Dirty Impound

Guess it’s an Umphrey’s McGee kind of week around the Impound because we just gotta share this screaming cover of Chicago’s classic single from the band’s New Year’s Eve shindig in St. Louis. Jake Cinninger reminds us in moments of the late Terry Kath, Chicago’s brilliant original guitarist – we can offer no better compliment. This version is a lot of fun and features Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret Horns. UM sounds tasty with horns, particularly when blower extraordinaire Jeff Coffin is in the mix. We’ve included two vintage clips of Chicago killin’ the tune with Kath. The first Chicago video gets more surreal as it goes (why exactly are they eating watermelon with horses?), and the second is Terry Kath at his blazing best.

There are few musicians more special and charmingly idiosyncratic than Matt Butler, the founder and conductor of Everyone Orchestra, which takes the art of improvisation to new levels. But rather than some heady technical exercise, Butler has found a way to make the experience thrilling for players and onlookers alike. EO performances are like visits to a colorful playground for one’s ears – there’s so much to climb on and explore and the sun beats down or the winds blow ferociously or…well, it’s never clear where anyone is going or how we’ll get there, only that the journey is going to be a freakin’ blast time and again. In the more than a dozen EO concerts Dirty Impound has witnessed there have been too many moments to note every single time – solos of such power or beauty they take your breath away, simply lunatic changes and modulations that defy logic, or even segments that felt so together that it seemed they must have been composed and rehearsed beforehand. When so much music being generated today feels like a rehash of the past, Everyone Orchestra, under Butler’s inspired guidance, reminds us of music’s endless possible permutations.

Butler has taken this previously only-live-onstage experience into the studio for the first time and is working on getting the finishing funds to bring the album into the world. The Brooklyn Sessions features EO veterans Jon Fishman (Phish), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), Al Schnier (moe.), Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green), Steve Kimock, Marco Benevento, Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band), Jamie Masefield (Jazz Mandolin Project) and Jans Ingber (The Motet). Check out this Kickstarter video and definitely pop over here to watch a cool mini-documentary that talks to just some of the hyper-gifted musicians who’ve participated in EO, including King Crimson’s Adrian Belew and Tony Levin. It’s a worthy cause and if you feel so inclined you can chip in here. The Kickstarter campaign has only about 60 hours left to make up the remaining funds, so jump on over asap if the spirit moves you.

We get a good feeling from Spain’s Mirémonos, who jitter in a way that makes us think of New Order after a few triple espressos or perhaps The Cure with less whining. There’s an intensity and general aura about this young band that reminds the Impound of the good parts of the 80s nicely polished up for today. Watching this clip for their new single made us immediately devour their previous three-track EP (both of which can be downloaded for free here). There’s a pleasing earnestness to them, and they look like a bunch of quality weirdos in the video (a major plus in our book). “Mirémonos” is Spanish for “let’s look at each other” or “let’s look at ourselves,” and the words inserted with the performance footage for the single suggest they’ve got interesting things going on behind their eyes. We patiently await their full-length debut hoping they build on all the promising bits already apparent in their music.

Shit howdy, what a fun, positive band. Ann Arbor-based The Macpodz have joyfully hurled their best shot across the bow with The Truth EP (released September 9), which harnesses their already-strong party instincts into sharper form without sacrificing any of their usual updraft. The first two cuts on this four-track taster show they’ve been listening close to The Meters, but the deep, album cut gold, which they’ve warped into their own thing akin to kindred spirits The New Mastersounds. Trumpeter Ross Huff blows like a man out to join Tower of Power in their early 70s Oakland heyday on “9 Lives,” and generally makes one happy for the brass in this mix. However, funky territory would be a comfortable stopping point and The Macpodz are ready to stretch here, with “Old Man” sounding like a lost Return To Forever ballad and “Bohemian Grove” finding the sweet spot between Phish and Steely Dan and hinting that these Michigan boys – rounded out by Brennan Andes (bass, vocals), Jesse Clayton (keys, vocals), Griffin Bastian (drums), and Nick Ayers (percussion/ flute/ vox) – may have a long player on par with musically robust, weirdo ready classics like Can’t Buy A Thrill and Hoist lurking in them. Their next full-length album arrives Spring 2012, and here’s the title cut to the new EP in 2D (and those with the special specs can peep the 3D version here) and you can purchase The Truth EP here.

This one will knock your dick in the dirt proper. With debauchery and bad behavior running rampant this weekend, this straight off-the-floor (of some mangy crackhouse from the looks of it) version of Hank Williams Jr.’s 1979 corker comes to us courtesy of truly hot shit Southern rock band Hellbound Glory. If they handle an ol’ hand like Jr. this well one imagines they knock the living tar out of their original stuff. We consider ourselves on notice to dig in more thoroughly to these guys and so should you. Now, raise your glass to all those stoned out of their minds at closing time.

Thanks to Friend of the Impound Shooter Jennings for turning us onto this clip. Folks should check out Shooter’s ace new single, “The Deed and The Deal” (Listen) (Buy), from his forthcoming Family Man album due March 13, 2012. Coincidentally, DI Grand Poobah Dennis Cook penned the liner notes for the new album, and he can assure you it’s some of the best damn country music you’re gonna hear in the new year. Believe that.

The good folks at HelloGiggles got pals Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to hoist acoustic instruments and offer up this Nancy Wilson ditty for the upcoming holiday. While the only way we’d watch Zooey’s new sitcom is strapped into a chair Clockwork Orange style, we do like her voice and obvious affection for oldies. So, now that she’s lured Gordon-Levitt into her sing-song world, perhaps he can return the favor and get her to tackle work on par with his excellent recent films (or just make her watch herself in All The Real Girls) so she can get on with doing work that relies on more than her girlish charm. For now, here’s another score for ukulele enthusiasts everywhere as we head towards a new year.