Granted, I’ve never heard of the good old Deschutes River Brewery, but I like the concept of having artists cover river related songs by a river, it’s a perfect fit for all of the indie live music video companies that are around nowadays, and plus who doesn’t want to see Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper cover a classic by The Band?
Tag: Blitzen Trapper
To grab the mix, either click on the image or the text.
Track-listing:
1. Peoples – Cheers Elephant
2. The Fritz – Cruiser
3. The Walk – Mayer Hawthorne
4. Everyone Knows – Vacationer
5. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) – Talking Heads
6. Milk – Theme Park
7. The Hale Bop – Mystery Jets
8. She’s So Scandalous – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
9. Fletcher – Blitzen Trapper
10. Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder
11. Skin It Back – Little Feat
12. Carrying The Torch – Generationals
13. My Baby Is The Real Thing – Allen Toussaint
14. Come On Sock It To Me – Syl Johnson
15. Got To Be Some Changes Made – The Staple Singers
16. Scratch My Back – Otis Redding
17. Knock On Wood – Eddie Floyd
18. Blackmail – Robert Palmer
19. Ain’t Gonna Stop – Natural Child
20. Greatest Hits – Mystery Jets
21. If You Let Me Be Your Anchor – Dawes
I’ve been a fan of Josh Tillman since well… he was Josh Tillman. The beautiful “Steel on Steel” from Vacilando Territory Blues, his 2009 LP was what first caught my eye. However, Josh Tillman is a man of many hats as he’s been the drummer for Fleet Foxes and most recently, adorned the nom de plum Father John Misty and come out with his Sub Pop debut Fear Fun. It’s already gathered praise from indie greats like Blitzen Trapper and Dawes (whose bass player, Wylie Gelber was assistant producer on the album) and cuts through with sonic clarity that hasn’t felt so earnest in years. Tillman described the development of the album as “I got into my van with enough mushrooms to choke a horse and started driving down the coast with nowhere to go” yet the album itself doesn’t wander. “Nancy From Now On”, the second song on the album almost sounds like the bastard child of The Beach Boys, The BeeGees and Harry Nilsson but without either’s excess. A great song, and an equally great album. Plus, that album artwork is fantastic.
Blitzen Trapper might as well start adding “the hardest working band in showbusiness” to their name. After releasing the fantastic American Goldwing last year and co-headlining a tour with Dawes, just about playing ever SXSW show humanly possible and getting prepped to go on another tour this year, Blitzen Trapper released a 7-inch for Record Store Day 2012 featuring a classic take on “Hey Joe” and “Skirts on Fire” an unreleased song from the American Goldwing sessions. Here, “Skirts on Fire” sounds like a lost cut off of Grateful Dead’s Workingman’s Dead, a catchy countrified number that deserves to be heard by everyone. So do yourself a favor and pick up the exclusive yellow vinyl (there are only 1800 in circulation) and happy Record Store Day!
The Art of the Mixtape 