Ben Folds- University A Cappella

While not a full-fledged Ben Folds solo outing, University A Cappella! is a labor of love for the renowned alt-pop singer-songwriter, who searched the U.S. for the finest collegiate vocal groups to record his ever-quirky songs. Drawing from both Folds's solo work and his tenure with the Ben Folds Five, A Cappella opens with two ensembles from the performer's native North Carolina, as Greensboro's Spartones take on "Not the Same" with gusto, and Chapel Hill's Loreleis offer up a lilting version of "Jesusland." Folds himself gets in on the act, unveiling thoroughly studio-tweaked a cappella renditions of "Boxing" and "Effington," with the pulsing latter track standing out as one of the album's clear highlights.

• Brick
• You Don't Know Me

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Frank Sinatra

11 years ago today Frank Sinatra passed away. In my opinion, he was the greatest vocalist of all time, and his music is timeless. 70 years after his recording debut (w/ Harry James), his music continues to live on, used for weddings, commercials, or basically any occasion where a great tune and voice is needed. The following is a recording of his last show, it's a soundboard recording so the quality is amazing. I have also posted a compilation called "From The Vaults, Vol. 2", which includes unreleased studio recordings as well as some recordings from some various TV shows.

Frank Sinatra
2/25/95
Marriott Hotel
Palm Springs, CA

I've Got The World On A String
You Make Me Feel So Young
Fly Me To The Moon
Where Or When
My Kind Of Town
The Best Is Yet To Come

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From The Vaults, Vol. 2

1. What Is This Thing Called Love [February 16, 1955]

2. The Tender Trap [September 13, 1955]
3. Moonlight in Vermont [October 3, 1957]
4. Lush Life [incomplete, May 25, 1958]
5. Willow Weep for Me [May 29, 1958]
6. Gone with the Wind [June 24, 1958]
7. She's Funny That Way [March 2, 1960]
8. How Deep Is the Ocean [March 3, 1960]
9. I've Got the World on a String ["Showband Show," London, BBC, July 16, 1953]
10. Day In, Day Out ["Showband Show," London, BBC, July 16, 1953]
11. Take a Chance ["General Electric Show," CBS, Hollywood, March 28, 1954]
12. I'll Be Seeing You ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, November 8, 1957]
13. From This Moment On ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, November 15, 1957]
14. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, November 15, 1957]
15. I Believe ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, May 23, 1958]
16. We'll Be Together Again ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, May 19, 1958]
17. Lonely Town ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, May 23, 1958]
18. I Love You ["The Frank Sinatra Show," ABC, Hollywood, February 14, 1958]

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Jimi Hendrix- Are You Experienced Sessions

42 years ago Jimi Hendrix released "Are You Experienced" in the UK, where it shot up to #2 on the charts right behind The Beatles Sgt. Peppers. It went on to become of the most praised albums of all time. VH1 named it the 5th best album of all time in 2001, while Rolling Stone ranked it #15 on it's all time list in 2003. Here are some studio sessions from the album, recorded between October 26, 1966 & April 3, 1967 in London, at De Lane Lea, CBS & Olympic Studios.

Volume 1

1 Hey Joe 1-4 (October 23 1966)
2 Can You See Me 1-4 (December 13 1966)
3 Can You See Me (December 13 1966)
4 Red House (December 13 1966)
5 51st Anniversary 1-3 (January 11 1967)
6 51st Anniversary (January 11 1967)
7 Wind Cries Mary (January 15 1967)
8 Fire 1-6 (February 1 1967)
9 Purple Haze-rejection mono mix (February 3 1967)

Volume 2

1 Remember 1-6 (February 8 1967)
2 I Don't Live Today 1-4 (February 20 1967)
3 Manic Depression (February 23 1967)
5 No No No No (March 29 1967)
6 Red House 1-4 (March 29 1967)
7 Waterfall (April 3 1967)

Vol. 1

Vol. 2

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BettySoo

Change is good. Sometimes, you just need a little shake-up to get things to how they always ought to have been. With Heat Sin Water Skin, BettySoo adds some welcome edge and grit to the heartbreaker ballads and bell-pure vocals she’s come to be known for.

