Fresh Bread

James Blunt - Webster Hall 03.14.06

James Blunt - former Army Captain and current chart topper with the p-dropper "You're Beautiful" - played two sold out shows at Webster Hall last week.  I attended the first night.  Blunt is good at what he does...that is writing sensitive acoustic-based rock songs.  His experiences in the Army - where he traveled to Kosovo - come through most vividly in the moving ballad "No Bravery".  Embracing the fact he sometimes sings "like a little girl", James seems to be taking his stroll through famedom with a grain of salt. 

If your girlfriend doesn't have "Back to Bedlam" you probably should get some points for getting it for her.

the Mugs - Mercury Lounge 03.16.06

Thanks to Cappelli for telling me about NYC band the Mugs.  I decided to go to their Thursday night gig at the Mercury based solely on his suggestion.  I am now a fan of this young band.

the Mugs sound like their influences - Neil Young, Radiohead, and the Smiths.  Catchy dancability as well as dreamy indie rock are intertwined with Thom Yorke-ish like lyrics.  Lead singer Jeremy Gough and guitarist/backing vocalist Nick Moy have the ability to create very nice vocal harmonies over Nick's invitingly sweet guitar riffs.  Brett Tieman thumps the bass with the same energy with which he dances around the stage - I was pleasantly surprised to see the entire band enjoy themselves despite the classic NY crowd but even more so Tieman.  the Drummer, Ryan Raffa, is simply amazing...especially since he uses such a minimal kit. 

Standout songs for me are "Broken Signals", "While It Lasts", and "Firm Ground".

Listen to their EP Daisy Cutter here

the mugs myspace page

buy their first LP Paper Scissors Rock (it's awesome!) here

Big Mazel Ras Dub/BNM!!

Big Mazel to Dave and Mary Lee on their engagement 3.18.06.

Stale Bread - Dave's TJIF submission

T.J.I.F. - 03.17.06

Thank Jah!! this week comes direct from Ras Dub (big up respect!)- friend of freshbread's first fan. 

The Brothers Marley - Ziggy, Stephen, Julian, Damian, and Ky-Mani - toured the country in 2004 as the Roots Rock Reggae Festival.  The below songs come from their August 29th performance at the breathtaking Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. 

Roots Rock Reggae.mp3

the Heathen.mp3

Natty Dread -> Harder Dayz.mp3

Justice -> More Justice.mp3

Could You Be Loved.mp3

Read reviews of the show here

BIG UPS!  NUFF FIRE! ARGUMENT.

Tapes 'n Tapes @ SXSW - KEXP Broadcast 03.15.2006

South By Southwest, a springboard festival for up and coming bands, is underway in Austin.  A few friends are there (i'm completely jealous); for those of us who weren't able to make it can take solace in live broadcasts via KEXP 90.3FM. 

Tapes 'n Tapes, an excellent band from Minneapolis, peformed for them on Thursday.  Download the entire set below and make sure to check out their first full length LP "The Loon" (it's available on iTunes) if you dig these songs.

t01-Intro.mp3

t02 - Just Drums.mp3

t03 - Manitoba.mp3

t04 - Interview.mp3

t05 - Insistor.mp3

t06 - Cowbell.mp3

t07 - Outtro.mp3

Stale Bread - T 'n T @ the Delancey 01.07.06

Love As Laughter - Northsix 03.11.06

My newest (and guaranteed to stay around) obsession is a Brooklyn band called Love As Laughter.  My roommate dropped this unbelievable album on me a few weeks back.  I really can't thank him enough because every song moves me in a way Rock and Roll hasn't been able to do in a long time. 

Sam Jayne = Love As Laughter = Rock and Roll = Sam Jayne

Trust me, this is an equation to know and love.  Endlessly playing "Pulsar Radio", "Makeshift Heart", "Every Midnight Song", and every other song on Laughter's Fifth over and over convinced me I better not miss their appearance at the Northsix in BKLYN last weekend.  Throw in a week's worth of listening to Sea to Shining Sea and I was basically jumping out of my Nike's in anticipation.

