Archive: 2008

New Zealand’s 4th most popular musical comedy band, Flight Of The Conchords, have put together a fantastically hilarious mockumentary about their experience at SXSW called A Texan Odyssey. So, if you have 44 minutes I highly suggest sitting down and watching… [googlevideo]8327424432005226305&q=flight+of+the+conchords+sxsw&total=7&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0[/googlevideo] In other Conchords’ news Bret and Jemaine’s self-titled, full-length debut for Sub Pop […]

If you aren’t able to attend Wilco’s five night “bust ’em all out” residency, you’ll still get a chance to listen to one show as it happens. Audio of tonight’s gig will be simulcast both over the radio and on the web starting at 8:30 EST thanks to WXRT. Does anyone have any predictions? We […]

Over the last few years our neighbors to the North have been exporting some of the most buzzed about bands around. So much has been written about these acts, that I won’t waste your time rattling off a laundry list of them. There is one band though that has been greatly overlooked among the art-rock and indie-pop that we’ve been eating up like plates full of poutine (and coincidently happen to be rather huge in their native land) – Sam Roberts Band.

Despite the rather mundane moniker the band has been nominated for multiple Juno awards – Canada’ version of the Grammy’s – for their last two albums; raking in a trifecta of them in 2004 for Artist, Album and Rock Album of the year for their major label debut We Were Born In A Flame. While I would normally avoid most things that resemble a radio-friendly mainstream rock band, it’s really hard to not like these guys. So don’t be a hoser and read on eh…

A little over a year ago longtime HT contributor DaveO and I were brainstorming column ideas, when he uttered the words “Cover Wars.” Pushed for details Dave suggested that we layout some basic facts for two or three different cover versions of the same song, and let the readers judge which version is better.

Considering our slogan used to be “my band can beat up your band,” we thought it was a fitting column. The time has finally come for the first edition of Cover Wars. Listen to all three versions of the “sequence,” read Dave’s notes and then cast your vote for the best of the batch. Take it away, Dave…

B-Side? Medley? Let’s just call it the Abbey Road “Sequence,” as that’s what the great folks over at “rec.music.beatles” have come up with. Speaking of RMB, it’s a great resource for all things Beatles.

Instead of writing a history of the album’s B-Side, I will direct you to two pieces that tell the tale of The Beatles’ true final album. First, the RMB article that goes into many details regarding the musical composition of the sequence. Second, the wikipedia entry for Abbey Road where you can learn such fun facts such You Never Give Me Your Money was written in part about The Beatles financial problems with Apple, or how Golden Slumbers is musically based on a Thomas Dekker piece from the 17th-century with the same name.

Read on for DaveO’s notes on the three versions, and to cast your vote for who does it best…

HT Contributor Eliot Glazer has tremendously terrible taste in music. But he makes everything sound so damn appealing, so we allow him this soapbox… On October 31, 2007, I felt I had reached the apex of my obsession with one musician whose signature vocal stylings had been – for years – some of the most […]

Pictures by Bob Lange of The New York Dolls, We Are The Fury and Rude & the Rekkless at Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD 2/12/08

Doughty knows what he’s best at and that propensity makes Golden Delicious comfort food for those that like their lyrics and melody on the quirky side.

It’s hard to imagine anyone not getting sucked into Vampire Weekend’s whole-hearted goodness, and in fact, I’d be concerned about anyone who didn’t. Hype may be one thing, but it’s hard to argue with a solid record that guarantees a good time with every spin.

Hot on the heels of 2006’s profound and critically acclaimed solo journey From A Late Night High-Rise, ambient folk/rocker Matthew Ryan enjoys the company of longtime band Vs The Silver State for his eleventh release Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State (MRVSS), out April 1, 2008.  Throughout the first leg of the U.S. tour beginning […]

I’m going to take you back a bit. Not back when Steve Earle was a guitar town hero in Nashville, hung up on heroin, behind bars, or even “just another country-rock artist.” I’m going to take you back when I first heard a Steve Earle song.

One of my top ten shows of ’07 was a New Pornographers performances at Webster Hall, which boasted the band’s full line-up; a rarity these days with the members other recording and touring obligations. While the New Porns excel when Neko Case brings her booming voice and beautiful harmonies into the fold, it was Dan […]

Wilco mixed never-played-before gems with live staples over the first two nights of their highly-anticipated residency at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre. Kudos to Greg Kot for providing the play-by-play for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be at the shows in person. Friday night’s set skewed towards the Sky Blue Sky material, while Saturday’s […]

I’ve written all sorts of things for Hidden Track, but I’ve never written any of those “best of the week” type features that are all the rage on the ‘nets. In the past Ace would lead off with a news item, before recapping our best posts from the previous week. In keeping with that tradition […]

The Police have announced summer tour dates for what they’re saying will be their last-ever round of shows together, and have placed Elvis Costello & The Imposters to occupy the opening slot. The tour kicks off May 1 in Ottawa, and will spend the remainder of that month hitting about a dozen US cities. A […]

Former Soul Coughing front-man Mike Doughty has announced spring tour dates behind his latest studio LP, the forthcoming "Golden Delicious,’ due Feb. 19. The tour kicks off nearly a month and a half of touring March 12 in Northampton, MA, and the 29-city outing will take him and his backing band through the latter half […]

Aerosmith will be featured in the new Guitar Hero game. The game is released this summer and will include 30 Aerosmith songs. Activision Inc who make the game told Billboard that: “It’s just a completely new way to interact with this music and with Aerosmith, and we think there’s more opportunity to do that in […]

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss teamed up to record the incredible Raising Sand last year. Now the two legendary artists are taking the show on the road. CMT’s Crossroads series recently debuted a new episode featuring Rob and Ali performing songs from their album, a few Led Zep classics and a Union Station song. You […]

Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers kicked off a tour earlier this week in support of their latest effort Brighter Than Creations Dark – their first album after the departure of Jason Isbell. The jaunt will have them working West to East over the next couple of months with two fantastic openers in tow. The first half […]

Shot over the course of 11 years Dream Of Life is a brand new documentary about “Punk’s Poet Laureate” Patti Smith. The film provides an intimate portrait into the singer/poet/artist’s life. While there is part of me that is frightened by the prospect of seeing her face plastered on the big screen, this movie looks […]

A few months ago The Who’s website started a rumor that Pete Townshend would be performing in some capacity at the upcoming Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton at MSG. The ever-reliable Where’s Eric website clues us in on Eric and Steve’s lineup, also stating strongly that Townshend will not appear at the Garden. I guess we’ll see who’s right in just a few short weeks.

Let’s end the week with a piping hot batch of links, fresh from the oven:

• Yoko Ono denies that she’s suing Lennon Murphy
• The Clash Live: Revolution Rock DVD hits stores on April 15
• Pitchfork shares photos from the Tibet House Benefit
• Anti-Live Nation forces continue to fight the good fight
• Comcast defends their right to screw over BitTorrent users
• Why have music magazine covers sucked lately?
• Yonder Mountain brings “prog-grass” to Athens
• Turn It Up turns us onto Powerhouse Sound
  

R.E.M. just released the Vincent Moon-directed video for their new single, Supernatural Superserious, and we kinda like the direction they seem to be taking on Accelerate. I first saw R.E.M. at MSG in 1988 (gold clap), so I love hearing the jingle-jangle of Peter Buck’s guitar, Mike Mills’ high harmonies and Michael Stipe’s straight forward lyrics. All of the sudden, I’m getting really excited to see the band at Langerado. Check out the video after the jump…