Harmonica legend played with Steve Miller Band, Elvin Bishop, Bonnie Raitt and more.

By Fred Mills

Less than a month ago harmonica great Norton Buffalo was diagnosed with lung cancer. Word spread through the rock and blues community rapidly when the following news was posted to the musician's official website:

Norton has been recently diagnosed with stage 4B Lung Cancer (adenocarcinoma) which was also discovered in his pleural fluid and his brain. He has been using a combination of Western Medicine, Chinese Traditional Medicine, Prayer, Spiritual Healers, Native American Healing, Reike, Visualization and Positive Thought, Acupuncture, Massage, ... and is taking in all the love and prayers from friends fans and loved ones from around the globe. He is currently home and gaining strength after his first round of Chemotherapy. His loving wife Lisa has been his constant support throughout this challenging time and he is as well receiving lots of support and care from his family and close circle of friends.

Sadly, Buffalo's battle proved brief; according to a report posted yesterday at Nightwatcher's House of Rock, he passed away Friday. He was 58.

Buffalo was born in Oakland, California, in 1951, going on to prominence in the ‘70s playing with various Bay Area outfits (among them, blues guitar great Elvin Bishop's band). Later he was a member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and the Steve Miller Band, playing on a number of key Miller albums during the guitarist-songwriter's hitmaking years in the mid/late ‘70s.

He also released a number of solo albums, fronted his own band The Knockouts, played with the likes of the Doobie Brothers, Roy Rogers (with whom he won a Grammy nomination in 1991), Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Mickey Hart and Merl Saunders, and also appeared in a number of films. He also continued to work with the Steve Miller Band. All in all, Buffalo appeared on 180 albums during his long career, and the loss his death brings to the rock and blues world is immeasurable.

[Photo Credit: Dave Rocco]

Get a load of that dental work...

By Fred Mills

Minutemen/Stooges bass legend Mike Watt took time out from his busy schedule to post one of his iconic photographs friends on his mailing list yesterday - see above, as it's self-explanatory.

Watt recently announced a string of dates with the Secondmen (the latest in his ongoing revolving door of ensembles... the dude don't sleep...). In the lineup are drummer Jerry Trebotic and Hammond organ player Pete Mazich, so you know it's gotta be some funky, psychotic shit. Catch ‘em live if you're on the left coast:

Monday, November 2 At 8 Pm

At The Echo, Echo Park, Ca

Saturday, November 14 At 9 Pm

At Di Piazza's, Long Beach, Ca

Friday, November 20 At 11 Pm

At The Redwood Bar + Grill, Los Angeles, Ca

Friday, December 18 At 10 Pm

At Club Good Hurt, West Los Angeles, Ca

iTunes here
Amazon here

Will test the waters initially with a gig in Brazil this week.

By Fred Mills

Two months ago word began circulating that Stooges frontman Iggy Pop had been in conversations with Raw Power-era guitarist James Williamson about the possibility of resuming operations as the Stooges. Williamson, bassist Mike Watt, drummer Scott Asheton and saxman Steve Mackay subsequently did some rehearsing together in L.A. to see if they could generate chemistry on par with what the Stooges had with the late Ron Asheton.

Now, speaking to the BBC yesterday, Iggy Pop has confirmed that the new Williamson incarnation of the band will indeed be mounting a full tour next year.

Said the singer, "We're bringing The Stooges back next year. They've been rehearsing more without me than with me because I've been doing other things this year. But we have been rehearsing all together more recently and they kept going without me again last week. We're going to be doing a one off show in Brazil in a few weeks but the real touring starts next year."

The Stooges are doing the Planeta Terra Festival in Brazil this week (Nov. 7) and have already scheduled a UK appearance next May 2-3 at the All Tomorrow's Parties fest. Full tour dates have yet to be announced.

Iggy added that Asheton won't be soon forgotten, however: "We're all very sorry about Ron. His spirit within the group remains with the rest of us and he is still a presence within the group without being on the physical plain."

Pink Floyd guitarist's protégés were a "next big thing" back in the mid ‘70s.

By Blurt Staff

Pink Floyd fanatics rejoice with the first time release of two rare David Gilmour produced albums by UK country rock band Unicorn. The CDs 'Blue Pine Trees' and 'Too Many Crooks' will be released by Renaissance Records in conjunction with ItsAboutMusic.com on November 11th.

When you think of 'country rock' band's like Firefall, Pure Praire League, Poco, Flying Burrito Bros probably come to mind first, but one band that could well be called the godfathers of the genre actually came from England. The meeting between Unicorn and Pink Floyd's renown guitarist is a curious one.

Early in 1973 Unicorn played at the wedding reception for Transatlantic publicist Ricky Hopper. One of the guests was David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, who at the end of the evening got up and jammed with Unicorn on Neil Young's "Heart of Gold". Afterwards Gilmour told the band that he really liked country rock. A week later the Pink Floyd guitarist phoned the band to say that he had just installed a studio at his country retreat and asked if they wanted to demo some songs there. The band immediately accepted. A few days later they travelled up to Essex to Gilmour's estate. He showed them into the studio and said there was no need to bring any of their gear in from the van. Hanging on the walls was his collection of vintage Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker and Martin guitars and underneath them Fender amplifiers and a Premier drum kit. They recorded three songs and Dave added some Fender Pedal Steel Guitar which he had just brought on his last American tour and was learning to play. They were invited back on several occasions to record.

"Unicorn were playing at the wedding reception of an old friend of mine, Rick Hopper," related David Gilmour, "when I first saw them and while I was impressed by their vocal harmonies, their tightness and the fact that it was the drummer that sang the lead vocals, it was the songs themselves that I liked the best. Ken Baker's songs, while firmly seated in the American country rock genre had a very original and unusual wry English feel in the stories he told. The one that really made me notice was 'Sleep Song', about a trip to the dentist. Not a common subject for the popular song. Largely on the strength of this I invited them to my tiny home studio in Essex to record some demos. This was the start of an association that was to cover two and a half albums over the next couple of years."

Things started to happen from then on when Gilmour offered to put up the money to record an album of Unicorn songs. Unicorn soon signed with Pink Floyd's manager Steve O'Rourke's EMKA organization, and Ricky Hopper who had introduced them to Dave became their tour manager. Ricky would later discover Kate Bush, then called Kathy Bush. Pete and Pat from Unicorn played on her first demo recordings at Gilmour's studio. Unicorn's first album was recorded in Olympic Studios in Barnes in London. David Gilmour was producing, by his own admission, for the first time. The performances would wind up as the album 'Blue Pine Trees' and parts of the second album 'Too Many Crooks'. The album was mixed at George Martin's Air Studios in London. The engineer was John Middleton and the tape operators were the sons of Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. Steve O'Rourke took about a week to secure a deal with Charisma Records in the UK, with Capitol Records in the US and EMI International for the rest of the world.

In November 1974 Unicorn set off on their first US tour. At the time Capitol records tour manager, Alan Fry, told them that 'Blue Pine Trees' was number one in the FM action charts (a chart based on the frequency of FM airplay). The first night Unicorn performed at the Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset Strip, where they played in front of what seemed to be the entire Capitol Records staff. Unicorn was the headline band that night and was supported by a then little known Patti Smith. On that first tour the band supported bands like Fleetwood Mac, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Climax Blues Band, Billy Joel, Linda Ronstadt and the Doobie Brothers. At the end of their first US tour Unicorn flew home via New York to return to play at the Marquee club in London with the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver with David Gilmour sitting in. The following year, 1975, was mainly spent recording the second album 'Too Many Crooks' (Released in America as 'Unicorn 2'). It was recorded in Air Studios at Oxford Circus with some additional tracks at Olympic at Barnes. This album included some of Unicorn's best studio performances. The most notable song was "No Way Out of Here" which was later recorded by Dave Gilmour for his first solo album. His version was the most played album track in the US for several weeks.

"Listening to the best of their output from before, during and after my own involvement with the band," says Gilmour, "has reminded me of the many great songs and great moments in the studio that we shared all those years ago. It's been a long time coming, but it has been worth the wait."

Kevin Barker enlists Newsom, Wilco's Pat Sansone and more; Thom Monahan produces.

By Blurt Staff

You And Me may be Vetiver guitarist Kevin Barker's debut album, but he is far from a newcomer to the scene. For the last few years he's been recording, touring and collaborating with Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vashti Bunyan, Antony and the Johnsons, and Espers, to name just a few and being a regular member of Vetiver.

Now he has assembled an empathetic group of musicians to record his debut album, You And Me. Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Lilys, Gary Louris, Devendra Banhart), the album features Pat Sansone (Wilco), Joanna Newsom, Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis), Eric Johnson (Shins, Fruit Bats), and Otto Hauser (Vetiver, Espers). The album will be released by Gnomonsong - the label helmed by Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic - January 2010. It's described by the label as recalling at times "the rustic grooves of The Band and the Grateful Dead, the heady melancholy of Roy Harper, and the golden harmonies of CSNY."

Growing up in Washington DC, Kevin was well-versed in the DIY punk culture typified by Fugazi and Dischord Records. While in high school He and his brother formed a vinyl-only punk label, Nervous Wreck Kids. He also organized numerous shows at local VFW halls and art
spaces.

In college he became interested in the fingerstyle guitar playing of John Fahey and Bert Jansch. He began to write songs and recorded under the name "Currituck County" for Teenbeat Records, Troubleman Unlimited, and Track and Field Organisation in the UK.  He then moved to Brooklyn, NY where he attended film school at Columbia University and began playing with Devendra, Antony, and Vetiver.

While finishing his masters at Columbia, he began to tour more as a sideman with Vasthi Bunyan and Joanna Newsom, and began work editing his documentary film The Family Jams, which chronicled the summer 2004 tour of Devendra, Joanna and Vetiver. The film is slated to be released in spring 2010.

[Photo Credit: Peter Sollett]

Clever marketing tie-in with new album, totally annoying foray into kitsch, or something vastly more insidious and sinister? See the video below and YOU be the judge, while keeping warm!

By Blurt Staff

Weezer and Allstar Products Group, marketer and distributor of the Snuggie, America's favorite "blanket with sleeves," have joined forces to create the official Weezer Snuggie.  It launched today and will bear the band's trademark "Weezer" logo.  This latest addition to the Snuggie collection will allow fans of the band to stay warm while keeping their hands free to rock out.
 

The Weezer Snuggie will be available for $29.99 for purchase online.  It arrives the same day as the band's latest album, Raditude. If you order the Snuggie NOW (1-866-66-SHIP8) they'll throw in a copy of the CD - that's an additional $15.98 value! Plus processing and handling, of course.

The Snuggie blanket was featured at New York Fall Fashion Week in September, where models graced the catwalk in some of the latest Snuggie designs, such Snuggie Wild Side in zebra and leopard print, Snuggie Soft Rose for breast cancer awareness and limited edition Snuggadelic Snuggie in funky tie-dye print.  

Latest pick of cool emerging artist in our ongoing collaboration with Sonicbids.

By Fred Mills

The BLURT staff put our heads (and ears) together and we have the latest (October 2009) pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Boston rockers The Vivs.

Featuring a lineup comprising assorted veterans of the Boss-town scene - several of the players gained regional fame in the ‘90s with Tribe, while early this century the Vivs initially came together under the moniker Edith - the group has a tough-as-nails sound that tilts towards distaff powerpop (think Patti Smith meets Bettie Serveert) while deploying stealth hooks a la classic postpunk outfits of the early ‘80s.

The lineup:

Karen Harris- Guitar/Vox
Terri Brosius- Keys/Vox
Matt Magee- Guitar
Jim Collins- Bass
Scott Rogers- Drums

On Sept. 22 they issued their debut album Mouth to Mouth, which they proudly describe as frontloaded with "songs you want to play loud" - indeed, that pretty much nails it, from the anthemic grandeur of "Falling off the Wagon (Onto You)" and the strummy, Beatlesque psych of "Waking Up" to the soaring girlgroup-styled pop of "Eiffel Tower" and the sassy, swaggering "Better Now." Throughout, frontwoman Karen Harris and keyboardist Terri Brosius serve up what they call "yin/yang vocals" and that's an apt description as well ‘cos there's a whole lotta chemistry going on here. Fun fact for all you Boston scenewatchers: producing and guesting on guitar on Mouth to Mouth are Eric Brosius from Tribe and David Minehan from the late, great Neighborhoods.

We'll have an interview with the band posted to the site shortly. Check out the band's MySpace page for song samples, tour dates and more. And congratulations to The Vivs. They're one of the good ‘uns, trust us.

***

Bands, go to www.sonicbids.com/blurtonline to submit and have us review your materials for feature consideration.

>Our November Best Kept Secret: The Handcuffs, from Chicago.

>Our December Best Kept Secret: Black Swan Green, from Brooklyn

>Our January Best Kept Secret: stephaniesĭd, from Asheville

>Our March Best Kept Secret: Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle, from England

>Our June Best Kept Secret: Wiretree, from Austin

>Our August Best Kept Secret: Bulletproof Vests, from Memphis

Blurt blogger spills the legal and moral beans in her latest entry. Make sure you read between the lines.

By Fred Mills

"Most of you are aware of my sublime, decadent Libertine indulgences that have made me somewhat of an outlaw in the Los Angeles social scene. I've never denied it."

Thus writes metal mistress and activist Otep Shamaya in her latest BLURT blog as she drops the bombshell: she's getting married - to a woman. "Why," she continues, "should I say no when an A-list actress decides she wants to walk on the dyke-side and engage in the dark Sapphic arts? I am madly in love and there is no going back."

However, there's one little hitch: the legalities involved.

"In order to legally (and morally) marry the woman I love - I have no other choice but to ...become A MAN. Yes, sexual-reassignment surgery. No, I am not kidding. I am buying a penis. A real one. Oh, how I will miss my magnificent breasts and elegant vagina! But say good-bye, I must. The doctor assures me that my metamorphosis will be a masterpiece that will shame Michelangelo! I will be fitted with two perfectly plump and proportioned testicles and (as the centerpiece) a beautiful, robust and veiny, 8-inch peen."

Read Otep's full blog HERE - comments are encouraged, incidentally. Her previous installment generated more reader commentary than any blog or story we've ever published at BLURT.

Otep on the web: http://www.myspace.com/otep . Essential listening: her new album Smash the Control Machine.

***

In other news, the bigoted voters of Maine yesterday rejected gay marriage, thereby repealing a 6-month old law in Maine that allowed same-sex marriages and joining California as yet one more bastion of Amerikan hypocrisy.

Good riddance to a band long past its shelf-life, we say, or at least we hope.

By Fred Mills

Oh dear. This is what happens when the BLURT newsdesk gives all the interns the weekend off while the editorial staff goes off on its annual Iron Man retreat in Wyoming - the normally on-the-tip BLURT misses the biggest news story of the, uh, week.

That's right: as 193 other media outlets are apparently reporting, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has quit the band, or so says guitarist Joe Perry.

Speaking to the Las Vegas Sun on Friday, Perry indicated that Tyler's last show with the band would be the recent one a week ago Sunday in Abu Dhabi: "Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don't know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don't know... He has had no contact with me or the other band members.

"Frankly, the last few months I've been wanting not to rock the boat. I don't want him canceling any more gigs. We really wanted to do these last four. We just kind of didn't want to call him out or anything and get him anymore pissed off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie. So we did the gigs and, like I said, I got off the plane and saw this online. That's how I know about it."

You can read the entire interview here, along with speculation over whether the band will look for a new singer. Apparently bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald that it was not an option and that he was hoping the admittedly strained relationships in the band could be patched up, but according to Perry, "You just can't disregard 40 years of four guys who play together as well as they do. We're just trying to - at least I am - trying to figure out what direction the band should take... I really don't know what path it's going to take at this point, but we'll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer and then we'll be able to move the Aerosmith up a notch, move the vibe up a notch."

Well, whatever. Doesn't sound like ANYBODY in this collection of monkeys is on the same page. Aside from the fact that Aerosmith hasn't been artistically relevant in a decade or more (is it just us, or is the Aerosmith - Guitar Hero game also dull as nails?), this all sounds like a bunch of posturing.

Cue up the arrival of lawyers: One thing you can always count on in the entertainment biz: when at-odds musical partners start hashing their beefs out in the media, it's nothing more than a glitter ‘n' gloss version of passive-aggressive behavior. Aerosmith ain't called the "bad boys" for nothing, either. So watch for more of this tit-for-tat as the story unfolds, followed by the inevitable solo project, followed by the inevitable reconciliation, followed by the inevitable mega-cash world tour.

Or maybe Tyler's just taking some time off to get those 8 facelifts he's been planning so he can do another swimsuit photo shoot....

So kids - what IS your fave Merge release to date? The Blurt Managing Editor has already picked his out...

By Blurt Staff

In celebration of the limited-edition release of the Merge Records Companion, Merge is holding a contest. To enter, visit the Merge message board and post a photograph of you and your favorite Merge album in the "Make Your Own Companion" forum for a chance to win an XX Merge prize pack.

The CD-sized Merge Records Companion contains photographs of every 7-inch, album, EP, and DVD (plus two cassettes!) Merge put out during our first 20 years. All proceeds from this limited-edition book will benefit the charities chosen by the fourteen SCORE! curators.

Just to help kick start the process, Blurt Managing Editor Fred Mills posed with his favorite Merge album, above... watch out, we think he's going viral, and he's rumored to have contracted the swine flu recently from Billy Corgan.

Freaky new line of teeshirts will also have No Age, Dinosaur Jr, the Kills and more doing designs for charity auctions.

By Blurt Staff

Remember  mixtapes? Insound has taken the classic mixtape concept, taken out the audio, blown up the personalized design and made it wearable - the mixtape t-shirt.

Designed by Andy Dixon of The Chemistry Designs, they've got three mixtape t-shirts on American Apparel: (1)"Best Love Songs," (2) "Best Break-Up Songs," and (3) a "Blank" mixtape design. The back of each mixtape shirt includes lines for you to write in your favorite song titles.

Insound also asked some of their favorite bands to customize their own mixtape shirts for us to auction offer for charity. Participating bands include The Hold Steady, No Age, Dinosaur Jr, Of Montreal, The Kills and more! These special, hand signed band mixtape shirts will be auctioned off via eBay, with all of the proceeds going to benefit the nonprofit 826NYC.ORG.  

The first two auctions (Of Montreal & The Hold Steady) begin today with more auctions scheduled to begin soon! Keep checking the Flickr feed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/insoundflickr/) for new shirts and auctions. Go here to order shirts:  http://www.insound.com/search/searchmain.jsp?query=mixtape+shirt.

Both current auctions can be viewed here:

Of Montreal: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260501294879

The Hold Steady: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260501296446

Fifth studio album to be issued by Mute early next year.

By Blurt Staff

The Liars' Sisterworld, the follow up to 2007's Liars, is slated for an early 2010 release. It was written and recorded in Los Angeles by Liars and Tom Biller (Kanye West, Beck, Where The Wild Things Are / Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind soundtracks)

This is the first Liars album to be recorded entirely in the USA since 2004's They Were Wrong, So We Drowned. Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross reportedly took "inspiration from fringe characters lured to LA and the resulting subcultures and alternate spaces that they generate."

They add, a bit more ethereally, that the album represents their "own space, completely devoid of influence, somewhere remote from the false promises and discarded dreams amassed in LA... underground support systems created to deal with loss of self to society.

"We're interested in the alternate spaces people create in order to maintain identity in a city like LA. Environments where outcasts and loners celebrate a skewered relationship to society".

So there ya go. Makes sense to us. Sorta. Go to http://www.thesisterworld.com/ for more fun.

Sophomore album due in February from VICE.

By Blurt Staff

Pierced Arrows, the Portland-based trio featuring Fred and Toody Cole of the seminal punk band Dead Moon have announced their signing to VICE Records for the release of their sophomore LP Descending Shadows on February 2nd.  It's the followup to their 2008 debut Straight To the Heart (reviewed at BLURT here).
 
 
Descending Shadows expands on their fervently rough signature sound, recorded at Portland's Buzz or Howl Studios and mastered to vinyl lacquer per tradition at Fred and Toody's home.  Promising to herald a new generation of fans steeped in the progeny which Dead Moon influenced, Descending Shadows will provide longtime followers of the Cole's work with a new vital installment of what Fred once described as "rock'n'roll that's rough, ragged, and honest", a sincere answer to the void of emotion lacking in today's era.
 
 
During their defiant career, Dead Moon released a staggering 16 albums.  Many of which were engineered and mastered direct to vinyl lacquers by Fred Cole on his 40-year old home lathe, the likes of which being infamous for cutting the original version of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie".  Since the late 1960s Fred and Toody also ran seminal music equipment stores and their own general store in their hometown of Clackamas, OR (Freedom Guitar, Captain Whizeagles, Tombstone Music), well known for outfitting generations of Portland musicians.  Influencing many garage punk bands, Dead Moon are cited as a vital inspiration for the DIY movement, Dead Moon in part spawned an international phenomenon of focus on the Pacific Northwest music scene throughout the 90's.
 
 
Following the disbandment of Dead Moon in 2006, Fred and Toody continued their endeavors, eventually tapping veteran Portland-based Kelly Halliburton (Severed Head of State, Defiance) to play drums for their next incarnation as Pierced Arrows.  Coincidentally, Kelly's father happened to play with Fred in his first band Albatross in 1972.  In line with Fred and Toody's ethical and cultural ideals, Kelly's role in the band was set. Debut Straight To The Heart  was released on Tombstone Records, echoing the raw murky blues and country influence of Dead Moon as well as their first punk incarnation in the early 1980s as The Rats, the veterans (now in their 50's) continued their tradition of powerful raucous live performances, touring heavily through the US and Europe for legions of Dead Moon fans eager to revisit the band's new direction.

Stream "Paranoia" from Descending Shadows HERE.

[Photo Credit: Simone Muller]

Hard to find early albums to be remixed and remastered as a double CD.

By Blurt Staff

Not long ago we filled you in on the unusual documentary about Minnesota band Cloud Cult, titled No One Said It Would Be Easy: A Film About Cloud Cult and directed by John Paul Burgess. Now word comes that on December 8^th Cloud Cult will release a double-disc reissue of They Live on the Sun (2003) and Aurora Borealis (2004) - two of their earliest albums.  These two home recorded releases have been re-envisioned, remixed and remastered for the first time by Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa and this special double-disc release will contain previously unreleased bonus tracks.   The albums, which are now out of print and could only be purchased at live gigs and select Independent record stores, will be available for the first time nationwide and fans can take advantage of a presale on the band's web site in late November (www.cloudcult.com).

Minowa created these albums during 18 months of seclusion at his Northern Minnesota organic farm after his two-year-old son passed away unexpectedly in 2002.   Originally released on the band's own Earthology Records, they were mainly available on a local level due to a shoe-string credit card budget.  Despite the limited distribution, They Live on the Sun landed on Pitchfork's 2004 Year-End "Found Sound column" and was put into rotation at KEXP, while Aurora Borealis climbed to the Top 5 on KEXP.  In addition, both albums found fans at college radio across the US.

All of the attention these early albums received helped this Minneapolis band break out onto the national scene and it only seems fitting that they reissue these releases as the band is gearing up to hit the road in Spring of 2010 after taking their longest break from touring in 6 years.  A self -imposed hiatus, the break gave Craig and his wife Connie time to adjust to being parents again as they welcomed a new addition to their family this October. 

Cloud Cult has gone on to sell more than 30,000 copies of its follow-up releases, despite turning down major label offers along the way.   In addition, they've just ended a very busy year where they played Coachella for the first time, made their late night TV debut on Last Call with Carson Daly and co-headlined a nationwide tour with Margot and The Nuclear So and So's.   Following the reissue this Winter and the Spring 2010 tour, the band is gearing up for a new album release in the Fall of 2010

Yet more limited editions... will the madness never end?!?

By Fred Mills

Billboard is reporting that on December 8, Apple and EMI will finally be issuing the Beatles back catalog digitally, and as Fab Four watchers know all too well, this essentially breaks a long-standing logjam in terms of bringing that catalog into the modern era since to date Apple has resisted selling the group's songs separate from CD or LP. But before all you iTunes fans get all hot and bothered, you need to know one thing: the songs aren't going to be sold through iTunes - yet - but rather on a single, limited edition USB drive, shaped like a green apple, natch.

According to Billboard, "The 16MB USB is available for pre-order at the online Beatles store, priced $279.99. A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and audio and visual contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats. The content is fully compatible with Mac and PC."

The limited edition (only 30,000 units will be sold) contains the fourteen Beatles stereo remasters along with associated liner notes and visual elements that were included with the remastered CDs released on Sept. 9.

Meanwhile, if you are wondering what to do this Saturday (Nov.7), maybe hop over to your local indie record shop because it will be another Record Store Day. Maybe consider doing that EARLY, as the RecordStoreDay.com site advises us:

Record Store Day is proud to celebrate this connection with a special 40th Anniversary edition of Abbey Road that includes the vinyl album, and a t-shirt that featuring the original artwork for the "Come Together"/"Something" 7" single, along with a corresponding poster. This limited edition deluxe package will be release on Vinyl Saturday, November 7th in the United States and will be limited to 5000 in the world. Check with your local store for availability.

Go to the Record Store Day site for details on this and other goodies that will be featured at selected shops.

Featuring Greg Dulli, Drive-By Truckers, Wussy, Heartless Bastards, Buffalo Killer, Donnie Fritts and more.

By Fred Mills

They're calling ‘em "Very Extremely Dangerous Singles," and if you are familiar with the visceral power of the late Eddie Hinton's music, you'll know right off it's an apt label.

Cincinatt's Shake It Records, a combined label and record store operation, has just launched a tribute series to the great Southern rock/soul songwriter, who was a mainstay of the Muscle Shoals scene in Alabama and played with everyone from Wilson Picket to Aretha Franklin to the Box Tops while also issuing a few now-rare solo records. He died in 1995 from a heart attack at the age of 55.

Shake It's Darren Blase decided he wanted to create limited edition 45s of artists covering Hinton, and he subsequently lined up Greg Dulli, the Drive-By Truckers, Heartless Bastards and Wussy to pitch in thus far, with plans to do 10 singles total. The Dulli and Truckers singles are just now coming out in Cincinnati and will have an official national release date of Nov. 24, but only 2000 copies of each are being pressed.

According to an interview with Blase done by BLURT contributor Steven Rosen for Cincinnati's City Beat, "After the Wussy and Bastards singles early next year, there will be 45s from Cincinnati's Buffalo Killers and Southern Soul singer/songwriter Donnie Fritts. Blase is working with other national and international acts, too."

Blase, quoted in the article, added, "My introduction to Eddie Hinton was in the backroom of Mole's Records in Clifton in about 1987 or 1988, when I found a copy of [1978 album] Very Extremely Dangerous for about 99 cents and thought that it looked cool. So I took it home and thought it was great... The reason for doing it as a series of 45s is he's a great singles songwriter and never had hits on his own. And it's my favorite format. If you can't do it in three minutes, do not do it. I like the aesthetic of it."

Read Rosen's entire story here. For details on the Hinton project and how to order the records, go to the Shake It site. 

How does a limited edition of 100 strike you? Panicking yet?

By Fred Mills

There are limited editions, and then there are LIMITED EDITIONS... in the era of jpegs and MP3s, the legendary Minneapolis band Halo of Flies (a/k/a H*O*F) has not only gone above and beyond the call, Ltd. Ed.-wise, by making its new album a run of just 100 copies, every single CD features different artwork.

It's a collaboration with the band Gay Witch Abortion and it's titled, quite sensibly, the Gay Witch Abortion Sessions. One of the sleeves is pictured above.

According to H*O*F's mainman Tom Hazelmyer - also of Amphetamine Reptile Records fame - the idea was to craft a genuine collector's item that would have genuine longterm value, although for fans who simply want the music, he'll be making the tunes. available via digital retailers.

All the CD sleeves are pictured at the Ox-Op site, where we are advised thusly:

What is pictured here are those sleeves. Keep in mind that the picture is of a gatefold CD sleeve. Front and back of the sleeve on the upper 1/2 of the picture, and the inside of the gatefold on the lower 1/2 of the photo. ALSO: These scans are 90% accurate. They we done prior to last rounds of small typeset stamper (see #64 as sample) and final spot coats of gloss varnish, as then they would've been difficult to scan. What is not pictured is that each CD will come with an individual/actual one of a lined Polaroid of the musician types, and a credits insert done on the back of hand cut Aesthetic Apparatus test prints so each one of the inserts is a one of a kind as well. Each CD is numbered, and this 100 will be the entire edition of CD's!!

The folks just after the music, hold tight as you'll be able to get your fix through iTunes, eMusic and others soon.

CENSORSHIP NOTE: The pornographic bits on these sleeves have been pixelated out to protect the OX-OP site from Joe Lieberman shooting at it with a cannon. Rest assured that the actual physical copy of these sleeves will be properly salacious.

Check it out and get your orders in soon via the Ox-Op site (or email rob@ox-op.com), as they appear to be going fast. Incidentally, Hazelmyer's no stranger to limited editions - many of his early AmRep singles were numbered/limited and have since gone on to be huge collector's items.

Two maverick bands team up to go out on a maverick tour... no Sarah Palins allowed... what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

King Khan & BBQ Show are about to hit the road with their distaff pals Those Darlins, and you know that's gonna be a good thing. If you ain't up on all this yet, be prepared for some serious garage-rockin', roots-twangin' chaos. See below for tour dates, and meanwhile, here are some testimonials:

Those Darlins', out of Tennessee, crank a sound as raw and sassy as Wanda Jackson in her prime. These three 20-something ladies - Kelley, Jessi and Nikki Darlin' - hitch down-home gospel harmonies to uptempo punk beats, honky tonk guitar riffs to acerbic lyrics. Trad country subject matter, loving, losing and, especially, drinking, takes on a willful female streak in these songs. How many guys come home loaded and eat a whole chicken ("The Whole Damned Thing")? And only a girl, grounded by a DUI, would urge her sisters, "Remember if you want to drink and drive/Better find a boy to take you home at night." This spring's Wild One EP previewed the self-titled album's three best songs: "Wild One," "The Whole Damned Thing" and "Snaggle Toothed Mama." Since then, the band and producer Jeff Curtin (Vampire Weekend) have fleshed out the songs nicely - without sacrificing any of their bite. - Blurt Magazine (Jennifer Kelly)

King Khan must have thought Blurt was stalking him at this year's SXSW in Austin, for not only did we catch him perform multiple times, we somehow wound up in his proximity at a slew of other shows (that Sonics gig was awesome). Coincidence, honest! Meanwhile, though, we're definitely obsessed by his latest waxings. Invisible Girl finds KK and his pal BBQ (aka Mark Sultan) dancing across a lo-fi minefield with a light-footed, guitar-and-drums glee. Everything from messy-but-sexy doo-wop ("Anala") and jangly neo-British Invasion ("Invisible Girl") to Nuggets-approved garage stomp ("Truth or Dare") and ‘60s soul ("I'll Be Lovin' You," which sounds like Sam Cooke fronting the White Stripes) comes under their purview-in short, exactly what you've come to expect from the duo. - Blurt Magazine (Fred Mills)

"The first time I heard Khan and BBQ was in the passenger seat of a Mustang convertible, driving too fast with the top down. I'm sure I was standing and screaming, and I may have been waving my shirt around my head. This is the music of rumpus and puberty, a sweaty hug from an old friend, crystallized for anytime ingestion." - Atlanta Music Guide (Bryan Aiken)

"I thought I'd knew what to expect from Those Darlins on stage-quirky, Carter Family-influenced country-pop. Nope. These girls blew their audience away...Straight outta Appalachia, these girls are brazen and bewitching, and bring a straight-up rock ‘n' roll spontaneity and excitement to the stage like I haven't seen in quite some time. I hope they move to San Francisco and become my friends, but no matter where they end up, Those Darlins are going places."- Crawdaddy (Angela Zimmerman)

TOUR DATES:

11/4 Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
11/5 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
FRI 11/6 NEW ORLEANS, LA - Spellcaster Lodge
SAT 11/7 Batton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
TUE 11/10 MEMPHIS, TN Hi Tone
WED 11/11 NASHVILLE, TN Exit/In
THUR 11/12 ST. LOUIS, MO Off Broadway
11/13 Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
SAT 11/14 DENVER, CO Bluebird
MON 11/16 PHOENIX, AZ Rhythm Room
TUE 11/17 LOS ANGELES, CA Troubadour
WED 11/18 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Independent
FRI 11/20 PORTLAND, OR Dante's
SAT 11/21 SEATTLE, WA Chop Suey
SUN 11/22 BELLINGHAM, WA The Nightlight
MON 11/23 VANCOUVER, BC The Red Room
WED 11/25 CALGARY, AB Warehouse 
THUR 11/26 EDMONTON, AB Pawn Shop
FRI 11/27 SASKATOON, SK Amigos 
SAT 11/28 WINNIPEG, MB Royal Albert
SUN 11/29 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Triple Rock
TUE 12/1 MILWAUKE, WI Mad Planet
WED 12/2 CHICAGO, IL Logan Square
THUR 12/3 CINCINNATI, OH Northside Tavern

In demand skinsman played with Turing Machine, !!!, The Juan Maclean, Maserati and others.

By Fred Mills

Sad news for indie fans arrived over the weekend: Brooklyn-based drummer Jerry Fuchs died Saturday night following a fall down a freight elevator shaft. He'd been at a Williamsburg fundraiser and had attempted to jump a few feet from a still-descending elevator but caught his clothing on the elevator, swung back, and tumbled into the elevator shaft, a five-story drop. He died later at Bellevue Hospital. Fuchs was 34.

According to Fuch's Wikipedia page the drummer had gotten his start in bands while attending the University of Georgia in Athens. In 1996 he co-founded Turing Machine, later playing with !!! and The Juan Maclean. Most recently he'd been a member of Maserati, appearing on the albums Inventions for the New Season (2007) and Passages (2009). Most recently Maserati completed a September-October tour with Mono.

Five song EP to serve as stopgap release while we wait for next full-length.

By Blurt Staff

Animal Collective are set to release a new five track studio EP on November 23rd 2009 (digitally) and 15th December (physically).

Titled Fall Be Kind, it was recorded by Ben Allen at Sweet Tea in Oxford, MS in February 2008 and at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, NY August 2009. The EP includes recent live favorites "Graze" and "What Would I Want? Sky" (featuring the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample). 

The EP comes less than one year after the band's acclaimed album Merriweather Post Pavilion which wowed fans and critics across the globe. Your friendly neighborhood BLURT - mindful of the hype that's surrounded the band of late - offered a positive, if somewhat cautionary assessment, writing:

Merriweather Post Pavilion may be the most hyped album by a band few people have ever heard of. Before it was even officially released, bloggers were proclaiming it the best album of 2009. In this case, you can believe the hype - well, most of it anyway. Merriweather is a very strong album and another step forward for an already-terrific band. But it's not quite a masterpiece. What Animal Collective has done is combine the electronics, psychedelia and tribal rhythms of its previous records with the Beach-Boys-In-Space sound of band member Panda Bear's 2007 solo album Person Pitch. The result is an album that's both experimental and accessible, a rare feat. But like Person Pitch, there are times when Merriweather is too focused on a sound or mood, instead of on actual songs. For every "Summertime Clothes," which could be played on Top 40 radio in an alternate universe, there are other tracks that, while always interesting, tend to run together. In other words, it's an album well worth owning. Just don't sell your copy of Pet Sounds for it.

With that in mind, keep your eyes peeled for a review of the new EP around the time of the digital release. We've been listening to it over the past week and thumbs are definitely up so far.

Track Listing:

1 - Graze
2 - What Would I Want? Sky
3 - Bleed
4 - On a Highway
5 - I Think I Can

Winners get to appear on special compilation that will be distributed next April on Record Store Day... plus a grand prize from Fender to boot!

By Blurt Staff

EMI Label Services/Caroline Distribution are working hand in hand with independent record stores to invoke a great rock tradition: a BATTLE OF THE BANDS amongst local high-school groups across the nation.

The events are taking place at participating stores through mid-November. The "winning" band as chosen by each local store will have the chance to have a song included on a compilation that will be released on Record Store Day (April 17, 2010). The finalists will then be reviewed and one band will be selected to receive the grand prize of recording time with a legendary music producer, and a complete gear outfit courtesy of Fender Musical Instrument Corporation.

As stated by Dominic Pandiscia, SVP/GM EMI Label Services and Caroline Distribution, "The Battle of the Bands campaign reinforces the record store as a key hub of activity for students.  We're incredibly excited to work with all associated partners to nurture local music talent, while creating exciting events at local independent stores."

Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day, a celebration of independent record stores, saw this as a great opportunity to get the local community involved. The compilation of winners will be released on Record Store Day and the winning band from each market will be invited to perform in-store. "The organizers behind Record Store Day have helped develop artists as incredible as Regina Spektor, Flyleaf, and Linkin Park," said Kurtz.  "Additionally, we've been doing our part to help build the audience of such amazing bands as Wilco, Joss Stone, and Evanescence, while celebrating the music of artists like Tom Waits, Green Day and Radiohead with special RSD vinyl releases. It is exciting to now help an aspiring high school band discover that when they work hard, other people will step in to help. Helping the Fender Music Foundation bring funding and resources to the local communities is especially gratifying."

The winning band, to be selected by Merovingian Music President Jack Ponti and Fender Director of Entertainment Marketing Del Breckenfeld, will be outfitted with Fender equipment, including  a Fender Road Worn^TM '50s Strat® , a  Fender Road Worn '50s Precision Bass®, a Fender California Series^TM Kingman^TM SCE Electric Acoustic,·  a Fender Super-Sonic^TM Amp; a Fender Bassman® Fifteen Bass Amp;  a Gretsch® Blackhawk^TM Drum Kit, Sabian® Cymbals and Gibraltar® Drum Hardware.  Nine runner-up bands will receive Fender G-DEC® Amps (one per band), preloaded with loops and other tools, for practicing and songwriting.

The winning band will also have studio time with legendary producer/musician/manager/ songwriter Jack Ponti (Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, India.Arie, Aiden, Boyz II Men).  The recording will then be mixed by Kevin Shirley (aka The Caveman) who has mixed records for Iron Maiden, HIM, Slayer, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.

In addition, participating local bands will have the chance to open for The Sunstreak at select high schools around the country. Signed to Merovingian Records, The Sunstreak, veterans of the Vans Warped tour, self-recorded their soon to be released, Once Upon A Lie on a MacBook, exemplifying the "do it yourself" indie spirit of the "Battle of the Bands" campaign.  

Details and updates at www.recordstoreday.com .

Pablove Foundation fundraiser in Hollywood to include Tom Morello, BRMC, Tom Gabel, Shirley Manson, Sea Wolf, Butch Walker, Jarrod Gorbel and more.

By Blurt Staff

Here's a message from Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell, so listen up ‘cos it's for a worthwhile charity:

***

Hi everyone -

We're really excited to announce a very special benefit show in Los Angeles to raise money for children's cancer research, and help families fighting this terrible disease. I hope you guys can help us get the word out. Information about the show and the charity, The Pablove Foundation, is below. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any more info, and thanks much for your help!

Ben

Please join us on November 21, for a very special Pablove Foundation benefit show at the Avalon in Hollywood. The show will feature stripped-down performances from:

Band of Horses

Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Shirley Manson of Garbage

Tom Gabel of Against Me!

Sea Wolf

Butch Walker

Jarrod Gorbel of Honorary Title

Songs for Kids

and more!

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.

The Pablove Foundation raises money to improve the lives of children with cancer. Your ticket purchase directly benefits the charity's programs. These include funding pediatric cancer research, helping families without health insurance, and improving hospital playrooms. Please visit www.pablove.org  to learn more.

The alt-rock legends bring Doolittle to Oakland's Fox Theater.

By David Downs

Legendary alternative rock band Pixies howled the ferocious language of Doolittle to thousands of rabid, animalistic fans at a rare, sold-out engagement in Oakland's $92 million, restored 1930s picture palace, the Fox Theater Sunday night.

Only the band's second U.S. tour date in four years, lead singer Black Francis, bassist Kim Deal, drummer David Lovering and guitarist Joey Santiago devoured a dream-come-true setlist including the entirety of Doolittle ("Monkey Gone To Heaven", "Here Comes Your Man", "Hey", "Tame", and "Debaser"), with two encores including "Gigantic", "Caribou", and Fight Club anthem "Where Is My Mind?"

Twenty years into the release of the influential record, and Doolittle has become the Rosetta Stone to alternative music - everything important, from Nirvana to Modest Mouse to Built To Spill can be decoded through Pixies and Sunday night the band proved that three chords and two minutes of their time was often enough to encompass the entire artistic career of other bands. The now-forty-something icons executed Doolittle commendably, if not flawlessly, changing up some choruses and attacks, like Black Francis' slow, whispering, Gollum-esque version of "Wave of Mutilation".

Dressed in black, the rotund juggernaut Francis kept the rock talk near zero Sunday night, leaving the banter to the adorably ebullient Kim Deal. "Thanks for inviting us to this beautiful fucking place," Deal gushed. She occasionally narrated the set list, and joked with the crowd, "Anybody coming tomorrow? We're playing the same songs," referring to their three-night run at the Fox.

Santiago and Lovering focused on the music amid a riveting production that used copious amounts of fog, a video projector of gigantic proportions, and a dynamic, 3-D, lighted sculpture that would dance above Pixies' heads.

The band seemed to embrace the sing-along aspect of a re-union tour to perform Doolittle, feeding the crowd lyrics on the video screen, and further amplifying that strange feeling when you're at a show and everyone is singing every word of every song. It was a rapturous, teenage fantasy occasion for most in the crowd, darkly underlined by the brooding, anxious themes in the music.

The show opened with a weird, dark surreal piece of film - 1929 silent short Un chien andalou - that ends with a couple sinking into the sand and it's important to remember that the working title for Doolittle was Whore. The end of the '80s featured the withdrawal of Soviet Forces from Afghanistan after a disastrous nine-year campaign, the Pan Am bombings, the massacre at Tiananmen Square, and Reagan followed by George H.W. Bush. Doolittle is more than just a primer for the '90s, it was a harbinger, conveying the overweening sense of dread and comedy that would mark the century's turn, skid, and ultimate slide off the highway - tree branches whipping the windshield as we rolled off into the abyss. It was all there on vinyl in 1989, if you knew how to listen.

"I can't believe this album came out 20 years ago" quipped TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone, who opened with solo act Rain Machine. "Pixies saved me in high school."

****

The Pixies have a free EP of live music they are giving away on the Internet at their website and are currently selling Deluxe and Limited Editions of box set Minotaur. The Deluxe is $150. The Limited Edition is $500, weighs 25 pounds, and is limited to 3,000, individually numbered units, hand-signed by every member of Pixies and Vaughan Oliver. Visit www.ainr.com to buy.

[Photo Credit: Chris Glass]

Tour canceled on the eve of its kickoff... new album in stores today.

By Fred Mills

Okay, so the new album The Fountain is easily the worst record Echo & the Bunnymen have ever done - despite showing occasional glimmers of Bunnymen greatness, it sounds like years of alcohol and chemical abuse have finally taken their toll (and anyone who saw the band's horrific, incoherent state back in March at SXSW will agree that this damn bunny's been boiled). Read our review of the album here.

But hey, just because a group delivers a substandard product is no reason to keep ‘em out of the damn country! They just might redeem themselves, even. However, it would appear that our very own IRS decided to intervene, therefore causing the cancellation of what would have been an 8-date, high profile tour. The following press release was just slipped over the BLURT transom that will explain. Meanwhile, go listen to some earlier E&TB albums and console yourselves (but don't listen to The Fountain; it'll just depress you).

***

Echo & the Bunnymen are saddened and extremely disappointed to have to announce the cancellation of their upcoming US tour dates.  The band planned the performances in conjunction with the US release of their new album The Fountain, out November 10th.  The cancellation of the tour is due to the rejection of the band's Central Withholding Agreement (CWA) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The rejection was unexpected as the Echo & the Bunnymen team submitted the necessary paperwork in due time and in accordance with the process that had been followed on previous tours. Additionally, the IRS offered no reasoning for the rejection and was unresponsive to our inquiries. This CWA allows for foreign entertainers to be paid in full, otherwise promoters are legally obliged to withhold a minimum of 30% in lieu of tax which ultimately will not allow for a tour to happen at this time.

However, we have some very exciting news for the rest of 2009 and on into 2010! The hotly anticipated new album The Fountain will be available Tuesday, November 10. Exclusive bundles will be available through band's website, www.bunnymen.com, and are currently available for pre-order. The bundles include exclusive Ocean Rain sheet music for the well-known track "Silver" as well as an exclusive t-shirt. We will also be rescheduling the cancelled tour dates and adding additional dates in early 2010.

Cancelled Tour Dates:

Nov. 15 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Nov. 17 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
Nov. 18 - State College, Pittsburgh, PA - State Theatre
Nov. 20 - Glenside, PA - Kewsick Theatre
Nov. 21 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne
Nov. 22 - New York, NY- Hammerstein
Nov. 23 - Boston, MA- House of Blues
Nov. 25 - Chicago, IL - Metro

Them Crooked Vultures' self-titled debut arrives next week but you can hear it now at YouTube.

By Blurt Staff

The other day the upcoming Them Crooked Vultures album leaked to the Internet (it subsequently turned up at scores of sites, including this one which is still offering up a download of the entire thing). So in advance of the Nov. 17 release by DGC/Interscope, they decided the only thing to do was make it available for streaming via YouTube. Here are the official details:

In response to the leak of Them Crooked Vultures' album, the band has made the unprecedented decision to stream the record in its entirety beginning with first track "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" http://bit.ly/stream_tcv

Them Crooked Vultures' self-titled debut album is due out November 17 in the United States and Canada on DGC/Interscope Records. Its release has been preceded by first single "New Fang" currently streaming at http://www.myspace.com/crookedvultures and "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" now available as a free iTunes download.

The spudboys from O - HI - O recreate their classic debut LP - politically incorrect lyrics ‘n' all - last Friday (Nov. 6).

By Jud Cost

The recently renamed Regency Ballroom at the corner of Sutter and Van Ness - about a stone's throw from storied old San Francisco hippie venue the Avalon - was jammed to the rafters tonight with an all-ages demographic, abuzz over the reappearance of the Ohio spudboys, DEVO. There were tattered, 30-year-old DEVO t-shirts stretched over some patrons and flower-pot hats on others. One enthusiastic young guy, wearing a pork pie chapeau with glow-in-the-dark plastic ribbon spelling out the band's name, took a flying header trying to climb over an aluminum barricade. I never did see him get up; he might still be lying there.

As recent college students from Kent State and fresh out of Akron ("What's round on the end and "HI" in the middle? O-HI-O!"), DEVO first played the eye of San Fran's punk hurricane, the Mabuhay Gardens, in 1977 before they'd released their first LP on Warner Bros. A hardy crowd of about 60 were treated that night to a short, band-produced 1974 film called The Truth About De-evolution before the inventors of robot-rock took the stage. With their synchronized, herky-jerky movements, hazmat-style uniforms and mechanical vocals, DEVO left a trail of popcorn in the woods that night for such current practitioners of android-inspired indie-rock as Grandaddy, Radiohead and Mercury Rev to follow, decades later.

Oddly enough, George Hunter, the man behind the concept of the Charlatans, the Edwardian-clad, S.F.-based rock combo who trailblazed the hippie revolution in 1965, once told me of his original idea to dress the band like robots playing angular robot music. That probably would never have flown in the Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love, but DEVO took it to the bank 11 years later at the height of the punk revolution.

The blueprint tonight called for DEVO to play their entire debut longplayer, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!, something not to be missed. (The album was recently reissued by Warner Bros. in expanded/remastered form.) It was that rare occasion where a band now in its fifties doesn't lose much by being middle-aged. Graying hair and thickened middles only added to the suburbia-gone-insane original game plan. Mark Mothersbaugh peered briefly out at the already-gyrating mob through coke-bottle spectacles before leading his platoon, all decked out in banana-slug yellow jumpsuits, into an assault on the album's opener, "Uncontrollable Urge." Before the set was 15 minutes old, Mothersbaugh had ripped the sleeves off the rest of the band that included original members Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald and Bob Casale, still squaring off their stage turns like it was Nazi boot camp. 

Eventually, the boys stripped off the sweaty jumpsuits, tossed them into the sea of faces, and lit a magnesium fire under the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," whose sprung rhythm was stretched like an industrial-strength rubber band with jaw-busting lyrics like: "And I try and I try/And I try try try try try try try/I can't get me no/Satisfaction." 

"Jocko Homo" is the one everyone's been waiting for: "They tell us that we lost our tails/Evolving up from little snails/I say it's all just wind and sails/Are we not men?/We are DEVO/Are we not pins?/We are DEVO!" The pinhead reference, of course, is just the tip of the politically incorrect iceberg. The original lyrics to the very rocking "Mongoloid," easily DEVO's best song, are diluted not a whit for the Obama generation. "Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid, happier than you and me/Mongoloid he was a mongoloid, one chromosome too many/And he wore a hat and he had a job and he brought home the bacon so that no one knew/He was a Mongoloid, he was a Mongoloid/And no one even cared." 

Complaining about tactless passages depicting the genetically challenged in these songs from almost 35 years ago would seem about as pointless now as sanitizing the insensitive racial terminology used by Mark Twain 125 years ago. The boys' own lyrics supply the answer to the conundrum: "Teachers and critics all dance the poot." After all, in the Old Testament according to DEVO, "God made man but the monkey supplied the rules."

