Album Review: EAT - Songs of Thanks

EAT 

Songs of Thanks

**and1/2 out of *****

The Brooklyn based four piece EAT deliver a slice of sludgy stoner rock on their debut release Songs of Thanks.  The tracks run long and heavy and are in no hurry to get anywhere as the band lumbers along via loud thundering beats and heavy riffs.

Opener "Mayor of Chinatown" sets the tone as the group, Ben Apatoff: lead vocals Billy Maloney: bass, backing vocals Andrew Davis: guitar, backing vocals Pat Paredes: drums, let their hard rock ways announce their intentions. Most of the tracks flow out in this fashion like rising from the tar pit sound of "Cookie Bucket and the over ten minute behemoth, prog-flavored doom rock of "French Vanilla Ghost"; the best track in this style for EAT.

The better efforts add unique flourishes, such as the lead riffs and literal smashing of glass on "Gorilla Tits" which also features shifting of singing styles to guttural hardcore bellows for the chorus. "Gathering in the Mind" is an interesting experiment which fuses folksy whimsy with their heavy sound in a Flaming Lip style even if Apatoff's vocals become stretched too thin at times. "Get The Strap" switches things up going shorter and faster, but the band seems more comfortable with time to stretch out.

If it hasn't come through with their song titles the band also has an oddball humorous streak running through the music. A track like "Rabbit (W)hole" feels like it could have been a Primus outtake around their Anitpop era with a rumbling low end, distorted vocals, countdown chants and smirk inducing lyrics.

The highlighted "The Actress" kicks up the tempo and scratching six string work from Davis while telling the timeless tale of broken dreams over pounding drums. The metal work and ability to not take themselves too seriously make for Songs of Thanks an engaging debut from EAT.
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The album was released a year ago today and RtBE became aware of the record via Andrew who we met down in the village. Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp below:

Roses Grove Band Go-To Grateful Dead Shows

For The Masters this month we are focusing on the Grateful Dead and we were lucky enough to catch RtBE's favorite Dead cover band Roses Grove Band earlier this month.

The band took some time out to chat with RtBE about their personal "go-to" Grateful Dead shows and some of their experiences with the band. Roses Grove have a bunch of shows lined up this summer so check them out.

If you have the chance to catch the band, please do, even people unfamiliar with the Dead will enjoy the band as they put on a hell of a show. Now though here are some of their thoughts regarding the band they love so much they cover them live with great pride. 

Dylan Cover #386 The Grateful Dead "Visions of Johanna" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, The Grateful Dead performing a live cover of "Visions of Johanna" 

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
One of the clear high points in Dylan's poetic songwriting, "Visions of Johanna" is a complete stunner, especially the first time you encounter it. Now (on a personal note) if that first encounter just happens to be a hot sweaty night, in the heart of the urban village which Dylan roamed about 30 years before and you happened to be doing the same god damn thing, then so be it. Even if your personal take is different it is hard to wrap your brain around the lyrics and the more you listen the more the mystery deepens. It is elusive, bright, cunning, dismissive, iconic, ironic and tossed off all at once. It is mega and it is nothing...and I can't be more vague than that. Musically he couldn't get it right until he went down to Nashville and it says something that he stuck with this song (unlike say..."She Belongs To Me") and got a version that is magical musically as well, just listen to that bass line throughout from Joe South...a crowning success all around.

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:
RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.

Thoughts on Cover:
We went through four Dead Dylan covers this month and have yet to have one where Jerry Garcia sings lead. That ends today. While the recording is a bit hot, Jerry sings strongly especially consider he would be dead in just about five months. 95 wasn't the best Dead year by a long shot, but some of Jerry's vocals seemed to have been more passionate, and for the most part that is the case here with just a few small vocal flubs which are forgivable. "Visions of Johanna" live from Chicago March 18th, 1995 is a great way to end our Dylan Cover focus with the Dead this month. 

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 9/10/91 MSG, NY, NY

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...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 90's get some love, 1991 in particular.

The nineties saw the end of the band with Jerry's Garcia's passing in the summer of 1995 and even though the music never truly stopped, things have never been the same. In truth if you are listening with a critical ear, anything after 1991 is not that great, there are moments sure, but '91 is pretty much where the must hear shows end, and this show we are highlighting today is the best of an underrated year. 

