Gary Louris- Vagabonds

Hey Jayhawks fans, Gary Louris's long awaited solo debut comes out on February 19th! The new album is called Vagabonds and it is the most intimate work of his career considering the length of his career so far. I have to resign myself from waiting for a new Jayhawks album as it may never happen and his other band, Golden Smog puts out albums in a non-consistent rate. I heard there is a possibility of an album with former Hawk, Mark Olson as they toured together in 2005 and have been writing songs together for a duo project.

The sound on the album is stark and haunting, and at times the songs build to a gospel-like hymn. The 10 songs on Vagabonds will need more listenings to fully appreciate the depth and quality this album obviously possesses.

Judge for yourself, check myspace.com/garylouris for some song samples and I've also posted some additional songs to preview.

True Blue
Omaha Nights
Well Get By
Vagabonds

Scarlett Sings Tom Waits...Seriously!

Scarlett Johansson will release her debut album this year. While it's no longer a secret that she holds a passion in the music field, the acclaimed actress chooses to have a cover album for her first instead of an album full of new materials.

Johansson who will portray the titular character on ' Mary Queen of Scots', has compiled her rendition of Tom Waits song. The production is taken by Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio and collaborations come from Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist, Nick Zinner, and Celebration's Sean Antanaitis.

Johansson recorded the album over 5 weeks last spring in Maurice, Louisiana at a Dockside studio. Not only is her voice considered on the same level to the late Marilyn Monroe but it is also predicted to earn her a Grammy, said the Dockside studio owner Steve Nails.

The album which is titled 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' consists of 10 cover tracks and an original material. It will be released on May 20 via Rhino Entertainment's Atco imprint, according to Billboard.com.

Her prior music dalliances include singing the track "Summertime" for "Unexpected Dreams," a 2006 charity album featuring film stars, and Johansson's first public singing is when she served as the backing vocal of reunited The Jesus and Mary Chain at the 2007 Coachella Festival, singing 'Just Like Honey'.

When I first heard about this I thought it was a joke, but I didn't realize she signed the deal with Rhino back in October 06. The eventual release was dependant upon her busy filming schedule and when she could actually make it into the studio. My first thought was how was Scarlett, who as far as I know hasn't really sung, going to pull off covers of Tom Waits of all people? His voice, the unusual lyrics, the weird melodies would be tough for even the most seasoned singers. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Tom Waits fan and I enjoy Johansson's acting, but the two together is a unexpected combination. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be worth a listen. Her smoky voice and her more sophisticated taste in music could make this interesting, this definitely couldn't be any worse than would-be "singers" Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton.

I wish I had a sample from the upcoming album to post (I will once I find an "advance copy"), but for now I have the aforementioned Summertime to preview her singing prowess.
My question is will you buy this?...or at least give it a listen?

Summertime mp3

The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight

Right now I'm hard at work compiling my special "Surprises and Disappointments for 2007 post" to reminisce about the past year's music releases. Stay tuned next week!

For now (as a time waster), in case you haven't seen it yet, here's the Weakerthan's video for "Civil Twilight" for your viewing pleasure. This video was shot at the Winnipeg Transit bus depot garage located on Osborne St. in late Summer. My friend Dean, an ex-pat from Winnipeg (now residing state-side) happened to be in town the week of the filming and he knew a mutual friend of the band's so helped out on the set. He said he moved the backgrounds (No, the bus wasn't actually moving) up and down and back and forth....cool! The video itself is amusing, it's shot as a continuous panning shot complete with a cheesy 2-dimensional stage set look to it. The song though is first-rate. Anyways, I saw this video for the first time yesterday, so I thought I'd share it.