Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Just Dropped In” by Tom Jones Tom Jones just released his 40th album this week called Spirit In The Room. It was released last May in England and has finally gained a release stateside. It is also the second “mortality” album he’s released in a row. The “mortality album” occurs when a rapidly aging heritage artist is matched with a hip (younger) producer, who in this case is Ethan Johns. (Johns was also at the helm for his last “mortality album” Praise And Blame.) The producer acts as a mentor to the artist and who curates the record by choosing the songs that not only will give the artist credibility with...

                    ——————————————————————————————————————————————- Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Lightning Bolt” by Jake Bugg Things you need to know about Jake Bugg… He’s not a young Dylan. There was only one young Dylan and he’s not young anymore. He’s not a New Dylan. You can choose everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Costello to Beck to fill in the blank, none of them were new Dylans, and neither is Jake Bugg. Jake Bugg is, well, Jake Bugg. Although he was dubbed the “East Midlands Bob Dylan” early on, he’s not that guy either. Dylan was barely an influence – “Bob Dylan’s cool, you know, he’s great, but he’s not...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Careers In Combat” by Parquet Courts I love the Pitchfork Music Festival. It’s my one opportunity per year to feel a little ahead of the curve when it comes to discovering new music. Attending the festival gives me bragging rights about getting the chance to see bands before they make it big. Pitchfork is also the most user friendly of all the music festivals. Its 30,000 capacity per day is much smaller than Lollapalooza, which maxes out at 100,000 each day. There are only two stages with music going at any given time, and since you don’t have to walk miles to get between them, you can easily sample six to...

  One of Cool Album of the Day’s favorite performers graced The Late Show with David Letterman yet again recently. Elizabeth Cook not only performed a great classic song but also put smiles on faces with yet another fun interview.  You can see both below. Enjoy! Her latest  EP is a Gospel record called Gospel Plow. It was released a year or so ago. In fact, this is her second appearance on Dave’s show in that time. We’ve also added that performance below.     Here’s Elizabeth’s most recent interview on the show. She and her band performing “If I Had My Way” A great performance of “Hear Jerusalem Calling” Here’s an older interview as well Related Links Here is...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#845 in the Series) is Todd Rundgren, Live In Concert at the Warfield Theater It was 23 years ago today, Todd Rundgren brought his band to play.  Esoteric Recordings presents the Todd Rundgren Archive Series and if this is any indication, this is the start of something good. Todd Rundgren’s 1989 release Nearly Human was a bit of a re-visitation of his Philly Soul/R&B roots. Received to some critical acclaim, the album was recorded with a minimal amount of overdubs and this created a perfect live platform for a big 12-piece band. This recording documents the final show of this tour and has been newly mastered from the original master tapes, making...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Spin” by Kelan Philip Cohran & The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble If you love tuba solos, they’re here. How about exotic string instruments like zithers and kalimbas? Check, they’re in abundance. Funky, funky brass? Present and duly accounted for. Exciting music like you’ve never heard before? Look no further than the welcome return of Kelan Philip Cohran and his latest group, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Cohran played trumpet, zither and other string instruments with Sun Ra Arkestra from 1959-1961, performing on their albums Interstellar Low Ways (1959), Holiday for Soul Dance (1960), Fate in a Pleasant Mood (1960) and later guesting on the record Angels and Demons at Play (1965). He...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman- “Toe Thumb” by Billy Martin and Wil Blades Another dynamic duo! He’s the Martin who pounds the skins for the Jazz trio Medeski, Martin & Wood, and has recorded with the likes of John Scofield, John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards, Chris Whitley and Iggy Pop. Blades is a Hammond B-3 extraordinaire from Chicago, whose made a name for himself in the San Francisco Jazz scene and has lent his skills to the works of John Lee Hooker and fellow organist Dr. Lonnie Smith. The two joined forces for a one-off late night summit at the New Orleans Jazz Festival last year, and from that one gig, they knew they would...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#824 in the Series) is Billy Prine, Billy Prine “You can’t make a living on a song and a prayer. The men in those taverns are too drunk to care.” from “Goodbye Virginia” by Robbie Fulks It was 1987 or maybe early 1988 the first time I saw it happened at Earl Pionke’s Pub on Chicago’s Lincoln Avenue. It was once the majestic (according to some reports) Somebody Else’s Trouble’s, the now named Earl’s Pub was more tattered and worn through like an old shirt.  Earl’s more famous club on Wells at North, THE Earl of Old Town, had recently closed for good. Holstein’s, a club a door or two north of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#822 in the Series) is Tame Impala,  Lonerism There’s a tendency to label bands like Tame Impala – meaning those influenced by the  1966-1971-ish golden period of psychedelic rock – as imitators, mimics, copycats, or even revivalists, but to do that is to do the quintet a grave disservice. The Western Australian band have united fans of contemporary psychedelic rock in rapturous appreciation since their excellent debut album, Innerspeaker, in 2010, and even before that in Australian music circles with their first EP, Antares, Mira, Sun, in 2008. With Innerspeaker, they showed that there is so much more to their sound than fuzz pedals and vocal effects, and with new album Lonerism,...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Lost My Job Of Loving You” by Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale – Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale are both superb songwriters and troubadours. They are country music journeymen who spend their life on the road making music, supporting other musicians and supporting each other. Miller has recorded many records with his wife Julie (under the moniker Buddy & Julie Miller), and has worked with Robert Plant, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Solomon Burke and numerous others. Lauderdale has won Grammy Awards and has worked with and or written songs for George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, George Jones, The Dixie Chicks, Ralph Stanley (of The Stanley...