"Pricks, Prick, pricky...." Looks like Robert Pollard and the reunited 'classic' Guided by Voices team were having a good go on "Game of Pricks" last night on the first stop on their reunion tour in Dallas. Thanks to thatwasweird for hooking us fanboys up. Live recordings from all the shows on this tour will be up at GBV Digital.
News just popped from MySpace and Matador Records that this weekend's big Matador at 21 indie 90s rockestravaganza will stream live on MySpace, that runner-up of socially networked music sites.
Here's the promo piece - Geddit?
Nah, neither did I. Oh wait, empty road through a desert. I dunno, looks normal to me.
Here’s the breakdown on stream times for those too old to enjoy the real deal in Las Vegas.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st
Guitar Wolf: 7:30pm – 8:10pm
Chavez: 8:30pm – 9:10pm
Fucked Up: 9:35pm – 10:15pm
Pavement: 12:00am – 1:00am
(The entire night will then be viewable on-demand the next morning)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2nd
Come: 5:45pm – 6:25pm
Perfume Genius: 7:55pm – 8:15pm
Spoon: 10:25pm – 11:15pm
Belle & Sebastian: 11:45pm – 1:00am
(The entire night will then be viewable on-demand the next morning)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3rd
Shearwater: 6:30pm – 7:10pm
Ted Leo + The Pharmacists: 7:35pm – 8:15pm
New Pornographers: 8:40pm – 9:25pm
JUST ADDED: Liz Phair 9:50pm – 10:10pm
Guided By Voices: 11:30pm – 1:00am
Please note: More bands will likely be added to the webcast schedule over the next few days. So keep checking back.
We’ll see you in the desert!
Read more at the Matador blog.
Nick Cave tells NME that "Some people think it was a good idea to do Grinderman, some people think it was a really bad idea. This is all good stuff and this is what rock'n'roll should be about anyway."
Watch the interview with Grinderman band (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos) - Or click through to NME if the video embed isn't working below.
Last night. Rock show. Two bands. Actually three. But I missed the first local band. Young Friends. Picture at left is Surfer Blood (read below). Only picture that turned out decent. Blame my Sprint cell phone cam. That's OK - Much video below.
Walked in on The Drums' first song. Found young men prancing feyly onstage. With pre-taped whistles (and more??) in the mix. Big echo-laden mix. Much reminiscent of Smiths/Chameleons UK/Suede (some of my fave British bands). Their Wikipedia page reads (in part): "The band cite their major influences as The Smiths, Joy Division, The Wake, The Zombies, The Tough Alliance, The Legends, The Shangri-las and Orange Juice. Graham also mentions that reverb in general has played a major role in their sound: "...If reverb didn´t exist we wouldn´t have bothered trying to start a band." See the band on Twitter.
Bass player playing tiny bass. Guitarist looking like young Peter Buck REMlike. Took pictures and all were blurry (sorry, Sarah). Strong set which got stronger. Only lapse was last two songs. Maybe PHX heat was getting best of them on last two songs, which lagged a bit and brought momentum down. I liked The Drums, would see them again. Singer seemed to be playing to an audience in the stars (or in his head). That's OK, not necessarily a bad thing. Connecting with audience is not always job requirement. Drummer wasn't getting enough monitors. Band kept asking. Not sure if request was granted.
My first time seeing Surfer Blood too. Green lasers shooting from stage left. Bubble machine from stage right. Happy youngsters. See the band on Twitter.
Two new songs - I liked the first one alot - glistening arpeggio intro into a beat-heavy jump, flowered by a bridge or chorus (or both?) with about 30 chords in it. Whew!
All the good stuff from Astro Ghost was played - Harmonix, Swim, etc. Big fun for me was for an encore, singer/guitarist John Paul came out and sang and played Guided By Voices' "Game of Pricks" solo, complete with guitar solo. It was perfect. Then more bubbles, laser, closing song and a happy crowd out the door.
Local music cool people Silverplatter taped most of the show:
Here's a clip of the Young Friends:
Here's part 1 of The Drums:
Here's part 2 of The Drums:
Surfer Blood Pt. 1:
Surfer Blood part 2:
Here are some things I've wanted to post but have not, due to criminal lack of rock n roll time available in a mundane work-a-day world.
- Urge Overkill is playing NYC's Mercury Lounge on October 4, with news of a new release this spring. The band put out a new recording called "Effigy", a minor-chorded rocker sung by Ed Roeser. It soars pretty good on the chorus. Download it at Skope.
- It seems that the cost of everything worth enjoying (bacon, coffee, beer) continues to spiral higher.
- WSJ had a fine article "Is Video killing the Concert Vibe?" on Friday. Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Black Crowes' Chris Robinson and others quoted about the rise in concert video takers at shows. Performers seem to hate all the cameras in their faces, distracting from the immediacy of the moment, but acknowledge the long tail worth of good video for future projects. Loss/Win. Best quote? "Chris Robinson, 44-year-old singer for the Black Crowes, isn't on board. "As a band we've been trying to string together these moments, the kind of moments I've had as a music fan that have blown my mind. That's not happening when you're texting or checking your f—ing fantasy league stats," he says. "I personally think you should be too high to operate a machine at our concerts."
- Wow! Time flies! The Guided by Voices 'classic '93-'96 tour lineup' starts its reunion tour THIS WEEK Wednesday in Dallas.
- Two big touchstone bands played Friday night in Phoenix Valley - KISS and The Pixies. Read AZ Central review's of Kiss's show and The Pixies' Doolittle show.
- Our show with TV Buddhas was goodtime Friday night punk 'n roll. Here are a few shots of the Buddhas. More at my Flickr page. Nice guys and a gal. Hope the rest of the tour does 'em well.
What a fun Friday night ahead! My rockin' trio Dfactor (aka Saturday Strikers) gets to kick up our melodies and rhymes at Scottsdales' Rogue Bar tonight, opening for touring garage rockers TV Buddhas. The show is presented by Psyko Steve, good guy rocker promoter around the Phoenix Metro area.
We're playings songs from the last two Dfactor CDs "Say Yeah" and "Slashing the Sunlight" as well as a few new ones on the Soundcloud page. If you live in the PHX Valley and you're reading this, then come on out and rock out with us tonight.
Altsounds has a piece on The TV Buddhas, capturing their lamentable position as modern day rock gunslingers in a commercially unviable indie rock world - they write:
"In a world where rock and roll has completely changed its skin, TV Buddhas document the last remaining vices of a modern day hard working DIY band on the road in a commercial wasteland, a reality that doesn’t give a damn anymore about punk honesty or unknown bands writing heartfelt songs. Underneath the radars of big promoters, hipster publications, and hype driven music consumers, TV Buddhas move forward from one empty club to the other, from one financial flop to the next, documenting their wallets going slimmer, their sense of failure and missing out growing more and more impatient."
Here is their video blog Band in the Modern World. The first clip is sorta distressing, showing a tired band showing up to play a club gig in New Orleans where the club had no idea they were coming and it wasn't promoted. Hopefully, rockers in the Valley will come out to make our night shine. 
Here are the remaining tour dates for the TV Buddhas:
09/24 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rogue Bar
09/26 San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink
09/27 Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell
09/30 Concord, CA @ The Red Hat
10/01 Chico, CA @ Monstros Pizza
10/02 Arcata, CA @ The Alibi
10/03 Portland, OR @ Backspace Cafe
10/04 Vancouver, BC @ The Astoria
10/05 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern
10/07 Denver, CO @ Unit B
10/08 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
10/09 St. Louis, MO @ Lemp
10/10 Hot Springs, AR @ The Exchange
10/12 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
10/13 Wilmington, DE @ Mojo 13
10/14 Rochester, NY @ Bugjar
10/15 Toronto, ONT @ Parts and Labor
10/16 Hamilton, ONT @ Casbah Lounge10/17 Waterloo, ONT Mom’s Tattoo Shop10/18 Ottawa, ONT Rock N’ Roll Pizza
10/19 New York, NY @ R-Bar (CMJ)10/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Party Expo (CMJ)
For a long time, I've been searching for a clip of The Wedding Present (past or current) doing a live version of their song "Take Me" from their classic 1989 release Bizarro. It's a song I've loved to play on guitar, and tried to get my old band interested in doing the full 9 minute version to no avail.
And while checking recent live Superchunk clips at BlearyEyedBrooklyn today, I ran across a wonderful HD clip of David Gedge's current The Wedding Present incarnation on the band's spring 2010 jaunt through NYC. And they did Take Me. All nine minutes. And I missed it then but here it is now. Awesome. Thanks.
The Wedding Present performs Take Me! at the Bowery Ballroom, 4/11/10 from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo.
If you never made it to famed NYC rock clubs CBGB or Max's Kansas City circa 1974 -1979, this week is your chance to get a taste of what you missed. Most old school punkers knows that from 1974 to 1979, CBGB was hangout, hotbed and home to a generation of musicians and their fans. (I wasn't there; I was a mere Chicago schoolboy at the time).
The PR blurbist continues:
"But night after night, CBGBs served up bills of Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Ramones, Television, Blondie, Dead Boys, Cramps, B52’s, Dictators and Richard Hell, to name but a few. Bands and fans were interchangeable. They played on stage, hung out at the bar and everyone who was into the new sound of rock and roll sang, drank and partied together. More than a scene, more than a club, it was a family. This family never really parted and even after the house was sold, continue to meet, hang and play."
And The Bowery Electric shows that start tonight are a sort of family reunion, I guess for all the old school cool kids who are now cool old people, one guesses.
Below is a full schedule of bands performing at the HOWL! Festival and HOWL! Arts Project’s week-long music series at Bowery Electric Sept 21 – 27. Admission $10 per night available in advance or at the door
Bowery Electric - 327 Bowery btwn 2nd and 3rd Streets, NYC.
Tues. Sept 21
8p The Planets
9p Sic F*cks
10p Jahn Xavier & The Bowerytones
11p The Enablers
Wed. Sept 22
8p Revelons
9p Michael Cerveris
10p Planets
11p Timbila
Thurs. Sept 23
9p Band of Outsiders
10p Richard Lloyd
11p The Deans of Discipline
Fri. Sept 24
8p Sediment Club
9p Eszter Balint
10p Command V
Sat. Sept 25
8p Ed Rogers
9p McGinty and White
10p Smash Palace
Mon. Sept 27
8p Johnny Volume
9p Faith,
10p Extra Virgin Mary
11p Low Society
Links for goodnesss, Links for gold....soundz.
- Pavement plays Colbert! Malkmus acts as foil to Colbert! More on Pavement at NY Times Arts Blog.
- Do musicians really not make much money at all?
- Holy Blowfish! The Guided by Voices Reunion tour starts in Dallas next week! See rehearsal video below!
- Ten Bands Whose Names Could Double as Motorcyle Gangs (via Paste Magazine)
- Why NOT like the Foghat Facebook page: what, are you un-Birmingham?
- Who HASN'T jumped around to EMF's "Unbelieveable" at one time or another (via The Red Radio, who got it right)
- Former New Order bassist and current club dilettante (or something) Peter Hook tells Q Magazine how not to run a club while on a PR push for the reissue of his book about the Manchester Hacienda days - "a candid account of how millions were squandered through mismanagement."
Here's the old/new GBV rehearsing in the Pollard Lair of Rock:
Looked like a lot of fun for concertgoers at AZ Fall Frenzy in Tempe, AZ over the weekend. Weezer (which performed on Saturday night) wrote on its MySpace page (with a bunch of pictures):
"Well, the jet was indeed fast and small, and it got us over to Phoenix without any trouble. Nothing wrong with rolling in style, so long as the cost is covered! When we hit the tarmac at Sky Harbor Int'l Airport, the 107 degree heat was indeed powerful. But theres something about the mid September almost Fall time we're in that sorta took the edge off. The sun wasnt quite as nasty as it would have been a few weeks earlier. And soon enough it started dropping in the sky, affording a merciful evening - still hot but not brutal.
Over at Tempe Beach Park the crowd was massive and the music was in full swing. We got there as Devo was winding up (sans Josh who was batting for team weez), and soon Primus had taken the stage with their utterly unique sound. After that it was Sublime "with Rome", who turned out to be a darn good singer of the Sublime catalog.
Finally Weezer did their thing for the assembled multitude, delivering the hit heavy set thats been stoking the festivals all summer, plus new single "Memories". Rivers found all kinds of new things to climb today as he took a lap around the grounds during "Beverly Hills" - ATM machines, merch booths, tents, fences, you name it. Lots of happily surprised fans out in the corners - not to mention less happily surprised security guards and maintenance men!"
Here's a audience member video of the band blasting through "Hash Pipe" for the crowd:
There's a load of good shows this weekend in the Phoenix area. Not only do alt-rockers have the three-day AZ Fall Frenzy featuring 90s warhorses like Stone Temple Pilots, Sublime, Weezer and others, but classic rockers get their share with the Red and the Black classic rock doublebill of Blue Oyster Cult and Foghat. But the show nearest to my current soul is Saturday night's show with The Soft Pack (and Memomena)at the Clubhouse in Tempe.
Here's The Soft Pack doing their song "Answer to Yourself" from a live radio broadcast about 11 months ago. Since then, the band has been touring its ass off and playing loads of big European festivals. Here's a chance to see the band in a relatively small club setting.
So I've slacked on the blog. Blame my focus moving toward Facebook, GBV's upcoming reunion and my own band's activities. But I'm not dead, OK?
- Thanks to Voyageur Press for sending me a copy of the rock n roll memoirs of veteran punk rocker Cheetah Chrome called "A Dead Boy's Tale from the Front Line of Punk Rock." It's a big (300 pages!) book of Cheetah's memories with lots of words (but few pics?) of Cheetah's rock n roll life. Can't wait to dip into it this weekend. I read the Legs (Roderick) McNeil intro and that in itself is almost worth the book price. And I learn that Cheetah has teamed up with Sylvain Sylvain for a club tour for their garage rock band Batusis which hits PHX in late October. Cool.
- I saw the Capitol Records bldg in LA for the first time a few weeks ago. It's sorta cool and smaller than I expected, but it looks great down that fine Vine street decline.
- I saw Katy Perry perform 'Teenage Dream' last night on Letterman - thought it was fresh action, but it was a rerun from Aug 24. Nonetheless, it was a great singing performance. Loved it.
- Big Kiss fan surmises: Paul's voice is flagging, Gene is coming to the rescue and good on him! Long tongues rooooooooooooooool.
- If you are a Beatles fan of any stripe, do yourself a favor and dig deep into the vaults of Beatle pics, history and fandom right here at Beatlesource.
- If you do not recognize the term "Beatles", then click here.
- New Jersey rockin poppers Fountains of Wayne start a brief tour in a few weeks. It starts out west (but missing PHX, natch) - dates are here:
September 30 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
October
1 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubador
2 - San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
4 & 5 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
7 - New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom
8 - Boston, MA - Paradise
9 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
12 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
13 - Pawtucket, RI - Met Cafe
14 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
Holy Wow! Superchunk Wins! The erstwhile college rock entrepreneurial DIY indie rock band of the 1990s may have very well just made its best music ever. Now. In 2010. Fuck yeah! No more Slack Motherfuckers.
Check out this new Superchunk ON SALE video - it's for lead track "Digging for Something" and it's great and the song is pretty much the best pop song I've heard all week/month/year? It's perfect. Buy the CD at Merge. (One note - does anyone else hear a Tommy Stinson "Friday Night is Killing Me" similarity in the vocals to "Digging for Something"? - I do. Tommy Stinson rocks. Sorry about GnR though.)
Mid-1990s nostalgia is in high gear - Matador at 21. GBV reunion. Superchunk is touring. Postal Blowfish is alive with the sound of music. It's all good.
Superchunk Tour Action
September
16 Durham NC United States The Nasher Museum of Art
17 Washington 9:30 Club w/ Tommy Keene, Let's Wrestle
18 New York NY Bowery Ballroom w/ Let's Wrestle
19 Brooklyn NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
21 Boston MA Royale w/ Versus
22 Philadelphia PA Trocadero Theatre w/ Jenny and Johnny, Versus
23 Montreal QC Le National
October
2 Las Vegas NV Matador at 21
13 Vancouver Biltmore Cabaret w/ Telekinesis
14 Seattle WA The Showbox w/ Teenage Fanclub, Telekinesis
15 Portland OR Wonder Ballroom w/ Teenage Fanclub, Telekinesis
17 San Francisco CA Treasure Island
19 Los Angeles CA The Music Box at Fonda w/ Telekinesis
December
9 Toronto ON Sound Academy w/ Broken Social Scene
Videogum wrote:
"I’m very excited to share with you a brand new video for Superchunk off their new album, Majesty Shredding. Yes! It’s the first new music from our old pals (playing together) in nine years! The video catches up with the old gang who have gone their separate ways. It was directed by former Daily Show writer Scott Jacobson, and features Mac, Laura, Jim, and Jon, as well as John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats and also comedian Ted Travelstead and also a bunch of dudes from LookAtThisFuckingHipster.com. Perfect."
Superchunk's label Merge Records wrote:
"Since releasing their first 7-inch in 1989, Superchunk has run the gamut of milestone albums: early punk rock stompers, polished mid-career masterpieces, and lush, adventurous curveballs. Conventional wisdom holds that a band two decades into its career can only rehash or reinvent, but with Majesty Shredding, Superchunk has done something entirely different. Neither a return nor a departure, Majesty Shredding telescopes two decades into 41 indelible, action-packed minutes. It is the sound of youthful exuberance fine-tuned with grown-up confidence. And it may very well be Superchunk's best record yet."
Here's some behind the scenes action at the recording process for Superchunk's Majesty Shredding:
There's a good gang of folks in Phoenix and surrounding metros who are smart, web literate, excited about growing community and committed to putting their mouth where the heart is. And that's why homegrown party events like Desert Bloom Phoenix can grow from a casual get-together to a massively cool art and music event, just with a little dedication and verve, in just a few short months.
This Friday night is the third Desert Bloom event (DB3) and features a swellacious mix of musicians and artists and fun people and extroverts all smashed into the Chandler collaborative coworking and event space Gangplank.
My rockin' trio is happy to be included in the lineup and we'll kick out our jams starting around 7:30pm. If you're anywhere near the Phoenix-Tempe-Scottsdale corridor, swing on down the 101 to Chandler Main Street and give yourself a kick in the pants from the floorboards up. And best of all it's free to attend. Bring your good self and your PMA and have yourself a rockin' good Friday.
Here's a 48 sec clip of some of the action at the last Desert Bloom event:
NPR is streaming the Sonic Youth live gig from the September 4th ATP (All Tomorrow's Parties) show.
NPR writes:
"But perhaps in the spirit of the All Tomorrow's Parties "Don't Look Back" series — in which bands at the New York music festival play classic albums in their entirety — Sonic Youth spent its ATP concert ripping through the songs that make it Sonic Youth to so many of its fans. Not one song recorded beyond Daydream Nation was played in the set heard here (and recorded Sept. 4). And while Dirty, Washing Machine and even the misunderstood NYC Ghosts & Flowers are great, the noisy side of Sonic Youth induces pure rock catharsis, with sidewalk grime beaten into four-string guitars and wrenched in Kim Gordon's howl."
Rock band Weezer is scheduled to play next weekend's Arizona Fall Frenzy festival next weekend (9/18) and no doubt willl be featuring songs from their well-reviewed new CD "Hurley".
Today's Rock Clip of the Week is the single from it, called "Memories", which sounds great to these ears. Great video too featuring old clips of the Johnny Knoxville 'Jackass' crew. And as Weezer's Rivers Cuomo told MTV's Buzzworthy crew, he wrote Memories in a way to recapture the fun of being young, missing his band and hanging out in LA with the likes of Johnny Knoxville. Believe the hype, yo.
Here's Weezer with "Memories" from the new CD "Hurley".
Weezer
Tags: Weezer, New Music, More Music Videos
If you missed listening to music put out by Matador Records in the 1990s and 2000s, then you might want to pick up this massive new Matador boxset called Matador at 21. The label describes it this way:
"The limited-edition box contains five CDs documenting the history of the label with remastered songs released from 1989 through 2010, and one CD of unreleased live recordings from the Matador 10th Anniversary concerts in New York City in 1999. These were recorded to multitrack via the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck and not mixed down until now."
Matador at 21 will be in stores on September 28. You can preorder it now for the steal price of $45 at the Matador Store. See the CD listing below.
Matador and the bands’ proceeds from sales of the box set and the double vinyl will be donated to:
* The Jane Addams Hull House Association, a Chicago, IL non-profit that’s been assisting the city’s neediest families (child welfare, domestic violence prevention, literacy-advocacy, etc.) since 1889.
* The Ali Forney Center (NYC-based provider of shelter and counseling for homeless gay, lesbian and transgender youth)
* The Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (non-profit public hospital and a world leader in pediatric lifesaving)
DISC 1 – THE PRE-DAWN (1989-1992)
1. Teenage Fanclub – Everything Flows
2. H.P. Zinker – Dancing Days
3. Superchunk – Slack Motherfucker
4. Dustdevils – Throw the Bottle Full
5. Railroad Jerk – These Streets
6. Come – Fast Piss Blues
7. Bettie Serveert – Kid’s Alright
8. Chain Gang – Cut Off The Drug Czar’s Head
9. Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 – More Glee
10. Unsane – This Town
11. Circle X – Compression of the Species
12. Toiling Midgets – Mr. Foster’s Shoes
13. Bailter Space – The Today Song
14. Pavement – Perfume-V
DISC TWO – THE YEARS OF MILK AND HONEY (1993-1995)
1. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Afro
2. Yo La Tengo – Big Day Coming
3. Railroad Jerk – The Ballad of Railroad Jerk
4. Helium – Superball
5. Pizzicato Five – Baby Love Child
6. Liz Phair – Mesmerizing
7. Pavement – Silence Kit
8. Guided By Voices – Game Of Pricks
9. 18th Dye – Whole Wide World
10. Chavez – Peeled Out Too Late
11. Come – String
12. Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes
13. Guitar Wolf – Midnight Violence Rock’n Roll
14. San Francisco Seals – Back Again
15. Bardo Pond – Rumination
DISC 3: DAYS OF WHISKEY AND TEARS (1996-2001)
1. Boards Of Canada – Telephasic Workshop
2. Spoon – Waiting For The Kid To Come Out
3. Yo La Tengo – Autumn Sweater
4. Chavez – You Must Be Stopped
5. Silkworm – Tarnished Angel
6. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Flavor Part 1 (Beck)
7. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Flavor Part 2 (Mike D)
8. Pole – Fliegen
9. Cat Power – American Flag
10. Belle & Sebastian – We Rule The School
11. Mogwai – Helps Both Ways
12. Arsonists – Backdraft
13. Large Professor – ‘Bout That Time
14. Cornelius – Tone Twilight Zone
15. burger/ink – Flesh & Blood
16. Pavement – You Are A Light
17. Arab Strap – Blood
18. Matmos – L.A.S.I.K
DISC FOUR: DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK (2002-2007)
1. Interpol – Hands Away
2. Cat Power – He War
3. Yo La Tengo – Today Is The Day
4. The New Pornographers – From Blown Speakers
5. Dizzee Rascal – Fix Up, Look Sharp
6. Dead Meadow – Good Moanin’
7. Mogwai – Kids Will Be Skeletons
8. Mission Of Burma – The Setup
9. Early Man – Death Is The Answer
10. Belle & Sebastian – Dress Up In You
11. Pretty Girls Make Graves – All Medicated Geniuses
12. Cat Power – Love & Communication
13. Shearwater - Johnny Viola
14. Brightblack Morning Light – Everybody Daylight
15. Lavender Diamond – You Broke My Heart
16. Jennifer O’Connor – Tonight We Ride
16. Earles & Jensen – Just Farr A Laugh: The Yogurt Machine
17. Stephen Malkmus – Discretion Grove
DISC FIVE: MATADOR TODAY (2008 – )
1. Fucked Up – Son The Father
2. Sonic Youth – Sacred Trickster
3. Kurt Vile – Amplifier
4. Yo La Tengo – Nothing to Hide
5. Jay Reatard – There Is No Sun
6. Times New Viking – Move To California
7. Harlem – Friendly Ghost
8. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Bottled In Cork
9. The New Pornographers – My Shepherd
10. Cold Cave - Youth and Lust
11. Interpol – Summer Well
12. Shearwater - Castaways
13. Esben and the Witch – Marching Song
14. Girls – Lust For Life
15. Magic Kids – Superball
16. Delorean – Stay Close
17. Cat Power – Metal Heart
18. Perfume Genius – Learning
19. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Real Emotional Trash
DISC SIX: UNRELEASED LIVE RECORDINGS FROM THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERTS, NEW YORK CITY, SEPTEMBER 1999
1. Pavement – Here (Live 1999)
2. Pavement – Trigger Cut (Live 1999)
3. Pavement – The Hexx (Live 1999)
4. Pavement – She Believes (Live 1999)
5. Pavement – Unfair (Live 1999)
6. Pavement – Zurich Is Stained (Live 1999)
7. Pavement – Debris Slide (Live 1999)
8. Pavement – Spit On A Stranger (Live 1999)
9. Come – New Coats (Live 1999)
10. Bardo Pond – Walking Stick Man (Live 1999)
11. Bardo Pond – Tommy Gun Angel (Live 1999)
12. Cat Power – Good Woman (Live 1999)
13. Cat Power – Naked, If I Want To (Live 1999)
14. Cat Power – You May Know Him / Sea Of Love (Live 1999)
15. Mogwai – Ex-Cowboy (Live 1999)
Here's how one of those tracks from the live CD might sound:
My top three fave books on the birth of punk are "Please Kill Me" by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain; Punk! The Definitive Record of a Revolution and Jon Savage's awesome "England's Dreaming".(Michael Azerrad's "Our Band Could Be Your Life" takes the cake for 1980s American indie punk!)
But now I see that University of Minnesota Press released in August Jon Savage's interview transcripts of that epochal book in "The England's Dreaming Tapes". From the promo blurb...
"Jon Savage’s 1991 book England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond was hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “the definitive history of the English punk movement.” Widely imitated but never equaled, it remains that rare work of music history that appeals to music fans, critics, and scholars alike. In researching England’s Dreaming, Savage conducted hundreds of hours of interviews of which only a fraction made it into the finished book. Now, in The England's Dreaming Tapes, Savage makes available for the first time the full, uncut, sensational story behind the cultural moment that was punk."
In its 2009 review of the UK edition, The Guardian UK wrote:
"Savage recorded the interviews in 1988 and 1989, and many of the key players are here, including Malcolm McLaren, Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer, as well as sundry less stellar movers and shakers including the original Sex Pistol, the mysterious Warwick "Wally" Nightingale, since deceased. (Likewise, Strummer, Tony Wilson, Nils Stevenson and Sid Vicious's mum, Anne Beverley).
For aficionados, there is precious little new or surprising here, though the anecdotes come thick and fast and it's interesting to see how certain accounts either dovetail or contradict each other. Jonh Ingham, a punk pioneer in the music press, is illuminating in terms of the wider social and cultural context. Likewise, New York journalist turned film-maker Mary Harron, whose take on the essential differences between British and American punk is that the Americans didn't do politics."
Click here to pick up a copy of The England's Dreaming Tapes.
Looks like a whoppin' good show in Los Angeles this weekend called the Fuck Yeah Festival - All your fave indie rockers and more will be converging on Los Angeles State Park. Tix are $30 and it looks like it's gonna be gorgeous weather as well.
Here's the lineup: THE RAPTURE, PANDA BEAR, UNBROKEN, SLEEP, DEAD MAN'S BONES
TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS, !!!, LOCAL NATIVES, MAN MAN, THE MOUNTAIN GOATS,
ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI, DELOREAN, COLD CAVE, 7SECONDS, THEE OH SEES,
WASHED OUT, DAVILA 666, SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS, AA BONDY, THE BLOW, BEST COAST
TITUS ANDRONICUS, WAVVES, VETIVER, THE SOFT PACK, ABE VIGODA, WARPAINT OFF!,
CEREMONY, BIG FREEDIA, CULTS, SCREAMING FEMALES, MAGIC KIDS, THE GROWLERS, THE GOAT
LOWER DENS, LET'S WRESTLE, DUBLAB SOUNDSYSTEM and comedians and kids activities and more.
Kiss mastermind PR whiz Gene Simmons juicied up some quotes for the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week. Here's a sampling (more at the link):
Q How hot is it in your costume when you play outdoors?
GENE: Very hot. In Indianapolis, it was 107 when we hit the stage. Now get into a sun tanning bed. Now wear armor studs, a leather codpiece, put on 35 to 40 pounds of extra weight when you get up onstage. And, oh yes, I forgot to mention walk around onstage and try to be a little energetic if you can on 8-inch plaform heels for 2 1/2 hours.
Q How much more weight do you lose outdoors vs. indoors?
GENE: That's a good question. I don't know. We do have massive industrial air [blowers] -- imagine a vacuum cleaner but it's backwards where it pushes a lot of air toward you. You must get air into your lungs. Between the fireballs and stage lights and everything that goes up onstage, it's easily over 100 [degrees] onstage.
Fresh from playing the big UK festivals (Reading and Leeds Festival), New York's The Drums are offering a free MP3 of their cover of Arcade Fire's "We Used To Wait" which was performed live at BBC Three Live Lounge with Huw Stephens. Check it out on RCRD LBL. 
The band also released a new video for album track, "Down By The Water," and will hit the road on a national tour with Surfer Blood this month. Here's your link to the video and full tour dates are listed below. I'm looking forward to the Phoenix show on September 27.
The Drums/Surfer Blood 2010 North American Tour Dates
9/11 Providence, RI @ Jerky’s Live Music Hall
9/12: Washington, DC @ The 9:30 Club
9/13 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
9/15: Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
9/17: Orlando, FL @ Social
9/18: Miami, FL @ Grand Central
9/19: Tampa, FL @ State Theatre
9/20 Gainesville, FL @ Common Ground Coffeehouse
9/21: Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
9/23: Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s (The Drums ONLY)
9/24: Dallas, TX @ The Loft (The Drums ONLY)
9/25: Austin, TX @ ND (The Drums ONLY)
9/27: Phoenix, AZ @ Clubhouse
9/28 Pomona, CA @ Glass House
9/29: Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
10/01: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent (The Drums ONLY)
10/03: Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
10/04: Seattle, WA @ Neumos (The Drums ONLY)
10/05: Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret
10/07: Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/08: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/10: Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/13: Minneapolis, MN @ The Varsity Theater
10/14: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
10/16: Toronto, ON @ Mod Club (The Drums ONLY)
10/17: Montreal, QB @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire (The Drums ONLY)
10/18: Boston, MA @ Paradise (The Drums ONLY)
10/20: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/22: Philadelphia, PA @ Making Time
So rock 'n roll megawatt superstar dinosaurs KISS ("You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best") are playing here in Phoenix on September 24. And Guitar Center is sponsoring a contest in 22 cities where KISS is playing (or where Guitar Center has stores?) for bands to open for them via an online vote-getting competition.
Right now, Hollywood, CA band Masque is the top vote getter in the running to open the Phoenix show. Why? Because they've amassed 2170 votes, that's why! Oh, and they write that "KISS played a major influence on each member of Masque growing up and the opportunity to play on the same stage would make this comeback story truly unique." But isn't the point of the Kiss opener contest to have a great Valley band open the show and not a Hollywood band? Or is Masque here in Phoenix now? I'm so confused...
Neck and neck for 2nd and 3rd spots are two Phoenix bands - one's a classic rock trio (w/an Alien drummer) called Element 115 (1,773 votes) and the other is a PHX hard rock act called Volatile Minds (1,729 votes). I suppose if you're gonna vote, you might swing a vote to one of the local bands...
A lot of the bands (543 submissions!) are out there asking, no, begging, for your vote on social media sites. As Gene and Peter might've once sang "You know you got Nothing to Loooooose."
Find tickets for the show here.
