Cory Branan and Drag the River, Oct. 4, Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto

Photo by MatzohBall77

I have been following the music of Cory Branan and Drag the River for a long time. In fact, Drag the River's album You Can't Live This Way was my favorite album of 2008. I've been trying to see these guys live for years, and have been stewing about the fact that they haven't toured Toronto in my tenure in this city. It turns out that they hadn't toured Toronto, or Eastern Canada, period. Their Toronto debut at the Horseshoe Tavern on October 4th was their last stop on their North American tour before heading off to pillage Europe.

Branan opened the show with a short acoustic set. There were only about 30 people there, which is, sadly, not surprising for an alt country show in downtown Toronto on a Monday night (see my Scott Miller review where only about 10 people were paying attention to him). Despite the low turnout, everyone there was there to see Branan/DTR, and everyone was paying attention to the show (i.e. minimal background chatter). Branan sounded fantastic. He's a hell of a guitar player and one entertaining dude. After the second song Jon Snodgrass of DTR joined Branan on stage for some sweet harmonizing. Holy crap do Branan and Snodgrass sound great together. Their voices are completely different, but they complement each other incredibly well. Even my buddy Jenny leaned over and said, "This sounds really good." Branan and Snodgrass put out a split album last year, but they should seriously consider doing an acoustic duets album. See the video below.

I got a chance to chat with Branan after his set. What a totally nice dude! He said that he has a new album ready to go and it should be released some time in the spring of 2011. Branan mentioned that he is "very proud" of the new album, and that it is full of storytelling, something which Branan excels at. My pea brain is already plotting to somehow get Branan to play a gig at the Dakota Tavern in support of this new album sometime next spring. Please?

Cory Branan Set List
1. Eh? I couldn't place this song and I wasn't even drunk (yet). I will presume that it's a new one.
2. Survivor Blues
3. Karen's Song
4. Tall Green Grass
5. The Corner
6. Sour Mash
7. Tame
8.Walk Around.mp3
Buy (Vinyl): Cory Branan & Jon Snodgrass (2009)
-->Also widely available in MP3 format.
9. Wreck of the Sultana
10. Girl Named Go

Check out this video that my virtual pal romeosidvicious, contributor to Ninebullets.net, filmed in Houston in early September.



Awesome!

After a short break, the audience doubled in size, and Drag the River ambled onto the stage, with singers Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price on electric and acoustic guitars, respectively. I'm going to describe this set as pseudo-disorganized chaos. DTR is not the kind of band to show up with a prepared set list. It was basically Jon asking the audience what they wanted to hear, selecting a random request, then ripping into it. This is essentially how it went down for three hours. Snodgrass and Price alternated lead singer duties, while bassist J.J. Nobody and drummer Steve Bauer kept the singers in line.

The band meandered through originals and covers. They covered their favorite songs by their contemporaries such as Bad Astronaut and The Bottle Rockets, classics by Sam Cooke and Thin Lizzy, and even songs by their previous bands, Armchair Martian and ALL. I am pretty sure that I was only person in the audience, maybe in all of Ontario, or maybe even in all of Canada, who got it when Snodgrass, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, threw in a reference to Festus, Missouri, during "Indianapolis." Spending six years of my life in St. Louis finally pays off in obscure Missouri geography references.

Drag the River was all over their extensive catalog, going back to some of their 2000 demos, right up through new, unreleased songs. Everyone got to hear their favorites. How Snodgrass and Price have the stamina for this type of show, I do not know. But hell, they are professionals. As Snodgrass said, "I'm looking forward to my 40s since I've never had a fucking day job!" Which made me seethe in jealousy.

Drag the River set list
1. Me and Joe Drove Out to California
2. So Lonely
3. Strange
4. Calloused Heart #2
5. Brookfield
6. Mars Motors
7. Disbelieve
8. Br00tal
9. Booze and Pills
10. Indianapolis (The Bottle Rockets)
11. Death of the Life of the Party
12. Tobacco Fields.mp3
Buy: You Can't Live This Way (2008)
13. Medicine
14. Eh? I went to get a beer and missed this one.
15. Amazing G.
16. She Used to Smile
17. Spiderman, Wolfman
18. Until I Say So (ALL)
19. Tomorrow Morning
20. Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy)
21. Having a Party (Sam Cooke)
22. Get Drunk.mp3
Buy: Closed (2002)
23. New
24. Jessica's Suicide (Bad Astronaut)
Note: I'm hammered at this point, so my set list taking skillz really go to hell.
25. New, I think
26. New
27. Hybrid Moments (Misfits)
28. Eh? Drunk. Maybe new?
29. Crocodile
30. Hang Dog
31. Tired and Fired
32. Break Your Frame (Bad Astronaut)
33. Peachy Tuscadero

