Better living through youth brigades, we say. Check out the MP3 and video, below.

By Blurt Staff

Seminal punk label BYO Records and punk band Youth Brigade are celebrating their 25th anniversary with the release of Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records. BYO, founded by Shawn and Mark Stern, also members of Youth Brigade, asked their favorite bands to record songs from the extensive BYO Records catalog.

You can check out Pennywise's cover of the 7 Seconds original, "We're Gonna Fight" on MP3.

The resulting 31-track compilation album featuring NoFX, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys, 7 Seconds, Leatherface, Nothington and Youth Brigade, along with a 90-minute documentary on the early LA punk scene, is available now.  The limited-edition box set release contains two colored-vinyl LPs, the documentary on DVD, and a full-color, hardcover book.  'Let Them Know' is also available as a CD/DVD set with booklet, and digitally.

Many argue that the early '80s LA punk scene was wrongly overshadowed by New York and London's punks.  With excellent archival footage and interviews with Ian McKaye, Fat Mike, the Sterns and others, the documentary, directed by Jeff Alulis, illustrates LA's role in the explosive movement.  BYO played an important part by promoting all-ages, non-violent shows and releasing seminal recordings like the 1982 'Someone Got Their Head Kicked In' compilation and early music from Social Distortion, Agression, SNFU and more.

View the trailer for the film, below. Meanwhile, we'll have an appreciation of the band and label at John Moore's Blurt blog "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" posted very soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Over 8,000 artists are due money. Among them: Sal Mineo, Fela Kuti, Jim Carroll, Jules Shear, Afghan Whigs and Type O Negative (pictured above). Better step up or shut up (e.g., forfeit your royalties).

By Rev. Keith A. Gordon

Are you a bona fide recording artist, a musician with one or more albums to your name? Are you registered with Sound Exchange? If the answer to the first question is "yes," you'd better hope that your answer to the second question is also affirmative. Thousands of musicians are currently owed royalties by Sound Exchange, and if you don't claim the cash, it'll end up in somebody else's pockets.

Sound Exchange was formed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the music industry's lobbying arm, as a non-profit organization. Sound Exchange's primary reason for existing is to collect royalties for the digital transmission of sound recordings and then pay these monies back out to artists and record labels.

For example, Sound Exchange collects royalties from satellite radio stations like XM Radio and Sirius that play recorded music; from cable and satellite television (Muzak and MusicChoice channels); and from Internet radio stations like Pandora and LastFM. There's just one problem - Sound Exchange can't find many of the musicians that they owe royalties. Never mind that many are probably registered with organizations like BMI or ASCAP, or had label deals on which they are (presumably) paid royalties, Sound Exchange has been unable to send 'em a check.

On the organization's website they include a list of over 8,000 of these "lost artists," musicians and bands that are due money. Although Sound Exchange claims that they're currently paying royalties to some 31,000 artists, some critics claim that the number of "lost artists" might actually be as high as 40,000 musicians.

The list of thousands of those that are due unclaimed royalties from the digital broadcasting of their music includes both indie and major label artists, a long list of Hispanic musicians, and it cuts across the decades, from the 1960s through the current day. In some cases, exactly who is due the money is up for grabs, as the rights to many psychedelic-era bands like Moby Grape, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the Electric Prunes (all on the list) have been swapped and sold like a shoebox of baseball cards.

In other cases, the artists have tragically passed away, especially in the case of early blues artists, as the estates of Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Brownie McGhee, among others, are due royalties. But the more recently-departed are also owed royalties, the list also including artists like Kirsty MacColl, Fela Kuti, and Jim Carroll.

Most of the list of "lost" artists, though, seems to consist of rock and heavy metal bands and artists. There is quite a lot of talent represented here, from songwriter Jules Shear and jazz guitarist Ralph Towner to blue-collar rocker Joe Grushecky and soul giant Eddie Floyd. There are a heck of a lot of bands from the '80s and '90s, including the likes of the Afghan Whigs, Guadalcanal Diary, Lords of the New Church, Cravin' Melon, and Bare, Jr.  

Headbangers are represented by a wide spectrum of metal bands, including doomsters Saint Vitus, Malevolent Creation, Warlock, and Type O Negative. There are also the uncategorized oddballs and fringe rockers, from Slaves On Dope and Skinyard to rapper Tech 9ne and instrumentalists Man or Astro-Man? Even the estate of 1950s-era actor Sal Mineo is owed royalties for the single album that he released in 1957.

If these royalties aren't claimed by the artists within a certain period of time, they'll be forfeited to the organization. All recording artists are strongly urged to get in touch with Sound Exchange and see if you're owed any money; and if you haven't registered with the organization, you should do so as soon as possible so that you, too, don't end up "lost" and losing money in the future.

Grizzly Bear and Lust Boys movers and shakers decide to do some extracurricular activities for extra credit...

By Blurt Staff

Brooklyn-based Terrible Records, formed by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, and Ethan Silverman of Lust Boys, are excited to announce the launch of their label with the release of the first in a series of 7-inches recorded at Terrible Studios, followed by the release of NY quintet Acrylics' debut EP, All of the Fire.

The 7-inch features Chris Taylor's first solo release as well as a previously unreleased song by Arthur Russell.  CANT, as Taylor has chosen to call his project, offers the aptly-titled "Ghosts."  The song is a haunting underwater trip through his familiar sonic territory that is found on each Grizzly Bear release. "Come To Life" is a previously unreleased folk track written and recorded by Arthur Russell in the late '70's. Its origins are a mystery but the beauty of the song shines brightly. Initially intended for inclusion on last years compilation of unreleased folk, pop, and country tunes "Love Is Overtaking Me."  The track comes courtesy of Audika Records who will release the digital download of the song on October 13th. The CANT 7-inch release is limited to 1000 copies and will be available at the label's website and select retailers. 

The 7-inch series will continue with songs produced by Taylor, recorded at his church-studio in Brooklyn where Taylor produced much of the latest Grizzly Bear record, Veckatimist.

The label will subsequently release a Taylor-produced 5-song, 10" EP from NY group Acrylics on October 28th, entitled All of the Fire.  Acrylics will be at the Mercury Lounge on Saturday, October 3, and will be performing at several shows and parties at this year's CMJ Music Marathon.

Info: http://www.terriblerecordsus.com

Did we mention the band is on the cover of the new issue of BLURT?

By Fred Mills

Beginning today, and running through September 29, NPR Music will host an Exclusive First Listen of the Avett Brothers new Rick Rubin-produced I and Love and You at www.npr.org/firstlisten. (Music fans frequently get sneak peaks of new albums a week prior to release at NPR Music, which has hosted in recent months Wilco, Moby, Bjork and Neko Case.

The Avetts album hits stores Sept. 29 (they'll be on the Letterman show the night prior) and the band is already on the road promoting it - see itinerary, below.

Meanwhile, they're also our cover subjects for the new issue of BLURT, hitting newsstands in a couple of weeks. As profiled by our Contributing Editor A.D. Amorosi, the Avett Brothers have their entire career to date recapped, along with some illuminating anecdotes as well as producer Rubin's own assessment of the band.

"As soon as I met them, I knew they were special," said Rubin. "Meeting them as much as anything promoted our working together."

"It was what our game was meant to be," said Scott, of the recording sessions. "We all did our jobs, brought the craft and let the art lead the way."

Tour Dates:

9/22     Oxford, MS                             The Lyric Oxford

9/24     Memphis, TN                           Minglewood Hall

9/25     Little Rock, AR                        Robinson Center Music Hall

9/26     Tulsa, OK                                Cain's Ballroom

9/27     Dallas, TX                                Granada Theater

9/29     Baton Rouge, LA                     Baton Rouge River Center Theatre

10/1     New Orleans, LA                     House of Blues

10/2     Austin, TX                                Austin City Limits

10/3     Midwest City, OK                    Rose State PAC

10/5     Murray, KY                             Lovett Auditorium Center

10/15   Baltimore, MD             Rams Head Live

10/16   Philadelphia, PA                       Electric Factory

10/17   New York, NY                        Terminal 5

10/18   Boston, MA                             House of Blues

10/20   Iowa City, IA                           The Englert Theatre

10/21   Madison, WI                            Barrymore Theatre

10/22   Urbana, IL                               Canopy Club

10/29   Huntington, WV                       Keith Albee Theatre

10/30   Louisville, KY                          Louisville Palace

10/31   Nashville, TN                           Ryman Auditorium

[Photo Credit: Chris Wilson]

2.25 million units and counting...

By Blurt Staff

Okay, so we brought you not one, but two features on the Beatles remasters, and we were even courteous enough to do some research on eBay and at music retail sites to fill you in on what's going on among Fab Four collectors.

Now comes an official press release from Apple about the bottom line - that the Beatles remasters sold more than 2.25 million CDs during the first week of release, breaking chart records all over the planet. Rather than filter the news, we'll just let you glom the entire shebang. Warning: your eyes just may glaze over. But hey, would you rather be reading about, say, a Garth Brooks or Backstreet Boys record-breaking event?

***

London, England - September 22, 2009 - Underlining their timeless appeal and unique status in music, The Beatles have broken multiple chart records around the world following the September 9, 2009 (9-9-09) CD release of their digitally re-mastered catalogue. In the major music markets of North America, Japan and the UK, consumers purchased more than 2.25 million copies of The Beatles' re-mastered albums, individually and in two multiple-CD boxed sets, one in stereo and one in mono, during the first five days of release (excluding non-traditional retail outlets whose sales are not tracked by the chart compilers).

The Beatles' original UK studio albums were re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.

The most popular band of the 20^th century, The Beatles are beloved by music fans in the 21^st century, as evidenced by their current unparalleled global chart performance:

• US: During the first five days of release, consumers purchased more than one million copies of re-mastered Beatles titles, and the individual CD and boxed sets debuted strongly across multiple Billboard charts.
• • On Billboard's Comprehensive Albums chart, which lists the most popular album releases in the US, including current and catalogue titles, The Beatles set a new record for the most simultaneous titles by a single artist (18), including five of the top 10 and nine of the top 20.
  • On the Pop Catalog chart, The Beatles achieved another new Billboard chart first for the most simultaneous titles in the top 50 (16), a record they previously set themselves with 12 titles in December 1995. The Beatles have nine of the chart's top 10 titles, and all 14 re-mastered CDs are in the top 20, led by ‘Abbey Road' at number one and ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' at number two.
  • On the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, ‘The Beatles' stereo boxed set debuted at number 15, and ‘The Beatles in Mono' limited edition boxed set debuted at number 40.

• UK: In last week's chart, The Beatles had four titles in the top 10, seven in the top 40 and 16 in the top 75, including both the stereo and mono boxes, as well as 2000's ‘Beatles 1' compilation. This set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the UK charts according to the UK Official Charts Company. In this week's UK chart, The Beatles have 13 albums in the top 75. A further 84,000 CDs were sold last week, bringing their total sales of the remasters to more than 354,000 in 11 days and their total UK sales this decade to 6,755,000.
  
  
  
• Japan: All 14 re-mastered titles and boxed sets debuted in the top 25 of the international chart, including seven of the top 10, led by the stereo boxed set at number two, the mono boxed set at number three, ‘Abbey Road' at four and ‘Let It Be' at six. Across all titles and box sets, more than 840,000 albums were purchased by consumers in Japan in the first three days of sales.

• Canada: The Beatles have 15 of the top 20 catalogue titles including all of the top 11. The stereo boxed set is a new entry in the current albums chart at number four, the highest debut for a boxed set in Canada since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales. Cumulative sales across all titles were just under 160,000 over the counter.
  
  
  
• France: All 14 of the re-mastered titles and boxed sets entered the latest album chart, including three in the top 10, led by ‘Abbey Road' at number four, a new record for the most original studio albums in the French album chart in one week.

