The yearly Arizona Fall Frenzy rock fest is today at Tempe Town Lake. The concert features guitar rockers Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182, Matt & Kim and others. Get out and rock out.
Here's how Jimmy Eat World sounded last night in Los Angeles doing their song "Your House".
The Sex Pistols used their famous "I Hate Pink Floyd" tee to announce their thumbs-down attitude toward overblown rock stars of the early 1970s, and Pink Floyd was the target, though Rotten has recanted somewhat in later years. 
That being said, here are clips from MGMT and Foo Fighters doing Pink Floyd songs from Jimmy Fallon's late night show this week.
Lucifer Sam
In the Flesh
I stumbled across this clip today and had to share. It's from a Les Paul Tribute show held at the Beacon Theater in New York earlier this year, featuring rocker guitarist Jeff Beck and the Imelda May band doing the '60s classic Remember (Walking in the Sand).
Beck's riffage is totally out of this world. The man holds no pick. Or equal.
Got an Aerosmith fan in your circles? If so, then you'll need to pick up this amazing coffee table history of the band, published last week by Voyageur Press, the publishing firm that bought out books about The Replacements, Led Zeppelin, Dead Boys and others.
It's called Aerosmith - The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys and it's written by well known music journalist and Guitar World Senior editor Richard Beinstock. This first complete illustrated history of one of the world’s most successful and popular bands includes sidebar album reviews from a host of well-known music journalists, including Greg Kot, Jaan Uhelszki, Chuck Eddy, Bill Holdship, Martin Popoff, Daniel Bukszpan, and more. Illustrated throughout with hundreds of stunning performance and backstage photographs, as well as rare memorabilia, including gig posters, backstage passes, 7-inch picture sleeves, ticket stubs, and more.
It's really got everything and old or new Aerosmith fan could want. I've only skimmed through the opening pages of the band's beginnings in Upstate NY, before an eventual move to Boston, and it's good, gripping rock doc material. Can't wait till I get to the drug-addled late 1970s, so I can relive one of the times I saw Aerosmith in one of my first "WTF?" concert, a big day fest at Comiskey Park Chicago on the "Draw the Line" tour. Let's just say Aerosmith was not on their game that night, and a lot of us kids who wanted some 'Rocks" worthy riffage left disappointed. The band was mesmerizing in its....drugaciousness. The rest of us were like.... huh? Ah, well, it was many years and many moons ago....
Here's kinda what it was like for us, as seen in this clip below from a 1977 show, where the band takes a minute to decide that they will play "Toys in the Attic"....
Wilco's new LP "The Whole Love" get some kind words from indie rap sheet Pitchfork today, and in the review, Pitchfork writes about the LP's opening track "Art of Almost":
As soon as opener "Art of Almost" whirrs to a start, you'll know something has changed. A glitchy motorik groove crashes into swarming strings before giving way to a slippery Tweedy melody; then it's elegant bass ooze and keyboard creep, over which Nels Cline drapes a searing kosmische capper. Fraught and foreboding, the song is easily the most daring thing they've put to tape since A Ghost Is Born, a interstellar spin on Wilco (The Album)'s highlight "Bull Black Nova". It seems at first as much statement as song: The self-produced Whole Love is the first LP the band laid down entirely in their practice loft, and the brash, voluminous "Almost" feels like six musicians bottling themselves off from the world and pushing each other towards their breaking points."
See how the words above fit the music below in last week's stunning 7-minute version of the song on David Letterman's late night TV show...
You want more? There's more from the show below:
Spotify has joined with global mind control factory Facebook to make you forget about thinking independently for yourself about your own musical tastes.
From Spotify:
"Great news for new Spotify Open users. First, we become better friends with Facebook. Now we’re removing time limits for all new users. It seems only right to give you more time to discover more music!
So, from today, there’ll be no more Spotify Open. Everybody who listens to Spotify for free will simply have a Spotify account. All Spotify accounts come with a 6-month time-limit honeymoon! During this time, there’s no limit to the amount of ad-supported music you can enjoy. After 6 months, you’ll be limited to 10 hours of streaming a month and a 5-play limit for any individual track. Unless, of course, you’ve subscribed by then!"
Watch the clip below to learn more how Spotify will enhance your sexual and musical lives!
Music Music Music Bands Bands Bands Rock Rock Rock Yo Yo Yo.
Have a taste of angular, psychedelic garage rock from Detroit poplickers Gardens. Give a listen to "Ideas to Use", which kinda drones on like the Velvet Underground, The Fall or Flipper in an old fart sort of comparison. Tour dates below:
Oct. 18- Columbus, OH (The Summit)
Oct. 22- New Orleans, LA (Siberia - early show)
Oct. 23- Austin, TX (Beerland)
Oct. 25- El Paso, TX (Black Market)
Oct. 27- San Diego, CA (Tin Can) w/ Strangers Family Band
Oct. 28- Fullerton, CA (Burger Records In-Store)
Oct. 29- Los Angeles, CA (The Smell) w/ The Warlocks, Strangers Family Band
Oct. 30- San Francisco, CA (The Hemlock)
Nov. 3- Bend, OR (The Horned Hand)
Nov. 4- Seattle, WA (Funhouse)
Nov. 5- Portland, OR (East End)
Nov. 7- Missoula, MT (Badlander)
Nov. 8- Salt Lake City, UT (Garage on Beck)
Nov. 10- Omaha, NE (O'Leavers Pub)
Nov. 11- Minneapolis/St. Paul (Turf Club)
Will you be in Europe over the fall? Then you might want to check out the The Buzzcocks on tour. They have dates in Spain, France, Scotland and England. You can also read a very nice interview with founding buzzcock Steve Diggle, who reminisces about the good old days of early rock and roll and punk rock.
Synthy dance pop under the most excellent name Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs comes to the US from the UK in the form of a single called 'Trouble' and a short tour. From the blurbsters: "The UK-based producer (real name: Orlando Higginbottom) has announced the US release of the single “Trouble,” which will be coming out on October 18th. His tunes will definitely appeal to fans of Hot Chip, as much as it appeals to Hot Chip themselves. Hot Chip-er Joe Goddard released the first EP and tracks from the young Mr. Higginbottom last year on his Greco-Roman label."
And the latest from WAAVES to help promote the band's tour with F***ed Up is a video for a song called Bug, which you can see right here at the ever-popular gardening site Vice.com. The blurbsters write:
"VICE.COM premieres the music video for "BUG", the 2nd single off Life Sux. The video chronicles the highs and lows of Nathan Williams and Stephen Pope Jr. When a "bugged" out dude shows up at their house, all the fun is sucked out of the home and mayhem ensues. Mermaids, police, and women are thrown into the mix for a gunpowder filled finale. Watch the video now at VICE."
The song is included on the new Waaves EP called Life Sux. Here's the video, cover and tour dates below.
WAVVES TOUR DATES
09/23 @ Royale - Boston, MA %
09/24 @ Webster Hall - New York, NY %
09/25 @ Black Cat - Washington, DC %
09/26 @ Jefferson Theater - Charlottesville, VA %
09/27 @ Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC %
09/28 @ Skully's- Columbus, OH %
09/29 @ Logan Square Auditorium- Chicago, IL %
09/30 @ Magic Stick- Detroit, MI %
10/02 @ Town Ballroom- Buffalo, NY %
10/15 @ Corona Capital Festival- Mexico City, MX
01/19 @ The Weezer Cruise- Miami FL- Cozumel, MX
01/20 @ The Weezer Cruise- Miami FL- Cozumel, MX
01/21 @ The Weezer Cruise- Miami FL- Cozumel, MX
01/22 @ The Weezer Cruise- Miami FL- Cozumel, MX
01/23 @ The Weezer Cruise- Miami FL- Cozumel, MX
% = w/ Fucked Up
Newspeoples, meet The Beatles. Beatles, meet the Newspeoples. Two parts of their interview before final live show in San Francisco, August 27, 1966. This is the interview where Paul quips about writing songs about 'prostitutes and lesbians'. Lots of laughs with the relatively relaxed bandmembers. Dig it.
Big news out today from Guided by Voices - Bob Pollard and the reunited classic lineup have announced that they have a new LP due, out New Year's Day 2012.
"The lineup of Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell have recorded a brand new album called Let’s Go Eat The Factory, their first since 1996′s Under The Bushes, Under The Stars, and they’re going to release it on New Years Day. We’ve got that album’s tracklist below." (via MOJO)
As a longtime GBV fanboy, I'm stoked to hear the new offerings! Loads of outlets have the news including Rolling Stone, Mojo4Music, Stereogum and others. Great titles listed for the release called "Let's Go Eat the Factory"...
TRACKLIST:
01 “Laundry And Lasers”
02 “The Head”
03 “Doughnut For A Snowman”
04 “Spiderfighter”
05 “Hang Mr. Kite”
06 “God Loves Us”
07 “The Unsinkable Fats Domino”
08 “Who Invented The Sun”
09 “The Big Hat And Toy Show”
10 “Imperial Racehorsing”
11 “How I Met My Mother”
12 “Wave”
13 “My Europa”
14 “Chocolate Boy”
15 “The Things That Never Need”
16 “Either Nelson”
17 “Cyclone Utilities (Remember Your Birthday)”
18 “Old Bones”
19 “Go Rolling Home”
20 “The Room Taking Shape”
21 “We Won’t Apologize For The Human Race”
Bob Mould is getting his own roast in November! Top that, Charlie Sheen!
Actually, it's more of a celebrated summer kind of affair later this fall in Los Angeles. Mould's book tour for his autobiography "See a Little Light" will wrap up just before Thanksgiving in LA for "A Celebration of the Music and Legacy of Bob Mould in Los Angeles at Disney Hall, Nov 21st."
From the blurbsters:
In this very special, one-night-only event, some of today's greatest artists gather to celebrate the music of Bob Mould. Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Ryan Adams, No Age, Best Coast, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady), Margaret Cho with Grant Lee Phillips will perform songs from Bob's catalog."
You can bet that sucker will be shot for DVD as well. What Mould song would you like to hear former Minneapolisans Craig Finn and Tad Kubler sing? Me, I'd like to hear them tear out everybody's brains with a searing version of Husker's "Pride" right into "Black Sheets of Rain"! Fun for everyone!
Details are Monday, November 21, 2011 at 8 p.m. at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. Tickets ($29 - $49) are on sale Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 10 a.m. at LAPhil.com, in person at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000 .
Bob Mould's book, music and BLOWOFF dance club action tour continues over the next two months as well, leading up the Disney date. Have you read the book? I have, it's pretty awesome. Love the picture of Mould, Rotten and Biafra. That's punk rock right there!
BOB MOULD LIVE: TOUR DATES AND READINGS
Tues Sep 20 Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA City Arts & Lectures
Tues Sep 20 Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA DJ set with Shepard Fairey (aka DJ Diabetic)
Sat Sep 24 Slim's, San Francisco, CA BLOWOFF
Fri Sep 30 The Montrose Room, Chicago, IL 'See A Little Light' Performance
Sat Oct 1 The Montrose Room, Chicago, IL 'See A Little Light' Performance
Sun Oct 2 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
Mon Oct 3 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA San Francisco 2011 Mayoral Candidates Forum
Thurs Oct 13 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA 'See A Little Light' Performance
Fri Oct 14 Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA 'See A Little Light' Performance
Thurs Nov 3 The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY 'See A Little Light' Performance
Fri Nov 4 Highline Ballroom, New York, NY BLOWOFF
Sat Nov 5 9:30 Club, Washington, DC BLOWOFF
Sun Nov 6 New Hope Winery, New Hope, PA 'See A Little Light' Performance
Sun Nov 13 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR 'See A Little Light' Performance
Mon Nov 14 The Triple Door, Seattle, WA 'See A Little Light' Performance
Thurs Nov 17 The Casbah, San Diego, CA 'See A Little Light' Performance
Fri Nov 18 The Casbah, San Diego, CA BLOWOFF
Sat Nov 19 Slim's, San Francisco, CA BLOWOFF
Mon Nov 21 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA Tribute Show
ON SALE SEPT 25TH
Last night I was privileged to see the fast and frantic pop-punk rock from Seattle's The Cute Lepers, who headlined a Monday night rock show that my rock trio opened. In a word, The Cute Lepers were incredible. I didn't hear one bum note, flat vocal or missed beat throughout the whole set. They were lightning fast, on top of their game and exciting to watch.
Local garage rock fan Garagefan8 posted a few clips from last night's show:
The Cute Lepers sounded like a mix of an aggressive The New Pornographers/XTC; a spot-on clone of The Damned, and on-the-money Ted Leo anarchy. Inventive guitar lines, hammering bass and awesome vocals. All in all, right up my musical alley. So good. Here's their performance-clip single from their recent LP "Adventure Time" called 'Noisy Song'.
The band is heading further west for dates up the West Coast, before opening up for The Damned's 35th anniversary tour for four shows starting in Seattle on Oct. 27. Here are the recent and upcoming dates:
September 15, 2011/ Dallas, TX @ Double Wide - 21+
September 16, 2011/ Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory - All Ages
September 17, 2011/ Albuquerque,NM @ VENUE CHANGE Gasworks 2429 Quincy St- All Ages
September 19, 2011/ Tempe,AZ @ Yucca Tap Room - 21+
September 20, 2011/ San Diego, CA @ Shakedown Bar - 21+ w/ Jungle Fever & the Regressions
September 21, 2011/ Los Angeles, CA RECORD INSTORE @ Origami Vinyl - 7PM, 1816 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026
September 21, 2011/ Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar - 21+
September 22, 2011/ Sacramento, CA @ Luigi's Fungarden - All Ages w/ Charles Albright, 9:00 News
September 23, 2011/ Portland, OR @ Plan B - 21+ w/ Mean Jeans, Youthbitch
September 24, 2011/ Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown - 21+
October 27, 2011/ Seattle,WA @ The Showbox at the Market with The Damned
October 29, 2011/ San Francisco @ Slims with The Damned
October 30, 2011/ Los Angeles, CA @ The House of Blues with The Damned and Manic Hispanic
October 31, 2011/ Anaheim, CA @ The House of Blues with The Damned
The Stone Foxes are coming to Scottsdale's Talking Stick Casino this Thursday evening, presented by X103.9 Phoenix, to ply their rootsy, gritty punk, rock and blues. The band has been favorably compared to the The Black Keys, among others.
Absolute Punk wrote: "One wouldn't expect this NoCal quartet to outdo their self-titled debut but with Bears and Bulls they most assuredly have. Brimming with confidence, precision and enough scruff and git to make Mick Jagger smile, Bears and Bulls is a scuzzy, greasy, summer opus and just the kind of thing to keep this band on the national radar. If this doesn't turn some heads, what the fuck will?"
You can grab two songs from the band - Psycho and Serious People - at the link. Or watch some videos from fans for the song Psycho. Check the band's official video below.
"Beginning Monday September 19th, people who think they have what it takes to play Brian May's guitar riffs in "Sheer Heart Attack" or do their best Mercury vocals on "Bohemian Rhapsody" can upload their auditions to Queen Extravaganza.
The above comes from Rolling Stone, which writes about Queen's drummer-songwriter-singer Roger Taylor, who is setting up their own version of a Queen Tribute band. On the surface, it sounds like micromanagement run amok, but really, I've been wondering when a classic rock band from the odl days would take serious steps to continue its longevity (and earnings) for their ids and grandkids. Frankly, I'm shocked Gene Simmons didn't think of this yet for KISS.
I mean, these dinosa, er, rock institutions, clearly have a strong impetus to continue the family business. By hiring and overseeing their own official tribute band, Queen's members can sit back and grin and watch the money roll in. It's not too different from the teenboy band managers who set up singing acts with cute boys, and if one of 'em didn't work out, they'd hire another to fill his place.
Queen's Extravaganza site reads:
"Queen's Roger Taylor is launching an American talent search that will offer vocalists and musicians the opportunity to star in the Queen Extravaganza. The Queen Extravaganza is a live touring show celebrating and paying tribute to the songs, style and vision of one of the World’s biggest bands, Queen."
Yes, four mentions of 'Queen' in two sentences.
Roger Taylor and Brian May should've done this a few years ago. I bet we see more of this action from the 70s rockers. I'm ready to audition for The Clash. :-)
Focusing on friendly follies for Friday, following fortunate and fabtastic fables.
- Blondie, the early pop stalwarts of the CBGB mid-70s punk scene, released a new CD called "Panic of Girls" this week, and you can stream it here. Read more at Rolling Stone. While you're at it, check out Blondie's wonderful cover of The Damned's "New Rose" from this summer's promo tour in the UK. 
- Phoenix pop-rockers Kinch are streaming their forthcoming (October) release "The Incandenza" (great title, that...) at the band's music site. It's bright, vibrant, engaging pop with smarts - give it a whirl. 
- VH1 Classic will broadcast on Sept 23rd (11pm) a much-bootlegged Nirvana 1991 concert "Live at the Paramount", writes the LA Times. "“Nirvana: Live at the Paramount” was filmed in Cobain's home base of Seattle on Halloween 1991 and features performances of the songs that helped define an angst-ridden generation, including "Smells Like Teen Spirit," “Lithium” and “Breed.”" You can grab the audio here.
- And speaking of Nirvana, did you see Bob Mould and the Foo Fighters team up to KILL the song "Dear Rosemary" on Conan O' Brien's show last night? Amazing performance! Watch it below. Rock and roll how it's meant to be played, with power, volume and passion.
MOG Music today launched an ad-supported, free (for 60 days) music-loving experience.
From MOG's news release:
"Music lovers can access MOG’s entire catalog of over 11 million songs, nearly everything you’d find in popular music download stores, for free, making it the easiest way to enjoy instant access to music with no installable client application and no credit card needed. The free version will be ad-free for the first 60 days so fans can get a taste of the service without any distractions.
Free listeners on MOG receive a virtual “gas tank” full of music visibly integrated into the service. The refillable tank, called FreePlay, is built upon sophisticated game mechanics that enable users to earn free music in perpetuity, simply by listening, sharing with friends and exploring MOG. The FreePlay tank showcases how much free music a user has along with “earn music” and “upgrade” links that provide listeners the opportunity to earn more music, or upgrade to MOG Primo, a subscription plan that includes unlimited, ad-free music, and access to MOG via mobile devices, consumer electronic and streaming entertainment devices, and soon, the car."
Here's the cute video with people who like to talk about their love of music:
MOG’s free service is web only. If you need more, hit up one of their pay plans below for $5 or $10/month.
* MOG Basic, $4.99 per month: Access to MOG on online via MOG’s web players or desktop client for Mac OS and through CE devices including Boxee, Roku, LG Internet connected TVs & Blu-ray players.
* MOG Primo, $9.99 per month: Access to MOG through mobile devices (iPhone, iPod touch and Android), online via MOG’s web players or desktop client for Mac OS) via Sonos and through all Basic platforms (Boxee, Roku, LG Internet connected TVs & Blu-ray players)
Poking around this old Arizona hardcore site called ShavedNeck, I see they have posted there a live cassette recording of Husker Du made at Tucson's Backstage January 18, 1983. Looks like all the files are still there. Hear what Bob Mould sounded like when he was young, angry and on speed.
Shavedneck writes:
"The band had just played in Tucson the previous December 28 and were on their way back from LA having spent time recording Metal Circus for SST. I'm sure that Randy McReynolds was behind the mix (though this is not a board recording). There was about 30 or 40 people in the audience."
I clicked through to the opener "In a Free Land" and Holy Heck! Husker Du's already insanely loud and intense and it's FIRST SONG OF THE SET! Killer.
There's also a Black Flag 1982 show at the site as well.
"Tell me why, I don't like Tuesdays...."
Man, I don't know, there's just a rash of bad news today around the music world. Here's a taste of Bad News.
- Electro whizbang Producer DJ Mehdi died at a party while celebrating his 34th birthday, when a mezzanine gave way and crushed some people. That's Bad News.
- Grammy award winning rapper T.I. is going back to prison. He had been apparently serving time for violating probation in a weapons case. That's Bad News.
- A concertgoer at Colorado's famous Red Rocks Amphitheater had her head fractured by falling (red?) rocks at the outdoor theater. Spinner reports: "Large rocks began to fall into the crowd during an STS9 concert, injuring seven people. One of the victims was 34-year-old Jennifer Ackerman, who is now in Saint Anthony Hospital's ICU after suffering a skull fracture and several serious injuries to her face, including a 10-centimeter gash on her head. Police are still unsure of what caused the rocks to fall." That's Bad News.
- It seems as though we have to wait until next year to hear new music from The Offspring. Banana1015 reports: "The Offspring were hoping to finish the follow-up to their 2008 record 'Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace' before year's end. It sounds like they're on track to meet that goal, but we probably won't hear it until 2012. The Offspring have been quietly plugging away at new material for quite some time now. During a recent podcast, The band's elder statesmen said that they hoped it would be finished this year." That's Bad News.
- And lastly, condolences to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, whose father passed away on Saturday. Q104.5 writes: "The Aerosmith star's dad Victor Tallarico passed away at the Hunt Community assisted living facility in Nashua, New Hampshire, aged 95. The World War II veteran, who was also a musician, was surrounded by family when he died peacefully at the facility." That's Bad News.
Here's a fine article written by Steven Pond of Reuters about the panel he moderated at the Toronto Film Festival with the focus on the band Pearl Jam and its new Pearl Jam Twenty documentary being the focus of discussion.
