Tampa Calling

Adam Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys, revealed the details of his illness today via a video broadcast with fellow member fellow band member Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) on the Beastie Boys’ website. Yauch has a form of cancer that attacks his Parotid gland, though the good news is that it’s only located in one area, it’s treatable, and the treatment will not not affect his voice. Yauch also apologized to fans who were looking forward to their upcoming shows and he seemed sincerely sad about it, though that probably has more to do with his health than anything else. An update on Yauch’s condition and the band’s cancelled shows is expected soon; the Beasties will also postponed the release of their eighth studio album, Hot Sauce Committee, originally due to drop in September.

See the video announcement after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Brought straight to your desktops by Lee at Vinyl Fever.

VINYL:

AA Bondy – American Hearts
Their latest (2008) release, now available on vinyl.

Amon Duul II – Yeti
“Yeti” was the second album by Amon Duul II and is quite a musical achievement. This is a double LP set and contains some of Amon Duul’s most impressive work – delivering their thick, full-fledged, multi-layered sound with dense instrumentation and a certain epic vastness. This is Krautrock in the full depth of its power: huge, towering, dark and completely devoid of any happy optimism, but still bound full of energy. An essential bit of the psych/prog era. Released with the original artwork.

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Deluxe reissue features the original album remastered and a bonus disc of 12 rarities, live tracks and B-sides.

David Bowie – Man Who Sold The World
David Bowie – Pinups
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.

The Clash – The Clash
The Clash – Give ‘Em Enough Rope
The Clash – Combat Rock
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.

The Dead Weather – Horehound
The latest musical adventure by Jack White epitomizes the alt-rock ethic: do the music you love, do it yourself, and do it fast. The Dead Weather brings together lead singer Alison Mosshart (half of the London-based lo-fi post-punk duo The Kills), Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita, The Raconteurs’ bassist Jack Lawrence, and White on drums and vocals.

Iggy & The Stooges – More Power
Digitally remastered collection of rare studio recordings from the Raw Power era.

Son Volt – American Central Dust
Now available on vinyl. Read the rest of this entry »

Based on sheer numbers, Bonnaroo is a beast.  70,000 people invade Manchester, Tennessee, making it the 6th largest city in the state for over three days. Now your average Bonnarooian is quite a bit different than   your typical Tennessean — full of booze, THC and god knows what else.  It’s a crazy place.

Where else could you find Jimmy Buffett, Ani Difranco, Snoop Dog, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen? For better or worse, Bonnaroo is biggest and baddest of the American music festivals. With 13 stages and tents, hundreds of vendors, and a pretend Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the well-oiled machine of Roo is now in it’s 7th year and going strong.

Simultaneously a radiant clusterfuck and glorious throwdown, it’s hard to imagine a bigger party. And with any party, there’s always the good, the bad and the ugly. For our purposes here, let’s focus on…

The Good Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight, May 31, 2009, Phish returns to the road and kicks off the first leg of their summer tour at Fenway Park, home field of the Boston Red Sox and the oldest of all current MLB stadiums. Phish, the band that inspired this ongoing column (and changed the lives of me and everyone who reads this thing and plenty of others who don’t), will hit the stage at 6:55 p.m. and fill upwards of 30,000 fans (including my good friend AAAlex) with joyous satisfaction. (Screenshots of the first-night-back video — with Fenway’s organist playing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” then cracking his knuckles and launching into “Tweezer” while various appropos shots of the stadium flash by — after the jump.) The rest of us will watch from the sidelines, checking the regularly updated From the Road setlists, watching various #Phish Tweets from the show (my own not from the show here), and eagerly awaiting our own upcoming Phish adventures.

With a new spat of Phish shows to be reported on, Phish Saves America (PSA) is officially off hiatus. Not that it was ever really on hiatus, but I’ve admittedly took a bit of a break since Hampton, letting all the little Phish news bites fall through the cracks while I set some things in order. (Translation: I’ve been busy.) But the upcoming weeks will find both me and Tampa Calling contributor B.Treotch (also of Coventryblog.com) at several different upcoming Phish shows, which means plenty of coverage. B.Treotch will be at Asheville (maybe?) and Knoxville, and will serve as Creative Loafing’s on-site reporter at Bonnaroo with various Tweets and whatever else we can manage at the Tennessee fest, and a post-fest wrap with all the media we can manage. I will be road-tripping up to Knoxville in an RV with some Bonnaroo-bound friends and other taggers-on next Tuesday (look out for plenty of Tweeting and a post), then I’ll be hitting the last three shows (in Indiana and Wisconsin, respectively) the following weekend. The Gorge will follow in August if my husband and I can juggle the finances as planned.

But for now, let’s start with something fun — a “What If” of sit-ins that has Phish performing with a select roster of other Bonnaroo artists.

Phish Sit-Ins I’d Like to See at Bonnaroo: Read the rest of this entry »

As an addendum to my recent column, “Traveling to see music without losing your money (or your mind),” I’ve put together this small group of shows and fests that provide some good selections for music-motivated travel. If you haven’t already made travel plans this summer, here are some of your best bets.

Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio
Saturday, June 13, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
If you wanna go, get your tickets now — it’s a Saturday night co-headlining bill featuring of two of Brooklyn’s most hip and beloved bands, both with recent albums — Grizzly’s just-released Veckatimest, TVOTR’s fantastic Dear Science from last year — so the show will most definitely sell out. I would be at this show, front row, if I wasn’t just returning from a music-motivated vacation that same Thursday.

The Decemberists (pictured) with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot
July 18-19, Edgefield, Portland, Oregon
The chamber rock quintet only comes as close as Atlanta and plays that date on Wednesday, June 3 — not at all convenient for a road trip unless you plan on taking that week off. But the tour also includes this appealing Saturday-Sunday run in Portland, and with whistling singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, and Portland’s own indie pop duo, Blind Pilot. Read the rest of this entry »

These albums are out today and several are streaming right now on MySpace:

Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid (Nonesuch)

Lily Allen, It’s Not Me, It’s You (Capitol)

Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique 20th Anniversary Edition (Capitol)

Beck, Odelay 10th Anniversary Edition Box Set (Original)

Golem, Citizen Boris (JDub)

Buddy Holly, Memorial Collection (Geffen)

Hot Panda, Volcano … Bloody Volcano (Mint)

India.Arie, Testimony, Vol 2., Love & Politics (Universal Republic)

Jorma Kaukonen, River of Time (Red House)

The Lonely Island, Incredibad (Republic)

Ben Lee, The Rebirth of Venus (New West)

Miranda Lee Richards, Light of X (Nettwerk)