I’ve nursed a heavy serving of Ben Harper records through the years. Last month, in Austin, I sat in on taping of a forthcoming Austin City Limits Ben Harper & Relentless 7 appearance. The new material finds Harper backed by a smaller band than on previous records, he’s cut away some of the excess and made a straight up rock and roll record.

Next month Ben Harper + Relentless 7 will release White Lies For Dark Times on May 5th with a full set of tour dates to follow. When we got word of a vinyl giveaway we jumped at the chance to offer it up to you guys.

MoB Vinyl Giveaway: Up for grabs is a 10″ of “Shimmer & Shine” (Side A) and “Spanish Red Wine” (Side B), and a super-rare, promo only, 7″ with “The World Suicide” (Side A) and “Eldorado” (Side B). Drop a comment telling us your favorite Ben Harper album, song, or lyric and we’ll notify two winners by e-mail and send them one of each vinyl above.

I caught the Ben Harper and Relentless7 Austin City Limits taping while in Austin last week, which should air later this year (October). It was a good first listen to the material that will make up their new album, White Lies For Dark Times, due May 5th on Virgin Records. Tour dates have been rounded out, including a Chicago stop. You can expect to hear lots of new material, some vintage but rocking Harper back catalog, and most likely a Zeppelin cover.

BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 US TOUR DATES:

April 30 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 1 Memphis, TN Beale Street Music Festival
May 2 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
May 4 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
May 5 New York, NY Webster Hall
May 8 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 9 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
May 10 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 12 Montreal, CANADA Metropolis
May 13 Toronto, CANADA Phoenix Concert Theatre
May 15 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
May 16 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
May 25 George, WA The Gorge Amp. / Sasquatch Festival
May 27 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
May 28 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
June 13 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music Festival

Looking forward to Relentless 7 at SXSW. I’ve been a long-time fan of Ben Harper’s and this new stripped down band offers some interesting possibilities. The above video for “Keep It Together” is a meandering blues jam with Harper on lap slide, which, to me, is a much improvement over the past couple years.

Relentless 7 will release White Lies For Dark Times on May 5th via Virgin Records.

Yesterday some big names in rock and roll took over Milwaukee’s US Cellular Arena for a special Get Out & Vote ’08 concert. Attendees were treated to sets by David Crosby & Graham Nash, Ben Harper, Tenacious D, and the Beastie Boys. MoB photographer Daniel Brielmaier was on hand to capture the event through photo. Check out the shots below. If you were there, please leave your thoughts/reviews in the comments. How great were the Beastie Boys? Vote.

David Crosby & Graham Nash

Tenacious D & Ben Harper

Beastie Boys

Myspace: Beastie Boys
Myspace: Ben Harper
Myspace: Crosby & Nash
Myspace: Tenacious D

Find MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic

The Beastie Boys, Ben Harper,, Crosby & Nash, and Tenacious D will perform a special Rock The Vote show at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee on Sunday, November 2nd.

Tickets: $35
On Sale: Sat, 10/11/08 10:00 AM CDT

Thanks to The Lone Microphone for the tip.

It’s hard to argue with a festival that boast a line up including Ben Harper, Death Cab For Cutie, M. Ward, Ben Folds and more! We’ve got a pair of tickets to this weekend’s Okobos Music Festival to giveaway. The festival takes place at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday, October 11th.

To enter, just drop a comment with your willingness to make the trip up north for a day of music and who you’d be most interested in seeing.

Update: Thanks everyone! We’ve notified our winner!