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