Mothership lands in the middle of a corn field in Iowa, leaves crop circle in shape of a bong.

By Fred Mills

Now HERE's the kind of frammin' on th' jim-jam all us hemp farmers at BLURT can get behind: Iowa-raised garage, psych, space, sludge and stoner rock. The name is Mondo Drag and the game is, in the parlance, "extended psychedelic blues guitar jams and haunting vocals over heavy, steady bass lines and thumping percussion." Or so they tell us. When was the last time you set the controls for the heart of friggin' Iowa?!?

But the band is signed to Alive Naturalsound Records, to that's a pretty good barometer of their ability to grok the musical fullness. New Rituals is the album title and it's due out next week, Jan. 26, at fine CD emporiums and online digital retailers everywhere. There will also be a limited-to-500-copies red vinyl edition.

Free MP3: "Love Me (Like a Stranger)"

The band: Johnnie Cluney (drums/vocals), Nolan Girard (rhythm guitar/vocals), John Gomino (keyboards/saxophone), Dennis Hockaday (bass), and Jake Sheley (lead guitar). They further pledge allegiance to Pink Floyd, Pentagram, Blue Cheer, Hendrix and, just for a contemporary reference, Sonic Youth, so you know they've got their heads screwed on just right.

Catch ‘em on tour:

Feb 26 @ Vaudeville Mews w/ PENTAGRAM
Feb 6 @ White Lightning Warehouse - Iowa City, IA
Feb 9 @ Off Broadway - St Louis, MO
Feb 10 TAB - Carbondale, IL
Feb 11 @ Al's Bar - Lexington, KY
Feb 12 @ Springwater - Nashville, TN
Feb 13 @ Wall Street - Murfreesboro, TN
Feb 14 @ Loudhouse Coffee - Greenbrier, TN
Feb 15 @ Blue Rock Tavern - Cincinnati, OH
Feb 16 TAB - Indianapolis, IN
Feb 17 @ The Mopery - Chicago, IL
Feb 18 TBA - DeKalb, IL

Feb 20 @ RME Hall - CD RELEASE SHOW

Bobby McGee's best friend, somewhat weathered but still unbowed, pack ‘em in at Cambell, Ca. venue the Heritage Theatre on Jan. 13.

By Jud Cost

Watching Jeff Bridges play down-and-out country singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart one day, then going to see Country Music Hall of Fame member Kris Kristofferson the next night wasn't really that much of a stretch. While the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, skirt-chasing Blake was pretty much the author of his own misfortune, Kristofferson's problem seems to be one we'll all face one day, if we're lucky: He's just getting old.

The visibly nervous, silver-thatched former Rhodes scholar, Army captain and helicopter pilot, now 73, had vocal problems right out of the chute that must have caused the audience to blink hard. Was that really Kris Kristofferson up there, the same guy who played opposite Barbra Streisand in 1976 film A Star Is Born? His haunting baritone pipes have morphed over the years into a senior citizen's reedy tenor. The intonation these days sounds closer to Gabby Hayes than Isaac Hayes. But, with an overflow crowd of 600 at Campbell's Heritage Theatre firmly in his corner, Kristofferson loosened up considerably as the night wore on. His guitar playing, unfortunately, was another matter, entirely. While finger-picking simple patterns on an acoustic, he frequently muffed endings or lost the thread completely, sometimes abandoning a song as soon as he ran into trouble.

Of course, the one thing Kristofferson will never lose is an armload of some of the 20th century's finest songs, and he played them all tonight. "Me And Bobby McGee," a posthumous hit for former girlfriend Janis Joplin in 1971, sounded particularly fine with Kristofferson blowing away on a harmonica strapped to a rack. He also regaled the crowd with the time he and Dylan accomplice Bob Neuwirth visited Byrds founder Roger McGuinn in southern California. "McGuinn had an entire wall of television sets, and one of them even monitored his driveway." Kristofferson proceeded to write a tune about McGuinn's neighbors putting on an impromptu talent show/audition in front of his driveway camera. "One guy even played 'Temptation' on kazoo," he chuckled.

