Listening Room Blog

Talk about the list of all lists! Wow! This one is tough to top!

Our pals over at JamBase.com (well, I’ve never actually met anyone that works there, but they’ve got to be cool people, no?) each year compile a “Best of List” that features the favorite albums and live shows from the staff, select artists, contributors and friends.

Some artists offering their favorite suggestions this year include Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, Al Schnier of moe., Keller Williams, and many, many more.

I think I’m just going to start at the top and work my way down. Looks like 2009 is going to be a good one!

Needless to say, it was an absolute blast working on this little video review! Exhausting, sure. But so worth it. Thanks to the guys in the Disco Biscuits for being so patient with me and letting me into their world for the night.

Jon, you inspired me to drink Dunkin’ Donuts coffee the ENTIRE time I was editing. I passed on the gluttonous doughnut and ice cream combo, though, as tempting as that did sound! (Watch the whole video and you’ll understand what I’m talking about….)

John Lennon comes back to talk to us in a new commercial for One Laptop Per Child, a charity attempting to grant Internet access to children in developing countries. Kind of creepy to see him talking as if he were still around, but the charity sounds interesting. I wonder what these kids would want to search for on the Web if/when given the chance….Anyways, here’s the commercial.

For a band that used to extol the virtues of “relaxing with the Disco Biscuits,” it would seem the venerable Philadelphia jam/prog/trance-fusion outfit had every reason in the world to take it slow and easy on the first sets of their 5-shows-in-6-nights run at NYC’s Nokia Theater. For one, the band was coming straight from their annual Holidaze run in Jamaica, following a fairly extended absence of gigs or touring in the latter half of 2008. They’ve also been working on their first new studio album in 7 years. In addition to jet lag and a tropical vacation hangover, the Biscuits were faced with 5 nights at the same venue in their home city away from home, and for a band that has despised repeating setlists for their entire career, a mandate to make each of the 5 nights unique for the fans. However, as it turns out, the Disco Biscuits retain a good deal of their trickiness, at least as far as trying to predict how and what they’ll play in a given situation; luckily for the fans at Nokia, they also obviously had a good amount of pent up rage seething behind the veil of chilled confidence.

Matthew Miller — better known as Matisyahu — grew up in White Plains, but his musical career today is taking him all over the world — and with great success!

He recently told JamBase that he is selling out shows all over the country, which is no small feat in today’s strapped economy. His annual Festival of Light run, which goes from Dec. 21 to 30, has featured artists including Crystal Method, U-Melt, The Leevees and Assembly of Dust, among others. (Get a $5 discount when purchasing tickets to the upcoming shows in New York by entering the password “Light”)

If you haven’t heard of Matisyahu, you’re in for a surprise. He is a Hasidic Jew who broke out on the scene in 2004, delivering religious ryhmes and reggae rhythms in a unquie hip-hop fashion. Needless to say, his background alone is enough for curious music fans to at least give a listen. But years later, it’s his innovative style that keeps them coming back — and with friends.

The Cardinals are playing the Wellmont Theatre on Sunday, February 22, in Montclair, N.J., and after seeing them open for Oasis last week at Madison Square Garden, I’m so tempted to make the trip.

Not intimidated by the size of the crowd, the band opened up their songs to some rhythmic jams, throwing in a bit of country twang to the rock-n-roll drive.

I missed two songs (including “Cobwebs, the opener), walking in to one of my favorites, “Everybody Knows.” It’s got this catchy although a bit melancholy guitar riff, with Adams singing “You and I together, and only one of us in love.” Gets me every time.

Next came a heavy “Fix It” followed by very jammy “Off Broadway.” Both awesome. Later on in the set, the crowd welcomed the tune “Come Pick Me Up,” singing along to the chorus. “Magick” closed out the set, with some soaring guitar, pounding drums and energetic singing. “So turn the radio on! So turn the radio up! So turn the radio up loud and get down!” (Man I hope to be getting down at the Wellmont!)

Merry Christmas, from Umphrey’s McGee.

The band is giving away a free EP of never-before-released material spanning holiday shows from the past few years.

Click here for the free download.

