One of the best albums of the year thus far has come from the still relatively unknown Bloodshot Records band Ha Ha Tonka, with their record Death of a Decade. The band will be headlining at the Denver Underground Music Showcase next weekend, which in my opinion is one of the better festivals around for discovering new talent without the oppressive crowds or horrible parking.
Of course, the UMS appearance doesn't do me a ton of good this year because I now live 12 hours from Denver. What is helpful is the fact that the Denver Post blog Hey Reverb recently posted a Mile Marker session with Ha Ha Tonka that includes live versions of three of the band's best songs for free download.
Go here to download the tracks. And if you like what you hear, check out the full album Death of a Decade, as I think you will be pleased at the strength of the album as a whole. And if you are in Denver, by all means, check this band out live next weekend.
Ha Ha Tonka - "Usual Suspects"
Showing posts with label Ha Ha Tonka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ha Ha Tonka. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
3 albums I wish you were listening to
Ha Ha Tonka - Death of a Decade
I've been interested in Ha Ha Tonka for a while, and have generally liked their stuff, but I have not owned a full album of theirs until Death of a Decade. This album brings it all around for me. Further proof that Bloodshot Records still knows what they are doing.
Songs of note: "Made Example of" and "Lonely Fortunes"
Dolorean - The Unfazed
For one reason or another, Dolorean fell off my radar the past few years. They are back. Al James is simply brilliant. Partisan made a great decision putting this record out.
Songs of note: "Thinskinned" and "Hard Working Dogs"
Middle Brother - Middle Brother
I approached the record as a big fan of Dawes & Deer Tick, but not a lot of familiarity with Delta Spirit. Thus, while the odds were in the record's favor, I still had reservations about how well they could pull off an entire record without drifting off into some John McCauley-led debauchery halfway through.
That said, I gave the record a couple of listens on the way down to SXSW, and while I liked a number of tracks, I didn't completely connect with the record as a whole. Enter the Partisan Party at SXSW, where Middle Brother & Johnny Corndawg brought the house down in one of the better performances of the festival, and I grabbed a spot on the Middle Brother bandwagon. This album is strong all the way through.
Songs of note: "Mom and Dad," "Blood and Guts," and "Someday" (and basically every other song)
I've been interested in Ha Ha Tonka for a while, and have generally liked their stuff, but I have not owned a full album of theirs until Death of a Decade. This album brings it all around for me. Further proof that Bloodshot Records still knows what they are doing.
Songs of note: "Made Example of" and "Lonely Fortunes"
Dolorean - The Unfazed
For one reason or another, Dolorean fell off my radar the past few years. They are back. Al James is simply brilliant. Partisan made a great decision putting this record out.
Songs of note: "Thinskinned" and "Hard Working Dogs"
Middle Brother - Middle Brother
I approached the record as a big fan of Dawes & Deer Tick, but not a lot of familiarity with Delta Spirit. Thus, while the odds were in the record's favor, I still had reservations about how well they could pull off an entire record without drifting off into some John McCauley-led debauchery halfway through.
That said, I gave the record a couple of listens on the way down to SXSW, and while I liked a number of tracks, I didn't completely connect with the record as a whole. Enter the Partisan Party at SXSW, where Middle Brother & Johnny Corndawg brought the house down in one of the better performances of the festival, and I grabbed a spot on the Middle Brother bandwagon. This album is strong all the way through.
Songs of note: "Mom and Dad," "Blood and Guts," and "Someday" (and basically every other song)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
SXSW preview - 2010 Bloodshot Records day party
Disclaimer: Yes, this is the 3rd party I've previewed that will take place on Friday, and sadly, I don't think I'll be able to make this one either due to time conflicts, but YOU still might want to go.
While my interest in Bloodshot Records artists has waned at various times over the last decade, I've taken notice of them quite a bit in the last year, largely as a result of the music of Justin Townes Earle. While I would take some time here to talk more about him, every blog in existence has interviewed Earle in the past 6 months, so you should be able to find his info elsewhere if you've been in Antarctica all summer. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but in short, he is an artist on the rise, and his music and songwriting are of extremely high quality.
