It’s looking like 2011 is going to be a banner year for new music as you can now circle May 10 on your calendar, because you’re going to want to
Yeah THEY Right!!! aka The Funky Meters @ Brooklyn Bowl, 2/15-17
FIVE YEARS. Seems kind of crazy but when somebody said to me the other night that it had been five years since the most popular version of N’awlins’ original Funk band had played New York, I had to think about it for a minute. And then I responded with what any true fan would say: “Yeah, you right.”
[Photos by Marc Millman]
The Meters formed at the tail end of the ’60s. They released Cissy Strut and Sophisticated Cissy in 1969. And with those songs, the four original members of the group (Art “Poppa Funk” Neville on organ, George Porter Jr. on bass, Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste on drums and Leo Nocentelli on guitar) helped to create a new genre in American music. Funk was born out of James Brown’s shift in style in the mid ’60s. And The Meters along with Sly & the Family Stone, George Clinton and other seminal acts like Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, the Ohio Players and Kool & the Gang brought a whole generation to the dance floor by getting people to dance “On the One,” as James used to shout at his band.
The Meters were THE backing band in New Orleans the way the Funk Brothers were at Motown or Booker T & the MGs were at Stax. But the band broke up in the mid ’70s during a dispute over recording contracts. Just over 10 years later, Porter decided to put a new version of the band together that would feature himself with Neville & Russell Batiste on drums. Guitar would be played by Brian Stoltz and sometimes by Nocentelli. And this is the version of the band that most of us grew up seeing regularly in the ’90s and beyond. But then…IT HAD BEEN FIVE YEARS!
READ ON for more from Marc on The Funky Meters…
Additions to this year’s Mountain Jam lineup came down today and include HT faves Umphrey’s McGee, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Leroy Justice. Also performing at Hunter Mountain in
Did you realize The Beatles dropped Smack My Bitch Up on an unsuspecting Shea Stadium crowd in 1965? Okay, that didn’t really happen. But if it did, it would’ve looked
Ryan Montbleau Band [Photo by Dave McWilliams] A major change will take place with one of the hardest working bands in the scene as the Ryan Montbleau Band annouced violist
This past Saturday night, the Trey Anastasio Band delivered its best performance of the tour thus far at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY. While official recordings from last year’s shows were not made available through LivePhish.com outside of the TAB at the TAB release, we’re glad to see that Big Red has opted to make the Albany sets available for purchase and download.
[All photos by Andy Hill]
Speaking of the Albany show, photog Andy Hill was in attendance and turned in a full gallery of photos. READ ON to check them out…
It’s been over a week since AC Entertainment and Superfly Productions unveiled the lineup for Bonnaroo X and after having seven days to examine the bill, we’ve come up with some thoughts to share on this year’s event. In typical Hidden Track fashion, we’ll lay out our take from A-Z…
A is for Ashley Capps – One of the founders of Bonnaroo and namesake of AC Entertainment gave two telling interviews that help explain where the event’s promoters were coming from when preparing the lineup. Head to Jambands.com and NPR.com to read and hear Ashley’s take.
B is for Buffalo Springfield – Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay reunited for the first time since 1968 at last fall’s Bridge School Benefit. While rumors of a Buffalo Springfield tour have been running rampant for the past few months, Bonnaroo scored the group’s first gig since one of the best reunion concerts in recent memory.
C is for Country Music – The genre, which is quite huge in that area of the country, will once again be on display with alt.country, traditional country, bluegrass and contemporary country acts on the bill such as Mumford & Sons, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Old Crow Medicine Show and Loretta Lynn.
READ ON for our entries for D through Z…
J Mascis is a character. Despite being known as a blisteringly loud guitarist on stage, he’s remarkably soft-spoken in conversation and is notoriously curt. In fact, he once commented that he doesn’t like interviews, because “most of them are boring.” Having been a part of the music industry for almost 30 years and enduring an infamously tumultuous ride since starting Dinosaur Jr. in 1983, it’s no surprise he might be a little jaded, but he’s awesomely jaded. It’s hard to decipher if it’s a persona or a mask, but he’s a true anti-hero, almost like a rock star version of Ignatius J. Reilly from Confederacy of Dunces: an antisocial cult hero genius, disdainful toward popular culture.
Ironically, in March, J. will release his most accessible release since Dinosaur Jr.’s Without a Sound in 1994 with his solo album, Several Shades of Why. While a number of his different projects over the years have essentially been J. Mascis solo efforts – like Dinosaur’s major label albums of the 1990’s and two J. Mascis and the Fog albums – this is his first true solo project in name. Stripped down of drums and electric guitars, and based almost entirely on acoustic singer-songwriter fare, Several Shades of Why is an entirely listenable and moving album. He does receive some support from big hired guns like Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses and Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene, but this is J. at his most intimate.
Hidden Track: I saw it mentioned that the idea for the new album came about around ten years ago with Megan from Sub Pop. I was curious, what did you play her back then that planted the seed?
J Mascis: Oh, I just played some solo shows in Seattle. I probably played three or four times, and she was really into those shows.
HT: And the idea for going all acoustic, that’s a little different for you. Could you talk a bit about how you came to decide on doing an almost purely acoustic, mellow project for Several Shades of Why?
JM: Yeah, I just wanted to make it sound different than everything else. I like having some limitations to work with. I decided not to have any drums or play any electric guitar. So, that really moves everything in a certain direction. By putting that stuff in, I’d tend to do the same thing and everything would sound similar to everything else I’ve done.
READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with J. Mascis…
We’ve asked moe.ron extraordinaire Kahlil Katool to cover the moe. beat for Hidden Track and he has kindly accepted. Kahlil will be covering snoe.down for us, but starts by sharing his opinion of where the band is at after the group’s first two tours of 2011…
something new, something cool , something borrowed, something blue…
This line from moe.’s new song Haze rings true as an accurate description of what the band has offered the music world in 2011. Coming off the heels of their 20th anniversary tour in 2010, the members of moe. may have shed the suits they wore all year long to celebrate the benchmark, but have remained all business while barreling head first into 2011.
[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]
moe. has played 22 shows thus far this year, starting out with the Tropical Throe.down in the Dominican Republic, touring through the Pacific Northwest and hitting the left coast along with the Rockies, and most recently returning to Japan. Dual-lead guitarist Al Schnier, had this to say when asked how the band felt about the past two months: “New Year’s Eve in Boston was a great way to end the 20th Anniversary tour and the Dominican Republic was a great way to kick off this year. I can’t say enough good things about that trip, and we are already discussing plans for a follow up (island excursion). This run has been great one, and (we) are heading even further into 2011 with a lot of momentum.”
The New York-based “ragers of improvisational rock” continue to push the envelope nightly breaking outside of the familiar with over a dozen new songs debuted since last year’s Summer Camp Festival. The band is integrating these new songs in their set arrangements with great fervor. moe. has been taking big chances outside its comfort zone as the band mixes up its setlist writing formula of traditional staple “big guns” (ie. Moth, Recreational Chemistry, Timmy Tucker, meat., Yodelittle, Brent Black, McBain) as being the centerpieces of the energy and flow of moe. sets.
READ ON for more from Kahlil on moe.’s 2011…
Maybe it’s the easy story that Could Nothings is the project of a 19 year-old college drop out, or maybe it’s just catchy music, but the band has quickly become
