Brewgrass

Thinking of hitting up the Brewgrass Microbrew & Music Festival in a couple of weeks. I haven't seen Keller and think this might be a good venue to accomplish that. Don't know much about a ton of the people playing, but this is the kind of thing that would probably be pretty cool irregardless of the music.

Patchchord has a contest for two free tickets (ends 9/6).

Live Log 2006

A list of the concerts I've seen in 2006...

16. The Raconteurs - 12/30, The Riviera Theatre (Chicago)
15. Keller Williams - 9/9, Brewgrass Music Festival (Bircham Park, Lawrence, KS)
14. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals/Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley - 8/25, Starlight Theatre
13. Rusted Root - 7/3, Harley Davidson Roadhouse (Summerfest, Milwaukee)
12. Kings of Leon - 7/2, Miller Lite Oasis (Summerfest, Milwaukee)
11. Constantines/Oakley Hall - 6/19, recordBar
10. Starlight Mints/Dios (Malos) - 5/20, recordBar
09. Gomez - 5/15, Grand Emporium
08. Martin Sexton - 4/28, The Bottleneck
07. Destroyer/White Whale - 4/2, recordBar
06. Soledad Brothers/Heartless Bastards - 3/31, The Bottleneck
05. Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah/The Brunettes - 3/30, The Bottleneck
04. Wilco/Mess Hall - 3/21, Uptown Theater
03. Arctic Monkeys/Spinto Band - 3/18, The Metro (Chicago)
02. Railroad Earth/Hackensaw Boys - 3/8, The Bottleneck
01. Robert Randolph and the Family Band - 2/10, Uptown Theater

Three More Days...

Apparently Ray Lamontagne is a bit of a Sensitive Sally, but his new song is the balls.

Ray Lamontagne || Three More Days (from the upcoming Till the Sun Turns Black LP out on Aug. 29)

From my computer to Graham's...

Here's a mix (mostly of some crisp live tracks) to celebrate the new design of I Wonder Why We Listen to Poets...

Gold To Me > Fight For Your Mind || Ben Harper
(Summer '96 Mix)

Here Comes the Breeze || Gomez
(Live from Chicago '98)

Twist || Mike Gordon & Leo Kottke
(Live from World Cafe, Phish cover)

Blue Ridge Laughing || Carbon Leaf
(Ether... the first CL song I really got into)

The Weight || Travis
(b-side from the Coming Around single)

Astral Weeks || Secret Machines
(Van Morrison cover, Road Leads Where It's Led EP)

Staring at the Sun || The Subways
(live, TV On the Radio cover)

Better Man/Save It For Later || Pearl Jam
(live 9-11-98)

More on the Whigs

Scratch that "Southern Strokes" thing from yesterday ("Technology" does ape "Take It Or Leave It" though). If Parker Gispert was Britt Daniel, you would have already heard this:

The Whigs || Half the World Away (from Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip)

I had the chance to give Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip a listen last night and it has some pretty good parts. The middle gets a little same-y, but the two closing tracks and a couple of other stand-outs (see above) are really solid and show that the band has the potential to grow into its own style.

If they sound a little like Spoon in the meantime, that's not that bad either.

Tracking: The Whigs

Rolling Stone calls them:

"A fiery, young and timelessly tuneful rock trio from Athens, Georgia -- may well be the best unsigned band in America."

ATO Records took care of that last part, by signing them and re-releasing their debut Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip. ATO generally doesn't go wrong with its artist roster (Mike Doughty, North Mississippi All-Stars, etc.) so you know they're worth a listen.

Sometimes it just takes a week.

Every once in awhile while I'm actually hard at work, my iTunes will wander. Most of the time I know where it goes, however, sometimes a song from uncharted territory will find its way into the queue. The Whigs, specifically "Technology" found the balance between being instantly familiar and being unable to place the song/artist playing from my computer.

I never thought Kings of Leon's "Southern Strokes" label fit the Followill brothers all that well, but the Whigs of Athens, Ga., might be the band that wears that brand well -- at least with "Technology." The song is a looser take on "Take It Or Leave It," full taut guitars, vocal distortion and that rhythm the Strokes practically invented back in Ought-one.

More:
eMusic
thewhigs.com

The Whigs || Technology (Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip)
The Whigs || Don't Talk Anymore (Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip)

(Songs are for sampling purposes only. Hosted by rapidshare.de and are available until 30 days after the last download. Please support the band however you can. Thanks.)

Dude, I missed July...

Sometimes it takes a break to show you who your readers are... because they yell at you and tell you that you had better stop being such a slacker and post something soon... or else. Well, no promises on discontinuing my slacker ways, but here's some good stuff I've been checking out recently.

Drive By Truckers || Gravity's Gone

Great chorus:

"So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one / They always told me when you hit it you'll know / But I've been falling so long / I feel like gravity is gone / And I'm just floating"

The Black Keys || Have Mercy On Me

From the Keys' Chulahoma tribute to Jr. Kimbrough. A bit of a break from the Black Keys' minimalist two-man blues stomp, the songs on this album see the guys stretch out a bit more. I wish there were more than six songs on this one. Hopefully you'll see some of this vibe work its way into the upcoming release of Magic Potion (due out Sept. 12).

Well, I've got to run out for the day. I have a working computer at home now, so maybe I'll try to post more from there. Enjoy for now!