My Thermos

The fine folks over at WilcoWorld are offering you up a goodie in exchange for your pledge to vote in the 2008 election.

Hopefully you were planning on voting anyway, but you might as well enjoy the free music.

Just fill out a simple form and get a link vie email to download a mighty nice version of "I Shall Be Released" by Wilco w/ Fleet Foxes recorded just a couple weeks back in Bend, Oregon.

If you're not already registered, head on over to HeadCount and they can help you out.

SB

Today's mission: Top 5 songs and/or albums from 2004

The Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out

Recorded during their Beacon Theater residency, it is a chronicle of a band that despite tragic loss and many personnel changes is still at the top of their game. The guitar duo of Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks is incendiary. For a band famous for their live performances and their classic Fillmore East recording, the bar is set pretty high. They prove here that they are more than up to the task. The version of Whipping Post here is quite possibly the strongest one I've ever heard.

Wilco - A Ghost Is Born

I have always really enjoyed this album, probably more so than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I love how it was basically out there and available before release, yet was still a big seller as fans made good and made it official. I can't choose a standout track - this is one that should be listened to in its entirety.

 

Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush - Real Live

This was probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. I wasn't surprised that it was good - but that it was released at all. Frank Marino was off my radar until I heard a track from this on XM Radio. A quick online search and I found this outstanding collection featuring some of the most incredible guitar playing I have ever heard. We saw Frank a couple years back and the show was just stellar. Buy this, and go see Frank if you ever get the chance.

 Warren Haynes - Live at Bonnaroo

A really great set from Warren at the 2003 Bonnaroo festival. Starting off a Sunday with a great rendition of Radiohead's Lucky, he follows up with a full solo set of cool covers and Mule tunes. Sounds like a great way to have spent a Sunday morning, wish I had been there. Highlights include Glory Road, Stella Blue and a fantastic version of U2's One.

Gov't Mule - DÉJÀ VOODOO

We were in New York at the Roseland for the album release party when they did the live debut of this material. I loved it then and I love it now. My Separate Reality and New World Blues are standout tracks but the whole album is pretty strong.

Honorable Mention:
Cowboy Junkies - One Soul Now
The Finn Brothers - Everyone Is Here

Thanks Nat for reminding me of the Finn Brothers - love that one.

What did I miss?

So I did some digging and it seems that the Top 5 on Friday topic that I see over at Mini-Obs originates at The Music Memoirs, so if they don't mind I think I'll just join in on the fun and start doing this regularly.

This week's topic - Top 5 Acoustic Albums

oh - but there is a catch: Unpluggeds don't count

So here goes:

Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries

Michael is an extraordinary musician I've written about before and is truly a master of the acoustic guitar. Aerial Boundaries was the first I heard of him and it really was and continues to be an amazing experience every time I listen. I never had the chance to see him live, regrettably, before he passed in 1997 - but there is lot of material out there if you look around. If you don't have this album, buy it.

Warren Haynes - Live at Bonnaroo

It shouldn't surprise any regular reader of My Thermos to see this one here. Warren is a favorite of mine and this solo appearance in front of 80,000 at Bonnaroo is a great listen. Featuring stripped down versions of some Mule songs as well as a bunch of tasty covers including the Dead's Stella Blue, Radiohead's Lucky, Eagle's Wasted Time and U2's One - it really is a great performance. Buy this one as well.

Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Quite possibly the greatest album ever recorded. If this isn't in your collection, well, I don't even know what to say....

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue (Vol 1 & 2)

What happens when you take completed Woody Guthrie Lyrics and give them to Billy Bragg and Wilco to "collaborate" with Woody on the tunes. You get Mermaid Avenue - a mostly brilliant collection of songs. I couldn't choose between the two - neither should you.

Lyle Lovett - I Love Everybody

I know I seem to mention this album a lot but that's because it's just so amazingly brilliant. I guess this isn't 100% acoustic, but it largely is and certainly has that "feel" to it. Check the archives here for more on Lyle and this LP.

Honorable Mentions:
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
Adam Hood - 6th Street (EP)
Randy Newman - Sail Away
Warren Zevon - Learning to Flinch

So how did I do?

