The Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

Mike "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz and Adam "MCA" Yauch have completed their eighth studio release Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. The Beastie Boys have been at it for a long time and continue to put out some quality music. The new CD is a good collection of tunes. They seem to have taken a mix of styles from the years and combine them to make the new album.

With a little help from NAS the first single released last year was Too Many Rappers. A pretty killer tune that keeps a great beat as they all rap throughout it. The whole album has some great beats and really rocks you to it. Keeps you pumped up through out. They use many of the old effects that they used with some of the fuzz noise as well as various others. Still there is a lot of regular instruments being played and is in classic form.

Santigold joins in for the song Don't Plan No Game I Can't Win. A nice beat with a little bit of a reggae sort of feel to me. It's great to hear the boys back at it and to hear MCA rapping again after his battle with cancer. Sounds just as good as he did before.

It's been a few years since I've seen them live, but they would certainly be on the list of bands I would really love to see live this coming year. Pick this album up for sure!

Have a listen to the stream here: http://beastieboys.com/preorder/

Track List:

1. Make Some Noise
2. Nonstop Disco Powerpack
3. OK
4. Too Many Rappers [new reactionaries version] (featuring NAS)
5. Say It
6. The Bill Harper Collection
7. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold)
8. Long Burn The Fire
9. Funky Donkey
10. The Larry Routine
11. Tadlock's Glasses
12. Lee Majors Come Again
13. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
14. Here's A Little Something For Ya
15. Crazy Ass Shit
16. The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Album Review

The new Foo Fighters album was produced by Butch Vig and was recorded fully on analog tape in Dave Grohl's garage in San Fernando Valley, CA. There's a really good mix of songs on this CD, from some songs that sound like classic Foo's to some new sounds with a different touch. They certainly put their time into putting together a really nice collection of tunes for this one.

"Bridges Burning" starts you off with a really good pumped up song that keeps you rolling from the start with the heavy guitars and beats. The first single off the album was released early on iTunes, "Rope" has a different feel to it. Sort of a funky rock feel to start and gets into a really good rockin' song. There are a few ballad type songs as well as a few really all out rock songs that might make your head spin.

"Dear Rosemary" is a slowing song with a nice tempo and then you kick into "White Limo" which is more of a screaming metal type song that seems a bit out of place for this album, but still has a bit of a entertaining Rob Zombie feel to it. "Alandria" goes back to a typical Foo Fighters song with Dave starting out with a little yelling voice into the slow melodic sound that kicks it in with a jam. Quite an awesome song.

"These Days" is like the ballad song that goes from mellow to the rocked out chorus and back to mellow. Great tune for sure.

Most of the album follows a typical format of the Foo's over the years. It really is another really nice to hear summer CD. I would guess that we might even see them out on a tour this summer to support the new CD. Hope they come back to Kansas City. Last show here was a total blast.

Track Listing:
1. Bridge Burning 4:46
2. Rope 4:19
3. Dear Rosemary 4:26
4. White Limo 3:22
5. Arlandria 4:27
6. These Days 4:58
7. Back & Forth 3:51
8. A Matter Of Time 4:36
9. Miss The Misery 4:32
10. I Should Have Known 4:15
11. Walk 4:16

Radiohead - The King of Limbs Album Review

Radiohead is Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Philip Selway and Thom Yorke.

Here we go starting it all off with the old electronic drum machine repeating the samples for a minure before Thom Yorke joins in to the first song "Bloom". He does bring it together really well with a melodic sound playing as he sings in a really mellow tone. Still I would much prefer to hear the boys get out some instruments and play like a band! After three years since their last album, Radiohead started this one out as an electronic copy for sale on their site and a limited edition package as well. It has been officially released on all other media outlets as of April 5th.

There are only eight songs on this collection and about 36 minutes of music. I would have hoped that after the gap in time they would have put a few more together for the fans, but I certainly will take what i can get. They are all relatively mellow tunes and lots of repeating beats through the songs. Overall I really enjoy the feel of the whole album and really hope we will see a tour come out of this one. Please make your way to Kansas City!


Track Listing:1. Bloom 5:14
2. Morning Mr Magpie 4:40
3. Little By Little 4:27
4. Feral 3:12
5. Lotus Flower 5:00
6. Codex 4:46
7. Give Up The Ghost 4:50
8. Separator 5:20

The Gaddabouts - The Gaddabouts Album Review

The Gaddabouts are Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, Pino Palladino and Andy Fairweather-Low. Their first CD has been 10 years in the making and now in 2011 finally is officially released. From the stories and interviews it sounds like Edie ran into Steve and they decided to get together and do some songs. I for one can certainly say that I'm happy that they have done so. This is an allstar band in my mind having work with so many accomplished artista over the years.

Edie's lyrics tied into the music writing skills of these guys really all comes together in this eleven song collection. There's a great vibe about this whole cd from accoustics playing, blues, jazz and so many other styles hit this album. You can check a little more about the band out at www.thegaddabouts.com. They will be playing their first and at this point, only show on Friday, April 8th at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. It's all sold out, but if you have a ticket, enjoy something you may never see again.

This album is fun, everything from slow paced songs to bouncing up and down songs. My favorite of the bunch are "Mad Dog", "Let It Slide" "They Say Everything". "Mad Dog" is really a good old fun song and makes me want to get up and clap along and dance every time I hear it. The bluesy guitar of a song like "Gonna Hold On" is another one of those that make you want to dance around as well.

There's a lot of maturity in this album. I think there is in many of Edie's songs but this album really shows a nice touch of the different flavors of what she is capable of putting out. "Feelin' Better" just finishes it off with some great energy.

I say go get this NOW! What an awesome collection of songs.

Track Listing:
1. Never So Far Away
2. Let It Slide
3. Remind Me
4. My Heart 5:07
5. They Say Everything
6. Mad Dog
7. Gonna Hold On
8. Good Day
9. Good For Me
10. More Than Anybody
11. Feelin' Better

Edie Brickell - Edie Brickell Album Review

I keep hearing it's good to see Edie making a comeback! Well from what I see she's been around the whole time or at least actively writing and releasing music since 2004's Volcano. In 2006 she put out an album with New Bohemians called Stranger Things and then in 2008 it was Heavy Circles with Harper Simon under the name Heavy Circles. In 2011 we get two releases and a handfull of live performance dates. The first is the self titled album Edie Brickell and the second in The Gaddabouts.

Edie's first release this year the self titled album Edie Brickell is produced by Charlie Sexton and contains many songs that were written over the past ten or so years. She originally started writing the songs with Carter Albrecht, a close friend and member of New Bohemians. Carter was killed near his home in Texas and Edie put down the tracks until she felt ready to get back to them. The Album is dedicated to Carter and he performs on most of the tracks.

Edie worked with Charlie Sexton, Dave Monsey, Jim Oblon and Carter in making this album. She currently is performing several shows with Charlie Sexton, Dave Monsey, Dave Palmer and Aaron Comess as her backing musicians. This includes a date in Austin on May 4th at The Continental Club as well as two nights in New Orleans on May 6&7th. Last January Edie played a sold out at Radio City Music Hall opening for Iron & Wine as well as an appearence on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

The new cd is filled with fun upbeat songs and really catchy tunes. The CD itself has 10 songs and Amazon.com has an exclusive download of the song "Go". "Give It Another Day" starts it off with a really nice song to get you hopping along and some good guitar play. "Pill" has a good message about how crazy our world has become that you can take a pill for everything.

"Been So Good" has a nice soulful beat and is one of my favorite song on the CD. Good old rock song that just makes you feel good. "Always" has a pretty funny start, not sure what's going on exactly, but it's a fun song and really has some great Carter piano in it. "2 O'Clock" slows it down a bit with a nice mellow beat starting it off and just flows really well.

"On the Avenue" is a fun upbeat song starting off with some good bass and drums and comes along really nice. Makes you feel like you are hanging out on the porch on a really lovely night in the city. Reminds me of the house I grew up in back in Milwaukee, WI. "Waiting For Me" has good vibes from the start, quite enjoyable from the start. Really nice guitar play through out the song.

"You Come Back" adds a bit of a pop feel with the piano at the start and the drums. Sort of a romantic sound about it that I can't quite hit. The next song is quite a beautiful song, "It Takes Love" is a nice ballad that really brings out Edie's beautiful voice with her brilliant writing abilities. "Bad Way" keeps a bluesy beat and is once again a really fine song. I love Edie with the songs that start a little slower and work into a nice beat.

The bonus track is a song called "Go" that I believe might be from The Gaddabouts but put on this as an exclusive bonus. It might actually be one that they, but really seems to fit along with the Gaddabouts. Still I really like the rocking feel and the guitar playing as well as the drums are really prominant in this one. A good way to finish off the album. A brilliant album in my mind and well worth going out and getting or downloading on iTunes. Follow what Edie is up to on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ediebrickell with the latest on performances as well as interviews and other stuff.

