Leftover Salmon, the polyethnic cajun slamgrass band from Colorado, have announced the first dates of their Summer tour, including two shows at the High Sierra Music Fest.
(Thru jambase.com)
UK band Sierrra Alpha are navigating between rock and pop. They have an anthem about a Superhero coming to the rescue and the seminal English powerpop balladry with piano, keyboards and jangling guitar (World Machine). Singer Martin Goddard has the voice that will reach the cheap seats at the back of the club without any problems.
Their debut EP has only five songs, all of them worthy of a fair amount of airplay on radio stations where the DJs still can pick their own stuff.
The EP is released on Major-G Records. Release date: June 1th. Buy it from the band's website.
TracksVideo: Sierra Alpha- Come Hither (live acoustic)
Bonerama, the trombone heavy New Orleans jazzy funk band, never recorded a song in the studio. Until now. Hard Times is an up beat song that will cheer you up.
HCTF review of Live at Sheridan Opera House, Telluride, CO (2008/03/21).
The release date of the new Trey Anastasio orchestral album Time Turns Elastic has been pushed back until June 9th. No reason was given for the delay.
Chicago powerpop band Jonny Rumble are offering the two tracks of their Courtney's Basement maxi single as a free download. It serves as a teaser for a new EP which will be released later this year. They have moved away from punk a bit for these new songs.
MP3: Jonny Rumble - Courtney's Basement
MP3: Jonny Rumble - To Foolishness
The Village Voice has announced the initial lineup for the 9th Annual Siren Music Festival which will be held at Coney Island, NY, Saturday, July 18, 2009.
More acts will be announced. It's free, starts at noon and ends at 9pm.
Chase Pagan has three goats roaming about his mountain home on four acres of Arkansas land. He named them Elvis, Priscilla, and Lisa Marie. And although he wrote 21 songs to choose from for his sophomore album Bells & Whistles no animals were harmed during the recording process. Pagan is a multi-instrumentalist who plays piano, drums, bass, guitar, accordion, and banjo. Being such a versatile player gave him the opportunity to sample divs\erse genres like psychedelic rock (Gun And The Sword), country (The Lonely Life). He can channel Frankie Valli's falsetto on songs like Warrior and the hilarious Don't Be Gay (Working Title)), adding a sneer on occasion. He is an entertainer and funny as hell.
Chase Pagan will sit comfortably in the neo-vaudeville niche occupied by bands like Spottiswood & His Enemies and Happy Anarchy, bands that excel at humorous piano-driven melodic story-telling.
Bells & Whistles is released on Esperanza Plantation. Release date: June 9th.
Tracks:
USA dance punk trio Gossip hit Europe this summer promiting theri new album Music For Men which will be released June 22.
Live dates:
John Kimock, Matt Molchany and Matt Juknevic are New Madrid Faults, a post-rock trio from Pennsylvania that rages and soothes on their debut album Concerning Small Town Abberations. Kicking off withCities where keyboards are struggling to be heard over the soft murmur of distant voices they plunge straight into the industrial pop of Little Bullets. Casual listeners will have given up by now, which is a shame because the remaining four tracks of this mini album have a lot to offer. Hopeless is song that The Secret Machines could have come up with and To The West Goodbye is driven by vocal harmonies embedded in synth wizardry.
And yes, John is the son of Steve Kimock.
Concerning Small Town Abberations is released on Robeadope Digital.
Tracks:
I'm a fan first, and I don't believe good rock 'n' roll exists unless it's in partnership with the fans. By putting ramps up into the audience and keeping the stage low, it creates such an energy and an interaction with the crowd, it's a sum that's greater than the parts.
Joe Perry
As the man said: "Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read." So what good is website that offers information about books and such about Frank Zappa?
The purpose of this site is to provide a little help to those that are looking for written material about Frank Zappa.
» afka.net
(Thru Kill Ugly Radio)
Canadian sextet Hey Rosetta! mixes strings with U2 guitar lines, and those those two elements buld upon each other quite well. Into Your Lungs ((and around in your heart and on through your blood) sounds big, but not overpowering. This album is a grower, a sleeping giant that needs a couple of spins to wake up.
For Handshake The Gangster singer Tim Baker adopts the perspective a mafia gun men with a conscience, Holy Shit (What A Relief) channels Radiohead for the vocals and Pink Floyd for the lonesome sounding guitar, while stand-out track I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time deals what the passing of time when all that is left are the memories.
Hey Rosetta!:
Tim Baker: vocals, piano, guitar
Adam Hogan: guitar
Josh Ward: bass
Phil Maloney: drums
Kinley Dowling: violin
Romesh Thavanathan: cello
Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) is released on Sonic Records.
Tracks:
Confirmed dates for the European Summer tour by Patti Smith:
Lubriphonic, blues funk rock band from Chicago, keeps themselves busy throughout the Spring and Summer. The band started a channel on YouTube showing in concert footage.
Neil Young is on tour in Canada in April, and after a on-off show in New Orleans, hits Europe.
The Datsuns are one of New Zealand's finest rock bands. Their new album Head Stunts is continuation of their loud garage rock. The songs are all about messing with peoples minds, the album title is anagram the band's name. Lyrically the band keeps growing, so it's worth the effort to listen carefully to the vocals.
The album was recorded in Sweden, is self-produced and sounds fresh and energetic. New drummer Ben Cole fits right in - no wonder since he has been friends with founder member Rudolf de Borst since childhood.
The Datsuns:
Rudolf de Borst: vocals, bass
Phil Buscke Somervell: guitar, drum kit
Ben Cole: drum kit, vocals
Christian Livingstone: guitar, hammond, piano, vocals
Head Stunts is released on Cooking Vinyl.
Tracks:Drummer Billy Martin filmed, directed and edited the new Medeski Martin & Wood for Amber Gris, a track from their Radiolarians II album.
» mmw.net
HCTF review of Radiolarians II.
On the 16th of May six bands will hit the stage for the fifth edition of Klub Radar at Tivoli De Helling, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Video: The Mae Shi - Run to Your Grave
Video: Sleepy Sun - White Dove
Does the world need a fourth New York Dolls studio album? Well, not really, but 'Cause I Sez So sounds a lot better than the third one - One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This - that was released to tie in with the reunion gigs that started happening since 2004, when former Smiths vocalist Morrissey persuaded the surviving members to perform at the 2004 Meltdown Festival in London.
Todd Rundgren is back in the producer's seat and he successfully cooked up the early Seventies feel that made the Dolls such a great band. The album was recorded at his Utopia Sound Studio, Kauai, Hawaii. Johansen and Sylvain could work on their tan between sessions and the new guy Steve Conte (in the band since 2004) and a rather faceless rhythm section back them up in an adequate way, holding back most of the time as if they were afraid to interfere with the two legends fronting the band. The band even went as far as to lay down an updated version of their classic track Trash, but the 2009 version lacks a sense of urgency. Now it sounds like it was recorded on the beach, while sipping fruit cocktails.
Watch and listen to old school computers playing Bohemian Rhapsody.
Piano/Organ - Atari 800XL
Lead Guitar - Texas Instruments TI-99/4a
Bass Guitar - 8 inch Floppy Disk Drive
Gong - 3.5 inch Hard Drive
Vocals - HP ScanJet 3C
(Thru week4paug.net)
Neil Young likes to travel by car. Since gasoline will be rare commodity in the not too distant future he had his 1959 Lincoln converted to run on alternate sources. Driving around the States and being on the road in Europe inspired him to come up with 10 new songs that make up Fork In The Road, a concept album of sorts about cars, ecology and the need for change.
It is the soundtrack for a road movie, but not a really good one, more like the straight-to-DVD potboiler kind. The guitar playing could have been more passionate, although there is nothing wrong with the slide of old cohort Ben Keith. His wife Pegi in on backing vocals, but she is buried in the mix which is good thing too. It's Neil alright with all his rambling garage blues tricks. It's another "it's all one song" album, and he does what he likes to do. Hop in or get off and wait for the next album to arrive. It won't be a long wait. And if you buy it, Neil thanks you personally in the liner notes: "My sales have tanked, but I still got you; thanks."
Fork in the Road is released on Reprise Records. The CD/DVD version has three music videos and a live version of A Day In The Life, which he performs regularly as an encore on his current tour.
Tracks:
You can follow Neil and his Lincoln at lincvolt.com.
Causes 2 is the second installment of a Darfur benefit album series, with the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.
Although estimates of the number of people killed by the conflict in Darfur vary widely from 200,000 to 400,000, what is certain is that more than 2 million people have fled their homes because of the fighting, and 4 million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. It is widely accepted that this one of the worst crises in the world today.
Causes is a collection of exclusive tracks and remixes. Causes 1 was released in 2007. Both albums are released through Waxploitation.
Tracks:Causes is avialble for pre-order.
John Cale will be interviewed at the National Gallery, London on the 15 May 2009 as part of the Museums at Night weekend about his installation for the Venice Biennale.
In Conversation: John Cale
Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale is representing Wales at this year's Venice Biennale, where he will be showing a much-anticipated mixed-media installation. In this informal conversation, he will talk about his work for Venice and discuss the connections between art and music. With Colin Wiggins.
Generously funded by the Outset Contemporary Art Fund Theatre.
Free, no need to book but places available on a first-come first-served basis.
National Gallery
May 15th @ 10PM
(Thanks: Rachel Dingsdale - photo: Maurice (Haags Uitburo)
In the Summer of 2008 Kris Morris entered the Rush House, Northamptonshire, UK to record his debut full lenth I Think We Both Know. The Aussie singer-songwriter had been gigging all over the UK promoting his Little Light EP. For this album he took his time building the tracks with a long list of musicians, adding cello, lap steel and washes of Wurltizer organ.
It's a collection of serious songs about relationships molded into soft spoken bluesy folk-tinged rock. Morris has the kind of voice that has a sense of urgency to it. Think Kevin Ayers meets Luther Dickinson, especially in songs like Oblivous and I Still Believe.
I Think We Both Know is released on weeksweeksweeks. The album is currently available as a free download at krismorris.com.
Tracks:HCTF review of Little Light.
Ed Harcourt has been a recording artist for over a decade. The UK singer-songwriter keep falling in the musical cracks that separate Albion form North-America. The "It's all about the melody" UK pop awareness and the barely controlled pathetic TV sitcom credits song are once more struggling for dominance on his new EP Russian Roulette. Harcourt fires in all directions on this album, sometimes on target (Sour Milk Motheaten Silk), but there is collateral damage as well - the pseudo alt-country of Black Feathers goes nowhere at all.
One track stands apart, and it's by far the best song. Caterpillar was written for his new born daughter Roxy when she was in hospital. That is a subject that could have been smothered in sugary waves of piano, but Harcourt maintains a (caring) stiff upper lip.
Marketed as a stop-gap release Russian Roulette was recorded quickly, but a bit more time would have hurt. Running with a half-hearted ideas and rough demos and trying to make them into something coherent make this a fans only record.
Russian Roulette is released on Dovecote Records. Release date: May 5th.
Tracks:
Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal join forces for a string of dates dubbed the BonTaj Roulet tour. Two blues legend doing their sets and teaming up for a collaborative set of blues goodness.
Ready for a journey to fairy land? Pick Jo Hamilton as your musical guide. She is a multi-instrumentalist and programmer who sings like the missing link between Annie Lennox and Allison Moyet. She started the songs for her album Gown with field recordings in Korea (childrens voices can be heard in the coda of Deeper (Glorious) and she contined to tape voices and sounds during her travels around the globe. She listened carefully and now tells the stories people shared with her.
Listening to Gown takes time, because it goes so deep. This an album that reveals bits and pieces you have missed the first time around. Or the second, the third ... Hat's off to Jon Cotton who made sure that the production was crystal clear.
Gown is released on Poseidon Music. Release date: April 20 (UK), June 22 (rest of the world).
Birmingham community radio station Rhubarb Radio broadcasts the album launch party and concert April 20th at 8:30 PM (GMT).
