Johnny Cash - "American V: A Hundred Highways" Update

Some great new tracks from the forthcoming final American Johnny Cash release. Following the tradition of its predecessors it looks like there's going to be some roots-influenced covers scattered amongst some originals. "Like The 303" was the last song ever written by Cash, and is a testament to his abilities up to his dying days.

Johnny Cash "God's Gonna Cut Down" (mp3) (alternate link)
Johnny Cash "Like The 303 (1:30 sample)" (mp3) (alternate link)

Dinosaur Jr. - "Raisans" on The Henry Rollins Show 06/24/06

Check out a great performance by one of the most influental bands of the last twenty years, Dinosaur Jr., on The Henry Rollins Show. They're aging, yeah, but at least the band is back working together. (link)

Dinosaur Jr. "Raisans (The Henry Rollins Show (06/24/06)" (mp3) (alternate link)

Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band - "Bring Em' Home" & "Pay Me My Money Down" on Late Night With Conan O'Brien 06/23/06

There's a certainty that this is one of the best performances that I've ever seen from a late night television program. Stereogum posted a link to the YouTube files for Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band's performance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien from this past friday and it is absolutely spectacular. The band consists of literally some twenty musicians (well...Jimmy Fallon & Thomas Hayden Church are there too...playing the spoons...) which all lend their individual talents flawlessly creating a massive musical orgy. If there's one performance you check out this week, let it be this (oh...and I still have a considerable distaste for Jimmy Fallon, in all his spoon playing, camera-time stealing glory):

Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band "Bring Em' Home (Late Night With Conan O'Brien 06/23/06)"(mp3) (alternate link)
Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band - Bring Em' Home (Late Night With Conan O'Brien 06/23/06)(video)
Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band "Pay Me My Money Down (Late Night With Conan O'Brien 06/23/06)" (mp3) (alternate link)
Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band "Pay Me My Money Down (Late Night With Conan O'Brien 06/23/06)" (video)

The Go! Team - "Bull In Heather" Sonic Youth Cover

Occasionally something on Pitchfork really peaks my attention...today was one such day that this was oh so true. What kind of crazy mixed up sounding explosion of goodness could come from everyone's favorite sample-steady indie pop band covering one of the longest standing street-cred worthy acts in history? It's odd...but not too odd...not excellent...but FAR from horrible. Enjoy friends:

The Go! Team "Bull In Heather (Sonic Youth cover)" (mp3) (alternate link)

Contrast Podcast #12: Numbers

The 12th edition of the Contrast Podcast has been released with a numbers theme, unlike the first edition which simply surrounded interpretations of the number 1. My selection for the podcast was a long time coming, Hank Williams III with his song "7 months, 39 Days." (link) (feed) Next week's theme has been provided to us by the outstanding Victor Scott, "Dinner Music For A Pack of Hungry Cannibals."

Hank Williams III "7 Months, 39 Days" (mp3) (alternate link)

Review - Snow Patrol: Eyes Open

Irish indie rockers Snow Patrol fell into fashion with the band's 2003 releaseFinal Straw. Blending into its surroundings Snow Patrol found popularity through the band's fresh appeal; though in all reality it had been a long time coming. Forming in and around 1994, Snow Patrol reveals Eyes Open as the band's fourth album, finding its increased expectation resulting in, at times, both pulsating musical flair and tranquilizing lulls.

By maintaining a sense of accessibility Snow Patrol's Final Straw was released to much critical acclaim characterized by its similarities to comparable bands such as the hugely popular Coldplay. The band's music struck a note with fans of a slower, sentimental brand of rock which was reaching its peak in popularity at the time. Eyes Open offers much a similar style of song though it is being released in somewhat of a different musical environment. The blessings that (mild) overproduction and mellow melodies were to the band's last release come as handicaps with Eyes Open as they distract from the songwriting and allow the listener to examine how distinct the band is from its contemporaries.

It's that comparison that allows the listener to both enjoy and find distaste for the group. There is something oddly familiar with Snow Patrol, something that brings about a sense of home, or longing, but with that comes an inferior level of innovation in the music. Some of the finer tracks such as "You're All I Have" and "Shut Your Eyes" find themselves appealing as such, both comforting and disturbingly similar to much of what has already been recorded and heard within the genre. By appealing to a certain fashion or cast of listener these similarities can easily become a downfall for the band. Though Snow Patrol offer a number of pleasurable songs on Eyes Open, they do so as passive pioneers, offering enough creativity with key tracks that shadow the majority ofEyes Open's homogeneous output.



Snow Patrol "You're All I Have" (mp3) (alternate link)
Snow Patrol "Make This Go On Forever" (mp3) (alternate link)

Snow Patrol - Official Site
Snow Patrol - MySpace Site (4 songs)

Contest: Warped Tour/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Trip!

A number of companies including Fuse and Alternative Press are offering an amazing contest that includes a trip for two to The Vans Warped Tour in Cleveland, OH and a pair of tickets to a guided Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Tour. Though I've historically had distaste for many things Cleveland, I've been to the HOF and it's definitely a sight to be had. Check the contest out here - LINK

The Bouncing Souls "The Gold Song" (mp3)
NOFX "Seeing Double At The Triple Rock" (mp3)