Here Comes The Flood - a weblog about music

photo: HCTF

The main course of the Todd Rundgen concert at Paradiso in Amsterdam was a complete run-through of his A Wizard, A True Star album. It is an album filled to overflowing with musical genres and when it was first released in 1973 technology was pushed to the limit to createe the sounds that are now built into effect pedals, off-the-shelf software and keyboard gizmos.

Rundgren went throught 12 costume changes - his wardrobe being designed by his wife Michelle. With the band playing on risers, he could move around a bit, although he said after the show that it felt being a bit cramped up there: "My main concern was not to fall of the stage". The other shows of the AWATS tour were performed in larger venues.

There were some mics problems during the first songs, especially with the one he used inside the astronaut's suit for the opener International Feel. Highlights were You Don't Have To Camp Around, with Rundgren staring in mock disbelief at a picture of himself in full Seventies regalia and the jumpy Just Another Onionhead. The doo-wop hit a peak during an extended Cool Jerk. When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd and Le Feel Internationale were moved to the end of the set to reprise the album's start. The enocre was Just One Victory, the final AWATS track, which has been his customary last song for longer that he cares to remember.

photo: HCTF

Rundgren took a risk treating the prog rock loving audience to a ten song set of Robert Johnson first, backed by the core of his live band as Todd Rundgren's Johnson. There were some sound problems, the left side of the PA cut in halfway through the second song, and drummer Praire Prince gave the sound guys many a nasty stare. When they settled into a solid blues groove, the crowd gave in and embraced the basic 12-bar blues.

» todd-rundgren.com
» myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic
» awatslive.com

Take cover! The new Peter Gabriel album Scratch My Back is a mixed bag of golden oldies and modern day artist songs. Mainly orchestral and sometimes radically reworked Gabriel tackles the songs with a mixture of glee and respect. The more subdued songs stand out - the melancholic piano and cello add texture to a slowed down version of Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble, and the strings in the Talking Heads' Listening Wind wrap the vocals like a comfy blanket. Pity that I Think it's Going to Rain Today sounds a bit hoarse, like a cleaned up Tom Waits vocal - you can blame engineer Tchad Blake for that perhaps.

Gabriel asked John Metcalfe to lend a hand as an arranger and the influence grand noise producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd's The Wall, Lou Reed's Berlin) can be heard in Mirrorball.

Scratch My Back sounds very much like a Peter Gabriel album. But please let the next one will actually be one.

Scratch My Back is released in the UK and Europe (Feb 15th), Canada (Feb 16) and the USA (March 2nd).

1. Heroes (David Bowie)
2. The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon)
3. Mirrorball (Elbow)
4. Flume (Bon Iver)
5. Listening Wind (Talking Heads)
6. The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed)
7. My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire)
8. The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields)
9. I Think it's Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman)
10. Après Moi (Regina Spektor)
11. Philadelphia (Neil Young)
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out) (Radiohead)

A future deluxe edition come with an extra disc with one non-album track, the Kinks' Waterloo Sunset, and three remixes:

1. The Book of Love (Remix)
2. My Body is a Cage (Oxford London Temple Version)
3. Waterloo Sunset (Oxford London Temple Version)
4. Heroes (Wildbeest Mix)

MP3: Peter Gabriel - Flume
MP3: Real World Podcasts - Scratch My Back
(the stories behind Peter's recordings of Heroes, The Boy In The Bubble, Mirrorball and Flume)

» petergabriel.com

Watch Robbie Williams wow the crowd at Slane Castle, Ireland with Karma Killer: "Needless to say / I guess you know I hate you / You're so full of sin / Even the devil rates you / I hope you choke / On your Bacardi and Coke". It works even better as an acoustic piece.

Gov't Mule
2010/02/06
The Pageant St. Louis, MO

1. intro
2. Blind Man In The Dark
3. Steppin' Lightly
4. Larger Than Life
5. Thorazine Shuffle
6. Gordon James
7. Kind of Bird
8. Inside Outside Woman Blues
9. Brokedown on the Brazos

1. intro
2. Railroad Boy
3. Trane
4. I'll Be The One
5. Madman Across the Water >
6. Drums

1. Since I've Been Loving You
2. Mule
3. E: Don't Let Me Down #
4. Can't You Hear Me Knocking #

* w/ Jackie Greene on guitar & vocals

» Grab your torrent

photo: Heidi Greenwood

Damien DeRose aka Peasant made some waves when he released his On The Ground album in the summer of 2008. On his sophomore release Shady Retreat he sounds more confident, having found his voice and being more adventurous in his arrangements.

Acoustic guitar and piano are still his main instruments. Spicing things up with organ has added another layer to his work. DeRose is evolving into Americana singer who should appeal to the the "in-the-know" crowd and, hopefully, outside that niche too.

Shady Retreat is released on Paper Garden Records. Release date: March 2nd.

1. Thinking
2. The Distance
3. Well Alright
4. The End
5. Pry
6. Prescriptions
7. Into The Woods
8. Tough
9. Hard Times
10. Slow Down

MP3: Peasant - Well Alright

• 02/24 Mercury Lounge (w/ Rocky Votaloto), New York, NY
• 03/11 World Cafe Live (CD release show), Philadelphia, PA
• 03/12 Mad Hatter Club, Covington, KY #
• 03/14 The Rudyard Kipling, Louisville, KY #
• 03/18 Tap Room (Blackbird Booking Official SXSW Showcase), Austin, TX
• 03/20 Howl Interiors Studio (SXSW Paper Garden Unofficial Day Party), Austin, TX
• 03/24 Circle Bar, New Orleans, LA #

# Spring Tour w/ Seedy Seeds

» iampeasant.com
» myspace.com/peasant

photo: Rick Keiner mule.net

Gov't Mule
2010/02/05
Dare 2 Dream Benefit @ House of Blues
Chicago, IL

1. Million Miles From Yesterday
2. Slackjaw Jezebel
3. Gameface
4. Temporary Saint
5. Little Toy Brain
6. Patchwork Quilt
7. Mr. Big
8. Forevermore
9. Wandering Child

1. Maybe I'm Amazed
2. Frozen Fear
3. The Shape I'm In >
4. Monday Mourning Meltdown
5. drums
6. Any Open Window
7. More Trouble Every Day
8. Broke Down On The Brazos
9. crowd & Jackie Greene intro
10. E: Loser *
11. Southern Man *

* w/ Jackie Greene on guitar & vocals

» Grab your torrent

Brooklyn country rockers The Morning Pages will release their full length Rising Rain, the follow-up of the band's 2007 EP The Company You Keep. My Name Is Lion serves as a free taster.

MP3: The Morning Pages - My Name Is Lion

• 03/11 The Living Room, New York, NY

» themorningpages.com
» myspace.com/themorningpages

photo: Rick Keiner mule.net

Gov't Mule
2010/02/04
The Canopy Club
Urbana, IL

1. Bad Little Doggie
2. Steppin' Lightly
3. Brokedown on the Brazos >
4. Doin' It To Death
5. Rocking Horse
6. Banks Of The Deep End
7. Lively Up Yourself
8. Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home
9. Thorazine Shuffle

1. Railroad Boy
2. When Doves Cry >
3. Beautifully Broken >
4. When Doves Cry >
5. Beautifully Broken >
6. Creep
7. Effigy >
8. Folsom Prison Blues Jam >
9. Drums >
10. Folsom Prison Blues Jam >
11. Effigy
12. Kings Highway
13. I'm A Ram >
14. Mule >
15. Jungle Boogie Jam >
16. I've Been Workin' >
17. Mule
18. E: callback
19. Sugaree*
20. After Midnight*

* w/ Jackie Greene

» Grab your torrent

Nashville based John Jorgenson is one of the world's greatest gypsy jazz guitarists, keeping the music of Django Reinhardt alive. A composer is his own right he is releasing two albums simultaneously.. One Stolen Night was made with his regular quintet, Istiqbal Gathering with the Orchestra Nashville, conducted by his long time musical friend Paul Gambill.

One Stolen Night
Europe in the Twnties and Thirties is brought back is a rollikcing cavalcade of guitar pickings, teh bulk of the material penned buy Jorgenson. Straw hats and summer come to mind with the joyous opener Red on Red and a swagger is in order for Slide Sister Slide. Violin player Jason Anick takes charger for Mediterranean Blues.

The covers, like the slow jazz take of Grieg's Norwegian Dance and the respectful rendering of Reinhardt's Hungaria are pretty good, but it feels that the mujsicains are afraird of taking risks and cutting corners to mke them truely thier own. The bonus tracks were first released on a 2008 compilation CD of patrons of the London venue Le Quecumbar, the only dedicated gypsy jazz venue in the world.

John Jorgenson: guitar
Jason Anick: violin
Doug Martin: guitar
Simon Planting: bass
Rick Reed: drums

1. Red on Red
2. Slide Sister Slide
3. One Stolen Night
4. Mediterranean Blues
5. Souvenirs des Nos Peres
6. Billet Doux
7. Kentucky Kastrinos
8. Norwegian Dance
9. Bella Ella
10. Hungaria
    Bonus Tracks:
11. Istiqbal Solo
12. Dark Romance

MP3: John Jorgerson - Bella Ella

Istiqbal Gathering
Jorsgenson alwys wanted to do a piece for gypsy guitar and orchestra, a rare feat that he puled off with arranger and composer Don Hart (he worked with Phish main man Trey Anastasio) and Orchestra Nashville conductor Paul Gambill. The three piece suite Concerto Glasso kicks of with a war cry of sorts - Roma Arise is the slogan chosen for the World Romany Congress, but the second movement Seaside Waltzreally works - the strings give Jorgenson a lift.

The short Dieter's Lounge is humming like a contended bee, mainly thanks to the addition of the Turtle Island Quarter, who stick around for Groove in the Louvre. Ending the album with an extended orchestrated take of his solo composition Istiqbal Gathering one wishes that this collaboration is the start of fruitful musical relationship.

1. Concerto Glasso
   1. Roma Arise
   2. Seaside Waltz
   3. Tarantella and Reverie
2. Dieter's Lounge
3. Groove in the Louvre
4. Istiqbal Gathering

MP3: John Jorgerson and Orchestra Nashville - Dieter's Lounge

One Stolen Night and Istiqbal Gathering are released his own label J2 records. Buy them from his website.

» johnjorgenson.com

photo: Rick Keiner mule.net

Gov't Mule
2010/02/03
The Rave
Milwaukee, WI

1. Brand New Angel
2. Broke Down on the Brazos
3. Lay Your Burden Down
4. Endless Parade
5. Birth of The Mule
6. She Said, She Said >
7. Tomorrow Never Knows jam (w/ Day Tripper tease)
8. Time to Confess (w/ Les Brers in A Minor tease)
9. Driving Rain

1. Far Away
2. Inside Outside Woman Blues #3
3. Any Open Window
4. Left Coast Groovies
5. drums
6. Brighter Days
7. Like Flies (q. Burn)
8. Ain't No Sunshine >
9. Blind Man in the Dark
10. E: Frozen Fear
11. Soulshine

» Grab your torrent

photo: Henk Otte

It's hard to pin down the sound of Dutch quintet John Coffey. They come out swinging with three borderline hardcore songs on their new album Vanity before embarking on Soundgarden alike instrumental ditty called A Final Leap Ahead whcih serves as abridge for a string of three poppy rock songs pushed forward by chugging bass lines and subtle vocal harmonies, especially the exquisite Fingers and Knives.

Hardcore vocals and pop clash for ...Meanwhile, at the Dog Track, a foreboding of the sonic assault of the vocal chords ripping Wreckage and Scars after which the slow march of Walls of Infintiy brings the album to close. "Have you ever created something beautiful? And then shot it to pieces?" is what they offer as an explanation. And it fits for the raw beauty for this collection of songs. After two EPs and the one-off Dead Kennedys cover Holiday in Cambodia John Coffey have turned into a musical melting pot that is hot and steamy.

