Monsters of Folk - Sandman, the Brakeman and Me

Ryan Adams - Fortress of the Spider Gods

Mr. David Ryan Adams posted a sweet little jam the other day at his site by a DRA mind group (that's what I'm calling all his aliases these days) called GALAXIAN.

Download - Ryan Adams - Fortress of the Spider Gods

Monsters of Folk - Live at The Philadelphia Academy of Music - 2009-11-09

This is the show that was webcasted (is that a word?) the other night. Just started listening right now and the quality is pretty great. I did notice that the sound went out in the left channel on "The Right Place" for a couple of seconds but f*ck it, Jim James still sounds awesome. Enjoy the show guys, I know this will be on repeat this weekend.

Props to Jeff Luke for the photo. The picture is from the Minneapolis show becasue I couldn't find any from Philly and, well, Jeff's pictures are too excellent not to use somewhere!

I wish I could have done more with the artwork guys, the picture is tops but my input is pretty bland, I am absolutely slammed right now and I haven't had a ton of time to focus on the blog, I have some great things downloading right now though and will have them up hopefully soon. Thanks for understanding!

01 Intro
02 Say Please
03 The Right Place
04 Soul Singer (In A Session Band)
05 Slow Down Jo
06 Man Named Truth
07 Vincent O'Brien
08 One Life Away
09 One Hundred Million Years
10 Poison Cup
11 Smoke Without Fire
12 Golden
13 Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)
15 Baby Boomer
16 We Are Nowhere And It's Now
17 Lullaby + Exile
18 At Dawn
19 To Save Me
20 Kathy With A K's Song
21 Bermuda Highway
22 Look At You
23 Map Of The World
24 Smokin From Shootin
25 Hit The Switch
26 Losin Yo Head
27 Encore Break
28 At The Bottom Of Everything
29 Whole Lotta Lovin
30 Another Travelin' Song
31 His Master's Voice
32 Outro

DOWNLOAD UPDATED COPY WITH "DEAR GOD" FIXED

God Bless United States Veteran's

Thanks for keeping this place safe guys and gals.

Monsters of Folk - 2009-10-31 - Louisville, KY

Kory Johnson is the man. That's all I can really say. He taped the Halloween show and it sounds excellent. It really is giving me chills, taking me back to Chicago. Listen for Conor Oberst's verse in Smokin' From Shootin', it is an excellent moment.

We are missing the first 2.5 songs, no biggy though, this is such a treat.

Kory Johnson is, on top of being one of the greatest MMJ fans out there, an excellent Louisville, KY based photographer. Check out his site here.

Also check out 37Flood.

1. Say Please
2. The Right Place
3. Soul Singer (In A Session Band)
4. Vincent O'Brien
5. Man Named Truth
6. Smoke Without Fire - Conor and Matt
7. One Hundred Million Years - Matt Solo
8. Chinese Translation - Matt Solo
9. One Life Away - Matt and Jim
10. Golden
11. Tezmezcal
12. Baby Boomer
13. I Will Be There When You Die - Jim and Conor
14. We Are Nowhere And Its Now - Conor and Mike
15. The Big Picture - Conor and Mike
16. Lullaby + Exile - Matt and Conor
17. Sandman, Brakeman, And Me
18. Goodway
19. To Save Me
20. Lime Tree - Conor and Jim
21. Bermuda Highway -Jim and Will
22. Look At You - Jim Solo
23. Wonderful (The Way I Feel) -Jim and Matt
24. Map Of The World
25. Dear God (Sincerely MOF)
26. At The Bottom Of Everything
27. Smokin' From Shootin'
28. Hit The Switch
29. His Masters Voice

Encore:
30. Detroit Rock City
31. Whole Lotta Losin'
32. Another Travelin' Song
33. Losin' Yo Head
34. Rock N Roll All Nite

Download - Monsters of Folk - 2009-10-31 - Louisville, KY

Jeff Luke Monsters of Folk Pictures

Our good friend Jeff Luke saw Monsters of Folk last night at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis and took some excellent pictures. Jeff is an excellent photographer, check out some of his MMJ photos from Minneapolis and Chicago as well as the Great Lake Swimmers and Dan Auerbach shots, dude knows what he's doing.

