New material includes covers of Fats Waller and Weill/Brecht.

By Blurt Staff

Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, originally issued as a limited edition 3CD set on Anti- in November of 2006, will be reinvented on December 8 as a limited edition vinyl set, complete with a deluxe 12" booklet and six new bonus cuts. The collection totals 62 tracks over seven full length LPs, all pressed on 180 gram vinyl. (In the original CD collection, the package contained 30 new recordings which have now been upped to 32 with two newly recorded tracks as part of the bonus 6 on the vinyl set.)

An assemblage of rare, new and mostly unheard tracks, ORPHANS includes irreverent--or, rather, remarkably relevant-covers of songs by artists as disparate as the Ramones and Leadbelly, along with WAITS compositions originally recorded by other artists. Waits' selections dazzle as sonic experiments and twisted tales.

WAITS says, "Orphans are rough and tender tunes. Rhumbas about mermaids, shuffles about train wrecks, tarantellas about insects, madrigrals about drowning. Scared, mean, orphaned songs of rapture and melancholy. Songs that grew up hard. Songs of dubious origin rescued from cruel fate and now left wanting only to be cared for. Show that you are not afraid and take them home. They don't bite, they just need attention."

Each of the three CDs is separately grouped and sub-titled - "Brawlers," "Bawlers" and "Bastards" - to capture the full spectrum of Waits' ranging and roving musical styles. "Brawlers" is chock full of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomp, "Bawlers" contains Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits songs, while "Bastards" is filled with experimental music and strange tales.

Termed "a definitive album" by Robert Christgau in Rolling Stone, the original CD release of ORPHANS was among the fastest-selling offering of WAITS' career, and a hit with critics.

Among the bonus tracks exclusive to this vinyl collectors' edition are a whimsical take on Fats Waller's "Crazy ‘Bout My Baby" and "Diamond In Your Mind," a WAITS/BRENNAN song first heard on Solomon Burke's GRAMMY-winning CD Don't Give Up On Me. Others include "Pray," Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht's "Canon Song," "No One Can Forgive Me" and "Mathie Grove."

Meanwhile, WAITS is set to release Glitter and Doom Live on November 23 both on LP and as a 2 CD set. Keep your eyes peeled at BLURT for a full review next week.

On Christmas Day, WAITS hits the big screen alongside Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and the late Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. And in January, he can also be seen in the Hughes Brothers' Book of Eli with Denzel Washington.

It's a ho-ho-ho set to go-go-go: send your caroling request to the Koster clan asap!

By Blurt Staff

Once again, Julian Koster and his Singing Saw will come to your house to bring songs, stories, and good cheer to you and your friends - all you have to do is invite them. 

Julian introduced the world to the wonderful holiday traditions of his friends, The Singing Saws, last year with The Singing Saw at Christmastime. This bizarre and beautiful album and it's accompanying glimpse into Julian's vivid imagination has become an instant holiday classic.  If you have not yet heard The Singing Saw at Christmastime, please let me know.  A video of Julian and his Saw playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and a downloadable MP3 can be found here.

You may invite the carolers to visit your house by emailing musictapescaroling@gmail.com or by mailing a handwritten letter to 450 N. Harris St. Athens, GA  30601 (due to time constraints, please send an email to let the "caroling ambassador" know you are sending a letter).

Be sure to include an email address or telephone number for reply.  Invitations where the hosts indicate that they would be willing to entertain outside guests on caroling night are preferred. Please note your permission to invite others from the area to your house and whether you can offer the carolers a place to sleep in your letter or email. 

Once the limit on houses on a given night has been reached, the address of each house that will welcome guests will be distributed via email to all who email musictapescaroling@gmail.com and ask to attend. The addresses of the houses will not be posted online.

Proposed Path:

December 7th, 8th, 9th: Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana & Lower Half of Illinois

December 10th, 11th, 12th: Chicago, Illinois, Michigan

December 13th, 14th, 15th: Ohio, Pittsburgh, Western NY

December 16th, 17th, 18th: Upstate NY, New England (CT, RI, VT etc)

December 19th, 20th, 21st: Philadelphia, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Chapel Hill

Band featured members of Radio Birdman and Hoodoo Gurus.

