Alright Alright Alright

Superblast is almost ready

2007-08-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Time for a new place. Take a left at 3rd and go about two blocks until you hit Main St. There you will find the new blog.

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW BLOG!!!!!

Tony Wilson R.I.P.

2007-08-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Bad news: Factory Records founder and all-around music guru Tony Wilson has passed away at 57. Though he had surgery to remove a kidney in January, he was present at April's Coachella Festival to introduce the long-awaited U.S. return of the Happy Mondays. Without Wilson, we would have no Joy Division/New Order, no Happy Mondays and no "24 Hour Party People". And no Creation Records either. The Manchester Evening News has a nice roundup of tributes from those who knew him.

Fun Fun Fun in Austin Austin Austin

2007-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Austin just won't sleep until it has more stomp-ass music festivals than NYC, Chicago and L.A. combined. The Texas capital has upped the ante with the Fun Fun Fun Fest (sounds fun!), set for early November. It'll feature bands such as the New Pornographers, Explosions in the Sky, um... Of Montreal...er, Girl Talk... um, An Old Man Fashioning a Canoe... I mean Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Also Battles, Okkervil River, Diplo, Final Fantasy, Mates of State, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Emma Pollock (ex-Delgados), Neurosis, Busdriver, the Sword, the Saints, Against Me! and more!

OMG CMJ LOL!!!

2007-08-09T14:14:00.001-07:00

Hell yes: For New Yorkers, rich people and music industry people, CMJ is four nights in a non-stop music fantasy land where Patti Smith follows you around and David Bowie crashes at your pad. For the rest of the world, CMJ is a giant jealousy-inducing tease that none of us can ever go to. The event will tease Oct. 16 - 20 in various venues around Gotham City. Only a few acts have been announced so far, including Spoon, Brother Ali, Justice, UNKLE, Del and Rodrido y Gabriela.

Seymore Tours the World...or at least 8 cities

2007-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Cool MPLS popsters Seymore Saves the World are hitting the road this month for a mini-tour west of the Mississippi, including three days at "Snowghost Sessions" in Big Sky Country.

8/16 - Minneapolis, Minn. - The Uptown Bar
8/17 - Omaha, Neb. - Saddle Creek Bar
8/18 - Denver, Col. - Quixotes
8/19 - Los Angeles, Calif. - Spaceland
8/20 - San Fransisco, Calif. - Elbo Room
8/21 - Portland, Ore. - Dante's
8/22 - Seattle, Wash. - High Dive
8/23 - Whitefish, Mont. - Snowghost Sessions
8/24 - Whitefish, Mont. - Snowghost Sessions
8/25 - Whitefish, Mont. - Great Norern Brewing Co.

Odds and sods and news

2007-08-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Hell? Did you know that the Beastie Boys have NEVER played live in their native Brooklyn???! If "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn" is right, then they haven't slept in TWENTY YEARS.

Madge and J. Timberlake, now how heavy is that? Is Timbaland a robot programmed to never say no? He and Timberlake have shacked up with Madonna for her follow-up to 2005's shitty Confessions on a Dancefloor.

Demme-gogue: My man Jonathan Demme has made several stomp ass concert films like this one and this one, and to a lesser extent, this one. Now, he's teaming with Alejandro Escovedo for another awesome one.

Rilo Kiley has a secret for L.A.

2007-08-08T17:50:00.001-07:00

Rilo Kiley will be performing a "secret" show at --this rocks -- Eagle Rock’s All Star Bowling Lanes this Friday, August 10, courtesy of the Myspace. This'll be a warm-up gig for their ensuing tour.

A limited number of wristbands will be available starting at 4pm (no lineups before 3)on Friday at the Echo. You'll need a printout of your MySpace profile with Rilo Kiley’s MySpace and MySpace’s Secret Shows in your Top 8. Which you probably already have anyway.

The show is free, all ages and starts at 8pm.

Thanks for the tip again, A-Rom.

Devendra Banhart dates

2007-08-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: That strange, hairy, lovely Devendra Banhart will be hitting the road in support of his forthcoming 5th album...

9/1 - Vancouver, Canada - Commodore Ballroom
9/2 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival (KEXP stage)
9/4 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
9/6 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theater
9/7 - San Francisco, CA - House of Fine Arts
9/10 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater (Native American Benefit)
9/12 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
9/13 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall Theater
9/15 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9/16 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
9/18 - Chicago, IL - Portage Theater
9/19 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theater
9/21 - Toronto, Canada - Danforth Music Hall
9/22 - Montreal, Canada - Theatre National
9/23 - Burlington, VT - Davis Center Grand Ballroom
9/25 - Boston, MA - Roxy Ballroom
9/27 - New York, NY - Grand Ballroom
9/29 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts
10/1 - Washington, DC - Sixth And I Historic Synagogue
10/4 - Nashville, TN - City Hall
10/6 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
10/7 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
10/9 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater (Native American Benefit)
10/10 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
10/12 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theater
10/13 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum

Frank Black Francis madness

2007-08-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Frank Black is turning into Prince. He comes out with a new album like four times a year, has a crazy new website, and he loves the name game. The artist formerly known as Black Francis (born Charles Michael Thompson) became Frank Black circa 1993, and is now reverting back to Black Francis for his latest release Bluefinger, out Sept. 10 (pre-order here). And wait, there's more: Black has also released an exclusive iTunes EP, BUT it's only available on Canadian iTunes?! No word on the long-rumored Pixies reunion album though...

All info courtesy of the saintly peeps who run Frankblack.net and release bitchin' F.B.-related podcasts.

Poster of the Week: MF DOOM by Mark Sgarbossa

2007-08-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

The people have only those rights which I choose to give them:

Click on image to enlarge.

MF DOOM at Cane's in San Diego 8/19, art by Mark Sgarbossa

Odds and sods and news

2007-08-07T12:58:00.001-07:00

Jesus rocks: A little update on Kanye's upcoming CD, which has been delayed until September 11 (same day as 50 Cent's new joint!).

Check it: The Hives have unveiled some newsy news about their upcoming album (no release date). The Black and White Album (Please be a Prince-Beatles mash-up) is being finished up in Mississipi studio, although they also recorded in London, Sweden and Miami (with Pharrell!)

Supergroup alert! John Mellencamp, Kelly Clarkson and Faith Hill will perform at the Colts/Saints game in Indianapolis on September 6.

Supercorn what now? Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's orchestral piece "Popcorn Superheat Receiver" is headed for the U.S. for the first time at New York's St. Paul the Apostle on January 16-17 as part of the Wordless Music Series. The piece, which features a 34-piece string orchestra was first performed in England in '05.

Whoa, that's a lotta REM: The dudes at MPLSfuckingrocks have posted a tankload of youtube clips of REM performing new material in Dublin. Pretty good.

MTV VMA noms announced

2007-08-07T12:38:00.001-07:00

This is for the 7 people who still watch MTV (OK, fine, it's for the 7 people who read this blog): MTV has unveiled the list of nominees for this year's VMA Awards. That hot hunk of manmeat J. Timberlake has racked up a hard-to-beat 7 nods, while that luscious chunk of womanmeat Beyonce also earned 7 (I said "Hard to beat", not "hard to tie"). Kanye West and Rihanna are nominated for five and Amy Winehouse three.

All Wilco, all the time.

2007-08-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Are you some kind of Wilco fanatic? Well, earn prizes for your obsessiveness. Presenting The Second Annual Wilcoworld Photo Contest.

All you have to do is send in a photo of you doing your freaky summertime rituals (bar-b-q-ing, sledding, making snow angels, wait...) while wearing a Wilco shirt or holding something "Wilco related". Sounds fun, but check out the prizes: Two pairs of 3-day passes to Austin City Limits, a pair of tickets to see Wilco's taping of the Austin City Limits TV show, um... Simple shoes, and "other cool stuff." Stuff rules. Send photos to ineedacamera@wilcoworld.net.

Odds and sods and news

2007-08-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Sweeeet: Is David Lee Roth finally ready to party (no alcohol, please) with Eddie and the rest of Van Halen?! Yes, says Rolling Stone. An arena tour is in the works for the fall. Again.

Kick Push: Dapper Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco apparently unveiled a bunch of new tracks during his Lollapalooza set over the weekend, including "Superstardom," the first single from his upcoming second album Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, due in the fall.

Catch up with the Virgin Fest: You didn't go to Lollapalooza OR the Virgin Festival? Loser. LOSER. Stereogum'll hook you up with highlights from the latter.

Review: St. Vincent @ The Echo

2007-08-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

8/4/7, Los Angeles: Texas songstress St. Vincent (nee Annie Clark) is like the weird theatre girl from your high school, except exceedingly talented and cute as hell. Her huge, anime-like eyes give her an irresistible deer-in-headlights look, and she backs up said looks with an awesome voice, quirky songwriting and some fearsome guitar chops. Backed by three grungy gents on bass, violin and drums (plus a smattering of keyboards thrown in for added ambience), St. Vincent enchanted the packed Echo Saturday night with a string of tunes from her lush debut Marry Me.

Her songs don't conform to the usual verse-chorus-verse structure, instead meandering through proggy orchestral pop sounds and often culminating in Sonic Youthy bursts of guitar noise. At the end of her best song "Now Now," Clark even ripped off a guitar string and threw her axe down in a display of mock rebelliouness. Later, she used a severed mannequin arm as percussion ("You should see what we did to the rest of her," she quipped).

The brief encore consisted of the Magnetic Fields' "Yeah! Oh Yeah!", duetted by Clark and special guest John Vanderslice, and Clark's haunting solo take on Nico's "These Days."

Cleary destined for cult status, Clark (as a solo act) is opening for the National on their upcoming tour.

Photos by the sportily-dressed Chinapixie.

Lee Hazelwood passes on

2007-08-06T01:24:00.000-07:00

Bad news: Pitchfork is reporting that music legend Lee Hazelwood has died at age 78, after a long bout with cancer. He was best known for his seminal work with Nancy Sinatra. Hazelwood wrote "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "Some Velvet Morning," and produced and performed on two albums with the singer, 1968's Nancy & Lee and 1972's Nancy & Lee Again. We'll miss you Lee!

Spy on Lollapalooza

2007-08-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Oh boo hoo: You don't get to go to Lollapalooza? You baby. You can (sort of) attend it here, at ATT&T's Blue Room, live! Virtually. Kind of. Better than nothing.
Today:
1:00 Elvis Perkins
1:30 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
2:30 Jack's Mannequin
3:30 Slightly Stoopid
4:30 Soulive
5:30 Sparklehorse
6:30 Satellite Party
7:30 LCD Soundsystem
8:30 G Love and Special Sauce
9:30 The Black Keys

Saturday:
12:45 Tokyo Police Club
1:30 Tapes 'n Tapes
2:30 M.I.A.
3:30 Motion City Soundtrack
4:30 Pete Yorn
5:30 The Hold Steady
6:30 Stephen Marley
7:30 Regina Spektor
8:30 Ben Harper

Sunday:
12:15 Dax Riggs
1:15 Heartless Bastards
2:15 Lupe Fiasco
3:15 Blue October
4:15 Kings of Leon
5:15 Rodrigo y Gabriela
6:15 Paolo Nutini
7:15 Amy Winehouse
8:15 Interpol

No Pearl Jam??! What the fuck?!

Asobi Seksu remix contest

2007-08-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: NYC's Asobi Seksu is a good shoegazey-type pop band (although they're a disappointment live). Their latest single, "Thursday" (NOT the best song on their latest ablum Citrus) is avaiable for you to remix. You can win a "prize package" that includes t-shirts, a free show and signed posters, but no date with their hottie lead singer, Yuki.

Hot Chip does Kraftwerk

2007-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: We are the robots...We are the robots...etc... Kraftwerk is getting some remix action courtesy of Hot Chip, whose members will re-werk 2003's 'Aerodynamik' and 'La Forme' on a limited edtion 12" (and CD and download). September 17.

Party hearty with Jens Lekman

2007-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Catch Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman on tour this fall. His new album Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian) drops October 9.

10-23 - Bloomington, IN - Jake's
10-25 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-26 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10-27 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-29 - Boston, MA - Paradise
11-01 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
11-02 - Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
11-03 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
11-06 - Seattle, WA - Nectar
11-07 - Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
11-09 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
11-10 - West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour

Stevie Wonder on tour

2007-08-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Regular-sized Steven Wonder is leaving his billion dollar estate to finally tour from sea to shining sea -- although one sea (the Pacific) is seeing more Wonder than anywhere else (6 of the 13 shows are in California?!). Uptight:

8/23 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's
8/25 - Lake Tahoe, CA - Harvey's Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre
8/26 - Concord, CA - Concord Pavilion
8/28 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
8/30 - Portland, OR - Edgefield Amphitheatre
8/31 - Woodinville, WA - Chateau Saint Michelle Winery
9/4 - Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
9/5 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
9/10 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion
9/12 - Detroit, MI - Meadowbrook
9/14 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
9/16 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Pavilion
9/20 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion

Poster of the Week: Sharon Jones by Scrojo

2007-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Simple and sweet:

Click on image to enlarge.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at the Belly Up in Aspen. Art by Scrojo.

Odds and sods and news

2007-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

HOT! Details on PJ Harvey's upcoming album White Chalk here. The LP is due internationally at the end of September.

Sweet: Stereogum's got quite a bit of info on Rogue Wave's next album Asleep at Heaven's Gate.

Peter, Bjorn and John. And now Kanye. The Swedish trio will be the MC's backing band at a festival in Sweden. Get YouTube ready.

B O R I S

2007-08-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: You just knew they wouldn't come all the way over from Japan for just three shows, right? Right. BORIS is coming to your city:

9/30 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10/02 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10/03 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/04 - Pittsburgh, PA - Kelly-Strayhorn Theater
10/05 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts
10/06 - Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet
10/07 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
10/10 - Bellingham, WA - Nightlight Lounge
10/11 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
10/14 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
10/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10/18 - San Antonio, TX - The Ballroom
10/19 - Austin, TX - Scoot's Inn
10/20 - Baton Rouge, LA - The Spanish Moon
10/21 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
10/22 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
10/23 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10/24 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10/25 - Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
10/26 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10/27 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
10/28 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10/29 - Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs

Review: Bat For Lashes @ Spaceland

2007-08-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

7/31/7, Los Angeles Last night saw the L.A. debut of Bat For Lashes from Brighton, England, offering ten or so tracks from their U.S. debut Fur and Gold. The act is really just Natasha Khan, although she's touring the states backed by an all-female three-piece who rotate instruments.

The group's thrift store gypsy look matches their sound, an amalgam of junkshop folk (violins, viola, autoharp, percussion of all kinds), noisy guitar, electro beats and Khan's unreal vocal stylings that recall Bjork, Polly Jean Harvey and Julee Cruise --- sometimes all in one song. Like a less cloying CocoRosie, Bat For Lashes has a sweeping but childlike sound, often piano-driven, that can send shivers up your spine. But too many songs crawl along, and even at an hour, their Spaceland set seemed too long (this wasn't helped by their delay to the stage).

Photos by the insufferable Chinapixie.

Odds and sods and news

2007-08-01T15:49:00.001-07:00

Solo Lowe: Dashing Brit icon Nick Lowe is returning to the U.S for the first time since '04, check the dates here, mates.

Dap it up, dap it up: Soul stirrers Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are hitting the road this fall as well.

It's all sunshine: MPLS hip-hop legends Atmosphere won't have a new full-length out til '08, but you can feast on five new tracks on the latest Sad Clown joint here. Sluggo's on tour with the Paid Dues crew now.
My name is Wilson: As in Brian Wilson, who's debuting another crazy "Song cycle" on a U.K. tour this fall. Jealous? You should be.

Review: M.I.A. @ The Echoplex

2007-08-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

7/30/07, Los Angeles: England's buzzy dish M.I.A. stormed The Echoplex last night like a miniature Missy Elliot, sporting strange rhymes and even stranger clothes.

The Sri Lankan singer offers an infectious, danceable mish-mash of various world styles all filtered through a uniquely British stye of hip-hop. Live, she was accompanied by a backup singer/dancer/hypewoman and a scratch-heavy DJ. Playing songs from her breakthrough debut Arular and her forthcoming disc Kala, her set only lasted about an hour (making the $20 cover seem steep), but the sold-out crowd was definitely digging it.

The Echoplex is a cavernous, sweaty club probably better-suited for DJs than bands you want to be able to see, which makes it unfortunate that both Boris and The Go! Team are booked there this fall.

Photo by the incandescent Chinapixie.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs add more U.S. dates

2007-07-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: NYC's one and only YYYs have expanded their U.S. tour with these dates:

8-01 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre
8-02 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
8-04 - Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
8-05 - Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Track (Virgin Festival)
8-07 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
8-16 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
8-18 - Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (Download Festival)
8-21 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
8-22 - Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theatre

FOG WATCH 2007

2007-07-31T12:48:00.001-07:00

Day 10 Billion: If you just can't wait a few more days (ADD), or if you don't want to shell out the cashmoney (cheep bastage), you can hear all of Fog's new disc Ditherer on MP3.com for free. Streaming and what-not. "I am smothered in glistening chicken fat." Makes you think.

Finally. Go! Team tour news

2007-07-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

HELL YES: The Go! Team, the greatest band ever (Says The Hyperbole! Team), is swimming across the Atlantic to play for us. "Us" meaning "U.S."

Run to ticketweb/ticketmaster:

10-13 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
10-15 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
10-17 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
10-19 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
10-20 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
10-21 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10-25 - Boston, MA - Paradise
10-26 - Philadelphia, PA - TBA
10-27 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10-28 - Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
10-30 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

Photo by the 8 foot tall Chinapixie.

Joanna Newsom sets U.S. dates

2007-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: That adorable, pixie-ish harp shredder Joanna Newsom is beefing up her entourage for her brief U.S. tour in the fall. She'll be towing a 28-piece orchestra.

10-21 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
11-04 - Grass Valley, CA - Music in the Mountains
11-09 - Los Angeles, CA - Walt Disney Concert Hall
11-17 - Atlanta, GA - Woodruff Arts Center Symphony Hall

Vegoose after hours

2007-07-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Vegas is the city that never sleeps (well, it's the other city that never sleeps), so it's nice to know that the town's Vegoose fest includes some late night action, like the similarly-minded Austin City Limits fest. Too bad they're like all jam bands. Huzzah:

10/26 - moe. - The Pearl
10/26 - Thievery Corporation - House of Blues
10/27 - Umphrey's McGee - House of Blues
10/27 - Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Joint @ Hard Rock
10/28 - STS9 - House of Blues
10/28 - The Shins - The Joint @ Hard Rock

Poster of the Week: Arcade Fire by BONA

2007-07-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

This rules:

Click on image to enlarge.

Arcade Fire 2007 Canadian tour poster by Burlesque of North America.

Review: Tokyo Police Club @ Troubadour

2007-07-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

7/25/7, Los Angeles: Playing L.A. for only the second time (unless you count Coachella), Canada's Tokyo Police Club (because it sounds so much cooler than "Toronto Police Club" or "Medicine Hat Police Club") seemed to be in a big hurry Wednesday night at the sold out Troubadour. With only a handful of singles and one EP consisting of 7 under-three-minute songs, TPC doesn't have a whole lot of material, but playing every song in double-time shortened their set to only about 40 minutes. Their one-song encore was a half-assed cover (their first ever played live, apparently) of The Rentals' smoking "Friends of P," which they ironically slowed to a crawl -- removing most of the song's catchy fun in the process. The youthful quartet has energy to spare, and are more ambitious than many of their dance-rock-inspired contemporaries, but they may be getting too big too fast.

Ben Kweller likes to play

2007-07-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Jumping on the entire -album-live bandwagon (see Lucinda Williams, Sonic Youth, Melvins, etc...) is Ben Kweller, who apparently has three albums, each of which he'll be playing on consecutive nights at the Troubadour in L.A.. And he's touring like Meat Loaf:

7/27/7 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
7/28/7 - Florence, MA - The Pines Theatre
7/29/7 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
7/30/7 - Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
7/31/7 - Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
8/1/7 - Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
8/7/7 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
8/8/7 - Orlando, FL - The Social
8/9/7 - Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
8/10/7 - Ybor City, FL - Crowbar
8/11/7 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
8/13/7 - Birmingham, AL - Work Play Theatre
8/15/7 - New Orleans, LA - The Parish
8/17/7 - Houston, TX - Walter's On Washington
8/18/7 - Denton, TX - Hailey's
8/20/7 - Oklahoma, OK - Bricktown Ballroom
8/21/7 - Tulsa, OK - Bob's at Cain's Ballroom
8/22/7 - Little Rock, AR - Juanita's
8/23/7 - Memphis, TN - Newby's
8/24/7 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In
8/25/7 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
8/26/7 - Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
8/28/7 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway
8/29/7 - Columbia, MO - Mojo's
8/30/7 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
8/31/7 - Boulder, CO - Club 156
9/1/7 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
9/4/7 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill
9/5/7 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (performing Sha Sha)
9/6/7 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (performing On My Way)
9/7/7 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (performing Ben Kweller)
9/9/7 - Las Vegas, NV - The Canyon
9/11/7 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
9/16/7 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival

The Blow blowin' into town

2007-07-26T12:40:00.001-07:00

Hell yes: Portland's The Blow are hitting a handful of American cities soon. Inhale these, dude:

8-03 - Portland, OR - PDX Pop Now! Festival
9-30 - Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
10-01 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10-03 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10-04 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-05 - New York, NY - Blender Theatre at Gramercy
10-06 - Boston, MA - Remis Auditorium (Museum of Fine Arts)

Deerhoof in the house

2007-07-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Touring machines Deerhoof have announced some dates in the USA and Canadia this autumn. Word.

9-21 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
9-22 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
9-23 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
9-25 - Nashville, TN - City Hall
9-26 - Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
9-28 - Toronto, Ontario - Ricoh Coliseum
9-29 - London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre
9-30 - Pontiac, MI - Eagle Theater
10-01 - Madison, WI - Rathskeller (University of Wisconsin Memorial Union)
10-02 - Minneapolis, MN - McGuire Theater at Walker Art Center
10-04 - Denver, CO - Bluebird
10-06 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue

Boris adding U.S. dates

2007-07-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: After announcing their appearance at Chicago's upcoming Adventures in Modern Music fest, Japanese metal gods Boris have set two more dates, with more to follow (presumably). Plus, the trio are re-enacting Altar, their studio collaboration with Sunn 0))), Live! In England! So, to re-cap:

9-30 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (Adventures in Modern Music)
10-03 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10-15 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
12/7 - 12/9 - Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Center (ATP Nightmare Before Christmas w/ Portishead, Earth, Aphex Twin, Thurton Moore, more)
12-10 - London, England - Forum

ACL announces after-shows

2007-07-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: The actual festival schedule is kind of screwy, but Austin City Limits offers crowds some stellar second (or first)chances to catch their favorite bands again (or for the first time) in smaller venues around town over the same weekend. The only hitch is that most of these shows are during festival hours, so you're still gonna have to pick and choose between two or three bands.

Stubb's BBQ
9/13/07 - Gotan Project
9/14/07 - Paolo Nutini/Peter Bjorn and John (outside)
9/14/07 - Back Door Slam (inside) (Free w/Paolo Ticket)
9/16/07 - The White Stripes/Cold War Kids (outside)
9/16/07 - Dr. Dog (inside) (Free w/ White Stripes ticket)

La Zona Rosa
9/13/07 - Spoon
9/14/07 - STS9
9/15/07 - Queens of the Stone Age/Dax Riggs
9/16/07 - Common

The Parish
9/13/07 - JJ Grey & MOFRO/Ryan Shaw
9/14/07 - Robert Earl Keen
9/15/07 - Heartless Bastards/White Denim
9/17/07 - Yo La Tengo

Emo's
9/14/07 - Stephen Marley/Zap Mama
9/15/07 - Blonde Redhead/The National
9/15/07 - STS9
9/15/07 - STS9 (DJ Set) (Emo's Lounge) TBD

Antone's
9/15/07 - Rodrigo y Gabriela

Grizzly Bear loves Canada

2007-07-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Hot off their tour with Feist, Brooklyn's own Grizzly Bear are trekking out for some scattered North American dates this fall, including three nights in Ontario. Take that, Alberta!

8-26 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre (826NYC benefit with Feist, Carl Newman, Jim James)
8-29 - Brooklyn, NY - McCarren Park Pool
9-06 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
9-07 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge (Musicfest NW with Eric Bachmann, AU, Tiny Vipers)
9-18 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
9-19 - Buffalo, NY - Traif Music Hall
9-20 - Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
9-21 - London, Ontario - Lola Festival
9-22 - Ottawa, Ontario - Christ Church Cathedral
9-23 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground

All hail Vegoose

2007-07-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: From the creators of Bonnaroo, comes this year's most anticipated music festival: Vegoose, in Sin City Oct. 26 - 27. Zang, what a lineup:

Rage Against The Machine
Daft Punk, Iggy & the Stooges performing Fun House, Muse, The Shins, Cypress Hill, Queens of the Stone Age, Public Enemy, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Umphrey's McGee, Thievery Corporation, STS9, Ghostface Killah & The Rhythm Roots Allstars, Blonde Redhead, Gogol Bordello, U.N.K.L.E., Ghostland Observatory, Pharoahe Monch, Battles, M.I.A.

More to come, naturally. Fun House?! Ghostface with a live band?! Daft Punk Against the Machine?!?!! Look how excited Fabio is!

Odds and sods and news

2007-07-23T17:48:00.001-07:00

Canada rules: The sixth annual Pop Montreal's lineup includes Georgie James, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the National, Sunset Rubdown, Magnolia Electric Co., Fujiya & Miyagi, Black Mountain, Final Fantasy, Caribou, Patti Smith, Half Japanese, Pere Ubu, A-Trak, Kid Sister, the Cool Kids, Qui, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, Ron Sexsmith, Chad VanGaalen, Earlimart, Daedalus, Fucked Up, the Watson Twins, Tiga, DJ Mehdi, Cody ChesnuTT, and more!!! Event runs October 3-7.

The Donnas have set a Sept. 18 release date for their new album "Bitchin'" on Red Eye Records. They split from biggie Atlantic after two not-so-good CDs.

We can dream, can't we?: Is MJ going to take Prince's advice and schedule intimate shows in Vegas? How awesome would that be? Or how awful? Awful awesome.

Review: Sonic Youth @ Urban Outfitters

2007-07-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

7/21/7, Los Angeles: Minneapolis got Tapes n Tapes, Philly got The Rapture and NYC got El-P, but L.A. landed the biggest fish with Sonic Youth. Toyota's admirable Free Yr Radio live series came to a close at the Santa Monica Urban Outfitters with a brief, invigorating set from the iconic NY noise band. All the clothes were moved aside, turning the retail store into an intimate club, with a pretty cool onstage backdrop featuring the band's logo.

Each Free Yr Radio show benefitted a local indie radio station, with SMC's KXLU receiving the goods from the Sonic Youth event.

Primarily culled from their latest album, Rather Ripped, Sonic's setlist also included the early jam "The World Looks Red" and the well-received "Bull in the Heather." Bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon, guitarist Thurston Moore, and guitarist Lee Ranaldo shared vocal duties

Postal Service's DNTEL opened to a largely tuned-out crowd, most of whom were chatting during his overlong set.

Photos by the pugnacious Chinapixie.

L.A. gets all the good stuff

2007-07-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Offering a fine mix of independent rock, punk, hip-hop, whatever, the colorfully named Fuck Yeah Fest continues this year on Aug. 25 and 26 at various clubs in Echo Park. Two-day passes are a mere $22. That's the price of ONE DVD, and change. Check the partial lineup, as curated by Keith Morris (Circle Jerks) & Sean Carlson:

Saturday, August 25th:
The Explosion (very last west coast show)
Lavender Diamond
Dillinger Four
Busdriver
Boom Bip
Entrance
The Mae Shi
Fleshies
Bobby Birdman
Imaad Wasif
Hit Me Back
Thee More Shallows
Langhorne Slim
Greg Ashely of Gris Gris
Partyline (members of Bratmobile)
Brother Reade
+many more

Sunday, August 26th:
Deerhunter
Indian Jewelry
No Age
Midnight Movies
Jay Reatard
Pissed Jeans
xBxRx
Darker My Love
Triclops!
Best Fwends
+many more

Chicago gets all the good stuff

2007-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: British mag The Wire is celebrating its 25th anniversary with five nights of music at Chicago's Empty Bottle club. The musical program will be accompanied by a film series at Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center. And as a side note: Boris, since you're playing in Chicago (which I'm pretty sure is in the United States), please find it in your heart(s) to visit some other spots in the U.S. For now:

9-26 - Chicago - White Magic, Holy Fuck, Badawi, Burning Star Core with Graveyards & Zac Davis
9-27 - Chicago - Pere Ubu, Ulrich Schnauss, Hair Police, Glen Jones & Jack Rose
9-28 - Chicago - Qui, Excepter, Thomas Ankersmit, Leslie Keffer
9-29 - Chicago - Deerhunter, No Age, Daniel Carter, Sin Ropas
9-30 - Chicago - Boris, Michio Kurihara, Damon & Naomi, People

Review: Sonic Youth at the Greek Theater

2007-07-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

7/20/07, Los Angeles: Daydream Nation, first released in 1988, always seemed destined for icon status, and is often celebrated as one of the great albums of the 1980s, and usually mentioned early on in recaps of American post-punk.

Continuing the trend set by All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series, Sonic Youth played Daydream all the way through on Friday at the Greek Theatre in Hollywood (following similar performances in Chicago and London), and for a few hours, the band recaptured the zeitgeist surrounding the album's original time period. Stripping down to a quartet again (with new bassist Mark Ibold waiting in the wings), the band played the double-album straight ahead with few frills, and little stage banter. Guitarist Lee Ranaldo seemed to be the driving force behind the night's production, whether singing his tracks or slowly destroying his small army of guitars. The songs themselves sound as fresh as ever, awash in feedback and also threatening to spin out of control, but still laced with unforgettable melodies.

Strangely enough, the band seemed to be having more fun during the encore, when Ibold joined them for a handful of songs off their latest disc, Rather Ripped. His presence allowed Kim Gordon to ditch her bass and get some infectious dancing in. In fact, they were having such a blast, they ought to think about playing that album in its entirety as well. Or how about all of them? In a row. In my apartment.

Lucinda Williams catalog -- Live!

2007-07-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Lucinda Williams fan? Live in NY or L.A.? Check it: The singer is playing not one, not two, but FIVE of her albums all the way through on five nights in each city. The chosen: Her 1988 self-titled disc, "Sweet Old World," "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road," "Essence" and "World Without Tears." She's apparently doing them inreverse-chronological order, starting with "Tears."
In case that wasn't clear:

9/5 - Los Angeles - El Rey ("World Without Tears")
9/6 - Los Angeles - El Rey ("Essence")
9/8 - Los Angeles - El Rey ("Car Wheels On A Gravel Road")
9/9 - Los Angeles - El Rey ("Sweet Old World")
9/10 - Los Angeles - El Rey ("Lucinda Williams")
9/29 - New York City - Irving Plaza ("World Without Tears")
9/30 - New York City - Irving Plaza ("Essence")
10/2 - New York City - Town Hall ("Car Wheels On A Gravel Road")
10/3 - New York City - Town Hall ("Sweet Old World")
10/4 - New York City - Town Hall ("Lucinda Williams")

Need me to draw you a pitcher?

Poster of the Week: Decemberists by Electrofork

2007-07-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here's something cool:

Click on image to enlarge.

The Decemberists/Grizzly Bear at Summerstage in Central Park in New York. Art by Electrofork.

FOG WATCH 2007

2007-07-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Day 907: Our Fog watch continues with a bit of news from the Minneapolis band's camp. After a close-to-home CD release show August 18th at the Square Lake Festival near Stillwater, MN, the trio will be taking over Europe on these dates:

8/3 - Dresden, Ger. - Scheune
8/4 - Biesenthal, Ger. - Goldmund Festival
8/6 - Berlin, Ger. - Bastard
8/7 - London, UK - The Luminaire
8/8 - Dublin, Ire. - Crawdaddy
8/9 - Paris, Fr. - Fleche d'or

I really want to know what the "Bastard" in Berlin is like.

Rilo Kiley touring in the fall

2007-07-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: The catchy, quirky pop sounds of L.A.'s Rilo Kiley are drifiting to your town this fall. Bliss out on these dates:

9-06 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
9-07 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
9-08 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
9-10 - Orem, UT - McKay Events Center
9-11 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
9-12 - Columbia, MO - Jesse Auditorium at University of Missouri
9-13 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
9-14 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9-15 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
9-17 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
9-18 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Theatre
9-19 - Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
9-21 - Boston, MA - Avalon
9-22 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
9-23 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
9-25 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
9-26 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9-27 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9-28 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
9-29 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10-01 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
10-02 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
10-04 - New Orleans, LA - The Republic
10-05 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
10-06 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
10-07 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q
10-09 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
10-10 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
10-12 - San Diego, CA - SOMA
10-13 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel
10-15 - Santa Monica, CA - Civic Auditorium

Photo of Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis at the Glass House in Pomona, Calif. in March of '06 taken by the elusive Chinapixie.

For DOOM, the bell tolls

2007-07-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Infamous masked madman MF DOOM is rocking our world with a brief U.S. tour this fall (most of the dates are with the traveling Rock the Bells Festival), and also pimping his image out for some Nikes.

7-29 - New York, NY - Randall's Island (Rock the Bells)
8-08 - San Diego, CA - TBA
8-10 - Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
8-11 - San Bernardino, CA - Glen Helen Hyundai Pavilion (Rock the Bells)
8-12 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
8-15 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
8-16 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
8-18 - San Francisco, CA - McCovey Cove Parking Lot (Rock the Bells)
8-25 - Minneapolis, MN - Metrodome Parking Lot (Rock the Bells)
8-26 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion (Rock the Bells)
8-28 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
8-29 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Center (Rock the Bells)

Of Montreal touring in the fall for y'all

2007-07-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: There's just not enough room to talk about Of Montreal, just room for dates. Bad dates:

9-28 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10/2 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
10/3 - Urbana, IL - Canopy Club
10/4 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
10/5 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10/6 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/7 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/8 - Oberlin, OH - Hale's Gym
10/9 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
10/0 - Buffalo, NY - The Tralf
10/1 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
10/2 - Boston, MA - The Roxy
10/3 - New York, NY - Roseland
10/4 - Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live
10/1 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
11/1 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
11/2 - Houston, TX - Numbers
11/3 - Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/4 - Dallas, TX - Granda Theatre
11/5 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
11/6 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee
11/7 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto
11/8 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
11/9 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
11/2 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11/3 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11/4 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11/6 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
11/7 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
11/8 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
11/9 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant

Odds and sods and news

2007-07-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sweet: Rilo Kiley's "Under the Blacklight" will be out Aug. 21 on Warner Bros., You can hear the first single, "The Moneymaker" (and see the hot video -- it's hot), on their Myspace page.

Gross: The long-awaited headliner for the second night of L.A.'s kick ass Sunset Junction Festival? She Wants Revenge. More like "She wants BARF." Nice. Still, they've yet to reveal another band for Sunday, and we've already got the Buzzcocks. Can't complain for 15 bucks. Wait, yes I can. She Wants Revenge sucks.

Cool news: For all you Son Volt fans, that is. They're re-releasing all those iTunes-only tracks on a limited edition (1,000 copies) double LP. Sweet.

Review: Os Mutantes/Busdriver @ The El Rey

2007-07-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

7/13/7, Los Angeles: Brazilian tropicalia pioneers Os Mutantes haven't popped up onstage in the U.S. very often since their late-sixties hey-day, but the revitalized group has been making the rounds lately, and hopefully they'll be back soon (and play more than just four North American cities).

Probably best know for their fuzzy, exotic 1968 garage nugget "Bat macumba", Os Mutantes' founding brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio Dias Baptista are nowadays joined by Sergio's wife-singer Zelia Duncan, original drummer Ronaldo "Dinho" Leme and 6 newbies, all extremely talented. The dectet spun some feel-good Brazilain jams, freely bouncing from samba to bosa nova to straight rock, with Sergio truly shredding his axe. Where has this guy been for the past 30-odd years? He sounds like Vernon Reid, except all of his solos seem necessary. He even quoted a few licks from Clapton's phantom solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

The nearly-sold out El Rey ate it up, and went nuts when they kicked out a mega-extended take on "Bat Macumba" for their sonically psychedelic encore. Os Mutantes seemed to be having too much fun not to return for a proper U.S tour soon.

L.A. indie rapper Busdriver landed the opening slot, but his clever wordplay and often improvised rhymes were all but drowned out by his DJ tag-team of Anti-MC and Daddy Kev. In a nod to the ominous date of the performance, Kev sported a Jason-style goalie mask while Busdriver, his apparent victim, wore a plastic knife-in-the-head rig.

Pitchfork has an excellent set of photos from their recent Chicago gig, and a clip of the performing "Bat Macumba" at the Pitchfork Fest last year. Hey hey!

Justice is coming

2007-07-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hell Oui: French electronic duo Justice("Just-eeece") are bringing the beats and the Freedom Fries to their North American brethren. No Justice, no peace:

10-09 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
10-10 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
10-12 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
10-13 - Vancouver, B.C. - Commodore Ballroom
10-16 - Minneapolis, MN - Foundation
10-17 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10-18 - Toronto, Ontario - Republic
10-19 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
10-20 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-21 - Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom

Bjork in the U.S.A.

2007-07-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Iceland's most adorable export (no! not the Abominable Snowman! Bjork!)is crossing the ocean, fighting pirates and sea monsters the whole way, just to perform in these N.A. cities and townships:

9-08 - Toronto, Ontario - Virgin Festival
9-11 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
9-14 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
9-17 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
9-21 - Montreal, B.C. - Jacques Cartier Pier
9-24 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

Bjork at Coachella photo by Chinapixie.

Odds and sods and news

2007-07-12T14:09:00.001-07:00

This'll be cool: A docomentary about Shoegaze bands, with innerviews with My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and Debbie Googe, JAMC's Reid brothers and Douglas Hart, and Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde, as well as Robert Smith (the Cure), Neil Halstead (Slowdive), Mark Gardner and Andy Bell (Ride), Emma Anderson (Lush), Adam Franklin (Swervedriver), Toni Halliday (Curve), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), and others who were there.

The Beastie Boys are playing an all-instrumental show at L.A.'s Wiltern theatre on Aug. 21. The Live Nation pre-sale starts Friday at 10 am. PST. They've got a few other instrumental shows here and there, but this is a new addition.

Garbage is heading back into da studio sometime in 2008.

Guitar Center Calling: Strap on your very own "Joe Strummer" Fender guitar. It'll look nice with your Ramones Converse, you poser.

The National on national tour

2007-07-12T13:18:00.001-07:00

Hell Yes: Rocking rockers The National have announced a pretty big N.A. tour. Herewith:

08-17 - New York, NY - South Street Seaport
9-04 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts
9-05 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9-06 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9-07 - Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
9-08 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
9-10 - Orlando, FL - The Club @ Firestone
9-11 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
9-12 - Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree
9-14 - Dallas, TX - Grenada Theater
9-16 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
9-18 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
9-19 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
9-20 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
9-21 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
9-22 - Chicago, IL - The Vic
9-23 - Cincinnati, OH - Madison Theater
9-27 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
9-28 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
9-29 - San Francisco, CA - Ballroom
10-01 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
10-02 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
10-03 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
10-06 - Boston, MA - Roxy
10-07 - Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10-08 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Hall

Arcade Fire/LCD expand U.S. tour...a tiny bit

2007-07-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: All-star dream team tour Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem have added some more dates for all you north American Scum. Lucky Cities:

9-17 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks
9-20 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
9-30 - St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkins Auditorium
10-03 - Louisville, KY - Waterfront Park
10-05 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion

LCD's also slated to play Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Virgin Fest in Baltimore.

Photo of James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem by the tireless Chinapixie.

Beatle Pods --- Engage!

2007-07-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Rumor has it that Apple will soon be unveiling an all-Beatles-all-the-time yellow (as in submarine) iPod. It'll be loaded with the Fab Four's entire catalog. But, come one, anyone willing to buy this sucker surely has all the Beat-All's CDs anywho, right? And is it cool for me to put Rutles songs on there? What about Wings?

Pogues plot mini-U.S. tour

2007-07-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: The Pogues have announced a short west coast tour, which is cool, but hopefully they'll add some other dates as well. What about the rest of the world, blokes?

10/17 - Seattle, WA - The Fenix
10/18 - Seattle, WA - The Fenix
10/21 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10/22 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10/26 - San Diego, CA - 4th & B Concert Theater
10/28 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
10/30 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
10/31 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11/02 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl Concert Theater At Palms

They Might Be Touring Giants. Wait, they are.

2007-07-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Now that they've put all that children's records crap behind them They Might Be Giants can return to the sludgy, doom-laden grindcore METAL for which they're best known. Rock out with them here:

7/18 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
7/19 - Dewey Beach, DE - Bottle & Cork
7/20 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
7/21 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
7/22 - Detroit, MI - Max Fischer Music Center/Concert of Colors
7/23 - Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
7/25 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
7/26 - Seaside Park, NJ - The Green Room
7/27 - Wellfleet, MA - Beachcomber
7/28 - Uncasville, CT - Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino
8/1 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
8/3 - Amagansett, NY - Stephen Talkhouse
8/4 - Oyster Bay, NY - Planting Fields Arboretum FOTA Pavilion
8/8 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
9/12 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head Live
9/13 - State College, PA - State Theatre
9/15 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
9/17 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
9/18 - Iowa City, IA - University of Iowa Ballroom
9/20 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre
9/23 - Missoula, MT - University of Montana
9/26 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
9/27 - Portland, OR - Roseland
9/28 - Sacramento, CA - Empire
9/29 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre
10/3 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
10/4 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
10/5 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues

U.S. seeing Stars this fall

2007-07-11T12:37:00.001-07:00

Hell Yes: Canadian popsters Stars are invading the U.S... and Canada. Prepare for war on these dates:

9-06 - Grand Rapids, MI - Calvin College Fine Arts Center
9-08 - Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean- Drapeau (Osheaga Festival)
9-09 - Toronto, Ontario - Virgin Festival
10-17 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10-18 - New York, NY - Town Hall
10-19 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Centre
10-20 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-24 - Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
10-26 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-27 - Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse
10-28 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
10-30 - Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ
10-31 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
11-02 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
11-03 - Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre
11-04 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
11-06 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
11-08 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
11-09 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
11-10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum
11-13 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
11-14 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
11-15 - Portland, OR - The Crystal Ballroom
11-16 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox

Poster of the Week: Sonic Youth by Malleus

2007-07-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here's something cool:

Click on image to enlarge.

Sonic Youth at Spazio 211 in Torino, Italy. Art by Malleus.

Buzzcocks buzzing Loz Angeleez

2007-07-10T17:19:00.001-07:00

Hell Yeah: Good ol' Spaceland in Silverlake, Calif. is offering a rare club appearance by those good ol' Buzzcocks on Friday, August 17. Whoa, indeed. It'll be a little preview before they play the Sunset Junction fest down the street the following Sunday.

Catch Andrew Bird on tour. And then release him.

2007-07-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

Hell Yes: Hot off his sweet show at the HoBowl, Chicago's Andrew Bird will take to the skies once more for a mega U.S. tour, including a stop at his hometown Hideout Block party, also featuring The Frames and, completely inapproriately, Bloc Party.

8-06 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater (solo show)
9-01 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
9-02 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot
9-08 Chicago, IL - Hideout Block Party
9-10 Knoxville, TN - The Bijou Theater
9-11 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
9-12 Durham, NC - The Carolina Theatre
9-13 Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse
9-15 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
9-17 Lawrence, KS - The Granada
9-18 Louisville, KY - WL Lyons Brown Theatre
9-19 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk Chumley Theater
9-20 Madison, WI - Wisconsin Union Theater
9-21 Urbana, IL - Pygmalion Music Festival
9-22 Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre
9-24 Buffalo, NY - Asbury Hall at the Church
9-25 Toronto, Ontario - The Opera House
9-26 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
9-28 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
9-29 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
9-30 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
10-02 Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall

Andrew Bird photo by Chinapixie.

