Beginning his new album with a song that sounds like a coda, Jay Farrar's re-tooled Son Volt returns to retail shelves today via The Search. Following up 2005's Guthrie inspired Okemah and the Melody of Riot, The Search feels like a natural progression with it's extended (electric) instrumentation, socio-political lyrics, and Farrar's trademark rough-hewn drawl. The [...]

Photography by Tony Ryan Over a decade ago, I would drive around in my car to Uncle Tupelo. Though initially bummed at their split, we saw two amazing bands. Wilco only grew and evolved, but Son Volt, though with the stronger debut, seemed to get stuck on repeat with each album. Same drone... Too much. So The Search leaks. With half a heart I give it a spin... with each song, my ears perk a little more. Farrar? Is that you? Thank [...]

In what looks to be a pretty bleak week for musical guests, the LA band Silversun Pickups stand out with a four-night stand on Last Call With Carson Daly , starting late Tuesday night. While their debut album Carnavas was released last summer, it's finally starting to build momentum, thanks to airplay of the Smashing Pumpkins -like "Lazy Eye." If you're wondering how the band can be both playing Carson and be opening for Snow Patrol in Seattle on [...]

March is looking to be a great month for new music. March 6 Son Volt: The Search ~ The Picture Maria Taylor: Lynn Teeter Flower ~ Clean Getaway Willy Mason: If The Ocean Gets Rough ~ Save Myself Get more Son Volt , Maria Taylor or Willy Mason @ The Hype Machine. What new releases are you looking forward to? Leave a hullabaloo. Pre-order them all from Amazon . Previous Crystal [...]
Via the French blog There's Always Someone Cooler Than You, check out the lead single from Son Volt's new album, The Search: "The Picture" In other Son Volt news, apparently Brad Rice is out of the band (again) because he's going to be on tour with, ahem, Keith Urban. Brad is being replaced by Chris Masterson, former guitar player for Jack Ingram. Son Volt will be on Conan O'Brien on March 1.
Une petite recherche sur Hype Machine pour me rendre compte que personne n'a parlé du prochain album de Son Volt depuis mon post du 12 décembre. Consternant n'est-ce pas? Qu'à cela ne tienne, je m'y recolle. Car depuis ce temps-là, un morceau est arrivé en écoute sur le site de Jay Farrar et ce morceau est excellent, très loin du son habituel du groupe. Ca s'appelle The Picture, c'est plein de

Last night was the conclusion to Grey's annual mid-season two-parter, but all that anyone can talk about is cast member Isaiah Washington and whether or not he's a homophobe. Well, John Mayer , of all people, has a treatment that just might solve everything: Why not have Washington's character come out to his colleagues as a gay man? (via Pop On The Top ) It's not a bad idea, when you think about it. If Washington is guilty of homophobia, this is sure to make him squirm through [...]

Last night was the conclusion to Grey's annual mid-season two-parter, but all that anyone can talk about is cast member Isaiah Washington and whether or not he's a homophobe. Well, John Mayer , of all people, has a treatment that just might solve everything: Why not have Washington's character come out to his colleagues as a gay man? (via Pop On The Top ) It's not a bad idea, when you think about it. If Washington is guilty of homophobia, this is sure to make him squirm through [...]

Bravo to Grey's for casting The Sklar Bros , Randy and Jason, as conjoined twins in last night's episode. The comediatwins were the hosts the hilarious series Cheap Seats which aired until recently on ESPN Classic. The show, which just aired it's fourth and last season two weeks ago, featured the brothers watching old sports footage and adding hilarious commentary, ala MST3K . Because my posts are ostensibly about music, here's a clip of the brothers Sklar doing a Rap song [...]

Are you taking a trip soon, a long drive to visit the relatives for the holidays? Looking for some good tunes for the road? Let Gramma help. This batch of road trip tunes has a little bit of country flavor that makes you think of wide vistas and open roads. Country songs are good for driving, as long-distance truckers will attest. Pernice Brothers: My So-Called Celibate Life from Discover A Lovelier You (2005) Grand Drive: The Real [...]

If you paid close attention to the opening of Lost 's season 3 premiere last night, you might have noticed an odd musical discrepancy - and possibly a couple clues. New character Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell) looks through some CD's before picking the jewel case for Talking Heads ' Speaking in Tongues ( Stereogum .) She opens the case and inside is actually a dualdisc CD/DVD with the serial of "JN 94743" which corresponds with the Son Volt album Okemah and the Melody of Riot [...]

This is it, folks. The last half of the Festival. You made it this far. Keep it going. So many big names, so little time. Starting off the second half of the day is Philadelphia's own Ween . Unique is an understatement when it comes to their sound. Witty, outlandish, funny, but always musical, they perform to the crowd. I saw them the last time through and I was completely entertained. Across the field is the Hassidic Jew with the reggae flow, Matisyahu . If you have heard anything off of [...]

Bluesfest's fifth day has come and gone. Once again, I brought my camera and snapped a few pictures -- a few of which turned out alright. By now, it has almost become routine for me to head straight to the Blacksheep stage. That was exactly what I did last night and, as usual, I (mostly) did not regret the choice. First up was: Mark Kozelek Kozelek may be familiar to many of you as the frontman of [...]

I've always been skeptical of the idea of cloning, kind of worried about what would happen if one of those weird and scary sci-fi movies came true and people could create human clones at will. But after looking through the Bluesfest schedule, I would be all to willing to get my hands on something, anything, that would let me be in two places at once. The guide is split in 2, 5 days in each. Not sure how regualr blog-posting will go throughout.. a local Bluesfest performer profile here, a [...]
The 2006 Austin City Limits Music Festival is September 15th through the 17th in Austin , in the heart of the Texas hill country. What a perfect setting for this stellar lineup of bands and music artists of all kinds...showcasing local, regional, national and international acts known worldwide. Austin City Limits is known far and wide for it's quality live shows in a studio setting, and their guest list reads like a who's who of music royalty. This lineup alone would make the $100 3-day pass worthwhile, [...]