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Even though i’ll always hold a grudge about Mellencamp and the Ford truck (“This is our country”), this tour is sure to be amazing. The mix of the old school and new school crowd alone is enough to inspire you to lay down the bills….

Plus- american roots music goes best with baseball, of course.

See dates at Bob Dylan dot com.

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The Vegan has a report and lots of good photos.

For those not in the know, Black Pus is the side project of Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt. It’s basically crazy noises but some of the songs actually have a bit of melody, kinda similar to Lightning Bolt.

Damnit I always miss this band. Last year he opened for The Boredoms at Terminal 5, which was siiiiiick, and I missed that too. Boo.

On another note, that’s my friend Joe’s friend Mike Bojangles (i think that’s his name) wielding the video camera in one of the pics. He’s been documenting Lightning Bolt, and apparently Black Pus, for years.

Photo by Jim McKnight

Photo by Jim McKnight

I don’t know about the rest of you but i’ve wanted to go to Levon Helm‘s barn, on his property, in WOODSTOCK, for a Midnight Ramble for many years now. But the cost always deterred me. $150 bucks?! Damn!! You do get to be in an intimate setting for the performance, however, and you do get to see Levon Helm, who is as awesome as ever, even after surviving throat cancer. And to top it all off there’s a hippie style potluck before the show. Amazing.

Helm is a good guy- and we’re in a recession. So, for the month of May, if you buy three tickets they are $100 instead of $150. It’s a good deal, if you’ve got the bills. I wish I did!

If Rick Danko was alive and doing the ramble, I’d leave New York City, live in a tent down the road, and spend all the money I ever made on tickets. Every week, if possible.

Helm is also set to release his follow-up to 2007′s widely acclaimed “Dirt Farmer” on June 30. “Electric Dirt” is also produced by Larry Campbell and was recorded in “The Barn” on Helm’s property. If “Electric” is as good as “Farmer” we are all in for a delicious treat.

Of all the members of The Band, I have to say it makes sense that Levon is the one still making it. He had a huge presence in The Band, and was known for his totally awesome drumming while singing (a difficult job), but he was never really the star that Robbie Robertson was, or the heartthrob that Rick Danko was.

Here’s Levon explaining the Ramble in a clip from The Last Waltz:

And here’s a video of one of my all-time favorite songs EVER. Done best by The Band, sung by Levon, written by Bob Dylan. Thanks to the youtuber who put together this collage, I dig it. And here’s a link to a live version, The Band’s a little older, but they’re still great.

Check out my friends at Stark Magazine’s feature on the Ramble!

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This Television tune is a college song if i ever heard one. I always feel high when listening to it. The beautiful and romantic beginning, the bass line and then the perfect lyrics…

“Do I, Do I. Belong to the night? Only, only. Only, tonight.”

And then later:

“But tell me how do I say? I woke up and it’s yesterday. Do I again face this night?”

Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd defined their own brand of punk largely by the intricate, dueling guitar thing they had going on. This song is no different. Robert Christgau once called Television the Grateful Dead of punk, which is an idea I both agree with and enjoy immensely. I wish I was the Grateful Dead of something…..

The guitar solo that erupts halfway through the song like a volcano or a hit of acid coming on is so insane. It’s prefect. The high pitched first note is not too high. The groove not too groovy. (Just like the Dead).

By the way, if Television formed today their name would be Internet and they would sound like a computer, not the beautiful fuzz that you hear here.

Television: Guiding Light

Click on the above link.

Television: Guiding Light

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Jeff Buckley: Grace Around the World
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu

Whether it was at a New York City venue or at a television studio in London, the late Jeff Buckley never gave a pedestrian performance onstage. There was so much intensity and emotion in his musical delivery that it felt more like a spiritual experience than a show.

That notion is reinforced with this latest posthumous archival release, Grace Around the World, a DVD/CD collection of electrifying live performances from 1994 and 1995. “Grace Around the World” reveals two sides of Buckley the musician: the manic and intense rock performer (from the BBC Late Show, London), and the warm and intimate artist (in his performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” for MTV Japan).

Throughout this DVD you can see Buckley evoking his influences such as Led Zeppelin, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Nina Simone both in his voice and in the music. More importantly, however, he forged his own distinct identity in the process.