In it Pond writes...
"Crowe and his three editors assembled the doc from hundreds of hours of concert film, home movies, backstage footage and interview segments -- the Holy Grail of which, he said, was a widely rumored but seldom-scene glimpse of Vedder and the late Kurt Cobain doing a brief but joyous slow dance together beneath the stage at the MTV Video Awards."
and...
"And an hour or so after the film premiered in front of a raucous audience at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Crowe and the members of Pearl Jam sat for a press conference in a nearby hotel -- where the band members, who rarely speak to the media, said that "PJ20" showed them moments they'd forgotten about and provided a moving look at a band that has somehow managed to stay together and on track for two decades.
"Just trying to order pizza with five guys is hard to do," singer Eddie Vedder said, to big laughs. "To get five guys together and make music for this long is a miracle."
Click here for the full article.
Got a handy $500 laying around? If so, you can pick up this exclusive offer from Rhino Records of The Smiths music. Rhino writes:
"Packaged in an individually numbered, trunk-style box, this version is limited to 4,000 pieces worldwide. It contains all eight albums on CD and vinyl, accompanied by all 25 of The Smiths’ singles on 7” vinyl (including rare and deleted artwork). The set also includes: 12” art prints of all eight album sleeves; a poster featuring the artwork for the albums and singles; expanded liner notes by renowned author Lois Wilson; and “The Complete Picture” DVD of the band’s music videos."
You get:
- Individually numbered collectible edition
- All 8 albums on CD and Vinyl with replica packaging
- Remastered by Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright
- Bonus 25 vinyl 7" singles, DVD with music videos, 8" x 12" original cover-art prints, 36" x 24" collectible poster and 8 page booklet with expanded liner notes
- Free cover art wallpaper download with every pre-order.
- Released on 10/25/2011
Order at Rhino's site.
It's Music Video Friday! Waved Rumor brings you some new music videos, strange and modern, opulent yet translucent. For your ear or for your rear - you decide. Weekend audio viewing to take your mind off 9/11 media overload! Featuring bands you know, some you may not, and some I like. Yaya!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Idiot Glee is the nom du musik for 23-yr.old Kentucky-ian James Friley, who is touring the US this autumn promoting his new Paddywhack EP. Friley & Co. will be at the Yellow Canary Dancehall in Phoenix on October 2nd. Here's the video for the opening track on the EP called "Let's Get Down Together"...
If you like rip-snortin' garage rock, you'll totally dig The Bloody Hollies. The garage rockers are out with their 4th LP called "Yours Until the Bitter End" and a short US tour. The band recorded this new rave-up in San Diego with Detroit Dynamo Jim Diamond helming the knobs. Thie track below sounds great - it's called "I Dream of Bees". (Plus, a bonus - here's a link to download "Dirty Sex" by The Bloody Hollies
Here's a new video for the Dylan-esque via Sonic Youth song called "Born Alone" from rock renegades Wilco from their upcoming LP "The Whole Love", out September 27, 2011 on dBpm Records. If you caught the 24-hr. stream last week, you already know it's good.
Here's the winning video in the Boston Spaceships' fan video contest for its song "Christmas Girl" (via Spinner). The song comes from the mega-wattage "Let It Beard" double LP/CD which has gotten great reviews all around for its songs depicting "the sorry state of rock n roll."
Here's a Poughkeepsie, NY band called Sugar Red Drive with their ode to our soldiers at war called "Marching Man". The band has finished their 2nd CD "A Story of Signs" produced by Grammy Award winner Skidd Mills (Saving Abel / Sick Puppies) and Brain Howes (Hinder, Daughtry). It's available on November 1st. Wave that lighter and keep our fighting boys in mind!
The awesome band Fanfarlo writes: "Almost exactly a year ago we stopped touring and sat down to write a new record. Earlier this year we went to a remote slate quarrying town in Northern Wales to record it and now we finally have the finished result in our hands. Here is the first song from our new album -- it's called 'Replicate'. Over the summer there were so many visual ideas we wanted to incorporate in presenting this music to you, both on your screens and live, coming to play in your city. The first puzzle piece is this video we made in collaboration with Alex Southam."
There was a day when bands would speak out politically and socially on the issues of the day. (Does that even happen much anymore?) The Dead Kennedys in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of the more outspoken punk bands of its time.
You can catch some early live DKs footage compiled here (courtesy of MVD Video) from those early years. Hear California Uber Alles, Kill the Poor and many other DK classics. Get the full songlist here.
- Remember when I blogged over the summer about the behind-the-scenes bickering in New Order? Well, looks like they've stayed true to it. The band is reforming to play a few charity gigs next month in Paris and Brussels. Synth player Gillian Gilbert will play, but founding member/bassist Peter Hook will not.
- Power trios rock! Paste Mag lists 14 awesome modern-day power trios, including the likes of The Thermals, The Joy Formidable and Nada Surf (though Nada has employed the swell guitar playing talents of rock guitar vet Doug Gillard in recording and live shows as a 4th member for the past few years).
- Speaking of Doug Gillard, Doug's got a new single out called 'Breakin' in Two' and he's on a short tour with his band, touring with Tommy Keene's band, and Sally Crewe's band. Here are the tour dates, which kicks off in Arlington, VA this week:
Friday 9/9 Club Iota in Arlington, VA
Saturday 9/10 at Rock Shop, Brooklyn, NY
Sun 9/11 at The Church, Boston, MA
Tues 9/13 at The Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
Wed. 9/14, Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Thursday 9/15 at Schuba's, Chicago, IL
- Speaking of Power trios, I saw a new local one that ROARED over the weekend. They're called Egregious, and they played at Club Red in Tempe, AZ. Definition of the word egregious include 1. Outstandingly bad; shocking, and 2. Remarkably good. I think the band I saw fit under number 2. Looking forward to seeing them again.
- The dinosaurs continue to rock on! Foghat opened for Ted Nugent in upper Minnesota over Labor Day weekend, while Blue Oyster Cult played live in nearby Maricopa, AZ on Monday.
- AND, I just heard a rousing guitar smashup by The Men on Brooklyn Vegan satellite radio. Great song. The Men are a brooklyn punk band. Sadly, I missed the band last week. The Men played a very underground gig in Phoenix last week at a inner city youth center....bummer. Read more and hear some of The Men's music.
The Men
-7958.jpg)
Longtime rock singer-guitarist Tommy Keene kicks off a September tour in Los Angeles tonight, featuring songs from his new solo LP called "Behind the Parade" and a greatest hits CD released earlier this year.
JS Online writes:
"His voice has stayed just about the same over the years, evoking the transitional passions of adolescence, but his songwriting, always mature for his genre, draws on all the accumulated disappointments and fading hopes of age. Keene's crisp guitar bridges the gap between teenage fantasy and adult reality, chiming with Byrds-like sweetness on "Already Made Up Your Mind" and faintly reverberating behind "His Mother's Son."
Blurt Online writes:
"Keene's almost casual mastery of post-‘60s/postpunk melodies and hooks, smart, humanist lyrics and janglecrunch guitar wizardry mean his signature sound is intact on his tenth LP - it would be too predictable if it didn't always sound so fresh."
Exystence Blog wrote:
"Keene’s best music is timeless, and one of the reasons Behind the Parade is as powerful in 2011 as Songs from the Film was in 1986 is, because he’s never stopped writing songs that deal with love, loss, and the universal building blocks of human emotions, and he plays them with sincerity and emotional force that have little do to with changing musical tides."
Here's Tommy and the band playing live at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco a year ago:
Tour dates here:
Sept 6 - LOS ANGELES, CA - Silverlake Lounge
Sept 9 - ARLINGTON, VA - Iota
Sept 10 - BROOKLYN, NY - The Rock Shop
SEPT 11 - BOSTON, MA - Church
SEPT 13 - CLEVELAND, OH - The Grog Shop
SEPT 14 - MILWAUKEE, WI - Shank Hall
SEPT 15 - CHICAGO, IL - Schubas
SEPT 16 - St PAUL, MN - The Turf Club
British rocker Def Leppard hits Phoenix on its current tour highlighting their new double live CD "Mirrorball". (Buy tickets here)
Here's what to expect from Saturday's show at the Pavilion in Denver. This fan clip was shot earlier this week in Phoenix.
I missed Def Leppard back in the day. No remorse there and then at all. I was listening to American rock 'n roll back when the Leppard gang was selling bajillions of Lps with Pyromania and Hysteria. And I think I'm a better man today because of it.
But I have gained a measure of respect for the veteran band more recently. A few years ago, Def Leppard did a LP full of great 1970s rock 'n roll covers called "Yeah!" (hear Def's version of the Faces' 'Stay With Me' below'). Word is that it got mixed reviews, 'cause people are so stuck on originals or wotevah, but I liked the high gloss rockness of it.
And to top it off this year, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen recorded a 2nd LP of pure rock and punk songs with his old bass player and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook in their rock trio called Manraze.
Check out the LP here at Amazon:
"This London-based alternative/nuwave rock band was formed by iconic lead guitarist Phil Collen of Def Leppard. The band members include punk rock forerunner Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols on drums and Simon Laffy, rockin' bass player of Collen's former glam-band, Girl. The long awaited and highly anticipated sophomore album for these revolutionaries of rock, titled punkfunkrootsrock, will be unleashed upon the masses on August 2nd."
Here's the opening track from the Manraze CD called Over My Dead Body:
Here's a promo video from earlier this year featuring the trio:
Enjoy the rock! Def Leppard's version of Facces' "Stay With Me"
Somehow, somewhere, everything seems alright in the world when I hear 'Sugar Town' and watch Nancy Sinatra in her white go-go boots.
From the Wikpedia page on 'Sugar Town':
Gossip columnist Walter Winchell derided “Sugar Town” as having “the worst lyrics ever written in a top ten song.” “Hey, I spent a lotta time writing a bad lyric like that! The words are as stupid as I could get ‘em,” songwriter Lee Hazlewood retorted. “I edit a lot, even the dumb songs. The dumb songs are the hardest to write. [“Sugar Town”] took me a while. I wanted the dumbest lyric ever written to a song, to a doper song.” Hazlewood singled out his lyric "I never had a dog that liked me some..." as being particularly inane."
Watch the clip below and sing along to Lee's stupidly warm lyrics:
"I got some troubles but they won't last,
I'm going to lay right down here in the grass
Pretty soon all my troubles will pass
Cause I'm in su-su-su, su-su-su, Su-su-su-su-su-su- sugar town
I never had a dog that liked me some
Never had a friend who wanted one
So I just lay back and laugh at the sun
Cause I'm in su-su-su, su-su-su, Su-su-su-su-su-su-sugar town
Yesterday it rained in Tennessee
I heard it also rained in Tallahassee
But not a drop fell on little 'ole me
Cause I'm in su-su-su, su-su-su, Su-su-su-su-su-su-sugar town
If I had a million dollars or ten
I'd give it to you world and then
You'd go away and let me spend my life in
Su-su-su, su-su-su, Su-su-su-su-su-su-sugar town
La, la, la, la,...
This is Ground Control to Major Tom. Your childrens' book version of 'Space Oddity' awaits you on Galaxy 9.
- Liam Gallgaher will perform with his new band Beady Eye on November 15th at the the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, England. (I love that) (via The Independent).
- Israel gets its British Invasion about 40 some years later, with a concert appearance by England's famed Yardbirds in late October.
- Speaking of the Yardbirds, one of that band's former guitarists is a guy named Eric Clapton. He is a classic rock icon and also the subject of a new primo gorgeous coffee table photo book called "Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History" (VoyageurPress). It's his 'Anthology" written beautifully by author Chris Welch, with loads of images, photos, posters and more. For the classic rock Clapton freak for Christmas.
- That former letter-to-the-editor whizkid Morrissey is bringing his manly rock outfit to the Southwest US and Mexico for a fall tour, reports Pitchfork. Not sure why he included Chicago; maybe he likes the pizza. Here are the dates, and we get one in Phoenix. Yay!
11-10 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
11-14 San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theater
11-15 Austin, TX - Bass Hall
11-17 Dallas, TX - McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
11-19 Santa Fe, NM - Santa Fe Center
11-20 Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theater
11-22 Escondido, CA - Center for the Arts
11-25 Las Vegas, NV - The Cosmopolitan
11-26 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium
11-28 Pomona, CA - Fox Theater
12-01 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
12-05 Monterrey, Mexico - Arena
12-07-08 Mexico City, Mexico - Plaza Condesa
12-10 Puebla, Mexico - Siglo XX1
12-12-13 Guadalajara, Mexico - Diana
- I just noticed that all the above bits concerned musicians of a British heritage. So let's finish this blog post off with one more blast of British rock goodness, this from early 1970s British rockers Uriah Heep (still touring!) doing their classic "Stealin'" live for the hippies:
