Jim James and his merry band of My Morning Jacket brothers returned to the Austin City Limits stage in August for a performance that focused heavily on material from Evil Urges with a few classics thrown in. You can catch the Kentucky quintet in all their glory this weekend on your local PBS station.

Friday [All Times Eastern]:

• Daily Habit: The Virgins [FUEL 5:30PM]
• The Colbert Report: Wilco [COM 8:30PM]
• Late Show w/ David Letterman: George Clinton [CBS 11:35PM]
• The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno: Death Cab [NBC 11:35PM]

Saturday:

• Sigur Ros: Heima [Sundance 10AM]
• Live From The Voodoo Experience [Fuse 2PM]
• Austin City Limits: My Morning Jacket [PBS Check Local Listings]

Sunday:

• Private Sessions: Lindsay Buckingham [A&E 9AM]
• HDNet Concert Series: Foo Fighters [HDNet 4:40PM]
• Live At Donnington: AC/DC [VH-1 Classic 8PM]
• Beautiful Noise: Grace Potter [Rave HD Midnight]

We asked Claude Coleman for more information about his departure from Ween and we received this press release from the drummer:

A multi-instrumentalist best known for his chameleon-like and acrobatic drumming skills for cult gods Ween for over the last fifteen years, NJ resident Claude Coleman Jr is announcing for the first time in his long tenure with the group, an indefinite leave of absence.

Citing “a myriad of reasons” behind the departure, his plans are to focus on the new Amandla record and subsequent touring, as well as to enable him the opportunity to work and perform with other groups and artists.

“I’ll always drum with Gene and Dean until the apocalypse. I’m just re-prioritizing my life a bit, turning my focus towards writing and performing with Amandla, my health and a major home renovation, as well as trying on other hats.” Coleman said. “Ween is about those songs - that adventurous music. That’ll be here forever and I’ll be there along with it.”

Regarding the mention of his health, Coleman refers to a near-fatal accident that had nearly stripped his life away in 2002. It will be the six year anniversary on August 7.

The accident hospitalized Coleman for 34 days and suffered a shattered pelvis, and severe brain injuries rendering the left side of his body limp. Seven months were spent in intensive rehabilitation, and Coleman suffers from many lingering effects, including chronic pain and the physical stress that this engenders, as well as paralysis and other chronic, nerve-damage issues.

Coleman doubled up his therapy and made it a full-time effort to re-acquire enough of his abilities to get back on stage, and in less than a year Coleman was again back on the bus and on the road with his band mates, and has been touring steadily since then to constant sell-outs everywhere, performing to the largest audiences in Ween’s history.

Recent years have also seen him devoting more of his energy toward his group Amandla, touring behind his 2006 release The Full Catastrophe. On record, Amandla is Coleman on every instrument as well as handling the engineering and production. Live, he can be seen fronting the band on guitar. Coleman is now working on his 3rd record to be released in the fall tentatively titled Sold tha Skins.

We’re excited to hear the new album, and we await word from Ween about what Claude’s “indefinite hiatus” means for the band. Will they take a break, too?

If you’re paying really close attention, you know I had a good weekend when Cover Wars doesn’t make it onto the blog on Tuesday. Well yeah, my car may still smell like wet festival, but the trip that brought me to two ports (Newport for the Folk Festival and Bridgeport for Gathering Of The Vibes) was totally worth it. Following up from last week, PBS has walked away as the clear winner of the Spanish Castle Magic edition.

“Everyone knows rock n’ roll attained perfection in 1974; It’s a scientific fact”. This is according to Homer Simpson in the episode Homerpalooza, where he is questioning the need for “new bands” as he has realized he is out of touch with the music of the young people. Frankenstein was actually released in 1973, though Homer may have been referring to a specific experience WITH the song and not just the song’s release. The song titled originally titled “Double Drum Solo”, the Edgar Winter Group renamed the tune Frankenstein in reference to the fact that it had been spliced together from numerous separate recordings. The result? One of the most bad-ass rock instrumentals ever written.

