Rusties - Move Along

It’s not because you have been a tribute band for years that you have a lack of imagination and talent. Let’s take for example the Rusties. It’s an Italian band who played Neil Young songs since 10 years mainly in Europe (Italy, Germany and Switzerland) and released 3 or 4 CDs full of great covers. Now, they just released their first album with their own compositions and it’s enough talented for me that I should bring it to your attention.
Move Along has a sound that is not far from Californian bands like the Eagles – maybe it’s the sun from Italy… - the harmony of the voice of the Rusties invites the listener to follow the lyrics easily and to sing along with them.
The new album will be out on the 10th of June. It won’t be mentioned everywhere for the moment so I’d like to tell you where it will be available: through ird.it (International Records Distribution) or tubejamrecords.com or iTunes.
In a couple of weeks, the Rusties will be back on tour in the south of Germany - believe me, on stage there are awesome - you can follow them if you wish (more info here: myspace.com/rustiesband)

Bellow Tracks a song that you can hear on Move Along and Southern Man a cover from our old friend Neil Young.

Lucky Girl

MySpace: myspace.com/rustiesband

Rusties - Tracks .mp3 from Move Along
Rusties - Southern Man .mp3 a Neil Young cover

So Far So Good – The Decemberists

What happened since the beginning of the year? Nothing much! I already mentioned here how much I like Barbara Morgenstern and Science For Girls latest works as well as Vetiver’s fourth album. Of course, I didn’t miss the release of the new PJ Harvey, but I need more time to listen to it before I should review it or not here on Leaky Sparrow. What else? Animal Collective, of course, but it was in January. The Leonard Cohen Live and Neil Young’s Fork In The Road because it’s Leonard and Neil... But, the best discovery so far for me is The Decemberists. I missed their previous albums, it’s a good find for me and I really like this concept album around a love story: The Hazards Of Love (Rough Trade Records)

Web: www.decemberists.com

The Decemberists - Shiny.mp3 from 5 Songs (2003)

Sugar Mountain – Left track: The Voice

The first time I ever heard the voice of Neil Young was when I purchased in 1970 my 3 LPs copy of Woodstock - Neil was singing Sea Of Madness - remember: “All I need is your sweet sweet loving…” Soon after, I bought one after the other: Déjà Vu, a compilation of Buffalo Springfield, After the Gold Rush and then the first Neil Young album. What struck me first with the Canadian was his tenor singing voice more than his personal lyrics or his guitar work.
Sugar Mountain, Live At Canterbury House 1968 is a magnificent testimony of the early days when Neil Young started is solo career. This unearth live recording is another example of how his voice is so moving. Unfortunately, later, in October 1975, he had a throat operation and his voice changed a little bit. All I can say is that now he never sings like he used to during his early recordings, for me it’s obvious.
So to come back to Sugar Mountain, this recording allows us to listen to some amazing acoustic renditions of Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing, The Old Laughing Lady, Broken Arrow or If I Could Have Her Tonight… simply, the best of the best.
By the way, Young's Sea of Madness, heard on Woodstock soundtrack album, was actually recorded a month after the festival at the Fillmore East.

Web: neilyoung.com – MySpace: myspace.com/neilyoung

Neil Young - Sugar Mountain .mp3 Live In Bakersfield – March 11, 1973
Neil Young - Only Love Can Break Your Heart .mp3 Live In London – February 27, 1971
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl .mp3

Dennis Hopper & The New Hollywood

I remember… Billy going to the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans… Easy Rider…
I remember… Thomas Ripley playing pool humming Dylan's I Pity The Poor Immigrant and the Beatles' Drive My Car… Der Amerikanische Freund…
I remember… a pretty stoned photojournalist… Apocalypse Now…
I remember… a father working amongst the rubbish… Out Of The Blue…
I remember… someone called Cracker in Human Highway, a fantasy directed by someone called Neil Young…
I remember… sweating while I watched The Hot Spot…
I remember… a bomber terrorist who has nothing in common with “the” Billy from Easy Rider: Speed…
I remember… the Dennis Hopper exhibition that I saw last Saturday.

The Cinématheque Française in Paris – who hosts the largest archive of films, movie documents, and film-related objects in the world – offers until mid-January a wonderful retrospective of all the works and fantasies that Dennis Hopper produced since 40 years or more: movies, drawings, photos, sculpture, and so on. Be careful, it’s a unique exhibition only made for Paris with the “invaluable collaboration” of Dennis Hopper. You won’t see it elsewhere. So, take a plane, a train, a bike and then a Vélib’ and make an exciting journey through the past of Hollywood after Easy Rider.

Did I tell you that Easy Rider changed my life many years ago? And that I gave my old LP to some lucky fellow long time ago?… stupid me!

Web: cinematheque.fr Dennis Hopper & Le Nouvel Hollywood – October 15, 2008 to January 19, 2009

The Band - The Weight .mp3
Jimi Hendrix - If 6 Was 9 .mp3
Ice-T - Personal .mp3
Devo and Neil Young - My My Hey Hey .mp3

I Ran For Miles

I know, you may think that I’m pretty “lazy” these days… it’s because I’ve been away for a while, was “six days on the road”. In Köln (Cologne) to be precise, where I ran the marathon, I “ran for miles”. Believe me it was quite difficult: the distance, the cold, the wind and the rain. Anyway, I finished and most of all I was with one of the “unknown legends” who encouraged me so much. ‘Cause “only love can break your heart”.

Sorry, for this strange post with lots of codes…
Know that I listened to a lot of music too, so I will come back pretty soon to share with you some of my latest discoveries.

Mark Kozelek - Lazy .mp3
Gram Parsons - Six Days On The Road .mp3
Gemma Hayes - Ran For Miles (Home Demo) .mp3
Kathleen Edwards - Unknown Legend .mp3
Neil Young & Paul McCartney - Only Love Can Break Your Heart .mp3

Photo: Joe (Flickr.com)

Neil Young Back Home

After a successful summer tour in Europe, Neil Young will cross North America next fall. It looks like he wants to follow his fellow friend Bob (Dylan) on a never ending 2008 tour. Details here. And don’t forget to read lwwtoday.

MySpace: myspace.com/neilyoung

Below a live recording of Wrecking Ball (Colmar, France – August 15, 2008):
Neil Young - Wrecking Ball .mp3
Bonus: Linda Ronstadt - I Believe You .mp3 via Roio

Photo: Neil Young @Helsinki, Finland - August 7, 2008 (Tomi Mikola)