Tracks:
New York singer Julia Haltigan is blessed with impressive set of pipes. Thanks to that she can tackle her songs with vigour (and tenderness). Writing in the vein of the great American songbook her band The Hooligans stand tall to provide her with her forties inspired trumpet solos and the deep rumble of the stand-up bass. Their self-titled sophomore album kicks off with Knocking At The Door, a musical train ride that introduces percussionist Tony Campbell as a highly inventive drummer, guiding the band through the fast and slow bars of the song without missing beat. The bands goes country for Lost On A Salty Sea, and invokes the hey-day of night clubs cabaret era in songs I Missed the Day I Met You and the low-key Heavy Cream.
Julia Haltigan & the Hooligans are not a rock 'n' roll act, They carry on the tradition of sharp-witted lyrics wrapped a warm blanket of music that you can dance too, using jazz, folk, country and bluegrass.
Julia Haltigan & the Hooligans:
Julia Haltigan: vocals, guitar
Nat Broekman: lead guitar, vocals, cello
Troy Campbell: suitcase, cardboard box, drums
Matt Kloss: stand-up bass
Joey Ancowitz: trumpet
Emmet Haltigan: harmonica, mandolin
Julia Haltigan & the Hooligans is a self-released album. Buy it from the band's website.
Tracks:
What's on at the Tivoli in Utrecht, The Netherlands? A nice mix of new sounds and legendary artists.
* Tivoli De Helling
1090 Club, the indie surprise from Billings, MT, goes on tour promoting their Natural Selection album:
* w/ Murder by Death
^ w/ The Forecast
# w/ Photo Atlas
The HCTF 1090 Club questionnaire.
School's out for Summer. However if you are musician and your are willing to learn something, you might sign up Camp MMW to pick up some pointers from Medeski Martin & Wood. Read this first:
Camp MMW
August 4-9
Catskill Mountain resort, NY
When an acclaimed singer-songwriter decides to devote an entire album to the songs of one of his peers, the question is: why? Well, because the singer wants to make sure that the songs will be heard by a new generation of Americana alt-country lovers. Steve Earle recorded his favorite Townes Van Zandt songs and put fifteen of them on his new album. Townes is a worthy tribute to the gloomy cult favorite whose songs made into the canon of country. During his lifetime Van Zandt's songs were recorded by Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard teamed up to take Pancho & Lefty to the number one spot on the country charts in 1983.
Steve Earle pours his heart out on Townes. His versions sound more upbeat and angry than the originals, mostly because he lacks the deadpan delivery of the composer. The album is also available as a 2CD deluxe edition. The second disc contains solo recordings that were used as the basic tracks.
Townes is released on New West Records. Release date: May 12.
Tracks:
Axe man Sturgis Nikides is busy working on a follow-up for his 2004 album Man of Steel.
"Tracking is over ¾ finished, so it’s a matter of how quickly I finish dubbing vocals and mixing." Could be weeks, could be months, but the sad story of Jake is a likely candidate for inclusion of the new album. There is a man, there is a corner and there is a price to be paid - it makes compelling listening.
Live dates:
A mountain dulcimer is deceptive instrument to play. Mastering it takes many, many years, but if the player perseveres the possibilities are endless, especially when applied to folk music. Esther Golton did just so and now she plays it like a fully fledged jazz instrument. She knows her way around the flute very well, too.
Based in Talkeetna, Alaska living in a log cabin she built her self with her partner, she was one of the founders of Whole Wheat Radio, broadcasting concerts over the internet. After doing this for a couple of years she decided that she would like to perform and record again. She had been gigging from 1998 to 2003, selling a live album called Talkeetna Roadhouse Live. She started writing the material for what would become Unfinished Houses, a title inspired by the fact that log cabins are never really finished. Including three cover songs she recorded for s a side-project ot promote artists that had been featured on Whole Wheat Radio.
Esther Colton plays chord progressions that will be tough to duplicate on a non-chromatic instrument. Writing about her every day life she sings about happy memories - sneaking off as a child to ride a horse called Shadu, the need for life "to be filtered" (The Hoedown Philosopher), the sickness of her good friend (Louise) and a pilot that took off never to return (Keli Mahoney). Most of the time Golton is content with her life in a log cabin (Unfinished Houses, All The Room Need). As for the covers songs, she makes them her own with Danny Schmidt's Happy All The Time as the stand out track. Esther Colton proves that you can live anywhere and still be heard, coming up with an album that every house (and cabin) should have.
