Father Abraham is a producer and rapper from Boston, Massachusetts that will blow you away without a doubt. He has some sick rhymes, slick well engineered beats, and a name that will always make me think of an Amish guy. He recently released an album called I Am Not a Sailor I Am the Captain that was recorded in a converted mill in MA. Which adds to my Amish guy image even more. Father Abraham is currently working on a new album called 52 Pickup where is is recording a new song every week for a year. If thats not cool enough for you, check out his site where you can track the albums progress and listen to each new song every week. Oh yeah, did I mention that not only is his recent album free for download but also 2 other albums. Do your thing Papa Abe!
Father Abraham - Spacemarch (No Longer Available)

When I used to work for a thrift store that I won't name, It's one of the big ones, we used to get all sorts of awesome things. Retro furniture, some pretty sweet rap t-shirts, various converse shoes in all colors including a Christmas themed pair tricked out with bells, but nothing compared to the amazing selection of music I would come across. Most of my record collection came from when I worked there. We always used to get peoples old blank tapes as well. I came across some mix tapes in a box one day some were labeled and some were not and the track lists looked interesting. So I bought the box and listened to a few. They were alright but nothing I thought was amazing. I didn't listen to them all and I figured if I ever wanted to use them for mix tapes (yes some people still do that on cassettes) they would come in handy. A few years went by and recently I was cleaning out some old stuff and I found them and decided to give them a second listen. I am really glad I did. I came across this great alt-country mix tape that had an Uncle Tupelo song on it. The band was formed by Mike Heidorn, Jay Farrar, and Jeff Tweedy(of Wilco). The band did not gain much commercial success but quickly became legends in the alt-country arena and put out some great music. The band broke up due to troubles between Farrar and Tweedy. When the band decided to call it quits Tweedy formed Wilco and Farrer went on to form Son Volt. Wow, that was quite a lot to read just to get to me talking about Son Volt. The history is so interesting though I suggest reading it. Anyway, If I never heard Uncle Tupelo I wouldn't know about Son Volt because I'm not really a fan of Wilco. This song is a sad and beautiful. Son Volt just recently released a new album called American Central Dust.
Son Volt - Cocaine And Ashes

I HAVE to share this site because it just to excellent to keep quite about. I was using Stumble Upon, which is a super addictive search that takes you to the best of the best the web has to offer(go ahead click on it I promise you won't stop clicking for at least an hour) and I came across a RockyMusic. It's all about the music of the musical/cult classic The Rock Horror Picture Show. I'm not a big fan of musicals or into the goth scene but I am a huge fan of Rocky Horror. If you have never seen it I insist that you stop reading this and go out and rent it NOW! This website has all the information you ever wanted to know and more. From composers, to artists, to out of print records and songs(including a huge listening library)to lyrics. Below are two selected tracks from the site. The first one is from Richard O'Brien who wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Fun Fact: Shock Treatment is a follow up film to Rocky Horror that was originally titled The Brad and Janet Show . I love the chorus of this song. The second is one of my favorite sort of songs. A song that tells a story. It's a 60's Phil Spector esque style song that reminds me of The Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack only darker.
Richard O'Brien - Shock Treatment

Kimi And Ritz - I Was In Love With Danny (But The Crowd Was In Love With Dean) (No Longer Available)

This song is amazing in both lyrically and musically. It's a self-deprecating song about being in lost love and using someone else to replace the missing piece of once was. The tune is catchy, and the singing is nervous and yet sincere in it's own special way.
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told

Geek love, dum dums and their rabid fans, and making music pay

Hey!*waves* It's been a while since I updated anything. Not a long while but at least a week. I don't think anybody missed it too much if at all. Want to know the reason I was away? Well it combines two of my favorite things and it kind of makes me depressed. I was playing Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for Wii. God, I need a girlfriend. So If anyone knows of a girl who likes Star Wars and digs guys who like music they should let me know. I know they are out there. I once went to a video game store a few years ago and there was a pretty looking girl working there and I thought "Wow thats, 1. Awesome and 2. Really rare." After perusing I found something worth purchasing and went to pay and this girl had the Imperial and Rebel insignia tattooed on each wrist. I was so in awe I was tongue tied and couldn't spit out something funny like I went back to that place a few more times but never saw her again. Maybe I should have used some of these pickup lines. Er...maybe not.