• Italy: The Beatles have 17 titles in the current chart - all 14 re-mastered titles, the two boxed sets, plus the ‘1' compilation, a record for the most simultaneous entries in the album chart.

• Belgium: With 17 entries in the current chart - the 14 re-mastered titles, two boxed sets and ‘1' compilation - The Beatles have set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the Belgian chart as confirmed by chart compiler Ultrapop.

• Sweden: The Beatles have 16 titles simultaneously in the top 60, led by ‘Abbey Road' at number six. Local industry body IFPI have confirmed that this is a record for the Swedish charts.

• Argentina: Seven of the current top 10 albums are Beatles re-masters, led by ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at number two, ‘Abbey Road' at number three and ‘The Beatles' (The White Album) at number four. All 14 re-mastered titles are in the top 20 and the boxed sets are at numbers 73 and 74 in the chart.

• Spain: 13 Beatles albums plus both boxed sets debuted in the latest chart, a record for a single artist. The combined sales of the boxed sets places them at number four in the chart.

• Poland: All 14 re-mastered albums and two boxed sets debuted in the current top 100, led by ‘Abbey Road' at six. This is a record for the highest number of simultaneous entries in the Polish chart.

• Switzerland: 14 Beatles titles, including the stereo boxed set, debuted in the most recent album chart, a record for the most simultaneous titles in the album chart.

• Denmark: The latest album chart includes 15 re-mastered Beatles titles, plus the ‘1' compilation, including four of the top 20.

• Australia: The Beatles have 14 titles in the current chart, including the ‘1' compilation.

• Germany: The combined sales of the stereo and mono boxed sets, with one boxed set counted as one unit sale, places them as the number three best seller in the latest chart.

• Austria: The current top 75 contains 12 re-mastered titles plus the stereo boxed set.

• Portugal: The re-mastered titles occupy 11 places in the current top 30 album chart, including three of the top 10.

• Norway: The combined stereo and mono boxed sets debut at number three with a further 12 re-mastered titles in the top 100.

• Colombia: Half of the current top 10 albums are Beatles re-masters titles.

• Korea: During the first sales week The Beatles occupied 16 of the top 17 spots in Korea's Hottracks album chart.

The Gears' Rockin' at Ground Zero and The D.I.s Rare Cuts get paired up as a deluxe reissue. What would Tipper Gore think?!?

By Blurt Staff

The Gears were formed in 1978, the heyday of Los Angeles punk, when two childhood buddies from the Glassell Park neighborhood of L.A. - singer Axxel G. Reese and drummer Dave Drive - joined forces. They created the "punk surfabilly" sound after seeing the early Hollywood punk bands while being influenced by other SoCal cultures. The band's recorded tour de force was the live album Rockin' at Ground Zero. Shortly after this epic live recording in 1982, the Gears' guitarist Kidd Spike angrily smashed his ax to smithereens mid-set at the Starwood and the Gears were done. Out if the ashes of The Gears, vocalist Reese and drummer Drive launched a new band called The D.I.s (Drill Instructors).

In its Rockin' at Ground Zero (Deluxe Edition) two-CD reissue, due out September 8, 2009, Hep Cat Records features the complete 1980 LP packaged with the first single ("Let's Go to the Beach") as well as five never-before-released demo recordings from 1979, a total of 23 Gears songs, all remastered. This edition also contains Rare Cuts!, 22 studio recordings by The D.I.s, including the entire Billy Zoom-produced five-song 12" vinyl EP Lock and Load.

 
Hep Cat will also release the original Gears Rockin' at Ground Zero as a single 23-song CD with five previously unreleased demo recordings that include the rockabilly'd-up title track, "Rockin' at Ground Zero," and the never-before-released "Girl Crazy." Rockin' At Ground Zero will also be issued by Hep Cat as a vinyl LP in a limited run of 500 copies. The long-player features colored vinyl and silk-screened jackets, just like the original 1980 LP on Playgems Records.

