Pic of the Day: Happy Thanksgiving!

George: Hullo, Bob. I dig love.
Bob: Greetings and salutations, George. I also believe dat what we need is love, to guide and protect us all.
George: Well that's something we can agree on, brutha.
Bob: United we are in de fight against repression, George.
George: Yes, Bob. Isn't it a pity, how we cause each other pain.
Bob: Fuck it, let's get together and feel alright. One Love.
George: Yes, it's true. All you need is love.

Look at this epic meeting of two cultural giants. Looks like around 1975 or so. Combined, the amount of Love and Happiness these guys inspired in people with their music is just staggering. Brothers in the cause. Monumental.

Treasure Island Music Festival Reivew - Jambase.com

Last weekend saw SF's Treasure Island get bombarded with ravers and hipsters for the 4th annual music festival, this year split into two seperate days of electro madness and indie songcraft. Though the weather sucked, bombarding us with wind and rain, we danced through it all and had a blast. My full coverage of both days is over at Jambase:

Treasure Island Festival :: 10.16.10-10.17.10 :: Treasure Island :: San Francisco, CA

Without a doubt, the highlight of the weekend was LCD Soundsystem's epic slow-burn rager on Sat. night. We were eating out of their hands like farm animals. The band's patience in building the show's energy up and out was excruciatingly awesome. This shaky video captures some of the magic that went down:



The other mind-blowing event of the weekend was the bizarre South African rap group Die Antwoord, which melted my face with pure, masterful rap prowess. This was some next level shit, straight up:

Tom Tom Club Review - Glide Magazine

The rhythm section of the band once known as Talking Heads has been touring for years as Tom Tom Club, a quirky band with a sound rooted in light funk, Caribbean music. The most distinctive element of the band has to be the sing-song, half-rapped, often nonsense lyrics of bassist Tina Weymouth, who sounds like a Japanese schoolgirl more often than not.

Their live show was a dancey affair, with lots of blondes and legs and bouncing basswork. Though the music was nothing mindblowingly profound, it was an easily digestible bit of lighthearted fun, and a great party taboot.

Here's my review of the show over at glidemagazine.com:

Tom Tom Club :: 10.08.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA

I've always had a big crush on Tina Weymouth and her sexy bass-rocking swagger. These videos attest the fact that I am still attracted to a 59 year old woman. Laugh if you like, I proudly stand by my statement...

Alberta Cross Review - Glide Magazine

The next generation of rock bands is here, and like non-pasteurized milk, the creamiest of the creamy good music is bound to rise to the top of the mish-mash of mediocrity flooding the scene these days.

Few freshman bands show more potential and promise than Alberta Cross, a British/American hybrid of a rock band which recalls early My Morning Jacket in the best way possible. Releasing their debut album Broken Side of Time in '09, these guys pack a punch both live and on wax, and you can feel that they are going to just get better and better as time goes on.

Sharing a bill with grungy space-sludgers Dead Confederate, Alberta Cross proved their staying power with an affecting show last week in SF. Here is my coverage of these up-and-coming rockers:

Alberta Cross :: 09.08.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA

The most rockingest, best crafted track has to be their title cut, the spooky "Broken Side of Time":



But when it comes to calling forth the spirits of creep, "Ghost of City Life" takes the cake as their most powerful, chilling tune:

DEVO Was Right - Dirty Impound

Starting a new trend, this is the first article in a series to celebrate a number of underrated, classic albums that deserve a closer look (featured on the rock website dirtyimpound.com).

Aside from their hit "Whip It," DEVO has always been sort of a cult band, as their weirdo, pin-head on-stage persona and tounge-in-cheek lyrics are quite bizarre and jarring. They truly broke the mold of rock/punk/new wave music with their first album, which rocked harder than their later albums, which leaned more towards programmed synthy electronic sounds. Bottom line, one of the finest debuts in the history of rock and roll. Here is the article:

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo! - Vintage Stash

Outside Lands Review - Jambase.com

This past weekend saw Golden Gate Park be overtaken by around 50-60,000 music fans, 65 bands and 4 stages, over the course of two days. The result was a huge party in the park amongst the eucalyptus. Check out my review of the madness over at Jambase:

Outside Lands :: 08.14.10-08.15.10 :: Golden Gate Park :: San Francisco, CA

Phish Phunk: 3.0

After this past weekend's epic, mind-melting Phish shows at the intimate Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA, those that are familiar with this band's musical journey back into relevance can now all agree that the phab four are now playing at a level of musicianship which has not been achieved in years.

For the first time in over ten years or so, Phish's live show now once again holds in it a consistently real possibility of transcending past its role as a "live concert" and achieving a status of "profound life experience." This band is currently able to reach such levels of synergy and musical transcendence regularly, thanks to their new-found commitment to musical precision, as well as all four band members' incredible chops. All this combines to create a musical stew of telepathy: the now-ness which is achieved when things are locked in with band and audience makes time stand still.

As an homage to Phish's much-welcome return to form, here is a compilation of the best freaky funk jams this band has thrown down since their return from retirement in 2009. One reminder for you: listen to this shit LOUD!!!!

Phish: Phunk, 3.0 - A Mix (all SBDs)

1. Wolfman's Brother - 6/11/10 - Chicago, IL
2. Tube - 6/18/09 - Burgettstown, PA
3. Sneakin' Sally Thru The Alley ->
4. Mansfield Jam - 6/22/10 - Great Woods
5. Boogie On Reggae Woman - 12/30/09 - Miami, FL
6. Tweezer - 6/18/10 - Hartford, CT
7. 2001 - 6/25/10 - Camden, NJ (MJ Teases)
8. Cities ->
9. Berkeley Jam ->
10. Moma Dance - 8/6/10 - Greek Theater

Download Link

Lost Moments in Musical History - McCartney and MJ

Everyone who's ever listened to Thriller (and that's pretty mucheveryone on the planet) knows of "The Girl is Mine," the catchy, cheeseball collaboration between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. At any rate, though it's one of the weakest tracks on the album, it deserves some credit for using a chorus with the word "doggone" in it (that takes balls). The song was bafflingly released as Thriller's first single, and was soon overshadowed and overcome by every single other track on the album.

But few know of the extent of the relationship that formed between Macca and MJ during the early 80's. It began with the song "Girlfriend," which McCartney wrote specifically with MJ in mind. McCartney recorded it in 1978, and MJ followed suit with his far superior version, which was included on Off The Wall in 1979.

Paul McCartney - "Girlfriend"

Michael Jackson - "Girlfriend"


This seems to have eventually blossomed into a beautiful friendship by the 80s. In a recent interview, McCartney recalls how it began:

“He called me up on Christmas Day one year and asked, 'Do you want to make some hits?' So I said yeah, sure, you know, being of the hit-making variety. So we did, and it was really nice. He came to my house, and he got to know the family and stuff."

After they recorded "The Girl is Mine," MJ returned the favor to Macca by singing on a lost McCartney classic "Say, Say, Say." This song is better than "The Girl is Mine" in almost every way, but somehow few know much about it.

What follows is this song's long-lost music video, which features Paul, Linda and MJ as Depression-era Southern con-artists, getting into all sorts of zany adventures with their wild antics. Check out the borderline-racist vaudeville act at 3:30:

Now that's a satisfying romp of a music video!

This lovely friendship between two of the biggest pop stars in the world was not to last, however, as MJ stabbed his buddy in the back in 1985 when he outbid McCartney himself to own the rights to the entire Beatles catalog for $47.5 million. Though many thought this action unforgivable and sacrilegious (he gave the legacy of John Lennon a big "F U" by selling "Revolution" to Nike), it turned out to be the best business decision that MJ ever made, reaping him enough money to buy millions of pet monkeys. Regrettably, Macca and MJ never spoke again. The End!