So I'm flipping the channels last night and I land on VH1 Classic showing "Rock Honors 2008: The Who." As a sucker for music concerts and a huge Who fan, I couldn't resist. The Who sounded great but as much as I love them, it's really hard for me to watch them play days just because the absence of Keith Moon and John Entwistle is impossible not to notice.
The highlight of the show was Pearl Jam's jaw-droppingly good performances of two tracks from The Who's masterpiece; "Quadrophenia." I always knew Vedder was a big Who fan, but check out how perfect bassist Jeff Ament channels John Entwistle. The song "The Real Me" sounds like a Pearl Jam original. It is a truly fantastic performance and it solidifies Pearl Jam's place in the short list of all-time great rock and roll bands. Enjoy!!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
RUSH rock Colbert!
Audio/Visual club members unite!! The masters of Prog-Rock; RUSH have seen a strange bit of pop-culture exposure of late. I have been a fan of RUSH since I was about 12 years old. Their amazing musicianship and intricate songs practicly were the soundtrack to my early teenage years. As much as they are praised by fans and musicians alike, rock critics have typically ignored them or panned them over the years. RUSH are not yet in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though they are the 4'Th highest selling rock artist in history. Oh yeah, and The Dave Clark Five ARE in the Hall of Fame so take that for what it's worth.
So recently I just read a fantastic 4 page article about them in the current Rolling Stone and last night they were actually on the always awesome Colbert Report. This marked RUSH's first television appearence in over 30 years!!
For the 2 people who dig RUSH and read this blog, check out the entire episode here. It is full of inside Rush references AND they rock Tom Sawyer!!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
He Met The Walrus
This is a great find. It goes like this:
"In 1969, the 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room for a chat.”
The majority of the conversation is Lennon discussing the ongoing war in Vietnam. What is striking to me about this is how little things have changed and how perceptive John Lennon really was. Enjoy this 5 minute treasure.
"In 1969, the 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room for a chat.”
The majority of the conversation is Lennon discussing the ongoing war in Vietnam. What is striking to me about this is how little things have changed and how perceptive John Lennon really was. Enjoy this 5 minute treasure.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Summer Listening
I love summer and I certainly love listening to great music in the summertime. The right tunes just sound better with a warm sun shining down on you. So you ask; what are you listening to these days Dave? Here are some new and old albums I'm grooving on lately.
1. The Hold Steady-Stay Positive
As I wrote in an earlier post, this is not only the album of the summer, but the best album of 2008 (On July 14, the masses will finally get to buy the thing). Nothing else this year will come close to the pure joy and heartbreak covered on this disc. Craig Finn is the best lyricist working today and the band finally gives him the music to match the words.
2. Black Kids-Partie Traumatic
I heard the song "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance" while flipping through my satellite radio the other day. I immediately had to know who this band was. Picture the happy songs from The Cure mixed with the exuberance of The Go Team and you'll get the idea. If I was a teenager in 2008, this would be blasting out my speakers every second of the day. Listen to the entire joyful noise here.
3. Steve Earle-Washington Street Serenade
This criminally underrated disc from 2007 has yet to leave my rotation. Not a bad track in the bunch and Earle has never sounded better. The track "Steve's Hammer (Song for Pete) is an true instant classic.
4. Mudcrutch
The band reunion no one was waiting for. Tom Petty brings his early 70's buddies back together to make a modern Country-Rock classic. It's so easy to take Petty for granted, but he has never sounded more focused and vital then on this disc. A perfect summer listen.
5. Nigeria 70
I found out about this killer collection of afro-funk goodness from the Fuel/Friends blog (Thanks Heather). If these 16 tracks don't put a smile on your face and a skip in your step, I can't help you.
6. Fleet Foxes
These Seattle, WA longhairs have created the perfect mix of breezy songcraft and earthy lyrics about hills and mountains. Their music reminds me of what The Band might have sounded like if they came out in the year 2008. This disc took me a while to get into, but once it hit me I simply fell in love with it. It's the perfect soundtrack to a early morning summer walk in the woods. Listen to the entire thing here.
7. Aimee Mann-@#%&* Smilers!
The amazing Aimee Mann is back with another disc of fantastic smart-pop tracks. I believe she could turn the entries from the phone book into a melodic pop classic. As usual with Aimee; the music sounds sugary sweat, while the lyric bite like moonshine. This one ranks up with Aimme's best and the album title just can't be beat!
