Site Sponsor

Not Sure Where To Begin?

The intro posts are always a good start, followed logically by
my thoughts on Music & Being, which guide my writing.
You could also try my current favorite show on the blog,
plus there's good reading under the trading community label.
Or, take a walk on a
Listening Trail.
Showing posts with label non-Dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-Dead. Show all posts

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Under Eternity Blue - Contemporary Psychedelic Folk

The thirteenth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with two show times: Saturday, June 16 at 7pm EST, and Sunday, June 17 at 8am EST.

Most fans of this site probably also enjoy a wide variety of psychedelic folk from the 60's and 70's. In this episode, we explore similar musical pleasures produced in the more modern times of our current century. Check out the creative juices that are flowing in the here and now. You will be very glad you did.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.



http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, June 16: 7pm EST
Sunday, June 17: 8am EST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Under Eternity Blue - Soul Funk

The twelfth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with two show times: Saturday, July 30 at 11pm EST, and Sunday, July 31 at 11am EST.

It's been a scorcher of a summer so far, and nothing reflects the heat quite as nicely as Soul Funk - that pocked genre of music from the late 60s to very early 70s that was born out of James Brown and had an unmistakable imprint of the dawning of everything we know as Funk today.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.



http://radio.spiritplants.org/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, July 30: 11pm EST
Sunday, July 31: 11am EST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Under Eternity Blue - Winter Walking

The eleventh installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with two show times: Saturday, December 11 at 8pm PST, and Sunday, December 12 at 7am PST.

Spirit Plants Radio asked DJs to give this week's show some level of a seasonal theme. During the busy holiday season, this episode opts to explore the solitude and peace that may be found on a late night walk in Winter. The show attempts to paint a musical landscape to accompany the listener on a personal and peaceful journey - sometimes handy at this time of year.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.



http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, December 11: 8pm PST
Sunday, December 12: 7am PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Jesse McReynolds - Songs of the Grateful Dead

Once in a while Grateful Dead tributes appear in the world of popular music. Given the subtle underpinnings of what actually makes Grateful Dead music worth honoring—that often being much more than the songs on a Grateful Dead record—the thought of a tribute album often struggles to appear as anything more than novelty.

This is not the case with Bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds’ Songs of the Grateful Dead: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter. Released earlier this week, here the Dead seem to have been honored in a way that polishes a jewel with which we are already familiar but might not have studied quite so deeply.

The bluegrass roots of the Dead are well known to those who cherish their music, but might be something of a surprise to the mainstream. And while psychedelic jug band bluegrass music might be an eyebrow raiser to many, this element within the foundation of the Dead’s musical spirit is clear. Introduce Jesse McReynonds working with David Nelson to produce a collection of Hunter/Garcia compositions, and we quickly see how naturally Garcia’s music finds home in the Bluegrass genre.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the CD, and to chat with Mr. McReynolds about the project. His approach is pure and without cliché. His song selection pushes the boundaries to a place where producing outright bluegrass versions of Grateful Dead songs would seem contrived. Wisely instead, tunes like Franklin’s Tower and Fire On The Mountain showcase fine Bluegrass musician riffing into Grateful Dead territory. And Bird Song might be the finest example of where Bluegrass and the Dead find union.

For Deadheads, the entire CD offers an instant sense of familiarity—all of the songs are well known classics. To hear them presented in McReynold’s style, often with the addition of pedal steel (Stella Blue – perfect!) and other instrumentation well within the Grateful Dead universe, allows us a very intimate perspective on terrain we have traveled often. And the disc is capped off with the lovely and catchy “Day By Day,” a tune written with Robert Hunter himself.

I recommend you check out Songs of the Grateful Dead for yourself and see the familiar in a fresh and naturally fitting light.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Under Eternity Blue - Classic Dub Reggae

The tenth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with three show times: Saturday, June 12 at 7pm PST, and Sunday, June 13 at 5am and 2pm PST.

In this episode we return to Dub Reggae, this time directly into the heart of the 70's when dub was fully coming of age and pushing the borders of anything one normally expected out of Reggae music in general.  Focused on the years 1973 - 1975, we will enjoy music that is as much raw and organic as it is psychedelically produced and often cutting edge for its time. The sound of these years epitomizes what goes down in the record books as Classic Dub.  No doubt, a good time for your ears awaits.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.



http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, June 12: 7pm PST
Sunday, June 13 at 5am and 2pm PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

UEB-009 - Psychedelic Journaling [part 02]

UEB-009 - Psychedelic Journaling [part 02]

After getting a significant degree of positive response and feedback on the recent Psychedelic Journaling motif being explored over at Under Eternity Blue, I have gone ahead and spun out a second installment for your listening pleasure.

