I Am Gonna Make It Through Next Year: Six (or Seven) Songs for New Year's 2015

I've always enjoyed New Year's, not just because it's an excuse to put on a nice tie and get drunk on champagne, which I do quite like. New Year's is an opportunity to give your life a context. You can look back at the past 12 months, remember the good times, inspect how you could have handled the bad times better. And at the end of the night you get to toast to your friends, hopefully kiss somebody you like and start the next day with a bloody mary, some fresh perspective and a little hope for the coming year.

So in the spirit of New Year's, I put together a list of my favorite New Year's tunes (none of them are Auld Lang Syne, although I do quite like that song) feel free to add your own in the comments:

Charles Brown - Bringing in a Brand New Year

Charles Brown is, in my opinion, one of the greatest blues pianists andsingers. His version of "Trouble Blues" is maybe one of my favorite cool blues tunes of all time. He also put out a really killer album of Christmas tunes that is worth checking out next holiday season. At the end of that record he recorded this song, a jumpy, happy tune about partyin' and gettin' a little sugar from his baby on New Year's Eve. Nothin' wrong with that!

Dan Fogelberg - Same Old Auld Lang Syne

For whatever reason, 70s cheesester Dan Fogelberg's dramatic paean to New Year's Eve nostalgia and the lonely life of a musician hits me somewhere that feels so good. The song is basically about how he is in his home town and he runs into his old flame at a grocery store on New Year's Eve and they go drink a six pack in her car and catch up. It's worth listening to the end of this one for the extremely corny Yacht Rock sax version of Auld Lang Syne.

Jeff Buckley - New Year's Prayer

New Year's Prayer is off of Buckley's tragically unfinished second album, Sketches (for My Sweetheart the Drunk). This tune walks the wire between beautiful and dissonant in true Buckley fashion, layering his ethereal vocals over an almost funky guitar line. The whole thing was produced by Tom Verlaine who you might know from the band Television and who is one of my favorite musicians of all time. 

The Mountain Goats - This Year

While I don't know that this song is explicitly about New Year's Eve, I think this is a good one to listen to every year around the turn of the year. The chorus of, "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me," alone is worth keeping in mind when you're sending the previous year packing.

Lawrence Arms - 100 Resolutions

Perhaps my all-time favorite song about New Year's. There has not been a New Year's that has gone by in the past 10+ years where I have not listened to this song at least five times on New Year's Eve/Day. A great tune about regret and hope from one of the best punk bands to ever come out of Chicago.

Peggy Lee - Is That All There Is? 

Forgive that horrible screenshot. Peggy Lee's tongue-in-cheek ode to disappointment seems like the perfect way to cap off 2014. I can't think of a better way to go forward into 2015 than to say: If that's all there is, my friends, then lets keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball. 

I hope you and yours have a fantastic New Year's Eve and an even better 2015.

edit: Can't believe I forgot one of my all-time favorite New Year's Eve tunes. D-Plan and Travis Morrison with a crystal clear image of loneliness on NYE.

RADARLANGUAGE Best of 2014 ...or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Listen To Guitar Solos

I haven't done this every year, but there have been a lot of killer records that came out this year. In no particular order here are some of my favorites:

Steve Gunn – Way Out Weather

Despite some side projects, Gunn’s true followup to his superlative “Time Off” continues the tradition of laid back, psychedelic vocals, excellent Takoma-esque guitar work and solid rhythm from John Trucsinski and Justin Tripp. Where Time Off was a straightforward trio record, Way Out Weather expands on the instrumentation and adds banjos, lap steel, harp and even some synthesizer.

Ryley Walker – All Kinds of You

I’ve been loving this record since I picked it up a few months ago. Walker, like Steve Gunn, has brought back the classic experimental folk/guitar soli style to the fore, biting of a nice chunk of Bert Jansch and Pentangle in the process. Seriously killer stuff.

Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2

I don’t need to say much about this record that hasn’t already been said. It’s one of the smartest, angriest and downright bangin’-est rap records I’ve heard in a minute.

Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

Man of the Year and Collard Greens will climb inside of your brain and never leave.

The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream

This was a total surprise record for me. I would probably punch myself in the balls for liking this record 10 years ago. The dude distills the most indulgent and awesome things about 80s Tom Petty, post-Blood on the Tracks Dylan and Dire Straits and adds a healthy dollop of psychedelic fuzz. I was telling someone recently that this record made me like guitar solos (Television and Thin Lizzy notwithstanding).

