Blog Post
Robert Plant Playing Hill Auditorium on Friday, January 21
by Caser
In the three decades since Led Zeppelin's breakup, singer Robert Plant has found success where many formerly-iconic band members have failed. Namely, he has been recording music as a solo artist that both critics and audiences actually want to hear.
Lou Reed forged similar success in the 1970s, with the popularity of his early solo records largely hinging on the inclusion of songs he wrote with the Velvet Underground. Plant, however, has been taking a different approach by re-imagining songs written by other musicians, many of whom, like the Everly Brothers and Gene Clark, peaked in popularity before Led Zeppelin was a household name.
Plant's 2007 duet album, Raising Sand, with bluegrass superstar, Allison Krauss, won five Grammys -- including Album of the Year -- and sold well over one million units, which in today's market is outstanding. Much like Gram Parsons' collaboration with Emmylou Harris on G.P., Krauss and Plant strike an uncanny balance between the gritty and the seamless in their voices to create a blend as cool as a DQ Blizzard.
Robert Plant plays the Hill Auditorium this Friday, January 21 behind his latest release, Band of Joy, which is also up for Grammy Awards and has received similar accolades for his work with the indelible Patty Griffin.
Blog Post
Nellie McKay to play The Ark
by manz
Nellie McKay brings her incessant folk-pop rambling to The Ark on Sunday, January 23 at 7:30pm. It is hard to define McKay’s musical style. Her background has taken her all over the map genre-wise. In addition to making her own music, she has also done covers, acted in movies, done Broadway, and recorded an album that is a tribute to Doris Day.
McKay may be a jazz-influenced pop artist, but her songs wouldn’t necessarily be described as romantic, they’re more along the lines of edgy. Her songs are humorous, endearing, and spit-in-your-face all at the same time. Her critically acclaimed albums, Get Away From Me, Pretty Little Head, and Obligatory Villagers, are filled with sharp feminist vocals brimming with infusions of cabaret, pop, vocal jazz and rock. McKay’s new album, Home Sweet Mobile Home, brings her out on tour, and lucky for us there’s a stop in Ann Arbor.
Visit The Ark’s website for full details and ticket information regarding her upcoming live performance.
Blog Post
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
by Caser
AADL's music collection continues to grow with thirteen Gil Scott-Heron CDs that span his recorded work from the late 1960s to his critically acclaimed 2010 release, I'm New Here.
Gil Scott-Heron is a poet, musician, and author who is credited with essentially creating the genre of Rap with his rhythmic, aggressive, politically charged spoken word performances set to jazz and R&B music. In the 1970s, Scott-Heron collaborated with legendary jazz producer Bob Thiele and pianist Brian Jackson throughout his most prolific decade, releasing nine records that confront controversial issues such as racism in the inner city, media portrayal of African Americans, equity among classes and races, and homophobia.
On last year's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West was the latest in a long line of artists to use Gil Scott-Heron samples in his music, closing his chart topping album with the poet's "Who Will Survive in America," further evidence of the lasting resonance of Scott-Heron's work.
Blog Post
Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?
by Caser
If there were a class yearbook of all the singer/songwriters from the '1960s - '70s, Harry Nilsson would probably be voted Most Likely to Star in a Movie Nobody Saw. It's possible that you've whistled along to one of his songs waiting for a peppermint mocha, perhaps Everybodys' Talkin' (theme song from Midnight Cowboy) or Coconut (you put the lime in it). But I'd venture that most fans of this musical era are more likely to own a copy of Donovan's Greatest Hits -- which, to my chagrin, is not ten remixes of Mellow Yellow -- than they are to own Pandemonium Shadow Show, despite the fact that the latter is far more interesting. Don't believe me? Give the album's first track, Ten Little Indians, just one listen.
The AADL has recently added five Nilsson items to its collection, with four CDs, including Everybody's Talkin': The Very Best of Harry Nilsson, the combo CD: Harry and Nilsson Sings Newman, another combo CD: Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet and Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, Greatest Hits, and finally, the DVD documentary, Who is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?).
Blog Post
The T.A.M.I. Show, Unearthed and Remastered
by amy
Five years before Woodstock and three years before Monterey Pop--even before Dylan electrified the Newport Folk Festival--the first (and one of the greatest) rock-n-roll concerts was held in Santa Monica, California. In October 1964, eight months after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and soon after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act, T.A.M.I. Show hosts Jan and Dean skateboarded on stage and kicked off 50 performances (edited to two hours) that encapsulated the effervescent mix of early 1960s pop and rock music, from west coast surfer to southern soul to east coast Brill Building--with a welcomed heavy dose of Detroit Motown. A dozen acts--blacks and whites; girl groups; jazz and funk; London Mod; and proto-garage rock bands--took the stage, including Lesley Gore, future rock-n-roll Hall-of-Famers Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, and Smokey Robinson. Gerry and the Pacemakers represented the current Merseybeat, and garage band proto-punksters, the Barbarians, demonstrated where music was heading. James Brown brought down the house with an electrifying performance, while the Rolling Stones waited backstage in anxious awe, knowing they wouldn't be able to top it.
