It’s not every day we can compare and contrast Death Cab For Cutie and Phish, so we’re gonna take our shot while we can. We were shocked when DaveO forwarded
There is a new sheriff in town. As of now, Battlefield Earth is but a deputy alongside Gigli and Little Nicky. The new worst film in the history of the world is Across the Universe. Call me a sensationalist; I don’t care, this movie sucks – A Tour De Manure.
Like any self-respecting music fan, I creamed in my pants when I heard about the release of a new coming-of-age story in the late 60s set entirely to the music of the Beatles. I mean, what could go wrong. This sounds like a recipe for a masterpiece. Let’s fire up the bong and head to the theater right? WRONG.
In all my haste and excitement, I overlooked one very important detail. The movie is not set to the music of the Beatles, but rather the movie is entirely comprised of the actors and actresses performing the music of the Beatles. In other words, it’s a musical. Read on for more of Rupert’s rant about Across The Universe…
Well the Tea Leaf Green fans have done it…and that is awesome because ballot-stuffing is encouraged here at Hidden Track. Turns out Trevor really is the best one to sing “I Am An Old Woman”…Seriously though, nice turnout! DGold, the person who had TLG on his radio show in the first place to play this song, said he listened to all eight versions and ended up casting his vote for Susan Tedeschi – you sir are why we do this.
Onwards to Volume 5, this week we’ll be listening to interesting renditions of Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Paul Simon is very guarded when song meanings are attempted to be extracted from him, and this single from his album Still Crazy After All These Years is no exception.
Read on to get DaveO’s tale of the tape on this week’s song and competitors…
We’ve given Rhino Records and the Grateful Dead tons of shit in the past for their lack of releases, but now we’re gonna give them some props. That’s because Rhino
We’re extremely honored to welcome Randy Ray onto the Hidden Track team. You’re probably familiar with Randy’s work on both Relix and Jambands, but he’s also authored two novels with a third on its way. Here’s Randy’s first column:
Most people are unaware that on the initial release of London Calling, The Clash’s landmark double album, their hit single, arguably the most commercial piece of old school ear candy the band would ever record, wasn’t even listed on the sleeve.
Train in Vain appeared as a hidden track, the last song on side 4, kicking in after Revolution Rock, and solidified the legendary status of the album and the band. The gesture also spoke volumes about the post-punk quartet’s confidence that a) they could record a cool, timeless track, and b) they didn’t need to shove the product down the consumer’s throat by highlighting its appearance with even a slight mention on the sleeve.
That sort of hidden track mentality also feeds into my philosophy of live music and film. Like most people who either write or consume the many morsels of heady and witty words on this site, we are longtime Phish fans, as well—just sort of comes with the territory these days like the idea that most of us are either post-college, in college or live near one of those brick or ivy institutions. Anyway, I take that fact as a given and it follows that a lot of the old Phish head way of thinking feeds into our daily lives beyond the “1 for 3, 2 for 5” and “brotha can ya spare an extra” ingrained information.
The best comment I ever heard about improvisation actually came from Phish keyboardist, Page McConnell when he very simply stated that if the band had not been venturing out into the Great Unknown for 15 minutes, they would not have reached that point where everyone was in sync, a new form of music was being created on the spot, and the entire audience was part of that process. There are numerous examples from a 20-plus year career where Phish did, indeed, find this passage of space after the 10- or 12- or McConnell-branded 15-minute demarcation mark. Suffice to say, it required the band and fan to be patient through quite a bit of improvising before one got to that sweet spot.
Read on to find out what film Randy chose as the first Hidden Flick…
Move over Wilco and My Morning Jacket, jam fans may have a new indie band to embrace – Of Montreal. While they may be best know for an insane arty
Following the path of Radiohead, The Raconteurs have decided to go the non-traditional route of releasing an album and have decided to make it available to the entire music industry
Call Warpaint a comeback, but The Black Crowes have proven that their best original music wasn’t just a thing of the past.
“I want to make an impact, I want to make a difference,” Jessica Sonner sings on the title track of her first album, All We Need. At this point in her young career as a singer-songwriter, Sonner is a little bit of everything. And on All We Need, all the goods are on display, and with good reason.
P.B.S. (Porter, Batiste, Stoltz) is finally getting the opportunity to cool their heels a bit after an extended West coast tour that took them to cities large and small. Along the way in Portland Oregon, Glide had the opportunity to sit down with George Porter Jr., Russell Batiste Jr., and Brian Stoltz to talk about the rigors and realities of life on the road, the inspirational process of creating music together, and George Porter Jr.’s obsession with the internet.
