2008

As legend has it, I was the guy behind the guy that got this daily music site on its feet, and was also a huge fan from day one. When Ace decided to step down earlier this year, I got the call up to the big leagues after toiling over my own indie-jam blog for something like two and a half years to share daily writing duties with Scotty and have enjoyed every minute of bringing my writing style and my music tastes to a much broader audience.

Over my eight-plus months, I’ve tried to introduce you guys to some music that bridges the gap between jam and indie without using the dreaded P word with Better Than Noodling. Since not everyone obsesses over reading blogs to find new music, this has been my place to showcase some bands that I really dig that may not be as obvious, but I think you should be listening to. When I initially wrote this piece on Vampire Weekend I had a hunch they were primed for a big year, but little did I know that the band would explode the way did going from playing the Bowery Ballroom to three sold out shows at the cavernous Terminal 5 in less than a year’s time. It certainly feels good to get it right, but it was more about the fact that I couldn’t get enough of them.

Before we get to it just wanted to thank Ace for letting me get my feet wet over here and digging my initial idea behind BtN and to Scotty who is the hardest working man in show business and unbelievably supportive, thanks gents for bringing me on. This is truly a labor of love, so we hope you enjoy reading HT as much as we enjoy writing it…

READ ON for Better Than Noodling – Vampire Weekend…

The geeking out piece – this was fun. For me this was a great couple of days in Hidden Track history because it displayed a bit of the community that we’ve got going on right here inside the blog. We have thousands of people viewing the site everyday but often times well thought-out posts go by without a comment posted.

This wasn’t one of them, readers were eager to supplement the piece with information. For example, I had no idea The Radiators had logged such a rigorous consistent touring schedule over the years, but reader “chicofishhead” was nice enough to paste in the data for us. UM’s archivist McL chimed in and asked for an additional graph that displayed all bands on the same line chart – and he got it.

As a follow-up, here’s the raw numbers on what is on the books for 2008. The Disco Biscuits will close out the year with 56 shows assuming Barber stays out of the air ducts at the Nokia Theater this December. moe. (the inspiration for the piece in the first place) ends the year with 78 shows after sneaking in one extra appearance at Farm Aid after moe.down. While it could be argued Phish played one show in 2008, I think the real question is: With three shows already in the books in 2009, will Phish play more or less shows in ’09 than they did in ’03 (which was 44). UM shows no signs of stopping, logging 113 shows this year. With their next studio album set for an early 2009 release, I’d say it’s likely they will either meet or exceed this number next year.

READ ON for the original Geeking Out, We’ve Got Seven Line Graphs post…

For the two-year birthday bash of the HT, I’d like to just say thanks – thanks to Scotty, thanks to Ace, thanks to the Dude, and thanks to everyone else who contributes to and reads HT. I never really even knew what a blog was nor how much I enjoyed writing (or trying to at least), but I started up a silly sports blog with a good buddy couple years back, and truth be told, I thought we were starting a business. So to fast forward a couple years and find myself lucky enough to chip in on Hidden Track after having been a long time Glide Magazine reader, puts a big ass smile on my face on a regular basis.

I would like to say that Ace Cowboy is one of the best and funniest writers I know and I thank him for asking me to participate over here. Whatever he writes, I will read. Ace taught me some valuable lessons he never even knew he was teaching and he is a good buddy.

And did you ever wonder if Scotty’s personality comes across in his articles? Well, I’ve only known Scotty for a short time, but it is obvious he lives for this music. In fact, I think he is the biggest music lover I have ever known and he was born for Hidden Track. I can only dream of knowing as much as Scotty about music. I hope you all see it, because he works his ass off for you and he is a very talented and kind person.

So that’s my heartfelt “thanks for having me.” Having an outlet to spew out the ramblings of an overactive imagination like this post here, fills a creative void that honestly makes my life better.

READ ON for Rupert’s epic’r than epic Phishy Toy Story…

Given the daily volatility of the roller-coaster financial markets and the increasingly heated campaign-trail polemics, it would appear, looking back, that the events of October 16th, 2006 exhibit a level of painful dullness and ennui unseen since Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.

That particular pre-Halloween day in history is a global meh. The two most intriguing events I could find, in fact, were: “American and Russian scientists announce the discovery of a new chemical element with the atomic number 118, temporarily designated as Ununoctium” and “The government of Hong Kong will not appeal a court ruling striking down the territory’s sodomy law.” Huzzah for inter-territorial chemistry and South Chinese sodomy. Otherwise, nuthin’ doin’.

But on that nondescript morning, this superfluous exercise in inanity called Hidden Track first plastered its guttural verbiage on the world wide web. Someday, “The HT Inception” will make it onto Wikipedia. Exactly two years later, its dead-weight founder having jumped ship for fear of a stress-induced psychotic break, Elton John’s got a song about this here rag, and it involves “still” and “standing.” Only this blog isn’t just standing still — it’s flourishing beyond my loftiest expectations and wettest dreams. I started it as a farce; it’s now become a force.

When the Glide Folk and I conceived this project in a West Village bar (not a leather daddy establishment), we had agreed to something along the lines of two or three posts per week. The Prolific-As-Fuck Scotty B wouldn’t hear of it when I asked him to come along for the ride; no, he wanted us to go all in, throw the kitchen sink at everyone. We did, and soon enough this site featured four-post days and tons of copy. Scotty had always been the true driver, and under his leadership over the last nine months, he’s taken it to new heights. The redesign, the columns, the features, the music: It’s Evander Holyfield here — I’m talkin’ the real deal.

So “happy anniversary” to this inanimate creation, and “job well done” to Mr. Scotty Bizzle. Like your old neighborhood, you love to see things get better in your absence; I’m truly proud to watch HT transform into a legit source of news, debate and opinion.

And now I present you with my re-run of choice. Of all my favorite posts, I like this one best strictly because I’m trying to spread the phrase “Mariachi Metal.” That’ll be my Pat Riley “Threepeat.” Shit, now I owe Riley four cents.

READ ON for thoughts and pics and videos from an amazing night at Webster Hall with Mexico’s Rodrigo Y Gabriela…

Our favorite dynamic duo, Carla Danca (words) and Jeremy Gordon (images) headed to Moogfest on Monday night and filed this report…

This past Monday night in New York City, high above the Hammerstein Ballroom, an intimate celebration for took place. Now, while many of us are not aware of the back story or the influence of MOOG, if you check out the credits of many of your favorite artists you’ll probably find a MOOG synthesizer listed right by the top. It was a night filled with music to remember the late founder Bob Moog and his inventions which have furthered the sound of music and fueled the imaginations of countless musicians.

The night started with The Machine, a Pink Floyd tribute band giving us an intro of some of the sounds that can come out of this amazing instrument. Producing the signature dark, stormy and at times moodiness associated with many Floyd songs they got the night rolling with a great rendition of Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

When Prison Shank (Aron Magner, Joe Russo, Jamie Shields and Ryan Stasik) took the stage however, a whole new sound, mood and demeanor took over the stage including a surprise full set sit in by Jake Cinninger. While technically this was Prison Shank’s first night on stage together you could tell by the easy nods and signals being shot across the stage that these guys are far from strangers.

READ ON for more of Jeremy’s photos and Carla’s thoughts from Moogfest…

While there’s an overabundance of Dead clips from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, there isn’t much floating around from the band’s early free wheeling, acid-drenched days as a psychedelic rock

We’re back with another installment of the Writer’s Workshop. This month, we have the writer who is widely regarded as the greatest rock critic of all times, Lester Bangs. Lester Bangs draws comparison to that other famed Gonzo for living the life he wrote about. You might remember him as the character in Almost Famous played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Unlike the “I can fit you on the calendar” interview and research format of today, Bangs befriended his subjects, got to know them inside and out, and likely passed out on their couch.

Hard livin’, alongside such notable partakers as Lou Reed, Captain Beefheart and the Clash, cut Bangs’ life short at the tender age of 33 – a true rock star. Thus, in order to include the wisdom of Lester Bangs here for the Writers Workshop, I’m piecing together this phony interview from a hilarious essay Bangs wrote entitled How to Be a Rock Critic, which is published in the back of the definitive Lester Bangs biography, Let It Blurt, by Jim DeRogatis.

Ryan Dembinsky: What would you say was the best part of the life as a successful rock writer?

Lester Bangs: Well, it almost certainly won’t get you laid. On the other side of the slug, though, are the benefits. The first big one is if you stay in this stuff long enough you’ll start to get free records in the mail, and if you persevere even longer you might wind up on the promotional mailing lists of every company in the nation. On Christmas you don’t have to buy anybody presents if you don’t want to: Just give your mother the new Barbra Streisand album Columbia sent you because Barbra’s trying to relate, your sister one of the three copies of the new Carole Kind that you got in the mail, your sister the Osmond’s double live LP you never opened because you’re too hip… all down the line, leaving you enough money saved to stay fucked-up on good whiskey over the holidays this year.

The final benefit (and for some people, the biggest) is that during most of these stages and at an increasingly casual level as time goes on, you’ll get to hobnob with the Stars. Backstage at concerts, in the dressing room drinking their wine, rapping occasionally with the famous, the talented, the rich, and the beautiful. Most of ‘em are just jerks like everybody else, and you probably won’t really get to meet any real Biggies very often since the record companies don’t need publicity on them so why should they inflict you on them, but you will become friends with a lot of Stars of the Future or at least also-rans.

READ ON for more of Rupert’s sorta-interview with Lester Bangs…

After Monday night’s seemingly successful Dead reunion, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh are teaming up for a New Year’s Eve concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Four years doesn’t seem like a huge chunk of time, but yesterday we saw exactly how much has changed since Phish last took the stage at Coventry. When members of