Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne

Into the heart of darkness with noise sleaze duo HTRK

2011-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Friends, Romans, Fellow Wage Slaves! I'm calling to you from deep within the depths of Corporate America, where I'm currently sitting at my desk, struggling to claw myself out from beneath several tedious, largely pointless projects, with self-flagellating lyrics from Swans and HTRK songs floating through my head, and a weary feeling of failure about all my assorted writing/music/career goals clawing at my heart like a mangy, bubonic plague-carrying Failure Rat. I spend the vast majority of my waking hours doing nothing but non-stop Work (work, work), as the new HTRK album is called, but it's like...stuff even really simple 1950s sci fi movie robots could do, or like, highly trained meth-addicted monkeys imprisoned in a sweatshop. It's not that I got a promotion or anything.

So, I mentioned that new HTRK album out now on Ghostly International. Their publicist was kind enough to give me an advance listen and as a result, I wrote this review/article hybrid thing for women-in-the-arts-focused print 'zine C.L.A.P.. I'm proud of this article. I like it. And all the other things I currently LIKE in my life right now are like, "I ate pizza on Saturday night and I thought it might be gross but in reality it was a pretty good pizza, I like that" or "Maybe if I have time on Wednesday night I can catch up on Gossip Girl yeahhhhhh that would be good, everyone's hot on that show, that's something I like, too."

I wanted to share said article/review thing online so I restarted my blog(s). I still don't have a ton of time to update them, but there's just so much damn good music out right now. And as science advances, so will our knowledge of funny animals. And THANK GOD in these trying times, we'll have a couple of forgotten blogs to discuss these things (and also shamefully hint at my love for CW teen dramas.)

So, here's this article/review thing. And here's this blog...again. I hope you'll read it. And maybe consider starting a goth band with me.

(Originally published in the Twin Cities-based feminist 'zine, C.L.A.P.'s Fall 2011 issue. Check them out on FB, too!)

Into the heart of darkness with noise sleaze duo HTRK

HTRK are a band from London-via-Berlin-via-Melbourne frontedby the scariest, toughest girl you’ve never heard of, androgynously ice-voicedJonnine Standish. She’s probably in your basement right now, setting up her great,hulking drum, or putting the finishing touches on your new, unrequested sexdungeon, or shit, I don’t know, MAYBE BOTH. HTRK (or “Hate Rock,” as it’spronounced) are the perfect soundtrack for the final, sputtering days of yourdesperate affair, 4am drugged out despondence, or just for your Leopold vonSacher-Masoch book club. In fact, next time you read the band’s name in yourhead, just pronounce it “Hate Fuck.” Because, really, with all the fevered sensualityand glacial detachment of their LATE NIGHT NOISE SLEAZE, that’s really prettymuch what they sound like. And now, dear “kinda goth” reader, Michiganindie label Ghostly International are finally introducing HTRK to audiences inthe USwith the Sept. 6 release of their second full-length, Work (work, work).

A little background: nigh unto a decade ago, HTRK crawledout of the Melbourne, Australia underground scene andinto the hearts of industrial noisemaker/porn star/sex intellectual Sasha Grey,the Birthday Party guitar player Rowland S. Howard, and failed musician/failedauthor/failed careerwoman/CLAP contributor Alison Stolpa. For awhile, theband’s main promotional photo was an aggressive, full frontal nude of HTRKmembers Jonnine Standish, Nigel Yang, and Sean Stewart, and the band seemed tobe trying to “outskeeze Throbbing Gristle,” (as I wrote back in 2007), with songtitles like “Rentboy” and “Shoot You Up.” Those songs contributed to thegreatness of the band’s Rowland S. Howard/Lindsay Gravina produced 2009 releaseMarry Me Tonight, which came out onMute Records (Nick Cave, Depeche Mode,Liars) imprint Blast First Petite. With tours and one-off shows alongside thelikes of Suicide’s Alan Vega, Lydia Lunch, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Horrors andLiars, the band seemed to be on the rise. (Well, as on the rise as a band thatsounds like a female-led Swans fed through a Suicide effects processor canget.)

Then in 2010, bass player/programmer Sean Stewart took hisown life. Work (work, work) is acollection of the then trio’s 2006-2010 era recordings, a sort of memento morifor Standish and Yang’s departed friend and bandmate. HTRK’s signature topicsof desire, submission and degradation return for another late night slinkthrough the flickering fluorescent lights of corporate hopelessness, but it’s aless cohesive affair than the self-proclaimed “pop record” Marry Me Tonight. There are fewer immediate standout tracks likealbum highlights “Skinny” and “Synthetik,” although Work contains a decent smattering of sleepers like “Bendin’” and“Slo Go.” As always, the band employs chopped-and-screwed slooooow 808s andbristling synth menace to take listeners on an atmospheric journey into theduality of seduction and desolation. Album opener “Ice Eyes Eis” is an actualrecording Stewart made of late night Berlin TV sex channel ads layered overambient noise and slowed down by Nigel Yang, in which a breathy Teutonic lustpurveyor whispers empty promises to lonely viewers, and for a band so hellbenton portraying flat-lined emotions and atrophied desire, there’s nothing morepoignant than the thought of the late Sean Stewart staying up all night torecord the empty promises of sex and love for sale. Work (work, work) may not be HTRK’s strongest, but at times itseems almost as if, the band is working their way at a Robo-tripped outsloooooow pace towards the still beating heart of all that noise sleazedarkness.

Pitchfork 2010: Countdown to Irresponsibility

2010-07-13T13:22:00.001-07:00

I am leaving my workaday existence behind in 18.5 work hours (but who's counting) and heading down to Chicago for this year's Pitchfork Festival. You might be surprised by this, since I neither a) own neon pants or b) rock a beard and a flannel shirt. But know this: Pitchfork is pretty awesome. There's the incredible Flatstock poster show!!! There's the possibly even more incredible record fair, including a stand from the phenomenal Permanent Records, where I dropped like 300 unplanned American dollars last year! They have vegan ice cream--that's super good and not at all disgusting!!!! There was also something else last year that I remember totally enjoying eating even though now for the life of me I can't think of what it was!!!! And best of all, WAIT FOR IT, it takes place in the same city that inspired the TGIF laugh-a-thon Perfect Strangers!

Also Permanent Records has a store cat if you go to their actual physical retail location. And lots of French noise rock. FRENCH NOISE ROCK.

This year I am jazzed about the following performers:

Washed Out!
Beach House!
Liars!
Robyn!
Kurt Vile!

I would provide links to their tunes but I can't visit MySpace pages at work (where I am totally NOT slacking off and typing this).

Swans tour dates! Maybe this will be the year I finally go to Detroit????

2010-07-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

You guys, I am being forced to make THE HARDEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. I have this $250 travel voucher on American Airlines, and I can't decide where to go. I want to visit my friend in LA who I haven't seen in a year plus. But SWANS are playing in New York. I would totally hate myself if I missed this Swans "not a reunion" tour. Wait...maybe that's what Swans would want????

Oh God, I drank too much coffee I think I'm going to die.

09-28 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theater
09-29 Washington, DC - Black Cat
09-30 Boston, MA - Middle East
10-01 Montreal, Quebec - Pop Montreal Festival
10-02 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-04 Detroit, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
10-05 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-08 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Masonic Temple
10-09 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10-22-24 Birmingham, England - Supersonic Festival

Crystal Castles release awesome new album, schedule NOT AWESOME tour

2010-06-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Crystal Castles are not coming to Minneapolis this summer. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHZKZYZYZYZYFRUSTRATION. They are playing in so many other places, though, and I am so resentful (read: lazy) that I am not even gonna type out all these locations for you. You'll just have to find out yourself by going to their MySpace page and listening to "Celestica" my #1 jam of the moment right now. In fact, after this, when I clean my room, I'm gonna listen to this song! I know, I know, I'm supposed to be telling you about music not BLOWING YOUR MIND.

Anyways, the new Crystal Castles album is awesome, and I'm intentionally writing about them because I'm trying to regain my "I like dark things" cred, but that's probably not gonna happen by writing about an album that samples both 10CC's "I'm Not in Love" and Stina Nordenstam, now is it. My other reason is because a friend once told me I look kinda like Alice Glass, and I like that because I think she's pretty hot. But also she seems way more badass than I am, which is a downer. I mean, what are Crystal Castles gonna do tonight? Probably fuck shit up in some former Soviet Bloc country and then teach monkeys how to smoke cigarettes. Tonight I'm gonna fold some towels and watch revisionist Westerns. Ok, I might go to the bar later, too, but I don't smoke so I wouldn't be any good at getting a monkey hooked on the habit. :-(

Washed Out: a side by side comparison

2010-06-06T18:10:00.001-07:00

At the risk of this blog completely derailing from its original "I like post-punk, I'm soooooo goth!!!!" purpose, here's another band that isn't depressing. (I know, I am as confused by my recent interest in music that doesn't make you want to drink absinthe and cry, too.) This time around it's Georgia-based one man band Washed Out. "Feel It All Around" is a summery, vaguely 80s-esque song that is (YESSSS!) kinda melancholy. At least it is to me, but hey, I can find that kinda sad bastard vibe anywhere. I love this song. I am going to listen to it all summer and reflect upon the transitory nature of happiness and the changing nature of memory or something else that sounds like it was lifted from the Wikipedia description of Last Year in Marienbad.

But the real reason I chose to write about this band is because when I google imaged the phrase "Washed Out," one of the first results was a picture of Sienna Miller from a lengthy Daily Mail story about how she totally looks like shit because she has been hanging out with Rhys Ifan. (DON'T FREAK OUT, JUDE: THE STORY'S TWO YEARS OLD.) There's a lot of photographic evidence, including before and after photos!!!!! And I thought that was funny. God, I love the Daily Mail. So here's a picture of Washed Out, the band, and Washed Out, the Sienna Miller. Let's judge them together, shall we?

The band

The actress

Prepare to have your life changed

2010-05-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

...by Joi Lansing and SCOPITONE!!!

From Wikipedia:

Joi Lansing="model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer"

Scopitone="a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component"

They left out the part about Scopitone being completely, mindnumbingly awesome. Check out this clip of Joi Lansing singing "Web of Love." The great thing about this video is that halfway through you're like, "Yeah, this is pretty awesome 60s exotica kitsch," then it just gets...weird. Like "Should I be seeing this? Does that snake man live in the sewer system under my city?" weird. A definite must see.

Oh wow! I like a Caribou song.

2010-05-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

I'm updating this blog! So you know that means there's something else I should be doing (in this case, a lot of something elses--I just got back from a week and a half in London), and now I've decided to procrastinate--er, update my blog because it has gone neglected for so long.

I've never been a huge Caribou fan, although I WAS a fan of when the artist--originally named Manitoba--was forced to change his project name due to pressure from the Dictators' frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba. Because that's just funny. And because YEAH there was just like this huuuuuge chance of the two getting confused. Anyways, this song is my Official London Party Anthem of 2010. This song was on constant rotation--or so it seemed--and was behind a dance party or two. I don't know what exactly is going on this video (mainly um, because I never have watched it all the way through--WHAT? I'm busy), but it doesn't matter.

May 21 MEXICO CITY, MX - Teatro Fru Fru *
May 24 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Independent
May 26 PORTLAND, OR - Hawthorne
May 28 VICTORIA, BC - Sugar
May 29 VANCOUVER, BC - Rickshaw
May 30 GEORGE, WA - Sasquatch
May 31 CALGARY, AB - Republik *
Jun 01 EDMONTON, AB - Starlite *
Jun 02 SASKATOON, SK - Amigo's *
Jun 03 WINNIPEG, MB - Royal Albert Arms *
Jun 04 MINNEAPOLIS, MN - 7th St Entry
Jun 05 DAVENPORT, IA - Rock Island Brewing Co. *
Jun 07 ST. LOUIS, MO - Firebird *
Jun 08 LOUISVILLE, KY - Zanzabar *
Jun 09 CLEVELAND, OH - Grog Shop *
Jun 10 HAMILTON, ON - Casbah $
Jun 11 HALIFAX, NS - Paragon
* with Toro y Moi
$ with Vowls

Listen to this High Places song so I can go watch Mad Men

2010-03-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

Check out this band High Places. I recently discovered them on my all-time favorite radio station, Radio K. (Their fund drive is coming up--give them money! I will be!) They are currently based out of LA, it seems. SIGH. Like everything but me.

Here are two reasons to like them:
1. Their MySpace has a weird picture of what looks like the English folklore figure of the Green Man made out of super stringy asparagus. Actually that may not be a reason to like them. My personal jury is still out on whether that's kind of awesome/kinda funny or just like, 80% straight up gross. But this next reason is a REAL reason!
2. Their track "On Giving Up" is sooooo good!!! I have listened to it like 15 times today. It is so good, in fact, that I actually have trouble deciding between listening to this song and watching Mad Men Season 3. And as you know, last week all I wanted to do in the entire world was watch Mad Men Season 3. I mean, WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN WITH BETTY AND DON???? THIS SONG IS SO GOOD IT WON'T LET ME FIND OUT!

In case you're wondering, I guess it sounds like an electro Cocteau Twins/Tickley Feather on Thrill Jockey. Oh! Also they are on tour right now. Due to my Mad Men duties I will not be posting all the dates, but they're on the band's Myspace in abundance. Mpls residents, take note: they're here on Friday at the Triple Rock.

Happy Spring! Here's April March

2010-03-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

I love this song! It just says Springtime in Paris(or possibly Pittsburgh, based on the video). It makes me think of that perfume commercial where that impossibly elegant young Frenchwoman floats above The City of Lights, hanging on to a giant pink balloon and it just makes you HATE HER because everything is so damn charming and lovely and in 10 hours you're going to have to wear business casual and answer phone calls. EVEN THOUGH THIS CHICK'S LIKE 12 STORIES ABOVE GROUND, WITH NOTHING TO KEEP HER FROM CRASHING TO A PAINFUL AND TOTALLY NASTY DEATH EXCEPT FOR A HUGE AND POSSIBLY ALIEN BALLOON, YOU'RE STILL JUST TOTALLY JEALOUS OF HER PERFECT BEAUTIFUL FRANCE LIFE. It's like that. Except for I really like this song and it just makes me feel happy. So yeah, basically nothing like what I said before.

HAPPY SPRING!

RIP Sean Stewart of HTRK

2010-03-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

Longtime readers of this blog know that HTRK is my favorite new(ish) band. That's an understatement. I love and adore this band's bristling Suicide-influenced synthtacular post-punk. So I am pretty bummed about this. RIP, dude. Your shows and music were/are incredible beyond belief.

Post SXSW Slow Motion Replay: Vol 1

2010-03-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

I said this would be Vol. 1 so in case I get lazy next week, I can submit Vol. 2. You like how I did that? I took something with hardly any effort--listing bands I saw at SXSW last week--and made if even lazier! Clearly this is the work of a master.

So anyways, I was at SXSW last week for my sixth time. I am very proud of that, although I can't really say why. Congrats, me, I've been somewhere a lot! I gained 5 lbs in enchilada weight, partied at the creepy elegant Driskill Hotel, and swam in my precious, beloved indoor/outdoor pool. And now I am soooooo exhausted and hermit-y that all I wanna do is sit by myself and watch Mad Men and Twin Peaks on DVD. WEIRD. I am almost never hermit-y. Anyways, here are some of the bands I saw and liked apart from the ones mentioned last week (most of which I did end up seeing).

Zola Jesus
I can't stop listening to the song "Night." Plus all of her album artwork is amazing and makes me wish I was in her band. (Pictured above.)

A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Have I talked about this band before? I don't know. And Mad Men Season 3 is calling so I am not gonna look. Anyways, this band kinda reminds me of late Cocteau Twins. Which is weird b/c I looooove early Cocteau Twins but can't really get down with the later stuff...but I think this band is great.

Uffie
You may be shocked to find that I don't spend my life constantly buying vintage clothes and skulking around graveyards hoping to meet someone else who shares my deep and undying love of Nick Cave. That is just not true. You see, I also love my dirty French rap. (Yes, I just read Uffie's wikipedia and found out she's based in France, not actually French...but I'm gonna say it anyway. Just this one last time. Gotta watch Mad Men not police the facts.) Anyways, "Ready to Uff" and "Hot Chick" are hot jams.

Annual SXSW Roundup: Via Tania, Lissie, Liars, Blessure Grave, and Ya Ho Wa 13

2010-03-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air here in Minneapolis. It's the time of the year when all the people you thought might have died and been eaten by their cats all winter reappear from their seclusion and prove you totally, joyfully wrong. It's a time when you can walk to bars without fear of falling on ice or just straight up being super cold. And so now, on this the cusp of the seasons, I am getting the hell away for the yearly magic that is...South By Southwest. And thus it is time for the Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne Annual SXSW Roundup. Yee haw!!!

Here are some bands I want to see at SXSW. I am not going to type out when they are appearing because my carpal tunnel, she is a-ragin'. Margaritas! Enchiladas! Iced lattes! And an overwhelming impression that everyone walking past you might JUST MIGHT be hot b/c you're drunk and a higher than average percentage of people are not wearing the Mpls Dude Uniform (i.e. flannel. It never stopped being the 80s/90s here.) We salute you, indie rock spring break!

Ya Ho Wa 13
Ya Ho Wa 13 is a psychedelic rock band from the 70s who were (are?) also part of a religious cult/commune with its own vegetarian restaurant. I think that's really all anyone needs to know. Rumours are circulating that they'll be playing with Husker Du's Grant Hart. YES.

Liars
I love Liars! But you already knew that. I was super excited to see that they had been added to the roster. I also read some interview when I was bored at work where the band cited Nathaniel West's Day of the Locust as one of the sort of inspirations behind their new album, Sisterworld. I love that book!!! OMG LOL we have sooo much in common.

Via Tania
I can't explain what it is that kinda gets me about this Australian-born Chicagoan's delicate songs. Watch this video. You might not "get" it right away, but cooking has never ever seemed so enchanted. You almost expect a unicorn to pop out of there and be all like, "Hey do you want me to stir something? Ooh, looks like the water's boiling." Truly the most culinary-minded of the mythic beasts, they are. Also "Fields" on her MySpace page is good, too. Also: our girl looks a bit like Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks so I am automatically in love with her. (That's her in the picture above, looking slightly less Audrey and more Bat for Lashes.)

Lissie
Lissie is on Fat Possum. Some of her songs are getting a lot of play on radio here, but I don't really like those songs that much (possibly mostly because they are super overplayed...who knows.) You know what I do like? Her cover of Hank Williams' "Wedding Bells." Ow!!! Did you just hear that? It was the sound of my heart breaking.

