Greg Allman: Then and Now.

All things considered, he’s held up well. And so has his music. I still reach over and turn up the volume anytime an Allman Bros song comes on the radio. Lately though, I’ve been reaching over and cranking the knob when Gregg’s new solo song comes on. His forthcoming album, Low Country Blues. was produced by T Bone Burnett, the man who brought Allison Krauss and Robert Plant together for Raising Sand! I’m not gonna lie. I’ve heard the whole thing and it’s already a strong contender for Album Of The Year 2011, and not just because I’m 1/2 southern.

Check it out for yourself, y’all.

02 just another rider

I was just going to post a couple of good new songs on this New Music Tuesday, but something about the similarity of  lyrical content caught my ear. Teddy Thompson’s looking for a girl he can bare to love, Katie Costello’s looking for gent who’s can accept her quirks. You two crazy kids need to get together and lock this s*&%down!

Here’s Teddy’s  new song:

01 Looking for A Girl 1

And Katie’s:

01 Cassette Tape 1

Come on! These two singer-songwriters would be great together, and they would make beautiful, musical babies to boot. I’m gonna do everything in my power to make it happen. In the meantime, you enjoy New Music Tuesday.

You be the judge:

Happy Holidays!

Move over Brett Favre, there’s a new Brett in town! And if, like Brett Favre, you’re in need of some positive vibes this holiday season, Brett Dennen’s got you covered there, too. Check out this brand new song from Brett Dennen’s 2011 release Loverboy:

01 Brett Dennen 2

Do you like it? On 2 listens, I’m prepared to say yes!

If their music is good enough to get you to buy a Subaru, get engaged, and root for your favorite NFL team, they must be doing something right, right? They hail from Akron, Ohio which makes them the 2nd most famous band from there (the first being DEVO!). But unlike Devo, it’s just 2 dudes making all that racket. Add all that to one of the best live shows I saw year, and I’m pretty swoony for this band.

Crushable Band #2: The Black Keys

Crush Level: Quaking In The Knees

Tonight’s the Winter Solstice — always a great milestone around here because it means the days will start getting longer which means less darkness, in theory. The big news is that for the first time in 372 years, a total lunar eclipse will happen on the same night. Here’s the explanation:

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Here in the Northwest, the eclipse should start around 10:30pm, and by a little after midnight the moon should be glowing red. That would be really cool to watch, if it wasn’t for . . . this:

Oh yeah, and here are the kids from Glee singing about another kind of eclipse:

I hereby declare the ‘Best Of’ list dead. Obviously, music is very subjective and it’s music reviewer’s job to help us sift thru the mountains of music released every day. I’m sure you have your trusted sources for music discovery and if I’m one of those sources, I am truly humbled. But truth be told, I don’t know you! Maybe you’re a rocker or a folkie, a shoegazer or a rastalover. Far be it from me to tell you what you should like. So this year, I’ll just tell you a few things I liked.

From now thru the end of the year, I’ll post a song by the year’s most crushable bands. Bands I loved that I hope you’ll put an ear to and see what you think.

Crushable Band #1: Angus & Julia Stone

Crush level: Almost Managable

Big beards, warm hugs, brother sister harmonies, a favorite visit to The Lounge to boot.

Here’s Big Jet Plane:

bjp

Come on, it’s a catchy headline. You know you want it ; ) All kidding aside, our friend Pete Yorn made another visit to The Lounge today. Before John Fisher had his way with him, I sat him down for a few quick but revealing questions.

And here’s a real treat. Pete’s been quietly working on a covers album that will include Roxy songs, Diana Ross songs, Velvet Underground songs, and if that’s not eclectic enough for ya, this Johnny Mercer cover!

We always love our visits from Pete. You can watch his full interview and performance right from our homepage. And if you want, you can do it naked, in the privacy of your own home, natch.

Pete Yorn stopped by for a great session in the Carter Subaru Mountain Music Lounge — no concert in Seattle, just a quick visit here, and then he’s off for the holidays.

You can listen to the whole thing here — he sings two songs from his new album, Pete Yorn, which he preferes to call The Black Album because it was produced by Frank Black of The Pixies at a studio down in Salem, Oregon.

He also sings a Junior Kimbrough blues tune, he covers the old Andy Williams classic “Moon River,” and he does one from his debut album, Musicforthemorningafter. (Seattle’s one of a handful of cities where he’ll perform that album all the way through in honor of the tenth anniversary of its release this spring.)

After the performance, Pete hung around, posed for pictures, and signed free CDs for all the Mountain listeners who joined us for the session.

I happen to LOVE the new album, although it’s a little more intense than what you might be used to if you’re a Pete fan. But if you’ve seen him live, you know he tends to rock out a little more than he does on his records.

We reminisced about the Mountain Music Lounge trip to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico a few years ago, when Pete and his band and a couple dozen Mountain listeners frolicked in the sun during the day and rocked it hard during the night. We thought it was 2006 . . . or was it ‘07? The entire thing’s a little hazy at this point.

Pete Yorn returns to Seattle on April 1 for a concert at the Showbox SODO. See you there!

And there’s a really beautiful video to go with it, too. Here’s a lovely, bittersweet holiday treat from Coldplay: