Archive: 2010

Guitarist Marc Ribot appeals to an eclectic taste, producing music characterized in no small way by his long standing relationship with John Zorn and the Lower East Side freak jazz scene, and his Ceramic Dog post-punk noise band. Some of his best and most accessible work, however, is with comrades in that downtown universe, Medeski, […]

Over on the HeadCount blog, Phish: The Biography author Richard Gehr recently posted the highlights of his conversation with Phish: The Biography author Parke Puterbaugh. These fine writers have probably spent more time interviewing the band and the extended Phish family than anyone else and they have both covered music for Rolling Stone and other […]

Part singer-songwriter, part soul singer, Bill Withers occupied an interesting space in the 1970s as an unconventional African-American artist that sang social conscious songs that straddled the lines between funk, soul and folk. Best known for songs like Lean On Me, Use Me and Ain’t No Sunshine and his two seminal albums Still Bill and […]

For the second time in as many years, Mad Men star Jon Hamm served as the host for Saturday Night Live for arguably their strongest episode of the season. While last year’s highlight was Jon Hamm’s John Hams, this year he was paired with night’s musical guest retro-crooner Michael Buble for this hilarious sketch for […]

One of the greatest rock albums of all time is the focus of Classic Albums when the series takes a look at The Who’s Who’s Next (Tuesday, 5PM – VH1 Classic). Learn how Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse project evolved into this masterpiece…and of course the story behind the controversial cover that showed the quartet taking a […]

Friday ended another fast and furious week on Hidden Track as we presented a full slate of features, columns and news stories.  For this week’s Cover Wars, DaveO looked at one of the most covered songs of this new year, Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. In fact, Josh Groban covered the tune on Friday at the […]

It's a pleasure to watch a band develop as songwriters, recording artists and performers, especially if their audience grows along with them. January 28th is the first time Dr. Dog's commanded the stage in Higher Ground's Ballroom rather than it's smaller Showcase Lounge and the audience filled the larger room comfortably. And happily too.

Amidst continuing reports of other singers being approached to front Aerosmith, Steven Tyler and his handlers are taking steps to reassert his position in the band. Tyler’s Los Angeles-based attorney, Skip Miller, fired off a letter to Aerosmith manager Howard Kaufman last week, independently obtained by Billboard.com, requesting that Aerosmith’s management "immediately cease and desist […]

Scott Kannberg isn’t known for baring his soul.  As a co-founder of Pavement, Kannberg – better known as Spiral Stairs – was a major part of the whole tongue-in-cheek, ironic aura that surrounded the band.  With songs like “Date with Ikea” and “Passat Dream,” Kannberg’s music with Pavement was anything but introspective.  And, after Pavement split in 1999, Kannberg started Preston School of Industry, which was a break from his past in some ways, but still relatively light on soul searching.

Neil Young won his first-ever Grammy Award tonight (January 31) for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. This was the first-ever Grammy for the veteran rocker whose career has spanned almost half a century and who has bad-mouthed the awards ceremony for years.Young shared the award with his co-art directors Gary Burden and Jenice […]

This May, Broken Social Scene will embark on dates in both the U.S. an Europe, particularly highlighted by the band’s personally curated Toronto Island Concert on June 19th. Pavement and Band of Horses are also playing. The collaborative’s new album will feature  Tortoise and The Sea and Cake’s John McEntire, who produced the album, The […]

It’s been almost a full year, but the wait is finally over.  My Morning Jacket are ready to bring their electrifying live show back on the road.  The guys will make their way around the Southeastern United States this Spring, including a performance at  this year’s Jazzfest in New Orleans.  MMJ are also excited to […]

Jam titans Widespread Panic announced the full details of their Spring Tour this afternoon. The run starts after the Wanee Festival and includes two-night stands at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C., Raleigh’s Walnut Creek and The National in Richmond, VA. Following Jazz Fest, Panic ventures to Tulsa, OK; Chattanooga, TN and Greenville, SC before […]

Not counting the brief post-midnight hour or so of music during their epic New Year’s Eve performance at Madison Square Garden, last year was entirely devoid of My Morning Jacket concerts on American soil. During the Jacket’s “hiatus” front man Jim James kept busy – starting his own record label, releasing a George Harrison covers […]

This past May I went to Paris. It was my first time returning to the City of Lights since having lived there all of 1992 when I was part of the opening management team for Disneyland Paris. In the coming weeks, I plan on putting together a few postings about my food experiences from the trip.

The highlight of the Paris trip, though, was the day I took the TGV from the Gare du Nord in Paris to Pontarlier, which is near the Swiss border for a tour of a working absinthe distillery there.

Staring at the departure board in the Gare du Nord, looking for what platform my train was on. It was #17, all the way on the other side of the station

3 1/2 hours later, we were in Pontarlier.

READ ON for more of Jon’s trip to the Epicenter of Absinthe…

Keeping in the spirit of Scotty’s post yesterday, former Blips act Local Natives, whose debut album Gorilla Manor will get its stateside release via French Kiss on February 16, have just dropped the music video for their infectious first single. Check out the video for Airplanes… Local Natives – Airplanes

We weren’t racing to set our DVRs for Michael Buble’s stint as the musical guest on this week’s Saturday Night Live until we read Brooklyn Vegan’s post advising us that the Canadian singer will be joined by HT fave Sharon Jones for a duet. The pair will sing Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes) off […]

Transference remains a grower with its brooding underbelly, but once you get it, you’re thankful for the not-so obvious pop nods. The one catchy exception is “Written In Reverse,” where the ker-plunky piano and crashing drums make for another silent classic. With Transference Spoon is further cementing their status as cult survivor rather than a pop/blog flash in the pan, thanks to their intense consistency and only selling out to their fan-base, not  the mainstream.

On March 11th, progressive reggae band John Brown’s Body and West African-influenced quintet Toubab Krewe kick off a 13-city co-headlining U.S. tour. The tour begins in Brooklyn, NY, and ends in Solana Beach, CA.   Each group has achieved mainstream success by performing their own forward-thinking approach to traditional roots styles, John Brown’s Body with reggae and Toubab Krewe […]

Drive-By Truckers have announced new headlining dates in support of the band’s forthcoming studio album, "The Big To Do." The tour, which kicked off with three hometown shows last week in Athens, GA, is now slated to run through early May. The group has tacked more than 30 new dates on to its itinerary, with […]