Hail To The Thief

"I don't think we're individually amazing musicians, but what we do collectively is pretty good." - Ed O'Brien

Kid A

"My style is so tightly tied in with our songs that I don't think you could even ask me to quit Radiohead and play guitar for another band. I don't think I could do it. It would probably reveal me to be the bluffer that I believe I am. That's how it feels. I wouldn't have the confidence to do anything but this." -Jonny Greenwood

The Bends Part Deux

"The Bends was an introspective album.....There was an awful lot of soul searching. To do that again on another album would be excruciatingly boring." -Phil Selway

The Bends

I've had a rebirth of my love for Radiohead........I haven't listened to anything else in 5 days now, so expect a lot more of these post. I was just searching some different videos of old performances and came across a couple of jewels. *Thom Yorke singing 'Be Mine' with R.E.M. *Michael Stipe singing 'Lucky' with Radiohead *Thom and Beck doing Velvet Underground's 'I'm Set Free'

The first video installment will be 'Planet Telex'

More From Festival 8

I found this video on Jambase today from Festival 8.....shows a little more than my pictures! Michael Marantz made this incredible video from still photographs.....about 50,000 of them.

Phish - Festival 8 from Michael Marantz on Vimeo.

She's Still Out To Get Me

I've been listening to The Kooks a lot lately. I really like their music....it's just enjoyable. One of my favorite songs of theirs is 'Naive.' This performance of the song at Abbey Road is really good. You can here an acoustic version here and Lily Allen also does a cover that I like. Check'em out...

Them Crooked Vultures

I hope your ready for this.....A new project has emerged consisting of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, Alain Johannes, and wait for it.....The John Paul Jones!!! Apparently they have been working on this idea for a while and the album is finally here. Them Crooked Vultures started touring in 2009 with basically no promotion....however; they were selling out shows. They are now touring the west coast and then heading overseas. You can go here on Spinner and check out the album. Loving it so far....here's a teaser....

Have A Double With Me

I saw the Noisettes on Later with Jools Holland a few nights ago. Their performance was great and I really like their sound......british/indie/pop-ish. The lead singer Shingai Shoniwa has a very interesting voice (old/jazzy) that lends itself to the pop sound. You can check out an acoustic version of 'Wild Young Hearts' here. This is 'Never Forget You'....live...you can watch the official video here.....enjoy.

Lucky Ones Are We All.....Til It Is Over

Song of the week is 'Marry Song' from Band of Horses '07 release Cease to Begin.....freakin awesome album.....totally in love with them.

Back from Festival 8

These are some of the pics from the weekend.

Festival 8 was pretty incredible. As far as festival set-ups go, they had everything very well organized and in place. The scenery in the desert was beautiful. Everywhere I was the entire weekend was surrounded by mountains. It was a really good place for this event.

The highlight in the set design was the lighting. Everything was lit up at night, changing colors constantly....palm trees, artwork lining the field and even the vending tents. The theme for the installations on the site seemed to be 'fire.' All of the artwork was fire-related in some way. Instead of a typical bonfire.....they had this amazing metal sculpture that threw flames around on the inside (on the top) and actually was warm too.

The weather was spectacular.....although the acoustic set on Sunday was pretty hot, but well worth it. The acoustic set and the last set of the weekend were my favorites. You can view the set lists from all three days here.

I could go on and on about all the 'cool' stuff (some great costumes of course and I saw Greenman, which was enough for me) that was there and how amazing Phish sounded, but I guess you just really had to be there to experience the magic.....

This is a snip-it from the encore of the last set....

Going to California

Featival 8 here I come!

Day After Day

“Through Kurt I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down.” -Dave Grohl

One Line Wonder

I Want a Synonym Girl

I had the great pleasure of getting to see The Tragically Hip this week. They formed in 1983 and are Canadian. For some reason they have never become popular in America. In Canada, they're like our Pearl Jam or R.E.M. and are playing arenas, but here they are playing in venues that seat a couple thousand.....the Canadians at the show ( and there were a lot) were going crazy! Imagine seeing your favorite band with a few hundred or thousand people, rather than with 15,ooo. I have seen them 3 times now and each time has been a great experience. The music is awesome and very in sync, although they do jam a good bit. The guitarist, Rob Baker is ridiculous...... however, the best part of every show is Gord Downie, affectionately know as 'Gordy.' I have been racking my brain trying to think of a front-man that entertains as much as Gordy does. He literally tells a story throughout the entire show, completely engaging the audience in every way. I'm pretty sure he's the best front-man I have ever seen. (I tried to find a video that wold give you a little taste of his greatness.... I think you really have to be there to grasp the full picture, but try this for now.) The show was absolutely incredible and I highly recommend going when they are in your area. I really can't say enough good things about them...I'm hooked.

Here's a sampler of some of their tunes.....

Polished Dimes

Here's a little clip from the brother's on how they came to play their music. If you haven't picked up the new album 'I & Love & You'...go and get it now! It is absolutely phenomenal.

In My Tree..I'm Livin Free

I discovered Priscilla Ahn sometime last year and immediately fell in love. Her voice is awesome in its purity.... She toured on the Hotel Cafe bill with Joshua Radin, Cary Brothers, Meiko, etc.... She has one full length album, 'A Good Day' which was released in 2008, along with a couple of EP's. I really love her stuff....very simple. 'Living In A Tree' has become one of my favorites which was not on the album. Check out 'Opportunity To Cry' and 'Are We Different.'

Festival 8

That's right folks....I will be attending Phish Festival 8 this year!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be my first Phish festival and I am super excited. My friend actually won a trip there...all expenses paid and she invited me, so not only am I going to the festival, but I am going for free! Can it get any better?

This is the latest news on what will be going on at the festival and it's looking incredible. In traditional Halloween fashion, one of the 8 sets played over the weekend will be an album in its entirety. Past sets have covered Velvet Underground, Taking Heads, Beatles, and The Who. Of course people are going crazy trying to figure out what album it will be. Phish has put up an array of albums on the website...each getting cut until one remains. I'm hoping for Zeppelin...that would be sick. There will also be an acoustic set on Sunday which I am looking forward to.

Three days of nothing but PHISH....breathe....I'll let you know how it goes....

We All Shine On

“It's fear of the unknown. The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, all that--it's all illusion. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it's unknown and it's plain sailing. Everything is unknown--then you're ahead of the game. That's what it is. Right?” -John Lennon

Hey What's Going On...Hey Alright

Here is Reggie Watts doing 'I Just Want To'.........think Keller Williams does beatboxing....not really, but Reggie does beatboxing/looping/singing...and it goes on...very cool.

Not Even Lions

The Features have released a video for 'Lions' which is off of their new album Some Kind of Salvation. They also have a new song...'Big Momma Going To Whip Us Good' which they preformed at the Monolith Festival in Red Rocks.

New Lips

You can listen to The Flaming Lips new album 'Embryonic' in its entirety on NPR now. It is set to release October 13th. Read the accompanying article.....the music was put together in a 'hodge podge' of ways. Check out 'Gemini Syringes' and 'Watching the Planets.' The sound on this album is all......over the place...all over the place, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Rockin an Omnichord

This is an old 'Black Cab Sessions' with MMJ.....and yes, Jim James is rockin and omnichord!

Be Set Free

You can listen to Langhorne Slim's new album Be Set Free on Spinner now. This is his fourth full-length album...not counting independent and EP's. I really like what I have heard so far....check out 'I Love You, But Goodbye' and 'Back to the Wild'....really just listen to all of them. I love his style.....the albums keep getting better and better.

Roll Down the Windows

The album to listen to this week is 'Consolors of the Lonely' by The Raconteurs. Let down the windows, turn the sound up to your preferred volume and rock it.......

Check out this blue-grass version of 'Old Enough'...killler.....features Ashley Monroe and the Ricky Skaggs.

Sneak Out With Me

Song of the day is Rose Hill Drive's 'Sneak Out.'

Monsters of Folk

The first official release from Monsters of Folk has finally arrived! The band is comprised of Jim James (MMJ), M. Ward, Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). I think that alone says enough. They toured together back in 2004 and now they will be again! You can sample some of their songs here.

I and Love and You

The Avett Brother's are streaming their new album 'I&Love&You' on NPR before it releases on September 29th. You can listen here.......amazing album. They are also releasing 'chapters' of their new album on their website. Each video focuses on a different song off the album....with their thoughts, as well as fans thoughts.

Break Up

Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson are releasing an album today. It is titled 'Break Up' and the tracks are literally all about breaking up with someone...the lyrics are great. I am a huge Pete Yorn fan and their voices really sound good together. IF you like Pete Yorn, you will defintiely enjoy this. You can listen to the entire album on Spinner here. Check out 'Blackie's Dead' and 'I am the Cosmos' which is a Chris Bell cover. Their single is 'Relator.'

You Want To Listen

Deer Tick is my new favorite band.....and I think they will be for most. There sound is folky...singer-songwriter..etc. I find it to have a southern twang which I like and lead singer John McCauley's voice has a very 'old-feeling' sound with the raspy-ness of Kevn Kinney. They released their second album 'Born on Flag Day' in June of 2009. Their first album 'War Elephant' was released in '07 and re-released in '08. Deer Tick is from Providence, RI and they were the first band featured on Brian Williams new music show on MSNBC, BriTunes. He seems to have pretty good taste in music from what is up so far.....you can watch Deer Tick's interview here. 'Art Isn't Real' and 'Ashamed' are two of my favorite tracks...but I'm loving them all. This sampler has two covers as well..'Beautiful Girls' and 'Still Crazy After All These Years' by Paul Simon...really good.

Mr. Nothing's Got A Lot

I was in the mood to listen to some Nikka Costa today. I absolutely loooove her music and her voice. I made a little sampler of some of her music...enjoy.

Band of the Day...Week

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals are blowing up.....their 5th album will be out in the fall and is being produced by the T-Bone Burnett. If you have never listened to them...do. Their sound is all over the place in a good way....very bluesy, funky, jammy, singer-songwriter, etc. Grace has an amazing voice that's very unique.



Here's some more of their music....