Mike's Archive

Category: Music

  • Top Phive Jimmy Buffett Tailgate Setups

    There is nothing quite like a Jimmy Buffett tailgate — sun, phun, booze, island attire, and most importantly, an abundance of pure joy. You don’t see fights, bitterness or anything you might find in any other pre-concert parking lot. People are just happy to be there and share in the feeling. So, in honor of the upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia this Saturday, I’m listing my Top Phive Phavorite Buffett Tailgate setups. (One will certainly notice that 3 of 5 came from Great Woods in Boston, the pinnacle of JB parties — a labor day institution for years that will be missed.)

    I look for three important things when I think of a great tailgate setup:

    • It has to be creative – erected bars are fun and cool but a lot of people have them so its hard to differentiate.
    • It has to bring people to your space. Jimmy parties are about the parrothead community, and the great ones bring strangers together like they’ve known each other for years.
    • It has to promote debauchery. Obviously.

    On to the list… (more…)

  • The Hold Steady “Separation Sunday”

    2005 has been a great year for music so far. One of my favorite albums to come out this year is the fantastic sophomore release from the Brooklyn band The Hold Steady. This album works in a big way. Lead singer Craig Finn talk-sings compelling stories of sex, drugs, and strung-out self-mutilating hoodrats all in front of a fat rock guitar-driven soundtrack. This record will invariably draw comparisons to Bruce Springsteen – and with good reason. In addition to a clear Boss musical influence, the songs are anthemic in the tradition of Thunder Road and Born to Run. Finn and at least one other member of the band were formerly of Lifter Puller and thus, not surprisingly, there is also a tasty punk rock flavor to this album. I give it a solid A-for-Excellent.

  • Collin Herring – The Other Side of Kindness

    One of my favorites of the year so far is Collin Herring’s The Other Side of Kindness.

    “Back of your Mind” starts of the album with a bang — just a great roots rock song — the perfect blend of driving guitars, grit and a melodic hook. Its one of the best new songs I’ve heard this year and really had my hopes up for what Collin has to offer. The next track, “Aphorism” is also solid, a mid-tempo number that really reminds me of Whiskeytown (in fact much of the album does).

    “Sinkhole of Love” is next, a mellow number that works because of how it follows the previous two tracks. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the album is more of the same, dusty western ballads with little of the rock n roll greatness that track #1 showed Herring has inside him. Two tracks are instrumentals, which are fine to listen to but don’t add a whole lot to the big picture.

    The only tracks that break the pattern are “Lazy Wind” and “Into the Morning”, both of which use some weird distortion that takes away from the songs. The latter is still a decent track, but the production on “Lazy Wind” really has me scratching my head (and hitting “skip”).

    The second half of the album does have some pretty good tracks, but as I said before they are all the same tempo, and nothing comes close to the breakthrough of “Back of Your Mind”. I waited and waited for the next kick-@ss rocker, and it never came.

    As Hubie Brown would say, this guy has TREmendous upside, but he hasn’t quite put together his masterpiece yet. Still, this is a solid album and worth picking up if you’re like me and always looking for good new artists.

  • Dogs Die in Hot Cars

    I just love Dogs Die in Hot Cars’ late summer 2004 release, Please Describe Yourself. These guys get compared to 80’s bands like Dexy’s Midnight Runners and XTC, but quite honestly I don’t know much (aside, of course, from “Come On Eileen”) about any of these bands.

    I do think that they sound a lot like a British band with lots of 80’s influence, and almost every song on this album is catchy as hell. “Godhopping”, “Lounger”, “I Love You ‘Cause I Have To”, and the list goes on and on. Their quirky lyrics don’t exactly probe the depths of the human condition (I love Lucy / I love Lucy Liu / Yes I love her twice as much as you / Now there’s Jolie / Angelina Jolie / Could you ever look as good as she), but when songs are this infectuous, it hardly matters.

  • Bryn Mawr’s famed Point to Close

    7 years ago, just down the block from the famous Main Point music club (stomping ground of Springsteen, Buffett, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and more in the 70s), The Point coffee house re-opened as a glorious acoustic venue, doing its part to follow its predecessor’s lead by hosting a great number of up-and-coming artists. (Norah Jones, Howie Day, Rhett Miller and many more graced The Point’s stage over its recent tenure).

    Unfortunately, a dispute with the landlord has forced the venue to close. Management is currently searching for a new location, and hopes to re-open soon somewhere else in the general area.

    Mainlinedine.com has all the details.

  • David Gray?

    Whatever happened to David Gray? I haven’t heard anything about that guy in years. His website is still promoting A New Day at Midnight, which came out in 2002.

    That’s really my only point.

    (NOTE: Interestingly, shortly after this post, Gray announced a new album out in September and a pre-release tour in August)

  • The Decemberists

    I’ve really been digging The Decemberists’ recent release, Picaresque.

    Lead singer Colin Meloy’s unique voice (sorta similar to Vertical Horizon’s Keith Kane) combines interestingly with the band’s lush, grandiose sound, creating something that sounds like an amalgam of Death Cab for Cutie and Matthew Sweet.

    I particularly enjoy “We Both Go Down Together”, a dramatic, literate pop-rocker. “The Engine Driver”, which is getting a good amount of play on local station WXPN, is also a quite catchy.

    Meloy’s voice can grate after awhile, and “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is especially trying, but overall this is one of the year’s best so far.

  • Springsteen “Rehersal” Show, Asbury Park, NJ

    Judging from both fan reaction outside the show and from message board postings I’ve read since, most Bruce Springsteen fans will love anything this guy does. Me, I’m not like that. I tend to be more critical of Bruce, because I know what he *can* do. I’ve been there. That’s why, after attending the second of his “rehersal” shows last Friday afternoon in Asbury Park, I was not exactly thrilled with Springsteen’s performance. There were, as always, some amazing highlights, but the entire set was marred by some bad, boring choices. The second half of the show was especially lifeless, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth despite the much better first half of the show and incredible piano performances. (more…)