THE GHOST OF ELECTRICITY

R.I.P. Chris Feinstein [Ryan Adams & the Cardinals bassist aka Spacewolf]

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:11:51 PST

I really don't know what to say. From all accounts, Chris was an amazing artist and will be sorely sorely missed. Details are still sketchy. Check in with Jambase for more info and links.

http://www.jambands.com/news/2009/12/16/ryan-adams-the-cardinals-bassist-chris-feinstein-passes-away

Happy Birthday, Spacewolf [Cardinals, live in Washington, DC, 2007]

Neutral Milk Hotel - LIVE - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA - Apr 12, 1998

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:10:35 PST

Since Merge Records was nice enough to uncover some vintage Neutral Milk Hotel video this week, I thought it would be fitting to dust off an old favorite of mine from the same time period.

I think it's safe to say that without Neutral Milk Hotel existing (albeit for a short time....), our musical world would be a different, less exciting place. Jeff Mangum and the Elephant 6 Collective left an indelible footprint on the ass of independent music. This performance is nothing short of an example of that footprint. If Natalie Portman were here, she would probably tell you... "they'll change your life, I swear"

Neutral Milk Hotel
April 12, 1998
Bottom of the Hill
San Francisco, CA

1. Sailing Through>Two Headed Boy Pt. 2
2. Holland 1945
3. Gardenhead>Leave Me Alone
4. Worms > King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3
5. Song Against Sex
6. Rubby Bulbs>Snow Song Pt. 1
7. Naomi
8. I Will Bury You in Time
9. Ghost>Untitled
10. Oh Comely
11. King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
12. Two Headed Boy

Download the whole set

from:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ygjzdzjyzzk

New Neutral Milk Hotel footage sees light of day

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:54:53 PST

Neutral Milk Hotel burned quick and bright. After making a few albums in the mid-Nineties, including the now-legendary In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Jeff Mangum and the band decided to walk away from it all. Well, what happens when you make an album like ITAOTS and then promptly drop off the face of the earth? People like me try and scavenge what we can of the material that's been left behind. This week, Merge Records made us all warm inside by unleashing a handful of videos of Jeff Mangum performing at the Knitting Factory in Philadelphia in early 1998. They are just too good NOT to post here. And if you so desire, Merge has released the videos to coincided with issuing Neutral Milk Hotel's albums on 180gm vinyl for the first time ever. Check them out.

Happy B-day to Pearl Jam's ridiculous 11/06/2000 Seattle Show

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:55:06 PST

"It's hard to have anything but a love/hate relationship with, like, ...rich people. I mean, compared to those guys, I've got a little bit of money, and even THAT just makes me HATE myself." - E.Vedder (end of "Alive")

Nine years ago, Pearl Jam decided to throw a big-old cog in the concert bootleggers gears by putting their concerts in the open hands of the masses. Every show the band performed in the summer and fall of 2000 (72 of them!) was released as quickly and economically as possible in record stores across the country, directly combating the illegal bootlegging trade that was costly to the hard-working consumer, often times made the band look and sound like complete shit. These rough and tumble, warts-and-all recordings were heralded as an innovation in the industry, and became highly sought after by fans of the band and collectors alike. The band released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the Billboard 200 at the same time. I can speak for myself when I say that these authorized bootlegs were responsible for reintroducing me to a band that I loved, but had drifted away from in the late nineties. Being in college at the time, I was absorbing every Grateful Dead, and every Phish related bootleg I could find. Seeing that PJ were diving into the bootleg scene provoked my interest, and to this day, I'm still listening. More than ever actually.

So let's set the scene. 2000. This year had seen them release their studio album, Binaural, described as a dark, slightly somber sonic departure from the "grunge" kings of earlier in the last decade. On tour, tragedy struck. The tour ended in tragedy on June 30, with an accident at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Nine fans were crushed underfoot and suffocated to death as the crowd rushed to the front. The band canceled the remaining European dates, and returned to the States, with the deaths weighing heavily on their conscience. After some thought, the band chose to continue with the North American tour. It's Nov. 6th, 2000 And Pearl Jam are wrapping up their world tour in their hometown of Seattle, Washington.

Pearl Jam
11/06/2000
Key Arena
Seattle, WA.

Official Bootleg #72

Source: Official Bootleg > EAC > WAV > FLAC

Disc 1
1. Release
2. Corduroy
3. Grievance
4. Rvm
5. Hail, Hail
6. Evacuation
7. Dissident
8. Nothing As It Seems
9. In Hiding
10. Leatherman
11. Betterman
12. Nothingman

Disc 2
1. Even Flow
2. Jeremy
3. Lukin
4. Not For You
5. Daughter/(Androgynous Mind)
6. Encore Break
7. Off He Goes
8. Light Years
9. Parting Ways
10. Go
11. Once

Disc 3
1. Crazy Mary
2. Immortality
3. Alive
4. Soon Forget
5. The Kids Are Alright
6. Baba O Riley
7. Yellow Ledbetter

Normally, I'd post the whole show, but since this is/was commercially available, I won't be able to. I'm sure it's out there, but I have too much respect for this release. I hope you don't mind! Thanks. Enjoy!

Brown Bird prepare album, release party, and a new promo video

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:55:58 PST

I've been writing often about the Providence-based band Brown Bird. From what we've seen and heard of them lately, David Lamb and company are going to drop a great album next week [The Devil Dancing, out 11/10 on Peapod Recordings]. From the tracks that they've made available to us, it's undeniable that the new album will be an event worth hearing. Any true music lover with a penchant for Sam Beam or Will Oldham will find a new respite in Brown Bird.

The Devil Dancing gets it's release party this Sunday in Providence RI, at Firehouse XIII. $7 gets you in. The Wrong Reasons and Alec K. Redfearn support.

The band has released a promo for the album, via Facebook, courtesy of [dog] + [pony]. Check it out.

Poised for a groundswell? Providence's Brown Bird prep new album [mp3]

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:01:43 PDT

A few things have gone well for David Lamb recently. His Providence-by-way-of-Maine-by-way-of-Seattle pet project Brown Bird seems to be hitting a lot of right notes of late. After releasing an impressive album last year (2008's The Bottom Of The Sea), Brown Bird have been playing and touring relentlessly and solidifying their sound, developing into a miniature orchestra of harmonized voices and instruments. In a music industry where americana music is groundswelling, Brown Bird might be poising themselves for a breakthrough. If timing and location have anything to do with it, then it appears that this might be a banner year for the group.

You see, 2009 has been a big year for Providence, RI. Fellow Providence-based band The Low Anthem came out of the ether with a smoky, gutteral and downright beautiful album that gained instant praise and worldwide attention. Add to that the success of John McCauley's Deer Tick, who scorched audiences across the country in 2009 with a fresh, aggressive bar-blues-and-whiskey sound and a monster new album. And in this climate, with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Phosporescent, Bowerbirds, Blind Pilot, Lucero, The Avetts, and The Felice Brothers all having big years, I can't help but wonder, might it be Brown Bird's time?

The new Brown Bird album is set to be released on CD and LP in November. "The Devil Dancing" is Brown Bird's second full-length album on Peapod Recordings. It was recorded in two separate multi day sessions. The first session took place at Hogfarm Studios in Biddeford, ME and included the upright bass work of Micah Blue Smaldone (Death Vessel, Fire on Fire). The second session took place at the Peapod Recording Studio in Portland, ME.

Brown Bird - Danger and Dread [from the forthcoming LP, The Devil Dancing]

Brown Bird - Down To The River [from the forthcoming LP, The Devil Dancing]

Brown Bird - By The Reins [from the forthcoming LP, The Devil Dancing]

Band members:

David Lamb: vocals, guitar, banjo, percussion
MorganEve Swain: vocals, violin, viola, cello, ukelele
Mike Samos: dobro, lap steel, elec. guitar
Jeremy Robinson: vocals, accordion, banjo
Jerusha Robinson: vocals, cello

Previously on Ghost: Brown Bird [live in Session @ AngiplastyMedia]

Buy their music, and see them live. Support local music. Support GOOD music.

MYSPACE / FACEBOOK / iTunes / Emusic / Peapod Recordings

Bill Murray lounges in Santa Monica

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:38:37 PDT

So I was visiting my friend out in Santa Monica for the day. She works the reception desk at this pretty upscale hotel and she’s always telling me stories about which B-list celebrity is there that week. Anyway, she was on break and we were sitting down having dinner together in the bar when fuckin’ BILL MURRAY walks up, leans over and picks a piece of potato off my plate with his bare fingers and just pops it in his mouth. I just sort of stare at him and he’s looking me right in the eye and smiling as he chews and swallows.
“And you know what the best part is?” he finally says. “No one will ever believe you.”
And he walks away.

Bill Murray will deny all these stories....

My Body Is, Indeed, A Zombie For You. Just thought I'd tell you that...

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:18:36 PDT

Now here's something borderline kitchy that I can wrap my head around this time of year. I'd advise that you grab the nearest Butterfinger or "fun size" Snickers**, sit back and enjoy the show....

Everything I imagine writing further about Dead Man's Bones can be said a bit more eloquently by Heather Phares @ Allmusic.com

It's a blessing and a curse that one half of Dead Man's Bones is Academy Award-nominated actor Ryan Gosling. It's a blessing because Gosling and his partner, Zach Shields, undoubtedly got more attention for their self-titled debut album than they would have otherwise, and something of a curse because it may not be seen for as genuine a project as it is. Shields and Gosling originally conceived of Dead Man's Bones as a horror-themed musical, but kept the songs they had written when they realized putting on a stage production would be too expensive. Despite the high concept, Dead Man's Bones are pretty far from a vanity project -- if anything, they're the opposite, with Gosling and Shields stretching far from their comfort zones at almost every turn. They played instruments they'd never touched before making the album, and brought in the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir to add young voices to their virtually untrained ones. They also set rules for themselves while recording: no electric guitars or click tracks were allowed, and they could only do three takes for any given part. All of this gives Dead Man's Bones the feeling -- in the best possible way -- of a bootleg recording of an elaborate grade-school Halloween pageant. By embracing their amateurism so completely, Gosling and Shields turn any weaknesses into strengths, and while influences ranging from the Arcade Fire and Beirut to Roy Orbison to the Langley Schools Music Project to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride can be heard, the way Dead Man's Bones combine them is unique. Over the course of the album, the duo covers an array of moods and sounds that more experienced musicians would be glad to express. These songs range from gentle ("Dead Hearts"' spectral folk) to dark and driving ("Lose Your Soul") to fiery (the Nick Cave-esque "Dead Man's Bones"), and sometimes all at once. Some of the most striking tracks mix jubilant music with images of death -- or undeath, in the case of "My Body's a Zombie for You," where the kids can't help but shout out the chorus as Gosling croons like a zombie-fied '50s teen idol. Dead Man's Bones also do a fine job of balancing the campy and spiritual aspects of a concept album about love, death, and undeath. "In the Room Where You Sleep" is gleefully terrifying; "Young & Tragic," the only song the Silverlake Conservatory kids sing on their own, uses their delicate, flawed voices to express something deeper. Throughout it all, there is a "hey, kids, let's put on a show!" exuberance that makes the album all the more winning. Dead Man's Bones isn't perfect, but it's often fascinating and nearly always charming -- and Shields and Gosling wouldn't have it any other way.

At any rate, I need to "embrace" my "amateurism" more and do something besides blogging around here! Check out a couple of my favorites from Dead Man's Bones here:

My Body's A Zombie For You

Lose Your Soul

** what the hell is so "fun" about a fun size Snickers bar? I mean really... it's fucking smaller than a regular one. Not very fun, people. Not very at all.

Why I love The Cleveland Show....

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:12:22 PDT

Annie and The Beekeepers - Again and Again (Live, In Session) [vid]

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:03:43 PDT

I saw Annie in Providence a couple of months ago. Her set blew me away. There's not much more I can say about that. OK, there is. I have a crush on her and her band. There I said it. This vid is from a recording done during the Americana Music Festival, and a cameo is had by a lone PBR, sittin pretty in the corner. Hope you enjoy.

{now with added goodness, "Dirty Laundry" from the same session]

http://www.myspace.com/annielynch

Thanks to A Truer Sound and The Music Fog for the video!

Annie and the Beekeepers' Tourdates:
Oct 20 2009 3:00P
Rockwood Music Hall - CMJ Party New York, New York
Oct 22 2009 9:00P
The Living Room - CMJ: Official Showcase New York City, New York
Oct 23 2009 4:45P
The Living Room - CMJ: Paste Magazine Party New York City, New York
Oct 24 2009 3:30P
The Delancey - Upstairs - CMJ: TheYoungandHungry.com - Deli Party New York, New York
Nov 2 2009 8:00P
Rockwood Music Hall - November Residency New York, New York
Nov 9 2009 8:00P
Rockwood Music Hall - November Residency New York, New York
Nov 16 2009 8:00P
Rockwood Music Hall - November Residency New York, New York
Nov 23 2009 8:00P
Rockwood Music Hall - November Residency New York, New York

Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land [video]

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:07:47 PDT

Glascow, Scotland's Frightened Rabbit have announced plans for the 11/16 release of a new 7" entitled "Swim Until You Can't See Land". The band (one of my absolute fav's of late) played for the Scottish Royal Variety Show last week, and performed the new song. Check it out.

Elisapie Isaac - Why Would I Cry?

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:11:50 PDT

I've stumbled upon a song, and an artist, that just intrigues me. I can't forget this. Her voice is delicate, the music even more so. It's slow and sultry, the beat falling so far behind that it's almost lost. I love that. Here's a Ghost of Electricity debut for Miss Elisapie Issac.

Elisapie Isaac - Why Would I Cry? (from her debut full length There Will Be Stars)

http://www.myspace.com/elisapieisaac

About Elisapie Isaac (from her myspace page)

“There will be Stars” is the new work of Inuk singer, composer, filmmaker Elisapie Isaac. This, her first solo recording, is the much anticipated follow up to the internationally acclaimed, award winning duo Taima which she co-founded with guitarist / composer Alain Auger in 2001.
“There will be Stars” is not so much an album as a seduction from somewhere distant, somewhere other worldly. Sometimes full of joy, sometimes lined with melancholy, at times pop, at times folk, at times sung poems from the north - is it Polar pop? Arctic Electric? New cool? Elisapie Isaac was born of an Inuk mother and a Newfoundland father. She was adopted at birth by an Inuit family and was raised in the isolated community Salluit, Nunavik - the Great North.

For Elisapie, the north is not at the top of the world, it’s at the center of her world. “My grandfather used to say that to avoid getting lost”, Isaac says, “you always have to look where you’ve come from.” “There Will be Stars” is a record that looks to where this artist has come from…here and now.

It has been said that the great singers are first and foremost great communicators. Elisapie Isaac’s life’s work has been communicating, first on radio, then on tv and then on film with her award winning National Film Board documentary “If the Weather Permits”.

She continues that tradition with “There Will be Stars”. A few listens in and you will start to realize that Isaac has a deep respect for both the profound and the party.

There Will Be Stars…the new record by Elisapie Isaac…a constellation of music from her universe.

Sufjan Stevens - Live at the Triple Door - Seattle 2005

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:20:15 PDT

Sufjan Steven has been busy lately. Not so much with his 50 albums for 50 states project, but with two new projects.

The first of which is The BQE: A mixed-medium artistic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The project originally manifested in the form of a live show, performed Nov. 1-3, 2007. The show consisted of an original film, directed and written by Stevens, accompanied by an orchestra performing a live soundtrack. The CD/DVD will be released on October 20, 2009. It will consist of a CD of the show's soundtrack, a DVD of Brooklyn-Queen Expressway footage that accompanied the original performance (not a film of the performance itself), a 40-page booklet with liner notes and photos, and a stereoscopic 3D View-Master reel.

The second project is RUN RABBIT RUN. It is a re-working of his 2001 instrumental album Enjoy Your Rabbit. The songs, originally performed with electronic instruments, have been re-arranged by New York composers Michael Atkinson, Olivier Manchon, Maxim Moston, Nico Muhly, and Gabriel Kahane and are performed by the Osso String Quartet. All of the original sounds—glitches, white noise, etc.—will be reproduced by these string instruments. That album is out this week.

What I'm waiting for (besides an album about Rhode Island, we're a small state but our illustrious/shady history could fill a box set) is a return to the delicate sounds of 2005's Illinoise. Here's a session from that era.

Sufjan Stevens
The Triple Door
Seattle, Washington
July 23rd, 2005

As broadcast on KEXP

01 Casimir Pulaski Day
02 The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
03 Prairie Fire That Wanders About
04 Jacksonville
05 The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
06 Chicago
07 The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
08 John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Download the whole set
from:

http://drop.io/soofyan

I've never heard of drop.io. What the hell is drop.io?
Drop.io is a free, easy and private file sharing service. Learn how to maximize it HERE

Fanfarlo cover one of Bonnie Prince Billy's finest [video]

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:27:17 PDT

[Vid] Always Remember, Guys Go For Looks, But.....

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:52:38 PDT

Girls Go For Status.....

A bunch of new Hold Steady videos up on the Youtube page (including this one, "Girls Like Status"), from the 2009 Rockpalast broadcast.

Oh Foggy, you're back. Thank heavens.

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:46:24 PDT

ryanada.ms

Phosphorescent - Reasons To Quit (Willie Nelson)

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:15:50 PDT

from his 2009 album To Willie, an homage to country-western troubadour Willie Nelson. Go grab the album, it's intense. I love it.

Phosphorescent - Reasons To Quit (Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard)

Suddenly it's 1991 again, Master Bate-man.

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:05:02 PDT

My youth just came back to me in one big, obnoxious flash. Suddenly, it's 1991 again, and I'm giggling at the screen. Beavis and Butthead have returned, via the promo for Mike Judge's new film, Extract

@ Yahoo! Video

[Vid] If you bring the water, I'll bring the matches.....

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:56:45 PDT

Video for Band of Skulls - 'Fires'

http://www.myspace.com/bandofskulls
Dot Com

Gotcha Media: Bill Maher Interviews Jay-Z

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:32:52 PDT

I saw this on HBO and was hoping I'd get to see it again. And....

Gotcha Media: Bill Maher Interviews Jay-Z

Posted using ShareThis

[Vid] Providence's Brown Bird keeps it rillz, homeslice

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:24:08 PDT

Brown Bird, resident dirty Americana musicians of Providence's west side, recently sat down with AngioplastyMedia and showd'em who's boss. Well, in a cello/fiddle/guitary sort of way. You know how we do over here. We keep it realz.

[FIXED the totally wrong video link (too many soda-pops)- TDTD]

[Vid] Chriss Sutherland blows my slowcoustic mind

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:48:18 PDT

I could listen to this all day. I caught up with Chriss a couple of months ago, in Providence. The first thing he told the crowd was that it was nice to be home, and, of course, he was full of shit. And of course, I found that out AFTER asking him about it... Anyway, he stole the show. You'll see why. Below.

Chriss Sutherland, solo artist and member of Portland, ME's Fire On Fire, and Cerberus Shoal, performs a solo acoustic ditty for Angioplasty Media, in Burlington VT. Song's called "Grumblin'"

http://www.myspace.com/chrisssutherland

Pick up his 2009 release 'Worried Love'. You WILL NOT be disappointed.

And:

New friends AngioplastyMedia : find them and all of their videos, on YouTube.

And another vid :

[Video] Felice Bros. "Frankie's Gun" (the official?)

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:00:00 PDT

How can you get a sound like that to come out of a guy like him?

[Retro Vid] Come Waste Your Time With Me

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:27:12 PDT

I'm not much for original content today. I'm in a pissy mood. I hope you don't mind. What I can offer you is an old standby of mine. There's something awfully comforting about that guitar solo...

Phish - Waste - 'Bittersweet Motel' DVD culled from The Great Went Festival in Limestone Me August 1997

[Retro Vid] Wilco summoning UT's "The Long Cut"

jamesonian@gmail.com (toodrunktodream) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:15:00 PDT

Jeff Tweedy and the boys, from 1995, rising from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo. Enjoy.