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Saturday, June 06, 2015

Comment of the Moment: The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts + TONIGHT: Thrasher's Wheat Radio

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Neil Young
Swedish TV Interview - 2005

Earlier in the week, we posted The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts | Rolling Stone which generated a fair amount of comments on the blog, which we found pleasantly surprising.

Lots of passion for favorite deep cuts which in turn drew attention to the fact that Neil's catalog is actually a big, giant set of deep cuts. Yes, there is filler and 2nd tier tunes here and there, but there are so many songs that would be the richest vein in any mountain, as you can see below.

The Comment of the Moment is from The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts | Rolling Stone by (D.) Ian Kertis, who said...
First of all, let me just chime in that Thrasher is a brilliant song, and it's a good choice for the number one spot in that, at least for me personally, it's somewhat unexpected.

Otherwise, though, the list is a little narrow. Considering just how much of Neil there is out there, it's a little "On the Beach"-heavy for my tastes. And I like that album a lot: it may be my favorite of the Ditch trilogy. But Vampire Blues? I do love the title song (would argue for it over Motion Pictures-- not that we're arguing) and I understand Ambulance Blues being there. I'm generally a deep cuts kind of guy and as Topanga pointed out, our definition of Neil Young's deep cuts is probably different than most people's; apart from Rockin' in the Free world and Harvest Moon, the only two post-1980 songs on Greatest HIts, the stuff most people are aware of is over thirty years old. So there's a whole slew of stuff I'd like to see given a little more attention, but I'm not surprised that it's not happening. Here are some of mine, no particular order. I'm especially intrigued with the idea of rounding up great deep cuts from the last fifteen-twenty years. This list is focused on the recent years, but trying to hit each decade:

Slip Away
Music Arcade
Words (Between the Lines of Age)
Birds
The Great Divide
Touch the Night
Violent Side
Love and War
Are You Passionate?
She's a Healer
Mr. Disappointment
For the Love of Man
Two old Friends
When God Made Me
Without Rings
Payola Blues
Tumbleweed
Light a Candle
No Hidden Path
The Way
Safeway Cart
Driveby

Almost the entire Sleeps with Angels album, which I regard as a wholly brilliant piece of work, might as well be on my list. but I have to give special mention to A Dream that Can Last, one of the greatest album closers ever and a beautiful and uplifting song that I've taken inspiration from any number of times. There's nothing else like that I know of in Neil's catalogue (except for My Heart, its sister that bookends the other end of the album) and it constitutes a master stroke. The whole motley assortment of musical ideas going on--Ralph Molina's monotonous ball-and-chain, heavy footstep drumbeat, the gliding and sometimes giddily dancing tack piano, and intermittent flourishes of the second piano, ranging from an ominous, discordant rumble to coloratura skipping across the melody, completely coalesces.

It might sound like a mess on paper, but when I hear them, these seemingly disparate elements produce a profoundly unified whole of music and an astonishing image of the struggle between despair and hope.
Thanks Ian! That's 2 Comment of the Moments in the past couple of weeks. Wanna go for a trifecta, triple crown?!

More coverage, discussion and analysis tonight on Thrasher's Wheat Radio on Wbkm Dot Org, at 9:00PM ET.

Don't be denied!

Tune in details and podcast info @ Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour.


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Friday, June 05, 2015

"It's too late in the game for subtle lyrics": Micah Nelson on Neil Young


Micah Nelson - "The Message"

It looks like Neil Young -- in anticipation of the upcoming backlash against the album The Monsanto Years -- has begun to make pre-emptive moves to defend it's core message.

Earlier this week, Neil Young posted a video on Facebook titled "The Message". If you haven't checked it out yet, please do so before proceeding with this posting.

OK, now that you've watched the video and actually returned, we just have to say that we are pleased to see that the Neil camp is getting a little bit more sophisticated in today's information wars.

Neil knows that the Monsanto supporters and PR flaks will lie and twist the facts in an attempt to marginalize The Monsanto Years so he's taking an early offensive position by releasing his "talking points" via band members of Promise of the Real themselves.

When Micah Nelson says in the video that "It's too late in the game for subtle lyrics", we could not agree more. Already, we have seen many comments here at TW about the lyrical quality of The Monsanto Years.

In fact, we here at TW responded to similar charges about the lack of poetry and mystery in the lyrics of his 21st century albums that we referred to as The Message Trilogy: Greendale, Living with War and Fork in the Road:
Recently, we wrote about how the initial consensus around Neil Young's Greendale and Living With War was that they were flawed and misguided. Our opinion was that Fork in the Road seemed to be falling right into the same mindset. But we maintain that the three works together actually constitute a cohesive trilogy that may just validate Neil's early 21st century work.

There's an intriguing arc between the three albums. With Greendale , Neil sounds the alarm that something has gone terribly wrong on a number of fronts. Living With War was a direct confrontation of the need for a call to action. Fork in the Road -- the 3rd installment of the trilogy -- reveals Neil coming to grips with the fact that first you recognize a problem, then you call out the need to address it, and finally you do something about it.

And now we add The Monsanto Years to become "The Message Quadrilogy".

Sadly -- as Micah Nelson so eloquently points out -- "It's too late in the game for subtle lyrics".

Deal with it. Game on.

peace & love. stay calm. no fear. use discernment. recognize the illusion. be the wheat. prepare for the big shift and keep on rockin' in the free world.

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Wednesday, June 03, 2015

The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts | Rolling Stone

"Along For the Ride" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Neil Young @ Bob Dylan Honored at MusiCares

Composite by artist Lindsay Walker
(Click photo to enlarge)


So what's your favorite Neil Young deep cut? Certainly, lots to choose from -- from obscure to relatively well known.

Recently, Rolling Stone conducted a Reader Poll and asked the question. From The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts | Rolling Stone by Andy Greene:
Tabulating the votes required a lot of judgement calls. It was a no-brainer to toss out votes for "Old Man" and "Cinnamon Girl," but "Cortez the Killer," "Powderfinger" and "Sugar Mountain" presented a minor conundrum. They aren't hits in the traditional sense, but the latter two appear on Decade while "Powderfinger" is his second most-performed tune (behind only "Cinnamon Girl.") We ultimately felt they were simply too famous to count even though they all got a ton of votes. Feel free to blast away in the comments section if you feel those were bad calls.
Well Andy, can't say that we see any bad calls on the Top 10.

"Expecting to Fly" (#10) ranks up there with "Broken Arrow" in terms of complexity with the mixing and orchestral arrangements.

And who could argue with readers #1 pick of the song "Thrasher"? We're particularly fond of the song ourselves and still somewhat in a state of bliss after hearing it live for the 2nd time in our life last year.

But what's up with the mis-spelling "Trasher"???

See full list at The 10 Best Neil Young Deep Cuts | Rolling Stone by Andy Greene.

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Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Photo of the Moment: Neil Young, Maui, Hawaii - May 23, 2015

Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Charley's Restaurant And Saloon, Paia, Maui, Hawaii (May 23, 2015)
Photo by David Parias
(Click photo to enlarge)

The Photo of the Moment is from the recent stealth gig at Charley's Restaurant And Saloon, Paia, Maui, Hawaii on May 23, 2015.

In case you missed it, we posted a full stealth gig report by our buddy Shaka Geoff who made it in with the grace of the rustie goddesses.

So check out Geoff's report and photos, as well as, by his buddy, photographer David Parias. enjoy!

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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Comment of the Moment: "A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop" by Neil Young + Promise Of The Real



The Comment of the Moment is from "A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop" by Neil Young + Promise Of The Real by (D.) Ian Kertis, who said...
I've listend to the song four or five times in the last few days and it's been growing on me.

Musically and in terms of subject matter, this project is reminding me of Fork in the Road. Neil has describe the album as an "upbeat commentary on the situation", or words to that notion, and this selection certainly bears that out. It's obviously not taking itself too seriously and I think it succeeds in being funny. I'm interested to hear what the entire album will sound like, as well as how this topical novelty number plays in that context. At the moment, I'm just happy to dig the whistling. It reminds me of the hokey-pokey: "You stick your left foot out…" At least it seems like no one is surprised that it's somewhat off the wall. That's an improvement from the past, where some posters actually seemed surprised that Neil Young follows his heart and soul, sometimes leading him into goofy and occasionally even bizarre experimental directions (A Letter Home springs to mind). I have a hunch that this will be another in a long line of Neil records destined for some maligning, but I'm optimistic that it'll be a fun record if nothing else. Taking on corporate power in America is always a guaranteed good time for all.

Sorry if I'm reposting something that's already been up, but I was researching into this album and this came up: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-neil-young-tear-into-the-monsanto-years-at-anti-gmo-event-20150526

Plenty of embedded links as well. Neil and the Nelsons perform "Mansanto Years", the title song. It appears to be a gentle acoustic number with an interesting arrangement. Unfortunately, it doesn't' seem like they're mic'd that well, so the lyrics can be difficult to make out. As to the continued carping/harping on Daryl Hannah, from day one, I wasn't even interested in looking at Storytone in the shadow of Neil's personal life. It's a conviction of mine that you can appreciate an artist's work independent of such "real world" context and I'm sticking to that.
Thanks (D.) Ian! Have to agree with you about what could be more fun than taking on corporate power in America. game on.

More coverage, discussion and analysis from last night on Thrasher's Wheat Radio on Wbkm Dot Org. Download podcast.


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Willie for a Nobel!
#Willie4Nobel

Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize
for Farm Aid and his work on
alternative fuels, and world peace initiatives.

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Neil Young FAQ:
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"an indispensable reference"

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Paul McCartney and Neil Young

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If you really a try"

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John Lennon and Neil Young


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The Supergroup of the 20th Century



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Revisiting The Significance of
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Turn Off Your TV & Have A Life


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Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)


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The Year of The Wheat

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Kurt Cobain and Neil Young

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An Acquired Taste?

Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years
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"the definitive source of Neil Young's formative childhood years in Canada"

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Joni Mitchell & Neil Young

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Bob and Neil

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So Who Really Was "The Godfather of Grunge"?


Four Dead in Ohio
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So What Really Happened at Kent State?


The Four Dead in Ohio



May The FOUR Be With You #MayThe4thBeWithYou

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dissent is not treason
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism

Rockin' In The Free World



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"Powderfinger"
What does the song mean?

Random Neil Young Link of the Moment
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Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young

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I'm Proud to Be A Union Man

UNITED WE STAND/DIVIDED WE FALL


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You Shut the Fuck Up


Class War:
They Started It and We'll Finish It...
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A battle raged on the open page...
No Fear, No Surrender. Courage
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"What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees?"
Full Disclousre Now


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BOYCOTT HATE

Love and Only Love

"Thinking about what a friend had said,
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We're All On
A Journey Through the Past

Neil Young's Moon Songs
Tell Us The F'n TRUTH
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Maybe everything you think you know is wrong? NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
"It's all illusion anyway."

Propaganda = Mind Control
NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
Guess what?
"Symbols Rule the World, not Words or Laws."
... and symbolism will be their downfall...

Brighter Planet's 350 Challenge
Be The Rain, Be The Change

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the truth will set you free
This Machine Kills Fascists


"Children of Destiny" - THE Part of THE Solution

(Frame from Official Music Video)

war is not the answer
yet we are
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"greed is NOT good"
Hey Big Brother!
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Civic Duty Is Not Terrorism

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“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.”
~~ Bob Marley

The Essence of "The Doubters"



Yes, There's Definitely A Hole in The Sky


Even Though The Music Died 50+ Years Ago
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Open Up the "Tired Eyes" & Wake up!
"consciousness is near"
What's So Funny About
Peace, Love, & Understanding & Music?

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Show Me A Sign

"Who is John Galt?"
To ask the question is to know the answer

"Whosoever shall give up his liberty for a temporary security
deserves neither liberty nor safety."

~~ Benjamin Franklin

Words

(Between the lines of age)


And in the end, the love you take
Is equal to the love you make

~~ John & Paul

the zen of neil
the power of rust
the karma of the wheat

~Om-Shanti.

Namaste