Caught on the In Between Playlist 05-04-10

1. Alan Caddy - Workout - An Outbreak of Twangin'
2. Josh Ritter - Long Shadows - So Runs The World Away
3. Josh Ritter - Orbital - So Runs The World Away
4. Josh Ritter - Change of Time - So Runs The World Away
5. La Strada - The Sun Song - La Strada EP
6. The Blow - True Affection - Paper Television
7. Broken Social Scene - All to All - Forgiveness Rock Record
8. Broken Social Scene - Meet Me in the Basement - Forgiveness Rock Record
9. The Tallest Man on Earth - Love Is All - The Wild Hunt
10. Dr. Dog - It - Shame Shame
11. The Tallest Man on Earth - Burden of Tomorrow - The Wild Hunt
12. The Hold Steady - The Sweet Part of the City - Heaven is Wherever
13. The Hold Steady - Our Whole Lives - Heaven is Whenever

Caught on the In Between Playlist 04-27-10

. Dick Dale - Fish Taco - Unknown Territory
2. Mariana and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Fool's Gold Remix) - Single
3. Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel - Fool's Gold
4. Kuero - Chan Chan - Calleson
5. Sergent Garcia - Llevale Mi Canto - Un Poquito Quema'o
6. Manu Chao - Me Llaman Calle - La Radiolina
7. Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar - Good Things
8. Aloe Blacc - Patria Mia - Shine Through
9. U-Roy and the Paragons - The Same Song - Version Galore
10. Phyllis Dillon - Don't Stay Away - The Story of Jamaican Music: 1958-1967
11. U-Roy and the Paragons - The Tide Is High - Version Galore
12. John Holt - Love Me Forever - Up Park Camp
13. Gregory Issacs - Let's Dance - Cool Ruler

Caught on the In Between Playlist 04-13-10

1. The Untamed Youth - Rollerland - Untamed Melodies
2. Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Fools Gold Remix) - Single
3. Future Islands - Tin Man - In Evening Air
4. Discovery - Can You Discover - LP
5. ChocQuib Town - San Antonio - Somos Pacifico
6. ChocQuib Town - Alquien Como Tu - Somos Pacifico
7. Tony Rebel - If Jah - Roots Rock & Reggae
8. The Very Best - Warm Heart Of Africa - Warm Heart of Africa
9. MIA vs. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up The Sunshowers - Mash-up Single
10. Noir Desir - Le Vent Nous Portera - des Visages des Figures
11. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Paris - Re-Foc
12. Willie Rosario - Calypso Blues - Unknown
13. Mighty Sparrow - Gun Slingers - First Flight
14. Mighty Sparrow - Mango Vert - First Flight

Caught on the In Between Playlist 04-06-10

Tonight's show was all about the great state of Minnesota. Last night (Monday 4/5), Melinda and I saw The Hold Steady at Higher ground and they were incredible. Much better than I had anticipated and I've been anticipating seeing them for years. Not much between song banter from lead singer Craig Finn, which caught me by surprise, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that his lyrics and singing is banter in itself. They were constant, powerful, and so full of energy. Finn was unstopable onstage and so endearing with his nerdiness. He reminded me so much of a childhood friend of mine that it made me want to do a show all with Minnesota bands.

Another reason I wanted to focus on Minnesota bands is an article I read in Bicycling Magazine that listed the 50 best cycling cities in the Nation and the mini-Apple took 1st prize. Which is so odd due to it's intense cold winter months. People there are so very hardy and healthy. It's a lot like Vermont in that they're very progressive politically, very active, and very health-conscious. Mid-westerners, especially Minnesotans, have always seemed so very real and grounded to me. I've always felt comfortable around them.

And they play some pretty damn good music. The first band I focused on was The Trashmen (a surf-rock band from Minnesota!!!???) who had one of the most famous surf rock tunes ever--Surfin' Bird. It's odd how they came up with the song though...they basically combined two songs by The Rivington's--"The Bird is the Word" and "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". Next up was the incredible Hold Steady who have members who were originally from Minneapolis, but now reside in Brooklyn. They're such an awesome, straight-ahead, intelligent rock'n'roll band and are really unlike any other band out there right now. And they have a new album coming out on May 4th.

Next up was The Replacements who no doubt inspired The Hold Steady. They started out in the late 70's around the same time as Husker Du who I didn't put on my show. They were out of the Twin Cities and inspired numerous bands around the country. Mason Jennings came next on the show and, while he wasn't originally from the land of 10,000 lakes, he did move there and lived there as he gained national attention as a musician. He has put out tons of albums and my favorite album of his is Boneclouds. Great lyrics, especially on If You Need A Reason.

Last but definitely not least is the Duluth born Bob Dylan. There's no way I could write anything that hasn't been written before. And I tried to play some of his more obscure tunes -- Mozambique and Billy 1 from my favorite Dylan album, Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid. In other Dylan news, his son Jakob Dylan just released an album that has given me a reason to finally become a Jakob Dylan fan. He's joined by Neko Case and it sounds much less commercial, and more real than his previous albums.

If you have a chance to visit Minnesota I highly recommend it. Especially if it's by bike.

1. The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird - Surfin' Bird
2. The Hold Steady - Constructive Summer - Stay Positive
3. The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis - Stay Positive
4. The Hold Steady - Both Crosses - Stay Positive
5. The Replacements - Hold My Life - Tim
6. The Replacements - Little Mascara - Tim
7. The Replacements - Bastards of Young - Tim
8. Mason Jennings - Be Here Now - Boneclouds
9. Mason Jennings - If You Need A Reason - Boneclouds
10. Bob Dylan - Mozambique - Desire
11. Bob Dylan - Billy 1 - Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Caught on the In Between Playlist 03-30-10

"It's okay, it's alright, I'm alive and it's good to be" - Backyard Tire Fire

Winooski is the spot! I'm so stoked and impressed on how it's growing. It's a slow process, but it's coming on. We now have a great coffee shop in the roundabout--The Block Gallery. Excellent coffee and lattes in there and they also have the best seat in Winooski. There's a couch overlooking the roundabout and bridge to Burlington. There are some great restaurants -- Sneakers has the best breakfast around (Veggie hash and eggs), Donny's pizza is great with an excellent bar (Try the Sicilian slices. I'm not usually a deep dish/Sicilian guy, but theirs is great), Tiny Thai (Drunken Noodle, Pad Thai, Curries, everything is good and it's BYOB so it's cheap!), Asian Bistro has the best sushi in Vermont (Eel and avocado), McKee's (good burgers), and a new restaurant is coming in where Sneakers used to be (The 7 Days write-up made it sound pretty interesting. The Monkey House is the best bar in the area, hands down. Excellent beer, perfect crowd, and they have so many great shows booked over the next couple weeks it's not even funny -- The Cush's farewell shows (4/9 & 4/10), Tallest Man On Earth (4/15), The Morning Benders (4/16), Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (4/19), Heavy Trash (4/20), Backyard Tire Fire (4/22). That is such a nuts schedule!!! And I can't believe it's all going down in Winooski...just a short half mile walk/bike from my house.

Winooski pride!!! Go Spartans!!!!

1. Wayne Hancock - Midnight Stars And You - Viper of Melody
2. Rough Francis - Waiting - Introducing...Rough Francis
3. Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union - The Monitor
4. Backyard Tire Fire - Good To Be - Good To Be
5. Backyard Tire Fire - Brady - Good To Be
6. The Heligoats - Fish Sticks - Goodness Gracious
7. The Heligoats - Been A Drill - The End of All-Purpose EP
8. The Heligoats - Heat Vents - Goodness Gracious
9. Jeff Tweedy - Pecan Pie - Live

Caught on the In Between Playlist 03-16-10

How to get to Hadestown
You’ll have to take the long way down
Through the underground, under cover of night
Laying low, staying out of sight
Ain’t no compass, brother, there ain’t no map
Just a telephone wire and the railroad track
Keep on walking and you don’t look back
’til you get to the bottomland -- Hermes explaining how to get to Hadestown to Orpheus on the song Wait For Me from Anais Mitchell's new album, Hadestown

So begins the song describing Orpheus going to Hadestown to rescue Eurydice off of Anais Mitchell's new album, Hadestown. It's a folk opera set in post-apocalyptic depression era south that is based on the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the original story, Orpheus is the best musician and poet around and is very much in love with his wife Eurydice. When she gets bitten by snakes and is pulled down to the underworld, Orpheus is convinced by others to do what very few have done before -- go down to the underworld, rescue Eurydice, and pull her back to the living world. He makes it down successfully and, through his beautiful music, is able to convince Hades to let Eurydice return with him to the living world. However, Hades will only let her go on one condition -- Orpheus must walk ahead of her and he can't look back until they're both out of the underworld. Of course Orpheus agrees and walks ahead, but once he gets out of the underworld, he is so excited that he looks back before she's out and she gets pulled back down forever.

