The Felice Brothers
Spiegelworld’s 2008 season drew to a close on Sunday, with performances from country and bluegrass tinged The Felice Brothers and Deer Tick.
Rhode Island natives Deer Tick played first, and warmed up the crowd (who were shivering after waiting in a loooooong line until 10:30ish). The band’s southern bluesy rock tunes and sense of humor were embraced, and they even ended their set with a cover of Santo & Johnny’s classic ‚”Sleepwalkin’” which segued into ‚”La Bamba.” The crowd cheered eagerly as they chugged pumpkin ale and sang along.
Next up were headliners The Felice Brothers, whose sound is more in line with rootsy bluegrass proper. The eclectic group worked well with the vaudeville feel of the venue, allowing themselves to be sloppy and ragged at times, but certainly more fixed when needed. And as The Felice Brothers’ harmonicas and organs squealed, the audience danced and stomped – so much so that at times it felt like Spiegeltent might end up collapsing into the East River. The fans especially lit up for raucous songs like ‚”Whiskey in My Whiskey” and ‚”Helen Fry,” but these were also complimented by more tender tracks such as ‚”Mercy.”
Sure, they get flack for sounding a hell of a lot like Bob Dylan and The Band, among other monoliths – but last night The Felice Brothers put on a lively show, and their fans devoured it whole. See you next year, Speigelworld!

The Felice Brothers


The Felice Brothers


Deer Tick


Deer Tick

All photos c/o Clarissa Roudabush

Image c/o Monkeytown
I’m sure you are all fully aware that tomorrow is Election Day. What you may not know is that Monkeytown will play host to Excepter’s ‚”Election Day Protest”. A 16-hour endurance piece, the performance will begin at 8am and end at midnight.
Founding member John Fell Ryan was kind enough to answer some questions and shed some light on the project’s conception, preview the accompanying visuals, and touch upon the role protest plays when you’re an artist.
If you are unable to make it out to Monkeytown, you can catch the live webcast on Excepter’s site.
How was the Election Day Protest conceived, and what is its goal?
The initial goal of the Election Day project was to do a long, multi-hour piece. There aren’t many opportunities for extended performances in the current music environment; so we aim to make the most of our luck to be able to do this.
Read more after the jump.

(more…)

Happy November 1st, readers!
We’re only a few hours in, but it’s already shaping up to be a glorious month, so here’s a November Mix for your audio pleasure. It’s a sampling of noteworthy and recent releases, as well as a few tracks from forthcoming records that will hit stores in the next few weeks.
Enjoy!

1. I’m From Barcelona – “Headphones”

2. Starfucker – “Florida”

3. Action Painters – “456″

4. Frida Hyv√∂nen ‚Äì “My Cousin” (from the album ‚”Silence is Wild,” to be released Nov. 4th)

5. Wild Sweet Orange – “Tilt”

6. Ray LaMontagne – “Sarah”

7. Wilderness ‚Äì ‚”High Nero” (from the album ‚”(k)no(w)here,” to be released Nov. 4th)

8. Lucky Dragons – “I Keep Waiting for Earthquakes”

9. Times New Viking – “Pagan Eyes”

10. The XYZ Affair – “All My Friends”

11. Au Revoir Simone ‚Äì ‚”Sad Song ‚Äì Pacific mix” (from the album ‚”Reverse Migration,” to be released Nov. 11th)

12. Uh Huh Her – “Not a Love Song”

13. The Hood Internet vs. Tobacco & Aesop Rock ‚Äì ‚”Coffee Hawker” (download via sendspace here)

14. Oxford Collapse – “I Hate Nobody”