LCD SOUNDSYSTEM:: S/T (Album Review)

Nothing is hidden here: James Murphy’s record collection is on display via the influences so easily discernible on his debut album as LCD Soundsystem. The sound is all bare wires, exposed workings, pre-dissected for maximum accessibility. And yet… it retains its maximum coolness throughout. It’s hipper than hip, a swinging conflation of hollowed-out post-punk noise driven by a sleek, minimalist, future-funk engine. And yet… it bites the hand that feeds it by being as much a commentary on the mores of obsessive-hipster, underground record collectors as it is itself more fuel for these same obsessives. LCD Soundsystem’s sonic emissions are a series of enclosing parentheses with their contents blatantly on display: insistent Krautrocking machine-funk; squelchy retro-disco grooves; jabbering post-punk basslines and spindly guitars. It’s a mercurial succession of mini-tableaux, perfectly composed selections of captured influences, occasionally turning into outright pastiche: the sneering Mark E Smith voice of “Movement”; the thickened, jive-talking vocals of “Thrills” (every bit as camp and mannered as Jagger’s on the Rolling Stones’ “Hot Stuff”); the “Dear Prudence” descending melody on the bleakly empty “Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up.” What does all this amount to? “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” kind of says it all — it’s at once a bold musical statement, a piece of self-conscious absurdity, and an infectious, irresistible groove. Whatever the post-modernist machinations implied by Murphy’s contradictory stance, the resolution comes via the pulsating, compelling momentum the music generates. It’s as if Murphy asks the question, then says “Aww, forget it,” as the funk kicks in. It’s a classic case of debut album as faux anthology of musical influences, but it’s also a successful collection with a marked sense of individuality, massively helped by Murphy’s dry sense of humor, which demonstrates a willingness to embrace the contradiction at the heart of his musical personality. The overall effect is only slightly diluted by appending the early LCD Soundsystem singles on an additional bonus disc, so while 2002′s mighty “Losing My Edge” has something valuable to contribute to Murphy’s discourse, it appears as a kind of footnote instead of a key element. (by Tom Ridge/Neu Mu)

Kingblind Downloads

Gorillaz:: Demon Days
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snoop dogg ft the doors – Riders on the storm (Fredwreck Remix)
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Pavement:: Terror Twilight
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Beastie Boys, Bosstones, Macc Lads and MUCH MORE
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Rock art for everyone!

If you are enjoying the Vintage Punk photos at Theresa Kereakes’s
Punk Turns 30 website, you can finally buy some at consumer prices! Visit her online store at Dot Photo or follow the “Buy Photos” link on Punk Turns 30. Rare images of Darby Crash, Black Randy and Jeffrey Lee Pierce are among the offerings, along with her well known photo of Dee Dee Ramone & Stiv Bators backstage at the Whisky A Go Go.

Kingblind.com Giveaway (The Sights) CONTEST OVER..

About The Sights:
In the spring of 2004, The Sights – now including relative newbie Bobby Emmett as organist/bassist – caught the ear of ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who signed them to his own Scratchie Records ( an imprint of New Line Records). And with that, the band headed back to Ghetto Recorders to record their self-titled third LP, The Sights, due out in April 2005. No small feat, the album combines the unobtrusive honesty of The Band with slivers of influence from The Sights’ own personal record collections: Ike & Tina, Solomon Burke, Everly Brothers , Bob Seger, Tim Hardin and all manner of raucous songwriting. The end result is an album that’s classic, not derivative—filled with swagger and deference—and ridiculously catchy. Really.

WIN FREE STUFF!!
Guess what folks we have 2 T-shirts and 2 CD’s to giveaway.. Just send an email to kingblind(at)gmail.com with THE SIGHTS in the subject line AND DON’T FORGET YOUR MAILING ADDRESS.. Good Luck.. (U.S. Residents only) REMEMBER IF YOU DON’T PUT “THE SIGHTS” IN THE SUBJECT LINE AND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN THE MESSAGE BODY YOU CANNOT WIN

TOUR DATES:
5/26 The Patio – Indianapolis, IN
5/27 Southgate House – Newport, KY
5/28 Magic Stick – Detroit, MI

The Sights “Circus” video
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The Sights:: “Circus” MP3
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The Sights:: “Will I Be True?” MP3
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Kingblind Downloads

The White Stripes:: Blue Orchid (Music Video)
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OR watch all The White Stripes Videos HERE
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Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 2005-05-24, Seattle (Sonic Records in-store) [flac]
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Queens of the Stone Age – 2005-04-16 San Francisco, CA (AKG C 414B-XLS)
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth
Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze
Team Sleep – m00kie
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
The Mars Volta – Francis The Mute
Meshuggah – Catch Thirty Three
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Kingblind Downloads

Cream reunion show at royal albert hall
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Shout Out Louds: Very Loud (Music Video)
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Sleater-Kinney:: Entertain
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Kinski:: The Wives of Artie Shaw
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At The Drive-In, Blonde Redhead, Fugazi, Shellac, Slint & MORE — LIVE!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Gorillaz:: Demon Days (Album Review)

