Ramblings on Music, Texas, Etc.

Heartless Bastards in NY Times

Very nice press for the Heartless Bastards in the New York Times.  Their new album The Mountain will be released this week on Fat Possum Records, and, as you may recall, I really dig it.  I'll hopefully have a full review in the next few days.

New Allen Toussaint (produced by Joe Henry) due in April

We knew this one was coming, but Allen Toussaint's new record The Bright Mississippi - produced by Joe Henry and assisted by his excellent usual musical collaborators - will be released by Nonesuch on April 21.  Details here.

Mark Olson & Gary Louris - 'Ready For The Flood' (due Tuesday)

I haven't heard this in its entirety, but my initial impression is that it's a pretty laid-back affair and probably won't be the big Jayhawks reunion some fans are hoping for.  Still, it's hard to imagine that it won't be a pretty solid effort and the kind of thing that might grow on me in the coming months.

In the meantime...

Olson And Louris - Ready For The Flood - EPK from New West Records on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Very nice piece by David Cantwell over at No Depression.

Albums I still dig: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

It's very nearly the second anniversary of the release of Like Love, Lust and The Open Halls Of The Soul, the third record from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter.  As I sit here and listen to it yet again, it's worth noting that I stand very much by my original opinion of the album, and then some.  It has steadily grown into one of my favorite records of the past few years.

In related news, you can download four tracks from the band's recent Daytrotter session here.  While Sykes & Co. work on their next album, you can also pick up the recent Gentleness Of Nothing EP on the band's website (the download version is hi-quality 320kbps files, btw).

UPDATE: In honor of Dan's comment, here's a poster from the show he noted.  How cool is this poster art?

Space-savin'

I've been undertaking a rather large project to both organize my CD collection and ditch some unwanted jewel boxes, those cheap plastic things that take up so much damned shelf space.

After looking high and low for the right solution, I settled on these cases from Slappa.  They work much like a traditional CD binder, except each slot has a front slipcase for the liner notes (or a second CD if you prefer).  As such the 360-capacity case holds 180 CD's with liner notes.

Furthermore, if you upgrade to the d2i "slide-n-lock", you can remove each slot or move slots around.  They work really nicely, and the sleeves are sturdy (though you might be cramming pretty hard on those thicker CD booklets).  This is a pretty elegant solution for me, making a good portion of my collection portable and easy to store, since I don't really need frequent access to the CD's themselves. 

As for the leftover jewel cases, well, those are a pain to recycle, but several ogranizations will accept your separated materials, provided you're willing to ship them.

2009: Quick takes

Well, we're a few weeks in, and there have already been some notable 2009 releases.  Here's a ranked list of my recent listening:

• Buddy & Julie Miller - Written In Chalk
  Plenty more coverage to come as the March 3 release date approaches, but what is there to say really?  Classic Buddy & Julie through and through.  Perhaps not their best album, but probably toward the top of the list.  Which is to say, it is awesome.
  
• Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
  Possibly not as strong as its predecessors - which I only recently picked up - but still my favorite so far of the year (due Feb. 3).

• Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
  This one has quickly grown on me.  At first, I was put off by Bird's style, but I'm on board now.

• Derek Trucks Band - Already Free
  Doesn't quite leave behind the jam-band, blues-rock label in the dust, but emphasizes song as much as performance in most cases.  Some really strong tracks standout among some generic sounding material, but it's a great effort nonetheless.

• AC Newman - Get Guilty
  Most everything you love about the New Pornographers (less Neko), and none of what you don't (Dan Bejar).

• Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
  I... just... don't... get... it.  I guess I'm uncool or something, but I don't see anyone listening to this album in a year.  It sounds like a mashup of Beach Boys and Flaming Lips to me, but recorded underwater.  Need more time to digest it, I suppose.

As for that new Springsteen album due next week... uh oh.  And, oh crap.

Buddy & Julie EP @ iTunes

I'm not a huge fan of these "pre-release" EP's, but if you are really itching to hear four tracks from Buddy & Julie Miller's upcoming album Written In Chalk, you can find it here on iTunes.  

(Full disclosure: The good folks at New West recently gave me access to a stream of the album, and I'll have some initial thoughts on it very soon!)

Buddy & Julie Miller - 'Written In Chalk' (EPK)

A great video about the new record from Buddy & Julie Miller called Written In Chalk.  Due March 3 from New West Records.

Heartless Bastards in LA Times; tour dates

Very nice writeup about Heartless Bastards' new record The Mountain (due Feb. 3 on Fat Possum) in the LA Times' music blog.  I'll have plenty more about The Mountain in the coming weeks, but you can check out some of the band's upcoming tour dates below:

01.30.09 - Young Ave Deli - Memphis, TN *
01.31.09 - Martyr’s - Chicago, IL *
02.03.09 - Great Scott - Boston, MA *
02.04.09 - Maxwell’s - Hoboken, NJ *
02.05.09 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA +
02.06.09 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY +
02.07.09 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY +
02.10.09 - Gravity Lounge - Charlottesville, VA *
02.12.09 - Bottle Tree - Birmingham, AL *
02.13.09 - Government Street Grocery - Ocean Springs, MS *
02.14.09 - Last Concert Café - Houston, TX *
02.28.09 - Hailey’s - Denton, TX *
03.15.09 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO
03.16.09 - Liberty Hall - Lawrence, KS
03.17.09 - Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa, OK
03.18.09 - SXSW - Austin, TX
03.19.09 - SXSW - Austin, TX
03.20.09 - SXSW - Austin, TX
03.21.09 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
03.23.09 - Lyric Oxford - Oxford, MS
03.29.09 - Mr. Smalls - Pittsburgh, PA #
04.02.09 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI #
04.03.09 - The Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL #
04.04.09 - Varsity Theater - Minneapolis, MN #
04.07.09 - The Warehouse - Calgary, AB #
04.08.09 - The Starlight Room - Edmonton, AB #
04.10.09 - The Plaza Nightclub - Vancouver, BC #
04.15.09 - The Boardwalk - Sacramento, CA #
04.16.09 - Slim’s - San Francisco, CA #
04.21.09 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ #
04.24.09 - Gothic Theater - Denver, CO #
 
* Heartless Bastards headlining
+ Show with The Black Keys
Show with Andrew Bird

Space City - Live!

Shows, you ask?  The House Of Blues in Houston has proven to do just what it promised which is to bring shows to our town that might otherwise fly over the nation's third-largest city.  Here's a list of shows that are on my radar in the next two months or so...

• Susan Tedeschi w/ James Hunter @ House Of Blues, Feb. 6 (got tix)
• Tesla @ House Of Blues, Feb. 8 (yes, I might just have to go to this show) 
• Heartless Bastards @ Last Concert Cafe, Feb. 14 (would like to go, but might be a hard sell on V-Day) 
• Lucinda Williams @ Warehouse Live, Feb. 21 (got tix)  
• Derek Trucks Band @ House Of Blues, Mar. 5 (got tix)  
• Andrew Bird w/ Heartless Bastards @ House Of Blues, Mar. 21 (definitely thinking about this one)

Pretty solid late winter lineup!