Rock Music 4 ALL

A variety of explanations have been put forward including the traditional Glastonbury mud-bath caused by repeated bad weather, the festivals uncharacteristically lack lustre 2008 line-up, the sharp rise in British festivalgoers defecting to European festivals and the surge in smaller, more intimate festivals popping up across the UK.

It is certainly possible that repeated bad weather could be to blame for Glastonbury’s dip in popularity but it seems highly unlikely. The mud is, in my opinion, an accepted part of the festivals appeal. In previous years the BBC’s advertising for the festival has even featured mud streaked revellers cavorting in puddles of grime. The festival has always had a strong link with the muddy, carefree “back to nature” vibe and to blame this for a downturn in ticket sales seems odd to say the least. It is far more likely that the festivals problems come from far closer to home.

A truly disappointing line-up headlined by U.S rapper Jay-Z and a heavy reliance on bands very much in the now rather than those with a wide-reaching appeal is far more likely to have impacted ticket sales than the public’s fear of mud. In previous years acts like The Who, Bjork and Oasis drew in a mixed crowd but this years decidedly trendy line-up may have left a good portion of the festivals older regulars slightly alienated. The controversial choice of a rap act as the headliner at what is widely considered to be a rock festival may have also negatively effected ticket sales.

A factor often looked over when trying to figure out why ticket sales have been so slow this year is Glastonbury’s pre-registration system. Unlike other festivals where tickets are easily available through online booking engines and telephone lines, Glastonbury demands people who want a ticket register with them. Registration requires a passport photograph and personal information.

This process was implemented largely to prevent ticket touting and for that it should be commended. The astronomical prices demanded for festival tickets on eBay is reason enough for any fair-minded organiser to investigate ways to prevent unscrupulous individuals profiting from a event which is heavily charity focussed. With this kept in mind it is understandable that Glastonbury organisers felt the need to do something but the clunky pre-registration process and the demand for a passport photograph is enough to put many potential festival fans off. The Orwellian undertone caused by the festival collecting such personal information from its attendees is only heightened by the presence of police surveillance cameras, dampening the free and easy atmosphere.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Glastonbury is the rapid rise of the small UK festival, often called a “boutique festival”. The small UK festival used to be the reserve of the painfully cool, a small gathering of like-minded people enjoying niche bands that were of no threat to giants like Glastonbury. In the past few years these small festivals have grown in number, stepped into the media spotlight and gathered an impressive band of devotees which in turn allowed organisers to spend more money and increase the standard of the facilities and the acts.

The massive choice of small festivals has allowed music fans to find a festival which has the particular line up they will enjoy. Festivals like Kent’s Lounge on the Farm offer an eclectic mix of small bands, typically the sort of acts with a large online following but little presence in the charts. The Isle of Wight’s Bestival offers a similar lineup featuring many of the same bands as Lounge on the Farm but with some big names with wide appeal such as 80s legends Gary Numan and the Human League thrown into the mix. It is this eclectic mix that Glastonbury seems to have forgotten.

Anyone who has been to a large festival in the UK recently has probably noticed the rampant commercialisation of outdoor music events. The choice of music is leaning more and more towards whatever band is enjoying favour in the charts and as the festivals gain sponsorship and expand they loose the intimacy and gain vast amounts of advertising. The few weekends a year the British public gets to spend in the sunshine enjoying live music is not the place for shameless advertising campaigns. That place is after Coronation Street.

Having attended both major festivals and their smaller, more civilised cousins I for one am a happy convert to the boutique festival. Cheaper, smaller and with increasingly pleasing headliners they are the future of the UK music festival scene.

Album cover art software allows you to explore this pop phenomenon

In the last article, we discussed some of the elements of album cover art and I would like to continue the discussion with some more details and an album cover finder that is a must for any fan of album cover art.

As I stated previously, many famous artists have been commissioned to design and produce album covers. For example, the Rolling Stones and pop artist Andy Warhol are famous for the cover art on the Stones’ album “Sticky Fingers.” As the story goes, at a party in 1969, Andy Warhol casually mentioned to Mick Jagger that it would be amusing to have a real zipper on an album cover. A year later, Jagger proposed the idea for “Sticky Fingers.” But, there was a flaw in the shipping process, the zipper would press onto the album stacked on top of it, causing damage to the vinyl record. The solution? The zipper had to be pulled down before the album was shipped, then it would only dent the album covers. However, they never figured out how to keep the zipper from scratching the other album covers. Additionally, some department stores refused to display the album, feeling it was risque and not family oriented because of the model’s snug jeans and the zipper display. But this album is historic because it broke new ground and also saw the debut of the now famous Stones logo: a caricature of Jagger’s lips and tongue.

