Alessi's Ark "Witch"

On May 28th in 1929, Warner Brothers debuted "On With The Show" in New York City, their first all-color-talking picture. Then on this day in 1953, the first 3-D Cartoon came our way from the Walt Disney company, as the film "Melody" premiered in the Paramount Theatre in Hollywood. Now I don’t know if anyone has done a 3-D website yet, but if ever there was one that should be 3-D, it is Alessi’s Ark. Fun animation for sure, and a great sense of whimsy.

Photo Credit: Max KnightBritish singer/songwriter Alessi Laurent-Marke decided to name her project after the boat where everyone is welcome. She started playing drums at 11 and has put out several EPs along the way since 2007. (She was born in 1990. You do the math.) Alessi has been steeped in artistic endeavor seemingly her whole life, and man has she been busy! She put out her second full length album, Time Travel, in April.

The song we are bringing you is “Witch,” that originally debuted on a project called Friend Ships. It features three songs from Alessi's Ark and three from power pop band Thunder Power. The EP came about when both artists shared an Omaha concert bill in 2008. It was the third EP for Alessi's Ark. She played "Witch" for the Threadgill’s WHQ audience when she came by to visit us solo at the Music Fog Marathon in March.

- Jessie Scott

Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils "Tap the Till"

I did some catching up in the pulp paper pile today of recent mail. The Vermont Country Store Catalog caught my eye, mostly for the reintroduction of all manner of licorice candy, and Bonamo Turkish Taffy is back after a 21 year absence. Banana was my favorite, followed by strawberry. And there is also an array of classic scents like Evening in Paris, and Arpege, which held the allure of grown up, inexplicable secrets when I was a preteen.

Next up in the stack was the latest Rolling Stone with the 10 Greatest Dylan Songs, in honor of Dylan’s 70th birthday earlier this week. I have been lost in Dylan’s lyrics since the 60s. They consumed me when I no longer cared about the promise of cheap perfume. It is amazing how prescient these songs were, and how they still hold wonder for their surgical illumination of bits and pieces of human endeavor and behavior, and also for how opaque some of them are to this day.

I love visual songs; I love the angst of this one from Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils. If I was spinning tunes, it would follow “Maggie’s Farm” just perfectly. It comes from Ian’s new record, El Sonido Nuevo. We were fortunate to have him and the Lossy Coils: Matt Harris and Kyle Schneider, during our Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ a couple of months ago. They are about to hit the road for the summer. You should check out the website, too, as it is lush, mystical, and literate. And I like that!

- Jessie Scott

Citizens Band Radio "Rollin' On Down the Line"

I am a sucker for a country song. That is saying something as I am from New York City, where there was scarcity when it came to the actual country, let alone the music of rural America. But somehow, even growing up, it seeped into my consciousness and found a way into my heart. And I embrace it all, from the gin soaked barroom ballads of lost love, to the two-stepping honky tonk, to the country rock that was born later but keeps the fire burning bright.

We have a song from Citizens Band Radio to bring you today. They call themselves “HonkyTonkin' Rock-A-Rollin' Whiskey Drinkin' Goodtimin' Footstompin' Music." For some reason, my spellcheck alert didn’t even go off on that one. So all must be right! The band is Jay Jannuzzi on vocals and acoustic guitar, Linda King vocals and mando, Andrew Keenan vocals and pedal steel, Troy Black on lead guitar, Dale Eddington on Drums and Kevin Hummel on Bass. This was a whole pile of people on stage together. No wonder they travel on a vintage bus, named Ol' Waylor. They come all the way from the west – Western Jersey, that is. Click here to see where they will be next, riding that Northeast corridor route, as they play “Rollin’ On Down The Line,” from our 2011 Music Fog Marathon this past March at Threadgill’s in Austin.

- Jessie Scott