Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Old School Is the Rule

I'm taking a break from the '90s countdown today because I'm already dangerously close to my allotted monthly bandwidth limit. Makes me kind of proud because that means there are actually some readers out there following along. So, today's offerings are of the streaming variety, and I think you'll find them all worth your time.

I picked up 'Half the City' from Alabama natives St. Paul & the Broken Bones the other day, and I'm completely blown away by Paul Janeway's vocals and the band's passion for the sounds of Muscle Shoals. Sure wish I had another crack at my best of 2014 list, I can tell you. There are a lot of bands out there attempting to capture a bygone era, whether it be surf, garage, Northern Soul, girl group, R&B, soul or funk. The other day I surpassed 1,000 posts, and I decided to skip a celebratory moment since I can't give you a thousand of anything to mark the occasion. So, in lieu of that, to continue the recent 6th birthday of Linear Tracking Lives, here are six artists capturing one of the aforementioned retro sounds that I have taken a real shine to since the birth of this blog. Love it? Hate it? Too derivative? Let me know what you think.

St. Paul & the Broken Bones
Song: "Call Me"
Album: 'Half the City'
Year: 2014


Vic Godard & Subway Sect
Song: "Born to Be a Rebel"
Album: '1979Now!'
Year: 2014


Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Song: "Sugarfoot"
Album: 'Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!'
Year: 2009


Charles Bradley
Song: "The World (Is Going Up in Flames)"
Album: 'No Time For Dreaming'
Year: 2011


Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Song: "I Learned the Hard Way"
Album: 'I Learned the Hard Way'
Year: 2010


La Luz
Song: "Brainwash"
Album: 7" and digital single only
Year: 2013

9 comments:

george said...

Looking forward to the Broken Bones song Brian. Well done on reaching 1000. As for bandwidth, why not create a new box account with a different email account?

Charity Chic said...

As George says Brian well done on the thousand

Scott said...

Congrats on the thousand posts landmark Brian. Will listen to the tracks on my day off tomorrow.

Brian said...

Thank you, boys. George, I was considering another account. If it comes to that, I will. My guess is this storage shortage is an anomaly.

Scott said...

St Paul & The Broken Bones somehow completely passed me by last year. That is certainly some voice he has. Enjoyed all the tracks but especially La Luz with their modern surf sound. Would love to see them live if they tour over here in the UK.

Brian said...

I really like that one too, Scott. Like in Glasgow, the ladies have taken over the music scene here in Seattle as well. La Luz, Tacocat, Chastity Belt and Childbirth are all the rage now.

kevinpat said...

Oh wow. Some $h!t i ain't heard yet! Cool. LOVE the St. Paul and the Broken Bones track!!! Hotcha! And I love his awkward dance routine. Goes with his look but then that voice comes out! Gotta check them out. Vic Goddard drones a bit too much for me. "Punk it up sir and then we'll talk." Y'know I could never get that Sharon Jones thing….. Don't really know why. Soul music has always been my thing, truly, but them white boys always sound flat or contrived to me. And I like white boys…I mean musically. Eli Paperboy Reed is always on rotation. Sharon's got the goods but something just don't click for me. That's just me. I like the scenario for the track in the vid though. That's a hoot and this track is particular good and a bit more authentic. I'll have to give another listen to them…. La Luz is cute but a bit too retro for me. Just me again. And I know I like the other two tracks but I can't view them unless I remove this screen on the computer and lose this, so I'll be back! Ha!…….

kevinpat said...

Oh good gawdomighty!! Black Joe and the Honeybears channelling the Godfather hisself!! Whew!! I went straight to iTunes to hear what else he got on the stove, and daddy be cook-in! Wow! Now that's what I call soulful! Yessir! Will play fine on random with Vintage Trouble for me. I also loved the Charles Bradley and the accompanying images. It particularly hit me with Charlotte, South Carolina in my heart. ("Take down the Confederate flag SC NOW!!!". Sorry. That's just been needing to come out…)

GREAT post (once again)!! I wasn't expecting to find that and I'm glad I did. You started me on a new search Brian. Thanks!! All good stuff.

For some good Neo-soul check out Mad Satta on youtube. Especially their cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Makings of You". Hot-cha!

Brian said...

Hi kevinpat. I really like the St. Paul & the Broken Bones album. Call Me was the big single, but there are some even better songs on there... especially I'm Torn Up. The band had a legendary appearance on David Letterman's show last year. Not quite as memorable as Future Islands, but Paul and the fellas really blew the roof off the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Check it out if you can. Thanks for the recommendation on Mad Satta. I will check them out later today.