Work it Mr. Davies

Ray Davies released a record last October called Working Man's Cafe that originally was distributed with the Sunday Times in the UK. A day latter it was released (with two extra songs) officially. But, the record has been a bit hard to come by in the US as it wasn't released here and wasn't available for download from iTunes. New West Records took care of that issue last month. Those who already snagged a copy of the UK release or the one that came with the Sunday Times (that could be found on eBay) might not be excited to pony up more money for the New West version, but they will be interested in the fact that it adds four extra songs; Angola (Wrong side of the law), I the Victim, Vietnam Coyboys, and The Voodoo Walk. What's even more interesting is that there is a deluxe edition that comes with a DVD of Americana: A Work in Progress which was a film shot by Ray back in 2001 on his Storyteller tour as he traveled around the US right after 9/11.

Mekons side project #5001

The London band Little Sparta has released a CD single on The Grey Gallery that includes vocal performances from Mekon Sally Timms. It is only a two song single and the tracks are; Best Intentions, and Silenus. Violinist Susie Honeyman is a member of the band Little Sparta and has also been a long time Mekon.

Busking for Change

To continue the Mike Doughty thread here, apparently certain retailers have a bonus EP called Busking included with purchase of his new full album Golden Delicious. One such online store that has this limited bonus EP is Insound.com. The EP was recorded down in the subway where Doughty once had busked when he was 19. Apparently this time around he made a whole $3.10 while playing. The EP contains all the expected subway noise and conversations with passersby. Track listing is as follows;

1. Looking at the World From a Bottom of a Well
   
2. F Train
   
3. The Only Answer
   
4. 40 Grand
   
5. Sunkeneyed Girl
   

Ruby Vroom in the Blue Room

Former Soul Coughing front man Mike Doughty who has a new release out this month called Golden Delicious recently recorded a session for the AT&T Blue Room. The Blue Room session consists of some acoustic performances and an interview that can be streamed. There is both audio and video of the performance. Doughty has put out several limited live recordings (both digitally and on CD) in recent years for the fans. So, I guess I can cut him some slack over his re-release of Smofe & Smang: Live from Minneapolis, where he retitled it Half Smofe and cut out nearly half the songs. Yeah, that's what I like, paying full price for half an album.

Soldiering On

Andrew Bird has released an EP entitled Soldier On that was previously only available at shows on his European tour in 2007. The EP is available digitally from eMusic and iTunes. It is also available as a CD from Fargo Records. The EP contains some outtakes, demos and alternate mixes of previously released songs, as well as a cover of Bob Dylan's "Oh Sister." Track listing;

1. The Trees Were Mistaken
   
2. Sic of Elephants
   
3. The Water Jet Cilice
   
4. Plasticities remix
   
5. Heretics - early version
   
6. Sectionate City excerpt
   
7. How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm
   
8. Oh Sister
   

Live Canucks

This week iTunes released an exclusive live New Pornographers album as part of its Live from Soho series. The digital only release was recorded in December 2007 at the Apple store in Soho and contains a number of songs from their latest release Challengers. It also contains a cover of ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down." Track list is as follows;

1. All the Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth
   
2. Use It
   
3. All the Old Showstoppers
   
4. Challengers
   
5. My Rights vs. Yours
   
6. Adventures in Solitude
   
7. The Laws Have Changed
   
8. Unguided
   
9. Singe Me Spanish Techno
   
10. Don't Bring Me Down
    
11. The Bleeding Heart Show
    

(Live) For the World

Select live recordings of UK leg of Crowded House's 2007 tour have been made available for purchase from Concert Live. There are currently five limited edition CDs available for purchase, each from a different night of the tour. Each is limited to 1,500 copies and the recordings are authorized by the band. They have also made available packages which include one of the live CDs as well as a digital download of the Bob Clearmountin mix of the 'Pour le Monde' single. The Concert Live service is similar to other live music services in that all (or most) nights of an artist's tour are recorded and made available for purchase. These recordings are much more interesting mementos of shows for fans than the usual t-shirts, posters, etc. available at merch tables. The US service Kufala Recordings handled the release of Crowded House's US tour dates and there were 30 shows that were recorded and available for purchase from their website

Swervedriver Returns

Recently I was reading about former Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin and his solo record that came out last year. In amongst news of some solo live shows was a mention that the band Swervedriver was going to reform and tour this summer. This prompted me to head over to swervedriver.com for perhaps more information. And while there wasn't much in the way of details on the tour yet, I did discover some nice downloads available from the website. Apparently members of the forum there have put together MP3 versions of all four Swervedriver albums where the MP3s are either live versions of songs or versions from radio sessions (the tracklisting for Raise can be seen in the image here). They also did the same for a double disc of known b-sides. Downloads are available at http://www.swervedriver.com/downloads.asp.

That Annandale Drone

The Annandale Hotel in Sydney, Australia has decided to release some very limited live recordings from their venue. That might not be terribly surprising. But, what is surprising, is the fact that their most recent release from Perth's The Drones has been released on vinyl! The Drones are tough to describe but are a concoction of rock, blues, and noise, and they appear to be influenced by the likes of; The Birthday Party, The Velvet Underground, Robert Johnson, Neil Young, Tom Waits, and The Gun Club. This very limited live LP comes signed and is a collection of live tracks recorded on the nights of October 18th and 19th, 2007. The LP is quite pricey though (given its limited release) and runs $45 Australian. There was a time when exchange rates to the US were favorable and it would be around $22 US, but now the Australian dollar and thee US dollar are about the same. More info can be found at The Annandale Hotel's website.

For those looking for something a bit cheaper, The Drones always post a nice collection of live MP3s and a few outtakes on their website.

Excuse Me While I Break Open My Pocket Book

Today sees the reissue of Whiskeytown's 1997 album Stranger's Almanac. The release will be a two disc set. Disc one will contain the original release as well as five live radio performances. Disc two will contain a large number of demos, which are commonly called the Barn's On Fire Sessions. There are nineteen tracks in all on the second disc and there are a few covers included as well; Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," Gram Parson's "Luxury Liner," Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," and the True Believers "The Rain Won't Help You When It's Over."

Monstrancity!

A monstrosity is what some have called XTC front man Andy Partridge's new musical project Monstrance. At least Andy is good natured enought to post some of the negative reviews on his website which include snipets like; "painful for me to review", "almost unlistenable", and "lovely it is not". Monstrance is an avant-garde, improvisational musical affair with Andy on guitars, former XTC member Barry Andrews on keyboards, and Martyn Barker on drums. Last year they released a self titled double CD. Now, they have released a digital download EP that is only availbe from Andy's Ape House site. The EP is entitled Fine Wires Humming a New Song and contains the following tracks;

1. I am a Cow Devil
   
2. Children Love Our Dear Helmsman
   
3. Smelt me into Steel One Hundredfold
   
4. My first Words Were MAKE REVOLUTION
   

The songs were recorded live in the studio for Stuart Maconines FREAKZONE show on BBC 6. The EP also includes an 11 minute film for the track "I Lovely Cosmonaut."