I was looking through some old concert ticket stubs (yeah, I’m a pack rat), thinking of summer concerts of days past. I came across an August 1, 1999, show for Soul Coughing at Stubb’s in Austin. At the time, I was a sportswriting intern at the Austin American-Statesman.I’ll always remember the show because a) I saw Soul Coughing; and b) Morphine was on the bill. But, sadly, about a month earlier, Mark Sandman passed away on stage of a heart attack at a concert in Rome. He was only 47.

Clearly, the news of his death wasn’t on par with someone like a John Lennon; however, I was (still am) totally into Morphine. That band was doing things musically that few — if any — were: Billy Conway on drums, Dana Colley on saxophone and Sandman playing a homemade two-string bass. It was sometimes amazing what they were able to coax out of such minimal instrumentation. The low-end vibes were downright (dare I say it?) sexy. For proof, check Cure For Pain, the group’s sophomore — and breakthrough — album.

Colley and Conway went on to form the Twinemen, a fine outfit but, frankly, it was hard not to think that Sandman should still be around. A box set — Sandbox — came out last year, with two discs of Sandman material compiled by Colley and Conway, plus a DVD. (I have yet to purchase.)

So, here’s to remembering Morphine:

Cure for Pain (audio stripped from enhanced video on Bootleg Detroit; song performed live at The Montreux Jazz Festival in 1995)
Pulled Over the Car (from B-Sides and Otherwise; originally from Japanese CD release of Yes)
Thursday (from Cure for Pain; listen to the bass!)
Potion(from Like Swimming; listen to the sax!)

Even though I just saw Richard Buckner this past November in Phoenix, I’m really excited to see him again tonight in Tucson with Anders Parker, whom I saw open for Jay Farrar not too long ago in Los Angeles.

This will be at least the fourth time seeing Buckner, and I really wouldn’t pass up a chance to see him at any time. I remember the first time, probably about eight years ago, at Balboa Cafe in Tempe with my brother; Buckner opened for Alejandro Escovedo. I was floored by Buckner. I’ve never seen one man and a guitar command that sort of presence at a show. “Husky” seems to be the most-used adjective to describe his voice, and rightfully so. (I thought “husky” was only used to describe big-boy jeans.) It’s not exactly flattering, but it’s fitting.

His songs are the stuff of drunken loneliness, open country and empty yearning. I distinctly remember in October 2000, having accepted my first sportswriting gig in Lubbock, Texas, listening to his debut “Bloomed” as I drove into Texas wondering what the hell I was exactly doing. The album was recorded in Lubbock, and I thought I’d develop some closeness to the music because of it. Like when he sings, “He didn’t know much misery / But there was plenty of time to learn.” That borders on cheesy, I know, but the album pulled me through some serious homesickness (if you lived in Lubbock you’d understand)

That said, I’d recommend anything he’s put out, especially “Bloomed” and his latest, “Dents and Shells” (on Merge … you know, home of the Arcade Fire).

I have too many songs I’d want to include here, so I’ve recorded his KCRW appearance from last year (split into two MP3s, before and after the Nic Harcourt interview).

As for Anders Parker, I’m still new to his music. But I’m liking his newest, “Tell it to the Dust,” quite a bit.

Richard Buckner: Live on KCRW (Part I)
Richard Buckner: Live on KCRW (Part II)
Richard Buckner: Ariel Ramirez (from Devotion+Doubt; yes the song on that VW Touareg commercial)
Richard Buckner: Up North (from Bloomed)
Anders Parker: Tell it to the Dust (from Tell it to the Dust)

Mike Doughty, former frontman of Soul Coughing, released The Gambler EP on iTunes. For less than $6, you get this:

1. The Gambler (studio version of Kenny Rogers classic)
2. Strange Powers (live on XM Radio’s “The Loft”)
3. St. Louise Is Listening (live on KCRW)
4. Busting Up A Starbucks (live on KEXP)
5. The King Of Carrot Flowers (live on KEXP)
6. Janine (live from the street in Seattle)
VIDEO: “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well”

Go to Doughty’s Web site here and you can print out cover art. The guy also has a fantastic blog. And if you don’t have his new album, Haughty Melodic (an anagram for Michael Doughty), I highly recommend it. Buy it here. I miss Soul Coughing, but I’m digging Doughty’s solo resurgence and his so-called “small rock.”

In honor, here’s a couple of tracks from his solo projects Rockity Roll and Skittish and a live track from his new album played live for NPR.

Mike Doughty — 27 Jennifers
Mike Doughty — The Only Answer
Mike Doughty — Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well (on NPR)
Mike Doughty — Busting Up a Starbucks (remix) by fan sent to Doughty; posted on Doughty’s blog.

It’s a shame INXS has stooped as low as reality television to find a singer to replace Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide in 1997. Presumably, Rock Star: INXS, which premiered Monday on CBS, is an American Idol/Survivor-like contest in which 15 contestants are vying to, ahem, make the band. I say “presumably” because I did not nor will I watch; I only know what I’ve read. And I read that Dave Navarro is one of the hosts of this show. Didn’t his 15 minutes expire on that god-awful MTV show where he and Carmen Electra pranced around in fits of self-aggrandizement?

I so much like INXS and its catalog — is there a more compact and concise piece of pop-rock than Kick? — that this whoring out to CBS makes me sad; then again, I’m kind of surprised Fox didn’t think of it first. But what guitarist Tim Farriss had to say to Associated Press makes me downright depressed: ” … It’s really an organic way to find a new singer. It’s the best way we could think of.” I’m sorry. What is so “organic” about selling out your respectable legacy in music to dive into the perverse orgy of reality TV?

Let’s remember the better times, shall we?

INXS — Heaven Sent
INXS — Need You Tonight
INXS — Not Enough Time
INXS — Beautiful Girl
INXS — Kick

Walter Schreifels appears to be mellowing with age, and that’s not particularly a bad thing. Schreifels is probably best known for fronting Quicksand, a post-hardcore (whatever that means) outfit out of New York in the early ’90s. Quicksand’s influence is huge, even if its shelf life lasted two (very good) albums: Slip and Manic Compression.

Rival Schools was Schreifels’ next project, and that died off even quicker than Quicksand: One album (United by Fate circa 2002) and an EP (Rival Schools United by Onelinedrawing) with Far/Onelinedrawing mastermind Jonah Matranga. Rival Schools (love the name) borrowed Quicksand’s aggressive approach, but downshifted from time to time with excellent results.

Schreifels’ newest project is Walking Concert (Some Records), which is really nothing at all like Quicksand or Rival. It’s all pop and shimmery guitars. And the name, according to the band’s bio, derives from the movie Crossroads (the Ralph Macchio Crossroads, not the Britney Spears Crossroads) in which Macchio is a blues-obsessed guitar prodigy; when he gets hold of a pignosed amp, the clerk tells him he’ll be a walking concert. (Coincidentally, my guitar-playing brother Brendan loves Crossroads; again NOT the Britney Spears Crossroads, at least I don’t think.)

Listen to the links to hear the evolution of Schreifels. Rival Schools’ Sweet is a vinyl-only track, which I snagged on the cheap at Amoeba Records in LA. (Forgive any hissing and such in the sound as I’m still mastering the vinyl-to-digital process).

Quicksand
“Thorn in My Side”
“How Soon is Now?” — Smiths cover

Rival Schools
“Good Things”
“Sweet” (vinyl only)

Walking Concert
“The Animals”
“What’s Your New Thing?”