newgazzi Vol 05

It's your favorite time of the month!  Your newgazzi playlist ...

1.  "Crazy Rhythm" by Hot Club of Cowtown (from the LP "Rendezvous in Rhythm")

If you miss the Squirrel Nut Zippers, particularly their album The Inevitable, you'll like this.  I thought this was a fun song to start the playlist with.  That being said, I want Tom Maxwell and Jimbo Mathus to get in a room and hash it out, so that we can have another great Squirrel Nut Zippers run.  No video of this to be found, but you can hear the track here ...

"Crazy Rhythm" by Hot Club of Cowtown

And check out their website here ...  Hot Club of Cowtown Official Website

2.  "Dirty Summer" by Mother Falcon (from the LP "You Knew")

About a year ago, or so, I discovered Nicki Bluhm on a website called NoiseTrade.  Never heard of her, or the website ... not even sure how I landed there.  She recorded a version of "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) from the back of a van.  I instantly became a fan of her, and NoiseTrade.  NoiseTrade recently promoted a 2013 Summer Mixtape, I want to say 65 or so new(er) artists were featured.  I am writing about 5 of those artists this month.  It really is a good idea to listen to the music before you read any comparisons to other prominent bands, because it can sometimes set an impossible standard to live up to.  Bottom line, this is good music that deserves your attention.

3.  "Fenway" by Griffin House (from the LP "Balls")

This was another artist I discovered on the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape, and this was the first song chosen for this month's playlist.  I was in Madison for five weeks of training, and the night I busted out the summer sampler for the first time, I listened to this song about 10 times.  I liked it so much, I immediately bought the record when I got back to Milwaukee.  Griffin was kind enough to grant me an interview for you loyal newgazzi readers to enjoy.  Many, many thanks, Griffin!

Joey: "Griffin, thanks for taking a few minutes out for my readers.  Tell me, what was the first CD you ever bought?"

Griffin: "The first CD I ever bought, was RUN/DMC "Raising Hell" (And I got to tell Darryl McDaniels that once at the Hard Rock in LA. I think I might have embarrassed myself that night by drinking too much and jumping up on stage constantly, but I've kinda cleaned up my act since then."

Joey: "Hit shuffle on your iPod, first three songs that played (no cheating) ... if no iPod, let's go with Favorite Album?

Griffin: "David Gray's "White Ladder" is still one of my favorite records.  I got it when I was traveling and studying abroad in Europe when I was 20 and trying to learn how to write songs. That record really inspired me to want to make my own records. And it still strikes a deep chord with me."

Joey:  "Name one songwriter/musician you would love to work with?"

Griffin"  "I'd love to work with Buddy Miller. I saw him play this weekend with Emmylou Harris, Joan Osborne, Bobby Bare, and Sam Bush.  I'd really like to make a record with him."

Thanks again, Griffin!   Check out this live version of "Fenway" from Cleveland ...

And go see Griffin on tour this summer !!  Griffin House 2013 Tour Dates

4.  "Baby" by She & Him (from the LP "Volume 3")

I saw Union Pulse at the Miramar on Oakland Ave about 4 years ago.  James asked me if I liked She & Him.  I answered that I was familiar, but that I hadn't taken the time to listen to the record.  If I'm being honest, I had no intention of giving them a chance.  I figured the quirky gal from Elf and some guy I'd never heard of wasn't worth my time.  About a month later, I rented the album from the library, and was immediately proven wrong.  Then I started getting familiar with M Ward's solo stuff, and instantly became a huge fan of his.  Although this album is called "Volume 3", this is their 4th LP (they also did a Christmas record a while back).   This is my favorite song from the new record.  Great musicianship, and I love Zooey's vocals ...

5.  "On the Line" by The Olms (from the LP "The Olms")

Pete Yorn has a knack for recording really good 29 minute albums with other people.  I bought his collaboration with Scarlett Johansson a few years ago, and this new record pairs him with J.D. King, a guitarist best known for his commercial art.  This album is a really good listen, and I can usually make room for it driving to and from work ...

