Hidden Track

Oh, wait, this whole thing is illegal? “British and Dutch police said they shut down Tuesday the website OiNK, the world’s biggest source of pirated pre-release chart albums. OiNK distributed albums often weeks ahead of their official release date. More than 60 major album releases had been leaked onto the Internet so far this year.” Looks like you’ll have to move onto the next music theft palace. RIP OiNK.

We take some comedic pot-shots at moe. from time to time, mostly because they’re a band with a good sense of humor. If a group’s clever enough to re-create the fight scene from Raising Arizona on its tour blog at a time when rumors of “the band’s creative differences” ran rampant, surely they can take a little ribbing from a couple of jerks with a website.

But, shit, sometimes moe. just deserves what they get. And either the moe. organization conspired to pass along its best inside joke yet that sailed wildly over my head, or some pranksters hacked into the band’s listserv over the weekend. Otherwise, I’m not entirely sure what explains the following mass e-mail, a note about corporate partnerships with its fans that included this dubious last paragraph:

If you work for a company that would possibly like to talk about some marketing opportunities, whether it be sponsorship, partnering, or possibly having moe. write a song for an ad, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me. We owe everything to our fans and if we could team up with some, we think it would be a lot of fun and ultimately, beneficial for everyone.

Wait, is that for real? Are times that tough for the self-described indie-jam rockers that they’re praying Tampax will make Don’t Fuck With Flo their new jingle? Do you, moe. fan, have an in with T.G.I.Fridays, and if so, could you possibly get Happy Hour Hero into the weekend rotation? Was The Conch‘s Blue Jeans Pizza the band’s effort to kill two jingle birds with one stone? This e-mail has left me with more questions than answers, and most of them surround moe.’s newfound evolution into Uncles Jesse and Joey in Full House. C’mon, you watched it too.

• Related video: Thirty-six minute Vegoose webcast of moe.
• Read on after the jump for the full letter from the band…

Feelin’ kinda funky this Stormy Monday…all different shades of funky.

We’re starting out with some soulful funk courtesy of Jennifer Hartswick’s new album: The slinky Meet Me comes from Trey Band’s vocalist and trumpeter’s debut release, Fuse. Dylan’s Budokan-era One More Cup of Coffee is soaked in Latin-style funk, with some hot percussion and a blazing sax line, all slammed into three and a half minutes.

By contrast Soulive’s cover of World Is a Ghetto, coming from the trio’s infancy way back in ‘99 in Nashville, stretches for a good quarter-hour. It’s pinned down by fantastic playing from two very special guests: Derek Trucks and Oteil Burbridge. This week’s mix closes with the funk you didn’t know was out there, a cover of If 6 was 9 by The Avalon All Stars. The line-up is a who’s who of great sidemen, Molo: Bobby Vega, Ray While, Barry Sless and Mookie Siegel. And, man, they kill it.

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS EDITION OF STORMY MONDAYS

Eddie Vedder, Flea and Jack Irons have pulled out of this weekend’s Bridge School Benefit due to a personal family matter with one of the band members. Not to worry: My Morning Jacket has been added to a strong lineup that also includes Metallica, Neil Young and Tom Waits with the Kronos Quartet. So if you’re counting at home, MMJ has added the I’m Not There concert and the Bridge School Benefit since saying they were done for the year.

• The CMJ Festival apparently produced many highlights
• Phil Lesh tried to use his power as honorary mayor of Glens Falls to pardon Trey Anastasio this weekend
• Hopefully nobody will be censored by AT&T during their Vegoose webcast
• Stay Classy, Kid Rock: KR got arrested for fighting at Waffle House
• The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and other musicians won the dismissal of a countersuit by the owners of Wolfgang’s Vault
• Legendary singer Porter Wagoner, who recently opened for the White Stripes, has been diagnosed with cancer
• Find out everything you need to know about Neil Young
• Slate’s Carl Wilson responds to last week’s article in the New Yorker about the state of indie music and its lack of blackness
• Once again, Uncle Neddy lists the shows of the week

And read on after the jump for a great video of Bill Maher physically kicking hecklers out of his audience during Friday night’s live HBO show…

Three of our favorite guitarists showed up on other people’s stages this weekend, sending message boards into fits of excessive geekery. Former 70 Volt Parade lead singer Trey Anastasio sat

Friday [all times Eastern]: Classic Albums looks at Metallica’s Black Album [VH-1 Classic 8:00 PM] Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs combine forces for CMT’s Crossroads [MTV HD 12:00 AM] This

We wrap up our photographic coverage of the inaugural Echo Project with our best gallery yet, a fantastic mix of live action shots and backstage portraits. In this last installment you’ll see shit so close it’ll absolutely frighten you, like this first picture, which proves Phil Lesh may in fact be the Cryptkeeper.

We’d like to extend a hearty expression of gratitude and a heaping helpful of praise to the incomparable Dave Vann, who piggybacked on his incredible Hardly Strictly Bluegrass gallery to bring us this top-drawer photo coverage of last weekend’s festival in Fairburn, Georgia. And if you haven’t checked out his ridiculous shots from the action on Friday and Saturday, may you die of gonorrhea and rot in hell (laces out!). Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but shame on you.

Like the previous two days, this final gallery includes a great mix of jambands, indie rock bands, electronic acts, hip-hoppers and more. So read on after the jump for Dave’s full gallery of Phil Lesh & Friends, former Black Crowes lead guitarist Marc Ford, Umphrey’s McGee, RAQ, Spoon, The Bravery, ALO, The Roots, RJD2, Dirty Dozen Brass Band guitarist Jamie McLean and, what would a festival be without the “How youuuu feeeeeelin’?” stylings of Michael Franti & Spearhead.

And remember, if you’d like to fill us in on your own personal Echo Project experience, leave the world a message in the comments section…

Save your pennies, kiddies, because Radiohead will head out on tour next year. According to Radiohead’s manager, the biggest band on the planet plans to hit larger venues both domestically

On this Friday we turn once again to Uncle Neddy for a little mix action…

There are good guitarists, there are great ones, and then there is Bill Frisell. My hard drive is littered with Frisellevation, so it was a sweet curse to narrow this one down. But instead of limiting myself, I’ll do a second part of this next time, which is not to say next week but next time through the rotation. Chew on these for a bit, enjoy all the badasses Bill calls bandmates, and if you have any requests, recommendations or good Bill treats to share, by all means, do so.

01 When You Wish Upon A Star — Petra Haden And Bill Frisell (2003)
02 [title unknown] — Frisell, Baron, Driscoll: 11 May 1995 (1995)
03 Rambler — Ginger Baker Trio: Going Back Home (1994)
04 White Fang — Bill Frisell: Unspeakable (2004)
05 Graveyard Shift — Naked City: 9 Oct 1988 (1988)
06 Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall — Bill Frisell: 2 July 2005 (2005)

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS WEEK’S FRIDAY MIX TAPE

Stick this one in the Better Late Than Never file…yeah, we just saw it. We’re hearing mostly positives from Van Halen’s resurrection n’ resuscitation tour, but this version of Jump