Rock Hall Nominees

While there may be mixed feelings about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame there is an interesting group of nominees up for '08 induction. Here's who's on the ballot - Madonna, the Beastie Boys, John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, Afrika Bambaataa, Chic, the Ventures, Donna Summer and the Dave Clark Five.

Alright so not the most rockin' bunch of artists - especially with the inclusion of two of the disco era's biggest names and a surf rock band that really only had one hit.

Since everyone is pretty much familiar with the big names on that list why don't we take a look at some of the other ones through the magic of YouTube.

Did you know the Dave Clark Five knocked The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" off the top of the British charts with "Glad All Over"? Me neither, but here they are performing it on Ed Sullivan....



Here's the rest for your viewing pleasure....

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

The Ventures - Wipeout

Afrika Bambaata - Planet Rock

Chic - Le Freak

Donna Summer - Last Dance

Five acts will be inducted March 10, 2008, at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

And just because I was at this show here's Phish covering Wipeout from 11/27/1998.

Leave Kang Alone

Finally some quality humor coming out of the jam-scene (via Hidden Track -> SuperDee's House)....

Drinking Coffee Equals Free Music

It's a good time to be a caffeine addict and a music fan as starting next week coffee purveyor/music store Starbuck's will be promoting their new wireless music service by giving away "Songs Of The Day" cards that will be redeemable through iTunes. The first free song is Zimmy's "Jokerman". All in all they plan on handing out 1.5 million (yes million) cards a day from October 2nd through November 7th - which equates to 50 million free tunes! Read about the whole thing here (via Rock & Roll Daily).

I Love Tuesdays

Bunch of good stuff out today, here's what I picked up....

Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down The Thunder Canyon

Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog

Bettye Lavette - The Scene Of The Crime

Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You

Music Video Mondays

So maybe it's better that some bands don't appear in the videos, case in point the Magic Numbers. While yes they do produce some fantastic indie-pop that I'm a big fan of, they're not the most attractive bunch of musicians. Here they are with "Take A Chance" of their latest release Those The Brokes....

Jenga? No Jango

I'm sure everyone is all MySpace'd, Facebook'd and Friendster'd out by now. Come to think of it does anyone actually still use Friendster anymore? But if you have in you to join another social-networking site I want to point you in the direction of Jango and their tag line of Social Internet Radio. Basically you can create radio stations of what you want to listen to, while discovering new music and connecting with people (who's stations you can listen to as well). Been playing around with for the last day or so and really digging it - plus you don't have to be friends with Tom.

While the site is only in it's beta phase, the fine folks at Jango have offered me the opportunity for 100 people to get in on the action before it's official launch - head here and check out!

Also check out my radio station here.

I Want To Be Anarchy

Reunion-mania continues to sweep the music world as NME broke the news that the Sex Pistols will reunite to mark the 30th anniversary of their landmark album Never Mind The Bollocks. The concert is set to take place November 8th at London's Brixton Academy with all the original members of the band - read about it all here.

So how about a little Anarchy In The U.K.....



I just have this feeling that Johnny Rotten is going to cancel this in the days before the show - is it just me??

I Love Tuesdays

Looks like this is the only purchase for the week....

Kevin Drew - Spirit If....

Music Video Mondays

You say you prefer the vocal harmonies and tight pop sound of early-era Beatles to the later stuff, well do I have a band for you - The Redwalls. Here they are with "Thank You"....



I caught these guys a few years back at Mercury Lounge before the release of DeNova and was expecting big things, but these guys never really caught on the way I thought they would. If you like what you hear, they've got a new self-titled release hitting stores at towards the end of the next month.

Austin City Limits Webcast

Can't make it down to Austin this weekend for the stellar ACL Fest (me neither), fear not as par for the course the fine folks over at AT&T's Blue Room will be webcasting it all weekend long - check it out here (hopefully they'll be no censoring this time around).

But wait there's even more you can also enter to win an ACL prize package that includes the latest CDs from Bob Dylan, Bjork, The Killers, Wilco, Muse, Arctic Monkeys; a few band posters, and the official Austin City Limits festival t-shirt, hat, and tote bag - head here to enter.

And if that's not enought ACL for you head on over to Hidden Track for their coverage from deep in the heart of the Texas - here. Alright that's enough hyper-links for one post.

Nothing Says Farm Fresh Like New York City

Headed out to Farm Aid this past Sunday for a glorious day of music and social-eco-activism, check out my review for Hidden Track - Nothing Says Farm Fresh Like New York City.

Have a bunch more pictures that I'll get up soon too.

Get The Led Out

Won't be much in the way of posting over the next few days, just wanted to get this story up though since it is pretty big news. After months of rumors and denials, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin will in fact be reuniting for a one-night only tribute concert for the late Ahmet Ertegun (though I'd put good odds on a tour to follow). Read the whole story here.

Now lets get the Led out....

Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8

I don't read The Onion all too often anymore, but saw this headline posted Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8 and had to read it. Here's a brief excerpt....

According to the review, authored by Pitchfork editor in chief Ryan Schreiber, the popular medium that predates the written word shows promise but nonetheless "leaves the listener wanting more."

Pure genius, read the whole thing here.

Music Video Mondays

A bit sleepy after a two day binge of fantastic music. Caught Tea Leaf Green on Saturday night and was at Farm Aid all day yesterday (look for my review on Hidden Track coming soon). Down to the business at hand though. Move over Feist I think RjD2 may have the best choreographed video of the year, here's "Work It Out".....

Return To Mermaid Avenue - Update

Looks like the New Times should have checked their facts before running with the story that Wilco and Billy Bragg would be performing together. Here's what Jambands.com is reporting....

Earlier this week the New York Times reported that Wilco would team up for singer/songwriter Billy Bragg, with whom they recorded a pair of albums in the early 1990s, for a Woody Guthrie tribute at New York's Webster Hall on October 17. The blurb quickly spread throughout the internet, though some eagle-eyed fans noticed that the group was scheduled to play at Detroit, MI's Fox Theatre on that date. Jambands.com/Relix has received word from the band's representative that "NYT was wrong. Wilco isn't (and never was) scheduled to play that show in NYC." The group has no upcoming Manhattan dates on the horizon, with its next gig at Madison, WI's Overture Hall on September 11.

Kind of a letdown as I was really looking forward to the chance to see them team up again.

Remix Videos

A few weeks ago the Marc Ronson remix of "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" dropped (as the kids say). This week we get this pretty cool music video for it, that gives a condensed visual history lesson on the man - check it out...



In other Zimmy news as part of the on-going campaign to hype of the release of his new box set you can create your own version of the classic "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video that you can share with the world. It's pretty easy, get started here.

4 Pack For Farm Aid

Good news for all you folks out there that haven't picked up tickets for this Sunday's Farm Aid concert out in Randall's Island. From now up until tomorrow at midnight you can pick up a four pack of tickets for the low price of $100 - not a bad deal for a stellar day of music, for a fantastic cause. Pick up your tickets here.

I'll be out there on Sunday too covering it for my friends over at Hidden Track - can't wait!

To get you excited for Sunday, here's the finale from 1998's edition featuring Willie Nelson being backed by Neil Young, Phish and Paul Schaffer.....

Return To Mermaid Avenue?

Saw this posted on Hidden Track yesterday and it got me really excited.....

“The British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, and Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett of the American band Wilco added music to 30 of Mr. Guthrie’s lyrics and released them on the acclaimed Mermaid Avenue albums in 1998 and 2000. Mr. Bragg and Wilco will perform together for the first time in seven years on Oct. 17 at Webster Hall in New York, at a benefit show to combat Huntington’s disease, the illness that ended Mr. Guthrie’s career in the mid-1950s.” [New York Times]

After doing some investigating seems like Wilco is in Detroit that night, though Billy Bragg's site does have him playing Webster Hall that day. So either the author of the article spoke to soon or maybe the date is wrong - hopefully it's the latter, since I'd love to see this.

If you don't already own the two Mermaid Avenue albums go buy them right now. Seriously go, right now!

And for those of us who've been infatuated with those album since their release go and download this....

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Demos (via Dimeadozen)

I Love Tuesdays

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

Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Music Video Mondays

Today marks the unofficial end of summer and thought this video was a fitting tribute - so here's Lavender Diamond with "Open Your Hart".....