2009 Half Way Report

Here is a list of 2009 album releases which I have very much enjoyed so far this year. They are in alphabetical order per how they appear on my crappy Zune. So far, I think I that the Justin Townes Earle album Midnight at the Movies is my favorite, but we still have a lot of good music to get through before the end of the year.

• Ben Nichols - The Last Pale Light in the West.mp3
  Buy: The Last Pale Light In The West
  
• Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware!
• Doug Paisley - S/T
• Eilen Jewel - Sea of Tears.mp3
  Buy: Sea of Tears
  
• Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
• Ha Ha Tonka - Novel Sounds from the Nouveau South
• Hayden - Never Lonely.mp3
  Buy (Maple Music): The Place Where We Lived
  
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - S/T
• Joel Plaskett - Three
• John Doe and The Sadies - Country Club
• Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
• Leeroy Stagger - Everything is Real
• Mark Olson and Gary Louris - Ready for the Flood
• Phosphorescent - To Willie
• Steve Earle - Townes
• Tim Easton - Porcupine
• William Elliott Whitmore - Hell or High Water.mp3
  Buy: Animals In The Dark
  

I'm looking forward to these albums that were just released, or are to be released later this year.

• Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day (June 23)
• Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print: Oddities and Rarities (Sept. 1)
• Levon Helm - Electric Dirt (June 30)
• Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine (July 21)
• Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (June 23)
• Richmond Fontaine - We Used to Think the River Sounded Like a Freeway (Aug. 17)
• Son Volt - American Central Dust (July 7)
• Wilco - Wilco (The Album) (July 7)

What have I missed?

Lawyers, Guns and Money

Ever since last week when I saw Leeroy Stagger and his band do a bad-ass cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," I have had that song stuck in my head. Photoblogger Steffen of TurnItUpOrTurnItOff.com posted some sweet photos of that show. Here's one of Stagger and guitarist Kevin Kane on stage at the Cadillac Lounge.


Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money.mp3
Buy: Excitable Boy (1978, reissued 2007)

And here's a killer photo of Tim Easton with The King.

Stagger and Easton collaborated with Evan Phillips on the 2008 album One for the Ditch. Here is one of my favorite tracks from that album, sung by Phillips.

Easton Stagger Philips - Highway 395.mp3
Buy (CD Baby): One for the Ditch (2009)

Epic Crap Sunday

I caught the movie Xanadu on cable this morning. This 1980 flick puts roller skating, Greek mythology, young love, neon "special" effects, bad choreography, and even worse music into a sunny Southern California fantasy. It was a massive bomb at the box office, and according to IMDB, one reviewer summed up the movie by stating, "In a word, Xana-don't." It "won" the inaugural Razzie award for worst director (Robert Greenwald) , and was nominated in six other worst-of categories. In the Official Razzie Movie Guide, it is listed as one of the "Top Ten Best Bad Films." Needless to say, it was so bad that I couldn't stop watching it.

The Xanadu soundtrack, however, was a huge success selling over two million copies worldwide. Olivia Newton-John's song "Magic" spent four weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot 100. The album itself was in the top five in the US and UK, and number one in Newton-John's homeland of Australia. But let's be real here folks, the music isn't much better than the movie. Most of it is fluffy, harmless pop, almost all performed by either Newton-John, or Electric Light Orchestra, culminating in the ONJ/ELO duet at the end.

Check out this clip from the penultimate scene of the movie. I feel badly for Gene Kelly. Incidentally, this was Kelly's last movie. He only took the roll because the filming location was close to his home, and he wouldn't have to be away from his family during the filming process.

Epic crap!


Xanadu.mp3
Buy: Xanadu Soundtrack (1980)

Buy: Xanadu - Magical Musical Edition (With Complete Soundtrack CD, 2008)
Deluxe edition includes a "Going Back to Xanadu" feature, the film's theatrical trailer, and a photo gallery. Plus, bonus music that was originally omitted from the soundtrack. Whoo-Hoo! Seriously, its only $14.99 (US). I may have to pick this one up!

The Only Living Ha Ha Tonka Fan in Toronto

Two weeks ago I got my monthly Failbook post from The Horseshoe Tavern announcing their upcoming shows. Most of the post was in regards to the NxNE festival, but when I looked farther down the list I saw that Ha Ha Tonka was opening Dave "Bookie" Bookman's Free Nu Music Nite on Tuesday, June 23. Holy crap! One of my favorite new bands was playing at The 'Shoe for free!

The 'Shoe website said that Ha Ha Tonka (named after a state park in Missouri) was to start at 9:10, so I arrived at the 'Shoe at about 9:00. No one was there. Zero. Some dudes that I thought may be Ha Ha Tonka were milling around, talking to the sound/lights guy, but that was it. Huh? Where were all of the fans? Did everyone have a NxNE hangover? Was I the only person in the Greater Toronto Area who knew of Ha Ha Tonka? What the fuck?

Seeing the Horseshoe completely empty was freaking me out, so I wandered over to the dudes by the soundboard, who were now trying to figure out Canadian currency and Canadian beers, and introduced myself. I ended up hanging out with the band, and their sound guy/band bitch Kyle and his buddy Megan for a good half hour before Ha Ha Tonka took the stage. We chatted about this show being their Canadian debut, how Toronto rules, how it only took them ten minutes to get across the border (new world record), the Toronto garbage strike, Missouri (they are from the Springfield/Ozark area, and I once lived in St. Louis), Cardinals baseball, how I discovered their band from a dude who posted an MP3 on the Lucero message boards, other fun stuff. They are totally laid-back, cool dudes. I had so much fun talking with them.

They took the stage at about 9:30, and about 15 people were now in attendance (of a 350 person capacity). I think most of these 15 people were the from the next three bands. I did notice that Dave Bookman himself had taken a seat in the very front of the seating area, just to the right of the dance floor.

Ha Ha Tonka played for about 40 minutes, and my very first impression was that they sounded like a pre-2005 Kings of Leon (i.e. before KOL stared believing their own hype and started to suck). But they have way more musical range than KOL. Instead of a pure indie rock show, they played styles of music from rock and punk influences, to alt country and even bluegrass. And their vocal harmonies were spectacular, especially on the a capella traditional folksong "Hangman." Brett Anderson showed his musical versatility by swapping between guitar, piano, and even mandolin. But note to lead singer Brian Roberts, let's skip the Bryan Adams jokes. Adams jokes went out in the 90s, and Canadians just roll their eyes when they hear "Summer of '69." How about some Neil freakin' Young next time?

I was totally impressed. And so, apparently, was Dave Bookman, as I saw him walk over to the merch table to buy a CD as soon as Ha Ha Tonka finished their set. I bought the boys a round of Keith's and got myself of couple of CDs, then stuck around to see the next band, Via Audio from Brooklyn, who were traveling with Ha Ha Tonka. Via Audio played a very catchy 80s-inspired rock/dance set, and they had the benefit of getting the post-Blue Jays game crowd so there were maybe 50 people at The 'Shoe by the time they took the stage.

What a fun night! And I still can't get over the fact that there was no cover charge. My MOG tells me that Ha Ha Tonka may be back in Toronto in October. I'm crossing my fingers for their Canadian next show.

Caney Mountain.mp3
St. Nick's on the Fourth in a Fervor.mp3
Buy: Buckle in the Bible Belt (2007)

I know I posted "St. Nick's" before, but I don't care. It has one of the best lines from any release in 2007: "This glimpse of brilliance is better than a long look at mediocrity." Amen.

Walking on the Devil's Backbone.mp3
Close Every Valve to Your Bleeding Heart.mp3
Buy: Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South (2009)

NxNE: Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger, The Cadillac Lounge

There are pluses and minuses to big music festivals like NxNE. Plus: awesome bands and artists come to town. Minus: You have to get to the venue hours early and endure sweaty hipsters just to see these acts. The latter is one of reasons why I decided to skip a lot of the hyped artists that I wanted to see, and headed straight for the Cadillac Lounge on Friday, June 19.

The Caddy is on West Queen West and if you blink you may miss it. Their clientele consists of mostly people in jeans, plaid, and T-shirts, and there is nearly always an old coot sitting alone drinking a pitcher of beer by himself, yelling, "You damn kids, get the hell out of my way! I can't see the band!" No popped collars or ironic mustaches in sight. And, no wait to get in.

When I strolled in, singer/songwriter Tim Easton of Joshua Tree, California, was saying "Hi" to his good friend Leeroy Stagger. Stagger is originally from rural British Columbia, and got his start in Victoria, BC, by touring with Hot Hot Heat. He currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta. Last year Easton, Stagger, and Alaskan Evan Phillips put out an album entitled One For the Ditch, which garnered a lot of praise in the alt country music community.

