Last Thursday I had the pleasure of catching Brooklyn’s Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears at the Subterranean in Chicago. I was not very familiar with the material going into it, but had heard of the band through a close friend who checks them out down South. Said friend played me their new Flight of the Knife (out April 4 on Black and Greene Records) earlier in the week, and a surprisingly large amount stuck after only one pre-show listen.
Flight of the Knife is a sprawling epic about The Knife, “the greatest flying machine to ever sail the skies” which no one had seen. The record follows Venus Ambassador on his quest to save the flying machine from the “furthest reaches of the world” where it teeters on a cloud. I don’t think I’ve listened enough to fully grasp the continuity of the plot (which I can only assume is there), but the songs themselves are delightfully poppy while remaining musically interesting and grounded in familiar sounds. They tumble and shift in erratic ways that end up making perfect sense, providing for an incredibly diverse listen.
On the whole, this record plays like Alice Cooper and Ziggy Startust arguing over McCartney melodies, while listening to Frank’s Freak Out having just finished some Gabriel-era Genesis and Beatles (you know, just as George was starting to become a forceful songwriter). Read on for more about this exciting new band…
If you’ve ever searched for a live concert DVD on Amazon you’ve probably noticed how unintuitive the interface has become. We’re glad that Amazon offers 28 billion products, but sometimes we just want to find the new Iron Maiden DVD quickly. Our friends at Jamtopia just unveiled a Live Concert DVD Finder that makes the process quick and painless.
As always we’ve got a batch of links to help you over the hump:
Finally, Snoop Dogg, !!!, and Lotus are among a diverse group of performers the Disco Biscuits have tapped to play at Camp Bisco VII on July 17 – 19 in Mariaville, New York. HT Contributor Nate had the line of the day when he said: “I’d love to travel back in time 15 years and tell Snoop that he’d be playing Jamband festivals in 2008. He’d probably cap my ass.” Let’s hope Snoop records his experience for Fatherhood.
2007 was the year of the reunion, but only a few of the bands that reunited are still playing together in 2008. One of those bands is Crowded House, who are working on a new album and just announced a North American tour.
Last year Neil Finn and the boys hit a number of large venues at many cities throughout the continent. This year Crowded House will change it up by playing multiple night runs in the seven biggest markets in North America.
April 28-30 – New York, NY – NY Fillmore at Irving Plaza
Presale 25 March 08, 10am. General onsale 28 March
May 2 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Presale 26 March 08, 10am. General onsale 28 March
May 5-6 – Boston, MA – Somerville Theatre
Presale 2 April 08, 10am. General onsale 4 April.
May 7-8 – Toronto, ONT – Danforth Music Hall
Presale 2 April 08, 10am. General onsale 5 April.
May 10-11 – Chicago, IL – Vic Theater
Presale 26 March 08, 10am. General onsale 29 March
May 14-15 – San Francisco, CA- Fillmore
Presale 2 April 08, 10am. General onsale 6 April.
May 16-17 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
Presale 2 April 08, 10am. General onsale 5 April.
Tickets are currently available through a special fan presale that seems to be open to anyone. I know I sound like a broken record, but if you haven’t seen Crowded House live you’re truly missing out.
When the one month ’til Earth Day mark passed without a lineup announcement, we were starting to wonder if in fact the Green Apple Festival was really happening this year. Well we finally have a lineup announcement, and the news is better for some cities than it is for others.
Things look good on 4/20 in D.C. where The Roots (and friends), Gov’t Mule, Umphrey’s McGee and Toots head up the killer National Mall lineup. Yet NYCers draw the short end of the stick this time where Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Big Head Todd & The Monsters and Vusi Mahlasela will perform at Central Park.
Meanwhile Denver (The Nevilles, Rose Hill Drive and The Duo), San Francisco (Mickey Hart, YMSB and Brett Dennen), and Los Angeles (Ziggy Marley, Taj Mahal, Juliette and the Licks) all score fantastic lineups, while Miami gets a boy band (Menudo) and Mr. Wendell (Arrested Development).
But it’s not only about the music, it’s about the environment. The Green Apple Festival has quickly become the America’s Largest Earth Day Celebration, and has expanded to eight cities this year. Did we mention the best part of the Earth Day events on 4/20? They are all absolutely free.
Read on for a full list of performers, cities and more…
Lonely and looking for someone to chat with? Need some advice? Ran into some trouble and need to get bailed out of jail? Well look no further than psychedelic rockers The Black Lips who have started their own hotline to call for just such problems. Here’s some info straight from the band’s blog…
we got a new phone and don’t know what to do with it so we started a hotline. It’s inspired by CB and Hamm radios, because people don’t use those anymore, and we think truckers are cool. It’ll give us something to do in the van. The minutes will probably expire, and i’m not paying for that shit.
So give the band a ring at 949-836-7407 and let us know if they give some good advice, while you at it see if Jenny is around too.
The voting is still taking place (Actually, come to think of it, polls are still open for all of them) and turnout remains to be on the rise with Volume 5 of Cover Wars. Early on in the week it looked like Scarecrow Collection was going to pull it off, but Mr. Blotto is running away with it and Hidden Track can now project that Mr. Blotto will carry the 50 Ways edition of Cover Wars. Talks of a ‘Dream Ticket’ with both Mr. Blotto and SCC are being dismissed by both candidates.
Let us move onwards and upwards into this week’s edition where we’ll examine covers of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. You know this song, it’s called ‘Ground Control to Major Tom’, you can find it playing at happening college party sing-along’s with The Who’s ‘Teenage Wasteland’ and ‘Dirty Woman’ by Pink Floyd. This is a song that appears to be inspired both by the Apollo 11 moon landing and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bowie first recorded this song in 1969. Did you know that Rick Wakeman of Yes plays Mellotron/Keyboards on the original? I didn’t. I guess you learn something new everyday.
Assembly of Dust: Reid Genauer’s group used the tune as the countdown to ring in the year 2007. This is a good call when the song’s already got a countdown from 10 in it. Well played.
Read on for the full report on nine other versions of Space Oddity…
In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think.
You what really turns me on? Chicks with huge balls. Renminbi is a power trio of badass ladies that hold nothing back in creating a flustering stampede of sound reminiscient of Billy Corgan meets Shpongle. These girls will not only impress you with their writing and playing, but they will also knock you flat on your ass. Remnimbi’s musical compositions are noticeably mature as they often teeter the line, but never fully cross, into harmonious resolves. Rather they perpetually build tension and give you a lot of mini-releases, but never succumb to the full release. Justin Lin Yifu, a well-known economist, stated at a recent conference with Chinese officials that, “Renminbi’s rise must be controlled.” To that, we say good luck. – Rupert
Read on for three more bands that have caught our attention…
Move over “The” bands I’m declaring Vampire bands the new trend in band namely. Ok well I only actually know about two of them – Vampire Weekend, and new find Vampire Hands – but I feel like more are on there way, you’ll see it will become the hot new moniker.
While we wait to see if my prediction comes true, take a listen to the psychedelic-folk-punk of Vampire Hands:
Marco Benevento played with some of the best musicians in the scene during a January residency at Sullivan. For Marco’s next NYC gig at Rockwood Music Hall on April 3, it will just be the New Jersey native and his piano. But don’t fret, he’ll also be running all of his circuit bent toys and effects through the piano.
Photo by Greg Aiello
The show is billed as a solo gig, yet it’s a Marco show so special guests could always pop in. Located on the Lower East Side the intimate Rockwood Music Hall only holds 60 people, so be sure to get there early. If you haven’t bought Invisible Baby yet, be sure to check out the video for The Real Morning Party for a sampling of what you’re missing. And don’t forget to fill Marco’s tip jar on the 3rd.
A few months ago, Stormy Monday ran a first volume of the Ghosts of Jambands Past featuring a selection of scene staples from the turn of the century that are no longer with us, bands like Ominous Seapods and Percy Hill. This second installment focuses on the new groove/nu jazz/acid jazz revival movement.
The late 90’s and early 00’s was a golden era for the groove, when backbeats were thumping and the bass was funky, B-3 solos stretched for miles and lavish horn arrangements were the order of the day. Within that world, bands tended to fall into two loose categories- those that crushed the groove, and those that tended to push boundaries, drawing more from Miles Davis-style fusion than from Grant Green.
Addison Groove Project, Boston’s best and brightest, made a name for itself as the former, but in the later years, especially around the time bassist John Hall passed away from cancer, the band began to venture into more open-ended territory, increasingly relying on Rob Marscher’s exceptional keyboard work, as on the opening track, Neo-Geo. By contrast, critic’s choice Fat Mama used to bill itself as inspired by Miles Davis albums like Dark Magus, and their Blood Born Pathogens is a decidedly twisted take on a classic afrobeat idea. It starts out with heavy flourishes that might seem at home in The Budos Band, but it quickly becomes clear that something is very different is going on.
When the Beatles put their first road crew together, they enlisted childhood friend Neil Aspinall for the role of Road Manager. Aspinall stayed with the band through thick and thin, even after the Beatles broke up in 1970. Neil quickly rose through the ranks, and managed Apple Corps’ for over 40 years. If there ever was real “fifth beatle,” Neil Aspinall was the guy. Sadly, Neil Aspinall passed away Sunday night in Manhattan after a battle with lung cancer.
Over the course of their career the Beatles did business with many unsavory characters who tried to take the band members for all they were worth. Neil was the one guy who was true until the end, and never sold his story like Peter Brown. Recently Aspinall spearheaded a number of incredibly successful projects including the Anthology series, the Cirque du Soleil tribute show and a major lawsuit against Apple Computers.
For a more in depth look at Neil Aspinall’s life and career read the comprehensive obituary Allan Kozinn put together for the New York Times.
Last week Philly-centric blog Philebrity took a backhanded slap at the Disco Biscuits in a post about this year’s Jam On The River line up. This didn’t sit too well with fans of the jamtronica act, who took to the messages boards to rip into the site. Ever the gracious hosts the blog allowed some Bisco fans to defend their band to the masses, posing these questions to them – “Tell us why you like this band. Tell us why people follow them around like the Grateful Dead. Tell us, for the love of God, what this is all about.”
Kudos to three writers who put some thought into their prose, but something tells me you’re going to piss off a whole other group of jam fans with this statement….
“In the world of patchouli-smelling and nugget-smoking noodle-dancers (hippies, that is…of both the genuine and pseudo variety) the Disco Biscuits are the derelict bastard-child – the dark and gritty element that offers contrast to a music scene full of unicorns, hula-hoops and fans that would, quite honestly, put a funnel to their ears to catch every drop of ejaculate from Trey Anastasio’s heroin-riddled penis…It would be difficult to find more critical music fans than that of the Disco Biscuits. The band draws equal amounts of love and hate from their devoted head-boppers and fist-pumpers… often resulting in overly-critical and caustic reviews of their shows and efforts.”
Jam On The River takes place Memorial Day Weekend at Penn’s Landing and will feature the likes of The Flaming Lips, RJD2, Josh Ritter, Lotus and American Babies.
After a long winter of waiting, the baseball season officially gets underway sometime around 6 AM tomorrow morning with the Boston Red Sox taking on the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo, Japan.
Opening day stateside is still a week away, but what better way to celebrate the return of America’s Pastime then with John Fogerty’s ubiquitous ballpark classic…
While I go work on my fantasy team, check out this great tongue in-cheek send up of the George Brett pine tar incident from the 1980s classic Saturday morning television show The Baseball Bunch – if there is one show that needs to be released on DVD this is it. I’d buy every season.
We envy Taylor Hawkins. Not only does the guy have a cushy job as the Foo Fighters’ drummer, but he’s gotten to live out his childhood dreams. Hawkins spent the majority of his time growing up in Fort Worth, Texas listening to Queen and Rush records. A few years back Taylor got to play with Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May, and Saturday night he jammed with Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at a Foo Fighters gig in Toronto. That’s one lucky dude.
Geddy and Alex joined the Foo Fighters an hour into their set just as Taylor Hawkins started his drum solo. The trio improv’d for a bit before busting out a killer YYZ that showed off Hawkins’ prowess on the kit. Check out the crowd’s reaction on this decent video of the YYZ.
Here’s a look at what else went down this weekend:
You can watch the Black Crowes’ recent Unplugged taping on VH1.com
Miss Cellania finds photos of nearly every Abbey Road parody ever made
We loved the lo-fi feel of the Black Kids demos that made the rounds a few months ago, so we were a little worried that the band would overproduce their Almost Gold debut. Well perhaps we should spend less time worrying and more time writing, because the re-recorded version of I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You sounds pretty fuckin’ good.
Read on after the jump for the deliciously bizarre video for the single…
When James Dolan and his MSG henchmen took over the Beacon Theatre, we thought they would be closing the venue for nearly a year to perform a restoration. Well apparently refurbishing the 79 year-old theatre isn’t such a big priority anymore, as they keep on announcing shows. But we’re not complaining.
Just today we we’re forwarded an email (thanks Donna) from AmEx telling us that Steely Dan will return to the Beacon for three shows on June 13, 14 and 17.
American Express card holders can purchase tickets on Monday morning at 10AM by following this link. We have no idea when the general on-sale begins, but the AmEx presale seems to extend to the following Monday. We can’t find much about Steely Dan’s new tour, except that it’s called Think Fast, Steely Dan. Only two dates have been announced so far, but we expect a full list of dates to surface soon.
