Got to Get It

This is a benefit album for War Child, an organization dedicated to stop the use of child soldiers. Very intriguing project I must say. From their website:

What do you get if you cross the greatest living legends, some of the finest songs ever written and the most staggering talent around today? Just an album so hot you’ll be going to work in shorts this winter, that’s all. And wait for the best bit…War Child gets money off every copy sold.

Yes friends, the charity album just got cool again. Here’s the skinny: Rock legends such as Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney chose their favourite new bands to cover their classic songs. War Child’s new album, Heroes, is released on February 24th in the US and March 3rd in Canada, and features 16 amazing tunes.

Dylan himself chose Beck to take on Leopard-Skin Pillar-Box Hat. Sir Paul entrusted Live and Let Die to Duffy. And Stevie figured Estelle was the only one for Superstitious.

Oh, and then there’s The Hold Steady taking on Bruce, Lily Allen teaming up with, ahem, Mick Jones on a Clash classic and The Scissor Sisters imploring you to Do The Strand.

Yes, we’re spoiling you. This combo of rock’s greatest songs and songwriters coupled with the hottest new names in the ‘the biz’ will be one of your most treasured records. Ok, enough suspense: This, ladies and gents, is the line-up:

Beck (Bob Dylan - “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”)

The Kooks (The Kinks – “Victoria”)

The Hold Steady (Bruce Springsteen – “Atlantic City”)

Hot Chip (Joy Division – “Transmission”)

Lily Allen feat. Mick Jones (The Clash – “Straight To Hell”)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones – “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”)

Franz Ferdinand (Blondie – “Call Me”)

Duffy (Paul McCartney – “Live And Let Die”)

Estelle (Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”)

Rufus Wainwright (Brian Wilson –“ Wonderful & Song For Children”)

Scissor Sisters (Roxy Music – “Do The Strand”)

Peaches (Iggy Pop – “Search And Destroy”)

Adam Cohen (Leonard Cohen – “Take This Waltz”)

Elbow (U2 – “Running To Stand Still”)

The Like (Elvis Costello – “You Belong To Me”)

TV On The Radio (David Bowie – “Heroes”)

Advance Previews - M. Ward, Animal Collective, Andrew Bird

NPR is streaming advance previews of full albums.

Check out this link for new albums by Animal Collective (Jan. 19), M. Ward (Jan. 12)  and Andrew Bird  at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98679384

Dream Team - Wilco & Radiohead

Members of Wilco (Jeff Tweedy, John Stirrat) and members of Radiohead (Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway) got together at Neil Finn's charity event for Oxfam called 7 Worlds Collide. Jeff Tweedy fronted the band for a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees". A dream become reality. 

a review here:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10550623

Best Albums of 2008

1) TV on the Radio: Dear Science - TV on the Radio's 2006 release Return to Cookie Mountain was critically acclaimed, but while I could appreciate the artistry of the music, it was too much on the experimental side to warrant repeated listens. With their latest release Dear Science they have created a much more accessible record, but also maintain the high quality that we expect.  Sounding something like Prince meets Beck meets Radiohead, the album is thoroughly enjoyable and not only merits repeat listens, it demands it. 

2) Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago - It is now a well-known story about how Justin Vernon holed himself up in a log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin to write and record the songs that would become For Emma, Forever Ago. And while the songs expectedly reflect Vernon's frame of mind during this time (band and relationship breakups), lending the album a poignant, depressing vibe, the songwriting on here is superb. Primarily recorded all by himself, his songs feature sublime vocal harmonies, subtle yet enchanting melodies, and an experimental twist that gives tracks like "The Wolves (Act I and II)" an otherworldly atmosphere. Vernon is truly a gifted song-smith.

 

3) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!  - Nick Cave has been around a long time and he is certainly showing no signs of slowing down. This is vintage Cave - dark, quirky, and unlike anything else you've heard out this year. The album is solid, with Cave's smug, gravelly half-sung voice telling it like it is in vivid, rich narratives.

From “Night of the Lotus Eaters”:

They gilded my scales, they fish-bowled me and they toured me round the old aquariums 

They come in their hordes to tap at the glass, the philistines and barbarians 

I like floating here, it's nice, they've hung seaweed around my hips 

And I do the hula for the hungry ones and the lames all throw me tips.

  

4) Santogold: Santogold - A very nice debut from this Philly native. There are a lot of influences going on here, and none the least are the New Wave bands of the 80s.  But she injects enough 80s punk and modern day ragga into the sound to give it some attitude.   It's going to be interesting hearing what else she has to say.