Once Brent Mydland died the band used both Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby for sometime as replacements, sharing the keyboard work. Bruce in particular is excellent on this night but for this MSG show a different addition to the band plays a huge part, Branford Marsalis.

The saxophone player is a huge plus and while he had played with the band before this is the pinnacle of his contributions in what many fans consider the last great Grateful Dead show, 9/10/91. From the first notes of "Shakedown Street" things are just on. The first set is a joy through and through, other highlights after the opening "Shakedown Street" (an RtBE personal favorite) are...well hell, the whole set rocks. It is one of the best first sets of any era, let alone the 90's.

The second set gets a bit more adventurous but that is never a bad thing with this crew.  The opening "Help>Slip>Frank" with Branford is must hear as is the "Dark Star" reprise coming out of drums. This version of "Standing on the Moon" always brings a bit of a tear to the eye as well, this is a great one so put it on and enjoy. 

Not quite pro shot, but pro sound, full set list info below. Enjoy:

Grateful Dead September 10, 1991 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Lazy Cow Production Video: AUD (Tripod) Master NTSC 4:3 8400 kbs 720X480 Set 1 & 2 Master: JVC Single Tube Camera, Nak 300 Shotguns ? Decks JVC Deck VHS Master Transfer: VHS Master Panasonic AG-7150 Canopus ADVC-100 iMac G4 Final Cut Pro 3 DVD Studio Pro 1 Audio: SBD DAT(M) DAT(1) DAT(2) Transfer: DAT R500 M-Audio 24/96 CD FLAC LPCM 1.5 Mbs DVD 1 Set 1 Intro Shakedown Street C.C. Rider It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry Black Throated Wind Hight Time Cassidy Deal 01:00:20 DVD 2 Set 2 Intro Help On The Way Slipknot Franklin's Tower Estimated Prophet Dark Star Drums 00:57:43 DVD 3 Space Dark Star Space I Need A Miracle Standing On The Moon Lovelight It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 00:43:57 Jerry Garcia - Guitar Bob Weir - Guitar Phil Lesh - Bass Vince Welnick - Keys Bruce Hornsby - Piano, Achordion Branford Marsalis - Sax Bill Kreutzman - Drums Mickey Hart - Drums

New Hold Steady Song Released, Full Album Out Next Month

RtBE favorites The Hold Steady are about to release a new full length record, Trashing Thru The Passion and released a new song to hype it.

The track is titled "You Did Good Kid" and you can hear it below:


It is strange they are releasing more songs from this album as half of the record was already released through their bandcamp page prior to recent mini tours.  A full length review will be coming soon, as the band continues their rocking ways.

Tickets are also on sale for their now annual Brooklyn Bowl shows, so grab one and we will see you in the Party Pit.

Album Review: Carlton Jumel Smith - 1634 Lexington Ave

Carlton Jumel Smith

1634 Lexington Ave

**** out of *****

The retro soul world lost two immense talents recently with the passing of Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, but the genre is far from barren. Take the excellent new release from Carlton Jumel Smith, 1634 Lexington Ave is a lush funky look back to the hey day of soul with, top notch musicians, modern production and stout vocals from Smith.

The album opener "Woman You Made Me" sets the tone as the wah-wah guitars, smooth horn breaks and funky retro soul work, all support Smith singing about love. He uses metaphors like gambling, fighting and swimming all to constantly describe the emotion as he weaves through different pleads for companionship.

"Love Our Love Affair" finds Smith wanting to make his partner an honest woman while "Ain't That Love" slows down the groove very reminiscent of Bradley's work as he serenades his sweetheart. The whole album is directly in the pocket for this style and there are no clunkers but one of the highlight offerings is "Remember Me?" with it's bubbling bass, crisp horn lines and great guitar work.

"We're All We Got" kicks up more of a disco laden groove for the dance floor, "Help Save Me From My Self" is gorgeous pleading soul work while "I Better" has all the hallmarks of classics from the hey day of soul with excellent drum work pushing to the forefront. Album closer "I Can't Love You Anymore" is a dripping in the blues as Smith and company deliver a burning conclusion to a powerful album as he shifts up his singing voice to go a few registers higher adding a new dimension as the record ends. 

Any fan of soul music should check out 1634 Lexington Ave as Carlton Jumel Smith and team have crafted a fantastically strong genre piece which fans and new comers will both adore.
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Support the artist, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:

New Songs From Sleater-Kinney, Samantha Fish, Seratones and The Highwomen

Three of RtBE's favorites have released new tunes from upcoming full length releases and they are all pretty rad.

First up is Sleater-Kinney who unfortunately recently announced that Janet Weiss and the band are parting ways when their upcoming tour begins. It brings to an end an amazing era for the band, but Weiss plays on the forthcoming The Center Won't Hold, produced by St. Vincent and the title track is released now. It is a creeping, slow building explosion with some experimental tendencies:


Next up is the blues/rock/glam dynamo Samantha Fish with her first single from her upcoming album titled Kill or Be Kind. The track is titled "Bulletproof" and shows off Fish's cigar box guitar skills as well as a rolling blues groove and some distortion.


Batting third are the Seratones whose new album Power comes out in exactly a month. This is the title track with a powerful video from the group, shot in their hometown of Shreveport, LA.


The last new tune comes from The Highwomen who are a country/folk super group consisting of Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby. Their first single is "Redesigning Women" and their full length will be out in September. Check out the cool video here:


Can't wait until all the full albums come out as they are some of our most anticipated of 2019.

Dylan Cover #385 The Grateful Dead "Ballad of a Thin Man" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is live a cover by The Grateful Dead of the Dylan tune "Ballad of a Thin Man"

Thoughts On Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
Surprisingly we have not touched upon a cover of this track yet in the series, possibly because it has never been anywhere close to a favorite of ours. This tune seems to be a clear product of Dylan's time and space, hounded by media/fans/everyone and lashing out in a burnt out manner. Not containing his best lines or playing it has never really grabbed hold, except a few times in the live setting.
Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.

Thoughts on Cover:
Last week we featured some strong Bobby on Bobby singing as Weir covered Dylan well and that streak continues this week as Bobby dominates this version of "Ballad of A Thin Man" the drummers do their part, and Jerry loves squirreling away behind Bobby, but Weir takes command. A solid cover.

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 10/3/87 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA

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...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 80's get some love, 1987 in particular.

The eighties were tough on everyone, especially long touring musical bands as New Wave, Glam and Rap took hold of the pop charts. The decade was especially hard on Jerry Garcia who fell into a diabetic coma in 1986 and when he awakened he needed to relearn how to play guitar from scratch. 

The last few years of the decade however saw some really strong tours from the Dead, Summer '89 has a few great shows, Spring '88 was solid and Fall '87 was good as well. Today we are going to grab a show from that run, 10/3/87 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. 

The key to late eighties is Brent Mydland's modern key's and Bob Weir singing strongly (in his Daisy Dukes)as they both had a few big songs to work with including "Throwing Stones" which anchors a really strong second set on this night. By this point in their career the group fell into a two set routine with "Drums and Space" every show, and on this evening they are worth a listen (not always the case). Brent's sound and singing may not be for all Dead fans, but it sounds proper to RtBE.  

First set highlights are the funky "Hey Pockey Way" with Mydland's electro keys and beautifully gruff voice leading the charge where as "Candyman" just oozes out of Garcia's guitar. "When I Paint My Masterpiece is a joy as well.

Pro shot, pro sound, full info below. Enjoy:

Grateful Dead October 3, 1987 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA A Peanut Production Field Recording: Don Pearson Tapes Provided By: Charlie Miller Capture, Edit, Encode, DVD Authoring: Markiki Audio Synchronization: Kevin Tobin Video: Pro Line Feed - Master Master: Pro Line Feed - Unknown Signal Chain - Unknown Beta Deck - Beta HiFi Master Transfer: Beta HiFi Master - Sony SL-HF900 - Canopus ADVC-300 - iMac i3 - Final Cut Pro 6 - Compressor 3 - MP4 - YouTube Audio: SBD - Cassette Master (Maxell MX90) Transfer Info: Cassette Master (Tascam 122mkII) - Apogee MiniMe (24bit/48k) - Samplitude Professional v9.02 - FLAC/16 Remastering Info: FLAC - Adobe Audition v3.0 - Samplitude Professional v11.2.1 - FLAC - (shnid=121961) All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller - September 14, 2012 Set 1 Tuning Hey Pocky Way New Minglewood Blues Candyman The Addams Family Tuning When I Paint My Masterpiece West L.A. Fadeaway My Brother Esau Birdsong The Music Never Stopped Set 2 Maggie's Farm Cumberland Blues Looks Like Rain Terrapin Station Drums Space The Other One Stella Blue Throwing Stones Lovelight The Mighty Quinn Jerry Garcia - Guitar Mickey Hart - Drums Bill Kreutzmann - Drums Phil Lesh - Bass Brent Mydland - Keyboards Bob Weir - Guitar