By Blurt Staff

With the classic Australian rock scene of the late ‘70s through mid ‘80s getting steadily documented over the past years - we've seen key titles from Radio Birdman, the Saints, Hoodoo Gurus, Died Pretty, Scientists and others arrive as remastered and often expanded reissues - now comes word of yet another choice title, this one from Sydney punk legends the Hitmen.

Led by Birdman guitarist Chris Masuak, and Birdman cohort Johnny Kannis, the band where the Gurus recruited Brad Shepherd and Mark Kingsmill from. Shepherd was gone by the time the group cut its definitive recording, Tora Tora DTK (Kingsmills appears on it however), and it was also the band's swansong live album, recorded in 1984 during what was their farewell tour at the time. It includes all their classic tracks, like "Didn't Tell The Man" and  "I Don't Mind" along with their killer covers of "Shake Some Action" and "Solid As A Rock."

Expanded to double disc and issued by the Shock/Savage label, Tora Tora now includes 6 more tracks from the same shows, including stage favourites 'Suspicious Minds', 'Search & Destroy' and 'Louie Louie'. The second disc includes the band's '91 comeback album Moronic Inferno in its entirity (featurin Birdman's Deniz Tek), plus outtakes, plus the earlier U.E.L.A. EP and  Masuak's own Cowboy Angel mini-lp all as a bonus.

This comes on the heels of Savage's other two Hitmen offerings, The Hitmen and It Is What It Is, so no doubt Hitmen completists will be in Oz heaven at the news.

Incidentally, if you happen to be in Australia this weekend and next, the band has gotten back together for a string of reunion shows, including Melbourne's Cherry Bar (Nov. 14 and 20) and Sydney's Sandringham Hotel (Nov. 21).

Fancy heading down to a Soho boozer? Now you can do it in the privacy of your own home... Alex Chilton is buying the drinks!

By Blurt Staff

As if the flood of  Saint Etienne releases this year wasn't enough (most recently, the remix album Foxbase Beta, reviewed here), St. E completists have yet another item to scoop up: Saint Etienne Present Songs for The Dog & Duck, a 25-song mixtape compiled by the group and featuring everything from space-age ‘60s instrumentals and vintage soul to glam and funk. It's out on Britain's Ace label.

Bob Stanley, writing on the group's MySpace blog, explains:

"In the making for some years now has been a sequel to SAINT ETIENNE PRESENT SONGS FOR MARIO'S CAFE. Having soundtracked fabled daytime haunts, we are now ready to plough on into the evening with SAINT ETIENNE PRESENT SONGS FOR THE DOG & DUCK. The Dog & Duck was the fabled Heavenly hang out, an extension of their office after 5pm. It doesn't have a jukebox but if it did we'd like it to sound something like this, a healthy mix of soul, r&r, pop, glam, girl groups, plus Bill Oddie's lost tortured classic. Raucous, melancholy, tearful, the whole panoply."

The label elaborates:

"This compilation is a tribute to the Soho pubs that have proved fertile ground for musicians, publishers and general Pop-obsessed layabouts. The Dog & Duck, specifically, was the pub of choice for the Heavenly label, an annex of the office on Frith Street. [Heavenly was Saint Etienne's early label.] This is a soundtrack for a session in the Dog & Duck (or the Blue Posts, or the Ship), a jukebox selection to reflect the characters and conversations taking place a stones throw from Denmark Street, the 2 I's, and the 100 Club; totemic locations in British Pop history. 25 tracks including cuts from Duffy Power, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Ohio Players, Alex Chilton, Sniff 'N' The Tears and many others. Ace Records.

"Ace have never previously put out any CDs featuring UK glam rock next to rockabilly and sweet soul: I'm sure not many people thought we ever would. But this is the soundtrack to an evening in a Soho boozer - an eclectic selection of great music across the pop oeuvre on an imaginary jukebox stationed in a (real) pub called the Dog And Duck. Bob Stanley and his Saint Etienne team-mates, Dog And Duck habitués, have picked their dream musical moments to accompany a night of serious drinking and pop philosophising."

