(Upcoming Release) Umphrey’s McGee Launches Death by Stereo – Cover Art, move to ATO Records

Very soon on the heels of their self-released 2 LP and digital-only release of 2010 Hall of Fame that I reported on previously, Umphrey’s McGee announced their new studio album! To be titled Death By Stereo, it will be released on September 13th.

Death By Stereo marks the first release by the band since their move to ATO Records— home of Dawes, My Morning Jacket and Drive-By Truckers. While no explicit reason is given for the move from long-time home SCIFidelity, it is my opinion that this move will probably give the band some resources not available to them on SCIFidelity as far as distribution and promotion, if not visibility.

The press-release which came out earlier this week, says that Death By Stereo is a “lethal musical gumbo” which pretty well describes the genre-crunching band. The tracks mentioned in the article include “Wellwishers” which was originally going to be part of a digital EP series and was freely downloadable as an mp3 in exchange for an e-mail address via TopSpin (who was also the method for selling Hall of Fame) and also downloadable via umlive (my article here). Also mentioned are “Conduit” and “Booth Love” which both have been performed in concert (links to archive.org). “Conduit” was also included in the Summer 2011 free sampler provided by the band. Two tracks we haven’t formally heard as of this writing are “Miami Virtue” described as a psychedelic blend of Pink Floyd and Phoenix, and “Black Keys-style blues” track “Domino Theory.”

With the amazing pre-sale madness surrounding Mantis with its massive amount of free downloads, I’m sure we’ll get something just as cool with this release. Since they are on ATO, I’m hoping that the vinyl release will be 2 LP’s of 45 RPM 180g vinyl, just like Dawes has done for their two LPs. The band is already soliciting opinions about whether to include a CD or just download codes, so they are maintaining their practice of keeping their finger on the pulse of the fans.

Stay tuned for more details as they arrive!

Unplugged Musings has an article with some speculation on additional songs that could make Death By Stereo with video clips.

Upcoming Show: Umphrey’s McGee in Iowa City on 3/10/10 at IMU Ballroom

Umphrey's McGee Live at The Capitol Theatre 7-16-09
A little bit of New Year’s Umphrey’s McGee news is bestowed upon us as they announced new March 2010 tour dates which include stops in Madison, Iowa City and a three-night run in Minneapolis!

As Umphrey’s McGee is ostensibly a Chicago-based band you might imagine that they have played these cities frequently over the years and as such they have built a very strong fanbase in each of these towns. This is also bolstered due to the strong college populations in each of these towns. The Minneapolis multi-night run seems to be a recurring theme, and when I saw my first show last January it was at the beginning of a three night run as well. A lot of the great people I talked to at the show were going to hit all three nights as part of a package that also included a meet-and-greet with the band and a limited edition poster of the shows.

Tickets for the shows will pre-sale on January 5th with general sale on January 9th. As part of the announcement of the March tour dates, they also announced that they will be giving away tickets for shows through their Facebook fanpage. A week before any of the shows they will give away a ticket at random to a fan who has responded to the Facebook event for that show as “attending” and they will be able to bring a friend who must also have responded as “attending” or “maybe.” This is cool for them to do, but if you are a big enough fan you likely didn’t wait until the last week before the show to get tickets, so I don’t know how that works in reality unless you can get someone to buy the ticket you paid for. Maybe I’m missing something– feel free to explain.

The dates (from umphreys.com)

Wed, Mar 10th, 2010
Iowa Memorial Union Ballroom

125 North Madison Street – University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
– show: 8:00 pm
– tickets will go on sale via pre-sale through Umphrey’s Ticketing on January 5, 2010; general on sale will be January 9

Thu, Mar 11th, 2010
Orpheum Theatre

216 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703-2215
608.255.8755
– tickets will go on sale via pre-sale through Umphrey’s Ticketing on January 5, 2010; general on sale will be January 9

Fri, Mar 12th, 2010
First Avenue

701 1st Avenue North , Minneapolis, Minnesota
612.332.1775
– tickets will go on sale via pre-sale through Umphrey’s Ticketing on January 5, 2010; general on sale will be January 9

Sat, Mar 13th, 2010
First Avenue

701 1st Avenue North , Minneapolis, Minnesota
612.332.1775
– tickets will go on sale via pre-sale through Umphrey’s Ticketing on January 5, 2010; general on sale will be January 9

Sun, Mar 14th, 2010
First Avenue

701 1st Avenue North , Minneapolis, Minnesota
612.332.1775
– tickets will go on sale via pre-sale through Umphrey’s Ticketing on January 5, 2010; general on sale will be January 9

Free Download : The Horse’s Ha Unreleased Track and Tour


No sooner did I finish my review of the new Horse’s Ha album Of The Cathmawr Yards, then they announce a free unreleased track from the album! The song is a cover of a “Slow Moons Rose”  originally by Slapp Happy. Slapp Happy was an English-German experimental rock group that existed from 1972 -1975. “Slow Moons Rose” is from Slapp Happy’s self-titled 1974 debut on Virgin Records. Slapp Happy is notable as having Peter Blegvad as a member.

Click Here to download “Slow Moons Rose” (192 Kbps mp3)

The Horse’s Ha MySpace page has a Strobe Sessions performance where The Janet Bean Trio is performing “Slow Moons Rose” and the excellent Freakwater song “Cloak of Frogs” from May of 2008.

Here is Janet Bean, James Elkington and Fred LongbegHolm performing as The Janet Bean Trio:

As if that wasn’t enough, The Horse’s Ha have announced “the first of several mini-tours this summer” per their PR. That sounds cool if we can get some more midwest dates!
Fri. July 3 — Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s w/ Castanets – Record Release Show
Mon. July 27 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Cafe
Tue. July 28 — Arlington, VA @ IOTA
Wed. July 29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s w/ Illinois, The Builder and The Butcher
Thu. July 30 — Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls w/ Hospitality
Fri. July 31 — Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House w/ The Mekons
Sat. Aug. 1 — New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ The Mekons
Sun. Aug. 2 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Sat. Sep. 19 — Champaign, IL @ Pygmalion Festival

Click Here to Download “Asleep In A Waterfall” from Of The Cathmawr Yards
Click Here to Download “The Piss Choir” from Of The Cathmawr Yards

Click Here to read my review of Of The Cathmawr Yards.

Upcoming Show: Duncan Sheik at CSPS – Cedar Rapids, IA 3-3-09

Next Tuesday night in Cedar Rapids– March 3rd– at CSPS Duncan Sheik will be performing with his nine-member touring entourage. Sheik, whose single “Barely Breathing” was arguably the soundtrack of 1997, is touring in support of his latest release Whisper House, which was released on January 27th.

Whisper House started as a collaborative project to provide the music and lyrics for a musical with Keith Powell and Kyle Jarrow. After hearing the demos for the work, Sheik and his manager decided that this would be his next album. Whisper House is Sheik’s first actual solo album since 2006’s White Limousine.

2006 also saw the release of the soundtrack/score to the Tony-winning musical “Spring Awakening” in which Duncan provided the music to the lyrics by Steven Sater. It was this work that transformed how Duncan writes music, and certainly inspired this album, which will be the basis for a future production.

Whisper House is the story of ghosts of musicians who drowned while performing a Halloween Party in 1912 who are inhabiting a New England lighthouse during World War II and observe the living inhabitants of the lighthouse.

Duncan and his band will be stopping in Cedar Rapids on a tour run of similarly-sized venues across the US wrapping up on March 15th, in New York. The his set will span his eleven-year career including his musical and score work. Opening the show will be Lauren Pritchard who was an original member of the Broadway cast for Spring Awakening and is touring in support of her new album on Sony/BMG, which should be out soon, and will also be joining Duncan’s set performing songs from Spring Awakening.

The Tuesday-night show starts at 8PM and tickets are $28 in advance and $32 the day of the show. I’ll be there shooting pictures for an upcoming review.

Click Here for the Legion Arts page on the Duncan Sheik show and buy tickets.

Click Here for Duncan Sheik’s official website.

