Thursday, May 28, 2009

Stream the New DMB Album Free



On June 2 the Dave Matthews Band will officially release their new album "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King". For those of you who can't hold off, you can stream the album in its entirety here http://www.pandora.com/davematthewsband

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

DMB On Jam_On



From June 1 to June 8 the Dave Matthews Band will be taking over Jam_On. Listener's can expect to hear some new tracks off of the upcoming album "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King", some live tracks, some old favourites and much more straight from DMB. A different live show will also be featured every night at 9pm.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Time Turns Elastic

Just this morning Phish released its newest studio cut, Time Turns Elastic via iTunes. This song made its debut at a Trey solo concert (with the Baltimore Orchestra) this past September. The track is 13 minutes long and is rumoured to appear on Phish's upcoming studio release. You can view the splash video on Phish's homepage or buy the track through iTunes.

PHISH "TIME TURNS ELASTIC" AVAILABLE AT iTUNES from Phish on Vimeo.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Best Bon Iver

So this is probably my favourite video on YouTube right now. It's a beautiful a capella version of "For Emma" by Bon Iver. The approach to this performance is so casual. Between the old man who doesn't really understand why they are shooting in a hostel hallway, the dog who runs in to say hi, and the girls who wander in and are clearly charmed out of their pants, this is just a fantastic song sang fantastically well. Enjoy

Stream Wilco (The Album) Now!


Wilco (The Album) is now available for streaming in its entirety at http://beta.wilcoworld.net/records/thealbum/index.php. It is expected to hit stores by June 30 at the latest.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Marco Benevento @ Le Divan Orange, Montreal, 2009-05-06

In a city where the night life is notoriously ruled by DJs, after-hours bars, cocaine and hipsters, The Marco Benevento Trio's rocked out psychedelic jazz was a welcomed change of pace. The Trio is made up of Marco Benevento on piano, Andrew Barr (of The Slip) on drums, Reed Mathis (of Tea Leaf Green) on bass, and Jay Cooper who runs tripped out video footage on the side of the stage. The show started off with Benevento’s eerily beautiful take on the Leonard Cohen classic "Seems So Long Ago Nancy". While many people in the small crowd may not have been familiar with Benevento’s originals, this choice cover tune proved that the man has excellent taste in music, as well as the jazz chops to make such a classic song completely his own. The next song of the night was a tom-heavy version of "Heartbeats" by the 80s Swedish pop stars, The Knife. This song demonstrated that the Trio does not take themselves too seriously; as we witnessed Barr humorously mix in electric drum effect fills with Benevento’s acoustic piano playing, while Mathis stayed deep in the pocket. Soon after Benevento picked up the microphone, showing that even though he does not sing, he knows how to entertain an audience. Benevento introduced his band with much applause from the small but attentive crowd. The touchy issue of money was discussed, as Benevento informed us that although the show appeared to be free, this was only due to his lack of personal doorman to collect many. As a waitress walked around with a huge bowl for collecting cash, the performance felt increasingly more intimate due to its college like organization juxtaposed with its first class level of musicianship. The Trio proceeded to run through a tight version of "Call Home" off of 2009s "Me Not Me" before Benevento casually introduced Brad Barr (of The Slip) to the crowd, foreshadowing epic things to come. "Bus Ride" and "Record Book" off of 2007s "Invisible Baby" were explored before Brad, the jam catalyst, took the stage. Strapped with an acoustic guitar, Brad came ready to add some extra texture to the already rich sounds emanating off of the stage. > The foursome launched into a lengthy version of "The Real Morning Party" which featured a nasty drum solo by Andrew as well as some string-vibration wizardry from brother Brad. A jazzy version of the Duo classic "Mephisto" came next, with Brad stealing the song away with an extended guitar solo. "Twin Killers" illustrated just how rocking Benevento can be on an acoustic piano, as well as how comfortable these four musicians are at playing with each other. The night appeared to be over as the band proceeded to leave the stage, taking a few much deserved whiskey shots along the way. A call for encore led to a psychedelic version of "Atari" which was dense in sounds. The Trio left the stage to another standing ovation, but proving to be of the people, Benevento and the rest of the guys stuck around to chat with the fans and party just a little bit more.

Setlist:
Seems So Long Ago Nancy[1]
Heartbeats
Greenpoint
banter
Call Home
banter
Bus Ride
If You Keep On Asking Me
Golden[2]
Record Book
The Real Morning Party
Mephisto
Twin Killers[3]
call for encore
Atari
[1] Leonard Cohen cover.
[2] My Morning Jack cover.
[3] Deerhoof cover.
The show can be downloaded here: http://www.archive.org/details/beneventotrio2009-05-06.superlux.flac16

Here are some videos I took from the show.
Soundcheck Jam:

The Real Morning Party (featuring Brad Barr):

Mephisto (featuring Brad Barr)...don't worry the watermark disappears:

Marco Benevento Trio - Mephisto (featuring Brad Barr) 2009-05-07 from lucas samuels on Vimeo.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Relix Media Group Acquires Relix Magazine, Relix.com and Jambands.com

From Jambands.com:

Media Group, LLC announced that it has acquired Relix magazine, Relix.com, and Jambands.com from previous owner Zenbu Media. Relix Media Group is a newly formed team of private investors led by music and film entrepreneur Peter Shapiro and former Zenbu Media employees. Shapiro will become Publisher of the iconic music title and longtime Editor-in-Chief Josh Baron will remain in place and be appointed to the management team.

In addition to Shapiro and Baron, Relix Media Group’s executive management team will include Associate Publisher, Senior Vice President, Rachel Seiden; Executive Editor, Senior Vice President of Digital, Dean Budnick; Executive Editor, Vice President of Relix Media Group, Mike Greenhaus; Chief Financial Officer, Dale Hirschman; and Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Cole Boyle. All members of Relix Media Group’s new team are veterans of the magazine.

“We look at the change of ownership as chapter three in the Relix story,” says Baron.“ “Ironically, at a difficult time in the magazine industry, Relix is stronger than it has ever been on both the editorial and business sides. We're confident that the new team in place, along with Peter's diverse background as a club owner of The Wetlands and now Brooklyn Bowl, plus his involvement in films like U23D, will help strategically grow the company.”

“Live music isn’t going anywhere,” adds Shapiro. “Relix’s core is live music and we will document and embrace that every step of the way. We will use the respected Relix brand as an anchor, and expand from there. With this new, yet familiar, team in-place we feel strongly that we have a strong and vibrant magazine on all levels and we're all very excited about the opportunity to build on Relix’s venerable 35-year history.

"Personally, I am thrilled to continue the forward-thinking leadership that Steve Bernstein brought to the magazine since he became publisher in 2000. We will also, of course, respect the iconic legacy and tradition created by Relix’s founders Les Kippel and Toni Brown over three decades ago. They have all dedicated themselves to Relix and made it what it is today, and I plan on bringing that same passion as publisher."

Founded in 1974 as a hand-stapled newsletter for Grateful Dead fans and tape traders, Relix magazine has evolved over the last 35-years into the leading source for fans of live music. These days the brand, which also includes, Relix.com and Jambands.com, offers readers rare insight and exclusive coverage on some of the world’s leading artists. Recent features include profiles on The Allman Brothers Band, The Clash, Neil Young, Black Crowes, Mars Volta, Beastie Boys, Miles Davis, Conor Oberst and Ryan Adams and many others. As noted industry critic Bob Lefsetz noted earlier this year, Relix is “more Rolling Stone than Rolling Stone.”

Relix will relaunch under the direction of new ownership with the June issue, while the newly branded web properties will go online within the coming months. The magazine, which will hit newsstands on May 19, will profile Phish in their first cover story since announcing reunion plans last year.