While old-schoolers bemoan the demise of the long-player in the iTunes era, Magnetic Island go back to the future on their debut EP, Out at Sea.
Earlier this year, a casting call leaked for a “secret” collaborative project between indie-rock darlings Arcade Fire and director Spike Jonze – later described by Win Butler as “a science-fiction
That favorite holiday weekend is coming up, so sit back and celebrate with Volume VII in the Stormy Mondays Acoustic Mix series. Far and beyond the jammiest version to date,
Kicking off this month’s edition of our look at the month in photographs are a couple shots from Halloween. The first one is an amusing photo of Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident, face to face with his pint size replica at the Hampton Coliseum on Hulaween. Apparently an enterprising photographer snuck the little guy up on stage, giving everyone a good laugh. You can check out tapes from the evening on the archive and livecheese.com
[Bill Nershi w/ Barefoot Billy, photo by Chris Monaghan]
A review of the last few weeks wouldn’t be complete without a nod to Phish’s triumphant three night celebration in Atlantic City. Whether it was the Zeppelin and Little Feat covers, the outrageous costumes by the fans, the late night shows or all night parties at the Tropicana, a great time was had by all. Perhaps too good a time in one case.
[Phish at the Shore, photo by Seth Eisenstein]
READ ON for more of this month’s A Memory of Music…
Last year, MSG Entertainment and the Allman Brothers Band each got a look at life without each other and they both didn’t like what they saw. The partnership between the
The Jimmy Herring Band @ Highline Ballroom – November 15
When Jimmy Herring picks up a guitar and starts in on one of those astoundingly rich improvisational flights, it’s tough to get enough. He’s the type of player, be it with Panic or in any other context, for whom warmth and brilliance are as characteristic as technique and intensity – an always-dazzling display, but not a straight clinic, and never cold. He can sparkle, he can wail, he can bring ferocious energy, he can play with comfortable restraint and an ear for dynamics, and, like his good buddy Derek Trucks, he can consistently confound expectations for what should happen during a guitar solo. You’re drawn in and mesmerized and helpless to resist.
That’s one of the reasons that this much-welcome Jimmy Herring Band tour has been a success, and the Highline Ballroom show, nearly sold out, was two hours of expansive, psychedelic bliss. Another reason, though, is that Herring has taken an inherently indulgent format – the guitar wizard who puts together a solo band focused on all-instrumental jazz-rock – and hasn’t just left it as an excuse for a pick-up jam. We know he can play. We’ve learned he’s a strong bandleader: mindful of group dynamics, and knowing when to pour it on and when to get out of his own way.
Herring is the group’s center of attention and it’s his improvisations that drive the show, but he’s created something so much richer than a set of instrumentals with excuses for guitar heroics. Every selection at the Highline, whether a Herring original or a worked-over chestnut from the Meters, Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, the Beatles or elsewhere, felt meaningful and turned out, with a band that burrowed deep inside and fleshed out as many improvisational possibilities within as they could.
READ ON for more on the Jimmy Herring Band…
With their foray into the world of rock operas now past them, literary-folk-prog act The Decemberists will return to a simpler sound with their next studio effort – The King Is Dead
Last week, The Decemberists stopped by Conan to perform the album’s first single, Down By The Water, with Welch. READ ON…
Russian-born singer/songwriter Regina Spektor and her glorious voice will visit Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night to promote her new concert film Live in London. This is the first concert video
The Heavy performing at the Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis MN 11.12.10.
The debut from Tel Aviv guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Yair Yona attempts to bridge the vast span between atmospheric indie instrumentalism and Delta blues slide guitar, and while the result is undoubtedly original, it often comes to rest somewhere in the inter-genre no-man’s land reserved for smooth jazz and elevator music.
