Jake Bugg ‘Jake Bugg’
——————————————————————————————————————————————- 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...
Cat Stevens “Catch Bull At Four”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#799 in the Series) is Cat Stevens, Catch Bull At Four Catch Bull at Four was, surprising to me, Cat Stevens most popular album in the United States. If forced to guess I would have named Tea For The Tillerman or Teaser and The Firecat. Most listeners I know consider those albums superior to this one. They directly preceded this one and I’m sure that the sales here were caused as a result of those albums popularity. Tea For The Tillerman peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Teaser and the Firecat reach all the way up to #2 on the strength of three huge singles, “Morning Has Broken,” “Moonshadow” and “Peace Train.” By...
Alexi Murdoch ‘Time Without Consequence’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#787 in the Series) is Alexi Murdoch, Time Without Consequence. Alexi Murdoch is a perfect example of the new paradigm music industry success story. He released a self produced EP Four Songs in 2002 on CDbaby.com, sold over 50,000 via download (CDbaby’s all time best seller) and started his own record label, Zero Summer. Time Without Consequence, released in 2006, is his first full album and includes three of the Four Songs from his start up EP. He’s been able to achieve international acclaim while turning down numerous offers from major record labels. Alexi’s voice is reminiscent of Nick Drake. He has the kind of control of his acoustic guitar that reminds me...
Heartsfield “Heartsfield”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#365 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Heartsfield Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday Dear “Cool Album of the Day.” Happy Birthday to You!!! Well, not exactly. This is our 365th entry. So we’re going to call this our birthday! Yeah, we may have started a little over a year ago but we did miss a few days early, but since this is # 365, it’s our birthday. Keeping that in mind, I’m going to feature another album by my dear friends, Heartsfield. Yes, we’ll be getting back to some more current goodies very soon, but since it’s our birthday, I’m going to give myself this gift...
Beachwood Sparks “The Tarnished Gold”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#735 in the Series) is Beachwood Sparks, The Tarnished Gold (Sub Pop) I have to confess, Beachwood Sparks were a new name to me but it turns out they’ve actually been around before and that this is a bit of a comeback album for them. About ten years ago they released 2 albums and an EP then went their separate ways, now they have returned in fine fine style, with one of the albums of the year so far. Musically we’re firmly in the territory frequented by the likes of The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, the late 60’s/ early 70’s vibe but there’s also a distinct hint of later British bands like...
The Mountain Goats “The Sunset Tree”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#721 in the Series) is The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree There’s something about the Mountain Goats that provokes delirious, unbridled reverence amongst a large portion of their fans; a level of veneration that goes beyond that which many bands can claim. I’m not talking about gangs of screaming kids or the usual “I‘m your number one fan!” type of nutcases you get at almost every gig, but a deep, profound respect that comes from a band having touched some part of a fan’s life in an important way. Maybe it’s Mountain Goats’ main man John Darnielle’s way with a witty, insightful lyric. Maybe it’s his way of telling dark tales of...
Fairport Convention “By Popular Request”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#701 in the Series) is Fairport Convention, By Popular Request Fairport Convention, in part to mark their 45th anniversary put us, their fanbase, to the voting box last year to surmise which 20 tracks they would like to see the current, and longest standing version of the band perform. A band which brought, among many other notables, Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny to the awareness of the musical world. Of these 20 tracks 13 were chosen, it is my intent to give a track by track assessment of this outing, one which surely may be placed alongside many of their other finest outings in their long history. You can see it below....
Bill Quateman "Bill Quateman"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#669 in the Series) is the debut self-titled album by Singer / Songwriter Bill Quateman. In 1972 I heard a song on WXRT called ‘Changing of the Guard.’ ‘XRT has always given a run down on what they had just played. Usually as a set. I loved the song and waited to hear who it was by. Well That’s when I first heard the name Bill Quateman. So made my trek to Hegewisch Records and bought his debut. Mind you I didn’t look at the song list. Well somehow I got the album wrong. The song I heard was Steely Dan. But I screwed up what I was looking for and ended...
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks “Where’s The Money?”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#639 in the Series) is Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Where’s The Money? What do I look for in a band? Some of the elements that I like to see to make me really like an artist are 1) Great Musicianship. 2) Great Writing 3) Uniqueness, and a little 4) Sense of Humor for good measure. When you throw all those in the pot you usually get something that’s fairly entertaining to listen to. One of my all-time favorite bands that easily qualifies on all four fronts is NRBQ and another one would be these guys Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks. In fact I’m giving this great album another listen...
The Felice Brothers “The Felice Brothers”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#610 in the Series) is The Felice Brothers – “The Felice Brothers” The first time I saw a photo of The Felice Brothers (before I’d even heard them) they looked and dressed almost exactly like The Band famously did on the cover of their classic second album. Straight away I knew…..this lot are gonna be good! And I was right. It wasn’t until about 2 weeks later, when the album came out, that I finally got to hear them and they certainly didn’t let me down. Mining a seam of that “old, weird” American music which Bob Dylan and The Band explored on The Basement Tapes, they also threw in a distinct...
