Jim Brennan's Goal

If you haven't seen this yet, it might be the MLS goal of the year. Toronto FC's Jim Brennan drills a free kick into the upper corner of the goal from 30-40 yards out. It's also nice to see all of the Toronto fans that traveled down to Columbus for the game. Great fans.

Tokyo Sex Destruction

Come on. Admit it. With a name like Tokyo Sex Destruction, you're pretty curious what the hell these guys sound like. What if I told you they're from Spain and espouse the revolutionary philosophy of the Black Panther Party? Now, I bet you're really curious what the hell is going on with these guys. Well, go ahead and check out their brand a frantic 60's-influenced garage rock. I've been constantly digesting their album 5th Avenue South for the last week or so. It's a fun album.

By the way, because their brands of music would seem to gel with each other and I'd love to see both names on a marquee together, I'm hoping for a Tokyo Sex Destruction / Les Breastfeeders tour someday.

Tokyo Sex Destruction | One More Sunday | Buy
Tokyo Sex Destruction | Two More Years | Buy


The video for "One More Sunday"


The video for "Two More Years" (the sound is a bit muffled but it gives you a decent idea of their sound and look)

Eliza Lynn Coming to Barre & Montpelier

A year or so ago I wrote the following about Eliza Lynn (myspace) and her soulful voice after taking time with her debut album, Frisky or Fair:

The album's sound is somewhere between jazz, blues, gospel, and old time, but that's merely the setting. When listening to tracks I find myself taken by her full and rich voice and the resultant cat and mouse game that she plays with Rayna Gellert's fiddle or Dale Roberts' cornet. The songs unravel tales of happiness, naiveté, and love cloaked in loss and pain.

Since that time Eliza gained the title of Western North Carolina’s Best Singer/Songwriter according to the 2006 Mountain Xpress Reader's Poll, Frisky or Fair was rated by WNCW 88.7 as a Top Ten Regional Album of 2006, her track Sing A New Song was selected for the Putumayo World Music's upcoming release, Americana, she started a female duo project called Grit Pixies, and her band recorded a new album, due out late summer. Phew.

Luckily for those in the area she will be bringing her Appalachian show to Montpelier and Barre during the first week of June amongst a handful of NYC dates.

June 1st - Eliza Lynn - 8pm - Langdon Street Cafe - Montpelier
June 6th - Grit Pixies - 7pm - City Hall Park - Barre

The Friday night Langdon Street Cafe show will be a trio featuring songs off both her debut and much anticipated sophomore release. The following Thursday Eliza will be kicking off Barre's Summer Concert Series with her old school female blues outfit Grit Pixies alongside harmonica/washboard/vocalist Jill Fromewick.

Eliza Lynn - Slow Down.mp3
Grit Pixies - Laughin' to Keep from Cryin'.mp3
Grit Pixies - Party Clothes.mp3

Changes at Seven Days

If you haven't been reading solidstate for the last few weeks, you may not be aware of the recent changes at the Burlington alternative weekly, Seven Days. Basically, Casey Rea, the Music Editor for the paper and blogger of solidstate, is fleeing the Green Mountains. I'm not 100% positive where he's going but I think it'll be warmer there. His last day is next week but he's already done writing for the paper.

The new music editor is Dan Bolles. Don't know anything about him but Casey thinks we'll like him. Who knows? However, Casey will be missed. One of the things that makes people interesting is their opinions. Not good or bad opinions but just strong opinions...and Casey has a lot of them. So, it was always a compelling reason to read his Sound Bites column, music reviews, blog posts or comments on toher blogs because he always threw a strong opinion out there regardless of whether it went with conventional though or not. Hopefully, Bolles will continue in that vein.

One change to solidstate that Bolles may be making is bringing in additional bloggers. Depending on who he brings in, that could be great or sucky. Hopefully, it'll be the former. There are lots of fun personalities though to choose from that used to leave comments on solidstate. I'm guessing it'll work out well.

Having written what sounds like a eulogy, it should be noted that Casey ain't cyber-dead. He's staked out a new blog called The Contrarian where he promises to continue his Contrarian's Corner podcast and shed light on a wider variety of topics. That should be some good reading.

Dangers of Being Emo

North Dakota looks like a hoot to live in.



Courtesy of Brad.

