Punk rock reggae trio STATE RADIO have announced an early 2009 US tour that kicks off on January 14 in Tucson, AZ and wraps on February 21 in Providence, RI.
Do records even matter anymore? The whole concept of listening to an album from beginning to end – a continuous journey ala Dark Side of the Moon or London Calling? Yup, despite the decline in physical sales and the current climate – both brick and mortar and digital – for some the album is still an art-form to be fully digested, and 2008 had a ton of main courses. It’s always easier to hear a few seconds of a track on MySpace or download a few tracks from iTunes, but these records deserve to be listened to from beginning to end – one, two, three or dozens of times.
Rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued British band Coldplay, accusing the Grammy-nominated stars of plagiarizing one of his songs.Satriani’s copyright infringement suit, filed yesterday (Dec. 4) in Los Angeles federal
We’ve reached December which means it’s time for every website, blog and music fan to start putting together their best of lists including us. Each week in December, I’ll present a new B List featuring my favorites of the year. Here’s a list of my ten favorite live archival releases of 2008…
10. Widespread Panic – Carbondale 2000
Release Date – 06/10/2008
Highlights – Jack, Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Chilly Water
The Skinny – Widespread Panic finally opens up their vault to release a fantastic show featuring the late Mikey Houser.
Where You Can Sample This Disc – Imeem
READ ON for the Top Nine Live Archival Releases of 2008 featuring albums from Ween, Frank Zappa, The Clash, Neil Young and much more…
This could be my favorite viral video of the month… [youtube]fXFfcubPYEE[/youtube] [Directed by Simon Owens, HT – MBV]
Today marks the anniversary of Frank Zappa’s death in 1993 and the music industry hasn’t been the same since. We would love to hear what Frank would’ve thought about Napster
We are a couple of days late on this, but we wanted to report on the passing of music and civil rights legend Odetta, of heart disease at age 77.
Words: Carla Danca
Photos: Jeremy Gordon
This past Saturday night in New York City, two of Philadelphia’s finest jamtronica bands, Lotus and Telepath, held court at the sold out Fillmore NYC at Irving Plaza. With dozens of young fans (16+ show) milling about looking for extras Telepath got the night off to a blazing start.
The three piece keyboard, bass, and drums mixed in music and beats from India and Africa, packing the floor early with the faithful eager to celebrate the holidays. The band ran through an upbeat 45 minute set, which included a Jingle Bell Rock tease and a callout to those dressed in Santa outfits and glow charms. A few in the crowd even noticed Mike Rempel of Lotus joining in and playing his unplugged guitar just off stage, no wonder as he and band mate Chuck Morris had sat in the night before in Pittsburgh.
Finally it was Lotus’s turn to take the stage. After road testing their newest material in Boston, St Louis, Denver, San Francisco, New Orleans and more than a dozen other cities and over 40+ shows, the band showed what a difference a few months can make. Kicking off with the ever-evolving fan favorite Bellweather, Lotus interspersed new tunes with old and turned the main floor into a tightly packed sweatbox of delirious fans. The second set highlights included Age of Inexperience, Shimmer & Out, and of course the encore, Hammerstrike, which ended with Jesse Miller grabbing his keyboard and thrusting it upward in delight. READ ON for more Lotus goodness…
Want a group that knows how to create big, luscious melodies but that can still rock out? Look no further than Arizona.
In what’s become an annual tradition, quintessential Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra returned to the Nokia Theater in New York City on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to help burn off the Thanksgiving Turkey doldrums than with a recreation of the epic Red Rocks ’78 two-night stand. The group was joined by former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay for a number of tunes each evening adding to the fun.
[All Photos by Adam Kaufman]
I hit the second night of the run where the band made one of my favorite Dead tapes of all-time come to life: July 8, 1978. After hearing that DSO had covered 7/7/1978 on Friday night we were all pretty sure we were in for 7/8/1978 which was confirmed when they started Bertha. The lovely Godchaux MacKay added some nice harmonies before leaving the stage at the end of the song. I expected Donna to sing with the band the whole night, but she sang on less than half of the songs. The majority featured Lisa Mackey, who normally sings Donna’s parts with DSO. It was pretty weird to see both real and recreated Donna tag in and out all evening, but it seemed to work for the band.
READ ON for more of Scotty’s review and Adam’s photos from the Nokia…
