It’s safe to say that without the tireless efforts of Alan Lomax, the world may never have been introduced to the likes of Woody Guthrie, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly or countless other musicians the folklorist and ethnomusicologist recorded on dusty back roads, barns or just about anywhere else he could set up his recording gear. Lomax spent his entire career making field recordings of folk and traditional music, both in the U.S. and abroad, amassing a collection of 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs and piles of manuscripts. Some 17,000 tracks from his weighty collection, which he envisioned as “global jukebox” to be disseminated and analyzed, have been digitized and will be made available for the first time for free streaming beginning at the end of February.
List Time: 30 Great Leonard Cohen Covers That Aren’t Hallelujah
Finally, earlier this week we hipped you to the 37-minute Neil Young & Crazy Horse jam, that the legendary singer-songwriter had posted to his website this past weekend, which had many speculating that this was the precursor to an announcement of a full-fledged tour. Well it’s looking that things may be heading that way, as yesterday it was announced that Young and his longtime on and off again band will be appearing at the MusicCares Person of the Year Gala honoring Sir Paul McCartney on February 10 at the L.A. Convention Center, marking their first public appearance since wrapping the Greendale tour back in March of 2004. In another sign that we’re headed towards some live shows from the muscular outfit, Rolling Stone is reporting that Neil and the band recently wrapped work on a studio album – so if you ask us, we suggest you start saving your pennies for their inevitable return to road.
Thanks in part to the H.O.R.D.E. Tour the mid to late ’90s could easily be looked at as the golden age of jambands, with regional bands turning into national touring acts thanks to an open-minded and enthusiastic fan base that where eager to discover the next big thing. Among the crop of bands that sprang up during this boom was The Big Wu, who formed at St. Olaf College in 1992 and earned a fervent following around the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Minnesota-based act, who hold the distinction of being the first band on at the inaugural Bonnaroo in 2002, will celebrate their 20th anniversary next month with a nine-date mostly Minnesota-based run. The tour will fittingly kick off on February 10, at their old haunt The Cabooze, in Minneapolis, where they served as the venue’s house band in the mid-90s, that will serve as their official 20th anniversary performance, and will likely see The Big Wu’s original guitar player Jason Fladger reunite with his old band mates for a mini-set.
If you’re not into a night with the Minnesota-based jamband, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
It’s safe to say that Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland is near and dear to a lot of folks’ hearts around HT headquarters. The landmark album was considered somewhat of a “comeback” record for the legendary singer-songwriter, who was coming off the disappointment of 1983′s Hearts & Bones, which at the time had many considering if Simon’s best days were already behind him. The Queens native answered those skeptics in a resounding way, with an album that helped to introduce the poly-rhythmic sounds of South African Soweto and world-beat music to a global audience and in the process took home Grammys for both album and record of the year as well as went five times platinum in the United States, and sold some 14 million copies worldwide.
The album was a bit of a controversial undertaking at the time as Simon recorded a good portion of Graceland in South Africa which was still under apartheid rule. While Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott of the country, with some critics feeling it impeded progress towards abolishing South Africa’s system of racial segregation. This was not the view of the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee who supported Simon’s use of local black musicians. Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the album, which is the subject of a new the documentary Under African Skies, a film that chronicles the making the the record, the subsequent tour, which lasted five years, and Simon’s return to South Africa last year. The movie, which recently premiered at Sundance, will receive a limited theatrical run and air on A&E this spring and will also be included as part of the 25th anniversary Graceland box set. Let’s check out the trailer…
Bring up the date July 28, 1973 and there is a certain percentage of music fans that will immediately know its significance, as it saw three of the most iconic and influential bands of all-time – the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and The Band – all performed at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway for Summer Jam ’73. While there’s been plenty written about this historic concert, which reportedly drew a larger crowd than Woodstock, we’ve got a pretty cool homemade video to share with you today from a group of friends that documented their journey to the fest from Chicago. The nine-minute documentary of sorts, has some fantastic visuals from their road trip, as well as some shots of the Dead and The Band on stage, with the narrator chronicling the entire thing. Let’s check it out…
We first wrote about The War On Drugs all the way back in January of 2009, when we introduced you to the Philadelphia-based act’s blend of Dylan-influenced Americana meets the drone of Velvet Underground-infused lo-fi psych-rock via our ongoing Blips feature. Last year the band released their critically acclaimed sophomore effect Slave Ambient, which landed at number five on our Top 25 list. Earlier this week the band dropped this unbelievably intense music video for the track Brothers, which is equally parts creepy as it is cinematically shot. Let’s check it out…
Over the last few years HT faves Wilco have launched their own music festival, started their own label, played innovative tours in their hometown of Chicago and even sold their own brand of coffee, but the one thing that they haven’t done, at least since 1999, is make a music video. That changed yesterday as Jeff Tweedy & Co. released a new animated video for the tune Dawned On Me, but this isn’t your straight up clip. For their first video in over a decade the band teamed up with the folks at King Features for an animated video that features not only the band as cartoon characters, but also the studio’s iconic characters Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto, Whimpy and Swee’ Pea in their first hand-drawn, frame-by-frame rendering for Popeye cell animation since the Popeye and Son series from 1987.
In addition to the video, Wilco and Kings Features also launched a full on interactive website, which features links to a live version of Dawned On Me, their iTunes session and more. Let’s check it out…
Finally, to say that Fiona Apple has had a rocky relationship with her record label might be a bit of an understatement, as the singer-songwriter has seemed to consistently battle with her bosses at Epic over the last decade to get her music released. The tempestuous Apple, who has only released three studio albums since 1996, her last being 2005′s Extraordinary Machine, has reportedly been finished with her latest for well over a year. Well earlier this week Epic Records head honcho L.A. Reid tweeted the following, “Lots of good music coming from @Epic_Records in the next few weeks. Stay tuned music fans. Welcome back Fiona!” A spokesperson for Epic confirmed to Time that Apple’s new album would indeed be released, but an exact date had yet to be determined.
Over the last few years M. Ward has been spending a good majority of his time concentrating on collaborative projects, with both the indie-folk super-group Monsters Of Folk, who released their debut in 2009; and She & Him, his vintage-pop collaboration with doe-eyed actress Zooey Deschanel, putting out their sophomore album, as well as a holiday record. For 2012, the singer-songwriter will go back to being a solo act, as Ward will release his seventh studio album A Wasteland Companion on April 10 via his longtime label Merge Records. The day following the album’s release, Matt will head out for a 20-date cross-country tour, which kicks off with a gig at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco, and will see him get support from Jonathan Richman, the newly reunited fiREHORSE and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo at various stops during the run.
If you’re not into a night with Matt’s brand of patina drenched sounds, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
Of the slew of quotable lines in the 1996 movie Swingers, there is one in the beginning casino scene where Vince Vaughn’s character Trent tells a cocktail waitress, “I want you to remember this face, here. Okay? This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.” That line might be the best way to introduce you to Jonathan Wilson, who over the last few years has been “that guy,” working with an impressive laundry list of musicians as both a side man and a producer, while helping to revitalize the Laurel Canyon music scene.
Wilson, who originally hails from Forest Hills, North Carolina, has logged time in the studio with the likes of Chris Robinson, Vetiver, Erykah Badu, Jenny Lewis and Elvis Costello, as well as produced J. Tillman’s (Fleet Foxes) upcoming record and both of Dawes’ studio albums at his Echo Park recording studio – Five Star Studio.
Wilson’s former home in Laurel Canyon had also been the site of much buzzed about private Wednesday night jam sessions that he began with Robinson back in 2006 and have featured another impressive list that reads like a who’s who of both classic rock and contemporary indie acts. While doing all these extracurricular activities, Wilson was also writing songs of his own and last year quietly released his proper debut album Gentle Spirit, a gentle sprawling 13-track album of sun-baked, psychedelic-tinged folk-rock, which became something of an under the radar critically acclaimed hit.
As we head into the home stretch of the first month of the year, the release that I’ve been eagerly anticipating in the early stages of 2012 is Be The Void, the latest studio album from HT faves Dr. Dog, which hits stores via venerable indie label ANTI on February 7. Last month, along with revealing a slew of tour dates in support of the record, the Philly-based psych-pop act offered up a first taste of what’s to come with a very lo-fi homespun video for the album’s lead single, That Old Black Hole. The propulsive track, which features everything we’ve come to love about the band’s ability to mesh The Beatles and The Band, has gotten the proper music video treatment, with Dr. Dog showing off their goofy side. Let’s check it out…
Dr. Dog kick off a lengthy winter tour on February 1, at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio and includes a two-night tour ending hometown stand at the Electric Factory on March 24 and 25.
After a lockout threatened to cancel the season, and then 17 weeks of regular season games, and another two of playoff games, we’ve finally reached the penultimate week of the National Football League’s season with the conference championship games, which will decide who will face off against each other in Super Bowl XLVI, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, on February 5. Sunday’s early game features the team of the aughts, the New England Patriots, hosting the the defensive minded Baltimore Ravens at 3 PM ET at Gillette Stadium, with the late game seeing the underrated San Francisco 49ers squaring off against the hottest team in the NFL right now, the New York Football Giants, at 6:30 PM ET at Candlestick Park. So with that in mind, we’ve put together a compilation of eight tracks from bands that call these cities home. So sit back, enjoy and play it loud!!!
We kick things off with Beantown up and comers Aunt Martha, whose sound falls somewhere between My Morning Jacket and Wilco, with No Excuses from their 2009 effort Candymaker. From there, we’ve got classic rockers Boston with More Than A Feeling, the lead track from their 17-times platinum self-titled debut. Then, we’ve got a pair from two acts that call Baltimore home. First up is folk-pop duo Wye Oak with Civilian, the title track from their much buzzed about and critically acclaimed debut album. Next, it’s former Blips act J Roddy Walston & The Business, with the boozy rocker Don’t Break The Needle from their highly recommended debut.