 
Preserving The Gears' punkabilly influence, the D.I.s moved on to a broader definition of roots music.  Many of Los Angeles' best-known punk denizens were D.I.s at various times - Jimmy Reed (Levi Dexter & the Ripchords), Matt Lee (Ray Campi's Rockabilly Rebels), Mike "Shaky" Wilcox (The Rockats), Thadius T. Baker, Patrick "Frenchie" French (The Joneses), "Venice George" Chavlez, Ron Emory (TSOL) and Jonny Ray Bartel (The Red Devils and The Knitters).

 
Although the D.I.s soldiered on through 1992, they left only one recording in their wake - the aforementioned five-track 12" EP Lock & Load, produced by X's Billy Zoom.  As well as being available as part of The Gears' Rockin' at Ground Zero (Deluxe Edition), fans can purchase it separately as The D.I.s: Rare Cuts! Punk archivist and schollar Jonny Whiteside wrote the liner notes.
 

According to Whiteside's notes, "The D.I.s worked a mutant strain of loaded beat & roll, bristling with misfit rockabilly riff-slinging, fang-bearing punk momentum and mad, deep boogaloo. The band's near-militant attitude and gleeful aggression always adhered to rock ‘n' roll's purest elemental structure, and they crafted a set characterized by skull-denting, hip shaking grooves."
 

A historical note: When Tipper Gore began her tirade against filth and pornography in pop music, she did so one afternoon on live television outside Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., brandishing a copy of the D.I.s' Lock & Load, sputtering, "This is exactly what I'm talking about." Tower sold 500 copies in less than a week.
 

Solo album Somewhere Gone arrives Oct.6. Meanwhile, check out this MP3 teaser...

By Blurt Staff

Despite being diagnosed recently with MS, X frontwoman Exene Cervenka doesn't have any plans to slow down - she's got a new solo album due October 6 from Bloodshot. Titled Somewhere Gone it's described by the label as "all the passion of X without all the loud - a great combination, even for people who embrace the loud." It's her first solo outing in 18 years, in fact, and you can get a sneak preview from it right here at BLURT:

"Trojan Horse"

Exene, of course, has been multitasking for years - in addition to her work with X, she's performed with the Knitters, fronted her own band the Original Sinners, done spoken word (her appearances with Lydia Lunch back in the ‘80s remain the stuff of legend), penned several volumes of poetry and even had her drawings, paintings and collages exhibited a few years ago at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. And she's announced her intentions to work with the Sweet Relief foundation to help raise money and awareness for MS.

Back to that new album: we've got a full review in the new print issue of BLURT, due on newsstands in a couple of weeks. Observes our reviewer, of the record: "These are eerie folk songs-Exene's voice has that timeless, rural, conversational quality-although all but one song are originals. It's tempting to read intimations of mortality into the record. But it's more a welcomed return than a valedictory."

Amen to that. You can get more information at Exene's official website or at her Bloodshot recs artist page.

It's a real man's magazine, made by real men.

By Sparky LaFlame

With the third print issue of BLURT nearly finished - it's due on newsstands in a couple of weeks - the BLURT editorial staff took time out from proofing and layout for a weekend corporate getaway. With pickaxes, spears, chain mail vests and random biker accessories in tow, we scaled the nearby Von Diablo peak and hunkered down for some serious male bonding. Upon our return, refreshed and revitalized (albeit with numerous scars and oozing flesh wounds), we resumed work on the magazine.

(Pictured above, L-R: Andy "Staff of Fertility" Tennille, Randy "Scythe" Harward, Scott "The Impaler" Crawford and Fred "Chigger" Mills. Absent from the photo: A.D. "A.D." Amorosi, who'd gotten his chain mail pants hung on a protruding root while climbing Von Diablo and was still struggling to extricate himself. Apologies to TYR, incidentally.)

At Anthology Film Archives, NYC Sunday, October 4 @ 8 pm, featuring Genesis Breyer P-Orridge as the "Sacrifist," Timothy Wyllie, Adam Parfrey, and The Sabbath Assembly band performing original Process Church songs.

By Blurt Staff

Was The Process Church truly "one of the most dangerous Satanic cults in America"? Or were they an intensely creative apocalyptic shadow side to the flower-powered '60s and New Age '70s? Scores of black-cloaked devotees swept the streets of New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, and other cities selling magazines with titles like Sex, Fear, Love and Death, and a controversial theology proposing a reconciliation of Christ and Satan through awareness and love. Marianne Faithfull, George Clinton and Mick Jagger participated in Process publications, and Funkadelic reproduced Process material in two of their albums.

The inside story of this legendary group has at last emerged with Feral House's Love Sex Fear Death book by Timothy Wyllie and other former members. On Oct. 4, Feral House, Process Media, and Sound@One present a simulation of an actual Process Church "Sabbath Assembly" ritual as performed in the 60s, featuring Genesis Breyer P-Orridge as the "Sacrifist." Author Wyllie (Father Micah) will follow to discuss the cult and his time within it in a multimedia presentation. The Sabbath Assembly band, comprised of Imaad Wasif (Tee Pee Records), Jex Thoth (I Hate Records), Laura Leontine, and David Christian (of No-Neck Blues Band), will perform Process hymns and songs throughout.

Oct. 4 at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, NYC (212) 505-5181

Check out excerpts of the Process Church book here.

Read about the sold out Process Church Ritual and Salon shows in LA.

 
And a review of the Sabbath Assembly Band's performance here.

For Your Own Special Sweetheart arrives on CD and vinyl Nov. 24.

By Blurt Staff

Seminal DC post-punk band Jawbox will reissue their consummate release, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, on November 24th. The album, which was originally released on Atlantic Records in 1994, sees the band returning to their roots at the renowned Dischord Records as well as their own DeSoto label, which will work together to release this reissue.  Jawbox was one of the cornerstones of the pivotal DIY punk label, in good company with bands such as Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring and Shudder To Think.  

With the help of Dischord and engineer Bob Weston (Pixies, Jawbox, and member of Shellac), For Your Own Special Sweetheart is meticulously remastered and will be re-released on both CD and vinyl.   And, according to bass player, Kim Coletta, "it just sounds a whole lot better." The collection will include the entire original song line-up along with three additional tracks that appeared on the Savory +3 EP released by Atlantic in 1994.  The vinyl version will include a coupon redeemable for free digital download of all songs including the bonus tracks.  

Of For Your Own Special Sweetheart, Pitchfork Media raved, "it's one of the greatest slabs of angular guitar throb that the District of Columbia produced during the 90s, which is saying something." They called single "Savory" "the weirdly sexy guitar tangle that remained a cool-kid mixtape staple for at least a decade."  

Jawbox arose from the primordial pond of DC's raucous, vibrant underground in 1989, bringing with them a loud, fast and spirited brand of punk rock that brought zealous fans into the pit in droves.  Jawbox played their first show opening for Fugazi in 1989; For Your Own Special Sweetheart recalls the latter's hardcore leanings.  After two releases on Dischord they captured the attention of Atlantic Records, with whom they released For Your Own Special Sweetheart, widely considered to showcase the band at its peak.  The combination of heavy rhythms, guitar-driven soundscapes and hooky melodies both hark back to and distinguish the band from their roots among Dischord's finest underground offerings, the boundaries of which they constantly pushed.  

Jawbox is J. Robbins (guitar, vocals,) Kim Coletta (bass,) Bill Barbot (guitar) and Zach Barocas (drums.)  

Track Listing:

1.    FF=66
2.    Savory
3.    Breathe
4.    Motorist
5.    LS/MFT
6.    Cooling Card
7.    Green Glass
8.    Cruel Swing
9.    Jackpot Plus!
10.  Chicago Piano
11.  Reel
12.  U-Trau
13.  Whitney Walks
14.  L'il Shaver*
15.  68*
16.  Sound On Sound*

(* = tracks not on original release)