Jeff Lang is someone I've listened to lightly, haven't delved too much into his music. One of those things, ya see. 

But today, as I listened to this song, I realized it's one of my favorite, bluesy tracks, and deserves some show. And reminds me to get some more Lang, baby.

I discovered Jeff Lang through JBT, as Jeff Lang is someone John Butler looks up to, and decidedly worth checking out. He's quite a hit in Australia, and this track is from his album "You Have To Dig Deep to Bury Daddy (2005)". He plays a lot of slide guitar, and blues. Always tasty.

Enjoy it.

Jeff Lang - 'Til They Cut Me Down

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Jeff_Lang-Til_They_Cut_Me_Down.mp3] 

Jeff Lang Official Website 

Buy This CD 

I'm sure everyone's noticed that this is going to be Summer of the Sequel part III, the most prominant being Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End, and Shrek the Third.  The latter I had no intention of seeing, as CG films have lost a whole lot of their lustre for me.  However, because I was quite bored today, I broke down and finally watched Shrek 2.  It may have changed my mind about watching the Third.  Not because it was especially funny or that I was impressed by the animation [I quit caring], but because of the music.  If you can forgive the Counting Crows for not being good anymore and Chris Carrabba for crying in his beer, and can look past the songs that the director wanted to used ["Funky Town", "Livin' La Vida Loca"], then you've got a surprisingly indie soundtrack.  Eels, Tom Waits, Frou Frou, and a few others that I don't remember right now.  Then, thinking back to the first film you had Eels [again], Rufus Wainwright, and the Proclaimers.  This in mind, I may just be persuaded to check out the new one.

Hey and welcome to the first of what I hope will be quite a few summer jamz spotlights.  A few days ago I snagged my girlfriend's copy of Sublime's 40 oz. To Freedom and was struck again by just how innovative this band was.  Also, how much sunshiney goodness you can pack into a song.  So I'm presenting three tunes that I think deserve to be on your sun-soaked pleasure, including my all-time favourite Sublime song, "Jailhouse", and two classics from 40 oz.'
Much love, rock it tight.

Jailhouse

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Sublime%20-%20Jailhouse.mp3] 

Right Back

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/14%20Right%20Back.mp3] 

40 oz. to Freedom 

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02%2040%20Oz.%20To%20Freedom.mp3] 

Sublime // Buy CD 

So this post kind of got put on the back burner with the Ozma review and everything going on, but I still feel one of the most important aspects of a roadtrip is the soundtrack for it.  Here are a four pointers for creating a mix disc or MP3 playlist to fill in the silent miles.
Call me clichéd, but I find songs about the road very roadworthy.  There are a lot of Through Being Cool era Saves the Day tracks ["Vast Spoils of America", "Shoulder To the Wheel", etc.], but my favourite is definitely "Take Our Cars Now!" from the EP I'm Sorry I'm Leaving, so I've supplied it here for you.
Another great thing to consider is the sing along factor of a song.  "Take Our Cars Now!" is a perfect example of that.  Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" proved pretty good at it, too, plus it's danceable.  For your enjoyment in this category I give to last years slammin' summer anthem "If You Got the Money" by Jamie T.  It's a British clean version, just so you know, the edited phrase is "Do you give a toss?" For those who plan on traveling through the Great Plains or the Desert South West or any other vast expanse of empty drudgery, music for driving fast becomes essential.  Songs that just cause your foot to drop on the gas.  Songs like "La Grange" by ZZ Top or something from that old Fat Wreck Chords compilation you've got kickin' around.  One you wouldn't have thought of that I discovered going through southern Nevada is "Fortress" by Pinback, which is my offering to you. Finally, you must consider that the road to and the road from are generally quite different trips.  Heading out to adventure warrants more raucous jamz.  The trip back usually involves more night driving, and begs more reflective tones, stuff that the whole crew can feel united, maybe even infinite, around.  Suitable sounds come from the Shins, acoustic Ben Harper, and Johnny Cash's American Recordings.  One of the best night rides I've had has been set to Death Cab for Cutie, and I'm giving you "The Employment Pages" 'cuz I think it fits the mood I'm thinking of perfectly.
As always, though, remember my rules for mixtaping and be original, throw in a couple joke tracks and, above all, keep your audience in mind.  Happy mixing!

Take Our Cars Now - Saves The Day

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/07%20Take%20Our%20Cars%20Now.mp3] 

The Employment Pages - Death Cab for Cutie

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/07%20the%20Employment%20Pages.mp3] 

If You Got The Money - Jamie T

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/15%20If%20you%20got%20the%20Money.mp3] 

Fortress - Pinback 

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Fortress%20-%20Pinback.mp3] 

The Music Blog Awards are back.

No, just kidding. Apparently this is the first year for them. Go 2007.

If you wanna vote, go:

The Music Blog Awards 2007 

This has been both the busiest and most satisfying concert season I've ever had, even with all the lateness and missing opening acts.  This exciting season of loving continued recently with my second Ozma concert in less than a year.  Before I get going on the concert, lemme just say again that Kilby Court rocks my socks all the way off.  There.  I said it.  Again.
First act of the night was former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell.  He plays nice poppy guitar-based musics, sometimes piano-y ones.  It reminded Dave of an edgier Counting Crows, although I'm sure he's forgetting just how raw and emotional Recovering the Satellites was [I'm not alone on this, right?].  What I thought of was when Weezer toured with The Fray a few years back, if those two bands somehow merged.  But without Weezer's quirky sense of humour.  Anyhow, I've included his single "Fairfax" for your consideration.
Next was a Portland group called Kaddisfly.  These guys really upped the energy level of the show, lemme tell you.  When I saw the guys and the set up I was half worried that we were in for thirty minutes of screamo sludge.  Not so!  The band is really quite interesting to watch; Christopher Ruff [vocals/piano] really made the most of that tiny stage, running about, smashing his cymbal, shaking his maraca, etc.  He also played an emergency flashlight.  Way cool stuff.  Speaking of multi-instrumentation, one guitarist played guitar [obviously], keyboards, and drums during the same song.  An impressive feat.  Kile Brewer [bass] is both a very nice guy and an obvious Primus fan.  Not that he said anything, or has thunder thumbs, but his five-string sits about belly high, not around his knees, he plays technical bits, and even has the Les Claypool stance going.
Usually you can kind of get a feel for what a band's about before they start playing, but New Years Day threw me for a loop.  The guitarists, Keith and Mike, looked very metal with their long hair and all blackness.  Keith even had some metal band's shirt on [the more metal the bands get, the harder their fonts are to read, so I couldn't tell who].  Then Adam and Russell [drums and bass, respectively] were in nappy tuxedo shirts, which indicated a genre more ironic than metal can muster.  During warm up we heard snatches of both NoFX and Rage Against the Machine songs.  Turns out they play music that's hard to categorize, not because it's so highly stylized that you don't have words for it, but because it's so simple.  You don't want to just call it rock because we have all these subgenres that go to waste if we do.  So, if I must, I guess they're a little pop punk.  Even littler emo tones.  Their singer's a girl, too, so that puts them in whatever category people put those bands in.  But the important thing is they put on a great show and Keith looks like Alan Ruck.  And if it's important to you, Ashely Costello is pretty cute, and Adam Lorbach used to be in Home Grown.  Their first album just came out, I kinda got flirted into buying it, so you'll get a review of that pretty soon.

Then there's Ozma.  They've got a new album out on Tuesday.  Hearing songs from it live made me realize that Ozma is a lot like AC/DC: they aren't all that interested in musical evolution, just rocking out; new albums are mostly an excuse to go back on tour.  And I really mean this in the best way possible.  I was going to buy the new Ozma record so I could be hip and review it before it's released proper, but, as I said, I got flirted into buying the NYD album.

Verdicts!

William Tell: Fairly good California pops.
Kaddisfly: Heady hardcore, kinda progressive.  Excellent live energies.
New Years Day: Very probably going to be hot business in the near future.  Super fun.
Ozma: Still rocking socks.  Also, Daniel Brummel is still the sweatiest manbeast ever, but he's learned his lesson and started wearing black.
Overall Final Verdict: Amazing tour, only a few dates left!

P.S. Sorry this one's a little wordy.  I'll do better next time.

Related Links:

Ozma Official MySpace // Buy CD

Kaddisfly Official Website // MySpace // Buy CD

New Years Day Official MySpace // Buy CD 

William Tell Official Website // MySpace // Buy CD

Related Audio:

New Years Day - I Was Right

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20I%20Was%20Right.mp3] 

Kaddisfly - (Noyabr) Empire

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/07-kaddisfly-(noyabr)_empire.mp3]

William Tell - Fairfax

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/William%20Tell%20-%20Just%20For%20You.mp3] 

Ozma - No One Needs To Know

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02%20No%20One%20Needs%20To%20Know.mp3]