Compiled by Blurt Staff

57 channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here’s BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM Syndicated: Rachael Ray: KT Tunstall

11:00 AM Bravo: GLAAD Media Awards: Janet Jackson , Rufus Wainwright , Joss Stone

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Morrissey , Mohair , Wolfmother , Goldfrapp

2:30 PM VH1C: 46664 - A Concert for Nelson Mandela

5:00 PM VH1C: The U.S. vs. John Lennon

6:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Paul Weller , Carlos Santana , Anthony Hamilton , Bettye Lavette , John Cale , Sheryl Crow More

8:00 PM VH1C: VH1 Goes Inside Yo! MTV Raps

9:00 PM VH1C: Beat Street (1984)

10:10 PM Sundance: Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Esperanza Spalding , Jack Black

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Ed Harcourt

12:00 AM BET Jazz: Club J Concerts: George Clinton: Live at Montreaux - 2004

12:00 AM RAVE HD: The Dave Fanning Interview: R.E.M.

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Secondhand Serenade

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: They Might Be Giants

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Duffy [SEE OUR CD REVIEW OF DUFFY’S RECENT ALBUM Rockferry BELOW IN OUR REVIEWS SECTION]

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Moby

Also headed to the Conan O’Brien show in July.

By Blurt Staff

KT Tunstall’s just announced dates for an August tour of America, featuring opening act Martha Wainwright. Said Tunstall in a press release, “I'm very excited to be bringing my vintage electric guitars over to the U.S. for this month, and mixing the acoustic roots of Eye to the Telescope with the more complex driving sounds of Drastic Fantastic.”

Tunstall’s European and North American acoustic spring 2008 tour, dubbed “The Campfire Tour,” “was a huge success,” Tunstall added. “It taught me to enjoy the subtleties of the set as much as the pedal-to-the-metal foot-stompers… My bar has been raised – I’ve realized what's possible…touring (a first album) with a band, seeing how that album can turn into something else on stage, and how we can actually make it better… It’s always been about getting onstage and trying to do a mind-blowing show. And if you’re playing the same set night after night, that means playing around with it, and experimenting with what you've got. It’s not a CD, it's a gig.”

Tunstall will perform on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 15^th, with American pop-soul icon Daryl Hall.

Of additional note: Tunstall is a founding figure in the launch of Global Cool, an environmental issues action group. Tunstall is also affiliated with The CarbonNeutral Company, partnering with CarbonNeutral in a dedicate-a-tree plan in her native Scotland to offset the carbon footprint of her own career.

KT Tunstall Tour Dates:

August 1        Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Botanical Gardens

August 2        New Brunswick, Canada @ Moncton Magnetic Hill Festival

(w/ The Eagles, John Fogerty, Sam Roberts)

August 3        West Hampton Beach, NY @ Westhampton Beach Performing Arts

August 4        Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 6        Albany, NY @ Empire State Plaza (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 7        Fairfield, CT @ Fairfield Theatre (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 8        Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Music Box (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 9        Baltimore, MD @ Virgin Festival (w/ Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, etc)

August 11      Grand Rapids, MI @ Meijer Gardens (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 12      Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 13      Columbus, OH @ The LC Pavilion (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 14      Interlochen, MI @ Kresge Auditorium (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 15      Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theatre (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 17      Lyons, CO @ Folks Festival (w/ Jakob Dylan, Missy Higgins, etc)

August 18      Denver, CO @ Denver Botanical (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 20      Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre (w/ Martha Wainwright)

August 22      Reno, NV @ Silver Legacy Resort Casino

August 23      Cle Elum, WA @ Suncadia Resort

August 24      Denver, CO @ Mile High Station

August 25      Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen(w/ Martha Wainwright)

More fun than a barrelful of disco biscuits.

By Fred Mills

It’s July, which means family vacation time, and I know that most of you will be headed to Albany to check out the brand-new Eliot Spitzer Memorial S&M Dungeon. So while you’re up that way, why not pop over to nearby Mariaville afterwards — say, from July 17 – 19 — after your spouse has unshackled you and take her and the kids to camp. Camp Bisco, to be exact. Where the jamband, hip-hop and electronica communities come together to, uh, kick out the honkin’ jams.

As you all know, Camp Bisco is the brainchild of the mighty jamming Disco Biscuits. For their 7 installment they have amassed a roster of talent that includes Snoop Dogg, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, MSTRKRFT, III, Tea Leaf Green, RAQ, Telepath, Amplive and loads more. See below for the full lineup. In addition to two regular stages and a late night dance tent, they also just announced that there will now be a third stage this year “open only on Friday and Saturday, will feature a wide variety of electronic DJs, bands, and performing artists - including fire dancers, hoopers, and more.” Check out the Camp Bisco website for full details.

Meanwhile, BLURT and our friends at Music Allies are giving away a pair of tickets to Camp Bisco. Just click on the contest banner that appears at the top of the page and follow the instructions.

Camp Bisco VII Performers

The Disco Biscuits – all 3 nights; Snoop Dogg; DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist; Younger Brother Live Band; MSTRKRFT; SHPONGLE; The New Deal; 2020 Soundsystem; ! ! !; Fiction Plane; The Egg; Tea Leaf Green; Lotus; Bassnectar; Prometheus; DrFameus w/DJ Drizno (EdvsAL); LA Riots; DB; Pnuma Trio; Amplive; Lazaro Casanova; RAQ; Elliot Lipp “Live PA”; Ralph Lawson; Dubwar NYC; Future Rock; Figo; U-Melt; The Bridge; Telepath; Orchard Lounge; Grimace Federation; Strut; Zack Hagan (solo DJ & with Live Band 1050); Jamie McLean; Chameleon Project; Push; Jimkata; Ross D; Justin Paul; Kezner; DJ Everyday; Locality; DJ Punisher; John Overfiend; Sassmouth; Sci Fi; and Otherwise.

Yes, they really do wanna hurt him….

