Preview: Mavis Staples "You Are Not Alone"

Jeff Tweedy joins Mavis Staples on stage at the Solid Sound Festival in North Adams MA

Mavis Staples' upcoming Jeff Tweedy-produced album You Are Not Alone is high on our list of most anticipated albums of the year.  It's been nearly a year since I learned about the collaboration, but my already-high expectations were raised exponentially after hearing the standout title track.  The song has Tweedy's unmistakable lyrical stamp yet falls comfortably in Staples' gospel wheelhouse - a song of reassurance in the face of uncertainty. 

I had the great opportunity to hear a few of these songs at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival a few weeks ago, where Tweedy joined Mavis on stage for a remarkable cross-generational collaboration between music icons.  Now, after hearing the full album, I can finally say that my high expectations have been fulfilled - the songs are fantastic and Mavis Staples and band sound energized.  A legend of gospel/soul making relevant music alongside one of the most creative and important songwriters of the last 15 years - it may sound like an unlikely pairing, but the results are undeniably great. 

Listen to the album in its entirety below, before the September 14 release date:

Juniper Tar covers Wilco

Muzzle of Bees, one of my favorite blogs, just posted a great collection of Wisconsin-based artists covering Wilco's classic Summerteeth album.  Download the full compliation here - it's fantastic (and free).  One of the highlights for me is Juniper Tar's take on Via Chicago - one of the most haunting and personal songs off Summerteeth.  Juniper Tar reminds me at times of early-Wilco and Uncle Tupelo so it's a natural fit, but they manage to put their own stamp on Via Chicago.  The song rides a steady beat and builds to a crescendo of piano and electric guitar.

Listen below, along with the fantastic "Birds In Trees" from Juniper Tar's excellent Howl Street EP - and be sure to download the entire compilation from Muzzle of Bees.

Juniper Tar - Via Chicago (Wilco)
Juniper Tar - Birds In Trees

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live at Winterland '78

The posts have been in short supply lately as I've been in the process of moving.  I am sore, tired and surrounded by mountains of boxes as I type this - but internet has been restored and visible voice is back in business.  I've had little chance to listen to much new music in between unpacking and getting things back to normal.  There's plenty of great audio/video coming soon - but I haven't had time to do the proper editing.  So, I'll reach back into the "archives" and share one of the most jawdroppingly powerful examples of live music I've ever heard...

For a large portion of my adolescence I was obsessed with the music of Bruce Springsteen.  I first saw Springsteen in 1999 when he reunited the E Street Band after a 10 year hiatus for a massive world tour.  I saw the last of 5 straight sold out nights at the Garden, and was instantly converted.  And it's a good thing - at the time my taste in music was a mess (Metallica, Fuel, Live - yes, it was that bad).  The level of my Springsteen obsession was probably unhealthy for a time, but after I had immersed myself in everything the man has released, I branched out.  In an effort to find new and exciting music that retained a bit of the qualities that made Springsteen's music resonate so much with me I soon discovered Ryan Adams, Wilco, Pete Yorn - these artists, in turn, turned me on to Gram Parsons, Big Star and The Smiths.  As unlikely as it sounds for someone my age, I credit Bruce Springsteen with my musical curiosity and passion.

When you boil it all down, Bruce Springsteen's music is about grit, passion and determination.  Nothing in the Springsteen canon exemplifies this more than the legendary Darkness On The Edge of Town tour of 1978.  Delayed by a protracted and bitter legal battle with former manager Mike Appel, the Darkness On The Edge of Town album was much darker than his previous record, Born To Run.  Gone was a bit of the optimism, and in its place was a bit of cynicsm.  The characters were no longer "pulling out of here to win", they were stuck in the darkness on the edge of town, in dead-end jobs, crying themselves to sleep at night.  Their dreams may have passed them by.  When Springsteen and crew brought these songs on the road, they came to life with a burning intensity.  Shows on the Darkness tour were no longer just a party, they were a much-needed catharsis both for the band and the audience.  The guitars were dirtier, the screams were louder, the emotion was palpable.  By December of 1978 when the band took the stage in San Francisco at the famed Winterland Ballroom (site of The Last Waltz), Springsteen's voice was hoarse and ragged but the band was tighter than ever.  This was the setting for what is probably the most famous show of Springsteen's career - broadcast on FM radio to much of the west coast, and now available to all in pristine sound quality.  This is a document of one of the greatest live rock n' roll bands of all time at the height of their power.  At just over 3 hours, Springsteen would go on to play even longer shows on subsequent tours - but for me, even though I wasn't there to witness it, nothing matches the energy and intensity of the legendary string of shows in late-1978.

These days my Springsteen obsession ebbs and flows - and with the exciting news about a massive Darkness On The Edge Of Town box set soon to be released, it's flowing once again.  For those of you that may picture Bruce as the fist-pumping charicature he became circa-1984 - please do yourself a favor and listen to his earlier stuff, and start with this legendary recording from Winterland 1978.  Enjoy

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Winterland Ballroom - San Francisco CA
December 15, 1978

Badlands
Streets Of Fire
Spirit In The Night
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Factory
The Promised Land
Prove It All Night
Racing In The Street
Thunder Road
Jungleland
The Ties That Bind
Santa Intro
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The Fever
Fire
Candy's Room
Because The Night
Point Blank
Mona / Preacher's Daughter
She's The One
Backstreets
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Born To Run
Detroit Medley
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Raise Your Hand
Twist & Shout (no audio exists)

The Promise: Springsteen to open vault for Darkness box

Bruce Springsteen will release a Darkness on the Edge of Town retrospective on November 16, featuring 3 CDs and 3 DVDs.  The set will include a remastered copy of the album, 2-CDs of outtakes from the Darkness sessions, a making-of documentary and - the piece de resistance - a full show DVD from Houston 1978. 

For even the casual Springsteen fan, this is the holy grail.  For those who may not know, the Darkness tour is stuff of legend - marathon shows, off-the-charts intensity and, don't forget, a smoldering 10 minute version of Prove It All Night like this (but in HD)...

I officially cannot wait for November 16.  Check out brucespringsteen.net for a clip from the documentary and a fantastic outtake "Save My Love".

Recommended: Auld Lang Syne

    

Some bands are all style - they look the part, but lack real substance.  Auld Lang Syne is not one of those bands.  It's obvious that they live, breathe and completely embody their music.  They are family and friends, living together in a van as they travel between small towns, sharing their music with whoever will listen.  Timothy Dick bares his soul as he sings his songs of personal struggle, stomping feet adorned with sleighbells as he switches between acoustic guitar and piano.  And, these guys (and gal) play with conviction and joy - trading smiles and nods, pouring everything they've got into the performance.  Auld Lang Syne deserves to be heard, seen and loved - they are, simply put, the real deal.

Listen to one of many highlights from Midnight Folly, "Where My Fortune Lies" - enjoy!

Auld Lang Syne - Where My Fortune Lies

Get Midnight Folly here.  Look for some fantastic live content from Auld Lang Syne on visible voice soon!

Wilco brings Solid Sound to Mass MoCA

 
By Seth Mitchell

Chicago rock legends Wilco took over the Berkshire town of North Adams, MA recently, for what we can only hope was the first annual Solid Sound Arts and Music Festival.  The three day long festival, which was held in the downtown mills now comprising the Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art, featured sets by the legendary Mavis Staples, local heroes The Books, and, of course, Wilco, in addition to the numerous side projects of its members and other artists.

From the moment Jeff Tweedy announced the idea for Solid Sound from the stage of the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, I knew that it couldn’t be missed.  It would have music, it would have Wilco, and it would be held 3 hours from Boston- that did it.  The fact that the festival would be held in the Mass MOCA and include comedy, film, and Mavis Staples was just unneeded justification.

North Adams, a town of fewer than 14,000 residents nestled in the hills of northern Berkshire County, saw itself swell by more than 50% over the weekend, with local shops staying open past midnight to (hopefully) capitalize on the influx of customers.  North Adams has been economically depressed since the closure of the Sprague Electric Company in 1985.  With the loss of local jobs, the prosperous town began a tailspin until 1999, when the company’s 26 mill buildings were reopened as the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the US. 

A sea of plaid shirts and beards made it impossible to tell locals from musicians, with Wilco’s handpicked acts mingling with the weekend’s crowds.  To the thousands of fans and artists there, the festival seems to have been a great success.  The true measure of this festival, however, and of its future, lay in the impact on town’s businesses and the Mass MOCA.

In addition to over a dozen musical acts, the museum hosted exhibits from musicians like Nels Cline and a 3-floor retrospective of artist Sol LeWitt.  An indoor auditorium showcased comedians Todd Barry and Kristen Schaal, among others, and hosted a Wilco- curated film series.  The downtown city setting in a valley of the bucolic Berkshires was unique, with plenty of nearby free parking lots and shuttles (though I never needed one).   

Other Highlights of Solid Sound:  

1. Jeff Tweedy in the Dunk Tank, Nudie Jacket and All- Absolutely the #1 reason to go to Solid Sound (see the photos), especially when Jeff then complains about the dunk tank at least 5 times on stage over the rest of the weekend.

2. 3-Day Tickets for Under $100- For all the top-tier bands and free access to the Mass MOCA to boot, no one, even in this recession, can really complain.

3. Well Planned, Well Run, and Well Curated- Free parking, re-entry allowed, $5 Magic Hat.  An eclectic mix of bands and logical schedule.  Just really well done.

4. It’s for a Good Cause- The residents of North Adams were willing to think outside the proverbial box to approve this unique new concept.  Its goal was to stimulate the local businesses and to bring new interest to Mass MOCA – lets hope that it does that, and more.  I’d fully support an indoor winter session too…just a thought.   

5. Magazine Called Sunset- Just listen...

Wilco - Magazine Called Sunset (Solid Sound Festival 8/14/10)

Downsides:

1.  Very limited lodging (hotels/camping) nearby- as in, I stayed at a campground   in VT.  Next year I’d recommend scouting out the “quaint” motels that advertised vacancies even when everything with any semblance of a web presence had been full a week earlier.  

Two and a half days of perfect weather were punctuated by warm drizzle during Tweedy’s Sunday finale.  During his set with “friends” from the rest of the weekend’s lineup, Tweedy bantered with the crowd.  "I hope we can come back next year. Come back, bring some friends. Or don't. There are plenty of people here, we don't need any more. Keep it a secret."  That’s a good idea, Jeff, because it’s the sort of festival that is perfect at under 10,000 – but I’m afraid the word will get out on our “little” big secret.  

Solid Sound photo gallery >>

   

New music: Real Estate "Out Of Tune"

As you may remember, back in March I posted a live version of a killer new then-unnamed Real Estate track.  Now there's a studio recording and an official name, Out of Tune.  Not quite sure what it is about Real Estate's sound that I like so much - maybe nostalgia for the suburban adolescence I never had.  If you dig Real Estate's laid-back surf-slacker sound, I guarantee you'll like this.

Real Estate is back in Boston on October 16 with Deerhunter at Royale.  Check out photos from their Harper's Ferry show back in July here.

Photos: Wilco's Solid Sound Festival 2010

                   

                   

                   

Complete Solid Sound photo gallery>>

Weekend plans: Wilco's Solid Sound

As you read this, I am most likely making the trek out to the far reaches of Western Massachusetts for Wilco's innaugural Solid Sound Festival.

Over the last 10 years Wilco has remained one of my favorite bands - one of a very exclusive group that never leaves my music rotation.  They've stayed there by releasing consistently good-to-great albums, and playing increasingly epic live shows.  When Jeff Tweedy announced the Solid Sound Festival from the stage at the Orpheum last April, I knew I had to be there.  The chance to not only see my favorite band play a show, but curate an entire music festival in the beautiful Berkshires -- enough said.

With the great Mavis Staples, Vetiver, Brenda and more all sharing the bill with Wilco, it's sure to be a fantastic weekend of music.  Not to mention comedy, interactive exhibits and contemporary art. 

Expect a full report when I return, but in the meantime here's the fantastic new Tweedy-produced Mavis Staples song "You Are Not Alone":