Treat yourself to The Treats

First it was Sleeping In the Aviary, then is was The Archivist, now here comes the next big thing from Wisconsin: The Treats. The band is a three piece that hails from Madison and just recently released their second full length album, Reservoir Tales. For their sophomore effort, the band didn't have a shortage of material; the album presents a hefty load of eighteen tracks. They don't mince music either, or fail to rock out for the duration. Any more southern rock & roll than this and you're talking Free Bird. To spice things up a little, you'll note a hint of some Jon Spencer Blues Explosion jamming as well (try Ever Been Down?, below). Don't think the whole album is none stop axe work though. There are the slow burners for you, too, You Don't Have To Change for instance. Try the following, then treat yourself to the rest of the album.


The Treats - Ever Been Down? : Reservoir Tales

The Treats - You Don't Have To Change : Reservoir Tales

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Bellbottoms : Orange

the soul kitsch of Bubbles & Cheesecake

"I live in a pink house stuffed with soul. There's the soul music I create and the soul icons who are my friends and collaborators. Then there's the swirl of soul kitsch that's around everything I do, shooting my eyeballs a funkattudional zap everywhere I look. I love kitsch because so much of it is the result of deliriously un-self conscious ideas and execution. I love soul because in its most unadulterated form it's a raw expression of the heart. Soul is certainly not always kitsch and kitsch can certainly lack soul. But when they meet, both bursts of joyous exuberance can collide into one funky object. And when that happens I hope it ends up here!"

-Allee Willis

OK ladies, today's post is all about you. Any men reading this, you had better pull a Tootsie real quick cuz it's a woman thang!

Meet Bubbles & Cheesecake, a collaboration between singer-songwriter Holly Palmer (who's worked with Gnarls Barkley, Dr. Dre, and David Bowie) and Grammy award winning Songwriter Allee Willis (who's wrote chart-busting hits for Earth, Wind and Fire, The Pointer Sisters, the theme to Friends, and many others - as well as being an all around media mastermind). Put the two together and you have an ultra-kitschy dynamic duo that's full of soul, spunk, and funk. If you don't believe me, check out the two songs below.

And while you're listening to them, make sure to check out the pair's website. It's a multi-media extravaganza that you'll kill lots of time exploring. There are games to play, girl-power fuel to consume, a store full of Woman Thang merchandise (I particularly like the "Almost Nude" t-shirt), and a soul patch to inspire you. Take it all in and rejoice in your femininity (even you guys out there - your girl will love you for it).

Watch the video for the EP's title track It's A Woman Thang.

Bubbles & Cheesecake - Girl In Lust : The Soul Of Bubbles & Cheesecake EP

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

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More of Allee's songs

The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance : Break Out

The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You (Theme From Friends) : L.P.

The Vandelles don't surf!

Picture the low-fi reverbed vocals of The Raveonettes. Add some quick, down n' dirty guitar licks a la Ramones. Now send it surfing with Dick Dale and his surf rock sound. What do you end up with? The Vandelles. Retro sounds packaged up in a spiffy five track self-titled EP. Get it now to listen to while watching Apocalypse Now and screaming "Charlie don't surf!"


The Vandelles - Swell To Heaven : The Vandelles

Visit their label Safranin Sound and become their friend on MySpace.


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The Raveonettes - Attack Of The Ghost Riders : Whip It On

The Ramones - Surfin' Safari (Beach Boys cover) : buy some Ramones

Dick Dale & the Del-Tones - Death of a Gremmie : Greatest Hits 1961-1976

Eugene Ormandy: Philadelphia Orchestra - Die Walküre (Ride of Valkyries) : Wagner: Greatest Hits

commune with Mariee Sioux

You know how sometimes you go into gift shops and they have those CD displays that have all the sounds of nature CDs and the display where you can play samples of the songs. Many times there will be an album of Native American music. Don't expect anything like that while listening to Mariee Sioux's debut album Faces In the Rocks.

You will find obvious connections to native American music on Mariee's album, but it's far from hokey. It was recorded in Nevada City with the help of Gentle Thunder’s enchanting sound on a redwood-carved Native American flute as well as her own father Gary Sobonya on mandolin and offers a folk album that feels very connected to the natural world. Over these very earthly instruments, Mariee sings cryptic lyrics with almost a supernatural otherworldly sheen to them through a voice of innocence which reminds me of Jewel's earlier work.

