Duet between two of 2010’s hottest pop stars Erik Hassle and Ellie Goulding.

Ellie Goulding & Erik Hassle – Be Mine

A short set from Menhirs of Er Grah live at Londonâs Bull and Gate venue. Includes 3 new unreleased songs as well as tracks from his studio albums.

Recorded live at the Bull and Gate, London, 3rd October 2009. Design and Photography by Karolina Urbaniak. All songs written by Thom Carter. Distributed by Clinical Archives. Copyright Verlaine Records 2009.

http://www.archive.org/details/ca334_meg

http://www.clinicalarchives.spyw.com

Fightstar to play special acoustic show on Sunday 13th December 2009, at the Picture Drome, Northampton.  Tickets for the show are available through http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/

Watch the teaser video for their acoustic show here:

I was out on the concrete Saturday night, usual spot.  November evening, cool-to-chilly.  Dry.  I’d set up my little P.A. system and guitar and mic and tip jar and music stand and I’d been strummin’ and hummin’ for about an hour.  Decent body traffic, routine tippage.  Good times.

It’s hard to read a crowd sometimes, especially when it really isn’t a crowd, but an ebb and flow of people to the movies or from the movies to the parking lot, or…

So, sometimes, it’s just best to play because you like to and not worry about “should I do a fast one?”  “Slow one?”

I thought twice about playing “So Far Away,” the Dire Straits tune.  I do a good job with it, since it does not require one to sing like David Lee Roth or Andrea Bocelli but it’s on the slow side and I sometimes feel it’s a bit of drag (though I love the song).  So I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to play it.  About two and have verses in, I notice to my right a fella standing there.  He’d dropped a couple bucks in the guitar case and was lingering the in area.  Longish hair, tall, dark–sort of Pakistani-looking.  Big smile.

“Hey, how ya doin’?”

“Good. That’s a great song.  I recorded it for my girlfriend,”  he said and held out his i-Phone.

“Your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, she’s in Michigan.”

“And you’re here—in the sun and she’s there in the…snow.” (A play on the words of the song).  “So are you going back?”

“Yeah.  I’m just out here for work, on a project for a few weeks.  I miss her so I wanted to send her the song.”

“That’s very cool.  I’ll start it again and you can get it from the top.”

So, he laid his i-Phone down by the P.A. speak and I started the song up again and it was oh-so smooth.  While it is true that a performer must generate his/her own energy and emotion and give it away to the listener, there is still something distinctly energizing about receiving the listener’s interest and enthusiasm and playing off of it, or playing when you know somebody wants it or will be benefited by it.  It was the coolest, rockin’-est version of “So Far Away” I’d every played.  He was so knocked out, he dropped a twenty in the case and bounced away a very happy man.

I told my friend Bill Berry this little tale the next day and he made a very validating observation: busking is a direct entertainment, an opportunity to reach a single person directly–much different from going to see Bon Jovi at an arena (don’t get me wrong–I like Bon Jovi).  Of course, this is pretty obvious but when you’re out there working on your chops  or trying to make a few extra bucks and deflect the occasional ill-intentioned individual, you don’t necessarily think in terms of touching another person (or helping them to touch another person…in Michigan).

But that is what is.  I am out there as much for the good people as I am to keep my chops up or make a few extra bucks.  I have a mental scrapbook of time when I was deeply affected by a song or have been out in the crowd and was swept away by some music I was not expecting or something new that really hit the spot.  I recall one time driving my friend’s fully restored ‘67 Mercury Cougar to work (my truck was in the shop) and “All I Want” by Toad the Wet Sprocket came on the radio.  That was the first time I heard it and I had to pull the car over it affected me so much.

Those really are the moments I live for.

Visit my website at www.stevennealwagner.com

Track List:

cd1
01.Anastacia – Cowboys Kisses (Unplugged Version) 03:59
02.Nickelback – How You Remind Me (Acoustic) 03:31
03.Nelly Furtado – Try (Acoustic) 04:42
04.Kane – Something To Say (Acoustic Version) 03:23
05.Anouk – Sacrifice (String Version) 04:04
06.K’s Choice – Not An Addict (Acoustic) 04:49
07.Intwine – Happy? (String Version) 03:45
08.Alicia Keys – Fallin’ (MTV Unplugged) 04:57
09.Alanis Morissette – Ironic (MTV Unplugged) 03:54
10.Des’ree – I Ain’t Movin’ 04:08
(Family Stand Acoustic Mix)
11.Katie Melua – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 03:08
(Acoustic Version)
12.Sarah McLachlan – Fallen (Live) 03:46
13.The Corrs – What Can I Do? (MTV Unplugged) 04:32
14.Nine Days – Absolutely (Story Of A Girl) (Acoustic) 03:14
15.The Cranberries – Zombie (MTV Unplugged) 04:20
16.Krezip – I Apologize 03:18
(Live Recorded @ Sky Radio Kampvuurconcerten 2005)
17.Gavin Degraw – I Don’t Want To Be 04:06
(Stripped Version)
18.Shakira – Ojos Aso (En Vivo) (MTV Unplugged) 05:53

cd2
01.Elton John – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me 06:50
(MTV Unplugged)
02.Sting – Fields Of Gold (Live) 03:52
03.Moody Blues – Nights In White Satin 03:09
(Live At 2 Meter Sessies)
04.Bob Dylan – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door 05:38
(MTV Unplugged)
05.Golden Earring – Going To The Run (Acoustic) 04:02
06.John Hiatt – Have A Little Faith In Me 04:08
(Live At 2 Meter Sessies)
07.Tasmin Archer – Sleeping Satellite 03:25
(Acoustic Version)
08.Julian Lennon – Saltwater (Live At 2 Meter Sessies) 03:24
09.John Denver – Annies’ Song (Live) 03:05
10.Toto – Georgy Porgy (Live Acoustic) 03:53
11.America – Ventura Highway (Live) 03:47
12.Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat (Acoustic) 06:23
13.Nits – In The Dutch Mountains 02:58
(Live At 2 Meter Sessies)
14.Ten Sharp – You (Acoustic Version) 04:01
15.Cyndi Lauper – True Colors (The Body Acoustic) 04:10
16.The Church – Under The Milky Way 04:05
(Live At 2 Meter Sessies)
17.Charles Eddie – Would I Lie To You 02:21
(Acoustic Version)

Download VA – The Best Acoustic Versions 2007 part 1:

Download VA – The Best Acoustic Versions 2007 part 2:

Track List:

01.Naissance 03:53
02.Scratch (Solo) 03:43
03.Trilogie 04:42
04.Amour sans nom 04:00
05.Le p’tit Same 03:03
06.2 vs 3 05:20
07.Comme dans le ciel 03:21
08.Illusions 03:02
09.Le printemps 03:40
10.The groovy guy with long hair is whistling a nowhere song 04:52
11.Technoguitar 03:48
12.Scratch 04:50
13.Leur d’espoir 04:04

Download Antoine Dufour – Naissance part 1:

Track List:

01 – Way To Go
02 – Copenhagen
03 – Breathe
04 – I Always Look This Blue
05 – Sleep Walking
06 – What A Fool
07 – Housework
08 – More Than Missing You
09 – Walk Away
10 – IDKWIW
11 – I Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You
12 – This I Swear

password: coyote

Download Helen Boulding – New Red Dress part 1:

Tracklist

01. Doesn’t Remind Me
02. Like A Stone
03. Wide Awake
04. Fell On Black Days
05. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson Cover)
06. Be Yourself
07. Redemption Song (Bob Marley Cover)
08. Peace Love And Understanding (Elvis Costello Cover)
09. Original Fire
10. All Night Thing
11. Black Hole Sun
12. Call Me A Dog
13. Thank You (Led Zeppelin Cover)

Download Chris Cornell – Unplugged In Sweden part 1:

Track List:

01 – Dreamers
02 – Noones Aware
03 – Dr Frankenstein
04 – Once Upon A Street
05 – Without
06 – Blackrain
07 – Apologies
08 – Between The Minds
09 – Soldier’s Eyes
10 – Lovely Pool
11 – Chemical Courage
12 – Killing Man

Download Jack Savoretti – Between The Minds 2007 part 1:

Track List:

01. Low Rising
02. Feeling the Pull
03. In These Arms
04. The Rain
05. Fantasy Man
06. Paper Cup
07. High Horses
08. The Verb
09. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke

Download The Swell Season – Strict Joy 2009 part 1:

Track List:

01. “Winter” – 3:28
02. “Girlfriend In A Coma” – 2:47
03. “Don’t Look Away” – 3:36
04. “Today” – 3:36
05. “The One You Knew” – 3:01
06. “Do You Wanna” – 2:42

