Jason Isbell is a singer/songwriter from Muscle Shoals Alabama who is best known for his 3 album stint with the Drive-by Truckers (he left the band last year). I’ve seen him live before 3 or 4 times with the Truckers and I caught his phenomenal acoustic show last week (with Browan Lollar on guitar and vocals) at the Mint in Los Angeles presented by an Aquarium Drunkard.

Isbell’s music is both easy and difficult to categorize. Easy: He’s an alt-country singer songwriter from Alabama. Hard: He’s a little bit of Townes Van Zandt (imagery), Bruce Springsteen (symbolism), the Band esp Danko (brawling musicianship), Willie Nelson, Tom Petty (hooks), Dylan (songwriting). With the release of Sirens of the Ditch he’s got a shows worth of great songs to perform, going back to his early Truckers’ songs (Outfit, Goddamn Lonely Love) and before (TVA). He’s also not afraid to do a cover - Dylans The Man in Me was a real highlight last night. He made mention that there “probably aren’t too many cover bands in Los Angeles”, like he was the only one in on the joke.

Another highlight of the evening was the young Marine from Jason’s hometown of Greenhill, Alabama who had driven up from the proving grounds at 29 Palms to see the show. Juxtaposed against Isbell’s poignant intro to Dress Blues where he talked about the empty space a dead soldier could leave in a small southern (anywhere?) town that inspired the song, the young soldier’s presence was moving.

It was a great performance that left me really looking forward to his 2nd solo album which is due out in early ‘09. He mentioned last night that the album is in the can and seemed really happy with it.

If by some Google’s chance in hell the guy taping last night’s show stumbles across this post - hit me up I’d love a copy.  Also MickO leave a comment when you get your film developed and up on Flickr.

Jason Isbell - Dress Blues

Drive-by Truckers - Outfit

Drive-by Truckers - Goddamn Lonely Love

Sirens of the Ditch on Amazon

Posted: November 16th, 2008 under digital music, live music, moblog, mp3blog.
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Two of the most remarkable and memorable nights of my life have taken place in the last month.  These weren’t transcendent church-like experiences like the one Hendrik Hertzberg so elegantly blogged, but they were charged by a rare and too-often-missing connectedness with my neighbors.  They took place in sports bars, of all places.

Three weeks ago I went to Sonny Mclain’s to watch game 5 of the ALCS - the game started at a weird 5 PM and the venue was impromptu so I was solo.  I am a rabid Red Sox fan though I almost always watch them at home, but at about 3 in the afternoon I decided I wanted to watch the game with other people.  In a packed and die-hard bar we saw a depressing end to-the-season season funeral transformed during the course of 7 outs into an embrace-a-stranger-in-a-hug euphoria.  During a massive economic tremor.  An uncommonly emotional night about family and place came from out of nowhere.  But that was nothing compared to the election today.

My friends who read this blog know I’ve been sweating this election for a long time.  And so have they, its   probably why we’re friends. Voting involved a line and some intense neighborly banter.  Everyone in the office voted.  Jen (who phone banked over the weekend) and I met our great friends Mark and Tania at Busby’s - which is totally nondescript sports bar in Santa Monica that is always packed - to witness the election tonight.  And people were cheering like crazy and let’s just say it got really dusty in there during the acceptance speech.  (Best speech I have EVER heard).  There is so much patriotism in the air tonight (media!!) and it feels so empowering because its in abrupt contrast with a false and ultimately harmful impostor.  And he’s black?!?  On election night Obama feels like a gift to the nation.

And I won $1500 bucks on Obama futures!!!  Yeah!!

Ian’s post

Jonathan’s post

Mark’s post

Lucas’s post

Mark W’s post

Posted: November 4th, 2008 under politics, sports, travel.
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Ryan Adams and the Cardinals released their new record Cardinology this week.  Ryan Adams has been quite prolific throughout his career, but he hadn’t officially released anything yet in 2008.  Was Cardinology worth the wait?

