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When his nibs went solo, he did a series of solo gigs and recordings. If you can get them, the likes of Destroyer, 48 Hours & The Suicide Handbook contain stuff that sometimes tops the likes of Heartbreaker, Gold and Demolition. At the same time, he did some great solo shows (or nearly solo shows). One came in Denver 2002, in which he was accompanied by cellist (whose nbame escapes). One is a lovely version of one of his finest songs, the other a remarkable cover that does what all great covers do, completely rewrite the song.
mp3 Ryan Adams: Oh My Sweet Carolina (live)
mp3 Ryan Adams: Brown Sugar (live)
There's a great version of Carolina on YouTube here, and lots of other stuff.
At the time of Easy Tiger, with his band he ran through some of the album's tracks in electric mode:
mp3 Ryan Adams: Two (live in the studio)
mp3 Ryan Adams: Pearls on a String (live in the studio)
More to come... Buy here.
I've posted about The Weight before here, and I've been listening to their latest offering Are Men since I was sent a copy. It's no let down; I'm a big fan. The old elements are there, along with what sounds like a lot of good times had in the making. The label deny an alt-country tag; I think it applies still, but with a whole lotta twang. This is fast becoming one of my favourites of the year so far. Try this:
mp3 The Weight: Like Me Better
mp3 The Weight: Sunday Driver
Meanwhile, still not available as far as I can work out, is ST:
mp3 The Weight: Highways
It's out on August 5th; Ten Mile Grace is downloadable drm-free here.
This was Robert Wyatt's first album back after his accident, leaving him in a wheelchair. It still sounds like nothing else. Wyatt played keyboards, hit all sorts of percussive instruments, had great people with him (such as Fred Frith) and sung his weird and wonderful songs with the same yearning beauty he's brought to everything else since. Try this:
mp3 Robert Wyatt: Sea Song
As a bonus, a later version of another one of the album's great songs, this version from Solar Flares.
mp3 Robert Wyatt: Alifib
Buy Robert Wyatt here, though Rock Bottom doesn't seem to be in print (WHY NOT?).
Ok, I'll come clean, I'm yet another one of those fans of the frustrating one himself. But, when he's brilliant, he sure us. So, I thought I'd start posting a kind of live stuff by installments. The first two are from a gig in Santa Cruz, California, 2007; he'd just mended his wrist (broken skateboarding, Pewee) and was back on the big bad electric.
mp3 Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: I See Monsters (live)
mp3 Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: I Taught Myself How to Grow Old (live)
By contrast, try these from 1999 back in North Carolina; the first with Caitlin Cary (with him of Whiskeytown).
mp3 Ryan Adams: Dancing with the Women at the Bar
mp3 Ryan Adams: Hey There, Mrs Lovely (a song thta turned up on his most recent ep Follow the Lights, with differnet words)
Buy Ryan Adams here; download his classic Heartbreaker drm-free here.
Ok. All the end of terrm shit and some holiday, time to get posting. To kick things off, today sees the official release of The Hold Steady's newie, Stay Positive. Having had a week on inertia with the old ipod firmly in ear, my digital advance copy has been well listened to and its a good 'un. Perhaps the outstanding track is Lord, I'm Discouraged? The label have asked folk not to post anything, though you could try here; you can hear samples and some observations from the band here.
As a bonus anyway, here's an acoustic live version of a fave from Boys and Girls in America:
mp3 The Hold Steady: Chips Ahoy (live acoustic)
And, from the movie I'm Not There, a Dylan cover:
mp3 The Hold Steady: Can I Please Crawl Through Your Window?
Buy here, download drm-free here.
