I think I’ve made it pretty clear that Captured Tracks is my favorite label of the year. With ’80s-inspired releases from Minks, Craft Spells, Beach Fossils, Blouse, etc., they’ve pretty much done no wrong for months now. I asked label head (and Blank Dogs frontman) Mike Sniper if he’d put together a few rare ’80s jams for us and he delivered like 1997 Karl Malone. Hear his picks after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Rawkblog historians may remember “Learn to Love,” a short-lived column that attempted to introduce readers — or deepen their knowledge — to the catalogs of my favorite artists. With the advent of legal alternatives such as Spotify, Grooveshark, etc., I’m going to revive the idea with a mixtape series called 45 Minutes. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

We’ll start with misunderstood icon Ryan Adams, whose catalog is so dense and intimidating that I’m breaking the compilation into two parts. After the break-up of seminal alt-country act Whiskeytown, Adams’ songwriting has ranged between heartbreaking folk ballads, ’70s-influenced country-rock and — and this is where he lost the critics, humorless bastards that they are — goofy, great hard rock. The vast majority of his recordings of any sort are worthwhile: this is an introduction, not necessarily a greatest hits. For part 1, I’ve mined the easy stuff: the ballads. Get to the end of this without tears in your eyes and you’ll have my sympathies for your cold, cold heart. Part 2 will focus on the rockers and the twang.

Adams has literally a dozen or so unreleased albums/studio sessions that have made the rounds in pirated, sometimes incomplete form for years. This collection mostly shies away from those, but you can find a primer I wrote on six of the better unreleased sets at the Wall Street Journal.

You can hear a slightly different version of this playlist on Spotify and stream it as God intended below. Read the rest of this entry »

Spotify, the latest potential savior of the music industry, finally made it to the U.S. yesterday. I’m really enjoying it so far. As a collector of somewhat obscure music, it’s not going to replace my MP3s and iTunes/iPod library anytime soon, but it looks like the easiest possible way for me to 1) check in on mainstream pop that I wouldn’t bother pirating, much less pay for and 2) make streaming playlists without worrying about track legality, which will be nice for end-of-year lists, etc.

It’s got some gaps as of today: no Drag City, as far as I can tell, and weirdly, only the first Chad VanGaalen album. And no High Highs, which are songs that have only come out on Bandcamp anyway. If it can somehow keep pace with the myriad world of new indie tracks, it’ll be especially impressive (and useful) — and ethically, it feels nice to know that you listening to something means the band is making a little more money, even if you’ve actually paid for the album already. (I see you, kid in the back.)

It’ll be interesting to see if it does what Rdio, Rhapsody, etc. couldn’t and gains a serious following. For whatever reason, it seems to have that important air of cool about it, which could push it over the top — that and everyone finally has a smartphone. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ve made a Rawkblog Ongoing 2K11 Jams playlist: assuming people are interested, I’ll update it every week or two. I also have some invites to share, though you’ll have to sign up via Klout. (Sorry.)

Last year, former Harlem Shakes (R.I.P.) drummer Brent Katz released a very fine, very unexpected chamber-pop record under the name Thunder & Lightning. It’s the sort of music that Wes Anderson might make, were he as skilled on piano and tenor vocals as he is with Final Draft. (Just kidding, everybody knows he delivers his scripts on a vintage typewriter with keys made from elephant tusks.) Katz was kind enough to make Rawkblog a wee mixtape, which you’ll find after the jump. Put The Royal Tenenbaums on on mute while you dive in? The words, like the picks, are Katz’s.   Read the rest of this entry »

You are loved, you are loved, you are really, really loved. Sad bastard music, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo via Four Paws Media

Say what you will about Tupac. As a fan of Elliott Smith, any release that brings the late songwriter’s music to new listeners is an essential one. However, the new An Introduction To… Elliott Smith falls a little short of its intended goal, drawing mostly on Either/Or and, presumably due to funds and label issues, misses some important sections of his career. I’ve attempted to remedy that right here with A Proper Introduction.

This compilation is, like Kill Rock Stars’, an introduction: Elliott’s entire catalog, from his three albums with Heatmiser to his seven solo releases to his extensive b-sides collection to his 50+ live and studio covers to his albums’ worth of unreleased songs, is composed entirely of completely fucking great music and you should track it all down. (As you can tell by the previous links, I’ve done my best to curate some of what’s out there on this blog already.) This compilation skews on the legal side, so you’ll see live and unreleased versions subbed in for a number of album cuts. You can fit it on a single CD or listen to it half-and-half on your daily commute. Then go buy his albums. That is the best possible musical decision you will make this or any year. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo via

“I never joined a coven.” Read the rest of this entry »

2010 only. All the good stuff. Dream on after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »