2009

…a powerfully eerie sound erupts out of the darkness, and the magician twirls his hands up, down, and side to side, before waving his digits in a fast flurry through the low-lit air. The young sorcerer walks away from his own electronic creation, slashing his arms in a bird-like fashion, until the arcing cries transcend shape, slowly fading into the demonic distance, neither appearing nor disappearing by the physical touch of a human hand.

Jimmy Page is done with his bit of sinister audio, and returns to attacking his Les Paul. Robert Plant howls at the devil on his trail and yelps for a whole lotta love, while John Paul Jones and John Bonham beat the drums en route to Valhalla without any pretension towards mercy and restraint. This ain’t your daddy’s Chicago blues, mate. This is chaos.

My initial exposure to the strange surreal sounds of the theremin was on many trips to a little midnight movie by the world’s biggest band, Led Zeppelin. The Song Remains the Same was a sledge-hammered cranium-opener for my sane and sober teenaged mind. Flash forward a few years, and one comes across a documentary based on the inventor of the instrument and this week’s Hidden Flick, Theremin – An Electronic Odyssey.

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

April was a good month for Miles Davis, as a slew of bands dipped into the great band leader’s songbook. This week’s SM mix features some of the best there

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam are following up on a huge 2008 with what’s looking to be an even bigger 2009. They’ve enlisted Mr. Comes Alive himself, Peter Frampton,

Southern jammers Widespread Panic brought their Travelin’ Light touring festival  – remember that lineup? – to Berkeley, CA’s historic Greek Theatre in 1998, but the Athens-based band didn’t get to play