Lincoln Durham

I’m a sucker for slide guitar players as well as the sound of a steel guitar being played. Combine the two of them and I’m a happy music lover. Lincoln Durham makes me very happy.

I first heard his music on a Pandora Blues / Americana mix I made. His voice and playing immediately caught my ear and made me take notice. I picked up his four track EP and it has been a constant presence on my iPod ever since I bought it. Recently he has released a full length album “The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones” and I’ve been playing the hell out of it.

My favorite track so far is “Love Letters”, the guitar riff is mesmerizing. This version is acoustic compared to the version on the album:

If you enjoy the blues at all, I highly recommend you pick up his album.

He is based out of Austin and I can’t wait for him to tour the Pacific Northwest so I can see him live.

Emily Wells at the Doug Fir

I went to see Emily Wells in January at the Doug Fir with my friend Heather.  Unfortunately I’ve seen better shows by her. This was my fourth time seeing her and each time has been a unique experience to watch her create violin loops live on stage. This time she was pretty infatuated with adding a sort of tribal drumming to her songs and not much violin at all. I enjoyed the show but it seemed rather mundane for one of her shows. I like the new songs and have heard her do them live a couple times now but this time the show was just sort of ordinary. I’m all for artists trying new things and she definitely was doing that but I just didn’t personally like it. Her new album comes out on April 10th and I’ll pick it up for sure, I’m just not sure how soon I’m going to see her live again.

Wilco at the Schnitz

Last wednesday night marked my fourth time seeing Wilco live and wow, what a show it was. The show had a large mix off of their latest album “The Whole Love” but they played something off of each of their studio albums as well as some obscure tracks during the evening.

The opening three songs were a bold and wonderful way to start the show.  They started with the slow burn opener of “One Sunday Morning” transitioning into “Poor Places” that starts so innocently and then breaks into sonic chaos at the end transitioning right into “Art of Almost”.

“Via Chicago” & “Bull Black Nova” were another great back to back pairing and there was a pretty funny moment right at the start of “Born Alone” where there was an issue with a guitar and the Jeff had to fill in for a couple of minutes.  He made some comments about “Portlandia” making fun of the town on TV and almost danced a bossanova.

Things picked back up again with a seven minute version of “Impossible Germany” that was absolutely divine.  The solo by Nels Cline on this version was much more controlled that his past performances.  Hopefully he was saving himself some neck pain this time around compared to his stunning performance in Mobile Alabama:

His solo this time was much more controlled but still rode the edges of his signature chaotic guitar sounds.

As amazing as the opening three songs were (especially finally getting to see them perform “Poor Places” live), the highlight of the evening for me was hearing their acoustic arrangement of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” half way into the show.  I have many recordings of Jeff Tweedy performing this song by himself on an acoustic guitar but I’ve never heard the band do it that way.  My most memorable moment from the first time I saw them at the Edgefield in 2007 was the twenty minute version of Via Chicago and Spiders that blended together.  It blew me away to hear them both stretched out and merged.  Hearing Spiders so stripped down was a whole different kind of thrill in itself.

The second half of the show was a pleasant mix of old and new with songs from their latest as well as their first few albums. I personally didn’t enjoy the middle section of the encore when they played the rather obscure tracks “Just a Kid” and “Kicking Television”.  Compared to the rest of the set these choices seemed out of place and a broke the flow for me.  This is a minor complaint compared to the rest of the show.

The whole evening ended with the quiet sounds of “The Lonely 1″ and it was a perfect bookend to the show opening.  All in all, it was a great solid show from my favorite living band.  I just hope it doesn’t take them another two years to come back to town to share their art.

Setlist for Feb 8, 2012 at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR

Wilco – The Whole Love

I was fortunate enough to receive Wilco‘s new album “The Whole Love” on Friday when I got home even though it doesn’t release until this week.  A nice perk of pre-ordering the release directly from their website.  I’ve been pretty much listening only to it since it arrived.

If you are one of the three or four people who actually read this blog, you should not be surprised that I am a huge Wilco fan.  They have been my favorite band for about five years now.  I first saw them live during the “Sky Blue Sky” tour in 2007 and have seen them two more times after that.

Their last release “Wilco (The Album)” was interesting and a bit silly but it didn’t really hold my ear very long.  I was thinking it may grow on me like “A Ghost Is Born” did eventually but as an album their last effort is not something I put on to listen to as an album.

“The Whole Love”, which is the third effort with the same six band members does not have that issue at all. I have not been skipping around at all when I listen to it. The whole piece flows very well which is one of the things that really impressed me about “Sky Blue Sky”.

I know a lot of people look at “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” as the Wilco album which all others must be measured.  I’m reading a lot of early reviews saying “The Whole Love” gets back to the greatness of the YHF album and erases the recent efforts.  I personally think that’s a really stupid way to listen to music if you are always wanting a band to get back to a sound they once did.

The music on this album is a great blending of their styles and almost every song makes me recall previous songs or slices of sound but not in a repetitive way, simply it is a solid effort and you immediately know you are listening to a Wilco album.

The album opens with “Art Of Almost” with some loops and very electronic keyboard, sound that builds to a blistering all out rocking effort at the end of it. The start makes me think of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” but that comparison quickly fades away.  It is a great opening song and really sets the sonic tone of the album to come. It is currently my favorite track on the album.

“I Might” is the first single and the second track on the release.  It’s got some great feedback hidden within the main melody of the track with some interesting keyboards laid over the top of it all.

The third song, “Sunloathe” almost sounds like a long lost version of the Beatles song “Sun King” in the arrangement and the vocals.  It’s not a blatant rip off or anything, just echoes of the Beatles are heard in my head when I listen to it.

“Dawned On Me” is a good solid Wilco track with a great Tweedy whistling part near the end.

The lyrical imagery of ”Capitol City” reminds me of the title track on “Sky Blue Sky”. A very descriptive experience of being in a city.

“Standing O” sounds a bit like it was left over from “Wilco (The Album)”.  Maybe it’s chorus that reminds me of the “oh, oh, oh” in “Wilco (The Song)”.

The closing track “One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” is a twelve minute folk riff that keeps going and going and threatens to never stop.  It does not get repetitive but just settles into a nice groove like a J.J. Cale song and keeps on going.

I picked up the Deluxe edition so it has an extra disc with four more tracks on it.  It has a cover of Nick Lowe’s “I love my Label” which they sold at the Solid Sound Festival this summer.  There is an alternate version of “Black Moon” which is on the main album as well as a six minute instrumental jam called “Speak Into The Rose”.

Although I mention that this album has sketches of other sounds or previous albums, this is not to imply that it is a bad thing, I think it is simply these six people firmly settling into their stride and seeing where it takes them.  I’ve already heard some live shows that they have done and it appears they are playing about 75% of this album live which is a great thing.  I can’t wait until they come back to the Pacific NW so I can see them a fourth time.  Do yourself a favor and get this album now.