Monday, April 30, 2007
Kingblind news that you can use

Cartoon Network Partners With Zune For Alternative Up-Front
Bjork, Interpol, Jesus & Mary Chain Usher In Coachella
Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire Heat Up Coachella Day Two
Animal Collective Finishing Up Domino Debut
Arctic Monkeys dominate UK charts
Meltdown festival bill revealed
RIAA claims rights to all artists' royalties
Save internet radio! Internet Radio Equality Act introduced into congress
Bright Eyes:: Cassadaga (Album Review)
Conor Oberst's simultaneously released 2005 albums - the acoustic I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and the electronic Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - suggested a career at a crossroads. However, the seventh Bright Eyes album demands the biggest stage. Named after a Florida psychic community, Cassadaga is quietly shadowed by religious matters and could be taken as a subtle assault on America's religious right. However, the apocalyptic Four Winds rages with blistering imagery at wars being fought in the name of any belief system - "Bodies decomposing in containers" and a girl "standing in the ashes at the end of the world". Oberst's frequent comparisons to Bob Dylan won't suffer, but he has also conjured up some of his best tunes, especially Hot Knives and If the Brakeman Turns My Way, with themes of alienation and self-medication. Musically, his palette blends Dylan, Van Morrison and Elvis Costello, but when Oberst fuses flutes and choirs for Make a Plan to Love Me - a simple, sweet love song - there seems no end to what the 27-year-old can do.
(Dave Simpson-UK)
Friday, April 27, 2007
The White Stripes announce tour dates

As an attempt to visit every American state and Canadian province to commemorate their tenth year as a band, Jack and Meg are going to be making appearances in some out-there places. Iqaluit, Nunavit hello!
06-01 Nuerburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring Festival
06-02 Nurnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park Festival
06-04 Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
06-06 Rome, Italy - Tenda Strisce
06-07 Milan, Italy - Idroscalo
06-09 Lisbon, Portugal - Alive Festival
06-11 Paris, France - Zenith
06-14 London, England - Hyde Park (O2 Wireless Festival)
06-15 Leeds, England - Harewood House (O2 Wireless Festival)
06-17 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
06-24 Burnaby, British Columbia - Deer Lake Park
06-25 Whitehorse, Yukon - Yukon Arts Centre
06-26 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - Shorty Brown Multiplex Arena
06-27 Iqaluit, Nunavut - Arctic Winter Games Arena
06-29 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome
06-30 Edmonton, Alberta - Shaw Convention Center
07-01 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - TCU Place
07-02 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
07-03 Thunder Bay, Ontario - Community Auditorium
07-05 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre
07-06 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
07-07 London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre
07-08 Ottawa, Ontario - LeBreton Flats Park (Ottawa Bluesfest)
07-10 Moncton, New Brunswick - Moncton Coliseum Arena
07-11 Charlottetown, Price Edward Island - Charlottetown Civic Centre
07-13 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Cunard Centre
07-14 Glace Bay, Nova Scotia - Savoy Theatre
07-16 St. John's, Newfoundland - Mile One Center
07-22 Portland, ME - Cumberland Civic Center
07-23 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
07-24 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
07-25 Wallingford, CT - Chevrolet Theater
07-27 Wilmington, DE - Grand Opera House
07-28 Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center
07-29 North Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
07-30 Birmingham, AL - Sloss Furnaces
07-31 Southaven, MS - Snowden Grove Park Amphitheater
Townshend's 'Method' Finally Ready For Unveiling

Pete Townshend's decades-old vision of creating musical portraits through technology has come to fruition. The Who guitarist today unveiled his music creation, now dubbed the Lifehouse Method, to a small gathering of journalists in London.
The Method is an Internet-based software program that enables the user -- or "sitter" -- to generate music from unique, inputted data. The sitter can upload four strands of personal information into the system, consisting of a digital photo, a rhythm, a sound and a voice.
"This is a step in doing something which is a true, authentic, elegant artist process, based on the incredible [software] system," he said. "I love what this produces and my vision for it now is that I think, yes, we could have a gathering in some future time where we could share our music together."
Townhend explained that the project was the culmination of an idea which had percolated since his art school days in the 1960s. The concept was first introduced in the early 1970s via music intended for the Townshend-penned "Lifehouse" song cycle and planned concept album, which eventually morphed into the Who's "Who's Next" album.
Music composed through the Method's technology formed the basis of the track "Fragments" on the most recent Who album, "Endless Wire." Today's launch, Townshend noted, was an attempt "in essence, [to] close the book on the great lost project of Lifehouse, as a Who legendary non-event."
The Method was developed by mathematician/composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon, under the patronage of Townshend.
"What is produced by the program is music that generally Lawrence and I tend to like. Whether you like [it] is absolutely immaterial," he quipped. "The composer is king, in this respect. What we are trying to do is to approach the truth."
The service will accept registrations beginning May 1. The user will be entitled to three, free "portrait sittings" until July 31, after which time a subscription offer will roll out. "I'm hoping that further down the line there can be some commercial elaboration," Townshend said, adding that copyright was an issue currently being looked at.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Nine Inch Nails:: Year Zero (Album Review)

