Free MP3: Blitzen Trapper Does Ryan Adams

Bloodshot Records is celebrating their 20-year anniversary by releasing WHILE NO ONE WAS LOOKING: TOASTING 20 YEARS OF BLOODSHOT RECORDS. Artists such as Blitzen Trapper, Superchunk, Ted Leo, Ben Kweller, Chuck Prophet, Split Single, Daniel Romano, The Minus 5, Frank Turner, Andrew Bird, and The Handsome Family cover tracks by current and former Bloodshot artists like Neko Case, Graham Parker, Alejandro Escovedo, Lydia Loveless, Old 97's, Robbie Fulks, Justin Townes Earle, Waco Brothers, and Cory Branan. Below you can hear Blitzen Trapper do Ryan Adams's To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High), which you can download today from KUTX.

Blitzen Trapper - To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High
Original Ryan Adams version


A few more from WHILE NO ONE WAS LOOKING:

Look The Other Way by Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants (Justin Townes Earle cover)


Deep Red Bells" by Into It. Over It. (Neko Case cover)


Some other cool stuff Bloodshot has put out? Here ya go.

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" (Wilco cover)


The Silos - Behind Me Now


Cory Branan


Evening Gown by Alejandro Escovedo feat. Jon Langford (Mick Jagger cover)


Old 97's - Victoria


There's Nothing on the Radio" by Graham Parker


Jon Langford


Lydia Loveless - Mile High / Blind 7" Single


The Bottle Rockets - Mendocino


Wayne Hancock - Ride

Ryan Adams - Lucky Now

Ryan Adams has already amassed a catalog of fine tunes that sometimes seems to be overshadowed by an idiosyncratic, overdriven personality. I think the new song, Lucky Now, is a stripped bare affair that shows he's a great songwriter and performer. I could imagine this one covered by Alison Krauss, Bruce Springsteen or Lyle Lovett. The track is a teaser for Ryan Adams' new album, Ashes & Fire, out October 10.

Lucky Now by ryanadams

Ryan Adams - Lucky Now (Live On BBC Radio 2) by vinyloftheday

Here's a few older Adams tunes I love.

Ryan Adams - "Halloweenhead" by ModernMystery3

Ryan Adams - So Alive by xarpi rio

It's Record Store Day Tomorrow!

Record Store Day, the day we give thanks that there are still places to buy music, learn about music, talk about music - all with real live people. This year, there is an amazing amount of special releases you can try to find tomorrow - I say try because different stores will have different items, and some will go lickety-split. You can check out the full list here, something for just about everyone. 9 stores in Winnipeg are participating. Yes, I am nostalgic about record stores, not so nostalgic about working in one. The Winnipeg Folk Fest Music Store will have bands like The Wind-Ups, Telepathic Butterflies, and Rambling Dan Frechette, while Into the Music will have Scott Nolan. Four stupendous local acts, you can catch 'em all if you're smart.



Crowded House, Green Day/Husker Du, Television, R.E.M., Ryan Adams, Steve Earle, The Cars, The dBs (brand new!), The Decemberists, Urge Overkill, a Guided by Voices tribute, Nada Surf - there's a lot of tunes I'd like to snag. Below are some pics of the items on sale, the tunes may not be the exact ones you'll find as part of the special sale, but I gotta give ya something to listen to, don't I?



01 The Decemberists - Down By The Water (Live 6 Music Session) by drakeygirl



Television - Marquee Moon [live] by PYITE



Effigy by Urge Overkill by scruffy the yak



Crowded House_Live in Manchester_26th May by the_hbomb



Cars - Sad Song by MMMusic

The Cars - Blue Tip by KWSS On Demand

Leave a comment below. Is there anything you'd like to get tomorrow?

Halloween Mixtape 09

Halloween. I remember being dressed as the devil at the first, last, and only performance of a band I was in one Halloween; we went down like a lead balloon. We enjoyed ourselves anyhow, and thankfully no one recorded it. Remember when you could do goofy things without fear of someone pulling out their phone and uploading to YouTube? I don't think every mistake you make in public should be immortalized, but we are voyeurs, aren't we? Anyhow, I tripped across one of Steve Chasmar's Halloween photo series, and these pics deserve to be looked at.

Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost (download mp3 here)




Dead Kennedys - Halloween (download mp3 here)



I don't know what a Halloweenhead is - maybe that's them pictured above?

Ryan Adams - Halloweenhead (download mp3 here)



The Ghost of You Lingers - Spoon



This song by WWP is my favourite tune this month, pretty melody and harmonies, restrained chiming guitar, solid drums, funny lyrics. Dress up as a pirate or a wolf, either way is good.

We Were Pirates - The Wolf (download here)




Logan Lynn - Feed Me to the Wolves (download here)





Hoodoo Gurus - Dig it Up (download here)




The verses of this song always seemed spooky to me, as if paranoia, claustrophobia, and naked fear bubbled and percolated in the studio when the track was created. I'm not necessarily in love with the chorus, but I've always loved when Mr. Hine intones "Halloween...without a pumpkin, Halloween" and later "Trick or treat..or lies".

Rupert Hine - Surface Tension (download here)




This tune is not scary or spooky at all, but maybe Ryan Adams collectors will be able to tell us why it is subtitled Sad Dracula demo and why it cuts out after 1 minute 20 secs. But maybe many songs in this world would be better if they cut out at that point, cut out the filler and the fat. Huh?

Ryan Adams - Lost and Found (Sad Dracula demo) (download mp3 here)




Robert Pollard - Supernatural Car Lover (download mp3 here)




Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer (download mp3 here)



Haunted - by the amazing Forbidden Dimension