Feist Sprinkles Faerie Dust, Elvis Gets Mauled

Thanks to the folks at Stereogum for this great clip of Feist's performance during Stephen Colbert's Christmas Special on Comedy Central Last night. Can she sprinkle me with faerie dust (without the Elvis being mauled part)?



Link to full Videogum piecehere.

Click Your Atomic Heels, Welcome to the Machines

Finally getting caught up on my blog-reading and thank god for it. Being a bit behind the curve (manic 2yo daughter laying waste to my free time), I was sadly oblivious to the fact that The Secret Machines had re-organized with former Tripping Daisy’s member Phil Karnats on guitar and released a self-titled sort of "re-debut" album.

I have Some Dude over at the always incredibly informed Hidden Track/Pullin' Tubes blog to thank for filling me in on this glorious news.

Check out the highlighted video of the Machines' first single "Atomic Heels":

Frances' Proper Madness Expands with All The While

Last night, chamber pop outfit Frances celebrated the release of their debut full-length album All The While at the Mercury Lounge, on NY's lower east side, with La Strada and Hospitality. The anticipated follow up to the Night Light ep was received with anticipatory glee by the faithful audience, and for good reason. Blending experimental, power-pop, Beatlesesque symphonic arrangements and 'finger in your eye' bombastic punkitude, the Frances collective has dropped a gem. Grab an mp3 of the single "Lighthouse" right here.

Petra Haden & Miss Murgatroid Go Tragically Operatic (Again)

When your Dad is Jazz legend Charlie Haden, when you're part of the famed indie band The Decemberists, when Pitchfork themselves actually like your new album and declare decisively that it is NOT "navel-gazing frivolity"...well, what else is there to say?

Petra Haden finds a lot more to say in her second collaboration with Miss Murgatroid in Hearts and Daggers. As the aforementioned Pitchforkians reference, this collection of 9 elfin and paradoxically tragic operettas veers, at times, close to some 'my cup runneth over' moments but Petra and Murgatroid always seem to know just when to pull the curtain closed. And in between those rare moments they entrance the listener.

Moody and often bi-polar, the pair frolic across a richly imagined musical and lyrical landscape, often times conjuring both savagery and innocence with the simplest noncommital note. Then there's "Hummingbird". You can listen to the avant-garde and psychedelic vocal orchestration on NPR's All Songs Considered here.

Rio en Medio's "The Umbrella"

Can't get enough of the isolated mythical music of Rio en Medio's newest album Frontiers. Check out the very cool video for ""The Umbrella".


Rio En Medio - The Umbrella from Eli Stonberg on Vimeo.

Bill Kreutzmann's Trio - Keeping the Fire Burning

Having seen all but one of the original Grateful Dead members play live with their various side projects since the band called it quits in '95, I was beside myself as I made my way to The Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale last Friday night to catch Bill Kreutzmann's new ensemble, The Bill Kreutzmann Trio. This would be my first time seeing Billy play live in 13 years.

Joining Bill on stage were two legends in their own right - Oteil Burbridge (bass, vocals) and Scott Murawski (guitar, vocals). You may know Oteil as the bass player for The Allman Brothers and his own project, Oteil and The Peacemakers, and Scott from Max Creek and The Mike Gordon Band. To call this group a "supergroup" would be quite appropriate, although they probably wouldn't care for the label. Having sat down with Scott and Oteil for about an hour prior to the show, I realized how humble and appreciative they are to be doing what they're doing.

The Culture Room, by all accounts, is a dump. But it's my dump, our dump, and it truly is an acoustically perfect venue. You never know what you're walkin' through or what type of drink will be spilled on you next, but that's half the fun. The open floor goes right up to the elevated stage, with a bar upstairs overlooking the audience down below. If you get a spot on the railing, you feel as though you're right on top of the artists -literally right there!! But as long as you can find a decent place to stand, it doesn't get much better, especially when it's packed-in tight and the band you're listening to is tearing it up.

From the band's opener, everyone knew, and I mean everyone, that this was going to be something special. Eyes of The World out of the gate got the juices flowing, and they sounded better than I had imagined in my wildest dreams. Tight, soulful, melodic, jazzy, potent, mad - they did justice to a song few can, and ever will. Next up was Murawski's Cruel World, which was really sweet, offering us a real good look at what Scott brings to the table. His riffs are outstanding, as are his vocals. And he pushes Oteil to the limit - you can see the interaction between these two throughout the entire night, as they bounce notes off each other while grinning from ear to ear -good stuff. The Neville Brothers Yellow Moon followed, with a twisted jam segueing seemlessly into the set closer and fan-favorite, The Dead's Bertha. Our collected breath had been taken away. Nice job guys...

After having caught their sound check earlier in the day, and hearing a blistering Help>Slip, I was more than ready for the real deal. What I wasn't ready for was a 35 minute musical novel, consisting of masterful improvisation, melodic jazz, Oteil scat-singing, and a Tower-jam that ripped my eyeballs out of my head. I really wasn't ready. Help>Slip>Tower opened her up, and I could tell Bill was definitely in 'second set' mode. I've seen that look in his eye almost 200 times before, and lo and behold, there it was again. He truly was having the best time of all, and his playing reflected the mood of the band - there were smiles everywhere!! As the set progressed, I must have seen Oteil and Scott look at each other no less than 20 times in disbelief, daring the other to take it to a higher level. Not one time did either of them back down - sensational!

Other highlights of the set: We heard 3 originals sprinkled amongst a collage of Dead tunes, and I truly enjoyed each one of them. 'Murderland', Chains of Life, and my favorite of the three, 'Fly Away All', were all great songs - both lyrically and musically. Having penned Robert Hunter to write a bunch of lyrics for their upcoming record, I was very interested to hear what kind of music would come from his words. I had only known Jerry's interpretations, but I must say, musically speaking, the Trio nailed it. And why not? All three band members have written music their entire lives, so it must have come somewhat natural to do the same with Robert's words. 'Sugaree', 'Althea', and the set closer 'Big Railroad Blues' left the audience begging for more, and more we got.

After Bill took his bows and gave props to Oteil and Scott, they broke into The Dead's Scarlet Begonias, which took on a life of its own. Twenty minutes later we were left dumbfounded as the Trio left the stage, the Scarlet truly capping a magical night spent with extended 'family' and good friends.

The one thing I got from this performance was that this band can do no wrong, because there is no 'right' or 'wrong' - they just love to play, and whatever comes of it is what it is. Now how can you go wrong with that kynd of attitude? You can't - and with Bill, Oteil, and Scott willing to go where no band has gone before, the future is as bright as they want it to be.

Download the torrent here

Read Scott and Oteil's interview here

**The band dedicated the show to Merl Saunders, who past away earlier that day. RIP Merl, you made a difference.

**Most pics and videos courtesy of AD Firtel. You can check out AD's array of videos here

1st moe. Dates of 2009 Announced

moe. will hit Denver, New York and Chicago with 2-night stands in each city beginning January 30th, 2009. The Winter tour will consist of ONLY these six shows, and pre-sales start Wednesday, November 5th through moe.ticketing. General on-sale begins on Saturday, November 15th through Ticketmaster. More details to follow - stay tuned! Click here for the dates.

Rare Grateful Dead Tracks on Anniversary of Return from Egypt

30 years ago the Grateful Dead celebrated their triumphant return from Egypt with a series of legendary concerts at Winterland. Among many magical moments, these shows feature Hamza El Din, the renowned Egyptian oud player. His inspired collaboration with the band on "Ollin Arageed" weaves east to west in rhythmic bliss.

Guess what was discovered on the end of a studio session reel? It's a rehearsal recorded back in August of 1978 with Hamza El Din on oud, Mickey Hart on tar, and Jerry Garcia on acoustic guitar. Dead.net is y sharing these rare and unreleased tracks with you.

Click here and enjoy the ride.

Barack Rock Delivers Exclusive MP3s and Artwork

Musician Jack Dolgen (Maricopa, Sam Champion) had a song and an idea: use his track to raise money for Barack Obama after a run in with the man himself. He told Barack, "You've been running, I've been recording." The first song released from that recording project was "Daytime,” a song about bridging divides and coming together. As he and designer Andrew Ackermann tossed the concept around to their friends in the music and design worlds, one man's idea grew into an organization called I Wrote You a Song: trading art for political action.

The first campaign is BarackRock.org, launched one week after the Democratic Convention and has featured daily contributions from artists like Tapes N' Tapes (go to the site today to download their exclusive "The Dirty Dirty Amplive Fuct Remix"), Ra Ra Riot, The Honey Brothers, Mobius Band, Au Revoir Simone, Port O'Brien, Sam Champion, Sera Cahoone, and many more. The effort is building with multiple posts each day during this final stretch till November 4th.

BarackRock.org uses music and design to bring people from around the world together under one banner and channel their energy into a unified force. BarackRock.org is an ever-expanding archive of free, exclusive mp3s, each with its own individual art, meant to build funds, excitement and action for the Obama campaign

Read more about BarackRock.org at:

Rolling Stone
Huffington Post
The Fader
Salon.com

The political change we're working towards won't come by itself. The more downloads we get, the larger our impact can be, so spread the word! These are unreleased tracks and demos, only available here, and only available now, so plug in your headphones and make a difference. Visit www.BarackRock.org