Dead Sara, "Weatherman"

From 2011, here's Dead Sara with "Weatherman."

Enjoy!

Super Mario On Accordian

Awesome job, Bulgaria!



[source]

Looking For A Reason To Buy An iPad?

You can use it to play video game theme songs!



[source]

Band Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Guess what gang? From now until Christmas Day, in addition to our regular Song Of The Day, we'll also be playing a Holiday Song Of The Day. Double score!

And to kick things off here's 1984's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" from Band Aid.

Enjoy!

Joe Jackson, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"

From 1979, here's Joe Jackson with "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"

Enjoy!

Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"

From 1967, here's Arlo Guthrie with "Alice's Restaurant Massacree."

Enjoy!



Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the holiday & we'll see you on Monday!

CD Review: Larry g(EE), Weekends

At Culture Brats, we get a good deal of music sent our way, which can be placed in three categories:

1. Absolutely dreadful crap.
2. Decent music, definitely worth adding to your library.
3. Music so awesome you have to stop what you're doing and share it with everyone you know.

While most of the music we get falls in the first category, we do a get a fair amount of decent music. But we rarely get any music that belongs in the final category. Larry g(EE)'s incredible music falls under that label. When he sent us his video for "Yo Mama," I fell in love with the song at first listen and forwarded it to half the people I know. And you know what? The rest of the four-track Weekends EP is just as good.

Weekends is chockablock with retro slinky sexy soul and R&B. It's music that makes you want to throw your woman down on the bed. Standout tracks include the aforementioned "Yo Mama;" "Camera Phone," whose "shake it like you're working my camera phone" looks to dislodge Outkast in the pop culture lexicon; and "Game," a great little "I'm through with you" number which happens to be my favorite song on the disc with its staccato horns and awesome backing vocals. And yes, I realize I just called three of the album's four tracks standout. It's that damn good!

Seriously. I can't say enough good things about the disc. Buy it the moment it comes out. Larry g(EE)'s Weekends is music you won't be able to stop singing in your head and will make you wonder why the hell you don't hear him on the radio.

Larry g(EE)'s Weekends will be released on December 9th. Until then, you can download the first single, "Yo Mama," for the price of your email address and zip code.

CD Review: Tender Mercies

I took a listen to a new debut album recently, the self-titled Tender Mercies, released October 24th this year, and I'm really enjoying it. The songs on Tender Mercies feel like they should have been around for years - and a few of them actually have.

Jumping into this album is like jumping into the history of the band because this is really a story about music written, played, loved, and never recorded. Band members Dan Vickrey, Charlie Gillingham, Patrick Winningham, and Kurt Stevenson had met and collaborated, then moved on to other projects. Vickrey and Gillingham joined Counting Crows and some of their original Tender Mercies songs even ended up on the Counting Crows' tour set list, just in case you were wondering why some of these songs, including "Wiseblood," "Four White Stallions," and "Mercy," sound so darn familiar. Twenty years later, the band members reunited and finally recorded the tracks found here.

This is absolutely Americana without irony, and the influences of folk, rock, honkytonk, and bluegrass are clear but the alt-country sound is entirely modern. All of the tracks feel very genuine, punctuated with acoustic and electric guitars, violins and keyboard, the songs sound perfectly balanced yet somehow spontaneous. The lyrics and vocals are heartfelt, running from spirited, such as "Ball and Chain," to the sorrowful "Almighty Trial." My absolute favorite track is "Angeline" and I also loved the simplicity and hopefulness of "Heavens Know." But I have to say I was happy with everything on this album and it really feels like it was a long time coming.

I predict that Tender Mercies is going to pop up as a new darling on Triple A radio stations everywhere, with some serious ear worm potential. If you're a fan of the alt-country, Americana sound this is definitely a solid addition to your library.

The Ultimate Christmas Sweater

This would be the PERFECT thing to wear to the office Christmas party this year!



Unfortunately, you can't buy them right now. It has to be voted into the rotation at Threadless or something like that. So go vote!

Hannah Vs. The Many, "Muse"

From 2011, here's Hannah Vs. The Many with "Muse."

Enjoy!