Hidden Track

We’re barely days in 2011, and while we continue to find confetti in our pockets, and clean up the empty bottles from our New Year’s Eve celebrations, the Disco Biscuits’ duo of Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner, who are fresh off a five-night run that featured a rotating cast of drummers filling in for Allen […]

For the second consecutive year at Hidden Track, we concocted our innovative little experiment for the year-end Best Albums list. Instead of picking the old fashioned way – subjectively – we opted for something a little different: a collaborative, collective list that incorporates the opinions of everybody here at HT.

To begin, we devised an all-encompassing list of well over 100 nominees, whereby most everything our contributors recommended made the list. Then we invited our crew of writers to independently and blindly vote on the whole list on a scale of 1 to 20 (20 = five stars). We ended up with varying degrees of familiarity with the nominees as some folks voted on just about everything, while some just a few. From there, we deployed our egghead algorithm for rating albums: (two times the average rating) + (the total number of votes). At that point, we took the top 25 highest scores and presto: the Hidden Track 25 Best Albums of 2010. No bullshit, no big opinions; just the results.

We’re on to day two of on our week long countdown, let’s check out albums number 16-20…

20) Marco Benevento – Between The Needles & Nightfall

Key Tracks: Greenpoint, Between the Needles, Numbers

Sounds Like: Brad Mehldau meets Tortoise

The Skinny: Marco Benevento’s latest solo record is the prolific keyboard player’s most impressive release yet. Bassist Reed Mathis’ sense of space and harmony along with drummer Andrew Barr’s subtly explosive poly-rhythmic playing lay the foundation for Benevento’s hook-laden melodies, shape-shifting piano, and circuit-bent sounds. While his first two studio releases were solid, Between the Needles and Nightfall has a cohesiveness not found on either that allows Marco’s songwriting to truly shine. The one-two punch of Greenpoint and Between the Needles at the front of the album set the overall tone for the album, while Marco’s solo at the end of Numbers highlights the whole thing.

READ ON for the next four albums in our countdown…

Welcome to a new year of Cover Wars. I could think of no better cover tune for the occasion than this 1983 U2 classic. New Year’s Day has quite the resume appearing in both Rolling Stone’s and Pitchfork’s Top 500 songs of all-time. We’ve got a good collection of covers this week, one of which was played just a couple of days ago, so enjoy and don’t forget to vote at the bottom.

The Contestants:

Though this was not the first time The Dresden Dolls covered this song, it certainly is the most recent. The band put together quite the New Year’s Eve setlist this year for their show at The Warfield in San Francisco. There is of course, the celebratory sounds of balloons being popped on the recording. Source: 12-31-2010

Video of the performance:

READ ON for more covers of New Year’s Day.

Back in 2007, Dispatch shocked the world when they reunited for three benefit shows at Madison Square Garden that sold out within hours of going on sale. The jam-pop trio, who originally disbanded back in 2002 followed by a handful of reunions over the the years, have been teasing their fans with a countdown clock […]

It might be a little early in the morning for this much guitar rock as Umphrey’s McGee rips through one of their oldest tunes Much Obliged and then plays the second half of Bridgeless at the first night of their New Year’s Eve run in Chicago. There will be plenty more where this came from […]

[Originally Published: 10/26/2010]

Zelig, chameleon, “I’m 12 years old. I run into a Synagogue. I ask the Rabbi the meaning of life. He tells me the meaning of life. But, he tells it to me in Hebrew. I don’t understand Hebrew. Then he wants to charge me six hundred dollars for Hebrew lessons.”

Rich sounds of some subterranean nature, specifically the voice, guitars and drums as it flows in the design, a sublime addition to a fine piece of cinema, an engaging slice which subtly celebrates the hidden truths of daily sounds, shadowing an almost silent unheard music captured by the Masqued Wind and carried off to another breathtaking locale.

And within the Unheard Music, the silent sounds of the daily ritual that you and I share, we toil amongst ourselves, neither forgetting or acknowledging each other’s existence, until we are free…a moment and then nothing, glass shatters beyond this window and the earth winds to a halt. Beyond this window something unknown is watching you and me. There’s laughing inside, but we’re locked outside the public eye. X marked the spot.

We venture forth and move backwards through time and space. Most people are unaware that on the initial release of London Calling, The Clash’s landmark double album, their hit single, arguably the most commercial piece of old school ear candy the band would ever record, wasn’t even listed on the sleeve. Train in Vain appeared as a hidden track, the last song on side four, kicking in after Revolution Rock, and solidified the legendary status of the album and the band. The gesture also spoke volumes about the post-punk quartet’s confidence that a) they could record a cool, timeless track, and b) they didn’t need to shove the product down the consumer’s throat by highlighting its appearance.

This punk mentality definitely found a home on the West Coast of America, as well. Many punk bands flourished in their own artistic way in the 1970s and 80s, but arguably no other Los Angeles punk rockers had the enduring longevity as X. Indeed, 30 years on, they celebrate their anniversary with a holiday run beginning in December. Before each show, the band will screen a film, this week’s Hidden Flick, X: The Unheard Music.

READ ON for more on this week’s Hidden Flick…

For the second consecutive year, we concocted an innovative little experiment for our year-end Best Albums list. Instead of picking the old fashioned way, we opted for something a little different: a collaborative, collective list that incorporates the opinions of everybody here at HT.

To begin, we devised an all-encompassing list of well over 100 nominees, whereby most everything our contributors recommended made this list. Then, we invited our crew of writers to independently and blindly vote on each album within the list on a scale of 1 to 20 (20 = epic). We ended up with varying degrees of familiarity for the nominees as some folks voted on just about everything, while some ranked just a few. From there, we deployed our egghead algorithm for rating albums: (two times the average rating) + (the total number of votes). At that point, we took the top 25 highest scores and presto: Hidden Track’s 25 Best Albums of 2010. No bullshit, no big opinions; just the results.

Let’s kick off our week long countdown of our favorite albums of 2010 with numbers 25 through 21…

25) Sleigh Bells – Treats

Key Tracks: Tell ‘Em, Infinity Guitars

Sounds Like: Electric Guitars and Cheerleaders

The Skinny: Sleigh Bells came out of nowhere in 2010 to emerge as a break out of the highest order. Despite being a just a duo, the boy-girl tandem of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss manage to slug out bombs with their stomping beats, cutting guitar attacks and anthemic vocal hooks. With Treats, Sleigh Bells have created a genuinely unique twist on amped-up party music.

READ ON for the next four albums in our countdown…

Jam titans Widespread Panic will celebrate 25 years together in 2011. The group starts the year with three shows billed as 25th Anniversary Shows. On February 10th and 11th, Widespread Panic heads back to the Classic Center in their hometown of Athens, GA. On February 14th, Panic returns to the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta, […]

Given their well documented dislike for each other, and public bickering, it’s pretty remarkable that Liam and Noel Gallagher managed to make Oasis last as long as it did. Over the course of fifteen-plus years, the Gallagher brothers have put out seven albums filled with their brand of Beatles-esque Brit Pop, including selling a staggering […]

Glide’s Eric Ward penned a review of Phish’s insane New Year’s Show for Hidden Track and the main site. Check out the beginning of Eric’s review here and then click over to read the end at glidemagazine.com… Words: Eric Ward Image: Adam Kaufman The last time Phish celebrated New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden, […]