Kingblind’s Favorite Finds
Mastodon prepares new album for early 2009 release
NPR streaming full Tom Waits “Glitter and Doom” concert
Howard Stern producing remake of Rock and Roll High School
Archive for July, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sirius XM Radio Ready To Get Down To Business
With the FCC formally announcing its approval of the merger of XM and Sirius, the satcasters announced today that the merger is a done deal. The combined company’s new official corporate name is Sirius XM Radio Inc., using the NASDAQ stock symbol SIRI.
The new company now has 18.5 million total subscribers, claiming it is the “second-largest radio company, based upon revenue, in the country.” As part of the merger, XM shareholders will receive 4.6 shares of Sirius common stock for each share of XM.
“I am delighted to announce the completion of this exciting merger between SIRIUS and XM,” said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS XM Radio. “We have worked diligently to close this transaction and we look forward to integrating our best-in-class management teams and operations so we can begin delivering on our promise of more choices and lower prices for subscribers.”
“Every one of our constituencies is a winner. Combined, Sirius XM Radio will deliver superior value to our shareholders. By offering more compelling packages and the best content in audio entertainment, we are well positioned for increased subscriber growth. Our laser focus on subscribers will continue and listeners can be assured that there will be no disruption in service. We also believe that the completion of the merger will eliminate any confusion that has been lingering in the marketplace,” added Karmazin.
The much-tauted a la carte options have been announced as well. Some of the new options include “Best of Both” (accessing programming picked from XM and Sirius), discounted Family Friendly plans, and such tailored plans as “Mostly Music” and “News, Talk and Sports.” The new a la carte options will begin rolling out in the fall.
“One of the most exciting benefits of this transaction is the ability to offer subscribers the option of expanding their subscriptions to include the Best of Both services. Given the respective popularity of exclusive programming on both Sirius and XM, we expect many subscribers will upgrade their current subscription,” said Karmazin. “The upside potential for both consumers and shareholders is huge. Consumers have the ease of adding premier programming without purchasing a new device. For shareholders, this kind of organic growth is a key part of the company’s future and the success we expect to see.”
Karmazin added, “In addition to realizing significant potential revenue growth, the management team will move quickly to capitalize on the synergies that many analysts have predicted for this combination. We expect to begin achieving those synergies without sacrificing any of the world-class programming and marketing we are known for.”
The company also reiterated guidance for the combined Sirius XM Radio. Based upon a preliminary analysis, the combined company expects to realize total synergies, net of the costs to achieve such synergies, of approximately $400 million in 2009; to post adjusted EBITDA exceeding $300 million in 2009; and to achieve positive free cash flow, before satellite capital expenditures, for the full year 2009. The company also expects that both synergies and adjusted EBITDA will continue growing beyond 2009.
“We have all the tools necessary to begin executing as a combined company with high aspirations for subscriber growth and greater financial performance in part from the significant synergies that we begin realizing literally today — on Day One. We are moving quickly to integrate the operations,” said Karmazin.
Sirius XM’s corporate headquarters will be located in New York City, while XM will remain in Washington, DC as a ” wholly-owned subsidiary.”
Obama campaign rejects rapper Ludacris’ rhymes
CHICAGO (AP) — Barack Obama’s presidential campaign says a new rhyme by supporter and rapper Ludacris is “outrageously offensive” to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain and President Bush.
The song brags about an Obama presidency being destiny. It uses an expletive to describe Clinton, calls Bush “mentally handicapped” and says McCain doesn’t belong in “any chair unless he’s paralyzed.”
The lyrics don’t spare the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who recently apologized for making crude comments about Obama. “If you said it then you meant it,” intones the rapper.
Obama’s campaign blasted “Politics as Usual,” which is on the “Gangsta Grillz: The Preview” mixtape with Atlanta spinner DJ Drama.
“As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to,” campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail statement Wednesday. “This song is not only outrageously offensive to Sen. Clinton, Rev. Jackson, Sen. McCain and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics.”
Ludacris’ publicist and manager did not immediately return calls Wednesday for comment.
Butthole Surfers gig ends in chaos
A Butthole Surfers gig in New York ended in chaos after frontman Gibby Haynes was involved in a fight with the venue’s soundman.
Towards the end of their set at the city’s Webster Hall (July 29), Haynes motioned to the soundman that his monitor was not loud enough – by showing him his middle finger.
When the soundman repeated the gesture, Haynes confronted him and the two became involved in a fight, much to the crowd’s apparent delight.
However, the quarrel resulted in Haynes being dragged offstage by security.
The band continued for one more song, with guitarist Paul Leary filling in on vocals for ‘The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave’.
Despite the altercation, Gothamist reports that no arrests were made at the venue.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Avalanches to finally finish second album
The Avalanches have suggested that the wait for their second album may nearly be over.
The Australian sample kings released their debut ‘Since I Left You’ back in 2001 – and even that record was delayed as the mass of sound clips used on the album, including Madonna’s ‘Holiday’, were cleared (or not).
However posting recently on Myspace.com/theavalanches, the band have indicated a follow-up album is on the way.
Though giving away scant details, the band’s status declares they are “putting the finishing touches on album 2 !!!!!!!!!”.
(via NME)
Sony BMG Lost $42M Last Quarter
Sonybmg Sales at Sony BMG decreased 6% over the previous year “due to the continue decline in the physical music market worldwide not being fully offset by growth in digital product sales” according to Sony’s latest earnings report. The division lost $42 million before taxes last quarter alone compared to a profit of $31 million in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Best selling releases during the quarter included Usher’s, Here I Stand, Leona Lewis’ Spirit and Neil Diamond’s Home Before Dark.
The decline left analysts scrambling to explain why Sony would still be in serious talks to purchase a controlling interest in the partnership from Bertlesmann. Does Sony really see future profits in recorded music or does it want to gut the operation to cut its losses more quickly?
(via hypebot)
Lost La’s songs available to download
Rare cuts by the Liverpool legends will go online this September
Eight unreleased songs by The La’s are set to be available to buy online for the first time this September.
The songs will be available on Lost Tunes – a new online download store launched today (July 30) that is dedicated to exclusive, rare or overlooked classics.
Lost Tunes already features a catalogue of 134 exclusive albums, with artists including Scott Walker, GENE and .
The eight La’s songs are set to go online on September 1 and include alternative versions of ‘Way Out” and ‘Son Of A Gun’ from their eponymous 1990 album.
Their release also coincides with an exclusive from Southampton band Delays, who are recording covers of their four favourite ‘lost tunes’ for the site.
A further 500 download albums are scheduled to be launched on the store in the coming six months, and all downloads on the site are available as high quality 320kpbs MP3s.
The download store is online now at Losttunes.com.
The full tracklisting of ‘The La’s – Lost Tunes’ is:
‘Son Of A Gun (John Porter Outtake 1)’
‘Doledrum (John Leckie mix)’
‘Come In Come Out (John Leckie mix)’
‘Way Out (Bob Andrews Mix)’
‘Doledrum (Bob Andrews Mix)’
‘Clean Profit (Jeremy Allom Mix)’
‘Son Of A Gun (Jeremy Allom Mix)’
‘Come In Come Out (Steve Lillywhite Mix)’
Alicia Keys, Jack White Team For Bond Theme
Alicia Keys and the White Stripes’ Jack White will record the theme song to “Quantum of Solace,” the 22nd James Bond film, which hits U.S. theaters Nov. 7.
The song, “Another Way To Die,” will be the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. White wrote and produced the song, and also will play drums. The soundtrack to the movie will be released Oct. 28.
The score for the film will be composed by David Arnold.
“Quantum of Solace,” starring Daniel Craig, will be directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.
Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis had previously been rumored as the vocalists for the latest Bond theme.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
AC/DC hit the road in October
As expected, AC/DC will embark on an 18-month world tour beginning this October. Creative Artists Agency managing partner Rob Light confirmed the news during a touring panel today (July 28) at the 83rd annual IAAM conference and trade show in Anaheim, Calif.
Light didn’t reveal further details about the trek, which will come in support of AC/DC’s upcoming Wal-Mart exclusive release. A single is expected to hit radio in August.
In addition to AC/DC, other acts touring in the near future include Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Depeche Mode, Shakira, Green Day, Kid Rock, Usher, Robin Williams, Mylie Cyrus, Slipknot, John Mayer, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Daft Punk, according to Light. Also, “We have a great idea for KISS to go out and do big arena tour,” Light noted.
Other touring in 2009 include OneRepublic, Plain White T‚s, Jack’s Mannequin, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Weezer, the Killers and Journey, among others, according to various booking agents on the panel, which was moderated by Billboard executive director of content and programming for touring and live entertainment Ray Waddell.
Additionally, there are talks of rolling out a non-Christmas version of the annual Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour, according to William Morris Agency’s Brad Goodman.
Amy Winehouse Released From London Hospital
Amy Winehouse was released from a London hospital today (July 29) after an overnight stay to treat what her spokesman said was an adverse reaction to medication.
The 24-year-old artist was discharged from London’s University College after spending the night in observation, said spokesman Chris Goodman.
Winehouse was rushed to the hospital’s emergency room by ambulance from her north London home Monday night. Goodman said the medication had been taken at her home, but did not provide further details.
“She had a bit of a scare yesterday because of a reaction to treatment. She was kept in overnight purely for observation,” Goodman said in a statement. “Amy is at home now after leaving with her father and manager. She is having a rest.”
Monday, July 28, 2008
Gnarls Barkley – “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” (Video)
Black Kids:: Partie Traumatic (Album Review)
Short-shrifted by overzealous myth chasers when their solid four-song teaser EP, Wizard of Ahhhs, received accolades all too obviously disproportionate to its slight stature, Jacksonville’s Black Kids had my sympathy and my skepticism heading into their full-length debut. But Partie Traumatic not only overcomes its ponderous pre-hype, it also shows that emo might not be today’s only hope for romantic pop. The tensest moment comes in the silence just after “I’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance,” the hot-stepping climax. How (you might nervously wonder) will the band, just seven songs into their career, close out their so-far-scorching debut set of nü-Motown synth-soul? But the expected slow-jam comedown never arrives. Instead we get three more great pop songs (all up-tempo, pacing conventions be damned) ranging from sour-cherries I-need-all-of-you disco to strutting Rapture-redolent independence disco. Imagine a Robert Smith who asks for no pity and you have lead vocalist Reggie Youngblood, whose citrusy man-boy wailings intensify the slick “Hit the Heartbreaks” and “Hurricane Jane.” The lyrics run, uh, let’s say straightforward, but Black Kids know as well as any good sentimentalists that delivery is everything; teenage yearning couldn’t hope for a much better vehicle than their pouting power pop.
Ex-Pumpkins Members Sue For Digital Royalties
Two former members of the Smashing Pumpkins sued Virgin Records, saying the label shut them out of profits after signing a deal with the rock band’s frontman, Billy Corgan.
In their lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky-Brown, both 40, accused Virgin Records America Inc. of not paying them for music downloads and other digitally delivered Smashing Pumpkins music.
Iha and Wretzky-Brown, who were founding members of the Smashing Pumpkins, said in their lawsuit that, five years after the band first broke up in 2000, Virgin entered into a deal with Corgan, 41, and began licensing Smashing Pumpkins music through electronic transmissions.
“To date, Virgin continues to engage in the exploitation of electronic transmissions of the band’s recordings without plaintiffs’ consent,” the lawsuit states.
A spokeswoman for Virgin, a unit of privately held EMI Group, declined to comment on the lawsuit because the company had not received it.
Corgan, the group’s primary songwriter, resurrected the Smashing Pumpkins last year, without Iha or Wretzky-Brown. He told reporters in April that he has “zero” communication with them. Wretzky-Brown, who quit the band in 1999, has largely left the music business. Iha has kept busy with a variety of musical collaborations.
In March, Corgan sued Virgin Records over a promotional campaign involving Pepsi and Amazon that he said damaged the Pumpkins’ image and reputation
The Rolling Stones Leave EMI For Universal
Ending months of speculation, the Rolling Stones have split with longtime label EMI and inked a new deal with the Universal Music Group. The pact covers not only future studio albums but the band’s lucrative back catalog from 1971′s “Sticky Fingers” onward.
EMI, which has endured a rocky transition to private equity ownership by Terra Firma in recent months, is understood to have lobbied heavily to convince the Stones to remain with the company.
New recordings will be released via UMG’s Polydor label worldwide, putting the distribution of the entire Stones catalog under one roof for the first time. The deal covers both digital and physical distribution, with UMG already working on a long-term strategy to digitize the catalog.
The Stones tested the waters with Universal in April, when they released the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese documentary “Shine a Light” through the label. U.S. sales are at 106,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
After recording for Decca Records through 1970, the Stones formed their own Rolling Stones label for the release of “Sticky Fingers” the following year. The previous deal with Virgin/EMI dates back to 1991, prior to Virgin’s acquisition by EMI the following year. Warner Music, EMI itself and Sony BMG (as CBS) had all previously handled the catalog between 1971 and 1990.
ABKCO and Decca are co-owners of the copyrights outside North America for the Stones’ catalog from 1963-1970.
The Stones released three studio albums for Virgin: 1994′s “Voodoo Lounge,” 1997′s “Bridges to Babylon” and 2005′s “A Bigger Bang.” The titles have sold a combined 3.6 million copies in the United States.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Franz Ferdinand reveal ‘wild’ new album secrets
Franz Ferdinand have revealed that they have been using some rather unconventional recording methods for the forthcoming new album, which they are currently finishing off in Glasgow with producer Dan Carey.
Frontman Alex Kapranos told BBC Newsbeat that the band had been employing some “wild” recording techniques, which involved guitarist Nick McCarthy climbing into the woodwork of the studio.
Kapranos said: “We have been doing a lot of experimenting in the studio with Dan. He’s made us record the album in a much wilder way than we’re used to.
“We did this thing in the studio called the Doppler Effect which is like when you are on the high street and you hear an ambulance go past and the sound of the siren pitch changes when it passes you.
“We were doing something similar on a track called ‘What She Came For’. We were recording the guitar in this big hall next to our studio and Nick climbed into the ceiling and fed a microphone cable down through the rafters above the guitar speaker.
“Then when we were recording Dan was swinging this microphone above the guitar amp and we got this incredible sound.”
The follow-up to 2005′s ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’ is due out in early 2009.
Albarn’s ‘Monkey’ Opera Score Heading To CD
Damon Albarn’s score for the opera “Monkey: Journey to the West” will be released in the fall via XL Recordings in North America.
The production, which is based on an idea by Jean-Luc Choplin from the original 16th century novel by Wu Cheng’en, premiered last summer in Manchester, England, and will be staged tomorrow (July 23) in London.
The 22-track album was recorded in London and Beijing with a host of European and Chinese musicians. A vinyl boxed set will be available through Vinyl Factory Ltd. Visuals were handled by Albarn’s collaborator in Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett.
Albarn and Hewlett have already moved on to their next project, which Hewlett told the Daily Guardian will be called “Carousel.” He said it is “even bigger and more difficult than ‘Monkey,’” and may be a film, an album or both.
“Damon’s written around 70 songs for it, and I’ve got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this moment, it’s still just a really good idea,” he said.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Radiohead- House of Cards (Video)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4qZfiTzSgQ&hl=en&fs=1]
TV On The Radio’s New Album “Dear Science,” Release Date Announced
TV On The Radio’s new album Dear Science, is set to release on September 23rd! This is the followup to the 2006 album Return to Cookie Mountain. Can’t wait!
Upcoming tour dates:
September
5 Musicfest NW, Roseland Theater Portland, OR*
6 Showbox, Seattle WA*
7 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver BC*
9 Macewan Ballroom, Calgary AB*
10 Starlite Room, Edmonton AB*
12 Knitting Factory Boise ID*
13 In the Venue, Salt Lake City UT*
14 Monolith Festival, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison CO
19 Street Scene, San Diego, CA
20 Treasure Island Festival, San Francisco CA
*Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson will be the op
Radiohead, Robert Plant lead Nationwide Mercury Prize shortlist
The shortlist for the Nationwide Mercury Prize has been announced today (July 22).
The 12 nominees for the 2008 award were confirmed at a small ceremony held at Covent Garden in London this morning.
Radiohead and frontman Robert Plant were the biggest names on the list – the Oxford band were nominated for ‘In Rainbows’, while Plant picked up the nod for his collaboration with Alison Krauss, ‘Raising Sand’.
Alex Turner made it three Mercury nominations on the trot as his The Last Shadow Puppets collaboration with The Rascals’ Miles Kane followed the first two Arctic Monkeys albums in 2006 and 2007 to win a place on the 2008 shortlist.
As widely anticipated anonymous dubstep producer Burial was nominated for ‘Untrue’, while Elbow, Estelle and Adele were also among the 12.
Some of this year’s biggest selling British albums were notable by their absence, with no place for either Duffy or Coldplay on the shortlist, as the panel gave nods to the likes of Laura Marling, Neon Neon and British Sea Power.
Rachel Unthank And The Winterset bagged the folk spot with ‘The Bairns’, while jazz act Portico Quartet were nominated for ‘Knee-Deep In The North Sea’.
The 2008 Nationwide Mercury Prize shortlist is:
Adele – ’19′
British Sea Power – ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’
Burial – ‘Untrue’
Elbow – ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’
Estelle – ‘Shine’
The Last Shadow Puppets – ‘The Age Of The Understatement’
Laura Marling – ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’
Neon Neon – ‘Stainless Style’
Portico Quartet – ‘Knee-Deep In The North Sea’
Robert Plant And Alison Krauss – ‘Raising Sand’
Radiohead – ‘In Rainbows’
Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – ‘The Bairns’
The winners will be announced at the ceremony in London on September 9.
Paul Westerberg Offers New Album For 49 Cents
Despite the fact that he doesn’t have a computer and may never have been online in his life, Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg is the latest artist to embrace the Internet for rapid dissemination of new music.
Yesterday, Westerberg made available a 44-minute single MP3 file of a dozen-plus songs, dubbed “49,” for 49 cents. Amazon.com is handling the commerce via a link from the Westerberg Web site Men Without Ties. Tunecore will begin carrying the release later today.
“He finished it on Monday, sent it to me on Tuesday and it was out this weekend,” Westerberg manager Darren Hill said. “It’s just wonderful that you can actually do this. The freedom an artist can enjoy these days is fantastic. Can you imagine me pitching this idea to a label?”
The 49-cent price was a joking suggestion from Westerberg to charge “a penny a minute,” but Amazon.com was the only digital retailer that “would play ball with me on the price point,” Hill says.
“49″ has no track list or lyrics, keeping with a long-standing Westerberg tradition. But a handful of the songs will be familiar to hardcore fans, including an alternate version of “Out of My System,” which previously appeared on the compilation “Hot Stove, Cool Music,” and “Everyone’s Stupid,” which is written from the perspective of a pre-teen who discovers he’s the last to know about his parents’ impending divorce.
Westerberg played all the instruments on the decidedly lo-fi recordings, which often feature two songs playing at once for a few seconds and short snippets that abruptly cut off. “It’s almost like you’re scanning a radio dial,” Hill says. “You’re getting a glimpse inside of Paul’s head here.”
“49″ concludes with a strange mash-up of partial covers such as the Partidge Family’s “I Think I Love You,” the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye,” Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock” and Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” and a rave-up apparently sung by Westerberg’s pre-teen son Johnny.
Without revealing specifics, Hill says “49″ is “just the tip of a really large creative iceberg. Paul has been writing and recording at a furious pace.” However, he adds that “there are no plans or talk of doing any performances at the moment.”
Westerberg has only performed once since severely injuring his fretting hand in 2006 while trying to remove candle wax with a screwdriver: he was the subject of a September 2007 episode of “The Craft,” a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chat-and-sing series a la VH1′s “Songwriters,” at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, during which “Everyone’s Stupid” was premiered.
As previously reported, the Replacements’ major-label catalog will be reissued in expanded form Sept. 23 via Rhino.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sex Pistols’ John Lydon denies Bloc Party ‘racist attack’
The Sex Pistols’s John Lydon has hit back at claims he was involved in an “unprovoked racist attack” on Bloc Party’s singer, Kele Okereke.
Kele Okereke claimed he was assaulted by Lydon and members of his entourage who had directed a “racist tirade” at hime.