If you can afford to spend the few extra dollars, you should definitely get the deluxe version of this set because it comes with “Amazing Grace,” a documentary about Buckley’s life, directed by Nyla Bialek Adams and Laurie Trombley. This film, which came out in 2004, provides a well-rounded portrait of the singer’s life and details his early performances at New York City’s Sin-e, his rapid rise and acclaim during his tenure with Columbia Records and his final days in Memphis as he was recording the follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Grace.” In addition to archival footage and performances, it features interviews with Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert, members of his band, friends, and musicians Chris Cornell, Duncan Sheik and former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach. Like “Grace Around The World,” “Amazing Grace” shows what a blessed and gifted musician Buckley was.

His untimely death still resonates when one thinks of what his career might have been.

“Grace Around the World” is out on June 2.

Foto by Wise Guys

Foto by Wise Guides

(Yankee Stadium, above, 4/17/09)

Greed and bullshit don’t work out in the end. This would never happen in Boston.

This story offers fans and players opinions.

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(HOME VIDEO..HAHAHAHAHA)

I love a good music documentary. “The Last Waltz” is one of my favorite movies, as is Michael Jackson “Moonwalker.” HA. I’m serious, by the way, even though it’s not a documentary. Or is it?

The Playlist has an interesting discussion about the seemingly thin selection of rock documentaries made these days. They do shout out “Soul Power,” which I saw last year and wrote about. It’s a GREAT film, definitely check it out.

The full schedule has been announced and there are some great free and benefit performances, including 311 and Ziggy Marley. HAHAHA.

The free show on August 1 with M.Ward, Mike Watt and Nels Cline is sure to blow people away. What a diverse line-up!! If anyone’s heard Cline before, either with Wilco, or doing his own experimental/noisy work, you know he’s the shit. I can’t wait.

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The FADER calls this type of music “new teenager,” which is funny but I don’t know why. Usually teenagers are thought of as lame, and i’m pretty sure FADER was using the description as a compliment, so that’s cool.

Victimless Crime” is the song’s title and the band’s name is Restless People. I can’t help but conveniently map out a scenario in my mind about how bored the restless people are and so they commit a crime- an act of vandalism perhaps- something that ends with, you guessed it, no victims. Just dance beats and a shaking, electronic maraca? Sorry- in the morning my mind takes words and runs.

The music is fun and catchy and since it’s about to be 80+ degrees in NYC i’d say this is what you call a perfectly timed release. If I had the means, i’d strap the track (not through a boombox, this is an internet-only release) to my bike and blast it while I sweat going uphill on Vanderbilt Ave.

Tanlines and Professor Murder came together on this joint.

UPDATE:

Tanlines are playing a bunch in NYC:

Apr 23 – 10:00PM – GLASSLANDS – w/ SUCKERS
http://www.glasslands.com/

Apr 25 – 8:00PM – Bruar Falls w/ Lemonade + CLAWS + Bronze
http://bruarfalls.com/

May 8 – 10:00PM – FIXED @ STUDIO B w/ OPTIMO
http://www.clubstudiob.com/

May 16 – 8:00PM – Gowanus Studio Space – Triple Canopy Anniversary Party
http://www.gowanusstudio.org/
http://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/

May 28 – 9:30PM – NEW MUSEUM – RHIZOME.ORG BENEFIT
https://rhizome.org/benefit/2009/tickets.php

And here’s their new video…..funny.


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This is a pretty masogynistic song but the music is so great. Just ignore the undertones….

I’ve loved Bo Diddley, who wrote and sings this song, since I was a young-un- my dad would play the record on the weekends. Like many traditional songs, it’s been covered by countless others most notably, the Rolling Stones.

The doo-wop doo dooo dooo dooo dooo’s at the beginning, the bluesy and tinny guitar, and of course the tambourine shake ,make this a real hip shaker. The song has an old-timey nostalgic feel to it too, one that is so strong and laden with emotion that it’s easy to ignore the lyrics:

“I caught you woman a long time ago

Keep your hand out my pocket keep your foot out my door,

That wrong with you, yeah yeah, you’re crackin’ up”

Bo Diddley: Crackin’ Up

Click the above link

Bo Diddley: Crackin’ Up

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