Wednesday, October 30, 2024

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS OCTOBER 2024

 

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #444
"REMEMBERING TOM PETTY 2024"
OCTOBER 2, 2024
1. "Saving Grace" performed by Tom Petty
2. "Listen To Her Heart" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3. "Rat City" performed by Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs
4. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" performed by Lady A
5. "Dreams Of Flying" performed by Mudcrutch
6. "It Ain't Nothin' To Me" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7. "Crystal River" performed by Mudcrutch
8. "Angel Dream (No. 2)" performed by Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson
9. "Margarita" performed by The Traveling Wilburys
10."Don't Come Around Here No More" performed by Rhiannon Giddens ft. Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench 11."A Wasted Life" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #445
"OCTOBER SKIES 2024: SIDES 1 & 2"
OCTOBER 9, 2024
1. "Month Of Sundays" performed by The Chamber Strings
2. "Divide" performed by The Amazing
3. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" performed by Al Green
4. "The Ghost In You" performed by The Psychedelic Furs
5. "Carnival 2000" performed by Prefab Sprout
6. "Clouds" performed by The Go-Betweens
7. "The Fog" performed by Kate Bush
8. "Sara" performed by Fleetwood Mac
9. "Here Comes The Rain Again" performed by Eurythmics
10."Fifty-Fifty Clown" performed by Cocteau Twins
11."Erase/Rewind" performed by The Cardigans
12."Indian Summer" performed by Joe Walsh
SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #446
"OCTOBER SKIES 2024: SIDES 3 & 4"
OCTOBER 16, 2024
1. "Bliss" performed by Tori Amos
2. "My Secret Place" performed by Joni Mitchell ft. Peter Gabriel
3. "Love Is Stronger Than Death" performed by The The
4. "Between Two Points" performed by David Gilmour ft. Romany Gilmour
5. "I'm Not In Love" performed by10cc
6. "Blood On The Rooftops" performed by Genesis
7. "Subterraneans" performed by David Bowie
8. "Ladybird" performed by XTC
9. "Goeth The Fall" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins
10."Time Passages" performed by Al Stewart
SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #447
"HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2024"
OCTOBER 23, 2024
1. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" performed by Blue Oyster Cult
2. "Black Moonlight" performed by Duran Duran
3. "Crazy" performed by Gnarls Barkley
4. "Rhiannon" (live) performed by Fleetwood Mac
5. "Ghost Town" performed by The Specials
6. "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" performed by Concrete Blonde
7. "Angel" performed by Massive Attack ft. Horace Andy
8. "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" performed by The Vince Guaraldi Trio
9. "Lockjaw" performed by Todd Rundgren
10."Freeze (Part IV of "Fear")" performed by Rush
11."Something Wicked (This Way Comes)" performed by Siouxsie & The Banshees
SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #448
"ELECTION 2024"
OCTOBER 30, 2024
1. "People Have The Power" performed by Patti Smith
2. "High Hopes" performed by Bruce Springsteen
3. "Power To The People" performed by John Lennon
4. "We Are Not Going Back" performed by Wolfgang Tillmans
5. "Aren't We One?" performed by My Morning Jacket
6. "The Lighthouse" performed by Stevie Nicks
7. "Sirens" performed by Aly & AJ
8. "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" performed by Stevie Wonder
9."Believe It" performed by Planet P. Project
10."Uprising" performed by Muse
11."Just One Victory" performed by Todd Rundgren
12."Freedom" performed by Beyonce ft. Kendrick Lamar

Sunday, October 20, 2024

JEFF TWEEDY w/ELIZABETH MOEN LIVE AT BARRYMORE THEATER MADISON,WI OCTOBER 18, 2024

JEFF TWEEDY
w/ ELIZABETH MOEN
BARRYMORE THEATER
MADISON, WI
OCTOBER 18, 2024

As a longtime fan of the band Wilco and their bandleader, singer/songwriter/guitarist/author Jeff Tweedy, I believe that this evening's show was the best way to see him perform live for the very first time.

To provide some background and yes, to clarify, I  have never seen Jeff Tweedy, either solo or with Wilco in a live setting before...and it was not for lack of trying as my home base of Madison, WI is a  frequent tour stop. My love of Tweedy's musical legacy began fairly quietly as I remember being introduced to them via MTV's "120 Minutes" program circa the era of the band' s second release, the double album "Being There" (released October 29,1996). Despite songs that often reminded me of the likes of R.E.M., The Replacements and Big Star, for example, the more country leanings didn't reach me. But, I was intrigued enough to keep an ear to the ground. 

