Cory Branan & Jon Snodgrass split 12"

Cory Branan & Jon Snodgrass - "S/T"

While Cory Branan fans anxiously await his forthcoming new full length, release date not yet announced, you've got the chance to hear a great sampling of Cory and one of Colorado's finest songwriters, Jon Snodgrass, on this split 12" vinyl (or cassette) release from Suburban Home Records. The recording is made up of 7 songs from these two songwriters. If you are wondering about the breakdown of said songs, here's the quick rundown from SH's Web site: "There are 2 originals by Jon, 3 originals by Cory, and 2 covers (Solo in Soho by Phil Lynott, Wild One by Thin LIzzy)."

Branan's songs include "The Corner" and "Walkaround," two songs that easily stand alongside any of his best material to date. The laughing at the end of the latter song, as well as the shredding at the end of "Yeah, So What?" give the record a bit of a more laid back feel, which, for lack of a better description, provides a bit of a more intimate setting that I appreciate from a limited edition release like this.

Fans should not be discouraged from giving this record a try if they don't have a vinyl player. As most vinyl sellers offer these days, this record comes along with a digital download card for the 7 songs. You can also buy it on cassette (also with downloads), for those of you lucky enough to have a cassette player in your car still. (On a side note, if car companies had just waited a bit longer before pulling cassette players from cars, we would be in so much better shape, because you could so much more easily play your ipod in the car, and wouldn't have to mess with all that itrip business.)

Snodgrass, who is one half of the songwriting core of Fort Collins band Drag the River, adds a couple of nice originals as well. "Born Apart" is a fantastic example of his songwriting style, and is a song that could just as easily be a DTR classic were it released by the band. Even if you're not familiar with his work, I think many can appreciate Snodgrass's voice upon first listen. I struggle to describe it accurately without sounding like I'm overly impressed with my own writing, but it is basically the perfect voice for the music he plays. Part growl, part twang, and just spot on for his alt/country/rock/roll/roots/whatever/drinking songs.

This record has the feel of a couple of friends going into the studio and sitting down to play some of their new songs for each other, with no rigid ideas about a finished product, and they come out with a solid project that is a great listen beginning to end. Each artist provides harmonies for the other, and while the two songwriters' styles are quite different, the songs mesh together cohesively. Plus, if you hadn't noticed, the cover has a cobra and a wolf, which should have sold you on it from the get-go.

Don't miss our recent interview with Cory that you can find here.

ramble on

Do you think:
that the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, composed mostly by Karen O, will sell a lot of copies because simply people will be looking for the song they hear on the trailer? A situation that will be unfortunate, because the song is actually "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire, and is not on the soundtrack? I do. This is like when the Everything Is Illuminated trailer used "How It Ends" by DeVotchKa, but neither the movie nor the soundtrack featured the song. Don't get me wrong, the WTWTA trailer is really good, but funny they didn't use some of Karen O's material for it.

Of course you're thinking:
"he just had to mention that movie, because every blogger in the world has mentioned that movie." What can I say, at least I tried to do my own take on it.

In case you cared:
your cool friends over at Pitchfork mentioned some time back that Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear was releasing a 7" on his new label Terrible Records under the moniker CANT. Well, that record is finally up for pre-order.

Denver:
don't miss Slim Cessna's Auto Club and Drag the River at the Oriental Theater this Friday, Oct. 9th.

It's probably enjoyable because it's not PC:
and in fact there is a new What's So Funny? out today, and it's just as non-PC as ever.

I don't know why I am obsessed with the remote parts of West Texas:
but there is a pretty cool blogger from Alpine who does a blog called Gaping Void. He's actually an author, artist, marketer, and um, CEO of the US branch of a South African wine. Apparently he became famous for his "Ignore Everybody" blog/book, which is generally directed at helping people in the working world (maybe more specifically the corporate world?) to keep from hating their lives so much, or something like that.

Keeping with the West Texas theme:
I found this pretty sweet article about a guy near Abilene who lives in a cold war era missile silo. Lots of cool pictures.

As I've noted:
I'm increasingly impressed with Langhorne Slim's new material, and need to pick up his new album Be Set Free. You can check out a video interview and perfomance of "I Love You But Goodbye" from him here at LA Music Blog.

I don't know about you:
but I'm pretty excited about the new J. Tillman record Year in the Kingdom. It's out now on Western Vinyl, and apparently a vinyl version and a 7" are on the way.

In Avett Brothers news...let me revise that, in my own personal news:
my pre-ordered vinyl copy of I and Love and You, an album for which the vinyl version has been available in record stores for over 3 weeks, has still not arrived. I ordered it directly from the band's Web site, which apparently was the lowest priority to the label, and they didn't get their copies of the vinyl to mail out until last week. Throw in the inconsistent service by the USPS and you've got quite an awesome situation. If you know me, I like to prove points, so I'll probably have to return that record (when it finally arrives), even though it will cost me shipping, and then buy it from my local record store for the same price. If anyone has run into the same problem, hopefully you've found the one positive outlet that I have, which is that you can stream the entire album for free on the Avett's Web site.

Four poets, two revivals, and a request for less beer and more whiskey

I've been meaning to write up a few shows for a while, but time hasn't really allowed for it. That's where it really benefits everyone that no one reads this blog anyway.

First off, almost 2 months ago now, was the Junkyard Ghost Revival. This is the fantastic spoken word tour that made the rounds for about 6 weeks across this nation. Although many guests joined the tour at various stops, the Boulder incarnation of this show featured Derrick Brown, hometown favorite Andrea Gibson, Anis Mojgani, and Buddy Wakefield. I was primarily there for Buddy Wakefield, followed by Andrea Gibson, and otherwise knew little about the other two. What we got was an awesome night of spoken word performance. (Called Slam Poetry by some, but it seems that word is out of vogue these days, which is just fine by me.) The great thing about this night was the great diversity of performances - something most wouldn't expect from a show with four spoken word artists. Nonetheless, no one disappointed. Anis showcased his strong suit, which is a quieter and maybe more introspective tone, while Derrick Brown often jumped back and forth over the line between poetry and some...sort...of...performance art or something. It's quite a unusual style, at least from my other experiences, and I was impressed by his near effortless transitions between humor and deeper emotions. Buddy Wakefield and Andrea Gibson, who possess what I consider slightly similar styles really brought out some incredible pieces and reinforced my whole reason for being there. One particular piece by Andrea Gibson, that I think she indirectly dedicated to Buddy, might have been the highlight of the night. It's one of those great experiences that I can't even recall that much about, and since I don't think there is even a youtube link of it, you'll just have to trust me that it was sensational.

Next up was the Revival Tour, featuring Ben Nichols, Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry, Jon Snodgrass, and Austin Lucas. For this collection of songwriters, my primary interests were in Ben Nichols and Jon Snodgrass, lead/co-lead singers of Lucero and Drag the River, respectively. Safe to say that this night did not disappoint. The highlights were probably as much Ben Nichols' in between song banter as anything. At one point, someone brought him a PBR, to which he thanked them but noted that beer just fills him up and thus, whiskey would be preferable. As usual, Jon from DTR played some great songs, although I wasn't close enough to request "Crocodile," which was a shame.

Don't know how long it will stay up, but a set list and recording of the show has been posted on the Lucero message board here and here. The first posting is an expired download link I think and the second is a FLAC download, which I think should be of better quality for those of you who still fight the futile fight to get good sound quality out of digital recordings. If you can get it, there's a great cover of Townes' "Colorado Girl" that Ben sings.

While I wasn't there to experience the event, sounds like the Lubbock Revival tour was quite the spectacle. A brief description of it can be found here. However, I don't think this does it justice, so hopefully you can find someone who went to describe the madness of the night.