Fresh Bread

Steve Earle - Town Hall 09.26.07

Question:  Is Steve Earle america's most underrated songwriter?

Answer:  I don't know....but I do know he's pretty incredible...and his show last night at Town Hall was really good.

Steve dropped a new album (his thirteenth) this past week,Washington Square Serenade.  Many of the songs were mixed into the set, including my favs "Sparkle and Shine" and "Down Here Below".  The hard core fans were kept happy classic Earle tunes like "Hard Core Troubador," "Billy Austin," and the optimistic "Jerusalem."  Such a fitting song to hear just a few blocks away from where this week's big International visitor caused ripples with his perplexing rhetoric. 

Steve's next show is FREE, Oct 6 in San Francisco.

Foo Fighters - Irving Plaza (aka Fillmore East) 09/20/07

Foo Fighters + new material + old material + hits + intimate setting(Irving Plaza) = AMAZING FUCKING SHOW.

Peep these two clips and try to get a sense of the awesomeness that was last night's kickoff concert for their forthcoming tour in support of their new album:

From the very first song, new single "The Pretender", until the end of the three-song encore, the IP was rocking. The setlist was a mix of oldies and new material from the soon to be released Echos, Silence, Patience, and Grace. It's hard to pick highlights, but "Marigold" > "My Hero" is up there as well as seeing photographer extraordinare Danny Clinch provide harmonica to a jam in the middle of "Stacked Actors". "Everlong" > "Monkey Wrench" was pretty damn good too.

NME was there too and has the full setlist

Orba Squara - NuBlu 09.19.07

Pitchfork likes them. Stereogum wants you to check out a couple songs. I dig them and like to share their tunes. Orba Squara is the band and last night I caught a rehearsal show rehearsal show rehearsal of theirs at East Village joint NuBlu.

If you paid attention to the TV this summer, you probably saw the Apple commercial introducing the world to the iPhone. Orba Squara wrote the song featured in the campaign, "Perfect Timing", a dreamy and warm folkish jam. They played that song and many of the other tunes from Sunshyness last night as well as a couple non-album tracks.

The band is playing the upcoming CMJ here in NYC on the 18th of October at Southpaw (opening for Imperial Teen, tix here). Earlier that day they will be playing a live set on Philly's World Cafe live show.

See the rest of my photos here

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Gramercy Theater 09.11.2007

I live right near the Gramercy Theater. I've barely been there since it opened earlier this year. For some reason I miss out on shows that play there, like when I missed out on tix for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Fortunately, I scored a pair yesterday morning and made the show last night (thx dubes!).

CYH shows don't really differ much...they are good shows...solid...but last night I felt a hint of wanting just a bit more. Their sound and set is A LOT tighter than when I first saw them...which is good...lets just say I'm anxiously awaiting a third LP to get a sense of whether or not their first and amazingly amazing album was a one-off.

Phello Philly-ites The Teeth opened (i missed the first first opener...who was it again?). I really, really, love their song "Bessie"; so much I put it on my setlist for BVBR.

T.J.I.F. - 09.07.07 / Grateful Dead In Upcoming Rock Band Game

THANK JAH IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

It's been a while since I last gave a Jah Friday mp3 selection...it took some pretty sweet news to bring it on but here we are. From the Fire On the Mountain: Reggae Tribute to Grateful Dead come these two excellent covers:

"Sugaree" - Gregory Isaacs.mp3

"Fire On the Mountain" - Chalice.mp3

As I was saying, some excellent news spurred this post: I will be able to jam on 18 classic Grateful Dead tunes in the upcoming EA/Harmonix music video game, Rock Band. Awesome.

Stale Bread - Rock Band first footage

Daniel Johnston - Spiegel Tent 09.04.2007

My first trip to lower-lower Manhattan's most unique venue, the Spiegel Tent, was last night to see legend-on-the-down-low Daniel Johnston. With cameras in tow (they were filming for something), Daniel played to a most respectful crowd...well, except during the song breaks where they fanatically cheered and called out song requests.

DJ was in good spirits, smiling and interacting with his friends for the night. At one point during the set, DJ had the crowd sit down while he played a couple songs on the Baldwin stage left. His good friend, Brett Hartenbach, joined him for a good portion of the set on acoustic guitar.

The set was a mix of older album tracks and a few new songs. Highlights for me were "Walking the Cow", "True Love Will Find You In The End", a fun "Bloody Rainbow", "Greviences", and a cover of the Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" (played during the encore).

Stale Bread - DJ @ Highline Ballroom 5.16.07

Stale Bread - DJ @ Mad River 5.23.07

Stale Bread - New DJ video for "True Love Will Find You In The End"

See the rest of my photos here

 

Really? Thanks For The Stat, Captain Obvious.

Thanks to this latest report by the Center of Public Health in Liverpool I now know that rock stars are more likely to die prematurely.

Between 1956 and 2005 there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 musicians examined by researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University. As well as Presley, the toll of those dying before their time included Doors singer Jim Morrison, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, T Rex star Marc Bolan and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. More than a quarter of all the deaths were related to drugs or alcohol abuse, said the study in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health.

"The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths," said Mark Bellis, lead author of the study."In the music industry, factors such as stress, changes from popularity to obscurity, and exposure to environments where alcohol and drugs are easily available, can all contribute to substance use as well as other self-destructive behaviors," the report said.