The crowd got an unexpected hearty laugh when Kristofferson dedicated a number to a list of deceased performers that included Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and John Lennon. Someone who didn't get it shouted out "George Jones!" to which Kristofferson replied, "George Jones isn't dead. He's just old! There's a difference between being old and dead."

The venerated career signposts-"Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," "Beat The Devil" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night"-sprinkled judiciously throughout the two short sets, were like lifebuoys that Kristofferson clung to in choppy waters. At the conclusion of the latter song, he got a rousing response by blurting out: "George Bush and Dick Cheney were singing that song in the shower together this morning!" Nobody, it should be noted, got up and left. And Joan Baez, reportedly in attendance up in the balcony, must have loved it.

Campbell, Calif., a tight-assed little town on the western border of sprawling metropolis San Jose, seems an odd place for a music venue these days. But there was a time 30 years ago when the burg seethed with tiny joints like Smokey Mountain and the Bodega. The latter club hosted a pair of splendid nights that featured the Ramones in early 1977, then the Talking Heads later that year accompanied by Eddie & the Hot Rods. My brother, the Campbell police chief at the time, put an end to all that in the late-‘80s, shutting them all down. More recently, John Padilla has presented a handful of intimate living-room shows in Campbell by the Posies, John Doe and Paul Collins.

The Kristofferson song that made everything right in Campbell tonight (and signaled the beginning of the end of the evening) was his ace in the hole, "Sunday Morning Coming Down." His original version, cut almost 40 years ago, was so perfectly rendered it even topped a fine cover by Johnny Cash: "Well I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt/And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad so I had one more for dessert/Then I fumbled through my closet for my cleanest dirty shirt/And I shaved my face and I combed my hair and stumbled down the stairs to meet the day."

The best songs of the Nashville-based songwriter who once penned country hits for Dave Dudley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Faron Young and Roger Miller are full of finely-crafted lyrics that light up the night sky, they're so good. Lines like "just enough silence to breathe" stay with you long after the show has ended. A short version of "For The Good Times"-a career-defining 1970 smash Kristofferson wrote for Ray Price-ended the night on a high note.

As I stumbled back to the car I noticed a tin can lying in the gutter outside the theatre. I thought about kicking it, but I cussed it instead, left it for the next kid who comes along and went home and fried some chicken. 

Gearing up once again to bring you yesterday's technology tomorrow...

By Fred Mills

Did Man or Astro-Man? tour in the 1990s more than any other band? Some say yes, while others contend that the group cloned itself and sent those faux-MOAM outfits on the road - kinda like that early ‘70s pre-Buckingham/Nicks touring iteration of Fleetwood Mac that bamboozled American audiences, only in this instance way cooler and more underground. At any rate, the stats speak for themselves: 49 states and over 30 countries, 10 years of nonstop journeying in some form or another.

However, today the band has announced its return:

"After 10 years of relentlessly exploring the earth, it became obvious that their research on humanity was complete and they could finally take a long-need cellular rejuvenation in their underground cryogenic center, deep in the lower levels of the Alabama bedrock.

"Now the slumber is over and Man or Astro-Man? must see what has become of earth in the wake of their absence. So indeed, for all of humanity, 2010 will be the year of contact, or, at least re-contact with the original space cadets themselves: Starcrunch, Birdstuff, and Coco. In addition to all the scientific experiments and live music demonstrations, MOAM? will host a variety of benefits and charities for earth specimens, predominantly in the human or animal form."

First stop: Birmingham, Ala. Then it's off to Austin and SXSW, which takes place March 17 - 21. Be there or be Astro-square.

Photos, sound samples, and some highly entertaining (though somewhat old) blog entries at the band's MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/manorastroman

Set to drop new album in April.

By Blurt Staff

Murder By Death - Adam Turla- vocals, guitars, keys, Sarah Balliet- cello and keys, Matt Armstrong- bass and noises, and Dagan Thogerson- drums and percussion.- will release their fifth studio album, Good Morning, Magpie, on April 6 via Vagrant. The quartet self-produced the album which was recorded at Bloomington-based Farm Fresh Studios and the resulting ten tracks were mixed by Trina Shoemaker.

"Good Morning, Magpie is some of the darkest and brightest material we have ever written," said Turla, in a statement. "While it's not a concept album, it embodies the struggle between light and dark that has defined our previous work."

Turla wrote most of the new material during two weeks he spent alone deep in the woods of Appalachia with just "a tent, a fishing pole, a guitar, and a lot of paper."

Good Morning, Magpie follows 2008's Red of Tooth and Claw. A US tour is being planned and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Thurston Moore and others to pay tribute Feb. 13 in Philly; MP3 teaser of new album below.

By Fred Mills

Among the most unexpected passings of 2009 was Jack Rose, who died suddenly at his home in Philadelphia on December 5. At the time he was readying his next album for Thrill Jockey, Luck in the Valley, which is due out Feb. 23. Now comes word of a memorial/tribute concert for the acclaimed finger-style and wonderfully experimental guitarist.

MP3: "Woodpiles on the Side of the Road"

On Feb. 13 at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia, a who's-who of indie icons will turn out to remember Rose. Among them: Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore (along with Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano), Cul de Sac's Glenn Jones, Dr. Charles Speer and Rose's old band Pelt.

According to the event's official press release, "Rose grew to be loved and admired by a great many people through his live performances, electric personality, profound cooking skills and a general mastery in the art of friendship. This concert is a release party for his new album "Luck In The Valley" and an occasion to celebrate and remember the good Dr. Ragtime. The artists performing were all dear friends of Jack's and admired by him musically."

Details:

Saturday, February 13 - 7:00 PM

Latvian Society of Philadelphia

531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia

Tickets are $18 via Ticketfly: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/4067

Performers:

D. Charles Speer & The Helix

Thurston Moore | Paul Flaherty | Chris Corsano

Michael Chapman

Canadian singer (and mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright) was acclaimed in the folk community since the ‘70s.

By Fred Mills

Beloved folks/roots singer and songwriter Kate McGarrigle (above, left) died yesterday, Jan. 18, following a battle with a rare form of cancer. She was 63.

Along with her sister Anna, Kate McGarrigle was one-half of the Canadian-based McGarrigle Sisters. The Quebec duo, who recorded albums in both French and English, got their start in the ‘60s and went on to acclaim starting in the ‘70s; their '76 debut Kate & Anna McGarrigle was hailed by the likes of Melody Maker and the New York Times as one of the best albums of that year. Over the years their songs were covered by everyone from Billy Bragg and Linda Ronstadt ("Heart Like A Wheel" became a huge hit for Ronstadt) to Emmylou Harris and Nick Cave (who famously had them join him on his 2001 album No More Shall We Part).

Kate was also the mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright from her previous marriage to Loudon Wainwright III.

According to Canada's CBC, "Reports that McGarrigle was critically ill surfaced over the weekend after her son, Rufus, cancelled his tour of Australia and New Zealand, scheduled to begin in February, to be with her."

We're not quite sure what the question marks after Thom Yorke's name are intended to suggest, but he's headlining along with Pavement, Gorillaz, Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Muse, Faith No More and Tiesto. Tix go on sale this Friday Jan. 22 for the April 16-18 event.

By Blurt Staff

It's easily the weakest Coachella roster of acts to date, and it's also the long-in-coming "mainstreaming of Coachella" that marks the end of its status as the premiere alternative music event of the year. Why not add the Jonas Brothers and Carrie Underwood to the bill while they're at it? At any rate, here's the official announcement, along with ticketing info:

***

The 11^th installment of the Coachella festival will feature a mix of artists ranging from Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Vampire Weekend, Them Crooked Vultures, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Tiësto, Faith No More, Deadmau5, David Guetta, MGMT and Public Image Limited.  Set for Friday, April 16, Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 at the beautiful Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA--the same grounds where COACHELLA debuted in 1999--the COACHELLA 2010 line-up will feature more than 130 acts.

