MOG Music Network

2009/10/30

Yeasayer Starts the Climb

This morning Yeasayer released the first single from their highly anticipated 2nd LP Odd Blood, which isn't set to come out until February 2010, a whole decade away. "Amblin Alp" oughta tide over hungry fans until the new year at least. This new track has a grander 80s world beat than anything on All Hour Cymbals with hyper-mic-ed drum sounds harkening back to the days when the larger-than-life sounds of Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel ruled the airwaves. I expect big things from this album and band and so far, they have yet to let us down.

Listen to the new single "Amblin Alp" here

And for good measure, here's a video recorded on this day in 2008 of the band playing the clap-stomp "Tightrope":

2009/10/29

Phish promo on the Conan O'Brien show

Go! See! Phish! Concert!



It's always funny how dumb people look when explaining to people who either don't know or care why they are so excited to go stand all day and watch a band play for hours on end and then sleep in a tent.

2009/10/27

Pre-Voodoo Interview w/ NOLA Radio DJ Soul Sister from WWOZ

New Orleans local DJ Soul Sister talks about this weekend's Voodoo Experience happening down in City Park featuring KISS, Widespread Panic, Jane's Addiction, The Flaming Lips, Eminem and many more(You might wanna click the KISS link). Check it out:

ACYL: For those who've never been to either (like yours truly), what is it that distinguishes the Voodoo vibe from the JazzFest vibe?

DJ: I love the heck out of both Voodoo & Jazz Fest, but the thing that distinguishes Voodoo is that it's much wilder, on the underground side of things. Like, you'll have punk rock bands and hip hop and "sissy bounce" and people dressed like zombies and me playing Japanese disco. It's a wild party for the nonconformist music lovers. And it all happens under the trees at City Park, which makes everything very beautiful and mysterious looking. And the party goes into the evening hours, so to jam to all this wildness under the stars and the moon adds that extra element too.

ACYL: Scoop us on an up-and-coming local artist that people everywhere are gonna be talking about 5 years from now.

DJ: There's a great buzz about the rock group MyNameIsJohnMichael, so I'm going to go with them - cause they're cool and I'm friends with one of the members' moms.

ACYL: What has been your favorite Voodoo performance in the past and who are you psyched to see throw it down this year?

DJ: I wanna see Janelle Monae. I hear she's just this wildchild artista who can't be stopped, sort of like the Betty Davis of today. New Orleans' TBC Brass Band will most likely funk things up too. Of course P-Funk. I play at the same time as Jello Biafra, but checking him out would be fun. And honestly, my favorite Voodoo performance in the past has to be that of all the ladies who rushed my stage last year on Sunday night to dance and pop to old school New Orleans bounce music. Yep.

ACYL: How is the station involved with the festival?

WWOZ has a stage at the festival and they're going to broadcast many acts live from www.wwoz.org. Of course, if you're in New Orleans you can tune in to 90.7 FM. In fact, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic are playing on the WWOZ stage and I'm hoping that they get to broadcast that one live. In preparation for that, I'm hosting a P-Funk Marathon on Friday night/Saturday (Halloween) morning from 12am-5am on WWOZ. It should be wild.

ACYL: Tell the fans nationwide why New Orleans is THE place to be nationwide on Halloween.

DJ: Halloween in this city gets bigger and bigger, like Mardi Gras. There's already a few parades for it and people start dressing up, partying and gorging themselves on a candy at least a week beforehand. By the time Voodoo comes around, it's just on for real. It's like Mardi Gras-style partying, without that corny "girls gone wild" element - and it's centered around the nighttime. It's so much fun, but there isn't a saying yet. Like, you go around telling people "Happy Mardi Gras?" No one goes around yelling "Happy Halloween" down here while they're partying. We've got to come up with something.

ACYL: Anything else to add?

DJ: I'll be playing live on the Preservation Hall Stage each night, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 8:15-10. I hope everyone will join me and my Booty Patrol Dancers for the right on party situation live at Voodoo. I'll be throwing down the sounds that have made my dear mother think I was crazy for many years.

Thanks to DJ Soul Sister for speaking with us. This interview will be included in the Voodoo Experience Festival Review for JamBase up next week.

2009/10/23

The Voodoo Experience

So here's the slated rundown of the Voodoo weekend, I'll be in City Park covering the festival for Jambase:

Friday, October 30th

The Cool Kids, 4:00 p.m., PlayStation/Billboard.com Stage
Alejandro Escovedo, 4:30 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage
The Black Keys, 5:40 p.m., Playstation/Billboard.com Stage
Silversun Pickups, 6:40 p.m., Voodoo Stage
Little Freddie King, 7:15 p.m., Preservation Hall
The Knux, 7:30 p.m., SOCO/WWOZ Stage
Justice, 8:00 p.m., PlayStation/Billboard.com Stage
Ween, 9:00 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage
Eminem, 9:30 p.m., Voodoo Stage

Saturday, Halloween
The Black Lips, 12:50 p.m., Playstation/Billboard.com Stage
Zydepunks, 1:30 p.m., Bingo! Parlor
K'Naan, 1:50 p.m., Voodoo Stage
Mates of State, 2:50 p.m., Playstation/Billboard Stage
Irvin Mayfield, 3:30 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage
Mutemath, 3:50 p.m., Voodoo Stage
Gogol Bordello, 4:50 p.m., Playstation/Billboard.com Stage
Big Sam's Funky Nation, 5:00 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage
Down, 6:15 p.m., Bingo! Parlor
Wolfmother, 6:20 p.m., Voodoo Stage
Jane's Addiction, 7:35 p.m., Playstation/Billboard.com Stage
George Clinton , 8:15 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage
KISS, 9:00 p.m., Voodoo Stage

Sunday, November 1st
The Pogues, 2:15 p.m., Playstation/Billboard Stage
Widespread Panic, 3:15 p.m., Voodoo Stage
The Flaming Lips, 5:45 p.m., Playstation/Billboard.com Stage
Lenny Kravitz, 7:00 p.m., Voodoo Stage
Robert Randolph & The Family Band, 7:30 p.m., Soco/WWOZ Stage

Not technically part of The Voodoo Experience, but a really, really big deal nonetheless:
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, November 2nd, Superdome, Atlanta Falcons v. New Orleans Saints, DIRTY BIRDZ!

Here's a vid of Gogol Bordello performing "Start Wearing Purple, gonna get rowdy down at City Park:

2009/10/14

Bonnaroooooooooooooooooooooo DVD

The folks at Bonnaroo have decided to release their first DVD from the annual gathering since 2005 (still waiting on the one from 2006 w/ Beck, Radiohead, Oysterhead, and My Morning Jacket). Considering I saw 30+ bands over the course of the weekend there aren't many on this list that I caught. Would've been nice to get Yeasayer, Nine Inch Nails (not gonna hold my breath on that one), moe., Al Green, Bon Iver, David Byrne (shocked this didn't make it), and Dillinger Escape Plan's Sunday Revival. That Santigold track is gonna be fire though. Here's the trailer for the DVD:



And the track listing:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Outlaw Pete
Phish- Down With Disease
Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Love You
Elvis Costello with Jenny Lewis and Her Sound - Go Away
Ben Harper and Relentless7- Fly One Time
Andrew Bird- Fitz and the Dizzyspells
The Decemberists- The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Del McCoury Band - Moneyland
Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home
Amadou & Mariam - Masiteladi
Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes
Zac Brown Band - Who Knows
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
Raphael Saadiq - Keep Marchin'
Cage the Elephant- Ain't No Rest For the Wicked

2009/10/13

Alberta Cross: Rise From the Shadows

Here's a link to the interview I did w/ Alberta Cross lead singer Petter Ericson Stakee for JamBase.com

Here's the band's video for their single "ATX" from their newly released debut LP Broken Side of Time out on ATO Records:

2009/10/08

David Gilmour Blast Off

Only fitting way to celebrate the first ever NASA moon bomb at 7:30 EST taking place in a mere eight hours on Friday morning. This is David Gilmour playing "Marooned" at The 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster. "Marooned" is an instrumental track from Pink Floyd's final album The Division Bell. Amaaaaaazing song.

2009/10/04

Arctic Monkeys at House of Blues NOLA, Friday October 2nd, 2009

Reviewed for JamBase:

The mini-ACL happening in NOLA continued Friday night (after catching the unreal Phoenix show at Tipitina's on Thursday and Dr. Dog on Wednesday) as modern day rock & roll success story Arctic Monkeys rolled through the Big Easy for a sold out show at the House of Blues. The Monkeys shocked the system, delivering an aggressive set leaving little on the table as they coursed through new Humbug tunes and staples from their earlier work.

It's easy to forget that these guys are still relatively new to the game looking so at home playing to a slam-packed house. For a British band, there is a definite surf rock spin on much of the material, with lustrous and LOUD Hawaiian guitar riffage beaming throughout. Songs like "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" bleed power and are almost too fast. The heavy Clash influence exhibits itself on the boisterous "Dancing Shoes" as frontman Alex Turner sings:

The lights are flashing
Down in here tonight
And some might exchange a glance
But keep pretending to dance


A staple cover in their live set these days, Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" was the highlight of the short set as the Monkeys put their stamp on a familiar tune. The cover was downright evil, with a sinister outro that could easily double as a horror movie score. A blinding strobe visual aesthetic scorched retinas and coupled well with the constant power emanating from Matt Helders' drum kit. American mainstream rock bands along the same lines of Kings of Leon could learn a lot from these guys, who give fans something fresh and put their best foot forward each time out. I wouldn't describe their music as particularly ambitious or exploratory - these guys stuck to their script of delivering tightly framed, freewheeling viscera throughout the set - but it's a beautiful thing and the bouncy crowd in the pit surely agreed. They exuded raw energy, seemed to enjoy themselves in the process, and made an outward effort to engage the generation-spanning crowd at HoB.

The encore left fans wanting more and although frustrating, it's always cool to see a band that knows when to hit the road and leave on a high note, with the Monkeys concluding with an epic blast through "505," the closing track from the band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. The Monkeys departed the stage one-by-one with guitarist Jamie Cook closing it down in brilliant fashion.

If you need a shot in the arm or just want further proof that ballsy rock & roll is still alive and well, then go check out Arctic Monkeys. The glorified rock dream isn't dead, and the young British rockers are climbing towards that pantheon of superstardom here in the States that they have enjoyed in Europe since the release of their instant classic and record breaking debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which outsold Oasis' Definitely Maybe as the fastest-selling debut in British history, a mere three years ago.

10.02.09 :: House of Blues :: New Orleans, LA
Dance Little Liar, Brainstorm, Crying Lightening, Still Take You Home, Secret Door View From the Afternoon, Dangerous Animals, Potion Approaching, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Sketchead Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover), My Propeller, Cornerstone, Do Me a Favour, This House is a Circus, If You Were There, Beware
E: Fluorescent Adolescent, 505

Check out a couple videos from the show down below:

"Red Right Hand" (Nick Cave and Bad Seeds cover), Halloweenish:



Epic closer "505":

2009/10/01

Parlez vous Francais?

Pop-rock breakouts Phoenix are swinging through the Crescent City tonight at Tipitina's Uptown w/ ethereal dream-weavers Chairlift in the supporting role. The show has been sold out since Monday, proving that the masses are starting to really embrace the Versailles rock group. Here's a video of "1901" the band put together to thank it's fans for coming out for the Fall Tour in support of their newest LP Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the band's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album to date. The video was released on Bastille Day, how very French of them.



And here's a video I took of Chairlift performing "Planet Health" at the Lollapalloza pre-show at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store, how very corporate of them. Enjoy: