Widespread Panic NE Fall Tour

Widespread Panic will be hitting the Northeast in September for a brief fall run. The tour kicks off with a three night stand at Radio City Music Hall and continues on with shows in VT, NH, MA, CT and PA. Check out all the dates here.



Here's a few shows off their current summer tour...

Widespread Panic - 2006-07-28 - Mid-South Coliseum - Memphis, TN

Widespread Panic - 2006-07-26 - Nokia Theatre - Grand Prairie, TX

Widespread Panic - 2006-07-19 - Snow King Amphitheatre - Jackson, WY

Lollapalooza Webcast

For those of you that can't make it out to Chicago this weekend for Lollapalooza fear not you can watch some of the festivities right on your computer courtesy of the fine folks over at AT&T Blue Room.

Here's the line-up so far....

The Subways - Friday 8/4 - 12:30-1:30 PM

Panic! At the Disco - Friday 8/4 - 2:30-3:30 PM

The Editors - Friday 8/4 - 3:30-4:30 PM

Ryan Adams - Friday 8/4 - 4:30-5:30 PM

Iron & Wine - Friday 8/4 - 5:30-6:30 PM

Sleater-Kinney - Friday 8/4 - 7:30-8:30 PM

Wolfmother - Saturday - 12:30-1:30 PM

Thievery Corporation - Saturday 8/5 - 7:30- 8:30 PM

Wilco - Sunday 8/6 - 6:30-7:30 PM

Remember all times are CST so plan accordingly.

I'm definitely looking forward to watching some this especially after their Bonnaroo coverage which had me riveted to my screen for a good part of a weekend.

"The Beer Situation" At McCarren Pool

Be forewarned if you're going to a show at McCarren Pool this summer be prepared to wait a loooooooooooooooooooong time to get a cold beverage that contains malts and hops. I haven't been out there yet, but apparently there are 2 vendors for the entire place and you have to by drink tickets as well.

Read the Gothamist article about it here.

Host An MMJ Listening Party

My Morning Jacket is inviting it's fans to host a listening party for their new live double album called Okonokos - which hits streets on September 26th and should be a rager. ATO Records will select the first 50 people to email them at - atotours@atorecords.com


All the "hosts" will get an advance copy of the cd, posters, stickers and a t-shirt - so email away, before it's too late.

Music Video Monday

MTV turns 25 tomorrow so in honor of that here's The Buggles with "Video Killed The Radio Star"....

Live Lips

Pyschedelic-pop-rockers The Flaming Lips recently recorded their show at the Hollywood Bowl for a live CD/DVD. The band will also be recording an upcoming show in their hometown for it as well Read about it here.

I've seen the Lips a couple of times and think the DVD would be quite entertaning since they're such a visual band and lots of fun to see. On the other hand Wayne tends to be quite chatty and that could bog down a live CD.

Here's some live stuff for ya...

The Flaming Lips - 2006-05-02 - Circus - Stockholm, Sweden

The Flaming Lips - 2006-03-31 - Webster Hall - New York, NY

The Flaming Lips - 1999-08-07 - Stubb's BBQ - Austin, TX

I Love Tuesdays...Sunday Edition

Picked up a couple of things at the Virgin $10 sale....

Cat Power - The Greatest

Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island

For Pete's Sake

For all you Pete Yorn fans out there head on over to I Fuel, You Are Friends for you one stop shopping needs on everything Pete. Heather's got a Q&A with the man himself and tons of live MP3's - including two recent in-store acoustic performances. Check it all out here.



Musicforthemorningafter (the title of his debut album) may be one of the greatest album titles ever, that's just my personal opinion.

His latest album Nightcrawler hits stores on August 29th.

Smog Report

I was at the Golden Smog show last night at the Bowery. I'll try to post some thoughts on it later - I will say thought it was a fantastic show. In the meantime you can read this review that was posted over on Brooklyn Vegan - which is pretty much on par with what I thought of the show.

Gary Louris mentioned during the show that they're going to have an EP coming out early next year before playing David Bowie's "Starman" - which will appear on it - so there is hope that they may play some more dates to support the new material.

Here's the setlist (literally)....

New Dr. Dog Track

I'll spare you with my lengthy pitch on why I'm obsessed with Dr. Dog and why you should A) buy their album Easy Beat and B) go see them live. Instead I will tell you to head on over to Stereogum who has a track off their new EP "Takers And Leavers" - which hits street on September 12th. Check it out here. Their full length drops in February of '07 - so mark your calendars for that now too.


For those of you catching The Raconteurs on tour this fall, be sure to head in early to catch Dr. Dog's set - you won't be disappointed.

Also they'll be playing a free show at McCarren Pool on August 27th with The Walkmen, Human Television and Elvis Perkins.

32 Shows In 30 Days

Village Voice music scribe Robert Christeagu went to 32 shows in 30 days in the month of June - 52 bands in all - and lived to write about. Check it out his review of it all here.

I Love Tuesdays

Here's the lone purchase for the week...

Tom Petty - Highway Companion

Umphrey's Magee - UPDATE

Well looks like the fine folks over at Rock Daily figured out their error - one of them anyway. But they also made plenty of other mistakes in this article including getting the name of their album wrong - it's Anchor Drops - and spelling Jake Cinninger's name incorrectly. Here's how it originally looked...

Umphrey’s Magee ended their two-hour non-stop set at Central Park’s Summerstage in New York last week with an explosive cover of the Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” in which guitarist Jake Cinnenger played Pete Townshend’s percolating synthesizer riff – on a Telecaster, in real-time staccato, saturated in echo. It was a hip trick, and typical of this Chicago-based band’s enthusiastic attention to detail. In fact, Umphrey’s Magee may be the most accomplished jam band in America – able to spin out at length between and inside their songs, but never at the expense of the invention and melodies in the songs themselves.

Like every other jam band in the country, Umphrey’s Magee – Cinnenger, singer-guitarist Brendan Bayliss, bassist Ryan Stasik, keysman Joel Cummins, drummer Kris Myers and percussionist Andy Farag – are still working on the equilibrium between studio and stage. At Summerstage, they played only one song from their fine new album, Safety in Numbers: the snappy, creeping pop of “Intentions Clear.” But the instinctive way Umphrey’s Magee negotiate and fuse punch and finesse was evident in the opening segue, from the extended instrumental prologue “Glory” – with its intricate bursts of biting harmonized guitars and power-chord shine – into the cascading vocal chorales of “Wife Soup,” from 2004’s Anchor Soup. It was as if Radiohead had been born a cheerful Midwestern bar band with brains, rather than bleak and English – a comparison immediately sealed in the next song, “Anchor Drops,” when Bayliss and Cinneger went into a double-guitar frenzy that sounded like (and I actually wrote this down in my notebook) “a cheerful ‘Paranoid Android’.”

The New Orleans instrumental band Galactic were also on the bill, pumping up the funk as the sun set. Their hour went by too fast, but not before they played a couple of timely, torrid covers for their struggling city: a heavy, rolling version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” and Led Zeppelin’s arrangement of the Memphis Minnie blues “When the Levee Breaks,” but with a lot more Meters and Deep Purple.

Here's the mostly corrected version.

David Fricke Loves Umphrey's Magee

Oh David Fricke shame on you. While you might be the only legitimate rock journalist to have positive things to say about the jamband world it might be good to check your ticket stub if you plan on reviewing the band you just saw. Check out his review of Umphrey's Central Park show for Rolling Stone's Rock Daily....

Jam-tastic: Umphrey's Magee In New York

Yes you read that right. I first thought "Ok, maybe it was just a typo in the headline" - but he goes on to misspell their name 5 times in the review. Don't they have fact checkers over there? You would have thought someone over there would have heard of them they did name them one their bands to watch a couple years back. Rock Daily I've been enjoying your content and now this - how sad.

Just for the record - Umphrey's McGee.

Music Video Monday

I know this has been floating around for the last week or so, but it's such a great video. Here's Gnarls Barkely with "Smiley Face"....

Bloggy Goodness

I'm Fuel Your Friends has got some new and unreleased Damien Rice songs. First Ray LaMontagne tracks and now this - Heather's blog is quickly become a new favorite. Check that out here.

Over at My Old Kentucky Blog you can download a bunch of covers by Louisville's own My Morning Jacket - including songs by Elton John, Jefferson Airplane and Bread. Head here.

Cable and Tweed went to see the Cold War Kids the other and taped the show - which he's now offering for download. So all you hipster kids can grab that here.

A new find is B(oot)log which has got a ton of great live music. Right now you can download live sets from Regina Spektor, The Decemberists, The Dears and more - so head there now.

Enjoy!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Ernie threw out the first pitch at the Cubs game the other day and later that night paid homage to it with G.R.A.B. by opening with an audience sing-a-long of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and teasing it later in the show.

Here it is courtesy of YouTube....



Here's the torrent...

G.R.A.B. - 2006-07-20 - Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island - Chicago, IL

Highway Companion Album Stream

Sorry for the lack of posts this week started a new job on Monday and I've just been busy getting adjusted and actually doing working instead of slacking and blogging. So I'll do my best to get some posts up on a more regular basis.

To keep you busy in the meantime head here for to stream the new Tom Petty album "Highway Companion" - it hits stores on Tuesday.


Tom is also on the cover of the new issue of Harp - read the cover story here. I seriously suggest picking up a subscription to Harp it's a great music magazine and you get a free cd with you subscription. This months choices are...

Golden Smog - Another Fine Day
La Rocca - The Truth
Yonder Mountain String Band - S/T
The Replacements - Don't Know Who I Think I Was?
Son Volt - 6 String Belief (Live DVD)
Frank Black - Fast Man Raider Man

So good stuff and it's only $19.95 for a year.

I Love Tuesdays...iTunes Edition

A friend gave me an iTunes gift card for my birthday - oh yeah I turned 30 on Sunday - so picked this up....

Gillian Welch - Revival

I Love Tuesdays

Here's the purchases for the week...

Golden Smog - Another Fine Day

Golden Smog - On Golden Smog

Music Video Monday

Here's Band of Horses with "The Funeral"....

The Music Of Bob Dylan Benefit Concert

On November 9th over 20 different artist will be getting together to perform the music of one Robert Zimmerman at Avery Fisher Hall. The show will be a benefit for the Music For Youth Foundation with each artist performing one song. Here's the line-up so far...

Phil Lesh
Chris & Rich Robinson
Gov't Mule
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Patti Smith
Cat Power
Rosanne Cash
Phillip Glass
Natalie Merchant
Lee Renaldo Project
Al Kooper & The Funky Faculty

More artist to be announced.

Concert Time - CheeseDog Review

Hit the SCI/Ratdog show last night at Radio City and just wanted to give a quick few thoughts on the night. First off just want to preface this with saying I'm not usually into bashing bands - especially jambands. So with that disclaimer out of the way have to say that I was less then impressed with String Cheese last night. While I missed the Tom Thumb's opener (walked in during their second song) the rest of their set was a total bore. They really seemed to just be mailing it in, it lacked energy for the most the part and seemed just lazy. I don't know if they were saving up for their headlining spot tonight or what, but just wasn't feeling it and didn't seem like the crowd was either.

As for Ratdog they came out of the gate swinging opening with Shakedown and delivered a gret high energy set. There were definitely way more Deadheads in the audience then Cheese fans so that may have had something to do with it too. While in the past I've been a little of critical of Bob doing too many Jerry songs and not more of his own - he's really put his own spin on them and I've come to really dig it.

Here's a few pics from last night....

I was in the back of the orchestra so it was the best I could do.

Blind Faith DVD

Definitely looking forward to buying this....

Sanctuary Releasing DVD of First Ever Blind Faith Show

Blind Faith's debut gig was in front of a cool 100,000 people on a warm day in Hyde Park. Since June 7th, 1969, when this concert took place, footage shot that afternoon has never been seen in its entirety. On September 19th the entire concert will be released on DVD for the very first time. Hyde Park 1969 is the only Blind Faith DVD available on the market.

Fusing the psychedelic blues of Eric Clapton and the soulful vocals and keyboards of Steve Winwood, with Rick Grech on bass and the phenomenal Ginger Baker on drums, fans at that historic performance were treated to a selection of timeless tracks including Presence of the Lord, “Can'’t Find My Way Home” and The Rolling Stones' classic Under My Thumb.”

Hyde Park 1969 also boasts archive footage of the various members of Blind Faith performing within their earlier musical guises. Clips of Spencer Davis Group performing “I'm A Man,” Traffic's Hole in My Shoe, Family performing Dim” and Cream performing “Sunshine of Your Love,” acts as an introduction to this phenomenal concert event. Hyde Park 1969 also includes a comprehensive discography for all the members of Blind Faith pre-1969, plus a collection of rare photos set to the sounds of Well All Right.

Often referred to as rock's first “Super Group,” Blind Faith'’s first –and only album topped both the UK and US Charts in 1969, with a sold out tour in support. After the band's last date, they never performed or recorded together again.

Here's a couple of show from this short-lived group....

Blind Faith - 1969-08-16 - Earl Warren Showgrounds - Santa Barbara, CA

Blind Faith - 1969-6-18 - Konserthallen Liseberg - Göteborg, Sweden

And here's a couple of bands doing the much covered "Can't Find My Way Home"....

Umphrey's McGee - Can't Find My Way Home

Zero - Can't Find My Way Home

And seriously if you don't have their album stop what you're doing and go and purchase it immediately.

Concert Time

Off to see Jack Johnson disciple Donovan Frankenreiter tonight at Irving Plaza. I thought for sure this guy was going to be huge a couple of years ago when his self-titled debut album came out. The album was a blend of breezy, summer-y pop songs that you could sing along to and was convinced "Free" was going to the song of the summer. Alas while that song was featured in a Verizon commercial he hasn't become anywhere near at big as his surfing buddy - maybe it's his creepy 70s style porn facial hair. He's got a new album out now which is a bit more funky then his first filled with a lot of B3 and clavinet - so check it out.

Here's some live stuff for ya...

Donovan Frankenreiter - 2006-05-23 - KPRI Hornblower Boat Cruise - San Diego, CA

Donovan Frankenreiter - 2005-06-02 - Executive Surf Club - Corpus Christi, TX

826NYC Benefit Concert

Nothing too exciting to post about today. There is this benefit concert going on next month at the Beacon Theater that has a pretty cool line-up - here's the press release...

826NYC and The Bowery Presents present REVENGE OF THE BOOK-EATERS, a star-studded night featuring some of today's most recognized names in indie-rock, literature, and comedy, including SUFJAN STEVENS (in a rare solo acoustic performance), JON STEWART, DAVID BYRNE (alone, onstage, with a guitar), DAVE EGGERS (best-selling author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), SARAH VOWELL (best-selling author and This American Life contributor), JOHN HODGMAN (Daily Show regular and author of The Areas of My Expertise) and JOHN RODERICK (The Long Winters) and special guests to be announced in an evening that promises once and for all to settle the debate: words or music - which is better?

The evening will benefit 826NYC, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. www.826nyc.org

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon and it sounds like a great cause.

I Love Tuesdays

Here are the purchases for the week...

Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening

Phish - Live In Brooklyn

Benevento/Russo Duo - Play Pause Stop

Syd Barrett - 1946-2006

Syd Barrett the long reclusive and oft rumored to be in an acid induced haze founding member of Pink Floyd died at the age of 60. Details about his death are just starting to surface - you can read about it here, here and here.



Barrett only recorded one album with Pink Floyd their seminal psychedelic classic The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - but released several solo albums as well.

Here's a vintage Floyd show with Syd...

Pink Floyd - 1967-11-13 - Hippy Happy Fair - Oude Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Theme Time Radio Hour

On a bit of a baseball kick here so here's the torrent for the baseball episode of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. This was the first time I've listened to his show and it's great, loved hearing Dylan being a DJ - it gets the HFTB Seal of Approval, so download away. I'm also grabbing a couple of his other broadcasts - Drinking & Summer - I'll let you know how those are too.

Here's the playlist for the baseball episode....

Take Me Out To The Ball Game - Bob Dylan (Acapella)
Take Me Out To The Ball Game - The Skeletons
Baseball Boogie - Mabel Scott
Home Run - Chance Halladay
Baseball Baby - Johnny Darling
Baseball Canto - Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Three Strikes And You're Out - Cowboy Copas
The Ball Game - Sister Wynona Carr
Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball - Buddy Johnson
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio - Les Brown & His Orchestra (with Betty Bonney)
Joe DiMaggio's Done It Again - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Strike One - Teddy Reynolds
Newk's Fadeaway - Sonny Rollins
Say Hey - The Treniers
The Wizard Of Oz - Sam Bush
3rd Base, Dodger Stadium - Ry Cooder
Heart - Damn Yankees (1955 Original Broadway Cast)

Staten Island

Here's some pics from my trip out to Staten Island yesterday - have to say it was a great time. If you've never been on the Staten Island Ferry before I highly recommend it. First off it's free, secondly you get a great view of lower Manhattan, Governor's Island, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn, etc. and third they serve beer - what else could you ask for.

Music Video Monday

Here's The Raconteurs with "Steady As She Goes"....

Take Me Out To The Ballgame....

Heading out to Staten Island (home of the Wu-Tang Clan) to catch some exciting minor league baseball later on this afternoon as the Staten Island Yankees will be taking on the Vermont Lake Monsters.

I've been a New Yorker my whole life and have never actually been on the Staten Island Ferry or to SI for that matter - so I guess that's something to get excited for. The stadium is supposed to have a great view of lower Manhattan so hopefully I'll get some pictures up here tomorrow.

Finally here's just about everyone's favorite baseball song...

John Fogerty - Centerfield

CBGB's Closing

I know this is a bit of old news, but CBGB's will officially be closing it's doors on September 30th. Word is CB's owner Hilly Kristal will be moving the club to Vegas and taking parts of the actual club with him there. Read about it here.

Rocks Off will be booking the run that closes out the historic venue - so keep checking out their site for updates.


Here's some shows from the heyday of the club....

Talking Heads - 1977-03-31 - CBGB's - New York, NY

Television - 1977-03-12 - CBGB's - New York, NY

Blondie - The Complete Blitz Benefits - 1977-05-04/05/06 - CBGB's - New York, NY

The Mumps - 1977-08-11 - CBGB'S - New York, NY

The Ramones - 1977-10-27 - CBGB's - New York, NY

The Feelies - 1978-05-21 & 1978-07-02 - CBGB's - New York, NY

The Band Tribute Album

About a month ago I read that My Morning Jacket had recorded "It Makes No Difference" for a tribute album for The Band - which I mentioned here on this very site. Well here's some info on the whole album which hits stores in January of '07....

According to album's executive producer, Stu Fine, the as-yet-untitled Band project will also feature contributions from Jack Johnson, Los Lobos, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Rosanne Cash, Joe Henry and Bruce Hornsby. Death Cab For Cutie has covered "Rocking Chair" for the album, while Gomez has put its own spin on "Up on Cripple Creek." "Just by word of mouth, I'm getting phone calls from managers saying, 'My artist is begging me to get involved in this,'" Fine says. "We're looking for a repertoire as diverse as the Band's very unique history." (via Billboard)

Read the full article here. Definitely excited to hear the final product.

In the meantime here's some people covering The Band live (with a few different versions of The Weight thrown in since so many people have covered it)....

My Morning Jacket - It Makes No Difference

The Grateful Dead - The Weight

Phil Lesh & Friends - Arcadian Driftwood

Assembly of Dust - Up On Cripple Creek

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Umphrey's McGee - Ophelia

Leftover Salmon - The Shape I'm In

moe. - The Weight

Burt Neilson Band - Stage Fright

Leftover Salmon - When You Awake

Paul Barrere And Fred Tackett Acoustic Duo - Tears of Rage

Phil Lesh & Friends - This Wheel's On Fire

Little Feat - Rag Mama Rag

The Radiators - Strawberry Wine

Tishamingo - Chest Fever

O.A.R. - The Weight

Phil Lesh & Friends - Life Is A Carnival

Ray's Music Exchange - Long Distance Operator

Enjoy!!!

Farm Aid In The Garden State

The Tweeter Center in scenic Camden, New Jersey will be the host of the 19th installment of Farm Aid on September 30th. Apparantly the sight was picked due to the high amount of famer's markets in the area - clearly this people haven't visit the actual city recently.

So far on the bill are Farm Aid founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and The Coug. Also scheduled to appear is Dave Matthews. Tickets go on-sale on July 22nd.

Here's some sets from past versions....

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 2000-09-17 - Nissan Pavilion - Bristow, VA

Neil Young - 1998-10-03 - New World Music Theatre - Tinley Park, IL

Guns 'N Rose - 1990-04-07 - Hoosier Dome - Indianapolis, IN

The Eraser - Album Stream

For all you Radiohead fans out there who can't wait till next week for the new Thom Yorke album The Eraser to hit stores you're in luck NME is currently streaming the entire album for your listening pleasure. Check it out here.

Here's a live show for you from 2002's Bridge School Benefit....

Thom Yorke - 2002-10-26/27 - Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Ampitheater - Mountain View, CA

ACL Festival Preview

If you're heading down to Austin this September for the ACL Festival you should definitely head over to Out The Other for her preview of the over 100 artists that are performing at this year's fest. She's in the process of doing write-ups on each artist and offering up some MP3's too - so check it out here.

Check out the full line-up here.

Tom Waits Tour

From Billboard....

Iconic singer/songwriter Tom Waits will hit the road in August for a rare string of live performances. The eight-date tour will take Waits to some cities he hasn't played in three decades. The details of the artist's touring band are still being worked out, according to a spokesperson.

"We need to go to Tennessee to pick up some fireworks, and someone owes me money in Kentucky," Waits said in a statement about his motivation for touring.

Waits played a handful of shows in 2004 but prior to that had not toured widely since 1999, in support of his album "Mule Variations."

And while there's no word of a new album from Waits, Anti- Records is at work on a long-awaited boxed set. No release date has been nailed down, according to the artist's rep.

Waits will also be seen in two dramas set for theatrical release next year: "The Good Heart" alongside Ryan Gosling and "Texas Lullaby" with John Malkovich and Josh Hartnett, which is loosely based on William Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

Here are Tom Waits' tour dates:

Aug. 1: Atlanta (Tabernacle)

Aug. 2: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)

Aug. 4: Memphis (Orpheum Theatre)

Aug. 5: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)

Aug. 7: Louisville (Palace Theatre)

Aug. 9: Chicago (Auditorium Theatre)

Aug. 11: Detroit (Opera House)

Aug. 13: Akron, Ohio (Civic Theatre)

Here's some live stuff for your downloading enjoyment....

Tom Waits - 1976-04-07 - Eisner & Lubin Auditorium - Loeb Student Center - New York University - New York, NY

Tom Waits - 1978-11-21 - Warner Theater - Washington, DC

Tom Waits - 2004-11-15/16/17 - Theater des Westens - Berlin, Germany

I Love Tuesdays...Wednesday Edition

Picked up a couple of cds today....

Kings of Leon - Day Old Belgian Blues

Los Lobos - Kiko

I didn't even know about the KOL disc - it actually came out a few weeks back - it's a live EP recorded at the AB Box in Belgium from a show back in October of 2004.

Happy 4th!!!

Here's a few songs that popped into my head for today....

Bruce Springsteen - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Paul Simon - American Tune

ZZ Top - Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers

Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summertime

Wilco - Summer Teeth

The Grateful Dead - Ramble On Rose

The Beach Boys - Country Air

Enjoy!!!

I Love Tuesdays

Here's the lone purchase for the week....

Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways

Music Video Monday

Here's Josh Rouse with "Quiet Town"....

Land Of The Lost

Stumbled on a great blog today - I Am Fuel, You Are Friends - and I'm sure glad that I did, apparently we share the same enthusiasm for the music of Ray LaMontagne. I've seriously been obsessed with him since the first time I saw him on Conan over a year and a half or so ago and have pretty much preached about him to anyone that would listen. Well Heather has posted a treasure trove of Ray's early albums and demos for download. She's gives some background on each as well - check it out here.

She's also got some other great content, so spend some time checking it out.

Top 6 Of The First 6

I guess it's now in vogue if you have a music blog to not only just offer a year end list on your favorite albums, but also to give mid-year list as well. Well who am I to not go with the trend so here are my Top 6 of The First 6....

6. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon














5. Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions














4. Josh Rouse - Subtitulo














3. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit














2. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time














1. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat














Best of the rest in no particular order:
The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics, Calexico - Garden Ruin, The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers, Sam Roberts - Chemical City, The Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops, Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun, Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, Ghostface Killah - Fishscale, Loose Fur - Born Again In The USA, Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light, Gnarls Barkley - St. Eleswhere