Archive: 2009

Hey everyone. I know it seems like I fell off the face of the earth. I am back now and hope to post as often as possible. I’ve decided to make my comeback posting a story about places I grew up eating in when I lived in West Orange, NJ as a kid.

Many of you have seen my posts extolling the virtues of both The Millburn Deli and Town Hall Deli sloppy joes. Recently I received a single picture from my old West Orange neighbor with a two word question with the picture: Guess where?

[Photo by Marc Millman]

Although I drew a blank on the name, I replied without hesitation “The bakery at the bottom of the hill on Main Street in West Orange.” He responded “the bakery, you mean THE bakery, Supreme!”

Photo by Marc Millman

READ ON for more of this week’s F4tF…

On their recently wrapped world tour, indie-rock supergroup Monsters Of Folk treated fans to three-hour, 30+ song shows mixing material from their self-titled debut with selections from the members various solo catalogs. The band recently released their first music video with the song they opened most nights with – Say Please… Monsters Of Folk – […]

Tune in to VH1 Classic on Sunday afternoon at 4PM for an airing of Paul McCartney’s concert in St. Petersburg from 2004. Macca mixes Beatles gems with Wings classics as well as a few newer tunes from his recent albums. Friday, December 4 [all times Eastern] Jimmy Kimmel: Band of Skulls [ABC Midnight] Jimmy Fallon: […]

Fans of Chad Smith's other endeavors, the funk/punk of Red Hot Chili Peppers and the generic hard rock of Chickenfoot, will find his Bombastic Meatbats project to be a surprise to say the least. It owes more to 70s fusion artists John McLaughlin and Herbie Hancock and jazz-oriented prog than it does to any mainstream rock influence.

After two years away, Editors are returning to the US for a long-awaited headlining North American tour this February in support of their highly anticipated new album In This Light And On This Evening. The album, which is out stateside via FADER Label January 19th 2010, debuted #1 on the charts the week of release […]

After finishing a US run with Neko Case, Deer Tick started a three week European tour last week – upon their return to the US on Dec. 13 the band will be entering the studio to put the finishing touches on its as-yet-untitled third album, which will be released in the first half of 2010.  […]

In a universe where the pulse is driven by a constant trance-fusion jam, The Disco Biscuits are renowned kings.  Native to Philadelphia, The Disco Biscuits wrapped up a psychedelic two night stand at the incredible Electric Factory on Saturday night.

All roads lead north for the band after the holiday, as Steve Kimock prepares for two New York performances in conjunction with Phish’s December run at Madison Square Garden.  Kimock has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving besides his underlining passion of continuously being able to make music with his eldest son.  Crazy Engine, which he set loose on the rails back in January 2009, is steaming ahead with a new found burst of creative chemistry and a new lineup alongside NOLA native ivory wrangler Melvin Seals.

Animal Collective, will debut their highly-anticipated film, entitled ODDSAC  at next year’s Sundance Film Festival, which runs from January 21-31 in Park City, Utah. The film, helmed by frequent Animal Collective video collaborator Danny Perez, is described by bandmember Avey Tare in an interview with Pitchfork –  "The whole thing cohesively doesn’t have one narrative; […]

Phish returns to Madison Square Garden for the second of three shows this evening. I’ll be sharing my commentary live from The Garden @YEMblog.

READ ON for the setlist from tonight’s show [via PhishNet]

Legend has it, one of the perks of writing for a blog is that you can speak in the fan’s voice. Well, today I’m taking that liberty to hide the objectivity under my Unabomber hoodie for a chat with a band that has rapidly grown into a personal favorite, Trampled By Turtles.

Behind the muscle of the its most recent pair of albums, the latter a nod to their hometown in Duluth and its precursor Trouble, Trampled By Turtles chipped out a niche for their band as modern string bellwether. With the their terrapin stampede ambushing listeners on songs like Ceiling Slide, The Darkness and the Light, Empire, Stranger, and Valley, they push the boundaries of acoustic music by incorporating diverse elements such as high energy bluegrass (“punkgrass” if you must), thoughtful narrative country, distinctive vocals, and squirrely chemistry.

With a massive Western US tour afoot and what sounds like it may be their best album yet coming in April, it looks like a good time to get these guys on the radar screen. Today, we catch up with guitarist and lead vocalist Dave Simonett to learn more about TxT.

Hidden Track: For starters, I wanted to say I was bummed to miss your last New York City show; ended up stuck at work late. I recall seeing that you were doing a panel discussion about the current state of bluegrass before the show. Could you share some of your thoughts on that topic here?

Dave Simonett: Actually, that didn’t end up happening. I do think bluegrass – and I use that term loosely here – is in an interesting place right now. There are a lot of people taking that old instrumentation and style and doing some innovative stuff with it. I feel like there are two camps here: the traditional bluegrass crowd, which tries to preserve the traditional catalog, etc. – sometimes to the point of musical militancy; and second, a group of musicians borrowing the style to create their own original music. This music is so easily accessible nowadays with the internet that even five guys as far away from Appalachia as Minnesota can get into it. READ ON for more…

Believe it or not, legendary singer-songwriters and avid activists Joni Mitchell and James Taylor were responsible for getting Greenpeace off the ground. Back in 1970, the duo played the Amchitka Benefit Concert to help raise $18,000 for the Don’t Make A Wave Committee (DMAW) to charter a boat named Greenpeace to protest the testing of […]

We’re not the only folks who are big fans of NYCTaper, as our favorite “taper blog” was named one of PC Magazine’s top 50 blogs of 2009. Our current favorite treat on the site is a recording of Dinosaur Jr. at Terminal 5 Here’s six more bootlegs to keep your iPod hummin… Bruce Springsteen: Greetings […]

Phish kept the bust outs comin’ last night at Madison Square Garden where they dropped their first cover of Frank Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia in over ten years. Other highlights included a tasty jam in Light and super-intense versions of Antelope and Wolfman’s. Let’s take a look at the Peaches… Phish – Peaches En Regalia […]

After a spectacular two-night stand in Albany, Phish returns to Madison Square Garden tonight for the first time since December 31, 2002. Our friend SuperDee will be tweeting about tonight’s show @YEMblog starting immediately. Other options for experiencing the concerts from home include Phishtwit and Hoodstream. We’ll have a full report tomorrow.

READ ON for the setlist once the show starts [via Phish.net]

For this edition of Track By Track, singer/songwriter/banjo player Danny Barnes shares a quick factoid about each track on his latest album, Pizza Box. Pizza Box is Danny’s first album on the ATO label and the release features guest spots by label mates Dave Matthews and Rashawn Ross.

Caveman

I read the bible a good bit and one day I realized that the human condition really hasn’t changed that much. We live a little longer and don’t work as hard, but we really are just animals, or guys with sticks and rocks, to a degree. This has my country funk thing and a delta blues construction. Dave Matthews provides the levity, that’s him grumbling and whooping.

Road

When i was young, Black Sabbath Vol. 4, Aerosmith Toys in the Attic, T. Rex Tanx, The Sex Pistols record and stuff like that were a huge influence on me. I love the way those records sounded and I searched for that feel in this song: like you are riding in a fast car…with the windows down on hot a summer night. The poetry in this song is an amalgam of several stories i’ve heard from friends that went to the joint. One of my friends said it was a relief to finally get away from the death trip and get off dope. It’s also about walking away from your own issues and moving metaphysically to a healthier place. Boyd Tinsley loaned me the guitar I used on this and the Marshall amp.

READ ON for a taste of Pizza Box and for more stories about each track…

Back on December 2, 1983, Phish played their first gig for an unappreciative crowd at the Harris-Millis Cafeteria on the campus of the University of Vermont. Tonight, the band celebrates their 26th anniversary at Madison Square Garden. A few intrepid fans on Phantasy Tour are asking fans to sing Happy Birthday to the band as […]

So far all but one of the fabulous Widespread Panic Archives releases have been from pristine multi-track recordings. Today, the band announced that they will start releasing two-track recordings with “warts and all” under the Porch Songs name at a quicker pace than the MT releases. WSP archivist Horace Moore explains further on the Archives […]

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

[Thanks to stober for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Brooklyn Bowl All Stars – Dear Mr. Fantasy
Date & Venue: 2009-11-28 Brooklyn Bowl, New York NY
Taper & Show Download: Dave Mallick

On November 28th, the Brooklyn Bowl hosted a care package assembly party and people were encouraged to show up with items to donate and/or cash donations for the troops overseas. The evening concluded with a performance from the Brooklyn Bowl All Stars, which featured members of Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, State Radio, Guster, and fun. The Brooklyn Bowl will be the scene of Phish after-shows the next three nights with a great lineup of Everyone Orchestra tonight and tomorrow, and Motion Potion on Friday.

READ ON for tracks from From Good Homes, Guitarness, Phish and WSP…

For those of you just tuning in to Dream Focused, we have been examining Umphrey’s McGee’s new style of jamming; a departure from the ADD driven metal mania and an exploration into a cohesive groove.

[Photo from 11/11 – Toronto by Tammy Wetzel]

This edition finds the boys at The Mesa Theater in Grand Junction, CO. Off the beaten path and deep into tour, the band was in excellent form for a packed house and wrote an amazing setlist. Not only was the song selection fantastic, the improvisation this night was some of the best all fall.

We start with a particularly groovy version of August. The song has what Umphreaks call an “implied” Jimmy Stewart. This Stew is patient and winds up being a fairly danceable section with a great Bayliss solo to end the tune.

The next section is a run of songs that start Set II. This is how you want a second set to open; old school segue with very fluid and tight improv sections. Front Porch > Resolution > Front Porch winds up going many different places with the utmost attention to the crowd’s energy.

READ ON for more Umphrey’s audio from Grand Junction…