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.

The Station

Website / MySpace

On heavy Midwest touring behind the May release of their accurately named album, Speed of Sound, and nine years of tour experience, the Station is finally filling up with passengers ready to hop on the bandwagon (I should get fired for that one). While the band cites Rush, late-era Coltrane, and Skerik as influences, compositionally it’s impossible to ignore the Umphrey’s similarities as they meld intricate melodies and rhythms with touches of metal, funk and reggae. Still, The Station is quick to refute that they sound like pre-existing connotations of the jamband and rightfully so, as they defy categorization. The only deserving categorization that came to mind when listening to their Summer Camp set a couple months ago was music lovers with incredible technical ability and a mean case of ADHD.

Podcast #17: RR1 > Ms Ds jam, Revolving Door, Illuminator, The Plain Truth (Karl Denson Trio), Drink From My Well part 2, Questions, Halfway There [74:53]

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE STATION’S PODCAST 17

READ ON to read about Brett Ratliff (no, not that Brett Ratliff)…

After a few years of litigation Sony, BMG Music Entertainment, BMG Music, Arista Records, Santana and the Doors have finally settled with Wolfgang’s Vault. While this settlement doesn’t include the Dead, Led Zeppelin or any of the other artists suing the memorabilia brokers who bought Bill Graham’s archive for pennies on the dollar back in 2002. Meanwhile, Wolfgang’s Vault continues to offer Santana concerts and just added a bunch of Daytrotter Sessions from the likes of Spoon and The Headlights to their incredibly huge collection of free music.

• Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers talks to Mikey G about Garcia
• moe. joins a lineup of legendary performers at this year’s Farm Aid
• Something completely different: List of problems solved by MacGyver
• Montreal’s Chromeo hits the major Northeastern cities in October
• Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes designs a new line of suits
• Kaki King thinks Dave Grohl has too many cheesy dance moves
• Genesis ready reissues, Genesis Cover Band preps fake Phil Collins
• Mr. Miner’s Thoughts has some ideas for creating your ideal Phish jam

Kudos to bassist Ryan Stasik, percussionist Andy Farag and Sound Caresser Kevin Browning of Umphrey’s McGee for completing the Chicago Accenture Triathlon, the largest triathlon in the world. Most rockers would enjoy a rare month off after months of touring, but these guys spent the time training for this grueling event.

Last night, Radiohead treated the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl to a terrific cover of Neil Young’s Tell Me Why. The rhythm section sat this one out as it was just Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performing the tune on their acoustics. Check out a clip of their performance below:

Radiohead – Tell Me Why

• Providence’s Badfish, Ron Jeremy’s favorite cover band, returns to NYC for a just announced gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night for an evening chock full of Sublime favorites. These guys got together in 2001 and have gone on to sell out venues across the country thanks to their faithful renditions of Bradley Nowell’s classic tunes. Tickets for this show are currently available at Ticketmaster. Check out Badfish.com for a full list of tour dates.

• It’s been a while since we’ve heard any news out of the Led Zeppelin camp, but this story’s a doozy. Jason Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones recently entered the studio to record a batch of songs destined for a new Led Zeppelin album. Robert Plant, who has been busy touring with Alison Krauss, hasn’t been involved in any of the sessions. No tour dates yet.

EOTO, DJ Logic and a new supergroup, named Agents of Mayhem, made up of Steve Molitz (Phil Lesh & Friends, Particle), Jon Gutwillig (the Disco Biscuits), Michael Travis and Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident, EOTO) and DJ Logic (MMW) performed together on Sunday night at an event called Steal This Ticket. Mike Sherwood attended the gig and filed this report…

Wow! What an awesome time was had down at the Spiegeltent in South Street Seaport on Sunday night. First off, the venue was really cool. Anybody who has the chance to check out Spiegelworld when it comes to your town should definitely go. We entered to find a well-decorated big top tent with a tremendous light rig all around the venue. The music was phenomenal. The night started a little later than anticipated with doors opening almost a full hour and a half later than we were told. Oh well, I knew this was going to be a late night anyway.

DJ Logic warmed things up with about 25 minutes of scratching and house stuff before Michael Travis and Jason Hann joined him onstage. EOTO locked into a quick groove with him before taking over on their own for about 30-45 minutes. If trance is your thing then EOTO should be right up your alley. Even if it isn’t, there is no denying how much fun those two guys are having with this project. There were lots of infectious and danceable grooves from EOTO with some nice peaks to their jams.

