Tampa Calling

“I’m so blessed to / have spent the time / with my family and the friends I love/ with my short life / I have met so many people I deeply care for”

These final chanted lyrics of Yeasayer’s “Red Cave” go a ridiculously long way in summarizing exactly what my recent trip to Chicago for the fifth annual Pitchfork Festival meant to me. While I’d been to the fest several times in the past (the first three, actually), this marked the first time that a huge group of old friends (LBHS stand up!) were able to meet up and enjoy the city and the music and the drunken shenanigans together. (Pictured at right: Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips; all photos by R. Kevin Rose.)

What’d I learn? well, for starters… we are all official members of the POSI-ADULT CREW. Not straight edge — not even close — but definitely upbeat and affable. Positive, if you will. A group of kids raised on (amongst many, many other things) Bad Brains’ “P.M.A.”, Seven Seconds, Dag Nasty, Gorilla Biscuits, etc., who grew into a geographically dispersed crew of adults … all of us still kinda “Screaming For Change” in our own unique ways. (LOTS MORE PICS AND SHENANIGANS AFTER THE JUMP) Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, July 20: Spinnerette (the alt rock foursome featuring Brody Dalle and Tony Bevilacqua, both formerly of The Distillers; the band just released their self-titled debut in June)
Tuesday, July 21: the Flatlanders
Wednesday, July 22: Diane Birch
Thursday, July 23: Ginuwine (pictured) with Missy Elliott (They’ll likely perform “Get Involved,” the second single from Ginuwine’s latest album, A Man’s Thoughts. The song also features Timbaland — he produced it — but he’s not scheduled to appear.)
Friday, July 24: Judy Collins Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, July 13: Kelly Clarkson (Pictured, to promote her new album, All I Ever Wanted)
Tuesday, July 14: Wilco with Feist (who will perform their collaboration from Wilco the Album, “You and I.”)
Wednesday, July 15: Paul McCartney (hopefully he’s be yakking and playing)
Thursday, July 16: Grizzly Bear (to make up for their non-appearance a few months ago, when they got bumped because GM’s Bob Lutz went over. Will likely play something from Veckatimest.)
Friday, July 17: Metric

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, July 13: The cast of Hair (all the way from Broadway, NYC)
Tuesday, July 14: Sugar Ray (Why, oh why, did this shitty ass band have to come back? Wasn’t it bad enough they gave Mark McGrath a job over there at Extra!?)
Wednesday, July 15: Kris Allen (American Idol)
Thursday, July 16: Daughtry
Friday, July 17: Demi Lovato 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 »

VINYL:

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Smoking Acid EP

Elvis Costello – Secret Profane & Sugarcane
Features a strong collection of country and bluegrass session musicians; produced by T Bone Burnett. Vinyl has two bonus tracks not on the CD. Compact Disc out NEXT week.

Karen Dalton – It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best
The 1969 re-issue of her Capitol Records debut, including two Neil compositions alongside material by Tim Hardin, Leadbelly and Eddie Floyd/Booker T. Jones. One of the great, overlooked talents of the New York folk scene of the early ’60s, no less than Bob Dylan and Nick Cave have called her an influence.

Steve Earle – Townes

Eminem – Relapse

Faust – So Far
9.6 Pitchfork rating;
9.9 Brian Repetto rating

Holly Golightly reissues

• Down Gina’s at 3
• Painted On

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
2-LP and booklet

Method Man & Redman - Blackout 2 Read the rest of this entry »

Vinyl Fever is not only open today, but hosts a Memorial Day listening party of Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear’s third and latest album (due out tomorrow, May 26). In honor of the listening occasion, the store also offers a sale of used CDs and records, and gives away lithos with the purchase of new Green Day, Tori Amos and/or Grizzly Bear albums. Buy enough music stuff and put it all in a Record Store Day tote (while supplies last). The listening party begins at 2 p.m. Regular store hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m.. Vinly Fever is located at 4110 Henderson Blvd., Tampa.

On that note, I’d just like to say that David Letterman has jumped the shark. Grizzly Bear’s appearance last week got bumped for — get this — GM’s Bob Lutz, who talked so much that there wasn’t time for a string quartet-assisted Bear to perform “Ready, Able.” Yeah, bumped for Lutz, and I watched the whole damn episode, and boring Lutz (who gave away a car or some such bullshit) just to find out I’d wasted an hour (well, less than an hour as I DVR’d it and fast-forwarded through the commercials and Letterman’s routine). So, for your viewing pleasure, here’s the Bear on Letterman from last July playing “Two Weeks.” Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, May 18: White Rabbits
Tuesday, May 19: Kenny Chesney
Wednesday, May 20: Grizzly Bear (pictured)
Thursday, May 21: Jean Redpath
Friday, May 22: Green Day

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC
Monday, May 18: Blink 182
Tuesday, May 19: Blink 182
Wednesday, May 20: Mandy Moore
Thursday, May 21: Lionel Richie
Friday, May 22: Tori Amos Read the rest of this entry »

This just in from Pitch Perfect PR:

PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FRIDAY’S LINE-UP PLUS SELECT ACTS PERFORMING SATURDAY & SUNDAY
The 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival — to be held in Chicago’s Union Park Friday, July 17 – Sunday, July 19 — is announcing the first round of band’s to perform at this years festival, as well as a new series that will include Friday’s performances. On Friday, the festival welcomes Yo La Tengo, The Jesus Lizard (first show in Chicago in 11 years!), Tortoise and Built to Spill; Saturday will see performances by The National, Pharoahe Monch, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, while Sunday’s event includes Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen and Vivian Girls!

Yo La Tengo

This year, the Pitchfork Music Festival is mixing things up a bit and putting the set lists in the hands of the fans, under a new series titled “Write the Night: Set Lists By Request.” When someone buys a ticket they will receive a confirmation e-mail that will include a link to a web page where they can vote on which of each band’s songs they’d like to hear during their set — and truly be the ones to “Write the Night.” Voting will begin on March 13 (when tickets go on sale) and will end on June 12.

To recap the 2009 line-up so far:

Friday – “Write the Night: Set Lists by Request”
Built to Spill
The Jesus Lizard
Yo La Tengo
Tortoise

Saturday
The National
Pharoahe Monch
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Sunday
Grizzly Bear
The Walkmen
Vivian Girls

Ever since putting out their 2006 transcendant masterpiece, Yellow House, Grizzly Bear has enjoyed boundless fan adoration, respect from peers and from veterans like Paul Simon (who invited the band to play for five nights during his month-long residency last April at the Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Radiohead (which had Grizzly open some dates on the second leg of its ‘08 North American tour), and plentiful praise and accolades from pretty much any music critic with taste (this one included). ‘Course, putting out a perfect record is a double edged sword, earning you instant credibility and an overeager fanbase while also adding that heavy weight of worry that any subsequent music you produce will not live up to that last bit of genius.

Since Yellow House, Grizzly Bear has not clocked much studio time — a Daytrotter Session, a Friend EP there, some live appearances at various festivals and special events. Daniel Rossen did his fabulous Department of Eagles thing and put out In Ear Park, a captivating hint at what a new Grizzly Bear album could be. But up until last week, the band’s been rather mum about an actual follow-up to Yellow House. But last Friday, they revealed the name (Veckatimest), the new album cover (pictured), the release date (May 26) and the track listing. Today, Pitchfork.com published an interview with frontman Ed Droste. Here are some highlights: Read the rest of this entry »

Pitchfork recently ran a comprehensive guide to releases coming up in 2009. I’ve scaled it down to the highlights (no box sets, re-issues, vinyl, 7″ or overseas releases) and added a few as well. Click here to see Pitchfork’s complete guide.

JANUARY

06
*The Brighton Port Authority, I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Southern Fried)
Glasvegas, Glasvegas (Columbia)
The Gourds, Haymaker! (Yep Roc)

13
Late of the Pier, Fantasy Black Channel (Astralwerks)
Lymbyc System, Carved by Glaciers (Magic Bullet)
My Dear Disco, Dancethink (Dancethink)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Greatest Hits (Columbia Wal-Mart exclusive)
This Will Destroy You & Lymbyc System, Field Studies (Magic Bullet)
*Derek Trucks Band, Already Free (Sony Legacy)

20
*Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
*Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)
*Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar)
Calexico, Live From Austin, TX (New West DVD)
John Frusciante, The Empyrean (Adrenaline Music)
Ice-T, Live in Montreux 1995 (MVD DVD)
Matt and Kim, Grand (FADER)
*The Modern Skirts, All of Us in Our Night (Modern Skirts Recordings)
A.C. Newman, Get Guilty (Matador)
Ben Nichols, The Last Pale Light in the West (The Rebel Group)
Or, The Whale, Light Poles and Pines (Seany)
Public Enemy, Revolverlution Tour 2003 (MVD DVD)
*Squarepusher, Numbers Lucent EP (Warp)
*Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis (Sci Fidelity)

27
*The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not the Future (Blue Note)
Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol DVD)
Circlesquare, Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
*Cotton Jones, Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze)
*Dan Deacon/Adventure, Split 12″ (Carpark)
*Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Hot Chip With Robert Wyatt and Geese EP (Astralwerks)
Kylie Minogue, Boombox: The Remix Album (Parlophone)
of Montreal, Jon Brion Remix EP (Polyvinyl)
Owen, (the ep) (Polyvinyl)
Rush, Retrospective 3 (Atlantic CD/DVD)
*RZA, Afro Samurai: The Resurrection (Wu Music Group)
Duncan Sheik, Whisper House (Victor)
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream (Columbia)
*The Sway Machinery, Hidden Melodies Revealed (JDub) Read the rest of this entry »