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Leonard Cohen Live DVD Due in March
Also available as two-CD set.
By Blurt Staff
Leonard Cohen's Live In London is en route from Columbia as either a DVD or 2 CD set on March 31. Recorded live on July 17, 2008 at London's 02 Arena, one of Europe's largest indoor venues during Cohen's 2008 World Tour, Live In London offers classic Cohen songs drawn from the artist's 40-year career. Cohen's first newly recorded release since 2004's gold-certified Dear Heather, the Live In London collection fully captures and recreates the extraordinary show that earned Cohen, who celebrated his 40th year as a Columbia Records artist in 2007, more than 80 five-star reviews for performances during his fall 2008 UK and European tour.
You can get a sneak preview of it via a stream of "Suzanne" at www.amazon.com/leonardcohen. (And, you guessed it, you can preorder the album at Amazon too!)
Incidentally, with his 2008 World Tour selling more than 700,000 tickets across 84 shows worldwide, Leonard Cohen is coming to New York City's Beacon Theatre this week February 19 to perform his first U.S. concert in 15 years. Go HERE for more details on that; a full U.S. tour is slated for later this year.
Disc 1 -
1. Dance Me To The End Of Love
2. The Future
3. Ain't No Cure For Love
4. Bird On The Wire
5. Everybody Knows
6. In My Secret Life
7. Who By Fire
8. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
9. Anthem
10. Introduction
11. Tower Of Song
12. Suzanne
13. The Gypsy's Wife
Disc 2 -
1. Boogie Street
2. Hallelujah
3. Democracy
4. I'm Your Man
5. Recitation w/ N.L.
6. Take This Waltz
7. So Long, Marianne
8. First We Take Manhattan
9. Sisters Of Mercy
10. If It Be Your Will
11. Closing Time
12. I Tried To Leave You
13. Wither Thou Goest
Morrissey Plans To Retire In 5 Years
Claims he'll bow out at age 55 or thereabouts. Heaven knows he's not exactly miserable now, however...
By Fred Mills
On the eve of the release of his new album Years of Refusal and with an extensive tour set to kick off in two weeks, Morrissey has been addressing those nagging retirement rumors and - surprise, they ain't rumors at all!
Speaking to XFM (www.xfm.co.uk) the Moz reflected on turning 50 this year and then went on to say that the chances of him still singing at 55 or 60 are "incredibly slim."
He explained his reasoning, saying, "I assume most people lose it because they become satisfied and they achieve everything they ever set out to achieve. More to the point, they become personally satisfied and that they're quite happy and it doesn't matter any more. It's very interesting that it's very hard to think of anybody who ages and still manages to mean anything."
Well, all right then!
Meanwhile, you can read our cautionary review of the album sometime before YOU start aging HERE, as our feelings on the album are decidedly mixed.
Uttered BLURT: "Morrissey knows he's made a career about thinking about himself, turning himself into a character beloved by legions. With little of the tempering irony or self-deprecation that his best work-as a solo artist or especially with the Smiths-allows, Years Of Refusal can seem disingenuous and overstated."
Decemberists May-June Tour Set
Plan to cap it off with a Bonnaoroo blowout...
By Blurt Staff
In addition to their high-profile, album-unveiling SXSW show set for March 18 in Austin, the Decemberists have now announced the first leg of their Spring 2009 North American tour in support of The Hazards of Love, their ambitious new album to be released by Capitol Records on March 24th. The 16-date run will kick off May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and include a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.
On tour, The Decemberists will present a full performance of the album, a 17-song suite that tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake. Joining the band on stage will be Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden who deliver the lead vocals for the female characters. The band announced last week that they will give the debut live performance of The Hazards of Love when they headline NPR Music's South by Southwest showcase at Stubbs in Austin on March 18th.
With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album has been pronounced by many, The Decemberists have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. NPR All Songs Considered has already declared it an "epic adventure," while Rolling Stone recently wrote that "[The] Hazards of Love is The Decemberists' full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches."
The Decemberists Tour Dates:
May 19 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
May 20 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA
May 21 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR
May 24 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
May 26 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
May 27 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
May 29 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
May 31 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
June 3 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
June 4 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
June 5 The National Richmond, VA
June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA
June 9 Bank of America Pavillion Boston, MA
June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN
Marissa Nadler Announces Spring Tour
Prepping to promote new album Little Hells.
By Fred Mills
As previously announced in this space, BLURT fave Marissa Nadler's new album, Little Hells, is due from Kemado on March 3. Kemado offers some additional details, saying that Nadler "finds multiple ways to envelop the listener in splendid gauzy moods without becoming monochromatic. Marissa Nadler's video for her new song "River of Dirt" (directed by Joana Linda) couldn't be a more perfect visual element for the track. Rich colors saturate the scenes: earthy outdoor landscapes, the interior of a bus on it's way to who-knows-where, a cast of characters making their way down a dirt road, as Marissa sings ‘El camino take me home...'"
Meanwhile, Nadler's got a series of shows lined up for the spring, including a cross-country trek in April that will be pairing her with the likes of the Handsome Family and Jesse Sykes. And be watching for the debut print issue of BLURT, slated to hit newsstands in March, for a very special feature on Nadler....
Check out our previous coverage of Nadler HERE.
MARISSA NADLER TOUR DATES
Feb 14 - 8:00p - The Iron
Horse - Northampton, MA *
Feb 15 - 9:00p - Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT *
Feb 21 - 9:00p - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA
Feb 27 - 8:00p - Greenpoint Lutheran Church of the Messiah - Brooklyn, NY**
Mar 4 - 7:30p - Joe's Pub - New York, NY
Apr 7 - 8:00p - Hotel Cafe - Los Angeles, CA
Apr 8 - 9:00p - Cafe du Nord - San Francisco, CA
Apr 10 - 8:00p - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA #
Apr 11 - 8:00p - The Media
Club - Vancouver, BC #
Apr 12 - 9:00p - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR #
Apr 16 - 9:00p - 400 Bar - Minneapolis, MN +
Apr 17 - 8:00p - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI+
Apr 18 - 8:00p - Shubas Tavern - Chicago, IL +
Apr 19 - 8:00p - Shubas Tavern - Chicago, IL +
Apr 21 - 8:00p - El Mocambo - Toronto, Ontario +
Apr 22 - 8:00p - Black Sheep Inn - Wakefield, Quebec +
Apr 24 - 9:00p - Lizard Lounge - Cambridge, MA +
Apr 25 - 8:00p - Highline Ballroom - New York, NY +
Apr 26 - 8:00p - IOTA - Arlington, VA +
* - w/ Deer Tick
** MV + EE
+ - w/ the Handsome Family
# - w/ Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter
CHANNEL GUIDE Sat - Mon
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.
TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)
Saturday, February 14:
12:00 noon: Sundance: Live From Abbey Road: Brian Wilson, Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson
9:00 PBS: Austin City Limits: Sarah McLachlan, Duffy
11:30 NBC: Saturday Night Live: Jonas Brothers
Sunday, February 15:
12:00 noon: Sundance: Spectacle - Elvis Costello w/Jenny Lewis, Jakob Dylan, She & Him
2:00 HDNET: The Buzzcocks - Live at the Forum
3:00 HDNet: New Found Glory - Live in Boston
4:00 HDNet: John Mellencamp Live at Walter Reed
5:20 HDNet: CSNY / Déjà Vu
7:00 HDNet: Tokio Hotel Live From Hollywood
8:00 HDNet: Backstreet Boys Live from the O2 Arena
10:30 HDNet: Wynton Marsalis - Rebuilding the Sould of America
11:30 HDNet: Chris Botti & Friends - Live at the Wilshire Theatre
Monday, February 16:
9:00 syndicated: Regis & Kelly: Jonas Brothers
4:00 Sundance: Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man
11:30 CBS David Letterman: Willie Nelson w/Asleep at the Wheel
11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Lily Allen
12:05 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Lenka
12:30 CBS Craig Ferguson: Zac Brown Band
1:35 NBC Carson Daly: Puddle of Mudd
Happy V-Day: Winehouse Collapses
Most outstanding example of what to give your sweetie as an expression of your affection: an ambulance ride to the hospital!
By Blurt Staff
While most of you are sitting around eating chocolate, drinking champagne and making whoopie with your significant other, we at BLURT are like a bunch of friggin' chipmunks on crack, manically scouring the web for the latest, most happening news. Boy, did we ever find it: Britain's every-reliable The Sun is reporting that Amy Winehouse was admitted to a hospital in St. Lucia last night after "collapsing."
Writes the tabloid, "The drug addict star, 25, was said to be "a shaking mess" as she was rushed in [to the hospital]. Sources on the Caribbean isle, where she has been staying while battling heroin and crack cocaine addiction, said she had been drinking heavily. One said: ‘She looked in a terrible state. The people with her were very concerned.'"
A hospital spokesman said that Winehouse had "run out of a drug replacement she has been using" but would be leaving soon as she was "recovering well."
Er, we should point out that "collapsing" is often what happens to someone who is drinking heavily and taking drugs. Don't you feel better now that you've learned all this? Okay, back to your regularly scheduled program....
Coathangers Do That All-Gal Group Thang
Best band outta Atlanta all year, we say.
By Blurt Staff
Atlanta's Coathangers have a handful of live dates lined up prior to the April 7th release of new album Scramble on Suicide Squeeze. Dates include a February residency at Star Bar in Atlanta and several shows opening for These Arms Are Snakes before making a stop at SXSW.
In less than three years, The Coathangers, Julia Kugel (guitar/vocals), Stephanie Luke (drums/vocals), Candice Jones (keyboard/vocals), and Meredith Franco (bass/vocals) have grown from a band of girlfriends buying the cheapest instruments an Atlanta pawn shop could offer, to a group of formidable, adaptable performers. The quartet has shared the stage or toured with bands such as Deerhunter, Atlas Sound, Jay Reatard, The Strange Boys , The Black Lips and The Vivian Girls among others.
As their label puts it, "You could look at them and think they're this way or that, but they will not conform. These are four really different people who have bonded beyond the point of just being friends. You might think you can pin them down, but they don't care. Their fashion isn't contrived, their music feels like music for music's sake because that's exactly what it is natural, voluntary, spontaneous, impulsive, intuitive and entirely better for it."
Meanwhile, as BLURT puts it in our forthcoming review of the album, "Raw but self-assured, its finger-in-the-socket electricity channeled through rambunctious melodies... full of dizzy yelps and fritzed-out cheerleader chants and, just to prove they can do it, a couple of sweet, girl-group ballads. Fun stuff."
THE COATHANGERS TOUR DATES:
WED FEB 18 - Atlanta GA, Star Bar
WED FEB 25 - Atlanta GA, Star Bar
WED MAR 11 - Washington DC, Rock & Roll Hotel #*
THU MAR 12 - Charlotte NC, The Milestone #*
FRI MAR 13 - Atlanta GA, Drunken Unicorn #^
SAT MAR 14 - Gainesville FL, Common Grounds #^
SUN MAR 15 - Orlando FL, The Social #*^
TUE MAR 17 - Houston TX, The Mink
WED MAR 18 - Austin TX, SXSW, (Red Eyed Fly, Suicide Squeeze Showcase)
THU MAR 19-21 Austin TX, SXSW
SUN MAR 22 - Dallas TX, The Lounge w/ Wavves, Abe Vigoda
SAT APR 4 - Atlanta GA, The Earl, Record Release!
MON MAY 11 - Atlanta GA, The Eyedrum w/ Calvin Johnson
# with These Arms Are Snakes
* with All The Saints
^ with Young Widows
Limp Bizkit Reforms!
Yeah, we're pinching ourselves too.
By Fred Mills
Here's a gift you can give your significant other this weekend: news about the Limp Bizkit reunion! That's right: fat, scary-looking guys with shaved heads and soul patches, along with their slutty stripper girlfriends with the tats, nose rings and dreads, can all lock arms and sing a chorus of "Nookie" in honor of the event.
Guitarist Wes Borland and singer Fred Durst have apparently patched things up just in time for Valentine's day. (Aww....) According to a statement the pair posted to the band's official website, "We decided we were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other. Regardless of where our separate paths have taken us, we recognize there is a powerful and unique energy with this particular group of people we have not found anywhere else. This is why Limp Bizkit is back."
Recall, of course, that Borland split acrimoniously from the band some time ago. Although his solo career (with Black Light Burns) never really went anywhere, so there ya go! Borland and Durst will be joined by Sam Rivers, John Otto and DJ Lethal. Party on, kids.
Shuffle Mag Offers Free V-Day Album
20 love songs for your Valentine's Day listening pleasure!
By Fred Mills
The economy's in the toilet and we're all looking for some relief, so what better stimulus than free music? Our good friends over at Charlotte, NC-based Shuffle Magazine - featuring the dynamic editing duo of John Schacht and Bryan Reed, who are not-so-coincidentally trusted BLURT contributors - have a new deal for you! Read on for details. This has been a Valentine's Day public service.. with guitars, natch.
***
Shuffle Presents: The Freeload.
Twenty regional acts from the Triangle to the Triad, from shining sea (Charleston) to mountains (Asheville), all of 'em knocking the stuffing out of 20 love songs for your Valentine's Day listening pleasure. Includes exclusive soon-to-be mega-hits from the likes of Yardwork, Floating Action, Sea of Cortez, the French & Indian War, Grids, Bruce Hazel & Some Volunteers, and Wayne Robbins & the Hellsayers, as well as already released chart-toppers and Grammy winners from the likes of the Explorer's Club, Horseback, Hammer No More the Fingers, Lou Ford and the Old Ceremony, among many, many more (eight more, actually).
Just go to www.shufflezine.tv and click on the free download for "VD is for Lovers" link.
Did I mention it's free? Because it is. Register on-line with us (takes two seconds, no Spam -- well, except this) and download away; you'll also be eligible to receive our weekly WTF Gig Finder every Thursday (good throughout the region), which beings Feb. 26. And stay tuned for future free-music giveaways.
Please feel free to viralize for friends, siblings, colleagues, the postman, the guy who mows your neighbor's lawn, barristas, Barack, record label execs, etc.
P.S. Heart-felt thanks to the musicians who donated their time, effort and music, without which this freeload would be extremely quiet.
Iron & Wine w/Rarities Set, Short Tour
Also issues subtle challenge to ticket scalpers....
By Blurt Staff
On May 19 Iron and Wine will issue Around the Well (Sub Pop), a 2-CD/3-LP collection of rare tracks ranging from out-of-print to never-before-released. In support of Around the Well Iron and Wine will be performing ten intimate shows in five cities. Each individual show will be wholly unique, as Iron and Wine will turn the set list over to the fans to create. In addition, Iron and Wine have begun work on the follow-up to The Shepherd's Dog and plan to release a new album in spring, 2010.
Around the Well
The tracks collected on Around the Well span from Iron and Wine's earliest sessions which yielded the band's debut (2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle) through material recorded for 2007's The Shepherd's Dog. The double-disc collection is broken up into two sections. The first half is an assortment of hushed home recordings, unedited and raw, and the second highlights moments captured in the confines of proper studios with the help of other musicians, friends and engineers.
The album's title comes from a line in the song "The Trapeze Swinger," a fan favorite which was written for and included in the movie In Good Company. Three more songs written and recorded for the film finally make their appearance here as well: "Belated Promise Ring," "God Made the Automobile" and "Homeward, These Shoes." Around the Well also brings together hard to find covers such as The Flaming Lips' "Waitin' for a Superman" and New Order's "Love Vigilantes," along with one of Iron and Wine's earliest originals, "Sacred Vision," which appeared on a compilation for Sound Collector magazine..
Iron and Wine Spring 2009 US Tour
In support of Around the Well Iron and Wine will be performing ten intimate shows in five US cities. Tickets for all these shows go on sale February 20, 2009. Complete list of tour dates listed below.
Each show will feature a unique set list, determined by Iron and Wine fans. Beginning March 6th and running thru March 30th at www.ironandwine.com, fans can vote by city and night for the songs they'd like to see performed each evening. For those who can't attend, the shows will be made available after the tour is completed, in some cases days after, on Iron and Wine's official live recording site Played Last Night, www.playedlastnight.com.
Around the Well Track Listing
Disc 1
1. Dearest Forsaken
2. Morning
3. Loud as Hope
4. Peng! 33
5. Sacred Vision
6. Friends They Are Jewels
7. Hickory
8. Waitin' for a Superman
9. Swans and the Swimming
10. Call Your Boys
11. Such Great Heights
(Vinyl break occurs between "Friends" and "Hickory.")
Disc 2
1. Communion Cups & Someone's Coat
2. Belated Promise Ring
3. God Made the Automobile
4. Homeward, These Shoes
5. Love Vigilantes
6. Sinning Hands
7. No Moon
8. Serpent Charmer
9. Carried Home
10. Kingdom of the Animals
11. Arms of a Thief
12. The Trapeze Swinger
(Vinyl break occurs between "Sinning" and "No Moon." At nearly ten minutes, "The Trapeze Swinger" will stand alone on the third piece of vinyl.)
Iron and Wine Spring 2009 US Tour Dates
Monday, May 4, 2009 Seattle, Vera Project (w/Yogoman Burning Band)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Seattle, Triple Door (w/Alela Diane)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 San Francisco, Swedish American Hall (w/Yogoman Burning Band)
Thursday, May 7, 2009 San Francisco, Swedish American Hall (w/Magic Leaves)
Friday, May 8, 2009 Los Angeles, Masonic Hall at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (w/ Alela Diane and DJ Small Town Talk)
Saturday, May 9, 2009 Los Angeles, Troubadour (w/Yogoman Burning Band)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Chicago, Lakeshore Theatre (w/Katie Stelmanis)
Wednesday, May 13,
2009
Chicago, Schuba's
Sunday, May 17,
2009
New York, Abrons Arts
Center (w/Lia Ices)
Monday, May 18, 2009 New York, Abrons Arts Center (w/partyface)
*All shows go on sale February 20, 2009. Tickets are will-call only. They are NON-TRANSFERABLE. No advance hard tickets will be issued. Purchaser must present ID at the door to claim tickets. NO EXCEPTIONS.