Bloodshot has been putting on a free SXSW day party since back in the day, by which I mean since the mid 90s, if you were born then. How I longed in my formative years to see Old 97s at one of these parties at the time, but while times have changed, the line-up is still strong.
According to Bloodshot's Web site, here is the line-up for the day:
The party takes place on Friday, March 19th, at the Yard Dog Gallery, 1510 South Congress Ave., and starts around noon. Bloodshot has been doing this a long time, so you can trust that this will be a worthwhile party with great music. Even if you can't make the party, the good folks over at Bloodshot have compiled a list of all the shows their artists will be playing during SXSW week.
While my interest in Bloodshot Records artists has waned at various times over the last decade, I've taken notice of them quite a bit in the last year, largely as a result of the music of Justin Townes Earle. While I would take some time here to talk more about him, every blog in existence has interviewed Earle in the past 6 months, so you should be able to find his info elsewhere if you've been in Antarctica all summer. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but in short, he is an artist on the rise, and his music and songwriting are of extremely high quality.
Bloodshot has been putting on a free SXSW day party since back in the day, by which I mean since the mid 90s, if you were born then. How I longed in my formative years to see Old 97s at one of these parties at the time, but while times have changed, the line-up is still strong.
According to Bloodshot's Web site, here is the line-up for the day:
Waco Brothers (5:35pm), Deadstring Brothers (4:55pm), Exene Cervenka (4:15pm), Justin Townes Earle (3:35pm), Rosie Flores (2:55pm), Ha Ha Tonka (2:15pm), Ben Weaver (1:35pm), Whitey Morgan & the 78s (12:55pm), The Silos (12:15pm)Besides JT Earle, the most notable on this list for me is Ha Ha Tonka. I've been listening to their music since around last summer, and I like what I've heard. Since I've not yet seen them live, I'm looking forward to getting the chance, hopefully so that they can change me from a casual listener to a full-fledged fan.
The party takes place on Friday, March 19th, at the Yard Dog Gallery, 1510 South Congress Ave., and starts around noon. Bloodshot has been doing this a long time, so you can trust that this will be a worthwhile party with great music. Even if you can't make the party, the good folks over at Bloodshot have compiled a list of all the shows their artists will be playing during SXSW week.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Weather or not you care
Weather really wreaked havoc on touring bands:
in the mountain west this week. I know Langhorne Slim and Lucero had to cancel a number of shows simply because of road closures. I think Langhorne canceled Salt Lake, but then got to Salt Lake the next day trying to make his next show in Boise, but had cancel Boise due to weather, so he ended up playing Salt Lake a night or two later. This is a real nightmare for touring bands, so I hope they are safely back on track now.
We got our fair share of that weather too (around 24 inches of it):
So much free music out there these days:
so I understand if you don't feel like/don't have time to try out new bands. However, you should give Ha Ha Tonka's Daytrotter session and Dawes' Luxury Wafers session a try if you get the chance.
It was great while it lasted:
but having played their final show, Everything Absent or Distorted is no more. You can, however, get their final EP for free here.
I don't know how long it will stay posted:
but Ryan Adams just announced that he's got a new 7" vinyl record available for sale.
I wouldn't call him obscure:
but Collin Herring has really never gotten due credit for his great songwriting, or for his three great albums either. I was pleased to find out he's just finished his fourth studio album, entitled Ocho, at Ramble Creek studios, which is owned and operated by Britton Beisenherz of Monahans notoriety. Also, pretty cool to see from this photo album, that the album includes backing from not only Beisenherz and Roberto Sanchez of Monahans, but also Will Johnson of Centro-matic, and (I am assuming from the pictures) the man/myth/multi-instrumentalist Todd Pertll. And most importantly, of course the album includes maybe the coolest guy in all of Texas music, Collin's keyboard/steel guitar player and dad, Ben Roi Herring.
Just ran across:
this quite well written article from the 1960s, by Bud Shrake. It ran in Sports Illustrated, but wasn't really a sports article. Rather, it chronicles the growth of the Texas Hill Country up to the mid 60s, and is quite interesting in the portrait it paints, especially knowing how much the area has developed since then. And yes, you can file this one under "completely random."
in the mountain west this week. I know Langhorne Slim and Lucero had to cancel a number of shows simply because of road closures. I think Langhorne canceled Salt Lake, but then got to Salt Lake the next day trying to make his next show in Boise, but had cancel Boise due to weather, so he ended up playing Salt Lake a night or two later. This is a real nightmare for touring bands, so I hope they are safely back on track now.
We got our fair share of that weather too (around 24 inches of it):
So much free music out there these days:
so I understand if you don't feel like/don't have time to try out new bands. However, you should give Ha Ha Tonka's Daytrotter session and Dawes' Luxury Wafers session a try if you get the chance.
It was great while it lasted:
but having played their final show, Everything Absent or Distorted is no more. You can, however, get their final EP for free here.
I don't know how long it will stay posted:
but Ryan Adams just announced that he's got a new 7" vinyl record available for sale.
I wouldn't call him obscure:
but Collin Herring has really never gotten due credit for his great songwriting, or for his three great albums either. I was pleased to find out he's just finished his fourth studio album, entitled Ocho, at Ramble Creek studios, which is owned and operated by Britton Beisenherz of Monahans notoriety. Also, pretty cool to see from this photo album, that the album includes backing from not only Beisenherz and Roberto Sanchez of Monahans, but also Will Johnson of Centro-matic, and (I am assuming from the pictures) the man/myth/multi-instrumentalist Todd Pertll. And most importantly, of course the album includes maybe the coolest guy in all of Texas music, Collin's keyboard/steel guitar player and dad, Ben Roi Herring.
Just ran across:
this quite well written article from the 1960s, by Bud Shrake. It ran in Sports Illustrated, but wasn't really a sports article. Rather, it chronicles the growth of the Texas Hill Country up to the mid 60s, and is quite interesting in the portrait it paints, especially knowing how much the area has developed since then. And yes, you can file this one under "completely random."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Not like funny ha ha
For those of you who get around in the blog world (don't worry, I'm not judging), there's little doubt that you have largely become immune to the many raves about the next hot band. Given the commodization of blogs, I think many have become forced to throw multiple bands at you every day. Besides maybe 5% of music industry people, bloggers, and a few people in silly hats, how many of us really have the energy to check out a new band or 5 every day? Personally, I find that I am lucky to feel like listening to one new band each week, and probably don't buy music from an artist I previously knew nothing of more than once a month.
And while you're at it, check out the relatively new Justin Townes Earle "Midnight at the Movies" video:
All that being said, I still have trouble filtering out who I think are the most trusted sources of music recommendations, and even at my favorite blogs, the new music recommendations tend to be too much to handle. Amazing how bands find their way into our playlists really, given the number of options out there.
Why you needed to hear all of that, I don't know. Nonetheless, the latest band that has begun to catch my attention is Ha Ha Tonka. I was initially turned off by the name (the same reason I have not taken the time to listen to Ra Ra Riot, despite having heard they are good), but given the credibility I attribute to Bloodshot Records, I fought through my initial disinterest and listened to their myspace. In recent years, I had lost interest in Bloodshot's releases for no specific reason, but they have regained my interest as of late due to my recent discovery of Justin Townes Earle.
I still need some time to soak in exactly what they are up to, but I do have some first impressions - they seem to be a bit more rockin' than the typical Bloodshot band and they've got good harmonies. They've still got a slight country element to their sound, but it's very cleverly woven into their indie rock sound. Also, they are coming through Denver in a few weeks, so hopefully I'll have a chance to hear their albums and see a live show.
If you so choose to check them out, try "Falling In" and "Caney Mountain" from their myspace. I've found those two tracks to be pretty strong. Alternatively, you can file this in the "more recommended music from a blog that I will probably never listen to" file.
Here's one of them fancy music videos for "Caney Mountain," courtesy of the Bloodshot youtube page:
And while you're at it, check out the relatively new Justin Townes Earle "Midnight at the Movies" video:
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