Our Two’Fer Tuesday post today is the final one about the 1oth anniversary edition of Death Cab For Cutie’s Transatlanticism album. Today I’m featuring the title track. As with the past few posts…..first the demo and then the version as released in 2003. I really like this album and I’m sorry to end see this series of posts end.
I hope this series of posts has convinced you to buy the 10th anniversary album but……if they haven’t……listen to the complete original album below and I think you will be convinced. Enjoy!
So I guess it is time to confess that I’m an airplane nut. I grew up on air force bases all over the US never living in one place more than a year. The flight lines seemed to always be close to our base housing so I was constantly exposed to military aircraft. I was fascinated with all of the fighter jets and bombers on the bases and this grew into a fascination with WWI and WWII aircraft as well.
I tell you all of this because it might help explain my obsession with Public Service Broadcasting, today’s featured band for this Two’fer Tuesday post. Public Service Broadcasting is an electronic music duo that takes samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material, and uses it as the basis for incredible electronic music videos. I really can’t explain it any better than that ….. you really need to see it to understand it! So……without further ado…….here’s Public Service Broadcasting with Spitfire……
If you’re like me you might be thinking…. Ok that’s a pretty cool gimmick but how can you translate that into a live performance. Here’s an answer to that question in form of a video of Public Service Broadcasting playing Spitfire live……
I realize this might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like it. If they’re ever anywhere close to Northern Alabama I plan to see them live. If you’re interested in hearing more, check out their debut album released last May, Inform-Educate-Entertain.
Continuing our CSN focus for this week I have a wonderful treat for you today…..a recent video of David Crosby singing Joni Mitchell’s For Free during a photo shoot. This is really good stuff……
Since it’s Two’Fer Tuesday here is a great video of Joni singing For Free on BBC from 1970.
I knew Mark was a man of many talents but until recently I didn’t realize that one of those talents was composing film scores. In celebration of this discovery, today’s Two’fer Tuesday post highlights a couple of beautiful songs from Mark’s film scores. Enjoy…..
The Long Road (from Cal) – thanks to griz225 for this great video featuring Scotland
Going Home (from Local Hero) – thanks to DiscoBar80 for this great video featuring the Basque region of Spain
Some of you may not be familiar with Quicksilver Messenger Service so here’s a quick introduction from my copy of Lillian Roxon’s Rock Encyclopedia…..
One of the very first bands to take part in the San Francisco rock scene of the sixties. Quicksilver can trace its roots back to 1965. They played mostly for the citizens of Haight-Asbury at free concerts and for the patrons of the Fillmore and Avalon at the height of the flower period in 1966 and 1967. They did not record until quite late in their careers, turning down offers until they considered themselves entirely put together and ready for the studio. Their first album disappointed some of their fans in that it was a “studio” album in the traditional sense, with much of the band’s in-concert power pasteurized (albeit magnificently). They more than made up for this lack of edge on their second album, Happy Trails, one of the finest live albums ever recorded. Lead guitarist Cipollina’s glittering, quivering guitar lines stole the show, making the hard-hitting band sound like the equivalent of a sea resort “happy feet” machine.
So with this as an introduction I give you the first two Quicksilver albums in their entirety. I highly recommend that you take the time to enjoy the talents of John Cipollina (guitar), Gary Duncan (guitar, vocals), David Freiberg (bass, vocals), and Greg Elmore (drums)……..
Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968)
Happy Trails (1969)
While the two albums above were represent Quicksilver at the height of their musical prowess, their biggest radio hit was still yet to come in 1970. As a bonus, here is a great 1971 live version of that hit, Fresh Air, from 1971 at the Fillmore.
By the time of this performance John Cipollina had left the band and Dino Valente had returned. (note: Dino was a founding member of the group but was in jail for a pot bust by the time the group recorded their first two albums.)
Several times in the last year I’ve received requests from up and coming artists to post about their music. My criteria for deciding whether or not post is always: “Do I like their music?”
Today’s Two’Fer Tuesday post is about one of those artist, Joe Matzzie. Before we get to his music let’s have Joe tell you a little bit about himself.
Hi, I’m Joe Matzzie. I play guitar, write songs, and compose music. My music has appeared in movies, television, radio, web videos, theater and interactive games. I also assist other composers with orchestration, transcription & technical support.
Growing up in Pittsburgh I was exposed to a lot of acoustic music from a young age, beginning on the guitar at the age of 5 as well as viola and trumpet close after. Over the years I have played Classical guitar, Gypsy Jazz, Old Time Fiddle Music, Renaissance, Medieval, Macedonian Gypsy Folk, Traditional Celtic, Bluegrass & Hawaiian. I have played at theme parks, parades, costume balls, in concert halls to audiences of thousands, and busked in the streets of New York City, Florence, Paris, Philadelphia, Boston and Pittsburgh.
