Boston’s “Paperboy” Reed is possessed with the spirit of rhythm and blues. His 2005 release made the Twangville Best of 2005 list and now he’s back with some great new tracks being previewed on his web site. “Am I Wasting My Time†swings with a soul so real you’ll swear it’s a discovery from the […]
G. Love’s Lemonade Is Still Tres Saucy
Okay, so this one is begging for bad puns, but that’s as close as I can come to saying anything negative about this album. Garrett Dutton’s (G. Love) new record is the perfect refreshment in a summer that was (both musically and physically) starting to drag a bit for me. Maybe it’s just because there was […]
The Genius of Allen Toussaint
Live shows don’t get much better than the pairing of Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, currently wrapping up a tour in support of their collaborative release The River in Reverse. While Costello has become known for his eclectic musical collaborations over the past decade, he’s reached a new peak with Toussaint. Whether creating musical arrangements […]
Mayer’s Playlist for May and June
A heavy travel schedule for my day job has kept me from my Twangville musings, not to mention keeping me out of the clubs and record stores. Nonetheless, here’s the long overdue playlist from May and June. Hammer + Nail, Paul Thorn (from the live cd/dvd So Far, So Good: The Best of the Paul […]
From the Archives, a SXSW Performance by the Twilight Singers
Here is some found footage of the Twilight Singers performing at this year’s SXSW festival. There is plenty to listen to here but you won’t be thrilled to see much until you spot the back of Twangville’s own Mayer Danzig at the very end of the clip. Can you spot him? (YouTube)
Mayer’s Playlist for April 2006
I’ll Be Coming Around, The Bottle Rockets (from the album Bottle Rockets Live in Heilbronn Germany) While we wait for their forthcoming studio release, the Bottle Rockets tease us with this knock-out live release. Essentially a greatest hits collection, it captures the band in fine form during a tour of Germany last year. This track, […]
Tom’s Pick of the Week, Drive-by Truckers
DBT!… DBT!… DBT!… my favorite rock band since GBV hung the towel over a year ago. The Drive-by Truckers return with their latest release A Blessing and A Curse. While I’m not as emotionally attached to this one as I was 2004’s The Dirty South, I undoubtedly believe this will add yet one more notch […]
Preview The Drive-By Truckers’ “A Blessing and a Curse”
You don’t have to wait until Tuesday to hear the new Drive-By Truckers album. The guitar-slinging masters serve up a fine preview of their forthcoming release: A Blessing and a Curse. A few early test spins show the Trucker’s expanding their sound. Whereas their recent albums have clearly been lyrically and musically inspired by the […]
SXSW 2006: The Bands (Part 2)
Coulda, shoulda, woulda… With over 1,200 bands appearing during the course of the festival it was inevitable that I would miss a few gems. Here are a few artists that may have slipped by me at SXSW but they didn’t escape me completely. Susan Cagle – I missed her in Austin but I made up […]
Best of Winter 2006, a Playlist
The bar has been set high! I’m astounded by the number of great albums that have already surfaced this year. Will Hoge shunned traditional record promotions by leaning heavily on juggernauts MySpace and Purevolume all the way to offering up a free download from the album once every week. Josh Rouse travelled to Spain offering […]