Silver Moon's Orange Glow: BOO!

In honor of tonight's OKC Ghouls Gone Wild parade I've compiled some Halloween picks:
http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/imix/silver-moons-orange-glow-boo!/id476603699


The Gleaming Armament of Genatalia - Chrsitmas on Mars - The Flaming Lips
--- no March of a 1,000 Skeletons this year at the Ghouls Gone Wild OKC parade and that's really too bad... this is the theme music.

Manu Christi - Music for "Blood" - Stan Rdigway & Pietra Wexstun
--- this is really creepy... a little bit goes a long way.

Bonfires On The Heath - The Clientele
--- it can't be Halloween without something burning somewhere, right?

Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
--- an old favorite... odd, silly yet captures the spirit!

Monsters of the Id - Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads - Stan Ridgway
--- the really scary things lie within (as Stan well knows).

Lockjaw - A Capella - Todd Rundgren
--- Todd's always good for a laugh. I wouldn't lie.

Edgar Allan Poe - All The Things You Are - Reynold Philipsek
--- a little gypsy jazz on a dark spooky night.

The Raven - Lou Reed
--- spoken word piece that follows Reynold very nicely.

Frank's Wild Years - swordfishtrombone - Tom Waits
--- had to include some Tom somewhere... dig the Halloween imagery at the end and just imagine its October 31st.

Halloween 2009 - Songs for the New Depression - Loudon Wainwright III
--- no double dip yet but late 2008 was damn scary... Woody woulda liked this one.

The Cask - The Raven - Lou Reed
--- another spoken word piece with nice musical enhancement featuring the distinctive voice of that funny-lookin' little guy, Steve Buscemi.

Great Pumpkin Waltz - Vince Guaraldi Trio
--- a little cliched perhaps but its time to wind down and chill.

Pumpkin  Man - Superheterodyne - Rock E. Rollins
--- is it really already all over? This soulful little piece bids adieu to spooks, falling leaves and October.

Do you know who I am?....

Daryl Hall - Laughing Down Crying

Daryl Hall's new album is damn catchy. I can't seem to get these songs out of my head. The guy has always had a knack for writing great songs and he knows how to sing them. Alot of people I know like to dismiss Hall as just a pop song writer but that's only because he had so much success with Hall & Oates back in the 80s. You can't blame the man for producing hit after catchy hit. The truth is he's always surrounded himself with incredible musicians including Robert Fripp (check out Sacred Songs), Todd Rundgren (War Babies for starters), G.E. Smith (he was the H&O lead guitarist during their incredible 80s run), the late great T Bone Wolk and even the underrated John Oates. On top of that he's always had an experimental side to his work (see Fripp & Rundgren). Soulful pop, sing-along ballads, melodious rock - Laughing Down Crying has it all.


available from the Silver Moon aShop



The Best Songs of 2011 (so far...)

Recommended for immediate downloading from your favorite vendor:

The Movement of Cherry Blossom Shadows - Le Concorde

Come A Rain - Kevin Welch

Not Too Late - Freebass

Burden of Tomorrow - The Tallest Man On Earth

You Say It Too - Buva

Magic Lantern - Doug Powell

Drinking Beer On The Roof - The Handsome Family

Like New Year's Day - Matthew Ryan & Hammock

Mr. Let's Find Out - The Caribbean

The Magic Place - Julianna Barwick

Late Bloomer - Ron Sexsmith

Kiss Like Your Kiss - Lucinda Williams

Love And Hard Times - Paul Simon

Up On The North Shore - The Sea And Cake

Someone You'd Admire - Fleet Foxes

Always Like The Son - Release The Sunbird

Perfect Day - Cassettes Won't Listen

The Copper Top - Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat

Towers - Bon Iver

Horses - Joseph Arthur

Cemetery Guns - Fountains of Wayne

NOTE: many of these can be downloaded for free at

 http://www.magnetmagazine.com/category/free-mp3s/

Ron Sexsmith - Long Player Late Bloomer

Ron Sexsmith writes songs that get into your head and once they do they tend to stay there. His tender vocal stylings underscore his very insightful mature lyrics. His new release Long Player Late Bloomer is perhaps his most sonically accomplished and is filled with plenty of catchy pop sing-a-longs and his typically heartfelt acoustic ballads. As a relative newcomer to Sexsmith I have not heard his complete catalog but from what I have heard I surely believe this guy is an artist who deserves to be heard. Available from the Silver Moon aStore.

Below are a Silver Moon Baker's Dozen of great Ron Sexsmith tracks to download NOW from your favorite online vendor:

~ Maybe This Christmas ~ Not Too Big ~ Thumbelina Farewell

~ Keep It In Mind ~ Brandy Alexander ~ Not About To Lose

~ For The Driver ~ Wishing Wells ~ Jazz At The Bookstore

~ Hands of Time ~ Spiritude ~ I'll Believe It When I See It

~ Michael And His Dad

Doug Powell - The Apprentice's Sorcerer

Somehow Doug Powell's latest release slipped past me until I stumbled upon it about a week ago on emusic. Released fittingly back on Halloween 2010 The Apprentice's Sorcerer is a concept album that turns the world of magic and belief upside down while scrutinizing the essence of light and its impact on what is and is not revealed. It's easy to interpret these songs as an extension of Powell's ongoing spiritual quest as they probe the concepts of belief, deception and ultimately faith. He's become quite the wizard in the studio as the production is top-notch and the songs sound dynamic, provocative and crystal clear. Most of the tunes are hyperactive toe-tappers but Doug squeezes in a couple of touching ballads that really shine in contrast. The album ends with The Professor's Nightmare which features a spoken-word intro by a Stephen Hawking-like drone whose computerized voice creates a synthetic non-human approach to the spirit world yet morphs into a lively piano solo that seemingly incorporates all of humanity's passion and potential and, perhaps, even a bit of its madness. And then suddenly, it's over: all matter has at long last fallen apart along the edges and God has left the building.

Or has He simply emerged from another door?

Available from CD Baby.

New Music from Buva

Buva has released his third full-length CD Not Scary! Friendly which is available from CD Baby. Reminiscient of 70s era Beach Boys with a modern sheen and his typical dynamic arrangements.

Utopian Dreams

The following is a not so impartial review of Utopian Dreams, the new release of an old live-in-the-studio recording by Moogy & the Rhythm Kings, Long Island, March 1972.

The set opens with the rollicking locomotive grind of Midnite Train. Next up is the funky Tonite I Wanna Love Me A Stranger that sports a cool Dr. John vibe. The soulful confessional Dust In The Wind follows which is without question one of Moogy’s best-known and beloved compositions. The instrumental Heaven On Earth is a jazzy delight, reminiscent of some of that era’s better prog-bop tracks. Woulda fit in nicely in Mickey Rourke’s Barfly flick. The great Ralph Schuckett takes center stage for the next two tunes, the street-wise shuffle of Gimme That Bread and the bittersweet ballad Welcome To My House that’s sure to be a fan favorite, especially in light of the fact that 38 years after the actual performance most of us Boomers can relate to the beautifully expressed sentiment. Just a wonderful song. The following four are all Moogy standards (I Can Love / Cryin’ In The Sunshine / Kilpatrick’s Defeat / The Man At Ease) delivered with typical soulful flare and tight arrangements. I’m A Ram is an all-out rock-funk jam with plenty of electric piano and organ solos. Makin’ The Rounds At Midnite is a self-professed hunk of funk with a tip of the hat to Jerry Lee. The set concludes with Raised On An Island which starts off with a distinct Siomos drum beat, then John Siegler falls in on bass, then Schuckett on organ, and finally Moogy offers his “humble lick on the piano.”

“We’re gonna rock and roll all day, we’re gonna rock and roll my friend,
We’re gonna rock and roll all night, then we’ll rock all over again!”

It turned out to be more than just a Utopian Dream, it laid the foundation for one of the most respected and creative musical forces of the era – a few years later the mother ship landed and out popped Todd with his spacey guitar and Utopia became a reality. And now thirty-eight years later the founding father is still rockin’ – Keep On Rockin’ Moogy!

Utopian Dreams is brought to you by Moogy Klingman and Silver Moon Music and is available for purchase from the Silver Moon web site. NOTE: the performances are grand, the sound quality not exactly pristine. My suggestion is to dial down the bass, bump up the treble, crank the V and enjoy with a Newcastle Brown or three.

Tom Getter Slack - Looking Glass

One of the nice things about having released a few CDs on my Medicine Park label is that I've had the priviledge to make some musical friends along the way. One of those is a fellow from Pittsburg named Tom Getter Slack who recently sent me his new CD Looking Glass. Wow - this is really a very nice effort best described as melodic, peaceful, even sweet. There are a couple of instrumentals tossed in but most songs are concise introspective vignettes. Available from CD Baby for only $8.99. Recommended!

Top Picks for 2010

Some of these might have actually been officially released before 2010 but these are the ones I listened to the most. All are available at the Silver Moon aStore.

BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Lonely Avenue

CROWDED HOUSE - Intriguer

HAMMOCK - Chasing After Shadows

THE HOLD STEADY - Heaven Is Whenever

JEN OLIVE - Warm Robot

LAST DAYS - Safety Of The North

LAURA VEIRS - July Flame

LYLE WORKMAN - Harmonic Crusader

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - The Life of the World to Come

PETER MULVEY - Letters From a Flying Machine

SETH SWIRSKY - Watercolor Day

SPOOKEY RUBEN - Mechanical Royalty

TOM PETTY - Mojo

THE WEEPIES - Be My Thrill

WILLIAM BRITTELLE - Television Landscape