Beck At SunFest? Not Necessarily a Pipe Dream

Beck at SunFest?  Really?

Well, I wouldn't be putting your lawn chair out on Flagler Drive just yet. However, the inclusion of the postmodern rocker in a talent survey the West Palm Beach festival organizers are circulating is an encouraging sign.

Take the survey here.

For too many years, SunFest abandoned seeking out interesting acts in order to play it safe with reliable oldies groups - especially those with roots back in the 80s.  Yes, Steve Miller, I am looking at you. To be sure, there are plenty of oldies in the survey, such as the Beach Boys, Bad Company, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Foreigner. 

However, the listing of Beck, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon (please, oh, please, oh, please) and Motion City Soundtrack reflect that there is someone at SunFest who has the collective back of the discerning listening public. Unnamed SunFest organizer, keep pushing for the new, the smart, and the interesting. 

The survey includes an area for suggestions.  I've recommended After Hours favorites The Whigs (who rocked SunFest last spring), Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, The Felice Brothers and A.A. Bondy.  The booking of any of these acts would win my heartfelt devotion to my local festival. 

Make your voice heard, take the survey.

Previous Beck download removed at the request of His Majesty.

Langerado 2009 Moves Downtown

Langerado 2009 is moving downtown in all senses of the word.

Along with the festival's physical and mental relocation to downtown Miami's Bicentennial Park (sorry campers), Langerado has continued its slow walk away from its jam-band origns. Today, festival organizers announced the most diverse line-up yet for the March 6, 7 and 8th.

Death Cab for Cutie, Ryan Adams and Snoop Dogg head up the still-evolving lineup which will play at the downtown park.  The festival's location will be a different as possible from last year's foray into the Florida Everglades.  Also, long-haired hippie kids, I would like to introduce you to the club kids and the rockers.  It should be a very interesting mix.

With a quick glance of the scene, the older acts of The Pogues, Public Enemy and Bad Brains jump out at me. The Gaslight Anthem, King Khan and the Shrines, Cloud Cult and After Hours favorite Budos Band have also peaked my interest.  For the South Beach denizens, Girl Talk will be the talk of the scene.

It will take a few days to digest it all.  But it looks like the making of a wild and weird weekend. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Here is the lineup so far:

Death Cab For Cutie • Snoop Dogg • Thievery Corporation (Live) • Slightly Stoopid • Ryan Adams and the Cardinals • Dashboard Confessional • The Pogues • Matisyahu • Flogging Molly • Michael Franti & Spearhead • Broken Social Scene • Cafe Tacuba • Umphrey's McGee • The Disco Biscuits • Robert Randolph & The Family Band • Pepper • The Faint • Cold War Kids • Steel Pulse • Public Enemy • Gym Class Heroes • Tricky • Girl Talk • Chromeo • Mute Math • Bad Brains • Ozomatli • Against Me! • George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic • Tortoise • DeVotchKa • Black Kids • Grupo Fantasma • Holy F*ck • Budos Band • Tokyo Police Club • Lotus • The Virgins • The Gaslight Anthem • King Khan and the Shrines • Lucero • Murs • Ra Ra Riot • Tortured Soul • Rebelution • K'Naan • The Egg • Zac Brown Band • Tigercity • The Aggrolites • Cloud Cult • Spam Allstars • Rachel Goodrich • Blue King Brown • The Heavy Pets • Awesome New Republic • The Postmarks • Suenalo Sound System

Download: Halloween Head by Ryan Adams (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: (How Can I Keep You) Outta Harms Way by King Kahn and The Shrines (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

What Did Tom Waits Do To You?

By marty

Really, what did Tom Waits do to attract this attention?

Always a popular source of cover song material, our long-distance drinking buddy Tom (we drink and he stays a long distance away) has been the subject of two recent tribute/vanity projects of varying degrees of success/listenability. 

The most infamous of these two outings was that large, festering heap of whale excrement known as "Anywhere I Lay My Head" by noted sexpot actress Scarlett Johansson.   

As a friend asked (and I paraphrase to avoid offending nearly everyone), "What personal talents did this young lady exhibit to persuade a struggling music industry to give her an album?"  Obviously, it was not Ms. Johansson's musical talents. The album is truly unlistenable.  Whenever I am forced to listen to such drivel, I feel like scratching the inside of my eyelids.  It is simply that bad. 

For the masochists out there, I humbly offer the following:  

Download: Falling Down by Scarlett Johansson (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

The other 2008 Tom Waits tribute album is the intriguing "Grapefruit Moon: The Songs Of Tom Waits" by Southside Johnny.  In this Big Band jazz interpretation of various Waits tunes, Southside Johnny, who once rode the Jersey Shore musical wave following the Springsteen tsunami, is joined by Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, a former Asbury Juke and current member of the Max Weinberg 7. Rosenberg arranged and produced this lush, Nelson Riddle-like album with a heavy emphasis on the horn section.  The results are surprisingly sublime - a rare jewel. 

Download: New Coat of Paint by Southside Johnny (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Perhaps the most surprising part of this whole trend is Waits' tolerance of such offerings. Waits is well-known for not allowing his songs to be used for commercials and ready to get litigious on Madison Avenue's derriere when it does.  However, he apparently allows anyone who wonders into a recording studio to sing his songs.  

Other Waits tribute albums have come from Holly Cole, John Hammond and an obscure, but well worth the search, 2000 compilation entitled a "New Coat of Paint," where Neko Case does a wonderfully bluesy "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis." 

For your listening pleasure, I offer three great versions of "Jockey Full of Bourbon" - covers by John Hammond, Los Lobos and the original from the main himself. 

Download: Jockey Full of Bourbon by John Hammond (mp3)(Amazon)

Download: Jockey Full of Bourbon by Los Lobos (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Jockey Full of Bourbon by Tom Waits (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Giving Thanks and Taking Names

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

This year, in particular, I am thankful and grateful that the words "Hope" and "Change" graciously returned to the national vocabulary.  There is much work to do.  This all has to be more than just talk. 

Below is a Thanksgiving mini-mix for your pleasure.  I'm especially fond of The Flaming Lips' toast to Jack White, the designated coolest man in the world.  Enjoy and have an extra slice of pie from me. 

Download: Thanksgiving by Loudon Wainwright III (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Thanksgiving Song by Adam Sandler (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Thanksgiving Theme by Vince Guaraldi (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly and the Family Stone (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Thank You Jack White by The Flaming Lips (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Black Friday by Steely Dan (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

There's Really No Debate On The Eels' Magic Or Their Leader's Major New Projects: It's E Said, E Said

By Duncan Strauss

My family and I moved from Southern California to Florida a hair over three years ago, and in some ways, one of the things I miss most is the Eels.

Don't get me wrong. I deeply miss dear friends, former colleagues and family members, and I make a point of seeing them all on occasional trips back to California.

But when I have returned to my old So. Cal. stomping grounds, I have not been able to see the Eels perform--and since I've lived in Florida, none of the L.A. group's concert tours have swung through my adopted homeland. I used to live five minutes from the Galaxy Theater, a venue where the Eels performed warm-up shows before the last few tours.

At this point, I guess I should hasten to point out that the Eels constitutes one of my very favorite bands of the last decade or so, and no small part of that is their well-earned reputation as an ever-changing but always-magical live act.

Indeed, E has long reflected a Dylan-esque drive for the Eels to never repeat themselves live, to continually alter the presentation and reinvent songs in performance.

Moreover, E's impulse to sonically reimagine material for concert stages is so artistically restless that it's not uncommon for songs--and the musicians playing them--to change not just from tour to tour, but from one leg of a tour to the next.

A little over six years ago, for example, my good friend and fellow Eels aficionado Debbie and I had tickets for an Eels concert that was to be among the final shows of a lengthy tour in support of 2001's "Souljacker" album. We had caught a show on an earlier leg of the tour, and loved it, and our Eels addiction was already so serious that we were giddy with anticipation of this forthcoming show.

Meanwhile, another good friend, John, had arrived in town for a visit, so Debbie & I talked up the show, got John a ticket, and we all went. That night, the Eels effectively functioned as a punk band, and much of the material was virtually unrecognizable--so much so that after they delivered a blistering rawk version of "I Like Birds," an otherwise highly-catchy ode to beaked buddies (and something of a signature song), Debbie & I looked at each other, and asked "Was that 'I Like Birds'?"

Download: I Like Birds by the Eels (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Using that anecdote to help place his always-altering performance proclivity in context, I had an opportunity to ask E about the concert modus operandi in a recent interview that aired Nov. 12 on one of my WMNF radio shows, the Wednesday Sonic Detour. (You can listen to that interview here.)

One facet of his answer involved contrasting his philosophy with that of Gene Simmons--a wonderfully simple, pithy articulation of the difference between art and commerce in the realm of creative endeavors.

The wry, glorious simplicity of that response hardly came as a surprise, especially after reading "Things The Grandchildren Should Know," E's fantastic, highly-praised memoir published in the U.S. in October, on the heels of its UK release several months earlier.

As I've noted elsewhere, the book is not for sissies: it chronicles a deeply dysfunctional family (a vivid, unshakeable detail: when E discovers his father slumped over in what turns out to be his death at 51, he recalled that trying to revive him was their first instance of father-son physical contact; more on that remote father in a moment) and the avalanche of death and dying--the Dad's premature death was followed by his sister's suicide, followed by cancer claiming his Mom--that could have buried E.

But didn't.

Instead, he poured those experiences--all the loss, pain and grief--into the second Eels album, "Electro-Shock Blues," a wrenching masterpiece. There's at least one other full-blown masterpiece in the Eels catalog 2005's "Blinking Lights And Other Revelation," all the more striking a triumph because it's that exceptionally rare double-album that should be a double-album.

Of course, I'm always delighted to listen to the Eel's third release, "Daisies Of The Galaxy," but then I'm happy to listen to anything by the Eels. (Hell, I actually have both of E's pre-Eels records; production may sound dated, but there's some sharp songwriting here.)

But, returning to "Grandchildren," it's also a rich, compelling tale of how an emotionally undernourished boy in a troubled household was literally saved by rock 'n' roll--rather than a depressing read, the book is breezy, deftly-written, often funny and informed by E's remarkable, indomitable spirit.

Pete Townshend, who knows a little something about rock 'n' roll and about writing, raved about "Grandchildren": "This is one of the best books ever written by a contemporary artist. I learned more about my own business and my own methods by reading this book than I did by reading the life of Chuck Berry, Elvis or David Bowie."

There were at least two other reasons at the moment for pursuing a conversation with E.

One, in October, Nova aired "Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives," the BBC-produced, award-winning documentary wherein E investigates the pioneering work of his late father, Hugh Everett III, a quantum physicist--at one point, an MIT scientist equates Everett senior with Einstein and Newton.

Two, turns out that "Yes Man," the new film starring Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel not only features Eels songs old and (one) new, but also E co-composed the film's score, a rare undertaking for him.

And, truth be told, I guess there was one other reason for wanting to gab with him: I'm a huge, longtime fan. As I've also noted elsewhere, I've long thought the Eels were a cult band housing a truly major talent, and it's little wonder that some of his other ardent fans include Townshend, Neil Young and Tom Waits.

The guy's great.

Download: Novocaine for the Soul by the Eels (iTunes)(Amazon)

Obama Inauguration Pre-Pre-Preview

By marty

Still unable to wipe the smile off my face since Election Day, it is not too early to start planning for the really, big party - the Inauguration.  For the weary, but happy staff, at After Hours World Headquarters, the Inauguration's music is of particular interest.  

Not in recent history has music played an important and integral part of a political campaign. While musicians were filing suit against the McCain campaign to prevent the use of their music, rockers were lining up behind the Obama campaign.  Will.i.am's music video mash-up of Obama's primary concession speech in New Hampshire drew more than 13 million views on YouTube and hundreds of new supporters on the campaign.

Simply because of that, count will.i.am in for the Inaugural activities.  Another lock for the festivities is Stevie Wonder.  Not only did Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" end most of Obama's rallies for the past two years,  Barack is a major fan. 

