Reed Foehl - "Stoned Beautiful"

Love this title track from Reed Foehl's 2007 album. Here is some background directly from his website:
A Boston native based in Colorado since 1989, Foehls third solo release of Once An Ocean (2009) comes on the heels of his acclaimed Stoned Beautiful (2007), a departure from the jam-oriented repertoire of his band Acoustic Junction and his first solo release, Spark (2004).

With an endless stream of bleeding-heart songwriters, its not often that you find one with such a voice, along with a matched musical sensibility. If Foehl was singing in Yiddish, I'd still get what he's feeling. In other words, this guy's got soul.

His simple yet powerful, direct compositions have caught the attention of new fans nationwide through commercial radio airplay and placements for television and film.

Reed has performed with

Arlo Guthrie, Ray Lamontagne, Patty Griffin, Dave Matthews, Mike Doughty, Glenn Phillips, Colin Hay, Taj Majal, David Lindley,

My Morning Jacket, Marc Cohn...to name a few.

This one sounds good LOUD.  ENJOY!

Listen to "Stoned Beautiful"
title track from the album

Click here to view Reed Foehl tour dates.
Click here to view a Reed Foehl video.

Nizlopi - "Helen"

Nizlopi is a British band I just stumbled across a month ago or so.  These guys have a unique sound and have been referred to as folk hip-hop artists...go figure.  I heard "Helen" on my personal Pandora station and was immediately intrigued.  I subsequently read a little about them and found out a few interesting facts about them:

1)  They had a number one hit in England in 2005 with a song called "JCB Song."
 
2) They no longer exist...
From Wikipedia:   
On 10 February 2010 an e-mail was sent out to all mailing list subscribers confirming that the band had split up after being together for 17 years. Luke Concannon stated "And that after many wild meanderings and much confusion I feel I must go on, on my own from here. That my dream is now to do another project, not Nizlopi, and to build a new life. So, this is good bye from Nizlopi. We are no more! Wow, there you go I said it. Scary as it is."

3) There entire sound comes from only two band members, one of which was a beat box artist...
More from the Wikipedia entry: 
Nizlopi were a two-piece band comprising Luke Concannon on vocals, guitar, and bodhrán, and John Parker on double bass, human beatbox, and providing backing vocals. They were based in Leamington Spa, England...and were educated at Trinity Catholic Technology College. Prior to attending Trinity Catholic Technology College, Luke and John attended St. Joseph's Primary. The band is named after a Hungarian girl that Luke had a crush on at school.

Our song-of-the-weekend today comes from their 2006 album called 'ExtraOrdinary.'

ENJOY!

 Listen to "Helen"
From the album 'ExraOrdinary'

Click here to watch a video of Nizlopi performing "Helen" live.  (song starts at 2:45)

Cracker - "Euro Trash Girl"

During the mid 1980's I was a huge fan of the California band Camper Van Beethoven.  When they disbanded around 1990 lead singer and guitarist David Lowery formed the band Cracker with guitarist Johnny Hickman.  Since that time, they have released 10 studio albums, two live albums, have toured extensively, and have had several hits along the way.  Their music is an eclectic mix of rock, punk, alt-country, psychedelia, blues and folk.
All these years later, Cracker is probably still best known for their second full-length recording, the 1993 album 'Kerosene Hat.' That record features our song-of-the-weekend selection "Euro Trash Girl" about which Daily Vault Music Review blogger Sean McCarthy writes:  Arguably the most beloved hidden track is the eight-minute-plus ode to bohemian listlessness "Euro Trash Girl." The song details one of the worst weekends you could ever have in a foreign country: having your car broken into, getting ripped off by a junkie, getting a case of the crabs, calling your folks for money only to have them hang up on you; but somehow, the chorus of “Yeah, I’ll search the world over for my angel in black” still leaves you hopeful.
I get a kick out of the story he tells and, for me, this one's as easy to slip into as an old pair of jeans.  ENJOY!

Listen to "Euro Trash Girl"
From the album 'Kerosene Hat'

Click here to view Cracker tour dates.
Click here to view Cracker live "Euro Trash Girl" video.

Tarkio - "If I Had More Time"

Our song-of-the-weekend offering is yet ANOTHER Pandora hidden gem I heard for the first time this past week.
Tarkio was a band from (believe it or not) Missoula, Montana which was formed in 1996 by Colin Meloy prior to his forming The Decemberists.
They were only around for three years (it seems they realized venues where human beings could actually attend would be a plus) and a couple of albums but I like their sound. "If I Had More Time" is from their first studio album which was released in 1998. ENJOY!

Tarkio - "If I Had More Time"
From the album 'I Guess I Was Hoping for Something More'


Listen to "If I Had More Time"