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Monday News Mash-Up

Justin Spicer — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:15:27 +0000

John “Marmaduke” Dawson, lead singer and principle songwriter for 60s country rock gods The New Riders of the Purple Sage, passed away of stomach cancer Thursday. He was 64. The likes of Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Ryan Adams can attribute their early sound to the blend of hippie counterculture and Nashville country cool bred in 60’s coastal California.

Ex-Galaxie 500 couple Damon & Naomi are being compiled once more with The Sub Pop Years. The collection, obviously spanning the duo’s 1995-2002 output with Sub Pop, is not-so obviously being released by the 20|20|20 label September 8th.

The on-again/off-again talk surrounding prolonged exposure to Britpop favorites Blur seems to have found its way into the off position once more. Wave bye-bye to rumors of U.S. dates and the dream of a new Blur album. We’ll always have Glastonbury.

If there was ever a modern model to follow to find success with the self-loathing and grandiose among us, perhaps it is the path taken by Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova — The Swell Season. Make a movie, tour relentlessly, and then sneakily prepare the release of your second album, Strict Joy, under the cover of Anti-. Strict Joy is due September 29 — and no, there are no plans for Twice.

In an effort to have some of you re-examine the way music is digested, may we suggest checking out some cassettes? Goaty Tapes just released a new batch, highlighted by Circuit Des Yeux (who also has a LP coming out via De Stijl) sharing space with Cro Magdon and Bird. Not to be outdone in the weird department, EXBX just dropped five cassettes spanning the worlds of punk, collage, drone, and electronic-tinkerings. Now you have an excuse to break out your boombox and camp out on the nearest stoop.

Rumors are swirling concerning Daft Punk preparing tour dates — or at the very least a handful of events — behind the supposed score for 2011’s Tron Legacy. The French duo rarely grace stages with their dance hits but it seems the tide is slowly changing. Considering the soundtrack is for an uncompleted movie that isn’t due for two years, make sure to keep your excitement in check.

Their HBO program may be wrapped up nice and neat in a tight, curly bow but The Flight of the Conchords have an album’s worth of TV tunes to give onto the masses. I Told You I Was Freaky will boast songs from the second season of the duo’s eponymous program — and though you probably bought the songs on iTunes the day after each debuted on HBO, the October 20th album will feature three unreleased show tracks — if that’s what you’re into.

Tip of the hat to Stereogum for linking to our recent videos from White Rabbits‘ in-studio performance at KEXP. According to the website, the band has licensed their single “Percussion Gun” to accompany Ralph Lauren’s Fall Collection.

Late night talkshow circuit

Monday, July 27

Jimmy Fallon: Spinal Tap
Tavis Smiley: Berry Gordy (R)

Tuesday, July 28

David Letterman: Silversun Pickups
Last Call: The Duke Spirit (R)
Daily Show: Spinal Tap
Ellen DeGeneres: Stevie Wonder (R)

Wednesday, July 29

David Letterman: Elbow
Jimmy Fallon: Passion Pit
Last Call: Lykke Li (R)
George Stroumboulopoulos: Kings of Leon (R)

Thursday, July 30

Conan O’Brien: Regina Spektor
Jimmy Fallon: Jarvis Cocker

Friday, July 31

Conan O’Brien: Ben Harper & Relentless7
Last Call: Crystal Antlers (R)
Tavis Smiley: Raphael Saadiq (R)

Saturday, August 1

Saturday Night Live: Phoenix

Monday News Mash-Up

Justin Spicer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:15:14 +0000

In the sorrow caused by the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett, many missed the passing of Sky Saxon, a member of the The Seeds as well as Source Family — the group associated with spiritual leader and folk mystery Father YaHoWha. L.A. Record has a wonderful eulogy from current Wilco fixture and friend of Saxon, Nels Cline.

As rumors of a lengthy Blur reunion persist, the group stokes the flames with the announcement of the release of limited edition recordings of the band’s upcoming July 2nd and 3rd Hyde Park shows in London. You can pre-order the 2xCD sets or MP3s but be prepared to give up a few pounds (in currency, not in weight though it’d be a marvelous diet).

Sigur Ros is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Icelandic release of Agaetis Byrjun by making available two exclusive live performances from the album’s original launch party concert at the Icelandic Opera House on June 10, 1999. You can signup for the their mailing list and download “Hafssol” and you can watch video of “Nyja Lagid” right here:

Yoko Ono will release Between My Head and the Sky September 22nd. The album will feature son, Sean Lennon, as well as the talents of Yuka Honda and Cornelius.

Amy Milan, better known as the lovely female chanteuse of Stars, is readying her second solo album, Masters of the Burial, for a September 8th release date. The follow-up to Honey from the Tombs will feature a guest appearance from Feist (she’s everywhere!) and a cover of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.”

Billboard announced this week that the cause of Jay Bennett’s death was an accidental overdose of fentanyl. The pain killer is prescribed to alleviate chronic pain. It was widely discussed that Jay was awaiting a hip surgery before his May 24th death.

Forget the Night Ahead is the title of the upcoming LP by The Twilight Sad LP, due in late September. The band is already offering up the first single for download:

The Twilight Sad - Reflection of the Television (MP3)

Local doom behemoths sunn O))) have the West Coast in their sites with a planned tour that kicks off with a two-night stand at Neumos August 5th and 6th.

While Seattle gears up for Bumbershoot, our friendly neighbors to the south in Portland are readying their annual blowout, Music Fest Northwest. The September 16th-19th festival announced its line-up this week, which finds the newly reunited Sunny Day Real Estate at the top of an eccentric list that includes Girl Talk, Mudhoney, Explosions in the Sky, Bad Brains, and a list too long to reproduce in this space. That’s why clickable links were invented. Look for KEXP broadcasting from MFNW once again!

Since there are no new live performances on the late night talk shows this week, it’s a good time to get caught up on some you may have missed. Don’t miss these again:

Monday, June 29

David Letterman: Steve Earle (R 6/3/09)
Jimmy Fallon: Yeah Yeah Yeahs (R 4/15/09)

Tuesday, June 30

Take the night off

Wednesday, July 1

Conan O’Brien: Taj Mahal (R 6/9/09)
Last Call: Little Boots (R 3/4/09)

Thursday, July 2

David Letterman: PJ Harvey and John Parish (R 6/12/09)
Conan O’Brien: Neko Case (R 6/11/09)
Jimmy Kimmel: Phoenix (R 6/26/09)

Friday, July 3

Jimmy Fallon: Keane (R 5/26/09)
Last Call: N.A.S.A. (R 3/6/09)
Jimmy Kimmel: Bat For Lashes (R 6/24/09)

Monday News Mash-Up

Justin Spicer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:34 +0000

Alex Crick

The Capitol Hill Block Party just added to the already stellar lineup Built to Spill, The Lonely Forest, Fences, KEXP favorites Pela! Also added: Wild Orchid Children, Awesome Color, and a reunion of dance party masters Sing Sing. How many more reasons do you need to get your tickets now?

While it may be a stretch to call themselves the Monsters of Folk, it isn’t a stretch at all to put lofty expectations of the upcoming release of Jim James, M. Ward, and Conor Oberst. The trio have traveled together in many forms through the years, so the supergroup’s self-titled album, due September 22nd, should provide fans with many jaw-dropping and goosebump inducing moments — or at least 15 songs of bliss.

Merge continues to celebrate its 20th year in existence with the recently announced release of the book, Our Noise. Written by John Cook, with help from label founders Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance as well as an introduction written by Ryan Adams, Our Noise will map the label’s beginnings while exploring its continued success. Thrown in for good measure will be artist profiles on many of Merge’s biggest and brightest, including Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Arcade Fire.

Label anniversaries abound! Warp Records, home to a wealth of ambient, electronic, and avant releases in its 20 years of existence, is putting the finishing touches on a five disc, five 10-inch box set, Warp20. Featuring some of the label’s seminal releases and a heavy dose of unreleased material, the set also comes with a 192-page hardbound book with the artwork of every Warp release through August 2009. The set will be ready by the end of September.

The on-again off-again rumors or a Blur reunion are definitely back on and there’s now proof! In fact, only a mere 150 people got to witness their return (their first performance in nearly a decade) at the East Anglian Railway Museum in Essex on Saturday. Four more warm-up gigs are expected before they take their act to the big stages of the world. Read the review here and enjoy this snippet courtesy of Blur themselves:

Clear Channel and Frontline Management, in a stab to take a bit of the audience away from the personalized and homogenized satellite radio crowd, is introducing A.P.E. (Artist Personal Experience). The program promises 24-hour online radio stations produced by musicians. Beginning in the July, the inaugural stations will consist of Weezer, The Eagles, and Christina Aguilera. The stations can be heard from any local Clear Channel radio station website, will feature advertisements, and the favorite selections of the namesake artists involved.

On the heels of last year’s Black Wooden Ceiling Opening, Phil Elverum (AKA Mount Eerie) is taking his black metal sound — kindly dubbed “black wooden” by Mr. Elverum — into the full length album spectrum with the August 18th release of Wind’s Poem.

South African band BLK JKS are preparing to follow up their critically acclaimed Mystery EP with their full-length debut, After Robots, produced by Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis and featuring Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. You can preview a song here from the album, due September 8 on Secretly Canadian:

BLK JKS - Mololatladi (MP3)

For those of you who ignore Twitter (and no one blames you), you may be missing a chance of nabbing free music from your favorite musicians. A few artists have decided to spring new material on unsuspecting fans via the 140-character driven hype site, with The Raveonettes bequeathing demos to fans via the site. Not to be outdone, Roberto Lange (Prefuse 73, Savath & Savalas) has released tracks from Tuitero Roto, his latest mini-album.

Need more free music? How about a heavy dose of early 90s computer graphics? Sub Pop is giving you both with the downloadable label mix, Cybersex.

It’s a very slow week on the late night talk show circuit this time around. Spinal Tap are “Back from the Dead” with Conan tonight while Camera Obscura is performing songs from their beautiful new album on the Late Late Show. Thursday’s the night you really need to park it on the couch, though, as Phoenix, The Dead Weather and Metric will all be live. There are only a few other highlights and your weekend is free and clear, that is, unless you want to stay home for the Jonas Brothers on SNL.

Monday, June 15

Conan O’Brien: Spinal Tap
Late Late Show: Camera Obscura
Last Call: Doves (R 5/26/09)

Tuesday, June 16

Last Call: Diane Birch

Wednesday, June 17

Last Call: Zee Avi
Ellen DeGeneres: Keane

Thursday, June 18

David Letterman: Phoenix
Conan O’Brien: The Dead Weather
Late Late Show: Metric
Last Call: Peaches
Jimmy Kimmel: Ben Harper

Friday, June 19

David Letterman: The Sounds
Last Call: The Ting Tings

Monday News Mash-Up

Justin Spicer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:15:49 +0000

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:

Monday, March 2

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.