2014 Mix CD 2

Lazaretto, Jack White

 Call Me, St. Paul and the Broken Bones

 Happy, John Fullbright

Heart is a Drum, Beck

 Get it Up For Love, Ned Doheny

 Devil We Know (Acoustic), Lily & Madeline

 Hooker, The Mighty Revelators

 Trouble, Johnnyswim

Shotgun Blues, Béla Fleck & Abagail Washburn

 The Body Electric, Hurray for the Riff Raff

 Protection, Lucinda Williams

 Kumbh Mela, Ela Stiles

 Come Around, Bernhoft

 Turn Blue, The Black Keys

 When I Get My Hands On You, The New Basement Tapes

 How We Be, Sinkane

 Opera, Daniel Lanois

2014 Mix CD 1

Continuing my mix-tape generation annual tradition of making a two disc set of my favorite releases from the music, here is CD1.

 You'll Be Lonely, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 

 Little Maggie, Robert Plant

 Fumes, Lily & Madeline

 Heart's On Fire, Passenger

I Don't Wanna Live on Mars, Ziggy Marley

 Inside Out, Spoon

 Scream (Funk My Life Up), Paolo Nutini

 Sparrow, Joe Henry

 Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song), Oscar Issac & Marcus Mumford

 I Don't Want to Change You, Damien Rice

 I See Fire, Ed Sheeran

 Broken Heart, Sarah McLachlan

Good Day Bad, Meshell Ndegeocello

 Let Me Breathe, Janiva Magness

 The River, Son Little

Fiction Family

I've always been a Nickel Creek fan and continue to look forward to the interesting musical choices made by (my favorite Mandolinist) Chris Thile and the talented sister/brother pair of Sara and Sean Watkins as they spread their musical wings, so to speak. The 32-year old Sean Watkins has released 3 solo albums (Sara plays violin and sings on the last two) and has done interesting projects both with Toad and the Wet Sprocket singer Glen Philips and his current project with Switchfoot member Jon Foreman. Originally called The Real SeanJon, the pair sensibly changed their name to the Fleet Foxes like Fiction Family and just released a self-titled album in January full of folk-pop flair.

FRR Song Picks:
Betrayal
War in My Blood

Links:
NPR Interview with David Dye
Wikipedia Article on Sean Watkins

Interview with Nels and Alex Cline

Did you know Wilco guitarist and all around great experimental guitarist Nels Cline had a twin brother Alex who, like Nels, also has a recent solo album? This PopMatters Interview talks with the Cline brothers and makes a great read. I've been listening to Nel's latest sonic wonder, the multilayered Coward, and recommend it.

Here are some other recent folk rock interviews you might enjoy:

Variety Interview with Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) of Animal Collective

Allentown Morning Call Interviews Eric Early of Blitzen Trapper

Sleeper Track: Emil Amos and Holy Sons - Getting Old

I've been poking around the biography of drummer Emil Amos lately, trying to get a handle on his different projects, most recently joining OM (and releasing a 7" inch single on Sub Pop), and before that, working with Grails and Holy Sons. The 2003 Holy Sons album, I Want to Live a Peaceful Life is an interesting atmospheric texture folk rock album, in the vein of Calexico's southwestern tinged alt-country folk album Carried to Dust, released in September on Quarterstick records.

To my mind, the standout track from that album is Getting Old.

More information and links about Emil Amos:

• Interview from Brooklyn Vegan
• Fanatic Promotion Blog entry
• DailyTube Video Interview

Blitzen Trapper: War on Machines

From NPR Music: From "alt-folk-rock" band Blitzen Trapper's recent CD, Furr, a streaming version of the song: War on Machines.

Friday Random Roundup

Folk Rock Radio's carefully selected internet picks for the week:

Australian Press Coverage of Fleet Foxes
The 40th Anniversary of the Beatles' White Album
Paste Magazine Interview with The Watson Twins
Free Daptone Records Sampler on Amazon

From NPR Music:
Ollabelle Recorded Live in Concert
Jonatha Brooke: Rediscovering Woody Guthrie
Vetvier: Shaggy Folk, Dug Out of Amber
Shearwater: Tiny Desk Concert
Old Crow Medicine Show: Return to Roots

Following up on the Massey Hall 1971 release, Neil Young is releasing Sugar Mountain — Live At Canterbury House 1968 on December 2