May 16, 2007

Our friend Rob with the sunny disposition and the well-cropped beard sent this clip my way yesterday, an astonishing video of a blind man kicking a drumset’s ass. Um, metaphorically, I guess.

We’re getting back to our roots with a jam-heavy edition of Grousing the Aisles. All four artists featured here love to noodle, each in completely different ways. First up is U-Melt, a band that mixes together more genres than the Bonnaroo lineup. Also featured this week is an amazing compilation of Jerry Garcia covering Van the Man. We follow that up with two of the crispiest shows I’ve ever heard from Gov’t Mule and the Phish. Enough with the small talk — check it out…

U-Melt 03/02/07 SBD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM):

U-Melt’s music is all over the place. Within five minutes the band can hit heavy metal riffs, Steely Dan-esque lyrics and poppy melodies. The show featured here is a crispy soundboard from the band’s recent peformance at the Wheel House in Narragansett, RI. One of the segments that you’d only see at a U-Melt show is the scorching Bubblehouse > Boy In A Bubble > Bubblehouse that the band drops early in the show. U-Melt has never run away from their influences, covering the likes of Phish, the Smashing Pumpkins and MMW. Bubblehouse sounds extremely tasty with the addition of some rippin’ guitar.

U-Melt’s epic compositions are the true stars of this March 2007 recording. A Robbins Tale is a well-written tune that’s got a Steely Dan meets ELP vibe. The second set is palindromic in nature, and it’s chock full of some of the best this band has to offer. Kind Insight features Talking Heads-esque vocals with a beat that kinda sounds like Caravan on acid. I think I’ve thrown out enough random band comparisons for one day, so just go check out this show before I run out of ’em.

Read on after the jump for the rest of this week’s Grousing The Aisles…

Bustle In Your Hedgerow is just another cover band, and this band of special occasion will be the first to admit that. But that doesn’t mean they won’t melt your fucking face off and piss all over the remains, and the huge crowds in San Francisco and Los Angeles this weekend will be the first to admit that.

America’s greatest rock cover band experience headed west this weekend for a twin bill at The Independent and the Knitting Factory, and everyone I’ve talked to says these shows were the best they’ve ever seen, the best the band has ever played. They may be Led Zeppelin tunes, but the rock is all their own.

San Francisco packed more than 600 people into the 500-person-capacity Independent, and the crowd proved itself to be so raucous they got a double encore of Immigrant Song and Bring It on Home for its troubles. So with the momentum-building left-coast run behind ’em, and with shows in the Midwest and East on the horizon, let’s take a look at 16 incredible photos from The Lovely Miss Rachel, posted for your pleasure after the jump…enjoy!

What happens when you combine the country’s best radio station with a park in lovely downtown Camden? Why, the XPoNential music festival, obvs. The festival expanded to four days this