cortez the killer wrote:I think Middle Brother is another "supergroup" that fits your parameters.
New Multitudes in a landslide.
Overseas sort of qualifies too with Will Johnson & David Bazan. One of my favorite records of last year. The grandaddy of this sort of thing, in the Americana/Alt-Country whatever category, is Golden Smog who had several great records.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
Touche, mollusk. Then again, none of the votes matter til you move it here. Also, check with Rev Matt and see if he will allow you to count it as one of those "Rock & Roll Cage Match" things he had going. If the spreadsheet is correct, it would be Round 8.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM
cortez the killer wrote:Touche, mollusk. Then again, none of the votes matter til you move it here. Also, check with Rev Matt and see if he will allow you to count it as one of those "Rock & Roll Cage Match" things he had going. If the spreadsheet is correct, it would be Round 8.
As I was typing the part about "degree of difficulty points" going to New Multitudes, I actually wondered if the Rev would take me literally and come up with a mathematical formula for deciding which supergroup was better.
In the battle of New Multitudes vs. HWA, I'll go opposite of the Steel Trap. HWA in a landslide.
Reasoning: -I'm an unabashed Todd Snider fanboy. Perhaps not to the noted level of Cortez/Farrar, but I have a hard time being objective about his work. -New Multitudes just never really clicked with me. I probably listened three or four times, but never felt strongly compelled to go back. -The trading off of singers on NM made it feel a little disjointed in comparison to HWA. I love the cohesion of HWA. -I prefer the muscular groove that permeates HWA. Schools/Trucks is one hell of a rhythm section. -I prefer the concept behind HWA, IE telling a story about lower to middle class America through the eyes of a mixtape of songwriters turned into a cohesive musical piece via unified band. -Yim. I just struggle with this guy in the last few years.
I definitely agree there's a level of difficulty, so to speak, with New Multitudes that exceeds HWA, as they had to actually write the music, but HWA connects with me on many levels, and New Multitudes just didn't.
Howlinwolf wrote:The picture cutting off Schools is just not right man....
Pretty sure he was only squeezed out if you are viewing on a phone or tablet because on my desktop he is there. However, in an effort to keep Howlinwolf happy, I've changed to a smaller pic.
Thanks brother Clams - Schools is my man! Bummed I missed the gigs in Philly and Manhattan - pre-planned hiking trip in Phoenix (and need for some warm weather) kept me from seeing theses cats. Thanks for the write-up.
So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
Matt playing like an evil motherfucker w/ rhythm with a capital MPLAEMWR.
one belt loop wrote:So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
Even though I've only heard "Stomp and Holler" and haven't seen the Hard Working Americans in concert, I have a feeling that my reaction would be much the same. That said, I highly recommend seeing Todd's solo show.
one belt loop wrote:So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
You did see the same show as clams, right?
All opinions and commentary in my posts are solely my own and are made in my personal capacity.
one belt loop wrote:So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
You did see the same show as clams, right?
Yup.
Matt playing like an evil motherfucker w/ rhythm with a capital MPLAEMWR.
one belt loop wrote:So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
You did see the same show as clams, right?
Yup.
She's right about the crowd, at least up front. There were a bunch of annoying idiots but the worst was this horrible tall girl with pigtails who kept wanting people to twirl her and - let's be clear - OBL doesn't twirl people. Funny thing was after we moved to the back of the room, annoying pigtail girl showed up there too, and right next to us!
one belt loop wrote:So, jammier than expected, which pretty much equals "meh" for me. Audience BEYOND annoying. I couldn't decide if the tall girl who expanded her space to include RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME no matter where I moved or how much room I gave her, or her tiny friend with the stinky unwashed hair was the worst. Musicians definitely good. Todd Snider (also my first time seeing him) sounded great, was extremely nice to look at, and gave off an "I'm crazy and not in the good way" vibe. Best part of the evening? Hanging with the Van Clams. Glad I went. Not going again.
Yup.
She's right about the crowd, at least up front. There were a bunch of annoying idiots but the worst was this horrible tall girl with pigtails who kept wanting people to twirl her and - let's be clear - OBL doesn't twirl people. Funny thing was after we moved to the back of the room, annoying pigtail girl showed up there too, and right next to us!
Maybe she just wanted a doughnut.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM
I bet I could make you smile just by listing off the members of the Hard Working Americans: Duane Trucks on drums, paired up with bass monster Dave Schools; Chad Staehly on keys laying it down alongside of Neal Casal on guitar; and Todd Snider out front on vocals. (Oh – and toss in cameos by John Popper on harp, John Keane on some guitar and banjo, and Jason Crosby on fiddle and piano.)
Does that sound like the makings of a smoky, smiling, killer jam session, or what? Actually, things were more thought out than that, boys and girls: Snider assembled his band of rootsy jam masters with an eye to delve into some modern-day raggedy-assed tunes for the common man. Hand-picking tunes from the likes of Kevn Kinney, Will Kimbrough, Hayes Carll, Randy Newman, and David Rawlings/Gillian Welch, Snider and company holed up in Bob Weir’s TRI Studios and laid down 11 tunes that rock, roll, twang, chug, sweat, get their hands dirty and rip the knees out of their jeans.
Woody Guthrie would’ve loved this bunch: there’s talent galore, but no egos. What you have is a bunch of players getting it done for the sake of the songs.
OH - and Mr. Snider's got a book coming out in May: I Never Met A Story I Didn't Like: Mostly True Tall Tales. It's just what you'd expect ... which is a cool thing.
Some friends of mine who were at Homecoming Friday had just finished the Cayamo cruise. Todd Snider canceled at the last second and they said there were lots of nasty rumors about out of control drug use. Snider's Book of Face page and Twitter feed have had several recent posts indirectly addressing the rumors and attributing it to "back problems" and asking for "privacy." Really hope this isn't true or, if it is, that he gets the help he needs. I hope that Jason is on top of this since he and Amanda and Todd are such good friends.
