Collector porn for the discriminating indie rock fan, yo.

By Blurt Staff

Get ready to feast your eyes, indie rock fans: The Merge Records Companion: A visual discography of the first twenty years is en route from, you guessed it, Merge Records on Nov. 3. It will cap a year-long celebration of Merge's storied 20-year tenure, that's included the sold-out festival, the sold-out subscription box set, and the behind-the-scenes book. (Full report on the latter in the new issue of BLURT, headed to a newsstand near you.)

This cd-sized volume contains photographs of every 7-inch, album, EP, and DVD (plus two cassettes!) put out by Merge in our first twenty years. For design fans, the three-hundred-plus photos chronicle the evolution of album cover design, from when cut-and-paste wasn't just an "aesthetic", but rather the only available production technique for bands (see early records from label founders' own band, Superchunk, and Raleigh punk-pop outfit Erectus Monotone) to the sophisticated design of the consistently amazing Lambchop covers or the intricate constructions for the Arcade Fire's ten releases on Merge. 

This limited-edition, 350-page paperback book also features essays by both founders of the label, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, reflecting on the days when they stuffed every sleeve themselves. The list of hand models in the back (Merge asked their bands and friends to hold their favorite records for the photographs) contains stars and interns side-by-side, a tribute to the collaborative ethic that has allowed one of indie rock's most likable labels to stay true to their simple mission: putting out music by bands they like. 

The Merge Records Companion is limited-edition and all proceeds will benefit the charities chosen by the fourteen SCORE! curators.

Latest installment of his Blurt blog "Wasteland Bait & Tackle" addresses the health care debate and debacle, the quality of life in America as we know it, and, oh yeah, all that shit about socialism.

By Fred Mills

"Last year, 2008, balls out free market capitalism stepped on its dick and fell on its ass. We had lived a fantasy for nearly thirty years." That's rocker and songwriter James McMurtry, writing in his Blurt blog, about where we are and how we got here - this sorry mess, that is, where capitalism collides with notions of socialism, where free market enterprise impacts real-life health issues, and more. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, African American moms, illegal aliens... red states, blue states, welfare states... whew, the man pretty much covers it all in one free-ranging, free-thinking essay.

Concludes McMurtry, "If we'd let President Truman have his way, and implemented universal health care sixty years ago, when the rest of the free world did it, we'd probably have our system worked out by now." Sadly, our system is totally fucked, and only just now are we realizing it. But there's still time to pick up on the dialogue, and McMurtry's definitely got something to say. Read his blog HERE.

Meanwhile, we'd be totally remiss if we didn't mention that our favorite Texan also has a new live CD/DVD due out Oct. 13 via Lightning Rod. Titled Live in Europe, it's got JM and his band plus Iam McLagan on keys and fellow TX legend Jon Dee Graham guesting. And it kicks ass, too - we're listening to it this very moment.

But his apology seems sincere. See the video evidence, below.

By Fred Mills

You already know the story by now, so if you haven't been piqued enough to track down the videos of Kanye bum-rushing Taylor Swift's VMA's acceptance speech Sunday night and then his apology on Jay Leno's show the following night, they appear below.

Meanwhile, here's that news item about President Obama telling a reporter, supposedly off the record, that Kanye's a jackass. And he should know - he's from Chicago.

Neil Young, No Doubt, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Fleet Foxes, Wolfmother, Sheryl Crow, Gavin Rossdale, Monsters of Folk, Jimmy Buffett, Adam Sandler. Well, 5 out of 10 ain't all that bad.

By Fred Mills

News arrives this morning that Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert, set to run this year on Oct. 24 and 25 at its usual spot (Mountain View, CA's Shoreline Amphitheatre), has disclosed the roster of performers.

On both nights, Neil Young, No Doubt, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Fleet Foxes, Wolfmother, Sheryl Crow, Gavin Rossdale and the Monsters of Folk will play, while Jimmy Buffett will do Saturday only and Adam Sandler will appear Sunday.

Tickets go on sale Sunday, September 20, via Live Nation (www.livenation.com). For full details on the show as well as the background on the Bridge School, go to their official site.  

Admittedly, this makes for one of the event's spottiest ever lineups - it's hard to imagine a hardcore Neil Young fan having any desire whatsoever to see mainstream cheese like No Doubt, Gavin Rossdale (maybe a Bush acoustic set, hmmm?) or Chris Martin. Bets are that all Monsters of Folk fans in attendance will hit the concession stands during those artists' sets, too. But if the idea is to fill up seats and raise money for charity, it's hard, and possibly meanspirited, to complain about Young's choices. The presence of No Doubt and Martin on the bill should tip the attendance scales pretty handily. And Buffett will ensure that old-timers uncertain about whether to fork over the bucks will want to queue up for at least one evening; Sandler, likewise, will rope in the Gen Y crowd.

Meanwhile, check out this special, and touching, video announcement created for this year's show:

From the venerable Rockpalast archives.

By Blurt Staff

German TV's legendary Rockpalast show has featured virtually every rock band that ever mattered on its stage. Little Feat is no exception, and on Sept. 22 Eagle Rock delivers some ace documentation via the Skin It Back: Live In Germany DVD.
 

Filmed in 1977 at the Grugahalle in Essen, this concert was shot just days before the recording of their renowned live album Waiting For Columbus. Featuring the band's classic line-up, late vocalist/guitarist Lowell George leads the band - vocalist/guitarist Paul Barrere, vocalist/keyboardist Bill Payne, percussionist Sam Clayton, bassist Kenny Gradney, and drummer Richard Hayward - through the 11-song performance. The thirty minutes of never-before-seen alternate rehearsal versions of the songs include "Rock N Roll Doctor," which did not make the cut for the final show.

The main broadcast has been circulated on bootleg VHS and DVD in the past, but this marks the concert's first official release, and it will feature top audio and visual quality, not several generations' removed from the original tape source. Hoy-hoy!

Track Listing:

1.) Skin It Back
2.) Fat Man In The Bathtub
3.) Oh, Atlanta
4.) Day At The Dog Races
5.) All That You Dream
6.) Old Folks' Boogie
7.) Dixie Chicken
8.) Tripe Face Boogie
9.) Feats Don't Fail Me Now
10.) Willin'
11.) Rocket In My Pocket

 
Bonus Tracks:

1.) Old Folks' Boogie
2.) Fat Man In The Bathtub
3.) Rock ‘n' Roll Doctor
4.) Skin It Back / Fat Man In The Bathtub
5.) Oh, Atlanta
6.) Willin'

Check out the awesome ad for Red Fang. Full coverage of the festival coming from Blurt. Meanwhile, we offer our best picks.

By Jason Simms

This weekend, virtually every music venue in Portland will be taken over for the west coast indie music capital's take on a SXSW type festival, Music Fest Northwest. MFNW is a lower-key more fan-focused (as opposed to industry and swag) affair than its Austin counterpart, and this year, by my estimation of the lineup, it's really going out on a limb and relying more heavily than ever on Northwest bands.

Take this television ad for the fest. It seems to suggest that for metal fans, Red Fang, who is from Portland, is on par with Girl Talk (whose set, we learned, just sold out) or Passion Pit.

Red Fang is awesome. But they're also from Portland and if every time they played a local show heads exploded, there wouldn't be any shredders left in Stumptown. But like SXSW, MFNW performances have a certain magic and the fest does bring in out of town visitors, so we shall if the locals can carry the day. At first, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of any national headliners I was dying to see (bands like Monotonix and Bad Brains are repeat customers), but now I'm psyched to see the locals getting this level of responsibility. Here are some highlights of the Northwest offerings for the uninitiated.

The Mint Chicks (Thursday, Doug Fir, 9pm) - This twisted Brit-pop style group is big in New Zealand and making their way in the US via Portland.

Explode Into Colors (Friday, Holocene, 11pm) - A hipster drum circle band of Portland ladies that was crowned best new band of '09 by Willamette Week.

The New York Rifles (Friday, Ash St, 11pm) - ...are actually from Portland and do this sort of punk meets Southern spiritual thing that is both fashionable and rewarding.

The Lonely H (Friday, Ash St, 12am) - A Port Angeles, Washington, classic rock four piece which isn't old enough to drink but has already worn out several pairs of boots and sets of tires touring the country and has even garnered opening spots for the Grateful Dead.

Mudhoney (Friday, Dante's 12:30am) - You probably know this bona-fide pioneering Seattle grunge band.

Atole - (Friday, Rotture 9pm) - This Portland four piece is kind of like Andrew WK entertaining a gay cruise by sining in gibberish.

Y La Bamba - (Saturday, Rontoms, 7:30pm) - Traditional Mexican meets Aliyah on the dreamscape. Prepare to be transfixed by one of Portland's strangest.

Loch Lomond (Saturday, Mississippi Studios, 12am) - The most delicate and refined of the throng of Portland folk bands.

Team Dresch (Saturday, Rotture, 12am) - Olympia, Washington, queer core founders reunited to unleash fury on the X-tian Reich.

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

By Fred Mills

The BLURT staff put our heads (and ears) together and we have the July-August pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Memphis rockers the Bulletproof Vests.

Featuring members drawn from the ranks of Snowglobe, Trashed Romeos, Antique Curtains, Jump Back Jake and The Third Man, they stir up some trouble via hard-twanging garage, raveup country soul and oh-so-harmonious pristine power pop.  Hell, there's even one song that sounds like a friggin' mashup of Big Star, T. Rex and the Stones! The lineup:

Jake Vest - Vocals, Guitar
Toby Vest - Vocals, Guitar
Greg Faison - Drums, Vocals
Dirk Kitterlin - Keyboards
Brandon Robertson - Bass

According to the Vests, their album Attack was "performed and captured by the band themselves in their own Memphis studio and mixed with a magic wand and a potato battery by Ardent Studios engineer, Adam Hill, who has been involved with Big Star, Jack White, The Green Brothers, The 145's, & Jim Dickinson. Inside this smorgasbord of sound sits a rollicking exploration of tone and genre that is part psyched out backwards fuzz freak-out, part sweet country slow drippin' ear molasses, and part subterranean buzzsaw scream served with a helping of the heart stopping Memphis sound, filled with Big Star's, Moloch's, Reigning Sound's, Oblivians', Guilloteens' and MGs."

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 Bulletproof Vests. 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: stephaniesÄ­d, from Asheville

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

>Our May Best Kept Secret: Wiretree, from England

The legendary Catholic Boy was among the Manhattan hipster and punk elite.

By Fred Mills

Punk poet Jim Carroll has joined the list of people who died. The 60-year old New York City resident died Friday of a heart attack. Though he'd kept a low profile in recent years - his most recent book of verse was 1998's Void of Course: Poems 1994-1997 - he lived a full and vital life that dipped into multiple milieus, from the Beats and the punks to writing lyrics for classic rock acts and recording spoken word albums.

He came to international prominence, of course, with 1978's autobiographical The Basketball Diaries (subsequently adapted for the screen featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio portraying Carroll), although prior to that he'd already found favor among Manhattan's hipster elite, among them Andy Warhol, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Smith, interviewed by the New York Times yesterday, said, "I met him in 1970, and already he was pretty much universally recognized as the best poet of his generation. The work was sophisticated and elegant. He had beauty."

Later, Carroll formed the Jim Carroll Band and had a hit with 1980's Catholic Boy, which contained the radio anthem "People Who Died." The group recorded two more albums, Dry Dreams and I Write Your Name before disbanding in the mid eighties. Carroll also recorded the solo album Pools of Mercury in 1998.

For an extensive online Carroll resource, check out CatholicBoy.com.

BLURT's Rev. Keith Gordon has a remembrance of the man, along with video clips, HERE.

Third studio album (and fourth release overall) set to drop Nov. 10.

By Blurt Staff

Githead - Colin Newman (of Wire), Malka Spigel and Max Franken (of Minimal Compact), Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) - will be releasing their new album Landing on Nov. 10. Their third full length, it's to appear courtesy their own Swim label. Watch BLURT in the very near future for an in-depth interview with Newman about the project.

The band started in 2004, initially to play as a one-off at the Swim record label's 10th anniversary event at the ICA. It soon became obvious that there was a natural and rare chemistry that could enable real organic development over time. A solid base was fashioned with the band's 2004 debut, the ‘self titling' EP Headgit. Written, recorded and mixed in fervent, whirlwind fashion, all in Swim's London studio, the band used Headgit as a platform on which to build. Its signature hypnotic motorik combined with a fresh, almost raw approach resulted in a set of exciting tracks, some of which remain stage favorites.

The following year, Githead's debut album Profile brought a bigger, lusher sound, with richer songwriting, and several songs that were taken on the road during the band's first European tour. As Githead developed as a live entity, the importance of recording live with the whole band became paramount. 2006 saw Githead move to augment Swim's small studio with Rotterdam's Metropolis 22 studio for recording endeavors. Employing classic ‘old skool' recording techniques and songwriting craft, Art Pop was born, and subsequently well received on its 2007 release. More European live dates followed and the band made its North American debut in Canada in June 2009.

The combination of Githead's growing power as a live band, and the development of work in Swim's studio and during trips to Rotterdam, has led to Landing. On the record, all the familiar components of Githead's distinctive idiom remain in place -- Newman and Rimbaud's minimalist guitar patterns, their supremely catchy melodic sense, Spigel's propulsive bass rumble, Franken's solid, steady drive -- but Landing broadens the band's vocabulary considerably. Adding depth, texture and shading, Landing's ten tracks are somehow simultaneously harder, edgier, more expansive, more organic, more hypnotic.

Crucially, though, while Githead might now be speaking a more sophisticated, nuanced language, they never once lose touch with their essential pop sensibility. It's this unique balance of convention and subtle experimentation that's always distinguished Githead from so many others attempting to plow the same adventurous avant-pop furrow.

Track Listing:

1. Faster

2. Take Off

3. Before Tomorrow

4. Landing

5. Ride

6. Over The Limit

7. Lightswimmer

8. From My Perspective

9. Displacement & Time

10. Transmission Tower

Everybody needs to collect something.

By Fred Mill

Sometimes a picture is worth more than a zillion words...

In which we pay tribute to our favorite all-time magazine, Girl Watcher. All the way from 1959, in fact, a different time, a different universe in fact; pre-Mad Men, even. Glom those gams at VintageGirlwatchers.com, kids, and get tips on how to start your "collection" - but don't let your parents catch you peekin'!

But what the heck is "the kitten type"?