Saturday, March 26, 2011

My Morning Jacket new cd preview...

I'm on a little bit of a MY MORNING JACKET kick this morning. Their new album, titled 'Circuital', doesn't have a release date yet but it should be out later this spring. I love this band. They are truly amazing and I don't think there is a band out there that stretches the limits of their sound from album to album yet never seems to get lost. This was most evident last fall during their five night residency at Terminal 5 in NYC, where they performed each of their studio releases in succession per night and adding in random b-side and cover songs as well. I was there each night and thru all 99 songs performed, from the first one off their first album 'The Tennessee Fire' on night one to night five when they encored with a few songs from 'Circuital', everything was in perfect harmony. This is one of the songs performed on night five that you will hear on this new album. It's beautiful. Enjoy:

A quick one of some awesomeness...

Hmmmm. What can be said about this video other than it is incredibly awesome. EDDIE VEDDER with MY MORNING JACKET covering one of THE WHO'S greatest songs, the mini-opera, 'A Quick One While He's Away'. I had no idea this existed. I saw MMJ perform this last fall during their five night run at Terminal 5 in NYC and I remember having a smile from ear to ear thru the whole song. Mind you, the song is almost 10 minutes long so you will understand why my face hurt when they finished. I guess that's what Jack Black meant in School of Rock when he talked about melting faces. Thru a little research I find this is from a PEARL JAM live DVD from a tour in 2006 when MMJ opened for them. I saw this tour in New Jersey and Eddie joined them on stage for a great cover of THE BANDS, 'It Makes No Difference', which was also awesome. I guess my now you can figure out that Eddie Vedder + My Morning Jacket = Awesome. Well, sit down, turn it up and see for yourself:

Monday, March 21, 2011

!!Rock n' Burlesque Spectacular!!

LOS STRAITJACKETS
w/World Famous Pontani Sisters, Miss Saturn & Miss Ruby Valentine
Bell House, Brooklyn NY
2/25/11



What can be cooler than four dudes wearing mexican wrestling masks playing kick-ass surf & rockabilly music? Add some hot burlesque girls to perform while they play this kick-ass music!! Fans of LOS STRAITJACKETS should be familiar with this formula as they spent a number of Christmas season's spreading holiday cheer with the PONTANI SISTERS and their Christmas Burlesque shows. This winter they are back on tour and they have brought along more friends. The visual aspect of a LOS STRAITJACKETS show is always great with the cool masks, slick suits, flashy instruments and some choreographed moves. Adding burlesque kicks it up a few notches. With dance moves that make a grown man blush and a glowing hula hoop performance that has to be seen, all I can say is, thank God for youtube!!!:





Monotonix Mayhem!

MONOTONIX-PUJOL-FEDERATION X-285 Kent, Brooklyn NY-2/5/11


I was sad going into this show because the rumor is that this is the last MONOTONIX tour. Seems six years of non stop touring, marriage and new children might be shutting this band down, temporarily. Six years on the road may not sound like a lot for a band to be worn out, but you probably never experienced a show anywhere near one like this. MONOTONIX are a stripped down 3-piece garage rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel that leave a path of destruction everywhere they play. They don't need a stage to perform. The venue is their stage. The band sets up among the crowd and tends to let them dictate where they play each song. It isn't uncommon for the band to play above the crowd, with the guitar player crowd surfing, the lead singer standing up in the crowd Iggy Pop style and the drummer playing a drum kit being held up by their most loyal fans. They steal drinks from fans and dump them on others, they light themselves and their instruments on fire and turn every venue they play into a sweaty crazed up moshpit/dance party.

Thankfully nothing was set on fire tonight or everybody would have been in trouble at this DIY out of the way warehouse. We got to the venue just in time to catch a little bit of the heavy rock band FEDERATION X. These guys reminded me of the JESUS LIZARD, which means they were cool. Next up was PUJOL, which are a catchy punk/garage rock band out of Nashville. From what I gathered, this band is centered around the lead singer, Daniel Pujol and have caught the attention of the one and only Jack White. Expect to being hearing more from these guys...

On to the main attraction of the evening. Maybe they are getting worn out from the crazy performances as this seemed to be the shortest of all the MONOTONIX shows that I have been to. Either way, they always give the fans what they came for and you are never left disappointed. After lots of crowd surfing, spraying beers, scaling walls and even using the bar as a stage, the band ended up on the main stage asking everyone to sit down and told everyone to "shut the fuck up!!" They thanked everyone for their support over the years and confirmed the rumors that they this will be their last tour in the US. Then they walked off into the crowd talking with fans and friends as if they were hanging out in a bar. It was a pretty odd way to end the show but nothing these guys do should seem odd. That is what makes they so great.

Found this little video clip online from the show. You can spend some time on youtube watching craziness from other shows they have played. Lots of it.


Here are some photos I took from when I saw them before (Brooklyn Bowl 2010 & Coney Island Siren Fest 2009):









Love was in the air...

FEDERICO AUBELE-Joe's Pub, NYC-February 14, 2011
Federico Aubele is an Argentine singer/songwriter that blends reggae, dub, tango, bolero, hip hop and a whole lot of romance. Even his break up songs sound romantic. So you can imagine the vibe going on tonight, Valentines Day, at this intimate downtown venue which was sold out and filled with couples in love. Aubele, playing an acoustic guitar was backed by a stand up electric bass, bongos and a lovely co-singer. Alternating between duets and singing solo, they sang songs that seemed like they were created for tonight. Touching on all three of his cd's, the music never seemed to go above a whisper and the vibe transported you to a place far far from New York City. It was a perfect night.