Dylan Donkin -

DYLAN DONKIN – FOOD FOR THOUGHTLESSNESS

(WALL OF SOUND/ WE LOVE YOU)

Dylan Donkin may have been named after Bob, but that doesn’t mean he took his mantle. Instead the Californian rebelled against his parents’ folk sensibilities and joined a band; a metal band. That band was Echobrain featuring Metallica’s then bassist Jason Newstead. Following lawsuits and MTV glare, the band dissolved and Dylan fled to Hawaii. There he found the sunshine and rediscovered a gentler kind of song writing. This mini-album is his first solo release. The reverb on the vocals and feel of the album is similar to My Morning Jacket, with some Grandaddy and Street Spirit era Radiohead thrown in. In fact “The Commonaut” is like “Pyramid Song” while “Yolk” could be Nirvana unplugged. It’s early days now, but Dylan Donkin is showing promising signs of being a creative talent.

FOR FANS OF: My Morning Jacket, Grandaddy

DOWNLOAD: Make A Choice, Fall Through The Wall

RATING: 3/5

CD Review - Ben Lee - Ripe

BEN LEE - RIPE

(COOKING VINYL)

You’ve probably have heard Ben Lee before. His music has saturated numerous adverts, movies and the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy”, not to mention a live performance at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

With “Ripe” Lee aims for a power-pop masterpiece, but falls short. He does everything right - perfect production, catchy hooks, teen romance lyrics, but somehow despite the Bon Jovi style chorus in “Sex Without Love”, the album’s not quite the sum of its parts. His direct style lacks the intelligent insight of one-time collaborator Ben Folds and ends up feeling a little obvious. The twelve songs are all likeable, but forgettable. “Ripe” feels like it has been made using a power-pop masterpiece for dummy’s book, and ends up enjoyable, but not as satisfying as it could be.

FOR FANS OF: Ben Folds, Matthew Sweet, Brendan Benson

DOWNLOAD: Numb, Blush, Love Me Like The World Is Ending

RATING: 3/5

Spiders on drugs!

Heather told me about a scientific experiment where scientists gave spiders various drugs. I wasn't convinced, so Heather turned to the scientist's best friend: YouTube.

This looked quite convinving until...

New Ryan Adams & The Cardinals EP - Everybody Knows

Spinning in my CD player is the brand new Ryan Adams & The Cardinals record - the Everybody Knows EP. It's great. Weighing at 8 tracks, it's just short of a new album with 7 unreleased songs, the track listing is as follows:

1. Everybody Knows
2. Follow The Lights
3. My Love For You Is Real (A new version)
4. Blue Hotel (sung by Ryan, not Willie Nelson)
5. Down In A Hole (Alice In Chains cover)
6. This is It (Cardinals Version)
7. If I Am A Stranger (Live studio version)
8. Dear John (Live studio version)

It's released Nov 12 to coincide with the UK tour. I'll give you more on it after a few listens.

West Indian Girl full album stream

West Indian Girl's new album "4th & Wall" hits stores tomorrow 10/23


You can stream the entire album for free right now @ Spinner:

And here's their mp3 for "To Die In LA" in case you haven't listened yet:

official site:
myspace:

3 Bob Dylan trailers

Download three trailers for:
The Other Side of The Mirror -
Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963 - 1965

Download Here

Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will release on DVD, for the first time in any format, The Other Side Of The Mirror - Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival 1963 - 1965, on Tuesday, October 30th. A long-awaited event for Bob Dylan aficionados, The Other Side Of The Mirror brings together more than 80 minutes of exquisitely filmed performances, 70% available here for the first time, drawn from three seminal years in the artist's ever-evolving career.


Produced and directed by Academy Award winner Murray Lerner (From Mao To Mozart: Isaac Stern In China), The Other Side Of The Mirror - Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival 1963 - 1965 opens a window into a critical epoch in American cultural history as reflected in the musical transformations of Bob Dylan's galvanizing watershed performances at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, 1964, and 1965.

www.bobdylan.com

www.legacyrecordings.com

www.columbiarecords.com

JOSH RITTER - New MP3! "The River" (Bruce Springsteen Cover)

"The River" (Bruce Springsteen Cover) MP3:
DOWNLOAD

King of Kong

Documentaries are on the up, there are loads of good ones coming out at the minute, and here's another.

king of kong:
Follows a middle school science teacher as he battles a hot sauce mogul for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic Donkey Kong. May not sound like much but if you were brought up on Dig Dug and Pacman, then it might stir some nostalgia. Check out the trailer and you'll want to see it.

Official Site

Trailer

Retro to Go!

My good learned friend Arron pointed this out to me.

If you like your retro music flavoured (and I presume you do), then you could do much worse than this White Stripes special edition Lomography cameras.Both sets sell for $180 (£90) each, get them now or miss out.



You can buy them on the White Stripes website.

DYLAN contest

Bob DYLAN competition!



3 CD singles (18 tracks) to give away, US residents only. To win, leave a comment below together with your email address saying what is your favourite Dylan track and why. Winner will be notified by email, good luck!

And if you haven't already, try out this brilliant e-card. So much fun!

E-Card:
http://www.dylanmessaging.com/create

Official Website:
http://www.dylan07.com/

James Blunt single

I'll make no bones about it. I hate James Blunt. He's a travesty for music. Mass produced sing-along meaningless slop. But if you're one of the many who seem to like him, then here's a new single:

Audio: "Same Mistake" stream: REALPLAYER, WINDOWS

CD Review - Iron + Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

IRON and WINE
The Shepherd's Dog
(Sub Pop)

When I reviewed WOMAN KING, the 2005 EP by Iron and; Wine, I said the presence of whooa, drums and, what's this? electric guitar, was just Sam Beam et al letting his beard down and getting something out of his system. Sure he'd go back to his gentle 1 man and his guitar work that characterised The Creek Drank The Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days.

Well turns out I was wrong. I picked up a copy of Iron & Wine's latest album, and first full length for a good while, The Shepherd's Dog the other day. And I have to say, at first anyway, I was disappointed.

I bought the vinyl 10" single first and it was a warning. Wah-wah pedals, drums, sitars, crazy stuff. This is man I love for doing so much with four notes and his beautiful voice. Like seeing a child grow up and become a punk rocker, I have to let go and admit it, Iron & Wine is a band now.

But at least he isn't a punk rocker, yet. It's still Americana, if with a smattering of dub, blues and west African styles. The opening track, "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" is full of big bass, technicolour but then reminds me of what he used to be with some slide guitar and banjo.

I couldn't listen to it. My little band has grown up and changed. But I had to. So i put it on again, and again, and I realised that beneath the bravado and independence, is, to borrow from Pitchfork "the core of Iron & Wine remains Beam's voice, guitar, and songwriting, which is still more suggestive than concrete, and is built mostly around strophic verse/verse/verse forms rather than leaning on choruses". And this is important, Beam's songs only work because of his beautiful melodies, and thankfully they remain. The colours are different but he still knows how to write a strong song. He also knows how to climax a song, as he does with the wonderful steel guitar at the end of "Love Song of the Buzzard"

You have to listen to this record lots to appreciate it. I would have loved another Creek Drank The Cradle, but every parent would love their baby back. Perhaps it's best to let them grow, mature and create something wonderful. I'll catch up

Read the Pitchfork interview with Sam Beam from Iron & Wine.

New Dylan Podcast!

A brand new Bob Dylan podcast is up and Patti Smith is hosting!

Dylan Blog/Podcast Page:

http://blogs.legacyrecordings.com/podcast/category/bob-dylan/

Dylan Podcast on iTunes:

Click here

Browser Feed Link:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thebobdylanpodcast