I’m a big fan of the french duo Air.  Air has consistently released great material since their 1998 debut Moon Safari.  And now they go back to the moon for their latest release.

Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Voyage to the Moon) is a 1902 movie that has been recently restored and re-released.  During the restoration process, Air was asked to score the film — which of course was originally released without sound.   Scoring a silent film 109 years after the release, may be a first in cinematography history.  Air talks more about the process here: Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Clocking in at just under 32 minutes Air’s new album is short, but bursting with electronic twists, blips, and spacey psychedelia. Good stuff.  Le Voyage Dans La Lune has instantly become one of my favorites from Air.  I’m looking forward to seeing the restored film with the fresh score.

Thanks to NPR, we can at least stream the soundtrack immediately:

A few weeks back was one of the more memorable concert experiences I’ve had — three nights of Ween!  I didn’t get an official song count, but they played at least 90 songs over three nights without repeating a single song.  Impressive.

You can find recordings of the show at the BrownTracker or at the Live Music Archive.

Here’s a taste of the New Year’s Eve show:

Nothing makes me happier than seeing (the) Melvins play live.  They are the heaviest band I’ve ever seen.  And not “heavy” as in loud, but heavy as in what’s-that-stuff-dripping-from-the-ceiling “heavy.”  It absolutely kills me that their mini-residency tour is not stopping in Denver.

I’ll just have to make due with their latest offering, Sugar Daddy Live.  This is a live album recorded at a comedy club in Southern California (this is true).  You can listen to a full stream of the album here: Melvins Sugar Daddy Live.  It looks like this link is as fickle as the wind, so hit it up now.  The Star Spangled Banner into Boris is absolutely magical.

If the link stops working, well, you should buy the album.  Artists like (the) Melvins deserve support so they can keep making music.  It’s the American way.  If you can’t make it to your local record store, then get it on iTunes here:  Melvins Sugar Daddy Live.

Play Audio

Some of you may remember an old Internet radio site I ran for a few years called Auxiliary Radio.  It was a showcase for innovative radio programming.  Not algorithm based programming like Pandora or Last.fm, but an actual DJ based radio station.  It was great!

The radio site has been gone for nearly a decade and has since been taken over by Korean spammers, but that’s another story.

I recently moved into new office/studio space and began opening boxes that have been sealed for many years.  In the process I unearthed hundreds of radio shows that were recorded and produced during that time. It’s like finding gold.

One of my favorite programs was Hicks, Hillbillies, and Honky Tonks. This particular radio show was done remotely from Appleton, Wisconsin, by our good buddies Todd St. Marie and Troy Nichols.   I remember when I received their first show…

I was in a time-crunch and listened to the first 10 minutes or so and posted it on the site.  I would later learn Todd and Troy left their mics on for about 6 minutes during the music.  At 20:28 it all goes bad.  Ah, the memories.

Here it is, the first Hicks, Hillbillies and Honky Tonks in all it’s glory. Enjoy!

Hicks, Hillbillies, and Honky Tonks

My good friend, John Reidy, and I finally got around to recording the LOST podcast we’ve been meaning to do — posting it less than 24 hours before the series finale.  But alas, it is in the bag and chock full of LOST music, reflections, and predictions.

So who’s going to die in the series finale?  Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Locke… all of them?  We get into it with our LOST finale predictions.

Scott Stafford

John Reidy

As you can see, our LOST debate was heated and vibrant.  We played lots of fun LOST music, as well.  Nirvana, The Pixies, Perry Como, Mama Cass, Patsy Cline, Iggy and the Stooges, and The Kinks all make musical appearances.  We discuss the scenes and how the music was used in LOST.

Good Stuff.  Enjoy the LOSTcast and the series finale tonight!

The Wall Tour Dates Announced

I will be at the Pepsi Center in Denver on November 23, 2010.  There’s not a chance I’m going to miss it.

I am completely obsessed with collecting lossless audio copies of live concerts and bootlegs.  In fact, in the very near future I will launch a website dedicated to the audio gems I have found and collected over the past few years.  One of my favorite bootlegs is the Roger Waters demos of The Wall.  The audio quality isn’t perfect, but I prefer it to the official release.  Roger plays all instruments and vocals.  It’s rawer and grittier and awesomer.

So here it comes… The Wall in concert.  Here are the official 2010 North American tour dates:

Sept. 15: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Sept. 20: Chicago (United Center)
Sept. 21: Chicago (United Center)
Sept. 26: Pittsburgh (Consol Energy Center)
Sept. 28: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
Sept. 30: Boston (TD Garden)
Oct. 5: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Oct. 8: Buffalo (HSBC Arena)
Oct. 10: Washington DC (Verizon Center)
Oct. 12: Uniondale (Nassau Coliseum)
Oct. 15: Hartford (XL Center)
Oct. 17: Ottawa (ScotiaBank Place)
Oct. 19: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Oct. 22: Columbus (Schottenstein Center)
Oct. 24: Detroit (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Oct. 26: Omaha (Qwest Center)
Oct. 27: St Paul (Xcel Energy Center)
Oct. 29: St. Louis (ScotTrade Center)
Oct. 30: Kansas City (Sprint Center)
Nov. 3: New York (Izod Center)
Nov. 8: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Nov. 9: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Nov. 13: Fort Lauderdale (Bank Atlantic Center)
Nov. 16: Tampa (St. Pete Times Forum)
Nov. 18: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
Nov. 20: Houston (Toyota Center)
Nov. 21: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
Nov. 23: Denver (Pepsi Center Arena)
Nov. 26: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden Arena)
Nov. 27: Phoenix (US Airways Center)
Nov. 29: Los Angeles (The Forum)
Dec. 1: Los Angeles (The Forum)
Dec. 6: San Jose (HP Pavilion)
Dec. 10: Vancouver (General Motors Place)
Dec. 11: Tacoma (Tacoma Dome)
Dec. 13: Anaheim (Honda Center)

A couple weeks ago Priest and I scored front row tickets to see Raymond Douglas Davies at The Ogden Theatre in Denver.   After the show, we were still in awe of the awesomeness we had just witnessed.  In particular, the closing number Lola.  It was just perfect.  Somehow, at that moment, I was reminded of Weird Al’s version of The Kinks classic Lola.  Weird Al turned Lola into the Star Wars muppet themed… Yoda.  Truly brilliant.

A quick YouTube search brought us to Weird Al performing not only Yoda, but the even more impressive Queen parody Another One Rides the Bus on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.  Priest said, “This is the most psychedelic thing I have ever seen.”  Agreed.

My love for Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion is well documented. Not only is it my favorite album of 2009, it is one of my favorite releases ever.  Here is their latest video, Brother Sport:

Lyrics: “Brother Sport” by Animal Collective

Open up your, open up your
Open up your throat
And let the all of that time
All of that time, all of that time go

I know it sucks that daddy’s gone
But try to think of what you want
You got to open up your
Open up your, open up your
Open up your throat
Matt

Open up your (Open up your)
Open up your throat

Open up your, open up your
Open up your throat
And let the all of that time
All of that time, all of that time go

I know it sucks that daddy’s gone
But try to think of what you want
You got to open up your
Open up your, open up your throat
Matt

Support your brother (sports brother)
Support your brother

You got to weigh what he said
To help you shape the way you play
You gotta get rid of the mourning
Sort out the habits of your mind

Until fully grown
You got a real good shot
Won’t help to hold inside
Keep it real keep it real shout out

The Flaming Lips released their cover album of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon via itunes.   I have to admit, when the cover album was first announced, it didn’t bring too much excitement for me as I did not know what to expect.  The Flaming Lips last two records, Embryonic and Christmas on Mars, are outstanding.  It was the albums in between those two and Soft Bulletin that gave me pause.  Luckily, the Lips delivered a tremendous album that I can’t stop listening to.  Much like Tom Jones, the Flaming Lips reinvented these classic songs and made them, dare I say, better.

The idea of a cover album is a curious one.  Phish covered albums live every Halloween, at least this is what I have been told.  Beck has his Record Club that records cover albums, most notably the Velvet Underground & Nico.  Outside of those examples, I don’t think the cover album has been attempted very often by popular artists.   And certainly with not much success.  This is why I am even more impressed with the final product of Dark Side of the Moon.

I have read several reviews of this album from popular media outlets and have found that rock critics do not care for this at all.  I don’t understand why.  It may just be loyalty to the original album, which, of course, is a timeless classic of epic importance.  Or maybe most critics are dinosaurs that will pay homage to the new Ringo Starr album before even listening to anything remotely adventurous. Or different.

My take is this: The Flaming Lips reinvent the Pink Floyd classic with a more sprawling, raw, psychedelic, and funk driven landscape.  I like all those things.  The original album simply became a road map.  It’s a great reinvention.  And different than the original.

The Flaming Lips received help from Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Henry Rollins, and Peaches.  Henry Rollins plays the part of the Roger Waters over-dubbed voice that permeates through Dark Side of the Moon.  Peaches plays the part of Doris Troy, emulating her soaring wails during “The Great Gig in the Sky”.

The Flaming Lips played the Dark Side of the Moon in it’s entirety on New Year’s eve in Oklahoma City.  I am hoping they take that show on the road.  An evening with the Flaming Lips at Red Rocks performing Dark Side of the Moon would be an epic event.  They could even play the Wizard of Oz on the rocks during the show.  I think the Flips need to silent their critics by making this happen. Until then, download the album and enjoy. Don’t listen to the dinosaurs.

This is my current favorite Harvey Sid Fisher song.