3 more

3 more plus a few that you might still want to check out.

Vampire Weekend - self titled
The internet darlings work it out just fine. Top ten cd. Yes even this early in the year. Think of them as a modern day Talking Heads.


Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Second cd for Sub Pop. Their earlier love affair with Electriconic tendencies are buried back a bit on this cd. You could almost call this their folk cd. That was a slight joke. Kinda.

Shelby Lynne- Just a Little Lovin'
A tribute cd to Dusty Springfield. Man what a voice. Man what a cd. Very good. Thus the gold star.


Also check out Beck's Odeley which got the Deluxe Edition treatment and the Blind Boys of Alabama have a new cd out too. I saw them open for Peter Gabriel a bit ago. Ok many years ago and they were fantastic. Now this cd is ok but this is a band you should check out even if you're not into gospel. Which I'm not really but love these guys.

More later
Bro

Hello all you Gold Star CDs

Sorry this a day late but the drought is over and there was quite a bit of music that came out yesterday.

The Gold Star CDs:
Cat Power - Juke Box
One Orginal and a bunch of covers. She actually makes The Frank's "New York" her own. Well Almost. This one is smooth. Smoother than what most Cat Power fans are used to. She sounds wonderful on this cd.

Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
If you want to know what the South sounds like right now...just listen to this. 19 new tracks but I still miss Jason Isbell but it would make sense that he left. I know I would have even though I loved them all together.

The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (Reissue)
It may be a re-issue but if you haven't heard of this band this makes a wonderful time to get to know them. They formed in the 80s and this was their debut CD. If you are a friend of Indie Rock (and since you are reading this you probably are) then head to where ever you buy music for this gem.

moe. - Sticks and Stones
OK we all know that moe. is a live band. They are. Period. No need to get into that any further. The studio is just to get new material on the road but take a listen I am sure you'll find a few tunes to make you smile. I can't wait to hear them stretch these tunes out. Jam band indeed.

Plus you should feel free to check out Liam Finn. A very uneven cd but he not only does the family name good but expands upon it. Job well done. Looking for big things in the near/distant future.

North Mississippi All-Stars came out with something too. Kinda like a bluesy, folk/metal album. Yes you read that correctly. Like Cream getting Angus Young to play guitar. Kinda.

A band to watch is Bodies of Water...kitchen sink folk.

MGMT released their cd yesterday too. See last week's NEXT (Week 91) for a sampling.

Also released is what sounds like a "great lost album of the 70s" by Black Mountain. Like I said a lot of new music to check out this week. Save up those hard earned pennies and enjoy.

More Later
Bro

Lost Treasure Album: Satchel - The Family

Satchel is a band from Seattle, featuring Shawn Smith (vocals, piano and guitar), Regan Hagar (drums), John Hoag (guitar) and Mike Berg (bass).

Satchel has been folded into the band Brad and does not perform or record as Satchel any longer.

Brad formed officially in 1992, has a very similar sound to Satchel with Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) and Jeremy Toback joining Shawn Smith and Regan Hagar in this incarnation of the band.

1996's "The Family" was Satchel's second disc following 1994's "EDC", a great album in it's own right.

It's most famous song was "Suffering" which was featured in the movie and soundtrack to "Beautiful Girls", a 1996 film starring Matt Dillon & Uma Thurman.

Satchel - Suffering


Other standout tracks on "The Family" include the contemplative "Isn't That Right" and "Without Love".
"Breathe Deep", "Tomorrow" and "Time O' The Year" all showcase Smith's strong piano based songwriting.


Over the last ten years Shawn Smith has released several solo albums and remains a staple in the close knit Seattle music scene.

At last check, Brad did a couple of benefit shows in New York and Seattle in 2007 and a Barack Obama campaign event. The band is expected to release new material in 08.

Brad - The Day Brings



Shawn Smith's Website:
http://www.shawnsmith.co.uk


Brad My Website:
http://www.bradcorporation.com



More Later,
HelperMonkey

A whole lotta Eels

the first is a "greatest hits" compilation

Part two or release number two is another compilation of b-sides, rarities, soundtrack singles and unreleased tracks. For a total of 4 cds and 2 DVDs. That is a bunch of Eels for Mark Oliver Everett fans or a nice intro to those who are unitiated. Perfect time to play catch up people.



Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I spans the first decade of the Eels with singles from all their albums. Attached will be a DVD featuring music videos and one live performance video.




Useless Trinkets contains 50 tracks and a dvd of their Lollapalooza 2006 performances.


Sadly nothing for "A Man Called E" but this isn't a career comp just an Eels comp -- so it makes sense. You should check out his work as just plain E before he "formed" the Eels.






Also being released is The Winter EP by Jon Foreman...see my Fall EP review. I think Fall is better.

The NEXT best songs countdown of 2007

So this is mostly correct. See I have rules. The rules may not make much sense to you but they do to me and it's my show. If you find them wrong just email and I'll buy you a beer and we'll chat up music.

So the rules. The song must of played on NEXT in 2007. You might notice a song or 2 from 2006 but I played it on NEXT in 2007 so it is ok. I want to find you your NEXT new favorite song so as much as it pains me I couldn't put any Eddie Vedder or Wilco or Radiohead on it. Now the RH and EV make sense everyone has heard about them but there are still plenty of people that don't know about Wilco. The Peak played quite a bit of Wilco this year so I decided no Wilco (even though "Impossible Germany" might be my second or third favorite song of the Year). Also this year I decided to accept emails from listeners and that weighed in on who made the list too.

We will start here at 45 and by the end of this post get to number one. Remember you can stream and listen to the countdown at nextmusiconline.com.

45 The Boggs – Poor Things (Forts)
44 Ike Reilly Assasination – Let’s Get Frindly (We Belong to the Staggering Evening)
43 The Hives – Tick Tick Boom (The Black and White Album)
42 Futrue Clouds and Radar – You Will Be Loved ()
41 Pela – Lost to the Lonesome (Anytown Graffiti)
40 Sixnationstate – Everyboy Wants to be my Friend ()
39 Cloud Cult – chemicals Collide (The Meaning of 8)
38 Sea Wolf – Your’re a Wolf (Get to the River Before it Runs too low)
37 Jose Gonzalez – Down the Line (In Our nature)
36 Okkervil River – A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene (The Stage names)
35 Siverchair – The Man That Knew Too Much (Young Modern)
34 Bishop Allen – Rain (The Broken String)
33 Coconut Records – It’s Not You It’s Me (nightiming)
32 Minus the Bear – Throwin’ Shapes (Planet of Ice)
31 The Damnwells – Bastard of Midnight (Myspace release)
30 Meiko – Reasons to Love You (Meiko)
29 Len Price 3 – Girl Like You (Rentacrowd)
28 Babyshambles – There She Goes (Shotter’s Nation)
27 Rodrigo y Gabriela – Diablo Rojo (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
26 Andrew Bird – Darkmatter (Armchair Apocrypha)
25 The Sea and Cake – Middlenight (Everybody)
24 Great Northern – The Middle (Trading twilight for Daylight)
23 Shade – Wide eyed (Arms Raised on Rooftops)
22 VHS or BETA – Burn it all Down (Bring on the Comets)
21 Crash Encore – Catastrophe (Volume 1)
20 Bear hands – Golden (EP)
19 Office – Wound Up ( The Ritz)
18 The Blakes – Picture (The Blakes)
17 Afghan Whigs – I’m A Soldier (Greatest Hits)
16 Nada Surf – See These Bones (Lucky)
15 Locksley – Don’t Make Me Wait
14 VAST – I’m Too Good
13 Elliott Smith – angel in the snow
12 Bright Eyes – I must Belong Somewhere
11 Jason Isbell – Chicago Promenade
10 Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma
09 Black Francis – She Took All the Money
08 Mute Math – Typical
07 Kings of Leon – True Love Way
06 Great Lakes Myth Society – Summer Bonfire
05 White Rabbits – Kid on my shoulders
04 David and the Citizens – A heart and a hand and the love for a band
03 Earl Greyhound – Monkey
02 The National – Apartment Song
01 Band of Horses – Is there a ghost

More later
Bro

del Amitri - Waking Hours

When people talk about the best albums of the 90s this CD rarely rears it's head on the lists but really you should not dimiss it so easily. I am not claiming that it should be on anyone's top ten list of 90s cds but it should be in your cd collection.

This is truly a "lost treasure" just waiting for you to listen and fall in love with.

In fact, in the past month or so I have turned several people on to the magic that was del Amitri. This introduction even prompted the response of "Thanks for telling about this band they might now be one of my all time favorites."

Marah gets a gold star today

Finally some new releases and how is this band not a bit bigger? I am not talking huge but really they should get more love...from everyone. Radio. Rock and Roll music lovers etc. Marah is the perfect rock/pub band. Feel free to dig into their back catalog too. If you only want to check out one cd of their's I would suggest "Kids in Philly".div>

So today is the release date for their 9th cd and the first in about 3 years. It's called "Angels of Destruction". Enjoy.

More Later

Bro

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men

I just saw this wonderful, un-popcorn film over the holiday break. Let us just say this right off -- it is not a movie for everyone. This is a good thing.

Strangely, one of my favorite parts was the fact that there was almost no score. The ending is a bit of a "What The F # ( K?" but after it sunk in for awhile I could live with it. Plus anything that can get made with an ending like that in this era is a bonus.

Beautifully shot, wonderful dialogue, a crazy bounty hunter (who might strangely have the most integrity) and the lack of a score makes it one of my favorites of the year and of the Coens.

More later
Bro

Daydream Nation

I've been off the grid for a bit sorry. Holidays. Family. Skiing. Getting sick. Good times.

So a little late but it really doesn't matter too much as this is the slow time of CD releases.

The only CD you might want to check out and really it's if you don't already own it is
Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" Deluxe Edition
This is cd is almost always mentioned as one of the best of the 80s and/or all time. Now the 2cd set doesn't really have any new revelations or even demos to dig into. The second disc is live versions of every track on the original release. Which is cool but nothing too "Deluxe". There are 4 studio tracks of covers they did. Nice touch for sure. Also look for a 4 LP set.

So really this is perfect for someone that missed this the first time around or if you are thinking to yourself "Sonic Who?".
More later
Bro