Hasta Pronto

Jerez meets Seville, or: Jesús Méndez lends his voice to the delicate pickings of Dani de Morón. Simply irresistable. I'll be away from my desk for a week or so, traveling south to sunny Andalucía, home of flamenco. Back before you know it, my amigos da musica.

Dani de Morón con Jesús Méndez - Tientos

Living Is A Joke

Always heartwarming: the unmistakable, languid London drawl of the one and only Peter Perrett. "I'm gonna sleep on a bed of nails, never to wake up..." Bonus points for that lovely gypsy violin.

Peter Perrett - Believe In Nothing

Your History

New Pressure Sounds ahoy. Most of the fine fine tracks on this righteous helping of roots and dub were showcased before on Blood & Fire's classic Jesus Dread and King Tubby's Prophecy Of Dub collections. In case you missed out on these, Walls Of Jerusalem is a most irie alternative.

Yabby You - Go To School Jah Jah Children

Good Times

Early seventies live Neil? Just can't be beat, be it solo, with the Horse, or with the Stray Gators, as is the case here. Choice cut from Tuscaloosa '72: a sharp version of Lookout Joe, dedicated to the soldiers who were coming home from 'Nam at the time. "Glory Hallelujah! Will I lay my burden down?" That fancy Flying V of his never sounded so good.

Neil Young & The Stray Gators - Lookout Joe

Rolled Back My Sleeve

He's spoiling us... When the poet laureate of rock & roll is involved, overkill never comes into it, and a grand total of ten Rolling Thunder '75 gigs in pristine sound quality is always welcome. For dedicated Bobcats who have already worn out these shows in bootleg form however, the rehearsals and rarities presented here are the real treat of course. Take a wonderful interpretation of the Irish folk ballad Easy And Slow for instance, from the Seacrest Motel rehearsals. Or how about a slow-burning, drastically rewritten If You See Her, Say Hello from the S.I.R. rehearsals? "She might be in Babylon..." Right on.

Bob Dylan - Easy And Slow
Bob Dylan - If You See Her, Say Hello

Curtain Fell

Finally a new solo effort by Taylor Ramsey, who released the impressive A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea back in 2007. Was it worth the long wait, caused by his day job in Band of Horses, you ask? Not really. Ramsey sure does a pleasant Neil Young lite here, but overall, For The Morning lacks the necessary bite.

Tyler Ramsey - Breaking A Heart

Take Your Time

Why this '71 Texas groover by Sir Doug sidekick Augie Meyer(s) never got the cd reissue treatment so far is perplexing to say the least. Something to do with businessmen and rights owners maybe? Whatever the case, all hail the Western Head Music Co, my amigos da musica.

Augie Meyer - Slow Times Coming

Picture Of You

Overlooked this Glands debut when it came out in 1996 for some reason, but I'm really enjoying last years reissue as we speak. Comparable with bands as Pavement or Yo La Tengo, this combo from Athens, Georgia must have been enamoured of the bands in New Zealand's famous Flying Nun roster as well. Their ode to pretty Merrina caught my fancy especially.

The Glands - Pretty Merrina

Be Careful

"He's recording in his book, what you say and what you do..." Warning: the gospel according to Brother Sidney Harris and The Sacred Four may not be suitable for the paranoid among you.

The Sacred Four - Somebody's Watching You
Brother Sidney Harris - He Got His Eyes On You

That That Is Forever

"You're gonna wake up one morning as the sun greets the dawn, you're gonna find that I'm gone..." Just got the sad news that Roger Kynard 'Roky' Erickson no longer walks among us. The singer of Texas garage legends the 13th Floor Elevators was 71. You're gonna miss him.

13th Floor Elevators - You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
Roky Erickson - I Have Always Been Here Before
Roky Erickson - Never Say Goodbye