Makeup Monsters (photo by Katy McCourt-Basham)
- We’re all about the local love, so with that in mind it’s time to discuss this year’s Sound Off! — the Pacific Northwest’s biggest battle of the bands for the 21-and-under set — finalists. SOL, Dyno Jamz, and Makeup Monsters secured their spots performing at EMP’s Sky Church March 7th (this Saturday), as they compete for a chance to claim at performance spot at the 2009 edition of Bumbershoot. A fourth finalist, voted in by fans, has yet to be determined.
- Pitchfork has declared that the fourth edition of the site’s festival will be invading Chicago once more over the July 17-19th weekend. The bad news for eager beavers: no acts have been announced. Start booking your plane tickets now?
- Blur continues to put a little steam behind their supposed reunion. The Coxon-full group have booked a pre-Glastonbury warm-up in Manchester as well as post-Glastonbury stops in London (two shows in Hyde Park), Scotland (T in the Park), and Ireland (Oxygen Fest).
- Despite the economic issues that have stifled Touch & Go, the label is proving that is indeed shifting its focus from manufacturing, distributing, and new signees and putting that TLC back into their old catalog. The label has announced their participation in this year’s Record Store Day with Inch, a 7″ box set collecting out-of-print cuts from The Jesus Lizard! All we can say is the world need David Yow more than ever.
- Brand Neu!, obvious a tribute album to krautrock pioneers Neu!, is set to be released via Feraltone May 11th. The compilation will feature previously released material by Sonic Youth and LCD Soundsystem as well as tribute cuts from the likes of Oasis, Fujiya & Miyagi, and Primal Scream.
- Before they set up a week-long residency on the Late Show with David Letterman starting Monday, U2 made a surprise rooftop appearance this weekend to promote their upcoming album, No Line On The Horizon. On Saturday, Bono and the boys played atop the BBC Broadcasting House and clogged the neighboring London streets during their 20-minute set. Here’s one of their new songs, “Magnificent”:
- A reminder: Tomorrow evening begins Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and while our anticipation for the former SNL veteran is at an all-time low, the anticipation of seeing The Roots as the Late Night house band every weeknight is at an all-time high. The band is currently working on a new album and recently participated in Power Shift, a Washington, D.C. based clean energy concert/rally.
Here are the highlights of this week’s talk show performances:
David Letterman: U2
Colbert Report: David Byrne
Tuesday, March 3
David Letterman: U2
Jay Leno: Bettye LaVette
Jimmy Fallon: Santogold
Wednesday, March 4
David Letterman: U2
Jay Leno: Neko Case
Jimmy Fallon: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Thursday, March 5
David Letterman: U2
Late Late Show: Andrew Bird
Jimmy Kimmel: Raphael Saadiq
Friday, March 6
David Letterman: U2
Late Late Show: M. Ward
Last Call: N.A.S.A.
