Golden Smog's Weird Tales is fine listening for a Sunday afternoon.

::goes back and double-checks spelling of group name and album title::

"I Can't Keep From Talking" is such a Big Stars song. (Well, and looking at the lyrics seems to be a straight up tribute to Big Star.)

Also, the Pernice Brothers is gorgeous.

Huh.

**********

Sufjan, Fiery Furnaces Head Rubber Soul Tribute

Rob Kleckner reports:
In a shocking turn of events, we are pleased to report yet another Beatles tribute album. But this one's different, folks. It ain't just a big steaming pile of "Yesterday" and "Across the Universe" covers (for the love of God, please, stop covering these songs!).

This album is a track-by-track run through of the Beatles' 1965 masterpiece (aren't they all?) Rubber Soul . It's titled, appropriately, This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul , and will be released by Razor & Tie on October 25. Featured on the album are Sufjan Stevens, the Fiery Furnaces, Ted Leo, Low, Nellie McKay, and a few others.

The album was produced by Jim Sampas, who producer a Bruce Springsteen tribute album in 2002. Sampas says, "As we looked toward artists we would approach, we felt they should be kindred spirits, whose gifts for singing and arranging lend themselves to these melodies and themes. Each artist on this album brought their own fascinating interpretations and have extracted new meanings from Rubber Soul ."

This thing is chock full of Bens, too. Harper on "Michelle", Lee with "In My Life", and Kweller doing "Wait". What, are the Beatles too good for you, Folds? Oh wait, no, you did "Golden Slumbers" for the I Am Sam soundtrack. How about you finish that medley, you Abbey Road elitist! "Oh, look at me, I'm too cool for pre- Revolver Beatles!"

Tracklist:

01 Drive My Car - The Donnas
02 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Fiery Furnaces
03 You Won't See Me - Dar Williams
04 Nowhere Man - Low
05 Think for Yourself - Yonder Mountain String Band
06 The Word - Mindy Smith
07 Michelle - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
08 What Goes On - Sufjan Stevens
09 Girl - Rhett Miller
10 I'm Looking Through You - Ted Leo
11 In My Life - Ben Lee
12 Wait - Ben Kweller
13 If I Needed Someone - Nellie McKay
14 Run for Your Life - Cowboy Junkies

Hec, The Boswell Sisters. Can you recommend anything of theirs in particular? (I assume that you know of whom I speak.)

I just heard a cd that a friend of mine picked up when she was traveling in Indiana. She stopped off to gas up her car and this guy was listening to to this fun muisc so she asked him what is was - and it was the Boswell Sisters. And for good measure he gave her a cd of their music that he had burned.

So completely random.

Of course, I could ask her to burn me a copy but given her track record - I probably wouldn't see it before the next millenium.

Hec, The Boswell Sisters. Can you recommend anything of theirs in particular? (I assume that you know of whom I speak.)

But of course. Let me look around for which compilation would be best. You'd want something from the 30s-40s when their harmonies were revolutionary. Connee Boswell is one of the great unsung American vocalists. Hold on a sec...

AMG says start with This collection. I think that as with the Mills Brothers, you want as much early stuff as you can get. Anything they did in the early 30s is pretty spiff.

More AMG:

Definitely the most talented and arguably the all-around best jazz vocal group of all time, the Boswell Sisters parlayed their New Orleans upbringing into a swinging delivery that featured not only impossibly close harmonies, but countless maneuvers of vocal gymnastics rarely equalled on record. Connee (sometimes Connie ), Helvetia (Vet ), and Martha Boswell grew up singing together, soaking up Southern gospel and blues through close contact with the black community.

If it's not clear from that - the Boswell sisters were white girls, who sang with a lot of early jazz/gospel stylings. In this wise, they are as revolutionary as the early Bing Crosby.

Today's Nominee For Cheerfulest Song: "Down My Block" - Trip Shakespeare.

Thanks!

I knew you'd know.

Michele makes me laugh.

Run for Your Life - Cowboy Junkies

This is probably the one band that could actually make me listen to this song all the way through. Impressive.

That Beatles tribute is a really odd mix of bands (you've got your indie pop superkids like Stevens and the Fiery Furnaces and then newgrassfrat jammy bands like Yonder Mountain and Ben Harper ...strange.)

I am going to see the Knitters on Thur. and don't know a damn thing about them besides John Doe, "electric" folk and they just released a new album. I'd like to hear something from them before I see them - so listening recommendations, personal anecdotes? All submissions appreciated.