Archive: 2006

To follow the success of We're Already Gone, The Beautiful Girls decided to move ahead by looking behind, filling in their new American audience with Water, a compilation of tracks pulled from those earlier releases between 2002 and 2004.

Steel Train’s set at Cambridge Mass’ TT the Bears Place on the Friday of Halloween weekend was not only the conclusion of their recent trek across the States, but their last performance with drummer Matthias Gruber. The atmosphere around the venue was laid back as fans and performers alike watched the last few innings of Game 7 of the World Series while the opening act, House of Fools, did their thing.

On February 20th, 2007, country music giant Charlie Louvin will release his first new studio album in over ten years on the New York-based Tompkins Square label. The self-titled disc, produced by Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico, Candi Staton) and Charlie Louvin, was recorded in Spring/Summer 2006 in Nashville. It features guest performances by Elvis Costello, […]

New York’s most influential avant-garde rock band Sonic Youth follows up their critically acclaimed release of Rather Ripped earlier this year with a special set that is sure to complete the collection of all Sonic Youth fans. The Destroyed Room: B-sides And Rarities, a band-chosen collection of near-hidden Sonic Youth gems, will be released on […]

Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will offer fans a holiday treat with the CD/DVD set "No Place To Be," due Dec. 26 via Epic. The CD sports seven tracks, among them two versions of the Police’s "Message in a Bottle" — a studio version recorded with the legendary Sly & Robbie and a dub version produced […]

It’s not often music fans find an opportunity to screw over Clear Channel, but businessman Bill Sagan did just that. Four years ago, Sagan bought legendary concert promoter Bill Graham’s archives on the cheap from the media giant, and he’s continued to leverage every piece of material in the collection. For us, it’s only getting […]

Welcome to another week of work and dress shoes. On the bright side, next week is already Thanksgiving, so stay strong, and stay black. As usual, Hidden Track helps you adjust to the dimness of Monday with a healthy serving of links: A huge score for us: Wolfgang’s Vault adds streaming audio, with over 300 concerts available […]

Was Nirvana really one of the most influential bands in rock history, or was it the most influential bullet in Kurt Cobain’s skull that posthumously bumped his trio to permanent legend status with no possiblity of a legacy downgrade?

I mean, Nirvana hit it and quit it well before the ascension of the Internets. If Kurt and Dave Grohl and That Other Guy Whose Name Escapes You existed during the irrational exuberance of the late 1990s, you just know that any album produced after 1997 would have drawn out all the cheeky, smartass sassmouths to absolutely thrash and pwn the album and the band, some constructing epic posts on PollyOnLithium.net like “If he thinks his mediocre playing’s worth a shit on this disc, he should just shoot himself in the head right now.”

A strong argument for the greatness of Nirvana hit store shelves this past Tuesday, a digitally remastered DVD release of 1994’s Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! And thanks to the good folks that make possible our Everybody Wins When I Plug Something And In Return They Offer Me Free Shit To Give Away contests, we’re giving away a free copy of this re-issue to one lucky, flannel-wearing fan.

This one’s pretty easy: Nirvana is probably right at the top of many “My Favorite Trio” lists, whether truly deserved or not. So I’d like to know which band you consider to be your favorite musical trio, be it dead or still playing, fictional or real, from bands like Nirvana to jingle specialists like Snap, Crackle & Pop.

All you gots-ta do is tell us which trio you love most and briefly explain why they’re the best ever at what they do or did. The wittier, the better. The contest ends this Sunday night, November 19th, so make yourself heard some time before then, and read on for the movie trailer and list of songs featured on this fantastic DVD…

While Eisenhower may eventually prove to be just another step in a larger, ongoing Slip journey, it proves to be the band's monumental achievement nonetheless. Not so much for it’s distinction from previous efforts, but for proving that a fledging band that debuted with such spark could persevere, and ultimately, a decade later, change the way you look at rock.

The Motet fuse together the Latin with the funk, the new break beats with the experimental sax-laden jazz. Through this fusion of sound and cultures, Boulder, Colorado’s darlings have been worldly instrumentalists since 1998. With the release of their new album, Instrumental Dissent, the experimental sextet has further stamped their claim to a sound that has become trademark The Motet.