Yep, the flurry of updates continues. Thoroughly enjoyed the show last night. Vetiver opened up and was a delightful surprise. I'd posted one of their tracks up here before, one I found through Playing In Fog. Here's a review of one of their shows out in San Fran. Joanna Newsom and her Harp were next. Before I go on, I must note that I am about to eat my words and spoon will be poking fun at T$, MD, and I for years to come. She did an excellent job. Apart from being attractive, she played the hell out of that harp which stunned the whole place. You see someone stumble in with such an instrument, you're not sure what to expect, but she flat out worked it. And it wasn't just her harp, her lyrics and voice grew on you as her performance progressed. A fine job indeed. Devendra was next. I must admit we were quite disappointed in the length of his set. It was shorter than the opening acts, the two which ultimately stole the show. He put on a good show, just not very long. For the Encore he had the girls from the other bands come up and sing background vocals on a new tune which turned out to be one of the highlights of the evening, albeit it was too little, too late, as the bar had been set earlier in the night by the two underappreciated artists.

Vetiver(****) || Joanna Newsom (****) || Devendra Banhart (**.5)

We'll be making our way back to IOTA this evening to check out Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom which should be cool. Devendra's Rejoicing in the Hands and Newsom's Milk Eyed Mender were recently reviewed by pitchfork. I've said it once and I'll say it again, IOTA is the best place in this area, In my opinion, to see a live show. Check out a couple of the links if in need of wasting time. The game arse race is pretty funny. Equipped with whips and beans, you bet on an arse through five races and pile up as much winnings as possible. Tiny Mix Tapes is sort of like pitchfork....sort of. Just another resource for music and the movie quiz is challenging...for me. And how about Mark Cuban taking some ball players of the Wizards hands? Talk about a nice guy! With the end of June nearing it's worth noting the Skins first preseason game is on the 6th of August.

Review @ IOTA, June 22nd, 2004
Lang Try(***), Cass McCombs(*), Iron & Wine(*****)

It's amazing how a year or two seems to change a musician. As I remember, to hear Sam the last two times (Black Cat, IOTA) was near impossible. His whisper and quiet ballads were no match for the crowd. For his last stop at IOTA, he shared the stage with Sam Jayne(Love as Laughter), Rosie Thomas, and James Mercer(The Shins). This time around it was clearly noticeable the crowd was more focused on Sam and not the aura that four well groomed musicians bring to the stage.

To start the night, Lang Try (Patrick McKinney) played a set of instrumental tunes. While it's hard to capture an audience for a 1/2 hour with just an acoustic on hand, he managed to do so quite well. With a beautiful Gibson and alternately tuned Taylor, he kept you dialed in and let you "choose your own adventure" so to speak, by telling you his interpretation of the song when it was written and from there let your visual creativity take over. "This song is about a girl trying to catch a train while in the fields of..." etc....then he'd jam the story out, pretty cool. He's the backup guitarst for I&W.

Cass McCombs was a disaster from the start. The vocals were messed up throughout but the guitarist and remaining band members trudged on and produced a good sound. It didn't seem like a great setting for these guys to play in. Maybe it was a bit small, but you could still make out a couple of tunes which were nice.

I liked the Washingtons Post thoughts on Sam Beam, saying "Beam looks a bit like a haunted figure from a Civil War photograph, and his songs, too, feel of another time." Beam played flawlessly throughout and took numbers such as "Southern Anthem" and "Weary Memory," from The Creek Drank the Cradle, and put a new and different spin on them. McKinney, whether on the acoustic or lap slide guitar, is a great compliment to Beams unique plucking and effortlessly intertwines both sounds. As an onlooker I felt as though I could have been in the studio listening to them make the album. You would have been able to hear a pin drop. The subtle and gentle sounds that Iron & Wine have made not only were able to keep 150 quiet and attentive, they were enough to paint a portrait of each song as if it were 150 years ago.

Washington Post Review

Here are a couple of tracks I believe have been posted at some point or another. First off, Stevie Ray Vaughn's acoustic jamout. Ridiculous. The other is Jack Johnson covering a Bob Dylan tune from a show at IOTA in Arlignton, VA. Pardon the recording, as it's pretty crappy, but I used a bullshit handheld mic to do it like 2 1/2 years ago. I also wanted to post it because my buddy T$ and I will be spending a good part of the next 3 days at IOTA watching Iron & Wine, Cass McCombs, Devendra Banhart, and Johanna Newsom. The rave reviews of Ms. Newsom still keep popping up but I've yet to inhale. Some find this funny considering I'm an avid fan of Devendra's. Something tells me a duet and the live setting will probably fix all that. Check out these psycho B.A.S.E jumpers. And for some reason I don't think I'll be able to promote my site the way these guys suggest. Don't forget to click on the pic, a little fun with photoshop.

Been a little behind recently, apologies. My apology extends even further since I wasn't able to post a track of the late Ray Charles until today. The track "What I'd Say" is a great way to listen to this incredible musician. Enjoy and thanks Walkie Talkie, didn't want to steal your bandwidth. Jolie Holland has an excellent voice that draws you in. The sound the recording exudes gives it the feel of a very old take even though it was within the past couple years. Goscard has been updated with some random shit and I added the pics of Hoffs memorial day party a couple weeks ago. Here's Modest Mouse's performance from Jimmy Kimmel. Right Click and "Save As." Watch out, it's a large file. Next week presents a couple of sweet shows at IOTA. Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, cruises through town on the 21st and 22nd with Devendra Banhart following on the 24th.

Trying to get in an update before Friday begins. First off, the tracks below are Curt Kirkwood live, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, and The 88. Kirkwood has been around for 20+ years and is best known for his work with the Meat Puppets and when Curt Cobain covered 3 of their tracks during the MTV Unplugged session. The Ted Leo track is one from their upcoming album that I believe they just finished recording and only need to fine tune now. Not very sure about The 88. They kick out a neat sound. Don't forget to click on that sunset picture I took. Haha. Make sure to check out the Fahrenheit 9/11 trailer as well - it looks excellent. Enjoy the weekend.

A rare weekend update! As promised, here is a tune from Jimi while in his NYC apartment back in 1968 or so. Not sure exactly where I got this from, but it's pretty amazing. You can hear a phone ringing in the background and him shifting through his music. Very neat. About a million miles away we stumble upon Ugly Casanova. I know I've posted this track "Baby Clean Conscience" before, but I felt it'd been stashed away in extramile so people may have missed it. Plus it's a studio version. Hopefully Issac releases the other Ugly Casanova material. Apparently they recorded upwards of 30 tracks while doing Sharpen Your Teeth. Go Smarty Jones!