We’re getting ready for “The Summer of Portugal. The Man” as the HT faves will release the Danger Mouse-produced Evil Friends LP on June 4th. If the rest of the album sounds anything like the recently released Purple Yellow Red & Blue, we think they’ll be winning themselves lots of fans over the next few months. Tonight, the Wasilla, Alaska via Portland, Oregon rockers visit Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Monday, April 22 [All Times ET]
Grace Potter / MMJ – Love For Levon [AXS TV 5:45PM]
ZZ Ward on Conan [TBS 11PM]
Steve Earle on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM]
Portugal. The Man on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC 11:35PM]
Tuesday, April 23
Yes, Songs From Tsongas: 35th Anniversary Concert [AXS TV 4:15PM]
Edie Brickell on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM]
M83 on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC 11:35PM]
The Coup on Carson Daly [NBC 1:35AM]
Wednesday, April 24
Grizzly Bear on Ellen [Syndicated]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on Jay Leno [NBC 11:35PM]
We’ve been waiting with baited breath to hear some of Portugal. The Man’s new album which was produced by Danger Mouse. Well today is that day as the HT faves has just released a video for the title track from the LP – Evil Friends – and we can’t stop listening/watching it.
Due on June 4th, Evil Friends features 12 tracks and from the sound of the title track it sure seems like the album picks up from where 2011′s In The Mountain In The Cloud left off. Check it out for yourself…
Earlier today Weird Al Yankovic hosted the Bonnaroo Lineup Announcement Megathon in which the lineup for this year’s Bonnaroo fest was revealed. There were plenty of complaints about the format, but for the hour when Yankovic and his guests were announcing the ‘Roo acts, it seemed Bonnaroo was all our readers were talking about on Twitter and Facebook.
Bonnaroo performers and HT faves Portugal. The Man were tasked with providing the musical entertainment and we thought they delivered a fine version of perhaps their most well-known tune – So American. In true Bonnaroo spirit, Weird Al joined them to add some rockin’ accordion. Take a look…
Later, Portugal. The Man backed Yankovic on Canadian Idiot…
The third annual SnowBall Music Festival will take place in the “majestic mountain paradise” of Winter Park, Colorado on March 8 – 10. Today we got our first look at the lineup as the initial artist announcement has been released. HT faves Pretty Lights, Portugal. The Man, Rubblebucket and Big Gigantic are all aboard as well as Zion I, Kendrick Lamar, Datsik, Flosstradamus, Porter Robinson and Crizzly w/ Lil Flip.
The event combines a music festival with a skiing/snowboarding event. All in all, SnowBall ’13 will feature approximately 65 acts on four stages, so there’s plenty more to be announced. “From the beginning, SnowBall has always sought to offer a unique experience, and to create something that hasn’t been done before. It’s incredible how many people who attend SnowBall ski and snowboard each day of the festival, and somehow still have the energy to experience the music festival from beginning to end, followed by the late-night shows until two in the morning. Our fans’ energy and attitude is ultimately what shapes the event, which is why I know they are going to love Winter Park and the vibe that the town caters to,” festival founder Chad Donnelly explains.
While Snow Day and Early Bird Tickets are sold out, there’s special Holiday tickets available for $149 a pop at the event’s website as well as VIP Advance tickets.
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…
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.
Fans of Portugal. The Man will enjoy Portugal. The Video as Justin Kramer (Producer, Writer, Director) and Lee Hardcastle (Animator, Director) put together a captivating claymation narrative to complement one of the band’s best tunes to date. For the few internet users with attention spans longer than fifteen seconds, this video actually has a pretty interesting plot. For those who don’t, there’s still animated vomit and gory clay intestines for you to enjoy.
