Music Friday: "Ain't No Man"

I finally got around to picking up the Avett Brothers album that came out last year. 

Many of the Amazon reviewers opined that this was the band's best album. I disagree. It's a decent offering, but I can think of at least two or three albums that I like better than this one. 

And because I've become even more intolerant of Christian references, some of the lines in the lyrics turn me off. 

Regardless, here's the opening song of the album. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Amid all the gnashing of teeth because of Clinton's emails, the whole deal reminds me of the millions of emails that were conveniently deleted during Generalissimo Dubya's regime: "The George W. Bush Email Scandal the Media Has Conveniently Forgotten" from Salon & "Bush Advisors' Approach on Email Draws Fire" from the New York Times. 

Which leads me to this satirical take about why certain people dislike/don't trust/hate Hillary Clinton: "All the Terrible Things Hillary Clinton Has Done - In One Big List." 

Regardless, both cases make me think about how the justice system is rigged for wealthy individuals with connections. 

Nontheless, I'd rather vote for the Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson than Trump. 

My favorite candidate is Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, but I'm still voting for Hillary. 

I'm behind on getting some new music. The Avett Brothers and Sarah Jarosz have new albums, and I'm intrigued by the new album by Sarah Watkins. 

This article will make you think differently about the hot dog. But why do the good ones taste so damn good? 

I've only read two of of Philip K. Dick's novels, The Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, both of which I enjoyed immensely. I had heard he had a troubled background as many artists do, and a new book uncovers his troublesome life. "Philip K. Dick's Divine, Amphetamine-Fueled Madness" sheds some light on the author. It's adapted from the writer's full-length book. 

This morning I was looking at a piece of art from another troubled artist, Jackson Pollock. 

Music Friday: "Down With The Shine"

The new Avett Brothers album, The Carpenter, came out a couple of weeks ago.

One of my favorite tunes on the album is "Down With The Shine,"which considers our obsession with whatever's new or flashy. And you can also interpret it as discussing materialism.

Hope you enjoy the tune and the additional video where Scott Avett where talks about the genesis of the lyrics -- from vulgarity to social commentary.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Music Friday: "January Wedding" & "Harlem River Blues"

I learned this week that longtime reader of PlannedOb is getting hitched. A woman has finally tamed the mighty Fozzie. Congrats, brother.

To celebrate this news, I offer a romantic song by the Avett Brothers (yes, those guys again) called "January Wedding." I don't know whether Fozzie and his better half's wedding will be this month or next January or whenever, but you can click HERE to watch them perform the song off the album I and Love and You.

Here's a selected stanza from the lyrics:

I hope that I don't sound to insane when I say
There is darkness all around us.
I don't feel weak, but I do need sometimes for her to protect me
And reconnect me to the beauty that I'm missin'.
And in January we're gettin' married.

And speaking of Foz, I'm sure he was as geeked up as I was at seeing Justin Townes Earle's performance Wednesday night on Letterman. I'm a big fan of Mr. Earle--all of his albums are solid. In fact, when No Depression solicited community members' opinions about the best albums of 2010, I voted Harlem River Blues number 1 for last year.

On Wednesday night, as Foz and I knew about, Mr. Jason Isbell played lead guitar for Earle on a vintage guitar from the 20s. And I believe the talented Dawn Landes acted as one of the back-up singers for the performance.

So you can also click HERE to watch "Harlem River Blues" on Letterman from Wednesday night if you're so inclined. Note the juxtaposition between the peppy music and the lyrics about going down to the river to kill oneself.

What I was somewhat shocked about during Letterman intro is that it was Earle's network debut. What? He has three albums out and is the son of Americana music icon Steve Earle, and Wednesday night was his debut? Wow. That's an indictment of something.

Music Friday: Avett Brothers Smorgasbord

On a day of excess, I thought I'd offer a number of videos from a band that has become one of my favorites over the past year or so ~ the Avett Brothers. I've featured them before on a Music Friday, but today on New Year's Eve day I'm providing four songs of note. To go to the videos, simply click on the name of each song.

First up is "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise," a slowly paced song with lyrics I enjoy.

Batting second is "Talk on Indolence," and you can find the lyrics below.

Third is "Paranoia in B Flat Major."

And the final of the quartet is "Kick Drum Heart."

All of these videos come from their Live Volume 3 album/dvd.

Talk on Indolence

Well I've been lockin' myself up in my house for sometime now,
Readin' and writin' and readin' and thinkin'
and searching for reasons and missing the seasons.
The Autumn, the Spring, the Summer, the snow.
The record will stop and the record will go.
Latches latched the windows down,
the dog coming in and the dog going out.
Up with caffeine and down with a shot.
Constantly worried about what I've got.
Distracting my work but I can't make a stop,
and my confidence on and my confidence off.
And I sink to the bottom and rise to the top,
and I think to myself that I do this a lot.
World outside just goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes...
and witness it all from the blinds of my window.
THREE, FOUR

I'm a little nervous 'bout what you'll think
When you see me in my swimming trunks.
And last night in New York I got raging drunk.
Remember one time I got raging drunk with you.

Now, I can recall a time when we made the city
Streets our playground, kissing in the fountains
Filled with cigarettes and bottles,
Sped through Italian city streets of cobblestone.

Because we had to
Because I loved you
Because the damned alcohol
Because what ever at all

Now I've grown too aware of my mortality
To let go and forget about dying
Long enough to drop the hammer down
And let the indolence go wild and flying through

Because we had to...

Music Friday: "Slight Figure of Speech"

This is a song from an album I've been listening to a lot lately, I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers.

And the video for this tune is one of the more entertaining videos I've seen in years. Click HERE to enjoy.