Sep 29 2008
Picture this Feb. 1 scenario...The Steelers and Bruce Springsteen at the Super Bowl.
There would be a serious danger of Pittsburghers like myself thinking they died and went to heaven. Because heaven, along with angels on clouds and stuff, will have to have some Steelers and some Boss to be heaven.
Bruce will follow in the footsteps of the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, all brought in to restore honor after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction. The run of pop stars replacing marching bands began in 1988 with Chubby Checker and escalated in 1993 with Michael Jackson.
The Super Bowl is going deep with Springsteen and the E Street Band, who can galvanize a crowd unlike any of those others.
He probably have three songs to do it. So...what should he play?
Here's a guess:
-- "Promised Land" or "Badlands": A new president will have just been inaugurated (his pick is obviously Obama) and these might be the uplifting working-class anthems people want and need to hear.
-- "Livin' in the Future": Springsteen will have to remind people that he's written songs since the '70s, and this one from "Magic," manages to be a rousing concert song that sneaks in a political message: "My faith's been torn asunder, tell me is that rollin' thunder/Or just the sinkin' sound of somethin' righteous goin' under?"
-- "Born to Run": It was far from his biggest hit (No. 23 in 1975), but it's his signature song and he probably has to do it. Plus, it's still awesome and one of the best displays of the E Street's might.
Your turn - what do you think he will or should play?
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Sep 26 2008
"Tell Tale Signs," the eighth volume of Bob Dylan's ongoing "Bootleg Series," will be released one week early as a free online stream on National Public Radio's Web site, npr.com.
The stream will begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, and will be available until Oct. 7, when it is officially released by Columbia Records.
"Tell Tale Signs" is a two-CD, 27-song set of previously unreleased studio recordings, demos, alternate takes, live tracks and rarities from 1989 to 2006. Among the most eagerly awaited tracks are an acoustic reading of "Mississippi," the seven-minute "Red River Shore" and a re-written "Series of Dreams."
Here is the track list:
Disc One
"Mississippi" - (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
"Most of the Time" - (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
"Dignity" - (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
"Someday Baby" - (Alternate version, Modern Times)
"Red River Shore" - (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
"Tell ‘Ole Bill" - (Alternate version, North Country Soundtrack)
"Born in Time" - (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
"Can't Wait" - (Alternate version, Time Out Of Mind)
"Everything is Broken" - (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
"Dreamin' of You" - (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
"Huck's Tune" - (Lucky You soundtrack)
"Marching to the City" - (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
"High Water (For Charley Patton)" - (Live, Niagara, 2003)
Disc Two
"Mississippi" - (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
"32-20 Blues" - (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
"Series of Dreams" - (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
"God Knows" - (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
"Can't Escape From You" - (Unreleased, December 2005)
"Dignity" - (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
"Ring Them Bells" - (Live at the Supper Club, 1993)
"Cocaine Blues" - (Live, Vienna, Virginia, 1997)
"Ain't Talkin'" - (Alternate version, Modern Times)
"The Girl On The Greenbriar Shore" - (Live, 1992)
"Lonesome Day Blues" - (Live, Sunrise, Florida, 2002)
"Miss the Mississippi" - (Unreleased, 1992)
"The Lonesome River" - (Clinch Mountain Country)
"‘Cross The Green Mountain" - (Gods And Generals Soundtrack)
Disc Three (Deluxe Set Only)
"Duncan And Brady" - (Unreleased, 1992)
"Cold Irons Bound" - (Live, Bonnaroo, June 2004)
"Mississippi" - (Unreleased version #3, Time Out Of Mind)
"Most Of The Time" - (Alternate version #2, Oh Mercy)
"Ring Them Bells" - (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
"Things Have Changed" - (Live, Portland, Oregon, 2000)
"Red River Shore" - (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
"Born In Time" - (Unreleased version #2, Oh Mercy)
"Tryin' To Get To Heaven" - (Live, London, England, 2000)
"Marchin' To The City" - (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
"Can't Wait" - (Alternate version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
"Mary And The Soldier" - (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
Sep 26 2008
We're only a few months away from those Top 10 album lists and it looks like TV on the Radio will be a serious contender for the top once again.
The Brooklyn band's 2006 album, "Return to Cookie Mountain," scaled new sonic heights and now the band - fronted by former Pittsburghers Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone - has returned with "Dear Science," an album that's every bit as compelling and, yet, easier to digest.
At the moment, it has one of the year's highest scores on metacritic.com with a 90.
-- The Los Angeles Times calls it "a vivid, angry, sensual soundtrack to the haunted life."
-- Pitchfork says, "This is s--t-hot thrilling music. But it's also brainy and ambivalent, and more engaging for it."
-- Entertainment Weekly writes "TV on the Radio may still - and always - make capital-A art, but they've found something universal, even joyful, in the noise."
The bad news is that, after selling out that s--t-hot Mr. Small's show in August of 2007, TVOTR are blowing us off on the current tour, which is getting as close Philadelphia (10/10), New York (10-14/15) and Cincinnati (10/18).
One local promoter was holding a date in October, but the band couldn't work it out logistically. Hopefully, there will be another leg early next year.
Adebimpe, who will star with Anne Hathaway in the indie drama "Rachel Getting Married" next month, recently had this exchange with the Wall Street Journal on the subject of his lyrics.
WSJ: The lyrics on your new album are poetic to the point of being hard to decipher. Do they mean things to you in code?
Adebimpe: All of them have their roots in real thoughts and feelings, but they're probably filtered through the cracked lens of poetry.
Care to explain one of the songs?
"Halfway Home" is kind of a send-off and a thank you to two people who passed away earlier this year. That's as specific as I can get.
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Sep 25 2008
Update: Vampire Weekend at CMU was cancelled due to "security concerns" and the rest of the bands are playing at Peter's Pub Saturday.
Here are the details on the Free Voter Registration Concert/Obama Rally with Vampire Weekend:
The preppy Afro-pop band from New York will play a show Saturday, Oct. 4 on the CFA Lawn at Carnegie Mellon University. It runs from 4 to 10 p.m. and also features Lohio, Life In Bed, Dirty Faces and Axelrod.
The press release says: "Students for Barack Obama at Carnegie Mellon are having a free concert to ensure that everyone who can vote in the upcoming election is registered and if they are already registered, that their current registration is correct and up-to-date to prevent disenfranchisement at the polls. Advance ticketing to avoid registration lines at the event are available at the following three locations:
- Obama Headquarters at 213 Smithfield St., Monday-Friday 10am-9pm,
- Obama Oakland Office, 3516 Fifth Ave., Monday-Friday 10am-9pm, and
- Carnegie Mellon University in front of Doherty Hall, Monday-Friday 9am-4pm. No one will be denied if ineligible to vote."
According to a publicist, "there will be entry points with tables registering people to vote and volunteers with laptops to check the database and make sure their registration info is correct and accurate."
Those under 18 can just walk in. The lawn will be roped off, but you can imagine how that might not hold up.
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Sep 24 2008
I don't spend a lot of time on Sunday nights listening to the radio - you know, being a total NFL junkie - but I wish I did, because it doesn't get any better than Little Steven's Underground Garage on WDVE at 10 p.m.
This month, the E Street guitarist, "Sopranos" star and groovy late-night DJ is kind enough to serve up seasonal slabs of garage-rock we can enjoy anytime.
One is a Halloween compilation, the other is for Christmas. I haven't heard them yet, but with the Electric Prunes, Roky Erickson, Howlin' Wolf and the Boss mixed together, it sure looks awesome on paper.
Here is the track list for "Halloween-A-Go-Go" (out now on Wicked Cool)
:
1. THE ELECTRIC PRUNES - "I Had Too Much To Dream"
2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - "Restless Nights"
3. THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS - "Running Through My Nightmares"
4. THE FUZZTONES - "I'm A Wolfman"
5. HOWLIN' WOLF - "Howlin' For My Darlin"
6. MINUS FIVE - "Lies Of The Living Dead"
7. ROKY ERICKSON AND THE ALIENS - "I Walked With A Zombie"
8. JARVIS HUMBY - "Man With The X-Ray Eyes"
9. SWEATMASTER - "I Am A Demon And I Love Rock ‘N' Roll"
10. TEGAN AND SARA - "Walking With A Ghost"
11. THE STEMS - "She's A Monster"
12. CARL PERKINS - "Put Your Cat Clothes On"
13. "THE COOL GHOUL" JOHN ZACHERLE - "Dinner With Drac (Part 1)"
14. THE PRETTY THINGS - "Walking Through My Dreams"
15. DONOVAN - "Season Of The Witch"
‘Christmas A Go-Go,' out Oct. 14:
1. KEITH RICHARDS - "Run Rudolph Run"
2. BOB SEGER AND THE LAST HEARD - "Sock It To Me Santa"
3. THE RAMONES - "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)"
4. DARLENE LOVE - "All Alone On Christmas"
5. CLARENCE CARTER - "Back Door Santa"
6. THE LEN PRICE 3 - "Its Christmas Time Ebenezer"
7. ROY WOOD'S WIZZARD - "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"
8. THE FAB FOUR - "Silent Night"
9. TINA SUGANDH - "White Christmas"
10. THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS - "Hey, Santa Claus"
11. BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA - "Santa Drives A Hot Rod"
12. SOUPY SALES - "Santa Claus Is Surfin' To Town"
13. COCKTAIL SLIPPERS - "Santa's Coming Home"
14. JOE PESCI - "If It Doesn't Snow On Christmas"
15. BOSS MARTIANS - "3 Ghosts (A Modern X-mas Carol)"
16. RUFUS THOMAS - "I'll Be Your Santa"
17. THE CHEVELLES - "Come All Ye Faithful Surfer Girls"
18. ELECTRIC PRUNES - "Jingle Bells"
19. THE KINKS - "Father Christmas"
20. JEAN BEAUVOIR - "Merry Christmas (To All of the World)"
Sep 23 2008
The folks who pull the lever on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees got a big dose of The Stooges last year when Madonna helped Iggy and company crash the party.
Now it's time for them to do the right thing and open the door to The Stooges, a band that sounded like punk rock years before the Sex Pistols and The Clash came along.
Those also nominated for the Class of ‘09 are Metallica, Run D.M.C. (the second rap act), Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, War, Bobby Womack and Chic.
Five will make it - and you can bet on Metallica, Run D.M.C. and probably Beck.
Among those newly eligible that the Hall passed over are Stevie Ray Vaughan, who revived the blues-rock scene in the early '80s and generally blew people away; the never-popular-with-critics Bon Jovi; and The Smiths, left off just to make Morrissey feel even more martyred.
Of course, there notable snubs from the list of the already eligible: shock-rockers Kiss and Alice Cooper, plus the whole art-rock crowd: Genesis, Yes, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and Rush.
Now that we're on our second rap act, isn't it time for Peter Gabriel to be in the Hall of Fame in one way or another?
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Sep 22 2008
It wasn't just his songs that excited the crowd Sunday night at the Byham. Glen Hansard, of the Swell Season, framed them with the kind of wit and banter that can only come from years of struggle playing in clubs and on the streets.
Like Richard Thompson, Hansard could almost carry a show with spoken-word and a few acoustic tunes sprinkled here and there. Almost every song came with a lengthy introduction, sometimes about overcoming obstacles in his life, sometimes about politics.
The Irishman broached the latter subject cautiously, saying the minute you start talking about politics in this country, things get weird. "No one wants anyone to know what they're thinking - in the land of free speech!" He went on to say that the important thing was that people just get out and vote, before slyly adding, "cause that's what's going to get Obama in."
At this, the crowd erupted and there was no smattering of boo's, as when Springsteen makes an anti-Bush comment.
Hansard then joked, "Think about a rock band that votes for McCain... Well, maybe that band that wrote ‘I wanna be rock star,' " referring to Nickelback.
Earlier, Hansard was talking about writing all these bummed-out songs and cracked people up with his take on the emotional state of rock stars.
"The most relaxed people I've ever met are punk rockers, 'cause they get it all out. They come off the stage and they're eating hummus and wearing sandals. The most uptight people are the folk singers. They come off screaming ‘Where's my [bleeping coffee??!!' "
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Click for the review.
Sep 19 2008
Rapper Q-Tip, former leader of A Tribe Called Quest, was to Roc
k the Vote here on Sunday, but the show will be going on without him.
Moving up to headliner slot on the lawn of the William Pitt Union will be Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa or Trevor Menear, a young blues guitarist out of Chicago. Also on the bill is Donora, one of the finalists of the PG's Pittsburgh Rocks competition.
Along with the music, there will be a kiosks about the issues, info on the candidates and, of course, voter registration.
Heather Smith, executive director of the non-partisan Rock the Vote, says the '08 election has been its most successful campaign.
"Rock the Vote has gotten more than 1.5 million people registered - about three times what we did in 2004."
The free concert begins at 3:30 p.m.
Sep 18 2008
When New York buzz band Vampire Weekend played its first Pittsburgh show at the Andy Warhol Museum back in February, it was a sold-out gig limited to 100-plus people lucky enough to squeeze into the small auditorium. The demand far exceeded the supply.
The band's return trip has the look of a massive rally open to everyone. Vampire Weekend, an indie darling that describes its sound as "Upper West Side Soweto," will headine Barack the Burgh, a free concert and voter registration drive Oct. 4 from 4 to 9 p.m. at a site to be named in Oakland. Also performing will be The Superpowers and Mahogany.
While Vampire Weekend incorporates Police-like ska and the African township jive heard on Paul Simon's "Graceland," the author of Stuff White People Like declared them "the whitest band" in an interview with Salon.
Vampire has been something of a lightning rod, with their gaudy 8.8 on Pitchfork, Spin cover, preppy clothes and songs about Cape Cod. On first listen, I thought they must be kidding. Then I played it a few more times, saw them live and, ultimately, the catchiness was impossible to resist.
Looking forward to Oct. 4.