I was thrilled with the set...approximately an hour long.  The venue was maybe 2/3rds filled and the crowd was somewhat subdued.  Me?  loved every second of it.  A tad disappointed they didn't play "Temptation Island" - a grab-you-by-the-collar-and-drag-you-at-a-hundred-miles-an-hour song and possibly my favorite song of theirs - but an excellent "Coast to Coast", "Every Midnight Song" (w/ two powerful drummers), and others left my inner-monologue pumping its fist after the set (can't actually do that in public in Brooklyn - there is a law against showing emotion re:  music there).

Listen to songs (including the amazing "Pulsar Radio"), read a brief history, and check out Sam Jayne's solo tour dates on their myspace page

Levy - Mercury Lounge 03.10.06

NY Indie-pop rockers Levy played an early set at the Mercury Lounge on Friday.  Bookending the fifty minutes with two new songs, "So Hard" and "Glorious", Levy did not seem to be in the mood to deliver an energized performance.  Aside from the new drummer (who was the dog's bollocks IMO), the band seemed to walk through the nine songs.
I like the catchy pop sensibility of their 2005 LP "Rotten Love".  Songs like "Rector Street", "Rotten Love", and "On the The Dance Floor" all have the ability to make me tap my toes and hum along to James Levy's melancholic vocal delivery.  There is also a scandalously awesome video for OTDF. 

Levy are a really good band but unfortunately for me they did not show it on Friday night. 

Have a listen for yourself on their myspace page

Buy Levy music here

T.J.I.F. - 03.10.06

THANK JAH!!! returns on a most glorious day in NYC.  70 degrees and sunny - I definitely have the spring fever running through my veins.

Inspired by the happiness today's weather has given me, I want to highlight one of my all time favorite songs.  I love this song (and in particular this version) so much it would easily make a list of '5 songs on a deserted island'.  Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear concludes the Reggae on the Rocks festival in 1996 with an amazing version of his song "Happy Day" which incorporates into a medley "She's Mine" from 1982's Farover. 

"Happy Day" is a beautifully upbeat song with a very catchy "Burning Brass" horns melody.  I remember stealing my brother's "Live In Paris" cd many times just to play this song over and over and over and over...thanks Drew!  What a way to bid winter goodbye....have a happy day like you've never had a happy day before...ARGUMENT!

Happy Day (Live) - Burning Spear.mp3 from the 10th Annual Reggae on the Rocks Compilation

the Duo @ Bowery Ballroom

Marco Benevento and Sir Joe Russo (yes, it's Sir as in a Knight) aka the Duo will be shakin' the Bowery Ballroom down on April 28th.  Tickets on sale today at 12:00pm via Ticketweb.

Benevento and Russo are a organ and drums jazz-fusion beast; i can vouch for their live show - wow.  They have been known to bring amazing musicains into their fold (including a sweetly intoxicating rumor of Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon touring and recording with them soon).  Their album 'Best Reason To Buy The Sun' (Ropeadope) is excellent.

Download some live mp3s on their website here

Green Apple's Officially A Go!!

After months of speculation and blog posts aplenty, the 1st Green Apple Music & Arts Festival has finalized its lineup.

Over 30 of New York's premiere music venues are coming together to host the inaugural Green Apple Music & Arts Festival, the biggest Earth Day celebration in the United States, to he held throughout New York City April 20th to April 23rd. Produced by Peter Shapiro and Relix Magazine, The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival will happen in conjunction with Earth Day New York, a nonprofit organization

SCHEDULE OF BANDS

Thursday, April 20

The Sixth Annual Jammy Awards, The Theatre at Madison Square Garden , 8:00 PM

Featuring performances by: moe., Little Feat, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Joe Satriani, Blues Traveler, Peter Frampton, Richie Havens, Baaba Maal, The Mutaytor, McCoy Tyner, Savion Glover, Mad Professor, Angelique Kidjo, Steve Kimock Band, Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, Bettye Lavette, Guster, Martin Sexton, DJ Logic and more names to be announced!

Jammys After Party at BB Kings 11 PM, Artists TBA!

Also: Blues Traveler at Rothko, Late Night

Friday, April 21

Artist(s)	Venue	Time
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra with Baaba Maal	South Paw	8:00 PM
Assembly of Dust and Martin Sexton	Cutting Room	8:00 PM
Avail	The Knitting Factory	6:00 PM
Béla Fleck & the Flecktones	B.B. Kings	11:30 PM
Bill Frisell	Village Vanguard	8:00 PM
Bjorkestra	Joe's Pub	9:30 PM
Country Road X	Studio 508	8:00 PM
Gabriel and Dresden	B.E.D.	8:00 PM
Green Burlesque	Slipper Room	12:00 PM
Guster	Hiro Ballroom	8:00 PM
Jonah Smith	Pianos	8:00 PM
Steve Kimock Band	Canal Room	8:00 PM
Main Squeeze Orchestra and Amy Correia	Mo Pitkins	10:00 PM
Matt Turk	Slipper Room	8:00 PM
New Standards	Joe's Pub	8:00 PM
Nouvelle Vague	Irving Plaza	8:00 PM
Particle and the Mad Professor	The Bowery Ballroom	9:00 PM
Perpetual Groove	Mexicali Blues	9:00 PM
Richie Havens	The Bitter End	8:00 PM
Strangefolk and David Lemeiux (Grateful Dead Archivist),	Lion's Den	10:30 PM
Sweet and Micky	S.O.B.'s	11:00 PM
The Philadelphia Orchestra	Isaac Stern Hall at Carnegie Hall	8:00 PM
Toots and the Maytals and Soulive	The Nokia Theater	8:00 PM
Toubab Krewe and DJ Equal,	Coda	9:00 PM
Tsunami Trance Party	Spirit	11:00 PM
Umphrey's McGee	CBGBs	9:00 PM

 

Saturday, April 22

Islands	Avalon	8:00 PM
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra	South Paw	8:00 PM
Art Lande, Mark Miller, and Friends	Studio 508	8:00 PM
Baaba Maal	S.O.B.'s	8:00 PM
Béla Fleck & the Flecktones	Irving Plaza	8:00 PM
Bill Frisell	Village Vanguard	8:00 PM
Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, and Schuyler Fisk	Joe's Pub	8:00 PM
Dan Bern and Kaki King	Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall	8:30 PM
Deep Banana Blackout	Rocks Off Boat Cruise	3:00 PM
Everyone Orchestra	Tonic	8:00 PM
GhostFace and Slick Rick	The Nokia Theater	8:00 PM
DJ Goldfinger	Spirit	11:00 PM
Granola Funk Express	Lion's Den	12:00 Midnight
Great Big Sea	Town Hall	8:00 PM
Green Burlesque	The Slipper Room	12:00 Midnight
Little Feat	B.B. Kings	7:30 & 10:30 PM
Mike Doughty	Mexicali Blues	9:00 PM
Murray Hill and Van Davis	Mo Pitkins	10:00 PM
New York Philharmonic	Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center	8:00 PM
Rose Hill Drive and Matt Wertz	The Knitting Factory	11:30 PM
Very Special Artist	Bowery Ballroom	8:00 PM
Steve Kimock Band	Blue Note	12:30 AM
The Mutaytor	B.B. Kings	12:30 AM
The Slip and Ryan Montbleau	Coda	9:30 PM
Matt Wertz , Matt Kearney, Josh Hoge	The Knitting Factory	6:30 PM
Yosi Piamenta and the Heavenly Jams Band	Makor	8:00 PM

 

Sunday, April 23

Fab Faux	The Nokia Theater	3:00 & 8:00 PM
Kids	New York Society for Ethical Culture	8:00 PM
Very Special Artist	Bowery Ballroom	8:00 PM
Zen Tricksters and Max Creek	RocksOff! Boat Cruise	3:00 PM

I'm very excited.