Bob Mould Autobiography cover unveiled

Consequence of Sound (via Slicing Up Eyeballs) has what looks to be the cover of the Bob Mould autobiography coming out this summer. The book is said to be titled "See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody" and CoS writes that the book should..."hit bookstore shelves everywhere on June 15th through Little, Brown and Company."

According to the blurb...
"the 288-page hardcover will reveal Mould’s “struggles with homosexuality, intimate relationships and drug and alcohol addiction,” according to the publisher. On the musical side, the book will trace Mould’s “early love of 1960s AM radio pop hits to the Ramones to the making of Hüsker Dü classics like ‘Makes No Sense At All’ and ‘Celebrated Summer,’” as well as his post-Hüskers solo career (from which the book gleans its title), his ’90s band Sugar and beyond — including detours into both electronic music and professional wrestling."

If this is indeed the cover, it's bit of a visual letdown, though this seems to fit Bob's no-frills, low-key style of late. I'm excited to read it, as I think Michael Azerrad's writing style really captures a time and place in rock and roll (See 'Come as You Are' and 'Our Band Could be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991,'), and if if anyone can bring out the magic of Mould's musical styles, it's Azerrad.

The Economy's Drag on Indie Touring

I read several bits recently in two different publications about the dire economy hitting rock bands on the tour circuit. Wonder how many more it's hitting who aren't talking?

From a College Times interview with Austin, TX band Asylum Street Spankers:

"College Times: Why are the Spankers calling it quits after all these years?

Marrs: You know, it's mostly the economy. It's really hit us the last couple years out there. People were attending the shows. We were playing to the same numbers, but the gas and the hotels and the employee costs were gradually increasing, because employees were getting raises like most long-term employees will. Eventually we just couldn't afford them, you know?

Also, there's kind of just an industry-wide shift away from CDs that's affecting a lot of bands. People are listening to music different ways and purchasing music in different ways. CDs used to be the bread and butter for touring fans, but with the way things are going, CD sales are dropping off. That income that used to supplement our tour pay is just kind of not there. Like I said, it's just an industry-wide shift and there's really nothing we can do about it, but we're definitely seeing its impact."

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And from a fine feature on Phoenix band Kinch comes this quote about the band's tour last fall:

"This fall, we had a very rough tour, out on our own in cities we probably shouldn't have been playing on our own — the kind of cities where we've only been once before, too long ago — and had some bad luck with locals, people dropping off the bill . . . If anything, club owners were incredibly sympathetic. We had club owners saying, 'This is the worst fall I've ever had, in 20 years of owning this bar,' Junker says. "We were all pissed and depressed, and there was so much soul-searching in the van."

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How many other stories are out there in the hinterlands about the economy having an adverse impact on young (and older) bands who are struggling to get music heard, play live shows around and earn a few bucks along the way?

On the flip side of this, is the struggle that recording artists have to jump through to get their songs heard by people. NPR explores some of the online services that musicians and bands can utilize to get music out and about.

Elvis Presley - 1st national TV gig - Jan 28, 1956

Wow. Has it really been 55 years ago today that Elvis Presley kicked up his greasy southern heels and a battered acoustic guitar and did his thang on national TV? Yup.

Elvis first appeared on US TV on January 28, 1956, on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show in New York. He played "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Flip, Flop and Fly" in his first appearance - watch it below. I love the way Bill Black kicks his bass on this one, and D.J. Fontana kicks it out nicely on the drums. Shame Scotty Moore's guitar isn't that loud in the break, but we're watching Elvis gyrate anyway, so who cares?



Elvis's combo ended up being on the show five times in the following weeks before he hit Milton Berle's and Ed Sullivan's shows later in 1956.

That's rock n roll, right there....

Lifeguards - "Waving at the Astronauts" (Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard)

GBV bandmates Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard have teamed up on another record where multi-instrumentalist Gillard rocks the music and rhythms, and Robert Pollard deliver the rock vocal goods.

They call this collaboration Lifeguards and the full LP Waving at the Astronauts comes out the day after Valentine's Day.

The blurb says:
"The two first worked together outside of the GBV realm on the 1999 fan-classic Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Dept, which included “Do Something Real” the theme to Steven Soderbergh’s film Full Frontal. Their debut release as Lifeguards, Mist King Urth, emerged in 2002 on Pollard’s own Fading Captain Series label to fervent fan approval.

In 2010 Pollard and Gillard reconvened for the first time since the end of GBV in 2004 to create the follow up: Waving at the Astronauts. Gillard wrote and recorded 10 complex and beautiful instrumentals at home then sent the finished compositions off to Pollard who graced the tracks with some of the most unforgettable melodies and strangely poetic lyrics of his career."

