The KEXP Blog (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to shed a bit of light and share [...]
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 11/30/2009
"Elvis Costello literally builds a band in front of the audience's eyes and ears. Joining him for this once-in-a-lifetime jam session are his former record producer, Nick Lowe, on bass; legendary New Orleans producer/pianist Allen Toussaint; U.K. guitar giant/songwriter Richard Thompson; and, from The Band, drummer Levon Helm." http://www.sundancechannel.com/spectacle/all-new-season/ There...
Hullabaloo (Free subscription) | 11/29/2009
Saturday Night At The Movies Stocking Stuffers: Vintage reels for your Xmas creel By Dennis Hartley It’s that time of year- for the obligatory Top 10 lists. This week, I thought I would share some of my favorite “back catalog” DVD reissues for 2009, and perhaps give you some gift ideas for the discerning cinema buff on your list (BTW if you do click a movie link from this site and...
STEVENHARTSITE (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Since it’s Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the indispensible Wolfgang’s Vault, which has posted the most complete available recording of The Last Waltz, the all-star farewell concert by The Band on Thanksgiving 1976. Whatever qualms you might have about the film — I refer you to Levon Helm’s autobiography This Wheel’s On Fire for [...]
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
Makes Sense To Me really got the crowd moving around as people tried to find their perfect spot for the remainder of the first set. Panic then quickly dispatched a very spirited and extremely funky Pigeons thanks to Dave Schools monster bass lines. At the end of Pigeons, the band wished drummer Todd Nance a very Happy Birthday, and the crowd even sang for him. He responded by singing Coach for the...
The Joy of Sox (Free subscription) | 11/24/2009
On November 25, 1976, the five members of The Band -- Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson - played their last concert together. It was billed as The Last Waltz . The Thanksgiving Day show (all 5,000 tickleholders were given a full sit-down turkey dinner before the show) was held at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom and was filmed by Martin Scorsese. Besides...
Supersonic Narcissist (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Here's some media that I've been exploring/enjoying lately that I thought I might share with you. Six Moral Tales: by Eric Rohmer Criterion boxset The title may be mistranslated/misleading, as these films aren't really parables of any kind, but instead are sure handed stories of people grappling with love and their own moralities. These films were first written as a series of stories (Collected in...
The Fader Magazine (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Every once in a while, Levon Helm of The Band opens his upstate New York home to friends and family (and those with about a hundred bucks) and has a Midnight Ramble, an open group session of riffs and trills. We have not been, unfortunately, but friends who’ve attended describe the communal twang as universally [...]
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
The drama between lead singer Steven Tyler and the rest of his Aerosmith band mates exploded this past week. As of press time we’re still unsure as to whether Steven Tyler is still in the band he helped form. We thought Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry had kissed and made up when the mercurial vocalist sang Walk This Way with Joe Perry’s solo band at Irving Plaza, but Perry told Rolling Stone...
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Originally, the purpose for The Midnight Rambles at Levon Helm’s Woodstock home-recording studio - otherwise referred to as The Barn - was to serve as a way for the legendary drummer of The Band to recoup money from his mounting medical bills after battling and overcoming throat cancer. Helm’s iconic and unmistakable voice was down to barely a raspy whisper after radiation treatments which...
Sound of the City (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Yeah alright, them boys in Wolfmother are pretty goofy -- a bit too Guitar Hero: The Band. But dig who's opening their gig tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg: None other than the He...
Cybergrass (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform one of the new cuts from their latest album 'Speed of Life' (NGDB Records/Sugar Hill) as well as their classic "Mr. Bojangles" on the CBS Early Show on Saturday, November 21. Later that night, the group will bring their "deceptively masterful playing" (Washington Post) up north to play Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, NY - a fitting...
Brooklyn Vegan (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
Levon Helm The Levon Helm Band will be departing from their weekly "Midnight Ramble" gig at Helm's Studio in Woodstock for a show at NYC's Terminal 5 on Thursday, January 7th, 2010. Joining them at this show be Okkervil River...
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
I adore The Band's first three albums. I also like a great deal of their later stuff and even some of the solo output, especially Danko's first and the recent Levon Helm CDs. I was surprised the Observer Music Magazine gave space to Robbie Robertson's version of "The Last Waltz" filming. The break-up came, as is clear from various accounts, of Robertson's reluctance to tour and/or share...
Hidden Track (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
One of our favorite bands, The Band, was far from the most photographed/filmed act in the ’70s as such there aren’t many clips of The Band in action on YouTube. Yet, there are some and the ones that are on YouTube give a great view of this incredible ensemble doing their thing. This week’s B List presents the ten best The Band vids on YouTube. 1. Don’t Do It (The Academy of...
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