It's healthy to step outside of the Grateful Dead universe from time to time. Occasionally you might bump into other psychedelic physical laws governing foreign landscapes and solar systems, and these might come expand what you consider to be existing in your own personal musical sphere.

At Under Eternity Blue I encourage the cultivation of your adventurism and appreciation of music's inner voice as it expresses itself in many forms.

Stop by and enjoy the ride.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Under Eternity Blue - Psychedelic Journaling [part 01]

The eighth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with two show times: Saturday, March 27th at 8pm PST, and Sunday, March 28th at 8am PST.

This episode is part one of a series entitled "Psychedelic Journaling." A bit different the previous episodes that focused on particular musical genres, Psychedelic Journaling is more of a sketch pad/diary approach to exploring a wide mix of music that strikes a psychedelic chord throughout. Diverse worlds are traveled, yet all represent an interconnected universe of intent.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.

Spirit Plants Radio
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, March 27th at 8pm PST
Sunday, March 28th at 8am PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed at the Spirit Plants Radio page linked above.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Under Eternity Blue - Instrumental Hip Hop


The sixth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend on Spirit Plants Radio with two show times: Saturday, November 21st at 10pm PST, and Sunday, November 22nd at 1pm PST.

This episode will explore something perhaps best described as a guilty pleasure - Instrumental Hip Hop. It may sound counter intuitive, but this musical genre has never ceased to surprise me with its ability to strike a chord of musical enjoyment which I often reach while listening to the Grateful Dead. Blasphemy? If it sounds that way, I hope you may open you ears and give it a try just the same. Once in a while you get shown the light...

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site itself.

Spirit Plants Radio
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, November 21st: 10pm PST
Sunday, November 22nd: 1pm PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Roll Away

Jerry Garcia 11/17/78Speaking from experience, it's healthy to step away from a solid diet of Grateful Dead music once in a while. I did it for a multi-year period before starting up this blog, and it was a very good thing. Not only was it refreshing to dive into "other" music with all the daily listening time I had been devoting to the Dead, but in coming back years later, their music opened up like a flower revealing subtle hues I missed in the past. The music spoke with more fine detail and more wide reaching scope than before. I didn’t plan to come back to the Dead when I did, much as I hadn’t planned to step away years earlier. All in all I recommend taking a break from time to time.

In recent weeks I’ve stepped away again. The August 24, 1972 review marked only the first time I had returned to listening to the Dead since early September. And excluding that one show, October 2009 has been a whirlwind adventure into other music; the Grateful Dead receiving nary a thought along the way.

It’s okay. I’m not here to tell you I’m hanging up a closed sign on the blog or anything like that. Not even “gone fishing,” though it may seem a bit like that recently. I’m comfortable that the archives here can keep readers interest (Gosh, I wonder how many folks have read this site cover to cover?) even while I slip away to dabble in other waters.

Regardless, I’m actually well into the research portion (listening) for the guide’s next show review. I won’t let things completely die on the vine. And I did feel like checking in for a moment even if just to pass along a few tidbits.

Somehow,through no doing of my own, the GDLG twitter account password became corrupted last week. If you follow, you might have noticed that @deadlistening has gone completely dark of late. Amazingly frustrating. One can imagine how difficult it is to get any direct support help from such a large “free” service. I really don’t want to have to bail on the account (with its more than 1000 followers) and start over. Hopefully I’ll get lucky soon and find help working through the issues that are somehow preventing my even managing to receive the password reset e-mail via twitter. If you know anyone over at Twitter, I’d appreciate being put in contact. I want my account back.

On a lighter note: While enjoying the next show on the GDLG reviewing bench yesterday while driving home with my 11-year-old, he chimed in from the back seat as the band segued into Truckin’. “This has got to be the Grateful Dead.” It wasn’t because he recognized the familiar tune. He said he knew it because they have a really distinctive sound that let’s you know it’s them every time. I myself had just been marveling at how absolutely archetypical Jerry’s guitar tone was sounding, and we spoke a bit about that distinctive rich, round twang that embodied Garcia’s tone for so many years.