Here's the first song from the release "Paradise is Not So Bad". It's got a lot of fresh sparkling guitar lines from Gillard and a cool, somewhat off-the-cuff vocal from Pollard.
LIFEGUARDS - Paradise Is Not So Bad by seriousbusiness

You can read more about how the project all came together in this great interview with Travis Harrison of Serious Business Records. See the pic below with Gillard, Harrison and Pollard in the studio last May.

New Strokes pic, tracklisting for "Angles"

Cool! Rock photographer Pennie Smith, who shot The Clash's iconic 'London Calling' cover photo, has shot new pics of The Strokes. That's the pic. Sexy.

And there's more on the band's upcoming 4th album, at this Clashmusic article:

"Naming ten track titles, The Strokes intend to return with new single 'Under Cover Of Darkness'. The full album will open with 'Machua Picchu' with other song titles including 'Call Me Back' and 'Gratisfaction'. Ending with 'Life Is Simple In The Moonlight' the band have so far refused to reveal any more than that. Due to be released on Rough Trade, 'Angles' is still smothered in a shroud of mystery. The Strokes are due to release 'Angles' on March 21st."

(POSSIBLE) Tracklisting:
1. Machu Picchu
2. Under Cover of Darkness
3. Two Kinds of Happiness
4. You’re So Right
5. Taken For A Fool
6. Games
7. Call Me Back
8. Gratisfaction
9. Metabolism
10. Life Is Simple In The Moonlight

And the first few tour dates have been announced at the band's site.
March 12, 2011 | Las Vegas, NV | The Chelsea @ The Cosmopolitan
July 16, 2011 | Lisbon, Portugal | Super Bock, Super Rock
July 14-17, 2011 | Benicassim, Spain | Benicassim Festival
August 13, 2011 | Tokyo, Japan | Summer Sonic
August 14, 2011 | Osaka, Japan | Summer Sonic

Revved Up Rock News

Hello sleepy Tuesday! I say catch the wave of news items floating across my screen....

-- Rolling Stone magazine reports that Pearl Jam is planning a 20th anniversary party to commemorate their the 1991 LP "Ten". "The group is in secret talks to take over a venue in "the middle of America" for a weekend and stage a two-day festival featuring friends."

-- YepRoc officially releases today the full offering of the new Gang of Four release 'C O N T E N T' at its site. You can stream the songs at the Gang of Four site.

-- Someone just texted me today about the Liam Gallagher's new deal Beady Eye (thanks, Rex!), and here today is a story announcing its UK tour in April. Watch the video for "Four Letter Word" at NME.

- Welsh rockers Joy Formidable (great name, that!) come to the US for a spring tour, hitting Coachella and a Phoenix show on April 19th! Yay!

Pandora - What Makes it tick?

"Pandora’s secret sauce is people. Music lovers. Professional players who pass job application tests requiring them to pick, for example, one of four jazz tunes and "describe the harmonic language," answer whether it’s "tonal or modal," and "outline the progression." These wonks pour over every track that Pandora downloads or rips (yes, rips from hundreds of CDs purchased each week) and catalog its 400-plus attributes before adding it to the 850,000-plus song library. It’s this hominal factor that has helped Pandora keep its engine serving so many new listeners in so many new places."

Read more about Pandora at a fine Tyler Gray piece in Fast Company on the company founded by Tim Westergren.

It looks like things are going well for the company as rumors swirl about an upcoming IPO.

From the Archives: Record Release Ads

I've been scouring some of my old rock magazines (Hit Parader, Rock Scene, Circus, CREEM, Trouser Press, etc.) and decided to snap a pics of the adverts I find interesting and share them with you.

Today's ads include one for the 1976 The Flamin' Groovies classic "Shake Some Action" LP and one for The Clash's 'Sandinista' LP.

Rock Clip of the Week - The Dismemberment Plan "What Do You Want Me to Say"

Thanks to Pitchfork for linking us up with Jimmy Fallon's broadcast of the mighty Dismemberment Plan from Thursday night's show. The D-Plan have reunited and are playing shows, and here's one of their great indie rock classics called "What Do You Want Me To Say" done up for the Fallon audience last night.

Fela and The Beatles - The AfroBeatles

I think George would dig this even more. Click the banner to hear Fela-inspired ginju tracks mashed with The Boys from Liverpool on "Come Together", "All Together Now" and "Taxman" among others.

