Issued recently by Eagle Vision, Going Home is possibly the closest thing to a definitive bio yet on the West Coast troubadour.

By Lee Zimmerman

Jackson Browne never seems to go out of style. The virtual innovator of the West Coast singer/songwriter idiom, he's survived long after many of his offspring have been forgotten. Even when politics took hold off his muse in seemingly unshakable ways, Browne's music has retained its indelible bonds - the heartbreak, the tragedy and the triumph all laid bare, and often painfully so. Never mind the fact that 40 years have barely intruded on his boyish good looks or that constant reminders of his legacy still linger - in archival recordings, live sessions, books, constant touring and video documentaries like Going Home. The latter resembles the closest thing to a definitive bio, an exhaustive yet introspective glance into Browne's songwriting, his means of tapping into his inner soul and his various musical associations. The narrative is spoken by the subject himself and those who have been closest to him throughout his prodigious career - among them, the ever faithful David Lindley, mentors David Crosby and Graham Nash, and at least one individual who first benefited from his ample song stash, Don Henley.

Nearly two-dozen live performances and several candid, behind the scene sequences form the soundtrack for this profound 90-minute overview, with the concert footage sometimes splicing together footage from various decades literally without missing a beat. One moment, we have the baby-faced Browne, looking innocent and reserved in black and white photos plucked from another era, and in the next frame, there's today's stoic troubadour, channeling his past and shedding light on his idyllic origins. The live shots are still riveting even now, and most, like an onstage appearance with the Eagles in 1974, Browne and Lindley's two man take on "Take It Easy," or clips from the all-star MUSE concerts, give the impression not of simply looking longingly at the past, but of still basking joyfully in the present. Candid, up close and personal, Going Home demonstrates the captivating essence of Browne's songs, their ability to rouse the senses and stir the spirit.

Ultimately, for anyone who loves music that's melodic and pure, Going Home is an inspiring journey, and a touching tribute besides.

Due in January, it was funded via fan donations through PledgeMusic.

By Blurt Staff

Gang Of Four - founding members Jon King (vocals & melodica) and Andy Gill (guitar & vocals), plus Thomas McNeice (bass) and Mark Heaney (drums) - are set to release their first album of all-new material in 16 years on Jan. 25. Bearing the semantically-provocative title Content and described as keying off "the simple but tough and loud sound of drums, guitar, bass and vocals," it'll arrive courtesty the venerable Yep Roc label.

"What we're trying to do is keep it totally stripped down, where everyone in the band makes an equally intense contribution," says King. "What I've been thrilled by over the years is that our music still seems to make sense to our audiences, however old they are, and these days they're mostly under 30.

"They tell us that our music means something, that it makes them want to go start a band. That amazes me. I would never have imagined when we started off that we would have this impact after such a long time."

The album was written by King and Gill, and recorded and produced by Gill. The band also partially funded the recording by tapping the fan-sourced utilities offered by PledgeMusic (similar to IndieGoGo or Kickstarter). "We've always said that musicians should get reasonably paid for what we do," King tells writer Ron Hart, in the new issue of BLURT, in a story about grassroots fund-raising by musicians. "But the new model-where music is shared and downloaded for nothing, where traditional record companies are doomed but where technology-based intermediaries like Apple, who don't invest a cent in talent and are making almost all the money-means that it's no longer possible to earn any money from recorded music."

The album will be available in a standard CD release and on vinyl. It will also be available in the Ultimate Content Can - this contains the new album on CD, a book version of an art piece Jon and Andy have done on ceramic tiles depicting the last 40 years of world history, a book of lyrics, a book of Rotoscoped photographs of the band's emotions, phials of band members' blood and a scratch and sniff booklet which reflects the key areas of human activity. 

Career-spanning collection dips all the way back to pre-Experience days.

By Blurt Staff

Arriving Nov. 16 from Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix LLC: West Coast Seattle Boy - The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, featuring more than four hours of rare and previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix music on a 5 Disc (4 CD/1 DVD) deluxe box set.

The career-spanning box set tracks Hendrix's journey from little known R&B sideman to international stardom through an unprecedented assemblage of previously unavailable recordings.  West Coast Seattle Boy is not a collection of existing Jimi Hendrix albums but instead 45 unreleased Jimi Hendrix live and studio recordings including demos and alternate versions of songs from Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love, and Electric Ladyland. West Coast Seattle Boy includes Hendrix's never before heard version of Bob Dylan's 'Tears Of Rage," solo acoustic recordings of Electric Ladyland favorites like "Long Hot Summer Night" and "1983 (A Merman I Shall Turn To Be)" as well as never before heard live performances from Berkeley and the legendary Band Of Gypsys Fillmore East concert on New Year's Eve 1969 combined together with such new Hendrix songs as "Hear My Freedom," "Hound Dog Blues," "Lonely Avenue" and more.

Include are demos, alternate takes, live concert jewels and more -- from all phases of the artist's recording career (1964 -1970). In particular, it offers the most complete collection of Jimi's pre-Experience R&B performances (including his singles with the Isley Brothers, Little Richard, Don Covay, King Curtis and more) to ever be officially anthologized, while bringing together the most comprehensive set of fully realized songs, never before heard live performances, alternate studio takes, acoustic and electric demos, and other rarities. See the tracklisting for the four CDs, below.

It also includes Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child, a new 90 minute documentary directed by  Grammy-winning Bob Smeaton (Beatles Anthology, Festival Express, Beatles: The Studio Recordings, Band of Gypsys).  An autobiographical journey told in the musician's own words as read by Parliament-Funkadelic's Bootsy Collins, the film incorporates interviews with Hendrix, coupled with the artist's letters, writings and recordings. The documentary features some of Jimi's greatest performances as well as rare and never before seen footage and photos including, for the first time ever, examples from the Hendrix family archive of the late guitarist's personal drawings, postcards home to his father, song drafts, sketches, and lyrics.

In a statement, Janie Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix and co-producer of the box, said, "Who better to tell the incredible story of a man's life than the man himself? Jimi was amazing and only his music, with tones and textures that he conjured, can capture the colorful and expansive essence of his time here on earth.  I am enthralled with this all-encompassing new anthology which not only illuminates his years on both sides of the Atlantic and beautifully reveals his versatility as a performer, from his R&B origins to his explosion on the pop culture scene, but highlights who he was for those who knew and loved him. This vast exploration of my brother's musical and life experiences leaves no stone unturned and is sure to broaden our understanding of who Jimi really was, not only as a legendary musician, but also as a timeless messenger of love."

Also arriving on November 16 from the artist Rolling Stone magazine called "the greatest guitarist of all time" are deluxe editions of Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions and Jimi Hendrix: Blues, his legendary Live At Woodstock performance, and Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year, the highly collectible Jimi Hendrix Christmas EP.

A single disc "Best Of" edition of West Coast Seattle Boy - The Jimi Hendrix Anthology will be available, with or without the Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child DVD documentary.  West Coast Seattle Boy will also be available in a deluxe edition featuring 8 12" vinyl LPs.

Included on Disc One are the early years:

1. Isley Brothers - Testify (1964)                                                                       

2. Don Covay & the Goodtimers - Mercy, Mercy (1964 - #1 Cashbox R&B - #35 Billboard Hot 100)                                                                                   

3. Don Covay & the Goodtimers - Can't Stay Away (1964)                                              

4. Rosa Lee Brooks - My Diary (1965 - written by Arthur Lee)

5. Rosa Lee Brooks - Utee (1965)                                                                                     

6. Little Richard - I Don't Know What You Got But It's Got Me (1965)

7. Little Richard - Dancing All Around The World (1965)                       

8. Frank Howard & The Commanders - I'm So Glad (1966 - written by Billy Cox)           

9. Isley Brothers - Move Over And Let Me Dance (1965)                                               

10. Isley Brothers - Have You Ever Been Disappointed (1965)                                      

11. Ray Sharpe - Help Me (Get The Feeling) (Part I) (1966)                                          

12. The Icemen - (My Girl) She's A Fox (1966)                                                           

13. Jimmy Norman - That Little Old Groovemaker (1966)                                              

14. Billy Lamont - Sweet Thang (1968)                       

15. King Curtis - Instant Groove (1969)

Disc Two focuses on 1967-68 and Hendrix's breakout sessions with the Jimi Hendrix Experience:

1. Fire  (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

2. Are You Experienced (1967)  - Previously Unreleased Recording

3. May This Be Love (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

4. Can You See Me (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

5. Love Or Confusion  (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

6. Little One (1967) - Previously Unreleased Recording (featuring Dave Mason on sitar)

7. Mr. Bad Luck (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

8. Cat Talking To Me (1967) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

9. Castles Made Of Sand (1967) - Previously Unreleased Recording

10. Tears Of Rage (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

11. Hear My Train A Comin' (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

12. 1983 (A Merman I Shall Turn To Be) (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

13. Long Hot Summer Night (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

14. My Friend (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

15. Angel (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

16. Calling All The Devil's Children (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

17. New Rising Sun (1968) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

Disc Three revisits 1968-1969:

1. Hear My Freedom (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

2. Room Full Of Mirrors (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

3. Shame, Shame, Shame (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

4. Messenger (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

5. Hound Dog Blues (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

6. Untitled Basic Track  (1968) - Previously Unreleased Recording

7. Star Spangled Banner (1969) - Previously Unreleased Original Mix

8. Purple Haze (1969) - Previously Unreleased Original Mix

9. Young/Hendrix (1969) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

10. Mastermind (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

11. Message To Love (1969) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

12. Fire (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

13. Foxey Lady (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

Disc Four opens with Hendrix's incendiary New Year's Eve performance of "Stone Free" at New York's Fillmore East on December 31, 1969 and closes with a previously unheard recording from Hendrix alone in his Greenwich Village apartment in 1970:

1. Stone Free (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

2. Burning Desire (1970) - Previously Unreleased Recording

3. Lonely Avenue (1969) - Previously Unreleased Recording

4. Everlasting First (1970) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording (featuring Arthur Lee)

5. Freedom (1970) - Previously Unreleased Recording

6. Peter Gunn/Catastrophe (1970) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

7. In From The Storm (1970) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

8. All God's Children  (1970) - Previously Unreleased Recording

9. Red House (1970) -  Previously Unreleased Recording

10. Play That Riff [Thank You] (1970) - Previously Unreleased Recording

11. Bolero (1970) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

12. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) - Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording

13. Suddenly November Morning (1970) - Previously Unreleased Recording

Meanwhile, let us offer you some of Keenan's wine tips...

By Blurt Staff

A Perfect Circle have returned from their self-imposed hiatus.  The band, led by Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer) and Billy Howerdel (Ashes Divide), will embark on a five-city tour this fall (dates and ticket on-sale information will be announced shortly - keep checking the band's official website).

Shows in Phoenix (Marquee Theatre), Los Angeles (Avalon), Seattle (Showbox at The Market) and San Francisco (The Fillmore) will be three-night stops with each night featuring one of A Perfect Circle's three albums in its entirety (Mer de Noms, Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVe).  Las Vegas (The Pearl) will be a two-night outing (Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step).  

The band will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Oct. 27.

A Perfect Circle have sold four million records in the U.S.  After the band announced their hiatus in 2005, Keenan focused on Tool , launched the multimedia project Puscifer and worked on his burgeoning Arizona vineyards. 

Read the recent BLURT interview with Keenan about his vineyards, his winery and his drinking and eating tips here.

 Howerdel went on to form Ashes Divide who released their debut album, Keep Telling Myself It's Alright, in 2008.

Blurt shutterbug Scott Dudelson attended the September 4 FYF Fest at Los Angeles State Historic Park in Los Angeles and we've got a selection of his photos, below. (You can also check out Dudelson's photoblog for BLURT elsewhere on our site.)

