Cleotha Staples of The Staples Singers’ passed away this week at the age of 78.  In honor of Cleotha, and because it’s Sunday and there’s never a bad time to listen to this song, check out the group performing their sensational song I’ll Take You There.  RIP Cleotha Staples.

Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark has a voice for the angels, as has been heard on prior Lavender Diamond records and most recently as part of John C. Reilly’s “friends” troupe (with the talented Tom Brosseau).  In late 2012 Lavender Diamond released their latest album, Incorruptible Heart (which can be streamed and bought HERE), and made their way to KEXP to perform four songs.  Watch below the highlight of the set, Everyone’s Heart’s Breaking Now, on which Stark’s crystalline voice is displayed in all its finery on this sad song (the title don’t lie).  You can go HERE to watch the other performances for KEXP.  After, check out the official video for the decidedly different Light My Way off the album, and in which Ms. Stark dances to the upbeat tune against a stark backdrop.  All good on the Western front.

We are fans of Cold Specks, but even more so now that we have had a chance to see their live assemblage as shown below.  Check out the band (including horns) deliver a simmering, smoky performance of When The City Lights Dim below.  The song is from their plentiful album I Predict a Graceful Expulsion.  Another reason to catch Jim James’ tour in April and May, when Cold Specks will open.

In case you missed it last night, until sometime tonight (“24 hours”) you can watch Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ show last night at the Henry Fonda Theater.  To kick things off, Cave, the Bad Seeds, children’s/women’s choir and assorted guest crew perform their entire new album Push The Sky Away in order.  Below is the setlist and song times (courtesy of TimeLikeAnOcean):

0:41 We No Who UR 5:32 Wide Lovely Eyes 9:54 Water’s Edge 15:17 Jubilee Street 22:48 Mermaids 26:46 We Real Cool 32:36 Finishing Jubilee Street 36:51 Higgs Boson Blues 46:15 Push the Sky Away 52:04 From Her To Eternity 58:19 Oh Children 1:05:23 The Ship Song 1:11:14 Jack the Ripper 1:15:33 Red Right Hand 1:21:02 Deanna 1:25:26 Love Letter 1:29:42 The Mercy Seat =encore= 1:36:55 Stagger Lee

Proof positive that the remix mania remains full throttle:  check out Kiing’s remix of Field Report’s Route 18.  In a Tweet, bandleader Chris Porterfield wrote:  “once they’re out there, songs belong to everyone. I love how @kiingsmusic injected joy and energy in a vacuum”.  We completely agree.  Check it out below, finger-snaps and all.

As a reminder: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are out on tour in support of their superb new album Push The Sky Away, and will play the Henry Fonda tonight. Cave and the band will webcast the show courtesy of RockFeedBack. Regular rave reviews of their shows continue to roll in, and we intend to be web-side when the webcast goes live. Check out the announcement below and go HERE tonight to watch the show. For those concerned: that’s Cave’s wife on the album’s cover. If it’s OK with Nick, it’s OK with you.

One of our favorite new female singers, the UK’s Emeli Sandé, cleaned up last night by winning the British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year at the annual BRIT Awards.  And today another artist new to us, Kendrick Lamar, joins Sandé in a remix of her mega-hit Next to Me.  Check it out below.  Lamar lends solid force to the mix.

We have been huge fans of Field Report ever since their predecessor-in-name Conrad Plymouth’s song Fergus Falls felled us with its majestic axe in early 2011.  We still can’t resist its charms.  Last year Milwaukee songwriter/singer Chris Porterfield reconstituted his band as Field Report and decided to let his mantra be this:  I am not waiting anymore.  That same mantra became a title for a song off of their fantastic eponymously-titled 2012 album, one of our Best Albums of 2012.   Now comes (via NPR) the official video for the album’s I Am Not Waiting Anymore, as evocatively directed by Manny Marquez.  As you’ll see below, the video depicts a homeless and hurting man in various stages of his life, who is  ultimately comforted and cared for by an angel in white.  As you may know, we are grovelers for grace and redemption in song, and this video and song have it in spades.  The song’s lyrics follow the video.

Porterfield recently told NPR:  “The song is about getting over past mistakes and circumstances, and embracing our own agency in life. We all have choices to make daily. The video treatment that Manny and his team gave it created a whole new rich narrative layer while staying true to the theme, which I feel is that, when you give your ghosts permission to stop haunting, you can take the next step forward.”  Check out the video below, and make peace with or step away from any ghosts that still haunt you.

I Am Not Waiting Anymore

I am red in tooth and claw God’s favorite child, bloodied from the brawl
This bitterness was killing me all along I am not waiting anymore I am not waiting anymore

Blowing through time like nickel slots in a windowless room, on a credit card: flash it like a semaphore- a vague, drafty metaphor- I am not waiting anymore

I’ve been a keen eyed observer of the movements of concentric parts of bodies of bones and breasts and unmapped chambers of hearts

Sand in hand has turned to glass a Jeroboam filled with a life that’s passed
Toss it off the balcony and listen for the crash I am not waiting anymore

I spent eight long years working on my screenplay it’s a teen movie with young actresses that plays to the middle aged

I have read between the lines I have been wrong every time
It burned up on the alter, but I am fine
I am not waiting anymore
I am not waiting anymore
I am not waiting anymore

After making a quick run through North America, Britain’s Palma Violets will release their debut album 180 on February 25th.  NME has a helpful track-by-track breakdown HERE.  Listen to the album below and go HERE to order the album.

As swooned about previously, Stornoway will release its new album Tales from Terra Firma on March 11th. Today the band released their official video for their plague-catchy, pop-masterpiece, Know Me On The Head, off the new album.  Bring on March!