We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Leon Bridges!
It starts today! In just a few hours the show will be in full swing and later this afternoon the retro soul of Leon Bridges will be blaring out of the Gentilly Stage. We wish we were down there, next week can't come quick enough.
For those unfamiliar with Bridges, give this a listen. His throwback R&B style is easy to digest and fun to dance to. This show from last year (no other details, feel free to let us know more in the comments) is pro-shot with pro-sound so enjoy:
The best festival in America kicks off tomorrow and hopefully you are attending. If you can not get to the Big Easy for The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, WWOZ has the answer.
You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream them regularly, but these next two weekends are a must if you can't be there.
We will be down next week, and we can not wait, we will be checking out this stream to tide us over, you should do the same. Oh yeah and peep a few videos of acts playing this weekend:
NAS and The Soul Rebels Brass Band Headline The Congo Square Stage on Friday:
Jon Cleary will be on the Gentilly Stage at 1:40 on Saturday:
Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes will close out the Blues Tent on Sunday:
This is just a wee sample of what is in store for Fest goers this weekend. Unreal.
Matthew Logan Vasquez had planned to get back with the band that exposed him to the masses, Delta Spirit, but something got in the way, these songs. On Does What He Wants the Vasquez gets personal, dramatic and most importantly, follows his muse wherever that might take him.
When his first solo album, The Solicitor Returns, came out (just last year) ti was a nervy affair filled with fuzzy guitars and energy/aggression that seemed to be lacking from his main bands recent efforts. Does What He Wants finds the singer/guitarist more comfortable in his solo surroundings and the tracks show it; he can move from a calliope tale of drunk fishing and fighting ("Red Fish") to a heart wrenching ballad of broken homes ("Tall Man") from song to song.
The disk actually starts off with the most Delta Spirit sounding track here as "Same" mixes strings, odd 80's digital funk and dance vibes with a pissed off vocal. After that though the disk becomes personal with "Fatherhood". Recently embodying that title and moving to Texas has found the songwriter growing up and that sense of moving on and being a true adult and bit at sea is found throughout the album. This phase of life has armed Vasquez with barrels of material to dig from.
"Fires Down In Mexico" has some more stomp and is reminiscent of his first solo offering as things are not neatly wrapped up at the songs vivid end while "Old Way's" works as a single with it's straight ahead swagger that draws you directly in. MLV's dramatic take can be found on three fantastic story songs, "The Fighter" feels like a personal piano ballad to a loved one (father perhaps?) while "The Informant" plays like a self contained indie film with details and mental states painted vividly. The already mentioned "Tall Man" completes the trifecta with its painful isolation in an indie rock/western way that cuts to the bone.
On the Americana rambling of "From Behind The Glass" MLV sings "I wasn't always this strange". Thank goodness that he is at a place now where he can be weird, as this album lives up to its title; it is all over the map in an exhilarating way. It may be a bit messy, personal, and stylistically divergent, but so is life. Matthew Logan Vasquez is living it, Doing What He Wants and thankfully making great albums like this along the way.
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This is a fun one, support the artist, buy the album, stream it, and peep some video below:
The American legend Willie Nelson has released his 1,794th album, God's Problem Child. Unlike a lot of his latest releases this record features seven new songs written by Willie and his songwriting partner/producer Buddy Cannon. The end result is an easy going album that is the best the red headed stranger has produced in years.
The disk opens with a unique cover as Willie sings his song writing partner's mother Lyndel Rhodes original song "Little House On The Hill". Willie and crew put a smile on her face (and ours) with their mid tempo moving before the piano ballad of of "Old Timer" penned by Donnie Fritz and Lenny LeBlanc. These torch tunes fit Willie's affecting vocals perfectly, ringing utterly true.
The first new Nelson/Cannon tune arrives with the bluesy "True Love" containing excellent midnight lounge style female backing vocals and it is quickly followed by Willie's take on the recent presidential election "Delete and Fast Forward", a well produced Americana take that basically states, meet the new boss...you know the rest.
The first single is a Latino influenced slow burner titled "A Woman's Love" and it is the sexiest the 84 year old has been in ages as his breathy vocals front a smoke filled cantina at dusk. That song along with the swampy steam of the title track are album highlights, the latter features guest vocals from Jamey Johnson, one of Leon Russell's final vocal tracks along with the fantastic sounding Tony Joe White; oh yeah the picking ain't half bad either.
The majority of the new compositions are solid from top to bottom. Wilson can turn a phrase like few others, whether its "Lady Luck" cowboy/poker wisdom or "Your Memory Has A Mind of It's Own" the singer eases into the vocal and owns it. Almost even more impressive, on all of the new originals there is also space for Nelson's underrated acoustic guitar playing that has jazzy flashes and off kilter strums that work wonderfully.
Not all the selections are perfect, "Butterfly" feels a bit too theatrical for this collection and could have been saved for another release while "It Get's Easier's" is a pleasant tune but feels a touch redundant in this collection of songs that deal with the passage of time.
However, the closing ode to his good friend Merle Haggard "He Won't Ever Be Gone" (written by Gary Nicholson) is heartfelt but perhaps a better snapshot of this disk is the rollicking while winking quickie "Still Not Dead". It cooks along with piano, harmonica and a sense of humor that encompasses his late career and premature internet rumors of his demise. He certainly isn't dead, and you better thank whatever higher power there is that he is also still on top of his game.
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Support the American legend, buy the album, stream it for a limited time at NPR and peep some video below:
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Harry Connick Jr. doing a cover of "Solid Rock"
This month we have a special focus on Artists who will be playing the 2017 Jazzfest in New Orleans. Today we highlight New Orleans legend Harry Connick Jr. who will headline the Acura Stage on Friday, April 28th. (Yup, this week!)
Thoughts on Original:
Ok Ok we know, we are cheating here, we know Dylan didn't write "It Had To Be You". It was written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn and it was published in 1924. It was famously covered by Sinatra, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald...etc. etc. However, as fans will know the Bard has gone back to old standards for his last three albums and this is one time we can actually post a version of him singing a song (hopefully it won't get taken down):
Now compare that with this version: Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artists:
Another artist this month we never really liked in the past. RtBE loves New Orleans, the music, history and people are the main reason why. Connick Jr. just never entered our sphere down there. Then we caught the amazing documentary Bayou Maharajah. For those who care at all about the great city of New Orleans and her musical legends you need to see that doc on the life of the late great James Booker. It was one-eye opening...actually bad jokes aside, one of the main things we realized from watching was how truly connected Connick Jr. was to the city. We were ignorant to this fact and we will fess up to that. Among other things, Booker was his piano teacher and you can see the pure joy, respect and passion in Connick Jr's eyes when he talks about his clear musical hero. Yeah HCJr may be a bit to pretty, but any man who learned from Booker needs a ton of respect. Now he has ours as he has the music, history and people of that great city flowing through his fingers.
Thoughts on Cover:
It is a fine cover, love the cartoon like beginning. Nothing bad about it, he sings it well, played it powerfully and joins the long line of solid versions of this tune.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Anders Osborne!
We are going to showcase another New Orleans act this week with our Full Show Friday leading into Jazzfest as Anders Osborne takes center stage. This NOLA guitarist is pretty bad ass in the live venue, we know first hand. While we aren't all in on his studio recordings, his riffing on stage cooks.
This show is from last years tour and he has a full complement of players supporting him. It was a Public Broadcasting effort and final project for a student in Milwaukee. It sounds and looks damn good.
The Boston noise/indie rock collective Pile's newest release is a solid mix of scattershot rock and brooding think pieces. The foursome seem are hitting their confident stride among swirling sounds, dark undercurrents and fiery tones.
The players Matt Becker – guitar, Matt Connery – bass, Kris Kuss – drums, Rick Maguire – guitar and vocals, work to create lush landscapes and angular tracks that suck in any fans of adventurous music. The banging "Hissing For Piece" is paired with the rolling and wandering journey of "Rope's Length" as the group manages to balance power and delicacy. The group is noticeably more restrained from past efforts, and softer songs like "Making Eyes" push this style to the forefront while "Slippery" incorporates acoustic guitars and sweet sounds before things rev up and burn.
Using a repeating drum intro to tie a few of the songs together works for the album cohesiveness, but each of these songs tend to build on each other. "No Bone" is a pleasant breather with dark undertones acting as prelude to the building terror of "Milkshake". The angular "Texas" is a wild ride even in its brief state before "Hairshirt" ratchets up the riffage and soars with noiserock blaring.
The album has a few missteps with "Leaning On The Wheel" out of place with its country road song lyrics and tone melded into a lumbering five minute ode that never accelerates. "Dogs" as well seems to be shooting for something grander and never coalesces even with violins and violas helping out.
