"The Golden State" in five golden versions....

By Fred Mills

11-12-08

That's right, $4.99 will getcha the new John Doe EP, and it's got a pair of very special guests: Eddie Vedder and Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker. The two turn up on one of five versions of Doe's song "The Golden State" which, quite sensibly, also bequeaths The Golden State EP its title.

The song originally appeared on Doe's 2007 full-length A Year In The Wilderness as a duet between Doe and Kathleen Edwards. It's joined by the Vedder-Tucker version plus a remix, a live take and an "electric demo" version. You can get more details, including how to order the EP, at Yep Roc's John Doe page.

Oh, and here's something interesting: you can get an MP3 download of the original song for FREE at Amazon.com....

The Golden State EP:

The Golden State (ft. Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker)
The Golden State (Neighbors remix)
The Golden State (electric demo version)
The Golden State (live at WXPN)
The Golden State (album version, ft. Kathleen Edwards)

You love ‘em, you hate ‘em... who knows!

By Blurt Staff

Jack White's second favorite Detroit band the Von Bondies have just announced their third studio album (and their debut for Majordomo/Shout! Factory), expansively titled Love, Hate and Then There's You. It's due Feb. 3 and is described by the band's handlers as picking up "from the tighter, more nuanced sound of the Von Bondies' huge 2004 hit single "C'mon C'mon"... a Von Bondies album with a renewed sense of purpose, as illustrated by the riff-happy tracks like the first single "Pale Bride" and the anthemic leadoff track "This Is Our Perfect Crime," and they also captivate the listener on pounders like "I Don't Wanna."

Yup.

According to VB leader Jason Stollsteimer, who, along with drummer Don Blum, is one of two remaining founding members (a new bassist, Leann Banks, recently signed on), "It's a new band. You don't want to avoid your history but it is a new direction. It wasn't on purpose. It's just where we were going." The album was produced by song doctor Butch Walker along with Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club).

The group devoted most of this year to touring in support of their We Are Kamikazes EP. They inked a deal with Majordomo after appearing at SXSW in Austin and also put a good deal of time into fine-tuning new material. Explains Stollsteimer, "The songs are kind of sinister-sounding but there's this overall lift feeling to them," he says. "There's always going to be bad days but hopefully you're not going to have a cynical person that only remembers the bad. And you need bad days to realize what's good in life. I try to put that in lyrics."

Incidentally, you can preview a number of the newer songs at the band's MySpace page....

Track Listing:

1. This Is Our Perfect Crime
2. Shut Your Mouth
3. Pale Bride
4. Only To Haunt You
5. 21st Birthday
6. She's Dead To Me
7. Chancer
8. Blame Game
9. I Don't Wanna
10. Accidents Will Happen
11. Earthquake
12. Modern Saints

[Photo Credit: Kevin Knight]

The duo's third work slated for Feb. 17

By Mandy Rodgers

Brendan Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp were friends in middle school and continued their bond through time at the School of Art Institute of Chicago where they began some musical collaboration and formed the Apestaartje music label in 1999. Then, the duo decided to form Mountains and released two albums on Apestaartje. Thrill Jockey will release its third album, Choral on Feb. 17.

According to Thrill Jockey, "Mountains seamlessly blend pastoral electronic sounds with both field recordings and a plethora of acoustic instruments. The resulting sound scapes are broad in scope and rich in detail. The effect is incredibly sublime and hypnotic as the sounds slowly wrap themselves around each other and alter themselves in the mind of the listener."

Choral was recorded in Brooklyn during spring and winter of 2008 and was cut primarily live with minimal dubs. Mountains uses different methods of instrumentation, for instance with ice water and books in "Map Table." The six-track record will be available on CD and LP, but the vinyl version is limited to 1,000 copies and also has two exclusive bonus tracks.

Track Listing:

1Choral

2Map Table

3Telescope

4Add Infinity

5Melodica

6Sheets Two

Tickets go on sale Nov. 14 for erstwhile Christian rocker turned lez icon.

By Mandy Rodgers

So she kissed a girl, liked it and now gets to tour 50 cities in five months? Not a bad break, considering Lindsay Lohan did the same thing and only got a short spot on Ugly Betty.

Katy Perry, in case you've been under a rock lately. had a breakthrough hit with this year's catchy, yet isolating single "I Kissed a Girl." Blogs went nuts. "Is this girl a bisexual? Who is Katy Perry in the first place?" Those who look for controversy, found it. "How dare she discuss such things." And cherry chap stick lost its once innocent connotation to one of a different, more adult tone.

Perry's album One of the Boys contains songs like "Hot N Cold," "If You Can Afford Me" and the very peaceful, lacking uproar "Ur So Gay," which are all sure to be heard on the tour. For the North American dates, Alphabeat will join her, and for the European concerts, 3OH!3 will perform.

Yes, Perry has had a successful year full of tongues wagging about her lyrics and teens excited about listening to pop/rock their parents would staunchly disapprove of but thinking of Perry without kissing and sexuality is nearly impossible. Perhaps the First World Tour will give audiences a different perspective on the singer/songwriter. Maybe she'll even break out some tracks from her 2001 Christian album, Katy Hudson (her birth name changed after actress Kate Hudson's success) and really force everyone to rethink her career and its future.

KATY PERRY WORLD TOUR:

Jan 23          Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Jan 25          Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Jan 26          Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Jan 28          San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Jan 29          Sacramento, CA @ Empire Events Centre
Jan 31          Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
Feb 2           Tuscon, AZ @ University of Arizona
Feb 3           Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Feb 5           San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Feb 22          Stockholm @ Nalan
Feb 23          Copenhagen @ Vega
Feb 25          Manchester @ Academy
Feb 26          London @ Koko
Feb 27          London @ Koko
Mar 1           Amsterdam @ Melkweg the Max
Mar 2           Paris @ Elysee Montmarte
Mar 4           Munich @ Kesselhaus
Mar 5           Frankfurt @ Batschkapp
Mar 6           Hamburg @ Grynspan
Mar 7           Brussels @ Ancienne Belgique
Mar 20          Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Mar 21          Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Mar 23          Kansas City, MO @ Beaumont
Mar 24          Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Mar 26          Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
Mar 27          Detroit, MI @ Clutch Cargos
Mar 28          Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
Mar 30          Toronto, ONT @ Kool Haus
Apr 5           Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
Apr 7           New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Apr 10          Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Apr 11          Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
Apr 14          Nashville, TN @ Cannery
Apr 15          Atlanta, GA @ CenterStage
Apr 27          Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Apr 28          St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

7:00 AM ABC: Good Morning America: Alicia Keys

7:00 AM CBS: The Early Show: The Four Tops

9:00 AM SYN: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Taylor Swift , Justin Timberlake

9:00 AM SYN: Live with Regis and Kelly: Seal

11:00 AM ABC: The View: Elton John

4:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Tori Amos

6:00 PM Sundance: Iconoclasts: Bill Maher and Clive Davis

7:30 PM Starz Cinema: Dancer in the Dark (2000)  w/ Bjork

8:00 PM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Sonic Youth , Jose Gonzalez , Laura Marling

8:00 & 11:00 PM VH1C: Tom Petty: The Story of Mudcrutch

9:00 PM CMT Crossroads: Def Leppard and Taylor Swift

9:00 PM VH1C: Genesis - A History

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Alicia Keys

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Kaiser Chiefs

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Low vs Diamond

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Conor Oberst

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: The Sounds

Now you know why this one's considered "alternate" and, uh, "rare"...

By Fred Mills

In a sense, Elvis Costello grew up with MTV; you can still catch some of his early/mid ‘80s clips on VH1 Classic for proof - the good, the bad and the ugly.

This one's among the "ugly."

"The Only Flame In Town" hailed from EC's justly-maligned 1984 album Goodbye Cruel World, and aside from the fact that the song, uh, sucks, somebody at Columbia Records talked our hero into removing his trademark specs when filming the clip. Bad move. Indeed, a substitute clip was apparently also filmed, and that's the one that went into rotation on video channels. It was only marginally better, but that's beside the point - take a look at EC squinting at the camera and prepared to do some squinting yourself.

The ultra rare sans glasses video is below, followed by the more familiar one. Caveat: the audio is slightly out of synch in the former, but hey, it's all lipsynched anyway so who cares!

The Mars Volta's guitarist serves up another solo helping.

By Blurt Staff

Yesterday Stones Throw Records digitally released Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez's solo album, Old Money. Although it is his umpteenth solo release, it's the first for the label. Omar has intimated that the album may have been intended as The Mars Volta's follow-up to 2006's Amputechture until he veered in another musical direction. More details, ripped from the press release: 

The addictive melodies and passionate execution of each performance render Old Money perhaps the most accessible of his non-Volta recordings, and the perfect entry point to anyone not yet familiar with what this prolific artist has to offer.

The album fits comfortably between the guitarist's monumental work with The Mars Volta, and his prior rock-based solo releases such as 2007's The Apocalypse Inside Of An Orange. Loosely based on the concept of exploitative industrialists and, well, their old money, the album presents a 10-track collection of concise rock compositions, which range from progressive to psychedelic to downright funky. Many of these sounds could easily be at home on a Volta record proper had they meshed with Cedric Bixler-Zavala's vocals; Rodriguez Lopez has hinted that this record was a potential follow up to the 2006 Volta release Amputechture until he changed his musical direction.

Through the assistance of many of the players familiar to any fan of his "day gig", Rodriguez Lopez goes straight for the jugular with an unrelenting trio of opening tracks: the lead-in "The Power of Myth," the haunting, Middle Eastern-psych flavored "How to Bill the Bilderberg Group," and the blistering "Population Council's Wet Dream." The results are formidable and easily rank among the most exciting moments of Rodriguez Lopez's solo output. The remainder of the album is equally as memorable and certainly the product of acute inspiration on behalf of its creator. Though clear influences of popular ensembles such as Pink Floyd and Santana can be discerned, a deeper study reveals the cross-continental influence of Israeli garage psych heroes The Churchills, French proggers Ame Son and Magma and Turkish guitar-god Erkin Koray - amongst others.

THE OMAR RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ GROUP (w/CEDRIC BIXLER) AT THE FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 2007:

Guitarist stricken with unknown ailment, has been in London hospital since Nov. 3. Tour will continue.

By Blurt Staff

Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher is in a London hospital, reports the band’s label, Warner Brothers. No details were provided, except to say that the Atlanta-based band will continue their European Unholy Alliance Chapter 3 package tour with Slayer, Trivium and Amon Amarth. Doctors will continue to monitor Kelliher’s condition which, according to the press release, “is improving at press time. Doctors and Bill are hopeful that he will rejoin his bandmates in time for their headlining tour of Europe which begins Nov. 30, in Utrecht, Holland and will end on Dec 7, at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in Somerset, England. More details to follow as they develop.”

"MOTHER PUNCHER" Video:

Then they start prepping new LP...

By Fred Mills

Currently in the midst of a co-headling tour with the Hold Steady (and selling out venues across the land), the Drive-By Truckers have just announced a string of dates for January. These will be primarily in the South - including the band's annual DBT Nuci's Space Benefit in Athens on January 15 - and after that the group will break to work on their next studio album, the followup to this year's Brighter Than Creation's Dark.

In a missive penned for the DBTs website, main Trucker Patterson Hood commented on the Hold Steady trek, saying, "We are pleased to report that it has so far been even better than we had hoped or expected on every level, they are a great band and fantastic guys to hang out with. They bring it every single night and the bar seems to get raised with each show. It was announced yesterday that Chicago is sold out as are both nights in Minneapolis. This has truly been a great way to end our best year ever. Thanks very much to everyone who has come out and supported us this year."

A great year indeed - Brighter has wowed both critics and the public, as has the band's nonstop roadwork. Expect the album to figure prominently in BLURT's year-end best-of wrapup.

Drive-By Truckers Tour dates:

 
Thu Jan 15 Athens GA 40 WATT - NUCI'S SPACE BENEFIT
Fri Jan 16 Athens GA 40 WATT
Sat Jan 17 Athens GA 40 WATT Wed Jan 21 New Haven CT TOADS PLACE
Thu Jan 22 Sayreville NJ STARLAND BALLROOM
Fri Jan 23 Baltimore MD THE RECHER
Sat Jan 24 Richmond VA THE NATIONAL
Thu Jan 29 Knoxville TN VALARIUM
Fri Jan 30 Asheville NC ORANGE PEEL
Sat Jan 31 Asheville NC ORANGE PEEL

Stuff you can only get at BLURT - need we say more?

By Blurt Staff

We just added several new interviews with Tom Morello and comedian Tony Clifton (what about the babes!). Check 'em out here! And keep checking out our video section for interviews and performance segments filmed exclusively for BLURT.

Individual segment links:

Tony Clifton Pt.1: www.blurt-online.com/video/view/155/

Tony Clifton Pt.2: www.blurt-online.com/video/view/154/

Tom Morello "Bad Presidents": www.blurt-online.com/video/view/141/

Tom Morello "Guitar Hero": www.blurt-online.com/video/view/143/

Tom Morello "8 People and a Latte Machine": www.blurt-online.com/video/view/145/