Live Ledge #285: New Releases

It was two summers ago that I had the opportunity to assist Gorman Bechard in filming "Who Is Lydia Loveless?" It was the best three weeks a music lover could ask for. Besides one-on-one interviews with everybody in her band, we accompanied them as they rehearsed, recorded, and toured.

One of the first nights we were in Columbus, Ohio found us in Lydia's rehearsal space. She was working on a full-band version of a song she had recently wrote. It was fascinating to see the tune take shape. and to see everybody in the band figure out their place in the song. It was pretty much a different song by the end of the night.

A few days later we were also in the studio as they cut this track. By this time it was easily my favorite song of the "Real" sessions, and I had the pleasure of being the only other person in the band room as she cut the vocals for this song. This song clearly meant a lot to her, too, as she sang her ass off on it. I was mesmerized. 

You can imagine my surprise a year later when the song in question, "Desire", was not found on the album. When she appeared on Live Ledge to promote the band's Sioux Falls appearance with the Drive-By Truckers, I had to ask why:

Q: What happened with “Desire”? That was my favorite song during the sessions, yet it didn’t make the album.
A: Well, it is six and half minutes long. That was a big problem. Everyone wants vinyl, but you can’t really have long records on vinyl. Apparently. That’s what the record label told me. That one is so emotional and so long and so draining. It just seemed like the obvious choice to me to take off. I had already packed so much emotion into the record, but it will eventually come out in some form in some way.

Imagine my pleasant surprise earlier today when word spread that Bloodshot had finally released "Desire"!!! Imagine my bigger surprise to discover that the b-side was a Justin Bieber cover! Here's what she told NPR about her version of "Sorry":

I was walking through the park in some city on tour a while ago and listening to [Bieber’s song] and thinking about covering it at the show that night. And when I sat down to learn it, I just felt really moved singing it. I went into the studio with [guitarist] Todd [May], and he played this really pretty reverb part over it, and it was just simple and somber to me. People keep asking me what I hear in it. I guess there’s nothing like a breakup to make you lean on a tight pop song.

The release of this single greatly changed tonight's Live Ledge, along with a number of other last-minute discoveries. Who knew that there was a tribute to the worst Clash album of all time, "Cut the Crap"? New records by Weed, Wavves, and Blondie also needed a spot in the playlist.

Not that the original show wasn't destined for greatness. Come on, The Suicide Commandos are back after 39 years!!! And the resulting album, "Time Bomb", is definitely worth the wait! John Moreland, Juliana Hatfield, and Robyn Hitchcock have returned with extremely strong songs, and the final Warm Soda album may be their best yet.

It's a supersized episode that's among the best "new release" episodes of the entire Live Ledge run. I hope you agree with this assessment. Grab this from the usual sources, including Stitcher and iTunes, or...

CLICK HERE TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD!!!!

1. The Velvet Illusions, The Stereo Song  

2. Lydia Loveless, Desire 

3. Lydia Loveless, Sorry 

4. John Moreland, Sallisaw Blue  

5. Leeroy Stagger, Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone  

6. Steve Earle & The Dukes, Lookin For A Woman  

7. Justin Townes Earle, Champagne Corolla 

8. Hayseed Dixie, Oliver's Army 

9. Robyn Hitchcock, Virginia Woolf 

10. Robyn Hitchcock, Mad Shelley's Letterbox 

11. The Suicide Commandos, Hallelujah Boys

12. The Suicide Commandos, Boogie's Coldest Acre  

13. Blondie, Doom or Destiny  

14. Juliana Hatfield, Good Enough For Me

15. Juliana Hatfield, Kellyanne 

16. Weed, Favourite Hate  

17. Los Tones, Wasted 

18. Black Lips, The Last Cul de Sac 

19. The Buttertones, Two-Headed Shark 

20. The Rubs, Wrong Right Girl  

21. Warm Soda, Young in Your Heart 

22. Warm Soda, To Be With Ramona 

23. Wavves, Daisy

24. Wavves, Hollowed Out 

25. Too Much Joy, We Are The Clash 

26. The Violets, Cool Under Heat

27. Basenji, Dirty Punk  

28. Daly Combat, North And South  

29. Tara Jane O'Neil, Ballad of El Goodo 

30. Buke and Gase, Dress

31. Bully, Right 

32. Midnite Snaxxx, No Time to Spend 

33. Juanita Y Los Feos, Vallacas 

34. Neighborhood Brats, Complete Mess 

35. Suss Cunts, Anemic Boyfriend 

36. Skinny Girl Diet, Burnouts 

37. Aaron Stingray and the Brooklyn Apostles, Maybe Baby 

38. Capitalist Kids, Claustrophobia 

39. The Evil O'Brians, Suspicious Minds 

40. The Hallingtons, Baby I Love You

41. Tough, Pleasant Valley Sunday

42. Cock Sparrer, One by One