Brendan Benson: "A Whole Lot Better" video

Watch the new Brendan Benson video for A Whole Lot Better, a track from his My Old, Familiar Friend album. The clip is styled as a neo-psychedelic Seventies live show, with Brad Pemberton on drums (Ryan Adams), Jared Reynolds on bass (Ben Folds) and Mark Watrous on guitar and keys (The Raconteurs).

» brendanbenson.com

Coming soon in Utrecht: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Triggerfinger, C-Mon & Kypski, Moke

photo: Roel Determeijer

What's on at the Tivoli in Utrecht, The Netherlands? Aussie metal, Dutch Britpop, Dutch and Danish avant good-time dance, British blues, stoner rock from Belgium and in the distant future a band named after a Dutch tennis player.

• 12/01 Ian Siegal #
  Good old-fashioned blues rock
• 12/02 The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
  Danish dance dipped in sixties pop.
• 12/03 The Butterfly Effect #
  Aussie metal grungers
• 12/12 Triggerfinger
  Loud Stonerrock from Belgium
• 12/23 Moke
  Hollands most fashionable Britpop band.
• 12/24 C-Mon & Kypski
  Dutch avant dance with a rock twist.
• 01/10 Epica
  Gothic with the required female vocalist.
• 03/19 Bettie Serveert
  groundbreaking indie guitar band still going strong.

# Tivoli De Helling

Video: Moke - Switch
Video: Triggerfinger - Short Term Memory Love

» tivoli.nl

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/29 Portland

Phish
2009/11/29
Cumberland County Civic Center
Portland, ME

Set One

1. Possum
2. Down With Disease
3. Nellie Kane
4. Weigh
5. When the Circus Comes
6. Kill Devil Falls
7. Water In The Sky
8. Stash
9. Meat
10. Undermind
11. Mike's Song >
12. I Am Hydrogen >
13. Weekapaug Groove

Set Two

1. The Moma Dance >
2. Rock & Roll >
3. Light >
4. Crimes Of The Mind >
5. Pebbles And Marbles >
6. 2001 >
7. Golgi Apparatus >
8. Cavern >
9. Run Like An Antelope

Encore

1. Free Bird
2. Carini >
3. Waste

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/29 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)
» fromtheroad.phish.com

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Schoeps mk22)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

Kris Kelly: My Visitors

Kris Kelly, a singer-songwriter and composer based in Brooklyn, aims high. He studied opera performance and music composition and tries to mix classical instruments with traditional folk and pop. My Visitors is his debut full length and it is an album that shows a composer with a good ear for melody. His lyrics need to grow up some more - most of them have forced "poetic" imagery that needs some editing. Maybe it is the Federico Garcia Lorca influence he can't get away from. He has set his poem Vuelta de Paseo to music and his own efforts pale in its gigantic shadow.

My Visitors contains well composed music, with tasteful parts for flute and strings. Recommended if you like Fairport Convention and Nick Drake.

Kris Kelly:
Kristopher Kelly: vocals, acoustic guitar
Dimitri Moderbacher: electric bass
Sean Hagerty: violin
Domenica Fossati: flute
Valerie Kuehne: cello
Greg Hitt: cajon, hand percussion

My Visitors is a self-released album. Buy it from his website.

Tracks:

1. Coyote
2. My Visitor
3. A Curious Way
4. Sidewalk Chalk
5. Vuelta De Paseo
6. Antenna
7. According To
8. Dream

» kriskellymusic.com/
» myspace.com/kristopherkelly

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/28 Albany

Phish
2009/11/28
Times Union Center
Albany, NY

Set One

1. Party Time
2. Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan
3. Uncle Pen
4. Sanity
5. Foam
6. Walk Away
7. NICU
8. Alaska
9. Split Open and Melt
10. Joy
11. Vultures
12. Backwards Down the Number Line

Set Two

1. Seven Below >
2. Ghost
3. Cool It Down
4. Gotta Jibboo
5. Let Me Lie
6. Wolfman's Brother
7. Julius

Encore

1. You Enjoy Myself

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/28 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)
» fromtheroad.phish.com

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Microtech Gefell M210's)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

All Of Us/None Of Us: new single "Weaponize Our Love"

West coast duo All Of Us/None Of Us have released a new stand-alone single. Weaponize Our Love focuses on the vocals with a wailing guitar demanding its place in the sun. A new EP which will be finished in January 2010.

All Of Us/None Of Us:
Eric Ray: guitar,vocals
R Tyck: bass

» allofusnoneofus.com
» myspace.com/allofusnoneofus

HCTF review of arcane and abel.

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/27 Albany

Phish
2009/11/27
Times Union Center
Albany, NY

Set One

1. AC/DC Bag
2. Maze
3. Driver
4. My Mind's Got A Mind Of Its Own
5. Gumbo
6. Bouncing Around The Room
7. It's Ice
8. Two Versions Of Me
9. Timber
10. Limb By Limb
11. Cavern
12. Light

Set Two

1. My Friend, My Friend >
2. Golden Age
3. On Your way Down
4. Fluffhead
5. Piper >
6. Tomorrow's Song
7. Prince Caspian
8. Harry Hood
9. Suzy Greenberg
10. The Squirming Coil
11. I Been Around

Encore

1. Fire

First time played: Golden Age (TV On The Radio) and Tomorrow's Song.

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/27 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Sennheiser MD441U)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

The Who: Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show

The Who will be on stage at the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show:

The Who will perform in the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show on CBS Sports at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida on Sunday, February 7, the NFL announced today during halftime of the Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys game on CBS.

» thewho.com

We Were Promised Jetpacks: These Four Walls

photo: Neil Thomas Douglas

Edinburgh post-rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks create a dense sound on their debut album These Four Walls. Claustrophic songs with singer Adam Thompson screaming above the din. The songs are built to last, creating a Hadrian's Wall of Sound. Sean Smith is dropping bombs on his bass, the Mike Palmer and Thompson guitar tandem are locked in a groove, but they all follow the marching drums of Darren Lackie.

We Were Promised Jetpacks is a band you will want catch to live in a packed small venue. For fans of the poppier side of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

We Were Promised Jetpacks:
Michael Palmer: guitar
Sean Smith: bass
Darren Lackie drums
Adam Thompson: guitar, vocals

These Four Walls is released on Fat Cat Records. A new single from the album "It's Thunder And It's Lightning / Ships With Holes Will Sink" is released November 30th on 7" and MP3.

Tracks:

1. It's Thunder and It’s Lightning
2. Ships With Holes Will Sink
3. Roll Up Your Sleeves
4. Conductor
5. A Half-Built House
6. This Is My House, This Is My Home
7. Quiet Little Voices
8. Moving Clocks Run Slow
9. Short Bursts
10. Keeping Warm
11. An Almighty Thud

Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks - Roll Up Your Sleeves
Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices

Live dates:

• 12/05 Adam solo set at The Bowery w/ Sebastian Dangerfield, Edinburgh, Scotland
• 12/31 Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party - Waverley Stage, Edinburgh, Scotland
• 01/16 Rotown, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• 01/17 Ekko, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• 01/18 FZW, Dortmund, Germany
• 01/19 Schocken, Stuttgart Germany
• 01/20 Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg Germany
• 01/21 Rockwoche, Zurich
• 01/22 Covo, Bologna, Italy, Switzerland
• 01/23 59:1 (Visions Party), Munich, Germany
• 01/24 Chelsea, Vienna, Austria
• 01/26 Nouveau Casino, Paris, France
• 01/27 Glanz & Gloria, Osnabrueck Germany
• 01/28 Loppen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 01/29 Garage, Oslo, Norway
• 01/30 Debaser Slussen, Stockholm, Sweden

» myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks

John Cale: Cardiff portraits

photo: Gary Fox

Three portraits of John Cale during his stay in Cardiff, Wales. The photos were taken at the Vulcan House.

photo: Gary Fox

photo: Gary Fox

Neil Young: Dreamin' Man

photo: Steve Babineau

Nobody tells Neil Young what to do. So if he decides to release an acoustic live album culled from 1992 performances with to the songs tracks that ended up on his Harvest Moon, there is no point in contradicting him. Dreamin' Man sounds great, The songs have an urgency topped with sweetness that he couldn't summon up when he re-recorded the material in the studio. Such a Woman actually goes over the top and Neil seems to realize that, cutting to Old King, a tribute to a dog "who wasn't afraid to chase after deer".

There was one live track on the original Harvest Moon: Natural Beauty . On Dreamin' Man it is slightly longer and more passionate. Makes you wonder why he didn't pick that one then.

Dreamin' Man is released on Reprise. Release date: December 8.

Tracks:

1. Dreamin' Man
2. Such A Woman
3. Old King Rap
4. Old King
5. One Of These Days
6. Harvest Moon
7. You and Me
8. From Hank To Hendrix
9. Unknown Legend
10. Natural Beauty
11. War of Man

Listen to a stream of Dreamin' Man.

» neilyoung.com

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/25 Philadelphia

Phish
2009/11/25
Wachovia Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA

Set One

1. Kill Devil Falls
2. 46 Days
3. Sugar Shack
4. Halley's Comet >
5. The Divided Sky
6. Sleep Again
7. Ocelot
8. Train Song
9. Wilson
10. Run Like An Antelope

Set Two

1. Birds Of A Feather
2. Farmhouse
3. Tweezer
4. You Enjoy Myself
5. Esther
6. Time Turns Elastic
7. Tweezer Reprise

Encore

1. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/25 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

Gov't Mule 2009 torrents: 2009/11/19 Hellendoorn

Gov't Mule
2009/11/19
De Lantaarn
Hellendoorn, The Netherlands

CD1 Set1:

1. Railroad Boy
2. Thelonious Beck
3. Monkey Hill > She's So Heavy tease
4. Rocking Horse
5. Little Toy Brain
6. Shape I'm In(*)
7. Any Open Window(**)
8. Steppin' Lightly(**)
9. Broke Down On The Brazos(**)

CD2 Set 2:

1. Bus Stop
2. I'm A Ram
3. Since I've Been Loving You
4. Thorazine Shuffle >
5. Planet Of The Abts >
6. Thorazine Shuffle

CD3 (Set 2 Cont.):

1. Streamline Woman
2. Inside Outside Woman Blues #3
3. Lola Leave Your Light On
4. E: Gospel Intro > Soulshine
5. Gonna Send You Back To Georgia

Note: Danny Louis plays trumpet(*) and guitar(**).

» Grab your torrent

John Cale: On The Velvet Underground in Uncut

John Cale is interviewed in the December issue of UK music magazine Uncut about the Velvet Underground. He was furious when Lou Reed changed the first line of Heroin:

"I thought he blew it completely. It was such a good song once. The whole song was much more powerful with the original opening line, that positive statement. 'I know where I'm going.' You're committed when you do that. When he sang, 'I don't know where I am going,' Lou was stepping back into folk music, turning into Joan Baez again."

» uncut.co.uk

Aloha from Hawaii: the HCTF Todd Rundgren interview

photo: Jean Lannen

Todd Rundgren has been busy performing his classic A Wizard, A True Star album in full. Originally planned as a one-off show in London in February 2010, the production was brought to the States by fans who didn't want to (or couldn't) make the trip to England and demanded (in a polite way) that the show was staged on their side of the big pond. Rundgren played seven shows on a five cities tour in September .

He will be touring the US West Coast again in December before bringing the tour to a close (for now) with shows in London and Amsterdam in February. The performances were received quite well. The staging involves a lot of costume changes - his wardrobe is designed by his wife Michele - and theatrical props to act out the different characters of the album. Video is being used to underpin some aspects of the show most notably using footage of George Bush walking into a locked door.

Todd Rundgren lives on Kauai, Hawaii. HCTF spoke with Mr. Rundgren on the phone.

Performing complete albums has become popular recently. Whose idea was it to perform A Wizard, A True Star in full?
"When I was in England last year for the Arena tour my English promoter asked me to do something special and suggested A Wizard, A True Star. A lot of the younger UK artists had been mentioning the album as a big influence and samples of it turned on their records. So the promoter suggested to to stage a production of the original. When the news broke fans in the States clamored that they wanted to see it too and so those shows happened over there. They did their utmost to promote it and we only had to show up basically, taking care of the production and the logistics."

Technology has moved forward big time since the release of the album in 1973. Is this making things easier to replicate the songs on stage?
"Back then we didn't have samples. We cobbled the sounds together in the studio in anyway we could. We recorded the album just before the synthesizer arrived and became affordable. We did a lot of treatments. Nowadays most of those sounds and effects are built into the instruments."
"There is a song on the album - Dogfight Giggle - that is basically noise. No need to play that, so we play the tape and I can cut to a little video presentation. I started experimenting with video in the Seventies, when it was very expensive to use."

You made changes of the running order of the album when you play it in concert. Why is that?
"It was released on vinyl - there were no CD's back then, so I had to deal with the cut between the two sides which had consequences for the running order. I still wanted it to come off as a theatrical show. Is It My Name? is a good rock song, but it's not a sensible song to end the show with before my traditional encore Just One Victory. So I moved When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd and Le Feel Internationale to the end of the set to reprise the album's start."

© Lynn Goldsmith

Just like Sgt. Pepper?
"That makes it's more Sgt. Peppery, yes. I have been performing Just One Victory as my encore for years and years. The audience know it's all over after that. No need to ask for more after I have played that (laughs)."

Your former band Utopia was the opening act on some of the USA shows, although it wasn't billed as such. Is that going to happen again?
"It made sense when three of members of the band were on stage, but we won't be doing it again. Roger Powell is not coming to Europe. He is no longer a professional musician - he is a computer programmer now and he doesn't want to travel. Fortunately we have an excellent replacement. Ralph Schuckett, who played on the original A Wizard, A True Star album, will be joining us."

So what are you going to play besides "Wizard"? You could do the Pink Floyd thing and play two albums. Your latest studio album Arena before intermission and then AWATS.
"That happened on some occasions. It could happen again, but we like to keep the element of surprise for the audience. Then again, we will be performing next week, so the cat will be out of the bag soon."

Arena was performed in sequence. How did that come about?
"That happened because of the time aspects. I turned 60 last year and there was a huge party here on the island that lasted two weeks. We decided to perform and the band learned the songs one by one in sequence. It was pre-produced that way. We had a world premiere of the songs for the guests on my birthday. We took it on the road before the album came out and exposed the audience to one hour of music they hadn't heard before, which was a bit of challenge for them."

A Wizard, A True Star dates:

• 12/01 San Francico, CA - Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
• 12/02 Sacramento, CA - Crest Theatre
• 12/04 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
• 12/05 Ventura, CA - Majestic Theatre

2010:

• 02/06 London, UK - HMV Hammersmith Apollo
• 02/08 Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Paradiso

» todd-rundgren.com
» myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic
» awatslive.com

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/24 Philadelphia

Phish
2009/11/24
Wachovia Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA

Set One

1. Chalk Dust Torture
2. Bathtub Gin
3. Cities >
4. Camel Walk
5. The Curtain With
6. The Wedge
7. The Moma Dance
8. Reba
9. Golgi Apparatus
10. Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan

Set Two

1. Possum
2. Down With Disease >
3. Twenty Years Later
4. Harry Hood >
5. The Mango Song
6. Mike's Song >
7. Simple >
8. Slave To The Traffic Light >
9. Weekapaug Groove

Encore

1. A Day in the Life

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/24 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (AKG 463's)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

Sensual Harassment: "Soldier" b/w "Daddy Long Legs"

Brooklyn synth dance rock trio Sensual Harassment are offering their latest two singles as a free download. Soldier is an old school keyboards heavy track with a Duran Duran afterglow after being fucked over by the Flaming Lips. Daddy Long Legs has a spidery keyboard motive, with a distorted guitar riding on top and a creeping bass line that goes up and down the spine before making itself comfortable in your guts.

Sensual Harassment:
Todd Thomas: vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
Mike Sherburn: bass, drums, keyboards
John Barclay: drums, keyboards

In case you are wondering why the band members are playing much of the same noise makers, Todd Thomas explains: "Everyone switches off on instruments (which makes for plenty of transitions live)".

Remixers are welcome to download the stems of Daddy Long Legs.

» sensualharassment.com
» myspace.com/shnyc

Bebel Gilberto: All In One

photo: Gary Gershoff

Bebel Gilberto is a descendant of a long line of famous Brazilian musicians. Blessed with a voice that goes down your ears like a perfectly mixed cocktail she successfully sidesteps the pitfalls of mainstream lounge jazz. All In One was recorded in New York, Jamaica and Bahia.

Most of the songs are in Portuguese, her mother tongue, and it's obvious she feels more at ease then, surfing up down and the scales with ease. The album is a mixed bag of self-penned songs and covers. Her onw songs are not bad, especially the title track, but the covers have stronger arrangements. Producer Mark Ronson lend a hand for the production of the Stevie Wonder song The Real Thing. He added a bit of his signature rhythm-and-blues tinged 60s pop gloss to the track.

Traditional bossa nova is her forte. Bim Bom, a track by her father João Gilberto, will put a smile on the face of even the grumpiest of music lovers.

All In One is released on Verve Records.

Tracks:

1. Canção de Amor
2. Sun is Shining
3. Bim Bom
4. Nossa Senhora
5. The Real Thing
6. Ela (On My Way)
7. Far From the Sea
8. All in One
9. Forever
10. Secret (Segredo)
11. Chica Chica Boom Chic
12. Port Antonio

Live dates:

• 11/18 Fillmore Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
• 11/20 The Loft, Atlanta, GA
• 11/22 The National, Richmond, VA
• 11/23 9:30 Club, Washington D/C/
• 11/25 Hiro Ballroom, New York, NY
• 11/27 Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
• 11/28 Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ
• 11/29 L’Astral, Montreal, QC
• 11/30 Sound Academy, Toronto, ON
• 12/02 Park West, Chicago, IL
• 12/03 Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, Minneapolis, MN
• 12/05 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
• 12/08 Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA
• 12/09 Henry Ford Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
• 12/10 Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco, CA
• 12/12 Holocene, Portland, OR
• 12/13 Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA
• 12/14 Commodore, Vancouver, BC

» bebelgilberto.com
» myspace.com/bebelgilberto

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: European tour dates

photo: Miranda Penne Turin

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are about to embark on yet another European tour. Catchy retro dance pop from Denmark that translates quite well to live shows.

Live dates:

• 11/26 London UK, Bush Hall
• 11/27 Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Rockhal (Sonic Vision Festival)
• 11/29 Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne Tour aux Docks
• 12/01 Zurich, Switzerland, Abart
• 12/02 Utrecht, The Netherlands, Tivoli
• 12/03 Den Bosch, The Netherlands, W2
• 12/04 Groningen, The Netherlands, Vera
• 12/05 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Paradiso
• 12/06 Vienna, Austria, Pratersauna
• 12/07 Prague, Czech Republic, Lucerna
• 12/08 Tourcoing, France, Grand Mix
• 12/09 Toulouse, France, Cafe Rex
• 12/10 Paris, France, Trabendo
• 12/11 Strasbourg, France, Laiterie
• 12/13 Cologne, Germany, Gebaude 9
• 12/14 Munich, Germany, Atomic Cafe
• 12/15 Berlin, Germany, Berlin Lido
• 12/16 Hamburg, Germany, Knust
• 12/17 Aarhus, Denmark, Train
• 12/19 Copenhagen, Denmark, Vega

» theasteroidsgalaxytour.com
» myspace.com/theasteroidsgalaxytour

HCTF review of Fruit.

Austin Lucas: Somebody Loves You

Austin Lucas, an Americana singer from Bloomington, Indiana, grew up in a punk/hardcore environment and some of the anger of those genres shines through on his country-tinged Somebody Loves You album.

With a voice that brings back memories of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Lucas is very much in command of his songs. Tasty fiddle and steel guitar are prominent in the mix, but it's his acoustic guitar that drives the songs forward - particularly in the uptempo Wash My Sins Away and the pensive Precious Little Heart. Recommended if you like singers like Danny Schmidt.

Somebody Loves You is released on Suburban Home Records.

Tracks:

1. Somebody Loves You
2. Singing Man
3. Resting Place
4. Shoulders
5. Wash My Sins Away
6. Fountain Of Youth
7. She Did
8. Life I've Got
9. Precious Little Heart
10. Go West

Live dates:

• 11/23 The Greae Pit (house show), Ottawa, Toronto
• 11/29 house show, Bloomington, IN
• 12/01 house show, Columbus, OH
• 12/02 house show, Pittsburgh, PA
• 12/03 Union Hall Brooklyn, NY, NY
• 12/04 Starlab Boston, MA
• 12/05 Greenline Locust Philadelphia, PA
• 12/06 Millhill Bsement Trenton, NJ
• 12/07 house show, Fredricksburg, VA
• 12/08 house show, Richmond, VA
• 12/09 house show, Chapel Hill, NC
• 12/10 New Brookland Tavern, West Columbia, SC
• 12/12 The Atlantic, Gainesville, FL
• 12/13 Wills Pub, Orlando, FL

» austinlucasmusic.com
» myspace.com/austinlucas1

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/22 Syracuse

Phish
2009/11/22
Oncenter
Syracuse, NY

Set One

1. David Bowie
2. Julius
3. Sparkle
4. Kill Devil Falls
5. Lawn Boy
6. Heavy Things
7. Funky Bitch
8. Sample In A Jar
9. Boogie On Reggae Woman
10. Let Me Lie
11. Beauty Of A Broken Heart
12. Stash

Set Two

1. Drowned >
2. Twist >
3. Piper >
4. Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars
5. Tube
6. Theme From The Bottom
7. Maze
8. The Horse >
9. Silent in the Morning
10. Character Zero
11. First Tube

Encore

1. Good Times, Bad Times

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/22 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (AKg 463's)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts has the show in MP3.

