Rave On Buddy Holly
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1051 in the Series) is Rave On Buddy Holly. Back in the early 90s I worked as a District Manager for a music distributor. One of our accounts was Wal-Mart. We would stock them with their music and make sure they were fixture properly etc. (BTW, back then, they refused to stock AC/DC because their albums had parental warning stickers on them. Later there was a new AC/DC release and the ONLY place you can get it was Wal-Mart!) At one point, we were doing some major renovations that had to be done only at night after the stores closed. I was the head of one of these projects. I had to use...
Jeff Beck “Rock N’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul)”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1048 in the Series) is Jeff Beck, Rock N’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) Every Monday night for 12 years up until his death at age 94, Les Paul would hold court with his Les Paul Trio with a show at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. The shows more often than not included guest musicians that happened to be in town at the time. The club after his death, in keeping with this tradition, has renamed the room he would play, The Les Paul Room, and invites special musical guests to play with The Les Paul Trio each Monday to keep this time honored tradition alive. To give you an...
The Black Keys “El Camino”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1046 in the Series) is The Back Keys, El Camino (Nonesuch Records) I’m actually fairly new to The Black Keys. I only recently took a closer look at them when I picked up their last release, Brothers. I listened to it, but my thinking was along the lines of “OK, this is just the latest in a long line of hot, new bands, that everyone is supposed to like” that I’m going to listen to it once and then never play it again. I know enough about The Black Keys that even Brothers was seen by some of their early fans as a sellout and that they were not staying true to...
Rockpile ‘Live at Montreux 1980’
Today’s ‘Cool Album of the Day’ (#1040 in the Series) is Rockpile Live at Montreux 1980 – In 1980, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams, collectively known as Rockpile, released their only official album, Seconds of Pleasure. On August 23rd, 2011, they released their second. It’s called Live at Montreux 1980. Sure we know there were about four or five more albums that could have been called Rockpile, except Dave Edmunds was contracted to one label and Nick Lowe to another, so we never had a second Rockpile album. This one is a live album and features 16 tracks. You’ll find some goodies from all three “franchises, “there are some Rockpile tunes, some songs that were...
My Morning Jacket “Circuital”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#982 in the Series) is My Morning Jacket, Circuital A Review of Circuital ….With a Slight History and Very Public Secret Crush Thrown in. When I first heard of My Morning Jacket, their genre was described as “Southern Rock”, which instantly made me turn my head and say bleh. Then, shortly thereafter, WXRT in Chicago played a song from their 2001 Release, At Dawn. (Bermuda Highway). I remember being in the car, pausing, thinking, then saying to myself. “Who the hell was that?” You see, that was long before I could look anything up in the car, , and I certainly didn’t have the internet at my fingertips, otherwise known as the Pre-...
My Morning Jacket “Circuital”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#966 in the Series) is My Morning Jacket, Circuital A Review of Circuital ….With a Slight History and Very Public Secret Crush Thrown in. When I first heard of My Morning Jacket, their genre was described as “Southern Rock”, which instantly made me turn my head and say bleh. Then, shortly thereafter, WXRT in Chicago played a song from their 2001 Release, At Dawn. (Bermuda Highway). I remember being in the car, pausing, thinking, then saying to myself. “Who the hell was that?” You see, that was long before I could look anything up in the car, , and I certainly didn’t have the internet at my fingertips, otherwise known as the Pre-...
Carole King “A Holiday Carole”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#986 in the Series) is Carole King, A Holiday Carole As we inch into December, we’re going to give you a Christmas Album. This is one that caught me a little by surprise when it showed up. Let’s get a little more specific and call it a pleasant surprise. Inspired by friends like James Taylor that have released Christmas albums, Carole decided to give it a try as well. She looked no further than her daughter Louise Goffin for production help. According to Carole: “Then I don’t have to worry about it, or think about, Louise can take the reins and just do it.” Make sure you give those reins back to...
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins ‘Diamond Mine’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#907 in the Series) is King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine It begins with “First Watch” which is just a quiet little piano meditation, it’s barely there at all but it sets the mood for the full album, a gentle but effective introduction to the world of wonders we’re about to be granted access to. Thereafter unfolds an exquisite song cycle, beautifully crafted and perfectly executed. It’s a short album, 32 minutes but not a moment is wasted and with repeated listens it begins to seem as if there’s no beginning and no end to it, it’s just there, wrapping itself around you, you could get lost in here for hours at...
Ween ‘The Ceasar Demos’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tried And True” by Ween I first heard the music of Ween while watching “Beavis & Butthead” back in 1994…they said “Ween suck”…and I totally disagreed! In fact, I think they are one of the greatest bands of all time, and when it comes to adeptness in all genres of music, they are certainly in a league with Frank Zappa. Ween hail from New Hope, PA and have been together since 1984. They spent their early days playing any venue they could, including dorm rooms at Rutgers University. (I once saw them play in a small bookstore at Rutgers with 70 other fans.) Dean Ween (aka “Deaner” or Mickey Melchiondo) is...
The Phantom Six ‘Plastic Rain’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#855 in the Series) is The Phantom Six, Plastic Rain Sitting on the outskirts of Morgantown, WV near the lunacy that is West Virginia University ( voted the “Number One” party school in the nation on and off for years by many different publications ) comes one of the best, well hidden garage bands out there today; The Phantom Six and their phenomenal debut, Plastic Rain. Under the direction of lead vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/producer, Mark Poole (at his own Zone 8 Recording Studio, an often swelteringly hot, two room laboratory where Poole is both Jekyll and Hyde), this album is full of cool, crisp leads and rich, enigmatic lyrics. Add to it the floating harmonies...
