“That stuff just hurts my ears”

REVIEW: Sonic Youth in Concert Massey Hall, June 30th, 2009

A good friend of mine once remarked that, he could not believe I liked the music of Sonic Youth- “That stuff just hurts my ears”, he opined. The noisy dissonance and extended guitar workouts seemed (at least to him) entirely incongruous to the short, sharp pop that heavily infiltrated other corners of my record collection. His assessment seemingly informed by mere cursory listening and hasty judgment than anything else. To my mind it was as if we heard two different bands in Sonic Youth. Amidst that melodic chaos that “hurt” his ears a certain beauty existed for me, the likes of which I had truly never heard before. It would become some of the most important music of my life. Sonic Youth forced me to listen to music differently and opened a myriad of doors that extended far beyond music.


I first saw Sonic Youth perform at a small venue in Ann Arbor, Michigan over twenty years ago. The late night performance was mesmerizingly loud and forever cemented the group in my heart as a band that truly mattered to me. They were arty, mysterious, bewildering and beautiful. Sonic Youth defined a sound and completely original musical entity that would influence a generation of artists. The band’s overt musicality escaping the easy confines of compare; eventually establishing a huge creative legacy that would leave most bands green with envy.

Flash forward twenty three years later and the band continue to make relevant and challenging music that goes straight to my heart and mind. This time the dank nightclub replaced by the acoustically perfect Massey Hall in downtown Toronto. Expectations were noticeably high as a palpable buzz permeated the historic venue. After an interesting although brief set by the Ecstatic Peace-signed The Entrance Band, Sonic Youth took the stage at 9:05 pm. The band walked onto the same one that has hosted iconic music royalty through the years from Neil Young to the Stooges- (Both of which greatly informed the Sonic Youth sound.) Beginning with the murky and cacophonous “She Is Not Alone” (off the band’s first self-titled 1981 release) the band laid waste to some audience expectations immediately. This felt more like an event than a typical rock n’ roll show, just like it did so many years ago. The stage, adorned with large silhouetted lighting panels, mounted behind the band were used to great effect and would be frequently throughout the nearly two hour show. Thurston Moore quickly established control of a rapt and very energetic audience- assaulting the strings and fret board of his guitar with a drumstick until falling to the stage on the instrument by song’s end.

Catapulting us directly to the present, the band launched into the barely two minute single “Sacred Trickster” (from the Eternal) featuring a dancing Kim Gordon resplendent in a silver lame dress. This song would be the first of what would be (to some fans’ chagrin) a complete replay of the Eternal album. (Not without precedent the band is known to focus on newer material on their musical outings.) Fifth (touring) member, bassist Mark Ibold added extra rhythms to augment the band's sound.

Quite honestly I loved this show. After having lived with the record for nearly a month now I really love all of the songs that comprise it. Unlike a band say, like the Rolling Stones, Sonic Youth are not a greatest hits band and seldom tread on familiar musical path. It is one of their best qualities. Mind you Gordon did throw me for a loop when she announced a Neil Young cover would be played before launching into “Massage the History” a suitable homage perhaps to a man pivotal to their career success. (Thurston’s acoustic guitar, a subtle reminder of the man that once tapped them as show openers in the early nineties.) Just before that they played “Thunderclap (for Bobby Pyn)” their tribute to former Germs frontman Darby Crash. Not surprisingly it was older songs that comprised the two encores that really seemed to enliven the audience. For a band with a history like this one, nostalgia is all but inevitable, but this time it felt far from it. "Pacific Coast Highway" from the album Sister. Evol album-opener "Tom Violence" and "The Sprawl" from the band’s landmark album Daydream Nation were welcome encore selections and they could not have sounded better.

The show truly reached its inspired zenith with the opening notes of Lee Ranaldo’s guitar on “What We Know”, a perfect and mystifying song that bridges the old and the new, the obscurity and the obvious, the artistic and the pop side and the beauty and truth that comprises the very art that is Sonic Youth. This is one song that represents exactly what I love about this band and why I will always maintain a very certain level of excitement when another new album and tour are announced. Judging by the smiles on the faces in the crowd that night I wasn’t the only one more than satisfied by a band still reaching for greater creative heights.

The crowd euphoria continued when the band exploded into their classic "Death Valley ’69" (from Bad Moon Rising) to end the night as a final encore. Steve Shelley's propulsive persussion on this one was simply amazing. That selection could not have been more inspired. It functioned as both a much deserved nod to those fans that frequently called it out and likely acknowledgement to their own storied past. It was the only song I kind of missed from that concert I attended twenty years ago but on this night it sounded as beautiful and fresh and unlike anything else now. I have a funny feeling I’ll still be listening with the same fresh ears twenty years from now. With any luck Sonic Youth will be touring with a brand new record under their wing then too.

SETLIST

Sonic Youth
Massey Hall, June 30th, 2009
Toronto, Ontario


She Is Not Alone
Sacred Trickster
No Way
Calming the Snake
Walkin’ Blue
Malibu Gas Station
Antenna
Leaky Lifeboat
Poison Arrow
Anti-Orgasm
Thunderclap/for Bobby Pyn
Massage the History
Pacific Coast Highway

ENCORE
Tom Violence
Sprawl

ENCORE
What We Know
Death Valley 69

All You Need is Evol

Beck To Cover Sonic Youth Album

Inexhaustible musician and Thurston Moore lookalike, Beck is set to cover Sonic Youth's seminal 1986 album EVOL in its entirety for a new box set chronicling the influential New York ensemble.

Due to be released on handy cassette format, Beck's take on EVOL will form part of a new Sonic Youth box set. "They are doing some kind of box where they are getting artists to do photographs and art and pamphlets related to Sonic Youth, and one of the things they were requesting was a cassette."

Sonic Youth have not yet officially confirmed news of the box set.

You may recall that earlier this year the songwriter released his take on the Sonic Youth track "Green Light" for a split seven inch to commemorate Record Store Day. Recently, the singer unveiled his plan to release a series of Velvet Underground covers. Recorded with no rehearsal in just one day, the singer has already posted a ramshackle version of "Sunday Morning" on his official site. More covers are set to follow, with the singer due to release a track bi-weekly for the interim.

In a recent Pitchfork interview, Beck discussed a possible collaboration with French singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. (Charlotte is the daughter of legendary artiste Serge Gainsbourg.) At this time, a release date has not yet been announced.

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Waiting for My Man' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

The Most Amazing Thing I've Seen Today

Occasionally one sees something via the tubes that just resonates deeply and quite simply is visionary. In this short video Katherine Fulton sketches the new future of philanthropy -- one where collaboration and innovation allow regular people to do big things, even when money is scarce.

Considering the fact that this nearly two years old, her observations are eerily prescient.

It's short and very much worth your time. "A place where hope and history rhyme."

“Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy”

Nick Cave's Second Novel Coming in September

There are few contemporary musicians as prolific as the great Nick Cave. He is unquestionably one of the most creative and inspired artists, always with a diverse project at the ready. No surprise that the wellspring of creativity is continuing with the announcement that The Death of Bunny Munro, his second novel, will hit stores this fall.

The book follows Cave’s first work of fiction, 1989’s And the Ass Saw the Angel, and is set in Brighton, England, the UK coastal town where Cave now lives. The tome focuses on a man who travels around the south of England with his son after the suicide of his wife.

As Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting, says, "Put Cormac McCarthy, Franz Kafka and Benny Hill together in a Brighton seaside guesthouse and they might just come up with Bunny Munro."

