Walking On Sunshine
One of the holy grails among fans of The Grateful Dead is finally getting its long overdue moment in the spotlight: Sunshine Daydream, a filmed document of a 1972 benefit concert in Veneta, Oregon, has been restored and is slated for an official release on Jerry Garcia's birthday (aka Jerry Day, August 1st). This day borders on ritual holiday for some people and tribute shows typically happen all over the country for -- and by -- Dead Heads, so this will be a great way to celebrate! The film will be shown with all new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes!
What is particularly special about this film -- which has circulated in blurry fan sourced multi-generation incarnations for years -- is that it captures one of those legendary shows where all the stars aligned and the music made by the band was just stellar. Some consider this one of the best of their 1972 run, capturing the band just as they returned from their epic European tour. Being a Dead Head, I can attest that having seen old unofficial versions of this film (and hearing the full concert) that it does document a great performance.
My relationship with this film has always been very curious. For the record, I have never done LSD despite knowing many who have (I just never felt the need or desire) but every time I've watched this film, it has sent me off into a zone (if you will), almost like I was meditating or something. This has happened numerous times to the point where I've actually wondered if there was some sort of mystical audio-sonic transferrance encoding embedded in the film or which the band achieved that day! Or, maybe it just puts me to sleep! I don't know. It is kinda wacky.
Regardless, I am eager to see and hear this new incarnation of the film. No word officially, but I suspect that there will be a proper commercial release of this on Blu-ray. We'll keep you posted on those details as we learn more. For now however, take a peek at the trailer for the restored film (NSFW warning: some nude dancers appear on the clip).
Ivories Tickle NY's Fancy!
The Big Apple gets a big gold star for putting 88 pianos around the city for people to play. Between June 1 and 16 they will be stationed throughout the various boroughs. What a great idea! San Francisco needs to do something like this. Actually, EVERY city needs to do something like this. Let the music flow!
Gold Digging: Are Those Fancy CDs Worth It? 
I have some gold CDs but have always found the premise a bit dubious. Perhaps I don't have high end enough gear or maybe I just know a bit too much about the way digital stuff works. I mean, digital is digital, all 1's 'n 0's, right? Well... Yes and no. For what its worth, some prefer the gold discs for their supposed more precise presentation of the digital information as well as theoretically longer lasting disc material (gold vs. aluminum) with regards to oxidation. That could be cool for some favorite recordings I suppose, especially if the recording is somewhat unique to the discs.
Recently, I had good fortune to buy two quite collectible gold CDs (used) for $2 a piece, discs I personally never would have normally purchased (given the quite mad high prices these things sell for on places like eBay). But at two bucks a disc, I figured it might be interesting to compare and contrast.
First up is Tommy by The Who: I compared the Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc CD version to the SACD Deluxe Edition. And ya know what? The MoFi gold CD IS going to find a place in my collection since it presents the old mix of Tommy that had been EQ'd and messed with without Pete Townshend's knowledge prior to pressing of every copy of Tommy out on the market.
One generation closer to the multi track masters and sans the meddling with Townshend's vision, it is inevitiable that the new remaster going to sound cleaner (and better, in my opinion) than the older one on the gold disc. But, it is also a distinctly different sound than most of us who grew up with this album are accustomed.
Thus, the MoFi CD earns its keep preserving a nice version of the mix we all know and (arguably) love. Plus, it will be handy for taking the album in the car (or ripping to my iPhone/iPad) so I won't have to mess up my nice SACD Deluxe Edition. Is it worth $30-75? That is really a decision only you can make.
Next up is RAM by Paul and Linda McCartney. This gold disc on the DCC Compact Classics label was reportedly made from the original unequalized two track master mixes. At the time of its release, it was probably a significant upgrade over the standard CD.
Record collecting is a funny thing. We welcome your thoughts on this.
RIP Maxwells - God Save The Clubs
(sigh) Another club is closing. My rant of the day is to those of you who might shrug this news off. But the reality is that too many landmark venues for new and exciting music have been closing in the past 10 years or so. There are always multiple causes for things, but these closings seem to be primarily because of lack of support from a diverse and changing public as well as selfishness among new inhabitants to these communities who want to be in the cool hip neighborhoods, only to start complaining about noise and traffic once they move in.
I've seen this happening in San Francisco and have heard tales of similar closings in other cites. Heck, XTC wrote a song about it on one of their last albums in the '90s ("Boarded Up" on Wasp Star) and I've written a musical in reaction to this phenomenon (more on that some other time).
Why should this be important to you? Because, without these neighborhood clubs for bands to perform in, new music will cease to thrive. And your neighborhoods will become boring and lose their cache. Being more blunt, you (dear hipster neighborhood dweller) may diminish some of your investment in that spiffy new condo by chasing away the cool stuff that you moved there for in the first place. Think about it.
Artists need performance spaces of all sizes not just the big arenas for the tiny percentage of artists who get real big. They have to start somewhere. And if you support these artists, you can be in on their ascent up the charts (and I don't mean just contributing to their kickstarter campaigns). So, support your local artists. Support your local venues.
If you are in the NJ/NYC metro area (Maxwell's is just over the river from Manhattan in Hoboken, NJ), go visit Maxwell's website as some special farewell concerts are being readied from what we've heard via some bands' posts Facebook, so you'll not want to miss these shows.
More Banging Fun!
Last week we reported on the nifty app that lets you (effectively) "play" San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge which was sampled for the project. Apparently banging on metal monuments is a popular pastime around the world. The UK's Guardian reported on a fellow who is sampling The Eiffel Tower in Paris! Here is a video from that Guardian story showing the recording process.
Until next time, remember: Music Matters!
