Buva - Something That You Need to Hear!

Whoa! Sometimes listening to new music can really surprise you. I got such a surprise today. Just listened to the new album by Buva (the solo project by Pasadena artist Tom Wolfe) and I'm telling you that this album is in contention for best Power Pop album of 2010 (competing with "Queens's English" by Mark Bacino for that honor). It's a warm immediate effort that has the casual feel of early McCartney solo projects. The songs start in understated fashion but each one builds to reveal clever and sublime hooks. I am loving this! Its clearly a power pop must listen and it's easy to check it out for yourself. The entire album is streaming on the Buva website. Don't wait. Listen to this and let me know what you think.

I loved the debut EP by Buva but was a bit disappointed by his 2006 sophomore effort "All This Humming". That album has some terrific moments but was a bit introverted and mellow for my taste. The new album "Not Scary! Friendly" is much better. Lot's of upbeat tunes. Great hooks. Subtle arrangements.

To celebrate, here is the sum total of my Buva rarities . Two compilation tracks, one instrumental and four solo acoustic tracks from an earlier version of Buva's website. Enjoy these but PLEASE go out and buy the man's album! More of this please Tom!

1. Something That I Need to Hear (Acoustic version)
2. Can I See You (Compilation track from the Smallville Soundtrack)
3. Crawling From the Egg (Instrumental from MySpace)
4. She Makes Me Fall Down (Acoustic version)
5. First Cut is the Deepest (Compilation track from the Heartbreak Kid Soundtrack)
6. Just Step Away (Acoustic version)
7. She Likes the Sound (Acoustic version)

Mike Viola - Radio Show Tracks

Here are some great rare tracks by Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers extracted from three radio broadcasts, one from WERS in Boston and two from WFUV in New York. The sessions span 2004 through 2008 and sound very good to me. Mike plays solo, in a duet with Kelly Jones and with a full band.

These tracks span his career, from the Blue Thumb album through Lurch, with one track not available anywhere else. He performs his own version of "Beautiful Ride" from Walk Hard, the Dewey Cox Story (Viola and Dan Bern wrote the music for John C. Reilly to sing in this 2007 mocumentary). Also of note is a band version of "Hair of a Dog", a great track that was only released as a solo acoustic version on "Just Before Dark".

1. Canned Hunt (Solo Guitar)
2. Girly Worm (Duet with Kelly Jones)
3. Not So Bad at All (Band Version)
4. Beautiful Ride (Solo Guitar)
5. Sparkle (Solo Piano)
6. Let's Have a Baby (Band Version)
7. I'm Not Over You (Solo Guitar)
8. What to Do with Michael (Solo Piano)
9. Hair of a Dog (Band Version)
10. A Way to Say Goodbye (Duet with Kelly Jones)

A huge thanks to Yoshi who had the foresight to archive these broadcasts and was nice enough to send them along to me. Really enjoying them. They're holding me over until Mike rereleases Hang On Mike on vinyl....looking forward to the bonus tracks coming with that release.

Let me know if anyone has any additional radio session from Mike.