Odds and sods and news

2007-07-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ooooh, extras! When you buy Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga at a certified indie record store, you get a free limited edition 7" featuring a demo of "The Underdog" and the b-side "It Took A Rumor To Make Me Wonder, Now I’m Convinced I’m Going Under." This is in addition to the 12-track bonus EP being issued with the CD. And, double-extra-special bonus for L.A. residents: the first 150 peeps to buy it at Amoeba get a Golden Ticket to Spoon's "secret" show July 16 at Little Radio. They're doing similar "secret shows" in Chicago and SF as well. Get in line now, friends.

Earth yes: It was inevitable that the majority of viewers would end up watching choice moments of the Live Earth spectacle, rather than stay glued to Bravo or whatever all day long. Stereogum's just made it easier, picking and choosing the best bits. And also Genesis. ooooh, BURN!

How the heck did The Hives land an opening gig for Maroon 5? Was there a typo somewhere?

The 13th studio release from The Cure will be a double album. Enjoy.

And the Bloc Party have added some North American dates. Also enjoy.

Review: The Decemberists/Andrew Bird/Band of Horses

2007-07-09T00:09:00.001-07:00

7/7/7, Los Angeles: With long-form orcehstral pop songs already a major part of the band’s oeuvre, Portland’s The Decemberists were a perfect match for the Hollywood Bowl orchestra who accompanied them Saturday at the Bowl. The group was able to harness the full power of the orchestra far more successfully than past performers at the venue such as Air and Belle and Sebastian, who underutilized the world-renowned classical group in years past.

Mystifyingly playing only a handful of songs from their latest CD, The Crane Wife, frontman Colin Meloy and his band delighted in playing such a massive (and deservedly famous) venue, and he took ample opportunities to ham it up with faux-rock god shenanigans. At one point, he mimed a guitar solo on the little stage in front of the mainstage as lead guitarist Chris Funk provided the actual riffs. When Meloy’s guitar troubles delayed the show, the band struck up a goofy, lounge-jazz riff while the stagehands sorted out the tech problems. The orchestra added some punched-up horn riffs and some powerful percussion to slow-burners like “O Valencia!” and "The Infanta".

"Los Angeles, I'm Yours", which compares the city to "an ocean’s garbled vomit on the shore", drew hearty applause from the SoCal crowd. The show didn’t really hit full swing, however, until the encore, when the Decemberists cut loose and appeared to be having one hell of a time up there. Pitchfork's got a video and some cool pics posted.

Rounding out the bill were two buzzy bands: Chicago’s Andrew Bird and his two-piece rhythm section (Martin Dosh on drums/keys and Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass) skillfully mix Bird’s multiple musical talents (violin, guitar, whistling) with live sound looping, creating a minor cacophony of orchestral pop, while Seattle’s Band of Horses were stuck with the early opening slot, playing their guitar-soaked indie pop to a largely inattentive crowd still shuffling in while the sun is still shone brightly over the picturesque Hollywood Hills.

And a special fuck you goes out to all the dumbshits talking in Section Q1. Why would you pay money to talk to your idiot friends about nothing when there’s a one-of-a-kind live event unfolding right before your very eyes? Idiots.

BobDylan/ToddHaynes/I'mNotThere

2007-07-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Remember a few years back when you first heard about Todd Haynes' mysterious Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There? Now, we have a trailer, featuring an unreleased Dylan recording. David Cross as Allen Ginsberg and Cate Blanchett as Bob. Nice.

Live Earth reclaims DC; Gore consolidates power

2007-07-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

Earth yes: First, the previously-cancelled Rio show was reinstated, now Earth President Al Gore has announced the last-minute addition of Warshington DC to the Live Earth setlist. The event will be held at the National Museum of the American Indian (two blocks from the Capitol). And the headliners are Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Hey, it's for a good cause.

Cloud Cult plot U.S. tour, tofu snacks

2007-07-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Duluth's own eco-freak-folk-electro-rock-poppers Cloud Cult are hitting the road again. To see the dates, continue reading, Western-style:

August 17th - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
August 18th - Seattle, WA - KEXP BBQ
September 4th - Toronto, ON - El Mocambo (all ages)
September 5th - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa (all ages)
September 7th - Boston, MA - Middle East
September 8th - New York, New York - Bowery Ballroom (18+)
September 9th - Philadelphia, PA - Greenfest (all ages)
September 13th - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck (all ages)
September 14th - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater (Monolith Festival)

Check 'em out. These dudes and dudettes ROCK. They rock for LIGHT!

Prince hat trick in MPLS

2007-07-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: For those of you keeping score at home, Minneapolitans now have THREE chances to see Prince on July 7 (Saturday). Following his Target Center perf, Prettyman will walk across the street to his old stompin' grounds First Avenue to kick out some more jams. This'll be his first official show there in twenty years!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs add U.S. dates

2007-07-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes, or yeah: Karen O. and Co. have tacked a few random U.S. shows to their busy schedule herewith:

8-01 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre
8-02 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
8-04 - Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
8-05 - Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Track (Virgin Festival)
8-07 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
8-15 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
8-18 - Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (Download Festival)

Odds and sods and news

2007-07-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

News from the future: Some band called R.E.M. is apparently hitting the campaign trail again, wrapping up a set of shows in Dublin, where the groop played new tunes and some rare oldies.

7/7/7 = music day: If you're in MPLS, hit up the Prince double-header, for environmentalists and couch potatoes, you've got the Al Gore thing. For cool New Yorkers, you absolutely must hit up what's being billed as 77 Boa Drum, the Boredoms' 77 drum concert at the Brooklyn Bridge. Wow. I saw them in Tokyo with three drummers, and it was amazing. Multiply that by, um, 35 or whatever, and just imagine...

Sly Stone speaks: The legendary funkateer has stepped out of his hermit-like existence and granted Vanity Fair (our hated rival) a lengthy innerview to be found in their August ish. So, um, go buy it, I guess.

Van Halen to reunite for the first time ever...oh wait: The erstwhile hair band is planning an arena tour in the fall (seriously this time). And DLR would be on board.

Free Girl Talk/Moving Units in L.A. To celebrate its 11th anniversary, BPM will host a free shindig at the Avalon on July 19, featuring Girl Talk, Moving Units, A-Trak, Jason Bentley and others.

Interpol issues international tour bulletin

2007-07-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Where in the world is Interpol Sandiego? It depends on the date, my friend. It depends on the date:

19 July - Rochester, NY - Harro East Ballroom
20 July - Atlantic City, NJ - Music Box @ Borgata
21 July - Norfolk, VA - Norva
23 July - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
24 July - Pittsburgh, PA - Byham
25 July - Columbus, OH - The LC Ampitheatre
27 July - Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room
28 July - Detroit, MI - State
30 July - Milwaukee, WI - Rave
31 July - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian
1 August - St. Louis, MO - Pageant
3 August - Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
4 August - Lollapalooza Chicago, IL - Grant Park
5 August - V Festival Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course
11 August - JAP - Summersonic Festival
12 August - JAP - Summersonic Festival
16 August - Austria - Frequency Festival
17 August - Germany - Highfield Festival
18 August - Netherlands - Lowland Festival
20 August - Birmingham Academy
21 August - Newcastle Academy
22 August - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
24 August - Reading Festival
25 August - Leeds Festival
8 September - Toronto, ON CAN - V Festival
9 September - Montreal, QC - Osheaga Festival
10 September - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre
12 September - Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
14 September - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
15 September - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre
16 September - Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo
18 September - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
19 September - Miami, FL - Bank United
21 September - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
22 September - Nashville, TN - Ryman
23 September - New Orleans, LA - Sugar Mill
25 September - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theatre
26 September - Austin, TX - Stubbs
27 September - Dallas, TX - Palladium
10 October - Kansas City, KS - Uptown
11 October - Chicago, IL - Aragon
12 October - Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
14 October - Denver, CO - Fillmore
15 October - Salt Lake City, UT - McKay Center
16 October - Boise, ID - Big Easy
18 October - Seattle, WA - Wamu
19 October - Portland, OR - Memorial Coliseum
20 October - San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
23 October - The Forum - Los Angeles, CA

New PJ Harvey comin' at ya

2007-07-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Brit rock goddess Polly Jean Harvey has set her sights on September for her latest CD, White Chalk. It'll be her seventh (!) studio album. For more outrageous awesomeness, be sure to buy/download/re-listen to Dry and Rid of Me. Harvey has a handful of European dates here.

