New album due in September from Young God.

By Blurt Staff

Everyone knows delightful songstress Lisa Germano. And everyone knows Michael Gira, late of Swans, currently of Angels of Light, and of course the mainman at Young God Records. When Gira speaks, we listen. And he's got some news about Lisa Germano. Read on...

***

"Lisa Germano has completed a new album. It's called Magic Neighbor. It's in production now, and it'll be out mid September. Lisa hid herself away for a long while, and I was beginning to despair, then suddenly this beautiful music started coming my way. I think this is one of her best albums yet. The depth of feeling in her words and singing is truly remarkable, and she never fails to tug at my heart. Somehow it's both sad, wistful, and hopeful, all at once. It's very private, solitary music. In my view it's deeply engaging, and I often stop what I'm doing and drift off with it into its' world when I listen to it - time and troubles disappear for a short while.  For some reason her music reminds me of early Disney songs - fuzzy and dreamy. Thinking about it today, I also thought of the great - and neglected - music that Tom Waits did with Crystal Gail for the movie One From The Heart."

***

So there ou have it. Keep that calendar page turned to September, music fans. Magic Neighbor will be on CD and LP (the latter w/free CD insert).

[Photo Credit: Dina Douglass]

"He de-stressed with music" - which included writing a song about killing policemen, not necessarily the most often recommended stress reliever, but hey...

By Blurt Staff

Shades of Ice-T, Body Count and "Cop Killer." What, is it the early ‘90s here in America all over again?

Florida's Antavio Johnson is in prison for two years for writing and recording a song that concerned violence against policemen. According to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, the Florida rapper's "Kill A Cop" was posted to a MySpace page in February, and after about two weeks a Polk County gang detective came across it and launched an investigation.

Apparently Johnson was already in jail at the time for a probation violation, and in June he subsequently pleaded no contest to "two counts of corruption by threat of public servant" and received two years from the judge.

In the article Johnson's older brother Gerald claimed that Antavio had originally written the song as a teenager when he felt harassed by police (in the tune, he calls out certain officers and threatens to shoot them), but while its content is "life-based" it was "not advocating" killing police and that it was "never supposed to be public."

Memo to Johnson: MySpace is, er, a public venue. The owner of the record label Hood Certified Entertainment, upon whose MySpace page the song was posted, added that Johnson isn't a violent person. "If someone wants to de-stress, they go out for a run, they paint a picture, they write in a journal. He de-stressed with music."

At any rate, the ACLU has expressed interest in the case while not intervening yet, and the article quotes a First Amendment lawyer who questions the initial charge and subsequent conviction.

"Wanting to kill cops is not a prosecutable offense," attorney Larry Walters said, adding that the lyrics made conditional threats and were not made directly to the officers named. "Even if this would cross the line, this is a song. We live in a free country."

What will be "What Will Be"? For now, we know it's 14 songs...

By Blurt Staff

Stereogum is reporting that Devendra Banhart's forthcoming album What Will Be will be released by Warner/Reprise, street date tba. It's to be a 14-song collection (see tracklisting, below) co-produced by Banhart and Paul Butler (Band of Bees), with Banhart mainstays Noah Georgeson, Greg Rogove, Luckey Remington and Rodrigo Amarante comprising the band.

01 "Can't Help"
02 "Angelika"
03 "Baby"
04 "Goin' Back To The Place"
05 "First Song For B"
06 "Last Song For B"
07 "Chin Chin & Muck Muck"
08 "16th & Valencia"
09 "Rats"
10 "Maria Leonza"
11 "Brindo"
12 "Meet Me At The Lookout"
13 "Wiliamdzi"
14 "Foolin'"

Meanwhile, since ace photog Lauren Dukoff took the photo, above, as she does scores of Banhart photos, we'd be remiss if we didn't remind you to check out our review of Dukoff's most excellent book of photos, Family. We've also got exclusive pics from the book for you to check out - including some pretty provocative Banhart images.

 UPDATE/CORRECTION:

Banhart's p.r. folks inform BLURT that Stereogum's information was incorrect. First of all, the album will be coming out on Warner Bros., not Reprise. Also, the "correct," although supremely unwieldy, way the album title is supposed to appear is:

What       We
Will          Be

(This of course wreaks havoc on typsetters and the use of fonts, highlighting, etc., but hey...)

Lastly, here's the correct list of song titles:

 01 Can't Help but Smiling
02 Angelika
03 Baby
04 Goin' Back
05 First Song for B
06 Last Song for B
07 Chin Chin & Muck Muck
08 16th & Valencia, Roxy Music
09 Rats
10 Maria Lionza
11 Brindo
12 Meet Me At Lookout Point
13 Walilamdzi
14 Foolin'

Helped make rockabilly a household word.

By Fred Mills

Legendary roots/rockabilly pioneer Billy Lee Riley passed away this weekend in Jonesboro, Arkansas, following a battle with colon cancer. He was 75.

As previously reported, a fundraising effort for Riley and his wife had been underway to help offset their mounting bills.

Riley, of course, was a Sun Records mainstay back in the day whose 1957 hit "Flying Saucers Rock and Roll" made him internationally famous. Riley road numerous rockabilly revivals over the course of his career and remained a vital performer. In an obituary posted at CountryStandardTime.com, his last public show was in June at the Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis.

BLURT contributor Rev. Keith Gordon, in his blues blog at About.com, praised the icon and noted that Riley "pursued his own unique vision of rockabilly, blues, and country-blues music; the guitarist's affinity for the blues could have made him a hot property in the blues world if he'd have focused exclusively in that genre."

With yet another classic voice silenced, the world just got a little colder...

UPDATE/ADDITION: Those still wishing to donate funds to Riley's widow to help out with expenses can send checks or money orders to:


Joyce Riley
723 Crest Drive
Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401

Indie supergroup includes members of Yeasayer, Savath & Savalas and Born Heller.

In celebration of the release of Awe Owe (out today, August 4th on Asthmatic Kitty), Helado Negro will take a week long tour of the five boroughs of New York. Starting off in Queens, Helado Negro will bring their sounds to each of the City's boroughs, concluding the tour with a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to play on the mysteriously floating borough itself.

Helado Negro will consist of frontman Roberto C. Lange (voice, guitars, etc.), Jason Ajemian (percussion), Isaac Lekach (guitar, voice and vibes), Jason Trammell (drums), Oliver Chapoy (guitar), Jon Philpot (voice and percusion) and Shannon Fields (guitars, etc.). The band  (sans Chapoy and Philpot) will then hit the tour trail take their music to the southeastern portion of the United States. This band includes members of Savath & Savalas, Yeasayer, Stars Like Fleas, Guy Fantastico, and Born Heller.

While on tour, Roberto Lange will meet up with painter/kinetic sculptor David Ellis in Charlottesville at the Bridge to score a new sculpture by Ellis. Learn more about the opening night for this exhibition here. Ellis also helped out on the new music video for the vastly bearded Helado Negro, which you can see here.

Interested fans may download the new remix by Leb Laze of Helado Negro's "I Wish". Leb-Laze sublets the original and does a little redecorating while his walkman jams So So Def deep cuts and his dog Atomic starts pulling things out of the cupboards. Listen to the Leb Laze remix of "I Wish" here.

Helado Negro Tour Dates:

08-22, Saturday: Queens, NY - The Jackson (w/ Rad Unicorn)
08-23, Sunday: Bronx, NY - Bruckner Bar & Grill (w/ Jason Ajemian with The Highlife)
08-24, Monday: Manhattan, NY - Cake Shop (w/ Tavo Carbone, The Silent League)
08-25, Tuesday: Brooklyn, NY - Sycamore (w/ Luluc)
08-27, Thursday: Staten Island, AL - Martini Red
09-03, Thursday: Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-06, Sunday: Lynchburg, VA - Speakertree Records (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-07, Monday: Charleston, SC - Redux Contemporary Art Center (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-08, Tuesday: Greensboro, NC - Lyndon Street Artworks (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-09, Wednesday: Atlanta, GA - 529 (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-10, Thursday: Jacksonville, FL - Eclipse (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-11, Friday: Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Cafe (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-12, Saturday: Nashville, TN - William's House (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-13, Sunday: Asheville, NC - BoBo Gallery (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-14, Monday: Baltimore, MD - Talking Head (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-15, Tuesday: Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw (w/ Jason Ajemian)

Groundbreaking worldbeat/techno fusioneer drops new CD in Sept. does a pair of rare US gigs in August.

By Blurt Staff

It's been some time since Stateside fans of Britain's Banco de Gaia have been privy to the ambient dub legend's edgy fusion of modern trance and downtempo techno beats with huge dollops of Tibetan, Eastern and Arabic and other transcontinental rhythms. Led by mastermind Toby Marks, its continually evolving, globally-inspired electronica has been propelling the masses to dance all over the world. So on Sept. 22 Banco de Gaia will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with the release of the double-disc set, Memories Dreams Reflections on Disco Gecko Recordings (distributed in the U.S. by Super D). Two West Coast dates have been announced and a full U.S. tour is currently being planned: August 14 at Social Hollywood in LA, and August 15 at the Beloved festival in Tidewater, Oregaon.

Banco de Gaia's music crosses genres, sometimes layering rock, reggae, and trance textures on top of exotic and indigenous melodies, creating an aural tapestry that is both mesmerizingly hypnotic and instantly accessible. Disc One of the two disc set consists of cover versions of Pink Floyd ("Echoes"), Hawkwind ("Spirit of the Age") and King Crimson ("Starless"), and reworkings of early songs, while the second CD contains live tracks recorded over the last two decades. Memories Dreams Reflection is a retrospective of sorts that doesn't quite look back at its history as it looks through its legacy. From the airy reggae rhythms of 1992's "Tempra" ("Always one of my favourite early tunes," noted Marks), to the expansive atmospherics of 1992's "Terra Om" ("I always rather liked the obvious Pink Floyd influence in the synth playing."), to the ready for the midnight dance floor beat of "Soufie (Now That's What I Call 2009)" ("The original was very ambient/downtempo so this version... goes for a very cheesy euro-trance style for a bit of fun."), the originals from the first disc are a diverse sampling of the epic tracks for which Banco de Gaia is known. The live tracks of disc two are culled from its legendary performances, including "China", "Celestine" and its big dance hit "Last Train to Lhasa".

Initially inspired by the Acid House movement in Europe in the late 80s, Marks began Banco de Gaia in 1989 and recorded his first album Medium in 1991. Seminal releases including 1994's Maya, 1995's Last Train to Lhasa and his latest album 2006's Farewell Ferengistan, kept him at the forefront of the electronic world. He has worked with a variety of musicians, ranging from the legendary saxophonist Dick Parry who played on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Anglo-Egyption singer Natacha Atlas to cutting-edge dance pioneers Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) and Fluke.

If you can't beat the major labels and don't want to be rid of ‘em altogether - come up with a strategy that makes everybody happy...

By Blurt Staff

DJ Shadow is relaunching his website today on www.djshadow.com. In addition to offering previously unreleased content, exclusive deluxe albums and mixes (including digital and physical product for sale), the site introduces a new platform that connects Shadow directly with his fans.  Shadow's store will now sell the licensed digital content to his global fanbase on an independent level on a self-run platform, marking the first of its kind for a major label artist. The newly revamped site is the end-all-be-all destination for all things DJ Shadow and is at the very cutting edge of website content and technology.
 

Unlike most artist sites that transfer the buyer to another storefront, Shadow is accessing his own music direct from his label, marking what some observers are calling "a new paradigm in artist-run stores." For the first time, Shadow's works can now be sold directly from the artist to the fan.  This new platform is designed to give DJ Shadow the maximum amount of control and involvement in his site and a more intimate and direct experience for his fans.

 
Says Ted Cockle, Co-President of Island Records Group, "At Island Records Group we are always keen to embrace innovative ways to connect our artists with consumers.  DJ Shadow has always been a trailblazing artist and we are delighted to enable this visionary artist to have a more direct relationship with his fans via the web."

There's a good interview with Shadow discussing his plans for the site at Urb.com, incidentally. 

The store at www.djshadow.com has been an important and vital link between Shadow and his fans where any number of exclusive and popular DJ Shadow products have been available for purchase from the original Diminishing Returns Party Pak, to the Public Works Box Set and 4-Track Era Collection. Now, for the first time, the site will offer digital downloads of Shadow's music, including many exclusives NOT found anywhere else on the web. Exclusive Deluxe Edition content will also be available for many of Shadow's previous releases including Endtroducing, The Private Press, and The Outsider.

With Shadow's prolific past of mixes and recorded live shows, the new store promises frequent updates. For the hardcore fan and the curious browser alike, there have been massive content updatesin all major archive categories including discography, photo and press galleries. New sections also include a "Guide To Collecting DJ Shadow" and the highly personalized "DJ Shadow Handmade" series.  
 

The new site also showcases an outstanding new visual design, complete with alternating daytime/nighttime lighting styles. Visitors can also follow Shadow's Twitter feed and stay current with his latest video blog.

In more recent news, DJ Shadow consulted and contributed several mixes for DJ Hero and appears as an in-game character. DJ Hero serves the millions of dance club music fans who can now play along to songs from a range of genres including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica.

Supergroups ‘R' Us!

By Fred Mills

About a month ago we brought you word that Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame were working on a recording project in an LA studio. Now comes confirmation of (a) a name for the project, and (b) an actual gig from the torrid trio.

They're calling it Them Crooked Vultures, they have an official website already and a MySpace page (although neither appears to be all that functional yet), and according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Jim Derogatis, they're Sunday night around midnight at Chicago's Metro club in a post-Lollapalooza concert (tix go on sale Thursday here).

Well, all right then!

Features rare performance footage and candid interviews with David Crosby, Bob Dylan, ex-husband David Harris, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Roger McGuinn, and more.

By Blurt Staff

Joan Baez: Sing Me Home will be premiering nationally Wednesday, October 14 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS. Part of the network's American Masters series, it's the first comprehensive documentary to chronicle the private life and public career of Baez, examining her history as a recording artist and performer

The film coincides with the DVD/CD release on October 13th on Razor & Tie. This DVD/CD will feature the film with bonus content and an audio CD of music from the film. The audio CD contains rare live performances and studio recordings that span her career.

"From an early age, Joan Baez had the courage of her convictions," says Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer. "Her artistry and her commitment to human rights make her a musical and political force as relevant today as when she first started."

Following Baez on her 2008/2009 world tour, the filmmakers captured Baez in performance as well as in intimate conversations with individuals whose lives parallel hers.  From a stop in Sarajevo, Bosnia to revisit the scene of Joan's courageous trip to that war-torn city in the middle of the 1993 siege, to Nashville, Tennessee, where she joined Steve Earle to talk about their collaboration on Joan's 2008 Grammy-nominated album Day After Tomorrow, the film allows viewers an unprecedented level of access to Ms. Baez.

Shot in high definition with a natural, filmic look, Joan is also joined on screen by, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and Reverend Jesse Jackson, among others, to illuminate this extraordinary life. Rich historical archival footage - Baez' controversial visit to North Vietnam, where she is seen praying with the residents of Hanoi during the heaviest bombing of the war; Martin Luther King Jr. outside a California prison where he visited Joan to offer his support after she was jailed for staging a protest; Joan at her first Newport Folk Festival  in 1959 and Joan as a teenager performing at the historic Club 47 - is woven into the story so viewers can experience scenes from Joan's life that have never been uncovered.

Tour kicks off Oct. 16 in NYC...

By Blurt Staff

With the recent news of the impending August 25 release of the new Shonen Knife album Super Group (details plus a free MP3 HERE), we've now got word on an extensive North American tour the group will be undertaking in Oct. and Nov. It stands to be a pretty swell one, too - support on the dates will include, variously, Ty Segall, Golden Triangle and Jeff the Brotherhood.

And dig that freaky video for "Super Group," below. Nothing like puppets, magic, junk food and bad B&W teevee to help a person knife out.

10-16 Fri - New York, NY - Santos Party House
10-17 Sat - Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
10-18 Sun - Toronto, Canada - Horseshoe Tavern
10-19 Mon - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
10-20 Tue - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-21 Wed - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-23 Fri - Missoula, MT - The Badlander
10-24 Sat - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10-25 Sun - Vancouver, Canada - Biltmore Cabaret
10-26 Mon - Bellingham, WA - The Nightlight
10-27 Tue - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10-29 Thu - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop *
10-30 Fri - San Jose - Blank Club *
10-31 Sat - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door *

11-01 Sun - Oakland, CA - Uptown *
11-02 Mon - Los Angeles, CA - Echo *
11-03 Tue - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
11-04 Wed - Tucson, AZ - Plush
11-06 Fri - San Antonio, TX - Sam's Burger Joint
11-07 Sat - Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Festival
11-08 Sun - Houston, TX - Numbers Nightclub
11-10 Tue - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon ^
11-11 Wed - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone ^
11-12 Thu - Atlanta, GA - E.A.R.L. ^
11-13 Fri - Richmond, VA - Plaza Bowl ^
11-14 Sat - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells ^
11-15 Sun - Allston, MA - Great Scotts ^
11-16 Mon - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church ^
11-17 Tue - Brookyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl ^%
11-18 Wed - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place ^

* with Ty Segall
^ with JEFF the brotherhood
% with Golden Triangle

His label Third Man also doing releases from Transit and Dan Sartain.

By Blurt Staff

You already know of Jack White's announcement to release lots of 45s on his Third Man label, most of them to be produced by White himself. The label has already done the Dex Romweber Duo, Mildred and the Mice and White's own band the Dead Weather. So - here's the dope on a new batch, straight from the label, as announced today. They'll be hitting stores, digital retailers and the Third Man website (which is taking preorders right now). While all the releases thus far appear to still be available, it's reasonable to assume that the White solo rec will probably sell out fairly quickly.

Jack White - "Fly Farm Blues"

"Fly Farm Blues" is a song written on the spot by Jack White at the request of film director Davis Guggenheim while filming the impressive new guitar documentary It Might Get Loud. The film features in-depth looks at Mr. White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page's relationships with the six-stringed instrument.  Jack recorded the song immediately to two-track, all while being filmed for the documentary in the attic of the Fly Farm. Some astute viewers may recognize this attic room as the same used by Jim Jarmusch in his video for the Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes."

"Fly Farm Blues" is released on a special one-sided 45 RPM vinyl 7-inch by Third Man Records and on iTunes in conjunction with Sony Pictures Classics and the release of the feature documentary It Might Get Loud screened at selected theaters in New York and Los Angeles starting August 14th, 2009, and then coming soon to a town near you. Check www.itmightgetloud.com for full release schedule.

Dan Sartain - "Bohemian Grove" b/w "Atheist Funeral"

Dan Sartain started out in 2001 self-producing and self-releasing his first two albums, Crimson Guard and Romance in Stereo, before moving to Swami Records for the groundbreaking Dan Sartain vs. The Serpientes and Join Dan Sartain. He's been called the no-wave Johnny Cash, and although it's a title with a lot of flash, it's also somewhat misleading.  Comparisons to Johnny Cash are inevitably futile. But what Dan is is another vital link in the rock and roll visionary chain stretching from Rufus Thomas to Glenn Danzig to O.D.B. He's a fiercely independent romantic like no other and we're proud to be working with him.

Third Man Records presents two new Jack White-produced songs in our Blue Series of 7" records written and performed by Dan Sartain, sounding nothing like anything he's recorded in the past. "Bohemian Grove" is an almost Ethiopiques-influenced jazz-style groover and the B-side is called "Atheist Funeral." Enough said.

Transit - "C'mon and Ride" b/w "Afterparty"

Transit is a band whose membership is composed entirely of employees of the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. They are part of a long-standing folk tradition of people coming together to make something beautiful out of a shared external circumstance. From the Detroit Sanitary Worker's Band or the American Watch Company Band, there is deep history of music that reflects employee's shared experiences and brings them to the wider attention of the public at large.

Third Man Records presents two songs produced by Jack White that are by and about the Nashville bussing system, written and recorded by the people who know it best; the drivers, cleaners, mechanics, and office workers of the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. They are called Transit and this record is the fifth release in Third Man's Blue Series.

Now this is a civilized way to help deemphasize leaks...

By Blurt Staff

NPR Music's latest round of pre-release album streams includes the new records from Brendan Benson (pictured, above), Mount Eerie and Choir of Young Believers. It's part of NPR's "Exclusive First Listen" series (www.npr.org/firstlisten). Benson and Mount Eerie are already streaming; CoYB will start tonight at midnight.

Details:

With his fourth album, Brendan Benson continues the solid solo career he established years before forming The Raconteurs with Jack White. My Old, Familiar Friend features meticulously crafted songs that NPR Music's Robin Hilton says are full of "ridiculously catchy hooks, perfectly placed handclaps and harmonies and sweet, buoyant melodies." Hear the entire album now here.

After ending The Microphones, Phil Elverum continued to explore the themes of death and failed relationships under his Mount Eerie moniker. On Wind's Poem, Elverum backs his traditional subject matter with a new style only hinted at in past releases. Lacing the album with layers of distortion and warbled synths, he creates the dark atmospherics that define a sound he calls "black wooden." Preview the full album at NPR Music.

Denmark's Choir of Young Believers may sound like a mass of robed singers, but its big sound is actually the solo work of Copenhagen native Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. His debut album, This Is For The White In Your Eyes, offers orchestral pop that mixes both modest folk arrangements and ambitious, grandiose indie pop. The entire reverb-soaked experience will be available for streaming beginning Wednesday, August 6 at 11:59 PM ET at NPR Music.

A-Trak and Armand Van Helden mash each other up. Check that saucy video below, too.

By Blurt Staff

Arguably one of the more formidable DJ/producer collaborations in recent memory, the creation of Duck Sauce by world renowned DJs A-Trak and Armand Van Helden promises to deliver what could easily be the the most refreshing dance music in years.  Individually, the New York-based duo are among the reigning names in dance music, past and present; earlier this year, they teamed up to produce tracks destined to become instant anthems.  Having found it easy to work together through similar musical backgrounds and viewpoints, namely creating house music through a hip-hop filter, Duck Sauce was born.

Reviving classic mid-90s formulas that became Armand Van Helden's signature sound along with the filtered French Touch era of labels Roulé and Crydamoure, Duck Sauce reinvents effortless disco house with a sonic quality and aplomb suited for the DJs sets of today.  Over a span of 5 days A-Trak and Van Helden mined their disco loops with the prime objective of "intentionally making party monsters."  The result was several overwhelming, feel-good tracks, two of which became the massive summer sing-along "aNYway" and "You're Nasty", a high-energy dancefloor bomb built around a quirky half-bar sample and a screeching keyboard.  Quickly turning into one of the most anticipated releases of 2009, "aNYway" has been receiving tremendous support from DJs worldwide, including airplay from Radio 1 (Zane Lowe, Annie Mac) and Power 106 (DJ Reflex).  These 2 songs, as well as other disco gems, can be found on the upcoming Fool's Gold EP entitled Greatest Hits.

It's due on October 5 from Fool's Gold Records.

East and west coast dates, plus a live album, in September

By Blurt Staff

Bill Laswell fans in New York, L.A. and San Francisco get a rare treat next month when the legendary producer/bassist tours the U.S. for the first time in three years. "Tour" used lightly - it's only four dates (see below).

He's calling the touring ensemble Method of Defiance: Laswell on bass with Dr. Israel on vocals, the legendary keyboardist Bernie Worrell, drummer Guy Licata, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo,  and vocalist Hawk, with special guest DJ Krush. Method Of Defiance will also release a live album, Nihon on RareNoise Records in the U.S. on September 22nd.  The band will be recording a studio album for a 2010 release. The band recently played a triumphant show at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, after which Island Records founder Chris Blackwell said simply, "It's Bill Laswell's time."

The Morning News has a good article on Laswell and MoD HERE.

The backstory:

Bill Laswell is man who is happy not to play the rock star game, instead opting to set his own rules and goals.  Blackwell cited Laswell as the "consummate musician who's around completely for the music...he never stops working and never stops reinventing himself." While he's an electric bassist/producer/reconstructionist/sound assassin who operates outside the rules of the game, occasionally Laswell's work meets the mainstream. In fact, there's more than a good chance that many own one of Laswell's sonic escapades and don't know it. He's a Grammy Award winner and the creator of Herbie Hancock's Rockit/Future Shock.  He brought Proto-Turntablism and Electronica to a mass audience, and since then has worked with an unimaginable range of musicians, artists and thinkers, among them William S. Burroughs, Afrika Bambaataa, John Zorn, George Clinton, Mick Jagger, Rammellzee, Zakir Hussain, Paul Bowles, Hakim Bey, The Ramones, Laurie Anderson, The Last Poets, John Lydon, The Dalai Lama, Peter Gabriel, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Motorhead, Brian Eno, Tony Williams, Sting, Carlos Santana, Pharoah Sanders, Bootsy Collins and hundreds more from the Americas, Africa, The Caribbean, Europe, The Middle East, China and Japan.

Tour Dates:

September 11        Brooklyn, NY               Williamsburg Music Hall
September 12        New York, NY             Bowery Ballroom
September 16        Los Angeles, CA         Roxy
September 18        San Francisco, CA      Regency Ballroom

Inducted at last month's Celebrate Brooklyn African fest. See video clip below.

By Blurt Staff

King Sunny Adé, Nigeria's legendary juju big band dance music pioneer, was inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame at Celebrate Brooklyn's African Festival on July 18th. Afropop Producer Sean Barlow did the honors of inducting "Chairman" (what his friends and colleagues call him.)

Barlow explained to the 10,000 enthusiastic fans at Celebrate Brooklyn that the criteria for selection were contemporary African artists who not only excelled artistically but who also played a big role in connecting American audiences to Africa and African culture. He said previous inductees included Youssou N'Dour, Oumou Sangare, Angelique Kidjo, and Thomas Mapfumo. He went on to say that before Youssou and Angelique and others made their U.S. careers, there was King Sunny Adé, opening the way.

When King Sunny Ade held the award itself, he smiled broadly and held it high over his head saying, "Thank you for the honor of giving me this award. I dedicate it to Michael Jackson" with a tear in his eye. He then proceeded to center stage singing an a capela song in Yoruba before breaking into a fast all band riff with Chairman on rhythm guitar and his two twin dancers shaking it and beaming.  

New album en route, and don't forget to swipe your iPhone when you see those barcodes to get a big surprise.

By Blurt Staff

Thirsty Ear Recordings is excited to announce the release of DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid's latest manifesto titled "The Secret Song." Set for an Oct. 6 release, the new record marks DJ Spooky's sixth full-length album and will feature guest appearances from notable artists and musicians such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, The Jungle Brothers, The Coup, Rob Swift, Mike Ladd and many others. "The Secret Song" is a groundbreaking meditation on hip-hop and electronic music's relationship to philosophy, economics, and the science of sound in a world where the steady drumbeat of the financial meltdown has made music the last refuge of young people with less and less time and money.

It's been a while since DJ Spooky has released a new album of his own material, but this constantly and famously creative force, also known as Paul D. Miller, has been anything but idle. Over the last couple of years, Miller has shot films in Antarctica, remixed a controversial piece of cinema history, and produced two of MIT Press' top-selling recent books.

In his role as DJ Spooky, the recording artist and producer, Miller has worked with or remixed everyone from Metallica to Yoko Ono; from the Kronos Quartet to Killah Priest. Even the master of collage rock, Beck, remixed DJ Spooky for his first series of mixes online. Miller's most recent work was a series of compilations and remixes of Jamaican dub and reggae. Now, after endless touring and a vast array of projects in just about every conceivable media, Miller found time to lock himself in his studio and lay down the tracks for this new project, "The Secret Song."

With material taken from collaborations with people as diverse as Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, to Vijay Iyer, old school African hip-hop legends Zimbabwe Legit, stunning turntablist Rob Swift (the legendary leader of The X-ecutioners), to political hip-hop from The Coup, The Jungle Brothers, Mike Ladd, and Abdul Smooth from India, DJ Spooky connects the dots between jazz, classical music, and the struggle to create new, dynamic relationships between old school hip-hop and the 21st century's rapidly changing info-culture landscape. Showcasing Spooky's eclecticism and ever-present desire to spotlight a great amount of musical genres and causes from all around the world, the album's lead single "Azadi" (which means "Freedom" in Farsi and is sung by Iran's Sussan Deyhim) was released in conjunction with "A Day of Solidarity With the People of Iran" as a free download with Artists 4 Freedom.

Download the song "Azadi" (The New Complexity) feat. Iran's Sussan Deyhim HERE.

On "The Secret Song," DJ Spooky looks to bands like Nine Inch Nails, and Radiohead for inspiration, as he flips old school and new school sounds into a sonic fiction landscape where rock meets dub and experimental jazz; where he can re-construct a classic song of a band that is one of the most sampled bands in hip-hop, like Led Zeppelin, make dub out of it and add strings by the Golden Hornet Project. "The Secret Song" is an album that puts DJ Spooky's brand of conceptual hip-hop front-and-center with eerily accessible reconstructions only an artist such as himself could possibly formulate.

According to DJ Spooky, his new album ironically refers to a few notable elements. The first being that "The Secret Song" is made by failed ATM transactions, credit card fraud, jazz motifs made into stock exchanges, and the futures market. Secondly, it is an album that says 2012 isn't the end of time, like the Mayan Calendar says - it's just the end of the last Walmart. Additionally, the album exposes the economics of music as the music industry as we know it goes through massive transformation - it's the new Stop and Shop of the Mind. And lastly, "The Secret Song" has tracks hidden in barcode throughout most of downtown Manhattan. Don't believe him? Swipe your IPhone anywhere you see a barcode. And so with "The Secret Song," we look back at the 20th century and see a couple of massive changes that put it in, what DJ Spooky calls, "history through lens of the sample."

Following in the steps of The Cinematic Orchestra's rescore of Dziga Vertov's cinema classic "Man with A Camera," "The Secret Song" album will be accompanied by a DVD of a rare film from the Russian Revolution, the 1924 film "Kino-Glaz" (Cinema Eye) by the renowned Russian Director Dziga Vertov. DJ Spooky rescored the film and remastered the footage in New York for the DVD to serve as a companion-piece to his new album.

In addition to the making of "The Secret Song," DJ Spooky continues to bring his artistic output to fans across the world and dip his toes into other creative realms. He performed his previous piece, "DJ Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation," more than sixty times around the world, from Lincoln Center in NYC to the Acropolis in Athens. At the end of 2008, the DVD version was released by Starz Media - the folks who brought us "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." He's played festivals from the main stage at Bonnaroo to Michael Franti's Power To the Peaceful to the 2009 Bumbershoot Festival. Earlier this year, Miller performed before a crowd of 100,000 on the mall in Washington, DC for Earth Day, along with the Flaming Lips and others. In the world of books, Miller's "Sound Unbound" features essays from legendary figures like Steve Reich, Pierre Boulez, Chuck D, Daphne Keller (the Senior Legal Counsel to Google), Saul Williams, Brian Eno, Moby, and many others. In his reconstructing of the role of the DJ, Miller's visual artwork has been honored with solo shows at highly established art venues like The Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Robert Miller Gallery.

1976 album Tracks and Traces due Oct. 6 from Gronland/High Wire

By Blurt Staff

Great news for Krautrock fans. We'll let you get the gist by reading the press release, below. And then get set for the massive - we do mean ginormous - Michael Rother interview that will be running soon on the BLURT site. You have been warned.

Oh yeah, have an MP3 on us: "Vamos Comperos"

In the late summer of 1976 the musicians of Harmonia sensed an opportunity. The band had made two albums up to then, Musik von Harmonia (1974), and Deluxe (1975). Both works are now considered classics of krautrock and electronic music; nonetheless, afterwards the creative core went its separate ways. All three musicians were tireless and set to work on solo projects. Michael Rother would later release Flammende Herzen, Hans-Joachim Roedelius Durch die Wüste and Dieter Moebius Lilienthal. But then Brian Eno waltzed onto the scene. He had long been aware of Harmonia, and had even spontaneously joined in on a session with the band at a concert in the Fabrik in Hamburg in 1974. The musicians were not shy about expressing their interest in further collaboration and exchanged numbers. Two years later Eno called the members of Harmonia and asked, "Is now a good time?" The answer, "Well, not exactly - we kind of broke up - but sure, as good a time as any."

At that time Eno was on his way to Montreux to work with David Bowie on the album Low. A man well-traveled in the beau monde of rock music, he entered the studio in the rural hamlet of Forst in Germany's Weserbergland region with no pretenses. To quote Rother, "Eno didn't come across like an aloof pop star at all; on the contrary, he was very pleasant and inquisitive. We worked as equal partners and were a collective that simply wanted to make music, with no thoughts of commercial success and without the pressure of having to record an album. To me those are the best working conditions you can have."

"Eno brought a great intellect, boundless pleasure in making music and a font of experience in the realm of popular music, and that clearly opened a door that was already closed," adds Roedelius. Despite this, the general public heard nothing from these recordings for a long time; in part because they were not made for commercial purposes, but also because Eno's original tapes were long considered lost. Luckily, Roedelius and Rother had both made copies of the four-track tapes.

Out of the blue in 1997 Harmonia released the album Tracks & Traces, which included clips from the legendary 1976 recording sessions. Roedelius probed the material in his possession and had it remixed using an elaborate technical process. "I did nothing more than technically remaster the original material (one of the three four-track tapes that we had recorded) with Austrian sound engineers and enhance it so it would be digestible for other listeners besides ourselves," recalls Roedelius.

Rother explains more precisely, "Due to discord within the band, Achim put the music together on his own. The new tracks recorded in 1997 are therefore an expression of his personality in their atmospheric emphasis. Möbi and I weren't happy that Achim went it alone, but we had to admit that he had done a hell of a job. All the same, we came to a consensus on the title and the artwork, so Möbi and I were in a sense involved (laughing). But you really can't say a bad word about the music, it's wonderful." One can do nothing but agree with that assessment. In "Vamos Compañeros" a brazen groove hisses to the fore in the form of a looped steam engine sound. The idyllic detour provided in "By the Riverside" abruptly gives way to an abstract experimental phase with a gloomy undertone. A cautionary finger is raised admonishing, "Don't get lost on Lüneburg Heath." After a "Weird Dream" the mood again brightens and the listener is treated to warmer, pop-like harmonies and the slide guitar familiar from Eno's later works, although, in this case, it is Rother playing it. But, of course, it does not end there.

Rother himself had a copy he had had stashed away in his studio since 1976 as well. One day he decided to digitize the 27 fragments contained on it. Although the material could have filled an entire album, they agreed to add three of the songs to the reissue of the 1997 album. "Initially I asked myself what made sense musically; which of the many tracks I particularly liked and which reflected the broad musical scope of our collaboration with Brian Eno the best. The next step was about how best to integrate the selected tracks into the existing album. Instead of the normal practice of tacking them on to the end of the album as bonus tracks, I proposed changing the structure of the album and the order of the tracks. Luckily everyone involved agreed on that." The album now builds up gradually with the intro "Welcome" and the second track "Atmosphere" before proceeding to "Vamos Compañeros", from whence it gains the trusted momentum of the original release. It is rounded out with "Aubade", a track that reinforces the impression of a reconciliatory conclusion.

As they say, good things take time. And now, 33 years after these recordings were created, we finally have an all-around satisfying version of a long believed lost treasure of the krautrock era. In all likelihood this project signals the end of the Harmonia era. Although the band reformed two years ago and performed some highly acclaimed concerts in Berlin, Great Britain, the USA and Australia in the wake of the release of the celebrated concert recording Live 1974, Rother and Roedelius both jointly declared that there would be no continuation of the live performances - even if doing so would be lucrative for them in many ways. But the 1970s German avant-garde never let itself be a slave to commercial interests. Its credo remains as it was then: Good music is what is born of the unadulterated soul of the artist, not something fabricated with strategies and intellectual games, whatever their nature. And, as one can tell from Harmonia & Eno 1976 - Tracks and Traces, quality does not lose its luster in such conditions - not even with the passing of decades.

Tracklisting:

01 Welcome
02 Atmosphere
03 Vamos Companeros
04 By the Riverside
05 Luneberg Heath
06 Sometimes in Autumn
07 Weird Dream
08 Autumn
09 Les Demoiselles
10 When Shade Was Born
11 Trace
12 Aubade

See vid preview of Inspiration Information, below.

By Blurt Staff

The ever-provocative Strut label's been on a roll lately with a series of eye- and ear-openingglobe-trotting, genre-bending collaborations - including Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle and Sly & Robbie & Amp Fiddler. The label has also been responsible for those amazing vintage worldbeat compilations we've been reviewing at BLURT: Black Rio Vol.2  and Nigeria '70. (Watch the BLURT site soon for our review of their Ze Records overview Ze 30.)

Now Strut's announced the latest volume: Inspiration Information will feature legendary Fela Kuti drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen along side Finnish electronic / jazz maverick Jimi Tenor.  As the label advises us, candidly, "The is a raw and forward-thinking take on Afrobeat which will thrill fans looking for the next evolution in worldly future funk." Coming soon - watch this space for details.

See the teaser trailer below for a taste.

Denial of service attack means people can't disclose details of their plans to paint their nails, go to lunch or entertain deep faux-philosophical thoughts.

By Blurt Staff

All you Twitter fans scratching your heads over why you can't get your daily crack fix, rest easy: Courtney Love is still asleep in her bed following a long night of ligging, so she hasn't crashed the system.

There is, however, an ongoing denial of service attack, according to a report filed by TechCrunch.com. Twitter has indicated it's dealing with the problem.

The rest of you who are going into withdrawal symptoms about now - hey, read a book. Watch some Oprah. Do a "Michael Vick" with the family pooch. Or simply get a dang life...

Better yet, ponder all the banalities you might be inclined to be posting about now, and then consider the fact that everyone who reads ‘em thinks you're really, really lame but is too polite to tell you to your face.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass--Tenacious D--announce a performance on the third day of the S.F. music and arts festival. Careful... You might get burned.

By Randy Harward

Forget Tom Jones. Fuck Jason Mraz. For that matter, you can tell the Dave Matthews Band to suck it. Also, Pearl Jam should go spread itself on toast 'cause True Rock Gods have been added to the lineup for the 2009 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, taking place August 28-30 in San Francisco.

Tenacious D annouced their appearance today on a teleconference with media--including Blurt, which is honored at our inclusion. The D will play on August 30, the same day that even lesser acts such as The Dead Weather, Modest Mouse and Ween play, but Jack Black was complimentary of these acts, mentioning them as his own must-sees. "I'm always into seeing me some Ween," he said... perhaps cheekily.

In fact, both Black and bandmate Kyle Gass praised the lineup, Gass saying, "Pretty much we're on the best day... pound for pound."

In addition to their three faves, the D's day will feature M.I.A., Band of Horses, Calexico, Lucinda Williams, John Vanderslice and The Avett Brothers. Among others. For the full lineup, visit www.sfoutsidelands.com.

Oh, one more thing. The D would like everyone to heed a caveat about their upcoming performance: "Our shit is toned," says Black.  "You might get burned."

And no, "The Clap" is not a cover of Yes... unless Steve Howe is guesting in disguise.

By Blurt Staff

Thao With the Get Down Stay Down will be releasing their second full-length album, Know Better Learn Faster, on October 13 via Kill Rock Stars. "The album is named ‘Know Better Learn Faster' because you can't," said Thao, in a statement. "By the time you realize you should, it's too late. And I enjoy the predicament and the totally devastating, unfunny humor of that."

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (Adam Thompson on bass, keys and additional guitar, and Willis Thompson on drums and percussion) return with the follow up to their critically lauded previous album, We Brave Bee Stings and All. With super-producer and friend Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Jim James) again at the helm, Know Better Learn Faster matches the "cleverly crafted and emotionally evocative songs" with "vibrant, innovative instrumentation, incredible energy and a still-acutely-solid sense of what sounds good... all the while staying faithful to their distinct style, sharp wit, and the infectious and enamoring exuberance of their renowned live shows."

Know Better Learn Faster is also being described as in many ways "a boisterous, frenzied, and resigned break-up record," and with that territory comes a few songs wherein Thao does not employ her trademark method of juxtaposing brighter melodies with melancholic content.  "A few of these are just straightforwardly sad.  Sometimes there's not much room to mince words and music when you feel like shit," she says. The album is, in essence, an audit of the end of one or any number of relationships.  Thao says: "We are thankful for the opportunity to have explored and then purged all crippling tensions and anxiety inherent in such dramas and hope you enjoy the scrappy by-product.

Guesting on the album are Andrew Bird, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Veirs,  Nathan Crockett of Horse Feathers, and close friend and new 4AD artist Tune-Yards.

Track Listing:

01. The Clap
02. Cool Yourself
03. When We Swam
04. Know Better Learn Faster
05. Body
06. The Give
07. Good Bye Good Luck
08. Trouble Was For
09. Oh. No.
10.Fixed It!
11. Burn You Up
12. But What of the Strangers
13. Easy

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

New rec due in October from Yep Roc.

By Blurt Staff

As we told you a few months ago in this space, Chuck Prophet and his band ventured to Mexico City to record the follow-up to 2007's album Soap & Water and encountered a swine flu pandemic, an earthquake, electric brownouts, and crashing hard drives. For proof, check the photo accompanying our news item, here.

But they still managed to polish off a new record titled ¡Let Freedom Ring!, which will be released October 27 on Yep Roc Records.

"I just wanted the energy of this place," Prophet says of Mexico City. "I'm looking at a studio that is totally state of the art... for 1957. I stood in the middle of that room, I clapped my hands and I knew we could make a great record."

You can check out the following promo trailer for the album and get some of that vibe:

Limited edition of 1500, so act fast.

By Blurt Staff

It's literally been a decade since the mighty Tortoise dabbled extensively in vinyl releases - check this discography of the band for proof. 1996-98 was particularly fruitful for the Windy City band, which pumped out a slew of limited edition 12-inch remixes that at the time proved highly prized among collectors (although a quick glance at eBay suggests the group's stock has fallen considerably since then). High-profile remixers of the band included Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Oval, Autechre, UNKLE and Derrick Carter. 

To follow up the release of their first new studio album in five years, then, Tortoise is releasing a two song remix 12" of songs from Beacons of Ancestorship.  Side A features  Eye from Boredoms doing a remix of the album's opening track "High Class Slim Came Floatin' In".  Side AA features the dub/version master Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound doing a version of the track "Gigantes".

Side A : High Class Slim Came Floatin' In - Eyeremix

Side AA : Gigantes Version - Mark Ernestus

The 12" is presented in a proper LP jacket and features black and white photography from Andrew Paynter.  Andrew's photography was also featured on the Beacons of Ancestorship jacket and he was behind the video for the song "Prepare Your Coffin" which can be seen HERE.

The 12" is presented in an extremely limited quantity of 1,500 and will be released on August 18^th by Thrill Jockey.

Iconic vocalist fronted Mink DeVille and was a mainstay of the CBGB scene.

By Fred Mills

Music fans who came up during the CBGB era received some sad news this morning: Willy DeVille, pompadour-rocking frontman for the mighty Mink DeVille, passed away yesterday following a battle with pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis had been announced just this past June after doctors preparing DeVille for Hepatitis C treatment discovered the cancer.

With Mink DeVille, the singer brought a measure of dashing flash to the leather jacketed punk scene, always dressing like a classic showman and performing tunes more aligned with vintage soul, doo-wop, cabaret and Latin-flavored pop than buzzsaw guitars and New Wave keyboards. After the demise of the band in the mid ‘80s DeVille went solo, finding his core audience in Europe but continuing to record albums up through last year's Pistola. And in that big, romantic, crooner's voice of his - leavened by a puckish yelp - DeVille conjured a timelessness across the entirety of his career.

For more details on DeVille, check out his Wikipedia page.

Gratuitous usage of naughty language apparently by one of our interns, who will be sorely reprimanded.

By Blurt Staff

Oxbow is planning on celebrating its 20^th anniversary as a band by reissuing its landmark 1990 debut. Originally released on CFY/Pathological, the aptly titled Fuckfest is a pornographic snapshot of a burgeoning musical force in its formative years; a raw, naked display of desperate humanity and abject terror; a decisive collision of Midwest noise, and all-American trepidation.

Hey, who isn't into all-American trepidation!

Since then Oxbow has issued five more albums, each louder and nastier than the one before. Some observers have even called the group "a blues band" - which of course makes perfect sense, now, doesn't it?

The album drops September 15 on Hydra Head.

Tracklist:

1. Curse (5:52)
2. 30 Miles (5:48)
3. The Valley (5:50)
4. Bull's Eye (4:03)
5. Yoke (6:13)
6. Hunger (9:19)

Mail order only release recorded in Brussels during 2008 tour.

By Fred Mills

Everyone's favorite Arizona band Calexico is spending the month of August over in Europe, doing those ever-lucrative European festivals (tour dates here) in their ongoing campaign to take last year's Carried To Dust to the masses (our feature on the band from last fall is here). But that doesn't mean you Stateside fans can't be diggin' yourself some fresh Calexico.

Just recently the band issued another one of their tour/mailorder only CDs (most likely a limited edition that will quickly sell out, as have previous tour titles). Called Ancienne Belgique - Live In Brussels 2008, it was recorded last year during their Euro trek and contains the following tracks (and can be obtained via their main website):

1. Bisbee Blue
   2. Roka
   3. Bend To The Road
   4. El Gatillo
   5. Two Silver Trees
   6. Inspiracion
   7. Minas De Cobre
   8. Man Made Lake
   9. Alone Again Or
   10. Fractured Air
   11. Red Blooms
   12. Victor Jara's Hands
   13. Crystal Frontier
   ----
   14. Crumble [Bonus Track]

According to co-founder Joey Burns, "The past ten months of touring the new album ‘Carried To Dust' has been filled with a lot of great shows and experiences. We've met a lot of folks, seen a lot of friends and there's been a bunch of requests for some live recordings of the new material to be sold at our concerts. So, with the help of the staff at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels we recorded one of the best shows of the tour. Thanks to Peter Verstraelen, our Belgian Promoter, Staf Verbeek who recorded the show, Craig Schumacher who mixed the recording, Jim Blackwood who mastered it, David Babbitt who did the art layout, and Adam Reach who coordinated the assembly. Thanks, too for all of the musicians, guests, crew, friends and families who helped with making all of this possible.

"The artwork is comprised of photos from the band's first tour of Santiago de Chile and South America which influenced some of the songs on ‘Carried To Dust.' We would love to return to South America as we've yet to play Brazil, Peru, Uruguay... heck, we haven't even played Mexico yet. Hopefully we'll find some folks to help us find some festivals or shows there. This upcoming Summer Tour finds us playing some new cities and countries; Poland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Israel and Finland which we've only played once. Thanks again to all of you for contributing your support of the music and live shows."

Live in Brussels:

Say farewell to the alterna-nineties too, kids...

By Blurt Staff

With ‘90s nostalgia already reaching critical mass - while welcome reunions from the likes of Blur and My Bloody Valentine have gone down, we're also being saddled with mooks ‘n' chumps like Creed and Third Eye Blind - it's probably not a bad thing when a band opts to bow out when it senses the well has run dry.

Ergo, Seattle's Harvey Danger recently announced it was splitting up, announcing a farewell tour (which starts today in Boston) and posting to their website,

"After 15 years, three albums, hundreds of shows, and far more twists and turns than we ever imagined possible, we've decided to put Harvey Danger to rest. The decision is totally mutual and utterly amicable. Everyone is very proud of the work we've done together, but we've also come to feel that our collaboration has--in a very positive way--run its course. We're all eager to try our hands at other projects, musical and otherwise. Of course, putting an end to something we've been working on since our early 20s can't help being accompanied by a soupçon of melancholy. Nonetheless, as the Chambers Brothers remind us, time has come today. Rock bands have life spans, and Harvey Danger's has been longer and more eventful than even we would have predicted."

Best known as a one-hit wonder of late '90s provenance, though obsessively loved by a devout cult of listeners from below and above the indie rock radar, Harvey Danger has released three albums of literate, emotional pop-rock that range wildly in style and impact. The first two (including the one that was a hit in 1998) came out on major labels, and a third was released in 2005, according to what would later become known as the Radiohead model. Little By Little... eventually generated over 300,000 downloads (it's still available at their site for free), and was released physically by Kill Rock Stars in 2006. It was followed with the release of an EP on Barsuk Records.

Other highlights? Sharing stages with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Spoon (both of whom were chosen by HD to open tours before anyone knew who they were), Nada Surf, Ra Ra Riot, Robyn Hitchcock, Jon Brion, Grant Lee Buffalo, They Might Be Giants, and many thousands more. Participating in the Seattle edition of Brendan Canty's "Burn to Shine" DVD series. Having their song "Flagpole Sitta" being used as the theme song for the British TV sitcom "Peep Show," now in its sixth brilliant season. Oh, and playing on Letterman, being on MTV a lot back when it still pretended to play music, making a bunch of videos, having their song played at the seventh-inning stretch at the World Series, and stuff like that.

But as the band puts it, "Now is the time to call it good. Everyone in Harvey Danger is very excited to have a last chance to play together in public, and to bring the band's energetic and assured live show to the cities that have felt the most like homes away from home for the band over the years."

Tour Dates:

08.07.09 - Boston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
08.08.09 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
08.15.09 - Chicago, IL @ Schuba's
08.22.09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Largo
08.28.09 - Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
08.29.09 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

HD does H&O:

Stop right there: we have the latest installments of Brian Staker's interview series, this time featuring Wayne Coyne and Built To Spill holding forth at this summer's Pitchfork Festival.

By Blurt Staff

Rockers say the darndest things, especially when they're looking into the lens of Brian Staker, host of the aptly-titled podcast "The Awkward Hour," in which Staker takes the often-spoofed (see Tim & Eric, Bob Odenkirk) model of awkward, unprepared interviewers and well, runs with it in the "be who you are" spirit. 

Earlier this month, Blurt sent our schlubby bundle of nerves to the Pitchfork Festival for special on-the-spot interviews where he cornered artists for on-the-spot (and we do mean on-the-spot) interviews. Today we've added Built To Spill and a lengthy two-parter featuring Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. They join our previous list of victims: Vivian Girls, Jesus Lizard's David Yow and The Thermals. Just head over to our Blurt TV video kiosk, or click on the provided links.

Forty years ago this week, it wasn't all peace and love.

By Fred Mills

Mass culture-immersed Americans this week are likely to be casting their memories back to the Woodstock festival that took place August 15-18 in 1969. With the deluge of Woodstock-themed books, that massive Back to Yasgur's Farm box set that Rhino recently issued and an entire week's worth of Woodstock-related documentaries set to air starting tonight on VH1, the Aquarian expo's been sucking the oxygen out of the room pretty thoroughly of late.

40 years ago, however, an event of a different sort also took place, one which in a very real sense shook our society to its core and left its own impossible-to-forget legacy: in '69, on August 9 and 10, the Charles Manson crew (aka "The Family") committed a series of horrific murders - actress Sharon Tate plus four others on the first night, followed by the married LaBianca couple the following evening - thus marking the beginning of the end of the so-called "hippie dream," one which would further dissolve a few months later at the Altamont concert.

It's hard to fully express the emotional precipice that the Tate-LaBianca killings booted many of us from at the time; as a teenager tucked away in a tiny Southern textile town at the time, I can't say I had been swept away by the counterculture (at least not yet - depending on where you lived, that hippie dream continued to trickle down and linger for a few years and probably remained on life support until at least the resignation of Nixon and the end of the Vietnam war). But I was certainly immersed in it from afar, eagerly taking in any and all news reports about hippies, drugs, war protests, etc., all the while feeding my head on the underground musical soundtrack of the era.

I do recall hearing about the murders on the nighttime news, however, and my reaction was probably somewhere between "that's senseless" (like my parents' reactions) and "could probably happen only in Los Angeles or New York"). But then some time later, when Manson et al were rounded up and charged, and details started emerging, like the "Pigs" and "Helter Skelter" writings-in-blood, not to mention those iconic, thousand-yard-stare photos of Manson himself, the feeling was deeply, permanently unsettling on a level I hadn't quite experienced in my short life yet. In a very real sense, it was a loss of innocence for me an no doubt scores of other young folks who, like me, had taken the entire peace-and-love ethos to heart and were now confronting evidence that evil among "our own kind" was very real. (I recall taking a hitch-hiking trip to Atlanta a few years later with a friend, and we hit the strip on Peachtree Street with gusto; later, though, following a series of somewhat odd, events, my friend wound up being assaulted by an otherwise cool/hip individual whom we'd initially trusted. It was another wake-up call.)

In a retrospective of the Manson murders posted at CNN.com, LA Times columnist Patt Morrison observed, "It was the dark side of paradise. People could shake their fingers and say, 'This is where your high-living, rich, hippie, movie-star lifestyle gets you. This is where the drug culture gets you.' It's the boomerang effect, the wages of sin."

Added Syracuse University popular culture professor Robert Thompson, "Manson is like a Rorschach test. How you interpret his place in popular culture depends on your own place in the culture." That's a good point: it's hard to say whether or not anyone born after, say, 1975 can fully appreciate (term used loosely) the immediate and lingering impact of those two nights in 1969.

Manson forced us to look both inward and outward, at times over our shoulders, too. And though reality checks in life are necessary, particularly those we receive as we move towards adulthood, everything from that point forward was cast in shadows and hues of grey, no longer a black-and-white - or, even in our imaginations, a Day-glo - world.

On this count, DO believe the hype, ‘cos ACL deserves the recognition.

By Blurt Staff

We love the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at BLURT - so much so that we outlined the ways we love it in the latest issue of the magazine. Go HERE to read the article, "Don't Believe the Hype," on the Rock Hall.

We also love Austin, so the fact that today the Rock Hall announced it was designating the city's venerable Austin City Limits an "historic rock and roll site" is reason to cheer. Hey, maybe they'll wise up and move the museum to Austin or something! Here's the official announcement:

Cleveland, OH -  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum today announced that Austin City Limits will be officially designated an historic rock and roll site as a part of the Museum's Landmark Series this coming October.

Terry Stewart, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and Terry Lickona, Executive Producer of Austin City Limits, made the announcement at the KLRU-TV studio, home of the groundbreaking Austin City Limits series now in its 35^th season.

"Austin City Limits represents one of the most unique archives of modern American music," said Terry Stewart. "It shares with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the mission of collecting, preserving and interpreting the rock and roll story and educating fans about the cultural significance of this art form."

The Rock Hall will unveil a historic marker on Thursday, October 1 to celebrate the premiere of the 35^th season of Austin City Limits on PBS. As a part of this designation, the Rock Hall and Austin City Limits will host educational panels with artists, members of the media and ACL staff discussing the significance of the groundbreaking music series and its impact on our culture.

"With more than 800 performances on our stage from all musical genres its really amazing to receive this honor from the Rock Hall," said Terry Lickona, "the places to receive this honor are iconic and we are thrilled to be included among such legendary venues."

The Rock Hall's Landmark Series designates historic rock and roll landmarks around the United States that are essential to tell the story of rock and roll music. There are currently nine sites including the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles where the Doors were resident performers; King Records in Cincinnati, a prominent American record label started in the 40s, The Crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi and the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa . Five sites are located in the Cleveland area and include Brooklyn High School, the location Elvis played his first concert north of the Mason-Dixon line and WJW Radio, home to Deejay Alan Freed who popularized the term "rock and roll."

Inspired by the music scene that continues to thrive in Austin, ACL has for 35 years presented viewing audiences with live concerts from many of the world's most acclaimed, accomplished and pioneering talent. At the same time the show has represented Austin to the nation and the world, laying the foundation for Austin's reputation as the Live Music Capital.

"Austin City Limits has been the pride of our community for more than three decades," said Mayor Lee Leffingwell.  "That's why it's so gratifying to see the show receive this prestigious national recognition.  I salute the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for choosing to honor the show's legacy - and future - of unforgettable performances by America's most treasured musicians."

Weekend passes are $235 + booking fee - see website for all ticketing info.

By Blurt Staff

This year's All Tomorrow's Parties New York festival, set for Sept. 11-13 (details HERE and HERE), has announced the final lineup for the 3-day bash. Among the additions to the Flaming Lips-curated event are Bob Mould (playing with  No Age, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Birds of Avalon, Hopewell and Menomena.

The full line-up so far with new additions/changes in bold...

 
Friday

The Jesus Lizard
Iron and Wine
Panda Bear*
Don't Look Back: Dirty Three Performing ‘Ocean Songs'
Don't Look Back: Suicide Performing First LP
Don't Look Back: The Feelies Performing ‘Crazy Rhythms'
Don't Look Back: The Drones  Performing ‘Wait Long By The River'
Comedy Stage - Hosted and curated by David Cross
*moved from Saturday. Saturday ticket holders will have the option to switch to Friday if they choose.

Saturday: curated by ATP

Animal Collective
Sufjan Stevens
Deerhunter
Melvins
Shellac
Boss Hog
Autolux
Dead Meadow
EL-P
Anti-Pop Consortium
Circulatory System
Autolux
Atlas Sound
Akron Family
Grouper
Sleepy Sun
Bridezilla

Sunday: curated by The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips
Boredoms perform 9 drummer BOADRUM
Caribou perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble
Deerhoof with Martha Colburn
Crystal Castles
Super Furry Animals
Boris
Low Lows
Oneida Presents the Ocropolis
No Age featuring Bob Mould performing songs of Husker Du.
Hopewell
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Birds of Avalon
Menomena

Also took part in the recent documentary about the late director.

By Blurt Staff

While most of us around the BLURT penthouse were relatively nonplused by the passing of filmmaker John Hughes last week (we tend to tilt more towards the oeuvre of Gregory Dark than Hughes' Brat Pack fare), we understand that for many of you, gentle Blurt readers, he was hugely influential in shaping your adolescent minds. Too bad about the "musical taste" issue, but hey...

Anyway, Simple Minds practically owe their career to Hughes, so it comes as no surprise that frontman Jim Kerr has issued a statement paying tribute to JH. He confirmed that on their forthcoming ‘Graffiti Soul' world tour they'll dedicate "Don't You (Forget About Me)" to the memory of John Hughes and how his teenage coming-of-age films defined a generation.

Said Kerr, "When we perform ‘Don't You (Forget About Me)' on the forthcoming tour, we'll be thinking about John Hughes and how his enthusiasm for the sound of Simple Minds made us go the extra mile when we recorded it back in 1984. Everyone was hell bent on making a classic piece of pop rock, but little did we know the kind of longevity the film would have on generations to come. The Breakfast Club helped us kick the door down, and once there, no one could ever lock us out or tell us again what it felt like to be No.1 in America."

In fact, there's a documentary titled Don't You Forget About Me" that will be distributed worldwide by Montreal-based Alliance Films. Director Matt Austin-Sadowski flew to Scotland to interview Kerr, and also interviewed Brat Pack stars Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Mia Sara and Andrew McCarthy. The film follows Sadowski and producers Kari Hollend, Mike Facciolo and Lenny Panzer as they set off on a road trip to find Hughes. Go to www.dontyouforgetaboutmethemovie.com for all the details.

(New York, NY) Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be performing at the Radio City Music Hall Wednesday, September 23. Rockettes everywhere roll their eyes.

This on the heels of the bands' Lollapalooza performance this past weekend for 80,000 people at Chicago's Grant Park. 

The Yeah Yeahs Yeahs were also just nominated by MT  for their "Breakthrough Video Award" for "Heads Will Roll." The awards are to be held September 13 also at Radio City Music Hall. If you can't bring yourself to watch the broadcast, you can check the video out on The Tonight Show w/ Conan O'Brien September 16^th prior to their September 17 sold out concert  at the Greek Theatre stage in Los Angeles.

Sometimes the news just writes itself around here...

By Fred Mills

Hearts were broken recently when it was announced that erstwhile pop star/page three gal Samantha Fox would be marrying her longtime partner Myra Stratton. Fox, of course, provided more hairy palmed fantasy-per-capita than just about any video vixen you could name back during her MTV heyday. Who cares that her singing "style" as it were paved the way for Britney Spears' similarly tuneless warble!

(Fox also carries the distinction of being one of the few musicians we know of whose Wikipedia entry lists here measurements - for the record, although this may be an underestimation even though she's only just over 5 feet tall, they are 34c-24-33.)

Anyhow, according to the Screen Door blog, Fox and Stratton, who is also Fox's manager, have been together for about a decade now, and they don't plan to just tie any old knot: they are talking about having Motorhead's Lemmy give Fox away at the wedding. Fox is quoted in the article as telling OK! mag, "I'll tell you who's definitely coming - Lemmy from Motörhead. We might get him to give me away, and we might get Liz Mitchell from BONEY M to do the ceremony - she's a pastor now."

It just don't get any better than this, folks. Let's revisit the Fox aesthetic, below, which includes, irony of ironies, a brief stint working with Lemmy's old band Hawkwind!

Almost as cool as that GG Allin bobble...

By Blurt Staff

No, no - we don't mean our erstwhile BLURT blogger Snider is an actual bobblehad (although some of his twisted tunes have been known to discombobulate even the most stable music fans). In honor of Snider's recent album The Excitement Plan, Yep Roc Records teamed up with Bobble Factory to offer Todd's fans a chance to own the official Todd Snider bobblehead.  The figure captures Todd perfectly with his smirk and trademark fashion sense.  Todd's bare feet stand on a base featuring his name in black lettering and sculpted to look just like the deck boards in Todd's own backyard oasis.

The Todd Snider bobble head stands approximately 6 1/2 inches tall.  It is cast in high quality plastic from the original sculpt and each one is hand painted.  Bobble heads will begin shipping to fans on 9/4/09. Thirty bucks will get ya the limited edition bobble - click   HERE                         to order direct from Yep Roc.

Todd 4 real:

Todd bobble:

Well, sort of... 14 seconds ain't a lot.

By Fred Mills

The buzz on Them Crooked Vultures - the classic/alt-rock supergroup recently formed by Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones - is steadily building, following the band's debut this weekend in Chicago at a packed Lollapalooza aftershow.

Observed journalist Jim deRogatis in his report, "During an amazing 12-song, 80-minute set, Them Crooked Vultures went on to prove it is one the rarest things in rock: a supergroup that not only deserves that appellation, but which actually is greater than the sum of its storied parts."

While no title or release date has apparently been set for the group's debut album, this morning a 14-second snippet of their Led Zep-sounding tune "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I" was posted at YouTube. If you sniff around the web you can also locate video clips, most of them pretty poor quality, from the Chicago show too. Let the blog hype begin!

Third time's the charm, lads! Wot's, uh, the bittersweet symphony?

By Fred Mills

Sources "close" to the Verve are being cited by the British media that the Verve is, in fact, dead. An ex-Verve. Pushing up Verve daisies. Singing with the Verve choir invisible. (Thanks for the tip, Pitchfork.) In reports posted today at both the Guardian and the Mirror, we learn that guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones "have not spoken to" vocalist Richard Ashcroft since last year and that there are no plans for the members to reconvene. McCabe and Jones have been working their latest musical collaboration they're calling the Black Ships (it includes drummer Mig Schillace and violinist Davide Rossi).

This would make the third time the Verve has broken up. Last fall the band released the quite stunning Forth album, which earned huge critical kudos (including a nine-star review from BLURT).

Apparently some of the problems date from an intervention the band's management staged with McCabe, who had a drinking problem. Ashcroft had indicated he wouldn't tour until McCabe cleaned up, who subsequently did so, but by then the old rifts had been reopened.

McCabe wrote on his MySpace blog,"The Verve seems to be on holiday and shows no sign of not being on holiday. I've been hesitant to breach Official Secrets-style policy with any missives from the, well, from any front, basically. Don't ask me anything about the big V. Just let me enjoy my non-alcoholic Piña Colada."

There you have it, fans. Have a drink on McCabe and wish ‘em all well.

The Runt revisits his legendary '73 epic in all its Proggy, psychedelic glory - live.

By Blurt Staff

Todd Rundgren has announced that he will film and record his A Wizard, A True Star concert for a forthcoming live DVD and live CD when he plays the Palace Theater in Stamford, Connecticut on September 9.  The two-disc set is scheduled for an early 2010 release through Music Publishing Corporation of America's label, Hi Fi Recordings. 

The live recordings will include an all-star line-up consisting of former members of Utopia, The Cars, Meat Loaf's band, and The Tubes: Todd Rundgren (vocals, guitar), Roger Powell (synthesizers and keyboards), Greg Hawkes (synthesizers and keyboards), Kasim Sulton (bass), Jesse Gress (guitar), Bobby Strickland (saxophone), and Prairie Prince (drums).

The tour will mark the first time Rundgren has performed his Prog classic in its entirety - in fact, there are several songs from AWATS that have never been performed live anywhere.

Rundgren will do dates in America during the first half of September, then next February will take the AWATS production to London and Amsterdam

Tour Dates:

* Akron Civic Center, Akron, Ohio - Sept. 6th

* Akron Civic Center, Akron, Ohio - Sept. 7th

* Palace Theater, Stamford, Connecticut - Sept. 9th

* Strathmore Hall, North Bethesda, Maryland - Sept. 10th

* Park West, Chicago - Sept. 12th

* Park West, Chicago - Sept. 13th

* State Theatre, Minneapolis - Sept. 15th

* HMV London Hammersmith Apollo - Feb. 6th

* The Paradiso, Amsterdam - Feb. 8th

Debut Self-Taught Learner adds 4 tracks for Downtown Records version.

By Blurt Staff

Downtown Records recently signed NYC singer-songwriter Lissy Trullie - who, not so coincidentally, is featured in the current issue of BLURT, modeling some mighty fetching retro togs.

Word now arrives that on Oct. 20th, Downtown will rerelease her EP debut Self-Taught Learner with a mix of four new and previously unreleased compositions.  The month before, movie goers taking in Diablo Cody's (Juno) latest film "Jennifer's Body" (Out September 18th) will also hear Trullie's cover of the Hot Chip song "Ready For The Floor" as part of the film's original motion picture soundtrack, in stores August 25th.  As well as playing planned dates in the UK, France, and CMJ in New York, later this year Lissy Trullie will enter the studio with producer Bernard Butler to begin work on her full-length debut, which will be released on Downtown in early 2010.

This past February, after a year of building up a fan-base by playing gigs around New York,  Trullie released the EP on Brooklyn based indie label American Myth to critical acclaim. She also toured extensively and hit the late night talk-show circuit. The new songs added to the original EP include the original compositions "Don't To Do", "You Bleed You", "Hold Your Head", and a duet cover of Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" recorded with Adam Green.

Trullie and her band will be joining The Cribs and Adam Green for a UK tour this September.  In October Lissy Trullie will play the 2009 CMJ Music Festival before heading to France for Festival Inrockuptibles.

 
 
Track Listing:
 
01. Boy Boy
02. She Said
03. Self-Taught Learner
04. Money
05. Forget About it
06. Ready For The Floor
07. Don't To Do (New Track)
08. Hold Your Head (New Track)
09. Just A Friend (Duet w/ Adam Green - Biz Markie Cover)
10. You Bleed You (Unreleased Demo)

 
Tour Dates

* = UK dates w/ The Cribs and Adam Green
# = Festival Inrockuptibles in France
 
SEPTEMBER
24 - Norwich - UEA *
25 - Cambridge - Junction *
26 - Liverpool - Academy *
28 - Hull - University *
29 - Glasgow - Borrowlands *
30 - Newcastle - University *
 
OCTOBER
02 - Manchester - Apollo *
03 - Lincoln - Engine Shed *
04 - Leeds - Academy *
05 - London - ICA (Make Up Date for previously canceled gig)
 
CMJ Schedule TBA
 
NOVEMBER
06 - Lille, Nord-Pas-De Calais - Festival Inrockuptibles @ Aeronef #
07 - Paris - Festival Inrockuptibles @ La Cigale #
08 - Nantes, Pays de la Loire - Festival Inrockuptibles @ Olympic #
06 - Toulouse, Midi-Pyrenees - Festival Inrockuptibles @ Le Bikini #
 

Alt-rock and alt-country icons team up for alt-lit project.

By Blurt Staff

It's called One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur: a new album featuring 12 original songs composed and performed by Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac's landmark 1962 novel Big Sur. Mark your calendars for October 20 when F-Stop/Atlantic Records releases the CD, along with a feature-length documentary of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear. There is to be a stand alone CD, a CD/DVD package, a limited edition boxed set packaged with the novel, a 40-page book on the documentary and the CD/DVD. The album will additionally be released on vinyl.

Gibbard and Farrar, having never previously met, discovered a mutual kinship in their passion for Kerouac's work while recording several songs for the documentary, produced by Kerouac Films. (The novel is an account of a time in the writer's life when he'd "come undone," both emotionally and spiritually. He escaped to a cabin in Big Sur to confront his inner demons and get some much-needed seaside r&r.) After the initial San Francisco recording session in July 2007, they decided to develop the project further to create an album using Kerouac's own words from the book as the lyrics.

Gibbard stayed in the original cabin Kerouac wrote about, to compose songs for his band's 2008 album, Narrow Stairs, while for many years, Farrar has claimed that is songwriting has been inspired and influenced by Kerouac's compositional style.

Jim Sampas, (Badlands, Kerouac--kicks joy darkness) is executive producer of the album. The documentary, One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, is directed by Curt Worden and produced by Gloria Bailen and Jim Sampas of Kerouac Films. The film features appearances by writers, poets, actors and musicians including, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Sam Shepard. October 20, incidentally, is the day before the 40th anniversary of Kerouac1s death

More snock per capita than most folks know what to do with.

By Blurt Staff

Ida Con Snock is the 21st full length album by legendary rambler, cartoonist, and "outsider" folk singer, guitarist Michael Hurley; it's his second for Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's Gnomonsong label.  The new album features Hurley accompanied by NYC's premier acoustic experimentalists Ida.  Ida Con Snock was recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and Brooklyn Studios in Brooklyn engineered by Justioan Guip and Andy Taub respectively. It's the followup to 2007's Ancestral Swamp and is due in October.

Ida's less-is-more finesse shines through brightly on these rich studio recordings, melding perfectly with Michael's inimitable playing, singing and songwriting. While many of his contemporaries have expired or are long past their prime artistic, his muse is still at full strength. Many of these songs are already familiar to Hurley devotees: there are seven originals and five loving covers of 50's rock 'n' roll chestnuts, C&W and folk vintage here. 

Hurley's unique songwriting and musicianship makes him an icon to multiple generations, too. In recent years, Michael was invited to tour with alt-country heroes Son Volt and Lucinda Williams. He's also shared bills with Smog and Palace Brothers; played with the Giant Sand rhythm section; and has appeared with and played on and been covered by Vetiver on record and onstage. His songs have also been covered by Cat Power and Yo La Tengo, among many others.

"Kornbred's Lariat Dance"

Acclaimed guitar player, entertainer and inventor was 94. See Rock Hall statement at end, below.

By Blurt Staff

Les Paul, , passed away today from complications of severe pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plain, New York, surrounded by family and loved ones. He had been receiving the best available treatment through this final battle and in keeping with his persona, he showed incredible strength, tenacity and courage. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks for the thoughts and prayers from his dear friends and fans. Les Paul was 94.  
 

One of the foremost influences on 20th century sound and responsible for the world's most famous guitar, the Les Paul model, Les Paul's prestigious career in music and invention spans from the 1930s to the present. Though he's indisputably one of America's most popular, influential, and accomplished electric guitarists, Les Paul is best known as an early innovator in the development of the solid body guitar. His groundbreaking design would become the template for Gibson's best-selling electric, the Les Paul model, introduced in 1952. Today, countless musical legends still consider Paul's iconic guitar unmatched in sound and prowess. Among Paul's most enduring contributions are those in the technological realm, including ingenious developments in multi-track recording, guitar effects, and the mechanics of sound in general.
 

Born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin on June 9, 1915, Les Paul was already performing publicly as a honky-tonk guitarist by the age of 13. So clear was his calling that Paul dropped out of high school at 17 to play in Sunny Joe Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis. As Paul's mentor, Wolverton was the one to christen him with the stage name "Rhubarb Red," a moniker that would follow him to Chicago in 1934. There, Paul became a bonafide radio star, known as both hillbilly picker Rhubarb Red and Django Reinhardt-informed jazz guitarist Les Paul. His first recordings were done in 1936 on an acoustic-alone as Rhubarb Red, as well as backing blues singer Georgia White. The next year he formed his first trio, but by 1938 he'd moved to New York to begin his tenure on national radio with one of the more popular dance orchestras in the country, Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians.
 

Tinkering with electronics and guitar amplification since his youth, Les Paul began constructing his own electric guitar in the late '30s. Unhappy with the first generation of commercially available hollowbodies because of their thin tone, lack of sustain, and feedback problems, Paul opted to build an entirely new structure. "I was interested in proving that a vibration-free top was the way to go," he has said. "I even built a guitar out of a railroad rail to prove it. What I wanted was to amplify pure string vibration, without the resonance of the wood getting involved in the sound." With the good graces of Epiphone president Epi Stathopoulo, Paul used the Epiphone plant and machinery in 1941 to bring his vision to fruition. He affectionately dubbed the guitar "The Log."  
Les Paul's tireless experiments sometimes proved to be dangerous, and he nearly electrocuted himself in 1940 during a session in the cellar of his Queens apartment. During the next two years of rehabilitation, Les earned his living producing radio music. Forced to put the Pennsylvanians and the rest of his career on hold, Les Paul moved to Hollywood. During World War II, he was drafted into the Army but permitted to stay in California, where he became a regular player for Armed Forces Radio Service. By 1943 he had assembled a trio that regularly performed live, on the radio, and on V-Discs. In 1944 he entered the jazz spotlight-thanks to his dazzling work filling in for Oscar Moore alongside Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet, and other superstars -at the first of the prestigious Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts.  

 
By his mid-thirties, Paul had successfully combined Reinhardt-inspired jazz playing and the western swing and twang of his Rhubarb Red persona into one distinctive, electrifying style. In the Les Paul Trio he translated the dizzying runs and unusual harmonies found on Jazz at the Philharmonic into a slower, subtler, more commercial approach. His novelty instrumentals were tighter, brasher, and punctuated with effects. Overall, the trademark Les Paul sound was razor-sharp, clean-shaven, and divinely smooth.  

 
As small combos eclipsed big bands toward the end of World War II, Les Paul Trio's popularity grew. They cut records for Decca both alone and behind the likes of Helen Forrest, the Andrews Sisters, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Dick Hayes, and, most notably, Bing Crosby. Since 1945, when the crooner brought them into the studio to back him on a few numbers, the Trio had become regular guests on Crosby's hit radio show. The highlight of the session was Paul's first No. 1 hit and million-seller, the gorgeous "It's Been a Long, Long Time."

 
Meanwhile, Paul began to experiment with dubbing live tracks over recorded tracks, also altering the playback speed. This resulted in "Lover (When You're Near Me)," his revolutionary 1947 predecessor to multi-track recording. The hit instrumental featured Les Paul on eight different electric guitar parts, all playing together. In 1948, Paul nearly lost his life to a devastating car crash that shattered his right arm and elbow. Still, he convinced doctors to set his broken arm in the guitar-picking and cradling position. Laid up but undaunted, Paul acquired a first generation Ampex tape recorder from Crosby in 1949, and began his most important multi-tracking adventure, adding a fourth head to the recorder to create sound-on-sound recordings. While tinkering with the machine and its many possibilities, he also came up with tape delay. These tricks, along with another recent Les Paul innovation-close mic-ing vocals-were integrated for the first time on a single recording: the 1950 No. 1 tour de force "How High the Moon." This historic track was performed during a duo with future wife Mary Ford. The couple's prolific string of hits for Capitol Records not only included some of the most popular recordings of the early 1950s, but also wrote the book on contemporary studio production. The dense but crystal clear harmonic layering of guitars and vocals, along with Ford's close mic-ed voice and Paul's guitar effects, produced distinctively contemporary recordings with unprecedented sonic qualities. Through hits, tours, and popular radio shows, Paul and Ford kept one foot in the technological vanguard and the other in the cultural mainstream.  
 

All the while, Les Paul continued to pine for the perfect guitar. Though The Log came close, it wasn't quite what he was after. In the early 1950s, Gibson Guitar would cultivate a partnership with Paul that would lead to the creation of the guitar he'd seen only in his dreams. In 1948, Gibson elected to design its first solidbody, and Paul, a self-described "dyed-in-the-wool Gibson man," seemed the right man for the job. Gibson avidly courted the guitar legend, even driving deep into the Pennsylvania mountains to deliver the first model to newlyweds Les Paul and Mary Ford.  

"Les played it, and his eyes lighted up," then-Gibson President Ted McCarty has recalled. The year was 1950, and Paul had just signed on as the namesake of Gibson's first electric solidbody, with exclusive design privileges. Working closely with Paul, Gibson forged a relationship that would change popular culture forever. The Gibson Les Paul model-the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history-began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.

 
"The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul. He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone's face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world," said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "We will dedicate ourselves to preserving Les' legacy to insure that it lives on forever. He touched so many lives throughout his remarkable life and his influence extends around the globe and across every boundary. I have lost a dear, personal friend and mentor, a man who has changed so many of our lives for the better."

"I don't think any words can describe the man we know as Les Paul adequately. The English language does not contain words that can pay enough homage to someone like Les. As the "Father of the Electric Guitar", he was not only one of the world's greatest innovators  but a legend who created, inspired and contributed to the success of musicians around the world," said Dave Berryman, President of Gibson Guitar. "I have had the privilege to know and work with Les for many, many years and his passing has left a deep personal void. He was simply put - remarkable in every way. As a person, a musician, a friend, an inventor. He will be sorely missed by us all,"
 
With the rise of the rock 'n' roll revolution of 1955, Les Paul and Mary Ford's popularity began to wane with younger listeners, though Paul would prove to be a massive influence on younger generation of guitarists. Still, Paul and Ford maintained their iconic presence with their wildly popular television show, which ran from 1953-1960. In 1964, the couple, parents to a son and daughter, divorced. Paul began playing in Japan, and recorded an LP for London Records before poor health forced him to take time off-as much as someone so inspired can take time off.  In 1977, Paul resurfaced with a Grammy-winning Chet Atkins collaboration, Chester and Lester. Then the ailing guitarist, who'd already suffered arthritis and permanent hearing loss, had a heart attack, followed by bypass surgery.  

Ever stubborn, Les recovered, and returned to live performance in the late 1980s. Even releasing the 2005 double-Grammy winner Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, featuring collaborations with a veritable who's who of the electric guitar, including dozens of illustrious fans like Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Joe Perry. In 2008, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid tribute to Les Paul in a week-long celebration of his life which culminated with a live performance by Les himself.  Until recently Les continued to perform two weekly New York shows with the Les Paul Trio, at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, for over twelve years where a literal who's who of the entertainment world has paid homage.  It has been an honor to have Les Paul perform at The Iridium Jazz Club  for the past twelve years hosting such luminaries as Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and others and is a tragic loss to owner Ron Sturm both personally and professionally. Iridium intends to celebrate Les Paul's music and legacy every Monday night.

Les Paul has since become the only individual to share membership into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Les is survived by his three sons Lester (Rus) G.  Paul, Gene W. Paul and Robert (Bobby) R. Paul, his daughter Colleen Wess, son-in-law Gary Wess, long time friend Arlene Palmer,  five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A private Funeral service will be held in New York. A service in Waukesha, WI will be announced at a later date. Details will follow and will be announced for all services. Memorial tributes for the public will be announced at a future date.   The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Les Paul Foundation, 236 West 30th Street, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10001.

***

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Official Statement:

"Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it," said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll."

"Les Paul was truly a unique human being," said Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs. "He was an artist who made his mark as a tremendously influential guitarist. He was also an inventor, the man responsible for the solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording. Few people have accomplished as much as Les did in his legendary career. We will truly miss him."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Les Paul for the 13th annual American Music Master's series in Cleveland - November 15, 2008.

Friends of BLURT will tackle art, culture, and, oh yeah, music - like indie rock, world music, electronica, vintage funk and soul, garage rock, jazz (both traditional and avant-garde), Appalachian folk, dub, experimental... think WFMU, down South...

By Blurt Staff

A public service announcement for all of y'all....

Asheville Free Media, a volunteer-based, community online radio station launches this week. Created by Friends of Community Radio, a non-profit entity, Asheville FM aims to become a beacon for the unique blend of art and culture permeating Western North Carolina.

After a small group of veteran radiophiles and community-media devotees came together in early 2009, the station's ranks soon swelled to nearly 100 volunteers. With an influx of donations, everything from money to vital sound equipment, a studio and office were built in the West Asheville neighborhood, also home to the nationally lauded Harvest Records.

An online entity, Asheville FM can be found at www.ashevillefm.org.

The station's mission statement echoes the freeform ethos of WFMU, Utah Free Media and East Village Radio. Though Asheville FM is currently developing a variety of shows, an emphasis has been placed on music - lots and lots of killer music that can't be found on mainstream radio: indie rock, world music, electronica, vintage funk and soul, garage rock, jazz (both traditional and avant-garde), Appalachian folk, dub, experimental and other alternative sounds. What will make Asheville FM unique, in terms of content and quality, is the ability to speak to both the local mountain culture and listeners around the globe. This is, in fact, one of the station's core values.

Special programming begins August 13, 2009, with coverage of the Transfigurations festival. The full schedule, meanwhile, starts September 12, 2009. Programming will run during daytime and evening hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

***

Twitter: AshevilleFM

Facebook: AshevilleFM.org

Address: 373 Haywood Road, Suite 101, Asheville, NC 28806

Studio Phone: 828-423-0719

Programming: Greg Lyon, programming@ashevillefm.org

Press inquires: Kama Ward, kama@ashevillefm.org

Sponsorship and fundraising: Kama Ward, kama@ashevillefm.org

After all that beer drinkin' at one of their concerts, who wouldn't go home and puke?

By Blurt Staff

Call it a "video collage" - nearly every era of Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard tours (1994- present) alongside early GBV studio footage is featured in an upcoming GBV/Pollard DVD. Titled The Devil Went Home and Puked, it's due on Oct. 20 from Rockathon/MVD Visual. The 89-minute DVD was directed by Pollard himself and produced by longtime GBV associate Rich Turiel.

The live footage would be enough, chronicling as it does the legendary drunk-rock outfit's ascent from Ohio lo-fi avatars to national indie rock superstars. Also, The Devil Went Home and Puked will contain nine hard to find full length videos from GBV and Pollard-related projects, including such ditties as "Circle Saw Boys Club," "Winston's Atomic Bird," "I-Razors," "Get Me Extra," and more.

Band pulls a cred-enhancing (yeah, but for who?) Flaming Lips move this fall!

By Fred Mills

Don't be so quick to ROTFL, all you teen-soap junkies: with the announcement of Sonic Youth's impending appearance on Gossip Girl this fall, the CW network hit automatically ratchets up the hip quotient, much like the Flaming Lips gave Beverly Hills 90210 some serious street cred after they did an episode back in the ‘90s.

According to a report today at EW.com, SY will turn up in the fifth episode this coming season doing an acoustic version of "Starpower." While you're mulling over that little bit of a jaw-scraper, check out the BLURT cover story on the band that's in our latest issue.

"Sonic Youth is one of my favorite bands," GG showrunner Stephanie Savage is quoted as saying in the article. "Last year when I was doing my regular Gossip Girl google search, it came up in some blog about a Sonic Youth show that Thurston [Moore] was playing ‘Psychic Hearts' and Gossip Girl was playing on a screen in the background. And I was like, ‘Whaaaat? Oh my God. I hope they're not making fun of us! I hope it was a cool, edgy homage!' And it turned out that it was - tongue in cheek for sure, but definitely with love, and that they were fans of the show.

"We have a very special event coming in Episode 5 that we're filming right now and they seemed the ideal musical guest for it. It's a big event that involves [engaged adults] Rufus and Lily. Just draw your own conclusions."

Works for us. We've never watched a single episode of Gossip Girl or, for that matter, Beverly Hills 90210 - we're really more That Girl and Beverly Hillbillies buffs. And we have plenty of Sonic Youth records on the shelf to keep us in good stead, sonically. But, hey... BYOB!

Remastered edition will also come with a live concert from Feb. 1990.

By Blurt Staff

All you long-suffering Kurt Cobain acolytes can finally rest easy: on Nov. 3, Sub Pop will be reissuing Nirvana's debut Bleach as an expanded edition.

Marking the 20^th Anniversary of the album, the CD/double-LP will include a never-before-released live performance, special packaging and the first run of the double-LP will be on 180g white vinyl (the first run of the original LP was also on white vinyl).

Originally recorded over three sessions with producer Jack Endino at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording Studios in December 1988 and January 1989, Bleach was released in June of '89 and remains unequivocally/unsurprisingly Sub Pop's very favorite Nirvana full-length. The album initially sold 40,000 copies, but was brought into the international spotlight following the release and worldwide success of their 1991sophomore effort, Nevermind. Subsequently Bleach went on to sell 1.7 million copies in the US alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This 20^th Anniversary Edition has been re-mastered from the original tapes at Sterling Sound in a session overseen by producer Jack Endino.

This edition will include an unreleased live recording of a complete February 9^th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The show features performances of "Love Buzz," "About a Girl" and a cover of The Vaselines' song "Molly's Lips" and has been re-mixed from the original tapes by Endino (complete track listing below). A 48-page CD /16-page LP booklet which includes candid photos of the band not previously released to the public will also be included in this deluxe edition.

Bleach: Deluxe Edition

1. Blew

2. Floyd the Barber

3. About a Girl 

4. School              

5. Love Buzz

6. Paper Cuts

7. Negative Creep              

8. Scoff

9. Swap Meet      

10. Mr. Moustache              

11. Sifting 

12. Big Cheese

13. Downer

Live at Pine Street Theatre

1. Intro

2. School

3. Floyd the Barber

4. Dive

5. Love Buzz

6. Spank Thru

7. Molly's Lips

8. Sappy

9. Scoff

10. About a Girl

11. Been a Son

12. Blew

Second album just might be one of the mid-year's best so far...

By Fred Mills

Who out there remembers Human Drama? For aficionados of dark wave and goth rock of the mid/late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the New Orleans-formed/Los Angeles-based band was among the leading lights on that black-clothing-and-mascara scene. And the group always seemed to have a bit more class, its roots running deeper, than many of its contemporaries (not for nothing did Human Drama release its own personalized take on Bowie's covers collection Pinups). HD recorded for RCA, Triple X and Projekt, and although by about 1995 it was past its heyday (as was the whole dark wave milieu), frontman Johnny Indovina kept the group going until 2005.

(Human Drama, above; below, Sound Of the Blue Heart)

The following year Indovina resurfaced as Sound Of the Blue Heart, releasing the album ...Beauty? which, while clearly descended from his earlier group, seemed to bring an additional measure of subtlety and grace, to the fore. Just recently Sound Of the Blue Heart issued its sophomore platter, Wind of Change (Hollows Hill Sound Recordings), and it's an elegant, engaging, at times warmly psychedelic, others jauntily jazz, listen, with edgy, Spanish-flavored guitar patterns tussling with lush keyboard textures while Indovina unleashes his signature vocals - think David Sylvian, Bowie, Leonard Cohen and the Church's Steve Kilbey all rolled into one. Hold that thought - fans of The Church will find much on the album to dig. And there's a cut on there that'll have Wall-era Pink Floyd lovers pinching themselves, too.

The band features Indovina's old Human Drama pal Michael Mallory on bass, plus guitarists Gregg Burns and Tim Grove, keyboardist/backing vocalist Rebecca Bolam, and drummer Rob Cournoyer. Check ‘em out on the web:

www.soundoftheblueheart.com

www.myspace.com/soundoftheblueheart

Classic album adds a whopping 15 bonus tracks... check out that vintage video from 1969!

By Blurt Staff

Following the July 21 release of David Bowie's ‘Space Oddity (40^th Anniversary)' digital EP, Virgin/EMI will release an expanded 40^th Anniversary Special Edition of Bowie's classic 1969 Space Oddity album.  It's due Nov. 3.

To be available in a deluxe 2CD package and for digital download from all major digital service providers, the commemorative edition adds 15 tracks to the digitally remastered original album, including 8 previously unreleased demos, alternate mixes and a BBC Radio performance.  On the same date, the original album will also be reissued on limited edition 180-gram vinyl.

The backstory: First released on November 14, 1969, Space Oddity was originally titled Man Of Words/Man Of Music in the U.S. The album was re-titled Space Oddity when it was reissued in 1972, peaking at #16 on  Billboard's Albums chart. Produced by Tony Visconti (except for the title track, which was produced by the late Gus Dudgeon), the album was a giant leap forward in songwriting for Bowie. Also notable for its collaborators, including session players Herbie Flowers, Tim Renwick, Terry Cox and Rick Wakeman, the album delved into psychedelic folk-rock and Prog and became a benchmark album for the musical shape-shifter.

The 2CD 40^th Anniversary Special Edition of Space Oddity is packaged in a digipak with an extensive booklet featuring rare photographs, memorabilia, sleeve notes and a chronology by Kevin Cann.  Disc 1 features the original album, remastered from the original analog master tapes, and Disc 2 adds a whopping 15 bonus tracks, of which eight are previously unreleased, including two ultra-rare demos.

Complete Tracklisting:

Disc 1 (original album tracklist)

1. Space Oddity

2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed

3. Letter To Hermione

4. Cygnet Committee

5. Janine

6. An Occasional Dream

7. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud

8. God Knows I'm Good

9. Memory Of A Free Festival

CD 2 (bonus tracks)

1. Space Oddity (demo) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

One of the earliest known demos of "Space Oddity," recorded with John ‘Hutch' Hutchinson around January 1969, although exact details of its recording date are unknown. Previously unreleased and never bootlegged.

2. An Occasional Dream (demo) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Another demo recorded with John ‘Hutch' Hutchinson in March/April 1969 (exact details of its recording date are unknown). Previously unreleased and never bootlegged.

3. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (single B-side)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Rare alternate version featuring the Paul Buckmaster introduction recorded at Trident Studio in June 1969. Released as B-side to "Space Oddity" in July 1969.

4. Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show)

5. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

6. Janine (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show)

Tracks 4-6 produced by Paul Williams.  Engineered by Pete Ritzema. Recorded at Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, New Bond Street, London. Recorded for the D.L.T. (Dave Lee Travis) Show on October 20, 1969 and broadcast on October 26, 1969. "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" was the only recording from this session broadcast at the time, however it has remained unreleased commercially until now. While not broadcast at the time, both "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and "Janine" were previously released in 2000 on Virgin/EMI's Bowie At The Beeb collection.

7. London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo version)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Recorded at the same Trident Studio Session as "The Prettiest Star" in January 1970. Originally scheduled as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity,"  this stereo version was previously only available on Bowie's Sound & Vision 4CD box set. An earlier version was recorded on March 12, 1968 at Decca Studios as a possible single B-side.

8. The Prettiest Star (stereo version)

Produced by Tony Visconti. The original mono single version was recorded at Trident Studio in January and released in March 1970 on Mercury Records as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity." This stereo version was previously only available on David Bowie: The Best Of 1969/1974. The song itself was later re-recorded in 1973 for the Aladdin Sane album.

9. Conversation Piece (stereo version) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Produced by Tony Visconti.  A previously unreleased stereo mix of a track previously featured in mono on the B-side of "The Prettiest Star," released in March 1970.  Bowie re-recorded the song during 2000's Toy sessions, with that version seeing the light of day in 2002 on the bonus CD that came with initial copies of Heathen.

10. Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (single A-side)

11. Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2) (single B-side)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Parts 1 and 2 of this electric version were re-recorded from the album at Advision Studios in April 1970 and released as a single on Mercury Records in June 1970. Both parts of the single were previously available on the EMI/Ryko reissue of Space Oddity in 1990.

12. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (alternate album mix) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Produced by Tony Visconti, engineered by Ken Scott, Malcolm Toft, & Barry Sheffield.  A previously unreleased mix of the full band album version.

13. Memory Of A Free Festival (alternate album mix) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Produced by Tony Visconti.  Engineered by Ken Scott, Malcolm Toft and Barry Sheffield.

This previously unreleased mix of the album version clocks in more than two minutes longer than the original mix.

14. London Bye Ta-Ta (alternate stereo mix) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Produced by Tony Visconti. Recording details same as track 7.  Previously unreleased version.

15. Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (full-length stereo version) [PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]

Produced by Gus Dudgeon and Claudio Fabi. With an eye on the European market, this Italian version of "Space Oddity," translated as "Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl," was recorded at Morgan Studios on December 20, 1969 and released in Italy in 1970. The single version previously appeared on Rare LP in 1983, but this version is previously unreleased.

Exclusive look at the band's new Live At The Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, being released next week.

By Blurt Staff

Nettwerk is releasing the first live DVD from Nashville's Old Crow Medicine Show: titled Live At The Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, it was recorded in Asheville, NC, and Knoxville, Tenn., last December. The DVD arrives in stores on August 18.

We at BLURT are pleased to have a sneak preview for you right here! It's the track "Alabama High-Test" and hails from last year's acclaimed Tennessee Pusher.

The DVD, directed by Lee Tucker, includes 20 OCMS fan favorites, including the aforementioned track, radio (and World Café) mainstay "Wagon Wheel," "Tell It to me" and "Down Home Girl."

The roots/twang-grass band is currently on tour with The Felice Brothers, Dave Rawlings and Justin Townes Earle for the Big Surprise Tour, which has been hailed by sources as divers as the New York Times, the New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. The tour wraps tomorrow night in Tennessee but OCMS will continue to tour throughout the rest of the summer and well into the fall - tour dates at their MySpace page.

Legendary sideman, producer, songwriter, all-around-raconteur and sire of North Mississippi All Stars Luther & Cody passes away following heart surger. He was 67.

By Fred Mills

Music lovers all across the globe will be in mourning as this news gets out tonight and throughout the rest of the weekend. The word literally just arrived, so apologies for the haste with which we post this item  - while we prepare a proper tribute, please read our good friend Bob Mehr's obituary, posted today to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

UPDATE: Mehr's obit has been expanded, with photos added, at a new page.

***

By Bob Mehr, from the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Iconic Memphis musician and producer Jim Dickinson has died.

The 67 year-old Dickinson passed away early Saturday morning in his sleep, according to his wife Mary Lindsay Dickinson. Dickinson had been in ill health for the past few months, and was recuperating from heart surgery at Methodist Extended Care Hospital. "He went peacefully," said Mary Lindsay.

Just last weekend, a tribute concert, headlined by John Hiatt, had been held in Dickinson's honor at the Peabody Skyway, to help defray his medical costs.

A third generation piano player, Dickinson was born in Little Rock, Ark., but raised in Memphis. During the course of his colorful half-century career, Dickinson built a reputation as a session player for the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, a producer for Big Star and the Replacements, a sometime solo artist, and patriarch of a small musical dynasty that includes sons Cody and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.

Dickinson's health woes began following a high-profile performance with Elvis Costello at the Beale Street Music Festival in May. After a physical exam revealed serious cardiac issues, Dickinson was immediately sent into surgery where doctors at Methodist Le Bonheur Hospital in Germantown put in a pair of stents, then sent him home to rest up for bypass surgery.

Dickinson seemed in good health and spirits when The Commercial Appeal caught up with him at his Coldwater, Miss., home in late May, to talk about the release of his new album of classic pop standards, Dinosaurs Run in Circles.

However, just before he was to celebrate the CD release with a show at Huey's on May 31, he had to be rushed back to the hospital with complications. He remained there before finally undergoing triple bypass surgery on June 24. Two days later he went into cardiac arrest. He was revived and spent several weeks recuperating in a cardiac intensive care unit.

Late last month, Dickinson was relocated to a rehabilitation facility; family and friends and physicians had hoped for a slow but eventual recovery that did not come.

"He just never did really get a break," says Mary Lindsay. "He had so many different things go wrong with him. Every time he would work so hard to get better, something else would happen. It was a long drawn out experience the last few months."

Dickson's wife says her husband was in a good place mentally and spiritually at the end. "He had a great life, and he was a consummate family man. He loved music and his family. And he loved Memphis music, specifically."

The family says there are no immediate plans for a memorial.

Jazz drumming giant worked with Coltrane, Cherry, Ayler, Sanders and others.

By Fred Mills

The jazz world lost yet another link to its revolutionary years this week. Drummer Rashied Ali (born Robert Patterson) passed away Wednesday in New York at the age of 76. According to a report filed by the New York Times, his wife, Patricia Ali, indicated it was due to a heart attack.

Anyone ever touched by John Coltrane's latterday free jazz excursions can't help but know Ali's astonishing polythmic - he had been called "multi-rhythmic" - flights in the mid ‘60s. In particular, 1967's Interstellar Space stands out; the Times piece calls it "one of the purest expressions of the free jazz movement." In addition to Coltrane, Ali played with many other greats including Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, James Blood Ulmer and Bill Laswell, effectively influencing several generations' worth of fans and peers.

The Philadelphia native remained active until his death, most recently fronting the Rashied Ali Quintet. He also operated a jazz club called Ali's Alley in New York in the ‘70s.

We loves us some Willy Vlautin ‘round these here Blurt parts...

By Blurt Staff

Richmond Fontaine have signed to the Arena Rock Recording Company and are set to release their eighth album, We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River, October 13^th.  The 14-track album was produced by JD Foster (Dwight Yoakam, Calexico) and engineered by Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney) at Crane's celebrated Jackpot Studios in the band's hometown of Portland, OR.

A long-time critics' favorite, the band have been consistently showered with overwhelming praise throughout the years, specifically in the UK.  The Independent  stated that singer/songwriter Willy Vlautin was "nothing less than the Dylan of the dislocated," while UNCUT Magazine exclaimed that 2007's Thirteen Cities was "mind blowing...absolute perfection" and 2004's Post to Wire was "without a doubt, the best album of the decade."  With We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River, the band is reaching beyond the "Kings of Americana" tag given by the magazine in 2005 and finds the band at their peak both artistically and commercially.  Their sound has continued its decade-long evolution and is now fully realized, delivering their most interesting and accomplished musical performances to date.  UNCUT recently validated this with a perfect 5 out of 5 star review of the new album, describing it as "raw, autobiographical brilliance," while Q magazine mirrored the acclaim with a 4 out of 5 star rating. 

The birth of We Used To Think... began at the tail end of a year-long tour in 2007 supporting the band's Thirteen Cities album.  Two days before he was scheduled to return home, Vlautin's mother suddenly passed away, prompting the road-weary band to take a year's sabbatical.  After two months holed up at his home in rural Oregon and deep into an inspired writing streak, Vlautin was bucked off his horse and forced to spend months nursing a badly broken arm.  After finally being able to get back to writing, Vlautin emerged a year later with a new novel, Lean on Pete (to be released in 2010 via Harper Perennial) and twenty songs about love, heartache and loss that were paired down for the final record.  

In addition to being the songwriter and front man of Richmond Fontaine, Willy Vlautin is a critically-acclaimed novelist.  He is the author of The Motel Life (2006) and Northline (2008 - reviewed HERE by Blurt), both published by Harper Perennial in the US and Faber & Faber in the UK.  Movie rights to both novels have been optioned with Oscar-nominated screenwriter and award-winning director Courtney Hunt (Frozen River) slated to adapt and direct Northline. 

The core of the band remains Willy Vlautin (vocals, guitars), Sean Oldham (drums, vocals), Dave Harding (bass), and Dan Eccles (guitars).  For the recording sessions, the band also brought in family members and friends Collin Oldham (cello, cellomobo), Paul Brainard (pedal steel, trumpet), and Ralph Huntley (piano). 

Track Listing:

1. We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River

2. Northwest

3. You Can Move Back Here

4. The Boyfriends

5. The Pull

6. Sitting Outside My Dad's Old House

7. Maybe We Were Both Born Blue

8. Watch Out

9. 43

10. Lonnie

11. Ruby and Lou

12. Walking Back To Our Place at 3am

13. Two Alone

14. A Letter To The Patron Saint of Nurses

Willie Nelson- and Billy Gibbons-approved, at that...

By Blurt Staff

Gov't Mule new record By A Thread is set for an October 27th release through Evil Teen Records. Their first studio album in three years, 'By A Thread' finds the Mule, lead guitarist and frontman Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, keyboardist Danny Louis, and bassist Jorgen Carlsson, adding a newfound shot of soul to their classic power-band sound. The band is currently on short break between legs of a worldwide tour, which will resume September 9th in Salt Lake City. A full list of dates is below.

'By A Thread' was recorded largely in the Texas Hill Country at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio in 2009. The album's origins are apparent from the first track, "Broke Down On The Brazos," named after the nearby river, with a deep Texas stomp for the backbeat and featuring what Rolling Stone recently called "an incendiary duel with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons." Perhaps less descriptively named, "Steppin' Lightly" is another burner, set off by the soulful vocals and guitar work of Haynes - recently voted, incidentally, Best Rock Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's 2009 Reader's Poll.

Tour Dates:

Sep 9 2009 The Depot Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 10 2009 Gallatin County Fairgrounds Bozeman, Montana
Sep 11 2009 The Showbox SoDo Seattle, Washington
Sep 12 2009 Britt Pavilion Jacksonville, Oregon
Sep 13 2009 Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Sep 14 2009 Van Duzer Theatre Arcata, California
Sep 17 2009 Hawkins Amphitheatre Reno, Nevada
Sep 18 2009 House of Blues San Diego, California
Sep 19 2009 Fox Theatre Bakersfield, California
Sep 20 2009 House of Blues Anaheim, California
Sep 23 2009 Club Nokia Los Angeles, California
Sep 24 2009 Majestic Ventura Theatre Ventura, California
Sep 25 2009 The Warfield San Francisco, California
Sep 26 2009 The Warfield San Francisco, California
Oct 31 2009 Tower Theatre Philadelphia, PA

Blag the Ripper and HeWhoCanNotBeNamed get immortalized. No comment yet from Sub Pop about re-signing the band, though...

By Fred Mills

We warned you it would happen - the Dwarves bobble/throbblehead thing, that is. In the latest issue of BLURT we gave you the poop (term used figuratively) on that awesome GG Allin throbblehead and its companion, the mighty Tesco Vee of the Meatmen. And sure enough, the Dwarves deal is now a done, uh, deal too.

Here's the scoop: Aggronautix is releasing a limited-edition figure of punk rock legends the Dwarves (1000 numbered). This unique double "Throbblehead" figure stands at 5 1/2 inches tall, is made of a lightweight polyresin, and will be displayed in a tri-windowed box. Here Blag the Ripper and HeWhoCanNotBeNamed are portrayed dominating the stage and are accurately sculpted right down to the lucha libre mask, bondage wear, and skull boner buckle. It will be distributed by MVD Entertainment. And DKE Toys.

The Dwarves' Blag Dahlia weighed in on the matter, saying, "Me and HeWhoCanNotBeNamed are the best looking men in show business. It was only fitting that we be immortalized in space age polymer to frighten parents and tittilate teenage girls everywhere!"

And not to make this anything less than a BIG done deal, a "Dwarves PSA" animated short has been created by Postage, Inc. for Aggronautix. You can view it below. Executive Producer Allen Clements observed, "This project was kind of a throwback. Coming from a traditional mindset, we had to develop new techniques to deliver an old style... Something reminiscent of 80s / 90s Saturday morning cartoons. We immediately thought of the GI Joe PSAs at the end of each program, and teaching right from wrong from the wise words of a hero. How many punk rock kids have heroes? Who are they?"

Well, although the Stranglers famously proposed back during punk's Ground Zero days that there are no more heroes, everybody needs a Dwarf, or some Dwarves, they can look up at. Have a drink on us, kids!

Live album will make all the other boats rise...

By Blurt Staff

The Squirrel Nut Zippers today announced an October 27 release date for new album Lost At Sea (Southern Broadcasting), the North Carolina band's first new release in nine years and their first ever live album as well.

Recorded live at Southpaw, in Brooklyn NY, the Squirrel Nut Zippers performed many of their greatest hits and strongest material for a standing room only audience.  "Danny Diamond," "Put A Lid On It," "Bad Businessman," "Blue Angel," and many other Zippers faves.

As the label puts it, "The title of the new release is very appropriate considering the bands unfortunate departure from public life in 2002 when the Disney cruise ship they were performing aboard hit a massive island of trash and was rendered unseaworthy. The Squirrel Nut Zippers were forced into a dingy which was quickly swept away by ocean currents and deposited on a remote and uninhabited island.  Surviving on coconuts and monkey scat they managed to stave off death until a location scout for the television reality show "Survivor" stumbled upon them and brought them back to the United States."

Ah, so THAT's what happened. Well, most Zippers fans know the alternate story of the band's rise, fall, demise, and return - plenty of personal intrigue, legal goings-on, and just plain unpleasantness. Bottom line, though, they remain a bit of a Tarheel institution, and a whale of a live act, to.  The band returned to the road in 2007 with the core of their original line up intact: Jim "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (drums, percussion), Je Widenhouse (Trumpet) and Stuart Cole (Bass).

"The crowds we've had at these shows since coming back have been nothing short of fantastic," Phillips commented.  "It's been great to reconnect with our old fans and meet all of the ones who didn't catch us the first time around.  It's truly been a heartwarming experience. Honestly, the band is getting along better than we ever did in the past and I believe the desire is there to try recording a new album for release in 2010."

Track Listing:

Memphis Exorcism  

Good Enough For Grandad 

It Ain't You 

Prince Nez

Put A Lid On It 

Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter 

Danny Diamond 

Suits Are picking Up The Bill 

My Drag 

Happens All The Time 

Bad Businessman 

Hell 

Ghost Of Stephen Foster 

You Are My Radio 

Blue Angel 

Do What 

Missing Link Parade

[Photo Credit: Joshua Weinfeld]

How to control orgasms, win friends, influence people, etc.

By Blurt Staff

Maybe it's the lousy economy, or maybe it's just that late-summer's itch we been feelin' lately. But we're thinking a career change may be in order, which is why today's batch of spam at BLURT central was so welcome. Seriously, this is what comes in the email. Is this a sign, or, like, what?(Of course, our recent feature on adult film star Sasha Grey has certainly raised BLURT's profile in the porn biz...)

Guarantee: all dialogue (email text, that is) repeated verbatim.

***

FROM VIVID ENTERTAINMENT:

Are you young,old ,mother father,grandma or grandpa and you want to make easy and quick money in a whole new career.Here is the chance you are waiting for.

Many individuals, both female and male, fantasize about becoming a porn star, or somehow finding a way to get into the Porn Industry. Some folks want to be in front of the camera as actual porn stars, while some just want to be involved with porn productions and become an insider.

There is a production we are about to shoot and we are in need of capable men and women who would like to be part of this porn production. We are conducting auditioning and we advice intrested candidates to contact Derk Warran at vividentertainment@dr.com .

For lucky individuals hierd there are provission of  transportation,acommodation and feeding during the production proper.Payment are made by scenes.

As you cantact us we will furnish you with more detail.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR WOMEN:

Facial appeal, breast size (shape and overall appearance), vaginal appearance, body (tone, body fat, skin tone), hygiene (pubically groomed, long hair on head is preferable, nicely done nails, good natural beauty with or without make-up) and finally your acting ability

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MEN:

Penis size, looks, muscles, and acting ability are important but again, it will ultimately boil down to your ability to get an almost-instant erection, maintain it, control it, and orgasm only when told to (and then do it quickly without wasting the time of the production employees). Be prepared to have perfect personal hygiene, get HIV tests every month, and be prepared to sit around on sets, sometimes for hours, waiting for your scene to be filmed

CONSIDERATIONS FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN :

1)Before you take a jab at  this  career Consider that once these pictures have been made your images are out there for the world to see. If you change your mind, you cannot have the images removed by producers because most of the rights are sold to other organizations and companies.

2)Take pride in your personal appearance and attitude. Keep your body toned and clean. Get your hair done--this includes men. Do not rely on being the new person or face. Show yourself to be reliable and professional.

3)Make sure that you obtain a health record which indicates your HIV status and sexually transmitted disease status. Most producers want these to be less than 30 days old. Tests are very inexpensive and may even be free.

4)Be proud of your acting performance and work on improving by learning from other actors. Try to add a special touch to your performance to help stand out from all of the other performers.

5)Remember that the director, writer and producer hired you for their project. Although some producers may ask for some creative input, you need to be respectful to your coworkers and follow instructions

"These Are My Twisted Words" offered as a free download by the band.

By Fred Mills

The blogosphere lit up like crazy this morning when news hit that a new Radiohead song, "These Are My Twisted Words," had been released - not leaked - by the band. And it's FREE. In a posting to Radiohead's website, Jonny Greenwood explained:

So here's a new song, called 'These Are My Twisted Words'.

We've been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished.
We're pretty proud of it.

There's other stuff in various states of completion, but this is one we've been practicing, and which we'll probably play at this summer's concerts. Hope you like it.

Download the audio here or torrent here.

Simple as that - click, and win. Now THAT is civilized. Good stuff, too. Check it out, fans.

Beastie Boys-approved (though -cancelled, due to illness) 2-day blowout includes Peas, M.I.A., T. Corp, Calexico, M. Modest, Dead Weather and more. What, you'd pass this up to go to the beach? No way!

By Blurt Staff

One of the nation's longest running music festivals, San Diego's Street Scene, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29^th.

The Black Eyed Peas, M.I.A. (pictured, above), Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, Shooter Jennings, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Conor Oberst are among the more than 35 acts that will bring the streets of downtown San Diego's East Village neighborhood alive with music and entertainment from 4:00 PM to midnight daily.  The Beastie Boys had been scheduled to headline the event, but were forced to cancel due to Adam Yauch recent illness. 

The complete 2009 STREET SCENE line-up is as follows: Black Eyed Peas, M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, The Dead Weather, Cake, Silversun Pickups, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Band of Horses, Girl Talk, Chromeo, Mastodon, Ozomatli, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Devendra Banhart, Bassnectar, Shooter Jennings, No Age, Calexico, West Indian Girl, Ra Ra Riot, Deerhunter, Donald Glaude, Matt and Kim, Los Campesinos, Grand Ole Party, LA Riots, Anya Marina, Holy F**k, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Blue Scholars, Crocodiles, Wavves, Zee Avi, Extra Golden, and Carney.

A limited number of 2 day tickets are still available for $122. For up-to-the-minute updates, hotel information, transportation, parking and other facts, please visit www.street-scene.com.

Watch BLURT for a full in-, out, and in-betweens report from the event...

Shameless plug time here... but it is for a good cause. See official press release, below. How does Thievery Corporation, Built To Spill, O.A.R. and Santigold sound to you?

By Blurt Staff

(RED) and Live Nation today announce new dates for (RED)NIGHTS, an innovative series of 26 concerts in the U.S. to generate money and awareness for the ultimate goal of eliminating AIDS in Africa. The new set of shows will feature concerts by (RED)NIGHTS artists Built to Spill, Thievery Corporation, Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, Joshua Radin and Sondre Lerche at venues such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Paradise in Boston and the House of Blues in Chicago.

The new (RED)NIGHTS dates follow a successful first round of concerts, which earned attention in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, NME, Time Out New York and the Dallas Morning News. For the first set of shows, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Gomez, Santigold, O.A.R., Lisa Hannigan, The Veronicas, Matisyahu and K'Naan each turned one of their concerts (RED) to bring the (RED) experience to life in a new way. At each of these shows, (RED)NIGHTS and the community of acclaimed  artists aimed to inspire fans to participate in (RED)'s mission to eliminate AIDS in Africa by pausing to highlight the many ways to get involved and encouraging those in the audience to share the message and experience with others.

"I believe no person deserves to suffer from a preventable, treatable disease simply because they can't afford medicine," said Marc Roberge of O.A.R. "If bringing awareness to what (RED) is doing helps one person receive antiretroviral treatment and live a healthy life, we have accomplished our goal."

Ultimately, it is the goal of (RED)NIGHTS to build a community-of artists, concertgoers and music fans everywhere-that is passionate about helping to fight AIDS in Africa. A portion of the proceeds of each (RED)NIGHTS concert goes directly to the Global Fund (theglobalfund.org http://theglobalfund.org ).

(RED) presents the (RED)NIGHTS concert series kicked off  at select Live Nation clubs and theaters across the country earlier this year. (RED) and Live Nation are collaborating to link acclaimed artists with their fans to join the fight against AIDS in Africa. Information about the scheduled (RED)NIGHTS concerts can be found at http://www.livenation.com and http://www.joinred.com/rednights

"(RED) was looking to engage more people in its mission, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. The (RED)NIGHTS series is an innovative concept that combines the power of Live Nation's live music platform and venues to use people's passion for music to raise awareness and, ultimately, generate more money to help eliminate AIDS in Africa." said Russell Wallach, President of North American Alliances for Live Nation. "We're building a great line up of artists for (RED)NIGHTS, and believe we can help (RED) successfully deliver its message by connecting them with music fans all over the country."

"(RED)NIGHTS is one more way for people to become (RED) and support our efforts to eliminate AIDS in Africa," says Jenifer Willig, Director of Partners and Marketing at (RED). "We're so honored to have incredible artists turning their shows (RED) and look forward to bringing (RED)NIGHTS to fans across the country."

(RED)NIGHTS arrives on the heels of (RED)WIRE http://www.redwire.com, the innovative new digital music service from (RED). The (RED)NIGHTS artists join an impressive community of (RED) artists who are participating in (RED)WIRE, including U2, Coldplay, The Killers, Jay-Z, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Noel Gallagher, Conor Oberst, TV On The Radio, Death Cab For Cutie, Michael Franti and many more. (RED)NIGHTS and (RED)WIRE mark the first time (RED) has moved into the music arena and are a mutual extension of (RED)'s mission, whereby the music community is coming together as a vehicle to raise awareness and funds to help fight AIDS in Africa.

(RED)NIGHTS CONFIRMED CONCERTS

June 12            The Veronicas @ House of Blues            New Orleans, LA

June 16            Matisyahu w/ K'Naan @ The Wiltern            Los Angeles, CA

June 18            Santigold @ House of Blues            Dallas, TX

June 19            Lisa Hannigan @ Gramercy Theater            New York, NY

July 28            Katy Perry @ Hammerstein Ballroom            New York, NY

August 2            Gomez @ House of Blues            San Diego, CA

August 13 & 14            O.A.R. @ Bank of America Pavilion            Boston, MA

August 19            Fall Out Boy @ The Pageant            St. Louis, MO

September 12            Ingrid Michaelson @ The Paradise            Boston, MA

September 13            Sondre Lerche @ The Paradise            Boston, MA

September 24            Joshua Radin @ House of Blues            Chicago, IL

September 25            Brandi Carlile @ House of Blues            Chicago, IL

October 3            Ingrid Michaelson @ House of Blues            San Diego, CA

October 4            Thievery Corporation @ House of Blues            Dallas, TX

October 9            Thievery Corporation @ The Fillmore            Miami, FL

Oct. 31 & Nov. 1            Built to Spill @ The Fillmore            San Francisco, CA

Guaranteed to make you reach for your battered VHS copy of Yellow Submarine!

By Blurt Staff

About a month ago we filled you in on the forthcoming Gong album, 2032, due on Sept. 21. Now  the celebrated psychedelic band have today announced the world premiere of their brand new Japanese animated video "How To Stay Alive." View it, below.

The video is a wonderful manga animation of Daevid Allen's drawings undertaken by the cutting edge Japanese Tokyo-based animation team "Mood Magic", who were responsible for System 7's  "Hinotori" video (2008).   In line with the "2032" album, the video pushes all the classic Gong buttons and mixes them with bang up to date sounds and video techniques. 

The track features a rap by Daevid Allen based around the characters of the illustrious Planet Gong mythology, which lent itself well to an animation of the drawings - and also features a beautiful solo at the end by original Gong member Didier Malherbe on the sax-like Armenian instrument the duduk.

Gong embarks on a nationwide UK tour in November, with the Steve Hillage Band confirmed as support act on all UK dates.

Late founder of the seminal Memphis pop band gets the two-CD deluxe treatment in September.

By Fred Mills

Back in May we were talking about that upcoming Big Star boxed set, the 4-CD Keep an Eye on the Sky, due Sept. 15 from Rhino. At the same time we'd been tipped by a source at the label that Rhino Handmade would also be doing a Deluxe Edition reissue of the late Chris Bell's I Am The Cosmos.

Now comes official word from Handmade about the Bell released - now, on Sept. 28 -and as promised it's to be a rarities/outtakes-stuffed two-disc affair that vastly expands upon the original '92 Ryko release. According to Handmade, in addition to remastering the Ryko version, the set is to include a second CD containing "15 tracks previously unreleased. Among the wealth of unissued recordings are eight alternate versions and mixes of album tracks, including ‘You And Your Sister' with Mellotron in place of the original's string arrangement, and a later version of ‘Get Away' featuring Big Star's Alex Chilton on guitar, Ken Woodley on bass and Richard Rosebrough on drums.

‘The collection also gathers up a number of unreleased songs Bell recorded that did not appear on I Am The Cosmos, including two songs by Icewater (a precursor to Big Star); collaborations with Memphis songwriter Keith Sykes (‘Stay With Me') and singer Nancy Bryan (‘In My Darkest Hour'); and ‘Clacton Rag,' an instrumental recorded in 1976 that features Bell solo on guitar."

Cosmos will be a limited/numbered edition, as are most Handmade titles. As a bonus, the first 1,000 orders will receive a free 7" single of "I Am The Cosmos" b/w "You And Your Sister."

You can read more about the collection at the official Handmade page and hear song snippets. Here's the tracklisting:

CD1:

01 I Am the Cosmos
02 Better Save Yourself
03 Speed of Sound
04 Get Away
05 You and Your Sister
06 I Got Kinda Lost
07 Look Up
08 Make a Scene
09 There Was a Light
10 I Don't Know
11 Fight at the Table
12 Though I Know She Lies

CD2:

01 Icewater: "Looking Forward" *
02 Icewater: "Sunshine" *
03 Rock City: "My Life Is Right"
04 I Don't Know (Alternate Version) *
05 You and Your Sister (Alternate Version) *
06 I Am the Cosmos (Extended Alternate Version) *
07 Speed of Sound (Alternate Version) *
08 Fight at the Table (Alternate Mix) *
09 Make a Scene (Alternate Mix) *
10 Better Save Yourself (Alternate Mix) *
11 Get Away (Alternate Version) *
12 You and Your Sister (Acoustic Version)
13 Stay With Me [ft. Keith Sykes] *
14 In My Darkest Hour [ft. Nancy Bryan] *
15 Clacton Rag (Instrumental) *

* previously unreleased

Blitzen Trapper is streaming their forthcoming EP entitled Black River Killer a week before it's due out. It's streaming now at
http://www.lala.com/#album/360569445171208206

For the upcoming version of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze tapped the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to act as composer-a first as far we know. Going under the moniker Karen O and the Kids, it's a soundtrack we're looking forward to as much as Jonze much-talked about screen adaption.

According to the virgin composer, "I didn't want to make music that was hammering you over the head or go for some kind of pushbutton emotion....[what] I wanted to do was close to Cat Stevens in Harold & Maude, really simple, but memorably and seamlessly woven into the movie.

Joining O in the studio were Tristan Bechet (Services), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion, Alaska), Nick Zinner, (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and an untrained children's choir.
 
Look for the movie in theatres October 16, while the soundtrack will be released on September 29.

With her first full-length album in over eight years, Through the Devil Softly (to be released September 29), frotnwoman Hope Sandoval is about to hit the road in as many years. It's her second album with Warm Inventions partner (and My Bloody Valentine member) Colm O'Ciosoig. From what we've heard of the album so far, it's shouldn't disappoint any longtime fans, with plenty of gauzy, slow psych-bruising numbers. Though not known for her um, stage presence (Mazzy Star were a painful live experience), Sandoval is worth seeing in an intimate club setting where her hypnotic vocals are best appreciated.

Have you heard the first single off of Through the Devil Softly?

Check out Hope on tour:

Mon, Sept 21            Portland, OR @ The Doug Fir
Tue, Sept 22            Vancouver, BC @ The Red Room
Wed, Sept 23            Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Fri, Sept 25            Arcata, CA @ The Arcata Theatre Lounge
Sat, Sept 26            San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Tue, Sept 29            Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Thur, Oct 1            Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theatre
Sun, Oct 4            Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theatre
Mon, Oct 5            Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Wed, Oct 7            Toronto, ON @ The Mod
Sat, Oct 10            Williamsburg, NY @ The Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Mon, Oct 12            New York, NY @ The Bowery
Wed, Oct 14            Washington, DC @ The Sixth and I
Fri, Oct 16            Atlanta, GA @ The Loft

Beautiful, gripping, and much more.

By Blurt Staff

Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience are back after four years with their third studio album, Declaration of Dependence set for release on October 20 via Astralwerks.

Declaration of Dependence,is a wonderful record for a lot of reasons. For one, Eirik Bøe is equally comfortable talking about the record's "serious ideas" and laughing about its'  "hi-brow Bossa Nova" moments while his partner Erlend Øye is clearly thrilled by making, "the most rhythmical pop record ever that features no percussion or drums." For another, there is no one who makes records like they do. "When we started out we were afraid of sounding like other artists," Erlend says. "But now we feel pretty much alone." But the most striking thing about this album is how powerfully it reminds you that making music together is not a game, it's not something to be undertaken lightly, this record is part of a much larger picture, a long and involved relationship that has had its good and bad times.

As beautiful as you would expect - and songs like "Second to Numb", "Rule My World" and "24-25" are as perfectly realized as anything they've ever written - Declaration of Dependence also marks the beginning of a new era for the duo. The record began to take shape in February 2007 when they met up on the same beach in Mexico that is pictured on the album's cover. The pair came together to play a concert in the city the following month, the first time they had appeared together in more than two years. They shared a feeling that there was another record to be made. "Really," says Eirik "We had no choice."

Declaration of Dependence is the story of two people living two very different lives sensing that they are immensely more powerful together than apart. In that sense it is the most adult, the most mature record Kings of Convenience have ever made. That it is their most gripping, their most revealing is, if anything, just a by-product of that honesty and their endeavor.

Bon Iver announced today will perform live on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 among the dozens of graves (including screen legends like Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Jayne Mansfield) at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
 
The gates will open at midnight on Saturday night with the performance to begin at the ungodly hour of 6am on Sunday (is that too early for a mojito?). Tickets are $25 and include a coffee and pastry breakfast.
 
Limited tickets are available starting Thursday Aug 20th at noon here.
 
There will be limited parking on site with additional parking at Paramount Studios (801 N. Gower Street -north of Melrose).
 

R.E.M. will release a brand-new double live album, entitled R.E.M. Live At The Olympia on October 27th, 2009 on Warner Bros. Records. The two-CD set, produced by Jacknife Lee, features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band's "working rehearsals" at Dublin's Olympia club during which the band tried out new songs for their 2008 studio album Accelerate.
 
The double live album will also include a number of catalog hits from Life's Rich Pageant and others. 

Live At The Olympia will be released in several configurations including a standard double CD, featuring 39 tracks and liner notes by author and music critic Andy Gill, as well as a CD + DVD, which includes concert and backstage footage shot by noted French filmmakers Vincent Moon and Jeremiah.

Fans will be able to purchase Live At The Olympia digitally from all online service providers beginning October 27th.
 
The track-listing for R.E.M. Live At The Olympia is as follows:
 
Disc 1:
Living Well Is The Best Revenge / Second Guessing / Letter Never Sent / Staring Down The Barrel of the Middle Distance / Disturbance At The Heron House / Mr. Richards / New Test Leper / Cuyahoga / Electrolite / Man-Sized Wreath /  So. Central Rain / On The Fly / Maps And Legends / Sitting Still / Driver 8 / Horse To Water / I'm Gonna DJ / Circus Envy / These Days
 
Disc 2:
Drive / Feeling Gravity's Pull / Until The Day Is Done / Accelerate / Auctioneer / Little America / 1,000 / Disguised / Worst Joke Ever / Welcome To the Occupation / Carnival of Sorts / Harbor Coat / Wolves Lower / I've Been High / Kohoutek / West of the Fields / Pretty Persuasion / Romance / Gardening At Night

Apparently Johnston's latest opus Is And Always Was is a departure from the lo-fi homemade recordings for which he's most notorious for.  According  to Daniel, "Everyone needs to take their demos and go back to the studio."

And with the pairing of producer Jason Falkner, it appears that this album will be as far from lo-fi as you can get, considering Faulkner's production credits include Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney. Falkner says of Daniel Johnston. "It was challenging to make our minds work together but I really found myself immersed in his musical world. It's a unique place to live, that's for sure!"

Johnston's unique guitar/piano and vocal melodies are backed by Falkner on guitar, bass, and keyboards with help from studio veteran Joey Waronker (REM, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins) on drums. 

And now for this latest bit of Johnston news: you can now buy an iPhone game that features his art characters and music. Yip-eee!

Daniel Johnston is currently on a North American and European tour that will go through the end of the year.

Is And Always Was is scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release on Daniel's own Eternal Yip Eye Music imprint.


DANIEL JOHNSTON ON TOUR:

09/03/09 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/04/09 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09/05/09 - Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
09/07/09 - Calgary, AB @ Knox United Church
09/08/09 - Edmonton, AB @ Meyer Horowitz Theatre
10/02/09 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/13/09 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/14/09 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/15/09 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10/16/09 - Montreal, PQ @ UK Fed
10/17/09 - Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
10/22/09 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
10/23/09 - San Diego, CA @ Caines
10/24/09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre

Is And Always Was Track Listing:

Mind Movies
Fake Records Of Rock And Roll
Queenie The Doggie
High Horse
Without You
I Had Lost My Mind
Freedom
Tears
Is And Always Was
Lost In My Infinite Memory
Light Of Day

[Ang Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, hits theaters nationwide this week. Herein we offer you an advance opinion, BLURT-style. See the official trailer, below. No spoiler alerts necessary, however - everybody knows what went down at the 1969 rock festival anyway! - Ed.]

BY JONAH FLICKER

Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Hulk, The Ice Storm), is disappointing on many levels. Granted, I wasn't even born until almost a decade after the famed three days of peace, love, and music took place. But I never thought I missed anything; mud, hippies, and jam bands are just not my cup of tea. Lee's whimsical recreation of the events leading up to the festival, however, would have me believe otherwise. It might have worked, too, except for a storyline that feels trite and piecemeal, and some sub-par acting jobs from the film's principals.

 (Jonathan Groff, Demetri Martin)

Comedian Demetri Martin, known to many for his Trendspotting segments on The Daily Show, plays the lead, the semi-closeted, soft-spoken, go-getter Elliot. He has returned home to his overbearing parents' failing motel in the Catskills, when he discovers that the planners of the Woodstock festival are looking for a new venue. After meeting with the annoyingly laid back Michael (Jonathan Groff), Elliot maneuvers the festival onto a neighbor's farm (the always amusing Eugene Levy), much to the town's chagrin. From there, the story details Elliot's trials and travails and sexual awakening, all against the backdrop of the planning and execution of Woodstock. The film doesn't really focus on the festival itself -director Lee never set out to make a concert film - instead detailing the planning of the event and the personal lives of its key players.

 (Eugene Levy, Demetri Martin)

There are some good performances peppered throughout the film. Liev Schreiber plays a burly transvestite with a little bit of camp and a lot of heart, and Elliot's parents, Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman, tackle their assimilated Jewish immigrant characters with vigor and zest. But the missteps are glaring. Emile Hirsch has a hard time grasping the nuances of his character, the recently-returned Vietnam vet, Billy, using wild eyes as his main prop. But the worst offender, unfortunately, is Martin. His monotone and cloying innocence blend very poorly with an attempt at acting and emoting. His performance is certainly not the worst you will see this year, but he has no business playing a lead role.

 (Kelli Gardner, Paul Dano, Demetri Martin)

Taking Woodstock may appeal more to those who experienced the festival firsthand and are pining for a sentimental, nostalgic trip to the past. And that's really what the film is, a saccharine revisit to a lionized moment in history. Others, however, may not be as impressed - I overheard a middle-aged woman leaving the screening complaining that she wasn't sure which was represented as more middlebrow, Woodstock itself or being gay.

To be the first-ever festival webcast on the YouTube site. Dig those trademarks!

By Blurt Staff


Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Productions and Starr Hill Presents, in a partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department, today announced that YouTube^TM will stream live the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival to viewers in the US. The live webcast will be featured on youtube.com/outsidelands beginning Friday, August 28th - Sunday, August 30th. The festival coverage will include performances from Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Thievery Corporation, The Dead Weather, Silversun Pickups, Raphael Saadiq, Cage the Elephant, Atmosphere, among others.


The tradition of marrying music and technology continues to be a foundation of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. "We are proud to feature Outside Lands as the first-ever live streamed festival on such a powerful and recognizable platform as YouTube," said Richard Goodstone of Superfly Productions. Created by Superfly Marketing Group in partnership with YouTube and The T-Mobile® myTouch^TM 3G, the webcast will mark the first time YouTube has streamed a major event live on its website.


"Music and many of the artists performing at Outside Lands have always found a home and audience on YouTube," said Ross Hoffman of YouTube Strategic Partnerships.  "We're thrilled to bring this incredible live music festival to everyone in our community who won't be there in-person to experience the show". In addition to live streaming directly from the festival, fans will be able to access an archive of selected performances and highlights on Youtube's Outside Lands channel.

South Carolina songwriter offers full album of ace tracks absolutely free.

By Fred Mills

Without a doubt, one of our favorite singer-songwriters to come down the pike of late is Greenville, SC (by way of Brooklyn, NY) rocker Aaron Berg. That we like him personally as a solid human being doesn't hurt, either. Over the past year or so he's been handing out sundry digital servings of his Love & Coffee Tapes - prior to that came his 2007 EP Songs For Madame X, billed to Aaron Berg & the Heavy Love - and to say that he's a gifted multiinstrumentalist and tunesmith would be an understatement akin to saying that the late Ted Kennedy was a U.S. Senator.

He's got a little Dylan in him, maybe a little Tom Waits  and Tom Petty too, with a deep, resonant voice that'll click with all the Leonard Cohen and Chuck Prophet fans out there - ladies, were are talkin' deep ‘n' sexy - plus a lyrical outlook that probes the grey edges of life while somehow reasons (as Springsteen or Hardin might put it) to believe. He's playing the blues, in essence, but they're distinctly postmodern blues.

So to convince you, the discerning-but-harried music consuming public that he's the real deal, Berg is offering the compiled L&CT into one big digital download, gratis. (Yes, it is FREE of charge, but don't be afraid to use the tip jar, if you're inclined to go by the Radiohead model of pay-what-you-like.) Here's the link:

Download 'Love & Coffee Tapes' FREE 14 Song Bootleg EP

According to Berg, "Love & Coffee is my collected bootlegs, demos, rap remixes, and live road tapes. These songs were written in a thousand different places and recorded in garden sheds and motel rooms, on coffee tables and live on stage.  These are frozen accidents of sound drawn together as some kind of record.  Most of these songs were either written or recorded while traveling to California and back. No attempt was made to obscure the creaking chairs, ambient summer garden crickets, open window rain above folk rap freestyle, hazy century old upright pianos...who knows..."

He played most of the parts himself, with a few assists here and there by Mike Bagwell, John Byce and Ira Rosoff.

Tracklisting:

1* The Wheel  (4:10)
2* Electric Mike's Coffee Table Acid Demo No. 1  (5:49)
3* Madonna Of The Evening Rose  (6:25)
4* Fellowman Blues  (3:06)
5* Honey For You  (5:08)
6* Where The River Meets The Sea  (4:18)
7* The Darkness  (5:57)
8* Until I See Her Again (2:35)
9* House Of Light  (3:26)
10* Darkest Before The Dawn  (3:39)
11* Behind Closed Doors  (4:58)
12* The Blue Room  (4:57)
13* Chains  (3:47)
14* Freestyle demo of 'Bluest of Blue'  (7:36)

Berg additionally plans to record a new album in Chicago this November for Tight Ship Records, and you can keep track of him (sound samples, tour dates, etc.) via his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/theheavylove

Check him out, and tell him that BLURT sent ya. And have, er, "fun."

Also deploy intriguing marketing gimmick to get you to buy the whole package. Sadly, no bonus tracks.

By Blurt Staff

Kraftwerk celebrate the 35th anniversary of their landmark 1974 hit ‘Autobahn' by releasing a special collector's CD boxset featuring remastered versions of eight albums on October 6^th. It's titled 12345678 The Catalogue.

They have upgraded their Kling Klang masters with the latest studio technology and these eight recordings - alliteratively billed as "streamlined synthetic symphonies standing outside time, as fresh as tomorrow, transcendent and sublime" - remain across the board classics.

12345678 The Catalogue will be released across the following formats:

*CD Boxset containing 8 x CDs in ‘mini-vinyl' card wallet packaging, plus individual large format booklets. (Due to licensing restrictions in the U.S., only five of the eight albums will be released as separate CD editions: Autobahn, Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine and Tour De France (2003). As a result, the only way for fans to own the entire catalogue on CD is to purchase the Box Set.)

*5 x individual CDs in special O-card slipcases featuring newly expanded artwork, including many previously unseen images, all of which have been reproduced to the highest technical standards

*5 x individual heavyweight vinyl LPs with large format booklets

*Digital downloads

The band has kindly provided descriptions of its back catalogue for those of you who walked in late...

AUTOBAHN (1974)

With its iconic Emil Schult sleeve, Kraftwerk release their international breakthrough album. The symphonic title track, an epic ode to the joys of motorway travel, wraps a mesmerising motorik rhythm around a sampled collage of car horns, engine noise, whirring tyres and radio crackle. In edited form, it becomes a revolutionary hit single around the world.

Elsewhere, in wordless industrial folk music, the band reveal both their light and dark sides - ‘Mitternacht' is all creeping midnight shadows, while ‘Morgenspaziergang' is fresh with morning dew and birdsong. Two versions of ‘Kometenmelodie', one a starkly gothic prowl, the other a sunny electro boogie, provide further instrumental sound paintings. Pure and strong and bold, Kraftwerk compose cinema for the ears. The pop world falls in love with them.

RADIO-ACTIVITY (1975)

Kraftwerk embrace the atomic age with mixed emotions. Surfing on sine waves, scanning the stratosphere for stray radio signals, they plug themselves into a buzzing grid of energy and communication. From the stately eco-angst anthem ‘Radioactivity' to the synthetic Gregorian chants of ‘Radio Stars' and the melancholy machine processional of ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm', a sombre but engrossing monumentalism dominates. With heavily processed vocals in both German and English, Kraftwerk go global with depth and majesty. If factories and power stations are the new cathedrals, they write liturgies for a new industrial epoch.

TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS (1977)

Kraftwerk celebrate Europe's romantic past and shimmering future with a glistening panorama of elegance and decadence, travel and technology. The infinite vistas of ‘Europe Endless' and ‘Endless Endless' bookend the album, which includes the unsettling Kafka-esque fable ‘The Hall Of Mirrors' and the hilarious ‘Showroom Dummies' - Kraftwerk's elegantly ironic reply to critiques of their deadpan manner. But it is the streamlined rhythmic locomotive of ‘Trans Europe Express' which dominates with its doppler-effect melodic swerves and hypnotic, pneumatic, piston-pumping rhythm. Along with its sister track, ‘Metal On Metal' which New York DJ Afrika Bambaataa would re-construct five years later for his own seminal ‘Planet Rock', this milestone in avant-pop modernism later becomes a crucial influence on the early pioneers of hip-hop & sampling, electro and industrial music. Poetry in motion.

THE MAN MACHINE (1978)

A bold new look, sound and concept for Kraftwerk. Over supple processed rhythms which predate the rise of European techno and trance, they address automation and alienation, space travel and engineering, the seductive allure of urban landscapes and the vacant glamour of celebrity. Clipped and funky, ‘The Robots' adds another dimension to Kraftwerk's ultra-dry sense of humour. Behind its intoxicating melodic pulse, ‘The Model' is a highly prophetic satire on the beauty industry, so ahead of its time that it only becomes a UK chart-topper by accident three years later. And ‘Neon Lights' is Kraftwerk's most achingly romantic song to date, a sci-fi lullaby for cities at twilight. Pure magic.

COMPUTER WORLD (1981)

Kraftwerk beam themselves into the future by writing about home computers, online dating and globalised electronic surveillance years before these phenomena truly come into being. A journey into the bright hopes and dark fears of the booming microchip revolution, ‘Computer World' is a serenely beautiful and almost seamless collage of sensual melodies and liquid beatscapes. Tracks like ‘Numbers' and ‘Pocket Calculator', with their weightless bleeps and elastic beats, predict the silky rhythms of Chicago house and inspire a generation of Detroit techno artists. Kraftwerk's fanfare for the silicon age still sounds ageless, timeless and throbbing with invention.

TECHNO POP (1986)

Kraftwerk return from five years of silence to reclaim their throne as leaders of a machine-pop revolution that they themselves began over a decade before. Their ‘Techno Pop' album, first released under the name ‘Electric Café' but now restored to its originally intended title, provides a 360-degree overview of a multi-lingual, multi-channel, musically diverse global village.

From the block-rocking beats of ‘Boing Boom Tschack' to the electronic funk and computer animation of ‘Musique Non Stop', Kraftwerk soar into the digital age. Their first excursion into digital recording finds both beauty and unease in a polyglot world of permanent media overload. Once again, Dusseldorf's test pilots of the musical future effortlessly break new ground.

THE MIX (1991)

Kraftwerk's first fully digital album confirmed their clubland credentials and reworked 11 of their best-loved tunes for a new generation. Painstakingly reconstructed and sequenced in the band's Kling Klang studio, new versions of tracks like ‘The Robots', ‘Trans Europe Express' and ‘Home Computer' now feature more funky rhythms and cleaned-up, liquid-crystal sounds. A stark warning about pollution at Sellafield is added to the glistening overhaul of ‘Radioactivity', sparking a war of words with British Nuclear Fuels. But most of all, ‘The Mix' is a career-spanning collection of legendary electro anthems and a classy acknowledgment of the two-way traffic between Kraftwerk and club culture.

TOUR DE FRANCE (2003)

The year 2003 marked the centenary of the Tour de France, the conceptual starting line for Kraftwerk's first album for over a decade. Although it features an immaculate new version of a 20-year-old former single, the exquisitely graceful ‘Tour de France', pop nostalgia is not on the menu. From the chunky cyber-funk of ‘Vitamin' to the restless metallic shimmers of ‘Aéro Dynamik', this is emphatically the sound of 21st century techno visionaries.

Because they have a re-recorded/recyled greatest hits set due soon that includes two new cuts.

By Blurt Staff

429 Records (part of the Savoy Label Group, today announced the signing of Portland-based alt-rock mainstays Everclear to the label. First up from the marriage: In A Different Light, a collection of newly interpreted recordings of some of their greatest hits. 

The album also includes two new Art Alexakis-penned songs, "Here Comes the Darkness" and "At the End of the Day." The record drops Oct. 6 and will be supported by a U.S. tour that kicks off Oct. 5, dates tba. Also, fans can expect a collection of all new songs in the spring of 2010 courtesy of 429 Records.  The band will embark on an extensive spring/summer tour around its release. 

The record is described as "a fresh and intimate take on multi-platinum selling Everclear's most popular songs." To wit: 

Learning How To Smile

Santa Monica

I Will Buy You A New Life

Summerland

Everything To Everyone

Wonderful

Here Comes The Darkness

Father Of Mine

Rock Star

Fire Maple Song

At The End Of The Day

Announces all royalties will go to the Feeding America organization. That's some Santa Claus.

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, Bob Dylan will release a brand new album of holiday songs, Christmas In The Heart, on October 13 via his longtime label Columbia Records.  All of the artist's U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to Feeding America (http://feedingamerica.org), guaranteeing that more than four million meals will be provided to more than 1.4 million people in need in this country during this year's holiday season.   Bob Dylan is also donating all of his future U.S. royalties from this album to Feeding America in perpetuity.

     Additionally, the artist is partnering with two international charities to provide meals during the holidays for millions in need in the United Kingdom and the developing world, and will be donating all of his future international royalties from Christmas In The Heart to those organizations in perpetuity.  Details regarding the international partnerships will be announced next week.

     "When we reached out to Bob Dylan about becoming involved with our organization, we could never have anticipated that he would so generously donate all royalties from his forthcoming album to our cause," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. "This major initiative from such a world renowned artist and cultural icon will directly benefit so many people and have a major impact on spreading awareness of the epidemic of hunger in this country and around the world."

     Bob Dylan commented, "It's a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone -- 12 million of those children - often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from.  I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season."

     Christmas In The Heart will be the 47^th album from Bob Dylan, and follows his worldwide chart-topping Together Through Life, released earlier this year.  Songs performed by Dylan on this new album include, "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Winter Wonderland," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Must Be Santa."

A message from Feeding America:

"Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive.  As the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors.  Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks supports 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.  For more information how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org ."

But the previously announced world tour is still on.

By Blurt Staff

With the recent news of Massive Attack's new studio album now in flux - the tentatively titled Weather Underground was slated for October, but now it's due next February - word arrives that the band will still be dropping their first new material in three years on Oct. 6 via Virgin.

It's an EP of four new tracks. The lead song "Splitting The Atom" features Robert Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G) and Horace Andy, while TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe guests on "Pray For Rain". The EP also has remixes of two new tracks; "Psyche" featuring Martina Topley-Bird is given the re-rub by Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid who have recently remixed Bat For Lashes and The Big Pink, while the Guy Garvey fronted "Bulletproof Love" is stripped back to a minimalist reworking by Christoff Berg, who alongside Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid produced the Fever Ray eponymous album.

Meanwhile, the upcoming full-length will feature collaborations with Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe.

Earlier this year, Massive Attack won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards.  Massive Attack will headline this year's Bestival on Friday, September 11th ahead of their first full UK tour in three years that begins on September 17th in London. Check www.massiveattack.com for dates and details.


EP Tracklisting:

1.      Splitting The Atom
2.      Pray For Rain
3.      Bulletproof Love (Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid Remix)
4.      Psyche (Flash Treatment)

A gift for the fans...

By Blurt Staff

New album drops in October, accompanied by brief US tour.

By Blurt Staff

Toronto's Do Make Say Think drops their sixth studio album Other Truths October 20th on Constellation Records. Together for about 14 years now, they've crafted a typically sensory-assaulting epic that comprises but 4 songs - cheekily titled "Do," "Make," "Say," and "Think" - each, as you imagine, a lengthy extrapolation. This ain't no 6-minute EP, in other words.

Bucking the trend towards diminishing attention spans, immediate gratification, snappy digital singles and things that go 'pop' right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul. The album represents the first time since the band's debut (recorded over a dozen years ago) that they have found themselves with an entire collection of songs that unfold so organically over long duration.

The backstory: Do Make Say Think has always managed to gather, balance and synthesize various poles simultaneously - ragged/precise, dirty/clean, atmospheric/ stratospheric - forging sonic narratives that combine broad strokes and clusters of detail. Perhaps more than their overtly 'post-modern' commingling of various musical genres (psych, jazz, dub, folk) this less conspicuous, indefinable ability to maintain such a consistently enthralling fusion of instincts is the true mark of the band, yielding a music that sounds and feels so unforced, natural and human. Certainly a key part of this unquantifiable equation is the band's self-production, which has shaped their sound from the beginning, and grown along with it. Led by Ohad Benchetrit and his home studio Th' Schvitz in Toronto, along with Charles Spearin and Justin Small, DMST has developed a canny and novel toolbox of recording and mixing techniques that contributes significantly to their sonic identity.

Other Truths will be available on CD in a custom gatefold cardstock jacket and in a first pressing on deluxe 180gLP that includes a limited edition poster (unique to the LP package), an artwork insert printed on heavyweight translucent paper and a CD copy of the album all packed in a thick 24pt. paperboard record jacket. The album is also available digitally.

Tracklisting:

1. Do
2. Make
3. Say
4. Think

Tour Dates:

10-Sept-09 Wordless Music Festival - Miller Theatre (Columbia University)    New York
25-Nov-09 Sala Rossa    Montreal    CA    
26-Nov-09 Sala Rossa    Montreal    CA    
27-Nov-09 Middle East Downstairs    Cambridge, MA
28-Nov-09 Music Hall Of Williamsburg    Brooklyn, NY    
30-Nov-09 First Unitarian Church    Philadelphia    
01-Dec-09 Rock and Roll Hotel    Washington DC
02-Dec-09 Brillobox Pittsburgh, PA
03-Dec-09 Crofoot Ballroom    Pontiac, MI
04-Dec-09 Schubas Tavern    Chicago, IL  

Four concerts represent the Lizard King's final NYC performances prior to his death.

By Blurt Staff

Rhino and Doors vault label Bright Midnight Archives will release four performances from The Doors' final tour as Live In New York on Nov. 10. The latest addition to the band's series of archival concert releases, this six-disc collection contains all four of The Doors' performances - in their entirety - recorded in 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. An exclusive stream of "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" from the second show on January 17, 1970 will premiere at spinner.com beginning today, Aug. 27.

All four shows were mixed and mastered by the band's longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows from The Doors' 1970 tour on multi-track tape for the Absolutely Live album. While most of the music contained on Live In New York is unreleased, a few songs (and portions of songs) surfaced in 1970 on Absolutely Live and in 1997 on The Doors Box Set. These shows represent The Doors' final New York City performances with Morrison, who passed away July 3, 1971. (Intriguingly, while the box set will go for a whopping 90 bucks, a digital version featuring "select highlights" from all four Felt Forum shows will also be available at all digital retail outlets for $9.99.)

Here's the scoop, courtesy Rhino:

Recorded January 17 and 18, 1970 - just a few weeks before the release of Morrison Hotel - these concerts find Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek locked in tight as they deliver smoking takes on soon-to-be-classics from their forthcoming album, including "Roadhouse Blues," "Peace Frog," "Ship Of Fools," and "Maggie M'Gill." The shows also feature a number of driving blues covers, such as Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster," and John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake." "Those were the bluesy songs we always used to do," Krieger says. "We probably hadn't done them in years, but we resurrected them for these shows."

The year prior to these shows, The Doors became one of the first rock bands to play New York City's Madison Square Garden. When they returned in 1970, Densmore says they chose to play the Felt Forum, a smaller venue at the Garden. "It was more intimate, and you could feel the audience more," he says. "There was more interaction, and the acoustics were much better, because it was designed for music."

Manzarek hails these shows as a return to the group's early days, when they used to play a small Los Angeles club called the London Fog. "I mean, talk about going back to basics. We used to do four sets a night at the London Fog, and we only had a small block of songs written up to that time. So we would do other people's material. And in New York, it was like the same thing. We've got four shows to play here, two sets tonight, two sets tomorrow night. Let's play whatever we want! Let's just go!"

And go they did. Along with a mix of then-unheard new songs and old covers, the band also tapped into its 1967, self-titled debut, peppering the set lists with signature songs such as "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," "Soul Kitchen," "The End," and "Light My Fire," The Doors' first #1 hit.For the final show of the Felt Forum stand, the band was joined onstage by two guests - The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian (who played harmonica on the studio version of "Roadhouse Blues") and drummer Dallas Taylor, who'd played on Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut. Sebastian sat in for "Rock Me" and was joined by Taylor for "Going To N.Y. Blues" and "Maggie M'Gill."

Prior to the release of LIVE IN NEW YORK, Rhino will release 180-gram vinyl versions of all six Doors studio albums on September 15. Previously available only in 2007's The Doors Vinyl Box, original stereo mixes of The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun, The Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel, and L.A. Woman will now be available individually at all vinyl retail outlets.

Track Listing:

Disc 1

January 17, 1970 (First Show)

1. Start Of Show
2. "Roadhouse Blues"
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"
5. Tuning
6. "Peace Frog"
7. "Blue Sunday"
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Love Hides"*
11. "Five To One"*
12. Tuning/Breather
13. "Who Do You Love"
14. "Little Red Rooster"
15. "Money"
16. Tuning
17. "Light My Fire"*
18. More, More, More
19. "Soul Kitchen"*
20. End Of Show

Disc 2

January 17, 1970 (Second Show)

1. Start Show 2
2. Jim "How Ya Doing?"
3. "Roadhouse Blues"
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. "Ship Of Fools"
6. "Crawling King Snake"
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
8. "Back Door Man"*
9. "Five To One"
10. Pretty Neat, Pretty Good
11. "Build Me A Woman"
12. Tuning/Breather
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Tuning/Breather
15. "Wild Child"*
16. Cheering/Tuning
17. "When The Music's Over"

Disc 3

January 17, 1970 (Second Show) continued

1. Tuning/Breather
2. "Light My Fire"*
3. Hey, Mr. Light Man!
4. "Soul Kitchen"*
5. Jim's Fish Joke
6. "The End"
7. End Of Show

Disc 4

January 18, 1970 (Third Show)

1. Start Show 3
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. Tuning/Breather
6. "Universal Mind"*
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" - False Start*
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Five To One"
11. Tuning/Breather
12. "Moonlight Drive"
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Calling Out For Songs
15. "Money"*
16. Tuning/Breather
17. "Light My Fire"
18. More, More More
19. "When The Music's Over"*
20. Good Night - End Show

Disc 5

January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show)

1. Start Show 4
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Peace Frog"*
4. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
5. "Back Door Man"
6. "Five To One"
7. We Have A Special Treat
8. "Celebration Of The Lizard"
9. Alright Let's Boogie
10. "Build Me A Woman"
11. "When The Music's Over"*
12. More, More, More

Disc 6

January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show) continued

1. "Soul Kitchen"*
2. For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic
3. Petition The Lord With Prayer
4. "Light My Fire"
5. Only When The Moon Comes Out
6. "Close To You"
7. The Encore Begins
8. "Rock Me"*
9. What To Do Next?
10. "Going To N.Y. Blues"*
11. Tuning/Breather
12. "Maggie M'Gill"*
13. Tuning/Breather
14. "Gloria"*/End Of Show

*Previously unreleased

Digital-only EP doesn't have any topless women, but it DOES have Bill Laswell...

By Blurt Staff

BLURT blogger (and musician, and noted producer) Martin Bisi releases Son Of A Gun, a digital-only 5-song follow up to his Sirens Of The Apocalypse (CD) from earlier this year. It's due next month from Contraphonic. On Son Of A Gun, Bisi brings in musicians from his extended revolving line-up at live shows - long time collaborator Bill Laswell, and members of The Dresden Dolls, Fiery Furnaces, Balkan Beat Box, and World Inferno Friendship Society.

Son Of A Gun, whose cover is a surreal image of Bisi with a rifle, is thematically on the other side of the coin from Sirens Of Apocalypse. Where as the topless women on the cover of Sirens reveal an outward gaze into society, Son Of A Gun is more self-referential.

Two songs on the EP are meant to be sister tracks - "Mile High- Apple of My Eye," featuring Bill Laswell on bass, and "Mile High-Formaldehyde" with Brian Viglione from The Dresden Dolls on drums. The two "Mile High" tracks share a lot of identical lyrics and are directed at the similarities between Bisi and his daughter - "You share my design."

"Rise Up Cowboy" philosophically refers to a masculine presence and archtype that Bisi finds within himself, and ubiquitously in the world. "Rise Up Cowboy" is embellished with very ambient sax by Peter Hess from Balkan Beat Box and World Inferno Friendship society, and features Bob D'amico, the regular drummer for Fiery Furnaces. D'amico also plays on "Drink Your Wine."

Busty stars reunite for new women-in-prison film... soundtrack features music from Combustible Edison and Guns N' Roses alumni... sadly, it's rated "R" so all you BLURT readers will have to get your parents to take you!

By Blurt Staff

Buxom cult legends Tura Satana (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and Kitten Natividad (Russ Meyer's UP!) will, ahem, bust out of the silver screen in Sugar Boxx, a new women-in-prison film opening September 5^th. An authentic homage to 1970's women-in-prison and grindhouse movies, Sugar Boxx also features a rare appearance by the godfather of 1970's exploitation film, writer/director Jack Hill (Coffy, Foxy Brown, Big Bird Cage).

The film stars Geneviere Anderson (Star Trek), The'la "Rain" Brown (VH1's Flavor Of Love), and Hollywood great Jacqueline Scott (Charley Varrick, Macabre). Its musical score boasts contributions by The Millionaire of Combustible Edison fame and Steven Adler, formerly of Guns-N-Roses.

SUGAR BOXX premieres in Los Angeles on September 5^th for an exclusive engagement at Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatres. The sexy and violent old-school exploitation feature will also make a simultaneous "Video On Demand" world premiere in September as well.

Further information and trailers are available at www.sugarboxx.com. You can view the "Theatrical" trailer, the "Exploitation" trailer (also posted, below) or a special one featuring Tura Satana offering her special brand of testimonial. Keep your eyes peeled for shower scenes and catfights... and watch out when that "powder keg" explodes, boys.

"Expect something unusual": Participating artists include TROUBLE (Sam Hillmer & Laura Paris) // Calvin Johnson // Screaming Females // Mick Barr // Up Died Sound // Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities // Alexis Gideon // Ty Segal // Regattas // Nine 11 Thesaurus // Sam Mickens // Dome Theater // Mike Pride // Extra life // Pygmy Shrews // Effi Breist // John Fell Ryan // The Coathangers // Desolation Wilderness // Random Cutting // Excepter // Symbol // Zs // Arrington Dionyso // Dan Friel // Mega Calderos // Chuck Bettis // Pterodactyl // Normal Love // Vaz // Make A Rising // Clan of the Cave Bear // Electroputas // High Red Center // The Sian Alice Group // The Present // Loud Objects // Grooms // Symbol // Shooting Spires // Crash Diet Crew // Videohippos

By Blurt Staff

You Are Here (The Maze) is a performance festival in a sculptural maze taking place at Williamsburg's Death By Audio venue (49 South 2^nd St, Brooklyn) from September 10 - October 2, 2009, with performances starting each evening at 9pm and running late.

 Emphasizing the sprawling and interconnected nature of New York's underground, a trip through the maze offers a peak inside NYC's diy art/music scene. A meditation on passage and desire, You Are Here engulfs the space and presents beckoning inhabitants, dead ends, and uplifting epitaphs. Medium and genre vary and overlapping and simultaneous performances are frequent, each performer establishing a different corner or dead end as his or hers. Participating artists in the 3-week festival include Calvin Johnson, Screaming Females, Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities, Zs, Excepter, Mick Barr, The Coathangers, Knyfe Hyts, The Present, Loud Objects, Grooms, Effi Briest, Extra Life, Mike Pride, Dan Friel, Ninjasonik, Vaz, Pygmy Shrews, Nine 11 Thesaurus, and many many others.

For more information, visit: www.myspace.com/youareheremaze

The tentative schedule is below, although the You Are Here organizers hasten to add that it's all intended to "subvert prefab expectations for both audiences and performers-there is no prescribed order, start time or end time, duration, location of performance, relation of audience to performers, and so on. All of the participating artists have been asked to create something site-specific since the performances will, in fact, take place within the maze. Audiences will be asked only to expect something unusual."

Maze Schedule

Thursday 9.10.09

Skeletons Big Band
Knyfe Hyts
Pterodactyl
Gowns
Dan Friel
Social Junk
Mincement
+Delicious Beverages

Friday 9.11.09

The Sian Alice Group
Nine 11 Thesaurus
Experimental Dental School
Reading Rainbow
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.12.09

Extra Life
Lichens
Pygmy Shrews
Up Died Sound
SETH (jeff and lala from excepter)
Interdependence Project
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.13.09

The Present
Opsvik & Jennings
Rich Johnson
Blast Off!
+Delicious Beverages

Monday 9.14.09

Calvin Johnson
Arrington Dionyso
Desolation Wildnerness
Regattas
City Center

Tuesday 9.15.09

Loud Objects
Twisty Cat
Random Cutting
Mega Calderos
Aftermath

Wednesday 9.16.09

White Suns
Chaos Magic
Little Big
Buckets of Bile
Bird Music

Thursday 9.17.09

Grooms
Videohippos
Starring
PC Worship
Anamanaguchi
Dome Theater

Friday 9.18.09

Ty Segal
The Mantles
The Holy Experiment
BJ Rubin
Worlddancearound
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.19.09

High Red Center
Alexis Gideon
Make A Rising
Shelly Short
Ribbons
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.20.09

Vaz
Clan of the Cave Bear
Necking
Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk
+Delicious Beverages

Monday 9.21.09

Sam Mickens/Mike Pride Duo
Jantar
Nsumi
Tbd

Tuesday 9.22.09

Drummer's Corpse
Hunter Gatherer
Aaron Seigel
Meredith Arena

Wednesday 9.23.09

Shooting Spires
Legs
Grafitti Monsters
Crime Novels
Lord Easy

Thursday 9.24.09

Sam Hillmer/ Arrington Dionsyo Duo
Charlie Looker
Daniel Carter Quartet
Total Bolsheviks

Friday 9.25.09

Effi Briest
Electroputas
Regattas
Chuck Bettis / Mario Diaz de Leon
BJ Rubin
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.26.09

The Sleepy Doug Shaw
Hannah Marcus / Tianna Kennedy
The Screaming Females
Cheap Ventilators
The Weird Fantasy Band
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.27.09

Symbol
Laurel Halo
The Slowest Runner in the World
Post Abortion Stress

Monday 9.28.09

Telecult powers
Syn. Toffs
Bassoon
Alterazioni Video Collective

Tuesday 9.29.09

The Coathangers
Nervehunt (Justin from Teeth Mountain / Ryan from Wavves)
Xray Eyeballs
Swimmingcitiesoceanofblood

Wednesday 9.30.09

Nymph
Emma Kupa (of Standard Fare)
Ava Luna

Thursday 10.1.09

Crash Diet Crew
Cntrl Top
Hotchacha
Islands Eyelids
Deborah Karp/ Meredith Arena

Friday 10.2.09

Zs
Excepter
Mick Barr
Noveller
BJ Rubin
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

For fans of Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, String Cheese Incident, Del McCoury Band and more.

By Blurt Staff

Hard-twanging, string-bending Minnesota roots band Trampled by Turtles, are headed out on a 40+ date fall tour. The coast to coast run will have them on the road literally up to Christmas so you have no excuse not to catch ‘em along the way. They'll be supporting their recently-released Duluth album.

If you need convincing, check out some songs at their sites:

www.trampledbyturtles.com

www.myspace.com/trampledbyturtles

Separating the band from the pack is the contrast of their lightening fast punk-influenced barn-burners and their lonesome Townes Van Zandt-inspired ballads. As Artvoice Buffalo put it, ""Their most recent release, Duluth, mirrors the raw intensity of their live performances, which are sure to leave audiences simultaneously raising hell and crying in their beers."

They'll buy you a beer, too.

Tour Dates:

August 30 | River City Roots Festival | Missoula, MT
August 31 | Urban Lounge | Salt Lake City, UT
September 2 |Alive After Five | Boise, ID
September 4 | Pig Out in the Park | Spokane, WA
September 5 & 6 | Chilliwack Bluegrass Festival | Chilliwack, BC
September 9 | Oak Park Theater | Minot, ND
September 10 | West End Cultural Centre | Winnipeg, MB
September 12 | Harvest Festival | Clarks Grove, MN
September 19 | Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion | Bristol, TN
October 11 | Middle East | Cambridge, MA
October 12 | Monkey House | Winooski, VT
October 14 | 92 Y Tribeca | New York, NY
October 15 | Iron Horse | Northampton, MA
October 16 | Narrows Center | Fall River, MA
October 17 | The Ale House | Troy, NY
October 18 | A.B.C. | Harrisburg, PA
October 20 | IOTA Club | Arlington, VA
October 21 | Pour House | Raleigh, NC
October 22 | Whitehorse Black Mountain | Black Mountain, NC
October 23 | Smith's | Atlanta, GA
October 24 | Deep Roots Festival | Milledgeville, GA
November 6 | First Avenue | Minneapolis, MN
November 10 | Shank Hall | Milwaukee, WI
November 11 | High Noon | Madison, WI
November 12 | Radio Radio | Indianapolis, IN
November 13 | TBA | Kentucky
November 14 | Blueberry Hill | St. Louis, MO
November 19 | Red Carpet | St. Cloud, MN
November 20 | The Aquarium | Fargo, ND
November 21 | Ramkota Hall | Sioux Falls, SD
November 28 | TBA | Chicago, IL
December 4 | Doug Fir | Portland, OR
December 5 | Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA
December 6 | Sam Bond's Garage | Eugene, OR
December 7 | TBA | Ashland, OR
December 9 | TBA | Arcata, CA
December 11 | TBA | Santa Cruz, CA
December 12 | TBA | San Francisco, CA
December 14 | Urban Lounge | Salt Lake City, UT
December 16 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
December 17 | Hodi's Half Note | Fort Collins, CO
December 18 | Bluebird Theater | Denver, CO
December 19 | Bluebird Theater | Denver, CO

Perhaps released to combat an already-issued bootleg DVD, hmm?

By Blurt Staff

According to the press release, "Nirvana's August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK's Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock'n'roll."  If that's the case, bootleggers be damned, because a licensed copy of that entire performance -- color-corrected video from the original film and improved audio matering--will soon be available. Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued in a limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurations on November 3, 2009, followed by a 2 LP version on November 17, 2009.

                            

While much of the show was a performance of the Nevermind tracklist, also noteworthy were early performances of "All Apologies," "Dumb," and in its first ever public performance, "tourette's." You'll also note on the track listin gbelow covers by the Wipers and Fang(!) as well as older numbers from Bleach.

 

Only 2 of the 25 performances on the DVD have ever been released before.

 

Nirvana Live At Reading DVD:

1.     Breed

2.     Drain You

3.     Aneurysm

4.     School

5.     Sliver

6.     In Bloom

7.     Come As You Are

8.     Lithium

9.     About A Girl

10.   tourette's

11.   Polly

12.   Lounge Act

13.   Smells Like Teen Spirit

14.   On A Plain

15.   Negative Creep

16.   Been A Son

17.   All Apologies

18.   Blew

19. Dumb

20. Stay Away

21. Spank Thru

22. Love Buzz*

23. The Money Will Roll Right In

24. D-7

25. Territorial Pissings


 

*not included on CD

Incidentally, earlier this year a bootleg DVD of the same show was released titled Life Take No Prisoners. You can compare the tracklisting, below, to the official release:

01. The Rose/Intro
02. Breed
03. Drain You
04. Aneurysm
05. School
06. Sliver
07. In Bloom
08. Come As You Are
09. Lithium
10. About A Girl
11. Tourette's
12. Polly
13. Lounge Act
14. More Than A Feeling/Smells Like Teen Spirit
15. On A Plain
16. Negative Creep
17. Been A Son
18. All Apologies
19. Blew
20. Dumb
21. Stay Away
22. Spank Thru
23. Love Buzz
24. The Money Will Roll Right In
25. D-7
26. Territorial Pissings
27. The Star Spangled Banner

Padded Cell, Prince Language and others do the deed...

By Blurt Staff

DFA Records will release a brand new collection of remixes of the classic LCD Soundsystem musical epic 45:33 as a series of vinyl 12 inch singles this Summer before releasing the whole set as a CD/Download album on September 15th.

One of the most unique pieces of modern dance music ever released, 45.33 was originally a one off collaboration on iTunes for Nike, but was subsequently released on and expanded CD & Vinyl in its own right in Nov '07 due to overwhelming demand.

James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records founder etc) is currently in the studio recording the follow-up to 2007's massively critically acclaimed Sound Of Silver album, set to drop in early 2010.  

45:33 was integral to shaping Sound Of Silver, and here segments & parts of the record have been lovingly and respectively re-interpreted by some of dance music's most innovative players. The Tracklisting is as follows:
 


1. Runaway Remix
2. Prince Language Remix
3. Prins Thomas Diskomiks Remix
4. Theo Parrish's Space Cadet Remix
5. Trus' Me Remix
6. Padded Cell Remix
7. Pilooski Remix
8. Riley Reinhold Remix  

First new material the band has cut since 1992. Limited string of shows so don't miss your chance.

By Blurt Staff

Legendary Chicago punks Naked Raygun announce east coast dates and a 7" vinyl series this fall. They recently made their first trip into a recording studio in over a decade (this is the first new material since 1992 and first recording since 1997), tracking at Transient Sound in Chicago. The songs will be released as a series of 7" records, the first of which is available for presale at www.RiotFest.org - fans will receive exclusive free stuff and mp3 download card with early purchase. The band plans East Coast dates in September; will headline Riot Fest Chicago in October before getting down to work on their new album, due in 2010.  The tour hits cities Naked Raygun hasn't played in almost twenty years; joining them on the tour are Philadelphia hardcore stars Paint It Black and Chicago's own Shot Baker. 

Easily the most influential band bursting forth from the initial Chicago punk rock explosion, Naked Raygun also holds the distinction of being the longest running.  When many of their peers were either breaking up or going metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, Naked Raygun soldiered on with their trademark sound, combining infectious vocal melodies with muscular guitar and a precision rhythm section.  Echoes of the golden era of Raygun sound can be heard in punk rock circles worldwide.

The band broke up in 1992 and save for a one-off reunion in 1997 to celebrate the release of the Last of the Demohicans collection, stayed inactive while band members tended to family business and occasionally other musical projects such as The Bomb and Pegboy.

In the fall of 2006 drummer Eric Spicer began to get the itch to play the old songs again and gathered the guys together again to reunite for Riot Fest in Chicago.  The overwhelming response from the sold out crowd of four thousand prompted Naked Raygun to re-form permanently with their final lineup of Spicer, Bill Stephens on guitar, Pierre Kezdy on bass and Jeff Pezzati on vocals.

Naked Raygun returned to action by playing shows across the Midwest and embarking on their first West Coast tour in over a decade with Bay Area legends the Swingin' Utters.  The band also released their first DVD via Riot Fest Records, entitled "What Poor Gods We Do Make."  The CD/DVD package combined a documentary covering the lifespan of the band with performances from their sold out performance at Riot Fest 2006.

During a recent two night stand at the House of Blues in Chicago, Naked Raygun debuted their first new songs in seventeen years. Watch for ‘em. 

Tour Dates:

September 9, 2009

The Mideast (Cambridge, MA)

with Paint it Black, Shot Baker

18+ - tickets $15.00 - Showtime TBA

http://www.mideastclub.com/

September 10, 2009

First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

7:30pm - $12.00 - all ages

http://www.r5productions.com/

September 11, 2009

Ottobar (Baltimore, MD)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Doors 7pm Show 8pm - $15.00adv $17.00 doors - all ages

www.ottobar.com

September 12, 2009

The Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Show 8pm, $15.00 - 16 and over

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/search

September 13, 2009

Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Show 8pm Tickets $15.00 adv $17.00 doors

http://www.maxwellsnj.com/

Also getting profiled in a certain rock mag very soon...

By Blurt Staff

Getting ready for that David Bazan (ex-Pedro the Lion) CD Curse Your Branches that drops next week via Barsuk? Watch for a review of it at the BLURT site, and also keep your eyes peeled for the next print issue of BLURT, due late September, with an exclusive interview and profile for Bazan. We sent our favorite cub reporter up to his house in Edmonds (near Seattle) - several times - to hang out, catch the vibe, and get the scoop on the man, the myth, the legend, and the new record.

Here's an MP3 teaser from the album just to keep your attention:

"Bless This Mess"

Meanwhile, this news just in from Barsuk:

Throughout 2009 Bazan has been performing solo in living rooms all across America. On August 31st, Brooklyn Vegan will present a performance to the entire world in Bazan's first and only Online House Show, with a live audio and video feed of the event.

To watch, fans can direct their browsers to the BV site where they'll also be able to participate in the event with a live chat and Twitter feed, from which Bazan will take a handful of questions for his customary live question and answer session.

Go to the BV site Monday, August 31st @ 8:00pm EST To Watch And Participate:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/bazan

After the online event, Bazan has a few more house shows before trading in the living room for rock clubs on his first full-band tour in over four years. Joining Bazan on the trek will be Say Hi's Eric Elbogen on guitars, Andy Fitts of Aqueduct on keys and guitar, longtime contributor and Sufjan compatriot Casey Foubert behind the kit, and perennial Bazan associate Blake Wescott on guitar.

Tour Dates:

10/01 San Francisco CA Independent
10/02 Costa Mesa CA Detroit Bar
10/03 San Diego CA Casbah
10/04 Los Angeles CA Troubadour
10/05 Tucson AZ Solar Culture
10/07 Austin TX Mohawk
10/08 Denton TX Dan's Silverleaf
10/09 Memphis TN Hi-Tone Café
10/10 Murray KY Lovett Auditorium / Murray State
10/11 Birmingham AL Bottletree
10/13 Orlando FL The Social
10/14 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
10/15 Chapel Hill NC Cat's Cradle
10/16 Washington DC Black Cat
10/17 Philadelphia PA Kung Fu Necktie
10/18 New York NY Bowery Ballroom
10/20 Cambridge MA TT the Bear's
10/21 Montreal QC Il Motore
10/22 Toronto ON Lee's Palace
10/23 Pontiac MI Pike Room
10/24 Chicago IL TBA
10/25 Champaign IL Highdive
10/27 Madison WI High Noon Saloon
10/28 Minneapolis MN Turf Club
10/29 Iowa City IA The Picador
10/30 Lawrence KS Jackpot Saloon
10/31 Omaha NE Slowdown
11/01 Denver CO Hi Dive
11/02 Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
11/05 Vancouver BC Media Club
11/06 Portland OR Mississippi Studios
11/07 Seattle WA Neumos

Good riddance to bad news, we say. Oasis, please stay broken up. From your friends at BLURT.

By Fred Mills

While the music biz buzz over the weekend was clearly centered around Noel Gallagher's surprise announcement at the Oasisnet.com site that he was quitting the band he'd founded, perhaps it's less instructive to parse Gallagher's words than those of the folks who determined their level of punditry qualified them to do the parsing.

First, that Gallagher statement, posted late Friday:

"It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan."

All currently scheduled Oasis concerts were cancelled in the wake of the statement. Apparently the band had been preparing to perform Friday at a French music festival, but the two brothers had a huge argument - one observer, singer Amy McDonald, would subsequently Twitter, "Oasis cancelled again with one minute to stage time! Liam smashed Noel's guitar, huuuge fight!" - leading the festival organizers to announce that the show was off: "The group no longer exists. They will not play tonight and they are cancelling the rest of their European tour... The group no longer exists. They will not play tonight and they are cancelling the rest of their European tour."

On Saturday Britain's Daily Mail looked into the situation, pointing out that relations between the brothers had deteriorated in recent months to the point that they "traveled separately on tour and only saw each other onstage." (Periodically the two have taken potshots at one another during separate interviews.) The paper also posted photos of Liam plus the other Oasis members leaving their Paris hotel.

Let's not forget, however, that this isn't the first time Gallagher has split from his brother and his band - acting, depending on your point of view, like a diva or just drunk and pissy - as he briefly quit in 2000 at a show in Paris. Liam Gallagher, for his part, famously "quit" in 1995 on the eve of a U.S. tour, although that was short-lived as well. As the Gallagher's mom Peggy told reporters this weekend, "They're just tired at the end of the tour. They've had fights before and got over it. The funny thing is, they didn't fight as children. They didn't fight until they started the band." And erstwhile Creation Recs boss Alan McGee chimed in as well, telling the BBC, "It's obviously the worst fall-out that they've ever had, and they've had some pretty bad ones. But they love each other. They'll come back together." So it's probably way too early to predict whether or not this marks a final divorce or just another temporary separation.

Speculation among insiders is that Liam's heavy drinking on the tour may have been the trigger in all this; the singer reportedly had been acting out and insulting everyone around him, including his brother's family. After leaving Paris, Liam left for Italy with his wife Nicole. By Saturday, Noel had taken to the band's website again to clarify his position:

"I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable," the guitarist said. "And the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new."

Still, when a professional turd like Perez Hilton weighs in on the personal foibles of a rock band, it's entirely possible that said rock band has, in the parlance, jumped the fucking shark anyway. Leave it to Hilton to dredge up the most unseemly quote in the whole Liam-versus-Noel tit-for-tat. Hilton wrote on his site:

"A recent remark Liam made regarding Noel's daughter, Anais, was reportedly the final nail in the coffin for Noel! Liam allegedly ‘jokingly suggested' that Noel was not the real father of his 9-year-old daughter!!!

"‘It was a dumb thing to say,' an insider close to the brothers says. ‘They had a big fight when he made the gag. Noel went for him. He was in a blind fury. And he still hasn't calmed down.' Noel considered his brother's comment ‘unforgivable,' which led to his abrupt exit from the band."

Ah well... who cares. The band was long past its expiration date. Can anybody even name a song or album title of the band from the past half-decade or so?

Good riddance, Oasis. Please, don't get back together. Save us the drama.

Announces 7^th studio album to mark two decades of doin' it their way.

By Blurt Staff

With six studio albums, five 7-inches, two EPs, a live CD, a B-sides album, and numerous soundtrack and compilation appearances under their belts, SoCal punks Strung Out are venturing once more into the record bins. Mark your calendars for Sept. 29 when they release their seventh studio LP, via Fat Wreck Chords.

"With Agents Of The Underground, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that we are still alive and kicking just below the consciousness of the mainstream media and are celebrating our place here in "The Underground"," says Strung Out vocalist Jason Cruz. "Like a resistance movement, we move freely and without boundaries. We say what we feel and do it all our own way, and we've done it all this time without radio, without TV, and without the help of a corporate record label. We are the essence of what the punk rock movement started out as and has strayed so far from. We are living proof that you can succeed by doing things your own way."

The band proves on Agents Of The Underground that they are still doing it their own way after all these years. Unlike previous releases, the five-piece enlisted an existing fan of the band, Cameron Webb (Motorhead, Ignite, Social Distortion), to produce the album, which helped the group record their strongest album to date. "We've done a lot of touring and made a lot of records," admits Cruz, "and we have learned A LOT. I have a tendency to defy expectation and abandon what has already been achieved, and Cameron was great at balancing what people want to hear from Strung Out, and at the same time, letting the band move forward. I believe this album is truly the culmination of everything we've done."

Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara fans can get their first taste of the new album by checking out the band during the group's upcoming live shows (see dates below). That will be followed in October with a full U.S. tour.

Sep 5 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones (21+)
Sep 6 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones (18+)
Sep 25 - Long Beach, CA @ The Shore
Oct 1 - San Antonio, TX @ Rock Bottom
Oct 2 - Austin, TX @ Red Seven
Oct 3 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre
Oct 4 - Houston, TX @ Meridian
Oct 5 - New Orleans, LA @ Howlin' Wolf
Oct 7 - Tallahassee, FL @ The Engine Room
Oct 8 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
Oct 9 - St. Petersburg, FL @ The State Theatre
Oct 10 - Orlando, FL @ The Social
Oct 11 - Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Café
Oct 12 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Downstairs
Oct 14 - Fayetteville, NC @ Jester's

Oct 15 - Raleigh, NC @ Volume 11 Tavern  
Oct 16 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Ohana's Night Club
Oct 17 - Jermyn, PA @ Eleanor Rigby's
Oct 18 - Columbus, OH @ The Basement
Oct 19 - Toledo, OH @ Frankies
Oct 20 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Oct 22 - Sauget, IL @ Pop's
Oct 23 - Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
Oct 24 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
Oct 25 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep
Oct 27 - Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
Oct 28 - Casper, WY @ Downtown Grill
Oct 30 - Layton, UT@ V2
Oct 31 - Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
Nov 1 - Victorville, CA @ Karma