You gotta register/login to IMEEM to listen to the songs below in their entirety:

READ ON after the jump for some versions not included in the playlist, voting, info on each version and much much more of the original Cover Wars…

I know I’ve been a little Beatles heavy as of recently, but who could blame me? Members of Phish getting together to play Beatles cover is a pretty big deal. Speaking of which, two weeks ago’s Day Tripper edition is way too close to call, so if you haven’t done so - navigate over there and place a vote if you are so inclined.

I was thinking about doing She Said as a Cover Wars just as soon as Mike Gordon’s new band played it in Northampton last week. Then I heard that Trey and Fish played it with him at Rothbury and THEN I heard that Gov’t Mule played their own rendition of it directly after that - so this could not be more topical.

If you don’t know the inspiration of the song - long story short: During an off week of The Beatles USA tour in 1965…they rent out a house, most of the band is on LSD as is Peter Fonda who is freaking out George Harrison and John Lennon by telling him that he “knows what it’s like to be dead”. Fonda accidentally shot himself at age 10 and apparently his heart stopped 3 times on the operating table. Fonda thought this was a good story to tell people that are tripping face and was even showing people his wounds from it.

You can read some hilarious quotes from the band members regarding that crazy night in a few places around the Internet. Check out: Wikipedia, The Songs of John Lennon: The Beatles Years, and The Beatles Anthology. All links open in new windows.

As always, you must register/login to imeem if you wish to listen to the songs in the playlist in their entirety.

READ ON after the jump for the voting and lots of live She Said video footage…

Those of us who live in or around New York are in for a special treat this weekend when the Omega Moos make a rare appearance outside of the midwest. The Moos feature Brendan Bayliss and Ryan Stasik of Umphrey’s McGee along with Darren Shearer and Jamie Shields of the New Deal mashing up genres and delivering a non-stop dance party. Tomorrow night the boys bring their unique blend of styles to Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, before heading to New York City for a late-night Rocks Off concert cruise aboard the Temptress on Friday. The mini-tour concludes on Saturday with a show at Revolution Hall in Troy.

Omega Moos (Pete Townshend may NOT be included)

Recently we spoke with Darren Shearer about playin’ with the Moos:

Hidden Track: How did the Moos come together?

Darren Shearer: The Moos came together because of a mutual love of classic rock, as well as a brotherly love for each other as players. Hence, the sorority name “Omega Moos”. I love how Bayliss’s guitar meshes in with our electronic sensibilities; and Stasik, well, he’s the man on the low-end and super-fun to play with. It started out as a bit of a joke, but we’ve definitely forged our own sound since playing together. It is always a blast. Those boys know how to throw down the techniques, for sure.

HT: How do you guys decide which songs to play/cover?

DS: They pretty much comes from the god of Classic rock aficionado-ness, James “Guitar” Shields. And then we get em’ into our hot little hands and remix them up a little in true Omega Moos style. What’s funny is, I think that sometimes the younger audiences don’t know that they’re covers. I wish I could take credit for those melodies!!

HT: Can we expect any new material this run?

DS: Absolutely. A bunch of new songs. We keep the material secret for each run, but let me tell you that memories of the music you were listening to while sitting in the backseat of your mom’s Volvo, on the way to your dentist appointment will be conjured up for sure. All with that New Deal techno twist.

HT: Any plans to record?

DS: Hmmmmm. Not sure, but it would be pretty cool. We also do a large amount of improv stuff, that usually takes on more of an Umphreys flavor, but considering how busy we are and the fact that we live 10 hours away from each other, it might be hard. I’d love to release a live show though!

For a taste of what you can expect from an Omega Moos show be sure to check out the collection of tunes on their MySpace.

• Omega Moos - Masokatanga (Live at the Canopy Club)
• Omega Moos - Double Vision (Live at the Canopy Club)

By Sunday afternoon you’ll probably be Bonnaroo’d out, so we’ve got a killer flick that will keep you entertained. End of the Century brilliantly tells the rags-to-riches story of The Ramones. I was flipping through the channels the other day and stumbled upon this film. Ninety minutes later I had loaded my iPod with every Ramones album, and was almost pissed that the movie was over. It’s that good.

Friday [all times Eastern]:

• Behind The Music: Ratt [VH1 Classic 8:00 P.M.]
• The Best of Bonnaroo: Radiohead, The Roots [Fuse 9:00 P.M.]
• Live From Abbey Road: Iron Maiden, Gypsy Kings [Sundance 9 P.M.]

Saturday:

• Heavy: The Story of Metal [VH1 Classic 5:00 P.M.]
• Live From Bonnaroo: Raconteurs, Metallica [Fuse 9:00 P.M.]
• Austin City Limits: Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson [PBS Check Local Listings]

Sunday:

• Film: End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones [Showtime 5:15 P.M.]
• Live From Bonnaroo: My Morning Jacket, Against Me! [Fuse 8:00 P.M.]
• Off The Record: Ringo Starr [HBO2 10:00 P.M.]

Chandra and Leigh Watson, better known as The Watson Twins, made a name for themselves as the back up singers on Rilo Kiley front woman Jenny Lewis’ solo debut. The duo will hit the road on July 9 for a co-headlining tour with Tim Fite. July 9 is also the very same day their full length debut Fire Songs hits stores.

If seeing hot identical twin sisters, singing rootsy, Americana-tinged songs isn’t your thing, then maybe one of these recently announced tours will be…

• Elephant Six band Apples In Stereo puts together a short run (begins: 07/18)
• Bon Iver nabs a slot opening for Wilco, along with a headlining tour and festival dates (begins: 06/21)
• Nostalgia Alert: Billy Idol will be on the road all summer, including co-bills with Def Leppard (begins: 06/22)
• The Gutter Twins, aka Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, line up a lengthy world tour (begins: 06/28)
• Singer/songwriter Joshua Radin stays busy through July and August (begins: 07/15)
• Attention Hair Metal Fans: Warrant’s original line up reunites for the first time since ‘94 (begins: 06/22)
• Zimmy adds more dates to the American leg of his never ending tour (begins: 08/12)

• Esperanza Spalding, an incredible 23-year-old bass player with a voice that sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before, will be the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this evening on ABC. I’ve been really getting into her music lately, which combines elements of jazz, pop and world music. Plus, as a bass player I respect the hell out of anyone who can play bass, sing in three languages and lead a band at the same time. Here’s a video of Esperanza’s recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman…

• Earlier this morning we discussed all the different options for experiencing Bonnaroo from home, including watching Fuse TV’s live broadcasts. This afternoon Fuse revealed that they will show The Raconteurs set on Saturday at 9 P.M., My Morning Jacket’s highly anticipated set on Sunday at 9 P.M. and Punk Rockers Against Me!’s set at 10 P.M. Fuse’s Bonnaroo coverage kicks off on Friday night at 9 P.M. with a Best of Bonnaroo clip show, featuring performances by The Roots, Radiohead and Wolfmother.

For those of us who aren’t going to be attending Bonnaroo in person, we’ve still got some options to check out the action live from Manchester. As usual, the AT&T Blue Room will offer a webcast, while the folks at XM will be broadcasting performances all weekend on XMX (Channel 2).

Let’s not forget Fuse, who will be airing an hour special live from the festival on Saturday and three hours worth of footage on Sunday night.

Okay, that’s enough about Bonnaroo for an hour or so. Here’s a buncha links to help you get over that dreaded Wednesday hump…

• Beck debuted a slew of new songs during a secret show in LA
• Stereogum shares photos from The Roots’ Family Picnic
• Jimmy Page continues to add fuel to the Led Zeppelin fire
• Jamtopia highlights some footage of Trey playing with RR
• Rich Lieberman enjoyed The Lee Boys as much as I did
• Crawdaddy dusts off a terrific profile of life after Whiskeytown
• Rock Art Wednesday discusses a special Todd Slater sale

Finally, NYCTaper was on hand last night at the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn where Death Cab For Cutie’s set ended abruptly when a major storm quickly enveloped the venue during The Sound of Settling. Apparently it was quite a scene when the organizers of the event jumped on stage to rush the performers to safety, and told the audience to essentially get the fuck out of there. Can’t wait to hear the tapes!