If you are a Janis Joplin fan, then you would probably know that the famed cartoonist Robert Crumb designed the cover for Joplin’s album “Cheap Thrills.” This revered, yet misunderstood artist, drew the cover as a favor to Joplin, who he befriended in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood where they both resided. He was paid $600 for his work by Columbia Records, which later sold the artwork. Crumb was asked to do a cover for the Rolling Stones, but refused because he did not like their music. Crumb is also the artist for the “Keep On Truckin’” poster and “Fritz The Cat,” and has more than seventy covers to his credit.

The Internet is full of sites related to album cover art and is just too numerous to list. There are sites devoted to fan favorites, the weird and unusual, particular decades and so on. Many users have turned to ebay to find lost art treasures from their childhood. But I want to share a website and album cover artwork finder that is not only convenient, but a must have for any art lover.

I recently spoke with Richard Nicol, the program designer and owner of “Album Cover Finder.” (http://www.albumcoverfinder.com) The program has been available for more than two years and is a godsend for anyone interested in album cover art.

“Album Cover Finder” allows the user to not only find specific searches for interesting album cover art, but also allows the user to download selected songs from the release. I asked Richard about his fascination with album cover art.

“I’ve always been interested and loved album cover art and wanted to create a database where the users could not only look at album cover art, but experience it as well. The program allows the user to browse through the cover art of a particular band and also lets the user to download particular songs through iTunes as well. The main feature is convenience, you can utilize iTunes and not only get more of an experience for the music, but the great artwork involved with the music and artists.”

But “Album Cover Finder” is more than just iTunes and album cover art. The program allows users to look at different art work from different countries as well. Some of the art work involved in a US release may be different from that of a UK release or German release, only adding to the experience. The program also allows users to review artist biographies, read reviews of a particular release and add the artwork to their iTunes library and an iPod. “Album Cover Finder” also allows users to find additional cover art from a particular artist or band, copy the artwork to a clipboard and has artist videos and applicable tour information. “Album Cover Finder” is a fully functional way to search for album artwork and includes free updates for registered users and is available at http://www.albumcoverfinder.com.

Now, I have only had the program about a week, but I have to admit spending literally many, many hours looking at historic artwork and listening to the songs associated with the acts. This software gets a hardy “thumbs-up” and is a “must have,” affordable program for album cover art connoisseurs and anyone with a fascination with art and music.

Needless to say, there can be a lot more written about album cover art and the impact it has had upon music and pop culture and cannot be summarized in a couple of articles. There are countless books, (I actually own one that talks about and illustrates naked vinyl and the images used to try and sell albums!) that detail album covers and the impact upon pop culture and music.

Additionally, there are so many web sites and blogs associated with album cover art, they are to numerous to list. Why there are even web sites devoted to preserving this treasured art and frame it for display.

Furthermore, did you know that June 1, 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band?” Not only is the release one of the most influential albums of all time musically, the cover art itself is iconic as well.

I spoke with Gary Freiberg, owner and operator of http://www.rockartpictureshow.com about “Sgt. Pepper” who related to me that the album “broke new ground and challenged the industry.” Gary and I talked about album cover art and the influences it has had on our culture. He also told me of a recent poll conducted by http://www.vinylrecordday.org that voted the “Sgt. Pepper” album cover the favorite album cover of all time. Gary is world renowned for his work in the album cover art industry with his patented record album frame and his work has been cited and used by the Smithsonian, Home & Garden TV, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and thousands of satisfied Internet customers. And if you interested in getting your great album art framed, you may visit http://www.rockartpictureshow.com and tell Gary you heard about him from an article posted at http://www.isnare.com

With the renewed interest in vinyl records, an old friend is becoming more important again- album cover art. There have been tens of thousands of album covers created throughout the years and there are some that are instantly recognized, while some remain obscure, but one thing is certain, album cover art is part of our pop culture and the rock and roll lexicon.

Let’s explore a particularly innovative British art design company that specialized in creating instantly recognizable album cover- Hipgnosis. This creative group has made album covers for some of rock’s dignitaries, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Yes and the Scorpions, to name a few.

Hipgnosis primarily consisted of artists Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell and later on, Peter Christopherson. In 1968, Thorgerson and Powell were asked to design an album cover for Pink Floyd’s second album called “A Saucerful Of Secrets.” They completed that project and soon commissioned additional work from EMI, which included photos and album covers for Free, Toe Fat and the Gods.

Being art and film students, the pair was able to utilize the darkroom at the Royal College of Art, but after they graduated, they had to set up their own facilities and in early 1970 they rented a space and built their famous studio.

Their unique company name came from graffiti found on the door to their apartment. They liked the word because it sounded like hypnosis and they combined two somewhat contradictory terms, “hip” for new and cool and “gnosis,” which related to ancient learning.

Hipgnosis’ novel approach to album design was strongly photography-oriented, and they pioneered the use of many innovative visual and packaging techniques. In particular, Thorgerson & Powell’s surreal, elaborately manipulated photos that utilized innovative darkroom tricks, multiple exposures, airbrush retouching, and mechanical cut-and-paste techniques were a film-based forerunner of what would, much later, be called photoshopping.

“We were self-taught,” writes Powell in the book,” For The Love Of Vinyl.” “What we did was come up with ideas based on the music. The design ideas were poorly sketched in the early days and required a lot of accompanying blag to be understood. Our usual strategy was to talk the job through with each other and then use photography as a means to express it.”

Hipgnosis got their real big break in 1973 when they were hired to do the cover for another Pink Floyd album, “Dark Side Of The Moon,” which is one of the most recognized album covers in the world. After the success with the Floyd cover, they were in high demand and soon took on jobs for Led Zeppelin, Genesis, UFO, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel and The Alan Parsons Project, to name a few.

Peter Christopherson joined the company in 1974 as an assistant and later on he became a full partner. The firm employed many talented assistants, of particular note were freelance artists George Hardie, Colin Elgie, Richard Manning and Richard Evans.

Another interesting side note is that the company did not have a set fee for designing a particular album cover, instead they asked the musicians to “pay what they thought it was worth,” a policy that would occasionally backfire according to Thorgerson.

Let’s explore some of the stories behind the album covers:

Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Probably Hipgnosis’ most famous work, the album was originally released in a gatefold LP sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and bore Hardie’s iconic refracting prism on the cover. Inside the LP were two posters, one bearing pictures of the band in concert with the words PINK FLOYD broken up and scattered about, and the other being a slightly psychedelic image of the Great Pyramids of Giza taken on infrared film. The album was also the first Pink Floyd album to have picture labels on the record where it depicted a blue prism with black background and the credits written either in grey lettering (European issues) or white lettering (US and Canadian issues). Also included was a sheet of stickers of the pyramids.

The album is the third best-selling album of all time worldwide (not counting compilations and various artists soundtracks), and the 20th-best-selling album in the United States. Though it held the #1 spot in the USA for only one week, it spent a total of 741 consecutive weeks-over fourteen years-on Billboard’s list of the top 200 best selling albums, longer than any other album in the history of music.

Led Zeppelin- Houses of The Holy (1973)

The concept for the cover was taken from Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell. The two children who modeled for the cover were siblings Stefan and Samantha Gate. The photo shoot was a very frustrating affair and took ten days. Shooting was done first thing in the morning and at sunset in order to capture the light at dawn and dusk, but the desired effect was never achieved due to constant rain and clouds. The photos of the two children were taken in black and white and were multi-printed to create the effect of 11 individuals that can be seen on the album cover. The results of the shoot were less than satisfactory, but some accidental tinting effects in post-production created an unexpectedly striking album cover. The inner sleeve photograph was taken at Dunluce Castle near to the Causeway.

Jimmy Page has said that the album cover was actually the second version submitted by Hipgnosis. The first, by artist Storm Thorgerson, featured an electric green tennis court with a tennis racquet on it. The band was furious that Thorgerson was implying their music sounded like a “racket”, the band fired him and hired Powell in his place.

Atom Heart Mother- Pink Floyd (1970)

The original album cover depicts a cow standing in a pasture with no text or any other clue that it was an album from Pink Floyd, although some later editions have the title and artist name added to the cover. The concept was the group’s reaction to the psychedelic “space rock” imagery associated with Pink Floyd at the time; the band wanted to explore all sorts of music without being limited to a particular image or style of performance.

So the band requested that their new album cover have “something plain” on the cover, which ended up being the image of the cow. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol’s famous “cow-wallpaper,” has stated that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow’s owner identified her name as “Lulubelle III.” More cows appear on the back cover (again, with no text or titles), and on the inside gatefold. Again, an instantly recognizable cover, simple as it is.

Peter Gabriel (1980)

Peter Gabriel’s third album, it contains two of Gabriel’s most famous songs, the U.K. Top 10 hit “Games Without Frontiers” and the political song “Biko.”

This album is often referred to as “Melt” due to its cover photograph by Storm Thorgerson. The photo was taken with a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera, and subsequently modified by Thorgerson or Gabriel, and one side of the portrait of Gabriel seems to be melting; although Thorgerson does not recall whether he or Gabriel manipulated the image.

