Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1033 in the Series) is Nomad Planets, You’re Never Alone Until You Panic The following was originally posted back about seven years ago. Let’s read it again shall we… This is a piece that I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time. What’s taken so long? That’s an easy one.  I love this album so much that I never thought I could do it justice with words.  I still don’t think I’ll be able to but I had to make sure that you knew about. You can hear the album its entirety below so even if I slobber and make zero sense at least you can just blow me off and...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#697 in the Series) is Jimmy Webb, Just Across the River If you stopped right now and wrote down your five favorite songs the odds are that a Jimmy Webb song would be among them.   The list might include “Wichita Lineman”, “By the Time I get to Phoenix”, or even “Galveston”.  Whichever one is chosen the songs of Jimmy Webb wrap around us like a warm snuggy and have been the soundtrack of our lives for many of us. The list of artists that have covered his songs range from Jackson Browne to Dionne Warwick, and of course his own personal muse (or is it the other way around?), the Rhinestone Cowboy...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day(#398 in the Series) is Peter Wolf, Midnight Souvenirs. When the question of the best band ever is debated the answer is a fairly easy one.  In no particular order, depending on your rock sensibilities, the answer is: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, or The Who When the same question is asked about American Bands the answer is not so simple.  Certainly The Beach Boys, a band that has featured Glen Campbell and John Stamos in various incarnations, can’t be in consideration. Is it The Eagles? If so which era?  To my mind a band that adds a superstar the likes of Joe Walsh needs to be considered as two separate bands. ...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#390 in the Series) is Grace Potter and the Nocturnals The word “Nocturnal” means “of or pertaining to the night,” a perfect moniker to describe the band of traveling gypsies known as Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. 2010 and on in to 2011 has been a very busy time for the band. In an effort to make a name, and establish their identity, they embarked on a “scorched earth” tour of America, traversing the country, delivering to the unwashed masses, their unique blend of funky blues, gritty soul, and smoldering rock. The band also made time to make all of the usual Fallon, Kimmel, Letterman, talking head stops, as well as to lend...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#382 in the Series) is Band of Horses, Infinite Arms Band Of Horses have come a long way in the last seven years or so. Formed circa 2004 in Seattle by South Carolina native Ben Bridwell and his friend Mat Brooke, early promise saw them land a deal with that fine city’s most famous label Sub Pop. Two albums, Everything All The Time and Cease To Begin followed fairly quickly (Brooke left after the former and formed his own band Grand Archives) and some amazing live shows helped cement their reputation. Along the way they also found time to gather up a pretty fanatical group of followers. I well remember my first introduction...

Today’s Cool Album Of the Day (#294 in the Series) is Robert Plant, Band of Joy. Robert Plant? Think about this one…. How many artists from his era are still releasing strong, relevant music at this stage of their careers? Sure, we get some dynamite tours from some of them.  However, for most of them, if they play their latest albums on those tours what you’ll usually find is that the restrooms are at capacity when they play them. Not Robert Plant, his work before this was the extremely popular album with Alison Krauss called Raising Sand. It only won about five Grammys!  He’s reinvented himself the last decade and done it with-out going the Rod Stewart route. Band...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#250 in the Series) is Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues. (Bloodshot Records) I’ll be the first to admit. I ‘think’ I had heard of Justin Townes Earle. But I’m not sure. He’s an Americana musician and that pretty much is my favorite genre for years now. Somehow, Justin slid through the cracks. This week changed that.  I was watching a few  ‘DVRed’episodes of David Letterman last night. (I can’t believe he didn’t have ‘Mike Singletary’ on to discuss his firing.) On Tuesday this week, Justin was the musical guest. To say the least I could not have liked his performance more!  He was outstanding.  I then was able to see that his...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#248 in the Series, and #14, in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is The Steepwater Band, Live at the Double Door. I used to have a gig trying to book gigs for bands years ago. You’d assemble a promo kit and try to get your name in front of agents and club owners etc.  One of the questions they’d always ask, and quickly too, was ‘How many members in band, son? Not, ‘Are they any good?  Or ‘Where else have you played?’ No it was ‘How many members?!’ If you answered by describing you were representing a three piece…we’ll, you were not very welcomed in the south, southwest suburbs of Chicago and even...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#226 in the Series) is Bryan Ferry, Olympia. Olympia is Bryan Ferry’s  13 solo album. It’s his first album of new material in over eight years. His last being the Frantic album. Olympia was produced by Bryan and also Rhett Davies.  Davies also produced Phil Manzanera’s 801 Listen Now, Split Enz, King Crimson, Dire Straits, Talk Talk and of course Roxy Music and many more. Many old Bryan’s old Roxy Music band mates make appearances here. They include Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay, Neil Hubbard,and Andy Newmark.  Not to mention other notables such as Flea, Steve Nieve and David Gilmour. Personnel Bryan Ferry – Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Vocals Merlin Ferry – Guitar Tara Ferry...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#212 in the Series) is Elton John and Leon Russell, The Union. This was one of the most anticipated albums of 2010. Like many of these special projects that T. Bone Burnett over sees, it did not disappoint. Many looked at this album as a long time payback by Elton John to Leon Russell for help he provided to enhance his popularity at the beginning of Elton’s career.  Elton has also been quoted as saying that Leon was his main influence as a pianist. When I first heard some tracks from The Union I remembered how special it was to hear Leon’s voice. It made me go and pull out classics like ‘Tightrope,...