To The Bone

Horsehair halters and bridles, beautifully braided by Mexican horse thieves... Perfect ingredients for a Tom Russell song alright, and a beauty it is, too. Here goes with one of the most underrated artists I know. By the way: guy is a mean painter, too.

Tom Russell - The Sky Above, The Mud Below

Things You Never Seen

If you're an aficionado of Americana and still haven't discovered Tom Russell, last year's October In The Railroad Earth (yup, that's a Kerouac reference right there) is as good a place to start as any.

Tom Russell - Hand-Raised Wolverines

Keep On Riding

Sure could use another troubadour, so I'm off to church tonite to catch Jonathan Wilson in solo acoustic mode. Laurel Canyon calling, dude.

Jonathan Wilson - Moses Pain

Before attending the house of prayer though, I'll raise a glass to those who left us: Fairport fiddling great Dave Swarbrick (75) and boxing icon Muhammad Ali (74). Miss them.

Fairport Convention - Come All Ye
Tom Russell - Muhammad Ali
Derrick Morgan - Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)

Out Of Luck

"Sometimes the devil wears a ski mask, and god created border towns..." Just another Tom Russell beauty from last year's excellent Mesabi album. Featuring longtime Sir Doug sideman Augie Meyers on piano, while that special narcocorrido flavour comes courtesy of Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet and Joel Guzman on accordion. "Saint Jude, your children are running out of luck..."

Tom Russell - And God Created Border Towns

The Troubadour Kid

"The kid heard Howlin' Wolf every night on the radio, from those airwaves blasting all the way, Nogales, Mexico..." Wherein Tom Russell lovingly salutes Dylan, and the whole North Country with it. Complete with mariachi trumpets, this is the expressive title track of his new album. "Some things never change..."

Tom Russell - Mesabi MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 49

Sunday already? High time for Wild Weekend #49. Let´s see, what do we have here... Well, Tomatito salutes his uncle in Andalusian style, while Tom Russell spends some precious time in the last bar on earth. Meanwhile in the female vocals department, we´ve got a Helen, a Tracyanne and even a Bezunesh. Cool, no? In any case, be sure to have a wild one, y´all.

First we move to sunny Spain to meet up with Tomatito, the virtuoso longhaired gitano who succeeded Paco de Lucía as the principal guitar sidekick of legendary singer Camarón. The little tomato´s Barrio Negro (´91) was a nuevo flamenco album that received high praise almost everywhere, but when I bought it recently it proved just a little too light for my personal taste alas. However, this ode to his uncle Miguel is a timeless gem. Back in the States, let´s zoom in on Chicago, where we encounter a fairly young combo called Disappears. Their brand new longplayer Guider fuses the feedback and fuzz of the Mary Chain with the angst of early Joy Division, adding a whiff of kraut- and postrock à la fellow windy city dwellers Tortoise into the mix to speed things up a bit. Dark stuff this.

Tomatito - A Mi Tio "El Nino Miguel" MP3

Disappears - Halo MP3

Ethiopia´s on our radar once again now, with a groovy song from volume 13 in the truly amazing Ethiopiques series. Presenting Bezunesh Bekele, a lady with a very special voice indeed. And all that shiny brass in the background isn´t too shabby, either. There´s more excellent - and rare - Bezunesh stuff available on the interwebs of course: do pay a visit to the interesting Freedomblues blog for instance. Happy hunting. More female vocals up next, with the charming Helen Love from Wales and her cool tribute to ole Joey Ramone. "All you got to do is call me, there´s a girl who loves you on the other side of the world..." Pop bliss, dearies.

Bezunesh Bekele - Atrakegn MP3

Helen Love - Joey Ramoney MP3

Was playing the iPod in the car the other day when an old Tom Russell song came up. Had almost forgotten just how fine Out In California actually is, kinda like a Carver short story set to music. "I´m sitting here drinking in the last bar on earth..." When you´ve got a first line like that, nothing can go wrong I guess. And we´ll leave you for now with a ramshackle but fun tune from last year a pal of mine just brought to my attention. Gospel Music is a side project of Owen Holmes of the Black Kids, giving him the chance to sing duettes with all kinds of pretty-voiced dudettes. And in the case of Automobile, which gets plenty bonus points just for the use of a melodica, the lucky lady in question just happens to be Camera Obscura´s Tracyanne Campbell. "Take me to the forest, to the mountains, to the bay..."

Tom Russell - Out In California MP3

Gospel Music - Automobile MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 5

Long live the weekend, the weekend is here. And it´s gonna be another wild one... My iPod shuffle function picks the tunes, and we´ll just have to wait and see what comes up. Ready, set, go.

Let´s get this show on the road with some intense blues from the inimitable Robert Pete Williams. Recorded live in Angola Prison, where the guitarist was doing time for fatally shooting a (white) man in what was probably self-defence. "Some got six months, but me and my buddies got a lifetime here..." These ´59 recordings actually helped to get his case looked at anew and his sentence reduced. Jandek provides another kind of blues: of the outsider variety. Most people find his stuff unlistenable, but I regularly need a shot of the unique Houston loner.

Robert Pete Williams - Some Got Six Months MP3

Jandek - Naked In The Afternoon MP3

The Buzzcocks more or less defined the punkpop genre in the magical year of ´77. They´ve been unrivalled ever since really. To be sixteen again... oh no! Find it on Love Bites, their somewhat underrated second offering. I stupidly forgot to include Tom Russell´s Blood And Candle Smoke in my list of last year´s fave albums. Sorry Tom, won´t happen again. Check out the impressive East Of Woodstock, West Of Vietnam and add this album to your wishlift pronto. Them mariachi-like horns are delicious. "Raise high the roof beams, carpenter boy..."

Buzzcocks - Sixteen Again MP3

Tom Russell - East Of Woodstock, West Of Vietnam MP3

Next up are the Byrds. Makes sense, as I´ve got a lot of their timeless songs on my iPod. One Hundred Years From Now was sung by McGuinn on their groundbreaking countryrock classic Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, as the original vocals of the one and only Gram Parsons were erased for contractual reasons. The version here comes from the Byrds box set, with Gram´s wonderful voice restored. And we bid you goodnight with some intense flamenco from the Jerez Earthquake. "Toma, toma..."

The Byrds - One Hundred Years From Now MP3

Terremoto De Jerez - Fiesta En El Barrio Santiago MP3