Smashing Pumpkins announce dates

2007-07-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Those sneaky Smashing Pumpkins have set themselves an extensive North American tour, making sure to douple-dip in Boston and Philly:

Sat 9/8 - Montreal, CAN - Osheaga Fest
Sun 9/9 - Toronto, CAN - V Fest
Thu 9/13 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl
Tue 9/18 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theater
Wed 9/19 - San Diego, CA - Bayside Amp.
Fri 9/21 - Ridgefield, WA - Amphitheater at Clark County
Mon 9/24 - Vancouver, CAN - PNE Forum
Fri 9/28 - Salt Lake City, UT - McKay Center (U of U)
Sun 9/30 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks
Tue 10/2 - St.Paul, MN - Wilkins Aud.
Thu 10/4 - Normal, IL - Braden Aud.
Sun 10/7 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theater
Tue 10/9 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palumbo Cntr (Duquesne U)
Thu 10/11 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
Mon 10/15 - Boston, MA - Orpheum
Tue 10/16 - Boston, MA - Orpheum
Sun 10/21 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater
Mon 10/22 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater
Thu 10/25 - Memphis, TN - Mud Island Amp
Tue 10/30 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theater
Sat 11/3 - Dallas, TX - Nokia Theater
Mon 11/5 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Theater

Review: Buffy -- Once More With Feeling

2007-06-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Guest review by Jevon Phillips

6/27, Los Angeles: Slaying 'em with a song, baby! 'Buffy the Musical' -- the musical 'Once more ... with feeling' episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer- (the greatest show of all time, incidentally) -- screened in L.A. for the first time last night in West-friggin-wood (Go Trojans). And it knocked my cushiony socks off.

From start to finish, there was LOTS of loud singing throughout the theater. Raucous, but not raunchy. Though it was continual, it didn't get in the way of the TV-watching. Truthfully, I'd say most people were on key and decent singers.

The pre-show -- yes, there was a pre-show -- highlighted some fan creations. The Dresden Dolls' 'Coin-operated Boy' was used to spoof Buffy's 4th season relationship with Riley Finn, and was probably the highlight. A tribute to Buffy's mom was touching, a look back at one of Alyson Hannigan's first roles (My Stepmother is an Alien -- IMDB it) had a surprising contemporary twist, and some trivia tidbits displayed the depth of the crowd's knowledge of the Buffyverse. Nerds, but I'm one of them.

Musically, the songs are fun. Joss Whedon is a great writer, and it seems to extend to all venues and genres. The bulk of the music is kind of showtuney, but they fit nicely. Throw in a high-pitched ballad by lesbian lover Tara (to her Willow), a 'rockabilly' diddy from Spike the vampire, and the jazzy stylings of Sweet the demonlord, and it's an OK mix of music.

The show itself is interactive eyecandy. Vampire teeth, poppers, dry cleaning, bubbles and kazoos bring it all together well. The actors in the NY show add something to the experience, but not having them does bring the focus back to the show itself, and forces the audience to 'make their own fun' without relying on the actors.

Someone who did rely on the actors, though, was Joss Whedon. The creator, along with writer-producer-running buddy extraordinaire Marti Noxon, showed up at the Majestic Crest theater (a cool venue, by the way, despite its location. Go Trojans!), to rile up the already riled. A guy of few words, Whedon admonished the crowd to lighten up on Buffy's sometimes-bratty sister Dawn, and was touched by the continued Buffy worship poured on the series, and specifically, the musical episode. The program creator Clinton McClung said that he'd created a cinematic work on TV, and that feat is what made it all possible. Awww.

Go see it!! Or rent it and sing along in your house by yourself, popping poppers and swinging drycleaning around with vampire teeth on and holding a stuffed bunny. Or is that just me?

Bonde do Role on a roll. ay.

2007-06-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: After some sort of "dental problems" forced Brazil nuts Bonde do Role to cancel some West Coast shows, the trio has struck back with a tankload of U.S. dates:

09-11 Washington, DC - Black Cat
09-12 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
09-13 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
09-14 New York, NY - The Powerhouse @ American Museum of Natural History
09-15 Brooklyn, NY - TBA
09-17 Allston, MA - Harper's Ferry
09-18 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
09-19 Toronto, Ontario - Cabaret
09-20 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
09-21 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
09-22 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
09-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards
09-26 Seattle, WA - Neumos
09-27 Portland, OR - Holocene
09-28 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
09-29 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10-01 San Diego, CA - Casbah
10-02 Tucson, AZ - Plush
10-04 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr.
10-05 Dallas, TX - Palladium Loft
10-06 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
10-08 Tallahassee, FL - Beta Bar
10-09 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
10-10 Jacksonville, FL - TSI
10-11 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone
10-12 Atlanta, GA - MJQ Concourse
10-13 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506

So how was McCartney?

2007-06-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a great review of Sir Paul's not-so-secret Amoeba show last night. 90 minutes! Sounds like a corker.

Spice. Girls. Dates.

2007-06-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes, God yes: Girl power has been conspicuously missing for our lives for the past decade or so. But no more, my droogies. The aforementioned Spice Girls reunion rumor has been made manifest. Check out their tour schedule (all venues TBA):

12-07 Los Angeles, CA
12-08 Las Vegas, NV
12-11 New York, NY
12-15 London, England
12-20 Cologne, Germany
12-23 Madrid, Spain
01-10 Beijing, China
01-12 Hong Kong, China
01-17 Sydney, Australia
01-20 Cape Town, South Africa
01-24 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Who's up for Deadheading it with me? We can catch them on 6 continents! And in Vegas.

M.I.A. in the U.S.A.

2007-06-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Provided that they allow her into the country, hottie M.I.A. has added some U.S. dates, and some in Canadia as well. Feast:

07-21 Brooklyn, NY - Coney Island (Siren Festival)
07-25 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
07-28 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-04 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
08-05 Baltimore, MD - Virgin Festival
09-08 Toronto, Ontario - Virgin Festival
09-09 Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean Drapeau (Osheaga Festival)
09-14 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09-15 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
10-26-28 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

Larry King. Dorkus.

2007-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Aw, hell no: You're an idiot, Larry King. You called Ringo "George" in a live innerview. Also, Yoko Ono is hot.

KING: Where were you when — when John passed?
MCCARTNEY: When John passed I was in Sussex, at my home in Sussex. That’s where I was.
KING: Did somebody call you?
MCCARTNEY: Yes, my manager at the time called me. And it was just the shock of all shocks, you know?
KING: George, where were you?
MCCARTNEY: George!
KING: Ringo.
MCCARTNEY: No, this is Ringo here.
KING: Ringo, where were you?
STARR: I was in the Bahamas.
KING: I was getting to (INAUDIBLE) George.
STARR: I was…
MCCARTNEY: No, you weren’t, Larry. You said his name wrong.
STARR: Shut up, it’s my turn.
MCCARTNEY: I know, but he got your name wrong, Ringo, on national television.
STARR: I know. Give him a break.
MCCARTNEY: We can’t cut it. It’s live.
STARR: Anyway, I was in the Bahamas and the kids called and they said we’ve heard something, like John has been hurt.

Review: The National/The Broken West @ El Rey

2007-06-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

6/26, Los Angeles: The National tore it up at their sold out El Rey show last night. Plowing through 90 minutes worth of tracks culled from their 5-album career, the sextet's show seemed to be a late bloomer, like the band themselves. The NYC-by-way-of-Cincy indie act has been building a devoted (extremely devoted, as evidenced by the energetic crowd) audience over the last few years. Their latest LP, The Boxer, is a favorite of critics and indie rockers alike. Often sounding like an American New Order (minus the dance) crossed with My Morning Jacket (minus the falsetto), their set included one too many slow jams, but more than made up for it with some ear-crushing dual guitar sonic crescendoes at the end of the night. The violinist bounces back and forth between playing a melody and supplying an extra rhythm instrument, but by the finale, he chucked his bow and played the thing like a tiny little electric guitar. Fists were pumping, lyrics were being screamed, hands were furiously clapping. It was that kind of night.

Openers The Broken West, from L.A., are pleasantly rockin', sounding like Summer Teeth-era Wilco.

Sonic Youth at Urban Outfitters

2007-06-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hell YES: What goes better with Sonic Youth than Starbucks? Urban Outfitters, that's what. The legendary group will kick out the jams July 21st at the Santa Monica store as part of the continuing Free Yr Radio in-store series. Tapes 'n Tapes did it (in MPLS), and so will Grizzly Bear (in Cleveland) and El-P (in NYC). This one will benefit SMC radio station KXLU. DNTEL is opening. And it's FREE, print out yr pass at their site.

Led Zeppelin is BACK.

2007-06-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes? So...again, don't get too excited, but Gigwise is saying it's time to get the Led out. Plant, Page and JPJ are reuniting to play a "one-off" concert in memory of late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. And the rumor is that they may embark on a world tour... Rumor.

Weezer is also BACK.

2007-06-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: No, not as cool as Zeppelin playing live, but some of us like Weezer! It appears that frontman Rivers Cuomo has finally stopped messing around with "Real life" (Harvard, marriage, etc...) and is getting the boys back together for a new album. Says he on their Website:

"Hey Party-People,

Weezer is just polishing up a batch of songs for a recording session that is going to start at the beginning of July. This will be the final recording session for our 6th album which we aim to put out in the first half of 2008. We hope you are all having good times."

The Verve reuniting

2007-06-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Bittersweet hitmakers (OK, one-hitmakers) and '90s Britpop sensations The Verve are reuniting for some well-supervised touring craziness. If playing Glasgow, Blackpool (Blockpuuule) and London can be considered a tour. Why do these bands even bother breaking up anymore? Thanks again to Pitchfork.

Clap Your Hands, Tour

2007-06-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Self-releasing NYC band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are saying yes to touring the U.S. from sea to shining sea. Dates:

08-03 Chicago, IL - Metro
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
09-11 New York, NY - Blender Theater at Gramercy
09-14 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Monolith Festival)
09-15 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
09-16 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
09-18 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09-19 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09-23 San Diego, CA - Street Scene Festival
09-28 Portland, OR - Roseland
09-29 Seattle, WA - Neumos
09-30 Seattle, WA - Neumos
10-04 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
10-05 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
10-06 Madison, WI - The Annex
10-26-28 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

Macca at Amoeba!!!

2007-06-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Now don't get too excited, because it sounds like it'll be nearly impossible to get in, but Sir Paul is playing an instore at Amoeba Records in Hollywood tomorrow night. You gotta get a wristband starting at 12:30 pm tomorrow. So, get in line now. Fly, you fools! Thanks to A-Rom for the tip!

Review: DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist @ Hollywood Bowl

2007-06-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

6/24/7, Los Angeles: It's rare for a solid evening of live music to be brought to such an anti-climactic close. But such was the case Sunday when DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist teamed to spin some rare (and not-so-rare) 45s at the Hollywood Bowl.

The cavernous theatre probably isn't the best place for an hour-long set of record-scratching in the first place, but the DJ duo held court with great sound, some slick technicals and a bevy of cameras capturing every needle-drop and back-spin. As explained in an amusing introductory video, the duo's ability of mixing songs from 45 rpm 7"s (as opposed to 12" LPs) is a difficult feat, due to the disc's size and speed. The sampling of titles covered a wide spectrum, including some "never heard of that before" moments, but overall the pace was in need of some picking up. Too often, the DJs stuck within genres, featuring a doo wop section, a classic hip-hop section, a Brazilian/Carnaval section and some recent rock (Foo Fighters). It was fun, but hardly mind-blowing.

Using small, portable turntables to scratch along to Metallica's "One" while walking around the stage was a great idea, but Shadow cleary wasn't as good at it as Cut Chemist, and then the record skipped at the last moment,followed by a deafening silence from the crowd. Kim Fowley, of all people, stumbled out and announced the show's end, but it appeared that no one in the crowd knew who he was and the stunt confused more than it thrilled.

Review: The Police/Foo Fighters @ Dodger Stadium

2007-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

6/23/7, Los Angeles: Among the many recently reunited bands, The Police are the only group that can command night after night of arena shows and charge an arm and a leg for them. Despite some bad press after their first few shows, the Brit trio sound like no time has passed at all. Ignoring the inevitable backstage head-butting for the time being, the threesome are perfectly in synch onstage and Sting, especially, sounds as good as ever both on the mic and on the bass. They were eager to trot out all the old warhorses, but they saddled both "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You" with aimless, Pink Floyd-inspired space jams. Similarily, a handful of mid-set slow jams bogged down an otherwise buoyant set. The sold-out crowd (Sold out being a technical term, as there were plenty of open seats) represented a good mix of young and old.

The Foo Fighters earned the call-up to open the show, and their catchy, if uninspired, pop metal is pefectly suited for an arena. Trouble is, most of their songs sound the same. Frontman Dave Groehl made up for lack of originality by turning himself into a spectacle, jumping into the crowd and zig-zagging to the back of the front section --- all the while shredding some lame cock rock solos on his "axe".

Side rant: Seats to the side of the stage (from where you cannot see the stage nor the front-facing video screens) shouldn't be top price. They should be dirt-cheap, or not sold at all. It's easy to forget how much arena shows suck, but they do indeed. A lot.

Book Report: Nirvana

2007-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Nirvana: The Biography by Everett True
Nearly 600 pages, and about half of them are about Nirvana, the rest are about Everett True. (Small) exaggerations aside, True really was there when all the shit went down: The NME journalist followed Kurt Cobain and co. from their early days in and around Olympia, through Sub Pop and Bleach, DGC and Nevermind, and lastly, through superstardom, Courtney Love, MTV, heroin addiction, In Utero and suicide. True was there, and he gives some excellent first-hand accounts of small club shows, backstage shenanigans, band in-fighting and similar tales of sex, drugs and rock n roll (well, not much sex really). But where was everybody else? For whatever reason, True wasn't able to interview drummer Dave Groehl (although he has some cool stories from Chad Channing, Nirvana's talented first dummer) or bassist Krist Novelselic, nor do we hear from producers Butch Vig and Steve Albini. And, although he loves to reminisce about wrestling with her on hotel lobby floors, True gets no input from Courtney Love either. Nirvana: A Biography really feels like a deseprate attempt from True to remain relevant in a rock world that has pretty much forgotten about the Seattle scene he so experty chronicled more than a decade ago.

Spice. Girls. Reunion.

2007-06-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Move over, Pipettes. Remember a few days ago when we said the only thing better than the Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem joint tour would be for Evel Keneivel to tour with the reunited Spice Girls??? We just got one step closer to that. Yes! Now we can play "Who's YOUR favorite Spice Girl?" all over again!

Mine was always Ginger.

Cool band alert! ARGO

2007-06-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Seattle indiepop stalwarts Argo are nothing short of amazing. The opening track on their latest Ana-Them EP Attack of the Firebots has got to be one of the catchiest instrumentals in the last five years or so. And when the vocals kick in on "Water's Red", their immortality is assured. They're (finally) gigging outside of Washington, and California and Oregon folks'll be lucky to catch them. Definitely for fans of Death Cab and Jon Auer types.

Ryan Adams on the road again

2007-06-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Crazy man/singer Ryan Adams is busting loose and adding some live dates hither and thither. Critical word has it that Adams' latest tour is a relaxed, non-crazy affair that features some of his softer material and less of his craziness.

Daniel Johnston announces rare gigs

2007-06-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Texas singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston is set to dazzle California with a trio of all-too-rare live dates. F-U-N spells "FUN!!!!"

Wed, 08/22/07 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
Thu, 08/23/07 - Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
Fri, 08/24/07 - Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre

Voodoo Fest unveils lineup

2007-06-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: New Orleans is stepping up nicely to compete in the 2007 U.S. Festival awards by unveiling a pretty stellar lineup for its annual Voodoo Fest which runs Oct. 26- 28. It turns out Rage Against the Machine's Coachella performance wasn't even close to a one-shot deal, so those of you who spent thousands of bucks to see them can officially start regretting it now that they've added those Rock the Bells shows, the Wisconsin show and this. Besides Rage, Voodoo is also offering up a spicy gumbo plate featuring Wilco, Black Crowes, um...Fallout Boy, Sinead O'Connor, Ben Harper, M.I.A., CYHSY and those dirty greedy Smashing Pumpkins.

Cure dates

2007-06-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hell Yes: Break out the eyeliner (or steal it back from Panic! At the Disco): The Cure is back in town. 65 Days of Static will be opening a number of shows. Check out dese dates:

9/13/07 - Tampa, FL - St. Petersburg Times Forum
9/15/07 - Atlanta, GA - Gwinnett Civic Center
9/17/07 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Bobcats Arena
9/19/07 - Washington, DC - Patriot Center
9/21/07 - Philadelpha, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
9/23/07 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
9/25/07 - Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
9/26/07 - Montreal, PQ CAN - Bell Center
9/27/07 - Toronto, ON CAN - Air Canada Centre
9/29/07 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
10/2/07 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
10/4/07 - Salt Lake City, UT - E Center
10/6/07 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater
10/8/07 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
10/9/07 - Vancouver, BC CAN - General Motors Place
10/11/07 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
10/13/07 - San Diego, CA - Cox Arena
10/14/07 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
10/16/07 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
10/17/07 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center

Beirut is coming to your town

2007-06-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hell yes: Merry musicmakers Beirut have announced a short North American tour. Colleen is opening. There are plenty of dates in between, so if your city's not the list maybe it will be added later. Patience. yeeeeee---eaaahhh. Just a little patience.

September 23rd - Princeton, NJ - Terrace F Club
September 24th - New York, NY - Worldess Music Series @ Society for Ethical Culture
September 26th - New York, NY - Delacorte Theater
September 30th - Montreal, QU - La Salla Rosa
October 2nd - Toronto, ONT - Danforth Music Hall
October 4th - Chicago, IL Portage Theater
October 8th - San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theater
October 9th - San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theater
October 10th - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon