Sting Stang Stung & 2 Wood Brothers Downloads!

If Sting truly lives like an English lord of yore -- which is probably a given for anyone living in an actual castle -- does that mean that every time he goes out on tour, it's the modern-day equivalent of leaving for the Crusades? It would certainly make the Police reunion more interesting, and put even Def Leppard's backstage debauchery to shame. However, I don't remember many sexual discrimination lawsuits being filed in the Middle Ages -- most law clerks were, according to the historical documentaries I've watched, gathering "some lovely filth" or working primarily as Shrubbers -- so that does take His Stingliness down a peg or two on the Richard the Lionheart scale (today, we use the Fahrenheit or Celsius scales to gauge an English King's manliness).

For anyone wishing to confirm or deny my theories about olden times, check out Shorpy: The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog. Sure, it doesn't go back to the 12th and 13th Century (all photographs and Warren Zevon records were burned during the Spanish Inquisition), but it is incredibly cool and contains the equally fascinating microblog Ghost Cowboy (a collection of headlines and newspaper stories circa 1900, all dealing with cowboys and Indians). Check both out and thank me later.

Neither website, however, sells or promotes the most essential of all things elderly and statesman-like: I am of course referring to the Man-from-Mars Radio Hat, pictured here:

The most obviously useful thing about this hat is the historical fact that it was used to repel the Martians who attacked in War Of The Worlds, but was sadly misplaced prior to the Mars Attacks! fiasco...so many lives lost so unnecessarily... But look closer and you'll see that this is no mere baseball cap, but the uber-functional -- and always fashionable, ask any lady -- safari hat. Do you know how many times Teddy Roosevelt turned to a colleague in Africa during his 1909 Smithsonian safari and said, "It is absolutely imperative that I be able to listen to either the Schoolhouse Rocks! soundtrack or the Rock Star soundtrack immediately, post haste!" Yeah, a lot, exactly (although the actual number is probably less than the 11,397 animals killed or captured during the expedition).

I suggest to you that if this hat were still being marketed today, it would sell far better than the new iPhone and all past sales of iPods combined (and at $7.95, it's a steal, too).

So out with the old, in with the new. Yes, I finally have songs to download, and double yes, this will be a regular feature that will hopefully take off pretty quickly. This time around, it's two cuts from the Wood Brothers' June 17th performance at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia:

The Wood Brothers - When I Was Young

The Wood Brothers - Twisted

Listen, I can't say enough good things about Oliver and Chris Wood. The music is deceptively simple but surprisingly full, both in the sound that these two can achieve, and the wry near-gallows storytelling of Oliver's lyrics (listen to "Twisted" to see what I mean). And while they've been grandfathered into the jam band scene because of Chris' work in Medeski, Martin and Wood (among the 8 million other things he's done), the backbone of the duo is the exceptional songwriting. I'm sure that the majority of interviews/articles about the band have suggested that the music is so engaging and immediate because its gospel, blues and jazz roots tug on some sort of genetic-American strain that we all understand and identify with subconsciously. Bull. These guys simply write and play top-notch songs with such unassuming conviction (and the right amount of self-effacing cleverness) that it's impossible not to be charmed by the whole package, novelty and oh-how-we-love-talented-siblings included.

I've also included our High Noon Friday review of their first record, Ways Not To Lose, from back in March of 2006:

High Noon Music Reviews - 3/17/06

More posts soon, more independent/local/major-label-but-kind-enough-to-give-me-access-to-their-songs music soon, and who knows what else. Check back regularly and tell your friends -- the more people we can drag in here, the better. Oh, and please comment to let me know if everything is downloading correctly...I'm still trying to iron out some of these details.

For anyone reading closely, here's a question: If Teddy Roosevelt (a nickname he vehemently hated, by the way) had been alive during the rock and roll era, what albums/artists would he like and why? TR Badass and the Bullmooses are excluded, of course.