Easton took the stage promptly at 10 pm, borrowing Stagger's acoustic and electric guitars, and occasionally borrowing Stagger's drummer. The first five songs of the eight song set were all performed on acoustic guitar. Wow, can Easton play guitar! He ripped though acoustic blues versions of may of his songs from his recent release entitled Porcupine, one of my favorite albums of 2009 (so far). He chatted with the audience between songs, and told stories about the how and why the songs were written. I even caught Stagger playing air drums at one point.

In addition to being an extremely talents musician, Easton also dabbles in the visual arts. You can view some of his paintings on this website scrapbook. For the release of Porcupine he hand painted 500 copies of the vinyl album jacket, and had several for sale at the show.

Set List
from Porcupine (2009), except where noted
1. Broke My Heart
2. Burgundy Red
3. The Weight Of Changing Everything (new song)
4. Stormy
5. Northbound
6. News Blackout - Ammunition (2006)
7. The Young Girls
8. The Daily Life (new song)

News Blackout.mp3
Buy: Ammunition (2006)

Stormy.mp3
Buy: Porcupine (2009)

Stagger and his band The Wildflowers (Kevin Kane on lead electric guitar, Ian Browne on drums, and Tyson Maiko on bass) took the stage five minutes early (how organized is The Caddy?). They blasted through a ten song set that was mostly from Stagger's new album Everything is Real. The songs ranged from mournful country ("Red Bandana") to blues-based rock ("Hell of a Life") to punk ("Everything is Real"). Stagger swapped between acoustic and electric guitars, while Kane had some blistering electric guitar solos, and Maiko head-banged to the beat. Stagger even got the old coot up and dancing with a smoldering cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money."

Another plus about NxNE is finding the hidden gems that nobody really knows about. This was certainly true for Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger. The minus is that these showcases were over way too soon.

Set List
from Everything is Real (2009), except where noted
1. Red Bandana
2. Petrified World
3. Hell of a Life
4. Sleep Alone
5. Just in Case - Beautiful House (2005)
6. Everything is Real
7. Brothers
8. Snowing in Nashville
9. Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Warren Zevon cover)
10. Where I Live - Depression River (2006)

Where I Live.mp3
Buy: Depression River (2006)

Everything is Real.mp3
Buy (Boompa Records, $CND): Everything is Real (2009)


Edit: CHARTattack rated both Easton's and Stagger's performances an 88, which translates to "Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants."

June Feel Bad For You Comp

The monthly compilation from the forum members of AltCountryTab.ca. Note: I pinched this photo from my new favorite photoblog, Awkward Family Photos.

1. Roman Candle - "Starting From Scratch"
Oh Tall Tree in the Ear (2009)

2. Wayne Hancock - "Your Love and His Blood"
Viper of Melody (2009)

3. Kevin Salem - Falter.mp3
From: Soma City (1994, out of print)

4. The Elms - "Burn and Shine"
Truth, Soul and Rock n Roll (2002)

5. Sleep Station - "Our Carnival"
The Pride of Chester James (2008)

6. Cat Stevens - Changes IV.mp3
Buy: Teaser and the Firecat (1971, reissued 2000)

7. Dr. John - "How Come My Dog Don't Bark (When You Come Around)"
Goin' Back To New Orleans (1992)

8. Heartless Bastards - "Early In the Morning"
The Mountain (2009)

9. Eels - "That Look You Give That Guy"
Hombre Lobo 12 Songs Of Desire (2009)

10. Eels - "Beginner's Luck"
Hombre Lobo 12 Songs Of Desire (2009)

11. Gary Floater - "That's When the Eagle Screams"
A Hero Never Learns - The Songs of Gary Floater (2009)

12. Don Chaffer - "Such a Shallow Pool"
You Were at the Time for Love (1999)

13. Joel Plaskett - "Deny, Deny, Deny"
Three (2009)

14. The Dead Satellites - If I Wanted You, I Could Have.mp3
From: The Dead Satellites (2009 - to be released)
The Dead Satellites are a side project from Matthew Ryan and friends. This track is also available on Matthew Ryan's web site, and more downloads can be found on The Dead Satellites MySpace page.

15. Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast"
The Number of the Beast (1982)

16. Cracker - "Show Me How This Thing Works"
Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey (2009)

17. Roy Buchanan - Secret Love.mp3
Buy: My Babe (1981, reissue 2007)

18. Jimmy Sturr - "Alice"
Besta Polka (1996)

19. Frankie Yankovic - "Who Stole the Kishka"
60th Anniversary Greatest Hits (1995?)

20. Frankie Yankovic and Eddie Blazoncyzk - "In Heaven There is no Beer"
Besta Polka (1996)

Jay Farrar Friday

When I first started this blog nearly a year ago, I had grand visions of having a "Jay Farrar Friday" every few weeks. To date, I have had two "Jay Farrar Fridays." I get easily distracted and forgetful. Two things reignited my desire to post about Jay Farrar this week. One, on Wednesday night I had a dream I was a guitar tech for Farrar and that he was playing a small acoustic show in Toronto. This was clearly a dream as I know nothing about playing, much less tuning, a guitar. And, I have actually never seen Farrar or Son Volt in concert. Blasphemy, I know. I suck.

The second thing that got me excited about all things Farrar is that the blogger at A Truer Sound (a lyric from "Windfall") posted some sweet Uncle Tupelo bootlegs. The first, Not Forever, Just For Now, is the original demo tape from 1989 that presumably got Uncle Tupelo their first record deal (read the CD cover art and see how Uncle Tupelo rates the beers). The second is a 1988 demo tape called Live & Otherwise, consisting of live recordings and studio demos. Finally, we have Colorblind & Rhymeless, their very first demo from 1987. I could go on and on about how awesome all three of these are, but just do yourself and favor and download all three.

This track is from the Not Forever, Just For Now demo, and it clearly shows the power of mixing country music with rock, something that Uncle Tupelo excelled at. This track would eventually be the lead track on Uncle Tupelo's debut album, No Depression.

Uncle Tupelo - Graveyard Shift.mp3
From: Not Forever, Just For Now (1989 Demo)

Next, here's a track that was originally off of Son Volt's opus, Trace. This track was a minor hit in 1995, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. I distinctly remember hearing it on the radio when I lived in St. Louis (current home of Jay Farrar and friends). This version is off of a bootleg called Acoustic Radio Sessions '95-'96, which you can find on various torrents.

Son Volt - Drown.mp3
From: Acoustic Radio Sessions '95-'96

This final track is from a promotional EP that Son Volt put out in 1997, before the release of Straightaways. This track did not make the final album cut.

Son Volt - Tulsa County.mp3
From: Switchback EP (1997, out of print)


Son Volt has a new album coming out on July 6 called American Central Dust, and it is currently streaming on the Son Volt website. It sounds fantastic!

NXNE 2009

Its gonna be a crazy weekend in Toronto. Pride week kicks off tomorrow. The Much Music Video Awards buggers up Queen and John Streets and tortures local residents with sound checks all weekend, not to mention the live show on Sunday night. Edgefest takes over Downsview Park on Saturday. My buddy Dancy-Pants Ryan is coming into town from Vancouver to terrorize the GTA. And the North By North East (NXNE) music festival will be in full swing.

If I hadn't been getting my ass kicked lately, I would be all over NXNE. But, fear not, bloggers much more intrepid than I are on the case. For full coverage check out Pete Nema, Chromewaves, NXEW, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Historyjen, and probably some others that I forgot. And, like the Iranian Elections, you can watch all of this unfold over Twitter. Although, I hate it when I am sitting around in my underwear at home and I get a tweet that says "Broken Social Scene playing new songs and sounding all kinds of kick ass."

The music festival actually started last night, and I am waiting for my blogger buddies to update their posts (I bet a few are hungover). Great tweet from Pete Nema last night: "P.S. I reek of beer and Jägermeister." That statement made me very jealous. It seems like The Courthouse was the place to be, with performances by Apostle of Hustle, Broken Social Scene, and Feist.

Here are my picks for the festival. If I get my shit together I may actually make a few of them!

Thursday, June 18
(actually, wouldn't mind parking my sorry carcass at Lee's Palace all night)
9:00 pm: Jim Cuddy, Royal Wood, Oh Susannah @ Lee’s Palace
10:00 pm: Girls, Guns, and Glory @ The Dakota Tavern
or
10:00 pm: Kevin Hearn, Jenn Grant, Jason Plumb @ Lee's Palace
11:00 pm: Luke Docet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle @ Lee's Palace
or
11:00 pm: Poorfolk @ Mitzi's Sister
12:00 am: Skydiggers @ Lee's Palace
or
12:00 am: The King Khan & BBQ Show @ The Horseshoe
1:00 am: "Special Guests" @ Lee's Palace (way past my bedtime!)

The King Khan & BBQ Show - Love You So.mp3
Buy: King Khan & The BBQ Show (2007)


Friday, June 19
9:00 pm: $100 @ The Dakota Tavern
10:00 pm: Tim Easton @ Cadillac Lounge (I have to make this one)
11:00 pm: Leeroy Stagger @ Cadillac Lounge
12:00 am: Dan Mangan @ C'est What
1:00 am: The Saides @ El Mocambo (Duh!)

Tim Easton - Baltimore.mp3
Buy: Porcupine (2009)


Saturday, June 20
9:00 pm: Jack Marks @ Mitzi's Sister
10:00 pm: Gruf Morlix @ The Dakota Tavern
12:00 am: Dustin Bentall @ The Dakota Tavern
or
12:00 am: Jason Collette @ The Horseshoe
1:00 am: The Warped 45s @ The Dakota Tavern
or
1:00 am: Hot Panda @ The Horseshoe

Dustin Bentall - Crash Hard.mp3
Buy: Streets with No Lights (2007)


Last year one of my friends told me about going to see some band at 2:00 am, and their entire set was speed metal with the lead singer occasionally screaming "FUCK YOU!" I need to find this band.

Edit: The Toronto Star has a summary of all of the music events happening in and around Toronto this weekend.

Stomach Viruses

No, not the latest indie electropunk band to storm Hype Machine. I got some GI virus two weekends ago and I have felt like shite ever since. I even had to go to the hospital and get some IV fluids. They tested me for everything and I am happy to say that I don't have the CMV, E. Coli, MRSA, Cryto, H1N1, or C. Diff ("hospital's notorious gangsta," pictured at right). I probably picked up some damn norovirus somewhere. It doesn't help that I work at a hospital.

I have barely had the energy to blog, much less go to work. I was supposed to see Alejandro Escovedo tonight, but I was too tired to go and gave my ticket to some kid in my building. That fucker probably scalped it. If you don't hear from me for a few days, I am probably on the couch or playing catch-up at work.

Damn, I really wanted to see Escovedo. Here's my favorite track from his last album.

Chelsea Hotel '78.mp3
Buy: Real Animal (2008)

The fuzzy little guy on the right is from Giant Microbes. When my friends have babies I send these as gifts. And I usually send the venereal diseases, although Mad Cow and Ebola are pretty cute too.

Red Rubber Ball

This past week Toronto celebrated Luminato, a "ten-day celebration of the arts where Toronto's stages, streets, and public spaces are infused with theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, film, literature, visual arts, and design." I unfortunately missed a lot of it, but one traveling exhibit that caught my attention is the Red Ball Project. Artist Kurt Perschke places a big-ass red ball at various random places around the city, including city hall, the courthouse, the financial district, a university commons, and so on. Today the ball is squeezed into an alley in my 'hood on Queen St. West. I snapped some photos of it this afternoon.


Its a cool piece of installment art. People either love it or hate it. Lots of folks were standing around going, "What the hell? I don't get it." Little kids tried to climb it or ran up to it and bounced off of it. Others, like me, loved the infusion of something new and radical into an otherwise dull, everyday cityscape. At least it gets people talking about something new, and I think that is the point of art like this. When you see a big red ball where you don't expect it, it gets you thinking about something other than the your miserable job, or the lousy Leafs, or the crappy cold summer. I wish the big red ball would pop up around various places in Toronto all summer long.



The Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball.mp3
Buy: Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) (2008, song originally released in 1966)

Allmusic has a really good write-up on the history of The Cyrkle. This song was co-written by Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel) and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers, and Simon gave this song to The Cyrkle while they were on tour with Simon & Garfunkel. Supposedly on the advice of John Lennon, the band named itself The Cyrkle with the funny spelling due to the success of The Byrds. This fun, poppy song remains a staple of oldies radio stations.

Teenage Dirtbag

I got two tickets to Iron Maiden baby.
Come with me Friday, don't say maybe.
I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, like you.

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag.mp3
Buy (MP3 only): Wheatus (2000)

Irons Maiden - Number of the Beast.mp3
Buy: The Number of the Beast (1982, reissued 2002)

Trouble in Mind

I have literally had an incredibly shitty last week. And on top of it I missed Hayes Carll at the Dakota last night. Did anyone catch it? His 2008 album was one of my favorites. I know I have posted these before, but what the heck.

Beaumont.mp3
Knockin' Over Whiskeys.mp3
Buy: Trouble in Mind

Also, my buddy at Beat Surrender has some nice Hayes Carll NPR sessions posted. Enjoy!

Polka, Polka, Polka!

I received some terrible news today. The Grammy Awards have eliminated "best polka album" as a category. Some of you make think I am joking about this, but I am totally friggin serious. This pisses me off! I grew up on polka, and while I hated it as a youth, it now holds a dear place in my heart. Those of us with Czech, Polish, German, Lithuanian, or other Central and Eastern European heritages have danced many a polka at family weddings and other festivals. My folks used to make me dance with their friend's sons at gatherings. I will out-polka you any day!

Polka has a long and glorious history, and modern polka even extends to a Mexican sub genre called conjunto. Our friends at Wikipedia have an extensive section on Modern Polka. I prefer the Slovenian-American or "Cleveland Style"of polka, which features accordion and saxophone or clarinet, popularized by the late Frankie Yankovic (no relation to Weird Al).

One of Frankie Yankovic's devotee's is Walter Ostanek, the polka king of Canada. Ostanek has been nominated for more than 20 Grammy awards, and swept the Grammies for polka album in '92, '93, and '94. Ostanek, currently 74-years-young, has been playing piano accordion since age 12, and has recorded over 80 albums. In 1999 he received the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award presented by the government of Canada, for "His steadfast and unwavering dedication to his music, to his fans and to his community."

Ostanek was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for his collaboration with Brian Sklar on Dueling Polkas. Unfortunately, the Juno Awards have never acknowledged the polka category, much less given Ostanek a lifetime achievement award (hint, hint). In 2006 Bravo made a documentary about Ostanek called The Cult of Walt: Canada’s Polka King. I caught this doc on TV one night and it was fantastic! At various points you can see Ostanek jamming with Canadian rock musicians like Sam Roberts and Sloan. He shows these young punks how its done!

Look at Walter, sporting the Order of Canada pin on his lapel. Is he not the happiest dude in the world? How can you not smile when listening to polka! Take some lessons emo punks!

I got to see Ostanek in action at the horrendous Kitchener Oktoberfest a few years ago. This guy knows how to have a good time! I don't think he is capable of frowning.

Other artists to rock the polka in recent years include Brave Combo, Those Darn Accordions, and Polkacide. All three of these acts combine polka with elements of rock, punk rock, and even zydeco and jazz. Brave Combo has won two polka Grammy Awards. I caught Brave Combo about a decade ago in St. Louis and they were so much fun. How many bands tour with a glockenspiel these days? That's what I thought.

I am still dismayed as to why the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences dropped polka from their awards roster, yet kept Hawaiian, Zydeco, Native American, Historical Album, Packaging (?), Album Notes, and Surround Sound. I hope this decision makes we polka fans a stronger, more united group, and will hopefully, some day, get these great artists the recognition that they deserve.

Sorry, I don't have any Walter Ostanek albums. I just ordered a few from here.

Frankie Yankovic - Just Because.mp3
Frankie Yankovic - In Heaven There is no Beer.mp3
Buy (MP3 only): The Best of Frankie Yankovic (2004)

Brave Combo - The Denton Polka.mp3
Buy (MP3 only): Polka's Revenge (2007)

Closer to the Heart

I just saw the Trailer Park Boys episode where Ricky kidnaps Alex Lifeson of Rush and takes him back to the trailer park so that Alex can jam with Bubbles. Hysterical! One of the funniest Trailer Park Boys episodes ever. The downside is that now I feel like listening to Rush. Ha ha ha!

Here is Bubbles playing with Rush. For some reason that dude from the Barenaked Ladies is in this video too. No clue why. Check out Neil Peart's bad-ass drum set!



Closer to the Heart.mp3

Actually, this is my favorite Rush song:

Time Stand Still.mp3

Buy: The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987