Category: Tom Waits

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Whispered Diamonds Up Shit Creek Mix

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We are back and ready to finish off 2015 in style. I hope everyone who celebrates it had a good Thanksgiving.

After fighting off a cold for several days, I ended up pretty knocked out by Friday. I’m on meds and making a recovering. Expect my live music updates to be few and far between the first part of the week, but I will be healthy for some fun stuff coming up at the end of the week.  More on that.

On a related note, between the cold and getting ready to and going out of town, I am WAY behind on e-mails and checking out music that has been submitted.  Please be patient, but feel free to shoot me a follow-up e-mail/message.

We have a pretty awesome 8 song shuffle.

“It’s a Whisper” by James Roquemore

A confessional track from The First (EP).  I saw James open up Patrick Kinsley’s album release show earlier in the year, and I really dug his songs and his voice. I got hold of this EP that night.

“Nickel and a diamond” by Bob Lewis

The first time I saw Bob Lewis perform was opening up for (I think) Darrin Bradbury and Austin Lucas.  I downloaded his album NOw here… and have been digging it ever since. Coincidently, Austin Lucas will be back in Nashville Thursday along with Two Cow Garage and some other folks.  I intend to healthy by then.

“Two Day High” by Sugar and the Hi Lows

Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs are established solo artists in their own right.  Both members of the Ten out of Tenn collective (I’m not sure if that is an on-going thing or not), after several co-writes, they formed Sugar and the Hi Lows  – which for a long time BandsinTown kept mistaking for Sugar (the defunct band formed by Bob Mould of Husker Du).  I have been a fan of Sugar and the Hi Lows for a few years – even naming them a featured artist back in 2012.  They had a pretty successful run since then.  I grabbed a sampler from Noisetrade a couple of months back  – so it is good to have them back in the shuffle.  This track is from their 2012 self-titled album – so maybe I wrote about it back them????

“Chemicals Pt. 1 and 2” by Bang Ok Bang

Our fourth Nashville band/artist to start of the week.  This is from live album recorded at East Nashville Underground.  I love all kinds of music, but I never complain when I have some good loud, hard, nasty music show up in my shuffle.  Mixing chemicals can be a dangerous thing… but rock and roll is supposed to be dangerous, so here is “Chemicals Pt. 1 and 2” combined in one dangerous track. 

“Dead as It Gets” by Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revival Band

Long time Ear to the Ground readers may remember Joe Mansman from his old band The Cosmonauts.  They were a featured band and we did an interview with them and premiered a video back in the day.   When that band finished it’s run, Joe moved on with a new project that has evolved, changed names, and which has just released a new album as Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revivial Band.  The album is called Too Far Gone.  It is some really awesome rootsy Outlaw American Rock and Roll from the Upstate New York area.  I just got hold of this album right before my cold and the holiday hit, so I’ve just had time to hear a couple of songs, but this is a good one.  Expect to read much more about this band and this album soon.

“Looks Like I’m Up Shit Creek Again” by Tom Waits

Seems like a good time to mention that Saturday night is the 10th Annual: Tom Waits Tribute and Benefit for Second Harvest Food Bank (Get Behind the Mule). My friend Mary Sack is the organizer and I had total blast last year.  An all-star cast of amazing artists cover Tom Waits’ songs all night, a visual artist does a live painting, fun is had, money is raised.  Maybe someone will dig out this chestnut that was released on The Early Years Volume One.  Far different sound than Waits later musical forays.

“Hailing Wide” by Tom House

From one Tom to another.  Coincidently (or not), I was introduced to Tom House by the same Mary Sack who is organizing the Tom Waits benefit.  This is another track from Songs Like Dreams… More Like Blood.

“Joan of Arc” (Version 2) by Thrushes

We close out today’s shuffle with some Shoegaze music from the Baltimore, Maryland band, Thrushes.  This is from Exposing Seas – which is the band’s first album in around five years. As I always say when I post songs by band’s that are described as “Shoegaze” – don’t ask me to explain or define the term, but for the most part I usually dig the music, and this is certainly no exception.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – For Penalty and Repentance Mix

I’m kind of running on fumes on this Thursday morning, so I am going to try another three word Thursday and see if I can get out and get some caffeine to help get me through the afternoon. 

“All This Time” by Telepathic Teddy Bear

Indie Pop Heaven

“Swordfish” by The Dead Milkmen

Joanie Love Crotchy

“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” by Bob Dylan

Rolling Thunder Version

“Dream in the Doorway” by Joe Nolan

Mighty Dreamy Joe

“Games” by Minutemen

Post Punk Games

“Johnny and Mary” by Todd Terje featuring Bryan Ferry

Lush Norwegian Roxy

“Where I’m Going” by Eels

Cautionary Tales Awesome

“Primer Coat” by Drive-By Truckers

Graduated in ’84

“Make It Rain” by Tom Waits

Real Gone Waits

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Fairytales and Other Legends Mix

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


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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Carry the Day Mix


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In just nine songs, with just seven different artists represented, we manage to cover a pretty wide range of styles today….  and even spread some Christmas…. er… cheer?????

“Sophia” by Hugh Trimble from neighborpoem

There  is a distinct possibility I posted this song before the recent Playlist Deletion of 2014.  If I did, I do not apologize for the repeat.  This is a damn good song, and there is a good chance you or someone you love missed this the first time.  – No video for this song, so we found a video of Hugh Trimble busking “Me and Bobby McGee”.  Trimble’s music (including his recently released album Another Ghost to Sleep) can be found on his Bandcamp page.

“The Turtle Dove” by Salli Terri from Rare Female Vocal Tracks

Salli Terri was a Canadian-born vocalist who died in 1996 at the age of 73.  She had a remarkable vocal range and style.  I came across her name in a post on the Peacefork blog which is run by Patrick and Justus of Valued Customer.  Their post was in reference to her work with guitarist Laurindo Almeida.

“Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” by Tom Waits from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtape/ Blue Valentine

Almost just in time for Tom Wait’s birthday this past Sunday and the East Nashville Tom Waits’ celebration this past Saturday, and in the spirit of the season (or whatever) comes Mr. Waits’ 1978 Christmas song.  

“Sold for Fire” by Hugh Trimble from neighborpoem

Song #2 from neighborpoem is a surprising dense and powerful track. Very different in sound and style from Sophia.

“I Knew She Would” by Ron Muga from Wonderful Doom

New York City singer/songwriter Ron Muga is up next with one of my favorite tracks from his Wonderful Doom album. 

“Dog Wood Run” by Hugh Trimble from neighborpoem

#3 from Hugh Trimble takes on a bluesy style.  It is always a good sign for me when I hear three songs from the same album which I like and which are all very different from each other.

“Come Carry the Day” by Henry Threadgill from Carry the Day

Another track we have to credit to peacefork/Valued Customer.  Henry Threadgill is an American avant garde/jazz composer.  This track is from his 1995 album with his ensemble Very Very Circus.  There is latin percussion and all sorts of other things going on here.  I quite like this, but I’m a little strange sometimes.  This may not be for everyone, but everyone doesn’t read Ear to the Ground.

“Here It is Christmas” by Red Sovine from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtape/ Christmas with Red Sovine   window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;     

The comment on the YouTube clip calls this the most depressing Christmas song ever. I don’t know about this, but Red Sovine – perhaps best known for the Trucker song “Teddy Bear” gets real and breaks down in tears at the end, so maybe the YouTube commentator is on to something.

“Christmas Spirit” by The Wailers from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtapehttp://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js / Merry Christmas – Sonics, Wailers, Galaxies

First off, this is the not The Wailers as in Bob Marley’s band.  This is a 1950s-1960s garage band from Tacoma, Washington.  It’s sort, sweet, and pretty damn good.  I have to give a shout out to David Horton/Popa Tunes for sending this Mixtape my way and helping to keep us in the Holiday spirit(s) all season long. 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

 

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – What’s He Building? Mix

Time to ease into a new week, a new month, and for some of us a new time structure – as Daylight Savings Time ends and Standard Time begins.  It’s Monday…  Let’s do this shuffle thing…

“For The Battered” by Tommy Womack from Stubborn

From his 2008 album, we have Nashville songwriting icon Tommy Womack (Government Cheese, Daddy) with a powerful song about a serious issue – domestic violence.  I could not find a video of this song, so I picked a version of one of my favorite Tommy Womack songs – The Replacements.

“Lay Me Down” by Heather Powell from Believe it to Life

True Groove recording artist Heather Powell, just recently released her latest album, A Haze of Grays and Blue.  Today, we have the first of two tracks from her previous album Believe it to Life.  Such a powerhouse vocalist!

