Langerado 2008 Preview

Langerado just released the schedule today and it looks pretty good. Here is my personalized schedule so far. If you are still on the fence whether to go to this one, I'm gonna go through some of the smaller acts that I'm really excited about. The first band on the "Swamp Stage" is right here from Altanta, Dead Confederate. I believe they are going to be one of the ATL bands that get big nationally by the end of this year (they were handpicked to open for R.E.M. at SXSW), because their new EP is really awesome. Jam this track and pick up this EP:

Dead Confederate : The Rat




Vampire Weekend is another band that is on the super-hype lately in blogland. While I enjoy their new album, I think it is one of those "good but not great". They are just a little too gimmicky and lacking a tad bit in substance. Regardless of that, though, I'm very excited to see them live because I think they will be pretty cool to see. Check them out:

Vampire Weekend : Walcott




An album I really enjoyed from last year is !!!'s Myth Takes. They are organic dance rock that sort of sound like a an indie-rock version of STS9 or those sorts of bands with lyrics/vocals. I've been wanting to catch them live for so long because I've heard how much fun their shows are. If 311 isn't quite your bag, or you've seen them like 10 times like me, this band is really worth checking out:

!!! (chk chk chk) : Break In Case Of Anything




So, one of the biggest draws to Langerado for me is Built To Spill. They are one of my all time favourite bands. Since I have like a million BTS live shows, this seems like a good time to share one. Behold 1999-05-09 (Early Show):

1. Made Up Dreams
2. Center of The Universe
3. Kicked it In The Sun
4. Reasons
5. I Would Hurt A Fly
6. Twin Falls/Some (instrumetal)
7. You Were Right
8. One Thing
9. Terrible/Perfect
10. Car
11. Big Dipper

Blitzen Trapper was a band that was full of blog buzz last year. A little bit country, a little rock 'n' roll, a little bit weird:

Blitzen Trapper : Devil's A-Go-Go




The Benevento-Russo Duo is one of my favourite jambands. The keyboard/drums power duo that backed up Trey and Mike of Phish are not only a great live show, but they are one of the few hippy bands who know how to make a great album too. Check them:

The Benevento-Russo Duo : Play Pause Stop




Pelican is a post-metal band that I really got into last year. You were probably thinking that Bonnaroo was the only hippy fest this year to bring in some metal, but you were wrong:

Pelican : City of Echoes




Dan Deacon is another big draw to Langerado for me because he is so awesome. He was just here in the ATL last month, so you should check out our review and jam him:

Dan Deacon : Wham City


Minus The Bear is another artist that had an album in out Top 50 album list from last year. They do music that sounds very radio-friendly and accessible, but has some serious musical depth:

Minus The Bear : Burying Luck




Finally, a band that I was totally obsessed with last year was Of Montreal. I caught them plenty of times last year, but they are so good live I can't wait to see them again. If you go to Langerado, be sure to catch this:






So, now go get tickets to Langerado and we'll party down!

Langerado Website

Live Review: The Echo Project

The newest fest to spring up in this golden age of weekend festivals was right here in Atlanta last weekend. My crew ran 5 cars deep last Thursday afternoon in very little traffic or delays (just me making a few wrong turns) on the way to The Echo Project. We arrived around 5pm to find a very empty field:



We setup camp and commenced drinking at our campsites. Thursday night Dubconcious performed about 50 feet from our camp, which was almost at the entrance of stage area. One very nice thing about a small festival as opposed to, say, Bonnaroo, is most everyone is a short walk to all the action. Friday we went to the stages before noon and were rewarded with a Flaming Lips sound check. They performed at least 2 full songs and treated it as a mini-performance:





We then checked out Elevado next, and now that I know their new album well, it was very enjoyable. They seemed to be having some issues with the sound equipment, and were not very happy about. Frontman Justin Sias was hilariously crazy jumping down in the audience to dance around, crawling under the stage and disappearing for a while and then for the finale laying motionless in the audience clutching a ghetto trombone. Between how good this band is and all they do with ISP, i definitely put them in the high echelons of Atlanta's kickass music scene. The Echo Project security tried to stop me from taking pictures with my cellphone because i didn't have a photo pass, but since no one will give me a photo pass, we gotta go guerrilla:







Next band I caught was The Benevento-Russo Duo. They played a typical, but thoroughly enjoyable set:



Unfortunately Snowden cancelled due to a family emergency, so I opted for drinking in the beautiful weather for a while before catching the end of Cypress Hill. I joined a gaggle of spun-out kids to wait for the Flaming Lips right up front and it well worth it. I had seen the Lips so many times since Yoshimi that I had actually gotten sick of their act but decided to give this band I had once loved another chance after a 15 month Flaming Lips hiatus. It was a wise decision as i had a blast in the thick of what was probably the best show and clearly the biggest crowd of the weekend. Musically, I'm a big fan of most of the stuff they never play these days, so I was very happy with the Zaireeka track they did. They also kept the usual suspect cover songs to a minimum. Wayne joked around about how much weed smoking was going on and appeared to be all about inaugurating this little fest. Echo seemed to be billed to me from the beginning as a fest for the old-school Bonnarooers and it lived up to that billing with plenty of party favors and glass pipe vendors to go around. Experience the party:















After the end of that, we caught The Album Leaf, and they were really, really good. They are a band I've casually listened to a few times before, but never really absorbed, and I'll be looking into them hard now.



