Posts by Jeffrey Greenblatt

This past weekend, Neil Young assembled a number of notable artists for the 22nd installment of his Bridge School Benefit concert series – that included Wilco, DC4C, ZZ Top, Cat Power and Norah Jones – who all play acoustic sets over the course of the two day event. While video from the festivities is still […]

On November 24, legendary auction house Christie’s will be hosting an event that will feature memorabilia from a number of the influential punk, new wave and glam rock acts including Television, David Bowie, The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Ramones. The auction includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces including a scrawled flyer […]

The latest issue of Spin features a really interesting read on what has become the cult phenomenon of The Rock-afire Explosion. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, think back to the days of attending birthday parties at a place call ShowBiz Pizza. While you plunked quarters in arcade games and stuffed your face with pizza […]

With Halloween just a few days away, we thought we’d start getting in the mood over here at HT. While there may be any number of appropriate songs for All Hallows Eve the one that’s our personal favorite around these parts is the Warren Zevon’s classic cheeky rocker – Werewolves Of London – which originally […]

For those of you looking for an alternative to the hipster Hanukkah shows from veteran indie-rockers Yo La Tengo, look no further than across the river where Matisyahu will host his Festival Of Lights – splitting the shows between Webster Hall and the Music Hall Of Williamsburg. Now in its third year, the event has […]

We had so much going on last week that we took a week off from the Friday Mix Tape. But fear not loyal readers, we’re back with another edition of the Mix Tape packed full of some heady tunes to get your weekend started. With Election Day right around the corner we’re feeling a bit […]

Way back in March, we reported that Dr. Pepper had gotten so fed up with the antics of Axl Rose and his perpetually delayed pet project (aka the new Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy), that the soft drink company would give a free can of soda to everyone in the United States if it […]

Every few years, some record company seems to unearth an album from a lost artist of the 1960s or ’70s that blows people away – i.e. Shuggie Otis, Os Mutantes, Gary Higgins, Judee Sill, etc. This year’s lost classic, Cold Fact, comes to us from a Detroit singer-songwriter simply known as Rodriguez. The album is […]

Well, we’ve reached the end of Dead week around here having covered a decent amount of ground. We hope you’ve enjoyed the clips we dug up as we look forward to the announcement of next year’s reunion. We’ve touched on psychedelia, roots/Americana, their ’70s foray into synth-rock and a classic blues cover, but we seemed […]

As legend has it, I was the guy behind the guy that got this daily music site on its feet, and was also a huge fan from day one. When Ace decided to step down earlier this year, I got the call up to the big leagues after toiling over my own indie-jam blog for something like two and a half years to share daily writing duties with Scotty and have enjoyed every minute of bringing my writing style and my music tastes to a much broader audience.

Over my eight-plus months, I’ve tried to introduce you guys to some music that bridges the gap between jam and indie without using the dreaded P word with Better Than Noodling. Since not everyone obsesses over reading blogs to find new music, this has been my place to showcase some bands that I really dig that may not be as obvious, but I think you should be listening to. When I initially wrote this piece on Vampire Weekend I had a hunch they were primed for a big year, but little did I know that the band would explode the way did going from playing the Bowery Ballroom to three sold out shows at the cavernous Terminal 5 in less than a year’s time. It certainly feels good to get it right, but it was more about the fact that I couldn’t get enough of them.

Before we get to it just wanted to thank Ace for letting me get my feet wet over here and digging my initial idea behind BtN and to Scotty who is the hardest working man in show business and unbelievably supportive, thanks gents for bringing me on. This is truly a labor of love, so we hope you enjoy reading HT as much as we enjoy writing it…

READ ON for Better Than Noodling – Vampire Weekend…

While there’s an overabundance of Dead clips from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, there isn’t much floating around from the band’s early free wheeling, acid-drenched days as a psychedelic rock band. So today I thought we’d check out something from the Summer Of Love, when the band was still a bit rough around the edges, […]

Change Rocks – Bryce Jordan Center – Penn State Univ. – State College, PA Allman Brothers Band (via RatDog.Org): Revival Statesboro Who’s Been Talking Midnight Rider One Way Out And It Stoned Me Dreams Don’t Think Twice (w/ Susan Tedeschi) Anyday Melissa Trouble No More Ain’t Wasting Time No More Jessica E: Whipping Post The […]

Since we are just hours away from Bobby, Phil, Mickey and Billy reuniting on stage for the first time since 2004 (along with Warren and Jeff) at the Bryce Jordan Center tonight, and with a 2009 tour in the works, we thought we’d dedicated a week’s worth of Pullin’ ‘Tubes to the good ‘Ol Grateful […]

Over the last few years, the hot thing has been get indie-rock bands to perform a classic album from their catalog. Well, for his upcoming residency at the Hollywood Bowl, legendary singer-songwriter Van Morrison will perform arguably his best album- Astral Weeks – in its entirety. Joining Van The Man will be a number of […]

Weezer have always embraced the art of the music video, producing a number of innovative and clever clips over the years. For the video for Troublemaker off their latest self-titled released (otherwise known as the Red Album) Rivers Cuomo and Co. set out to break some Guinness Word Records during its filming. The pop-rockers were […]

A few months back we gave you the heads up about Jack White and Alicia Keys teaming up to record a duet for the theme song of the new James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace – the first duet in the long history of the legendary series. While the latest installment in the secret agent […]

There’s a good chance that you’ve probably heard the music of folk-popster Brett Dennen and didn’t even know it. Several of the California born and bred singer-songwriter’s tunes have been featured in a number of television shows, including The Unit, House and Scrubs. Dennen, who has earned comparisons to Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson for […]

In what’s become a regular occurrence in the weeks leading up to this year’s election you can pencil in another rally, this time in the potential swing state of Pennsylvania. Tomorrow, on the Streets of Philly, Bruce Springsteen will headline a Vote For Change Rally at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 22nd Streets. […]

A couple of months back we offered a up a mix tape dedicated some great stand-up comedy. We thought we’d once again take a break from the norm this week and offer a mix tape dedicated to all things funny – because there is nothing like a good laugh. So let’s take a listen to […]

A few months back we reported on a story which a UK tabloid was circulating that the late Kurt Cobain’s ashes had been stolen from Courtney Love’s Hollywood home. Well, fast forward a few months and we’ve got the next chapter in the story. According to NME, Australian artist Natascha Stellmach has come into possession […]