As of this evening Latitude 44.2 North will no longer be updated. Flatlander , author of False 45 th , and I have officially merged blogs. I will be writing full time at the new and improved False 45 th , which has a new look and address ( www.false45th.com , the blogspot has been dropped). Click here to see what Flatlander wrote about the merger a few weeks ago. This is the 180 th post at this site, which began 17 months ago. Within the last year I've received [...]
The J Dimenna show two weeks ago at Radio Bean in Burlington was fantastic. Lap steel guitar was a fantastic addition to every song, the majority of which were new tracks. As with most shows, the songs came off much more honest, direct, and rocking. These dudes (+ vibraphone playing dudette) are the most underated group that I've seen in a long, long time. More photos here . More dates here .
The Roots , the Philly-based "hip-hop band" with 8 albums to their credit, the latest of which is the highly regarded Game Theory , have a fantastic website that captures the element that makes them stand above all others. TheRootsLive.com is an archive dedicated to providing free mp3s of Roots' concerts. The site currently hosts approximately 45 shows that go back as far as 1993, many of which contain video. I'm currently digging their March 13, 2003 show at the Roseland Ballroom .
Back in March I gushed about J DiMenna's debut release Awkward Buildings . I gave it the "Elliott Smith, Archer Prewitt, and Jeff Buckley sitting in a cabaret having a drink with Leonard Cohen." Earlier this month his track Prayer Flag was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered . The host, Bob Boilen, said the following " . . . If you like great pop music, the type of music you may hear Elliot Smith or Jeff Buckley write, you should listen to J DiMenna. [...]
Toubab Krewe Live at Winston's - September 29, 2006 via Archive.org
As I've professed before , Damien Jurado is one of my all-time favs. In celebration of his latest release, And Now That I'm In Your Shadow (out October 10th, but I've been lazy), he's provided a spot-on cover of Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" for Spin Magazine . If the handful of tracks that are streaming on his website and MySpace are any indication, this may very well be one of Damien's best albums. Two items for the big Jurado fan: [...]
Here's a great YouTube find: Dutch prog-rock one hit wonders, Focus , playing "Hocus Pocus" on the Gladys Knight, of Gladys Knight & the Pips, TV show in 1973. This sentimal yodalelic groove rock masterpiece is made more bizarre by the drug fueled performance. AMG's review : Perhaps the most inspired bit of looniness to come out of the progressive rock era, Focus' "Hocus Pocus" was an absolutely irresistible combination of heavy guitar riffs, neo-classical organ, and Alpine yodeling. Sure, lead vocalist Thijs Van Leer [...]
The Bowmans / Kris Gruen show this past Friday ended up being one of the best shows that I've attended all year. Outside Montpelier's cooperatively owned coffee house was the first snow of the year. Inside was warm, comfortable, and exciting. I caught only the last two songs by The Bowmans, but little was heard as the time was spent talking to friends and settling into my first Organic Oatmeal Stout. Soon after Kris took the stage along with a full 4 piece band. The music was much fuller and expressive then his debut album, Lullaby School , [...]
Slate has a great article exploring the "25 years of Weird Al." It truly is remarkable how current he's been able to stay ever since 1981's Another One Rides the Bus . I know Weird Al is a different animal (maybe more of a parasite), but I can't think of any other performers who have stayed at the forefront of pop culture for a period that spans Queen to MIA. His latest is White 'n Nerdy , which uses Chamillionaire's Ridin' as a basis [...]
Slate has a great article exploring " 25 years of Weird Al ." It truly is remarkable how current he's been able to stay ever since 1981's Another One Rides the Bus . I know Weird Al a different animal (maybe more of a parasite), but I can't think of any other performers who have stayed at the forefront of pop culture for a period that spans Queen to MIA. His latest is White 'n Nerdy , which uses Chamillionaire's Ridin' as a basis to parody the world of geek [...]
Yesterday I posted on Kris Gruen's upcoming gig at Langdon Street Cafe, today I'll post on the group that he's sharing the bill with: The Bowmans . The Bowmans w/ Kris Gruen - October 20th @ 10 PM - Langdon Street Cafe Langdon Street's calendar incorrectly identifies them as The Bowman Sisters. They are most definately not The Bowman Sisters, which were around in the 1930s and [...]