For their second go-round, Demon Days, the animated collective known as Gorillaz shake things up by replacing producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura with Danger Mouse, the DJ responsible for last year’s acclaimed Beatles/Jay-Z mashup The Grey Album. The supergroup’s sound and aesthetic don’t change much from their first time out, at least not upon first listen: Demon Days’ intro swipes bits from the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack (2001′s “M1 A1″ sampled the score from Day of the Dead) and both albums pay homage to Clint Eastwood (with the political “Dirty Harry,” an old-school hip-hop gem that features lush strings and the Children’s Choir of San Fernandez, and “Clint Eastwood,” respectively). Once again, hip-hop, dub, and electro beats are spliced together with samples and a laundry list of guest artists—Neneh Cherry on “Kids With Guns,” De La Soul on the rousing lead single “Feel Good Inc.,” Ike Turner on “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead,” MF Doom on “November Has Come,” and Roots Manuva and Martina Topley Bird on the stand-out “All Alone”—and Damon Albarn’s vocals are typically disaffected. With the exception of the bouncy new wave pop number “DARE,” Demon Days is decidedly bleaker than its predecessor and—from the opening song, “Last Living Souls,” to the spoken word “Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey’s Head,” performed with deadpan panache by Dennis Hopper—noticeably more apocalyptic. If cartoons truly are a reflection of the times, then Gorillaz, co-created by Tank Girl cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, are unabashedly 2005. (Sal Cinquemani/Slantmag)

Kingblind’s live concert downloads!!

Radiohead – 2001-09-11
Calexico – 2003-04-25
Mark Knopfler – 2001-06-16
Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven – 2004-06-13
and MORE!!
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Michael Franti and Spearhead:: January 15th, 2005
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Kingblind: Music news that you can use

UK cartoony cheerleaders The Go! Team have inked a deal with major label powerhouse Columbia Records. After weeks of dinner dates with A&Rs from various labels at Warner, Atlantic and both of the Sonys, the buzz band closed with Columbia Records and EMI for publishing. Their sample-heavy tracks are supposedly giving EMI a major headache, especially considering none have been approved and the album has as of yet been released in the U.S.

Rumor has it the Arcade Fire’s pub advance is somewhere in the numbers of $850,000. That’s a massive figure for an indie rock band on an indie label with only one record to date

THE DARKNESS have split with their bassist FRANKIE POULLAIN. The group are currently in the studio working on their second album, the follow-up to ’Permission To Land’. However, Poullain will no longer be part of the set-up. A statement claims “musical differences” as the reason.

Franz Ferdinand Frontman Escapes Nut Allergy Death

Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos dodged death after eating a dessert containing traces of peanut – which he has a fatal allergy to. The Scottish rocker, 29, who is currently on tour in Russia, started vomiting blood after eating baklava (hazelnut cakes) prepared for him by a friend, who had not noticed the small print on the packaging stating it may contain peanut traces. The star recovered from the attack but is furious that food manufacturers don’t make allergy warnings more obvious. He says, “I had the most horrific night.”

Kingblind Downloads

Van Halen 1
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Bardo Pond:: 11/22/03 LIVE Philly, PA
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Kimya Dawson:: 1/9/05 LIVE Portland, ME
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Robyn Hitchcock:: 1/9/04 Live @ Maxwell’s Hoboken,NJ
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Kingblind Downloads

Listen to the new album from The White Stripes:: Get Behind me satan
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The Whites Stripes:: My Doorbell (single from their new album!)
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The Go-Betweens:: Here comes a city
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stephen malkmus:: jenny and the ess dog
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John Doe:: Forever hasn’t happened yet (Album Review)

Recently, while having drinks with a couple of twenty-somethings, I found myself recommending the first couple of X albums. I was greeted with blank stares. “X? Who are X?”. That shook me to my punk rock foundations. Are there really rock and roll fans in their twenties who missed out on one of the greatest bands ever? Apparently so. But thankfully one of them went out and bought “Los Angeles” the next day. And now, another recommendation, “Forever hasn’t happened yet”, the new solo album from X founding member John Doe. Much well deserved praise has already been heaped upon this album. But how can you lose? John Doe has one of the most resonantly beautiful voices ever created. And he has teamed up with some real fine folk here. Kristin Hersh, Dave Alvin, Grant Lee Phillips, even his own daughter Veronica Jane pitches in vocally on track three. And my God, the genius of having Neko Case sing Exene’s lyrics on “Hwy 5” in astounding. The opening track, “The Losing Kind” is an organ drenched blues ballad that will make Jack White swoon. “Heartless” is a swaggering, staggering pop gem. And the aforementioned “Hwy 5” is that long lost X track we all suspected was locked in a vault somewhere. Much ado has been made of “Ready”, an ode to tragic friends (Darby Crash, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Elliot Smith) who lost lifes’ battle too soon. I think this is the weakest track on the album, although the soaring harmonies with Kristin Hersh redeem it somewhat. Of course the ghosts of X and The Knitters haunt all of these songs. But John Doe has managed to marry the Blues and Punk Rock with a pop sensibility, and still make an original album. Not an easy task, but I suppose that’s what he’s been doing so beautifully for the past 25 years. (Review by: LAM)

Kingblind Downloads

PJ Harvey:: Peel Sessions
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD pw: greasy_vince

Pavement:: BBC Sessions
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD pw: rya

The Walkmen:: Revenge Wears No Wristwatch
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Tegan and Sara:: Walking with a Ghost
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The Raveonettes:: Pretty In Black (Album Review)

For their second full-length album, Pretty In Black, The Raveonettes ditch the Next Wave fuzztone distortion and three-chord Ramones formula of Whip It On and Chain Gang Of Love for a more accessible pop sound. The album opens with an acoustic Elvis-inspired ’50s prom night serenade, “The Heavens,” though their signature dark themes still pervade (see also the suicide caper “Here Comes Mary”). Singer/songwriter/guitarist Sune Rose Wagner and singer (formerly back-up singer/bassist) Sharin Foo trade vocals on “Seductress Of Bums,” which Wagner calls a cross between Beyoncé and Bobby Vinton…uh, yeah. With aspirations of becoming the world’s biggest rock band, it’s no surprise things are toned down here, both musically and lyrically: the profanity is tempered on “Uncertain Times” and the absence of electric guitars leaves much of the album limp (an unfortunately faithful rendition of “My Boyfriend’s Back,” originally written by Raveonettes producer Richard Gottehrer, is just plain flaccid). Rather than achieve their lofty goal by recording an entire album’s worth of buzzing pop/rock confections like 2002′s “Attack Of The Ghost Riders” and 2003′s “That Great Love Sound,” the Copenhagen duo has made the equivalent of Garbage’s poppy beautifulgarbage. Even Wagner’s wartime fears on “Uncertain Times” are retro: “If the atom bomb should end us both/I’ll be happy to go to the stars with you.” It’s not until “Ode To L.A.,” featuring Ronnie Spector, and the ’50s sci-fi meets French techno of “Twilight” that things start sounding remotely (post)modern. (This is the kind of music David Lynch probably listens to while reporting the local weather on his website.) It should be noted that what Pretty In Black lacks in vigor is made up for in variety…now if only they could find a way to fuse the two, maybe The Raveonettes would make an entire album as good as their singles. (Sal Cinquemani)

Kingblind Downloads

Wolf Eyes: 2003-09-24, Chicago
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The Sights, Watershed, The Blue Van & More MP3 Collection
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Swans:: Various Tracks
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Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: 2005-05-11, Louisville
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

THE ‘HONOUR’ ROLL!

FOO FIGHTERS have confirmed the tracklisting of their new album ’IN YOUR HONOUR’. The band release the half-rock, half-acoustic double set on June 13.
The tracklisting runs:
DISC ONE
* ’In Your Honour’
* ’No Way Back’
* ’Best Of You’
* ’DOA’
* ‘Hell’
* ’The Last Song’
* ’Free Me’
* ‘Resolve’
* ’The Deepest Blues Are Back’
* ’End Over End’

DISC TWO
* ’Still’
* ’What If I Do’
* ’Miracle’
* ’Another Round’
* ’Friend Of A Friend’
* ’Over ‘N Out’
* ’On The Mend’
* ’Virginia Moon’
* ‘Cold Day In The Sun’
* ’Razor’
As previously reported, Grohl has revealed that the album title was inspired by his time spent on the campaign trail with Democrat presidential challenger John Kerry. He told XFM: “I went out and supported John Kerry on his campaign trail, only really because George W Bush was using one of our songs at his political rallies. It just goes to show how out of touch that man is if he’s using our songs at his rallies. “There’s no way of stopping the president playing your songs, so I went out and played it for John Kerry’s people instead, where I thought the message would kinda make more sense. So I spent quite a lot of time on the trail. “When I’d play at these things I’d play acoustic, so it wasn’t like a Foo Fighters show, and the first 20 rows of the audience would all be people in wheelchairs, then farmers, then schoolteachers and blue collar factory workers, but it was really cool. “And I got to see how all these people came together, really strong people, passionate and devoted to this honourable cause. The strength of community and human will, it was inspiring. The album, although it isn’t a political record, I was really, really inspired by how passionate people were last year to make a change.” (Via NME)

Kingblind’s Favorite Finds

Sonic Clothing
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The baby from the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind
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George Lucas Confirms Indiana Jones 4!
CLICK TO READ

The Futureheads – Decent Days & Nights (Music Video)
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The Postal Service – We Will Become Silhouettes (Music Video)
Napolean Dynamite director Jared Hess brings the same kitschy aesthetic to The Postal Service’s latest.
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Mars Volta:: Various Albums (MP3 ALBUM DOWNLOAD)
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The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (Album Review)

Singer/lyricist Craig Finn and his fellow Hold Steady players revisit much of the same turf first heard on the band’s impressive 2004 debut, Almost Killed Me. Separation Sunday is less a sophomore effort than a continuation of Finn’s documenting of people he has known and the group’s desire to unapologetically rock out. Characters like the morally loose Halleluiah (called Holly by her friends), menacing pusher-pimp Charlemagne and freewheeling Gideon (the “cowboy on the cross-town bus” from Almost’s “Sweet Payne”) make return appearances. And Finn’s juxtaposition of the sacred and profane has been sharpened to a fine point: “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” mentions Jesus and a tattooed phrase on a girl’s lower back that confidently proclaims “Damn right you’ll rise again.” There are literary references, from Nabokov’s pedophiliac Humbert Humbert on opener “Hornets! Hornets!” to a diverse group of writers (William Butler Yates and William Blake, being two of the more notable ones) name-checked on the frenetic “Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night,” not to mention repeated lists of saints and kids desiring to be saved before destroying themselves. Separation Sunday isn’t quite on par with Almost Killed Me, primarily because it won’t stun listeners with its freshness. Only the next record will tell whether Finn exhausts his reservoir of tales before consumers lose interest. (Laurence Station)

Kingblind Favorite Finds

The Bluth’s will be back — Fox order’s another full season of “Arrested Development.”
CLICK TO READ

Trailer for Rize, David LaChapelle’s film about krump dancing
CLICK TO VIEW

New iPod ad featuring Poping and Locking
CLICK TO VIEW

MTV: Pimp My Trailer.
CLICK TO READ

Hot Hot Heat – Middle Of Nowhere (Music Video)
CLICK TO VIEW

Teenage Fanclub:: Man-Made (Album Review)

Following the decks-clearing exercise of 2003′s A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub compilation, the Glaswegian jangle popsters formed their own PeMa label and decided they’d go to Chicago to make their next album. They recruited producer John McEntire (of Tortoise), whose influence seems to have resulted in an intimate, semi-minimal approach, where every sound is carefully matched and graded and anything superfluous has been ruthlessly expunged. The punkadelic blast of early Fanclub has given way to a lyrical folk-pop feel, although they do permit themselves a voyage into scuzzy space-rock in Born Under a Good Sign, and the band’s always excellent harmonies sound preternaturally warm and smooth. If the sparse approach to sound and instrumentation is thoroughly 21st century (as in the glassy shimmer of Cells or the REM-ish Nowhere), the vocals are squarely in the Byrds/Beach Boys tradition, at times almost outshining their role models. It’s a difficult album to dislike. (Review by: Adam Sweeting)

Kingblind’s favorite finds

What Dave Chappelle is REALLY doing in S. Africa
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Louis XIV and The Suicide Girls make a video (NSFW)
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Grassy Knoll fence for sale
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Build Your Own Linux Home Theater PC
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Thin Lizzy:: Renegade
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Eels:: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Album Review)

Eels’ sixth studio album alternates between fleeting optimism and regret, a bi-polar libretto of potential (“From Which I Came/A Magic World”) and hope (the blinking lights of the title are Morse code messages of support from airplane wings and passing cars) and Dave Pelzer-esque confessionals (“Daddy was a drunk/A most unpleasant man…the wrong look his way/ could really wreck his day/and believe me when I say/It would wreck your day too”, “Son of a Bitch”). Eels’ Mark ‘E’ Everett has more cause than most to be depressed – as has been extensively reported, aged 19 he found his father dead, his sister Elizabeth committed suicide in 1996 and his mother died of lung cancer two years later – but songs like the none-more-maudlin “Suicide Life” (chorus: “I’m so tired of living the suicide life/That ain’t no reason to live”) are simply impossible for outsiders to enjoy, despite the sweet if self-plagiarising piano ballad backing. (Timeworn family photos dot the sleeve – it’s his mother, Nancy, on the colorized cover – adding to the sense of privacy invaded.)
Indeed, E, like Beck and Rufus Wainwright, has such a well-defined vocal style – tone, delivery and rhythm – that every new song is instantly familiar. The downside of this is, of course, that every new song is instantly familiar. Assuming 2000’s “Daisies of the Galaxy” to be the high watermark of E/Eels’ output in terms of variety, insight and exuberance and follow-up “Souljacker” to be his best realised conceptual achievement, the subsequent “Shootenanny!” and now “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations” have been exercises in just how much music can be squeezed into one release as opposed to opportunities for experiments or innovation. Frustrated no doubt by his former US label Dreamworks’ inability to market him, delaying the release of “Souljacker” et al in America until months after they were available everywhere else, E has now spewed musically forth a staggeringly unnecessary 33 tracks on this new double album that follow on from one another like a repetitive epic poem of loss, regret and little resolution. An old Steve Coogan-as-Paul Calf routine featured a joke about how repeated round-the-clock news had such a numbing affect that within hours of hearing of an international tragedy sorrow would inevitably turn to ambivalence and eventually boredom. Over the course of two CDs – the occasional up-tempo arrangement (most notably disc two’s “Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)”, “Sweet Li’l Thing” and “Losing Streak”) notwithstanding – sympathy for E’s horrible family history and crippling emotional baggage gives way to similar compassion fatigue. He’s not alone in working out his issues on record – Madonna has included several songs about her mother’s early death from cancer on most of her albums from 1989’s “Like A Prayer” to 2003’s “American Life”, but they’re usually one song amongst many, a downbeat moment in a sea of superlative pop rather than the norm. “Blinking Lights…” is a 93 minute-long nervous breakdown that offers few concessions to the needs of the listener to be entertained. If “A Child Called It” and its ilk are your bedtime reading, then you’ve found the ideal soundtrack. Otherwise, you might want to hold out for something – anything – a little more life-affirming. (by Emma Morgan -UK)

S.Y.S. Presents…
THE ROCK STAR BAKE SALE
A fundraiser for City Councilmember Richard Conlin

Saturday, May 14, 3 to 6 p.m. At Linda’s
707 East Pine Street, on Capitol Hill, Seattle
On Saturday, May 14, S.Y.S. and the Seattle music and restaurant communities are teaming up for a special pay-what-you-wish – and please-pass-the-frosting – fundraiser for City Council member Richard Conlin: THE ROCK STAR BAKE SALE. Confirmed participants include oven-lovin’ members of United States of Electronica, the Catch, IQU, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, and Brad, plus Bumbershoot’s Michelle Scoleri, Carolyn “Terrible Hostess” Mark, and John Wesley Harding. Smaller items like cookies and scones will be available for immediate sale and consumption, while E-ticket items – such as a gingerbread house inspired by Misfortune, the new novel by Wesley Stace – will be up for silent auction. For those who are feeling especially creative or devil-may-care after partaking of a few libations, a D.I.Y. cupcake decorating station, sponsored by Cupcake Royale, will be in full effect. Even if you’re on the Atkins Diet, bring your checkbook: Campaign donations are also welcome!

About Richard Conlin – Richard Conlin was elected to the Seattle City Council in November, 1997, and re-elected in 2001. A long-standing friend of the Seattle music community, Conlin initiated the All-Ages Dance Ordinance, established the All Ages Dance Advisory Committee, secured funding for all-ages venue the Vera Project, and voted against a proposed Noise Ordinance. As the Chair of the Council’s Transportation committee, Conlin has been essential in implementing the region’s plan for improved transit, developed new funding sources for transportation maintenance and neighborhood transportation improvement, and encouraged pedestrian and bicycle improvements, to reduce dependence on automobiles.

About S.Y.S. – Formed in the wake of the 2004 Presidential election, S.Y.S. is the Stop Your Sobbing think tank, a footloose and fancy-free conglomerate of well-meaning individuals from the Seattle arts & music scene, who hope to affect political and social change, and raise much-needed campaign funds for candidates they support, through positive thinking, community action, and spooky arcane rituals. Their ranks include Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Victoria Gentry (VAIN), Scott Giampino (DJ Self-Administered Beatdown, The Triple Door), Kerri Harrop (DJ Cherry Canoe), David Meinert (Fuzed Music, Mirabeau Room), and Kurt B. Reighley (DJ El Toro, Purty Mouth).
For more information, please contact
Kurt B. Reighley, phone: (206) 890-2492
e-mail: KURTBREI@aol.com

The show won’t go on. Dave Chappelle enters mental hospital

Comedian Dave Chappelle has checked himself into a mental health facility in South Africa and has remained there since late April, according to a source close to the situation. The same source denies rumors of drug abuse. Other sources have also said that the future of Chappelle’s Show — the hit Comedy Central series that was entering its third season — is more uncertain than the network has suggested. Comedy Central last week made a hasty announcement that the show’s third season, already delayed from its planned February start, had been postponed again. The network said it remained ”optimistic” that production could resume. The highly rated sketch series has been a huge moneymaker for Viacom, which owns Comedy Central. Its second season is about to be released on DVD, on the heels of first-season sales that made it the top-selling television DVD in history. Thanks in large part to the DVD sales, Chappelle last year netted a $50 million deal for co-writing and starring in the show. Sketches to fill about four episodes in the third season have been taped, but Chappelle’s interstitial material with live audiences has not. The fate of the sketches has not been determined.

Public Enemy Releases DVD of 1987 European Tour

Public Enemy’s just released It Takes A Nation: The First London Invasion 1987 CD/DVD. The DVD features live footage captured during three dates of the 1987 European Def Jam tour at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. The tour marked PE’s first European journey and preceded the group’s 1988 classic CD, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. In addition to rare behind-the-scenes footage, the DVD includes classic photos, play-by- commentary by Chuck D, clips of a live 2003 Australian performance and a bonus CD containing rare remixes. Flava Flav, Terminator X, Professor Griff, Brother Mike Williams and Brother James Norman are also featured in the DVD. In performance scenes, the group is featured performing classic cuts such as “Bring The Noise,” “Rebel Without A Pause” and “Public Enemy Number One” in front of packed crowds. It Takes A Nation: The First London Invasion 1987 CD/DVD is in stores now.

Kingblind Downloads

Bloc Party:: EP
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Super Furry Animals:: Placid Casual EP
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Elliott Smith – Jealous guy (John Lennon-cover)
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

POP SONGS

IGGY POP will release a career-spanning collection of his songs of July 18. ’A Million In Prizes: The Iggy Pop Anthology’ will feature 37 tracks from both his time as a solo artist and with The Stooges. On the same day, Pop will also release the ’Live At The Avenue B’ DVD. A previously unreleased concert film, ’Live At The Avenue B’ was recorded live in Belgium while the star was promoting his ’Avenue B’ album in 1999. The tracklisting for ’A Million In Prizes: The Iggy Pop Anthology’ is:
CD1
* ’1969’
* ‘No Fun’
* ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’
* ‘Down on the Street’
* ‘I Got A Right’
* ‘Gimme Some Skin’
* ‘Search and Destroy’
* ‘Gimme Danger’
* ‘Raw Power’
* ‘Kill City’
* ‘Nightclubbing’
* ‘Funtime’
* ‘China Girl’
* ‘Sister Midnight’
* ‘Tonight’
* ‘Success’
* ‘Lust for Life’
* ‘The Passenger’

CD2
* ‘Some Weird Sin’
* ‘I’m Bored’
* ‘I Need More’
* ‘Pleasure’
* ‘Run Like A Villain’
* ‘Cry for Love’
* ‘Real Wild Child (Wild One)’
* ‘Cold Metal’
* ‘Home’
* ‘Candy’
* ‘Well Did You Evah!’
* ‘Wild America’
* ‘TV Eye’ (live)
* ‘Loose’ (live)
* ‘Look Away’
* ‘Corruption’
* ‘I Felt the Luxury’
* ‘Mask’
* ‘Skull Ring’

Kingblind Downloads

Rare Grooves:: Mix Dex
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Radiohead – Live in Mansfield 2003
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The Sun MP3s from “Blame It On The Youth”
Justice
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Must Be You
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Lost At Home
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

The Kingblind Downloads

Interpol:: Live at Brownies NYC
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Interpol:: Slow Hands (Music Video)
CLICK TO VIEW

Oasis:: Various tracks and rare videos
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

decemberists, kasabian, arcade fire records oh my!!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Spoon:: Gimme Fiction (Album Review)

Gimme Fiction is Spoon’s loosest, most eclectic effort yet. While still sounding like themselves, the Austin-based band manages to evoke a number of other artists on their fifth full-length. (It’s a neat trick.) On proto-glam opener “The Beast and Dragon, Adored,” Britt Daniels channels the David Bowie of The Man Who Sold the World. Then there’s slinky jam “I Turn My Camera On,” where he conjures up Prince or Mick Jagger, circa “Miss You,” by singing in a higher register. As indicated by the title, “Sister Jack” sounds like early Who (i.e. “Happy Jack”), while “They Never Got You” sounds like Plastic Ono Band-era John Lennon. Do all these different styles hang together? For the most part: yes. After the triumph of Kill the Moonlight, Spoon could have easily rested on their laurels and issued another album just like it, but Gimme Fiction proves they would rather evolve than stagnate. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

Boy hopping Renee Zellweger to marry Kenny Chesney.

Country Music blowhard Kenny Chesney and Actress Renee Zellweger are getting married tomorrow. (So the underground rumour mill is reporting). From Jack White to Damien Rice to Kenny Chesney… Wow, what a downward spiral. Have fun Renee !!

The Kingblind Variety Pack (Music, News, Videos, Rants etc.)

Outhud:: Tons of great tracks
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Autechre:: Live
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Talking Heads:: The name of the band is Talking Heads
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

New iPod Commerical
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The Flaming Lips do Queen
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INTERPOL and the ARCADE FIRE have recorded new tracks for Six Feet Under — Everything Ends, the second volume of music from the HBO series.
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LED Belt Buckles RULE
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Kingblind Downloads

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead:: 2/27/05 LIVE in Finland
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DJ Logic live at Starr Hill Music Hall:: 10-24-04
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The Dirtbombs live at Berbati’s Pan:: 10-5-02
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Ryan Adams:: Cold Roses (Album Review)

Run the home movies and gaze at old photographs. Paw over your diary, empty another vodka bottle and fill your ashtray with anxiously-smoked cigarettes. Take a trip across the country and contemplate your fate, share your problems with pissed-up strangers and cry on your own. Take every kiss or conversation, brief encounter or argument and write about them like there’s some secret truth you’re still yet to learn. This is Ryan Adams today: heart hung from his guitar like a trophy, head still stinging from too many bottles of red and stood in front of a microphone, singing stories from the bottom of his gut. It’s also the Ryan Adams we most recognise. After the schizophrenic double-release of Rock N Roll and Love is Hell saw him completely banishing the bluesy country balladry that made his name, many were left wondering if even he knew what kind of songwriter he wanted to be. From the desolate, pastoral folk of Heartbreaker to the overblown AOR of Gold; from Rock N Roll’s hopeless garage pastiche to the insular, pill-ridden paranoia that weighed heavy on Love is Hell; each solo album to bear his name could easily have been made by four different artists. On top of this, the breathless pace with which he’s released these records has meant that he’s never quite repeated the consistently excellent songwriting on his debut with anything he’s done since; instead scattering moments of brilliance amongst songs that sound more like passing flirtations. So when they announced that his new record would be a 2CD set, followed by two more releases later in the year, it naturally sent some alarm bells ringing. Who was Ryan Adams going to be today? The inspired troubadour whose soulful Southern wail could tame the cruellest of hearts, or the try-hard rock n’ roll brat, plodding through power chords and flinging himself around the stage, begging for our attention? We needn’t have worried. Cold Roses is Ryan Adam’s finest record since Heartbreaker; a sprawling, sighing, regret-riddled epic that trawls through themes of freedom and escape, hope and loss, love and its many disguises. Thanks to the intuitive touch of the musicians he cobbled together to form The Cardinals, guitars and harmonicas, drums and pianos, melodies and harmonies all meld together to form the kind of lush backdrop we haven’t really heard since Whiskeytown. You can hear it from the moment the whimsical opening on Magnolia Mountain gives way to a driving, Crazy Horse-style country rattle; slide guitars slivering around distorted chords whilst Brad Pemberton’s drumming accentuates Adams’ drawled vocals. There’s no space for ego on this record: by playing in a band, Adams is swapping showmanship for artistry, and in doing so creating something that’s as musically convincing as it is emotionally affecting. Of the two discs on this record, the first is certainly the darker and more slow-burning, with melodies that meander with melancholic reflection, rather than swinging for the emotional sucker-punch. Driven by acoustic flourishes and a defeated vocal, When Will You Come Back Home is a sweet-hearted lament for the chances of happiness he walked away from (“I leave Carolina every night in my dreams/Like the girls that try to love me that I only leave”), whilst Cherry Lane’s sprightly two-chord strum hides a frustration that his lyrics struggle to convey; instead relying on the repeated line, “I can never get close enough to you.” Elsewhere, the two jarring sides of Adams’ temperament are displayed to great effect. The bluesy southern stomp of Beautiful Sorta, with its restless energy and reckless singing, is doused in drink and James Dean fatalism, and finds Adams flailing around for the arms of a good woman to cling to. On the other side, How Do You Keep Love Alive is a slow, crushing heartbreak of piano and slide guitar that has his voice at its most gravelly, full of worn-out, Springsteen-esque sincerity and evocative imagery (“She runs through my veins like a long black river/and rattles my cage like a thunderstorm”).So if the first disc is about the weight, about the burden of regret and painful memories, then the second disc is about escape. As soon as it opens with the lazy summertime shuffle of Easy Plateau, a different Ryan Adams is revealed; one that’s packed-up his suitcase and set off to escape the things that haunt him. It’s here that we also find some of his most exceptional songs. On Let it Ride, he’s hurtling through a free-sprited, high-tempo hitch-hike around every country cliché going, and playing them to utter perfection; Dance All Night is a lullaby wrapped in soft-focus romance, whilst Life is Beautiful betrays its twee title by building into a full-blooded, life-affirming pop song that basks in life’s small mercies. Finally, there’s the glistening romanticism of If I am a Stranger. Propelled by passionate drumming, wrapped in swathes of multi-layered guitar and sung with all the soulful devotional his voice can emit, it’s a song that offers all of the shut-eyed beauty that many thought he’d forgotten how to make. Weighed down by drama, but propped-up by the promise of happiness, Cold Roses is as complete and honest a self-portrait as you’re likely to find, and despite the fact that a few of these nineteen tracks could easily have been cut, or that its mid-tempo pacing may drive it dangerously close to sounding monotonous, the evidence still points to that of a songwriter clawing back to his best. This is Ryan Adams today: falling in love, fucking up and running away, on to the next headache, the next big letdown, the next song. With this album, he’s done just enough to make us want to hear them. By Neil Robertson

S.Y.S. Presents…
THE ROCK STAR BAKE SALE
A fundraiser for City Councilmember Richard Conlin

Saturday, May 14, 3 to 6 p.m. At Linda’s
707 East Pine Street, on Capitol Hill, Seattle
On Saturday, May 14, S.Y.S. and the Seattle music and restaurant communities are teaming up for a special pay-what-you-wish – and please-pass-the-frosting – fundraiser for City Council member Richard Conlin: THE ROCK STAR BAKE SALE. Confirmed participants include oven-lovin’ members of United States of Electronica, the Catch, IQU, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, and Brad, plus Bumbershoot’s Michelle Scoleri, Carolyn “Terrible Hostess” Mark, and John Wesley Harding. Smaller items like cookies and scones will be available for immediate sale and consumption, while E-ticket items – such as a gingerbread house inspired by Misfortune, the new novel by Wesley Stace – will be up for silent auction. For those who are feeling especially creative or devil-may-care after partaking of a few libations, a D.I.Y. cupcake decorating station, sponsored by Cupcake Royale, will be in full effect. Even if you’re on the Atkins Diet, bring your checkbook: Campaign donations are also welcome!

About Richard Conlin – Richard Conlin was elected to the Seattle City Council in November, 1997, and re-elected in 2001. A long-standing friend of the Seattle music community, Conlin initiated the All-Ages Dance Ordinance, established the All Ages Dance Advisory Committee, secured funding for all-ages venue the Vera Project, and voted against a proposed Noise Ordinance. As the Chair of the Council’s Transportation committee, Conlin has been essential in implementing the region’s plan for improved transit, developed new funding sources for transportation maintenance and neighborhood transportation improvement, and encouraged pedestrian and bicycle improvements, to reduce dependence on automobiles.

About S.Y.S. – Formed in the wake of the 2004 Presidential election, S.Y.S. is the Stop Your Sobbing think tank, a footloose and fancy-free conglomerate of well-meaning individuals from the Seattle arts & music scene, who hope to affect political and social change, and raise much-needed campaign funds for candidates they support, through positive thinking, community action, and spooky arcane rituals. Their ranks include Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Victoria Gentry (VAIN), Scott Giampino (DJ Self-Administered Beatdown, The Triple Door), Kerri Harrop (DJ Cherry Canoe), David Meinert (Fuzed Music, Mirabeau Room), and Kurt B. Reighley (DJ El Toro, Purty Mouth).
For more information, please contact
Kurt B. Reighley, phone: (206) 890-2492
e-mail: KURTBREI@aol.com

Kingblind.com Presents:: Rock & Roll High School

Kingblind.com brings ROCK & ROLL HIGH SCHOOL to the West Coast. That’s right kids come hear DJ Kingblind and DJ Teenage Rampage Spin the best in Punk, Glam, Rock, Funk and Soul… All for free on Wednesday April 6th 2005 at The Bus Stop bar in Seattle, WA at 508 E. Pine St. (Capital Hill Neigborhood- Next to Bimbo’s) from 9pm till ??? for complete up to the minute details check out our online flyer HERE

Apple’s next step for iTunes

Apple is prepping a new version of iTunes according to Apple Insider that will no doubt wipe out RealNetworks’ new-found Harmony compatibility but also make room for the expected new stores around the world and take over the function of synchronising contacts and calendar from the host machine, which previously done by iSync on the Mac. The latter part is interesting as it creates a little more space between the iPod and its competitors by highlighting functions that get overlooked in the company’s marketing.

Kingblind Downloads

Primal Scream:: primal scream remixed
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Rilo Kiley’s:: “Portions for Foxes”
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Warren Zevon: 1985-11-02, San Francisco [mp3,ogg,flac]
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Pedro the Lion: 2005-03-29, San Francisco [mp3]
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Wilco Plan Live Release

Jeff Tweedy and his celebrated band of indie rockers, otherwise known as Wilco, recently announced a bout of North American dates..After getting things into gear with a performance at Coachella this past Saturday (April 30th), Wilco will hit 13 North American cities over the course of May and June. Those who won’t be able to make these gig needn’t worry too much, as it sounds as if Wilco will be making a live recording of their tour in support of A Ghost Is Born. Wilco are set to play Chicago’s Vic Theatre for four nights in a row, all without an opener to hinder prime recording time. An official email message about the Chicago gigs from the band reads: “Tape and or film will definitely be rolling. Okay, you’ve been warned. Don’t be late.”

Kingblind Downloads

The Smiths – Louder Thans Bombs
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Death Cab For Cutie – The John Byrd EP
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Ennio Morricone – Various Tracks
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Karate – Pockets
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SUPER ‘FREAK’!

DINOSAUR JR are to re-release their classic ’FREAK SCENE’ single on June 6. The band will put out the track on two CDs and 7” vinyl through the label Sweet Nothing. The single will also feature a re-mastered version of ’Bulbs Of Passion’ on the B-side as well as brand new artwork by Maura Jasper, who originally created all of the cover images for the band’s recently reissued albums – ’Dinosaur’, ’You’re Living All Over Me’ and ’Bug’. Dinosaur Jr have been citied as influences on The Flaming Lips, Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine. As previously reported, Dinosaur Jr will regroup this year with their original incarnation of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph, for the first time in 15 years.
The band will play the following UK shows:
London Forum (June 8-9)
Download Festival (10)
(VIA NME)

Kingblind Downloads

The White Stripes – Blue Orchid (NEW SINGLE)
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Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze
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Bruce Springsteen – Devils & Dust
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Air:: Talkie Walkie
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