So, Bad Brains have a new album out, Build a Nation, which was produced by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.  Chances are that you like several bands who would list Bad Brains as a strong influence.  They were founders of the D.C. hardcore scene (which brought you the likes of Fugazi and Rites of Spring) and threw down an eclectic sound with roots in punk, prog and reggae (which influenced Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, 311, Beastie Boys, Black Flag, Rage Against the Machine, Faith No More and about a billion other bands).  The band is one of those 'as volatile off stage as they are onstage' situations, and have broken up and reformed plenty over the years.  The album can be heard on their myspace page, and is rightly hailed as a return to their hardcore roots.
I've been listening to it, and I've gotta say that I've really enjoyed the reggae jams, but I reacted to the hardcore parts the same way I react to most hardcore– unimpressed.  It might be hard for some to go from hardcore to reggae and back like this, but the whole album's up, give it a listen.  I'll give you some older Bad Brains tracks for you to mull over, too.  It's historical, ya'll!

Bad Brains Official // Myspazz // Buy Build A Nation 

Bad Brain - I Against I

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Bad%20Brains%20-%20i%20against%20i.mp3]

Bad Brains -  Re-Ignition

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Bad%20Brains%20-%20re-ignition.mp3] 

Bad Brains and Henry Rollins - Kick Out the Jams

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Bad%20Brains%20&%20Henry%20Rollins%20-%20Kick%20Out%20The%20Jams.mp3] 

One of my favorite Jewel songs, from the Spirit album. 

Barcelona - Jewel

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Jewel%20-%2010%20-%20Barcelona.mp3]

Jewel // Buy Spirit 

The Decemberists

Regina Spektor

Ben Harper

The Police

BORAT!

There is a lot of music out there that I know I should be listening to, and just haven't yet.  Two ways that I generally do this are through live albums and tribute albums, which is how I really got into the Clash at first.  One of the really standout tracks on both From Here to Eternity: Live and Burning London: A Tribute to the Clash was "Straight to Hell", which closes out both albums.  I present here Moby's smooth organ chords and Heather Nova's floaty vocals.  The song is beautiful, and one of my favourite ways to end things.  Dig it!

Straight to Hell - Moby and Heather Nova

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Moby%20&%20Heather%20Nova%20-%20Straight%20to%20Hell.mp3]

Buy This CD 

Bands Caught: Brazilian Girls, Kings of Leon, The Nightwatchman, The Roots, Tool, Aesop Rock

Bands We Wanted to Catch but couldn't: DJ Shadow, The String Cheese Incident, STS9, SuperJam, Gillian Welch, Michael Franti and Spearhead

Brazilian Girls: Expect material from us about these guys. We were hooked and bopping, listening and jamming on accident because one of our campmates recommended. Researching them now.

Kings of Leon: Only song I'm familiar with is "On Call", which I'm totally in love with right now. They put on a decent show. Their music is rockier than I expected, as my only impression/expectation was knowledge of that song.

The Nightwatchman: I listened, two of us went and had a look while Tom Morello warbled. I'm not too impressed by the solo stuff. It's not even that I miss Rage, which I do, but I don't blame this on Morello. I just don't particularly enjoy his folky solo stuff. Sorry.

The Roots: What a fucking amazing show. Never seen them live, not even too familiar with their stuff. This is why Bonnaroo represents a golden opportunity. They rocked out. Seriously rocked it, jammed, it was wild. Loved it.

Tool: My first time seeing Tool live. I've heard some people say their performance was weak. I think the only weak part of it was that they cut the set short by 30 minutes, but considering I lost my Tool virginity, and I was well impressed. The laser light show, the volume was excellent (some of the performances at Bonnaroo really lacked in the loudness department) and the…..guitar solo by Tom Morello was awesome! Sort of hoped/expected it, but it really tickled me. I don't remember the setlist, but I know it was what I wanted from Tool.

Aesop Rock: Caught a bit of this performance. Been a fan of Aesop Rock for a few years now. This was after Tool, and exhaustion set in. I guess I'm an old lady, sorry.  

Pictures from Bonnaroo Friday:

Tool

More soon…. 

I'm not really sure how to do a write-up on a music festival that lasted a whopping 4 days. I'm a person that admires and needs organization, and I'm sure you'd want the same if I ended up writing one big garbled description of all that went on. 

I think I'll do this by days.

Bonnaroo Thursday

Well, we actually got there Wednesday night. We drove up from Florida Wednesday during the day, and arrived late night at the pit-stop Walmart. The one where all the hippies go to buy and sell, including beer.

We were lucky enough to get in that night, and we set up camp, going to bed at about 3am.

Woken up by the sun at around 7:30, we set off for Centeroo at about 10:30ish. We were camped at a site called Camp M, or Pussy Galore. I'm not sure which one. We were in the pod that was located Southeast of Centeroo. It was about a 20 minute walk, which none of us minded. We got to Centeroo in time to see the gates open for the first time, and were in in about 10 minutes, after a light search.

We were all pretty unfamiliar with the bands first scheduled, so the first event we took part in was Lewis Black's standup. My first time attending stand-up comedy, and as Lewis Black is one of my favorites, I was quite chuffed to catch him live.  

Here's a link to the Thursday schedule. 

Me and my posse, which consisted of my boyfriend Wade and my friend Sean caught a little bit of Mute Math, and had every intention of catching Clutch and Rodrigo y Gabriela, but we were so exhausted we barely made it back to camp before those shows played, so we missed them. The rest of my group caught them though, and reported that Clutch was good and the bit they saw of Rodrigo y Gabriela was impressive. Oh, and we did catch a good bit of The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, which were quite good. Me and Wade both agreed that the guy playing violin/fiddle/whathaveyou was a bit off, though. Our only complaint.

Pictures of Bonnaroo Thursday:

Me and Sean are sooper excited to be in the car for 10 hours.

Planet Roo

Waiting in line for Lewis Black.

• Yet Another Comedy Tent

• Prestage Lewis Black

Whoopwhoop Lewis Black 

The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars

Coming up next, Bonnaroo Friday….