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Get a Playlist of songs on this page: M3U PLS
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| A couple of prerelease tracks from Lewi Longmire second solo CD effort |
 A dozen years ago there was a mass exodus of people from New Mexico and some of them collected in Portland, Oregon. No one knows if it was the music or the smell of green chiles but somehow they kept finding themselves gathered at the Belmont Inn.
In those days the Belmont Inn hosted music for hippies. Bands like The Tree Frogs, The Crackpots, and Rubberneck tore the place up and got people dancing. Unfortunately, some wayward gunshots and a few neighbor complaints turned the place into a pool hall and it still exists as that today. I especially miss its green room adorned with a decade of band names.
One evening a New Mexico friend of mind called me up and said his old friend Lewi Longmire and his band Apricot Jam were playing there and I would be a dink if I missed it. I didn't miss it and I still have the CD I purchased that night adorned with Lewi and his band mates autographs on it. I am saving it for my appearance on Antiques Roadshow in 40 years. I still listen to it too. I should also note that one of Lewi's bandmates, James Whiton, went on to play with Eric McFadden because he is just such a badass.
From then on I tried to catch these fellas everytime they came to town and even supported them at a battle of the bands, which I loathe, where Kerosene Dream and a hundred and fifty 15 year olds took the prize. But I digress.
Portland must have made an impression on Lewi or maybe New Mexico just sucks, I don't know. Lewi moved to town and joined every single band there was. That was very lucky for us.
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| Savage Season - a track from one of Bazza's old albums |
I've never actually seen Bazza perform. Maybe I'm afraid to.
A friend loaned me a copy of Odd Duck and I love every song on it. This is rare. I'd hate to ruin my illusions but someday I will and maybe I'll call it refining them.
So here's the first track from Odd Duck.
Please make sure you pay a visit to bazzabobbinshop.com where you can find Bazza's official discography and a few more free mp3s. Thanks Bazza.
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| You Shook Me All Night Long - Hank Plank and the 2x4s |
I don't quite remember how I met Hank Plank and the 2x4s. I would bet that most of Hank Plank's fans don't remember quite how they met Hank Plank. I might even bet that most of the 2x4s themselves might not remember how they met Hank Plank. Is that a good thing? I dunno. But I do know that the songs by Hank Plank, besides exhibiting that wonderful Smiths-like irony of upbeat tempo mixed with not quite appropriate content, are just plain funny. I love Hank Plank and the 2x4s and I absolutely cherish my live recording of them from the Snake and Weasel.
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| Pure and Simple Genius |
Recently I waited until after midnight in the very smokey confines of the freezing cold and foodless Towne Lounge(they've got one of those bathrooms with the shitter right out in the open, hooray!) while I waited just to hear this act, Quality Name Brand, perform for the release of a new CD.
Now, I wouldn't say I am QNB's biggest fan, for that title is surely reserved for those folks I see at every single show. But I very much do appreciate the art that they make.
I think I have pinpointed it too. These two fellas use their passion, their poetry and their musical prowess to distort the room that they are in. If you are lucky and you are there AND there are no technical problems this group has the ability of delivering a spiritual punch that contorts your limbs and makes you twist and groove quite unlike anything you've ever experienced.
Quality Name Brand is the nicest band in rock and roll. Really. Go to their site and visit the downloads page where you are treated to a high quality mp3 of every song they have recorded. Here's two of my favorites although I have to say I love every single one of them.
Buy their latest album and you'll end up collecting them all!
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| Lunatics - Hot new single from Matt Sheehy |
Matt's first track from Diplomatics released!
The single, now for sale, features four tracks: this version of Lunatics, a re-mix by the ultra talented Brent Knopf, an alternate version of Go Missing, and an instrumental track.
It will be available online soon, and until then it can be ordered by emailing a request to matt@matt-sheehy.com
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| Bunny Rabbit Hearts - Danny Dolinger |
Danny Dolinger is a hippy. A real one. A bonafide tree-hugging activist. He travels the world loving the planet and the people who help him travel in it, even immortalizing some of them in song.
His new album contains a sweet collection of these immortalizations. But beyond that, Danny also likes to write goofy songs about goofy things(can you say Bunny Rabbit Hearts?) to make you laugh. Danny likes to make you laugh and feel good. Calling him a folksinger is like calling Carlin a joketeller.
So here's that track from his new album, Significant Gains, which you can purchase at any of his shows and online at his website, dannydolinger.com.
The album would make a worthy addition to anybody's collection with sure-fire rock anthems like Meat Patties From Outer Space and There's Something Rotting In My Room which addresses the lack of personal awareness, and apparently hygiene, in our world today.
hint: put the cd on and give it a listen one evening when you have an hour to cuddle with your sweetie when there's nothing on tv and you want a quick giggle.
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| Sandra - The Friends of Rock and Roll |
 There's a raw kind of emotion in music making that some past luminaries like Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, and even the Beatles exhibited. The emotion is hard to describe but obvious when present. If you've got the right emotion in mind you can start to name band after band that share it.
Well, after listening to this track from the fresh new debut EP (5 song CD) from The Friends of Rock & Roll, I have to add them to the list. Maybe their name has something to do with it.
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| People Of The World - The Space Age Polymers |
Arising from the primordial stew in amoebic fashion, Space Age Polymers are four little seeds of inspiration. Each seed is in fact an oxymoron. A zener diode. A dichotomy in time and space. Illusory. Together these seeds quadratically straddle the hemisphere and deliver quiet spontaneous zen and some healing. Here. Listen.
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| Two By The Dimes does not equal 20 cents |
 Sometimes you get lucky and just fall over some damn good music. Happens to everybody. You walk into a strange bar to get a quick pint or the time of day or change for the bus and "discover" the most amazing unknown band or something to that effect.
A friend wanted me to look at a website he liked but wasn't sure of the name, said he thought the name of the band was
The Dimes. Soooo, I click over there, dig the site, listen to the tunes(figures they're from Portland) and wow. Just like that, I have a new favorite. Thanks to the fact that they had a few songs to listen to on their site. And thanks for putting the whole song up there too. Song clips suck. I'm just saying...
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| Down By The Riverside - Billy Kennedy |
 Tony took an old four tape track recording he made of Billy, Curtis King and some unknown wash tub bass player in 1989 at a house concert in Portland, OR where Billy opened up for Ed and the Boats. Wow! The recording is really great!
This track is a cover of Down By The Riverside but done in such a way that only Billy Kennedy can pull off.
The tune features great audience participation and I am sure you are going to like it.
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| Music Is Timeless - Two Tracks From Two Gravity and Henry Albums |
As far as I am concerned the average music listener should have both of Gravity and Henry's albums in their collections in order to even think of calling it a good one. Kind of like Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both or Laurel and Hardy, they are an inseparable pair. Much like the band was for a handful of years.  The band's members have both moved on to other endeavors in life(the drummer has a wife, a new child and military career going now) but music is in fact timeless and these albums get no less good than the day they came out. Here's two great tracks mined from the Gravity and Henry website, which the non-military member, Matt Sheehy maintains along with a budding solo career.
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| I'm A Hog For You Baby - Lowell John Mitchell |
Here's somebody who might slip below your radar if you're not careful. Lowell John Mitchell is one of those amazingly talented fella's that musicians call on to fill out their band when they are in a pinch. This is partly because he's so damn good but mostly because he probably knows their material already. In fact he may have written some of it. He seems to have an endless supply in his repertoire.
Lowell exudes a rural front porch kind of friendliness with his playing and singing and it makes you feel real good. Like family.
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| Take The Skinheads Bowling? St.James's Gate says so |
Last night was my first occasion to see this band live-- I've been listening to their recorded music for a few years now, so I knew I liked them, but their live show far surpassed my expectations! While watching them play, I was further surprised to hear that they have a great cover of that sweet Camper Van Beethoven song posted on their website, so I went out to the St.James's Gate website to see if it was true and sure enough...
Make sure you check out some of the other songs while you are there. This band transitions easily from funky groovy to beerjoint barrelhouse literally from song to song. Really great stuff.
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| The Bug - funky little number from Big Island Shindig |
I tripped over this little beauty whilst exploring Big Island's latest exploits at
bigislandshindig.com. Its a powerfully funky little romp that really spotlights the groove this band is capable of. Good choice to put on their website.
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| Lonely and Monster, Two great tunes from Trentalange |
 Evocative and atmospheric. It should come as no surprise that Barbara Trentalange - the voice and creative force behind Trentalange - is also a visual artist.
Here's a sweet tune mined from her website, Lonely.
and here's another, called Monster, that I mined from the absolutely fabulous, enviable, and truly admirable KEXP blog where I found out about this very cool music in the first place!
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| O Oregon - great little single from rainarose.com |
As Raina Rose prepares to embark on her Fall Tour for 2006, she released this sweet little "scratch track" from her album in progress.
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| U Don't Speak 4 Me solo Griff Bear from griffbear.com |
I think this one speaks for itself.
**PARENTAL ADVISORY** THIS SONG INCLUDES CUSS WORDS AND IS VERY CRITICAL OF WAR AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNTITED STATES. THERE ARE ALSO QUOTES FROM JESUS OF NAZARETH THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED SUBVERSIVE.
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| No Time - Track of the Month - billykrecords.com |
Billy Kennedy Trio
This track was recorded at the Produce Row in Portland, Oregon on March 9th, 2002
and was featured on billykrecords.com as the Track of the Month selection for September 2006
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