Archive: 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 today by Phish. Besides the regular  ol’ CD and vinyl options, the band’s first release in five years will be available as part of the […]

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 wondering what would follow, if anything. They went out as quietly as they came in and singer Hope Sandoval made her own quiet entrance to […]

The Faces – Maggie May (Live 1973)

As a way of commemorating her thirty year recording career alt.country legend Lucinda Williams will celebrate by taking up residency at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza from October 3 – 5. Over the course of her special three-night stand Williams will play two set shows, with the first set drawing from the different […]

green Day performing in Washington DC.

Aussie Rocker Nic Cester from JET collapsed tonight on stage at Q The Music Club Live At Hard Rock Café as part of the worldwide promotional tour for the band’s upcoming CD, SHAKA ROCK.  The singer had been unwell all day but insisted on coming to the gig and not letting fans down. JET took to the stage at […]

Pearl Jam announced today that they will add five (5) additional shows to their previously announced North American tour dates. The band is now scheduled to perform in Vancouver, BC (September 25th), Portland, OR (September 26th) and Salt Lake City, UT (September 28th). They will also add two additional dates (October 27th and October 31st) […]

Sony Pictures has released details on what it plans to do with the Michael Jackson "This is It" rehearsal footage, and it will be available for viewing by Halloween. Sony expects to release the footage to theatres "around the world" Oct. 30. It is being produced with the full support of the Michael Jackson estate, […]

Elton John has recorded a piano part on the new Alice In Chains song ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ – a tribute record to their late lead singer Layne Staley, who died of an overdose in 2002. The song features on the band’s forthcoming album, also named ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, which is set […]

Built to Spill are set to embark on a headlining tour of the US, kicking off on August 20 in Troutdale, OR. The band are gearing up for the release of their seventh album ‘There Is No Enemy’, scheduled to be released on October 6. The record is the follow-up to 2006’s ‘You In Reverse’. […]

Last month, former Sleater-Kinney guitarist turned NPR blogger Carrie Brownstein dedicated a week’s worth of posts on Monitor Mix to discovering the music of Phish. Brownstein dove right into the deep end, and while at the end of the week she may not have fallen completely in love with the band, we have to commend […]

The 2009 installment of  Gathering of the Vibes at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT was marred by the death of a concert goer under suspicious circumstances – what many see as an outgrowth of the general sketchiness in the west camping and the rise of the nitrous trade at major festivals. [Photo by Jeremy Gordon] […]

Daptone artist Sharon Jones sang 100 Days 100 Nights along with the Dap-Kings on The Late Late Show this past Friday night. Here’s the clip… Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – 100 Days 100 Nights

VH1 Classic airs the Janis Joplin documentary JANIS on Tuesday at 9PM. The film looks at Joplin on and off stage and features footage from throughout her career, including the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where she shared the bill with a couple of decent musicians named Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix. Monday, August 10 (All times […]

Phish completed a splendid two-night stand at The Gorge last night by treating fans to a high-energy show that featured the debut performance of Middle of the Road from Kottke/Gordon’s Clone. Other highlights included the first performance of The Mango Song since the group got back together, a 20 minute plus Rock and Roll, Mike […]

Never let it be said that Medeski Martin and Wood repeat themselves but the trio's Radiolarians Series, in its ingenious concept of writing touring then recording all new material in quick succession, represents a willful effort to avoid the predictable.