shivers in the sheets

I've held off posting about Ryan Adams' latest effort Cold Roses til now so I could give a thorough listen and comment fairly. Ever since Heartbreaker, I've been an avowed RA fan. Despite his mercurial reputation and uneven concert performances, a Ryan Adams studio album almost always provides more than a few gems to hold onto. I wasn't particularly keen on Rock N Roll or Love Is Hell, but this new double disc sees the kind of Ryan Adams that just hits you right there. Bruce Warren from WXPN says "the genius of Ryan is that as his output increases, the quality of his songwriting maintains its strength and consistency. That said though, if it had been a single album, Cold Roses would have made one of the best albums of the decade, an alt-country classic. It still ranks pretty high up there."

Instead of posting a link to the whole album, here's a playlist of my favorites from Cold Roses, with a few classics from earlier releases tacked on. The best of the new with the best of the old.

Listen to Ryan Adams, Old and New

Cold Roses
* "Let It Ride"
* "Magnolia Mountain"
* "Meadowlake Street"
* "Beautiful Sorta"
* "Now That You're Gone"
* "Cherry Lane"
* "Easy Plateau"
* "Cold Roses"
Demolition
* "You Will Always Be The Same"
* "Cry On Demand" (my favorite RA song)
* "Touch, Feel & Lose"
Heartbreaker
* "Oh My Sweet Carolina"
* "Come Pick Me Up"
* "Shakedown On 9th Street"

Filter Magazine Top 20

Filter Magazine recently started publishing a weekly top 20 of sorts, compiled from a number of AAA and alternative-type stations throughout the country, including WXPN and KCRW. You've probably heard all these songs before (they're ranked by airplay and 'buzz') but here's the good stuff all together with no commercials!

# "Speed Of Sound" - Coldplay
# "We Both Go Down Together" - The Decemberists
# "E-Pro" - Beck
# "Feel Good, Inc. (single edit)" - Gorillaz
# "Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well" - Mike Doughty
# "Devils & Dust" - Bruce Springsteen
# "It's the Nighttime" - Josh Rouse
# "The Heart's A Lonely Hunter" - Thievery Corporation with David Byrne
# "Girl" - Beck
# "Trouble With Dreams" - Eels
# "Here Comes A City" - The Go-Betweens
# "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" - Of Montreal
# "Goodnight Goodnight" - Hot Hot Heat
# "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" - U2
# "I Need Your Love In My Life" - Solomon Burke
# "Back to Me" - Kathleen Edwards

Filter Newsletter Top 20

Yes, there are only 16 tracks in the playlist. Why no recent Spoon or Aimee Mann on Rhapsody, I wonder? You can download Spoon's single "I Turn My Camera On" from Amazon for free.

The Current Obsession

It's not the 'Album of the Week' or anything so regular. Just the current obsession. After I did that little Aussie playlist, I really latched onto The Lucksmiths. They have a tight style that will uncannily remind one of Guster. Except with lovely Australian accents. Their newest album "Warmer Corners" is weirdly not on Rhapsody, not even in their database, so try on 2003's Naturaliste for size.

The band also has a website at The Lucksmiths.com.au

Listen to The Lucksmiths - Naturaliste

From the Rhapsody newsletter

They don't really give us an explanation for this playlist in the newsletter this week. Must have been busy with the release of 3.0, which I like - a lot - and it may finally prompt me to spring for an iRiver. Here's the tracks:

New Releases Playlist

* "Speed Of Sound" - Coldplay
* "Devils & Dust" - Bruce Springsteen
* "Jesusland" - Ben Folds
* "Mushaboom" - Feist
* "Nothng Brings Me Down" - Emiliana Torrini
* "1 Thing" - Amerie
* "What We Do Here" - Brian McKnight
* "Slow Down" - Bobby Valentino
* "Flavor Of The Weak" - American Hi-Fi
* "I'm The One" - Static-X

Yes, I know that I've had "Speed of Sound" at least three times in blog posts in the last week or so. You want to make something of it?

The Sunday News

Being a resident of Central PA has its advantages, but more often than not you need to actively seek out opportunities to see and hear new indie and 'alternative'-type music. For over ten years, midstate resident Bill Hanson has been putting together a two-hour show called "The Sunday News." It airs weekly on Sundays, early in the morning and late in the evening on 105.7 The X. Being a longtime listener of the show and its eclectic mix of rock, singer-songwriters, electronica, and beats, I recently contacted Bill and obtained his playlist for Sunday, May 1. A special thanks to Bill Hanson for his time and dedication to great music that doesn't get airplay on the radio nearly enough. Hopefully, this will be a weekly feature on RiB.

The Sunday News, 5/1/05

* "Feel Good, Inc. (single edit)" - Gorillaz
* "Shut Me Up" - Mindless Self Indulgence
* "Sister Jack" - Spoon
* "Arena" - VNV Nation
* "Take Cover" - Acceptance
* "Justine Alright" - Heavy Trash
* "Requiem for o.m.m.2" - Of Montreal
* "Blue Orchid" - White Stripes
* "Broken World" - Lost City Angels
* "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" - Eels
* "Speed Of Sound" - Coldplay
* "Dance Music" - The Mountain Goats
* "Back to Me" - Kathleen Edwards
* "Spitfire" - The Prodigy
* "Walking Dead" - Z-trip
* "There Is a Light that Never Goes Out" - Morrissey
* "I Remember You" - Chixdiggit
* "In A Funny Way" - Mercury Rev
* "Exact Copy" - Single Frame
* "Sugarcube" - Yo La Tengo

If you live in the listening area of The X, I've set up a Yahoo! Group for The Sunday News. The weekly playlist will be distributed and hopefully some good music discussion will ensue!

Edited to add tracks by Spoon, The White Stripes and Single Frame

what I've kept with me
and what I've thrown away
and where the hell I've ended up
on this glary, random day
were the things I really cared about
just left along the way
for being too pent up and proud?

woke up way too late
feeling hungover and old
and the sun was shining bright
and I walked barefoot down the road
started thinking about my old man
it seems that all men
want to get into a car and go
anywhere

here I stand:
sad and free
I can't cry
I can't see
what I've done
no, God,
what have I done?

don't you know I'm numb, man, no,
I can't feel a thing at all, 'cause it's
all smiles and business these days
and I'm indifferent to the loss
and I've faith that there's a soul somewhere
that's leading me around
I wonder if she knows which way is down

here I stand:
sad and free
I can't cry
and I can't see
what I've done
no, God,
what have I done?
ooh

and I poured my heart out
and I poured my heart out
it evaporated...
see?

blind man on a canyon's edge
of a panoramic scene
maybe I'm a kite that's flying high
and random, dangling a string
or slumped over in a vacant room
head on a stranger's knee
I'm sure back home
they think I've lost my mind

here I stand:
sad and free
I can't cry
and I can't see
what I've done
no, God,
what have I done?

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated