If I had it to do over again...

I would have spent more time in my formative years listening to music that makes me smile, and less time with the doom and gloom.

(Cue The Meters, circa '74)

Jukebox Upchuck #28

You wouldn't necessarily know it from reading my blog on a regular basis, but I'm a sucker for The Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt is among the best pop songwriters of the past two decades -- if not the best. Plenty of people are already familiar with 69 Love Songs, but may not have explored his more electronic back catalog. The Charm of the Highway Strip, released in 1994, is his country concept record, and probably my favorite. For a change of pace, here's a couple tunes from that record...

The Magnetic Fields – "Born on a Train"
The Magnetic Fields – "Two Characters in Search of a Country Song"

Chairs are for sitting, vol. 3*

There has been much dispute over the origin of the chair. Some say the chair dates back to well before Christ; others contend that its origins can be traced back only several hundred years. This photo clearly shows that chairs have been around at least as long as cigarettes.

*Historical evidence that chairs are indeed for sitting.

If I had it to do over again...

I would have gone to see My Morning Jacket a couple more times on their 2004 tour for It Still Moves, one of my favorite records of the 2000s. Oh, how I long for the days when Jim James had a face full of hair. I just can't get into their new recordings; bring back lead guitarist Johnny Quaid!

Anyway, I'll be visiting MMJ's neck of the woods this weekend -- The 'Ville, Kentucky -- so no posts until Monday. Until then, let your hair down...

Jukebox Upchuck #27

Apparently, Charlie Louvin is going to play Bonnaroo this year, which surprises me as he turns 80 this July. He and his brother, Ira (long deceased), formed one of the best country gospel acts of their day. You'll recognize "The Christian Life," as Gram Parsons/The Byrds, among others, popularized it among the cool country set. For some fucking stupid reason, the Country Music Hall of Fame waited until 2001 to enshrine them. It's easy to hear where all sorts of followers may have gained inspiration from their recordings; the modern act that always pops into my mind first is The Handsome Family. Here's a couple tunes from their essential 1959 album, Satan Is Real.

The Louvin Brothers – "The Christian Life"
The Louvin Brothers – "Are You Afraid To Die"

Jukebox Upchuck #26

Pitchfork posted an mp3 today of Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) doing an acoustic version of "Green Typewriters" by his old Elephant 6 mates, The Olivia Tremor Control. (You don't want to hear it, trust me.) But that got me thinking about OTC, one of my favorite unsung '90s bands. Here's a couple tunes from their superb 1996 debut, Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle. The band was/is the brainchild of a pair of guys from rural Louisiana, Bill Doss and W. Cullen Hart, who later relocated to Athens. They received help on this album from Robert Schneider and Jeff Mangum, among others. I opted for a couple of the more accessible songs from the record, but its strong suit is really the 25-minute suite "Green Typewriters," which incorporates lengthy bouts of natural ambiance with a string of brief psychedelic segues and one killer theme song. Well worth checking out.

The Olivia Tremor Control – "Jumping Fences"
The Olivia Tremor Control – "No Growing (Exegesis)"

Jukebox Upchuck #25

Dungen's new album, Tio Bitar, is dropping on May 1 in the States. A few songs have already leaked, and the rockers sound dense and heavy, more so than just about anything on the spectacular Ta Det Lugnt. As usual, the record is sung in Swedish, so we don't have to worry about how corny the lyrics may in fact be. (Just a hunch; "Ta Det Lugnt", after all, translates to "Take it easy".) None of these songs are as immediately gripping as "Panda" or "Festival", as they each have a bit more prog in their DNA. That's not too surprising, as having seen Dungen live I can testify that at the group's core, they're a prog band. (And that's fine by me, something I wouldn't have necessarily agreed with two years ago, before, for example, I first heard Andy Votel's Vertigo Mixed.) May 1 can't get here soon enough...

Dungen – "Gör Det Nu"
Dungen – "Caroline Visar Vagen"
Dungen – "Du Ska Inte Tro Att Det Ordnar Sig"

Jukebox Upchuck #24

I've tried so many times to convince people that Chicago's Catfish Haven are worth their time that I've lost count. For the most part, I've failed. Whatever. I still dig 'em. They put on one of the best live performances you'll see from a trio fronted by an acoustic guitar. George Hunter fuses Joe Cocker with Sam Cooke in such an effortless way, it's disarming. So disarming, methinks, that it scares the bejesus out of most peeps. I've gone to Catfish Haven shows and witnessed Hunter lay it all on the line -- spewing sincere clichés as if they were cheaper by the dozen (just as the black soul brethren he cherishes once did before him). At these shows, white, typically snobbish indie kids look as if they're trapped in an uncomfortable half nelson, too dumbstruck and insecure to dance to a trio of white indie kids channeling black rhythm & blues. One can see their minds turning, scrambling to answer the question, "Where is my precious irony?" It's sad, really.* Ahem. /end rant, cue music\

Catfish Haven – "I Don't Worry"
Catfish Haven – "Let It Go"
Catfish Haven – "Down By Your Fire"

*Or, maybe they just need to be force fed some Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett?

Jukebox Upchuck #23

Here's today's tunes, from Soft Circle, who Pitchfork raved about today. I know little about Soft Circle -- I'm a lazy researcher, so shoot me -- but I found these two trippy-dippy songs to be good "work music," i.e. music to listen to at work while working.

Soft Circle – "Moon Oar Sunrise"
Soft Circle – "Shimmer"

Jukebox Upchuck #22

The Greenhornes' collaboration with Holly Golightly (originally from The Greenhornes' album Dual Mono*) was a perfect fit in Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers. I often daydream about being the lucky sort of person who gets to pick songs for soundtracks. How do I get that gig, anyway? While I ponder that, enjoy this sensational song that sounds as if it was plucked from the year 1968.

The Greenhornes – "There Is an End"

*Definitely worth tracking down, by the way; this song is a unique highlight in that it's the only one with Holly on vocals, but the entire record is great. ...Er, wait a sec, as Listmaker points out, she sings on another song on the album. That's what I get for going with my memory instead of pulling the record out. Lazy fucker.

If I had it to do over again...

I would have moved to France a decade ago, formed a retro rock band, and competed with the Dum Dum Boys for superiority. I don't know much about these dudes, other than the fact that they have good taste in covers (The Modern Lovers, Suicide, Alex Chilton) and they've been around for 20 or so years. Oh, and they obviously dig Spacemen 3 and The Stooges. (Or at least they did in 1987.)

Jukebox Upchuck #21

I've got a treat for you today, a few songs from psych-folk singer-songwriter Linda Perhacs. Her lone album, Parallelograms, was released in 1970, and you've likely never heard anything quite like it. Perhacs was a dental hygienist living in southern California when she recorded this record. Like many other fleeting female folk artists of her time, her music fell mostly on deaf ears, and she quickly reverted back to her everyday life. Members of the current "freak folk" movement have helped to uncover many gems -- from Karen Dalton to Vashti Bunyan -- and Perhacs' music may just be the most unique of them all. "Chimacum Rain" is simply gorgeous; "Sandy Toes" more straightforward; and the title track just brilliantly bizarre.

Linda Perhacs – "Chimacum Rain"
Linda Perhacs – "Sandy Toes"
Linda Perhacs – "Parallelograms"

Scary semi-nudes, part two

R.I.P. We hardly got a chance to get to know your boobs.

Jukebox Upchuck #20

These three extremely long-legged women from Brooklyn play keyboards! Lots of keyboards!! And I either hate or really like all of their songs that I've heard. There's no grey area. Here's one I like.

Au Revoir Simone – "Sad Song"

Jukebox Upchuck #19

I took today off work to enjoy a day-long snowfall, or possibly to avoid having to be outside in it. It's eight degrees. Yesterday was a tad colder. And yesterday, I had to walk to work at 6:30 in the morning -- before the sun had fully come up -- because the car wouldn't start. Then, I spent the afternoon removing the old battery and installing a new one. I think I've earned a day indoors. But that doesn't mean I'm going to snub our first legitimate snowfall of the winter by ignoring the view from my window.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" (still one of my fave winter songs)
Galaxie 500 – "Listen, the Snow Is Falling"

Lee Hazlewood, whose songs are crucial to my way of life, is dying of cancer in his late '70s. Born a Dust Bowl Okie, Lee's reputation was earned as a producer/songwriter for such olden stars as Duane Eddy and Nancy Sinatra. While that rep is justified, it's caused many to overlook his own catalog of records. Over the course of 40-plus years, he's released a surprisingly small number of albums, taking off the bulk of the '80s and '90s. But the few songs he has recorded are simply spectacular. Lee belongs in consideration with all the great country-rock artists we normally discuss -- from Cash to Willie to Townes to Parsons. Two weeks ago he released what may well be his swan song, Cake or Death. Here's a sneak peak at his catalog.

Lee Hazlewood – "Long Black Train"(from 1963's Trouble Is a Lonesome Town)

Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra – "Some Velvet Morning" (from 1968's Nancy and Lee)
Lee Hazlewood – "I'll Live Yesterdays"(from 1971's Requiem for an Almost Lady)
Lee Hazlewood – "It's Nothing to Me" (from 2007's Cake or Death)

Bonus video: Lee Hazlewood – "No Train to Stockholm" (from 1970's Cowboy in Sweden)

If I had it to do over again...

I would have made a point to introduce myself to this guy, Alan Gillett, who's from my old stomping grounds of Peoria, Illinois. Just watch the video, then read up on him. He's apparently performing at some sort of low-budget America's Next Country Superstar shindig a few years ago in Nashville.

Jukebox Upchuck #17

How can I resist? Seriously, you know I've got a thing for panda bears and Photoshop. This is the solo project for the drummer from Animal Collective. Regardless of how you may feel about AC, check this song out. The album, Person Pitch (its artwork is above) is getting hyped as a second coming of Pet Sounds, which from the couple songs I've heard is a big stretch. But I do really like this. It's rhythmic/repetitive like AC, but with a greater emphasis on vocal melody.

Panda Bear – "Comfy in Nautica"