Track List: 1. Give It Another Day 4:18 2. Pill 3:48 3. Been So Good 4:17 4. Always 2:58 5. 2 O'Clock In The Morning 5:01 6. On The Avenue 4:38 7. Waiting For Me 3:25 8. You Come Back 5:57 9. It Takes Love 3:19 10. Bad Way 5:03 11. Go (Exclusive Bonus Track) 3:53

Soundgarden - Live On I-5

Soundgarden was on a 13 year abscence from the music scene as a band. They reunited in 2010 for a couple of shows and a CD release of various songs as well as one unreleased new recording "Black Rain". Now they have released their first live recording from various shows on the 1996 tour that were played on the West Coast along I-5. This collection of live recordings hits a good mix of the different cds as well as a couple of covers they did.

There are the ever classic songs like "Black Hole Sun", "Spoonman" and "Burden In My Hand" as well as some other really rockin' stuff like "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Slaves and Bulldozers". The covers they did were The Beatles "Helter Skelter" and The Stooges' "Search & Destroy".

It's good hearing the band at the height of their carrer and when they sounded their best. Chris Cornell is hitting the highs and lows without losing his voice. From what I heard about some of the shows of the past, it was hit or miss when you saw them, but these songs are really the hits in the sense that they picked a good collection of songs where the whole band is on. They collectively sound great and as much as I want to see them come back and do some tour dates, I sort of like to keep the sound of old in my head. Still a great CD and hope we do hear more from them in the coming year.

Track Listing: 1. Spoonman 4:23 2. Searching With My Good Eye Closed 4:13 3. Let Me Drown 4:10 4. Head Down 6:25 5. Outshined 5:13 6. Rusty Cage 4:39 7. Burden In My Hand 5:02 8. Helter Skelter 2:09 9. Boot Camp 3:16 10. Nothing To Say 4:25 11. Slaves & Bulldozers 9:16 12. Dusty 4:32 13. Fell On Black Days 4:55 14. Search And Destroy 3:10 15. Ty Cobb 2:42 16. Black Hole Sun 3:01 17. Jesus Christ Pose 6:24

Stone Temple Pilots - CD Review

I'm not sure when the last time a Stone Temple Pilots CD came out and I'm surprised to actually see them get back together and put something out after such a long time. It certainly is a typical sound for them with the heavy guitar and drums playing while Scott Weiland does his typical vocal tracks and sounds like he did 15 years ago.

I would say that overall this is a relatively average CD when it comes to comparison of what has been coming out this year. There are a few songs that do make it worth a listen. "Take A Load Off" has a good beat to it and "Dare If You Dare" is pretty good as well. I think "Hazy Daze" is a good rockin' tune as well.

There's one song that really doesn't make sense to be on this CD and that's "Cinnamon". It really doesn't fit and sounds like something out of an 80's band and not STP. "First Kiss On Mars" must be some sort of tribute to David Bowie. It's different in style, but not so bad as a song.

Overall I think this CD was an attempt to see if they still have it and I would say the answer is no. Just continue to tour off your old classics and stick to those and only play a couple of the songs from this CD and people will still be there in support.

Track List:

01. Between The Lines 2:50
02. Take A Load Off 3:11
03. Huckleberry Crumble 3:10
04. Hickory Dichotomy 3:22
05. Dare If You Dare 4:29
06. Cinnamon 3:33
07. Hazy Daze 2:59
08. Bagman 2:45
09. Peacoat 3:29
10. Fast As I Can 3:33
11. First Kiss On Mars 3:03
12. Maver 4:52

Pearl Jam - 05-06-2010 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO

It has been a good seven years since Pearl Jam last played Kansas City and it's been almost four since my last show in San Diego. Since that time they put out Backspacer and toured throughout 2009 but skipped KC until now. This was the second show on the tour just after the New Orleans Jazz Festival. They played at the relatively new Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, MO.

The night was filled with a pretty good mix of songs through out the years going some 20 years back to the breakout CD of the time Ten and played a little bit of everything including several new songs from Backspacer. The sprint Center wasn't sold out, but there was certainly a pretty large and lively crowd out for this one. The only section of seats not sold were straight back in the upper deck. The line-up for tonight's show was it's standard for years now with Eddie Vedder on vocals, Stone Gossard on guitar, Jeff Ament on bass, Mike McCready on lead guitar, Matt Cameron on drums and Boom Gaspar on keys.

Everything was as it was four years ago as far as the stage setup with Mike out left, Jeff next to him, Eddie in the middle with Matt behind, Stone on the right and Boom in the back right. Eddie still with his bottle of wine in his hand and sneaking off from time to time for a smoke. The only difference was that I was much closer for tonight's show and the sound was really good.

They started the night off with "Of The Girl" and jumped into "Animal" as Eddie really seemed into it tonight. He sang a really nice version and from there it was into "World Wide Suicide" and "Got Some" from there it was a mix of fast and slow through the next series of songs that included "Unthought Unknown", "Elderly Woman", "MFC" and "Johnny Guitar".

Eddie did a little talking and then told a story of the drum tech getting married in Florida the week before on a boat and kicked into "Amongst The Waves" from the new CD. Eddie started to chat a little more as he played the next few songs, he called "Evenflow" something else, but it escapes me now and then talked about how the next song had many different names before it became "Gods' Dice"

From there it went into Present Tense" then slowed up into "Daughter" following through with a few others before the break. Mike continues to run from the back to the front and threw lots of picks into the crowd. Eddie talked more and drank his wine as he shared a bottle with others as well, pouring it into their glasses. Typical of a live show.

The first part after the encore break brought out the acoustic slower stuff with "Off He Goes" and "Just Breathe". One of my favorites was next as he dedicated it to one of the KC Royals he met and told about his night at the ballpark and he went into "Given To Fly". That was really a highlight for me of the night. They rocked out the rest of the set with "The Fixer", " Life Wasted" and "Porch", which was another highlight to the night.

Coming back they brought a wounded soldier who Eddie had written a song for a documentary called "No More" He sang it to the soldier as he was on stage and then as he went off they jumped into "Black", "Better Man" followed up by a "Happy Birthday" and then closed the night with three very familiar songs in "Alive", "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Yellow Ledbetter".

Overall I really enjoyed the show and will certainly go see them again when they come around. The band kept up the enthusiasm all night and was really tight. A show well worth seeing if you get a chance. I really hope to get to see Eddie Vedder solo one of these years.

Set List:

Of The Girl
Animal
World Wide Suicide
Got Some
Unthought Known
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
MFC
Johnny Guitar
Amongst The Waves
Even Flow
Gods' Dice
Present Tense
Daughter
Wishlist
Insignificance
Do The Evolution

Encore 1
Off He Goes
Just Breathe
Given To Fly
The Fixer
Life Wasted
Porch

Encore 2
No More
Black
Better Man
Happy Birthday
Alive
Rockin' In The Free World
Yellow Ledbetter

Jack Johnson - To The Sea Review

It's nice to hear Jack back with a new Cd and one filled with a little more flavor and a few songs about something he knows so well, the sea. I know Jack originally said he wasn't going to write about the ocean, but why not use the thing you know well to write about. It's been a crazy year for Jack, losing his father and having a new daughter born. This is always a recipe for putting together the music Jack writes. Some upbeat and happy and others down and sad, but they always mix well together for him. Recorded once again between Mango Tree in Hawaii and Solar Powered Plastic Plant in LA, this CD was made with 100% solar energy.

The first single to be release, "You and Your Heart" has a little more upbeat backing music and once again brings out the electric guitar we started hearing on the last "Sleep Through The Static". "To The Sea" is a nice funky tune that has a classic sound and really rips through some nice beats at the end being filled in with some strong guitar, drums bass and piano complimenting each other. Right now one of my two favorite songs on the CD. "No Good With Faces" brings us into a more mellow acoustic sound we are used to hearing.

"At Or With Me" starts with Zach on piano and kicks into a good rockin' song that is really jazzed up with electric guitar, strong drum beats and some good keys going on. Overall sounds like a cross between a Beach Boys, Beatles type with some classic rock style. I love the solo section/jam on this one. I heard him play this live the other day and loved it. This one sounds like G. Love maybe playing with him from the style. I love this tune, a lot of fun.

"When I Look Up" starts with some rain and acoustic guitar and then brings some background singing with Paula Fuga that adds a really nice taste. It's a quick one but a good one. "From The Clouds" brings it back up and sounds so much like a classic beach rock song you would imagine being played by a band in front of a big fire at the beach with all the women dancing around the beach. This is a really fun song and has a wonderful beat to it. I dig it for sure.