[Photo of DEVO in Dallas 2006 by Michael Pilmer, via www.myspace.com/devo]

Entire UK tour will be available on USB drives - fans can buy them before leaving the venue.

By Blurt Staff

Well, it's not exactly Dick's Picks, but still... kinda cool. Simple Minds today announced they will issue their forthcoming ‘Graffiti Soul' UK tour entirely on USB sticks directly after each concert. 

Each USB stick will come with an individual serial code number. Fans who attend the forthcoming UK tour dates, which kicks off at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on November 30th, will be able to purchase the live recording USB sticks directly after the concerts and can download the encores once they install the memory stick into their USB port on their computers. To download the encores, the user can automatically hyperlink to www.concert-online.com and can enter the serial code clearly marked on their USB concert stick.

The USB drive's pop-up menu is displayed above.

Effectively, fans will be able to purchase a memory stick for all eight of Simple Minds' UK concerts. Every concert will feature a different selection of Simple Minds songs; no two concerts will have the same set list.

The live concert USB stick is the brainchild of Germany-based Concert Online. Simple Minds are the latest rock band to participate in Concert Online's live concert USB stick campaign, following in the footsteps of other name bands that include KISS and Madness.

"In addition to buying the USB stick after the concert at the merchandise stall," says Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr, "no matter where you are in the world, you can go online and download the songs from that show, or you can have the stick packaged and sent directly to you. It's amazing."

More details here - the sticks will also be available via mail order.

Whirlwind 4-date tour slated for early January.

By Blurt Staff

Hold onto your hats, the men from ALL are hitting the East Coast for their first shows there in 7 years! For those of you who have been living in a cave, ALL evolved from The Descendents, a band who once claimed they couldn't sell out a telephone booth but whose impact on rock is undeniable.  The Descendents created ALL, a concept celebrating the satisfaction that comes from one's highest achievement, eventually naming their new band in tribute to their own personal ideology.  After more than 25 years, there have been line-up changes and a complicated chronology for each member involving spouses, kids, doctorate degrees, labels and recording studios, making touring more of a challenge than in less complicated times. ALL will hit Cambridge, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Brooklyn in January 2010 with Scott Reynolds on vocals joining Bill Stevenson (drums), Karl Alvarez (bass) and Stephen Egerton (guitar).

After years of hiatus, ALL reunited at 2008's Riot Fest in Chicago, setting the stage for additional shows in Japan and in Denver later that year. In July of this year the band headed to their homeland, Southern California for a series of shows, where they were joined by Descendents band mate Tony Lombardo at two shows. Another one-off show in Portland last month set the stage for this brand new set of shows on the opposite coast.

ALL will be joined by Off With Their Heads and Shot Baker for the following shows:

WED   JAN 6             CAMBRIDGE, MA               THE MIDEAST

THU   JAN 7             PHILADELPHIA, PA            FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH

FRI      JAN 8             BALTIMORE, MD                THE OTTOBAR

SAT    JAN 9             BROOKLYN, NY                  MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

[Photo Credit: Stacie Stevenson]

Well, it ain't quite the Simpsons, but it's pretty damn close! Zach Galifianakis fans, keep reading too...

By Blurt Staff

My Morning Jacket will get ‘tooned when they appear in an episode of FOX's hit show "American Dad" to air November 22 on the Fox Network. Titled "My Morning Straightjacket," the episode will feature 6 MMJ songs spanning their 10-year catalogue, and the band will be guest-voicing as themselves.  Comedian Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, "Bored to Death") will be featured as a super-fan.  To commemorate the episode, ATO Records will release a digital EP on iTunes including the 6 featured tracks and selected dialogue clips taken from the show.

The concept behind the episode was conceived by "American Dad" co-creator Mike Barker, who tells the story of how it all came together in the Q&A below, issued in a press release:

How did you first discover My Morning Jacket?

One of my writers, Matt Fusfeld, turned me onto them.  He played "Bermuda Highway" for me in the office one day and I was instantly transfixed.

How'd this collaboration come about? Who seduced who?

"Who seduced who?" That makes it sound like this game is already over.  Look, this isn't over until halfway through a live performance of Steam Engine, Jim reaches into the audience and pulls me up on stage like I'm a pre-cougar Courtney Cox.

But if I might be professional for a moment, the word "seduction" implies that there has been some sort of manipulation on either my part or the band's, when in fact, it's the two art forms themselves - Writing and Music, that sought each other out.  In the end, we are all just instruments of the Goddess of Art.  I'm not sure who that is, but in my head she looks exactly like Scarlett Johanssen.  

You're not being very specific...

Honestly, it was an organic evolution.  I was at Bonnaroo in the summer of 2008, watching MMJ play their guts out in the rain at 4 a.m. when the idea for the episode struck me.  I pitched the idea to the guys the next day and thankfully they were on board.  

What makes My Morning Jacket a good fit for American Dad?

The best band in the world appearing on the 59^th top-rated show on television?  It's a no-brainer.

What is the spirit of the episode that features the band?

 I guess you'd call it a quest.  A "hero's journey" as Joseph Campbell coined the term in his now-classic autobiography, Thick Enough to Eat Me With A Fork:  Growing Up a Campbell in the Halcyon Days of Canned Soups.

Which character is the biggest My Morning Jacket Fan?

 You'll have to watch the episode to find out!  But I'll give you a hint:  it's not Francine, Steve, Hayley, Roger, or Klaus.  

Did the band have input on how they were animated? 

We gave the band customary consultation and they signed off on all of the artwork we ran by them.  It's always tricky animating real people.  Because you're not just animating them to resemble who they are in real life, you also have to make sure they resemble characters that live in the American Dad universe, and that carries with it a whole host of challenging parameters for our animators.   But I think our character designers did a great job at capturing Jim and the guys.
 

If Kiss is the semi-official Family Guy band, does that mean My Morning Jacket is the semi-official American Dad band?

Hell, let's just make them the official band.  

Filmed by same director who handled PJ Harvey's 2006 doc "On Tour".

By Blurt Staff

Whattaya get when you send Howe Gelb off on tour and have a filmmaker follow him around? Why, a Howe Gelb music documentary, of course, and if you're familiar with Gelb (frontman for Giant Sand) you know that a doc on him won't be your garden variety doc. You can see a clip from it, below.

‘Sno Angel Winging It follows the collaboration of Gelb and his band plus the Voices of Praise gospel choir. Filmed in the UK, Spain and Canada over 2 years by director Maria Mochnacz - PJ Harvey - On Tour: Please Leave Quietly (2006) - it shows the coming together and subsequent recording session and tour of musicians from very different backgrounds. In the words of choir director Steve Johnston, "Taking a gospel choir, with what we stand for - our beliefs, out on the road with a rock and roll band; you have absolutely no idea what to expect!"

In the words of Gelb:


rock documentaries suck.

this one is no different, except maybe, cause it was left in the talented hands of maria mochnaz (who shot and assembled the live p.j. harvey DVD) and follows the impossible notion of attaching an entire choir to the crinkle of desire to acquire. it works if you want it too. soothing, like reaffirming creme. loose, like cluster muck. the reliving is relieving and revealing. probably doesn't suck at all.

the end

-howe

En route, then, is a DVD/CD package featuring the Winging It film plus a live concert audio CD. The audio portion of this package will also be available as a digital download from iTunes, Amazon, etc. Go to www.giantsand.com where they are taking preorders right now.

Open up those wallets, people - this is one that's important.

By Blurt Staff

If you've picked up the latest issue of BLURT you've seen our tribute to New Zealand legend Chris Knox, he of the mighty Tall Dwarfs, in which members of the Bats, the Clean and others offer their anecdotes and observations on Knox, felled earlier this year by a stroke. It's also got commentary provided by Knox himself to writer Jud Cost, who interviewed the man a few years ago. Cost also disclosed some of the details behind the forthcoming Knox tribute album, titled Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox that's due out next week in New Zealand and then Stateside in February via the Merge label.

Fans can cheer the news, posted yesterday at Knox's blog, of his gradual-but-steady recovery along with a tracklisting for the 2-CD album, which is stuffed to the gills with a who's who of NZ and American indie rockers ranging from the Verlaines, the Chills and David Kilgour to Portastatic, Jay Reatard and Yo La Tengo. Full tracklisting is below.

And if the tracklisting don't sway ya - at Knox's official site you can hear samples of most of the songs currently streaming. Go here and prepare to have the socks charmed off ya. (There's also a link you can use to order it from NZ in case you can't wait until Feb.) This is a tribute with meat on its bones, and it's for a good cause too, kids. Stroke, like the Sweet Relief (Victoria Williams) and Inner Flame (Rainer Ptacek) tributes before it, represents the music community rallying together for one of their own.

Incidentally, if you happen to be in New Zealand next week there is to be an album release party and benefit concert at Auckland's Kings Arms on Friday, Nov. 20, featuring Dimmer, the Bellbirds, David Kilgour, Don McGlashan and the Pyjama Party. The door fee will get you a copy of the album.

Tracklisting:

CD1 (Yellow Disc):

01 Jay Reatard: "Pull Down the Shades"
02 The Checks: "Rebel"
03 The Bleeding Allstars: "Ain't It Nice"
04 Peter Gutteridge: "Don't Catch Fire"
05 The Chills: "Luck or Loveliness"
06 David Kilgour: "Nothing's Going to Happen"
07 The Crying Wolfs: "All My Hollowness to You"
08 Stephin Merritt: "Beauty"
09 Portastatic: "Nostalgia's No Excuse"
10 The Mint Chicks: "Crush"
11 Jay & Sam Clarkson: "I've Left Memories Behind"
12 Sky Green Leopards: "Burning Blue"
13 Shayne Carter: "The Slide"
14 Pumice: "Grand Mal"
15 Hamish Kilgour: "Knoxed Out" *

CD2 (Black Disc):

01 Boh Runga: "Not Given Lightly"
02 Red&Zeke ft. Bill Doss and Neil Cleary: "Bodies"
03 Bill Callahan: "Lapse"
04 Genghis Smith: "Growth Spurt"
05 Yo La Tengo: "Coloured"
06 A.C. Newman: "Dunno Much About Life But I Know How to Breathe"
07 Alec Bathgate: "Glide"
08 Don McGlashan: "Inside Story
10 Lambchop: "What Goes Up"
11 The Mountain Goats: "Brave"
12 The Tokey Tones (and Friends): "Round These Walls"
13 The Bats: "Just Do It"
14 Will Oldham: "My Only Friend"
15 The Finn Family: "It's Love"
16 Jordan Luck: "Becoming Something Other"
17 The Verlaines: "Driftwood"
18 Lou Barlow: "Song of the Tall Poppy"
19 The Nothing: "Napping in Lapland" *
20 Tall Dwarfs: "Sunday Song" *

* bonus tracks

Legendary rocker to be honored as MusiCare's Person of the Year.

By Fred Mills

Been a good year for ol' Neil, eh? That massive Archives box and whatnot... he was born on this day in 1945, and just a couple of days ago he got an early birthday present when news arrived that Young will be honored on Jan. 29 in L.A. at the 2010 MusiCare's Person of the Year celebration.

According to Rolling Stone the event will be a star-studded one with a ton of musicians slated to take part in the tribute. Among them: Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mellencamp, Wilco and Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Norah Jones, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, Ozomatli, Josh Groban and Everest. It will "honor both Young's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-worthy musical achievements as well as his philanthropic work, which includes leading roles in both Farm Aid and the Bridge School benefit concerts," reports RS.

Past MusiCares Person of the Year honorees are Bono, Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin and, most recently, Neil Diamond.

Say, it is just me, or is Neil lookin' just a bit like Tricky Dick in the photo above? Not that there's a connection, but... just sayin'...

41+ Members Come Together For 18 Exclusive Songs Curated by Tim Kinsella.

By Blurt Staff

Throughout its 15 years of existence, Joan of Arc has always existed as a fluid entity -- one that freely allows musicians to enter and leave while adding their own touch and perspective to the band's records. This set-up has enabled Joan of Arc's sound to remain fresh and always evolving, while leaving behind an impressive network of contributors who continue to make music on their own.

The eclectic musical output of this extended family of musicians is showcased on Joan of Arc Presents: Don't Mind Control -- a unique record that encompasses 18 bands whose members have, at one time or another, collaborated with frontman Tim Kinsella under the Joan of Arc moniker.

The idea for this new album came several years after the 2005 release of the similar-themed Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers, when Tim Kinsella approached Polyvinyl with the idea of doing a more ambitious sequel to the original four band 2x7".

Explaining why he chose to curate such a challenging project, Tim reveals: "I wanted an opportunity to step aside and let everyone do their own thing in a way that people who know Joan of Arc, but not these members' other bands, would be able to access the songs in one place."

And so, Kinsella immediately set about contacting bandmates past and present to ask if they would contribute to the project by recording a song with their current musical incarnations. Just as quickly, all of Tim's friends each responded with an enthusiastic "Yes" and, two months later, with a brand new track.

The result is Don't Mind Control, a record even grander in scope than the original Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers. Featuring a diverse tracklist that flows from Owen's gentle acoustic strumming, to the jangly, cymbal-clashing rhythms of Vacations (ex-Chin Up, Chin Up), to the dueling electric guitars of Ghosts and Vodka (ex-Cap'n Jazz), Don't Mind Control is not so much a compilation as a time capsule -- a snapshot of a moment in musical history; of a group of musicians who are all interconnected and yet wholly unique.

"It's an easy mistake to make -- associating Joan of Arc with just me," says Tim Kinsella. "But really it's never existed as simply a vehicle to realize my personal vision as much as an umbrella under which I have been able to collaborate with so many different musicians I respect and admire."

Tracklisting:

1. Litesalive - Uwar
2. Disappears - Guider
3. Birdshow - Privacy
4. A Tundra - The Doug McComb Over
5. Owen - No More No Where
6. White/Light - Kickstart
7. Euphone w/Tim Kinsella - Friend in Common
8. Slick Conditions - Spit in Layers
9. Cale Parks - Long Looks
10. Joshua Abrams - Blanes echo Blirds, Bless echo Blouds
11. The Cairo Gang - Oh Solo
12. Tim Kinsella - Roots Dug into Dunes = Landslide
13. Jeremy Boyle - Second Door From the Left
14. The Zoo Wheel - Flicker
15. Vacations - Friday the 13th Part 2
16. Pillars and Tongues - Oakey
17. Ghosts and Vodka - Gameshow Buzzer
18. Birthmark - Drivin' me Crazy

Glad we got that settled... hey, we didn't start the fire!

By Blurt Staff

Well, it's a slow news day around the BLURT compound so we think we'll slip out early this morning and take in a 4-martini lunch and... wait, this just got slipped over the BLURT transom by one "Erin Kane, Publicist, EXTRA TV":

Please feel free to use the story below with a proper link and credit to "Extra"**

Shania Twain and Billy Joel are not making sweet music together.

The National Enquirer reported that Twain, 44, and Joel, 60, have been going on secret dates, but Twain's rep tells "Extra" that the "story is not true." Twain has been romantically linked to Frédéric Thiébaud since splitting from husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, who reportedly was cheating on her with Marie-Ann Thiébaud -- Frédéric's ex!

Joel introduced "Extra" to girlfriend Deborah Dampiere on the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera back in September.

Er, on second thought, it's STILL a slow news day around here, and now we definitely need those drinks. Meanwhile, the rest of you may ponder: why do industry publicists feel compelled to send us this kinda garbage? Or is it possible they don't even bother to take a look at our site and get a sense of what we cover? After all, we are a music site, and neither of these two celebs are really... oh, never mind...

Injured guitar great denied insurance, can't perform to raise funds to support family.

By Fred Mills

BLURT contributor Rev. Keith Gordon alerted us this morning to a Catch-22 ordeal legendary fingerstyle guitarist Peter Lang is currently experiencing - and it's a classic moment when YOU, dear music lovers, can help out. We realize that not only is everyone strapped this year but it's also that "giving time of year" when you're being hit up left and right by charities. But maybe consider helping out one of our own here, just a bit, and if it means foregoing that annual contribution to United Way (where half your dough will go to questionable administrative overhead anyway), well, so be it.

Writes Gordon at his About.com: Blues blog, "In May 2008, Lang was involved in an automobile accident that resulted in injuries requiring several surgeries, and has suffered a nerve impingement that may prevent him from playing his guitar again. Caught in a bureaucratic "catch 22," Lang's auto insurance company refuses to pay his medical expenses, considering his injuries to be "pre-existing," while his health insurance company won't pay, terming his injuries the result of the accident. Either way, Lang's medical bills keep piling up, and Lang is unable to perform and thus support his family."

Ergo, there's been a fund established, and you can get the details on how to donate at the Lang Fund website.

For those unfamiliar with Lang, he of the so-called 6- and 12-string fingerpicking "American Primitivism" movement, you should check out his Wikipedia biography. Suffice to say that the man has been around since the early ‘70s and worked in some capacity with just about everybody, including John Fahey, Ry Cooder, Jerry Garcia, Emmylou Harris and Leo Kottke, and over the years he's consistently figured highly in "best guitarist" polls.

Gordon adds that at the Lang website the guitarist has made six of his albums available for digital download as a way of saying "thanks." So if you want to think of your donation as a "purchase" that's fine, too - we guarantee it'll be the best deal you snag all year.

Band featured members of Radio Birdman and Hoodoo Gurus.

By Blurt Staff

With the classic Australian rock scene of the late ‘70s through mid ‘80s getting steadily documented over the past years - we've seen key titles from Radio Birdman, the Saints, Hoodoo Gurus, Died Pretty, Scientists and others arrive as remastered and often expanded reissues - now comes word of yet another choice title, this one from Sydney punk legends the Hitmen.

Led by Birdman guitarist Chris Masuak, and Birdman cohort Johnny Kannis, the band where the Gurus recruited Brad Shepherd and Mark Kingsmill from. Shepherd was gone by the time the group cut its definitive recording, Tora Tora DTK (Kingsmills appears on it however), and it was also the band's swansong live album, recorded in 1984 during what was their farewell tour at the time. It includes all their classic tracks, like "Didn't Tell The Man" and  "I Don't Mind" along with their killer covers of "Shake Some Action" and "Solid As A Rock."

Expanded to double disc and issued by the Shock/Savage label, Tora Tora now includes 6 more tracks from the same shows, including stage favourites 'Suspicious Minds', 'Search & Destroy' and 'Louie Louie'. The second disc includes the band's '91 comeback album Moronic Inferno in its entirity (featurin Birdman's Deniz Tek), plus outtakes, plus the earlier U.E.L.A. EP and  Masuak's own Cowboy Angel mini-lp all as a bonus.

This comes on the heels of Savage's other two Hitmen offerings, The Hitmen and It Is What It Is, so no doubt Hitmen completists will be in Oz heaven at the news.

Incidentally, if you happen to be in Australia this weekend and next, the band has gotten back together for a string of reunion shows, including Melbourne's Cherry Bar (Nov. 14 and 20) and Sydney's Sandringham Hotel (Nov. 21).

Fancy heading down to a Soho boozer? Now you can do it in the privacy of your own home... Alex Chilton is buying the drinks!

By Blurt Staff

As if the flood of  Saint Etienne releases this year wasn't enough (most recently, the remix album Foxbase Beta, reviewed here), St. E completists have yet another item to scoop up: Saint Etienne Present Songs for The Dog & Duck, a 25-song mixtape compiled by the group and featuring everything from space-age ‘60s instrumentals and vintage soul to glam and funk. It's out on Britain's Ace label.

Bob Stanley, writing on the group's MySpace blog, explains:

"In the making for some years now has been a sequel to SAINT ETIENNE PRESENT SONGS FOR MARIO'S CAFE. Having soundtracked fabled daytime haunts, we are now ready to plough on into the evening with SAINT ETIENNE PRESENT SONGS FOR THE DOG & DUCK. The Dog & Duck was the fabled Heavenly hang out, an extension of their office after 5pm. It doesn't have a jukebox but if it did we'd like it to sound something like this, a healthy mix of soul, r&r, pop, glam, girl groups, plus Bill Oddie's lost tortured classic. Raucous, melancholy, tearful, the whole panoply."

The label elaborates:

"This compilation is a tribute to the Soho pubs that have proved fertile ground for musicians, publishers and general Pop-obsessed layabouts. The Dog & Duck, specifically, was the pub of choice for the Heavenly label, an annex of the office on Frith Street. [Heavenly was Saint Etienne's early label.] This is a soundtrack for a session in the Dog & Duck (or the Blue Posts, or the Ship), a jukebox selection to reflect the characters and conversations taking place a stones throw from Denmark Street, the 2 I's, and the 100 Club; totemic locations in British Pop history. 25 tracks including cuts from Duffy Power, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Ohio Players, Alex Chilton, Sniff 'N' The Tears and many others. Ace Records.

"Ace have never previously put out any CDs featuring UK glam rock next to rockabilly and sweet soul: I'm sure not many people thought we ever would. But this is the soundtrack to an evening in a Soho boozer - an eclectic selection of great music across the pop oeuvre on an imaginary jukebox stationed in a (real) pub called the Dog And Duck. Bob Stanley and his Saint Etienne team-mates, Dog And Duck habitués, have picked their dream musical moments to accompany a night of serious drinking and pop philosophising."

Full details at the Ace site; tracklisting is below.

1. Hi Flutin' Boogie - John Scott
2. Davy O'brien - Duffy Power
3. Lost - The Darlettes
4. Make Me Yours - Bettye Swann
5. I Was Born To Love You - Herbert Hunter
6. Walkin' Through A Cemetery - Claudine Clark
7. Rock'n'Bones - Elroy Dietzel
8. Jitterbop Baby - Hal Harris
9. Dancing Round The World - Little Richard
10. She Does Everything For Me - The Zombies
11. The Way Of The Crowd - Dan Folger
12. I Can't Get Through - Bill Oddie
13. Lay This Burden Down - Mary Love
14. Sweep It Out In The Shed - Little Ann
15. How Can I Tell You - Barbara Lewis
16. The Emi Song (Smile For Me) - Alex Chilton
17. Driver's Seat - Sniff 'N' The Tears
18. Midnight Flight 2 - Angelo & Eighteen
19. Good Time Comin' - Mustard
20. Hand Clappin' Time - Gino With Johnny Greek
21. Having A Good Time - Huey Smith
22. Varee Is Love - Ohio Players
23. We Belong Together - Robert & Johnny
24. Smoke Rings - Les Paul & Mary Ford
25. Pinball - Brian Protheroe

Feist, Jamie Lidell and others pitch in, in addition to Wilco.

By Blurt Staff

Following up on that news from a few months back about Beck teaming up with Wilco to cover the 1969 Skip Spence album Oar as part of his ongoing "Record Club" where he rounds up like-minded collaborators to tackle classic albums: it not turns out that in addition to members of Wilco, Jeff Tweedy's kid Spencer Tweedy, Bill Withers drummer James Gadson, Jamie Lidell and Feist are also on the recording.

You can already see/hear their version of Spence's "Little Hands" at the Beck site now, or below. For anyone familiar with the original, take heart; it's a superb version, true to the emotional tenor of Spence's reading.

Writes Beck, of the Oar project:

This one took place last June when Wilco was in town for the release of their new eponymous album. They came by after a long day filming a TV appearance and still managed to put down 8 songs with us. Jamie Lidell was in the studio with me working on his new record. Leslie Feist happened to be in town editing her documentary and heard we were all getting together. Recording took place at Sunset Sound Studios in the room where the Stones did a lot of Exile On Main Street (and looking at the records on the walls it appeared that the Doobie Brothers recorded most of their output there too). Sitting in on drums, we had James Gadson, who's played on most of the Bill Withers records and on songs like 'Express Yourself' and 'I Will Survive.' Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer played played additional drums. Also, Brian Lebarton, from the last two Record Club sessions is back.

All together now, then - "Little hands clapping, all over the world..."

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Watt (on Bass) and Williamson (on Axe) on all things not necessarily Iggy...

By Fred Mills

Followers of the mighty Mike Watt are familiar with the Minutemen/Stooges/Secondmen bassist's "The Watt From Pedro Show" which can be downloaded as a podcast from his TWFPS site. Last weekend Watt had a special guest - new/old Stooges guitarist James Williamson, and the pair weighed in on the band's estimable legacy, the upcoming reunion shows, and more.

And get a look at some of the tunes Watt spun during the course of the three-hour webcast (the Williamson interview is in two parts during the first two hours, then the third hour is given over to some intriguing indiedom):

"three little words" john coltrane

"dancing queen" petra haden

"shake appeal" iggy & the stooges

"death trip" iggy & the stooges

"kill yr idols" sonic youth

"raw power" (live) iggy & the stooges

"no more white horses" t2

"at beef's house" 7 foot buffer

untitled (recorded sep 21, 2009) shiner w/motoko honda

"crayons" disconsolate manufactory

"fear and science" lo-fi calvinists

"full bladder" qtera

"shadow and traveler" bad taste

"sprovod" pleme

"put some clothes on" the nice sharp pencils

"flanger in the night" the cosmic plot

"beat over brains" black mamba beat!

"truck" dmf

"step inside our lives" kings of lowertown

"tank" pull anchor

"quiet sound" jimmy ohio

Check it out now at the Watt site...

Stomp Up And Do The Right Thing, Fans: Fall Fund Drive In Progress Now...

By Blurt Staff

"It's not just about music, it's about life itself, you know what I mean? The Stomp's for real, man."  Lil' Buck Sinegal

  After 8 years of critically acclaimed shows during April/May, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation announces a change of seasons. As a non-profit organization celebrating American roots music, the Stomp has had unprecedented growth in recent years; in addition to the concerts in New Orleans, Austin and New York, their small staff has launched a packed music conference, a developing archive of oral histories, monthly ‘After Hours' shows at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and ‘Unsung Heroes', an exhibition celebrating Louisiana's role in the development of rock n' roll, on display at the Louisiana State Museum's Cabildo in the French Quarter.

There's also the recent release of the Ponderosa Stomp short film. The Ponderosa Stomp was founded to showcase and honor the world's most authentic performers of rockabilly, R&B, jazz, blues, garage, soul, funk, and swamp pop. The film focuses on Classie Ballou, Lil' Buck Sinegal and Roy Head, integral Stomp performers. These three exemplary artists enjoyed early success, but found themselves toiling in obscurity later in life. When music fan Brian Gourley attended the Stomp, he was transfixed by the music and amazed that such a small group was able to bring so much music and cultural information to the fore on a shoestring. After offering to executive produce a film, he began fund-raising and working with acclaimed director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories won the Grand Jury Prize at the Austin Film Festival) and the Butler Bros production team.

Gourley explains, "The film presented itself at the right time; it let me pour my love of music into a project that I thought would help give props to its roots. Without roots, there are no trees."

The film makes it easy to see the importance of the Stomp's mission and the impact of its work. Continuing to recognize influential artists like Ballou, Sinegal and Head and hundreds of others and documenting their stories is a fundamental part of the Foundation's mission. Plans to expand an oral history archive are moving forward and the "Secret History of Rock n' Roll" is currently on exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum.

Now, the Stomp has announced it will hold the 9th Annual Stomp concert on a weekend in the Fall for 2010. Citing the gorgeous autumn weather, moving all events to a weekend instead of mid-week for locals who aren't vacationing and cost economies for out of town fans, Stomp staffers, led by Ira Padnos, will be able to take the Stomp to its full potential. Look for more news on an exact date and locale shortly.

The Stomp is launching a fall fundraising drive to build upon these recent successes and to continue to expand their unique and vital work. Cultural preservation efforts require the technical skill, time and expertise of their small, committed staff to be successful.  The bottom line is that the Stomp needs additional resources to continue to turn the mission into action.

"We are on a crusade to convert the masses of music fans and vinyl junkies to the gospel of the Ponderosa Stomp.  We hope a visit to www.ponderosastomp.org will create a disturbance in your mind and that you will get up off your thing and get involved with the Stomp," explained Padnos.

 
To Donate: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=203846140&PcaItemId=18015

Watch the Stomp Film: www.PonderosaStomp.org

Rockabilly legend has worked with Elvis, the Cramps, Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores and scores others.

By Fred Mills

Although no official press release has been issued yet, word is circulating that rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson was en route to Nashville on Friday to record with the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather mainman Jack White. Plans are to record a digital single, possibly for White's Third Man label, followed by an album at a late date.

Jackson, 72, was interviewed by The Oklahoman the other day in which she confirmed the news, saying that she met White via  her website manager. She added that she sees it along the same lines as White's 2004 collaboration with Loretta Lynn, whose White-produced Van Lear Rose earned across-the-board acclaim.

"They had a super album, but he didn't have her do anything different, you know," Jackson said. "She just did her little Loretta Lynn songs. But he told me he's gonna stretch me some, so we'll see. We'll talk later."

The feisty Fujiyama mama was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame this past April. And last month she had a street in Oklahoma City dedicated to her; she performed at the ceremony with The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Go here for the full story, or view a video about Jackson posted to the site, below.

Syl Johnson (pictured, above) and other alumni of Chicago's Twinight label do the Numero Group proud.

BY STEVEN ROSEN

Although the curatorial reissue label Numero Group is based in Chicago, its roots are in Columbus, Ohio. Its first release, in early 2004, and the inaugural title in the acclaimed Eccentric Soul series, was devoted to Capsoul Records, an obscure, suitably eccentric Columbus record label of the late 1960s/early 1970s.

"We launched our label with Capsoul, and we've done four albums from Columbus, more than any city," announced Ken Shipley, one of the archival label's founders, at the start of Numero's Eccentric Soul Revue roadshow stand in Columbus on Nov. 9.

So not only was the city an appropriate stop for this short U.S. tour, but so was the venue - the Egyptian Revival-style Lincoln Theater, which had opened as a vaudeville/jazz house in the city's historic African-American King-Lincoln District back in 1928 and, legend has it, was where a young Sammy Davis Jr. started his career. It had been vacant for decades until this year, when the city spearheaded a $13.5 million renovation to restore it to its old glories, with updated sound and lighting as well as a glisteningly colorful interior

The show was presented in Columbus by the innovative Wexner Center for the Arts, which meant it attracted arts/pop culture devotees as well as middle-aged and older blacks who remembered when Capsoul was a big deal in Ohio's capitol city.

Primarily, the Eccentric Soul Revue was meant to showcase Numero Group's recent reissue of material from Chicago's late-1960s Twinight label, Twinight's Lunar Rotation. Twinight is best known as home to the prescient soul-blues-funk-protest singles of Syl Johnson ("Different Strokes," "Is It Because I'm Black," "Concrete Reservation"). To fans of Windy City soul, he occupies a position something like Otis Rush's Cobra blues releases of the 1950s - great songs somewhat overlooked today because the label just didn't last for long. Next year, Numero is releasing a definitive box set of Johnson's recordings.

The house/backing band was JC Brooks & the six-member Uptown Sound, with the young, talented Brooks doing yeoman's work of singing warm-up between featured acts, emceeing and providing harmony support when needed. His songs, such as "I Used to Hold You, Now I Hold You Back" had punch and grit and were unexpected pleasures.

For Columbus, the revue added one of Capsoul's finest vocal groups, the Four Mints. Wearing bright-red and black outfits straight out of the 1970s, with a lead singer struggling to stay in tune, their two-song set featured their danceable, sweet 1971 local hit "Row My Boat." Afterward, the writer of the song - Dean Francis - took the stage to express his gratitude.

The show's sole disappointment was that Capsoul artist Marion Black - who recorded the sublime "Go On Fool," a complaint about his wife's lack of appreciation for his hard work - didn't sing as billed. He stood from the audience when announced, acknowledging applause, but that was it.

There were three Twinight acts on the bill - Renaldo Domino, the Notations and Johnson himself, still trim, quick-witted and hard-working at 73. Domino, his voice Smokey-like with its high vulnerable falsetto, was just a kid in 1969 when he recorded the memorable ballad "Not Too Cool to Cry," and in Columbus he sang it with its lovely, dreamy sweetness intact.

The Notations, a quartet decked out in stylish white sport coats and light-green slacks, owe plenty to Chicago soul's most important figure, the late Curtis Mayfield. He was a mentor to its lead vocalist, Cliff Curry, whose onstage kindness and sense of gratitude was reminiscent of Mayfield's own personality.

It was fitting the Notations did an a cappella version of the Impressions' "It's Alright," and high tenor Michael Thurman opened the set with Mayfield's mid-1970s nugget, "Super People." But the group also sang its own regional hit, "I'm Still Here," with impressive authority.

Johnson, whether performing blues or soul material, has always been too idiosyncratic to allow himself to become slick and stylized - one reason he's a hero to the Ponderosa Stomp crowd rather than an oldies-circuit lounge act.

As a singer, there's still nothing formulaic about his approach - he was tough and impassioned and brought a commanding sense of relevance to his material. For instance, on his old hit "Is It Because I'm Black," a melancholy, anti-racist drifting-blues number that has the same kind of chillingly ethereal feel as B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone," Johnson ended with a defiant shout-out: "But they can't hold me back anymore because I am President!"

For the Numero revue, he didn't play his guitar but did pull out the harmonica on a few songs, even dropping to his knees to draw more volume on set-closer "Take Me to the River." (As Johnson pointed out, he was the first person to recognize that song's potential, releasing the obscure Al Green album track as a single when he and Green were both Hi Records label mates in the 1970s.)

Johnson's Twinight singles held up amazingly well live - his 1967 hit "Come on Sock It To Me" has a James Brown-like polyrhythmic funk that is more rock-steady than what Brown, himself, was doing at the time. On stage, Johnson shook his hips to it with aplomb, a veritable dancing machine.

The show ended with Brooks calling all the performers on stage for a rousing, extended and unexpected version of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Actually, for devotees of classic soul, you absolutely could get what you want at the Eccentric Soul Revue in Columbus.

[Photo of Syl Johnson: Rebecca Gizicki / courtesy Numero Group]

The Boss gets a geography lesson from his guitarist...

By Fred Mills

Somewhere on earth this past Friday the 13^th, an airplane fell out of the sky; a huge crevice opened up in the ground and a person fell in; a family pooch went missing; some dumbass left his wallet on a park bench; and, oh yeah, Bruce Springsteen took to the stage in Michigan and rousingly greeted the crowd, "Hello Ohio!"

As you may have heard by now, the Boss then compounded the gaffe by mentioning Ohio several more times before E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt leaned over and whispered into his ear. At that point Springsteen's face visibly reddened and he cracked an embarrassed smile.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Springsteen stepped to the mic and announced, "I'm all right. That is every front man's nightmare."

The packed house at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was apparently pretty forgiving, however, and Bruce & band rocked away for the better portion of three hours.

"An Evening With Harry Connick, Jr. and Clive Davis" took place Nov. 11, at the GRAMMY Museum, Los Angeles, and BLURT was there.

By Jose Martinez

Record mogul Clive Davis and New Orleans crooner Harry Connick, Jr. have teamed up on the singer's latest release, Your Songs, where he visits the classic songbook, reaching as far forward as the 1970s for tunes by Billy Joel, Roberta Flack, and Elton John. Wednesday night the GRAMMY Museum hosted an evening with the dynamic duo of Davis & Connick, Jr., offering a fascinating discussion and brief performance by the charismatic singer.

With all proceeds benefiting the GRAMMY Museum, MusiCares (providing a safety net of critical assistance for musicians in times of need), and the Musicians' Village (providing homes for artists who have defined the city's culture), the evening's discussion focused on music, the ever-evolving music industry, and volunteer work to better the Crescent City.

The songs that Connick and Davis selected on Your Songs include some of the best known work of singer/songwriters Billy Joel ("Just the Way You Are") Lennon-McCartney ("And I Love Her"), and Elton John ("Your Song"), as well as classics made immortal by the likes of Nat King Cole ("Mona Lisa"), Frank Sinatra ("All the Way") and Elvis Presley ("Can't Help Falling In Love With You").

Legendary "record man" Clive Davis described Connick, in front of a sold out crowd of 200 inside the museum's intimate Sound Stage, as the "best contemporary pop singer in the world."

Connick, a gregarious performer, both onstage and on-screen, is a natural born charmer who had the audience in stitches. "I can throw it down if you ever want to work with me," he yelled to producer Jimmy Jam who was in attendance. "I know what time it is."

The singer joked that a cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black" didn't make the record before singing some of the classic hard rock tune a cappella.

An icon in the music industry, Davis recounted his experience at the Monterrey Pop Festival where he first encountered Janis Joplin whom he then signed to Columbia Records.

"I was unprepared for the cultural, social and musical revolution," Davis recounted. "It had a profound effect on me."

After the evening's event Blurt caught up with Connick for a brief one-on-one chat where the singer explained his initial interest in working with Davis.

"I was looking forward to the novelty of it; going down these roads that I had never been to. There has been no one in my life, creatively, like [Clive Davis]."

Even though the two did argue about the structure of the tracks on Your Songs, their mutual admiration for one another was never in question.

"What he knows is what he likes," Connick explains. "I've done all these records and I do what I like, but the whole point was to look at things from a different perspective. It's abstract and suggestive. Does he know what he's talking about? Yeah, he does."

Perhaps better known these days for his acting, the singer compared recording Your Songs to acting on a film set. "Even though I was the arranger, this was me relinquishing some of that authority to someone else. It was cool. I've done 20 some odd films and I find it works the same part of my brain. When you read a script and look at the dialogue for the hundredth time, you say, ‘that's what it's talking about.' It's the same with lyric interpretation. There's obviously a very different skill set involved with singing and playing and doing a movie, but essentially I think it's the same creative process. I'm thrilled to be back because it has been a while."

When speaking of the work that Musicians' Village, conceived by Connick and Branford Marsalis, has had on New Orleans, housing many of the city's best musicians, the singer declared, "This is a lifelong, moral and ethical investment for me."

About MusiCares:

Established in 1989 by The Recording Academy, MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares' service and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical, and personal emergencies, and each case is treated confidentially. For more information, please visit www.musicares.com.

About Musicians' Village:

Musicians' Village, a cornerstone of the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH) post-Katrina rebuilding effort, is designed to both construct a community and preserve culture. Conceived by New Orleans natives Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis, Musicians' Village will provide a home for both the artists who have defined the city's culture and the sounds that have shaped the musical vernacular of the world. For more information see http://www.nolamusiciansvillage.org.

[Photos credit: ©Kevin Parry/Wire Image]

New material includes covers of Fats Waller and Weill/Brecht.

By Blurt Staff

Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, originally issued as a limited edition 3CD set on Anti- in November of 2006, will be reinvented on December 8 as a limited edition vinyl set, complete with a deluxe 12" booklet and six new bonus cuts. The collection totals 62 tracks over seven full length LPs, all pressed on 180 gram vinyl. (In the original CD collection, the package contained 30 new recordings which have now been upped to 32 with two newly recorded tracks as part of the bonus 6 on the vinyl set.)

An assemblage of rare, new and mostly unheard tracks, ORPHANS includes irreverent--or, rather, remarkably relevant-covers of songs by artists as disparate as the Ramones and Leadbelly, along with WAITS compositions originally recorded by other artists. Waits' selections dazzle as sonic experiments and twisted tales.

WAITS says, "Orphans are rough and tender tunes. Rhumbas about mermaids, shuffles about train wrecks, tarantellas about insects, madrigrals about drowning. Scared, mean, orphaned songs of rapture and melancholy. Songs that grew up hard. Songs of dubious origin rescued from cruel fate and now left wanting only to be cared for. Show that you are not afraid and take them home. They don't bite, they just need attention."

Each of the three CDs is separately grouped and sub-titled - "Brawlers," "Bawlers" and "Bastards" - to capture the full spectrum of Waits' ranging and roving musical styles. "Brawlers" is chock full of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomp, "Bawlers" contains Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits songs, while "Bastards" is filled with experimental music and strange tales.

Termed "a definitive album" by Robert Christgau in Rolling Stone, the original CD release of ORPHANS was among the fastest-selling offering of WAITS' career, and a hit with critics.

Among the bonus tracks exclusive to this vinyl collectors' edition are a whimsical take on Fats Waller's "Crazy ‘Bout My Baby" and "Diamond In Your Mind," a WAITS/BRENNAN song first heard on Solomon Burke's GRAMMY-winning CD Don't Give Up On Me. Others include "Pray," Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht's "Canon Song," "No One Can Forgive Me" and "Mathie Grove."

Meanwhile, WAITS is set to release Glitter and Doom Live on November 23 both on LP and as a 2 CD set. Keep your eyes peeled at BLURT for a full review next week.

On Christmas Day, WAITS hits the big screen alongside Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and the late Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. And in January, he can also be seen in the Hughes Brothers' Book of Eli with Denzel Washington.

It's a ho-ho-ho set to go-go-go: send your caroling request to the Koster clan asap!

By Blurt Staff

Once again, Julian Koster and his Singing Saw will come to your house to bring songs, stories, and good cheer to you and your friends - all you have to do is invite them. 

Julian introduced the world to the wonderful holiday traditions of his friends, The Singing Saws, last year with The Singing Saw at Christmastime. This bizarre and beautiful album and it's accompanying glimpse into Julian's vivid imagination has become an instant holiday classic.  If you have not yet heard The Singing Saw at Christmastime, please let me know.  A video of Julian and his Saw playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and a downloadable MP3 can be found here.

You may invite the carolers to visit your house by emailing musictapescaroling@gmail.com or by mailing a handwritten letter to 450 N. Harris St. Athens, GA  30601 (due to time constraints, please send an email to let the "caroling ambassador" know you are sending a letter).

Be sure to include an email address or telephone number for reply.  Invitations where the hosts indicate that they would be willing to entertain outside guests on caroling night are preferred. Please note your permission to invite others from the area to your house and whether you can offer the carolers a place to sleep in your letter or email. 

Once the limit on houses on a given night has been reached, the address of each house that will welcome guests will be distributed via email to all who email musictapescaroling@gmail.com and ask to attend. The addresses of the houses will not be posted online.

Proposed Path:

December 7th, 8th, 9th: Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana & Lower Half of Illinois

December 10th, 11th, 12th: Chicago, Illinois, Michigan

December 13th, 14th, 15th: Ohio, Pittsburgh, Western NY

December 16th, 17th, 18th: Upstate NY, New England (CT, RI, VT etc)

December 19th, 20th, 21st: Philadelphia, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Chapel Hill

Lydon promises to cut a new album "if I raise the money" from the upcoming tour. Meanwhile, let's watch that butter commercial again...

By Fred Mills

Following up on the news, reported back in September, that John Lydon was reforming Public Image Limited for a five-date December run of concerts in England: Lydon told the BBC yesterday that an album of original material is a strong possibility if the band banks enough dough from the shows - which would be their first in 17 years.

Yes, if I raise the money from this, I most definitely will," Lydon told the BBC. "But what you've got to understand with Public Image Ltd is that every single time we recorded we only had one take, no money."

Lydon also indicated that the tour - which, incidentally, will not feature any of the original band members other than himself - wasn't being underwritten by a record company, and that he was funding the trek largely from the income he got for taping a series of commercials for a British butter/dairy company Country Life ("that's the only way I can get to perform live").

This is what you want, this is what you get, however: not specifically a greatest hits set on the tour.

Snorted Lydon, "Don't be ridiculous! What do you think this is? The Beatles? She loves you yeah yeah yeah? No no no! You get what you're given and it'll be even better then."

Seventies British outfit was acclaimed but never fulfilled its Stateside potential.

By Blurt Staff

Along the lines of 10cc, Be-Bop Deluxe, Roxy Music, Alex Harvey and countless other bands of the UK Art-Rock movement in the '70s and early '80s comes City Boy, who also garnered much attention. In the course of their history, City Boy released several albums to much critical praise from fans and music press across both sides of the Atlantic. On November 10th foremost US reissue label Renaissance Records in conjunction with ItsAboutMusic.com (who have released all of the City Boy catalog) issued the band's unreleased album from 1982 called 'It's Personal'.

Formed in the UK in the early 1970s, Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Max Thomas and Mike Slamer were playing folk music in the Birmingham area. Towards the end of 1975 they were offered a contract by Phonogram records on the condition that they add drums and a bass. So Roger Kent and Chris Dunn were recruited. Although some critics wrote quite favorable reviews for 'City Boy' (1975) and 'Dinner At The Ritz' (1976), it was not until 1978 and their hit song "5-7-0-5" on the subsequent album 'Book Early' that the public began to take notice. The single went right into the Top 10 of the British charts, and the album entered the Top 30 in the album charts.

"We were on tour in Germany at the time, and I remember one of our managers talking to Steve and Lol for ages on the phone as we were lying around in this hotel room in Munich," Max Thomas recalled "Lol said 'Right, I've got an idea...we'll give them a telephone love-song - '5-7-0-5' (or something like that anyway!) So the vocal was re-recorded, the record company expressed delight, and promised to really plug the song, and lo and behold, out of the blue - because it seemed like that at the time - we had a hit single on our hands in the UK, two months before we were committed to a four month tour in America! Fine, we thought, with a bit of luck, we'll carry our success to the States and will become extremely rich and famous."

They were able to repeat their success with their 1979 album 'The Day The Earth Caught Fire' and its title song as a single release. City Boy had one more successful album with 'Heads Are Rolling' in 1980, which many critics believe to be their best, before their recording contract with Atlantic expired. "Atlantic had already written us off," said Thomas. "They responded to 'Heads' very lukewarmly, and delivered the last part of the advance most reluctantly for us to record 'It's Personal', which they never released. I think it was only released in Scandinavia because we were still signed to Polygram in certain territories. Zomba half-heartedly tried to sell 'It's Personal', but by 1982, all the contracts, including our management contract expired...and then the money ran out, and suddenly there were no more wages. And we were all out of a job, and out of a career."

Unable to secure a contract with a major label, the band released a single on their own City Boy label in 1982. After this failed completely to attract anyone's attention, the group split. Now much to the elation of City Boy fans worldwide, the band's final album 'It's Personal' has been reissued on CD from the master tapes.

'Hustler's Son' Produced By Jason Boesel and Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello / Jenny Lewis) With All-Star Guests.

By Blurt Staff

For the last 15 years, LA-based drummer Jason Boesel has been planted firmly behind the kit, keeping time for the likes of Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, The Elected, and more recently, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band. Boesel was inspired to pick up the guitar and write his own record after his friends raved about the first song he ever wrote: 'Hustler's Son.' Now, a few studio sessions later, Jason Boesel announces his solo debut for Team Love Records: 'Hustler's Son,' out January 12, 2010.

Boesel headed into the studio in March of 2009 with a core group of collaborators: Mystic Valley Band member Nik Freitas, Blake Mills (Band of Horses, Julian Casablancas), and producer Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello 'Momofuku' and Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'). He eventually sought out the additional talents of Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Orenda Fink (O + S, Azure Ray), David Rawlings (Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), and fellow Rilo Kiley member Blake Sennett.

The result is an 11-song Americana album filled with powerful imagery and a sound that brings new colors to the sonic palette of country-folk greats like Townes Van Zandt, mid-'70s California rock, and the alt-country scene of today.

Check out or download the MP3 of  "Hand Of God"

While "Hand of God" is nearest to Boesel's breezy alt-country leanings, the entirety of 'Hustler's Son' is a road trip of an aural and emotional experience. Boesel isn't shy to admit his soft spot for the Southern California sound, but his sonic inspirations are as diverse as the places he's visited on the road. The music proves it: Dark "Black Waves" rolls in with West Palm Beach's "hurricane sand" and psychotropic guitars, "French Kissing" rocks to allusions of Santa Barbara's shores, "Burned Out And Busted" finds Boesel stranded in the desert, and the insatiable jam "I Got The Reason #1" - a fan favorite played by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band on tour- leaves Jason in the lobby of a hotel, waiting for the next surprise.

Boesel will be touring in February to support the album, dates tba.

Tracklisting:

1. Black Waves
2. Hand of God
3. French Kissing
4. Burned Out and Busted
5. New World Mama
6. Miracles
7. Hustler's Son
8. Getting Healthy (Good Luck)
9. I Got the Reason #1
10. Was it, Man?
11. Winking Eyes

5^th annual concert will raise funds for The Shalom Project in NC.

By Blurt Staff

On December 4^th Jeffrey Dean Foster and the Birds of Prey will host the 5^th Annual Million Star Hotel benefit concert for the Shalom Project at The Garage in Winston-Salem, NC. Foster, of course, is a Tarheel rock ‘n' roll mainstay and BLURT fave - you can read a little about a concert we caught featuring him on the bill this summer here.

 Opening the show will be Aaron Bachelder, known to many as the musical director of the Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble. Next up will be Lynn Blakey. Lynn is one third of the critically acclaimed Tres Chicas and will be appearing with her husband Ecki Heinz. She has sang on Jeffrey Dean Foster's 2005 album Million Star Hotel and The Pinetops' Above Ground and Vertical as well as records by Alejandro Excovedo, Velvet Crush and The Two Dollar Pistols.

All proceeds will go to The Shalom Project, a local nonprofit organization that seeks to develop ministries and programs of compassion and justice that enhance the development and serve the needs of West Salem and the greater Winston-Salem area.  The Shalom Project operates a food pantry, clothes closet, free health clinic, Wednesday night suppers and after school programs in the West Salem Neighborhood.

Spread the word! The details:

The 5th Annual Million Star Hotel Shalom Project Benefit

*With*

Jeffrey Dean Foster and the Birds of Prey

And Very Special Guests

Aaron Bachelder

Lynn Blakey (Tres Chicas)

8:30 pm

Friday, December 4th

The Garage, 110 W. 7th St. , Winston-Salem NC

www.the-garage.ws

Admission $10.00

Donations of winter clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, socks and underwear for The Shalom Project would also be appreciated.

They ain't trippin' this time...

By Fred Mills

As any good ol' southern boy such as yours truly who's crawled around on his knees for hours at a time, hunting for psychedelic mushrooms amid the odiferous, plentiful piles of cow dung - don't tote those ‘shrooms around, kids, eat ‘em! You may think you can explain away that big garbage bag full of the fungible fungi when the cops pull you over, but you'll be wrong; it's a lot easier to simply emit a cosmic giggle as you produce your license and sit there quietly watching the pretty colors swirl around John Law's hat.

Sadly, this was not a lesson that the mighty King Khan (a/k/a Arish Khan) had learned as of this past Thursday. You've probably heard rumors about the King Khan & BBQ Show, currently on tour, had been busted the other afternoon in Kentucky - Christian County, to be exact (how's that for irony) - en route to a gig in St. Louis.

According to the Kentucky New Era it was actually Khan along with his tour manager Kristin Klein who were charged with possession of a controlled substance (mushrooms), resulting in being detained and the cancellation of several shows.

Today, Pitchfork reported that the group is finally back on the road en route to Los Angeles, and meanwhile, an official statement was issued to clarify matters:

"On November 16, 2009 Kristin Klein entered a guilty plea to 2nd degree possession of a controlled substance in Christian County, Kentucky. Ms Klein was driving a rental vehicle that was randomly stopped at a safety checkpoint. Officers located a controlled substance in the cab of the vehicle. Ms Klein was unaware of the contraband and the validity of her license was indeterminable at time of arrest. Under KY law a driver of a vehicle is responsible for its contents. Therefore, Ms Klein entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to appear on April 2, 2010 to provide proof of her valid license.

"King Khan & BBQ Show are driving through the night to make their Los Angeles show at Troubadour tomorrow. Tonight's show in Phoenix is cancelled, but all further west coast dates and will to be honored. Kristin Klein is safe with the band and continuing her tenure as tour manager."

Khan, next time y'all are traveling in or near the South, give us a shout - we'll give you some time-proven tips (dating back to, like, the ‘70s) on how to avoid dicey situations like this in the future. Trust us - we are the voice of experience speaking.

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong is chillin' with the Avett Brothers at ACL...

By Blurt Staff

While Pearl Jam was in Austin in early October to headline the closing night of the Austin City Limits Festival, they also did a taping for the ACL television show - spotlighting their new Backspacer album before 320 lucky people. The episode is set to air on PBS this Saturday, Nov. 21.

Accompanied occasionally by an Austin based 4-piece string section (Will Taylor - viola, Leah Zeger - violin, Jamie Desautels - violin, Shawn Sanders - cello) and joined once by fellow ACL Season 35 performer Ben Harper, Pearl Jam delivered a set that was both inspired and precise, playing songs from their new album alongside older tracks. Clearly enjoying the intimate experience, Eddie Vedder likened the ACL studio and it's renowned acoustics to "...driving an old Buick."

"I sometimes wonder how many more ‘firsts' can there be, but I never dreamed I'd see the day that Pearl Jam would appear on the ACL stage, especially considering they seldom do TV," said ACL producer Terry Lickona. "This will go down as one of our all-time classic shows, and one of the best Pearl Jam performances ever captured. There are some musical and emotional highs that gave me goose bumps."

Pearl Jam on ACL set list: Just Breathe, The End, The Fixer, Johnny Guitar, Amongst the Waves, Unthought Unknown, Army Reserve, Do the Evolution, Lukin, Red Mosquito (with Ben Harper), Inside Job, Porch

The 35th anniversary season of Austin City Limits has been a banner one, featuring performances - some not yet aired - by Them Crooked Vultures, Allen Toussaint, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, Dave Matthews Band, Elvis Costello, Kenny Chesney,  Madeleine Peyroux, Esperanza Spalding, Heartless Bastards, Mos Def and The Avett Brothers.

In fact, the Avetts just taped theirs the other night and were apparently hanging out with none other than Lance Armstrong beforehand, which prompted the following Twitter tweets from Armstrong:

"Having dinner at the house w/ @theavettbros. Cool guys. Can't wait to see them tape @acltv tonight."

"@acltv seeing @theavettbros. Hands down the best show I've seen here."

Well, we can't wait to see the episode, Lance...

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS SEASON 35 BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(check local listings for exact dates and times)

October 3, 2009 Dave Matthews Band
October 10, 2009 Ben Harper and Relentless7
October 17, 2009 Kenny Chesney
October 24, 2009 Andrew Bird / St. Vincent
October 31, 2009 M. Ward / Okkervil River
November 7, 2009 Elvis Costello / Band of Heathens
November 14, 2009 Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel
November 21, 2009 Pearl Jam
January 9, 2010 Allen Toussaint
January 16, 2010 K' Naan / Mos Def
January 23, 2010 The Avett Brothers / Heartless Bastards
January 30, 2010 Steve Earle / Kris Kristofferson
February 6, 2010 Esperanza Spalding / Madeleine Peyroux
February 13, 2010 Them Crooked Vultures

Label offering stems of all the tracks on new Kilbey-Martin Kennedy album for fans to remix.

By Blurt Staff

Due out Jan. 26 from Second Motion is Unseen Music/Unheard Words, a joint project from the Church's Steve Kilbey and All India Radio's Martin Kennedy. The record's been out digitally for some time already, notching up enthusiastic reviews. Check some of the fan comments posted at Amazon.com:

"If you're a fan of the Church, All India Radio, or Steve Kilbey solo projects, this is a must buy. Every song is a masterpiece! Blending swirling atmospherics and acoustic guitar with Kilbey's baritone makes for a winning formula."

"Any fan of Steve Kilbey would know right away that this is one of his finest lyrical works. No matter how long it took to write the words. A brilliant mix of Kennedy's music and Steve's voice. The two seem to be made for each other. A wonderful piece of music indeed. This one will go down in history as a masterpiece. Slow....and....easy."

The label's also sweetening the deal by offering to folks who order the limited edition "digital deluxe version" an Ambient/Remix album along with 8 digital illustrations from Kennedy. The remix record includes 4 previously unreleased tracks:

all is one - black satin mix

piano 4.9 (friends are gone original piano)

stretch into the stars - raw mix

maybe soon - all india radio mix

Plus the rare track "Eyes Head," originally done for the good folks over at Magnet magazine.

More intriguingly, the band and label are putting on a Fan Remix Project. According to Second Motion, "We are offering the stems for every song on the album available for free for each of you to download to your hearts content.  With these stems you can work on your own remixes of the songs and submit them back to us no later than Dec 31st, 2009.  We will share every remix with both Steve & Martin and narrow down the songs to our favorites.  The plan is to sometime next year release a digital only 'fan remix' album."

Full details from the label follow below. Have fun, fans, and go to the Second Motion site for more info: www.secondmotionrecords.com/

***

1. Deadline: Contest is open worldwide, you do not have to be a US or Canadian citizen to enter.  All submissions are due no later than Dec 31st, 2009 and must be emailed to: stephen (at) secondmotionrecords.com.  Please do NOT email more than one track per email, if you are working on multiple tracks please use your own .mac public folder, a delivery method such as yousendit.com or email us for specific directions on how to submit before submitting.  We are not responsible for lost files via spam folders or cyberspace issues.  We will email you back acknowledgement of receipt. 

Please note: we will ONLY accept Mp3 copies of the remixes initially.  If you are selected as a finalist we will ask you for higher quality .wav or .aiff files at that time.

2. Snail Mail:

in lieu of email, you may also submit by mail to:

Second Motion Records

PO BOX 862

East Lansing, MI 48826

attn: KK Remix Contest

be sure to include your name, email address, and phone number to contact you.  You must supply your own CDR and postage and we cannot return the disc. 

3. Waiver: Very Important Note: by downloading the stems and submitting your tracks for submission, you hereby acknowledge that you will not receive any royalties for potential sales of these remixes (we have not decided on what we will do with them we just want to see what you guys can come up with!) but we will give you full credit for your remix if chosen and do some other special things in the future as a thank you.   We want all of you fans to feel like you are a part of this album and feel like this is a great way for you to participate in helping us promote this for more and more people to discover.  This is for promotional purposes only but we do reserve the right to full ownership of the copyright, publishing and royalties of these songs regardless of your participation.  

4. Download: All tracks are at the links below, and are in .zip formats and are all .wav files.  If you have any trouble downloading them there would be high traffic problems due to popularity.  First, wait 30 minutes and try again, if the problem continues please email us and we will investigate the issues.  Please only download one track/zip file at a time!

Please note, these tracks are large, each zip file is a minimum of 200MB to 450MB in size.  Please ONLY download one track zip file at a time. If you are unfamiliar with the use of .wav files, remixes, or don't have the bandwidth to handle downloading files of this size please do not participate in this contest. These files are 100% virus free and we are not responsible for any problems they may cause to your computer, so download at your own risk.  

4. Copyright: These tracks may not be redistributed, sold, streamed or used in any way without written approval from Second Motion Records, the composers and publishers of these tracks.   All tracks are copyright control 2009-2010 licensed to Second Motion Records and any violation of these rights will result in punishment to the full extent of the law. By clicking these links you hereby acknowledge this agreement.

All of these things aside, let's have some fun with this!  We cannot wait to hear what you guys have in mind!

STEMS: (Please for bandwidth reasons only download one at a time)

1. Eyes Ahead

2. My Will Be Yours

3. Stretch Into The Stars

4. Maybe Soon

5. Uh I Dunno

6. Thought of Leaving

7. Another Place

8. All Is One

9. Love Increased

10. The Other Place

11. Naked As A Star

12. Friends Are Gone 

View trailer below. Lambchop Live at XX Merge audio + concert film released digitally this week.

By Blurt Staff

Lambchop has been on Merge since 1993, releasing a string of widely varied but consistently brilliant records. But the live Lambchop experience has been somewhat elusive in the U.S.  While the band has toured Europe and elsewhere for nearly two decades, the Nashville group has seldom toured their home country. Kurt Wagner has performed solo on a recent Yo La Tengo tour, and Lambchop supported their recent album, (OH) Ohio, as an intimately stripped-down quintet in a couple of short bursts over the last year. 

To help celebrate Merge's 20th Anniversary the band showed up in one of their largest lineups in recent memory - 11-strong, including multiple guitars, keyboards, piano, and a horn section. Lambchop performing live is always a powerful proposition, but on this night they started quietly with "I Will Drive Slowly" from their first album (I Hope You're Sitting Down) and accelerated from there, each song seemingly faster and more intensely played than the last, building to a furious finale of "Up With People" and an epic "Give It."

Lambchop's set at XX Merge was professionally recorded and filmed and is available at the Merge site: www.mergerecords.com.

Lambchop - Live at XX Merge tracklisting:

1. Introduction (Jon Wurster)
2. I Will Drive Slowly
3. The New Cobweb Summer
4. Grumpus
5. Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King Jr.
6. What Else Could It Be?
7. Joke (Tony Crow)
8. National Talk Like a Pirate Day
9. Hey, Where's Your Girl?
10. Your Fucking Sunny Day
11. Up With People
12. Give It

Lambchop - Live at XX Merge
Recorded by Nick Peterson
Mixed by Mac McCaughan
FOH Engineer: Mark Luecke

A Show Cobra Film
Directed by Matt Boyd
Produced by Jason Ross

Lambchop - Give It from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Legendary, influential composer to serve as Artist In Residence at the festival and will do several performances.

By Blurt Staff

Set your calendars for March 26-28: that's when the next annual Big Ears Festival will invade downtown Knoxville, Tenn., for the express purpose of putting on "visionary
music, exploratory art, and southern hospitality.

We are all about southern hospitality at BLURT. Go to the official festival website - www.bigearsfestival.com - for info and updates, and meanwhile, here are the Riley details:

Legendary American composer Terry Riley will be theArtist in Residence for the  weekend with a series of concerts throughout the weekend celebrating Riley's 75th Birthday year.  In addition, the weekend will feature an exciting array of artists and performers from the worlds of rock, jazz, classical, and avant-garde music along with installations, exhibitions, interactive experiences, talks, and workshops.  

One of the most influential musicians and composers of the past century, Riley's impact and influence on contemporary music and art cannot be overstated.  In 1964, his revolutionary composition, In C, launched the Minimalist movement in music and his influence  is still heard today in the work of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams and other classical composers.  His subsequent early works, A Rainbow in Curved Air and Poppy Nogood, with their kaleidoscopic, psychedelic atmospheres, sent waves across the musical worlds of the 1960s, strongly reflected in the music of The Who, Pink Floyd, and other rock bands of the time.  That influence continues today in the music of Radiohead and Animal Collective and Riley was recently selected by the London Times as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century."

"It's a tremendous honor to have Terry Riley participate in our festival this year. It's a dream come true." says Big Ears founder, Ashley Capps, also a creator and producer of the renown Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.  

Riley himself will perform in several different concerts of his work during the weekend, with a variety of musicians.  Also, the Calder String Quartet will present a program of his work.  And a sure highlight of the weekend will come when many of the artists performing during the weekend join together for an unforgettable performance of In C, "one of the definitive masterpieces of the 20th Century."  

 Additions to the Big Ears lineup along with ticketing information will be released in early December.  

Listen to "A Rainbow In Curved Air": 

"Bamboo You" not officially available in stores until January 19; to be released on Skybucket.

By Blurt Staff

You want it? You got it: Alabama indie upstarts Vulture Whale have a free digital EP for YOU. Go to the official band site - www.vulturewhale.com - and get clicking. The shit's free, jeez, so how can you pass that up? Meanwhile, the details:

After playing together in Wes McDonald & the Fizz, Lester Nuby (of Verbena), Keelan Parrish, Jake Waitzman, and the band's fearless leader, Wes McDonald, decided to convert the power structure of the group from a monarchy into a true democracy. Legend has it the band settled on its new name after guitarist Nuby dreamed of a vulture sitting on top of a guitar, eating a whale. Out of such fevered visions, Vulture Whale was born. The group hails from Birmingham, Alabama, where in 2007 it released its first self-titled album. So pleased was the band with its debut statement, it decided to release another self-titled album in 2009. "Sugar," a single from the later self-titled album, was featured in an issue of Spin Magazine, and both albums were acclaimed both in America and abroad.

For its current release, an EP entitled "Bamboo You," Vulture Whale has risen like a phoenix from its own ashes and-through a complex ritual involving consumption of Golden Flake potato chips and Vegemite-morphed into the best American band pretending to be a British band influenced by American music since Guided By Voices. The concept for the project is not exactly new: Mick Jagger sang in an American accent on numerous Rolling Stones albums, and The Kinks interpreted Americana on their classic "Muswell Hillbillies" album. On "Bamboo You," Vulture Whale combines its unique brand of eccentric rock with its love of British music. The result is six songs that are among some of the best and most inspired of any in the Vulture Whale catalog. Throughout "Bamboo You," McDonald-whose lyrics are always somehow both humorous and casually profound-sings with a playful, faux British accent that is as entertaining as it is inauthentic. When McDonald sings, "She went on and just stripped me for parts / at least she let me keep my guitar," the combination of redneck philosophy with a quasi-Cockney accent is (surprisingly) nothing short of a revelation.

But despite the role playing and subtle musical allusions to classic rock and Brit pop bands, Vulture Whale's personality shines through, and the band's charm congeals all of its influences into one solid and original artistic offering that is just plain fun to listen to. "Bamboo You" is much greater than the marginally interesting story behind its concept.

Wait'll you get a look at the complete list of contributors, below...

By Fred Mills

Word arrives via PR Newswire that Tom Waits, Pete Seeger, Merle Haggard, Jim James, Andrew Bird and others have cut an album of "classic New Orleans" songs with the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Titled Preservation, the proceeds will be a benefit for Preservation Hall and The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program in New Orleans.

The release date:  Fat Tuesday, February 16. Expect a regular CD and a deluxe edition; it will also be issued on vinyl.

In a statement, producer Ben Jaffe, PHJB Creative Director and son of Preservation Hall founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, said, "Our community is deeply rooted in a tradition of using music to rejoice, heal and overcome adversity. We play music at our funerals to uplift our spirits during our deepest and darkest emotional moments. My goal on this project was to create new works steeped in the New Orleans Tradition with artists from diverse musical genres and backgrounds who all share a mutual admiration and deep appreciation for our cultural heritage."

Waits, certainly, is showing his admiration: his song selection is "Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing," reportedly the "earliest known recorded Mardis Gras song."

The project is being pushed forward via Sony/RED Distribution. According to the PR Newswire press release, RED Distribution approached Preservation Hall for their blessing and collaboration. "We're honored to be the driving force behind a tribute to this iconic body of music and the mission to restore the legendary Preservation Hall and its Music Outreach Program," said Bob Morelli, president, RED Distribution. "We hope this project continues to keep philanthropy at the forefront of the music industry, and restores faith that each of us can make a difference with just the purchase of a single CD. We thank all the wonderful artists who contributed their time and talent."

The complete list of contributors:

Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandi Carlile, Cory Chisel, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo, Amy LaVere, Anita Briem, Del McCoury, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Miller, Paolo Nutini, Tom Waits

Moved from the original venue to a larger one... but still guaranteed to be a sellout...

By Blurt Staff

You'd think by now that we here at BLURT are sick of the Avett Brothers - they're currently gracing the cover of the latest issue of our magazine (order copies here, hint hint...); we reviewed their I And Love And You album and named ‘em one of our Blurt Bands Of The Week; and we've been seeing ‘em on late night television with such regularity we're beginning to suspect they're in line to take over David Letterman's seat when Dave finally retires.

(Check out the video of them on Jimmy Fallon, below, doing "Slight Figure Of Speech.")

But you'd be wrong. We ain't sick of ‘em, which is why it's our civic duty (okay, fanboy duty...) to let you know that their annual New Year's Eve show, set for the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, NC, has been moved to the considerably larger Asheville Civic Center, and tickets go on sale TOMORROW, Nov. 21, at Ticketbastard.

Turns out the show sold out literally in minutes, leaving thousands of Avetts fans from within and without the NC region wailing, so the decision was made to move it next door to the Civic Center. A wise decision, we think. But here's a prediction: this will also sell out, so if you're planning your New Year's Eve for a Tarheel soirree, best log on tomorrow morning at 10 am if you want to see the show. (Tickets for the Thomas Wolfe show will obviously be honored, by the way.)

New full-length reportedly in the works for early next year.

By Blurt Staff

The Alkaline Trio has announced the birth of Heart & Skull, the band's own label formed in partnership with Epitaph Records. The band will release its seventh album through Epitaph/Heart & Skull in early 2010.

Commenting on the formation of the new imprint, named for the band's longstanding logo, Alkaline Trio singer/guitarist Matt Skiba said, "We made the decision to form Heart & Skull to put out our own records after having been through every kind of label deal in the industry, big indies, small indies, majors. We knew it was time to adapt to the shifting tides of the music industry and we could not be more thrilled about doing that in conjunction with the team at Epitaph. Taking control of our own label situation was something we always wanted to do but never thought was possible, but now thanks to Brett Gurewitz and the fine folks at Epitaph, it is. All three of us in Alkaline Trio have always had the utmost respect for the music and the work ethic of the Epitaph, Anti- and Hellcat family and now we're honored to be working together under one big happy roof. Heart & Skull/Epitaph is truly a dream come true for us."

Alkaline Trio bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano added, "For our band at this time it really makes sense to release our own records, but we wanted to make sure we could partner up with good people who we would want to share in something very special to us.  When Brett called and said he wanted to be involved, that was it. Epitaph is a label I've admired and supported for more than half of my life! I couldn't be more excited for how this is turning out!"

Alkaline Trio first emerged from Chicago in 1996 and has since released the full length studio albums Goddamnit, Maybe I'll Catch Fire, From Here To Infirmary, Good Mourning, Crimson and last year's Agony & Irony, which was the highest charting record of the band's career to date. The band: Skiba, Andriano and drummer Derek Grant, all of whom are partners in Heart & Skull.

One of New Orlean's musical ambassadors now a genuine cultural ambassador.

By Blurt Staff

Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers was formally introduced as the new ambassador of  the Chahta Indian tribe.  All his life, his mother, father and uncle taught him that he was a Choctaw Indian, which he said is correctly pronounced "Chahta." But he only recently found the historical records that document his ancestry. 

Check out this clip via the the Times-Picayune as Cyril Neville sings 'Indian Red,' during his reception as the new ambassador of the Chahta Indians at Bonfouca near Slidell LA.

"I feel humbled and empowered at the same time," Neville said, in a statement. Neville's new role as ambassador will be to speak for the tribes that are centered in St. Tammany and include descendents of the 125 Chahta, Creek and Cherokee who did not leave during the forced relocation under Andrew Jackson, called the Trail of Tears. Members are spread throughout the Florida Parishes, and since Hurricane Katrina, are scattered in 29 states.

Brand New Blues, Neville's first release in eight years, was released in April on MC Records. 

Pre-sale starts next week... oh, and you can buy lots of swag too...

By Blurt Staff

It was just announced that the 2010 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is confirmed for June 10-13. The four-day music and camping festival will once again be held on the 700-acre farm in Manchester, TN, 60 miles southeast of Nashville. 

The 2010 line up and more will be announced in late January/early February. Stay tuned to www.bonnaroo.com or follow the event on Twitter (bonnaroo.com/twitter) for special announcements in the coming months.


2010 Tickets - Holiday Pre-Sale Details: Beginning next Friday, November 27th at 12:00 PM eastern, the event organizers will offer a festive holiday pre-sale for all 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival tickets. With each ticket purchase they will include a Bonnaroo holiday greeting card featuring a unique, iconic photo from Bonnaroo's colorful past. All persons who place their order by December 16th will receive their complimentary card in time for Christmas. In addition, Bonnaroo is once again offering general admission tickets for 5 easy payments of $50.00 plus applicable fees or a pair of VIP tickets for 5 payments of $285.00 plus applicable fees through our holiday pre-sale.

Pre-sale ends at 11:59 PM eastern on Thursday, December 31s - go to www.bonnaroo.com for more information.

But wait, there's more....

Discounted Holiday Merch Packages & Limited Edition Calendar: A limited edition 2010 Bonnaroo calendar is available as well as heavily discounted merch packages during the holiday pre-sale period. The calendar will feature an eclectic mix of artist photos from previous years, while you'll also be able to purchase vintage tees and posters. Just in time for the gift-giving season, yo.

Ladies and germs, start your wallets!

Most eagerly awaited remaster (and maybe some ace concert footage...) of the entire Boss canon? Hey, as good as those Japanese reissues were a few years ago, they were not specifically remasters, just fancy-packaged things, so... Yeah. We're good.

By Fred Mills

Bruce Springsteen's manager Jon Landau, speaking to RollingStone.com yesterday, indicated that the much-rumored, much-anticipated remastered/box set edition of his classic '78 album Darkness On the Edge of Town is about "93 per cent done" - essentially confirming that the project is a "go" for 2010, although Landau didn't disclose a projected release date.

"It's absolutely fantastic and there are just some finishing touches that we need to turn our attention to and finalize and we'll get it out there," Landau said, adding that in addition to the original album finally getting the remastering treatment, is will include " a new documentary about the making of the LP, as well as live footage from the 1978 tour."

Those of us already in possession of professionally-shot, high-quality footage from that tour can only imagine what lurks in the CBS vaults. Needless to say, with appetites whetted by the Born To Run CD/DVD box that came out a few years ago, this amounts to some of the biggest Boss news to date.

Speaking to BLURT about all this, Backstreets magazine editor Chris Phillips agrees, saying, "It's always bittersweet when a Springsteen tour comes to an end, and especially this time, considering it's the last we'll see of the E Street Band for at least a while. And the last dance is just a few days away. But if coming off the road gives Bruce a chance to get back to work on this stuff, that's a heck of a silver lining.

"The Darkness box has been in the works for awhile - we're talking years, not months. And it in particular is something we've been jonesing for, certainly since the album's 30th anniversary last year. Out of all the albums in his catalog, Darkness is the one most in need of remastering. And of course the 1978 tour is legendary, so finally getting some more official live material from that period has been at the top of many fans' lists. Video-wise, it remains to be seen what there might be to represent the tour; I'd be surprised if Bruce has an uncirculated complete Darkness show up his sleeve like the Hammersmith '75 film for Born to Run. But if this thing is anything like the 30th anniversary Born to Run box -- and signs point to yes -- it's going to be a must-have."

