The White Stripes: Icky Thump MEGA GIVEAWAY (Kingblind Contest)

To celebrate the release of the fantastic new album from The White Stripes- ICKY THUMP. Kingblind.com is doing a Mega-Giveaway.. Here is what you can win..
An Icky Thump single
White Stripes Button (badge)
Stickers
Poster
White Stripes T-Shirt

How to Enter:
All you have to do is correctly answer this question: Where does Jack White live currently. (Hint- It's no longer Detroit)

Send your answers to Kingblind(at)gmail.com
with ICKY THUMP in the Subject line AND your name / address and shirt size in the body of the message.

www.whitestripes.com

The White Stripes: Icky Thump Music Video

Bad Brains: Build a Nation (Album Review)

A band of militant peace-loving Rastafarian punk rockers from Washington DC, Bad Brains are one of the most influential American bands from the Eighties, name-checked by everyone from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Green Day, rapper Lil Jon and even Madonna, who signed them to her Maverick label in the Nineties.

The original (and virtually the only) black punk rock band, Bad Brains alternated between thrash punk and lilting reggae. The juxtaposition of hard/soft and fast/slow elements gave them the edge on other hardcore bands, whose music seemed stuck in fifth gear. Bad Brains fused metal, punk, jazz and funk without sounding clumsy. Their music was molten, volcanic.

In singer HR (aka Human Rights) they had a voluble but volatile frontman whose stage presence has been described as a combination of James Brown and Johnny Rotten. HR would howl and wail and croon while performing back-flips and bouncing off the other players. He also bounced off other band members off-stage, leading to long stints as a solo performer. Bad Brains' career was stifled by numerous personnel and even name changes (at one point they were known as Soul Brains). The internal strife was reflected in a recorded output which could be wildly uneven.

Build a Nation is the first album in 10 years recorded by the original line-up. Produced by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, it doesn't stray too far from their original template but it is focused and involving. Individual band members might be pushing 50 but they still play with the agility and vigour of 20-year-olds. And they're still the only band who can get away with singing a song called 'Universal Peace' and make it sound like the march to war.

Calexico have new instrumental collection

Calexico have culled together a new batch of instrumental songs they’re calling Tool Box. The catch is, you can only get a copy at the band’s site or at one of their shows. But since the band’s only upcoming shows are in Europe, U.S. fans who don’t have any intercontinental summer travel plans should probably head here. While there, you’ll be able to listen to the album’s first track, “Above the Branch.”

Interpol- “The Heinrich Maneuver” (Music Video)

Kanye West:: Stronger (Music Video)

Black Lips/YACHT 7" Contest (Kingblind Giveaway)

Fader + Southern Comfort are hooking us up with a copy of the Black Lips/YACHT split 7-inch . It's a limited pressing of 500 copies and was only given to the top movers and shakers and uh, Kingblind!!!

So how do you win this killer slab o' wax? Easy!! Just send your name and address (in the body of the message) with BLACK LIPS in the subject line and we will randomly pick a winner. send email's to kingblind(at)gmail.com

Download the latest issue of The Fader magazine for free here
and get some fine ass Southern Comfort and your local drinking hole.


Listen to some other fine tracks from The Black Lips & Yacht
Black Lips: Not a Problem

Yacht: Summer Song

Hundreds camp out for free Paul McCartney show in LA

Amoeba Records gives wristbands out early.. Hundreds of Paul McCartney fans lined the streets of Hollywood today (June 26) to gain access to his free show scheduled for tomorrow evening at Amoeba Records Hollywood.

They were prepared to camp out overnight to receive one of the 200 coveted entry wristbands that were to scheduled to be given out tomorrow at 12:30 pm.

However, store management decided to give them a break and hand out wristbands early so the fans wouldn't have to queue up overnight.

"When we saw that more than 200 people had already lined up, we decided to give them out early so they wouldn't have to spend the night on the sidewalk," said a spokesperson for Amoeba Records.

The show is set for 7:30pm PST today. It is McCartney's only scheduled Los Angeles performance at this time.

Kingblind Downloads

Smashing Pumpkins:: Tarantula (Live)

The Verve:: History

The National:: Start a War

Architecture in Helsinki:: Heart it Races

Super Furry Animals:: Hello Sunshine

Ryan Adams:: Everybody Knows

Bishop Allen:: Click, Click, Click

Andre 3000 (Outkast)- Class of 3000

Bishop Allen:: Rain

Amy Winehouse:: Tears Dry on Their Own (Music Video)

The White Stripes:: Icky Thump (Album Review)

As soon as I decided to sit down and have a listen to this, my housemate - who is fond of blasting awful NME rock very loudly - put on White Blood Cells so loudly that, even at full volume, I couldn't hear my newly-acquired Pickering Pick album coming out of my speakers any more. I've been putting up with this all year, so it's not a source of anger for me any more. Instead, I tuned in, and it struck me how odd it was for me to hear a White Stripes album and enjoy it. Ever since the massively disappointing (to me, at least) Elephant, this band has only been enjoyable to me in short fits and spurts. "Blue Orchid" was awesome, "My Doorbell" awful, and so on. But here was a White Stripes that I could enjoy - stripped back, catchy, humourous.

"Icky Thump", the first single, just sums all that post-Elephant inconsistency up. Damn good riff, some great lyrics (it's hard not to get a kick out of Jack's 'You're all immigrants too!' rant) - this should be a great song, but for some reason, Jack White slaps a buttload of ugly, pointless guitar and amateurish clavioline all over it, in what seems like an insane attempt to totally ruin it. It's growing on me, admittedly, but I still can't help listening to this track without thinking what a God-awful mess it all is.

Thing is, I realy want to like the Stripes. The Detroit garage rock scene they came from is one I'm loving the more I find out about it (The Detroit Cobras haven't been out of rotation on Planet Iai for at least 3 weeks), and although I quickly got bored of the scene they were made out to be a part of (see The Vines, The Hives, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, and whoever else my housemate likes), they've always seemed to have something that sets them apart, and they always looked the most likely to make a career out of their music. I'm probably TOO willing to embrace them, if anything, which makes things like "Icky Thump" so frustrating. This should be amazing, and thanks to whoever the dumb-*** is that suggested they should make the solos sound like Del Shannon playing "Runaway" backwards, it's not.

Still, no such problems crop up again for a while. The Racontuers-esque "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" is excellent, a country-fuelled blast of classic rock that succeeds on every level, and serves as further proof that White's lyrics are just getting better with time, and have taken a giant leap forward here. The epic, Muse-esque "Conquest" (a Patti Page cover) boasts a horn section, and is far more effective in its experimentation than just about anything on Get Behind Me, Satan, as well as being a much better cover version than their take on "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself". "Bone Broke" could easily have slotted onto White Blood Cells, except for the lead guitar, which, just like the solo on "Icky Thump", is juttering, nasal, and not a million miles away from Fred Durst's attempts at shredding. Between all that is the more subdued "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues", which isn't spectacular, but is certainly good enough. So far so good.

But then, for whatever mental reason, the Stripes decide that they're going to settle down in Scotland for a while. There's nothing especially wrong with the mandolin and bagpipe-led "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" per se, but it's incredibly cliche, and ill-fitting for both the band and album. "St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)" continues the theme, except this time Meg takes spoken-word vocals, and Jack screeches all over the Celtic melody with a load of noisy guitar licks. It's such a bizzare interlude, and frankly, it's crap. Why the hell are these two songs here? Again, the Stripes frustrate their prospective fan. And things were going so well!

