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New Additions:
Home Grown 9 CD - Our 9th compilation featuring 16 tracks from some of the hottest up and coming bands in our network. Get one free with purchases of $50 or more! Choose CD when prompted during checkout.
Featuring: Steppin' Razor, The Skys, Lubriphonic, Future Rock, Cope, Steez, iLa Mawana, The Hue, Three Legged Fox, Jeff Bujak, Bearquarium, U-Melt, Fiction 20 Down, Max Allen Band, Superfrog, & Saltwater Grass.
Derek Trucks Band - Roadsongs (2CD) - ROADSONGS is a document of the Derek Trucks Band at its collective musical peak, recorded live in Chicago during their 2009 Already Free Tour. Featuring extended live versions from their Grammy Award-winning album Already Free along with classic Derek Trucks Band originals, ROADSONGS captures the band reaching new heights on-stage and beyond.
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Stay Gold CD - Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, the Tulsa, Oklahoma institution founded by pianist Brian Haas returns with a new full length album, Stay Gold. The effort further refines JFJO's singular vision that s been dubbed 'Red Dirt Jazz,' sounding equal parts earthy and nimble, pastoral and sweeping, elegant and free. The quartet taps into their birthright, drawing upon 'The Tulsa Sound' born of hometown heroes like JJ Cale, Bob Wills and Leon Russell, while growing these roots from a jazz foundation that's built firmly upon the influence of giants such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. JFJO recorded the album at acclaimed engineer/musician David Teegarden's Natura Digital Recording Studios just outside of Tulsa. The eight-track effort captures the band's strongest songwriting and most compelling improvisations to date. The second release from the current incarnation of the quartet, Stay Gold proves undoubtedly that pianist Haas has found the perfect foil in lap steel guitarist Chris Combs. Set to play over 150 shows in 2010 to an ever-growing worldwide fan-base, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey continue to evolve into one of the 21st century's most distinct jazz voices.
Ozric Tentacles - Erpland CD/DVD - ERPLAND (originally a double LP) is the Ozric Tentacles' first CD proper and sets the tone for the records that follow. Let the wizard lead you throughout these uncharted lands, across the rainbow-splashed peninsula on the cover, as you bask in the radioactive glow of "Eternal Wheel," tumbling to and fro on a river of bubbling sequencers and cybertronic guitars. Prepare yourself for the mental journeys across inner space and "Mysticum Arabicola," where tablas pound out the future sounds of India, while above, our alien ancestors descend to reclaim the planet that was once their own, their starship's lights shimmering and boosters blasting the approaching earth into obsidian. This is music of colors, energy, and vitality; impeccably produced and extremely well executed. It would be a high crime to not enjoy the galloping sequencers, outerreach electronics, coruscating guitar lines, and enthralling percussion of the Ozrics on anything but the best that high fidelity has to offer.
The set also contains a DVD with the video of their gig at the Fridge Brixton. This is the first time on DVD - it was released many years ago on VHS. Only 3000 sets for the world....
Coming Soon:
June 29 - Jackie Greene - Till the Light Comes CD
Last Week:
Big Something - Stories From the Middle of Nowhere CD - The Anonymous Band from Burlington, NC has turned into... a BIG Something. A new name and new direction for this 6 piece rock ensemble was only natural after some significant lineup changes and the recording of their newest album with critically acclaimed producer John Custer. Lets just call this eleven song saga their BIG debut.
The sound is BIG and clearly the work of some talented musicians, but its hard to describe exactly what they're doing as a whole, hence the name: BIG Something. Between the shredding guitars, mesmerizing saxophones, tasteful keys, vocals and synthesizers, there's an infectious groove and energy that holds it all together over a journey through several different genres and influences. But what really makes this album special is the songs themselves. They are catchy and charming, layered and soulful, with colorful characters that embody the best and worst in us all. One listen will lead to many and you'll realize you've discovered that BIG Something.
Balkan Beat Box - Blue Eyed Black Boy CD - With their roots firmly planted all around the Mediterranean rim and their solid rock and reggae foundations, this New York-based band are the new sensation.
Their name, their personal history and the enthusiastic media & audience reactions suggest a link with the so-called Gypsy Rock movement, but their scope is reaching way beyond that: Balkan Beat Box really transcend categories (pop, electronic dance music, world, rock) by creating a new breed of 21st century music, deeply connected to their folk upbringing yet forward-thinking, which appeals to audiences across the geographical and stylistic borders.
Trampled By Turtles - Palominio VINYL LP - With four self-released albums to their credit and a word-of-mouth reputation that draws legions of diehard fans to their must-see-to-believe live shows, northern roots music hybrid Trampled by Turtles are set to release Palomino, their first album through Thirty Tigers/RED, on April 13th, 2010. With a sound that s a bracing hybrid of classic American songwriting, bluegrass and folk, this is forceful acoustic music from the land of ice and snow of dark winters, isolation and numbing cold delivered at breakneck pace with the fervor of religion. Without press or radio support or a national release until now, TxT continue to play to sold-out venues nationwide; with 2010 bringing the band for the first time to SxSW, Stagecoach Fest, High Sierra Fest, Wakarusa, DelFest (Bluegrass legend Del McCourey s festival) and more. They re even getting their own star at legendary Minneapolis club First Avenue, where they can regularly sell out two consecutive nights at the 1600-capacity venue. With Palomino, TxT have harnessed their considerable power and are ready to share it with the world. 180 Gram Vinly plus download card!
Back in print!
Jackie Greene - Gone Wanderin' CD & Rusty Nails CD - With an unforced comfort unusual among new, young artists on small indie labels, 21-year-old Jackie Greene offered an impressive batch of above-average Americana roots rock. There's a world-weariness to his songs that might not seem fully earned given his age. But he sounds like he's feeling the emotions authentically enough, with a voice that blends country, rock, folk, and a bit of blues with as much ease as his music does. There's some early Dylan in that mix, and like Dylan, he plays both guitar and harmonica. But he seems like he's having more fun and passion than most budding artists following that path, even if the lyrics talk of hard traveling, dead ends, and hard-luck stories peopled by characters redeemed by their fortitude. In that sense, he can sometimes sound a little like a sweeter-
voiced Bruce Springsteen, though one plugged closer to folk sources than Springsteen is. A cut like "Down in the Valley Woe" gets close to the kind of old-time-rooted folk music you might have heard by some of the better early-'60s folk revivalists and singer/songwriters. Yet when he fills out his music with a bigger ensemble, songs like "Cry Yourself Dry" sound much like vintage material by the Band. Like a lot of artists who have generated ballpark comparisons to the aforementioned musicians, Greene had some work to do to establish himself as an original talent on par with those legends. But this was a good start, more assured and enjoyable than plenty of early 21st century Americana-indie rock artists with bigger reputations.
Quiver - Cup of Gold CD - Hailing from Virginia Beach VA, Quiver is best described as a "Fuse" band. With influences ranging from MMW and Jimmy Smith to Ben Folds Five and Sun Ra Arkestra, it it difficult to pinpoint their sound. Elements of jazz and loose funk intertwine with high energy jams and freestyle blues that usually leaves listeners in a trance. Best known for their live performances, Quiver usually plays to a packed house where you won't find many people sitting down. "...this is truly a pleasant surprise. Straight up jazz/soul/funk/rock. I don't think that cup of gold is large enough fellas, aim higher like a bucket." - Hearsay Magazine
"In a market close to saturated with half-baked cookie-cutter jam bands, it's Quiver's willingness to explore genre diversity yet still keep some semblance of conventional structure witch makes them original. It may also get them to the top." - Flash Magazine
Upcoming Events:
July 2-4 Nateva - Oxford, ME
July 8-11 *All Good 14 - Masontown, WV
July 15-17 Camp Bisco 9 - Mariaville, NY Camp Euforia 2010
- Lone Tree, IA
July 22-25 *Floydfest 09 - Floyd, VA
Sonic Bloom Festival - Poudre Canyon, CO
* Look for the HGMN Booth at this event!
Video of the Week:
Derek Trucks Band - Roadsongs EPK
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
Lee Crumpton |