In a word - YES.  This is one hell of a band ladies and gentlemen, and this album feels like they have finally made their collective creative peace and gone for it - esp. guitarist/vocalist Neil Casal and Ryan.  I’m a sucker for a great harmony, and these two really know how to sing together and are obviously sonically simpatico.  They are also excellent guitarists in an understated, riffy sort of way, and the guitar work is about as solid as I’ve heard from anybody in a long time.  The tradecraft learned while constantly touring really shows - listening to some of the tracks I get the feeling every pick stroke, every pickup mic setting is there for a reason.  And the pedal steel played by John Graboff is as good as any you’ll hear anywhere.

I will admit that on first run through I was somewhat disappointed by the record because the songs themselves are less hooky and don’t all hang together as well as the previous RA albums I play so often.  The catchiest songs are front loaded, and from there they really slow down and become less accessible till you get to a really raw piano only ballad “Stop” for the last track.   But listening to the album a few times (esp on headphones) I at some point “got it”.  Its a lot less about hooks than it is about making a really great band get everything they can out of every track.  Thanks - applause.

That being said the single “Fix It” is right there in the pantheon of great Ryan Adams songs.  The lyrics are genius.  I automatically assumed at first that he was referring to “fixing” a broken relationship (life’s greatest cliche?), but what he’s really referring to is fixing the game of breaking up.  Its dark and funny and personal all at the same time.  And the song itself rocks - I found myself playing it on repeat more than once this week.

I know its not a game

but it feels like losing

when someone you love throws you away.

I’d fix it

if I could

and I’d always win (and you would always lose)

I’d always win in the end

Cardinology - Fix It

Cardinology - Evergreen

Cardinology on Amazon

Review at Aquarium Drunkard

Update:  Someone from the Cardinals followed me on Twitter and just tweeted this sweet live acoustic show:

Posted: October 31st, 2008 under mp3blog.
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Great post/

The most insidious ignorance meme going forward is the liberal-bias-in-media propaganda. Lately (the last week or so) I am seeing a lot of objective data being presented by the MSM about the proportion of “positive” coverage Obama has gotten vs. the amount of “negative” coverage McCain’s campaign has gotten, and then using that data to draw the conclusion that the media is biased.

The problem with that line of logic is that OBAMA/BIDEN ARE OBJECTIVELY THE BETTER CAMPAIGNERS AND THEIR CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN OPERATED MUCH MORE SKILLFULLY THAN MCCAIN/PALIN’s HAS.

By any impartial objective measurement this can be shown to be true - politics aside. Obama has made fewer mistakes, been more consistently on message, been more skillful with his communication strategy, been the better debater, given the better speeches, and shown better judgment. When Obama has made a mistake (clinging to guns and religion, having a batshit crazy minister friend) the press has been all over him. But his mistakes in aggregate don’t compare with not knowing the difference between a Sunni and Shiite, prattling on and on about the surge and whether its successful or not, choosing a woefully unqualified ideologue as a running mate, saying he’s going to suspend his campaign and cancel the debate and then not doing it, saying the economy fundamentally sound, scowling like a crazy old coot during the debate, etc. Obama has kicked McCain’s ass at politics for 5 months and an objective non-biased press should indicate that fact, just like the polls do now and just like the ballots will next week. There is a difference between fairness and justice, and an objective press doesn’t have a duty to make sure the positive/negative ratio is 1 for both candidates. When one guy is better, its OK for that fact to come out.

But to come back to Mark’s post, perpetuating this liberal bias myth is the ultimate Orwellian capitalization of a populace’s ignorance. As long as the Republican spin meisters can find a home deep oin our public consciousness for this line of bull, they’ll have a reliable patch of ignorance from which to launch their other misleading screeds. It doesn’t matter what FACTS YOU READ OR HEAR, the only unbiased truth comes from Hannity and Rush and the other troglodytes.

Originally posted as a comment by steveray on Mark, my words using Disqus.

Posted: October 30th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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MTV just launched a cool site that has legal embeds for their entire music video catalog.  Its also integrated with Flux, which is excellent. Here is a Wilco vid grabbed at random. As of now there doesn’t appear to be any advertising, although I’m betting that will change.

Posted: October 27th, 2008 under digital entertainment, digital music, flux, mp3blog, social networking, work.
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A lot of buildup.  I’m guessing this debate was the highest rated of all time.

This was Obama’s debate to win, and he did not win.  The McCain campaign has been in a tailspin for 2 weeks, they are on a wing and a prayer.  Obama’s had more primary-debate experience and he has beter command of the issues.

Obama played it safe.  Which in a lot of respects is gambling.  The best way to play his hand right now in a completely game-theory-optimal game would have been to attack.  Not a flailing attack but a coherent relentless attack.  Stronger body language.  Mention Bush more.  He never mentioned Cheney!?! Ask McCain direct yes or no questions - it is the classic rhetorical defense to an illogical tact.  Much stronger than saying “That’s not true”.

That being said, I think Obama played it right.  McCain is old, and his campaign is careening.  His “suspend the campaign” gambit failed - yesterday!  Palin.  The economic issues are breaking HARD in Obama’s favor.  McCain can’t win if Obama shuts it down right now.  Obama is totally controlling the tempo, and he can’t lose as long as that is true.  Obama wins if every debate is like this.  Its dissapointing on a gut level, but I approve.

The Obama campaign should *publicly* fly Bill Clinton to Obama’s side to prepare for debate #2, and Bill will help Barack NAIL tone.  and McCain can’t counter (ARBITRAGE!)

I heart Rachel Maddow.  Sorry Keith and Hardball guy.

Full disclosure.  I was wrong in 2000 and 2004! (but you can’t prove that!)

Posted: September 27th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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My friend Thomas Kostigen has a new book out today that I highly recommend called You Are Here:  Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet.  Thomas traveled around the globe and documented the links between our western lifestyles and the environment.  Knowledge is power, and power creates change.  Check out the video below, and buy the book today.

Posted: September 23rd, 2008 under politics, travel.
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As I wrote back in June, you can gamble on the outcome of the presidential election on various betting sites.  On June 4th, Obama was running at -194.  I checked in after the Democratic convention but before the Palin bubble and the odds had dropped to -166.  Obviously they sank like a stone post convention as McCain’s polls shot through the roof.  Not sure where they bottomed out, but 2 days ago I looked and Obama was -122.  The economy and McCain’s stump gaffes of the last few days have pushed the line back to -143.

There are some cool sites out there that regress the various state by state polls and keep a running tally of the the two parties odds of winning in the electoral college.  I like the one from Princeton the best.  Because the EV estimator is based on less frequent state polls, it’s likely a lagging indicator.  The blogger guessed today that Obama’s should expect to win 300 Electoral votes based on recent national poll trends.

I’m still sticking to my meta analysis that Obama v McCain ends up playing out like Clinton vs. Dole in ‘96.  IMO McCain is already channeling Norm McDonald channeling Bob Dole.

Posted: September 18th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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The great blog The House That Rock Built compiled a recap of this weekend’s drubbing game scored with “Yakkety Sax”.    This is likely the high point of the ND season as they are road dogs at Mich. St. this week, but beating Michigan is always cause for celebration.

Posted: September 16th, 2008 under sports.
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Saw this last night, found it interesting and informative.  Whether or not these two men hold any culpability for current crisis is a debate worth having, but it isn’t the main point of the interview. The main line of discussion Charlie went after was a) what are the potential outcomes of the current crisis, and b) what should policy makers be doing.  Rubin and Summers advocated finding a bi-partisan process for making short and long term policy course corrections that admit a) current spend and borrow policy is an epic mistake that has 0% of chance of success in the long run - the balance sheet must be fixed. and that b) we are going to have to make some hard decisions which will require leadership, trust, and communication with the American people. Can’t we all agree with them on that?

Posted: September 11th, 2008 under digital entertainment, politics.
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