It’s that time of year again, and Moe Train’s Tracks is headed to Manchester, TN for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival!  King B and The Train will be bringing you a totally new Tracks experience with this year’s coverage.  We’ll be blogging on the site as all of the action unfolds over the weekend, as well as getting great interviews with the fest’s top musicians, concert photos and more!

We embark on our trip from Philadelphia and will be arriving in Manchester, TN about 12 (ugh!) hours later.  Who knows what the road will hold for us, besides a ridiculously long time on Route 81 (that road SUCKS!), and pure Excelsior insanity!  Keep connected to the Tracks by following on Twitter (@MoeTrainsTracks), and watching the site for lots of great updates…

We’ll be camped out by the front of the Bonnaroo arch, so if you see us, come say hi!  If we’re not there, we’ll be bouncing around the grounds doing our artist interviews, taking in a ton of shows, and interviewing people in the crowds.  We plan on checking out as much of the festival as possible, and we hope to meet as many of you as possible!  If you have any great tips  about what’s going on at the festival, or just want us to come stop by and hang out.. Message us on Twitter, and we’ll try to stop by!

Bonnaroo has always been one of our favorite festivals to cover and we’re especially looking forward to spreading our Global Domination Tour to Manchester, Tennessee and Bonnaroo!

WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE FARM!!!  BONNNNARRRROOOOOOOOOOOO!

Related articles:

• Bonnaroo Live Webcasts (jambase.com)
• Why They Call It… Bonnaroo (spin.com)
• FREE ALBUM! SPIN’s Picks for Bonnaroo 2010 (spin.com)

Paul Gray, the bassist of Slipknot, was found dead on May 24, 2010 in his Iowa hotel room.  Known as #2 or The Pig, Gray made a huge impact on the rock world through Slipknot’s musical contributions.  #2′s death follows very closely after the passing of Ronnie James Dio and Peter Steel of Type-O Negative.  People always say that things happen in threes…

We had the opportunity (and pleasure) to be in the photo pit during Slipknot’s Mayhem Festival stop in Camden, NJ.  Not only was it the first and only time we’d ever seen Slipknot, but was also hands down one of the most insane concert experiences ever.  We’d already been spit on my Marilyn Manson, shredded to death by Dragonforce, but Slipknot took the overall trophy that day.

The first thing that came into my mind as the curtains opened was, “what the fuck is going on?!”  Weird creatures crawling all over the stage, hydraulic lift drums, and mass insanity.  The music was brutally tight, and we were quite lucky to be in the safety of the photo pit… That was till they sent one of their goons running through the photo pit to break up the piece.  (I took a serious gut shot from a guy that must have been 6’7 350 lbs!  I didn’t care.  Sometimes I miss being in the pit!)

It was easy to suspend reality during their set as the music with the visuals seamlessly fused in musical madness.  We were literally leaning on the stage.  Corey Taylor kept spitting loogs all over the photographers (thankfully, I avoided it), and all the band members were in our face.  We had an extremely close view of very well calculated theatrics.  However, I can’t help but to think that those who were back in the crowd got the full sense of what transpired that night, not those in the guarded photo pit.

After our time was up in the photo pit, I quickly rushed to the other side of the pit and got into where the real maggots were crawling.  I didn’t know the history of the band, nor the words to any of their songs, but damn, they were bad ass.  It’s this lasting image that I have of #2.  Paul Gray was doing what he loved, to the people that loved him and his music.

His legacy lives in the music and all of the people he touched.

R.I.P. #2.

– Moe

(The red circle is our camping spot.)

5.  The Food Vendors

Go anywhere on the farm, and you’ll smell amazing food being cooked all over the place.  Sure, you may smell good food mixed with dirt and B.O., but it still smells pretty good!  Whether you’re in Centeroo getting churros, Chinese, gyros, gigantic slices of pizza, or you’re in the campgrounds having garlic grilled cheese, burritos, or funnel cakes, you’ll never go hungry.

For those who are Bonnaroo veterans, you are very familiar with the lines of vendors which greet you on the way into Centeroo.  Can corn dogs be considered a breakfast!  Hell yeah.  It’s Bonnaroo!  Virtually anything that you could crave (or have the munchies for) can be found on the farm.  We had the giant gyros almost every night, and they definitely gave us the strength to power on for the late night scene.

Didn’t do enough pregaming at your tent?  Hit the Brooers Tent and sample some amazing beers from all over the US.  It’s the microbrew fan’s dream.  Yeah, we know.  You’re not supposed to be drinking during the day… As soon as we get our interviews and on the scene crowd stuff done, we’re indulging.

So stay healthy at Roo.  Keep your body fueled with the amazing eats and drinks to be found on the farm.  It’ll keep you happy and alive!

Related articles:

• Ben & Jerry’s Bonnaroo Flavor (jambase.com)
• Bonnaroo Food Drive (jambase.com)
• Fuse & Twix want to send you and ten of your friends to Bonnaroo 2010 (gadling.com)

Caribou – Swim (6 out of 10)

This whole electro-ambient trendy-restaurant-music genre is no longer the exception to the rule, it is the rule (and consequently the genre is rapidly growing more and more annoying).  Had I heard Swim seven years ago I would have loved it, but since I’ve heard 200+ albums over the past couple years that sound exactly like it, I found it unaffectedly boring. – Just another album to listen to while I’m reading.

- B

Related articles:

• Caribou – “Odessa” Video (stereogum.com)
• [MP3] new Caribou: “Cellophane” & “Sea Rea” (iguessimfloating.blogspot.com)
• Caribou Announces World Tour Release Swim 4/20 (jambase.com)

Keller Williams releases his first-ever all-covers collection, amusingly titled Thief, on May 25, 2010. Recorded with the Keels—husband and wife duo Larry and Jenny Keel—Thief includes songs originally written and recorded by as wildly diverse an assemblage as anyone’s ever likely to dream up.

Keller is on tour this summer – at solo shows, with The Keels, and even for a run of gigs as vocalist/guitarist in The Rhythm Devils, the project by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and his partner percussionist Mickey Hart. Keller’s complete list of currently confirmed tour dates is included below.

Thief offers up Keller-versions of songs by an [almost] unthinkable collection of artists: from Amy Winehou

se (“Rehab”) to the Grateful Dead (“Mountains of the Moon”), the Butthole Surfers (“Pepper”) to Kris Kristofferson (“Don’t Cuss That Fiddle,” which opens the album, and “The Year 2003 Minus 25,” which closes the album). The set is filled out with tunes by Ryan Adams, the Presidents of the United States of America, the Raconteurs, Patterson Hood, Danny Barnes, Cracker, the Yonder Mountain String Band and Marcy Playground. All over the place, indeed, but that’s the way Williams likes it. And in his hands it all makes sense—like everything he’s ever touched, whether from his own pen or someone else’s, it all becomes Keller Williams’ music. Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to http://www.kellerwilliams.net for a big Thief pre-sale and contest announcement coming soon.

Keller’s thirst for music of all kinds has also led him to the world of radio. For the past seven years he has hosted Keller’s Cellar, a weekly syndicated program available on over 40 terrestrial stations and online at http://www.kellerwilliams.net. Williams describes the show as “a self-indulgent, hour-long narrated mix tape of stuff I’m into. It’s rule-less except for what the FCC says we can’t do. I don’t play contemporary country music. I don’t play contemporary Christian music—however, there is possibly some old gospel. I don’t play opera. Everything else is fair game. World music from all around—African music from all the countries, jazz, funk, reggae, techno, chill, lounge, lounge singers, rub-a-dub, dancehall. I pretty much stay away from smooth jazz. It’s definitely a fun outlet for me.”

Long considered one of the most unique and prolific performers in all of rock, the Fredericksburg, Virginia native is known for flying by the seat of his pants on stage, utilizing an unorthodox approach that centers around an Echoplex Digital Pro looping unit, which allows Keller to alternate between several instruments on stage.

Keller Williams’ Current Tour Dates:
Friday, April 16 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver BC
Sunday, April 18 World Ski Festival Whistler BC
Thursday, April 22 WorkPlay Theatre Birmingham AL
Friday, April 23 Floyd’s Tallahassee FL
Saturday, April 24 Freebird Live Jacksonville FL
Friday, April 30 Handle Bar Greenville SC
Thursday, May 13 Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Richmond VA
Sunday, May 16 The Hangout Music Festival Gulf Shores AL
Saturday, May 22 SmileFest – Deerfields Amphitheater Pinnacle NC
Friday, May 28 Bella Madre Music Festival Geneva MN
Saturday, May 29 Summercamp Chillicothe IL
Sunday, May 30 Delfest Cumberland MD Keller Williams and Friends
featuring Jeff Austin and Keith Moseley
Thursday, June 17 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride CO
Saturday, June 19 Clearwater Festival – Croton Point Park Westchester NY
Friday, July 2 Nateva Music & Arts Festival – Oxford Fairgrounds Oxford ME
Sunday, July 11 All Good Music Festival Masontown WV
Saturday, July 17 YMSB String Summit North Plains OR RHYTHM DEVILS
Sunday, July 18 Britt Festival Jacksonville OR RHYTHM DEVILS
Saturday, July 24 The Spud Drive In Driggs ID RHYTHM DEVILS
Sunday, July 25 Red Butte Garden Salt Lake City UT RHYTHM DEVILS
Saturday, July 31 Gathering of the Vibes Bridgeport CT RHYTHM DEVILS
Saturday, August 14 Mile High Music and Arts Festival Denver CO
Saturday, August 21 Hoxeyville Festival Cadillac MI

http://www.kellerwilliams.net
http://www.myspace.com/kellerwilliams

It’s been an incredible year and half for Colorado-based producer and Pretty Lights mastermind Derek Vincent Smith. Starting out in 2008 performing in small clubs in his home state, Pretty Lights is now selling out 1000+ venues across the country, and was named one of NPR’s recommended acts for last month’s WMC (you can check out the piece here.)

Pretty Lights has now announced its biggest headline show to date, returning to his hometown on August 8, 2010, to headline the famed Red Rocks. Tickets on sale April 24^th at 10am MST.

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Check out Pretty Lights at Coachella this weekend. Or catch a show at numerous soon to be sold out venues across the country. With soulful organic vinyl samples on top of bass heavy electro beats, Pretty Lights lands somewhere between DJ Shadow and Daft Punk. But what sets him apart is his ambitious live setup that includes the addition of Cory Eberhard on drums and stunning visuals, making his live performances the stuff of legend.

PRETTY LIGHTS TOUR DATES

Airbourne – No Guts. No Glory. (8.4/10)

Simply said, Airbourne rocks.  No Guts. No Glory. is fist pumping, feet stomping, beer swilling music of power and glory.  Sure, it’s unmistakable how much their music emulates their fellow Aussie mates, AC/DC.  If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then AC/DC must be damn flattered, because Airbourne is a pure carbon copy.

It’s difficult to react objectively to Airbourne’s music, as one can’t get away from the AC/DC references.  Is the music original?  Sure… To the point of the composed song.  Does it sound original?  Not even close.  Do they play infectious, raucous tunes?  Hell yeah.

Grab yourself a copy of No Guts. No Glory. Your fist will be pumpin’ by the first chorus.  Great listening. (And a bad ass album cover too!)

- Train

Related articles:

• AIRBOURNE: New Video Interview Posted Online (idiomag.com)
• AIRBOURNE Interviewed By TOTAL ROCK Radio (idiomag.com)

Cypress Hill – Rise Up (6.8/10)

Rise Up.  It’s no Black Sunday.  Or even as exciting as Black Friday.  B. Real and Sen Dog still have the flow, but the classic Cypress Hill has long been put in the bong and smoked up.  The beats are OK, and there are standouts like the title track (which features Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda) which tears it up, but also a ton of clunkers (i.e. Cypress’ take on Pass the Dutch(ie) which wanted me to stick a pencil in my ear).

All bands take creative progressions through time, and Cypress had to deal with working from the top and going from there.  I think they needed to fill that huge Buddha bong with about 2 lbs more of Ganj before they recorded and put out this album.

Oi.

- Moe

Related articles:

• Cypress Hill Exhibited Metal Cred 17 Years Before New Album (noisecreep.com)
• LISTEN: Cypress Hill Featuring Linkin Park’s Shinoda (spin.com)
• Tom Morello Guests on New Cypress Hill Jam (idiomag.com)

Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame (8.6 out of 10)

One of the best albums of 2K10 so far!  A mellow blend of folk, indie rock, and garage band which rouses reflections of the Flaming Lips and Arcade Fire.  Startlingly, it’s a coming out party from the most unlikely locale, good ol’ Philly baby!  I’m embarrassed that these hometown heroes have eluded me for so long.  Suggested listening: Shame, Shame will serve as fantastic summer-driving music; windows all the way down with the warm breeze fluttering your hair around.

Related articles:

• Hear Dr. Dog’s New “Stranger” From April LP “Shame, Shame” (rollingstone.com)
• New Albums from Dr. Dog & 3 More! (spin.com)

Usher – Raymond v Raymond (6.9 out of 10)

There’s a difference between an entertainer and an artist.  Usher is undeniably a really good performer and singer, artist not so much.  To be fair, Raymond v Raymond never claims to be something it’s not; it simply strives to be a top five Billboard album, which it will be.  Its chalk full of cheesy ballads and sweet-sweet love-making music, but that can be fun sometimes.

Stats: The word “baby” is used 61 times and the endearment “girl” is employed 66 times, yet the ever-dynamic “baby girl” is surprisingly utilized only once.  (Yes I actually counted)

Peak: OMG is a good time

Valley: The track Lil Freak contains quite possibly the worst rap verse of all time courtesy of Nicki Minaj: “I keep a couple of hoes, like Santa I keep a vixen.  I got that Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Dixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blisten.” …wow.

- B.

“Rokkervil” took me by surprise.  Admittedly, I have never been a huge fan of Okkervil River (I know, I know) or Roky Erickson.  Roky’s history of imprisonment and hospitals for schizophrenia, drug use and mail obsession were intriguing enough to garner a listen.  (Well, that, The Explosives,his team up with Okkervil, and the fact that it’s Roky’s first new release in 14 years.)

Roky Erickson (w/ Okkervil River)

True Love Cast Out All Evil (8.5/10)

“Rokkervil” took me by surprise.  Admittedly, I have never been a huge fan of Okkervil River (I know, I know) or Roky Erickson.  Roky’s history of imprisonment and hospitals for schizophrenia, drug use and mail obsession were intriguing enough to garner a listen.  (Well, that, The Explosives,his team up with Okkervil, and the fact that it’s Roky’s first new release in 14 years.)

The album opens with with the obligatory lo-fi recording (these days!), and expands into a sonically endearing and heartfelt performance.  Roky’s gravely storytelling backed by Okkervil River’s solid instrumentation makes for one of my largest musical surprises of 2010.  What began as a hesitant listen, became the soundtrack for the rest of my late night.

- Moe

Second opinion: I was highly skeptical of this album also, especially after reading about this guy’s story (which I encourage everyone to do).  His back story though is eventually what supports the authenticity of his candor.  Okkervil River provides the perfect atmosphere to showcase his gravel-pit southern vocals.  Easily one of the most intriguing albums I’ve heard recently.  I’m really excited about this record, thanks Train!

Related articles:

• Roky Erickson to release first new material in 14 years (guardian.co.uk)
• Roky Erickson & Okkervil River – “Be And Bring Me Home” (Stereogum Premiere) (stereogum.com)

Lifehouse – Smoke and Mirrors (6.5 out of 10)

An undeniably generic American rock album that should sell competitively in Walmarts throughout the Midwest.  Although it’s lyrically shallow, a handful of songs are perplexingly enjoyable.  Might have to chalk this one up to a guilty pleasure listen and let everyone else agree to disagree.

*Expect to hear Halfway Gone during NFL games as they transition in and out of commercial breaks.

- B

Here’s part 2 of the MoeTrainsTracks.com transformation:

• Album Reviews: We know. “Everyone’s a critic these days.” MTT has always been independent and uncensored, and our reviews will remain that way. No long, drawn out, wordfests that you have to sift through just to hear if we thought the album was Excelsior or not. We’ll keep it short, so you can get to the listening.
• Tracks’ Tweets: Yeah, we use Twitter. You can follow Moe Train (@MoeTrainsTracks) and King B (@MTTracks_KingB) on your own Twitter app, or read our streams on the front page of MTT.com. We’re constantly updating our Twitter streams, so keep an eye on it to know what we’re up to at all times!
• iPhone App Reviews: Excelsior is a big fan of our iPhones, and we’ll let you know some of the apps that get us through everyday life (and those which you shouldn’t waste your money on!) This section will just be a small added bonus on MTT.com, but don’t worry, the tech geek side in us will stay pretty quiet.
• Music News: We’ll always have the latest world music news streaming on the right sidebar on MTT.com.
• Photo Galleries: Our photo galleries will feature photos that we’ve shot, as well as outside contributors’ pics. We’d like to showcase individual photographers, so if you feel that your pictures are especially Excelsior, contact us, and you may be featured on the site!

  

  Image via CrunchBase

Thanks again to our 130,000+ listeners worldwide, and the tons of readers who have stuck with us since day one. We have a blast creating new content for all of you, and will continue on the same path for years to come. Don’t forget! Festival Season is upon us, and we’ll be seeing you out on the road very soon!

To Excelsior!

- Brian “B” Kracyla and Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilaga

What’s goin’ on everyone? As I’m sure you’ve noticed, MoeTrainsTracks.com has had quite a facelift lately. We’ve had to rebuild everything from the ground up, but it’s all to make the site and show a much more interactive experience for everyone involved. Although Version 2 has taken a while to come to fruition, we promise that it will be worth the wait.

Here’s what the MTT.com upgrade will entail:

• All new design scheme: Version 2 of MTT.com revolves around functionality and interactivity. (It also looks pretty damn cool though, if I must say so myself!)
• More of our famous interviews: We have always prided ourselves upon the high quality of the musicians we have on the show, and the entertaining/informative aspects of the interviews. There will be quite a few of unreleased interviews to come out in the near future so keep an eye on the site. MTT hits artists from all genres. King B is our hip-hop/rap specialist, and Moe does most of the other interviews. We continue to double team every interview, as it’s certainly been a tried and true formula.
• New content at least 3 to 4 times a week: We’ve added new sections to the website to make the MTT experience a better one for our listeners/readers. The Tracks staff is still considering site contributors, so if you’re interested… Contact us.
• Excelsior’s Exclamations: King B + Moe Train = Team Excelsior. Excelsior’s Exclamations are our forum to say what we want, when we want, about anything that we want! (Ha.) Of course, the topics will mostly revolve around the music scene, but we’ll also be interjecting our thoughts on a whole slew of subjects (or whatever comes to mind the day that we’re writing!). If there’s ever anything that you’d like to hear us speak about, please feel free to let us know!

(Continued in Part 2)

Moe:  We sitting back stage her with Jeremy Stein, promoter and creator of Rothbury Festival.  Thanks for being with us.

Jeremy:  Fantastic being here guys, thanks.

M:  How did you go about putting together your vision of the Rothbury Festival?

J:  That’s good question.  I think it came together really over a course of years.  It’s funny, I was reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and there’s a big thing in there about taking 10,000 hours of work to really get a vision for something and think that’s what happened over the course of a decade.  We were putting on a lot of different events; 5,000 people, 15,000, 20,000, all over the world and also had a lot of different artists under our management firm who were traveling the world at festivals.

So I had this kind of rare experience to be able to go to festivals across Europe/Australia/Japan, and really make notes on all of them, and see what was working, and combining that with a general attempt to have a cultural event at Rothbury, and an art event.

Obviously music is a magnet, no question, but it’s so much more than that for everyone.  Some people even have trouble putting their finger on what that more is, but it’s so much more.  You combine all those factors and it almost surfaced organically.

M:  Last year, we called Rothbury ‘Festival of the Year’; for the lineup, for the atmosphere, for the people, the total experience.  How important was it for you to create an all-encompassing experience for your guests?

J:  The general idea is that it’s an immersive environment that people come to live at.  A lot of festivals, not for good or for bad but just the way they are, are generally daytime into the evening events and they shut down, and they’re not camping festivals so everyone goes home at night and they might come back the next day.  This kind of event is different.  Not only is it a big holiday weekend (4^th of July), and people are really looking forward to getting off work and they’re out of school and all those types of things, but they are living here for four days.  And when you’re living somewhere for four days, you get to know the people next to you, and you make some new friends out there.

Not only are you obviously here for the big shows and the big dance events and all that kind of stuff, but most of the time you’re not at a big show, you’re relaxing.  You can’t just be on level 11 for 24 hours a day. (Moe giggles)  So, that’s a big part of what the forest turned into, it’s a daytime lounge.  And when people can get that downtime in a shaded, cool environment with their friends, they have way more energy for the rest of the day and they’re not just totally burnt out at the end of the show.  That’s a pretty exciting scene.

M:  Did you take the forest idea from Fuji Rock?

J:  I’ve been to Fuji Rock a lot and there’s no question that we are kindred spirits.  Especially on their recycling.  They were doing that recycling before just about anyone else that I’ve seen out there.  They weren’t doing composting but the teams that we working at the cans and everything and having a strong green scene.  That was just more a part of the culture there than anything else but they were a little ahead of the curve.  I’m friends with those guys and it’s probably the closest relationship of a forested environment for a festival that I know of.

M:  In the future, what do you see for Rothbury and what is your perfect headlining act?

J:  Wow, that’s a tough question.  I think year to year, there’s no question that the headlining acts give a little bit of their own identity to what that year of the festival is, and some of them are available some years and just not another.  There’s no question either that there’s a top 25 names out there and we all know who they are, there’s no big secrets.  So, one year it’ll work for Rothbury and one year it won’t.  We just gotta go where the wind takes us.  I care just as much about the music, I’m not afraid about the music though, we’ll get the right music every year.

I think that now we’ve hit a critical mass where the industry knows what it is.  It’s just as exciting to the artist as it is to everyone else and they want to be here.  So, we’re gonna get there on the musical side.  I care as much about the community building, the interactive environment, and getting more people involved in the show.  The more everyone’s involved in the show, the more the entire grounds become the stage.  It’s not just you come to watch something, you come to be a part of something.  That’s what I’m after.

M:  Thank you very much for being with us.  We appreciate it.  The festival’s been killer.

J:  Great guys, good luck.  Have fun out there.

Related articles:

• Rothbury 2010 Canceled; Midwest May Gain Bamboozle Fest (rollingstone.com)

Flogging Molly Interview on Moe Train’s Tracks

Nathen Maxwell (Flogging Molly)

Monty Wiradilaga, Brian Kracyla ( Moe Train’s Tracks)

Moe:  What’s going on man, how are you?!

Nathan:  Aw, I’m having a great time, Moe!  How bout you?

M:  Having a blast!  What do you think about the Rothbury scene?

N:  Right on brother.  Man, it’s cool, it’s different for us.  I’d call it kind of a hippie festival but it’s great that our music can be a part of this.  I think we fit in.

M:  Well your music is not traditional Celtic music, obviously you put your own twist on it.  I’d say you guys put a little dose of balls into Irish music.

N:  Yeah, thanks man.

M:  How does the Irish culture take your music?  How do the people take your music?

N:  Well, people think that we’d be huge in Ireland, and I’ll tell you it’s not the case!  (laughs)  And one of the reasons, like someone told me, is because there’s 34 million Irish in America and there’s about 4 million Irish in Ireland, you know!  I think the youth in Ireland too, they grow up with traditional music, it’s not such a novelty to them.  I mean we’ve got great fans in Ireland but it’s not as big as it is in the US and other parts of Europe.

M:  You’re appealing to the Irish, you’re appealing to the punks, you’re appealing to such a wide audience.

N:  I think that’s the thing about our music, it’s for everybody, young and old.  I was just talking to this lady behind me, she was just saying that one of the things she loves about Flogging Molly is that it’s one of the only bands that her and her father agree on.  I think that’s a big part of it too.  I grow up a punk rocker, but this music it transcends scenes, man.

M:  I heard you guys take a “deadly serious” approach to your music, what’s that all about?

N:  When I say a deadly serious approach to music, I mean that this is all we have.  This is our life, it’s everything to us.  But at the same time, we don’t try to take ourselves too seriously.  You gotta have fun, you gotta laugh at yourself, man.  You know what I mean!

M:  Absolutely.  Irish pride, what role does that play in your music and how does it affect your interaction with your fans?

N:  Well, our singer Dave is a Dublin-er, born and raised, and he’s ginger as well, so he looks the part.  I think the Irish pride thing is biggest amongst our fans.  Dave’s obviously proud of where he’s from and we’re all proud of where we’re from.  I’m from L.A.  I’m proud of that, Cali’ pride.  But for me, I think it’s human pride, you know, we’re all one big family.  That’s the way I see reality.  So I think the Irish pride thing is bigger amongst some of our fans then it is amongst the band.  I’ve got Irish blood.  But I also have Mexican blood, Polish blood, German blood;  it’s a human thing for me personally.

M:  Yeah, we’re sitting here drinking Guinness…

N:  Yeah, thank you by the way.

M:  Absolutely, you are welcome.  I was going to bring over some Jameson but I didn’t want to be responsible for you guys getting shit-faced before your show.

N:  Oh we already opened the Jameson bottle on the bus!

M:  Ah, okay, guess I should have brought it then.  You guys have got to have some drunken Irish stories.

N:  Well, I can’t remember the last time I blacked out.  How bout that?

M:  You can’t remember?!

N:  I can’t remember.  What did we do last night?  I don’t know.

M:  Exactly.  So do you guys always get tuned up before you play?

N:  Yeah, well, most of us.  Our drummer stays pretty sober but the rest of us like to kinda hit the sauce and get that swagger on before we hit the stage.  And then we just continue on through the night and party.

M:  So what’s your definition of swagger?

N:  Just walking the walk, you know, just being yourself.  Don’t try to copy anybody, just be yourself and own it.

M:  We’re also doing a side-show on Michael Jackson.  Has he influenced you in anyway?

N:  Sincerely, absolutely, Michael Jackson has been a part of my life ever since I can remember.  All my family loved Michael Jackson, I grew up listening to Michael Jackson.  I love Michael Jackson.  I think Off the Wall is one of the best albums ever made.  It’s a real loss.  I’m not here to judge, I don’t know about all that drama he was going through the last decade and I don’t have an opinion on that and I’d like to keep it that way.  To me it’s a shame that he never got to, if he was innocent, redeem himself in the eyes of the public.  It’s a shame that he died so young and I think that we lost a great talent with Michael.

M:  How has “D.I.Y. or Die” played a role in the success of Flogging Molly?

N:  It’s been everything for us.  We didn’t stand a chance in the world in the beginning.. People used to tell us we were shit, that we were just a bar band, that we’d never make it, just another bar band.  We were like, yeah whatever we started at a bar, we like to drink but come on, we could play for anybody!  So we had to do it ourselves, there was no one there to help us.  We financed our first two records ourselves.  We got lucky to become friends with a great indy label SideOneDummy, we’re still with them today, they put us on the Warped Tour.  It’s all been about do-it-yourself.  I’m here right now, I feel like a pretty successful person with Flogging Molly, and in my personal life I blessed, and it’s all been because I’ve done it myself.  I wasn’t handed a goddamn thing.

M:  So what would you say to people who are trying to get there start?

N:  Just do it man.  Believe in yourself first-and-foremost.  If you don’t believe in yourself ain’t no one gonna believe in you.  Believe in yourself and just do it.  Don’t take no for an answer.  If you get knocked down, get right back up.  It’s pretty simple.

M:  That’s right, Irish Ethos right there!  (both laugh)  Finally, as you said, we’re at a hippie festival, we bounce around at different festivals and, well, you can smell the patchouli oil out there…

N:  And the weed!  I like the weed smell!  The patchouli I could stand to do without, but the weed’s good.

M:  So, who would win in an epic battle here at Rothbury, the trippin’ hippies or the drunken Irish, and why?

N:  Well, here at Rothbury, I go with the hippies!  There’s a lot more of them.  I think the hippies are definitely outnumbering the drunk Irish.  Plus, you know, when you’re on that LCD you get super-powers!  I don’t recommend it, kids!

M:  Thank you very much for being on the show.  We’re looking forward to your set.

N:  Cheers, brother!

The Gorillaz are truly an enjoyable enigma, a band whose musical distinctiveness is to have no musical identity at all.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach (8 out of 10)

The Gorillaz are truly an enjoyable enigma, a band whose musical distinctiveness is to have no musical identity at all.  And yet, unintuitively, the final product is always consistent quality.   Collabo’s galore on this 3^rd album: Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, sinfonia ViVA, Snoop, De La Soul, y mas.

Truthfully, the virtual group would benefit from larger doses of vocalist/producer Damon Albarn, instead of his fleet of guest contributors, mostly because Plastic Beach really shines when the Gorillaz are rolling solo (check out Rhinestone Eyes and On Melancholy Hill).  Granted, on some tracks Albarn creates a sonic backdrop that just screams to have someone drop a verse on it.

Related articles:

• LISTEN: Gorillaz Track with Mos Def (spin.com)
• Exclusive: Watch Gorillaz’s Latest “Plastic Beach” Teaser (rollingstone.com)
• LISTEN: New Gorillaz Song with De La Soul (spin.com)

MGMT Interview on Moe Train’s Tracks

Andrew Vanwyngarden, Ben Goldwasser (MGMT)

Monty Wiradilaga, Brian Kracyla (Moe Train’s Tracks)

Starlight Ballroom – Philadelphia, PA

Here’s a great interview that was rescued from The Tracks’ vaults…  Back in early 2008, MTT caught up with Andrew and Ben from MGMT in Philadelphia, PA.

MGMT had just gotten a major break in the music scene with the widespread critical success of Oracular Spectacular.  Keep an eye on MoeTrainsTracks.com for tons of great new content!

Moe:  We saw you guys down at Bonnaroo for your set, it was a great way to open up the weekend.  I was a pretty epic show if I must say.

Andrew: Yeah, it was fun.  We had been to Bonnaroo before so it was good to see it from the side of the artist instead of the person in the crowd.  It was only our second festival show.

M:  Oh really, where was the first, Coachella?

A:  Yeah.

M:  So how do they compare?

A:  I don’t know, Coachella was crazier for us because we were more nervous.  Bonnaroo was a little more relaxed and cool.

M:  You guys just started tour together with a band right?

Ben:  We started practicing with them about a year ago.  I think we were kinda thrust into exposure a little too quickly for our taste.  We played on national television after we had only been touring with the band for a couple of months.

M:  Was that on Letterman?

B:  Yeah.

M:  You looked a little nervous.

B:  Yeah, we were very nervous!  But we’re getting more comfortable and we don’t have to think as hard when we’re playing, its kinda getting to be more natural.  We’re getting used to playing for crowds.

M:  Did you guys have sound problems at Bonnaroo in the beginning, what was going on?

B:  Yeah, well, the festival thing, we hardly ever really get a sound check so it’s always a little weird starting out.

A:  I think the monitors were pretty messed up.

M:  (to Andrew) Oh, by the way, you had on some pretty fucking crazy pants.  I remember walking up to set and saying ‘holy shit’, those bright blue ones!

A:  Tropical floral bellbottoms, yeah.  Really big bellbottoms. 

M:  They looked comfortable though!

A:  Yeah, they’re real comfortable.

M:  Saw you guys backstage, you guys looked pretty chill, pretty relaxed, so I guess you feel like you’re falling into place with everything.

B:  We’re good at hanging out.  We’re good at relaxing.

M:  Any standout moments yet from your recent successes?

B:  We just played at the Oxygen festival in Ireland and that was really crazy.  There were all these people climbing up the towers that were holding up the tent and we had to stop the show because this girl made it all the way to the roof of the tent so that you couldn’t even see her anymore and everyone was yelling at her telling her to come down.

M:  Did she take a spill?

B:  No, it would have been ugly if she had!  That was probably at least 60 feet up in the air or something.  It was pretty crazy.

M:  I saw a video of you guys at some festival in Scotland that you guys were playing and you were walking around the grounds, checking out the scene; Andrew you like the thrill-rides?

A:  As much as I’d like to keep the myth going that I like thrill-rides, I’m new to them.  I’ve been on like Space Mountain and most of the Disney rides, and I like those a lot.  I was like twenty when I started going on roller coasters, so I don’t think I’d go on the Slingshot thing.  I would vomit.

M:  You guys got together at Wesleyan, and you were actually making music that you thought would be annoying?

A:  We knew it was annoying.

M:  Just to fuck around, just playing, just to amuse yourselves?

A:  I dunno…  We were young and foolish.

M:  You were freshman?

A:  Yeah.

M:  So it was basically putting that freshman energy, that drunken and banged up energy back into the music.

A:  Yeah, exactly.

M:  What’s up with the clothing optional dorm?

B:  At some point it was designated a “clothing optional” dorm but there aren’t many people walking around naked there.  There were a few, and we were friends with most of them.

A:  I did naked calisthenics with Vin Popper on time.  (all laugh)

B:  Nice.

M:  Tell us about some of those early dorm session jams.  We used to do the same thing.  We’d go out to parties, get all fucked up and come back and just grab our instruments at like 2 o’clock in the morning and start jamming.  So what was it like with you guys getting together?

B:  It was a lot like that.  It’s was just kinda very casual, just having fun.  We had a lot of other friends that we played music with and we were both in other bands at the same time.  It wasn’t like we started a band in order to get successful and get fans and all that, we just started it for something to do and didn’t really care if anyone liked it.

M:  You guys just probably wrote the album for yourselves.

B:  In a way, I mean, we know we were writing it for other people because we had signed a record deal at that point, so we had a delivery date, so there was a little bit of pressure on us but when we were writing the songs we didn’t think that anyone was actually gonna hear the album, so it was pretty much just writing it for ourselves.

M:  So I guess its still a surprise with all of this going on?

B:  Yeah, its still a surprise.  And, I don’t know, it keeps getting crazier!

M:  When you guys were first recording you guys had a pretty gritty sound right?  I mean, if you were recording back in your dorms you’re going to have that unintentional gritty, natural sound.  Did you guys try to replicate that sound?

B:  In a way it was the other way around because we were doing a lot of stuff just on computers, so a lot of it was very electronic and very clean sounding.  I think we’ve tried to get dirtier.

M:  You had the producer who worked with the Flaming Lips.  Did you guys pick him because he had that psychedelic background?

A:  We kinda just chose him because we talked to him and we’re fans of the Flaming Lips and other stuff he’s done, like Sleater-Kinney and Mogwai.  He’s not the kind of producer that wants to mold the band into something, he kinda just lets them do their own thing.  So, he was good for us.

M:  So did the album come out exactly how you wanted it to come out?

A:  At the time I think it did, yeah.

M:  Looking back now, what do you think?

A:  I’m sure now if we listened to it a bunch, we’d probably change stuff.  But we think it’s good that we can’t because it captures that moment.

M:  I see you in a lot of pictures wearing sunglasses, you’re not becoming Bono are you?

A:  I hope to God not!!  If I am you should stab me…

M:  What’s your beef with him?

A:  Nah, I just don’t like him.  I heard he’s a great guy, and he seems like he’s got good intentions.  I think it’s really the sunglasses that piss me off the most.  So, now I’m never going to wear sunglasses again.

M:  Will you burn them in effigy?

A:  We stabbed an effigy at our senior recital.

M:  Ben, you said, “To give music meaning you have to have your back up against something”; What, you don’t remember?

A:  (laughs) You sound like Thoreau or something.

M:  Yeah, I guess you were being pretty introspective.

B:  I guess maybe just having some resistance kind of helps.  With us, when we got signed and we had to deal with all the kind of big-record-label bullshit for the first time, I think it kind of forced us to look at what we’re doing and try to give it as much meaning as possible and try to ask ourselves why we were doing it in the first place.

M:  So what’s your validation?

A:  I don’t think we’re validated.

M:  No?  What will be your validation then?

A:  If aliens approve of our music.  So, we’re waiting for contact.

M:  Waiting for the return in 2012 when the earth ends?  I know you guys are joking around about your future, about what will happen hen things will come, but we’re sitting inside of a big tour bus.  Obviously this is probably five times bigger than your dorm room was.  You said that when the fame comes around and you get the big label money that you would go get blow jobs, you would ride horses to your gigs, and go get castles.  What’s going on with the success?

B:  Yeah, we’ve both gotten blow jobs before, which is cool.  We’re working on the horses and the castles.

M:  What have you benefited from just by being in the business?

A: We get a lot of free clothes, a lot of free stuff.  And we both got haircuts for the first time in a long time.  We used to cut our own hair and now we can afford real haircuts.

M:  If you guys think that everything musically has been done before, how does MGMT stray away from the norm’?

B:  I don’t know if everything’s been done before…

A:  All the good stuff has.

B:  Yeah, all the good stuff’s been done before but pretty much…

A:  You could string your guitar with celery or something, but that doesn’t mean it gonna be good music.

B:  Any new good thing I think comes out of recycled ideas and using them in creative ways.  Rock and roll is a pretty basic, simple form of music but there’s so many possibilities with it.

A:  You don’t have to make up your own language to write a good poem.

M:  Who is it that does that again…

A:  Sigur Ros!

M:  Oh yeah that’s right.  Did you guys see them at Bonnaroo, what’d you think?

A:  I heard for somebody that it’s much better to see them in a wide open cathedral-type space, like an indoor space, and I could see how that’d be true.  It didn’t translate that well to the festival thing.

M:  Yeah, it’s pretty grand I guess.  So, what’s the future of MGMT, or have not realized the present yet?

A:  We have trouble comprehending what’s happening at all times.  But the future should hold good things.   We’re trying to get a cabin somewhere in the woods.  James is gonna cut firewood, I had a vision of him walking towards me with an arm full of firewood and I’m gonna smile and then our dog is gonna lick our faces.

M:  (laughing)  Alright guys, thanks a lot.

If you were born between 1972 and 1983 (let’s not get caught up in specifics, somewhere in that range), you must read Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs.  It is incredibly entertaining.  No other book has made me laugh out loud so many times (in fact this may be the only book to ever make me laugh out loud period).  Klosterman makes the kind of observations about pop culture most people fleetingly consider and ties them into astute and tangible theories regarding the psyche of a misunderstood generation (the Gen-Xers).

Here’s the synopsis from the back of the book:

“Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman — with an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and a seemingly effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter. Whether deconstructing Saved by the Bell episodes or the artistic legacy of Billy Joel, the symbolic importance of The Empire Strikes Back or the Celtics/Lakers rivalry of the 1980s, Chuck will make you think, he’ll make you laugh, and he’ll drive you insane — usually all at once.  Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about movies, sports, television, music, books, video games, and kittens…but, really, it’s about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, “In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever ‘in and of itself.’”

**I’m telling you, even if you’re not a reader, check this book out.  It’s freakin great.  Don’t worry, it’s only 240 pages and the font on the pages is nice and big.

Matisyahu covers KOL and lives to tell about it.

Found a video of Matisyahu covering Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody for “Mashup Mondays” on Billboard.com.  I love when he beatboxes at the end with the acoustic guitar playing wingman.  It’s pretty legit, check it out.

Here’s the link:  http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid65813736001?bctid=74176421001

-B.

Related articles:

• Chuck Klosterman (chuckpalahniuk.net)
• Chuck Klosterman accidentally undermines ‘indie popularity’ in Pavement article (trueslant.com)
• Chuck Klosterman and the study of culture (cultureby.com)

M:  Mr. Bill Kreutzmann, of the Grateful Dead, thank you very much for being here on the Tracks.

B:  Yeah, nice being here, thanks for having me.

M:  Legends… The Grateful Dead… Obviously if you think about American bands, you think about the Grateful Dead.  How do you feel the Grateful Dead’s influence and responsibility to the fans has been over the years?

B:  The responsibility lies in the love of playing music and trying to play the best music you possibly can.  For years and years we never pitched politics until this last horrendous eight years came up.  We’re always pretty much a-political and we didn’t tell the fans anything, we just entertained.  We just played music, that’s all we cared about.

M:  So you said these horrendous past eight years, how are the next years going to happen, how do you feel about it?

B:  I think the next eight years are going to be incredible.  At least it’s going to be a lot different, a lot better.  I got to meet President Obama and he’s real, man.  I stood closer than you and I are talking right now and I looked right in his eye.  He’s also from Hawaii so I kidded him about his surfing.  There was a picture of him bodysurfing and he had really good form, he was on his side and had his arm out like you’re supposed to have when you bodysurf.  I was kidding him about it, and he didn’t know where I was from, he thought Grateful Dead, he must have lived in the states or something.  He looked me in the eye real close and said, “You’re from Hawaii, aren’t you?”  That cat’s smart, man.  No, I really see a freshness.  We played the inauguration.  We played the Atlantic Ball.  He came and he met us there the first time and it was terrific.  The guy really took time to come and meet the people that helped him because we had played at Penn State to about 16,000 people, a young audience, college educated people, and that really helped.  I think the

young vote really helped him.  And the way he did his campaign was so smart.  Dave Axelrod is a wonderful person and he lead President Obama down the right path.  He said, “use computers, use the internet, don’t get lobbyist money, get donations” and that was smart.  Now he doesn’t owe any one person something, like some big corporation or something.  Of course, you know all about lobbying, I don’t want to get into all that nonsense, I dislike that myself.  That’s not politics.  You hire somebody from your state to be your senator and then they’re paid for by something

else.  That’s no good.

M:  So the Dead influenced the voter’s vote?  (laughs) Did you get him into office or what?

B:  I think we influenced them at Penn State for sure.  What happened to me is, about four or five years ago, I read his second book, The Audacity of Hope, and I said, my God, this is a dream if this guy can be president.  So I’m really happy with it.

M:  The show on New Year’s Eve is in the Bay Area.  The rumor is that that will be the farewell show for the Dead.

B:  That’s a rumor.  We have actually talked about that yet.  I’ve been asked a few questions today about plans and records and stuff but we haven’t actually gotten together and had a sit down about what we’re going to do yet.

M:  Well, thank you for the music for all these years.

B:  You bet, man!  It’s been fun!

M:  You’ve made a lot of people happy.

B:  It’s made me happy.  That’s probably why I’m still alive!  (laughs)

M:  Appreciate it.

B:  You’re welcome, man.

Related Articles:

• The Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead (futurelab.net)
• 7 Walkers Tour: Papa Mali, Bill Kreutzmann, George Porter Jr. (jambase.com)
• Bob Weir, Phil Lesh keeping the Dead alive with Furthur (pbpulse.com)