Posts by Scott Bernstein

We’ve hit the peak of the summer concert season, with multiple festivals going off this weekend. RatDog, String Cheese Incident and Umphrey’s McGee headline the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Minnesota, while RAQ is throwing Lew-Au II with friends Al and the Transamericans, Tim Reynolds and Strangefolk. For something a little different, check out the sixth annual Lebowski […]

The official website of Larry Campbell blew up Phil Lesh’s spot, announcing that the Peter Gallagher lookalike will be touring with the former Grateful Dead bassist in the fall, beginning on September 28th. Not surprisingly, the news was deleted from Campbell’s website within a few hours of being posted.

We’re extremely excited that Phil is getting back on the road, and we wait with baited breath to see the dates and who the other members of the ensemble will be. The item posted on Campbell’s website also said that he will be playing with Phil and Friends in San Francisco on July 21st. So make sure to keep a look out for some announcements from the Lesh camp soon.

• Who would have guessed Sly Stone could use a fax machine?
• Get excited about new tour dates from Bjork and New Pornographers
• The Police still bicker over every little thing
• Samantha Spector blogged live from the All Good Festival
• Kudos to the Dave Matthews Band for standing up for our troops
• Photographer Bob Minkin shares some amazing photos from the Grateful Dead’s 1979 Halloween show
• DeRo reported live from the scene at the Pitchfork Festival (there may or may not have been a casualty at Pitchfork, says Passion of the Weiss)
• Watch Rick Danko and Paul Butterfield’s 1979 concert in Boulder
• Here Comes The Flood has kind words for the Scarecrow Collection
• Check out The Greenhaus Effect for photos from High Sierra, the latest episode of Cold Turkey and the definition of Nappy Rides
• It doesn’t get much better than a compilation of Iron Maiden Mash-ups
• Vinyl sales are skyrocketing in the UK
• Engadget rounds up all the breaking news about Guitar Hero III
• Spinner is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Lilith Fair by listing 10 women who rock right now
• Tea Leaf Green has made recordings of their three recent shows in Fairfax, CA available for purchase
• Andrew Loog Oldham on the origins of Mods and Rockers

Have a great beginning to your week, and don’t forget to check out A Big Yes and a small no tonight in Brooklyn. The winners of our contest on Friday? Jeremy Welsh and Eric Mohl. Congrats to both. And as usual, read on after the jump for a long list of setlists from the weekend, including Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Dispatch, Genesis, Metallica, Morrissey, Tower of Power, and all your favorite jambands…

We’ve got some stellar weather this weekend in NYC, so I plan to be out and about. My DVR, on the other hand, will be working hard recording this cool shit: Arcade Fire on Saturday Night Live Friday (all times Eastern): Check out Charles Mingus’ epic performance at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival [Ovation 6:00 […]

Only Jim Morrison could create controversy nearly four full decades after his death. Sam Bernett, who managed the Rock and Roll Circus nightclub in Paris, just released a book in which he claims that the official tale of the Lizard King’s death isn’t true. Bernett claims that Morrison didn’t die of heart failure in his […]

Paul McCartney recently released Memory Almost Full to virtual rimjobs from both his fans and the critics. The new album has also achieved serious commercial success, as it debuted at #3 on the U.S. charts. I grew up on McCartney’s music, and I’ve always been a huge fan of his solo catalog.

When I was 15 years old I couldn’t get enough of the guy, and I persuaded my mom to bring me to Giants Stadium for a McCartney concert. Besides the weird look on both of our faces when everyone around us started smoking pot, that was one of the best concerts I ever saw, and I’ve seen him play twice since then.

But enough about me, let’s get back to McCartney’s solo catalog. Everyone knows about Band On The Run, Maybe I’m Amazed, and Live and Let Die; but, McCartney had a number of minor hits that have kinda been forgotten about. This week’s B List takes a look at 10 underrated songs from Paul McCartney’s solo career. Read on after the jump for a full list and YouTube videos for each one…

Welcome back to a regular ol’ edition of Grousing The Aisles — we’re back to our normal format after a week off and Ace’s terrific July 4th special. Picking four entries was tough this week, as so many incredible shows have made the rounds on the torrent sites since we last posted GTA. This week we’ll look at some of our favorites, while next week we’ll get a little more under the radar for y’all. We’ve got three tasty shows for your iPod, and a Phish DVD that you need to have.

Apollo Sunshine 06/17/2007 DAUD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM):

It’s been nearly six weeks since we’ve talked about Apollo Sunshine, and I’m starting to get the shakes. The Sunshine dudes are currently in the studio recording an album that could break them into the big time. As nice as it would be to keep Apollo Sunshine a secret, my parents taught me to share. One of the only shows the band played this summer was a plum spot at Bonnaroo, and recently, a kind-hearted taper uploaded AS’s set to the Live Music Archive.

As per usual, Apollo Sunshine opened the set with Better Change Your Mind, which quickly melted into a tasty orgy of noise and melody. They followed it up by playing Magnolia, their most accessible tune. Two classics, 666 and Flip!, kept the momentum goin’. Your Advice, a song I don’t think I’ve heard before, calms things down a bit before Bach and Lord bring back the frenetic energy.

All told, Sunshine played a terrific set and seemed to be augmented by the percussion player banging on the bongos. Here’s hoping the new album brings us plenty of tour dates, because when these guys add a new batch of songs to the mix, you better hide the children. Read on for much more GTA…

As you can probably tell, we pay infinitely more attention to live music than studio work. We aren’t the ones that get all excited for a release date of a new album, but this week’s batch of releases is absolutely mindblowing. The return of both Crowded House and Smashing Pumpkins is just the tip of […]

Earlier today we wrapped up our not-so-live Live Earth coverage with a round-up of links and videos from around the world wide netweb. But plenty of non-Gore shit went down this weekend, so check out this other linkage as well…

• Click here to stream Flight of the Concords’ World Cafe appearance
• New studio album: Foo Fighters aim to mix Steely Dan with No Means No
• Prince rocked First Avenue on Sunday morning…until the cops came
• Where’s Cactus? He’s sharing the demo of Phish’s Simple on his MySpace
• Funky 16 Corners shares some Old School Hammond
• IckMusic kicks down some Parliament Funkadelic
• Buffalo Tom is back after a nine-year hiatus with a new album
• The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde opens a vegetarian restaurant in Akron
• DeRo enjoyed the Police at Wrigley — well, for the most part
• Nickel Creek has added some more dates to their pre-hiatus tour
• More Guitar Hero controllers are coming out everyday
• Blender looks at 100 Days That Changed Music
• David Gilmour is coming out with a live DVD
• R.E.M. wrapped up their week of gigs in Dublin
• A Black Sabbath bootleg from a forgotten era of the band
• Largehearted Boy is still tracking the best of the Smashing Pumpkins recordings that keep of getting uploaded to the Live Music Archive
• ’60 Variety Show dancers + Unk’s Walk It Out = Unbelievable Video
• Stream a soundboard recording of Friday night’s moe. show on Cape Cod
• Genesis-News talked to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford backstage at a recent gig

And as usual on Monday mornings, read on after the jump for a full listing of setlists from the weekend — today’s batch includes Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Brian Wilson, Foo Fighters, Genesis, Gov’t Mule, Prince, Rush and many, many more…

Live Earth played the center of the music world for more than 24 hours this weekend. While we can’t really say if the concerts saved the world — actually, we can say it: they didn’t — we did enjoy much of the music. And since this blog is about music, and not, say, harmful greenhouse gases, that’s cool with us. […]

If the Live Earth or High Sierra webcasts aren’t enough to keep you busy, there is plenty of other cool shit on TV this weekend: Crowded House on Inside Track Friday (all times Eastern): Elvis Costello & The Imposters are the musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM] Senior citizen band […]