Bunny Munro isn’t Cave’s only connection to Cormac McCarthy: the artist also scored the upcoming film adaptation of McCarthy’s harrowing novel The Road.

The Death of Bunny Munro will be in stores on September 8th courtesy of Faber & Faber. It is expected that the release of The Death Of Bunny Munro will also be tied in with an audiobook of the novel, to be read by Cave himself.

There Is a Time of Reckoning in All Our Lives

Today, Universal Music will release the Deluxe Edition of R.E.M.’s seminal album Reckoning. The now two-CD set, features the original album remastered, plus a bonus disc of a previously unreleased concert recorded during the band’s "Little America" tour at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom on July 7, 1984 (broadcast on WXRT). In addition, Reckoning and R.E.M’s 1983 debut album Murmur will be simultaneously reissued on audiophile quality 180 gram vinyl in their complete original packaging.

It was just that original packaging that drew me to this band over twenty five years ago. The Howard Finster/ Michael Stipe artwork was almost hypnotic to me and I spent countless hours trying to extract meaning from its outsider art themes. The record itself was produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, and was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984. The results were groundbreaking and it remains one of my favourites of R.E.M.’s extensive canon.

According to the press release for the reissue, "Inclusion of the live concert is particularly appropriate for the Reckoning - Deluxe Edition. Whereas Murmur had been complex and painstakingly deliberate, the band’s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, along with producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, saw Reckoning as a "chance to turn up the volume, tear up the rule book, and capture instead R.E.M.’s on-stage mojo." Their use of binaural mics in the recording process went a long way in establishing that aesthetic.

On the Deluxe Edition’s bonus disc, the band performs eight of Reckoning’s ten songs at the Aragon as well as “Gardening At Night” from 1982’s Chronic Town EP and “Radio Free Europe,” “9-9” and “Sitting Still” from Murmur. The band also plays two new songs that had yet to make it onto tape: “Driver 8” which would later appear on Fables of the Reconstruction and “Hyena," later on 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant.

Reckoning peaked on the charts at #27, nine spots higher than Murmur (Rolling Stone’s 1983 "Album of the Year") and was certified gold in 1991.

R.E.M. – Reckoning Deluxe Edition: DISC ONE

1. Harborcoat
2. 7 Chinese Bros.
3. So. Central Rain
4. Pretty Persuasion
5. Time After Time (Annelise)
6. Second Guessing
7. Letter Never Sent
8. Camera
9. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
10. Little America

DISC TWO – Live at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL, July 7, 1984 / WXRT broadcast: Previously Unreleased
11. Femme Fatale
12. Radio Free Europe
13. Gardening at Night
14. 9-9
15. Windout
16. Letter Never Sent
17. Sitting Still
18. Driver 8
19. So. Central Rain
20. 7 Chinese Bros.
21. Harborcoat
22. Cushy Tush
23. Hyena
24. Pretty Persuasion
25. Little America
26. Second Guessing
27. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

And You Thought iTunes was Expensive…

RIAA Wins $1.92 M in File-Sharing Suit

Billboard online has reported that the recording industry secured a resounding victory yesterday when a Minnesota jury awarded the four major record labels $1.92 million in damages after unanimously finding that Jammie Thomas-Rasset had willfully infringed on their copyrights by downloading and sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa peer-to-peer network. It was determined that they were each worth the absolutely ridiculous amount of $80,000 for a total of $1.92 million.

Now I know it’s not my take on this unprecedented verdict you want to hear about. You would much rather see just what songs comprised her criminal undoing.
Here’s the offending playlist:

Universal Music Group

Vanessa Williams - "Save the Best For Last"
Sheryl Crow - "Run Baby Run"
Reba McEntire - "One Honest Heart"
Janet Jackson - "Let’s Wait Awhile"
Guns ‘n Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"
Guns ‘n Roses - "November Rain"
Def Leppard - "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
Bryan Adams - "Somebody"
Aerosmith – "Cryin’"

Warner Bros Records

Linkin Park - "One Step Closer"
Green Day - "Basket Case"
Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"

Interscope Records

No Doubt - "Hella Good"
No Doubt - "Different People"
No Doubt - "Bathwater"

Arista Records

Sarah McLachlan - "Building a Mystery"
Sarah McLachlan - "Possession"

Sony BMG Music Entertainment

Gloria Estefan - "Rhythm is Gonna Get You"
Gloria Estefan -"Here and We Are"
Gloria Estefan - "Coming Out of the Dark"
Journey - "Faithfully"
Journey - "Don’t Stop Believin’"
Destiny’s Child - "Bills, Bills, Bills"

Capitol Records

Richard Marx - "Now and For Ever"

My opinion you ask? Pretty simple. If you’re still listening to Richard Marx in this century no penalty can make up for that crime.

A Little Bit Older, A Little Bit Wiser

“It is lovely, when I forget all birthdays, including my own, to find that somebody remembers me.”

Fox Bat Strategy - New Music From David Lynch

David Lynch has always been my preferred auteur/ television producer/ film director/ quirky individual. (In an odd twist, he has also recently become my favourite weather person.) However, it’s been two recent projects that found him delving into the world of music that solidified his position in this blogger's heart.

No doubt you are aware of his notorious collaboration with Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse. The Dark Night of the Soul project has received a great deal of attention of late and will, in all likelihood never see proper release. News today then, that an original seven track album is due out made up for the disappointment of the former ‘non-release’. Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi, for which Lynch wrote the lyrics and produced is now due at the end of this month. The tribute goes to the guitarist and vocalist on the album, who was a session player for Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Jaurequi passed away in 2006, and the music has sat on Lynch’s shelves since then according to Entertainment Weekly.

Dave Jaurequi was not a singer," explains Lynch. "He was a guitarist, a fantastic one, but I asked him to sing and speak these lyrics of mine, because I had a hunch that proved correct: he had great phrasing, and I love the grain of his voice....I think about him a lot, and wish we'd been able to record more than the seven songs that are on this album.

Fox Bat Strategy has some typical Lynchian qualities: the 1950s sound and a palpable attempt at innocence that somehow succeeds at being sinister... Good God, at the end of this I will probably end up liking David Lynch even more. Fox Bat Strategy comes out June 30th from ADA and David Lynch Music.

Race For the Polaris Music Prize

Nominees for the fourth annual $20,000 Polaris Music Prize were revealed yesterday. The Long List consisting of the cream of the proverbial crop of forty, full-length Canadian records released between June 2008 to May 2009.

The albums selected are judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales, and were selected by the 181 members of the Polaris Music Prize jury. The jury consisting of music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada.

I'll reserve judgement and comprehensive assessment at this time considering the teeth gnashing this certainly caused the distinguished jury. Mind you I won't forgive them for neglecting Deep Dark Woods amazing Winter Hours release. Put me on the jury next time and I'll be sure the lobbying is strong.

Next up, the Short List on July 7th with the winner announced at a Gala Event on September 21st.

My brain is swimming... Any predictions from you? Leave them in the comments section.

Arkells Jackson Square
Jill Barber Chances
Beast Beast
Bell Orchestre As Seen Through Windows
Bison BC Quiet Earth
Bruce Peninsula A Mountain Is A Mouth
Coeur de Pirate Coeur de Pirate
Leonard Cohen Live in London
D-Sisive Let The Children Die
Elephant Stone The Seven Seas
Elliott Brood Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels
Handsome Furs Face Control
Tim Hecker An Imaginary Country
Hey Rosetta! Into Your Lungs
Japandroids Post-Nothing
Junior Boys Begone Dull Care
K’Naan Troubadour
K-OS Yes!
La patère rose La patère rose
Land of Talk Some Are Lakes
Lhasa Lhasa
Malajube Labyrinthes
Metric Fantasies
$100 Forest of Tears
Pink Mountaintops Outside Love
Joel Plaskett Three
Snailhouse Lies on the Prize
Charles Spearin The Happiness Project
Rae Spoon superioryouareinferior
The Stills Oceans Will Rise
Think About Life Family
Timber Timbre Timber Timbre
Chad VanGaalen Soft Airplane
Martha Wainwright I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too
Patrick Watson Wooden Arms
Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer
Women Women
Woodpigeon Treasury Library Canada C/W Houndstooth Europa

Free Download for the People

With the Murmur reissue still holding fort in my cd player and the Reckoning reissue just around the corner the appearance of this most excellent tribute made my morning a whole lot brighter. Such a pivotal recording in my canon of important releases, R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People is not your typical troubled teenager. It remains a wonder to me and this tribute a more than worthy musical companion. From the great folks at Stereogum I highly recommend the full download here.

The following is an excerpt from an essay written for Stereogum by Matthew Perpetua, founder of Fluxblog and more recently Pop Songs 07, for which the goal is to "write about every R.E.M. song, eventually." Matthew was invited to put R.E.M.'s seminal '92 LP in perspective as the Drive XV tribute was finalized.

Sweetness Followed: 15 Years After Automatic

By Matthew Perpetua, September 2007

Even though we know that Automatic For The People came out fifteen years ago, and we can clearly recall purchasing the neon yellow cassette back in the fall of 1992, it's increasingly difficult to hear the album without imagining that its songs have somehow always existed in the world. Unlike most other celebrated, canonized records from the early '90s, R.E.M.'s eighth album stands separate from the prevailing cultural trends of the era. Whereas most other rock bands at the time either embraced the aggressive, self-destructive angst of grunge or the brainy, aloof irony of indie rock, the Athens quartet presented something far more singular and timeless in the form of a tightly composed, occasionally baroque song cycle obsessed with mortality and the passage of time.

This is not to say that Automatic For The People is a relentless downer. Despite its morbid themes, Automatic isn’t so much a record about death as it is a work of art that acknowledges the fleeting nature of life, and so many of its songs, most notably the hits "Man on the Moon" and "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," revel in the simple joy of being alive. On the opposite extreme, "Drive," "Monty Got A Raw Deal," and "Sweetness Follows" are stark and somber pieces that express the hollowness of grief and the subtle drag of existential dread with stunning accuracy and clarity. The rest of the songs fall someplace in between -- the sentimental reminiscence of "Nightswimming"; the grim depiction of a bitter break-up in "Star Me Kitten"; the romantic wanderlust of "Find The River" -- and taken as a whole, the record comes across like a panoramic view of life.Needless to say, Automatic For The People has had a profound impact on its audience, particularly those who first heard the record at a young and impressionable age.

Read the whole thing here.

you should see the stereogum.com drive xv player here if you have flash

Not Ffffffade Away

The Who's "My Generation" is one of 25 recordings that's been added to the Library Of Congress' National Recording Registry.

The Who originally recorded "My Generation" for their 1965 album of the same name. Rolling Stone magazine named it the 11th greatest song ever written on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

Also included was Link Wray’s “Rumble” That song, an influential rock instrumental originally released in 1958, "Rumble" was a first to use then unexplored techniques like distortion and feedback. Trivia people note: It remains "the only instrumental single banned from radio airwaves."

Also inducted into the Registry is the ubiquitous Etta James classic “At Last”. One of the singer's most emotive performances, the song was featured in the recent Chess Records biopic Cadillac Records.

(Sung by Beyonce Knowles, the singer was invited to perform the song at Barack Obama's inauguration. However Etta James felt snubbed, and onstage comments left many feeling she was critical of Knowles and the President.)

The recordings have been inducted as part of the National Recording Preservation Board's attempt to select "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" pieces that are at least 10 years old, reports Variety.

"This year's selections lovingly reflect the diversity and humanity of our sound heritage where astonishing discoveries and a vibrant creative spirit seem to appear around every corner," James Billington, the librarian of Congress, said on Tuesday.

The National Recording Registry selects 25 recordings each year that it deems "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." They must be a least 10 years old. There are 275 recordings currently in the registry.

Read the entire list here as well as previous years’ too.

The Rural Alberta Advantage 7" Project

Now this is the kind of project I can get behind. I encourage all Everything is Pop readers to consider backing this. The Rural Alberta Advantage is a talented group of musicians who deserve kudos for exploring innovative ideas like this one. (Via kickstarter.com)

Have a look for yourself.

About this project
Hello. We are the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace.com/theraa). We're a band out of Canada, and for quite a while, we were happily making music for ourselves and touring our home country once in a while. Then all of a sudden, our record Hometowns caught the attention of some really awesome people, and now we're signed to Saddle Creek Records.

It's an interesting time for us. We've signed to a label, Hometowns comes out July 7th on that label, and every day seems to bring more exciting opportunities that didn't seem possible even a few short months ago. At the same time, the whole journey up to this point has been such a grassroots kind of thing, driven primarily by the attention of online music lovers, that we can't quite believe what's happened, even though the slow build of it has seemed almost natural.

We wanted to find some kind of way to signify the end of the 'organic' way our music has been reaching people (we love Saddle Creek like crazy, but they are a real live label, so we can't exactly do it all by ourselves anymore) and celebrate the awesomeness of all the people that helped us reach this level of success. So, we decided to do one last grand DIY gesture and make a 7" record through Kickstarter. We want to make it special and kind of exclusive, so it will be limited to just 300 copies.

There will be two songs on it, reimagined, remixed versions of "Frank, AB" and "The Deadroads" (original versions of both are on Hometowns). We have had a great time meeting and getting to know the people who have been enjoying and championing our music, and we really want to get this project in the hands of those who have been so influential on our crazy journey.

Money covers cost of pressing the vinyl, the artwork, recording, mixing, and shipping. 15 bucks gets you a copy, and if you want to donate more you'll be receiving special surprises from us. Like a private concert! (maybe???)

Thanks for reading, and we hope you'll enjoy our project.

Cheers,

The RAA



Project location: Toronto, ON

I Love the Smell of Vinyl in the Morning

Wilco, Modest Mouse to Release New Singles for Vinyl Saturday

Feeling a little blue since Record Store Day ended and you weren’t able to secure a copy of that elusive Jay Reatard/ Sonic Youth split single? Regretfully dear reader I can’t help you with that one but there is cause to get you excited about exclusive vinyl records all over again.

Put away the Xanax Pedro, the fine folks behind Record Store Day aren't going to wait another year to celebrate the black circle. Record stores need all the help they can get these days, and some of our favourite bands still have unheard material awaiting anxious ears. This just in music fans - June 20th will mark the first Vinyl Saturday, a new event from the Record Store Day people.

Like Record Store Day, Vinyl Saturday will involve a whole lot of bands releasing exclusive material to independent record stores. This time around, Wilco and Modest Mouse have jumped on board with exclusive releases.

Modest Mouse will release the second in their planned series of singles. According to Pitchfork this one will feature "Autumn Beds" b/w "Whale Song". The first 7" in the series, "Satellite Skin" b/w "Guilty Cocker Spaniels", is out now.