If you don’t already have an account with umlive.net — which is where you can download scores of UM shows — all you have to do is provide an e-mail address and password to sign up.

Happy Listening.

Warner Music Group has ordered YouTube to remove all music videos by its artists after contract negotiations broke down. The talks fell apart early Saturday because Warner wants a bigger share of the revenue potential of YouTube’s visitor traffic.

Warner Music, home to artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and rapper T.I., was in 2006 the first major media company to negotiate a deal with YouTube. In exchange for the use of their music videos and songs, the company and others who signed deals are paid a share of revenue generated by ads displayed alongside their content.

Here’s the Warner Music Group channel on YouTube if you want to search around for videos while you still can!

The Disco Biscuits will be throwing down for five nights at the Nokia Theater in New York City Dec. 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31. But of course the party won’t stop there! There are after-parties going on throughout the city, from Bisco side-projects to a number of other jam and experimental outfits ready to throw down.

Caterpillar_edit_new_2.mp3

Here’s how to get to where you want to go once the Nokia show lets out, safely using public transportation. Please post a comment about any other late-night shows that are not listed below so we can help spread the word. Have fun! Be safe!

Dec. 26

• OTT WITH MARC BROWNSTEIN @ Highline Ballroom, located at 431 W. 16th St. between 9th and 10th Aves. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the 1 Train towards the South Ferry Station. Get off at 18th Street. Walk south to 16th Street, then turn right and the venue will be on your right. Estimated time about 25 minutes.

Dec. 27

• DUB WAR NYC @ Love, located at 179 MacDougal Street at 8th Street. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the 1 Train towards South Ferry Station. Get off at Christopher Street. Head east on Christopher Street towards Grove Street/Waverly Park. Turn right at Waverly Place. Turn left at MacDougal Street. Estimated time about 15 minutes. (While you’re on MacDougal, be sure to get a falafel! While Mamoun’s is a little cheaper and more famous, I like Ali Baba’s falafel’s the best. They’re a little bigger and juicier. YUM!)

• WOUNDED BUFFALO THEORY, THE HIPPOCAMPUS, DJ ROBONITRONICUS AND BLACKLITE @ The Underscore, located at 1733 1st Ave. at 89th St. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the S Train to Grand Central Station. Transfer to the 4 Train. Get off at 86th Street Station. Walk south until you hit 1st Ave. Turn left and destination will be on the left. Estimated time about 25 minutes.

Dec. 28

• THE EGG @ Highligh Ballroom, located at 431 W. 16th St. between 9th and 10th Aves. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the 1 Train towards the South Ferry Station. Get off at 18th Street. Walk south to 16th Street, then turn right and the venue will be on your right. Estimated time about 20 minutes.

Dec. 30

• LIPP SERVICE & PNUMA PA @ Highline Ballroom, located at 431 W. 16th St. between 9th and 10th Aves. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the 1 Train towards the South Ferry Station. Get off at 18th Street. Walk south to 16th Street, then turn right and the venue will be on your right. Estimated time about 20 minutes.

• THE BREAKFAST @ Ace of Clubs, located at 9 Great Jones St. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take the R Train twoards 95th Street/Bay Ridge Station. Get off at 8th Street/New York University Station. Walk south on Broadway towards Astor Place. Turn Left on Great Jones and venue will be on the right. Estimated time about 16 minutes.

Dec. 31

• Benevento/Russo Duo @ B.B. King Blues Club, located at 237 W. 42nd Street. Head south on 42nd Street. Turn right on 42nd street. Wow, that was easy! 

• ADAM DEITCH NEW YEAR’S EVE FUNK CELEBRATION FEATURING LOUIS CATO @ THE BLUE NOTE, located at 131 W. 3rd St. Walk to Times Square, 42nd Street Station. Take Q Train towards Coney Island. Get off at 34th Street/Herald Square Station and transfer to the V Train towards 2nd Avenue. Get off at the W. 4th Station. Head south on 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas. Turn left at W. 3rd Street and the Blue Note is on your left. Estimated time about 15 minutes.