Manager Landau further indicated to RS that a concert DVD from the Working on a Dream tour should be ready soon (and prior to the Darkness box). "We're working on some different approaches to a DVD for this tour. We'll release it sometime fairly soon, post-Christmas," he said.

Springsteen and the E Street band will conclude their two-year long Dream tour this Sunday, Nov. 22,  in Buffalo  - no, there will not be a final show in Ohio - where they'll perform as part of the show the complete 1973 album Greetings From Asbury Park.

Latest, acclaimed, album gets "reinvented" as a video album to be released via iTunes. See trailer, below.

By Blurt Staff

The Decemberists' recent album - some pundits are calling it an "epic song cycle," while the BLURT reviewer simply said "it stands up to the best" of rock's classic thematic records - The Hazards Of Love gets reinvented as a full-length video album now: Here Come The Waves: The Hazards Of Love Visualized is  released on December 1 exclusively through iTunes.

Here Come The Waves, which was debuted live in Los Angeles in October to rave reviews, is a collaboration with four filmmakers - Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria - each of whom created original animation to accompany a section of the music. The animations were produced by Flux and Hornet.

Check out the brief teaser trailer below.

What's interesting are some of the comments that have already been posted by fans at YouTube (go HERE), among them "One of the best shows I have EVER seen, and that says a lot. This was seriously amazing, I can't stop thinking about it!" and "This is going to be so amazing i cant wait until december!" (Actually the "If anyone sneaked a video past the security people, please post it!" comment is pretty cool too... but we digress...)

Anyway, Billboard has already weighed in, calling it "a stunning new ‘visualizer' of four seamlessly-sequenced psychedelic videos inspired by the album's different acts," adding that "the visuals function as impressionistic landscapes and atmospheres evocative of the unfolding drama like a richly imagined liquid lightshow." And the Los Angeles Times gushed, "a tumbling series of visuals with four distinct aesthetic styles. Peter Sluszka's ultra-slow motion capture of exploding mushrooms and elegantly disseminating seed pods... Julia Pott's line art of wolves and foxes hovering in geometric constellations... Guilherme Marcondes' renderings of skeletons caught among leafless branches and verdant human arms that unfurl like ferns... Santa Maria provides context...with cosmic, computer-generated vistas, cartoons of splintering bones."

Hey, we are all about tumbling series of visuals! This might be the best reason all year to get on iTunes... meanwhile, next stop: Tales From Topographic Oceans: The Broadway Play...

Sharin and Sune kick out the jams, no irony necessary: Raveonettes at Bimbo's 365 Club in SF, Nov. 9.

By Zach Bloom

There's a ton of smoke and a noisy loop of guitars emitting from the P.A. as the lights dim. The band casual takes the stage in casual dress, as the loop gives way to the opening riff of "Gone Forever." It's the standout track on In And Out Of Control, the new album that sums up everything The Raveonettes have been about since their hasty inception some eight years ago.

Two things are most immediately clear as the rhythm section kicks in: theirs is a small, heavily-produced drum set (bass drum stood up like a floor tom with a tambourine attached, crash cymbal, snare) that replicates the lush "power drum" sound of the 80s, splashing with every snare hit; the other is that Sharin Foo is kind of impossibly pretty - in the ballpark of the best looking musician, period. What she does because of and in spite of her looks is the focal point of the show. No one in the audience is unaware of what she's doing or where's she's wandered off to - even (or especially) as she leans over to fiddle with her amp. Sune Rose Wagner, her male counterpart on vocals and guitar, wisely harbors no delusions of stealing the spotlight.

This is right where the Raveonettes should be. "Those were some from the vault," Foo remarks, following a string of older tunes ringing with fuzz and disaffected cool-this is highlighted by "Veronica Fever," off Whip It On, their debut mini LP. The bulk of the set, though, focuses on last years' distortion-soaked Lust Lust Lust and the new one-a bit of a redirect, veering away from the acoustic relaxation of 2005's Pretty In Black. The tender moments are meticulously placed to contrast against the ear-bleeding guitars, guaranteed to fill any vacancy. When both Foo and Wagner swap Jazzmasters (or are they Jaguars? Sue me, I can't always tell the difference) for tambourines on a stripped-down, inverted version of "Break Up Girls!," the stage feels incomplete. Playing with the crowd's anticipation, the two take their time in getting back to the guitars, swaying with the bass-line groove.

There's a scene in David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me when Laura and Donna go to an evil Canadian bar that's all strobe lights and blaring music that's probably supposed to sound like the Jesus & Mary Chain but isn't. It's a very Lynch theme, playing on the innocent memories of girl groups by corrupting it with modern noise. Employing a similar approach, "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)" and "Suicide" anchor the second half of set. Stripped of the dark themes and lines like "Your boyfriend's mean and your mom's a bitch," (or, "Those fuckers stay in your head") the tunes are a joyous romp, and The Raveonettes play it straight. There aren't belying smirks or self-conscious wisecracks. They write about the world they see, and everyone's part of it.

Since we're also talking Colin Newman's other band, Githead, at Blurt today, let's rewind all the way back to the beginning...

By Fred Mills

Most folks have a story about the first time they heard groundbreaking, iconoclastic British punk band Wire, and so do I: In the winter of 1977/78 I was working in the distribution center of southeastern music retailers Record Bar, and with U.S. major labels gradually, if grudgingly, warming up to the then-current exports from England, a shipment from EMI one day was of great interest to me and a couple of my fellow punk-tilting employees: it included the debut album from Wire, whom we'd already been exposed to via Melody Maker and the NME. Among the shipment was a carton of sealed/cut corner promotional copies of Pink Flag intended to be sent around to the various accounts for in-store play, but as we surmised most if not all of them would be wasted - this was the South, after all, and Record Bar, though privately owned, was a mall-based chain - we convinced our supervisor to let us each take a handful of promos for ourselves.

We also set aside one for in-warehouse play. That afternoon my friend Robert furtively slipped the LP into the pile next to the stereo, and it eventually rotated to the top of the stack. Then -

 Thoom... thoom... clang... clang...

"Our own correspondent is sorry to tell

Of an uneasy time that all is not well..."

Perhaps a minute elapsed during which Pink Flag opening track "Reuters" played. Then -

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT?!?"

Talk about your uneasy times. I can honestly say I've never witnessed quite so visceral a (negative) reaction to a piece of music in my entire life as this one: almost to a man, the warehouse employees hurtled verbal abuse in the direction of the office, and the supervisor's assistant scrambled to yank the album from the turntable, summarily replacing it with a Molly Hatchet record. Sigh. Such was life at a warehouse in the seventies. But you can't say we didn't try to subvert from within.

Journalist (and BLURT contributor) Wilson Neate has his First Encounter Of A Wire Kind too: Growing up in England, in 1977 he was 12 and receiving musical transmissions from the likes of John Peel's BBC program and Radio Luxembourg, which eagerly aired the new music of the day. As he outlines in his contribution to Continuum's 33 1/3 series, Pink Flag, his initial exposure was via the single "I Am The Fly," from Wire's second LP Chairs Missing; "I didn't know what to make of the song," Neate confesses, adding that he nevertheless was smitten by its uniqueness. Soon enough he'd backtracked to score a copy of Pink Flag, never suspecting he might one day be interviewing its creators and authoring a book about it.

"A lot of great albums came out in 1977," writes Neate, "but Pink Flag is one of a handful - alongside Low, "Heroes", Before and After Science - that remain objects of fascination to me." And then Neate dispenses with the autobiographical portion of his program and proceeds to outline, in painstaking but rousingly informative fashion, exactly why Pink Flag remains such an object of fascination - to him, to the rest of us, and most of all, to the four men of Wire.

This latter component is of no minor importance, by the way; Neate was able to interview vocalist Colin Newman, guitarist Bruce Gilbert, drummer Robert Gotobed and bassist Graham Lewis at length in order to get the story leading up to and behind the making of Pink Flag. It's not as Rashomon-like as you might presume, either; Wire's subsequent history may be fraught with artistic differences and the comings-and-goings of disgruntled members, but during the early years, at least, it seems they were relatively united in their desire to (a) be different; (b) but not "different" like the punks were "different," as they all chafed at punk orthodoxy; and (c) find new ways of saying old things, i.e., "be different." And it's to Neate's credit that he untangles some of the seemingly contradictory elements of the Wire aesthetic - it's not punk, but it's minimalist, which coming on the heels of bloated ‘70s rock definitely sounded "punk" for lack of a better term; ideas were rampant among the members, but as a group Wire operated via reduction of ideas; etc. - without disappearing up an intellectual journalistic arse-hole.

Although Neate does have a propensity to analyze and dissect in almost dissertation fashion (check some of his reviews and features for BLURT), he's still mindful of spinning an entertaining tale along the way. And that, when you boil down a music volume to its essentials, is what will make or break a book. How many times have you started to get engrossed in a biography when, just as things are really picking up steam, the writer lapses into the dreaded "describe-the-album-track-by-track" syndrome and nearly (or completely) drains the narrative of color and drama?

Hold that thought: Neate's Pink Flag has an entire 60-page section titled "God Those R.P.M.: Pink Flag Track by Track," so if the thought of spending 10 or 15 minutes to read a description of a song that's only 1½ minutes in the first place floats your boat, this dinghy's for you, bro. Only kidding - Neate's well up to the task at hand, and he ably tackles each of the 21 Pink Flag tunes, mixing aural analysis with emotional context, throwing in some cultural or historical tidbits along the way (for example, the trajectory of "Three Girl Rhumba" from original LP to Elastica's 1994 riff appropriation for their hit "Connection" to a European TV commercial that had most listeners mistaking Wire for Elastica, if you can believe that), and adding occasional quotes from Wire members for additional illumination.

And as that tracks section follows some 80-odd pages outlining the history of Wire/Pink Flag - which itself is loaded with copious quotes, enough so that we can justifiably call it The Definitive And Authoritative Treatment of that period in Wire's long career - Neate's book is akin to a wholly filling two-course meal. There's even "dessert" by way of a final coda-like chapter that discusses matters surrounding the 2006 Wire box set and the Pink Flag reissue.

Bottom line: Pink Flag (the book) does Pink Flag (the album) full justice. A lot of the titles in the 33 1/3 series do similarly, but this one deserves to be recognized as one of the top entries to date, period.

***

Incidentally, I still have one of those sealed Pink Flag promos in my collection - I'm looking at it right now, in fact. Oddly, I have an urge to go play some Molly Hatchet. But I'm sure the feeling will pass...

The Higgs Boson of rock descends upon the Bay Area, Oakland's Fox Theater, Nov. 19

By David Downs

Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age combo Them Crooked Vultures tore up their second California date in history Thursday night. Like rapacious raptors, they swept into the Fox Theater in Oakland with a mind to shred, masterfully combining about 100 years of experience in the best rock and roll bands on Earth. Even their roadies looked cooler than normal roadies. Like hand-picked, MVP roadies.

"Fuck it. Let's Dance."

That was the band's status update on Facebook when they began streaming their entire, self-titled debut LP for free this November, and "Dance" was the only mandate to the sold-out crowd. Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and Zep's John Paul Jones warmed up opener "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I" to wild cheering, but right off the bat, lead singer Josh Homme's guitar refused to work.

Homme stood back unflustered and swigged a beer for a few bars while the guitar tech did his job, but the rest of the band didn't miss a beat. They didn't stop, or get confused or flustered. Grohl just began brutalizing his modest drum kit in an impromptu intro jam with Jones. The rhythmic duel of rock deities didn't feel forced or lost, and when Homme finally came in, they launched as though nothing had happened. Such gleeful, relaxed improvisation set the tone for the whole night, conveying the message that "We are the pro-est of the pros and we are having a damn good time."

The entire phenomenon of Them Crooked Vultures has Christmas coming early in 2009: the first whiff of a project in August; tantalizing video clips of Grohl, Homme, and Jones jamming in some dark, dank studio. Then October radio single "New Fang" - straight from the QOTSA factory, buttressed with a beefier new rhythm section. Call it Vultures of Death Metal. The free iTunes single "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" in late October - a Mondo Generator Classic of robot-rock that set the stage for the big November leak. TCV's people have played the Internet like a keytar, streaming the entire album online after it leaked, and turning "New Fang" into a Rock Band level.

As such, the audience was right there with the new band Thursday, knowing a fair amount of words and going apeshit for the singles. Mosh pits: check. Crowd surfing: check. John Paul Jones switched between about five instruments including bass, keyboards, and mandolin. At one point, Homme played slide guitar with a Corona and he ended the night drinking Ketel One straight from the bottle. Dave Grohl remains a smiling, animalistic blur, a walking rock god.

With a repertoire of thirteen published songs, the show clocked in at just over an hour with no encore and none really expected or needed. Nothing TCV has done or will do threatens to overshadow or undermine what they've already contributed to the rock canon. Instead, they masterfully complement it, as well as deliver that rare feeling of scarcity in an age of abundance.

It was like witnessing an evanescent element, a primitive reordering of elementary particles likely to vanish from existence as fast as it appeared - a super-heavy Higgs Boson of Rock.

[Photos Credit: David Downs]

Susan Boyle notches the most CD preorders in history while pundits fume...

By Fred Mills

With Britain's Got Talent/YouTube sensation Susan Boyle's debut album I Dreamed A Dream officially released today in the UK and tomorrow in the US, pundits across the globe are in a mad race to see who can bend and elongate their necks and gaze at their navels the closest. Early returns suggest that bloom is off the rose, with reviewers generally weighing in negatively.

London's Guardian was downright catty, calling the album "no mere bunch of songs; it is a commemorative mug of a major national event, rendered as a silver gewgaw that plays music. It would be instructive to see a Venn diagram showing the overlap between purchasers of I Dreamed a Dream and those buying Lady Gaga's album, The Fame Monster. Or, indeed, the overlap between SuBo and any other record at all... The very best thing about I Dreamed a Dream is that Boyle is mercifully restrained throughout. A little vibrato is as close as she comes to over-emoting."

The NY Daily News actually seems unnaturally preoccupied with Boyle's sex life (or lack thereof), writing, "There's something placid and naive about most of these performances. Despite her age, Boyle's voice carries little experience of yearning and less of sex. It may not be the voice of someone who's never been kissed (to paraphrase her), but it's clearly one of someone who seldom has."

And CNN.com, though typically even-handed (there are no true "critics" at CNN, just reporters who occasionally insert an opinion into their news stories), calls the record "something of a hotch-potch crowd-pleaser... Technically, Boyle does the job. Her voice. Can she sing? Yes. Is she outstanding? No. She's ... fine. And that's the problem. Listening to Boyle's record feels strangely monochrome. Her fame's roots lie not in her talent, but in the few short minutes that she overturned our perceptions of those who deserve fame: she is a foil to the young and the beautiful."

Talk about damning with faint praise. Well, in a unique twist that could only happen in 2009, Boyle gets the last laugh - preemptively. Amazon.com is reporting that the album is their most preordered CD to date; that is, in history. Apparently preorders began coming in months ago, while the buzz was still, er, buzzing about Boyle, and while actual sales figures won't be announced until the end of the week, bets are that the record will hit platinum status pretty early on.

In a statement, Columbia Records chairman Steve Barnett noted, "One of the things that is so unique about Susan Boyle is her ability to touch people around the world."

With over 300 million YouTube views and counting, that's what you call the kind of global reach that no music critic could every possibly hope to impact. Sheesh... my fellow scribes and I think we need to find another career path.

Only Dylan Interview To Be Released In Conjunction With Artist's Christmas In The Heart Album.

By Blurt Staff

Bob Dylan's only interview in conjunction with the release of his Christmas In The Heart album will be syndicated worldwide through the International Network Of Street Papers (INSP) beginning today.  Completed earlier this month with journalist Bill Flanagan, the wide-ranging interview includes Dylan's thoughts on all things Christmas, including his favorite holiday songs, special presents, the making of his new album, Pretty Boy Floyd and Babe Ruth.

     According to the INSP, Street papers offer a unique route out of poverty. In recent years, they have become increasingly recognized for their relevance to the developing world. By combining a sustainable social enterprise model with an independent media voice, street papers provide an enterprising means to address poverty and freedom of expression.

Go to the INSP website to find out what the newspaper nearest you is. The link to US papers is here.

     As announced earlier, all of Bob Dylan's royalties from sales Christmas In The Heart will be donated to Feeding America in the United States, Crisis in the United Kingdom, and the World Food Programme in 80 developing nations around the world. 

The first video from Christmas In The Heart, for "Must Be Santa," has just been released and is available for viewing on http://bobdylan.com. 

Pavement ATP is already sold out, kids...

By Fred Mills

Punters are literally agog at the talent that's recently been announced for the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties events - and some are also weeping at the new that one of them is already SOLD OUT.

If you had your sights set on the British ATP, to be held May 14-16 at Butlin's Holiday Centre in Minehead, you're out of luck. No doubt a huge factor in the speedy ticket sales was when Pavement was announced at the guest curator. In addition to Pavement, appearing will be Mission of Burma, Calexico, Broken Social Scene and the Walkmen, plus 17 others. The complete lineup:

Broken Social Scene
Mission Of Burma
Calexico
The Raincoats
The Fiery Furnaces
The Walkmen
Omar Souleyman + Sublime Frequencies
Atlas Sound
Grails
The Drones
Saccharine Trust
The Clean
Wooden Shjips
Sic Alps
Pierced Arrows
Spiral Stairs
Blitzen Trapper
The 3ds
Marble Valley
The Authorities
Wildbirds And Peacedrums

Meanwhile, you might want to consider queuing up for tix for the U.S. ATP, taking place Sept. 3 - 5  at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, NY.

In particular, the Sept. 3 installment of the event's "Don't Look Back" series promises to be the wildest ever. As you may have surmised from the AWESOME poster above, it will feature these artists and these albums, performed in their entirety:

Stooges - Raw Power

The Scientists - Blood Red River

Sleep - Holy Mountain

Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff

Other artists performing that weekend will be announced soon. Note that while tickets are available, lodging reservations appear to be going fast, so don't delay.

Also sold out is the Dec. 4-6 "Nightmare Before Christmas" ATP curated by My Bloody Valentine, along with the Dec. 11 - 13 "Ten Years of ATP," both in Britain. The Dec. 7 - 10 "In Between Days" (also Britain) featuring Lightning Bolt, Mum, Apse, Polvo, Dirty 3 and others is still showing tickets as available. And the other May event, May 7 - 9, curated by Matt Groening and featuring the Boredoms, the Raincoats, Danielson, Toumani Diabate and more, hasn't sold out yet either.

Your contacts:

Main site: http://www.atpfestival.com/

ATP UK w/Pavement: http://www.atpfestival.com/events/pavement.php

ATP US w/Stooges:  http://www.atpfestival.com/events/atpnewyork2010.php

Not quite a remix... not quite a remake... not sure exactly WHAT to call it...

By Blurt Staff

Amid all the brouhaha over that supposed feud going on between Beck and the Fiery Furnaces' Matt Friedberger (go here if you're not up on that... ultimately, it's kinda boring, however... rock beefs just don't have the same pizazz as hip-hop ones...), pretty much everyone overlooked the fact that the Furnaces just announced the impending release of a new album - their second in barely six months. It's to be a digital-only title, issued by Thrill Jockey, and can be nabbed at the label's website.

Fans already know that the Furnaces have been reworking, rearranging, and rewriting their songs live since they first started touring in 2003.  They have taken this practice one step further on the new record, Take Me Round Again.  Recorded separately this past July in Michigan and New York, Matt and Eleanor each recorded 6 songs that originally appeared on I'm Going Away (issued in July). All that remains the same are the words. 

Eleanor: "I've gotten into the habit of rewriting songs Matt has written, just as a way of practicing and singing at home.  Originally, I had wanted to record a folk-style record called Eleanor Friedberger sings the songs of the Fiery Furnaces.  I thought it would make a nice greatest hits record, but reworking I'm Going Away before it even came out seemed a lot more exciting."

Matthew:  "After asking people to send us their re-write of I'm Going Away before having heard it (http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/site/deaf-descriptions/), I thought we owed it to them to make an actual alternate version of the record.  And not just leave all the new arranging for live shows." 

Speaking of live shows, the Furnaces are in Denver tonight, and then starting on Dec. 4 will be dong a string of shows in the New York area, eventually landing in Chicago on Dec. 30 and 31 to ring in the New Year. Dates are here.

The mind just boggles at the marketing possibilities... Rock over Gary, Indiana!

By Blurt Staff

Okay, okay, we're whupping that intern who wrote the headline - we don't mean to imply that Jacko and Wes are on the same DVD. But hey, if it caught your attention...

The good culture-vultures over at MVD Visual have announced the impending release of DVDs from both deceased entertainers. The first, Wesley Willis' Joy Rides, arrives on Dec. 8 and is described as following "the life of the prolific and controversial artist on his journey from obscurity to fame. [It] won the Gold Hugo for the Chicago Award at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival [and premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2008 and has since been shown at various other festivals, including Noise Pop and SXSW.

"A Chicago native, Wesley Willis became an underground rock icon, revered artist and hero to many before his untimely death in 2003. Termed by some as an "outsider artist" due to his schizophrenia, the film examines Wesley's ability to draw people in despite his intimidating facade. Through his force of personality and his artistic talents, Wesley's music and art attracted people from all walks of life. Greeting people with a headbutt and a request to say "rah" and "roh", Wesley quickly stood out in a crowd. Through interviews with friends and footage from the last four years of Wesley's life, a portrait emerges of a man whose day-to-day existence was wrought with pain and joy. Although his life was troubled, Wesley never stopped creating. He continued to draw pictures and write songs up until his death."

There will be a series of free screenings for the DVD too; view the trailer below.

PHILADELPHIA - Monday Nov 30
 Midnight Screening of Wesley Willis's Joy Rides
 National Mechanics Bar & Restaurant Old City Philadelphia
22 S 3rd St - Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.nationalmechanics.com
 
(With music by Bobo, Personae Joe Melchiorre, Technophobes, and more!)
 
 
CHICAGO - Sunday, December 6th at 7pm
 The Empty Bottle
1035 N Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
www.emptybottle.com
 
(With music following the screening.)
 
 
BROOKLYN - Monday, December 7th at 8pm
 Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.glasslands.com
 
(With music by Teenage Prayers and Eric Lindley)

Meanwhile, lso arriving Dec. 8 is Michael Jackson - Life & Times Of The King Of Pop 1958-2009. Jackson's last days and Memorial Service are captured in this 79-minute film. Wilson Ebiye, President and CEO of Rock City Entertainment (who teamed with MVD for the project), said in a statement, "The Life and Times of the King of Pop 1958-2009 is a great companion piece to This Is It. The film is a concerted effort to preserve and protect Michael's legacy of humanitarianism, peace and love."

 
Life & Times Of The King Of Pop 1958-2009 features appearances at the Memorial Service by a wide-ranging cast of celebrities and entertainers such as Usher, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, The Jacksons, Berry Gordy, Brooke Shields, Magic Johnson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie.

Uh-huh. Well, we're putting our money on the Wesley Willis flick for entertainment and archival value... rock over Gary, Indiana, Wes!

Manu, that's who! Promises to be way more interesting than that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25^th anniversary concert airing the 29^th on HBO...

By Blurt Staff

Latin/worldbeat alt-rocker Manu Chao's Baionarena will make its U.S. television premiere on Friday, November 27th at NBC's bilingual youth network mun2. The one-hour "mun2 Presents: Manu Chao" special will air Friday, November 27th at 12am midnight ET/PT, and will repeat on Sunday November 29th at 11pm ET/PT (as well as additional dates throughout December). Holamun2.com is also streaming an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour diary over the next week at holamun2.com/manuchao.

"Manu represents what's great about music: it transcends language, class and politics," said Flavio Morales (VP Programming for mun2) in a statement.  "Offering his music to our mun2 audience really speaks to the duality we as Latinos live everyday."

The  Baionarena double live album/DVD set will be released nationally on December 1^st via the Nacional label. The album was recorded last year in Bayonne, France. Highlights among the 33 tracks include Chao classics like "Clandestino," "La Vida Tombola," "Mala Vida," "La Primavera" and "Welcome to Tijuana." (Baionarena will be released in both standard and limited edition deluxe formats, the latter available on January 12th).

 
Baionarena is the follow-up to the Latin Grammy-winning studio album, La Radiolina, which has been certified Gold and has now sold over a million copies worldwide.

 
In other recent news, Chao has released a "La Colifata" benefit project, now available for a "pay what you want" donation at http://VivalaColifata.org, about which we previously brought you details - read more of our coverage here.

Documents the making of their new double album...

By Fred Mills

In case you hadn't noticed, we've got a big Black Crowes feature in the latest issue of BLURT - an exclusive interview with frontman Chris Robinson, who talks about some of the ordeals his band's been through in the past few years and offers some choice opinions of the music industry in general.

One such tidbit:

"When you dream maybe of being a rock star and then you get to be one... you realize it's really not a very exclusive club. There's a lot of douchebags that get to be rock stars, too. I thought it would be more like The Beat Hotel with Ginsberg and Burroughs. You're like, 'No. It's Faith No More.' Great. I fed the machine for years. It was like, 'Holy shit, these grown adult businessmen are making tens of millions of dollars off us every week.' It's really blowing our minds and all we want to do is get deeper into the groove and figure it out and write and play and get high and be free and do all these things. And we're making these horrible business people millions of dollars and you wonder. Then you finally wake up and go like, 'Ohhh! This is a big game. This isn't about us, man'."

Robinson also enthuses about their new Before the Frost ... Until the Freeze album, recorded up in Woodstock at Levon Helm's Ramble. Now there's a DVD documenting the sessions, out this week. Titled Cabin Fever it's about the unique process of recording the double album, and also includes exclusive bonus songs ("Little Lizzie Mae," Velvet Underground's "Oh Sweet Nuthin" and Fred Neil's "Dolphins"). Hey, it's the Crowes, and it rocks. Check out the trailers below.

Can it... be...?

By Blurt Staff

Sometimes there's a song so... you know. Neil Young knows. So does Jimmy Fallon. Which is why the Neilster dropped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform such a song. See if you can recognize it.

By why does Neil have his hat pulled so low down on his face, hmmm...?

UK tour already set; US dates to be revealed soon.

By Blurt Staff

Massive Attack are set to release 5^th studio album Heligoland on EMI's Virgin Records on February 9^th, 2010.  Recall that earlier this year when the band announced it was working on new material the tentative title was Weather Underground, slated for October. As things turned out, last month, the duo released their first new material in three years, giving fans a preview of Heligoland with a 4-song EP Splitting the Atom which features 2 album tracks and 2 album track remixes. 

Heligoland features an all star cast of guest vocals from Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe. Long time cohort Horace Andy makes a return alongside Massive Attack founding members Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grand Marshall (Daddy G). Damon also plays bass on ‘'Flat Of The Blade' and keyboards on ‘Splitting The Atom' while Portishead's Adrian Utley plays guitar on ‘Saturday Come Slow'. The band also collaborated with DFA's Tim Goldsworthy on selected tracks. The cover artwork (above) features an original image by Robert Del Naja.

Tracklisting:

Pray For Rain

Babel

Splitting The Atom

Girl I Love You

Psyche

Flat Of The Blade

Paradise Circus

Rush Minute

Saturday Come Slow

Atlas Air

Over the last three years Robert Del Naja has written and produced soundtracks for a number of films and documentaries, including ‘Trouble In The Water', '44 Inch Chest', ‘In Prison My Whole Life' and ‘Gomorra', the latter for which he won the David Di Donatello Award for Best Song.  Earlier this year, Massive Attack won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards.   In September, Massive Attack headlined this year's Bestival ahead of their first full UK tour in three years.  They have just announced a few more UK dates in February and are expected to announce a U.S. tour next year.

Tour info and sound clips: http://massiveattack.com/

Followup to acclaimed 2007 album Little Kingdom; check out a new track, below.

By Blurt Staff

Dream Get Together, the third long player from San Francisco's Citay, is slated for a January 26 on Dead Oceans. Here's how the label describes the forthcoming set:

"Dream Get Together channels everything we love about Citay into their most cohesive and sophisticated album yet. The symphonic dueling lead guitars, soaring vocals, grandiose acoustic explorations and audacious synth solos are all present, sewn together seamlessly into an epic work.

Seldom has there been a more obvious choice for an album-opener than "Careful With That Hat," a song propelled by a deep groove and swing that practically begs the listener to stand up and air-drum wildly. The vocals soar, the lead guitars catch fire and the mammoth solo (courtesy of guitarist Josh Pollock) builds to an ecstatic explosion. This is the shot across the bow."

Here's an advance peek via the MP3 for "Careful With That Hat"

We are all about shots across the bow!

Led by songwriter Ezra Feinberg, Citay has made a career out of studio exploration, recalling a time when studio excess was the norm. Producer Tim Green, of the Fucking Champs, is no stranger to sonic indulgence, and together Feinberg and Green have woven together a musical tapestry that is both heavy and sweet. In Citay, the metal leanings of Green's band are replaced by an altogether different brand of fantasy rock. Joining Feinberg in Citay is drummer Warren Huegel, whose rhythmic sensibilities are best exemplified not only by his thunderous beats, but also his percussion decorations that lift the Citay sound from the ground up. Flanking Feinberg's acoustic six string live are the electric guitars of Sean Smith and Josh Pollock. Bassist Diego Gonzalez holds it all together throughout. Feinberg shares vocal duties on Dream Get Together with Tahlia Harbour and Meryl Press, whose sweet voices play the perfect foil to the bombast.

One of many highlights of Dream Get Together is "Mirror Kisses," a song Feinberg wrote specifically for guest vocalist Merrill Garbus (of Tune-Yards) to sing in three-part harmony with Harbour and Press of Citay. With the soaring Ebow guitars and vocal harmonies, "Mirror Kisses" is Citay at its most lush and melodic. In contrast, "Hunter" is Citay at its most excessive - a triumphant instrumental anthem that somehow bridges the gap between Klaus Schulze and The Scorpions. With a spaced-out synth solo by Josh Robinow of Howlin' Rain, "Hunter" is a majestic ride. Dream Get Together closes with a gorgeous rendition of Galaxie 500's "Tugboat," in which Citay replaces the reverb-y electric guitars with clean acoustic strumming and Fripp-ed out sonics, preserving the beauty of the original while making the song their own.

We are feeling alienated and depressed this morning. Possibly mild flashes of OCD, too. Can we have a million dollars?

By Fred Mills, Blurt Managing Editor

Here's a fun story various outlets (among them, the sharp-eyed MMOG buffs over at Pitchfork, who tipped us) are picking up on today: San Jose's Erik Estavillo, a kind of looney-tunes, litigious-minded online gamer has filed a lawsuit against game maker Activision Blizzard, while additionally subpoenaing Depeche Mode's Martin Gore and actress Winona Ryder, for assorted stuff related to the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft.

We're not making this up. According to Gamespot.com, Estavillo had previously sued Sony after being banned from the PlayStation Network - the suit was dismissed in September, and Estavillo appealed - and more recently in another lawsuit he alleged that "a broken Xbox 360 caused him undue stress, and that a Wii system update blocking access to the Homebrew Channel third-party program interfered with his inalienable right to pursue happiness."

Er, last time we looked, that "inalienable right" had been mentioned by founding father Thomas Jefferson in the original Declaration of Independence, but as our rights as American technically derive from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, most folks would agree that "pursuit of happiness" is not actually guaranteed to citizens.

At any rate, the Activision deal was filed yesterday in California's Santa Clara County Superior Court, and Gamespot reports that Estavillo "accuses the publisher of maintaining a ‘harmful virtual environment' with ‘sneaky and deceitful practice,'" singling out in particular the $14.99 monthly subscription fee. Then Estavillo gets really anal about everything:

"He contends the fee is aggravated by the game requiring players to travel great distances at a slow walking or running pace, with fast travel options like teleportation stones and mounts only available to gamers who rise to an advanced level or purchase the game's expansion packs. He also cited the game's resurrection process, in which players travel in spirit from cemeteries back to the spots where they died in order to revive themselves, as an unnecessary part of the game designed to cost gamers money. Other fees at issue include the charges (up to $25) Blizzard levies to change their characters' names, races, factions, or servers."

Hey, it's called capitalism, baby!

Then, Estavillo brings up issues of "alienation" and "mental health problems" related to the online gaming, saying that he, the plaintiff, "has suffered from similar problems including major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and Crohn's disease."

We can't speak for the Crohn's portion of those ailments, but the rest of Estavillo's issues can be solved pretty handily: unplug the goddam computer, you ninny, and go outside and get some fresh air.

 You gotta read the whole report to believe it - the dude is suing for a million bucks - especially the part about Gore and Ryder:

"The gamer is subpoenaing Depeche Mode's Martin Lee Gore "since he himself has been known to be sad, lonely, and alienated, as can be seen in the songs he writes." He is also calling Winona Ryder to testify, saying the actress' appreciation for Catcher in the Rye will make her a relevant witness "to how alienation in the book can tie to alienation in real live [sic] / video games such as World of Warcraft.""

Why not Morrissey too? Anyhow, there's the warning bell right there: anytime someone cites Catcher in the Rye in any context, there's trouble brewin'... Sheesh.

And people ask me why I refuse to get my 8-year old an Xbox or PlayStation yet. Now you know. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody - do the rest of us a favor and go for a hike tomorrow and stay away from the computer.

New Steve Fisk-produced platter their first effort in four years.

By Blurt Staff

Kill Rock Stars will be releasing the new album from Portland's  Quasi (Sam Coomes, Janet Weiss, Joanna Bolme) on February 23. American Gong was recorded at Jackpot Studios by Kendra Lynn and was mixed by Steve Fisk (Unwound, Sleater-Kinney, Shoplifting) This is Quasi's first studio album since 2006's When The Going Gets Dark and first for Kill Rock Stars. This will be their 8^th album since forming in '93.

The band advises us that their reason for soldiering on, even in on-again/off-again fashion, after all these years, is simple: "Get off your ass, kick out the jams, lay it on the line, & communal mind meld is within reach.  Do it for love & there is no reason for regret."

Quasi will be touring this winter/spring and on New Year's Eve Quasi will be performing covers of The Who at the Doug Fir in Portland, OR.

Tracklisting:

01. Repulsion
02. Little White Horse
03. Everything And Nothing At All
04. Bye Bye Blackbird
05. The Jig Is Up
06. Black Dogs and Bubbles
07. Death Is Not The End
08. Rockabilly Party
09. Now What
10. Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler
11. Howler

Set for Spring Break 2010 in St. Augustine, March 12th-14^th. The second annual 3-day festival donates a substantial portion of the ticket proceeds to the Harvest of Hope Foundation, a non-profit charity that assists migrant farmworkers.

By Blurt Staff

This Thanksgiving, support the hands that harvested the food on your table by purchasing an advance ticket to the Harvest of Hope Fest in sunny St. Augustine, Florida.  The Harvest of Hope Fest is a three-day, multiple stage music festival that raises awareness and provides financial and educational aid to migrant farmworkers all over the country. For a limited time, discounted three-day tickets for the festival are available for $29.50.   

HOH Fest is the first multi-day concert of the 2010 festival season and uniquely different then the copycat lineups you see at other events. Last year over 17,000 attendees rocked out to over one hundred punk, indie, hip-hop, and alternative rock bands. Audiences were treated to Against Me!, Black Kids, Girl Talk, Less Than Jake, The National, GZA, Tokyo Police Club, Propagandhi, Ra Ra Riot, KRS-One, Kool Keith, and many others.

This year's line up will be announced in early December.

Right in time for spring break, the 2010 Harvest of Hope Fest is scheduled for March 12th - 14th. It is conveniently located on the St. Johns County Fairgrounds and offers 90 acres of grassy pasture and trees for limited primitive camping. The festival is an ideal destination for spring breakers, snowbirds, and sun lovers. The Harvest of Hope Fest is located a short distance from historic St. Augustine and the beach and within an easy drive of Daytona, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Gainesville.

Discounted three-day tickets are on sale starting November 23rd for the low price of $29.50 until the festival line up is announced.

Proceeds from the charity fundraiser festival will benefit Harvest of Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides emergency and educational aid to some of the hardest working and often overlooked people keeping our agricultural economy moving - migrant farmworkers. Harvest of Hope distributes funds to migrant farmworkers and their families to help pay for food, medical services, clothing, rent, educational scholarships, and more. It is an honor to have such a large group of musicians donating their time and performances to the cause.

For more information on the Harvest of Hope Fest, including ticket information and line-up, please visit www.harvestofhopefest.com

Here is the link to the purchase page for ticket pre-sales:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=625905

Our annual roundup of the year's biggest fowl jokes...

By Blurt Staff

Dear Blurt readers, we hope you have a safe and fulfilling Thanksgiving day tomorrow. A few suggestions:

• Eat half of what you planned to eat, and then mail the difference in the form of a check or money order to your local food bank.
• Take an after-lunch hike and breathe lots of fresh air - stay away from that computer screen (eBay and World of Warcraft are big no-nos)
• Daps, not handshakes, unless you really, really like being stuck at home with fever and aches.
• Tell a musician that you sincerely appreciate the joy and happiness he or she has brought into this world.

Meanwhile, if you happen to see a turkey anywhere, be sure to wring that sucker's neck. It's the good, Christian thing to do, and it has been officially approved this year by the GOP. Here are some suggestions of necks you might consider wringing - happy Thanksgiving, everyone, from your friendly neighborhood Blurt!

From Brooklyn's Aa and Britain's Robyn Hitchcock to Finland's Michael Monroe (you mean THAT Michael Monroe?!?) and Argentina's Zona Tango, it's all good.

By Fred Mills, Blurt Managing Editor

With the 2010 South By Southwest bash set for March 17-21 and registration in full swing (memo to attendees: most if not all of the close-to-the-action downtown hotels are already booked up; start thinking about renting a Segway now...), SXSW organizers have just announced the preliminary list of bands who'll be officially showcasing over the course of the four days.

The complete list is below (or viewable at the SXSW site here) - don't despair if you don't see your best pal's band listed, as the bulk of those confirmed thus far are from overseas -  and for more details on the entire SXSW week that includes the Music, Film and Interactive festivals, go to the main location: www.sxsw.com

SXSW 2010 Showcasing Bands

*Information subject to change*

Aa (Brooklyn NY)
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO (Osaka JAPAN)
A Classic Education (Bologna ITALY)
Alpha Rev (Austin TX)
Amaral (Madrid SPAIN)
And So I Watch You From Afar (Belfast IRELAND)
Apostle of Hustle (Toronto ON)
Arms (Brooklyn NY)
Ólöf Arnalds (Reykjavik ICELAND)
Art vs Science (Surry Hills NSW)
A Shoreline Dream (Denver CO)
Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea (Asbury Park NJ)
Autumn Owls (Dublin IRELAND)
Bare Wires (Oakland CA)
Julian Berntzen (Bergen NORWAY)
Best Fwends (Austin TX)
The Black (Austin TX)
The Black Atlantic (Groningen THE NETHERLANDS)
Dan Black (Paris FRANCE)
Black Tide (Miami FL)
Bliss N Eso (Albert Park VIC)
Boom Boom Satellites (JAPAN)
The Boxer Rebellion (London UK-ENGLAND)
Break of Reality (New York NY)
B-Real of Cypress Hill (Los Angeles CA)
Broadway Calls (Rainer OR)
Broken Records (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)
VV BROWN (London UK-ENGLAND)
The Brunettes (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Buckshot (Brooklyn NY)
Canja Rave (Porto Alegre BRAZIL)
Capsula (Bilbao SPAIN)
Carsick Cars (Beijing CHINA)
Caucus (Tokyo JAPAN)
The Chevelles (Melville WA)
Chew Lips (London UK-ENGLAND)
Suzanna Choffel (Austin TX)
Chris T-T (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)
C-Mon & Kypski (THE NETHERLANDS)
The Coathangers (Atlanta GA)
Simon Collins (Victoria BC)
The Constellations (Atlanta GA)
Contra Coup (Austin TX)
Cotton Jones (Cumberland MD)
The Crystal Method (Los Angeles CA)
David Dallas (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Dappled Cities (Sydney NSW)
Daveman (Berlin GERMANY)
The Daylights (Los Angeles CA)
The dB's (Chapel Hill NC)
Dead Sexy Inc (Paris FRANCE)
The Deaf (The Hague THE NETHERLANDS)
Deer Tick (Providence RI)
Delhi 2 Dublin (Vancouver BC)
Paul Dempsey (from "Something for Kate") (Melbourne NSW)
Diplomats of Solid Sound (Iowa City IA)
DJ Car Stereo (Wars) (Austin TX)
DJ Evil Dee (Brooklyn NY)
DJ Revolution (Los Angeles CA)
Daniel Francis Doyle (Austin TX)
Adiam Dymott (Goteborg SWEDEN)
The 88 (Los Angeles CA)
Electric Electric (Strasbourg FRANCE)
Val Emmich (Jersey City NJ)
Eternia (Toronto ON)
Everything Everything (Manchester UK-WALES)
Fanfarlo (London UK-ENGLAND)
Michael Feinberg (New York NY)
Fergus & Geronimo (Westway TX)
Fighting With Wire (Derry IRELAND)
FINALE (Detroit MI)
Floating Action (Asheville NC)
Francis (Borlange SWEDEN)
Robert Francis (Los Angeles CA)
Frightened Rabbit (Selkirk UK-SCOTLAND)
The Funeral Pyre (Los Angeles CA)
The Ganjas (Santiago CHILE)
Geeks (Tokyo JAPAN)
Gerald G (Austin TX)
Colin Gilmore (Austin TX)
Giulia y los Tellarini (Barcelona SPAIN)
Rosi Golan (New York NY)
Gong Myoung (Seoul KOREA)
Goober and the Peas (Detroit MI)
Good Shoes (London UK-ENGLAND)
Guitar Shorty (Harlingen TX)
Ha Ha Tonka (Springfield MO)
Halves (Dublin IRELAND)
Darren Hanlon (Sydney NSW)
Harlem (Austin TX)
Headdress (Austin TX)
Hey Colossus (London UK-ENGLAND)
Robyn Hitchcock (London CA)
Hot Panda (Edmonton AB)
The Hounds Below (Detroit MI)
I Fight Dragons (Chicago IL)
The Intelligence (Seattle WA)
Ivan & Alyosha (Seattle WA)
Japandroids (Vancouver BC)
Jazz One (Austin TX)
Stephen Jerzak (La Crosse WI)
John Dear Mowing Club (Den Haag THE NETHERLANDS)
The Jim Jones Revue (London UK-ENGLAND)
Jookabox (Indianapolis IN)
Julia Says (Sao Paulo BRAZIL)
Karnivool (Perth WA)
Kartick & Gotam (Chennai INDIA)
Kidz In Space (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Kidz In The Hall (Chicago IL)
Kingston (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Maurice Kirya (Kampala ZIMBABWE)
The Kissaway Trail (Odense DENMARK)
L.A.B. (Novo Hamburgo BRAZIL)
The Law (Dundee UK-SCOTLAND)
Vander Lee (Belo Horizonte BRAZIL)
Unni Lovlid (Oslo NORWAY)
Lowood (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Audra Mae (Los Angeles CA)
Malente (Essen GERMANY)
Natalia Mallo (Sao Paulo BRAZIL)
Mantles (San Francisco CA)
Julia Marcell (Berlin GERMANY)
Marco Polo & Torae (Brooklyn NY)
Mariachi El Bronx (Los Angeles CA)
Carolyn Mark (Victoria BC)
Maruosa (Tokyo JAPAN)
MegaRex (Sao Paulo BRAZIL)
The Middle East (Townsville QLD)
Middle Finger Salute (Blackburn UK-ENGLAND)
Miniature Tigers (Phoenix AZ)
Mixtapes & Cellmates (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Monarchs (Austin TX)
Michael Monroe (Helsinki FINLAND)
PJ Morton (Conyers GA)
Mountain Man (Bennington VT)
Movits! (Lulea SWEDEN)
Moxine (Sao Paulo BRAZIL)
Mr Sicc (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Mumiy Troll (Los Angeles CA)
My Dad is Dead (Chapel Hill NC)
Nailpin (Boom BELGIUM)
Nakia & His Southern Cousins (Austin TX)
NiCad (Den Haag THE NETHERLANDS)
9th Wonder (Raleigh-Durham NC)
The Novas (Dallas TX)
Jackie Oates (Exeter UK-ENGLAND)
of Verona (Mandi Perkins) (Los Angeles CA)
One Night Only (Helmsley UK-ENGLAND)
1001 Nights Orchestra (Austin TX)
The Pack A.D. (Vancouver BC)
Paleo (Brooklyn NY)
Parlovr (Montreal QC)
Past Lives (Seattle WA)
The Peelies (Montreal QC)
Julie Peel (Montreal QC)
Peter Wolf Crier (Minneapolis MN)
Pink Nasty (Austin TX)
Pivot (UK) (UK-ENGLAND)
P.K. 14 (Beijing CHINA)
Plants and Animals (Montreal QC)
Please The Trees (Prague CZECH REPUBLIC)
Steve Poltz (San Diego CA)
Andy Pratt (Amesbury MA)
Sean Price (Brooklyn NY)
Princeton (Eagle Rock CA)
Profetas (COLOMBIA)
Psalm One (Chicago IL)
Quantic and his Combo Barbaro (Cali COLOMBIA)
Random Axe (Brooklyn NY)
Rebelle (Den Haag THE NETHERLANDS)
Red Mass (Montreal QC)
Tommy Reilly (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Riverboat Gamblers (Austin TX)
The River Raid (Recife BRAZIL)
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (Brooklyn NY)
Brisa Roche (Paris FRANCE)
Rock of Heltah Skeltah (Brooklyn NY)
Rogues (London UK-ENGLAND)
Ruste Juxx (Brooklyn NY)
San Saba County (Austin TX)
Scanners (London UK-ENGLAND)
Kate Schutt (Guelph ON)
Serious Sam Barrett (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Shit And Shine (London UK-ENGLAND)
Sixteen Deluxe (Austin TX)
Skyzoo (Brooklyn NY)
Small Black (Brooklyn NY)
Smif N Wessun (Brooklyn NY)
Smoosh (Seattle WA)
So Cow (Tuam IRELAND)
Solid Gold (Minneapolis MN)
Soulico (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
So What (The Hague THE NETHERLANDS)
The Spring Standards (New York NY)
Sabrina Starke (Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS)
Steel Train (Teaneck NJ)
StereoHeroes (Les Gorguettes FRANCE)
Surrounded (Malmo SWEDEN)
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter (Seattle WA)
M. Takara 3 (Guarulhos BRAZIL)
Team Facelift (New York NY)
Thunder Power (Omaha NE)
Timber Timbre (Toronto ON)
Todd (London UK-ENGLAND)
Marques Toliver (London UK-ENGLAND)
Toolshed (London ON)
Trembling Bells (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Trespassers William (Seattle WA)
Twin Atlantic (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Two Star Symphony (Houston TX)
Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights (Dallas TX)
The Uglysuit (Oklahoma City OK)
Uncle Lucius (Austin TX)
The View (Dundee UK-SCOTLAND)
Volovan (Monterrey MEXICO)
Waco Brothers (Chicago IL)
Miho Wada (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Warpaint (Los Angeles CA)
Wave Machines (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
The Wave Pictures (London UK-ENGLAND)
We Are Scientists (New York NY)
We Are Wolves (Montreal QC)
Withered (Atlanta GA)
Wolf Gang (London UK-ENGLAND)
Woot (The Haque THE NETHERLANDS)
XV (Wichita KS)
The Yellow Dogs (Tehran IRAN)
YellowFever (Austin TX)
Zlam Dunk (San Marcos TX)
Zona Tango (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)

"Birds Fly Away" from acclaimed Hummingbird, Go! album.

By Blurt Staff

At the end of a successful year for Swedish songstress Theresa Andersson, she decided to make a video for single, "Birds Fly Away."  A single from acclaimed 2008 album Hummingbird, Go!, the video, directed by Miranda Penn Turin, invites viewers to the energized streets of her hometown, New Orleans.  You can check out the "Birds Fly Away" video, now playing at Blurt TV.

BLURT enthused about the album, writing, in part,

"Even for New Orleans, which with its myriad musical hybrids is arguably the birthplace of the mashup, the notion seems improbable: marrying contemporary Swedish indiepop to Crescent City traditionalism. And though Swede expat/N'awlins resident Theresa Andersson tilts more in the direction of the former than the latter, there's an undeniable earthiness and primal power on Hummingbird, Go! that you won't find on, say, offerings from Lykke Li, Peter Moren (of Peter Bjorn and John), Jens Lekman or El Perro Del Mar (just to name a handful of Swedish musicians - all good, incidentally - with recent, heavily hyped releases). That she created the album entirely in her own kitchen and played 99% of the instruments is all the more impressive."

New Orleans locals will have one more chance to see Andersson perform live before heading into the studio to work on her next record.  You can catch her performing a benefit concert at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center on December 9. 

Bono, the Edge, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Richard Thompson, Neko Case, John Prine, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case, Jesse Winchester, Ray LaMontagne, Nick Lowe, Levon Helm, Allen Toussaint among the guests. New season stars Dec. 9.

By Blurt Staff

Sundance Channel will launch the second season of its critically acclaimed music/talk original series "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 10:00pm et/pt with an episode featuring U2's Bono and The Edge. "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." combines the best elements of talk and music television and lets viewers in on intimate conversation and performances with host Costello and his guests, who range from legendary performers to promising new artists. The series, executive produced by Sir Elton John, includes one-on-one interviews, unprecedented pairings and group discussions, as well as extraordinary performances, from impromptu "illustrative" moments to full band (and even multi-band) productions. Among the confirmed guests for the seven-part season are: Bono, The Edge, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case, Jesse Winchester, Ray LaMontagne, Nick Lowe, Levon Helm, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint.

"We're thrilled to launch a second season of 'Spectacle' on Sundance Channel," said Sundance Channel EVP and GM, Sarah Barnett. "The series offers viewers unusually close access to artists through its mix of candid conversations and exciting musical performances. This season's A-list line-up is a testament to the tremendous respect that artists feel for Elvis Costello as a musician and entertainer."

"I am delighted that we can continue where we left off--making intelligent, and informative music programming," said Sir Elton John, one of the series' executive producers.

Elvis Costello commented: "In the words of the great Joe Strummer, 'Let's rock again!'"

The program's eclecticism and depth reflect its uniquely qualified host. Costello is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee; a Grammy and Ivor Novello Award-winning (and Oscar®-nominated) songwriter and performer comfortable in almost every genre imaginable; a musicologist of formidable breadth and knowledge; a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine; and a noted wit whose stint as guest host on The Late Show with David Letterman won rave reviews.

"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is taped in front of a live audience at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater in New York City and The Masonic Temple in Toronto, Canada. The series will also air on CTV in Canada.

The schedule for Season Two of "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ..." is as follows:

December 9th at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Bono and The Edge"
Elvis Costello conducts an intimate and revealing conversation with U2's Bono and The Edge. Recorded at the Masonic Temple in Toronto, Ontario, during their current 360 world tour, Bono and Edge discuss the writing and recording process behind some of their most famous recordings, perform rarities, as well as a show-ending mash-up with Elvis and The Imposters.

December 16th at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Ron Sexsmith and Jesse Winchester"
Elvis Costello is joined by guests Neko Case, Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith and Jesse Winchester for an old fashioned "guitar pull" -- a swapping of songs and stories -- amongst this amazing group of singer/songwriters. Highlights include Crow's "If it Makes You Happy," a unique rendition of a song from Neko Case's acclaimed "Middle Cyclone" album, a Sexsmith and Elvis duet on a Costello classic; and Jesse Winchester reducing the audience (and his cohorts) to tears with his gentle lyrics and voice.

December 23rd at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Levon Helm, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint"
Elvis Costello literally builds a band in front of the audience's eyes and ears. Joining him for this once-in-a-lifetime jam session are his former record producer, Nick Lowe, on bass; legendary New Orleans producer/pianist Allen Toussaint; U.K. guitar giant/songwriter Richard Thompson; and, from The Band, drummer Levon Helm.

December 30th 6:00 - 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." marathon
A marathon of five previous episodes of "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...".

January 6th at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Elvis Costello"
In this very special edition of Spectacle, Elvis Costello slides from the host chair to guest chair for a revealing conversation with actress/music journalist Mary Lousie Parker. While it's impossible to cover all of Costello's 30 year plus musical journey in an hour, he performs a wide selection of his material.

January 13th at 10:00pm "Elvis Costello with Lyle Lovett, Ray LaMontagne, and John Prine"
Elvis Costello explores the role of the singer/songwriter with three of music's best: the legendary and highly influential John Prine, four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett, and the critically acclaimed Ray LaMontagne. Each stands alone in the spotlight to perform and sits for an intimate chat with Elvis on their craft.

January 20th at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Bruce Springsteen part 1"
January 27th at 10:00pm "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Bruce Springsteen part 2"
Elvis Costello sits down with Bruce Springsteen for a special two part episode and, with his guitar in hand, he opens up about his pre-E Street Band bands, his early and current inspirations, and the resurgence of New Jersey. E Street Band members Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan sit in for a couple of songs.

The inaugural season of "Spectacle" featured an extraordinary and eclectic roster of legendary musicians and fascinating personalities including: Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Julian Schnabel, Smokey Robinson, The Police (Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers), James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Rufus Wainwright, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Diana Krall, John Mellencamp, Jakob Dylan, She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), Norah Jones, Jenny Lewis, Renée Fleming and President Bill Clinton.

Season one of "Spectacle" is now available on iTunes, and a DVD/BluRay box set was released in the U.S. on November 17, 2009.

Volume 4 Of Live Recordings From Bridge School Concerts Available Nov. 24; Trent Reznor, John My Morning Jacket, Tom Waits, Band of Horses, Death Cab For Cutie,  Regina Spektor, Tegan & Sara and others are featured. Oddly, Neil himself is not on it.

By Blurt staff

Every year, Neil and Pegi Young host the non-profit Bridge School Concert, benefiting the unique learning complex which assists children with severe physical impairments and challenging communication needs. The first was held in 1986, and the event is known as a totally unique musical event. Over the years the line-up of participants reads like a history of rock & roll.

Three years ago, Apple's iTunes began offering live recordings from these legendary shows, and the first three volumes feature some of the most popular musical artists in the world. Since the concerts are basically acoustic presentations, the performers perform versions of some of their biggest songs like they never have before. It has turned the Bridge School Concerts into a yearly highlight, and offers a chance to hear truly original performances.

Volume IV, 22-track collection of live performances arrived digitally at iTunes this week and features a wide range of artists including John Mellencamp, Josh Groban, Trent Reznor, John Mayer, Tom Waits & Kronos Quartet, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ministry, My Morning Jacket, Norah Jones, Tegan & Sara, Death Cab for Cutie and Band of Horses.

As always, the proceeds from the iTunes digital downloads will be donated to the Bridge School, where one of the thrusts of their learning program is the use of advanced augmentative and alternative communication systems and assistive technology. Over the history of the concerts since 1986, some of the most exciting and surprising performances of live music have become a hallmark of the shows, and most of them are now available for the world to hear and purchase. 

The Bridge School Collection, Vol. 4

1) Ministry - Here They Come - 11/2/94

2) Ministry - Paisley - 11/2/94

3) John Mellencamp - Jackie Brown - 10/29/05

4) Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On -10/30/05

5) Trent Reznor - Fragile - 10/22/06

6) Trent Reznor - Hurt - 10/22/06

7) John Mayer - Heart Of Life - 10/27/07

8) John Mayer - Waiting On The World - 10/27/07

9) Regina Spektor - Ain't No Cover - 10/27/07

10) My Morning Jacket - Gideon - 10/28/07

11) My Morning Jacket - Just One Thing - 10/28/07

12) Tegan & Sara - Dark Come Soon - 10/28/07

13) Tegan & Sara - Like Oh, Like H - 10/28/07

14) Tom Waits & Kronos Quartet - What Keeps Mankind Alive - 10/28/07

15) Tom Waits & Kronos Quartet - The Part You Throw Away - 10/28/07

16) Band of Horses - Marry Song  - 10/25/08

17) Band of Horses - The General Specific - 10/25/08

18) Norah Jones - Jesus Don't Cry - 10/25/08

19) Death Cab For Cutie - Cath - 10/26/08

20) Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart - 10/26/08

21) Josh Groban - Changing Colors - 10/26/08

22) Josh Groban With Neil Young - Harvest Moon - 10/26/08

¡Rolling Stones, Beatles, Doors, Yardbirds, Cramps, Drifters, Stooges, Who, Clash... !

Por Blurt Personal

Nesta quinta-feira (26), o Clube Berlin apresenta a noite Acústica e Malvada, um happy hour roqueiro com início às 21h. Na estréia, o tema "Esquenta AC/DC" homenageia o grupo mais endiabrado do planeta, aquecendo o setlist da casa e o repertório da banda Deal With The Devil. No show, os violões do Deal dão o timbre diferenciado para clássicos revisitados, com versões acústicas de grupos lendários como os Rolling Stones, Beatles, Doors, Yardbirds, Cramps, Drifters, Stooges, Who, Clash e Led Zeppelin, ou ainda ícones como Iggy Pop, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Johnny Winter, Robert Johnson e Raul Seixas.

CLUBE BERLIN
Rua Cônego Vicente Miguel Marino, 85
Barra Funda - SP
www.clubeberlin.com.br

www.myspace.com/dealwiththedevilclassics

Let's examine the history of those halftime performances to date... we've come a long way since that memorable Carol Channing appearance...

By Blurt Staff

The Who will do the halftime show at the Super Bowl (officially it is going by the name "The Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show"). The event will be broadcast on CBS Sports at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida on Sunday, February 7.

We are advised that "The Bridgestone Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most anticipated musical events of the year. More than 151 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year's show.  The Super Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories."

Well, there ya go - only a chump would pass up the gig, and recent non-chumps include Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, U2, and, uh, Janet Jackson's tit. Last year the Who became the first rock band ever to be awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.

HISTORY OF SUPER BOWL HALFTIME ENTERTAINMENT

That's "peinliche plattencover" to you, my bilingual brethren... what does "I Want A Walmart Girl" or "Fistful of Chicken" translate as?

By Fred Mills, Blurt Managing Editor

What do The Great Kat, Stryper, Scatterbrain, Manowar and Lawnmower Deth have in common? Okay, sure, they all play heavy-ass music (some would even call it "overwrought metal," but for the sake of argument let's just call it "hard rock"). But our compatriots at Germany's Spiegel Online have apparently been scrutinizing more than just the artists' sonic aesthetic, and recently published a list of the 44 Most Embarrassing Album Sleeves.

Why 44 and not 50? Don't ask us - we don't speak German! Below is a sampling, and yeah, they're pretty awful. Fun fact: an editor of Blurt once performed in a Manowar tribute band!

Some artists actually appear on the list more than once - classical metallist The Great Kat actually has FOUR entries. Seriously, you have to see this to believe it, and then to wonder the eternal, "What were they thinking?" in terms of how the bands, their labels and their sleeve artists came up with these hideous visual concepts. Another fun fact: the Scatterbrain sleeve was done by the legendary Robert Williams, and it is alone among the 44 sleeves as actually qualifying as "art."

You can view the entire rogues' gallery here.

Hold Steady mainstay follows up Major General with 10" EP - read the Blurt interview, conducted by A.D. Amorosi, below.

By Blurt Staff

Hold Steady and World / Inferno Friendship Society member Franz Nicolay will begin a two-week tour of Germany and Austria tomorrow with Sweden's Moneybrother. The mustachioed multi-instrumentalist is playing shows in support of his new solo offering, St. Sebastian of the Short Stage, issued by Team Science.

The four-song EP is available in both 10-inch vinyl and digital formats. The label has pressed 500 copies (200 clear, 300 black) and each record includes a free mp3 download for all the songs, plus a pullout poster insert and an exclusive new short story by Nicolay entitled "Paraska Mikhailivna Is A Witch." To grab a copy of the 10-inch, go here. Or if you prefer mp3s, you can take a quick trip to iTunes for a digital version of the EP.

Featuring artwork by Nicholas Gazin, St. Sebastian Of The Short Stage comes on the heels of Nicolay's acclaimed solo debut, Major General. The four brand new tracks include a collaboration with the Dresden Dolls on a cover of Jonathan Richman's "New England," a Watchmen-inspired tribute to a retired superhero, and two songs self-described as "bleeding heart weepies."

Nicolay is currently streaming two songs from the EP on his Myspace page. You can check out tour dates there too.

Meanwhile, about a year ago prior to the release of Major General in the December 2008 digital-only issue of BLURT, we ran an interview with Nicolay. For your reading pleasure, we repeat it (this time, in vastly expanded format) below. Enjoy!

***

Franz Nicolay's Words of Wisdom

By A.D. Amorosi

Franz Nicolay isn't just another pretty face with a handlebar mustache that happens to play the accordion. (Franz plays the accordion. Not the mustache.) He's the most debonair multi-instrumental Brooklyn-based composer famous for playing tickling ivories for his pals in the frenetic cabaret act The World/Inferno Friendship Society and the equally fevered-but-poppier The Hold Steady. Plus Nicolay's played a bunch with The Dresden Dolls, recently co-founded the Anti-Social Music (an avant-garde composer/performer collective) and become part of the gypsy-klezmer outfit, Guignol. But Nicolay isn't so busy that he can't finish the solo cycle he demo-ed on his show-sold 2007 CD Black Rose Paladins. Nicolay then dropped Major General on Pennsylvania's Fistolo label with Dresden Doll drummer Brian Viglione and pals from Demander, Nanuchka, and World/Inferno assisting.

NICOLAY: I picked up the accordion after my father's German grandfather brought him one from the homeland in the early 50s so grandson could play him polkas and waltzes. As a good child of his times, my dad rebelled - to the point where he sliced the bellows with a butcher knife to keep from going to lessons. To his credit, he kept the thing around, and I picked it up in high school when I got obsessed with (Dylan's) Basement Tapes.

I never really had an opportunity to play the accordion in a band until I joined World/Inferno in 2001. I joined as a keyboard player, but after two rehearsals, I thought, "You know, this is the kind of band that could really use an accordion". They said yes immediately and then I faked it until I could play it for real.

Most bands, I find, don't know that they need an accordion until they hear it on their songs, then they crave it everywhere.

What kind of man does it take to grow my sort of a mustache? One very secure in his self-image. Who'd've guessed Greg Norton was the straight guy in Husker Du? The mistake most hipster-come-latelys to the handlebar scene make is that you can't just grow it, you have to organize your whole wardrobe around it. It doesn't work with Converse. I'm looking at you, Nick Gazin.

My brand of moustache wax is Cowboy Stache Wax from Montana. I had been experimenting with brands for years - regular pomade; Clubman the name brand you could find it in old-school drug stores. The problem with them, for a performer, is that once you started to get hot and sweaty, they'd melt. My then-girlfriend vacationed at her family's ranch in Montana and picked up a tin at this car dealership-slash-saddle store somewhere in the middle of nowhere and brought it back for me to try. I've been ordering it from them online ever since.

There is virtually nothing that I wouldn't do. As the great John Barrymore once said, "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." And I've made a life where all my regrets are ones of action, not inaction.

I co-founded Anti-Social Music. No. It's not so doggone anti-social. The idea is that the music we're playing - new chamber music - has a reputation as a room-clearing racket. We thought, metal, free jazz, all this extreme music has lost its cachet as parent- and friend-alienator, what if you showed up at your holiday party and put on Diamanda Galas? Or Xenakis? And, while you're at it, come to our show and have a drink or ten.

Our meetings are productive at the beginning and increasingly less productive as they continue - they tend to trail off toward the end. A good meeting - World/Inferno rehearsals used to be like this too - is more like a scheduled drinking bout with friends you'd just as soon be hanging out with anyway, with the added benefit of you occasionally get some work done. Jean Cook is the most likely to bring cake. Pat Muchmore is the most likely to bring a pint of Jack. Andrea La Rose is the most likely to bring ocarinas in five keys.

I don't have the foggiest idea what the The Hold Steady boys or World Inferno think of my solo stuff. They came to see one show I did in Hoboken while we were making Stay Positive but never said word one about the record. One guy just got stumbling drunk and told my friend he was the most famous guy in her cell phone. Not the most communicative bunch, those boys. Terricloth said he always gets emotional when he hears other people singing his lyrics. Hess said he only wanted to hear "World/Inferno" once through, which I said was sort of the point.

I'm not afraid of losing  the momentum THS garnered in 2008. We took a step back already when Tad got sick in October. But I don't think this will affect THS touring and scheduling in the slightest - I'm small potatoes in that organization. I just told our booking agent to go ahead and assume that I'll tour whenever the Hold Steady is off. It's not like I'm the main story in the Hold Steady novel, you know?

The biggest shock regarding how big Hold Steady was came when I got the text from Tad that we'd be opening for the Rolling Stones. They are one of the small handful of bands that still have that "wow" factor.

I was a strange little child - I grew up in almost complete cultural isolation, in a mountain cabin in New Hampshire with no electricity or plumbing. I really didn't hear pop music until about 1989 or so.

I had cassette series of "Lives of the Great Composers" - narrated biographies interspersed with clips of the greatest hits - that I listened to obsessively, and decided I'd grow up to be a Great Composer, capital G, capital C. I'd cover my ears when my dad put classic rock radio on. "Ow, Dad, this is too loud." "Someday, son, I bet you'll like rock music." "No way, Dad!"

I think you're exaggerating how many opening dates we do, but the reality is, being a full-time musician really means FULL TIME. You gotta keep working. It's a strange lifestyle that operates somewhere at the nexus of art, craft, and factory job. You can be precious about it, but you still gotta show up.

I missed the shows where THS opened for the Get Up Kids. I hear that was a culture clash. I'd have to say the Kings of Leon in London was a difficult band to open for - for a band whose press styled them as straight-outta-the-hills Southern boys they sure had the most rock-star attitude of anyone I've ever dealt with. Their security team - they had a bodyguard for each band member - locked us in our dressing room because "The band needs the stairs". And their front row was all bored models. Not very rock, boys.

I'm not surprised theater festival organizations like the Fringe Festival love us. How many nascent theatrical productions can promise an instant crowd of hundreds of teenagers? On the other hand, though, what do you do with hundreds of drunk teenagers in a seated theatre - they don't always think as hard about that.

I believe Major General me fresh perspectives on what I do with THS and W/IFS. And I don't care if it does or doesn't. And I am being selfish. I think it'll help me blow off some steam. I think it'll keep me from playing live with Inferno, probably, this year, just for scheduling reasons. It's frustrating being sort of the George Harrison of the Hold Steady, especially when it's become such an all-consuming time commitment, so it's already good to have another outlet for my songs, which, let's face it, are not always in the main stream of the Hold Steady river. I may have to count the first THS B-sides collection as a Franz Nicolay record.

I never wake in a cold sweat trying to figure out which of my ideas fit what ensemble. It's usually pretty obvious. And sometimes I can treat it like a project, like, "Ok, time to sit down and write three songs for the new Hold Steady record. Oh, only two make it? OK, let me see if I can re-purpose that one and see if someone else will bite. No song left behind!" In theory, it's ideal to have multiple outlets and die with every (decent) note recorded.

I was a average-to-mediocre baseball player and skiier until I moved to New York. I'll kill you at ping-pong.

Dresden Dolls? We've been friends for an awfully long time - I think I saw their second-ever show in New York, at a cabaret night my friend Professor Jef used to run, for maybe thirty people, then my girlfriend hit on Amanda - or was it vice-versa? - and it was buddies thereafter. We share an aesthetic, musically and sartorially. They're serious and focused people. And I think sometimes it helps them to have a neutral third party as a foil. One time I flew to Paris with them to play one song on one show, a showcase for European promoters - their label boss had happened to see me do the Jacques Brel song "Amsterdam" with them at a coffeeshop at Bennington College, and said, "Bring the accordion guy. I'll pay for it." Same guy who funded the Inferno acapella project, incidentally. I shared a bottle of champagne with their manager and never really got on top of the jetlag.

Viglione is someone I always knew wanted to do a record or six with. He and Yula are the greatest rhythm section that never happened in a regular band. Both of them are among the most extraordinary musicians I've ever met - on any instrument, without obvious effort, and with an unerring generosity and fierce drive for perfection regardless of circumstance. We would watch the Dolls and wonder if Amanda knew what she had in Brian. Still sometimes do.

One singularity I wish someone had on tape was myself, Terricloth, and the Dolls doing Kurt Weill's "Tango Ballad" at Bowery Ballroom five years or so ago. What a performance. Jack and Amanda were born to do that song.

The last book that inspired me to madness was Good Night, Sweet Prince, a biography of John Barrymore by his boon friend, my favorite writer, the fantastically purple Gene Fowler.

The biggest differences sonically and spiritually between Black Rose Paladins and Major General is that Paladins is demos for the record: one-take solo run-throughs of the songs so I'd have something to give the band, and something to sell at the shows. Major General is the proper record. That said, I'm keeping BRP available in digital form because there are a few songs that didn't make it on Major General, and because I'll be touring without a band and maybe people who see that would want to hear the songs done that way.

I knew I wanted to start doing solo shows again - if only so I'd never have to turn down a gig again.

I knew that if I ever did a record my dream band included Brian Viglione and Yula. Jared was kind of the x-factor; I knew him from Demander but I knew his band mates way better, and it wasn't until we did "Jeff Penalty" that I realized the kind of spark he could be. A very strange fellow.

In regard to "Jeff Penalty" - sometimes a great band is about more than who's standing the front of it.

Major General. I knew I had limited time to make a record, and wanted to turn that into a virtue by trying to capture that elusive moment when really talented musicians are just figuring out their part on a song they don't know very well, but before it's really crystallized. We did two day-long rehearsals, a chaotic show at the Brooklyn DIY warehouse Death By Audio, and three days of tracking and feasting - the studio has an apartment upstairs, so we could stay and cook a proper family-style dinner each night. And mostly, we got it.

In the future, Major General will be a signifier - if it's Franz Nicolay, it's just me; if it's Franz and Major General, I'm bringing a band. I can't promise Brian, Jared, and Yula; everyone's got a lot on their plates. But it might be a woodwind quintet. Or barbershop. Don't assume I'm kidding - you should hear my demo for "Two-Handed Handshake".

Everyone always likes the pre-reknown band better, you know, "Oh you like The Hold Steady? Lifter Puller There's always a reason one band succeeds in one way while other bands succeed in others. Nothing ever burns down by itself. Every fire needs a little bit of help.

On "Do We Not Live in Dreams" I think this might be cribbed from Wordsworth. I was on a Brazilian music kick when I wrote this; I was learning all those Jobim chords.

You can be whoever you want to be, sure, but some roles fit better than others. Excess is not excessive when it is conceived in principle. Except when it gets excessive. That's "Confessions of an Ineffective Casanova."

"Note on a Subway Wall" is the saddest story ever told. We will never run into one another on trains.

Dexys Midnight Runners is one of the great underrated bands of their generation. My string parts are my homage to "Celtic Soul Brothers".

Some of these songs were old songs that I rewrote the lyrics to, because as a 31-year-old sometimes you can't sing the lyrics you wrote as a 22-year-old. This one I felt I had to leave alone in deference to the old me who took himself so seriously. You can't get that back, you know?

"This World Is an Open Door" is a reminder to myself. Somebody once said 'I don't get it, what's so special about hardwood floors?" Clearly you've never gone apartment-hunting in New York.

Am I really "Done Singing"? Not ‘til they pry the banjo from my frozen claws.

My last words for 2008? Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?

The headline, though deliberately misleading, is absolutely true.

By Blurt Staff

Reports out of Britain this morning have ex-Beatles Paul McCartney's designer daughter Stella partnering with ex-Smiths singer Morrissey to create a line of leather free shoes. McCartney has already been working with singer Leona Lewis on a line of clothing designed to appeal to vegans and vegetarians.

"I'm working with Morrissey on a line of leather-free shoes which I'm really excited about,'" McCartney told a reporter for the Daily Mail. "We are still in the early stages but the shoes could be launched next year."

Hmmm.... "leather free" shoes.... What a radical concept. Wait, here's an idea: Maybe make them out of FABRIC and call them SNEAKERS?

Heaven knows we'll be miserable of they go for some leather-like material but don't figure out how to make the dang things breathe. Ye old BLURT managing editor Mills tells us that he sold shoes for 10 years and knows about this stuff...

Chance To Personalize Spiritualized Box Set Ends At Midnight PST.

By Blurt staff

The opportunity to get your own name, or name of your choosing printed on the prescription certificate that accompanies each of the 1000 collectors edition units of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' numbered and signed by Jason Spaceman ends tonight, November 30th at midnight Pacific Standard Time on www.lagwafis.com

ATP Recordings / Spaceman are offering the very limited collectors edition of this release for £125 plus pp, although the unlimited, somewhat more affordable version of the reissue, was released in the UK today.

The limited edition includes 12 x 3" Mini CD"s of the complete album track-by-track, a homage to the original release and will be accompanied by 2 bonus discs (for tracklisting see www.lagwafis.com). For those who don't wish to open the blister pack, each unit will come with a code to download the original album in MP3 format. Limited to just 1000 units, each collector's edition will come with a prescription numbered out of 1000 and signed by J Spaceman.

The ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' Collectors edition will be sent out worldwide from the UK on December 16th. It is now 12 years since ‘Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' made a profound impact in the summer of 1997, both critically and commercially, with its psychedelic soundscapes and heart-rending lyrics. It has influenced a whole range of musicians ever since. It was NME's album of the year for 1997 and reached No.4 in the official charts. Originally packaged as a giant pill offering a written prescription, the concept was creatively inspired reflecting the depth of emotion and trauma laid bare on this truly remarkable work.

The album will be re-released with new artwork on special limited edition formats with 2 CDs of bonus content. These bonus tracks give a valuable insight into the artist's work-in-progress; and include demos, instrumental versions and session mixes which highlight an aim for perfection prior to recording the definitive version.