The group closes the album with the best effort "Fingers", a rising energetic track that bangs and powers into math rock chaos to finish things off. There is a definite feeling of another Boston act from years ago with Pixies influences as the band experiments in the rock realm via all of its nooks and crannies. The Pixies however were minimalist and cutting and here Pile spread out and take things a bit slower, letting things build, successfully.
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Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp (or below) and peep some video:
A new solo disk from half of one of the best hip-hop duos of all time has just been announced as Big Boi promises Boomiverse is 'coming soon'.
The phrase 'Coming Soon' in the hip hop world can be a very misleading term, just look at Tha Carter V, but Big Boi is giving us two new singles tomorrow (4/20) of course. "Mic Jack" which has the odd pairing of Adam Levine and also "Kill Jill" with the more conventional guests Killer Mike and Jeezy.
While we will have to wait til tomorrow for the audio tracks, but their is some amazing artwork for "Kill Jill" posted now.
Hope the song is half as cool as that pic.
We didn't like the last two Big Boi solo records, in fact they made our most disappointing list both times, but we dug Luscious Left Foot(old review system would have had 7 or 8 stars now) and will be excited to check this out, whenever 'coming soon' actually is. Until then peep some of his better solo efforts below:
It is of Evolfo's first full length album titled Last of the Acid Cowboys. This is an excellent first release from the Brooklyn band, we really dig it. We were super impressed to hear it and can't wait to catch them live. Also a shout out to their trippy album art:
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Margo Price doing a live cover of "Wallflower"
Written in 1971 but not available to the ears until twenty years after the fact on the amazing Bootleg Vol 1-3, "Wallflower" is a sweet simple ditty that captures Bob in his folk/country phase of Self Portrait and New Morning. While not his deepest or most intense song it is a fine relaxed number that waltzes wonderfully light and free...getting naughty at the finish as well.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
We dig Margo Price and have ever since we checked out her newest record and she made our top ten last year. She's got a cool backstory, but more importantly she's got the voice and songwriting to back it up. We will be at the festival on Friday the 4th and we can't wait to catch her on the best folk/Americana stage the fest offers.
Thoughts on Cover:
It is a standard run through that is elevated by great piano work and the fine vocals of Price. While not earth shattering it will do for this Monday.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Snoop Dogg!
What can be said about Snoop? Still going strong, it seems like every three years he semi reinvents himself and once again jumps to the front of pop culture. Really one of the more unlikely consistent success stories across all media. We dig him, have never seen him live but that may change this Jazzfest.
Today's full show is a doozy and proves he still is a great live act. Most definitely worth catching as this set is from the Avalon and mixes live artists with DJ"s all supporting the D-O Double G. Pro-shot, Pro-sound and worth your time, enjoy:
One of RtBE Personal Favorites Craig Finn celebrated his record release party at City Winery last Tuesday and we were there. It was a good show, Finn clearly was in high spirits and proud of his most recent work. The band (especially Joe Russo) work excellently behind him and the songs allowed him to create lots of different musical textures.
While we wouldn't mind him dropping in a few Hold Steady songs, the originals are solid. The opener and closer were strong with "Be Honest" and "God In Chicago" and we had a good time catching them play in such a small venue in a close neighborhood.
It is pretty amazing that one of the smartest television ideas/written shows is returning this Friday with new episodes on Netflix. Mystery Science Theater 3000 gets a full on reboot on the streaming service starting, April 14th.
Original creator Joel Hodgson did a crowd sourcing campaign to get the Satellite of Love back into space, to be tormented by bad movies and it was wildly successful. For those not aware of the original show, the gimmick was bad movies (really bad movies) would play and a human with two robot sidekicks would make quick fire sarcastic retorts, 70's cultural references and intelligent quips that you had to really think about at the screen and with the viewer. The humor was all over the map, from fart jokes to grand sociological statements.
That may sound like high praise, but the show clearly took a lot from the great Monty Python in that they played up to their audience always expecting them to be smart enough to get the jokes, they did win a Peabody after all.
Yesterday we focused on the shows classic episodes. Those are pretty rock solid and almost all fans would agree those five are their most known/beloved episodes, however everybody has their personal choices for various reasons.
For instance, one episode that just missed this list is Time of The Apes a Japanese TV show cut together and then showed as a movie somehow. I use the quote "I Don't Care!" on a daily basis, and every time I watch the beginning of that episode I still laugh:
There are countless moments like these so click on that read more button and dive in...we got movie sign!!!
It is pretty amazing that one of the smartest television ideas/written shows is returning this Friday with new episodes on Netflix. Mystery Science Theater 3000 gets a full reboot on the streaming service starting April 14th.
Original creator Joel Hodgson did a crowd sourcing campaign to get the Satellite of Love back in the stratosphere to be tormented by bad movies and it was wildly successful. For those not aware of the original show, the gimmick was bad movies (really bad movies) would play and a human with two robot sidekicks would make quick fire sarcastic retorts, 70's cultural references and intelligent quips. The humor was all over the map, from fart jokes to grand sociological statements.
That may sound like high praise, but the show clearly took a lot from the great Monty Python in that they played up to their audience, always expecting them to be smart enough to get the jokes, they did win a Peabody after all.
There is also a direct musical connection (not including the countless musical references during the shows themselves) as Joel mentioned in past interviews that he got the idea for the look of the main scenes from an insert picture on Elton John'sGoodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Over the last year, we've had some extra time on our hands and the show we've watched the most without question is MST3K, they are constantly funny and immensely re-watchable. Thanks to the amazing fans there are tons of episodes online.
To commemorate the return of the show we wanted to take some time on RtBE to talk up our favorites. These posts are not meant to be comprehensive, you can go to other sites for more info as the internet is full of them. We are however dedicating two posts it, which will highlight 10 episodes total. Today we will focus on The Classic Episodes, tomorrow our Personal Favorite's. Click that read more below to dive into Part 1: The Classics
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Widespread Panic doing a live cover of "Solid Rock"
Thoughts on Original:
During Dylan's Jesus period he admittedly had more misses than hits, but when the Bard felt inspired by the Lord he really let it rip and he never ripped harder during those years than he did on "Solid Rock"; this is easily our favorite "Saved Era" tune from Bobby. He gets funky, he is rocking and raw with beliefs while back up singers support wonderfully and studio musicians play expertly. In fact it may be one of his best studio recordings of any era. That war of the flesh and spirit seems to really be heating up and you can almost hear his desires crashing with his new found beliefs as he rips into the repeating verses. Immediately worth hearing if you (for some reason) skipped over that phase of Dylan's career Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artists:
So we have never been a huge Panic fan...in fact we don't really dig them at all. We can't argue with their fans, but the band never did it for these ears. We do enjoy Dave Schools as a bassist and loved catching him play with J Mascis in a scorching "Fog" trio. The rest of the group just never clicked with us. Thoughts on Cover:
All that said however, they managed to pick a cover that is fresh and one of Bob's most underrated tunes. Of course they stretch it the hell out, but that is what they do. In fact the jam that starts everything off is the best part of the tune as the vocals are average. The passion and energy sure are there as things begin and stay hot.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk!
We decided to start this year with one of the best local NOLA acts who will be playing in the big fest and probably popping up around town throughout the two weekends, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk.
We have seen them a bunch and reviewed them often, really enjoying their live show as well as their last album which almost made our top ten list in 2013. Whenever we can catch them we will as they blend, funk, soul, rock, jamband exploration, Cajun spices, and just about everything else. In fact if there is a draw back it is probably that the band could use an editor of styles, but in the live setting they sure as shit know how to get down.
The players all will play multiple instruments and sing (lead and backups) and approach the stage like a family (which they are). This show is from 2015's LEAF Festival in Asheville, North Carolina.
While it is without our favorite drummer that the band had employed (the amazing Nikki Glaspie) it still is a hot set and even includes The Steel Town Horns early plus the fantastic Preservation Hall Jazz Band mid set. Lots of guests join this set as Roosevelt Collier pops up for a take on Zepplin's "Ramble On"as well.
The core of the group though, Tony Hall, Ivan Neville, Ian Neville, Nick Daniels III and Alvin Ford Jr. are tight when needed and loose when it calls for it over the course of this short (for them) festival set. All of them are top notch pro players who are captured here with Pro-Video, and Pro-Sound. So press play below and kick off this month of Full Show Friday's correctly. Enjoy:
It was a great time chatting with Frank who we have known for a few years now, but never really got a chance to chat at length with. Now with the release of his newest disk Bass Drums Guitars & Organs it was the perfect time to kick back, grab some beers and discuss a wide range of topics.
Frank has been active in the NYC music scene for decades and still loves to talk, play and write music. We dug into a lot of topics, but could have kept going and going as he has an encyclopedia like knowledge of tunes and players. Thanks to Frank for chatting and we should have a review of his disk up on Glide shortly, until then dig into the interview.
Not everyone likes Spoon, that is just a matter of taste, but real music fans have to admire their songwriting craft. Even Spoon fans will argue over their best record (Our vote? Slim nod to Gagagagaga over They Want My Soul) but each song seems to really dig into pop rock songwriting craft with a flourish. The band's ninth studio album finds them dipping the deepest they ever have into electronica, mixing dance elements and electro-beats with their patented blue collar pop rock song style; and it works.
The opening title track sets the complete tone of the disk, lustful late night lyrics meld with dance floor beats all around funky scratchy guitars. Right from the beginning the electronics hit the forefront (or back-beat) and the band swirl around welcoming them into the fold.
The more they roll on, the more white Austin funky they become. "WhisperI'lllistentohearit" starts with the title whispers and then revs up with bass runs, heavy dance beats and rock guitars, "Do I Have to Talk You Into It" reminds of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" filtered through a distorted dirty bar glass and "First Caress" keeps that dance vibe cooking getting better and better with each spin.
The centerpiece of the disk is "Pink Up" turns the dance down increase the space/psych-out with shaky percussion, and a sense of movement, but the track never explodes, instead it devolves into backtracked vocals, keys and strings to end. As an album focal point it isn't as powerful as projected, just a pause in the action before the dance floor fills again.
"Can You Sit Next to You" may be the best of the bunch with it's strut and swagger flashing back to Some Girls era Stones with so much confidence you can feel it through your speakers. The band even gets a touch political in their party mode with "Tear It Down" and while it might specifically be about a the promised wall between countries, it is certifiably about becoming closer to your fellow human. "I Ain't The One" is restrained and never goes far, while "Shotgun" pumps the big dance vibe to close the record before the saxophone led art experiment "Us" feels like a tacked on odd closing piece to a strong overall effort.
While perhaps not as deep and solid as their best albums, it still holds up as a fun as hell disk that is a funky joy to listen to from top to bottom. Spoon keeps evolving while pumping out damn fine rock and roll, shake your ass to that.
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Support the band, buy the album, peep some video below:
It is of the most recent live show we caught which contained a few RtBE Personal Favorites. It was a pleasure catching some great heavy bands a few Fridays back as Fishbone headlined a show that our friends Ache and No Redeeming Social Value played.
The NYHC bands rocked the house especially NRSV who are always a joy to see live, the old school punks write kick ass songs, play hard and always bring a smile; true rock and rollers. They even eclipsed the headliners to these ears. It didn't help that the LA band played one of their worst albums in full, but that is their choice this tour is all about Chim Chim.
We could have done without it, but it never hurts to see friends with friends and have a great night in this great city with live music, check out some clips below:
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Patti LaBelle doing a cover of "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine"
Thoughts on Original:
It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. Those are the phrases that Dylan himself used to describe the sound that he wanted on Blonde on Blonde. Safe to say he got it and perhaps never more so than on "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine". That whirling organ that sounds like it may actually take flight, the tempo, the cutting lyric, man this song is a joy. We actually got to see him open a show way back with this one and it was a hoot, not as good as the original, but a gem to see live and hear anytime.
The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the Blonde on Blonde album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
LaBelle is a disco legend and her Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles took over the dance floor world with "Lady Marmalade" and she would later hit it huge in the 80's with "New Attitude". Her polished disco/80's R&B sound was never our cup of tea, but now we found this first solo album she put out in-between those two stages and we clearly need to go back and dig deeper.
Thoughts on Cover:
WOW! So we begin our month of focusing on artists playing this years Jazzfest covering Dylan and we came upon one of our favorite Dylan covers of all time with this version that Patti and crew makes FUNKY! IT is a joy to behold from the first notes and LaBelle's singing is top notch throughout. Of course where did she record this album? New Orleans. Who played on it? None other than the great George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli...half The Meters and all the funk. What a way to kick off this month, can't get better than this.
I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.
Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. The Mets kick off today and it is the real opening day (even though some teams played yesterday). Winter is gone (at least officially) and Baseball can not come soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, unless you're a Nats fan, let's go Mets!
Last year was the Cubbies year. We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is still rooting for them.
Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:
