In an interview with Revolutions Live back in May 2002, Umphrey’s McGee noted that several musicians were dying while they were on tour, and there was only one thing they could do in response: play one of the late artist’s songs.

RL: So, do you guys take into consideration where you are playing, as far as what songs you play?

Ryan: Yeah, when we were in L.A. we were like, “We’ve gotta do Guns-N-Roses (from Indiana) meets Motley Crue (from L.A.).” We did “Dr. Feelgood” into “Paradise City.”

Jake: L.A.’s the kind of town where you don’t want to play a lot of happier, hippier kind of stuff. You save that for San Francisco.

Ryan: But, if someone passes away or its someone’s birthday…

Jake: So, if you die, we will cover one of your songs.

Ryan: Well, we were in Seattle when they found Layne Staley, even though he had been dead for two weeks, so we played some Alice in Chains.

Brendan: And we gave out mad love to “Left Eye” Lopes, George Harrison, Waylon Jennings.

Ryan: Yeah, who’s next? We had a lot of people die on our last tour.

Brendan: People die though. If we had stayed home, they would have died too.

Joel: That’s true.

While Brendan is right, the artists certainly would have died had they stayed home – it is a bit eerie how the geography worked out as UM rolled into town for timely tributes to Nate Dogg (Los Angeles), Layne Staley (Seattle) and Owsley Stanley (San Francisco).

We’ve thrown together all the musical tributes for this week’s B List, complete with streaming audio embeds. For the later shows you can head over to umlive.net to purchase individual tracks for download – and for you musicians out there, maybe watch your step when UM comes next to your town.

1) George Harrison: Various

Download Here: 11/30/2001 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL

When George Harrison passed UM didn’t perform any one song in a musical tribute, but rather snippets of a number of appropriate passages. First they tagged the end of Roulette with the outro of The Beatles’ You Never Give Me Your Money and its appropriate lyrics, “1-2-3-4-5-6-7, all good children go to heaven.” At the end of the first set, Hurt Bird Bath had the end of another Harrison penned Beatles tune added on, this one the more well known Something.

Brendan worked the phrase “All Things Must Pass” twice into the lyrics of Hajimemashite, what would come to be a standard lyric in later years. And finally, Umphrey’s tackled the Beatles instrumental Flying, one of the few compositions credited to the entire band.

Roulette > You Never Give Me Your Money

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Hurt Bird Bath > Something

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Hajimemashite

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Flying

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Rarely will a band come around that encapsulates the full spectrum of what we try to do here at Hidden Track. As purveyors of improvisational music, indie rock, Americana and general open-mindedness, there’s a very short list of bands who embrace those same interests in one fell swoop. However, Montreal-based Plants and Animals are one of those rare anomalies.

[Photo by Caroline Desilets]

Taking their latest standout album, The End of That, as case in point, Plants and Animals take sharp sonic turns from track to track, embraces instrumental experimentation, writes concise and distinctive songs, and pull from endless musical references. It’s a gratifying album if for no other reason than to explore the diverse set of music you hear sourced (I thought of Ray LaMontange, Wilco, Built to Spill, Lou Reed, and Matthew Sweet in that order).

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The Civil Wars @ Paramount Theatre – January 19

“Delicate” can be a dirty word; a few shades in the wrong direction and your sound is too quaint, or too cutesy, or too precious, or too twee, or so ethereal as to be vapor. So you have to hand it to Joy Williams and John Paul White, the singing, strumming duo that comprise The Civil Wars. They lean delicate and almost effortlessly find that sweet spot where gentle meets rich, holding steady in that spot with a combination of slightly mischievous personality, rock-solid chemistry, sturdy songwriting and that most reliable of musician crowd-slayers: the unimpeachably beautiful male-female vocal harmony.

I mean, wow. You hear these two flex their voices over song after song of longing – sometimes defiant, sometimes pensive, sometimes tragic – and your mind melts away into their narratives, hooked to every vocal cadence and gently nudged by the strum of White’s guitar or, on occasion, the twinkle of Williams’ keyboard.

