May as well just quote this one straight from the horse's (pulling apart?) mouth:
"?????? hi in the past couple of weeks i've been getting a band together for fun to play the eraser stuff live and the new songs etc.. to see if it could work! here's a photo.. its me, joey waronker, mauro refosco, flea and nigel godrich.
at the beginning of october the 4th and 5th we are going to do a couple of shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. we don't really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz ..well ...we haven't got that much material yet! but come and check it out if you are in the area. we've also got locals Lucky Dragons playing. all the best"
yeah, that's thom yorke over at DEAD AIR SPACE announcing his new band! They've also announced a couple of dates in LA this coming Sunday and Monday. If only, I were in LA!
First clues to exactly Where The Wild Things Are emerge in the currently streaming soundtrack to the long anticipated adaptation of the Maurice Sendak children's (and adult really) classsic by Spike Jonze. Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O takes the lead with The Kids and creates a uniquely enjoyable and rejuvenating experience that will have you smiling sweetly and serenely (and just a little sadly) as we await this much anticipated cinematic event. I know I can't wait!
A strange choice for a strange band supporting a strange record but somehow in the end it all makes perfect sense and surely makes you smile. The Flaming Lips present "I Can Be a Frog":
I'm off to see the opening night of the Dinosaur Jr tour on October 2 up at the Middle East in Boston and a special bonus to that night is opening act Lou Barlow and the Missingmen. Back in the day, I was in to both camps involved in the great divide (even got to play a show with Sebadoh) and it's good to see both that the reunion is holding strong but also that Lou is getting out front as well and sharing some new material. His new record is called Goodnight Unknown and is October 5. It's been four years or more since any new material. Here's a first track off that new slab called "Don't Apologize".
OK, so I'm in a bit of state in anticipation of new Built to Spill material with the impending (still a few weeks away!) release of There is No Enemy. What's nice about these periods is that you occasionally stumble across tracks and vids you never new existed. I had a pleasant and sweet such discovery this morning over at Muzzle of Bees who have kindly posted a psychy beautiful synth ditty of Doug Martsch solo. The track is "Save Me" and is apparently off the Rotating Tongues 2 Compilation. Check it out!
PS: If you are interested, Warner Brothers has several BtS records available on vinyl for some pretty sweet prices. Just saying.
Monsters of Folk prove they've got that certain je ne sais quoi with a take on the lead single "Say Please" off the new record over at Conan O'Brien's house. One thing for sure, Mike Mogis is a shredder. Another thing is Yim Yames has that George Harrison vibe down just right. Conor's got some bad-ass 70's cop glasses. M Ward takes the lead role here even if just subtley and that's all right. A great group and probably worth checking out on tour in case they never pull this off again.
Lily Allen has taken a stand in the illegal downloading/file sharing war that is reshaping the music industry by calling 'Shite' on some of the bigger name acts (including Radiohead) who say the downloads are simply the equivalent of taping your friends records. Lily has launched a blog called It's Not Alright where she has firmly expressed her views and where other artists of some repute are joining her side of the great debate. Worth a look see for sure to better understand how this issue is affecting artists of all walks, great and small.
Julian Casablancas of The Strokes strikes off solo with a blast of synthy pop out of left field. The new album Phrazes for the Young is out October 20th.
Thom Yorke's heady and marvelous cover of the Mark Mulcahy tune 'All for the Best' from the stellar and stirring Ciao, My Morning Star compilation celebrating the latter's songsmithing has been given an appropriately trippy and surreal video treatment. The vidvid is currently on view exclusively over at Rolling Stone headquarters. Turns out that it's Thom's brother Andy Yorke providing the haunting and very Mulcahy-esque backing harmonies. Very nice indeed. The compilation is currently available through iTunes and will hit the physical world on September 29th.
It bodes well for the looming autumn that Built to Spill tracks have begun leaking out from their forthcoming seventh long player There is No Enemy and that the band will be in full stride touring the country to support the new material over the next couple of months. Stereogum has a first dip into the sparkling waters of the new record if you can't wait (I know I can't) for the October release date. there are a couple more tracks for your listening pleasure over here (though, unfortunately, they are accompanied by one of the most poorly written and researched reviews I have read of any record ever).
There Is No Enemy is out 10/6 via Warner Bros. The tour is happening right now:
09/21 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre 09/23 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 09/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avene 09/25 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre 09/26 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre 09/27 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom 09/28 - Bloomington, IN @ Bluebird Nightclub 09/29 - St. Louis, MO @ The Peageant 10/01 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall 10/02 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House 10/03 - Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre 10/04 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop 10/06 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Place 10/08 - Ithaca, NY @ State Theater 10/09 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 10/10 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 10/11 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 10/12 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall 10/13 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall 10/14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 10/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 10/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero 10/18 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 10/20 - Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club 10/21 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall 10/22 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater # 10/23 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live # 10/24 - Austin, TX @ Stubb's # 10/25 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom # 10/27 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre 10/28 - Tucson, AZ @ Dry River 11/15 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall 11/17 - Bellingham, WA @ The Nightlight 11/18 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom 11/19 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market 11/20 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market 11/21 - Spokane, WA @ Big Easy
Devendra Banhart is returning to the fold with an album out via Warner Brothers on October 27th. The first track, 'Baby', is a poppy little diddy that nods in the general direction of Donovan quite heartily. You can hear the new tune over at Devendra's Myspace.
Ok, so Deerhoof doing Canned Heat is pretty cool but apparently the Outside Lands festival had Tom Jones covering Arctic Monkeys "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor". I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has an mp3 from a Wembley show cover of the same. Just one word: wow!
Well, we heard it first here in little old New London at this year's I AM Fest on September 12th but You Ain't No Picasso has a live clip of new Deerhoof number "I Did Crimes for You" (via NYCtaper). The whole live set which features the excellent and surprising Canned Heat cover "Going Up the Country" is also available. What a great band and what great people. It really was such a treat having them in for this year's I AM Fest!
a former New London regular is still making good on their promise of bringing the good noise to the masses. One of the great live bands and inheritors of the sonic fringe, These Are Powers, people....
You were a child, crawlin' on your knees toward it. Makin' mama so proud, but your voice is too loud.
We like to watch you laughing. Pickin' insects off plants. No time to think of consequences.
Control yourself. Take only what you need from it. A family of trees wanting, To be haunted.
Control yourself. Take only what you need from it. A family of trees wantin', To be haunted.
The water is warm, but its sending me shivers. A baby is born, crying out for attention. Memories fade, like looking through a fogged mirror Decisions to decisions are made and not fought But I thought, this wouldn't hurt a lot. I guess not.
Control yourself. Take only what you need from it. A family of trees wantin', To be haunted.
Thanks to Muzzle of Bees for the tip on this cool look at Levon Helm's new slab of tunes Electric Dirt the follow up to the exceedingly excellent and Grammy award winning Dirt Farmer.
You gotta like a major label act giving the music directly to the fans. The money is clearly in the touring and merch these days so why not give the tunes directly to the peeps (they'll end up with them anyway in all likely hood through some P2P or other). Enter Coldplay and the LeftRightLeftRightLeft live release that is now available for all to download for free over here. It's a fun and free wheeling live recording that keeps the audience in the mix on tracks from their recent releases and the big hit "Clocks". Personally, I love hearing the crowd sing along and clap with the band in lieu of the hollow sound that most board mixed live records take on.
Tracklisting: 1 Glass of Water 2 42 3 Clocks 4 Strawberry Swing 5 The Hardest Part / Postcards From Far Away 6 Viva La Vida 7 Death Will Never Conquer 8 Fix You 9 Death And All His Friends
Thanks to Amrit at Stereogum for pointing us to a new Shins track from the recent flurry of shows. James Mercer is sporting a new line-up and developing new tunes for a potential new record for release in 2010 on his own label Aural Apothacary. For now , we'll have to be happy with fanshots from the front rows. Works for me!
We posted previously about the impending new slab o' tunes from sexy, trickster songstress Regina Spektor. Well, the first tune from the new album, Far, is now available through her myspace. Happily, she is remaining true to her strangest tendencies and the lead single, "Laughing With", is not the pop track you might expect after the hits she so easily tossed off on Begin to Hope. There's also an endearing and silly blog post that is well worth the read off to the right under the music player - it's called Far(t).
I remember my first time seeing both of these bands at a club called Axis on Lansdowne Street in Boston back in the Fall of 1987 (I think, it's all a little blurry). It was a double bill and there were about 50 to 75 fans there. Surfer Rosa was being pushed hard by Newbury Comics and WFNX had both bands on the radio constantly. The show was a revelation. I was already into the Muses green self-titled record (the song Green Eyes was a personal fave) and their set did not disappoint at all with its manic electrified take on folk music. Audience members were reaching onto the stage writing their own requests onto the band's set list (I still have one somewhere!). Kristen Hersch is an enchanting front person with her eyes locked on the back of the room she seems to be looking straight through you when she channels her songs. Tawnya plays the cute coy young thing next to her intellectual older 'sister'. I was in heaven after there set. The Pixies came on and proceeded to frighten me out of my hazy happiness with a jarring and aggressive set that sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before. My musical world would never be the same after that night. This video is a little after that time frame but it brought me back and I thought it would be fun to share. Enjoy. Frank Black is an arrogant hoot throughout!
Prince returns with a triple album set only available at Target. Typical for the Purple One but a strange move indeed for anyone else on the planet given the state of the music industry. Where most artists are turning to one song at a time delivery systems via youtube and twitter, Prince packs a punch with a dense set of new material. Whether any of it will hold up to his greatest work (which for me hits right around Sign Of the Times) only time will tell. Chances are given his last several releases nothing will rank so high. I can't remember anything off Musicology though I did like Old Guitar off that last record (what was it called again?). Anyhoo, he's got a nice take on Crimson & Clover the classic Tommy James and the Shondells number that is also available in a psychedelic 007 meets Barry White vidvid that's worth a passing glance. Why he slips into a bit of Wild Thing is beyond me but it works just fine.
It's never a bad time for Built to Spill. Something about Doug Martsch's delivery, his poetry, and his sound just puts me at ease and hits my bliss. I hit the day in need of some of that goodness and so wen ton a little search for tunes. In the process I stumbled across a little tidbit of news that put a big grin on this dour gray New England day: Built to Spill is working on a record for release this fall called There is No Enemy! Doug revealed the great news in a little interview over here at Rotoworld. How Rotoworld (#$%&!??) got the scoop, we'll probably never really know. They also clued us into another little gem we'd had no idea about: Boise Cover Band's Unoriginal Artists cd featuring covers by Bowie, Beefheart, and The Delusions as well as an instrumental take on The Pretenders Chain Gang. BCD of course features Sir Martsch himself as ringleader. My copy is on order! In the meantime, here's a great impromptu bit of Doug playing Liar for some fans who couldn't get tickets to a sold out show.
The secret has been out for a while (at least if you've been anywhere near the Oasis Pub or Sean Murray anytime in the recent past) but there's a fancy new project/supergroup featuring Rostam Batmanglij and Wes Miles (of those certain little acts who could: Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot!) called Discovery. Their tunes offer up a more spritely version of Postal Service and are chock full of yummy happy beatness. Neon Gold has a download for your tasting pleasures.
Julian Koster of the Music Tapes (and Neutral Milk Hotel) sat down and answered some questions for David Glickman (who has kindly posted it on his blog The Creative Intersection). A must read for sure, so check it when you can!
The Spike Jonze theatrical reenvisoning of the Maurice Sendak classic children's book Where The Wild Things Are is finally on its way to us (though not until October 16th!). The new trailer features a slightly stripped down and cool new take on the classic Arcade Fire track Wake Up. According to I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, a certain Ms. Karen O is also listed as a musical director for the project. Methinks we are in for a yummy soundtrack indeed. Here's the trailer:
I'm off to the Dutch but had to post the good news: a new collection of Jarvis Cocker tunes produced by studio guru Steve Albini is on its way to audiophiles everywhere. The record, Further Complications, is out 5/28 on Rough Trade. Stereogum has a first taste in the lead single "Angela" - grab it while you can.
There's almost not much you can say except for "Wow", "Blam", "Pow"!!! Independent minded and free-form forged radio titans WFMU are putting the music where their love is and have launched the Free Music Archive. the bi-line for the site says it all: "It's not just free music; it's good music." Teaming with guest curators including KEXP, the ISSUE Project Room, and dublab, the station is building a Library of Congress like collection of the music that makes are heart's swoon....and rock, and roll, and scream, and grow. There's a treasure trove of goods from all genres including the experimental bits you'd expect from FMU as well as jazz, folk, rap, spoken word and more. Rainy day hobbiests rejoice, let your downloads begin!
M. Ward's dreamy take of Buddy Holly's "Rave On" from his excellent Hold Time collection gets an appropriately puppet blessed animation treatment. The song features Cotton Queen Zooey Deschanel on back-up vox. So good.
Connecticut native Moby returns on june 30 with a new record, Wait for Me. The kick-off starts now with a special treat in the form of a video directed by legendary film auteur David Lynch (strangely his only previous foray into music video creation was a typically blurred-reality take on Chris Isaac's Wicked Game). Moby was apparently inspired by a talk that Lynch had given on the role of art and commerce. From moby's site:
david was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine. it seems that too often creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, how much market share it commands and how much money it generates.
In making this record i wanted to focus on making something that i loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. as a result it’s a quieter, more melodic, more mournful and more personal record than some of the records i’ve made in the past.
She really is just too cute for words, that Zooey Deschanel. First, she's playing Dorothy in a weird and wild Oz redo, then she's in a band with everyone's fave partner-in-muse M.Ward, and goes and marries the romantic pop bard Ben Gibbard. What's an it girl to do to follow all that up? Well, it turns out you write a diddy for the Cotton industry and star in the commercial it soundtracks. Sounds, god awful, I know, but it works. Well. I'm off to by some cotton briefs and boxers and anything else made of the stuff right now!
Steve Earle has always professed a true love of for the great american songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Hell, he dropped the man's name on his own kid so it must be true! Now, Earle is upping the ante with a collection of the songwriter's material titled simply Townes. guesting on the record are Steve's son Justin Townes Earle, his wife Allison Moorer, and Tom Morello.
In Earles own words: "This may be one of the best records I’ve ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter’s feelings. Then again, it’s some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived."
Tracklisting
01 Pancho and Lefty 02 White Freightliner Blues 03 Colorado Girl 04 Where I Lead Me 05 Lungs 06 No Place to Fall 07 Loretta 08 Brand New Companion 09 Rake 10 Delta Momma Blues 11 Marie 12 Don’t Take It Too Bad 13 Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold 14 (Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria 15 To Live Is to Fly
Thanks to Muzzle of Bees for the tip. They've got an mp3 for the tasting too.
The troubled if brilliant, Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector was found guilty of second degree murder in the untimely death of actress Lana Clarkson.
The inimitable Regina Spektor will release a new set of tunes, Far Set, on June 23rd. That's all we've got for now short of a list of producers that reads like a who's who of a-listers: Jeff Lynne (ELO, The Traveling Wilburys), Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem), David Kahne (Paul McCartney, The Strokes) and Garret “Jacknife” Lee (Weezer, REM).
Levon Helm has readied a new collection of tunes for release June 30th entitled Electric Dirt on Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records. The tracks (including covers by Grateful Dead, Randy Newman and Happy Traum) were recorded at Helm's studio and produced by multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell.
Track Listing:
1. Tennessee Jed 2. Move Along Train 3. Growing Trade 4. Golden Bird 5. Stuff You Gotta Watch 6. White Dove 7. King Fish 8. You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had 9. When I Go Away 10. Heaven’s Pearls 11. I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel To Be Free
I'm a little late to the dance but then it's never too late to share some good tunes. When we were hosting the CondoFucks listening party a few weeks back, Beggars Banquet kindly hit me with a promo featuring a handful of tracks from the recently released Dark was the Night collection. The compilation is the most recent of the long running Red Hot and Blue series that dates back some twenty years (remember No Alternative way back in the early 90s?). This new batch of songs (31 strong) features new work and excellent covers by the likes of Feist and Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch, Spoon, Yeasayer, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and so many more. It is well worth the price of admission. Personally, I can't get The National's excellent "So Far Around the Bend" out of my head (love the nod to Pavement here!). Of course, the Feist and Ben Gibbard cover of a Vashti Bunyan number is a timeless classic as is Sharon Jones fronting the Dap Kings for a cover of Shuggie Otis classic "Inspiration Information". This is truly a must have collection. It's 3 slabs of vinyl that are a joy to flip through time and time again. Radio City Music hall will host a special one-off concert featuring many of the artists on the comp performing their tracks for one set and then step into further collaborations for a second on May 3rd.
DARK WAS THE NIGHT
THIS DISC
1 Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3 Train Song (Vashti Bunyan recorded, written by Alasdair Clayre) – Feist + Ben Gibbard
4 Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
5 Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
6 So Far Around the Bend – The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
7 Tightrope – Yeasayer
8 Feeling Good (popularized by Nina Simone) – My Brightest Diamond
9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet
10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) – Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 Sleepless – The Decemberists
13 Stolen Houses (Die) – Iron and Wine
14 Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens
THAT DISC
1 Well-Alright – Spoon
2 Lenin – Arcade Fire
3 Mimizan – Beirut
4 El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) – Dave Sitek
7 Blood Pt 2 (based on original song “You are the Blood” by the Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers
9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) – Yo La Tengo
10 Another Saturday (traditional song) – Stuart Murdoch
11 Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird
14 Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew
Yeah Yeah Yeahs hit SNL this past weekend giving a taste of the excellent, soon-to-be-everywhere It's Blitz! with lead single Zero and an oldie but goodie Maps.
You Ain't No Picasso delivers the best news of the day with the announcement of a new Circulatory System release. Sadly, we'll have to wait until August 4th but I bet you it will be worth every heart beat in between. The Elephant 6ers new slab will be dubbed Signal Morning. I for one can't wait.
Beck's amazingly wonderful neo-folk-indie opus One Foot in the Grave is getting the deluxe reissue treatment. Produced by Calvin Johnson and released on his seminal K Records, the record is a raw portrait of the artist as a young man pre-Odelay studio madness. Two acoustic guitars and a microphone!
Track Listing:
01 "He's A Mighty Good Leader" 02 "Sleeping Bag" 03 "I Get Lonesome" 04 "Burnt Orange Peel" 05 "Cyanide Breath Mint" 06 "See Water" 07 "Ziplock Bag" 08 "Hollow Log" 09 "Forcefield" 10 "Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods" 11 "Asshole" 12 "I've Seen The Land Beyond" 13 "Outcome" 14 "Girl Dreams" 15 "Painted Eyelids" 16 "Atmospheric Conditions"
BONUS TRACKS:
17 "It's All In Your Mind" (K Records 7") 18 "Whiskey Can Can" (K Records 7") 19 "Mattress"* 20 "Woe On Me"* 21 "Teenage Wastebasket"* 22 "Your Love Is Weird"* 23 "Favorite Nerve"* 24 "Piss On The Door"* 25 "Close To God"* 26 "Sweet Satan"* 27 "Burning Boyfriend"* 28 "Black Lake Morning"* 29 "Feather In Your Cap" (K Records 7") 30 "One Foot In the Grave"* 31 "Teenage Wastebasket"* 32 "I Get Lonesome"*
Oasis pub does. Visit the hot new spot on the bloggy road to nowhere. Total nonsense, downloads, and even a schedule of upcoming events. What's not to like? Tell Murray we sent you...
brakesbrakesbrakes are back with their third record this month. It's twelve tracks of assuredly good garagey confections entitled Touchdown. you can get it through Fat Cat. here's the first tasty creation, Hey Hey:
I have to admit that way back when I friggin' loved the song Jack & Diane by one John Cougar. Hell, I still love it. The string of hits that followed were some of the best stuff written in those days reflecting a raw, gritty americana that I had yet to be introduced to musically (sure there was tht .38 Special record that my aunts listened to incessantly but...). Not everything that followed was quite as inspired, R-O-C-K in the USA still makes me gag but I've always believed that Sir Cougar now simply John Mellencamp was the real deal - "little pink houses for you and me"!
Mr. Mellencamp is passionate about his causes and his business. He has recently written an excellent essay on the decline of the music industry that is worth a read over at his official site: mellencamp.com.
New goods from Karmella's Game!!!! Live Sessions is available now through Insubordination Records featuring raw, live takes on tracks from their much anticipated sophomore release and one oldie but goodie in the mix for good measure.
It's just wonderfully good news to hear that a new record by hot shot new act Cosmos will hit in this part of the universe on June 9 through Happy Jack Rock. The 14 track slab of pop goodness entitled Jar of Jam Ton of Bricks is a collaboration between two of pop rock's upper echelon of taste makers: Robert Pollard & Richard Davies. The two had had a long running correspondence that inevitably led to the idea of collaboration. Davies agreed to work up music and Pollard would pen his distinctive brand of lyrical musing. And lo! the Cosmos was born. Everyone knows the prolific Pollard - he of the 10,000 records and one certain band dubbed Guided by Voices - though Davies and his sparkling psychedlic pop craftsmanship have flown a little further under the radar in acts like The Moles and Cardinal as well as the excellent solo effort Telegraph. The pairing is sure to satisfy your other-worldly delights.
The Ra Ra Riot crew hit the late night circuit over at Craig Ferguson's place for a take on the new single "Can You Tell" off The Rhumb Line out on Barsuk. No word yet on a New London return but we have our fingers crossed for a certain date in September!
The Shins have just announced two shows down in Gotham at The Wellmont Theatre on Sunday, May 17 and Terminal 5 on Monday, May 18. The shows are brought to you buy the fine folks at Bowery Presents and go on sale this Friday at Noon. With hope, this means new material and a new slab of tunes from the band!
In the meantime, who can resist the Muppets interviewing the boys:
Dinosaur Jr. will release Farm their 9th album (and second since the reunion of the original trio of J, Lou and Murph) on June 23 on Jagjaguwar. The record was recorded and produced by frontman & guitar hero J Mascis at his Bisquiteen Studios in Amherst, MA.
The band will be playing the new material along with old on a tour featuring stops in more intimate settings than you might often get a chance to see them. Locally, they'll be doing a Manic Productions show on April 1 (no joke!) at Daniel Street in Milford, CT. Attendees will also receive a limited edition, tour-only 7" or a digital download code with the purchase of a ticket. The single features new track "I Don't Want To Go There" b/w a new take on classic Dino track "Tarpit" from You're Living All Over Me.
The track listing for the new record goes a little something like this:
01. Pieces 02. I Want You To Know 03. Ocean In The Way 04. Plans 05. Your Weather 06. Over It 07. Friends 08. Said The People 09. There’s No Here 10. See You 11. I Don’t Wanna Go There 12. Imagination Blind
For the third year running, more than 700 independent record stores will band together with artists and labels to celebrate the unique, special, and sadly endangered creature that is your local music shop. Mom & Pops everywhere have been in jeopardy for years due largely to the greed of the corporate music industry. With the business model that the big labels (who are really no better than any of these Notorious AIGs out there) have followed crumbling, the time is ripe to reinvest in the place you probably found yr first loves in music - your local indie shop.
This year's Record Store Day offers up a tantalizing list of limited and rare releases from some of the most exciting acts in the business of making us music. Young and old alike are taking part so this ain't no generational thing, it's all about the love of music and in many cases vinyl! Make sure you get your orders in with your local purveyor soon (in our hood of New London county, make sure to call the Mystic Disc crew at 860-536-1312), so you don't miss out on some very special releases from the likes of: Modest Mouse, Blitzen Trapper, Flaming Lips, New Order, Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Regina Spektor and many many more.
The record was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillio, outside El Paso, Texas in November/December and features the same talented group of musicians as were present on last year’s acclaimed Conor Oberst album. The Mystic Valley Band are Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, Macey Taylor, Nathaniel Walcott and Jason Boesel.
Outer South is a spectacular 16-track album featuring songs written by Oberst, Jason Boesel, Nik Freitas, and Taylor Hollingsworth, some of which were part of the live show from late last year including “Nikorette” which they performed on Late Night With Conan O’Brien in November.
The Mystic Valley Band will be playing a run of shows in the west and at the Coachella Festival this spring.
Thu-Apr-09 Omaha, NE Slowdown Fri-Apr-10 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre Sat-Apr-11 Aspen, CO Belly Up Sun-Apr-12 El Paso, TX Barnett Harley Davidson (Hands of Love & Hope Benefit) Mon-Apr-13 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre Tue-Apr-14 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre Wed-Apr-15 Pomona, CA Glass House Fri-Apr-17 Indio, CA Coachella Music & Arts Festival Thu-Jun-18 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Elvis Costello has announced a new release, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, due out on June 2 on Hear Music. The album is a largely acoustic affair with producer extraordinaire T Bone Burnett at the helm. Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin), Jeff Taylor (accordion) and Dennis Crouch (double bass), some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, Bluegrass and beyond.
Several of these songs, including "Down Among The Wines and Spirits", were given their first public performances during Costello's acclaimed solo appearances as part of "The Bob Dylan Show" in late 2007. The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and "The Crooked Line", were co-written with T Bone Burnett while, "I Felt The Chill" marks Costello's second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn. Costello revisits two songs from his catalogue in string band style. Both songs were originally written for Johnny Cash. "Hidden Shame" was indeed included on Cash's album, "Boom Chicka Boom".
Indeed these are first Costello compositions to be predominantly rooted in acoustic music since his 1986 album, "King Of America", which was produced by T Bone Burnett. He also produced the 1989 album, "Spike". T Bone adds his distinctive Kay electric guitar to several of numbers, the only amplified instrument on the recording.
SECRET, PROFANE, & SUGARCANE TRACK LIST 1. Down Among the Wine and Spirits 2. Complicated Shadows 3. I Felt the Chill 4. My All Time Doll 5. Hidden Shame 6. She Handed Me a Mirror 7. I Dreamed of My Old Lover 8. How Deep is the Red 9. She Was No Good 10. Sulfur to Sugarcane 11. Red Cotton 12. The Crooked Line 13. Changing Partners
The vinyl version will include two bonus tracks, an arrangement of Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale" and Costello's sequel to the old Appalachian murder ballad, "Omie Wise", entitled, "What Lewis Did Last".
Death Cab for Cutie will be releasing a new ep of tracks recorded during the Narrow Stairs sessions that didn't quite fit into the framework of the full LP. The Open Door ep, which features four new tunes anda ukulele demo of "Talking Birds", will be available digitally March 31. In the menatime, Stereogum is revealing the ep one track at a time over the course of the week. Check it out!
Track Listing for The Open Door ep: 01 "Little Bribes" 02 "A Diamond And A Tether" 03 "My Mirror Speaks" 04 "I Was Once a Loyal Lover" 05 "Talking Bird" (demo)
Modest Mouse will have a new slab of vinyl available for Record Store Day, April 18th, in a limited release orange 7" featuring "Satellite Skin" b/w "Guilty Cocker Spaniels". The song's been performed live for a while now and the band (minus Sir Johnny Marr) brought it to network television on March 19th's David Letterman Show. Without further ado.....
New London via Brooklyn band Conversion Party have gone out of their way to generate some free publicity for themselves over at the Mata-blog. The band has created a virtual dust-up with the Yo La Tengo one-off cover crew Condo Fucks for dissing their scene (or one of their scenes, half their scene, something like that) by launching a weblog called Fuck The Condo Fucks. Not shying away from brazen acts of publicity, the band even managed to tell Gerard Cosley, the founder of Matador Records and friendly blog commenter, to fuck off. If this don't get them signed, don't know what will!
Meanwhile the Condo Fucks will make a "rare" appearance on WMFU March 24:
To commemorate next Tuesday’s release of the long-awaited Condo Fucks LP/CD, ‘Fuckbook’, the fearsome threesome of Kid Condo, Georgia Condo and James McNew have recorded a live set for Joe Belock’s “Three Chord Monte” program, to be aired that same day, March 24 between 12-3pm. You can listen online at WFMU.org, or in the greater NYC area on 91.1 FM.
we saw them together first back at Lollapalooza Round 1 way back in 1991 and they are at it again for an appropriately craftily named tour called NIN|JA 2009. trent's even suggesting this may be Nine Inch Nails last go around (though that's difficult to swallow at this point). either way the tour is probably one you don't want to miss if yr inner metal/goth self is screaming for release here in the recession/depression oughts. the bands have kindly offered up some free goodies to get yr taste buds salivating over at their joint site. there's even a few jane's tracks ready for yr remixing prowess available through the nin remix site so that all are in on the game.
May 2009 8 - West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre 9 - Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre 10 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre 12 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center 14 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion 15 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Wireless Pavilion 16 - Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheater 18 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl 20 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine Meadows 22 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre 24 - George, WA - Gorge Amphitheater 26 - Englewood, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre 27 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre 29 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion 30 - Noblesville, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center 31 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 2009 2 - Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre 3 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center 5 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center 6 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center 7 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater 9 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion 10 - Burgettstown, PA - Post-Gazette Pavilion 12 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 13 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
THE LIZ LARSONS Cosmodemonic Telegraph Talk Like A Male Artist 13-song CD
Singer, songwriter, vocalist, and guitar player extraordinaire Liz Larson (not to be confused with the band itself, named THE Liz Larsons) sings the lyrics “I’m not gonna make it as a superstar to you” during the opening seconds of Talk Like A Male Artist and I have to admit, she is correct. However, I can also admit that her purposeful moaning really does have some legitimate punk moments. With influences from the Swirlies, Courtney Love, and the ’70s TV show Hee Haw, the Liz Larsons rock on in the face of the commercial capitalist mainstream pig. Their signature indy-rock sound takes me back to last call at T.T. the Bear’s on a Monday night (R.I.P. Jeannie; we’ll miss you). I can taste bar tequila and smell the sent of unwashed MIT students. The sound of strumming telecasters, tambourine, and claps remind me of a genre almost forgotten. The Liz Larsons’ cynicism is relentless during all 13 tracks. Liz’s voice wavers sarcastically from note to note as the band jangles and marches fearlessly onward. The Liz Larsons’ new release is a modern soundtrack for the spun-out masses. (Lance Woodward)
Another tops Take Away event from La Blogotheque featuring Animal Collective playing 'Taste' in Paris, France. The sonic textures are incomparable. The melodies are haunting. The band just continues to amaze.
Nada Surf have a new record, 'Lucky', out now on the super awesome indie Barsuk. The band played Conan recently offering up a first taste. Check out "Whose Authority":
The fine folks over at Rykodisc have been re-issuing some of the finest records of our times for a quarter century. Their catalogue include works from diverse artists including Ali Farke Toure, Ry Cooder, Nick Drake, Richard and Linda Thompson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, as well as more recent indie faves Flaming Lips, The Dead Milkmen, The Replacements and more. To celebrate their 25 years of good work the label will be offering five free downloads each month of 2008. All you have to do is head over here and register to start enjoying some of their excellent canon. Included in this batch are "Diarby", a track of Ali Farke Toure and Ry Cooder's excellent 'Talking Timbuktu', and 'Kulanjan', a Taj Mahal track from the album of the same name.
The seminal E6 band Elf Power from Athens, Georgia have a new record prepped and ready to drop March 28, 2008 on Rykodisc titled 'In A Cave'. Andrew Reiger and crew have been turning out poignant folk rock with an elven edge for years with the help of a rotating cast of members from the Elephant 6 collective. Their last slab, 'Back to the Web', was excellent indeed and we're looking forward to hearing the new tracks soon. For now, you can hear the percolating "Paralyzed" over at Elf Power's myspace or hit youaintnopicasso to download the T Rex inspired 'Spiral Stairs'.
Rock Yer Socks is celebrating its first year in action this Saturday, March 10 with a big big show featuring The Chuck Hestons, Low-Beam (aww yeah), 28 Degrees Taurus, Panda and Child, Bloarzeyd and a special performance by the CT Roller Girls. the show will be held at the American Legion in Manchester CT.
