2008

In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think.

The Station

Website / MySpace

On heavy Midwest touring behind the May release of their accurately named album, Speed of Sound, and nine years of tour experience, the Station is finally filling up with passengers ready to hop on the bandwagon (I should get fired for that one). While the band cites Rush, late-era Coltrane, and Skerik as influences, compositionally it’s impossible to ignore the Umphrey’s similarities as they meld intricate melodies and rhythms with touches of metal, funk and reggae. Still, The Station is quick to refute that they sound like pre-existing connotations of the jamband and rightfully so, as they defy categorization. The only deserving categorization that came to mind when listening to their Summer Camp set a couple months ago was music lovers with incredible technical ability and a mean case of ADHD.

Podcast #17: RR1 > Ms Ds jam, Revolving Door, Illuminator, The Plain Truth (Karl Denson Trio), Drink From My Well part 2, Questions, Halfway There [74:53]

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE STATION’S PODCAST 17

READ ON to read about Brett Ratliff (no, not that Brett Ratliff)…

After a few years of litigation Sony, BMG Music Entertainment, BMG Music, Arista Records, Santana and the Doors have finally settled with Wolfgang’s Vault. While this settlement doesn’t include the

Last night, Radiohead treated the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl to a terrific cover of Neil Young’s Tell Me Why. The rhythm section sat this one out as it was

EOTO, DJ Logic and a new supergroup, named Agents of Mayhem, made up of Steve Molitz (Phil Lesh & Friends, Particle), Jon Gutwillig (the Disco Biscuits), Michael Travis and Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident, EOTO) and DJ Logic (MMW) performed together on Sunday night at an event called Steal This Ticket. Mike Sherwood attended the gig and filed this report…

Wow! What an awesome time was had down at the Spiegeltent in South Street Seaport on Sunday night. First off, the venue was really cool. Anybody who has the chance to check out Spiegelworld when it comes to your town should definitely go. We entered to find a well-decorated big top tent with a tremendous light rig all around the venue. The music was phenomenal. The night started a little later than anticipated with doors opening almost a full hour and a half later than we were told. Oh well, I knew this was going to be a late night anyway.

DJ Logic warmed things up with about 25 minutes of scratching and house stuff before Michael Travis and Jason Hann joined him onstage. EOTO locked into a quick groove with him before taking over on their own for about 30-45 minutes. If trance is your thing then EOTO should be right up your alley. Even if it isn’t, there is no denying how much fun those two guys are having with this project. There were lots of infectious and danceable grooves from EOTO with some nice peaks to their jams.

Once Barber, Molitz, and Logic took the stage it was on like Donkey Kong. The Agents of Mayhem set was a long exercise in tension/release-untz jamming and was well received by the crowd. There were moments that were jaw dropping. Sadly there were no tapers (although I’d give my left nut to hear a SBD of this, leaked or otherwise). One of the highlights of the night was Barber getting “arrested.” Basically, the production team staged a faux arrest of Barber in the middle of an intense jam. An actual NYPD cop came on stage and demanded Barber’s guitar. He defiantly started to rip in the guys face (the rest of the band was peaking at this point too). After “finally” relinquishing his Becker, Barber gets cuffed and dragged offstage. A bunch of Bisco kids FREAK! Molitz runs around and starts talking to the crowd and telling Trav, Jason, and Logic “Keep playing, we’re not done.” A dark jam ensues prompting the crowd to chant “fuck the police.”

READ ON for more of Mike’s Spiegeltent review…

Hidden on the outskirts of town is a nether region, a place where mystery resides, a location so obscure and strange that one is tempted to call it the Twilight Zone. The area is tucked away within a seedy section of town best left unexplored. However, cars race by with their excited cinematic travelers, eager to drive through the Gates of Movie Hell. We dig a little deeper into the shadows, ponder the sights, ingest the sounds, eat a pizza slice or two, gulp a soda, catch some clips, and find that this isn’t exactly a foreign place at all, but instead, a friendly little gathering place we call the Rock ‘n’ Roll Drive-In.

Yes, an intriguing location, indeed, that is marked with an ‘X’ on our Flick map, this Drive-In has four screens with multiple features playing every night. At its central hub is a circular snack bar/munchies haven/hang out place for the ADD-addled, socially-minded sections of the crowd, and a key chill out locale for cats after a long week of dodging people, assignments, phone calls, text messages, and random responsibilities.

As usual, with most of these lingering outdoor joints, the double bills feature a weird blend, a marriage of celluloid opposites, but it is the music blaring from within the round snack bar that sets the right mood. It is someone’s mixed tape, a burned CD of favorites that veers from Elvis to Little Richard to the Clash, from the Ramones to Nirvana, from Neil Young to Wilco that nails the point home. Guitars, vocals and drums slash through the air, blended into a seamless noisey whole as Nachos, popcorn, Snickers, and ice cream are purchased and devoured while gazing at walls containing old movie posters—Night of the Living Dead rests in a sacred spot next to PHISH – IT, Rust Never Sleeps next to a Phantasm poster, and Pan’s Labyrinth is next to U2-3D imagery. Old school horror is associated with rock music, and that’s alright, mama, that’s alright with me. READ ON for more of this week’s Hidden Flick…

As the summer days draw to a close, the night air acquires a slight chill and the afternoon light takes on that certain hue. It’s time for the third, and