Archive | November, 2011

New Music: The Killers – “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball”

30 Nov

For the sixth consecutive year, The Killers, have recorded a holiday tune with this year’s titled “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.”  All profits from the sale of the Christmas Single go to Product(RED) to help fight AIDS in Africa.

LYRICS:

Way out in Old Nevada, where the Truckee’s waters flow,
Where the cattle are “a-browzin’,” an’ the Spanish ponies grow;
Where the Northers “come a-whistlin'” from beyond the Neutral Strip;
And the prairie dogs are sneezin’, as if they had “The Grip”;
Where the cayotes come a-howlin’ ’round the ranches after dark,
And the bluebirds are a-singin’ to the lovely “meadow lark”;
Where the bighorns are a-grazin’ and the lonely plovers call—
It was there that I attended “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.”
(whoo!)

The boys had left the ranches and come to town in piles;
The ladies—”kinda scatterin'”—had gathered in for miles..
The room was togged out gorgeous-with mistletoe and shawls,
And candles flickered frescoes, around the airy walls.
The women folk looked lovely-the boys looked kinda treed,
Till the leader got to yellin’: “Hey! fellers, let’s stampede,”
And the music started sighin’, an’ awailin’ through the hall
As a kind of introduction to “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.”

Their leader was a feller that came from Swenson’s ranch,
They called him “Windy Billy,” from “little Deadman’s Branch.”
His rig was “kinda careless,” big spurs and high-heeled boots;
He had the reputation that come when “a fellers shoots.”
His voice was like a bugle upon a mountainous height;
His feet were animated an’ a mighty, movin’ sight,
When he commenced to hollerin’, “Now, fellers stake your pen!
“Lock horns with all them heifers, an’ russle ’em like men.
“Saloot yer lovely critters; now swing an’ let ’em go,
“Climb the grape vine ’round ’em—all hands do-ce-do!
“You Mavericks, join the round-up- Just skip her waterfall,”
Huh! It was gettin’ happy, The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball

Don’t tell me ’bout cotillions, or germans. No sire’ee!
That whirl at Carson City just takes the cake with me.
I’m sick of lazy shufflin’s, of them I’ve had my fill,
Just Give me a frontier break-down, backed up by Wild Ol’ Bill.

McAllister ain’t nowhere, when Windy leads the show,
I’ve seen ’em both in harness, and so I sorta know—
Oh, Bill, I sha’n’t forget ya, and I’ll oftentimes recall,
That lively gaited sworray—”The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.”

Oh, Bill, I sha’n’t forget ya, and I’ll oftentimes recall,
That lively gaited sworray—”The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.”

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Paste Magazine – 50 Best Albums & 50 Best Songs of 2011

30 Nov

First and foremost, this stuff is hard. The amount of music that is released each year and narrowing it down to 50 is damn tough but I have to give Josh Johnson at PASTE Magazine much credit for his solid lists of 50 Best Albums and 50 Best Songs of 2011.  There are definitely more than less bands/artists on his lists I have been jamming out to heavily over the past year.  Again, I love this list, tons of great music but a couple names I didn’t see that personally I think should have been included, GROUPLOVE, Girls, Justice, Allen Stone, SuperHeavy, NewVillager and Boy & Bear to name a few. What’s missing that you fell in love with over the last year?

50 Best Albums
50 Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
49 Mates Of State – Mountaintops
48 Drake – Take Care
47 Real Estate – Days
46 Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost!
45 Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose
44 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
43 The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
42 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
41 James Blake – James Blake
40 Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain, In The Cloud
39 Gillian Welch – The Harrow And The Harvest
38 Over The Rhine – The Long Surrender
37 The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
36 Mister Heavenly – Out Of Love
35 Childish Gambino – Camp
34 Seryn – This Is Where We Are
33 The Head And The Heart – The Head And The Heart
32 Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
31 Telekinesis – 12 Desperate Straight Lines
30 Tom Waits – Bad As Me
29 Feist – Metals
28 Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
27 Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
26 The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
25 The Antlers – Burst Apart
24 TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light
23 The Belle Brigade – The Belle Brigade
22 The Black Keys – El Camino
21 Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming
20 Beirut – The Rip Tide
19 Cults – Cults
18 Wye Oak – Civilian
17 The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
16 Yuck – Yuck
15 Deer Tick – Divine Providence
14 Adele – 21
13 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
12 Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
11 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
10 The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
09 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
08 Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
07 Wilco – The Whole Love
06 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – It’s A Corporate World
05 Middle Brother – Middle Brother
04 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
03 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
02 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
01 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver

 

News & Notes: George Harrison, Jimmy Cliff & The Roots, RHCP and more

29 Nov
  • Today marks the 10th anniversary of George Harrison’s death.  Do yourself a favor and listen to some of his works today
  • Did anyone catch THIS sweet Jimmy Cliff & The Roots performance of “The Harder They Come” last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
  • Read this little piece on Frank Ocean and his recent NYC performances
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justice, Laura Marling and Grimes announced some of their tour dates for next year
  • And props to Rolling Stone for their new issue featuring the Top 100 guitarists of all time.  Great list, awesome group of voters and some really powerful print as to who and why they were selected

DJ OB-one New Mixes (Download)

28 Nov

Big shout out to my buddy, DJ OB-one, on his two new mixes which you can download below by clicking the highlighted links.

First, Fresh & Tasty, a little bit of everything.

And second, Bound by Metal, his latest HavocNdeeD mix for you metal heads.

Also wanted to point out the artwork by the ayatollah of rock n rolla, Jef Salazar.

New Music: Lupe Fiasco – Friend Of The People Mixtape (Download)

28 Nov

In case you missed it while feasting on turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie over Thanksgiving, Lupe Fiasco dropped a new mixtape, Friend Of The People.  Any Lupe fan will dig this mixtape and even non-fans should give it a shot as he lays down some powerful material over beats from the likes of Ellie Goulding & Bassnectar, Justice, Nero, Kaskade & Skrillex, John Coltrane, M83 and The Glitch Mob.

Thanks to the main man himself, you can download Friend Of The People HERE.

And listen closely as he drops some audio from the UC Davis Occupy Wall Street protesters who were pepper sprayed.

Happy Birthday Jimi Hendrix

27 Nov

James Marshall Hendrix, today would have been his 69th birthday. I’m guessing I’m like many and have a list of artists/bands I wish I could have seen perform live but there is nobody on that list higher than Jimi Hendrix.  The greatest guitarist of all time, what a treat it would have been to get a glimpse of the man and the music many of us have grown up listening to and hearing tales of.

My interview with Grammy and Oscar winner Ryan Bingham

26 Nov

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Bingham for his show this evening at the Silverton in Las Vegas.  The interview was published this week in Vegas SEVEN and you can click HERE to read it.  If you’re in Vegas tonight, you won’t want to miss this show, it’s going to be a rocking good time.

What Thanksgiving would be complete without this…

24 Nov

The Roots Not A Fan of Michele Bachmann?

22 Nov

Ah The Roots, back up to fun and games!  Check out THIS AP story on The Roots playing Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” as Michele Bachmann was introduced on Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon Monday evening.

 

Isle of Wight Festival 2012 First Announcement: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

21 Nov

Holy amazing! Talk about one awesome way to start the week, I knew Isle of Wight Festival was preparing to announce the first act for the 2012 Festival but never in my wildest dreams did I even think it would be Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band!

Isle of Wight takes place June 22-24, 2012. Looks like post Bonnaroo is going to include a trip across the pond for me!