Kurt Vile – “In My Time” / Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Tortoise – “Thunder Road” / Faux Fir – “Work Suite” / Junip – “Don’t Let It Pass” / Yo La Tengo – “It’s Christmas Time” / Jim Sullivan – “Highways” / Wynn Walent – “If You Fall I Fall Too” / Superchunk – “Slack Motherfucker” / Land of Talk – “Swift Coin” / Lissie – “Bully” / Cults – “Go Outside” / Gene Parsons – “Willin’” / Charlie Parr – “Last Day” / Jónsi – “Grown Till Tall (Live)
I am certain MoB will drop its “Best of 2010″ list in due time, but I thought I might get a jump on the proceedings and highlight three of the top box sets of the year. You have likely heard all about Springsteen’s The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story, the reissue of the Stones’ albums on 180-gram vinyl, among others, but here are three that might have slipped through the cracks. All would make top notch holiday gifts (click on the title for purchasing info). – By Jeff Kollath
If you don’t know Syl Johnson, it’s okay. Really. But, your life would be better if you got to know him. We all know James, Otis, Marvin, Curtis, and more, but for every one of them, there is a James Carr, a William Bell, and a Syl Johnson. An artist for Twinight and Hi Records, Johnson never reached the heights he deserved, but has been a superstar in deep soul circles for decades. Johnson came to prominence with his sides for Chicago-based Twinight, where he recorded some of his most poignant songs, “Is It Because I’m Black” and “Concrete Reservation.” Johnson’s songs pushed the envelope, taking a stand against injustice he saw in his adopted hometown. After moving to Hi in Memphis, Johnson had his greatest success but seemed to be unable to get out of Al Green’s shadow. Thankfully, Chicago’s Numero Group has given us “Complete Mythology,” a six-album, four-CD set of Johnson’s best sides. Like the rest of their obscure soul, folk, and world music compilations, this set is a remarkable achievement and revelation. The skill, care, and respect put into this set is worthy of praise.
For many, the music of the Vietnam Era is all about protest music – Hendrix’s ‘Star Spangled Banner,’ Country Joe’s ‘Fixin to Die Rag,’ and CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son.’ Beyond that, though, a cottage industry sprang up during the war years for songs that yes, spoke out against the war, but also championed the cause, championed the men who fought, and mainly, spoke out against hippies, radical college professors, draft dodgers, and dope smokers. Released by Germany’s Bear Family Records, this 13-disc montrosity was put together by retired University of Maryland Professor Hugo Keesing, who for a short time taught Psychology classes to GIs in South Vietnam and was later a DJ on Armed Forces Radio in Turkey. Keesing, who has collected over 4,000 songs about the war, narrowed his selection down to just 330. That’s right, just 330. Starting with some of the earliest songs about the war – when America’s aims were unclear and the war was shrouded in mystery – and ending with songs by or about veterans dealing with their wartime experience, the set is incredibly balanced, with each side getting equal say. Standout tracks include “The Ballad of the Yellow Beret,” an anti-protestor song written by a young Bob Seger, Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War,” “People Lets Stop the War,” the best Grand Funk Railroad song you have ever heard (yes, such a thing exists), and “Kathy’s Letter,” an absolutely bizarre spoken word recording by 6-year old Little Kathy Hoffman, imploring President Nixon to keep fighting the good fight. With a retail north of $200, it’s pretty steep, and some of the songs are hard to get through, but it’s an incredibly informative and rich resource.
Oh, Rhino Handmade, how you tax my wallet. The boutique label has issued some incredible things in the past couple years – reissue of Cher’s “3614 Jackson Highway,” the complete Wilson Pickett on Atlantic Records, unreleased Tony Joe White, live Stooges, and so much more – but this is really the tops. Mississippian Delaney Bramlett influenced many musicians, from Duane Allman to George Harrison, but none moreso than Eric Clapton. D&B opened for Blind Faith in 1969, and after the supegroup fell apart, Clapton joined the band. In later interviews, Clapton credited Bramlett for giving him the confidence to sing and lead his own band, which he later did, forming Derek and the Dominoes with D&B’s rhythm section. This set builds off of the stellar live album of the same name, but includes four complete shows from their early 1970 tour of England. The shows are dripping with intensity and incendiary guitars and horns (courtesy Keith Richards’ drinking buddy and good friend, Bobby Keys), paying homage to Bramlett’s southern roots, early American rock and roll, and providing a glimpse into Clapton’s future. Again, if four discs are too many, check out the single disc live album, or if you want to dig, try and a find a bootleg of a D&B show from July 22, 1971 with King Curtis, Duane Allman, and Gregg Allman guesting.