Unfinished Houses is a self-released album. Buy it from her website.
Tracks:
No frills blues rock will never die. There always will be bands churning out songs that are meant to be played loud. Take Dirt Road Logic from Lansing/Ann Arbor, Michigan, who have been at it for years, playing clubs and bars where they like to serve honest music with their cold beer. They have just released The Rock-n-Roll EP, seven tracks that bring back the early days of The Black Crowes, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Aerosmith. Never mind that the breaks sound familiar. Singer Eric Kelly has the has the rough voice that was made to sing "God damned" while he trades licks with fellow guitarist Paul Delamater.
Dirt Road Logic:
Eric Kelly: vocals, guitar
Paul Delamater: guitars, vocals
Kevin Schmidt: drums
The Rock-n-Roll EP is a self-released album. Buy it from CD Baby.
Tracks:
Bad Company (Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs & Simon Kirke) hit the road for a short Summer tour.
Warren Haynes, Page McConnell & Mickey Rafael take on Further On Up the Road, the Eric Clapton classic. Recorded live at Irving Plaza, New York, NY - 2000/12/06.
Grab the full show from bt.etree.org.
MP3: Warren Haynes, Page McConnell & Mickey Rafael - Further On Up the Road
Go out and buy music at your local record store on April 18th. Friendly staff, special offers and more. Jack Black not included though.
When Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies ambled on stage at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, March 7th 2008, for the first night of their three night stand performing Odessey and Oracle in its entirety, the audience had to wait a bit longer. First they got the Zombies Touring Band playing Zombies cuts, Colin Blunstone solo stuff and two Argent songs. Not that it mattered that much - what's an hour or so if you have been waiting for 40 years. For those who weren't there the DVD is the visual document of that night (a live 2CD-set was already released in 2008).
The CD set already proved that they can still play, but the DVD documents the sheer joy of the band playing the Odessey and Oracle song cyle for the very first time. When it was frist released in 1968 it flopped and the band broke up, frustrated. Introduced by Al Kooper, who picked them up as a young A&R guy for Capitol Records, this album gets the recognition as a lost classic that can stand up to such monuments as Pet Sounds and Revolver. Never mind that Chris White has trouble reaching the high notes - most singers would pale in the presence of Colin Blunstone whose phrasing reaches new heights - check out Say You Don't Mind and Hung Up On A Dream.
Ten years ago the first pages of the John Cale website Fear Is A Man's Best Friend were put online.
Watch John Cale performing Fear Is A Man's Best Friend filmed for the BBC Program The Songwriters Circle May 12, 1999.
Robot Lounge is looking for a spot inside the overcrowded indie rock market. The Chicago trio thrown in a bit of jazz-tinged piano to lure the punters. Their sophomore album Patterns is too clean-cut to leave a lasting impression. The lyrics are all over the road, swerving from tongue-in-cheek to filled with gloom, but either way the words deserve a less smooth backing to make it really work. Let them get their hands dirty.
Patterns is a self-released album. Buy it from the band's website.
Tracks:MP3: Robot Lounge - Great Romancer
MP3: Robot Lounge - Mass Appeal
Scottish quartet Jack Butler are in a hurry. Their debut Fit The Paradigm is filled with quirky, energetic songs that will make you go looking for your dancing shoes. Ostinatos repeats the same notes over and over again, which makes sense if you know what ostinato means.
Beign from Scotland will unavoidable lead to comparisons with Franz Ferdinand, but that wouldn't do them justice. They have listened carefully to seminal eighties bands such as Big Country and the Simple Minds. They have their eye on the States with the baseball inspired opener of the album Hit It Out The Park, Son. Fit The Paradigm isn't a home run, but it gets them to second base.
Jack Butler have a way with words - declaring that it's prose, not poetry. It makes perfect sense that they snatched a John Teniel illustration of Alice In Wonderland for the cover art.
Jack Bulter:
Liam Kelly: guitar, vocals, synth
Chris Lowdon: guitar
Allan Conry: bass, backing vocals
Greg Moodie: drums, percussion, backing vocals
Fit The Paradigm is released on Whimsical Records. Release date: April 27th.
Tracks: