Archive: 2008

We recently came across a brilliant blog post from an American Jam Fan current living in Beijing comparing that city to the lot scene at a Dead / Phish concert. We asked Sasha of Movin’ On Up, to the (Far) East Side if we could share it with our readers and he kindly obliged…

“1 For $3, 2 For $5”

Riding the 656 bus from WuDaoKou across the city to Wang Jing, cramped in what is easily the most uncomfortable seat on the bus (seriously, epic fail here – the row of seats in front of mine had excessive leg room, while I had zero – T.I.C.), I gazed out the window at the sun, attempting to peek through the haze of pollution that dominates the Beijing sky, shining down on a gargantuan statue of Mao. There are a lot of statues of Mao in China. I mean, A LOT of fucking statues. He is everywhere. I’m actually pretty sure that Mao invented the statue. He invented everything. Al Gore did not invent the internet; he simply stumbled upon some old notes of the Chairman’s that he never had time to attend to.

Today is a rare day for me in Beijing. Today, I wish I was somewhere else. Of course, there are the occasional longings for home (notably the family, friends, food, beers, and bands that I associate with home), but since the moment I arrived here back in August, I have not had a severe longing to be elsewhere on this lovely planet Earth. However, today, there happens to be something special going on in another location – Jamaica, mon. Today, a couple of bands, along with 800 crazy people who enjoy their music, are kicking off the sequel to the best music festival ever (I’m sure Woodstock was cool and all, but I will take Caribbean Holidaze any day). Sadly, due to my proximity to the location of said festival, my lack of vacation days, and my lack of student loans to pay for the trip (again), I am sitting this one out.

READ ON for a comparison of life in Communist China and a Phish festival…

McLovins – 12/13/2008 DAUD [FLAC, STREAM, MP3] If you’ve browsed the message boards at Phantasy Tour for any period of time, you’ve probably noticed that the kidz on that board don’t agree on anything. That is until someone posted a video of a band of youngsters called McLovins tearing up Phish’s complex epic, You Enjoy […]

Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffett appear in FM, a movie made in 1978 giving a behind-the-scenes look at a radio station. Alex Karras, Webster’s father, stars in the film but Martin Mull steals the show as a spaced-out DJ. Monday [all times Eastern]: MAD TV: Earth, Wind and Fire [Comedy Central 3:30PM] Tonight Show w/ […]

This week’s Stormy Monday is a pair of long tracks from Hall of Famer Neil Young. Back in 2003 Neil and Crazy Horse were on tour playing only Greendale in its entirety, but there were two gigs that bucked the trend – one of which was the headlining set at Bonnaroo. The opener was a […]

Our jaws dropped to the floor after looking at the killer setlists from this weekend’s 20th Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Asheville, NC. From the Good Times, Bad Times featuring Ben Harper’s Relentless7 and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones to the Allman Brothers Band’s Dreams with Karl Denson to the When Something Is Wrong With My Baby sung by Warren and Joan Osborne, this year’s installment looks absolutely insane.

[Photo by Paul Balicky – Asheville Citizen Times]

READ ON to find out what went down from Thursday to Saturday…

BLUE RODEO has released an exquisite DVD/CD documentary, BLUE ROAD just in time for Christmas, which gives their fans a rare look behind the curtain of one of Canada’s favorite musical exports.  BLUE ROAD is captivating and entertaining, revealing unguarded moments as the band rehearses and jams on a number of unexpected cover songs like “Are […]

Just as with albums, 2008 wasn’t a bang up year for concert DVDs. Sure, there were plenty of good ones, but nothing that was mind blowing. Last year’s list featured plenty of multi-disc sets including Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s epic documentary/concert film Runnin’ Down A Dream, the amazing full-blown release of Nirvana’s Unplugged and AC/DC’s exhaustive Plug Me In box set, but this year we’ve got a bunch of single DVDs.  Let’s take a gander our list of the Best Concert DVDs of 2008…

No grand theme for Mix Tape this week, but this one is inspired by a feature that I used to be a fan of when my friend was writing for Best Week Ever’s blog. The basic gist is to hit the “shuffle songs” button on your iPod and see what it spits out and post […]

Have you ever wondered just how to categorize bands like Okkervil River, The Hold Steady and M. Ward? Thanks to the fine folks at NPR we now have a new sub-genre for our music labeling pleasure with the introduction of the phrase – Smart Rock – into our lexicon. Smart Rock is defined as “music […]

As the holiday concert season kicks into full gear with this weekend’s Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Asheville, we’ll be celebrating next week with a special feature. HT contributor Jack Spilberg spoke with members of the Brushfire Records family about what the holiday season means to them. G. Love, Mason Jennings, Money Mark, Zach Gill […]

This weekend New Zealand’s Finnest, Crowded House, rocks a set mixed with old favorites and recent gems on a repeat airing of Austin City Limits. If the broadcast’s closing trifecta of Distant Sun, Locked Out and Don’t Dream It’s Over doesn’t convert you to the House of Finn nothing will. Friday [all times Eastern]: Live […]

Just as with albums, 2008 wasn’t a bang up year for concert DVDs. Sure, there were plenty of good ones, but nothing that was mind blowing. Last year’s list featured plenty of multi-disc sets including Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s epic documentary/concert film Runnin’ Down A Dream, the amazing full-blown release of Nirvana’s Unplugged and AC/DC’s exhaustive Plug Me In box set, but this year we’ve got a bunch of single DVDs.

Now, I haven’t seen every concert film released this year, which makes it a little tough. I made a brief list at the bottom of films I haven’t seen that should probably be on the list, but I just stuck to what I saw and liked. Let’s take a gander our list of the Best Concert DVDs of 2008…

10. The Police – Certifiable

While The Police’s performance on this DVD recorded in Buenos Aires is quite good, this release is all about the bonus material. Drummer Stewart Copeland’s son Jordan put together a fantastic 50-minute feature called Better Than Therapy which chronicles the band’s reunion.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRh-yX4o98c

READ ON for the top nine Best Concert DVDs of 2008 including films featuring the Rolling Stones, Rush, Phish and more…

Animal Collective’s 9th full-length album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, will be released early on deluxe 2xLP 180-gram gatefold vinyl with full album download card (WAV or MP3) January 6th 2009, on Domino Records in North America.  The CD & digital release date will remain January 20th (Jan. 12 UK/Europe). To coincide with the early vinyl release […]

Continuing their tradition of celebrating the New Year in the states, The New Mastersounds will be making a few stops before heading to Jamcruise. The band will start by playing the official Umphrey’s McGee after party at the Double Door in Chicago, IL on 12/30. Keeping things funky NMS will ring in the New Year […]

So when Young came dancing across Lake Michigan to perform at Allstate Arena in Chicago, once again, he had a different bag of tricks. This time, it came packed with hit after hit: an electric and acoustic dream on a snowy and frigid evening.

ATO Records is excited to announce the release of Ben Kweller’s new record on February 3, 2009. The album is his fourth full-length and is called Changing Horses. It was produced by Kweller and recorded mostly in Austin, TX, where he and his family recently re-located. The title is meaningful as it represents a sea […]

Alex Borsody shares his thoughts and photos from Tuesday night…

The Lee Boys’ performance at Sullivan Hall came the night after a knockout performance on Conan, a huge step for any band’s career. Particularly for Miami’s Lee Boys, who are not as well known outside of the south.

Large southern festivals such as Bonnaroo, Langerado and Wakarusa helped launch the band into the spotlight with live music fans, but outside of this community the band still remains relatively unknown. The Lee Boys have the originality and musical potential to make it to the next level and with a little luck and persistence they can make it happen.

Sullivan Hall could be considered one of New York City’s last true bohemian concert halls, regularly featuring some of the best and biggest names in improvisational rock. The dimly lit venue was occupied by only 100+ people or so, a small turnout for this band who I have seen before in their home state of Florida and at the festivals mentioned above. The fact that it was a Tuesday night could account for the relatively low turn out, something the majority of bands encounter during a tour. One thing is for sure, that between this show and the Conan performance, this New York run is going to win over many new fans.

READ ON for more of Alex’s review of Lee Boys @ Sullivan Hall…

For such a new phenomenon Viral Videos seemed to hit a plateau in 2007. I guess after Dick In A Box, there wasn’t anywhere to go but down. Yet, all sorts of internet smashes came to life in 2008. Videogum guides us through LOLtown with this fantastic compilation of the best viral videos of 2008… […]

We’ve reached the most magical times of year — nope, not the holidays — the wind down of the football season. With fantasy football playoffs upon us AND my Detroit Lions on the verge of cementing their place in history as the worst team of all time with an 0-16 season, it’s time to talk football, kinda.

As you probably read on December 9, our innkeeper Scotty B, highlighted the reunion on what he considers the greatest jam ever, the famed 12/9/95 Albany YEM. While I too love this jam, I do not necessarily do not think it is the best YEM out there. Instead, I favor the 12/31/93 Centrum rendition. Hence, it’s time for these to YEMs to square off in a head-to-head tale of the tape style battle. You already know which one I prefer, but I’ll actually try to take an honest look at them based on a variety of categories.

Click Here to Download Both Files

Shall we? Running Backs The running back debate actually inspired this whole football tale of the tape theme. A long time ago, I tried to sneak this in a Bust Outs column that the Centrum YEM could take down the Albany YEM. “Comparing those two jams are like comparing Barry Sanders to Jim Brown. Barry Sanders (Albany) was a sprightly runner who bounced and floated around, waiting for holes to open up, before patiently shifting directions on his way to the house. On the contrary, Jim Brown (Centrum) was just mean as hell and would just put his head down, run over anything in his way and head straight for pay dirt. They were both great, but it’s not really an apples to apples comparison.” The response — [Editor’s Note: Pfft!] In retrospect, as a longtime Lions fan, I think I would sooner sell my soul than renounce Barry Sanders as anything other than the greatest running back of all time.
Edge: Albany

READ ON for more of the debut edition of HT’s Tale Of The Tape…

The Gene Ween Band featuring Scott Metzger on guitar, “Diamond” Dave Dreiwitz  on bass and “Sir” Joe Russo on drums made their debut last night at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, NJ. The gents mixed random covers, old Ween songs and a number of quirky new originals Gener wrote. [youtube]lKaqF4y4XX8[/youtube] Let’s Get Divorced The quartet heads […]