Author: chip midnight

Rare Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon) material surfaces

(Photo from MySpace.com/ShannonHoonMusic)

Shannon Hoon’s mother, Nel, wrote the following:

About five years ago someone from California sent me about 20 CDs with Blind Melon music. I had not listened to any of those until recently. When I ran across this CD I felt that I had found a treasure to be shared with all the people who love Shannon. After thinking about it for days, I have concluded that Shannon would have wanted me to give this as a Christmas present to you and you and you and you and you … so Merry Christmas!

What a great early Christmas gift. Here’s the tracklisting:

01 – Flea Market Pete
02 – Cavities
03 – Walk
04 – St. Andrew’s Fall
05 – All That I Need
06 – Everyday
07 – Letter’s From a Porcupine
08 – Weeping Like the Willow

(Note: If you click on the links above, you’ll be able to download the .WAV files. If you want MP3 files, click below.)

DOWNLOAD: Shannon Hoon – Acoustic (MP3 files)

Steal this now … not really, it’s a free giveaway

Catbird Records is offering up – for one week only – a FREE download of Moviola’s 2007 stunner . I will always encourage checking out music when it’s free but I’ll tell ya that this one is good enough that I bought a copy, even after being given a free promo copy.

Here’s a video I shot of Moviola performing “Rudy” at the CD release party back in June ’07.

Give thanks to Matt Pond PA

It’s not a novel concept – giving away free music – but it’s still nice to recognize and say thanks to Matt Pond PA for allowing fans (and potential fans) the opportunity to download a new EP on this day before Thanksgiving. Following in the footsteps of Fiona Apple and giving the EP a rather lengthy title, Matt Pond PA – in an effort to make things more user friendly – have given the 9-song recording the nickname of Freeep.

Give it a listen, it’s not like it’s going to cost you anything and give thanks to the fellas for this wonderful Thanksgiving gift.

DOWNLOAD: Matt Pond PA – The Freep

Trippin’ the light fantastic with Papa Roach … er … Darker My Love

The touring year is almost over for LA psych-rockers (sorry guys, being a lazy journalist today) Darker My Love. The band is rolling through my hometown the night before Thanksgiving and then doing a few more weeks worth of dates that will return them home to the West Coast just a week before Christmas. The band’s second album, simply titled 2, is a swirling and dreamy ride through the clouds – full of noise, guitar pedals, keyboards, Darker My Love seems to draw influence from bands ranging from the Dandy Warhols and Spiritualized to the Beatles and the Beach Boys (just check out the rich harmonies in “Two Ways Out”). Other reference points include the Stone Roses, Ride, and (here comes the ’90s hair metal geek in me) Saigon Kick (seriously, the vocals on “Blue Day” sound like something from SK’s The Lizard album).

I called bassist/vocalist/heavily bearded Darker My Love member Rob Barbato yesterday before a DML gig in Indiana.

Continue reading “Trippin’ the light fantastic with Papa Roach … er … Darker My Love”

Gregory And The Hawk (photo tour diary)

Sometimes you get that feeling. I got it when I blindly asked Gregory And The Hawk to take some digital photos while on their current tour and send them to me to put up here. They could have sent a bunch of crummy shots, but they didn’t. They delivered … big time.

Here’s the obligatory plug for GATH – go out and buy the new CD Moenie and Kitchi if you’re a fan of female-fronted indie/folk pop (I definitely am). It’s one of the better releases I’ve heard in 2008, female-fronted or not. While there are some moments of beautiful and simple acoustic rock, it’s hard to pigeonhole this band led by Meredith Godreau and featuring Mike McGuire. Godreau says her biggest influences are The Lemonheads, The Blake Babies, My Bloody Valentine and The Sundays. Over on Donewaiting, I said that while Godreau doesn’t site them, you can toss Lisa Loeb and Tanya Donelly into the influences list if you want a good idea what to expect.

Here’s a sampling of the photo tour diary. The rest are after the jump.

(cambridge, ma) mike outside the post office in cambridge, this was right before our first show of the tour at tt the bear’s place

Continue reading “Gregory And The Hawk (photo tour diary)”