Meat Puppets 'Orange' Video from Lollipop LP

Great to see this puppetized, wild-eyed video for the song 'Orange' from Meat Puppets' new LP "Lollipop".

The Kirkwood brothers get a bit in the middle with the dropping jaw-singing action (even if it's just a photo of them). Cool song, great video. Watch it twice and your eyes will start popping out. Read more about what's on the Meat Puppets' plate for the next 4-5 months at Rolling Stone.

The Meat Puppets will perform their classic 1985 album, Up on the Sun, in its entirety at All Tomorrow's Parties in England (May 13-15). Wonder if they'll be jacked on X to replicate that old 1985 feeling.

Meat Puppets' summer 2011 tour dates below:
Apr 27 - Busters - Lexington, KY *
Apr 28 - The Valarium - Knoxville, TN *
Apr 30 - Starship Records - Tulsa, OK
Apr 30 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK *
May 1 - Liberty Hall - Lawrence, KS *
May 3 - Simon Estes Amphitheater - Des Moines, IA *
May 5 - The Venue - Fargo, ND *
May 6 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN *
May 7 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO *
June 8 - The Blue Light - Lubbock, TX
June 9 - Santa Fe Brewing Co. - Santa Fe, NM
June 10 - Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
June 11 - The Clubhouse - Phoenix, AZ
June 14 - Casbah - San Diego, CA
June 15 - Detroit Bar - Costa Mesa, CA
June 16 - Echo - Los Angeles, CA
June 17 - Independent - San Francisco, CA
June 18 - Humboldt Brews - Arcata, CA
June 20 - Wild Buffalo - Bellingham, WA
June 21 - Crocodile - Seattle, WA
June 22 - Doug Fir - Portland, OR
June 23 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
June 25 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
June 26 - Abbey Theater - Durango, CO
June 29 - Bluebird - Denver, CO
June 30 - Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
July 1 - The Waiting Room - Omaha, NE
July 9 - Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI
Aug 20 - Crispy Music Fest @ White's Bar - Saginaw, MI

Happy Birthday Iggy Pop!

From Wikipedia: "Iggy Pop (born James Newell "Jim" Osterberg, Jr.; April 21, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and occasional actor. He is considered an influential innovator of punk rock, hard rock, and other styles of rock music. Pop began calling himself "Iggy" after his first band in high school (for which he was drummer), The Iguanas. He was lead singer/songwriter of influential protopunk band The Stooges and became known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics."

"When I'm 64...."

Buy the Iggy & The Stooges "Raw Power" Deluxe Edition from Sony's Pop Mart.

Just Announced - Hopscotch Festival

The Hopscotch Music Festival is on! It's a big rock show for the weekend after Labor Day in Raleigh NC. GBV, Flaming Lips, Superchunk - get your 90s indie rock on!

The Strokes on Conan (TBS Show) Wednesday night

After a debut-LP-heavy set at Coachella this past weekend, The Strokes are on Conan O'Brien Wednesday night on TBS to play a song from their new release Angles.

If you missed their Coachella set, it's worth a watch for funnyman Julian Casablancas tongue-in-cheek, snarky in-between song banter. Watch it at Some Kind of Awesome.

From their newsletter:
"First up... The Strokes will be performing live on Conan this Wednesday 04/20 (Tomorrow!!). The band is set to perform yet another never-played-on-TV-before new song from Angles. Conan airs at 11/10c on TBS.

****************

The Strokes will be touring all over the globe throughout the calendar year in 2011:
May 01 - Sweetlife Festival - Columbia, MD
May 07 - New Orleans Jazz Festival - New Orleans, LA
May 15 - BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend - Carlisle, UK
June 09 - 12 - Bonnaroo Festival - Manchester, TN
June 29 - Hove Festival - Tromøya, NO
July 01 - Peace & Love - Borlande, SE
July 02 - Roskilde - Roskilde, DK
July 03 - Heineken Opener Festival - Gdynia, PL
July 10 - Oxygen Festival - County Kildare, IE
July 12 - Flippaut Festival - Milan, IT
July 14 -17 - Benicassim Festival - Benicassim, ES
July 16 - Super Bock/Super Rock - Meco, PT
July 21 - Paleo Festival Nyon - Nyon, CH
August 13 - Summer Sonic - Tokyo, JP
August 14 - Summer Sonic - Osaka, JP
August 27 - 28 - Reading and Leeds Festival - Reading & Leeds, UK
October 5 - Planeta Terra Festival - Sao Paolo, BR

Fake Problems Live in PHX tonight

Florida indie rockers Fake Problems hit the Hard Rock Cafe stage in downtown Phoenix tonight, along with Pomegranates and Laura Stevenson and the Cans. (Tickets are $12).

The band is just getting started on a several months-long tour all over the US, promoting their 3rd and most recent music release "Real Ghosts Caught on Tape".

Here's a clip of the band from earlier this week playingat Emo's in Austin:


Read more on Fake Problems from their visit to Chicago's famous JBTV.

Dfactor Live Shows on Record Store Day

The Dfactor rock trio is playing two live shows this Record Store Day Saturday to promote the new 'Head in the Clouds' CD EP!

You can catch our rock at:
- 6pm at Zia Records on W. Thunderbird in Phoenix - We'll be playing songs from our CD plus other fan faves. Check out the schedule at the Zia Records site.

...and then we'll zip across the city to play...

- 7:30pm at Chasers in Scottsdale - This is an all-age show with loads of young bands after us. We'll bring the energy and the rock.

Buy a CD and listen to some of the new songs at the Dfactor site.

Rolling Stone has a couple of cool photo features for Record Store Day:
- a look at the top 30 US record stores, and
- the 20 best Record Store Day exclusives from big name bands.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Live Coachella Stream All Weekend!

Can't make it to the big Coachella rock fest this weekend? No fears! Most of it wil be streamed live on YouTube at Coachella's YouTube channel.

Or stay tuned to Rolling Stone's continuing coverage of the musical crisis in the Desert!

Here's the trailer:


Here's Friday's lineup - and the rest of the weekend's lineup is here.
Channel 1
4:10PM • The Drums
4:55PM • Cee Lo Green
5:45PM • Moving Units
6:30PM • Ozomatli
7:25PM • Interpol
8:35PM • Ms. Lauryn Hill
9:55PM • Kings of Leon
11:15PM • The Black Keys
12:05AM • Gayngs
Channel 2
4:00PM • !!!
4:50PM • Warpaint
5:35PM • Cold Cave
6:25PM • YACHT
7:10PM • Cold War Kids
8:00PM • Titus Andronicus
9:00PM • The Pains Of Being Pure ...
10:00PM • Tame Impala
10:55PM • Monarchy
12:00AM • Flogging Molly
Channel 3
4:30PM • The Morning Benders
5:45PM • Ariel Pink's Haunted Gra...
7:25PM • Interpol - surveillance
8:20PM • Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
12:00AM Scala & Kolacny Bros

Rock Clip of the Week UFO, "Rock Bottom" Live 1975 / US Tour in May

You don't get much better for rock 'n roll than UFO in the mid 1970s.

This hard-working rock trio (bass, guitar, drums) along with Phil Mogg on vocals KILLS it on this live version of "Rock Bottom" live in 1975. This is before the band added Paul Raymond on keys, rhythm guitar and backing vocals. So this version below is pretty raw. Does anyone play guitar like Michael Schenker, before or since? I mean, look at the guy!



The still-touring UFO lineup (Phil Mogg - Vinnie Moore - Andy Parker - Paul Raymond) comes to the US for a three week tour next month. Dates below:
USA
5th May - Farmingdale - NY - The Crazy Donkey
6th May - Poughkeepsie - NY - The Chance
7th May - West Springfield - VA - Jaxx
9th May - Pittsburgh - PA - The Altar Bar
10th May - New Hope - PA - Havana
11th May - Baltimore - MD - Bourbon Street
13th May - New York - NY - B.B. Kings
14th May - Foxboro (Boston) - MA - The Showcase Live
15th May - Londonderry - NH - Tupelo Music Hall - SOLD OUT
17th May - Dayton - OH - McGuffy's
18th May - Milwaukee - WI - Shank Hall
20th May - Chicago - IL - House of Blues
21st May - St. Charles - IL - The Arcada Theatre - SOLD OUT
22nd May - Akron - OH - The Tangier

Death Cab for Cutie - Live Stream, Live Performance

Did you all happen to see this clip from Death Cab for Cutie as the band did a live performance video of "You Are a Tourist" with live elements at Livestream? Now you can. Click here to learn more about the song, per the band's Ben Gibbard.



Video streaming by Ustream

McDowell Mountain Festival: (PHX, AZ) April 29-May 1

There's quite a strong national and regional lineup for this spring's folky jammy rockfest McDowell Mountain Music Festival, being held on April 29-May 1 in sunshiny Phoenix, Arizona.

Bands and solo artists such as Martin Sexton, Particle, Soja, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are among the highlights of this 3-day music fest, to be staged near the Compound Grill in Northeast Phoenix. The festival sprang from a desire by the team at Compound Grill, which books a lot of roots, americana, jamband and funkfolk bands on its stage, to bring them all together in one happy joyous place.



From their ticket site:
"Friday performances include: The Paper Snowmen, Martin Sexton, JJ Grey and Mofro along with 1 After-hours ticketed show featuring Particle (11 PM to 2 AM inside The Compound Grill).

Saturday performances include: Kinch, What Laura Says, George Porter Jr and Runnin' Pardners, 7 Walkers, Soja, Xavier Rudd along with one local Phoenix Bands. The after-hours ticketed show for Saturday includes Otis Taylor Band from 11 PM to 2 AM inside the Compound Grill.

Sunday performances include: Orgone, Rubblebucket, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros along with 1 local Phoenix band."

Rock Clip of the Week - The Sights "Got What We Want"

Hey, it's Friday and I'm short on blogging time today, so well keep it simple with a liv e clip from early last decade from Detroit band The Sights (who I name check in my song "Bands That Rock").

Here is the band rocking their song from the same LP "Got What We Want" - Happy weekend!



The Sights are still together, recording and touring, stronger than ever. Here are their next few Midwest tour dates:
04/15/11
Chicago, IL at Reggie’s
04/16/11
St Louis, MO at Euclid Records
04/16/11
St. Louis, MO at Off Broadway
05/14/11
Hamtramck, MI at New Dodge Lounge

KCDX, Phoenix - The Little Radio Station That Rocks

Last night, my drummer Gary turned me onto a FM radio station KCDX in Phoenix. He said its reception is spotty in parts of the Valley here, but it's nearly commercial free and full of deep cuts from the last 40 years of rock.

I've never heard or read about this station, so I got intrigued and learned more today from its website:
"KCDX, a privately owned and funded radio station, operates each day with one mission in mind: Staying true to the music. We have thrown the corporate radio guide book out the window, and replaced it with real listeners' views and opinions.

Artists and listeners alike know that Rock and Roll isn't made up of just 500 hit songs. Rock and Roll is so much more than that. We know this. This is why we here at KCDX spend countless hours digging deeper into our collections to find those missing pieces of Rock and Roll history. As KCDX nears its seventh year of playing NON-STOP Rock and Roll, we promise to never let our search for Rock and Roll end."

Cool! Like an awesome podcast over the airwaves. Does anyone know who's behind this renegade Caroline? The songs played last night seemed leaning to an older 'classic rock' vein, from Cheap Trick and The Knack to Jethro Tull and maybe Hawkwind (I didn't know that one!). I just clicked on to listen now and heard Rick Derringer's "Rock n Roll Hootchie Koo" into Jefferson Airplane's "Plastic Fantastic Lover". That's eclectic! I'll have to listen some more to get a flavor of the station. Click here to listen online today.

Guided by Voices - new festival shows, 'Buzzards & Dreadful Crows' Iowa City

The 2010 Guided by Voices reunion tour rolls into 2011 without skipping a beat. As GBV singer-leader Robert Pollard has said in interviews, the band keeps getting these festival gigs offered to them and it seems to make sense to play 'em (why not, right? The band's gotta be clearing some decent cash for these shows).

GBV played a few shows last weekend - this clip below's from the Iowa City Mission Creek Festival. The band sounds awesome on Buzzards and Dreadful Crows here. But what invariably makes GBV shows so memorable are Pollard's in-between song tidbits. In this clip, he mentions that veteran DIY rocker Mike Watt told Pollard to 'carry the torch' of rock and roll. And he called Pollard 'Bobby'. Funny stuff in the clip.



Guided by Voices has just been added to several other big summer shows
- a Memorial Day (May 30) show at the Sasquatch Festival in the Gorge Amptheatre in George, Washington
- June 17 in Philadelphia at Great Plaza at Penn's Landing
- June 18 at the Northside Festival in what will certainly be a banner NYC weekend at McCarren Park in Brooklyn
- July 15th at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago

Party on the Intrepid - Sept 2011

Some enterprising promoters are pushing a planned Septmeber rock/dance event on the famous Intrepid ship on the Hudson River in NYC.

They write:
"ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2011 THE INTREPID WILL ROCK LIKE NEVER BEFORE! LET'S MAKE HISTORY TOGETHER!

FOR ONE-NIGHT ONLY, TODAY'S TOP RECORDING ARTISTS & DJS WILL COME TOGETHER TO CREATE AN UNPRECEDENTED CONCERT EVENT THAT WILL ROCK NYC'S HISTORICAL LANDMARK."

The message was delivered in all caps, so you KNOW it's gonna be important! If you're a brand, band or Web idol, contact the Freedom Development marketing team to talk about action.

Get Help - New Tracks, New CD in May

Get Help is a NYC-based music outfit that calls itself "a veritable supergroup of unknown musicians" with tongue-in-cheek. They may have been 'unknown' in recent years, but music fans may start to uncover more about their music with the band's imminent release "The Good Green Earth" which hits the web world live on May 10 (via Midriff Records)

The band is mostly the work of two NYC musicians who've scored some renown in other bands. Tony Skalicky has spent much of the '00s touring and playing with Boston's The Beatings, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Ingenthron has been in NYC generously playing lead and support roles in several bands, including Strikes Again!, Moneyshot, Microdot and the Soft Rock Renegades.

Tony and Mike have been consistently writing together for a few years and the results show well on these two teaser tracks from "The Good Green Earth" - "You Should Be Home by Now" and "It's Only Your Head". The first features a quiet-ish opening featuring singer Ingenthron on smooth vocals, with instrumentation that grows into an anthemic roar calling out "What would you think? and "It's not worth the trouble we go through". I'm digging this one alot.



"It's Only Your Head" starts hard and hits harder. Singer-guitarist Skalicky handles vocals on this rousing rock track, with riffing guitars, and pounding bass sounding awesome. Ingenthron throws in some Mike Mills-esque backing vocals into the song's outro, and the effect is glorious.

Get Help is prepping some East Coast shows between NYC and Boston, with a four piece band including John Van Atta on bass guitar and Gene D’Avolio on drums. See them grow their roots on the forthcoming LP.

Saturday, April 30, 09:00 PM
Trash Bar (CD Release)
Brooklyn NY

Thursday, May 26, 10:00 PM
PA's Lounge
Somerville, MA

C'Mon & Love Me!

This brings a whole new meaning of the term 'brand extension'!

For nearly a decade, KISS has had its logo on its own line of condoms (via Condomania), but only on the condom wrapper and the box. But now, in an immense extension of the brand, you and your lover get to enjoy the silky smooth artful tongue work of Gene Simmons. What I really wanna know is, is the ink used on the condom genitally-friendly?

According to the blurb:
"Originally introduced in 2002 by Condomania, KISS Kondoms were the first to display a color photographic image of a celebrity on both the condom wrapper and box. The innovation continues now on a whole new level, featuring an image of Gene Simmons' iconic fully extended tongue running down the length of the latex condom. "Our decision to feature Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and the KISS brand on these revolutionary condoms was a no-brainer considering Gene and Paul's worldwide legacy as entertainment icons and pioneers," said Chris Panucci, CEO of Graphic Armor.

Adam Glickman, CEO of Condomania, remarks, "I can think of no better way to introduce what is essentially advertising on condoms. Gene, Paul and KISS have a well-documented history of breaking new ground in marketing. With Gene's tongue leading the way once again, I am confident we are about to see an explosion of marketing messages and logos displayed on millions of condoms in action."

KISS Kondoms will be touring store shelves worldwide starting in April 2011. A second KISS Kondom, "Studded Paul," featuring an image of Paul Stanley on textured latex, will be released by June 2011. Orders can be placed immediately at Condomania.com and soon at KISSOnline.com."

Monday Music: New Dfactor CD EP "Head in the Clouds"

Alright, rock n roll! Spring is here, and that means it's time for a new Dfactor CD!

Check out the new limited-edition Dfactor CD EP titled ‘Head in the Clouds’ out this week, with downloadable tracks and physical copies available at Dfactor's Bandcamp site.

The new CD includes the recent single ‘Head in the Clouds’ (in a new mix), along with six other original songs. Two songs - "Resist the System" and "Will You Come" - were recorded with Gary and Stew (drums and bass, respectively), while I banged out the other solo over the winter. Check out the press release at Mi2n for the full details.


The full tracklisting for the ‘Head in the Clouds’ EP is:
Head in the Clouds
See the Perfection
Resist the System
Bands That Rock
Will You Come
Stake Your Place
In the Ditch

Here's 'Resist the System' - a fun rocker about an ex-con!
Dfactor - Resist the System by Dfactor

‘Head in the Clouds’ video.


Also, Dfactor’s live staple "Ditch Kids" is included on Zia Records local Phoenix music compilation "You Heard Us Back When – Vol. 5". The double CD, which features two discs of fine Phoenix msuic talents, is available on Record Store Day on 4/16.

AND to promote all this, our band is playing three upcoming Phoenix area shows:
* Friday April 8th – 9pm - Muggshots Bar in Tempe, AZ – 9pm
* Saturday, April 16th – 6pm - Zia Records in-store show, Thunderbird Store location
* Saturday, April 16th – 9pm - Chasers Lounge, Scottsdale, AZ – 9pm

Thanks for listening!

Rock Clip of the Week - Lemonheads, Confetti

Two sides of the Lemonheads cool song 'Confetti' from pop classic "It's a Shame About Ray."

The first clip is from the trio's appearance (with short-haired Evan Dando) at Glastonbury in 1994:



The other is more recent, from the band's reunion jaunt around the US in 2007 and 2008 - this one's from the Oyster Festival in Atlanta:


From the looks of the Lemonhead's website, it looks like Even Dando is playing shows in London and Toronto in the coming months, both solo and with a configuration of the band.