Here are the Wisconsin and Illinois shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list.
Upcoming Shows:
12/7 – Mac Lethal + F. Stokes – Mad Planet (MILWAUKEE)
12/8 – Mini Mansions – Mad Planet (MILWAUKEE)
12/9 – Jeffrey Foucault + John Sieger – Alterra on Prospect (MILWAUKEE)
12/9 – Trampled By Turtles + Romantica – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
12/9 – Mini Mansions – Project Lodge (MADISON)
12/9 – Cheap Time – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
12/9 – Cloud Cult – Turner Hall Ballroom (MILWAUKEE)
12/10 – Badly Drawn Boy – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
12/10 – Jill Andrews – Cowboy Monkey (CHAMPAIGN)
12/10 – Tennis – Schubas (CHICAGO)
12/10 – Trampled By Turtles + Roma di Luna – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
12/11 – The Kentucky Waterfalls + Jill Andrews – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
12/11 – Minus the Bear + Tim Kasher – Canopy Club (URBANA)
12/11 – Punch Brothers – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
12/11 – Shovels & Rope (Cary Ann Hearst, Michael Trent) – Elbow Room (CHICAGO)
12/11 – Cloud Cult – Majestic Theatre (MADISON)
12/12 – Jill Andrews – Schubas (CHICAGO)
12/12 – Punch Brothers – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
Just Announced:
12/16 – Neil Young’s Le Noise Screening – Sugar Maple (MILWAUKEE)
1/7 – Wu-Tang Clan – The Rave (MILWAUKEE)
1/27 – The Jayhawks – Vic Theater (CHICAGO)
1/28 – The Jayhawks – Vic Theater (CHICAGO)
2/1 – Snoop Dogg – Orpheum Theatre (MADISON)
2/4 – Peter Wolf Crier + Retribution Gospel Choir – Shank Hall (MILWAUKEE)
3/11 – Cold War Kids – Riviera (CHICAGO)
3/12 – Cold War Kids – The Rave (MILWAUKEE)
4/6 – Wye Oak + Callers – Lawrence University (APPLETON)
I write this note hurriedly, and from inside of a shipping container that has been converted to an office. The container sits outside of the st. damien’s hospital, which is shown on the cover of this e.p. I’ve been living and working in haiti since february, and before that I was in peru working at an orphanage in a small town called Lunahuana. In both places i’ve had moments of great beauty and peace and i’ve also seen a good share of misery, pain, and suffering. The beauty moments I could never describe in a song or a story, and the energy that would be needed to describe the pain and desperation that i’ve seen will likely not come to me anytime soon.
To miss something is to actively long for it, and in that sense I don’t miss playing music or shows, nor playing the guitar really. That being said I really enjoyed spending a night in September with my good and talented friend Jon Crawley, playing some songs I’ve never recorded into a single microphone in his room. Jon did all the rest of what you hear, with the exception of the truly perfect mandolin and pedal steel provided by my true and old friend Kerry Hutcherson. I really enjoyed listening to what Jon did. He’s probably the most sincere person I know and it comes across in the way he plays music I think.
This record is available for free download, but if you find it worthy of pay, you can name your own price using the buy now link above. Any money provided will go directly into the hands of haitian people that I know well. Be it for food money, school fees, to buy some tin roofing, or to pay for a funeral. Basic things.
I don’t have the space, time, or energy to recount the depth of the need here in Haiti, but you can trust that it is as real as anything else that is real. The world is organized in a strange way, and while there are a great number of complexities in addressing the injustice that we’ve created, it is undeniable when you sit in a cholera tent watching a young mother die that the injustice of it all is a sick, real, and observable truth.
If you get this record you’re probably on the lucky side of the draw when it comes to filling your basic needs and choosing the life you lead. I hope you’ll not only enjoy the songs but also give some money to a few people in haiti that could really use it. If you can’t spare much or any at all, I’m still more than glad to share a share with you.
and 
, the reissue of 
you can do so 
by Jonathan Franzen. I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend it. I’m now reading Keith Richards 
and 
by Matthew B. Crawford.