Click Here for Lauren Pritchard’s MySpace Page

B-Sides in the Bins #42 – Curumin Interview

Curumin

When presented with the opportunity to interview Curumin, I knew that it would be an education for me. I haven’t really been following the resurgence of Braziliana that has been taking place over the last few years.

It was on a trip to Brazil where Chief Xcel of the mighty Blackalicious hears Curumin’s 2005 album Achados e Perdidos and signs him to Quannum. Curumin’s latest album Japan Pop Show (Quannum, 2008) is a testament to his passion for collecting vinyl. As you might expect someone who is a music collector would bring that passion and influence to his own record and certainly a closer look at his record collection reveals the source inspiration for this great record. Curumin sat down with me following the intimate but electric show at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on January 26th.

Me: Can you tell us a bit about your record collection?

Curumin: I am a music lover, and as a music lover I am a vinyl collector, too. I focus my collection more in Brazilian stuff. I have some Jamaican stuff, too. I have some American Soul/Funk Music– but it is more Brazilian stuff. I live in downtown São Paulo and the best place to buy vinyl is there because most of the stores are there. I used to go to a shop a lot called Discos Sete— that means “Disco Seven”– it’s a really good shop the owner is a guy named Carlinhos and he knows everything about Brazilian music. He is the guy who really taught me were is the best records, who is the best artists– what they made, which records have a good song– or funky song, soul or samba good track. A very, very good store.

There are a few in São Paulo– another good store called Gordo’s Place…

“gordo?” like “fat?”

Yeah, like “fat”– exactly. Another great vinyl store– there is some hip hop there, yeah– there’s soul, there’s a lot of funk. There is, too, Brazilian music. All of that in downtown São Paulo.

On the inside cover of Japan Pop Show you have some made up cover art?

Yeah, actually, this is an idea– my brother (Christiano N.A.) did the cover art. He was trying to get this seven-inch or vinyl feeling.

So, how come there’s no vinyl pressing of this album?

(Laughs) Yeah, yeah. We’ll probably try it some day, you know but it’s very specific people that buy vinyl and we don’t have a lot of money to [promote it].– so it’s hard for us, you know. But, my dream is to record in a good studio, in an old way, in an old style and make [a vinyl release].

So, where did you record Japan Pop Show? Did you use ProTools?

Yeah, we produced a lot in computers, and sequencers– you know modern production– with a lot of edits and ProTools and stuff like that. But we play [instruments] on it, too.

Are you buying records on the road?

Yeah, this is a problem (laughs). We already have a lot of stuff to carry on, and you know in airports it’s always hard with baggage.

Are you concerned about the records getting stolen? I remember when DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist were doing the Brainfreeze tour and Cut Chemist got his vinyl stolen.

Yeah, It’s a famous story in Brazil about DJ’s like Cut Chemist and Madlib going to Brazil and São Paulo and buying four boxes of LP’s– but they found a way to ship back to the US. But, we are always carrying on and taking care of [the records] because bringing on the airplane is hard and they don’t care too much about what you’re carrying on.

Speaking of Cut Chemist, he used a Brazilian singer on his album The Audience Is Listening— Astrud Gilberto, right? On “The Garden”

The song is “Canto De Ossanha” from a very famous album– that version that he uses is not from the original album. The original album called Os Afro Samba from Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. I don’t know where he got his version. But it’s really good, right?

[Upon research, it appears that the version Cut Chemist is using is from Astrud Gilberto‘s 1966 Verve album Look to the Rainbow arranged by Gil Evans. Although, to get around sample clearance, Cut Chemist brought in some studio musicians to create new music. -ed]

What is one of the great finds you’ve had digging through crates?

Hmmm, well I found an album once that now is very rare to find– [in the past I found it] and said “I will not buy today,” but when it started to get rare I had to get it! There’s a lot of people looking for it– an album from Erasmo Carlos called Sonhos e Memorias and it’s a great Psych-Folk-Funk-Rock album from the 70’s and it’s a really, really good album. I think this is my precious one.

[The album was released in 1972 on Polydor, and goes for over $90 at different places on the Internet. –ed]

If someone wanted to get into some of the music you are listening to, where would they start?

I like a lot of the 60’s and 70’s– there were some guys in Brazil who started to bring that soul and funk feeling into their music. They used to play samba– so you can find that on Jorge Ben and Tim Maia— they were some of the first to try to make that mix of funk, soul and samba. [As far as current acts go] you can find something in Academia da Berlinda that plays more cumbia, salsa and merengue. You can find a singer called CéU who has a great sound and is a great friend– well there is a lot of great music– I could stay here talking all night about this!

[Notably, Lucas Martins who is the co-producer for Japan Pop Show and part of Curumin’s touring band as well as DJ Marco who does turntables on Japan Pop Show are part of CéU’s band. -ed]

Do you think you have a good home at Quannum?

Yeah, yeah for sure. They started as a hip-hop label, but now they are getting into more different stuff. I’m really honored to be there because I admire a lot all of the artists there– it’s a good family and great friends so I’m really happy to be there.

What are your plans after this tour?

We are in the middle of the tour and there are four or five shows left, then we’ll be back in February.

I’m not sure what I’m doing later this year. I have lots of work to do– I work with other projects with other acts in Brazil that are all releasing new stuff this year, so I will be focusing on those projects. But, I don’t know, I want to start something new this year, too– I don’t know if we’ll have the time, but I guess we make the time, right?

How was the Daytrotter session?

Oh, wow, it was great, it was great! The studio is amazing, right? Have you been there?

No, but I’d love to some time! It’s so close to Cedar Rapids. I dig all the stuff they release.

The studio is amazing. They have only vintage equipment and it sounds good.

So you had to bring your electric cavaquinho I assume– did you have to bring your MPC’s, too?

Yes, we did four songs. It was really great.

OK, well thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, I know you guys want to get to dinner. Have a safe drive to Minneapolis and a good rest of your tour.

Thanks, Michael!

Links for Deeper Digging:

Click Here to visit Curumin’s MySpace Page

Click Here to see a YouTube clip about Disco Sete Record Shop from the “Brazil in Time” documentary.

Click Here to see a YouTube clip about Gordo & Celio’s Record Shop from the “Brazil in Time documentary.

Click Here to visit the MySpace page for Academia da Berlinda

Click Here to visit the MySpace page for CéU.

Click Here for more information about Erasmo Carlos’s Sonhos e Memorias LP.

B-Sides in the Bins #40 – Trips to Half-Price Books December 13th & 28th 2008

BLUNT 4232 - Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple 140g Pressing

I guess it’s fitting that the last In the Bins for 2008 would be “40” as this was my 40th year on this planet. Admidst the Christmas craziness, I managed to hit Half-Price Books a couple of times in December. One trip I dumped off a bunch of vinyl, CD’s and books to get some funny money (which I promptly spent there -‘natch). I made the second trip to take advantage of their post-holidays 20% off everything sale.

Born to Run – 30th Anniversary Edition – Bruce Springsteen (CD, 2 DVD, Columbia 82796 94175 2, 2005) ($15.00) This is the very nicely-done longbox boxset with the 2005 remaster of Born to Run done by the infamous Bob Ludwig. Somehow I managed to not pick this up during the closing of Sam Goody in Cedar Rapids. They had a number of copies of this I recall. Along with the remaster– which is packaged in a mini reproduction of the original gatefold sleeve– there are two DVD’s. The first DVD is “Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Rum”– a documentary about the making of Born to Run which is really informative. Bruce hanging out in the studio listening to the original session tapes for Born to Run and we hear some parts that weren’t used in the eventual release. The second DVD is a ful-length (2 hour!) concert of Bruce and E Street at the Hammersmith Odeon in London from 1975. This concert is mentioned in the the documentary. I guess that this show is on the heels of the release of Born to Run and Springsteen was pissed about some fliers that were all over the venue that said “London is finally ready for Bruce Springsteen” so before the show he tore them all down. It wasn’t until he started digging through his vaults years later that he realized that this show was worthy for release even though in his mind it wasn’t a good one. A very good concert capturing the emerging power that was E Street back then.

