August 11, 2009

Back in June we kicked off a new monthly column on Hidden Track called Track By Track in which an artist shares a story or factoid about each track on their latest album. We didn’t post a Track By Track for July – we’re such slackers – so we’ve got two of ’em for you this week.

First up is an inside look at Creepfunk Crusade, the new release on Mason Jar Records from Blips alums Steez. Steez kicks off their CD release tour on Thursday at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago before moving eastward for a string of shows that ends with a performance at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC on August 21. Thursday also marks the release date for Creepfunk Crusade, which will be will be available at the gigs as well as all major internet distribution channels such as Amazon, iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Lala, Shockhound, Rhapsody and other major internet outlets.

Bassist Chris Sell takes us through every track on the Madison-based quintet’s first full-length album, Creepfunk Crusade. Take it away, Chris…

Trouser Snakes

Trouser Snakes kind of epitomizes what we call “Creepfunk,” a song with very deep funk pockets accentuated with a rather simple change that calls on both Latin and Arabic scales. This is highlighted at the end of the song with Andrzej Benkowski’s oboe playing and brings the song together with the endings’ “snake charmer” feel.

READ ON for more about Steez’s new album, Creepfunk Crusade from bassist Chris Sell and to sample Electric Mr. Boston from the disc…

Just a reminder that Wade “Wyllys” Wilby will be guest tweeting for @YEMblog tonight live from the Phish show at Chicago’s Toyota Park.

If you need a new piece of furniture for your house you should check out the large and in charge Joy box set – the details of which were announced

Welcome to another installment of Through The Years – the column in which we prepare a YouTube playlist featuring a video from each year of a band’s career. This week’s Through The Years includes clips of Kentucky-bred rockers My Morning Jacket in action spanning the years 2000 – 2009.

For the year 2000 we went with a live clip, but if you love MMJ you’ll love this four-part documentary about the band’s trip to Holland from the beginning of the millennium. Also of note, we didn’t come across any YouTubes from 2002 so we’ve got a studio clip that may or may not be from 2002 – a little improvisation if you will. Enough of the small talk…

READ ON for a full listing of the clips used in this playlist…

So, it’s been about a month since I returned from the yearly wild weekend that is Bonnaroo. Including travel and getting re-acclimated with the real world, that’s five fun filled days, which, as much as I try not to admit it, takes a toll on these old bones. Couple that with preparing for, and pulling off a Fourth Of July barbecue and fireworks extravaganza two weeks later all the while being heavily ‘medicated’ to the point of getting epidural injections in my spine and, well, you could say that I’ve been worn down pretty thin.

So I guess I was a little surprised to find my notes and photo card from when I saw moe. at the Crystal Ballroom way back on June 3rd. What a show it was, too. Another front row excursion on the famous floating dance floor of the Crystal. Surrounded by the self professed ‘moe.rons’, I was treated to a first class moe. show, with a great first set and an epic second set ending with the wonderfully underrated Waiting For The Punchline.

Seeing my notes about the show, however, got me to thinking: I had the rare opportunity of seeing this ingenious quintet three times within a couple of weeks. Not only that, but in three extremely different venues and from three very different perspectives. As I said, I was in the front row in the cozy confines of the Crystal Ballroom (Capacity; 1,000). At the Sonic stage at Bonnaroo they played about an hour’s worth of acoustic material, with my vantage point being the rear bumper of a green golf cart while the volunteers took their break in the front seats, enjoying the show. And then, two days later, at one in the morning, at This Tent at Bonnaroo, where I caught the tail end of an unworldly four and a half hour set (with a special guest intermissionist) that ended when the sun rose. Saturday morning.

READ ON for the rest of AJ’s take on catching moe. in June…

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Toronto 08-21-2002 [.zip file] When one of my favorite bands of all time, Mazzy Star, went their separate ways, it left their fans