Changes ... Better, or worse?

A little fun with Photoshop.

New M. Ward!

This is exciting news for your Tuesday: M. Ward will release his sixth solo album, Wasteland Companion, on April 10 via Merge Records. Better yet, he'll be venturing out of the California hills to tour the Northeast this spring, hitting Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt., on May 6. He'll also make stops in New Haven, Boston and NYC in addition to playing "the" Royal Albert Hall on March 25 and Coachella on April 13 and April 20.

Can't wait to hear some new tracks. Based on the diddy playing on his website, it should be vintage M. Ward at its best.

More on the album (via Merge Records):

The album, consisting of 12 stunning tracks, was made with 18 musicians and recorded in eight different studios in Portland, Omaha, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin and Bristol (UK). Ward’s honey-soaked vocals, deft finger-picking, innate sense of melody and beguiling lyrics have already cemented his reputation as one of America’s true musical treasures and A Wasteland Companion features some of the finest songwriting and most striking delivery of his career. With each and every recording Ward finds new ways to make the colors of his songwriting palate sparkle and his dexterous skills as producer, arranger, guitarist and singer seem to burst into even brighter bloom on each release.

A Wasteland Companion features the talents of M Ward (piano, guitars, voice, production), Mike Coykendall (percussion, bass), Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb (piano), John Parish (percussion, marimba), Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis (organ), Susan Sanchez (vocals), She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel (vocals), Jordan Hudson (percussion), Adam Selzer (bass), Nathan “JR” Andersen (piano), Scott McPherson (percussion), Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley (percussion), Dr Dog’s Tobey Leaman (bass), Devotchka’s Tom Hagerman (strings), Oakely Hall’s Rachel Cox (vocals), Amanda Lawrence (violin), John Graboff (pedal steel) and Tyler Tornfelt (bass). The recording utilized eight engineers, including Tom Schick (Rufus Wainwright) and John Parish (PJ Harvey).

Wish List

Hoping I find this little guy underneath the tree on Christmas morning ; )

Also hoping the neighbors don't want to sleep in #mannheimsteamroller

This Weekend, Live

I heard the turnout to Further at the Times Union Center was pretty weak. It sounded pretty good. Here's some good live shows in the Capital Region this weekend:

Thursday, Nov. 17
Chris Cornell - http://www.theegg.org/events/981 (After party: Red Square)

Coming off an appearance in PJ20?? A professional rocksmith, doin his thang.

Friday, Nov. 18

The Brew - Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs

Touring in support of a new 3-disc "experience", Triptych

(After party: The Bullpen Tavern or the Saratoga Tavern. Looking low-key, head over to the artsy Beekman Street irish pub, The Local)

Saturday, Nov. 19

Capital Zen - Hot Shots Bar in Glens Falls, NY

A fiery young jam band that will rock you for hours on end. They've played festivals big (Camp Bisco) and small (Backwoods Ponds Fest), but can hang with the best (#bonnaroo). Check em out if you haven't already.

WTF: Moar Explaination Please

Well, that's that. No Truck USA festival. With it goes my chance to see Fruit Bats and Vetiver, Okkervil River and the rest of em ... Maybe one day.

On a brighter note. I did just buy Warren Haynes Band tickets ...

New Arcade Fire

Cool designs abound with Arcade Fire. They never cease to amaze.
Reminds me of an early-60's Hollywood flick.

Canadian collective Arcade Fire released two new songs of their upcoming and third release The Suburbs. As expected, the songs, "Suburbs" and "Month of May," are real toe-tappers. They maintain their familiar sound, offering up rich, synth-driven beats layered with Bruce-Springstein-esque guitar leads and the airey harmonies from husband-wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne.

Their debut, Funeral, and followup, Neon Bible, were rock solid records. After hearing these two songs, I dont' think Suburbs will fall far from the tree. This is a band with a plan.

I wonder what's up with the neighborhoods/suburbs themes that keep popping up in their songs? Almost as if they are looking at a snapshot of everyday life in a typical city and putting a score to it. Food for thought ...

Stream "Suburbs" and "Month of May" here.

Check out a previous post I wrote about Funeral here.

Infinite Arms out everywhere!

More Christopher Wilson photography featured on Band of Horses website and album cover. All this nature photography and nature imagery in the new songs ... I think BoH is trying to tell us something.
Infinite Arms is a step back to simplicity.

Band of Horses new record Infinite Arms was released today, Tuesday, May 18, in the U.S. and is available everywhere (don't take my word for it).