6.  "Native Son" by Kate Earl (from the LP "Stronger")

This is a gorgeous song, also, the 3rd of 5 NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape artists I'm featuring this month.  Fans of the Bachelorette may have seen her earlier this month, singing, not making out with tons of guys.  

7.  "The Stars Are Ours" by Mayer Hawthorne (from the LP "Where Does This Door Go")

What I love about bringing these artists and these songs to you each month is the discussion that it can start.  Now this is a true story.  When I played these songs for Gary Banach this past weekend (yes, he was granted a private screening on Vol 5 .... after all, he was Track 1, Volume 1), I mentioned that I thought he sounded like Daryl Hall.  Gary said he thought it sounded like Steely Dan.  So what did I find in the iTunes Ratings and Reviews the very next evening ?   A review from "Rag Dollie" saying, "Does anyone else hear the ghost of Donald Fagan's "I.G.Y" in this song?", and a review from "Eric is Biggie" saying, "The second coming of Hall & Oates".  Some musicians may not enjoy the comparisons, but I want you to write this down.  Sonically, this is the best song on the playlist this month, and when this album drops in a month's time, I'll be first in line to buy it.  

Listen to it here, and run out and get it on July 16th ...  The Stars Are Ours

8.  "Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities (from the LP "In a Tidal Wave of Mystery")

I follow every member of weezer on twitter.  Patrick Wilson has the most to say.  He recently recommended this album, and he wasn't fucking around.  (You see what I did there?  I made a Special Goodness reference!!).   This is a fun record, one of my favorites so far in 2013.  Fun video, too.

9.  "I Love You" by Said the Whale (from the EP "I Love You")

The 4th of 5 songs I'm featuring from the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape.  Remember when I mentioned Nicki Bluhm performing from a van earlier?  This is along those lines, equally cool ...

10.  "I Don't Want to Bother You" by Eleanor Friedberger  (from the LP "Personal Record")

Matt Schewe turned me on to The Fiery Furnaces a long time ago.  The record he introduced me to was "Blueberry Boat".  Now, if I'm being honest, I haven't been able to listen to that entire record in one sitting.  There's too much going on.  I don't have the attention span.  It'll happen one day, I promise.  I really do like "Bitter Tea" and "Widow City", however.  When I saw this solo record available a week ago, I sampled it on iTunes, and had to have it.  I just love Eleanor Friedberger's style.  I've listened to this three times in the last week.  It keeps getting better.  There are a few live versions of this available, but I really wanted you to hear the studio version.  I love the sound of the organ in this tune.

11.  "Cotton Mouth Man" by James Cotton (from the LP "Cotton Mouth Man")

This gentleman has been around for a long time, and I'm embarrassed that I'm just discovering him now at the age of 77.  This man plays a mean blues harp, and this album features collaborations with the likes of Gregg Allman, Delbert McClinton and Keb' Mo'.  This is the blues done the right way.  

12.  "The News About William" by Calexico (from the LP "Spiritoso")

Another band I'm late to lunch on.  The playlist needed one more great song, and this was the song that saved the day.  The version I'm sharing with you is stripped down, but every bit as breathtaking as the version on the record.  There is a timeless quality about this song that I cherish.

13.  "Ocean" by Dietrich Gosser (from the LP "What the Buzzsaw Sings")

I met Dietrich three weeks ago in Madison.  He was playing a show with Anna Vogelzang, and she spoke highly of him in the weeks leading up to the show.  I really liked his set, I envied his beard, and it was driving home that night that I listened to his album "What the Buzzsaw Sings".  The album is not new, I believe it was released in 2008.  But it's too good not to mention on this website.  The singer/songwriter genre has become my favorite genre in the past few years, and this is a really well done recording.  Great musicianship and I love the vocals.  Whenever I meet a great songwriter, I'm always curious to hear about influences.  I recently asked Dietrich to name an artist and/or record that has been influential in his approach ...

 "So many good records to choose from. An artist who I think is woefully overlooked is Joe Henry. His record "Trampoline" had a very big impact on me as a songwriter and as a recording artist. The sparseness of narrative and the little punctuation of detail in each song is incredible. There is an economy of language that I really appreciate and have been trying to emulate ever since first hearing it. Also the production turned away from his roots based early records and set the songs in a seedier world. Keyboards with crackling connections, washy reverbed guitar and a burn out narrator thats just talking himself out of bed each morning. Listen to it if you haven't heard it!"

I certainly will check this album out, and I think you should check Dietrich Gosser out.







14.  "Fortunate Son" by John Fogerty & Foo Fighters (from the LP "Wrote a Song for Everyone")

It's just fun.  A classic song performed with America's rock band.





15.  "Harvest" by K.S. Rhoads (from the LP "The Wilderness")

This is the 5th of 5 songs that I loved from the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape, and from the first time I heard it, I knew it would be the closing track.  If you know me well, you know how seriously I take my opening and closing tracks.  I enjoy the sequencing of these playlists, and this had to be the finale.  It's great, and so are you for reading newgazzi!

Introducing James Tristan Redding

We are two days away from newgazzi Vol 5, but I wanted to introduce everyone to the man who will have a volume all to himself later this summer.  His name is James Tristan Redding, and his song, Irony Is Not a Type of Metal, was featured in as the closing song of the first ever newgazzi playlist in February.  His debut solo album will be available on Sept 3rd, and James will have the entire playlist to himself.  We will feature some new songs, some old favorites, and have James pick a few artists that have inspired him through the years.

Check out his website here ! ... jamestristanredding.com

And here is the video for Irony Is Not a Type of Metal ...




Follow James on Facebook (James Tristan Redding) and on Twitter (@jtristanredding)

R.I.P. James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini died of an apparent heart attack today at the age of 51.  This hits home for a few reasons.  Some of you may know that I suffered a heart attack 11 months ago.  What some of you may not know is that I had never seen an episode of The Sopranos, and last year, received the entire series for Father's Day.  I had the heart attack less than a month later.  Since I was home for 3 months rehabbing, I decided to watch all 86 episodes over that 3 months span, and became a huge fan.  So sad to hear this news today ...

Vote for The Get Togethers!

If you're a fan of the newgazzi playlist each month, I'm sure you remember The Get Togethers from Volume 3 in April.  They are one of four bands being considered for Artist of the Month on "The Deli", an awesome website that features great indie artists in the Nashville area .... vote for them TODAY !!

Vote for The Get Togethers here !!

That Mustache. That Robe.

So, Why the Change?

Here is a transcript of a fake interview that never happened ...

Non Existant Interviewer : "So Joey, we've noticed that your blog is no longer called "The Litmus Configuration".  Why is that?"

Me :  "I'm glad you asked.  I started this blog in 2009, and at the time, I thought "The Litmus Configuration" was a catchy title.  It's a reference from my favorite movie, Midnight Run.  The fact is, I love the title, but it created some confusion with my readers, especially new ones.  You see, thelitmusconfiguration.blogspot.com already existed, so I chose to host the blog at joeyfugazzi.blogspot.com.  Often times, if I was telling people about the blog in public, they would end up at the wrong site.  And in the last few months, newgazzi has been the primary reason why people read the blog, so those readers were searching for it by the word newgazzi.  So, I decided to consolidate.  The new name of the blog is newgazzi, and can be found at newgazzi.blogspot.com"

Non Existant Interviewer : "How did the newgazzi playlist come about?"

Me : "Back in 2007, I started subscribing to Paste Magazine. It was a great pop culture monthly that featured great articles about music, television, movies, books, art, etc.  And each month, each reader got a free 20 track sampler of new music.  From December of 2007 through November of 2010, I always looked forward to my Paste samplers, and was able to get my hands on the samplers from 2002-2007, and created a nice little archive of my favorites songs over the run of the magazine.  The print version was discontinued, and went digital in the summer of 2011.  The sampler format changed from 20 songs a month to 7 a week, and I subscribed for about a year and a half.  Towards the end of 2012, I was starting to notice that I was liking a smaller percentage of the songs that were being provided, so I decided that I wanted to create my own playists, and share them with my readers."

Non Existant Interviewer  : "What goes into making the playlist each month?"

Me : "I've always spent a lot of time on Tuesday evenings listening to new music, whether it was the paste samplers, new releases on iTunes, what have you.  That hasn't changed, I just do it more often.  I spend at least an hour a night, whenever I can, checking out sites like NoiseTrade, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc, to check out new music.  I probably hear about 300 new songs each month, and end up featuring the 15 tracks I like the most.  I make an effort to include as many newer artists, or artists who are looking for more exposure, as possible.  I like to feature local musicians as well, spread the word about what I've heard, and what they are doing.  I also like to reach out to the artists on social media, let them know that I love what they're doing, and sometimes they share the blog with their fans, which is really cool."

Non Existant Interviewer :  "Which artists have shared with their fans?"

Me:  "The first newgazzi I did was in February, and I featured three friends of mine ... Gary Banach, Emily Forst and James Tristan Redding.  They were all really excited about being featured, and let their friends and fans know.  Then in April, three of the artists featured (Anna Vogelzang, Marriage and The Get Togethers) shared with their fans, and in a 6 hour period, they helped to make the post they were featured in the 3rd most read post in the history of my blog (which goes back to July of 2009).   Baby Bee featured the blog on their official homepage, and several other bands have been appreciative of the support I've shown for their music."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Tell me about Fugazzi Grand.  I heard there is a 3rd volume coming soon.  Is this true?"

Me:  "Fugazzi Grand was something I came up with in 2010.  I wanted to make a list of my top 1000 favorite songs.  Rolling Stone puts out volumes of the 500 Greatest This and That every couple of years, but for the most part, the list never changes.  They are best of lists, that a handful of artists and writers come up with.  I wanted to do something that was specific to my tastes, and get people to talk about what they liked.  I didn't want to produce the same old lists that I've already read several times.  It was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of nice feedback from people.  This inspired me to do it again, with Fugazzi Grand II : SNL, last summer.  It was a countdown of my top 1000 favorite moments in the history of Saturday Night Live.  Also a lot of fun to do.  On January 1, 2014, I will start unveiling Fugazzi Grand III : Albums.  This will not be 1000, as I only own about 700 records, but I will be counting down my top 500 favorite albums, and the list will take a full year to unveil.  I will be presenting 2 a day for 135 days , and 1 a day for the remaining 230 days of the year.  This will be my most ambitious project since the book I wrote in 2009."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Of course, you are speaking about Two Loves: The Story of a Baseball Polygamist".  Will you ever write another book, baseball or otherwise?"

Me : "I've actually made two attempts to write another book, but never really got too far.  Writing a book is a full time job on its own, and I don't want to sacrifice time with family, watching baseball, listening to a ton of great music and reading a bunch of great books.  It may happen some day, but right now, I like focusing on newgazzi, and seeing where that goes."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Well, Joey, thank you for your time.  We look forward to newgazzi Vol 5 at the end of the month".

Me :  "Thank you, it will be another fun volume to present.  Four artists that I'm really excited to share with my readers are Griffin House, Mother Falcon, Kate Earl and K.S. Rhoads. They were all recently featured on the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape 2013.   I will also be interviewing local musician Dietrich Gosser, who will be featured as well.  Thank you for reading newgazzi !"

A Must See

Brilliant ...