For those of you in the Grass Valley, CA area, Mariee is having performing a record release show on Friday, November 16th with Howlin' Rain and the Moore Brothers. Can't make it? Just pick up the CD instead.


Mariee Sioux - Buried In Teeth : Faces In the Rocks

Mariee Sioux - Two Tongues At One Time (Recorded Live in Studio) : Two Tongues At One Time / Buried In Teeth single (original studio version on Faces In the Rocks)

Visit her label Grass Roots Records and become her friend on MySpace.

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Jewel - Flower (Non LP /Live) : Save The Linoleum

Puffy AmiYumi on tour

Lately you might have seen Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura (A.K.A. Puffy AmiYumi) modeling wide-leg jeans in the latest Gap campaign. You also may know them from the hit Cartoon Network series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. Or, maybe you don't know them at all! Although not well known in the U.S., the pair are regular super-stars in their home country of Japan. The girls are trying to change that though with their upcoming album Honeycreeper. Check out the video for one of their new songs here:

Oriental Diamond - Windows Media / Real Media

They'll be on the west coast this month. Check them out on the following dates:


11/11 Vancouver, BC @ Richard’s on Richards
11/13 Seattle, WA@ Moore Theatre
11/15 San Francisco@ Slim’s
11/16 West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
11/18 Anaheim, CA@ House of Blues

Puffy AmiYumi - Can-Nana Fever (Guitar Wolf cover) : I Love Guitar Wolf...Very Much

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

o-yea for Ayo

Born of a Nigerian father and Romanian Gypsy mother, singer/songwriter Ayo truly is a musician of the world. Her name means "joy" in Yoruba (one of the many languages spoken in the homeland of her father), and although not all twelve tracks on her debut album Joyful convey a sense of joy, all of them put forth powerfully emotional messages. Behind those lyrics of depth is a reggae tinted, soulfully blended, afro-beat rhythmed, instrumental base that draws its strength from its deceptive simplicity, leaving the focus on Ayo's lyrics.

If you like what you hear, the album comes out on November 20th, and there will be a TV special titled Live from Monte-Carlo which will be presented on U.S. Public Television as both a one hour special and as a 90-minute fundraising special nation-wide during the month of December. Look for it as an alternative to watching It's A Wonderful Life for the 20th time. Ayo's name has spread throughout Europe already, be sure it will do the same here in the States.


Ayo - Down On My Knees : Joyful

Ayo - Only You : Joyful

Visit her website, her label Interscope Records, and become her friend on MySpace.

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Van Morrison - Gypsy : Saint Dominic's Preview

Fela Kuti - Gentleman : The Best Best of Fela Kuti

an EP foursome

The first offering here is by Chicago band Absentstar. In preparation for their major label debut release on Canvasback Music, titled Sea Trials, the band has put out a short 4 song EP to arouse some attention. The band's got a big sound with some loud sweeping hooks. If you're looking for something to listen to while practicing for Guitar Hero III, here's your thing.


Absentstar - For God's Sake : Sea Trials EP

Visit their website, their label Canvasback Music, and become their friend on MySpace.

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House of Brothers is actually one man: Andrew Jackson, former member of The Murder of Rosa Luxembourg. He's gone from a post-hardcore band to something much different: lots of strings, gentle guitar lines, uplifting melodies, and velvety vocals. He's releasing his debut solo EP, Deadman, via Big Scary Monsters Records on November 26th, and below is the title track.


House of Brothers - Deadman : Deadman EP

Visit his label Big Scary Monsters Records and become his friend on MySpace.