"My Little Girl" is a short and sweet song with Jack and his guitar. I imagine this is probably all about his daughter and his quite a nice little one. If it's not, it sure seems like it would be when they say "You stole my heart and made it your own" very sweet. "Turn Your Love" has a nice beat with some back singing by Paula Fuga again. One it starts off it starts to sound a little like a Sublime beat, but Jack takes it further and adds to the guitar with the backing vocals and the piano.
"The Upsetter" starts out with a nice little funk, Shaft beat and then the guitar kicks in and as it starts it really rolls along with a nice vibe with a sound very similar to what we have heard from Jack before. It has a nice little mellow jam to it with some hand drumming, cool guitar work and overall just a nice tune to hear. "Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology" kicks off with some harmonica and piano ready to jazz it up. Nice acoustic guitar with Jack jumping in and then as the harmonica plays, Zach joins in the harmonies and sings along. Good jamming and quite fun to hear.

"Pictures Of People Taking Pictures" seems like a title of a song Jack would write as he comes up with some interesting titles at times. This is a nice song tune with good beats, sounding pretty much acoustic outside of Merlo's bass. Song flows along really nicely and is just another good one to compliment this CD. "Anything But The Truth" would be one of those songs you would see Jack just sitting in a chair on the beach with his guitar, plucking away with a little message of the sea as well as other nature descriptions. Soft, mellow type tune that rolls along nicely and is is classic Jack.

"Only The Ocean" finished off the thirteen song cd with some nice classic guitar work and has that beach vibe again to it. Something you would slow dance at the end of the night or hear at the end of some romantic type film. Reminds me of a 50's rock style ballad song.

Jack hit one out of the park again with this CD. I have listened to "To The Sea" five times so far as I write this and I really like the whole thing from end to end. there isn't a single song that doesn't fit on it at all. I saw jack perform 05-24-2010 at Santa Monica Pier and really hoped to hear a couple more songs live, but was really happy with the selection of music he did chose to play. I look forward to seeing him August 16th at Sandstone in Bonner Springs, KS. It will be a fun night with my wife and two little ones to sit out under the stars and enjoy.

Track Listing:

01. You and Your Heart

02. To The Sea

03. No Good With Faces

04. At or With Me

05. When I Look Up

06. From The Clouds

07. My Little Girl

08. Turn Your Love

09. The Upsetter

10. Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology

11. Pictures of People Taking Pictures

12. Anything But The Truth

13. Only The Ocean

The Swell Season - Uptown Theater 11/30/09 KCMO

The Swell Season are the folk duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. They made their mark in the music world with the film Once, where they won the academy Award for "Falling Slowly". Prior to that Glen Hansard was the frontman for the Irish band The Frames. The rest of The Frames joined Glen and Markéta on stage for most of the evenings performance.

The show was a really good mix of old and new. They played a few songs of The Frames as well as a Tim Buckley cover. They went from starting as a duo to the full band and then Markéta played a few songs followed by Glen doing a solo session and back to the duo and then full band. They even did a new song I would call There.

There was a pretty full crowd at the Uptown Theater, possibly even sold out. Glen Hansard played well to the crowd. He told good stories and explained the meaning of some of the songs. Toward the end of the show he had the crowd interacting by singing along with a couple of songs. Even as they came out for the Encore, Glen asked the crowd to stay standing for the rest of the show.

Glen really belted out some amazing songs including an unplugged version of "Say It To Me Now" He pulled away from the mic and unplugged the guitar and played it right at the front of the stage. He told a story of a woman he met in Chicago and whose son died in the Towers on 9/11/01. It may have been a story he has told before, but it was a good one.

I didn't realize how young Markéta was, but seeing her from the 3rd row center she really looked every bit her younf age of 21 even though she sings like an experience professional of 40. Her songs were beautiful to hear as she sang and she really complimented Glen as he sang.

The show went on for about 2 hours and was really a fantastic night of music. I really wish they would have recorded the 2009 tour, but for some reason they decided to skip it for this tour. That was one show I would love to hear over and over.

All I can say is go out and see them if you get a chance. Check out their website for details at http://www.theswellseason.com/ as well as pick up their new CD Strict Joy. There is a Deluxe version with a DVD from the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee show from 2007 or 2008 as well as an extra cd with some of the highlights of that live performance.

Go see them, they are brilliant.

Setlist: Fallen From the Sky; Lies; Low Rising; Feeling the Pull; In These Arms; Strict Joy; The Rain; Look Back Now; If You Want Me; Fantasy Man; Say It To Me Now; Leave; What Happens When the Heart Just Stops (F); Buzzin' Fly (Tim Buckley cover); instrumental (Markéta Irglová and Colm Mac Con Iomaire); Alone Apart; Once; When Your Mind's Made Up.

Encore: Falling Slowly; new song ("There"); High Horses; Red Chord/The Parting Glass.