By Fred Mills

Well, if you were following the story over the past week or so, you saw this shit coming, didn’t you? Boy George’s visa has been denied by THA MAN (that would be the American government). In a statement, George said:
 
“I was really hoping that the issue would be resolved and that some kind soul at the US Visa Office would realize that if the police in the UK placed no restrictions on my movements, that should have been good enough for them.  I am very sorry that I will not see all my American fans this year, but I wish them a happy and healthy Fourth of July.  I include the Visa Office in those good wishes and realize they are doing a very difficult job and I just got unlucky.”
 
Boy George has a South American tour in September and a 25-date tour across the UK in October of this year. North American dates will reportedly be rescheduled for Winter 2009.

You can read our prior coverage on the Boy George brouhaha HERE, HERE and HERE.

Have a cigar, boy, Roy Harper’s back catalog going back into print!

By Fred Mills

Just issued by Koch is a collection of early titles from legendary UK folk-rock singer/songwriter Roy Harper — who, if you’ve been paying attention over the years, has had his praises sung by everyone from Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd to Joanna Newsom. This marks the first official US release of albums previously only available as imports. Freshly restored and repackaged, they are released on Harper’s own Science Friction record label in exclusive distribution partnerships with Cadiz Music in UK and KOCH Entertainment in US.

Last week Cadiz issued four albums from Harper’s catalog via KOCH:

• Stormcock: from 1971, it’s re-released in a case-bound book and has been cited as a major influence by Johnny Marr and Joanna Newsom.
• Counter Culture: A double CD best-of compilation.
• Jugula: collaboration with Jimmy Page from Led Zep.
• Flat Baroque and Berserk:  featuring such songs as “Don’t You Grieve,” “I Hate the White Man,” and “Another Day.”

Additional forthcoming Harper titles to be released later in 2008 include: The Green Man, The Dream Society, The Unknown Soldier, and Death or Glory.  

In a statement, Harper noted, “I am delighted that Koch is releasing my albums in the USA. I was particularly impressed that Michael Rosenberg is a fan of my music. I am looking to come over to tour in 2009 with my new album.” Added Michael Rosenberg of KOCH, “Roy Harper is one of the most important songwriters of the rock era, period.   I’ve been a fan of his for decades, since discovering his music as a teenager.  Needless to say, we are thrilled to be working with him.”

About time old cricketer Harper returned to the American crease, eh?

Incidentally, if you go to Harper’s MySpace page, check out his blogs — he’s got two lengthy entries where he writes about the Stormcock album. Fascinating stuff.

Dig it — “both a Strat articulation and enough low-end heavy metal sound”…

By Blurt Staff

First we bring you news about the Stevie Ray Vaughan miniature Stratocaster. Now we’ve got the scoop on Fender’s new Billy Corgan Stratocaster — and this one is freakin’ full-sized, just right for your inner Smashing Pumpkins shredder. Read on….

Produced to Corgan’s exacting specifications.  The new Billy Corgan Stratocaster is an especially modern take on the iconic Fender Strat^® model, built especially for a high-gain sound and designed to create Corgan’s signature mid-’90s buzz saw tone.Fresh off the success of 2007’s critically-acclaimed and gold-certified Zeitgeist album and massive world tour, Corgan teamed with Fender to create the guitar he’s always dreamed of.  The guitar features three DiMarzio pickups (two of which are custom-wound for the instrument), a string-through hard-tail bridge, jumbo frets, a satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish and a vintage tweed case.  It is offered in an Olympic White finish, with a black pickguard or Black finish with a white pickguard, reflective of Corgan’s signature style.

“The versatility of this instrument is what impresses me and is why I’m really excited about this model,” Corgan said. “This guitar has both a Strat articulation and enough low-end heavy metal sound to get the ‘Sabbath’ out of the guitar I want.  My greatest go-to guitar got stolen at a Pumpkins club date in 1991, and I’ve always struggled since then to find a guitar that was my guitar.  I’m really pleased with this model’s versatility, which I need because I’m playing music from a 17-year period of the Pumpkins’ history—from spacey early stuff to grunge to all-out cyber metal, then back to ballads.”

“Billy owns a lot of vintage Strat guitars, but he was looking for a primary ‘go-to guitar,’ said Justin Norvell, Fender marketing director for electric guitars.  “Billy was very hands-on. We were bringing prototypes into the studio and rehearsal space while they were tracking the record, and did the fine-tuning on the specs while they were out on tour. Playing live and in the studio are two completely different things, so Billy wanted to be sure it met his needs in both arenas, so we worked together to make sure it was perfect.”

Perfect, we are sure of it.

Debuts on Anti- on July 22.

By Fred Mills

One Day As A Lion has just signed with Anti- Records to release their One Day As A Lion debut EP on July 22. Who, you ask, is One Day As A Lion? It’s Zack de la Rocha, from Rage Against The Machine of course, on vocals and keyboards, and drummer Jon Theodore.

From the band:

“One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.”

“A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare.  It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask.  One Day As A Lion is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore from Los Angeles, California.”

“The name is taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights.  It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’  This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”

The band is so new it only got a MySpace page active last week, and both it and the official website don’t offer much info other than what we’re reporting here. No music samples yet, so keep checking back.

Track Listing:

01 - Wild International

02 – Ocean View

03 – Last Letter

04 – If You Fear Dying

05 – One Day As A Lion

Compiled by Blurt Staff

57 channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here’s BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

8:00 AM Biography: Loretta Lynn

9:00 AM HBOC: Blues Brothers (1980)

10:00 AM Great American Country: Master Series: John Hiatt

11:00 AM BET Jazz: Dizzy Gillespie: A Night In Tunisia

12:30 PM MHD: SoulStage: Erykah Badu

1:30 PM FUEL: Check 1, 2: Matt Costa

3:00 PM VH1C: Storytellers: Billy Idol

4:00 PM FUSE: Steven's Untitled Rock Show: Shwayze , Katy Perry , Lordz

5:30 PM Noggin: Yo Gabba Gabba!: Sugarland , Biz Markie

8:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Beck , Doves , Kubb , David Sanborn , M. Ward , Jools Holland

10:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Lil' Wayne

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Donna Summer

12:00 AM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Thom Yorke , Envelopes , Albert Hammond, Jr.