As for Wilco, Each Note Secure reports that they'll offer a 7" of the Wilco (The Album) track "You Never Know", with the unreleased song "Unlikely Japan" on the B-side. ("Unlikely Japan" is an early version of the Sky Blue Sky track "Impossible Germany". )

Other exclusives include a 7" from the forthcoming Scarlett Johansson/Pete Yorn duets album Break Up (with a Yorn solo demo on the b-side) and a limited edition 7" of Green Day's "Know Your Enemy”.

Other artists scheduled to release exclusives include: Al Green, Earth, Patterson Hood, The Woggles, Those Darlins & Wolves in the Throne Room. I will update this list as others are announced.

Vinyl Saturday June 20th, 2009 - Get out there and support your favourite record store and artists!

Updates:

http://www.bust.com/blog/2009/05/28/those-darlins-blublocker-collabo.html

Thanks Jen!

http://twitter.com/recordstoreday
http://recordstoreday.com/Home

New Tales to Tell - Love and Rockets Tribute Due

I’m always surprised by the huge vacuum of obscurity some fantastic bands seem to fall into after productive years and creative notoriety. One of these bands was Bauhaus offshoot, Love and Rockets. Their blend of psychedelia and glam rock proved enormously popular in the late eighties and early nineties only to disappear into that rock n’ roll ether we so often see. Thankfully, Love and Rockets do offer a revered and sizeable musical legacy that continues to influence many of our favourite indie artists to this day.

No surprise then that a tribute album will emerge paying homage to the once mighty purveyors of cool. The Flaming Lips, Frank Black, Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer project, A Place To Bury Strangers and The Dandy Warhols are among those who will appear on New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets when it's released this summer.

The tribute album will be digitally available through Justice Records on July 28th and will hit stores on Aug. 18th. It will be available with special bonus tracks and on limited edition blue and red vinyl. New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love and Rockets was produced by Christopher The Minister and Phil Jaurigui (Concrete Blonde, Audioslave), and its album artwork was done by Shepherd Fairey. (Indeed that is the fellow that created the ubiquitous Obama Hope poster.)

Love And Rockets took their name from a comic book series by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez when they formed in England in 1985. Daniel Ash (guitar, saxophone, vocals), David J (bass, vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums, synthesizers) had been in Bauhaus with Peter Murphy until that band splintered in 1983.

Love And Rockets' sound was more pop-based and upbeat than Bauhaus' goth rock, and the band's Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven was released the year they formed. It was followed by six more albums before the band split in 1999. Love And Rockets reformed in 2007 and performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Lollapalooza last year.

Here are the artists and songs on New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets:

Black Francis - All In My Mind
Puscifer - Holiday On The Moon
War Tapes - Love Me
Blaqk Audio - No New Tale To Tell
Dubfire - I Feel Speed
The Dandy Warhols - Inside The Outside
The Flaming Lips - Kundalini Express
Film School - An American Dream
A Place To Bury Strangers - The Light
Monster Magnet vs. Adrian Young - Mirror People
The Stone Foxes - Fever
Frankenstein 3000 - No Big Deal
VEX - It Could Be Sunshine
Better Than Ezra - So Alive
Chantal Claret vs. Adrian Young - Lazy
Ian Moore - Sweet F.A.
Snowden - No Words No More

http://www.myspace.com/loveandrocketstribute

Um... Er... Er...Um... Okay

I don't even know where to start with this one, but I will be watching wear I sit next time I go to the Elmo.

I Wanna Hold Your Wii-mote

I honestly thought I would find the Rolling Stones milking the multimedia/ gaming bandwagon before the "Fab Four", but wonders do never cease… Wake your parents peeps! Your Mom’s favourite band is going to make her very happy all over again. Yep, the “Beatles – Rock Band” is on the way. As previously bloggedabout, the much anticipated video game created by a partnership between the Beatles' Apple Corps, Ltd. and MTV Games' Harmonix Music Systems, the people behind the "Rock Band" series will be released on September 9th to Xbox, Playstation, and Wii. (That’s 09.09.09, but the one after that would have been cooler. ed)

Yesterday at the E3 Media & Business Summit, (the gigantor gaming conference in Las Vegas), Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison announced key details of "The Beatles: Rock Band". The first being, that the storyline of the game follows the Beatles' career from 1963 to 1969, from the Cavern Club across the universe to megastardom.

It’s time to ditch the tennis rackets and hairbrush microphones. In this game you get to play a plastic pseudo-guitar as the loveable mop topped quartet. Of course the finely crafted instruments have been precision designed to look like the ones John, Paul, George, and Ringo actually played. It gets even better too; The game will feature three-part harmony, so the whole family can gather round the flat panel to reinterpret “Revolution #9”.

In between songs, you'll get to hear "previously unreleased authentic voice recordings from John, Paul, George and Ringo chatting between takes during studio sessions recorded at Abbey Road more than four decades ago," according to the website press release.

The game will feature a playlist of 45 songs from the Beatles' catalogue, including "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine," "Taxman," "Day Tripper," Back in the USSR," "I Am the Walrus," "Octopus's Garden," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Get Back". At some point in the future, you'll be able to download even more, including Abbey Road in its entirety.

You know though, I’m still going to wait for “The Rolling Stones – Rock Band”. And they had better include a download for A Bigger Bang in its entirety! Ohhhhh and fake plastic cigarettes… Staart me up!

I'm getting excited all ready.

Keep an Eye on the Sky

While there may all ready be a new series of spiffy Big Star reissues on the way, news has emerged that fans of the seminal Memphis outfit can expect a whole lot more Big Star in the late summer. Come September 15th the fine people at Rhino will be releasing a four-disc box set from the group, which gathers up material recorded between 1968 and 1975.

A true treat this time for fans as a number pre-Big Star outfits from members Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel, Jody Stephens and the late Chris Bell will be included in the set, titled Keep an Eye on the Sky. The actual Big Star material, will be made up of rarities and previously unreleased material. Tracklist follows.

To cap it all off, a number of live recordings are featured as well, including unreleased highlights from three sets Big Star performed at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis in January 1973. It is the best live recording ever of the band recorded shortly after Chris Bell left the band. As well a comprehensive tome will come with the release. Included in that, extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band's history.

Now if that were not enough, the Rhino imprint Handmade will reissue a limited edition, expanded reissue of Bell’s classic solo album, I Am the Cosmos (last released via Rykodisc in 1992). The new Cosmos reissue will come as a two-CD collection and feature various outtakes and alternate versions. That one is due September 14th.

Track Listing - Keep an Eye on the Sky

Psychedelic Stuff - Chris Bell
All I See Is You - Icewater
Every Day As We Grow Closer (Original Mix) - Alex Chilton
Try Again (Early Version) - Rock City
The Preacher - Rock City
Feel
The Ballad Of El Goodo - Alternate Mix*
In The Street
Thirteen - Alternate Mix*
Don't Lie To Me
The India Song
When My Baby's Beside Me - Alternate Mix*
My Life Is Right - Alternate Mix*
Give Me Another Chance - Alternate Mix*
Try Again
Gone With The Light* - Chris Bell
Watch The Sunrise
ST 100/6 - Alternate Mix*
In The Street - Second Recorded Version
Feel - Early Mix*
The Ballad Of El Goodo (Alternate Lyrics)
The India Song - Alternate Version*
Country Morn
I Got Kinda Lost - Demo
Motel Blues - Demo*
There Was A Light - Demo*
Life Is White - Demo*
What's Going Ahn - Demo*
O My Soul
Life Is White
Way Out West - Alternate Mix*
What's Going Ahn
You Get What You Deserve - Alternate Mix*
Mod Lang - Alternate Mix
Back Of A Car - Alternate Mix*
Daisy Glaze
She's A Mover
September Gurls
Morpha Too - Alternate Mix*
I'm In Love With A Girl
O My Soul - Alternate Version*
Back Of A Car - Demo
Daisy Glaze - Alternate Take*
She's A Mover - Alternate Version
I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell
You And Your Sister - Chris Bell
Blue Moon - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Femme Fatale - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Thank You Friends - Demo* - Alex Chilton
You Get What You Deserve - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Lovely Day (aka Stroke It Noel) - Demo - Alex Chilton
Downs - Demo - Alex Chilton
Nightime - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Jesus Christ - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Holocaust - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Take Care - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Big Black Car - Alternate Demo* - Alex Chilton
Manana*
Jesus Christ
Femme Fatale
O, Dana
Kizza Me
You Can't Have Me
Nightime
Dream Lover
Blue Moon
Take Care
Stroke It Noel
For You
Downs
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Big Black Car
Holocaust
Kanga Roo
Thank You Friends
Till The End Of The Day
Lovely Day*
Nature Boy
When My Baby's Beside Me*
My Life Is Right*
She's A Mover*
Way Out West*
The Ballad Of El Goodo*
In The Street*
Back Of A Car*
Thirteen*
The India Song*
Try Again*
Watch The Sunrise*
Don't Lie To Me*
Hot Burrito #2*
I Got Kinda Lost*
Baby Strange*
Slut*
There Was A Light*
ST 100/6*
Come On Now*
O My Soul*

*previously unreleased

Life's Little Pleasures

“All good things which exist are the fruits of originality.”

Once again the stars have aligned, the clouds have parted and good things have come to me over the past couple of days. Quite literally too… And as many of you know, anything that touches the “blogger soul” will most likely become post fodder. This is no exception. Allow me to share…

I can say unequivocally that receiving mail is truly one of my life’s pleasures. Mind you, I really don’t get too excited when I receive my Bell telephone bill or that umpteenth credit card offer; it’s the tangible stuff that really gets me going and this week this fellow has been particularly fortunate. (Haaaaaaarrrrr mateys the booty be good!)

(Insert Price is Right showcase music here)


On Wednesday I received a copy of Tessa Brunton’s latest mini comic, In the Tall Grass – Number 04. You may have noted Tessa’s blog is linked on this one and for good reason. The woman is hugely talented and I urge all of you to check out her work. Even better, send a nice email or note, a few shekels her way and she’ll even send you one! Highly recommended, Tessa’s work is absolutely delightful. And won’t you feel special when she is a rich and famous and you can say you knew her when! (Thanks again Tessa!)


A big thank you as well to “Tenacious” Tim Turner and the good people at Grooves Records for their endless promotion of fine, indie music; Regularly hosting in-store performances of some of the best music out there today. Yesterday’s performance of Rock Plaza Central was such a treat for all of us. Hearing about song origins and rock star water bottle opening etiquette is near and dear to this bloggers heart and made for a terrific presentation. A big thank you to the band as well; a nicer bunch of rock star types would be hard to find.


Lastly, but not leastly a big thank you to Barbara Bruederlin, fellow blogger and music journalista extraordinaire; Yesterday my mail box overflowed with her creative greatness. Let’s see, via the Bad Tempered Zombie, I received a copy Lynn Coady’s wonderful story collection Play the Monster Blind as well as copies of the new Jon Rae Fletcher and NQ Arbuckle CD’s. Also included in the package and my personal highlight was the original artwork and card that so wonderfully and literally tied the whole package together. I’m very much looking forward to delving further into this package over the weekend. Good, good stuff, these riches most appreciated.

Friends, it is a privilege to know you and I thank all of you for your generosity.

I leave you with the words of poet and philosopher, one Alexander Chilton.

Thank you, friends
Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you
I'm so grateful for all the things you helped me do.

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Thank you, friends
I rejoice to the skies
Dear ones like you do the best i do
As far as can see my eyes

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Without my friends i got chaos
I'm often a bead of light.
Without my friends i'd be swept up high by the wind

I am very grateful to have such talented and creative friends.

Merci.

SW

Glastonbury 2009 Line-up Announced

The Glastonbury Festival, the world's largest green field arts and music festival has returned to its guitar-based roots and chosen Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Blur as its headline acts this year. Tickets are apparently all ready sold out.

It was last year that hip-hop superstar Jay-Z headlined the festival in an effort to attract a younger crowd. Ticket sales dragged and critics bemoaned the abandonment of festival origins but the rapper was widely judged a success, by mud soaked attendees. (One notable hip-hop exception on the main stage is British rapper Dizzee Rascal, who was topping the UK singles charts on Monday and has rocked British festivals this year.)

This year, old favourites dominate with Tom Jones, Status Quo and Madness playing the main stage and hip-hop artists Q-Tip, Roots Manuva and Black Eyed Peas relegated to the smaller areas. Metric, Fucked Up, Deadmou5 and Peaches will be there representing the Canuck contingent.

Musical diversity appears to be key this year.

"We know that there will be objections to whatever we do but if last year taught us anything, it was that we have to follow our gut instinct," festival organiser Emily Eavis told Britain's Guardian newspaper. "Risks pay off, and featuring Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen in one weekend was a choice ... and we had to take it," the paper quoted her as saying.

Other artists likely to appeal to a younger crowd include indie pop group The Wombats, Animal Collective Australia's Gabriella Cilmi, electro-pop musician Little Boots, and pop artist Lady Gaga.

Pete Doherty will play Glastonbury's second-largest stage, and there is great speculation he will be joined by his former group, the Libertines, after he performed earlier this month with two of its members for the first time since the band split in 2004.

The festival is held on the farm of founder Michael Eavis, who started the event in 1970 when entrance cost one pound and included free milk. This year's almost 200,000 tickets went for 175 pounds each. Free milk however is not included.

Not just about music, the June 24-28 festival also has performing arts, theatre, dance, spiritual-healing, circus events and funny hats. But the best feature of all, the people watching. This one makes Burning Man look like a puppet show!

Check out the full line up here. It’s huge! Anyone up for a roadtrip?

Oh Canada! You Do Make the Best Music

Some exciting news today for fans of Canadian music and blogger types with list making and awards gala following proclivities. The 2009 Polaris Music Prize will be handed out at a Sept. 21st soiree at a Toronto location that has yet to be announced and will be hosted by CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence.

The long list of 40 contending titles will be revealed on June 15th, whilst the short list of 10 final nominees will be announced at a July 7th press conference at Toronto's Drake Hotel. (Curiously, the long list was revealed for the first time, only last year.)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada will be the presenting sponsor for the Polaris Music Prize of $20,000, which will be awarded to the Canadian artist who creates what's judged to be the year's best album. Discs released between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 are eligible for this year's prize. The winner is judged based on artistic merit, not sales.

The long list and short list are determined by a jury of 190 Canadian music journalists, bloggers and broadcasters. Eleven jury members will be selected to vote on the grand jury, which convenes the night of the gala to determine the winner.

Caribou's Andorra won last year's Polaris Music Prize. Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds won the inaugural prize in 2006, and Patrick Watson's Close To Paradise won in 2007.

So this is your chance to do some lobbying folks… My lobbying efforts would strongly favour Bruce Peninsula's fine recording – A Mountain is a Mouth. What efforts would you champion?





And speaking of fine Canadian music, Rock Plaza Central is in town this Thursday night (May 28th) for a show at Call the Office. Rock Plaza Central have been around for a few years now and has released three full-length CDs, including the critically acclaimed Are We Not Horses, a song cycle “about robotic horses who think they are real horses, and a handful of other things”. A new CD, called ...at the Moment of our Most Needing, or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone, is slated for release on May 26th.

Also scheduled on May 28th is a free in-store concert at London’s finest record shop, Grooves Records starting at 4:00 pm and running until 5. Thank you once again Tim Turner for the heads-up on that one. Grooves Records is located at 353 Clarence Street. Please plan to attend! If you happen to be available at that time I would highly recommend your attendance at this event and the performance later that evening at Call the Office. And just to make the evening a can't miss event, local London Album of the Year winners (and personal favourites) Olenka and the Autumn Lovers will be openers at the CTO event. (Come to think of it, add them to the lobbying for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.)

Jay Bennett R.I.P. - (November 15, 1963 - May 24, 2009)

I came home last night after the stunning Leonard Cohen show at the John Labatt Centre to the terribly sad news that former Wilco guitarist and songwriter Jay Bennett passed away this weekend at his home in Urbana, Illinois. Bennett was only 45 years of age. So far no cause of death has been announced for the talented singer songwriter.

It’s an unfortunate footnote that Bennett is mostly remembered for the way he departed the Wilco camp. If you’ve seen the I Am Trying To Break Your Heart film that chapter makes for some high drama in the band’s history. Bennett and Jeff Tweedy memorably lock horns over the mixing of "Heavy Metal Drummer" before Bennett is later unceremoniously kicked out of the band. What a shame though he is not remembered more for the great artistry he brought to the band via production and songwriting from Being There, Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – a trifecta of recording brilliance.

Only last month Bennett launched a legal suit asking for $50,000 in damages from frontman Jeff Tweedy, claiming he never received compensation for appearing in the local band's 2002 documentary.

Bennett had released a number of solo records post-Wilco, the latest of which - Whatever Happened I Apologize - came out last year and is available for free download here. He was working on his sixth, Kicking At the Perfumed Air, at the time of his death.

Rest in peace, Jay… You gave us some fine music.

“Where Your Treasure is, There Will Your Heart Be Also”

We all have our small treasures… Those things that make our hearts swell and evoke knowing smiles with only a mere glance. Ah those trinkets, baubles, reminders, mementos, souvenirs, and collectibles that fill our desk drawers and line our bookshelves. They are the physical reminders of our lives lived. They symbolize our very experiences, our reminiscences and special occasions. Oh what vivid stories these ornaments can and do evoke. That is their magic.

It is specifically those stories that I am compelled to tell and hopefully so will some of you that read this- Now, considering the numbers of personal treasures I have currently lining my bookshelves et al, I might just turn this into a semi-regular feature. A brief preface is in order though. This whole concept came about after a recent “blipping” session on Blip.FM. (That being the social networking DJ/ VJ phenom that is currently ‘a sweepin’ the nations. (I posted about it earlier.)) One of the curious outcomes about said site is the users desire to share the music that they love; sometimes very obscure music. This is precisely what I did. I blipped a John Oswald (Plunderphonics) song, “O’Hell” and a short confession to fellow ‘Blipeur’ Barb the Bad Tempered Zombie spoke of my love for the avant garde musician/ artist. And thus the kernel for this post was born. His music is one of my treasures.

John Oswald is one of those artist/ musicians that truly speaks to the music lover in me. For the uninitiated John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist and media artist. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings using “electroquotes”; (not unlike sound collage and musical montage). Inspired by William S. Burroughs' cut-up technique, Oswald had been devising plunderphonic-style compositions since the late '60s.

As a result of using music on these terms you can imagine this music is not without controversy The greatest of which was the 1988 release of the Plunderphonics EP, which he distributed to the press and to radio stations. It contained four plundered tracks: "Don't" by Elvis Presley, "Pocket" by Count Basie, "Pretender" featured Dolly Parton singing "The Great Pretender" but progressively slowed down so that she sounds like a man by the end, and "Spring", a version of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. In 1989, Oswald released an expanded version of the Plunderphonics album containing twenty-five tracks, each using material from a different artist. In 1990, notice was given to Oswald by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) on behalf of several of their clients (notably Michael Jackson, whose song "Bad" had been cut up, layered, and rearranged as "Dab") that all undistributed copies of Plunderphonics be destroyed under threat of legal action. An excerpt from a press release on the plunderphonics website is repeated below:

"I wasn't selling the disc in the stores, so I let listeners tape it off the radio for free," explains Oswald, who paid for the production and manufacture of the CD out of his own pocket. He receives no royalties or financial compensation for airplay. Brian Robertson, president of CRIA says, ``What this demonstrates is the vulnerability of the recording industry to new technology...All we see is just another example of theft." Oswald received notice from CRIA's lawyers demanding that he cease distributing Plunderphonic as of Xmas eve '89. "They insisted I quit playing Santa Claus," Oswald observes.

His body of work is one of the jewels of my music collection and I have gone to great lengths to track down his recorded output. To say that his CD’s and LP’s are rare is a huge understatement. He is not a traditional artist in any sense whatsoever and therefore distribution methods are often unorthodox. As a result, all of his CD’s have come to me from diverse areas of the world. (And yes, I have a copy of the famous aforementioned disc.) I have acquired most by luck, by fortuitousness and by sheer determination. From Paris, Vancouver, Seattle, London, San Francisco, Tokyo to Toronto these discs have seen more of the world than I have. All have a back story and each made me love music a little more. It is the stuff that enthralls me and totally captures my imagination. Consequently they constitute some of my greatest treasures.

I have also had the great fortune to have corresponded with Mr. Oswald on a couple of occasions although I have never met him in person. He has patiently answered my fanboy questions and even signed a number of my favourite discs. Admittedly, the art of John Oswald may not be for everyone but it is for me. Indeed my heart does swell when I see that section in my collection dedicated to him.

So that’s Volume I of this little segment. I’ll definitely do this again but I know that you have your own treasures to write about. Allison, Barbara, Amity and Matthew, tell us about your bookshelf treasures sometime. No deadlines though, when inspiration strikes...

“Artists Are Just Children who Refuse to Put Down Their Crayons.”

I have to admit, I am a bit of a sucker for tribute albums. For some they represent an opportunistic attempt to resurrect careers of much loved artists and usually feature rote remakes of better known hits and crowd pleasers. Imagination free, artistically safe, and ultimately destined for the cut-out bin- Those I generally try to avoid. Conversely, other compilations pay homage to the greatness of a particular musician’s craft and allow artists to reinterpret a particular canon on their own terms and styles. Ratcheting it up a notch, said compilation will also feature new and current artists tackling influential musicians that many people have barely heard of. Then you can definitely count me in! It’s all about the discovery folks.

Sooo, next up for rediscovery is Judee Sill. Judee was a California singer-songwriter who released two amazing records chock full of religious overtones, alcoholic reveries, and Graham Nash collaborations before dying of a drug overdose in 1979. In 2005, Asylum Records lovingly reissued both of her albums. And on September 22nd, the American Dust label will release Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill. Final Fantasy, Marissa Nadler, and Grizzly Bear/ Department of Eagles mainman Daniel Rossen all contribute Sill covers. (I am a little disappointed Andy Partridge of XTC fame did not participate. It was his interview a few years back that pointed me in the direction of Ms. Sills’ most wonderful art. ed)

Curiously, the album also features versions of two unheard Sill songs. Sill wrote the music for both tracks, but no recordings of either one have yet been discovered. Beth Orton takes on one song, "Reach for the Sky", and Bill Callahan ((the (SMOG) genius)) handles the other, "Like a Rainbow".

Tracklisting:.

Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill:


01 Ron Sexsmith: "Crayon Angel"
02 Beth Orton: "Reach for the Sky"
03 Daniel Rossen: "Waterfall"
04 Frida Hyvönen: "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"
05 Shalants: "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos"
06 Final Fantasy: "The Donor"
07 Nicolai Dunger: "Soldier of the Heart"
08 Trembling Blue Stars: "Lady-O"
09 Colossal Yes: "The Phoenix"
10 Marissa Nadler & Black Hole Infinity: "The Kiss"
11 Princeton: "Down Where the Valleys Are Low"
12 The Bye Bye Blackbirds: "There's a Rugged Road"
13 Meg Baird: "When the Bridegroom Comes"
14 Bill Callahan: "For a Rainbow"
15 P.G. Six: "Til Dreams Come True"

How You Found Me – Part Deux

I’ve posted about this ‘Google-acular’ phenomenon before and my latest assessment begs to be shared with you. Yes, it’s the ubiquitous Keyword Search results segment I now like to call, How You Found Me.

Once again, I considered commentary for each but I think I’ll let the actual keyword searches speak for themselves. The question this time though… Just what is “booty poping”? Apparently at least one Everything is Pop reader wants to know.

1 0.61% xx shoot blogspot
1 0.61% sexy +London +blogspot
1 0.61% HEY HEY MY MY T SHIRT
1 0.61% childrens songs about the gold rush
1 0.61% thom yorke red pants buy
1 0.61% phil selway listening too in entaglement
1 0.61% booty poping
1 0.61% "So, where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?"
1 0.61% best music blogs canada
1 0.61% Merge XX, wouldn't it?
1 0.61% how old are The Pixies
1 0.61% patchouli stink store out
1 0.61% "It's Made Me Cry" blogspot
1 0.61% jimmy neutron's dog pictures
1 0.61% dust for vomit
1 0.61% wheres is cannes

Your explanations and confessions are, as always welcome in the Comments section.

Dark Night of the Soul Streaming at NPR

UPDATE: From Billboard.com - Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse Album Release Scrapped

The latest installment in NPR's Exclusive First Listen series, where they offer streaming versions of albums before they're released, is the mysterious new collaboration between Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous. Could this be any more brilliant? I would swear dear reader that projects like this one were tailor made for me. I can not tell you how much this one appeals to me in every way. In a perfect world, this is exactly the kind of thing I would love to be doing myself…

Personal aspirations aside, until very recently, there wasn’t a lot known about Dark Night of the Soul besides its portentous title. Details have emerged that the mysterious record accompaniment includes contributions from the likes of Frank Black, Iggy Pop, the Flaming Lips and the Shins' James Mercer. Danger Mouse and Linkous apparently wrote and recorded the material, with plenty of help from all those guest musicians, to be packaged with a book of photography by visionary director David Lynch.

Regretfully a dispute with EMI Music has delayed the release of the audio component of this package. (Details to come.) Whether the album sees the official release or not, get over to NPR and listen to it while you can, because this is great stuff and demands your attentions.

The Dark Night of the Soul book is now available here and apparently limited to 5000 copies. No tunes as of yet but you will get a nifty cd-r for now, to do as you see fit.

Fingers crossed that this thing gets released.

The Burning Circle

I received a note recently from a fellow blogger with a most creative proposition. At his request I am including a post linking to his idea to solicit your participation. If you enjoy sharing and listening to great music I urge you to check out the idea here.

If this does not appeal to you I bet this will.

Thanks Ted I’m looking forward to participating myself.

Circle (the first)

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I want to start up
my own Burning Circle.

The guidelines are few, and open to negotiation. What I am interested in (and which complements my other interests) is a multicultural, global perspective on music. I’d love to be able to connect with other music snobs as far away from me as possible.

Which, specifically, would be Calgary, Alberta. Canada.


And so, if you’re interested in discovering new musical stuffs, feel free to read a page or two. And then leave some comments, here, and let’s see if we can’t put something together. All I need is eleven good women. Or men. Or combination thereof.

Hmm? Awesome!

I Am Trying to Break Your Bandwidth

This one might be akin to opening your Christmas presents before the big day, but June 30th is just so far off! This is your chance to hear the new Wilco album (imaginatively) titled Wilco (The Album) streaming on their website. Sure the sound quality is a little hinky and you’ll have to put up with some jerky audio but this is new Wilco and that’s just plain exciting. It’s also very good.

Soooo, what can be found on this disc, their seventh? Eleven tracks, including “Wilco (The Song)”, as heard on The Colbert Report, and “You and I”, a duet between Tweedy and Feist. And the rest:

1. Wilco (the Song)
2. Deeper Down
3. One Wing
4. Bull Black Nova
5. You and I (feat. Feist)
6. You Never Know
7. Country Disappeared
8. Solitaire
9. I'll Fight
10. Sunny Feeling
11. Everlasting

Go here to listen and gaze at the lovely album art below.

"Children by the Millions, Sing for Alex Chilton"

Big Star Reissues Due

Paul Westerberg once triumphantly exclaimed in song, “(he) never traveled far without a little Big Star” and now circumstance will dictate the same for music fans everywhere. Pitchfork is reporting that Big Star, one of the greatest bands ever in the known universe and the pride of west Tennessee, will have their first two albums re-issued by Ardent/Stax on June 16th. 'Ardent' fans will note that both albums, #1 Record and Radio City, are currently available on a single disc collection, and yes I’ve railed about these reissue opportunities previously. But this time, its different. What's really cool about this news item is that the label will also be releasing both sets individually on vinyl once again. As a music fan I must wholeheartedly endorse this format for the discerning listener. These are perfect pop records that should be in everyone’s collection. Vinyl the perfect medium for this very perfect pop music.

Be first in line for these people. You will not be disappointed.

“You Can't Really Dust For Vomit”

This Is Spinal Tap Gets 25th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue

The motion picture that started the ‘rockumentary’ genre is a quarter-century old this year. The good news, it still wears its spandex trousers well and this one my friends goes to 11! This Is Spinal Tap, the Rob Reiner music film classic chronicles the world’s "loudest British hard rock band" through a dreadful U.S. tour. The film has now become ‘de rigeur’ for any musician or music fan. (It is said to have even fooled a certain UK brother duo into thinking they were the real deal.)

If you are a fan of music though, this one belongs in your collection and this anniversary edition would be a welcome addition. The band's official website notes that this is an “aggressively-priced” CD/DVD package that boasts the 19 original Tap songs as well as an exclusive hour-long DVD featuring track-by-track video commentary by the band and a unique pop-up diorama package that unveils three 12-inch action figures (courtesy of Sideshow Collectibles) of the band along with a proportionally sized Stonehenge. (I know what I’ll be asking for, for my birthday! ed.)

For the real 'Tap-heads', there is now a free download of the previously-unreleased “Saucy Jack” tune referenced in the film as well as exclusive digital versions of “Sex Farm” and “(Listen to the) Flower People.” Vinyl junkies will be treated to limited-edition eleven-inch version of the album. (Will the witty nostalgia never end?)

Now I know you've been curious... So what has the ponderous, pipe-huffing rocker (Derek Smalls) been doing all these years? According to Harry Shearer.

"Derek was in therapy for Internet addiction at a small therapy centre in rural England," Shearer said over the telephone from Houston. "He has kicked that,
that was very successful therapy."

Spinal Tap — David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) — will also be releasing their first new album since 1992's Break Like The Wind. Called Back From the Dead, the album will hit store shelves on June 16th. It features studio versions of songs featured in the film accompanied by six new tracks.

Back From The Dead tracklisting:

"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"
"Back From The Dead"
"(Funky) Sex Farm"
"Rock 'n' Roll Creation"
"Jazz Oddyssey I"
"Gimme Some Money"
"Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare"
"Heavy Duty"
"America "
"Jazz Oddyssey II"
"(Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)"
"Hell Hole"
"Big Bottom"
"Celtics Blues"
"Jazz Oddyssey III"
"Warmer Than Hell"
"Stonehenge"
"Short and Sweet"
"Cups and Cakes"

Oh, and my favourite line from the film?

“Yeah, well, it's part of a trilogy, a musical trilogy that I'm doing in D... minor, which I always find is really the saddest of all keys, really, I don't know why. It makes people weep instantly to play.”

The Coolest City in Canada?

Hopefully the snow will have melted by the time THIS rolls around. Go HERE * for unparalleled event coverage.

(I think I want to move to Alberta this summer.)

* Thanks for the tip Barb.

Guelph Hillside Festival 2009

One of Ontario’s best annual music festivals has announced a tentative line-up and ticket information. The 26th annual Hillside Festival will take place July 24-26, 2009 at Guelph Lake Island, Guelph Lake Conservation Area.

Confired Performers to date:
Loreena McKennitt (Friday)
Xavier Rudd (Friday)
Tokyo Police Club
Buffy Sainte Marie (Saturday)
Final Fantasy
David Francey

I will update this information as more acts are announced.

All tickets will go on sale Saturday May 2nd, 10am. Please see their tickets page for complete info.

All camping is booked directly through the Guelph Lake Conservation Area contact them at:
Guelph Lake Park: 519.824.5061
Reservations Line: 1.866.668.2267
Website: http://www.grandriver.ca/
http://hillside.on.ca/

All tickets will go on sale THIS Saturday May 2nd, 2009 at 10am
Tickets will be available:

On-line
ticketpro.ca - Bookmark this page now to allow for easy navigation tomorrow!

By Phone
1.866.598.4455

Hillside Office
123 Woolwich Street East, Guelph

Encore Records
54 Queen Street South, Kitchener

Soundscapes
572 College Street, Toronto

For additional information on box office policy, visit their website.

This Machine Kills iPods

New Wilco Download Available

This week’s abbreviated Download Lowdown is a goodie; mind you a small donation may be in order. (Providing JPEG proof of your barrel only wardrobe will also suffice.) A new Wilco performance of Woody Guthrie's once-again-timely "The Jolly Banker" is available now on the site by going to http://wilcoworld.net/woody/ with suggested donation to the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Listen to Jeff Tweedy talk about it on Public Radio's "Marketplace" at http://marketplace.publicradio.org/.

…In the gentle reminder portion of this post. The Wilco tour is on and dates/tickets for the summer portion are available now. The highly recommended and entirely excellent Ashes of American Flags DVD is available pretty much everywhere now as well. Wilco (the album) is out June 30th. Info at http://wilcoworld.net/

Isn't it great to be a Wilco fan?

“Some pursue happiness - others create it.”

I have sometimes wondered if the day will ever come when I will simply tire of music. Will those melodies that fill my head (and heart) start to annoy me and cravings for solitude and quiet win the battle for my attentions? Not likely… at least not in this lifetime. I have, after all never yearned for said seclusion but I have certainly longed for song. It’s funny but on those days when I forget to charge my iPod or a teleconference runs too long I begin to hear the music of the world around me. I fill in the musical gap with the sounds that surround me. Things like the staccato hiccup of my laptop’s cooling fan, or the cardinals in my apple trees. Even the urgent pleas of my son to stay up just ten more minutes, has a very certain musicality. I often make these correlations and like to think of them as music of the moment.

I guess I have a musical brain. Lucky thing too, since I don’t play a musical instrument proper I make my own music when I need it.

I was reminded of this last night as I walked around my neighbourhood WITH actual musical accompaniment. This recording was different though- Different, wonderful and so profound I have to tell you about it today. In fairness this is not a review per se but rather a wholehearted recommendation. The CD is called the Happiness Project (Arts & Crafts) by Charles Spearin. (He a founding member of Toronto band Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene.) This one literally stopped me in my tracks three times last night. I even walked twice the distance I normally do just so I could hear it again.

I wrestled though with how I would describe this experience because the discovery of this recording is intrinsically tied to its appeal. The sound of Spearin's project is somewhere between Ornette Coleman jazz and the spoken word of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Familiar voices looped to create an odd symphony through the interplay of storytelling and music. The results are riveting, heartwarming and profoundly original.

Trust me when I say this is a case of the less said the better. Quite simply, if you love music you need to hear this. The Happiness Project is brilliant and entirely unique. I can guarantee that is will move you in just about every way imaginable- Perfect food for the musical brain if you will.

PPPPP



http://www.happiness-project.ca/index.php

Too Many People Grow Up

“Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won't do that.”

Walt Disney

Somedays I forget what it’s like to be twelve years old and I am a poorer person for it. We celebrated my son Jack’s twelfth birthday this weekend and this morning as I struggled with a woebegone work project and the usual Monday morning headaches, it made me realize how much I miss that age. It really is the perfect age… It's just remembering that very fact that is so damned hard. But why? Why, despite every effort do I forget this?

I guess its just not in my nature. I need to rationalize it somehow right?

I sure realize one thing though, I am fortunate because I can live vicariously through Jack and maybe experience a little bit of it all over again. At least I hope. So remind me the next time you don’t brush your hair or forget to clean the catbox that being twelve is your priority, the rest of the stuff really isn’t that important. Not even close.

So Happy Birthday Jack… I’m the luckiest person in the world to have you in my life. Stay 12 for as long as you possibly can!

Love
Dad

The Flaming Lips Honoured In Oklahoma City This Tuesday!

I’ve seen plenty of band biographies and career trajectory analyses through my years as a music fan. Truly one of the more interesting and storied histories belongs to Oklahoma’s favourite sons, the Flaming Lips. Mark another chapter this coming week when the band will be honoured with a distinctive milestone.

On Tuesday, April 28th, at 2:00pm, the Oklahoma History Center will host a Gala event celebrating the signing of the executive order proclamation by Governor Brad Henry declaring “Do You Realize??” the OFFICIAL OKLAHOMA STATE ROCK SONG as well as FLAMING LIPS DAY in the state of Oklahoma.

Statements will be made by Governor Brad Henry, Dr. Bob Blackburn, Executive Director of the Oklahoma History Center; Jill Simpson, Director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Commission, State Representative Joe Dorman, Senator Mike Schultz and of course, Wayne Coyne of the band.

The Oklahoma History Center is located at 2401 N. Laird Ave. and anyone is welcome to show up and show their support.

Might just have to fire up the UFO and head south for this one.