man. these guys are joining edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros and mumford and sons on tour across the american southwest starting next month. they’re calling it the ‘railroad revival tour’, and they’ll actually be travelling in vintage railroad cars. to be honest, the whole woody guthrie setup sounds a little contrived. but at the end of the night, it won’t matter. it’s still going to be a ridiculous concert. i just hope they come through town in my next life when i’m not poor. -d

*on a side note, i’ve never been able to figure out if this is a cover of an old spiritual or something. anybody know if this is an OCMS original or not?

listened to this album on the way down to balboa island for luce’s bday yesterday. (a perfect day, btw. 5 out of 5, as it were. ;) anyways, a really unique album. sonically intriguing, lyrically silly, really just a great deal of fun from start to finish (although i kept feeling that the madcapness of it all undercut the high quality of the music a bit). anyhow, i wanted to post at least 2 other songs. i ended up choosing this one cuz it sounds like the beginning of a good joke. -d

driving back from a spectacular if parching 20m run in the santa monica mountains this morning, this came on and for some reason, it was exactly what i needed. then again every time i hear the avett bros they are exactly what i need. i could be, i dunno, driving in awkward silence through the shenandoahs on a 5-day trip to my parents house in DC with 4 friends including a girl i’d been dating up until about 12 hours before, for example, and these guys could come on and capture the moment perfectly. they’re unassuming, open-faced, and unafraid to to punch you or anybody else right in the throat, emotionally speaking or otherwise. it’s honest music. and honestly so good. -d