The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #6
[Above: Bobby Drake]Every band has its own dynamic. Sonic Youth, DBT and Dinosaur Jr are all very different bands internally. Some are more democratic than others, and with that, dealing with each band and individual member is a case by case scenario. The same holds true with The Hold Steady. In terms of songwriting, both Tad and Franz are strong songwriters in their own way.... read more
Pemberton 2008 - Day 1
Photos taken at Pemberton Festival 2008 by Mark C. Austin... read more
Ed Askew -- Little Eyes
What are the odds that a former member of a band called Gandalf and the Motorpickle, and whose first solo album is called Ask the Unicorn, would release an album that approaches musical masterpiece status? I know, I wouldn’t make that bet either. But it’s happened. And you can chalk it up to the pervasive hippie influence of Vashti Bunyan. Ever since Vashti's "discovery," thirty years after the fact, small indie labels have been scouring the vaults to uncover the first generation of freak folk artists. Enter Ed Askew, who fits the bill perfectly. ... read more
Caprica Trailer and a Great Wheat Beer
CapricaI just watched the trailer for the Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica. I doubt this will approach The Greatest Sci-Fi Show of All Time, but I'll watch it nonetheless. In wake of the success Battlestar has had in getting reviewers like me to say, "You don't have to like sci-fi to like this show," they've gone out of their way to call it a drama and downplay the sci-fi action.... read more
Conor Oberst on Religion and Politics
I recently spoke with Conor Oberst about his new self-titled album that he recorded down in Mexico for our International Issue which just hit the newsstand. The focus of the story was on his trip, but the conversation strayed onto two of my favorite topics, religion and politics. I asked him about the numerous Christian references coming from an atheist. Here was his response:... read more
Pitchfork Fest '08 Day Three: Lights & Music
(Tim Harrington plays music, really. Courtesy of Jeremy Farmer)The buzz and short attention spans I spoke of in Day One, and the newfound diversity heralded in Day Two, these things imploded upon each other the final hours of Sunday, with one holy rockness middle ground rising up from the rubble. The moment can be pinpointed actually, if you were to witness Les Savy Fav’s punk-maestro, Tim Harrington, careen his bald dome into a city garbage can, demanding the crowd hoist him, and his new stage, into the air so he could finish his song.Post-set comment from a fan:Dude wanted up,... read more
Roots Roundup -- Watermelon Slim, Hacienda Brothers, Mando Saenz
Three new(ish) roots albums of note … Watermelon Slim and the Workers - No Paid Holidays Bill Homans’ (AKA Watermelon Slim’s) first record was a 1973 protest album. Recently back from a grunts-eye view of Vietnam, he used a tin can shard as a pick and his Zippo lighter as a slide, and laid down a series of bitter, acerbic ruminations on the horror and the folly of that memorable war. In the meantime he’s passed his days as a truck driver, forklift operator, sawmiller, firewood salesman, collection agent, funeral parlor director, small-time criminal, watermelon farmer, college graduate... read more
Jamie Lidell - Philadelphia - World Café Live - 6/11/08
Photos taken at World Café Live by Doug Seymour... read more
Pitchfork Fest '08 Day Two: Evolution of Hip
(Getting sick, sick, sick with Chk, Chk, Chk)As the natural progression of emergently original things go, Pfork’s festival speaks no more to one niche market, which is something best analogized by !!!’s Nic Offer late afternoon Saturday, before thrusting his pelvis to a series of genre-blurring grunts:We’re the lowest rated band on Pitchfork, with the highest set time. It goes to show you the kids know something the critics don’t.... read more
Pitchfork Fest '08 Day One: Looking Back On 'Don't Look Back'
(FLAVA FAV!)It took a field of hipsters to hold back reality t.v.’s favorite half of Public Enemy last night in Chicago’s Union Park, as Chuck D shot the gun on Pitchfork’s third effort in the festival realm with the opening diatribes of hip-hop’s seminal album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, sans his counterpart. Chuck D upon Flavor’s belated entrance: “Where the fuck were you on “Bring The Noise?”Flavor Fav: “I don’t know Chuck, I was with the family.”... read more
Rhymes With Five: Spam worth reading
If you use email, you probably get Spam. It's pretty much a fact of life, and it's nearly as useless to complain about the Spam messages as it is to wonder aloud about what, actually, composes its meaty-ish namesake. (Which, by the way, seems to have undergone a major re-branding of late. "Crazy Tasty"-- really?) Something about Spam email that I find really funny is how it so pointedly-- yet so unsuccessfully-- preys on peoples' fears and insecurities. A few weeks ago, some of Paste's inter-office email lists were besot by numerous Spam emails with subject lines like "what a... read more
Jayhawks Mark Olson and Gary Louris Together Again
Right now I'm listening to "Blue" by the Jayhawks off Tomorrow The Green Grass, and I'm feeling like all is right with the world. The two singer/songwriters behind this seminal country-rock record announced earlier this week that they've just finished recording a new record together —their first since Mark Olson left the band in 1995. He and his then-wife Victoria Williams moved to Joshua Tree and began making music as The Creekdippers. I visited their little hose in the desert for the cover story of the very first issue of Paste.I liked the music of The Creekdippers, and I... read more
The Raconteurs - New York City - Terminal 5 - 5/30/08
Photos taken at Terminal 5 by Ken Bachor... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #5
[Above, L-R: Bobby Drake and John Agnello]Things are really rolling. We’ve been tracking furiously and the band is really hitting their stride. We’ve nailed easier songs like “Stay Positive” and harder ones like “Creepy Jam,” which will end up being called “One For The Cutters.” That song became one of my favorites early on. We cut it live with Franz playing the intros and verses with a synth harpsichord simulation. We knew we needed a real harpsichord on the song, but we had to find one that was accessible. But that would be for another day. ... read more
The Best Concerts I've Seen
I just finished posting the 12 best concerts I've ever seen. Rather than have them all in 12 separate posts, I thought I'd consolidate the list here. I was recently digging through a pile of ticket stubs I've saved, finding cool concert after cool concert, from high school, college and especially, these last six years since we started Paste magazine. There are some big omissions—I've still never seen Springsteen or The Stones. I've only in the last few years checked off Dylan and Prince (neither made the list and only Prince was close). Some of the best concerts I picked... read more
My 12 Favorite Concerts - #1 Arcade Fire
#1Arcade FireMay 1, 2007, Atlanta Civic CenterThe first time I saw Arcade Fire was at the Austin City Limits festival in 2005. I was up in the photographer pit for the first few songs, and the band started the show with most of its members singing a capella at the top of their lungs. When we had to leave the pit after a few songs, one of our photographers started babbling, "That was one of those completely transcendent experiences where you glimpse a bit of heaven—but I never have those experiences!" So when the snow kept me from leaving New... read more
Rothbury 2008: Day 4
First up on Sunday’s bill was Ingrid Michaelson, a young songwriter whose handclapped single, “The Way I Am,” helped orchestrate a recent Old Navy commercial. Michaelson has a bright future ahead of her (one that does not involve discounted jeans and stylish sweaters), and she concluded her early summer tour with a set of quirky, coffeehouse pop/rock. Kudos go to two members of her band, especially the versatile Allie Moss, as well as Miss Michaelson herself, who raps a mean version of the Fresh Prince theme.... read more
Live Review: Tom Petty in ATL (7/9/08)
During our drizzly, overcast haul out to the Atlanta suburbs to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers play the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, my wife wondered aloud “if he’ll play many hits or if it’ll be mostly be stuff I don’t know from his newest album.” The mood in our car was more than a little bleh. What if this show is more trouble than it’s worth? The interstate commute, the inevitable parking debacle, the shitty weather, the prospect of several thousand stumbling-drunk baby boomers pathetically trying to relive their freshman year of college. ... read more
Rhymes With Five: Judging films by their covers
In addition to the staggering visual impression of their full catalog, I was struck by just how many great films I'm wildly unfamiliar with-- so, in celebration, here are my five favorite Criterion covers of movies I've never seen (that I probably should soon). What are yours? read more
Rothbury 2008: Day 3
Following an Ice-Cream-Man-provided breakfast on Saturday morning, we reached the Ranch Arena, where Dead Confederate took the stage for an early-bird batch of haunted, shoegazing southern rock tunes. “Thanks for coming,” mumbled frontman Hardy Morris to the scattered audience. “We’re Vampire Weekend.” ... read more
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