And as if all these classic acts weren't enough, Spector, Phil"> Phil Spector's famed “Wrecking Crew” served as the house band. You never see Glen Campbell, but he's there, playing lead guitar; while Leon Russell is somewhere on piano. And actress Teri Garr is among the show’s hyper-energized go-go dancers. The concert was mixed live, so there are no master tracks, no alternate takes, no overdubs, and no unused musical footage; what you hear is what the audience of 3,000 screaming teens heard. After a theatrical release at the end of the year in the pioneering "electronovision" format--the hi-def television of its day--the film got tied up in law suits and disappeared, becoming one of the most rare performance films of all time, showing up in edited bootleg versions, but unavailable in its remastered entirety--until now.
Blog Post
Ghostly International CDs @ AADL
by manz
Acclaimed Ann Arbor based record label Ghostly International is home to a plethora of local and beyond artists with various musical stylings. Everything from loud to quiet… electronic, experimental, house, ambient, etc. Music fans are well aware of the talent coming out of Ghostly. AADL has a large collection of Ghostly International CDs, ready to hit your CD player.
For those less familiar, compilations such as Idol Tryouts Vol. 1 and Vol. 2., or Ghostly Swim offer a nice introduction to a variety of the artists if you’re looking for a quick “what to like?” option. As far as albums go, we’ve got good stuff from Dabrye, School of Seven Bells, Lusine, Matthew Dear, Deastro, Dykehouse, and many more. Happy listening!
Blog Post
Straight Outta Iceland: Music for the Soul
by manz
The land of fire and ice exudes some cozy music, whether it’s old timey rimur or rock music. What amazes me about the music of Iceland is that it is so characteristically Iceland, which allows various artists to collaborate in the most magical of ways, touring with each other and appearing on each others’ records, while creating soundscapes that match the artists’ home landscape. A couple new additions to AADL are from Slowblow and Amiina.
The self-titled album by Slowblow, circa 2004, is a charming little album. Recorded in various living rooms and bathrooms across Reykjavík, then perfected in Sigur Rós’s old Mosfellsbær studio, the album is a smattering of found sounds (nothing short of saws and sewing machines), lo-fi home recorded beeps and bits, and some lush guest vocals by Múm’s Kristín Anna Valtysdóttir. It’s a gentle, slow, mellow, rock album, with occasional English lyrics about hamburgers.
Also from across the pond comes Amiina’s 2007 effort and first full length album, Kurr. If you look up “cutesy” in the dictionary, I’m pretty sure this band’s photo will be there. The four girls that began Amiina are classically trained musicians who acted as Sigur Rós’s string quartet on many of their live shows and albums for a decade. Now a sextet with the addition of two males, the band headlines their own tours and is still producing delicate, experimental records, and the quiet, happy Kurr is no exception. This mostly instrumental CD deserves a cozy chair and some headphones to accompany you.
Blog Post
Ann Arbor District Library Staff Picks
by cecile
Ann Arbor District Library staff are avid media consumers with wide ranging tastes and interests. Now we've made it easy to find what they are currently recommending.
Located downtown on the first floor to the right as you enter the library, near the NEW fiction and non-fiction shelves is the Staff Picks shelf. There you will find staff recommendations for fiction, mysteries, non-fiction, music and films. Enjoy!
If you would like to peruse current Staff Picks from the comfort of your home computer or mobile device, follow this link: Staff Picks.
Blog Post
Tom Waits Elected to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
by Caser
The gravel voiced, neo-Beat, saintly gutter rat, utterly inimitable, Tom Waits, will be joining the likes of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Chuck Berry and other music lifers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Waits' response to the news, according to Rolling Stone magazine, "I am still recovering...I never really cared about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...but now I am surprised to discover how much I DO care. I'm wondering if I did something wrong?" is prototypical Waitsian rhetoric. His acceptance speech should be nothing short of fine satirical comedy.
Beginning his career in the early 1970s as a piano playing, blues singer/songwriter, Waits long celebrated the social ladder's lowest rungs in his songs, and he lived a life not far from his muse. For the first decade of his career, Waits added increasingly idiosyncratic characters to his stories, in songs like "Frank's Wild Years", "The Ghosts of Saturday Night", and "Small Change", though his biggest successes came as more famous artists covered his songs, with Springsteen doing "Jersey Girl" and Rod Stewart doing "Downtown Train".
In the mid-1980s, Waits met his wife, Kathleen Brennan, who inspired a new approach to songwriting, with the inclusion of non-traditional instrumentation including trombone, kettle drum, and other percussive instruments that often sound like they might well have been his own creation. The result was his most creative period, producing the landmark Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombones and continuing through his more recent work in the Grammy Award winning Bone Machine and my personal favorite, Mule Variations. Also check out the sprawling three disc set of absurdly good b-sides from this period, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards, released in 2006.
Blog Post
Electronic Expansion
by pkooger
Fans of electropop music, dance music, DJs, remixes, and all things synthesized, listen up! Hot off the turntables, AADL has a fresh batch of CDs in the Electronic music section.
Ladytron – Hailing from the UK, Ladytron mixes electropop and New Wave.
Latest Albums: 604, Light & Magic, Velocifero
Freezepop – These Boston natives have become the darlings of the musical video game industry. Their songs appear in Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band, among others.
Latest Albums: Future Future Future Perfect, Freezepop Forever
– British DJ Mr. Scruff is an odd sort. His music is exactly the sort of eclectic mix that you would expect from someone who sells tea for charity and features sea life in many of his songs.
Latest Albums: Ninja Tuna, Keep It Unreal
Robyn – Grammy-nominated Swedish artist Robyn mixes R&B with dance-pop in her Body Talk series.
Latest Albums: Body Talk Pt. 1, Body Talk Pt. 2, Body Talk