Current Music Blog

So my cnn.com/live spot Tuesday got pushed until today. Apparently, some guy named Obama or something needed the air time. I missed his appearance, but I’m kind of curious what albums he talked about. Maybe I’ll Google it.

Anyway, here are the albums that I talked about:

“Music for Men” Gossip

God bless Beth Ditto and the boys behind her. If you don’t know Gossip (formerly the Gossip), watch this. Your life will not be the same. If that video doesn’t make you think Beth is one of the most amazing people in the world, I don’t even want to talk to you.

Guitarist Brace and drummer Hannah are about as tight as they come, and they make some really tough stuff look easy, creating a perfect platform for Beth to just go nuts in her control top spanx.

Also, this album, was produced by Rick Rubin, in case that means anything to you (it should). Buy it here.

“Murdering Oscar” Patterson Hood

Before you read any further, click this link and buy the album.

This is easily my favorite album of the year. Patterson (solo and with the Drive-By Truckers) will knock you on your ass with crashing guitar riffs, but truth be told, I really get off on his writing. Put simply, Patterson Hood is one of the best writers alive today. The entirety of the New York Times Bestseller list could learn a thing or two from even Patterson’s worst song.

The best way to describe Hood’s writing style would be Southern Gothic, but I mean that in the literary sense—not a pale, skinny redneck with eyeliner. A lot of people get their comeuppance and get killed, divorced, arrested, beat up, and foreclosed upon.

Patterson wrote half of this album in the early 90’s when he first moved to Athens, GA, and the other half while he was awaiting the birth of his first daughter a couple of years ago. You can feel the polarities between the night Kurt Cobain died, and the day he realized that he’ll not just be a parent, but probably a grandparent someday too. For some people, that might be a bit of a psychological fuck you to listen to, but for a smart listener like you, it gives this record a beautiful balance.

Buy this album now, and also pick up this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. This DVD, and this DVD, and what the hell, how about a T-shirt and concert poster too. And maybe an official DBT flask. No, I don’t get commission.

“Born on Flag Day” Deer Tick

Deer Tick is technically about as indie as you can get without making obnoxious music. Their first album “War Elephant” appeared on lots of respectable Top Albums of 2007 lists, and then months later, it was out of print, and you could only get a copy if frontman John McCauley had time to burn some copies before a show. That’s more indie than 8 pairs of tight jeans.

Deer Tick don’t really fit into a genre, that is unless you consider rollicking-rockabilly-Americana-indie-folk-regional-roots-rock a genre in itself. And it turns out, the band’s fans are as eclectic as their music, as one of their biggest fans is actually Brian Williams from NBC News. Brian featured them on his music video-blog Bri-tunes (yes, he actually named it that). It’s fun to watch Brian interview them with the same reverence he would give the Dali Lama, all while the band tries their damnedest not to look stoned. Good stuff.

You can stream the album here, buy it here, and look at an awesome picture here.