Two of our favorites, Joseph Arthur and Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs), recently got together (again) for a One On One session and performed Take Me Home from Arthur’s Let’s Just Be album.  The song was co-written with the Lonely Astronaut’s Kraig Jarret Johnson (Golden Smog, Jayhawks).  Watch below as Arthur hits all the right vocal notes while Dulli devastates on keys last month in Brooklyn.  It’ll take you home on a Monday.

The song’s lyrics follow the video.

“Take Me Home”

Take me home
Look good on your own
Take me home
Look good

I can see the sun
I think the evening’s done
Take me home
You look good on your own

Sometimes it’s good
To say goodbye
Before you make it
To the end of time
Yes, sometimes it’s good
To say goodbye
Before you make it
To the end of time

Take me home
Take me home
Look good on your own

I can see the sun
I think we just begun
Please take me home
You look good

Sometimes it’s good
To say goodbye
Before you make it
To the end of time
Sometimes it’s good
To say goodbye
Before you make it
To the end of time

Take me home
I can see the sun
Take me home

Watch below as Crackerfarm captures Seth Avett performing song-crafty Brandi Carlisle’s Save Part of Yourself on the High Line in NYC, all the while un-apprehended by passersby.  Seth and the rest of The Avett Brothers bring their lively and lovely onslaught to the Santa Barbara Bowl on October 10th.

Arcade Fire made their way to NYC last night and performed on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live.   With the band about to release their new album Reflector, anticipation was running high for the performance.  Watch below as the band is joined by saxophone colossus Colin Stetson for the album’s title song along with new track Afterlife.  Following SNL, the band was featured in a special 30-minute special entitled Here Comes the Night Time, some of which was taken from recent shows in Montreal.  The film also featured an array of skits featuring Bono, Rainn Wilson, Bill Hader, Zach Galifianakis, Aziz Ansari, Ben Stiller, James Franco, and Michael Cera.   In the film, the band debuted three more new songs: Here Comes The Night Time, We Exist, and Normal Person.  Check out all below in the order discussed above.

It’s been a long, long time, but we still recall being wowed a time or two in the mid-70s by Jerry Jeff Walker at the Santa Barbara County Bowl (before the “County” was excised).  Walker wrote many song chestnuts, including Mr. Bojangles, but where his shows came alive was towards the end when he would break out cunning covers of songs, but in particular super songwriter Guy Clark’s LA Freeway.  If there was anything Central Coast folks desired, it was to stay off of LA’s freeways, and Jerry Jeff always delivered it with his trademark gruff-verve.  We’re new-found fans of Rose Cousins (and now Jordie Lane), so watch below as they gamely cover LA Freeway at a country-lane pace.  Afterwards, check out Walker performing the song on the Dinah Shore Show, of all places.  The song’s lyrics are at bottom.

LA Freeway:

“Pack up all the dishes
Make a note of all good wishes
Say goodbye to the landlord for me
All you know he always bored me

And throw out all those L.A. papers
The moldy box of Vanilla Wafers
Adios to all this concrete
Gonna get me some dirt road back streets

Now here’s to you old Skinny Dennis
The only one I think I will miss
I can hear those bass notes ringin’
As sweet and low like a gift your bringin’

So play it for me one more time now
You got to give it all you can now
Well I believe every word you’re sayin’
Just to keep on keepin’ on, keep on playin’

Well if I can just get off of that L.A. freeway
Without getting killed or caught
Down the road in a cloud of smoke
To some land that, baby, we ain’t bought
If I can just get off this L.A. freeway

Leave the key card in the mailbox
Leave the key in that old front lock
They can find it likely as not
There must be somethin’ we have forgot

Oh, Susanna don’t you cry babe
Love’s a gift and truly handmade
We got somethin’ to believe in
Texas is callin’, baby, it’s time we were leavin’

Well I can just get off of this L.A. freeway
Without getting killed or caught
Down the road in a cloud of smoke
To some land that, baby, we ain’t bought

If I can just get off this L.A. freeway
Without getting killed or caught
They can never gonna to catch me
Put down the rod to somewhere we found it

I can just get off of this L.A. freeway
Hey Texas is callin’, callin’ me home”

Let’s say it’s Friday. Let’s say it’s mid-afternoon. And let’s say you’re wanting something musical to enhance your post-lunch catatonia as you prepare to prepare for the weekend and semi-mindlessly push the balls into other people’s courts to ruin/make their weekends. And let’s say the perfect soundtrack is a song performed by the The Robert Glasper Experiment, which attempts to bridge the gaps between electronica, indie, rap, soul, pop and jazz music (emphasis on the latter).  No small feat, but said and done.

Check out the band below via KEXP covering Smells Like Teen Spirit, and making it entirely their own.  After check out I Can’t Help It and All Matter .  Clearly our virulent vocoder-hate is abating.  Somewhat.

The band will soon release their new album Black Radio 2 (the cleverly-named follow-up to the prior Black Radio), which you can pre-order HERE.  The impressive list of guest vocalists on the new album includes, amongst others, Macy Gray, Common, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, and Emeli Sandé.  Bravo!

One of our long-time favorites, and ever the political activist, Graham Nash recently appeared on PBS to speak about his new memoir Wild Tales.  While there, Nash performed his song The Ballad for Bradley Manning (co-written with James Raymond) for PBS. Check it out below. The lyrics follow.

Almost Gone (The Ballad Of Bradley Manning )
Written by Graham Nash and James Raymond

Locked up in a white room, underneath a glaring light
Every 5 minutes, they’re asking me if I’m alright
Locked up in a white room naked as the day I was born
24 bright light, 24 all alone

What I did was show some truth to the working man
What I did was blow the whistle and the games began

Tell the truth and it will set you free
That’s what they taught me as a child
But I can’t be silent after all I’ve seen and done
24 bright light I’m almost gone, almost gone

Locked up in a white room, dying to communicate
Trying to hang in there underneath a crushing wait
Locked up in a white room I’m always facing time
24 bright light, 24 down the line

What I did was show some truth to the working man
What I did was blow the whistle and the games began

But I did my duty to my country first
That’s what they taught me as a man
But I can’t be silent after all I’ve seen and done
24 bright light I’m almost gone, almost gone
(Treat me like a human, Treat me like a man )

On their way to the Santa Barbara Bowl on October 17th, Atoms For Peace ran Amok on The Daily Show last night.  Check out below as the band performed standout Default from Amok and (web-exclusive) Harrowdown Hill, from Yorke’s solo album The Eraser.  At bottom, check out Stewart’s interview with Thom Yorke and Flea.  Great stuff.  We can’t wait for their return to Yorketown, California.

Having just watched Deer Tick’s performance of The Dream’s In The Ditch (off their just-released album Negativity) last night on Conan, we’re a tick confused.  Enthralled and impressed, but still confused.  Every time we’ve previously caught the band live they have blazed and swaggered across the stage somewhat akin to The Replacements of yore, and evinced none of the refinement and composure to be found on the Conan performance below.  Like Mikey of yore, we gotta say:  we like it!  Deer Tick will soon hit the road in support of Negativity.  The tour dates follow the performance below.  They also play the UCLA Bruin Plaza today if you’re in the vicinity.  And ferheavensake, go buy Negativity HERE.

October
1 London, U.K. @ The Borderline
2 Sint Joost Ten Node, BE @ Botanique
3 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
4 Berlin, DE @ Comet Club
10 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palaace
11 Detroit, Mich. @ Magic Stick
12 Dekalb, Ill. @ Otto’s Nightclub
13 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
15 Minneapolis, Minn. @ Fine Line Music Cafe
16 Winnepeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
18 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
19 Calgary, AB @ The Republik
21 Vancouver, B.C. @ Rickshaw Theatre
22 Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos
23 Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom
25 San Francisco, Calif. @ Slim’s
26 Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Troubadour
27 Solana Beach, Calif. @ Belly Up Tavern
29 Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge
30 Denver, Colo. @ Bluebird Theater

November
1 Omaha, Neb. @ Slowdown
2 Lawrence, Kan. @ The Bottleneck
3 St. Louis, Mo. @ Firebird
4 Louisville, Ky. @ Headliners Music Hall
6 Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
7 New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
10 Morgantown, W.V. @ Mountain Stage

While out on tour in support of their magnificent recent album, Ghost On Ghost, Iron & Wine have been thrilling from town to town with their 13-piece big-band.  The only complaint we’ve heard is from some diehards who prefer leader Sam Beam revert to his original solo-and-straight-up presentation so as to keep drinking their creek from a cradle for endless numbered days.  But as somone once sang, he not busy being born is busy dying, and thankfully Beam adheres to this axiom.  So for the diehards (and the rest of us that like the Iron AND the Wine), watch below as Beam plays Winter Prayers (lyrics at bottom) off the new album solo and unplugged.  We can’t get these verses out of our heads:  “And you know why she’s gone, like the clothes in the river drifting on.”

The recent album’s Grace For Saints and Ramblers follows.   All courtesy of MPR’s The Current.

Winter Prayers:

“Well it’s cold and you’re bored
From counting the Smart cars on 94
When you dream, you’re back home
But the lakeside don’t trust you to walk alone

Hollow trees talk offhand
All the neckties are toasting with empty cans
And you know why she’s gone
Like the clothes in the river drifting on

Slide down south
Cause once in a while your confidence leaves you
Like smoke falls out her red mouth

Well she left you the holes
That tracks in the backyard December snow
But those sad souvenirs
They end at the fence line and disappear

Why’d you follow her there
Milwaukee’s a deaf ear for winter prayers
There’s no night, there’s no day
With only hope in your pocket and hell to pay

Slide down south
When once in a while your confidence leaves you
Like smoke falls out her red mouth”

The Avett Brothers will soon release their new Rick Rubin-produced album Magpie And The Dandelion (out October 15th).  Last night they performed stentorian new song Another Is Waiting on the Jimmy Fallon Show.   Watch below as the band provides yet another scintillating example why you simply cannot fail to catch  them live, including on October 10th when they will grace the hallowed Santa Barbara Bowl (get your tickets HERE).  Be there or be lost in the supermarket.

After the Fallon video, check out the band’s lyric video for the song and an interview in which the band explains the song.  Guessing the subject wasn’t Miley Cyrus.