Anais Mitchell's telling of this tale is very creatively set in the depression-era South with Hades being the king-boss of a wall-building corporation in the underworld city of Hadestown. Since it's set in the depression, he convinces the citizens to come to Hadestown b/c he can offer work. What they don't know is, once they go down, they can never return. B/c Orpheus is poor and can't support her, Eurydice is lured down to Hadestown. Orpheus doesn't trust Hades and tries to convince Eurydice to stay with him. She won't listen and ends up taking the train down to Hadestown. Orpheus then meets Hermes who tells him how to secretly get down to Hadestown and Orpheus sets off to rescue Eurydice. Just like the original story, and with a little help from Persephone--a speakeasy owner selling air, rain, and sunshine in Hadestown--Hades is convinced to let Orpheus take Eurydice out of the underworld. As the story goes, they both walk out, but only Orpheus escapes and the opera ends with Persephone and Eurydice singing a reverse elegy to Orpheus.

It's an incredibly creative and interesting album and includes a cast of modern indie-rock stars -- Orpheus is played by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Hermes is played by Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem, Hades is played by Greg Brown, Persephone by Ani DiFranco, and Eurydice by Anais Mitchell. I highly recommend it.

This week's show was originally inspired by the movie Crazy Heart and as I gathered similar songs all week, I stumbled upon Hadestown. So tonight's show includes songs inspired by Crazy Heart as well as tunes inspired by Hadestown.

1. Link Wray - Big City After Dark - Missing Link Vol. 2
2. Jeff Bridges - Hold On You - Crazy Heart Soundtrack
3. Ryan Bingham - The Weary Kind - Crazy Heart Soundtrack
4. Ryan Bingham - I Don't Know - Crazy Heart Soundtrack
5. A.A. Bondy - How Will You Meet Your End - American Hearts
6. A.A. Bondy - There's A Reason - American Hearts
7. The Low Anthem - To Ohio - Oh My God Charlie Darwin
8. The Low Anthem - (Don't) Tremble - Oh My God Charlie Darwin
9. Anais Mitchell - Wedding Song - Hadestown
10. Anais Mitchell - Wait For Me - Hadestown
11. Anais Mitchell - Why We Build The Wall - Hadestown
12. Townes Van Zandt - If I Needed You - High, Low, And In Between

Caught on the In Between Playlist 03-09-10

"he's got the pages in his pockets that he ripped out of the bible from his bedstand in the motel. he likes the part where the traders get chased out from the temple. i guess i heard about original sin. i heard the dude blamed the chick. i heard the chick blamed the snake. i heard they were naked when they got busted. i heard things ain't been the same since." -- The Hold Steady "Cattle and The Creeping Things"

The Hold Steady are playing Higher Ground on 4/5!!!!! Be there or be square. And a month later on 5/8 Rodrigo y Gabriela are playing The Flynn!!! Two amazing shows. I've always wanted to see both bands and thought I may need to travel out of the city to do so. But they are coming here and Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Flynn will be awesome. I've been wanting to see a band there ever since I saw Feist there a couple years ago. That show was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen, so I'm very anxious to see R y G.

1. The Beach Boys - Surf Jam - Surfin' USA
2. Very Best - Ambling Alp - Single
3. Yeasayer - Ambling Alp - Odd Blood
4. Washed Out - Belong - High Times
5. Real Estate - Beach Comber - Real Estate
6. Broken Bells - High Road - Broken Bells
7. Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside - Broken Bells
8. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Diem - Re-Foc
9. The Hold Steady - Cattle and The Creeping Things - Separation Sunday
10. Tan Analog - What Peer Pressure - Demo
11. Might Sparrow - Mango Vert - First Flight
12. Mighty Sparrow - Russian Satellite - First Flight