She said, "Meet me out back when you're done with your show and I'll let you dump all your dreams down into my throat."

With shows, a holiday, work, shows, and work, I'm a little exhausted and really should be sleeping, but I feel it my duty to inform you of the CD that's keeping me awake and singing instead of letting me drift off into peaceful dreamland. This week that honor goes to Chicago's Ike Reilly (Blog/Facebook/MySpace/Twitter/YouTube) and his new album Hard Luck Stories.

Purchase: Amazon/iTunes

I first learned of this record through another blog that I read regularly, songs:illinois, and was drawn to the post not because of Reilly, but because of Shooter Jennings. The song was The War on the Terror and the Drugs (Download for free from Rock Ridge Music below) and it's a duet between the two that goes back and forth telling a story with the most beautifully subdued raunchy lyrics (See post title above) that I have heard in a song in a long while. Still, call it what you will, this country-ish, kind of bluesy number got my attention, so, last Monday, I downloaded the rest of the album - not really knowing what to expect seeing as how I've never really been into Ike Reilly.

I am now.

Non stop now, for seven days, it kicked My Roaring 20's out of my car's CD player, every chance I get to listen to the whole album or even just a part of it, I take it. I'm addicted to Mr. Reilly's stories, his voice, his way with a guitar and his even better way with words. I like the topics he covers, love, war vets, drugs, family, murder, and fun (not necessarily in that order or in just one song) and the way he does it with coming right out and saying it. Check out Girls In the Backroom and The Reformed Church of the Assault Rifle Band if you need clarification for my words.

And, though I fancy myself a word-smith, a lover of lyrics if you will, what really keeps me coming back is the music itself. Part of it may be the week (more on that later) but I'm really liking the blues notes in a lot of the songs. When paired with either a country strum or loud rock riff, it adds a lot of dynamic that many other artists with never catch and it meshes beautifully with Ike's sometimes Dylan-light voice. See Morning Glory and Good Work for more on that point.

Really, the stand out track above them all, in my opinion (Which are like assholes, I know), is The Ballad of Jack and Haley and, like most of the songs, it tells another story. This one is about a single father who grows weed in his basement to help make ends meet. In no time the daughter's school smells the weed on her, calls the cops, and Haley ends up with her aunt and Jack ends up in Stateville. The keep in touch, rarely talk about the past, and Jack promises to return to Haley so he can grow her another "indoor garden". Reading it out like that, the song sounds a little morally reprehensible, but, when played, it comes off as something much different, much sadder, and a real thought provoker into the world of drugs and the way our country chooses to handle the subject.

If you don't want to spend ten bucks to buy this, spend one and get this song.

Then spend nine more and get the rest of them.

In live shows of days not so long since passed:

The Righteous Hillbillies once again out did themselves in a performance that was attended by a who's who of the local music scene, including Brendan Loughrey and John Condron. But the real show stealer (and reason for my current blues indulgence) was an appearance (he actually stole my stool) and little performance by T-Bird Huck, who, if you haven't heard of him and love the blues, check out his CD here. With him and the Hillbillies playing together the room became filled with some absolutely insane hybrid of southern rock, country, rock & roll, and blues, all at the same time. It's a crying shame, but I don't think anyone filmed any of this. Though, it will live on in legends.

Not to be outdone, Chicago Farmer showed up two days later with his usually stories and sing-alongs, and had the crowd in a frenzy. I mean frenzy. They wouldn't let him finish his set, so he put the mic and amp aside, stepped off the stage with his guitar, and surrounded by people, led the whole bar through some more sing-alongs. Let's see you get that with Adam Lambert, well that without a performance of simulated oral sex.

That's never going to happen.

This is not only wrong, but it's really kind of stupid. This is pseudo-maturity. This will bring nothing but undesired consequences. What will become of our games and fun when this ridiculous experiment of yours is done?

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Download: Ike Reilly - The War on the Terror and the Drugs

"C'est pour toi malheureuse si jolie."

If you happen to wonder why this is being posted at such an odd hour, let me spell it out for you; I have a drinking problem, but it only surfaces when the Bears play. Don't worry, I have a solution for it though, from now on it's Blackhawks games only.

Which should give me plenty of time to focus on music, and today I'd like to help you accomplish that too, by letting you in on the secret of how to get up to 3 songs, from pretty much any popular or non-popular artist out there, absolutely free and absolutely legal. And, no. It's not iTunes.

It's Amazon.com!

All you have to do is click here, sign up (if you haven't already), enter the code they give you, and you automatically get three free dollars in your account to use towards Amazon mp3's. You can purchase singles or albums with it, the songs can be added directly to your iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries, and with many of the albums only being five bucks, this is quite a fantastic deal.

So fantastic, in fact, that I've already used up my coupon and now have a list of songs you should you use your free money on.

1: Huffing the Proverbial Line Off the Proverbial Dong or The Blood and the Frog - The Falcon

With a title like that you know the song is going to be good, it's kind of a requirement for letting a song have such a kick-ass name. From the first album of Chicago punk-rock super group The Falcon, God Don't Make No Trash or Up Your Ass With Broken Glass, comes this loud, fast, loud, snotty and, it needs to be said, loud song that sounds just like lead singer Brendan Kelly's other group, the great, The Lawrence Arms.

2: Femme L'a Dit - Feufollet

What? French? No, sucka - CAJUN! Keeping the dream alive for Acadian musicians everywhere, Feufollet (Which, apparently, is the phenomenon where swamp gases create mysterious balls of light or fire) really excel in this slow building song that starts of with an air of sadness and finishes with with the sounds of a Mardi Gras parade. The track (translated to The Woman Says) is sung entirely in Cajun and its from their latest album, Cow Island Hop.

3: Eight Miles Wide - Storm Large

First heard this song on Friday, performed by a queen, in a drag show, at a gay bar - and, truthfully, it was not only the most appropriate, but the ONLY appropriate song for such a situation. It's from her new album, Crazy Enough, and it's raunchy, idealist, extravagant, facetious (God only hopes), and, most of all, fun. It's an anthem and Storm Large is definitely a performer, but to find out what exactly is eight miles wide, you're going to have to download this song.

And, finally, in live show news:

Wayne Brennan came all the way from Ireland to play in Joliet last Friday and couldn't have been been better. Friendly and talented, he was a ginormous pleasure to meet. I picked up a copy of his CD, In My Hands, and I'll post a review of it as soon as I've thoroughly dissected it.

Then there's Thanksgiving Week at Chicago St. where we should all be thankful for the line up of shows they have for it.

Wednesday - The Righteous Hillbillies/9PM
Thursday - Ed Anderson of Backyard Tire Fire (Acoustic)/9PM
Friday - Chicago Farmer/9PM

Go see some damn shows.

Drink it all up, tell us what you see.

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Now playing: Feufollet - Chère Bèbè Crèole
via FoxyTunes

"Big ideas, that's my game."

Mid-week post? Been awhile...

But this is a stop the presses kind of deal as it's about a band near to my heart. John Condron and the the Benefit (Myspace/Facebook), a great Joliet by way of Philly/Chicago rock group, have been more active than usual lately. In fact they've just put up three unmastered songs from their forthcoming (still no arrival date or artwork) release Eleventh Hour Grace. The pick of the litter, available in link form at the end of this post, is Paper Planes, a groovy little rock number that I've been hearing in various iterations live for the past year now. So, it's nice to actually have a copy I can listen to any time I want.

The other two, Blurred and Minutes to Hours are great in their own right and can be picked up from the audio link in the band's electronic press kit here. Please. Please. Please. Check this out. John's a great guy who has been releasing great music for years now and there is no man out there who deserves success doing what they love as much as him. Check out his other releases here, here, and here.

In bonus, nerd news:

If you read comic books, or don't, I don't care, check out this-

Cowboy Ninja Viking

Two issues have been put out already, but I still can't really explain what it's about. Something to do with an assassin afflicted with multiple personality disorder (Triplets specifically, hence the title name) traveling around the world killing people while dealing with the fact that at any time he could be a cowboy, a ninja or a viking. And the only way he's unique is in the personalities he has, there are others like him, but only he is a cowboy/ninja/viking. This is off the charts. Check it out.

I'm out of ideas. Let's just give up.

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Download: John Condron & The Benefit - Paper Planes (Unmastered)

"If God isn't dead, then I'll kill him myself."

I've already professed my love for Creative Commons and the music produced under it, so what follows shouldn't set the world on fire, at least from the prospective of me. The music I have for you today however, should the world ever choose for a day to be fair, could very well light this planet up.

Josh Woodward (Website/MySpace/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube) is a relatively (word used lightly for comedic effect) proficient, self-run singer/songwriter from Ohio who has produced an extremely large amount of music over the past five or so years, all of which is available for free. Yes. Again the key word is free. You don't have to pay for any of this, unless you want a physical copy of a CD or are feeling extremely generous. After you get done going through this collection, I'm going to have a hard time believing you aren't going to do at least one of those two things.

I could go on forever just on the merits of his collective work but, for all our sakes, I'm going to focus on his October release, Breadcrumbs.

Free Download/Listen/Buy

Welcome the winter.

At least that's the feeling I got over the eleven tracks of this album. It starts out upbeat enough, with Swansong providing a nice, bouncy acoustic riff to offset the lyrics of a man coming to terms with the end of a relationship. As other instruments come in, the song keeps your head moving, swaying back and forth, up and down, Josh's voice never overpowering or being overpowered, a perfect compliment to a very well produced track. A song you'll find it hard not to smile through.

Which will be enough of that. Everything slows down with the next song, 20/20, and doesn't really pick up until the back-end of the album. The music suddenly starts to make you feel like you're trapped in a gently falling snow and you would really like the record to act as your blanket. I use such a stretch of a metaphor only because the songs here really do give that effect, most effectively Border Blaster, a soft lament of illegal immigration from the point of those who the necessity of which affects the most. If you don't want to take the time to download this album, then at the very least download this song alone.

However, if you do take this lazy way out you'll miss out on the most disturbing of tracks, Under the Stairs, a story of what happens when you mess with the wrong person. With music as haunting as the lyrics, this happens to be another stand-out of a record full of stand-outs, especially when you take into account that this what happens when music is made for love and not money.

Tirade aside, the album is a bit melancholy, there's no getting around that, but not every artist can be Lady Gaga. Sometimes an album like this is needed for the listener just to lose themselves in, to help clear their mind from their own problems for a little while. And, in that respect, this CD works really well.

Less sad songs on the album (in music at least) include the aforementioned Swansong and Once Tomorrow and well, that's about it. The last two songs continue the cold tone of the record, ending with I'm Not Dreaming - a slow, steady, deliberate and beautiful tale of a man forever changed by war. It doesn't preach, but the only way for me to prove that to you is for you to listen to it for yourself.

Truly do take the time out for this. Breadcrumbs is professional music in every sense of the word - only it doesn't suck.

No. No. I didn't forget. I was trying to. But, no. I didn't forget.

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Now playing: Josh Woodward - I'm Not Dreaming
via FoxyTunes

"With all these realizations you'd think I'd find a way to change."

More and more music - but, this is what we all get when I go on a vinyl buying spree. That's right, I said vinyl. I'm turning into a hipster, but it's barely even slightly my choice. I'm being forced into it.

Right now I'll say that the record I won't be talking about here, as it still hasn't arrived to my door, is Buttsweat and Tears by The Lawrence Arms. I just know it'll be awesome, so go out and buy it.

Anyways, the reason for this buying spree is tied into my love for smaller labels, which causes the bands to do strange things, like only offer vinyl or mp3, and sometimes, I need my damn physical copy.

Which brings me to Lansing, Michigan's very own Cheap Girls and their second full-length release My Roaring 20's.

Purchase: Vinyl 1/Vinyl 2/mp3

This is a cool little band with a cool little sound, a mix of indie rock, pop, and a heaping helping of that decade we like to call the nineties. Ummmm.... the parts we actually like to remember.

With a focus on the music, rather than the production value (Thanks of which go to Rick Johnson from Bomb the Music Industry!) we the people are given an album full of chugging guitars, tight rhythms and lyrics that speak to a wide array of the many events in the lives of twenty-somethings. Drugs, alcohol, debt, school, love and love lost, if you're a believer in taking lyrics to heart, there's sure to be something here that speaks to you.

If you like the instruments more, don't worry, they got you covered too. Most songs fall into a mellower, indie-rock format with bursts of rocking guitar solos, nothing ever gets too heavy or too light, save for the opener Sunnyside which still provides an excellent opener for the album while gaining just enough rock towards the end to provide a nice jump point into the next song.

My littlest complaint comes in the length of the album, it's a little short, but that may just be a testament to how much I actually like it. I find myself listening to the CD (which comes packaged with the vinyl) straight through, back to song one and over, simply because it transitions so well from track ten to one. Unintended? Probably. Awesome? Definitely.

One of the intangibles that really makes this release cool (along with other Paper + Plastick releases) are the various and random vinyl options available. This is, after all, the same company that released the debut Farewell Continental EP as a square. For My Roaring 20's, they went with the classic circle shape and enhanced by making it either orange/white swirl, clear with orange dust, or, the one that I received, the clear/orange drop.

It's flippin' see through!

And, if all that wasn't cool enough, I also got a piece of cardboard with a handwritten note inside.

It's better than a love letter from your mom.

Clearly going above and beyond the bare minimum and adding these little personal touches, almost insuring that I'll be buying the bands next release, goes to further show just how much this band actually cares about their craft, as well as the fanbase they gather in the process.

What I'm trying to say is; splurge the $15 bucks and get one for yourself. At the very least buy the mp3 version of the album. Cheapskates.

Yes. Yes. I never forget. Going back to Quote/Unquote Records for this one; If you need more convincing to buy the album I just rambled on about, you can get their first release Find Me a Drink Home for free/donation - just click on the picture below.

Download: Free/Donation

One last bit of trivia, and this isn't a slam or slight against the band for doing what they do, in fact it's quite the opposite. But, I'd like to thank them for continuing the tradition of everyone (friends, press, musicians now) misspelling my first name. I just don't know what I'd do if someone were to ever get it right.

I hate myself for always saying there are only two choices in life, do or don't. 'Cause, when it comes time for me to heed my own advice, I always end up praying for another option.

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Now playing: Cheap Girls - All My Clean Friends
via FoxyTunes