Archive: 2007

The Sadies are one of today’s hardest working bands, having put out five albums since signing with Yep Roc Records four years ago (including the new release New Seasons), worked in various formats with alt country/indie crooner darling Neko Case. The Sadies are fronted by the Good brothers (Dallas and Travis) and have been making a name for themselves since growing up around their father’s (and uncles’) band, Canadian country Hall of Fame legends, The Good Brothers.

Meet Bryan Saltus, a 37-year-old American golfer currently plying his trade on the Pro Asia Tour. Saltus claimed a victory this weekend at the inaugural Cambodian Open, his first championship trophy on the Asian Tour. So what’s this got to do with the price of apples (or, say, veggie burritos)? Instead of some poor schlub […]

Organizers for the Langerado Music Festival have released the daily schedule for the sixth installment of the event, and it follows after the jump. Read on and let us know which of the three main days looks most appealing. If you ask us, and nobody ever does, Saturday looks particularly nasty…even nastier than two girls surrounding a communal cup, and we mean that in a best way possible.

You can excuse Martin Sexton for being a little tired these days. Sexton’s been touring these United States and the UK since April behind his latest album, Seeds. And aside from spreading good music, the singer/songwriter is also spreading environmental awareness by making the nine-month run a “green” tour.

On Friday, Martin will play the grand finale of the Seeds tour at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom, and we caught up with him as he prepared for the gig. We sat down to talk about life on the road, how NBC’s Scrubs came to use one of his songs, what makes a tour “green” and much, much more….

Scott Bernstein: What were some of the highlights of the Seeds tour?

Martin Sexton: A big one would be doing the whole Green thing: the biodiesel bus, organic posters, recycling everything and all of that was really successful and it make me feel great. It worked, and it wasn’t like pulling teeth; it was actually quite viable. Another highlight for me would be being part of the show on Earth Day last April. Just playing out there in that big beautiful park on a wonderful San Francisco afternoon on Earth Day.

Also I got to the UK for the first time. The reaction of the fans was wonderful. They really treat you well over there. It’s kinda different from in America. They treat you like an artist. I worked hard for what I have in America, and it’s a beautiful thing. But if I was new and up and coming in America, I would sure have a tough road to hoe. Read on for more from Scotty and Martin…

This Bra-less Wonder is not Elaine Benes’ Lex Luthor, and I doubt Kramer will sue her for permanently destroying his chances at a career in golf. But it’s strange to see a woman in her skivvies on the street, and The Daily Mail agrees.

Imagine being a has-been but with loads of talent at the ripe old age of 24. We say “go for it,” veer into the skid and just do this “crazy whore” thing for at least a little while. There really is nothing worse than being boring. Shake it up.

Mostly because he’s still dead after 14 years. But we don’t hold that against him. The world at large lost Frank Zappa on this day 14 years ago — one less genius on this Earf. Zappa influenced many of the bands that ultimately spawned this website, and he remains the only musician to sit on […]

We’d like to congratulate “Saxilla” for winning our insanely popular contest giveaway for the Vegas ’96 release from equally popular rock band Phish. We polled our expert panel of 12 Phish geeks, and most of them consider the smokin’ Carini > Black Eyed Katy > Sneakin’ Sally > Frankenstein from December 30th, 1997 at Madison […]

You can excuse Martin Sexton for being a little tired these days. Sexton’s been touring these United States and the UK since April behind his latest album, Seeds. And aside from spreading good music, the singer/songwriter is also spreading environmental awareness by making the nine-month run a “green” tour.

It looks like we may have to take back the virtual hand job we gave Bonnaroo promoters last night: Metallica’s management “flat-out denied” the band will be headlining next year’s festival. There’s no official or unofficial word yet on whether Led Zeppelin will really be headlining Bonnaroo, but according to last year’s schedule we are […]

Andrew Bird didn’t play my favorite song on Friday night, but that’s about the only thing he didn’t do. That man is a fucking genius, plain and simple. And since I’m still mesmerized by his act, I asked my partner-in-crime Neddy to fill you all in…

A few years ago, when I was first coming around to the fact that I could discover new music by grabbing free mp3s from these newfangled “web-logs” and the like, one of the very first tunes I downloaded was Lull by Andrew Bird.

For the sake of revisionist history, it may very well have been the first mp3 to make it to a hard drive of mine [thank you Internets, I easily found the place I grabbed it from]. As my encoded catalog was minuscule at the time, I must have listened to that song a few dozen times in the background of doing this or that on the computer, until it was me who was in a lull, totally hypnotized and won over by the song, and by extension, Bird. Now that song is deeply embedded in my subconscious, both because it’s good and because he’s got hooks. That’s the way Andrew Bird’s music is, and that was the ways and means of Friday night’s show at the Beacon Theater.

Bird seduces you with his charm, gives you the proverbial “I love you” gaze into your eyes with wicked songwriting and then lulls you into a hypnotic state with sheer talent. Just like listening to that mp3 over and over, the night had a cyclic nature to it: repetitive, looping riffs and phrases churned underneath each song, while, from tune to tune, a basic structure repeated over and over again.

Number after number, Andrew would start off on the violin, or maybe whistling something, and set up some samples and loops (as would his bassist/guitarist and drummer/keyboardist) and out of that soup of sound, songs would emerge and develop. Although this is not to short change what was going on — it’s more like saying every house that’s built starts with a foundation, every painting starts with a blank canvas or that every pizza starts with a crust. Read on for more…

Friends, there is love on the planet, and thy name is Herbie. The jazz master is like a slice of fresh picked orange in your mouth, a burst of sunshine in your ears. But let’s not waste words or sense-based descriptors; let’s get straight to the music.