Washington Post blogger Allison Stewart blasted the album and the band for their lack of ambition on what was to be their major label breakout. Stewart said it was supposed to be their 'Big Moment.' As in, it was supposed to garner the band considerable recognition as, she writes, Evil Urges did for My Morning Jacket. A fair enough comparison, but I still think Stewart was on glue when she wrote this review.

Take the following line, for example:

"It's the rarest of rock-and-roll animals, a major label debut that doesn't sell out enough."

Doesn't sell out enough? I'm not sure what you're listening to Allison, but I'm not looking for 12 songs with a 'U2 meets Coldplay' sound that is all the rage these days. Especially out of a band like BoH, who are defining folk-rock today. Kings of Leon already sold out with Only by the Night. I just heard it from Vampire Weekend with "Giving Up The Gun," a song that just doesn't fit on the forgettable Contra. "Compliments" was actually a little too close for comfort, but the other songs on Infinite Arms are further proof of this band's songwriting prowess and fall in line with the brilliance that was Everything All The Time. So let's just count our stars that albums like Infinite Arms keep coming.

Give the album a second listen, Allison. This time, step away from your computer, turn off your smart phone, play Infinite Arms on your iPod, and go outdoors. This album will speak to you, I guarantee.

It's Rolling Stones Week!

I am looking into sources here, but I'm pretty sure this week is legit Rolling Stones Week. It all comes in anticipation of the band's reissue of 1972's Exile on Main Street, set for release next week (double check that).

Artists will be covering Stones tunes on Jimmy Fallon (including the always sultry Taj Mahal, who I saw in Albany exactly a week ago. He covered "Shine A Light"), Larry King will be interviewing Mick Jagger, and, in short, the Stones are all over the effing place.

Don't believe me? Check out their site (it's pretty sweet).

A casual theory on pre-releases

I've been thinking more about how bands like MGMT, Dr. Dog and Band of Horses have been giving fans more than just a taste of new material, often offering up many new songs off an upcoming release for stream or download, or allowing fans to stream the album in full.

My theory on this is multifaceted:

It seems to me that these bands can do little to prevent new material from being pirated; so, to a record exec sitting in an office somewhere, rather trying to cover things up, why not use the web to your advantage and take the chance a song(s) will go viral.

Rather than just selling EPs on iTunes, throw it to the dogs and cross your fingers that it becomes the top hit on every music blog in the 'sphere. Package it with a video slide show or a full-blown, psycho-mind f***er music video like MGMT did and, suddenly, you've harnessed the power of the web and maybe even cut your losses.

Of course, despite how much is pre-released, the question still remains: How many people purchase your album when it's released.

Thoughts, comments? Like my photo illustration 'Kings of the Blogosphere?'

Fruit Bats

So, yeah, the Fruit Bats ...

I just recently got introduced to the band thanks to the AV Club's "Undercover" Webisode series, where the band did a cover of Hall & Oates One-on-One.

Today, a Rhapsody promo/Web series caught my eye on RollingStone.com's Rock & Roll Daily blog. It features video of Fruit Bats' frontman Eric Johnson doing solo acoustic versions of Fruit Bats songs as well as an interview. The session was co-sponsored by Northwestern University, where, apparently, Johnson either hangs out or goes to school (I can't determine which based on the short synopsis beneath the video).

Either way, I thought I'd share the link here because I like it and I think soon most people will too. It's a smooth blend of The Shins (who the Fruit Bats have been touring with) and Wilco (like Wilco, the Fruit Bats are Chicago natives, but are now based in Portland).

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Hall & Oates: Rock and Soul

Can somebody please tell me: What is it with Hall & Oates lately?

Granted, I have "Maneater" and "Rich Girl" in rotation on the iPod, but it seems like the 70's era soul brothers are really getting hot of late.

I first questioned what is it with Hall and Oates when Umphrey's McGee bassist Ryan Stasik donned a Hall and Oat's T-shirt and was quoted as saying: "I enjoy tanning, surfing, red wine, and Hall ‘n Oates."

Then, I see this video on AV Club of the Fruit Bats doing a sweet cover of Hall & Oates tune One-On-One.

But the straw that broke the camel's came when I saw "She's Out of My League" in the theaters the other night. A very funny movie in a place where I shouldn't have to worry about being threatened by Hall & Oates. But one of the characters, who was your token d-bag, played in a band that played exclusively Hall & Oates covers. When asked to play something other than Hall & Oates, like "maybe some other rock-n-roll hits," the band simply looked at eachother and shook their heads.

Maybe it's because it's baby making music by a couple white boys or maybe it's just John Oats' 'stache. Either way, I need more Whole Oates in my diet ...

(p.s. The cover band in the movie plays Kiss is on My List and Everytime You Go Away, both off the CD Voices.)

-J

Take Action, Get Tunes

Hey y'all,

Head Count, the environmental advocacy group that uses music as its springboard, e-mailed me and tipped me off to a pretty cool deal: E-mail your state senators urging them to vote in favor of climate change legislation and get a 17-track compilation CD, "Best of Bonnarroo."

Included is music from Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Gov't Mule, Phish, moe., Phil Lesh & Friends and many more bands, all of which pledged their allegiance to Head Count and do their part to promote climate action while on the road each year.

Here's the catch: Head Count provides a canned letter you can send without any thought and you'll be done if five minutes. However, they urge you to express your own thoughts about climate change. Include specifics like the town where you live and businesses around you that do their part to be green. Include these in the first few lines to maybe get the attention of the senators if they actually peer over the e-mails.

In my e-mail, I noted where I lived and that I look around me every day and see people who really care about the environment and would be devastated if they couldn't share the wilderness with their children and grandchildren.

That said, click the link below to do your part and download the MP3's:

http://action.headcount.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1766

Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog @ Revolution Hall
Jan. 27, 2010

Ocassionally I have a hunkerin' that I need to go see a band live, despite the fact that I'm not familiar with their material. The first was Umphrey's McGee a few years back. I even went to the extreme of buying tickets for people to go with me. And it paid off, as they provide such an array of material, it's tough to get sick of them (although my inner umphreak has wained ... as is natural).

That hunkerin came a callin' again last month, when I heard Dr. Dog was coming to Revolution Hall in Troy.

The Philidelphia-based band, with a sound often likened to the Beatles, The Band and the Beach Boys (I'll get to that), got their break (who'da thought) going on tour with My Morning Jacket in 2004.

Last month at Rev Hall was the first time I'd seen them live, although they flew under my radar at a couple festivals I was at in past years. Maybe that's a good thing, because the sound I heard was polished.

They delivered a live performance that was all people said it was, raw and powerful. They even had a new drummer with them (who sounded spot on).

An untrained ear might think Dr. Dog was playing Beatles cover songs, but they put a great new age folk/rock twist on them as to make them their own.

For example, they opened up the show with a very Beatlesesque "My Old Ways."

Other songs, like "Alaska" (stream it on the top, right of the page), have more of a 'Band' feel.

Seeing them live, you aren't thinking about who they sound like. You're more concerned with the energy on stage. Lead vocals are shared song-to-song between the bass player, Taxi (yes! they have nicknames), and the guitarist/keyboards, Tables. Taxi provides the punch, with a lot of energy and movement. He often goes shirtless or wears a wife beater as was the case this night. Tables compliments well with his arrangements, often switching from guitar to keys. Some songs involve all members harmonizing, which, with the dual lead harmonies on guitar, give their sound a really washed-out, 60's acid-era Beatles feel. Pretty refreshing, ask me.

They went on to play a bunch of favorites of their 2008 release, Fate, that I recognized from my limited exposure. Songs like, The Breeze, Hang On and The Ark. They also offered up some new material off their upcoming album Shame, Shame, due out April 6.

All-in-all, it was a highly entertaining show at my favorite indoor venue.

So, have a listen for yourself. If you remotely like their studio stuff, go see this band live. Ignore the hipster crowd and just rock out. It's a nice revival of 60's era rock with a modern spin. Also, grab Shame, Shame when it comes out in April.

Wallabee's gig

The Wallabee's gig was a success in many ways and we were asked to return in July for a repeat performance.



My brother Ted and his college band mate Tommy Giamichael, used the night to rekindle their days playing in Potsdam. They played a first set that included Lenny, by SRV, Friend of the Devil, He's Gone, Hey Hey and original tunes. My brother and I began the second set with The Allman Brothers' In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and went into In The Kitchen, Beautifully Broken and others. Then all three of us played well past midnight, touching on tunes like This Must Be The Place by the Talking Heads, Willin' by Little Feat and Don't Go Changin' On Me, a Ray Charles ballad.


All said, it was a fun night and I look forward to doing it again.

The Barrellhouse Brothers reunited ... for now

-J

Media Night Coffeehouse: more than $500 raised

Trina Poland and Sean MaGee from

Trampoline Design offer up some soulful acoustic.

Everyone that showed up at the 2nd somewhat annual Media Night Coffeehouse was treated to quite the show as many very talented locals showed up for the cause.

The Trampoline Design duet serenaded the crowd with some acoustic pleasure; Post-Star veteran and event host Maury Thompson kept the mood light-hearted on piano, especially with his Vegetarian song ... "You're like a zucchini because you always squash my heart" (lol, or something like that); Ray Agnew, Glens Falls Hospital media relations coordinator, was the hands-down the musician-extraordinaire of the night; and others showcased singing, poetry and more.

Drummer Jamie Harr, late addition Mark Dew on vocals, and I ran into a few bumps in our 15 minute performance but still managed Soulshine (Allman Bros.), The Weight (The Band) and Powderfinger (Neil Young) to the crowd's pleasure (unless they were just being nice).

Trampoline Design featured a video of its performance on its blog and also added links to other performances, including a short clip of our version of "The Weight." See the clip here.

All in all, it was a successful evening and we raised more than $500 for Feet First, a local organization that puts good shoes on kids that need them.

Playing in a church probably got me a few
points with J.C. but I still need to go to confession ...

Media Night Coffee House

So this Saturday at 6 p.m. I will be playing a few numbers for a charity jam session at Christ Church United Methodist on the corner of Bay and Washington streets in Glens Falls (see prior post with press release).

Proceeds go to benefit Feet First; a charity that buys shoes for the needy.

I was originally going to play with my brother but he can't make it, 'so the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin.' I recruited a drummer, Jamie Harr, who will keep the beat for me. I plan on doing three songs, one will definately be the inspirational Soulshine, with a possible Big River (Johnny Cash) encore, as Jamie used to be a river guide in the ADKs and I am a big fisherman.

Trampoline Design whipped up a nice poster for the event:

Consistent with Tampoline's familiar
poster style, nice work as always.

Once again, event begins at 6 p.m. Saturday April 18. If you're in the area, stop in and toss some money to a good cause.

- J

Media Night Coffee House

Local media personnel will jam for Feet First benefit

GLENS FALLS - Christ Church United Methodist will host the second Media Night Coffee House at 6 p.m. April 18 in the fellowship hall of the church at the corner of Bay and Washington streets in downtown Glens Falls.
Wordsmiths and video masterminds who devote their leisure time to music, poetry or other pursuits will gather to raise money for Feet First, a local charity that provides shoes for needy children in the greater Glens Falls area.
A tentative list of participants includes Maury Thompson, staff writer for The Post-Star; Ray Agnew, vice president Glens Falls Hospital; Trampoline Design house band; Glen Carlsen and Frieda Toth, freelance writers; Mik Bondy and friends from Behan Communications; Jessie Jackson, co-owner of WNCE TV8; and The Barrelhouse Brothers, featuring John Coleman, writer for Post-Star niche publications.
Admission is free. Donations will benefit Feet First.
Free trade coffee, tea and baked goods will be on sale to benefit Feet First.

Dodging flashbacks: A bootleg story

My last post got me thinking about the Phish Hampton '98 bootlegs and how I ended up with them.

Truth is, they were a gift from my older brother, Pete. I'm the youngest of four brothers - Pete is eight years my elder.

He began a collection of bootlegs while attending LeMoyne college in Syracuse. His collection was mostly Dead and Allmans but he got his hands on some early Mule stuff (power trio of guitarist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody 1956~2000 and drummer Matt Abts) and went to their shows often. He also saw the Dead with Jerry a couple times in '94 or '95. His usual road trip was Syracuse>Darien Lake>SPAC (maybe)>back to 'Cuse.

I remember the day he gave me the Hampton tapes rather well. He was packing to move out of the house and called me into his room, which was eerily empty -- all but one poster remained in a room normally plastered with posters (the trippy looking Jerry Garcia "A Long Strange Trip 1942~1995"- which still hangs today) . At the time I was just beginning to discover bands like The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Dead thanks to Pete and brother, Ted.

He wanted to give me some tapes to keep me busy so he sat me down and we began sifting through the many shoe boxes he had full of neatly organized bootlegs. As we browsed he told me great stories of the many wild 'trips' he had taken to see shows.

All the while I was dodging flashbacks of when we were kids, only instead of tapes it was either his rock collection or his baseball card collection we were poring over. Both were meticulously organized as I remember; that is, until his younger brothers got their hands on them.

You'd think he would have given me the tapes he didn't like, but instead he gave me some of his favorites, the one exception being the four Hampton '98 bootleg tapes (I think he knew how good they were but wasn't concerned with Phish).

The others were:

Grateful Dead. Harpur College, Binghamton, N.Y. May 2, 1970 (a.k.a. Dick's Picks Vol. 8. The best show the Dead played on the East Coast? The late Dick Latvala, GD archivist and founder of Dick's Picks, thinks so)

Grateful Dead. Stanley Theater, Jersey City, N.J. September 27, 1972. (a.k.a. Dick's Picks Vol. 11. This is my personal favorite. The version of "Black Throated Wind" (click to play clip) is my favorite Dead song I've heard to date)



Grateful Dead, Pembroke Pines, Fla. May 22, 1977 (a.k.a. Dick's Picks Vol. 3. '77 is considered the Dead's best tour. This recording is days after the infamous "Cornell show" which is widely-considered the Dead's finest hour - stream it or download it for free here. I also just learned that this show was recorded just six days prior to Hartford '77, the newest GD release from Rhino records -- check it out here)

Bob Marley & The Wailers. Rufaro Stadium, Salisbury, Zimbabwe. April 17, 1980 ( I just did some research about this show and found out that Marley played in Zimbabwe immediately after a ceremony in which it gained independence and a riot ensued the first night during "I Shot The Sheriff." I think this is night two. Check out the video that accompanies this story)

The Allman Brother's Band. Walnut Creek Amphitheater, Raleigh, N.C. July 1, 1994. (Pete now lives in Raleigh and we caught the Allmans at Walnut Creek during the summer '07 tour. Interesting factoid: Walnut Creek's lawn seating is sponsored by none other than John Deer and is immaculate)

The Allman Brother's Band. New York State Fair, Syracuse. August 25, 1997 (which would place Pete at the show because he was at LeMoyne at the time)

So yea, he gave me some real gems. I plan on returning him the favor by giving them back as CD-Rs as well as burning him Hampton '09 which I'm sure he'll appreciate.

Pete is now a successful financial advisor at a wealth management firm in Raleigh, N.C. He lives with his wife Lana and they have two two daughters, my nieces Reilly Elizabeth and Reagan Mattingly.

He still rocks out to The Dead, Mule, Allmans, and Neil Young, only now it's from the confines of his living room littered with baby toys. The stage has taken the form of a 42-inch LCD-screen HDTV and wine is mandatory.

Well Pete, the music I can return, not so sure about the geodes or that Jeter rookie card, sorry.

Me, right, with my brother Pete
and my niece (one of two), Reilly. Photo taken by my
wonderful sister-in-law (and fellow deadhead) Lana.

Note: I wanted to link all the shows to downloadable music but they remove Dick's Picks from archive.org because of copyrights. Guess you gotta buy em!

FLUUFFHEAD!!! (shaking fist angrily)

I was one song away from guessing the opening song of Phish's Hampton reunion. I guessed The Divided Sky. Well...

Set One: Fluffhead, Divided Sky, Chalk Dust Torture, Sample In A Jar, Stash, I Didn’t Know, Oh Kee Pah Ceremony>Suzy Greenberg, Farmhouse, NICU, Horn, Rift, Train Song, Water In The Sky, Squirming Coil, David Bowie (such a sick Bowie)

Welcome back boys

Go to livephish.com and you can download the reunion shows for free (for a limited time)!

I wouldn't consider myself a Phish-head but, after listening to Night One, I can hear the same Phish I fell in love with on the Hampton Comes Alive (1998) bootlegs (I still have "Possum" on every mix on my I-Pod). At other times, most notably in "Farmhouse," the vibe just didn't develop and the jams weren't as fleshed-out. But hey, what's to be expected from their first show back? I'll be expecting them to rock "Farmhouse" in the near future.

For the record:

Set Two: Backwards Down The Number Line, Tweezer, Taste, Possum, Theme From The Bottom First Tube, Harry Hood, Waste, You Enjoy Myself*,

Encore: Grind**, Bouncing Around The Room, Loving Cup

Notes: SOUNDCHECK: The Squirming Coil, Funky Bitch

* Started and stopped, and restarted ** Acapella

Enjoy it.

(Do I get any brownie points if they played all the songs I guessed for openers?)