VALHALLA – Blythedale Children’s Hospital was the place to be for music fans this morning as John Mayer joined Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas onstage for a rendition of Ben E. King’s classic “Stand by Me’’ at the annual Holiday Concert fundraiser hosted by WPLJ 95.5 FM.

Patients, parents, nurses and doctors got up early and rocked out during the four-hour party, which started at 6 a.m. and featured performances by Mayer, Thomas, Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.

“Everybody loves getting up early for this,’’ said Connie Cornell, the hospital’s director of public relations. “It’s our largest fund raiser of the year, but first and foremost it’s a celebration for the kids and their families and for the people who support the hospital.’’

WPLJ’s Scott & Todd, who have hosted the extravaganza each of its 17 years, broadcast live from Blythedale, urging listeners to make donations or bid on rock and sports memorabilia during an online auction.

About 400 people turned out for the invitation-only concert, which hospital officials said raises about $250,000 a year.

(Report courtesy of The Journal News staff writer Rich Liebson. Photo courtesy Ricky Flores/LoHud.com.)

Since there is snow in the forecast today and the holiday season is right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to post my list of favorite holiday tunes. Happy Holidays everyone!!

10. Christmas Is - Run DMC – How great is this song? I love it. I wish I knew how to dance.

9. I’ll Be Home for Christmas - The Beach Boys – Most people usually pick “Little Saint Nick” but for me this is their best holiday song.

8. White Christmas - The Drifters – How cool is this version? I am immediately drawn to Macaulay Culklin lip syncing this great song in “Home Alone.”

7. Silver Bells - Burl Ives – What a voice this man had!! His version of Silver Bells knocks me right of my chair.

6. If Everyday was Like Christmas - Elvis Presley – Talk about pure perfection, this song has it all. No one else can do this like the King himself. This is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

5. Let It Snow! – Dean Martin – Was there anyone cooler than Dino? I think not and this song is appropriate for today’s weather forecast.

4. Happy Christmas - John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Plastic Ono band with the Harlem Community Choir- This is the one song that I have to hear every holiday season to get me in the spirit. There have been other versions but none like John can do.

3. Blue Christmas - Ann and Nancy Wilson – Ann’s voice gives me the chills with her take on this timeless classic. I can’t get enough of her version.

2. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes – “Ring-a-ling-ling-ding-dong-ding” … ‘Nuff said.

1. Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison – Ask my wife and children how many times they have heard me play this song over the past 14 years (longer for my wife). To me, this is the most beautiful holiday song ever recorded. This song puts me in a trance.

Well here it is, another year coming to an end and we all wonder where the time has gone. Weren’t we all just worried about “Y2K” issues? Sorry to digress, back to the topic-the top ten songs of 2008. Now I have seen some other lists and I will tell you right now, my list is totally different from what you might expect. Some songs you may know, some you may not and some will have you scratching your head, but here goes:

10. There’s Gold in Them Hills - The Black Crowes – This in my opinion is the best song the Black Crowes have ever recorded.

9. Addicted – Ace Young – This song should have been the summer song for 2008. It will hook you in and not let go.

8. If You Only Knew - Shinedown – Even though this has not hit the radio (yet) this is my favorite song from the best album of 2008- The Sound of Madness.

7. Rock N Roll Train - AC/DC – The boys from Australia are back with this infectious groove that will have you “air-guitaring” in no time.

6. 4 Minutes - Madonna – I love this song! With help from Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, this song is pure fun. Although it’s not enough time to save the world, it is enough time to dance around your room.

5. Troublemaker – Weezer – It appears the song “Pork & Beans” is on many other lists but not for me. This song is a blast and the video is even better.

4. Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield – This song is contagious and puts me back into the summertime. It reminds me of my oldest son’s class, who sang this song so many times on the way up to Boston as part of a school trip.

3. All Summer Long - Kid Rock – Even though this song was technically released in 2007, it became larger than life in 2008. Mr. Rock was everywhere with this song and even “parents” like this song, although they could do without the references to “smoking funny things” and “drinking whiskey.”

2. I’m Yours - Jason Mraz – My wife usually does not like the new music out there today but this happens to be her favorite song right now and I couldn’t agree more. This is also the best video of the year as well.

1. If You’re Out There - John Legend – Once in a while a song comes along that knocks you off your feet and I knew from the first time that I heard it, that it was something very special. It gets my undivided attention as I listen to his words and his passion.

The Police – Certifiable/ A and M Records

Having seen the reunited Police experiment in 2007, with all the large stage spectacle that comes with one of the biggest fall-into-bed-with-ex-girlfriend circumstances in rock history, it’s nice to be able to take a strictly aural examination of what the unit that once broke boundries between punk, new wave, and pop was able to do in their wrinkled years. Certifiable, a 2-disc set recorded live in Buenos Aires, allows for an unadulterated listen, free of distractions such as Sting’s uninterested gaze, Andy Summer’s increasing resemblance to a hobbit, and Stewart Copeland’s seemingly never ending promises/threats to “get naked and swim among you,” which was mentioned at least twice at the show I saw. The results are interesting, and understandably mixed.

Seeing as how there is almost no new original material, and that everyone in the world will know 90 percent of the tracklist enough to sing along, the album nevertheless prevails in offering a very new set of music to even ardent Police fans. The playing of the reunited band stays very loose from the very start of opener “Message in a Bottle” through the whole first disc, a marked change from the strict composed franticness of the band when it dissolved in the early 80’s. It bears more of a resemblance to the early era punk hybrid Police, although instead of that era’s tendency to hide sensitivity and groove behind rave ups and speed, the aged version uses it’s reggae chops and atmospheric sensibilities to develop very organic versions of even the most rigid of pop tracks, like “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “Every Breath”.

I’m happy to say that my initial posts for TLR comes merely days away from a date in musical history that bears some small responsibility for most or all of which I’m about to say for the next few months/years/decades on this blog. 131 years of incredible and terrible recorded music, and the live spectacles and sermons that represented these recordings before audiences, all owe their existence to Thomas Edison’s raging version of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, recorded for the first time ever on December 6th, 1877. It was the first ever sound recording, and most say that Edison never recorded another single quite as good. And thus, music critics were born. In fact, critics are born every time you clap your hands, in conjunction with angels and/or wood sprites not dying. Strange science.

Full disclosure: I’m a musician, and so I’ve been taught to not really care about what critics have to say, if not to despise them on principal alone. So, having been asked to write for what I consider an excellent source of music knowledge and review, a diamond in a sand-sea of musical talk and brouhaha, a blog with impeccable dedication to spreading new and independent music…I of course am filled with fear, insecurity, self-loathing, and Rolaids. How can I grasp what everyone will want to read about and discover? How will my pre-dispositions to what I enjoy affect what I can bring to you? Do my deepest, inner thoughts bear any relevance to your very existence? Did I use the right HTML code to get that picture of Wilco small enough to fit?

Now, the good news is, I’ve formulated a plan that should get all of us through this, safely, with no permanent injuries, and in the end, I think you’ll gain 3 things.

Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the band Coldplay, arguing that the British rock group’s song “Viva la Vida” makes use of “substantial original portions” of his 2004 composition “If I Could Fly.”

Of course YouTubers have already posted comparisons of the tunes, debating the similarities and picking sides.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, damages and any profits Coldplay gained from the song. Surely there’s some big bucks at stake here, since the album has been among the year’s biggest hits and was promoted heavily through an Apple iTunes campaign. (Hey Chris Martin, no matter what happens here, you were still sexy as all hell in the iTunes video! Can’t take that away from you! Right, ladies?!)

On Wednesday, “Viva la Vida” earned Coldplay Grammy Award nominations for song of the year and record of the year.

This isn’t the first time Coldplay has had to fend off allegations that it ripped off material for “Viva la Vida.”

Creaky Boards, an indie band from Brooklyn, earlier this year claimed Coldplay pinched the melody from their track called — seriously — “The Songs I Didn’t Write.” Here’s a YouTube clip of that comparison, where songwriter Andrew Hoepfner says he wrote the song more than a year before the Coldplay release.

I’m feeling dizzy.

There’s certainly similarities between the songs, especially with the Cold Play and Satriani tunes. In my opinion, the best track of them all is the Coldplay/Satriani overdub. Can I get that in an mp3, please?

(Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.)