Then, as the band continued singing the tune my son said, “Chicken? Chicken?” I burst out laughing. “Chicken, like the doodah man…”

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Under Eternity Blue - Late 60's Jazz

The fifth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend with three show times: Saturday, September 26th at 7pm PST, and Sunday, September 27th at 7am PST and 1pm PST.

This episode will explore a somewhat forgotten period of Jazz from the last half of the 1960's. Not the "electric Jazz" of Miles Davis, nor the sometimes intense and atonal "free Jazz" that was taking place; this is more a compelling expansion of traditional jazz as it became infused with the psychedelic energy of the day. Overall, it comes off as a more open and freely lyrical form of Jazz.

After this weekend's airings, this episode will be added to the Under Eternity Blue podcast series and if you are subscribed, you will find this broadcast appearing as a new podcast download then. Information for subscribing can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site.

Spirit Plants Radio
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, September 26th: 7pm PST
Sunday, September 27th: 7am PST & 1pm PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Under Eternity Blue - 70's Afro-Highlife

The fourth installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend with two show times: Saturday, August 15th at 7pm PST, and Sunday, August 16th at 7am PST.

This episode is going to spend its time enjoying the subtle hypnotic undertones of the Highlife music that came out of Africa in the 1970's. Somehow more soul-catching than other forms of Afro-Pop, Beat, and Funk, this Highlife fuses African folk music roots into modern instrumentation, and together they produce a wildly intoxicating listening experience. This sliver of the Afro-music movement elevates the mood and warms the spirit, all while remaining very understated and fluid. It's a splendid addition to the rotation of any musical connoisseur's library.

With the launch of this fourth installment also comes the unveiling of the Under Eternity Blue podcast series itself. Now you can subscribe directly to a feed featuring this non-Dead side project of the GDLG. UEB episodes will get added to the feed after the weekend debut of each new broadcast. All three of the previous episodes are already queued up and ready for download and podcast subscription. Information can be found at the Under Eternity Blue Music site.

Spirit Plants Radio
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, August 15th: 7pm PST
Sunday, August 16th: 7am PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above. If you can’t tune in live, all shows become listenable via archive streaming after the show ends Sunday night, with the newest Under Eternity Blue episode turning up in its podcast feed as well.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Under Eternity Blue - Early Dub Reggae


The third installment of the Under Eternity Blue radio program hits the Internet airwaves this weekend with three show times: Saturday, 7pm PST, and Sunday, 6am PST and 6pm PST.

This episode will explore dawn of Dub Reggae music coming just before the true explosion of the genre in the mid-70's. If you aren't all that familiar with Dub, or are a long time fan, this "heady" style of Jamaican instrumental production is a natural crossover for any Deadhead. This show explores the earliest years of Dub, which have their own unique flavor as Reggae itself was forming out of the more upbeat stylings of Rocksteady before it.

Now that there are a few UEB shows under my belt, I will be creating a podcast subscription feed for this "non-Dead" project very soon. You can currently stream past shows (Ambient Electronica, Psychedelic Folk). Soon moving forward, each show will be released as a podcast (earlier episodes retroactively included) some time after the original weekend airing on Spirit Plants Radio itself.

Spirit Plants Radio
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, July 18th: 7pm PST
Sunday, July 19th: 6am PST & 6pm PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above. If you can’t tune in live, all shows become listenable via archive streaming after the show ends Sunday night.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Under Eternity Blue - Psychedelic Folk

The next installment of Under Eternity Blue hits the airwaves this weekend. For those that don't know, I started a podcast side project for an online radio station (Spirit Plants Radio) a couple of months ago. Loosely structured, Under Eternity Blue explores other music that I find meaningful and satisfying - I do spend 80% or more of my time not listening to the Grateful Dead after all.

This episode focuses on the Psychedelic Folk genre. It's an easy call that most Grateful Dead fans will find plenty of inroads to this particular installment, and perhaps I'll turn you on to something you hadn't heard before.

Spirit Plants Radio
streaming live:
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, June 20th: 6pm – 7pm PST
Sunday, June 21st: 6am – 7am PST & 4pm – 5pm PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above. If you can’t tune in live, all shows become listenable via archive streaming after the show ends Sunday night.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Under Eternity Blue

Early on, while introducing this blog, I referenced a period of a few years just before being inspired to start this project where I had stepped completely away from Grateful Dead music. That was no small feat, let me tell you, because I had been listening to a nearly steady diet of the Grateful Dead and its associated close circle projects for a long, long time. Oh, I had plenty of other music, but the Dead occupied something on the order of 80% of my listening time.

The trigger for the transition came when I entered the world of MP3 players. Suddenly the chance to queue up several hundred of my CDs (non-Dead) into a pocket sized jukebox was exhilarating. And while I listened to friends talk about how they were filling up iPods with Dead bootlegs, I was having nothing of it. I was rediscovering my record collection. I was crafting playlists to underscore everything from a Friday night dinner, Sunday morning coffee, doing dishes, to late night relaxing on the screen porch. Beyond some of the Dead’s commercial albums (gasp!), the boys were not making an appearance anywhere.

I think keeping your ears open to lots of different music is one of the healthiest things you can do. Yes, finding something you like and playing it until the proverbial vinyl wears thin is a pleasure any music fan should enjoy. We all have our guilty pleasures too. But, what this time away from the Dead taught me was that the soul enriching musical pleasure I was finding in their music, was lurking everywhere. It was in the past, and it was in the recently past present of music too.

Now the Grateful Dead fill only about 10% of the musical backdrop I weave into my life. Sometimes it’s a bit more, sometimes far less. And what’s interesting to me is that if, in starting this blog, the Dead’s music didn’t once again light a flame deep in my heart, I would have wrapped things up after about 20 reviews and set it adrift on the Internet seas, satisfied that it might do its job here and there. But, the Dead did indeed re-light that flame. It’s just that now their music is in competition with so much more that equally satisfies me. And I like it that way.

About a month or two ago, I noticed that episode 001 of the GDLG podcast turned up on a live radio program devoted in part to the realm of psychedelics called Spirit Plants Radio. I thought it was totally cool to hear my podcast streaming live late one Saturday night, and thanked the guy who organizes the show for thinking to include my stuff on his program. We got to talking, and it dawned on me that this might be a unique platform to exercise my passion for non-Dead music (I have toyed for a long time with the idea of devoting some space here on the blog for NDC – Non Dead Content). And thus was born “Under Eternity Blue” (couldn’t resist the subtle Dead reference), a radio show where I aim to indulge the rest of my musical universe, and set it out into that Internet ocean. If you trust my judgment on Grateful Dead tapes, who knows, maybe I can turn you on to some other stuff too.

I mention all of this now in part to give props to the entire radio project itself (there’s a wide range of other interesting content streaming on this guys radio marathon each weekend), and to invite over anyone interested in some potential side tripping with me to tune into this other area of my musical garden. My debut show airs this weekend (links coming below).

The format of Under Eternity Blue is a work in progress. I had started off building the first 2 hour set with a wide reaching variety of music from a whole host of different genres (everything from early Reggae and 70’s Afro-Highlife to Acid Folk and Soul Jazz from the late 60’s), but then landed on the decision to feature just one corner of music this time which seemed well matched with the shows overall devotion to psychedelia. So, on its maiden voyage, Under Eternity Blue is exploring the world of Ambient Electronica. Next time, it will go in some other direction entirely, I’m sure.

In the pure spirit of “one man gathers what another man spills” I invite you to poke you head into this episode, or some future one, to see if there’s anything you might enjoy. If not, no worries. I know for me personally, finding inroads to new music is a sometime treacherous adventure. Nothing can be everything for everyone, but a willingness to dabble can often open a door to great riches.

I’ll plan to find some platform here on the GLDG (perhaps over on the side bar) to link to the Under Eternity Blue shows as they get produced. After each broadcast, the shows become linked for streaming anytime. Perhaps I’ll even set up another podcast or blog page for them. We’ll see. For now, you are invited to check out the first installment as part of this weekends lineup. The show is being featured a few times across Saturday and Sunday:

Spirit Plants Radio
http://spfradio.yage.net/
Under Eternity Blue with DJ Arkstar
Saturday, April 25th: 8pm – 10pm PST
Sunday, April 26th: 4am – 6am PST & 8am – 10am PST

The full weekend line up (11am PST Saturday - 11pm PST Sunday) is listed on the Spirit Plants Radio page above. Again, if you can’t tune in live, all shows become listenable via archive streaming after the show ends Sunday night.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin