Archive - Jan 2009

How'd you fare in the scramble for Phish tickets? We managed to score tix to all the summer shows we wanted to hit up (though this wasn't exactly an easy feat). After some serious perseverance, we can happily announce that we'll be attending four Phish shows come June: Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, TN); Deer Creek (Noblesville, IN); and two nights at Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI). Not to mention Bonnaroo...

Were you able to wade through the multitude of error pages and waiting rooms to secure your golden ticket?

One of our favorite musical discoveries of 2008 was Houston's own Buxton, a four-piece band that's a little folk, a little Americana, and a whole lot of awesome. They were featured prominently on the top songs and top albums lists of both Eggs and myself. In fact, I'm listening to A Family Light as I type this, because I simply can't get enough of it. Fortunately for us, Buxton will soon release a 7" with two new songs to tide us over until their next studio effort. I've heard the unmastered cuts of the songs, and all I can say is that I'm super stoked. Tentatively titled "Jam" and "Groovin'," they're possibly the most well-constructed pieces we've heard from this young band so far. The 7" is expected to be released in March – for now, you can catch a glimpse of the band's recording process at SugarHill Studios via the video below. It was made from over 2,000 pictures taken in sequence, then compiled into a video by guitarist/keyboardist/mandolinist Jason Willis and set to the first two minutes of "Jam."

For best viewing results, click through to YouTube and watch the video in high quality.

More Buxton news after the jump

Coachella, that vaunted mecca of hipsterdom located in the California desert, released its 2009 lineup today to the rapturous delight of indie scenesters across the nation. Topping the bill are headliners Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure, who will be joined by other notables such as My Bloody Valentine, Morrissey, TV on the Radio, Beirut, Ghostland Observatory, Los Campesinos!, Thievery Corporation, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Dr. Dog, Atmosphere, Calexico, Gang Gang Dance, Peter Bjorn & John, Antony & the Johnsons, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Okkervil River and Fucked Up.

Coachella is slated to take place April 17-19 in Indio, CA. Three-day passes are $269 and can be purchased here.

See the full Coachella lineup after the jump

Yonder Mountain String Band, who are already set to play a slew of dates during their "Cabin Fever" tour in February, have released another month's worth of dates starting at the end of March. The four-piece progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado will start out in Arkansas before heading through Texas, making a stop at Houston's House Of Blues (boo!), and then out west for the rest of their spring tour. YMSB are also starting to be added to a few different summer music festival including Wakarusa and their very own Northwest String Summit in mid-July.

Check out the full list of tour-dates after the jump

Things were looking quite grim for the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the disastrous finish to last year's events, but the decision to scale the festival back and move it to a new location seems to have given this yearly event a new lease on life. Today, several acts were added to the four-day northern Arkansas event, including the acoustic hip-hop blues of G. Love & Special Sauce, Hasidic-reggae superstar Matisyahu and all-around weirdo/bass genius Les Claypool. BOT favorites New Monsoon have also been added for what will be their fifth consecutive appearance at Wakarusa.

Check out who else will be ripping up Mulberry Mountain after the jump

I can't get enough of this live in-studio performance by British noisemakers Gang Gang Dance. With the help of Tinchy Stryder on lead vocals, they work their way through the stellar grime-infused track "Princes" for the UK-based web show Tim & Barry TV. It's brilliant, check it out:

As you might have noticed, line-ups have been springing up all over the place for some of our favorite summertime events. While we're all still waiting for many of the bigger festivals to announce their lists of bands, I've been dissecting the smaller line-ups in search of new talent to check out. Several new bands have sparked my interest, but the first band I've found that truly excites me comes in form of Michigan-based electro-funk outfit My Dear Disco. They build upon what bands like Lotus and Particle have been doing for the past few years, then layer it with the sultry vocals of lead singer Michelle Chamuel (and sometimes a touch of bagpipe!). It's a very unique combination of sounds that is incomparable to anything else going today. Check out a video for their tune "White Lies" performed live at last year's American Eagle/Anthony Kiedis-backed New American Music Union festival.

Check out some more My Dear Disco videos after the jump

The 2009 Gem & Jam will take place February 6th-8th in Tucson, AZ. The event will feature performance painting, art, mineral vendors and, of course, an excellent line-up of musical performances. The festival, which runs concurrently with the Tucson Gem Show, will be held at two Tucson locations. View the musical schedule, which obviously excites us BOTheads most, after the jump!

Them fun-loving Vermont boys are making it almost impossible to believe they won't be headlining this year's Bonnaroo. If the huge gap in between Phish's tour dates that perfectly aligns with the weekend of Bonnaroo wasn't enough to clue us in to their debut at the Tennessee festival, they have now added a date in Knoxville on the 10th of June, the day before Bonnaroo is set to kick off. Just a coincidence? I highly doubt it. Now let's just hope the rumors of them performing late night at Bonnaroo become true. That might be the only way to top last year's epic rain-soaked late-night Which Stage performance by My Morning Jacket. We can only wait and see!

Check out more details after the jump