MTVU has just premiered the latest video from the Disco Biscuits’ Planet Anthem LP for the track Widgets. Peep the return of the disco robot…

Disco Biscuits – Widgets

Longtime friend of HT Richard Gehr’s latest post on the Headcount Blog looks at the continuing trend of artists covering albums – of their own or by other artists – and he hits upon a number of really good points. Yes, bands need to stop covering Dark Side of the Moon and yes, many artists cover albums for the wrong reasons.

We also agree with a number of ideas RG has for future full album performances including Phish playing Rift, Prince rocking Purple Rain and Pavement working up Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Check out DaveO’s B List for ten examples of bands that followed in Phish’s footsteps by covering complete albums by other artists and be sure to read Richard’s article.

Here’s a look at six other stories of interest on this hump day…

• Details on Neil Young’s Archive Volume 2 have come out
• TBR shares video from last night’s Appalachian Voices gig
• A clever teen posed as a reporter to meet Macca in 1974
• UM’s Joel Cummins performed Orfeo in downtown Denver
• Jim Loughlin and Yolk will reunite on Aug. 28 in Binghampton
• Randy Ray chats with Jake Cinninger about Ali Baba’s Tahini

Finally, My Morning Jacket bassist Two-Tone Tommy wouldn’t tell Relix who will be opening the band’s upcoming five-show “complete albums” run at Terminal 5 as the details weren’t confirmed at the time of the interview. Today the group has shared the names of the openers and they include Dungen on October 18, Hacienda on the 19th, Elvis Perkins in Dearland on the 21st, Holy Miranda on the 22nd and Everest on the 23rd.

We’re not even into August, but that hasn’t stopped a few bands from announcing plans for New Year’s Eve shows. For instance, Relix cover boys moe. have just revealed that they will close out their 20th anniversary year with a two-night stand at the House of Blues in Boston, MA on December 30th and 31st. Two-show ticket packages, priced at $75, go on sale this Saturday at 11AM EDT through moe. ticketing. moe. hasn’t performed on New Year’s Eve since a December 31, 2007 gig at Radio City Music Hall. A word to the wise for the band – do not puff backstage at that venue.

It seems like everywhere you look the music media is focusing on the tough times the live music industry has hit this summer. Previously hot acts such as the Jonas Brothers, Christina Aguilera and Kings of Leon are having trouble selling tickets and Live Nation keeps on announcing new sales gimmicks to fill empty sheds. We like to focus on the positives and there’s plenty of acts bucking the downward trend including Colorado’s Pretty Lights.

Pretty Lights Opening For STS9 @ Red Rocks ’09

We tried pulling tickets for Pretty Lights’ first headlining gig at Red Rocks on August 7th and got the “no tickets are available for this event” message indicating a sell out. Colorado has always supported home grown talent, but it’s still unbelievable to see how quickly Pretty Lights – the moniker of DJ Derek Vincent Smith – rose from performing at small clubs to selling out one of the premier venues in the nation. Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits have been around for 12 and 15 years respectively and couldn’t fill Red Rocks with a bunch of support acts in tow this summer.

Regardless of what you think of PL’s music – and there are quite a few haters out there who feel he doesn’t do enough on stage – Smith has made a connection with music fans and has built his brand on the back of relentless gigging and freely distributed albums. Now that Pretty Lights has reached this high level of success so quickly, the hard part will be keeping it up for the next few years and onwards. The Samples sold out Red Rocks back in the mid ’90s and their career went downhill from there, so future growth isn’t a given. We’re rooting for Pretty Lights to take it to the next level.

Brock Butler 07/14/2010 SBD Matrix [MP3, FLAC, STREAM]

It’s a big deal around the ScottyB household when new recordings of Brock Butler’s solo gigs go up on the Live Music Archive, especially when they are from lengthy, three-set gigs in which the Perpetual Groove front man performs a diverse mix of covers with a few of his best originals thrown in for good measure. Back on July 14th Brock broke out his acoustic and loop machine for a last-minute show at the Pawley’s Island Tavern in Pawley’s Island, SC and “Team Dirty South” captured all the action for a high-quality matrix recording that they’ve shared via the LMA.

Brock starts off with a tender as fuck version of Paul Simon’s Slip, Sliding Away and continues with a joyous cover of Jessica by the Allman Brothers in which he plays double leads with himself thanks to his looping machine. Speaking of the loops – which are an integral part of Butler’s acoustic gigs – Brock gives a pretty damn cool demonstration of the machine after covering Norwegian Wood.

Over three sets The Rev treats what seems like an intimate crowd to rousing versions of Steely Dan’s Haitian Divorce, Tom Petty’s Don’t Come Around Here No More and Lionel Richie’s All Night Long. There’s also gorgeous covers of Ooh Child by the Five Stairsteps, Long May You Run by Neil Young and Brock’s signature version of Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place) by the Talking Heads. Yet the top moments of this recording are the originals, namely The Weather and The Wait and what could be my all-time favorite song – It Starts Where It Ends. Don’t sleep on this one folks, if you’re not familiar with Brock’s solo shows this recording is a great place to start.

It’s no secret that musicians in the jam scene have a tendency to come up with some pretty random monikers when it comes time to name the band. Just the other day, a friend and I were chatting about how RAQ came up with their name, as we had always heard they  initially took it from a Beastie Boys tune. Sure enough, in an interview before a 2005 show at the 8150 Club in Vail, the boys tell the story of how the name RAQ came to be…

After reuniting from an extended hiatus, RAQ performed a knockout show at the Bowery Ballroom on April 30 of this year and most recently slayed at Camp Bisco 9. Their next live performance comes in the headlining slot for the Big Up Festival in Ghent, NY on August 5-7.

The Pitchfork team has always been ahead of the curve, so much so that at one point we stopped being surprised by their innovative ideas. But the publication’s latest creation, the POV Concert Series, is such a great concept that we had to write a post about it.

Here’s how it works: a P4K-friendly band takes the stage at a small venue where six cameras are set up. Instead of having a director chop up the six shots into his or her idea of how to present them, the viewer can pick which of the six views they want to see and can switch between the angles at any point. The POV series is the perfect antidote for the majority of professionally shot, multi-camera concert footage which changes angles so fast you don’t get a chance to get comfortable with what you’re watching. Want to focus on the band’s drummer for a song? That’s your choice with POV.

• POV Concert Series: Broken Social Scene

The first episode of POV features Broken Social Scene performing three songs at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. With nine musicians on stage, BSS is the perfect band for the POV concept as you can watch this footage over and over again focusing on something different each time. The set starts with a beautiful ambient improv that shows this band can jam without any noodling. From there we’re treated to energetic takes on Texico Bitches and Meet Me In The Basement. We can’t wait to see what other bands Pitchfork has filmed for this “Choose Your Own Adventure” series.

We’re closing in on My Morning Jacket’s five-night stand at NYC’s Terminal 5 in which the group will perform each of its studio albums in their entirety. Jarrod Dicker spoke with MMJ co-founder and bassist Tom “Two-Tone Tommy” Blankenship about the dates for an interesting Relix.com feature. Among the nuggets of info Dicker extracts from Two-Tone Tommy is that ex-MMJer Danny Cash might join the band for the first two shows.

Speaking of shows in New York City, last Wednesday we shared the news that Arcade Fire would webcast its August 5th performance at Madison Square Garden. At the time there were rumors that Spike Jonze would be directing the broadcast, but it turns out the directing gig went to Monty Python vet Terry Gilliam. Tune in to YouTube’s Arcade Fire – Unstaged channel at 10PM EDT on the 5th to watch all the action from MSG.

Following up on another story we covered, it turns out all the chatter of a Beach Boys reunion may have been a bit premature. Beach Boy Mike Love tells Billboard.com that “there have been a lot of ideas floated, but nothing decided. So far it’s just conversation. There are no big plans yet — although there’s a lot of interest from a lot of people to see what would happen if we got together and did some new music and maybe did some shows. But so far nothing’s firm.”  We think there’s too much money on the table for the band to pass up a lucrative reunion tour in 2011.

Words and Images: Allison Taich

Northwest String Summit @ Horning’s Hideout, July 16-18

The Northwest String Summit (NWSS) celebrated its ninth anniversary July 16-18, 2010 at Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon. The three day music festival hosted by Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) included a cumulative nine hours worth of live YMSB, plus an outstanding roundup of string musicians including: Danny Barnes, Darol Anger and Great American Taxi. The Rhythm Devils and moe. both joined the fun electrifying the otherwise acoustic lineup.

There were several factors that set the NWSS apart from all other music festivals I have attended. For starters the grounds of Horning’s Hideout were immaculate. The layout was full of rolling hills, thick forests of lush browns and greens, a streaming river, pleasant lakes, wooded camp grounds, fearless wild peacocks and the list goes on. Every personality I crossed was more exceptional than the next; fans who attended wanted to be there, they were there for the music. There was no seedy scene, no pushy or undesirable individuals, simply people looking to celebrate acoustic music and have a good time. At nighttime the forests echoed with the plucking of strings from varying campsite jams, followed by the hoots and hollers of excited festival goers.

Music wise there was only one stage meaning one band played at a time. There was no overlapping, no running back and forth, no missing portions of sets and no need to leave sets early in order to catch another band. Each band laid down a winning performance making it hard to select a favorite. It seemed that every performance was charged by audience enthusiasm and energy. Bands reciprocated by churning out some of the wildest sets of acoustic music. READ ON for more from Allison on the NWSS…

Odds are if you’ve read this site you’re familiar with the Phish Spreadsheet. Our pal Hoydog23 started the project a few years back by compiling download links to Phish shows on a handy Google Spreadsheet. Hoydog23 has just told us that as of last night the Phish Spreadsheet is “complete.”

The document now houses links to a mind-blowing 1,244 shows in v0 MP3 format, all tagged and ready for iTunes. It winds up covering a little over 80% of the total 1,546 shows that Phish is known to have played. If anyone comes across anything that is missing (shows, sets or individual songs), please email him at hoydog23@gmail.com. We can’t thank Hoydog enough for the massive amount of time and energy he has put into this project. Be sure to check out his blog and thank him for his efforts if you use the doc.

It was originally “Deadhead Haven: A Gathering of the Tribe,” & people came. And they kept coming. And 15 years on, the Tribe’s still coming for Gathering of the Vibes, which has long since achieved veteran festival status & amazingly, manages to stuff its lineup that much tighter every year without sacrificing any of the comfort & just plain old manageability that makes it the choice festival for many concergoers over bigger, glitzier events.

Longtime promoter, Terrapin Presents president and avowed Deadhead Ken Hays knows this, of course. And it’s top of mind again this year, just as it has been for each of the Vibes’ previous 14 installments. Furthur will be there. So will Jimmy Cliff, Nas and Damian Marley, and the latest incarnation of Rhythm Devils, plus a glut of other top-flight acts on two stages.

Hidden Track caught up with the unflappable – and relentlessly busy — Hays this week, as Gathering of the Vibes 2010 prepares to get underway Thursday afternoon at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn.

HIDDEN TRACK: Kind of amazing we’re going to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Gathering of the Vibes. Is it safe to say you didn’t imagine this kind of longevity at the outset?

KEN HAYS: No, I mean it all started in such an organic way. I’d seen over 300 Dead shows and knew people everywhere, but when Jerry died, both me and a lot of my friends knew we weren’t going to be able to see each other – we’d have to all go our separate ways after that. So, a bunch of my friends and I got together and said we’d have a party to celebrate Jerry’s life and the music of the Dead, and on Memorial Day Weekend in 1996, we went to SUNY Purchase college and produced what we called “Deadhead Haven: A Gathering of the Tribe” for 3,500 people. From there it grew exponentially. But it was totally out of default. We had no idea what we were doing. We just wanted to throw a party.

READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Ken Hays…

The Ryan Montbleau Band’s next studio album, Heavy on the Vine, comes out on September 21st, but we don’t have to wait that long to get a taste of what we can expect from the Martin Sexton-produced disc. Ryan has shared two “homemade” videos featuring live versions of songs from the album including this clip of Carry that was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard…

Ryan Montbleau – Carry

While Ryan performs Carry solo acoustic, his band mates join him for an
“in-the-van” version of My Best Guess, also off of Heavy on the Vine.

On August 24 !!! – pronounced Chk Chk Chk for those who want to Google them – will release their fourth studio album and first in three years, Strange Weather Isn’t It, via Warp Records. The dance-rock act, who had previously announced a headlining set at the August 15 Pool Party at the Williamsburg Waterfront, has revealed the North American leg of their lengthy world tour which will kick off on September 4 in Los Angeles with an appearance at the FYF Festival and will run through the end of November.

If you’re not into a night with post-dance-rockers, than maybe you’ll be interest in one of these recently announced tours…

• Michael Franti & Spearhead put together a massive fall tour
• Justin Townes Earle to head out in support on his new album
• Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s hit the road this September
• Kruder & Dorfmeister announce a handful of rare US club gigs
• Sigur Ros front man Jónsi lines up a lengthy North American run
• Hip hop act Atmosphere hit cities in the Midwest and West coast

Finally, on September 14 former Blips selection J. Tillman will release his seventh studio album, Singing Ax. The album, produced by Steve Albini, is said to have a very sparse sound with “lyrics [which] are predominately third-person narratives, save for a few stock-in-trade existential musings, such as the title track.” Tillman, who still holds down the drumming duties for the Fleet Foxes, will head out for a 13-date solo run with alt.country act Phosphorescent in tow starting tonight at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Back on Thursday we spread the word that Gorillaz’s Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour 2010 would hit North America in October. While we’re still awaiting confirmation of exactly which venues the tour will stop at, Murdoc Niccals, self-proclaimed “King of Gorillaz,” has been tweeting up a storm lately and sharing clues about the cities his band will play.

Our pal and HT contributor Andy Kahn has been keeping track of Niccals’ tweets and shares his guesses about which city the tweet refers to…

Guess the City USA Clue: I’m the real Green Monster, what is this imposter in Boston? We may have to pay him a visit.

Boston

Guess the City USA Clue: Headed to the Big Apple to make the most famous venue on earth way, way more famous.

New York City – MSG

Guess the City USA Clue: Murdoc is dead-set on streaking across Michele’s lawn. We should try to make his dream come true

DC

UPDATE [07/27 9:45AM]: The full list of North American Tour Dates has been confirmed…

10/03 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
10/05 – Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theatre
10/06 – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
10/08 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
10/10 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
10/11 – Fairfax, VA @ Patriot Center
10/13 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
10/14 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
10/16 – Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
10/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
10/19 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
10/20 – Dallas, TX @ Verizon Theatre
10/22 – Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
10/24 – Denver, CO @ Wells Fargo Theatre
10/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
10/27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre
10/30 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
11/02 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
11/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena

READ ON for the rest of Murdoc’s tweets our guesses…

The folks at Phish Inc. have dropped yet another official video from the first leg of summer tour. This clip shows one of the highlights from the June 26th show at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD – the Wolfman’s Brother. Mike takes control of this jam and never looks back…

Phish – Wolfman’s Brother