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Greensky Bluegrass @ Majestic Theater, December 30 & 31

On December 30 and 31, Michigan’s Greensky Bluegrass celebrated New Year’s at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. Although Greensky is still considered an up-and-coming act, this was no local party for friends and family. Rather, Greensky managed to turn Detroit into a destination for NYE 2011-2012 as fans had traveled from far and wide – even internationally – to ring in the New Year with a band whose gift for psychedelic improvisation and timeless originals is rivaled only by their reputation for throwing one helluva party.

[All Photos by Andrew Bender]

December 30

Opening both nights were The Macpodz out of neighboring Ann Arbor; and as in prior opening performances for Umphrey’s McGee and moe., they showed an amazing ability to kick off the party. Combining aspects of funk, jazz, rock, disco and various forms of infectious musical weirdness, the Macpodz eschew the usual guitar-driven jams for the danceable orchestration of keys and trumpet, percussion and bass.

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[Originally Published: May 31, 2011]

The old wizard turned away from his creation, and vanished beyond the veil of illusion. One wonders if the world would ever see him again, let alone have any sort of real discourse about his hidden knowledge. As he glanced back one last time in the darkness, there was a bemused sparkling look in his eyes.

John Boorman’s Excalibur came out 30 years ago in 1981. As one previews the current onslaught of action hero films based predominantly on Marvel Comic adaptations, one is apt to look back at the legends of old, especially as this is being written on Memorial Day, a day when our culture celebrates our fallen heroes—in and out of battle.

Excalibur is an excellent feast for the eyes—the battle sequences are superb, and the scenery is both rugged and beautiful—and the ears—the soundtrack is a combination of classic pieces culled from the archives of some of the legendary musical figures of our past, and newer motifs written by Trevor Jones. Excalibur faired well with film goers 30 years ago, but its selection here is more so because of its quest for hidden knowledge, that which can bond and unite a nation, and give it purpose, as well.

Therefore, we extend a warm salute to a film about a hero named Arthur, his wife, Guinevere, his not-so-loyal knight, Lancelot, a wizard named Merlin, and a sword called Excalbur in this edition of Hidden Flick, John Boorman’s classic take on a legendary tale.

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Over the first few years of our existence, we welcomed one of our favorite writers, David Schultz of the Earvolution staff, to contribute features and reviews from time to time. It’s been a while since his last post for Hidden Track, but we’re happy to announce that will change in 2012 as today marks his first every-other-week column for us. David’s column, titled Hitting The Trunk Road, will offer a mix of reviews, opinions, editorializing and the like. For his first piece, David brings some much needed perspective into the conversation about Phish’s New Year’s Run.

To close out 2011, Phish returned to Madison Square Garden for a quickly sold-out set of four shows. Given that you are reading this column on this particular site, you are probably well aware of that fact as Hidden Track has been known to be partial to the boys from Vermont and may have written a few stories about the jamband poster-boys over the last few years. Unlike this fine section of the Web, the mainstream musical press tends to treat Phish, their penchant for selling out arenas on multiple dates and ability to anchor their own festivals with a bemused sense of admiration. They acknowledge the band’s accomplishments while condescendingly mocking its underpinnings. In a world where the music industry seems to have lost its ability to relate to its consumers, what does Phish do that no other band seems capable of doing and why can’t they seem to get any respect outside of its wide circle of friends?

[All Photos by Rob Chapman]

More than most bands, Phish fans draw sustenance from the camaraderie of their brethren, whether at the arena or sitting at home. It’s this devotion that elicits much of the mockery from Williamsburg and other non-Phish loving quarters. Attempts of fans to “review” any show or describe the experience aren’t helping matters…or advancing the field of music criticism. For any band that changes their set list on a daily basis, reviewing a single show tends to have the same effect of describing a snowstorm by writing about one of its snowflakes.

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To end 2011, Phish returned to New York City’s Madison Square Garden for a four-night stand that marked their second New Year’s Eve year in a row (and their sixth overall) at the venue. With memories of a very impressive run to end 2010 at MSG, as well as to start 2011, with the first-ever show on New Year’s Day, things seemed to really be clicking for the band. Throughout 2011, they made huge strides in playing and jamming as the year stretched onward, which all led up to this standalone New Year’s Run following no fall tour this year. What were the results? Anti-climatic at best musically, but still a lot of fun overall.

