Decemberists, Thermals, Dandy Warhols on Charity
Comp
Few things make me more ecstatic than an all star
compilation. For me, it gets no better than hearing
the likes of Modest Mouse cover ‘When A Man Loves A
Woman’. Thankfully, that ain’t this comp – or ever
for that matter. But Arena Rock Records is releasing
a benefit album for Portland Oregan institute p:ear.
The organization benefits homeleass and transitional
you tin education, art and recreation.
The comp, entitled Bridging The Distance, will
feature Britt Daniel of Spoon, The Decemberists,
Viva Voce, The Thermals, Chris Walla of Death Cab
For Cutie, Dandy Warhols, and more as they cover a
crazy pallet of songs from Led Zeppelin’s
‘Tangerine’ to ELO’s ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’. In the
infamous words of Reverend Brown – “If this is
wrong, I don’t wanna be right.”
The album will drop April 17th.
Track Listing:
01 The Decemberists - Think About Me (Fleetwood
Mac)
02 Pat McDonald - The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)
03 The Joggers - Long Distance Runaround (Yes)
04 The Snuggle Ups - Dancing In The Dark (Bruce
Springsteen)
05 The Thermals - Tangerine (Led Zeppelin)
06 Christopher Walla - Shattered Dreams (Johnny
Hates Jazz)
07 Viva Voce - Eye In The Sky (The Alan Parsons
Project)
08 The Minus 5 - That Smell' (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
09 Talkdemonic - Sombre Reptiles (Eno)
10 The Minders - Don't Bring Me Down (Electric Light
Orchestra)
11 The Kingdom - Sister Christian (Night Ranger)
12 Lacktherof - What A Fool Believes (The Doobie
Bros)
13 Whip - White Wedding (Billy Idol)
14 Wet Confetti - Invincible (Pat Benatar)
15 The Dandy Warhols - She Sells Sanctuary (The
Cult)
16 Point Juncture, WA - Pearl Of The Quarter (Steely
Dan)
17 Blitzen Trapper - Crazy On You (Heart)
18 Crosstide - Peace, Love and Understanding (Elvis
Costello)
19 Britt Daniel - Bring It On Home To Me' (Sam
Cooke)
Best. Sophomore. Effort. Ever? That’s what the
duo known as Boy Least Likely To are hoping. The
band is back in the studio to record their follow up
to their much loved – at least in our office – debut
The Best Party Ever. But the band also announced
some surprise dates in their homeland. Surely these
will be special shows in which the duo test out new
material to wanting fans. US fans will have to wait
until the unforeseeable future for local love.
Best. Surprise. Ever. Tour:
03-27 Dingwalls – London, England *
04-19 Academy – Manchester, England ^
04-10 The Arches – Glasgow, England #
* with Klaxons DJ’s, Simian Mobile Disco,
Absentee, Black Ghosts, Findlay Brown
^ with The Earlies, The Archie Bronson Outfit,
Alberta Cross, Findlay Brown, Domino Records DJ’s,
Eat Your Own Ears DJ’s
# TBD, Archie Bronson Outfit, Hot Chip DJ, Tet DJ,
Black Ghosts, Alberta Cross, Psapp, Domino Records
DJ’s, Eat Your Own Ears DJ’s
TV on the Radio is beginning their binge
whore-like experience. Not only did they recently
release their much acclaimed Return to Cookie
Mountain, but the band has been working on
several solo projects including aiding in remixing
Beck’s The Information for the Deluxe Edition. Now
the band is planning to release their live show
played at Amoeba Records in Hollywood last
September.
Of course, there is a catch. Amoeba will solely
distribute the four track EP via its three locations
in Berkley, San Francisco and the aforementioned
Hollywood stores. The album apparently has a life
span of only 30 days though as the music
distribution chain has not extended any details on
selling the EP after such time.
EP Track Listing:
01 Blues From Down Here
02 Wolf Like Me
03 Province
04 Wash the Day Away
On a side note - Amoeba also plans to stream its
instore gigs online for the masses as well. Of
course, you can stream in person yourself at several
locations around the country as TV on the Radio are
on the road.
TV Dropkicked Radio Tour:
03-20 Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO ^
03-21 Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT ^
03-23 Roseland Theatre - Portland, OR ^
03-24 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, British
Columbia ^
03-25 Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA ^
03-28 Fillmore - San Francisco, CA *
03-29 Fillmore - San Francisco, CA *
03-30 Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
03-31 Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
04-01 Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, CA *
04-04 Gypsy Tea Ballroom - Dallas, TX *
04-05 La Zona Rosa - Austin, TX *
04-06 Meridian - Houston, TX *
04-07 One Eyed Jack's - New Orleans, LA
04-09 Club at Firestone - Orlando, FL *
04-10 Culture Room - Fort Lauderdale, FL *
04-11 University of Florida Performing Arts -
Gainesville, FL *
04-12 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA *
04-13 Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA *
04-14 Cannery Ballroom - Nashville, TN *
04-15 Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
04-17 NorVA - Norfolk, VA *
04-18 9:30 Club - Washington, DC *
04-19 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
04-20 Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA *
04-21 Vassar College - Poughkeepsie, NY *
The Ponys refuse to ride off into the sunset
without prolonging such. As previously reported, the
Ponys are hitting the road to support their new
release [this week!] of Turn The Lights Out.