…And Then There Were Three… Genesis (1978)

A rather gloomy and dark cover; it is one that Hipgnosis was not real keen on as Thorgerson explains:

“We were trying to tell a story by the traces left by the light trails. It was a torch, a car, and a man with a cigarette. The band was losing members and there were only three of them left. The lyrics of the songs were about comings and goings and we tried to describe this in photographic terms by using time-lapse. So there’s a car going off to one side and then the guy gets out of the car, walks over to the front of it, and lights a cigarette. But as he walks he uses a torch and the car he was in leaves. There’s a trail left by the car, a trail left by him as he’s walking and then he lights a cigarette, which on the cover is where there’s a flash of his face.”

Still, whether the company was happy with the result or not, it is another amazing cover.

In Through the Out Door- Led Zeppelin

This original album featured an unusual gimmick: the album had an outer sleeve which was made to look like a plain brown paper bag and the inner sleeve featured black and white line artwork which, if washed with a wet brush, would become permanently fully colored. There were six different sleeves featuring a different pair of photos and the external brown paper sleeve meant that it was impossible for record buyers to tell which sleeve they were getting. The pictures all depicted the same scene in a bar (in which a man burns a Dear John letter), and each photo was taken from the separate point of view of someone who appeared in the other photos. In 1980 the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

Storm Thorgerson recalls the design in his book “Eye of the Storm”:

“The sepia quality was meant to evoke a non-specific past and to allow the brushstroke across the middle to be better rendered in color and so make a contrast. This self same brushstroke was like the swish of a wiper across a wet windscreen, like a lick of fresh paint across a faded surface, a new look to an old scene, which was what Led Zeppelin told us about their album. A lick of fresh paint, as per Led Zeppelin, and the music on this album… It somehow grew in proportion and became six viewpoints of the same man in the bar, seen by the six other characters. Six different versions of the same image and six different covers.”

Hipgnosis’ ideology and concepts are still being utilized and will be copied for years to come. Thankfully, these young art and photography students understood the meaning of an album cover and the art and music worlds are a better place because of their insights and talent.

In rock ‘n’ roll history there have been many bands whose moniker and names were shortened and universally recognized by abbreviated lettered names. Let’s explore some popular initial nicknames of bands.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (also known as CCR) began churning out classic rock ‘n’ roll singles shortly after the John Fogerty led band formed in 1967. With their “swamp-rock” sound and style, the group amassed seventeen top 40 hits like “Bad Moon Rising,” “Green River,” and the wedding band staple “Proud Mary.” The group disbanded in 1972 and any hopes of a CCR reunion were quashed with the death of band member Tom Fogerty in 1990.

Another 60’s band that had huge commercial success was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, also known as CSN &Y. Band members David Crosby (formally of the Byrds), Graham Nash (of Hollies fame), Stephen Stills and Neil Young (both with Buffalo Springfield), blended their flawless harmonies into a long and successful career. With hits such as the Nash led “Teach Your Children,” Neil Young’s antiwar protest song “Ohio” and a Joni Mitchell composition “Woodstock” about the legendary rock festival, CSN &Y blended their unique acoustic-folk and progressive hard rock sound to be a classic example of the 1960’s psychedelic era. Additionally, after Young left the group, Crosby, Stills and Nash (also known as CSN) continued to release melodic pop/rock songs with 1977’s “Just A Song Before I Go” and “Wasted On The Way,” which was released in 1982. The group still tours, occasionally joined by Young.

Hard-rocking Bachman-Turner Overdrive, or simply BTO consisted of Randy Bachman (formally of the Guess Who), fellow Guess Who alum Chad Allen, C.F. “Fred” Turner and Randy’s brother drummer Robbie. Capitalizing on the arena rock/pop rock era of the mid 70’s, BTO had a short but successful career with chart singles such as “Takin’ Care Of Business,” “Let It Ride” and the number one single “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” a song which was intended for an audience of one- Randy’s brother Gary Bachman who had a speech impediment-stuttering. They recorded the song for fun but needing another song to complete the lp “Not fragile,” Randy Bachman was pressured to include the joking stuttering lyrics and the song spent twelve weeks on the Billboard charts in 1974.

There are many other rock ‘n’ roll bands that were known by initials as well as their “given” name and I will include a couple more that I know of. The Electric Light Orchestra (also known as ELO) led by guitarist Jeff Lynne, scored twenty top ten hits with songs like “Telephone Line and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” A similar sounding name ELP was a supergroup consisting of keyboard genius Keith Emerson, bassist Greg lake (of the band Nice) and drummer Carl Palmer (a former member of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown). They instilled their keyboard dominated, progressive rock throughout the 70’s, creating a FM radio phenomenon with songs like “Lucky Man,” “Still You Turn Me On” and “From The Beginning.”

Michigan may be best known for its auto industry, its college football teams, and its contributions to the art of office-furniture manufacture. The fact is, though, that this mitten-shaped Upper Midwestern state has made great contributions to American arts and culture-and all sorts of positive signs, from the growth of downtown Grand Rapids to the sudden explosion in Detroit-based visual arts, suggest that Michigan plans to remain one of the cultural capitals of the United States.

And that place is well-earned. After all, this is the state where Motown Records was founded, where punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, and author Nelson Algren hail from, where the classic Anatomy of a Murder was filmed, and where Ernest Hemingway set his first published story. Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Gilda Radner, and Lily Tomlin were all born here, Elmore Leonard calls the state home, and Sufjan Stevens made his name as the leader of West Michigan-based band Marzuki.

Michigan has an important place in film history, too. It provides backdrop for such films as The Evil Dead, Four Brothers, Grosse Pointe Blank, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, RoboCop, and 8 Mile. A recent bill enacted by the Michigan legislature ensures that the Wolverine State will continue attracting quality film productions, luring famous and unknown film artists alike with a forty-percent across-the-board refundable tax credit, a loan program, and other goodies. (A complete list and application are available from the Michigan Film Office.) This incentives package, coupled with the state’s unique geographic diversity that allows it to “stand in” for many kinds of locations (urban, mountainous, forested, coastal), makes Michigan one of the most attractive possible shooting locations in the United States. But filmmakers should also note the state’s lively film-festival calendar-a mere sampling of which is provided below.

In the Detroit area alone, we have a plethora. Royal Oak offers the results of the innovative 48 Hour Film Project every July, after teams of Detroit-area filmmakers spend a forty-eight hour period writing, shooting, editing and scoring an entire film, using just a prop, line of dialogue, character, and genre which must be included in the film. Similar projects are done in fifty-four other cities from around the world, and Detroit’s version features robust participation from area filmmakers.

And in December there’s Dearborn’s Annual Arab Film Festival, hosted by the Arab American National Museum. Given the impact that filmmakers from Arab cultures have had on the art form in recent years-Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is regularly acclaimed as one of the great artists of world cinema, and films from the region are often cited as influences by such directors as Werner Herzog and Michael Haneke-this is one festival not to miss, since today’s Arab film festival entry may be tomorrow’s influential new classic.

Other possibilities for the discerning Michigan cineaste include the long-running Ann Arbor Film Festival. The lower-Michigan city of Ann Arbor is something of a regional cultural capital-it supports one of the world’s best research universities in the University of Michigan, and it has all the bookstores and museums you’d expect of such a place-so it’s no surprise that it’s also the home of one of the oldest, best-established, and most vital film festivals in the country, which continues to attract artistic experimenters from all over the world. Early work by Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Andy Warhol, and Gus Van Sant, among others, has appeared at this festival (one of Variety’s top ten “Festivals We Love”); it’s the place to catch works by tomorrow’s trendsetting young film directors-today.

For filmmakers and their personnel visiting any of the above festivals (and many more every year in places such as Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Mt. Pleasant), the state offers an excellent transit infrastructure experienced in handling film and television productions. For example, Checker Sedan-the company that most recently handled transportation for SuperBowl XL, and the official transportation provider for the Detroit Metro Airport-has years of experience in dropping off dailies, picking up stars, and every other kind of work associated with film and television production.

has recorded and released seven albums to date beginning with their debut Pablo Honey in 1993. That debut album is the only Radiohead album that is not essential for all true music lovers. The other six albums they have released have all been absolutely excellent.

Pablo Honey (1993)

Their debut album is mostly known for “Creep.” And at the time many people thought Radiohead would be a “one hit wonder.” This was the height of grunge and Radiohead sounded more like a British answer to Nirvana than anything truly original to many people’s ears at the time. And while Pablo Honey wasn’t particularly original it did have some great songs. “Creep” has certainly worn better than most songs of the period and some of the other songs on the album such as “Blow Out” show signs of their later greatness.

The Bends (1995)

This was a huge step forward for the band. To me it’s sort of like Radiohead’s Rubber Soul. I know, why does everyone have to be compared to The Beatles? It’s just the way it is, and I really do think in a way this comparison works. Of course in others, it does not.

The Bends was a band becoming themselves. And they sounded amazing. One thing that caught me right off with The Bends was the atmospherics of the songs. Certainly that’s something the band has continued to explore even further since then.

The albums big rockers “Just” & “My Iron Lung” showcased Jonny Greenwood’s unique approach to guitar playing. In my view there’s no other modern guitarist who is as interesting. No one else sounds like him. He’s a real “mad scientist” and that’s just how I like my musicians.

It was the ballads “Fake Plastic Trees” & “High and Dry” that really got the attention of a lot of people. For one they showcased Thom Yorke’s incredible voice and for another they were the sorts of melodic songs that anyone can fall in love with. To this day this album and and these songs in particular are highly influential on bands like Coldplay.

OK Computer (1997)

To continue with The Beatles comparison, this is Radiohead’s Revolver. They were really pushing the musical envelope with OK Computer. I don’t think they expected the hugely positive response it received. It’s really quite a weird album in a lot of ways. But it’s just so brilliantly done that it’s become one of the absolutely essential albums to own for anyone who cares about modern music.

Kid A (2000)

Yes, I’ve saved the Sgt. Pepper comparison for Kid A. Why? Because Kid A is the album that really holds together as one piece. It’s as if everyone thought they hit some sort of limit with OK Computer, but they did not. They broke themselves down and started from scratch and went in an entirely different direction.

Certainly Kid A has more detractors than does OK Computer, it’s not as easy to love for some folks, but for me it’s just as good, if not better.

Amnesiac (2001)

Too often it’s considered a collection of Kid A b-sides. It’s really not that at all. A song as great as “Pyramid Song” is definitely not a b-side! I believe these are the songs that just didn’t fit well on Kid A so they became Amnesiac. And that is the sort of thing that is hard for people who have to rank everything as better or worse than something else to understand. This isn’t sports, it’s art. It’s not about what’s “best,” it’s about what says what you want to say. What works together to make some sort of cohesive whole.

Hail to the Thief (2003)

Admittedly not quite as strong as the albums that came before it (or the one that has come since) but it still really has a ton of great music on it. I’m not quite sure even why I don’t like it as much as Kid A and In Rainbows, but I just don’t. It’s an awesome album, but something about it isn’t quite totally perfect. Hard to put my finger on. Still probably the best album of 2003.

In Rainbows (2007)

Definitely the best album of 2007. In Rainbows is a perfect album. It’s absolutely astonishing to me that Radiohead is still working at this kind of level for as long as they’ve been making music together. They are still the best band in the world, and honestly no one else is even coming that close to them.

The “flavors of the week” that Pitchfork and the like try to force feed us just don’t match up. I mean, Arcade Fire? Are you kidding me?

as the other years of the 1960s were for fantastic music, I think it’s very possible that 1968 is the greatest year of them all. First of all it features the greatest album ever recorded by anyone: The Beatles White Album. But that’s not all. This article features the seven “must hear” albums from this amazing year in music, listed alphabetically by album name. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison – The songs on this album are not as well known in popular music as “Brown Eyed Girl” or the songs on Moondance but in many ways this is Morrison’s greatest album. And when I say album, I mean album. This is a piece of musical art that is meant to be listened all the way through. There’s no point in picking out individual songs, just listen to the whole thing. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones – With Beggars Banquet The Rolling Stones came into their own. They were no longer chasing The Beatles shadow but instead making their own unique brand of rock n roll that has truly stood the test of time. You cannot go wrong with songs like “Street Fighting Man,” “No Expectations,” and “Sympathy for the Devil.” Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel – Features “America” & “Mrs. Robinson” but the album is a whole lot more than that. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience – This double album by Hendrix is consider by many Jimi fans to be his greatest work and I too think it is. It’s his trippiest album and his most complete “artistic statement” and of course it includes some “can’t miss” classics like “All Along the Watchtower” too. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks – Most Kinks fans think this is their best album. If you are interested in expanding beyond The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and The Who as far as 1960s music goes then you need to check this out. Music From Big Pink by The Band – The debut album by one of the most underrated bands of the era. While I don’t like this album quite as much as their self-titled follow up, it is filled with great tunes such as the legendary “The Weight.” The White Album by The Beatles – Yes, I know the official title is The Beatles and not The White Album but everyone knows it by The White Album and I’m not a big fan of the whole self titled album thing anyway, so let’s just move on. Alright? It’s not just my favorite album of the year, it’s my favorite album of all time so it’s an obvious choice as a “must hear” album. It’s hard for me to take the musical opinion of anyone seriously if they tell me they’ve never listened to The White Album. This album is that great and it’s that essential. To the those who say that it has too many “weak tracks” or “fillers” – I say that you are missing the point. There are no such fillers or weak tracks. This is a journey through almost every musical style that existed up to that point and it’s a thrilling journey indeed. All of the 30 songs on this album are a part of what makes it great including “Revolution #9″ which I think is mesmerizing, that also includes the songs that are not so great (”Good Night” and “Don’t Pass Me By” come to mind … sorry Ringo.)

es released 13 official studio albums from 1963 to 1970. What follows is a short “review” of each of these 13 albums. In my view as a true Beatles fanatic every single on of these albums should be a part of your collection eventually. But there are definitely some albums that are more essential than others.