Gov't Mule 2009 torrents: 2009/11/21 London

Gov't Mule
2009/11/21
The Forum
London, UK

Set 1

1. Brand new Angel
2. Bad little Doggie
3. Blind Man in the Dark
4. Steppin' lightly
5. Another Earth
6. Any open Window
7. Frozen Fear
8. King of Bird > The Wind cries Mary
9. Thorazine Shuffle >
10. Outro 1st Set

Set 2

1. Audience
2. Railroad Boy >
3. Monday Mourning Meltdown >
4. Have Mercy on the Criminal
5. Teaneck > Eternity's Breath >
6. St. Stephen Jam > Trane >
7. Outro Jam >
8. Drums
9. No Need to suffer
10. Gameface > 3rd Stone Jam
11. Broke down on the Brazos > Audience Encore Call
12. E: Soulshine w/ Gospel Intro > Farewell

» Grab your torrent

John Cale: 2009/11/21 "Paris 1919" Cardiff setlist

John Cale performed his Paris 1919 album in full at the Coal Exchange, Cardiff, Wales - 2009/11/21. He used his regular band and a 19 piece orchestra. Note: Macbeth was placed at the end of the "Paris 1919" portion of the show.

Setlist

1. Child's Christmas In Wales*
2. Hanky Panky Nohow*
3. The Endless Plain Of Fortune*
4. Andalucia*
5. Paris 1919*
6. Graham Greene*
7. Half Past France*
8. Antarctica Starts Here*
9. Macbeth*
10. Sold Motel
11. Perfect
12. Catastrophic
13. Whaddya Mean By That
14. Amsterdam
15. Fear Is A Man's Best Friend
16. Dirty Ass Rock 'n' Roll
17. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night*
18. Hedda Gabler*

* with 19 piece orchestra.

(Thanks: Gary Fox)

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/21 Cincinnati

Phish
2009/11/21
U.S. Bank Arena
Cincinnati, OH

Set One

1. Wilson
2. NICU
3. Wolfman's Brother
4. Ocelot
5. Torn and Frayed
6. Strange Design
7. Ginseng Sullivan
8. Albuquerque
9. Split Open and Melt
10. Dirt
11. Limb By Limb
12. Run Like An Antelope

Set Two

1. Rock & Roll >
2. Ghost >
3. If I Could
4. Backwards Down the Number Line
5. Prince Caspian
6. Suzy Greenberg
7. 2001
8. The Squirming Coil

Encore

1. Sleeping Monkey
2. Axilla

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/20 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Schoeps MK22)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts will have the show in MP3 shortly.

Gov't Mule: 2010 Winter tour dates

photo: HCTF

Gov't Mule have announced the dates for their Winter 2010 By A Tread tour:

• 01/20 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
• 01/21 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
• 01/22 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
• 01/23 Mobile, AL @ Saenger Theatre
• 01/26 Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm
• 01/27 Oxford, MS @ The Lyric Theatre
• 01/29 Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
• 01/30 Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
• 02/02 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues

» mule.net
» myspace.com/govtmule

HCTF review of By A Thread.

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/20 Cincinnati

Phish
2009/11/20
U.S. Bank Arena
Cincinnati, OH

Set One

1. Chalk Dust Torture
2. The Moma Dance
3. The Divided Sky
4. Alaska
5. Water In The Sky
6. Fast Enough For You
7. Time Turns Elastic
8. Gotta Jibboo
9. Fluffhead

Set Two

1. Punch You in the Eye
2. Tweezer >
3. Light >
4. Back On The Train >
5. Possum
6. Slave To The Traffic Light
7. You Enjoy Myself

Encore

1. Joy
2. Golgi Apparatus
3. Tweezer Reprise

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/20 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Schoeps MK41)

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts have the show in MP3 shortly.

Jacob Vanags: Pulses Are Pluses

Jacob Vanags, a Kent (OH) native who spend most of his time in New York, is labeled as a piano rocker and he tries to live up to that tag. On his new EP Pulses Are Pluses he is aided by drummer and trumpet player, Zach Periharos on drums and trumpet and Nick Cantatore on bass. But something went wrong - there is no connection between the three. In the opening track All That You Have Vangags enthusiastically "woo-woo's" when they come to the bridge, but they other guys are just standing there, hitting the occasional drum or strumming the bass. And Vanags reacts by singing even louder for the remainder of the song.

The other tracks are uneven too. Toss Up gets drowned in a militaristic back beat. Antarctica suffers from a cheap keyboard sound and Antarctica is a song that should have ended up on the floor during the recording of Robbie Williams inspired tribute album. He has trouble with cramming all the words into a song (Stuck and Speak Up Now). The slow closer Jonah's Dream is the only song that comes into his own. There is no rush and he doesn't want to proof anything, except singing the song well and using the piano as a melodic and percussive instrument. Vanags can sing, but he should stop trying so hard and keep it simple. As it stands he is no more than a second tier Billy Joel impersonator.

Pulses Are Pluses is a self-released album. Buy it from his website.

Tracks:

1. All That You Have
2. Toss Up
3. Antarctica
4. Stuck
5. Speak Up Now
6. Jonah's Dream

» myspace.com/jacobvanags

iPod vs. old school hi-fi

Is the iPod generation missing out? Yes, they are. The BBC put it to the test. Asecond hand h-ifi beats the iPod into a bloody pulp.

» Watch the video

(Thru Cabasse_uk)

Chickenfoot: Chickenfoot (DeLuxe Edition)

photo: Bryan Adams

Chickenfoot are seasoned musicians who know how the businnes works. Release an album and then - just in time for Christmas - release it again as a DeLuxe Edition. First things first: Michael Anthony (bass), Sammy Hagar (vocals), Joe Satriani (guitar) and Chad Smith (drums) are a super tight rock band that can bring the house down. You can see for yourself on this edition of Chickenfoot. It comes with a documentary DVD featuring live footage of a show at the Montreux Jazz Festival on the 4th of July this year.

Of course there is a lot of behind the scenes giggling as the band introduces each song of the album. There a few things that are nice to know - Chad Smith and Mark Anthony explaining that Down The Drain was a one-take wonder recording, and Sammy Hagar reminiscing about a surprised Joe Satriani who never would have thought that he would be singing in that particular spot of the song. And it's nice to have the promo videos for the singles Oh Yeah, Soap on a Rope and Sexy Little Thing. All in all one hour of solid family entertainment.

Gov't Mule: Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2009/11/18

photo: HCTF

Gov't Mule performed at the Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 2009/11/18.

Set 1

1. Blind Man In The Dark
2. Bad Little Doggie
3. Stepping Lightly
4. Endless Parade
5. Broke Down On The Brazos
6. Slackjaw Jezebel
7. The Letter
8. So Weak, So Strong
9. 30 Days In The Hole

Set 2

1. Lucky
2. Banks of The Deep End
3. Brighter Days
4. Like Flies
5. Drums>
6. Amsterjam
7. Railroad Boy
8. Monday Mourning Meltdown
9. Mule >
10. 3rd Stone Jam >
11. Mule

Encore:

1. Forevermore
2. Soulshine

» More photos on Flickr
» mule.net

Phish Fall 2009 SBD + torrents: 2009/11/18 Detroit

Phish
2009/11/18
Cobo Arena
Detroit, MI

Set One

1. AC/DC Bag
2. Foam
3. Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan
4. Bouncing Around The Room
5. Sample In A Jar
6. Kill Devil Falls
7. It's Ice
8. Horn
9. Mountains in the Mist
10. Poor Heart
11. 46 Days
12. David Bowie

Set Two

1. Runaway Jim
2. Down With Disease >
3. Free
4. Waste
5. Taste
6. Bug
7. Wading In The Velvet Sea
8. Mike's Song >
9. I Am Hydrogen >
10. Weekapaug Groove
11. Cavern

Encore

1. Character Zero

» Buy the official LivePhish 2009/11/18 release (FLAC | FLAC-HD | MP3)

Audience sources:

» Grab your torrent (Schoeps MK4(DIN))

Quick fix? Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts have the show in MP3 shortly.

Deep Purple w/ Warren Haynes: "Black Night" in Amsterdam

Steve Morse & Warren Haynes on stage in Amsterdam 2009/11/17
photo: toofonky

Gov't Mule guitar player Warren Haynes joined Deep Purple on stage at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam for the Black Night encore. The song was kicked of by a Roger Glover and Ian Paice bass and drums duet, during which Warren walked on to thunderous applaus.

EOTO: Fire The Lazers!!!

For some reason tons of electronic music takes its inspiration form science fiction. Blame Star trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Red Dwarf and Douglas Adams. EOTO the electronic progressive duo formed by Michael Travis and Jason Hann that rose from the ashes of the String Cheese Incident have made a concept album of sorts called Fire The Lazers!!! filled with space opera soundscapes based on loops and beats that are trippy and percussive. This is not the kind of music that would be recommended on a first date, unless some stimulants were used.

For an album with such an aggressive title the tracks are mellow - the kind of after party stuff that music geeks claim to love. For less advanced listeners it is wise to sample this collection with care, let's say no more than three tracks at the time. Best experienced live with a light show that may be hazardous for people who are suffer from epileptic seizures.

Fire The Lazers!! is released on SCI Fidelity.

Tracks:

1. Flying Red
2. Time Saw
3. Are We Dead?
4. Contact
5. Comrade Down
6. Make My Day!
7. Spare Parts
8. Autopsy
9. Circuit Bent
10. Valeria Victrix
11. Externity (Reprise)

Live dates:

• 10/14 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
• 10/15 Syracuse, NY The Westcott Theater
• 10/16 Burlington, VT Club Metronome
• 10/17 Allston, MA Harper's Ferry
• 10/18 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
• 10/19 Providence, RI The Hi Hat
• 10/20 Hartford, CT The Warehouse
• 10/21 Albany, NY Red Square
• 10/22 New York, NY Sullivan Hall
• 10/23 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
• 10/24 Baltimore, MD 8x10
• 10/25 Richmond, VA Canal Club
• 10/26 Blacksburg, VA Attitudes
• 10/27 Lexington, KY Cosmic Charlie's
• 10/28 St. Louis, MO Old Rock House
• 10/29 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre
• 10/30 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
• 10/31 Lawrence, KS The Granada

» eotomusic.com
» myspace.com/eotomusic

Pleasure Mob: new single "So Hard"

Watch the Pleasure Mob video for So Hard, their new single that will be released in early January on iTunes (it's free if you sing up for their mailing list). The video is made from over 1000 hand drawn images drawn by Nathan Von Boventor in Germany. The London band are part of the Bangers & Mash’s club night December 5th:

Saturday 5th December 2009 Stage Time: 11pm
Times: 10pm-4am
Dress Code: Express yourself like Madonna
Priority guest list or with flyer £5 before 11pm / £8 / Walk up £10 all night. Tables are available to book.
Address: Relentless Garage, 20-22 Highbury Corner, N5 1RD (Opposite Highbury & Islington Tube)

» myspace.com/pleasuremob

Carly Simon: Never Been Gone

Carly Simon was huge in the Seventies and the Eighties - a singer who could sing nasty lyrics over a lush mainstream pop backing. You're So Vain is one of the all time great put-down songs and Nobody Does It Better is pretty near the top of memorable James Bond songs. She fell off the radar in the Nineties, writing occasional film scores and came back to the spostlight when she wrote the theme songs for the Disney Winnie the Pooh films Piglet's Big Movie in 2003 and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. Her 2008 album This Kind of Love shipped a respectable amount of copies, although she fell out with her label claiming that the promotion was below par.

For her latest offering Never Been Gone Simon looks back with acoustic versions of her back catalog. Recorded in her Martha's Vineyard home she has found joy in singing the oldies, rearranging and dropping her vocals with an octave. It's a warts-and-all recording at times - giggling at the start of It Happens Everyday and re-enacting the Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" skit at the end of You're So Vain.

Two new songs have made the cut. No Freedom has loops that sound as if they were recorded in a trashcan and adding tons of echo to her vocals wasn't such a great idea, but the lyrics are classic Simon: "Hey now, you might have a hit On the radio / Success might scoop you up / And never let you go / But there ain’t no freedom / When you got a worryin’ mind". Songbird is a rather murky sounding demo with the piano drowning her out until she reaches the final bars of to end the song with a flourish.

Never Been Gone is released on Iris Records.

Tracks:

1. The Right Thing To Do
2. It Happens Everyday
3. Never Been Gone
4. Boys In The Trees
5. Let the River Run
6. You're So Vain
7. You Belong To Me
8. No Freedom
9. That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be
10. Coming Around Again
11. Anticipation
12. Songbird

» carlysimon.com

High On Stress: A Tribute To The Replacements in Minneapolis

Minneapolis trio High On Stress participate in a special show celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Replacements' Let It Be album and the paperback release of "The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting".

The show is a benefit for the Twin Cities Music Community Trust.

A Tribute To The Replacements:
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Let It Be
2009/11/27
First Avenue, Minneapolis

Line-up:

• Ashleigh Still
• Brianna Lane
• Eliza Blue
• Erik Koskinen & Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers
• Gospel Gossip
• High On Stress
• In The Entry
• Jennifer Markey
• Jeremy Messersmith
• John Swardson
• Martin Devaney
• Patches and Gretchen
• Sons of Gloria
• St Dominic's Trio
• Stook!
• Story of The Sea with David Campbell
• The Bottom Forty
• The Hard Left
• The Idle Hands
• The Tisdales

» first-avenue.com
» highonstressband.com

Gov't Mule: "By A Thread" on vinyl 11/24

The 2LP vinyl version of the new Gov't Mule album By A Thread will be in stores on November 24th.

The set is pressed on two 180 gram audiophile-grade yellow vinyl discs. Inside Outside Woman Blues #1 is a vinyl-only track(not available on the CD version).

SIDE 1:

1. Broke Down on the Brazos
2. Steppin’ Lightly
3. Any Open Window

SIDE 2:

1. Railroad Boy
2. Monday Mourning Meltdown
3. Gordon James

SIDE 3:

1. Frozen Fear
2. Forevermore
3. Inside Outside Woman Blues #1

SIDE 4:

1. Scenes From A Troubled Mind
2. World Wake Up

Pre-order By A Thread on vinyl.

» mule.net
» myspace.com/govtmule

HCTF review of By A Thread.

Dead Leaf Echo: "Truth" MP3

NY trio Dead Leaf Echo employed the services of John Fryer of 4AD fame to mix their new album Truth. Dark post-rock for lovesick people.

» deadleafechonyc.com
» myspace.com/deadleafecho

HCTF review of Pale Fire.

Neil Young: "Dreamin' man'"', back catalog audiophile pressings

The release of the new Neil Young album Dreamin' Man has been pushed back to November 23rd. It is a complete live performance of his album Harvest Moon drawn from various solo acoustic shows in 1992.

Tracks:

1. Dreamin' Man
2. Such A Woman
3. Old King Rap
4. Old King
5. One Of These Days
6. Harvest Moon
7. You and Me
8. From Hank To Hendrix
9. Unknown Legend
10. Natural Beauty
11. War of Man

Listen to a stream of Dreamin' Man.

For the Neil Young audiophiles with deep pockets: his first four solo albums get an audio upgrade:

As part of its ongoing Archives reissue campaign with legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, Reprise Records will release re-mastered versions of the first four of Young’s classic solo albums, 1969’s Neil Young and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, 1970’s After the Gold Rush, and 1972’s Harvest.

Available on November 23rd, each re-issue has been re-mastered from the original analog master tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios in Hollywood, CA. The albums are being reissued on both vinyl and compact disc.

The individual albums are being issued on 140 gram vinyl to retail. There is also a box set of the four albums pressed on audiophile 180 gram vinyl. Vinyl will be pressed at Pallas MFG/Germany—the world’s premiere record-pressing plant.

The box sets will be individually numbered in gold foil stamp and strictly limited to 3,000 units worldwide. The four albums will also be released on 24 karat gold CDs, packaged in Gary Burden designed cardboard wallet packs. The four gold CD albums are housed in a numbered slip case, limited to 2,500 worldwide.

The box sets and gold vinyl be be available only through www.becausesoundmatters.com and neilyoung.com.

Gov't Mule 2009 torrents: 2009/11/11 Munich & 2009/11/12 Milano

Gov't Mule
2009/11/11
Theaterfabrik
Munich, Germany

Disc 1 (Set 1):

1. Audience
2. One of these Days
3. Thorazine Shuffle
4. I believe to my Soul
5. Banks of the Deep End
6. Rocking Horse
7. Beautifully broken
8. Need your Love so bad
9. Patchwork Quilt
10. Slackjaw Jezebel > Outro 1st Set

Disc 2 (Set 2):

1. Audience
2. Broke down on the Brazos
3. Lay your Burdon down >
4. Smokestack Lightning > Lay your Burdon down
5. Steppin' lightly
6. Streamline Woman
7. Drums
8. Railroad Boy
9. Monday Mourning Meltdown
10. Mule > Audience Encore Call

Disc 3 (Encore):

1. Tastes like Wine > 2nd Audience Encore Call
2. It Hurts Me too > Farewell

» Grab your torrent

Gov't Mule
2009/11/12
Alcatraz
Milano, Italy

Disc 1 (Set 1):

1. Audience
2. Brighter Days >
3. Like Flies
4. Gameface
5. Birth of the Mule
6. I think you know what I mean >
7. When the Levee breaks > I think you know what I mean
8. Blind man in the Dark >
9. Mother Earth >
10. Steppin' lightly
11. Broke down on the Brazos > Outro 1st Set

Disc 2 (Set 2):

1. Audience
2. Railroad Boy >
3. Monday Mourning Meltdown >
4. Have Mercy on the Criminal
5. Wandering Child
6. Drums
7. Fallen down >
8. The Other One Jam > Fallen down Outro
9. Painted Silver Light
10. Soulshine w/ Gospel Intro > Audience Encore Call

Disc 3 (Encore):

1. Out of the Rain
2. Can't Hold Out > Farewell

» Grab your torrent

John Cale: WalesOnline interview

John Cale is interviewed by Matt Thomas about the Paris 1919 performance in Cardiff for WalesOnline.co.uk:

It’s just a case of picking up some strings and brass somewhere along the line. We’ve got the charts done, so we’re just going to have to learn them.

What we really need to do is bring the whole setup into the Coal Exchange where we’re going to be performing and sort out the sound levels and so on, but I’m not sure we’re going to have the time. We’ll just have to see.

» walesonline.co.uk

The Disco Biscuits: On Time EP

With their newest release Phillie electro jam band The Disco Biscuits sounds even more dance than before. The two new tracks that made it to On Time EP are made for strobe lightning and busting a move invented on the spot. With this selection the Biscuits continue on the path they cut through the musical jungle with their forthcoming album Planet Anthem (February 2010), writing and recording with Don Cheegro and Dirty Harry (Ludacris, Fantasia, Chris Brown). Konkrete of Planet Anthem gets an outing on the EP and is currently available as a free download.

Forget the two remixes of the title track - the original is far superior. The best thing is Loose Change, a track loaded with echo, treated vocals and a Seventies guitar solo that gets sucked into the black hole of 21st Century electronics making it the belated answer to Pink Floyd's Money.

The Disco Biscuits:
Allen Aucoin: drums
Marc Brownstein: bass, vocals
Jon Gutwillig: guitar, vocals
Aron Magner: keyboards, vocals

Buy the On Time EP on iTunes and livedownloads.com for $4.99. The physical version is for sale at shows and the band's website store. The physical version includes two bonus videos: "Mirrors" (live at Red Rocks 2009) and the "You And I" music video.

Tracks:

1. On Time
2. Loose Change
3. Konkrete
4. On Time (Elliot Lipp Remix)
5. Mirrors (live at Red Rocks 2009)
6. On Time (Extended Club Remix by Twisted Dee)

Live dates:

• 11/18 San Diego, CA @ Wave House San Diego
• 11/19 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
• 11/20 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 11/21 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 11/22 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
• 11/27 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 11/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 12/26 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
• 12/27 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
• 12/29 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
• 12/30 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
• 12/31 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre

» discobiscuits.com

Snow Patrol: "New Sensation" video

British pop band Snow Patrol tackles New Sensation (INXS) for the Late Night Tales CD series.

» snowpatrol.com
» latenighttales.co.uk

Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth: Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth

photo: Sherry Rubel

Dirty rock 'n' roll. Really dirty rock 'n' roll. That is what the doctor ordered to get out of the gloom of a rainy November day. The self-titled debut by Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth is a sure fire cure. Previously only available at the merch tablle at New York Dolls gig, the album gets an proper release. No looking at the the inner self, getting in touch with your feelings and all that. No, it's about nightly cab rides, ugly truths, gambling and drugs. Oh, and the street team adventures of an Indie Girl.

New York Dolls guitar player Steve Conte and fellow rawk guys Lee "Leeko" Kostrinsky (bass, backing vocals and Phil Stewart (drums, backing vocals) are loud and obnoxious. And that's what rock 'n' roll is all about.

The doctor advices to play this album loud. Play really fucking loud. And then play it again.

Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth is released in the UK/ Europe on November 30th by Varese Vintage/Colosseum Music.

Tracks:

1. This Is The End
2. Gypsy Cab
3. Texas T
4. The Goods Are Odd
5. Get Off
6. The Truth Ain't Pretty
7. Her Highness
8. Busload of Hope
9. Strumpet-hearted Monkey Girl
10. Indie Girl
11. Junk Planet

Live date:

• 11/11 Bowery Electric, New York City, NY

» steveconteandthecrazytruth.com
» myspace.com/stevecontecrazytruth