Previewing Nashville 2.0: The Rise of Americana

When you think of the Nashville music scene, it probably conjures up images of rednecks in a beat up pick truck blaring music that is played at the CMA’s but the city has been attracting more and more musicians that do not fit in the traditional country ideals like Jack White and The Black Keys. Nashville 2.0: The Rise of Americana premiering tomorrow on PBS (check your local listings) takes a look at that burgeoning sub-genre of country music: neo-folk from Emmylou Harris up to the new boom that bands like Mumford and Sons created.

The special includes an impressive list of artist performances and discussions about the genre and songwriting in general including Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Laura Cantrell, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rosanne Cash, The Civil Wars, Elizabeth Cook, Rodney Crowell, Dawes, Jerry Douglas, John Fullbright, Shakey Graves, Emmylou Harris, The James Hunter Six, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Jim Lauderdale, The Lone Bellow, The Mavericks, The Milk Carton Kids, Buddy Miller, Mumford and Sons, Shovels & Rope, Richard Thompson, and Dwight Yoakam. You may want to keep that list handy because I found myself searching many of them out after watching the special. Nashville 2.0: The Rise of Americana is a much watch for any fan of the genre or anyone who needs a deep dive into the scene. Sure there were a few holes (Fleet Foxes, Ryan Adams) and I was hoping it would take more of an Metal Evolution approach to storytelling where they took a deep dive into the lineage, but still a great watch.

Nashville 2.0 kicks off the “PBS Americana Music Weekend,” which pairs this documentary with an Americana music concert from PBS’ iconic Austin City Limits (ACL) series. In a special episode, ACL travels to Nashville to capture performance highlights from the 2013 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards. ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2013 airs November 23rd on PBS in select markets (check local listings for broadcast dates and times) with an incredible line-up of artists that highlights the best of Americana. Recorded in September at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, the program -- like Nashville 2.0 -- showcases both established and rising stars. Many of the Americana Music Association award winners perform and participate in musical collaborations. ACL Presents features Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Shovels & Rope, Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, The Milk Carton Kids, Old Crow Medicine Show, Holly Williams, Dr. John, Duane Eddy, John Fullbright, Stephen Stills, Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale. Full ACL episodes are available online at acltv.com following their initial broadcast.

Nashville 2.0: The Rise of Americana premieres tomorrow (Friday) at 8:00 on PBS (check your local listings).

I Was Wrong When I Decided I Would Never Meet Somebody Like You

With The Civil Wars on what looks to be an indefinite hiatus, there is an opening for the co-ed folk duo with weird sexual tension corner. Enter Grace and Tony, a self described “punkgrass” band with the same esthetic as The Civil Wars. Oh yeah, and Tony in Grace and Toby is Tony White, little brother of John Paul White of The Civil Wars. But where The Civil Wars sound like later day, Rick Rubin produced albums by The Avett Brothers, Grace and Tony sound like the rawer early records of The Avett Brothers.

But where the individual members of The Civil Wars are actually married to other people, Grace and Tony is an actual couple married to each other. Maybe this is why their debut album November is a bit cheery than his older brother band. They introduce themselves on November with Hey Grace, Hey Tony, a bouncing, old timey duet. That is followed up with the most angst riddled song Holy Hand Grenade, but still something that will get your toe tapping.

The most haunting the duo gets on the album is the title track. But there is really nothing on November which suggests they will have much success crossing over like The Civil Wars or even get they song played on crappy television shows when the writers run out of ideas and just throw in a montage to fill the hour. This duo will probably appeal to a very small niche; basically those who hear the term “punkgrass” and think cool. I am sure Grace and Tony will also be big at the next Steam Punk convention, especially the song Electricity Bomb.

Song to Download – Holy Hand Grenade

November gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television: 10/7/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Dust to Dust – The Civil Wars


I got excited when The Civil Wars showed up together in the same music video thinking that have solved their differences but it turns out all the “new footage was recently found footage from 2011. Bummer.


