Tampa Calling

This week’s Bar Tab column found me admitting to something I’d frowned upon here. It’s not easy coming clean. But I did, just for you, dear reader. Here’s a snippet:

Sal (glaring): Goddamn it, Wade, keep that down.

Me (giggling): My bad. Want some?

Sal (shaking his head): No.

I had killed the bottle and was feeling frisky by the time we parked on Davis Islands. “I’m going to make a spectacle of myself tonight,” I told Sal.

“I know,” he responded.

Click here to read “Midnight confession: Wade comes clean.”

Here are quotes that I couldn’t fit into my new music feature, “Amanda Shaw, Pretty girl: But she’s selling her music, not her looks.” Click the link for the story, info on the 18-year-old, New Orleans-based, Cajun-pop luminary’s Friday (Aug. 8) gig at Skipper’s Smokehouse and to hear samples from Shaw’s latest album, Pretty Runs Out (Rounder).

Me: How’s it going today? Are you at home in New Orleans?

Shaw: Yep, I’m at home, getting ready for the trip. I’m so excited to come back to Florida.

Me: So, what’s a typcial day off at home like?

Shaw: I love music so much I’m always listening at the house or making plans to go and hear band. If I hang out at house I listen, sit around and watch movies and read books.

Me: What have you been watching lately?

I love Walk the Line. The first two seasons of The Office, Seinfeld and I Love Lucy. My mom teases me that I am Lucy because I’m always doing goofy things like her.

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Will Quinlan, Have Gun, Will Travel and Geri X will perform this Friday (Aug. 8) at Kelly’s Pub in downtown Tampa. I had the wrong venue here (it’s now been corrected) and in print. Apologies. This is a highly recommended show featuring three of Tampa Bay’s top Americana/singer-songwriter acts and I’m genuinely pissed at myself for screwing up the info. Thank you, Anna, for the heads up.

The closing of Whaley’s Market in SoHo has me in a sad, blue funk. I live within short walking distance and eat/shop there regularly. The establishment’s $5 sandwiches — “ham and swiss on rye, lettuce, tomato, a little deli mustard, please” — are an integral part of my diet. Same goes for the Best of the Bay-winning, FREE crackers and dip.

I never once went home from there with a poorly prepared meal or deficient ham on rye. Great produce, too. The Figi apples were my favorite. The BBQ. The pulled pork sandwich. Good stuff all around. And never once had bad service at Whaley’s. That’s saying a lot, folks. I’m not easy to please. I’m going to miss that place. I could count on it, y’know?

In honor of this fine family business that’s been around for nearly 75 years, I’ll shed a manly tear and offer a Top 10 list. I’m in a sentimental mood. Frustrated at the things I can’t control. Yeah, well, like that sweet old song says, all I can do is write about it. Wish I could do more.

Top 10: Songs for Whaley’s

1. “All I Can Do Is Write About It,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

2. “No Surprises,” Radiohead

3. “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye,” Leonard Cohen

4. “Tears of Rage,” Bob Dylan

5. “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” The Temptations

6. “Are the Good Times Really Over (Wish a Buck Was Still Silver),” Merle Haggard

7. “Memory Motel,” The Rolling Stones

8. “Hello Goodbye,” The Beatles

9. “End of the Line,” Traveling Wilburys

10. “A Lot of Days Are Gone,” Hacienda Brothers

I’m a big lyrics guy. If a track has vocals, I want to know each word being sung. Back in the pre-Internet era that constituted my youth, the artist either included lyrics with the CD/cassette tape (yeah, I’m that old), or you had to buy books like the one pictured, which I did as a teen. Geeky? Yes. But it’s the only way to properly appreciate songs like “Desolation Row,” “Idiot Wind” and “Jokerman.”

These days, all those classic Dylan lyrics can be found here on his official site. But not all artists are so open with their words. And it troubles me to learn that even less are including lyrics in the liner notes. Anyway, here’s the piece that prompted me to think of yet another way to work Dylan into a blog post.

From The Guardian:

In the old days it was easy: you bought your album, put it on your hi-fi and listened to it while reading the lyrics on the record sleeve. If you were being dumped, again, then knowing all the words to Toni Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart was important.

But a survey released yesterday shows that we are finding it harder to find accurate song lyrics – and we don’t like it.

The National Year of Reading campaign questioned 4,000 people to gauge the importance of lyrics and found that 90% felt that reading the words helped them gain a full appreciation of the music. But 50% said that lyrics are less accessible than they were five years ago, with fewer CDs now carrying the words.

Read article in ist entirety.

Looking for something to mellow your mind? This just in from CL Promotions Manager Joran Oppelt:

“‘In the Raw,’ which had a successful three year run at the State Theatre before moving to the now-defunct Bank Nightclub for its fourth season, now returns to the State Theatre for one night only,” notes Oppelt. “A Tampa Bay version of MTV’s ‘Unplugged,’ the Sat., Aug. 23, show will include performances by Geri X, Tommy Sims (Win Win Winter), Katherine Kelly (Nous Rapport, Sons of Hippies), a special acoustic performance by Hat Trick Heroes and a few other very special surprises.”

I just got off the phone with William McKeen, author of the recently published Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. It’s an excellent biography that strips away the cartoonish facade and offers an insightful look at the gifted writer and troubled man. McKeen, who hung with HST on several occasions, had this to say about their first encounter, which took place when McKeen was teaching at Western Kentucky University in the late 1970s and interviewed the Gonzo god on stage at a speaking engagement.

“I suppose like others, I expected a mad-dog character,” McKeen said. “In fact, [HST] was polite, quiet, soft spoken, almost shy guy … Walking up backstage, his body changed. He became this loping figure, jerking his head around, trying to play up to role … Like all Hunter speaking engagements, it was a disaster. But he had to do them. He made more money from those than writing. I discovered how he lived from paycheck to paycheck. Even when he was at the top fo his game he lived hand to mouth.”

Look for my McKeen piece in the CL book issue that hist newsstands Aug. 13.

McKeen will be at Inkwood Books, Tampa, 7 p.m., Thurs., Aug. 14.

Here’s a clip of an HST fave.

My favorite new band, Fleet Foxes, just sent me a Facebook message. OK, it’s the same message that any and every one who “friends” them on Facebook received, but it’s still cool news. Dig:

“On Monday, August 4th, Fleet Foxes will be appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman! So tune in on CBS at 23:35 (although, technically musical performances are always the last act, so it’s only essential to tune in several minutes after midnight)!”

Read my Fleet Foxes review.

Local guitar hero Damon Fowler has inked a deal with venerable blues label Blind Pig (Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy). “Well, it’s been in the works for a long time,” Fowler says from a tour stop in Colorado. “I’ve been excited, but we’ve been in negotiations for a while. I’m just finally glad we got it done. I’m just relieved.”

Blind Pig is putting Fowler and his two band mates up for 10 days in Chicago to finish recording what will be the trio’s Blind Pig debut. Fowler has been told the label wants it ready for a January 2009 release. “They say that’s the best time to break a new artist,” Fowler says.

I just received an advance copy of the latest from brooding dance rock outfit The Dark Romantics. It’s titled Heartbreaker and will be the Lakeland quintet’s second full-length on Louisiana-based Lujo Records (The Fall of Troy, Look Mexico).

The disc features 13 tracks including “Heartbreaker PT 3” (the album opener), “Heartbreaker PT 2” and “Heartbreaker,” the latter of which can be heard here. It’s a noir-ish number with fascinating, fractured guitar work, echo-y drums and dreamy strings that wrap around singer Eric Collins’ hazy, Thom Yorke-esque croon. The disc drops Sept. 9. Look for my review of it back here in the near future. The Dark Romantics perform Sun., Aug. 31, Czar, Ybor City.

In honor of Sen. Barack Obama visiting St. Pete’s Gibbs High School today, here’s an oldie but goodie, “I Got a Crush … On Obama.”

For some serious Obama reading, check out Politcal Whore.

Around the world in one night.

Here’s a sip of my latest Bar Tab column, which is part of our home issue:

My ideal vacation would be spent imbibing internationally: guzzling wine, beer and spirits in different corners of the globe, traveling in a well-stocked private jet, staying at four-star hotels, sleeping with new, sexy, exotic women each night (while I’m dreaming might as well go big, right?).

But that’s not an option unless you’re Cristiano Ronaldo, Mick Jagger or, maybe, James Bond — and then you have to worry about catching bad guys in between swilling vodka martinis and romancing femme fatales.

A facsimile of the globe-tippling experience (minus the random sex with beautiful, anonymous strangers) can be enjoyed at EPCOT, but trust me, the Disney police will throw your ass out for being visibly shit-faced faster than you can say “Zhim-iny fuggin’ Cricket.”

So, in keeping with the theme of this week’s home issue, your humble bar correspondent has provided guidelines for a killer house party with global flair. It’s a simple concept and will cost considerably less than a trans-Atlantic flight or a visit to the Mouse House. Just equip each room with alcohol, decorations and music specific to the country of your choice. Here are some suggestions:

Read “Drink local, Act Global” in its entirety. 

It’s Thursday, which means time to start the weekend or at least begin planning the debauchery. In addition to my Amos Lee smackdown, I write about Atlanta rock quartet The Hiss and Snider does briefs on George Michael and Return to Forever. In Music Week, I have advances running on Lush Progress, Rock the Bells, Kill Hannah and numerous other worthwhile shows (well, except the Alter Bridge one and a couple others) taking place during the next seven days.

OK, I’m going to milk this Ann Powers/American Idol debate for all I can, and then maybe even some more. Quick recap: It started with my July 27 post “Debating Ann Powers, poptimism and American Idol.” The Toronto Globe and Mail’s music critic commented, prompting “Response to American Idol post.”

My pal at the St. Petersburg Times‘ couldn’t resist the bait and that led to “Sean Daly writing about me writing about him.” The latest reason for me to continue writing about myself comes courtesy of Idolator:

Powers’ talk about covering American Idol prompted Wade Tatangelo of Tampa’s Creative Loafing to point out the monetary aspects of such coverage:

Ann Powers wrote a fine essay . . . But she failed to mention that a potential reason daily music critics like the St. Petersburg Times’ Sean Daly are covering cheap reality TV like American Idol (Powers does, too, but more likely by choice, see below) is because they are no longer in a position to tell populist/desperate editors “no.” Arts critics are being laid off at even a faster clip than reporters. In fact, there’s not a single music critic job opening at a daily newspaper in the entire nation. I know critics rank right alongside lawyers in the receiving of sympathy department, but it’s grim folks.

Carl Wilson of the Toronto Globe and Mail and the blog Zoilus weighed in on both Powers’ piece and Tatangelo’s reply:

Idolator concludes its post with a comment with which I’m totally in agreement:

Still, the most salient point of all may be from Marc Hogan’s Tumblr, in which the freelancer (best known for his contributions to Pitchfork) spells it out even more plainly:

As anyone who knows anyone who has blogged about “American Idol” knows, you get more clicks blogging about “American Idol” than blogging about Steinski, Harvey Milk, or Fleet Foxes. So it’s not as if the turning tide toward “poptimism” among critics who want to be paid for our work is entirely un-self-interested.

Here’s the entire Idolator post.

The male Norah Jones plays it close to the vest.

Neo-soul singer/songwriter Amos Lee records for Blue Note, one of the most venerable jazz labels in music history. He’s shared a stage with Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello. Don Was, who has produced such titans as the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Brian Wilson and Willie Nelson, helmed Lee’s third record, Last Days at the Lodge, which came out in June and has reached a respectable No. 29 on the Billboard 200.

Despite the impressive resume, though, Lee divides critics in much the same manner as his label mate and benefactor Norah Jones.

During a recent phone interview, I decide to ask Lee about his lyrics, which have a tendency to read like greeting cards. It’s early in the conversation, and I choose my words carefully.

Me: There’s a positive vibe that courses through your music. Is that a conscious choice? Do you ever write darker material but decide not to release it?

Lee: Well, I really don’t monitor that kind of stuff. I just record the songs I write. I don’t shy away from certain topics or make a conscious effort to write positive.

For my next question, I attempt to bring some much-needed levity to the conversation, which is dangling in the air like Beijing smog.

Me: There are also quite a few romantic numbers on the new album ["Won't Let Me Go," "Baby, I Want You"]. Would you describe yourself as a ladies man?

Lee: Oh, I couldn’t answer that.

Me: Well, would your bandmates describe you as a ladies man?

Lee: You’ll have to call my bandmates for that one.

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This might be the coolest duet of my lifetime. Or at least of recent memory. Jack White and Alicia Keys are teaming up for the theme song to the upcoming James Bond flick Quantum of Solace, reports Billboard.com. White wrote, produced and will play drums on the song (which kinda makes you wonder how much drumming Meg actually does in the studio, right?). The tune is titled “Another way to Die.” The film opens November 7. The soundtrack drops Oct. 28. In keeping with my optimistic belief that the the White/Keys joint will totally rock here’s a tally of my favorite duets.

Top 10: Duets

1. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

2. “Summertime,” Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

3. “Pancho and Lefty,” Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard

4. “Under Pressure,” Queen and David Bowie

5. “Fairytale of New York,” Shane Magowan (The Pogues) with Kirsty MaColl

6. “Hunger Strike,”  Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell (Temple of the Dog)

7. “Jackson,” Johnny Cash and June Carter

8. “Love Hurts,” Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris

9. “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” 2Pac & Snoop Dogg

10. “Two Story House,” George Jones and Tammy Wynette

WHAT DID I MISS?

St. Petersburg Times pop music critic Sean Daly is the only person in town who might have an ego the size of mine, which is saying something, because mine is bigger than a Buick. Since he revealed to everyone that we are friends, a fact I was hoping to keep secret, I guess I better acknowledge that I do like the dude, even though he bums way too many, um, sticks of gum from me (sorry, Sean). Anyway, here’s what Daly wrote about me writing about him:

 I probably shouldn’t like this. But I’m such a vainglorious headcase, I totally dig being talked about like a misunderstood beast roaming the Serengeti. My friend/bad-habit enabler Wade Tatangelo, music critic at Creative Loafing, the alt-weekly in town, debates why daily (and Daly) music critics bother writing about such pap as American Idol.

Click here to read Daly’s entire post.

Rumors of Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series Volume 8 have been circulating for months on fan sites like Expecting Rain but now it’s official. And I, a huge Dyan fan, am stoked. To be honest, I already own almost everything on the track list but in far less superior sound quality than what Sony will provide. The set drops Oct. 7.

Click here for a free Dylan MP3.

BobDylan.com Exclusive Deluxe Edition Disc One

• 1. Mississippi 6:04 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
• 2. Most of the Time 3:46 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
• 3. Dignity 2:09 (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
• 4. Someday Baby 5:56 (Alternate version, Modern Times)
• 5. Red River Shore 7:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
• 6. Tell Ol’ Bill 5:31 (Alternate version, North Country soundtrack)
• 7. Born in Time 4:10 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
• 8. Can’t Wait 5:45 (Alternate version, Time Out of Mind)
• 9. Everything is Broken 3:27 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
• 10. Dreamin’ of You 6:23 (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
• 11. Huck’s Tune 4:09 (From Lucky You soundtrack)
• 12. Marchin’ to the City 6:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
• 13. High Water (For Charley Patton) 6:40
  (Live, August 23, 2003,Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)

Disc Two

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Back in 2000, Uncle John’s Band co-frontman Rich Whiteley released this beautiful batch of Deadhead-friendly originals that rank with the songs he regularly covers every Thursday at Skipper’s Smokehouse. The record ranges from laidback funk and fun “Raise the Roof” to space jams “Stargazer” to moving confessionals “As I Lay Dying.” Whiteley’s lyrics are mature and memorable and he’s in fine voice throughout the album. Co-producer Steve Connelly is all over the disc, sweetening the tracks with electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin and bass. 4 stars

It’s been more than a half-century since Little Richard Wayne Penniman and Specialty Records producer Bumps Blackwell went to New Orleans and made rock ’n’ roll history. Blackwell had clean lyrics fitted to Little Richards’ bawdy stage number “Tutti Frutti, Good Bootie” and the singer recorded it with Crescent City session stars like drummer Earl Drummer and saxophonist Lee Allen at famed Cosimo Studio (Fats Domino, Professor Longhair) in 1955. The resulting “Tutti Frutti” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Black Singles chart the following year (No. 17 on the Pop singles survey) — and influenced virtually every young musician who heard it, especially The Beatles.

Little Richard cut several dozen more juiced jump blues numbers for Specialty that played an integral role in defining rock ‘n’ toll. Less than two years later, after nearly dying in airplane crash, Little Richard refused to continuing making “the devil’s music.” He would return to secular music but never with much success although he remains a popular concert draw (and ad pitch man) to this day.  Listening to spruced-up versions of fireballs like “Long Tall Sally,” “Jenny Jenny” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly” is by no means a history lesson. It’s moving, joyous, sexy music that still resonates — especially below the hips. Since 1991, the essential Little Richard CD was the 25-track Georgia Peach.  The 25-track Very Best of Little Richard bests it thanks to superior fidelity and more informative liner notes. 5 stars

Release date: July 29; Click here to read my interview with Little Richard.

Here’s what Carl Wilson, an editor and critic at The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Canada, and the author of Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, had to say about my July 27 Ann Powers/American Idol post. He opined on his blog Zoilus:

At Creative Loafing’s Tampa Calling blog, Wade Tatangelo intelligently speculates that the trend may be economically based: With the crisis of critical authority brought on by the Internet and the (also ‘net-related) decline of newspaper sales, he says, critics are losing their jobs and those still employed are in more vulnerable positions: Maybe they take an interest in American Idol because they can’t afford not to? There’s something to that – I remarked in my book that unlike, say, an academic specialist, a working critic has to address a broad audience, and one who wrote only about the ultra-weird and never about the popular eventually would be out of a job. In the book I add “(rightly)”, but it’s debatable.

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Craig Finn is my generation’s Boss, and I’m cool with that. Watch him lead his band The Hold Steady through a fist-pumping performance of the title-track to the band’s new album Stay Positive at Pitchfork Fest in Chicago.Posted below the Pitchfork link is a clip of The Hold Steady’s “Killer Parties” encore from the band’s most recent Ybor City gig.

http://pitchfork.tv/live/pitchfork-music-festival-08/hold-steady-stay-positve

I’ve had my balls busted thoroughly by both Rabi at Reax and Stpetersblog, and loathe both of ‘em, but agree with ‘em that’s it’s totally fucked up to steal a man’s instrument, which in this case belonged to a member of Petrograd in Progress Transit (thanks Joey), which includes Stpetersblogger Ted Flynn. Here, and here, are the links. Get this man his instrument back.

Ann Powers wrote a fine essay on the music critic trend of “poptimism” titled “Pop music critics embrace the mainstream.” (L.A. Times). But she failed to mention that a potential reason daily music critics like the St. Petersburg Times’ Sean Daly are covering cheap reality TV like American Idol (Powers does, too, but more likely by choice, see below) is because they are no longer in a position to tell populist/desperate editors “no.” Arts critics are being laid off at even a faster clip than reporters. In fact, there’s not a single music critic job opening at a daily newspaper in the entire nation. I know critics rank right alongside lawyers in the receiving of sympathy department, but it’s grim folks.

Let me give you a first-person example. My title was “features writer/music critic” during my four years at the McClatchy-owned Bradenton Herald. About 18 months ago, I left for the greener pastures of CL, and to avoid covering American Idol, something I was asked to do and refused. I would have left regardless, I’ve had my eye on this CL gig for years, but the American Idol debate — I was offended it was even being mentioned as something the music critic should cover — sealed the deal. The full-time position at the Herald has since been eliminated like so many other “critics” gigs in Florida. Truth be told, if I was at The Herald today, in this job climate, and asked to cover American Idol, my response would quite possibly be different.

Now, a celebrated vet like Powers writes books with the likes of Tori Amos and probably has the fuck you money and job prospects to shoot down anything she deems beneath her. But most daily music critics are likely thinking twice before telling the boss to shove it when told to advance/review, say, the New Kids on the Block reunion tour. We already kinda sorta know where Daly stands on this one. Would his contempt be more pronounced even two years ago? Is poptimism the result of critics feeling the pressure to pander to a shrinking audience? And retain one of the scarcest jobs in America? On some level, at least, this has to be a factor.

On December 1, 1970, rock ‘n’ roll history was made at the old Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa. For the first and, by most accounts, only time, Duane Allman performed on stage with Derek & the Dominos, the supergroup featuring Slow Hand and Sky Dog. Ronny Elliott promoted the concert and has an interesting story about a backstage guitar transaction between Elliott, Duane and Clapton. Anyway, the historic concert kicked off with “Layla” and following “Key to the Highway” concludes with “Let it Rain.” If you’re a classic rock geek like me, this was a huge night, one that makes me want to suit up for the time machine.

The double-disc bootleg, Soul Mates (pictured), features an audience recording of the show. Click here for info on downloading the recording.  The clip below is the audio from Duane and Eric jamming in Miami during the recording of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. It’s set to a nice montage of some rare Duane photos, like the one of him lounging with his baby brother Gregg Allman.

Michael Hussey over at Pushing Rope has baited me into revealing some deep, dark secrets. “This is what happens when you make fun of a feminist’s undying love of Michael Jackson and Pussycat Dolls,” he writes. “The game is bloggers tag each other and name their five guiltiest musical pleasures on their iPod.” It’s Friday, I have a hangover. I’ll play along.

Top 5: Guilty Pleasures

1. “Dancing Queen,” ABBA

2. “Since U Been Gone,” Kelly Clarkson

3. “Milkshake,” Kelis

4. “How Do You Like Me Now?” Toby Keith

5. “Sugar, Sugar,” Archies

WHAT ARE YOUR GUILTY PLEASURES?

Most of the flower power generation has mellowed by this point, even the musicians. Not Neil Young. The antagonistic son of a famed sportswriter still displays the same fire that fueled topical anti-establishment classics like “Ohio” and “Campaigner.” Young displayed his latest one-finger salute to the man (and to a good chunk of his fanbase) on a 2006 jaunt with old cohorts David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.

Billed as the “Freedom of Speech Tour,” it found CSNY performing songs like “What Are Their Names?,” “Military Madness” and “Let’s Impeach the President” off Young’s recent solo album, Living with War, rather than recreating their quintessential live album, 4 Way Street. As should be expected by attendees paying top dollar for hits — not politicking — reactions were severe. In Atlanta, a third of the crowd reportedly walked out. This seems to have tickled the 62-year-old Canadian rocker/provocateur, who was documenting the tour for CSNY: Déjà Vu.

The concert doc – which is presented at Beach Theatre as a fundraiser for WMNF – focuses more on fan than performance footage. The flick features an “embedded” journalist recording the concertgoers’ reactions to the seeming bait-and-switch tactic that found them paying for a setlist rife with newly penned anti-war songs with only a relative few oldies (“Wooden Ships,” “Teach Your Children”) thrown in to minimize the sting. Did the rich rock star behave like a commendable rebel or a have-his-cake-and-eat-it-too lout? You decide. Fri., Aug. 1, 7 and 9:15 p.m., 315 Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach, $8, 727-360-6697, beachtheatre.com.

This week I attended the foolishness known as Flugtag, interviewed local rockers Hat Trick Heroes, wrote about Mastodon coming to town and lots more fun stuff. Here are the links:

• Bar Tab: Flugtag follies. More sun than fun.

• Hat Trick Heroes revel in their youth.

• Mastodon brings the mayhem.

• Mark Knopfler to leave Ruth Eckerd Hall in “dire straits.”

• Tampa Calling: the local music column.

• Skipper’s hosts a Midnight Bowlers League.

• Brooks & Dunn, Matt Butcher and more in Music Week.

• Get a history lesson (DVD review).

Back in May, I reported that Gregg Allman was “on the road to recovery.” Today it became official, which is great news for us ABB enthusiasts. The original jam band resumes touring after an 11-month break prompted by the singer/keyboardist/guitarist and former Bradenton resident’s Hepatitis C treatment. Here’s the press release including a quote from Allman regarding his condition. There are no Florida dates posted yet but there’s an opening in early October that will likely result in a local stop.

Rock and roll icons THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND will make their triumphant return to the concert stage this summer, with two dozen shows booked from August 12 through October 11.  On the first leg of dates, the group will share the stage with Bob Weir & RatDog, with Phil Lesh and Friends on board for the second leg.

The August 12 show in Bethel, NY will mark the first group performance since last September’s featured guest spot at Farm Aid (9/9/07), which followed a Piedmont Park appearance in Atlanta (9/8/07) with the Dave Matthews Band.  Late last year after the group’s summer tour, group co-founder, keyboardist and singer GREGG ALLMAN underwent treatment for Hepatitis C.  ALLMAN battled through two months of debilitating Interferon treatments but has made a complete recovery and is now disease-free.  “I feel great, man,” says ALLMAN.  “The treatment really kicks you in the ass but I came out stronger.  I’m ready to play.”  Hepatitis C is a blood-borne disease that affects approximately four million people in the U.S. alone and can cause liver cancer or necessitate a transplant.  Due to the side effects of the aggressive Interferon treatment, the group had to postpone their annual run of dates at the Beacon Theatre in New York City as well as performances at Bonnaroo and their own Wanee Festival in Florida.
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WMNF (88.5) has always been good about playing local artists but rarely does one top the radio station’s playlists. So it warrants mention to note that Will Quinlan, who I interviewed last month, topped the tally with his excellent Navasota album on Mon., July 21. Here’s the chart:

 WMNF 88.5 Tampa playlist, July 21, 2008

eclectic, independent and 70,000 watts

Randy Wynne PD, Flee MD, Mike B altMD  813-238-8001

ADDS IN BOLD

1)      Will Quinlan and the Diviners  – Navasota  – Self-Release (12)

2)      Hayes Carll  -Trouble In Mind – Lost Highway  (9)

3)      Alejandro Escovedo  – Real Animal  – Back Porch  (7)

4)      Old 97s -  Blame It On Gravity  -  New West  (7)

5)      Austrian Death Machine -  Total Brutal  -  Metal Blade  (7)

6)      Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis – Two men With the Blues – Blue Note  (6)

7)      Emmylou Harris – All I Intended To Be – Nonesuch  (6)

8)      My Morning Jacket  -  Evil Urges -  ATO  (6)

9)      Various Artists  -  Cheatin’ Heart: Tales of Lies & Love – BAAMO (6)

10)     Quiet Village  -  Silent Movie  -  IK7  (6)

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Who: Benji Hughes

Seven-word description: Detailed, witty narratives delivered over psychedelic electropop.

Should appeal to fans of: Beck, Flaming Lips, people with beer guts.

Isn’t he on the same label as alt-country acts like Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle? Yes, but there’s nothing twangy about Hughes. What he does share with his labelmates, though, is a gift for lyric writing.

Breakout CD: A Love Extreme

Release date/label: July 22/New West

Listen to the track “You Stood Me Up.”

Former Sex Pistol Johnny “Rotten” Lydon has been accused of “an unprovoked racist attack” by Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke. The backstage brawl took place at the Summercase Festival in Barcelona. Lydon has responded by saying, “our audience… are multi-varied, all ages, all races, creeds and colours,” reports MTV UK. When you are at a festival with bands who are jealous fools, lies and confusion usually follow.”

Which, to my ears, at least, sounds a lot like “some of my best friends are black.”

Here’s the interview I did with Okereke last year. Check out the second to last paragraph where he discusses the “burly white male who does this job he hates, and his only bit of fun is starting fights with people.”

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OK, I am a little confused on this one. I just received an email from a legit PR firm that reads:

Two weeks before the release of Conor Oberst’s highly anticipated solo album Conor Oberst, the album will be available for streaming in its entirety on www.conoroberst.com and www.mergerecords.com. These streams will be active from Monday July 21st.

Well, today is Mon., July 21 but neither of the websites listed above are streaming the album. ConorOberst.com, though, is streaming the songs “Danny Callahan” and “Souled Out!!” And I dig ‘em, both. They’re very roots rock while at the same time Oberst smart. More important, to me, at least, Oberst sounds like he’s getting off in that old rock ‘n’ roll kinda way. Especially on “Souled Out!!!,” where I detect a sexy swagger in the singer’s voice — and the brawny guitar riff is pure classic rock.

But what about the album streaming in its entirety? Stay tuned. I just emailed Oberst’s PR people.

Tampa Bay singer/songwriter Rebekah Pulley has completed a fresh full-length and it’s a beauty. Titled Back To Boogaloo, the album is a brilliant folk-rock affair marked by smart storytelling, expressive vocals, pop hooks and spot-on instrumentation. Pulley, who self-penned each number, has delivered her strongest album to date.

Co-producer/guitar virtuoso/keyboardist Steve Connelly is all over the disc, which was expertly recorded at his Zen Recording Studio in Pinellas Park. Another prominent component is the gorgeous piano and Hammond B3 contributions by Ryan Arsenault (Vodkanauts). In fact Pulley’s entire Reluctant Prophets band, including members “past, present and future” offer excellent accompaniment throughout. In addition to Connelly and Arsenault, the players are Robert Pastore (bass), Sandi Grecco (drums), Ted Lukas (guitar) and Jasmine Conrad (backing vocals).

The full-length also features a touching, twangy duet with Ronny Elliott titled “Tumbleweed.” Back to Boogaloo will be released Sept. 5; the same day WMNF 88.5 will host a CD release party for Pulley at Skipper’s Smokehouse.

I’ve attended some lame shit over the years. Poorly planned house parties, disastrous dates, a live sex show in the French Quarter that didn’t feature any actual fucking. But few events have struck me as silly as the Red Bull Flugtag spectacle that took place Saturday at the Tampa Convention Center.

By this point, I’m sure you heard about it. Thirty-six teams built would-be flying machines and ran them off a 30-foot high pier into the notoriously dirty ass Hillsborough River. One or more person piloted the aircraft  and took the plunge. Teammates typically jumped in the brown water after their apparatus for shits and giggles. I stood in the sun, cooking, cringing and losing faith in humanity, myself included.

I kept thinking of that old parental saying about if everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you? In Tampa, apparently that’s the case. Organizers expected a crowd of 50,000 to witness people place themselves in a flimsy contraption and then be willingly hurled into a body of water deemed not fit for swimming. More than 100,000 suckers, myself included, attended.

One of those participants was my coworker, London, the woman pictured working on building an aircraft out of newspaper. Good gawd. Creative Loafing entered the competition as the Bread Winners. Countless hours went into building what they billed as the Flying Cuban Sandwich. “We are closing in on the big day,” reads a message from “The Captain” posted on the Bread Winners’ website July 14. “We still have some work to do in order to make everything originally envisioned a reality, but in another evening we should be all but done.

“The pilot [London] and I spent another night getting some finishing details knocked out after work with a couple of cold beers. We had a mock assembly of our flying Cuban and it was quite a site to behold.”

The damn thing didn’t even have wings. Well, kinda, but they were about as wide as oars. From where I was perched Saturday afternoon it looked like a giant coffin and had me seriously worried that London would not emerge from it, or if she did it would be with some kinda severe spinal or brain injury. Or with a limb missing.

“You know it’s not too late to back out,” I told her about 20 minutes before she took the fall.

“I can’t,” she said, more than a hint of fear in her voice.

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Highly talented singer/songwriter Geri X returns from an extended stay in Wisconsin to delight local fans with her poignant indie-folk offerings. She  performs tonight at Globe Coffee Lounge in St. Petersburg on a killer lineup featuring Ronny Elliott, Can’t Do It, Rebekah Pulley (her new album is amazing, more on that later), and Acho Brother. Here’s what Geri X sent me earlier this week:

We are coming home (I’m actually already home but the band is coming down later this month) and we’ll be playing a ton of shows … We leave for Wisconsin again in September but we come home in late December for a couple of months before we hit the road for a very, very long tour. I love coming home to friendly people and warm fans that have been missing us. Wisconsin has been tough but we got to play some huge festivals (Steel Bridge Song Fest, Summerfest etc.) So I guess the struggle was all worth it. But I just needed to come home, recharge the batteries and hopefully see that some people still cared about us. I love it.

Listen to Geri X perform here.

Here’s a list of upcoming her upcoming shows:

July 18th- Globe Coffee Lounge -7pm
with: Ronny Elliott, Can’t Do It, Rebekah Pulley, Acho Brother
August 1st- Sacred Grounds- 8pm-10pm
August 1st- Rasher Tierny’s – 11pm
with: Have Gun, Will travel and more *feline benefit!!
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Welcome to my world.

It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, and I’ve been legally drunk for the past 66 hours. I’m in my SoHo apartment downing a midday chardonnay. My place is a single man’s mess of empty wine, beer and scotch bottles. Scuffed cowboy boots, faded Chuck Taylors, wife-beaters of varying degrees of cleanliness, CDs, DVDs, old newspapers, creased magazines, half-read books, half-filled reporter notebooks, cap-less pens, cigarette lighters, and an ancient Swiss Army pocketknife are strewn about the living room futon, coffee table and hardwood floor. A pair of dirty shot glasses is near the stereo. I can spot a piece of stemware — which, amazingly, looks to be unbroken — under the TV stand. There’s a bra in the kitchen garbage bin.

Click here to continue reading.

Tom Petty takes the stage at 9:10 and leads the Heartbreakers through a barn-burning “You Wreck Me” that starts out full blast and then eases into a hot simmer before exploding again. The Gainesville native is in fine voice, delivering each line with plenty of ‘tude as he swings his guitar and kicks his leg. Great opening salvo.

“You think you’re going to take her away with your money and your cocaine,” Petty snarls. That’s right, she’s going to “Listen to Her Heart.” Boy, I can already tell it’s going to be very hard during the next two hours not to be that guy singing along to every lyric. Did I mention the band sounds excellent and mix is perfect? It’s a rattling backbeat topped by those gorgeous, jangling guitars. Monster applause.

9:25 Update: Petty stands his ground

“Good to be back in Florida,” Petty says. “Be prepared. You’re in for a long rock ‘n’ roll show.” And with that we’re treated to “Won’t Back Down,” which has about 15,00 fans singing along —including me — to the killer chorus of perseverance. Dig the steel guitar.

“This next song comes from 1979,” Petty says. “This song comes from an album we did called Damn the Torpedoes.” And I’ll be damned if it’s not another one of my faves. That’s right, “Even the Losers” get lucky some time.The song’s nearly two decades old and Petty’s singing each word like he wrote ‘em last night. Talk about a “feel good” anthem. I’m grinning like a fool.