[Photo by Michael Stein]

Now, let me say something and be very clear: there is absolutely no place in the universe I’d rather be than at a Phish show. The vibe, the ENERGY, the people, the ritual are all things I live for and have toured the country to experience for many years. But, sometimes expectations exceed the performance, which seemingly happened this past week for many in attendance (and some watching at home, as the shows were broadcast live via pay-per-view streams). Were there standout moments? Absolutely! The problem was, they were far less frequent than we have come to expect from Phish, on New Year’s runs, and especially at Madison Square Garden. But, on the flip side, did I enjoy these shows as much as many other barnburners of 2011 and years past? Definitely. Just for different reasons than the music alone.

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[Originally Published: September 14, 2011]

Inevitably, during our various existential journeys, we seek another earth, another space to explore, we wander amidst the gloom, and ponder it all, and face the reality that some one, some thing, controls our fate. The prospects of what we want to be are somehow always clouded by the ghosts of what we were, right? To change all of that is to see the world through a child’s eyes, a kid-like point of view, eh?

Talihina Sky. Kings of Leon. Final edition—#15, 75 in total—of season 5.

The documentary appears so innocent at first, even in light of the current drunken events which have played out as the band has seemingly imploded due to the abnormal rigors of success and the ever-dangerous life spent on the road, traversing from clubs to big marquee gigs in arenas and, gasp, stadiums. Yes, they may be back, even before Oasis, but does anyone venture to hold their breath? Watch this film, and decide for yourself.

I first saw the quartet in a small theatre several years back, and one could see and hear and feel the passion coming forth from the stage. What was ironic was that I stated in a show review, for either a site or a magazine, I don’t recall, and who really cares, that I felt the band was ready for bigger and more expansive venues. I didn’t really know how that would happen, and no one was more surprised than me that it really DID happen—the Kings of Leon became an arena rock staple, while garnering a fairly large fan base.

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All week-long we’ve been counting down our staff’s picks for the best albums of 2011. Today, on the last workday of the year, we reveal the top of our list.

When Hidden Track was started in 2006 there were plenty of sites dedicated to indie rock and a slew of sites devoted to improvisational and classic rock bands, but few blogs (and bands for that matter) bridged the gap between the forms. That’s where we came in and five years later the results of our list shows that’s still where our staff’s interests lie, especially the album that fittingly took the top spot as our choice for the best album of 2011. Of particular note, the gap between #1 and #2 was one point. If any of our staffers would’ve put #2 one spot higher on their list we would’ve had a tie.

Thanks for following along all week. We now present our Top 5 Albums of 2011…

5) The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient

Key Tracks: Come To The City, Original Slave, Baby Missiles

Sounds Like: Stripped down Americana songs driven through the Brian Eno car wash

The Skinny: Prior to this record, The War on Drugs were a band lauded with Americana characterizations and Dylan comparisons to deserving acclaim, but Slave Ambient is a bold step forward: it’s a reinvention, an album that embraces technology and a clinic in production. Slave Ambient earns its visionary stripes by taking relatively basic song structures and veiling them in rich sonic textures with meticulous attention to detail. The careful articulation of the arrangements even manages to mask the fact that brainchild Adam Granduciel has a terrific voice, making vocals a loveable wing man to the main character – the thick tones and pulsing samples.

- Ryan Dembinsky

• Previously: #25 – #21, #20 – #16, #15 – #11, #10 – #6
• Spotify: Best Albums of 2011 Playlist

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Wilco is enjoying the holidays with a much deserved break from their very busy touring schedule. The band will begin their West Coast swing on January 19 at The Fillmore in Denver. This past October, fellow HT contributor DaveO dissected Wilco’s fall tour setlists for a closer look at how the band crafted their shows. With Wilco’s “Incredible Shrinking Tour” of Chicago in the books, I wanted to take a similar look at the setlists that Wilco crafted for their five nights in the Windy City.