5) Hold Steady: Stay Positive - Gritty and cynical, The Hold Steady get the prize for being the least glamorous band on the list. Craig Finn 's spittle-inducing spoken word delivery perfectly compliments the Bukowski-like imagery of his lyrics. Like the 20th century street poets, the seedy world of alcohol is a frequent topic of Finn's lyrics. But he updates it for the 21st century substituting Burroughs' heroin for Adderall.  2008’s Stay Positive doesn't quite hold up as strongly as 2006's Boys & Girls in America, but it still has the strength to maintain the momentum for this great band.

6) Black Mountain: In the Future - These guys just rock. Sounding like Led Zeppelin on ecstasy, they have the guitar-riffs, the trippy vocals, the equipment-damaging power that I appreciate in a rock & roll band.

7) Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends  - I know, roll your eyes, just as I rolled my eyes when the album first came out and I thought "eh, Coldplay. Boring.” I hate to admit it, but Chris Martin and company put together another solid, enjoyable album. Ok, so they're still copying Radiohead and possibly stealing from Joe Satriani, but put this album on and you have to try really hard not to like it.

8) Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend – Ok these Columbia kids have been hailed as inventors of some kind of Afro-Indie pop fusion genre. Maybe you shouldn't really go to these guys for a world music fix, if you want to hear the real-deal Afropop music then check out Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade.  But definitely go to them for some good ole infectious fun. It’s an interesting juxtaposition; privileged white kids from Manhattan mixing African music with an Indie songwriting sensibility. It got my attention.

9) Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes - This one took a while to grow on me. At first listen it seemed like a throwback to the harmony sound of the 60s and early 70s and it didn't seem to have much oomph. But after repeated listens I find myself humming the songs to myself later on, and not going crazy. The album has more depth than I noticed at first. If recent Brian Wilson-inspired acts such as Animal Collective and Panda Bear have caught your fancy, then Fleet Foxes is definitely something to check out.

 10) Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War – This is an ambitious hip-hop experiment that puts an emphasis on sheer weirdness.  That turns out to be the attraction, as she produces a sound similar to what might’ve happened if George Clinton made Innervisions with D’Angelo. 

Honorable Mention:

Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs

The Black Keys: Attack & Release

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: Cardinology

Calexico: Carried to Dust

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

MGMT: Oracular Spectacular

Concert Review: Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View, CA, 10-25-08

After hearing that Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie were on this year's Bridge Benefit bill, I had to go. I made the two-hour trek for the Saturday show with lawn ticket in hand. The lineup for the show was (in the order they performed):

- Neil Young (two song opening)

- Band of Horses (filling in for ZZ Top who cancelled. )

- Cat Power

- Death Cab for Cutie

- Wilco

- Sarah McLachlan

- Norah Jones

- Jack Johnson

- Neil Young (closing set)

The Bridge School is a school for kids with severe speech and physical impairments. The school was founded by Neil's wife Pegi in 1986 and a benefit concert has been held every year since. One of the unspoken rules of the concert is that musicians perform acoustically. In the past bands such as Metallica, Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers have performed acoustic sets at the benefit. One thing that playing acoustically does is it really emphasises the musicianship of the performers. No hiding behind effects or samples. It can really provide for some "wow, he/she's a really good musician" moments.

I arrived at the Shoreline a little after the gates opened up, hoping to get a decent spot on the lawn. What I found was that the best location, to get good sound and a clear view of the stage, was about halfway up the lawn, directly in the center. There's a little plateau here where the view of the stage is unobscured. It is also nice to have clear views of the big screens that allow up close and personal viewing of the performers. The sound has never been great here but in the centralized location it wasn't bad.

As usual, Neil was the first to come out. He didn't waste much time getting right into the music with "I Am a Child" and "Sugar Mountain".

After Neil, Band of Horses came out. They did well in the acoustic setting and played a decent alt-country inflected set.

Next up was Cat Power. Chan Marshall seemed to struggle a little bit with her set. Even with electric instrumentation their music is pretty subdued. Playing acoustically in front of 15,000+ people must be quite a challenge and intimidating to boot. Marshall is known to have a bit of stage-fright and that was evident here. She was singing very quietly, not really projecting (which is her style anyway), which resulted in the crowd getting restless. At one point she apologized to the crowd for her performance. The band's sound missed the swells and drones that electric instruments usually add to their sound. Without it, it was pretty much a snore-fest. That is, until Neil came out to join them on a rousing cover of "Fortunate Son". Neil's injection of energy got the crowd into it and even put a smile on Chan's face.

Death Cab for Cutie came on next and it was primarily a showcase for talented singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard. He even played one song solo with just a guitar. Again, in this acoustic setting it is impossible to fake musicianship, and Gibbards singing and songwriting was put on display. His nasal, whiny voice notwithstanding, he had some sublime vocal moments, hitting notes perfectly and putting on a great show. These guys opened for Neil on the current tour and they are worth seeing.

After Death Cab was the band I came to see, Wilco. Very comfortable in an acoustic setting, the most interesting thing to me was listening to Nels Cline play his arpeggio freakouts on an acoustic guitar. Although some sour notes were apparent (these notes would probably sound bent on an electric) his playing was exciting and typically wild. They also broke out a new song ("I'll Fight for You?") which had a kind of old fashioned 50-ish rock sound. This song seems to be a work in progress but with a lot of potential. Other highlights were California Stars and Jesus Etc..., which work so nice acoustically. My only complaint (as usual) was that the set was too damn short. The drawback of these festival-type shows.

Note: The new song is available for download here (thanks to hilliard from ViaChicago): http://www.sendspace.com/file/by7r69

After Wilco, Sarah McLachlan came out and played a solo set. She accompanied herself on both guitar and piano. She is an amazing singer and performer and her set was very impressive. She is one of the few artists that can come out completely alone and blow the place away. She gets the "best voice" award for the day.

Norah Jones was next and played another subdued mellow set. The highlight of her set (for me) was her cover of Wilco's "Jesus Etc..". Ooh boy, my favorite Wilco song played twice in one day! I thought she did a great version. She did comment on the fact that Wilco had already done the song, but she said they worked hard practicing it and were going to do it anyway ("Take that Tweedy"). Here it is on YouTube:

Jack Johnson came out and did his typical stony-surfer dude set. His band was super-tight and his voice sounded great, but his music did not ignite my sensibilities. I enjoyed the set but would not go out of my way to see him again.

Neil Young played the last set and did some typical stuff ("The Needle and the Damage Done", "Heart of Gold", "Old Man"), and some not so typical stuff (new song "ust Singing A Song Won't Change The World", "Oh, Lonesome Me", and "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)") He also did a rousing cover of The Beatles' "Day in the Life". His set and the concert conluded with "Comes a Time" where many of the bands came out to sing along. Unfortunately, Jeff Tweedy was not among them even though most of the members of Wilco were out there. That Tweedy can be so difficult.

Personally, I thought Neil sounded a little tired. I have a few past Bridge Benefits to compare it to and he was just not nailing it like in times past. I though some of it had to do with Pegi Young being a bit hit and miss with the backing vocals. He ended the show a little early too I though (in 1999 the concert didn't finish until after 2 a.m.). Well, at least it was early enough I was able to make the drive home that night and not spend money on a motel.

All-in-all, this was not the best Bridge Benefit I have been to. There were too many mellow band on the bill, and nothing (like a Metallica for instance) that really kicked it into high gear. After Wilco, it was hard to stay interested. It's too bad ZZ Top didn't make it. Now that would've been interesting to see acoustically. Hopefully in future years the lineup will have some more variety.

Fall Tours: Wilco/Neil Young, The Hold Steady/Drive-By Truckers

It seems like a new trend these days is for big name acts to team up and tour together. Maybe the price of gas is causing this, or maybe they just want to attract larger crowds to the shows. Whatever the reason, it is to our advantage for sure.

The big one is Wilco teaming up with Neil Young to play a handful of dates. Neil Young is also going to tour with Death Cab for Cutie, another great opener. Unfortunately for me none of the dates are in the SF Bay area, although BOTH Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco will be at this year's Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA (http://www.bridgeschool.org/events.html).

Here are the Neil Young tour dates:

Oct. 14: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 16: Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 18: Regina, Saskatchewan (Brandt Centre, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 19: Calgary, Alberta (Pengrowth Saddledome, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 21: Everett, Wash. (Comcast Arena, no opener specified)
Oct. 22: Vancouver (GM Place, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 29: San Diego (Cox Arena, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Oct. 30: Los Angeles (Forum, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Nov. 1: Reno, Nev. (Events Center, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Nov. 4: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Nov. 5: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center, w/ Death Cab For Cutie)
Nov. 29: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Metro Centre, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 1: Montreal (Bell Centre, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 2: Ottawa, Ontario (Scotia Bank Place, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 4: Toronto (Air Canada Centre, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 7: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 9: Chicago (Allstate Center, no opener specified)
Dec. 12: Philadelphia (Wachovia Spectrum, w/ Wilco)
Dec. 15: New York (Madison Square Garden, w/ Wilco)

Although not huge names like Neil Young or Wilco, Drive-By Truckers will be teaming up with The Hold Steady for a bunch of dates on what they are calling the "Rock and Roll Means Well Tour". These are two incredibly energetic live bands and this is one show I would love to see. Looks like Counting Crows will be joining them on a couple dates as well. The dates are:

30-Oct Louisville, KY Coyote's @ City Block
31-Oct Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
1-Nov Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
2-Nov Tallahassee, FL The Moon @ FSU
3-Nov Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
5-Nov State College, PA The State Theatre
6-Nov New York, NY Terminal 5
7-Nov New York, NY Terminal 5
8-Nov Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
9-Nov Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
11-Nov Toronto, ONT Phoenix Theatre
12-Nov Pittsburgh, PA Carnegie Music Hall
13-Nov Bloomington, IN Bluebird
14-Nov Chicago, IL Riviera
15-Nov Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
16-Nov Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
19-Nov Boise, ID The Knitting Factory Concert House
20-Nov Seattle, WA The Showbox
21-Nov Seattle, WA The Showbox
22-Nov Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
23-Nov San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
24-Nov San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
25-Nov Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
16-Dec Den Bosch, NL Brabanthallen (w/ Counting Crows)
20-Dec Dublin, IE O2 (w/ Counting Crows)
21-Dec Belfast, UK Odyssey Arena (w/ Counting Crows)

Concert Review: Wilco & more @ The Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA, 8/24/2008

The stars were aligned for me on Sunday, Aug. 24. At the spur of the moment I decided to head down to the city, no ticket in hand, to check out Wilco at the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate park. I put a request on Craigslist for a ticket and got a call from a guy on my way down. I scored a ticket for $50, $35 less than face value. Nice.

Once in the festival, the scope of the thing was a bit overwhelming. It must be close to a mile from one end of the place to the other. There were six stages, and tons of vending, food and drink. I started off at the Twin Peaks stage to check out Stars. I must say I was not blown away. I am familiar with their music from Set Yourself on Fire, and I do like the group, but in this setting I just wasn't feeling it.

I then had to make a tough decision as Andrew Bird and Bon Iver were playing at the same time on separate stages. I decided to go with Bon Iver since I had seen Andrew Bird not too long ago at the Hollywood Bowl. I was happy with this choice, since Justin Vernon & co. put on a fantastic set. The arrangements of the songs were an improvement on the album tracks due to the fuller band (he had four multi-instrumentalists accompanying him on guitars, keys, drums, percussion and baritone guitar). The kicker though were the gorgeous harmonies they were able to accomplish, which were not present on the album. They even played a new song called Blood Bank, which sounded really good. This was a great set all around.

Next, I ran over to the Sutro stage to catch the set by Drive-By Truckers. Having secured a spot off to the side, up on a small hill, I had a pretty good line of sight of the stage. The sound was also good and the Truckers came out and did a scorching set. They were incredibly tight and energetic, with dueling guitars and passionate vocals from Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and John Neff. Hood also commented on how great he thought the people were that he has met so far in SF. Nice of him to say! These guys don't have any pretensions. Just raw rock & roll with a country twang.

I decided to pass on catching the whole Broken Social Scene set in order to take a breath and explore the surroundings a little bit. I was able to catch a bit of Sharon Jones and the Dap King's set and man, she had the whole friggin' place shakin' their booties. I walked away accompanied by a fantastic cover of JB's "It's a Man's World".

I stopped briefly at the Avenues stage for hip-hop group Little Brother. I lingered long enough to have my intestines practically vibrated out of my body by the bass, and to witness the humorous spectacle of parents hurriedly ushering their children away before the next massive tirade.

I caught the last portion of Broken Social Scene before checking out local Bay Area band Rogue Wave on the Panhandle stage. They were very impressive. So much so that I think I am going to go out and check out some of their stuff. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who is into god Indie rock.

Next was the highlight of the whole day for me. Wilco on the Twin Peaks stage. Of couse I made the mistake of waiting until 5 minutes before showtime to get in the unbelievably long Porta-potty line. As I stood in the line I helplessly watched a non-stop wave of people making their way to teh Wilco stage. By the time I had finished my duty, Wilco had started the first song and the crowd was jam-packed. I was able to slowly wiggle my way closer and I did get about even with the soundboard.

Wilco was fabulous, as usual. The only complaint I have is that their set was too damn short. One thing I really noticed since the last time I saw them was how well Nels Cline was sounding. He was on fire. And he has been playing long enough so that he is really now making some valuable contributions to the songs. He had some great solos, especially on Impossible Germany (albeit after a couple of false starts where Tweedy started before Nels was ready). His energy and musicianship truly on display this day. Here's a clip from YouTube:

After Wilco I wandered over to the last set of the day on the main stage, Jack Johnson. I enjoy his music, but I'm not a huge fan of his stoned-surfer sound so I did not stick around. In my opinion I think Wilco should have had the long set on the big stage and not JJ, but that's just me. I left before his set was over to get a jump on the crowd and head home.

All in all a fantastic day and a fantastic festival. I hope that this continues every year. From what I've heard the turnout was bigger than expected and the city of SF for the most part was happy with the crowd (there were a few complaints from neighbors about the noise). Bring it back next year! Here are some more pics of the scene.