Tampa Calling

Pontiak galloped into New World Brewery this past Thursday, June 11, the exceptional headliner of History’s last show in Tampa supported by King of Spain and Glasgow. Another splendid Thx Mgmt show – thanks Joe.

Pontiak

To get the downlow on Pontiak, check out Eric Snider’s interview with the brothers who make up this band. Live, Pontiak delivers a constantly evolving performance, its members switching instruments (who doesn’t love the impact of double drum sets?) and keeping even the most jaded scenester interested. These mistral brothers are a talented family garnering positive media attention from sources as diverse as Pitchfork and Wired. Read the rest of this entry »

I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into Friday’s concert at Mahaffey Theater featuring an un-costumed, un-amplified-to-11 Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. Maybe I was thinking too hard about it? After all, when you go see a band, they play their songs.  When you go see a comedian, he does his material. With Guest, McKean, and Shearer, reality lay in between — a hilarious, two-hour multimedia jaunt down memory lane complete with stories, clips, and songs predominantly from two classic film satires about seemingly disparate genres of music. Read the rest of this entry »

Paul McCartney’s late-career renaissance may have hit another high point. Though his new disc doesn’t drop until Nov. 25, you can head over to National Public Radio’s website and listen to the exclusive streaming of Electric Arguments, the third collaboration between McCartney and Youth under “The Fireman” moniker.

While their previous two releases were rooted in trance, Electric has the duo more fully exploring McCartney’s chameleon-like tendencies, finding compelling artistic expression in a wide range of musical styles. From the heavy, bluesy “Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight” and “Highway” to the spacey tranquility of “Is This Love?” and “Lifelong Passion,” McCartney and Youth create arresting, at times surreal soundscapes that are mesmerizing for their complexity. It’s an astounding effort that never sounds forced or as if McCartney is just dabbling or indulging in his eccentric side.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tell Tale Signs, the latest in the excellent Bob Dylan “bootleg series” introduced in 1991, is streaming for free at NPR. The collection is outtakes and live performances from the past two decades. The two-disc set kicks off with a slower, more emotive reading of “Mississippi” that was originally recorded for Time Out of Mind.

Posted after the jump is the official video for “Dreamin’ of You,” an outtake from Oh Mercy that’s the set’s first single. I’m a  huge Dylan fan and will be spending the rest of the day soaking up this stuff — most of which hasn’t been previously leaked, at least not to my knowledge, and my Dylan boots collection is larger than I care to admit. OK, now track 2, Dylan’s doing a solo, acoustic guitar and harmonica version of “Most of the Time,” a Dylan favorite of mine. Gorgeous. Gotta go.

Read the rest of this entry »