Conan O’Brien and Jack White are teaming up tomorrow at Third Man Records in Nashville. What exactly they’re pairing up to do is a mystery, but the Team Coco Blog assures
Zappa Plays Zappa – Paramount Theater, Denver, CO – 6/7/10
Frank Zappa once said, “It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.” He may not be wrong, but his prophecy didn’t come true Monday night in Denver as his son, Dweezil, played host to a theater of weirdos-turned-businessmen doing their best to remember the good old days; back then the idea of nostalgia hadn’t crossed and probably didn’t exist in their minds. Monday night the world did not end, and nobody was doing paperwork. Well, at least not in the Paramount.
[Photos by Brendan Flanagan]
The surprisingly normal Dweezil Zappa stood among a throng of ridiculously talented musicians as they dedicated a warm Colorado evening (and, seemingly, a good amount of their current lives) to recreating the music of Frank Zappa. It’s a daunting task, with the estimate of Zappa albums somewhere between 60 and 80 and a countless number of live performances to choose from, but each night the octet digs their heels into the linoleum and does a damn-near-perfect job of it.
As a dancer, Ben Thomas is no Rockette. But luckily that’s not his job. As a vocalist recreating the quizzical complexion of the elder Zappa’s singing, he is spot on with a talent for holding center stage. He’s also not a bad trumpet player, when the time is right. Alongside him is multi-instrumentalist Scheila Gonzalez, whose talent on keyboard, saxophone and flute is only over-shadowed by her diva-esque vocal range. While these two and Dweezil take the spotlight for the majority of the show, they could do nothing without the others. Pete Griffin on bass, guitarist Jamie Kime, drummer Joe Travers, keyboard and vocal extraordinaire Chris Norton and percussionist Billy Hulting were main reasons for multiple standing ovations throughout the night. READ ON for more of Jon’s take on Zappa Plays Zappa…
This week’s videos feature bands you should check out at Bonnaroo… With the scores of great late-night sets this year it might be easy to overlook the fact that that
Something about Mumford & Sons raises an air of curiosity. It’s not just the obvious question regarding the roots of the staunchly American brand of music with its firm roots in bluegrass & folk – despite emanating from four English lads – but there’s also the question of how they got so big, so fast? At face value, folks tend to credit their success to being a U.K. version of the Avett Brothers or sounding like a bluegrass Dave Matthews, but the more you dig in; it becomes evident that there is an intangible element in their friendship that serves as the tie that binds. There exists this natural chemistry that makes this band instantly likable, brothers from another mother.
By now, we’ve talked a lot about Mumford & Sons music around these parts, so in chatting with double bassist and vocalist, Ted Dwane, we focused this particular conversation around the dynamics of the bandmates’ relationships and their emphasis, first and foremost, on friendship.
“We met in a very strange way, through friends and other people’s music. In West London, there are a lot of singer/songwriters and we used to play all the time. Back then, Marcus was usually the bass player and I was usually the drummer. Eventually, we just wanted to play music that we wrote, so that led us to become friends before we were thrown into everything,” Ted explains. “The one thing we never let ourselves forget is that before anything else, we’re friends really. I’m so thankful we get along as well as we do. They are my best friends; we’re all each others’ best friends.”
READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with Mumford & Sons…
Their names are Brooklyn, Nick, Austin, Connor and Will. Collectively they are known as Picture Me Broken. Hailing from the bay area, and with one hot EP already under their belts and a following other young bands could only wish for, they are about to be known as the next big thing in "hardpopternative-core.". With a new record deal with Megaforce Records, a new album called Wide Awake coming out in July, and some of the best sounding vocals you’ve heard in a very long time, PMB are ready for the big time.
The '59 Sound, Gaslight Anthem's 2008 release, got a lot of comparisons to Springsteen. That was fair enough as there is no doubt that the band's sound was influenced by the godfather of their home state's rock and roll scene. However, what seemed to get lost in those comparisons, was that weren't simply Springsteen imitators even as his mark on them was clearly heard.
Before STS9 announced the first Axe The Cables show last December the last thing you’d expect from that band was an acoustic performance.
We’re talking about a group that has continually integrated more electronic aspects into its music with each passing year of the last decade. Yet, that first Axe The Cables show was so good and well-received by the fanbase that STS9 re-mixed and re-mastered material from that night to create the Axe The Cables album which comes out on June 29 via 1320 Records.
There’s also HD video footage of the first Axe The Cables show that STS9 is working with iClips to release. The jamtronica act also has two upcoming Axe The Cables shows on the docket – August 11th at the Gramercy Theatre in NYC and August 22nd at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. READ ON for a full list of STS9 Summer Tour dates…
In June 2000, Phish played their only headlining tour through Japan. A few dozen American travelers joined several hundred newly initiated Japanese phans on a phenomenal seven-night run of intimate venues, resulting in a series of fiery shows, unique cultural exchanges and the birth of the Japanese Meatstick. Longtime fan Stanch had been living and teaching English in Japan for a year when Phish arrived. In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the tour, and with help from a detailed journal and inputs from his traveling companions, he recounts his memories of the tour’s first four shows.
06/09/00 On Air East, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Nestled in the heart of Tokyo, Shibuya personifies Japan’s neon lit glow and lightning-speed pace, and is the heart of its vibrant youth culture. It is literally a place where you are apt to see just about anything on its streets – from magic mushroom vendors to transgendered vampire unicyclists, but even still, I was not possibly ready for what we encountered as we turned up the alley toward one of Tokyo’s hippest small music venues. Moving closer, we saw what you do outside every Phish show in America – fans, scalpers and vendors swarming outside the club, buying and selling wares and tickets, and reuniting with friends. But that is where the similarities ended.
[Photo via FrankZappa.org]
Approaching from the rear, I heard what I thought was Phish playing on a stereo. But then I realized – no, that was live: Phish was still soundchecking, and the doors at the back the venue were open, with music spilling out into the boiling summer afternoon. As I advanced, I saw no security: who has heavy security at a club that holds 500 people? While most fans milled around in the front of the club or waited for the doors to open, a handful twirled and danced in the back outside the wide-open double doors, getting a head start to the evening. Next to them stood Phish LD Chris Kuroda. I thought, why not?
I introduced myself and asked Chris about their experience so far. He very graciously filled me in: the band had been in town for a few days and was having a great time. He mentioned how outrageously expensive it was to lug Phish’s equipment across the globe, and even said the band was blown away at what a hard ticket that night’s show had turned out to be. Even more, they were really excited that most of the crowd seemed to be Japanese. He then motioned over to a Japanese language Phish promotional poster and said he wished he knew what it all said.
READ ON for more from Stanch about Phishing in Japan…
Yesterday, the handsome devil who runs YEMblog posted the definitive recording of the first Phish From The Archives broadcast that was aired on Radio Bonnaroo last summer. Today, as promised, comes FLACs, MP3s and AAC files of the second Phish From The Archives broadcast that aired on June 14, 2009, in the same quality as the file set that was posted yesterday.
The second Bonnaroo From The Archives broadcast featured a wealth of gems that span from 1985 to 1999 including an exploratory version of 2001 from September 29, 1999, a rare Mike Gordon demo from 1993 and a wild Run Like An Antelope from October 24, 1995. All tracks come from a source marked as “Pre-FM” meaning that the broadcast was recorded before the signal went out over the air as opposed to the webcast-rips that previously circulated. In other words, it doesn’t get higher quality than these files.
- More Uncirculated Phish: Another SBD Surfaces
- Previously on YEMblog: ‘Roo From The Archives #1
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2001.mp3]
2001 – 09/29/1999 @ The Pyramid, Memphis, TN
READ ON for the tracklist of this outstanding recording and for a poll of which tunes you’d like to see Phish bust out this summmer…
Last week we alerted our readers about a post on MGMT’s website detailing the band’s new taping policy which established a Taper’s Section and opened up the recording of MGMT