Here we have the beginning of a 1993 set by the Herbie Hancock Trio, featuring Josh Littleton on bass and the amazing Gene Jackson on the kit, music that dares you not to smile. The opening track, I Love You, is a long, fluid, sparkling stream of music that flows right into a strutting Cantaloupe Island. Check out the drum solo about 10 minutes into the first tune, not to mention, of course, the piano that is simply everywhere. Unreal. This week’s edition closes with a stunning Maiden Voyage. No talking; just listen to it.

And as a bonus, another shade of Herbie’s genius: a short, four-song Head Hunters set from 1974. Everything from the super slick Butterfly opener to the jazzy jungle jam of a Chameleon closer drips with the funk. Enjoy!

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD STORMY HERBIE FROM 1993
• CLICK HERE FOR THE BONUS 1974 FOUR-SONG SET

Ever since Justin Timberlake revealed Janet Jackson’s Nubian Nipple at Super Bowl XXXVIII, the NFL seems to exclusively tab classic rockers to perform during halftime at the Super Bowl as to not repeat that Awakening of Areola. The recent tradition continues, and the NFL yesterday officially announced that Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers got the gig at Super Bowl XLII on February 3rd in Phoenix.

Petty grew up in football crazy Gainesville, so we’re pretty sure he’s been to a big game or two. No word yet on whether Petty will dedicate Even The Losers to our woeful Jets, who finally played a good game yesterday. What else we got?

• The Disco Biscuits announce their first ever European tour
• Band of Horses plans a big world tour for next year
• Steven Van Zandt unveils a class about the history of rock music
• Revisiting the site of Otis Redding’s death forty years later
• Billy Joel takes a shot at the war with the release of Christmas in Fallujuh
• Saranac officially announces their deal with moe.
• Tea Leaf Green finally confirms their four-night New Years’ run
• Neddy lists the shows of the week
• Feel bad about downloading music illegally? Here’s your chance to atone

Finally, congratulations to Ryan Montbleau, Club D’elf and Martin Sexton for winning big at the Boston Music Awards…we enjoy all three.

Remember when 70,000 people showed up to an inaugural Bonnaroo for a lineup consisting exclusively of jambands and improvisatory musicians? The crowd hasn’t grown much in number since then, but the festival’s stature and credibility have increased tremendously. At this point you’d have to consider this camping behemoth one of the more preeminent festivals in the world.

And it’s possible that 2008 will continue to see to ‘Roo cement its reputation. The blogs and message boards are abuzz today after the Digital Media Wire passed on a rumor that Led Zeppelin and Metallica have just signed on to play Bonnaroo ’08. This wouldn’t be the first appearance of a member of Led Zeppelin at Bonnaroo — last year bassist John Paul Jones participated in the SuperJam at the festival and sat in with Uncle Earl and Gillian Welch on a few tunes.

If true, can you even imagine how much money Superfly and AC Entertainment had to have thrown at Zeppelin’s management to convince them to sign? Considering Bonnaroo grossed $17 million last year, we’re thinkin’ a million dollars isn’t out of the question. We don’t envy the competition: This summer’s festival season is sure to be intense with Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo and the newly announced Vineland Festival all attempting to outdo each other. For now this is just a rumor, but it sure is fun to think about the possibilities.

I’d call this a full weekend, with bright spots abound. I watched two friends enter the eternal bond of matrimony then walk back down the aisle to the sounds of Uncle Pen. I sat mesmerized as Andrew Bird tore up the Beacon with one of the best performances of the year (review forthcoming). I enjoyed […]

Releasing one, two and sometimes three studio albums a year, calling Ryan Adams prolific would be an understatement. However for every brilliant Cold Roses there is a "did we really need this" 29. With the Follow the Lights EP, Adams has released perhaps his most unblemished recording since Gold.

Regina Spektor is pretty damn special. Special enough that for this trip to the Gateway City, she sold out The Pageant, which holds around 2,000. On a Monday night. With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner.

With year end best of lists being cluttered with The National, Spoon and Bruce Springsteen, there is a band out of Birmingham, Alabama, Through the Sparks, whose Lazarus Beach certainly deserves some attention. Through the Sparks is a collaboration of long time friends that involve James Brangle and Jody Nelson, who began writing and recording with longtime friends and collaborators Nikolaus and Thomas Mimikakis and Greg Slamen in early 2004.

It tears us up every time we hear him drawl that Southern drawl, and we’ll have that opportunity once again: Levon Helm returns to New York’s Beacon Theatre on March 7th and 8th, about one year removed from last year’s awesomeness. Interestingly I’ll be at the Beacon this evening, in what can only be described […]

Get ready for more makeshift, mediocre, misguided Fillmores: The Wall Street Journal today published a fine feature on the world’s largest concert promoter, and it appears the current business model just ain’t generating enough capital for Live Nation. The company will now attempt to morph into a record label, memorabilia dispenser and employer of seasonal workers. Let’s see whose identity they can steal for those new growth drivers. Read on for the full story…

Kudos to the good people at Farm Aid for the best turnaround this side of Bonnie Tyler. HD Net will feature highlights from September’s concert this Sunday at 6PM (as they did last Sunday as well, but we missed it). Hopefully we’ll get plenty of the Allmans, Neil Young and Willie Nelson, with a side […]