Yo La Tengo | Higher Ground | Oct 7, 2003

Since jds did a fine job with posting The Junior Boys tracks from their recent Higher Ground show, I thought I'd join the party and throw out some tracks from Yo La Tengo's concert at the old Higher Ground back in 2003.

The show is a two disc set and while the sound quality is OK on the first disc, it's fantastic on the second disc where I pulled these tracks from. Here's what I remember from the show:

• I went to the show with a bunch of friends who hadn't seen YLT before and had only recently been introduced to them. However, each of them enjoyed the show.

• On the way there, we got pulled over on I-89. Everyone put the driver had been drinking in the truck. So, we quickly kicked the beer bottles under the seats but I thought we were toast. Then the officer asked us where we were going and someone blurted out, "We're going to a concert!" Well, I figured the officer upon finding a pick-up speeding, full of guys going to a concert, would surely have pulled all of us out of the truck and searched it. However, the guy just gave my friend a speeding ticket and let us go. It was a great bit of luck.

• It was a typical high quality professional set from YLT with a wide variety of songs from their entire catalog, covers and guest musicians from The Aislers Set. I also remember the large crowd being pretty enthusiastic.

• The Yankees and Red Sox were about to start a playoff series which led Ira, a longtime Mets fan, to go on a bit of a ramble about how he was supporting the Red Sox simply because he hates the Yankees. It's actually captured at the end of the "Stockholm Syndrome" track below.

• I've heard them cover "Gates of Steel" a few times but it really clicked that night. The recording of it below is boffo.
  

Here's the schedule for upcoming YLT shows (none in VT) which includes free shows in NYC and Detroit.

Yo La Tengo | Sudden Organ (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Lewis (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Good Lovin' (Rascals cover) (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Gates of Steel (Devo cover) (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Stockholm Syndrome (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Mambo Rock (Live)

Photo (not from HG show) courtesy of Jonny Leather.

MLS Goals of the Week - Week 7

FC Dallas had two beautiful goals last week in their game against Salt Lake. Both Chris Gbandi and Arturo Alvarez' bombs were from well outside and at angles. Nice.

Gbandi's goal is the third one in the video and Alvarez' starts around the 1:59 mark.



As always, the video is put together by the guy who writes the fine soccer blog, Climbing the Ladder.

By the way, Climbing the Ladder has an interesting post up about the record highest attendance for a soccer match in each state. According to his post, Vermont's highest was 5,000 for a NCAA Tourney match. It's one of the lowest records highs but it's better than Maine and New Hampshire. So, we surpass the peer benchmark, at least.

Junior Boys Live at Higher Ground Pt. III

Thanks to Rob of Found Drama for taking pictures and sharing

Junior Boys Live at Higher Ground - April 8, 2007

8. Junior Boys - In the Morning.mp3

9. Junior Boys - More Than Real.mp3

Encore: 10. Junior Boys - Under the Sun.mp3

As always, if you are the artist, record company, or another person easily offended by these tracks being up, please contact me asap and I'll be happy to take them down. I share music because it makes the world a happier place, but if you ain't happy then Papa ain't happy.

Stream The National's Boxer

Bloggers and critics alike have been falling over themselves for The National's (myspace) latest release (my partner in crime, Flatlander, included). Beyond the blogger hype, their record, which dropped yesterday, has received rave reviews from NYT AND Pitchfork (loosing street cred or universally good album?).

I am not in that camp. I have to admit that my listens to both Alligator and this latest disc have been casual and what I hear again and again is that these are creeper albums. I'm saving judgement until I can really have an opportunity to sink my teeth into it. This is where AOL comes in: The Boxer is a part of this week's full cd listening party. So if you haven't grabbed a leaked copy or purchased it yourself, then head over to AOL this week and judge with me what all the hype is about.

Also at the Listening Party is the latest Jeff Buckley posthumous release: So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley. Talk about milking it! I'm a big big fan of Buckley's body of work, but this is starting to get ridiculous. This is the fifth LP since the man succumbed to the mighty Mississippi (two were live albums), not including two reissues. It's time to put a stop to all of this. My fear is that record companies are starting to think that people actually want these things. What's next, Elliott Smith's body of work hitting 25 disks on the 25th anniversary of his death! (Note: All after death albums aren't bad, such as the latest Elliott Smith release, but there's a line between sharing hidden gems and capitalizing on a legacy.)

Junior Boys Live at Higher Ground Pt. II

Many thanks to my main man Rob of Found Drama fame for the photo

Junior Boys Live at Higher Ground - April 8, 2007

5. Junior Boys - Birthday.mp3

6. Junior Boys - Double Shadow.mp3

7. Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye.mp3

As always, if you are the artist, record company, or another person easily offended by these tracks being up, please contact me asap and I'll be happy to take them down. I share music because it makes the world a happier place, but if you ain't happy Papa ain't happy

Junior Boys at Higher Ground April 8, 2007

Photo props go out to Rob at Found Drama

I attended the Junior Boys show a month and a half ago at Higher Ground with fellow bloggers Analog Giant, Found Drama, and Synaptic Clog. I really didn't know what to expect, as electronic music doesn't usually lend itself too well to live performance. It ended up being a great show, full of breathy vocals, big beats, and heaps of bleeps. The show lasted just less then an hour and contained 7 songs from their latest release, In The Morning, and 3 from their killer debut Last Exit.

I am fortunate to present you with great quality audio of the show. Below are the first four tracks, the rest will be provided over the next few days. This was my first time using the free program Audacity, which split up the tracks and let me throw out the chatter (I apologize to all who wished they could hear awkward banter about shoe sponsership, breakfast recommendations, and Phish references). Again, I'm super psyched about how good the quality came out.

Junior Boys Live at Higher Ground - April 8, 2007

1. Junior Boys - Count Souvenirs.mp3
2. Junior Boys - The Equalizer.mp3
3. Junior Boys - Teach Me How To Fight.mp3
4. Junior Boys - Like A Child.mp3

As always, if you are the artist, record company, or another person easily offended by these tracks being up, please contact me asap and I'll be happy to take them down. I share music because it makes the world a happier place, but if you ain't happy Papa ain't happy

Champions League Finals | Liverpool vs AC Milan | UPDATE

This post is for the folks out there that follow the World Cup every four years and then fail to tune in for all the great matches in between.

If you enjoy watching those World Cup matches with all of their passion and flair, well, be sure to set your TIVO/VCR to record the Champions League Final on Wednesday before you leave for work. The match between Liverpool and AC Milan will be broadcast live from Athens on ESPN2. Pregame starts at 2pm with a 2:45pm kickoff. It's scheduled to run until 5pm but let the recording run until 6:30pm in case it goes to extratime or penalty kicks.

Here's why this match is important: In addition to playing in their regular national leagues, the top teams from the prior season also play in a year-long tournament against the top teams from other leagues across Europe. The best of the best. After eleven months of action, it's down to a one-game championship match for European bragging rights.

The other thing that makes this match worthwhile is that it's a repeat of the 2005 final which is possibly the most memorable final ever. AC Milan was favored and leading 3-0 at the half. Liverpool looked dead. However, The Reds rallied for three second half goals and won on penalty kicks. AC Milan was devastated and are now seeking revenge. Once again, AC Milan are favored.

That pretty much sets up the situation for you. Don't forget to set those recorders.

UPDATE: If you can stomach the insipid music, here's the highlights from AC Milan's 2-1 win.

Old Crow Medicine Show | Coming to Higher Ground | June 26th

Next month will be my first time seeing Old Crow Medicine Show despite being my second time buying a ticket to see them. A few years ago, they came to Northampton, MA but I got stuck late a t work and never got to go. So, between that failed experience and another solid album from the finest bluegrass band going today, I was pretty excited when I saw Higher Ground had booked them for June 26th.

If you aren't familiar with the boys from Nashville and their revitalized Appalachian sounds, they knock out the traditional sounding tunes but with a bit of a punk snarl. For example, in 2004, they were one of the few Nashville bands to release an anti-war song...and that was when popular support for the war was still running high. So, these guys aren't your daddy's bluegrass band.

One odd thing about the night is that while OCMS is picking away at their banjos and fiddles in the big room, there be a Hardcore and Metal Showcase going on in the small room. Oh, I'm looking forward to the contrasting fans.

Old Crow Medicine Show | James River Blues | Buy
Old Crow Medicine Show | Big Time in the Jungle | Buy
Old Crow Medicine Show | Wagon Wheel | Buy

Here's their live video for "Tell It To Me":


Photo courtesy of Enrico Fuente

UPDATE Editors | "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors"

From their upcoming album (June 26th), An End Has a Start. Good tune.



The video stopped working so, I've included mp3s of the first two tracks off the new album (pre-0rder here). Enjoy!
Editors - Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors.mp3
Editors - An End Has A Start.mp3

810th Place

This may sound weird but I'm pretty proud of my 810th place finish in last week's Corporate Challenge Cup in Montpelier. Here's why...I had never run in any organized race before and until about a month ago, I hadn't exercised regularly in 2-3 years. So, to go from getting winded while climbing a flight of stairs to actually being able to run 5K without stopping or walking, in one month, feels pretty cool. Plus, I had a goal to do it in less than a 10-minute mile pace and I came in at 9:56 per mile. So, it all worked out like I had hoped and I lost about 30 lbs. in the process.

Having said all of that, I felt like the worst car at the Indianapolis 500. Besides the injured along the side of the road, I don't think I passed a single person on the entire route. It was just a constant stream of people motoring on by me. Now I know how my grandmother felt driving on the highway.

The other problem is that my knees are still aching from last Thursday's race. So, I don't know if I'll do it again. Perhaps I'll do it again next year but the only way I'd train for it next time would be by riding my bike or something else that doesn't pound on my knees. The race was fun but aching knees suck.

Los Tres

Here's another nice find from listening to the KCRW Today's Top Tune podcast...Los Tres from Chile. It's not too often that you get any exposure to the Chilean indie music scene but I at least got a tiny slice of it from KCRW.

Los Tres was one of the first Chilean bands to hit it big in the 90's following the end of Pinochet's reign. It appears they broke up around 2000 but three of the four members reunited recently and released Hágalo Usted Mismo last July. The track below is from that album. It's a breezy bit of folk-based pop with a slight 70's feel to it. Is that a flute in the background making that fetching little horn sound? Plus, songs in Spanish sound cool.

Los Tres | Bestia | Buy

Green Mountain Strongest Man Competition

If you've ever been flipping around the channels at odd hours, I'm sure you've stumbled upon the oddly entertaining World's Strongest Man Competition. It's a series bizarre test of the strength of numerous genetic (and likely steroid guzzling) freaks. Well, it looks like the Vermont Chapter of the American Lung Association is hosting a similar competition on June 2nd at the Champlain Valley Fair Grounds to determine the Green Mountain's Strongest Man.

This obviously begs the question of what tests of strength they'll make the competitors complete. Since the competitions always seem to take on a local bent, here's a quick list of suggestions:

• The Patchouli Oil Barrel Toss
• The Subaru Outback Carry
• The Snowblower Lift
• The Dead Moose Drag
• Lifting Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield for Reps
  

The Airborne Toxic Event

As I've said before, 99% of the stuff that record promoters send to music bloggers is utter crap. However, once in a while some band catches my ear and I fall in love. One of those bands arrived a week or so ago by the name of The Airborne Toxic Event.

The fact that they've only released a single EP so far with a sum total of about ten minutes of recorded music may raise the question of the legitimacy of posting about them. However, if you listen to the tracks below, you'll understand that it's justified in this situation.

The easiest comparison is to The Smiths wrapped in a warm blanket of sun-drenched California pop. The band is catching a bit of flack because one of the band members used to be the Managing Editor at Filter magazine and folks think he's using those connections to advance their career. However, I'm calling bullshit on that argument. I heard the disc without knowing any of that crap and, very simply, I loved the songs. Plus, Ira Kaplan used to be a music writer before starting Yo La Tengo and nobody holds that against him. The music stands on its own merit.

The Airborne Toxic Event | The Girls in Their Summer Dresses | Buy
The Airborne Toxic Event | Wishing Well | Buy

Championship Goals

Here's a pair of championship goals from Saturday's action.

The first one is Didier Drogba's winner in the FA Cup for Chelsea against Manchester United in extra time. Nice one touch passing.



The second one is from Germany. Thomas Hitzlsperger saved Stuttgart's collective asses when he tied the match against Energie Cottbus. Stuttgart needed at least a tie to top Shalke 04 for the season title but they were down 1-0 when Hitzlsperger nailed this beautiful volley from 27 yards out. They went on to win 2-1 and win the title.



Lastly, in Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied at the top of the Spanish Primera with two games to play (tomorrow and next Sunday) while Valencia and Sevilla are one and two points back collectively with one game left each. Sweet Jesus. It's going to be a fun final week to that league.

The Spinto Band | Bennington College

I'm sorry about the late notice but I've been a bad blogger lately.

Tonight, May 19th, Tom and Sam Hughes of The Spinto Band will be returning to their ala mater with the rest of The Spintos and playing the Bennington College Sunfest concert. There are a bunch of other bands on the bill also but I'm not familiar with any of them. The gem of the line-up is the pop sextet from Wilmington.

The festival kicks off at noon but figure The Spintos will hit the stage sometime after 8pm. The festival is open to the public but I'm not certain where it is on campus. I'd just head for the center of campus and follow the flow of students and music.

The Spinto Band | Late | Buy

Legion of Rock Stars

This is a silly idea but the execution keeps me giggling. There are a bunch more over at the Legion of Rock Stars YouTube channel.

Delta Spirit | Daytrotter Session

A month or two ago, I caught Delta Spirit opening for Cold War Kids and Tokyo Police Club and loved their set. It was chock full of passion, multi-percussion and immediately enjoyable melodies. Plus, I liked the lead singer's voice. However, I was disappointed in their EP, I Think I've Found It. It lacked all of the passion of their live set. It was mid-tier over-produced pop.

Flash forward to earlier this week when Daytrotter posted the four songs from Delta Spirit's Daytrotter session. The songs are more mellow than their live show was but the passion is back which makes for an entertaining session. One benefit of the mellower tunes is that they feature Matthew Vasquez' vocals a lot more.

You can download the songs for free here. I'd particularly recommend French Quarter and their cover of Paul Simon's Duncan.

There's also an article and interview with the band here. However, the real magic of their session are those recordings. It amazing how the folks at Daytrotter continue to pull nice recordings out of bands that have laid out flat and thin official releases. Perhaps someday there'll be a Daytrotter label.

If you're a gearhead, you'll also dig these videos from Gear Wire. The first two are interviews with engineer Paul Stolley where he explains all the equipment he uses for the Daytrotter sessions. The last video shows Delta Spirit performing French Quarter. One thought about the last video...that can of Miller in the middle of the soundboard between Stolley's arms looks like a recipe for disaster (or at least some sticky knobs).

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

Creed Thoughts

In case you haven't seen Creed's blog yet...here you go.

Saturnine | Remembrance of Things Past

Before moving to NYC in the early 90's and starting the indie rock band Saturnine with guitarist/vocalist Matt Galloway, bassist Mike Donofrio grew up in Vermont. Plus, he has since moved back to the Green Mountains from the Big Apple. So, I think it's safe to call Saturnine's new album Remembrance of Things Past a "Vermont album" even if the rest of the band is scattered across the country. That's close enough for me.

Remembrance of Things Past is a very literary album based upon the same-titled work by French writer Marcel Proust. I'm not making that up...I'm sure all of The Decemberists fans out there will love that. Regardless, I'm a simpleton and always fall for the melody, beat and progression of a song before the lyrics hit me. That's exactly what has happened with RoTP. Right from the opening bass line, you get swept along on a melodic flow that brings you up for rocking moments before coming back down for quiet darker sounds. While I'm not a big "concept album" guy, the whole album flows well together rather than listening to it in individual tracks.

One other highlight of the album is that Saturnine scored Frances Gibson of The Cannanes to do the female vocals. She even gets a cool spoken word riff in towards the end of "Marcel Remembers He Tried To Stop His Obsession For Albertine" which, if you are a Cannanes fan, will remind you of the one on The Cannanes' "3-Way Release".

Besides the music, the other cool thing about the album is that's it's been released using a creative commons license. So, the band is allowing bloggers and fans to link to all the tracks for general sharing. So, go ahead, download and link away.

With that in mind, Bradley's Alamanc has a lengthy post up about the album including tracks from some of their earlier releases.

Saturnine | Remembrance of Things Past

"Marcel Remembers The Summer He Met Albertine"

"Later, At A Bar"

"Albertine"

"Marcel Remembers He Tried To Stop His Obsession For Albertine"

"I Can't Shake Her From My Mind"

"Some Months Later, At A Club In New York City,
Marcel Sees Albertine Dancing With Another Girl
(With Whom He Suspects She Is Having An Affair)
And Leaves, Jealous And Upset"

"Later, On A Walk Together"

"Later, Albertine Alone At The Apartment"

Or download all eight 192kbps Mp3s as one 58MB zip file.

Or download higher quality versions of each song at the Internet Music Archive.

Tobias Fröberg

Last summer, I posted about how I had fallen in love with Tobias Fröberg's diddy "When the Night Turns Cold". Well, I guess La Blogotheque heard me because they asked Fröberg to record a Take Away Show for their site. The result is an amusing unscripted video of Fröberg walking down the middle of the street playing the song, forgeting the lyrics, getting yelled at by garbage men and nearly causing a few scooters to crash. It's made me relive my quick love affair with the song all over again.

The Hero Cycle on WRUV's Exposure

Courtesy of Eva Sollberger's excellent vlog Stuck In Vermont.

Herman Düne

During my hiatus, I spent a lot of time spinning Herman Düne. I had never heard of the France-based Swedes and Swiss before a friend gave me a copy of their album Not On Top at the Clap Your Hands show last month. Since then I've been loving their vocals-driven folk-based multi-instrumental sound.

While they're new to me, they've been cranking out their brand of folk pop since 2000. They just haven't established a foothold in the American indie scene (despite living in NYC for a period of time). I find that a bit surprising since they remind me a lot of The Mountain Goats and Silver Jews who have certainly carved out their niche in the states.

Here's their video for "I Wish I Could See You Soon" off their latest album Giant, Very catchy song and a quirky enough video.


Their summer tour dates reads like a senior citizens bus trip through western Europe. Zero US dates. Perhaps that's why they don't have much of a presence here.

Herman Düne | Walk Don't Run | Buy
Herman Düne | Little Wounds | Buy

FreeRide

Since I'm talking about bikes, I thought it would be worth a quick post to mention a new non-profit cooperative in Montpelier called FreeRide. It's all about bikes and opens this Saturday (89 Barre St.). You can read all about it in a nice article in Seven Days. There is also an article in the Times-Argus about FreeRide.

Here's how it works: they accept old donated bikes which they then refurbish and sell for a small amount based upon how much money you have to spend. You can also buy a membership for $30 a year which gets you all the bike repairs you need. The other option is to donate your time at the co-op which gives you the same benefits of a membership.

I love projects like this simply because they add to the community. Plus, I love seeing the freaky bikes people cruise around town on; like this one. Hopefully, FreeRide will foster more of those oddball bikes.

GT Slipstream

OK. I'm back. I've been away from this blog for over three weeks and that's a long hiatus for me. No good reason why...except for the last week. The last week has been all about my new 18-year-old bike, a GT Slipstream.

I haven't owned a bike in about 25 years but while strolling around the Onion River bike swap last weekend, I decided to try one out. It looked like crap and a bit dorky which fits my style just fine. So, I rode it around for a little while and decided to pony up the $75 for it.

Since then, I've been cruising all around town and up & down Rt. 2 and Rt. 12. I had completely forgotten how much fun it is to ride a bike. Plus, the big bonus for me is that my knees don't hurt when I'm done riding. After I run for a half-hour, my knees ache like a mofo but with biking they feel great.

The things I love about the bike is that I can sit upright on it, it's easy to shift and the seat is very comfortable; big and with springs. I've been getting a bunch of odd looks from the other bicyclists on the road, so I must look like a spazz sitting upright on a big bike with a giant helmet on my head. All I need is a wicker basket and a horn on the handlebars to complete the look. However, I really don't care. I'm just enjoying the ride.

Wilco

Wilco has scheduled an outdoor show this summer in Vermont with Low in support of their 6th studio album, Sky Blue Sky.

Wilco w/ Low - June 29th - Shelburne Museum Concerts on the Green

I've yet to see a show at Shelburne Museum, but I'm pretty psyched. Beyond being a pretty big fan of both Wilco and Low (whom I would of never imagined sharing a bill), I love outdoor shows and Shelburne Musuem is a pretty awesome place with it's spot overlooking Lake Champlain to the High Peaks of NY.

History Lesson Tangent: The Museum is primarily the collection of Electra Havemeyer Webb, grandaughter of the mighty powerful Vanderbilt and family to other great industrialists. Given the lineage, it isn't surpising that when she collected things, she went big. Shelburne Museum's collection of Americana is housed within the property's real jewels, a collection of 18th- and 19th-century buildings from New England including houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and the 220-foot steamboat.

The tickets are pretty steep at 40 bucks, but it's a great bill, at a great spot, and I can bring my little guy (show scheduled for 6 pm and kids under 12 are free).

Sky Blue Sky, which drops in two weeks, has been all over the internet. Click here to stream the album directly from Wilco's official website.