“Tarwater (The Fighter)” by The Dirty Guv’nahs from Hearts on Fire

Another fine track from The Dirty Guv’nahs of Knoxville, TN.  The band’s song “Morning Light” was featured on the latest episode of the ABC television show, Nashville.

“Chess Piece Face” by They Might Be Giants from First Album Live

This morning E2TG finally wraps up this live revisit to one of my all-time favorite albums.  The first album from They Might Be Giants.

“Long Gray Line” by Heather Powell from Believe it to Life

Here is our second track from Heather Powell.  A strongly delivered song about her family’s history of military service.

“Tubular Bells” (from the “Exorcist”) by Mike Oldfield from Tubular Bells (Deluxe Version)

This one got added for Halloween, but one can never go wrong with Tubular Bells and/or music from the classic 1973 Horror film, The Exorcist. 

“Saint Mary’s” by American Aquarium from Burn. Flicker. Die.

Music loving procrastinators please note, if you’ve not yet got around to picking up American Aquarium’s awesome 2012 album Burn. Flicker. Die. which was recorded and Muscle Shoals and produced by Jason Isbell – now is your chance to grab it for free (donations welcome) via Noisetrade.  Their next album Wolves is due soon – so get this one now and be ready.  This is about a close to perfect as an album can get.

“What’s He Building?” by Tom Waits from Mule Variations

Another added for Halloween, but again – you cannot go wrong with Tom Waits.  Here he asks the musical question, What’s He Building in There?  All about that quiet neighbor who keeps to himself.  You know… that neighbor…

“Town Clown” by Kelsey Waldon from The Goldmine

I’ve been hearing a whole bunch about Kelsey Waldon, and I see a bunch of my Facebook friends are Facebook friends with her.  Finally, getting a chance to check out her music, and so far, I am digging it bunches. This here is a fine, fine song.   She is based in Nashville.

“The Temporary Blues” by The Features from Old Familiar Melodies – 2008-2013/!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”);Some Kind of Salvation

And we close out our first shuffle to November with a nifty song from Tennessee-based band The Features.  From my You Tube search it appears that this song was featured in the television show Degrassi.  At least in some incarnation of the long running, multiple generational, multiple incarnated series about teens.

VIDEOS

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Bank Robbery Mix



So – I just received word that Those Mockingbirds will be releasing the first official single from their highly anticipated new album on October 22.  It’s called “How to Rob a Bank” and we have the cover artwork post above. The cover art was hand-drawn by Bella Agnello who happens to be the 7 year old daughter of legendary producer John Agnello who was worked with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile and more.  I would hit up Those Mockingbirds on FACEBOOK so you don’t miss out.

What some of you may not realize, is that I give a ton of credit to Those Mockingbirds for the success of Ear to the Ground.  Here’s why.  I started Ear to the Ground in May 2011 without a clue or a direction.  Over the course of the remainder of that year, I began to find my voice. Late in the year, I came across Those Mockingbirds via a Twitter follow (I think and choose to believe). I quickly became enamored with their melodic hard alt rock sound. I named them my Band of the Week.

Shortly after that, I received a contact from Don Ryan who was and I suppose still is friends with the band, his video This Town still ranks among my all time favorites. Around this time, I met venerable NJ music blogger and raconteur Popa Tunes who turned me on to Dead Exs, The End Men and so many more.  Through The End Men, I met Gypsy West and Chris Peck’s band The Disappointment. Through Don Ryan, I met The Danbury Lie. Somehow, in all that, I met Skeletons in the Piano who ended up being our Band of the Year for 2012…  And in all that, I became the number one ranked Tennessee Based Music Blogger Who Mostly Blogs About Bands from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut  (an albeit lightly populated category).  Of course, I’ve diversified since them, and I’ve even been known to write about Nashville and Tennessee  bands on occasion.

My point being, Those Mockingbirds play a vital role in shaping this blog which all of you have come to know and love.  By the way, the mockingbird is the State Bird of Tennessee. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Ahem…. now that I’ve made this post all about me, I will turn it around and implore you to grab the new Those Mockingbird single on October 22 and keep your ear to the ground for impending details on the full album.

Today’s shuffle is after the JUMP

Due to technical difficulties, we have a short but sweet shuffle today.  A quirky, odd little mix filled with some really good music.

“Fingerprint Armada” by Liquid Casing (High concept, progressive Hard Rock from these Texas veterans from their album A Separate/Divide)

“Shenandoah” by Tom Waits and Keith Richards (I feel like there is not much I can add to Tom Waits + Keith Richards doing “Shenandoah”.)

“My Coming Son” and “April” by prattle on, rick. (We close this short set of music with two in a row from Nashville’s prattle on, rick. “My Coming Son” is a touching number off the Some Quiet Majesty album which was recently released. “April” is another “month” song from the album A Decade Begins”)

 
 
Here is today’s short Video Playlist
 


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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Carburetor Mix

Why Carburetor? Why not?
So, the Black Keys played a secret show in Nashville and from I can tell people were racing around all over  town to try see them. With my luck, I probably would have ended up at an Are You Randy show.*  
*Obligatory Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist reference.
To the shuffle:
First up – It’s Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers doing Black Bottom Stomp  – from 1926.

 
Next, we have Nashville’s own Darrell Scott from his 2008 release Modern Hymns with a Paul Simon cover: American Tune .
 
We seem to be all about The Joy of Painting this week, as we dig deeper into their Asterisk album with the song, My Personality
 
Finally, we have our second cover to the morning, this time it’s Delta Spirit covering Tom Wait’s for a Daytrotter Session. Come on Up to the House is from Wait’s 1999 album Mule Variations.

 Delta Spirit’s Cover

 The Wait’s original

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Affiliated Links
The Best of Jelly Roll Morton: Piano Solo The Best of Jelly Roll Morton: Piano Solo
20 pieces from this popular jazz composer, including titles featured in the Tony Award-winning musical Jelly’s Last Jam. Includes: Billy Goat Stomp * Jelly Roll Blues * London Blues * Queen of Spades * Shreveport Stomp * and more.

Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters
This autobiographical portrait of Tom Waits takes shape through a selection of more than 50 interviews. Starting with the first interview–on KPFK-FM’s “Folkscene” in 1973–Waits speaks out on a variety of topics and shares something truly unique with his readers. In a rap that is a synthesis of inflections–Louis Armstrong, Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, hobo, pool hall attendant, vaudevillian huckster, musicologist par excellence, and a fresh slathering of the organic word-ooze of William S. Burroughs–Waits comes across as well read, informed, and lucidly aware of current pop culture. He delivers prose as crafted, poetic, potent, brilliant, and haunting as the lyrics of his best songs.

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Free at Last Mix

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 44th anniversary of his death.

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Last night I was able to load an eclectic mix of 16 songs, and this morning I did a shuffle of those songs and was well pleased with the outcome… 🙂


First up, we did a sneak preview of the new Elika album (Always The Light) – A full-fledged review is still to come, but today we have the first track to make it into a morning shuffle.  Elika are a Brooklyn based band recently signed to St. Marie Records. Their music is dreamy electronic pop with amazing vocals and a strong sense of song which keeps the music grounded in spite of the ethereal sounds. (I am totally going to use that in my review).  The track today is called Stay Beside Me

 
Hat tip to Popatunes yet again… I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to catch up with Elephant Goes West.  They are from New Jersey (damn there must be something in the water there – okay obvious statement I know), but whatever it is, in this case it’s a good thing.  Like fellow NJ resident, Don Ryan, they make wonderfully vibrant carnival-type music.  theme from “Everytown” is from the band’s Whirling Dervish EP which you can grab using the bandcamp widget below.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=4121733150/size=grande3/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/

 

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from this band.

Next up – from the vaults comes a song from the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1982 box office disaster One From the Heart.  The soundtrack is made up of songs written by Tom Waits and sung by Waits and Crystal Gayle. Today we have Little Boy Blue  by Tom Waits.

 

And finally, we have a new track from Portland, Oregon band The Dandy Warhols.  The song is Sad Vacation. The album, This Machine is out April 24th.
 
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AFFILIATED LINKS
One From the Heart [2 Discs] One From the Heart [2 Discs]
After completing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola initially planned for his next picture to be an intimate romantic musical shot on a low budget in Las Vegas. Three years later, One from the Heart had mushroomed into a big-budget spectacular, shot on

The Dandy Warhols Are Sound The Dandy Warhols Are Sound
The Dandy Warhols opened their 2003 album, Welcome to the Monkey House, with a brief, snide dig at record industry greed and illogic that ran, in part: “When Michael Jackson dies, we’re covering ‘Blackbird.'” The line was obviously intended as a flip refe