Porch & Roll

I feel like every single person on Earth should take at least 30 minutes out of their day and sit outside by themselves just to chill out and enjoy nature. So many people get completely wrapped up in the little, meaningless problems of their everyday lives and are never able to come-down off of those problems.

Granted, as a college student, I am in a very easy position to write this. I generally have no problems, sure my bank account is empty and maybe my grades weren't exactly what I was looking for, but really I can't complain. My life is good, I have nothing to worry about for two weeks until I start my new job, and I am 20 years-old with the world ahead of me. But sometimes it takes a nice back porch decompression with a cold beer or a glass of whiskey to remember this.

So I sit out here at 2:30 in the morning with (now just a glass of water) a drink and The Minus 5 playing in the background, and I am happy because I know my life couldn't be any better. Hopefully in 5, 10, 20 years I will be able to say the same thing.

The Minus 5- Twilight Distillery
The Minus 5- All Worn Out

I Get That Feeling When She Drives On By

There's a lot of really great albums coming out right now, but my ears are all tuned into 1980. Marshall Crenshaw's debut Marshall Crenshaw hearkens back to the bouncy sunshine pop-rock of the 50's and 60's. Crenshaw's music isn't anything new, but still manages to sound fresh, even after much of the conventions of his pop stylings have gone stale. Crenshaw reminds me of a happier, American version of Elvis Costello, or an updated Buddy Holly. Crenshaw's light pop is the perfect antidote to the heavy August air.

Marshall Crenshaw- There She Goes Again
Marshall Crenshaw- Cynical Girl

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Fresh Links:

-Aquarium Drunkard posts some amazing Flying Burrito Brothers and offers a post on T. Rex, who I have been digging lately

-Benn Loxo Du Taccu is truly amazing, here he offers up yet another gem from Africa

-Discobelle has a remix of the worst song of the summer, which actually makes it sound decent, and another great remix

-Funky 16 Corners continues to floor me, this time with Stones covers

-Happy Birthday Soul Sides

-Weiss posts on Wild Style, which I had never heard of until now, I have been watching the documentary NY 77: The Coolest Year In Hell all week, and it talks about the birth of hip hop and guys like Grandmaster Caz and Grandmaster Flash as well as the grafitti culture, so Weiss's post was a gift and an eye-opener

-The excellent Car Stereo (Wars) are about to release an album and were featured on both Stereogum and Gorilla vs Bear

-And finally, Stylus has the top 10 alt-country records not by Uncle Tupelo... uh, where's the Whiskeytown?

Beneath the Bebop Moon, I Wanna Croon

Well I moved back to my hous in Baton Rouge a few days ago, thank God. Just being back causes me to be 100 times lazier, thus explaining the lack of posts lately.

I caught couple of concerts over the weekend, and neither really lived up to my hopes, but that's not to say that they were bad.

Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk played The Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge last Friday night. I saw Girl Talk at Bonnaroo and had an incredible time, so I was looking forward to this one for a while. Unfortunately I drank entirely too much before the show and was way too fucked up and really don't remember much from the actual concert. I still remember the Bonnaroo performance vividly, and if it wasn't for that, I'd be mad for not remembering much of the show. Oh well.

I went Sunday night to see Neko Case at The Republic in New Orleans. It probably would have been one of the best shows I had ever been to if it wouldn't have been for the fucking insanity of traffic on I-10 going into New Orleans Sunday night. You'd think traffic would be a breeze at 8:30 or 9:00 on a Sunday evening, but no, they were doing road work and all traffic was merged into one lane. We didn't realize what was going on until too late and ended up missing the first hour of Neko's set and only caught the last 45 or so minutes. Despite that, Neko was absolutely wonderful. Her voice is absolutely enchanting. I've seen few performers as fixating on stage as Neko Case. Her backing band, led by Jon Rauhouse, and backing singer Kelli Hogan were hardly outshone. The band's sound was clinically precise, and their sound filled the club better than any band I've seen in a venue that small (with the exception of My Morning Jacket). Despite the disaster of missing the first hour, the Neko Case show was excellent.

I first listened to T. Rex's Electric Warrior back in February. For whatever reason it didn't really catch my ear. I put on "Hot Love" earlier today though, and all of the sudden it clicked. I've now listened to Electric Warrior all the way through three times in a row. Its funny how sometimes music works like that.

T. Rex- Hot Love
T. Rex- Mambo Moon