Archive: 2006

The beginning of the year can be a sluggish time, so the following is a list of artists and bands to look forward to along with some long-awaited albums from a plethora of our favorite artists.

If I had a list with my 100 all time favorite recordings, They Only Come Out At Night would be on it, but mainly for two songs,

Aliza Grant AKA LSA (Life

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members U2 captured the Grammy Award for album of the year for the disc “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

It was the band’s second major award of the night, having won song of the year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own,” one of the album’s songs.

Lead singer Bono explained earlier that the atomic bomb in the album’s title referred to his father, whose death inspired many of its lyrics.

“This is really a big, big night for our band,” Bono said.

U2 beat out Mariah Carey’s best-selling “The Emancipation of Mimi,” shutting out the songbird from any of the major Grammy Awards in her comeback year. Other nominees included Paul McCartney’s “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard,” Gwen Stefani’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,” and Kanye West’s “Late Registration.”

Other notable winners include:

Alternative Music Album: “Get Behind Me Satan,” The White Stripes.

Rock Instrumental Performance: “69 Freedom Special,” Les Paul and Friends.

Solo Rock Vocal Performance: “Devils & Dust,” Bruce Springsteen.

Hard Rock Performance: “B.Y.O.B.,” System of a Down.

Alternative Performance: “Welcome to Jamrock,” Damian Marley.

Top Collaboration With Vocals: “Feel Good Inc.,” Gorillaz Featuring De La Soul.

Traditional Blues Album: “80,” B.B. King and Friends.

Traditional Folk Album: “Fiddler’s Green,” Tim O’Brien.

Contemporary Folk Album: “Fair & Square,” John Prine.

Bluegrass Album: “The Company We Keep,” The Del McCoury Band.

Jazz Instrumental Solo: “Why Was I Born?” Sonny Rollins.

Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: “Beyond the Sound Barrier,” Wayne Shorter Quartet.

Contemporary Jazz Album: “The Way Up,” Pat Metheny Group.

Dance Album: “Push the Button,” The Chemical Brothers.

Best Long Form Music Video: “No Direction Home” ( Bob Dylan).

Click here for a full list of winners.

Photos by Robert Massie of the Derek Trucks Band performance at the Odeon in Cleveland OH, January 19, 2006. For more of Robert’s work see: jampics

Aloneaphobe is Steven Mark

The absolute highlight of this night from either band was the monstrous Pink Floyd masterpiece of "Echoes" that closed the set.

Television guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine will simultaneously release two new albums this spring. “Around,” a 16-track set in the vein of the 1992 instrumental album “Warm and Cool,” and “Songs and Other Things,” Verlaine’s first “vocal” release since 1990’s “The Wonder,” will arrive in late April via Thrill Jockey.

“Around” features drumming Television’s Billy Ficca on several tracks, highlighted by the beautiful, late-night instrumental “Eighty Eights,” the strutting, nearly honky-tonk “Wheel Broke” and guitar-only exercises like “Mountain.” Elsewhere, bass-aided cuts like “Balcony” wouldn’t sound out of place on an album from Verlaine’s new Thrill Jockey labelmate Tortoise.

As for the 14-song “Songs and Other Things,” it finds Verlaine dabbling on bass in tandem with Television’s Fred Smith. Among the notable tracks here are the genial “From Her Fingers,” the snaking guitar lines of “The Day on You” and the confident rock of “All Weirded Out,” which bears the unmistakable lineage of vintage Television.

Verlaine is planning to debut a live band in New York in late April or early May in advance of his first world tour in more than 10 years. As for Television, Verlaine told Billboard.com last year the group had “about seven [new songs] nearly ready to record” but added, “I have no idea who for — what label, that is.”

Source billboard.com.

egendary rock trio Cream, which reunited last year for a handful of concerts in London and New York after a bitter breakup in 1968, has scheduled more shows, according to vocalist/bassist Jack Bruce.

But don’t expect a world tour. Rather, Bruce says he, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker will set up camp in select cities for multiple dates, just as they did last year.

“What we feel is that it’s so special, and also so emotionally draining that it’s not something we could do every day,” he says. “We will play more, but where and when I’m not at liberty to say.” He declined to say when an official announcement might be made, joking that he would “get chopped” if he said anything.

Bruce is in Los Angeles to accept a lifetime achievement award for Cream at tonight’s (Feb. 8) Grammy Awards. He will be the group’s sole representative, saying Clapton had other commitments, while it was impractical for Baker to leave his farm in South Africa.

Prior to last year, Cream hadn’t played live since its 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the spring, the group grossed $3.6 million from four sell-outs at London’s Royal Albert Hall. An Oct. 24-26 run at New York’s Madison Square Garden grossed more than $10.6 million and drew 56,151 people, according to venue officials.

Bruce says he is less explosive in his old age, and the band know better how to handle problems, but there remains an underlying, brotherly tension with Baker. On the other hand, he describes Clapton as “the most beautiful, kindest, most understanding guy that I’ve come across.”

Source billboard.com.

An upcoming four-day music and film event in New York is being touted as the biggest Earth Day (April 22) celebration in the United States. The inaugural Green Apple Music & Arts festival will get underway on April 20 with the sixth annual The inaugural Green Apple Music & Arts festival will get underway on April 20 with the sixth annual Jammy Awards and will continue through April 23 in 20 venues throughout the city.

Although participating artists have not yet been announced, organizers Peter Shapiro and Relix magazine promise 50 shows ranging from rock, blues, folk and world music. Concerts will be held at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Irving Plaza, the Blue Note, B.B. King’s, Nokia Theater, the Bitter End, the Bowery Ballroom and the Knitting Factory. Details will be listed on Greenapplemusicfestival.com.

The Jammys are scheduled to take place at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The event will include an all-star tribute to Frank Zappa, who will be posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival was created to raise the visibility and awareness of Earth Day,” says Shapiro, who owned the environmentally focused New York venue Wetlands Preserve. “What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to bring it to every major music venue in New York?”

The festival is being put together in conjunction with the non-profit Earth Day New York. That organization will stage its annual EarthFair April 21-22 outside of the city’s Grand Central Terminal, which will also feature free family entertainment and musical performances.

Additionally, the film festival will be held April 23 at the American Museum of Natural History and a series of children’s events is being planned.

Throughout the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival, attendees will receive information on environmental issues and causes at each venue.

If things go well, Shapiro and Relix intend to stage the festival in multiple cities in the future. “We want to spread awareness to people who aren’t already environmental experts,” adds Relix president/publisher Steven Bernstein. “We want to make them aware of what they can do in their daily routine that will make a difference to the environment.”

Source billboard.com.