Teamed with seasoned producer Gurf Morlix, BettySoo has made a record worth sitting up and paying attention to. Her vocals are striking, the players strong, the sound gripping, and the lyrics compelling. Her first studio efforts (Let Me Love You, 2005; Little Tiny Secrets, 2007, Never the Pretty Girl EP, 2007) were well received by critics, earning praise locally and nationally- even securing her performance opportunities overseas. And she’s not slowing down any time soon. Since their release, she has earned multiple songwriting awards (including Kerrville New Folk, Wildflower Festival, and Big Top Chautauqua Songwriter of the Year) and has proven herself a strong emerging live performer.

Joining her on Heat Sin Water Skin are Todd Wilson on organ, Gene Elders on fiddle, and Dave Terry on drums. BettySoo and Gurf handled the guitar and vocal parts themselves. As for genre, she’s still nestled in the folk-rock world, but she is bringing something new to her listeners.

“There’s a little gospel, some straight-ahead folk, a bit of twang, and maybe even a familiar oldie with a new twist. Be ready for a surprise.” Then again, not much about BettySoo isn’t surprising. People are surprised just to see her take the stage. Plain-faced, petite (clocking in at exactly 5 feet), and freckly, people don’t have any idea what to expect – they certainly don’t expect such a large voice and moving songs.

“I guess Asian-American singer-songwriters aren’t that common,” she comments, “at least, not in Texas.” And, of course, there’s the whole issue of her name. How did a second-generation Korean end up with such a classic southern name? Is it a stage name? “No,” she answers, laughing, “I guess I’m just lucky that way. It’s right there on my birth certificate. Soo is my dad’s middle name, too. Yep, he’s a boy named Soo.”

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Alexi Murdoch

Exploring the comedic twists and emotional turns in one couple’s journey across contemporary America, Away We Go is the new movie from Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, from the first original screenplay by novelists Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida, and featuring the music of singer/songwriter Alexi Murdoch.

During the filming of Away We Go, Mendes began thinking about the music that would be the sound and soul of the film. When he first heard Murdoch’s acclaimed debut album, Time Without Consequence, he knew he had found what he was looking for.

Over the past 5 years, Alexi Murdoch’s music has been quietly engaging a fast-growing audience across the globe. After the unprecedented indie success of a first home-spun EP in 2003, which ultimately sold over 50,000 copies, Murdoch released the critically acclaimed debut album Time Without Consequence through his own label, Zero Summer Records, in 2006. Rolling Stone quickly named Murdoch one of that year’s “10 Artists to Watch,” while Interview lauded his “ability to directly communicate a wellspring of deep emotion,” Alternative Press awarded the album a 5 out of 5 rating, and similar raves came in from Entertainment Weekly, Paste, The Onion, and many more.

While his songs have been featured in such films as Gone Baby Gone and Garden State, as well as the trailer for Academy Award-nominated foreign film Paradise Now, his work on Away We Go represents the first instance where Murdoch is the primary musical voice of an entire film.

In addition to the tracks from Time Without Consequence that captivated Mendes, the Away We Go soundtrack features three previously unreleased Murdoch songs; “Towards The Sun,” “The Ragged Sea,” and the bonus track “Crinan Wood.” On the soundtrack, Murdoch finds himself in fine company with classics from Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, George Harrison, and The Stranglers.

A total of eight of Murdoch’s songs are featured in Away We Go which opens, fittingly, with “All My Days,” also the opening track from Time Without Consequence. The song has also been used in its entirety in the movie’s theatrical trailer, which is already creating a buzz about the film’s music.

The track listing is as follows:
1. All My Days
2. Blue Mind
3. What Is Life (George Harrison)
4. Song For You
5. Golden Brown (The Stranglers)
6. Towards The Sun
7. Meet Me In The Morning (Bob Dylan)
8. Breathe
9. Waitm
10. The Ragged Sea
11. Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ (The Velvet Underground)
12. Orange Sky
13. Crinan Wood (bonus track)

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Jenny Gillespie

Jenny Gillespie continues to weave and bloom her dreamy, intricate songs on her new album Light Year. Light Year is the bridge between Jenny’s earlier folk-pop leanings and the new darker, more honest direction she finds herself working towards.

Fans of Martha Wainwright, Kate Bush and Aimee Mann will gravitate to this album, instrumented thoughtfully by world percussion, pedal steel, accordion, and more, but with the insistent thread of Jenny's inventively tuned guitar, piano, and a broken-angelic voice that heightens and speaks unabashedly to the listener's emotions.

Born in 1980 in rural central Illinois, Jenny first picked up her mother’s 1972 baby Martin guitar and wrote her first song at thirteen, after years of piano lessons and singing in the church choir. Her childhood was spent in the woods, sailing a lot on a lake, and making movies with her sister, including some very funny, earnest music video remakes of Wilson Phillips and Indigo Girls. Her mother is a landscape painter who played Nanci Griffith, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen in her studio—artists who became lodged in Jenny’s musical psyche. Her father is a jazz and bebop fan who loved to croon along to Chet Baker, the fluid, joyful melody of his voice also soldered to her vocal DNA. The house was always full of music and art-making, and Jenny and her sister were encouraged to sing, write, paint, and act.

Jenny spent college at the University of Virginia and graduate school at the University of Texas studying poetry writing. In Austin, between classes, she recorded her first EP, Love and Ammunition with singer/songwriter Lee Simmons as producer. Upon hearing the EP, the vice president of Blue Note Records contacted Jenny to tell her she was one of the best undiscovered singer/songwriters out there, prompting her to further focus on her music. In 2004 Jenny moved to Chicago. She wrecked her car within the first week, which was a blessing because walking around the Wicker Park neighborhood where she lived, she began to write new melodies that would become her first album.

Throughout her first few years in Chicago, Jenny met new musician friends to work with and befriended engineers at Electrical Audio and Carterco Recording. It was within this new circle of friends that her album Light Year was created, and perhaps as a result the performances and arrangements on the album are more comfortable and natural than Jenny’s previous recordings. Light Year features John Knecht on percussion, Adam Ollendorff on pedal steel, Alan Scalpone and singer/songwriter Aimee Bobruk. Additional production and mixing by Darwin Smith brought out both sparkling and dark ambiances to the songs. Light Year was partly funded by $3000 in donations from fans.

Vanishing Point
Littleblood
Nightmares And Appointments

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Leonard Cohen

On Sunday I had the great pleasure of seeing Leonard Cohen in concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. I'd heard some recordings of his concerts this tour and I was really impressed by them, but nothing compares to actually being there and seeing him on stage. He was amazing and nothing short of perfect Sunday. He got on stage around 8, and finished around 11:15, which for a 74 year old guy is quite impressive. If you get a chance to see him, take the opportunity, this is most likely his last tour, and a living historical figure that should not be missed. The following download is 2 sets he performed in 1968 at the BBC, the sound quality is great and the performance is one of his best in my opinion.

Leonard Cohen Live At The Beeb

8-31-68

You Know Who I Am
Bird On The Wire
The Stranger Song
So Long Marianne
The Master Song

9-7-68

There's No Reason Why You Should Remember Me (Improvisation)
Teachers
Sisters Of Mercy
Dress Rehearsal Rag
Suzanne
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Story Of Isaac
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

Bonus Tracks
Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (1-27-68)
Bird on the Wire; So Long Marianne; You Know Who I Am (8-11-68)

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