8. Bob Dylan and The Band-The Complete Basement Tapes
I am so in awe of this collection I don't even know where to start. In 1967 Bob Dylan goes out of the public eye, moves to the hinterlands of Saugerties, New York, and creates 4 discs worth of Americana classics with The Band in their Big Pink basement. Oh yeah, and none of it was created for the public to actually hear. Songs fade in and out, the audio quality is poor, the playing drunkenly sloppy, and I wouldn't want it any other way. If you want the Cliff's Notes version, get the doctored up-officially released 2-disc version from 1975. But if you really want the meat and potatoes, you need to seek out the 4 disc bootleg called "A Tree With Roots" (hint, Bit-Torrent search). You can read the tracklist here. No summer roadtrip is complete without this collection!
1. The Hold Steady-Stay Positive
As I wrote in an earlier post, this is not only the album of the summer, but the best album of 2008 (On July 14, the masses will finally get to buy the thing). Nothing else this year will come close to the pure joy and heartbreak covered on this disc. Craig Finn is the best lyricist working today and the band finally gives him the music to match the words.
2. Black Kids-Partie Traumatic
I heard the song "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance" while flipping through my satellite radio the other day. I immediately had to know who this band was. Picture the happy songs from The Cure mixed with the exuberance of The Go Team and you'll get the idea. If I was a teenager in 2008, this would be blasting out my speakers every second of the day. Listen to the entire joyful noise here.
3. Steve Earle-Washington Street Serenade
This criminally underrated disc from 2007 has yet to leave my rotation. Not a bad track in the bunch and Earle has never sounded better. The track "Steve's Hammer (Song for Pete) is an true instant classic.
4. Mudcrutch
The band reunion no one was waiting for. Tom Petty brings his early 70's buddies back together to make a modern Country-Rock classic. It's so easy to take Petty for granted, but he has never sounded more focused and vital then on this disc. A perfect summer listen.
5. Nigeria 70
I found out about this killer collection of afro-funk goodness from the Fuel/Friends blog (Thanks Heather). If these 16 tracks don't put a smile on your face and a skip in your step, I can't help you.
6. Fleet Foxes
These Seattle, WA longhairs have created the perfect mix of breezy songcraft and earthy lyrics about hills and mountains. Their music reminds me of what The Band might have sounded like if they came out in the year 2008. This disc took me a while to get into, but once it hit me I simply fell in love with it. It's the perfect soundtrack to a early morning summer walk in the woods. Listen to the entire thing here.
7. Aimee Mann-@#%&* Smilers!
The amazing Aimee Mann is back with another disc of fantastic smart-pop tracks. I believe she could turn the entries from the phone book into a melodic pop classic. As usual with Aimee; the music sounds sugary sweat, while the lyric bite like moonshine. This one ranks up with Aimme's best and the album title just can't be beat!
8. Bob Dylan and The Band-The Complete Basement Tapes
I am so in awe of this collection I don't even know where to start. In 1967 Bob Dylan goes out of the public eye, moves to the hinterlands of Saugerties, New York, and creates 4 discs worth of Americana classics with The Band in their Big Pink basement. Oh yeah, and none of it was created for the public to actually hear. Songs fade in and out, the audio quality is poor, the playing drunkenly sloppy, and I wouldn't want it any other way. If you want the Cliff's Notes version, get the doctored up-officially released 2-disc version from 1975. But if you really want the meat and potatoes, you need to seek out the 4 disc bootleg called "A Tree With Roots" (hint, Bit-Torrent search). You can read the tracklist here. No summer roadtrip is complete without this collection!
Monday, July 7, 2008
A Day in the Life with Neil Young
After a wonderful vacation week in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, one of the first things I see when I get back online is some awesome Neil Young craziness. Specifically, a totally bizarre cover of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" from Neil's recent tour. I'm not saying if it's good or not, but it must be heard. My favorite part is the confused looks on the faces of the Rock in Rio fans!
Dig the weirdness below along with some other Neil Rock in Rio clips. Thank Goodness Neil Young is still out there doing his thing. Keep on Rocking in the Free World!!
Dig the weirdness below along with some other Neil Rock in Rio clips. Thank Goodness Neil Young is still out there doing his thing. Keep on Rocking in the Free World!!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Plant/Krause
As I leave on vacation, I post to you a wonderful take on one of my favorite songs. This was from London on Robert Plant and Allison Krause's current tour together. Great stuff! See you in a week...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Summer's Here and the Time is Right....
Ahh...Summer. Maybe it's because I live in the Mid-West, but I appreciate summer more and more each year. It's 85 and sunny outside today and I couldn't be happier. The Cubs are in first place, woman are wearing less clothes, and I get to ride my sweet new motorcycle! Life is good. Another facit of summer is that most music just sounds better when the air is warm and the sun is shining. As I leave for a week of vacation, I thought I would throw up 20 songs that should make your sunny day even brighter. So put on some sunscreen, crank up the speakers, and enjoy the tunes.
Go Cubs!!
Side A
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