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New Additions:
 The New Deal - Live: Toronto, 7.16.2009 CD - With over 700 shows and 9 records under their belt, the NEW DEAL understands the concept of evolving both as a group and as musicians. Their new album, Live: Toronto, 7.16.2009, proves that the band's improvisation-based show model continues to be a perfect platform for the development of their unique sound. The New Deal's ten-year career has spawned countless Live-Electro bands, garnered numerous award nods and continues to inspire an ever-growing audience that flocks to their sold-out concerts. The release of Live: Toronto marks a time in the NEW DEAL s career where their sound and showmanship have been taken to a totally new level. From North America to Asia, their concerts are drawing ever-increasing audiences filled with new faces, proving that grassroots popularity can be a truly satisfying progression upward. $15.98
 Mushroom - Naked, Stoned & Stabbed CD- Mushroom, a musicians' collective based in the San Francisco Bay area, return with their first album in three years. A new phase for Mushroom, the project was conceived as a cross-continental Cinema Verite travelogue of time and space. Acoustic, ambient and blending eastern and western hemispheres, its music floats on an ethereal blanket of sitar, violin, pump organ, celesta, vibraharp, dulcimer and flutophone, while African, Latin and Indian percussion replace a conventional drum set. Enigmatic song titles include 'Celebration At Big Sur (The Sound Of The Gulls Outside Of Room 124),' 'Though You're Where You Want To Be, You're Not Where You Belong,' 'Tariq Ali' and the only outside composition, a remake of the Syd Barrett/Kevin Ayers' collaboration, 'Singing A Song In The Morning.'
Recorded over a weekend at The Wally Sound in Oakland, CA, the sessions were both planned and spontaneous with producer and percussionist Pat Thomas often adding and subtracting instrumentalists on the fly. Configurations range from a duo to a trio to an octet, and thus give each song a varied approach. At the time of the recording, the band had just come off a multi-night run of performances interpreting Pete Townshend's 1971 rock opera Lifehouse. The vulnerable and dynamic music of that experience provided a catalyst that resulted in the album's final 13 tracks. Mushroom also cite influences like Sandy Bull, Alice Coltrane, Davy Graham, Brian Eno and Fela Kuti as having played a roll in the sounds found on Naked, Stoned, & Stabbed. $13.98
 American Aquarium - Small Town Hymns CD - Hailing from Raleigh, NC, American Aquarium's southern musical perspective is a blend of honest songwriting, an unwavering work ethic, and a genuine love of rock & roll. Whether you call it alt-country, Americana, or roots rock, one thing is for certain: Their music is a fresh voice that borrows from many forms of the American songbook. With 5 years, 5 albums, and over 600 shows under their belts, American Aquarium is the continuance of the road warrior meets studio craftsman ethic that has long been a part of the rock & roll and country music cultures. They are a band and crew that spend their lives between a van with no air-conditioning and stages all across the country. Their collaboration forms a wholly new and polished version of what Americana might start to look like in the years to come. $12
 Spiral Up Kids CD - Spiral Up Kids is one of the most exciting new family bands to enter the scene in quite a while. Their fun-loving, interactive performances have hip kids and cool parents all over the Hudson Valley buzzing. Spiral Up Kids took the nouveau country rock of Son Volt, the jamband ensemble of Phish, the earthy funk of the Band, and the sweet harmonies of CSN to create their groovy and uplifting self-titled debut CD. Highlights include the jamband groove of "Friends", the New Orleans shuffle of "Sugar", and the electric, bluegrass of "In The Fiddle Is A Song", a tune based on a children's book written by author and illustrator Durga Bernhard. The album's sleeve boasts that it contains "kiddie tunes the whole family can groove to..." and it certainly delivers on its promise!
Spiral Up Kids spent 2009 spreading their free-range organic music throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City as well as creating their first music video for "Friends". In addition, the band played several benefit shows to help local schools, libraries and organizations raise money for worthy causes such as new playground equipment, books for less fortunate children, and arts in education. The future of Spiral Up Kids couldn't be brighter for 2010! Watch out for New Videos... New Songs... More Shows! $9.99
Coming Soon:
May 4 - Broken Social Scene - Forgivness Rock Record CD
Zac Brown Band - Pass the Jar: Live from the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta (2CD/DVD)
May 11 - Marco Benevento - Between Needles & Nightfall CD
30db - One Man Show - featuring Brendan Bayliss (Umphrey's McGee) & Jeff Austin (YMSB)
Last Week:
 The Grateful Dead - Crimson, White & Indigo: July 7, 1989, JFK Stadium, Philadelphia (3 CD+DVD) - The Grateful Dead were enjoying a late-career renaissance in 1989 when the band steamed into Philadelphia on one of the hottest days of the summer to play the last concert ever at John F. Kennedy Stadium. The July 7 show in the City of Brotherly Love highlights the band's exuberant resurgence; a peak that rivals any that came before it.
Rhino salutes life, liberty, and the pursuit of 'hippieness' with a collection that includes every note from this epic show on three CD's and one DVD. The DVD captures the entire concert, shot from an amazing multi-camera perspective by the same crew that shot the legendary 'Truckin' Up To Buffalo' DVD. $39.98
 The Infamous Stringdusters - Things That Fly CD - About the most important question a young bluegrass band faces right out of the gate is whether they can play. The Infamous Stringdusters wasted no time in providing their answer--an emphatic "yes"--winning IBMA Album, Song and Emerging Artist of the Year the very same year they released their debut, Fork In the Road. On Things That Fly, their third album on Sugar Hill, they venture into virtually uncharted territory for an acoustic group: a sonically and thematically expansive album that lends itself to absorbed listening from start to finish, much like the great rock albums do. $17.98
 Trombone Shorty - Backatown CD - In 2010 alone, 24-year-old New Orleans singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist and all-around musical powerhouse Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has signed with Verve Forecast Records and performed on Good Morning America and ESPN's SportsCenter in the run-up to the Super Bowl. He has seen recordings he contributed to earn a Grammy(r) award (Buckwheat Zydeco's "Lay Your Burden Down") and an Oscar(r) nomination (Dr. John's "Down In New Orleans" from the hit Disney film 'The Princess and the Frog'). He has taped two appearances - as himself - for the upcoming HBO series 'Treme' from 'The Wire' creator David Simon, and played with his band Orleans Avenue as honored guests on Saints owner Tom Benson's float in a victorious post-Super Bowl Mardi Gras parade.
He's just getting started.
'Backatown,' an explosive, homegrown combination of funk, rock, R&B and hip-hop he calls "Supafunkrock." The album was produced by fellow New Orleanian Ben Ellman of Galactic and features fourteen songs, all but one of them written or co-written by Andrews. Guests on the album include Lenny Kravitz, Marc Broussard and Allen Toussaint, who contributes piano to a take on his own composition "On Your Way Down," the album's lone cover. $10.99
 Ozomatli - Fire Away CD - The Grammy Award-winning band's fifth studio full length. Produced by acclaimed producer Tony Berg, Fire Away features 11 new Ozo songs. Ozomatli's music - a collision of Hip Hop and Salsa, Dancehall and Cumbia, Samba and Funk, Merengue and Comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican Ragga and Indian Raga -- has long followed a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around the city of LA. $14.98
 Xavier Rudd & Izintaba - Koonyum Sun CD - Bright sunny skies, white sand beaches and rolling turquoise waves is where Rudd recorded Koonyum Sun. Moving away from the heavier edged sound that he pursued on Dark Shades Of Blue, Xavier is back to his upbeat, hip-swaying sound that has been his mainstay on previous recordings. $14.98
 Garaj Mahal - More Mr Nice Guy CD - Garaj Mahal continues to bend the concept of jazz with their new release, adding new drummer and vocalist Sean Rickman to their masterful bunch of musicians. A musical mixture of jazz, fusion, world music, and pop makes a strong statement about the future of music! Features the new Moog Guitar, released through the help of Fareed Haque. $15.99
 Mark O'Connor - Jam Session CD - "Nobody in the history of jazz fiddle has ever played with the technical assurance of O'Connor, and he has been a brilliant and soulful improviser since he was a teenager ... Backed with driving finesse by bassist Jon Burr and guitarist Frank Vignola, this live set has a definite whiff of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France about it, with O'Connor's fire and heart-on-the-sleeve emotional involvement rendering this not only one of the finest discs of his career, but one of the greatest jazz violin albums ever." -- Chicago Tribune
A jam session is at once a spontaneous musical conversation and an art form. It strengthens both artistic and personal bonds between players of a variety of musical styles around the world. Once in a while, improvisational exchanges between musicians in a jam escalate to a fever pitch: this recording, which captures nine such instances, represents the contributions of six natural jammers to the art of the jam.
Features some of the best recorded improvised solos to date by O'Connor, Thile, Vignola and Sutton. $15.98
 Greensky Bluegrass - All Access Vol. 1 (2 CDs) - Recorded LIVE: November 27, at the Riviera Theater, Three Rivers, MI.
A really amazing snapshot of the band's playing at the end of 2009. A huge year for Greensky. It's a full show, opener through encore, packed full of Greensky originals old and new. There's new Hoffman tunes on there, as well as fresh takes on old tunes like "Less Than Supper" and "Depot Bay". There are also some covers that people have been begging the band to release, like Pink Floyd's "Time" and Bruce Hornsby's "King of The Hill, as well as a first time played version of The Beatles "A Day In The Life". 26 songs, recorded live to multi-track and then mixed by the band and mastered to achieve studio quality. $20
 Jonahtan Warren & the BillyGoats - You Just Relax, Honey CD - Jonathan Warren and the BillyGoats' debut full-length album, "You Just Relax Honey" is as comfortable as a favorite chair. Warren's alt-country style compels beer-drinking and front-porch lounging, while the consistent rhythms and simple themes help erase away any mental chaos. $9.99
Upcoming Events:
April 30-May 2 - French Broad River Festival - Hot Springs, NC
Nelson Ledges Blossom Blast - Nelson, OH
May 14-16 - The Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival - Gulf Shores, AL
May 21-23 - Smilefest Reunion - Pinnacle, NC
Orange Blossom Jamboree - Brooksville, FL
May 28-30 - StrangeCreek - Greenfield, MA
June 3-6 - GroverFest - Davidson, NC
Wakarusa - Ozark, AR
Outrageous Universe Revival - Sherman, NY
* Look for the HGMN Booth at this event!
Video of the Week:
Sol Driven Train - Live at Shakori Hills Festival 4.22.2010 Full set! More Shakori sets available at www.Tourcast.tv
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
Lee Crumpton |
The Hue - Beyond Words CD
Lubriphonic - Super Moncho CD
