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....

Old Ben and Jack

I found this video...and I actually remember when it aired. This could quite possibly be my favorite Ben Harper song. I got to see Ben and Jack preform once.....it was incredible.

Avett Session at LaundroMatinee

The Avett Brothers stopped by LaundroMatinee to do a little show. This set features 'Telling Time,' 'Late in Life,' and 'Laundry Room.' Enjoy!

Weekend Playlist

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it." -John Lennon

Theory of a Good Song

"I heard someone say once that great lyrics make you think thoughts and great music makes you feel feelings, but a great song makes you feel thoughts. With this as my guiding criteria, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" epitomizes this sentiment. The lyrics encapsulate the concepts of discipline, perseverance, individuality, respect, a positive approach to life, and a reminder not to take it too seriously after all. Better, and in fewer words, than any self-help publication could ever hope to accomplish. This highly concentrated virtual psychovitamin recipe for a successful life is honeycoated in a melody so simple and sweet, most people can only dream of coming up with something like that on their own. To top it off, the whole package is metabolized like water as a small child and ages like a fine wine in your soul until the day you die. Pretty good song." -Fishman

Ice Cream Man + Avetts

So I think this guy goes around to different festivals and shows giving away free ice cream to the folks who are behind the scenes....he has a lot of videos on Babelgum.

The Avett Brothers did an acoustic performance of 'I and Love and You' at Newport Folk Fest. I actually really like the acoustic version....maybe better than the album version?.?.?.....You can hear their full set here.

My Mystic Roses Died

Song of the day is Judee Sill's 'Crayon Angels.' Masterful lyrics and melody...in my opinion. Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes has been doing a cover that is really good, but I still like the original...although I'm glad someone still plays it.

WOODSTOCK: Now and Then

It's the 40th anniversary of Woodstock........40 years since a festival changed the lives of 400,000 concert goers. I wonder if anyone going knew how significant this festival would be in musical history and history in general? We've all seen the Woodstock movie....the infamous picture of the couple in the pink blanket....

The History Channel is running a new awesome documentary about the legendary festival.....Woodstock Now and Then. It gives an inside look at how Woodstock came to be and all the stuff that happened in between. It was really a couple of guys that wanted to do a festival...ended up losing their asses in it, as most first time festivals do.....but of course, have absolutely no regrets. The documentary also features original attendees. They recall what they were thinking and feeling at the time and how they feel about being a part of it now. I highly reccommend watching this......reminds you of why it was all done in the first place.

Some Kind of Salvation

The Features are now officially the first band to sign under Bug Music and Kings of Leon's new label/agreement. The Features have four albums already under their belt, a couple EP's and a long history of tours. They are Nashville natives and have been on the scene for a while......blowing up in Europe...but I think with this latest album 'Some Kind of Salvation' you will be seeing them a lot more. You can sample some songs here. Think...Kings meet Vampire Weekend.

Akron/Family TONIGHT in Atlanta

So...I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Akron/Family yet, but from what I have heard "it is a religious experience." They are playing tonight at The Earl in Atlanta. Here's a excerpt of what Jambase had to say about them....

"Akron/Family are four extremely nice, sincere and well-mannered young men from rural America who came to NYC (in 2002) to make music, hoping to find a thread of real magic still winding through this city’s music scene. They certainly did just that, but they did it by retreating into a tiny Brooklyn apartment, where they made their own world instead, in complete and stubborn isolation. They proceeded (while simultaneously growing alarmingly long beards and developing a playful but hermetic quasi-religious/sonic worldview/creed known as “AK” or sometimes “AK-AK”) to make several albums worth of recordings on crude home equipment – the material compulsively chopped, spliced, and orchestrated into fractal jewels of song and schismatically opposed atmospheres. " article.....really good article

A teaser.....

Funny People Music

I saw 'Funny People' yesterday. I think it is absolutely fantastic. Adam Sandler's best movie to date.....and possibly my favorite Apatow movie.....although I love them all. Besides the hilarity of the stand-up, it was a great story. Jason Schwartzman was awesome. He and Sandler managed to get a couple of records on the soundtrack. The movie starts with 'Great Day' (McCartney) and ends with 'Watchin the Wheels' (Lennon) with all kinds of good stuff in between......and Wilco gets a shout in the actual movie. These guys obviously like good music because I always notice the songs in Apatow movies.

Coconut Records (Jason Schwartzman's band) had two tracks off their latest album 'Davy.' Here's a sampler...check out 'Wires.'

I Got My Head, My Hair, My Brians....

Ahhhhh.....Nina Simone . She truly is one of the greats. This song seems particularly fitting today.

Ain't Got No.........I've Got Life

Song of the Month.....or More

Blind Melon's 'Change'.....enough said.

F*ck You Very Much

Lily Allen had an impressive second album and I really like a lot of the songs. I enjoy the bluntness of her lyrics and she explores a lot of different issues in pop culture. The album's sound is all over the board in a good way.....one record will have a 40's pop feel, the next is west african, and the next is trance-like bass. This is just a little sampler that I made on Playlist.com , which is a great place to make playlist and search for music.

Check out 'Naive' which is a Kooks cover and one of my personal faves.

Avett's Given Props by Rolling Stone

The Avett Brothers were named "2009 Artist to Watch" by Rolling Stone. They are getting a lot of promotion for the new album and particularly the title track "I and Love and You." (Great song no doubt, and you can listen to it on the page, but they have been playing it for a least a year now.)....I'm just excited to hear the new, new stuff.

The tag line is "North Carolina duo are Rick Rubin's favorite new band." There's a video by Crackerfarm at the end. Crackerfarm is the shit.

Avett Brothers: Newport Folk Festival Set

Great set by Avett at Newport. The sound quality isn't great, but the set list is. If you have never had the pleasure of hearing The Avett Brothers, check out their site. You will not regret it.

This set includes a newbie (not yet recorded) "Down with the Shine" and "The Perfect Space" off their upcoming record set to release in September.