Category Archives: Bands/Artists

Members of Tortoise announce ‘Bumps’ Side Project

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From Pitchfork: In a bit of fresh news from the Tortoise camp, John McEntire, Dan Bitney and, Johnny Herndon are releasing a record of percussion and samples on the always-real Stones Throw Records under the moniker “Bumps.” The release which will come out on CD and (of course) LP is due June 19th.

This move comes as a welcome spin from Tortoise who have, in my opinion, been ignoring their electronic/remix side since the double remix 12″s that came out during TNT. It seemed that the guys in Tortoise were regularly dabbling in this arena– either having others remix Tortoise songs, or doing remixes themselves for Yo La Tengo and McEntire’s Tortoise remix of Coldcut’s More Beats and Pieces. and Herndon’s “A Grape Dope” side project.

B-Sides in the Bins #10 – Minneapolis/St. Paul 3/31/07

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Last weekend Sherry, Rae and I went to Minneapolis so they could participate in an in absentia baby shower. Sherry’s aunt was throwing a baby shower for her daughter who lives in the Phoenix area and couldn’t be in Minnesota for it. So, all of the relatives in the Twin Cities got together with the requsite baby shower gifts, games, and food. Everyone shows the gifts and at the end they are boxed up and shipped. A neat idea that Sherry’s mom did for Sherry’s aunt a long time ago.

At any rate it meant that Sherry’s uncle and I were effectively kicked out of the house for four hours. The plan on this very rainy day was to hit Cheapo’s on Snelling in St. Paul and, if there was time left, hit the Cheapo’s on Lake in Uptown. Both of these locations have vinyl stores attached to them.

The trip to Snelling was a bust. I hit the vinyl location hoping to find some Tortoise. They had the In The Fishtank release from Tortoise and the Ex and The Brave and the Bold collaboration with Bonnie “Prince” Billy. I flipped through the New Arrivals and saw some interesting stuff like Journey Through the Past from Neil Young which is a soundtrack to an evidently strange movie Neil produced in 1974 under his nom de film Bernard Shakey. I contemplated picking this up, but it was kind of pricey for what I thought the quality was. In retrospect I should have picked it up since it hasn’t been released on CD. Looking at the tracklist, though, it might only be notable for the 16+ minute studio version of “Words.” The trip to the CD store was disappointing. It appears that the New Arrivals section has dwindled to two tables. I quickly flipped through the week of arrivals and found nothing of note except for Money Mark’s new one. Sherry’s uncle picked up a Temptations Greatest Hits comp.

The stop at Lake was much better. I visited the vinyl store which is called Vinyltopia. Boy, is it ever! This store is the basement of the CD store and is probably the same square feet. I knew right away that I better not spend too much time down there– I’m sure I could blow an entire day flipping through those bins. I hit the Tortoise section with no luck and flipped through the New Arrivals, but nothing jumped out at me, so I made my way upstairs.

Neon Bible – Arcade Fire (CD Merge MRG285, 2007) ($9.98) There just seems to be so much talk about this album I thought I’d give it a closer listen. I didn’t like Funeral that much, so I kind of wrote this band off. So… I think the album is pretty good. It improves with multiple listens, but does anyone else hear E-Street Era Bruce Springsteen in this?? I don’t think it is just the glockenspiel. I think it is the pumping percussion and the soaring choruses. Especially “Keep the Car Running.” “Every night my dream’s the same. Same old city with a different name. Men are coming to take me away. I don’t know why but, I know I can’t stay.” That could have been penned by Bruce. I guess in the pop canon there are worse artists to emulate. Well, except for that last Killer’s album.

Return to Cookie Mountain – TV on the Radio (CD Touch and Go/Interscope B0007466-02, 2006) ($8.95) Man, “Wolf Like Me” is just one of those great songs. Best song about lycanthropy— ever! My wife loves that song as well. I thought it was time to add this one to the collection. This version of Cookie Mountain has three bonus tracks: “Snakes and Martyrs,” a remix of “Hours” by El-P, and “Things You Can Do.” We’re howling forever…

In Search of the Lost Chord – The Moody Blues (CD Deram 42284 4768-2, 1968/1997) ($5.95) This CD completes my collection of the essential first seven Moody Blues albums from the second and more notable version of the band. From the period of 1967 to 1972 the Moody Blues released an astounding seven albums with two albums coming out in 1969. The Lost Chord is the second of these albums and includes the singles “Voices in the Sky” and the concert favorite “Ride My See-Saw.” The Moody Blues defines my childhood as my family and especially my dad were big fans and most family excusions included cassettes from the Moody Blues. This is the 1997 “Digitally Remastered” version of the album. I read online that Justin Hayward is finishing up re-releasing the first seven albums on SACD with bonus material. I’ll be looking into these to see if they are worth picking up.