Once Barber, Molitz, and Logic took the stage it was on like Donkey Kong. The Agents of Mayhem set was a long exercise in tension/release-untz jamming and was well received by the crowd. There were moments that were jaw dropping. Sadly there were no tapers (although I’d give my left nut to hear a SBD of this, leaked or otherwise). One of the highlights of the night was Barber getting “arrested.” Basically, the production team staged a faux arrest of Barber in the middle of an intense jam. An actual NYPD cop came on stage and demanded Barber’s guitar. He defiantly started to rip in the guys face (the rest of the band was peaking at this point too). After “finally” relinquishing his Becker, Barber gets cuffed and dragged offstage. A bunch of Bisco kids FREAK! Molitz runs around and starts talking to the crowd and telling Trav, Jason, and Logic “Keep playing, we’re not done.” A dark jam ensues prompting the crowd to chant “fuck the police.”

READ ON for more of Mike’s Spiegeltent review…

Hidden on the outskirts of town is a nether region, a place where mystery resides, a location so obscure and strange that one is tempted to call it the Twilight Zone. The area is tucked away within a seedy section of town best left unexplored. However, cars race by with their excited cinematic travelers, eager to drive through the Gates of Movie Hell. We dig a little deeper into the shadows, ponder the sights, ingest the sounds, eat a pizza slice or two, gulp a soda, catch some clips, and find that this isn’t exactly a foreign place at all, but instead, a friendly little gathering place we call the Rock ‘n’ Roll Drive-In.

Yes, an intriguing location, indeed, that is marked with an ‘X’ on our Flick map, this Drive-In has four screens with multiple features playing every night. At its central hub is a circular snack bar/munchies haven/hang out place for the ADD-addled, socially-minded sections of the crowd, and a key chill out locale for cats after a long week of dodging people, assignments, phone calls, text messages, and random responsibilities.

As usual, with most of these lingering outdoor joints, the double bills feature a weird blend, a marriage of celluloid opposites, but it is the music blaring from within the round snack bar that sets the right mood. It is someone’s mixed tape, a burned CD of favorites that veers from Elvis to Little Richard to the Clash, from the Ramones to Nirvana, from Neil Young to Wilco that nails the point home. Guitars, vocals and drums slash through the air, blended into a seamless noisey whole as Nachos, popcorn, Snickers, and ice cream are purchased and devoured while gazing at walls containing old movie posters—Night of the Living Dead rests in a sacred spot next to PHISH – IT, Rust Never Sleeps next to a Phantasm poster, and Pan’s Labyrinth is next to U2-3D imagery. Old school horror is associated with rock music, and that’s alright, mama, that’s alright with me. READ ON for more of this week’s Hidden Flick…

As the summer days draw to a close, the night air acquires a slight chill and the afternoon light takes on that certain hue. It’s time for the third, and finest to date, Acoustic Mix- music made for the upcoming lazy weekend.

Phil and Friends starts things off with a sick cover of Dead Flowers from last year’s Nokia marathon- Larry Campell’s mandolin playing and Jackie Greene’s vocals are a perfect match. Then it’s The Crowes with Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution, a damn fine song despite what the critics might have said. A true treat from JB follows, before an instrumental version of Neil Young’s Helpless from Steve Kimock and Fareed Haque at a High Sierra workshop back in 2005. Brad Barr performs The Slip’s classic Alsoa solo on guitar at a memorial gig, and finally The Wood Brothers close out the mix with their stellar Amos Lee enhanced cover of Jimi’s Angel from Loaded. Quality is always the first priority around here, but this edition of SM gets my golden seal of approval- enjoy!

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS WEEK’S STORMY MONDAYS

As we get older, the days of heading out to a club to catch a band playing an 11:30 PM set on a weeknight are few and far between. The folks at Zenbu Media and Blue Water Grill feel our pain and have started a new live music series called Home By 9. The next Home By 9 event goes down on September 9 at Blue Water Grill’s lush Jazz Room in Manhattan’s Union Square. For $98 you’ll get an appetizer, entree and dessert followed by a set of tunes from the Spin Doctors’ Chris Barron.

The best part is that you’ll be home by 9 as the music runs until 8. Click here for more information on the new Home By 9 series.

Now, let’s see what’s happening as we start the unofficial last week of summer…

• Sir Paul McCartney heads to Israel for a $4 Million gig in Tel Aviv
• Rob Halford questions whether a straight man can lead Judas Priest
• The Weight reviews The Strange Design’s Weekend in the Hamptons
• Bob Lefsetz tells the inside story of DMB’s decision to play in LA
• Check out these crazy photos from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
• Chuck Garvey talks to Jambands about moe.down and the hiatus
• The San Diego Reader looks at what artists demand on their riders
• Prefix shares video of Yo La Tengo covering The Misfits yesterday
• Los Lobos brought the house down at Viva Chicago last night

After the Grateful Dead stopped offering MP3s of the tracks they share weekly in archivist David Lemieux’s Taper’s Section column I stopped checking out the feature. But this week I couldn’t help but look and I’m glad I did because Lemieux shares a crazy sequence from 8/29/1969 that includes a bizarre New Orleans > Searching > Good Lovin’. It’s just too bad we can’t throw the tracks on our iPods.

Last night in Dallas, My Morning Jacket welcomed hometown hero Erykah Badu to the stage for a rousing version of Badu’s Tyrone. MMJ busted out their cover of the ultimate kiss-off song earlier this year at Bonnaroo. Erykah recently hailed MMJ’s “bluesy/soulful” version of Tyrone as better than the original.

[via I Am Ghost Blogger HT- TortyFoo on PT]

• My Morning Jacket: Tyrone Live at Bonnaroo

We Jam Econo tells the inside story of punk legends The Minutemen from the band’s formation in San Pedro, California in 1980 to their hasty split in 1985 after tragedy struck. Sundance airs the documentary this evening at 9PM.

Friday [all times Eastern]:

• Live From Abbey Road: Gnarls Barkley [Sundance 9PM]
• Documentary: We Jam Econo – Story of the Minutemen [Sundance 10PM]
• The Late Show w/ David Letterman: Martha Wainwright [CBS 11:35PM]

Saturday:

• Austin City Limits: Widespread Panic [PBS Check Local Listings]
• Later w/ Jools Holland: The Raconteurs [Rave HD 8:00PM]
• Loaded: Guns N Roses [Fuse 10:30PM]

Sunday:

• Private Sessions: Foreigner [A&E 9AM]
• HDNet Concert Series: Stray Cats Rumble in Brixton [5PM]
• 2008 Beijing Olympics: Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis [NBC 7PM]

Well, we’ve reached the end of my Outside Lands preview. As you’re reading this, I’ll already be taking in the sights of San Francisco to kill some time until the festivities get underway later on today. Today’s pick was really a no-brainer, it’s Chicago’s alt.country turned indie-rock act Wilco. There aren’t very many bands out there that I’d travel to see anymore these days, but these guys are at the top of that short list. I couldn’t be more excited about the fact I’ll be seeing them for the second time in a week and a half span, and for the third time this year.

I can’t think of a more appropriate song to end on then California Stars, which can be found the spectacular Mermaid Avenue, Vol.1 album. This version comes from their appearance on Sessions On West 54th. Enjoy…

Jeff Tweedy & Co. hit the Twin Peaks stage at 6:35 on Sunday. While I’m a little bummed that I won’t get to see Panic, there is no way I’d be missing a single note of this set. That’s all folks, enjoy the fest!

Further Viewing:

• Impossible Germany (Live In Studio)
• War On War (Live on The Late Show)
• Box Full Of Letters (Music Video)

My Morning Jacket’s awe-inspiring performance at Radio City Music Hall in June was clearly one of the best concerts we’ve seen so far this year. Now we’ll get a chance to hear a crystal-clear recording of the gig thanks to Chicago’s WXRT. XRT, one of the best radio stations in the country, will air My Morning Jacket’s performance from RCMH in its entirety at 8PM on Wednesday, August 27.

• Previously on HT: MMJ @ RCMH – Downloads and YouTubes

One of the best benefits of living in Manhattan’s Upper West Side has to be the ability to walk over to the Beacon Theater for the Allman Brothers’ annual mega-run of shows every March. While Gregg Allman’s fight with Hepatitis C put the kibosh on this year’s run, the band is already making plans to celebrate their 40th anniversary of the historic theater in March of 2009 with a slew of special guests.

We can’t wait to see who the Brothers invite to the stage. Hopefully they’ll bury the hatchet with former member Dickey Betts in honor of the anniversary.

Let’s take a gander at what else is cookin’ today…

• The Yankees are eyeing Springsteen and/or Macca to close their stadium
• Corporate papa Glide Magazine takes a look at Maine’s UpNorth Festival
• Wolfgang expands its Vault by adding memorabilia from LA’s Ash Grove
• The Doors finally appear ready to settle their long-running bitter law suit
• WCAX TV examines the increasing likelihood of a potential Phish reunion
• Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page to perform a Led Zep tune at the Olympics
• Bob Lefsetz pays tribute to moe.’s management and Al approves
• Traveler’s John Popper and Producer Steve Lillywhite remember LeRoi

Finally, Olympians in Beijing who tried to access the iTunes store have found that access to the site has been cut off. Apparently a few athletes downloaded a Free Tibet compilation prompting Chinese officials to put the iTunes Store behind the Great FireWall of China. Seems a little overzealous to us.

In and around 5 PM (PST), the initial edition of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival gets underway in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. While the historic park has hosted numerous rock concerts over the years, Radiohead will hold the distinction of being the first act to actually play there after sundown. The three-day festie-much like its Tennessee brother-offers up a diverse bill spread across a whopping six stages, so this week’s Mix Tape is dedicated to some of those acts.

We kick things off with one of the bands that actually kick the fest off – San Francisco’s own psychedelic-blues revivalists Howlin’ Rain with Dancers At The End Of Time. How about some hip-hop from another local act? Lets check in with Lyric Born for Callin’ Out. Saturday sees a rare solo set from M. Ward, who has been doing the She & Him thing all summer long. Here’s Matt with Chinese Translation off his fantastic Post-War album. From there we move into one from the night’s headliners, here’s Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with a live version of his classic American Girl. Early in the day Sunday sees a set from reggae legends Toots & The Maytals who will undoubtedly play their signature tune Funky Kingston. Finally, we close the mix out with a ripping Spiders (Kidsmoke) from Wilco’s career spanning residency at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre.

I’m in San Fran all weekend for the fest, so be sure to become one of our “followers” on Twitter to get loads of updates from throughout the weekend.

One of the more unfortunate aspects of being a rock star is that fame and fortune attract shady elements like a moth to a flame. Local boy does good only to meet his demise at the hands of a hanger-on gone bad — we’ve seen the same story repeated on all 150 episodes of Behind The Music. So many legendary musicians have been robbed from us under the most suspicious of circumstances.

Perhaps this week’s B List is a little too morbid, but hey…life isn’t just sunshine and lollipops (go fuck a rainbow, hippie). So we’ve assembled a list of 10 rock stars whose lives were cut short when they were violently murdered. Some of these stories are absolutely crazy and deserve a whole post. But we’re not going to get into all the gory details, so click on the rocker’s name to find out more.

1. Jaco Pastorius: John Francis Anthony Pastorius II was arguably the best musician to ever play bass. His solo work, and the time he spent as a member of Weather Report, showed off the precision and speed he brought to the table. Check out this clip of Pastorius nailing Slang for an example of what made him such a unique player. Jaco’s career ended tragically in 1987 when he was beaten to death by a bouncer at a nightclub in Florida. Read on for more…

Unlike its sister festival Bonnaroo, music at Outside Lands will be ending promptly at 10 PM each night. Fret not though you late-night enthusiasts, there are plenty of options available for those who want to keep filling their ears with great tunes long into the night. Festival promoters will sponsoring official Night Shows at The Independent, in addition to some unofficial ones taking place around town too.

Here’s the breakdown…

Friday, August 22nd:

• Steel Pulse / DJ Funklor @ The Independent (Buy Tickets)
• The Golden Gate Gramble: The Skinny Singers/Ball Point Birds/Lebo/Big Light/Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers/DJ Superchill/And Many More Surprises TBA!!! @ 12 Galaxies
• Vinyl / DJ K-OS @ Boom Boom Room

Saturday August 23rd:

• Garage A Trois f. Stanton Moore, Skerik, Marco Benevento & Mike Dillon @ The Independent (Buy Tickets)
• Ryan Adams @ The Fillmore
• Eric McFadden Trio w. Rob Mercurio & Jeff Raines (of Galactic) @ Boom Boom Room