February 2010

As Mike Gordon’s solo band prepares to take the road for an eight-show tour next week starting at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY; the bassist has announced the release of a blockbuster show from his last tour with the five-piece band, 10/03/2009 from the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, on CD and as a download (in both MP3 and FLAC formats) at LivePhish.com.

This two-disc set contains tight versions of Mike’s latest and greatest tunes (Can’t Stand Still, Spiral), gems from his first few albums (Beltless Buckler, Dig Further Down), a Phish tune (Meat) and a slew of well-played, re-invented covers (Cities, Takin’ It To The Street, 15 Step). Cactus remixed this release himself from the group’s multi-track recordings.

We’ve got five copies of the CD to giveaway to our listeners as well as a grand prize of a pair of tickets to a March show of your choice. To enter, simply leave a comment below with your name, age, hometown and a song that you think the Mike Gordon Band should cover. All entries must be received by 11:59PM on March 3. We will pick one entry at random to win the tickets and then five entries at random to win the CD. We’ll only accept one entry per person.

READ ON for the tracklist of Mike Gordon’s latest release…

Our friends at HeadCount have teamed up with untz masters the Disco Biscuits for a benefit concert and volunteer initiative called Bisco Power Mission with the goal of outfitting a

Well, we come to an end of our third season, with the fifteenth edition, 45th overall, in our little quest to find the hidden truths, the hidden myth, and, yes, the hidden pearls beneath the surface of the cinematic pile. And, damn straight, it’s gotten weird every once in a while, especially lately as films from out of nowhere appear to have gained weight, whereas others, deemed more significant, have faded in importance over time.

Ahhh…time, we’ve hit upon that word. Again. THAT word, buried below, like some lost remnant on an island where time has no meaning; and space, even less, just the two concepts engaged in immortal combat, as it were, with each other. Or, is it with themselves? Climb aboard as we venture out there in the final episode of the third season with a journey to this week’s Hidden Flick, and a film which occupies the second spot on my all-time favorite film list, hidden or otherwise, Andrei Tarkovski’s Solaris.

• Previous Season 3 Hidden Flicks: The Burmese Harp, Tsotsi, The Science of Sleep, Fire In The Sky, The Homecoming, Cabin Boy, To Live and Die in L.A., Eight Legged Freaks, Memories, Slap Shot, The Devil’s Brigade, Der Tunnel, Edge of the City, The Holy Mountain,

Culled from a science fiction novel written by Stanislaw Lem, Tarkovski made some significant changes to the original text, and added more metaphysical dimension to a story which already carried immense noodle-bending gravitas. To be sure, Tarkovski spent his entire career making films about the human condition, asking questions about what it all means to be here, who we are, and the chances of a truly freed soul, which, dichotomically, is crippled by a society which places constraints on expression and free speech, to find those answers. And, in the end, what does one do with them?

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

Guitar legends Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck kicked off their North American Tour on Thursday night at MSG. You wouldn’t expect these two guys to cover a song Henry Mancini

We’ve got big news about Big Red this morning, as the former 70 Volt Parade lead singer will induct Genesis into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in New