2008

You may be well familiar with the bands featured in this section, but Some Dude from Hits from the Blog wants to ensure there’s No Jambandfan Left Behind…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but [insert random singer-songwriter’s name here] is the new Bob Dylan. I swear!

How many times have you seen or heard that weighty comparison thrown around for any number of wordy songsmiths? It’s a lofty and mostly unfair expectation to live up to, considering the profound impact on music of the former Mr. Robert Zimmerman. Who else could have come up with such nuggets like “Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of a mule” or “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken” and a) be taken seriously and b) have said lines dissected with a fine-toothed comb, or at the very least a giant Jewfro-pick.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some fine, fine singer-songwriters out there that at the very least are the next Gordon Lightfoot (Canada’s Bob Dylan – Anyone? Anyone? Is this thing on?). While it would be too easy to go with indie-rock pin-up boy Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes for those of you scoring at home), I’ll dig a little deeper. So read on after the jump with me and let’s take a look at someone else that I think deserves your attention: Elvis Perkins.

It may only be one night, but we’d like to welcome back the band that every blogger is required by law to fellate virtually because they’re that damn good. Off

The Mars Volta brought its rolling ball of wild energy, wicked improvisation and hyphenated names to New York’s newest big venue last night, and our main man Danfun headed to the west side for the band’s 150-minute nonstop spectacular.

Dan reports: “The show was fucking great. It had everything I look for in a show. It was loud, high energy and fucking heavy. The band played for close to 2.5 hours without stopping. These guys just blow me a way every time I see them. The setlist featured both old and new songs, but the theme of the night seemed to be that the band was sick of people saying ‘Why don’t you make your first two records over and over again?’ I can’t wait until they tour again great time.”

So read on after the jump for some more amazing photos from Danfun…

Pre-Ed Sullivan even: “Fifteen previously unreleased Beatles tracks recorded live in 1962 have been acquired by Fuego Entertainment, a production company which plans to release them in conjunction with the