I developed my interest in the relationship between music and story while creating and arranging music for live theater in and around New York City. I served as musical director for the likes of King’s County Shakespeare Company, and The Actors Shakespeare Company. I also worked with Maurice Sendak on the national tour of the musical Really Rosie.
I especially love writing songs and am currently focusing on writing & performing new songs.
I am a graduate of the Film Scoring Department at Berklee College of Music, and also hold a degree in Classical Guitar Performance from Duquesne University.
I currently work and live in Los Angeles.
As it turns out, Joe is working on a new album, This Box Makes Noise, and has posted a lot of rough tracks that are in work for the album. Today I am featuring my two favorites from those tracks. First up is California Dreamin On Ya, which is under consideration for the first single. Let’s listen…….
California Dreamin On Ya
While California Dreamin On Ya shows a lot of promise, I think Joe is making a huge mistake if he chooses to release it as his first single. Why? Because this next song, There’ll Be Hard Times, is absolutely brilliant and must be the first single! See what you think…….
There’ll Be Hard Times – Joe Matzzie
This song has already made it to the top of my playlist and I expect it to stay there for a while. Really good stuff.
Fortunately for you, Joe has posted the two tracks above, along with others, for download on Soundcloud. Here’s the link…….grab them while you can.
One more thing….Joe is using Kickstarter to fund the recording of This Box Makes Noise. A pledge of only one dollar will get you a free download of the album when it is finished. Pledges of higher amount will get you some amazing benefits including Joe doing a house concert for you. If you are interested, be sure to checkout his Kickstarter site at the link below.
In 1968 Don Kirchner started to assemble a studio band to record as the Archies, a popular comic book series and cartoon show on US Television. The Archies music would be featured on the cartoon show and released on records. Miraculously, the bubble gum pop sound of the Archies also generated huge hits. In 1969, Sugar Sugar became a number one hit for the Archies. Let’s listen…….
While the Archies were riding high on the charts another studio band was recording songs which would eventually be released under the name, The Cuff Links. One of these songs, Tracy, became a top ten hit and a gold record. See what you think……
As it turns out these two fake groups had something more in common than scoring big radio hits in 1969.
Be the first to post a comment that correctly identifies how the two groups were related and I will give you credit when I post the official answer in tomorrow’s post.
Although we have heard some wonderful soul vocals over the past few days it is important to remember that there was more to soul music than vocals. As a proof of that point, today I offer up a Two’Fer Tuesday post featuring Booker T and the MGs.
The band ( Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Donald “Duck” Dunn (bass), and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums))started as the house band for the might Stax record label in Memphis playing backing tracks for a whole host of amazing soul artists during the 60s and 70s. They also managed to make some pretty amazing instrumental music playing under their own name, Booker T and the MGs.
How good were they? Let me put it this way….inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 along with Jimi Hendrix! No more more words needed……let’s listen to two of their greatest hits Time is Tight and Green Onions …….
TBD
That wasn’t your imagination, the members of Creedence Clearwater Revival were watching Booker T and the MGs from back stage during their performance of Time is Tight. Man these guys were tight!
I picked up Malo’s debut album as soon as it was released in 1972 because the band had a lot in common with Santana (one of my favorite bands) – both bands were out of San Francisco, both featured latin rock, and both had a lead guitarist with the last name of Santana. Yes…..Malo’s lead guitar player (and founding member) was Jorge Santana who, as it turned out, was Carlos’ brother. Malo’s self titled debut album was great and has continued to be a favorite of mine to this very day. I saw them perform live in 1972 on a tour supporting their new album and they were even better live! Unfortunately, the original group splintered after the first album. Although versions of the band continued to perform and record, none of these versions managed to recaptured the magic from that debut album. So…..for today’s Two’fer Tuesday post let’s travel back forty one years and enjoy a couple of great tracks from that debut album.
Well June of 1973 was nothing to write home about from a music perspective. Fortunately for us, Joe Walsh saved the day by releasing his classic album The Smoker You Drink They Player You Get. Before we get to listen to a couple of cuts from this great album let’s talk about some of the less notable releases forty years ago.
Gary Glitter – Touch Me
An aptly named album given what we learned about Gary in later years (Google it if you don’t know) but less than stellar music.
The Partridge Family – Crossword Puzzle
A fake TV family that happened to be a fake music group….not exactly the stuff of rock legends. The one an only saving grace…..Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey) was hot!
The Osmonds – The Plan
A real family making bad music.
Yes….June of 1973 looked like a vast wasteland until Joe stepped in and saved the day with his first solo album after the James Gang. Let’s listen to the huge hit from his album, Rocky Mountain Way. You have to love that opening guitar riff…..
Since it’s twofer Tuesday let’s check out Joe’s softer side on the album with Meadows, maybe my favorite song on the album. If you ever had any doubts as whether Joe is really a wild man, the introduction to this song should settle things.
Thank you Joe for saving June…..forty years ago today.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 