Oh - and eliminating the unpluggeds wasn't really a big deal to me. I probably would have included the Paul McCartney Unplugged Official Bootleg but otherwise I find the typical unplugged collections pretty forgettable. Never could figure out why the Clapton one was so popular.

SB

My friend Nat over at Mini-Obs has a recurring theme for her Friday posts called, coincidentally enough, Top 5 On Friday. Each week a new theme is chosen and a list compiled. This last week her theme was Top 5 Songs You Wish You Wrote which of course got me thinking about what I would include on such a list.

My wife put hers together in about 5 minutes, mine has taken me quite a bit longer. Lists like this are really difficult for me, I think of all of the things I am excluding when I do them. Recently though, I've decided to just go with what comes to mind quickly and see if a theme develops. It did so in this case.

So here are the 5 songs I have chosen. I don't know that these are my 5 favorite songs, or the 5 greatest songs, but these are the ones that I wish I had written (at least at the time of this writing) Continue reading "Top Five Songs I Wish I Had Written" »

I've been a fan of the band I've chosen for this week's BYOBO since I heard the first single from their first release back in 1995. I've written about them here before but they are certainly deserving of a place among the great artists I have already featured in this series.

They are adventurous, creative, passionate, a great live act, and one of my favorite bands. I've listened as they constantly experiment and develop their sound, all the while still managing to sound like and be Wilco.

I'm also a big fan of their attitude towards their audience. Not only do they allow taping of their live shows but they are a pioneer in the belief that if you trust your audience they will do the right thing and buy the records. Their Wilco World site also frequently offers live shows and other goodies for streaming and download - very very cool.



So anyway... once again inspired by Nat at Mini-Obs, the idea is the same as always:

Pick one of your favorite bands / artists and list 10-15 songs by that band / artist to compile your own best of compilation.

So here goes - The Best of Wilco as compiled by me: Continue reading "Build Your Own Best Of - Wilco" »

I was recently asked over on Pownce what music came out this past year that I liked or that touched me in some way, and I have to admit it was a really tough question. When I was finally able to put together a response, I thought why just waste my response over there where no one will read it when I can post it here on my blog and have even more people not read it.

So here it is, my top 10 albums of 2007

1) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

I've written about this before but it must be said again - this is just an amazing record. Containing picture perfect pop songs and a return to their more melodious times, I would say this ranks up there with Being There - and that says a lot.

2) The Cowboy Junkies - At The End Of Paths Taken

I've been a fan ever since I first heard The Trinity Sessions and what I call the catatonic version of the VU's Sweet Jane. I don't think I've ever been disappointed with a release of theirs but this one is particularly strong. Mike Timmons calls it a collection of songs that "hint at themes of inevitability, finality, not exactly pre-determination, but a sense of running out of choices, a sense of being at the end of paths taken."

3) Band of Horses - Cease To Begin

I really just discovered these guys a month or so ago. I originally heard a track from their Debut Everything All The Time and it just clicked with me. I queued up both albums on my Yahoo Unlimited and have been hooked ever since. Both are good but Cease To Begin is better. I guess they get compared to The Shins and such but to me they are far superior - after all they appear on this list and The Shins don't.

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

I hear you - you think I forgot to finish or that I messed up. You think "boy that Scott has sure lost it, where are the rest?"

Actually, that's it. I could only think of the three. How sad is that?

It could have to do with the fact that I still use the terms record and album, perhaps I'm not up with the new stuff. These kids today and their music, I just don't understand it.....

Anyway, that's it - my pick of the top 10 albums of the past year.

Now it's your turn to tell me what I missed? Can you fill in the rest?

SB

Here are some updates on some recent posts:

Searching for Thermos - I posted about this a couple of weeks back but it is really getting to be significant. According to Google Analytics, I have 88 visits here over the last month for people who searched for "Thermos" - and I am starting to feel really really bad about it. All the interesting things I think I write about, and I get traffic for that...

Pownce - A while back I was on Pownce - not so much anymore. I don't find the community all that helpful or responsive and I tire of folks kissing up to the "celebrities" there. I think it is a useful app and could have a place in my arsenal, but for now it is an early morning time waster while I wait for my coffee to cool.

Sky Blue Sky - My prior review still stands. Still in heavy rotation.

Are we there yet? - Nope, not done yet. Still coming soon.

SB