I've been digging Lullaby School by Kris Gruen all summer. Late 20 something creative writing teacher in Montpelier, Kris’ debut album is full of tender yet captivating folk music. Via the Kris Gruen website: From the outset, the deftly plucked banjo strings and soothing vocals on Lullaby School point to a tasteful array of Americana influences-- Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens and Jeff Buckley to recall a few. However, Kris manages to make this collection distinctly his own. With tracks like "Truffles", "Further Down†and [...]
As the weather gets colder I wait in anticipation for one thing: sledding. Nothing is like traipsing through the backcountry on a crisp winter day seeking out the next dangerous chute. Or letting a day at the office melt away as I launch off the backyard kicker with my two year old. Luckily I've found something to hold me over until the season arrives. Line Rider is a simple, yet highly addictive, flash game that brings the kid out of me. A product of the DeviantART online artist community ( wiki ), [...]
As the weather gets colder I wait in anticipation for one thing: sledding. Nothing is like traipsing through the backcountry on a crisp winter day seeking out the next dangerous chute. Or letting a day at the office melt away as I launch off the backyard kicker with my two year old. Luckily I've found something to hold me over until the season arrives. Line Rider is a simple, yet highly addictive, flash game that brings the kid out of me. A product of the DeviantART online artist community ( wiki ), [...]
I picked up Joseph Arthur's 2002 release, Redemption's Son , thanks to a KCRW stream. Though I found the album a bit unbalanced and at times fairly thin (even though he puts a trillion layers on his vocals), I kept Arthur on the radar. Now I'm glad I did, as Nuclear Daydream has just been released. While he's always had that global appeal that comes with being "found" by Peter Gabriel and touring with Ben Harper and lightweights like Gomez, the country-rock/Americana mixed with Leanord Cohenesque brooding seems to be the most sincere on this [...]
Eliane Elias : Brazilian songstress with piano chops and a penchant for covers. While her recent album, 'Around The City,' is filled with originals that fit nicely in the background of a 30 something's wineparty, it's the bossa nova covers that stick for me. First is a reworking of Bob Marley's "Jammin," second a playful version of Beck's "Tropicalia." Eliane Elias - Jammin(Bob Marley Cover).mp3 Eliane Elias - Tropicalia(Beck Cover).mp3
A soundtrack to a documentary whose focus is the making of the soundtrack? Sounds a bit circular, but well worth the trip. It's the remarkable story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians who came together to form a band, not creatively titled, but to the point Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars ) while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea. Through music they find a place of refuge, a sense of purpose and a source of power. The film follows the band over the course of three years as they make [...]
The most detailed report identifying global warming affects in the Northeast was released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists . The Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment is the result of two years using multiple state-of-the-art climate models and weather records to project likely climate changes from New Jersey and Pennsylvania up to Maine through 2099. Some of the most impactful statements in the report illustrate how the environments of individual states are predicted to be impacted by current development trends; ie: New Hampshire's climate will be more like that of South Carolina by the end [...]
Central Vermont Share the Music, Inc. ( CVSM ) is a Montpelier based non-profit which puts on the Annual Used Musical Instrument Sale . This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the sale, which grossed $16,000 last year. This Friday, Aug. 25, and Saturday, Aug. 26, at Bethany Church, 115 Main Street in Montpelier. Drop off - Friday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Help with pricing will be available. The owners of instruments that are sold will receive 80 percent of the selling price, and Central [...]
It's fun when different aspects of life come together. In this case it's planning, Vermont, and music. Abandoned Addison Co. Building to Become VT Music Sanctuary By Casey Kaufman Can an effort to preserve Vermont 's music also help save a historic landscape? That is the goal of Big Heavy World’s newest project; the restoration of a century-old abandoned building to become a climate controlled archive of music from the Green Mountain State. With [...]
Latitude 44.2N
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
Metric Debuts Album via Synthetica Hide+Seek, Tickets On Sale Now For Fall Tour
THE MASTERSONS — BIRDS FLY SOUTH
