Author: johnny

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Ryan Lee Crosby – “The War” (2011)


Ryan Lee Crosby
“The War”
2011

Ryan Lee Crosby has released a couple of singles recently. His latest, “The War”, absolutely smokes.

Ryan Lee Crosby’s work has always been raw and visceral. Rarely is it this combustible. The lyrics are perfectly matched to the late-’60s protest anthem feel. Nicholas Ward (bass) and Kevin Micka (drums) cause a dust-up while Elio DeLuca pounds away on a Fender Rhodes. It’s quite the groove they’ve got going on. Throughout it all Ryan lets the guitar solos fly.

“The War” is a fantastic racket.

Where to get it:

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Brendan Boogie @ Bloc 11 8.31.2011

Unsure of what time (or day*) he was going on, I left my house bound for Union Square hoping to catch Brendan Boogie’s set at Bloc 11. I only managed to catch his last two songs. One of them was a fantastic rendition of “I Hate New York”. I was happy.

* Brendan was originally promoting this show as happening on August 30th. It wasn’t until he showed up at Bloc 11 on Tuesday instead of Wednesday that he realized he had written down the wrong date for the show.

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The Modifiers @ The Rosebud Bar 8.27.2011

The Modifiers banged out a set of no-frills rock in front of an appreciative crowd at The Rosebud. No impending hurricane was going to put a damper on these festivities. Good times.

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Reverse @ The Rosebud Bar 8.27.2011

Reverse. Wait. The Mighty Reverse.

Reverse is, without question, one of my favorite bands. Their song “Victoria” is the most played song in my iTunes library.* Their latest record, Monkey Mind, took about a bazillion years to record. It was worth the wait.

As much as I love their recorded material, Reverse is a live band. That should be obvious; any band with Mike Piehl on drums is a live band. The man is a groove monster. Throw in the unflappable Mike Quinn on bass and you’ve got a killer rhythm section for Ian Kennedy to torture his telecaster over. Seriously, how does he make a telecaster sound like that? Ian and Mike also have great complimentary voices. Reverse is amazing.

OK. Enough. You get it.

* I just did the math. “Victoria” was played exactly 50% more than the next most played song in my iTunes library.** The song is that good. Also, I’m not claiming that I’ve heard this particular Reverse song more than any other. I listen to music on vinyl, cd, cassette and blah blah blah as well. Not to mention all of the music I listened to before I digitized everything many years ago. I’m pretty sure the song I’ve heard the most in my life would either be a hair metal song or something by Barry Manilow.

**The next most played song is “Go Easy Now” by The Hellacopters. In reality, the play count difference is much smaller than it would appear, as the By The Grace Of God album played nonstop in my car for at least 6 months when I first got it.

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Christians & Lions – More Songs for Dreamsleepers and The Very Awake (Acoustic) (2006)

Christians And Lions - More Songs for Dreamsleepers and The Very Awake (Acoustic)
Christians & Lions
More Songs for Dreamsleepers and The Very Awake (Acoustic)
2006

For their first release, Christians & Lions pulled together a loose collection of eclectic folk tunes. More Songs for Dreamsleepers and The Very Awake (Acoustic) sounds like a mix of Iron & Wine, Cat Stevens, The Kinks and The Shins. There are even a few songs that share an aesthetic with O’Death.

There’s a definite energy to these recordings. They’re intimate. “A Roots Grave Is Above Ground” and “Bones” are heartfelt and touching. “Stay Warm” is a toe tapper. “Free Radio Post Apocalyptic Metropolis Blues” and “Longboy” stomp and howl.

Many of these songs got a fresh treatment on Christians & Lions’ follow up (which happens to go by the same name), but that doesn’t make these inferior versions. The newer versions feature more of a full-band treatment than those presented here, but it winds up being a classic case of different, not better.

Where to get it:

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OldJack @ The Rosebud Bar 8.25.2011

Members of OldJack* closed out the release party for the new Nate Leavitt EP, Inference. Nate himself even got up and played a few songs with the band. To start their set, Dan Nicklin, Ryan Peters and Derek Feeney played several numbers that OldJack are currently working on in the studio. Then they busted out some familiar favorites with a few of their past collaborators. Ryan Spaulding, of Ryan’s Smashing Life, even got in on the action. It was loose, fun and a fitting way to end the night.

* I wont lie. I debated long and hard about what to title this post. Calling this an “OldJack” show isn’t completely accurate, despite members of the band doing songs by the band. However, “Dan Nicklin, Ryan Peters, Derek Feeney (For The Majority Of The Time) And Assorted Former OldJack Collaborators @ The Rosebud 8.25.2011” seemed a bit obnoxious.

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Tad & Kate @ The Rosebud Bar 8.25.2011

Meet Tad & Kate: Two huggable, lovable musicians that sing songs for the whole family in perfect two part harmony. You know, if your family is into songs about plane crashes, kidnapping, hobos, karaoke superstars and exhuming celebrity corpses. But then, whose isn’t?

Let’s face it, I knew this was going to be good before I even walked into The Rosebud. I’ve seen enough of Tad and Kate in Sidewalk Driver to know they weren’t going to half-ass this thing. They didn’t. It was great. I can’t wait to see them again. That’s it.