Our neighborhood is directly adjacent to the Pimlico Race Track, site of the Virgin Mobile Music Festival, and the residents had some concerns regarding parking, trash and the potential for overnight car camping.

The promoter, I.M.P.  was very responsive and even provided dues paying neighborhood residents with 2 for 1 tickets.  I acted as the coordinator of the voucher program. The local weekly got wind of our good fortune and decided it was a good angle for their coverage of the festival.  So they called and spoke to several people and then we met up at the show and they took pictures of myself and Chelsea.  While Chelsea is far better looking than I and looks much more like a typical Festival goer – I made the front page. 

Hilarious. 

Wearing my Straw Hat and with camera in hand, I look every day of my 50 years. But I am rocking out.  The caption says so!

The full article, including caption, is HERE .

28 Years after the groundbreaking "My Life In the Bush of Ghosts" Brian Eno and David Byrne have collaborated on a new recording.  It is a much more conventional album, with straightforward song structure and real lyrics and singing. Sure there are odd lyrics and strange sounds and exotic texturtes, It’s really quite nice. And nice guys that they are – you can hear it all for free, download a free track and order the CD in advance and download the full album now. But go ahead stream it first.  I love geniuses who share. Just press play and enjoy!

Extending the 15 minutes of fame for a whole cast of You Tube stars, here’s the first track from the next Weezer Album. Enjoy!

The Full lineup for the 2 Day Virgin Mobile Music Festival at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore MD was announced today.  Full details on the event at their site.

Saturday – Previously announced headliners are Jack Johnson and Foo Fighters. My favorites among the new additions are:

WILCO – I have missed this band too many times. The Recher, the 9:30 Club,  The Meyerhoff, Merriweather, no excuses this time. Woo-Hoo!

Gogol Bordello – The Gypsy Punks were on my wish list for last year – very excited to see this spectacle.

She and Him – The duo of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel just released their first album. He is a virtuoso guitarist and you may know Zooey from the films Elf and Almost Famous among others. You can hear some of their bright and breezy music a their My Space page Some knucklehead put an auto starting video in the comments so stop that first or you’ll be really confused. 

Cat Power –  Now that she has both sobered up and conquered her severe stage fright Chan Marshall AKA Cat Power is doing great shows. 

The Offspring! Are you ready to MOSH? Here’s your chance.  A Tremendous live act, I will watch from a safe distance, I hurt my back, you see and the doc says no more Moshing for me.

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings – The band that backed Amy Winehouse on Back to Black, this should be nice to groove and sway to…

Get this kids – CHUCK BERRY and the Silver Beats  Yes, it’s true – Chuck Berry a founding father of Rock and Roll is not only alive, but is playing at V-Fest. Wow.

Rodrigo y Gabriela – A brilliant guitar duo – He plays fast and linear with a pick and she plays flamenco style – born in Mexico and now based in Dublin, they will astound you.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!

Previously announced Headliners, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West and the Re-united Stone Temple Pilots, PLUS:

Bob Dylan! – How does it Feeeeel? Pretty damn good, Bob. Thanks for asking.

Iggy and the Stooges! – The legendary Iggy Pop and the reunited Stooges were the talk of the festival circuit last summer. Psyched!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Stomp Your feet and Clap your hands as BRMC kicks out the jams.

The Black Keys – Dynamic innovative intriguing and inspired.

Lil Wayne – Uh, he raps, I’m guessing.

Taking Back Sunday – This one’s for the kids.

Citizen Cope – Local Boy makes good (Music)

The Swell Season – Duo Du Jour, as seen in the film Once.

The Go Team – OK you stumped me. They are probably great.

PLUS each Day the Dance Tent features world class DJ’s including MOBY doing a set on Sunday.

Thank you again, Sir Richard Branson.

Now, Check out the Stooges Live at SXSW 2007.

Everyone loves a great mix tape. Creating a Mix Tape used to be a full evening’s project. A stack of LP’s or CD’s a fresh cassette tape, a couple of beers and time – at least 2 hours for a 90 minute mix – often longer.  Timing the start button and needle drop to make a tight mix sometime required multiuple attempts. If you later had regrets about putting Talking Heads before The Cure instead of vice-versa, tough. These were errors one learned to live with, starting over was a just to great an undertaking. 

Now, making a Mix CD is an easy drag and drop process. You can shuffle the songs around, think about it, add and drop, tweak it and burn it.  Get a better idea tomorrow and it takes just minutes to drop a track, add a track and burn again.  It’s wonderful.

The Joy of Mix has evolved yet again with Muxtape.com. Here you upload 12 songs, sequence them to perfection and invite your friends to listen. Your mix will also reach the ears of random listeners, some of whom will be amazed by your talent for putting together a perfect mix.  Browsing and listening to the mixes of others is a lot of fun. Check it out at Muxtape.com You can go directly to my latest Muxtape by clicking HERE Then let me know and I’ll make sure to listen to your labor of love. Mux On!

Here we go – The first announcement for this year’s Virgin Mobile Festival at Pimlico Race Track, Baltimore, Maryland on August 9th and 10th.  With many more to be announced soon – So far we will be rocking with… Drum roll Please…….

Foo Fighters

Nine Inch Nails

Jack Johnson – I hope he brings Curious George along!

Kanye West 

The suddenly reformed and touring Stone Temple Pilots – Scott Weiland was in Velvet Revolver last week… They say fired but with the STP revival, looks like it was in the works for a while. Doesn’t he look like a cross between Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury in this Picture?

There is also a more, so far unconfirmed, that Charlie the Unicorn will make an appearance!

New Rule: Just like IRA contributions you have until April 15th to post last year’s "best of" lists.

Here is some of my favorite music from 2007.

Robert Plant Alison Krauss – Raising Sand – A great surprise and a true joy. "Please Read the Letter" was one of the finest vocal performances of the year.

Radiohead – In Rainbows – A brilliant return to form. It still isn’t O.K. Computer but a heck of a lot closer than the last couple attempts.

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Jeff Tweedy rehabs and is happy to be alive., We’re happy to hear that.

Bruce Springsteen – Magic – Two classics "Radio Nowhere" and "Girls in Their Summer Clothes"

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible – My affection for this CD rises and falls. When I love it – I REALLY love it.

The National – Boxer – Haunting brooding moody  glorious.

The Shins – Wincing the Night Away – Pain with high harmonies – what a glorious combination.

Iron and Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog  Backed by Calexico this is almost trance inducing. In a good way.

Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – This band continues to grow and evolve.  Several brilliant tracks on this one.

LCD Sound-system – Sounds of Silver WOW! Unlike anything else ever. "North American Sum" is just the beginning.

Amy Winehouse – Back to Black Pray for her. This talent can not be squandered away. I hope.

Favorite Single or track

John Doe with Kathleen Edwards – "The Golden State" If it were not for Plant and Krauss THIS would have been duet of the year. Great song.

Runner Up – Band of Horses – "Is There a Ghost"

Favorite Personal Discovery – Manu Chao – It appears that the rest of the world already knew, but most of the US still doesn’t. This guy is fantastic.

This video pulls off the unlikely trifecta of being hilarious, ingenius and oddly affecting.

We had the season’s first snowfall earlier this week and traffic was a mess all over the region – very good for business!

But the real focus of this Winter Wonderland post is the new #1 Holiday favorite here at Dad’s Car Radio.  Fleming and John is a husband and wife duo based in Nashville. They have done a lot of studio work and released a couple of CD’s on their own, but, so far,  this is the only song of theirs I have heard.

It’s a stunningly well done reworking of two classics. Enjoy!

Download winter_wonderland.mp3

Click the link and on most computers it will play right away – or you can right click and save it to your computer and then play it.