I fancy that I see a bunch of roses/
a blossom from an orange tree in your hair/
and while the organ plays "I love you truly"/
please let me pretend that it's me there

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh my soooooul it is withering and will never be the same. Lissie, why are you doing this to me?? Ok, yes, I will hit repeat.

Blessure Grave
Some people I know don't like Blessure Grave. Those people suck. Indie goth bands 4eva. It is my dream to be in a band where we, too, use blurry photos of ourselves wearing cloaks.

Black Francis + Golem = match made in heaven...or something

2010-02-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

Frank Black/Black Francis/whatever his name is scored a 1920s German Expressionist film back in 2008! How cool is that? I love 1920s stuff, The Pixies, and silent films. 2008, eh not so much. But beyond that, how can you lose?

You can't when the aforementioned film is The Golem!!!! Who doesn't wanna watch a film about golems? I'll tell you: CRAZY PEOPLE. You can--after deciding on your level of sanity/how you want to spend the next four minutes--watch a clip below.

And if you're one of 500 lucky people, you can get this fancy boxset thing of Black Francis' work on the film, which originally aired at San Francisco's Castro Theatre.

Here are some details from Pitchfork, which I have quoted in full because I want to go to bed now:

The box is for sale on Francis's website, and there's a whole lot packed into it: Two discs of music taped at the Castro Theatre, two discs recorded in the studio, a DVD with the film synced to Francis's score, photos, and a book with Francis's handwritten notes and music. Eric Drew Feldman, who co-produced Francis's forthcoming LP NonStopErotik, serves as producer. Francis himself is autographing and hand-numbering the boxes, which are limited to 500 copies.

Beach House makes world's greatest holiday, Record Store Day, even better

2010-02-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

As frequent readers of this blog will know, there is no greater holiday than RECORD STORE DAY!!!!!!! (Ok, except maybe--definitely--Halloween.) (And also OH SO COINCIDENTALLY, you will know that no band has better press photos than Beach House. Look at 'em! They're having a seance or some shit.) Anyways, Record Store Day is the best because, if you work at a participating record store, not only do you get a commemorative t-shirt, but maybe you, the hungry employee, can prize some complimentary, congealing pizza from the greedy hands (er, I meant splendid hands, WE LOVE YOU!!!!) of a customer. (What? You're there for like 7 hours and you're hungry. That guy has been there for all of fifteen minutes.) And the best part of all is the Record Store Day exclusives.

Last year it was some thing from Jesus Lizard that I did not get but if someone wants to get it for me off of E-bay right now, that would be pretty awesome. This year my personal most coveted RSD exclusive (mostly b/c I haven't heard of anything else yet, but come on, you know I love them) is a Beach House EP entitled Zebra. It contains four tracks, including something called "10 Mile Stereo (Cough Syrup Remix)," and while I have never drank a bottle of cough syrup, I am still totally intrigued by the concept...once you factor in Beach House. (Why? I figure you'd see leprechauns and maybe Three Six Mafia. And also have the added bonus of doing something super trashy. Fascinating!) Anyways, Record Store Day falls on April 17 this year, so that's pretty much your (non-Ebay) day to get this thing. Do it! Because then later you can give it for me when you forget my birthday.

Tracklisting:

01 Zebra (UK Radio Edit)
02 The Arrangement
03 Baby
04 10 Mile Stereo (Cough Syrup Remix)

2010-02-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

I know this video is kind of old, but it's also really good. Maybe you're thinking that the fairly straightforward indie rock of Department of Eagles doesn't really fit with this blog's exclusive Liars/Nick Cave-based news feed. Well, that's where you'd be wrong. (Seriously, that is all I write about. And let me tell you, does it ever draw in the erectile dysfunction spam bots! What are those bots saying about Liars fans? HMMM....)

For one thing, this song is called "No One Does It Like You," and I tend to really like songs about the unparalleled awesomeness of the performer, or the person the performer is singing about. I take it as a personal compliment. (Possibly this is why I have a fondness for mainstream rap. I'm talking about you, Rick Ross' "Magnificent.") As in, "no one does it like you, Alison. No one haphazardly blogs about funny animals and the same three bands like you do, girlfriend. And the way you accidentally cut your bangs too short but then they ended up looking like Penelope Cruz's in Broken Embraces? That's incredible! That would only happen to you." Whoa--Penelope Cruz, you say? MY GIRLFRIEND???? It's true, song, I really am remarkable. Why yes, I WILL press the repeat button.

This is Pene and her hair. Our bangs are JUST EXACTLY ALIKE!!!! But unfortunately that's about where the similarities end.

The other thing awesome about this video is that it was directed by Marcel Dzama and it's a poignant meditation on ghosts at war. Or something like that. Adorable and weird, all in the same place=my kind of video.

Nick Cave, Shane MacGowan and friends put their powers together for non-evil

2010-02-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile ONCE AGAIN since I posted. This is due to a combination of me being super super busy, suddenly realizing that I can't stop watching Big Love and TERRIBLE TERRIBLE writer's block. Which is why I'm back to writing about music and funny animals; I have to write 5 pages of a screenplay for Thursday (See the "super super busy" comment. I'm taking several classes this winter.) and I figured, "hey, I can write some bullshit about this weird new Nick Cave/Shane MacGowan Haiti benefit single and then I'll stop feeling like there's a Berlin Wall between the part of my brain that should be having thoughts and the part that should be putting them into articulate statements." So behold! Here you go! Ugh, what am I talking about. I promise you that nothing good can come of taking the 2 minutes or however long it takes to read this. You will instantly want that 2 minutes of your life back.

Still reading? Your loss. Anyways, Shane MacGowan of the Pogues/living-with-Pete-Doherty-in-the-most-ridiculous-roommate-pairing-ever fame has assembled an all-star cast of people too cool for Simon Cowle's "Everybody Hurts" Haiti benefit single or that destined-to-be-abysmal remake of "We Are the World" to make A WAY BETTER CHARITY SINGLE. (Seriously, "We Are the World" people. Haven't Haitians suffered enough????) The single of choice is a cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You," which is obviously a pretty fantastic song. Rumored participants include MacGowan himself, DFCC favorite Nick Cave, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and um, Johnny Depp. Because why not? He was so awesome as Hunter S. Thompson.

Some crap I wrote about the Liars new album/tour

2010-01-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am back to updating the blog, in case you couldn't tell from my drool-covered post about the latest minimal details available concerning the new Swans album/tour. Sorry for the delay. I will try to suck less at updating this...but you and I both already know I will fail. WHAT? Sometimes you wanna go to the bar more than sit alone with your computer. Ok, all the time.

Anyways, you may already know that a new Liars album is in the works. Entitled Sisterworld, and set for a March 9 release on Mute, the album now has the added bonus of some pretty rad artists contributing remixes. People like Thom Yorke, Tunde Adebimpe, Bradford Cox, Chris & Cosey, The Melvins, Blonde Redhead and Alan Vega (who also contributes a duet to the album.) If you wanna get deep into it, check out the new album's website. You can also get a download of Liars' new single "Scissors" there. The site looks pretty awesome but for all I know it could be some next level Myst the game style marketing shit. My computer is being all crazy slow and messed up. (I think it has SAD. This winter is depressing kinda.)

Here's a tracklisting:

Scissor
No Barrier Fun
Here Comes All The People
Drip
Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
I Still Can See An Outside World
Proud Evolution
Drop Dead
The Overachievers
Goodnight Everything
Too Much, Too Much

And here are some tour dates! The "More TBA" better get expanded to a Mpls tour date. Because as has previously been mentioned on this blog, it is my goal to one day marry Angus Andrew in spite of my oft-discussed "I'm never getting married" stance. Dude, I know like five people who became ordained ministers through the internet. We can make this happen. I will love you in spite of your new mustache.

Liars - 2010 Tour Dates
4/10/10 - El Rey Theatre @ Los Angele
4/14/10 - Rock & Roll Hotel @ Washington, DC
4/15/10 - Bowery Ballroom @ NYC
4/16/10 - First Unitarian Church @ Philadelphia
4/17/10 - Paradise @ Boston
4/18/10 - Music Hall of Williamsburg @ Brooklyn
4/27/10 - Slim's @ San Francisco
4/29/10 - Hawthorne Theatre @ Portland, OR
4/30/10 - Venue @ Vancouver, BC
5/1/10 - Neumos @ Seattle
More TBA

New Swans! New Swans! OMG!

2010-01-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

It's a 2010 miracle! Today Michael Gira, or his intern, or whoever updates the Swans MySpace page changed the band's display name from "Swans Are Dead" to "Swans Are Not Dead." Like a hard-rockin' phoenix rising from the ashes of the late 90s, the group's reformation announcement has sparked a light of nihilistic hope (???) in my icy goth heart.

A new song, "Jim," is available for your listening pleasure on the aforementioned MySpace page. It and several other acoustic versions of tracks that are being considered for the new Swans album will be available on a super limited (1000 copies only) release called I Am Not Insane, which also includes a DVD of two live Gira performances. This is a homemade release. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT MICHAEL GIRA IS SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN HIS LIVING ROOM RIGHT FREAKIN' NOW SEWING UP THE LITTLE PAPER SLEEVES AND CUTTING OUT PICTURES FROM FASHION MAGAZINES TO USE IN COLLAGES FOR YOUR VERY OWN PERSONAL ALBUM. I know because I put a camera in his house.

This release, which will be available from Young God Records, goes towards defraying the cost of recording the new Swans album.

But what I'm really excited for is...TOURING. Yes, tours (multiple) have been promised.

In addition to M. Gira, the following people have signed on:

Norman Westberg – Guitar (original swans)
Christophj Hahn – Guitar (mid period swans and most angels)
Phil Puleo – Drums, percussion, dulcimer etc etc (final swans tour and most angels)
Chris Pravdica – Bass and gadgets (flux information sciences / services/ gunga din)
Thor Harris, Drums, percussion, vibes, dulcimer, curios, etc etc... (angels, now also with shearwater)

SXSW 2010 woooooooooooo!!!! Um, let me tone that down a little.

2009-11-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

OK. I'm skipping town today for that family holiday where my family makes fun of me for being a vegetarian and helpfully suggests, "Have a dinner roll! There's six different kinds of Jello!" So this post is a race against time. I have 18--no 17 minutes--in which to wash my water glass, use the bathroom, and make a brief, futile attempt at humor in this post, the only post I will be making this week because the internet we steal from our neighbors has been suspiciously on the fritz and frankly I plan on spending the whole extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend boozing it up, reading a book, and going to that new movie where foxes dress like English country gentleman. (You dress up anything like an English country gentleman and I'm guaranteed to love it. Including English country gentlemen, although mainly I'm talking about voles and dormice and stuff. Except for (people-wise) Bridey in Brideshead Revisited. He was just a TOOL.)

So I'm just going to link to THE FIRST ROUND OF BANDS LISTED FOR SXSW 2010. I KNOW YOU'RE EXCITED. YOU'RE THINKING "OMG, THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD LAZY, LAST-MINUTE POST." Yeah, well, you'll stop thinking that when you click on the link. I haven't heard of most of these bands, which is weird for me, and I don't particularly feel like I've been paying rent to live under a rock. So if you guys have any suggestions as to which of these bands I should've heard of, I'm all for it. Suggest away!! Eh, Acid Mothers Temple is always cool.

New Liars album allegedly happening

2009-11-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

So, this is barely news (it's distinctly lacking in "facts"), but I don't care because I love the band Liars and I have this creepy--let's call it an "interest"--in lead singer Angus Andrews. Because, as previously mentioned, I think he looks like a young Nick Cave and sometimes he wears a white suit and you know, again, it's like that Pet Shop Boys song I quoted on my funny animal blog:

Love comes quickly/
whatever you do/
you can't stop falling/
ahhhh-oooo ahhhh-ooo

It's like that.

So rumor is that Liars have a new album, based on the "cryptic" appearance of this website. And purportedly this album, presumably titled Sisterworld, will be coming out early next year on Mute. WOW! Information Overload!!!!! Let's hope this means a tour...a tour into MY BEDROOM!!!!!!!!!! Oh dip.

Peter Murphy, nooooooooooooo!!!!

2009-11-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Pitchfork is reporting that Peter Murphy of Bauhaus has signed on to play a hard-working city cop torn between the blue collar camaraderie of his urban Philadelphia squad and his secret life as a super flamboyant Miley Cyprus impersonator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/interior decorator in the next Twilight movie. Not the one that's out or coming out now (sorry, I don't keep track, sometimes I just see the previews when I'm watching highbrow ADULT entertainment like, um Gossip Girl.) The next one. And of course I made all that crap up. He's playing...a vampire. OF COURSE.

Dude, I love you, but do you have to be the vampire-on-call? Murphy also appeared in The Hunger, which for obvious Catherine Deneuve/David Bowie/it was the 80s reasons, was way cooler. Oh hey, um, Peter, I'm hosting a spooooky Halloween party at my house next year, do you think you could portray a vampire? JK, Peter, I love you!!! But still.

Yay! Halloween Videos from Screaming Jay, Screaming Lord Sutch, and um, Nick Cave

2009-10-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Okay. This is it. I am satisfied. I have found my Halloween post. And if I do say so myself, I am rather pleeeeeased with my selections.

2009-10-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Dear UK friends:

"Rediscovered 60s garage psych blah blah blah guy" Rodriguez is coming to visit you! What an enchanting holiday season it will be. But enough about that.

I'm really miffed that I couldn't come up with any spooooky Halloween news, or even a video, to post today. I mean, I think I posted the video for the batacular (Get it? Like "spectacular" but with the word "bat"? Yikes, the fact that I wrote that bums me out possibly even more than it does you. But I gotta turn the Halloween factor up to 5,000 in this post SOMEHOW.) awesome Bauhaus' Bela Lugosi's Dead last year or maybe two years ago, so what else can even compare? OK, I'm gonna find something. ANYTHING Halloweeny.

12.07.09 - Manchester, England - Deaf Institute
12.08.09 - Bristol, England - Thekla
12.09.09 - London, England - Union Chapel

2009-10-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Two great things that will be evident from this post: 1) I have rediscovered how to keep images from turning into giant close-ups of nothingness that go off the page and are usually like, people's arms or a guitar fret or something, anything, that is not what I chose the picture to convey and 2)Marissa Nadler is touring!

I first heard of Marissa when I was living in London and decided to check her out because the description in Time Out sounded vaguely like it might be cool. Again, this is one of those artists I figured was all hype and wouldn't resonate with me at all, but WOW was I totally wrong b/c now I absolutely love her and am eagerly awaiting November 18 when she comes here on her tour with Alela Diane. See? I am so into it that I MEMORIZED THE DATE. (Yeah, I know that's not exactly impressive. What can I say? I am counting down the hours till I can leave work and start doing Halloweekend activities. My brain is dried up.)

Marissa's latest, Little Hells is a continuation of all the stuff that's fantastic about her: haunting melodies, depressing songs about people who sound like they all lived during the Depression and worked on a carnival or possibly a traveling medicine show. (So yeah, basically now that I think about it, my entire imagination is just a replay of early 90s teen girl slumber party fave Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Weird.) The fun thing about updating my blog at work is that I can't post music links, though,so you'll just have to google that shit on your own.

10.30.09 - La Jolla, CA - The Loft
11.01.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
11.03.09 - Austin, TX - The Cactus Cafe
11.04.09 - Fort Worth, TX - The Fort Worth Modern Museum
11.05.09 - Baton Rouge, LA - Chelseas
11.06.09 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
11.07.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
11.09.09 - Carrboro, NC - Arts Center
11.10.09 - Washington DC - DC9
11.11.09 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe
11.13.09 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
11.14.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
11.15.09 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
11.16.09 - Toronto, ON - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
11.17.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
11.18.09 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
11.20.09 - Denver, CO - Hi Dive
11.21.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court

Nick Cave FACTS revealed

2009-10-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Did you like how I did that? All Inside Edition style? I led you to believe I have exclusive facts--which I do--facts "gleaned" from Pitchfork. You just experienced shoddy journalism in action!

Here's what's going on with Mr. Nick:

-Just released a new novel, The Death of Bunny Munro. Someone let me know how it is, as I am trying to save money/have been reading the same 800+ page book forever because I like going out too much to actually stay in and read it and so I can't afford/have time for a new book, even Nick's. (The book I'm reading is Peter Matthiessen's Shadow Country. In case you were wondering, I love every single one of the aforementioned 800 pages. Swoon!)

-He has teamed up with John Hillcoat, director of the Cave-pennedThe Proposition and the Grinderman videos PLUS MORE, to write a new screenplay. But don't take it from me! "I've written another film script for John Hillcoat for a new movie. It's from a book called The Wettest County in the World, and it's set in the depression," he says. GREAT! I love Nick Cave. I love books about the Depression. And I have a lingering feeling that SO DOES NICK CAVE. Wow. We have SO MUCH IN COMMON. We're both Virgos, too, in case you forgot!

-I told my best friend that the only way I'd ever get married is if a) I could rent peacocks and that monkey and organ grinder that does events on the East Coast and b)if Nick Cave would officiate the ceremony. I also told her that "I bet he would because it seems weird." I wonder how many crazed superfans have already requested for Nick to join them in holy matrimony....I guess this technically isn't anything Nick Cave did. It's something I said whilst on a roadtrip. MEH.

-He did the soundtrack for the upcoming film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

-The work he and Warren Ellis have done on some recent soundtracks (The Road, The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesses James by the Hot Coward Portrayed By Casey Affleck in an Uncharacteristically Hot Role, as well as some little known documentaries like The English Surgeon and The Girls of Phnom Penh is now available in one place, the 3-disc compilation White Lunar.

In support of his new book and such, Nick and co are heading out on a very limited tour. :-(

10-11 London, England - Palace Theatre
10-12 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
10-13 Edinburgh, Scotland - Picture House
10-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Royal Theater Carre
10-15 Antwerp, Belgium - Arenbergschouwburg
10-19 Paris, France - Theatre Marigny
10-20 Stockholm, Sweden - China Theatre
10-22 Milan, Italy - Teatro Dal Verme
10-24 Barcelona, Spain - Casino Alianca Poble Nou
10-25 London, England - Palace Theatre

Also, for those of you who are wondering, the 2nd glass of absinthe is going pretty well. Nothing exciting yet. BUT WHO KNOWS BY THE TIME I GET TO THE POINT WHERE I START UPDATING OMGWHATISTHAT.BLOGSPOT.COM.