The Venues

Historically, Wilco has always favored smaller venues in Chicago. The only exception was their sold out two-night run at the UIC Pavilion in 2009. While this obviously leads to a lot of ticketless fans, it definitely allows for intimate shows. Wilco played to approximately 9,120 people over the five nights and had not played three of the five venues previously.

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Phish @ Madison Square Garden, December 28

Words: Scott Bernstein
Photos: Michael Stein

Last night’s NYE Run opener from Phish at MSG featured two above-average sets that laid the groundwork for what should be a memorable set of shows. From the first Free opener in Phish history to the well-played Glide bust out (the song was last played at the 2009 MSG Run) that followed as well as a rare third-song trip into Type II territory within Cities, the band was feeling their oats in a statement that the near four-month layoff wouldn’t lead to the typical “warm-up show” fans feared.

[All Photos by Michael Stein]

Bassist Mike Gordon ascended to the highest register of his Modulus bass after a few minutes of standard Cities jamming, leading his mates on a short but wonderful romp into previously unexplored terrain that was so tight you almost wondered if they had worked out the segment in advance. The Cities jam dissipated to silence when guitarist Trey Anastasio started up the third Curtis Loew of the year – hard to imagine considering the Skynyrd cover was shelved for 16 years. Next up was Stash and just when you thought the band was ending the jam way too soon, Trey lit into the Ocedoc for a few of the best minutes of the set as if to quote the “it ain’t over till it’s over” Yogi-ism and the rest of the group was happy to oblige.

• Setlist, The Skinny & Live Blog: Phish MSG Night One

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All week long we’ve been looking at our staff’s choices for the best albums of 2011 five LPs at a time. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between (but sorry Nefertiti’s Fjord it just wasn’t the year for lesbian-Afro-Norwegian-funk music). At the end of the day, we’re a music blog. Everyone is encouraged to write about what they like with no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’re in the home stretch so let’s check out numbers 10 through 6…

10) TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

Key Tracks: Second Song, Will Do, Caffeinated Consciousness

Sounds like: A producer cut through a bit of the fuzz of TVOTR to make a very listenable experience.

The Skinny: Sadly the last TV On The Radio record that will feature bassist Gerard Smith, who passed away only nine days after the release, Nine Types of Light showcases TVOTR at their most accessible and sonically pleasing timbre to date. If the album were to have a single it would be the love-longing song Will Do which proclaims, “I think we’re compatible I can see that you think I’m wrong” coupled with “Your love makes a fool of you, you can’t seem to understand – our heart doesn’t play by rules….” Sounds like the guy isn’t getting the girl and unfortunately, is stuck in a state of being ready to go if his hopeful partner ever were to change her mind. Caffeinated Consciousness ends with three minutes and twenty one seconds that you just wish could be heard (with the horn section) by 20,000 screaming fans in the encore slot at an arena – and no, Phish covering TV On The Radio doesn’t count.

- DaveO

• Previously: #25 – #21, #20 – #16, #15 – #11,
• Spotify: Best Albums of 2011 Playlist

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[Last Update: December 9]

“I hate New Year’s Eve, it’s always so anticlimactic.” – Friends of yours that don’t see live music every year.

Perhaps you’ve already got a show picked out for New Year’s Eve 2011-2012. Maybe you lucked out and it’s local or maybe you’re traveling 3,000 miles or even crossing an ocean to get there. Regardless of the status of your plans, it’s always fun to know what else is going on at that exact moment all over the country.

[Photo of Umphrey's McGee NYE 2010-2011 by Chad Smith]

What’s become increasingly commonplace, disappointedly so, is that this guide features heavily upon jambands while lacking any sort of real indie presence. While jam focused bands dating back to the Grateful Dead have long embraced the countdown show, the independent scene continues to miss out. Unless currently touring, typically in support of a recent album release, indie artists just don’t seem inclined to schedule a holiday run.

As we’ve done in the past, we’ve compiled a list of all the New Year’s Eve concerts that might appeal to our readers. We’ve also thrown in some clips from past NYE performances featuring our favorite bands and have recognized about 20 concerts with superlative awards.

Arizona:

The Gin Blossoms at Fiesta Bowl Block Party in Tempe, AZ.

California:

Five For Fighting at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA

Fishbone at The Caspar Inn in Caspar, CA

Chris Robinson Brotherhood at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, CA

The Beach Boys at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA

The Who Are These Guys? Award – Don’t go to The Beach Boys show at Thunder Valley Casino expecting to see Brian Wilson and Al Jardine. While all sorts of rumors are circulating about a reunion of the REAL Beach Boys in 2012, Mike Love is the only original member of Beach Boys who will be performing under the name on New Year’s Eve.

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Here at Hidden Track, compiling our end of the year list of the 25 best albums has been eerily similar to the process of devising another top 25 list – the college football top 25. When we started four years ago, we attempted to devise a quantitative methodology that systematized the rankings and took the individual biases out of the equation, while still incorporating the collective views of everyone involved at HT. Well, that was sort of our BCS. This year we’re going back to the old school and running it AP Top 25 style. In other words, every writer on staff submitted their own personal top 25, and then we compiled the final list based  on a simple tally of votes.

Who knows, there may still be a few kinks to work through in future editions, but you can rest assured of one thing that will always make our list a cut above the rest: we consider everything. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between (but sorry Nefertiti’s Fjord it just wasn’t the year for lesbian-Afro-Norwegian-funk music). At the end of the day, we’re a music blog. Everyone is encouraged to write about what they like with no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’ve hit the mid-point of our week-long countdown of the 25 best albums of 2011, let’s check out numbers 15 through 11…

15) M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Key Tracks: Midnight City, Reunion

Sounds Like: Dreamy trip to the ’80s led by a modern spirit-guide

The Skinny: When Anthony Gonzalez moved to Los Angeles this year, he was feeling lonely and nostalgic for his cherished childhood and wanted to make a record that paid homage to those emotions and memories. The result is a 23 track masterpiece that ranges from arena-sized ’80s synth rock to deep ethereal sound scapes. The ambient pieces tie the monster vocal tracks together and combine to tell a heart-felt and vivid story from one of the world’s most underrated producers. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is the perfect marriage of sparse and gigantic, much like the heart of its protagonist child subject.

- Wade Wilby

• Previously: #25 – #21, #20 – #16
• Spotify: HT Staff’s 25 Best Albums of 2011 Playlist

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Here at Hidden Track, compiling our end of the year list of the 25 best albums has been eerily similar to the process of devising another top 25 list – the college football top 25. When we started four years ago, we attempted to devise a quantitative methodology that systematized the rankings and took the individual biases out of the equation, while still incorporating the collective views of everyone involved at HT. Well, that was sort of our BCS. This year we’re going back to the old school and running it AP Top 25 style. In other words, every writer on staff submitted their own personal top 25, and then we compiled the final list based  on a simple tally of votes.

Who knows, there may still be a few kinks to work through in future editions, but you can rest assured of one thing that will always make our list a cut above the rest: we consider everything. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between (but sorry Nefertiti’s Fjord it just wasn’t the year for lesbian-Afro-Norwegian-funk music). At the end of the day, we’re a music blog. Everyone is encouraged to write about what they like with no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’ve hit day two of our week-long countdown of the 25 best albums of 2011, let’s check out numbers 20 through 16…

20) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome

Key Tracks: Black, Two Against One, Season’s Trees

Sounds Like: Soundtrack to a ’60s Spaghetti Western that was never made.

The Skinny: Years in the making, Rome pairs famed Italian composer Daniele Luppi with Grammy-winning producer Danger Mouse as the two pay tribute to the Spaghetti Western soundtracks from the ’60s and ’70s created by Ennio Morricone. Luppi and Danger Mouse brought together a number of the performers Morricone utilized for such legendary soundtracks as A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and paired them with current stars Norah Jones and Jack White, who lend their distinctive vocals to three tracks a piece. Between the gorgeous instrumentals with tinges of psychedelia and the dramatic vocal tracks, Rome is a wonderful album that leaves the visuals up to the listener.

- Scott Bernstein

• Previously: HT Staff’s 25 Best Albums of 2011 – #25 – #21

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