Music Worth Buying + Music Worth A Free Download – Vol I

Welcome to the first installment of “Music Worth Buying + Music Worth A Free Download” where I find a few gems among the smattering of crappy music that is all over the internet these days.

MUSIC WORTH BUYING

The Tedeschi Trucks Band – Revelator

Guitarists Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi got married in 2001 and a decade later have put together a band that draws on both of their strengths.  This isn’t a history lesson, but you should know that Derek Trucks has been a gigging guitar player since he was 11, and played in his uncle’s band (it’s this little band called The Allman Brothers) for almost a decade before becoming an official member at the age of 20.  He is good.  His wife is almost 10 years his senior and adds a soulful and bluesy voice to the mix, as well as some of her own righteous guitar playing.  I saw her open for Ben Harper in 1999 and she blew me away, especially with her cover of Angel from Montgomery.  I felt like I was seeing a reincarnation of a young Bonnie Raitt (who isn’t even dead) with her powerful voice and incredible bluesy guitar chops.  I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Derek Trucks play, but my dad saw him play alongside Eric Clapton a couple years ago and said that the young Mr. Trucks made Mr. Clapton look feeble in comparison.  Actually, these days Eric Clapton does look feeble anyway, but I was referring to his guitar-playing.

Ok, so that is the introduction to the artists.  Check out this video to get a little intro to the project:

I really like these artists and really like the idea for this project: get a big band of good musicians together and let each other bring out the best in each other.  I also like that it has an old vibe.  It doesn’t sound modern, but it sounds lush and full in the way modern music does, but really it seems like music that is a bit more timeless than most music coming out these days. Plus, after watching the making-of video I just really wish those two had been my parents.

I think the thing about this project that is special is the lineup.  An 11-piece band featuring a husband-wife duo as well as 2 brothers, is bound to be fun.

Derek Trucks — Guitar
Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals
Oteil Burbridge – Bass Guitar
Kofi Burbridge – Keyboards & Flute
Tyler Greenwell – Drums & Percussion
J.J. Johnson – Drums & Percussion
Mike Mattison – Harmony Vocals
Mark Rivers – Harmony Vocals
Kebbi Williams — Saxophone
Maurice Brown — Trumpet
Saunders Sermons — Trombone

So buy it.  It is worth it. Also, if you don’t then they will show up and egg your house…with some amazing jams.

 

**Honorable mention in music worth buying is the tribute to Buddy Holly: “Rave On Buddy Holly” which is being released this year to commemorate what would’ve been Buddy’s 75th birthday.

With old classic songs performed by a who’s who of indie hipster darlings from now and before, this will be one of those albums that every current teenager has on their ipod in college and then will reminisce about when for some unknown reason the INXS guy  is given a huge tribute treatment in 20 years.  I don’t feel the need to say much more, since this is getting a lot of press.  I will, however throw down a track listing to whet your appetite.

1. “Dearest” — The Black Keys (2:06)
2. “Every Day” — Fiona Apple & Jon Brion (2:19)
3. “It’s So Easy” — Paul McCartney (4:35)
4. “Not Fade Away — Florence + The Machine” (4:02)
5. “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care” — Cee Lo Green (1:31)
6. “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” — Karen Elson (2:25)
7. “Rave On” — Julian Casablancas (1:55)
8. “I’m Gonna Love You Too” — Jenny O. (2:11)
9. “Maybe Baby” — Justin Townes Earle (2:06)
10. “Oh Boy” — She & Him (2:18)
11. “Changing All Those Changes” — Nick Lowe (1:41)
12. “Words Of Love” — Patti Smith (3:20)
13. “True Love Ways” — My Morning Jacket (3:25)
14. “That’ll Be The Day” — Modest Mouse (2:15)
15. “Well…All Right” — Kid Rock (2:09)
16. “Heartbeat” -The Detroit Cobras (2:20)
17. “Peggy Sue” — Lou Reed (3:19)
18. “Peggy Sue Got Married” — John Doe (3:57)
19. “Raining In My Heart” — Graham Nash (3:30)

MUSIC WORTH A FREE DOWNLOAD!

I was all ready to write this article and had some decent tracks picked out and then suddenly I clicked a random music-related link and heard the songs of STROIK.  There were 3 songs available for download from the upcoming 12 track album by this 23 year old young producer. These songs have a really fun indie-pop vibe to them, even if he calls the music “generic pop”.  Check it out if you like bouncy, fun modern indie music.

Track List:

1. In The Fresh

2. Wash And Repeat

3. La La La

Ok, now for the original intended free download:

Phish – Live Bait Vol. 4

Phish is one of those bands that you have to see live.  The reason for that is that they are super music nerds who have done lots of drugs so their albums are often, for lack of a better word, weird.  My favorite twitterer: @Discographies described their studio efforts this way (in less than 140 characters as is his talent):

Phish: 1-5,7 “You’ve gotta see them live.” 4 failed concept LP; 6,8 failed Dave Matthews Band; 9-11 “You really shoulda seen them live.”

I actually enjoy a fair number of these albums, but that is because I was indoctrinated while some of you were still playing on a jungle gym, but I am not so sure that is something to brag about anymore.  Regardless, it is universally accepted that Phish’s strength is in the live shows.  It is for this reason that they have recorded every single one of the 1300+ concerts they have performed since 1983.

Among Phish fans, it is a common held believe that the mid-late 1990’s were the absolute best of the band’s career.  I trust these fans because these days they say things like: “I would rather jump off a bridge than go back in time and see them in 2001” as they grab a cassette tape of the Halloween ’94 show (a really fun show where the band covered The Beatles’ White Album in its entirety and thus started the Halloween-musical-costume tradition, covering everyone from The Who to the Talking Heads to the Velvet Undergound in subsequent years.

Here is my favorite song from their Halloween ’94 performance (Trey’s hair looks like the mushrooms I want to be taking when I see them):

OK so now that we’ve covered that background shit, let’s move onto the “FREE download” portion of this write-up.  Here is the deal: Phish records and sells ALL of their live shows these days.  In order to remind people of that fact, they have started a series called Live Bait (clever pun on ‘fish’ and ‘marketing’) and recently the 4th one came out and it makes me quite happy.

Do you remember the mid-late 90’s thing I said earlier?  This entire release, available here is from the BEST era of live Phish shows.  The guys hadn’t found heroin yet, they weren’t quite sick of their fans yet, and they had energy and creativity.  If you are looking to familiarize yourself with Phish’s work and want to hear some of the best versions of their songs, this release is perfect.  Also, if you were actually there but did so many drugs you don’t remember it, it is also perfect for you.  Here’s the tracklist:

1. Scent Of A Mule (1996-06-06 Joyous Lake – Woodstock, NY) (12:05)
2. You Enjoy Myself (1999-07-15 PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ) (25:00)
3. The Landlady > Tweezer (1993-08-12 Meadow Brook Music Festival – Rochester Hills, MI) (16:27)
4. Mike’s Song > Contact > Weekapaug Groove (1995-06-20 Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH) (36:47)
5. Split Open And Melt (1994-06-21 Cincinnati Music Hall – Cincinnati, OH) (15:10)
6. N02 (1999-07-13 Tweeter Center aka Great Woods – Mansfield, MA) (5:36)
7. My Friend My Friend > McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters (1993-08-07 Darien Lakes Performing Arts Center – Darien Center, NY) (17:54)
8. Twist > Slave To The Traffic Light (2000-07-04 E Centre – Camden, NJ) (29:50)
9. Free > What’s The Use (1999-07-09 Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD) (19:27)
10. Axilla > My Sweet One > Run Like An Antelope (1993-07-28 Grady Cole Center – Charlotte, NC) (17:38)
11. David Bowie > Catapult > David Bowie (1994-06-29 Walnut Creek Amphitheater – Raleigh, NC) (13:12)
12. Divided Sky (1997-08-02 Gorge Amphitheatre – George, WA) (15:28)

So there you have it.  Before you go, check out another video, a more recent one of Phish giving the Halloween treatment to Loving Cup from the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street:

If you have suggestions for music I should include in future articles, especially songs available for free download, please email me at [email protected]