1:00 AM Oxygen: Singles (1992)

1:30 AM VH1C: The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Local H

American kids stoked on volume, velocity and punk-fueled vigor.

By Fred Mills

Radio Silence A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music is a forthcoming book from MTV Press documenting, via striking visuals, the rise of hardcore. Remember that? No, this ain’t some quaint nostalgia trip as most so-called revivals tend to pan out.

Rather, the 224-page book, according to the publisher, “documents an era when musicians and fans booked shows, photographed bands, started record labels, designed album covers and published zines themselves… Over 500 images of rare records, t-shirts, fanzines, illustrations and photographs of Black Flag, Big Boys, Rites of Spring, Agnostic Front, the groundbreaking fanzine Ulysses Speaks and much more.”

Authors Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo get assists from Dave Smalley, Jeff Nelson of Minor Threat and photographer Mark Owens, and the whole deal carries a distinctive whiff of you-are-there. Maybe some of you actually WERE there. (Remember when Rollins came out with his long hair just to piss everybody off?) Revisit it on Oct. 7. And you can check out the official website too.

"I mean.. we get shit from the local idiots just because we're putting out a record, can you believe that?" letter from Kevin Seconds to Ian Mackaye



"Hardcore was a reaction to punk...we made it faster, tougher, harder and better and changed it, morphed it made it unique and American..."  Dave Smalley, DYS, Dag Nasty

[Bad Brains at Viceroy Park, Charlotte 1-16-82 photo credit: Rusty Moore, Loud Fast Photo — check his website at www.loudfastphoto.com]

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at a Minor Threat live video of “In My Eyes,” shall we?

Also, if you hang out at YouTube searching for MT videos you can come across some pretty funny debates and flamewars between a bunch of dumbasses debating punk, hardcore, and whether Minor Threat was better than Rage Against the Machine!

All that and a link to an MP3, too!

By Fred Mills

Damien Jurado drops his new album Caught In the Trees Sept. 9 on Secretly Canadian. Not so coincidentally, that same week he heads out onto the road with with bandmates Jenna Conrad and Eric Fisher. You can read more about the album and check out an advance MP3 of the tune “Gillian Was A Horse,” by going to our June 20 news item on Jurado.

Damien Jurado Tour Dates:

9/7/08 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
9/9/08 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
9/10/08 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
9/12/08 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
9/13/08 Seattle, WA - Triple Door
9/25/08 Chicago, IL - Schubas
9/29/08 Cambridge, MA - TT The Bear's

9/30/08 New York, NY- Mercury Lounge

10/1/08 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall

10/2/08 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
10/3/08 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Chapel

10/4/08 Columbus, OH - Milo Arts

[Photo Credit: April Brimer]

New album Before the Quiet just out too.

By Blurt Staff

Controlled Bleeding, one of the earliest American acts to pioneer industrial music, is celebrating its 30 year anniversary with a free download of “Wall of China Love Letters,” the second track on Before the Quiet ( MVD Audio). Oddly, although the song was recorded in 1978, the abrasive, bouncing, instrumental could be a musical blueprint for the bands coming out of Williamsburg’s disco punk scene. See below for the MP3.

Although Controlled Bleeding has been and always will be lumped into the genre of old school industrial music, their earliest inspirations were steeped in the first wave of New York City punk bands like The Dictators, Dead Boys, the Ramones and the brooding technical brilliance of King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Henry Cow. Before the Quiet,  a collection of music from the early formations of the group, infused with the hunger and intensity of youth, clearly illustrates the collision of these seemingly opposing influences. Recordings from 1978-1982, assembled by main man Paul Lemos capture the different early eras of the band. The album is an incredible peek back into the early days of "anything goes" alternative music.

Check out the band (and its many side projects):

Controlled Bleeding: www.controlledbleeding.com

Controlled Bleeding MySpace: www.myspace.com/controlledbleeding

Breastfed Yak: www.breastfedyak.com

Skin Chamber: www.skinchamber.com

Fat Hacker: www.fathacker.com

[Photo Credit: Paule Saviano]

“Wall Of China Love Letters”

Followup to critically-hailed 2006 platter.

By Fred Mills

BLURT faves the Cold War Kids will be dropping their new album  in September via Downtown. The album title is tba, but it’s the followup to 2006’s acclaimed robbers & cowards. Meanwhile, they’ll be prepping for a tour that officially starts September 20 in San Diego but will be preceded by a few festival warm-ups.

They've also posted a brand new in-studio video clip on their website: http://www.coldwarkids.com

Hey, long as you are thinking about the band, check out our little story on bassist Matt Maust’s book project.

 

Cold War Kids Tour Dates:


08/22/08    Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
 08/23/08    Sunset Junction Festival, Los Angeles, CA
 08/24/08    Les Schwab Amp, Bend, OR
09/20/08    Street Scene, San Diego, CA
09/27/08    Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
09/28/08    Richards on Richards, Vancouver, Canada
09/29/08    The Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA
10/01/08    The Neurolux, Boise, ID
10/02/08    In The Venue, Salt Lake City, UT
10/03/08    Boulder Theatre, Boulder, CO
10/10/08    Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis, MN
10/11/08    Vic Theatre,  Chicago, IL
10/14/08    Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
10/15/08    Webster Hall, NYC
10/16/08    Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
10/17/08    Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
10/18/08    Nightclub 9:30, Washington, D.C.
 10/20/08    Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
10/21/08    Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
10/23/08    Lola's, Ft. Worth, TX
10/24/08    Emo's Alt. Lounge-Outside, Austin, TX
10/25/08    Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
10/26/08    Voodoo Music Experience, New Orleans, LA

Solo tour from Kurt Wagner to follow.

