Goodbye to Doc Watson

Sadly, seven time Grammy winner Doc Watson died today. Doc was a bluegrass legend and helped bring bluegrass out of the rhododenren of western North Carolina and into the national spotlight. Doc thrived despite growing up dirt poor and blind from an eye infection at age 1. Doc is one of my favorite bluegrass artists not only because of his guitar chops, but also because of his classic, clear bluegrass voice..

Full bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Watson

If you don't know Doc, check out a couple of these videos:

The Weeknd

Remember when we posted about The Dream? Well, here's some R&B that's cut from the same cloth. A little slower, a little nastier, The Weeknd is baby making music gone slightly indie. There are some killer jams to be had on his first proper album, House of Balloons, and his EP/mixtape releases are solid as well. Check out Echoes of Silence, which you can download for free on his website. Dude's created a nice little internet persona for himself as well. Do yourself a favor: pour a glass of wine for you and that special someone, light a fire, and spark a bowl. As the song says...





Happy Weeknd

Stew

Jack White Solo Album April 24

Booyah. Here's a taste:

Best Shows of 2011

I brought back my annual New Year's poll asking my friends to name their favorite concert of the year. It was another solid year in the music world. Here are a few selected results.

Let's start with the weather-related choices:

Amy Jordan and Luke Muellerleile - U2 in Minneapolis in a torrential downpour, worthy of two videos because this was one hell of a storm:




Fellow bloggers Nate Gagnon and Ben Siebers - Snoop Dogg in Madison:


During the Blizzaster:


Our top vote getter: Danny Linihan, Nic Tyson, Brett Keller - The Black Keys:


And Gold on the Ceiling from Letterman, because it's my favorite song right now:


Trevor Gray - Tinariwen


Jake Howard and Clayton Scherrer - The Strokes


Have a great 2012 and go see live music!

Stew

Merengue!

Elvis Crespo was named after Elvis Presley, has won a Grammy, and was the 1999 Tropical: Male Artist of the Year ... what have you done that is half as awesome? Elvis is a merenegueteno (creater of merengue music) and has been making danceable music since his debut in 1998.

Merengue is probably the simplest of the latin dances because of it's basic 4/4 beat. It's relative fast pace and simplicity allow some flexibility on the dancefloor.

So grab your better half and give it a shot ....

Song of the Year

It's fun to pick an indie or obscure track for song of the year. Makes me look smart and well informed. But when Ravens defenders are declaring that they went to Ball So Hard University and Jay-Z and Kanye are repeating one song ten times at their shows, there's really only one choice.

The song of the year is Niggas in Paris:


No lists this year, I just wasn't paying close enough attention. But if I did make a list the M83 album below would be right at the top.

Stew

M83

One of my favored electronica acts, M83, released a new double album a little while back. Hurry Up We're Dreaming is a sprawling epic, touching a little bit of everything in M83's past: moody lyric-less soundscapes, slow building jams, and blowout dance tracks. The title feels appropriate; this stuff could easily be the soundtrack to your dreams. Here's a taste:






Echoes of Mine (part of it anyway):


The first single, Midnight City, live:


Steve McQueen live:


Like remixes? Here's a remix EP the band released for Midnight City:
Midnight City Remixes EP by M83

And what the hell, here's my favorite track off of Saturdays=Youth, their last release before Hurry Up:


Happy... Saturday?

Stew

Deltron 3030

Deltron 3030 is a great hip hop album. From THE YEAR 2000. So we're either going backwards or forwards in time. Expand your mind, sucka.

This from Wiki: "The album's story casts Del in the role of Deltron Zero, a disillusioned mech soldier and interplanetary computer prodigy rebelling against a 31st century New World Order. In a world where evil oligarchs suppress both human rights and hip-hop, Del fights rap battles against a series of foes, becoming Galactic Rhyme Federation Champion.Del tha Funkee Homosapien's lyrics veer from serious social commentary to humor to epic sci-fi battles, while producer Dan the Automator creates an eerie and dense atmosphere.The song "3030" was used as the theme song on the short lived CBS series Robbery Homicide Division. The song "Positive Contact" was featured in the video games Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (2001), Tony Hawk's Underground (2003), and College Hoops 2K8 (2007).The song "Time Keeps On Slipping", featuring Damon Albarn, is said to have been the influence on the creation of the Gorillaz.[citation needed]On the single "Time Keeps On Slipping", it states the version of "Turbulence" is the remix by Mark Bell, despite the fact the album version and the version featured on the single are completely different. The version on the single could possibly be the original version, as it features scratching possibly by Kid Koala, which is missing from the Mark Bell remix on the album.[citation needed]The album was reissued July 1, 2008 with 3 bonus remixes."

