ben harper has a new disc, lifeline , due out in august. here's a sneak peek: ben harper & the innocent criminals - in the colors anyone's guess used to be a huge devotee of mr. harper, starting back when a school mate introduced me to 1995's fight for your mind and hitting fever pitch after jamie and i saw him open for pearl jam in 1998. (he's excellent live, by the bye, and i imagine there'll be a tour forthcoming behind the new album; some [...]
carl and i went the arcade fire show, their last of this tour behind neon bible , at the greek theatre in berkeley last night. phenomenal show, possibly the best live musical performance anyone's guess has ever seen. perhaps some of you are feeling a bit of arcade fire fatigue; after all, everyone - david bowie! - loves this band and hesitates not to spread the gospel. and anyone's guess can understand the need to come to a band on your own terms. that feeling of discovery. but [...]
pete townshend , of the who , himself a legendary guitarist, once credited the late, legendary link wray with inspiring him to play. if that were all he'd done we would owe mr. wray our gratitude. anyone's guess has only begun to explore the man's catalogue, starting with one of his later albums, 1971's link wray , off of which comes the track below, but from this admittedly small sample it appears safe to say townshend, in calling attention wray's music and career, did us all an equal service. [...]
a late-night face-melting music trivia jamboree broke out last night and '90s rock decisively established itself as the crowd favorite. so now seems, as jamie wrote in yesterday's comments section, as good a time as any for anyone's guess to formally appreciate an early seminal moment in the development of its musical sensibilities. seattle in the 1990s (an era a.g. refuses to label or further acknowledge as being labeled by others as grunge) has gotten its fair share of press . some might even say that particular moment in [...]
fitting that mayer hawthorne comes from michigan originally, as his neo-soul debut album a strange arrangement fits in rather nicely with the motown aesthetic. those horns, those hand claps, that beat, our hips... mayer hawthorne - your easy lovin' ain't pleasin' nothin' hawthorne is reputed to play all of the instruments on the record. hopefully, for his current tour a band's been cobbled together can do the record justice. he plays great scott [...]
our other current song obsession, the song that's entrenched itself at the head of every playlist in the past month or so, the song that we really think you must hear, comes from british columbia's lightning dust : lightning dust - i knew "i knew" comes from the recently released and quite excellent infinite light , which we heartily recommend you pick up. and you can catch the group live and in living color when they [...]
little birdy - brother "my brother, he taught me how to fly. my papa, he taught me how to cry." and so begins one of our two latest song obsessions (the other coming tomorrow), the plaintive, raw & oddly infectious opening track of australian foursome little birdy 's third album confetti . be sure, if you haven't heard this one yet, to hang on till about the minute forty mark; you'll see what we're talking about.
claire denamur - in the mood for l'amour ms. denamur , a parisian who sings, in this song at least--as you likely guessed from the title--in both english and french, released her first album earlier this year. as we understand it, "in the mood for l'amour" was, and remains, quite a hit. have a listen and you'll see why. you can hear more from claire over her space .
interesting video, and song, from montreal-based monogrenade : monogrenade - ce soir
the one and only d has agreed to fill the closing night spot of the upcoming (and much anticipated) outside lands festival vacated by the beastie boys. color us excited. tenacious d - tribute
thanks to jamie for pointing this one out: more rafael casa l.
go and see a.g. friend & terrific local singer and songwriter wolf larsen tomorrow (monday) night for a showcase event at the hotel utah . if you ask politely, she may even play this soulful, transfixing m.j. cover for you: wolf larsen - billie jean
the band - look out cleveland because our mind's in cleveland tonight, gang, we sought out this song by the band and have been listening to it on repeat. man, these lot were good...
sunday night live returns this week with another band slated to appear next month as part of the outside lands festival ( tix ). here are a couple of songs from a set by the national at last year's oya festival . the national live at the oya festival, norway 7 august 2008 the national - baby, we'll be fine (live) the national - slow [...]
r.e.m. - strange currencies this one--one of our favorites by michael stipe & co.--has been lent a touch of added resonance after a difficult goodbye this week. a fool might be my middle name, but there's something to that stubborn optimism...
speaking of outside lands , sad news recently out of the beastie boys camp that adam yauch has been diagnosed with cancer. obviously the band has cancelled all of its upcoming shows--including their closing night date at outside lands--and postponed the release of their new album. you can watch a video of adam relating the news here . beastie boys - sabotage
before they storm into golden gate park for outside lands next month, pearl jam has begun streaming the first single, "the fixer," from their upcoming album backspacer , which you can listen to below.
the avett brothers played an intimate 3 song set in the npr music offices back in early june ( the video of which has recently been posted ), including the terrific "laundry room" off their forthcoming album i and love and you , and that set is this week's installment of our sunday night live series . the avett brothers live in nyc 10 june 2009 the avett brothers - laundry room (live) [...]
another quick one this week, gang: fiona apple covering jimi hendrix . sources deep within the bowls of the a.g. reference library tell us this version is of unknown provenance. but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy it. fiona apple - angel (live) listen to previous editions of the sunday night live series .
"i talk to myself a lot. it bothers people, though, because i use a megaphone." for this week's edition of our regular sunday night live we have a performance by one our favorite comedians, king of the non sequitur; playful dissector of language and custom; always the driest man in the house, the hilariously droll steven wright . steven wright live
anyone's guess
Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Hardwell Bootleg Pack 2012
James Blake – Live Album
