The Jayhawks & The Weeknd Review

Recently reunited quintet The Jayhawks perform classic songs from its catalog, as well as new tracks from the band's first album in eight years, Mockingbird Time.

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Following up on their 2011 music business report last week, Jim and Greg are happy to announce that vinyl album sales continue to be healthy. For the third year in a row, Abbey Roadwas the top-selling  vinyl album. But nostalgia isn't the only thing pushing record sales. New artists like Mumford and Sons, Bon Iver and The Black Keys also had top selling vinyl products. Jim and Greg are pleased to know that music fans continue to have affection for this format, especially in a year when digital music sales finally topped physical ones.

Coachella, the first of the big music festivals of the season, announced its upcoming lineup. During not one, but two weekends in the California desert, attendees can see performances by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Radiohead, The Black Keys and Jeff Mangum. But they'll miss out on a reported Black Sabbath  reunion due to guitarist  Tony Iommi’s recent cancer diagnosis.

Our last bit of news proves that when it comes to the life of a musician, not a whole lot has changed in two centuries. A letter written by composer Ludwig van Beethoven has emerged in Germany valued at over $128,000. In what the BBC describes as six pages of "scrawled corrections," Beethoven complains about his ailments, and like many a rocker today, a lack of money.

The Jayhawks

After 8 years apart, the original lineup of The Jayhawks are back together with a new album called Mockingbird Time. Lead singers/guitarists/songwriters Mark Olsen and Gary Louris were joined by fellow Jayhawks Karen Grotberg, Marc Perlman and Tim O’Reagan for a live session in our studio. Mark and Gary talk to Jim and Greg about their decision to reunite and how their less-than-hip sound allowed them an easier transition into this century. At the time of the release of their two big albums in the 1990's, Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, which featured the hit song "Blue," the band's melodic, harmony rich sound was anything but grunge. Even the harmonies themselves were unusual. Mark and Gary never wanted to be the Righteous Brothers, and instead went for more of a Dylan/Emmylou approach. You can hear this style during their performance-check out the tracks and videos.

Echoes of Silence The Weeknd

Echoes of Silence

Canadian  musician and producer  Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd, is emerging out of the underground after the release of three acclaimed mixtapes. Those free albums earned him a Polaris nomination and the support of fellow countryman Drake. Jim includes The Weeknd in the great tradition of unnerving strange R&B (Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo). He is an interesting vocalist, but on this recent free mixtape Echoes of Silence, the real reason to listen is the music, which blends R&B with industrial and trip-hop influences. Greg agrees, noting that Echoes is not the best of the 3 releases, but certainly worth a listen. He uses his voice to play against type and really draws you into the dark lyrical content. Both Jimand Greg say Buy It, but luckily, you don't have to.

Jim

Jim is always excited by the opportunity to talk about one of his favorite bands: Can. The pioneering German band took that trademark Velvet Underground drone and updated with elements of punk rock. And on its second album Tago Mago, Can was joined by experimental lead singer  Damo Suzuki. A 40th anniversary reissue of Tago Mago was released late last year, so Jim adds a classic track from the album, "Mushroom," to the Desert Island Jukebox.

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