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Funny How Time Slips Away – Lyle Lovett & Al Green (1994)

It’s always interesting when 2 musical worlds come together in duet form; Bono and Frank Sinatra was pretty amazing, obviously Run DMC and Aerosmith was groundbreaking, but mixing country music with the rock, hip hop or pop worlds has produced some questionable results to say the very least. That’s not to say country influences brought together with other styles hasn’t worked beautifully in the past, because it has with artists like Buck 65 and Beck for instance, but straight up duets have offered far more to condemn than to praise. Nelly and Tim McGraw offered the worst piece of shit in the history of music with the track “Over and Over” which was followed closely behind by Shania Twain and Mark McGrath’s “Party for Two” (at least for the recent memory of my ears those 2 tracks were about as bad as it can get); but I shouldn’t speak too quickly when a new champion is emerging calling itself “That Should be Me” by Justin Bieber and Rascal Flatts. That any of these songs made it past a demo stage let alone added to radio is a musical crime that should be punishable by making whoever planted those nightmare duet seeds listen to only those songs for the rest of their lives. Have I pounded this point to death enough yet?

Here’s some positivity (I do possess some): Lyle Lovett and Al Green covering the classic Willie Nelson (via Donny Mauldin) song “Funny How Time Slips Away”. Not only is this a good example of country meeting another musical world in the form of a duet (that almost makes up for the ones I’ve mentioned) it’s also a cover song which has been given new life rather than performed exactly like the original. This is a classic tune that has been covered over the years by The Supremes, Elvis Presley, Homer Simpson and of course the Grammy Winning performance by Lyle Lovett and Al Green in 1994 which brings this rant to a peaceful and happy ending.

The Weatherman (Pt. 2) – Alert The Medic (2010)

One of the most interesting parts of my job is the ability to see the evolution of a band, not just their music or live show but also the evolution of awareness as more and more people start to find out about them. My beginnings on music television took place in Halifax, and through the show Going Coastal I was fortunate to witness the growing careers of artists like Classified, Joel Plaskett and Wintersleep as they slugged it out and earned their audience and successes with every gig.

An over night success is rare, believe me, and very often an artist has slugged through many years and many lives before they reach our ears. Nova Scotia’s “Alert the Medic” have been slowly building their sound since back in 2002 when they were still called Rudy, and I always remembered them by the cover of their 2006 self titled “Alert the Medic” album because of the amazing cover art. In fact it was one of the last CD’s I remember being handed as the Going Coastal dude, but that was in 2007 and then they kinda fell off my radar. They were brought back onto my radar this year at CMW when my band ended up on a gig with them. Their live show was great, the songs were great and the next day I did a little “Alert the Medic” catch up and found out that they had been busy bees since that 2006 album. In addition to the touring Alert the Medic have been doing they also have managed to score some pretty impressive radio success for an independent band and I also found a video for a track called “The Weatherman Pt. 2” from their newest album “We, the Weapon”. I liked the song, I liked it a lot, I liked it so much that I asked the boys to send the video in so I could use it as a Matt Track (the first time I’ve done so), and now….. it has found your ears.

Scattered And Small – Amelia Curran (2006)

Ron Hynes is one of the most renowned songwriters in Canada and a music legend in Newfoundland and Labrador, if you have the opportunity to check out the documentary “The Man of A Thousand Songs” it’s an interesting story of how Ron’s life dedicated to chasing the muse caused him to lose and find himself over and over again. In that documentary you will also see Amelia Curran who used to work the door at his shows at the Ship Inn in St. John’s while an aspiring songwriter herself, and these days she is talked about in the same breath with Ron as a musician. She’s been a busker, toured by bus (and I don’t mean tour bus I mean a Greyhound bus) and has found success as an actor, playwright and of course songwriter. Her latest release “Hunter, Hunter” won the 2010 Juno for Solo Roots and Traditional Album of the year but she has 4 earlier albums that led her to that. Check out the track “Scattered and Small” from her 2006 album “War Brides” which should be all the convincing you need to seek out the rest of her music.

Roller – Beady Eye (2011)

It was only a matter of time before Oasis finally broke up. The Gallagher brothers love/hate relationship has become infamous over the years and will probably never really go away, it hasn’t gone away in the almost 2 years since they removed themselves from the musical landscape and it certainly won’t go away anytime soon because Liam has started a new band which is pretty much Oasis without Noel.

Liam has already done his Gallagher brotherly duty of keeping the love and hate alive when in a radio interview he said “Noel’s album will be great but mine will be better”. The new album he speaks of is with his new band called Beady Eye which quickly came out of the ashes of Oasis, Liam has actually said the band was formed literally minutes after Noel left (which I think is just a little Gallagher jab). They have recently played their first shows and released the first album “Different Gear, Still Speeding”. So the only question left is: what do they sound like? Well it kinda sounds like Oasis, exactly like Oasis, but without Noel writing the songs. I’m not complaining mind you, I’m just saying.

Making Gestures – The Pack A.D. (2009)

The mainstream success of the White Stripes and the constant media focus on that band consisting of just 2 members created 1 of 2 things: 1. A lot more 2 member bands trying to capitalize on the success of The Stripes or 2. A lot more exposure for existing 2 member bands because the industry was now paying more attention; or both of those things. Either way there have been some excellent post White Stripes 2 member bands: Black Lips, the reunited “DFA 1979” and perhaps the best of them all, a Vancouver duo called the Pack A.D. who would easily win the 2 member band battle royal. From their 2009 Funeral mix tape check out Making Gestures.

thanks for listening,
=mw

Tags: Al Green, Alert the Medic, Ameila Curran, beady eye, Lyle Lovett, Matt Tracks, matt wells, oasis, Ron Hynes, The Pack A.D., Willie Nelson

Posted: April 18th, 2011 | Category: Matt Tracks
Tags: Al Green, Alert the Medic, Ameila Curran, beady eye, Lyle Lovett, Matt Tracks, matt wells, oasis, Ron Hynes, The Pack A.D., Willie Nelson