Music on TV - Week of 10.31.11: Childish Gambino, Air Supply

Actor/Comedian Donald Glover makes network tv debut as rap alter ego Childish Gambino on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday.

It's a remarkably light week for the first week of November, but there are a couple interesting late night goodies nonetheless. Talented writer/actor/comedian Donald Glover is on his way to adding another slash to his title slashfest, that of rapper. While Camp (coming November 15), is technically Glover's sixth full length release under the moniker Childish Gambino -- a name taken from an Insane Clown Posse name generator -- it's his first on a label (and the first with a price tag), so it's sort of a debut. Speaking of debuts, Glover makes his network TV debut for music on Fallon on Friday night.

Also on Fallon this week is the oft-maligned Air Supply. performing one of their classics on Thursday night. As time goes by, there always seems to be a revisionist look at pop music that was once hated. Whether it's an honest reassessment, nostalgia, or simply meant to be ironic, Air Supply seems to be relevant again. So we get Dean singing along to "All Out of Love" in the most recent episode of Supernatural while the Ausies are playing to their biggest crowds since the early 80s.

Meanwhile, Conan O'Brien returns to New York, broadcasting Conan from there for the four nights this week. For the week, Conan welcomes Jimmy Fallon, Reggie Watts, Paul Simon and Louis C.K.

Picks for the week
Monday, October 31
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Megadeth
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Puscifer
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Amanda Palmer
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Good Guys in Black
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Lloyd
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Lindsey Buckingham
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Thievery Corporation (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Reggie Watts
Tuesday, November 1
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Yo-Yo Ma
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Bleached
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Robyn
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Cold War Kids
TBS: Conan: Cobra Starship with Sabi
Wednesday, November 2
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Guards
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Dave Stewart
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Manchester Orchestra
OWN: The Rosie Show: Styx
TBS: Conan: Paul Simon
Thursday, November 3
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Good Guys in Black
NBC: The Today Show: Ace Frehley
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Air Supply
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Jane-'s
TBS: Conan: Louis CK
Friday, November 4
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Wavves
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Mute Math
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Childish Gambino
Saturday, November 5
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show:
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Maroon 5
PBS: Austin City Limits: Miranda Lambert, Jeff Bridges

Chuck vs Zoom: Rich Man, Poor Man

Hard to believe that was Mark Hamill (pictured above as baddie Jean Claude -- credit NBC).

Chuck is back for it's fifth and final season, and considering how we left things at the end of last season, there's a lot to adapt to. Let's see... Chuck has lost the intersect (again), is married to Sarah and is now rich thanks to the Volkoff fortune. The team was booted from the CIA and is now working freelance. And Morgan is the intersect. It's that last one that had all kinds of promise leading up into the season. The writers had pretty much run out of ideas in keeping the intersect interesting with Chuck's flashes, so now we have someone learning it all over again, this time as a 'zoom.' Initially, the only real change we saw in regards to 'flash' vs 'zoom' was that they had to bring in a different stunt double -- one who got an distracting amount of camera time.

(credit NBC)

While we didn't get to see much of Chuck's cash flush life, I'm glad that he's back to being poor, as not only does it finally bring relevance back to the Buy More (as a necessary profit center to support the team), but it also keeps our Chuck in the 99% -- as much as that might pain Casey (and, similarly, Adam Baldwin).

As much as things have changed, they've pretty much stayed the same as far as the music goes. Teddybears and New Young Pony Club have been staples in the past and pretty much anchor the episode. I'm not sure how much I'll write about this season. I'm in it to the end and I'll post now and then when something's interesting, so maybe we'll see you next week (maybe not).

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 5.01"
1. "Devil's Music (Feat. ADL)" - Teddybears (Morgan attempts to rescue the team)
2. "Ice Cream" - New Young Pony Club (Sarah surprises Chuck in lingerie as an interrogation technique)
3. "Take My Hand and Lead Me Home" - Simian Ghost (Sarah describes her dream house)
4. "Pucho's Descarga" - Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers (Chuck in the van during a mission)
5. "He Regresado" - En La Palma Orchestra (Morgan dances with Sarah)
6. "The Honest Truth" - Typhoon (Chuck makes his escape)

Previously: "Chuck vs the Cliffhanger" (Episode 4.24)

Now Downloading: New Releases - 10.25.11: Tom Waits, Deer Tick

Next week will mark the seventh anniversary of this blog, so it's fitting that Tom Waits is releasing his first proper full length our time span. We can only hope the blog has aged as well as the 61-year old Waits in that time. Elsewhere, there are new releases from Deer Tick, Justice, Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Comet Gain, Dirty Projectors + Bjork, Peggy Sue, Gary Numan, Kathryn Calder, The Bevis Frond, Brian Wilson, The Devil Makes Three, The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition and a Christmas album from She & Him.


Playlist: New Releases 10.25.11

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Tom Waits - Bad as Me
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

It's been seven long years since we last had a proper full length from Tom Waits, and it feels as though we've had a full circle of frustration since 2004's Real Gone, and while Waits is rarely overt about his political frustrations in his songs, the Occupy Wall Street protests feels in concert with another Waits album. It's the whistling by the graveyard, nothing but lint in the pockets, junkyard hustling bag of bones sound of the unemployed, and Waits owns it. Bad as Me is the carnival barker at his best, that is to say, much like he has been since 1983's Swordfishtrombones, when Waits set the template for most of what has followed in his catalog. So if there's a critique to be had here, it's that perhaps that since Waits tread much of the same ground, it's probably necessary that there are these gaps between albums, for even though the 61-year old Waits' has never been sharper, one would assume you can only find salvageable treasures in the junkyard so many times. What we have here is priceless, though, so let's enjoy it before Waits disappears for another 6-7 years digging up more.

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Deer Tick - Divine Providence
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Singer/songwriter John McCauley has always threatened to release an album like this, as witnessed by his Nirvana cover sets under the moniker Deervana, and initially, Divine Providence feels like it delivers. But this Deer Tick release is kind of like that friend you sometimes go drinking with and initially wonder why you don't hang out more, only to remember as the evening goes on, that this is no friend, but more an agent of chaos, driven to drink and pull everyone into his need to prove his cool by "fucking things up." Inevitably there are regrets long before blacking out, and when morning is punching you in the face, make sure to write it down like a sticky note in Memento -- don't get sucked up again by this "fucking douchebag."

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Justice - Audio Video Disco
Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics EP / Free AOL Album Stream
Phantogram - Nightlife EP / "Don't Move" [mp3]
Comet Gain - Howl Of The Lonely Crowd
Dirty Projectors + Bjork - Mount Wittenberg Orca
Peggy Sue - Acrobats / Free AOL Album Stream / "Cut My Teeth" [mp3]
She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas
Gary Numan - Dead Son Rising
Kathryn Calder - Bright and Vivid
The Bevis Frond - The Leaving Of London
Brian Wilson - In the Key of Disney / "You've Got a Friend"
The Devil Makes Three - Stomp and Bash / Free AOL Album Stream
The Juan Maclean - Everybody Get Close
The Beets - Let the Poison Out
Gringo Star - Count Yer Lucky Stars / Free AOL Album Stream
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger / Free AOL Album Stream
The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition
Like Crazy - Music From the Motion Picture
Strange Boys - Live Music / "Me and You" [mp3]
A Classic Education - Call it Blazing
Skinny Puppy - hanDover / Free AOL Album Stream
Paul Simon - Songwriter

Box Set
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning / The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960

Reissues
Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony (2011 Remaster)
Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones (2011 Remaster)
Paul Simon - Graceland (2011 Remaster)
Paul Simon - The Rhythm of the Saints (2011 Remaster)
Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities (Deluxe) / Free AOL Album Stream / "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan" [mp3]

tags: music, album review, tom waits, deer tick, indie rock, new releases

City Arts Fest 2011 - The Long Winters, Pickwick, Sons of Warren Oates

John Roderick of The Long Winters at the Showbox, October 20, part of City Arts Fest 2011

My recap and photos from my limp around City Arts Fest 2011 are up over at Bumpershine right now.

Highlight was easily the set from The Long Winters. Having John Roderick backed by high school students (Seattle's School of Rock) might be the best indie rock idea since the 4-track. Other performances captured include Pickwick, Campfire OK, Cobirds Unite and a transcendent set from Sons of Warren Oates.

Guided By Voices are back with "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" (Free Download)

The 'classic' Guided by Voices lineup recently reunited, spreading smiles and intoxication by touring across this great land of ours. They're releasing Let's Go Eat the Factory on January 1, 2012, the GBV's first since 2004, and first with this lineup since 1996.

It's been far too long since we heard the phrase "new Guided by Voices song," so it's awfully sweet to report that the lead single, "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" is available for download from Matador. Pre-order the 7" here, featuring the b-side "We Won't Apologize for the Human Race."

Download: "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" [mp3] (via Matador)

Best news out of this is that the recording of Let's Go Eat the Factory went so well that the lineup is already well into a follow up, to be released late 2012, providing stylish book ends for the last year of the Mayan calendar.

Music on TV - Week of 10.25.11: U2, Beirut, Allen Stone

"First you saddle me with electric drums loops and now this?" U2 RockDoc From the Sky Down premieres on Showtime, Saturday, October 29

Is 2011 the year of the rock documentary? Well, maybe it's just (R)October as three out of the last four weeks of this month have been highlighted by rock documentaries (Living in the Material World -- Scorsese's take on George Harrison, and Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam Twenty). This week is marked by the Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) directed documentary From the Sky Down, which looks at U2's recording of Achtung Baby (1991) and premieres on Showtime, this Saturday night.

To commemorate the 20 year anniversary of the band's sort of rebirth, (and to coincide with their massive reissue undertaking -- pictured right, out November 1) U2 handed over a plethora of footage from the time of the recording Achtung Baby to the Oscar winning director and gave him six months to make the movie he wanted to make. The result is a fascinating look at a band trying to reinvent themselves while holed up in Berlin. Bono describes the album as “the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree," as the group was trying to distance themselves from the earnestness of their previous two endeavors, The Joshua Tree and (especially) the American roots vanity project Rattle & Hum.

Elsewhere, blue-eyed soul purveyor Allen Stone makes his national television debut on Conan Wednesday, and if his multiple sets at this past weekend's City Arts Fest in Seattle are any indication, he'll be blowing the doors off the place (with, I suspect, an electrifying version of "Unaware"). The Chewelah, WA native has been getting major buzz in the past year, and his self-titled sophomore release is a full realization of the promise of his self-released debut, Last to Speak. Stone is still without a label, but after he blows away Conan, a bidding war is bound to be in full swing.

Finally, Zach Condon's Beirut makes it out to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday night, in support of his latest stellar release, The Rip Tide (reviewed here).

Picks for the week
Monday, October 24
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Primus
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Jane's Addiction
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Amos Lee
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Death Set
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Chris Isaak
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Beirut
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Wye Oak (REPEAT)
Tuesday, October 25
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Strange Boys
NBC: The Today Show: Kelly Clarkson, 50 Cent
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Yo Yo Ma
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Blitzen Trapper
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Airborne Toxic Event, Action Bronson
Wednesday, October 26
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Frank Turner
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Civil Wars
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Waters
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Cyndi Lauper
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Mona
TBS: Conan: Allen Stone
Thursday, October 27
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Fray
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Foster the People
FUEL: The Daily Habit: AWOLNATION
NBC: The Today Show: Kelly Clarkson
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Original 7ven
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Delta Spirit, Cee Lo Green
Friday, October 28
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Head & the Heart
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Duran Duran
FUEL: The Daily Habit: AWOLNATION
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Anamanaguchi, Goldheart Assembly
Saturday, October 29
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Noah and the Whale
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Foster the People (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: Steve Miller Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band
SHOWTIME: From the Sky Down: U2

Halloween on Classic TV: Fat Albert, Addams Family

It's the season for Halloween specials, and one Reddit.com contributor (Roller_ball) saw fit to track down and list every Netflix streaming available episode of television that was Halloween-centric.

