The other day I started looking at old gospel performances on youtube, mostly because of ArchieB9876’s great vintage gospel videos. I decided that I’d have to hand pick 10 and share them. There’s some really great music and performances in here. Classic gospel is linked to modern rock n roll through “soul” and “R&B”. A lot of the white rockers and country stars grew up singing gospel tunes from the country side of things.

1. Soul Stirrers - Listen To The Angels Sing

The Soul Stirrers were the group Sam Cooke came out of (they kept going, this is after he left), but you can hear a lot of that same sound. This is a great mid-tempo number with a lot of soul.

2. Inez Andrews And The Andrewettes - There Must Be A God Somewhere

This is a medium slow song in 6/8 with an odd swing and with great vocals. Also, the complex-rhythmed clapping near the end is a nice touch.

3. Five Blind Boys Of Alabama - Something Got A Hold On Me

The sound quality of this is fairly distorted, but, man, this group just tears into this song. I love the raw guitar tone (even if the distortion is due to an old tape or bad encoding). I can’t believe the other people in the video are just sort of standing there.

4. James Cleveland - Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus

Rev. James Cleveland is a forbearer of modern mass gospel choirs. This is a clip from maybe the 70s in that style (choir call-and-response with a leader out front). It should also be noted that the scene in Blues Brothers where James Brown is singing gospel is with Cleveland and his choir.

5. Emmylou Harris & Johnny Cash - Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (+ a quick rendition of “Harvest Moon”)

Oh man, those are two very classic and awesome voices and they go together very well.

6. Drinkard Singers - Lift Him Up

Starts simmering and then–bam–it’s full-on. I love the quality the lead singer gets on her voice.

the rest after the jump
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(The artist currently known as) Prince is giving away his new album Planet Earth in this week’s Sunday Mail (UK) and the industry is not happy:

The Entertainment Retailers Association said the giveaway “beggars belief”. “It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career,” ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference. “It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.

“The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday.”

Oh snap, Prince! Quirk got you there!

“But but but he can’t do that! Does he even remember when we sold his albums and made money off of them?! He still owes us for letting us make money off of his albums!”

Even the artists know that the record industry is “dinosaur[s] sitting around discussing the asteroid” and they’re just getting mad. I wonder how long it’ll take for the record industry to realize that it needs to make a fundamental change in the way it does business.

Plus, let’s be honest, someone like Prince can do whatever he wants. He’s loved by some and respected by most of the rest, so by villanizing him, you just make yourself look bad.

Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

Lots of people are moving and changing various things in their life this week so it’s a small selection this time.

–

Adrian (me):
Jenda Wight - Luxury of Time (mp3) (not yet released, available at artist’s myspace)

I wrote about this song earlier in the week and I’ve still been listening to it a lot. It’s a beautiful song with great orchestration and vocals.

–

Scott:
Icky Boyfriends - Nervous Guy (mp3) (buy)

i heard it for the first time last week on kdvs. ‘nervous guy’ sounds like the dumber (but well-meaning) cousin of ‘the joker’ by the steve miller band, except that it doesn’t lose its sincerity by getting mired in nostalgia (my apologies to any fans of ‘the joker’). maybe icky boyfriends’ punk aesthetic qualifies them to write a love song that’s actually convincing.

–
–

Edwin:
MIA - Bird Flu (mp3) (buy)

I’ve been watching M.I.A.’s “Bird Flu” video pretty obsessively. It features chickens squawking and children shouting. And I really want the watermelon t-shirt she wears in it. But I think M.I.A. says it best: “I CALLED THIS BIRD FLU BECAUSE THIS BEAT GON KILL EVERYONE!” I can’t wait until her album comes out in August!

–

Dave:
Jens Lekman - Black Cab (mp3) (buy)

I didn’t really have a chance to get obsessed with a song this week, but this one struck a chord with me when it came on for some reason.

–

Edwin subverts everything by having his song obsession be a video!

Some guys made a Tesla coil “sing”—change pitch. Of course the perfect tune to do on it is from Mario Bros., which just about always has been the perfect tune to play on anything, going back to when my friend John learned it (or at least the level 1b underground part) on bass in 5th grade.

I’m not quite sure how they did it. Tesla coils require two coil whose resonant frequencies are tuned to each other. Perhaps they were able to change the resonant frequency of both at the same time? There’s possibly a much simpler solution I’m overlooking. (By the way, I’m an engineer; I geek out sometimes.)

The National show at Bimbo’s is very sold out (as in there was a gauntlet of 15 people that was asking each person walking to the will call window if they had extra tickets), so I’m home instead.

I’ve been meaning to post about Scotland’s My Latest Novel (myspace) for a few days now.

Their press stuff makes it seem like they’re impossible to pin down. They’ve also been called the “Scottish Arcade Fire.” I’m not quite sure that’s applicable (the Arcade Fire at least attempts to be a lot more epic). I hear some Belle and Sebastian Scottish tweeness, some Reindeer Section Scottish pretty-but-well-orchestrated ballads.

“The Reputation of Ross Francis” is a light upbeat acoustic number with great harmonies and a dark overtone. I really like the chorus, with a nice build to it, chorussed vocals and a neat rhythm to it (downbeat, upbeat, downbeat, upbeat, downbeat downbeat). I also thing “Please, sir”, at least in this case, is a great first line of a chorus.

My Latest Novel - the Reputation of Ross Francis (mp3)

“Sister Sneaker Sister Soul” has a more epic feel to it overall, but it starts out sounding like many Reindeer Section songs (or maybe it’s just the clean recording and accents). It builds up quiet a bit with an instrumental middle section before coming back around. The epic + light song thing reminds me a bit of the Stars’ last album.

My Latest Novel - Sister Sneaker Sister Soul (mp3)

You can buy Wolves from Bella Union. I’m not sure if there’s a way to get it non-import.

On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.

Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc.

Probably the most interesting from this week are Okkervil River and Beastie Boys.

On sale now:
7/23 Ryan Adams @ Herbst Theatre
8/4 Sami Yusuf & Native Deen @ Flint Center

On sale Friday, June 29:
9/8 B.B. King, Al Green, Etta James @ Sleep Train Pavilion

Presale Saturday, June 30:
8/14 Patti Smith @ The Fillmore

On sale Sunday, July 1:
7/24 Ryan Adams, The Cardinals @ Berkeley Community Theatre

8/11 Josh Clark’s Guitarmageddon, Devon Allman’s Honeytribe @ the Independent
8/13 Rx Bandits, Maps and Atlases @ Slim’s
8/14 Floetry @ the Independent
8/14 Patti Smith @ Fillmore
8/24 Beastie Boys @ The Warfield
8/25 B-Side Players @ the Independent

9/5 Okkervil River @ the Independent
9/5 The Frames, Eleni Mandell @ Great American
9/7 Rose Hill Drive @ the Independent
9/13 The Bravery @ The Warfield
9/24 Amiina @ Great American
9/27 Midlake @ Great American

11/30 Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry), Adrienne Pierce @ Great American

As JV points out…

Pitchfork has “White Dove”, a new JV tune, for download. It’s reminds me a bit of the distortion on “Pale Horse” (and much of Cellar Door but it’s got some nice, clean, subdued parts on it too (more like Pixel Revolt in those parts).

Update: Barsuk has the tune, so I can link to it directly[1].

John Vanderslice - White Dove (mp3)

There’s a Fall US tour. He’ll be at the Independent (where JV’s always these days, it seems) on October 20.

9/6 Los Angeles CA @ Troubadour
9/7 San Diego CA @ The Casbah
9/8 Phoenix AZ @ Modified
9/9 Tucson AZ @ Plush
9/11 Austin TX @ The Parish
9/12 Norman OK @ The Opolis
9/14 Dallas TX @ The Loft
9/15 Baton Rouge LA @ Spanish Moon
9/17 Orlando FL @ The Social
9/18 St. Augustine FL @ Café Eleven
9/19 Tallahassee FL @ Club Downunder
9/20 Atlanta GA @ The Earl
9/21 Chapel Hill NC @ Duke Coffeehouse
9/24 Philadelphia PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
9/26 New York NY @ Bowery Ballroom
9/27 Cambridge MA @ The Middle East
9/28 Cambridge MA @ The Middle East
10/1 Toronto ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10/2 Ann Arbor MI @ The Blind Pig
10/3 Cleveland OH @ The Grog Shop
10/4 Athens OH @ Ohio University, Baker Theatre
10/5 Bloomington IN @ The John Waldron Art’s Center
10/6 Chicago IL @ The Empty Bottle
10/9 Omaha NE @ The Waiting Room
10/12 Provo UT @ Velour
10/11 Denver CO @ The Hi-Dive
10/13 Salt Lake City UT @ Kilby Court
10/15 Vancouver BC @ The Red Room
10/18 Portland OR @ The Doug Fir
10/20 San Francisco CA @ The Independent

You can also Preorder Emerald City now.

[1] In my mind, it’s cool to directly link to an mp3 if it’s on an artist’s, label’s or the artist’s management’s site. Directly linking to other blogs isn’t cool!

I now have an mp3 RSS feed. You can use it to grab just the mp3s from this blog in many ways. One such way is iTunes. (If you want to grab everything from the blog, I still have a regular RSS feed).

First try clicking this pcast link. This may or may not work (if it brings you to iTunes, it should have worked), depending on your particular set up. If not, try the following…

For iTunes, first right click (control click on mac) that mp3 RSS link above (or find it on the right side of the main page). Then go to iTunes, click on “Advanced” then “Subscribe to Podcast”. Paste (control-V or option V on macs) the URL that you just copied into the window that pops up. Click ‘OK’.

That’s it. You’ll be taken to your podcast directory in iTunes. You can click “Settings” to set how often it checks for new songs, how many to keep at a time, etc.

Note that this only works with versions of iTunes after 4.9.

HOLY CRAP! HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!!@ HALL & OATES ARE GOING TO PLAY AT THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS AND IT’S ONLY $75!@ TICKETS ARE ON SALE ALREADY I WILL HAVE TO BUY MINE NOW!

OR AS MY FRIEND WHITNEY SAID:

PRIVATE EYES - THEY’RE WATCHING YOU. THEY SEE YOUR EVERY MOVE. (duh duh) PRIVATE EYES - THEY’RE WATCHING YOU. PRIVATES EEEEEEEEYYYYYYEEEEEEES.

75 BUCKS TO SING ALONG TO THAT LIVE IS A BARGAIN!

A documentary about Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (myspace) premiers tonight on PBS. Check your local listings! Okay, I did: it’s showing on KQED at 10pm (till 11:30pm) as part of the P.O.V program.

Tomorrow is the net radio day of silence to protest the extreme hike in rates that will go into effect July 15 if the law isn’t repealed. The list of stations participating includes my own KZSU. Other Bay Area radio stations participating include KPFA, KUSF, KALW, and KALX. KCRW, Pandora and a huge list of other internet radio stations and simulcasts are also participating.

Speaking of Saving Net Radio, as the Bay Bridged reports there’s a Save Net Radio benefit set up by Soma FM and Bagel Radio in on July 1st with solo sets from members of the Heavenly States, the Herms and Peloton, a set by HIJK and DJ sets from Soma FMer Elise and Bagel Radioer Ted.

Head over to DCist for the rest of the comic (jabs at the Shins and Joanna Newsom) and to Argyle Academy for other comics from the same people.

I’ve added a flash mp3 player on the right side of my blog. It’ll stream a dozen or so of the latest mp3s.

It’s not perfect and I’m working on improving it, but it’s usable, I think and stable. Let me know if you have any opinions about it or how it should work.

One known issue is that if mp3s were encoded oddly, they can play too fast. I will just be more careful about the mp3s I upload in the future. This is happening with some of the Seam mp3s.

The other day I found Jenda Wight on myspace. A song played. I pressed back and listened again. And again.

“Luxury of Time” is beautifully orchestrated song from this Brooklyn songstress. It sounds like electric piano, Mellotron and (possibly sampled) harpsichord, and strings that are making up a bed for Jenda to sing over. There’s melancholy that washes over you with the cyclical music. During the chorus she only sings pretty much the same line over and over and I just find myself wanting her to sing it more.

Jenda Wight - Luxury of Time (mp3)

I won’t be your friend unless you download this song.

Jenda tells me that she’ll have a self-titled EP coming out in the fall and there are plans in the works for a Canada and Midwest tour in October. Keep checking her myspace page for more info as that time approaches.

The indie rock community always has an odd relationship with mainstream artists. Some are accepted and expected that you like (everyone loves Bruce Springsteen this year; Beach Boys are another popular indie rock mainstream artist). I don’t know where the indie rock consciousness currently falls with U2 but I don’t care. If I had to limit my record collection’s 80s section to two albums, I’d leave The Queen is Dead. I’d leave Surfa Rosa. I’m taking The Joshua Tree and Graceland.

I watched Rattle and Hum again tonight, for the first time in possibly eight years, when I last watched it in my first crazy-about-U2 phase partially initiated by my friend Wally constantly singing along to U2 and eventually showing me Rattle and Hum.

Though it was released in 1988, the bulk of the filming of this documentary happened 20 years ago in 1987. Of course, the clothing and hair styles are bad, hilariously bad, even. No one should wear a leather vest with nothing underneath. Or only suspenders (no shirt) in public.

I don’t listen to U2 daily, or even weekly most of the time, so I was a bit surprised at my reaction to some of the music. I like a lot of the songs, of course. “With or Without You”, “Bad”, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “Where the Streets have No Name” are great songs. I was listening and enjoying. However, when they did the version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” with the gospel choir from Harlem, I had goose bumps. My serious visceral reaction to “Sunday Bloody Sunday” was even more intense. Multiple times in the song (at the beginning, when the drums first come in, and during the “Fuck the revolution! No more!” part) it felt like the entire skin shell of my body was tensed and bristled. I’m not going to write off a song or band that can cause that sort of reaction.

Bono was the so-full-of-himself-but-can-sort-of-get-away-with-it-because-he-really-is-that-good guy before Kanye came around. For anyone to say that they’d just discovered BB King and wanted to work with him seems absurd, but U2 does it and pulls it off. There of course is some total wankery. The part where Bono takes a flood light and dramatically lights the Edge during a solo is just silly.

The black and white parts of the film are the most artistically interesting from a visual perspective. Some of the color parts (Bono backlit in blue, Bono lit from below with the fog machines on) seem a bit cliched and forced.

There is a bit of a SF connection to the film. The version of “All Along the Watchtower” was performed and filmed live in an outdoor square in SF. In the middle of the song, Bono goes up to a sculpture and spray paints it with “Rock N Roll Stops Traffic.” I think Woody’s got you beat on “musix does [x]” claims there, Bono, but I’d still like to see Chris Martin do that.