Friday Filler: Frank Zappa 1968
Our associate Mr. Trowbridge just pointed us to these three YouTube videos of Zappa and the Mothers of Invention from the German television program Beat Club. So as we coast into the weekend, coast into a little ambient Frank… [youtube]ycoppjN10TI[/youtube] When you’re done there, two more videos await: Sleeping in a Jar Medley and Let’s Make the Water Turn […]
Pitchfork Digs The Duo
Is Pitchfork parting with their trusted brand of elitist indie snobbery, or does someone over there genuinely dig an album that many of us wretched jamband fans have been plugging for some time? Either way, imagine our surprise when the holiest than thou music blog gave the Benevento/Russo Duo’s Play Pause Stop album a 7.6 rating and pretty fucking solid review. […]
The Friday Mix Tape: It’s Herbie Hancock
We’re welcoming a new weekly contributor into the fold today: Dan Alford’s been an audio guru on Jambands.com since the last millennium, but now he brings his craft to our little pretzel keg. Make him feel at home and download the goods. “Herbie’s electric songbook? A treasure trove of crazy grooves. The first track here features a long and […]
Friday’s Leftovers
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 Friend of HT, TheOtrane, has begun using a peer-to-peer file sharing program called Tubes to distribute tasty Phish jams. Cutting edge shit. So send him […]
The B List: Cherry Poppin’ at Langerado
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…
Caption This Pic: Dry Goods in Africa
This photo has been making the rounds, popping up all over the headiest message boards and dankest e-mail servers. And while there’s something inherently racist about our visceral reactions to Africans wearing Phish shirts, you gotta admit that it’s a pretty funny image. I like the guy in the middle with the Gin shirt. Admit this too: That’s […]
Update: Yes, The Kids are Still Allright
On Monday we posted Podcaster General Mike Newman’s semi-review of Yes’ Jon Anderson playing his band’s old tunes with Paul Green’s School of Rock All Stars at BB King’s. And if you’re counting, by the way, there were five possessive nouns in that sentence — just some terrible grammar on my part. A helpful HT […]
Filler: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
At each of his last two solo shows at the Knitting Factory, Scott Metzger has nailed Richard Thompson’s 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. Now I’m hooked. [youtube]AxKTzwaEa2o[/youtube] If you prefer a live on stage version, especially a live on where Thompson wears a ridiculously flimsy teal hat and a sleeveless shirt, here’s a great one from a […]
Grousing The Aisles: Piano Men
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…
Wednesday Intermezzo
From the extensive Over Before It Started files, it now appears the upcoming Van Halen 2.0 tour will not proceed as planned. Hey, at least this one lasted longer than the last reunion. At this point, we’d sooner pay to see these bat-shit crazies fight to the near-death on Pay-Per-View than play an actual show. […]