Last summer the music world lost the great Clarence Clemons, who passed away due to complications from a stroke. The loss of The Big Man left many wondering about the future of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Well, that question was answered when The Boss announced plans hit the road in a major way with his longtime band in 2012, in support of a new record. Earlier this week we finally got details about the new album, as on March 6, Springsteen & Co. will release Wrecking Ball, which is being described by Rolling Stone as a “politically charged disc about the current state of America.”
As an advance taste of what’s to come, the band dropped the single for the album’s opening track – We Take Care Of Our Own. Give it a listen…
Following in the footsteps of a number of legacy artists looking to connect with a younger audience, Dr. John tapped Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach to produce his latest studio album, Locked Down. The album, which will hit stores on April 3 via Nonesuch Records, was recorded at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in Nashville and features a number of young artists handpicked by him to play alongside the Night Tripper. As part of the promotion for the album, it was announced that Mac will play a three-weekend residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music titled Dr. John: Insides Out. The gigs, which will take place from March 29 through April 14, each focus on a separate theme and feature different musicians.
Here are the official details…
The centerpiece of the residency is a three-night run of concerts in which Auerbach will join Dr. John and a handpicked band to premiere new music from the album at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, April 5–7. Dr. John: Insides Out begins the previous weekend, March 29–31, with a tribute to Louis Armstrong, and concludes April 12–15 with Funky But It’s Nu Awlins, a funk-infused night of New Orleans music, featuring key players from the Crescent City.
Finally, a little over a year ago we reported that Pete Shaprio would be bringing his bowling alley-concert venue-gastropub concept to the Windy City, with the opening of Chicago Bowl in 2012. While, there is no update on just when it will open, another one of New York City’s unique venues has announced plans to head to the Second City, as Michael Dorf revealed that he will be opening an outpost of City Winery there. Set to open this summer in the city’s West Loop, the 30,000-square-foot venue, which will be located in the ground floor of the old Carson Pirie Scott building at 1200 W. Randolph, will feature a fully operational winery, restaurant with outdoor patio, concert hall, and private event space, and feature over 200 concerts a year.
Since bursting onto the scene with their 2006 self-titled album Rodrigo Y Gabriela have built a reputation for being a dynamic live act showcasing their rhythmic blend of fast picking, driving acoustic guitar music. On January 24 the Mariachi Metal duo will release their sixth studio album Area 52 via ATO Records. The record, produced by Peter Asher, features nine tracks from their catalog that have been re-imagined and re-recorded with the help of 13-piece Cuban orchestra known as C.U.B.A.
This spring, Rod y Gab will bring the C.U.B.A. on the road with them for a cross-country tour, marking the first time that the duo have toured with a backing band. The 17-date U.S. run kicks off on April 3 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Wash., and includes a high profile stop at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on April 20, as well as an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4.
If you’re not into a night of Mariachi Metal music, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
For those of you who don’t know who Kathleen Edwards is, you’re going to be hearing her name a lot in the coming days, weeks and months, as the critically acclaimed Canadian alt.country singer will release her fourth studio album Voyageur tomorrow via Zoe/Rounder Records. Edwards was looking to get away from the singer-songwriter mold of her previous work, and make an album more inline with the indie rock that she had been listening to before entering the studio. So what’s the big deal about that? Well, she was able to nab none other than Mr. Bon Iver himself, Justin Vernon, who had previously cited Edwards music as an influence, to co-produce it. Recorded at Vernon’s new April Base studio in Fall Creek, Wisc., the ten-track record has his fingerprints all over it, as he added his now unmistakable guitar tone, as well as a layer of lushness by contributing his signature haunting vocals.
Vernon isn’t the only notable guest to lend a hand, as Norah Jones, Phil Cook (Megafaun), S. Carey (Bon Iver), John Roderick (The Long Winters) and France & The Lights all make appearances on Voyageur (which is currently streaming as part of NPR Music’s First Listen series). The other big story to come out of these recording sessions is something that may be more fitting for indie-rock’s version of US Weekly, as Edwards and Vernon began dating during the record sessions. Kathleen Edwards kicks off her 28-date world tour with a gig at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, Illin. on January 24, but prior to that will stop by the Ed Sullivan Theater for an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman tomorrow night.
Let’s check out the on road style music video for the track Change The Sheets…
Back in September we shared Fanfarlo’s video for Replicate, which served as a very advance first taste of the UK-based indie-pop act’s sophomore album Rooms Filled With Light, which will be released on February 28. Produced by Ben H. Allen, who was the man behind the boards for Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, the record sees the band ditching the odd instrumentation and folkie elements of their debut, which garnered them comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel, for synths and drum machines. Let’s check out the video for the second single off their forthcoming album, Shiny Things…
Fanfarlo will kick off the North American leg of their world tour on March 5, at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA and wraps with high profile appearances at Coachella in Indio, Calif., which has been expanded to two consecutive weekends.
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