Music & More

We've already posted about Lissie live at SXSW and at Philadelphia's Union Transfer , but when we saw that Lissie had done a live set for WFUV, we couldn't resist one more once. With Lissie playing an intimate venue like the Cutting Room, and since FUV does such a superlative job on their videos, we couldn't let it pass. Rita Houston hosted the broadcast which is available for the listening at the WFUV archive . Lissie's new album, Back to Forever, comes out September 17th. To tide you over till then Lissie has a new three song EP, out now. The Love In The City EP has two songs from the new album, plus one new song which is exclusive to the EP, which you can download for free at Lissie's website . WFUV is a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station, broadcasting to the New York City area from Fordham University. Take a look at their enormous archive of live music that you can stream on demand, and check out the amazing quality of their rapi...

Continuing Series :  Keb Mo started out in 1994 playing acoustic blues inspired by Robert Johnson, usually filed with Taj Mahal. His voice has a highly appealing mellow tone with a touch of world-wearyness that makes him feel like an old friend and makes anything he sings eminently enjoyable. Although he still gets the bluesman tag, he hasn't made a blues album in years. He is a gifted singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose records have more in common with Carole King than B.B. King. He has a soulful James Taylorish vibe, and impeccable taste in covers. On his last album for example, he did the Eagles' "One of These Nights", a tremendous song to start with, and I like his cover as much as the original, if not more. His choice of covers was key on 2004's Peace....Back By Popular Demand because the album is all covers save for one original. It's a collection of peace and protest songs from the sixties and early seventies, the track list is below. These song...

New From the Vaults :  I remember buying (and liking) Self Portrait when it was released in 1970. The critics hated it, especially the Rolling Stone review, which Greil Marcus famously began with, "What is this shit?" It wasn't bad, it was just different. When you consider the nine albums that preceded it, this certainly didn't fit. Dylan's artistic growth and amazing body of work placed him at a level reached only by the Beatles. 1. Bob Dylan - 1962 2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - 1963 3. Another Side of Bob Dylan - 1964 4. The Times They Are A-Changin' - 1964 5. Bringing It All Back Home - 1965 6. Highway 61 Revisited - 1965 7. Blonde on Blonde - 1966 8. John Wesley Harding - 1967 9. Nashville Skyline - 1969 Self Portrait was a double album. It contained mostly covers, a handful of Dylan originals, some instrumentals, and even a few live tracks. Other than Dylan's crooning on Nashville Skyline, there was no way to know in 1970, the p...

Continuing Series:  "God Only Knows" was released by the Beach Boys in the summer of 1966, both as a part of their seminal Pet Sounds album, and as a single, the b-side of "Wouldn't it Be Nice". Brian Wilson wrote the music, arranged, and produced the recording. Tony Asher wrote the lyrics. In a sort of foreshadowing of how the Beach Boys would record their 2012 album, That's Why God Made the Radio, only three of the Beach Boys appear on "God Only Knows". Carl Wilson sang lead vocals and played twelve string guitar. Brian and Bruce Johnston sang harmony and backing vocals. For the music, Brian used eighteen outside musicians, including strings, woodwinds, french horn, two accordians, Hammond organ, and both upright and electric basses. The Beatles used to cite Pet Sounds as competitive inspiration, as in they were trying to top it when they made Sgt. Pepper. Paul McCartney has often been quoted as saying that "God Only Knows" is ...

This video of Chicago's 1970 concert at Tanglewood in Massachusetts is a superb document of an amazing band working at the peak of their powers. Listeners who only know them for their catalog of hits may be surprised to learn that they were not only one of the finest horn bands (in their early days, it was basically them and Blood, Sweat & Tears), but they were also one of the finest rock bands of the sixties and seventies. Formed in 1967 in Chicago, they fully embraced the anti-war movement that made Chicago the city such a hotbed of protest in 1968 during the Democratic National Convention. You can hear their anti-war sentiment in the 14+ minute epic live version of "It Better End Soon". Chicago released their first album, Chicago Transit Authority, in 1969, their second, Chicago, in early 1970. Both were double albums, unprecedented output for a new band. This show draws nicely from both, plus two tracks that weren't recorded until the third album ("...