Corey Harris in Oakland on Saturday

For months, since Calliope announced it was bringing Corey Harris in as part of its concert series this year, I've been racking my brain trying to remember how I first heard Harris. I've been a fan since hearing some track from Greens from the Garden and buying it almost immediately. I know it was the summer of 2000. But was it the driving beat of "Basehead"? His delta take on Woody Guthrie's "Teabag Blues"? On college radio? In a record store? What's the difference; I'm psyched for the show either way.

I've seen Harris twice now with his electric band--great stuff, but I've always been drawn most to his acoustic work, so this will be a welcome first for me. With harmonica master Phil Wiggins at his side, I expect tomorrow's show to be a highlight of my year.

Blue Notes wrote a little about what to expect, which you can read here.

(Current) Obsession, by Henry

Roberto's current obsession didn't do it for me. But rather than just be a naysayer, I'll be a Touche'er.

It's no secret that I like mashup artists. Some may argue that they are hardly artists at all - instead, just talentless bums ripping off the hard work of others. Bums, perhaps. But talentless...(?)

Enter: The White Panda. This dj duo (Griffi and Procrast) sent us their latest track "Tipsy in the Sun" - j.Kwon // weezer - like all their stuff, it can be streamed/downloaded at their site. It's nice, but not a game changer.

I did a bit more research into the duo and have since fallen hard for their debut mixtape "Versus" (click for stream/download), that came out in late December. I've been bumping it for a week now - riding my bike, in the car, in the house, wherev. Some highlights include "Golden Encore" Jay-Z // One Republic // The Whitest Boy Alive; "Forgot About September" Dr. Dre // Earth Wind and Fire; and "Army of Yeah" Wiz Khalifa // Usher // Umek & Beltek.

At a seamless hour in length, you're bound to hear something you like, over something else you like. You'll think - "huh, how'd they ever think to combine those?" That's what I like about mashup dj's - good ones can take two things you already like and add them together to make something you like even better.

Got a favorite mashup you think we should hear? Post it to Comments or send it to us.

My current obsession: Julieta Venegas

When I was younger, my dad had generally good taste in music. Certainly better than today anyway. But he had a bad habit of picking a favorite track and replaying it ad nauseum. CSN's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" recalls in my mind a particularly long drive to the beach one year. "Snowman" from Genesis' Then There Were Three never fails to deliver my memories to the backseat of his Wagoneer, wishing he would just let the cassette play through. Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" was probably his worst ever, while on Pink Floyd's The Division Bell he found several favorites, and soon thereafter he moved beyond that phase, thankfully.

Anyway, point being, I seem to have fallen into the same pattern myself during this last week. I cannot get enough of Julieta Venegas' "Bien o Mal" (that's "Good or Bad" in gringo speak). I listened to it on repeat for about 45 minutes today while running, and I'm still not tired of it.

Her new album, Otra Cosa, is excellent all the way through. I really do like every song on it. But I find that I almost have to force myself to let it play past Track 2 without seeking back, and most times I lose that battle of will power. So I've given up. I have no idea how many times I listened to this song last week, but I have a pretty good feeling I may match that number this week. (On a side note, I also have no idea what the hell's going on in this video.)



Download/Stream:
Julieta Venegas - "Bien o Mal"

Oh, you've got options this weekend

Once again a bunch of quality options for all the live music fans out there. As always, check the calendar on the lower right of this screen for a full, linked rundown.

I'm obliged to call out The Ceiling Stares cassette release party at Gooski's on Saturday night for a few reasons:

1) We don't give Gooski's enough play on this blog. Often that's because we can't find what's going on there. Has a venue ever done less to promote itself? It's a PGH rock institution nestled in Polish Hill - great beer selection and one of the better bar-music atmospheres around.

2) The Ceiling Stares are a PGH rockshow on the rise. Bonus: they have a Czar in their ranks.

3) When was the last time you went to a CASSETTE release party? Finally! Something to put in the tape player of my mid-nineties sedan.

You can stream and download the EP at their site... here.

Music, music everywhere

Man, what a weekend to be out of town. As I wait for my flight, I just want to highlight all the goodness I'll be missing over then next few days.

For some of the best that our city has to offer, Lohio and Emily Rodgers will be at Calliope Center Stage in the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts tonight. The tunes should run the gamut from mellow to upbeat, and should provide a good intro to the local scene for those unfamiliar.

There will also be some quality Celtic-rock happening over at the Hard Rock Cafe if you're looking to warm up for the weekend.

