Traffic – Light Up or Leave Me Alone [Santa Monica '72]

Bruce Springsteen has always been an advocate of the working man, so it was surprising to his fans that The Boss struck a deal with Wal-Mart to exclusively distribute his latest greatest hits compiliation. Springsteen – who takes the stage with the E Street Band for the halftime show at Sunday’s Super Bowl – tells Jon Pareles of the New York Times that the Wal-Mart deal was indeed a mistake. Bruce also discusses playing at the Super Bowl, his new album and much more in Pareles’ revealing profile. Check it out.

Here’s one final batch of links to help pass some precious moments…

• Flight of the Conchords announce a batch of US tour dates
• Mike McCready of Pearl Jam fights for a new bathroom law
• Tune in to KPFA on Saturday for the Grateful Dead Marathon
• Brooklyn Vegan and Mashable tackle Phishy ticketing issues
• Download a killer M. Ward, Jim James w/ Bright Eyes bootleg
• Earvolution offers a review of Cold War Kids @ Mercury Lounge

Finally, The Daily Swarm rounds up coverage of AEG’s new music festival bundles. It seems that large brands are taking advantage of the opportunity to buy multiple sponsorships through one vendor. Take that Live Nation.

“Watch radio” via Joost’s new Jigsaw app. READ ON to find out more…

The Band – Complete Last Waltz [FLAC, MP3]

Most folks don’t realize that the Capitol release of the Last Waltz isn’t an accurate representation of what went down at The Band’s last concert on November 25, 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom. Robbie Robertson took the tapes of the concert into the studio where most of the vocals and some of the music were overdubbed. Not only that, a number of tunes from the show – including a Richard Manuel-sung cover of Georgia On My Mind – were left on the cutting room floor.

Luckily, the master tapes have circulated completely unadulterated. What we’ve got for you today is the complete, dub-free, raw soundboard of the entire Thanksgiving evening show from 1976 at Winterland, running about 241 minutes. Robbie Robertson can save his version, this recording makes you feel as if you are at the show. We especially dig the urgent vocals on King Harvest and the powerful original take of Rag Mama Rag.

READ ON for a full list of the 17 tracks omitted from the official Capitol release, as found on The Trader’s Den website…

Tickets for most of Phish’s summer tour go onsale this morning and hopefully you’ve taken a few moments to familarize yourself with Live Nation’s ticketing system. Head to livenation.com at 10AM EST for Jones Beach, Camden, Burgettstown and Deer Creek ducats. Asheville goes onsale at 10AM through ticketmaster.com and the remaining tickets for the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis at 11AM EST through metrotix.com.

Best of luck to everyone trying for tickets. At least you’re not in the cold. When you’re finished let us know how you did by leaving a comment below…

A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?

After days of false alarms, the lineup for April 17-19’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has finally been released. READ ON after the jump for the full press release including all the details on this year’s event…

Grammy recipients and longtime HT favorites The Swell Season make their Austin City Limits debut this weekend in an episode that also features Englishman Nick Lowe. Lowe’s best known for his production work with Elvis Costello, but he’s been writing and performing for over 40 years.

Friday [all times Eastern]:

• David Letterman: The Gaslight Anthem [CBS 11:35PM]
• Craig Ferguson: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings [CBS 12:35AM]
• Conan O’Brien: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds [NBC 12:37AM]

Saturday:

• Austin City Limits: Swell Season [PBS Check Local Listings]
• Concert Film: Let’s Spend The Night Together [PLD HD 3PM]
• Saturday Night Live: Jason Mraz [NBC 11:30PM]

Sunday:

• Concert Film: Springsteen Live in Barcelona [PLD HD 1PM]
• Classic Albums: Who’s Next [VH1 Classic 4PM]
• Concert Film: The Hives @ Terminal 5 [PLD HD 5:45PM]

Last Friday, Brooklyn fans welcomed Tea Leaf Green for their first-ever performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Of course many of the faithful had been with the band from the last two nights at Mexicali Blues. They were grinning from ear to ear as they spoke of shows that brought the magic back, Reed Mathis singing, Josh Clark playing harmonica and the reintroduction of favorite songs that had fallen by the wayside during the band’s new transition. Filling the venue with their faces painted and bouncing balloons from the upper decks, it felt more like a re-birth than a rock show.

[All words by Carla Danca, photos by Jeremy Gordon]

The band has always had the strong musical personalities of Trevor Garrod and Josh Clark moving it forward, but it’s been Reed Mathis that has been the fan focus of late. Many understood that it would take time to integrate his magical gifts and diverse abilities to push the band to new heights, however this didn’t eliminate some of the frustration fans felt. During this run, it was apparent that the Reed they had been waiting for had arrived.

Looking more comfortable on stage (in his dapper hat) his body language showed off the new dynamic. Instead of standing on the side following, Reed was seizing the moment and showing off his immense skills. Leading the band into funky jams, taking Josh Clark’s challenges and throwing them back – with a smile – and joining in on harmonies with Trevor, the band has a rich new blend that sounds energetic and exciting again.

READ ON for more of Carla’s words and Jeremy’s photos from TLG…

While mega-coffee chain Starbucks expects to make layoffs and close a number of stores this year, they still seem to knock it out of the park with their custom-made compilation albums. Their latest mix, Sweetheart: Our Favorite Artists Sing Their Favorite Love Song, hits stores tomorrow.

The fourteen track disc features the likes of She & Him, Death Cab For Cutie, Rogue Wave, A.C. Newman, Ben Bridwell (of Band Of Horses), DeVotchKa and more tackling songs from the likes of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, The Cure, a-ha, George Harrison and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

• List Time: Top Ten Sleepiest Albums
• Saturday’s Silver Jews show will likely be the band’s last
• Cover Alert: Bon Iver tackles Feist
• Pepsi ad featuring Zimmy & Will.I.Am to air during the Super Bowl?
• The Hold Steady to play Rachel Ray’s SXSW party
• Bonus Cover: ScarJo tackles Jeff Buckley

Finally, between their best selling new album – Black Ice – and current extended world tour, the last few months have been big for AC/DC. Next up for the legendary Aussie-rockers will be a special performance on April 5 in Houston, TX at Wrestlemania XXV where the band will be performing the event’s theme song, along with another tune from their catalog.