My Picks for the Best of Austin City Limits Since 04

Austin City Limits is my favorite music show on television.  With a rich history, amazing location, and immense credibility, this program usually find the best music played on a guitar in the United States and holds it up for all to see.  Focusing mainly on Country & Americana historically, ACL has lately been branching out to bring a broader styles of music to its core audience.  Below are my favorite moments from the last 8 years:

Brandi Carlile has been one of my heroes for a long time.  I have managed to see her perform live twice (Once with the Indigo Girls) and she continues to release record after amazing record including her latest called "Bear Creek".  The performance below, an acapella rendition of "Oh Dear" melts my heart every time that I hear it.  It is also a favorite of my daughter Avery.

Ray Lamontagne performing a very early version of the song "Empty."  I will never forget hearing this for the first time in my little apartment in Los Angeles and thinking, damn this guy can write some lyrics!

Damien Rice performing "The Blowers Daughter" live on ACL.  I love this song so much that I picked it to be the song I played at my wedding when I danced with my mom.

The Avett Brothers performing "When I Drink."  I especially love the line "Cause we only get so many days...now I have one less"

This is the band The National performing a song called "About Today."  I love the simple yet profound lyrics and the musical build up.

Iron and Wine taking a good (In my opinion) studio track and making it special with an acoustic live performance of "Upward Over the Mountain."  

If you are still watching these you are in for a treat.  This last one is called "O'Brien" and is performed by M. Ward of the band She & Him and Conor Oberst of the band Bright Eyes.  The beginning involves some intentionally off-key discordant guitar work, but it comes together by the end.  I love the lyrics, the sound, and this song is one that my wife and I will sing randomly to each other when driving because it has gotten so stuck in our heads!  Enjoy:

There you have it!  My favorite ACL moments of the last 8 years.  Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a few songs that I wanted to include from ACL.  "Chances Are" by Hayes Carl should be included in the songs above, as should "Rivers and Roads" by The Head and The Heart.  Both artists made something special in their ACL performances.

Finally, there are a few bands that should be on ACL but have not yet been invited (and this is a Crime!). I am pretty sure that ACL will come around and recognize their greatness soon.
They are in no particular order:
Sons Of Bill
Alabama Shakes
Jason Isbell
The Steel Wheels
April Smith & The Great Picture Show
Michael Kiwanuka
Joshua James
Delta Rae
Ben Howard
Trampled By Turtles
Doug Paisley
Burlap to Cashmere
First Aid Kit
The Tallest Man on Earth
Jon Allen

The Head And The Heart

A lot of folks dismiss The Head And The Heart as just another hipster band from Seattle.  I agree that the hipster elements are there, but I also see something that transcends that.  The talent is undeniable.  The songwriting is beautiful.  The lyrics range from cunning to nonsensical.  The vocal harmonies are a mix wonderful, awkward, thrilling, and intentional.

Charity (The well dressed blonde woman) has the voice of an angel.  A fashionable, sometimes off key, Joe "Cockeresky" stage presence, diva with a unique sound akin to that of an sincere music teacher on acid.

Josiah strikes me as the glue that holds the band together.  Great songwriter, hard worker, nice tone, adaptable voice, and probably the engine that drives the band to continue on.

Jonathon Russell is the gravely voiced often bearded face of the band.  He wrote and performs my favorite song from this group, but also sings many of the intro lines to the band's songs to great effect.  

This is the band performing "Rivers and Roads" on KEXP Live.  This song is what I would consider to be "Epic".  Do you agree?

This is the band performing "Sounds Like Hallelujah" live on WNRN. Can you hear the Queen influence?  Do you agree?:

Finally, this is Jon performing a new and yet unknown and nameless song.  I love this so much that I will go out on a limb here and say that this song will either be a "Hit" or something that the best musicians look back on and remember fondly as the song that should have been.  Check out "Untitled"

 

Michael Kiwanuka

I randomly stumbled across Michael Kiwanuka while trying to find an old Joan Osborne performance on KCRW.  When I first heard this guy I imagined Bill Withers melting into Bon Iver surrounded by Nick Drake who in turn was hugging Fred Neil.  A Brit whose parents escaped the Yamin reign in Uganda, this gentleman knows how to captivate my 10 month old daughter in seconds of beginning a live performance.  I STRONGLY urge you to check out his other work, but thus far this song is the one that strikes me as imperative to listen to immediately.  "Lason" recorded live on KCRW:

Dawes

Dawes is a band that I have been following for a long time, starting with the spectacular video above "When My Time Comes".  Their brotherly harmonies, the beautiful lyrics, and the 1970's sound shine through every time that I listen to this amazing group.  I saw them live in Baton Rouge awhile back, and I got to meet most of the band after the show.  Unfortunately when I asked the singer, Taylor Goldsmith, about his Los Angeles Roots, we disagreed on the USC vs. UCLA battle.  That being said, they were very kind, friendly, and above all talented musicians. Recently I discovered two of their live performances made me stand up and listen.  I hope that you will too!  Pay special attention to the lyrics, performance  and  delivery:

"Million Dollar Bill" (Live at the Collect)

Best Lines:
"When it hits me that she's gone
I think I'll run for president
Get my face put on the million dollar bill
So these rich men that she wants
Show her the ways they can take care of her
I'll have found a way to be there with her still"

"Moon in the Water" (Live at the Collect)
This song is a solo effort from the singer Taylor Goldsmith.  Beautiful lyrics abound!

Best Lines:
"Love is for the fighter
Born to lose and never quit
Swinging for the moon
In the water"

Joshua James

I first saw Joshua James live at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles with a few hundred other people.   I had relatively high expectations for him based upon this performance of a Modest Mouse Cover:

Unfortunately, I came to the performance with reasonable expectations of talent, yet little to convince me that the man, and the band, had depth beyond picking good covers.  What I found was something much more than I had ever expected.  To be honest, I watched one of the most astounding performances that I have ever witnessed live.  Covers of other artists were missing, but amazing lyrics, genuine sincerity, spectacular musicianship, truly powerful almost Morrison like presence (Jim not Van although he has it too), and stand-out songwriting were all hitting me in the face like a ton of bricks.

Joshua James and his band SHOULD be one of the most famous musicians around today.  The fact that he is not more known is a bigger comment on the current state of the music industry than it is on his talent, or the will of those that adore him and his songs.  I began with a cover and I will leave you with one.  The great Tom Waits first sang "God took the stars and he tossed 'em" in 2004.  Joshua James a few years later, and I dare say more beautifully:

Do you know this song?

If you are reading this blog you probably don't know who Peter Murphy is.  You may have heard of Bauhaus and know them to be some sort of Goth founding fathers, but beyond that I am guessing that the great PM is not in your playbook.  I hope that they next song changes that.  The one thing that I love about this song more than almost anything else is that once I introduced my oldest friends to it, the song itself became a "sing along"  so many years ago.  It will never be erased from my fondest memories.  

Peter Murphy performing "I'll fall with your knife" Acoustic and live in Turkey.

Enjoy!

The Avett Post: One of my all time favorites!

The Avett Brothers are one of my favorite bands of all time.  I don't say that carelessly, and I also recognize the changes they have gone through since they began.  I love them for the lyrics first and foremost, followed by the harmonies, musicianship, and finally sincerity.  Below are some of my favorite songs that I can show you from Youtube.  It should be noted that there are MANY better songs that I cannot link to on you tube for you to enjoy, so this is only a PARTIAL list.

"The Ballad of Love and Hate"

Quite simply some of the most amazing lyrics I have heard in years.  Seth Avett at his best.

"Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise"

Great video, great lyrics, good concept, and exceptional musicianship.

"Talk on Indolence"

 My first question...If I asked you to mix blue grass, punk, hip hop, and make sure the lyrics are great, could you do it this well?  If you don't understand what they are saying in this clip just look it up by following the link prior.

"November Blue"

So sweet and beautiful!

"Salvation Song"

I love Salvation Song because it is the brothers describing why they make music.  One of the most sincere songs that I have ever listened to.

"Belladonna"

Beautiful harmonies swirl around truly great lyrics.

"Paranoia in B Flat Major"

The Lyrics do it to me every time.  We have been there people.

"Shame"

Boatloads of Shame, Day after Day, more of the same

"Just a Closer Walk With Thee"

The Scotty Avett has some cute kids.  The video above confirms for me that I like this band.  Anyone who treats their kids like this is OK in my book.