Clang & Clatter

Here’s a quickie Five since I’m swamped at work today. I guess I shouldn’t have taken the day off yesterday to go watch our local AAA minor league baseball team get their butts kicked out in the scorching sun. Now my workload has nearly doubled. No good deed goes unpunished. At least the ticket was free.

Sister Hazel - “Hold On” (20 in 10: Digital Collection (Amazon Exclusive), 2010)
I like quite a bit of Sister Hazel’s material. Unfortunately this one does nothing for me until you get to the chorus, and even that isn’t great.

Glen Phillips with Nickel Creek - “Duck and Cover” (Live at the Red Light Cafe, Atlanta, GA, 2003)
I love the combination of Glen and the Nickel Creek kids. Unfortunately this tune is from the first half of the show that didn’t include them. Nonetheless, it’s a great show, and if you like Glen or Nickel Creek, you need to check it out.

Neal Morse - “Leah” (It’s Not Too Late, 2001)
Here’s another semi-tear-jerker from the former Spock’s Beard frontman.

Glen Phillips with Nickel Creek - “All I Want” (Live at Joe’s Pub, 2002)
Another great Glen Phillips/Nickel Creek bootleg. iTunes sure is funny in how it picks out stuff, huh? Can’t complain with this choice, though. Nickel Creek provide some great accompaniment to this Toad the Wet Sprocket number, which changes the flavor of it a bit.

Spinal Tap - “Hell Hole” (This is Spinal Tap, 1984)
Kinda describes my work situation right now. That is all.

The Police - “Bombs Away” (Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, 1993)
Message in a Box introduced me to a wealth of Police tunes lesser known to me since my exposure to them had largely been through FM radio, MTV, and the one Police album I actually owned growing up, Synchronicity. “Bombs Away” is one of those songs.

Nada Surf - “No Quick Fix” (Nada Surf: 1994-2008 vinyl box set bonus download, 2008)
In 2008 Barsuk Records released a limited-edition, numbered vinyl box set documenting Nada Surf’s career up to that point. The set was limited to 1000 copies and consisted of the band’s first five albums, a repressing of a long out-of-print 7”, and 16 b-sides and rarities available via single-use download codes, one of which was “No Quick Fix.” This is pure Nada Surf—sweet, catchy, jangly—and I’m not quite sure how it was relegated to b-side status.

Beastie Boys - “Funky Boss” (Check Your Head, 1992)
Um, see, there’s this boss. And he’s funky. And apparently he’s on someone’s back. The thing I really appreciate about Check Your Head is that the Boys proved they weren’t one-trick ponies by changing up their style and playing their own instruments. Now that’s funky.

Neal Morse - “Jayda” (Testimony 2, 2011)
Neal Morse’s solo albums Testimony and Testimony 2 document the events that led to his conversion to Christianity and, ultimately, to his leaving the prog-rock band Spock’s Beard he formed with his brother Alan in 1992. “Jayda” relates the miraculous healing of his infant daughter’s heart defect, a hole in her heart. I have a soft spot for Morse’s ballads, and being the father of a not-so-little girl these days, it has a tendency to bring a tear to my eye.

Rush - “Distant Early Warning” (A Show of Hands, 1988)
“The world weighs on my shoulder, but what am I to do?”

Have a good weekend, Fivers!

Toad the Wet Sprocket have jumped on the crowd-sourced fan-funded album bandwagon with a Kickstarter project to release New Constellation, their first album in 16 years. The album has been recorded and mixed and is set for an August release. The band plans to use campaign pledges to finish the album art, shoot videos, create a radio single, and manufacture, distribute, promote, and market the album. You can contribute as little as $1, for which you get a digital download of the title track, as much as $10,000, which gets you your own personal Toad the Wet Sprocket concert at your venue of choice, or anywhere in-between.

Toad the Wet Sprocket has long been one of my favorite bands, and based on the song clips in the campaign video, I’m more than a little excited about this album. Most of them sound like Glen Phillips’ work, but the very first new song featured in the video is “See You Again,” the opening track of the independently-released debut album Near Tonight from guitarist Todd Nichols’ Lapdog project that also featured bassist Dean Dinning and (for a short time) drummer Randy Guss. While I absolutely adore most of Glen Phillips’ output, Todd’s Toad songs are are some of my favorites, so I’m hoping he contributed to more than just that one.

