Archive: 2009

One of the best values on the festival circuit returns on May 8 & 9 as Awesometown: The Second Frame comes back to Snipes Farm in Morrisville, PA. Once again, the promoters of Awesometown have put together an eclectic lineup featuring up-and-coming jammers The Brew, Buzz Universe and The Macpodz along with some names we […]

Many music fans were shocked that the late LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band wasn’t featured in the montage featuring musicians who have passed away since last year’s Grammy Awards. Sunday’s “Encore” segment paid tribute to a slew of fine musicians, but there wasn’t any mention of the sax star and former Grammy winner […]

There aren’t too many God Street Wine videos on YouTube and the majority of ’em are from the mid ’90s. Yet we did come across one terrific clip from the band’s early days. One cover the band loved playing back then was Hendrix’s Hey Joe. Here’s a YouTube of the boys rocking out Hey Joe […]

There are few music venues in Portland as intimate as the KINK.FM Live Performance Lounge. Nestled in the center of a suburban looking office building, less than 200 yards from the I-405 and in the heart of downtown, it’s a dimly lit conference room turned music cave where wonderful things occur on a practically daily basis. The first half of February is no different. M. Ward, Fiction Family, Tyrone Wells, Lisa Hannigan, Ben Taylor and Todd Snider will spend the lunch hour with about 50 or 60 lucky listeners and staff members; playing a few songs, telling a few stories, signing autographs.

To long time listeners, and you know who you are, it is the ‘Golden Ticket’, a chance to share in the magic. You are THIS close to the performer, making a real connection and hearing a one of a kind performance. Acoustic, mostly, and delivered without the din of background noises that will no doubt compete for your aural attention later that night at whatever venue you’ll wind up going to see them at. Plus, the nice Performance Lounge sponsors throw in an energy drink to enjoy, which comes in handy to stave off the stomach rumblings of 50 to 60 people who have delayed lunch to see the show.

Two days ago, the Golden Ticket arrived via e-mail. “You’ve made the cut” it began. I was in. Tyrone Wells, who was appearing Thursday night at the Aladdin Theater, would be the special guest. I caught him the last time he came to town and remember being taken by his rapport with the audience. He interacted with the fans, told engaging stories, both as a set up to as well as the main thrust of his songs. I was really looking forward to it.

READ ON for more about A.J.’s experience at KINK-FM…

I love putting together my best live concert dvd lists each year and I’d be surprised if Wilco’s first-ever live DVD doesn’t grab a top spot. Ashes of American Flags hits indie record stores on April 18 in celebration of Record Store Day. The film was recorded at shows in New Orleans, Nashville, Tulsa, Mobile […]

It is rare to hear an album that’s different than most anything else one’s heard in quite some time. It is also rare to find one so different it both falls into that category and is enjoyable. Unfortunately, Deerhoof’s “Offend Maggie” fails to surpass that relatively high bar.  

When Justin Vernon speaks these days, people line up to listen at every corner. It wasn’t always this way for Vernon, who now records under the name Bon Iver. You know him because of his beautiful For Emma, Forever Ago, a record that everyone seemed to love because of its cold truth—that pain is somehow always around us.

The New Mastersounds are pleased to announce the US release of Plug & Play with special additions including remixes by JD73, former bassist from Morcheeba, DRAWBAR, and 2 bonus live tracks.  Preceded by already rave reviews and amazing live shows, the album released by One Note Records/Fontana, is due out on March 3rd, 2009 with […]

 Snoop Dogg today announced a first-of-its kind global deal that will bring the entertainers’ personality to television in a new variety talk show, “Dogg After Dark,” and his music to fans with a new album release and into the best-selling music video game Rock Band®. Premiering on Tuesday, February 17th at 9pm ET/PT on MTV, […]

Fischerspooner, the art pop performance project created and helmed by Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner, is back with their third album Entertainment.  Recorded over a two-year period with producer Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Sounds) and featuring Ann Magnuson (Bongwater), Gabriel Olegavich (Lady Sovereign, Spektrum) and Steven Stein (Double Dee & Steinski), the album marks another […]

Ryan Adams has released a new EP exclusively via US iTunes. The digital-only EP is called ‘Extra Cheese’ and features seven tracks, one of which has never before been released. The new track is ‘Hey There, Mrs. Lovely’, which Adams has played live since 1999 but had never recorded in the studio. The EP also […]

For those of you who thought we left rock operas behind in the ’70s, literary-folk-prog act The Decemberists will revive the bloated tradition with their latest release The Hazards of Love which hits stores on March 24. The Portland-based band will debut the 17-song suite – which tells the story of two star-crossed lovers and […]

In a story that will affect music-loving consumers for many years to come, ticketing giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster have confirmed their intention to merge. Both companies have come under scrutiny lately for their mishandling of Phish and Bruce Springsteen onsales, but no one really saw this merger coming before last Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal […]

[youtube]VNIEtwZ1OYQ[/youtube] Paul Simon & Willie Nelson – Graceland

[Originally Published: February 26, 2008, CLICK TO SEE WHO WON]

This week features six artists competing for the best cover of Stevie Wonder’s Boogie On Reggae Woman. This song comes to us off the 1974 record Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Here’s a look at the contenders:

Addison Groove Project: As you may recall, this now retired (but is any band ever really retired?) funk-fusion outfit from Boston has previously been mentioned on Hidden Track, by me, and about this song. AGP got a mention in my Top Ten Big Red sit-ins.

Legion Of Mary: LoM was Jerry Garcia’s side-band from 1974 to 1975 and featured Garcia, Merl Saunders (Keyboards, Vocals), John Kahn (bass), Martin Fierro (Saxophone, Flute) and Ron Tutt (Drums). This track comes to you from a ’74 show in Berkeley, Merl takes vocal duties, but Garcia’s guitar work starting around the 6 minute mark is definitely worth hearing. READ ON…

Mickey Rourke’s return to film glory in the title role of the The Wrestler comes at the same time as Laurence Fishburne’s new role on CSI, the long-running television hit. Both actors appeared under the tutelage of Francis Ford Coppola during a time in the early 1980s when the director was attempting to reinvigorate his mojo by filming S.E. Hinton’s teenaged rebel with a purpose novels. And Coppola was true to his cause as he experimented with style and tone poetry at a time when those virtues were being smothered by slasher flick and Reagan-era teen angst motifs.

“Loyalty is his only vice,” is one of my favorite film lines and it crops up about midway through this week’s Hidden Flick as we head into the second season of films that are off the beaten cinematic path with a look at the minor gem, Rumble Fish.

Filmed in black & white, Rumble Fish also stars Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Diana Scarwid and Nicolas Cage, Coppola’s nephew in one of his earliest roles. However, it is the weird and twisted appearances of Rourke, Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, and Tom Waits that add nuance and texture to what could have been a forgettable cheesy endeavor. Hopper is the alcoholic father who spouts historical references and odd sound bites to his beleaguered son, played by Dillon, and Fishburne, is sort of a guardian angel to the hapless lad, as well. Waits sinks his teeth into his role as an eccentric billiards hall owner, foreshadowing his 1992 bent romp as Renfield in Coppola’s Dracula.

READ ON for more on this week’s Hidden Flick – Rumble Fish…

Cat Power played the second of her two nearly-sold out gigs at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater on Saturday night. For almost two hours, vocalist Chan Marshall and the Dirty Delta Blues Band wove in and out of a cover-laden set and lulled the respectful crowd into a dream-like state.

While she played mostly other people’s music with a few originals sprinkled in, she put her own spin on each selection. The show moved at the pace of molasses but was enjoyable in is thickness. Marshall sounded, at times, like Janis Joplin if she weren’t allowed to scream. Often it was a little tough to pick Marshall’s voice out of the mix when the band played beyond hushed tones and her annunciation isn’t the best. But she can belt out a tune like few others and while I never actually fell asleep, I certainly hovered in that space between awake and asleep for a good portion of the night until a slightly more upbeat – and I mean slightly – tune would snap me back to reality.

With the sparsest of lightning and no stage setup to speak of – you could see the heating vents on the back wall of the stage, Marshall spend so much time in the shadows she was reduced to a pair of white shoes and a silky voice for most of us in the Mezzanine.

But the show was streamlined with minimal time between songs and no banter between Marshall and the audience save for throwing some roses into the crowd as she took her final bow.

READ ON for more of Luke’s Cat Power @ The Apollo review…

When I was growing up, I used to love watching the Grammys each year. The event’s producers always got big names to show up and my taste in music was much more commercial at that young age. Over the past 10 years or so I still have watched the ceremonies, but they’ve gotten worse with […]

 Marco Benevento’s second studio release in less than a year comes on the heels of his critically acclaimed LP, Invisible Baby.  Me Not Me, a series of interpretive covers with three originals sprinkled in, is a natural extension of his last album, focused on layered, dissonant sound-sculpting, while beautiful piano leads carry the melody.  Featuring diverse artists such as My Morning Jacket, Deerhoof, Leonard Cohen, and Led Zeppelin, Benevento has incorporated some of his favorite songs into his own musical milieu. 

To pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain." Or, album title. Silversun Pickups’ sophomore LP, Swoon, will be released April 14 on Dangerbird Records. The L.A. quartet has emerged from the depths of recording studios and is ready to flaunt their new material, including […]