Members of the indie rock Elephant 6 Collective will once again hit the road together for next year’s Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour. The trek features members of Elf Power,
Pearl Jam has a very special show in the works to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. The group’s longtime manager recently revealed that Eddie Vedder and co. are planning to
With the year rapidly coming to a close, and the holiday season fully upon us, we wanted to get the HT Crew together for one last hang to talk music before we throw the cover on BBQ for the winter. Since ’tis the season to reflect back on what went down over the last 12 months, we thought we’d invite the gang over to HT Headquarters to warm up by the fireplace, throw some large hunks of meat on the grill and crack open a few Anderson Valley Winter Solsticeses for another rousing edition of At The Barbecue.
This time around, we thought we’d continue our year-end housecleaning by discussing our Break Out Acts of the year, which ranged from new discoveries to some acts that just hit it out of the park with a monster 2010.
Andy Kahn – The Morning Benders
Without a doubt The Morning Benders stood up and demanded to be noticed this year. Particularly on the heels of their sophomore album Big Echo & their relentless touring, the band has proven to be a force in the studio & on the road. The quartet from Berkeley, CA is led by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Christopher Chu, whose impressive songwriting is filled with dreamy lyrics and catchy pop sensibilities. Whether on stage or in the studio the band creates a lush but airy sound tucked into a cool, laid-back vibe.
Excuses, their captivating single off Big Echo, was my song of the year after the first listen and has made it “big” being featured on a television commercial. The band is on a seemingly never ending tour, crisscrossing the States and beyond several times this year alone, opening for acts like Broken Bells, hitting festivals and headlining bills as well. Keep an eye out for these guys there’s a good chance they’re playing your town soon.
READ ON for more of our picks of the Break Out Acts of 2010…
In a Hidden Track giveaway that’s open until tomorrow night, we offer our readers a chance to win a copy of PhanFood – a new book that compiles a variety of interesting recipes from Phish fans around the country. Tomorrow, December 11th, PhanFood makes its official debut at a kickoff party held at Nectar’s from 7 to 9PM, which will be followed by live music from Dopapod.
We recently chatted with PhanFood co-editors Taraleigh Silberberg and Pete Mason about the concept behind the book, their favorite lot food of all-time, the charities that will benefit from this non-profit endeavor and much more…
Hidden Track: How and when did the concept for Phan Food first come about?
Taraleigh Silberberg: I was walking on the bike path in Burlington, which is where I get most of my good ideas. I was thinking about a way to help the community and that is when the cookbook idea popped into my head. Why not make a cookbook by Phish fans for Phish fans that could benefit people that can’t afford to feed themselves? The first person I thought of to work with was Pete Mason and the rest is history.
HT: Did the published edition of the book stray from your original concept?
TS: Nope. It is the exact concept.
HT: How many recipes are included in Phan Food?
Pete Mason: Eighty-six in total, split somewhat evenly amongst appetizers, breakfast, snacks, drinks, entrees, salads, soups and sandwiches (Page’s favorite).
READ ON for the rest of our interview with Pete and Tara…
Last week, Ryan kicked off the holiday season with his ‘Tis The Season mix, which featured a mixed bag of tunes to get you in the spirit of things. Maybe it
On February 1st, Universal Music/ Tuff Gong will put out a new live album from Bob Marley and the Wailers called Live Forever taped at the reggae legend’s last recorded
On Wednesday, we told you about a website called SavePBS.org that was launched to help raise funds for the members of PBS (George Porter Jr., Brian Stoltz & Russell Batiste)
As the year-end lists begin their annual avalanche onto the blogosphere, one of the albums that has been getting mentions that you may have missed is Innerspeaker, the debut album
This weekend, former Wings front man Paul McCartney returns to NBC’s Saturday Night Live as musical guest for the third time. Paul Rudd will host and we wouldn’t be surprised
Our look at the best releases of the year continues with an annual traditional around these parts that we don’t see elsewhere – a list of the best archival releases from the past 12 months. These are all albums which feature music (mostly live tracks) that was pulled from the artists’ archives and had never been officially released until 2010.
This year was another great one for archival releases as a number of bands kicked off new series (String Cheese Incident and Gov’t Mule) and many other acts kept releases for older series (Road Trips, Live Phish, Barko-Swill Zappa, Bootleg Series) flowing. I’ve included releases which feature both CDs and DVDs on our Best Concert DVDs of 2010 list, so don’t expect to see them here. Also, a release must feature music at least five years old to qualify for this list. Enough of the small talk, let’s get down to business…
10. Grateful Dead – Road Trips Vol. 3, No. 3
2010 was another banner year for Grateful Dead archival releases and my favorite of the bunch was Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 3 featuring most of the Dead’s early and late shows at the Fillmore East on May 15, 1970. Forty years after Workingman’s Dead came out, this release gives a look into where the band was at this important time in their history and contains a number of acoustic gems that have never been included on an official release before.
Where You Can Sample This Release: Dead.Net Listening Party
- Previously on HT: Best Concert DVDs of 2010, Best Archival Releases of ’09, Best Archival Releases of ’08
READ ON for Scotty’s top nine archival releases of 2010…