(found on Twitter)

Coachella Lineup announced

Coachella offers you, the keenly intuitive music fan, three full days and nights (April 15-17) of the most popular and retro modern culture musical sounds to thrill your brain and rock your body!

Some fine musical acts are featured - headliners Arcade Fire, Kanye West, and Kings Of Leon. Then you got old faves like The Strokes, Duran Duran, New Pornographers, Gogol Bordello, The Black Keys, Interpol, The Chemical Brothers, Bright Eyes and many more musical acts to whet your sweetness on a warm spring California day. There's even a band called Joy Orbison on the Sunday lineup!

Concert footage with Girl Talk

DJ-Mashup culture is alive and well! Cool to see the rafters shaking with the sound of cool kids dancing their asses off to the good mashups produced by Greg Gillis of Girl Talk. Check this Dec 2010 footage below from the NY Times site.



Check out a review from last week's Houston show, in which the reviewer writes:
"He isn’t your average DJ, either. He’s a sweatsuit-clad, bearded man who sports a headband — which appears to be made of toilet paper — and Nike Dunks while he gives fans a reason to dance their pants off. Gillis combines the vocals of your favorite ’80s rock songs with the basslines from rap, hip hop and R&B songs (and vice versa.)"

Gillis brings the party to Phoenix's Marquee Theater on March 23rd.

50 Best Guitar Riffs Ever (Spinner)

Poking around Spinner.com today, I find the 50 Best Guitar Riffs list (and isn't everybody a sucka for da list?)

Numbers 50-26 highlights sharp well-known guitar riffs like Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', Neil Young's 'Cinnamon Girl' and White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army', but also some left of the dial ones like Sonic Youth's 'Teenage Riot' and Devo's 'Girl U Want'.

Numbers 25-1 brings it down to the classics like John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom (covered notably by The Animals, among others), Derek & The Dominoes' 'Layla', The Smiths' 'This Charming Man' and coming in at number one....(drum roll, please.....)

The Rolling Stones - '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'....?

Huh? That's it? Sure, the song's riff simplicity is disarming, but it's less a riff than a number counting session back and forth. Yikes.

Shit, I'll take the opening riff to 'Victoria' by Moneyshot (aka Microdot) over 'Satisfaction' anytime! Ok, maybe you've not heard that one, but then instead I'll rank The Chameleons rockin' riff on 'Mad Jack' up there - Take a listen!

Rock Bits from Around the Sensory Zone

Catching up on my rock and roll news and we find cool shit like....

- And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead is coming out with a new release "Tao of the Dead" in February. Recorded at El Paso, Texas’ Sonic Ranch, it's the 7th studio album from the band. "Tao of the Dead" finds AYWKUBTTOD back to a 4-man band. Here's the rockin' song track 'Weight of the Sun'...




- R.E.M's new single "Mine Smells Like Honey" comes out on Tuesday - it's a humdinger of a song - click here to listen to "Mine Smells Like Honey" on it. The full CD of "Collapse into Now" is released in March.


- Bruce Springsteen played his heart out (again!) over the weekend... Rolling Stone writes about the epic weekend event:
"The Light of Day shows were launched in 2000 by music industry vet Bob Benjamin to raise money to help battle Parkinson's Disease. It was originally a one-night-a-year gig at a Jersey club, but it's since expanded to an international tour that culminates in four days of shows in Asbury Park. Bruce Springsteen has been the "surprise" guest most every year, usually ending the show with longtime friend and collaborator Joe Grushecky. Since he's been off the road for over a year now, Springsteen fanatics from all over the world travelled to the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park this year for the show, even though there was no guarantee he would play."

- Green Day will soon put out a new live CD/DVD chronicling the band's 21st Century Breakdown tour. It's called "Awesome as F***" and will be out in late March. From the blurbers:
Multi-platinum rock band Green Day will release a brand-new live album, titled Awesome As F**k, on March 22nd, 2011, on Reprise Records. The set, which includes a CD plus bonus DVD, features explosive performances captured during the band’s 2009-2010 World Tour in support of their Grammy® Award-winning album 21st Century Breakdown." Click here for a tracklisting.

New Dfactor single: 'Head in the Clouds' (2011)

What a fun weekend! I was busy Friday night recording basic tracks on a few new rockers with my bandmates, and it's gonna be a real pleasure to see those through to fruition in the coming weeks.

But to hit the button 'GO!' for new songs, here's the first Dfactor single of 2011 - "Head in the Clouds". I wrote this ditty over summer 2010, and recorded it over the last few months. The band has played it at a few recent shows and people seem to like it. Hope you do too. If you like it, you can download it over at my main Dfactor site. Hopefully, we'll have an EP ready soon with this on it.

I made a video of it over the weekend as well - it's got flowers and clouds!

Rock Clip of the Week -The Damned Things "We've Got a Situation here" (live on Kimmel)

The Damned Things is a 6-piece hard rock band made up of former members of Fall Out Boy, Anthrax and others. They only played their first show 7 months ago in Brooklyn, but are heading out on a tour this week across the US to promote their new CD "Ironoclast". Hear more of the CD at their MySpace page.

The Damned Things are going to be part of the Jagermeister Music Tour w/ Buckcherry, Hellyeah, and All That Remains. Dates below.

They played Jimmy Kimmel last night and rocked the roof off the place. Tough guys, with a tough sound and mean, heavy guitars. Dig it.



The Damned Things tour dates
1/ 19, 2011 4th and B San Diego, CA
1/ 21, 2011 The Grove of Anaheim Anaheim, CA
1/ 22, 2011 The Joint Las Vegas, NV
1/ 23, 2011 Reno Events Center Reno, NV
1/ 25, 2011 The Great Salt Air Salt Lake City, UT
1/ 26, 2011 Top Deck Farmington, NM
1/ 27, 2011 Fillmore Denver, CO
1/ 28, 2011 Midland Theatre Kansas City, MO
1/ 29, 2011 Seven Flags Center Des Moines, IA
1/ 31, 2011 East Peoria Civic Center Peoria, IL
2/ 1, 2011 Congress Theatre Chicago, IL
2/ 2, 2011 The State Theater Portland, ME
2/ 4, 2011 Pop's St. Louis, MO
2/ 5, 2011 1st Avenue Minneapolis, MN
2/ 7, 2011 Machine Shop Flint, MI
2/ 8, 2011 Covelli Center Youngstown, OH
2/ 9, 2011 Expo Five Louisville, KY
2/ 10, 2011 V Club Huntington, WV
2/ 11, 2011 House of Blues Myrtle Beach, SC
2/ 12, 2011 Rams Head Live Baltimore, MD
2/ 13, 2011 Starland Ballroom Sayerville, NJ
2/ 15, 2011 Best Buy Theatre New York, NY
2/ 16, 2011 Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
2/ 17, 2011 Mohawk Place Buffalo, NY
2/ 18, 2011 Northern Lights Albany, NY
2/ 19, 2011 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
2/ 20, 2011 The State Theater Portland, ME
2/ 22, 2011 Fillmore Charlotte, NC
2/ 23, 2011 Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
2/ 24, 2011 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA

Genesis - Supper's Ready live 1973 (in three parts)

Seems like a good day to dust off some wonderful early footage of Genesis from 1973 live doing 'Supper's Ready'.

Good quality, great long song. Filmed in front of an adoring crowd at Shepperton Studios, Oct 30 and 31, 1973.

Sit back and relax. Pour a cognac. Nibble on bacon. Supper's Ready.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3




[Thanks to my pal Jesse for the inspiration.]

Urge Overkill - Rock & Roll Submarine (Apr 26)

Whoo hoo! Urge Overkill finally got it together in the studio over the last year or so to finish recording a new effort, to be called "Rock & Roll Submarine" and come out officially in late April.

Nash and Ed wrote on the band's site:

"A Message from Nash Kato and King Roeser: Urge Overkill are pleased to formally announce our long-awaited return from the depths of studio silence with a brand new offering: all aboard the Rock&Roll Submarine! We are thrilled that this seaman's dozen o'fresh tracks reflect our time-tested love of all things both Musical and Nautical. And you can expect, loyal listener, the same-gauge torpedoes Urge Overkill has always delivered on target. This sure-to-be controversial recording is now entering its final stage of mixing, and our sonic-sonar is set to "STUN." So check our WarBoard for album updates, as we can't wait to submURGE and recruit some new mates on tour."

You can grab the song "Effigy" which was quietly let out onto the web in 2010 by clicking right here.

Follow the band at Twitter and check out their Facebook page.

Check the clip below of the band doing 'Vacation in Tokyo' at the recent Friend's Roast of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

Weezer 'Memories' tour in Chicago

Weezer performed two sold-out shows in Chicago this past weekend, as part of its 'Memories' tour. The first night was a mix of hits and playing their debut 'Blue' album in its entirety, while the second night was again a mix of hits, and playing their 2nd LP 'Pinkerton' in its entirety. For Chicago Weezer fans, it was likely a thrill a song.

Chicago Sun Times writer Thomas Connor wrote this about the first night:
"“Hop on board the Weezer time machine!” Cuomo said, as he began introducing each song in the band’s set of hits in reverse chronological order. Each night of this brief tour there’s also a second set, a complete performance of one of the band’s first two albums; Friday’s time trip ended in a deadpan run through the band’s 1994 self-titled debut, a k a “The Blue Album.”

Chicago Sun Times freelance writer Mark Guarino wrote this about night 2:
"Because this was Weezer, the “Pinkerton” songs had majestic choruses, but they were messier and less crafted, which puts into question why this dark horse is even considered special. There were dirges (“Getchoo”) and dense, sloppy pop songs (“Pink Triangle”) but playing them, the band looked guarded and intent on getting it over with as soon as possible. Who could blame them: the dark period “Pinkerton” represents for Weezer was just a temporary stop in what turned out to be an otherwise charmed career."

Chicago Tribune's Joshua Klein wrote:
"The first set featured Weezer at its most devil-may-care, with drummer Patrick Wilson on guitar and Cuomo freed up to be just about anywhere other than on stage. Whether climbing the balcony, pushing into the teeming crowd or bouncing on a trampoline, the manic Cuomo introduced each song with the year and name of the album it came from ("2005!" "Make Believe!"), counting backwards through the group's catalog of infectious yet annoying novelties such as "Pork and Beans" and "Beverly Hills."

Here's a clip of Rivers leading the band through 'El Scorcho' from Pinkerton. Enjoy the singalong!

Los Peyotes - Garage o Muerte (Argentina Garage rock)

Dig the 'chicks with guns' taking down Argentina garage rockers Los Peyotes for their song "Garage o Muerte." Killer garage rock (check the massive chord after the Farfisa solo bit!).

Wikipedia informs us that the band has released a fair mount of rock the last decade - most of 'em have come out on UK rock label Dirty Water Records. Here they are below.
Garage o Muerte LP (Dirty Water Records)2010
Bdaaa111 7" (Dirty Water Records) 2008
Introducing Los Peyotes LP (Dirty Water Records) 2008
El Humo Te Hace Mal 7" (Dirty Water Records) 2007
Cavernicola CD (Rockaway Records) 2005
Psychotic Reaction CD (Animal Records) 2002

You can hear more from Los Peyotes at the band's MySpace page.

Happy Birthday David Bowie and Elvis Presley (Jan 8th)

Two rock and roll icons, one very much alive and one very much dead, have birthdays tomorrow January 8th.

David Bowie, the ever-changing avante garde chameleon of rock, turns 64 years old. The southern truck driver turned film actor Elvis Presley would have turned 76 years old tomorrow had he not ingested codeine, Valium, morphine, and Demorol, culminating in his 1977 death.

To help celebrate their birthdays, I've scoured the rock video archives to find these somewhat rare clips of each man singing. Elvis sings "I got a Woman' live from a mid-1950s TV broadcast and David sings '1984' from the 1980s!

Happy birthday, Elvis!


Happy birthday, David!

Dfactor Rock Show - Scottsdale, Tonight 1/6/2011

Stripped down rock and roll takes centerstage at Scottsdale's Rogue Bar tonight January 6th, 2011. Three punk rock trios and a four piece play the good rock, starting with our lil rock trio at 9pm!

Your dollar-centric admission gets you...
Dfactor, then Red Light Mind from San Fran, then two more PHX local rockers Automatic Erasers and
Bonecookie. That's a helluva night of rock 'n roll, kids.

9pm - Thursday, January 6th, 2011
The Rogue Bar
423 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ

Song of the Day: Guster "Bad Bad World"

This song has been stuck in my head over the past two weeks - give it a click and see what you think! Full of melody, smarts, charm and sass. It's Bad Bad World from the band Guster.

Bad Bad World by guster

Best Coast on Jimmy Fallon show, PHX show 1/22

Watch Best Coast make their national TV debut on Jimmy Fallon show last night. They played Boyfriend, a great song. The performance actually comes in around the 38:30 minute mark. Scroll ahead! More info below on the group's upcoming date in Phoenix this month!



Here's the released video by the band from 2010.


Best Coast is back in PHX with Wavves on January 22. Get your tickets now before they are g-o-n-e.

GBV - New Year's Eve Weekend

Great pics and videos are surfacing from Guided by Voices' weekend of shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ and at Irving Plaza, NYC. Sadly, I didn't make this round of NY/NJ shows, but from the looks of it, I missed a couple of corkers!

First two pics from Clean-Cut.org. Videos from Bleary Eyed Brooklyn.





"A Salty Salute"

Guided By Voices performs A Salty Salute at Maxwell's, Hoboken from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo.