In 2009 I resolve to.....

Buy more Neil Young of course (hope you guys got the blu-rays from santa :P)




Neil Young Archives, potentially the greatest box set in the history of box sets (yes, could be better than Sojourner), is set to be released in less than 2 months....on Feb. 24th, 2009. And buddy, it ain't cheap either, here's the listing here http://www.amazon.com/Neil-Young-Archives-Vol-1963-1972/dp/B001B8PV4U (make sure to watch the video)

Now Neil has always been pretty vocal about his disdain for the compact disc, and he thinks he has finally found a media that it better than oh so sweet vinyl.....that's right, Neil is going out of the black and into the blu (oh God....sorry about that people....). I'm pretty excited about this myself as it is uncharted water for any artist and a HUGE.....I mean GRANDIOSE project. I am not however excited about the price tag, but if this thing delivers....it just might be worth it. One of the coolest aspects I think is the ability to update the data on the Blu-Rays much like one would update software or a video game. Hopefully with such a hefty price tag, the updates and extra material will not incur additional fees.

Now for those worried about this being a blu-ray only release, I wouldn't worry too much about it. First off I'm sure some of the music is bound to see CD release....if not, you know it won't be a week before someone has ripped the audio and leaked it to the internets. So don't fret folks....I for one am going to start saving....

David Rawlings Machine - Tangiers Restaurant (Los Angeles, CA 10/4/07)

If there is one thing that needs to happen in 2009, it's that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings need to make a new album. Sure they have been busy producing killer album after killer album, and guesting on killer album after killer album...but c'mon....we sometimes we need to drink straight from the well. It's been almost 6 years since Soul Journey....in that time they have given us Old Crow Medicine Show to fill the gap, they have toured with Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin, indie darlings Rilo Kiley, recorded a song with Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) for the movie Bolt, made surprise appearences with She & Him (actress Zooey Daschenel and M. Ward), with the Decemberists, guested on Del McCoury, even Bright Eye's albums, and toured themselves under the name David Rawlings Machine....hell seems like they have been doing everything but making a new album. Well rumor is we may be graced with a 2009 Gillian Welch album...until that time, here be the most recent show of theirs I have to keep us occupied and remind us of their genius. Sound is a little iffy on this one, but a great boot none the less.

MP3 @ 192 (144MB)

David Rawlings Machine - Tangiers Restaurant

Magnolia Electric Co. - The Abbey Pub (Chicago, IL 11/3/08)

Jason Molina & company are hard at work getting their latest masterpiece ready for release sometime next year. The new album is tentatively titled "A Map of The Falling Stars" and is being produced by Steve Albini. I for one can not wait for this one to hit the shelves, and if you are like me, you probably want to hear some of those new songs....well you can either go see them live (this is the recommended way), or download this show. New songs sound like classic Molina, and old favorites sound better than ever. At the end he plays a song he says he wrote for Willie Nelson....which I have never heard of, so I looked it up.....and found nothing...hmmm. If anybody has any info on that would love to know about it.

Here's a short review of the show
Buy MECo & Songs: Ohia albums here, free downloads available here

MP3 @ 192
Magnolia Electric Co. - The Abbey Pub

A Truer Christmas 2

By popular demand (well, one guy) we have another fricken Christmas comp (I know, I know...just what the blog world needs right now). What's amazing to me is the fact that I was able to compile not one, but TWO half decent christmas comps in a fairly niche genre.

Now first off a little warning....if there is is one time of year a person should be allowed to listen to cheesey songs it is Christmas. Keep that in mind while spinning this....cause some of these would be right at home at your christmas party on a little tray with ritz crackers. But I tried to keep it a fairly even mix (believe me, I could have made it MUCH cheesier). Features one of my absolute favorite Merle Haggard songs of all time, which of course is "If We Make It Through December". I was also VERY surprised when I found a Scott Miller Christmas tune. Thanks to Payton at This Morning I Am Born Again for a few of these tracks that really helped fill out this collection.

Oh and about that Unknown Hinson track.....well nothing quite says Christmas like wifebeating (to quote one Axle Rose, take it for what it is people).

Now download this and get to singing Ho-Ho-Ho we was po po po :)


1 Hank Snow - Reindeer Boogie
2 Buck Owens - Christmas Time's A-Comin'
3 Michael Reno Harrell - More Than I Deserve
4 Commander Cody -Daddy's Drinking Up Our Christmas
5 Merle Haggard -If We Make It Through December
6 Scott Miller - Skeptical Christmas
7 Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison - A Winter's Tale
8 Doc Watson - Snowbird
9 Bill Anderson - 'Po Folks Christmas
10 Willie Nelson - Pretty Paper
11 Hank Thompson - Gonna Wrap My Heart in Ribbons
12 Jim Lauderdale - Holly And Her Mistletoe
13 George Jones - My Mom and Santa Claus
14 Tennessee Ernie Ford - Christmas Dinner
15 Old 97's - Here It Is Christmas
16 The Long Ryders - Christmas In New Zealand
17 Chuck Berry - Christmas
18 Mojo Nixon - Christmas, Christmas
19 Unknown Hinson - Black and Blue Christmas
20 The Gougers - Just Because It's Christmas
21 Dale Watson - Honky Tonk Christmas
22 Loretta Lynn - To Heck With Ole Santa Claus
23 Ernest Tubb - I'll Be Walkin' the Floor This Christmas
24 Bobby Bare - Christmas Train
25 Frontier Ruckus - Driving Home, Christmas Eve
26 Felice Brothers - Christmas Song
27 Johnny Cash - The Ballad of Harp Weaver

MP3 @ 192 (111MB)
A Truer Christmas 2

Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Bobby Rambo - Live At The Three Teardrops Tavern 5-8-92

Someone left a comment asking where to start with Townes Van Zandt and if I have any shows of his....well of course I have some shows, and here's a brand spankin' new one. All I have to say about this one is DAMN!! The sound on this one....EXCELLENT, the performances on this....EXCELLENT!!
This is basically a Townes and Guy show with Ray Wylie and Bobby Rambo thrown as a bonus. After listening to this a couple times, I'm honestly surprised this hasn't seen official release yet....it's that good. The version of Townes' "Marie" on here kills me. Other bonuses on here....learn a little back story to Guy's L.A. Freeway, learn why they call it the Three Teardrops Tavern (now a Duccati dealership). Highlight is by far the Townes and Guy singing trading songs off and singing together at the end.
This is the first I've ever heard of Bobby Rambo, but I'm very impressed by what's on here, an artist I will have to find more about. Oh and if you still want to know where to start with Townes, get Live at The Old Quarter (especially if you like this)

MP3 @ 192 (206MB)
Download Three Drops Tavern here

My latest musical obsession...

This is NQ Arbuckle out of Toronto, Ontario. Pick up their newest album XOK (the above is the title cut), you will thank me later.

From The Archives: Eliza Gilkyson - St. David's Episcopal Church 12-4-07

From The Archives - Might as well throw all the Christmas themed stuff up while the time is right. I friggen love this one, Eliza is one of my favorite artists out there right now, one of the most beautiful voices in the business. If you don't know where to start with Eliza (her catalouge can be a little overwhelming) might I recommend her excellent live album from last year Your Town Tonight.

http://www.elizagilkyson.com/
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Time to get in that christmas mood people, and I'm not talking about going shopping. This is a nice little set from Eliza that is almost gospel sounding. Don't worry, it's not preachy though. I guess playing in a church, it's bound to happen though......sounding gospel-like....not being preachy. Anyway, the sound on this is great, and she runs through some good original material and some good christmas material. Her backing band (Will Taylor & Strings Attached) run through some good christmas....ahem...HOLIDAY songs as well. Including Dreidel, Dreidel which strikes me as odd since they are play in a church. But hey, maybe that song's from the old testament :P


MP3
Eliza Gilkyson - St. Davids Episcopal

From The Archives: A Truer Christmas

From The Archives - This is from exactly 1 year ago today, and what's amazing to me is that the sharebee link is still good! This is not the only one I've come across that is still good either, so cheers to sharebee, and Merry Christmas to everyone out there in blog land

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I believe Vaughn planted the bug for this one back during the Truer Halloween post. Let me just say this, this was no easy task my friend. I found out 2 important things will compiling this: 1. There are a shit ton of christmas albums, 2. Most of them suck (as a matter of fact the cover I made reflects what I felt like doing after about the 14th listen to some crappy over produced rendition of "insert christmas song here". But I think I came up with something workable. I tried to seperate them a little so the sadder songs (christmas tearjerkers my friends) are towards the back, but some of them (like the Dwight Yoakam "santa can't stay") I couldn't decide whether they were tragic or funny. You will also come to realize I have a special love for surf music in my heart (I had to try hard to keep from puttin a ventures song on here, and the next to final draft DID INDEED have a ventures song on it). A couple of the songs were mandatory (like the "Merry Christmas From The Family" & "Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy") but I tried to veer away from the traditional stuff. One thing on here that bugs me though is the censorship of the otherwise excellent "Oklahoma Christmas". I couldn't for the life of me find an uncensored version, doubt their even is one. I kept the song on the mix though cause hell it's still a funny song and since it's censored, you can play this mix in front of the little ones without getting on Santa's bad list....too much.

01-Dwight Yoakam-Run Run Rudolph
02-Reverend Horton Heat-Jingle Bells
03-Adam's House Cat-Santa's Out of Rehab by Christmas
04-Southern Culture On The Skids-Merry Christmas Baby
05-Robert Earl Keen-Merry Christmas From The Family (Live)
06-Asylum Street Spankers-Red Nosed Reindeer Blues
07-Los Straitjackets-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
08-Buck Owens & Susan Raye-Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
09-Old 97's-Holly Jolly Christmas
10-Reverend Horton Heat-Santa On The Roof

11-Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison-Oklahoma Christmas
12-John Prine-Everything Is Cool
13-The Refreshments-My Christmas Baby
14-Ry Cooder-Christmas In Southgate
15-Robert Earl Keen-Happy Holiday Y'all
16-Dwight Yoakam-Santa Can't Stay
17-Buck Owens & Susan Raye-All I Want For Christmas is My Daddy
18-Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison-Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk
19-Clarence White-Silver Bells
20-Squirrel Nut Zippers-Gift Of The Magii

21-Roger Miller-Old Toy Trains
22-Steve Earle-Nothing But a Child (Demo)
23-The Band-Christmas Must Be Tonight
24-John Prine-Christmas In Prison
25-Red Star Belgrade-Xmas Day

MP3 @ VBRs

A Truer Christmas

From The Archives: Buffalo Springfield - The Missing Herd

From The Archives - Got a request for this a post or so down, so thought I would throw it up while I was going through the archives.

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This is a treat right here. A set of rare and live proto country-rock pioneers Buffalo Springfield. If you don't know it was Stephen Stills and Neil Young's band in the mid 60's (along with Richie Furray of Poco). The second disc of this, the live stuff.....is damned good. The rarities are good too, but I find myself spinning the live disc alot more. Features some of my favorite Buffalo Springfield songs: Mr. Soul, A Child's Claim to Fame and Bluebird (check out the extended mix at the end of disc one and the live jam at the end of disc two). If you like Neil Young......you'll probably like this one........it's got Neil Young roaring guitar work all over it.

MP3 @ 192
http://www.zshare.net/download/525347306839efea/

Torrent

Scott Miller's new album now available for limited pre-order

Butter my butt and call me excited! Scott is making his latest album (not due out officially until next march) available for pre-order on his website. This is the same album that Appalachian Refugee demos helped fund (I got mine, didja get yours?). Act fast though, the info states only 1000 pre-order copies will be available. Not only will you get the new signed and numbered CD before Christmas (least that's what the site says) he's also going to throw in a making of a making of video available on the enhanced CD!!! hot damn!!

More info and samples below (check out the vid, for a killer preview)http://www.thescottmiller.com/forcryingoutloud.html

Kinda dissapointed however that I don't see "Appalachian Refugee" on that tracklist (by far my fave track off the demos)....cool to see a Tom T. Hall cover though. Oh and also nice to see a duet with Patty Griffin on Right Here My Love

What's going on around here?

So just thought I would give you guys a little heads up as to what's going on with the site. First you may have missed the comment I made regarding my absence, so here it is up front:

Sorry guys, but OB Dan was right....I did
lose interest. Got tired of fooling with the uploads and it just got to where it
felt like an obligation. But let me tell you what, I come here after not even
checking the site for a month or two and see these wonderful comments.This one
in particular reminded me of why I started doing this in the first
place:

"jeremiah said... this is an excellent comp,
always love getting these. Hadn't heard Malcolm Holcombe before, that was a nice
introduction. Thanks for putting it together.
November 18, 2008 8:47 PM"

That's really what it's all about folks, and
in the words of the might Louvin brothers.....'tis sweet to be
remembered

So here's my plan, you may have noticed the new digs....that was step one, step two is to get all the posts in the archives upped as torrents, and properly labelled so they are easier to navigate, step three is to restructure my links and other odds and ends (most of those links are dead now anyway), and step four is to keep on posting. You guys and your comments are what keep me going and what brought me back.

About the torrents, I decided to start using torrents because they seem to have a longer shelf life than file hosting sites. So long as my hard drive functions, you can bet I'll keep em seeded, they may be slow downloads for the first few people but they will always be there. If you don't know how to use torrents and what they are, here is a good how to (BTW I recommend either uTorrent or BitTorrent).

Now I plan on bringing this blog out of the shadows a bit, pretty much everything I post on here nowadays is legit anyway, save for the samplers. If someone has a problem with a sampler I post, of course I will remove the offending material (this seems to be a recurring problem lately for other blogs). I plan on posting more news and informational type items in between the music posts. Also occasionaly will be pulling items out of the archives and featuring them. When I do this I will put a fresh download link on it.

About the samplers, no longer will I be doing a monthly Truesounds, but quarterly. This was one of the things that burnt me out before....trying to come up with a quality Truesounds each and every month by the end of the month. I think you guys will get higher quality samplers out of the deal.

Finally I need some of you guys help, while digging through the archives and re-upping and labelling I have come across a few of the older items which I no longer have due to a hard drive crash I had a year or so ago. So I'm asking you guys if you have some of these items to please send them to me at truersound@gmail.com. Right now stuff I'm missing is:

Drive By Truckers - Live Acoustic and Otherwise (this was actually the first one I made covers for)
Scott Miller - Live at Smith's Old Bar Jan. 29, 2004
Murder Ballads & Songs About Killin' (kills me I can't find this....my first "sampler" so to speak...it was the proto sampler)
Son Volt - The Search I-Tunes Exclusive Tracks

Thanks in advance, and thanks especially for sticking around

Neil Young & The International Harvesters - Austin City Limits 1984

Here's a sweet Neil Young boot from Austin City Limits 1984. Now I searched and searched for a proper cover for this but could not find one (which is strange when it comes to Neil Young boots). So I'm thinking somebody must have dicked with the track list or sequencing at some point. Regardless, it's a killer set full of country rock goodness.......big emphasis on the COUNTRY part of that statement. Check out the country version of Hawks & Doves on this thing.
1. Are You Ready For The Country?
2. Hawks & Doves
3. Comes A Time
4. Bound For Glory
5. Let Your Fingers Do The Walking
6. Are There Anymore Real Cowboys?
7. Heart Of Gold
8. Amber Jean
9. Roll Another Number (For The Road)
10. Southern Pacific
11. Needle and The Damage Done


MP3 @192 (56MB)
Torrent
http://sharebee.com/4a9e74cd

Wilco - Who Were You Thinking Of? (Live From St. Louis, MO 4-25-95)

You know usually I'm not much of a Wilco fan, and sometimes I regret "not getting it". But I still dig their first couple albums, and this here boot is a fine testament to those two albums. Sprinkled with covers and Jeff Tweedy's Uncle Tupelo songs, this thing flows like fine wine (wine....also another thing "I don't get"). If you're like me and never really got Wilco, but love Uncle Tupelo give this a listen and it might open your eyes a little (check out the song "It's Just That Simple"). If you're already a Wilco fan, well then I guess you know what to expect! There is a cool acoustic version of Gun on here (one of my fave UT songs)

MP3 @ 160 (150MB)
Torrent
http://www.zshare.net/download/52395908e5e6f736/

Scott H. Biram - Riley's Tavern (Hunter, TX 1-5-07)

The last Scott H. Biram post got a lot of love, so I thought I would throw up another one. Man this guy is killer, just him, a guitar, lot's of whiskey and a stompbox. Dirty old one man band indeed. This thing came with a shit ton of pictures from the show, I didn't include them, but some of them were pretty damn funny. The best ones are included on the artwork (which also came with it). Must've been a hell of a show.

Check out Scott's tour schedule here

MP3 @ 128 (159MB)
Scott H. Biram - Riley's Tavern

Uncle Tupelo - Live at The Blue Note 7-22-88

Man I love this show, thought I would throw it up here to make up for all the missed days (well I wouldn't say I was missing them Bob :P ). This is a very early Uncle Tupelo show....mostly covers.....but killer covers. What they are doing here is paying their dues....."if I only had a dollar........ for every time I had to play while people sat there drunk" kind of stuff. Sound on this is almost official release quality...infact with just a little mastering this would make an excellent addition to the UT catalog (wink, wink...nudge, nudge).

MP3 @ 192 (80MB)

Torrent
http://sharebee.com/b5b320855b32085

Justin Townes Earle doin' some Townes

This guy put out probably my favorite album of '08. I think he says it all in this vid, from "If you want to hear Steve Earle songs, go to a Steve Earle show" to "Townes Van Zandt is the greatest songwriter who ever lived....period....stop.......exclamation point"