Month: August 2012

Fred Eaglesmith – “Betty”

One thing I’ve quickly found about Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is that he has a hell of a lot of great songs. As I skip around his catalog on Spotify (sorry Rdio, you ain’t stocked on your Fred), I’m constantly floored by another knockout tune. The latest to catch my ear is “Betty,” from Fred’s latest album 6 Volts.

It’s not only the hard luck story of Fred’s lady, who has skipped town with Fred’s gun, leaving him to wonder what it is she’s running from: “Is it the money / Is it the drugs / Is it somebody that you used to love”; but it’s also the bad ass rhythm and cadence of his vocal delivery. It just sounds so…COOL (for lack of a better word).

Fred. He’s bad ass.

Buy 6 Volts on Amazon.

Grandaddy live at the Independent in San Francisco (8-12-2012)

One of may favorite bands from the 90’s and early 2000’s days of yore is Grandaddy. I consider The Sophtware Slump to be a masterpiece with its futuristic space-pop, bleepy, bloopy and utterly beautiful vibe.

After a 6 year hiatus, Jason Lytle and the band have reformed for a small tour around California and Europe. As is usually the case, there is no Phoenix date scheduled, so I must live vicariously through the magic of the interwebs.

This past Sunday, the band followed up their festival appearance at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park by playing a late night gig at the Independent in San Francisco. A kind person, “cuthere,” recorded the performance (with the blessing of the band). I thank cuthere, and you will too…

Check out this Stereogum link for pictures from the night.

Grandaddy
The Independent
San Francisco, CA
August 12, 2012

Download the Show: —

01 Intro
02 El Caminos In The West
03 Now It’s On
04 Yeah Is What We Had
05 Summer Here Kids
06 Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
07 The Crystal Lake
08 My Small Love>
09 Levitz>
10 Chartsengrafs
11 The Go In The Go-For-It
12 AM 180 (mp3)
13 Lost On Yer Merry Way
14 Jed’s Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)
15 Laughing Stock
16 Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake
17 Hewlett’s Daughter
18 Here (Pavement Cover)
19 (break)
20 He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot