At this rate, it looks like we may be headed for a feature length film starring Chazz Palmientieri and Joey Pantoliano as this whole nitrous tank situation continues to balloon
The HT family has grown a bit over the course of the year, so we couldn’t fit everyone on the deck for last week’s BBQ. We had to have the rest of the gang over this week for part two of our discussion of the Best Albums Of The ’00s. So, we headed back to the store to pick up a variety of our favorite grillable food stuffs and a few cases of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPAs for another rousing edition of At The Barbecue.
As we mentioned last week, the rules are quite simple. Any album released between January of 2000 and December of 2009 (though we’re not quite there yet) are fair game. So let’s not waste anymore time and jump right into our second installment…
Jeffrey Greenblatt: The Strokes – Is This It?
Over the last ten years I can easily say I’ve consumed more music than I ever have. So, with the scores of albums that went through my Discman (remember those kids?) and have been loaded onto two separate iPods this decade, there have been plenty that were easily forgettable, but only a true handful that have, and will, stand up to repeated listens for the years to come. Among that collection is the debut album from The Strokes – Is This It? – a collection of fuzzy, almost dangerous sounding Velvet Underground-inspired songs that came out at a time when rock needed to be saved.
READ ON for more of the HT Staff’s favorite albums of the ’00s…
Words: Jesse Darago
Photos: Matt Speck
In March, Canadian jammers The New Deal ended an extended absence from the South with a raucous post-STS9 show at Nashwa in Asheville, NC. On August 28, they returned with their no-frills brand of electronic music to headline at the Orange Peel.
8-28-2009 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, North Carolina
Set 1: J > VL Tone, J > Ray Parker Suite II > A Little While Longer > J > Deep Sun > J > Deep Sun
Set 2: J>Technobeam, Homewrecker > Kashmir > Homewrecker > Moonscraper > J > Gone, Gone, Gone
The first of two tND sets kicked off with an introductory J (this is how tND notates their jams), driven by the synthesized magnificence that is James “Guitar” Shields. The opening J eventually led into a 10 minute version of VL Tone, which (pardon the lame pun) set the tone for the evening. The bouncing melody of VL was received well by the OP crowd, who danced and hopped right along on the moonbounce-like hardwood floors of the club.
In the brief pause after VL, which would be the only full stop of the set, drummer Darren Shearer apologized for the band’s “neglect” of “this part of the Americas”, after which they launched into the 50 minute segue spectacular, comprised of three songs, three distinct jams and a slew of could-be/might-be teases that kept the crowd on tilt for the rest of the set.
READ ON for more from The New Deal in the South…
We’ve been fans of David Schultz’s work on Earvolution since he started the site, so we’re honored to welcome him to the Hidden Track team.
In the late Eighties, at the height of the MTV era, Living Colour emerged from New York City and with songs like Cult Of Personality, Which Way To America? and Open Letter (To A Landlord) added their articulate voice to the populist response to the Republican politics of the Reagan/Bush era.
On the strength of Vivid
In Reid, Wimbish and Calhoun, Living Colour boasts a lineup in which each can lay a credible claim to being the best at what they do. It takes a charismatic personality to front this group and, in that, Corey Glover has never faltered. One of the more distinctive voices in modern rock, Glover also shines on the stage. He appeared in Oliver Stone’s Oscar winning Platoon and recently spent the last couple years playing Judas in a touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar.
On September 15, Living Colour will release The Chair in the Doorway
Schultz: Is Living Colour’s recent reemergence more of a reunion or a return?
Glover: It’s more like a return. Even before Collideoscope came out, we’ve been on the road and constantly playing. Every summer, we’ve been in Europe or South America. It was always an idea to keep playing and that was the impetus to keep us going. The Chair In The Doorway was actually made on the road. We did the first half of the record in Sono Studios in the Czech Republic, just outside of Prague.
READ ON for more of David’s chat with Corey Glover…
For the September edition of Track By Track, keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth tells us all about his second release since String Cheese Incident took a break from regular touring in 2007, Then There’s Now.
Due one week from today, Then There’s Now shows off Kyle’s penchant for writing catchy melodies, deep grooves and his ability to mix and match genres from song to song. Also, Hollingsworth welcomes friends Dar Williams, Speech and DJ Logic to add their talents to the new release. Let’s see what Kyle has to say about each Then There’s Now’s nine tracks…
Way That It Goes:
It’s written from the perspective of a bystander, by my wife and myself—she lived in Seattle for a long time and I was living in Boulder, both are kind of freaky towns with some unique individuals. So each verse is speaking about the quirkiness of that moment.
Musically it is intriguing with lots of little sonic treats.
She:
This tune was created around a groove and a bass line.
Lyrically it is about trying to find inspiration. Sometimes when you’re not ready you can experience the most inspirational moment of your life, and when you sit down and try to make it happen, it can take forever.
READ ON for more from Kyle on Then There’s Now…
It’s been quite some time since the HT Crew got together for an old fashioned cookout, and frankly the ol’ grill was getting a bit dusty and feeling neglected. With the summer – and for that matter the decade – rapidly coming to a close we figured we’d round up the gang, throw some large hunks of meat on the fire pit and crack open a few 21st Amendment Brew Free! Or Die IPAs for another rousing edition of At The Barbecue.
It’s hard to believe that the aughts are almost in the books, so with that in mind we thought we’d take a look at our favorite releases of the decade. The rules were simple: any album released between January of 2000 and December of 2009 (though we’re not quite there yet) were game. Since we got most of the Hidden Track staff contributing, we’re going to split this topic into two parts, so make sure to check back next Friday for the second installment. So, let’s get at it…
Luke Sacks: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
It took me about six seconds to decide that Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was my favorite album of the ’00s. The poster child for what was wrong with the record business was not only my favorite album of the decade but the documentary that captured the trials and tribulations of its recording and release, is a masterpiece in itself.
READ ON for more of the HT Staff’s favorite albums of the ’00s…
As promised, we have another edition of Track By Track – the column in which an artist shares the story of each track on their latest album.
Midwest aggressive prog-rockers The Hue have only been together for two and a half years, but over that short period of time they have gained a slew of fans thanks to their masterful compositions, impressive improvisational skills and ability to get the crowd dancing. On Friday, the quartet will release their first full-length album, Beyond Words, and they’ll be taking the stage that night at The Bottom Lounge in their hometown of Chicago to celebrate.
On the eve of what seems to be the most important day in the band’s history, the members of the group share their thoughts on each of the tunes on Beyond Words…
Blackout by Brian Gilmanov
This song is about a person who drinks heavily and has the ability to conveniently erase mistakes they have made in life from their memory entirely, as if they never happened. It was inspired by an intense “friendship” with someone who pretended to be a different person upon meeting me out of shame for their past mistakes. I chose to convey this deception musically by throwing twists and turns into the typical song form, particularly in the middle of the tune where the second “verse” enters abruptly, has a different groove with a meter change, and starts getting more intricate harmonically. Another good example of this “musical deception” is the false ending where the intro chords also close the song, this was my first attempt at a “beginning is the end” structure and served as a taste of where my writing would go in the future. This song is full of surprises, rhythmically very intense, and easily one of my favorites to play live.
READ ON for more from The Hue about the songs on Beyond Words…
Back in June we kicked off a new monthly column on Hidden Track called Track By Track in which an artist shares a story or factoid about each track on their latest album. We didn’t post a Track By Track for July – we’re such slackers – so we’ve got two of ’em for you this week.
First up is an inside look at Creepfunk Crusade, the new release on Mason Jar Records from Blips alums Steez. Steez kicks off their CD release tour on Thursday at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago before moving eastward for a string of shows that ends with a performance at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC on August 21. Thursday also marks the release date for Creepfunk Crusade, which will be will be available at the gigs as well as all major internet distribution channels such as Amazon, iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Lala, Shockhound, Rhapsody and other major internet outlets.
Bassist Chris Sell takes us through every track on the Madison-based quintet’s first full-length album, Creepfunk Crusade. Take it away, Chris…
Trouser Snakes
Trouser Snakes kind of epitomizes what we call “Creepfunk,” a song with very deep funk pockets accentuated with a rather simple change that calls on both Latin and Arabic scales. This is highlighted at the end of the song with Andrzej Benkowski’s oboe playing and brings the song together with the endings’ “snake charmer” feel.
READ ON for more about Steez’s new album, Creepfunk Crusade from bassist Chris Sell and to sample Electric Mr. Boston from the disc…
One of our newest contributors, Bryan Rodgers, hit a recent Gov’t Mule show and filed this report from the streets of Raleigh…
Fifteen years into its existence, Gov’t Mule is firmly established as a juggernaut of the music world, and their 2009 tour has set a new high-water mark for the band and their performances. The unstoppable force of Warren Haynes and company landed in Raleigh, NC on a Sunday night and proceeded to fill the city streets with perfectly executed, hard-hitting Mule music.
The Gov’t Mule tour is a perfect example of one that might otherwise have to skip Raleigh altogether if it wasn’t for the accommodating Lincoln Theatre street stage. The proprietors of downtown’s Lincoln Theatre have created a series of outdoor concerts that are exactly what the region needs. Since eastern North Carolina is sorely lacking in medium-sized venues, they’ve taken the party into the street and helped assure that Raleigh won’t get left out when it comes to shows that draw crowds in the range of 1000 – 2000 people.
A sultry southern evening welcomed the opening act, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. This show was the last stop of their brief tour with Gov’t Mule, and the Muscle Shoals-based outfit offered an appropriately rip-roaring set that featured diverse covers (Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer and Tom Petty’s I Don’t Want to Fight) nestled among a cavalcade of Isbell originals. The band had the crowd in the palm of their hand from the start – sometimes all it takes is the mention of Muscle Shoals to win favor with certain types of audiences. READ ON for more from the Mule show in Raleigh…
Dave Vann shot last night’s Phish show at Red Rocks and shared his amazing shots with us, so we thought we’d share them with you. Take a look…
[All Photos by Dave Vann]
READ ON for the rest of Mr. Vann’s amazing photos…
