stevenology 2.0

Hello again friends, family, and music lovers…

This is the twenty-fourth in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice (XTC!). And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

You might also notice that XTC is one of my favorite bands in the world…

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

XTC – Helium Kidz cass na unk Early incarnation of XTC – .

XTC – 3D EP vinl 12 UK

XTC – Go+ vinl 12 UK Rare UK-only issue.

XTC – Making Plans For Andy cass na unk Dub of Bootleg.

XTC – At The Edge – Toronto 78 CD 5 UNK CD-R Bootleg

XTC – Go 2 cd 5 US One bonus track.

XTC – White Music CD 5 Jap Special album-sleeve package

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Have you read this book?

Elvis is King. That’s the message he inserted oh-so-cleverly over and over on the cover of his first album. Of course, there was that other Elvis too, but Costello burst on the music scene full of himself and full of potential. His uber-catchy songs and stunning way with lyrics made him famous and infamous overnight and his fame took off despite his occasional efforts to derail that train. This book details his early years and rise to fame as well as many of the things that he did to mystify and sometimes alienate his listeners from then on, as well as his loves and likes along the way.

He is one of the most talented singer-songwriters ever. There, I said it. He’s made a few mistakes in his life and in his music choices, but overall the depth and breadth of his amazing career is matched by very few. This book tackles both the life and the music chronologically, and unfortunately ends too soon in the early 00′s with the somewhat forgetable North album. But each album from My Aim Is True up through North is discussed and matched with the corresponding events in his personal life (along with his bands and backup musicians). Sometimes the life part goes a little light but there is still insight into the personality and into the music.

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Yes, I already  posted about this show, but I am adding a couple video clips from the show. For the original post click here, and here are the videos:

Concrete Blonde at Ace of Spades “True”

The second video is after the “read more”. See you on the other side…

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Hello again friends, family, and music lovers…

This is the twenty-third in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice (Tom Waits!). And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

Wagner, Jack – All I Need vinl 7 US

Wainwright III, Loudon – Unrequited vinl 12 US Promo.

Wainwright III, Loudon – Attempted Mustache vinl 12 US

Wainwright III, Loudon – Album III vinl 12 US

Waitresses, The – Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? vinl 12 US

Waits, Tom – Beautiful Maladies CD 5 US

Waits, Tom – Nighthawks At The Diner CD 5 US

Waits, Tom – Blue Valentine vinl 12 US

Waits, Tom – Heartattack And Vine vinl 12 US

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Note: for photos from the show and the full set list, click on the “continue reading” below…

Another note: I had this posted at SacMusicBlog too.

Veteran rockers Concrete Blonde were at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades last night and brought down the house with an energetic and spirited show that had the audience cheering and yelling for more.

Singer-songwriter Jim Bianco opened up the show with an entertaining set of originals. One audience member called him “a young Tom Waits”, but that’s not exactly true. He does have an offbeat style in both performance and lyrics but is at least a little closer to the mainstream. And was that a nylon string classical guitar that he was playing the crazy heck out of?

Time for the headliners: Concrete Blonde have been together since the late 80s and have broken up and retired more than a couple times. But they are back again and haven’t lost a beat. The show had only a couple numbers that were not immediately recognizable (Rosalie, The Damage I’ve Done). Very early on they played a blazing cover of Beds Are Burning (the Midnight Oil protest song) which was a definite highlight. But most of the show was classic song after classic song. Joey, True, Mexican Moon (acoustic), Someday, Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man, Tomorrow Wendy, God is a Bullet, Caroline, 100 Games of Solitare, Everybody Knows (acoustic), and more. And of course, for the encore, Bloodletting (The Vampire Song).

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Finally! And only a few weeks late! Here are my picks for the best albums of 2011. Well, at least for the moment. And by “best” I mean that I liked them best! What did you like?

The Cars “Move Like This”

Death Cab For Cutie “Codes And Keys”

The Decemberists “The King Is Dead”

Eisley “The Valley”

Robbie Robertson “How To Be Clairvoyant”

Tom Waits “Bad As Me”

And also good…

Jack’s Mannequin “People And Things”

Adele “21″

Gavin DeGraw “Sweeter”

Jimi Hendrix “Winterland”

Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 2-CD reissue

Paul Simon “So Beautiful Or So What”

So what do you think? What did I miss? Leave me a comment.

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Here is the latest update. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Waits, Tom – Bad As Me CD 5 US 2CD Ltd Edition

Bush, Kate – 50 Words For Snow CD 5 US

Jethro Tull – Aqualung CD 5 US Two CD 40th Anniversary Special Edition

Cars, The – Move Like This CD 5 US

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line CD 5 US

Concrete Blonde – Bloodletting CD 5 US 20th Anniversary Edition, six bonus tracks

Gabriel, Peter – Us CD 5 US

Heap, Imogen – Speak For Yourself CD 5 US

Young, Neil – International Harvesters – A Treasure CD 5 US

Cure, The – The Only One CD 5 US

Cure, The – The Perfect Boy CD 5 US

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War is over, if you want it. Happy whatever-you-celebrate, hope you find peace and love in the coming year.

And a happy new year. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.

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