Tired Pony? Tired Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey, Probably

I've been missing for a awhile, I know. Been busy with my new child, birthdays, the return of hockey, dealing with near-poverty, unnecessary drama, family get-togethers, pumpkin pie and too much coffee. Life is full, I guess. I can't keep up with everything.

And I wonder about those who seem to accomplish so much. You know who plays in more projects than I can keep track of? R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, that's who. Besides still making records with R.E.M., Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus Three, and The Baseball Project, he's also now involved with Tired Pony, which also features Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol, The Reindeer Section), Iain Archer, Richard Colburn (Belle & Sebastian), Jacknife Lee, and Scott McCaughey (Minus 3, Young Fresh Fellows, The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus Three, R.E.M.). Tired Pony's album, The Place We Ran From, came out July 12 in the UK and September 28 in North America, and it also features Tom Smith (Editors), M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. It contains some of the smooth pop I associate with Snow Patrol, which I confess I never mooned over, but it also includes touches of alt country, slightly Waterboys-flavoured rootsy pop (I Am a Landslide), and folky melancholia.

I am a Landslide

Tired Pony - I Am A Landslide by k7fm

Dead American Writers



Get on the Road



Point Me at Lost Islands



You can buy Tired Pony in lots of places, here's one.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn & The Baseball Project - Not Twinkies

photo by Shayne Kaye

I'm not a baseball fan, despite my Dad's fanaticism. I mean, playing it wasn't too bad, but watching it seems like an exercise in waiting for something to happen. And somehow it seems like stats and steroids are too important in the baseball world.

There! I've proclaimed my ignorance of what makes baseball special. The reason I bring up my lack of passion for baseball is to explain my lack of enthusiasm for The Baseball Project. The Baseball Project is a band made up of Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck and Linda Pitmon, all musicians I love, but they create songs about baseball, so I've never paid attention. But I'm not enough of an anti-baseball fan to ignore the group anymore, because they've enlisted The Hold Steady's Craig Finn to write the lyrics and sing on the new song, Don't Call Them Twinkies.

I now have to pay more attention to the Baseball Project, but I'm still not gonna watch baseball. I can always ask my Dad who the names are that get dropped in these songs.

The Baseball Project by schleppy

Speaking of The Hold Steady, the band is the latest to get into the Pitchfork POV concert series, which you can check out here. I guess the idea of the viewer changing cameras is fine, but it's not my thing - I think I'd like it to be filmed in an interesting way the first time. Anyway, any excuse to post about The Hold Steady.

The Hold Steady - The Sweet Part Of The City

The Hold Steady - The Sweet Part Of The City by VagrantRecords

The Hold Steady - The Weekenders

The Hold Steady - The Weekenders by VagrantRecords

The Hold Steady - Hurricane J

The Hold Steady - Hurricane J by VagrantRecords

Buy The Baseball Project here.
Buy The Hold Steady here.

Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 will also be releasing a new disc, Northern Aggression, on Nov. 30th on Yep Roc. I don't think the following track has anything to do with the new album, but it's an interesting cover anyway.

Steve Wynn - The Air That I Breathe

" by roverthsub