The Days of Lore

The Thermals: O Canada!

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 | musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

The Thermals released a new song today in honor (or should I say, honour) of the winter Olympic games being held in Vancouver. “Canada” is available for download at iTunes, or you can cop yourself a free listen right here.

The song is true Thermals—catchy, raucous, fun, and it’s nice to finally hear drummer Westin Glass on a recording. Is it just me, or do the “Whoa whooooa whoas” throughout the song sound ready-made for a Pepsi commercial? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Tags: "Canada", The Thermals

Spoon me ni esrever

Monday, February 8th, 2010 | musiX | No Comments

It’s funny, I used to lump Spoon in with bands like the Gin Blossoms … I don’t think anyone wants to be lumped in with the Gin Blossoms. My apologies, Mr. Daniel.

I put Britt Daniel more in the Jeff Tweedy school of making music that is beautiful and sometimes a little weird and cranky. Take the first single off the band’s latest Transference. “Written In Reverse” is sweet and spastic, and the video is in black and white and features a large mirror. And you know what? .smossolB niG eht ekil gnihton sdnuos tI

Tags: "Written In Reverse", Spoon, Transference, video

Drive-By Truckers keep on truckin’

Friday, February 5th, 2010 | musiX | 2 Comments

The Drive-By Truckers are rock ‘n’ roll. Lead Trucker Patterson Hood dredges up tales of love, life on the road and life in the South—it’s pure, gritty and, of course, it ain’t always pretty.

It’s been a long road for the Athens sextet, perhaps evidenced by the fact that there are more former members than there are actual members. But Hood and co-founder Mike Cooley have kept their rock machine rolling, quite prolifically I might add, steadily releasing albums and always touring.

The Truckers’ 10th record—The Big To-Do—is out March 16 on Dave Matthews’ ATO imprint (don’t hold it against them, please). From what I’ve heard so far there’s more rock, a little less twang, and still unapologetically honest. It sometimes feels as if DBT are from another time, when booze was considered a breakfast item and you knew what time it was by how many cigarettes were left in your pack.

The first single off of The Big To-Do—”This Fucking Job”—has been kicking around for a while now, and the band just made another new track “Birthday Boy” available for free download on their Web site. It’s another big-guitar rock song that will sound right at home in a beer-soaked bar or a cozy theater … like, say, in Portland.

“Birthday Boy” - Drive-By Truckers

“This Fucking Job” - Drive-By Truckers

Tags: ATO Records, Drive-By Truckers, Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, The Big To-Do

MoHips go Daytrotting

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Last year The Mother Hips quietly released Pacific Dust, a record that continues the band’s knack for seamlessly blending country, ’60s pop and pure rock ‘n’ roll. Goddamn right it made the TDoL Best Of Twenty-Oh-Nine list.

The Hips are on tour and recently made a stop at Daytrotter to record some raw and rambunctious versions of a few tunes off Pacific Dust and Kiss the Crystal Flake as well as a cover of Gene Clark’s “Kansas City Southern.” You can download all four songs here.

The band will hit SXSW in March before returning to Portland on April 16 at the Doug Fir. And yes … you’re goddamn right TDoL will be there.

Tags: Daytrotter, Kiss the Crystal Flake, Pacific Dust, The Mother Hips

ODB and Sir Paul: A Love Story

Monday, February 1st, 2010 | musiX | 3 Comments

I was never very keen on Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album. A couple of listens and I was done. I give credit to the process of creating it, and there were some interesting parts—but overall it sounded pretty ham-fisted, and ultimately received more attention (lots from Entertainment Weekly … ’nuff said) for the novelty than the actual art.

Six years later and the Fab Four are mingling with another New York crew—the Wu-Tang Clan. This time it’s not a DJ bringing these two institutions together, but a 28-year-old music teacher from Brighton, England. And rather than sticking with one specific album from each as the source material, Tom Caruana used the artists’ entire catalogs. And I must say what I’ve heard is much more interesting than Danger Mouse’s take. Add the fact that Wu-Tang is far more interesting to listen to than Jay-Z.

Caruana posted Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers on his Web site in early January as a free download. And with it, of course, comes his whirlwind 15 minutes of fame. Caruana recently told the New York Times that it’s been downloaded close to 30,000 times, and even got the proverbial Wu-Tang hand sign from Chef Raekwon.

My favorite of the bunch is Caruana’s reworking of ODB’s “Got Your Money,” with a little help from Sir Paul and “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Now I love the Beatles, but how about mashing up some Stones? Maybe with The Roots? How about Elton John and Eminem … wait. Have a better idea? Post it in the comments section. And download the entire album here free.

“Got Your Money” - Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles

Tags: Danger Mouse, Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers, the Beatles, The Grey Album, Tom Caruana, Wu-Tang Clan, Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles

Black Friday: Black Tambourine?!

Friday, January 29th, 2010 | musiX | No Comments

Black Tambourine is about the furthest thing from metal you can get. But they get the nod for Black Friday today … because I don’t feel like writing about the latest Haemorrhage record.

Slumberland Records has been churning out precious indie pop records for two decades now. What can I say? I’ve become quite smitten over the past few years. Long before The Pains of Being Pure at Hearts and the Crystal Stilts there was Black Tambourine. The D.C. four-piece formed in 1989, releasing a couple of 7-inches for Slumberland (the first for the label in the early-’90s) and playing only a handful of shows … basically around long enough to secure cult-status.

I didn’t listen to the band way back when … too busy taking in the new Helmet and Soundgarden records. But the words Black Tambourine can be found on many modern-day indie bands’ lists of influences. Deservedly so. The band found that irresistible balance between too-precious twee and noise-filled post-punk. It’s a template that’s been aped a million times since.

Slumberland is gearing up to release a new compilation simply titled Black Tambourine on March 30. Unlike 1999’s Complete Recordings package, the new record will include six unreleased track as well as four newly-recorded songs including covers of Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” and Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say there will be a handful of reunion shows that coincide with the release. I could be wrong, but I’m feeling very Nostradamus today.

“For Ex-Lovers Only” - Black Tambourine

Tags: Black Tambourine, Crystal Stilts, Slumberland Records, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

There are many hiatus

Monday, January 25th, 2010 | musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

Talk about a hiatus.

TDoL—the blog that never sleeps (except Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 a.m. to 6:15 a.m.)—has been away for a couple of weeks, traveling, learning to put chains on tires, and being just plain naughty. But mostly I’ve spent the time away recharging the batteries and contemplating the plural of hiatus. Hiatus? Hiatuses? Hiati?

Of course, there’s been a soundtrack to all of this fun: Surfer Blood (April 3 at the Doug Fir!), The Goodnight Loving, and more recently the new Spoon and Yeasayer records. And, of course, you’ll be reading about these bands right here (look for my interview with Milwaukee country five-piece The Goodnight Loving in the coming weeks) in addition to all of the usual nonsense.

Until then, here’s a song that’s near and dear to my heart, a song that needs no introduction, a song that sums up the past two weeks at The Days of Lore …

… I guess that would qualify as an introduction.

“Holiday Road” - Lindsey Buckingham

Tags: "Holiday Road", Lindsey Buckingham, Spoon, Surfer Blood, The Goodnight Loving, Yeasayer