(above) Thee Oh Sees

Ariel Pink

!!!

7 Seconds

AA Bondy

Abe Vigoda

Best Coast

Ceremony

Cults

Davila 666

Dead Man's Bones

Let's Wrestle

Local Natives

Lower Dens

Man Man

Mountain Goats

Off!

Screaming Females

Ted Leo

The Blow

The Growlers

The Rapture

The Sleep

The Soft Pack

The Unbroken

Warpaint

Flamin' Groovies, Jim Jones Revue, Henry Gray, Duane Eddy, SugarPie De Santo, Thee Midniters, Red Simpson, The Trashmen, Honeyboy Edwards, Lazy Lester, LaLa Brooks of the Crystals, Roy Head, Barbara Lynn, DL Menard and more. Plus a music history conference to boot. Sweet!

By Blurt Staff

The 9th Annual Ponderosa Stomp Festival bum-rushes the fall  after eight years of spring events, and fans are marking their calendars on the 24th & 25th of this month.The Ponderosa Stomp throws down in its 9th year with an incredible array of performers. The line up represents American music's expansive range of genres, from twangy guitar genius to bold, sassy R&B, Chicano rock, primal garage, truckin' anthems, Southern soul, blues, Cajun, swamp pop and rockabilly.

Duane Eddy, SugarPie De Santo, Thee Midniters, Red Simpson, The Trashmen, Honeyboy Edwards, Lazy Lester, LaLa Brooks of the Crystals, Roy Head, Barbara Lynn and Cajun genius D.L. Menard will lead the charge.

They are joined by R&B singer Wendy Rene, Texas rockabilly guitarist Huelyn Duvall, New Orleans' Joe Clay, the swamp pop masters Harry Anselmi, Leroy Martin, Vin Bruce blues shouters Young Jessie and Tommy Brown, New Orleans R&B singers Wallace Johnson and Willie West, Lil Buck and the Top Cats, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Johnnie Allan,  Doug Ardoin & Bert Miller, Joyce Harris, Sammy Ridgley, Deke Dickerson and his Eccofonics, Michael Hurtt and his Haunted Hearts, Eve and the Exiles and Homer Henderson.

Concurrently, during the day there will be the American music history conference, presented in partnership with the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame & Museum and the Louisiana State Museum, at the beautiful Cabildo in Jackson Square, in which the great producers, iconoclastic performers, journalists and notable music figures speak on panels and oral histories. This year interviewees include Duane Eddy, Thee Midniters, Ronnie Spector, The Trashmen, Gloria Jones, Roy Head and Dave Bartholomew among others. The historians Holly George-Warren and John Broven is on board; acclaimed journalists like Ann Powers and Chris Morris join the experts from the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame to handle the interviews. Also, an exhibit, curated by The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, "The Secret History of Louisiana Rock ‘n' Roll" is on display at the museum as well. Outside the Cabildo is a record show, for those who'd like to pick up some new albums.

This year's Clandestine Celluloid film series moves to One Eyed Jacks, a few blocks from the Music History Conference being held in the Cabildo in Jackson Square.  The two-day series, with filmmakers Les Blank, Bradley Beesley and others in attendance,  includes the first ever public screening of "It's What's Happening, Baby!, a 1965 TV special hosted by the infamous East Coast DJ Murray the K, a sneak preview of the film-in-progress "Bayou Maharajah" about New Orleans piano legend James Booker, "Hot Pepper", the story of Clifton Chenier , and some extremely clandestine films that have been scarcely seen and hotly pursued by those who have heard the whispers.  

To open the Stomp this year, there will be a performance and interview with bluesman Henry Gray at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on Thursday. Sunday, the Stomp throws an afterparty with Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan of the Flamin' Groovies w/ The A-Bones and the Jim Jones Revue at One Eyed Jacks in the quarter. This is a can't-miss opportunity to experience the principals of the Flamin' Groovies on stage together.

For more information on Ponderosa Stomp:

http://www.ponderosastomp.com/ponderosa_stomp_9.php

http://www.ponderosastomp.com/ponderosa_stomp_music_conference.php

Gee, TMZ got their information wrong - who'd a thunk it!

By Fred Mills

Don't believe everything you read on TMZ.com - and certainly, if you're a responsible media outlet or news aggregator, don't be in a rush to repost what TMZ's staff of mouth breathers puts up on the web.

Yesterday afternoon the music and entertainment worlds were all a-twitter (literally and figuratively) over the news that TMZ posted regarding Lou Reed making singer Susan Boyle cry on Wednesday after he purportedly refused to let her do his classic song "Perfect Day" on the TV show America's Got Talent. According to TMZ, the show's producers needed the actual songwriter's permission, and he turned them down "because he isn't a Boyle fan... When Boyle found out, she dissolved into tears -- unprepared to change her tune for the show. We're told Boyle went to LAX this afternoon -- still in tears -- and is catching a flight back to London."

Not so fast, kids: Anybody with even a rudimentary knowledge of how music publishing and performance clearance works can spot the fuzzy math in that equation. Indeed, by Wednesday night Reed's reps were informing Access Hollywood that Reed "was not the reason Boyle was unable to perform" the song, according to a report at MercuryNews.com. Boyle had apparently only rehearsed that one song, but writes Mercury News, "Reed's reps said that because of a glitch, the song was not cleared for the American market in time for the show, something that had nothing to do with the former Velvet Underground member. The song was cleared for use in the U.K."

Announcing the latest installment in our "Play For Today" series of video game reviews. This time out we take on Batman: The Brave and the Bold The Videogame, Disney Guilty Party, Ace Combat Joint Assault, Metroid: Other M. Incidentally, don't miss the debut of "Play For Today - The Print Version" in the Fall 2010 issue of BLURT, due on newsstands in mid September.

 By Blurt Staff

Head over to BLURT blogger Aaron Burgess' "Play For Today" blog - he's just posted some action-packed (term used relatively and literally) reviews of a slew of more top-rated games. Included are his own ratings plus screenshots - like the ones below - and trailers. Game on!

(above) Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Disney Guilty Party

Ace Combat Joint Assault

Metroid: Other M

Hello, Chain Gang fans! All the bands you know and love, quite a few you forgot about or (depending on your age) never even heard of, and a fistful of poker chips just to hedge your bets.

By Fred Mills

You already heard the news about Matador Records throwing themselves a 21^st birthday party in Las Vegas on Oct. 1-3 - the one that prompted the "classic era" Guided By Voices to reunite - and last week the label also published the final schedule for the event, which now includes Liz Phair, the Clean, Times New Viking, Perfume Genius, and Esben & the Witch on the bill.

So yesterday Matador made another, possibly even more tantalizing, announcement: Sept. 28 will see the release of a massive limited edition box set, Matador at 21, which as you might imagine is a chronicle of the label's history to date, going all the way back to 1989. It's a six-disc box with one CD devoted to live performances recorded professionally at the label's 10^th anniversary concerts in NYC in 1999.

According to Matador: "The set comes in a blue-grey foil-stamped linen-bound box. The six CDs sit in custom digipaks. An 85-page perfect-bound book documents the history of the label with essays, photos, ephemera, emails and more. In addition, the box holds 36 custom Matador poker chips in three values." There will also be a 2LP set containing the tracks on disc 5, "Matador Today," comprising material from 2008 to the present. See the full tracklistings for all six CDs below.

Sales of the box will be donated to three charities: The Jane Addams Hull House Association, the Ali Forney Center and the Heart Institute at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. (Full details at the Matador box set link listed above.)

DISC 1 - THE PRE-DAWN (1989-1992)

1. Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
2. H.P. Zinker - Dancing Days
3. Superchunk - Slack Motherfucker
4. Dustdevils - Throw the Bottle Full
5. Railroad Jerk - These Streets
6. Come - Fast Piss Blues
7. Bettie Serveert - Kid's Alright
8. Chain Gang - Cut Off The Drug Czar's Head
9. Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - More Glee
10. Unsane - This Town
11. Circle X - Compression of the Species
12. Toiling Midgets - Mr. Foster's Shoes
13. Bailter Space - The Today Song
14. Pavement - Perfume-V

DISC TWO - THE YEARS OF MILK AND HONEY (1993-1995)

1. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Afro
2. Yo La Tengo - Big Day Coming
3. Railroad Jerk - The Ballad of Railroad Jerk
4. Helium - Superball
5. Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child
6. Liz Phair - Mesmerizing
7. Pavement - Silence Kit
8. Guided By Voices - Game Of Pricks
9. 18th Dye - Whole Wide World
10. Chavez - Peeled Out Too Late
11. Come - String
12. Moonshake - Secondhand Clothes
13. Guitar Wolf - Midnight Violence Rock'n Roll
14. San Francisco Seals - Back Again
15. Bardo Pond - Rumination

DISC 3: DAYS OF WHISKEY AND TEARS (1996-2001)

1. Boards Of Canada - Telephasic Workshop
2. Spoon - Waiting For The Kid To Come Out
3. Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater
4. Chavez - You Must Be Stopped
5. Silkworm - Tarnished Angel
6. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Flavor Part 1 (Beck)
7. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Flavor Part 2 (Mike D)
8. Pole - Fliegen
9. Cat Power - American Flag
10. Belle & Sebastian - We Rule The School
11. Mogwai - Helps Both Ways
12. Arsonists - Backdraft
13. Large Professor - ‘Bout That Time
14. Cornelius - Tone Twilight Zone
15. burger/ink - Flesh & Blood
16. Pavement - You Are A Light
17. Arab Strap - Blood
18. Matmos - L.A.S.I.K

DISC FOUR: DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK (2002-2007)

1. Interpol - Hands Away
2. Cat Power - He War
3. Yo La Tengo - Today Is The Day
4. The New Pornographers - From Blown Speakers
5. Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp
6. Dead Meadow - Good Moanin'
7. Mogwai - Kids Will Be Skeletons
8. Mission Of Burma - The Setup
9. Early Man - Death Is The Answer
10. Belle & Sebastian - Dress Up In You
11. Pretty Girls Make Graves - All Medicated Geniuses
12. Cat Power - Love & Communication
13. Shearwater - Johnny Viola
14. Brightblack Morning Light - Everybody Daylight
15. Lavender Diamond - You Broke My Heart
16. Jennifer O'Connor - Tonight We Ride
16. Earles & Jensen - Just Farr A Laugh: The Yogurt Machine
17. Stephen Malkmus - Discretion Grove

DISC FIVE: MATADOR TODAY (2008 - )

1. Fucked Up - Son The Father
2. Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster
3. Kurt Vile - Amplifier
4. Yo La Tengo - Nothing to Hide
5. Jay Reatard - There Is No Sun
6. Times New Viking - Move To California
7. Harlem - Friendly Ghost
8. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Bottled In Cork
9. The New Pornographers - My Shepherd
10. Cold Cave - Youth and Lust
11. Interpol - Summer Well
12. Shearwater - Castaways
13. Esben and the Witch - Marching Song
14. Girls - Lust For Life
15. Magic Kids - Superball
16. Delorean - Stay Close
17. Cat Power - Metal Heart
18. Perfume Genius - Learning
19. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash

DISC SIX: UNRELEASED LIVE RECORDINGS FROM THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERTS, NEW YORK CITY, SEPTEMBER 1999

1. Pavement - Here (Live 1999)
2. Pavement - Trigger Cut (Live 1999)
3. Pavement - The Hexx (Live 1999)
4. Pavement - She Believes (Live 1999)
5. Pavement - Unfair (Live 1999)
6. Pavement - Zurich Is Stained (Live 1999)
7. Pavement - Debris Slide (Live 1999)
8. Pavement - Spit On A Stranger (Live 1999)
9. Come - New Coats (Live 1999)
10. Bardo Pond - Walking Stick Man (Live 1999)
11. Bardo Pond - Tommy Gun Angel (Live 1999)
12. Cat Power - Good Woman (Live 1999)
13. Cat Power - Naked, If I Want To (Live 1999)
14. Cat Power - You May Know Him / Sea Of Love (Live 1999)
15. Mogwai - Ex-Cowboy (Live 1999)

The Windy City boys come breezing into Northampton's Iron Horse on September 6, part rocket science and part just plain rock.

Photos & text by Jennifer Kelly

Tortoise -- the five-person, instrument-switching, jazz-rock-fusion band out of Chicago that single-handedly launched post-rock -- has just kicked "High Class Slim Came Floatin' In" up a notch. Two drummers, Dan Bitney and John Herndon face off on kits set back to back, playing syncopated rhythms that move in and out of phase with each other, now an identical beat doubled, now two intersecting cadences that fill in each other's spaces and dot each other's "I"s. John McEntire is up on the multiple-tiered keyboard synth set, while Doug McCombs settles into a groove in the back. For now, guitar-bass-keyboard player Jeff Lewis is picking out a melody on a keyboard in the back, but don't get too comfortable. When the song's over, everyone will change places. It would be remarkable if the band's five members were this good on #one# instrument. Instead, they're adept at three or four.

Before Tortoise, openers Ben Vida and Greg Davis led the audience through a fascinating display of electronic experimentation, all three principals (not sure who the third guy was) hunched over circuit boards massed with wires and adorned with red, green, blue and yellow flashing lights. To play them, they constantly plugged and unplugged wires into various holes, turned dials and flicked switches. It was hard to say who was doing what, really, until the sound thinned out and you saw that Greg Davis was creating the deep pounding sound, Vida adding higher, blippier accents overtop. The sound was rhythmic, machine like, sometimes grindingly heavy, others playful, syncopated and lighter. We got there in the middle of what appeared to be one long improvisation, and as the mechanical sounds died down, it was time for Tortoise.

Tortoise is still touring 2009's Beacons of Ancestorship, and leading off "High Class Slim", they turn to the very different, very lyrical "Charteroak Foundation," with Lewis spinning out serene runs of notes on his guitar over a hard, cymbal-heavy beat. Talking to Bitney last year, he said he thought the new material better reflected their rougher, grittier live presence than previous albums. And, in fact, in the live setting, Tortoise's music turns surprisingly visceral, physical even, despite its obvious complexity. Bodies are moving, more or less in time with Tortoise's difficult rhythms. During one cut, I start counting to try to figure out what time signature the band is working in and end up with a tentative 8/9. Yet though the beat is non-linear and, indeed, almost disorientingly off the four-square, you can't help trying to dance to it.

Piles of gear are crowded onto the small stage - guitars, drum sets, basses, keyboards, xylophones - and space is so tight that one large vibraphone-ish instrument has been set down in the space just to the right of the stage. When Herndon goes to play it, no one can hear him. You can see Lewis and McCombs shaking their heads, and Herndon whacking the bars with ever more force. Finally, during the break, they ask for more vibe in the monitor. "It just sounds like the Ramones without it," someone says.

Ramones?  Not really. But it does sound way more propulsive and rock than you might expect, if you've cut your teeth on Tortoise's earlier, more tranquil materials. "Yinxianghechengqi" from the newest record, explodes off the stage, in a driving, distorted haze. "I Set My Face to the Hillside" from TNT is more subdued, though still rhythmic, paced by Latin-sounding shaken percussion. There's a groove going on here, people on stage thumping bass lines and slapping tambourines and, in a cerebral, many-years-of-training kind of way, letting loose.

You might think, from the records, that seeing Tortoise live would be good for you, interesting, intellectually absorbing, a difficult pleasure. They are, but they're also a great, fun rock band, even if they do play in time signatures invented by rocket scientists.