Members of Foals and Kaiser Chiefs were said to have stepped in to help the Bloc Party singer.
However, the Sex Pistols frontman has put the incident down to jealousy on Okereke’s part.
“I feel very sorry for a man who needs to lie about what was a perfect evening,” Lydon said in statement. “After the show John Rotten and management remained behind to sign autographs, which we did for four solid hours without incident and had a great time talking to other Spanish bands. This seems to have sparked jealousy in certain bands.
“The trouble was brought to us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security.”
He added: “We are in the middle of a wonderful tour, after 30 years we are achieving a true unity in our audience. They are multi-varied, all ages, all races, creeds and colours.
“When you are at a festival with bands who are jealous fools, lies and confusion usually follow. If they need publicity so badly this is the allegation universe they run into.”
Lydon concluded by telling Okereke to “grow up and learn to be a true man.
“When you have achieved as much as I have, come back and talk to me,” he added. “It’s a shame that the wonderful world of the media is riddled with nonsense like this.”
Okereke indicated that he has contacted the police both in Spain and in the UK in reference to the incident, though Lydon did not mention this in his statement. It is unclear whether any further action will be taken.
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Hold Steady- “Sequestered” (Live on Letterman)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7RO0y1-ZAE&hl=en&fs=1]
Best Buy To Begin Stocking Unsigned Bands
Independent artists, rejoice! Music retail behemoth Best Buy is teaming up with Regionalcd.net to stock their shelves and online store with regional and local artists—no major label contract required. Artists who are chosen for the program will have their albums sold in strategically selected Best Buy locations, as well as bestbuy.com. The program will feature a light initial distribution, allowing customer demand to dictate the inventory at each store, thus eliminating pricey overstocking. Approved artists are considered based on Myspace/Facebook page, fan base, and local performances, and will be paid for every CD sold. While the program provides a spectacularly unique opportunity for independent bands, one has to wonder if it’s just one more way for Best Buy to drive your local record shop out of business.
Jimi Hendrix is coming to “Guitar Hero.”
The Seattle-based company Experience Hendrix, which controls the rock icon’s musical legacy, is providing Hendrix’s music and likeness for the latest “Guitar Hero” video game, Aaron Grant, a spokesman for publisher and developer Activision and Red Octane, told the Associated Press.
It’s the first time Hendrix’s likeness will be showcased in the game.
An avatar of Hendrix, as well as the song “The Wind Cries Mary” and a live version of “Purple Haze” recorded in 1969 at the San Diego Sports Arena, will be included on “Guitar Hero World Tour.” The fourth edition of the popular game franchise is scheduled for release Oct. 27.
“World Tour” will be the first “Guitar Hero” to feature playable drums and a microphone.
Besides the in-game songs, Experience Hendrix provided Activision and Red Octane with tunes that will be released in the future as downloadable content, Grant said.
‘Control’ writer to make John Lennon biopic
A film based on the life of John Lennon has been awarded funding by the UK Film Council.
Entitled ‘Nowhere Boy’, the film will be written by Michael Greenhalgh, who adapted the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis’ wife Debbie Curtis’ autobiography, ‘Touching From A Distance’, for last year’s film ‘Control’.
The Lennon film will cover the story of late Beatle’s childhood in Liverpool, where he was brought up by his aunt Mimi after his mother Julia died in an accident involving a police car, reports the Guardian.
It will be based upon a controversial book, ‘Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon’, by Lennon’s sister, also called Julia, in which she describes how Mimi was intensely jealous of her younger sister.
Greenhalgh, who received an award for special achievement by the director of a debut feature for his work on ‘Control’, told the Guardian he could not resist the lure of a film about Lennon, despite intending to avoid making another music movie so soon after ‘Control’.
He said: “When looking for my next project I was wary of musical protagonists – but when John Lennon was floated, that vanished.
“He is beyond music; above it even. And his early life as told in Julia’s book took me into a world that illuminated so much about this legendary genius. I could see the drama and film immediately. The women in his life, the men who weren’t, the birth of rock n roll; all imposing on a brilliantly complicated adolescent mind.
“The nagging questions, the icy secrets, the need for love. John’s angst and anger pouring out into his music, his thankful salvation. Without this story we would never have heard The Beatles – can you imagine that?”
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Albert Hammond, Jr.- Como te Llama (Album Review)
Ever since their second album, the Strokes have been accused of writing songs that all sound the same: terse, fussy and precise. Even when the band feigns disheveled detachment, its music hugs tighter than hipster denim.
On his second solo outing, evidently underused guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. takes a more relaxed approach. If the Strokes are the quintessential ’00s New York City band, “Come Te Llama?” is a Los Angeles record, something to play at a barbecue or — even more unthinkable to Manhattanites — riding in a car.
Hammond hasn’t altogether ditched his band’s choppy playing—he simply augments it with tempo changes and genre-shifting digressions. “Lisa” starts with a drum box and downbeat piano chords before falling into a summery reggae groove. On “Victory at Monterey,” about winning back an old flame, Hammond bites the bass line from the Breeders’ “Cannonball,” working it into an indie-rock dance number.
Better still is “Rocket,” a slow rumble of distorted chords that burns fuel but never launches. Hammond’s lyrics and vocals aren’t as distinctive as those favored by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, but the guitarist’s music breathes in ways Strokes songs don’t.
It’s the difference between a cramped East Village apartment and a house in the hills.
Primal Scream Launches New Album In London
Primal Scream launched its new album, “Beautiful Future” (B-Unique), with an invite-only set in London (July 15).
The Scottish rockers played six new songs at the 26-32 Britannia Street venue, to an audience including Swedish singer Lykke Li, Lovefoxxx from the Brazilian electro-rock outfit CSS and Andrew Weatherall, producer of the band’s celebrated 1991 album “Screamadelica.”
Lovefoxxx joined singer Bobby Gillespie on stage to perform her co-write with the band, “I Love To Hurt (You Love To Be Hurt)”.
Primal Scream opened with its current single “Can’t Go Back”, which was released on Monday. The new material demonstrated a more pop and even soulful direction on “Uptown.”
“Beautiful Future,” released July 21, is Primal Scream’s ninth album and first through B-Unique, a division of Atlantic Records U.K. The label has teamed up with iTunes to enable fans who pre-order the album to get early access to tickets via Ticketmaster.co.uk for Primal Scream’s upcoming tour.
Okkervil River Expanding With ‘Stand Ins’
On the heels of last year’s “The Stage Names,” its best seller to date, Austin-based rock act Okkervil River returns Sept. 9 with another Jagjaguwar album, “The Stand Ins.”
The 11 tracks here were mostly culled from material written and recorded during “The Stage Name” sessions, with the exception of one “Singer Songwriter,” which was recorded during a recent tour with the New Pornographers.
