team9 have gone and hooked up with the good folk at Stereogum (winner of Spin Magazines best blog no less) and created Mysplice, an albums worth of mash ups as a kind of year in review of our favourite indie tracks of 06. In amongst this lot you'll find Thom Yorke, Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, CSS and Peter, Bjorn and John.
Certainly one of the best moments of my life. Seeing again the DeLeo brothers together in action with this great band was surreal. Having the chance to chat with them afterwards made a very special memory to me. Here's what I have to share with you: Live pictures, videos and recording of this great gig! Happy Xmas!!!
+ Complete gig here (pass: onediedsimply.blogspot.com)
I wonder if Providence's The Brother Kite began crafting their shoegaze-inflected rock sound in 2001. After a split 7" with Vaguely Starshaped on Losing Blueprint Records, The Brother Kite released their first full-length album on Clairecords, a self-titled and self-recorded serving of layered guitars and buoyant melodies. With the success of thebrotherkite, the band was poised to take a bold step, but knew the restrictions of traditional studio recording wouldn't allow for the creative freedom they needed. So they did what any band would do: built their own studio! Waiting For the Time To Be Right is the long-awaited result of this endeavor, a brave new rock album astonishing not only for its depth and maturity, but also for its willingness to stray from the shoegaze sound that defined their previous works. Layered guitar textures remain an important ingredient, but Boutwell's impassioned vocals are now pushed to the forefront, showcasing a Brian Wilson-esque gift for melody hinted at in earlier songs. The result is an album of dynamically orchestrated pop, equal parts Loveless and Smile, Quadrophenia and The Soft Bulletin. With Waiting... The Brother Kite respectfully pays homage to some of rock's great achievements while carving out an innovative spot for themselves in the world of today's independent music.
Although the album failed to chart in the US, "Girls & Boys" became a hit there, while Parklife became Blur's first UK #1 album, entering in the pole position upon its release, and staying there for one week. In fact, one of the most significant things that Blur (and the '90s Britpop movement, really) did was reintroduce the importance of the pop single. Blur realize that the A-side is as much an art as the album, and not just from a marketing sense. Pop singles are pop culture, and Parklife spawned four "proper" singles but probably three-quarters of the album could've easily fit in on the radio. Some might say that Parklife isn't for everyone -- too British, too lofty (or boring, to some) a concept, too poppy even. But no other album made me sit up and realize that pop music didn't have to be disposable -- didn't have to be about the MTV flavor of the month -- like this one did. And it still sounds just as good to this 29-year-old's ears as it did to that 18-year-olds ears.
Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) is a live unplugged performance by Paul McCartney, recorded and released in 1991. Following the enormity of his world tour recently captured on Tripping the Live Fantastic, McCartney relished the opportunity to strip back his songs and appear on the newly-launched acoustic-only show. Consequently, McCartney was among the first in a long line of artists to release an unplugged album.
The Belgian rock group Arid consists of vocalist/guitarist Jasper Steverlinck, guitarist David Du Pré, bassist Filip Ros, and drummer Steven Van Haver. Although released two years earlier in Europe under the title of 'Little things of venom, its critical acclaim won the group a gig opening for Counting Crows on their 2000 European tour, around the time that the album made its U.S. debut. 
Here are my favorites so far (thanks to Lders):
Main Set: Alive, Life Wasted, Severed Hand, Save You, Insignificance, Unemployable, Brain Of J., Red Mosquito, Given To Fly, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Small Town, Better Man, Daughter/(War), Whipping, Leatherman, Down, Do The Evolution, Undone, Rearviewmirror
Claus Ogerman, Frank Sinatra and Tom Jobim during the recordings
With a short set list including (It's Good) to be Free, Whatever and Slide Away, Noel Gallagher does this live and Un-Liamed acoustic set for AOL's Interface. Cool, check it out!
It was an unforgettable experience for me and to anyone who made to this gig (completely sold out). Certainly one of the most intense experiences of my life. I've been a fan of AiC then since the early 90's and I never had the chance to see them live before... until that day. It was by far one of their best performances, with a HUGE acoustic set which brought the 3000+ fans literally to heaven!
+ Junkhead
+ Nutshell - a masterpiece for me... sorry for the size (150 mbs), but the quality is great!
It's sad that Echobelly didn't crack America... Most critics point to Echobelly's first album, "Everybody's got one" as their defining moment. it was raw, angry, melodic, and trapped volatile lyrical messages in three-minute pop songs. The band's second album, "ON" lost a little bit of the former's bite (particularly in madan's decidedly feminist posturing), but it was still a huge album in many ways. Sonya's got this incredible voice, one that people compared to Morrissey, apparently because she wasn't afraid to hide her lovely British accent. Either way, she's terrific, and her voice combined with the crashing guitars by Glen Johanssen a superb musician stained backdrops for madan's otherworldly vocals. It was a nice marriage that fuled the Echobelly machine.
This was one of the first songs leaked from last Coldplay's album X&Y. For a long time I got so used to this version that I just couldn't get use to the "officially released" version. It has more of the Echo & Bunnymen, Smiths kindda beat. I don't know... I just prefer this version. What do you guys think?
There will be always space for good new music. Greg Laswell's just finished touring with Sia and that's how I've got to know him. What an amazing talent, completely underrated. I'll leave these comments from another amazing blog (Chrome Waves).
This one we will never forget. Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon @ Woodstock brought their music to a different level...
This unique compilation project brings together the legendary musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club & some of today's most popular music stars Chris Martin (Coldplay), Dido, Franz Ferdinand, Sting, Bono, Radiohead among others, performing collaborations of some of their classic hits. Great to listen when you have friends over your place during T-Day, Xmas...
This one took me some time to get it, but totally worth it. Here is their first gig in UK after Tom returned from the rehab clinic. Although we're sad that the US tour is still cancelled, we're glad that at least we can hear their new songs in this GREAT A+ recording. This live CD was available 10 minutes after the gig!
Listeners shouldn't get too hung up about Jeff Buckley's bloodlines--although they're impossible to ignore. His father was Tim Buckley, one of the most poignant, enigmatic figures of the 1960s' folk scene; but young Jeff grew up with his mother and didn't even meet his father until one Easter when he was eight--two months before Tim Buckley's death. While the ecstatic, keening quality of Jeff Buckley's vocals recall the haunting timbre of his father's voice, there are also overtones of a young Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, Pakistani vocal master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and something indefinable--the sound of an individual talent beginning to blossom. Originally released in 1993 and 4-track EP (year out from his death), this expanded version of the splendid live EP, LIVE AT SIN-E, we hear Jeff Buckley stripped down and raw... transmuting, transforming, and ultimately transcending his influences before an audience at a small Irish club in Manhattan's East Village. Standing there with nothing but his voice and an electric guitar, Buckley is simply mesmerizing. Buckley's Telecaster playing on "Mojo Pin" and "Eternal Life" is exceptional--orchestrating his vocals with a torrid stream of chords and melodic counterpoint, a la Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. He never descends into stock licks or hackneyed accompaniment; his classical arpeggios on Edith Piaf's "Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin" impart a calliope-like grace to her tune. The ecstatic nature of Buckley's art is showcased on his extended journey through Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do," where the lyrics gradually dissolve into long scatting choruses of wordless moans and cries, as his voice and flamenco-styled guitar evoke an almost gospel fervor. Buckley's lyrics are just as personal as his voice. "Mojo Pin" is a dreamscape full of delirious visions and moody imagery of lost love, while on "Eternal Life," his rolling blues chords set the tone for nightmares about his own mortality, recalling the tormented hellhounds of Robert Johnson. A talent like Jeff Buckley's comes along once in a lifetime, and LIVE AT SIN-É certainly whets the appetite for his first group recordings, GRACE. (Big thanks to Sarajevo-x.com forum)
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra is in fact a duo with keyboard player Morten Qvenild and singer Susanna Karolina Wallumrød from Oslo, Norway. With Melody Mountain (new album) they have chosen to do an album of only interpretations, some quite radical, of mostly well-known songs, all personal and moving performances with Morten Qvenild´s naked and to the bone playing an important part in the overall soundscape. Full track list includes Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen), It´s A Long Way To The Top (AC/DC), These Days (Matt Burt) "Condition Of The Heart" (Prince), "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division), "Crazy, Crazy Nights" (Kiss), "Don´t Think Twice, It´s All Right" (Bob Dylan), "It´s Raining Today" (Scott Walker), "Enjoy The Silence" (Depeche Mode) and "Fotheringay" (Fairport Convention).
Written by drummer Dave Grohl, "Marigold" is very notable in that during their seven year tenure, it is the only song Nirvana officially released that was fully done by a band member other than Kurt Cobain. It is a b-side on the band's 1993 single, "Heart Shaped Box".
This leaked version just came out a couple days ago. According to Wikipedia, the whole album was leaked on November 10th 2006. This is the same link available on the band's message board. The first single off the album will be called "The Prayer" and is due for release 01/29/07.
This album changed my life... Writing this post here from Chicago, I wished for a moment I could go back in time and see them back live... Billy is trying though to get the band together.
Disc 1
Take the lead singer of Filter, add the guitarist and bassist from Stone Temple Pilots and bring in one of the leading session drummers around and what do you have? Those are the ingredients that went into forming Army of Anyone, which features vocalist Richard Patrick, Stone Temple Pilot founding members Dean and Robert DeLeo and seasoned drummer Ray Luzier. Between the years 1994-2002, Richard and Robert and Dean have shared many a stage and have crossed many a path. Each of them being fans of the others’ work, the guys would jam and hang out at any given opportunity. The foundation for the group was laid when Patrick enlisted the DeLeos to help him co-write a song for the Filter album he was working on at the time. The result, “A Better Place,” turned out to be prophetic, and the beginning of something new. Within a couple of days, the three musicians decided they would take this working relationship to the next level, and Army of Anyone was born.
A friend sent me this over the internet. Enjoy!
I am gladly surprised to hear such great band from here (Detroit)! The Silent Years manage to craft an indie pop soundtrack that could be anyone’s soundtrack to their life. Catchy melodic hooks that delve into ranges usually reserved for a select cast of Elliott Smith, Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, and Wilco; this is an album of the year runner-up for sure. They are currently touring the US supporting the release of their self-titled album released on Oct 24th. Check it out!
Eric Clapton continues to amaze me with every performance he makes. In this great audience recording, from his European Tour in Munich- Germany on July 22nd 2006, Clapton compilates classics like Crossroads and Old Love (with Robert Cray).
Thanks Debbie from My Stupid Mouth Forum for this great performance in Atlanta, GA!
Fantastic recording. A+ quality!
Voxtrot comes from Austin, Texas. Their first EP, a self-made CD-R, was produced in 2003 and sold at a few independent record stores in Austin. Despite not having released yet a full-length album, Voxtrot has received praise and mention from online and print publications.
Hailing from Ypsilanti, Michigan this indie band just signed recently to Dovecote Records. After checking the few songs available on the website, you can tell they are 10000 time better than a band once called Jet. According to their website, their upcoming album in the new label "There is a Moth In Your Chest" will be coming up in the winter of 2007. Check them out!
It was UNBELIEVABLE! What a game! What a celebration! Tigers fans who watched their team clinch a World Series spot at Detroit's Comerica Park screamed, shouted, hugged, high-fived, honked their horns, danced and called everyone they knew to share the good news... We don't care who we play we SWEEEEEEEEEP them!
+ Kid Rock - Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
It's not that easy to find live recordings of this great band! It's true that Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars has probably being overplayed given the success of Grey's Anatomy, but hey it's not their fault. Their last album (Eyes Open) indeed deserves a lot of respect. They combined great pop-rock elements creating songs like "You're All I Have", "Hands Open", "It's Beginning to Get to Me" and so many others. Enjoy this direct live recording broadcasted by BBC Radio 1 FM from Dundee, Scotland!
Chris Cornell has always surprised me when he decides to persue his solo projects. Euphoria Morning was a great example of that. More to come soon, as he recently just got back in studio for the recordings of a new solo CD (date/name TBD).
(***** over 5 stars)
(***** over 5) 
(***/5)
Singer, composer, arranger, musician and producer - few artists are acknowledged talents in so many differnt areas. The Recife-born Lenine has become one of the stars of Brazilian popular music, acclaimed by the public, the press, his fellow artists and tastemakers alike. He is considered one of the standard bearers of the Brazilian scene for the 21st century, combining original music with the rhythm of Northeast Brazil over a base of rock, pop and electronica. He has been influenced and inspired by everything from pop and rock to Massive Attack and Gilberto Gil.
(***/5)
Although I haven't seen this DVD yet, it's promising to be another great release by U2. They have always been on the top 5 favorite bands for me and it's great to see The Zoo TV on DVD and the nice work to put up this one together.