"Little Cream Soda" gets things back on track in style - this is classic White Stripes, sporting a lyric spiritually similar to "Little Room" and guitar parts that suggests Jimi Hendrix covering "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground". Although the vocals probably could have done with being more melodic, it's hard not to caught up amdist the pyrotechnic blues riffs Jack conjures here. Alongside "You Don't Know What Love Is", it's a definite highlight.

There's but one more disruption to the album's flow. "Rag and Bone" sees both Meg and Jack accosting somebody, rifling through their belongings trying to find out what they're allowed to steal. Although this is again slightly too odd to be a highlight, it's nice to know their sense of humour hasn't gone too far astray. But, for that, we have two more keepers. The slide-guitar showcase "Catch Hell Blues" is a rare thing on a White Stripes album - a damn good track stuffed at the back end of the album. The other is "A Martyr For My Love For You", which is unusually dark for the band, its acoustic intro a slight shock to the system after 8 tracks of amped-up blues (and two of Celtic nonsense). Yet, it unfolds, with an organ included in the mix, meshing perfectly into their sound. It may not quite be the Stripes operating at full speed, but they're at least in 4th gear.

So, the story of me grappling with the White Stripes discography continues with an unexpected bullseye. I'm delighted to report that Icky Thump, despite the presence of some simply insane over-indulgence, is a great album. Right now I'd confidently place this on a par with White Blood Cells, which means that for now, I'm back on the bandwagon. After two records I didn't care for in the slightest, I'm a card-carrying White Stripes fan again. Woo!
(by: Nick Butler)

The Verve reunite for tour

Richard Ashcroft and co write new songs
The Verve are set to reunite for a winter tour.

The original band of Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe,Simon Jones and Pete Sailsbury have got together for the first time in almost a decade.

In a statement, the band have announced they were: "Getting back together for the joy of the music."

It is believed they will take a summer break and then return to the studio to complete their next album.

The band broke up in 1999, with the tumultuous relationship between Ashcroft and McCabe being well documented with the two exiting the band repeatedly since they began in 1993.

The band are set to play:

Glasgow Academy (November 2,3)
Blackpool Empress Ballroom (5,6)
London Roundhouse (8,9)

Tickets are set to go on sale on July 6.

Morrissey Mulling Warner Bros. Deal

Morrissey is mulling a deal with Warner Bros. to release his next studio album, the artist said during a fan Q&A on the True to You Web site. The former Smiths frontman has issued his two prior albums on the Attack imprint via Sanctuary, which announced earlier this year it was reverting to a largely catalog-driven label.

Morrissey recorded for the Warner Bros. family from 1988-1995; a return to the company would presumably allow for a new stream of compilations and archival releases.

"I presently have the option to tour for the remainder of 2007, or start a new album," he said on True to You. "I don't have a deal, but I have an offer from Warner Brothers. At the same time, there are some great touring offers -- New Zealand, South Africa, my beloved Scandinavia, Israel and Iran. I would love to sing in Tehran."

The artist is presently touring in North America and will premiere a new song, "That's How People Grow Up," during a taping tonight (June 25) for CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." The episode will air on Friday.

Daft Punk Hands - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Music Video)

Kingblind Downloads

Sonic Youth:: Teenage Riot

Detroit Cobras:: You'll Never Change

Feist:: 1234

Ryan Adams:: I taught myself to go old

Art Brut:: Pump up the volume

jracula:: Lion, Ox and Eagle

White Stripes:: You don't know what love is

Mary Timony Band:: Sharpshooter

Hey! New Super Furry animals album in August

Hey Venus! is the name of the new Super Furry Animals album, slated for release August 28 via Rough Trade. It’s reportedly a bit of a concept album about the exploits of someone named Venus who moves from the countryside to a big city. It will be the follow-up to 2005’s Love Kraft. Not that band members have been slacking since then. No, besides being super and furry, the Animals keep quite busy. Gruff Rhys’ second solo album, Candylion, came out earlier this year, and he’ll tour behind it soon. Rhys is also still piecing together his Neon Neon side project with Boom Bip. And bass player Guto Pryce is one of many artists who have recently been tapped to curate a Trojan Records reggae compilation.

Read on after the jump for Hey Venus!‘ tracklist…

“The Gateway Song”
“Runaway”
“Show Your Hand”
“The Gift”
“Neo Consumer”
“Into The Night”
“Baby Ate My Eight Ball”
“Carbon Dating”
“Suckers”
“Battersea Odyssey”
“Wolves”

The Cure return to touring North America in September

Break out the dark black eyeliner! Mope rock legends the Cure will cross the pond to tour this continent in September. Starting out in that oddball goth hub of Tampa, Florida, the band will stay on the road into October, passing through Salt Lake City (the Mormons should love that) and ending up in the good ol’ middle American city of Dallas, Texas. Robert Smith and the boys will surely be playing new material, as they hope to have an album out before the end of the year.

Continue after the jump for the dates, on which 65daysofstatic will be opening…

9/13 Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
9/15 Atlanta, GA - Gwinnett Center
9/17 Charlotte, NC - Bobcats Arena
9/19 Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center
9/21 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
9/23 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
9/25 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
9/26 Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
9/27 Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
9/29 Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
10/2 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks
10/4 Salt Lake City, UT - E Center
10/6 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/8 Seattle, WA - Key Arena
10/9 Vancouver, BC - GM Place
10/11 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
10/13 San Diego, CA - Cox Arena
10/14 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
10/16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
10/17 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
(via prefix)

Muse - Live at Wembley Stadium, London June 16th 2007 (Live Concert Review)

The last time I was at Wembley Stadium was in 2000, when Oasis were touring their disappointing 4th studio album (‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’), and Liam turned up drunk and drawled his way through their set. Fast-forward 7 years and the Gallaghers and Co. have started to rest on their laurels and other bands are coming into their own. Muse, for one, have grown from strength to strength, leaving behind their Radiohead-lite similarities (due to debut album ‘Showbiz’ echoing both ‘The Bends’ and ‘OK Computer’) for more original (yet still pompously tongue-in-cheek and overblown (especially live)) musical output. Indeed, like Radiohead, Muse can nowadays easily - maybe TOO easily - sell out huge arena tours in Europe as well as triumphantly (and some would say automatically) be crowned live band/show of the year through their many heralded festival appearances: see their first headlining slot at Glastonbury 2004 or last years charged performance at the Reading Carling Festival for evidence.

Muse, y’see, don’t play it safe, and it’s this danger, tinged with excitement, that appeals to audiences both young and old (and there are plenty of both here today, showing that an age gap is unimportant). Muse are known for their typically over-the-top energetic live shows and now, in a newly redesigned Wembley Stadium, this is gonna be one immense show. In fact, there is absolutely no expense spared tonight, and not one trick missed from the Big Book of Stadium Gig Props. Every stadium pyrotechnic is utilized, be it the numerous large (and I do mean large) video screens that flank the huge stage, or the fountains of flame, showers of sparks, green lasers, spotlights (yellow bastard offspring of the Bat Signal), comically oversized satellites and antenna, a see-through piano and other instruments bedecked in glow-in-the-dark bedazzlement, transparent mini-balloons filled with glitter and confetti and even, in the second encore (yup, they do TWO!), 2 acrobats luxuriously hanging from floating balloons dropping glitter on the audience below. Really.

The circus is complete when the band, wrong-footing the 70,000-strong audience, emerges from the middle of the stadium in a volcano of glitter to the sound of the opening theme from “Romeo & Juliet” by Sergei Prokofiev. You know, the theme tune for the reality TV show ‘The Apprentice’. Ho hum. Guitarist Matt Bellamy, drummer Dom Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme excitedly - yet languorously - walk to the stage and open with the cowboy shoot-out epic that is ‘Knights of Cydonia’; “No one’s gonna take me alive / The time has come to make things right” indeed. It’s a great opener (as well as a promising sign of things to come) and, followed by oppressive fuzz-bass of ‘Hysteria’, seriously, it’s downright amazing. But the tempo doesn’t let up yet, as they then proceed to blast into the Britney Spears Toxic-esque ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, introduced as a song “for those who like R&B”, and the video screens are all at once emblazoned with red marching toy robots dancing to the thunderous rhythm.

New single ‘Map of the Problematique’ gradually builds, weaving its complex drum and bass lines, tinkling piano and Kate Bush choral arrangement. The minute-long intro itself is pure perfection, but the fact that it’s the last of 4 standout songs is pure bliss. No pun intended, cos they don’t play that song tonight. The vibe is intense, so palpable in fact that the chaos descends into a muted calm, as ‘City of Delusion’ and a mighty ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ unfurl. Strangely, this stop/start dynamic continues throughout the 2 hour set, with a heavy rockier song following a more melancholy introspective moment which, in part, manages to lull the audience: this dichotomy of a lively atmosphere being constructed and knocked down and then rebuilt and so on is interesting but also, well, a bit distracting and unnecessary. Muse just need to rock when they play live, that’s all we ask; keep all the quiet and slow stuff for the albums we play at home.

Matt moves on to the piano for beautiful renditions of ‘Feeling Good’ (complete with gloriously sunny video clips of birds and flowers in the park on a perfect relaxing day out), ‘Sunburn’ (introduced as “the very first song on our very first album”) and ‘Invincible’. Strapping on his electric guitar again, Matt dedicates a handclap-led ‘Starlight’ (reminiscent of Freddie Mercury handclapping Queen’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’ at Live Aid at this very same stadium 22 years ago) to those at the back. It’s another strikingly unified moment, but without Bob Geldof moaning. The double-punch of a magnificently funky ‘Time Is Running Out’ and ‘New Born’ finish the main show, but we know - demand - that there’s more to come.

The first encore brings out an all the more subdued set of songs on acoustic guitar, and Matt changing from his blood red suit and white T-shirt combo to a jacket and jeans for ‘Soldier’s Poem’. Two songs later and then it’s all hands to the decks for an apocalypse-baiting ‘Plug In Baby’. Encore number 2 sees the trio genuinely grateful for the opportunity to play at the new venue, let alone that they’re “the first to sell out Wembley-fucking-Stadium”. A chugging ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Take A Bow’ finish the set, and even the dreary English rain can’t spoil what we’ve all just seen.

“I’m not breaking down / I’m breaking out / Last chance to lose control”


By J M Ross.

Jose Gonzalez Finds 'Nature' On Sophomore Set

After ascending to indie rock stardom with his 2005 album, "Veneer," Swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez will return Sept. 25 with his next Mute effort, "In Our Nature." The 10-song album is the product of three weeks of recording in the artist's hometown of Gothenburg.

"Almost all of the songs deal with questions of human nature -- mostly the stupidness -- and I'm either accusing myself or humanity as a whole for being stupid," Gonzalez tells Billboard.com. "But almost in a humoristic way -- it's not something you might get from listening to the album."

Gonzalez explains that when he got off tour, he spent time reading and listening to podcasts for lyrical inspiration. "I ended up following discussions on religion and ethics, and they were always referring to our time where there is a lot of war, suffering, climate change -- it is difficult to avoid those things."

Still, "In Our Nature" didn't flow effortlessly. "I wanted to write songs but nothing happened," Gonzalez says. "During this period I had the time to think about it; but it was hard. In November last year I developed a writing routine -- I'd play guitar a couple hours each day. Whenever the songs got together, I thought as long as I was happy with them, it wouldn't matter what people thought."

The artist has drawn comparisons to the late Nick Drake and Elliott Smith for his bare-bones production and sparse songwriting, but "In Our Nature" finds him expanding his sound with percussion, synthesizers and the backing vocals of Yukimi Nagano. "But as the last record, it's still very focused on guitar sounds," he promises.

Gonzalez will spend the summer playing select dates in Europe before returning to North America this fall for a cross-country trek.
(via billboard)

Patti Smith:: Smells like Teen Spirit (Music Video)

Art Brut:: Its a Bit Complicated (Album Review)

On their '05 debut, these exuberant English people got big mileage out of a simple approach: lean and crude riff rock overlaid with Eddie Argos' half-spoken spiels about topics such as his little brother discovering rock & roll ("There's a noise in his head and he's out of control") and his own yearning to move to L.A. and drink Hennessy with Morrissey. No big changes for album two. It would be nice if Argos offered more details that really stuck, but it's fun to hear him pick through the ashtray of his brain and offer himself as the punch line – as on "Jealous Guy," where he tries to "accidentally" wake his sleeping girl in order to get laid. Argos' mates shuffle between noisy midtempos like "St. Pauli" and rave-ups like "Direct Hit," and whenever Argos' lyrics get fuzzy, there are enough well-modulated garage guitars or heartfelt choruses to keep you tuned in. It all adds up to something lovably unpretentious – and pretty unique.
CHRISTIAN HOARD

Bloc Party tracks soon to be downloaded for free

Bloc Party tracks may soon be available for free download, if a new deal between record label V2 and website we7.com is anything to go by.

The agreement will see music from artists such as Stereophonics, The Rakes, Cold War Kids and Little Man Tate become available to download for free.

The service will operate by grafting short ads onto the beginning of music tracks, based on "micro-targeted consumer's demographics such as location, age and gender."

The advertising attached to each track will ensure that artists will receive royalties for making their songs available.

After a period of time, users will be given the option of removing the advertisements from their downloaded tracks.

Prince Checks Into L.A. Hotel For Intimate Gigs

As expected, Prince will take up residency for seven intimate concerts at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in Los Angeles, starting June 23. Verizon Wireless has signed on as presenter of the gigs.

Prince will perform two-hour sets for select audiences of 200 people at the hotel's Blossom Room. Following each show, the singer is expected to play late-night impromptu sets with his jazz band. Along with June 23, confirmed dates thus far are June 24 and 28-30.

With a price tag matching Prince's latest album title, "3121," 70 standing-room-only tickets will cost $312.10 for each show. The remaining 130 seats will be sold in pairs as VIP packages, offering fans dinner and seated show access for $3,121. Further information can be found at the hotel's Web site.

The concerts will feature new music from Prince's July 24 Columbia release, "Planet Earth," including the first single, "Guitar." Audience members will have the opportunity to download "Guitar" at the show for free via Verizon Wireless' V Cast Song ID technology.

As previously reported, Prince has also committed to 21 dates in London this summer. The Earth Tour begins Aug. 1 with seven dates at AEG's 20,000-seat 02 Arena.

White Stripes LIVE Performance + your chance to meet them!

The White Stripes are performing LIVE in LA on June 20th and AT&T will be webcasting their performance LIVE on the blue room mainstage from 8-9pm PST! Check out http://www.attblueroom.com/mainstage to check out this exclusive footage!

Plus, White Stripe fans can now enter for a chance to win VIP tickets to their show and watch them perform live in the Great White North- Anchorage, Alaska!!!

Check out http://www.attblueroom.com/mainstage for more details!

Kingblind Downloads

Dirty Projectors- no more

The Polyphonic Spree- Running Away

Dan Deacon- Don Mattingly

Le Firm- Your Unknown

Kind Of Like Spitting - Aubergine

Kind Of Like Spitting - When I’m Gone

The Blow- Hock it

Citizens Here And Abroad- In The Dark

Urusei Yatsura - BBC Radio 1 Scotland Session 1995

White Stripes Celebrate New Album With Club Show

Fresh off a scorching Bonnaroo performance on Sunday night, the White Stripes played a two-hour, 26 song set at the intimate Fillmore at Irving Plaza last night (Jun. 19) in New York. The show coincided with the release of their new album, "Icky Thump," but featured a host of songs from the Stripes' back catalog.

Jack White was in good spirits, offering up guitar solos when he could, aborting a couple of songs before they got going and even encouraging the crowd to sing the verses to "Apple Blossom" while he and drummer Meg White played the music.

White didn't say hello until about 20 minutes in, when he abandoned the Dolly Parton-penned "Jolene" after one verse. As the crowd erupted, the Stripes launched into a raucous "Hotel Yorba" that eventually segued into the opening chords of "I Think I Smell a Rat." White then proceeded to tease numerous songs at length, including "Jack the Ripper," "Astro" and the Dick Dale tune "Misirlou," before kicking in the vocals.

White is augmenting numerous songs with a keyboard (presumably brought along to help with the "Icky Thump" tunes) but he isn't limiting its use to new material. "In the Cold, Cold Night" and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" both benefited from what appeared to be improvised keyboard arrangements.

Of the new songs, lead single "Icky Thump" sounded best in the small venue, with Meg's bass drum pounding especially loud, and White taking his vocals in a much different direction than on the record. A drawn-out, bluesy "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" also convinced the audience the new songs can hold their own.

The White Stripes will play Los Angeles tonight at the now defunct flagship Tower Records store in Hollywood. The band's official summer tour gets underway on June 24 in British Columbia.

Tokyo Police Club return to touring North America in July

For having a lot of worldwide tour dates coming up, Tokyo Police Club, ironically enough, aren’t going to be playing in Tokyo. They will be making the rounds of the European festival circuit starting later this month and into July. Then in mid-July, the Toronto-based band returns to North America. Read on after the jump for those dates…

7/13 Ottawa, ON - Bluesfest
7/17 Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
7/18 Indianapolis, IN - Birdy’s
7/20 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
7/21 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
7/23 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
7/25 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
7/26 San Diego, CA - Beauty Bar
7/27 Scottsdale, AZ - Anderson’s Fifth Estate
7/28 Edmonton, AB - EdFest
7/29 Austin, TX - Emo’s
7/30 Houston, TX - Meridian
7/31 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
8/1 New Orleans, LA - Republic
8/2 Atlanta, GA - Vinyl at Center Stage
8/4 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
8/5 Grand Cache, AB - Recreation Centre
8/7 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
8/8 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
8/9 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s
8/10 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
8/11 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell’s
8/12 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
9/2 Vancouver, BC - The Plaza Club
9/9 Toronto, ON - Virgin Festival

The Go! Team- Grip Like a Vice (Music Video)

ARCADE FIRE U.S. FALL TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM CONFIRMED TO SUPPORT
ONLINE PRE-SALES TO BEGIN WEDS. JUNE 20

The first few dates of Arcade Fire's next leg of North American shows have been announced: Sept. 17 at Red Rocks in Denver CO (on sale June 23) and Sept. 20 at the Hollywood Bowl (on sale June 30). LCD Soundsystem will support on all dates.

The band is currently in the midst of a UK/Europe festival tour that concludes with the Reading and Leeds Festivals on Aug. 25 & 26. Prior to the U.S. headline dates, they will appear at the Austin City Limits festival on Sept. 15, and will tape an appearance that weekend for an episode of Austin City Limits to air in December (exact date TBD).

The tour is scheduled to run through early October. More dates will be announced shortly.

In order to make the headline shows more accessible and to keep service charges low, Arcade Fire will make a limited number of tickets available for purchase directly through www.arcadefire.com prior to tickets going on sale to the general public. Ticket pre-sales will start on Wednesday, June 20 at 10am Mountain via http://www.arcadefire.tickets.musictoday.com and end Friday, June 22 at 3PM Mountain.

The White Stripes - Live at the Wireless Festival (Hyde Park, London UK):

2005 was a pretty eventful year for the White Stripes; they released a mediocre 5th studio album, did THAT Coca-Cola advert jingle, and Jack White was in a car crash (with Renee Zellweger of Bridget Jones “fame”, who he was dating at the time), which injured his left index finger. There was also a highly publicized nightclub fight with Jason Stollsteimer, the lead singer of the Von Bondies. The White Stripes, of course, hit the mainstream with the (still addictive) ‘White Blood Cells’ (2001), and then proved with sheer gall by following it up with the massive (literally) ‘Elephant’ (2003). The disappointing ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ slowed their ascent a tad, and then Jack White’s side-project – The Raconteurs – released a debut album easily on par with on anything from the Stripes’ glory days.

Rumours circulated that the White Stripes had, unfortunately (and prematurely), had their day. This was not the case. So now, in 2007, the new album ‘Icky Thump’ is released. With a new album comes the usual live appearances, but tonight is the only show in the UK this year, so expectations are high and all eyes are on Jack and Meg to entertain. And entertain us they do. The banter is kept to a minimum, but it’s the music that matters. Kicking off with a 3-song explosion of ‘Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground’, ‘When I Hear My Name’ and ‘Hotel Yorba’, a red and black clad Jack and black and white polka-dotted Meg serve the 30,000-strong audience some delicious musical treats.

A red and white monochrome video screens on either side of the minimal stage relay an energetic partnership, with the scorching riff of new single ‘Icky Thump’ screeching through the crowd. The sheer bombast in its lyrics (‘White Americans, what? / Nothing better to do? / Why don’t you kick yourself out? / You’re an immigrant too?’) shows that the cynically spiteful side of Jack White, the edginess we’ve seen in songs such as ‘I Think I Smell A Rat’, hasn’t been lost. Halfway through the set, the lights dim and Meg leaves her drum kit to come center stage and sing ‘In The Cold, Cold Night’ and then returns meekly for a crashing desperation-laden ‘Jolene’. Then it’s a medley of ‘Astro’ into a 6-minute ‘Ball and Biscuit’ freak-out, reminiscent of early Cream or Led Zeppelin in their heyday.

There’s a quick mention of Queens Of The Stone Age’s supporting performance, and then the big guns are pulled out. A breathless ‘Blue Orchid’ spirals into ‘The Denial Twist’, and it’s this relentless churning sound that heralds that the end of their set is coming. The crowd help Jack belt out a thunderous ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’ and a – surprisingly intimate – ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’, and then the pile-driving pulsing riff of ‘Seven Nation Army’ hits our ears. It reverberates long after the pair says their cursory thanks and disappears offstage.
(By J M Ross)

Robert Pollard (Ex-GBV) Launching Single Series With Two New Albums

Former Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard is launching the Happy Jack Rock Records Single Series in conjunction with two new albums that will be simultaneously released Oct. 9 via Merge.

The 7-inch vinyl singles will be issued every month for a year, beginning June 22 with "Rud Fins" b/s "Piss Along You Bird." Each A-side will be a song either from the upcoming albums "Standard Gargoyle Decisions" or "Coast to Coast Carpet of Love," while the B-side will be a non-album cut.

Fans can purchase the ingles individually or as a complete collection exclusively via Pollard's official Web site.

The release of "Standard Gargoyle Decisions" and "Coast to Coast Carpet of Love" follows a typically prolific year for Pollard, who in 2006 issued the albums "From a Compound Eye" and "Normal Happiness" via Merge.

Here is the Happy Jack Rock Records Singles Series schedule:

June 22: "Rud Fins" b/w "Piss Along You Bird"
July 22: "Spider Eyes" b/w "Battle for Mankind"
Aug. 22: "Current Desperation (Angels Speak of Nothing)" b/w "Met Her At a Seance"
Sept. 22: "Pill Gone Girl" b/w "Coast To Coast Carpet of Love"
Oct. 9: "Shadow Port" b/w "Be in the Wild Place"
Nov. 22: "Count Us In" b/w "Sixland" (John Shough Version)
Dec. 22: "Dumb Lady" b/w "Street Velocity"
Jan. 22: "Youth Leagues" b/w "Spriti of the Fly"
Feb. 22: "Folded Claws" b/w "Speak Again"
March 22: "When We Were Slaves" b/w "Battle for Mankind 2"
April 22: "The Killers" b/w "Revolver Tricks (Stanley Deal)"
May 22: "Miles Under the Skin" b/w "Frostman" (Long Version)

Black Keys, Dirtbombs Guest On Nathaniel Mayer Album

Members of the Black Keys, Dirtbombs, the Sights and Outrageous Cherry have lent their talents to "Why Don't You Give It to Me," the forthcoming effort from soul/blues/rock singer Nathaniel Mayer. Due Aug. 21 via Alive Records, the set comes on the heels of 2004's "I Just Want to Be Held," which was the Detroit-based veteran's first full-length in 40 years.

Mayer first met the Black Keys when the garage duo tapped him as the opening act for their November 2005 tour. Mayer, in turn, recruited Outrageous Cherry guitarist Matthew Smith, Dirtbombs bassist Troy Gregory and the Sights/SSM drummer Dave Shettler as his backing band, occasionally joined by Black Keys guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach.

"People would come up to us after the show and ask, 'How long you guys been playing together?' It was two weeks! We had been rehearsing together for two weeks!" Mayer, 63, said. "They're a great band, just a real different sound. It was beautiful."

After the dust settled, Mayer re-entered the studio with the same line-up and Auerbach, Smith and Shettler taking turns producing. According to Mayer, the resulting album mixes his love of funk a la James Brown with psychedelic, blues and garage. 'I'm a Lonely Man," the first single from "Why Don't You Give It to Me," is currently available via iTunes.

Most importantly for Mayer, the album serves as a good reason for him to indulge his true love, touring. "I love traveling so much. It makes coming home all the better," he laughs, adding that the band is considering recording a live album along the way. Though Mayer is still planning a tour for next month and then later in the year, he hopes the treks will include one spot that he hasn't visited since 1962: New York's Apollo Theater. Mayer has been performing since the ripe age of 15 and is best known for his 1962 hit "Village of Love," which he sang at the beloved performance hall.

Kingblind Downloads

Panda Bear:: Bro's

Polyphonic Spree:: Running Away

Arctic Monkey's:: You know I'm no good

Data Rock:: 356 Fa-Fa-Fa

Patton Oswalt:: Dukes of Hazzard

The GO! Team:: Grips like a vice

Paul Mc Cartney:: That was me

The Rosebuds:: Back to Boston

Fontella Bass: Hold on this time

Kingblind Downloads

Sonic Youth:: Eric's Trip (Demo)

Black Lips:: Not a Problem

The Wrens:: Everyone Chooses Sides

Charlotte Hatherley:: Loves young Dreams

Spoon:: The Underdog

Turbo Fruits:: Know too much

MIA:: Hit That

John Doe:: The Golden State

The Go! Team sign to Sub Pop

British six-piece the Go! Team are the latest signees of the Seattle based Sub Pop label. To kick-off their new relationship, the band's sophomore US release Proof Of Youth will street September 11. Two new singles, "Grip Like A Vice" and "Doing It Right," will be made available via Memphis Industries (the Team's UK label) July 2 and September 3, respectively.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Go! Team to Sub Pop," said Sub Pop's A&R rep Susan Busch. "They add yet another sound to our label that is nothing like anything else we have on the roster but at the same time they're a perfect fit. I am sure the release of Proof Of Youth will bring many exciting opportunites for the band as well as the label."

Black Lips to tour

Atlanta-based noisemakers Black Lips have announced their summer tour plans. The band will play some shows in July, take August off, and then return to fervent touring in September. Read on after the jump for where to catch all the racket…

7/12 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
7/13 San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Records
7/16 Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Records
7/19 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell’s
7/20 New York, NY - Silent Barn
7/21 New York, NY - Siren Festival
9/12 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
9/14 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
9/15 Washington, DC - Black Cat
9/16 Philadelphia, PA - Filmore
9/18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
9/19 New York, NY - Williamsburg Music Hall
9/20 Worcester, MA - The Grind at Clark University
9/21 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
9/22 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
9/23 Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
9/25 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
9/26 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
9/28 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
9/29 Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet
9/30 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
10/2 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
10/3 Kansas City, MO - Grand Emporium
10/4 Dallas, TX - The Loft
10/5 Austin, TX - Emo’s
10/6 Houston, TX - Engine Room
10/7 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack

Sonic Youth prepares comp CD for Starbucks

It would appear that Paul McCartney’s recent album on the Starbucks-owned Hear Music imprint has opened the floodgates for credible musicians to align themselves with the ubiquitous coffee-peddling empire. The first biscotti bandwagon jumpers? Sonic Youth. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, SY frontman Thurston Moore revealed that the band was busy recording a track for an upcoming Sonic Youth compilation CD, to be sold exclusively through Starbucks. In addition to the lone original track, the comp will include tracks selected by other musicians and notables, including Beck, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and *ahem* Portia de Rossi. Finally, Sonic Youth has figured a way to market themselves to people their own age.

Queens of the Stone Age:: Era Vulgaris (Album Review)

Josh Homme is a man of many talents, but he's not quite a man of his time. He floats outside of it, sniping and sneering at it, but he's not part of it -- he's too in love with rock & roll to belong to a decade that's seeing the music's slow decline. You could say that Queens of the Stone Age keep rock's flame burning, but unlike other new-millennium true believers -- like Jack White, for instance -- Homme lacks pop skills or even the interest in crossing over (which isn't the same thing as lacking hooks, mind you), and unlike the stoner metal underground that provided his training ground, he's not insular; he thrives on grand visions and grander sound. He's an anomaly, a keeper of the flame that will never be played on Little Steven's Rock & Roll Underground because Queens of the Stone Age are too heavy, too muso, too tasteless in all the wrong ways to be commonly accepted or embraced as among the next generation of rock heroes -- which only makes them more rock & roll, of course. And if rock & roll is indeed in decline in the 2000s, Homme and his Queens of the Stone Age prove that rock & roll can nevertheless be just as potent as it ever was with each of their remarkable albums. All are instantly identifiable as QOTSA but all are quite different from each other, from the sleazoid freak-out of R to the dark, gothic undertow of Lullabies to Paralyze, a record so willfully murky that it alienated a good portion of an audience ready to bolt in the wake of the departure of Homme's longtime partner, Nick Oliveri. Its 2007 successor, Era Vulgaris, is as different from Lullabies as that was to their dramatic widescreen breakthrough, Songs for the Deaf: it's mercilessly tight and precise, relentless in its momentum and cheerful in its maliciousness. Like other QOTSA albums, guest musicians are paraded in and out, but here it's impossible to tell if Mark Lanegan contributed anything or if that indeed is the Strokes' Julian Casablancas singing lead on the lethal "Sick, Sick, Sick," because Homme has honed Era Vulgaris so scrupulously that it's impossible to hear anybody else's imprint on the overall sound. QOTSA retain some of the spookiness of Lullabies -- there's a ghostly hue on "Into the Hollow" -- but this is as balls-out rock as Songs for the Deaf, only minus the mythic momentum Dave Grohl lent that record. But Era Vulgaris isn't designed as a monolith like Songs; its appeal is in its lean precision, how the riffs grind as if they were stripping screws of their threads, how the rhythms relentlessly pulse, and, of course, how it's all dressed up in all kinds of scalding guitars, all different sounds and tones, giving this menace and muscle. If the songs aren't pop crossovers -- not even the soulful seductive groove of "Make It Wit Chu" (revived from one of Homme's Desert Sessions) qualifies it as a potential pop hit -- they still have hard hooks that make these manifestos even if they aren't anthems: "Misfit Love" digs in like a nasty Urge Overkill, "Battery Acid" is metallic and mean, blind-sided only by the gargantuan, gnarly "3's & 7's." It's hard to call Era Vulgaris stripped-down -- there's too much color in the guitar, too much willful weirdness to be that -- but this is Queens of the Stone Age at their most elemental and efficient, never spending longer than necessary at each song, yet managing to make each of these three-minute blasts of fury sound like epics. It's exhilarating, the best rock & roll record yet released in 2007 -- and the year sure needed the dose of thunder that this album provides.

Radiohead: Deleted Scenes

Beloved knob-twiddler Nigel Godrich has pasted together all the edited-out bits of studio tape from Radiohead’s as yet unnamed 7th LP into a audio-teaser goulash. Ingredients include new songs “Open Pick”, “All I Need”, “Down Is The New Up”, “Arpgeggi” and “Bangers ‘n Mash”.

"a bit of tape from the studio I keep bits of tape which have been chopped out of the mixes when they were edited .. stick em on a reel.. when you play it back it sounds like.. this"

BEASTIE BOYS U.S. DATES ANNOUNCED

Following the triumphant unveiling of Beastie Boys' Gala Event doubleheader live experience at the 2007 Sasquatch festival, a first set of U.S. dates has been announced:

8/1 Philadelphia - Festival Pier
8/6 Boston - Bank of America Pavilion
8/8 New York - Summerstage
8/9 Brooklyn - McCarren Pool
8/16 Denver - Red Rocks
8/23 Santa Barbara - County Bowl
8/25 Berkeley - Greek Theater

The above dates will feature Beastie Boys in all their traditional hip hop glory. Additional, more intimate dates showcasing the band configuration featured on The Mix-Up (due out June 26 on Capitol) will be announced shortly.

Pre-sales for the above dates begin Thursday June 14th, with on-sales following Friday June 15th and Saturday June 16th. For more details, visit beastieboys.com.

Kingblind heads to Chicago for a week

Kingblind is heading to Chicago for business for a week. So posts will be a bit lite next week.

Bright Eyes “Hot Knives” on Letterman (Video)

**COLD WAR KIDS to tour with THE WHITE STRIPES this fall!**

The Cold Wars Kids might be the luckiest kids on the block.. How the heck did they manage this!! Not that we don't like them and all but hell.. Not a bad gig is ya can get it.

The Cold War Kids with The White Stripes:

9/19/07 Inglewood, CA @ The Forum
9/21/07 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
9/24/07 Anchorage, AK @ William A. Egan Civic Center
9/26/07 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Ballroom
9/27/07 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Ballroom
9/28/07 Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Theater
9/29/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ The E Center
9/30/07 Jackson Hole, WY @ Snowking Center
10/2/07 Rapid City, SC @ Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
10/3/07 Fargo, ND @ Fargo Civic Auditorium
10/4/07 Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Center Auditorium
10/6/07 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
10/7/07 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
10/11/07 Albuquerque, NM @ Kivs Auditorium

The Cold War Kids this summer:

6/08/07 Ventura, CA @ KJEE's Seaside Beach Ball - Ventura Park
6/09/07 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
6/15/07 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
8/01/07 Toronto, ON @ Arrow Hall
8/04/07 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/06/07 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden*
8/10/07 Philadelphia, PA @ Penn's Landing*
8/11/07 Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena*
9/08/07 Madison, WI @ Alliant Energy's Willow Island
9/16/07 San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival
9/22/07 San Diego, CA @ San Diego Street Scene
* with Muse

Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full (Album Review)

It must be tough being Paul McCartney. You can make a fantastic album, full of superbly clever musical tricks (we'll be coming back to Nod Your Head later) and infectiously catchy silly little pop songs, but no matter how good they are, your listeners sit there expecting the music they're hearing to not only entertain them for 45 minutes but to change modern society, if not the world. It's as if making good music isn't quite enough.

Because have no doubt about it, Memory Almost Full is an album full of perfect pop songs, which borrow and rework musical themes and motifs from across 40 years of McCartney's career. At times it sounds like the kind of late '60s sunshine psychedelica that changed the musical landscape forever (You Tell Me), at times like a trip inside the mind of someone who's ingested more LSD than you can imagine in your lifetime (Only Mama Knows, Mr Bellamy - a Dr Robert for the 21st century - and Feet in the Clouds to name just three), and at times like Macca has been listening to too much Led Zep, until you remember that everything Led Zep knew, they learned from The Beatles.

At times, in its least pretentious, soft-rock moments, there are tracks here that could be left overs from Wings (See Your Sunshine, Vintage Clothes) and those that hark back more to McCartney's solo work of the early '80s (Ever Present Past).

You can hear snippets and reminders of many other bands across Memory Almost Full. The Raconteurs in Only Mama Knows; Led Zep, Queen and Scissor Sisters in the rollicking pomp-rock of Gratitude, Pink Floyd in The End Of The End, but this is showcasing how much McCartney has influenced them as much as vice-versa. He's only taking back what he gave in the first place.

There are also songs that are pure McCartney, that you could find on any album he's released (and there have been more than 30, in total) from Star Club bootlegs to Chaos and Creation In The Back Yard. There's the skiffle influences of UK knees-ups that lay at the heart of the Quarrymen evident in Dance Tonight, Ever Present Past and You Tell Me, the Indian strings the Beatles dragged into British rock on the drug-soaked Mr Bellamy, and the rock'n'roll he took from the Star Club's covers through the early Beatles albums, The White Album, and back again. That Was Me could have come from the Let It Be sessions. His weakness for sentimental piano ballads gets the better of him in places, and he wanders into Silly Little Love Songs on Vintage Clothes and You Tell Me. But they're still brilliant.

Does this make it, as the title Memory Almost Full might suggest, a retrospective album? An old man looking back on his past glories? Perhaps, but McCartney was never the one who wanted to change the world. He's the man who, despite having taken in more chemicals than SmithKlineBeecham in his life, is still seen as a cuddly uncle in a boring Cardigan. But you know that he doesn't care.

Listen to the tricks hidden amidst the surface simplicity of this album and tell me he's not a genius. The End of the End is When I'm 64 come full circle - an old man singing about his twilight years with the knowledge of maturity rather than a young tyke playing at the same. There's a maudlin undertone that's knowing in a way he couldn't have been 40 years ago, while incorporating a whistle solo that shows staggering confidence. The flipside of this is the lyrics to Mr Bellamy: "I'm not coming down, no matter what you say / I like it up here anyway," followed by "Nobody's going to hold my hand". When you can reference yourself and know that your entire audience will get it, you know you've made it.

But the crowning glory, the moment which should convince you that there is a connection between Paul McCartney and the musical godhead that you will never touch no matter how much LSD you neck, is the final track. Over an infectious bass line that makes you unable to resist a little gentle head banging comes the lyrics: "If you really love me, nod your head." And that, dear readers, is true, true genius.
- Jenni Cole

Arctic Monkeys - 'Fluorescent Adolescent' (Music Video)

The Hold Steady adds more N. American tour dates

The band has some U.S. club dates leading up to their appearance at Bonnaroo later this month. Then Craig Finn and the boys head off to Europe. They’ll be back on these shores in August for a few more club and festival dates. Read on after the jump for the Hold Steady’s North American plans…
6/7 Houston, TX - Walter’s on Washington
6/8 Austin, TX - Emo’s
6/9 Denton, TX - Hailey’s
6/10 Norman, OK - Opolis Production
6/11 Little Rock, AR - Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack
6/12 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
6/14 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern and Music Hall
6/16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
8/4 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
8/5 Covington, KY - Madison Theater
8/6 Toronto, ON - Opera House
8/7 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
8/9 New York, NY - Prospect Park

Fujiya & Miyagi- "Ankle Injuries" (Music Video)

CLICK TO VIEW Requires QT

!!!- Myth Takes (Album Review)


As mantras go by, how about this one: "We just like it to be wild and weird and sound like it's from another world and make you dance harder than anything else. It's always been about the quest for the funkiest, weirdest track that we could find - whatever style of music it falls into."

Wise chap that Nic Offer. The front man of !!! made that statement in these pages many moons ago. Three years on !!! return with their second album, riding the steady wave of expectation from the cult they have fashioned for themselves.

The best thing any band who produced anything as exciting as their first album Louden Up Now can do is to stick to their guns and what they believe in. It worked for the Arcade Fire on Neon Bible, The Killers on the understated Sam's Town and will for the Arctic Monkeys on Favourite Worst Nightmare. In other words, the key is to embellish what you have started on.

Where do you begin with this crew? Really. Give them a blank canvas and they could come up with anything. They do have their sound though - druggy chants, bass heavy rhythms, disco-funk jams - and they do carry it over to Myth Takes in the extremes to be expected of them.

The title track is a short funk-propelled number which opens the album while Offer's haunted vocals interject between eerie awning noises. The album then explodes to life in a signature !!! funk jam on All My Heroes Are Weirdos.

A double whammy of the album's finest moments then follows, with the experimental electro hoopla of Must Be The Moon. John Pugh takes the lead for A New Name with its sick beat, raining guitar flashes and his uninhibited falsetto.

Recent single Heart of Hearts could have been plucked from Gus Gus' shelf and is on a similar killer wavelength as Me and Giuliani, the sound of a 21st century night out, where deep electro flirts promiscuously with house.

It's a minor miracle how Myth Takes was conceived, what with the band dotted all around the States. On the whole it is cohesive, though Sweet Life betrays that because it'’s plain fucking weird - you don't see many attempting experimental kraut rock ballads.

Yadnus saunters in and boofs it aside with a Goldfrapp-esque bump. Bend Over Beethoven isn't as anal as it sounds; in fact its the longest most intricate jam fest (eight minutes) on show which really metes the experience of seeing !!! live.

Much like their debut, it'll take a few listens to be pulled towards Myth Takes by the force operates at its core. It's natural gravity that tugs you a little on its fringes. Step in any closer and you'll be sucked in, for sure.
- Jamil Ahmad

Kingblind Downloads

Queens Of The Stone Age - Live At The 100 Club '07

The Horrors - Live In Amsterdam

Arctic Monkeys - Japanese Bonus Tracks

Ben Gibbard - Live In WA '07

martin rev and alan vega. suicide live in hamburg 1978.

Grinderman grind out a few U.S. dates

Nick Cave side-project Grinderman have announced a few dates right here in this great country of ours. Their first is in New York City, opening for the White Stripes. The band will then hit Chicago and San Francisco. Here are the full details:

7/24 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
7/25 Chicago, IL - Metro
7/26 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
7/27 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
(prefix)

New Ben Lee Album 'Ripens' In September

Australian rock artist Ben Lee has set a Sept. 4 release date for his sixth album, "Ripe," which will be issued by New West.

The John Alagia-produced set includes collaborations with Mandy Moore ("Birds and Bees"), Good Charlotte's Benji Madden, members of Rooney, Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench.

In addition, Lee will be the subject of a career-spanning documentary due to hit the film festival circuit in 2008. The as-yet-untitled film is directed by Amiel Courtin-Wilson and includes interviews with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Liz Phair and Mike Watt, as well as film personalities such as Winona Ryder, Claire Danes and Michelle Williams.

The only live performance on Lee's schedule for now is a June 15 acoustic concert in Sydney in conjunction with a speech by the Dalai Lama.

Here is the track list for "Ripe":

"Love Me Like the World Is Ending"
"American Television"
"Birds and Bees"
"Is This How Love's Supposed To Feel?"
"Blush"
"Numb"
"What Would Jay-Z Do?"
"Sex Without Love"
"Home"
"So Hungry"
"Just Say Yes"
"Ripe"
(via billboard online)

Kingblind Downloads

Shout Out Louds: Tonight I Have to Leave It

Spoon: The Underdog

The Blow:: Hock It

Minus the Bear: Dr. L Ling

Teenage Fanclub - Slow Fade Pictures

Tahiti 80: Cherry Pie

Grand Archives - Torn Blue Foam Couch Ex-Band of Horses

Jon Spencer gets Heavily Trashed again

The second full album from Heavy Trash, Jon Spencer’s project with guitarist Matt Verta-Ray, is scheduled for a September 4 release on Yep Roc Records. Entitled Going Way Out With Heavy Trash, it’s the follow-up to the band’s 2005 self-titled debut. Spencer and Verta-Ray worked with members of the Sadies, Tremolo Beer Gut, and Powersolo recording the album in three different studios across the globe. To hear some tracks their MySpace page

SATELLITE PARTY- Ultra Payloaded (Album Review)

Judging by the near-incomprehensible liner notes in the debut release from his new Satellite Party project, Perry Farrell fancies himself an intergalactic prophet. The music on Ultra Payloaded sounds more like the work of a hippie magpie with a penchant for chaos and excess.

The good news: it's not the generic and obsequiously glammy rock that anyone who saw Satellite Party's lame live set in Austin might assume. The initial section of Ultra Payloaded does lean toward mid-90s alt-rock, heavy on Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)'s cock-rocking riffage and vocals reminiscent of Moist's glory days.

But somewhere around string-saturated power ballad Awesome, things fan out in all directions. You imagine Farrell like, "Look! It's a Bee Gees sample! Hey – check out this rad space-age funk track... let's pretend we're Jamiroquai!" It's all a bit of a muddle, congealing in the absurd closer Woman In The Window, a Doors cover on which Jim Morrison's vocals are holographically suspended over singsongy symphonic lounge instrumentation.

Interpol:: Live at Coachella 2007

01. Pioneer To The Falls (new)
02. Obstacle 1
03. NARC
04. Say Hello To The Angels
05. Mammoth (new)
06. Slow Hands
07. Leif Erikson
08. The Heinrich Maneuver (new)
09. Evil
10. Not Even Jail
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

The Beastie Boys:: Off the grid (Music Video)

Wilco Strike Licensing Deal With Volkswagen

Before you hear some 21 year old say Wilco sucks now because they sold out, think of what a marketing tool this has become. It's been effective for not only indie artists to gain notoriety, but it's also helped established artists stay relevant, continue to sell albums, and possibly fuel adds on radio stations.

Consider what it has done for John Mellencamp with "Our Country," as one example. Even he hated the song after awhile, but a lot of people were anticipating his new record Freedom's Road because of it.

Could Wilco's six song deal with Volkswagen catapult them into the hearts and minds of the general public?

If it does, or at the very least, peaks more interest than they have in the indie world, then I'm all for it.

Watch the first spot, featuring the track that isn't on Sky Blue Sky, "The Thanks I Get."

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ANNOUNCE THE 'DULUTH TOUR'

Queens of the Stone Age have confirmed two weeks of U.S. tour dates in support of their forthcoming album, Era Vulgaris (out June 12th via Interscope Records). The "Duluth Tour", as it has been coined, starts July 22nd in Costa Mesa, CA. The small venue tour then makes its way to the north, heading east to such places as Missoula, MT, Fargo, ND and of course Duluth, MN. The fun doesn't stop there! Queens of the Stone Age continue to make their way to the south with stops in Little Rock, AR and Oklahoma City, OK.

The Duluth Tour
7/22 - Costa Mesa, CA - OC Fair
2/24 - Chico, CA - Senator Theater
7/25 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater
7/27 - Boise, ID - The Big Easy
7/28 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater
7/29 - Billings, MT - Shire Auditorium
7/31 - Fargo, ND - Playmaker's
8/01 - Duluth, MN - DECC Arena
8/04 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room
8/07 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theater
8/08 - Little Rock, AR - The Village
8/10 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Bathroom
8/11 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom


Queens of the Stone Age has also released an alternate video for their first single "Sick Sick Sick". Check it out below:
CLICK TO VIEW

New album Era Vulgaris available everywhere June 12.

Jack White Scolds “Icky Thump”-Leaking Radio DJ

Those of you adept at navigating the internet’s seedy file sharing sites may find the entirety of the White Stripes new album Icky Thump online. The leak appears to have sprung when DJ Electra at Chicago’s Q101 radio station played the thing in its entirety and it was instantly bootlegged by resourceful listeners. This really, really pissed off band frontman Jack White, who apparently called the station from Spain, scolded Electra and asked her if she was sorry for what she’d done, which she isn’t. “Someone gave us a copy of a record that we were really excited to play,” the shaken DJ wrote on her blog. “The whole experience was an hour-long lovefest for him and his band.” White’s outburst may have forced Electra to consume massive quantities of room temperature Bud Light, but her sacrifice was for a good cause as many of you are no doubt currently treating your ears to the melodious sounds of some rocking bagpipes.
(via Rolling Stone)

iPhone gets June 29th release date.

In case you weren’t watching 60 Minutes, the iPhone release date is official: June 29. Twenty-five days away. You can check out the ads and find a seafood restaurant in the heart of San Francisco’s tourist district here. Don't expect to actually get an iPhone on the 29th. But it's got to be a little easier than a Wii doesn't it?

Glastonbury Unveils Full 2007 Lineup

The lineup for the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, to be held June 22-24, was finally made public today and features typically eclectic mix of familiar names and obscure acts from well left-of-center.

The respective nightly headliners on the main Pyramid Stage will be Arctic Monkeys, the Killers and the Who, with the Kaiser Chiefs, the Kooks and Kasabian taking second billing.

Amy Winehouse, The Kooks, James Morrison, Arcade Fire, Iggy and the Stooges and the Chemical Brothers are among the top-shelf artists booked.

"I'm getting on a bit with age, but I'm still enjoying it like mad, actually," Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis tells Billboard.com. "To hear the Killers on the car playing 'Bones' -- it is such a fantastic song -- I thought, 'This is what it's all about.' They just moved up a scale from last Glastonbury (2005). Of course Coldplay, Radiohead and Oasis have all done it in the same pattern."

Glastonbury organizers recently cleared a licensing hurdle with the local Mendip District Council, which will allow the event to cap its capacity at 175,000 for four-consecutive years.

Some 144,000 of that is ticketed; the remainder is largely allocated to staff, artists and crew. In reality, the gathering will be similar in size to the populations of the British town of Swindon or the city of Bath.

Eavis, the dairy farmer who founded Glastonbury on his site in 1970, has introduced this year a controversial "tout-proof" ticketing initiative, which required festivalgoers to pre-register and offer a photo-counterpart.

Ra Ra Riot Drummer John Pike Found Dead

John Pike, drummer for up-and-coming indie rock band Ra Ra Riot, was found dead in Massachusetts this weekend. The 23-year-old went missing early Saturday morning (June 2) after a party in Fairhaven.

Local authorities found Pike's body yesterday in the waters of Buzzard's Bay, a location less than a mile from the party. The unsigned group had performed at the Living Room in Providence, R.I., the night prior.

There is no information yet pertaining to the band's remaining shows this summer, including its stints with Tokyo Police Club and Mason Proper.

Ra Ra Riot formed as friends at Syracuse University in New York in early 2006 and self-released an EP earlier this year.

Jose Gonzalez to release In Our Nature

Swedish singer-songwriter José González is set to release his second album, In Our Nature, September 25th on Mute North America. The follow up to his 2006 debut, Veneer (which went platinum in the UK and Ireland), In Our Nature shows González coming into his own as a songwriter.

He explained, “I like playing with symbolism. On this album I’ve wanted to bring out the primitive aspects of human beings." US audiences will get their first taste of the album when González plays the Spiegeltent in NYC on August 21st.


In Our Nature Track-Listing:
01 How Low
02 Down The Line
03 Killing For Love
04 In Our Nature
05 Teardrop
06 Abram
07 Time To Send Someone Away
08 The Nest
09 Fold
10 Cycling Trivialities
(Filter)

Kingblind.com presents:: Rock and Roll High School

Hello Friends,
DJ Teenage Rampage & DJ Kingblind will be Djing this Saturday night (June 2nd) with our pal DJ Smack at SOLO at 200 Roy St. Seattle, WA- 206-213-0080 http://solo-bar.com

Solo is this amazing new bar in lower Queen Anne that our friends just opened.. It's a beautiful spot with strong drinks, amazing food and of course some fantastic music & movies.

So here is the lowdown

From 9pm till 2am
Dj's will be spinning the best in Rock N' Roll, Glam, Punk, Garage, New Wave and more.

We will also be showing some great rock movies throughout the night as well.. The Clash: Westway to the World, Ramones: Raw & End of the Century and many more.

And your cost??? 100% Free.. That right suckers.. This bad boy is free.. So come on down and say hello.. See ya Saturday night!!