Sunday, May 1, 2011

Wild Weekend Vol. 58




















Business as usual here after a sunny Queensday, so get ready for the 58th edition of Wild Weekend. What's in store this time around you ask? Well, there's Bonnie Prince Billy's brother in the new folk department, some Culture for all you roots lovers out deh, while Mickey Newbury takes care of the country side of things. Enjoy and please do have a wild one.

But first we'll witness some trademark weirdness by David Thomas and his merry Cleveland gang, from their so-called 'difficult' third album. In my view, Ubu's New Picnic Time has always been a logical successor to The Modern Dance and Dub Housing, albeit a tad more abstract. Opener The Fabulous Sequel sets the tune: "He hummed & hummed & hum-hummed that zombie tune..." Just marvellous. And here's some rockin' boogie for all you Creedence fans out there. The Underground Railway could easily be mistaken for a John Fogerty composition, but we're talking Redwing here, a Sacramento-based countryrock foursome from the early seventies, a time guitarists still sported big 'staches. Their eponymous first album is a forgotten classic, so go check it out.

Pere Ubu - The Fabulous Sequel MP3
Redwing - The Underground Railway MP3

Culture used to be one of the sharpest reggae vocal trios around, and if you haven't skanked to their glorious Two Sevens Clash album you really haven't lived. I and I just picked up a very nicely priced 4-disc box set which compiles all their work for legendary producer Joe Gibbs, and you should definitely follow suit if you like your music rootsy as hell. Contains the aforementioned Sevens masterpiece, plus Baldhead Bridge, More Culture, and an extra disc filled with early singles and excellent dub versions. What are you waiting for, my brethren? Country time now, as we just received the good news that these fine folks over at Drag City will re-release a ton of stuff by original outlaw Mickey Newbury. About time this crafty but kinda forgotten songwriter, who was a big influence on Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Townes Van Zandt, to name but a few, was put back on the map again.

Culture - Iniquity Worker MP3
Mickey Newbury - You're Not My Same Sweet Baby MP3

Listen to Old Calf and you might think they're the sure winners of a Bonnie Prince Billy sound-alike contest. But guess what? It's Bonnie's brother Ned Oldham here, who played in an early line-up of the Palace Brothers, and later excelled with his own Anomoanon. We didn't hear a lot of him since the demise of said band, but now Ned is back as Old Calf and the results are not too shabby at all. Just listen to their take on ye olde folksong The Cuckoo and you'll find this Oldham warbles as he flies, too. And last but certainly not least here's Jason Isbell, whose exit from the Drive-By Truckers I still can't help but regret a bit. That page was turned years ago though, and instead of crying over spilled milk we'd do better to embrace his soulful 400 Unit. Because that southern melancholy Isbell's so damn good at shines in all its ragged glory again on the just-released Here We Rest.

Old Calf - Bonnie Cuckoo MP3
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Stopping By MP3

2 comments:

jonder said...

I was just doing some reading about Mickey Newbury after listening to Etta James' version of his song "Are My Thoughts with You". Now there's a coincidence for you.

Ramone666 said...

Never heard Etta's version. I bet it's good.