What is one to make of a "band" called Shivaree with a lead singer who goes by the name of Ambrosia Parsley? Who the hell knows?
Well, maybe Quentin Tarantino does; apparently, he's a fan.
As am I, it turns out. Ms. Parsley possesses a rather bewitching voice that's halfway between poppy and sultry, and her songs play out as deceptively placid little gypsy curses -- look at them the wrong way and they'll spit a pox upon you. To put it another way, Shivaree are "romantic musical anarchists" determined to "prevail against all odds: a waltz or three here, a black mambo there, and 19 months of second-class travel to a cabaret near you."Quentin Tarantino couldn't have put it better.Shivaree on MySpace.
From the LP Who's Got Trouble?, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "I Close My Eyes"
[MP3] "Little Black Mess"
From the LP Rough Dreams, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "John, 2/14"
[MP3] "Thundercats"
From the LP I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump, 1999 >>>
[MP3] "Goodnight Moon"
The Pierces are sisters Catherine and Allison, who, having already made the journey from their birthplace of Alabama to New York City, are now off to support Albert Hammond, Jr. on his tour of the UK.
Their debut album, Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge, will be released in February of '07 on Lizard King Records. Based on the very pretty, haunting, late-'60s/early-'70s-evoking song below, I'm looking forward to hearing it.
Here are the Pierces on MySpace.
Here are the Pierces' upcoming gigs with Mr. Hammond, Jr. >>>
November 22 Birmingham/Academy 2
November 24 Leeds/The Cockpit
November 25 Manchester/Academy 3
November 27 Glasgow/ABC 2
November 28 Nottingham/Rescue Rooms
November 29 London/Scala
[MP3] "Go to Heaven"
I don't spotlight a lot of low-key singer-songwriters on this blog, in part because so many other blogs make a specialty of that. Also, in part, because low-key singer-songwriters sometimes make me sleepy.
Even so, I'm putting up a couple of low-key songs by low-key Brooklynite Kevin Devine today. I'm not going to write much about the guy because, 1.) I don't know a hell of a lot about him, and, 2.) I'm sleepy.
I can tell you that he released his first major-label album (Put Your Ghost to Rest) on October 17, and that he may soon be coming to a town near you (see below... as well as his MySpace page).
Nov 14 7:30P/The Black Sheep/Colorado Springs, CO
Nov 15 6:30P/Club Sound/Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 17 7:00P/The Roxy/Los Angeles, CA
Nov 18 7:00P/Chain Reaction/Anaheim, CA
Nov 19 6:00P/Bottom of the Hill/San Francisco, CA
Nov 20 8:00P/Parkview/Riverside, CA
Nov 21 6:30P/Soma Sidestage/San Diego, CA
[MP3] "You'll Only End Up Joining Them"
[MP3] "Brooklyn Boy"
Ah, what to call this? Dinosaur rock? More like "crocodile rock," I suppose, seeing as whatever the hell it was that did in the dinosaurs couldn't quite kill off the crocs. In a similar way, some bands just seem to keep on keepin' on. The question is: Is that the sign of a group so talented and tough it passes the test of time, or merely an indication of an outfit so artistically out-of-touch and/or egregiously greedy that it refuses to give up the ghost?
Of course, around about the mid-'80s, Aerosmith nearly HAD given up the ghost. But, as it turned out, it was nothing that a little rehab and a timely collaboration with Run DMC couldn't fix. Suddenly, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry & the gang were back in the saddle and about to release the most popular albums of their career.
Alas, listening to those late-'80s/early-'90s efforts now... well... let's just say that they reflect a lot of the overproduced, superficial, hair-metal fluff of the time. Maybe the band was in on the joke; maybe they weren't. But, to say the least, half-a-goof songs like "Love in an Elevator" and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" haven't aged particularly gracefully. Nor have the later, sticky-sweet ballads, which were probably only popular at the time because they so often were accompanied by Alicia Silverstone playing cute, coy, pert, and perky for the Beavis and Butt-head generation.
Whatever the case, Aerosmith are nothing if not persistent, and they've gone ahead and released yet another greatest hits collection -- this one entitled Devil's Got a New Disguise. Its 18 tracks break down in thoroughly predictable ways -- five "older" tunes (including the classic ballad "Dream On"), two new ones (the somewhat gritty title track and the dull "Sedona Sunrise"), and 11 encompassing the aforementioned big-payday period. (It should probably be noted that the two "new" songs are, in fact, originally from the Permanent Vacation recording sessions, circa 1987.)
As a final note, Aerosmith are currently on tour with Motley Crue, which somehow sounds just about right. Maybe, twenty years from now, they'll be sharing a bill with Insane Clown Posse. Or the Rolling Stones.
Nov 13 7:30P/Cricket Pavilion/Phoenix, Arizona
Nov 15 7:30P/Smirnoff Music Centre/Dallas, Texas
Nov 17 7:30P/Verizon Wireless Amphitheater/Selma, Texas
Nov 19 7:30P/Woodlands Pavilion/Woodlands, Texas
Nov 22 7:30P/Ford Amphitheatre At the Florida State Fairgrounds Tampa, Florida
Nov 24 7:30P/Sound Advice Amphitheatre/West Palm Beach, Florida
Dec 7 7:30P/Target Center/Minneapolis, Minnesota
[MP3] "Devil's Got a New Disguise"
[MP3] "Jaded"
[MP3] "Dream On"
Upon first hearing this artist's name, I just naturally assumed he was a Brit -- some sort of younger, cuter version of James Blunt. Well, the "younger, cuter" thing holds (and probably quite a bit of the "James Blunt" thing, too). But, in truth, 23-year-old Landon Pigg harkens from good ol' Nashville, U.S.A.
He released his first album (logically entitled LP) back in the summer, and it's a solid -- if not standout -- affair. There does seem to be a lot of this type of music floating around these days... pleasant voices, pleasant melodies, but nothing you haven't heard before on the OC and other such shows.
Still, what with his age (and, yes, those good looks), we'll cut Mr. Pigg a bit of slack and see if he can rise above his influences on his next go-round.
Landon Pigg on MySpace.
[MP3] "Mesmerize"
[MP3] "On the Other Side"
It suddenly occurred to me that my last, entirely random post might be misinterpreted (by one person, in particular), and I wanted to rectify that, post-haste.
But rather than go the Breakfast Club/Simple Minds/"Don't Forget About Me" route, I think I'll serve up a suite from Jarvis Cocker's former clan, Pulp. Somehow, these songs -- from one angle or another -- get at where I've been these past few days (and hope to get to again).
[MP3] "The Fear"
[MP3] "Do You Remember the First Time?"
[MP3] "Glory Days"
[MP3] "This is Hardcore"
[MP3] "We Are the Boys"
[MP3] "Something Changed"
[MP3] "Underwear"
[MP3] "Like a Friend"
For various reasons, this has been a rather erratic week for me in the blogging department, and that's going to happen from time to time. Here's a Fountains of Wayne song that was new to me (and a Magnetic Fields song that it put me in mind of).
[MP3] Fountains of Wayne/"The Girl I Can't Forget"
[MP3] The Magnetic Fields/"The Night You Can't Remember"