This year's COACHELLA will feature a variety of options to make the concert experience an enjoyable one.  In addition to expanded camping options--including car, RV and traditional tent camping-- COACHELLA will allow, for the first time, in-and-out privileges for all attendees.   Festival goers will once again have the ability to purchase 3-day festival tickets and various onsite camping options via an easy layaway payment plan.

For those looking to streamline the weekend's experience, COACHELLA has teamed with Valley Music Travel to provide exclusive travel packages, local hotel shuttle transportation and private home rentals with VIP COACHELLA access.  For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.valleymusictravel.com/coachella.php.

FRIDAY APRIL 16:  Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive, The Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17:  Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ's, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18:  Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.

Tickets for COACHELLA go on sale Friday, January 22 at 10:00 AM at all Ticketmaster locations and www.coachella.com. Three-day weekend passes are $269.00, plus surcharges.  More details on layaway, camping options and up-to-the minute information, can be found at www.coachella.com.  COACHELLA 2010 sponsors include Heineken and PlayStation.

Part Boss, Part Stooge: the Austin songwriter previews new material and hints at more "guitar-driven" sound Jan. 15. He also tells BLURT about the album he's about to record.

By Jason Bugg

            On Friday, January 15^th at Asheville NC's The Orange Peel Texas rocker Alejandro Escovedo took the stage to the mournful sounds of George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and proceeded to shake the room, the crowd, and even himself out of the cold gray abscess of this already harsh and short winter- all while looking like a million bucks.

            The singer, decked out in a blue faux snakeskin suit and black and white polka dot ascot, effortlessly plowed through songs from his last album (2008's excellent Real Animal), a few covers (including a spot-on rendition of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes") and even managed to keep the audience interested while showcasing material for Real Animal's soon-to-be-recorded follow-up. (The current leg of his tour wraps Jan. 23 in Louisville, at which point he and his band will head over to Lexington's Saint Claire studios, the same facility where Real Animal was recorded.)

            Of the four new songs previewed, the most rollicking of which made its live debut at the show; the song, a spot-on concoction that smashes together Darkness on the Edge of Town-era Springsteen and Tim-era Westerberg entitled "The Anchor" handily showcased Escovedo's mastery of the rock and roll song: three minutes, three choruses, a blazing guitar solo courtesy of guitarist David Pulkingham and a rousing ending. The formula may sound banal, but the result is a song that garnered fist pumping and even a few audience members shouting the chorus ("I'm in love with love and it broke me in two") back at the singer by the end of the song.

            "I wrote that song while in Mexico surfing," said Escovedo in a quick chat after the show, "This entire new album is all about love, death and surfing."

            But the new tunes didn't stop there. The singer also showcased "Down in the Bowery", a tender song that Escovedo wrote for his son.  If that description alone makes you worry about the singer drifting into schmaltzy Rod Stewart territory, fear not - the song's country feel and lyrics about finding one's own way owes more to Gram Parsons and Keith Richards than it ever could to AOR tripe.

            "I asked my son what he thought about my music and he told me it was ‘old man's music', so I wrote this song about how I want him to find his path in life," said Escovedo with a laugh.

            If there was only a casual hint of the Stones in "Down in the Bowery", then "This Bed is Getting Crowded" was a full blown hero worship for the Mick Taylor era of the Stones. Set atop a garage-y and repetitive guitar riff and leading to a very Iggy Pop-feeling climax, the song encapsulates a rather ominous feeling that came over Escovedo during the writing process that he describes as when "romance is futile and death is impending".  If that feeling creates as joyous a noise as on "This Bed is Getting Crowded", then more people need to latch onto it- the song cooks.

            The final new song played that night was a slow burning and very Velvet Underground sounding "After the Meteor Shower", a slow and simple song punctuated by a vibrato-laden guitar that Escovedo describes as "my attempt to write a ‘Pale Blue Eyes'-type of song".

            The songs managed to fit right into Escovedo and company's show and not feel out of place. The singer is also taking the time on this tour to showcase his smaller backing band, consisting of Pulkingham, bassist Bobby Daniel and drummer Hector Muñoz.  Gone are the strings of past tours and in its place a muscular, guitar-centric band.

            "I wanted to play guitar-driven rock this time out," said Escovedo. "It was hard to convince people that that's what I do, so hopefully this record will show that."

            If the live material is any indicator, there will be no doubt about that when the new album is finally released.  Escovedo is showing his inner Boss, but hinting at his inner Stooge.

[Photo Credit: Jason Bugg]

Please, no jokes about him curing her melancolie infinite sadness yet. Save your pity for John Mayer.

By Perez Mills

Everybody recovered from the hangover that was the ‘00s? Make your New Year's resolutions yet? Good - this year/century's first, er, noteworthy musical news (aside from those skin disease-like tattoos Courtney Love recently got, of course) comes courtesy of Billy Corgan and Jessica Simpson.

You knew it was coming. No, silly, not the rumors about them getting married (which, if you parse the terminology of this press release, hardly justified the headline "Jessica Simpson to Marry Billy Corgan"). Plus, we already told you some time ago that the pair was, at least for the moment, a dating item. We're talking the news that the Smashing Pumpkins frontman and the former Mrs. Nick Lachey have been working together in the recording studio.

MTV News reports:

Jessica and Billy are working in the studio together. And this isn't news from friends of sources, but instead from Jessica's Twitter, Our favorite tweet appeared just the other day, when she tweeted a photo of herself and Corgan in the studio working on music that has since been removed. She has apparently been in the studio with him and producer Kerry Brown.

Indeed, if you head over to Jessica Simpson's Twitter feed, it's loaded with references to being into the studio with Corgan and Brown (@studiodog): "I am blessed - going over a song w/billy and the boxer"; etc.), while Brown's Twitter similarly references the sessions in spots. And the pair's photographer friend Kristin Burns took the above photo that's been making the rounds of the web.

No details yet on whether they're working on material for Simpson herself, or if she's doing vocals for the forthcoming Pumpkins projects. Here's hoping, however, that she's up on her flu shots, since sharing spit at a microphone can transmit many a contagious disease.

Plans to perform the entire classic album from '89.

By Blurt Staff

It's opposite day at BLURT, which means what better way to celebrate than by taking a trip to Bizarro World. Bizarro #1 - aka the Wedding Present's David Gedge - will be your tour guide. He's been keeping an eye on all those other bands who have been thrilling fans (and raking in the box office receipts) by performing classic albums in concert in their entirety - not the least of whom was Bruce Springsteen, who pulled out all the stops last year by doing several different complete albums at different tour stops.

So in honor of the forgoing plus the 21^st anniversary of the Wedding Present's classic '89 album Bizarro, Gedge has announced his intention to bring it all to you, the discriminating music fans.

Released in 1989, Bizarro remains a fan favorite and its notable tracks are "Brassneck" and "Kennedy."  The album marked the first official release for the band in North America and its major label debut (RCA).  The forthcoming April 2010 tour, much anticipated after the successful George Best 20th Anniversary Tour in 2007, will feature the album in full plus a few other new and old favorites. 

This ain't no April Fool's.... Incidentally, one of BLURT's fave bands The Jet Age will be opening on selected East Coast shows, so check 'em out.

April Tour Dates

1 : San Diego CA, USA - Casbah
2 : Los Angeles CA, USA - Troubadour
5 : Austin TX, USA - Emo's
7 : Atlanta GA - Earl with The Jet Age
9 : Washington DC, USA - Black Cat with The Jet Age
10 : Hoboken NJ, USA - Maxwell's with The Jet Age
11 : New York City NY, USA - Bowery Ballroom
12 : Cambridge MA, USA - Middle East Downstairs
14 : Toronto ON, Canada - Horseshoe Tavern
15 : Pontiac MI, USA - The Pike Room at The Crofoot
16 : Chicago IL, USA - Double Door
17 : Minneapolis MN, USA - 400 Bar
20 : Vancouver BC, Canada - To be confirmed
21 : Seattle WA, USA - Crocodile
22 : Portland OR, USA - Doug Fir Lounge
24 : San Francisco CA, USA - Independent