2007

Some genuinely crappy bands are often painted with charmingly positive adjectives and make it big on the back of the indie-music webosphere, but Sam Champion may be the exception that proves the rule. That’s expression actually makes no sense, but people say it, and when other people say things I usually just soak it in and regurgitate it later. Hey, that kinda sounds like the world wide webosphere.

But, seriously, these guys fucking rock. Great live show, great music. Plain and simple, end of story, end of days. The Brooklyn-based quartet’s second album, Heavenly Bender, is forthcoming, and today we’ve got a solid taste of what’s in store. And any track that features opportune rhythmic clapping as an instrument is given an ‘all systems go’ by me, so I’m already a big fan of the song. Throw in layers of fine guitar-work, catchy lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, and you’ve got one of their finest tunes yet. Bodes well, methinks.

• Go to RCRD LBL to download Your Party Was Yesterday

Nothing encapsulates the questionable marriage of sports and entertainment quite like the Super Bowl. The halftime show of the NFL’s signature event has been transformed over the past 42 years from an afterthought to a main focus of the Big Game. What was once a time for a piss break and a follow-up beer has turned into a big-time production thanks to the major television networks.

Originally the shows were filled with brief performances by a number of different artists celebrating a unifying theme. More recently the NFL decided to hand over the keys to the halftime show to just one legendary artist. What a difference a nipple makes, eh? Just this week the league announced that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been tabbed to perform at Super Bowl XLII on February 3rd.

The Gainesville-bred band should look at the past for an idea of what works and what doesn’t work at the big game. Let’s use this week’s B List to take a look at our 10 favorite Super Bowl halftime shows. Read on for the videos…

You may be as surprised as we are to find out that Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy was asked to write the theme song for a sitcom called All My Life back

Bill Clinton often made decisions with his Little Head while in the Oval Office. But now Hillary Clinton is thinking that Big Head Todd may help her get there. Clinton

Barack Obama lovin’ Jeff Tweedy and Wilco return to the road in February for a string of dates in the States before heading to Australia. Wilco’s brief tour covers a lot of ground in just two short weeks, and they’ll play some of the best venues this country has to offer. Our resident expert Luke advises us that in typical Wilco fashion, they will probably add dates over the course of the next few weeks.

• Jason Isbell plans massive tour (kickoff: 1/12)
• Radiohead flesh out European tour plans (kickoff: 6/07)
• Umphrey’s McGee starts 2008 on the west coast (kickoff: 2/07)
• The Om Trio returns after a three year hiatus (kickoff: 2/15)
• Yo La Tengo Freewheel into ’08 (kickoff: 1/09)
• Dark Star Orchestra plans to cover a lot of ground (kickoff: 1/31)
• Billy Joel starts to put together a run of shows (kickoff: 2/26)

As if the 2007-08 Reunionmania wasn’t already out of hand, a UK developer has persuaded the original lineup of Spandau Ballet to reform in Las Vegas for one show by offering a two-million pound payday. True was a good song and all, but two million pounds?! We can only hope that P.M. Dawn opens the show.

If only every band’s fans were as devoted to compiling setlist information like this site is for Neil Young’s current tour, the world would be a better place (though, perhaps there’d be more “Kick Me” signs on backs). I guess it’s safe to say if you see Neil play this week or next, Cinnamon Girl will be the first encore.

The past few weeks have been crazy for your old pal Scotty B, leaving me little time to review some of the concerts I’ve recently attended. So allow me to kill two birds with one stone for this week’s edition of Grousing The Aisles.

We’ll start by looking at RAQ’s first-ever performance at the beautiful new Highline Ballroom before moving onto Ween’s Friday night gig at NYC’s newest shitty venue, Terminal 5. Luckily high-quality recordings of both shows have surfaced, so you can listen to the shows I’m reviewing. You gotta love modern technology.

RAQ 11/24/2007 DAUD [FLAC, MP3, STREAM]

Photo by Dave Vann

It isn’t hard to have fun at a RAQ show. While they may not be breaking any new ground sonically, the Vermont quartet plays a mix of quirky originals and killer covers that keeps the crowd both entertained and dancing. The energy that the crowd gave the band and vice versa at Highline Ballroom a few weeks ago was pretty cool to watch. Everyone in the venue (besides me) seemed like longtime RAQ fans, and they consequently hung on every note the band played.

Keyboardist Todd Stoops is a guy most people either think is the best thing since sliced bread or the most annoying musician they’ve ever heard. Personally, I think Stoops’ spastic style adds some originality to both the jams and songs themselves. Check out Shirley Be A Drooler for a taste of Stoops’ hyper organ-playing or Clamslide for a sample of what he can do on the piano. Guitarist Chris Michetti shredded his way through the evening, starting with rapid-fire runs during the cover of AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way to The Top that opened the show before exhibiting a more melodic side of his fretwork on Carbohydrates Are The Enemy > Freya > Carbohydrates Are The Enemy. Read on for much more…