Posted on: April 12, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The record was recorded over two nights at the Mercury Lounge in NYC right around Christmas 2007 and captures Malin at his best, telling tales of New York City life and playing all the fan favorites.

Confirmed Tracklisting:

1. High Lonesome
2. Wendy
3. Hotel Columbia
4. Lucinda
5. Cigarettes & Violets
6. Little Star
7. Since You’re In Love
8. Helpless
9. Aftermath
10. Black Haired Girl
11. Broken Radio
12. Subway
13. Going Out West
14. Swingin Man
15. Xmas
16. Christmas, Baby Please Come Home

Here’s what Malin himself has to say about his Mercury Retrograde:

“Leaving the house and going out to see live shows is a ritual for me – a physical experience that I can’t get at home just listening to a studio album. For my first ever live album, I wanted to record the songs differently by going back to the original essence of how they were written, on an acoustic guitar either holed up in my little apartment, layin’ back in some transient hotel room, or locked up in a bathroom. Over the past couple years I’ve been touring with a full band, but for this album, I wanted to go back to the way it was in the beginning and just do a stripped down acoustic set.  I’ve always said that songwriting is like masturbating – you have to have a private, quiet moment when no one’s around, which can be hard when you’re on the road. But once you’ve perfected the art, you’re ready to show the world.”

“These recordings were made over 2 nights at the Mercury in New York City a week before Christmas 2007.  I figured I should return to one of the spots I played when I was starting out. Talking between songs or doing “bits” as I call them, is something I did early on to kill time while I was tuning my guitar as I toured solo.  These true stories evolved into a spoken word aspect of my live shows that hasn’t been represented on any of my studio releases.  Yackety yack.” – Jesse Malin

Jesse Malin‘s critically acclaimed 2007 release of Glitter In The Gutter spawned two singles, “Don’t Let Them Take You Down (Beautiful Day)” and the Bruce Springsteen duet “Broken Radio.” Malin has spent the majority of the last year on the road, performing all over the globe. He performed on The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno, Late Night w/Conan O’Brien and the Late Late Show w/Craig Ferguson and took part in 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival. Look for Malin to be on the road again this Spring/Summer – Current dates are below.

Confirmed Tour Dates:


4/16 – Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
4/26 – New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom

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