Yeah, 33 songs is nuts, and they weren't finished! I had to leave at this point because I was, as the French say, "Chateau Shitfaced," and I had to be at work in six and a half hours. I only know that "Peachy Tuscadero" was playing when I left because I ran into Branan on my way out and he told me that "Peachy Tuscadero" is the name of Chad Price's dog. At least, I think that's what he told me. I hope I didn't just make that up.

I bought their goofy gig T-shirt (logo below). A friend said to me, "That is the most ridiculous shirt I have ever seen." Which is exactly the point. When people ask about the shirt, which looks like it was drawn by a five-year-old, I say, "It's by Jon Snodgrass who is in Drag the River. They put on a killer show at the Horseshoe with Cory Branan...." and I get to tell people about what a kick-ass, crazy night I had, and introduce them to their new favorite artists.

DTR first formed in 1996, and put out their first demos in 2000, and Branan released his first album in 2002. That's 18 collective years from first album to playing in Toronto. Gentlemen, let's tour up this way a little more often, OK?

Snodgrass, Price, Branan, and Austin Lucas are currently touring Europe. I know there are a bunch of readers of this blog from Germany and the UK. I insist that you catch one of these shows. In fact, I would love it if one of you would write a guest post, a little European perspective. Contact me at rockstaraimz at gmail dot com if you are interested. I would love a review from Barcelona because that city rules and Nov 2 is my fucking birthday, dammit.

October
17 London @ Windmill Brixton
18 Aachen @ AZ
19 Hamburg @ Logo
20 Hannover @ Mephisto
21 Kiel @ Roter Salon @ Pumpe
22 Leipzig @ Conne Island
23 Zwiesel @ Jugendcafé
24 Vienna @ B72
25 Budapest @ Könyvtar Klub
26 Ljubljana @ Metelkova
27 Ora (Auer) - Piccolo Teatro Aur-Ora
28 Freiburg - Swamp
29 Pontlevoy - Le Commerce
30 Alsasua @ Squad
31 Madrid @ Sala Pequenya Betti

November
1 Orihuela @ Sala La Gramola
2 Barcelona @ Rocksound
3 Toulouse @ El Camino
4 Besancon @ La Cour des Miracles
5 Trier @ Exhaus
6 Basel @ Kaserne w/ Mad Caddies
7 Munich @ 59 to 1
8 Berlin @ Lovelite
10 Bad Hersfeld @ Zigeunerkeller
11 Schwalmstedt @ Bunker
12 Dresden @ az conni
13 Prague @ Akropolis
14 Wiesbaden @ Schlachthof

J.J.'s Drivin'

This song slays me. Listen and love:

Drag the River - J.J.'s Drivin'.mp3
Buy: Bad At Breaking Up (2009)

Can't Hardly Wait

Alt Country + Classic 1980's Alternative = Very Happy Aimz! I love it when two of my favorite genres come together. Justin Townes Earle covers the Replacements classic on his new album, and its pretty friggin' sweet! I'm going to see Justin Townes Earle tonight. Can't hardly wait indeed!

Justin Townes Earle - Can't Hardly Wait.mp3
Buy: Midnight at the Movies (2009)

Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait.mp3
Buy: Pleased to Meet Me (1987, reissued 2008)

Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait (Electric Outtake).mp3
Buy: Tim (bonus track on 2008 reissue)

Drag the River - Can't Hardly Wait (Live).mp3
From: Suburban Home Records Spring/Summer 2009 Sampler (FREE!)

Fun With Last.FM

Last.FM is one of my favorite things on the internet. It is a social networking music service which tracks what you are listening to through your computer or iPod. It connects you with other people who like the same kinds of music that you like, and it recommends songs by artists that you like or by artists who have a similar styles to the artists that you like. You can also write about the music that you like, recommends songs or artists to other people, update information on your favorite artists Wikipedia-style, and look at the events calendar to see which artists are performing in your area. Everything except the Last.FM radio service is free.

Last.FM works by “scrobbling” the songs that you listen to. Scrobbling means that once you listen to a song, that song will be added to your music profile. Importantly, Last.FM tracks every artist, album, and track that you scrobble. I can go back through my music profile, or my friend’s profiles, and see my top tracks, artists, and albums from the last week, last month, last three months, last year, or overall. The geek in me really loves this feature.

You can add a “Scrobbler” plugin to most computer media players so that it can track your plays. I use Media Monkey which uses a Winamp plugin. The Scrobbler plugin also works great with Windows Media Player, iTunes, and even Pandora. It works on Macs, PCs, and Linux systems. Unfortunately it does not work (or work well anyway) with the Zune media player (see footnote 1). Last.FM can also track plays from your iPod, but at the moment cannot tracks music from other MP3 players.

The Last.FM main offices are based in London, England, with another office in New York. Last.FM is available in 12 different languages. According to The 2008 Social Network Analysis Report, roughly 55% of the users are male, and roughly 25% of the users are between the ages of 34-44 (my age demographic). The report does not break down the membership by country, but it does seem that Finland has a large portion of its population that uses Last.FM. My guess is that greater than 60% of users are from Europe.

A few weeks ago Last.FM released its Best of 2008 lists. The Probability and Statistics Department of My Aimz is True is proud to present its analysis of what Last.FM users have been listening to for the last year.

How to Read These Graphs: the first Y or vertical axis in blue on the left hand side measures the number of plays or “scrobbles” for each album or song. The second Y axis in red on the right measures the number unique listeners. For example, on the first graph, tracks from Katy Perry’s debut album One of the Boys were listened to approximately 4 million times (blue bar) in 2008, by about 600,000 different listeners (about 6 and a half tracks scrobbled per user). Likewise, the Fleet Foxes self-titled debut was listened to about 3.5 million times by about 650,000 unique listeners (about 5.4 tracks per user).

I have to admit that I am not down with the cool kids and I have not listened to anything by the top three new artists in 2008. MGMT is hipster-speak for “management,” and they are tagged as “electronic” by Last.FM users. Their debut album Oracular Spectacular has been lauded by many critics but it’s not really my style of music. According to Last.FM, my top new artist of 2008 was Justin Townes Earle and his debut album The Good Life, and I listened to tracks from this album 14 times (see footnote 2).

Justin Townes Earle – Hard Livin’.mp3
Buy: The Good Life (2008)

Not surprisingly, Coldplay comes in at number one with their mediocre release Viva La Vida. And I didn’t even know that Nine Inch Nails released an album this year. I guess it didn’t suck as 1.3 million different listeners played tracks from it 8 million times (about 6 plays per listener). Also not surprisingly, my top album of 2008 was Stay Positive by The Hold Steady (112 plays), followed by Drag the River’s You Can’t Live This Way (63 plays), and Two Cow Garage Speaking in Cursive (53 plays).

The Hold Steady – Slapped Actress.mp3
Buy: Stay Positive (2008)

Drag the River – Caleb’s Grave.mp3
Buy: You Can't Live This Way (2008)

Two Cow Garage – Swingset Assassin.mp3
Buy: Speaking in Cursive (2008)

Last.FM users listen to way too much Coldplay. Seriously people, get out a little more! Or at least mix up the tunes a bit. My Last.FM top songs of 2008:

1. Matthew Ryan – “Drunk and Disappointed” – 11 plays/scrobbles
1. The Hold Steady – “Constructive Summer” – 11
1. The Hold Steady – “Navy Sheets” – 11
1. Drive-By Truckers – “A Ghost to Most” -11
5. Drive-By Truckers – “3 Dimes Down” – 10
5. The Hold Steady – “Magazines” – 10
5. The Hold Steady – “Sequestered in Memphis” – 10
8. Chris Mills – “Such a Beautiful Thing” – 9
8. The Hold Steady – “One for the Cutters” – 9
10. Drive-By Truckers – “Home Field Advantage” – 8
10. Kathleen Edwards – “Oil Man’s War” - 8
10. Matthew Ryan – “American Dirt” – 8
10. Chris Mills – “Calling All Comrades” – 8
10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive” – 8
10. Kathleen Edwards – “Alicia Ross” – 8
10. The Hold Steady – “Slapped Actress” – 8

Matthew Ryan – American Dirt.mp3
Buy: Matthew Ryan Vs. Silver State (2008)



Footnote 1: Microsoft is trying to set up their own community for Zune users which they call “The Social.” Here is how “The Social” compares to Last.FM.

1. Last.FM keeps a list of the order of the last 1500+ tracks that you listened to. The Social only tells you the last 24.
2. Last FM shows you your top artists overall, for the last year, last 6 months, last three months, and last 7 days. The Social only gives you the top artists overall.
3. Last FM shows me my top 400+ artists, The Social, only top 5.
4. Last FM shows me my top 400+ tracks, The Social only 15.
5. Last FM shows me my top 300+ albums. The Social doesn't have this feature at all.
6. Last FM is very accurate. The Social, not so much. According to my profile, I have listened to the song "For Real" 50 times. According to my Zune software, I have listened to it 7 times. Sometimes The Social said I added 100 plays when I know I added none, other times it does the opposite.
7. Last FM doesn't care if you listen to bootlegs, live albums, special releases, whatever. It categorizes everything the same way. The Social only categorizes items that are in the Zune market place. For example, on my Social profile, Okkervil River is my number 1 and number 2 artist. The second Okkervil River is the same band, but since these tracks are not in the Zune Marketplace, they are recognized as a different band entirely.
8. Last FM is open to everyone, regardless of player type. It works with iTunes, Media Player, Media Monkey, Creative Labs, etc. The Social only works with Zune.
9. You can tag the genre of the track on Last FM, you can't tag anything on The Social.

Footnote 2: Last.FM only tracks what I listen to on my computer when my computer is online. I listen to a lot more music on my Zune (see footnote 1) and on CD than on my laptop, so the Last.FM tracking is not completely representative of my listening trends. But it still is damn fun!

My Favorite Albums of 2008

Edit: I wanted to post this yesterday, but the Zunepocalypse of 2008 made me freak out and I didn't finish it in time.

Its really hard to put these lists together, and on a given day/hour I can change my mind about the order of any of these albums, but this is what I submitted to the AltCountryTab message board for their annual Gambler Awards. I think this list is slightly biased towards the bands I saw live this year (see #4, 5, 6, 9). You can't go wrong with any of these albums.

Rockstar Aimz' Favorite Albums of 2008
1. Drag the River - You Can't Live This Way
What a solid alt country album. I unfortunately did not discover this band until 2008, even though they have been putting out albums for more than a decade. One of my buddies gave me this album and I put it in my Zune on a playlist with all of my other 2008 releases and hit shuffle. I would listen to this playlist while doing my tasks at work, and every time I heard a song that I really liked I would look at the player, and four out of five times it was from this album. The band incorporates everything you would want in a rock/country album: in addition to the standard electric and acoustic guitars, they incorporate pedal steel, rock piano, and even a horn section. Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass take turns with songwriting and lead vocals, and their voices seamlessly harmonize on several tracks. This album reminds me a bit of early Son Volt, with songs that examine the themes of isolation and desperation in a small town, growing old before your time, and, of course, heartaches and headaches. There are rumors on the internets that this will be Drag the River's last album. That would be a shame, especially since these guys are new to me this year. Let's hope for another release before I finish digging through their back catalog.

Standout tracks: "Death of the Life of the Party," "Caleb's Grave," "Br00tal," "Lizzy," "Bad Side of a Good Time"

Bad Side of a Good Time.mp3
Buy: You Can't Live This Way


2. Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
Ottawa based songstress Edwards delivers a wonderful country/folk collection on Asking for Flowers. Edwards frequently incorporates bits of Canadiana into her songs (hockey, CBC), and tells gorgeous and heartbreaking stories in other tunes. "Alicia Ross" is the song of the year. See my post about this song from August 31.

I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory.mp3
Buy: Asking for Flowers (Maple Music, Canada); Asking for Flowers (Amazon, US)

See the video for "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory" which features a hockey game with former NHL players Marty McSorley and Paul Coffey, and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo.




3. Matthew Ryan - Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State
Not to be confused with Matt Ryan, the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, though I wish the singer/songwriter was as famous as the first round draft pick out of Boston College. Matthew has been composing rock and alt country music for over 10 years, sometimes recording in his home and releasing his music on his web site. This album further cements Ryan's talent as a genius songwriter, with his distinctive raspy voice pushing through ballads and belting out the rock and/or roll. My favorite lyric is from "Could Have Been Worse." Her mascara was born to run. Awesome.

Could Have Been Worse.mp3
Buy: Matthew Ryan Vs. Silver State


4. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Another great album from our favorite Brooklyn via Minneapolis bar band. Although not as good as 2006's Boys and Girls in America, its still damn solid. I do have a few issues with this album - please see yesterday's post, (Trying To) Stay Positive.

Magazines.mp3
Buy: Stay Positive (2008)


5. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
Okkervil River was big cheaters on this album. Most of it was recorded at the same time that they recorded The Stage Names, so naturally this album is more of the same, which is a very, very good thing. But since they released two albums instead of a double album (see #6, Brighter Than Creation's Dark), they (presumably) sold twice as many albums and toured twice as much in support of these albums. The music business is rough, and you gotta do what you gotta do. I was just happy to see them live twice in 2008 (and twice in 2007), as they are one of the best live acts going today. My big issue with this album is the crappy instrumentals, which I call The Fill-Ins. But those three are less than a minute long each. The rest of the album contains eight very solid indie rock tunes.

Calling and Not Calling My Ex.mp3
Buy: The Stand-Ins


6. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Its always a good year when the Drive-By Truckers release an album. This double album is so diverse and so strong at points, but I can't help thinking what a huge album this would have been if you took the ten best tracks and added the best tracks from former Trucker Jason Isbell's 2007 release, Sirens of the Ditch. But a great man once said, "You can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets filled first," so let me get back to the review. Even without Isbell, the Truckers still have three lead singers, this time bassist Shonna Tucker sings lead on her songs "I'm Sorry Houston," and "Home Field Advantage," which adds a really nice quality to the mix of country and rock songs. Mike Cooley performs some of his strongest songs yet, which is saying a lot from this gifted musician (see "3 Dimes Down"). "That Man I Shot," by Patterson Hood is such an incendiary song that I call it the Iraq War generation's version of CCR's classic "Fortunate Son."

3 Dimes Down.mp3
Buy: Brighter Than Creation's Dark


7. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive
"You were speaking in cursive,
I was pretending to care.
She spoke constantly, and ironically,
never ending hipster fare.
Of movies and poets and writers
no ones ever heard of or seen.
So many words so loudly,
somehow never saying a thing."

And in one verse, singer Micah Schnabel summarizes every date I had in 2008. I do not understand why this band isn't more popular. I should have rated this one higher.

Bastards & Bridesmaids.mp3
Buy: Speaking in Cursive


8. Chris Mills - Living in the Aftermath
Mills (not to be confused with former NBA forward Chris Mills) is another artist who has been putting out albums for over a decade who I just discovered this year. Someone described him to me as Rhett Miller meets Will Sheff, and this is sort of the case, as Mills blends alt country with indie rock and has a similar vocal tone to both of these artists. And I love both the Old 97's and Okkervil River, and therefore I love Chris Mills. Every time I listen to this album I find something new. Like Drag the River, I can't wait to dig into Mill's back catalog too.

Living in the Aftermath.mp3
Buy: Living in the Aftermath


9. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
Malkmus's lyrics are getting weirder as he gets older, and that's saying a lot coming from the former head of Pavement. This album is so happy and fun. A great summer album for me. Lots of spastic jangly guitar and some extended jams from our indie rock hero Steve.

Gardenia.mp3
Buy: Real Emotional Trash


10. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
If you like country music but hate Nashville radio, then this album is perfect for you. The hysterical track "She Left Me For Jesus" has been garnering Mr. Carll a lot of attention, but, even though that song is great, it is not representative of the album. The rest of the album is classic country with tales of heartaches, troubles, and woes, with some sweet guitar and banjo to boot.

Beaumont.mp3
Buy: Trouble in Mind

If you are "international" like me, don't order this album off of Carll's web site. Whoever distributes Mr. Carll's albums stiffed me $17 for "international" shipping. The CD cost less than the shipping. Compare this to when I ordered The Stand-Ins from Okkervil River's label Jagjaguwar. $13 for the CD, plus two posters and a sticker, and it included shipping.

You Can't Live This Way

Drag the River is an alt country band from Fort Collins, Colorado, that has been putting out albums for over eight years. Unfortunately for me, I just discovered them this year. Their latest release, You Can't Live This Way, is quickly becoming one of my top albums of 2008. Here are a few tracks that I particularly enjoy.

Death of the Life of the Party.mp3
Lizzy.mp3
Buy: You Can't Live This Way (2008)