Adam’s Apple – Wayne Shorter (LP, Blue Note BLUNT 4232, 1966) ($7.98) From what I can tell, this is a new record. There were multiple copies of these “140 gram” LP’s in the Jazz section at HPB. There were only three titles, and out of them, I picked this one without having heard it before. I recognized Wayne Shorter as the sideman for Davis as well as Art Blakey and this record has Herbie Hancock on it as well, so I figured it was a safe bet. The LP and sleeve are direct reproductions of the original release, but it comes with a nice clear envelope-style outer sleeve. The inner sleeve is a vellum-type paper which should keep the record in good shape for years to come. I can’t find any information about this pressing– what date it was released or who did the mastering. The album is part of Wayne Shorter’s run of solo albums on Blue Note while working in Miles Davis’s “Second Great Quintet” from ’64 to ’68 along with Hancock. Effectively Shorter replaced John Coltrane in the band after Davis convinced him to leave Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1964. From 1964 to 1970 Shorter recorded nine albums for Blue Note.  Generally Shorter’s 1965 release Speak No Evil is regarded as his best work, but Adam’s Apple is regarded highly as well. Adam’s Apple follows an insane  four releases in 1965 wrapping up with the free-jazz workout The All-Seeing Eye. Adam’s Apple is considered a return to form of sorts with carefully structured melodies. I also downloaded the 256Kbps mp3’s from Amazon which were based on the “Rudy Van Gelder Edition” series and included a bonus track “The Collector” which was written by Hancock. A great album which fits nicely with my Davis, Coltrane and Blakey releases from this period.

Overheard on TV: The Heavy “Dignity” on Entourage

Under doctor’s orders, Sherry was to get some rest so we took the opportunity to catch up on some TV. For some reason we forgot to set HBO’s Entourage to record for the season, so thanks to OnDemand, we watched the entire 5th season in one sitting. Man, that is the only way to watch that show! Next season looks pretty promising with Vince working with Martin Scorsese.

Next to Grey’s Anatomy, Entourage has been a constant source of new music for me. I first heard TV on the Radio on Entourage, in fact. In Episode 65, titled “Play’n With Fire” during the scene where Ari flies to the “Smokejumpers” set to try to salvage a bad situation, a very funky, grungy song called “Dignity” by the UK band The Heavy is playing. It features very prominently in the scene and with it’s lifted instantly recognizable slap and tambourine percussion from “Gimme Good Loving” by the Spencer Davis Group it sticks in yer skull.

The Heavy is a band from the UK who are on the great HipHop and Electronica label Ninja Tune. In addition to their own stable of artists, Ninja Tune distributes Quannum for the rest of the world. “Dignity” is from the band’s 2007 debut release Great Vengeance & Furious Fire. They are primarily guitarist Dan Taylor and vocalist Kelvin Swaby. This band kind of takes the stripped down blues of The Black Keys and funks it up a bit. Lots of interesting samples provide the beats. This album is going to ride on my iPhone for a while!

Click Here for The Heavy’s MySpace Page

Click Here for The Heavy’s Website

Click Here to Listen to “Dignity” by The Heavy on Hype Machine (click the play arrow)


Streaming Calexico Concert at FabChannel.com

Thanks to the folks at the Yahoo Group CasadeCalexico, we bring you a streaming video of Calexico’s concert on 10/15/08 at Paradiso Main Hall in Amsterdam. Calexico plays a nice set that focuses on Carried to Dust but also delivers old standbys like “Across the Wire” and the cover of Love’s “Alone Again, Or.”

Hosted Live Download: Tortoise & Lambchop; July 21, 2004

Here is another fantastic live download from our friends at The Owl & The Bear. When this show showed up on the torrents in 2004 I downloaded it for the Tortoise part but it was the Lambchop show that really turned me on to Kurt Wagner and Lambchop. Lambchop with the DAFO String Quartet is the perfect way to listen to these songs. Simply Breathtaking.

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