Hey “LK” and “Chris Richburg” you won the Jason Freeman and Matt Woods/Adam Lee giveaways. Email me your shipping address in the next 24 hours or you will unwin.
Mar 142013
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Mar 142013
I snatched up Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born as soon as it was released and listened to it over and over. But I didn’t understand what was up with all the noise. That first month it seemed like noise was all over the record and it bummed me out. I probably put the record away for a month or two and when I listened to it again the noise really wasn’t there and what I heard was a bunch of really cool songs. Dorado’s Anger, Hunger, Love, and the Fear of Death works about the same way for me.
On the first few listens to Dorado’s debut record all I could hear was the noise but there are some really great songs here. I don’t know why that happens but it does and so I’m really glad I gave this record more time.
When I loaded the album into Google Play it classified Anger, Hunger, Love, and the Fear of Death as wrong blues. I think that description works as well as anything but let me reference some bands that if you’re a fan of then I suggest you picking up the whole record and experience it yourself. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 16 Horsepower, Centro-Matic. Please don’t read that list like Dorado’s ripping off all of those bands, that’s far from the case. It’s just that Dorado has such a unique sound that I don’t have the vocabulary to adequately describe it. And since the download price is reasonable then if you’re a fan of any of those bands you should just buy it.
Dorado – Die Trying
Dorado – Wall Brains
Dorado – Temple of the Guiding Light
Official Site, Dorado on Facebook, Buy Anger, Hunger, Love, and the Fear of Death
Mar 122013
Wayne Hancock save my life and doesn’t even know it. I know you all love a story and boy do I have one for you this time. Once upon a time I lived in a land far away from home. You see I had packed up the whole horde and moved them to Phoenix, AZ. This might have been a worse decision than marrying my first wife! I was as miserable as miserable could be. I only found one juke joint where I could even feel at home. I started plotting my escape within a month of getting there! As it came to pass, about three months and two weeks in to our self-imposed exile to Satan’s asshole I was at the Rogue West. It was fifty-cent-PBR-in-a-can night and I was working on getting tight when a friend showed up and told me that Wayne “The Train” was playing at a dive not too far away. So I straightened up my cowboy hat and out the door we went.
As it turns out this little show was sponsored by PBR and let me tell you those PBR girls had it going on! I scored two shirts and kept up my progress on gettin’ tight. Wayne still hadn’t come on yet and I ran in to a fellow from work and his lady. 
The friend I originally came with had disappeared, or maybe I had, and was nowhere to be found so I hung with Justin and his girl for the rest of the evening. When we walked in to get rowdy to some good clean country music I noticed something. I looked around as the band took the stage. I took in the whole damn crowd. I was in Phoenix, AZ and was the only bastard, at a Wayne “The Train” Hancock show wearing a cowboy hat, save the band of course. I was surrounded by, you guessed it, hipsters. Standing in that very spot, with Wayne belting out “That’s What Daddy Wants” I vowed I’d be back in God’s country, Texas that is, before the month was out! And I was. Two weeks later I packed the whole family back up and moved back to where I oughtn’t have left to begin with. (Yes that’s me and my friend Justin’s old lady at the very show I just told ya’ about!)
Some of you will understand why Mr. Hancock inspired me to move home but some of you may have been living under a rock since 1995. You see, Wayne Hancock knows what country music is supposed to sound like and he plays it like it should be. Ride isn’t any different. This is country music boys and girls. This isn’t Americana, this isn’t Southern Rock, this isn’t Alt County. Ladies and gentlemen I declare this to be pure, unadulterated country music. It is inspired in it’s simplicity and driven by just the right amount twang in Wayne’s voice. There’s not an artist on any Clear Channel station that’s worthy of cleaning up this boy’s tour bus when he’s done with it!
As smooth as Wayne ever is this album is very easy to lose yourself in. I can easily dream up a tin roof, in the rain, over a rickety porch with an ice chest full of cheap beer and put myself right on it with Ride playing on an old record player. From the thumpity thump of the stand up bass to the moaning of the sad machine everything is just right on this one. I don’t know if it’s my favorite Wayne Hancock album ever but it’s up there with the best of them. You should already know what this kid sounds like and you should already be ready to pick up this little slice of country music. But if, like I mentioned earlier, you have lived under a rock since 1995 then there’s a little something for you at the end of this post. Or you can just take my word that Ride is Essential Listening and go pick it up.
Wayne Hancock – Low Down Blues
Wayne Hancock – Deal Gone Down
Wayne Hancock – Gal From Kitchen’s Field
Mar 112013
What’s that song?? ”The waiting is the hardest part”
That’s what the early part of the year feels like for music bloggers and fans. The new releases are slow to trickle out in January and February and so we’re all left to look forward to the months ahead. I asked around the Nine Bullets water cooler to see what folks were looking forward to hearing or were curious about. So here’s our list, let’s hear yours in the comments.
Brown Bird, The Cave Singers, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sundowner, Tin Armor, Clutch, Noah and the Whale, The Veils, Kent Goolsby (formerly of The Only Sons), Laura Stevenson & The Cans, Lucero (EP), Have Gun Will Travel, The Whiskey Gentry, Two Cow Garage, Guitar Wolf, Austin Lucas, Waxahatchee, Billy Bragg, Sebadoh, Steve Earle, David Bowie, Matt Woods, Fifth On The Floor, Caitlin Rose, Shooter Jennings, Depeche Mode, U2, Johnny Marr, Iron & Wine, Future Birds, Tedo Stone and Besnard Lakes
We’ve also heard there’s some noteworthy people in the studio. Maybe we get a record from these people this year, maybe not.
Neko Case, Glossary, I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House, Drag The River, Will Quinlan, Lenny Lashley’s Gang Of One, Girls Guns Glory, Lydia Loveless and Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit.
Now we really want to hear from you. What have we missed?
Mar 082013
There are some of you that will see there is a review of Ben Harper’s newest realease on Nine Bullets and immediately move on to something else. I accept that but I pity you. You may know Ben Harper from his “hits” or from that stoner hippy in your dorm room all those years ago. You may have been a fan in your younger years (that would be me) or you might just know that you don’t like him. If you haven’t already stopped reading scroll down and start one of the songs at the end of this post before reading further. It’s not going to be what you think.
Get Up! is a pure collaboration effort. Ben Harper teams up with old school blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite and the results are Essential Listening. If you’re not familiar with Musselwhite his history goes back to Muddy Waters and is worth a trip to Wikipedia. Get Up! is a blues record, no more no less, and it’s within the confines of the blues that both men are able to thrive. Blues has always been a part of Harper’s music but here it is the only focus and it’s possible that he’s made his most lasting album.
There are hauntingly quiet numbers here, a staple of most Harper releases, but what makes Get Up! most exciting is the upbeat, foot stomp on the floor, songs. On these, like “I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone” or “I Don’t Believe A Word You Say”, Musselwhite’s harmonica wrangles in Harper’s guitar so there’s never a diversion into a longwinded jam solo. The joy between the two men is also evident through out Get Up! see “We Can’t End This Way”.
The blues isn’t for everyone all the time. But everyone needs a little blues every now and then. Get Up! is your new blues record. Just trust me.
Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite – Blood Side Out
Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite – I Don’t Believe A Word You Say
Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite – We Can’t End This Way