Download Joshua Radin – First Between 3rd and 4th 2004 part 1:

Track List:

01. “Closer” – 3:02
02. “The Fear You Won’t Fall” – 3:19
03. “Only You” – 2:28

Download Joshua Radin – Live At Reg’s Coffee House 2006 part 1:

Track List:

01. “Sky (feat. Ingrid Michaelson)” – 3:30
02. “Lovely Tonight” – 3:10
03. “The Fear You Won’t Fall” – 3:04
04. “You Got Growin’ Up To Do” – 2:53

Download Joshua Radin – Unclear Sky 2009 part 1:

Track List:

01. “One Of Those Days” – 3:02
02. “I’d Rather Be With You” – 2:49
03. “Sky (Featuring Meiko)” – 3:31
04. “Friend Like You” – 2:20
05. “Brand New Day” – 3:31
06. “They Bring Me To You” – 2:59
07. “Vegetable” – 3:01
08. “Free Of Me” – 2:35
09. “You Got Growin’ Up To Do” – 2:52
10. “We Are Okay” – 2:41
11. “No Envy No Fear” – 3:22

Download Joshua Radin – Simple Times 2008 part 1:

Y siguiendo con los segundos discos de bandas Irlandesas (que realmente me tienen fascinado con la calidad de ellas), hoy me encontré con este disco “Tony Was An Ex-Con” justo después de encontrar el segundo de Delorentos, y justamente, este disco que encontré es el segundo disco de The Coronas, amigos de bandas como delorentos, director, the flaws, y varias mas provenientes de Irlanda y en especial de Dublim, y ya hablando un poco mas de lo musical, este álbum ya salio a la venta el 25 de septiembre pasado (e increíblemente no me había dado cuenta a pesar de revisar su myspace bastante seguido) y continua en la misma linea de su álbum debut “Heroes Or Ghosts” con el cual ganaron mucha fama con temas como “San Diego Song”, ahora lanzaron este que me parece que incluso supera la calidad de su debut, sigue ganándose la alabación de la critica, y recibiendo varias nominaciones a distintos premios, así que espero que lo disfruten tanto como yo…

THE CORONAS – TONY WAS AN EX-CON(2009)

Tracklist:
1. Won’t Leave You Alone
2. Far From Here
3. Someone Else’s Hands
4. Listen Dear
5. This Is Not A Test
6. Warm
7. Tony Was An Ex-Con
8. Point Me Towards The Sky
9. Sandy
10. Faith In Fate
11. All The Luck In The World

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!

With a piano similar to Jon Brion (who did the soundtrack to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and raspy vocals, Renton local band Transit Only will kick things off.  Greetings From Fairbank hail from Puyallup and will perform an indie acoustic show.  Cover is Free!

Haruko and Hlynur Godjonsson @ Exil (11-20-2009, Chemnitz/Germany)

This weekend was one of the best I ever had so far because I had the opportunity to see Haruko and Hlynur Gudjonsson live. On Friday they played a show at the Exil in Chemnitz/Germany and I for myself was more exited than ever. They started to play some songs together and than alternated playing their solo tracks whereby both of them played new material as well as tracks from their current releases (Haruko’s Wild Geese and Live EP and Hlynur Gudjonsson’s Death Was A Stranger EP).

To see Haruko perform their hovering and spheric songs live was such a great feeling especally since she is able to get all her heart and soul you find on the Wild Geese recording itself into the beautiful storys she tells right in front of you. I had the feeling on beeing at a mysterious journey guided by her angel-like voice and moony melodies. I’m sure words can’t describe it at all.

In comparison to Haruko, Hlynur Gudjonsson played a more restrained style with his sad and thoughtful songs. If you know his first release Live @ Folk artNow! you noticed that he went away a bit from what I called the country influences towards an own singer-songwriter style with wonderful fingerpicked melodies. His deep and dark voice is so intense that you totally sink into the tracks and forget the time and everything else surrounding you.
I can’t say it empathically enough that you have to see them both live if they play anywhere near you – you won’t forget it.

But this official concert was not the best of the weekend because the both of them promised us (me and some friends of mine) to play a privat show the other day (Saturday 11-21-2009) at Filmclub Mittendrin (also in Chemnitz) – ok, I knew they wanted to do so, because we spoke about this in the forefield, but to know that they really going to do it…just for us…wow!

Hlynur Gudjonsson & Haruko @ Filmclub Mittendrin

As they arrived the other evening they said, that they were happy to play here for it would be an oppurtunity to show us the the full and pure sound of their music. And with this words they sat down, just them and their guitars, no electricity at all, and started playing. You can not imagine the beauty of the following two hours. I never ever heard such great and unbelievable music in such an intimate and enclosed atmosphere (it seemed that everybody stopped breathing). They sat in front of us, maybe two meters away, and played all the tracks the audience wanted to hear. To see the incredible Mountain Adventure by Haruko live was one of the outstanding moments but also Hlynur Gudjonsson’s new track Orphan (which he finished writing two weeks ago) was just not from this earth with the long instrumental parts and its tactfull referring to Songs: Ohia. And speaking of Songs: Ohia, they ended their concert with a wonderful duet covering Jason Molina before we all together went back to my place and had some beers and really nice talking with them until the early morning hours.

Hlynur Gudjonsson told me that he has finished recording a new album which will be released in the near feature and that he is going to record the first tracks for the third one in December. Also, Gold & Silver Recordings is about to release a new folk complilation in the next days or weeks – so stay tuned and I will inform you of everything new.

Haruko and Hlynur Gudjonsson evidently proved with those two fantastic shows, that you can easily say they are the leading acoustic folk artists from Germany – and to say so is no exaggeration but the whole truth. To convince yourself of this fact, don’t hesitate to visist one of their upcoming shows and – by god – buy their music and support them! If you live near Chemnitz, memorize that they will come to Chemnitz again in Februray 2010 – we’ll meet there.

And shame on me that I had no better camera and I have to leave you with those few bad quality photos. Sorry.

Howdy! After a nice 13 hour nap from our weekend in New York City I am ready to be semi productive! MAJOR Special thanks to Social Hero for getting us the bill at Ace of Clubs and for putting us up for the night!

It’s been no secret that we are preparing to hole ourselves up for a good part of the winter to get into writing. On our way back home from the Big Apple we decided to get a head start on our next single. The video below will give you a taste of the new direction we are heading in. Hope you enjoy it and I wish you the best of luck getting this tastey lick out of your heads in the near future. Ladies and gentlemen, Roman Traffic proudly presents “Cat Prisoner”!

We are not apologetic for this whatsoever,

steve

loving this song right now

The first recording I made that I was actually happy with (and excited about the outcome of) was when I recorded Green Mountain Grass at the Kerrville Folk Festival earlier this year. They played in the campground at a wedding reception, on a flatbed trailer.  I got right up beside the band and was in the middle of everything. As a result, to me the recording sounds like a party (in a good way). It’s a fun recording and if I close my eyes I am back at Kerrville watching a great band play about 30 feet from my tent. You never have to wander far to find something special at Kerrville.

My only complaint about this recording is that during one particular song (Doggymouth) the band started stomping their feet on the trailer and with my limited knowledge of recording I had no idea how to keep the sound from going bonkers. So there is a point in the recording when the band is stomping and the recorder’s limiter kicks in.

There’s another point in the recording that I still love after hearing it many, many times. Inbetween “Doggymouth” and another song I don’t know (I’ll call it “Every Dog Has His Day”) the band plays their instruments in such a way that sounds like the song is falling apart, the timing’s going out the window and maybe they’re too drunk. Right when your eyebrows raise they bring it back, change it, and roll into a wonderful fiddle part to transition into the new song. I saw Tom Waits do something similar last year when he was on tour, and he had absolute control over his band. I think it’s a statement about these guys’ musical abilities that they can pull something like that off. Granted, I don’t know anything about writing music so this might be some easy elementary stuff but it sure seems like you have to know your craft to pull that off right. These guys know their stuff.

So, the recording. The first three minutes or so are them warming up. About 20 minutes in they take a break and during the break you hear conversations within the audience while the musicians pick on their instruments killing time. I think these sort of things add to making you feel like you’re right there in the crowd. The recording sounds great. Hope you’ll enjoy it. You can download or stream it for free here: http://www.kaosradioaustin.org/node/13996

so yesterday I talked with a incredible producer, and he agrred to produce my new ep! I am very excited about this project it is going to sound great I will be giving snippets of the work as the magic happens. How is everyone today?