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I've really been enjoying listening to Listing Ship lately. Although technically speaking the six tracks I have from them are a promo only and not an EP, I'm going to bend the rules here a little so I can show them some love. The band is a sevensome that is composed of musicians with very strong, yet diverse backgrounds, and has been around since 1997. The promo is a teaser for their fourth full length release, set to be available January of 2008. What's most striking about the band's material is the presence of two very distinct vocals: one a pair of playful popish female voices - the Lockie sisters (somewhat reminiscent to me of early Liz Phair although a bit younger sounding...maybe Pony Up! is a more apt comparison), the other a deep male voice that instantly brings to mind one of the John's from They Might Be Giants or maybe the guy from Crash Test Dummies (remember the Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm song?). Regardless, I'm really looking forward to hearing the entire album once it comes out. Here are two songs, one with the gal singing (Open Your Heart), the other with the guy (the title track-which feels like an Irish sea ditty).


Listing Ship - Open Your Heart : from the forthcoming A Hull Full of Oil and Bone

Listing Ship - Hull Full of Oil and Bone : from the forthcoming A Hull Full of Oil and Bone

Become their friend on MySpace.

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Can you really go wrong with free music? What's 5 mb of space on your hard drive for a song? That being said, it's even more of a windfall when that free music is actually pretty good. Take for example The Muckrakers' latest online free single for their song Gravity. In case you didn't know, the band was one of the first to be certified gold from selling mp3's back in 2000, so clearly they know the power of the mp3. Knowing that, it's no surprise that they will be releasing three digital singles (one month at a time) in preparation of their yet-to-be-titled fourth disc, due early 2008. Here's the first, which includes a very listenable cover of the Boss.


The Muckrakers - Gravity : Gravity Single

The Muckrakers - Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen cover) : Gravity Single B-Side

Visit their website, their label Label X, and become their friend on MySpace.

Umphrey's McGee live (from your music player)

Have you found yourself lamenting the apparent loss of the great jam bands? Still haven't accepted the fact that Jerry is dead and Phish is no more? Well, look no further than Chicago jamsters Umphrey's McGee. If you're not familiar with the sextet, they jam like there is no tomorrow. And I'm not talking hazy-gazey where are you going with that jam jamming, rather jamming that really demonstrates their musical prowess. Although while playing live the group produces extended jams and fronts constant improvisation, they have more of a progressive rock leaning to themselves than the Grateful Dead and Phish, who they are sometimes compared to.

For listeners who haven't attended one of Umphrey's concerts, with the release of Live at the Murat (recorded at the Murat Egyptian Room, in Indianapolis, IN on April 6 & 7, 2007) comes their first official live album, allowing you to get a good feel for their musically meandering ways. While this double CD album can be purchased as a studio produced physical album, other shows can be purchased in digital form on the band's website. Below you'll find the opening track on the album (In the Kitchen - a band staple) and the closing track (Padgett's Profile - a not so common track). If after hearing their recordings you want to take part in the real thing, tour dates can be found below.


Umphrey's McGee - In The Kitchen [Acoustic Structure] : Live At The Murat

Umphrey's McGee - Padgett's Profile : Live At The Murat

Visit their website, their label SCI Fidelity Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

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Upcoming Tour Dates

November 09 IU Auditorium / Univ. of Indiana Bloomington IN
November 10 Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee WI
November 15 Amos' South End Charlotte NC
November 16 City Hall Nashville TN
November 18 Bear Creek Music Festival Quincy FL
November 29 Orbit Room Grand Rapids MI
November 30 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus OH
December 01 Michigan Theatre Ann Arbor MI
December 13-17 Caribbean Holidaze Runaway Jamaica
December 29-31 The Aragon Ballroom Chicago IL
March 16-18 Jam in the Dam Amsterdam Netherlands

Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

I'm going to start by coming right out and saying I like Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden's self-titled debut album which came out earlier this week. I really do. I want to disclose that first to make sure it's clear before I tell you anything else. Kate's voice in front of the band is wonderfully delicate, even vulnerable at times. You can tell it's got a sweet soothing tone to it (which reminds me of Nina Gordon) that begs the listener to be mesmerized by it. Now I get to the part that made me offer my disclosure up front.

On the first listen, it's hard to connect to that voice which is struggling to pull you in. While listening, you're left feeling a little detached, as if she's on the other side of a big room and you're snatching the echoes of her true voice drifting into your ears. Almost as if the tracks have been touched up just one more time than they should have.

Until the final track that is, appropriately titled In the End. That one track is enough to convince me that her voice really deserves to be listened to. It's a track that very much reminds me of The Last Town Chorus both in tone as well as instrumentation (it includes what sounds like a lap steel guitar - Megan Hickey's trademark instrument). It's genuine enough, full of enough emotion, offering a real connection, that you want to listen to the rest of the album again. And going back through the album a second time you start to connect those pieces of Kate opening up her heart to you.

Again I'll tell you, I like this album and it's one I'm going to continue to listen to. But her next album...that's the one that I'm already looking forward to. In the meantime, I'm going to catch glimpses of Kate flitting here and there in this album and not complain a bit.



Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden - In The End (feat. Damien Jurado) : Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden - Faster Than Cars Drive : Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

Visit their website, their label Red Valise Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

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Nina Gordon - Nobody's Fool (Cinderella cover) : original version from Cinderella's album Night Songs

The Last Town Chorus - Wire Waltz : Wire Waltz

Saddle up with Corb Lund

Canadian Corb Lund is getting ready to release his fifth album, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!, on November 13th. In case the above picture or the album title didn't give it away, the album is of a story-telling type that revolves around the cavalry. And although Corb doesn't have any direct experience as a horse mounted warrior, he instead draws on his Albertan local tradition and familial history to paint a convincing picture for the listener to imagine. “I believe that if you write honestly and authentically about your own culture, no matter what it is, people will pick up on the universality of it,” Corb reflects. “My family has been in Alberta chasing cows for over a century, and in the American west long before that, so that's where I feel at home.”

Although Corb's album is country without a doubt, don't dismiss it as simple twang. There's a larger collection of instrumentation here than just a washboard, harmonica, and acoustic guitar. So strap on your stirrups, wrap your yellow bandanna around your neck, and prepare to mount up with the fifteen tracks of the album driving you forward like a bugler piping out CHARGE.



Corb Lund - Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier : Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

Visit his website, his label Stony Plain Recordings, and become his friend on MySpace.


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More horse friendly tracks

Tori Amos - Horses : Boys for Pele

Apostle Of Hustle - Fast Pony for Victor Jara : National Anthem of Nowhere

Tori Amos - Wild Horses (acoustic piano Rolling Stones cover) : original studio version on Sticky Fingers

A lesson for the music biz

Today I happened across this article which dealt with the Japanese art of Manga. Now I wouldn't classify myself as a Manga aficionado, but I do see the benefits it and graphic novels in general offer, especially for children who aren't big fans of reading otherwise. Anyway, the article's main focus is not on getting children to read, rather on discussing the Japanese Manga industry's response in dealing with what we in the States would classify as copyright law. Daniel Pink, the article's author investigates that issue, and how it being peacefully resolved in Japan and suggests that the American music industry has a lesson to learn here. While the article is on the lengthy side, I highly suggest it.


Kaiser Chiefs - Learnt My Lesson Well : Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Sportin' and Supportin'

The more observant of you (and the ones with too much time to kill) might have noticed the new banner link in the "Musical Meccas" section of my sidebar. If you were to click on it, you would be magically transported to the Yellow Bird Project. "What is the Yellow Bird Project?" you might ask. Until very recently, I wouldn't have been able to tell you, which is a shame because it's a very meaningful project that deserves your (and my) support.

Here's the gist of it: bands sign on board the project, design some original art to put on a t-shirt, sell the t-shirt to Joe Music-listener, the proceeds help a.) support one of your favorite bands and b.) support a worthy charity designated by your favorite band. It's a win - win - win situation for you - your favorite band - and a worthy charity.

Some artists who've been kind enough to enlist include Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart, My Brightest Diamond, King Creosoto, Wolfmother, Hayden, Holly Throsby, as well as the following bands:


Rilo Kiley - Breakin' Up : Under The Blacklight

Stars - What I'm Trying To Say : Set Yourself on Fire

Joseph Arthur - Honey and the Moon : Redemption's Son

Au Revoir Simone - Don't See The Sorrow : The Bird Of Music


So download these tunes and head over to http://www.yellowbirdproject.com to pick out the t-shirt you want to be sportin' and the band and its charity you want to be supportin'. I'm personally trying to decide between Rilo Kiley, Stars, and Au Revoir Simone. When you decide to order a shirt (and all of you should), drop a comment and share your purchase with us.