Pallbearer – Fountains of Burden

Heavy, melodic doom. Another solid hitter from Pallbearer. Slowly creeping their way up my list of favorite metal bands.

Spoon – They Want My Soul

Rent I Pay is one of the best S1T1s in Spoon’s discography. And that’s saying something. This record is a little bit funkier and looser than Transference. In my opinion, Spoon is the best straight up rock and roll band around right now (further solidified by that stinker of an album Black Keys put out this year)

Tinariwen – Emmaar

Tinariwen record all of their albums in the desert. Due to political strife in their native Mali, they recorded Emmaar in Joshua Tree. Not only is this record killer, but I had the chance to see Tinariwen both this year and last year and they put on a HELL of a show. If you get the chance, go check out these desert blues badasses.

Chet Faker – Built on Glass

“Gold” was probably one of my favorite tracks of this year. Soulful, funky and weird in equal measure. This dude has the formula DOWN. Also this video slays.

Wye Oak – Shriek           

Jenn Wasner switched from guitar to bass on this record. The result is a little funkier, a little more tightened up without losing any of Wye Oak’s signature vaguely creepy, mournfulness. Also the bassline in The Tower is one of the most awesome basslines ever.

Dangers – Five O’Clock Shadows at the Edge of the Western World

I was telling a friend recently that I would put Dangers’ previous record, “Messy, Isn’t It?” up with bands like Refused in terms of willingness to just write brutal riffs and get real weird with it. Five O’Clock Shadows… despite its cumbersome name is another slab of fucking pissed off, literate hardcore. Like Everytime I Die if they didn’t buy into their own Southern Cock Rock Bullshit. Now that I'm out on the West Coast, I'm psyched to see these dudes live. Looks like a killer show.

I'm sure I left a lot out. Got bones to pick? Leave me a comment or flip me off in the street.

Calypso Blues - Winter 2014

While most of my friends are freezing up in the Great White North, I'm relaxing with a rum-filled coconut in California. But even cowboys get the blues, and those of us living in paradise have no exception.

That's why I whipped up a mix of sad, scary and lonesome tunes from the Caribbean islands for you all this winter. I hope you enjoy.

Notes of Import:
Calypso is really cool. Not only did Calypso musicians have super awesome names like Lord Executor, Roaring Lion and Attilla the Hun, dressed in crazy costumes and had giant-sized personalities (I think you could make a case that the first ever recorded music beef/dis-rap was between Calypsonians, I'll get to more on that later) but Calypso musicians used the traditional format of the calypso to talk pretty explicitly about everything from current events to sports to how they felt about each other and the world around them.

For instance, Lord Caresser (also known as The Caresser, what a tight name) wrote Edward VIII on the eve of said Monarch's abdication, giving listeners information on what was going on in the British Royal Family during that turbulent time. Lord Executor's "Seven Skeleton's Found in the Yard" is about an actual event in which some construction workers dug up seven skeletons of people who were apparently murdered when working on a site in Trinidad. There are TONS of other examples of calypsonians discussing current events. If you're interested, peep Rounder's dope compilation Roosevelt in Trinidad which is at once a historical document and a kick ass Calypso compilation.

But calypsos can also be very personal. Check out Roaring Lion's "Death" or Atilla the Hun's "Dorothea" for some real personal looks into love and death (the greatest topics of all). Caresser's "Exploiting" takes a political turn, while Blind Blake (yes that Blind Blake)'s "Peas and Rice" Alick Nkhata's "Subsistence" and Nat King Cole's "Calypso Blues" all discuss the hardships of island life.

Probably my favorites on this mix, though, are Wilmoth Houdini's "War Declaration" followed up by Lord Executor, Roaring Lion and Atilla the Hun's "War". Basically it breaks down to this. Houdini moved to New York in the 30s to perform calypsos for the white folk who were starting to go crazy for calypso. Executor, Lion and Atilla all thought that this was pretty wack and began to talk smack about Mr. Houdini, so Houdini recorded "War Declaration" basically a straight up "I'm cool, y'all suck" track that anyone who has ever listened to rap music would be familiar with. The COOLEST part about this is that Executor, Lion and Atilla got together and recorded "War" - a dis track of the highest order that could go toe-to-toe with any Eminem beef track in my opinion.

Also don't miss Henri Debs' superlative zouk jam "Ti Cou a Vou" Felix and his Krazy Kats' take on  "Bei Mir Bist Du Shein" (maybe you're familiar with the Andrews Sisters' version? And Luiz Gonzaga's "A Morte Do Vaquero" which, while not technically of Caribbean origin, still fits the bill, methinks.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. Pay attention to C.W. Stoneking's "The Love me or Die" this dude is making music currently and is basically the Tom Waits of calypso music.

So, pour yourself a rum punch, pop on your headphones and imagine that Blue Tropical Moonlight coming down through the palms.

Tracklist
----------------------------
1) Lord Caresser - Edward the VIII
2) Roaring Lion - Death
3) Atilla the Hun - Dorothea
4) Lord Executor - Seven Skeletons Found in the Yard
5) Wilmoth Houdini - War Declaration
6) Lord Executor, Roaring Lion, Atilla the Hun - War
7) Alick Nkhata's Band - Subsistence
8) Luiz Gonzaga - A Morte Do Vaquerho
9) Heri Debs - Ti Cou a Vou
10) Young Tiger - Sadu Man
11) Felix and his Krazy Kats - Bei Mir Bist Du Shein
12) Wilmoth Houdini - Cecilia
13) King Radio - Old Men Come Back Again
14) Lord Caresser - Exploiting
15) Small Island Pride - Bad Payment
16) C.W. Stoneking - The Love Me or Die
17) Blind Blake - Peas and Rice
18) Nat King Cole - Calypso Blues

C/A/L/Y/P/S/O/B/L/U/E/S

Aguaverde - Summer 2014

I'm calling it. It's summer time. In honor of the upcoming weekend which I hope will be filled with much relaxing, perhaps a rum-based cocktail or two and maybe a large quantity of grilled meat I'd like to soundtrack your summer with the sweet vibes of Bresil.

I first got interested in Brazilian music after hearing the unbeatable compilation "Tropicalia - A Brazilian Revolution in Sound" from SoulJazz. If you don't already have this record it is one of the best compilations SoulJazz (who are at the top of the game, in my opinion) has ever put out. Get it.

Let me ramble on about the roots of Tropicalia for just a second. Born out of the fires of a repressive government trying to quell the spirit of rebellion that was spreading across the globe in the late 60s by trying to keep a lid on outside culture, Tropicalia combined music and radical politics in a way that really hasn't been seen in Brazil before or since. These dudes were part poet, part psychedelic weirdo, building trippy rock tunes out of the roots of traditional Brazilian samba and bossa nova.

They were basically psychedelic, funky Brazilian punks. Quite a few of the architects of Tropicalia were even exiled from Brazil for decades because of their radical music and political stance. (Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil who were two of the main figureheads of the Tropicalia movement lived in london until the mid-to-late 70s. Upon returning, Gil even served as the Minister of Culture for Brazil under Luiz da Silva)

In this mix I've included a couple of Tropicalia tracks as well as some of my favorite Brazilian tunes from before and after that era. Check out Gilberto Gil's fuzzed out "Bat Macumba" and the breezy psychedelia of Os Mutantes' "A Minha Menina" on the Tropicalia front. I've included two songs by Baden Powell and Vincius de Moraes as well as "Samba de Minha Terra" by Joao Gilberto, these guys (along with Antonio Carlos Jobim) pretty much singlehandedly developed Bossa Nova. More recently, Sandra Sa's 1983 jam, "Trem da Central" represents movements in Brazilian music toward a slightly more electronic, funky sound.

Tons of jams on this mix. Have a caipirinha or four and let the jams guide your weekend.

AGUAVERDE

1) Edu Lobo - Aguaverde
2) Baden Powell & Vincius de Moraes - Canto de Ossanha
3) Astrud Gilberto - Take it Easy my Brother Charlie
4) Jorge Ben - Mas, Que Nada!
5) Os Mutantes - A Minha Meinina
6) Gilberto Gil - Bat Macumba
7) Elizabeth Cardoso - Na Cadencia do Samba
8) Tim Maia - Belleza
9) Sandra Sa - Trem da Central
10) Martinho da Vila - Claustrofobia
11) Nara Leao - Birimbau
12) Abilo Mandel - Olha La
13) Chico Buarque - Sem Fantasia
14) Joao Gilberto - Samba da Minha Terra
15) Geraldo Azevedo - Berekeke
16) Baden Powell & Vincius de Moraes - Canto de Xango

Many thanks to Luke Warmcop at Tristes Humanistes and Clifton at Aquarium Drunkard for hipping me to some of these tunes.

A/G/U/A/V/E/R/D/E

There is Life in the Blades - Spring 2014

Even though it snowed here yesterday, I'm ready for spring and I'm feeling like it's time to get up and stretch my legs and maybe shake an ass or two. This mix has some party jams, some old funk deep cuts and a couple hypnotic tunes from around the world. There are four songs on this mix that are over 6 minutes, and they are all worth start-to-finish listens.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

Terry Callier's "You're Goin' To Miss Your Candyman," has a sublime and soulful closing minute and maybe one of the best basslines of all time and the Isley Brothers double up on CSNY's "Ohio" and Jimmy Hendrix's "Machine Gun" (check out Ernie Isley's DANK drumming on that track, also, fun fact - Hendrix played with the Isleys for most of 1964, don't say I never taught you nothin'!)

New Orleans Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas' "Ruler of My Heart" might sound familiar as it's actually a weird skew on Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart" which is one of my favorite songs of all time.

The song "Addis Ababa Rock" by Inner Circle is not exactly the same Inner Circle as the group who recorded the theme song to COPS, their first iteration was fronted by the sublime Jacob Miller who joined Jimi and Kurt Cobain in the 27 club in 1980.

Antropoloops is a mashup/loop artist from Spain whose work I snap up whenever I can, you can peep more of it (and download all of his songs for free) at antropoloops.tumblr.com

Listen up and shake off those wintertime blues.

Chet Faker - Gold
Schoolboy Q - Man of the Year
Phantogram - Black Out days
The War on Drugs - An Ocean Between the Waves
Isley Brothers - Ohio/Machine Gun
Terry Callier - You're Goin' To Miss Your Candyman
Sinkane - Jeeper Creeper
Inner Circle - Addis Ababa Rock
Swamp Dogg - Creepin' Away
Ike & Tina - Cussin', Cryin' & Carryin' On
antropoloops - Twin Cheganca
Tinariwen - Chaghaybou
Irma Thomas - Ruler of my Heart
Young Tiger - Calypso Bebop

There/is/Life/in/the/Blades

Les Songes d'Automne

31 songs, mostly acoustic guitar, a few solo banjo pieces. This was my first crack at making a seasonal mix and I originally shared it with friends in the fall of 2013.

Tracklist:

Nico – The Fairest of the Seasons

Atahualpa Yupanqui – El Cielo Esta Dentro de Mi

Giles, Giles & Fripp – I Talk to the Wind

Nic Jones – Planxty Davis

Peter Walker – Norwegian Wood

George Stavis – Finland Station

John McGrath – Ghosty’s Spinach Song

Alexander Turnquist – Standing at the Entrance of a Hidden City

Bibio – You Won’t Remember…

Chuck Johnson – Mine Creek

George Cromarty – Rain Song

Glenn Jones – Bergen County Farewell

Jack Rose – Sunflower River Blues

James Blackshaw – Running to the Ghost

M. Mucci – Dangerous Summer

Gob Iron – Instr. #4

Robbie Basho – Elk Dreamer’s Lament

William Tyler – Hotel Catatonia

Danny Paul Grody – Grass Nap

Bert Jansch – Blackwaterside

Gustavo Santolalla – Iguazu

Nick Drake – Road

Elliott Smith – Satellite

Matelo Ferret – Songe D’Automne

Toumani Diabaté – Kaounding Cissoko

Phillip Roebuck – Carrick Bend

Wizz Jones & Pete Stanley – Ramblin & Gamblin

Barde – Les Trois Hommes Noirs

Tir Na Nog – Time is Like a Promise

Dirty Three – Alice Wading

Pure Prairie League – Falling in and out of Love

Les/Songes/d'Automne

In a Crowded Station

I'm (maybe infrequently) inspired to make little mixes of music that I am digging at the current moment, I figured I might share some of them with you.