First one we're crossing off our list here is Fat Albert's Halloween Special, from 1977. The gang are scared of the scary old widow down the street, with the episode's very special message being summed up as: "Hey hey hey, old people are actually OK."

Then it's Addams Family: "Halloween With the Addams Family", which has the interesting premise of rest of the world, if for only one day a year, swerving into family Addams' normalcy.
And, it's on Hulu:

Heineken City Arts Festival 2011 - Preview

Male Bonding play Chop Suey, October 22 w/ Unnatural Helpers, Virgin Islands and Fucking Eagles

The 2nd Annual Heineken City Arts Festival kicks off Thursday night, featuring headlining sets from Robyn, Crystal Castles, The Long Winters, The Felice Brothers and Allen Stone. I'm hobbled a bit, recovering from a torn calf muscle, so I'll be picking one venue and sticking with it, as the distance between venues is more than my limp and I are comfortable with. Since Allen Stone appears to be off limits and Crystal Castles has some overly constrictive photo requirements the winner tonight is The Long Winters (joined by the School of Rock, scroll down for video of rehearsal for event) at the Showbox, with Campfire OK and Cobirds Unite (all bands I've shot previously, which is unfortunate, but love all the same).

Friday night features headline performances from Ryan Adams, Built to Spill, Shabbaz Palaces, Fences and Pickwick. I'm even further constricted this night by another previous engagement (living room show with SF's Roem Baur), but I hope to test out the leg walking between Built to Spill at the Moore, Pickwick at the Crocodile and Sons of Warren Oats at the Rendezvous.

Saturday features my favorite lineup at a venue for the whole event, with one of my current favorite bands in the world Male Bonding playing at Chop Suey with my favorite underrated local band opening, in Virgin Islands. After VI's much talked about performance at Occupy Seattle this past Sunday, perhaps more know about this act, but I bet it's still nowhere near enough. The other bands on the bill are nothing to sneeze at either -- Unnatural Helpers (!) and the Fucking Eagles.

Other highlights from Saturday are The Hold Steady, Mudhoney, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Man Man, Ozomatli... but you know what? I'm going to stop right there, because I CAN'T ATTEND ANYTHING SATURDAY NIGHT! My wife unit is working a great fundraising event all night, so I'll be at home with my kids for the duration (unless someone finds me a babysitter whose both available and CHEAP).

Here's a good preview of Thursday's Long Winters set, with Seattle's School of Rock lending a hand.

The Long Winters & School of Rock from Adam Pranica on Vimeo.

Luther - Miniseries 2, Episode 4: But I do know ka-razy

The BBC America conflicted cop series Luther just concluded its second min-season run with an episode that had its protagonist go to some pretty psychotic extremes to end a stand-off with a serial killer identical twin. Idris Elba acts the hell out of this to make it work better than it sounds... somebody just go ahead and make him the new James Bond.

And what better to back batsh*t crazy events like this than the lunatic stalker love song ("Palaces of Montezuma") that Nick Cave performs with his rock outfit, Grinderman.

"Oh c'mon baby, let's get out of the cold / And gimme gimme gimme your precious love for me to hold." Ice cream cones taste so good with gasoline.

Luther - Miniseries 2, Episode 4
"Palaces of Montezuma" - Grinderman

Now Downloading: New Releases 10.18.11 - M83, Real Estate

It's the interesting time of the year, where quality late season new releases (latest from M83 and Real Estate) begin to jut up against early holiday box sets (The Smiths' Complete). It all fits the change of seasons, as the sun begins to give way to grey, new growth bumping shoulders with the repackaging of decay. Other new releases of note this week include ones from My Brightest Diamond, Kimya Dawson, Rob Crow, Body Language, Class Actress, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Pujol, The Mommyheads, Bleeding Knees Club, Shelby Lynne and (speaking of decay) the return of Jane's Addiction.

Playlist: New Releases 10.18.11

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M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Five albums into Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez's remarkable career as M83, it's apparent that the talented artist has an amazing relationship with his inner child. While past releases (especially 2008's homage to John Hughes movies, Saturdays = Youth) have harvested bits and pieces of the past, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is both a full retrospective of Gonzalez's growing up in the 80s and of previous M83 albums. It's the kind of album that wouldn't have worked, say, five years ago, because we weren't quite ready for this epic retread of that time. But, if 2011 has taught us anything, it's that art can be made of that decade's cheesier moments. Between Destroyer's Kaputt, the soundtrack to the beautifully odd film Drive and M83's latest, 2011 has truly been a year for artistic synth-driven nostalgia (and a return of the sax solo!).

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is an expansive 22 tracks, which has the editor in me looking instantly for places to trim. But Gonzalez's vision for the album is so obviously strong, you'd be hard pressed to push any tracks aside. Like all his releases, it's cinematic in nature, and while there is no obvious plot at work here (other than a general feeling of childhood), a narrative of mood emerges upon multiple listens, one so strong it feels sacrilegious to mess with. For much of the album, Gonzalez has removed some of the shoe gazey effects off his vocals, laying expressive yelps more bare -- see him reaching his vocal range's extreme's on "Reunion" and the Peter Gabriel-like "Claudia Lewis." Other obvious tracks that jump out as highlights include the first single, "Midnight City," "New Map" and "Steve McQueen."

Album Stream via Urban Outfitters

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Real Estate - Days
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

While New Jersey's Real Estate have no lofty aspirations in their sound, their sophomore release, Days, is one of the more cohesive albums to come out this year. Songs flowing in and out of each other, like the subtle change of season many enjoy this time of year. It's fitting then that Days is released this week, as the sunny and 64 day can attest, by nightfall, "winter is coming" -- as Martin Courtney informs us on album highlight "Green Aisles." Autumnal suggests many things, from sun turning to grey days to the melancholy of slow decay, and this fits the pop sound of Days like an old snug sweater. If there's any rub to the release, it's that the songs can often feel interchangeable, but that's also one of Days many charms.

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
My Brightest Diamond - All Things Will Unwind / "Reaching Through to the Other Side" [mp3]
Kimya Dawson - Thunder Thighs / "Driving Driving Driving" [mp3]
Rob Crow - He Thinks He's People / Free AOL Album Stream / "Pat's Crab", "Sophistructure" [mp3]
Body Language - Social Studies (Deluxe Edition) / Free AOL Album Stream
Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
Class Actress - Rapprocher / Free AOL Album Stream / "Weekend" [mp3]
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Tape Club
Pujol - Nasty, Brutish and Short
The Mommyheads - Delicate Friction / "Another Crowded House," "Hello Friends" [mp3]
Bleeding Knees Club - Virginity EP / Free AOL Album Stream
Shelby Lynne - Revelation Road
Jonti - Twirligig
Pree - Folly / Free AOL Album Stream
Radio Moscow - The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz
Forest Fire - Staring at the X / Free AOL Album Stream / "Future Shadows" [mp3]

BOX SET
The Smiths - Complete
Supreme Dicks - Breathing and not Breathing

tags: music, album review, m83, real estate, indie rock, new releases

Rush Release 15 Albums in three Sectors

And the holiday season of box sets is officially upon us...

On November 21, Canada's favorite prog rock power trio is releasing their entire 15 albums from the Mercury years (1974-1988) in three box sets entitled Sectors (because calling it "Subdivisions" would be too on the nose?). Each CD comes with a special booklet with lyrics and photos from the period, and one album in each box gets an additional 5.1 stereo sound DVD.

Sector 1: Rush (1974), Fly By Night (1975), Caress of Steel (1975), 2112 (1976), All the World's a Stage (1976), Fly by Night (DVD)

Sector 2: A Farewell to Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981), Exit...Stage Left (1981), A Farewell to Kings (DVD)

Sector 3: Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Power Windows (1985), Hold Your Fire (1987), A Show of Hands (1988), Signals (DVD)

This is the collection every basement / garage / lonely apartment needs. But if you haven't yet found that special lady in your life, best stay away far away from these.