Oh dip another trip-hop story: Massive Attack remixes Burial

2009-10-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the last post that I was consuming a glass of absinthe because it was the only cocktail sort of thing I had in the house. I also mentioned how I deserve to be enjoying a nice stiff drink before 10:30pm (my usual going out time) because I cleaned the bathroom tonight. I did not mention before that work was not the bestest today. So you see, I deserve it even more! And yes, laugh it up all you want that I am sitting here posting about all this gothy trip-hop/post-punk stuff (and in like 30 min, funny animals and drinking absinthe. I will make no excuses for myself! (Except for the 5 or so I already did.)

You know what? I THINK I SHALL HAVE ANOTHER.

But also, I shall proceed. Because, as you see, I have yet another trip-hop themed story, this time about Massive Attack. That's all well and good (I like Massive Attack, but have never, say, HUGGED a member, or even seen the group perform. See previous post.) but the fact that MA is remixing Burial makes this story a true score.

The thing is, see, that Massive Attack has a new album coming out next year. It features contributions from the likes of Hope Sandoval, Damon Albarn, Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio, in case you can't remember), Tim Goldsworthy of the DFA and Guy Garvey aka the guy from Elbow. And now it's getting the Burial treatment a la Mad Professor's No Protection rework of Massive Attack's Protection album. AND IT'S NOT EVEN OUT YET. It's like...it's like...magic! Yes, it's like magic. No word yet on when the album, or the Burial remix thing come out, though.

Wait, what? A NEW new Portishead album?

2009-10-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am going to New Orleans next week for my oldest friend's wedding, so I won't be updating either this blog or my funny animal blog, OMG What Is That? dot blogspot dot com. I will, however, be writing three stories this week. WOW! Contain your excitement, please!

Let's lead off with a story about the love of my high school life, Portishead. I have both a) shaken vocalist Beth Gibbon's hand and b) given her a frankly pretty giddy hug outside a solo show in like, 2003. I will tell you about both at length if I've been drinking, but not here because I sound like an ultra nerd. (Although technically I guess I am drinking now; I am having a glass of--wait for it--absinthe, which I bought, coincidentally, while drunk, and now it's the only cocktaily thing I have in the house and I just cleaned the bathroom and it was kinda gross so I deserve it.) BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. I saw Portishead a couple years back when they curated the Christmas ATP in Minehead, England, which was one of their first shows for the long-awaited Third album. As expected, it was amazing. And now they are working on another album! Portishead member Geoff Barrow (whom I have also met, although not hugged) told the BBC that "we're going to start writing [the album] and if all goes well it could be [out] in a year's time." The group is currently without a label, and Barrow keeps dropping cryptic comments about how it'll get released. My guess: minidisc.

WFMU Fest: Teenage Jesus, Faust, Pissed Jeans and more this very weekend

2009-09-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

So there's this festival in New York this weekend. And Teenage Jesus and the Jerks are playing, along with Faust and Pissed Jeans. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is just like last year when I really wanted to go to Pop Montreal because Nick Cave was playing, but I couldn't because I do not live in Montreal and oh, I am soooo poooor, and so I just talked and talked about it for so long that it just kind of made me depressed. Except for this time, with this festival, I will probably forget about it because right now I have TMZ on really loud in the background (yeah, that's right, I said TMZ; I'm too lazy to get up and change the channel...plus I love that Hardcore Surfer guy. So irreverent! So many Black Flag shirts!) But until that time, behold the small yet mighty line-up and ohhhh maaaan I don't know what it is, but I just cannot look away from this TV show. I am learning so much about Lady GaGa. So much more than I evvvver wanted to know.

RJD2 readies new album, provides first non-Bat for Lashes-oriented post of the past 2 months

2009-09-29T20:12:00.001-07:00

I figured I should write about something for once that didn't involve Nick Cave or Bat for Lashes. Something that didn't involve screaming or just moping. Something that would make it seem like I have a personality--a multi-faceted one, no less--and am not just some dour, 80s nostalgia-fueled young female record nerd who just happens to really like teen drama (GOSSIP GIRL 4EVA!!!) and funny animals. So imagine my delight when I read about this new RJD2 album.

I've been a big proponent of RJ ever since his phenomenal 2002 debut Deadringer hit the radiowaves. I've gone to almost all his shows (including the kinda horrible one I went to where some dude grabbed my ass and so I spit on his foot--I was like, 20!!! (Or maybe, erp, 21.) I thought I was PUNK ROCK. And no foot--spit contact actually happened, by the way. This is also the show where some dude from indie rap group Hangar 18 (or some dude impersonating a dude from indie rap group Hangar 18) gave me a drink and said, "Now you can say someone from Hangar 18 bought you a drink," as if "Hangar 18" was equivocal to--oh...say...Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick and "a drink" to a magical, wish-granting unicorn that smells like cotton candy. ANYWAYS.) So yes, anyways. I'm pumped to hear that the man has an upcoming album, entitled The Colossus. Slated for a January 19 release on his new RJ's Electrical Connections label, the album features guest vocals from the likes of Little Brother rapper Phonte Coleman and Kenna. It also features a track called "Giant Squid." (Is there any other kind???)

Tracklisting:
01 Let There Be Horns
02 Games You Can Win [ft. Kenna]
03 Giant Squid
04 Salud 2
05 The Glow
06 A Spaceship for Now
07 The Shining Path [ft. Phonte Coleman]
08 Crumbs Off the Table [ft. Aaron Livingston]
09 A Son’s Cycle [ft. the Catalyst, Illogic, NP]
10 Tin Flower [ft. Heather Fortune]
11 Small Plans
12 Gypsy Caravan
13 The Stranger
14 Walk With Me

Did I already write about the next Future of the Left tour? If I did, OH WELL

2009-09-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

You know, I thought I had written about this, but it turns out I had not. Which--while it may later come back to bite me in that "oh, if only I had scrolled down a little bit more I would've seen that I HAD actually written about this oh dip" sorta way--is also kinda awesome because it's 5:13 on a Friday and I have 17 min before work is done (and I go to Work Part Deux, but that's another story), and I really need to write something on this blog before I run out of time with a reliable internet connection.

So here ya go. Future of the Left, everyone's favorite loud young Welsh band (and a direct descendant of everyone's favorite now defunct loud young Welsh band Mclusky) is back on tour here in the ol' USA. I saw them this summer in St. Paul, and let me tell you it was WOW. It was just that--not mindblowing, not a sonic assault, just WOW. (And, like all of those things, too.)

Go see them! Their newest album Travels with Myself and Another is out on 4AD. And you'll have to find yer own MySpace link, sorry: I can't do that here at work.

Dates:

10.08.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda *
10.09.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
10.10.09 - Visalia, CA - Cellar Door *
10.11.09 - San Francisco, CA - Independent *
10.12.09 - Portland, OR - Dante’s *
10.13.09 - Seattle, WA - Neumos *
10.14.09 - Vancouver, BC - Venue *
10.16.09 - Edmonton, ALB - Starlite *
10.17.09 - Calgary, ALB - Warehouse *
10.19.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
10.20.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird *
10.23.09 - Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory *
10.24.09 – Austin, TX - Beauty Bar
10.26.09 – Atlanta, GA - 529 Club
10.28.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10.29.09 – Washington, DC - DC9
10.30.09 – Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
11.01.09 – Boston, MA - TT The Bears
11.02.09 – Montreal, PQ - Zoobizarre
11.03.09 – Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
11.05.09 – Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
11.06.09 – Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry
11.07.09 – Madison, WI - Annex

* ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

Kurt Vile on tour, Castle a really bad show

2009-08-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

I really like this Kurt Vile & the Violators song that Radio K is playing. It's off something called The Hunchback EP, but damn it, the tracks on dude's MySpace page sound nothing like that. How mysterious! Luckily, I found a blog called Sound on Sound that not only has a nice lil' write-up of the title track, but also has--oooooh--an MP3!!! According to Wikipedia, Kurt Vile has been compared to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and Tom Petty." Yes, because as we all know, Tom Petty's classic "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is, in reality, about a beautiful woman with an abnormal convex curvature of the upper spine. It's true!

Kurt Vile is, apart from the Violators, (which a very superficial scan of the internetz told me is his "rock'n'roll band" or something) a member of indie favorite War on Drugs.

(Sorry this is not a very "funny" week for me, everyone. My roommate has intriguingly bad cop drama Castle on in the background and its badness is really distracting. The female lead keeps calling him "Castle." As in "Did you look at those reports, Castle? Now, I agree with you, Castle, but you know, Castle, that the DA thinks you're a loose cannon. And Castle, you know, sometimes, I do, too." It's like that.)

08.25.09 - Santa Ana, CA - Galaxy Theature #%
08.26.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubador % !
08.27.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
08.28.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - Muddy Waters %
08.29.09 - Big Sur, CA - Big Sur (Mexican Summer/Folk Yeah fest)
08.30.09 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill % !
09.01.09 - Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan %!
09.02.09 - Eugene, OR - Basement 1287 ^
09.03.09 - San Francisco, CA - House Party ^
09.04.09 - Sacramento, CA - TBA ^
09.05.09 - Los Angeles, CA - FYF Fest ^
10.02.09 - Philadelphia, PA - AKA Music
10.03.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Kungfu Necktie
10.07.09 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
10.08.09 - Poughkeepsie, NY - Vassar College
10.11.09 - Lexington, KY - Al’s Bar (WFRL’s Boomslang After Show)
10.12.09 - Bloomington, IN - Video Saloon
10.13.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10.14.09 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10.17.09 - Seattle, WA - High Dive &
10.18.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene ^ &
10.21.09 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
10.22.09 - Santa Cruz, CA - Crepe Place
10.23.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
10.25.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
10.27.09 - Tempe, AZ - Modified Arts
10.29.09 - Lubbock, TX - Bash Riprocks
10.30.09 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
10.31.09 - Dallas, TX -Lounge on Elm Street
11.02.09 - Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
11.03.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529 *
11.05.09 - Washington DC - Black Cat

# Built to Spill
% Woods
^ Eat Skull
& Crystal Stilts
* Lovvers
! Dungen

Bon Iver goths it up, automatically gains 700 points in my book

2009-08-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

OK, so I am not really into Bon Iver. I got no problems with his music, I'm just not crazy over him or anything. UNTIL NOW. Pitchfork has announced that Monsieur Iver will be performing a very, very special show...IN A CEMETERY OH DIP YES THAT IS TOTALLY WHY I POSTED THIS. Here's the low-down: On September 27, the doors of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles will creeeeeeak open at the stroke of midnight, at which point thee creatures of the night (and ostensibly the creatures of Silver Lake) will scurry in to lurk about until the hushed indie folk singer begins his performance at 6am. No, I have no idea what happens during the span of time between The Witching Hour and Sunrise. Satanic rites? Making out? A dark orgy of cooooooffee and crooooooissants? Possibly all of the above, but definitely the last one for sure. Refreshments come with the $25 price tag for the night, available at Ticketweb.com.

Hollywood Forever is theeee final resting place for people like Marion Davies, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks Jr & Sr, Fay Wray, Rudolph Valentino, and someone named Iron Eyes Cody. He sounds pretty awesome.

09.27.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Picture is from Highgate Cemetery in London.

Bands I didn't think I would like but it turned out I do LVII: Here We Go Magic

2009-08-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't expect to like this band. The name made me think I might've been in for something relentlessly upbeat, with a keyboard player and a drummer who were probably in a "serious relationship," if not married. But then I started hearing a few songs on the radio and thinking "Who is this? I kind of like this haunting, lo-fi songwriting." And then the DJ would say, guess what, "Here We Go Magic." And that's cool, ya know. A couple of artists I didn't really think I'd get into were like that. Like, I didn't expect to like Bat for Lashes. Now I LOVE Bat for Lashes. You know this. Or Marissa Nadler. I was all, "Whatever, another sorta cute-lookin' female folk singer." But then WHOA I changed my mind. Good stuff, all of the above.

Something I didn't know about Here We Go Magic, until I Wikipediaed the band. It's a fellow named Luke Temple, who was born in Salem, MA. WOW. That is so cool. I have always wanted to check out Salem. AND THIS DUDE WAS BORN THERE.

Again, I am too lazy to list off all the concert dates, even though there are not a ton like the last time I did this, oh say, 15 minutes ago? I figure while you are listening to my top pick "Tunnelvision" or maybe "Fangela" here, you can just look at 'em yourself. (I realllly like the name of the latter song. It makes me think of sexy B-movie teen vampire girls who are in homeroom with you or something. Yikes. Have I mentioned I've only had ONE cup of coffee the whole day? My brain is deteriorating.)

The Intelligence and their amazing crab video

2009-08-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have reported on The Intelligence, briefly once before. They've got a drummer in common with the now defunct band A-Frames, which was a big post-punk hit on my favorite MN radio station Radio K back in the golden days when I worked there and was hungover all the time there several years ago in college. They've got some releases out, but none which I own yet because, as you know, I recently discovered the French noise rock scene based out of Metz, and therefore the good people of indie rock France are getting all my income--them and Hendrick's gin, lately. (I just Wikipediaed Metz, and you know--noise rock--I kinda assumed it'd be some horrible industrialized, Nazi-flattened hole, but it actually looks really pretty! And it's populated by French guys in really angular, distorted rock bands. Heaven on earth, it must be.) Anyways, in short, The Intelligence are going on a tour, so long, so sweeping, that I am not even gonna bother to cut and paste and make it look nice here. If you want to hear this band, and you end up liking them, hell, you'll already be on their MySpace page where you can stare at their approximately three straight months of touring to your heart's content. Oh, and they've got a pretty sweet video featuring the hardest-rockin' beach crabs in show biz. Highly recommended.

Here's the one local MN date. You get that. The rest of you, you must seek elsewhere! Sorey--I am lazy. You know this.

08.27.09 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club w/ Birthday Suits and Blind Shake, both of whom are really awesome and you should go see!

Photo from Pop Montreal, my previously declared "Best Festival Ever." Or at least I'm sure I called it something like that.

OMFG! Sonic Youth on Gossip Girl!

2009-08-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Best. News. EVER.
FINALLY Gossip Girl, the CW drama chronicling the lives of Manhattan's super attractive, wealthy, morally ambiguous teens get a little "cred." (So you know, this show is just like my life--except that I am neither wealthy nor a teen nor a Manhattan resident.) But maybe all my too cool for school friends can appreciate GG for what it its: THE BEST SHOW ON NETWORK TELEVISION EXCEPT FOR MAYBE THE X-FILES WHICH WAS ALSO REALLY GOOD.

It seems that Thurston did a cover of "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" on an episode last year, which obviously I totally never noticed. And now the band will be performing an acoustic version of "Starpower" on the fifth episode of the new season starting SEPTEMBER 14 OMG 4 DAYS AFTER MY BIRTHDAY SO EXCITED. Apparently one of the forces behind the TV show, Stephanie Savage, is a super fan of the band and noticed footage from the show playing behind the band. You can read more at "real" news sources, but I'm not linking to them because the Pitchfork story linked to a strangely condescending Entertainment Weekly story and I will have no one blaspheme my NY teens!!! (Also, should EW really be in the business of condescension, considering? I mean, they'd probably do behind-the-scenes reporting of Jaleel White's wedding.)

Broadcast ventures stateside (incl. my 1st reference of the year to how I kinda want to go to The Defeat of JesseJames Days in a month)

2009-08-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Space-agey 60s pop enthusiasts Broadcast are coming to America and they've got a new EP in the works! The Warp Records website says, "Okay people...Broadcast and The Focus Group have joined hands to create a new ep of seancing songs and witch cult rumbles," and while I'm not exactly sure what the Focus Group is, nor did I find out on a veeeeery nonextensive persual of the Warp site (maybe you should look? maybe you're less eager to finish writing this blog entry and go to bed than I am), but whatever it means, it sounds pretty damn awesome.

They're coming to MN, too, which is great news. But--and this is weird--they're playing Northfield (for those not from here, a small yet charmingly historical town near Minneapolis/St. Paul which is home to some top liberal arts colleges blah blah blah.) Perhaps the band are big fans of The Defeat of Jesse James Days? I know I want to go! Whose heart wouldn't thrill to the triumphant spectacle of a rag tag group of local residents putting the kibosh on the legendary outlaws' bank robbing ways??? Especially after the overly long but oh-so-pretty (not to mention scored by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) 2007 fillum The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford? (You can read more about my weird infatuation with how this movie looks deep in the depths of this blog's archive. But it's kind of embarrassing, so you'll have to dig it up yourself if you're that eager to read about this movie/how much of a wacko I am.) I mean, there seems to be a PAGEANT at this local festival. Who could resist? Certainly not Broadcast.

OCTOBER
15 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
16 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
17 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
18 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
20 New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
21 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
22 Boston, MA @ The Paradise
23 Montreal, QC @ Le National
24 Toronto, ON @ Lees Palace
25 Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center
26 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
27 Northfield, MN @ The Cave
30 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
31 Seattle, WA @ Neumos

NOVEMBER
01 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
03 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
04 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
05 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
07 Denton, TX @ Hailey's

All dates with Atlas Sound and The Selmanaires

New Bat for Lashes video: so pretty, not as weird as it could be

2009-08-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

Friday, for the first time, I will get to see my beloved (to the point it's kind of unnerving) Bat for Lashes in my hometown of Minneapolis! I have seen Natasha Khan et al. a myriad of times in London, but never before here. And so I am super excited, and I was pumped to no small degree to see the new video for "Sleep Alone" posted on Stereogum. (Um, mainly because it meant I would have to do very little searching for this week's blog post. I am actually not a huuuuuuuge fan of this song on its own, but after watching the video, I actually think I like it more. Not that I dislike it, I'm just totally nutso over some of the other tracks from Ms. Khan's latest, Two Suns.)

I really like this video for the following three reasons:

1. Natasha Khan is soooooo pretty!!! Also the video itself is pretty.
2. I, too, have recently been dealing with raging bouts of insomnia. Soooooo annoying. Time to start drinking heavily before bedtime!!
3. I also get a kick out of putting small plastic shapes into larger ones. (Ok, not technically true, but her bedroom certainly does look enchanting afterwards!)

So, please enjoy this video and forgive me for my posting laziness. It's summer and I got shit to do, like go to Lilliput, the crappy castle-themed mini-golf/BUMPER BOAT family fun center I was never allowed to go to as a child, but always wanted to go to. I think Natasha Khan would be into it.