You can check out the review below but we suggest
you seem their rockin’ show in person as well. It
looks like the Chicago band teaming up with
Deerhunter to add even more time to the tour. Both
the St. Louis and Cleveland shows have been added
with their current March and April stint. You can
sample the band for yourself by downloading for free
their mp3 ‘Double Vision’ via the link below.
Turn On The Love Tour:
03-21 The Earl - Atlanta, GA ^
03-22 Cat’s Cradle - Carrboro, NC ^
03-23 Ottobar - Baltimore, MD ^
03-24 Black Cat - Washington DC ^
03-25 Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA ^
03-26 Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY ^
03-27 TT The Bear’s Place - Cambridge, MA ^
03-28 La Sala Rossa - Montreal, QC ^
03-29 Lee’s Palace - Toronto, ON ^
03-30 Magic Stick - Detroit, MI ^
03-31 Logan Square Auditorium - Chicago, IL ^
04-06 Record Bar - Kansas City, MO *
04-07 Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO *
04-08 Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City *
04-10 Neumo’s - Seattle, WA *
04-11 Richard on Richard’s - Vancouver, BC *
04-12 Dante’s - Portland, OR *
04-13 12 Galaxies - San Francisco, CA *
04-14 Echo - Los Angeles, CA *
04-15 Beauty Bar -San Diego, CA *
04-18 Emo’s - Austin, TX *
04-20 The Basement - Nashville, TN *
04-21 The Billiken Club - St. Louis, MO *
04-22 Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH *
And the prog-nasticators of prog-nastication have
decided to take a break. The folks behind one of the
scariest album covers of 2006, Mew, are taking a bow
after April to sit out for the remainder of 2007 in
order to recoup from what has been a whirlwind year.
The band released And The Glass Handed Kites
[review link below] in the summer last year only to
seeming tour around the clock since. Don’t believe
the demand? Well, their previous album, Frengers,
was only available for import until early this year
when it was given a full domestic release.
Check out the band as they jump across the states
in March and April. You can also see some live shots
of the band in our ‘Live Album’ section.
Relaxation Handed Tour:
03-20 Black Cat - Washington, DC
03-22 Irving Plaza - New York, NY
03-23 Paradise - Boston, MA
03-26 Mod Club - Toronto, ONT
03-27 St. Andrews Hall - Detroit, MI
03-28 Double Door - Chicago, IL
03-29 Knickerbocker's - Lincoln, NE
03-31 Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
04-02 Neumo's - Seattle, WA
04-03 Richard's On Richards - Vancouver, BC
04-04 Aladdin Theatre - Portland, OR
04-06 The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
04-07 The Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
04-08 Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, CA
Can you get ser sexy on? That’s amgias and un
amigo of South American pop punk outfit CSS want to
know – but you are going to have to show them. The
folks behind QOOB in Italy – what seems to be a
video blog-space of sorts for all things music and
artsy, have started a video contest with CSS for
their song ‘Alcohol’ from their awesomely disastrous
release Cansei de Ser Sexy [review link below].
Basically you have to download green screen footage
of the band hamming it up to the song. Your job is
to then add footage to the greenscreen affair
however you see fit. What’s it worth to you? Well,
besides potentially being hand picked by the band,
possible fame outside your fanboy blog sites, and
love other than your mothers, you’ll be rewarded
2,000 euros. In GW times, that’s work like $2659.20.
That’s enough to move out of the basement!
Deadline for submissions is April 15th, so get that
beta cam rolling! Check out the link below for QOOB
to get the full details.
Death hath cometh for Menomena. And the boys in the
band are making their final wishes and testaments.
The new video for Menomena’s ‘Wet and Rusting’ off
their recent release Friend and Foe not only
features a wild ride down the street on a trampoline
– totally not done by stunt doubles – but also a
request for Kanye West to produce their next album.
I think the band has a better chance of dying first.
Wait…
When most folks take seven years off work, its
near impossible to either come back or they’re dead.
The later usually applies to mafias and shape-shaggers
but for the band Shellac, it was an extended
sabbatical. The band released their last effort 1000
Hurts back in the turn of the century and then went
quieter than Helen Keller. Thankfully, their vow is
broken as the band has finally given up the goods on
their upcoming album Excellent Italian Greyhound.
The album, which is scheduled to drop June 5th, will
be precursored by a two day stint in Chicago (one of
which includes Iggy Pop’s new Stooges reunion) and a
European romp that will see the band joined by the
likes of the and Uzeda in Italy. Hopefully the
locals don’t confuse the bands new album with their
countries past time of British Greyhound racing.
Catch the action!
Not confirmed but expected to be included on
Greyhound are the following tacks which included
‘Killers’ – a track previously only released on a
benefit compilation:
Expecting Track Listing:
The End Of Radio
Spoke
Lullabelle
Hang On
Repeat The Lie
Paco
Steady As She Goes
Killers
Boycott
Be Prepared
Giving A Thumping Tour:
04-15 Congress Theater – Chicago, IL ^
04-27 Subterranean [Cal Robbins Benefit] - Chicago,
IL
05-16 Antzokia - Bilbao, Spain
05-17 Koko - London, England
05-19 Butlins Minehead - Somerset, England
05-22 Effenaar - Eindhoven, Netherlands
05-23 Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands
05-24 Vooriut Kafee - Gent, Belgium
05-25 Le Grand Mix - Tourcoing, France
05-26 La Bataclan - Paris, France
05-27 La Laiterie - Strasbourg, France
05-28 Rote Fabrik - Zurich, Switzerland
05-29 L'Usine - Geneva, Switzerland
05-30 Interzona - Verona, Italy
05-31 Velvet - Rimini, Italy
06-01 Vecchia Fortezza - Livorno, Italy
06-02 Init - Rome, Italy
06-03 Mercati Generali - Catania, Italy $
Sunstroked, sleep deprived and more inebriated
than Nicholas Cage in a Las Vegas shower, the
weekend was upon us as a double edged sword in
Austin, Texas. Sure we were happy to finally get to
the death rattle of SXSW – not only to catch up on
sleep but resuscitate any remaining brain cells and
… well sleep really. But it’s always sad to see the
premier indie event close their doors once again for
another year. But when you get to slap the back of a
sweaty Iggy Pop and see the reunion of Public Enemy
– everything just seems to come together.
Public Enemy
and Chuck D took the stage in a
free-verse set.
Of course, the event itself is bedlam – a practice
of part will to forge ahead in maddeningly
inebriated multitudes that seem to stretch a half
dozen blocks at times only to get a glimpse of that
next-big-act – teetering on a mob that could turn
into an insane characteristic western bar brawl at
any given moment. But SXSW – something that started
as more of a press event is starting to become a
music fan experience as well. Members of the crowd
are shared by cheering fans and illuminated
blackberries held by the Press. Newspapers and blogs
from around the world burry into Austin for the
weeks events as if it were the World Cup of music.
Arguments and debates ensued at the pubs between us
and BBC representatives on the UK music scene.
Canadian’s challenged the likes of their recent
surge of affluent acts. To my left, Scottish Art
Council is busy pushing distribution deals and
relaying marketing strategies on their big acts.
Jandex at
SXSW
But the weekend’s events were a true homage to the
mature and also to the most recent influences in
music. Less a battle of the bands and more a melee
of gigs. I mean, SXSW is a one-to-watch event. If
you show up as an artist, you are saying, “Get me
now on the cheap because I’m going to become then
next indie story.” But wading thru over 1700 acts
and pushing aside some 6500 music industry reps is a
practice in patience and love in order to find the
next big thing.
Daniel
Johnson at SXSW.
For us, this year’s big coming out party was
probably for The Fratellis. You know them as the
most recent iTunes wonder with their catchy
‘Flathead’ commercial tune. We know them as a
Glasgow romp that deserves attention long after the
streets of Austin still have trash equivalent to
that of a Kid Rock after party collected in the
gutters.
Friday kicked off with a high noon performance by
My Latest Novel. The Scottish group had just taken
stage when a guitar driven heavy metal act’s amps
from an neighboring event floated over. “Looks like
we’ve got some competition,” said lead singer Chris
Deveney. As if in a
‘anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better’ nod, My Latest
Novel aptly cranked up the volume and ripped into
one of their songs.
It’s been 34 years since The Stooges released a
new album, but Iggy Pop is certainly all about the
tour circuit once again as he held a press
conference at SXSW. The rock icon then went on to
perform in a riotous crowd on Saturday evening.
Iggy Pop was
part of a key note interview with his
fellow Stooges.
Former Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell
was joined on stage by Guns n’ Roses-gone-Velvet
Revolver Slash performing some cataloged Jane’s
tunes that sent the unsuspecting crowd into near
madness. He was also joined on stage later by Tom
Morello of Nightwatchman – but you know him better
as the outspoken leader of the 90’s funk rock romp
Rage Against the Machine.
Ringleader
Perry Farrell had an impromptu set with
the likes of Slash from Guns 'N Roses.
Speaking of Perry Farrell, the Buzzcocks took
over the late night atmosphere after they were
introduced by the ex Jane’s Addiction frontman as
one of the most influential rockers and commented on
their longevity despite the changing music scene.
But the true highlight was seeing these guys on
stage. Rocking out for 30 years now, the Buzzcocks
played an hour plus set that showed the youth of an
up and coming act – not a proven powerhouse.
Buzzcocks
came back to show the youth of SXSW a
part of how the indie sound started.
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore was testing out some
of his new solo material to the crowd of SXSW from
his upcoming album. Thurston was joined on stage by
violinist Sumara Lubelski and drummer Steve Shelly
(both from SY) in a rare and invigorating acoustic
set. How crazy is it to see Thurston acoustically
plugged into a Marshall?! But it was equally grand
to hear his new twist to acoustic psychedelic that
wined thru even on the resonating wood of the six
string.
Thurston
Moore plays a rare but amazing acoustic
set.
