Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey aka Summer Camp started making noise last year. The duo is partly funded by donations via pledgemusic.com. Their debut lp Welcome To Condale hits stores November 8th.

Summer Camp explains, “Welcome To Condale is our love letter to the days of being a teenager, when everything is so important, and you’re transformed irrevocably by a miserable relationship with a spotty youth called Darren who works at Pizza Hut. We believe that you never really escape that time, for better or for worse. It’s the things you fall in love with then that will stay with you forever. Well, except Darren. Hopefully.”

Warmsley released two solo records before hooking up with Sankley. Sankey is a well-respected journalist and writer, having worked with NME and Platform among others. If you like summery 80’s pop you’re going to love Welcome To Condale. Stream the record ahead of the release date here.

For the past 25 years, Neil Young has brought some of his best friends together for the Bridge School, a school in California for kids with severe developmental disabilities. The school, which Neil’s children attended, specializes in helping children who don’t use speech to communicate.

Now he’s releasing some of the best performances, on either a 2 CD or 3 DVD set. The Bridge School Concerts has a pretty incredible lineup, with performances from Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, The Who, Elton John & Leon Russell, and more. Check out the movie trailer:

The most recent concert happened over the weekend, and it featured an amazing performance of the song “Helpless” by Neil and Arcade Fire.

More info about the concert, the school, and the new CD and DVD here.

Album cover photo by John Urban

If Triple M’s favorite rock and roll farmer plays his new CD for the cows out in the barn in New Glarus, they’re chewin’ their cud a bit faster..and dancing in their stalls.

If you’re a follower of local music, you’ve probably heard that Jimmy Voegeli brought in some heavy hitters to help out on “Gimme the Jimmys.” Yeah, he’s got Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick on one track, and Dan Baird of the Georgia Satellites playing the guitar solos on several songs, but while that looks great on press releases, the proof is in the listening.

So often a local band will sound great live, but when they try to make a record of original material it leaves you asking “Why did I buy this?”

Luckily, that’s not the case with Gimme the Jimmys. It starts off really strong with ” HaDaYa”..a great jumping boogie woogie number that you just want to turn up loud. And even though all the songs aren’t traditional blues..they all fit and have a great flow.  A couple of my favorites: “Hell or Heaven,” and “JiMo Boogie,” with the liner notes listing the musicians as Jimmy plus drummer Mauro Magellan, and a bottle of Jack. Gotta give credit where credit is due. I also can’t get enough of Dan Baird’s slide guitar on “She Don’t Love Me.”

Jimmy’s a great keyboard player, fine tuning his chops as a member of the Westside Andy Mel Ford Band over the years. But he’s not a show-off on this record..it’s got great guitar solos..and the horn section (The Amateur Horn All Stars) is fantastic.

If you missed their Madison CD release party at the Harmony Bar, you still have a few chances to see the Jimmys live this month and pick up a copy of the CD. They’ve also got upcoming gigs at the Club Tavern, Knuckledown Saloon and the Brink Lounge

You can check out the Jimmys schedule and sample and buy their CD here.

Reviewed by Kitty Dunn

R.E.M. fans were devastated at the news that, after 31 years, the band decided to ” call it a day”.

Their final album will come out November 15, a 40 song retrospective that collects, for the first time ever, songs from R.E.M.’s entire back catalog, including the early years on IRS. A brand new song ” We All Go Back to Where We Belong” will sent available October 18.    

The album ” R.E. M. Part Lies, Part Heart. Part Truth, Part Garbage” is available for pre-order on Amazon. com.

Here’s the line-up!

Disc 1:
Gardening At Night
Radio Free Europe
Talk About The Passion
Sitting Still
So. Central Rain
(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
Driver 8
Life And How To Live It
Begin The Begin
Fall On Me
Finest Worksong
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The One I Love
Stand
Pop Song 89
Get Up
Orange Crush
Losing My Religion
Country Feedback
Shiny Happy People

Disc 2:
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
Everybody Hurts
Man On The Moon
Nightswimming
What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?
New Test Leper
Electrolite
At My Most Beautiful
The Great Beyond
Imitation Of Life
Bad Day
Leaving New York
Living Well Is The Best Revenge
Supernatural Superserious
ÜBerlin
Oh My Heart
Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter
A Month of Saturdays
We All Go Back To Where We Belong
Hallelujah

Wilco’s new album “The Whole Love” will be available for purchase and download in a couple of weeks, but Wilco fans can get a freebie this week on iTunes, with a download of the song “Born Alone.”

Rolling Stone calls the song “jaunty hum-along pleasure.”

The new album will be in stores September 27th and is available for pre-order on the band’s website.

Wilco plays a sold-out show at Overture Hall in Madison October 5th.

Download the new song here.

Here’s an interesting idea. What would happen if Eric Clapton came up with the set list, and jazz great Wynton Marsalis came up with the arrangements, and a group of stellar musical virtuosos were all brought together to bring the music to life?

If you were lucky enough to be in the audience on one of two nights at Lincoln Center last April, you got to hear for yourself. For the rest of us, there’s a new CD out now called “Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play The Blues.”

Even though the album’s title has “blues” in it, this album defnitely has a jazzy feel…after all it’s the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra that’s backing them up, not your traditional blues combo or even rock  n roll lineup that you might be used to with Mr. Clapton.

The set list is definitely intriguing..and a preview of the songs on Wynton Marsalis’ website is nothing if not compelling. The intro to Layla sure doesn’t sound like the Derek & the Dominoes version, or that sleepy unplugged version from the early ’90s, thankfully.

This is a far different Clapton than I saw at the Crossroads Guitar Festival..and might not be for everyone. But if you like a little Dixieland as a change of pace from soulful solos and catchy blues riffs, you may want to check this album out.

–posted by Kitty Dunn

Ryan Adams is set to drop a new record October 11th. Ashes & Fire will feature Norah Jones on piano and vocals. Longtime Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench is also onboard. Adams’ upcoming 13th release was produced by Glyn Johns who has worked with heavyweights The Clash, Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Who.

First time I saw Ryan Adams live was in the 90’s with Whiskeytown. He’s always been a incredible performer live, though he lost me a couple times with his records since. If Lucky Now is any indication Ashes & Fire could be one of his finest.

Lucky Now by ryanadams

Universal Music plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nevermind with a multi-format re-issue September 27th. The remastered 2-CD deluxe version will for the first time feature the Smart Studios demos recorded by producer Butch Vig here in Madison. The tracks included on the original release were recorded in Los Angeles.

The limited-numbered super deluxe version offers the “devonshire mixes” produced and mixed by Vig as opposed the previously released songs mixed by Andy Wallace. The super deluxe will also include Nirvana’s 1991 Halloween concert at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on cd and dvd. A 90 page book with never before seen photos and more is also included.

Both deluxe and super deluxe packages will be available for digital download and offered as 180 gram heavyweight vinyl. The Paramount concert included on the super deluxe will be available in a 1080p high definition and uncompressed 5.1 surround sound.

If you ever wondered what happened to the baby on the cover of Nevermind.. meet Spencer Elden.

Nirvana Baby, Spencer Elden from Barry O Donnell on Vimeo.

Bombay Bicycle Club are set to drop their third release in as many years August 29th in Europe with a U.S. release date to follow. A Different Kind Of Fix was recorded in Germany, London, and Atlanta. This time out the band worked with Animal Collective producer Ben Allen.

Frontman Jack Steadman on the new single, “The first time I played it to any of my friends was at a house party and none of them believed it was Bombay Bicycle Club.” The record boasts funky bass riffs, house piano, and a groove not found on previous efforts.

This feels like a big step forward for these twenty somethings. You’ll have a hard time not hitting replay.

Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle by Bombay Bicycle Club

Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore released his third solo record Demolished Thoughts just 6 weeks ago. The record was produced by Beck and includes Mary Lattimore on harp, Samara Lubelski on violin, and Bram Inscore on stand-up bass. Beck’s production creates a warmth and depth that compels you to hang out for awhile. The layered acoustics feel like a lazy summer afternoon. Think Beck’s Sea Change meets Daydream Nation.

The opening of the video for Circulation features what looks like a young Patti Smith. Moore has long been a fan of Smith’s. Check out this 1996 interview he did with her. It gives some great insight on both artists.

Thurston Moore performs at the High Noon Saloon tomorrow night. Hush Arbors, signed to Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label open the show at 9:30p.