European tour, and they’d love to tell you all about it.  Hit them up on Facebook or on their website.  They are also about to head into the studio to record the follow-up to their amazing EP Build it Up.  Personally, I cannot wait.  If you are anywhere near the NYC area, or if you will be on June the 16th, The End Men will be playing the annual Northside Showcase at the Trash Bar hosted by their friends and ours, The Gypsy West.  Here are the details.

Here are The End Men performing live from this past March:





Finally, a really cool band that I am just now (and belatedly) getting into, Cupla, are taking a stand against Bullying with a new song and video called My Stand.


Here is a presser about the project:


Media Contact: Janet HansenEmail: conbriopr@gmail.comMake a Statement, Take Your Stand With Cupla to Stop Bullies(Nashville, TN – May 30) Bullying is a deadly global issue. It’s a social illness that can be cured and the British Columbia rock band, Cupla, is taking a stand to make it stop. The band is going into the studio the first week of June to work with Grammy-winning producer, Eric Tingstad, to cut their single, “My Stand.” To accompany the single, Cupla is creating a video with messages from people around the world to end the pain of senseless social behavior that has reached epic proportion. Cupla is asking people of all ages everywhere to send in still photos holding a written message to be used in a promotional video supporting, “My Stand.” Let your voice be heard and send photos in jpg format to billy@cupla.ca or bobby@cupla.ca by June 30, 2012. “My Stand” is slated for release this summer, along with the supporting video which will be sent to media outlets worldwide. When people take a stand for love we can put an end to senseless behavior that has devastating consequences, and often deadly outcomes. Add your voice, make a statement and help stop bullies once and for all.



That is all.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and I will see you tomorrow with my Morning Shuffle.