Music on TV - Week of 10.17.11: Pearl Jam 20, Mayer Hawthorne

The Cameron Crowe directed Pearl Jam Twenty makes TV debut on PBS Friday, October 21. (Vinyl Films)

Pearl Jam on American Masters? It boggles my 1991 mind to hear that, but the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary on the Seattle band is making a pre-DVD debut on television as part of PBS' illustrious series (airing this Friday -- check local listings for time). Culling from over 1200 hours of rarely seen footage, plenty of concert shots and a days worth of recent artists interviews, Crowe has put together a meticulous document that any fan -- and most non-fans as well -- to be pleased with.

Far from being a Pearl Jam superfan, I nonetheless feel a connection to the band, having seen them as Mookie Blaylock at a freezing Moore Theater back in December of 1990 -- where Soundgarden members joined the festivities performing Temple of the Dog numbers before Alice in Chains came on as the "Toys for Tots" headliner (scroll down below to see a clip of Chris Cornell relaying Temple of the Dog memories.) I was also in attendance for the taping of their "Alive" music video. And later, while wandering around the first Lollapallooza in 1991, I ran into Eddie Vedder and informed him "you're gonna be part of this lineup next year." He guffawed and gave his best "awe shucks," but there was recognition (ever so slight) that this was going to happen. Rest = history.

Watch Chris Cornell on Temple of the Dog on PBS. See more from American Masters.

As an added bonus, those tuning in via Seattle's KCTS will get a 13 minute mini-documentary on the burgeoning current Northwest music scene, called Something in the Water. The min-Rock Doc features bits of performances from Shabbaz Palaces, Pickwick, The Head and the Heart, Macklemore and the Total Experience Gospel Choir. (You can watch it online here.)

Meanwhile, blue-eyed soul purveyor Mayer Hawthorne is back with his sophomore release, How Do You Do?, which builds on the his debut, realizing a lot of Hawthorne's potential. Besides the Hawthorne's bread and butter neo-soul, there's added styles thrown in organically here, woven together to give the DJ's unique sound. Hawthorne brings his fancy suit to Conan on Monday.

Picks for the week
Monday, October 17
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sia (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: John Doe (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Cobra Starship featuring Sabi (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Foo Fighters featuring Roger Waters (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Cliff Martinez, Kylesa (REPEAT)
OWN: The Rosie Show: Boyz II Men
TBS: Conan: Mayer Hawthorne
Tuesday, October 18
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kelly Rowland (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Fleet Foxes (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: LMFAO (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Pearl Jam (REPEAT)
Wednesday, October 19
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pitbull (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Wilco (REPEAT)
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Coldplay
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Horror (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Blondie (REPEAT)
Thursday, October 20
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Mute Math (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Mastodon (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Tony Bennett (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: J. Cole, Frightened Rabbit (REPEAT)
Friday, October 21
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Glen Campbell (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Elbow (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Fools Gold, Roll the Tanks (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Arctic Monkeys (REPEAT)
PBS: Pearl Jam Twenty: Pearl Jam
Saturday, October 22
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Aloe Blacc
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Radiohead (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: The Decemberists, Gillian Welch

Now Downloading: New Releases 10.11.11 - Crooked Fingers, Ryan Adams

Sketch of Crooked Fingers' Eric Bachman by Greg Betza, used in the Breaks in the Armor cover.

There's still not the cornucopia of releases like a couple weeks past, but with a few high profile releases, it's not a bad week to have ears. The latest from both Crooked Fingers and Ryan Adams have in common a stepping away from their craft (for very different reasons) and coming back strong with releases that harken back to their debuts from the early part of this century. Elsewhere, there's the latest from Bjork, Swell Season's Marketa Irglova, Andrew Bird doing a soundtrack, Mayer Hawthorne, Joe Henry, The Rifles, Peter Gabriel, a split single with Deerhoof, and Jeff Tweedy's sons The Raccoonists. Other releases of note include William Shatner, Future Islands, Erasure, Casiokids and more.

Playlist: New Releases 10.11.11

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Crooked Fingers - Breaks in the Armor
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Back in August of 2009, it looked to most that Crooked Fingers might be done and that the long awaited Archers of Loaf reunion had little chance of ever happening. At that time, frontman Eric Bachmann, had lost the urge to make music and left for Thailand to teach English. While the new career seems to have been an utter failure, from the depths of his despair Bachmann did some soul searching (and a lot of drinking) in Taipei, and the result of that is the sixth long-player for Crooked Fingers, Breaks in the Armor -- marking a return to the booze-soaked first couple releases (Crooked Fingers, Bring on the Snakes). While BitA doesn't quite equal the highs of those earlier releases, there's something about Bachmann lyrically looking back to his younger days. The songs on this album were written before the Archers of Loaf reunion, and it might have been the therapeutic look back that helped bring Bachmann around to reuniting his old band, making BitA an important release.

Album Stream via Spin
Free Download: "Typhoon" [mp3]

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Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Having released some 14 albums in 11 years, it was understandable for Ryan Adams to want to take a bit of time to himself. In 2009, the prolific singer got married (to actress/singer Mandy Moore) and contracted Ménièr's Disease, which, among other things, cripples the ear like tinnitus. During his hiatus, Adams managed to release several albums of songs already recorded, so hardly anyone noticed he was gone. Turns out, time off with the new old lady and recovering from a messed up ear are good inspiration for songwriting. Ashes and Fire returns Adams to his Heartbreaker days, for the most part. While it's not exactly a Hearbreaker II -- as many seem to want to call it -- it is certainly the closest Adams has come to it. The album is flanked by two songs that are of the best Adams ever written: Opener "Dry Rain" and closing number "I Love You But I Don’t Know What to Say." In between, though, it's hard not to lose track of which somber tune is which, as their is a kind of monotone feel to it. It can make you downright sleepy, but hang with it and the nuance of the melancholy ballads will give you several shades of blue to work with.

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Bjork - Biophilia
Marketa Irglova - Anar
Andrew Bird - Norman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Free AOL Album Stream
Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do
Joe Henry - Reverie
The Rifles - Freedom Run
Peter Gabriel - New Blood
Deerhoof / The Raccoonists - Behold a Raccoon in the Darkness
Future Islands - On the Water / Free AOL Album Stream / "Balance" [mp3]
Erasure - Tomorrow's World / Free AOL Album Stream
Casiokids - Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen / Free AOL Album Stream
William Shatner - Seeking Major Tom
TW Walsh - Songs of Pain and Leisure / "Make It Rhyme" [mp3]
Johnny Cash - Bootleg 3: Live Around the World / Free AOL Album Stream
John Wesley Harding - The Sound Of His Own Voice
I Am the Avalance - Beauty Queen Sister
Matthew Herbert - Beauty Queen Sister / Free AOL Album StreamElectric Six - Heartbeats and Brainwaves
Jeffrey Lewis - A Turn In The Dream-Songs / "Cult Boyfriend" [mp3]
Ben Lee - Deeper Into Dream / Free AOL Album Stream
Rocket From the Tombs - Barfly / Free AOL Album Stream

tags: music, album review, ryan adams, crooked fingers, indie rock, new releases

Music on TV - Week of 10.10.11: Ryan Adams, Chavez, The Moody Blues

Ryan Adams performs on Conan on Monday, October 10.

This week marks the return of the prolific alt-country star Ryan Adams to the idiot box. Having released some 14 albums since the turn of the century, it's strange to think that Adams is actually returning from a bit time off. Between his marriage to Mandy Moore and the trying onset of Ménière's disease, Adams ended his relationship with the Cardinals and stopped performing live for nearly 18 months -- a period of time that must have seemed like a lifetime to a songwriting machine like Adams.

Since one of Ménière's disease's symptoms is ear crippling tinnitus, it's no surprise that Adams return to solo material is largely made up of ballads. That's always been in Adams wheelhouse, though, so the quietly constructed Ashes and Fire (For a limited time, listen to the a stream of the album via NPR) might be his most focused solo effort since he first broke away from Whiskeytown with the now classic Heartbreaker (2000).
Adams performs on Conan Monday, October 10.

Elsewhere, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has a couple very different reunions on tap: Chavez and The Moody Blues. 90s noise rockers Chavez had reunited to play at Matador Records anniversary music festival in Vegas (Matador 21) late last year, but it was going to be a one off kind of thing, that is until they got tapped to play this year's All Tomorrow's Parties in Asbury Park, New Jersey. There was no way Jersey born singer/guitarist Matt Sweeney (Guided By Voices, Zwan, Superwolf, Neil Diamond) was going to pass up a chance to play in his old haunts. The band helped open the festival with a spirited 49 minute set, which in turn got them an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, playing Wednesday night. This will be their biggest TV appearance since a certain Beavis and Butthead episode that featured the awesomeness that is the "Break Up Your Band" video:


Meanwhile, The Moody Blues stop by Fallon the next night (Thursday), fresh off their North American tour. The core trio of Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge have been together now for 45 years, helping sew the seeds of prog-rock with their breakout album, Days Of Future Passed, which featured the now classic "Knights in White Satin." The band has no qualms with relying on their oldies to get by, so we should expect some "White Satin" when it airs.

Picks for the week
Monday, October 10
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Two Door Cinema Club
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Amos Lee
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Yo Gabba Gabba
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Atmosphere (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Ryan Adams
Tuesday, October 11
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Peter Bjorn & John
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Dropkick Murphys
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Imelda May
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Ra Ra Riot
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Joy Formidable
TBS: Conan: Merle Haggard
Wednesday, October 12
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Chris Cornell
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Deer Tick
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Cake
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Black Tide
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Fountains of Wayne
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Chavez
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Portugal. The Man
Thursday, October 13
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Evanescence
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Pepper
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Gloria Estefan
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Moody Blues
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Kills, Justin Townes Earle
TBS: Conan: Dropkick Murphys
Friday, October 14
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Beirut
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Dropkick Murphys
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Game
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Foster the People
Saturday, October 15
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Hugh Laurie
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Drake
PBS: Austin City Limits: Widespread Panic

Now Downloading: New Releases 10.03.11 - Feist

After last week's bountiful harvest, this week looks downright paltry in comparison. The obvious pull here is Feist's third solo release, but don't over look new releases from Colin Stetson, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Zola Jesus, Loney Dear, s.c.u.m., Prince Rama, DJ Shadow, the return of Misfits, along with another idiosyncratic EP from James Blake (available for download only right now), and a compilation of artists (led by Bob Dylan) paying tribute to Hank Williams with interpretations of some notebook entries never before put to music.

Playlist: New Releases 10.03.11

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Feist - Metals
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

One of the things that Feist has always been able to do is to take a somewhat moody sentiment and make it sound a bit chipper, while still keeping a big toe with the indie cred built upon her Broken Social Scene beginnings. With Metals, much of what made Sesame Street come a calling is gone, and mood wins out. Feist is still balancing her sound here, but instead making the painful more palatable in the mood of the song, it's the rich production that does the heavy lifting in balancing out the recent VH1 crossover fans with her indie sensibilities. While our ears are clear winners in the battle (Metals is majestic in its beauty), on the whole it feels like neither side is fully served. You'd be hard pressed to find a radio hit here and, likewise, any artsy weirdness that would make early BSS fans moan in indie ecstasy.

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
James Blake - Enough Thunder / Album Stream vis Spotify
Colin Stetson - Those Who Didn't Run
Zola Jesus - Conatus
We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomachs
Loney Dear - Hall Music / "My Heart" [mp3]
s.c.u.m. - Again Into Eyes / Free AOL Album Stream
Prince Rama - Trust Now
DJ Shadow - The Less You Know, The Better
Talkdenomic - Ruins / Free AOL Album Stream / "Revival" [mp3]
The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
Masters of the Hemisphere - Maybe These are the Breaks
Charalambibes - Exile
Modeselektor - Monkeytown
Misfits - Devil's Rain / Free AOL Album Stream
Merle Haggard - Working in Tennessee
Indigo Girls - Beauty Queen Sister / Free AOL Album Stream

REISSUES
The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

tags: music, album review, feist, indie rock, new releases