John Coffey:
Art van Triest: vocals, keyboards
Alfred van Luttikhuizen: guitar, backing vocals
Carsten Brunsveld: drums
Richard van Luttikhuizen: bass, backing vocals
Twan Eikelenboom: guitar

Vanity is released on Sally Forth Records. A limited edition of 1000 copies will be released with real bullet holes.

1. Smashing 90s
2. Dear Thomas Schell, It was a pleasure meeting you
3. VANITY (got shot in the eye last night)
4. A Final Leap Ahead
5. Stephan's Children
6. Fingers and Knives
7. Vehicle
8. ...Meanwhile, at the Dog Track
9. Wreckage and Scars
10. Walls of Infinity

• 03/0 The Vic Inn (w/ Through Solace), Derby, UK
• 03/06 The Golden Cross (w/ Through Solace), Coventry, UK
• 03/13 Vera Downstage - w/RAVENS Groningen, The Netherlands
• 03/26 Winston - ROARfest w/Noyalty/Bound in Blood Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 04/05 OJC Walhalla - Prilpop Sevenum, The Netherlands
• 04/30 De Bliksem - Crossover Royale, Den Helder, The Netherlands
• 06/18 NDRGRND (w/ Ten Page Pilot), Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• 06/19 The Rambler (w/ Ten Page Pilot), Eindhoven, The Netherlands
• 07/10 Saxstock, Frauenhein, Germany
• 07/16 J-Rock, Kramfors, Sweden
• 07/29 Freakstock, Borgentreich, Germany

Video: John Coffey - Vanity (got shot in the eye last night)
Video: John Coffey - Wreckage and Scars
MP3: John Coffey - Holiday in Cambodia

» johncoffey.nl

Watch Bim Skala Bim take on Brain Damage, the Pink Floyd classic written by Roger Waters.

» bimska.com

(Thanks: Triple-B)

Progressive groove outfit U-Melt have announced a massive tour promoting their forthcoming album Perfect World. The release party is a hometown show at The Bowery Ballroom in New York:

• 02/12 Castaway’s, Ithaca, NY
• 02/13 Nietzsche’s, Buffalo, NY
• 02/18 The Wheelhouse, Narragansett, RI
• 02/19 The North Star, Philadelphia, PA
• 02/20 The Bowery Ballroom, NY, NY (album release tarty)
• 02/25 8×10 Club, Baltimore, MD
• 02/26 Fri Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg, PA
• 02/27 Harpers Ferry, Allston, MA
• 03/04 Nectar’s, Burlington, VT
• 03/05 Revolution Hall, Troy, NY
• 03/06 Westcott Theatre, Syracuse, NY
• 03/24 Pour House Music Hall Raleigh, NC
• 03/25 The Emerald Lounge Asheville, NC
• 03/26 Double Door Inn Charlotte, NC
• 03/27 Smiths Olde Bar Atlanta, GA
• 03/31 Plush Tucson, AZ
• 04/01 Goat Head Saloon Mesa, AZ
• 04/02 Winston's, San Diego, CA
• 04/03 The Mint, Los Angeles, CA
• 04/04 The Connecticut Yankee, San Francisco, CA
• 04/05 Crystal Bay Club (Red Room), Crystal Bay, NV
• 04/07 Hodi’s Half Note, Ft. Collins, CO
• 04/08 University of CO, Boulder, CO (early show)
• 04/09 Quixote’s, Denver, CO
• 04/10 Quixote’s, Denver, CO
• 04/11 Old Town Pub, Steamboat Springs, CO
• 04/14 Old Rock House, St. Louis, MO
• 04/16 Reggies Rock Club, Chicago, IL
• 04/17 Otto’s, Dekalb, IL

MP3: U-Melt - 415
MP3: U-Melt - Air

» umelt.com