Jeff Luke Photography
Jeff Luke Photography - Monsters of Folk

Pearl Jam Madness

Head over to Mystic Chords of Memory V.2 for live compilations of studio albums Ten all the way through Backspacer. Honest Abe, good f*cking work.

John Farrell and Model Stranger - Cullen's Pub - Oak Lawn, IL - 2009-10-24

Cullen's Pub in Oak Lawn saw an excellent night of music by Chicago's very own John Farrell and Model Stranger. The evening kicked off around 9pm with John Farrell taking the stage first with his band. Most of the material covered was from his excellent EP, In Passing, as well as some covers. I'd say the highlight of his set, for me at least, was an excellent electric version of his EP's closer, "Longest Day, Shortest Night." The song on record is a moody, atmospheric, goose bump inducing piece driven by piano and John Farrell's pain crippled and helpless voice. Live, the song takes on a new face with more energy yet the same vibe and the same goose bumps. The song is about a lost love one (you can read about the inspiration for all of his songs on In Passing at his website) and when he sings the lyric "But autumn can’t cure summer blues, So sick of breakin bad news" I want to collapse. To close the night out John and his boys played a wonderful version of The Beatle's "Get Back" that had the entire bar on their feet going wild. John Farrell has been playing and writing music for years now and is proving himself to be a very real force. He has a magnetic personality that bleeds genuineness and breeds kindness, think The Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne without all the hair. Get on the John Farrell band wagon, I firmly believe he is going to be something special.

Check out John Farrell's debut EP, In Passing. It is streaming on his site here as well as on the sidebar of The Steam Engine. He has a Radiohead pay-what-it's-worth-to-you system setup, check it out.

John Farrell Band Camp

(Model Stranger with John Farrell, John is sans instrument)

The next band up was Model Stranger. I saw them about a month and a half ago in Schaumberg, IL and they performed as a 5 piece. Saturday night though, the band took the stage as a 3 piece and I have to say that in Model Stranger's case, less is more. The 3 piece consists of front man Stephen Francis on vocals & guitar, Kevin James on bass & vocals and new comer Brad Elliott hittin' the skins. They have a full length EP, Shaky Coma and their more recently released EP, A Boy & His Crown. While I am only familiar with their marvelous EP the Shaky Coma material translates well live and is not "bathroom break" material, I'll be grabbing that album very soon. BUT ANYWAYS, the evenings highlights for me revolved around their EP songs "Morning Paper" and "Sound the Sirens." Their MySpace and Blog both have these songs streaming and available for purchase. While their entire EP is good (and I would say even better live) I'd start with the instantly likable "Morning Paper." Stephen Francis really lets his guitar skill shine on "Sound the Sirens," as you can see in this video from a show in Indianapolis.



His guitar playing skills really blew me away though on Saturday night. The raging solo's in their cover of the Jimi Hendrix (yes, that Jimi Hendrix) song "Manic Depression" were technical, true to the original and dead nuts on. The energy they create on stage is surprising for a 3 piece but they really got the bar pumping. The 3 of them are tight group of young musicians hungry for exposure. They have technical prowess and front man Stephen Francis appears to be progressing into a unique and passionate song writer that is inspired by more than just love and heartbreak. It's refreshing and exciting and I cannot wait to see what they do next. They will be hitting the studio over the next few months to record another full length LP, keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime head over to their MySpace or Blog to check out their material.

Model Stranger MySpace
Model Stranger Blog
Model Stranger Band Camp

ALL BOOKING/PRESS INQUIRIES CONTACT:
Andrew Coate - Collaborate Management
collaboratemanagement@gmail.com
708.259.4372

Monsters of Folk - KEXP Studios - 2009-10-15

01 - The Sandman, The Brakeman, And Me
02 - Interview
03 - Map Of The World
04 - Interview
05 - Losin Yo Head
06 - Outro

Thanks Mystic Chords of Memory V.2!

Download - Monsters of Folk - KEXP Studios - 2009-10-15

Monsters of Folk - Morning Becomes Eclectic - 2009-10-02

01 A Man Named Truth
02 Interview
03 Losin Yo Head
04 Outro

Thanks Mystic Chords of Memory V.2!

Download - Monsters of Folk - Morning Becomes Eclectic - 2009-10-02

Monsters of Folk - The Tonight Show - 2009-09-22

01 Say Please

Thanks Mystic Chords of Memory V.2!

Download - Monsters of Folk - The Tonight Show - 2009-09-22

Wilco - UIC Pavillion - 2009-10-18

TSE had a great time at Wilco on Sunday night.

Hoodoo Voodoo with the dueling guitar solo's between Nels and Pat is unreal, everyone knows Nels is a god but Pat is amazing, he was shredding with Nels. The new songs played live were great, Bull Black Nova in particular. One of the sickest At Least That's... I've ever heard. Tweedy has a different SG for everyday of the year man. His latest acquisition is one of these zoot suits, fucking bad ass.

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Zoot-Suit.aspx

While in the crowd I ran into one of the dudes responsible for the excellent iPhone guitar app, Guitar Tool Kit and also saw Jeff Tweedy's wife and kid, Sue and Spencer walking around right next to me. Pretty cool.

The sound was okay, not as bad as I expected for a 10,000 person "arena" but it left much to be desired.

You catching them this tour?

Wilco (the song)
A Shot in the Arm
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
One Wing
Misunderstood
At Least That's What You Said
Deeper Down
Impossible Germany
It's Just That Simple
I'll Fight
Handshake Drugs
Sonny Feeling
Jesus, Etc.
Theologians
I'm Always in Love
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm the Man Who Loves You
------------------------------

--
You Never Know
Heavy Metal Drummer
Just a Kid
Kingpin
Monday
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Hoodoo Voodoo
I'm a Wheel

Start: 8:47 p.m./Finish: 11:03 p.m.
Totals: 28 songs, 2 hours and 16 minutes

Gettin ready for wilco!

Just left local pub Stanleys, slammed some whiskey in the parking lot
and now we are waiting.

My Morning Jacket - The Bluebird Theater - 2003-10-03

Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash era Jacket, enjoy the weekend guys.

Thanks scooter@concertmecca.com for the pic! It will always be one of my favorite Jacket pictures!

Set 1

1. Mahgeetah
2. Dance Floors
3. Masterplan
4. Heart Breakin' Man
5. The Way That He Sings
6. Just One Thing
7. Lowdown
8. One Big Holiday >
9. I Will Sing You Songs
10. Steam Engine
11. Run Thru

Set 2

1. I Will Be There When You Die*
2. Bermuda Highway*
3. Golden*
4. Sooner
5. Evelyn Is Not Real
6. War Begun
7. Phone Went West.

* Jim James solo acoustic

Download - My Morning Jacket - The Bluebird Theater - 2003-10-03

The Black Keys - In The Company Of - 2008-12-8

Sorry for being such a stranger lately. Things have been chaotic to say the least.

This is some great weekend listening. Dan and Pat rip through some excellent Attack & Release material and their Captain Beefheart cover of "I'm Glad" gives me some serious chills, like, serious chills. The interviews are nothing to skip over in this either. While the DJ can get a bit annoying, Dan and Pat are genuinely funny guys. Pat's story about surfing is pretty good and I crack up when Dan compares Pat to a John McCain supporter (what is this, cuss cuss?). Anyways, I promise more to come soon guys.

Wilco on Sunday!!!!!

Couldn't find out who took the pic, but it's sweet, thanks and if you contact me I'll give you props for sure.

01 - Intro
02 – Same Old Thing
03 – Interview
04 – Strange Times
05 – Interview
06 – I’m Glad
07 – Interview
08 – Psychotic
09 – I Got Mine
10 – Outro

Download - The Black Keys - In The Company Of - 2008-12-8