Carole King “The Legendary Demos”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1008 in the Series) is Carole King, The Legendary Demos Carole King demos have been floating around the music industry for as long as I can remember, some were better than others. This release is the first time that some of those have hit the streets on an official basis. Let’s say, it’s been worth the wait. It’s not too late. This package was released in 2012 and it covers about a decade of Carole’s early writing career. These songs are indeed demo versions, but they are not solo demos. Many of the songs do indeed have a small band playing with her, some songs however are just her. I have a...
Justin Townes Earle “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#973 in the Series) is Justin Townes Earle, Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now (Bloodshot Records) When your father is one of the best singer-songwriters in the business and you are named after another about whom Steve Earle once said “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that”, the expectations are very high, and with his most recent release for Bloodshot records, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, Justin Townes Earle, the son of Steve Earle and the step-son of Allison Moorer, has emerged in his own...
The dB’s ‘Falling Off The Sky’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#961 in the Series) is The DB’s, Falling Off the Sky The most difficult thing about listening to this brilliant “must-hear” album is to realize it has been 30 years since their last record together with this, their original line-up. Since then they’ve had a bunch of incredibly listenable songs in their heads and hearts. We are the beneficiaries of their immense talent to produce what really sounds like songs you have heard before even after just one listen. Pop hooks abound, you wonder why radio isn’t listening, but eventually you don’t care, you are just lucky enough to know about it, and now you do, go get it! Inevitably you have to...
The Prog World Orchestra ‘A Proggy Christmas’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#993 in the Series) is The Prog World Orchestra, A Proggy Christmas This is one of those releases you want to share with everyone in the season of sharing. Granted the older folks at the Holiday might not like it, more probable they don’t get it, but this easily the best Christmas release I have heard since Jon Anderson’s 3 Ships and that was more than 25 years ago. There are 10 things that set this apart from every other Holiday record you have heard before, and those are the ten songs that are contained here. Before you suggest this is in the spirit of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and before I...
Tom Russell ‘Heart on a Sleeve’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#897 in the Series) is Tom Russell, Heart on a Sleeve Going back to Lukenbach with Waylon, Willie, and the boys, Texas has been ground zero for singer songwriters. With a couple of them you only need to mention their first names to experience the magic. With others, two first names may be necessary. Just ask Jerry Jeff, Billy Joe, or Jimmie Dale, and with Bob Wills you only need to hear a few notes to understand that he is still The King, but the true beauty of the Texas music scene is the regional diversity and eclectic musical differences you can experience depending on what part of the Lone Star State you...
Beach House ‘Bloom’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#866 in the series) is Beach House, Bloom (Sub Pop) When you think of rock ‘n’ roll epicenters in the colonies you think of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, and Athens (GA.), etc… Of all places, Baltimore has dropped Beach House on us. Baltimore’s two biggest musical exports may be O.A.R. and Good Charlotte. Beach House, at an early point in their career, may already be “Charm City’s” most accomplished band. Beach House is a series of musical contradictions. The name Beach House may give you the impression of warm, breezy, summer tunes (each time you say Beach House there may be some brain activity that wants to link this band...
Tom Jones ‘Spirit in the Room’
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...
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...
Parquet Courts ‘Light Up Gold’
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...
Elizabeth Cook Once Again Graces ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’
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...
