The Dead Perform on the View

This morning Phil, Bobby and Warren played a short but sweet rendition of "Friend of the Devil" on The View in New York City. Phil's singing sounds great on this (first time in a long time) and Bobby even throws in a nice little rhythmic solo. Personally, I like Warren playing acoustic leads much more so than his electric ones. His style feels more appropriate on acoustic Dead songs. The boys will be playing 3 shows in New York City before embarking on a huge tour of the States. It's sure to be hot!
Here's the video:

Plants and Animals

I just discovered this band from jambase.com's recent concert review. They are a 3 piece indie-rock outfit from Montreal with a really nice, original sound. Their music is really psychadelic, and not your typical indie-sound (i.e. hushed vocals, strange guitar chords). Anyways, their album Parc Avenue is really quite fantastic, densly layered, and expertly produced. I found a killer video of them playing the album's best tune "New Kind of Love". Check it out

Woodstock 2009?

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, there was potential for a 40 year anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival. Due to the current economic shitstorm, the possibility of a massive, possibly multi-million dollar festival simply does not make sense. Frankly, I'm pretty happy about it. Woodstock was not simply a concert, it was a state of mind. It was a public consciousness brought on by the times, societal events and of course, drugs. Woodstock 1999 was a monstrosity. The Woodstock name simply became a product, and the festival itself shared little resemblance to its namesake. Peace and love was replaced by Limp Bizkit and rape. Simpy put, it was a disaster. How could the promoters and organizers of Woodstock 2009 garuntee that such despicable acts of humanity would not occur again. That's right, they can't. This is all for the best, let's let history be history and not try to recreate something that simply cannot and will not ever be able to be recreated. The commoditization of something as beautiful as a music festival is pretty sickening, and we have already watched it happen to Bonnaroo. Whose idea was it to hire Kanye West and Metallica to play anyways? That's just my two sense, take it for what its worth.

Blender Magazine Goes Under

Well this shouldn't really come as a shocker, but Blender Magazine has closed its doors. With huge newspapers like the New York Times struggling to survive, it's no wonder that a magazine like Blender had to shut down. Alpha Media Group has let go of everyone except for editor-in-chief Joe Levy, who will continue to work with Maxim Magazine, Alpha Media's premier magazine. Blender was a great mag, it mixed music and sex super well. Although the cover's often featured promiscuously dressed young superstars, the musical content within was quality. Blender pushed new bands, and had some primo articles on great bands. Hopefully we will see Blender resurface in the not-to-distant future.

Bonnaroo 2009 Additions

Bonnaroo just posted some additional acts for this summer's festivals. In addition to musicians, they also posted the first round of comedians. Check 'em out.

Artists: Public Enemy, Ani DiFranco, the Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, Shadows Fall,Heartless Bastards, Tony Rice Unit Passion Pit. High On Fire, Dillinger Escape Plan, Wailing Souls, The Itals, MURS White Rabbits, Janelle Monáe, Hockey and Pretty Lights.

Comedians: Jimmy Fallon, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Presents Bonnapoo 2009, Aziz Ansari, Michael Ian Black & Michael Showalter, Kristen Schaal, Arj Barker, Todd Barry, Rory Albanese, Wayne Federman, Nick Thune, Nick Kroll, Kurt Braunohler, Amy Schumer, Kumail Nanjiani and Pete Homes. John Oliver and Rob Riggle will also host An Evening (or Afternoon) with the Daily Show.

The Shins Return To The Road

After taking a year off for baby concieving and movie-starring, The Shins will be hitting the road again. They're playing tons of your favourite venues across the States for almost the entirety of May . Check out these low-key indie rock stars before they retreat back to other non-music related hobbies.

Dates:
Sat 05/02/09 Bellingham, WA W. Washington Univ.
Mon 05/04/09 Seattle, WA Showbox At The Market
Tue 05/05/09 Seattle, WA Showbox At The Market
Wed 05/06/09 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
Thu 05/07/09 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
Sat 05/09/09 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Sun 05/10/09 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium
Mon 05/11/09 San Diego, CA SOMA San Diego
Wed 05/13/09 Richmond, VA The National
Thu 05/14/09 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Fri 05/15/09 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
Sat 05/16/09 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
Sun 05/17/09 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
Mon 05/18/09 New York, NY Terminal 5

For those of you not into The Shins, check out this trippy version of "Sleeping Lessons" (shot live) and see if they can't not change your mind

All Good Music Festival

The All Good Music Festival just announced 3 new artists to its already crazy lineup. The festival will take place July 10-12 at Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, WV. The 3 new bands are the infamous Keller Williams, Lotus and BoomBox.

Complete Lineup:
Ben Harper and RELENTLESS7
Bob Weir & RatDog
moe.
Umphrey’s McGee
STS9
Dark Star Orchestra
Keller Williams
Les Claypool
Yonder Mountain String Band
Lotus
Tea Leaf Green
Buckethead
The Bridge
SOJA
Steve Kimock Crazy Engine
Donna the Buffalo
The New Mastersounds
BoomBox
Todd Snider
Bassnectar
Lake Trout
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
Hill Country Revue
Cornmeal
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave
Fear Nuttin' Band