I ended the night catching most of the second Disco Biscuits set. I'm very picky with my jambands, but these guys prove to me time after time that they have something special that the rest of the noodlers lack.



Saturday i missed many of the great early day shows due to intoxication, but here's a couple photos of good shows from our resident Echo Project guru Benjammin:

Futureman:


God Is An Astronaut:


The highlight of Saturday would be Rabbit In The Moon. It had been about 5 years since I had seen these guys, and they were exactly how I remembered them. They had a few new tricks, but it was the same cheesy but mind blowing audio/visual experience that is perfect for tripping out. The best way I can describe this group is the raver's answer to Gwar:







After being dumb enough to double-check whether The Killers still sucked, I caught Treasure Fingers' set, complete with Snowden, Pink Floyd, and Justice remixes:



Sunday I started the day with Man Man, and realized that they are the headies of gypsy-rock, while Gogol Bordello is more like some good mids. Up to this point, not one single show was dissappointing, but the rest of the day would be a little bit of let down musically. Spoon is just too vanilla and boring to see live, RAQ sucked, Umphrey's McGee is just marginal, The Roots are still a karaoke show (although the side-project Bob Dylan jamout thing they did was really cool), and the first set of Phil Lesh I stayed around for didn't offer me much reason to stick around for the second.

Overall, i had hoped this fest would be like the first couple of years of Bonnaroo but smaller, and that's exactly what I got. The people, though, were a toned-down version of the nu-hippies, who were certainly down with the vibe, but probably weren't wearing tie-dyes much back home. The estimated attendance was 15,000, but for most of the fest, especially the first few days, there were a lot fewer than that. At the fullest point, the property only appeared to be half-used. The security team the fest employed seemed to be extremely efficient and even came into our campsite a few times looking to nab the prohibited glass containers, but they allowed everyone to party to the fullest, so they walked that thin line very well. The weather was beautiful, blue skies all weekend long with some really cold nights. In terms of pure fun, this has been my favourite festival of the year and am looking forward to many great October weekends on the Hooch in the future. Thanks to Sleo and Benjammin for the assorted phlogs. Some visuals of the event:

Friday Free-Style

There's a whole bunch of stuff going on in Atlanta this weekend. The Inman Park Festival is always a good time. I'll definitely be checking out the Space Rock Con 2007. Silent Kids, The Preakness, and Mary O. Harrison at Lenny's will be a great Friday night show. No matter what you do this weekend, make sure to record the Henry Rollins Show on IFC tonight because The Mars Volta will be performing some kick ass stuff you can check out here. In fact, you should watch this amazing performance in its 47 minute entirety, Live At the Lowlands (aka one of the best DVD Bootlegs I Own):



Seriously, if you didn't watch that TMV video, you are missing out.

Pitchfork Fest, aka the Best American Festival of the Year, just added Califone, The Sea And Cake, Yoko Ono, and some bands i don't recognize. Chicago gets some killer fests.

The awesome Coachella Festival kicks off today. I wish I could have gone because the two I went to before were amazing. The hotel in the desert that I paid to stay in before tickets sold out keeps calling me and it's annoying. I'll be checking out the webcast as you should. I've watched several fests on webcast and they are pretty cool. Remember when you're wasted late night, go to your computer and watch Sonic Youth and Bjork. You won't be disappointed.

If you want to know the latest in American festival news, Live Music Blog has you covered.

The Raconteurs are making another album.

Here's a teaser for the Marc Benevento (of the Benevento-Russo Duo) album of his month long run at New York City's Tonic featuring a plethora of other great artists. Check it:



May 8th is Grateful Dead Day.

Creative Loafing talks about "Art Mondays" at Apache Cafe.

You can stream the new Dntel album at here.

Here's a really cool top 25 all-time hip-hop records list. Outkast's ATLiens is number one on it. No surprise. Watch why:





Spinal Tap is getting in on the reunion craze.

Dave Grohl talks about the new Foo Fighters album.

Snoop Dogg has been banned from Australia.

Willie Nelson avoided jailtime from his marijuana charge.

Ween is finishing up a new album.

VBS has a some great videos documenting Norgwegian Black Metal.

Here's Amy Winehouse on the Tonight Show this week:



Here's Regina Spektor on the Late Show last Friday:



I'll leave you today with this portion of the movie Coffee & Cigarettes featuring RZA, GZA, and Bill Murray. I love this:



Beware Of That Serious Delirium

Torrent Of The Day: The Benevento-Russo Duo (9-9-2006)

duo2006-09-09.flac16. the troubadour w. hollywood 483>v3>p1

benevento-russo duo
the troubadour
west hollywood, Ca
September 9th 2006

tape: akg483>lunatec V3> da-P1 @48k
transfer: da30mk11> ECHO MIAMIDI> wavelab v5.0[resampled to 44.1k]> cdwav v1.94.5> flac16(level 8)
tape and transfer by: justin hoogerwerf

disc 1:

1. Play, Pause, Stop 9:57
2. Sunny's Song 4:58
3. Soba 6:34
4. Memphis 5:30
5. Echo Park 4:41
6. Bye Ya 11:16 Thelonious Monk
7. Becky 6:35
8. Something For Rockets 6:51
9. Welcome Red 6:45

disc 2:

1. Best Reason To Buy The Sun 5:46
2. Hateframe 8:59
3. Mephisto 10:52
4. Walking, Running, Viking 3:56
5. Three Question Marks 12:27
6. My Pet Goat 13:03
encore:
7. Paranoid Android 10:05 Radiohead