As of this writing, the band has raised almost $32,000 of their $50,000 goal with 59 days remaining in the campaign. If you are a fan of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Glen Phillips, or good pop music in general, head on over and back the project.

Update
Toad the Wet Sprocket has officially met its $50,000 goal and then some. It should be interesting to see how much more money the campaign raises before the August 4 deadline.

If June 10 can’t get here soon enough, you can now stream the new Black Sabbath album 13 in its entirety from the band’s iTunes page. I’m only two tracks in, so I’ll reserve judgment, but I’m liking what I’m hearing so far.

Update:
So I just finished my first listen, and I have to admit I’m pleasantly surprised, so much so that I have expanded my original “I really like it” thoughts to an actual semi-review. 13 is a very solid effort, reminiscent of classic Ozzy-era Sabbath, and it seems that age has done little to diminish the trademark heaviness of the godfathers (grandfathers?!) of metal. I was a little concerned about Rick Rubin being at the helm, and more than a little worried that the band would be unable to capture the magic of early Sabbath in light of Iommi’s cancer scare, Ozzy’s flakiness, and the drama surrounding Bill Ward, but thankfully those fears were allayed with this release.

I’ll have to analyze the tracks a bit further, but I hear hints and shades of classic cuts like “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath,” “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Children of the Grave,” and “Planet Caravan” in this new album, and while I do miss Ward’s loose drumming style, former Rage Against the Machine skin beater Brad Wilk seems to be a good fit, bringing a bit of a groove and updated sound to the proceedings. Iommi’s playing is in fine form, proving he is still a riffmeister of the top order, and Geezer Butler’s bass playing is as impeccable as ever. Heck, even Ozzy’s voice sounds great (although I do have to wonder how long it took to cut, re-cut, and overdub his vocals). If I had one complaint, it would have to be that the lyrics border at times on a game of “Guess the Rhyme,” but even so, I have little to gripe about.

Sludgey, dark, and heavy, 13 does a good job of building on—while at the same time protecting—the Sabbath legacy. While I doubt this album will earn the band a new generation of fans, it should satisfy Sabbath’s loyal following and is sure to be a hit with any fan of the early releases.

Caedmon’s Call - “Climb On (A Back That’s String)” (40 Acres, 1999)
It seems the new version of iTunes has a special affinity for Caedmon’s Call. This time the selection is from the band’s second major-label album, which saw them moving toward a more polished sound, even on the Derek Webb-penned songs which tend to retain the group’s folkier acoustic leanings. This particular track is a cover of a Shawn Colvin number which has a stronger country singer-songwriter vibe than Caedmon’s glossy pop rendition. That being said, I usually like any Caedmon’s Call tune that features Danielle Young’s beautiful voice as the lead vocal.

Extreme - “When I’m President” (Pornografffitti, 1990)
I have always loved Extreme’s use of vocal harmonies and the incorporation of funky grooves into their brand of rock. And while I like Gary Cherone’s voice and Nuno’s guitar playing (when he’s not just wanking away), some of their material just has not aged well. The “rap” intro and opening verse on this one are absolutely cringeworthy. I guess it’s a good thing the remainder of the song (somewhat) redeems it.

Cheap Trick - “Takin’ Me Back” (Heaven Tonight, 1978)
Hey, it’s Cheap Trick. There’s not much more to say or to complain about, is there?

Cheap Trick - “How Are You” (Budokan II, 1994)
Back-to-back Cheap Trick. No complaints here.

Saosin - “Bury Your Head (Acoustic)” (Saosin EP, 2005)
Not necessarily the way I would have wanted to end this Five. Saosin has recorded at least three different versions of “Bury Your Head,” this acoustic one and two alt-rock emo/screamo versions, one being the opening track on this EP and a different version that appears on a self-titled full studio album a year later. The lead singer’s voice is more well-suited for the rockier versions as he seems to strain quite a bit on this acoustic interpretation.