Full details at the Ace site; tracklisting is below.

1. Hi Flutin' Boogie - John Scott
2. Davy O'brien - Duffy Power
3. Lost - The Darlettes
4. Make Me Yours - Bettye Swann
5. I Was Born To Love You - Herbert Hunter
6. Walkin' Through A Cemetery - Claudine Clark
7. Rock'n'Bones - Elroy Dietzel
8. Jitterbop Baby - Hal Harris
9. Dancing Round The World - Little Richard
10. She Does Everything For Me - The Zombies
11. The Way Of The Crowd - Dan Folger
12. I Can't Get Through - Bill Oddie
13. Lay This Burden Down - Mary Love
14. Sweep It Out In The Shed - Little Ann
15. How Can I Tell You - Barbara Lewis
16. The Emi Song (Smile For Me) - Alex Chilton
17. Driver's Seat - Sniff 'N' The Tears
18. Midnight Flight 2 - Angelo & Eighteen
19. Good Time Comin' - Mustard
20. Hand Clappin' Time - Gino With Johnny Greek
21. Having A Good Time - Huey Smith
22. Varee Is Love - Ohio Players
23. We Belong Together - Robert & Johnny
24. Smoke Rings - Les Paul & Mary Ford
25. Pinball - Brian Protheroe

Feist, Jamie Lidell and others pitch in, in addition to Wilco.

By Blurt Staff

Following up on that news from a few months back about Beck teaming up with Wilco to cover the 1969 Skip Spence album Oar as part of his ongoing "Record Club" where he rounds up like-minded collaborators to tackle classic albums: it not turns out that in addition to members of Wilco, Jeff Tweedy's kid Spencer Tweedy, Bill Withers drummer James Gadson, Jamie Lidell and Feist are also on the recording.

You can already see/hear their version of Spence's "Little Hands" at the Beck site now, or below. For anyone familiar with the original, take heart; it's a superb version, true to the emotional tenor of Spence's reading.

Writes Beck, of the Oar project:

This one took place last June when Wilco was in town for the release of their new eponymous album. They came by after a long day filming a TV appearance and still managed to put down 8 songs with us. Jamie Lidell was in the studio with me working on his new record. Leslie Feist happened to be in town editing her documentary and heard we were all getting together. Recording took place at Sunset Sound Studios in the room where the Stones did a lot of Exile On Main Street (and looking at the records on the walls it appeared that the Doobie Brothers recorded most of their output there too). Sitting in on drums, we had James Gadson, who's played on most of the Bill Withers records and on songs like 'Express Yourself' and 'I Will Survive.' Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer played played additional drums. Also, Brian Lebarton, from the last two Record Club sessions is back.

All together now, then - "Little hands clapping, all over the world..."

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Watt (on Bass) and Williamson (on Axe) on all things not necessarily Iggy...

By Fred Mills

Followers of the mighty Mike Watt are familiar with the Minutemen/Stooges/Secondmen bassist's "The Watt From Pedro Show" which can be downloaded as a podcast from his TWFPS site. Last weekend Watt had a special guest - new/old Stooges guitarist James Williamson, and the pair weighed in on the band's estimable legacy, the upcoming reunion shows, and more.

And get a look at some of the tunes Watt spun during the course of the three-hour webcast (the Williamson interview is in two parts during the first two hours, then the third hour is given over to some intriguing indiedom):

"three little words" john coltrane

"dancing queen" petra haden

"shake appeal" iggy & the stooges

"death trip" iggy & the stooges

"kill yr idols" sonic youth

"raw power" (live) iggy & the stooges

"no more white horses" t2

"at beef's house" 7 foot buffer

untitled (recorded sep 21, 2009) shiner w/motoko honda

"crayons" disconsolate manufactory

"fear and science" lo-fi calvinists

"full bladder" qtera

"shadow and traveler" bad taste

"sprovod" pleme

"put some clothes on" the nice sharp pencils

"flanger in the night" the cosmic plot

"beat over brains" black mamba beat!

"truck" dmf

"step inside our lives" kings of lowertown

"tank" pull anchor

"quiet sound" jimmy ohio

Check it out now at the Watt site...

Stomp Up And Do The Right Thing, Fans: Fall Fund Drive In Progress Now...

By Blurt Staff

"It's not just about music, it's about life itself, you know what I mean? The Stomp's for real, man."  Lil' Buck Sinegal

  After 8 years of critically acclaimed shows during April/May, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation announces a change of seasons. As a non-profit organization celebrating American roots music, the Stomp has had unprecedented growth in recent years; in addition to the concerts in New Orleans, Austin and New York, their small staff has launched a packed music conference, a developing archive of oral histories, monthly ‘After Hours' shows at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and ‘Unsung Heroes', an exhibition celebrating Louisiana's role in the development of rock n' roll, on display at the Louisiana State Museum's Cabildo in the French Quarter.

There's also the recent release of the Ponderosa Stomp short film. The Ponderosa Stomp was founded to showcase and honor the world's most authentic performers of rockabilly, R&B, jazz, blues, garage, soul, funk, and swamp pop. The film focuses on Classie Ballou, Lil' Buck Sinegal and Roy Head, integral Stomp performers. These three exemplary artists enjoyed early success, but found themselves toiling in obscurity later in life. When music fan Brian Gourley attended the Stomp, he was transfixed by the music and amazed that such a small group was able to bring so much music and cultural information to the fore on a shoestring. After offering to executive produce a film, he began fund-raising and working with acclaimed director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories won the Grand Jury Prize at the Austin Film Festival) and the Butler Bros production team.

Gourley explains, "The film presented itself at the right time; it let me pour my love of music into a project that I thought would help give props to its roots. Without roots, there are no trees."

The film makes it easy to see the importance of the Stomp's mission and the impact of its work. Continuing to recognize influential artists like Ballou, Sinegal and Head and hundreds of others and documenting their stories is a fundamental part of the Foundation's mission. Plans to expand an oral history archive are moving forward and the "Secret History of Rock n' Roll" is currently on exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum.

Now, the Stomp has announced it will hold the 9th Annual Stomp concert on a weekend in the Fall for 2010. Citing the gorgeous autumn weather, moving all events to a weekend instead of mid-week for locals who aren't vacationing and cost economies for out of town fans, Stomp staffers, led by Ira Padnos, will be able to take the Stomp to its full potential. Look for more news on an exact date and locale shortly.

The Stomp is launching a fall fundraising drive to build upon these recent successes and to continue to expand their unique and vital work. Cultural preservation efforts require the technical skill, time and expertise of their small, committed staff to be successful.  The bottom line is that the Stomp needs additional resources to continue to turn the mission into action.

"We are on a crusade to convert the masses of music fans and vinyl junkies to the gospel of the Ponderosa Stomp.  We hope a visit to www.ponderosastomp.org will create a disturbance in your mind and that you will get up off your thing and get involved with the Stomp," explained Padnos.

 
To Donate: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=203846140&PcaItemId=18015

Watch the Stomp Film: www.PonderosaStomp.org

Legendary rocker to be honored as MusiCare's Person of the Year.

By Fred Mills

Been a good year for ol' Neil, eh? That massive Archives box and whatnot... he was born on this day in 1945, and just a couple of days ago he got an early birthday present when news arrived that Young will be honored on Jan. 29 in L.A. at the 2010 MusiCare's Person of the Year celebration.

According to Rolling Stone the event will be a star-studded one with a ton of musicians slated to take part in the tribute. Among them: Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mellencamp, Wilco and Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Norah Jones, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, Ozomatli, Josh Groban and Everest. It will "honor both Young's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-worthy musical achievements as well as his philanthropic work, which includes leading roles in both Farm Aid and the Bridge School benefit concerts," reports RS.

Past MusiCares Person of the Year honorees are Bono, Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin and, most recently, Neil Diamond.

Say, it is just me, or is Neil lookin' just a bit like Tricky Dick in the photo above? Not that there's a connection, but... just sayin'...

41+ Members Come Together For 18 Exclusive Songs Curated by Tim Kinsella.

By Blurt Staff

Throughout its 15 years of existence, Joan of Arc has always existed as a fluid entity -- one that freely allows musicians to enter and leave while adding their own touch and perspective to the band's records. This set-up has enabled Joan of Arc's sound to remain fresh and always evolving, while leaving behind an impressive network of contributors who continue to make music on their own.

The eclectic musical output of this extended family of musicians is showcased on Joan of Arc Presents: Don't Mind Control -- a unique record that encompasses 18 bands whose members have, at one time or another, collaborated with frontman Tim Kinsella under the Joan of Arc moniker.

The idea for this new album came several years after the 2005 release of the similar-themed Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers, when Tim Kinsella approached Polyvinyl with the idea of doing a more ambitious sequel to the original four band 2x7".

Explaining why he chose to curate such a challenging project, Tim reveals: "I wanted an opportunity to step aside and let everyone do their own thing in a way that people who know Joan of Arc, but not these members' other bands, would be able to access the songs in one place."

And so, Kinsella immediately set about contacting bandmates past and present to ask if they would contribute to the project by recording a song with their current musical incarnations. Just as quickly, all of Tim's friends each responded with an enthusiastic "Yes" and, two months later, with a brand new track.

The result is Don't Mind Control, a record even grander in scope than the original Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers. Featuring a diverse tracklist that flows from Owen's gentle acoustic strumming, to the jangly, cymbal-clashing rhythms of Vacations (ex-Chin Up, Chin Up), to the dueling electric guitars of Ghosts and Vodka (ex-Cap'n Jazz), Don't Mind Control is not so much a compilation as a time capsule -- a snapshot of a moment in musical history; of a group of musicians who are all interconnected and yet wholly unique.

"It's an easy mistake to make -- associating Joan of Arc with just me," says Tim Kinsella. "But really it's never existed as simply a vehicle to realize my personal vision as much as an umbrella under which I have been able to collaborate with so many different musicians I respect and admire."

Tracklisting:

1. Litesalive - Uwar
2. Disappears - Guider
3. Birdshow - Privacy
4. A Tundra - The Doug McComb Over
5. Owen - No More No Where
6. White/Light - Kickstart
7. Euphone w/Tim Kinsella - Friend in Common
8. Slick Conditions - Spit in Layers
9. Cale Parks - Long Looks
10. Joshua Abrams - Blanes echo Blirds, Bless echo Blouds
11. The Cairo Gang - Oh Solo
12. Tim Kinsella - Roots Dug into Dunes = Landslide
13. Jeremy Boyle - Second Door From the Left
14. The Zoo Wheel - Flicker
15. Vacations - Friday the 13th Part 2
16. Pillars and Tongues - Oakey
17. Ghosts and Vodka - Gameshow Buzzer
18. Birthmark - Drivin' me Crazy

Glad we got that settled... hey, we didn't start the fire!

By Blurt Staff

Well, it's a slow news day around the BLURT compound so we think we'll slip out early this morning and take in a 4-martini lunch and... wait, this just got slipped over the BLURT transom by one "Erin Kane, Publicist, EXTRA TV":

Please feel free to use the story below with a proper link and credit to "Extra"**

Shania Twain and Billy Joel are not making sweet music together.

The National Enquirer reported that Twain, 44, and Joel, 60, have been going on secret dates, but Twain's rep tells "Extra" that the "story is not true." Twain has been romantically linked to Frédéric Thiébaud since splitting from husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, who reportedly was cheating on her with Marie-Ann Thiébaud -- Frédéric's ex!

Joel introduced "Extra" to girlfriend Deborah Dampiere on the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera back in September.

Er, on second thought, it's STILL a slow news day around here, and now we definitely need those drinks. Meanwhile, the rest of you may ponder: why do industry publicists feel compelled to send us this kinda garbage? Or is it possible they don't even bother to take a look at our site and get a sense of what we cover? After all, we are a music site, and neither of these two celebs are really... oh, never mind...