Top 15 Songs of 2009

It's that time of the year again. We're getting ready to ring in another decade of music. However, before we start doing a "Best of the Decade" list...we gotta take care of the year first.

2009 was a great year for music. For those of you who think that rock n' roll is still dead, this past year proved you wrong. Rock stole the scene this year as bands like Kings of Leon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Phoenix released epic albums; new bands like Silversun Pickups, Passion Pit, and Grizzly Bear quickly burst onto the scene and onto the charts; and legends like Pearl Jam, Kiss, and Wilco released albums that rival work that they put out a decade ago. 2009 also saw the formation of several amazing supergroups like The Dead Weather, Chickenfoot, Monsters of Folk, and Them Crooked Vultures, which brought together talent from five decades of rock music (60's/70's - John Paul Jones, 80's - Sammy Haggar, 90's - David Grohl, and 00's - Jack White).

All in all 2009 was a great year for rock. Now, it's time for me to list IN MY OPINION...the Top 15 Songs of 2009.



#15
Song: "United States of Eurasia"
Artist: Muse
Album: Resistance

This song is just purely epic. As the song builds from it's soft piano beginnings, to the instant the guitar wails for the first time I can't help but think that the song reminds me of classic Queen mixed with modern rock. Muse had a big year in 2009, and from the looks of their touring schedule, 2010 could be even bigger for Europe's biggest band.

#14
Song: "Why I Am"
Artist: Dave Matthews Band
Album: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

This song was written as a tribute to the band's late woodwinds player, LeRoi Moore. From the moment I heard it I knew it was an instant Dave classic. It sounds more like old Dave than new Dave, which is always a good thing. Plus, when you mix Dave and Tim Reynolds, there is no bad consequences.



#13
Song: "Percussion Gun"
Artist: White Rabbits
Album: It's Frightening

The drums at the beginning of this song are intense...reminds me of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher". Just when you think the drums are gonna stop...they don't...they carry on for most of the song. I'm also a big fan of the bands vocals. White Rabbits are one of the better bands to have burst onto the scene this year, and this song is their testament to it.



#12
Song: "Hang You From the Heavens"
Artist: The Dead Weather
Album: Horehound

Is there any instrument that Jack White can't play? Besides the awesome playing of him and his fellow Raconteur, Jack Lawrence, the thing I love most about this band is Allison Mosshart. I haven't heard such a strong lead female voice in rock since Karen O burst onto the scene. I wish the best for this band, but I'd still rather see the Raconteurs back.




#11
Song: "While You Wait For the Others"
Artist: Grizzly Bear
Album: Veckatimest

Although "Two Weeks" could easily have been chosen in place of this song, I chose this tune because I find it to be a better song, artistically speaking. It's very soft and subtle, and it really brings out Ed Droste's amazing vocals. This tune just has a great vibe to it. Grizzly Bear has got to be one of the most original bands to come out in the last year.



#10
Song: "Manhattan"
Artist: Kings of Leon
Album: Only by the Night

Everybody knows "Use Somebody", "Sex on Fire", and maybe even "Notion". However, I think this is by far the best song on Kings of Leon's latest album. Caleb's vocals on this song are unprecedented by most any other song the band has ever done. The song just has parts that just hit on so hard you can't help but scream along with him when you listen to it driving alone in the car. Also, nothing is cooler than a bass line that involves heavy slides.




#9
Song: "New Moon Rising"
Artist: Wolfmother
Album: Cosmic Egg

Their first single off of their brand new album has some of the best guitar of 2009. When Andrew Stockdale broke up the original band (once compared to Led Zeppelin) a couple years ago their was a lot of skepticism about what the band would turn in to. So when they released this first single and it started up with this bad ass guitar riff there were a lot of expectations for the album. It proved that it wasn't the band the made Stockdale sound good, it was Stockdale that made the rest of the band sound good.The album turned out to be fantastic, but this song is its crowning achievement.



#8
Title: "Wilco (The Song)"
Artist: Wilco
Album: Wilco (The Album)

Although it sounds like not a whole lot of thought was put into this song...starting at the naming...this song is actually quite complex. "Wilco (The Song)" starts off very simple musically, but it gets more complex as it plays. I think that the lyrics are truly what makes this song one of the best of the year. The fact that the jam rockers use the phrase, "Wilco will love you baby", is classic rock n' roll at its finest.



#7
Song: "Zero"
Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Album: It's Blitz

Yeah Yeah Yeahs hit it big a few years ago with the song "Maps". That song first put the band on the radar and they've been soaring ever since. Their latest album is probably their best work to date and the first song on the album sets the tone for the rest. "Zero" first introduces you to the best female vocals in rock today. Karen O is this generation's rock goddess...eat your heart out Joan Jett. It's rock, it's dance, it's electronic...it's a little bit of everything.

#6
Song: "Panic Switch"
Artist: Silversun Pickups
Album: Swoon

Silversun Pickups may have been my favorite bands of 2009. Swoon, the follow up album to 2006's Carnavas, was easily one of the years top albums, and "Panic Switch" was an easy pick for one of the top songs of the year. Brian Aubert's soft, but grungy vocals are addicting to say the least. His heavily distorted guitars can't even match the power of his voice as he screams, "I'm waiting and fading and floating away...", over and over again.

#5
Song: "Summertime Clothes"
Artist: Animal Collective
Album: Merriweather Post Pavilion

I don't know if there is a "tripier" band out there today than Animal Collective. Their mix of electronic and psychadelic music creates a blend of insanity sometimes, but "Summertime Clothes" is a very melodic tune that can reach out to people who aren't huge fans of their style of music. I find Animal Collective to be an extremely talented group (even though their live performances are lacking) and this song was left on my IPod for most of 2009. Definitely a song for the summer, but this song just some sort of "feel good" quality to it.

#4
Song: "Say Please"
Artist: Monsters of Folk
Album: Monsters of Folk

Regardless of whether or not they ever play together again (hopefully, not until several more MMJ albums are released), the formation of Monsters of Folk may have been one of the highlights of the year in music. Putting together 3 of rocks greatest front men (Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, M. Ward, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket) was sheer genius. Not only are they great front men, but they proved not only on this song, but on the rest of the album...that they are all very accomplished musicians. The three, along with guitarist Mike Mogis, apparently swap positions during their live shows, each playing all of the instruments over the course of the night. If that's not talent, what is? "Say Please" was an incredible tune because all 3 of them take turns singing during the song. It is a showcase of talent from the collective and is overall, a fantastic tune.

#3
Song: "Amongst the Waves"
Artist: Pearl Jam
Album: Backspacer

When Backspacer was first released I remember hearing a lot of critics say that the record just wasn't PJs style, but man were they wrong. I think that this song proved that Eddie and the gang are getting more and more back to their original grunge roots. The guitar riffs are all fantastic, and Mike McCready's guitar solo in this song is one of the best he's put onto an album in years (NOTE: McCready shows off his talent a lot more live, than on studio albums). Eddie's vocals are also very strong on this track as he does what he does best...starts slow and soft and builds his vocal strength over the course of the song, until he opens up his powerful voice as the song nears its conclusion. Although, "The Fixer" and "Unthought Known" could be considered better songs by some, as a Pearl Jam fan, I think this song is one of the best they've put out since the Ten album...and that's saying A LOT.

#2
Song: "Little Secrets"
Artist: Passion Pit
Album: Manners

"Little Secrets" by Passion Pit was my original pick for song of the year, but it came just a little bit short. The Massachusetts based band has an awesome blend of electronic and rock music, but the band's lead singer, Michael Angelakos, stands out amongst the rest of the band. Angelakos' vocals are extremely high at some points during this song, but I think that his voice is a perfect fit for this type of music. This song has sooooo much energy to it...you can't help but move to it. I remember watching them perform this song at Bonnaroo (see below) as I stood next to the tent in line waiting to see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. As soon as they started playing this song it was like the tent went into a frenzy. Glowsticks were flying, gigantic balloons were bouncing around, and everyone in the tent was smiling and laughing while dancing their asses off! While it may have been a very drug-induced moment for many of those in the crowd, it was one of my favorite moments of the year...there is nothing like observing several hundred fans just instantly lose themselves completely in a song. The whole Manners album is a masterpiece and I can't wait to hear what this band has in store for the future.