9:35 Update: Falling for Petty

“Thank you so much,” Petty says. “We have so many friends and family backstage.” He then notes that he doesn’t usually do this song and then dedicates it to a relative. The opening gives me chills. It’s “Free Fallin’” and the energy is reaching the rafters. A sea of arms wave back and forth and, yes, a feeling of pure rock ‘n’ roll freedom fills the arena as a lovely keyboard part plays. Can Petty really maintain this level of bliss for two hours? This might be the most entertaining opening 30 minutes of a concert I’ve ever witnessed. Seriously. Petty is ON. These old hits sound so fresh and liberating.

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Concert Review
Tom Petty w/Steve Winwood
Wed., July 16, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa

Tom Petty could have probably done his current arena tour with a no-name opener but instead opted for Steve Winwood, a rock ’n’ roll veteran with a history-making resume that includes stints in the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith, plus a successful solo career in the 1980s. Maybe we’d been better off with an up-and-comer, though.

7:35 Update: Winwood finds his faith

Winwood, on organ and lead vocals, takes the stage and promptly leads his band through a tedious jazz-rock workout laced with extended flute runs. The next number is the Spencer Davis Group hit “I’m a Man” but it’s stretched out into another meandering yawn that’s just slightly more vibrant than the opener. Winwood’s backing unit includes two percussionists and a flute/sax player that render each song a fusion-style bore. Things finally improve at 7:50 when Winwood offers a heartfelt reading of the Blind Faith classic “Can’t Find My Way Home,” which benefits from the slow-burning sax playing coursing through the sweet, familiar melody.

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I’ve somehow gone my entire life without seeing Tom Petty. That will change tonight and I’m stoked. I’ll be live blogging from the St. Pete Times Forum so check back for updates. In the meantime, here it is, the 10 songs that I consider his greatest contributions to the rock canon. Yeah, I’m mostly a hits guy with Petty. Although “Breakdown” has always annoyed me. Not sure why.

Top 10: Tom Petty songs

1. “American Girl”

2. “Southern Accents”

3. “Refugee”

4. “I Won’t Back Down”

5. “You Took My Breath Away” (Traveling Wilburys)

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The singer/songwriter’s new disc will be titled Red Letter Year and issued on her own Righteous Babe label Sept. 20 30, reports Billboard.com. DiFranco alluded to the album when I interviewed her for an April cover story.

What projects do you have planned for the future?

In a couple days I’m going to go in the studio with the band, and we’re going to put a new record together. I’m also slowly recording [an album of] music for infants. I want to make something ambient to soothe infants — instrumental, very ambient. I started working on it when I was spending months with my infant. I sort of became aware that I wanted to make a record I wish I had to soothe her and help her sleep. I figure since I’ve made so much music over the years to wake people up, it was about time to make something to put them to sleep.

Click here to read my entire DiFranco interview.

Tampa Bay’s best band, Have Gun, Will Travel, recently had its song “Blessing and a Curse” featured on National Public Radio’s Second Stage program. “I can’t think of a better name for a country-folk band…” intones NPR host Robin Hilton at the top of the segment. “They’re from Florida. Their music has a great energy to it with some infectious, sing along choruses and refrains.”

Here’s where you can download Hilton’s glowing introduction and HGWT’s “Blessing and a Curse.”

From NPR.org:

Have Gun, Will Travel’s Matthew Burke.

NPR.org, July 11, 2008 – Tampa Bay-based alt-country group Have Gun, Will Travel began as the solo project of lead singer and songwriter Matthew Burke, but has since become a full band. Burke put out HGWT’s self-titled debut release on his own in 2006. For the band’s sophomore release, Casting Shadows Tall as Trees, he’s assembled a group of six players, including his brother, Daniel Burke on bass. Casting Shadows is steeped in the country twinges of lap steel, harmonica, banjo, strings, and acoustic guitars. The record’s true strength is its artful tributes to classic westerns, tying the album stylistically and thematically to the wild-west in all its gun-blazing glory..

• Click here to view the new HGWT page on NPR.org in its entirety.

• Click here to read my HGWT feature story that ran in April, and here for a concert review of the band’s CD release party at Crowbar.

• Click here to enjoy more songs from HGWT’s excellent full-length debut Casting Shadows Tall As Giants.

• HGWT performs Sat., July 19 at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa as part of WMNF’s 3rd Annual Americana Fest.

Seeing Sounds
N.E.R.D.
Interscope
On the third album by the Neptunes’ more rock-oriented side project N.E.R.D. — think Parliament vs. Funkadelic — Pharell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay serve up a sonic spread that’s groove-rich in an old-school funk way, yet frenzied enough to appeal to the ADHD set. Fuzz guitar, deep space synths, booty bass, found sounds and computer creations form an intoxicating party vibe. Problem is, like on previous N.E.R.D. discs, lowest-common-denominator lyrics delivered in flat raps and pedestrian singing are all over the place — making you wish this outing was instrumental only. 2.5 stars

Tampa Bay-based Mohawk Bomb Records just issued its debut disc, an impressive compilation dubbed No Lip Vol. 1. The 13-track CD features bands running the rock gamut: alternative, indie, punk, emo, power pop, garage, screamo and Goth. Five of the acts are local: Soulfound, Adrift, Anareta, Knowing Stu and Drew Street Mary, all of which contribute winning numbers. The rest of the bands are from across the country and Canada, with the scrappy garage rockers Pirate Love calling Norway home.

“Mohawk Bomb Records is a new kind of indie label, trying to figure out how to outmaneuver the current music industry business model without having to drain our artists souls,” reads the letter sent to CL by label founder/Soulfound singer/bassist Ivan Pena. “We are driven to succeed on our own terms and bring new texture to the bland pourage that is the pop music sonicscape. We believe in 1) open communication 2) transparent accounting 3) using technology to drive music distribution and 4) reinvesting in our bands.”

Perusing the headlines today makes me wanna hit the Xanax bottle and crawl back in bed with a fantasy novel. How can you read “Scramble led to mortgage plan rescue (NYT),” “Ailing sentiment hits dollar and global stocks (FT.com),”  “Dollar slumps to record low against euro on U.S. sector woes (Forbesm.com)” and not feel a hangman’s knot in your stomach?

How does one cope? Well, besides thoroughly self-medicating yourself with drugs and escapist novels, the only other option is good music, and, in my case, blogging and writing. So let’s get past the gloom and doom and have a little fun — if you can call it that — with songs that speak to our country’s current economic woes.

 Top 10: Songs about the economy

1. “Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man),” Randy Newman

2. “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” Bruce Springsteen

3. “No Depression,” The Carter Family/Uncle Tupelo

4. “Working Man Blues,” Merle Haggard

5. “Storm of Worry,” Sonny Landreth

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Here are some more pics from the Vans Warped Tour that went down Friday, July 11, at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg:

Headline making Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy. Too bad his girl, Katy Perry, was a no-show Friday.

Gym Class Heroes flag/hype man Marc DeJesus (left) and bassist Eric Roberts offer a one-finger salute in honor of the asshole who led to McCoy’s arrest.

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Gainesville-based punk band Against Me! delivered a gloriously powerful performance Friday at the Vans Warped Tour, Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Against Me! lead singer Tom Gabel (pictured, left) was raised in Naples and the audience included friends and family in addition to thousands of fans. (The publicist told me they expected 14,000 concertgoers. I’d say 10,000 of them are enrolled at local high schools. Yep, I felt old).

That said, I had a blast watching Against Me!’s intense, precision-attack, 40-minute set and was also impressed by Gym Class Heroes and The Dollyrots. Incidentally, Katy Perry was a no-show. The publicist on site said she had to be back in New York but wouldn’t say why. Gym Class Heroes dudes didn’t offer any reason, either.

Posted below are my Against Me! pics, including this one of Gabel taking a break from lifting weights backstage pre-show to pose with the Loaf. I’ll be posting photos of Gym Class Heroes, The Dollyrots and We The Kings later in the day.

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The Vans Warped Tour arrives in Vinoy Park today and I’m stoked, went out this morning and purchased sunscreen and everything. I already interviewed Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel for this week’s Creative Loafing cover story and might be speaking to a couple other acts today, in addition to watching ‘em perform. The plan is to put up a blog post late this afternoon and then more coverage in the evening and/or tomorrow morning.

Anybody attending? Other than Against Me!, Gym Class Heroes, Katy Perry, and Bradenton’s We the Kings, what other cats do you recommend I check out?

Click here for more on Against Me!

Click here for today’s complete Vans Warped Tour roster.

Click here for the official Van Warped Tour page dedicated to today’s gig (includes directions to Vinoy Park, ticket buying info, etc.)

After reading the numerous comments on Eric Snider’s controversial Dave Matthews Band post I decided to visit the Ford Amphitheatre yesterday to check out DMB. Maybe magic would occur and I’d be converted. I hoped that would happen. I really did. But no such luck.

My DMB experience lasted exactly 1.75 songs.

The opening number was the hit “Don’t Drink the Water.” Dave’s over-the-top bellowing was barely overshadowed by the dudes (they appeared my age, mid 20s to early 30s) singing along behind me.I didn’t dig the song when it blanketed the airwaves and MTV a decade ago and in concert yesterday it featured some of the most off-putting vocal histrionics that I’ve ever heard.

The next number was an instrumental featuring a Kenny G-ish sax solo that turned my stomach. That was it. Check, please. I’m going home. The mostly fresh faced crowd’s enthusiastic (to put it midly) reaction to the jazz fusion noodling stung me in the same way as seeing Dubya get reelected. But at least I could blame that national blunder on older generations. These were my people truly enjoying music that truly grated. Like soft rock must have hurt people in the 1970s. More than anything, it saddened me, made me feel out of touch with mainstream America, y’know?

I’m  appearing THIS MORNING between 10 a.m. and 11 on Tampa Bay’s 10’s Studio 10 (click here and read host Holley Sinn’s humorous post previewing my segment). If time permits, perhaps I’ll discuss my disastrous DMB experience.  

Lastly, I like the opener Gomez but yesterday the vocals were muddled in the mix and I just wasn’t feeling the performance. Props to Dave for personally introducing the band but that still didn’t lure the vast majority of pavilion-seat-ticket-holders in to see the British rockers’ set. And I can imagine staring out into a sea of empty seats isn’t exactly inspiring.

Here are some more excellent pics taken by James Ostrand.

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Here’s my cover story interview with Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel, the debut of my local-music-centric column Tampa Calling, plus links to Bar Tab, Spins, Music Week and more stories from the latest issue of Creative Loafing. Enjoy.

• Bar Tab: Swept away. Baseball, beer and father-son bonding.

• They’re Against Me! Florida’s best band gets Warped.

• Top 10 Florida Acts.

• Complete Vans Warped Tour lineup.

• Wade’s new calling. Tampa Calling: First it was a blog, now it’s a column.

• The Hold Steady Stay Positive and more record reviews in Spins.

• Tom Petty free-falls at the Forum (by Eric Snider).

• Vans Warped Tour, 2 Live Crew and more in Music Week.

• Or just peruse the entire Music Section.

Modern Guilt
BECK
DGC
Beck, one of the most consistently brilliant pop stars of his generation, teams with producer-of-the-moment Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and sparks the size of mushroom clouds oughta fly, right? Then again, rock history is littered with less than spectacular super groupings and pairings: Velvet Revolver, Audioslave, 90 percent of Willie Nelson’s duets. So it really shouldn’t surprise that Beck’s new disc Modern Guilt doesn’t dazzle.

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The Boston Phoenix recently ran an intriguing, exhaustive piece titled “50 Bands, 50 States,” which names the best acts within every state in three categories. For Florida, the New England alt-weekly dubbed Lynyrd Skynyrd “All-Time Best Band,” Tom Petty “All-Time Best Solo Artist” and the Miami metal outfit Torche “Best New Band.” Pretty cool idea. Had us buzzing at the office for a day or two last week. Here’s my variation on the concept: a list of Top 10 Florida acts, with the caveat that they must be currently based in Florida. (This counts out Petty, who fled to California decades ago.) Here’s the tally, in alphabetical order:

Against Me!
Gainesville
The Gator Country quartet has broken big this year, rising from the indie ranks to international recognition without losing a shred of smarts or punk attitude. Few major label debuts have been as assured and gratifying as Against Me!’s 2007 release New Wave, which features standout tracks like “Thrash Unreal,” “White People For Peace” and the funky (by white people standards) “Stop.”

Black Kids
Jacksonville
The MySpace buzz band may never live up to the hype, but I still dig the quintet’s irresistible brand of New Wave-inspired dance-rock. Plus, you got to like songs about a gal getting caught after dark in the park “giving head to a statue” (“Underestimated My Charm.”)

Cat Power (pictured)
Miami
Chan Marshall might have been born in Hot ’Lanta, but she resides in Miami, according to her website, and stayed at the psychiatric ward of Miami’s Mount Sinai Medical Center, according to a 2006 Spin magazine profile, so, y’know she’s ours. A sad sack? Sure. But the girl can give you chills, and the indie soul of The Greatest is sadcore brilliance.

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In honor of this past weekend, which I would’ve liked to see last, I don’t know, the rest of the summer, here’s the greatest song ever about Independence Day bliss.Long live The Boss.

 ”4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band, Hammersmith Odeon, London, 1975

This past doozy of a three-day weekend/bender continued Saturday with five local acts performing at the CL in Concert’s Independence Fest. The bash took place at the State Theatre. I arrived in time to catch emotive math rockers Military Junior turn in a taut, frisky performance that brought me to the lip of the stage.

The trio recently posted a new song, “Unconventional,” on its website and is recording a full-length they hope to have ready for release by October. “It’s going to be a little more mainstream sounding,” said singer/guitarist Jason Schultz (pictured left).

He and I had just finished watching alt-country ensemble Have, Gun Will Travel deliver yet another set that left me wondering why this Bradenton band isn’t in a balls-out bidding war with New West, Bloodshot and Lost Highway. Incidentally, HGWT is meeting with a prospective manager who has the juice to make such a thing happen.

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Tres Bien bassist Cody Michael Wilson (pictured) won the hot dog eating contest at the Hot Dog Show Friday, July 3 at Crowbar in Ybor City.

Much to the crowd’s amazement, he threw 16 wieners down the hatch. And then disappeared. People feared the worst.

Shortly before his band performed, Wilson puked up the tubed beef and $5 liters he’d consumed so recklessly earlier in the evening. His face was a whiter shade of pale shortly prior to taking the stage but he turned in a spirited performance nonetheless.

I was very impressed.

OK, folks, the 4th of July bender that began Wednesday night with the Rays game and hit its stride Thursday with the Hot Dog Show (for me, at least) continues this evening with Creative Loafing’s Independence Fest.

See ya there.

Here’s the skinny:

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She’s the snarky sexpot responsible for the Jill Sobule rip-off “I Kissed a Girl,” which just topped the Billboard Hot 100 again.

I’m not a big fan of the girl-on-girl-action tune but do find myself chuckling at Perry’s hipster-hating ditty, “Ur So Gay.” It features the chorus, “You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys” and other delectable lines like:

You don’t eat meat
And drive electrical cars
You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art
You need SPF 45 just to stay alive

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This arrived too late to make it in Music Week, so I’m just going to drop a lazy blog post (hey, I’ve got an Against Me! cover story to write, folks, and it’s due tomorrow and tonight I’m going to the Trop to watch the Rays once again humiliate the BoSox). Anyway, here’s the skinny from THX MGMT:

(TAMPA, FL) – Rising independent U.K. rock band Dead Maids, a group currently drawing comparisons to such revered acts as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sonic Youth and Explosions in the Sky, will perform at storied Ybor City music venue New World Brewery on Saturday, July 5. The group is wrapping up its first U.S. tour.
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An interview with the frontman of Harry and the Potters, Bar Tab, Music Week, Spins … Here’s what I have running in the new issue of Creative Loafing:

Bar Tab: You are what you drink. The men’s edition.

Harry and the Potters conjure up wizard rock.

Celebrate Independence Fest at State Theatre.

Fleet Foxes are a breath of sonic fresh air (Spins, CD review).

Take an All Music Guide through rap and hip-hop (book review).

KRS-One, The Radiators, Pat Benatar, Red Room Cinema, Hot Dog Show, Tribal Style and more in Music Week.

Click here to peruse entire Music Section.

Internationally acclaimed Tampa singer/songwriter Ronny Elliott has again been selected to perform at The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, July 9-13, Okemah, Oklahoma (Guthrie’s birthplace). Judy Collins, Jimmy LaFave, Amy Speace, Ramsay Midwood, Butch HancockThe Flatlanders), Annie Guthrie and many more are also on the lineup.

There will be a “Help send Ronny to Okemah” house concert 4 p.m. Sun., July 6 in the Westshore/Gandy area of South Tampa. It’s free but donations for Elliott are “encouraged and appreciated!” Space for the concert is limited. If you’re interested in attending RSVP to Gloria at gshello@tampabay.rr.com.

Which would you choose as Florida’s greatest rock act of all time?

Senior Editor Eric Snider nearly choked on a piece of apple when I told him Skynyrd. He’s a Petty guy. I like Petty but prefer pre-airplane crash Skynyrd. Plus, it’s fun to debate Snider, who despises the band responsible for “Free Bird.”

“We’re gonna have to pick up this conversation when I finish eating,” he barked. “You’re turning my stomach.”

Snider and I were in agreement, though, that the Allman Brothers Band should receive the honor if you count them as a Florida act (formed in Jacksonville).

Best Florida rock band right now? Against Me! (scroll down). All the way. Look for my interview with the band’s lead singer, Tom Gabel, in the Creative Loafing that hits newsstands July 9.

Best new Florida band? Have Gun, Will Travel.

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Jay-Z is the man. He’s chosen to headline the Glastonbury Fest, which is like the Bonnaroo of Europe, and one of the pricks from Oasis shoots his mouth off about the Brooklyn rapper not being an appropriate fit for the gig. Here’s how the class act responded. From Billboard.com:

The choice of the U.S. rapper to perform on the main stage at a festival best known for its guitar-based rock acts was widely criticized, and Oasis‘ Noel Gallagher riled the musician by saying the organizers were wrong to pick him.

Jay-Z’s response was emphatic. He opened his show with a film using Gallagher’s now infamous comments and a montage of clips parodying him, before launching into an acoustic rendition of one of Oasis’s biggest hits, “Wonderwall.” Most fans and critics were impressed.

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Stay Positive
THE HOLD STEADY
Vagrant
It’s hard not to root for The Hold Steady. Especially if you’re from Tampa and regularly frequent Ybor City. The intelligent booze-rockers may call Brooklyn home but our famed entertainment district surfaces in so many of singer/songwriter Crag Finn’s tunes — most notably the band’s signature jam “Killer Parties” — that it’s like listening to one of our own. And then there are the joyous concerts The Hold Steady have thrown in Ybor, like the one in January at Czar Bar, which concluded with about 100 people joining the quintet on stage.

The band’s latest and greatest album, Stay Positive — currently available on iTunes; CD drops July 15 — also includes a couple local references. “Don’t tell ’em Ybor City almost killed us again,” Finn sings on the closing track, “Slapped Actress,” over a guitar-and-keyboard wall of sound straight from E Street. “Don’t mention Tampa, they’ll just know all the rest,” Finn sings on another verse of the same brilliant song. It’s a cinematic number inspired by the John Cassevetes flick Opening Night, which depicts a Broadway star on the verge of a nervous breakdown after witnessing the death of a fan. Finn documents desperation better than most.

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The Rage Against the Machine axe man’s solo disc, The Fabled City, will be released Sept. 30 via Epic Records. System of the Down’s Serj Tankian and Shooter Jennings (sweet) appear on the album.

Here’s the press release, which includes quotes from Morello (aka The Nightwatchman) and the CD track list:

June 30th, 2008 — New York, New York — Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine is set to release the solo album, The Fabled City, September 30th, 2008 via Epic Records.  The 11-song set is the anticipated follow up to the 2007 The Nightwatchman debut One Man Revolution.  Now being billed as Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman, the album is the first release to bear the political and social activist’s birth name. The Fabled City was produced by Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam) and features appearances by System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Shooter Jennings.
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Toby Keith w/Montgomery Gentry, Sat., June 28, Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa

Toby Keith looked tired Saturday at the Ford Amphitheatre. Not physically tired from, say, doing too many curls before picking up his guitar and hitting the stage, but tired from singing the same songs, writing more songs, touring extensively, and doing the same redneck schtick in the spotlight for years now while simultaneously running a record company and trying to launch a film career.

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Tampa singer/songwriter Ronny Elliott has issued plenty of gems since launching an internationally acclaimed solo career in the 1990s. It’s hard for a serious fan like me to pick a best album of his, or a greatest song, but “Burn, Burn, Burn” is clearly a favorite of mine. And deserves to finally have it’s own video (well, sorta). One that’s as humorous as the song is gripping. It’s posted here at Brink.com.

Well, it’s Year of the Gun. For the first time in history the Supreme Court has defined the Second Amendment as defending every Tom, Dick and Hillary’s right to own a gun — not just Militia persons, which is how the amendment reads to me:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

If everyone is going to be armed to the teeth, though, why not me? Any suggestions? Anyway, here are some songs that celebrate our country’s rather disturbing fascination with firearms.

Top 10: Songs about guns

1. “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” The Beatles

2. “Time to Get a Gun,” Fred Eaglesmith

3. “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” Warren Zevon

4. “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” Warren Zevon

5. “Pistol Packin’ Papa,” Jimmie Rodgers

Read the rest of this entry »

Local hip-hop duo Blac Soap, country king Toby Keith and more. Here’s what I have running in this week’s Creative Loafing:

• Bar Tab: You Are What You Drink … The ladies’ edition.

• Blac Soap: So fresh, so clean.

• My Morning Jacket issues its best album to date.

• Toby Keith saddles up at Ford Ampitheatre.

• Win Win Winter and Tres Bien dive into Neptune’s Lounge.

• Maserati, The Fixx and more in Music Week.

• Pink Floyd at its peak.

• Click here to peruse entire Music Section.

Anyone who reads my Bar Tab column knows I’m quite fond of whiskey, especially Irish whiskey. As a rule, I only drink wine and beer during the week, but this week has been a royal bugger and I think tonight I might have to cuddle with my sweetie Jamie. Or, better yet, finally drink the 12-year-old single malt whisky a dear and kind coworker brought me back from her trip to Scotland.

Top 10: Whiskey songs

1. “Whiskey River,” Willie Nelson

2. “Whiskey in the Jar,” Thin Lizzy

3. “Whiskey Bent and Hellbound,” Hank Williams Jr.

4. “Tennessee Whiskey,” George Jones

5. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” John Lee Hooker

6. “Whiskey Lullaby,” Brad Paisley with Alison Krauss

7. “Streams of Whiskey,” The Pogues

8. “Lace and Whiskey,” Alice Cooper

9. “Snortin’ Whiskey,” Pat Travers

10. “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

WHAT DID I MISS?

Former Flat Duo Jet (and one-time Venice, Fla., resident) Dexter Romweber, who I interviewed here, has inked a deal with the venerable cow punk label Bloodshot. St. Petersburg’s own Brett Steele of Steele Management (Mojo Gurus, Blind Buddy Moody, Some Dancing Skeleton), manages Romweber. The roots rock hero’s debut disc for the label will feature dutes with Cat Power’s Chan Marshall and Neko Case, among others.

Here’s the press release from Steele:

AMERICAN MUSIC LEGEND DEX ROMWEBER SIGNS MULTI-ALBUM DEAL WITH BLOODSHOT RECORDS NEW ALBUM FEATURES CAT POWER, NEKO CASE AND EXENE CERVENKA 

SUMMER TOUR ANNOUNCED!

 

Bloodshot Records and Dex Romweber announce the signing of a multi-album deal – a match made in heaven between two arbiters of the edgy side of rock, R&B and country. The first album, as yet untitled, will feature duets between Dex and Cat Power, Neko Case and Exene Cervenka. Recording commences in mid-August at Overdub Lane in Durham, NC; John Plymale (Meat Puppets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Corrosion Of Conformity) is producing. Said Nan Warshaw, Bloodshot co-owner, “Dexter’s reputation as a musician’s musician is well-established and so deserved, but we here at Bloodshot are also in awe of the unbridled fury and raw soul he has unleashed for decades.”

 

The Dex Romweber Duo will stretch their legs prior to the recording with a tour that is bookended by two festival dates: Festival For The Eno July 6 in Durham, NC and the Deep Blues Festival July 19 in Lake Elmo, MN. All tour dates are listed below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fleet Foxes
FLEET FOXES
Sub Pop

Fleet Foxes comprise five guys in their early-20s from Seattle who make music that’s honest and beautiful at a time when such virtues are in short supply. Yeah, this is a tough spell for the working class, unlike anything most young adults have previously experienced. Government mendacity and corporate greed have all but crushed the latest generation’s quest for the American Dream. The same money-changers that send 18-year-olds to fight crooked wars overseas feed them inauthentic pop music that renders human voices cold and robotic — reinforcing the idea, if you’re a thinking person, that nothing is trustworthy.

Fleet Foxes, on the other hand, offer the sonic equivalent of warmth, beauty and integrity. They make timeless music that lovingly harks back to such 1960s titans as Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Paul Simon and John Lennon, all of whom, and more, are mentioned in the “deepest thanks” section of the liner notes. Yet rather than being some catch-all revival band, Fleet Foxes craft a strikingly original sound by employing oblique, sometimes chamber-esque, melodies and the occasional odd-meter rhythm.

Robin Pecknold, whose singing evokes a cross between Neil Young and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, leads Fleet Foxes. The other members are also capable vocalists, and the quintet collectively delivers stacked harmonies worthy of a Beach Boys or vintage Phil Spector record. The lyrics are slightly obscured by the dreamy way in which Pecknold stretches syllables like taffy — but that’s OK, or I should say I’m OK with not being able to distinguish each word.

In fact, in this case I prefer it. I enjoy the way the vocals wash over me like soothing memories of romanticized good old days or visions of better days waiting up around the bend. This is music of hope. Fleet Foxes’ innocent, earnest “ooo’s and aww’s” are as moving and, yes, poetic, as the cleverest lyrics.

All the instrumentation is organic and majestically subtle. These young men do not posses superior chops, but you can hear them aspiring to a level of expert musicianship they may reach by, say, their third album. Another huge plus is that each track was expertly recorded to sound like it’s emanating from a living room, where some of the album was actually cut. “Music is a weird and cosmic thing,” reads the liner notes, “its own strange religion for nonbelievers.” I’ll gladly worship at Fleet Foxes’ temple. 4 stars

In case you needed one more reason to vote for the Democratic presidential contender check out Barack Obama’s iPod selections, which range from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan (yeah, Obama def has my vote) to Jay-Z and Ludacris to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, reports RollingStone.com.

Obama’s musical hero? Stevie Wonder. Works for me. Let’s get this man elected.

From RollingStone.com:

“If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder,” says Obama, who grew up on Seventies R&B and rock staples including Earth, Wind and Fire, Elton John and the Rolling Stones. “When I was at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie had that run with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Innervisions, and then Songs in the Key of Life. Those are as brilliant a set of five albums as we’ve ever seen.”

Wonder shares room on Obama’s iPod with “everything from Howlin’ Wolf to Yo-Yo Ma to Sheryl Crow,” he says. “And I have probably 30 Dylan songs on my iPod.” Though he’s partial to 1975’s Blood on the Tracks, “Maggie’s Farm” is “one of my favorites during the political season,” says Obama. “It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric.”

Appears U.S. Sugar, aka Big Sugar, has lost its sweet tooth, which could be a very good thing for the Florida environment, particularly the everglades. Then again, how exactly is Florida going to pay Big Sugar $1.75 billion? It’s doubtful anything but crocodile alligator(?) tears will be shed for this bloated behemoth but let’s give U.S. Sugar a playlist anyway. Because, well, I’ve just been waiting too long to unleash my favorite songs about sugar and think this might be the closest I’ll come to a news peg.

Top 10: Songs about sugar

1. “Sugar on My Tongue,” Talking Heads

One of my all-time fave Talking Heads songs. Other than Zeppelin, this is the band I most want to see reunite … and play “Sugar On My Tongue.”

2. “Brown Sugar,” The Rolling Stones

Terrific song but this killer riff/sordid lyric lost its sex/danger appeal — and No. 1 ranking — when it was used to sell kahlua … and Pepsi. Mick, Keef, is nothing sacred?

3. “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies

Fake band, I know, cheesy, I know, but I love this song.

4. “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” Nina Simone

Allison Moorer does a fine cover of this song on her latest album.

5. “Sugar Baby,” Dock Boggs

One of numerous gems from the legendary Harry Smith anthology.

6. “Sugar Baby,” Bob Dylan

No one steals from the public domain quite as effectively as Dylan. Click here to read my rather amateurish review of Dylan’s Love and Theft (the album includes “Sugar Baby”), which dropped on 9/11, while I was in college, writing/editing for the USF Oracle and freelancing for Weekly Planet. Yes, I was taking a polite swipe at the proverbial feeding hand. To this day, my esteemed editor Eric Snider and I differ on the merits of Dylan’s past three albums.

7. “Sugar and Spice,” The Cryan Shame

Good lawd, I love vintage garage rock.

8. “Brown Sugar,” ZZ Top

Not a Stones cover.

9. “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ah, yes, the title track from one of my favorite CDs of junior high (and beyond).

10. “Falling Sugar,” The Palace Guard

Good lawd, I love vintage garage rock.

WHAT DID I MISS?

Like I predicted here, Boy George is having visa problems and it appears unlikely he’ll be able to make his July 27 date at Jannus Landing.

From Reuters:

“At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration,” read a statement from the artist’s management. “This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year.”

Who: Herman Dune

Seven-word description: Highly emotive and quirky anti-folk from Paris.

Should appeal to fans of: Kimya Dawson, Jonathan Richman, Hamell on Trial

Wait, hasn’t Herman Dune been around for like 10 years? Yes, but this might be the year the Parisian duo finally expands its following Stateside. Herman Dune played a well-received set at SXSW in March, has toured with Juno soundtrack star Kimya Dawson and today released the bouncy, poignant, folky, poppy, excellent 5-song EP 1-2-3/Apple Tree.

Breakout CD: 1-2-3/Apple Tree

Release date/label: June 24/Everloving

Listen/watch official video: “1-2-3/Apple Tree”

Read the rest of this entry »

Creative Loafing cover girl and Tropical Heatwave star Amanda Shaw returns to Tampa Bay to play Skipper’s Smokehouse on August 8. If you saw the singer/songwriter/fiddler in May then you’re already excited about catching this roots rock/Cajun pop act return for a headlining gig. Click here for my review/photos of Shaw’s outstanding performance at Heatwave. Here’s the WMNF press release, which includes an extended excerpt of my review, and me requesting Shaw play Skipper’s in near future (photos by Wade Tatangelo):

Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, plus Sara Hickman

Friday Aug 08 08:00PM — Skipper’s Smokehouse

$12 advance, $15 door.

Louisiana teenage fiddle sensation Amanda Shaw returns after her triumphant set at Tropical Heatwave.

Heatwave review:
“Shaw’s poise, charisma, and chops belie her age. Then again, she’s been performing in public for a decade, and it showed Saturday. Shaw elated the crowd with her singular brand of Cajun-flavored roots rock. Boasting a strong and expressive voice colored with genuine twang and beat-the-devil fiddle skills, the diminutive frontwoman turned in a dynamic performance that included interestingly reworked blues (”Got My Mojo Workin’”), traditional zydeco (”Hot Tamale Baby”) and Cajun-spiced punk (The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”).

Shaw’s originals, mostly culled from her Rounder Records debut Pretty Runs Out, were equally varied and impressive, with the teenager revealing a knack for mature lyrics and catchy hooks that make her rustic sounds appealing to pop fans — without sounding too poppy. Could Shaw bring Cajun music to the masses? Perhaps. For now, I just hope she returns to play a local venue like Skipper’s in the near future.”
- Wade Tatangelo, Creative Loafing

Read the rest of this entry »

In honor of the late, great George Carlin, today’s Top 10 is dedicated to songs that contain one (or more) of the cusses included in the famed comic’s classic routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”

Top 10: Songs for George Carlin

1. “My Shit’s Fucked Up,” Warren Zevon

2. “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” Dr. Dre/Ben Folds

3. “Cocksucker Blues,” The Rolling Stones

4. “Fuck Me Pumps,” Amy Winehouse

5. “Little T & A,” The Rolling Stones

6. “Fuck the Police,” N.W.A.

7. “Piss and Vinegar,” Against Me!

8. “Still Don’t Give a Fuck,” Eminem

9. “Funk Shit,” The Prodigy

10. “Sure As Shit,” Kathleen Edwards

From Wikipedia:

The words are (with examples):

1. Shit – The bird shit on the statue.
2. Piss – I have to piss like a race horse.
3. Fuck – Fuck you.
4. Cunt – She has a gorgeous cunt.
5. Cocksucker – Go to hell, you cocksucker.
6. Motherfucker – You are a motherfucker.
7. Tits – Hey, nice tits.

Later, Carlin referred to three additional “auxiliary” words:

1. Fart – I farted.
2. Turd – Who dropped a turd in the urinal?
3. Twat – Shave that hairy twat.

Phish reunion? Phor real? Anybody give a phuck? (Actually, this is pretty exciting news, especially for a large chunk of Creative Loafing’s editorial department. Let’s just hope this doesn’t inspire a similar move from those jamband hacks String Cheese Incident.)

• Michael Jackson touring? For real? Anybody give a f—? (From MTV.com.)

• New Order finished? For real? Anybody give a f—? (From Pitchfork.com).

• CL Political Editor Wayne Garcia reports “Vicki Santa steps down at WMNF.”

• Blac Soap to open for Flo Rida June 28 at Club 360 in Ybor City. Look for my Blac Soap interview in the CL hitting newsstands June 25.

• Lil Wayne rules. Los Angeles Times explains why.

• U2 remasters first three albums. Do I detect a healthy whiff of irony in the CMJ headline “Oh, Boy!”

• Really, more Ryan Adams songs should be under 2 minutes long (Aquarium Drunkard).

• The Chicago Reader (aka Creative Loafing Chicago) dares to ask “Oh yeah, chicks play guitar too, don’t they?”

• Billboard reports Bruce Springtseen to extend tour, play Hershey, PA, which means it’s time for me to visit my hometown, aka “The Sweetest Place on Earth.”

• I’m totally feeling Sean Daly’s blog post, “Brother, Can You Spare a Song?”

When we went to press with my profile of Summer Jam 4 headliner, Dennis “Dow Jones” Shaw (South Rakkas Crew),  it had yet to be determined exactly which acts would be playing Crowbar  and New World Brewery on Saturday. On Wednesday, I received an email from the promoter that straightens everything out. Should be good times. Here’s the email:

NWB NEW WORLD BREWERY]
8-830 – DISH
845-915 – JINX
930-10 – PETROGRAD IN TRANSIT
1015-1045 – DYNASTY
11-1130- XOXO
1145-1215 – THE BASIQS
12-15 - ??? – POSITIVE RESPONSE
+ DJ TERAS, SCOTT IMRICH, JOLAY & DJ COLONIC

CROWBAR
8-830 – JUICE CITY
845-915 – KING OF SPAIN
930-10 – HARD TARGET
1015-1045 – TIDES OF MAN
11-1145 – BIRD STREET PLAYERS
12-??? SOUTH RAKKAS CREW
+ DJ SANDMAN, SOFT ROCK RENEGADES, MIN.E HORSE & DEACON
FREE BBQ & LIVE MURAL BY: NOAH DELEEDA

Saturday June 21

Summer Jam 4 w/ South Rakkas Crew, Bird Street Players & Much More

$7/$10/$12 » 18 and Up

Here’s what I have running in the current Creative Loafing:

Bar Tab: Bern’s, baby, Bern’s: steaks, bad shirts and sexy strangers.

Dennis “Dow Jones” Shaw is money.

The Sugar Oaks, Mark Chesnutt and more in Music Week.

Foxboro Hot Tubs (Eric Snider), The Veronicas (Amanda Schurr) and The Beach Boys box set (WT) reviewed in Spins.

Reckless Kelly takes a shot at Skipper’s Smokehouse.

Rooney set to simmer at State Theatre.

My Morning Jacket’s “Evil Urges”: greatest pop/rock song since “Crazy.”

Or just peruse the entire Music section.

This year is flying past like they all tend to do. In fact, we’re more than halfway through, which means time to assess the year in music (so far). It’s difficult to compare one year’s crop to another’s, but I do feel 2008 is shaping up to be one of the strongest of recent memory. Anyway, here’s what I’ve dug the most.

Top 10 Albums of 2008 (so far)

1. Evil Urges (Ato Records/Red), My Morning Jacket (Photo by Danny Clinch)

At my editor Eric Snider’s suggestion, I just bumped my MMJ review from a 4.5 to a perfect 5 (it will run in next week’s Creative Loafing.) While still at USF, I started doing freelance CD reviews for CL (back when it was the Weekly Planet) in 2001 and during my two stringer stints with the paper plus my current full-time gig have easily written hundreds of CD reviews for the ‘Loaf. But this marks the first time I 5-starred a new release. Read my MMJ review here.

2. The Odd Couple (Atlantic), Gnarls Barkley

Dark, cerebral and highly danceable, this batch of spaceflight soul is pure brilliance. And by the way, complaining that it doesn’t have a “Crazy” equivalent would be like knocking Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy for not featuring another “Stairway.”

3. Robyn (Konichiwa/CherryTree/Interscope), Robyn

This Swedish star still hasn’t blown up here and that’s a shame. The pop world would be a far better place if Madonna, Spears, etc. could pen lyrics this poignant and implement beats this fresh. Read my review here.

4. Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop), Fleet Foxes

Debut albums really have no right to be this fantastic: dreamy organic pop, perfectly recorded so that the band sounds like they’re playing your living room; close, gorgeous vocal harmonies that will melt your ears. Read my (mini) review here. My proper review will run in the CL that hits newsstands July 3.

5. Accelerate (Warner Bros), R.E.M.

It’s official: R.E.M. has made its best album in more than a decade. Nothing new here, just a first-rate collection of the band’s finest attributes. Read my review here.

6. Casting Shadows Tall As Giants (self-released), Have Gun, Will Travel

My favorite Americana album of the year happens to come from right in our backyard (well, Bradenton). Read more about HGWT here.

7. From the Reach (Landfall), Sonny Landreth

Slide guitar master turns in a soulful album of swampy charm that also features sly prog touches. Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler and Dr. John are among the guests who sweeten the deal with low-key cameos. Read my review here.

8. Warpaint (Sony BMG), Black Crowes

The most promising rock ‘n’ roll band to emerge post-GNR returns from a jamband haze with Luther Dickinson, focus and their best album in years. Read my review here.

9. Asking for Flowers (Rounder), Kathleen Edwards

Like Lucinda Williams but with a sense of humor, Kathleen Edwards’ latest is a winning combination of adroit storytelling, touching confessionals and folk-rock fun. Read my review here.

10. Lay It Down (Blue Note), Al Green

The teaming of the good reverend and The Roots’ ?uestlove results in greatest Al Green album since the 1970s, a rich slab of classic soul. Read more about Al Green here.

Oakland Coliseum Arena 05.09.77
PINK FLOYD
WolfgangsVault.com
Pink Floyd, at the height of its creative and commercial powers, delivers a stellar set featuring material from the as-yet-unreleased Animals (“Pigs”) cuts from Dark Side of the Moon (“Money,” “Us and Them”) and Wish You Were Here in its entirety. That right, all nine parts of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-9” (35 majestic minutes total) and a chills-inducing Waters (sounding slightly hoarse but impassioned) reading of the title-track are on display. Don’t have anything to do for the next 8-12 hours? Swallow that tab you have tucked away and enjoy.

Creative Loafing’s marketing wing (aka Joran) continues its concert series focused on spotlighting purveyors of original local music. The roster for the Sat., July 5, installment at the State Theatre will feature five acts ranging from punk (Car Bomb Driver) to alt-country (Have Gun, Will Travel) to math rock (Military Junior; pictured). Should be a great evening so don’t get too wasted the night before and be careful with those bottle rockets, which can prove hazardous when you and your buddies are stumbling drunk, firing the missiles at each other, indoors.

Here’s the info with listening links to each band:

Independence Fest

Saturday, July 5
State Theatre
687 Central Ave. St. Petersburg

Doors 8 p.m. / Show 9 p.m. / All Ages

$8 DOS / $5 with Voter ID / $2 Drafts

On-Site Voter Registration

$50 Gas Card Giveaway

Military Junior (9 – 9:30)

Grey Market (9:45 – 10:15)

Have Gun, Will Travel (10:30 – 11)

Mouse Fire (11:15 – 11:45)

Car Bomb Driver (12 – 12:30)

Evil Urges
MY MORNING JACKET
Ato Records/Red
Pundits have been trying to define My Morning Jacket since the band first arrived on the scene a decade ago. In the beginning, people filed the reverb-loving rockers under “alt-country” and even “southern rock” thanks to the band’s Bluegrass State homebase. A galvanizing 2004 performance at Bonnaroo and subsequent, more experimental releases, especially 2006’s live album Okonokos, landed My Morning Jacket in the “jam band” bin.

But none of the labels truly did the quintet’s music justice and MMJ’s latest release, Evil Urges, is the band’s most gloriously eclectic studio album to date. It’s also the band’s finest, with each stylistic leap serving the song rather than sounding like hubris-driven experimentalism. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than on the title-track that opens the disc, a thick-yet-fluid hybrid of futuristic funk, precision prog and dream pop that serves as a genius update on the free love and tolerance ethos of the 1960s. Frontman Jim James adopts a sexy falsetto to winningly deliver memorable lines like, “It ain’t evil, baby, if ya ain’t hurting anybody.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Who: My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Worden)

Seven-word description: Diva-voiced singer/songwriter delivers operatic pop.

Should appeal to fans of: Joanna Newsom, Dresden Dolls, Regina Spektor

Isn’t she pals with Sufjan Stevens? Yes, she appeared on his Illinois tour. You might also know Worden from her first two My Brightest Diamond full-lengths, 2006’s Bring Me the Workhorse and last year’s Tear It Down. Both were released on Stevens’ label Asthmatic Kitty.

Breakout CD: A Thousand Shark’s Teeth

Release date/label: June 17/Asthmatic Kitty

Listen to the track “Inside a Boy.”

That’s right. The grunge rockers have reunited (but you already knew that) and are scheduled to perform Fri.,  Aug., 22 at Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa. Here’s the press release:

WHO:              STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

                        “2008 REUNION TOUR”

                        WITH: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a rainy Monday and I have a shit-ton of work to do this week. My former employer McClatchy just announced widespread layoffs, leading to the dismissal of an editor I highly respected and worked with directly and indirectly — and drank with off the clock on his dime, and attended a couple shows with that we both enjoyed — for several years at the Bradenton Herald. A talk with another former editor confirmed that the smell of death permeates every news room in the nation.

Others have it worse, I know, but that’s not much comfort. Is it? Anyway, whenever I feel myself slipping over to the dark side, which has been the case today, I put on something like the compilation I recently made called “Mellow My Mind.” It’s mostly ’70s stuff. A great decade for laid-back songs that celebrate being on the losing end. Here are 10 tracks from it. Not exactly uplifting (except for Rev. Green’s glorious gospel number), but soothing, like brown whiskey.

Top 10: Mellow songs

1. “Jesus Is Waiting,” Al Green

2. “These Days,” Gregg Allman

3. “Roll Um Easy,” Little Feat

4. “A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold” (Live at Massey Hall), Neil Young

5. “Handbags & Gladrags,” Rod Stewart

6. “Hickory Wind,” The Byrds

7. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” Willie Nelson

8. “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” William Bell

9. “Love Is a Losing Game,” Amy Winehouse

10. “Long Way Home,” Tom Waits

Matt Butcher, of Orlando, performing Sat., June 14, New World Brewery, Ybor City. Photos by Alfie.

Tampa singer/songwriter Will Quinlan and his ace, twang backup unit the Diviners packed New World Brewery in Ybor City on Saturday for the CD release party of the band’s strikingly poignant new CD Navasota. Quinlan went on shortly after midnight and turned in a moving set of songs inspired by the life and death of his mother. He also debuted new numbers that were equally impressive. Navasota co-producer/guitar bad ass/Nationals band member/singer-songwriter Steve Connelly sat in on lap steel.

Never-let-you-down Bradenton alt-country ensemble Have Gun, Will Travel elated the audience with a first-rate serving of folk-rock, as did opener Matt Butcher, who, in addition to entertaining with a clutch of solid originals, wowed attendees with a gorgeous, fresh rendition of the Bob Dylan standard “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

A slew of local talent showed up for the show: Ronny Elliott, his buddy/Nationals band mate/singer-songwriter Walt Bucklin; Car Bomb Driver frontman Dave Reeder; Daylight District bassist Tim Heller; Nessie leader Scott Harrell and his buddy/bassist Joey Neill; Poetry ‘n Lotion guitarist Matt E. Lee and Sean “Crash” Mitchell were all present, and probably more, which I simply failed to spot/recognize.

New Granada chief/Zillionaire drummer Keith Ulrey, who assembled Saturday’s impressive show, was also in attendance. He told he’s excited about Win Win Winter’s debut album, which is scheduled to drop in October. Look for a Creative Loafing feature on the local indie rockers to coincide with the disc’s release.

OK, that’s all for now in regards to the homegrown talent. What’s your band up to? Shoot me an email.

Matt Burke, of Have Gun, Will Travel.

Will Quinlan at closing time.

Teared up during Meet the Press, one of my favorite shows for years, which is saying something since it airs 10 a.m. Sunday and my Saturday nights typically don’t end until about 4 a.m.

Watching Brokaw, Carville, Ifill and others lovingly remember their old pal was truly moving. And the closing montage, with Russert’s favorite rocker, Bruce Springsteen, doing “Thunder Road,” yeah, that’s when I had to wipe my eyes.

Russert was the high priest of objective, illuminating broadcast journalism. He was one of the few good men left on television, a medium dominated by blow hards, hams and agents of misinformation.

Sunday mornings won’t be the same.

On a lighter note, it’s Father’s Day, and like Russert and Big Russ, my dad and I are very close. We will celebrate the holiday by going to lunch and then by attending the The Three Stooges screening that kicks off 3 p.m. today at Tampa Theatre.

Here’s to great fathers and great men like Russert.

Cross-posted from Blurbex.

What a bunch of clowns.

Considering Warrant, which appeared to be the original headliner, could have found another 80s bullshit band to fill Cinderella’s slot, you can’t help but think the real reason this arena tour got axed is because all of three people expressed interest in it.

Here’s the press release:

CINDERELLA, WARRANT, LYNCH MOB CONCERT CANCELLED

Refunds available at Point of Purchase

It was announced today that Cinderella, Warrant, Lynch Mob and Lynam Tour, previously scheduled for July 25 at the St. Pete Times Forum, has been cancelled. All buyers who hold tickets for the July 25th show can bring their tickets to the original point of purchase for a full refund.

Cinderella’s management released the following statement about the cancellation:

It’s with unbelievably deep regret that we must announce that Cinderella’s Tom Keifer’s left vocal cord has hemorrhaged, thereby making it impossible for him to sing in the immediate future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alt-country all-stars Will Quinlan; Have, Gun Will Travel; and Matt Butcher on Saturday at New World Brewery, Ybor City. Click here for more info and my interview with Quinlan.

Quinlan offering a poignant reading of the folk standard “Moonshiner” with backing by The Diviners.

I’m hoping Cohen’s current tour is miraculously extended to include the United States and a Tampa Bay date, for which I would wait in line all night for a ticket.

In the mean time, I’ll have to settle with these awesome interviews he’s giving and whatever I can find on YouTube.

From MacLean’s.CA:

Q: Why did you need to drink?

A: I was very nervous. And I liked drinking. And I found this wine, it was Château Latour. Now very expensive. It was even expensive then. It’s curious with wine. The wine experts talk about the flavour and the bouquet and whether it has legs and the tannins and the fruit and the symphonies of tastes. But nobody talks about the high. Bordeaux is a wine that vintners have worked on for about 1,000 years. Each wine has a very specific high, which is never mentioned. Château Latour, I don’t know how I stumbled on it, but it went with the music, and it went with the concert. I tried to drink it after the tour was over, and I could hardly get a glass down. It had no resonance whatsoever. It needed the adrenaline of the concert and the music and the atmosphere, the kind of desperate atmosphere of touring—desperate because I was drinking so much! I had a good time with it for a while, but it did wreck my health, and I put on about 25 pounds.

Click here to read the rest of this backstage interview titled “Cohen wore earplugs to a Dylan show?”

Leonard Cohen performing his classic “Hallelujah,” May 11, 2008.

Well sorta. Anyway it’s 7:50 p.m. and I’m at the St. Pete Times Forum, up in the rafters, I mean press box, typing away to the loud, echo-y sounds of opener Kings of Leon. Not too impressed. Maybe they’ll improve when I get down to the first level where my seat is at.

Pearl Jam is scheduled to go on at 8:45. This will be the first time I have seen the grunge survivors since I saw them play here (when it was called the Ice Palace) with Sonic Youth back in 2000. Killer show. The “Daughter” to “Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2″ medley was one of many highlights that night.

Wow, someone seated beneath me just lit up some seriously strong shit. Think I just caught a contact buzz (I have zero tolerance when it comes to weed). OK. Will return to the press box/blogging later, like around 9:30 or so to give a Pearl Jam update.

10 p.m. Update: Pearl Jam is leading a magnificent sing along of “Better Man.” It’s been a greatest hits night (of the highest order) with “Daughter,” “Even Flow” and “Wish List” leading the charge. Other highlights include Vedder’s Springsteenian speech about his White Sox baseball hero (in attendance), Obama for prez, and Vedder’s hilarious rant about being in Tampa playing a venue named after St. Pete. OK, I have to get back to the show, and no, I’m not stoned, you bastards.

10:15 Update: Crowd of 15,00 or so going ape shit for an encore!!!

10:16 Update: Whoever is commenting under the glorious name “Wade Tatangelo” is not me but he’s accurate, ’bout the setlist, at least, so, y’know, rock on.

10:23 Update: It’s goosebumps time! Vedder’s leading a congregation of 15,000 through “Black.” I feel like I’m 14 again hearing/singing along with my friends to this song. God bless Pearl Jam.

10:42 Update: Crowd going ape shit again for another encore. I’m hoping for a house-rocking Who cover. Or Neil Young’s “Fuckin’ Up.” Or “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

10:45 Update: Vedder solo with harmonica and guitar mumbling something about “fences” … I can’t understand what he’s saying from up here in the press box. I think he’s politicking.

10:47 Update: Vedder solo doing his excellent rendition of The Beatles’ “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” … followed by a full-band blowout of “ALIVE” !!!! I’m happier than a doubled-blessed rooster.

10:54 Update: House lights up but Vedder’s still yapping … about something … the wine he’s been hitting all night has def kicked in. Not that that’s a bad thing. PJ put on a great show. Oh SHIT! “Yellow Ledbetter.” My favorite Pearl Jam song of all times! (Yeah, I’m using exclamation marks like a giddy schoolgirl).

11:02 Update: McCready solo doing a piss-my-pants, Hendrixian rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner”!! Good god, what a fucking awesome show!!!

My plan, and I say “plan” because anything that relies on an Internet connection is never a sure thing, is to blog live from the Pearl Jam concert tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum.

If all goes well, it will resemble what I did at Van Halen.

Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:

• Bar Tab: Getting burned on the beach at Caddy’s.

• Music Feature: Will Quinlan’s dark spaces. Singing about love and loss in finest album of his career.

• Al Green (by Eric Snider) and Radiohead (scroll down) reviewed in Spins.

• Rancid punks up Jannus Landing.

• Cyndi Lauper (with B-52s) shows her True Colors at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

• Ingrid Michaelson, Melissa Etheridge and more in Music Week.

• Keeping up with The Smiths.

• Tampa native Mel Tillis‘ countrypolitan classic.

• Seeing the Daylight District.

• Complete Music Section.

Here’s the “confirmed” lineup for the Vans Warped Tour stop on July 11 at Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Note Gainesville’s Against Me! (my favorite band on the roster) and Tampa Bay’s own We The Kings, which I profiled here.

From the press release:

Please see below for bands that are confirmed to play Tampa and stay tuned to www.warpedtour.com for the most current information. This list is subject to change.

3oh!3
A Day To Remember
Against Me!
Aggrolites
Alesana
Anberlin
Angels and Airwaves
As I Lay Dying
Beat Union
Bedouin Soundclash
Broadway Calls
Charlotte Sometimes
Cinematic Sunrise
Cobra Starship
Devil Wears Prada
Evergreen Terrace
Every Avenue
Everytime I Die
Family Force 5
Forever the Sickest Kids
From First to Last
Gym Class Heroes

Read the rest of this entry »

The country’s greatest bar band unleashes (digitally speaking) its excellent new album Stay Positive.

Click here and enjoy.

More details on the street date to follow.

The title track to My Morning Jacket’s new album Evil Urges, which dropped June 10, might be the greatest pop/rock song since Gnarls Barkley blew our minds with “Crazy.” What makes “Evil Urges” so genius? It’s a singular slab of plastic soul, country, rock and funk that ebbs, flows and soars like a sublime mash up of Bowie, Stones, Prince and Radiohead. Frontman Jim James adopts a Beck-esque falsetto, giving his voice a back alley charm that’s ideal for lusty lines like “It ain’t evil baby, if you ain’t hurting anybody.” The song also manages to work in a little politicking: “dedicate your love to any woman or man.” Did I mention it’s insanely catchy? 4 stars
Click here to listen, or here to buy the download. Better yet, go to an independently-owned local music store like Sound Exchange or Vinyl Fever and buy the CD.

Here’s a rambling CD review that’ll probably run in print at a later date, at a shorter length. Or maybe it won’t run at all. It’s kinda nasty.

Basically, it serves as an excuse for me to carp with profanity about mainstream taste in music, which has blown barnyard dick at bargain prices for a long time. When music moves you the way it moves me — I’m talking tears, laughter, dancing solo in the apartment at 2 a.m. — you get loud, rude and pissy when you see stinking piles of fuck become hits and stars.

Anyway, here’s my latest CD review — raw and unedited like everything else that I put up on the old blog, a beast that I used to hate, but now have become hooked on like good [insert vice of choice].

Now That’s What I Call Music! 28
VARIOUS ARTISTS
EMI/Sony & BMG/Universal/Zomba

Don’t listen to Now 28 within arm’s reach of razor blades, hard drugs or a loaded handgun if you give a damn about quality pop music. The latest in the long-running, chart-topping, singles compilation series is proof positive that mainstream taste has reached a nadir not witnessed since the days of minstrel stars in the Deep South. It’s a stinking pile of fuck and I feel dirty for even giving each track a cursory listen. How bad is the current state of popular taste?

The only worthwhile track is The Fall Out Boy cover of MJ’s ’82 classic “Beat It,” which really isn’t that spectacular except for the John Mayer solo. Holy shit! The pop star with the blues guitar chops actually rocks out with his cock out. Nice. But the disc also features Mayer’s single “Say,” which is like a first-date, herky-jerky blow job with teeth; ranking right up there with his “Your Body is a Wonderland” bullshit of yesteryear.

Even my man Lil Wayne sounds foolish with his 50 Cent-esque pop bid “Lollipop,” which after being cleared of about a zillion FCC-unapproved words, sounds like the CD is skipping. What other atrocities are included on this sure-to-be-best-seller? Despicable smashes by tabloid terror Britney Spears (“Break the Ice”), hillbilly hack Trace Adkins (“You’re Gonna Miss This”) and American Idol ass-wipe Daughtry (“Feels Like Tonight.”) When is an act like Robyn or Vampire Weekend gonna rule the (U.S.) pop charts and restore my faith in humanity? 0 stars

U.S. Singles Collection — The Capitol Years (1962-1965)
The Beach Boys
Capitol/EMI (released June 10)

Summer’s here and the time is right for another Beach Boys best-of. Granted, there are already quite a few to choose from but this one’s, well, special. Like its title suggests, U.S. Singles Collection — The Capitol Years (1962-1965) remains focused on the band’s early, innocent years. The period when sonic architect/vocalist Brian Wilson still toured with his brothers and cousin and had yet to delve into the drug haze that would help produce the masterpiece Pet Sounds and “Good Vibrations” — and then nearly destroy him.

On the positive, this latest box set covers the years ’62-’65 with the kind of fanboy zeal typically reserved for bootlegs. The collection features 16 CDs. Each one includes an original single 45’s A and B-sides, plus outtakes, alternate and live versions in replicas of the vinyl’s original packaging. To sweeten the deal, the 16 individual digipacks come in a surfboard-style box replete with wood inlay that includes a 48-page hardbound booklet. All 66 tracks actually fit onto two CDs, so the list price of $132.98 might irk some and definitely makes this an item for serious collectors only — or people seeking a killer Father’s Day present. 4.5 stars