TSAD Winter Resurrection: Pendulum

Don't have a ton of time to post, but I've got some epic jams to share. Pendulum hails from the land down under and offer some rather unique tracks. They have a diverse sound, with tracks off of their album Immersion ranging from dubstepesque to pop to punk etc. etc.

Here are the highlights off of Immersion:







Love the aussies ... one of these days I am going to make an Aussie top picks post

TSAD Winter Resurrection: J Roddy Walston and The Go! Team Redux

I thought I'd jump back into the TSAD fray by discussing a couple of bands that, while they've been on the blog before, deserve a little more of our time.

First up is J Roddy Walston and the Business. Steve mentioned them briefly in one of his ACL previews. I love this band. Fantastic blues rock. J Roddy is like a modern day Jerry Lee Lewis, pounding his piano keys while rocking out with a band that gives his songs one hell of a thump. It's the sort of stuff that Ben would describe as "rootsy" (possibly the highest compliment he can give a band) and the kind of stuff I would have featured in my erstwhile "Where has all the real rock gone?" series had I known about them back then. Drink it in:

Don't Break the Needle:


Caroline:


From ACL 2011:


Next we have The Go! Team. Gabe posted an NFL commercial featuring one of their songs (all of the Play 60 commercials I've seen use Go! Team songs). These guys had a critically acclaimed debut album back in 2004 and have cranked out a couple more albums since then. I don't particularly care for the cheerleader-style vocals; I'm here for the rockin instrumental tracks. Here are a couple:

Bust Out Brigade:
The Go! Team - Bust-Out Brigade by thegoteam

Frienship Update:


And one for Nate:
The Go! Team - Apollo Throwdown (Star Slinger Remix) by thegoteam

Websites:
J Roddy Walston and The Business
The Go! Team

Happy Friday.

TSAD Winter Resurrection: Shpongle!

All credit goes to my friend Adam on this find ... He introduced me to Shpongle a few years back and I didn't really give it a shot until recently. It's definitely music for current or former users of psychedelic drugs so if that's you, give it a listen!

From Wikipedia ...
Shpongle is an English psychedelic downtempo/psybient music project formed in 1996. The group includes Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) and Raja Ram (one third of The Infinity Project). Their musical style combines eastern ethnic instruments and vocals with contemporary western synthesizer-based psychedelic music. When asked to describe Shpongle's music, Posford has responded that it is "like nothing you've ever heard before."

Now if that description alone doesn't get you excited about a project, we definitely have different tastes in music. My suggestion is to give it a listen now, and then come back to it at the right moment and the right state of consciousness ... How will you know when that moment will be? you'll just know ....

ACL wrap-up and some dancey tracks for a Friday!

ACL wrap-up: Great festival. They definitely have things running like a well-oiled machine and you can go have a good time while avoiding many of the usual festival issues (terrible lines, nowhere to pee, dirt/mud everywhere). It was a mixed bag of music like any festival, but the highlights for me were:
- Bomba Estereo - columbian female hip hop group with heavy influences from traditional south american dance beats and electronica
- Del McCoury - bluegrass man who's been doing it well for a while and shared the stage with a new orleans brass band for this performance
- My Morning Jacket - true rock performance and teamed up the same brass band that teamed with Del McCoury

Biggest disappointments were Kanye West, Cut Copy, and Stevie Wonder due to some sound issues.




Anyhow, on to bigger and better things! Here's some dance music to light up your Friday!

tiger & woods - sample old disco tracks with house music. it's an example of the modernized version of disco and i've been hearing it more and more around the douchey places I tend to frequent around dallas



danny daze - miami based DJ with a bass-tastic track and a video that features some excellent dance moves in the video


Thanks to NPR's 'All Songs Considered' for the discoveries ...

ACL Preview - Live Music Capital and Saturday Schedule!

'Round these parts, they call Austin the 'Live Music Capital of the World.' Whether or not Austin deserves this self-proclaimed designation could be debated but any way you look at it, there's a lot of live music in Austin.



The Austin music scene has always been one that's been seen as a destination for struggling or developing musicians who can play a vaiety of good local venues. The scene has ties to acts like Willie Nelson, BB King, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, the Skunks, the Police, the Talking Heads, among others. Stevie Ray Vaughn was an Austinite and played in Austin frequently until his untimely demise. There are plenty of legendary spots still in operation such as Waterloo Records (http://waterloorecords.com/), a record store that features a great website with local and national charts and several autograph sessions during ACL. Another famous spot is Antone's club near 6th street that is hosting two of the better Aftershows featuring North MS All-Stars on Thursday and Gary Clark Jr. on Friday (http://www.antones.net/). In addition to ACL, Austin also hosts SXSW in April each year, which is a film, music, and all things creative gathering.

