Anti Blog

Make sure to put on your footed pajamas (*I actually have some), hit the couch and watch Neko Case perform tonight on Late Night with Conan O’Brian. It’s a rerun, but like pizza, it might even be better. Norm MacDonald is pretty hilarious on the show as well.

Jason Lytle recently sent some exclusive live videos over to Spinner, which they’ll be premiering over the next couple of weeks with Lytle’s written descriptions of each clip. First up is ‘Brand New Sun,’ brought to life at the San Francisco Airport.

Jason explains: “Once I got past the discomfort of having to see my face so up close, I remember how excited I was to play with Aaron Burtch (Grandaddy drummer) at the San Francisco Airport, of all places. I had not seen Aaron for more than 2 years, and I asked him if he wanted to do this “airport show” with me. He said, “Sure. What are we gonna play?” I told him I didn’t know, and that we would just wing it. Filmed by my pals the General Assembly, well, let’s just say the crowd footage is priceless.”

Singer-songwriter ex skateboarder and recent Montana resident Jason Lytle stopped by Minnesota Public Radio today and performed three songs from his acclaimed new album Yours Truly, The Commuter.

Set list:
Yours Truly, The Commuter
You’re Too Gone
Brand New Sun

(Nationaal Archief)

Here’s a simple and free service to improve your cultural life. Each weekday, the people over at the Daily Dose, who bill themselves as a “new music discovery service for grown-ups,” will match up two great songs that “just make sense, together” and provide them for your listening pleasure. It’s a good way to constantly discover cool new Anti-like music. Kind of like a bite-sized version of a 70s-style radio that had people running to the local record store with an artists names and song titles scribbled on their hands.

Check it here.

This video appeared on YouTube. We don’t know who made it but they seem to know their protest music. The merging of Mavis Staples‘ moving freedom song “We Shall Not Be Moved” with current images from the struggles in Tehran seems perfect. “We’re fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved”

(Jalapeño)

Spin is heralding cacophonous art rock power house Man Man as a must see act at the Rothbury Festival being held July 2-5 in, where else, Rothbury, Michigan. That’s no small compliment seeing as there are almost a hundred bands playing including such up and comers as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys.

Spin raves: “While they might not be familiar to jam-friendly fans attending Rothbury, Man Man is bound to be embraced by lovers of mind-bending music with their wonky, Zappa-esque arrangements and frenetic, percussive live show.”

Read and see more here.

(Willard Wigan)

Artist Willard Wigan is the creator of the world’s smallest sculptures. The above scene is situated inside a sewing needle. Wigan takes months to complete a piece and works between heartbeats to avoid hand tremors. He uses a tiny surgical blade to carve his figures out of gold and grains of sand which are then mounted on pinheads. To paint he uses a hair plucked from a dead fly (the fly has to have died from natural causes, as he refuses to kill them for his art). Wigans recently completed a sculpture of the Obama family.

Visit Wigan’s site for more images here.

Watch a video on Wigan here.

(Pat Delmar)

Bettye LaVette’s new iTunes EP “A Change is Gonna Come Sessions” debuts at #8 on the Billboard Top Current Blues albums this week.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette raves: “On this six-song EP, LaVette brings her singular depth to the title song and is achingly poignant on Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Lush Life,’ Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’ is wrenching…While she reminds us of Otis Redding’s intense pleading and of Tina Turner and Patti LaBelle’s firepower, it is LaVette’s soul-deep emotion and transcendent delivery that sets her apart…It seems LaVette’s long overdue time has finally come.”

Strange Enough (Mr. Oizo Remix) - N.A.S.A.

Intergalactic trip hopping time travelers N.A.S.A are releasing a superb remix of their song “Strange Enough” done by the the phenomenal Mr Oizo. The guy is a renowned French Electro House producer and member of the the Ed Banger crew. His interpretation is well worth a listen and you can do that as well as download it here.

For Anti Records second podcast, label president Andy Kaulkin addresses the great art of song interpretation. The show features Anti artists Bettye Lavette’s new ITunes release Change is Gonna Come Sessions and folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s recent album A Stranger Here. The question posed, would you rather hear an artist like Bob Dylan sing someone else’s song or hear someone else sing a Bob Dylan song? For us there is truly nothing more exciting than hearing a gifted stylist do something different with familiar material. Agree or disagree, there is a strong case to be made. The topic is explored using the works of Tom Waits, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan as well as Bettye Lavette and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Hear Lavette’s version of “Lush Life” alongside an earlier version by Jazz great Johnny Hartman and explore how Ramblin Jack Elliot and producer Joe Henry infuse their interpretation of Reverend Gary Davis’s “Death Don’t Have no Mercy” with Elliot’s own lifetime of experience.

Subscribe at iTunes here.

Songs Featured in podcast:

Bob Dylan- Can’t Help Falling In Love
The Mississippi Sheiks- I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You
Bob Dylan - Blood In My Eyes For You
Tom Waits- Young At Heart
Thelonious Monk- ‘Round Midnight
Bettye Lavette- ‘Round Midnight
Johnny Hartman- Lush Life
Bettye Lavette- Lush Life
Bettye Lavette- ‘Aint No Sunshine
Reverend Gary Davis- Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Walter Davis- Please Remember Me
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- Please Remember Me
Fury Lewis- Falling Down Blues
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- Falling Down Blues