South By Southwest is coming up real soon. I do not know the exact dates, as I won’t be going. It aint cheap. And while all that good music is tempting, the knowledge that I might not even get into the shows I want to see is also a consideration. So I wont travel to the completely opposite end of the continent, but I will provide a sampling of what anyone lucky enough to get out there should check out. Namely Mark Bragg and band. Its hard to put a tag on Mark Bragg. And personally, as much as people enjoy relating to something tangible, I don’t like it. There is a strong vein of storytelling in his music, its earnest and sincere. Plus live on a stage he never fails to dissappoint. Solid showmanship and solid cd. Check him out at SXSW

March, 17 2007 at The Co-op, Austin, Texas.
This show I am sure is restricted to those 21 and above and possesion of 15pieces of valid ID, all in mint condition without scratches tears, smudges, melted chocolate, or anything on them. Also needed are 3 letters of guarantee, from any of the following: priest, politician, policeman. God Bless American Drinking laws, keeping the younguns sheltered.

Mark Bragg – Plans For The Boys
Mark Bragg – Murder In The Southlands

Mark Bragg on MYSPACE

Hey there are .m4a’s so make sure you can play em k thx goodnight

Emm Gryner

Back in 2001 Emm Gryner released an album entirely of covers. Toris Amos did the same. Her’s was more popular. Tori Amos has fans on a cultish level. Emm Gryner sadly does not. Which is a shame, because Girl Versions is a perfect collection of covers. Emm opted to release the album as an album, and not a lavish concept that takes the forms of a multitude of characters. It is less pretentious this way.  Heavy songs like *shudder* Def Leppard’s (famous for all the wrong reasons) Pour Some Sugar on Me get reworked into love ballads.  I still cannot help but having a snicker at the lyrics, they are rather preposterous and highlight all that was wrong/right with the 80s.  Still she pulls it off and gives plastic surgery to a song, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Kenny Roger’s face got smoothed over with a steam roller.  

Fugazi’s : waiting room…. or Thrush Hermit’s : Day We Hit The Coast.  That was the choice presented to me, I don’t want to upload the entire album, and a line must be drawn, so two tracks only.  Thrush Hermit win out, as I feel kinship with their name, I’m a forest hermit.  Plus we are both from the East Coast of Canada. BIGUPS.   And Joel Plaskett is amazing.  Emm’s version lacks the sheer aural assault of the original, but it conveys much more emotion, one would suspect Joel might strum it in similar fashion if he were to rework it.  And no Def Leppard will not be uploaded, I have my limits.

Emm Gryner – Pour Some Sugar on Me
Emm Gryner – The Day We Hit the Coast

Thrush Hermit – The Day We Hit the Coast