While the sunshine psychedelia of "Summerteeth" (released March 9, 1999) pushed me closer, it was not until the masterpiece of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" (released April 23, 2002) where everything clicked for me and I was ALL IN with Wilco, making them a band I was ready to follow anywhere. 

Which leads me as to why I have not seen Tweedy, either solo or with his bandmates until now. It is quite simple. With the Chicago based Wilco/Jeff Tweedy's proximity to Madison, a location where they are beloved, tickets sell out rapidly! Tour after tour  over years, I would try to score a ticket and I would be gobsmacked by how quickly the show would receive a SOLD OUT notification. This became so prevalent, that I essentially stopped trying. Now, this also was occurring during a point where my love of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy was ebbing instead of flowing. Ever prolific, some releases just were not reaching me as emotionally as past releases and while I kept up, my interest waned. 


 

This being said, my interest eventually picked up all over again. By the time of more recent Wilco albums like the excellent double album "Cruel Country" (released May 27, 2022)," "Cousin" (released September 29, 2023)  and this year's EP "Hot Sun Cool Shroud" (released June 28, 2024), combined with his wonderful book releases, including his memoir,  Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir Of Recording and Discording With Wilco, Etc. (published November 13, 2018) and his most recent, World Within A Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music  (published November 7, 2023), it was more than enough to inspire me to revisit previous works that did not initially hit the mark for me.

 

When I received an email alert that Tweedy was returning to Madison for an acoustic solo performance, I thought I would try my hand again after not having done so for years. This time, to my surprise...paydirt!

Arriving on stage promptly at 8:30pm., Jeff Tweedy, bespectacled, adorned with his mane of greying hair and dressed in his trademark denim and surrounded by a collection of acoustic guitars (including one 12 string guitar that elicited a great mid set story time), was greeted with healthy applause and he quickly launched into a 90 minute, 21 song set of material that reached throughout a large swath of his songbook peppered copiously with his signature laconic self deprecating wit and superb storytelling.

Flowing through Wilco classics like "Box Full Of Letters," "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," "Via Chicago," "Impossible Germany," and "Jesus, Etc." to excellent newer material like the glorious "Ambulance" and the soaring "Meant To Be" alongside solo material like "Gwendolyn," "Family Ghost," "I Know What It's Like" (side note: I wonder if he has ever heard to stellar cover version by Madison's very own Disq) and a clear highlight, the spiky "Lou Reed Was My Babysitter," an affectionately sardonic look at the concert life social pet peeves that were all missed during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown.  

As a concert experience, I have to say that the night was not a transcendent one...but it never had to be. Jeff Tweedy delivered a show that was congenial, intimate, casual...and well, truthfully, the best word to describe it is in the title of one of his solo albums..."Warm" (released November 30, 2018). Very much like his books, it was a conversational evening, one that felt to demystify him and his status as a "rock star"--most notable as he eschewed the encore ritual of leaving the stage just to stand in the wings and then (surprise!) return for more songs by just remaining right where he was and continuing to perform.

He just had the entire proceedings feel to be so effortless, much like the late Tom Petty always achieved. And to that end, and as I remember Petty, Jeff Tweedy often feels to be cut from that same cloth. One who has clearly devoted himself to the art and craft of songwriting, to set such a high bar for himself and his band, and to create a body of work that is truly so consistent in its excellence that we can almost take it, and therefore, Tweedy, for granted because the song book he has amassed is so dependable. 

This was not a night of rock and roll pyrotechnics. Jeff Tweedy presented a night where the song itself was the star and we were invited to make the lyrical connections in these melancholic tales of love, loss, mortality and the art of life as it is lived. Often times, Tweedy's voice struck a John Lennon tenor, the addition of a harmonica (which threatened to pull at his moustache hairs, he admitted) suggested Neil Young, a sardonic sentimentality recalled Paul Westerberg at his most wistful, and even more aggressive guitar strums hinted at Pete Townshend flourishes. 

For my first time seeing Jeff Tweedy live, I am fortunate it was within this setting, one that informal and personable. and without the more excessive elements that can create spectacle but sometimes, a bit of a distance. Tonight, a bare stage save for Tweedy and his guitars were all that he needed to weave a spell and create a connection.

He had us all in the palms of his most confident hands.  

SYNESTHESIA CODA: ELIZABETH MOEN:

I never envy the artist who has to serve as the opening act. It is no fault of that artist in question as you are at the show to see the main event. Your excitement is for the main event. Your anticipation is for the main event. The opening act just delays that main event. But, every once in a while, there is an opening act that captures your attention.

Last night, Elizabeth Moen delivered a short but captivating set of acoustic music that fully displayed her ethereal voice and stellar songwriting gifts combined with guitar skills that felt to touch at the spheres of Joni Mitchell.

She's the real deal, folks. Keep an eye out for her!

Sunday, October 13, 2024

SYNESTHESIA SINGLES: "NO MORE WATER: THE GOSPEL OF JAMES BALDWIN" MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

"NO MORE WATER: THE GOSPEL OF JAMES BALDWIN"
MESHELL
 NDEGEOCELLO

featuring...
Meshell Ndegeocello: vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
Chris Bruce: guitars
Jebin Bruni: keyboards
Justin Hicks: vocals
Kenita-Miller Hicks: vocals
Josh Johnson: saxophone
Julius Rodriguez: keyboards
Abe Rounds: drums
Jake Sherman: keyboards
Paul Thompson: trumpet

Produced by Meshell Ndegeocello and Chris Bruce

Released August 2, 2024

For an artist as fearlessly forward thinking and unshakably idiosyncratic as singer/composer/bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, I am fascinated with how she has consistently and openly found and shared her muse through the act of tribute that arrives when looking back to those who have formulated her and therefore, continues to inspire. 

Within her continuing singular discography, she has already released "Pour une Ame Souveraine: A Dedication To Nina Simone" (released October 16, 2012), a full album of cover songs from the likes of George Clinton, Sade, TLC, Janet Jackson, Prince and more entitled "Ventriloquism" (released March 16, 2018) and early this year she already released her tribute to Sun Ra entitled, "Red Hot & Ra-The Magic City" (released April 12, 2024). 

Now, Ndegeocello has unveiled what I feel to be is her most expansive release sonically, performatively and emotionally. Released closely in conjunction with his100th birthday, "No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin" utilizes the messages of Baldwin's writings and activism which Meshell Ndegeocello then weaves into a sonic tapestry fueled by a variety of  musical genres from soul, funk, hip hop, rock, folk, jazz, poetry, spoken word set pieces, the titular gospel and more, all combined with a literal multitude of voices which speaks to the history and present of the Black American experience.

The album is defiantly arranged and presented making for a demanding listening experience that is unable to be consumed passively...and nor should it be. Ndegeocello has fashioned a definitive artistic and political statement that is simultaneously meditative and mournful, overflowing with righteous outrage, social and spiritual uplift and sorrow and a call to arms fighting spirit against all manner of oppression that vehemently echoes the adage that it is better to die upon one's feet than to live upon one's knees. Ndegeocello has created what is essentially a musical news report of where we as Black Americans have been as well as a howling call to action to take ourselves and shape our futures where we exist solely upon our own terms and not through the lens of Whiteness. 

One striking feature about the album is how Ndegeocello has relinquished vocal duties and at times, and hands all instrumental performances over to her team of musicians and collaborators. At first, it seem a tad head scratching but soon reveal itself as being essential to the evocation of communal solidarity. Meshell Ndegeocello is working firmly as the orchestrator using bandmates, vocalists and the studio itself evenly as instruments. It is an exceedingly generous choice to hand the spotlight over to the voices of Justin Hicks and unquestionably, the raining firestorm of poet Staceyann Chin so frequently. Spoken word passages throughout often feel like hallucinogenic thoughts flowing through the brain while you are being deeply immersed in the succulent musical beds being made, ensuring the pains and promises are felt with passionate enormity.

Where we have been, where we are and where we are going as Black people is the ongoing journey set within the heart of Meshell Ndegeocello's "No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin." For it is through the inheritance and dissemination of Baldwin's legacy as envisioned by Ndegeocello that showcases how every step taken in every life existed have all contributed to the lives we possess today--and so crucially, during this terrifying election season. We stand upon the shoulders of the past and the future will stand upon ours. This album serves and stands as document.

It is also one of 2024's very best releases.

SAVAGE RADIO SUGGESTED FURTHER LISTENING:  


"The American Negro" Adrian Younge (released February 26, 2021)


"Black Rainbows" Corrine Bailey Rae (released September 15, 2023)