#1
Song: "1901"
Artist: Phoenix
Album: Wolfgang Amadus Phoenix

The best thing to come out of France since the invention of the croissant has been the band Phoenix. These guys are simply amazing artists, and "1901" was just an anthem of the year 2009. It was everywhere...you could hear it video games, car commercials, and in your favorite TV show. In reality the song is about what Paris was like in the year 1901 and about how much better it was then, rather than now. While all of that may be true, the song's lyrical pattern is what truly makes it magnificent. Thomas Mars is quickly becoming one of the most well-known voices in rock n' roll and I think that this album could easily be one of the best of the decade, but that's for another day (hopefully by New Years I'll have the list out). I can't help but drumming along on my steering wheel as the pre-chorus begins, "It's twenty seconds till the last call. You're going hey, hey, hey!" (who hasn't done that while trying to get one more drink?), and of course everybody knows the tune once it gets to, "Fallin', fallin', fallin', fallin." This song is one for our generation, and without a doubt, is my pick for the Best Song of 2009. The End. Stay tuned later this week for the Top 15 Albums of 2009.

Format Update

So I recently decided to get rid of the Band of the Week section on the right side of the page and do a complete overhaul and change the feature to Band of the Month. I took a big financial hit with this change, but I think it was for the best.

In all seriousness, I changed it because I have the tendency to find a band and listen to their whole collection for just about a month at a time. This way I can have 1 Band of the Month and 4 Songs of the Week from that band. I think it'll work out for the best.

The Big 3: 3D Concerts, MMJ Get Animated, Vibes Returns

1. Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, Gogol Bordello...Now in 3D!

Coming to a theater near you...maybe. So a production company called inconcert3D is releasing a show from each of these bands, which will be broadcast back-to-back-to-back in digital 3D. I guess it's a pretty cool concept, but if I was gonna see a concert in 3D I would want a more visually stimulating concert than any of these bands (even though Gogol Bordello is pretty energetic). Can we get a MGMT, Flaming Lips, and Pink Floyd concert instead? I can't imagine watching Dave doing his foot dance or Ben Harper's up-close vocal expressions being that entertaining, but who knows...prove me wrong.



Anyway, the concerts were all played over this last year at big festivals. Dave Matthews Band's set is from Austin City Limits, Ben Harper and Relentless 7's set is from Mile High Music Festival, and Gogol Bordello's set is from All Point West.



The 3D movie is only available in select theaters and is only playing for a week from December 11-17, so get off your ass if you want to go see it. You can check what theaters it is playing in by going here.







2. My Morning Jacket Gets Animated

Did you see MMJ on American Dad?! It was probably the best episode of the show I have ever seen. Granted I have only seen a dozen or so episodes, but still, it was the kind of episode that makes you want to watch more of a show. Jim James had a few great one liners in the show, but I was more excited about the montage of Stan flying on Jim's back thru an animated journey set to the song, "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2". At least 5 MMJ songs played during the episode, which was surprising...including live concert footage at the end of the show! If you haven't seen the episode, I strongly suggest you watch it...if you call yourself my friend that is...hahahaha



Check out the full episode on Hulu.





3. Gathering of the Vibes Returns in Summer 2010

Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT will once again become a place of good vibes for 3 days this summer, rather than the 362 other days of the year that it is known as being one of the cesspools of crime in Connecticut. Concert organizers announced this years dates as July 29th - August 1st. They will be holding their first town meeting for their concert on Monday over their website...which apparently is going to be followed up with a webcast from Dark Star Orchestra's November 17th concert at Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport. Not sure if the public gets any say on the festival, but if you really wanna find out then tune in on their website, GOVIBES.com, Monday at 7pm.

The Big 3 - Roo Dates, Contra, and moe.

1. 2010 Bonnaroo Dates Released
Sooo...another year is quickly approaching which means that Bonnaroo is only 6 months (or so) away! Although the initial artist announcements are still 2 months (or so) away, the fantastic folks at Superfly Productions have announced this years festival dates as June 10-13. Unfortunately for me I may not be able to swing Roo this year, but I will let the initial lineup decide that for me. If My Morning Jacket is on the list nothing but death itself could stop me from making it down to Manchester in early June. Pre-sale tickets go on sale soon for the holiday season. I would imagine the ticket price is gonna stay around $250 for 1st Round.

In other Roo news the 2009 DVD should be arriving at my house any day now. Pretty pumped because it has "Welcome Home" by Coheed & Cambria on it and Rob and I were definitely front row for that show so it'd be cool to have my face on one of these DVD's (missed out on 08's...dammit). You can check out some of the live performances that will be on the DVD at http://www.bonnaroo.com/

NOTE: If you look at the "Watch it performed here..." section on the right you
can view the Song of the Week, "Little Secrets" performed by Passion Pit at
Bonnaroo 2009 (it's the second one down)...it is one of the ones included on the
DVD.

2. Vampire Weekend's NYC Album Release Shows
Good news and bad news...

Good news first...Vampire Weekend's new album, "Contra" (title inspired by one of the greatest video games of all time), comes out January 12th and to correspond with the album release the band will be playing 3 shows at 3 different venues in New York.

Sunday, January 17th - United Palace
Monday, January 18th - Webster Hall
Tuesday, January 19th - Bowery Ballroom

Bad news...Monday and Tuesday's shows are both 100% sold out. No single tickets are available and tickets are going for $90-175 a piece on StubHub and eBay. So save up that Christmahannukwanza money kids.

I've heard two songs so far off the album and they're both pretty decent. I posted "Horchata" on the blog about a month ago. You can hear their first single "Cousins" on the front page of their website http://www.vampireweekend.com/


3. moe. Announces 20th Anniversary Tour
Chuck, Al, Rob, and Vinny are getting ready to celebrate their 20th anniversary with a nationwide tour starting in January. According to http://www.jambase.com/ the band will be starting their tour where they got big, in the Northeast. The cities that have been rumored so far are Rochester (of course), Boston, New York, Ithaca, and Pennsylvania (apparently it is a whole city now). Tour dates should be solidified in the coming weeks.

Also, moe. is bring back their winter festival, snoe.Down, which will be returning this year from March 26th-28th in Killington/Rutland, Vermont. I wish it was a couple weeks early because my buddies from home and I are going up skiing for a week in KTown. Guess I might have to go back a few weeks later.

Finally, if you haven't seen or heard any videos from moe.'s now-historic Halloween 2009 set from Albany, you really should. They let the fans vote on which covers they would play and the band came out and covered "Dark Star" by Grateful Dead, "Stash" by Phish, "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon, "Echoes" by Pink Floyd, and...I saved the best for last....

Whoops!

I haven't been paying much attention this page lately and I apologize. I gotta a little distracted with life. Posts are gonna be a little more frequent from here on out. I'm starting a new bi-weekly segment called the Big 3...which will deal with the Top 3 music stories of the week and my take on them. Also...I'm going to be looking for some guest writers here to maybe do some album reviews. If you have an album you'd like to review for the page let me know.

Also, coming in December I'm going to be counting down the Top 10 Albums and Songs of 2009. So keep an eye out for that.

Rock on,

Matt

Roo DVD Preview

I know it's still a couple months away until the DVD comes in the mail...and even longer until next years lineup is announced, but still...its hard not to get pumped to think that Bonnaroo 2010 is already in the works.

So for the time being I will occupy myself with the preview of the DVD. Good to see that this years DVD will include a lot of great performances...not that last years was bad (not even close), but this years looks better. Check out the preview below.

Live from Bonnaroo 2009 Trailer from Bonnaroo on Vimeo.

Now I just gotta figure out a way to get down to the Roo this summer...

Remembering: Neverender

Thursday officially marked the 1-year anniversary since the tapings of Coheed and Cambria's 4-day concert series, Neverender.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Coheed and Cambria played their 4 albums (in order) on 4 consecutive nights in 4 different cities around the world last fall. Thursday marked the anniversary of the first series of concerts at NYC's Terminal 5, which were recorded and released as a DVD and/or CD package earlier this year.

Over the course of the year I was able to watch all 4 DVD's...from The Second Stage Turbine Blade to No World for Tomorrow. I wanted to share with you guys the highlight songs from each night (in my opinion of course).


Night 1: Second Stage Turbine Blade
Song of the Night: "Everything Evil"
Why?: My favorite C&C song. Claudio's vocals are perfect and he has an awesome guitar jam at the end with Travis. Crowd is fucking insane! There is no standing still...just a constant moving wave of people. Best part is the first time Claudio sings, "Would you run?"(about 4:30 in) and the house lights flash for a split second showing dozens of fan jumping into the air with fists raised!

Night 2: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Song of the Night: "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3"
Why?: Possibly the best song to ever start an album (next to "In The Flesh" on The Wall)...it just builds and builds from the beginning. Crowd sings along with every word to the song. If you want to see some awesome crowd footage of people going nuts fast forward to about the 6:55 mark and watch.


Night 3: Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
Song of the Night: "The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut"
Why?: Opposite of night 2's opener...this song may be one of the best songs to finish an album. When I saw them play it at Bonnaroo they played a 20 minute version in which each member of the band spotlighted their talents for a few minutes each. This version may be even better. Split into 3 parts due to the song being 20 minutes plus. Enjoy if you have the time.
Night 4: Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume 2: No World for Tomorrow
Song of the Night: "Mother Superior"
Why?: Starts with just Claudio...whole band enters by the end. Crowd sings word for word. Slow beginning builds to heavy end.

Concert Review: Silversun Pickups: 10/20/09

THE LINEUP: Silversun Pickups w/ Cage the Elephant and An Horse

THE DATE: Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

THE VENUE: The Webster Theater, Hartford, Connecticut

THE SETTING: Small theater (Capacity: 1200)

ACT I: "Please make illegal u-turn..."
Due to a crazy "Tri-Birthday Oktoberfest Party" the night before my friends (Bob and Brandon) and I were still recovering from a night of heavy partying...okay, maybe not them, but I definitely was. So needless to say, there wasn't a whole lot of pregaming going on for this show.

Anyway, the three of us met at my place and set out for the show. Bob plugged in the coordinates on his Verizon Navigator and the female voice guides us through some of the worst neighborhoods in the Greater Hartford Area...which is why NAV systems blow. Definitely not a place you want to drive thru after dark. We decided at this point that we were going to take an alternate route home. Another reason why NAV systems are worthless...after getting to a busy four-way intersection the machine tells Bob to go straight....so he goes straight. Then as we drove through the stoplight and down the road a couple hundred yards the thing then tells us "please make illegal U-turn whenever possible." Sure it actually said "a legal", but that's up for debate.

So we finally made it into downtown Hartford and we're driving down a street full of some early 1950's built houses when, out of nowhere, a concert hall and giant tour buses suddenly appeared to our right. It looked nice enough from the outside, but I was amazed to see such a loud venue in the middle of such a highly-populated neighborhood...you'd think they would get enough complaints over the years (especially from a place that regularly hosts some of the heaviest metal acts out there SEE: Gwar, Slayer, Hatebreed, etc.)

No matter though, we decided to pay the $10 for parking in the concert lot so Bob's car stays in one piece. Several people had told me horror stories about their cars getting broken into while they were inside at previous shows...if you ever go to the Webster, I strongly suggest you pay the lot attendant. Finally, we head into the show.


ACT II: "Man that lead singer is pretty hot...in a Tegan and Sara kind of way..."
So the opening act was a band called An Horse. I had never heard of them before, but Brandon said he saw them recently on one of the late night shows. They were definitely something different. They are an Australian duo comprising of a female lead singer/guitarist and a male drummer. You couldn't tell they were Aussies until they began talking to the crowd. In their chats with the audience they mostly told stories about their adventures in Hartford over the last couple days, and then pointed out that the back of the theater must be a bar because that's where everyone is. They were right...a lot of the crowd chose to continue to pre-game during An Horse's set. Like me, most of the people there were probably not there to see An Horse.

Their music was ok...although a lot of it sounded the same to me. It sounded like Tegan and Sara, but without a bass line. Also, replace the female back-up vocals with male back-up vocals...which actually was a pretty cool sound. All in all the band has some potential, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see them. We go grab a red bull to get fired up for Cage.

ACT III: "Holy Shit! Did he just throw his guitar at the bassist!?"
I saw Cage the Elephant for the first time last summer at Bonnaroo and they were absolutely nuts! This show was no exception. Always fun to see a band that has as much fun as them on the stage.

I warned Bob and Brandon before the show that the lead singer (Matt Schultz) is a nut job and sings and runs around the stage like a hamster on speed. They quickly got to see him in action.

There's no doubt about it, this band has a pretty original sound. The guitars are doubled up...the rhythm guitarist, Brad Schultz (who plays his guitar up on his chest...very weird looking), pretty much strums constantly throughout every song, while the lead guitarist (Lincoln Parrish) plays riffs and solos on top. It's a very cool sound. Schultz is an awesome front man and knows how to get a crowd fired up. He literally never stopped moving on stage...running, jumping, and even throwing himself into the crowd while the band jammed out!

The cool thing is that the entire band was as fired up as him...especially since it was the bassists' (Dan Tichenor)birthday. While "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" was their most crowd-pleasing song (for most it was the only song they knew by name...including myself)...it was their final song that sounded the best. Towards the end they all just started rocking out on stage...then shit got crazy. The rhythm guitarist threw his guitar at the bassist, just barely missing him. Then he jumped on his back and they started wrestling on the stage. The lead guitarist and drummer (Jared Champion) were going nuts and then Matt Schultz threw himself into the crowd...singing while surfing! The band continued to mess with heavily distorted sounds and then left the stage...leaving Schultz in the crowd. Then as a final farewell (he did this at Bonnaroo as well) Schultz had the crowd pick him up and he stood on top of the crowd as the fans went nuts! Awesome music, but an even more awesome stage performance...that about sums up Cage the Elephant.

ACT IV: "Nikki is so much hotter up close..."
So it was finally time for the headliners, Silversun Pickups. The first time I ever heard this song was on Rock Band 2. They have a song on the game called "Lazy Eye" which I think is still one of the funnest songs in the game. It is very catchy and the guitar part kicks ass. It was the vocals of the song though that made me interested in knowing more about the band. So I downloaded a whole bunch of their stuff and am now a huge fan of the bands two full albums, 2006's Carnavas and this year's Swoon. I soon became determined to see them live after I had watched them play over the internet at Coachella this past year. All summer I had heard about how they were "wow"-ing crowds at huge festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella. So when the opportunity finally came around to see them, how could I pass on it?

Lead singer/guitarist, Brian Aubert (who looks just like Daniel Faraday from Lost...not kidding...I'll post a picture at the bottom),may be one of the most talented indie rockers on the scene right now. The L.A. based band quickly made a name for themselves and a lot of it has to do with his heavily distorted guitars and a vocal range that can quickly turn from a quiet whisper to a throaty scream (think Billy Corgan, but a male...burn). His voice can be very soft at times, and I actually thought for a while that Nikki Monninger, the bands talented (and gorgeous)bassist, was the singer for a long time because his voice definitely gets feminine sounding at times.

So the band takes the stage just after 10pm. Aubert comes out with one of the coolest looking guitars I have ever seen played in a live setting (pretty sure it was a Gretsch). The drummer, Chris Guanlao, had a pretty simple set-up with the exception of a crash simple that was about 6-feet in the air. The keyboardist, Joe Lester (dawning an Elvis Costello look), started things off with an array of sounds before the band opened their show with "Growing Old is Getting Old" off of their latest album.

The set list was pretty well rounded and included songs off of the bands two albums and their first EP, Pikul. Here's what we heard:

1. "Growing Old is Getting Old"
2. "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
3. "Sort Of"
4. "There's No Secrets This Year"
5. "The Royal We"
6. "Little Lover's So Polite"
7. "It's Nice to Know You Work Alone"
8. "Future Foe Scenarios"
9. "Kissing Families"
10. "Catch and Release"
11. "Panic Switch"
12. "Lazy Eye"

Encore

1. "Substitution"
2. "Creation Lake"
3. "Common Reactor"

In my opinion, the 8-12 block was simply incredible...each song built off each other and just made the show better as it went on. "Future Foe Scenarios" is becoming one of my favorite tunes from them. The crowd went nuts as soon as they heard "Panic Switch" and the fans were all sorts of fired up when Aubert screamed out the last few lines of "Lazy Eye".

All in all, my favorite thing about the band (besides Nikki) was how great they related to the crowd. Simply put, I have never seen a better crowd in a small venue in my life...and apparently neither had the Pickups. They got insane amounts of applause whenever the music stopped, people were chanting their names, and they were gracious for it. At one point they just stopped and Aubert asked for the house lights to come on and he was just visually blown away. They pointed out that this was their first time in Hartford and that they didn't know how much people knew them on the East Coast, and that they were nowhere near prepared for what this crowd showed them...which was a lot of respect and a lot of fun. They even screwed up in the middle of a song...still not sure what exactly happened, maybe something with the equipment...but they laughed about it with the crowd and it was very cool. All in all, they just seemed like a band that you could bullshit with after the show over a beer. Very down to Earth...not what you would expect out of an L.A. band.

After the band gave their final goodbyes (one band member left the stage at a time) we got back on the road (car all in one piece) and took a completely different way back home.

We all agreed the show was incredible. The venue was small, but very intimate. It made you feel like you were in a bar listening to a band for the very first time. The acoustics were decent, and although the venue didn't allow moshing, crowd surfing, etc...there was still a lot of energy in the crowd. The bill itself was great...An Horse was a great warmup act, Cage got the crowd fired up, and the Pickups sealed the deal like they were headlining Madison Square Garden.

Only video I could find on YouTube of the show...here's 1:46 of "Sort Of".


Next scheduled concert review: Nothing is on the slate currently. Waiting to see what the New Years Eve lineup looks like in the city. Stay tuned.


Brian Aubert (left) ; Daniel Faraday (right)

Vampire Weekend Releases New Single

The preppy indie pop-rock kings are coming back with a new album after the huge success of 2008's breakthrough debut album Vampire Weekend. Although the bands second album, "Contra" (hopefully named after the NES game...gotta love the spread gun), is not being released until January of 2010, the band has decided to give us a taste of the new album with their first single, "Horchata" (the MP3 is available for free download on vampireweekend.com).

Have a listen:



It sounds to me like the band is experimenting with a few new electronic and guitar sounds, but all in all, the sound remains similar to that found on the first album ("M79" in particular). Ezra Koenig continues to use his Ivy League education on his lyrics by rhyming and using words in ways that make me feel like I need a thesaurus to fully understand the meaning of the song. "Horchata" is fun and catchy, but I expect more from the rest of their second album.

And for those of you wondering what the hell Horchata is... it apparently is some gross milky beverage dranken by Latin American and Spanish cultures consisting of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts...yep delicious tigernuts.

Foo Fighters "Wheels" Gets Leaked

So, in case you're face down in a gutter in the Meat Packing District of NYC, you probably have heard about Dave Grohl's new side-project super-group, Them Crooked Vultures (they kick ass by the way). They're currently touring the globe and probably will be for the next year, so to tide over the millions of fanatics (and to presumably make a shit ton of extra dough) Foo is releasing a Greatest Hits album with 2 new tracks.

Anyway, one of the songs got leaked over the internet this week...it's called "Wheels" and you can find it on Spin.com.

Not a bad song at all...kinda classic rock sounding, not at all the punk-grunge sound that was heard on Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace...but I'll let you decide for yourself. I, however, am a fan.

Album Review: "The Resistance" by Muse

BAND: Muse
ALBUM: The Resistance
RELEASE DATE: September 14th

For those of you unfamiliar with Muse...get familiar. The British trio is probably the biggest band to hit Europe since U2 (who they're presently touring with as well), and with good reason.

If you're an American and you've heard of Muse, most likely it's because you know one of three songs: "Knights of Cydonia", "Hysteria", or "Starlight". All got major radio play and all are great songs, but you need to continue your education and pick up this latest album, because it blows away everything else the band has ever done.

It seems that Matthew Bellamy, probably one of the most well known lead singers in the world today, decided long before he started on this album that it was going to be the band's masterpiece. You can easily notice it in the way the album plays out from beginning to end. I don't want to call it a concept album, but in some ways it's similar....some of the songs fade into each other, and the tempos vary a lot from song to song...but more than that it is an album with a message...that one day (maybe the near future with the way things are going right now) the world must unite or humanity will fail.

The album starts with the grungy new single, "Uprising", which introduces the album to the public (it is also the first single, and it's getting a lot of airplay). It's very much an anti-establishment song...just listen to the lyrics:

Interchanging mind-control,
Come, let the revolution take its toll,
If you could flick a switch and open your third eye,
You'd see that we should never be afraid to die

Rise up and take the power back,
It's time that the fat cats had a heart attack,
You know that their time's coming to an end,
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
And we will be victorious!

It's a powerful song...the power chords are riddled with heavy distortion and Bellamy's voice rings with a rallying charisma from the start. From there the album continues with some revolutionary ballads...a possible future single, "Resistance", followed by "Undisclosed Desires"...which is a song for those of you who like the hip-hop beats and heavy bass. It is probably my least favorite track on the CD, but is still very good.

The fourth track may be the bands greatest creation. "United States of Eurasia" may be my favorite song of the year. It mixes a lot of different sounds, but I believe that Muse took a lot of inspiration for this tune from Queen. That's right...Queen. It's not just the classical grand piano to begin and end the tune...it's Bellamy's voice...and it's very apparent in the small Brian May-ish guitar riff when the lyrics "there can be only one!" (Highlander?) are sung coming out of the second verse. The song may just end up being Muse's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

NOTE: A word on "United States of Eurasia". I found this excerpt on Wikipedia about the treasure hunt that took place around the world to release this song...one of the coolest promotions I've ever heard of. They hid pieces of the song in 6 different cities on 6 USB drives and the fans that found them had to upload them onto the bands website to release a free download of the song. Which is now available. Pretty cool.

The fifth and sixth songs on the album are both fantastic and continue the overall premise of the album. "Guiding Light" is another song the brings out Bellamy's strong vocals, while "Unnatural Selection" may be the most guitar-ridden track on the album. The next two tracks slow the pace down a bit before the incredible ending.

The final three tracks on the album are all one song entitled "Exogenesis", but is separated into three parts..."Overture", "Cross Pollenation", and the finale, "Redemption". Apart from each other the songs are all good, but together they really have that composition that makes it a work of art. "Redemption" is the perfect close to the album...it builds and builds and builds and then slowly fades out with another comforting piano part.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The bands sound is at its peak...its a mix of instruments and sounds of all genres...guitars, drums, synths, keys, bass...and its all done by three amazing musicians. Matthew Bellamy has the strongest, most powerful voice in rock music today and his heavily distorted, grungy, guitars are similar to the style of Tom Morello at points. Chris Wolstenholme plays some incredible bass parts throughout the album...particularly his bass line in "Resistance" is very prominent, and sounds like it was played by [Red Hot Chili Peppers'] Flea himself. Finally, drummer Dominic Howard may be one of the most underrated drummers in rock. Howard's fills in "Unnatural Selection" are awesome...heavy hitting snare, lots of crash symbols, overabundance of energy.

All in all...one of the best albums of 2009. This is the album that shoots Muse to superstar status. Mark my words...this tour with U2 will be the final non-headlining tour of their career.

If you want more Muse...they have their own Wiki.

Here are the first two singles off the album..."Uprising" and "United States of Eurasia"...

Concert Review: Kings of Leon: 9/9/09

The summer is just about over, which means the end of those cool nights laying down in the lawn and watching your favorite band jam outdoors...and time to head indoors to uncomfortable arena shows with jacked up ticket prices and overpriced food and alcohol. Unfortunately, for me, I had to move indoors a little bit early this year to catch a much anticipated Kings of Leon show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.

What had originally been a group of 3 or 4 people going quickly turned into a group of 10-12 in the months leading up to the concert. So, needless to say, we couldn't all sit together and a whole coordination process followed to make sure we all got rides down and had time to grab a drink and eat before the show. That's part of the atmosphere of being at Mohegan Sun though...lots of great food.

During dinner it was decided that no one had any great ambition to see the opening act, The Features (also from Nashville and signed to KoL label). So after sandwich's, beverages, and v-neck t-shirt jokes at Geno Auriemma's bar we decided to head into the arena at around 8pm to catch the show. We split up into groups and found our seats. It actually worked out well because we all had different views of the stage, which accounted for different stories.

When we entered the opening act was already done, and the stage was already set up for Kings of Leon. They had a pretty nice stage set-up (our side view was obstructed, but I saw some other pics and videos)...two giant wide-screens on top of the stage, surrounded by columns of speakers, but behind them was draped just a plain ole' curtain. The curtain seemed a little simple compared to the rest of the setup, but whatever, I wasn't that concerned with the setup from a side view.

The band came on at about 8:40pm and started with the song "Crawl" off of their latest album, Only by the Night. It was a great way to start the concert...it was heavy, energetic, and it was a song that both old and new fans knew. You could hear people belting the lyrics, "You've gotta learn to crawllllll...before you walk awayyyyyyy...before you walk awayyyyyy..." Great way to start the show.


They followed it up with another hit single, "Charmer", before regressing (much to my applause) to the earlier days by breaking out their first single, "Molly's Chambers", before getting people on their feet with the always-catchy tune, "Soft". Then it was time for some slower stuff as Caleb traded in his back-up electic, for an acoustic to accommodate "Fans".


It seemed like not a whole lot of the crowd knew of those three songs so the band reminded the fans "Hello...we're Kings of Leon"...which was lame. Everybody in this crowd paid $60 bucks a piece to come see you guys...they better know who the heck you are if they shelled out that kind of green. Anyway...to get the new fans back into the show the band switched back to their latest album...Jared's bass-line could be felt through the seats as the band cruised through "Revelry" and people were getting close on the floor when they followed with "I Want You".


They left the crowd wanting more as they switched melodies between, "The Bucket", "My Party", "Be Somebody" and "Four Kicks" before giving the crowd what they wanted...their smash hit "Sex on Fire". You could hear the fans singing along over Matt's riffs as they rolled through what was probably the best song of the night. Well at least that's what I thought until they finished the song and began one of my favorites, "Notion", right after. Caleb's vocals were flawless on one of their most testing tunes...I was very impressed.


From there they finished their set with "Manhattan", "Cold Desert", "On Call" and then left the stage after finishing with "Slow Night, So Long". The first set seemed short, and as a fan of their older stuff, I was waiting to hear an encore jam-packed with some of their early singles like "King of the Rodeo" and/or, "Red Morning Light". The crowd did the normal applause and cheering routine until the band took the stage for an encore.

The house lights come down, the electronic sounds begin to fade up through the sound system on top of the cheers, and Caleb Followill's haunting vocals come in as the blue lights pierce the darkness and "Closer" begins.

The encore continued as they switched back to their jammier roots with the 7-minute anthem, "Knocked Up", before appeasing the bandwagon fans with their pop-garbage latest single, "Use Somebody" (sorry...not a fan). Luckily, they finished off the show on a great note with the powerful, "Black Thumbnail". The crowd gave the band a well deserved applause as they threw out the picks and sticks and walked off stage.

So there's the concert...hope you enjoyed it...here are my post-show thoughts:

• The band has not gotten over their "new to America" status. The fans are over it, but the media and the band are not. The fans that were there surprisingly knew a lot of their older tunes, but the band still introduced themselves...twice.


• It sounds like they've been over-doing this tour a little bit (which has been going on since the beginning of summer 2008). Caleb brought a lot of energy in his vocals, but not in his on-stage antics. There was little to no crowd interaction, no putting the mic down and letting the crowd sing, or misdirection in song selection.
  
• As far as the instrumentation goes...although Matt and Jared played their guitars flawlessly...it was Nathan's drumming that stood out to me the most...he was energetic, his cymbals were right on all night long, his fills were perfect, and he never missed a beat. However, as a band together, there was not a whole lot of energy present.


• I had a lot of fun...the set list was great, the people I was with were great, and all-in-all...it was a show I'll never forget. The band has grown a lot over the years and you can hear it on their albums and through their sound...now, as they reach a "make or break" point in their career, they must not look down on the newer fans that missed them in the early days, but they must make those new fans want to go back and listen to how their sound matured and led them to such a highly celebrated album.
  
  

In my previous post I gave a list of criteria that I would've liked to had been met for the show to be considered a "good" show. So here are my final thoughts:

CRITERIA TO MAKE THIS A GOOD SHOW
1. "King of the Rodeo" must be played. - FAIL...the set list did not include this song.
2. "Red Morning Light" must be played. - FAIL...not played.
3. "Use Somebody" CANNOT be the final song...don't leave a crowd on a slow song...ever. PASS...although I had my doubts at some points.
4. Being that there is no opening band to the extent of my knowledge...the show must last AT LEAST 2 hours. N/A...there was an opening band, the concert lasted about 1:40 mins.
5. B-Lar and I must remember the concert. PASS! Geno's Strawberry Daquiris got nothing on B-Lar!

So they went 2-2-1...not a bad score. Either way it was well worth it. I'm also pleased to announce the next show on the concert agenda will be Silversun Pickups w/ Cage the Elephant on Tuesday, October 20th. Stay tuned for more information and enjoy the first weekend of NFL Football...

Concert Pre-Game: Kings of Leon

Well kids, it's a show week...so here's a quick preview for tomorrow's Kings of Leon show.


THE SETTING
VENUE: Mohegan Sun Casino Arena
LOCATION: Uncasville, CT
SETTING: Small Arena Show
CAPACITY: 9,518

THE BAND
NAME: Kings of Leon
FROM: Nashville, TN
YEARS ACTIVE: 1999 - present
MEMBERS:
Ivan "Nathan" Followill - Drums/Percussion
Anthony "Caleb" Followill - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar
Michael "Jared" Followill - Bass Guitar
Cameron "Matthew" Followill - Lead Guitar
* - For some weird reason they all go by their second names...some kind of family thing...sorry, but that's one lame thing about the band...

THE ALBUMS
1. Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
2. Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
3. Because of the Times (2007)
4. Only by the Night (2008)

MY TAKE ON THE BAND

I became a fan of Kings of Leon right before my first Bonnaroo in summer of '08. I heard about them over the years through festival line-ups and reviews. I had always thought that they were a British band because of how many festivals they played in Europe. However, when I heard they were from Nashville I immediately wondered "how have I never heard these guys before?" So anyway, I was gearing up for Bonnaroo by watching some Best of 'Roo specials on Fuse and I caught them playing "King of the Rodeo" at 'Roo '06. The song got stuck in my head for days and is still my favorite KoL song. I immediately downloaded the album Aha Shake Heartbreak the next day.

The first thing that stood out to me was Caleb's voice. It had a kind of grungy, raw feel to it which immediately struck me as something different. I tend to like different (i.e. Coheed, Zeppelin, Rush, My Morning Jacket, Dashboard...all lead singers with very original voices). I find the music behind them pretty simple, but fitting. It's not too complex, not too dull...like a mix between The Strokes and Vampire Weekend at times. It fits Caleb's voice perfectly, and you can tell that these guys (3 brothers, 1 cousin) have been practicing with this sound for many years while growing up together.

I was real cool with this band until their latest album, Only by the Night. As a self-proclaimed, "music snob", I was a little upset that despite no one in the US ever hearing about this band until 2008, their breakthrough album became such a huge commercial success so fast. Two singles made the Top 10 charts ("Sex on Fire", "Use Somebody") after being released, and the album ended up being nominated for a Grammy for Rock Album of the Year. (NOTE: The band lost the award to those British losers, Coldplay, and their crappy blend of every other band that has ever played music...I would NEVER consider Coldplay as "Rock" music...it is pop in every sense of the word.) However, I was a big fan of the album and, after much delibiration, chalked it up to the American public just getting wiser.

Since then I've heard most of their collection and I must say, Aha Shake Heartbreak, is still my favorite album. They're all good, but I like the earlier two albums a little bit better because I love to hear a band at their beginnings. I'm very excited to see how the band plays out their tracks live.

CRITERIA TO MAKE THIS A GOOD SHOW

1. "King of the Rodeo" must be played.

2. "Red Morning Light" must be played.

3. "Use Somebody" CANNOT be the final song...don't leave a crowd on a slow song...ever.

4. Being that there is no opening band to the extent of my knowledge...the show must last AT LEAST 2 hours.

5. B-Lar and I must remember the concert.

I don't think that is asking much...and honestly, I think all of the criteria will be met...unless B-Lar lets me down with #5.

So it should be a good one...good friends, good venue, casino games, Frank Pepe's...I'm pretty excited. There will absolutely be a show review for this one so stay tuned...

Here's some KoL to occupy your brain...

Music Thoughts of the Week

For the week beginning August 30th, 2009...

Here's what's going on in the world of music (not affiliated with the popular music store located in Erie, PA):

1. Hope you guys enjoyed the Outside Lands link and some of you took advantage of it to help keep you occupied during work. I caught most of the Dead Weather concert, which was pretty phenomenal (one of the best of the weekend, or so I've heard). Here's a recap of the weekend from my friends over at JamBase.

2. Welp...it's almost here...moe.Down10 is this weekend! Unfortunately I'll be sitting here at work in nearby CT...wishing that I had vacation days left to take. Three days full of moe. could seem a bit too much, but I consider it more of a test of endurance. The loyal following will be out in full force to see moe. and friends. This year they've brought along some well-known bands as Method Man & Redman, Ani DiFranco, Cake, and Umphrey's McGee. When moe.Down first started 10 years ago it was pretty much just the band so this festival has grown quite a bit into something else. Only a handful of bands have their own festival so this is quite a big event for the kings of jam rock. I thought all hope was lost until my buddy told me that they are streaming the concert online over the weekend over at iClips...enjoy...I know I will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. So speaking of missing cool concerts because you work EVERY Saturday...this past weekend was Blink 182 and Weezer in Hartford. I had a couple friends go to this show (and was offered a free ticket...don't ask...I'm still kicking myself) and both gave me pretty much the same reviews. Both contained the 3 statements: 1. "Weezer kicked ass!" 2. "Blink 182 was kind of depressing(stay tuned...I'll explain)." 3. "I don't really remember too much, but..." (Sounds like my O.A.R. experience right?)
As I heard...Blink 182 came close to breaking down while on stage since the passing of DJ AM (aka Adam Goldstein) late Friday night. Travis Barker is taking it particularly hard, especially since he survived a plane crash with the guy just about a year ago. Recent haunting reports call it an apparent suicide attempt, stating that AM had "wanted to die" and had overdosed after swallowing 8 Oxycontin pills, smoking a bunch of crack cocaine, and who knows what else. Just like the abuse of prescription drugs takes away the life of another awesome musician. What a rough year for the industry. (You can find more on DJ AM's death here.)
Anyway...they apparently cut short the show by playing only for an hour...but I can't see Blink's up-tempo punk stylings shadowing over their apparent post-mortem depression. Clearly the audience could see through their music if I'm telling this second-hand. I still can't believe that Blink came out on stage that night. I couldn't imagine playing a concert the day after losing a close friend.
In the aftermath...Blink did decide to take a couple days rest for mourning and rescheduled some shows. Read about it here.

4. The Black Crowes released a new CD this week entitled "Before the Frost...Until the Freeze". I'm pretty excited to hear this album that's been in the making for several years. Much of the album was actually recorded in front of a live studio audience at The Barn in Woodstock, New York. Here's some songs off the new album. Found a good review on SkyNet (aka Wikipedia). Also, don't forget the Mexican sensation, Rodrigo y Gabriela, have a new CD coming out next week.

5. Dave Matthews may be overdo-ing it this summer. Dave was sidelined for today's concert in Utah with strained vocal chords. Good thing he hit Hartford first, but still he better take it easy and stop pulling those eye-bulging high notes he likes to hit or else he's gonna have to rest for a lot longer than a day.

6. Them Crooked Vultures are touring in the United States! Best of all, they're coming to the House of Blues in Boston (somewhat close). Definitely gotta try and see this...then I will have successfully seen 1/2 of Led Zeppelin in concert (Jimmy Page would be all that's left for me to see...save the best for last I guess). Here's the full list of dates and some videos of their music (you HAVE to hear this!).

7. While we're on the topic of classic rock mixing with modern rock...how about this...Wolfmother has covered Jimi Hendrix! Apparently they recorded an 8-track LP at Electric Lady Studios last month and they intend on releasing it as a "B-Side" in the near future. I would definitely like to hear this (especially "If 6 Was 9").

8. And we'll save the ultimate travesty for last. I was really excited this week to hear about the release of the latest in music video games, Guitar Hero 5. What I didn't know is that one of the worlds most famous deceased musical artists, Kurt Cobain, would be featured as a guest character in the game. Whoever's idea it was to allow this in a video game should seriously be shoved through a kick drum. Do you honestly think this is what Kurt Cobain would've wanted? In his life would he ever have let himself be subject as a playable character in a video game that would allow him to sing covers of Bon Jovi (no disrespect Jon...you'll always be cool in my books) and Coldplay (no respect there...Coldplay blows goats)?! No fucking way! This is creating major controversy in major music magazines and all across the internet. In no way am I the world's biggest Nirvana fan (although I am a big fan), but just watch some of the videos in the articles...it's disgraceful!
Spin.com's Take
RollingStone.com's Take
Who do they blame for the whole thing? Why Courtney Love of course!


That's all for now...here's our concert video of the week. This comes to us from STP at Mohegan Sun this past July 17th...this is one of the coolest songs they performed all night. A personal favorite of mine, "Big Empty"

Outside Lands on YouTube!

If anybody would like to catch some of the acts at San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival this weekend, apparently YouTube is going to broadcast some of the shows live. The live concerts include Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, The Dead Weather, and Silversun Pickups.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/outsidelands

Here's the lineup they have scheduled (these are all Pacific Standard Times...that means add 3 hours for us East Coast peeps):

SATURDAY

3:15 - Zion I

4:05 - The Dirt Bombs

4:50 - Streetsweepers Social Club

5:40 - Raphael Saadiq

6:30 - Jason Mraz

7:30 - Dave Matthews Band

SUNDAY

2:35 - Robert Randolph and the Family Band

3:35 - Atmosphere

4:20 - Modest Mouse

5:20 - Autolox

5:35 - Bettye Lavette

6:35 - Ween

7:35 - Cage the Elephant

8:05 - Dead Weather

Here's some pics and highlights from Friday's opening night...http://www.jambase.com/Articles/19492/Outside-Lands-Music-Festival-Day-1-Photos-and-Top-3

Random Thoughts of the Week

Random Thoughts of the Week: 8/23/2009 - 8/29/2009

1. Wolfmother has a new album coming out soon (October 13th) entitled Cosmic Egg. I would have to say that this is one of the albums I am most looking forward to hearing in late 2009. Wolfmother's, Andrew Stockdale, has the vocal ability of a young Robert Plant. He can sustain extremely powerful notes with little to no strain on his vocals. I must say that when this band went on hiatus after their last album I was very disappointed. It's been a long time since they've done anything new.

So anyway, I was very excited when I was rummaging through the interweb and stumbled upon the following videos on RollingStone.com. These videos are Andrew Stockdale playing an exclusive, acoustic set in Rolling Stone's studios. No backing instruments, just him and his stringbox playing two NEW songs off of the upcoming album. Also, if you haven't heard their first single, "New Moon Rising", you must hear it...it fucking rocks! Check it out on their website.

2. The first two legendary NYC farewell concerts have already wrapped up for Nine Inch Nails. They played Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom and on Sunday night at the Webster Theater. I wanted to go to one of these shows real bad since I missed their "farewell" concert at Bonnaroo this year. However, all 3 of these NYC shows sold out in pre-sale and were exclusive to NIN fan club members...which I am not. You know that Trent Reznor is gonna go all out for these shows. They are all being taped...I'm guessing for an upcoming DVD (NIN DVD's kick major ass)!The set lists for both shows are pretty incredible...including the band playing the entire Downward Spiral album from beginning to end on Sunday night. Check out pics, videos, and setlists for the shows over at BrooklynVegan. NIN will finish their NYC shows on Tuesday and Wednesday with back to back sets at Terminal 5.

3. If anyone is interested in going to see Heaven and Hell (Tuesday at the WAMU Theater at MSG) ...more importantly with Coheed and Cambria...tickets are going 1/2 price. I would do anything to go see Coheed again, but I'm not going to pay 60 bucks to go see them play an opening act for Ronnie James Dio's Black Sabbath...thats bullshit...Heaven and Hell should be opening for them. Nothing against Dio or Tony Iommi, but what's Black Sabbath without Ozzy? If interested buy tickets here.

4. Other good concerts coming to the Hartford area this week..

Thursday, August 27th

Heaven and Hell w/ Coheed and Cambria - Chevrolet Theater

Saturday,August 29th

Blink 182 w/ Weezer and Taking Back Sunday - Comcast Theater

Counting Crows w/ Michael Franti & Spearhead, Augustana - Mohegan Sun

5. If you haven't heard any songs from Them Crooked Vultures (Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, Josh Homme's new supergroup)...check out some footage of their surprise European shows at Spin.com.

6. Weezer has a new song coming out off of their upcoming album Raditude. The song is called "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" (hahahahahaha...awesome). Apparently, the song made it's way onto YouTube the other day and then quickly found it's way off the website. It's amazing how this happens almost every week now...somebody rips a song from a recording studio, posts it on YouTube, then it gets taken down a couple days later. Same thing happened with Pearl Jam's new single, "The Fixer", which is now only available on the Ten Club website. If I was a professional musician I'd probably be pretty pissed, but I'm not...therefore, I'm cool with it. Either way, a new Weezer album sounds pretty good to me.

7. Speaking of Pearl Jam's upcoming album Backspacer...here is what Spin.com had to say about it...

"Even the requisite restrained ballads feel renewed: “The End” finds Vedder
channeling Cat Stevens, backed by a string and brass ensemble. Then there’s
the towering anthem “Amongst the Waves,” which could bring “Alive” fans
back to the fold. It even expands on that song’s theme, moving from grudging
survival to jubilant exuberance (“I’ve put away my early grave”). For the
first time in years, Pearl Jam are seizing the moment rather than wallowing in it."

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to hear "Amongst the Waves".

8. For those of you who love countdown lists...here is a pretty cool one. The website Pitchfork has created a list of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000's (thanks to Brandon on this cool find). The Top 20 is pretty solid until you get into the Top 5...which is absolutely horrific and his justifications still do no justice. If this guy seriously thinks that "Bombs Over Baghdad" is the best song of the decade he should seriously stop writing about music...permanently. I'm totally serious...I detest this guys music taste if his Top 5 is truly what is marked down...it's borderline insulting. I love Outkast and the song brings back awesome memories of my Freshman year of college, but seriously?! I'll file this under "practical jokes" and move on...

NOTE: Other practical jokes on list...M.I.A. with 2 songs in the Top 50. Ever heard her live? When you do you'll understand...

That's all I got for now...

Concert Video of the Week

This video comes from this past summer at Bonnaroo 2009. This is Phish playing "Punch You in the Eye" on Friday night. Despite this being one of my favorite Phish songs, I picked this because of the amazing Glow Stick war...check it out...it's one of the coolest things I've seen at a show...there were literally thousands upon thousands...

UPDATE

Sorry for my recent leave of absence. Don't worry my posts will become consistent again once my computer is fixed. Currently writing the thoughts of the week. Post should be up by Monday morning.

Music Thoughts of the Week

Music Thoughts for the Week: 8/9-8/15

1. So Lollapalooza happened last weekend. The lineup looked outstanding at first glance. However, when I read JamBase's review I was shocked to read most of the bands at the festival getting bashed. I agree with some of their reviews (such as Animal Collective not being that great in concert...they sure didn't put on a great show at Bonnaroo), but others were just absurd (bashing Coheed is never a good idea in my book...whether you like their concept or not they're some of the most talented musicians on the planet). The group of reviewers seemed biased towards certain types of music and instead of writing worthy reviews, they wrote little blurbs about each band...I mean seriously...my Bonnaroo blog was longer. Don't try and see every band because it's unfair to the fans. In my opinion, if I were part of a large operation like theirs I would go see the biggest bands on the ticket, followed by the best performers, followed by the best up and comers...trying to review every act is gonna drive you mad. Plus that would take forever to write.

2. The biggest mistake at Lollapalooza in my mind...letting Jane's Addiction headline. Look...I know the festival is Perry Farrell's brainchild and all, but JA hasn't put out a decent album in over a decade...and even still their music was never that fantastic to headline a festival over bands like Kings of Leon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ben Harper, Snoop Dogg, or even Lou Reed. Apparently for their encore of "Jane Says" they brought out Joe Perry (from Aerosmith...duh) to play guitar...acoustic guitar. Why of all songs would they get Joe Perry to come and play guitar on "Jane Says"...for those of you who don't play the guitar the whole song can be played with 3 chords. In my opinion...that was a slap in the face. You're gonna bring out one of the most well known electric players in the world and force him to play an easy acoustic song...that's fucked up...plain and simple. Bad form Perry Farrell.

3. Now that I think about it...I wouldn't have picked Depeche Mode or The Killers to headline either. The Killers are too new to headline a festival and they have a couple good songs backed by a lot of terrible, terrible songs. Their latest CD is garbage...way too "pop"-y for me. Also, Depeche Mode is electronic music...and in my opinion...is not the type of music that Lollapalooza is based around. Lolla started as a rock festival and should stay that way. They're trying to be a metropolitan version of Bonnaroo by bringing in a variety of acts. Sounds to me like Lolla needs to get back to its roots.

4. Also in Lollapalooza news...Them Crooked Vultures (Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, and Josh Homme's new fusion band) made their debut in Chicago last week for a very special night show at The Metro. I was right...Homme is doing vocals. Here's the setlist they played.

5. Was super stoked to hear that a My Morning Jacket song will appear in Guitar Hero 5. Especially since it is my personal favorite, "One Big Holiday". Can't wait to shred some Carl Broemmel. Also heard that Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, and Shirley Manson will have cameos in the game. I understand Santana and Manson did their own motion capture, but they had some tribute artist do Johnny Cash's. I think they should've picked someone else honestly...that's not fair to the late legend.

6. So apparently Aerosmith has cancelled the rest of their summer tour with ZZ Top after Steven Tyler fell off the stage last week at Sturgis while singing "Love in an Elevator". He broke his shoulder and suffered some other back and neck injuries. This coming after he already injured his leg while playing earlier this summer at Mohegan Sun. Sounds to me like the aging Tyler needs to cool down his antics a little bit...after all he is 3 years away from being able to collect Social Security...not that he needs it.

7. Read on Yahoo! Music that Radiohead's upcoming single has leaked on-line. Being that this is a "leaked" song and not completely legal I am not going to post the video on the site, but check it out on YouTube. Song is called "These Are My Twisted Words". Give it a listen.

8. R.I.P. Les Paul...where would rock music be today without you?

9. Last week marked the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock and some sweet tributes were happening at concerts around the world. Here's the coolest one I heard about...Ronnie Wood (you know, from that band...what are they called? The Rolling somethings...) joined Pearl Jam on stage in London for a bluesy version of "All Along the Watchtower". The song apparently included some battling solos between Wood, Mike McCready, and Stone Gossard...gonna try and find the video of that one. Apparently, hey also brought out Simon Townsend (Pete's brother) later in the night to play a cover of The Who's "The Real Me"...groovy.

10. I really wanted to go to Phish last night in Hartford. However, work prevented me from going. I wasn't too bummed until I read the review of the show on JamBase (great review...much different tone than the Lolla review)...apparently it was one of their best shows this summer...including covers of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" and an encore of The Beatles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

11. Just found out today that Phil Lesh and Bob Weir (of Grateful Dead fame) are teaming up again...this time with Joe Russo (Benevento/Russo Duo), John Kadlecik (Dark Star Orchestra), and two others from Weir's backing band, Rat Dog. The name of the band is called Furthur. I'm sure we'll be seeing them on some big festival tickets next summer...most likely Bonnaroo and Rothbury.

12. Alice in Chains has new album coming out...the first single is a tribute to Layne Staley, entitled "Black Gives Way to Blue" and features ELTON JOHN on piano and backing vocals. The album comes out September 29th. I don't know why, but for some reason I can't picture Elton John standing side by side next to Jerry Cantrell...weird. Hopefully this isn't the start of some new trend...imagine if you were at a Pearl Jam concert and Barry Manilow were to walk out on stage? Yeah...thats messed up.



And finally...a new addition to the weekly submission...here's the first ever...

Concert Video of the Week
This weeks video comes off of Coheed and Cambria's "NeverEnder" DVD set. This was filmed last October 25th in Terminal 5 in New York City. It features Warren Haynes (Allman Bros., Gov't Mule) as a guest guitarist. This is the best version of "Welcome Home" I have ever heard...

O.A.R. Show Review - 8/8/09

Well...for any of those who were at the show with me...you know the whole story. I hate to disappoint my loyal readers, but there's not a whole lot I can tell you about this show except for the details leading up to it. So here's what happened...

3:00pm - Friends arrive to "pre-game" before the show. We kick back a few and sit on the deck and discuss how awesome the show is going to be tonight.

5:00pm - The rest of the crew arrives. We take 4 car loads to the show. The plan is to all park next to each other and have one massive tailgate party. However, the first 2 cars leave 10 minutes before the other 2 cars. Can you guess what happened?

6:00pm - The 4 cars ended up splitting up. 2 in one lot, 2 in the other. After much arguing about who should move where and how we ended up like this, everybody decides to stay put and we'll meet inside. Good idea...?

6:30pm - My new friend and I whoop the Pittsburgh guys at bagg-o. First game I have won in quite some time. I am feeling very good. So good that I decide it's time to have a few beers before the show. Good thing I've got a 6-pack of Yuengling, which I hadn't drank in a good 6 months (how I missed thee!).

7:30pm - My good friend Kyle decided to be a great friend and bring a bottle of Jagermeister and a 4-pack of Red Bull. Sure...I'll do a shot. Nothing like deer blood mixed with taurine!

8:00pm - 3 JagerBombs later it's time to head towards the main gate. Better grab a brew for the road...better make it two.

08:30pm - Arrive at Tailgate Camp 2 to drop off tickets. Most of the rest of my crew went in the main gate to catch Matt Nathanson's set. I wanted to see him, but I forgot to give my buddy his ticket earlier...bummer. I chill with them for a little bit and down another tasty libation.

09:00pm - Arrive at the main gate after the long walk. My feet hurt. I think I may be beginning to feel the effects of the Jager. I love Jager!

09:05pm - The booze has turned on me...the guy at the front gate was being a jerk and told me to sit out for 5 minutes...I told him ok. I immediately walk in to the line next to his and get right in...staring at him the whole time thinking in my mind, "5 minutes my ass! HA!"

09:10pm - We walk to the lawn...it is in between sets. I've lost every one except for my buddy Dale. I decide to lie down in the grass and enjoy the atmosphere until O.A.R. comes on stage.

10:30pm - I HATE Jager! Apparently those bombs were a little stronger than I thought. Somehow when I was relaxing I let my eyes close (these things happen when you work until 4am every night). I awaken to loud music and people dancing. Dale says behind me, "Hey dude! Have a nice nap?" "No! I didn't just do this..." was my first thought. "Oh shit...yes I did..." was my second. "Where the hell am I..." was my third. It's time to get up and savor what I can of this show. Rally caps!

11:45pm - I found the rest of the group that was missing and we danced our asses off for the last hour of the show. Turns out I only missed about half of the show...you know...the stuff I wanted to see. Like a couple acoustic songs, including what I heard was a pretty awesome version of "I Feel Home". It's probably one of their better written songs, but I still like their faster stuff. I was still able to hear my favorite songs, "Night Shift" and "About an Hour Ago"...both were fantastic. Here's the set list:

Hey Girl
About Mr. Brown
The Wanderer
Untitled
So Moved On
I Feel Home (Acoustic)
Lay Down (Acoustic)
What Is Mine
On My Way
This Town <------First song I heard
Night Shift
Shattered
War Song
Mr. Moon
Delicate Few

Encore:
About An Hour Ago
Crazy Game of Poker

11:45pm - My roomate and I are creating zig-zag patterns on the way back to the car. Some dude selling concert shirts approach us...we impulse buy a pair for 10 bucks...not a bad deal for a shirt that will disintegrate after a dozen times through the washing machine. We then impulse buy a couple burgers and hot dogs from some pleasant street vendors with dreadlocks and then hop in the car to go home. No after party? Bummer. The End.

CONCLUSION: So yeah...pretty decent show. I am still disappointed with myself...and as a result I promise all of you that this will NEVER happen again. I vow to NEVER drink Jagermeister at a concert again...straight beer for me thank you. The next show slated is Kings of Leon next month. I will have a full review for you then. It will be bad ass and make up for everything I couldn't put in this review.

On a lighter note...this is one of the best hip-hop songs I have ever heard...

The Top Albums of 2009 (so far)...and what to look forward to in the next 5 months...

2009 has been a great year for music so far. We've seen some great new indie bands surprise the rock genre (Grizzly Bear, White Rabbits), some artists took some time off to pursue a solo album (Yim Yames, Dan Auerbach), some long time rockers finally created their masterpieces (Wilco, Phoenix), and the electronic rock scene has gotten bigger than ever thanks to some huge innovators (Animal Collective, Passion Pit).

So what are these albums and why haven't you heard them yet? Because there is so much music out there today that it's hard for us to narrow down the great from all the good. I'm going to educate you on what I think have been some of the best albums to come out this year so far and why you should download them. Also...I'm going to give you a preview of what else is coming out in the fall/winter of 09'...thats right dudes...summer is almost over...at least for those of us in the Northeastern United States.

Here's the list (in no particular order):

• Passion Pit - Manners

Why you should download...because "The Reeling" and "Little Secrets" may be the Boston bands catchiest songs.

• Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Why you should download...because Wilco is finally back to their original song writing style and no longer trying to appease the masses. Jeff Tweedy's vocals have never sounded better.

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Its Blitz

Why you should download...because this is my early front runner for Album of the Year. Great album from beginning to end and showcases a few songs that sound simple, but are very complex in style. Karen O's voice rings on the song "Runaway"...it'll get stuck in your head all day.

• Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Why you should download...because you've never heard so many different styles of music on one album. If that doesn't sell you right away just listen to the song "Two Weeks".

• Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Why you should download...because of the song "Why I Am"....a great tribute to the legendary LeRoi Moore.

• Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Why you should download...because this may be the most talked about album of the year by music critics across the country...check out their performance of "Summertime Clothes" on Letterman.

• Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Why you should download...because for months I thought that Nikki Monniger was a great vocalist...until I learned it was Brian Aubert doing the singing. Dude has one awesome voice. Plus...their performance on MTV Unplugged was phenomenal.

• Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

Why you should download...because the Drive-By Truckers leader began writing this album 15 years ago when his life was a disaster and finished it last year...updating some of the old songs and creating sequel songs.

• Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Why you should download...because the song "The Shattered Fortress" contains the last three parts of Mike Portnoy's Twelve-step Suite...a series of songs dedicated to his battle with alcoholism. Also...because Dream Theater is the most talented band in the world and this album helps prove it again.

So that's the best of the year so far (in my opinion at least). Here's a look at some albums coming out later this year...some awesome ones in here...look carefully...

• Vampire Weekend - (TBD) - September
• Pearl Jam - Backspacer - September 20th
• Stone Temple Pilots - (TBD) - December
• Collective Soul - Rabbit - August 25th
• The Black Crowes - Before the Frost... - September 1st
• Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johannson - The Break Up Album - September 8th
• Jay Z - Blueprint - September 11th
• Muse - The Resistance - September 14th
• The Flaming Lips - Embryonic - September
• Phish - Joy - September 8th
• Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg - October 13th

Pretty sweet eh? Lots of humongous releases coming out next month. Anyway...that's it for now...I'll be back this weekend with a review of the O.A.R. show.