Since the summer of 2001, Billy Martin, of Medeski, Martin & Wood, has been organizing Turntable Sessions at various downtown New York City clubs. The Turntable Sessions: Volume 1 is an 11-song collection of highlights throughout the first three years of Martin
With its mopey vocals and multi-layered arrangements, the second EP from
mellowdrone – go get ’em tiger – is what would result if Radiohead and the Cure had a jam/writing session for a locked away weekend – or maybe an
hour. In fact, the influences are so obvious it’s hard to pin point you’re
actually listening to mellowdrone, the alter-ego of singer/songwriter/musician Jonathan Bates.
The Hot Buttered Rum String Band has made a CD I’m sure they feel proud to release, and in many ways I agree that it’s a solid work. But the technical skills and instrumental variety the guys bring to their music cannot compensate for the antiseptic quality of the tunes, nor for the distance the band maintains between itself and its subjects.
Musically, Here Come the Brides rocks with all the swagger, inebriation and low IQ of the best hair rock. Like a drunk driver in a fast car on a curvy California road, the Brides play with the reckless abandon one would expect from 80s L.A. veterans
Kurt Vonnegut’s contribution of Hook, Line & Sinker to The Greatest Album Covers That Never Were, portions of which are currently on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, inspired me to take a closer look at the relationship between Mr. Vonnegut and Phish.
Rather than focusing on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
After a ten-year recording hiatus, the five piece – featuring all original members – have returned with Into The Now. With true marksmanship,
the band has always excelled with its niche of slow rockers, featuring
seasoned vocals and jubilant choruses.
Ignoring history, former Cop Shoot Cop bassist Tod A impresses once again as the spark and hydrogen of New York
Photos by Jake Krolick of the Jam on the River at Pennslanding in Philadelphia, PA on Memorial Day weekend, May 29th and 30th, 2004.