As for Saturday, here are some of the highlights of the lineup:

Federico Aubele - 11:45 - 12:30 (doubt that I'll be up at that terrible hour) - Honda Stage
Argentinian band with a great south american sound


Twin Shadow - 1:15 - 2:00 - Google+ Stage


J Roddy Walston and The Business - 2:00 - 3:00 - Bud Light Stage


Skrillex - 5:00 - 6:00 - Google+ Stage
A nightmare inducing mess of glitch step


Chromeo - 7:00 - 8:00 - Honda Stage


Unfortunately, Chromeo is at the same time as Del McCoury which might make for a tough decision. Saturday also features Cut Copy, Alison Krauss, My Morning Jacket and Stevie Wonder. Should be a good day ...

ACL Preview! The Afterparty ...

I dig the afterparty! Here are some of the highlights of whats on tap for the afterparty at ACL this year...


Thursday, September 15th:

- Pretty Lights w/ NAS at Austin Music Hall - see previous post for a clip!

- Old Crow Medicine Show w/ Hayes Carll at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater


– Delta Spirit w/ J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Futurebirds at Emo’s Outside

–North Mississippi Allstars at Antone’s - see previous post for a clip!

Friday, September 16th:

– Manu Chao La Ventura at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater


– Skrillex w/ Chiddy Bang at La Zona Rosa


– Twin Shadow and Cut Copy DJ Set w/ Theophilis London and Diamond Rings at Emo’s

– Smith Westerns and Cults at The Parish

– Gary Clark Jr. at Antone’s


– Lance Herbstrong at Stubb’s Indoors



Saturday, September 17:

– Empire of the Sun w/ Mayer Hawthorne & The County at Austin Music Hall


– Bright Eyes w/ Kurt Vile and the Violators at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater

– Fitz and the Tantrums w/ Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme at La Zona Rosa

– Death From Above 1979 w/ The Vaccines at Emo’s

– The Head and The Heart w/ The Moondoggies at Antone’s

– Wild Beasts w/ Telekinesis at The Parish

– Phosphorescent w/ little hurricane at Stubb’s Indoors

– Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. w/ Yellow Ostrich at Lambert’s


– Gospel Brunch: The Lee Boys at Stubb’s Indoors (11AM & 1PM Seatings)

Sunday, September 18:

– Iron & Wine and Yim Yames at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater

– Gospel Brunch: Tyree Morris & Heart of Worship at Stubb’s Indoors (11AM & 1PM Seatings)

Sleep is overrated!

ACL Preview - Friday Evening and the Food Truck Explosion!

In the second installment of the ACL preview series, I'll take a look at the acts on tap for Friday night, bitch about the heat, and discuss the food truck phenomenon in some detail.



Austin is a city known for taking the extra step to ensure that it is doing things in a little different way than the ordinary. T-shirts suggest that we should all "Keep Austin Weird" and I'm sure sure shit will inevitibly get weird at ACL. One positive example of this weirdness materializing in edible form is the food truck explosion that took place in Austin over the last few years. Most big cities have food trucks so that isn't all that unusual, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find the quality, quantity, and diversity of the trucks that you'll find in Austin. From the mexican roach coach to duck on wheels, here are a few trucks that I feel the reason to comment on for one reason or another:

- Chilantro: http://www.chilantrobbq.com/schedule - Korean bbq and mexican fusion served from two locations around dirty sixth street. I think the Kimchi fries and pork tacos are the best on the menu. My fav spot in ATX
- Torchy's Tacos: http://torchystacos.com/company/torchys-story/ - What started as a truck is now a good taco chain throughout ATX. A bit overpriced for tacos, but delicious. Original truck is still open in South Austin. I suggest the Mr. Pink ahi tuna taco or the Green Chile Pork
- Kebabalicious: http://www.austinkebab.com/ - Turkish kebab truck that is usually hanging around dirty sixth. Haven't been, but have heard from reliable sources (UT grads, bike cabbie) that the food is good.
- Odd Duck Farm to Trailer: http://oddduckfarmtotrailer.com/ - With a seasonal, locally sourced menu, this trailer is said to bring high quality food to a trailer setting. Today's menu offered duck egg, pork belly, quail, and other local goods for $5 or less per plate. Located south of town on S. Lamar. Haven't had a chance to go before, but plan on making a trip during ACL!
- Gordough's: http://www.gourdoughs.com/ - This looks like a truly unique trailer. Located on South Lamar, this trailer serves donuts topped with everything from fried chicken, to bacon, to pepper jelly, to brownie batter, to grilled bananas, to a bunch of other shit that will make you fat, to any combination of any of the aforementioned.

It's been interesting to see the food truck industry evolve in Austin. The trucks now utilize twitter, blogs, other social media platforms and even have a unified iphone app. Check out a good general guide to the other trucks here: http://austinfoodcarts.com/

As for the music on Friday night, here's a few of the folks who will be participating:

Santigold: Friday 7:10 - 8:10 - Honda Stage


Pretty Lights: Friday 7:30 - 8:30 - Google+ Stage



Plus, Kanye and Coldplay after Pretty Lights if you're still going after the PL show

And now to bitch about the heat, it's hot, it never rains, and people are starting to lose it down here. Hope we get some rain and cooler weather before ACL or we could see a whole new level of weirdness ...

Phish - UIC Pavilion 8.17

You'll never get out of this maze you'll never get out of this maze

Ah Phish. Always a pleasure to see these guys throw down, particularly in an 8,000 person venue instead of a 68,000 person venue. I only went to the last show of their three night run at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, but I was treated to a great set. The boys played a lot of songs and rocked hard, never harder than when they covered Zeppelin's No Quarter. There weren't any truly mammoth jams and the second set kind of went in fits and starts, but the setlist was stellar and it's fun to watch a light show designed for huge amphitheaters completely light up a much smaller arena. Here's the setlist and some videos from the show.

Set 1: Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Gumbo > Possum, Weigh > The Divided Sky, Alaska, Bathtub Gin, Maze, Cavern > First Tube

Set 2: Crosseyed and Painless -> No Quarter > Timber (Jerry) > Tweezer > Prince Caspian > Piper > Ghost -> Makisupa Policeman > Sleep > Buffalo Bill, Golgi Apparatus > Character Zero > Run Like an Antelope

Encore: Funky Bitch, Show of Life > Tweezer Reprise

Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird


Weigh


Crosseyed and Painless jam


No Quarter - kinda low quality but man did they rock this one


Phish is what other jam bands aspire to be. You can't be a cliche if you're the trend setter. Keep that in mind folks. Great show. Happy Friday.

ACL Preview!

Austin, TX --

From Friday September 16 - Sunday September 18, the Austin City Limits festival comes to Zilker Park in Austin for the 10th year. It will be my first time attending and I wanted to do some research in advance to maximize. I'll be attending with some fellow TSAD-ers and loyal TSAD readers, so hopefully others can benefit from some published research.



If you haven't been to Austin, TX and you like music, put it on your list .. Known around here as the Live Music Capital of the World (Texans like to make everything 'of the World' because they only consider the world to be contained within the Texas borders), Austin is always hosting a good act. Throw in an awesome food truck scene and an interesting mix of cowboys, hipsters, students, politicians, minorities, homeless people, drunks and general revelers, and you've got yourself a pretty damn good time any given weekend.

What I'm going to do is throw a few artists up that I am excited about and list the time of their performance for to-be attendees. For those you that are not attending, you may continue to read at your own risk of becoming extremely jealous and depressed thinking about how much fun I am going to be having while you are sitting home watching your college football team that is probably much worse than mine (go cocks) and re-reading all of my ACL Preview posts.

Asleep at the Wheel - AMD Stage Friday 12:25 - 1:10 - Texas music


Reptar - Austin Ventures Stage Friday 1:20 - 2:00


North MS All Stars - Austin Ventures Stage Friday 5 - 5:30 - not to be missed



And the show I wouldn't be caught dead at ...
The Secret Sisters - The Zilker Stage Friday 1:30 - not soon enough



That takes me through 5:30 on Friday ... more to come later including two and a half more days of artists, drunken Austin food truck reviews and a transportation issue that I need help with ...

Later, SP

Two Bird Rock

rock rockin it, rock rockin it

Two Bird Rock has released their debut self-titled album. If you like rock n roll, you will dig this. Min, Tony, Adam, and John are bringin the heat. Here's the release in its entirety:

Two Bird Rock by Two Bird Rock

You can download the whole thing right from the music player. What generosity.

Rock on.

Blame Someone Else

Here's Blame Someone Else, formerly Pogmatone, formerly Franki Lee. With the new name comes a new EP and a new style. Their sound is more mature and has a cool roots vibe. Fables is a pretty kick-ass song. Check it:

Blame Someone Else by Stew C

Flypaper Hands vid:


The website:
http://www.someoneelseblamer.com/

If you like what you hear hop on iTunes and pick up the EP!

Happy Friday

The Return: Eek A Mouse

Kingston, Jamaica --

I've been absent from TSAD for quite some time doing some "field research" ...

Somewhere along the line, I came across Eek-A-Mouse. Straight out of Kingston, Eek-A-Mouse produces his own very unique reggae style. Eek's music is super-chill, using a wide variety of musical instruments, and featuring some strange vocals ..

Most famous track is "Ganja Smuggling," which was recoreded in '82


Personal favorite is "Noah's Ark"


And since there's nothing better than the classic rasta in a colored suit and matching hat, a live version of "Ganja Smuggling"