I’m glad February is behind us and we’re moving onto March. This month, in addition to Langerado, I’m excited to see Levon Helm and The Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon
The loud and persistent rumors that Pearl Jam would finally be playing the Bonnaroo festival never quite materialized. But Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis broke the news today that the grunge legends will
YouTube is an incredible source for finding rare performances (I know, I know, we landed on the moon!). Last week I was fooling around looking for Police videos when I came across an amazing clip of Alanis Morrisette performing King of Pain. Her rendition blew me away — see a further description below — and sent me searching for other crazy covers on the video-sharing site. Seek and ye shall find.
Over the next two weeks, The B List will take a look at these unique cover versions of some of my favorite songs. We’ll kick it off this week with 10 incredible covers from truly unexpected sources, like Faith No More playing War Pigs, Ween tackling Motorhead and Death Cab for Cutie channeling Devo. Read on for 10 must-watch covers you can pass onto your cool friends…
The best part of rock music is the incredible diversity, the oh-so-many different subgenres that fall within the category, from punk to emo to jam to pop. This week’s Grousing The Aisles features some incredible rock and/or roll bands from the past 30 years, each with its own unique style.
We’ll begin with some oldies, with punk rockers The Clash representing the ’70s and ’80s, and The Lemonheads bringing us the ’90s power pop. The other two entries are from seemingly always-on-the-road jammers RAQ and Outformation. When Bill Haley first sang Rock Around The Clock in 1954, I don’t think he realized how diverse the genre would become over the next five decades.
RAQ 02/08/07 DAUD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM):
It has been a few months since we’ve checked in on Burlington’s RAQ. The band has been out on an ambitious three-month tour that criss crosses the country, hitting 42 cities. Cleveland was the first city RAQ swept through, and unlike another Vermont quartet, this band sounded tight and heavily practiced.
The Grog Shop show featured here opens with the beginning of Carbohydrates Are The Enemy before segueing into Forget Me Not, a rockin’ little ditty that would surely have hit the top of the charts in the mid-1970s. Towards the end of the first set the band works its way back into the ending of Carbohydrates Are The Enemy — and I must say that the second segment of Carbs could be my favorite part of a RAQ song. Guitarist Chris Michetti lays down a fierce solo reminicent of Frank Zappa tearing through the middle of Inca Roads.
Other highlights from this hot RAQ show include the way the band weaves Bootch Magoo in and out of various songs throughout the second set and a ripping cover of ZZ Top’s I’m Bad I’m Nationwide. RAQ does a great job of presenting a bunch of different sounds throughout their show, always keeping it interesting.
My biggest issue with them is the lack of soundboard recordings. While I’m sure the taper (Jesse Scott) worked his ass off to pull a good tape whenever the music mellows out, all you can hear are people yapping away. Why don’t people shut the fuck up when a band is playing? Now that we’ve heard what the band sounds like at the beginning of the tour, we will check in with them in April to see what they sound like after a few months on the road. Until then…
Read on for the rest of this week’s edition of Grousing The Aisles…
It’s time to take a break from reading gossip about Britney and Anna Nicole (hell, and even Trey) to find out what’s going on in the music world. While we
Welcome back to another work week. As usual, we’ll kick it off with links to some interesting shit from around the information superhighway: Arcade Fire played great versions of Intervention
We’ve finally made it to Friday: Happy Weekend my friends. The following links are here to keep you busy when the last thing you want to do is work: Good
In two weeks Ace and I will be down in Sunrise, Florida for the 5th Annual Langerado Festival. Ace last attended the festie in 2005, while I had the time of my life at last year’s. As someone who doesn’t get to many festivals, I think the best part of going is the enjoyment I get from checking out artists I haven’t seen before. So for this week’s edition of The B List, Ace and I will look at the five bands each we’re excited to see for the first time at Langerado:
1. Girl Talk: I wasn’t a big fan of the whole mash-up trend that seemed to hit its peak a few years ago, but then I heard Girl Talk’s Night Ripper. Night Ripper is the opposite of every other mash-up I’ve heard that were all ill-conceived and poorly executed. Greg Gillis, the producer who doubles as the one-man gang that is Girl Talk, expertly mashes together killer riffs and vocal samples from tracks’ artists that are familiar to even the most mainstream of music fans.
Gillis uses samples fast and furiously on Night Ripper. My favorite part of the album is the beginning of the track Peak Out, where he throws in samples from 2 Live Crew’s We Want Some Pussy, Pavement’s Cut Your Hair, and Wings’ Silly Love Songs in the span of about 20 seconds. Imagine hearing those three songs on the same radio station, let alone on the same track?
When the Langerado schedule was announced last week there was only one conflict that created a problem for me. Girl Talk’s set is right smack in the middle of Widespread Panic’s headlining set on Sunday. Luckily Langerado is small enough that I can catch the first few songs of Panic before heading over for the brief five-minute walk to the Swamp Tent where Girl Talk is performing. Hopefully I will miss drums and can get back to see the end of WSP’s set. –SB
Read on for nine more great bands we’re excited to see for the first time…
I’ve always been jealous of those people that know exactly how to tickle the ivories. Playing the piano has always been a dream of mine, yet for some reason I was always drawn to the guitar. This week’s edition of Grousing The Aisle features my favorite piano players, and while all of these men have adept skills at playing the clavinet, synthesizer, and organ, they are true piano men who most often are seen playing a regular ol’ acoustic. Check these shows out:
Stevie Wonder and Wonder Love 07/16/73 SBD (FLAC, MP3):
With his seminal album, Innervisions, about to be released, Stevie Wonder took his Wonder Love band to Europe for a series of promotional appearances. This show comes from Wonder’s appearance on German TV show Musikladen, where Stevie and his band started off by jamming before landing on Contusion.
The Higher Ground that follows is nothing short of intense, as Wonder pounds the rhythm on his Clavinet with authority. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing takes the energy down briefly before the show-stopping (literally) closing combination of Living For The City and Superstition. This one’s a must-download…
320kbps MP3 = http://www.sendspace.com/file/0g3k6w
Read on for more piano greatness from Bruce, Herbie and Billy…
This afternoon, the popular rock band Phish announced the release of both audio and video of 11/14/95, confirming the scoop we posted on Saturday. The audio is available in both FLAC ($12.95)