Friday, some quality roots rock on two spectrums (spectra?), with Rusted Root playing on a boat, and John Hiatt taking over the Munhall library. Tough to go wrong either way.

Saturday is a smorgasbord: If it's classic, quality, down-home rock you crave, find it at Altar Bar for 28 North's CD release party. If you've got the kids for the night, everyone can enjoy They Might Be Giants at the New Hazlett in the North Side. Brilloboxians the city wide should be thrilled to welcome Baltimore's indie-folk stalwarts Wye Oak. But if you're looking for a mellower evening, find a seat at Synod Hall (behind St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland) for some eight-string artistry with Carlo Aonzo and the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra. Or, if you're feeling the spirit and a bit of the sauce, perhaps, Harp & Fiddle will keep you going all day. The lineup includes a stellar local cast of Mark Guiser, Hooley, Whiskey Limerick, Guaranteed Irish, and Red Hand Paddy.

So you've got options. Information about all can be found in the concert calendar in the sidebar.

Me? I have some salsa and calypso in my near future, with hopes for a bit of flamenco and a lot of sangria. Irish? No. But all things considered I guess I'm not too upset.

It don't get much more local than Radio

fContrary to some reports, I am still alive and well - both on the InterWebs and in real life. I've been focusing on some other projects for the past few months. While working on those projects, I've been tuning in to a lot of local, terrestrial radio. Here's a quick local radio roundup of what I hear:

WYEP - 91.3 - "Where the Music Matters" - Likely the local favorite of all Sitkot readers for good reason. Skews the most in our musical direction, hosts great events, free in-studio concerts. Cindy Howes is great on the morning mix. Perfect morning voice and good playlist and I love the the 'my 15 minutes' feature and the traffic jam after the 8am news. Midday Mix selections can get a little schlockey but on the whole are a better bet than most anything else you'll find on your radio dial. The Drive Home with Rosemary Welch is where I tune out. Her voice reminds me too much of nagging church ladies I used to know and her playlist is too... well, one Indigo Girls' song a year is enough for me. The Saturday Soul Show and Sunday Morning Roots and Rhythm Mix are both highlights of the weekend. All told, sure YEP could be better, more innovative, more underground - but it's the best we've got for now.

WDUQ 90.5 - The Jazz and NPR institution. Despite a recent, unprecedented fund drive haul to try and keep the popular Jazz and NPR News station afloat, it is uncertain what will become of it amidst speculation that Duquesne University, the owner of the license wants to sell it. What is certain is that Bob Studebaker and Tony Mowod are pillars of the local jazz community and two of the Burgh's best radio voices. Tony has been criticized for focusing too much on 'old jazz' his nightly show, but I don't mind the standards. I do mind his proclivity for warbly vocalists. But I've learned a lot from him since I started tuning in 5 years ago. DUQ keeps Pittsburgh's proud jazz tradition alive and is the ideal outlet for NPR news and programming. Let's hope it stays.

WDVE 102.5 - (Classic) Rocks. It's been said that this is Pittsburgh's quintessential station; likely true. Its classic rock, comedy cuts and morning show scream Yinzburgh culture. Being the Steelers' flagship doesn't hurt either. Great to have Randy back on the morning show after what was rumored to be a contractual impasse. Jimmy Krenn and Randy Baumann have an undeniable rapport and without Randy it seemed like the show was adrift, relying on Prisuta for comedy bits was untenable. Love the GunSlingers, Merrill Hoge and all the other comedians in the mix (except, of course for Mike Wysocki). Michelle Michaels, host of the lunch request show is likely the runner up for best radio voice in the Burgh behind DUQ's Tony Mowod. And Sean McDowell's stoned-out vibe on drive time show is always enjoyable. DVE offers what you want in a classic rock station - 50/50 odds that you'll hear a Skynyrd or Hendrix song any time you tune in.

WXDX 105.9 - Buttrock, the Pens Flagship and the SuperGenius. Can't get enough Linkin Park, Slipknot or 90's power rock? The X is your home. Don't get me wrong, they'll occasionally throw in some Beasties or Sublime that we can all get down to, but rest assured that'll be followed up with the newest power-chord-screamer on the airwaves. Their morning show will always play second fiddle to DVE; Tim Benz just isn't that entertaining or insightful. Of course, the X can't be mentioned without a glance toward the enormous shadow of Mark Madden. The ex-ESPN1250er hosts the drive time show there. He brashly pontificates on the days' sports stories, boasts wildly of his talent and dominance, belittles callers, interviews headlining strippers as they make tourstops at our local establishments, and breathes very heavily into the mic. Thing is, I can't stop listening to him. He's wildly entertaining. I enjoy his show the way Mrs. Kleber enjoys Gossip Girl. We both recognize the trash-factor, are kind of repulsed by the content, but for those reasons are drawn in.

Those are the 4 that I listen to in the car or when the iPod is dead. Of course, there are tons of other stations on the dial. What do you like and why? What did I overlook? What should we be listening to? Sound off in the comments.

Video: Joanna Newsom on Jimmy Fallon

I'll admit that I didn't really "get" her first album, and didn't give the new one much of a chance. But I caught this clip on Friday night and may have become a Joanna Newsom fan. I have some exploring to do.

What we're listening to

In case you care, here's an update.

Jimmy:

Good call on the Bad Plus song in the music widget. They are probably my favorite modern jazz group. Their song "Thriftstore Jewelry" is awesome, as is their cover of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

Roberto:

I loved that album when it came out, and haven't been listening to much jazz lately but recalled that song when I went to throw together the playlist. Rediscovered the record and glad I did.

On that note, what are you people listening to these days?

For my part, the Crazy Heart soundtrack is pretty awesome if you like the country/Americana thing. Ryan Bingham's contributions are the clear standouts, but Jeff Bridges manages to hold his own, thanks to T. Bone's heavy production hand. More so than Beach House or Hot Chip or some of the electronicish albums I've been listening to, this one really has me craving a hot day under the sun.

Also, I'm a few months behind on it but Guy Clark's new[est] record is a bit uneven, though solid for the most part and as good as anything he's put out in a while to my memory. For someone with relatively spare song arrangements, he might not strike as a guy who'd be better in concert, but somehow his studio efforts have never held up to his live renditions for me, even (especially?) on the classics (thinking "LA Freeway" in particular). Nonetheless, these new songs are tight, and the record is great at its high points.

Let me also throw out Shearwater's The Golden Archipelago for discussion. At times I find myself really sinking into the melodies and depth of sound; at others I feel like I've walked into some hybrid sci-fi convention / renaissance fair gone awry where Antony Hegarty's second-cousin is attempting a post-ironic Ziggy Stardust impression. Yet I still want to rock. Confused.

Jimmy:

I will definitely have to check those out, as I am unfamiliar with all three. I've been listening to Local Native's new album Gorilla Manor for the past week and I'm definitely into many of the songs, especially "Wide Eyes", "Airplanes" and "Sticky Thread". I feel like the album starts and ends very strong, but some of the middle tracks are not as tight and begin to sound a bit formulaic. I would say that, at their best, Local Natives sound like a fresher sounding Fleet Foxes, and, at their worst, sound like The Fray (not a compliment, by the way).

I've also been listening to The Flaming Lips' Embryonic quite a bit lately and it has grown on me through repeated listenings. I left it off of my "Best Albums of 2009" list and I'm going to stick to my guns, but only because it's The Flaming Lips. If it were any other band, and this was their debut album, it probably would have made my list, fair or not. I've really been digging the songs "Worm Mountain" and "Watching the Planets". The vinyl version of this album really does the heaviness of the sound justice and sounds great when played through a system with a good subwoofer.

Another old album that I've been playing fairly often is the Beasties' best, Paul's Boutique. I never get tired of hearing tracks like "Egg Man", "Hey Ladies" or "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun", but the one that really does it for me is "B-Boy Bouillabaisse". It's like a mini-rap opera and I can't help but compare it to Paul's medley's at the end of Abbey Road - pure genius by the Beasties. Also, the fact that the Beasties could seamlessly sample the themes from Jaws and Psycho into a song that also samples the songs "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello, "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield, "Dance to the Music" by Sly and the Family Stone, and "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy (among several other songs), and have it turn into a hip-hop masterpiece is incredible. There will never be another Paul's Boutique, not just because the talent of the Beasties is epic, but because the amount of money it would cost now to sample that many songs on one album would be an incredible sum since copyright laws have changed, not to mention the fact that certain artists, like the Beatles, would probably not permit the type of sampling that was done on a song like "The Sounds of Science" irrespective of the Beastie's willingness to pay the fees.

El Loco Mooso:

Uhhhhhh... you guys went off - impressive insights. Like my personality, my thoughts will be much shallower.

My listening differs between work and home. I can only work to more ambient types of music.

Work - right now my Grooveshark playlist includes a lot of DJ Shadow, especially the Endtroducing album. Coincidentally Jimmy, "Best Foot Forward" samples "Party’s Getting Rough" by the BBs. So many great samples on that album: "Transmission 2" used synthesizers from Blade Runner (great movie), "Midnight in a Perfect World" sampled "Summer Breeze" by the Isley Bros, and of course, "What Does Your Soul Look Like, Part 1" sampled the voice of the Dream Giant from Twin Peaks Ep. 14 (one of my all time favorite shows). How could I not love that album forever.

Avalanches still get tons of play. All of the Memory Tapes stuff and Dayve Hawk’s other side projects. Lots of Boards of Canada, especially the Campfire Headphase and Geogaddi. I also mix in a lot of Ulrich Schnauss + A Shoreline Dream. Also Pantha Du Prince’s collaboration with Panda Bear (I think) is very good.

Home (when wife’s around) - Crystal Castles has been showing up a fair bit. I also am really digging the Local Native’s like Jimmy. Though, I don’t quite see the comparison to Fleet Foxes, as I think FF have a much richer sound where as LNs are defined by a rougher harmony. And I am still majorly stuck on Hot Chip’s One Life Stand. For me, that is far and away the best album of the year so far. Also, Owen Pallet’s Heartland is getting some iPod spins - especially "Oh Heartland, Up Yours!" and "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt."

Home (when wife isn’t around) - lately, I have really gotten back to metal roots and have been listening to Slayer’s Show No Mercy over and over. Metal Storm and Tormentor have some of the all time best thrash riffs. Mastodon and Baroness are going to start getting a lot of play in preparation for their upcoming show in Greensburg.

Ship ship McGip!

Roberto:

I agree with both points on Local Natives--digging it for sure, but don't hear the Fleet Foxes there for the most part. I've also been listening more to Embryonic recently, and it does come together on repeated listens. It's like a darker, more samey version of Yoshimi... which takes some time to sink its hooks into you beyond "Convinced of the Hex."

I sort of moved past the Hot Chip record in the past week but have been pretty heavy on both Owen Pallett and Beach House. That might be in part because I never put Hot Chip on the iPod though, so haven't been hearing it as much outside of the office.

Massive Attack, anyone? I never got into them in the past but I really, really like about 70% of the new record. The album ebbs and flows, as do several of the tracks, but most of the songs are mostly enjoyable, which is as much as you can ask of most albums, no? "Pray for Rain" with its awesome drumbeat is a great starting track, then "Babel" sort of loses my interest before "Splitting the Atom" comes in sounding a bit off-kilter but really pulls itself together and finishes beautifully. Some more ups and downs until you hit "Paradise Circus," which is just awesome imo. Hope Sandoval's voice melds nicely with that backing track that's reminiscent of a subdued Fiona Apple. Which I'm cool with.

Download/Stream:

Ryan Bingham - "The Weary Kind"

Local Natives - "Airplanes"

SITKOT: St. Patrick's Edition

Based on some e-mails, I gathered that a lot of the regular readers grew weary of this series last year, so I'll spare you a continuation and just point new readers to the old posts this time around.

I will point out, though, that Mick Moloney's Green Fields of America are playing the Carnegie Lecture Hall this weekend for those of you who do dig the Irish tunes. City Paper has a nice little piece on Mick in this week's issue.

It looks like I didn't necessarily do these things in any order last year, other than to save the best for last, so let's go ahead and rank them for the sake of nothing at all:

9. Dropkick Murphys - Warrior's Code

8. Tommy Sands - Heart's a Wonder

7. Flogging Molly - Swagger

6. U2 - The Joshua Tree

5. The Wolfe Tones - Greatest Hits

4. The Chieftains - The Long Black Veil

3. The Pogues - The Very Best of The Pogues

2. Van Morrison and the Chieftains - Irish Heartbeat

1. Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy - The Makem & Clancy Collection

Download:
Mick Moloney - "The Irish Volunteers"

Rodrigo y Gabriela: at the Byham tonight; on WYEP this afternoon

As far as I know, tickets are still available for this show tonight, which should be phenomenal.

Her flamenco rhythms against his latin-metal solo lines offer a pulsing melodic blend that's just plain sweet to listen to. Particularly if you're a guitar player or an acoustic music lover, it's pretty much a must-see (with the understanding that there are no real consequences of not seeing it other than not seeing it).

Rumor is they should be stopping by WYEP in the next hour, so you may want to tune in for a listen.