Mr Surfer and Mr Jazzer!!!!

Just downloaded this minute from iTunes! WHeeeeeee!!!

http://briansetzer.com/

Funny. Mr Surfer sounded much more tom-heavy out of Niels' computer speakers

Now that I listen to Mr Jazzer, I remember saying a guitar riff in there near the start reminded me just a little of Fly Juice!

Oh man I love when his Jazzier ones are just him jammin in some 3 chords. Ive been jammin on this one for about an hour. poor roomates.. Definately like Mr. Jazzer a whole lot better. Beautiful Blues, Minibar Blues, Ratpack Boogie, Rooster Rock, Hepcat: this definately is in there and those are some favorites. Hes definately gettin way more jazzier as Ive seen him in the past years and those riffs and scales hes usin, whatever they are, are sure gettin funky sounding as well

some more Licks to add to my arsenal.

Oh man! I just realized this. Surfer goes jazzin has surf music with a jazz part in it and JAzzer has jazz with a surf part in it. haha. Setzer, youre a clever guy.

I wanna hear Mr. Surfer at the shows! It's spooky cool! It feels like it's over in no time. I love the sound of the drums and guitar together. I know what two songs I'm going to be listening to throughout the day. Thanks again Brian and Surfdog. I love getting the songs before the album comes out. It's easier getting to know the songs two at a time rather than a whole albums worth at one time.

I got totally sidetracked doing other things as I was listening to these two new tracks last night and forgot to post more thoughts.

I am just floored by all the different tones and moods and sounds Brian is pulling out of his guitar(s) on the songs we've heard so far.

Perhaps it's the instrumentation, the wonderfully present and obvious sound of the slap bass, or just the Setzerness of it all, but even though these are in a surf and jazz vein, they still feel very rockabilly to me. Is it just me? In any case, regardless of what you wanna call 'em or what style they are, these two tunes rock.

I agree with Gloria, the drum/guitar sound is awesome. And personally I think the drumming on Mr Surfer is really great. Wild, surfy, driving... fan-friggin'-tastic. AND, with all of these feelings and sounds we're being bombarded with, I still get the film noir vibe too. Great, great work.

Listening to all four tunes on the way in to work this morning, it's feeling very cohesive to me, like there is a very subtle but common thread running through the tracks.

Do we really have to wait till Oct 13?! Jeez!

These tracks are a good contrast from last week's releases, Trouble Train and Lonely Avenue. There's no horns whatsoever on either of these tracks - they would be at home on an album like Nitro, 13, or Ignition.

Mr. Jazzer Goes Surfin' - Brian has made a career out of coloring rockabilly with jazz chords. But with the formation of the Brian Setzer Orchestra 16 years ago, Brian turned that idea on its head, taking jazzier tunes and infusing a bit of twangy rockabilly into them. Mr. Jazzer recalls the lush chording of When Hepcat Gets the Blues, Mini Bar Blues and even Beautiful Blues. The chords are so full, but Brian makes it seem effortless. Never have I enjoyed a number so much where chords are the primary lead. Even if Mr. Jazzer never set foot in the ocean, this would be a mighty fine number.

Brian seems to set the listener up for the surf section about 12 bars ahead by changing up the delicious chords from the guitar rag section into some moving single-note lines which abruptly plunge into a twang-drenched zombie beach party. Setzer shoots the curl through some Ventures-inspired surf lines before wiping out into a sea of twangy Link Wray reverb that drifts nicely back into the smoothly swinging jazz chords.

I'm still trying to decide if I wanted more "Surf" in this number, or none at all. The surf section seemed to arrive late and leave early. I think I wanted more. The "Surf" could have been its own number, but ultimately, I think 4 minutes of chording or 4 minutes of surf might have been much less interesting than mixing it up here like he did.

Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin' - Setzer tears through this tune like Dick Dale only wishes he could. The first 96 seconds of this track is one big shredfest as Brian blazes through those triplets from the Dirty Boogie solo practically non-stop, pausing only to catch a tsunami-like wave of spy music - is that Agent 007 hangin' ten? As on Mr. Jazzer, there's a bit of a transition into the mood swing. Sure the beat pattern switches to high-hat swing, but the diminished guitar lines seem less self-assured than the surf section that carves its way through Mr. Jazzer. I like the jazzy reverb supporting the line of the jazz section of Mr. Surfer. It paints a picture for me of a surfer who just wiped out and is a bit disoriented, possibly from getting blasted in the head by his own board.

Like Mr. Jazzer, Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin' runs the risk of being somewhat repetitive, before infusing a change of style that saves the tune. I think the stylistic shift works better in Mr. Jazzer, but I really enjoy the guitar-shredding spy surf of Mr. Surfer. In the context of an entire album, I think these tunes will only add to the diversity, while preserving an undercurrent of that film noir feel from the first two releases.

Are either of these latest instrumentals interesting enough to get another Grammy nod? Maybe, maybe not. I'm personally hoping the Grammy committee ignores the instrumentals for a change and gives proper attention to the big band masterpiece Lonely Avenue, which easily stacks up well against the Pop-jazz Grammy darlings Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr, and even the great Tony Bennett.

Having enjoyed my time with Mr. Jazzer and Mr. Surfer, I'm ready to get back to the orchestra. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album! Bring on the horns!

Surf and Turf-a-billy

As much as I want to hear them, I refuse. I want to hear the album in it's ENTIRETY the first time thru.

I was surprised the released 2 more. What's next... 2 more next week? Are they going to have us buy the album 2 songs at a time? By the time the album is released, all the Setzer fans will ALREADY OWN IT!

I got no problems with that at all, ruger9. I'll buy each song individually and THEN buy several hard copies (though I reckon that bit is a little different for me...) Hell, I already had to re-buy TTrain and Lonely Ave last night when I totally screwed up my iPod syncing process. I suppose that's one of the problems with keeping all my music on an external hard drive and forgetting to turn it on when purchasing iTunes and resyncing, etc.... I'll learn. Small price to pay for great music. And artwork. Heh.

yeah, congrats on winning the contest! Very cool artwork. And a Hot Rod to boot!

And I didn't mean to imply anything negative about "not buying individual songs", just meant that I want to wait for the "entire picture", that's all.

No worries at all, I completely get wanting to have the whole experience - I'm just too impatient and greedy for the good stuff, as soon as I can get it.

It'll be interesting to see how we all "hear" the CD once it's finally released, whether our thoughts about the songs will change with the tracks in order, the consumption of the CD as a whole, etc.

This is actually the first time I've ever done it this way, buying tracks in advance. Though it's also the first time I've been part of such a cool community in anticipation of release, and shared excitement upon release. Makes the experience that much better, I have to say.

I'm torn between the slow release of tunes vs. experiencing them all at once. I like to be able to take the time to immerse myself in each tune, and I admit, some of the tunes get short-changed if I don't have the time to take in the whole album.

Most "albums" these days have no cohesive flow, and are just a loose collection of tunes, front-loaded with the best songs in the first 3 tracks to secure the attention of lazy radio people who judge entire albums on the first track they hear. And with digital downloading, sales of entire albums have plummeted, as people are picking off the couple of tunes they want with no regard for the thought that went into the sequencing of the album.

For decades, singles have come out in advance of an album, and there's little difference here, other than the number of tracks being released so close together. Essentially, it's like having and A-side and B-side of two singles before the album comes out. I have no problem with the practice, nor do I have a problem with ruger9's choice to wait for the album. Of course, those vinyl b-sides often contained fantastic tracks that you couldn't get on the album. I could go for a bonus track or two...

It would be cool if iTunes recognized advance purchases and allowed us to complete our album when it's finally released. This happens on some albums already, but I don't think it will work with this one, as the tracks here are clearly identified as singles. Not that it matters anyway, as I'm chompin' at the bit to get my hands on a CD, with Andi's photo hopefully a prominent feature of the packaging. Can you imagine how amazing it would look on a vinyl release?

7 Weeks to Go!

Long Player-billy

That would just kill me, to see the photo on a LP record cover. Hell, I don't even know where to *buy* vinyl now. But if it's on there I'll be more than happy to drive back to Surfdog and buy a stack direct from the source! Ha!

ruger.. I'm not big on Strip Tease either.. I want it all, totally naked and bouncin' on the bed!

...uhm...figuratively speakin

btw..mr. surfer sounds like a raging blonde bassman attack or a vintage tweed combo about to overheat.
but again... its just paisties n feather boas at this point dammit. Gimme that album

yeah i'm with you two... Are they gonna keep releasing it, two songs at a time, every couple weeks til the main release? I'd rather buy the whole cd at one time. I didn't mind getting two of the songs, it kinda amped up the anticipation... I also had a freebie song credit from amazon that i used for one of them...

Anywhoo, even though it's gonna probably kill me, i'm gonna wait for the whole thing i think in Oct...

C

October??? I thought it dropped Sept 29...?

The official press agency for all things Setzer, Shorefire Media, still indicates an October 13th release date.

Once in a while, there will be an earlier release on iTunes, but usually, digital and physical release dates are the same.

As much as I would like it to be earlier, I think many music retailers try to ride the wave of the holiday shopping season, as the number of releases explodes starting around mid-October. It'll give my wallet time to recover from the Beatles re-issues in September.


7 Weeks to Rock-a-billy

I too will wait, although I'm diggin' the feedback from those who are sampling early!

Glad to see that you are enjoying the Itunes Download but I find this a rip off in the sense that those of you who are downloading the cuts before the album release, what you are doing is paying some extra money for the whole album... all this kind of advance download should allow some vouchers to get the discount when buying the album at the regular record store as you've already paid for those songs, dont you think??

I got "Trouble Train" for free as it's on YouTube uploaded by Surfdog Records and if you are a bit smart, it's not that difficult to rip the audio...
I don't pay for this song now, but sure I will get the Japanese CD!

Nah, not a ripoff at all, Jon.

It's like in the old days: You know you and I would be the first in line to
purchase the 7" single, cd single, import cd single and 12" import single
and then, oh yeah! the album (and don't forget the import album) when it finally came out. No difference there. Now it's just a digital single...........I don't feel ripped off at all.

I think a bigger rip-off were the various Boogie Woogie Christmas re-releases in 2003 with individual bonus tracks exclusive to 4 different vendors. How many exactly were there to be tracked down? I know you bought all of them......I certainly did not.

Regardless, we all now have a reason to celebrate:
A new release from our favorite guitarist!

Hail Hail Rock n Roll!

Scatman

I think it's different, Scatman, I do honestly think so. A CD single, a 7" or whatsoever it is something you can touch and that you have... what's the point in having a digital release when there's going to be an album on its way??

I agreed with you Jon,
and then, they are suprised that people illegaly download.

Jon, you're definitely too young to remember this, but artists released singles (45 rpm records) in advance of an album all the time. It built anticipation for the album, provided a chance for some radio airplay, possibly generate some chart activity, and yes, generated additional revenue for the artist in their chosen profession.

Of course, as a collector, you've spent most of your life tracking down singles and LPs years after their release. For you, the object is the important thing, as I'm sure you have other sources to access the music. Advance releases like this are not targeted for the collector, but for the fan who is eager to experience the MUSIC for the first time. For those of us who want to listen to new music from one of their favorite artist 7 and 8 weeks before the album release, I think Brian and Surfdog have done us a HUGE favor. As bad as the global economy is, an extra $3.96 isn't going to break me when the trade-off is some seriously good music. I am digging some of the artwork featured with the digital singles. Perhaps Surfdog will consider a limited edition vinyl singles package for you collectors out there.

Not only are Brian and Surfdog giving the fans something special with these advance releases, they are generating the opportunity for some word-of-mouth promotion from those who are buying these advance releases. They also do so with some risk. The internet is full of trolls who will scrutinize a public figure's every move and blowhards like me who feel everyone's entitled to our opinion. People were rather vicious with their assault on Wolfgang's Big Night Out, and that was months before the album came out, when people hadn't heard a note - only the concept. When Drugs and Alcohol was offered up ahead of the release of 13, people were complaining that it wasn't Rockabilly Riot, Volume 2, as if to say, "We like it when Brian's stuck in 1956. How dare he venture out of the 'billy box!"

With the tracks we've heard so far from Lonely Avenue, I think Brian and Surfdog have very little to worry about. For those fans who have loved the BSO since the early days, and those who jumped on the Dirty Boogie bandwagon, these tracks seem to indicate this album could be the powerhouse non-Chrstmas, non-classical BSO album we've been awaiting for nearly a decade.

48 days and counting...

Digi-billy

It's not a favor from Surfdog, it's just for :

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I personally will wait for the Release of the CD, but Mr. Jazzer goes surfin has got me on the Edge...

Cheers
Joe