Album Review: Christone "Kingfish" Ingram - Kingfish

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram

Kingfish

**** out of *****

A few years back in 2010 a young guitar-slinger took his Austin, TX inspired electric blues to a national stage as a then 24 year old Gary Clark Jr. released his Bright Lights EP and started a meteoric rise. Now an even younger blues man, the 20 year old Christone "Kingfish" Ingram puts his modern stamp on the blues with his debut Kingfish. Coming from Clarksdale, MS his hometown pull of all the greats (Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson) is strong and he moves into southern blues instead of the Texas style; like BBQ all regional takes on the style are tasty.

Speaking of greats, it doesn't take long for one of them to show up as Buddy Guy straps in and plays with Ingram on the playfully great "Fresh Out" trading licks with a person 62 years his junior Guy sounds joyous as does Kingfish. Tracks like "It Ain't Right" and piano aided closer "That's Fine By Me" travel tried and true meaty electric guitar blues paths about wrong doin' women but Kingfish also shows range. The acoustically reflective "Been Here Before" ties his love of the old genre to his family heritage in close-up passionate fashion; even when the volume is stripped away Kingfish is affecting.

He brings in Keb Mo' and adds a pop sheen (while completely ripping off of the Talking Heads "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town") for the lord loving "Listen" and channels BB King for the powerful "Love Ain't My Favorite Word". "Before I'm Old" is a blues standard that deals with his obvious age gap, but it is the strength of tunes like "Believe These Blues" and "Hard Times" which prove that Kingfish sounds ingrained in the blues well beyond his years.

The whole record is a solid arrival onto the scene but two stand out a bit higher than the rest. "Trouble" is an upbeat jaunt about being caught by another woman with a New Orleans rumba juiced blues to it, while "If You Love Me" takes warbling guitars and pumping lines and adds gorgeous harmonica to the blues cliched number, resulting in a fresh sounding jam. 

Going back to the beginning Clark sang "you're gonna know my name" and Ingram begins his full length debut by singing that he is sick of waiting around his town and is about to leave it behind for better things on the direct "Outside of This Town". With quality playing, blues song writing and singing this young buck will be touring the world from here on out.     
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Support the artist, buy the album and peep some video below:

The Masters - The Grateful Dead - Best Live Albums

RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.

For June The Masters focuses on the great The Grateful Dead.

Live music is the best thing out there. Being caught in the moment is religion. Palpable vibes of healing and energy are transmitted and shit...gets...real. For this month's focus, The Grateful Dead may be more tied to the live show than any other rock band in history. They developed a literal touring mini economy and because of the bands massive structure, had to be on the road almost constantly.

The group had many phases and multiple lineup shifts, but the stage is where they truly succeeded as a collective, playing in the moment and without net. The group soared more than non-fans give them credit for and that thrilling collective experience is what kept fans touring the country with their musical heroes.

For other entries in The Masters, when it comes to live albums there were some limits, with the Dead it is just the opposite, there have been so many live releases it is hard to limit this list to "official" releases as prolific taping, the Internet Archive and tons of other sites have made obtaining a certain night in the bands history incredibly easy.

However, since we have been using official releases for other entries of The Masters, we will stick with that for this post and move to personal "Go-To" shows at a later date. We know that times have changed and while One From the Vault and Hundred Year Hall were instrumental to our love of the Dead, these days people do not need official releases to get soundboard quality and are much more likely to just stream a solid show then purchase an "official release". 

With Dicks/Dave's Picks, the criminally underrated Road Trips series and various completest Box Sets being offered up seemingly every month (their whole history will be officially released soon) it is hard to keep track of which shows are officially out there and which are still in the hands of tapers, so for this list we are skipping all of those and just going with live albums released officially by the band. Going to be tough, but we will give this a shot, below are our top five live albums from the Grateful Dead.

Live Review: Roses Grove Band - 7/13/19 Connolly's Times Square NYC

Roses Grove Band

Live @ Connolly's Times Square

NYC, NY 7/13/19

While the Upper West Side of Manhattan was plunged into darkness via a fire resulting in a mass power outage, Times Square managed to stay lit up and allowed the Roses Grove Band to bring their interpretations of Grateful Dead tunes to the center of the city. 

The band got lucky as drummer Adrian Mullins was delayed by the power outage and barely got to the show in time, but things coalesced quickly as the band begin with "Feel Like A Stranger". The sound had a some issues as things were a bit dodgy to start but the band managed to drop into their groove with relative ease for an early "Shakedown Street" which got spacey fairly quickly and segued in and back out of "Playin' In The Band".

The group loves to use these pairings of songs that the Dead themselves would have never done, opening up the groups catalog even further with unique segues and jams as there are rarely ever any breaks in the set.

The groove laid down by Mullins and bassist Ben Chaleff anchored things as Nick Epstein took lead vocal duty on "West LA Fadeaway" which found things moving from laid back to fast as the band truly locked in and soared directly into "Estimated Prophet" with Matt Lasurdo's keys and Chuck Gallanti's Garcia like lead lines swimmingly floated through the air before the highlight of the night "Fire On The Mountain" (with lyrical nods from Chaleff to fire on the upper westside) closed the set.

The second set never reach the heights of the end of the first, but the band got a bit looser as "Dark Star"got exploratory and out there before the rhythmic work of Mullins lead the charge into "St. Stephan" as the drums pumped heavy. The bands splashes of energy and upbeat rock and roll also colored "Cassidy" and is one of the many reasons RGB is a Dead cover band worth checking out.

The night closed with a stand alone "Franklin's Tower" as the crowd thinned out trying to find their way around a partially shut down city, a rare event in NYC, but the Roses Grove Band always delivers a good time while shining a light on the Dead's material.
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Support the band, see them live and peep some video below: 

Album Review: Trojan Jamaica Compilation - Red, Gold, Green, Blue

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of Trojan Jamaica's first official release the compilation titled Red, Gold, Green, Blue.

Everyone from Toots to Sly & Robbie were on the album covering blues tunes in reggae style. It is alright, but more hit and miss than it probably should be.

Support the label, buy the album, read the review, and peep some video below:

Dylan Cover #384 The Grateful Dead "Desolation Row"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today is a live cover by The Grateful Dead of the Dylan tune "Desolation Row"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this track:
A magnum opus of early Dylan. A song that is mystical and heated, politically charged while never explicit. One of the more expansive songs he has written and an early indicator that Dylan was on another level lyrically. From Ezra Pound to Bette Davis there are literary references, pop culture bits and a complete fabled world that comes alive in the ears. A true high point when it comes to Bob Dylan songs.
Cover: 

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.
Thoughts on Cover:
A really solid version of this tune the Dead covered quite a few times. The bass lines from Lesh are really well placed, Brent's atmospheric keyboards and Jerry's vibrant guitar runs/backing vocals contain great flair, but it is Bobby Weir nailing the singing and lyrics on this Dylan tune which make it special. From 7/19/89 whose whole show is really top notch and forms the basis of Down Hill From Here.

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 8/4/76 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ

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...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 70's get some love, 1976 in particular.  

This is a pretty famous show, with some big crowds and thanks to the magic of the internet the whole thing can be enjoy in the year 2019 and beyond. This was a great tape in our cassette collecting days, because it unequally turned up Phil's bass levels to uber loud. This video is more even but Phil is still a force to reckon with.  

Excellent sound, gives the live feel and the video is just dynamite, showing the band in the prime days. Full set list and information below, including tons of "noodling" call outs from the original poster. 

Enjoy:

Grateful Dead - Full Concert Recorded Live: 8/4/1976 Roosevelt Stadium (Jersey City, NJ) More Grateful Dead at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF Setlist: 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:06:05 - Sugaree 0:17:42 - noodling 0:20:16 - New Minglewood Blues 0:24:56 - noodling 0:30:34 - Row Jimmy 0:41:18 - noodling 0:42:55 - Big River 0:48:43 - noodling 0:50:29 - Loser (Incomplete) 0:55:25 - They Love Each Other (Incomplete) 0:57:16 - noodling 0:58:35 - The Music Never Stopped 1:05:10 - noodling 1:06:59 - Scarlet Begonias 1:22:23 - Crowd Noise: "Fireworks Display" 1:28:34 - Announcements 1:31:07 - Jay Green Juggles 1:38:34 - Mr. Jiggs Performs 1:47:05 - Announcements 1:49:17 - noodling 1:52:45 - Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower / Dancing In The Street / The Wheel 2:42:13 - Samson And Delilah 2:49:19 - noodling 2:51:14 - It Must Have Been The Roses (Incomplete) 2:58:26 - noodling 3:02:43 - Not Fade Away / The Other One Jam / Space Jam / The Other One 3:29:47 - Ship Of Fools 3:37:52 - noodling 3:38:46 - Sugar Magnolia (Incomplete) 3:45:52 - Sunshine Daydream 3:49:38 - Crowd Noise: "Encore Break" 3:53:15 - noodling 3:55:47 - Johnny B. Goode 4:00:28 - Outro

Live Review: No Redeeming Social Value 7/5/19 @ St. Vitus Brooklyn, NY

No Redeeming Social Value

Killer of Sheep & Silence Equals Death

Live 7/5/19 @ St. Vitus

Brooklyn, NY

On a steaming July night over the 4th of July weekend some of Hardcore's best took to the dark stage at St. Vitus in Greenpoint Brooklyn. The sweat was already soaking all of the black t-shirts in attendance before opener Silence Equals Death plugged in and kicked things off.

Coming from various other outfits, the band, (Scott Earth on vocals, Fred Delacruz and Wade Culleny on guitars, Brett Holloway on bass and Ryan Bertone on drums) have been at it with their bruising attack since 2011. The tunes switched between slowed down stomp sections and straight ahead punk as the group slammed. Highlights were the screaming from Earth on "End Times" and the bands knockout set closing cover of Inside Out's "Burning Fight".

Next up was Killer of Sheep and the four piece from Pittsburgh, PA delivered a more off-kilter attack with their short blasts of fury and angular riffs all supported by some amazing drum work. The group (Oyo Ellis : guitar Ollie McClellen : vox Keith Smallwood : bass Greg Mairs : drums ) used their hyper thrash style to attack the crowd who were watching more than dancing. The precision strike of "Lose Control" was one hot spot as was the thundering bass of "Thought Police" which dropped into a heavy groove propelled by the fantastic Mairs. The warbling electric riffs of "Firewater" and "The Jig Is Up" were both also chaotic as McClellen was a whirlwind; next time the pits will hopefully explode for this band. 

The slam dancing kicked off in earnest for punk rock party favorites No Redeeming Social Value as the band kicked off it's old school ways with "More Tattoos" containing the only lyric rhyming scarification with bacitracin in the history of music. Classics like "Beer ='s Fun" and "Chicken" caused the crowd to slam from side to side in the tight club. "The New 64" found front man Dean Miller reminding the crowd about beers past while drummer Glen Lorieo slammed heavy on the drums for a new tune titled "Wasted 4 Life" which is a prime singalong.

The group got the whole crowd worked up for the ripping "No Regrets" as Kent Miller inserted new solo's into the old standby before the set closed around John Franko's heavy bass work in the pile-on anthem "Skinheads Rule". 

Apologies to both Ramallah and Subzero as RtBE caught up with old friends at the bar during their sets and while they were certainly moving the crowd, too many drinks were consumed and not enough notes taken to review their sets properly.

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The Masters: The Grateful Dead - Top Five Studio Albums

RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.

For August The Masters focuses on The Grateful Dead.

While the other months of The Masters series has allowed RtBE to focus on artists we love but haven't had the opportunity to highlight, this month is a bit different. Before the Monday Dylan Cover Series began, we used to focus on Grateful Dead shows every Monday for the first year or so of the site. Here is one example from the past as we have written a good deal about them for the site, but really wanted to include them in this new series. 

It is no coincidence we are focusing on the Dead during July, they are this sites vote as America's best band and they were the ultimate summer attraction with their touring hoards of Dothrak...err Dead Heads. While in the past we have spent time on individual shows (which may come up when we get to the live album post) today we are going to tackle studio albums which according to every fan of the bands (except the sites friend Lindsay) agree is not their strongest work.

The truth is, even from their earliest days the Grateful Dead always over did things in the studio, whether from the producers idea (#5 on our list) or by their own choice (#4 and #3 on our list) the band just couldn't control themselves. Some would argue they couldn't control themselves out of the studio either, but that is a different post. 

That said, the band had a long and winding career with many musical phases and it was fun to go back and listen to their studio albums to put this list together. So let's start "Truckin'":

Album Review: Budos Band - V

Budos Band

V

**** out of *****

The Staten Island based funk horn/afrobeat band has always had splashes of ominous metal tinged riffs and feelings flowing through their sound but that comes to the forefront on the groups newest and one their overall strongest releases, V. Unlike a group like Brownout, Budos Band instills hard rock and metal influences into their personal sound creating a new hybrid rather than out and out covering metal bands in horn fashion. 

The cover of the record could be Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings or any other mountain used for symbolism or foreboding imagery, but the tunes on the album reach just as high kicking of with with "Old Engine Oil" which is a clear Led Zeppelin meets crisp bright horns mashup; the riffs are meaty and the horn fills sharp form the get go.

"The Enchanter" continues the blaxploitation soundtrack mixed with Dungeons and Dragons feelings but does so around a bass driven groove and a baritone sax solo which pumps up the creepy factor. Each of the tunes balances deep rhythms, flush horn work and a metal spirit but a few rise up to the top of the heap.

The heavy riff work and snare slaps meld with organs to create the foundation of "The Spider Web Part. 1" which soars to a huge solo with squawking horn mix and percussion break while "Ghost Break" warbles and into the unknown while "Arcane Rambler" is the best of the bunch. That track has spaced out effects, head bopping riffs, intricate percussion and a Sergio Leone vibe ending up sounding like a cosmic spaghetti western possibly written by HP Lovecraft. 

The album goes for more metal texture than pumping grooves over it's second half as "Malestrom" kicks off what feels like a stoner rock/Black Sabbath with horns influenced run of originals. "Veil of Shadows" (with dynamite trumpet work), the brief "Rumble from the Void" and mammoth closer "Valley of the Damned" all are thematically linked (as is the whole album) in this more restrained vein; if Sleep ever wanted a horn section, look no further.

While this type of blending of horn styles may fall to much in-between genres for any of the fans to really latch onto, V is an excellent mashup of emotions, power and feeling without singing one word. Budos Band haven't released any bad albums, but V just may be their pinnacle as they climb to their their own shadowy mountain top.   
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Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:

Dylan Cover #383 The Grateful Dead "Just Like Tom Thumb Blues" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by The Grateful Dead playing "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
An energetic romp that has been covered by everyone, this tune is a great swirl through Dylan's freaky mind. It was a punch and a whirlwind journey through Juarez, Mexico around Easter time...Maybe. There are lots of literary hints dropped, as well as a mischievous smile throughout. One of the first Dylan tunes we gravitated towards and with good reason, it is still one of our favorites.  
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.

Thoughts on Cover:
Ahh the rare Phil Lesh lead vocal!  As we mentioned back in April when we celebrated the historic Phil and Phriends shows, RtBE has no problem with Phil's vocals, but can understand it if certain people don't dig his style. As for this cover the group gives it a unique intro and outro, and Phil mixes up the vocals. A fun yet non essential dance through this tune for a July Monday...which Phil dressed for properly...how about those shorts!

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 5-3-68 Low Library Plaza Columbia University, NY, NY

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...Grateful Dead!

For June The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 60's get some love, 1968 in particular.  

This amazing footage from the band sneaking onto the Columbia campus and playing is fantastic. VoodooNola has so many great videos and he even syncs this one with the vocals almost on point.  A piece of history here. 

   

Amazing video, with soundboard music, that is different to start but syncs perfectly post vocals. Enjoy (and don't sleep on the bonus below):

And since that is not the full show, obviously....here is a killer soundboard from a bit later in 1968 minus the video, but def worth a listen as the band gets waaaay out there, some prime '68 Dead, even without Pigpen to add to the cosmic madness. This is a tight ass band who explore the cosmos, great soundboard, full info below:

Grateful Dead October 12, 1968 Avalon Ballroom San Francisco, CA

Recording Info: SBD ... Master Reel ... Dat (48k) 

All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller August 12, 2011 

Notes: -- Pigpen was absent -- First notes of 2nd Set missing -- 

Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his help with the pitch correction  

--Set 1-- 

Introduction 

Dark Star ... 

Saint Stephen ... 

The Eleven ... 

Death Don't Have No Mercy 

--Set 2-- 

That's It For The Other One ... 

New Potato Caboose ... 

Drums ... 

Jam ... 

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