So It Goes may refer to:
- a British music programme hosted by Tony Wilson
- a recurring refrain in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five
- a song by Nick Lowe from Jesus of Cool
- a song by The Verve from A Northern Soul
- an amateur music blog
The new Silver Jews record Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea quietly came out this week, in what is a busy week of new releases. Check out the fantastic cover art! The album showcases yet another great set of songs from wordsmith David Berman. Vibe is more country this go around, and features more vocal partnering with his wife Cassie. As I've found to be typical of the Silver Jews, the songs sneak up on you both yrically and melodically. It's what they call 'a grower.' The lead Jew himself recently talked with PopMatters. Until just the last year or two, the guy never had toured before, but now he's become much more comfortable with it. Still no Twin Cities appearances yet, however.
A couple of years ago, the Minnesota State Fair was the unlikely venue for the fantastic pairing of The Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth. Whoever booked that show, should be promoted. Last year, nothing interesting showed up so I figured it was a one-time fluke but now comes news that this year's "Great Minnesota Get-Together" will feature a Gnarls Barkley concert (Aug 27) as well as a Black Crowes/Black Keys line-up (Aug 30). If you're curious, here's the full schedule of varied performers this year at the Grandstand. Beware, tickets look pricey.
Aug 21 - 3 Doors Down, Staind & Hinder (Wow!) Aug 22 - Brad Paisley w/ Jewel Aug 23 - The Backstreet Boys (wtf?) Aug 24 - Buddy Guy w/ local hero Jonny Lang plus Big Head Todd & The Monsters (personal aside: Buddy Guy was my very first concert, and I once worked with Jonny Lang's sister!)
Aug 25 - Dierks Bentley & Miranda Lambert (Who are they?) Aug 26 - Paramore & Phantom Planet Aug 27 - Gnarls Barkley Aug 28 - Mark Schultz (ditto, who is this guy?) Aug 29 - A Prairie Home Companion w/ Garrison Keillor Aug 30 - The Black Crowes & The Black Keys Sept 1 - Ford Motors spokesman and American Patriot Toby Keith
At long last, go here for the Lollapalooza schedule. There's some decisions to be made, but the only true scheduling disaster is Saturday night's Wilco vs. Rage. You'd think the two would have different audiences, but for me, that's a big conflict.
Also exciting is the announcement of aftershows at local Chicago venues during the fest. Tickets for all official aftershows go on sale on June 21. I don't know if I'll have the energy or finances to attend, but if I do, I'm game for Broken Social Scene w/ Yeasayer on Saturday night.
Sigur Rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (trans: with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly)
JTM Grade: 97%
Remember the first time you heard Sigur Rós? I do. That otherworldly voice, singing an invented language (Hopelandic), was an instrument unto itself. It somehow captured the ineffable nature of music. I remember seeing Sigur Rós in concert and falling under a semi-hypnosis state during the performance. It was the musical equivalent to a spiritual experience. Sounds ridiculous, I know.
Ágætis Byrjun (1999) was their second full-length album, but the first that gained universal acclaim and notoriety for the Icelanders. It's a flat-out masterpiece. We can agree on that. Since that time, Sigur Rós have released two fine LPs and a couple other recordings but sadly, I began to take them for granted. They lost their allure. The majesty and beauty was still there but the power was not. I grew impatient with their songs, waiting around for the inevitable climax after 7 minutes of gradual build-up. Yes, it was all very pretty but it wasn’t often that I went back and listened to a Sigur Rós album deliberately.
All that changes with með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. What was old is new again. How best to describe this triumph of an album? In my mind, this is what spring in Iceland must be like, or maybe global warming has settled in and it ain't so bad after all. Whatever freeze/thaw metaphor you choose, the headline here is that Sigur Rós have lifted up the veil. The beautiful dirges remain (and better than ever) but what’s refreshing is a newfound jubilance. I’ll even throw out that terrible word, whimsy. The new and improved Sigur Rós sound downright whimsical. And to think that you could even consider dancing to a Sigur Rós song is nothing short of absurd, but that’s exactly my impulse when I hear the opening track, 'Gobbledigook.' As an added bonus, a majority of the songs clock in at less than 5 minutes, and astonishingly, the final song 'All Alright' is sung in English. I prefer the sacred characteristic of the made-up language, so hopefully that's a one-off stunt. That being said, it speaks volumes about their intentions. Sigur Rós are consciously branching out into new territory here. In fact, they're leaping forward.
I could go on and on, but I think the cover art speaks for itself. The image encapsulates the beauty, the mood and the emotion this music instills. And what music it is.
It's a good day for exclusive live performances on the interweb:
First head on over to the excellent Take-Away Shows site for some Bon Iver. Gets me excited for his set as part of the Rock The Garden festival this weekend. The early forecast is looking like mid-80s and sunny!
Next, I recommend you visit Daytrotter for their just-released Spoon session which includes a Paul Simon cover. This just reaffirms Daytrotter's status as one of the best music sites around.
- Coldplay, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Mogwai, Young Team (Deluxe Edition/Reissue) - My Brightest Diamond, A Thousand Shark's Teeth - Notwist, The Devil, You + Me - Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea - Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
They're playing exclusively old classics so far. Harvester of Sorrow! No Remorse! And Justice for All! I can't help but be nostalgic. Some of you know this already, but for those who don't, I'll just confess: I used to be a metalhead in my former life. Now I just want Megadeth to come on stage next.
The massive 4-day (& night) festival is probably hitting its stride on this Friday evening. Metallica plays tonight in what you might call a 'comeback' performance, and likely will feature a taste of their widely discussed new material. Not sure if the band is relevant anymore, but maybe I'm underestimating the fellas. Still, this festival is an odd forum. Are hippies and indie kids Metallica's target audience? See for yourself as AT&T Blue Room broadcasts live from Bonnaroo. Metallica is just now going on stage actually.
I know one thing that is certain. Afterwards hippies and hipsters will come together in harmony to see Bonnaroo legends My Morning Jacket finish out the night from midnight to 3am. Let's hope they DO NOT play 'Highly Suspicious.' What other festival routinely ends around 5am each night?! Fantastic. I've never made the trip to Tennessee for this thing but one of these years, I'll have to give it a shot.
The Current's representin' down there this year. Jill Riley is posting on The Current Blog throughout the weekend.
It's official. My brother is now fully committed after buying his ticket to Chicago. I wasn't gonna hold my breath until I saw the receipt, and now I have. No backing out now, bud. He'll be coming up all the way from Austin to meet me in Chicago for some Perry Farrell-endorsed mania at this year's Lollapalooza. I'm thrilled to have a roommate and enthusiastic concert-goer along for the trip. Plus, I can't remember the last time, if ever, that my brother and I went on a trip together. Lookin' forward to it. Oh, and I'm also looking forward to that band Radiohead. Rumor is that they're a decent live act.
In local concert news, it's been announced that Spiritualized is coming to First Avenue on September 10th. Excellent. The new album Songs in A&E is their best in years, and I've always wanted to see the Spaceman live. I'll also be catching their tour later in the month at ACL.