If you miss the elaborate conspiracy theories of The X-Files, you'll love Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero. A sci-fi concept album whose end-of-days, paranoia-drenched story line has been disseminated via the Internet, it will appeal to every geek with Fox Mulder's ''I Want to Believe'' poster on their bedroom wall. (In fact, a key lyric finds NIN majordomo Trent Reznor proclaiming, ''I am trying to believe.'')
The good news is, it's entirely possible — maybe even advisable — to enjoy Year Zero without trolling dozens of kooky websites. Mostly, this is Captain Trent doing what he's always done: giving musical expression to torment, rage, sadness, lust, and impotence. As usual, he drives his messages home with his whisper-to-a-scream vocal melodrama and the most chaotically catchy tunes he and his arsenal of machines can generate.
Amid its carefully calibrated sonic assaults, Year Zero has a number of tracks that will stop you in yours. Sometimes, it's a matter of dropping the volume, as on the muted feedback/piano interlude ''Another Version of the Truth.'' Then there's the element of surprise upon hearing the industrial-strength Middle Eastern melodic patterns of ''The Warning.'' Even his use of electronics has shifted to a new level: ''Vessel'' evokes nothing so much as a sentient, schizophrenic computer having a nervous breakdown. Is the truth in here? Dunno, but Reznor's claim that ''I got my violence in high def ultra-realism'' sounds like gospel to us.
(Tom Sinclair)
The return of Bad Brains

Bad Brains have set a June 26 release date for their comeback album, "Build a Nation." The Megaforce set reunites original members H.R., Dr. Know, Daryl Jenifer and Earl Hudson for the first time in more than a decade. "Build a Nation" was produced by the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch.
Bad Brains will return to live action in late May with an appearance at the Sasquatch! festival in Washington State. A May 25 warm-up show at Berbati's Pan in Portland, Ore., is also on tap. A more extensive tour will be announced shortly.
Here is the track list for "Build a Nation":
"Give Thanks And Praises"
"Jah People Make the World Go Round"
"Pure Love"
"Natty Dreadlocks 'Pon the Mountaintop"
"Build a Nation"
"Expand Your Soul"
"Jah Love"
"Let There Be Angels (Just Like You)"
"Universal Peace"
"Roll On"
"Until Kingdom Comes"
"In the Beginning"
"Send You No More Flowers"
"Peace Be Unto Thee"
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
White Stripes single out Thursday, digitally

The White Stripes' first single, 'Icky Thump', will be available exclusively online through the iTunes music stores (US and Canada only) starting at 12:01 am this Thursday, April 26th.
Third Man Records/XL Recordings will also be releasing CD and vinyl versions of the 'Icky Thump' single on June 11th in the UK. The formats and track listings are as follows:
White vinyl 7" (companion to the NME distributed record that will be given away with copies of the magazine on stands June 6th)
A. Icky Thump
B. Etching (no audio)
Standard 7"
A. Icky Thump
B. Baby Brother
CD single
1. Icky Thump
2. Catch Hell Blues
Next Modest Mouse album could be an odds and ends collection

Modest Mouse bassist Eric Judy tells Billboard that the band had batches of songs left over from the recording sessions for Good News for People Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank that could be stitched together to form another album. He says the songs were very near completion but had to get left behind due to time constraints. Apparently one of the tunes, left off Ship, was central to that album’s nautical theme and would make its story more understandable. I for one hope the songs see the light of day at some point, as most of what Modest Mouse has put out over the years has been stellar.
Raconteurs recording new album

Say what you want about Jack White’s rock star omnipresence, but you can’t deny he’s a hardworking man. Just as Icky Thump gets ready to drop, with all the touring and other promotional requirements that will create for White, he’s trying to cram in the creation of the next Raconteurs album. White, Brendan Benson, and the rhythm section of Greenhorners Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence are currently laying down tracks at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio. That’s where Jack and Meg recorded Icky. For further similarities, the engineer of Icky, Joe Chicarelli (who’s also worked with Beck and the Shins) is in the studio with the Raconteurs. The band hopes to have the album out early next year.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
New Pornographers Title New Album

The New Pornographers have buckled down to work on their new album and are now eyeing August 21st as a possible release date. The album will be released on Matador Records and has been tentatively titled Challengers. Head-Pornographer Carl Newman told Billboard that the album will be “more epic” than its predecessor, the well-received Twin Cinema.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Arctic Monkeys:: Favourite Worst Nightmare (Album Review)

It would be a natural impulse to dislike the Arctic Monkeys on principle. Their debut, last year's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, sold 360,000 copies its first week in England, based on one single, some Internet demos, and a deafening buzz. It became their country's fastest-selling debut CD, making them ''one of the most important British bands of all time,'' to quote one U.K. music writer — a breed known for using hyperbole the way Emeril does garlic.
So dismissing them as another overhyped British act would be understandable — but also wrongheaded, at least if you love loud, fast, witty rock songs. And while their second set, Favourite Worst Nightmare, may not be as revelatory as the first, it's nearly as good, and suggests they may eventually live up to the most impassioned accolades. Still, they have some convincing to do Stateside: Despite ranking high on numerous 2006 best-of lists, Whatever's first-year-plus sales haven't even matched that first week in England.
Nightmare's lead single, ''Brianstorm'' — an oblique dis (or tribute?) to a ladies' man — may not be the best transatlantic come-on lyrically, but it's a musical thrill ride that seems engineered for coke-fired dance-clubbers, with its high-speed high hat, fuzzed-out bass line, explosive heavy-metal opening, and spectacular false ending. No doubt these lads, ranging in age from 20 to 21, can play their riffs, which are steeped (sometimes excessively) in those of grizzled '00s vets like the Strokes and the Vines, with a few older echoes.
But their lyrics set them apart, with verses that can stand alongside those by Stephen Sondheim, Nas, and Dylan Thomas on Wikipedia's internal rhyme page. ''Now the shaggers perform and the daggers are drawn,'' frontman Alex Turner slurs on ''Balaclava.'' The Monkeys grew up on hip-hop, and while they're not rap-rockers, they know how playful poetics and regional flavor can be more pleasurable than mass-market lingua franca.
Whatever shone with details about working-class youth culture in the group's hometown of Sheffield. Nightmare is less culturally specific — a minus. But on the best tracks, when Turner dreams of a distant lover (''...lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs'') or an unhappily reformed party girl (''You used to get it in your fishnets/Now you only get it in your nightdress''), it feels more intimate — a plus. The latter tune sounds like a mere insult until he casually addresses the subject as ''my love,'' and you glimpse a hurt smart-ass counting down his own rabble-rousing days. It's the sort of wisdom, and emotion, of which rock poet laureates are made.
(Will Hermes)
Feist Teams With Grizzly Bear For June Tour

Canadian singer/songwriter Feist will spend three weeks on the road in North America in June, with support from Grizzly Bear. The trek begins June 8 in Northampton, Mass.; as previously reported, Feist's second album, "The Reminder," is due May 1 via Cherrytree/Interscope.
The artist is also set for a May 8 appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," with a "Jimmy Kimmel Live" booking in the works as well.
Feist's extensive touring in support of her 2004 debut, "Let It Die," was a major factor in how the new songs came to fruition. "The only way to really gauge where you're at musically is by the set list," she tells Billboard.com. "Every night, it was a mental photograph of where I was at and slowly, certain songs started to fly away. It's from the gut; I don't want to play that song tonight. The next step is, 'Well, what do I want to sing?' There was this really great lunge that started to happen."
Here are Feist's tour dates:
June 8: Northampton, Mass. (Calvin Theatre)
June 9: Boston (Berklee Performance Center)
June 11-12: New York (Town Hall)
June 13: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
June 14: Greensboro, N.C. (Carolina Theatre)
June 15: Atlanta (Variety Playhouse)
June 17: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo)
June 19: Chicago (Vic Theatre)
June 20: Minneapolis (PantageS Theatre)
June 22: Boulder, Colo. (Boulder Theatre)
June 24: Seattle (Moore Theatre)
June 25: Portland, Ore. (TBA)
June 27: San Francisco (Fillmore)
June 29: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)
June 30: Solana Beach, Calif. (Belly Up)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Kingblind news

Heading off to a wedding in the dirty south. Posts will return on Monday. See you then.
Kingblind news that you can use

Johnny Marr
New Dinosaur Jr. Video with Thurston and Coco Moore... And yes, Dinosaur Jr. still kicks ass.
Malkmus Eyeing Early '08 For Next Album
Roky Erickson in NYC
Live music resurgence in UK tied to technology
Labels to ask Apple to add subscription service to iTunes store
Kingblind Downloads

Shannon Wright:: Everybody's Got Their Own Part To Play
New Single from her upcoming record "Let in the light" due 5/8/07 on Touch & Go / Quarterstick Records
Smashing Pumpkins:: Jennifer Ever (Demo)
Smashing Pumpkins:: East
Arab Strap - Where We’ve Left Our Love
Arab Strap - Dream Sequence
The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
The Hold Steady - Killer Parties Remix
The Smiths - Over 50 Bootlegs
Radiohead reissue rare EP

Radiohead are set to reissue their rare EP 'Com Lag (2+2=5)'.
The EP was originally released in Japan and Australia in 2004. It will be reissued in the UK on April 16 and the US on May 8.
The tracklisting is:
'2+2=5'
'Remyxmomatosis (Cristian Vogel RMX)'
'I Will (Los Angeles Version)'
'Paperbag Writer'
'I Am A Wicked Child'
'I Am Citizen Insane'
'Skttrbrain (Four Tet Remix)
'Gagging Order'
'Fog (Again) (Live)'
'Where Bluebirds Fly'
'2+2=5 (Live At Belfort Festival)'
Monday, April 16, 2007
Kingblind Downloads

Field Music - You’re So Pretty
Soundtrack Of Our Lives - A Room Without A View
Devendra Banhart - A Sight To Behold- Live on KVRX
The One AM Radio - In The Time We’ve Got
Sprites - George Romero
Special Benny - Hungry
Diamond Star Halos - Heaven and Hell
Cold War Kids - Indoor Fireworks
Mum - Finally We Are Noone..
Bright Eyes:: Cassadaga (Album Review)

Conor Oberst's simultaneously released 2005 albums - the acoustic I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and the electronic Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - suggested a career at a crossroads. However, the seventh Bright Eyes album demands the biggest stage. Named after a Florida psychic community, Cassadaga is quietly shadowed by religious matters and could be taken as a subtle assault on America's religious right. However, the apocalyptic Four Winds rages with blistering imagery at wars being fought in the name of any belief system - "Bodies decomposing in containers" and a girl "standing in the ashes at the end of the world". Oberst's frequent comparisons to Bob Dylan won't suffer, but he has also conjured up some of his best tunes, especially Hot Knives and If the Brakeman Turns My Way, with themes of alienation and self-medication. Musically, his palette blends Dylan, Van Morrison and Elvis Costello, but when Oberst fuses flutes and choirs for Make a Plan to Love Me - a simple, sweet love song - there seems no end to what the 27-year-old can do.
(Dave Simpson)
Bright Eyes:: Four Winds (MP3)
Ex-Beta Band Members Become 'Aliens'

Ex-Beta Band members John Maclean and Robin Jones will release their first album as the Aliens, "Astronomy for Dogs," June 19 via Astralwerks.
Maclean and Jones teamed up with their longtime friend, songwriter Gordon Anderson, for the project. Anderson had a brief stint with the Beta Band during the group's early years, but has since recorded under the moniker Lone Pigeon.
"When the Beta Band finished in 2004, John and I got to talking, and we knew we wanted to work with Gordon," Jones tells Billboard.com. "I've always been aware that he has this amazing cache of songs. He missed out on the Beta Band, so it's like a second chance, for him."
Of the sessions, Jones says "there were thousands of hours" put into this album. "We basically started during World Cup last year, and finally mastered it in October. There was a lot of dead time," he says. The set is a noticeable departure in style from the Beta Band, as Jones characterizes the songs as "quite pure. All of the arrangements were much more upbeat; there's not a lot of darkness."
The Aliens will tour the U.K. in June, with tentative plans for a U.S. tour this September. "It's just fun, especially playing live," says Jones. "And I think they'll respond well in the States to this."
(via bb)
Reznor Guest Spot Adds Mystery To QOTSA Album

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor did indeed join Queens Of The Stone Age in the studio during the recording of the upcoming "Era Vulgaris." However, his contribution to the title track of the project, due June 12 via Interscope, didn't wind up making the final cut.
"We're going to get creative about how that song comes out and where it goes," QOTSA frontman Josh Homme tells Billboard.com. One guest appearance that did come to fruition was from the Strokes' Julian Casablancas on "Sick, Sick, Sick." Says Homme, "[Casablancas] is singing and playing a digital guitar. It's a lame looking thing, but it sounds really cool."
Due to scheduling conflicts, Homme was unable to reconnect with ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons, who guested on the prior QOTSA album, 2005's "Lullabies to Paralyze."
"I heart Gibbons. That's the T-shirt I'm wearing," he says. "He was going to come down and then I was going to go there, but it just criss-crossed. Or didn't criss-cross."
QOTSA will spend the first portion of the summer touring in Europe, but Homme says an unconventional U.S. tour will follow. "We're about to announce American dates that start in Bakersfield, Calif.," he says. "It's actually not any major cities. I learned something really great from Gibbons. He will play San Bernardino, Bakersfield, and Medford, Ore. That's why it's the people's music. So, we're going to places we've never been or rarely been. We want to play to people who hardly ever get shows and just burn the house down."
Asked about the status of his long-running Desert Sessions projects, the last of which was released in 2003, Homme says, "There's nothing going on. I wish, but I've run out of time. I'm talking to this one guy about adding four more hours to each day, but he's not real positive about it. Those are never going to end, because there's no reason for them to end. But I'd like to make them more regular."
(Via billboard)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Grinderman:: S/T (Album Review)

The debut LP from these four Bad Seeds erases all fears about the dreaded “side project”. A raw and blasted, punkily brief and thrillingly abrasive beast, it reveals a very different side to Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos. Gone is the emphasis on formal narrative structure and heightened theatrics, replaced with texture, noise, physicality, atmospherics and dashes of mordant humour. Echoes of Suicide and The Stooges abound, but this is not a bunch of old blokes looking to recapture their youth; rather, Grinderman sounds like a freshly hewn and rudely vigorous chunk of leftfield rock.
Sonic Youth reveal deluxe 'Daydream Nation'

Sonic Youth have revealed the details of a deluxe reissue of their landmark 1988 album, 'Daydream Nation'.
The deluxe edition is due out in the US on June 12. It will include two discs featuring bonus tracks, rare covers, new liner notes, and previously unseen band photos.
The first disc contains the original album, which has been remastered under the band's supervision.
The second disc features 15 live performances from their original 'Daydream Nation' tour, including tracks recorded at New York's CBGB and Amsterdam's Paradiso.
It also contains four studio bonuses including Sonic Youth's cover of The Beatles' 'Within You Without You' from an NME Beatles tribute album, and Neil Young's 'Computer Age'.
A four-disc deluxe vinyl set will be released via Sonic Youth's Goofin' Records.
As previously announced, Sonic Youth will perform 'Daydream Nation' in its entirety at several shows throughout the UK, the US and Europe this summer.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Grinderman:: No Pussy Blues (Music Video)
Another video for the song "Grinderman"
About Grinderman::
While Nick Cave's music has evolved from the harrowing post-punk wail of the Birthday Party to the eloquent and often poetic approach he explored on the albums The Boatman's Call and No More Shall We Part with his group the Bad Seeds, the trouble-making noise merchant of his youth has never entirely gone away, and in 2006 Cave founded Grinderman to give this side of his musical personality a new outlet. Grinderman came to be when Cave was writing material in 2004 for his acclaimed album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. Tired of writing in his office at home and then presenting the material to the Bad Seeds, Cave decided to try a new approach by teaming up with bandmembers Martyn Casey on bass, Warren Ellis on violin and guitar, and Jim Sclavunos on drums and working up songs as a group. With Cave improvising lyrics and playing guitar while his bandmates built melodies around them, the musicians began veering off into more experimental territory. Whipping up a potent dose of elemental music rooted in blues, punk, and no wave, the foursome created something wholly separate from the Bad Seeds, with an energy and emotional fury that pointed to the path-breaking music of their pasts while belying the maturity of the participants. Cave and his partners decided to give the new music an identity of its own, and Grinderman was born. In February 2006, the band went into a studio in London and began a marathon session of writing and demoing material; the following April, they took the cream of these new songs and recorded an album with the help of producer Nick Launay. The first Grinderman tune, "No Pussy Blues," was released to the Internet in the fall of 2006; a limited-edition vinyl single of "Get It On" was issued in February 2007, with Grinderman's 11-song debut album following that spring.
Kingblind's Pick of the week

Here is the kingblind.com live show pick of the week.
SATURDAY APRIL 14TH- Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
THE SHOWBOX AND 90.3 KEXP PRESENT
THE LONG WINTERS
THE BROKEN WEST
About The Long Winters
John Roderick writes songs that make you feel like you've been talking to someone really interesting in an airport for the last hour and, although you know you'll never see them again, you just told them your whole life story and a part of you will love them forever. Good songs are hard to write, hard to find, and are unrelated to fashion. As Roderick says, "I like chairs that don't creak and songs that don't suck." There's a lot of music being made as an accessory now, but there will always be a need for actual songs. The Long Winters are working on making those, and with putting the days to bed, they most certainly have succeeded.
Listen to the latest album from The Long Winters "Putting the days to bed" on Barsuk Records
Germs Drummer's Soap Tests Positive For GHB

A soap manufacturer is coming to the defense of a punk rocker who was jailed after his bottle of liquid peppermint cleanser tested positive for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, often called the "date-rape drug" because it leaves people groggy and powerless.
Germs drummer Don Bolles was arrested last week in Newport Beach, Calif., after police pulled over the 50-year-old musician on a traffic stop. Police said a toiletry kit containing denture glue, razors and a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap was found inside the vehicle.
A field test of the soap indicated it was GHB, said Sgt. Evan Sailor of the Newport Beach Police Department. Bolles, whose real name is Jimmy Michael Giorsetti, was arrested on suspicion of felony narcotics possession. He was released from jail Sunday on $2,500 bond.
He told the Los Angeles Times he has been using Dr. Bronner's for 35 years, adding that the organic ingredients help give him the complexion of a 15-year-old girl. "A date-rape drug is the last thing I need," he said. "If anything, I need a way to keep the girls off me. They make my girlfriend mad."
Executives at Escondido-based Dr. Bronner's hired an attorney, Bruce Margolin, to represent the rocker. David Bronner, the company's president, said police field tests of Magic Soap have occasionally indicated THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, because the soap includes hemp oil. But he said finding GHB in the product is "beyond belief. ... The field test must have been flawed or tampered with."
The Orange County Crime Lab was conducting more tests.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Pixies tribute to include Mogwai

Mogwai have confirmed that they will contribute to the forthcoming Pixies tribute album, 'Dig For Fire: A Pixies Tribute'.
The Scots have revealed that they will cover the classic Pixies song, 'Gouge Away'.
The album, which is set for a November 13 US release via American Laundromat Records, will also feature Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, British Sea Power, Ok Go, They Might Be Giants and The Rosebuds, among other notable artists.
Further details of the tribute album are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
In other news, the Pixies just wrapped up an extensive tour of Australia.
Tennessee home of Johnny Cash gutted in fire

The Tennessee house where Johnny Cash lived until his death has been destroyed in a fire.
The blaze broke out this afternoon in a Nashville suburb, and within minutes the entire house was engulfed in flames. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, a recently applied flammable wood preservative is thought to have contributed to the speed at which the fire took hold.
Cash lived at the house with his wife June Carter Cash from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.
In 2006, the house was bought by Bee Gee Barry Gibb and his wife Linda, but the couple had yet to move into the property.
The almost 14,000 square home was a point visited by both fans and celebrities. Visitors to the house included Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson, who landed a helicopter on the lawn in order to pitch Cash a song, according to Yahoo! news.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Calla:: Crocodile Cafe- Seattle, WA- 04.01.2007 (Live review)
A seemingly sparse crowd at the Crocodile actually represents a good showing for a chilly Sunday evening in Seattle. Calla, the shoegaze infused 3-piece originally hailing from Texas, will have to contend with local openers Siberian for the hearts of the evening's audience.
It seems at first that anyone would be outshined by the harmonies of Finn Parnell and Zach Tillman. Siberian closes out their set strongly with a new song, expected to be on their upcoming Sonic Boom records release early this fall.
Both bands have the kind of immediate appeal that leads to young women seductively swinging their hips in the front row. Calla steps onstage with the lights dimmed low, a fitting gesture to match their hauntingly melodic sound. Lead singer Aurelio Valle has a voice that initially sounds deceptively plain, but soon manages to be both sensual and captivating. Tight bare bones sound from drummer Wayne Magruder leaves plenty of room for reaching guitar sounds; one is left wishing they took greater advantage of it.
Calla will be continuing their US tour through mid-April in support of their latest release, "Strength in Numbers."
--
Sarah Joann Murphy
Kings of Leon:: Because of the Times (Album Review)

The noticeable fade-out at the seven-minute mark of opener "Knocked Up" may be everything you need to know about Because of the Times. Where 2003's Youth & Young Manhood kicked in the stall all night, and Aha Shake Heartbreak jolted loose any notion of the proverbial sophomore slump with blue-collar, rock-star concerns – girls, dissolution, swagger – the Nashville quartet's third LP simply plugs in both guitars, bass, and drums and faces off against producer Ethan Johns. Half the rock canon is born out of jams, but capturing Southern young manhood at its tawny, tank-top peak smacks of Seventies touchstones by the Allman Brothers and Derek & the Dominos. If Because of the Times isn't the former's Live at the Fillmore East (closer is last year's KoL stealth EP Day Old Belgian Blues) or even Idlewild South, it carves Kings of Leon out of prime riff. More muscle than penmanship, more highway than garage, Because the Times rolls like Foghat at the close of Dazed & Confused. From the Pixies dust on "Charmer" to classic rock insight "Fans" and gospel-inflected "To the Runner," Times is a Polaroid of 30 years ago, Tuesday gone with the wind. "McFearless" and "Black Thumbnail" prove too fatty, and the treated electronics of "My Party" are ill-advised, but the sustained build of "True Love Way" gives way to the cherry tones of "Ragoo," which like the echo on "Trunk," the band needs to explore further. Meat-and-potatoes rock still needs mashed yams to sweeten the meal. "Camaro" is the obvious "hit" after the opener, though more of an idea than an actual song, and bar-time closer "Arizona" is par for the course: Daytona.
(RAOUL HERNANDEZ- US)
Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris Tracklist Revealed

Era Vulgaris, the new album from Queens of the Stone Age, hits stores on June 12th and will contain the following songs:
01 Turnin on the Screw
02 Sick, Sick, Sick
03 I'm Designer
04 Into the Hollows
05 Misfit Love
06 Battery Acid
07 Make It Wit Chu
08 3's & 7's
09 Suture Up Your Future
10 River in the Road
11 Run Pig Run
Monday, April 09, 2007
Kirkwood Bros. Reunite For New Meat Puppets CD

Brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood have completed work on their first Meat Puppets album together since 1995's "No Joke!," Billboard.com has learned. "Rise to Your Knees" will be released July 17 via Kansas City, Mo.-based indie label Anodyne Records, and will be supported by the Puppets' most extensive tour in years.
Before he could resume playing music with his brother, Cris Kirkwood had to overcome a near-fatal heroin addiction and complete an 18-month prison sentence stemming from an altercation with a security guard, during which he was shot. The Puppets continued on with different members and made one album without him, 2000's "Golden Lies."
"Cris shouldn't be alive," Curt Kirkwood tells Billboard.com. "There's a dude who just died here in Austin with a wife and two little kids. They were just dabbling (in heroin) and he winds up dead on the couch. Cris has completely held hands with demons for 10 years and he's still swinging. He's not a total nut. He's a really sensitive guy. He's just been through hell."
Album tracks include "Spit," which Kirkwood compares to "Another Moon" from the Puppets' 1991 album "Forbidden Places," and "Enemy Love Song," which he describes as "cheesy reggae" in the vein of Blondie's "The Tide Is High." "It's a lot of 'singer around the campfire' songs, but done electrically," he says, adding that the material has a free spirit in keeping with the Puppets' beloved early albums on SST.
"I had been writing a lot of stuff all along that I thought had a very Meat Puppets-like vibe," says Kirkwood. Once the brothers hit the studio, "It was just like the same old, same old in a way, which is kind of what I wanted," Kirkwood adds. "It's more of a vibe. It's not a routine or anything."
The Puppets had planned to record "Rise to Your Knees" with Primus drummer Tim Alexander, but he had to bow out due to commitments with his primary band. Curt Kirkwood played drums on half of the album, but live, where the band is back to a trio, the stool is being filled by New York multi-instrumentalist Ted Marcus.
Last month at South by Southwest, the Puppets played four shows in various styles, including a bluegrass-leaning set of vintage tunes at the Fader party. "Cris has been playing a lot of banjo, and Ted can play guitar, bass and drums, so we can switch around," Kirkwood says.
The group has begun confirming spring dates, beginning May 15 in Los Angeles. The Puppets have also signed on for the moe. down festival alongside Ryan Adams and Medeski, Martin, Scofield & Wood on Aug. 31, Sept. 1-2 at the Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin, N.Y.
Flaming Lips' Hometown Zoo Bash Heads To DVD

The Flaming Lips are putting the finishing touches on a live DVD, "UFOs at the Zoo," due in July via Warner Bros. The project was filmed last September in the group's Oklahoma City hometown, at an amphitheatre within the grounds of the city zoo.
"There certainly was a hometown, welcome back sort of love in the air," Lips frontman Wayne Coyne said. "This was also our first show with the UFO light show. We come down on stage in a giant UFO and I go off the top in a space bubble."
Amid the usual frenzy of confetti, smoke machines and fans on stage in superhero costumes, the gig found the Lips unearthing rarities like "Love Your Brain" and "The Spark That Bled" for the hometown faithful.
"I'm telling you, it's like a local legend around here," Coyne enthuses of the show. "Everybody ended up bringing like five friends to this thing. It was the last awesome night of the summer. A lot of times here in September, it has turned cold and rainy. But for some reason, it all held off. It was just a perfect night."
Coyne says the group is still mulling whether there will be a standalone audio component for "UFOs at the Zoo." Fans may be able to insert the DVD into a computer and download audio tracks from a secure Web site.
The Lips also filmed a 2006 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in HD video, but plans are still coming together for how the footage will see the light of day. "We went to great lengths to shoot the whole thing in this pristine HD format," Coyne says. "I'm sure somewhere along the way some company will be interested in this. It will look great on those big TVs. Not everything benefits from so much clarity, but a Flaming Lips show definitely does."
The band will play eight U.S. shows this month, beginning April 11 in Athens, Ga., and will hit a handful of European festivals this summer. "When the records come out, we hit everywhere as quick as we can to be out on the circuit," Coyne says. "The second summer, you try to go to all the weird, cool places where you want to shop and eat exotic food."
(via billboard)
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Shins, Wu-Tang, Crowded House Set For Bumbershoot Fest in Seattle, WA

The Shins, the Wu-Tang Clan, Panic! At The Disco, the reformed Crowded House and Lupe Fiasco lead the initial lineup for the 2007 installment of Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival. The event will be held Sept. 1-3 throughout the Seattle Center. Steve Earle, Devotchka, Devendra Banhart, Roky Erickson, Allison Moorer and Magnolia Electric Company are also on the bill.
Rounding out the lineup are Gogol Bordello, Kill Hannah, Norma Jean, Plain White T's, the Gourds, Lyrics Born and the Holmes Brothers, with scores of acts to be announced. This year's Bumbershoot will be the first since organizers One Reel linked with AEG Live to bolster talent buying and sponsorship resources.
"They have been a great sounding board on our mainstage talent, since we were pretty far along in our bookings when we officially entered into our collaboration with AEG," One Reel artistic director Michele Scoleri tells Billboard.com. "Our mutual focus this year has been to maintain Bumbershoot's unique identity. I think people will find we did just that this year while simultaneously making our lineup among the heaviest hitting to date."
Bumbershoot's non-musical activities will include three stages of comedy (up from two last year), the Flatstock poster art fair, readings from writers Miranda July and "This American Life" contributor Davy Rothbart, visual arts exhibitions, dance and theatre performances and the 1 Reel Film Festival.
"The foremost thing that distinguishes Bumbershoot is our pairing of the arts with popular music," Scoleri says. "We are still the only festival doing contemporary dance, theater and literary arts. Bumbershoot is urban, which lends itself to a much different experience because we have both indoor and outdoor venues. If you come to Bumbershoot, you have the chance to discover the next Modest Mouse or Death Cab For Cutie, two Northwest bands that have played Bumbershoot since the beginning of their careers."
Bumbershoot three-day passes can be ordered through the event's Web site for $75 through Aug. 17, after which the price increases to $95. Single-day tickets are $30 and go on sale July 13
(via billboard)
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Stones rep denies Keith snorted his dad

LONDON — Keith Richards was joking when he claimed to have snorted his father’s ashes along with cocaine, a spokesman said Wednesday.
“It was an off-the-cuff remark, a joke, and it is not true. File under April Fool’s joke,” said Bernard Doherty of LD Communications, which represents the Rolling Stones.
Doherty declined to say any more about why Richards made the statement in an interview with NME, a pop music magazine.
“The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father,” the 63-year-old guitarist was quoted as saying.
“He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared ... It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.”
Richards’ father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84.
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Kaiser Chiefs:: Yours Truly, Angry Mob (Album Review)

When singer Ricky Wilson effectively got the riot he predicted on Employment, the Kaiser Chiefs' blindsiding Britpop debut, which moved heavy numbers, it probably made the question of how to get the mob back into record stores all the more daunting when conceiving their difficult second record. The Leeds lads stick doggedly to their debut's winning hook-heavy formula, with Wilson continuing down the irreverent lyrical path, noting the irritating peculiarities of his working-class brethren (The Angry Mob), failed romance (Love's Not A Competition But I'm Winning) and recollections of wild youth (Highroyds). And as on Employment, some songs spark with energy and others die in the first verse. Is a complete album asking too much? I guess it is..
(Jason Keller- Canada)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Rolling Stone Richards "snorted father's ashes"

LONDON (Reuters) - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in an interview that he snorted his father's ashes during a drugs binge, British media reported late on Tuesday.
The top selling Sun tabloid said the interview appeared in the latest edition of the NME music magazine.
An NME spokeswoman said the story was genuine and not a late April Fool's joke, and that the edition in question would appear on newsstands across Britain from Wednesday. She did not have a copy of the interview available late on Tuesday.
"The strangest thing I've tried to snort?" the Sun quoted Richards as saying in its early Wednesday edition.
"My father. I snorted my father.
"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared.
"It went down pretty well and I'm still alive."
According to the report, Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002 aged 84.
The 63-year-old rocker, who underwent an operation in New Zealand last year after reportedly falling out of a tree when in Fiji, also took a swipe at some of the big musical acts of today.
"Everyone's a load of crap," he said. "They are trying to be somebody else and they ain't being themselves. Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of crap, load of crap. Posers, rubbish."
Richards said he was proud of his ability to survive despite a legendary rock'n'roll lifestyle.
"I was number one on the 'Who's Likely To Die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list.
"Some doctor told me I had six months to live and I went to their funeral."
Richards' publicist in London was not immediately available for comment on the interview.
THE HENRY ROLLINS SHOW IS BACK ON IFC

SECOND SEASON FEATURES GUESTS INCLUDING MARILYN MANSON, BEN STILLER, WILLIAM SHATNER, JOHN WATERS AND
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY PEACHES, IGGY AND THE STOOGES,
RYAN ADAMS AND MARS VOLTA
SEASON KICKS OFF WITH EXCLUSIVE IFC SPECIAL
HENRY ROLLINS: UNCUT FROM ISRAEL
New York, N Y,-- Independent Film Channel (IFC) is set to launch the second season of its cutting edge series, The Henry Rollins Show. This season marks an eclectic line-up of guests ranging from William Shatner to Marilyn Manson, and provides viewers with a unique environment for electrifying musical performances ranging from Iggy and the Stooges to Peaches television debut. In addition, the new season kicks off with the television event, Henry Rollins: Uncut From Israel on Friday, April 13 at 9:30pm ET. This 90-minute special was taped during Rollins' recent trip to Israel where he performed two nights in Tel Aviv. The Henry Rollins Show airs at 11:00pm ET immediately following the special.
Henry Rollins: Uncut From Israel weaves Rollins' latest spoken word show in Tel Aviv with documentary footage chronicling his tour around often politically infused locations in Jerusalem including The Wailing Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher and The West Bank Security Wall. In this special, Rollins returns to Israel for the first time in ten years with relevant commentary on pop culture, world events and the resilience of the Israeli people. The documentary footage includes candid conversations with world-renowned photojournalist and Israeli native Ziv Koren, who leads Rollins on a personal tour throughout Israel. A member of the USO, Rollins has traveled to Afghanistan, South Korea, Iraq, Kuwait, Honduras, Djibouti, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and other locations to entertain and meet US troops, as well as gain an up-close understanding of these regions rife with conflict.
The Henry Rollins Show takes a straightforward approach to late-night talk. With one guest and one musical performance per week, Rollins engages guests such as Ben Stiller and John Waters in raw discussions on politics, world affairs, religion and pop culture. New this season, writer, actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo offers special comm entary from her New York City apartment in a segment called The Disquisition.
At "The Bombshelter" recording studio, the Los Angeles based studio where Rollins' studio performances tape, artists such as Ryan Adams and Mars Volta are given the freedom to perform outside of the restrictions of the usual three-minute time slot that is common on most late night shows. Each artist will perform two songs: one for the episode and one to be featured on IFC.com one week prior to the artist's appearance.
"We work in a completely uncensored environment, without the constraints of conventional network programming. Hopefully, this allows for candor and spontaneity from our guests and perhaps makes our show somewhat different than the usual talk show. I don't spend much time in front of a television. I try to make a show that I would watch," says Rollins.
Andrew Johnston of Time Out New York calls last season of The Henry Rollins Show, "refreshing...invigorating...thoughtful..." Tim Goodman from the San Francisco Chronicle offers: "Rollins puts some grit into the normally soft interview/entertainment genre." Meanwhile, TV Guide's "The Hot List" says of Rollins: "Rocker. Poet. Pundit? The coolest talk show on the planet returns for a second season with Rollins making like a heavily tattooed Tim Russert."
Rollins will team up with Janeane Garofalo and Marc Maron for six nights at New York's Gramercy Theatre April 10-15, and six nights at the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles April 24-29. "It's Not A Play and There's No Music" offers a triples-threat combination of uncompromising attitude, sharp commentary, engaging and provocative observations, and mystical ruminations.
Always outspoken and never dull, Rollins accepts dozens of speaking engagements each year and is known for bringing a raw energy to his talks and has won a Grammy Award for best spoken word record. A constant fixture on the Indie film scene, Rollins hosts a weekly radio show "Harmony In My Head" on Indie 103.1 FM in Los Angeles. Most recently, Rollins appeared in 2006's Lies and Alibis with Steve Coogan and Rebecca Romijn and has a lead role in the Project Greenlight feature Feast. Meanwhile, the DVD from Henry's 2004 tour 'Shock and Awe' and his latest written works, Roomanitarian and Fanatic! were released on the 2-13-61 imprint, a publishing company owned by Rollins which releases books, CDs and DVDs. In 2006, Rollins' spoken word tour '25 Years of Bullshit' made its way through the U.S. and Europe.
The Henry Rollins Show is created and executive produced by Swift River Productions, a Los Angeles based film and television production company. Richard Bishop, Rollins' manager, is also a producer. Swift River's principles are Paul J. Morra, Kevin Morra and Rhett Bachner. Their credits in clude producer roles on Project Greenlight, The Mole, Bands on the Run and MTV's Posse. Additionally, this Emmy-nominated team has worked on features such as Titanic, Bowfinger, Six Days and Seven Nights and The Peacemaker.
Bjork Voices Emotional Extremes On 'Volta'

Bjork may be back to using instruments on her albums, but the human voice is still the highlight of the Icelandic artist's forthcoming "Volta." Due May 8 via One Little Indian/Atlantic, the 10-track album features a decidedly minimalist and meditative approach to its arrangements, including contributions from a brass section and tight drum patterns.
Beats produced by Timbaland are prominently featured on three tracks: the intense opener "Earth Intruders" (which hits iTunes April 9) the space-age "Innocence" and "Hope." The latter lyrically alludes to the quandary of terrorism, with Bjork singing, "What's the lesser of two evils? / If a suicide bomber made to look pregnant / Manages to kill her target or not? / If she kills them or dies in vain? / Nature has fixed no limits on our hopes."
Antony Hegarty's quivering voice is a significant presence on the love song "Dull Flame of Desire," trading off with Bjork's floating melody over layers of brass. He is also heard on "My Juvenile," a track about motherhood. "I See Who You Are" features a contribution by Min Xiao-Fen on the pipa, a Chinese lute.
Thematically, "Volta" sways between paranoia, defiance and alienation to love, introspection and hope. Tracks like "Earth Intruders," "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" and "Declare Independence" are the most aggressive, her voice reaching feverish pitches amid eerie, glitchy arrangements. Balance is restored with several slow cuts, such as "Pneumonia" and "Dull Flame of Desire."
Bjork is taking to the road in North America this spring, beginning with her April 27 appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. The itinerary also includes May 2, 5 and 8 shows in New York at Radio City Music Hall, the United Palace Theater and the Apollo, respectively.
Here is the track list for "Volta":
"Earth Intruders"
"Wanderlust"
"Dull Flame of Desire"
"Innocence"
"I See Who You Are"
"Vertebrae by Vertebrae"
"Pnuemonia"
"Hope"
"Declare Independence"
"My Juvenile"
(via billboard)








