2010

Great Scott!: Phish in the Age of 3.0

Hidden Track Staff January 13, 2010 27 Comments

All year long, we’ve noticed the writing of blogger Scott Towler for his Great Scott! blog and have really enjoyed what we’ve read. Last week, Scott wrote a great piece giving his opinion on how the year 2009 played out for jam-rockers Phish. If you missed it, here’s the article in its entirety…

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[All photos by Jeremy Gordon for Glide/HT]

2009, the year that marked Phish’s return from a five-year hiatus, has come and gone. The end result? Phish is back! The band performed some 48 shows over five distinct periods: their official reunion at the Hampton Coliseum, an early summer tour, a late summer tour, Festival 8, a fall tour and the new years run in Miami just last month.

According to phish.net, this also marked Phish’s most diverse year in all of their 26 so far with over 244 unique songs played in 2009. And while the band has always prided themselves on the diversity of their set lists, it goes a little deeper in the age of Phish 3.0. Unlike years past where a die-hard fan could determine the band’s mood based on the length of their jams and how they segued from one song to the next, 2009 was completely unique. Song choice played a much larger role for the group than it ever has, and the jamming, while still prevalent, became more concise. While many could contend that this marks the end of the Phish “we all know and love,” I would argue against that. The band is communicating in a new way while still using the same language, it just may take a more active listener to appreciate it.

READ ON for more of Scott’s thoughts on Phish in the Age of 3.0…

Last Week’s Sauce: January 4th – 10th

DaveO January 13, 2010 8 Comments

Last Week’s Sauce features recordings of shows from the previous week.

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[Thanks to newplanet7 for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Cracker – Eurotrash Girl
Date & Venue: 2010-01-09 The Cubby Bear Lounge, Chicago IL
Taper & Show Download: Brian Emerick

I’m a sucker for live song introductions. When I saw there was a separate 5-minute long track introducing Eurotrash Girl, probably my favorite Cracker song, I was intrigued. Turns out it’s not so much an explanation of the song, but a rambling story that spans continents about different times he has told the same story. It’s worth checking out. The song follows. Cracker is on tour with Camper Van Beethoven (the groups share two members) and they play tonight in Philadelphia before the co-bill heads to NYC, Toronto and Cambridge, MA.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/crackersauce.mp3]

READ ON for tracks from Marco, PGroove, Project/Object and The Ragbirds…

Intermezzo: Simon & Garfunkel @ Jazz Fest

Scott Bernstein January 13, 2010 No Comments

When the lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival came out a few weeks back there was a big TBA spot among the listings for the first

Vid: Jesse Winchester – Can’t Stand Up…

Jeffrey Greenblatt January 13, 2010 1 Comment

Prior to watching a recent episode of Elvis Costello’s Spectacle, I had never heard of singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester. Winchester’s unique story involved him moving to Canada to avoid serving in

Dream Focused: Mitten and Clevetown

Scott Bernstein January 13, 2010 4 Comments

Happy New Year, Hidden Track enthusiasts and fellow Umphreaks. Welcome to another addition of Dream Focused, where I share some of my favorite Umphrey’s McGee jams in an attempt to show why I love this band. UM’s Fall Tour started right where the last one left off with the band in peak condition stretching out songs and focusing on the groove.

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[Photo by Tammy Wetzel]

We begin with Example 1 from Traverse City. Like Wormbog, Example 1 has been getting “the treatment” of late and this is the most shining, dare I say, example. Opening the show and clocking in at 17 minutes, this Example 1 jam starts with a Willie The Pimp-esque funk groove as the A section and a Drum and Bass B section that is spacious and picks up intensity.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Example_1.mp3]

Hey 19 is one of the only covers to get stretched out in the new jam style and this version is a beaut’, Clark! Enjoy.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Hey_19.mp3]

Next, we hop on over to House of Blues in Clevetown. Before I get into the Kabump, please enjoy this promo video for “The Town Lebron Owns”…

READ ON for a laid-back Kabump, a funky Intentions Clear and a rage cage-worthy JaJunk complete with a FF cherry on top…

Joanna Newsom Releasing Have One On Me Feb 23

January 13, 2010 No Comments

As her Australian label, Spunk, has confirmed, Joanna Newsom will release her third studio album, titled Have One on Me, on February 23rd. This is her first release since 2006’s

Simon & Garfunkel Headling New Orleans Jazz Fest

January 13, 2010 No Comments

Last spring, performers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel caused waves of excitement in the music industry when they announced that they would tour for the first time in five years.

Jay Reatard Confirmed Dead

January 13, 2010 No Comments

According to a Memphis based newspaper, Jay Reatard has in fact died. He was 29-years old. Memphis’ Goner Records is also confirming the death. A posting reads: “It is with

Vampire Weekend Goes Unplugged

Scott Bernstein January 12, 2010 4 Comments

While I haven’t had a chance to listen to HT Faves Vampire Weekend’s new album, Contra, since returning from Jam Cruise, everyone either seems to love or hate the disc

The Macpodz, the New Pride of Ann Arbor

Ryan Dembinsky January 12, 2010 12 Comments

With the Wolverines sucking wind in two sports and Rich Rodriguez leading the U of M football team to two of the worst seasons in the program’s history, Ann Arborites need to look beyond sports for inspiration these days.

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[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

Fortunately, one of the nation’s great eccentric cities can fill its fanatical void with a young band called The Macpodz. A long time coming for sure, Ann Arbor finally has its first great jamband; a guitar-less five-piece comprised of brilliant musicians who via bass, trumpet, percussion/flute, keys, and drums, muster up some of the most energetic music on the scene today.

I caught these guys back in May at Sullivan Hall and left floored. Enamored with their sturdy funk-jazz-rock tunes and vibrant stage presence, we caught up with trumpet player Ross Huff to chat about their music as well as some pressing Ann Arbor issues of the day like how long do we give Rich Rod to turn around the football program and what are the important sandwiches in town (arguably the country’s sandwich Mecca).

Hidden Track: To start off, let’s talk about the Macpodz and the old genre topic. Given that the Macpodz music is somewhat rooted in jazz music, yet the band seems to really identify with the jamband scene, do you guys give it any thought about whether or not you want to fully embrace the whole “jamband” thing or do you try to maintain a balance and cater to the more pure jazz scene as well?

Ross Huff: The short answer is that I don’t give it much thought.

I tell people I play in a rock and roll band and they don’t believe me, because it sounds like jazz to them. It doesn’t sound like jazz to me. It doesn’t yet have that level of complexity. We are students of jazz but our performance is based on rock aesthetics.

In the meantime, I’m trying to show that “genre” is an outdated concept entirely. The only important thing is to create living music and to show kids how to play, so music will continue to live after we die. Not our music, just Music, the gathering of humans and the playing of instruments. The great masters are getting old, and many have already passed.

READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with The Macpodz…

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