Frontman Will Sheff says the band opted not release a double album combining “The Stage Names” in “The Stand Ins” primarily because “I don’t like double albums and I really wanted to make a short record. Everybody in the band felt the same way. It was just the case of making a short record and feeling attachment to the songs — and putting out a part two.”
This isn’t the first time Okkervil River has used a follow-up album as a continuation of an earlier work. 2005′s “Black Sheep Boy” was followed by the “Black Sheep Boy Appendix,” but Sheff doesn’t see this as a business decision. If anything, he’s weary about over-saturating the market. “It’s not our next word, musically,” he cautions.
Indeed, “The Stand Ins” sounds like the upbeat, country-infused rock that “The Stage Names” championed, but Sheff views the album has having a “thrust of production. One of the fun things about working on [the album] was, we felt a lot less sense of pressure,” he explains. “We used the same instruments and same methodology, but [by] using themes from songs in other songs, ['The Stand Ins'] comes back and elaborates on older tunes.”
Sheff is currently working on a handful of undisclosed projects and says that after upcoming summer and fall tours, Okkervil River intends to take “a long break.”
Here is the track list for “The Stand Ins”:
“Stand Ins, One”
“Lost Coastlines”
“Singer Songwriter”
“Starry Stairs”
“Blue Tulip”
“Stand Ins, Two”
“Pop Lie”
“On Tour With Zykos”
“Calling And Not Calling My Ex”
“Stand Ins, Three”
“Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979″
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sweet Wishes- A Short Film by Mark Ryden and Marion Peck[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeuGAuZKIq4]
Friday, July 11, 2008
Beck- Gammy Ray (Music Video)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heXFhY7y1EI]
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Melvins- Nude with Boots (Album Review)
Now that groups like Boris, Sun 0))) and Earth have fully exploited the doomy drone concept that the Melvins pio neered, Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover aren’t content to keep pounding out the same old sludge. So the Melvins co-foun ders are using the extra rhythmic thrust provided by the add-on Big Business unit of bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis to take a detour into 70s metal and boogie rock, which is the most radical move they could imagine.
The walloping guitar riffs that people love about the Melvins, though still pre sent on Nude With Boots, now come with throwback effects and are generally at a faster grind. Whereas the vocal bits have often seemed like an afterthought in the past, King Buzzo has given more consideration here to his singing and the interplay of backing vocals, layered screams and what could be confused for harmonies.
It’s slightly less menacing, yet without a discernible drop in power, which should go down well in the burbs without alienating their hipster metal following.
(by Tim Perl)
New Flaming Lips: ‘John Lennon Meets Miles Davis’
There’s no timetable for its release just yet, but the Flaming Lips are at work on new music that sounds “something like if John Lennon got together with Miles Davis and they discovered computers,” according to frontman Wayne Coyne.
“Sometimes, there’s an element of song structure that me and [band member] Steven [Drozd] get really bored of,” he continues. “But you can play certain things and the computer f*cks with them in a way where it’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think of that before.’ Even as we speak I get excited. I’m thinking, ‘F*ck! This is going to be cool!’”
Coyne adds that the material has inadvertently taken on a kind of uplifting tone in the early going. “I’d never want to make it sound like ‘Imagine,’ but some of these songs accidentally fall into that category,” he says. “We never want to feel like we’ve got the answers to the world, while we’re quietly going insane on our own level.”
The next Lips album, whenever it arrives, will be the follow-up to 2006′s “At War With the Mystics,” which has sold 207,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
In addition to preparing their long-in-the-works holiday film “Christmas on Mars” for DVD release before year’s end, the Lips have three shows left on their summer schedule: July 20 in London, July 23 at Minnesota’s 10,000 Lakes Festival and July 26 at the first Pemberton Festival in British Columbia.
The group will also perform Saturday in Los Angeles as part of VH1′s “Rock Honors” tribute to the Who, alongside Pearl Jam, the Foo Fighters, Tenacious D and Incubus.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
My Morning Jacket begin work on their 6th album
Despite releasing their fifth album, ‘Evil Urges’, last month, My Morning Jacket have already begun work on its follow-up.
Speaking to BBC 6music, frontman Jim James said that he was in the process of writing what will be the band’s sixth studio album.
“I’m already writing songs for the new record and stuff,” he said. “The process is weird because whenever we make a record, the songs come from one or two years of life that you’ve lived.
“Then by the time you get to make that record you’re in that zone but when it comes out, it’s a year or two later. So, for me personally, I’m working on the next thing.”
(NME)
Shudder To Think Reunites For Fall Dates
Following a pair of one-off performances and the announcement of two festival dates, New York rock act Shudder To Think has unveiled plans for a short fall reunion tour.
The run will begin with a previously announced Aug. 10 set at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore and also includes a previously announced Oct. 25 appearance at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans. Eight other shows are on tap through early November.
Frontman Craig Wedren and guitarist Nathan Larson will be flanked by mid-period drummer Adam Wade on the West Coast portion of the trek, and drummer Kevin March for the East Coast shows. The touring lineup is rounded out by bassist Jesse Krakow, replacing original bassist Stuart Hill, and guitarist Mark Watrous.
After not playing together since 1999, Wedren and Larson, at the urging of a friend, teamed to perform a few Shudder To Think songs at New York’s Mercury Lounge last September, and then again in February during a Barack Obama fundraiser.
“Nathan and I have gotten over our past bullsh*t. There’s no more real venom or puss left there,” Wedren said after the Mercury Lounge gig. “I don’t think there’s any weirdness there that would keep us from [playing together again].”
Shudder To Think rose to acclaim in the early ’90s American hardcore scene thanks to the Dischord albums “Funeral at the Movies” and “Get Your Goat,” which introduced Wedren’s operatic singing and surreal lyrics in tandem with the band’s idiosyncratic, art rock sensibilities. But Shudder split after two cult favorite but commercially unsuccessful albums for Epic, with Wedren and Larson moving on to a variety of solo projects.
(via billboard)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Death Cab for Cutie- Cath (Album Review)
The Music – Strength In Numbers (Album Review)
Word-of-mouth in today’s music-saturated pop culture-orientated world is very important. Blogs, Wikipedia, and sites such as Myspace have become virtual beacons to introduce new music to newer ears all around the globe. The Music have been sadly ignored by the music-buying general public, perhaps because – like The Band, or The The – using google isn’t really gonna be much help for those who want to find out more about them. Even writing The The in Microsoft Word is too much for it to take. The Music do what Kasabian do, but easily hundreds of times better. Plus they were doing it before Kasabian came along. But it seems that the timing for The Music was all wrong. In over 8 years that they’ve functioned as a band, Coldplay and Muse have grown in stature to becoming grandiose stadium-rock behemoths personified.
The Music have always had that great Led Zepp rumbling bass groove, mixed with the psychedelic guitars of The Verve with a dirty nightclub dance-vibe, long before teenagers came over all Nu Rave with The Klaxons. Mix this up with a great frontman in the form of Robert Harvey who whirls around the stage like a dervish on speed with a wasp chasing him (watch the band’s live performance on David Letterman on youtube, or the “Welcome To Japan” live DVD), and maybe you can imagine what they’re like live: spectacular. The Leeds-based foursome formed in 1999 and 2 years later released their first E.P. called “You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me” through Hut Recordings, who The Verve and Embrace were also initially signed to.
In 2002 they released a second E.P. called “The People”, and then their eponymous debut album, featuring some truly great tracks: the effervescent “The Truth Is No Words”, “Getaway” and “Take The Long Road And Walk It” and the floaty “Human” to name a few . The album garnered some great reviews and awards (BBC Radio 1 celebrity DJ Steve Lamacq famously hailed them as the “best new band of 2002”, and NME declared that they were potentially “the most important UK band since Oasis”), sold-out tours that grew in scale and popularity, and highly recommended festival slots. I made the bold move of missing out on Metallica headlining the main stage at Reading 2004 to see The Music in the small tent touring their second album (the unfairly mauled and maligned “Welcome To The North”) and, to this day, I know I made the right choice.
But it was the release of “Welcome To The North” that begun the band’s unfortunate downward spiral. Whilst they stated that they were fervant fans of chemically-enhanced fun, the drugs and the relelentless touring of an album they readily admit that was badly produced begun to create cracks in the band’s dynamic. It’s a real shame actually, because the album has some amazing singles (“Freedom Fighters”, “Welcome To The North” and “Breakin’”) as well as some cracking album tracks, such as “Bleed From Within”, “Into The Night”, “I Need Love” and the deliciously slinky riffage of “One Way In, No Way Out”. Seriously, if you’ve not heard at least some of these tracks then the least you could do is have a listen, you won’t be disappointed. Whilst the band don’t particularly like the way their second album panned-out (though they don’t go to the lengths of disowning it, like Oasis do with “Be Here Now”), it’s still a firm fan-favourite.
Four years on, The Music have managed to finally release their third studio offering. As the Stone Roses know, long periods of time spent in the studio can be to the band’s lasting artistic detriment, but fans of the band will be glad to know that new album “Strength In Numbers” is a real stunner. Robert Harvey recently said that the fundamental problem with the “Welcome To The North” album was that it was produced as a rock record, as opposed to a comfortable hybrid of rock and dance. “Strength In Numbers”, like their debut album, successfully juggles the two genres together nicely, and it’s a very pleasing amalgamation indeed. Fair enough, album-opener “Strength In Numbers” (don’t ask me why, confusingly, a single on each album is also the name of the album itself) sounds a bit like “Welcome To The North”. The song, not the album as a whole. I told you it’d get complicated, sigh. And, fair enough, the lyrics are still the same old rallying cries of the let’s-overcome-adversity-together type that Oasis do so well, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And fair enough, the intro to “The Left Side” sounds a bit like Linkin Park, which doesn’t sound too promising.
But the album works. Robert Harvey’s soaring vocal range (reminiscent of Robert Plant, but sadly now without the same messy curly hair), the searing drum and bass combo, along with those crunchy guitar riffs pound the listener’s ears: an example being when track 3, “Drugs”, kicks in (that’s not a pun by the way). But, yeah, the contrast of ambient sounds to a huge guttural rush is startling, as we hear Harvey sing about the dependencies he’s overcome. The band’s unmistakably energetic joy de vivre on “Vision” (with the tellingly honest references to a life without the band (‘Without you I’m a broken man’)), and harsh coldness of “The Spike” shows that, whilst down, they’re certainly not out. In fact, The Music have come out fighting. The sleek bombast of “Cold Blooded” and “Fire”, and the unapologetically anthemic “Inconceivable Odds” highlight a nearly decade-old band out on the hunt and thirsty for what they deserve. They deserve accolades. They deserve a bigger audience. And, finally, they fully deserve our full and unswaying attention.
(By J. M. Ross)
Flaming Lips Unspool Avant-Garde Xmas Flick
It took the Flaming Lips seven years to finish their film “Christmas on Mars,” so it’d stand to reason that frontman Wayne Coyne is a perfectionist. But all he really wants to do is give his fans something cool to watch.
That’s why, in advance of a DVD release before year’s end via Warner Bros., he and the Lips are rolling “Christmas on Mars” out at the U.S. rock festivals they’ve been booked to play this spring and summer.
“We play it kind of like a midnight movie at these festivals, mostly because we don’t want to play it while a bunch of bands are playing,” Coyne said. “We’ve played it well into the night maybe six times now. That group of people that comes in from two or three in the morning, they’re usually the most insane. They’ve taken their acid or their mushrooms, drank three or four Red Bulls, and they’re really in it for the long haul.”
But because a large percentage of the audience has no idea what they’re in for, Coyne began making introductions to help set the scene.
“At first I didn’t know if they felt they needed to be more respectful, like it’s an art movie,” he says. “So I’ve been doing these introductions, like, ‘cheer, laugh and smoke pot!’ I don’t think people have any idea what the film is. Is this funny? Is this serious? Is this weird? Once people understand it’s all that, I think it’s a great relief.”
“Christmas on Mars,” which stars Coyne and his Lips bandmates Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins, was shot on the cheap in and around the band’s native Oklahoma City. It revolves around the first holiday season on the freshly colonized Red Planet; Drozd is Major Sytris, who aims to marshall Christmas cheer with a big pageant, but a series of events threaten the survival of the colonists, much less their holiday plans. Coyne plays a friendly Martian who offers his assistance.
“If you were to watch a David Lynch movie with someone, you’d experience these moments where music, story and abstract bullshit came together,” Coyne says by way of comparison. “You’d understand it, but you couldn’t explain it to somebody else. It’s like an unspeakable language.”
The Lips also created an original score for the film, which will be included on the DVD but may or may not be released on its own. “Elements of it sound very much like Bernard Herrmann in a room with Igor Stravinsky, and they hashed out, you take this scene, I’ll take this scene,” Coyne says.
“Christmas on Mars” officially premiered in May at the Sasquatch festival in Washington state, and festival founder Adam Zacks saw firsthand how Coyne’s connection with the audience enhanced the viewing experience.
“Originally it was going to be shown on an outdoor inflatable screen, but then we started getting bits of information like, ‘Wayne just bought a circus tent to show the movie,’ ‘Wayne is making custom popcorn containers’ and ‘Wayne will be showing up a day early to supervise the set-up of the movie and hand out custom tickets to the crowd,’” he says. “It just kept getting better and better. Instead of asking, ‘Why?,’ which is where most people would stop, Wayne asks ‘Why not?!’”
Monday, July 7, 2008
Bloc Party- Mercury (New Song, New Video!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAjxQdzykaU&hl=en&fs=1]
Jack White wants to clear a few things up.
Not only does he bear no malice toward Detroit, says the White Stripes front man, he harbors great admiration for what he calls his hometown’s “spirit, its beauty and its burning earth below.”
Frustrated by a sense that his thoughts about Detroit have been misrepresented since his departure two years ago, White offered to the Free Press a poem that he hopes will express “my feelings about the city itself, and how strong I believe it to be,” as he says by way of introduction.
Raised in southwest Detroit, cutting his teeth in the downtown rock halls of the 1990s, White moved to Nashville in 2006. Since then, he has been quoted in media accounts lamenting what became of Detroit’s music community, which he described as “super-negative” to the Associated Press. “I couldn’t breathe anymore in that scene,” he told Rolling Stone magazine for a story last month about his band the Raconteurs.
White tells the Free Press that “those expressions of mine have never been a representation of my feelings about Detroit the city, a town that I have strong feelings about … nor were they expressions about its citizens.”
Citing the inspirational Detroit forces that have fueled creators from Albert Kahn to Iggy Pop, he sets the scene: “The following poem is the Detroit from my mind. The Detroit that is in my heart. The home that encapsulates and envelops those who are truly blessed with the experience of living within its boundaries.”
‘Courageous Dream’s Concern,’ by Jack White
I have driven slow,
three miles an hour or so,
through Highland Park, Heidelberg, and the
Cass Corridor.
I’ve hopped on the Michigan,
and transferred to the Woodward,
and heard the good word blaring from an
a.m. radio.
I love the worn-through tracks of trolley
trains breaking through their
concrete vaults,
As I ride the Fort Street or the Baker,
just making my way home.
I sneak through an iron gate, and fish
rock bass out of the strait,
watching the mail boat with
its tugboat gait,
hauling words I’ll never know.
The water letter carrier,
bringing prose to lonely sailors,
treading the big lakes with their trailers,
floats in blue green chopping waters,
above long-lost sunken failures,
awaiting exhumation iron whalers,
holding gold we’ll never know.
I’ve slid on Belle Isle,
and rowed inside of it for miles.
Seeing white deer running alongside
While I glide, in a canoe.
I’ve walked down Caniff holding a glass
Atlas root beer bottle in my hands
And I’ve entered closets of coney islands
early in the morning too.
I’ve taken malt from Stroh’s and Sanders,
felt the black powder of abandoned
embers,
And smelled the sawdust from wood cut
to rehabilitate the fallen edifice.
I’ve walked to the rhythm of mariachis,
down junctions and back alleys,
Breathing fresh-baked fumes of culture
nurtured of the Latin and the
Middle East.
I’ve fallen down on public ice,
and skated in my own delight,
and slid again on metal crutches
into trafficked avenues.
Three motors moved us forward,
Leaving smaller engines to wither,
the aluminum, and torpedo,
Monuments to unclaimed dreaming.
Foundry’s piston tempest captured,
Forward pushing workers raptured,
Frescoed families strife fractured,
Encased by factory’s glass ceiling.
Detroit, you hold what one’s been seeking,
Holding off the coward-armies weakling,
Always rising from the ashes
not returning to the earth.
I so love your heart that burns
That in your people’s body yearns
To perpetuate,
and permeate,
the lonely dream that does encapsulate,
Your spirit, that God insulates,
With courageous dream’s concern.
Earlimart:: Hymn and Her (Album Review)
Earlimart took a casual approach to Mentor Tormentor, an intricate album whose creation spanned the course of three years. Songs were written at an unhurried pace while the group toured in support of its previous record, made the switch to a different record label, and pursued individual solo projects. So perhaps it’s strange that Earlimart’s follow-up, Hymn and Her, arrives just one year after Tormentor’s 2007 release. It’s the fastest turnaround of any Earlimart album, suggesting either a burst of inspiration or a slapdash, all-too-fast approach to songwriting. Fortunately, Hymn and Her features the same sun-baked slices of indie pop that made Mentor Tormentor and Treble & Tremble such appetizing fare. Bandmates Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray (now the group’s only two members) haven’t sacrificed quality for speed; they’ve simply shed their extra baggage, turning Earlimart from a multi-membered musical collective into a fast-working duo. As before, the new album places a big emphasis on sonic texture, but Espinoza also offers up some of his most straightforward pop melodies. Acoustic guitars chime over drum loops, keyboards bubble in the background, and harmonies thicken the melodies, yet Hymn and Her still sounds intimate, as if the bandmates have discovered how to funnel their densely populated songs into warm, mellow washes of sound. It’s ideal music for headphones, where the clever production can reveal all of its layers. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine a setting in which the relaxed chug of “Teeth” and “For the Birds” wouldn’t sound completely engaging.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Win Tickets to see Matmos LIVE in Seattle, Wa
The show is July 7-Seattle, WA @ Triple Door..
“Supreme Balloon” the first all-electronic album by this electronic band, came out May 6th on Matador Records.
Check out the video for “Exciter Lamp”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmbZtL0YHu8&hl=en&fs=1]
Check out the MP3 of “Rainbow Flag” here:
CLICK TO LISTEN
Matmos JULY 2008 TOUR DATES
Support for the West Coast dates is Wobbly and the East Coast/Midwest dates will be Snacks.
7-Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
9- Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
12-SF, CA @ Great American Music Hall
13 – LA, CA @ Echoplex
15-Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre
18-New York, NY @ LPR (formerly Village Gate on 158 Bleecker St)
19-New York, NY @ LPR
21-Toronto, ONT @ THe Music Gallery
23-Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center
24-Detroit, MI @ Detroit Institute of Arts
25-Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum
27-Chicago, IL @ Lakeshore Theater
To win tickets just send an email to kingblind(at)gmail(dot)com and we will randomly pick a winner.. GOOD LUCK!!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Sub Pop Singles Club: The Return of the Return of Khan
The Sub Pop Singles Club is back, all tan and rested after a shockingly long sabbatical. It is a somewhat louche, world-weary thing with its eye on your wallet. And, for a price, The Sub Pop Singles Club is ready and willing to satisfy you aurally in ways you never dreamed possible.
Without further pandering, here are the facts!
Fact 1!
This run of The Sub Pop Singles Club will run for 1 year only, before returning to its secret island vacation spot for eternity (or until we here at Sub Pop feel masochistic enough to take on coordinating this debacle again.)
Fact 2!
This year’s Sub Pop Singles Club will include records (of the 7” variety) with music from such artists as Om, Unnatural Helpers, Tyvek, Black Mountain, Black Lips, Arthur & Yu, Mika Miko, Blues Control, Notwist, plus some stuff we’re not yet at liberty to divulge. And they won’t come out in that particular order, necessarily.
Fact 3!
We will mail you 1 record per month, every month for an entire year beginning on August 15th with a fantastic pair of songs from Om.
Fact 4!
For shipments to North America, you will pay us $75 in exchange for receiving this monthly boon from us. If you live elsewhere, in places outside of North America, we will require $90 from you.
Fact 5!
We will be pressing 1,500 copies of each single and so the number of subscriptions available for sale will be correspondingly limited. When these subscriptions are gone, that’s it!
Fact 6!
In addition to the singles themselves, each subscriber will receive a coupon enabling the download of high-quality MP3s of each record. No need to worry about how you’ll jam that 7” into your disk drive, we’ve got all you technophiliacs with your new-fangled gadgets covered.
Fact 7!
Subscriptions will be limited to 5 per person.
So here’s your chance to join the throngs of assholes selling their collectibles on eBay for ridiculous sums! All you have to do is: SEND US YOUR MONEY!
PLEASE NOTE: The subscription is $90 USD for all customers outside North America. The extra charge will be added in the checkout process.
Alan McGee: ‘All record companies are rubbish’
Alan McGee – the man who signed Oasis to his record label, Creation – has advised new bands not to sign to any record labels, describing them all as “rubbish”.
Speaking on an XFM documentary about Creation, set to air tonight (July 3) at 10pm (BST), McGee urged bands to go it alone.
“I’d recommend a band not to go to any record label, I think they’re all fucking rubbish,” he said. “You’re better off doing it yourself. They’re living in the past, it’s like owning a tram company or something.”
McGee famously signed Oasis in 1993 after witnessing a gig by the band in his native Glasgow.
(NME)
Ian Curtis grave stone stolen 
The memorial stone dedicated to former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis has been stolen from a Cheshire cemetery.
Curtis was 23 when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his Macclesfield home in May 1980, shortly before the band were due to go on tour in the US.
Cheshire Police said the memorial stone was taken from where he is buried in Macclesfield Cemetery.
Officers are appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts to contact them.
Detectives said the kerbstone, which has the inscription “Ian Curtis 18 – 5 – 80″ and the words “Love Will Tear Us Apart” was taken sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
“Unusual theft”
A police spokesman said: “There is no CCTV in the area and there are no apparent leads as to who is responsible for the theft.
“This is a very unusual theft and I am confident that someone locally will have knowledge about who is responsible or where the memorial stone is at present.”
We are agog that someone’s gone to the trouble of taking it out. We are stunned
Tony Barker, Macclesfield Borough Council
Tony Barker, spokesman for Macclesfield Borough Council, which runs the site, said: “It would usually have flowers behind it and mementoes to Ian Curtis’s life.
“It wasn’t concreted in but tarmacked up to it.
“This has never happened before and we are agog that someone’s gone to the trouble of taking it out. We are stunned.”
Bill North, the council’s services manager, added: “I’m shocked this has happened.
“Someone’s gone to a great deal of trouble to remove the memorial stone and I hope our appeal will help return it as soon as possible.”
Although the band reformed as New Order after Curtis’s death in 1980, there has been an upsurge of interest in its work.
An acclaimed biopic about Curtis, called Control, was released in 2007 and a film documentary, called Joy Division, was released earlier this year.
(News via BBC)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Lost Beatles interview to air after 44 years
LONDON, England (AP) — The British Broadcasting Corp. will air a long-lost Beatles interview featuring John Lennon and Paul McCartney talking about the day they met and their songwriting partnership.
Lennon-McCartney
A 1964 John Lennon and Paul McCartney interview was discovered in a London garage.
The precious film sat forgotten for 44 years in a garage in south London until film fan Richard Jeffs realized a piece of pop history was contained inside.
Experts were surprised to find the audio portion still usable for radio broadcast.
The nine-minute interview was recorded at the Scottish Television studios in April 1964 during the early days of Beatlemania. The interview with the two Beatles will be broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday and repeated later this week.
On the tape, Lennon tells how he was playing with a skiffle band outside Liverpool when McCartney introduced himself.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Midnight Man (Music Video)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjZQYWGrT8E]
Deerhoof prepares 9th album release
Experimental rock act Deerhoof returns this fall with its ninth album, “Offend Maggie,” due Oct. 7 via Kill Rock Stars. The 14-song set marks a change in the way the group would normally prepare for the studio — this time, it decided to actually rehearse.
“We basically [used to show] each other song ideas and then that day turn the record button on, having never rehearsed,” drummer Greg Saunier said. “This time we wrote the songs and rehearsed them, and actually played them at a few concerts where we could play them straight through as a band.”
But Deerhoof’s newfound methods have not made the band any less challenging. “Offend Maggie” extends Deerhoof’s schizophrenic approach to melding rock, electronics and free jazz sounds, but also introduces new guitarist Ed Rodriguez, expanding the group to a full-time four-piece.
“Ed’s music, in its way, is so flexible,” Saunier explains. “He’s working with combinations of notes in a sort of very academic way, which could be turned into anything. We turned his ideas into something completely unlike what we would have foreseen.”
In a unique twist, Deerhoof plans to make sheet music available for an as-yet-undetermined song from the new album, allowing fans to create their own recorded interpretations before having heard the finished album version. A Web site will be set up in the next few weeks for fans to upload their work.
Deerhoof’s fall tour plans are currently being worked out, but a few dates in Japan and the U.S. are on the books for later this month.
Here is the track list for “Offend Maggie”:
“Offend Maggie”
“Fresh Born”
“Chandelier Searchlight”
“The Tears and Music of Love”
“Buck and Judy”
“Don’t Get Born”
“My Purple Past”
“Basket Ball Get Your Groove Back”
“Numina”
“This Is God Speaking”
“Eaguru Guru”
“Snoopy Waves”
“Jagged Fruit”
“Family of Others”
The Sea & Cake Energized For Eighth Album
The Sea & Cake frontman Sam Prekop concedes “Car Alarm,” the Chicago indie rock institution’s eighth studio album, “does feel much more upbeat and as much in your face as the Sea & Cake can be.”
He’s proven correct on songs like “Aerial” and the title cut, which practically blast out of the speakers in comparison to the smooth, soulful pop of the band’s recent releases.
“We showed up, everybody had their ideas together, and we worked them out in the studio quickly,” Prekop said. “That was pretty exciting. We capitalized on having played live quite a bit in the not too distant past.”
There’s still plenty of gently groovy listening to be had on “New Schools” and “Down in the City,” as well as a strange acoustic/electro hybrid pop song in the form of “Weekend” and an album-closing instrumental, “Mirrors,” built around … steel drums.
“I actually tried to get more of it on there,” Prekop says with a laugh. “[Drummer] John [McEntire] got them on eBay. They’re super high-end, so they’re especially accurate and hi-fi. Van Dyke Parks has a record called ‘America,’ which has steel drum all over it. It’s an interesting pseudo homage in some ways.”
Prekop says the Sea & Cake will “be doing a bunch of touring in the fall. Maybe not a bunch, but most of the major cities — a couple of weeks on the coast.”
In addition, he’s plotting a duo record with Sea & Cake guitarist Archer Prewitt, featuring “just the guitars and me singing. That may be my next project. I hope to get writing on that pretty soon.”
