Jack White "High Ball Stepper"

I think it's a pretty clear sign that people are obsessed with everything you do, when the music listening population goes crazy because you've leaked an instrumental from your next album.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Black Prairie "How Do You Ruin Me"

Let me continue my grand tradition of Newport rumor-mongering . . .

Two years ago, I incorrectly speculated that Jack White would make a surprise appearance.

Last year, I incorrectly declared that a Robert Plant sighting might be imminent. 

So this year, I am predicting a surprise reunion of The Decemberists!

You may or may not know that Black Prairie includes several members of The Decemberists.  They are on the bill for Sunday.

And Decemberists' lead singer Colin Meloy is scheduled to perform on Saturday.

It's notable that both acts are not booked to play anywhere else, in the days before or after their Folk Festival gig.  Meaning, they are free to come a day early/stay a day late, so their can be crossover.

Decemberists reunion!  Listen this weekend!  Because it's probably not happening!

Black Prairie and Colin Meloy perform this weekend at the Newport Folk Festival.  For artist previews and mvyradio's Newport Folk Channel, visit the mvyradio Bloggers page.  And hear full coverage of the Festival, with live sets from the stage, on mvyradio.com.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Jack Johnson "Friends"

There is no hard and fast rule about what makes a song appropriate to add, and what makes it inappropriate to add to rotation at MVY.

And that makes it hard to win an argument with my wife.

When she hears a song that she really likes, and finds out the MVY isn't playing it for one reason or another, she'll ask "Why?" then "WHY?" then "WHY?!?!" followed by, "That doesn't make any sense."

There is no hard and fast rule . . . there are a hundreds small and somewhat malleable rules.

The latest one we bumped up against had to do with Jack White.

The song "Friends" is a popular one around our house, in part because it plays in a promo during PBS' Kids programming, so my 5- and 3-year olds think its super-cool.

I love Jack White.  My wife loves Jack White.

Why doesn't mvyradio play Jack White?

Well, I think most listeners, and my wife, would agree that texturally and tonally, songs like "I'm Shakin'" or "Icky Thump" are just too rockin' and raucous for what we do.  A little too raw, a little too rackety, compared to the rest of the station's sound.

Okay.

"But what about songs like 'Friends'?  That's not loud.  It sounds just like other songs you play."

Recently, one of the independent promoters who calls me, said something really insightful about the station:

"You're really brand conscious."

At first, I thought she meant that we were careful about the mvyradio brand.  But no.  She was talking about the brand of a band.

"Even if it's a good song, if it's the kind of band you wouldn't play, you won't play it."

There are lots of band who are not "MVY" type bands, who do record songs that wouldn't sound out of place on the station.  But if most of the time, the band's sound is outside of the station's scope, we won't play them.

The theory is this:  If we throw the station behind an artist, isn't not just because they have one good song.  It's that we believe that our listeners will like the band in general (not just one song), and that we'll be following this band for years to come.

Sometimes that theory works out.  Sometimes it doesn't.  Bands that you think are going to be good, or make records our audience will like, don't. 

We try to avoid one-hit-wonders, and really commercial artists who try one stripped down folk song, and hard-rocking bands that pull out a great acoustic number.

So yes, I went through this whole explanation with my wife and still got, "That doesn't make any sense."

There are plenty of examples of mvy-exceptions to the rule, inconsistencies she could point out.  But in the end, as much as I love him, we're unlikely to play Jack White regularly, even though "Friends" is a great song.

"Then why don't you play the Jack Johnson version?"

Well.  I couldn't argue with that.

We play load of Jack Johnson songs and his take would fit in nicely to the mvyradio mix.

So expect to hear this one on mvyradio . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Patty Griffin "I Smell A Rat"

Let the rumor-mongering continue!

It began earlier this week, when Robert Plant was talking to a journalist and said "I eloped and ran off to Texas."

His publicist later explained that Plant was just being "Cheeky" and was not actually married to singer-songwriter Patty Griffin.

If you've ever watched an unedited interview Plant, you know that he is hilarious, often wry, sometime deadpan, sometimes dry.  I'm sure the "eloped" quote was funny in the moment, but reads much more seriously than he meant it.

Okay, so he's not married to Patty Griffin.

But it does seem like the part about them being a couple is true.

Note that Griffin is on the bill for Newport Folk.

Shall we put 2 and 2 together and have it add up to unsubstantiated hysteria?

If you know anything about Robert Plant, you perhaps know that he is deeply interested in American Roots music, but has (to my knowledge) never appeared at the legendary Newport Folk Festival.

Do I smell a surprise appearance?

Or do I just smell a Jack-White-Is-Coming-To-Newport rat?


Hear the song on Youtube.

Insane Clown Posse "Leck Mich Im Arsch"

When you read a story, and whatever The Insane Clown Posse is doing is the second most bizarre thing in it, you know you've got a bizarre story.

Did you catch this story, this week, or did it slip by?

Jack White is producing a song with The Insane Clown Posse.

Now, on an average day, that would be odd enough. It's a pretty unusual pairing (except that they're both from Detroit)---one that is sure to be giving hipsters, fits.

Stranger, though, is that they are covering a song written by Mozart. Making this the first time that the Venn diagram of Juggalos and Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society members have been anything but 2 separate bubbles.

But no, the most bizarre part of the story, was a part that was left out of several of the articles I read about this collaboration.

The Mozart tune is called "Leck Mich Im Arsch” which, translated, is “Lick Me In The Arse.”

!???!?!?!?!!??!!??!?!!????!!??!!?!?!?!!!

Mark this in my diary as the day my innocence was lost, for today I learned that Mozart like to write songs and letters about poop and about pooping on things.

There is an entire Wikipedia page about it.

Again I say: !???!?!?!?!!??!!??!?!!????!!??!!?!?!?!!!

Normally I'd say "Enjoy!" But I'm not sure that applies here.

You can read more details in this AV Club article.

Insane Clown Posse - Leck Mich Im Arsch by Third Man Records

The White Stripes "Friends"

Well, about 2 seconds after the Newport Folk Festival line-up was announced, I put 2 and 2 and 2 together, and decided to spread a rumor.

Jack White is coming to the Newport Folk Festival!

Now, I have to say, that this was 100% a rumor, completely made up by me. But it seemed plausible.

Chris Thile & Michael Daves. Wanda Jackson. The Sweetback Sister. Pokey Lafarge.

What do they have in common? They are all on Third Man Records, the label helmed by Jack White. And they're all on the bill this year for Newport Folk.

And not only is the label sending their artists, they've sent their mobile record store to Fort Adams.

Knowing Jack White's love of his artists, of some of the other artists on the bill and of Rock N Roll history, is it too much to ask that he just show up, and make my rumor a reality?

And is it too much to ask that he and I become the best of friends? Well, yeah, probably it is.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Wanda Jackson "Shakin' All Over"

The last decade and a half have seen some notable, and nice, comebacks of aging genre icons via a younger, savvy, and generally unmeddlesome supporter/producer.

The template for this, of course, the the Rick Rubin produced Johnny Cash "American" series.

Pre-Rubin, Cash had been dismissed and relegated to the "ignored old guy" status. But Rubin knew that Cash still had power, and spurred Johnny on to create these great albums. Most remarkably, the records are pretty devoid of any kind of producer "stamp." If you had received the record without any liner notes, there would be virtually no way to tell that this was a Rick Rubin-produced record.

And that's a good thing, because it cleared away all the brush, put the man and his voice up front and reminded you that Johnny Cash was amazing.

Numerous records have been made since under this model. And they have been fun to champion, because you felt like you were supporting a worthy underdog.

Solomon Burke made an amazing comeback record with Joe Henry. And Henry did what no other producer had been able to do in nearly 40 years---get folks to pay attention to the bursting supernova that is Bettye Lavette. Rubin had less commercial success with his Neil Diamond record, but it was still an artistic step forward for Neil. And though Mavis Staples has made solid records in the last decade, her collaboration with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco seems to have made the most hay of her considerable talent.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch, was the Loretta Lynn/Jack White project.

It was the first real indication that White wasn't just an indie-rock guitar guy---he was a restless listener and experiencer with a wide range of taste and knowledge. And while they didn't seem like an obvious match, one listen to "Van Lear Rose" and it became obvious that they were making better records through chemistry.

I mention all these records, because they were my first real entree to each of the aforementioned artists. And a large part of the reason I turned up to listen in the first place, was because I am a fan of the aforementioned producers.

All that, to get to this: When the new Wanda Jackson record came in the mail, before I listened to it, I put it into my laptop's iTunes. That is to say, I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy it, simply based on historical precedence.

It seemed great on paper.

And if you check out the video below, you'll see that White is clearly in control. The band is absolutely smoking.

But . . . I dunno. I'm not sold on Wanda Jackson here.

I feel mean even saying that.

She's a legend. She's an icon. And at 73, it's fucking amazing that she's fronting a band of any kind.

But the other examples I cited . . . Johnny Cash, Bettye Lavette, Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, Loretta Lynn . . . they all seemed to retain their power, and their listen-ability, in their comeback. Stripped of any band of studio aces, they could still kill it. Check out low key numbers like Burke's "Fast Train" or Lavette's version of "Isn't It A Pity."

But Ms. Jackson . . . her voice hasn't aged the same way. It didn't gain gravity. And unfortunately, it seems to be the weakest element of the record.

Low expectations and high expectations.

I wonder if part of the success of the relaunch of Johnny Cash and Mavis Staples and the others had to do with the fact that little was expected of them at this point. There was no reason to think that they could do what they used to do.

But now I have this expectation that a great performer can actually become greater with age. And if they don't it's a disappointment.

Is that fair? No.

Is it rude? Well, no. But it feels rude.

Because if I go on Letterman in my white fringe jacket at age 73 and sing my damn heart out, and some punk blogger poo-pooed my performance. I'd want to kick him in the teeth until he had to wear dentures, too.



For a taste of what she used to sound like . . .

The White Stripes "Icky Thump"

Let me be the last blogger on Earth to tell you that The White Stripes announced their break up this week.

Sad news, but I was heartened to read this, posted on their website:

"The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

So there you go. Here is the rare person (people) that truly knows when to exit the stage gracefully. It's nice to actually see it. Class act, Jack and Meg.