Another Is Waiting - The Avett Brothers


Even though the song is entitled Another is Waiting and included the line, “Let me see your skeleton” I still do not see how a model being replaced by skeletons waiting in the wings really fits into The Avett Brothers song.


Kinks Shirt - Matt Nathanson


What the frack was that Matt Nathanson? The girl in the Kinks shirt was a dude!?! I know arguably the most known Kinks song is about a transvestite, but c’mon, this video was uncalled for.


High Road - Cults


The lo-fi band Cults are back with what I thought was gong to be a high concept version of the Seven Nation Army video, but it turned out to be a hodgepodge of just random ideas and images.

I Want My Music Television: 8/12/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Hopeless Wanderer – Mumford and Sons


It was a shame someone already told me the video featured Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, Ed Helms, and Will Forte because I otherwise I wonder how long it would have taken me to realize it was not exactly Mumford and Sons. But I feel bad for the bassist, he just had brain surgery and then gets stuck with Forte, who I think is a full foot shorter than him, as his doppelganger. Was Rhys Ifans not available?


The One That Got Away – The Civil Wars


Just days after dropping their album, The Civil Wars finally got around to releasing a music video for the lead single and not surprisingly it features neither of them as they continue to be on non-speaking terms. But the visuals seems so disconnected from the song. It basically looks like they took outtakes from The Bridge and repurposed it as a music video.


Supersoaker – Kings of Leon


When I first heard that the first single off the new Kings of Leon album was entitled Supersoaker, I thought it was a joke. And when I first listened to it, the chorus was clunky with the silly word stuck in it. But it has grown on my, I do like the “sentimental girls” line, and looking at the beginning of the video, maybe they should have gone with Sentimental Girls as the title of the song instead.


Claudia Lewis – M83

Get More:
M83, Claudia Lewis - Directed By Bryce Dallas Howard, Music, More Music Videos

A couple years ago MTV introduced the “Supervideo” to show they still care about music videos, but stopped after four or five and have not done one in a couple years (the last time I featured one in my I Want My Music Television series, a not so subtle dig at the network, was August 2011) but apparently they have relaunched the Supervideo for an M83 song which features some Ramona Flowers knockoff who glows when wet. Alrighty. Maybe MTV should have stayed out of the Supervideo game because not only does no one go to MTV for music videos anymore, certainly no one is going to MTV.com to watch music videos either. If there is a video on the internet that is not on YouTube, it might as well not even exist.

I Don’t Want to Fight but I’ll Fight For You if I Have To

What exactly is going on with The Civil Wars? The release the best debut album of the decade so far, start winning Grammy’s with Taylor Swift, then out of nowhere while on tour in Europe, they canceled the remainder of that tour and went on hiatus due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” What!?! Despite the discord they managed to record another album (or two if you count the predominately instrumental soundtrack to A Place at the Table with T-Bone Burnett). The discord continued with the lack of promotion of the album which so far has only involved two interviews by Joy Williams and a music video which is just a bare bones behind the scenes recording the song. The other half of the duo, John Paul White, has yet to say anything on the album or pretty much everything since the dilution of the tour last year.

In the interviews, Joy continually says that if you want to know to the group, just listen to the new album. We got a sneak peak last month when the duo released the first single of the self titled sophomore album The One that Got Away. As in “I wish you were the one that got away.” It actually reminded me of I Got This Friend from the first album with the line “If the right one came along” and The One That Got Away is the dark twisted sequel to I Got This Friend. The One That Got Away is that dark and ominous. Sure most of their debut was very moody, but The One that Got Away made most of Barton Hollow sound like I Want You Back. The Jackson 5 version.

On first listen as the album as a whole, it is hard not to dwell on the “irreconcilable differences of ambition” part of the statement because it is very noticeable who much more of Joy is heard on the album with John Paul relegated to just harmonies on half of the tracks. It is easy to assume that Joy is the more “ambitious” at least in terms of output which is backed up by she is the only one currently doing press.

