« Newer | Older »

Jerry Garcia: It's OK to Wear Shorts...
Mike McKinley
November 5, 2009
Proof that rock stars can wear shorts? Or in Bob Weir's case, "jorts"?

From Vegas '94
"Peggy-O"


"So Many Roads"


"Ramble On Rose"
The Slip - "Even Rats" for Rock Band
Mike McKinley
October 14, 2009
The Slip's "Even Rats" was a surprise hit as a bonus track on the first Guitar Hero game. It looks like the song will be making the jump to Rock Band soon enough through the Rock Band Network. My buddy and favorite audiophile Cleantone (Clinton Vadnais) sent me this video he produced for the company he's a part of. Clinton along with The Slip's bassist Marc Friedman, and producer Matthew Ellard have formed The Authority Inc. Together they have authored "Even Rats" and other songs for the Rock Band Network. Nothing like rocking out with/as The Slip.

Improvisation Based on Fans' Text Messages: Umphrey's McGee
Mike McKinley
October 13, 2009
UPDATE - See below the video for the press release.

As a huge fan of improvisation‚ I thought this experiment with Umphey's McGee was super fantastic. See for yourself...



Umphrey's McGee has never played by the rules. Now, with the unvieling of their all- new Stew Art Series (aka, "S2") - an interactive fan experience where audience members "conduct" the band's live improvisations - Umphrey's McGee continue to offer their fiercely loyal fanbase the most innovative musical experiences available.

Umphrey's McGee's S2 debuted on October 3rd in Milwaukee - with another S2 event recently announced for October 24th in Portland and additional date(s) this fall and beyond still to be determined. Hosted as individual events before that evening's already schedule show, Umphrey's Stew Art Series is a crowd-sourced improvisation experiment, in which all the music performed by the group on stage will be entirely directed by S2 audience members. Check out this S2 video from the first event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYJn64XRGXU

The inaugural S2 at Milwaukee's Eagles Ballroom was received with overwhelming enthusiasm and to rave reviews. The sold-out crowd of 50 fans submitted their ideas by texting descriptive words, phrases, and pop culture references (pretty much whatever came to mind), to the Umphrey's Mozes mobile interface. The suggestions were then filtered by the band's long time Sound Caresser Kevin Browning and projected on a screen for the band to digest and turn into the next phase of the jam. The band's music varied stylistically with suggestions ranging from "an afternoon bus ride in Jamaica" to "drinking pina coladas...in a hurricane". As one elated fan commented after the show, "S2 was the coolest thing I have ever been a part of. It's always been a dream of mine to meet the band, and the opportunity to participate in leading the Jam for the band was a dream come true as well."



As highly skilled improvisational musicians known for using a complex set of signals on stage to prompt spontaneous musical changes, S2 is proving to keep the band on their toes as they navigate through the audience's prompts. S2 events also include a Q&A session providing an opportunity for fans to ask about what they're witnessing (or ask anything else for that matter). As part of the ticket (which will actually be a custom laminate that will be different for each S2 event), every attendee will receive an autographed CD of the Stew Art Series they attend - minutes after the event has concluded. To be clear, each S2 show is a TOTALLY separate event than the scheduled concert date and will be sold as a separate ticket - getting a ticket to S2 does not get you into the show later that night (and vice versa). The S2 experiment is just that, an experiment. Keyboardist Joel Cummins explains, "The improvisational elements of our show have always been one of our favorite parts about playing together - and we think the audience feels that way, too. That's our inspiration for the S2 series. It's also a great way to stay on top of our chops." S2 events take place in the early evening before the respective show start times. Prices and ages vary from show to show - which should last one hour (with Q&A).

This is not the first time that Umphrey's McGee has taken new approaches to delivering their music to the fans. Before their latest studio recording, Mantis, was released in January of this year, the group made the album available for pre-order in an interesting way. Fans were offered more free bonus content the more Mantis pre-orders were received; as the fans "unlocked" levels of content by getting more of their friends to pre-order the album. The idea was to give the fans incentive to help spread the word about the album, and to offer a totally unique music experience. Stream/Download Lotus' Two New EPs - Oil on Glass & Feather on Wood
Mike McKinley
October 5, 2009
I fell in love with Lotus' last record‚ Hammerstrike, and these two new EPs are the remaining tracks from those sessions -- polished up and reworked. It sounds dope. You can stream and buy the download here. And Lotus is on tour... go see them play. Hands where we can see them.

From Lotus:
Oil on Glass / Feather on Wood EPs are an extension of the Hammerstrike album released in 2008. These are tracks that were recorded during the Hammerstrike sessions that did not make it on the album. Lotus went back and reworked the tracks to create these EPs. Remixes from Skytree‚ Kypski and Lotus's own Luke Miller with vocal contributions by Othello (member of Portland's Lightheaded crew) round out the album.

OIL ON GLASS (tracks 1-6)
simian
scrapple
grayrigg
hammerstrike (kypski remix)
alkaline (remix ft. othello)
monochrome

FEATHER ON WOOD (tracks 7-11)
marisol
72 hrs awake
vancouver island
turquoise (prussian blue remix by skytree)
cain & abel Stream Built to Spill's new record There Is No Enemy
Mike McKinley
October 2, 2009
Built to Spill's latest There Is No Enemy comes out next Tuesday, October 6th on Warner. You can now stream the entire record on the band's Myspace page. Effn awesome.

« Newer | Older »