It’s definitely premature to start thinking about the best releases of 2007, but one that is definitely high on our radar is the latest release by The Earlies on Secretly Canadian. After taking a quick initial pass through The Enemy Chorus, I can say that it’s quite the enjoyable record. While I definitely need a couple more listens to form a solid opinion you can do no wrong checking out the MP3 below for the first single, “No Love In Your Heart.”

Spend some time nailing down your favorite records of 2006, then make a little room on your turntable/ipod for The Enemy Chorus on January 23rd.

MP3: No Love In Your Heart
Myspace: The Earlies

I’ve had some time to branch out away from our Get To Know Your Blogger feature to include other individuals who I think are making great contributions to the online music world. After two segments with Daytrotter, I also asked Brandon from Elbo.ws to take the time to answer a couple of questions so we could get a better idea of the musical tastes of the man behind Elbo.ws.

Could you give us some general background on you and what got you started with Elbo.ws?

When friend introduced me to music blogs, I was hooked. It was an opportunity to learn about and listen to new music from an alternate source that wasn’t trying to push Young Jeezy or some generic alt rock. The problem was that you’d have to monitor hundreds of sites to really get the entire picture. After a bit of searching, I found the former mp3blogs.com which pretty much aggregated everything into a single list. It was more comprehensive, but they didn’t really do anything with the amount of info that was available. So, I started elbo.ws with the idea that we would take ID3 tags and sort of try to track trends in the music blog world.

For those that may not be familiar at all with what Elbo.ws does, could you provide a summary?

Basically, 4 times an hour, elbo.ws goes through about 1,700 music blogs, indexes the posts and pulls out relevant links and information. Right now we’re indexing by ID3 tags in the mp3 files and tracking popular artists and tracks based on that as well as monitoring YouTube links to give people an idea of what’s popular on YouTube with the music blogging community.

How many blogs do you currently have on board at Elbo.ws?

1,700 as of Nov 22.. This changes daily as more blogs are added and approved.

CLICK HERE TO READ (more…)

My second time seeing Cat Power was this past weekend in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theatre. Along with her she brought The Memphis Rhythm Band who also supported her when I saw her in Washington, DC earlier this year. I think this band is the perfect combination for this young lady, but I could certainly do without the 10-15 minute jam leading up to the appearance of Ms. Marshall as well as the interlude performance by Memphis Rhythm Band guitarist Teenie Hodges. However, I will gladly continue to sit through such occurrences providing it makes for a happy Cat Power and beautiful live performances.

All that aside, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to enjoy a Saturday night in the nations second largest city. The Greatest, in my opinion is Chan’s best release to date, and hearing it’s songs in live completely solidifies that. As good as the songs come through on the record they are simply startling and confidant live. You can certainly give partial credit to the sound at the Orpheum Theatre, but all in all hats off to Cat Power and her band.

It comes as no surprise to me that my favorite part of the concert was the performance of “Lived In Bars,” my favorite track on The Greatest. I was also extremely pleased at how composed Chan remained through her solo set. When I had seen her previously there were several moments where she stopped and re-started songs while rambling on and on about sucking. There were thankfully no situations like that leading me to believe that things are on the up and up as far as her live performances and comfort level.

A few years ago many would have issued a warning prior to heading to a venue to catch a Cat Power performance, never knowing exactly what you were going to get. Based on my two experiences this year, I can’t think of many artists that are more worthy of your attention, respect, and price of admission.

Thanks to Justin at Aquarium Drunkard for the help getting in.

MP3: The Greatest
Myspace: Cat Power
YouTube: Where Is My Love
YouTube: Lived In Bars
YouTube: Living Proof
Related: More Cowbell - Cat Power @ The 9:30 Club

Typical. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

The Guns N’ Roses concert scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Bradley Center has been canceled.
According to the promoter, frontman Axl Rose has an ear infection and strep throat.

The band performed Monday night in Chicago and will resume its tour on Friday with a stop in Ames, Iowa.

Tickets can be returned to the point of purchase for a refund.

Looking for some great live music at no cost to your wallet? Tokyo Police Club are playing this evening (8PM) at Der Rathskellar in UW’s Memorial Union.  The band was recently nominated for two different PLUG awards for Song Of The Year and New Act Of The Year.  You can cast your vote(s) here for them and other artists, bloggers, etc.

Their 7-song offering, A Lesson In Crime is definitely recommended by us here at MoB.  If you haven’t heard it yet, you’re missing out!

Buy: Insound
MP3: Nature Of The Expirament [indie feed]
Myspace: Tokyo Police Club

We just got turned on to Canadian sensation Shapes and Sizes who hail from Asthmatic Kitty Records. Shapes and Sizes self-titled debut is full of lush pop arrangements but what I’ve found the most enjoyable in my time with the album is the use of horns on some of the songs. I’ve always been a sucker for a horn section on albums, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it sounds brilliant on this release.

Shapes and Sizes will be playing Cafe Montmartre on December 6th. Wisconsin’s very own Thieves on Holiday support.

MP3: Islands Gone Bad
Myspace: Shapes & Sizes

Just wanted to remind you Madison folks to head downtown to catch The Black Keys and Dr. Dog at the Majestic Theater.  I’ll be honest we’re big on the older Black Keys stuff, but hoping the new stuff translates better in a live setting.  Always dug the Dr. Dog sound hoping they’re as good live.

Myspace: The Black Keys
Myspace: Dr. Dog

A friend of mine directed me to this wonderful post over at sissorkick about a Madison band that has completely blown me away.  Cougar is a band you may not be familiar with but after heading to their myspace site today I sure became a fast fan.  I’m not sure I can say things better than how Sissorkick does, so I’m just going to direct you to their post where they have an MP3 for you to check out as well.

There’s a good chance the roof may be leaking at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee after My Morning Jacket attempted to tear the roof off the joint this Tuesday. After seeing them open for Pearl Jam in Toronto and Chicago as well as their brief set in Chicago for Lollapalooza I was looking forward to seeing the band in a more intimate venue.

I found it disappointing that this was actually my first show at the Riverside Theater after living in Milwaukee for over seven years. One thing that was evident right away was the incredible lighting that MMJ had for this show. In some instances it reminded me a lot of the lighting used when I saw Radiohead in Chicago.

The ability for My Morning Jacket to have the entire headlining time allowed me to finally see the band where they rightfully belong. All of the previous times I’d seen this band they had been limited to either 45 minute or 1 hour sets. With a full two hours to work with the band is free to extend any jam in any direction as they see during their performance and they definitely took advantage of that in Milwaukee. In fact, one of my reservations about my favorite track, “Off The Record” on last year’s fantastic (and MoB favorite) album, Z is that the song ends with this two minute jam that just seems out of place. In a live setting they managed to make me understand that part and really enjoy it now as I’ve listened to the album since.

I really don’t think it’s possible to go wrong with a My Morning Jacket performance. As long as Jim James is behind the microphone I’m going to be pretty willing to listen to anything that’s going on. With such a strong back catalogue, my only complaint would be that they don’t dip into that reserve of greatness often enough, and instead choose to focus only on their most recent tunes leaving behind a lot of my favorites off earlier records.

Rally sons of Notre Dame:
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in ev-ry game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne’er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.