SYP Says

Best Songs of 2007: Week of 9/17-9/24: Mt. Washington by Emily Wells

"Mt. Washington" by Emily Wells 

Listen to the mp3 of Mt. Washington here (it's freely available on her site and on her MySpace page, along with some other tunes).

Unconventional folk artist/singer/songwriter Emily Wells pretty much did everything on her most recent album, Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks, from writing the songs and playing most of the instruments to producing and mixing. I really like her voice a lot--raspy yet beautifully lyrical, strange and quirky. She performs often at the hip Hollywood music club Hotel Cafe--sort of LA's version of Joe's Pub in NYC. Check her out if you're in town. She's been getting raves lately from NPR, Flavorpill and others, so see her now before she hits it big.

Yankees TV

I think I'm in heaven. I finally gave in and subscribed to MLB's online subscription service and boy am I kicking myself for not doing this earlier. Since this is regular season play only (plus archives, etc), with the 5-day risk-free trial, I can watch the last several games of the season for only $7.95 before the Yanks are in the post-season on TBS in a couple of weeks (I hope!). Totally worth it.

Out here in Ashland, Oregon, The New York Yankees games aren't on TV much and when they are, the utterly moronic duo of Tim McCarver and Joe Buck always seems to be announcing. When I was in NYC, I actually listened to Yankees games on the radio with the TV on mute to avoid having to listen to them. Yes, that's how bad they really are.

There is a real reason btw why Tim McCarver has such a high "annoying" factor at AmIAnnoying.com. His penchant for saying something completely wrong, inane, or obvious has resulted in sites such as I Hate Tim McCarver. Didn't realize how much I missed the YES network, Bobby Murcer, and Michael Kay until I moved here! It sure is nice to see them all again now that I've got MLB TV.

So, I'm drinking my Sun morning coffee, writing this blog, and watching the start of the Yankees vs Blue Jays. All I need is a decent bagel. Like I said before--heaven.

Best Songs of 2007: Week of 9/10-9/17: Sin City by The Flying Burrito Brothers

"Sin City" by The Flying Burrito Brothers

OK--clearly this is not a song from 2007, however, this week's tune is in honor of my upcoming trip to Vegas for shop.org and at the request of my bud, Keith Pepper of Hitwise. Co-founded by The Byrds band members Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, The Flying Burrito Brothers were a very influential early country-rock band. This is a real oldie from over 30 years ago. Wish me luck at the craps table!

Best Songs of 2007: Week 9/3-9/10: History Song by The Good, The Bad & The Queen

"History Song" by The Good, The Bad & The Queen 

The Good, The Bad & The Queen is a Britpop supergroup of sorts. Produced by uber-producer Danger Mouse, TGTBTQ brings together Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, Paul Simonon, legendary bassist of The Clash, Tony Allen, the drummer of Fela Kuti's afrobeat band Africa 70, and Simon Tong of The Verve on guitar.

I love the undercurrent of groovy moodiness on this debut and I particularly love the guitar and bass lines on this album's starter song. I can listen to it over and over.

TGTBTQ live at York Hall, Bethnal Green. The song starts about a minute in.

Best of Ashland 2007

The annual reader's poll of The Best of Ashland was recently released. In addition to the usual suspects (e.g. Best New Restaurant), it included categories that really drove home to me how small the town I live in really is. To wit:

* Favorite Elementary School Teacher

* Cutest Baby Born in the Last Year

* Hardest Working Hair Stylist

* Most Knowledgeable Mechanic

* Favorite Sales Clerk at a Retail Store

* Favorite Policeperson

* Favorite Attorney

Some of the categories weren't as amusing, but really do show what kind of town Ashland is and what's important to the people who live here.

* Most Community-Minded Businessperson

* Favorite Alternative Medicine Practitioner

* Friendliest Grocery Store

* Best Place to Rent Skis and/or Snowboards

* Best Film at the Independent Film Festival

* Favorite Concert at the Britt Festival

* Best Place to Do Yoga

* Favorite Hike in Jackson County

My favorite category though was Most Fun Gas Station. I'm not sure what this was really referring to, but I must admit that I do love going through the car wash with my Jeep and getting the rainbow wax. I guess you have to take your fun where you can get it. It's the little things.

Best Songs of 2007: Week 8/27-9/3: Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley

"Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley 

I must say I'm a bit disappointed in Rilo Kiley's just-released CD, Under the Blacklight. It's not because I'm one of those traditionalists who thinks RK should still be doing the same alt-folk tunes from 10 years ago; I just don't think the music on this endeavor is as good as the music on earlier albums, especially 2004's More Adventurous, which I love. That said, it's growing on me and there are some songs I do like from their latest. This is one of them. Jenny Lewis still has a fantastic voice!