As he told Rolling Stone, "If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder.  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."

Alright!  The man is a music geek.  

Bruce Springsteen, who played several rallies with Obama down the stretch, is another strong possibility.  Bruce debuted a new song, "Workin' on a Dream," during a Cleveland rally.  There are also rumors of a new album being released to coincide with the Inauguration.   The early money is on for a large rally on the mall featuring the Boss.

Also, expect some Chicago love in the selection of Inaugural performers.  One can imagine Mavis Staples singing during the swearing-in ceremony.  Another Obama favorite from Chicago is Wilco, who would be perfect for opening up for Springsteen during a mall concert.  I wouldn't be surprise to see Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy trading licks in front of the Lincoln Memorial. 

Beyonce has already offered her services for the event.  I would pencil her in for one of the Inaugural ball.  Also, look for Jay-Z and maybe Kanye West to make an appearance during the festivities. 

Other musicians likely to make the short list is Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Earth, Wind & Fire, John Legend and Bebe Winans.  

Despite the somber tone of Obama's election night speech,  don't underestimate the size of the Inauguration party.  As evidenced by his convention speech and the Grant Park rally,  Obama likes to play to a very large room.  He is going to need a large room to accommodate all the folks celebrating their new found hope and the end of eight years lost in the wilderness. 

Download: Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder (mp3)(ITunes)(Amazon)     

Download: Workin’ On A Dream (Live) by Bruce Springsteen (mp3)                           

Download: We Shall Not Be Moved by Mavis Staples (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Blues: The Next Generation

By marty

To be honest, when the clerk at the Cat Head blues shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi suggested the brothers-sister blues act, Homemade Jamz Band, I was skeptical.

There is a solid precedent regarding sibling bands - Osmonds, Hanson, and the omnipresent Jonas Brothers - for my skepticism.  Also, the band's name, with the bubble-gum Jamz with a "z,"  was also another warning sign.  It seemed like just another gimmick.

However, the clerk persisted and I finally slipped that well-worn cynicism off like an old coat and picked up their debut album, Pay Me No Mind.

Now count me among the converted.  The Perry siblings from Tupelo, Mississippi are fronted by lead guitarist and vocalist 16-year-old Ryan.  His brother Kyle, 14, fills in on bass and baby sister, Taya, 9, plays a very solid drums.  Together, they play a fresh, but traditional, brand of lip-smacking, finger-licking Delta Blues.

Make no doubt about it, guitarist Ryan is a great talent to be watched and savored.  He plays the blues with a smooth and sometimes dirty style in the great tradition of Mississippi bluesmen.  Even Ryan's voice carries far more weight than one would expect from a teenager. He growls. He teases and shouts.  

Perhaps, best of all, Ryan plays one of the great looking guitars of all time.  Constructed by the band's father,  the guitar is made from Ford automobile parts, with the body coming from a muffler.  Simply, its bad ass.

It's not surprising that the band garnered a second place finish in the 2007 International Blues Challenge and was named, this year, as New Artist of the Year by the Bay Area Blues Society.  

This is so much more than a gimmick.  It is the next generation of American blues and that is quite reassuring in times like these.

In the video below, B.B. King gives the band some deep love by saying, "In my 82 years, I've never seen something musically so remarkable as these young people."  If B.B. says it so, it must be the gospel.

Download: Who Your Real Friends Are by The Homemade Jamz Band (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Voodoo Woman by The Homemade Jamz Band (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Bees in the Tree

By marty

I have bees in my tree.  

A crapload of bees in my big, beautiful mango tree.  A barrel-size hive/nest/Death Star of bees dangling precariously on a limb 35 feet above my Thinking Spot - my quiet little seat to smoke too many cigarettes, listen to good music and solve all the world problems.   

Now my Thinking Spot is in danger.  Literally looming overhead.  Even more disturbing than the mental image of 2,000 newly-awoken bees landing on my lap when I finally crack that cheap fuel problem is the realization that the hive has been growing exponentially and totally unnoticed for many months.  

It is an apt metaphor for our current stress-filled, economic times.  An unknown danger growing so large and so close.  Is the ceiling starting to cave?  Not yet?  But when?  Better keep busy.

Contacted a bee remover through the internets (Thank you, Al Gore).  My own little bailout plan. In the meantime, I am keeping my head low with an eye to the sky.  And keeping busy as a .... well, you know.

Download: I’m A King Bee by Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Honey Bee by Cassandra Wilson (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Download: Birds And The Bees by The Bird and the Bee (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)

Lemon Demon: View Monster

By Ian Minor

Lemon Demon’s newest album is what you might call a reinvention. With a noticeably different style from Dinosaurchestra, his last album, Neil Cicierega is growing into his artistic skin. 

The album boasts 16 tracks, with transition tracks between them. This is a idea that Neil played with in earlier albums but goes crazy with here. The album has some of Lemon Demon’s best stuff. Two tracks, “The Ocean”, and “The Machine” are the best on the album. The latter a story of a boy who builds a giant machine that doesn't do anything, yet is labeled a menace of the state. Many other songs manage to pull of this new style. “Gadzooks” is the one of the best with great fan-mocking lyrics and with weird rhymes such as “Gee willikers, you’re all mentally illikers.”

But, as with all experimenting, some parts are going to fall flat. The first song he released for download was “Knife Fight” and it works okay as it’s own song, but when put into the album it seems out of place. A happy, peppy song between two of the slowest songs cause this song to trip the album up. In fact, some of the bonus songs would have worked better in the album. 

Oh yes, I mentioned bonus songs. Pay the full price for the physical CD and you’ll get sixteen extra songs. Most of them are instrumental pieces, but there are gems. My personal fave, “Ben Bernanke” a weird monologue by the Head of Finance to a man named Spencer. “Modify,” a song about mutilating yourself for fashion also does well by itself.

Lemon Demon has managed to shed the shackles that has haunted him and other bands like They Might Be Giants and Talking Heads. They play rock music, but because it has a much weirder subject matter, it’s labeled wacky or novelty. Lemon Demon at first embraced it, but now he has transitioned to his own style of rock. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Download: Ben Bernanke by Lemon Demon (mp3)(cdFreedom)

Welcome Home, Chrissie Hynde

By marty

After 35 years of living the exile's life in London, Chrissie Hynde has returned home. The irascible, 57-year-old Hynde now has an apartment in hometown Akron, Ohio and has opened up a vegan restaurant there. 

As a house warming present to us all, Hynde has given us the best The Pretenders album since 1984's Learning to Crawl.  The recently released Break Up The Concrete finds Hynde blasting out rockabilly-tinged rockers and mournful pedal steel weepers.

With Eric Heywood on pedal steel on nearly every song, you can hear more than a passing resemblance to Lucinda Williams. However, with drumming legend Jim Keltner providing the bottom, Hynde and her new collection of Pretenders reach a level of songwriting and musicianship thought lost to her days on vinyl.

The first single and lead song on the album, "Boots of Chinese Plastic," Hynde finds that elusive Pretenders vibe of old.  Always a mystical person, Hynde starts the song with the Buddhist phrase of "nam yo ho ren gay kyo."  Hynde has explained that the phrase means "every drop that runs through the vein always makes back to the heart again."  

Hynde has combined this spiritualization with the more familiar lament regarding bad and lost relationships - a theme that carries through the album. For all those who tend to fall for the wrong person, Hynde has been there and sings, "Illusion fills my head like an empty can, I spent a million lifetimes loving the same man."

Along with "Chinese Plastic," The Pretenders rock on through bluesy burners "Rosalee" and the title track, which features a solid and welcome Bo Diddley beat.  Another particular favorite is the spacey,  almost woozy, "Almost Perfect."  

With this new album, Hynde reclaims her rightful position atop rock's pantheon. She's the one leaning against a column, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.  The coolest one in the room.

Welcome Home, Chrissie.  We are so glad your back. 

Download: Boots of Chinese Plastics by The Pretenders (mp3)(iTunes)(Amazon)