Epic tour listing:
8.07.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
8.09.09 - Chicago,IL - Lollapalooza
8.12.09 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
8.13.09 - Boston,MA - Paradise Rock Club
8.15.09 - Washington,DC - 9:30 Club
8.17.09 - Atlanta,GA - The Loft @ Center Stage
8.19.09 - Austin,TX - The Parish
8.20.09 - Dallas, TX - The Loft
8.22.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
8.25.09 - Vancouver, BC - ?
8.26.09 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s
8.27.09 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
8.29.09 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
8.31.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Music Box Theatre @ Fonda
9.05.09 - Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
9.11.09 - Isle Of Wight - Bestival
10.01.09 - Bournemouth, England - Bournemouth Opera House
10.02.09 - Brighton, England - Brighton Dome
10.04.09 - Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
10.05.09 - London, England - Roundhouse
10.06.09 - London, England - Roundhouse
10.09.09 - Bristol, England - Colston Hall
10.10.09 - Liverpool, England - O2 Academy
10.12.09 - Nottingham, England - Rock City
10.13.09 - Leeds, England - O2 Academy
10.14.09 - Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
10.16.09 - Cardiff, Wales - Great Hall, Cardiff University
10.17.09 - Sheffield, England - Octagon
10.19.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - O2 Academy
10.20.09 - Edinburgh, Scotland - The Picture House
10.28.09 - Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
10.29.09 - Hamburg, Germany - Uebel & Gefahrlich
10.30.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Oude Zaal
11.02.09 - Luxembourg - Den Atelier
11.04.09 - Paris, France - Olympia

Records I bought in Chicago: ROUND ONE (Blessure Grave)

2009-07-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

I bought the Learn to Love the Rope EP based 85% on the cover, and 15% on recommendation from the absolutely amazing staff at Permanent Records in Chicago. I was there last weekend for Pitchfork to a)sell records at the record fair with my friends from Modern Radio and b)to see the Jesus Lizard. And I dropped so much unexpected money on weird post-punk stuff and FRENCH NOISE ROCK, my latest obsession. Just wait till next week! It will be all French noise rock. Anyways, Permanent Records is possibly the coolest record store in the world (I say possibly because I don't want to emotionally cheat on my sometimes employer, Electric Fetus, but well...wellllll....) AND they have a store cat!

So, here's my pick of the week, the band Blessure Grave from San Diego. Check 'em out!!!1 The music is good, but also look at these people. I so want to be in this band. Oh wait, I am in band talks right now. (Seriously, I did not say that for effect. I actually just remembered this. I don't sleep enough now that I have a "real" job.) MAYBE MY BAND WILL BE THIS BAND. Goddamn that is one cool cover photo. CAPES!!! I can't resist them. Also, it looks like they're planning on some kind of UK tour. UK friends, don't miss them. I wanna be there. Oh yeah, and also Jesus Lizard were awesome. Just in case you were wondering!

Dream dream over this new unholily awesome Swans/Angels of Light hybrid

2009-07-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

By now, after the last three posts I did late last night about awesome new records from HTRK, True Widow, and Bibio, you are probably thinking, "Wow I wanna be in a band with that girl." Then perhaps you looked at your large collection of Swans records and sighed and thought, "Hmm, wait a second there, friend-o. I better make sure this lady's into venerable NYC noise purveyors SWANS. But how?" Well, search no more, dude! Because OMG OMG I am so excited about this news.

It seems that Michael Gira has been playing a few shows, previewing new material that he considers just a little more Swans than his more recent, more creepily folky project Angels of Light. And now he wants to release a Swans/Angels of Light HYBRID ALBUM. His answer to an audience question after a recent show, when asked if perhaps the aforementioned unholy hybrid would tour was a resounding "maybe," but wow let me tell you that "maybe" lights up my heart. If you're in NY, check him out. He's playing some of these new jams after new Young God label signee James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand) opens.

07.25.09 – Brooklyn, NY – Issue Project Room

(PS--The title of this post is a reference to a song by Swans side project World of Skin, for the uninitiated/forgetful. Please do not think I have started reading books about the creative process and how to let loose your inner dream diva. It's nothing like that. I may say "wow" a lot but I am at heart still deeply, deeply secretly goth. JUST SO YOU KNOW.)

Oh wait, what? Another album of the year? YES. True Widow's self-titled album

2009-07-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Another awesome find from my local college radio station, Radio K, True Widow hail from somewhere in Texas where everything, like the HTRK record, is kinda slow and messed up, and where amazing photography apparently just happens. (Seriously, check out their MySpace, not just for my top tracks "Duelist" and "Corpse Master," but also for all the amazing Roadtrip As Shot By David Lynch style-lookin' photos.) So what can I say to properly explain how and why exactly I think this band is awesome? Well, I am not funny today, as we have seen from the previous three posts, but I do seriously believe that this shit is awesome. It gets kinda fuzzed out in places, and it's not gonna make you happy like Bibio (so maybe I should stop listening to it today while I'm home sick from work? Nah...), but it's more upbeat than HTRK. All three are awesome. All three you should go buy. GO BUY THEM. I need someone to talk to about these albums before I start getting 100% completely, overwhelmingly earnest all the time and cannot think of funny things to say about crazy animals because I am so consumed with getting friends to buy these albums.

Check it out, approximately 1 Texan reader! They're playing your home state.

07.18.09 - Dallas, Texas - The Cavern
07.21.09 - Dallas, Texas - Granada Theater
08.01.09 - Denton, Texas - Hailey’s*
08.31.09 - allas, Texas - Pastime Tavern**

*w/ Silk Stocking, Nervous Curtains, & the Great Tyrant
**w/ Sleepy Sun

Other record of the year: Bibio

2009-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Warp Records artist Bibio came out of nowhere one morning while I was driving to work to totally rock my world. I was listening to the Top 7 Countdown on my favorite college radio station, Radio K, and it was all kinda "meh." And then suddenly this song kicks in that reminds me in a lot of ways of the Durutti Column's "Sketch for Summer," a song which has always managed to make me really happy no matter what's going on. English producer guy Bibio's tracks "Jealous of Roses" and "Ambivalence Avenue" (off the album of the same name) make me feel the same way. (Listen here!)

This is the other album you should buy besides HTRK so that we can talk about it. Of course, I don't know what kind of person besides me would be equally into such two strikingly different albums, but maybe you are. And you should be. Top notch stuff here. From the looks of his MySpace, Bibio is also extremely into CATS, which as anyone will tell you, gives you major points with me.

Record of the year: HTRK's "Marry Me Tonight"

2009-07-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

(Image borrowed from Emma Pop via BoingBoing. This picture does a very good job of conveying what this band is like in concert, and so I hope all parties involved are ok with me reposting it!)

When the Horrors opened for the Kills and I first heard that song "Mirror's Image," I kept telling everyone at the show how they were "missing the 2nd Best Band in London!!!!" Well, HTRK are the #1 Best Band in London, and in my heart. People who have been with this blog from the start have been treated to a seemingly endless non-variety of posts fawning over this Melbourne/London threepiece. And so far most of the physical recordings I've so eagerly anticipated from the group have not lived up to the gloom-heavy, intense atmosphere of the live performances, and all the YouTube videos have bad sound. But now, thanks to wonderful Mute imprint Blast First Petite and Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard (who produced HTRK's recent full-length Marry Me Tonight), you too can experience that ominously grinding noise-rock-on-Sizzurp sound in the comfort of your very own home!

This band gets a lot of comparisons to Suicide, which makes sense, and I think there's a certain similarity to Swans in the darkly sexual nature of some of their tracks. (But then again I would find a similarity to Swans in anything if I could.) Check out Rent Boy, for an example, on the HTRK MySpace page. This track has always been a favorite of mine. You really need to buy Marry Me Tonight so that we can talk about this album. Especially Minneapolis people--I feel like there would be a lot of people into this sort of thing, even though it is a little bit (lotta bit) dirgier than your everyday DANCE NOISE ROCK (kidding, kidding!). I did find my favorite track from this release, "Shoot You Up," available to hear on Amazon.com, where they have humorously assigned it the more family friendly name of "She's Seventeen." It opens with the lines "Outside your house/where have you been/I'm hanging out/to get closer" and you know this isn't like just sitting on your front porch to hang with your best bud and have a few beers. It's kinda scary--but scary good. I LOVE YOU HTRK!!!!! Seriously, everyone buy this record now.

Side note: Sorry this post is in no way funny or really entertaining. That would entail me picking my tongue up off the floor and being witty. And I am saving that for this weekend when I go on a CHICAGO ROADTRIP.

Dinosaur Jr tour!

2009-06-26T16:32:00.001-07:00

As previously reported on this blog, Dinosaur Jr. have a new album out as of this week, entitled Farm (or at least I think I posted something close to that piece of news--I have been working 11 hours or so a day for the past couple of days and really I just wanna do my blog writing for the week before taking a lengthy, sweet NAP.) Recently Pitchfork declared the album to have like "Best New Artwork" or something, which is total shit, unless you're like, a first year of college hippie who thinks a drawing of giant green creatures stalking through what looks like a more bustling version of Gary, Indiana is totally groundbreaking and really has a unique message, maaaaaan. Or if you're the little girl from the Scorpions' Virgin Killer album, because that is what it looks like the giant green message-bearing creatures are transporting. (I don't know--it's not horrible. It's not on the level of hatred I reserve for Little Feat covers--anthropomorphic tomato women are NEVER sexy, NEVER--or say, the Rippingtons, who have this freaky lookin' late 90s cat mascot who does Jazz Dad stuff, like playing golf, or lounging on the deck after mowing the lawn. Trust me: this cat is so heinous I won't even post a link to him. And ordinarily I love all cats.

Anyways, Dinosaur Jr. have this new album. And so they have an upcoming tour this fall, which stops in my fair city. So exciting!

Dinosaur Jr. Fall Tour

08/14/09 Wellfleet, MA @ Wellfleet Beachcomber
08/16/09 New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage
09/30/09 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre*
10/01/09 Montreal, QUE @ Pop Montreal Festival*
10/02/09 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East*
10/03/09 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East*
10/04/09 Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights*
10/07/09 New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place*
10/08/09 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
10/09/09 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts*
10/10/09 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall*
10/11/09 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot*
10/13/09 Madison, WI @ The Majestic Theatre*
10/14/09 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant*
10/15/09 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre*
10/16/09 Louisville, KY @ Headliner's Music Hall*
10/17/09 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse*
10/26/09 Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont Club*
10/27/09 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown*
10/29/09 Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater*
10/30/09 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre*
10/31/09 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/03/09 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre*
11/04/09 Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern *
11/06/09 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore*
11/07/09 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom*
11/10/09 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/11/09 Victoria, BC @ Sugar Nightclub
11/13/09 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
11/14/09 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom
11/16/09 Saskatoon, SK @ Odeon Events Centre
11/17/09 Winnipeg, Man. @Pyramid Cabaret
11/18/09 Minneapolis, MN @First Avenue
11/19/09 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
11/20/09 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop

* with lou barlow + the missingmen

New ATP documentary helps you relive parts of my life you never wanted to know happened

2009-06-16T21:13:00.001-07:00

Great news for anyone who received a drunken phone call from me at December 2007's All Tomorrow's Parties! ATP is set to release a concert film chock-full of footage from recent acts, including perhaps the very same Portishead set where BETH GIBBONS TOUCHED MY HAND. Not once, but twice!, did this happen. (Side note: many people also know my infamous "I was hugged by Beth Gibbons" story. But not EVERYBODY knows it, and therefore I proudly present to the internet this gem of information: I was hugged by Beth Gibbons. At her solo show at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theatre in 2003. WOW. That was a long time ago. Gettin' old. YIKES.) Other acts featured on the DVD include Iggy and the Stooges, Battles, Sonic Youth, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Belle And Sebastian, Patti Smith, Animal Collective, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, Grinderman, The Gossip, Daniel Johnston and The Boredoms. Warp Films is putting the thing out on September 23, which is just after my birthday, but I'm okay with that as long as you tell me on or before my birthday that you're buying me this and are just waiting for it to come out so that you can give it to me.

The film is an assemblage of cell phone video, camcorder, and Super 8 footage from fans, musicians, and proper filmmakers. Assembled by director Jonathan Caouette and cinematographer Vincent Moon, all these different quality-level shots should give you a pretty solid idea of what it was like to be experiencing ATP from the underfed and overpartied eyes of ME. Seriously, I can still recall the horrifying taste of those well-intentioned but revolting pineapple shots. Absolutely one of the Top 3 Worst Drinks in My Personal Life History. (The others being anything with SoCo in it that I drank at the last SXSW and the unholy potato liquor/Mountain Dew cocktail created by my friend and fellow SXSW/ATP attendee, Cian. A dubious honor, to be sure!)

I can't help it. I love this Horrors song so much!

2009-06-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Laugh all you want: I love The Horrors. I am not ashamed to let you know this. (Most of you already know this.) Sure, a lot of their press photos make them look like the English goth equivalents of the Hot Topic-spawned musical victims commonly known as "mall punks." But they are awesome--trust me--and not just because I figure anyone who has bat tattoos must pretty well know what's up. (This theory is based on close scientific observation...of myself. I have bat tattoos, or battoos, as I like to call them. AND I know what's up. DO I EVER.)

Alright, now that I've blathered my way through my preface, allow me to suggest you take a listen to the track "Mirror's Image" on the band's MySpace page. My beloved local college radio station (and former place of employment)Radio K has been giving this thing regular rotation and let me tell you it is a stone cold jam. I plan on listening to this track online until my credit card bill cycle starts anew and I can go blow my limited income on records. It is especially vital that you give this song a listen because you have to start liking this band by October, at which point I will be attending the band's show at the Turf Club in lovely St. Paul, MN, and I will probably be attending it by myself. UNLESS YOU COME WITH ME.

Other things: the band's 2nd album, Primary Colours, was recorded by Geoff Barrow of Portishead, whom I have met and creeped out. (I was very young and very effusive.) It's out on XL Recordings.

9/15 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
9/16 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
9/17 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
9/18 Baltimore, MD Sonar- Club Stage
9/19 Washington, DC Black Cat
9/21 Atlanta, GA The Earl
9/22 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
9/24 Houston, TX Walter’s on Washington
9/25 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
9/26 Austin, TX Emo’s Alternative Lounging (outside)
9/28 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse Music Venue
9/29 San Diego, CA The Casbah
9/30 Costa Mesa, CA The Detroit Bar
10/1 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theater
10/2 Pomona, CA The Glass House
10/3 San Francisco, CA The Independent
10/5 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
10/6 Seattle, WA Neumo’s
10/7 Vancouver, BC Venue
10/10 St. Paul, MN Turf Club
10/11 Chicago, IL Double Door
10/12 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
10/14 Toronto, ON Lee’s Place
10/15 Montreal, QC Petit Campus
10/16 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/17 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s

Videos I don't get: Royksopp with Robyn edition

2009-05-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

This post definitely falls under the "I was online for over an hour looking for stuff to post about and couldn't find anything and I really wanted to watch The OC/read Dangerous Liaisons and so I just dug something up and made up snarky comments about it" heading. Below you'll find the video for "The Girl & The Robot," the new single from Royksopp featuring Robyn. I am still up in the air about this video/song for the following, sligthly conflicting reasons:

1. I am not really into Royksopp. I remember Radio K, the college radio station I worked at for many years, playing some songs by the group and I didn't hate the tracks--in fact, I found some of them kinda nice--but it just wasn't totally "my thing." Ya know?

2. Robots? Come on. That stuff was funny like ten years ago, when I was still in the infernal depths of high school. This was when pirates and ninjas were funny, too, before they like, "broke." Went mainstream. (They were also funny then because I thought them up. Totally. I am the one who realized the latent comedic potential of "Arrr!" and "Does not compute!" and "Look out dude, there's a ninja behind you!!!!" YOU'RE WELCOME AMERICA. But they are not funny anymore. They are overdone. Ladies and gentlemen, may I now suggest Victorian men with dapper moustaches riding those bicycles where the front wheel is way larger than the back wheel as your next target of, um, whatever it is? You're welcome, again!)

3. I DO kinda think Robyn is pretty cool. Konichiwa Bitches is kind of a jam, and I really like that she was a successful, blandly mainstream pop artist before she reinvented herself as a sassy electro lady who's worked with The Knife, Teddybears, and Basement Jaxx.

But the more I hear this song, the more I THINK I like it. Verdict's still out. The video=meh. It features Robyne looking devastated and bored in a fancy space age pad, waiting for the return of her robot husband, who is either philandering or just totally swamped at work, babe. And that ending--um, ok??? I mean, I get the sense that you're supposed to be depressed that you're not preggo, Robyn, but seriously what did you expect? Your man is a robot. He is inherently sterile, at least in this universe. But hey, it's disco-y, it's got some Moroder moments, and I can get down with that.

Well, I guess I'll post something about The Mayfair Set

2009-05-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

For the love of God someone please post some interesting music news SOMEWHERE! And soon! I have been waiting all week for something reasonably exciting to post on this blog, and have come up with zilch. (Kind of--I don't want to seem like I'm more on the ball than I really am. It wouldn't be too difficult to out me on that. I have been definitely spending a fair amount of time refreshing my facebook and looking at clothes, too.) I've been sitting on this computer for an hour now looking for something just mildly diverting, and here I am still, with nothing to show for it. Stereogum posted about a couple new songs from The Mayfair Set, who I decided to check out because of a) blog material desperation and b) because it's a collabo b/w Blank Dogs and Dum Dum Girls, and all these people I know had been going on about Blank Dogs, but I think that show was the night I went to Fucked Up instead, and I missed it. (Much like I missed most of Fucked Up, but that's another boring story altogether.)

And you know, I guess it's a good thing that I did give 'em ye olde listen, because they're pretty cool. They're playing a show in Brooklyn with Crystal Stilts, the "Crystal" band I prefer of the two that recently put out records. (Antlers being the other, less preferred one.) Check it out, yo, they're also playing with Blank Dogs!

07.03.09 - Brooklyn, NY - 979 Broadway Backyard (Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival w/ Blank Dogs and Crystal Stilts)

Hey, Calexico is touring!

2009-05-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's a Thursday night and you can't go out because you have a bloodtest for your regular doctor's exam in the morning and you have to fast and it reaches the point where you actually hear yourself saying, "I wonder if TMZ is on" and then you find yourself being truly pleased that you didn't miss the Access Hollywood/TMZ block that's on during the witching hour on some channel you can't necessarily name. That is me right now. Totally coherent, on the ball, and up-to-date on the break-in at Lindsay Lohan's house.

This is the sort of time when you, the reader, get some really obvious piece of news with a really stupid headline like, "Hey, Calexico is touring!" with dates that I 100% just cut-and-pasted from the official Calexico site without even really bothering to format them. Because, hey, I am tired, and I gotta go get blood sucked out of me tomorrow morning and I wanna finish updating the blog for this week before we leave behind the glittering, silicon-enhanced world of TMZ and enter the gritty, raw world of Cops. So, hey...did you know Calexico is touring?

Date Venue City State / Country
May 24 Sasquatch Music Festival George Washington
May 28 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque New Mexico
May 29 Chautauqua Auditorium Boulder Colorado
May 30 Ogden Theatre Denver Colorado
May 31 Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre Salt Lake City Utah
June 2 Pantages Theater Tacoma Washington
June 15 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center Atlanta Georgia
June 17 Tower Theatre Upper Darby Pennsylvania
June 18 Radio City Music Hall New York City New York
June 19 Bank of America Pavilion Boston Massachusetts
June 20 Walker Art Center Minneapolis Minnesota
July 1 Ippodromo Le Capanelle Rome Italy
July 2 Reggia Venaria Reale Italy
July 3 Traumzeit Festival Duisburg Germany
July 4 Musiques en Stock Cluses France
July 5 Ruisrock Festival Turku Finland
July 7 Szczecin Music Fest Szczecin Poland
July 8 Zitadelle, Citadel Music Festival Berlin Germany
July 9 Muffathalle Munich Germany
July 10 Villa Arconati Festival Milan Italy
July 11 Wenkenpark Riehen Switzerland
July 12 Cactus Festival Brugge Belgium
July 14 Zeltival Karlsruhe Germany
July 15 Centralstation Darmstadt Germany
July 16 Piazza Castello Cortile Abbaziale Sesto al Reghena Italy
July 17 Nuke Festival Weisen Austria
July 18 Poolbar Festival Feldkirch Austria
July 19 Bennicassim Festival Spain
August 7 Big Chill Festival Eastnor Castle Deer Park UK
August 8 Nuits Secretes Aulonye Aimeries France
August 9 Heitere Open Air Zofingen Switzerland
August 11 Serenadenhof Nuremberg Germany
August 12 Sziget Festival Budapest Hungary
August 13 Rock Oz’Arenes Avenches Switzerland
August 14 Pavillon Hannover Germany
August 15 Way Out West Festival Goteborg Sweden
August 20 Den Atelier Luxembourg Luxembourg
August 22 Pstero Festival Trondheim Norway
August 23 Lowlands Festival Netherlands

What? So there's a movie of the movie "Grey Gardens"?

2009-05-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

I pinched this pick of Little Edie Beale from New York Mag's website, because it's different than the one most Grey Gardens fans have seen of her standing in front of the ancestral manse in a mink coat and it features CATS! fabulous cats! I knew there was a Grey Gardens-inspired musical, but not that there was a Jessica Lange/Drew Barrymore...um, version made for HBO. (I don't know precisely what to call it--it is a movie based on a documentary, after all. I understand it has some backstory, which I think sounds pretty awesome, but because I do not have HBO, I have not seen it. And oooooh how I want to see it, now that I know it exists!)

I am not a Drew Barrymore fan, mostly because I have never really seen any of her movies and therefore have nothing to judge her merits on apart from a)that horrendously awful trailer for that He's Just Not That Into You movie where she spouts out this already dated litany of the ways one woman and her requisite gay BFFs can overanalyze the social minutiae of Facebook, MySpace, et al. and b) the online gossip that she canoodled with Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick, and damn it, world, if you had any justice I would be the one canoodling with Ed Westwick. SIGH. But check out this trailer for the HBO Grey Gardens. It just looks so good. Have I ever mentioned before that I am a gay man inside? It's true; I am. But not the kind who gives you coded dating advice based on someone's FaceBook status, so don't ask. Just watch the trailer, and if you don't know what all I'm blathering on about, read this.

PS--While google imaging Little Edie, I came across this lovely blog, The Swelle Life. As far as I can tell it's about fashion, vintage fashion, Paris, and pretty stuff. At this point of the night my brain is more oriented towards putting TMZ on in the background than getting indepth about Richard Avedon, but oh it looks so nice!

Jam of the summer: "Just Like a Mini Mall"

2009-05-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

No one can resist the bumpin' beats of the Montgomery, Alabama Flea Market "Just Like a Mini Mall" jingle. The dance is infectious. The MC is a charmer. It has all the makings of a summer dance HIT. Now, typically Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne tends to deal with more established artists, like say, post-punk/no wave stuff from the late 70s/80s, or smaller underground acts that, you know, like, have tours booked and stuff. Sammy Stephens is none of these things. However, he does have a totally catchy commercial jam that has been stuck in my head for three days, ever since my friend Nate first showed it to me. And therefore it can be considered blog worthy. Slap a MSTRKRFT remix on this shit, and look out dancefloor, you're about to be rocked: JUST LIKE A MINI MALL.

Richard Lloyd has awesome website, spring tour

2009-05-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I was planning on seeing Richard Lloyd, guitarist from Television, at the Uptown Bar, even though--yes--it was at the Uptown Bar. But then this whole thing happened that occurs when you work a single retail job and have thousands of dollars in student loans: I didn't have any money. So yes, I missed Richard Lloyd, which is a real shame, but without it, I wouldn't have discovered his AWESOME WEBSITE. A blessing in disguise, see? Richardlloyd.com has lessons on playing the guitar, which would probably be more useful to me if I ever actually practiced the guitar. But the real draw here is "Ask Richard." At first I assumed (as, of course, I would) that you could ask Richard anything--like dating advice, or what's a good restaurant to take your mom to for Mother's Day. In reality, the feature is mainly about guitar tips or stuff about Television, but still, I approve. Four stars! Oh, and hey, you should go see Richard Lloyd, because I couldn't. Twenty-two minutes till The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. No time to be funny. GO SEE RICHARD!!

05.09.09 - Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub
05.11.09 - Detroit, MI - Corktown Tavern
05.13.09 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class
05.14.09 - Dayton, OH - Canal Street Tavern
05.15.09 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
05.16.09 - Boston, MA - Church

Viviangirls: I wish they were playing again next week

2009-05-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, a good friend of mine was telling me how much this band sucks. I figured he was right, because he usually is. Then I saw them for a second at SXSW, because they were playing like 5 showcases a day or something, and I was like, "Meh, this isn't really my thing." But then, wouldn't ya know it, I saw them Tuesday night in Minneapolis and they were AWWWWWWESOME. They were way more fuzzed out and post-punk sounding, and generally had a lot more going on than the stuff I'd heard before. I would strongly recommend going to see them. Sorry, previously mentioned good friend of mine. Check them out HERE. For real, they are pretty awesome. They've got loads of US, UK, and European tour dates which I didn't bother to put in any nicely formatted list because frankly I just want to read Dangerous Liaisons and watch The Daily Show. I think you can figure it (the dates) out.

May 8 2009 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Canada
May 9 2009 La Sala Rossa Montreal, Canada
May 10 2009 Middle East Upstairs Boston, MA
May 11 2009 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
May 14 2009 Po Na Na - Plan B Night Brighton, England
May 15 2009 Pavillion - Uncut Night Brighton, England
May 17 2009 Brixton Windmill London, England
May 18 2009 93 Feet East London, England
May 19 2009 Rainbow Birmingham, England
May 20 2009 Ruby Lounge Manchester, England
May 21 2009 Stereo Glasgow, Scotland
May 22 2009 Leeds Library - Stag and Dagger Event Leeds, England
May 23 2009 Dot to Dot Festival Nottingham, England
May 24 2009 Dot to Dot Festival Bristol, England
May 26 2009 Point Emphemere Paris, France
May 27 2009 Heretic Bordeaux, France
May 28 2009 Rock Store Montpellier, France
May 29 2009 Primavera Sound Festival Barcelona, Spain
May 31 2009 Hana Bi Ravenna, Italy
Jun 1 2009 La Casa Milan, Italy
Jun 2 2009 Palace St.Gallen, Switzerland
Jun 3 2009 Manufaktur Schorndorf, Germany
Jun 4 2009 Arena Vienna, Austria
Jun 5 2009 Ut Connewitz Leipzeg, Germany
Jun 6 2009 West Germany Berlin, Germany
Jun 8 2009 Prinzenbar Hamburg, Germany
Jun 9 2009 Tsunami Koln, Germany
Jun 10 2009 Merleyn Nimegen, Netherlands
Jul 19 2009 Pitchfork Festival Chicago, IL
Aug 14 2009 Way Out West Festival Goteberg, Sweden
Aug 15 2009 Flow Festival Helsinki, Finland

Save a carousel! Neutral Milk Hotel approved

2009-05-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

So, it was taking me forever to come up with my second post for the week, and I was all set to do something about Nas and Kelis getting divorced, but then I looked at what I wrote and I was like, "WTF? This isn't some indie rock Perez Hilton ish" and after I watched Kelis' video for the fantastic song "Caught Out There" I somehow just got so totally depressed that now I am sitting around feeling all bummed out for no reason and listening to Bat for Lashes to make myself feel better. And then while frantically digging through the internets to find something that's less of a downer, I found this on Pitchfork about how Neutral Milk Hotel is asking people to vote to save the Paragon Carousel in Massachusetts. I like olde tyme stuff, and so do they. And maybe we can't save Nas and Kelis' marriage, but damn it, we can save this awesome-looking carousel.

Here's an excerpt from a letter the band wrote to fans:

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the great whirling contraptions of mechanical music and light are not as profitable to operate as other things, and carousels are worth much more taken apart and sold in pieces to museums, where one must pay to look at them behind glass, rather than having them simply existing in the world that we now all share.

The Paragon Carousel is one of the contenders for a $100,000 grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation as part of the 2009 Partners in Preservation program. The winner will be selected through an online voting system, which is open till May 17. All the stuff up for the award looks totally cool, and anyone can vote, so here's the link to Partners in Preservation.

Camera Obscura tour, release video so cloying it should have Zoey Deschanel in it

2009-05-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

Scottish indie popsters Camera Obscura (they are not twee. I do not like "twee" music.) are touring North America in support of their recently released album, My Maudlin Career. They're on 4AD now, which is cool, because I like 4AD. But here's what I don't like--their new video for the single "French Navy." Look at these people. They're having so much fun, going on vacation everywhere, acting goofy and all French New Wave-y. Pshaw. Have fun, kids. Love like yours only tempts swine flu. Although really, the guy is a little too Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lookin' for my tastes, so why the hell not, I wish you all the best in your idle rich jetset romance.

"French Navy" video

May 27 - Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
May 28 - Newport, KY Southgate House
May 29 - Chicago, IL Metro
May 30 - Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
June 1 - Denver, CO Bluebird
June 2 - Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
June 4 - Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
June 5 - Vancouver, BC Commodore
June 6 - Seattle, WA Showbox
June 8 - San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
June 9 - Pomona, CA Glasshouse
June 11 - Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
June 13 - Mexico City Lunario
June 15 - Austin, TX Antones
June 16 - Dallas, TX The Loft
June 18 - Birmingham, AL Bottletree
June 19 - Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
June 20 - Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
June 21 - Washington, DC 9:30 Club
June 22 - Philadelphia, PA TLA
June 24 - New York, NY Webster Hall
June 25 - Boston, MA Somerville Theatre
June 26 - Montreal, QUE La Tulipe
June 27 - Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
June 29 - Columbus, OH Wexner Center Ohio State University
June 30 - Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
July 25 - Derbyshire, UK Indietracks Festival

Help out my one true love, Radio K

2009-04-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

RADIO K is the greatest place/radio station ever. Yes, I am extremely biased. I used to work there. I grew up listening to it, and dreaming that someday I would know people who liked the same music as me, and would go to shows with me. But just because I am biased doesn't mean I am not 100% fact-based honestly telling the truth. I'll spare you all my nostalgic memories--like when we got bored during the fund drive and I tried to see how much wasabi I could eat at one go, or when my best friend Sarah and I set up some styrofoam cup phones between our two offices or--OH WAIT I DIDN'T SPARE YOU AT ALL ZIIIIING!!!

Anyways, I love Radio K because they play old music, new music, local music, and music that's just too out there for other stations. Etc, etc, etc. As you know, I am very broke. But I am going to like, say, not buy the Morrissey shirt I want this month, or not take myself out for lunch one day when I get too fed up with my daily routine to eat a hurried lunch at home before work, and contribute to Radio K. Because when stuff really sucks, I need good music, and so I need to support Radio K--especially in this AWESOME economy.

That's about the limit of how serious I can be on the internet. But really, I love Radio K. There would be a giant radio shaped hole in my heart without it. And so I hope you listen to it, too, if you never have before, and if you do listen to it, that you donate just a little bit. Greil Marcus called it "The best college radio station imaginable."

Radio K, I <3 you!!

Rodriguez and Vampire Hands, together at last!

2009-04-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

Late last summer, I started hearing this pretty rockin' track on Radio K--my beloved former place of work--by this fellow Rodriguez. It was something about Haight Street, and it was just the sort of thing you put on mix cds for people who you want to impress with your in-depth knowledge of cult rock figures when you really only know who the artist is because you happened to stumble across him/her on college radio. His album Cold Fact was recently reissued by Light in the Attic and let me tell you, it is full of stone cold hit upon stone cold hit. Practically all the info you'll read about him describes him as "folk rock" which kinda of conjures up images of long-haired women singing about pollution. Or Akron Family. But Rodriguez is way trippier, way more droll, and way more biting than any of that. You want a song where Rodriguez pleads with his drug dealer? You got it! You want a song where Rodriguez rips on rich people? You got it! You want a song where Rodriguez calls you the "coldest bitch I [he] know[s]?" You got it! In spades!! All of it in spades!

Anyways, after being considered a "lost" artist for decades, this dude went on a quest to find him. It seems Rodriguez is a revolutionary figure in South Africa. Check out this website to learn more. It's pretty interesting. But the real news here is that Rodriguez is going on tour. This is awesome!! Unfortunately I can't afford to drive down to Chicago for this, but you know who is? Local dudes and (one of my favorite Mpls bands), Vampire Hands. They're opening the show, which is pretty damn cool. (Once I had a dream about running into Angus Andrew on an escalator--he was going down, I was going up--and desperately trying to find a Vampire Hands cd to give him. In the dream he liked them. I think he would in real life, too.)

05.08.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern
05.09.09 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
05.13.09 - Washington, DC - Rock And Roll Hotel
05.14.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
05.15.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05.29.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
05.30.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
06.01.09 - Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
06.03.09 - Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Artisti
06.06.09 - London, United Kingdom - Barbican Hall
06.22.09 - Vancouver, BC - Richard's On Richards Cabaret
06.23.09 -Seattle, WA - The Triple Door
06.24.09 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
06.26.09 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
06.27.09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
07.12.09 - Liege, Belgium - Le Parc

Creepy but possibly awesome new Bat For Lashes video

2009-04-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I can't decide if I like it or loathe it. As many people know, I am completely crazy about Natasha Khan and her slightly mystical kiiiiiinda Kate Bush-esque output. I love her headbands. I love her giant percussive stick. I do not love the album art for her recently released second album, Two Suns, but that's okay. Because it's been on repeat at my house (well, that and the aforementioned Pet Shop Boys song "Heart" with the video where vampire Sir Ian McKellen steals Neil Tennant's wife) and is awesome. Because I enjoy procrastinating, last Friday I watched the video for lead single "Daniel" instead of doing something else. This is the video in question. You see, when I was just starting high school, I was sleeping over at a friend's house and we were hanging out in the basement eating bad food and watching even badder TV. Jerry Springer came on and the episode was some screwed up variant on the Make-a-Wish thing, entitled "I Wanna Be a Porn Star." So Jerry, being the kindhearted fellow he is, sets this up for the lady and sends a camera crew to follow her on her path to this dream. Basically the theme of the porn she was working on was that an Earth Woman lands on a foreign planet where she meets some sexy aliens--but really they weren't sexy at all, they were kinda gross (DUH, it's porn) and my friend and I actually changed the channel and watched some lame movie instead. The weird black costumed dancers in the "Daniel" video look very similar to the porn aliens. You see my dilemma. So go ahead! Check out the song! But maybe minimize the window while the video plays. Unless of course, you're into that sort of thing.

Amazing Pet Shop Boys video where vampire Sir Ian McKellen steals Neil Tennant's wife

2009-04-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

After hearing rumors of some possible North American dates for the Pet Shop Boys and reading about their upcoming Yes album (due April 21 here in the States), I decided to look up the London duo on Ye Olde Wikipedia. (Fun fact: ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr contributes to the album, which I think is awesome because as I was recently rambling on to a friend at the Morrissey Dance Night post-Morrissey show, I think the Pet Shop Boys are kinda like "the pop Morrissey." Just think about it.) So anyways, I was reading this Wikipedia entry and it's all "In 2009 they were awarded a Brit award and in 1985 they released this single and then in 1988 the band achieved a 4th UK #1 hit with a remixed version of "Heart."" You know blah blah blah records this, number one hit that, and then Wikipedia just drops this in there:

The video to the single, directed by Jack Bond, was a retelling of the Dracula story, starring Ian McKellen as the vampire who steals Neil Tennant's fictitious wife.

Naturally, I was like, "Whaaaaat?" And I looked it up on YouTube and not only is the video amazing, the song--which I had previously paid no attention to--is absolutely incredible. It's great! So disco-y! So heartfelt! And the vampire sings lines in it! I have posted pretty much everywhere about this, and I think--no wait, I KNOW--that I am going to sing it at karaoke tonight if they have the remixed version. So here is a link--enjoy!

Finally, a Gossip Girl cast member records a pop song

2009-04-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

I am ending my long blog hiatus (due to SXSW, actually being productive, etc.) and not because I just bought the new Bat for Lashes or Neko Case or Marissa Nadler albums (which I did) and think they're awesome (I don't know--I haven't listened to them). No, it took a greater purpose. A more consuming passion that blabbering on about post-punk or whatever the aforementioned three artists are. I am referring of course to the new "leaked" single from Leighton Meester, the actress who plays my favorite person ever, Blair Waldorf, on TV's greatest show ever, Gossip Girl. So some of the people who heard it when I posted it on my Facebook page think it's weird. WHATEVER. I think it's awesome. Yes, the chorus is weird. But weird good. Kinda like the way Ed Westwick looks. Check it out on Perez Hilton. And yes, this is probably the only time I will ever link to Perez Hilton. MAYBE.

SXSW!!!!

2009-03-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

It begins tomorrow. Hence my lack of updates for last week (my internet has been crapping out, and in the approximately 9 minutes it works every day, I've been replying to SXSW RSVPs), and the upcoming lack of updates this week. Expect some greatest hits from my new, possibly not-too-long-lived twitter account, http://twitter.com/abomb_mpls. I am super excited and have been daydreaming of margaritas and enchiladas on various Tex Mex patios all day. Now if only my dear friends would leave the St. Patrick's Day festivities and let me go home and sleep before my 10am flight....

OMG Jesus Lizard boxset!

2009-03-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

I hope this thing isn't free, because that means that I, as a record store employee, cannot grab one of these presumably limited edition, previously all out of print 7" boxsets. It comes out on April 18th, Record Store Day, the greatest holiday of all! Last year we got our very own Record Store Day t-shirts and FREE PIZZA!!!! They're calling it Inch and it includes all the previously-mentioned out-of print stuff plus their side of a split 7" with Nirvana, and a one-show exclusive 7" from a 1992 performance at Brixton Academy in London. Plus...there are a few UK dates listed, and the US tour is in the process of being booked. Mpls date in November--yay!

INCH tracklisting:

- "Chrome" b/w "7 vs 8"
- "Mouthbreather" b/w "Sunday You Need Love"
- "Wheelchair Epidemic" b/w "Dancing Naked Ladies"
- "Gladiator" (live) b/w "Seasick" (live)
- "Puss"

Lash 3x7" containing:

- "Glamorous" b/w "Deaf as a Bat"
- "Lady Shoes" (live) b/w "Killer McHann" (live)
- "Bloody Mary" (live) b/w "Monkey Trick" (live)
- "(Fly) On (the Wall)" b/w "White Hole"

05.08.09 - Minehead, England - ATP: Th

Ohhhh noooo!!! Runaways movie starring Dakota Fanning?!?!???

2009-03-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

I am 100% going to see this movie, whether it gets a 4 star review or a totally freakin' terrible review. According to Pitchfork, Dakota Fanning will be playing Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie alongside that chick from "Twilight" as Joan Jett in an upcoming Runaways movie directed by Floria Sigismondi, who directed a Sigur Ros video, but I don't know which one b/c I don't like Sigur Ros, sorry, and therefore I don't want to watch it. This is weird enough on its own, I guess, but I decided to add some fun facts about Cherie Currie that I discovered while perusing the internet.

1. She appeared in a Fran Drescher vehicle entitled The Rosebud Beach Hotel. Check out the IMDB synopsis!

After taking over a failing Miami hotel with her workaholic fiance, Elliot, Tracy thinks Monique Gabrielle has seduced her better half-to-be. She then tries to have an affair of her own, and arranges for hookers to become bellhops. Meanwhile, her rich daddy hires an inept arsonist to blow up the place. Explosive!

2. She appeared on Matlock and Murder, She Wrote. Geriatric!

3. She is now a chainsaw artist, carving bear buddies and spiritual landscapes. Somebody call the State Fair!

Leonard Cohen embarks on tour you cannot afford

2009-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Hello! Please sit down, make yourself at home. I'm Leonard Cohen. Do you like candlelight? I really think it creates a certain warmth, really gives people a chance to just BE, to just TALK. You see, I will be coming to your town shortly. I know you have never seen me before until well--this little candlelit chat we're having--and well, frankly, there is no way in hell you or anyone else will be able to afford it. Unless of course you are one of those older, distinguished Minneapolis residents who spends leisurely (I said "lesh-ur-lee") Friday evenings sipping a glass at Bar Lurcat and postulating on the quality of various small European literary publishing houses and listening to MPR with the volume turned down low while remodeling your 1923 Craftsman cottage. And I see that you are not wearing black horn-rimmed glasses today, so clearly you are not. You will not be able to afford my show. Please, though, I beg of you, enjoy and purchase my Live in London double CD/DVD release, coming soon! And if you dig up $78.50-$253.50, you know where I'll be. Ciao!

04-02 Austin, TX - Michael and Susan Dell Hall at Long Center
04-03 Grand Prarie, TX - Nokia Theatre at Grand Prarie
04-05 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
04-07 San Diego, CA - Copley Symphony Hall
04-10 Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Theatre L.A. Live
04-13 Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre of the Arts
04-17 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place
04-21 Victoria, British Columbia - Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
04-23 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater at Qwest FieldEvents Center
04-25 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
04-26 Calgary, Alberta - EPCOR Centre's Jack Singer Hall
04-28 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Credit Union Centre
04-30 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
05-03 Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
05-05 Chicago, IL - The Chicago Theatre
05-09 Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
05-11 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
05-12 Philadelphia, PA - Academy of Music
05-14 Waterbury, CT - Palace Theater
05-16 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
05-19 Hamilton, Ontario - Copps Coliseum
05-21 Quebec City, Quebec - Pavillon de la Jeunesse
05-22 Kingston, Ontario - K-Rock Centre
05-24 London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre
05-25 Ottowa, Ontario - National Arts Centre, Southam Hall
05-29 Boston, MA - Wang Theatre
06-02 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Dinosaur Jr. takes it to the streets!

2009-02-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

As previously mentioned, Dinosaur Jr. recently signed to Jagjaguwar. And now they're headed out on a tour so lengthy they must be coming to where I live! But they're not! Nope, instead they're headed to Fayetteville, a town very popular in third grade Arkansan children's standardized writing tests. Ohhh maaan, that test-grading job's been over nearly a year now, and still it haunts me.

03.20.09 - Austin, TX - Cedar St. Courtyard
04.01.09 - Milford, CT - Daniel Street
04.02.09 - Providence, RI - Club Hell
04.03.09 - Portland, ME - The Station
04.04.09 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
04.06.09 - Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom
04.07.09 - State College, PA- Lulu’s
04.08.09 - Akron, OH - Musica
04.09.09 - East Lansing, MI - The Small Planet
04.10.09 - Bloomington, IN - Bluebird Nightclub
04.11.09 - Dekalb, IL - Otto’s Nightclub
04.13.09 - Chattanooga, TN - Rhythm and Brews
04.14.09 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
04.15.09 - Baton Rouge, LA - The Varsity Theatre
04.16.09 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Music Room
04.17.09 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge
04.18.09 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
04.20.09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
04.21.09 - Sky City - Augusta, GA
04.22.09 - Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
04.23.09 - Tallahassee, FL - The Moon
04.24.09 - Jacksonville Beach, FL - Freebird Live
04.25.09 - Charleston, SC - The Music Farm
04.26.09 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
04.27.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
04.29.09 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
04.30.09 - Richmond, VA - Toad’s Place Richmond
05.01.09 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
05.02.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar

Portishead on the loose!

2009-02-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

Now that they've fulfilled their contract with Island Records, Portishead are free and ready to get their groove back. No one's saying their completely done-zo with Island, but you know, they're considering their options, and playing the field, so to speak. Geoff Barrow commented on the group's MySpace page how "with the world being the way it is there are lots of options open...but if you lot have any bright ideas of how we should sell our music in the future lets[sic] us know , why not!" He adds, "i dont think that were into giving out music away for free to be honest...it fukin takes ages to write and we have to heat our swimming pools...!!!" Because apparently he is either just kind of averse to full-out swearing or just kind of into writing in teen girl text speak.

Dinosaur Jr. signs to Jagjaguwar, poses in nearly the same way I did when I visited Stonehenge OMG!

2009-02-20T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ha! Check it out!! I have a picture of me in the same place these guys are at. Except for I used microsoft paint to cover it all up and paint a shitty-looking Olde West town over it. Remember?

Yes, that sure was a wild 'n' rowdy day on the ol' frontier!!

So, our friends in Dinosaur Jr. have now signed to Jagjaguwar (home to Black Mountain, Women, Okkervil River, Bon Iver, etc.)--and rumor has it, are working on a new album slated for release this summer. I say "friends" because for the past two years I've gone to SXSW, I always see J. Mascis several times. And my friend Tom once said that he smiled at me, although this was obviously just a ploy to make people who weren't actually there feel bad about not being there. THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE, IF YOU GO TO SXSW YOU CAN TELL FRIENDS AT HOME THAT J. MASCIS SMILED AT YOU, EVEN IF HE DIDN'T.

X and John Doe news

2009-02-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

Ahhh...I finally unearthed (GROAN) my favorite promo shot of legendary LA punk band X, and just in time for this piece of news! (Well, it's presumably a promo shot...unless they just got together on a Friday night to dig up fake graves and take pictures of themselves hanging out inside them, in which case, I want those friends, too.) X is going on tour this spring, with multiple dates in several cities (Denver, Seattle, NYC) and zero dates in others. (Why you want-a hate on-a Minneapolis??? The local stereotypical Italian community wants to know.) Especially tragic since I missed them last year when I was forced to go out of town for Easter, and my mom didn't buy my pre-adolescent style "But mooooom, it's one of my favorite baaaaands" whining as an appropriate excuse to miss this important family holiday.

X dates:

04.09.09 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
04.10.09 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
04.11.09 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
04.14.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
04.15.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
04.19.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
05.15.09 - Minehead, England - All Tomorrow’s Parties
05.29.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05.30.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05.31.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

And in other news, X co-frontman John Doe is releasing an album of country covers (and a smattering of originals) with The Sadies, entitled Country Club. I love John Doe's voice, I love country. Win: win!

Tracklisting below!

1) Stop the World and Let Me Off
Waylon Jennings

2) Husbands and Wives
Roger Miller

3) 'Til I Get It Right
Tammy Wynette

4) It Just Dawned on Me
Exene Cervenka, John Doe
(Kathleen Edwards - vocals)

5) (Now and Then) There's a Fool Such as I
Hank Snow

6) The Night Life
Ray Price

7) The Sudbury Nickel
The Sadies

8) Before I Wake
The Sadies

9) I Still Miss Someone
Johnny Cash

10) The Cold Hard Facts of Life
Porter Wagoner

11) Take These Chains from My Heart
Hank Williams

12) Help Me Make It Through the Night
Kris Kristofferson

13) Are the Good Times Really Over for Good
Merle Haggard
(Kathleen Edwards - vocals)

14) Detroit City
Bobby Bare

15) Pink Mountain Rag
The Sadies

John Doe solo dates:

02.28.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo
03.05.09 - Brisbane, AUS - The Troubadour
03.06.09 - Sydney, AUS - Manning Bar at Sydney University
03.07.09 - Melbourne AUS - The Corner Hotel
03.08.09 - Melbourne, AUS - Golden Plains Festival

Best news story ever: Nick Cave/Stallion statue planned for Australia

2009-01-30T20:07:00.001-08:00

I have been saving this story (well, ever since I found out about it all of LAST WEEK AGO) for a time when I was feeling especially lazy...too lazy to dig up an interesting piece of music news and then try and think up witty asides and crap. So luckily, tonight, just as the internet was beginning to lose its luster, I thought of this! I will write no more, and let the story talk for itself.

From the Herald Sun

Warracknabeal to get Nick Cave statue
June 24, 2008 11:00pm

A BIG bronze statue of Nick Cave on a horse might soon look down on the Victorian town of Warracknabeal, where the rock singer was born.

While mocking his birthplace as conservative and strangely lawless, Cave has long sought a statue in Warracknabeal, the Herald Sun reports.

The one he favours would show him bare-chested on a rearing stallion.

And after a new approach to the council, what seemed like a joke is gaining traction.

The council says it will look at the proposal and dares him to go the whole hog and build a 50m-high Nick Cave with a viewing platform.

Cave, famed for fronting seminal rock bands the Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds, has told a local paper he has already invited celebrity friends to the unveiling.

"Russell Crowe, my mate, has promised to attend," he told the Wimmera Mail Times by email. "Snoop Dogg, a rapper, says he'll come if they let him into the country.

"Kylie Minogue said she wouldn't miss it for the world; she even promised to wear her gold lame hotpants."

Yarriambiack Shire Mayor Andrew McLeod said the statue could be an added tourist attraction to the town.

Mr McLeod said the town, population 2600, had "a dry creek bed and a few dry lakes" for attractions.

He said the town wouldn't pay for a statue but "if he's internationally known, you'd say he'd be making more money than me".

Cave said the Warracknabeal statue would make Gundagai's Dog on the Tuckerbox pale by comparison.

He wants it on a roundabout, but the only one spare is earmarked for a statue of a dingo and her pups.

"I ask you, what could be more indigenous to Warracknabeal than me?" Cave complained to the paper. "I was bloody born there."

Shire chief executive Ray Campling said latest indications were that the Cave camp was serious.

"Why not go the full hog and erect a 50m statue of Nick riding a horse?" he said. "You could have a tourist information booth and people climbing up the horse's neck and viewing out of the nostrils."

Tricky plans tour that actually comes to where I live

2009-01-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

Finally, I will have my chance to see Tricky. This is awesome because a) he is the last artist on my high school list of musicians I really, really wanted to see but thought I would probably never get to see and now actually have seen and b) it is no longer 1997 and I am really glad of that and I like to realize that it's not 1997 anymore every once in awhile. And then also because I can't stop listening to the song "Past Mistake" off Tricky's most recent release, Knowle West Boy. Maybe it's just because I'm fairly lazy and it's easier to just keep hitting play than to find something else I wanna listen to...but maybe it's just because it's just a damn fine song.

Check it out! At SXSW, Tricky's playing with Devo! I am totally never going to get into that showcase!

03.02.09 - Farmingdale, NY - Crazy Donkey
03.03.09 - New York, NY - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza
03.06.09 - Miami, FL - Langerado Festival
03.07.09 - St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
03.09.09 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
03.10.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head Live
03.11.09 - Boston, MA - The Roxy
03.13.09 - Chicago, IL - Epiphany
03.14.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Hall
03.18.09 - San Antonio, TX - The Scout Bar
03.20.09 - Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall (SXSW) w/ Devo
03.23.09 - San Diego, CA - Belly Up
03.24.09 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
03.25.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
03.26.09 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
03.27.09 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
03.28.09 - Seattle, WA - Showbox

More bands added to SXSW roster

2009-01-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

I love SXSW. I love all the things other people love about it: Mexican food, free booze, and seeing friends from far away. I also love all the things other people hate about it: the haircuts, the crazed sprint through the Dallas airport to catch a connecting flight (hmm...didn't know I loved this before!), the possibility of getting food poisoning from the Heavy Metal Pizza Place. Just because it's SXSW, and it's the most magical part-week of the year.

Recently the official SXSW website added to its list of confirmed performers. At first I was like "meh, I guess this line-up gives me more time to hang out with my friends." But then I started noticing some excellent additions, including Beach House, Gang Gang Dance, HEALTH, the Homosexuals, the Vaselines, Naked on the Vague, Sonics, and well, there's probably more but I guess I'll just post the Official SXSW Band Roster.

C ya band: Mick Harvey leaves the Bad Seeds

2009-01-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

As I postulated earlier today on a local music scene message board, it is entirely possible that Mick Harvey's "personal and professional reasons" for leaving the Bad Seeds could be simply a front for a possible ultrasecret, ultraromantic mission Nick Cave assigned him in order to find my whereabouts and convince me to return to England to be with him forever. Here's what Mick actually says. READ BETWEEN THE LINES PEOPLE READ BETWEEN THE LINES.

"After 25 years I feel I am leaving the band as it experiences one of its many peaks; in very healthy condition, and with fantastic prospects for the future. I’m confident Nick will continue to be a creative force and that this is the right time to pass on my artistic and managerial role to what has become a tremendous group of people who can support him in his endeavours both musically and organisationally. It was a fantastic experience to finish my touring days in the band with the recent shows in Australia and the unique events that took place in conjunction with All Tomorrow’s Parties, especially Mt. Buller, which was one of the many highlights of my involvement with the band throughout the years."

Only 2 days till the most exciting show of the year: Bush Tetras reunion benefit at Nick & Eddie

2009-01-15T22:44:00.001-08:00

Finally!! The best show of the year is nigh, and it's only January. And then we have the Inauguration on Tuesday. Could this be the best January ever? There's a very real possibility.

You know all those shows you see written up? All those My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks reunions you can't go to because they're far away and you live in what's commonly known as flyover land? WELL NOW ONE OF THOSE SHOWS IS OURS, SUCKAZ!!! And instead of your hard-earned $$$ going to some concert promoter, it goes to original Bush Tetras bassist Laura Kennedy, who recently got a new liver, and unsurprisingly has some medical bills that need assistance. (Check out the LKLF blog.)

Pre-sale tickets are still available from First Avenue, Eclipse Records, Treehouse, Electric Fetus, and Nick & Eddie. Or you can buy them day of, but the low low price of $25 does jump significantly if you purchase at the door.

The final line-up includes the Bush Tetras, local legends Suicide Commandos, David Thomas of Pere Ubu, and popular noise dance dudes Skoal Kodiak. It goes down this Saturday at Nick & Eddie on Loring Park. THEY HAVE ABSINTHE!!! And just think, if you, like me, aren't currently able to brag that you saw most of these bands back in the day, if you go to this show, five years from now you will be able to brag to younger people and make THEM feel envious and unfairly uncool! Win-win.

01.17.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Nick & Eddie

New Bat for Lashes album details!!!

2009-01-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

Finally!!! The band that unmasked my previously unknown appreciation for harpsichord-laden, mystical imagery driven indie ballads has set a date for their follow-up album to 2006's Fur and Gold. (Note: I may LOVE this band, but it doesn't mean I generally love all artists who write songs inspired by Joan of Arc who use kinda medieval instruments and remind me of unicorns and stars and stuff. That would seriously ruin my aggro post-punk "I like Big Black" cred. I only like this band. And I like them SIGH a lot.)

But just the facts, please. Bat for Lashes' second studio album, Two Suns, is slated for an April 6, 2009 release on Astralwerks. And now, behold: (from a press release) "The album features guest turns from the legendary Scott Walker (on album closer “The Big Sleep”), Brooklyn psychrockers Yeasayer, and her own band The Blue Dreams (who toured with her this summer)."

OMG, SCOTT WALKER?!?!?! That is pretty rad. Alas one of my non-album favorites, "Missing Time" isn't listed, but I'm glad about "Moon and Moon." And following the album release, a North American tour is promised!! Woooo!!! Another reason to not give up hope, even considering that I just finished reading Revolutionary Road and now all I can think about constantly is how much I do not want my life to turn out like the lives of Frank and April Wheeler. Eesh.

Tracklisting:
1. Glass

2. Sleep Alone

3. Moon and Moon

4. Daniel

5. Peace of Mind

6. Siren Song

7. Pearl’s Dream

8. Good Love

9. Two Planets

10. Traveling Woman

11. The Big Sleep

Annie Album Update!

2009-01-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

Apparently even though their relationship is totally done-zo, Island Records still has a video for Annie's "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" up on YouTube. Of course, this is a topic that needs constant addressing in pop songs, as there will always be girlfriends who hate for a myriad amount of reasons ranging from (as detailed in the Pussycat Dolls' 2005 life-altering smash hit "Don'tcha") being hotter, freakier, rawer, and just plain more fun. And while "I Know" is an alright song, I actually kind like the PCD anthem better. I know I will regret saying this later, like, when I actually see a picture of the Pussycat Dolls and remember, "This is probably what suicide bombers stare at to get themselves all amped up for working over American embassies and stuff."

So the fact that Annie is revamping her follow-up, Don't Stop, after it was dropped late last year by Island is kinda okay with me. According to my sources (Pitchfork and Billboard--ooooh! Super secret!), Annie recorded over sixty songs for the album--and only 12 made the Island cut. At this point, my favorite nouveau disco heroine has stated to the press that "I own the masters, so I can do whatever I want to do. I might do it myself, on my own label." Nice work, lady. Word is that when Don't Stop DOES come out later this year, on some as yet unnamed label, the tracklisting and production work might be completely different. And hopefully with more monochrome martini pool party album artwork.

Morrissey...in Minneapolis!!!!

2008-12-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

So maybe Shovel Claus (the cheerful holiday persona I invented last night in hopes he would appear and make the sidewalk in front of our house magically clear so I wouldn't have to freeze in below zero temperatures for an hour) did not grant my holiday wish (to shovel my snow). But apparently a new and better holly jolly winter creation has decided to bestow his favor on me...because Morrissey is going on tour, and instead of not coming here, HE IS TOTALLY COMING HERE. Even when I am contemplating finding a 4th job, and even when I am contemplating keeping it to myself that I'm thinking of getting another job so I don't constantly seem like I'm complaining, the dulcet sounds of "This Charming Man" can truly make me feel just a little bit better. And now he is coming to my own hometown. Also, I learned that there are like, dozens of Smiths-related cover bands on YouTube including...of course...(once you hear the name, you'll know it just HAD to exist) This Charming Band.

This is the longest tour listing ever. Please take me with you, Morrissey. Oh--and there's a date on that upcoming album, Years of Refusal. It's February 17, 2009. The single is called "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris." Siiiigh. So romantic, Morrissey. Sigh.

02-28 Boca Raton, FL - Mizner Park
03-01 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
03-03 Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theater
03-04 St Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
03-06 Myrtle Beach SC - House of Blues
03-07 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
03-09 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
03-11 Durham, NC - Durham Performing Arts Center
03-13 Richmond, VA - The National
03-14 Washington, DC - Warner Theater
03-16 Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theater
03-17 Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall
03-19 Buffalo, NY - University of Buffalo Center for the Arts
03-21 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03-22 Philadelphia, PA - Academy of Music
03-25 New York, NY - Webster Hall
03-26 New York, NY - Carnegie Hall
03-28 Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods
03-29 Boston, MA - House of Blues
03-31 Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
04-01 Columbus, OH - Palace Theater
04-03 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
04-04 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
04-06 Minneapolis, MN - State Theater
04-07 Kansas City, MO - Midland Theater
04-08 St Louis, MO - Pageant Theater
04-10 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
04-11 Houston, TX - Jesse H Jones Hall
04-12 Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall
04-14 El Paso, TX - Chavez Theater
04-15 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
04-28 Killarney, Ireland - INEC
04-29 Galway, Ireland - Leisureland
05-01 Omagh, Northern Ireland - Leisure Centre
05-02 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Waterfront
05-04 Stirling, Scotland - Albert Hall *
05-05 Dundee, Scotland - Caird Hall *
05-07 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands *
05-08 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands *
05-10 Liverpool, England - Empire *
05-11 London, England - Royal Albert Hall *
05-13 Great Yarmouth, England - Brittania Pier *
05-16 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange *
05-19 Hull, England - Hull Arena *
05-20 Hartlepool, England - Borough Hall *
05-22 Manchester, England - Apollo *
05-23 Manchester, England - Apollo *
05-25 Salisbury, England - City Hall *
05-26 London, England - Troxy Ballroom *
05-28 London, England - Brixton Academy *
05-29 London, England - Brixton Academy *
05-30 London, England - Brixton Academy *
06-02 Paris, France - Grand Rex
06-03 Lille, France - Aeronef
06-05 Luxembourg - Rockhal Club
06-06 Rotterdam, Holland - Watt
06-08 Antwerp, Belgium - Elizabeth Hall
06-09 Offenbach, Germany - Capitol
06-11 Cologne, Germany - Palladium
06-12 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
06-14 Bremen, Germany - Pier 2
06-20 Oslo, Norway - Senstrumscene
06-24 Stockholm, Sweden - Hovet
06-30 St. Petersburg, Russia - Maneshe
07-01 Moscow, Russia - B1 Club

* with Doll and the Kicks

Jus' Friendz

2008-12-11T19:14:00.001-08:00

This is me and my friend Jared's Christmas Acapella Group. Now available for your holiday party or mall event LOL!!!! (We will just have to um...actually learn some songs.) Because "FRIENDSHIP is the reason for the season!"

Become friends with us on facebook!
Jus' Friendz

Lykke Li saves February, ventures into concert deadzone of Midwestern midwinter

2008-12-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

My two favorite things to come out of Sweden this year: Lykke Li and the Morrissey-song-title-inspired child vampire flick, Let the Right One In. And now one is going on tour! And fortunately for humanity, it is not the one with fangs and a primordial need for bloooood.

I am pretty excited about this Lykke Li date in Minneapolis because a) it is a show by non-local band during a stupid, cold month when NOOOOO touring bands ever come through and b) because I never go to the Varsity, even though I kinda like it, and since I cannot afford to pay for this show, I will have to find a way in. A challenge! What a thrill this will surely provide. All of the challenges in my life right now are like, "How can I get money to pay my rent relatively on time?" or "Where's the shovel?" or "Is it humanly possible to work three jobs in one day?" This will be much better, I think.

1/31/09 Washington, DC @ Sixth and I
2/2/09 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
2/4/09 Montreal, PQ @ Club Soda
2/6/09 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
2/7/09 Chicago, IL @ Metro
2/8/09 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity
2/11/09 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
2/12/09 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne
2/13/09 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
2/15/09 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
2/17/09 Pomona, CA @ Glass House
2/18/09 Dallas, TX @ Granada
2/19/09 Austin, TX @ Antone's

Vashti Bunyan and Serge Gainsbourg flicks on the way...somewhere

2008-12-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

First, the Vashti Bunyan film. Created by Kieran Evans, the man behind Finisterre (the documentary about London co-created with Saint Etienne), Vashti Bunyan: From Here to Before had its world premiere recently at the 52nd Times BFI London International Film Festival. Then it screened at a festival in Copenhagen. Then...well...they don't have any info on their website. It sounds pretty awesome though; it includes footage of Bunyan prepping for her first big concert in London after being rediscovered, interviews with media-declared chief rediscoverer Devendra Banhart, original V-Bun supporters like Joe Boyd, and so much more. Plus it recreates the cross-Britain horse-and-buggy journey Vashti Bunyan took to join a commune and hang out with Donovan back in the day. The horse-and-buggy stuff: definitely true. The Donovan stuff: true according to some website I read last night.

Next: the Serge Gainsbourg movie. It's Universal Studio's first local, French production. Exciting! It's directed by graphic novelist Joann Sfar and entitled Serge Gainsbourg (vie heroique. It's about young Serge growing up in Nazi-occupied Paris in the 40s, changing his name from Lucien Ginsberg to the only sliiiightly more debonair Serge Gainsbourg, hangin' with Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, Juliette Greco, and his last lady, Bambou. There is also no date for this one...but that's because it seems to not have started filming yet.

Weird bands doin' weird stuff: the Knife/ opera edition

2008-12-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately it probably won't include the strange and adorable little mouse family from the "Marble House" video, but the rumored new Darwinian opera from Swedish electronic brother/sister duo The Knife CAN promise three starring vocalists from the worlds of "electronica pop, classical opera and performance" all uniting to...sing songs about dinosaurs turning into birds and shit. According to the Daily Swarm, the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma will present the piece sometime in 2009 and that it will focus in some way, a way not yet entirely confirmed, around the 150th anniversary of The Origin of the Species.

And that's it! End of the story! I don't know anything else beyond that it's actually gonna happen...and now you know, too.

Cocteau Twins, Echo & the Bunnymen, Goldfrapp, Massive Attack, Spiritualized members...together at last!

2008-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Best supergroup ever?

Okay, so it already happened. November 26, 2008, in London, in fact. But if it happened once, maybe it'll happen again, riiiiiight??? They're called the Hookham Boys. And they are people like (deep breath) Damon Reece (Massive Attack, Echo And The Bunnymen, Spiritualized), Alex Lee (Suede, Goldfrapp), Sean Cook (Spiritualized), Joe Allen (Strangelove), Jake Drake Brockman (Echo And The Bunnymen), Vincent Pellegrino and Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins). SIGH! Elizabeth Fraser! Of Cocteau Twins! The band I almost returned to the desert inferno known as CoacHELLa to see, after vowing I would never go back for anything besides my high school love Portishead. The Guardian describes the performance as an evening of "countrybilly and a sprinkle of Johnny Cash covers." Nothing on YouTube yet, alas.

Another day, another band reunion I'll probably miss: the Jesus Lizard edition

2008-11-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

Did you know that there ACTUALLY is a reptile named the Jesus Lizard? Yes, it's more than just the name of a Touch and Go band described by Wikipedia with such disturbing adjectives as "propulsive," "scathing" and... "disembowling." Ewww. A non-band Jesus Lizard is another name for the basilisk...because it runs on water. Cleeeeeverrrr!!!

Anyway, as you probably already know by now, the Jesus Lizard's original lineup is reuniting for a series of as yet unannounced shows starting with this May's ATP--The Fans Strike Back edition--where they'll be sharing the stage with Devo, Spiritualized, Sleep, and others not yet selected in beautiful Minehead, England. And then there'll be a slew (maybe?) of dates culminating in a final FINAL show in Chicago, the band and the label's hometown.

Oh yeah--and Touch and Go is remastering and reissuing Goat, Head, Liar, and Down in May 2009.

VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!

2008-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

I love you, Mr. Obama.

I am Barackin' my little red "I Voted" sticker. I'm alternating between being giddy and nervous, I'm hungry then I have no appetite. I have no idea how I'm gonna make it through my day at work. There must be a way to get CNN piped directly into my brain....

Waiting rulez!!! New Annie album delayed

2008-10-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

It has been four long, disco-less years since Norwegian dance genius Annie released her glittering pop gem of a debut Anniemal. Four years of waiting and never finding an equivalently incredible nouveau disco hit. Four years of waiting, hoping that someone would guest feature her smooth pop stylings on the ultimate summer jam. And now, finally when it seemed like we would have something well-produced and bangin' to while away the wintry months, her latest album, Don't Stop...gets stopped from coming out. Now slated for an unspecified North American date in 2009, at least it's for a good reason; Annie wants to pack it with even more great pop hits. I can handle that. I SUPPOSE. Although the album is now scheduled for a January 26th release in Europe, we Yanks will just have to content ourselves with this week's release of her cover of Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts." For those of you across the ocean, you can see the lady live at the following dates:

10-31 Madrid, Spain - Mond Club
11-07 Istanbul, Turkey - Phonem by Miller

Bush Tetras reunion benefit shows...they are a'happening

2008-10-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

No-wave/post-punk-y NYC group the Bush Tetras are doing some reunion shows for a good cause. Perhaps you have more precious free time to peruse the sweet, sweet internet than I do, and were able to read about yesterday's performance with James Chance, Lenny Kaye, Tetra member Dee Pop's project Radio I-Ching, Voidoid Ivan Julian, B-52s dude Pat Irwin, and, according to Pitchfork "plenty more acts from the post-punk generation and beyond" at New York's Cake Shop and attend. Or perhaps, like me you are uninformed to the world beyond your three retail jobs, or you live somewhere that is not NYC. If that is the case, I would like to encourage you, discerning post-punk music fan, to visit beautiful, liberal, soon-to-be frozen over Minneapolis!

You see, this aforementioned good cause is bassist and Mpls resident Laura Kennedy's liver. Bush Tetras will be flying in to my fair city in December for a rockin' benefit, with more details forthcoming. If you are a nice person with some form of income, or perhaps a not-so-nice person with an inheritance who is trying to prove to the one person who believe in them that they DO have some redemptive qualities even though no one else believes they do (Yessss!!! Only 3.5 hours till my favorite teen serial drama "Gossip Girl" is on again!), then please visit this site and contribute.

Yeasayer embark on mega tour!

2008-08-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

For all your mustache-enhanced band needs, here comes a Yeasayer performance to a venue near you!! This is one of those bands I have only heard while doing work at the record store, but I am gonna BELIEVE in the few songs I have heard and taken notice of, and say that this is a good band. Of course, as they say, to assume makes an ass out of you and me, but in this case, who really cares? If a band's got a faceless caped figure on its album cover, it's good enough for me!

08-20 London, England - Kings College
08-22 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
09-26 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
10-03 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
10-04 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner
10-07 Sydney, Australia - Oxford Art Gallery
10-22 Boston, MA - Paradise
10-24 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10-25 Toronto, Ontario - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
10-26 Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig
10-28 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-29 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
10-30 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
10-31 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College
11-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
11-20 Seattle, WA - Neumos
11-21 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
11-22 San Francisco, CA - Bimbos 365 Club
11-23 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
11-25 La Jolla, CA - The Loft
11-26 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
11-28 Telluride, CO - Sheridan Opera House
11-29 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
12-03 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Synagogue
12-04 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
12-05 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
12-06 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

CMJ line-up lookin' good, but still no Pop Montreal

2008-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

I have been assured that CMJ is no SXSW. And certainly no Pop Montreal. (Pleeeeeeeeeeeease somebody go with me pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease, this is a once in a lifetime chance to go to French Canada and see Nick Cave AND Burt Bacharach AND Wire AND Silver Apples with ME, your dream French Canada travel companion!) But here you have it, some of my favorite highlights from the upcoming CMJ festival:

Beach House, Broken Social Scene, Lykke Li, Crystal Castles, A Place to Bury Strangers, DMBQ, Jay Reatard, King Khan & The BBQ Show, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Marissa Nadler, Psychic Ills, The Homosexuals

And of course, there will be more. Keep in mind that when I say "favorite highlights", it does not necessarily equate to "you and me eating crepes after a memorable evening of watching Burt Bacharach croon "Walk On By," one of the all time greatest songs ever." But I am really busy this week, and so I gotta post by updates when they come to me, am I right?

Video: Lykke Li, "Little Bit"

Tricky! Coming to a city not near you!

2008-08-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sure, Chicago ordinarily does not seem far away. It is what, 8 hours by car? But it is sooooooooooo far away when you are soooooooooo broke. And besides I am already going to Chicago in September to see Nick Cave! Yay! My first trip into hell--er--my first trip on the megabus! Hurrah!

Anyway, in a move that seemed inevitable to the thousands of people who joked about the return of trip-hop when Massive Attack started doing big festivals and curating Meltdown, and when Portishead, of course, came back with Third, Tricky is back! His new album Knowle West Boy sounds pretty damn awesome, even the song that sounds kind of rap-metal-y and which eventually grew on me after listening to the album a lot at work. And so he's playing shows in America, which would be cool to go to, but which I will not, because...well...I think I have talked about it in every single post on this page for the last 3 months.

In other news, someone is building a giant blue shark-hippo on wheels in the alley behind my house. I am not making this up. I walked out of my house one Saturday morning and there it was! I will keep you posted unless it eats me.

09.04.08 - New York, NY - The Fillmore At Irving Plaza
09.05.08 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
09.06.08 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09.08.08 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
09.09.08 - Toronto, ONT - Phoenix
09.11.08 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
09.12.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09.14.08 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent

Best Canadian music festival ever: Pop Montreal

2008-08-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

"Hi. I'm Burt Bacharach. You know me for my classic pop gems, created with the help of such stars as Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield, among others. But what I'd really like to talk about today is an incredible music festival, in an incredible city--namely Pop Montreal. It's a music festival with many of your all-time favorite performers, in the best season of the year, autumn. And you'll never be able to afford it! Because although you have at last gotten a job, Alison, you are still broke as a joke, and gettin' ready to wallow in some serious debt! So why don't you just go home and play some albums from the feature artists in succession, and pretend like you're there. Because that's as close as you're gonna get! Ah ha ha ha!!"

Ok, ok. There is no way Burt Bacharach is a jerk like that. However, the above statement does perfectly sum up my feelings about Pop Montreal--so awesome, yet so implausible. Perhaps you would like to go with me? I would find a way to go if you, my friend, would go with me. It's October 1-5!! We could go to another country together! Oh please, another country!!! I haven't even been out of the STATE (ok, with the exception of SXSW) in 8 months....CHECK OUT THIS LINE-UP OMG YOU CAN'T LOSE:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Irma Thomas, Burt Bacharach, Silver Apples,
Hot Chip, The Persuasions, Dan Deacon, Cori Bishop (aka Elyse Weinberg), United Steel Workers of Montreal, The Dodos, Liam Finn, Wintersleep, Dark Meat, Headlights, Playdoe, Dabaaz, Kim, Eric Bélanger, The Veils, WIRE, Crystal Castles, Black Kids, St Catherines, Vetiver, Thomas Function, Julie Doiron, Chad Van Gaalen, Dominique Grange & Jacques Tardi, Great Lake Swimmers, Katie Moore, Socalled, Woodhands, You Say Party! We Say Die!, Sam Shalabi, Gatineau, Jason Collett, Chocolat, Wedding Present, Evangelicals, Beach House, Jana Hunter, Cex, Teeth Mountain, Teki Latex, D’Urbervilles, Michie Mee, and so much more!

Noooooooooo!!!! Please don't happen without me!!!! Check out the Pop Montreal website for more reasons why you should go with me. Don't forget, I speak very rudimentary and poorly-pronounced French! Imagine the excitement of being misunderstood by waiters and taxi cab drivers, with me, your super-excited pal!

Ohhhh so much Leonard Cohen dates!

2008-07-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Leonard Cohen, for going on a tour so long that I barely have to type anything. This is good b/c I am at the coffeeshop but want to get out of here so that I can use the bathroom. This is bad because all of the dates are in Europe, where I am not.

And that's it! That's all I am going to write for you this week! I have been so busy doing my usual depressing crapschedule of obsessively applying for jobs, and living through two of the potentially funnest, boating-filled days of the summer earlier this week, that I just straight up haven't had time to scour the approximately 3 news sources I rip off to write this blog. (Note: "funnest" does not show up as a mistake on my spellcheck, but "crapschedule" does. What gives? Thanks for making America dumber, Spellcheck. Or would you prefer I say "more dumber???") Until next week, then, and until I get one of these here jobs I'm interviewing for in the next few days. So please...wish me luck, and wish me a regular income.

08-03 Ledbury, England - The Big Chill
09-21 Bucharest, Romania - Arcul de Trumpf
09-24 Vienna, Austria - Koncerthaus
09-27 Prague, Czech Republic - HC Sparta
09-29 Wroclaw, Poland - Hala Orbita
10-01 Warsaw, Poland - Torwar
10-04 Berlin, Germany - O2
10-07 Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
10-10 Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
10-12 Gothenburg, Sweden - Falconer
10-15 Stockholm, Sweden - Golben
10-17 Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum
10-20 Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
10-23 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
10-25 Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
10-27 Geneva, Switzerland - TBA
10-29 Frankfurt, Germany - Festhalle
10-31 Hamburg, Germany - Colorline Arena
11-02 Oberhausen, Germany - Oberhausen Arena
11-03 Rottendam, Netherlands - Ahoy
11-05 Glasgow, Scotland - Clyde
11-08 Cardiff, Wales - International Arena
11-11 Bournemouth, England - International Centre
11-13 London, England - O2 Arena
11-22 Birmingham, England - NEC
11-24 Paris, France - Olympia
11-25 Paris, France - Olympia
11-28 Brighton, England - Brighton Centre
12-01 Dublin, Ireland - The Point

El Guincho album finally set to see the light of day/record store shelves

2008-07-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Holy cats, it's already Thursday! Boy, time really flies when you are unemployed and spending the first two days of your week on the open water, boating through Lake Minnetonka or tubing down the Cannon River. Yes! ENVY ME! Perhaps you can pay your bills on time and don't go through your day wondering, "What will happen if I can't pay rent this month either? I'm pretty smart, why will no one give me a chance?" But to hell with all that. I have very little, but what I do have...you will ENVVVVVY....

One of those things I do have, and that you probably don't if you are a US resident, is Spanish rocker dude El Guincho's full-length album Alegranza. It's awesome, up until now it's been import only, and kinda $$$. But at last, here it is on the horizon--a worldwide release date! Special thanks to Young Turks/XL Recordings for finally releasing this thing on October 6 for people in the parts of the world that are not the United States, and on October 7 for the parts of the world that ARE.

While I'm discussing the Guinch, I should probably add that some previously reported tour dates are no longer gonna happen. So here they are, and here's the one that still is on the way.

NO!!!!!
08-08 Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08-14-16 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop

YESSSSS...
09-13 London, England - End of the Road Festival

Husker Du night! Not coming to a town near you!

2008-07-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

This Monday, July 28th, 2008, for one night only, Grumpy's Downtown--everybody's favorite Minneapolis bar that is not the Triple Rock or that other one that maybe we go to sometimes--is hosting Husker Du Night! Starting at 10pm, Grant Hart and perhaps Greg Norton will be celebrating the life of their pal John Clegg, who saxed it up on some early Husker Du recordings. The event will feature film from Rick Fuller, plus the chance to pick up the super limited (word has it there are 500 copies) of the new Reflex Records-released Husker Du CD EP, featuring 3 tracks, including "What's Going On" and "Drug Party."

Neko Case and Killdozer, together at last

2008-07-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Nooooo!!!! This is both HORRIBLE and AWESOME. Madison, Wisconsin, has done something much cooler than its vastly superior western cousin, Minneapolis. This would, of course, be the organization of the Forward Music Festival, a two day event held September 19-20 in downtown Madison. Sure, Minneapolis ranks higher than Madison in a ranking of America's most literary AND most hard-partyin' cities (sources: Central Connecticut State University study and Forbes, respectively), and has presumably served as a setting for more Lindsey Lohan movies. These are all pretty awesome distinctions. But they do not quite outweigh how I am kinda jealous that Madison will be hosting both Neko Case and Killdozer, the Touch and Go band behind the creepy-awesome track "Knuckles the Dog."

That's not it, either. I am seriously considering a post-birthday Madison jaunt, because with a ticket price set at a low, low $25 price tag, how can you lose? The line-up is more extensive than I can ever hope (or want) to list, but you can see it at the Forward Music Festival website. So far the line-up includes people like the aforementioned two artists, plus Shearwater, the Heroin Sheiks, Flosstradamus, Dillinger 4, Scared of Chaka, Dan Deacon, Giant Sand, Detroit Cobras, and Bob Mould.

Finally...Wire tour dates!

2008-07-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been talking about this Wire tour forever. But in really nebulous terms like "I don't know when, but there's definitely a Minneapolis date!" or "they have a new album...so I mean...logically they SHOULD tour...." And finally here we have them, real legit tour dates. I'll keep this short, because I've been talking about this tour and their latest album Object 47, for so long that even I am bored. At last! At last, my dreams of seeing Wire--dreams I have carried with me ever since one of my friends lived in a house with a Wire/Sonic Youth tour poster in the bathroom that would taunt me "You will never see Wire! You will neeeeever see Wire! They will never come to the United States again AND YOU MISSED IT when you could've seen them"--those dreams will be fulfilled. Sigh. What an inspiring bathroom.

Here's the dates, in all their glory:

08-30 London, England - Hainaut Forest Country Park (Offset Festival)
09-08 London, England - The Scala
09-09 Leeds, England - Met University
09-10 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
09-11 Glasgow, Scotland - The Arches
09-12 Manchester, England - Academy 3
09-19 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
09-20 Ghent, Belgium - Minnemeers
09-21 Tilburg, Netherlands - ZXZW Festival
09-22 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
10-05 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10-06 Ottawa, Ontario - Barrymore's
10-07 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-08 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
10-10 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
10-11 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-12 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10-14 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10-15 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10-16 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Commodore Ballroom
10-17 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10-18 Chicago, IL - Metro

Mixtape Mania '08: Santogold and Diplo!!!

2008-07-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

At last, an outlet for my habit of assigning fake festival names to fairly small occurrences. (Example: "Drink-a-thon 5000", a really boring night in my friend's backyard where we sat around and called the phone number from the 867-5309 "Jenny, I got your nummmmber!" song from various area codes, or "Super Tubesday '08"--which technically wasn't really my name idea--for next Tuesday when I and anyone who wants to join me go TUBING down a RIVER.) The aforementioned "outlet" would be the occasion of a new mix cd compiled by two dance music heavyweights, Diplo and Santogold. Entitled Top Ranking, the 35 track ultimate party mixxx!!!! is available on Diplo's Mad Decent label, and is kinda similar in concept (ok, a lot similar) to the Piracy Funds Terrorism cd that dude did with M.I.A. The track selection looks a lil' something like this:

01 "Dub Selection Intro"
02 Three 6 Mafia: "Late Night" (Unstoppable Mix)
03 Santogold: "Shuv It" (Disco D Blend) [exclusive]
04 Santogold: "I'm a Lady" (Diplo Mix ft. Amanda Blank) [exclusive]
05 Sir Mix-A-Lot: "Posse on Broadway"
06 Santogold: "Lights Out" (Diplo's Panda Bear Mix) [exclusive]
07 Aretha Franklin: "Save Me"
08 Devo: "Be Stiff"
09 B-52's: "Mesopotamia"
10 Gerri and the Holograms: "Gerri and the Holograms"
11 Santogold: "Anne" (Switch Mix) [exclusive]
12 Santogold: "L.E.S. Artistes" (XXXchange Mix ft. Movado)
13 Cutty Ranks: "Dutty Six Pack" [exclusive]
14 Santogold: "Find a Way" (Graeme and Switch Mix ft. Kid Cudi) / Lunar Camel [exclusive]
15 Richie Spice x Ratatat: "Marijuana"
16 Desmond Dekker: "007 (Shanty Town)"
17 Santogold: "Guns of Brooklyn" [exclusive]
18 Dixie Cups: "Iko Iko"
19 Tony Matterhorn: "Big Belly Guns" [exclusive]
20 Santogold: "Get It Up" (Radioclit mix ft. MIA & Gorilla Zoe) [exclusive]
21 "Mark Ronson in Studio"
22 Trouble Andrew: "Run - Hide"
23 Sister Nancy: "Pigeon Rock"
24 Nora Dean: "Barbwire"
25 Shinehead: "Know How Fe Chat"
26 The Clash: "Ghetto Defendant"
27 Warrior Queen: "Check It"
28 Santogold x Benga: "Unstoppable / Night Dub" [exclusive]
29 Shawty Lo x Skream: "Dey Know / Stagger"
30 Santogold: "Creator" (Mumdance Mix ft. Jammer, Badness, Chronik Rage, Slikman & Tempz) [exclusive]
31 Xray: "Turbulence Dubplate" (Starstruck Diplo Mix) [exclusive]
32 Barrington Levy: "Send a Moses"
33 Prince Jazzbo: "Ital Corner"
34 Santogold: "Icarus" [exclusive]
35 Santogold x Diplo: "Right Brigade" (hidden track) [exclusive]

And to make this an even longer post, here's some dates that, as per usual, I lifted straight offa Pitchfork!

Santogold:

07-18 Barcelona, Spain - Summercase
07-19 Madrid, Spain - Summercase
07-20 New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage ^
07-23 Chicago, IL - United Center *
07-25 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center *
07-26 Boston, MA - Rock the Bells
07-27 New York, NY - Rock the Bells
07-29 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Center *
07-30 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Center *
08-01 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
08-02 Hartford, CT - XL Center *
08-03 Washington, DC - Verizon Center *
08-04 Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden *
08-09 Osaka, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival
08-10 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival
08-14 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-15 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands - Lowlands
08-19 Edinburgh, Scotland - Fringe Fest
08-23 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-24 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-29 Cornwall, England - Surfstock
08-30 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Pinic
08-31 Argyll, Scotland - Connect Fest
09-03 London, England - Koko
09-05 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-06 Manchester, England - Becks Fusion Festival

^ with Diplo
* with Coldplay

Diplo:

07-18 Baltimore, MD - The Paradox *
07-19 Baltimore, MD - Whartscape Festival
07-20 New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage ^
07-20 New York, NY - Santos' Party House
08-07 Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08-08 Berlin, Germany - Berlin Festival
08-09 Andalusia, Spain - Creamfields
08-12 Umea, Sweden - Rex
08-13 Gothenburg, Sweden - Nefertiti
08-15 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-29 Tel Aviv, Israel - Barzilay Club
08-30 Bristol, England - Motion
08-31 Dublin, Ireland - Electric Picnic

* with Blaqstarr
^ with Santogold

Goldfrapp tour! And the blog is back!

2008-07-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

It's back by popular demand, and because now that my credit card is on its new billing cycle, I can afford to go to the coffeeshop again! Surely I will get a job by the time the NEW statement is due! Surely....

But enough about my financial woes. Let's talk about the more successful, more British Alison, Alison Goldfrapp. She and her band will be visiting several continents during the late summer/early fall, in support of her latest album Seventh Tree, which admittedly I haven't really listened to, but that you can listen to HERE.

08-08 Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal - Sudoeste Festival
08-16 Almeria, Spain - Ola Festival
08-29 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
08-30 Argyll, Scotland - Hydro Connect Festival
09-12 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
09-14 Toronto, Ontario - Danforth Music Hall
09-16 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
09-17 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
09-20 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
09-21 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum
09-28 Melbourne, Australia - Parklife Festival
09-29 Perth, Australia - Parklife Festival
10-04 Brisbane, Australia - Parklife Festival
10-05 Sydney, Australia - Parklife Festival

1997 4EVA: Tricky has a new LP!!

2008-06-23T17:54:00.001-07:00

There has just been a parade of 1997-related music at the record store and in the news. Massive Attack curated Meltdown, one of my coworkers played an U.N.K.L.E. CD I haven't listened to since I stopped being a depressed teenager,and you know, of course there was that new Portishead album. And now Tricky has a new album, too! His last album came out five years ago, according to Pitchfork, but surely that can't be right because I remember buying that album and ooooh my God, it can't be that long ago, because that would mean I am fast approaching that part of my life where people say "God, I hope I'm still not going out when I'm that old." But whatever, those people are boring assholes who just sit around watching HBO original series.

Anyways, the album's called Knowle West Boy, and comes out in the UK July 7, and in the US on September 9 (the day before my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!) on Domino Records. The single, "Council Estate", is up on Tricky's MySpace page, which I cannot listen to since I am at a coffeeshop right now, as I always am.

Hercules and Love Affair, summer 2008's greatest disco hope

2008-06-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

Maybe. I don't want to make a totally unqualified statement, considering that I have only heard one track by Hercules and Love Affair. But let me tell you, if you're looking for summer disco jams, this might be the best bet until the new Annie album comes out. See if I'm right or if I'm wrong, by listening to this. The Antony track is kickin'.

Dude is goin' on a non-stop excess-filled (well, it should be, it's disco, right?) tour of Europe, the UK, and a liiiitle bit of America this summer, and it's such a long list that I don't really feel like I have to write any more less-than-spectacular commentary about this band/their tour. Lost in music!!!

06.24.08 - Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06.25.08 - Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator Festival
06.26.08 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
06.27.08 - Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
06.28.08 - Athens, Greece - Olympic
07.02.08 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - 5 Days Off @ Paradise
07.03.08 - London, England - Hyde Park (O2 Wireless Festival)
07.04.08 - Montreux, Switzerland - Montreux Jazz Festival
07.05.08 - Knebworth, England - Knebworth House (Wild in the Country)
07.06.08 - Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Festival
07.10.08 - Lisbon, Portugal - Alive Festival
07.11.08 - Rome, Italy - Mattatoio Light
07.12.08 - Turin, Italy - Notte Verde
07.13.08 - Ferrara, Italy - Piazza Castello
07.16.08 - Munich, Germany - Die Registratur
07.17.08 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
07.18.08 - Gräfenhainichen, Germany - Ferropolis (Melt! Festival)
07.19.08 - East Lulworth, England - Camp Bestival
07.23.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo
07.25.08 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
07.26.08 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
08.08.08 - New York, NY - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza
08.14.08 - Cologne, Germany - C/O Pop Festival
08.15.08 - El Ejido, Spain - Ola Festival
08.16.08 - Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
08.20.08 - Zurich, Switzerland - Q Club
08.21.08 - Bern, Switzerland - Dampfzentrale
08.23.08 - Brighton, England - Devil's Dyke
08.24.08 - Daresbury, England - Creamfields
08.27.08 - Hamburg, Germany - Ubel & Gefährlich
08.28.08 - Helsinki, Finland - Tavastia
08.29.08 - Stockholm, Sweden - Popoganda Festival
08.30.08 - Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
08.31.08 - Paris, France - Rock en Seine
09.04.08 - London, England - KOKO
09.06.08 - Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09.14.08 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks (Monolith Festival)

Incredible Suicide Covers EPs/ Marriage Proposal

2008-06-23T17:16:00.001-07:00

Instead of writing cover letters for jobs, I am doing this. This is what you do to me, music blog that people read off and on, and that I neglect for months at a time when I have a shitty job I hate. But seriously, I am so excited about this new Suicide tribute concept that I would way rather be writing a bunch of mumbo jumbo about how ECSTATIC I am that HTRK is on one than typing another letter about how I am dynamic, and am a team player. (Although I am both! Give me a job, please!!!)

These tribute EPs are going to be the best EPs ever, possibly, because of all the totally beyond A-list artists doing covers of one of earth’s most stone-cold awesome bands, Suicide. Check out this list of contributors, most of whom I absolutely freakin’ LOVE, some of whom I kinda like, and some of whom I deeeeefinitely “LIKE” like (you know who you are):
Liars, the Horrors, the Boss, Lydia Lunch, Spiritualized, HTRK, Grinderman, Sunn O))) (with Pansonic), Primal Scream, Klaxons, Peaches, Vincent Gallo, Julian Cope, Effi Briest, Xvectors, No Bra, S.C.U.M., Nik Void, and Justin K. Broadrick associate Stephen Burroughs.

(Note: There are several people on this list that I will marry right now. And I am not the marryin’ kind. So boys, please act fast. I will take the first one of you that emails me at this blog’s new email address, Alison.dfcc@gmail.com. Seriously.)

The idea behind these limited release digital or 10”EPS (depending on what you like)—available on Mute Records imprint Blast First (Petite)—is that one established act will be paired with a less established act and a Suicide live track, all in celebration of Alan Vega’s 70th birthday. (Who knew?) There’s going to be one released every month for a year, starting July 28th. This means a lot of my income will be going to Blast First (Petite.) Which is funny because I don’t have any income. (See above. Do not worry, boy from that list who asks to marry me first, I won’t ask you to support me. I live off coffee and vodka.)

Here’s what the EPs look like so far. Also available now is the Suicide ultrafan collection called Suicide Live: 1977-1978. Sorry if that’s not the exact title, my computer is being wacky. It's really expensive and it's alllll live shows.

EP #1: (July 28)

01 Bruce Springsteen: "Dream Baby Dream"
02 Suicide: "Midnight Special" (live)
03 Shilpa Ray: "Mr. Ray"

EP #2: (August 25)

01 The Horrors: "Shadazz"
02 Suicide: "Radiation"
03 Nik Void: "Rocket U.S.A."

EP #3: September 29)

01 Peaches: "Johnny"
02 Suicide: "Johnny" (live 1978)
03 S.C.U.M.: "Wild in Blue"

New Grinderman LP totally being thought about

2008-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

There's no solid release date. There's no actual recordings. YET. But there is the idea that it will be released in early 2009.

Nick Cave told XFM that "when we go in to make the next Grinderman record we don't want it to sound like the last Bad Seeds record or the Grinderman record before and we're forced to find something new. But that's always been the way!" The NME is reporting that the new theoretical album will "feature a totally different sound" than either the previous Grinderman LP or Cave's most recent outing with the Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig! The NME does not go on to state whether that "totally different sound" will lean more towards free jazz or gypsy punk.

PS--I finally bought my tickets to the September Nick Cave show in Chicago. And I STILL do not have a date. Just think, it could be you!!!!

Silver Apples tour!!!

2008-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Simeon from Silver Apples is hitting the road! And he's already been to Chicago, Pittsburgh, AND America's favorite city, Cleveland Heights!! Also, Pitchfork is reporting vague rumors of an autumn European tour, but I went to bed at 5am last night after a totally kickin' dance party, so I'm too lazy to do anymore research into that matter right now.

There is one thing I am not too lazy to report, though, and that is about exclusive tour merchandise! (Mostly because I read about it in the same source as the tour dates below that I cut and pasted.) This Exclusive! Tour-only! Merchandise! consists of an LP of remastered tracks called Selections and a new EP entitled Gremlins.

06-22 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place *
06-23 Cambridge, MA - T.T. the Bear's Place *
06-24 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
06-25 New York, NY - Cake Shop
06-27 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar *
06-28 Washington, DC - The Velvet Lounge *
06-29 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
06-30 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
07-01 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
07-02 New Orleans, LA - TBA *
08-30 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
10-01-05 Montreal, Quebec - Pop Montréal

* with Loto Ball Show