Please Please Me (1963) – The Beatles very first album has some great songs on it including the title track, the opening track “I Her Standing There,” and the great cover “Twist & Shout” but it also has a much higher percentage of clunkers than most Beatles albums. In fact I’d say at least half of this album just isn’t that good. It’s interesting from an historical stand point and sometimes it can even be quite enjoyable to listen to, but I’d probably make it one of my last albums if I were just getting into The Beatles.

With The Beatles (1963) – The Beatles second album includes a few nice songs but it’s largely quite forgettable due to the large amount of covers.

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – The Beatles third album is when they really started to come into their own. While their first two albums only included 8 originals each, A Hard Day’s Night is nothing but Lennon/McCartney originals. It includes some of The Beatles very best early pop & rock n roll music. If you find yourself more drawn to their early pop songs then this may be a great album to get started with.

Beatles For Sale (1964) – I do think this album is somewhat underrated but it is definitely a step backwards from A Hard Day’s Night. It includes 6 mostly forgettable covers. But the originals are quite nice. “I’m a Loser” & “Every Little Thing” are among the highlights.

Help! (1965) – This was another step forward. It included some of The Beatles biggest hit songs including the title track “Help!” and the legendary ballad “Yesterday.” “Ticket to Ride,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” are also among the album’s highlights. It’s a great album with a couple of miss steps (”Dizzy Miss Lizzy” and “Act Naturally” are both awful covers that shouldn’t have been included on the album.)

Rubber Soul (1965) – A huge step forward. Includes the first use of a sitar on a western pop record on “Norwegian Wood” which may be favorite song on the album. Rubber Soul includes many of The Beatles greatest songs like “Nowhere Man,” “In My Life,” “Girl,” “Michelle,” and “I’m Looking Through You.”

Revolver (1966) – Again with the step forward. The Beatles were progressing at an unbelievable rate during these years. From “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to “Tomorrow Never Knows” in 2 years? Are you kidding me? Absolutely mind blowing. One of The Beatles greatest albums. There are no weak songs. Many consider it to be The Beatles very best album.

Sgt. Pepper (1967) – It’s become somewhat hip to say that Sgt. Pepper is overrated. But it’s not. It’s a truly incredible album. I find every single song on this album to be a thoroughly enjoyable listen. They are all essential in my view. Includes the absolute greatest album closer of all time, “A Day in the Life.”

Magical Mystery Tour (1967) – This was The Beatles at their most purposefully “psychedelic.” To me that’s a good thing. It includes some of The Beatles most incredible psychedelic masterpieces “I Am The Walrus” & “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

The White Album (1968) – My favorite Beatles album. That being said, it’s probably not a good one to get started with. It’s probably too sprawling for a first time listener. It’s not as consistent as Sgt. Pepper or Revolver but for me it’s even more endlessly interesting. There’s so many different styles of music on this album and to my ears they are all done perfectly.

Yellow Submarine (1969) – Probably The Beatles least essential album as it includes only four songs that are not heard elsewhere. But of those four songs two are really great “Hey Bulldog” and particularly the very underrated “It’s All Too Much.” I actually recommend getting the 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack instead as it replaces the rather boring incidental “film music” that makes up much of the Yellow Submarine album with remixed, remastered versions of many of The Beatles greatest hits.

Abbey Road (1969) – Possibly The Beatles most “modern” sounding album as it was actually the final album they recorded and the only one they recorded on the then new 8 track recording machine at Abbey Road studios. Includes the amazing second side suite and some of their most well known songs like “Here Comes The Sun,” “Something,” and “Come Together.” Probably a pretty good first album to get if you are new to The Beatles.

Let It Be (1970) – Let It Be was actually recorded prior to Abbey Road but had been shelved do to The Beatles being unhappy with the recordings. While it’s often seen as somewhat of a disappointment compared to The Beatles other incredible albums that’s really quite ridiculous when you look at the track listing and see that it includes absolutely killer songs like “Let It Be,” “Get Back,” “I’ve Got A Feeling,” “Across The Universe,” & “Two of Us.” Let It Be has a more funky laid back feeling than any other Beatles album. Let It Be… Naked probably has a better track listing but I think they “cleaned up” the sound too much, the original’s “fuzzy” sound was part of it’s charm and fit the songs better.

Third eye review of a live performance in Calgary, Alberta, from a local 60’s, 70’s and 80’s rock band. This three person group is called ShadowBeat. If going to Calgary and you appreciate older music, you might just enjoy this combo. Do so if you get a chance.

“Get your motor running” That’s what this band will do to you. I managed to catch this three person combo by accident Friday night in Calgary. They were shaking the walls in some lost eastside pub called Chelsea’s, and though the crowd was not huge, we were on fire with this performance. And so was ShadowBeat.

As the night went on I found myself losing time but not wasting it. It was an experience worth living. The little place was a-happenin’, as they might say and we all enjoyed many familiar oldies (think John Paul George and Mick) and a few NotHeardThatinAge’s.

And then they hit us with a sharp left hook. A few great wing-ding’s from the 1990’s country line dancing and hat head era. Personally, I don’t two-step, but plenty were stompin’ their runners to this classic string of hits that included an Alan Jackson favorite of mine and that old Grundy County Auction song. I could tell by the wall posters that country bands frequented this establishment. But this was a rock outfit with a bit of creative dabble.

The first set I saw opened with Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf and by the third or fourth selection we were convinced this group knew their stuff. They weren’t much to look at, not having a drummer on stage with them or the heavy-metal concert trappings seen in bar bands of years gone by. It was just the three of them. Dying to have a voice. They were just there. Authentic. In your face. They were good.

I like it when a cover band tries to make the well-known piece their own and have fun with it. Granted, ShadowBeat did not do this with every composition on the setlist but when they did, it shone through, and the effort became worthwhile. You might want to check out the original versions of these songs. I did some Googling and found out that they have their own mini internet broadcast station easily found by entering “Shadowbeat radio”. That’s where you can hear those originals. Handy. It’s at http://www.live365.com/stations/radiosonde1?play

Who would have thought a stage keyboard could be played like that? Not me, that’s for sure. Somebody sprinkled this guy with magic dust, or maybe a few extra recorded tracks. It’s hard to tell. Wait for “Time of the Season” by the Zombies. It’s worth it.

In general, the band takes full advantage of the highs and lows (tempo, dynamics etc.) in the material. When they were tight, it was as good as it gets and the loose rambling between songs kept the feeling quite casual. Nobody was intimidated. With the old stuff I heard that night, you’ll go back to your younger days in an instant.

Musical festival season is officially over, and it was a great one, wasn’t? The season of music festivals, which began last spring with Coachella and was followed by a string of others with kooky names like Bonnaroo and Lollapallooza, has come to a close with Austin City Limits. The Texas festival marked the end of the 2008 music festival season and even though it took place in September, just as fall was beginning to creep in, the 90-degree Texas heat allowed for festival fans to break out the short shorts and bikini tops one more time.

Jenny Lewis, of Rilo Kiley fame, took the stage solo on Sept. 26, the first day of A.C.L., with a performance featuring tracks from her newest release, Acid Tongue, as well as songs from 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat while her newest fan, Bill Murray (yes, the Bill Murray) danced and sang along. While Lewis did her thing, Conor Oberst took the stage across the way with performances of “Danny Callahan” and “Milk Thistle” from his most recent eponymous album. Day One of A.C.L. also hosted the Mars Volta, N.E.R.D., the Swell Season and Vampire Weekend. Headliners Mars Volta delivered the psychedelic “The Widow” and “Goliath,” while N.E.R.D. brought fans up on stage to dance along to “Lapdance” and a medley of “Everyone Nose” and “She Wants to Move” which featured the melody of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army. Zoey Deschanel, on a break from touring with M. Ward as She & Him, drew a crowd as a solo performer on the first day as well.

Day two featured headliner Beck with a shorter performance than expected, although fans still enjoyed his eclectic set list which spanned his career. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss performed “Killing the Blues” and “Gone Gone Gone” from last year’s Raising Sand and Led Zeppelin fans received a treat in the form of “The Battle of Evermore.” Spiritualized delivered one of Day Two’s best performances with a set list harking from their past releases (playing only one song-”Soul on Fire”-from their recent album, Songs in A&E). Iron & Wine took the stage at dusk with a more upbeat performance than their usual fare; the set list included “Cinder & Smoke” and “Wolves,” among other songs and a pregnant Erykah Badu sang “Healer” and Me” earlier on that day.

Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters closed this year’s A.C.L., with a performance featuring newer singles like “Let it Die” and “Long Road to Ruin” as well as a cover of the Who’s “Young Man Blues” and old favorites like “Monkey Wrench.” Rock’n'roll proved to be the pervading theme for the final day of A.C.L., as the Raconteurs, Against Me! and Band of Horses also played. Jack White and Brendan Benson shared vocal duties for the Raconteurs, who delivered “Steady As She Goes,” “Level” and “Hold Up.” Gillian Welch offered some more soothing sounds for fans in a set which featured guitarist David Rawlings and an appearance by Alison Krauss.

In October the television series for which serves as the inspiration for Austin City Limits kicks off its 34th season. With episodes with Gnarls Barkley, the Swell Season, Erykah Badu and R.E.M. in store, fans will already be thinking of when to purchase their Austin City Limits Festival tickets for next year.

http://www.stubhub.com/austin-city-limits-festival-tickets/ is your best source for Austin City Limits Festival tickets.