Bright Eyes @ Radio City Music Hall, March 9
Words: Jeffrey Greenblatt
Images: Jeremy Gordon
It’s hard to believe that it has been four years since Conor Oberst last recorded under his longtime moniker Bright Eyes, an eternity for a guy that is known for his prolific output. Since the 2007 release of Cassadaga
The album, which may or may not be his last as Bright Eyes depending on who you want to believe, is a sonic departure from his recent work. Oberst has traded in his acoustic guitar for an electric, and his Americana-drenched sound for a maudlin, synth-driven, straight ahead rock one.
Last week, Oberst and his latest version of Bright Eyes – which has featured a rotating lineup over the years, but typically includes multi-instrumentalists Nate Walcott and Mike Mogis – pulled into the Big Apple for a two-night stand at the majestic and cavernous Radio City Music Hall. It was a curious night to be a Bright Eyes fan as the crowd was vocally and visibly excited for the band’s live return to the room they had last played in November of ’07. However, the audience’s enthusiasm seemed to ebb and flow over the course of the two hour show in sync with the crowd’s familiarity with the set list, which included a number of deep cuts.
READ ON for more thoughts on the show and a full picture gallery…
As we’ve previously reported, on May 10 the legendary Booker T. Jones will release the follow up to his 2009 Grammy winning album Potato Hole
READ ON to check out the video for Booker T. and The Roots’ instrumental cover of Lauryn Hill’s Everything Is Everything…
We’ve got all sorts of good news from My Morning Jacket as Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt shared details about the band’s new album and the group launched a download series to get fans ready for the release of the LP.
Hiatt’s article takes us inside the process that led to Circuital. The band’s sixth album was recorded in Kentucky and features the already played title track and Wonderful (The Way I Feel) as well as plenty of songs that have yet to be performed live. We also found out that MMJ came very close to recording music for a new version of The Muppets band Electric Mayhem that would’ve led to Gorillaz-like performances where the band performed behind a screen while an animated version “bashed away onstage.” In another Muppets close call, the Kentucky-based band’s front man, Jim James, wrote a couple of songs for the new Muppets movie featuring Jason Segel that didn’t make the cut. Regardless, we can’t wait to hear Circuital when it drops this spring.
We were also very excited to hear that My Morning Jacket will give away six sets of weekly downloads starting today. The first batch of five tracks comes from the five-piece’s Terminal 5 run last October. We’ll get a taste of Circuital as part of the download series final installment in week six. To receive the first batch of free downloads and future batches, you can sign up at MyMorningJacket.com or through the widget after the jump…
It’s looking like 2011 is going to be a banner year for new music as you can now circle May 10 on your calendar, because you’re going to want to
I know we’ve pondered this question here before, but we’re honestly not quite sure where Jack White finds the time to work on all the projects that he’s involved with
As we continue to do some more end of the year house cleaning around HT’s home office to get it all tidied up for 2011, I figured it was about time to continue with a tradition around these parts by taking a look at my favorite six albums of the last half of the year with the Top 6 Of The Last 6…
Prior to his success as a solo artist, José González fronted the indie-rock band Junip in the late ’90s in his native country of Sweden. The short-lived group released a lone 4-song EP, before going their separate ways, mostly in part because of their label’s interest in González’s own material. The singer-songwriter regrouped with his off-again, on-again band mates deciding to record their long in the works full-length debut. The album features González’s familiar Nick Drake drenched in reverb vocals backed by a hypnotic mix of psychedelic folk-rock that draws its influences from jazz, electronica and Indian ragga-style rhythms.
READ ON for the rest of my Top 6 Of The Last Six…
We first fell in love with Nicole Atkins a few years back when the Neptune, NJ native joined the mighty My Morning Jacket on stage during their epic New Year’s
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
Back in 2005, the members of influential alt.country act The Jayhawks decided to go on an extended hiatus after touring behind their seventh studio album, Rainy Day Music. In the
In an age of Facebook, Twitter and any number of social media outlets capable of documenting the minutia of your day to day life, sometimes something as simple as the lost art of the phone call serves as the best way to connect with someone on a personal level. For their latest social activism campaign, HeadCount is doing just that by taking a back to basics approach in order to remind people to head to the polls to exercise the Constitutional right to vote in next Tuesday’s mid-term elections.
The non-partisan organization, that was founded in 2004 by Andy Bernstein and Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein, and has helped register over 175,000 people, has enlisted a impressive roster of musicians from the indie to jam world, that includes Jim James (MMJ), Willie Nelson, ?uestlove, Matt Berninger (The National), Jon Fishman (Phish) and Warren Haynes (ABB, Gov’t Mule) to not only pre-record reminder messages, but also make live personal calls to a select number of the approximately 25,000 people who have made a “Pledge to Vote” via HeadCount.
In a media conference call yesterday to talk about the inventive initiative, HeadCount board member Bob Weir (Grateful Dead/Furthur) stressed the importance of a “Vote For You” mentality, saying that young people need to take the future into consideration and participate instead of letting a bunch of “crusty old folks” made the decisions that have direct impact on their lives and those of future generations. Weir, who joked that his call list was so large he better get to work on it immediately, said that would seize the opportunity to talk to people to help figure out where the organization’s efforts will be centered in the future.
READ ON for more from HeadCount’s conference call…
