2008 has been a great year for Phish archival releases and the year was capped off by last week’s surprise announcement that the legendary show from December 30, 1997 at
Jack Johnson and an assortment of musicians on his Brushfire Records roster pitched in to create a debut holiday album called This Warm December.
On the compilation, Money Mark contributes a quirky track called Stuck at the Airport. Mark is probably best known as the Beastie Boys’ longtime keyboardist. Aside from his contributions to the Beasties, he also tours and collaborates with Jack Johnson, and has released a number of impressive solo albums. Mark’s original material is filled with original and catchy tunes and a unique sound that’s tough to stick a label on. Money Mark shares his thoughts below about electric gingerbread guitars, Rudolph the stoned reindeer, and yummy apple cider…
Jack Spilberg: What do you want for Christmas?
Money Mark: I want a full size gingerbread Fender Telecaster guitar with a red licorice whammy bar- yummy!
JS: What’s better, naughty or nice?
MM: Ever heard of WWBD? “What Would Belushi Do?”
JS: Which do you prefer, real or fake Christmas trees?
MM: Fake aluminum Christmas trees mounted upside down on the ceiling- ha ha!
READ ON for more of Jack’s interview with Brushfire’s Money Mark…
Year after year, it is tough to top KINK.FM’s holiday benefit concert. Proving their station’s motto, “True To the Music”, the KINK staff outdid themselves once again. Christmas spirit, a kick ass silent auction and four headliners on the same bill, this yearly extravaganza is truly the show to see in Portland.
Start with the silent auction. Hundreds of items that run the gamut from a hand picked, 20 CD pack of KINK.FM artists to an electric guitar signed by John Mellencamp. Not your cup of tea? Spa treatments, autographed and framed concert posters, drum sticks, symphony tickets, hotel and resort stays. You get the picture. All done with great class and benefiting the Oregon Food Bank. This year’s take: over $23,000.00!!!
First up on the stage, the Bay Area’s Matt Nathanson. My first time seeing him, I was taken by his stage presence. Nathanson has an easy stage presence, relaxed and in control. Tossing one liners to the crowd while checking his tuning, he set up songs with phrases like, “This one is NOT about sex, it’s about ice cream”. He related a story about ‘Poop knocking at the Atlanta airport’ to introduce his wonderfully romantic song (up till I heard his explanation) song, Still.
READ ON for more from KINK-FM’s Holiday Benefit Concert…
Alone II isn't the best release Cuomo has ever put out. Nor does it offer the best songs he's ever written. But for someone who has one of the strangest and notoriously guarded history in rock, it's exciting that he has become so open with his past. I only hope that Alone III isn't that far off.
If you’ve been paying attention to the Best Of lists that have been rolling out these last couple of weeks the one album that seems to be floating near the
Jack Johnson and an assortment of musicians on his Brushfire Records roster pitched in to create a debut holiday album called This Warm December.
One highlight of the holiday compilation is Mason Jennings’ interesting acoustic take on Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. With his original acoustic folk, rock, and country-influenced sound, and intellectually stimulating lyrics, Jennings has successfully cultivated an incredibly loyal base of dedicated and passionate fans over the course of his musical career. Below, Mason shares his thoughts about the holiday season.
Jack Spilberg: What’s better, naughty or nice?
Mason Jennings: I’ll take Nifty. Or Knopfler. Or Knuckley. Or Nascar.
JS: Which do you prefer, real or fake Christmas trees?
MJ: If you believe it is real, it’s real. I like our real tree, same one we’ve had for 10 years.
JS: Who personifies Scrooge the most in the world today?
MJ: I would have to say I do, at least the part about him being a man and changing his ways
READ ON for more of Jack’s interview with Mason Jennings…
The Dave Matthews Band continues to do well when included in Cover Wars as they have walked away the winner of last week’s edition when we looked at covers of Burning Down The House. DMB also announced their initial tour dates for 2009 yesterday to promote a new studio release. The tour begins at Madison Square Garden on April 14, which is also the release date of the as-of-now untitled album.
Moving on to this week’s edition, we’ve got the last track on The Beatles’ 1967 release, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
As always, be sure to register/login to IMEEM before starting the playlist below to ensure you listen to full-length clips.
READ ON for the tale of the tape on this week’s contestants…
As we speculated two weeks ago, Rolling Stone’s sources tell the mag that Phish will headline two nights of Bonnaroo 2009 with Bruce Springsteen set to close the festival on
We were looking forward to checking out the Gene Ween Band tour on Thursday night at the Highline Ballroom, but that show and the other remaining shows have been canceled
Looks like the art of the cover song may not just be a jamband thing anymore. Come this Valentine’s Day, lo-fi indie rockers Times New Viking will honor the Velvet
