The Crossing - April/May 2012
Let’s go over that again. May 2012. Here we are!
I find it amazing that it’s 2012! For some reason, ever since we passed the year 2000, I’ve found every year to be pretty much amazing. Not sure why that is either. Just seems that previous decades were pretty distinct in the ascendance of Rock ‘N Roll. The past years, not so much. Let’s break it down:
The 50’s you had Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & the Comets, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, The Drifters, Ricky Nelson, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Muddy Waters, Everly Brothers and many more.
The 60’s there was Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Who, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Otis Redding, Cream, Simon & Garfunkel and many more.
The 70’s you had The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Boston, Paul McCartney & the Wings, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Pink Floyd, KISS, Rush, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Carole King, Jim Croce, Don McLean, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and many more.
The 80’s you’ve got U2, R.E.M., REO Speedwagon, Journey, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, The Smiths, The Cure, INXS, 10,000 Maniacs, The Cars, John Mellencamp, Madonna and Michael Jackson and many more.
The 90’s there’s Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Live, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, Tori Amos, Alanis Morrissette, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow and Hootie & the Blowfish and many more.
Here’s where things get tricky and we know it’s because of the advent of the computer and the subsequent deacceleration of the wheels of the major label Music Industry machine. Now it’s all do-it-yourself, word of mouth, buzz, hype and such. This is not all hard and fast, of course, but you get the idea. There’s just more of a do-it-yourself aspect to music now than ever! Bands and artists can’t rely on absurd promotion budgets to get their music across to the masses. Although, one way they can get heard is by getting their music played on commercials and having songs featured in TV shows if they are lucky. Guess you’ve gotta do whatever you can to get heard! There are seemingly more artists out there now than ever with so many trying to rise to the surface and get a chance to be heard, but there’s also just so many hours in the day. Who can find the time? Why should you hear this band over this band? There’s no easy answer to this. But, if you’re still listening and paying attention we know there’s TONS of great music out there still. You’ve just gotta trust your instincts and keep searching. Hopefully you have good instincts! I try to spotlight some of the better artists that I know of in the Crossing list by putting them near the top, but I, like you, only hear what you hear. You can’t hear everything no matter how much you may try.
One thing that may help is to ‘like’ The Crossing on Facebook. I post performances, with high quality audio and video, from the late night shows such as Letterman, Leno, Daly, Conan, Fallon, Colbert, Ferguson, wherever I can find quality music. It’s a way of putting faces and music to the names appearing on the list. If you’re on Facebook, you can’t beat rock ‘n roll sent directly to your page! How do you beat that? Beats me. It’s a good way to keep current, I’d say. If you are so inclined, please ‘like’ The Crossing. It feels good to be liked!
Here's a direct link for those interested or even just curious:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crossing-New-Music-and-Movie-Release-List/295712630456059
I always encourage the give and take. You can reach me here with the email at the very bottom of the page or you can reach me on The Crossing on Facebook. You can post and comment, tell us what you like. Say ‘hello’. Let me know you are out there. If you have questions, suggestions, or artists you like, let me know. I’m interested. If it rocks your world, it might rock mine!
Okay, so over to the list. The April listings are up as well as May and beyond. SO much good music out there. Let’s see what we can find.
Recently released and not mentioned in last edition:
* The Waterboys - Cloud of Sound (Online only.)
* First Aid Kit - Big Black and the Blue (reissue.)
* Eli Young Band - Life at Best
* Caleb Travers - Ain't No Jukebox
* Sleeper Agent - Celabrasion
* Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
* Anders Osborne - Black Eye Galaxy
* The Kennedys - Retrospective
* Good Old War - Come Back as Rain
* Walk the Moon - Anna Sun EP
* John Doe & Exene Cervenka - Singing and Playing: Acoustic
* The Pixies - Coachella 2004 EP
+ Metal Evolution series
4/3
* Kate Campbell - 1,000 Pound Machine
* Great Lake Swimmers - New Wild Everywhere
* Adam Cohen - Like a Man
* Simone Felice – S/T
* The Jezabels - Prisoner
* Laura Marling - A Creature I Don’t Know
* Denison Witmer - The One’s Who Wait
* Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
* The Vespers - The Fourth Wall
* MxPx - Plans Within Plans
* Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
* Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick sequel
+ War Horse
+ We Bought a Zoo
+ In the Land of Blood and Honey
4/10
* Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls
* M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion
* Scars on 45 - S/T
* Florence & the Machine - MTV Unplugged
* Nanci Griffith - Intersection
* Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
* Bill Mallonee - Footnotes for Departures
* Steep Canyon Rangers - Nobody Knows You
* The Mastersons - Birds Fly South
* Trampled by Turtles - Stars & Satellites
* Swans - The Burning World
* Jenny Gillespie - Belita EP
* Hands - Massive Context EP
* The Safety Fire - Grind the Ocean
* Elliott Yamin - Let’s Get to What’s Real
* Monica Lionheart - Indian Summer
* Taproot - Episodes
* Halestorm - Strange Case of
* Accept - Stalingrad
* Fastway - Eat Dog Eat
* Counting Crows – Underwater Sunshine (Covers.)
* World Party - Arkeology (Box set.)
+ Joe Jackson - Live at Rockpalast 1980 and 1983 (CD/DVD.)
+ Joe Satriani - Satchurated: Live in Montreal
+ The Iron Lady
+ The Darkest Hour
4/17
* Dar Williams - In the Time of Gods
* Train – California 37
* Eric Hutchinson - Moving Up Living Down
* Jason Mraz - Love is a Four Letter Word
* Cowboy Junkies - Nomad Series box set (5 CD’s.)
* Marvin Etzioni - Marvin Country
* Billy Pilgrim - Crown and Treaty
* Neon Trees - Picture Show
* Dry the River - Shallow Bed
* Our Lady Peace - Curve
* Battles - Dross Glop
* Horse Feathers - Cynic's New Year
* The Forecast – Everybody Left
* Switchfoot - Vice Re-Verses (Remix CD.)
* Thousand Foot Krutch - The End is Where We Begin
* Jack Johnson - Kokua Festival: Live
* Janis Joplin - Pearl Sessions
* Hank Williams III - Long Gone Daddy
* Loudon Wainwright III - Older than My Old Man Now
* Jamiroquai – Rock Dust Light Star
* Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light
* Europe - Bag of Bones
* Dragonforce - The Power Within
+ Grateful Dead - 14 DVD Box set
+ Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
+ Shame
+ Born to be Wild IMAX
4/24
* Greg Laswell - Landline
* Jack White - Blunderbuss
* Brad - United We Stand
* Dandy Warhols - This Machine
* Diamond Rugs - S/T
* LP - Into the Wild
* Megan Reilly - The Well
* Sarah Jaffe - The Body Wins
* Theresa Andersson - Street Parade
* Todd Snider - Time as We Know It: the Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker
* Brendan Benson - What Kind of World
* Emmylou Harris - Cowboy Angels: Live 1975
* Carole King - Legendary Demos
* Warren Haynes - Live at the Moody Theater
* Tyketto - Dig in Deep
* Prong - Carved into Stone
* The Badlees - See Me as a Picture: Best of 1990-2012 (w/ two new songs.)
* Billy Bragg & Wilco - Complete Mermaid Avenue sessions (3 CD's/1 DVD.)
+ Peter Gabriel - New Blood: Live in London
+ Amy Winehouse - Fallen Star
+ Contraband
5/1
* Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
* Garrison Starr - Amateur
* North Atlantic Oscillation - Electric Fog
* Gravenhurst - The Ghost in Daylight
* Carina Round - Tigermending
* Father John Misty - Fear Fun (drummer of Fleet Foxes.)
* Spring Standards - Yellow Gold
* The Lumineers - S/T
* Patrick Watson - Adventures in Your Own Backyard
* George Lynch - Legacy EP
* Red Hot Chili Peppers - We Salute You (covers.)
* George Harrison - Living in the Material World (2 DVD’s/CD/book.) and Early Takes, Vol.1
* Thin Lizzy - a few Deluxe editions
+ Haywire
+ Joyful Noise
+ New Year’s Eve
5/8
* Keane - Strangeland
* Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods
* The Proclaimers - Like Comedy (import.)
* Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship
* VHS or Beta - Diamonds & Dub
* Toadies - Play.Rock.Music EP
* Sara Watkins - Sun Midnight Sun
* Damon Albarn - Dr. Dee
* Mosey West - Merica
* Rachael Sage - Haunted by You
* Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge
* Trioscapes - Separate Realities
* Pennywise - All or Nothing
* It Bites - Map of the Past
* Glenn Frey – After Hours (covers.)
* Paul Thorn - What the Hell is Goin' On? (covers.)
* Dee Snider - Dee Does Broadway (CD.) and Shut Up and Give Me the Mic (book.)
+ Phil Collins - Live at Montreux 2004
+ The Vow
+ Underworld: Awakening
5/15
* Alan Doyle - Boy on Bridge (Frontman of Great Big Sea.)
* Beach House - Bloom
* The Choir - The Loudest Sound ever Heard
* Garbage - Not Your Kind of People
* Fatal Smile - 21st Century Freaks
* Tenacious D - Rise of the Fenix
* Willie Nelson - Heroes
* Santana - Shape Shifter
+ Albert Nobbs
+ Chronicle
+ The Grey
+ Rampart
+ One for the Money
+ The Devil Inside
5/22
* The Cult - Choice of Weapon
* Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards the Daylight
* Sonny Landreth - Elemental Journey
* Michael Stanley - The Hang
* Delta Moon - Black Cat Oil
* MercyMe - The Hurt & the Healer
* Tedeschi Trucks Band - Everybody's Talkin'
* John Mayer - Born and Raised
* Jon McLaughlin - Promising Promises
* 311 - Music
* Unisonic - S/T
* Kill Devil Hill - S/T (Vinny Appice's new band.)
* Malice - New Breed of Godz
* Slash - Apocalyptic Love
* Great White - Elation
* Hardline - Danger Zone
* Joey Ramone - Ya Know?
* Paul McCartney - Ram (Deluxe.)
+ Adele - Feel My Love
+ The Secret World of Arriety
+ Red Tails
+ The Woman in Black
+ This Means War
+ Strange Case of Alice Cooper
+ Certified Copy
5/29
* Regina Spektor - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
* Edward Sharpe - Here
* Sigur Ros - Valtari
* Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves
* Melody Gardot - The Absence
* Chantal Kreviazuk - In This Life
* Joan Armatrading - Starlight
* Ian Tyson - Raven Singer
* Small Faces - Two Deluxe reissues
* 12 Stones - Beneath the Scars
+ Velvet Revolver - Live in Germany 2008
+ Foreigner - Alive & Rockin': Live in Germany 2006
+ Yellow Submarine (blu-ray.)
+ Man on a Ledge
+ Gone
+ We Need to Talk about Kevin
+ Coriolanus
6/5
* The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio
* Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana
* Joe Walsh - Analog Man
* Patti Smith - Banga
* Rhett Miller – The Dreamer
* Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor
* Brandi Carlile – Bear Creek
* Shawn Colvin - All Fall Down (produced by Buddy Miller.)
* At the Drive-In - The Lowdown
* We are Augustines - Rise ye Sunken Ships
* The Walkmen - Heaven
* The Hives - Lex Hives
* The Mynabirds - Generals
* Matthew Perryman Jones - Land of the Living
* Alejandro Escoveda - Big Station
* Donavon Frankenreiter - Start Livin'
* Bryce Avary - Life will Write the Words
* Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Big Moon Ritual
* Spectrum Road - S/T (featuring Vernon Reid.)
* Marley's Ghost - Jubilee
* The Rocketboys - Build Anyway
* Lettuce - Fly
* The Temper Trap - S/T
* Circus Maximus - Nine
* L.A. Guns - Hollywood Forever
* Fear Factory - The Industrialist
* Rock of Ages soundtrack
* Paul Simon - Graceland (Deluxe.) and Under African Skies (DVD.)
* Heart - Strange Euphoria (Box set.)
+ John Mellencamp - It's About You (Tour documentary.)
+ Motley Crue - Kickstart Live 2011
+ Stone Temple Pilots - Alive in the Windy City
+ John Carter
+ Act of Valor
+ Safe House
+ Knockdown
+ Journey 2: the Mysterious Island
6/12
* Rush - Clockwork Angels
* Metric - Synthetica
* The BoDeans - American Made
* Drivin N Cryin - Songs from the Laundromat EP
* Mary Chapin Carpenter - Ashes and Roses
* Grace Potter - The Lion, the Beast, the Beat
* Missy Higgins - Razzle Dazzle
* Amy MacDonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (import.)
* Bouncing Souls - Comet
* Josh Turner - Punching Bag
* Sea of Bees - Orangefarben
* Guided by Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO
* Wintersleep - Hello Hum
* The Inner Banks - Wild
* Gun - Breaking the Silence
* Giant Sand - Tucson
* Ed Sheeran - +
* Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
* John Mellencamp/Stephen King - Ghost Brothers of Darkland County soundtrack
+ Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows
+ Ghost Rider 2
+ In Darkness
+ Thin Ice
6/19
* Glen Hansard - Rhythm and Repose
* Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
* Nelly Furtado - The Spirit Indestructible
* Kate Miller-Heidke - Nightflight
* The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
* The Flower Kings - Banks of Eden
* Dirty Heads - Cabin by the Sea
* The dB's - Falling Off the Sky
* Hot Chip - In Our Heads
* Effren - Write a New Song
* Lita Ford - Living Like a Runaway
+ The Raconteurs - Live at Montreux 2008
+ Jeff, Who Lives at Home
+ Wanderlust
+ Big Miracle
6/26
* Linkin Park - Living Things
* Echo Lake - Wild Peace
* Blues Traveler - Suzy Cracks the Whip
* Everclear - Invisible Stars
* The Offspring - Days Go By
* Joe Jackson - The Duke
* Admiral Fallow - Tree Bursts in Snow
* Soundtrack of Our Lives - Throw it to the Universe
+ Pink Floyd - The Story of 'Wish You were Here'
+ The Artist
7/3
* Asia - XXX
* Honey Ryder - Marley's Chains EP
7/10
* Saga - 20:20
* Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
* Eleni Mandel - I Can See the Future
+ Duran Duran - Diamond in the Mind
+ Flowers of War
7/17
* Susanna Hoffs - Someday
* Soul Asylum - Delayed Reaction
* 10 Years - Minus the Machine
* Milo Greene - S/T
* Baroness - Yellow and Green
7/24
* The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
* Passion Pit - Gossamer
LYRICS of the MONTH:
A song that speaks to our gadget obsessed culture…cold, eerie and surprisingly catchy is what's going on here...
“My eyes are bifocal
My hands are sec-jointed
I live in the future
In my pre-war apartment
And I count all my blessing
I have friends in high places
And I'm upgraded daily
All my wires without traces
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
I'm hooked into, hooked into
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
I'm hooked into, hooked into
Machine
I collect my moments
Into a correspondence
With a mightier power
Who just lacks my perspective
And who lacks my organics
And who covets my defects
And I'm downloaded daily
I am part of a composite
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
I'm hooked into, hooked into
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
Hooked into machine
I'm hooked into, hooked into
Machine
Everything's provided
Consummate consumer
Part of worldly taking
Apart from worldly troubles
Living in your pre-war apartment
Soon to be your post-war apartment
And you live in the future
And the future
It's here, it's bright, it's now.”
Regina Spektor, the song “Machine” from her album Far released in 2009.
Happy May!
See you in June!
Chris Barlow
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