Hidden Track

I expect no sympathy, but it was tough reacclimating to work following a week in the United Kingdom for five soccer matches. At least I can claim posting on this here rag certainly provided me a solid escapist outlet. This week marked our most prolific to date, with 22 posts published in six days. Here’s […]

…You open it up: No grapes, no nuts. But plenty of sour grapes from us today: What’s the deal with Levon Helm’s fucking me with his over-accommodative scheduling? The drawling drummer responded to high demand for his sold-out show at New York’s Beacon Theater by adding a second date — the night before our show. […]

I’m an admitted Silver Jews newb, but I’ve finally come to the realization that the best opening line to any album I own belongs to American Water‘s “In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection.” Talk about a lure, that’s it. For all the David Berman fans out there, Pitchfork is reporting a new documentary […]

On your way out of the office today, peep what one veteran music man calls the worst album covers ever created. I like this one…a lot…like that: But, hey, where the hell is the revised cover for Smell the Glove? C’mon! The Worst Album Covers Ever Created? [stevecarter.com] 

Our main man Coach thought it a stellar idea to fill the day with the sounds of soulful begging. So here are two fairly unique takes on the title track of this post: [youtube]es8bPS0tUmU[/youtube] And now for The Yardbirds‘ turn to hack at the D & C Piñata: [youtube]xmNfOdDCtwU[/youtube] As our resident jester Neeko points out, the […]

I’m not a big fan of Sunday nights, especially now that the football season is over. That all changes this weekend — like many of youse, I can’t wait for 8 pm on Sunday when The Police take center stage at the Grammys. Sterogum went so far as to set odds for what song the band will play. […]

Anyone else think today’s initial artist announcement containing the lengthy list of 1,000 acts that’ll perform at the March 14-18 SXSW festival in Austin serves more as blatant comedic fodder than it does to build excitement?

I’m not taking anything away from the lineup by any means, it’s just that one quick glimpse of the roster…shit, the list has four bands from three different countries with names based on the word Panda, there’s Child Abuse, Dead Child and Children Collide, Psychedelic Horseshit, Holy Fuck and Holy Shit!, Lesbians on Ecstasy, and my personal favorite, This Moment in Black History.

What? SXSW couldn’t snare Womb Raider, Third Hand Smoke, Stabbing Monica Seles, Schlongstein & the Well-Hung Jews, or Pontius Pilate & the Nail-Driving Five? You know, a snarky music blogger could probably trek down to the Tejas capital, eschew the recognizable names, see only bands with clever monikers like those above and come away with the absolute best review of the festival. Hmm.

A bit more seriously, the list of performers is as impressive as it is long. It’s gonna be a helluva week down in Austin, 60 stages of every genre imaginable. Read on for the complete list of bands in today’s initial artist announcement…

2007 has started off with a bang for fans of bands that have broken up. Reunion Mania has taken over the rock world, with everyone from America to Zero getting in on the act. I’m not satisfied: I want more reunions. So this week’s B List features eight more bands that need to get in on the great money grab of 2007:

1. God Street Wine: Fuck Phish, if any more jambands are planning to reunite, I’d like to see God Street Wine get back together. As I mentioned in last week’s Grousing The Aisles, both Ace and I are huge fans of this dynamic band that added a little soul to the improv scene.

2. Blind Faith: Eric Clapton has run out of bands to reunite. Cream had a successful run of shows in 2005, and Clapton is currently on the road with Derek Trucks playing a bunch of Derek and the Dominos songs. Steve Winwood is in a similar predicament with the passing of Jim Capaldi. Blind Faith’s bass player Ric Grech has passed on, but Ginger Baker can still play (for the moment). I’d love to see these three men reform Blind Faith before they wind up in nursing homes.

3. Talking Heads: If The Police can put aside their animosity towards each other for a reunion, why can’t the Talking Heads? I think all the hipsters would faint at the sight of Tina Weymouth on stage again with David Byrne. Imagine the setlist the reunited Heads could put together? I’d love to see the band put aside their differences and score one of the biggest paydays in the history of rock and roll.

Read on for the other five bands that need to reunite this year….

The most talked about event in New York City last night involved Andy Samberg joining Justin Timberlake on the Madison Square Garden stage for a live rendition of the duo’s smash hit Dick in a Box. But 60 blocks north and over to the east, the headiest of the heady crammed into the 92st Street […]

It’s been a long time comin’, but the Superfly folks just posted three videos of Oysterhead’s performance from the Bonnaroo festival on its 2007 website. Rubberneck Lions, Shadow of a Man, and Pseudo Suicide are now yours… From the ‘Roo 2007 site: We added 3 video tracks from Oysterhead’s Bonnaroo 2006 performance at http://www.bonnaroo.com/. Also check out […]