Symphony X - Star Wars Suite

I just had to mention this because it's so funny to me. I recently read an article on myspace about how Lauren Conrad, or L.C. from the TV show the Hills, has a new book out. I guess it was number one on the New York Times best seller list and when I saw that I had to laugh. I decided to read the comments and those were quite funny too either they were making fun of her of people were saying she was their role model. Which made me laugh even harder. So I thought I would throw my two cents in as well. I was one of the ones making fun of her and wrote something to the effect of how I can't believe the book reached that high and there must have been so really bad books released that week. I also left a little blurb about how if people were seeing her as a role model they should re-evaluate and look elsewhere than an MTV generation dummy. Well I just went and checked my myspace account today and I received this message from one of her fans. "and let me guess who your role model is? the creepy molester guy that raped you when you turned 7? STOP HATING ON PEOPLE YOU DONT EVEN KNOW, JEALOUS BITCH" Ah, how I love the internet flame. At first I was just going to delete it and forget about it but then I thought, "No. I'll send her something back." Here was my response. Thanks for further proving my point by flaming me on the internet and not even making a valid sophisticated argument. On top of that you should think twice before sending messages like this. Everyone is allowed an opinion. If you don't like what I have to say then don't read it. Or do and go about your day. Sure I don't know her but I, along with way more than a few people, know there is no way that book is going to give any insightful direction. Other than to the mall. By the way you have been reported to the Myspace police. Have a nice day! P.S. thanks for giving me something to write about in my blog. I was having writers block. You rock! I could have said a lot more but thought I'll leave it at that. I haven't heard back. Maybe she took my advice, maybe she was scared of the Myspace police, or maybe she took a long walk off a short pier. Either way she and L.C. make me sad for America.
New Boyz - You're A Jerk

I may have mentioned this before but I am a HUGE fan of podcasts. I think my absolute favorite is and always will be Smodcast, which is a podcast hosted by Kevin Smith And Scott Mosier. If your not familiar it's the dudes who made Mallrats and Clerks. It's pretty crude, but it cracks me up every time. Worth a listen. Anyway the reason I bring this up is because there is one other dude in the Smodcast crew named Ken Plume who puts together the background music to go along with whatever their talking about. The man knows music! I want to do something like that as my career. I always wondered who puts together soundtracks for movies or chooses songs for T.V. shows and the like. I'd love to do that. Actually I'd love to make music my job. Weather that be slapping together soundtracks, booking shows, or writing reviews. I want to do it. I had this sort of realization that I should make my love of music into a career. I decided that I am going to go back to school and try to major in journalism. I mean from what people have told me they like the blog. I don't know if it's for the sometimes funny stories or just for the music but I know a few people dig it a little. I'm not fishing for compliments or trying to sound arrogant but the reason I do this IS in hopes that people like it. I know I like it and it's a blast doing it, but I digress. I'm going to make something I love and will be happy doing earn me some dough.

Neil Innes - Stoned On Rock
Carl Belew - Folding Money

Super Sweet Bonus Song:
I know I blogged about Jaydiohead, but there are a few encore tracks that came out.
Jaydiohead - Song and Cry

I'm SOULed!

The first time I heard James Carr belt out this soul scorcher I could not believe what I has hearing. In my opinion it just may be one of my favorite country-soul songs ever. Although not as popular as his fellow soul singers like Otis Redding and Percy Sledge, Mr. Carr is considered one of the best emotional delivery men by hardcore soul junkies. Unfortunately popularity wasn't as easily attained for James in part to his sever bipolar disorder which affected his touring and recording. This song, "You Got My Mind Messed Up", was released on GoldWax in 1966 and was his first big hit. Not his most famous, which is "The Dark End Of The Street", but I hope you'd agree that it's a top notch soul song.
James Carr - You've Got My Mind Messed Up

I tried to find some information about Johnny Cool And The Counts but my search came up null and void. I do know that it was released on the Custom Label but other than that I got nothing. I happened to come across Johnny Cool And The Counts from a now sadly defunct soul music blog. This song is something that is a bit different from other soul songs, it's a lot more up tempo hence the word bounce in the songs title. I love the quickness of this song and the drums are incredible. It's a fun listen for sure. I'll post the other equally amazing song I have by Johnny Cool And The Counts in another post. For now just enjoy this one.
Johnny Cool And The Counts - Love Bounce


Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams, Jr.) is one of the most eccentric characters in the Soul/R&B realm. He says whats on his mind and doesn't care. He started out as a producer, engineer, and occasional songwriter with Atlantic in the '60s. He cut a few songs under the name Little Jerry Williams before transforming into the Great Swamp Dogg. He released his first album under his new moniker called Total Destruction to Your Mind which featured him in his underwear on the album cover. He also has another cover that was voted worst album cover for Rat On! Needless to say that the Dogg is eccentric. I read an interview where he explained that he changed to Swamp Dogg was because "Whatever I wanted to sing about I could do it as a dog since you expect a dog to do just about anything... and you're forgiven afterwards (laughs)." Don't let all the eccentricities fool you though, Swamp Dogg delivers great songs. Sometimes it's political, sometimes it's racial, sometimes it's about a war veteran hooked on drugs.
Swamp Dogg - Sam Stone

Fun Facts about this song. It was a song in the movie Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof directed by Quinten Tarantino. It's a revised cover The Shirelles "Baby It's You. The Smith didn't really have many singles and were mostly a cover band doing rock and R&B songs in the late 60's. The soulful female singer is Gayle McCormick, who had some little solo hits in 1971 after the Break up of the band. Baby It's you was a Burt Bacharach composed song, what didn't that man do? This song has been covered by The Beatles as well. Enjoy!
Smith - Baby It's You