Bad timing, but while I'm in Austin, Mogwai will be back up here playing First Avenue on the 27th of September. If you want hearing damage, that's the gig for you.
A friend of mine in Austin sent this e-mail to me this morning. I found it entertaining and musically relevant so why not just post it here? I'm not familiar with any of the songs listed, so if you are, let me know if they are truly 'bad ass.'
Here is an email that started to send about 4 years ago. Occasionally I have run across it and thought that I should go ahead and send it. Other times I have thought it was a silly email and should be discarded as a relic from the past. Also, it was never finished. But still, over the years, I keep thinking about this email for some reason. I keep regretting that I never sent it.
So here it is folks. The legendary (in Craig's mind) email that time almost forgot. Actually, let me qualify this, it isn't really an email. It is just a list, I never got around to writing the surround fluff text, as I have done so nicely in this email. It's called "5 Bad Ass Songs You Probably Haven't Heard"
------- 1. Montrose - Rock Candy 2. Run DMC - Here We Go 2001 3. Extreme - It's a Monster 4. Tommy Lee - Fame 2002 -------
You will note that I never came up with a fifth item. I would also like to point out in case of the unlikely event that any of you actually listen to any of these songs, I'm not claiming that they are great songs, I am claiming that they are "bad ass."
I am resisting the urge once again to not send this nonsensical email. I hope that the burden of having sent this will be less than that of having not. Now you all must share my curse.
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
JTM Grade: 65%
The band all us indie kids love to hate is back with what will surely be the best selling rock album of the 2008. Hatred for this band is well documented in music blogs so I'll try not to dwell on my personal biases concerning Chris Martin and his insufferable band Coldplay. I have an open mind. That's my mantra. I'll also go ahead and admit that I never listened to a second of X&Y and have only heard the best singles from Rush of Blood to the Head. So for me, Viva La Vida is a sophomore album, following a good debut, Parachutes and the dynamic duo of singles 'The Scientist' & 'Clocks.' Has it really been eight years since Parachutes?! Sure took 'em a while for a follow-up. What has that goofy guy been up to?
In case you hadn't heard, Brian Eno produced and his influence is all over these new songs. For the most part, this is a good thing. You could easily mistake several songs as U2. Try 'Cemeteries of London' on for size, Bono. Easy to say that's the Eno effect, but we all know Martin brazenly wears his influences on his sleeve, too. Imitations...err...I mean influences aside, Coldplay is at their anthemic best here as demonstrated on the excellent title track 'Viva La Vida,' which you may have seen in a psychedelic Apple ad. Other highlights include 'Violet Hill' and the Radiohead-lite '42.' And so, as a collection of marvelous stand-alone singles, the album is a surprising success. I can't help but like it. Just about any song you choose could be a hit. Unfortunately, there's more going on here than just a bunch of songs. This thing is beggin' for some artistic cred. Chris Martin is a very passionate, sincere dude and some asshole has turned his self-importance knob up to 11. Honestly, I can do nothing but groan at the idea of a Coldplay concept album so I just prefer not to think of it that way. Did my bias come through?
You could argue that turning an entire building in NYC into an instrument that you play on an organ pump is completely absurd. But it's also very cool. I'd sure as hell be waiting in line if I had the chance. Everyone knows how I feel about David Byrne. He's pretty much a genius. That being said, the guy must have lots of time on his hands.
- Black Lips, S/T (LP reissue on clear vinyl) - Joan as Police Woman, To Survive - My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges - N.E.R.D., Seething Sounds - Supergrass, Diamond Hoo Ha - Twilight Sad, Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did
Radiohead has been soundchecking a version of 'The Rip' during their current summer tour but haven't yet included it on an actual set list. Maybe at Lolla. This also happens to be my favorite track off Portishead's Third album.
i'm trying to post from my cell since i'm out of town. John and I saw Retribution Gospel Choir and Mark Kozelek last night @ Varsity. Retribution was fantastic...they played just about every track from their album. Eric Pollard was especially impressive on drums. Kozelek followed by washing us in acoustic sounds and his haunting voice, but alas, it was just too mellow after gettin' revved up by Retribution...he sounded good and all but we couldn't stick it out and left before his set was up. Poor form, I know.
Just as the release calendar was beginning to look sparse after a strong first half, out comes several announcements from across the indie universe. Keep an eye out on those torrents for...
The Walkmen - You & Me (Aug 19) Calexico - Carried to Dust (Sept 9) Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling (Sept 23) Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Oct 7)
The high profile leak of the week goes to Coldplay's Viva la Vida. It could be coincidence but only a day later and Coldplay is now streaming the entire new album on iheartmusic.com. Never heard of the site, but cheers to them.
If you fall in the 'I don't give a shit about Coldplay' camp, go find Deerhunter's highly anticipated Microcastle which also leaked earlier in the week. I highly recommend it.
PopMatters has posted a nice little feature article and interview with Portishead, who returned triumphantly to the music scene this year with their Third LP. And since you asked, yes, the album is incredible. If you're gonna tell me that trip-hop is SO last decade, don't bother. This isn't trip-hop. It's still Portishead (i.e. Beth Gibbons' voice, cinematic, dark as hell), but there's little in the way of hip-hop beats to be found this go-round. I haven't mentioned it before, but Third is easily my pick for AOTY so far, even surpassing the like of Wolf Parade, Nick Cave, Shearwater, etc. To come back after a ten year hiatus and put out material like this is nothing short of amazing.
The schedule for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival was released this morning. The schedule, not the line-up, is typically the make or break of a festival. Luckily, not too many conflicts for ACL, except for on Saturday evening. First we have The Black Keys vs Iron & Wine. Then the headliner face-off is Robert Plant/Alison Krauss vs Beck. I've been especially excited to see Robert Plant live but it'd be hard to not go for Beck in a festival atmosphere. The rest of the entire schedule works out fine for our preferences. Gettin' excited! How come no Lollapalooza schedule yet?!
It's been exactly a year since I first saw Yeasayer live and first heard the fantastic song that is '2080.' I honestly can't remember the last time a tune stuck with me for this long. Seeing as I can't get enough of it, here's a groovy version recorded by Pitchfork.tv this past winter on a cold Brooklyn rooftop.
Bo Diddley, guitar hero, blues legend and innovator of one of the most recognizable and imitated guitar styles in the history of rock (i.e. the 'Bo Diddley beat'), died today at age 79. The list of his those he influenced would be enormous, but I'll namecheck The Rolling Stones and The Who for starters. In fact, I took this History of Rock 'n Roll class in college and the instructor had us listen to Bo Diddley back-to-back with The Who's 'Magic Bus' and it was astonishing how similar they sounded.
Kurt Cobain's remaining ashes were reportedly stolen from Courtney Love's house in Los Angeles! This is disheartening news. Bizarre and just plain wrong. Can there be a market for this sort of thing? However, I couldn't help but laugh at one insightful NME reader's response to the news: "Does anyone know where Keith Richards was the night of the robbery?"
Stay Positive, the fourth full-length from The Hold Steady, doesn't reinvent the wheel so much as showcase a band in its prime, hitting us in full stride with perfectly crafted rock 'n roll. The Hold Steady aren't a rock band, they are a "rock 'n roll" band and willfully embrace every connotation that suggests. They revel in their bar-band aesthetic and low-brow approach. Yet, who are we kidding? They're hipsters and their fans are, too. But I do believe that Craig Finn is sincerely interested in having fun, with a few ballads for good measure.
And there is much fun to be had on the new album. Hold Steady records have an irresitable charm and energy, despite subject matter that tends towards the drug-ridden and fatalistic. Stay Postive is no different, and even refinces Craig Finn's knack for blending irony with sincerity without batting an eye. This time out, some new instruments are added into the mix (e.g. harpsichord, mandolin, etc.) and I'm especially tickled to hear the unapologetic 80's guitar solos. Interestingly, there is a marked decline in Minnesota-centric references but Finn continues to drop mundane details by the dozen. In a search for criticism, I admit they're becoming a tad formulaic, crafting rock 'n roll songs like widgets. Even the song structures are molded perfectly, consistently featuring the best bridges of any rock songs in recent memory. It's hard to criticize them for being too deliberate about this. They do this better than just about anyone else, so why complain? It's working and for me, this is just the rock 'n roll my summer needed. Favorite track so far: 'Joke About Jamaica.'
Stay Positive comes out on July 15th and you can catch 'em live at First Avenue a week later.
Can't get enough of Spencer Krug? Me neither. Check out Spencer and co. in Sunset Rubdown mode for the most recent Black Cab Session. And while you're at it, there's a helluva good catalogue of prior sessions to discover as well. Jovial participants include DCFC, Spoon, Okkervil River, The National, New Pornos and even Daniel Johnston!
She's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward is Him. Together as She & Him they'll be in Minneapolis on Aug. 7th at First Avenue. She & Him's debut album Volume One came out in March and is a great little piece of nostalgic pop, proving that Zooey has the goods, unlike Scarlett who tries oh so hard. 'Course anyone who saw Elf already knew Zooey had a purdy voice. The word at SXSW was that Zooey had a case of visible nerves when performing live but always in an endearing way, and never to the detriment of the songs. She must be getting over the stage freight.
She & Him tour dates: July 23, Toronto, ONT (Opera House) July 24, Northampton, MA (Academy of Music) July 25, Philadelphia, PA (Trocadero) July 26, New York, NY (Terminal 5) July 28, Carrboro, NC (Cats Cradle) July 29, Atlanta, GA (Varsity Playhouse) July 30, Nashville, TN (Mercy Lounge) July 31, Asheville, NC (Orange Peel) Aug. 2, Newport, RI (Newport Folk Festival) Aug. 5, Chicago, IL (Park West) Aug. 7, Minneapolis, MN (First Avenue) Aug. 8, Madison, WI (Barrymore) Aug. 10, Washington, DC (Virgin Mobile Fest)
In honor of Bob Dylan's 67th b-day, here are my Top 15 songs from his enormous catalogue. No big surprises I'm afraid...
15. I'm Not There (from I'm Not There OST) 14. Hurricane (from Desire) 13. All Along the Watchtower (from John Wesley Harding) 12. A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) 11. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid OST) 10. Mr. Tambourine Man (from Bringing It All Back Home) 9. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (from Blonde on Blonde) 8. Desolation Row (from Highway 61 Revisited) 7. I Want You (from Blonde on Blonde) 6. Idiot Wind (from Blood on the Tracks) 5. Ballad of a Thin Man (from Highway 61 Revisited) 4. Subterranean Homesick Blues (from Bringing It All Back Home) 3. Tangled Up In Blue (from Blood on the Tracks) 2. Visions of Johanna (from Blonde on Blonde) 1. Like a Rolling Stone (from Highway 61 Revisited)
Surprising but welcome news from the Austin band Okkervil River. Pitchfork has reported that they're already set to release the follow-up to last year's awesome Stage Names album. Titled The Stand Ins, it's due on September 9th from Jagjaguwar. This is what I like to see from bands. An album a year. Okkervil is on tour but no Twin Cities date. However, I will be able to catch 'em for the first time at Lollapalooza and then later at ACL. Looking forward to it.
I should also mention that Shearwater, fronted by former Okkervil keyboardist Jonathan Meiburg, has their own highly anticipated album due out June 3rd, titled Rook. Not sure if I'll review it properly or not, but I've had it for a while and can tell you that it ranks up there in the Top 5 albums so far this year. Shearwater was recently in town on May 13 at the Entry, oddly paired with Clinic. Haven't seen the surgical-masked Clinic, but I did catch Shearwater at SXSW and they were a definite highlight.
Everyone's fav, Manchester United will defeat rival Chelsea 2-1 in today's UEFA Champions League final held in Moscow Watch. You'll see. I know what I'm talking about.
Literally. Tom Waits has revealed that he's been cast to play the role of The Devil himself in the upcoming Terry Gilliam-directed The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. The film currently still in production recently gained notoriety for featuring Heath Ledger's final role. News of Devil Tom was released in yet another meta-publicity announcement, this one in the form of an interview with himself posted on the Anti- Records website. He's a character, that Tom. If you've already forgotten or just never took the time, I urge you to go here to view his equally oddball press conference from earlier this month. He's sure mastered the publicity thing. Say it with me now: PPEHDTSCKJMBA.
A detail-oriented friend of mine happened across a random Minneapolis concert date posted on Yeasayer's MySpace page and after a bit more research, I discovered that indeed it is true. The Current and Free Yr Radio are co-sponsoring a Yeasayer gig on July 30 here in Minneapolis. No word on the venue yet or any other details. In fact, so far I haven't heard any news of this from The Current and they usually promote the hell out of these things. I'm sure a formal announcement will come soon, if it's already on the Yeasayer and Free Yr Radio calendars. I e-mailed an inquiry over to their blog, so hopefully they'll just come out with the info. sooner rather than later. As for Yeasayer, looks like those wacky dudes are stopping here for a one-off show right before heading on to Lollapalooza in Chi-town. Fantastic news!
Nick Thorburn and The Unicorns' Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? is a perfect album. Too perfect as it turns out. Those damn expectations will forever be looming in the background for me. I desperately want Nick's Islands to repeat that same magic, and I'm always let down. Not fair at all, I know. Islands is a natural extension of The Unicorns. Nick is progressing and definitely going somewhere...he has no reason to look back. Plus, Islands is a very good band, and their debut release, 2005's Return to the Sea, was also very good. But it ain't The Unicorns, and I guess I'll always hold that against them. Fair or not. Just like if Neutral Milk Hotel ever tried to top In The Aeroplane...they just couldn't. Unfortunately, Jeff Mangum knows this and won't even give it a shot. So at the very least, Nick is still working hard and doing it well.
Arm's Way is a testimony to that hard work and it is no small undertaking for the listener either. Eight tracks clock in at over 5 minutes, three of those are 7+. Within a single song, you'll find two or three songs mini-suites within, each with distinctive structures and melodies. More often than not, the compositions are packed full of wondrous pop nuggets, but the schizophrenia can also throw things off track and at times, induce a sort of numbing effect. Can you have too many hooks? For example, there's this wonderful segment from 'In The Rushes' and I keep wishing Nick would just stick with this one melody and chorus, but no, he just teases us with it for maybe a minute before moving on to another thought. You can't just pull out this amazing hook, and leave us hanging there, drooling for more! Well, he does and he can. He does it repeatedly, in fact. And so it's impressive, even if it isn't always satisfying. I'm one of those nostalgic guys, longing for the short, rusty pop songs of The Unicorns. A bit of that will always be there with Islands as Nick continues to play the same game of genre-bending, catchy pop. Only now he's amping up the orchestra, and aiming for something much more grand (and long). Good luck with that.
Good things, when short, are twice as good. ~Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Here's a pic I took of Nick in full whiteface during a SXSW Islands performance earlier this year. They will be in town to play a show at First Avenue on June 3rd. And lastly, head over to Daytrotter for the Islands session let loose earlier today.
It was only a month or so ago that I mentioned Peter Gabriel's backing of new online media discovery service, The Filter. Now, the guy has gone and introduced a new and creative model of producing and distributing music online for unsigned, new musical talent. Dubbed 'Music Club,' Gabriel and co-sponsor, British speaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins, will offer up free studio time for artists to record an album, in Peter's own space no less. Music Club will retain the exclusive distribution rights via a subscription MP3 service for a month or two, before returning full rights of the recordings back to the artists themselves. Not too shabby. Not sure if I'd want to pay for said subscription, but from an artist standpoint, this appears to be an unbelievable opportunity. Haven't read any fine print yet, but keep up the good work, Peter.
NME is reporting David Bowie's approval for the use of his songs in the musical production and remake of Bowie's own 1976 cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth (see creepy still from film above). Things are still in preliminary stages, but director Peter Schaufuss of Denmark plans to debut the musical this fall in his native country. I'll take it a step further and predict the sci-fi Bowie musical will be a sensation. It will then move up the ranks to London, and then Broadway by late 2009. It will be adapted into another feature film, this one starring Jude Law in the Bowie role, to be released in 2011. And at long last, The Man Who Fell to Earth will take home the Oscar! Abba can suck it!
This is my attempt at tabloid news. Britain's two favourite drug fiend rock stars, Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty, have posted a couple of YouTube videos of themselves playing with a litter of mice. Yes, you read that correctly. Winehouse, Doherty and rodents. It was just a matter of time before those three got together. The one brief video I watched was severely dull and I don't feel like posting it here. So if you really want to see it, you're on your own.
Not music related, but sorry folks, this is big news. Two states down (Massachusetts being the other), 48 to go. I can only hope that by the time my son is an adult that gay rights will be a complete non-issue, that he'll look back and wonder how this country could have ever been so backwards as to not allow for same-sex marriage. Similar to how our generation thinks about women not having the right to vote, or more recently, Jim Crow laws. Anyway, a step in the right direction.
As reported by CMJ, road warriors and Minneapolis-nostalgic rock band The Hold Steady have announced a 20+ date tour in support of July 15th's release Stay Positive. Mark down July 22nd for their show at First Avenue. Damn, that's a Tuesday!
Tour Dates For The Hold Steady: 06/08 - Chula Vista, CA - 94/9 Independence Jam 06/27 - Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live! 06/28 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier (The Paul Green School Of Rock Festival)* 06/29 - Brooklyn, NY - McCarren Pool 07/17 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom 07/18 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom 07/19 - Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Festival) 07/21 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre 07/22 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue 07/23 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre 07/26 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party 07/27 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom 07/29 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine 07/30 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon 08/02 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre 08/03 - El Paso, TX - Club 101 08/05 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom 08/06 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa 08/08 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's 08/09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt 08/10 - Charleston, SC - The Pourhouse 08/12 - Carrborro, NC - Cat's Cradle 08/13 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva * with Devo
This is an impressive offering for the new Pitchfork.TV to present Radiohead's incredible New Year's Eve 'Scotch Mist' broadcast for our unlimited viewing pleasures. You can also get it for free from iTunes, and surely elsewhere, but now Radiohead-geeks like myself can embed and stream it in full from our very own geeky blogs, too! Thanks, PTV.
My musical lord and savior David Bowie has too many good songs for this sort of thing. I couldn't even choose a favorite Bowie persona, much less a single song. It stresses me out even to narrow it down to a Top 20. But if you're a bit more decisive or just love 'Fame' like no other, go rock the vote at Uncut's request.
Go here for PopMatters' feature article titled "Animals in Time: Neko Case and the Contemporary Country." But be warned that this is not a typical blog or fluff piece; it's more of a long-form academic analysis into Neko and music. You don't run across articles like this too often. Anyway, I don't recommend it for the casual reader, but it's very interesting if you have the time or just LOVE everything that is Neko Case.
Sorry, I love the guy as much as anyone and the Cure rank up there as an all-time favorite from my youth, but Robert Smith is lookin' a bit old and ragged. Too old to be taken seriously in make-up. Is it just the green lighting or is he a dead ringer for Heath Ledger's Joker, only about 20 years his senior. All the same, I'm curious to hear the new Cure material leading up to the Sept 13 release of their new album. As for touring, The Cure haven't scheduled a date here in the Twin Cities.
Jim James describes the new My Morning Jacket album to Mojo Magazine:
When a record's done, in my mind it looks like a picture. Until we added one final song, it was like looking at a painting that had a bunch of greens, purples and whites, and it just had to have a streak of red through it somewhere. Now I'm seeing the things I need to see.
He never clarifies what he means, but after the very first listen through Evil Urges, it all becomes clear. The dumbfounding third track 'Highly Suspicious' is Jim's streak of red and damn, if it ain't blinding. Imagine a black hole, its gravity destroying everything in its path with psuedo-Prince stylings and distorted, paranoid cartoon chants. Sounds scary, doesn't it? It is. If I heard the song in another context with wittier lyrics, who knows, it could have made a great addition to Flight of the Conchords' repertoire. But not here. It doesn't just not fit, it sticks out like a, well, like a streak of blood red in an otherwise perfectly gorgeous painting. Just like James describes. You gotta hand it to him. He is obviously well aware of the song's effect and it's what he intended. So way to go, man. It worked and it's a shame.
The rest of the album has some stellar songs, albeit with a slight trend towards '70s MOR stylings, almost Jackson Browne or Eagles-like. I hate the Eagles, so I guess it's not the best comparison, but trust me, the rest of the album is quite good. Stand out songs include the Prince-influenced, but in a good way, title track and the easy listening masterpiece 'Librarian.' Much like 2005's Z, Urges continues to show MMJ venturing away from their southern rock jam band tag. Tracks 1-2, and 4-13 are good to near great at times. But to hell with that stubborn red blot that is 'Highly Suspicious' for fuckin' it all up. Luckily for me, I can just go into iTunes, highlight track 3 of 14, hit delete, click "Yes, I'm sure I want to remove this song from my library" and hocus pocus, it's gone. Perfect.
According to cnet, up and coming and musically-inclined social networking site Last.fm (owned by not so up and coming, huge conglomerate CBS) has announced an original video series titled "Last.fm Presents." The programming will initially feature interviews with musicians and concert footage. Moby and Spoon are two early participants.
I think it's safe (and obvious) to say that original web programming is a rising trend in the music industry. I'm talking about professional material, not of the user-uploaded variety. There has been an abundance of music video sites for quite some time, with companies like Viacom (MTV), News Corp. (MySpace), Google, AOL, Yahoo, etc. in the mix, but it's that original programming that interests me. There seems to be another announcement and debut every other week in 2008. Which one will take over and dominate the medium, a la MTV? MTV Networks themselves even? Or will the content remain too niche-oriented for some web-MTV to come along and destroy the competition? The internet in its nature is highly nichy, except for the Googles of the world, so my bet and hope is for the latter. I'm probably wrong. If anyone knows of any good music video sites with original, exclusive series, let me know. I'd love to check 'em out.
I'll post my take on their interesting new album Evil Urges in the next few days, but in the meantime, My Morning Jacket have announced a substantial US tour. They come through Minneapolis on October 2nd for an "evening" at the Orpheum. I prefer MMJ in festival-mode myself, but unfortunately, they're not to be found at ACL or Lollapalooza. Regardless of the venue, they're one of those bands you never want to miss an opportunity to see live, so good news all around. I'll be there. But October?! My god, that seems like a long way out. Looking forward to the show means looking forward to winter's dreadful return. I think I'll keep it out of my mind for now.
Mark Kozelek's Sun Kil Moon is my most recent and beloved musical discovery. Haven't even had the chance to dig into his more well known prior band Red House Painters, but they're high on my list. Definitely check him out. In the meantime, read the PopMatters interview with Mark in which he opens up about his new album, April. Also, mark down June 6th, when Kozelek joins Retribution Gospel Choir at the Varsity.
I wasn't blogging much for the first part of the year, so I thought I'd play catch-up and quickly reflect back on the first four months to carve out the cream of the crop. No particular order, no commentary (other than the category labels), just a list of hits and misses between January - April 2008. But wow, that's a surprisingly long list. How did I ever find time to listen to all of that? Anyway, like any good bell curve, the majority falls into the middle. At the least, go get those essential picks and avoid the bottom tier. Happy listening...
Essential: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! Portishead - Third Gutter Twins - Saturnalia Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair The Black Keys - Attack & Release Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool (reissue)
Recommended: Man Man - Rabbit Habits DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling She & Him - Volume One Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash Retribution Gospel Choir - Retribution Gospel Choir Flight on the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (EP) The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust Autechre - Quarstice The Dodos - Visiter Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing Sun Kil Moon - April The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely M83 - Saturdays = Youth Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid The Breeders - Mountain Battles Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
Pleasant but ultimately forgettable: Times New Viking - Rip It Off Hot Chip - Made in the Dark British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? Beach House - Devotion Guillemots - Red Clinic - Do It! R.E.M. - Accelerate Tapes 'n Tapes - Walk It Off Foals - Antidotes Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid Black Mountain - Into The Future Sons and Daughters - This Gift The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion Kid Dakota - A Winners Shadow Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts
Unpleasant: Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell MGMT - Oracular Spectacular The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Loathed but memorable: Murder By Death - Red Of Tooth & Claw Xiu Xiu - Women as Lovers Peter Moren - The Last Tycoon
I know, I know...this dates back to last year, prehistoric in blog terms, but I happened across it again today and I'm still amazed. A year later and these powerful images from Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West are still the only thing I can think of upon hearing the Arcade Fire song. I wasn't even keen on the track but this brilliant mashup changed its context entirely and now I consider it one of the better songs from Neon Bible. Well done, some guy with lots of time on his hands who posted this. Well done.
Not an official review per se but I wanted to give a quick word of recommendation for The Last Shadow Puppets - Age of the Understatement which was released today by Domino Records. This came out of nowhere for me. Honestly, who knew Alex Turner (of the Arctic Monkeys) was actually so damn talented? Well, who other than the British press that is? I didn't. Blissful, perfect symphonic pop.
Is Beck on the verge of pulling a Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Raconteurs? According to MTV News, the singer is set to release his new, Danger Mouse-produced album in a matter of weeks. While his publicist and label would not confirm the report, sources close to the Beck camp insist that the album could be out as soon as four to six weeks.
Gotta admit, I like this growing trend of full-length album insta-releases without the typical 4-5 month hype and marketing build-up. There's something more pure and equalizing about everyone receiving and hearing a new album at the same time. No advance press to sway or adjust your expectations...just a clean slate for everyone. No outside interference or influence to alter your experience. Plus, I love the idea of a kid hearing a new album from their favorite band at the same time as a record executive or Pitchfork. The privilege of access evaporates if only for a moment. Can't imagine that record labels or the press appreciate it as much, so who knows how commonplace this will ever become. But try to at least appreciate the ideal.
Two months after the release of the 36 song, entirely instrumental and downright boring Ghosts I-IV, Trent and NIN have announced the immediate digital release of a more conventional full-length album. Titled The Slip, it is available for download via theslip.nin.com, and sure enough, it's for free. Trent thanks us all for our continued support.
The only remaining question is whether Trent and Thom Yorke will pull out the fisticuffs at Lollapalooza to settle once and for all which one shall be named Musical Lord of the Internet. I love Thom but you gotta believe he'd lose in a fight...of any kind...with anyone.
After seeing Prince in concert last year, Tom Waits was officially bumped up into the Top 3 of living musicians I HAVE to see before I die, or more likely, before they die. With the recent news that Tom was setting up a summer tour, I was praying for a Twin Cities date, but it's not meant to be. Instead, he's chosen the armpit of Texas (i.e. El Paso) among other Southern locales for his self-proclaimed "Glitter and Doom Tour."
Bitterness aside, check out Tom's amusing YouTube press conference with the details and logic behind his tour schedule.
It pains me to say it, but I like Coldplay's new song 'Violet Hill.' I had every intention of listening to it once, dismissing it as garbage before moving on to the next disposable mp3, but dammit, it ain't half bad. Admittedly, Coldplay's singles are occasionally good and almost always comfortable, even pleasant. That's the perfect word for Coldplay: Pleasant. They could never be offensive to the ears, but I think it's because they are so damn unoffensive...this is what gets under my skin. Then there's that painfully sincere, self-righteous thing goin' on, almost of the U2 variety. Ick. I don't know. It's easy to hate a band like Coldplay, even trendy. I like scores of bands who write "pretty" songs, so I don't know why these guys bug me so much. I'm sure a part of it is that natural inclination of mine to stubbornly resist what the masses embrace. It's an annoying trait of mine, just ask my wife. Anyway...for now I'll give Chris Martin and co. the benefit of the doubt based on this latest single and I'll even give the entire Eno-produced album, obnoxiously titled Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, a fleeting moment of attention.
At Mount Zoomer, awkward title aside, is officially a home run for Spencer, Dan and the gang. It may not pack the immediate punch to the gut as its predecessor, but the new material marks a substantial step forward in songwriting chops. I'm hard pressed to pick my favorite track so far. For now, I'll choose the hilariously titled "Fine Young Cannibals." In perfect symmetry, Dan takes the lead on four songs, Spencer has four and they both sing on the epic 10 minute+ finale, "Kissing the Beehive." All of the trademarks from their debut LP remain (i.e. Dan's swagger, Spencer's lyrical puzzles and snaky melodies), but they have slowed things down just a bit and given the production some breathing room. It's safe to say the whole thing is simply more grand in scope. Is it better than Queen Mary? I'm not willing to go that far quite yet, but maybe...
So I've been trying to figure out what distinguishes Wolf Parade from its members' various side projects, but primarily from Spencer Krug's Sunset Rubdown. You can't deny that Spencer's voice, songwriting and keyboards will always demand attention in any band he happens across. There's just no avoiding that influence. Even Apologies to the Queen Mary's best song 'I'll Believe In Anything' was itself a reworked version of a Sunset Rubdown track. So it should come as no surprise that most of Spencer's WP contributions on Mt. Zoomer are decidedly Rubdowny.
Then what is it that makes Wolf Parade so much damn better than the other projects? It isn't Dan Boeckner, and I don't intend that as a slight. The guy is fantastic on both albums and brings a punkish rock 'n roll presence to the fold. But that's not it. Nope, I think it's that 'gang' I mentioned earlier. Those other dudes behind Dan and Spencer on stage. The drum and bass. The rhythm. They're the actual parade. Their driving bass and propulsive, powerful drumming is what makes Wolf Parade a step above Sunset, Handsome Furs, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, you name it. Compare the two versions of 'I'll Believe In Anything' and it'll be clear as day why Wolf Parade's is so much more affecting. I'd never even heard of their names before looking it up just now on Wikipedia. So I'm taking this occasion to recognize the two formerly anonymous members of Wolf Parade, Arlen Thompson and Dante DeCaro on drums and percussion. Hopefully, a forum with a tad more readership will give 'em some credit.
After releasing one brilliant album per year from 2004-2006, The Hold Steady were disappointingly absent from the 2007 slate. But on July 14, 2008 the middle-aged but insanely energetic sextet will release their fourth album titled Stay Positive. No big tour announcements yet, only some sporadic festival appearances, but I'm sure they'll be hitting the road this fall. Hopefully it'll include a couple of massive nights scheduled here in Craig Finn's hometown. Fittingly, the last time I ended up truly intoxicated at a concert was at a Hold Steady gig. I'll have to take it easy next time.
She's gorgeous, we can all agree on that. She's even a fine actor, or used to be before being type-cast in costume, period dramas and Woody Allen pics. Now, as has been well publicized, Scarlett gives it her all as a Tom Waits cover band. The album titled Anywhere I Lay My Head, hits retail on May 20 and features 10 covers of various Tom Waits songs plus one original composition by Johansson. She has good taste, I'll give her that point. And she's riled up an impressive NY-centric music scene support team in her favor, including producer David Sitek (from TV on the Radio), guitarist Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and a guest appearance on two separate tracks by god himself, David Bowie. But even with all of that ammunition, it's all suspect. I mean god, have you seen The Black Dahlia?!
This exclusive Yahoo Music video is the first look and listen I've come across. Not sure I'm feeling it (her bassy voice in particular) but who knows...if Zooey Deschanel can make the jump, and do it well, why not Jo?
Finally! I'm currently on my second time through and and my initial impression is 'What a fantastic Sunset Rubdown album!!' Review is forthcoming, once I've had more time to absorb. If you're looking for it, try Sordo or At Ease.
VH1 announced a special May 3rd broadcast (that's right, on television) of a Radiohead in-studio performance on the set of Nigel Godrich's From the Basement series. Cleverly titled Radiohead_In_Rainbows_From the Basement, it'll feature tracks from said album, plus a few oldies. VH1 has even offered up a little taste...
Did you hear about the Radiohead tour coming up? Nah, I'm sure you hadn't heard... 5/5 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheater 5/6 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheater 5/8 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheater 5/9 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater 5/11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge 5/14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater 5/17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 5/18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
8/1 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza) - not Mpls, but close enough 8/3 Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center 8/4 Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center 8/6 Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean-Drapeau 8/8 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival) 8/9 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival) 8/12 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center 8/13 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center 8/15 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre 8/19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Thunderbird Stadium 8/20 Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre 8/22 San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Festival) 8/24 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl 8/25 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl 8/27 Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheater 8/28 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
Still no leak, but LP2 finally has a title. And it is...At Mount Zoomer!? Hmm...well, apparently that is the name of their recording studio. Hmph..I preferred Kissing the Beehive but who cares really.
In other, slightly more outdated news, Wolf Parade announced their summer touring schedule. I can now forgive their absence from the Lollapalooza and ACL line-ups since they'll be stopping through Minneapolis to play First Ave. on July 9th. Pre-sale tickets are already on sale.
The highly-anticipated Sly & The Family Stone concert scheduled for this upcoming Friday at First Avenue has been canceled at the last minute and will not be rescheduled. Bummer! I wasn't gonna make it, but surely there were many, many people excited for this this rare live performance. And now they're left with no explanation other than this cryptic press release below.
Due to scheduling conflicts with some of the members of Sly & The Family Stone, the concert slated for this Friday at First Avenue has been cancelled. The date will not be rescheduled. Refunds at point of purchase.
Well, for you disappointed fans out there, I do have some good news. You can take that refund, probably add another $90 on top of it, and see the ageless Neil Diamond!! He just booked a 2nd night at the Xcel Center for this July.
No need for alarm...just doing a wee bit of spring cleaning and updating to take advantage of more recent Blogger features. I have to catch up with the times.
You'll also note that all of my links from the side-bar have been removed. You can now find my links, along with some other nifty information on this page.
Here's a quoted excerpt from a Rolling Stone interview with Metallica dummer Lars Ulrich, who for years has been infamous for his anti-piracy, anti-internet, anti-cute little puppies stance.
"We want to be as free (as) players as possible," Ulrich told Rolling Stone during the band's Northern California appearance for Record Store Day. "We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in 27 years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet."
Not music, not even pop culture related, but sometimes a news story is so horrendous, ridiculous or both that you just have to share it. Here is one such example.
When singing the praises for All Tomorrow's Parties yesterday, I mentioned the Don't Look Back series which has bands performing one of their classic albums live and in their entirety. Personally, I think it's an awesome idea and fan-friendly. However, today I came across an alternate take on this Guardian post by Ben Wardle in which he argues that Don't Look Back points to a larger (and negative) trend within the industry. Here's an excerpt:
The real proof that many acts have effectively become mere tributes to themselves is the growing list of otherwise credible artists who are joining the Don't Look Back stable. DLB is a promotions company which organises shows by bands where they promise to play their most popular record, be it Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (May 23) or Sebadoh's Bubble and Scrape (No? Me neither - well, it's on May 7). Later this year Echo and the Bunnymen will perform Ocean Rain "in its entirety" in Liverpool, and for 21 nights in London from the middle of May you can see top 70s brothers Sparks play every album they've ever made in order of release."
Yep, this has nothing to do with music per se, but I must express how excited I am for the return of Lost tonight. Fans of the show tend to be of the obsessive variety. I grew tired of it about mid-way through Season 3, but Season 4 (this year) kicked it up a notch in quality and so I'm hooked yet again. Hopefully, the post-strike run of episodes will be as good as the pre-strike ones. That is all.
The All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival series is a unique beast in the increasingly generic world of music festivals. First, ATP selects a headliner, often of cult status (say My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth). Then they have that band curate the majority of the line-up themselves. It's not always a band that curates...other creative types, like Matt Groening of Simpsons fame, have had this honor in the past, too. Anyway, it's a fantastic concept and the results are usually varied, obscure and unpredictable. Essentially, you end up with a live mix-tape of someone's favorite acts and influences. Equally cool is that many of the key acts agree to perform an entire classic album as their set.
ATP limits their tickets to a absurdly exclusive number. The just announced ATP-New York festival is selling only 3,000 tickets. And no single day passes for the casual festival-goer. Intead you book a room in a hotel on site, living with up to 8 or so people for 3 days/nights. Kinda like an urban-based Bonnarroo, but instead of camping with 40,000 stinky hippies, you're living in a hotel with 3,000 music snobs and maybe even the artists themselves.
ATP began as an English-based annual festival before branching out into some add'l concert events (the 'Don't Look Back' series) in which bands perform classic albums in full. Then more recently, ATP has been hosting stages at other festivals (e.g. Primavera in Spain, Pitchfork in Chicago). They even have their own record label, ATP Recordings. The market seems a bit crowded over here in the States, but now ATP is boldly crossing the Atlantic to put on ATP-New York this September. By the sound of it, response is good. ATP-NY will be headlined and curated by the aforementioned My Bloody Valentine. They've invited Thurston Moore, Built to Spill, Tortoise and The Meat Puppets to perform classic albums from their back-catalogues. In addition, you can expect to see Low, Mogwai, Shellac, Fuck Buttons and other obscure acts.
The French ambient pop act M83 takes us on another dreamy, nostalgic trip through the synth-heavy 80s on this latest release. There's a marked increase in vocal tracks compared to prior albums' mainly instrumental fare. Truly, Saturdays = Youth is as close to a pop record as M83 is likely to get but the cinematic and retro synth sounds continue to dominate the production, and I mean dominate. If you're familiar with their stuff, you'll know what I mean...if you're not, then just close your eyes and imagine what the 80s sound like and that'll get you pretty close to M83's sound. I mean god, look at the cover art? Is that Molly Ringwald?! As for those vocal tracks, I am less enthusiastic about the lead female vocalist (not sure who it is) than main man Anthony Gonzalez's voice, but on repeated listens what at first came across as cheesy or excessively melodramatic, later reveals itself to be surprisingly emotive. Even as I write this, it's growin' on me.
This little blurb on the demise of the record sleeve got me thinking...I've always been a bit of a music fetishist, preferring a physical album over binary code. I love cover art, the lyrics and all of those little details that go into a package. When done right, it all adds to the music itself. That being said, I got over it and have now fully embraced digital music. I no longer purchase actual CDs, though I do like to pick up the occasional vinyl. Anyway, I figure the best way to sum it up is to do a quick list: the Best and Worst albums covers of all time. Obviously, the options are too overwhelming to really settle on any single choice, but I'll offer up two 'Best' and two 'Worst' for your consideration. Feel free to offer up some good alternatives yourself.
Here's a fun little quiz from eMusic. Just take it on the fly and don't cheat. I scored a 126, which according to their cheeky scale labels me as a...
Mix-Tape Master (109-144 points) You are a music evangelist: the person in your network of friends who always has the coolest new song, the one whose iPod gets picked to DJ every party. You understand the art of the segue, how the key to the best mix-tape isn't just the songs you pick, but how they interlock with each other. You also know who the up-and-coming acts are and are quick to recognise where their influences lie and whether they will make it big. You work hard at the pursuit of this knowledge, scouring music blogs, magazines and record stores. Most importantly, you are generous with your passion – and your friends should be very, very grateful. Still, it’s always good to get new inspiration for your latest mix.
If I was in town this weekend, you can bet I'd be at tonight's highly anticipated Man Man & Yeasayer show at the Varsity. I would have been that guy with his arms crossed, standing motionless off to the side, ever so slightly nodding his head in rhythm; or if he'd had a drink or two, maybe he'd even have some inconspicuous leg shaking goin' on during 2080. Yep, that'd be me. I stand out in a crowd.
Man Man has garnered a reputation as an insane Les Savy Fav-type of live act, but I've yet to catch 'em, dammit. I have seen Yeasayer a few times now and they are a lot of fun and improving with each show I've seen...plus my wife has recently fallen for the dirty fellas, too. It would have been a great date for two old and tired parents. Oh well. If you are in town tonight, and it's not sold out, do me a favor and go for god's sake.
In the meantime, check out Yeasayer's joyfully communal Take-Away show in downtown Paris. Do musicians ever shower?
In an interview with Drowned in Sound, David Byrne broke the news that he had recently recorded an entire album of new material with age-old collaborator and fellow living legend, Brian Eno. As you may or may not know, Eno is one my favorite musical entities of all time, hands down. I'm pretty sure this marks the first Byrne-Eno project since the early '80s. This is big news people! Two true icons, back in the sack. We can't expect Bush of Ghosts-caliber material but you gotta think it will be equal if not better than most of Byrne's solo efforts and miles above Eno-produced Coldplay. Hopefully Byrne's ACL performance will showcase a few of these new songs. As a side note, David Byrne has an excellent blog of his own, much better than your average celebrity-written drivel.
While we're reminiscing about former lead members of legendary 70s bands, who went on to become successful, experimentally-inclined solo artists but have now become quite old in age albeit maintaining surprising good looks and less surprising hipster credibility, check out what Peter Gabriel is up to. I'll have to give it a shot.
Tommy Hilfiger has joined forces with Sony BMG to launch Tommy TV - a new fashion-centric music website featuring live performances of new and established artists.
Pitchfork.tv is a little over a week old now. Enough time for me to explore a bit and and offer up my first impression. If you haven't been there yet, it's well worth a bookmark. They've already debuted some amazingly exclusive performances (like this), original programs, not to mention full-length rock documentary films (on the Pixies, Air, etc.). Hard to find that kind of content anywhere else on the net or on television for that matter. Then there's the music videos. You could probably find most of the videos on YouTube or elsewhere but you can't beat having such an organized, one-stop channel. The viewer is excellent and bug-free thus far. P.tv offers up embedded content, as I've demonstrated below, but only for a subset of the music videos, not for any of the featured or exclusive stuff. So yes, yes, consider me impressed.
My only bone to pick has to do with quantity...you see, I wanted more videos. For some reason, I was expecting Pitchfork, in all their power and influence, to have gathered this enormous and comprehensive library of music videos from the very beginning. The advance hype and publicity had me expecting a 24/7 MTV replacement (sans annoying VJs), and it just isn't to that point yet. P.tv started with about 40 or so videos in the catalogue and continues to post 3-4, maybe 5 new videos each day but that ain't enough. I'm greedy! Granted, it is still "beta" and it's been just over a week, yeah, yeah...it's all about your expectations. Anyway, P.tv is very promising so I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt for now and assume that even better things are still to come.
As I suggested, the line-up took me by surprise in several ways. I am unimpressed with the presumed headliners but in all honesty, I am usually not too interested in the ACL headliners. The great finds are usually in smaller type (e.g. Spiritualized, M. Ward, Yeasayer, Man Man). But still, Foo Fighters as the main act?! Maybe I'm out of touch, but I just don't see them as that type of draw. Am I completely off base?
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss is a great selection. Midnight-Vulture-Beck will be awesome. Sea-Change-Beck not so good. Fogerty is the token old fogie. Mars Volta is a shocker for ACL, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Also excited about David Byrne, though I think we'd all prefer a Talking Heads reunion. Happy to see Gillian Welch on there...in fact, there's a distinct blue-grassy vibe to the line-up, much to the excitement of my wife.
So, it may not be a mind-blower of a line-up but it's definitely top-notch and more importantly, not a retread of past line-ups. Response on the web appears to be strongly negative on the more vocal of message boards, but I'm in no way disappointed. Lots of great acts to see (I count about 25 on my wish list) but as always, it will all come down to the schedule.
Per Austin360.com, here it is! More than a few surprises...and yes, my headliner predictions were WAY off. First impressions??
Foo Fighters Spiritualized Colour Revolt Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Drive-By Truckers Five Times August Beck Ingrid Michaelson Langhorne Slim Manu Chao Stars Sybris John Fogerty Alejandro Escovedo Eli ‘Paper Boy’ Reed and the True Loves David Byrne Jose Gonzales Bavu Blakes and the Extra Plairs The Raconteurs CSS AA Bondy The Mars Volta Del the Funky Homosapien Christopher Denny Gnarls Barkley Man Man Mike Farris Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band Jamie Lidell The Lee Boys N.E.R.D MGMT South Austin Jug Band Erykah Badu What Made Milwaukee Famous American Bang Robert Earl Keen Jenny Lewis Massacoustics Patty Griffin M. Ward Belleville Outfit Tegan and Sara Asleep at the Wheel We Go to 11 Iron and Wine Mason Jennings Band of Heathens G. Love and Special Sauce Heartless Bastards City and Colour Neko Case Antibalas Sunny Sweeney Band of Horses The Nachito Herrera All Stars Elizabeth Wills The Swell Season Shooter Jennings Automata Silversun Pickups Xavier Rudd Bonnie Bishop Gogol Bordello Yeasayer Ben Sollee Gillian Welch Octopus Project Ben Cylus Eli Young Band Joe Bonamassa The Concert Supremes The Black Keys The Kills River City Christionettes Against Me! White Denim Shields of Faith Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels Louis XIV The Jones Family Singers Okkervil River Delta Spirit Nakia and His Southern Cousins Galactic Mates of State Brotherly Luv Kevin Fowler Nicole Atkins and the Sea The Hensley Ensemble Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Electric Touch School of Rock Hot Chip Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears Jambo Vampire Weekend Back Door Slam Q Brothers Slightly Stoopid Tristan Prettyman Buck Howdy with BB Duffy The Strange Boys Uncle Rock Flyleaf Ryan Bingham Big Don Roky Erickson Scott Biram Mr. RAY Yonder Mountain String Band The Freddy Jones Band The Jimmies
This is my first try in what I hope will be an ongoing series of capsule reviews. None of this wordy, clever nonsense...just a score (my favorite part) and a sentence or two. A quick way to find out what I like and what I don't.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
JTM Grade: 95%
A step in the opposite direction from the piano-based records of his recent catalogue, preacher man Nick Cave and his very Bad Seeds pick up right where Grinderman left off last year. Only now he's gone and recorded a thrilling and hilariously haunting masterpiece, perhaps the finest album of his career. The title track is a strong contender for song of the year and proof that Cave is one of the all-time great lyricists.
...Wolf Parade's still untitled album, out on June 17th. I'm giddy with excitement and I don't say 'giddy' lightly. Apologies to the Queen Mary easily ranks up there as one of my favorite albums of the decade so far. Plus, everything Spencer touches is pure melodic gold. My expectations are through the roof.
Visit Stereogum for the first single and a preliminary review that only stirs the hype-pot even further. Damn, how come this hasn't leaked yet?! It's obviously out there now.
Does Spencer look like he's gained a few pounds? I'm glad it ain't just me who added on some winter weight.
Much to my surprise and elation, my wife bought a 3-day pass to Lollapalooza for my birthday. Can you believe that?! Fantastic! If you haven't seen the line-up yet, here it is, but all you really need to know is that it's headlined by Radiohead.
The downside is that she bought me just a single pass so I'm going solo. I'll hopefully be able to drag along her brother and our brother-in-law. My tentative proposal, although I've yet to run this by anyone else, is to try out the MegaBus for an unbeatable cost of $1 to Chicago. I'm not a fan of bus culture, so we'll see...
Our annual Austin City Limits Music Festival trip is back on again this year after missing 2007. The line-up is set to be announced on April 15, but about 30 of the booked bands have been revealed via this clever musical mash-up by Austin's own Car Stereo (Wars). From the mash-up, people have already singled out:
The Raconteurs Neko Case Gnarls Barkley Okkervil River Hot Chip Man Man NERD
and 22 others...
Not a bad start. Other than this official leak, the line-up has been kept surprisingly secret this year. My educated guess for ACL headliners would be Pearl Jam, Neil Young, REM and unfortunately, I'm predicting that Jack Johnson will be there. I'm also rooting for attendance by Wolf Parade and festival favorites Wilco and MMJ.
For the final fest on this year's slate (first chronologically), there's a one-day local Twin Cities event called Rock the Garden with Andrew Bird, The New Pornos, Bon Iver and Cloud Cult. Short but sweet. Outdoor music in Minnesota is unheard of around these parts so I consider this event as groundbreaking news.