After the first single the best song on the album is Dust to Dust (which follows the equally troublingly titled Same Old Same Old). The song features the closest thing the group has ever done to a groove, and it is a slow groove that could have become a Middle School slow dance staple if the subject matter was not so depressing. And to emphasize just how darker this album is (aside from the eerie cloud of smoke on the cover) is the choice of cover last time around. As previously mention lat time out, they turned I Want You Back into a ballad. On The Civil Wars, the do opted for Disarm, the one of the angstiest of all the angsty Smashing Pumpkins song which children of the nineties will remember as the song where Billy Corgan screamed over and over again, “I used to be a little boy.” The Civil Wars stripped the song of any angst, and pretty much everything else but an acoustic guitar and turned it into the most haunting song in the short catalogue. Which is saying a lot.

Much like Fleetwood Mac Rumours, the music The Civil Wars made out of internal discord is heartbreakingly awesome (The One That Got Away even features a similar bass breakdown from The Chain). Hopefully much like Fleetwood Mac, The Civil Wars can find a way to continue to make great music together for another decade. Or three.

Song to Download – The One That Got Away

The Civil Wars gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2013

It has not been a very good year for music. If you think about this time last year we had Fun. and Gotye blowing up while The Lumineers were still bubbling up. This year: nothing. There is not even anything this year as annoyingly catchy as Call Me Maybe (sorry Macklemore). It is probably not a good sign that were are almost halfway through the year and my personal favorite album so far was a traditional country album (Kacey Musgraves debut). Hopefully that will change soon, possibly as early as tomorrow as there are a few worth wild albums coming our way in the second half of 2013. Unfortunately most of them are currently listed under the dreaded TBD which usually means we will not get them until around Christmas. Here are five or six albums that we should hear before the leaves start turning.

1. The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars (August 6): The duo put out one of the best debut albums this decade but a couple months ago they canceled their tour due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” They were not breaking but it was ominous nonetheless. But as Fleetwood Mac showed “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” can lead to great music. You could not claim anything on their debut to be cheerful, but first single The One That Got Away (as in I wish you were the one that got away) actually sound darker than their first batch of songs. Who knows if we will ever get a third album (The Mac did manage to release six after Rumours), but the second one is shaping up nicely.

2. From Here to Now to You – Jack Johnson (September 17): Jack got some early promotion for the new album when he filled in as the headliner for a last minute cancellation by Mumford and Sons. First single I Got You is another laid back acoustic, sitting on the deck at the end of the day song that Johnson excels at. It is too bad we will have to wait until the end of the summer to hear most of the rest of the album.

3. The Blessed Unrest – The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles (July 16): I am not totally sold on the first single Brave which was co-written with one of the dudes from Fun, but Sara’s first two album s were solid, so hopefully there are better things to come on her third.

4. Yeezus – Kanye West (Tomorrow): This would have been number one on my list, and then I heard Kanye perform two songs on Saturday Night Live and got a horrible 808's and Heartbreaks flashbacks. But instead of the crappy emo and auto-tune drenched songs inspired by the mope rock of last decade, New Slave and Black Skinhead sounded like Kanye was listening to way too much Joy Division and other moody new wave acts of the early eighties. Not a very good first impressions. Hopefully the rest of the album is much better.

5. Haim / Churchill (TBD): Neither new band has had the bust out moment that Gotye or Fun had last year, but both released solid four song EPs over the past year and are both are aiming at a full length debut later this year that hopefully live up to the early hype building around both bands.

And here are the rest of the albums worth at least one stream on Spotify coming your way this summer. Click on the album name to pre-order the album on Amazon or the artist’s name to go to their iTunes page.

Tomorrow
Anthem – Hanson
More Light – Primal Scream

June 25
Love Is the Future – John Legend
Vh1 Storytellers – Alicia Keys
One True Vine – Mavis Staples
Moonlander - Stone Gossard
Sound The Alarm – Booker T.
Gifted – Wale

July 4
Magna Carta Holy Grail - Jay-Z

July 9
Dont Look Down – Skylar Grey
My Name Is – Pusha T

July 16
Last of the Great Pretenders – Matt Nathanson
Where Does This Door Go – Mayer Hawthorne
Amelita – Court Yard Hounds
Electric – Pet Shop Boys
Lickety Split – Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Walk Through Exits Only – Philip H. Anselmo and The Illegals
White Teeth, Black Thoughts – Cherry Poppin' Daddies
One – Sarah Miles

July 23
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Stars Dance – Selena Gomez
A New Era Begins – Mariah Carey

July 30
In a World Like This – Michael Franti & Spearhead

August 6
Give The People What They Want – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

August 13
Paradise Valley - John Mayer

August 27
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – Franz Ferdinand
Electric Slave – Black Joe Lewis
Age Against the Machine – Goodie Mob

September
Mechanical Bull – Kings of Leon
Wise Up Ghost – Elvis Costello and The Roots
The Last Ship – Sting
New Constellations – Toad the Wet Sprocket
Hesitation Marks – Nine Inch Nails
Spreading Rumours – Grouplove
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You – Neko Case

October
Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song – Amos Lee

TBD
& Then You Shoot Your Cousin – The Roots
The Last Zulu – Q-Tip
Speak a Little Louder – Diane Birch
The Electric Lady – Janelle Monáe
A Better Tomorrow – Wu-Tang Clan
The Diving Board – Elton John
James River - D'Angelo
Girl Power – Cee Lo Green
Fly International Luxurious – Raekwon
Fading West – Switchfoot
Crystal Meth – Method Man
Blackout 3 – Method Man & Redman
Matangi – M.I.A.
Broken – Nelly Furtado
Street King Immortal – 50 Cent
All Over the Place - Avril Lavigne
AC/DC
Arcade Fire
Beck
Beyoncé
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Eminem
Foster the People
Lauryn Hill
Pearl Jam

And of course, let me end with the obligatory this may be the season we finally get to hear Detox by Dr. Dre.

We on Award Tour: 2012 Grammy Awards

It seems like the Grammys always get a major chunk of their awards wrong, but in 2011 there was no denying Adele and even with the Grammys track record, it is still no surprised that she hauled in the most awards this year. Here are some other thoughts on the night:

- I am a little shocked that Bruce Springsteen went with the new song that most people won’t even remember by next year instead of a song that highlighted a Clarence Clemmons sax solo.

- Can’t say I was ever a Whitney Houston fan (a grand total of two songs made it on my iPod), but it is also sad to see someone go that quickly and unexpectedly. But once again it shows, just like Whitney said it was: crack is wack. Another example as to never start using the stuff and if you do, it is time to get yourself help.

- Why even bring in LL Cool J as host if his entire monologue consists of a prayer and then shouting out people in the front row?

- It is never a good sign when they mentioned Bruno Mars is up for Album of the Year and I completely forgot he was. Granted the category was always Adele and the four other people since they announced the nominees.

- I can’t believe they actually brought Chris Brown back to the Grammys considering the last time the two were in the same sentence he had to cancel an appearance after brutally beating Rihanna. What’s worse (aside from not even bother to sing) was that he totally ripped off Rihanna’s We Found Love for the song he lip-synced.

- It is nice to see after sporting bad mom hair for the last couple months, Kelly Clarkson decided to actually do something with her hair tonight. Unfortunately she passed on her bad hair to Taylor Swift.

- Couldn’t they just give an entire half an hour block to The Beach Boys? That just did not seem long enough.

- Paul McCartney, Diana Krall and… Joe Walsh?

- It was enough that they were snubbed for Best New Artist, which they should have won, but only sixty seconds for The Civil Wars?

- It is ironic that Taylor Swift performed Mean on the Grammys considering the song was inspired by the critics who had some mean things to say following her performance with Stevie Nicks on the show a couple years ago.

- Katy Perry fooled me; I thought she pulled an Ashlee Simpson, although maybe she should have lip synced because it was pretty poor performance.

- After a year of hearing everyone butchering the song, it is weird hearing a great performance of Rolling in the Deep.

- Bon Iver, your Best New Artist of 2009.

- Roy Orbison’s widow gets mentions in the In Memoriam package but not Jani Lane?

- You really have to be high to enjoy electronic music.

- Can we please end the Nicki Minaj era please? Seriously, did she really work Oh Come All Ye Faithful into her abomination of a performance?

The 100 Best Songs of 2011

1. Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars

2. Otis - Jay-Z & Kanye West featuring Otis Redding

3. Someone Like You - Adele

4. Good Man - Raphael Saadiq

5. Rolling in the Deep - Adele

6. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes

7. Young Blood - The Naked and Famous

8. Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars

9. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People

10. Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

11. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys

12. My Ugly Mouth - Meg & Dia

13. Black - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Norah Jones

14. Rumour Has It - Adele

15. Brighter Than the Sun - Colbie Caillat

16. Bring It On - The Gaslight Anthem

17. Children - V V Brown

18. Lost In My Mind - The Head and the Heart

19. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale

20. Make Some Noise - Beastie Boys

21. Back Down South - Kings of Leon

22. Comeback Kid (That's My Dog) - Brett Dennen

23. Oh My Heart - R.E.M.

24. Tree By the River - Iron & Wine

25. Freak Out - Tapes 'n Tapes

26. Stay Young, Go Dancing - Death Cab For Cutie

27. Windows Are Rolled Down - Amos Lee

28. Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum

29. The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco

30. I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey

31. Lucky Now - Ryan Adams

32. Battery Kinzie - Fleet Foxes

33. My Body - Young The Giant

34. Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino

35. Faster - Matt Nathanson

36. Nylons In a Rip - Nikka Costa

37. (Expletive Deleted) in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West

38. Up Up Up - Givers

39. Love the Way You Walk Away - Blitzen Trapper

40. Single Girls - Laura Jansen

41. Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles

42. Ours - Taylor Swift

43. All of the Lights - Kanye West

44. The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars

45. Let the Rain - Sara Bareilles

46. Go Outside - Cults

47. Our Hearts Are Wrong - Jessica Lea Mayfield

48. Mean - Taylor Swift

49. When I'm Alone - Lissie

50. Stone Rollin' - Raphael Saadiq

51. Paradise - Coldplay

52. Hey Mama - Mat Kearney

53. Thinking About You - Frank Ocean

54. Time Spent in Los Angeles - Dawes

55. The Broken Ones - Dia Frampton

56. Hell On Heels - Pistol Annies

57. The Shrine / An Argument - Fleet Foxes

58. You Are a Tourist - Death Cab for Cutie

59. Flower - Amos Lee

60. Holdin On to Black Metal - My Morning Jacket

61. How Come You Never Go There - Feist

62. Bonfire - Childish Gambino

63. Back to December - Taylor Swift

64. Inventing Shadows - Dia Frampton

65. 'Til the End of Time - Timothy Bloom featuring V

66. ÜBerlin - R.E.M.

67. We Found Love - Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

68. Lorelai - Fleet Foxes

69. Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn

70. The Story of Us - Taylor Swift

71. Invisible - Skylar Grey

72. Movin' Down the Line - Raphael Saadiq

73. Don't Kick the Chair - Dia Frampton featuring Kid Cudi

74. You've Got the Love - Florence + the Machine

75. Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford & Sons

76. Best Thing I Never Had - Beyoncé

77. Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith

78. Two Against One - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack Black

79. Get Some - Lykke Li

80. We All Go Back to Where We Belong - R.E.M.

81. Change The Sheets - Kathleen Edwards

82. Nasty - Nas

83. From the Clouds - Jack Johnson

84. Shanghai Cigarettes - Caitlin Rose

85. Radio Message - R. Kelly

86. Who Says - Selena Gomez & the Scene

87. Smarter - Eisley

88. Monster - Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

89. Howlin' for You - The Black Keys

90. KMAG YOYO - Hayes Carll

91. If I Die Young - The Band Perry

92. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera

93. Make My - The Roots featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw

94. Masquerade - Lelia Broussard

95. Calamity Song - The Decemberists

96. Little Lie - Lindi Ortega

97. Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

98. The Scientist - Willie Nelson

99. Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay

100. Radio - Raphael Saadiq