The next four CD’s were a happy find for me. The “missing” pre-Geffen Reprise-era Neil Young albums. These have been out-of-print for many years mostly due to Neil’s tendency for perfection but likely also due to his crotchety nature. Since the first discussions of the Decades III/Archives releases in the mid- to late-Nineties the fans had been asking for these albums to be re-released. Neil said in an interview that he had been holding off on releasing these because to date he hated the mastering that had been done to his catalog for CD and that the vinyl versions of his albums sounded superior to them. Apparently with the advent of HDCD Neil is satisfied with the sound of CDs. Still to be released are the soundtrack to “Journey Through the Past,” and Time Fades Away. In the case of Time Fades Away, there was an HDCD release set up and sent out as promos, but the release never materialized.

On the Beach – Neil Young (CD Reprise 48497-2, 1974/2003) ($5.95) In my opinion, this is the best of the four re-releases. On The Beach is part of what is known in the fan circles as “The Ditch Trilogy” which includes Tonight’s The Night and Time Fades Away. Following the huge success of “Heart of Gold” from Harvest, Neil felt it was necessary to move from the middle of the road to the ditch– per the liner notes in Decade. The resulting block of three albums are all similar in their darkness in themes. A friend of mine from Dubuque who was a huge Neil fan made me a cassette of On The Beach and American Stars ‘n Bars that I took with me to Louisiana during a computer installation. The loaner car I drove had a cassette deck in it and I listened to that tape non-stop during my treks between New Orleans and Houma where the two locations of the installation were. “Walk On”, “See the Sky About to Rain,” and “On the Beach” are my standout favorites.

American Stars ‘n Bars – Neil Young (CD Reprise 48496-2, 1977/2003) ($5.95) Another good release from what tends to be considered very unbalanced releases. Neil in a more country mode. Stars n’ Bars and Hawks & Doves benefit from having tracks pulled from the aborted Homegrown and Chrome Dreams albums. Notable tracks include “Like A Hurricane,” “Will to Love,” and “Homegrown.” Beautiful backing vocals from Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson. Emmylou Harris sings on “Star of Bethlehem.” Amazing pedal steel by Ben Keith. The cover art was done by buddy Dean Stockwell.

Hawks & Doves – Neil Young (CD Reprise 48499-2, 1980/2003) ($5.95) Another folkie-country release. This album is also a collection of tracks recorded at different times dating back to 1974. Standout tracks “Little Wing,” “The Old Homestead,” and “Captain Kennedy.”

Re-ac-tor – Neil Young (CD Reprise 48498-2, 1981/2003) ($5.95) The last of the Reprise releases before Neil jumps to buddy David Geffen’s label for eight years. That move to Geffen ended with a lawsuit accusing Neil of not sounding enough like himself. Admittedly, the Geffen catalog has Neil experimenting in different styles. Neil brings the Horse back for the first time since I guess Zuma. This is probably the weakest of the re-releases. Although it sounds like Crazy Horse, it doesn’t have any of the substance that previous efforts showed. Standout tracks are “Shots” and “Southern Pacific.”

Live at Amoeba Music – TV on the Radio (CD Touch & Go/Interscope B0008324-32, 2007) ($5.98 + shipping) I didn’t get this from Cheapo’s. I got this from Amoeba online. This is a limited-edition 4-track CD of TVotR’s in-store appearance from September last year. A good addition to my collection. As frantic as the band sounds on their album, they have even more energy live. Tracks: “Blues From Down Here,” “Wolf Like Me,” “Province,” “Wash The Day.”

Stuff I put back: Old Ways – Neil Young– I think I might be able to pick this up later, World Without Tears– Lucinda Williams, Por Vida – A tribute to Alejandro Escovedo.

Calexico Cover Arcade Fire – From the Calexico Archives

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The Merge Records Blog had a post referring to another blog– likely it was More Cowbell— where they posted a live mp3 of Calexico covering “Ocean of Noise” from Neon Bible by Arcade Fire. Jim Blackwell, the Official Calexico Archivist, pulled a better version from the archives for Merge. “Ocean of Noise” on Neon Bible features Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela from Calexico which makes it a good song for Calexico to cover.

Click Here to Download Calexico’s cover of “Ocean of Noise.”

The Sea and Cake Summer Tour Dates with The Zincs

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It’s going to be a busy summer for the Thrill Jockey stable of artists. Most of the long-standing acts have or will be releasing new albums this year and are out on tour. Trans Am is back with Sex Change, Califone is out supporting their 2006 release Roots and Crowns, Tortoise is out on tour this summer, and the venerable Sea and Cake will be releasing Everybody on May 8 and out on tour with The Zincs starting in May and wrapping up June 9th in time to allow drummer-in-common John McEntire to pick up with Tortoise’s summer run which starts June 14th. According to their press release the Sea and Cake will be doing a more extensive tour this fall.

Pre-Order the new Sea and Cake Everybody from Thrill Jockey and it will come with a free poster! I recommend doing this as most of the cover art from Thrill Jockey is artwork in itself and a poster is usually $9 shipped. Well worth it. The vinyl edition of Everybody will include a deluxe gatefold with large 16-page booklet.

Mon. May 14
Vancouver, BC
Richard’s on Richards w/ The Zincs

Tue. May 15
Seattle, WA
Neumo’s w/ The Zincs

Wed. May 16
Portland OR
Crystal Ballroom w/ The Zincs

Fri. May 18
San Francisco, CA
Bimbo’s w/ The Zincs

Sat. May 19
Los Angeles, CA
Troubadour w/ The Zincs

Sun. May 20
Los Angeles, CA
Troubadour w/ The Zincs

Mon. May 21
Solana Beach, CA
Belly Up w/ The Zincs

Thu. May 31
Chicago, IL
Empty Bottle (2 shows) **

Mon. June 2
Toronto, ON
Mod Club w/ The Zincs

Sun. June 3
Montreal, QC
La Sala Rossa w/ The Zincs

Tue. June 5
Boston, MA
Paradise w/ Loney Dear, The Zincs

Thu. June 7
New York, NY
Webster Hall w/ Loney Dear, The Zincs

Fri. June 8
Philadelphia, PA
Theatre of Living Arts w/ Loney Dear, The Zincs

Sat. June 9
Washington, DC
Black Cat w/ Loney Dear, The Zincs
** Support acts to be determined

B-Sides in the Bins #9 – Cedar Rapids, IA & eBay 3/24/07

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I really wasn’t expecting to do any shopping today. Due to my daughter’s car needing to be dropped off at Tires Plus for a strange banging noise and my wife wanting to do some clothes shopping at Lindale I found myself with some time so I hit CDWarehouse.

I walked in and immediately spotted the spine of the new Low CD Drums and Guns in a stack of used CD’s on the counter. While I hadn’t planned to pick this album up, I couldn’t pass on a new release! I verified that it was for sale and asked to have it put aside and started over to the $1 CD’s and made my way through the LP crates and then through the CD’s.

Before I checked out I spent some time talking to John Fisher who owns the store. A great guy to talk to and is pretty passionate about music and music retail. We talked a lot about sales on the Internet versus the brick-and-mortar retail. He is well aware of what his competition is. He is located next to a Best Buy and his prices will typically compete with Best Buy on new releases. He can also place special orders, which Best Buy has no interest in doing. His perspective on his very low vinyl prices is that he needs to compete with eBay on the “non-collector” vinyl. He is also competing with HalfPrice Books who gets their inventory fortified by their other locations. I have to say that I was surprised about the turnover he had in his vinyl so it will continue to be a stop for me. John is also brokering his inventory through Djangos Music which is pretty smart. He said that he has moved a lot of inventory that he wouldn’t normally move just due to the limited audience in Cedar Rapids for the more obscure items. Times are really tough for the independent music seller so it is good to see someone still willing to figure out how to stay viable! Stop by there if you get a chance.

Drums and Guns – Low (CD Sub Pop SPCD 736, 2007) ($7.99) This CD came out this Tuesday. Evidently the previous owner didn’t appreciate the new direction Low is taking on their eighth album and second for Sub Pop. Low has been around for quite a long time in Indie terms with their first release in 1994. Low is known for their slow tempo style sometimes called “Slowcore” and this album is continuing this style albeit with more distortion on the guitars and more sound effects. This album leaked on the Internet early in January and I had those mp3’s. At the time I thought that what was leaked must have been a demo due to the really strange mixing of the vocals mostly in the right channel but this CD has that, too. I need to spend more time with it, but I think it is a grower. I should get the rest of the Low catalog.

Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (2 CD Warner Bros, R2 73882, 2004) ($9.99) Another great find today! This one has been on my Amazon and lala.com want lists for a while. This is a BMG pressing of the CD, which I would normally pass over but it is in Mint condition. This is probably the sixth copy of Rumours I have owned on CD in my life. When I got my first CD player back in the late 80’s Rumours was one of the first CD’s I purchased. (other titles bought that first day were Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, Hot Rocks 1964-1971 by The Rolling Stones, and Graceland by Paul Simon). I’ve lost three copies to other people– ex-girlfriends mostly. When I was around nine or ten I got a stereo from my parents with an 9-track and had a mix of Rumours and the self-titled prior release that Dad made for the car that I listened to constantly. Dad had an 8-track recorder and used to dub copies of the 8-tracks he bought. This album has been with me my whole life it seems and around for important events. When my wife and I got married in 2000 our invitations had lyrics from the beautiful Christine McVie-penned “Songbird” and Sherry and I had our first dance as a couple at our reception to it. This release has the appended “Silver Springs” that was originally the b-side to “Go Your Own Way.” The controversy surrounding this song has been documented in other places, but this song was another song about the breakup of Buckingham and Nicks. It was pulled from the Rumours tracklist because it was too long and the band preferred “I Don’t Want To Know.” This song resurfaced for the out-of-print The Chain boxset. If I remember right, Mick Fleetwood really pushed for this song to be included in the boxset at Stevie’s initial hesitance. The song was brought back as a single for the reunion album The Dance. The popularity of this song influenced its inclusion in the DVD-A release of Rumours in 2002, and then for this 2004 release. Sonically, I don’t think that this release is much of an improvement over the other pressings of this album on CD. The second disc of bonus tracks and demos serves mostly as an interesting view into the creation of this album and not really something you’d spend a lot of time listening to.

In The Sun – Archer Prewitt (CD Carrot Top SAKI 015, 1997) ($7.99) Another surprise find for me. I’ve had this one on my want list for a long time. This was the missing CD in my Prewitt collection. Archer Prewitt, for those of you who aren’t familiar is a core member of The Sea and Cake. Prewitt’s music is similar to The Sea and Cake, but differs from Sam Prekop’s solo works. Sam has a whispery vocal approach and tends towards a jazzy feel. Prewitt sounds like early breezy Seventies pop. I hadn’t heard any of the tracks off this album before today, but fits right in with his other albums. The Sea and Cake feels more like a Prekop vehicle and Prewitt takes a backseat in that band in my opinion, but he seems very comfortable in his role in the center stage on his own songs.

Afoot – Let’s Active (Vinyl EP I.R.S. SP70505, 1983) ($1.99) Let’s Active was the band fronted by 80’s college rock uber-producer Mitch Easter who I’ve mentioned on here before. According to Mitch, Afoot was an experiment of sorts. I.R.S. let Mitch record and release a record of his own after the success of the first two R.E.M. albums he produced with Don Dixon. This EP had a hit in “Every Word Means No” and even had a video on MTV. This will sit comfortably with my Game Theory vinyl. Mixed by Scott Litt who would later produce six of the best R.E.M. albums from Document through New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

90125 – Yes (LP ATCO 90125-1, 1983) ($1.99) It’s interesting to note that this album was released the same year as Afoot. They seem years apart. Sadly this album hasn’t aged as well as Afoot, however. All of those really nasty “orchestra hit” synthesizer patches and compressed and gated drums peg this album squarely as an early 80’s pop album. Still, this is one of my favorites. Probably the only album in history that is named after its catalog number. I had purchased this album on cassette in 1983 or 1984 largely due to the singles that this record spawned and the videos that were shown on USA’s “Night Flight” and WTBS’s “Night Tracks” shows (no MTV in Bellevue, IA back then!). This album follows the critically-panned Drama album that had the Buggles members Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes on vocals and keyboards. Drama was the only Yes album without the distinctive vocals of Anderson. Horn and Downes left after the Drama tour. Chris Squire and Alan white formed another band with guitarist Travor Rabin called Cinema which eventually Jon Anderson joined which allowed them to honestly call the band Yes. Most of the pop-geared single tracks were penned by Rabin and most of the vision of the record comes from him. Production was handled by Trevor Horn, who by this time had produced some significant albums on the ZTT label including Frankie Goes to Hollywood and The Art of Noise and lent a similar big sound to 90125.

Freedom – Neil Young (LP Reprise 25899-1, 1989) ($1.99) This LP has a cover that has a large patch where the printing has torn off, but the front looks good and the vinyl is good. Freedom marks the triumphant return-to-form for Neil on Reprise after his “lost” period on Geffen. Freedom started life as another album titled Times Square which was to be a louder album in a more Crazy Horse vein. Apparently the label didn’t hear a single so Neil went back to the drawing board and selected the best tracks from the Times Square sessions and added three new songs including the smash “Rockin’ In The Free World” in electric and acoustic versions the way Rust Never Sleeps had “Hey Hey, My My” and “My My, Hey Hey.” Many consider Freedom to be a complimentary release to Rust. A number of the tracks pulled from Times Square ended up on a Japanese/Australian EP called Eldorado. I got a copy of Eldorado from a Japanese student who brought one back with him after a break. I consider Freedom to be one of Neil’s finest moments on record.

Aerocalexico – Calexico (CD Our Soil Our Strength, 2001) ($9.99 + $2.50 Shipping) I got this as a Buy-It-Now this week. I’m very happy about this one as it is the last of the Calexico tour-only CD’s I needed. This one is probably one of the best of the series. I think it is great that Calexico pulls these collections together and makes them available to the fans. Some standout/notable tracks are “Pretty White Horses,” the Christmas track “Gift X-Change” and the instrumental track to “Humana” which was the “collaboration” with Goldfrapp on the “Human” remix from Felt Mountain Revamped album. This is still available from the Calexico site for $16

Things I didn’t buy: Franz Ferdinand’s debut CD in special packaging and included a bonus disc, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome to the Pleasuredome on LP. They were playing a CD by Dressy Bessy that was pretty interesting– it was their 2002 release Sound Go Round. I’d heard mention of them but wasn’t familiar with them. Worth checking out I think. You can hear tracks at their Myspace page.

On R.E.M. in the Hall of Fame

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R.E.M.
R.E.M. is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week. In some respects this is the band that was once my favorite band sealing their fate as a classic rock band. Yesterday on the Onion A/V site Steve Hyden wrote an article about the “Incredible Shrinking Legacy” of R.E.M.— how over time R.E.M. became less of a band able to make music anyone cares about. If you have a couple of minutes you should read the article and the following comments from folks arguing like theologians over the Apocrypha.

As I look up at my framed handbill of the October 31, 1987 show from Palmer Auditorium in Davenport, I realize that Steve is saying something that I’ve slowly come to terms with over the years– that R.E.M. isn’t making music that interests me any longer, and apparently a lot of people feel the same way. Unlike Steve, I haven’t gone to the extreme of selling off my R.E.M. collection, nor have I completely dismissed their importance as a band that nearly single-handedly brought college rock to the colleges (debt to U2 here, too)– making the campuses safe for every band from Soul Asylum to Camper Van Beethoven and– (gads!) Hootie and the Blowfish and Counting Crows.

So, I think their induction marks a significant passing of the torch. As I listen to the music from bands that are the age that R.E.M. was at their peak (the peak defined by college rock historians as 1981-1995) the “alternative” landscape is much different and the influences that feed today’s music is different that it was then. R.E.M. came from Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, Television, Byrds, and Big Star. Today’s bands are influenced by R.E.M., U2, as well as other contemporaries. It’s the passing of the torch and, while it makes me sad that the music that defined my teens and early twenties is history at best– it is what needs to happen for music to move on. Should R.E.M. have quit after Bill Berry quit the band? I agree that the band hasn’t made records that so define an age as Reckoning and Fables have, they are still cranking out albums and seem to really be trying and following their particular creative paths. In the meantime, I’ll keep watching and listening to see if they do something groundbreaking again.

B-Sides in the Bins #8 – Cedar Rapids, IA 3/11/07

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Happy Daylight Savings! Today I needed to get my oil changed which usually entails leaving my car at the oil change place and figuring out what to do for a couple of hours. I decided to go visit the used CD stores in the area. I ended up at Half Price Books and got some good deals. Really, Half Price Books has some of the best vinyl selection in Cedar Rapids. Ratz Records downtown has the most vinyl, but Half Price has the best quality selection in town.

Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (2 LP Warner Brothers 2HS 3350, 1979) ($5.98) Tusk in so many ways is one of my desert island discs. My dad bought this when it came out on cassette. Since this is a double album it came on what would be a 90-minute cassette. This ultimately means that the tape is thinner and more susceptible to failure. We bought two copies of this tape as we wore them out. The second copy wore out and I used a cassette repair kit from Radio Shack to fix it. Looking back I’m amazed that they had cassette repair kits! The plastic liner would wear out from the hubs so I cracked the tape open and moved the tape and spools over to a new case and liner. I bought this on CD when it came out and was punished with a shortened version. Back in the day they could only make 78 minute CD’s and so Warners made Tusk with an edit of “Sara” which is crazy since that was one of the singles. Or, maybe they got the edit from that… Brilliant record which was considered to be extravagant noodling from a band losing its direction or allowing Lindsey too much creative control. In hindsight, this is the White Album of my generation. According to the sleeve, this was $15.98 MSRP!! My copy is super clean. I need to get that remastered 2-disc version one of these days. I’m still looking for clean versions of the other Buckingham-era LP’s. My childhood pressed into shiny black plastic. I also own the Camper Van Beethoven “tribute” to Tusk which is recommended as well.

“Heaven or Las Vegas (edit)” b/w “Dials” and “Heaven Or Las Vegas (album version)” – Cocteau Twins (12″ Capitol/4AD SPRO-79427, 1990) ($1.98) This one was mistakenly stuck in the Rap section with all of the other lonely Rap white label promos. I really didn’t need this as I have the “Dials” track as a CD promo and as part of the extra disc in the maroon Cocteau Twins box set released by Capitol in the early 90’s. For $1.98 I couldn’t pass it up. Maybe this needs to be eBay fodder for someone who is a completist. The cover has major spine injury and someone wrote on it– this is a promo so some radio station had it in its library. The vinyl is very clean. The Heaven or Las Vegas album is pretty much the pinnacle of the Cocteau Twins catalog in my opinion. I saw them that tour in Chicago at the Metro with my friend Urban who turned me on to them that previous year. That album was one of my “makeout” favorites from that year.

Idle Moments – Grant Green (CD Blue Note 7243 4 99003 2 5, 1999) ($3.00) This one was in the “Clearance” section of the CD’s. Part of the “Rudy Van Gelder Edition” remasters of the formidable Blue Note back catalog. Originally released in 1963 as Blue Note BLP 4154. I have decided that I’m going to purchase whatever Blue Note CD’s I stumble across. Grant Green is an amazing jazz guitarist and probably considered the earliest of the groove jazz players. I first became aware of Grant Green due to his inclusion in the Blue Note Grooves compilation from the 90’s. Lots of Blue Note titles were pillaged for the Acid Jazz movement and Blue Note countered with releases of the more popular tracks. Blue Note also sponsored an Acid Jazz sampling effort in US3 which also used Grant Green’s “Sookie Sookie” in its first album. This is a nice, mellow album with two superb renditions of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s “Django.” This release includes two outtakes that are extended versions of “Jean De Fleur” and “Django.” Very cool find. One funny note about this release is that it still has the price sticker from the Record Collector who includes the date it was bought as used. Some time after 5/2004 it was sold for $12.00.

“The Stratocaster Chronicles – Celebrating 50 Years of the Fender Strat” – Tom Wheeler (book Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-05678-6, 2004) ($19.98) The original MSRP on this one was $50. Hardcover coffeetable book on the history of the Fender Stratocaster with a forward by Eric Clapton. Includes a CD with samples of the Strat in action as well as interviews with Leo Fender and others. A Fender fan myself, I couldn’t pass up this title. Thank God for Half-Price Books. Nice pretty pictures of the guitar that changed the face of music.

Tortoise 2007 US Summer Tour Dates

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A couple of weeks on the heels of the Bonnaroo announcement Tortoise has planned another nineteen dates starting the day before in Columbus, OH at OSU and wrapping up on July 8th at Webster Hall in NYC. This was previously reported in Pitchfork but there have been more dates added since and more could be added. Notably missing are non-North American dates, so I would expect more to come. These dates have been adding to the Thrill Jockey Tour page little by little over the last couple of weeks. The rumor is that Tortoise has been recording a new album so maybe we’ll hear new songs. Thrill Jockey hasn’t mentioned a new Tortoise album for this year.

Of note for me anyway is the show at the Cedar Cultural Center on June 30th in Minneapolis as this is likely the show I will hit. Tickets go on sale at Noon on Friday, March 23rd for $18. I haven’t been to this venue yet, but it is a theater venue which will be nice.

The other notable date on here is the WXPN World Cafe Live show on July 6th at 7:30PM. The tickets for this are $16 and standing room only. I think that XPN broadcasts these shows.

Thu Jun 14
Columbus, OH
Wexner Center (Ohio State University)

Fri Jun 15
Manchester, TN
Bonnaroo Music Festival

Sat Jun 16
Lawrence, KS
The Granada Theatre
w/ Hot Chip

Mon Jun 18
Denver, CO
Bluebird Theatre

Tue Jun 19
Salt Lake City, UT
Urban Lounge

Wed Jun 20
Phoenix, AZ
Rhythm Room

Thu Jun 21
Los Angeles, CA
El Rey Theatre

Fri Jun 22
San Francisco, CA
The Independent

Sat Jun 23
San Francisco, CA
The Independent

Mon Jun 25
Portland, OR
Aladdin Theater

Tue Jun 26
Seattle, WA
Neumos

Sat Jun 30
Minneapolis, MN
Cedar Cultural Center

Sun Jul 1
Chicago, IL
The Metro

Mon Jul 2
Ann Arbor, MI
The Blind Pig

Tue Jul 3
Toronto, ON
Lee’s Palace

Thu Jul 5
Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Art (Early Show)

Thu Jul 5
Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Art (Late Show)

Fri Jul 6
Philadelphia, PA
World Cafe

Sat Jul 7
Washington, DC
Black Cat

Sun Jul 8
New York, NY
Webster Hall
w/ Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) with Steve Reid

B-Sides in the Bins #7 – Iowa City, IA 2/22/07

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My wife and I were back down in Iowa City for a doctor’s appointment, so I got to visit the Record Collector. Here’s what I picked up.

Meadow – Richard Buckner (CD Merge Records MRG279, 2006) ($12.00) I wanted to pick this up so I could become acquainted with his music before the Monday night show at the Picador that– if the blizzard subsides– Sherry and I are planning to go to with some other friends that are Six Parts Seven fans. I’m planning to review that show. This album is apparently one of two that Buckner has recorded in a more rock vein. This album employs members of Guided by Voices, Cobra Verde, and the Mekons as the backing band. The album is boozy rocking affair sounding like equal parts Replacements and Wilco.

“Town” from Meadow

I finally bought the 1996 12″ Tortoise remix series. I had been bidding on incomplete sets on eBay that were getting up over $10 apiece. I’d seen some of these in the bins at the Collector previously. This particular set was dropped from $8.00 to $6.00 apiece in January so I was pretty happy to get a deal on these. I already have all of these remixes on the 1998 US release of Remixes, but it is cool to get the vinyl. I guess I’m going to collect all of the vinyl I can. You may notice that although these were released as a set, there is a missing “12.2” apparently Thrill Jockey snuck a 12″ in the middle called “Beware Soul Snatchers” from a short-lived band called Rome.

Djed – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.1, 1996) ($6.00) This is the second pairing of Mo’Wax and Tortoise as this has an UNKLE remix of Djed “Bruise Blood Mix”– the other being the inclusion of a “A Source of Uncertainty” on the Mo’Wax compilation Headz 2 which is a remix of “Why We Fight.” I’ve never been able to ascertain whether this was a DJ Shadow or Tim Goldsworthy remix as they were both part of Lavelle’s project UNKLE. Shadow certainly did the UNKLE remix of “Where It’s At” by Beck, and he joined in 1995 so its possible. The flipside of the UNKLE remix is “Tjed” a remix by John McEntire from Tortoise. The McEntire track is much more of a deconstruction than the UNKLE version is.

Music for Workgroups, the Oval Remixes – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.3, 1996) ($6.00) The two tracks on this release are “Bubble Economy” and “Learning Curve” and are alternately credited as remixes by Markus Popp who does work under the monikers of Oval and Microstoria. According to this interview with Popp, these tracks are not remixes of particular tracks like the other Millions 12″ releases. He said that he doesn’t treat his works as particular tracks but as “data.” So he asked Tortoise to give him as much sound data as possible and they sent him two CD’s worth! It was from this material that he created the two tracks here. I gather from the interview that this is inaccurately credited as an Oval track as it doesn’t have Sebastian Oschatz on it.

Rivers – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.4, 1996) ($6.00) The first remix of “Along the Banks of Rivers” is “Galapagos (Version One)” from Drum ‘n’ Bass/Jungle producer duo Springheel Jack. I really like this track. I always assumed they called this track “Galapagos” due to the giant tortoises (get it?). However, there seems to be two more versions of “Galapagos” on other releases from Springheel Jack that don’t to my ear sound like they are related in any way. The flip is “Reference Resistence Gate” by the frighteningly prolific Jim O’Rourke. His take on the track takes some of the lighter chiming parts of “Rivers” and delivers a stuttering drum beat over the atmospherics.

The Taut and Tame – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.5, 1996) ($6.00) The first remix is of “The Taut and Tame” by Warp artist Luke Vibert. The flipside is a remix of “Wait” which was a song that Jeff Parker brought to Tortoise. The remix is done by former Tortoise member Bundy K. Brown.

Until next time…

Keller Williams – Dream (review)

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Keller Williams - Dream (2007)

In 2000 I saw Phish play the Target Center in Minneapolis. I was relatively late to the game when it came to Phish and the Jam scene in general. I hung out with guys in high school and college who were Grateful Dead fans so I was pretty familiar with their music. I have cousins who spent time following the Dead while Jerry was alive as well. It wasn’t until Farmhouse that I paid attention to any of the jambands. I don’t even remember how I heard Farmhouse but I really liked it. I managed to get some complimentary tickets to the show through a vendor who had access to Box Seat tickets. Unfortunately, they couldn’t confirm that they had tickets until after they went on sale, so I had purchased a couple of tickets just in case.

When we arrived at the show my first goal was to sell the tickets I had purchased, so we walked across the street to the “lot scene.” After talking to a number of people with fingers in the air indicating the number of tickets they wanted I found that most people wanted “miracles” — and one person accused me of scalping because I wanted face value for the tickets without Ticketmaster and venue charges. Eventually I did find someone who wanted the tickets and were willing to pay for them. We saw the regular group of fans who follow the band selling their wares, cans of beer, “heady gooballs,” or veggie burritos. I saw a security guard at the venue pick up a bag of pot and chase down the unlucky soul to give it back to them along with the comment that he’d be upset if that had happened to him! Different rules were in force that night.

We watched from our perch above the audience eating typical catered faire of Swedish meatballs, fried chicken strips and BBQ sauce, nachos and any number of alcoholic beverages including Ameretto of which we drank a lot and dubbed “liquid candy.” In a dark box next to us was one lone kid watching the show but seeming to really enjoy himself. We felt bad for him and invited him to our box to share our food at the dismay of our host.

Our host spent part of the show telling our box crasher that he needed to get serious with his life and plan for the future. Clearly that wasn’t on the agenda for him that night. I thought it was a great show. We got to experience a “silent jam” in the middle of “Divided Sky” complete with a shower of glow sticks which was pretty impressive from our vantage point. The kid took me aside and with a hopeful look on his face asked me if I was a “kind brother.” At the time I didn’t know what he meant, but probably he was looking for recreational pharmaceuticals.

Keller Williams spent a number of years following the Dead on tour before he started his music career. Keller is best known for his live show where he employs digital sample loops of live instruments he plays. He stops at each instrument he wants, plays a segment, samples it and layers each additional instrument on. He is literally a one-man band. His acoustic guitar style is similar to Dave Matthews or Ani DiFranco with hammer-on percussive strumming. His albums up to this point have showcased his live style.

Keller’s new album is titled Dream as it was his “dream” album to make– working with a number of artists who have influenced him and supported him through his career. Jam scene veterans such as Bela Fleck and Victor Wooten from the Flecktones, Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, John Scofield, Steve Kimock, and the String Cheese Incident whose label SCI Fidelity released this album. Also on the album are a couple of artists who very directly influence Keller like 8-string guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter and Martin Sexton who has a penchant for imitating instruments as Keller does. Of course coordinating the efforts of all of these typically busy people took a lot of time which caused this album to take three years to make. The earliest recording for this record is the alternative rock parody “Play This” which kicks the album off and is the first “single” and is easily the catchiest song of the record. Even though the song was recorded back in 2004 it’s message “speed it up– put some fuzz on it” about the shallow style typical of today’s Top 40 is still pertinent today.

Overall Dream is light, positive and has the slight tongue-in-cheek attitude that I associate with jamband music today. Keller is an accomplished instrumentalist seeming able to play just about any instrument and demonstrates this on this album as well as his live shows. Reading the liner notes and listening to the podcast edition of his radio show special on this album it is clear that he is as much a fan as a member of the jamband community that includes the guests on this album. Maybe you could consider this a love note back to the fans and the artists that participate in the scene that made him the artist he is today. He seems happy to be doing what he is doing and it shows with this album at every layer.

Some standout tracks on Dream are the previously mentioned “Play This,” “Cadillac” the collaboration with Weir and its questionable religious position– Jesus, Buddah, Hare Krisha and Santa all riding around in a ’59 Caddy, “Cookies” is an amazing instrumental track titled after Keller’s nickname for his wife, “Rainy Day” is a fun jazzy track, and “Restraint” which is a current favorite of mine on the album. According to the liner notes “Restraint” wasn’t supposed to be on the album, but it is his wife’s favorite. The first time I heard it, I relistened to it four times. Something about the ringing riff and the simple idea of wanting love at an inconvenient time that many should be able to identify with.

Listening to Dream gave me an opportunity to look back at the Phish concert and the period of time that I spent back then observing the jamband scene. I don’t tend to follow a lot of these bands as I feel like an outsider to the culture and I haven’t been able to really separate the music from the scene. The fact that I watched the Phish show from box seats rather than down in the crowd illustrates that pretty well I guess. This album seems to celebrate this music and shows the virtuosity of these musicians as its own testiment and Keller is the “kind brother” bringing me back to take the second look.

Here is a link to a “Hoooka” at Indie911.com which is a Flash-based player that has the video for “Play This” as well as full tracks of the Dream album. Unfortunately (or not) WordPress doesn’t allow me to embed this player.

Keller Williams featuring Michael Franti - Dream Order Dream from iTunes and get a bonus track “Multisyllabic”