By Fred Mills

It’s one of the more idiosyncratic album titles of the year thus far, but then, it’s by one of Americas most idiosyncratic combos. 'OH (ohio)' is by Nashville-based Americana eclectics Lambchop, and it’s due Oct. 7 from Merge.

According to Merge the record wax co-produced by the group's songwriter/vocalist  Kurt Wagner and part-time 'Chopper Mark Nevers, at the latter's Beech House studio. It features eleven new songs all written by Wagner, “notably the soul folk of ‘ Slipped Dissolved and Loosed,’  the galloping rhythms and chiming guitar-piano interplay of
‘ National Talk Like a Pirate Day,’  and the funky ‘ Popeye’  —  that have come to be a Lambchop hallmark.”

In a statement, Wagner commented on his group and its many changes over the years,  saying, "The last few years have been about a distillation of the collective into a core band: Tony Crow (piano), William Tyler (guitar), Matt Swanson (bass), Alex McManus (guitar) and now Ryan Norris (keyboards, guitar) and Scott Martin (drums). This is their sound, and it's Lambchop's sound. But Lambchop more and more has become a vehicle for my songs and myself as an artist. I've fought against that interpretation for twenty years, but now I've just given up trying to fight it anymore."

Wagner added that he is planning a U.S. solo tour around the release of 'OH (ohio).'

Woodstock veteran brings the noise with extensive tour.

By Blurt Staff

July 29 brings a new Richie Havens album, Nobody Left to Crown (Verve Records). Here’s the scoop from the label:

Gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music, Richie Havens has a soulful singing style that remains as unique and ageless as when he first emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. It's a voice that has inspired and electrified audiences from the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair in 1969, to the Clinton Presidential Inauguration in 1993 - coming full circle with the 30th Woodstock Anniversary celebration, "A Day In The Garden", in 1999. Richie Havens is not a man to easily abandon his hopes for a better world. "We are at the dawn of major change", he declares with a broad smile. Nobody Left to Crown is his heartfelt and unwavering contribution to these fine aspirations.

For over three decades, Richie has used his music to convey messages of brotherhood and personal freedom. With more than twenty-five albums released and a touring schedule that would kill many a younger man, he continues to view his calling as a higher one. As he told The Denver Post, "I really sing songs that move me. I'm not in show business; I'm in the communications business. That's what it's about for me.”

:

Richie Havens Tour Dates:

July 05 Guilfest Surrey England
July 06 Solidays Paris France
July 11 Bluesfest Windsor Windsor ON
July 12 Bluesfest London Downtown ON
July 20 Stephen's Talkhouse Amagansett NY
August 02 Newport Folk Festival Newport RI
August 03 Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Empire MI
August 07 Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn NY
August 08 Reach Performing Arts Center Deer Isle ME
August 09 L. L. Bean Summer Concert Series Freeport ME
August 10 Nashua River Valley Folk Festival Lancaster MA
August 25-26 Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville CT
August 29-31 Rhythm Festival 2008 Clapham, Bedfordshire, UK
September 05 The Ohio Theater Cleveland OH
September 06 Beverly Arts Center of Chicago Chicago IL
September 13 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry NH
September 19 Le Poisson Rouge New York NY
September 20 Events Center at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Bethel NY
September 26 Infinity Hall Norfolk CT
September 27 Jonathan's Ogunquit ME
September 28 Higher Ground S. Burlington VT
November 21 The Sellersville Theater Sellersville PA
November 22 Patchogue Theater Patchogue NY
November 28-29 Stone Mountain Arts Center Brownfield ME
December 11 Rhythm & Brews Chattanooga TN
December 13 WorkPlay Theatre Birmingham AL
January 16 One World Theater Austin TX
January 23 Anthology San Diego CA
January 24 The Palmdale Playhouse Palmdale CA
February 06 The Firehouse Coffeehouse Littleton MA
February 07 Veritas Auditorium Chicopee MA
February 20 Kirkland Performance Center Kirkland WA
February 28 Mariner Theatre Homer AK

Compiled by Blurt Staff

57 channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here’s BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM Biography: Mavericks: Honky Tonk Angels w/Patsy Cline , Loretta Lynn , Shania Twain , Ray Charles , Judy Collins , Kris Kristofferson

10:00 AM VH1C: BBC Crown Jewels: In Concert: James Taylor

12:00 PM VH1C: Aftermath: The Station Fire Five Years Later w/Twisted Sister , Tesla , Aaron Lewis , Winger , Eric Martin , John Rich

2:00 PM Biography: Mavericks: Honky Tonk Heroes w/Johnny Cash , George Jones , Toby Keith , Hank Williams Jr. , Waylon Jennings , Willie Nelson

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Morning Runner , Richard Hawley , Primal Scream

4:00 PM FUSE: Steven's Untitled Rock Show: My Chemical Romance

4:50 PM MAX: Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)

5:30 PM Noggin: Yo Gabba Gabba!: Mya , Mark Mothersbaugh

6:30 PM ETMC: Standing in the Shadows of Motown

8:00 PM FUSE: Purple Rain (1984)

9:00 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: Islands

10:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: The Cure , Jackson Browne , Anita Baker , KT Tunstall , The Futureheads , Embrace (UK)

10:00 PM VH1C: NY77: The Coolest Year In Hell

10:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: Panic at the Disco, David Gray & Suzanne Vega

11:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: The Charlatans

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: The Republic Tigers

12:00 AM VH1C: The Night James Brown Saved Boston

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: The Kills

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Cloud Cult

What’s next, a documentary and a box set? Er, never mind…

By Fred Mills

First they rob his grave, then the steal the gravestone — Ian Curtis’, that is. The iconic Joy Division vocalist had his life and legacy disinterred in two recent films, Anton Corbijn’s Curtis biopic Control, and Grant Gee’s Joy division documentary Joy Division, and now we’ve learned via a BBC report that the memorial marker at Curtis’ grave was taken sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

Curtis, who died in 1980, was buried in Cheshire in the Macclesfield Cemetery, and thieves took the marker which bore the legend Ian Curtis 18-5-80 Love Will Tear Us Apart. According to a police spokesman they have no leads in the case. “This is a very unusual theft,” he noted, however, “and I am confident that someone locally will have knowledge about who is responsible or where the memorial stone is at present."

Good point. And it’s not exactly the kind of thing you’re going to be able to flog on eBay, now, is it?

A representative from the Macclesfield Borough Council added, "I'm shocked this has happened. Someone's gone to a great deal of trouble to remove the memorial stone and I hope our appeal will help return it as soon as possible."

By the way, just kidding about that grave robbing remark above: both Control and Joy Division are outstanding films that do both Curtis and his band proud. And c’mon folks — return the goddam stone. That’s pretty low.

Arthur Lee & Co. finally get the documentary treatment.

By Blurt Staff

Due in stores July 22 is Love Story (Start Productions), a documentary of the late, great band Love by filmmakers Chris Hall and Mike Kerry. We’ve got an advance look at the film and you can read a review of it in our DVD section.

Before you check out the review, don’t miss the clip of the movie trailer we’ve nabbed for ya right here!

Love Story promo

Nashville nabob of non-negativity flips the bird at complacency.

By Blurt Staff

Whattaya get when you cross a smart-mouthed, literate singer-songwriter with the current social and political climate? Why, a new Todd Snider album, of course! Peace Queer, due out August 19, is, in Snider’s words, "a record of brevity, humor and hope." It’s the followup to 2006’s The Devil You Know, which wasn’t exactly short on brevity and humor and hope either.

The overtly political Peace Queer takes a bit of a left turn for the outspoken Snider, beginning with the cover photo, which depicts Snider being held at gunpoint by a shirtless hippie. "Clearly, anyone who looks at the photograph can tell that I had been abducted by an international league of peace queers and forced to write protest music. You know, for their cause," says Snider.

The eight tracks on Peace Queer include a Civil War sea shanty, a cover of CCR classic "Fortunate Son," a spoken-word number, a rocket-fueled meditation on contemporary culture ("Stuck On The Corner"), and a Fred Sanford-ish funeral dirge. The emotional centerpiece of the album is the wistful "Ponce Of The Flaming Peace Queer."

"Peace Queer is a six-song cycle, starting with a song called ‘Mission Accomplished’," Snider explains. "In six sentences, the record goes like this: Here’s the kid being told everything’s going to be great. Here’s the reality of that. Here’s that kid when he comes home a sad and banged-up and angry winner. Here’s the breakdown of why I think that’s happening. Here’s the guy in our culture that I think is causing that to happen, and it’s not a president. And then here’s what I think is going to happen to that guy. And then we roll credits."

On Peace Queer, those credits include Patty Griffin, Kevn Kinney, Don Heron, Doug Lancio, Will Kimbrough and others.

"Things happen in this album besides you being told that war is wrong, with a beat," Snider says. "I don’t know that war is wrong. I just know that I’m a peace queer, and I’m totally into it when people aren’t fighting, in my home, at the bar where I hang out, or in a field a million miles away."

Track Listing:

1. Mission Accomplished (because you gotta have faith)

2. The Ballad of Cape Henry

3. Fortunate Son

4. Is This Thing Working?

5. Stuck On The Corner (prelude to a heart attack)

6. Dividing The Estate (a heart attack)

7. Ponce of The Flaming Peace Queer

8. Is This Thing On?

Keepin’ it real across Europe, Australia and the Shire…

By Fred Mills

Underground hip-hop legend Lyrics Born dropped Everywhere At Once (Anti-) recently and is headed out on tour for an extensive trek across Europe and then to Australia.

And now there’s a video for first single “I Like It, I Love It.” For the vid Mr. Born teamed with Neon’s Nabil Elderkin and John Pina (Common, Kanye West, John Legend), and he portrays a wizard, a hippie and Mr. T, among others. You can check it out below, after the list of tour dates.

Lyrics Born Tour Dates:

4 July                         Belfort, France          Eurokennes Fest
5 July                         Werchter, Belgium   Werchter Fest
6 July                         London, UK              O2 Wireless Fest
10 July           Lisbon, Portugal       Lisbon Alive Fest
13 July           Rotterdam, NL          North Sea Jazz Fest
14 July           Vitoria, Spain                        Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival
16 July           Montreux, SWI          Montreux Jazz Festival
18 July           St. Polten, Austria    Nuke Festival
19 July           Bern, SWI                  Gurten Festival
20 July           Camden, UK             Dingwalls
21 July           Brighton, UK             Komedia
22 July           Edinburgh, UK         VooDoo Rooms
23 July           Nottingham, UK       The Rescue Rooms
24 July           Bristol, UK                 Thekla -
26 July           Manchester, UK       Mint Lounge
27 July           Liverpool, UK            Carling Academy 2
30 July           Ultrecht, NL               Tivoli
31 July           Amsterdam, NL        Melkweg
3 August        Byron Bay, AU          Splendor in the Grass Festival

5 August        Hobart, AU                Republic Bar
6 August        Adelaide, AU                        Electric Light Hotel
7 August        Perth, AU                   Capitol
8 August        Melbourne, AU         The Espy
9 August        Sydney, AU               The Forum
22 - 24 Aug   San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Festival -- Golden Gate Park

"I Like It, I Love It" video by Lyrics Born

“Wading in worse cacadoody than ever…”

By Blurt Staff

This just in…The Zappa Family Trust will make available the long-out-of-print Frank Zappa Beat The Boots series next Tuesday, July 8. But don’t rush out to your CD store: the material, 148 tracks in all, will only be available digitally at iTunes, Amazon, etc.

Interestingly, these will be the only authorized Frank Zappa albums available on iTunes.

Gail Zappa said in a statement, "Even though the polar caps are melting away at such a horrendous rate we will probably never need boots again except for wading in worse cacadoody than ever, you can finally get these Beat the Boots on iTunes just in time to be reminded of Liberation of another sort on the 4th of July."

The whole deal was set up through TuneCore, of whom Zappa noted, "We chose to use TuneCore because it's the fastest and easiest way to get Frank Zappa's music into iTunes, while keeping all of our rights and royalties in the process."

Jeff Price, CEO of TuneCore added, "Excited? What are you kidding me? It's Frank Zappa!"

Originally conceived by Frank Zappa as a way to outsell bootleggers, the original eight-album box set Beat The Boots I was released in July, 1991 on Rhino. It was followed in June, 1992, by another seven albums, marking Beat The Boots II. Though the albums were later released individually on CD, they went out of print and routinely fetch high prices on eBay.

Albums to made available starting July 8:

As An Am (Beat The Boots I)
The Ark (Beat The Boots I)
Freaks & Motherfu*#@%! (Beat The Boots I)
Unmitigated Audacity (Beat The Boots I)
Anyway The Wind Blows (Beat The Boots I)
'Tis The Season To Be Jelly (Beat The Boots I)
Saarbr¸cken 1978 (Beat The Boots I)
Piquantique (Beat The Boots I)
Disconnected Synapses (Beat The Boots II)
Tengo Na Minchia Tanta (Beat The Boots II)
Electric Aunt Jemima (Beat The Boots II)
At The Circus (Beat The Boots II)
Swiss Cheese/Fire! (Beat The Boots II)
Our Man In Nirvana (Beat The Boots II)
Conceptual Continuity (Beat The Boots II)

Compiled by Blurt Staff

57 channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here’s BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

8:30 AM VH1C: The Prince of Paisley Park

9:30 AM VH1C: BBC Crown Jewels: In Concert: Stevie Wonder

10:30 AM VH1C: BBC Crown Jewels: Chuck Berry

1:00 PM MHD: Scissor Sisters Live at the O2 Arena

2:30 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: Islands

3:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Peter Frampton

4:20 PM Encore Drama: American Hardcore

5:00 PM Sundance: Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

7:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Placebo , Jenny Lewis , The Watson Twins , Matt Willis , Feeder

9:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Duffy , KT Tunstall , Foals , We Are Scientists

9:00 PM NBC: Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular: Natasha Bedingfield , Kenny Chesney , Katharine McPhee , Jordin Sparks , Gavin DeGraw

10:00 PM CBS: Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular: Rascal Flatts , Boston Pops , Keith Lockhart/Boston Pops

11:00 PM VH1C: Styx: One With Everything

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Tristan Prettyman

12:00 AM VH1C: Bob Dylan - No Direction Home

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Katy Perry

[Pictured: Katy Perry]

Beer, barbecue and BLURT -- it's the American way, yo!

By Fred Mills

Here's wishing all our readers a happy and safe 4th of July. Remember: Bush and Cheney may think it's their America, but it ain't. It's YOURS. Take it back in November.

Or else you won't be able to enjoy such patriotic delights as Grace Potter, of BLURT faves Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, natch, literally draping herself in the Stars & Stripes for all of US.

Break out those flannels and Docs, kids, and party like it’s, uh, 1989…

By Blurt Staff

Next week in Seattle it will essentially be SUBPOPattle — the venerable record label’s much-touted 20^th anniversary will be marked by a series of concerts and other events. Not only will current Sub Pop acts like Flight of the Conchords, Mudhoney, Iron and Wine, Fleet Foxes, Kinski and Wolf Parade be performing, several key early Sub Pop combos will be reuniting for the bash — among them, Green River and The Fluid.

There’s also a special comedy night, an oral history presentation about the label and a Sub Pop deface-the-Space-Needle happening. Below you can read the latest info direct from the label.

BLURT will be on hand too: our Seattle correspondent Gillian G. Gaar will be filing daily reports from ground zero, so watch this space for the details as they unfold.

***

From Sub Pop:

On the eve of a full week which Sub Pop Records has devoted to celebrating 20 years of Sub Pop Records, the Seattle label is herewith announcing further details on its related events, releases and commemorative intoxicants. We have added Obits and the Constantines to the SP20 Festival lineup (full revelry schedule below – DAY ONE SOLD OUT!), created a beer in our own honor, chosen the beneficiaries of the various SP20 revelries, made plans to deface a classic Seattle landmark, and also re-launched the much-loved Sub Pop Singles Club! Self-absorbed? Maybe. But, it’s our birthday.


LOSER PALE ALE
Celebrating 20 years of celebrating Sub Pop Records, with beer. Specifically this beer: Brewed with Pale, Munich, Crystal and Cara-hell malts. Elysian Brewery’s Head Brewer, Dick Cantwell, created this special blend to be sold on draft at all SP20 events, as well as in bottles at select Pacific Northwest stores.
 
SP20 BENEFICIARIES
All of the bands/artists/comedians participating in our various 20th anniversary revelries have agreed to play for free in the hopes of raising a bunch of money to give to a bunch of worthwhile organizations. Herewith the list of these organizations:
 
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society/ Farm Sanctuary/ National Coalition for Homeless Veterans/ The 924 Gilman Street Project/ Knowmore.org/ The Children’s Garden Network/ Kiva – micro-lending/ Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation/ Red Cross International Response Fund/ Radio 1190/ The Katharine House Hospice/ The Bridge School/ The Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation/ Free the West Memphis Three/ The Darcy Davidson Cancer Fund/ Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery/ First Place/ Northwest Film Forum/ The Maasai Cultural Foundation/ 826 Boston/ The Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation/ Lance Armstrong Foundation/ Hope for the Warriors/ National Multiple Sclerosis Society/ Accelerated Cure Project/ PAWS/ National Breast Cancer Foundation/ Emergency Food Network/ The Bellur Trust/ Head & Hands/ KEXP
 
For more information visit: http://www.subpop.com/channel/news/sp20_who_gets_the_money
 
THURSDAY – JULY 10, 2008
Seattle Institutions Unite in Celebration of Seattle and Its Institutions! Sub Pop will professionally deface THE ACTUAL SPACE NEEDLE with some wildly expensive, professionally designed by professionals, self-congratulatory sloganeering.
@ 12 PM (Space Needle - 203 6th Ave N)

Oral History Live! An Evening w/ Sub Pop Founders Bruce Pavitt & Jonathan Poneman @ 7 PM (JBL Theater at EMP|SFM - 325 5th Avenue North)
Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman celebrate 20 years of the label’s history by sharing their experiences from their early days releasing Soundgarden and Nirvana, to present success with bands like The Shins and The Postal Service. Jacob McMurray, senior curator at EMP|SFM, will conduct the interview. Free to EMP|SFM members and The Recording Academy members; $5 general public, 206.770.2702 or 1.877.EMP.SFM1.
 
FRIDAY – JULY 11, 2008
SP20 Comedy Show
@ 8 PM (Moore Theatre - 1932 Second Avenue)
David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry, and host Kristen Schaal will, we’re hoping, devote some of their material to jokes at Sub Pop’s expense. We’re hoping this mostly so we can steal these jokes and use them ourselves later. Whatever the content of their sets, these are all experienced, comedy professionals and you should plan accordingly. Tickets for SP20 Comedy Show on sale now at Moore Theatre Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets, at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 206.628.0888.
 

SATURDAY – JULY 12, 2008
SP20 Festival
@ 11 AM (Marymoor Park – Redmond, WA)
Flight of the Conchords / Iron & Wine/ The Vaselines/ Mudhoney/ Low/ The Fluid/ Fleet Foxes/ Pissed Jeans/ The Helio Sequence/ Seaweed/ Eric’s Trip/ Constantines/ Obits! THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT!!

Gutter Twins, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth (Feat. Tad Doyle)
@ 9 PM (The Showbox at the Market - 1426 1st Ave Seattle)
Advance tickets available at Showbox at the Market Box Office, open Monday through Friday, 11am to 6pm, $2.00 service charge per ticket, CASH ONLY. Tickets also available through Ticketmaster outlets, at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 206.628.0888.
 
SUNDAY – JULY 13, 2008
SP20 Festival
@ 11 AM (Marymoor Park – Redmond, WA)
Wolf Parade/ Green River/ Beachwood Sparks/ Comets on Fire/ Red Red Meat/ No Age/ Les Thugs/ Foals/ Kinski/ TBA/ Grand Archives/ The Ruby Suns
Tickets for Sunday at the SP20 Festival on sale now at Ticketmaster outlets, at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 206.628.0888.

[Pictured: (top) The Fluid; (middle) Green River

Racist N.C.finally kicks the bucket after much anticipation.

By Fred Mills

North Carolina’s Jesse Helms, a key architect of the racist, homophobic, oppressive and oftentimes just plain illegal strategies employed by the Republican party, died on July 4 (today) at the age of 86. Natural causes were cited; in the years since leaving the Senate he’d suffered from a number of ailments associated with aging, most recently receiving a diagnosis of vascular dementia.

Blah blah blah… Well, you can read elsewhere the various tributes, testimonials and commentary on Helms, his life and his legacy. A quick check of Google news lists, as I write this, 531 items on Helms, and I’m not going to waste any more of my time on him than I have to. Besides, this is a music portal. But the Helms passing IS significant.  Speaking personally, as a native North Carolinian, I was forced to endure the Helms “legacy” for most of my life, and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience. My father was also a politician, so I think I understood a lot of what Helms was about — he was a venal, bigoted, mean-spirited opportunist who, as an ultraconservative, stood for everything that I was against. Most likely he stood for a lot of the things all you music lovers out there are against, too.

Is it wrong to speak ill of the dead? Not this time, baby. I once pledged in print that if I ever have the chance to piss on any graves, it would be Richard Nixon’s — and Jesse Helms’ grave, when he dies. I can’t wait. I remember how, back in the '80s, in the pre-Internet age, I had a lot of overseas musical correspondents, and inevitably, when the dialogue turned to my living in North Carolina and the arts, culture, etc. of the state, Helms' name would come up. It was almost as if foreigners' perceptions of N.C. had been largely shaped by the public image of Helms, at the time probably the state's most famous (infamous) citizen, and I frequently had to explain that we Tarheels weren't all backwoods, racist, Bible-thumping oafs.

(Ironically, but sadly, what goes around, comes back around: funny how nowadays foreigners' perceptions of the U.S. are largely shaped by their images of Bush and Cheney...)

"My legacy will be up to others to describe," Helms once said, in a latterday interview.

How about contributing to the ruination of America? How’s that for a description, Jesse. Fuck you, you cracker motherfucker. Rot in hell.

It’s appropriate Helms kicked on July 4. Maybe as we draw closer to the November election, we can mark this day as the true beginning of a new era for our country. I just wish he'd died earlier, in time for the Harp magazine election special that we (my fellow BLURT-ers) published just before the demise of Harp. I would have gladly penned a Helms “memorial.” Consider this it, then.

Separated at birth? Making my point are (L) Jesse Helms and (R) Dick Cheney.

Four songs feature guests Alejandro Escovedo, Tom Morello, Roger McGuinn and the late Danny Federici.

By Fred Mills

Bruce Springsteen’s got a new digital EP, Magic Tour Highlights, due next week, July 15, from Columbia. It will be available at all the usual digital download stores. Included are four audio tracks with four accompanying videos, all recorded live in concert during the Magic tour.

What’s unique about these particular songs is that, while the Boss is backed up by the E Street Band, each one features a special guest star, respectively, Alejandro Escovedo, Tom Morello, Roger McGuinn and the late Danny Federici (in his final appearance with the band prior to his death). Of additional note: On sales of these downloads, the artists, songwriters, and music publishers are waiving all of their royalties, and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits, to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The iTunes Store is donating their first year's net profits as well.

Track Listing:

1. "Always A Friend" (performed with Alejandro Escovedo)
Recording Date: 04/14/2008 (Houston, Texas)
2. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (performed with Tom Morello)
Recording Date: 04/07/2008 (Anaheim, California)
3. "Turn Turn Turn" (performed with Roger McGuinn)
Recording Date: 04/23/2008 (Orlando, Florida)
4. "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" (Danny Federici's final performance
with the E Street Band)
Recording Date: 03/20/2008 (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Incidentally, the videos for both the Escovedo and Morello appearances are posted at Springsteen’s official website…

Meanwhile, Bruce & Co. return to the States at the end of this month to kick off the final leg of the Magic  tour. Those dates are as follow:

7-27 East Rutherford, NJ - Giants Stadium
7-28 East Rutherford, NJ - Giants Stadium
7-31 East Rutherford, NJ - Giants Stadium
8-02 Foxboro, MA - Gillette Stadium
8-15 Jacksonville, FL - Veterans Memorial Arena
8-16 Charleston, SC - North Charleston Coliseum
8-18 Richmond, VA - Richmond Coliseum
8-19 Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
8-21 Nashville, TN - Sommet Center
8-23 St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
8-24 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
8-30 Milwaukee, WI - The Roadhouse at the Lakefront

His strongest effort since Sea Change.

By Blurt Staff

The new Beck album, Modern Guilt, hits stores tomorrow — highly anticipated, it’s produced by Danger Mouse. We’ve got an advance review of the platter in our CD reviews section below penned by our resident Beck-o-maniac Zach Herrmann, who says, in part, “Modern Guilt packs a lot of surprise into less than 35 minutes… This is about as sparse as he has been on album, both in length and in instrumentation – just one of the many reasons Modern Guilt marks his strongest effort since Sea Change.”

And after you’re done chewing on that, check out the video for “Modern Guilt”:

40 bands, 5 stages, 3 chords, 2 nights… and the truth!

By Fred Mills

The first annual Mile High Music Festival takes place in Denver (Out Fields At Dick’s Sporting Goods Park) on July 19 and 20, and the lineup of over 40 artists includes Dave Matthews Band, headlining the first night, and Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, for the second night; plus John Mayer (recently reviewed by BLURT), The Black Crowes, O.A.R., Michael Franti & Spearhead, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Steve Winwood, Spoon, Flogging Molly, Colbie Caillat, One Republic, The Roots and others. (Colbie Caillat? WTF?!?)

Visit the Mile High website  to view stage times for the complete line-up. Included as part of the event will be five stages (some tented), food from many of Denver's top restaurants, an artists' village, misting tents and more. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. each day, with performances commencing at noon and ending at 11:00 p.m. Single-day and 2 day passes are on sale now at the website; ticket prices are $150.00 (plus service charges) for a 2-Day Pass, with a limited number of Single Day Tickets available for $85.00 (plus service charges) while supplies last.

More details, from the festival’s organizers:

Also recently unveiled is the Festival's "Carpool to Mile High" Contest. Patrons are being encouraged to "Go Green" by carpooling with four or more people in one vehicle.  Here's how it works: Make a fun and noticeable sign in your car window telling everybody who can see, that you are carpooling.  Sign must in include the words: "Carpool to Mile High".  When you arrive at the Festival go to the 64^th Avenue entrance and follow signs to Carpool Parking.  In addition to premium, close-in parking, you will be automatically entered to win VIP passes and access to a MHMF artist meet-and-greet for everyone in your car.  Winner's license plate numbers will be announced on the Main Stage video screens at 5 PM both days, and prizes will be redeemed at the Merchandise Tent.  All cars admitted in the carpool lot will be entered to win.

Also just announced, Colorado based not-for-profit Conscious Alliance will host a Food Drive at the Mile High Music Festival to benefit Food Bank of the Rockies (www.FoodBankRockies.org). All patrons donating 10 non-perishable food items, or $10.00, will receive a limited edition Conscious Alliance/Mile High Music Festival poster by rock artist Randy Bishop.  Volunteers will be stationed outside the festival's main entrances, where patrons can exchange their donations for a voucher that is redeemable at the Conscious Alliance booth inside the venue.  For more information on Conscious Alliance and the work they do, please visit www.consciousalliance.org.

Go see Grace Potter & the Nocturnals this summer…it’s your patriotic duty.

By Fred Mills

BLURT faves — and erstwhile HARP heroes — Grace Potter & the Nocturnals are on the road all summer. No surprise there. Their version of The Never-Ending Tour has ‘em doing some east coast and Midwest dates and will keep ‘em busy through early August. Assorted festival appearance dot the itinerary, naturally, and in October they’ll also be featured at the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals Tour Dates:

Jul 5 2008        12:00A

            Charlottesville Pavilion w/ The Black Crowes           Charlottesville, Virginia

Jul 6 2008        12:00A

            Penn’s Peak w/ The Black Crowes     Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

Jul 8 2008        12:00A

            Metropolis w/ The Black Crowes       Montreal, Quebec

Jul 11 2008      6:00P

            All Good Music Festival         Masontown, West Virginia

Jul 12 2008      12:00A

            Massey Hall w/ The Black Crowes     Toronto, Ontario

Jul 18 2008      6:00P

            Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort        Snowbird, Utah

Jul 19 2008      4:00P

            Grand Targhee Americana Festival w/ Lyle Lovett & Martin Sexton & Derek Trucks - Susan Tedeschi             Alta, Wyoming

Jul 20 2008      2:45P

            Mile High Music Festival        Denver, Colorado

Jul 23 2008      12:00A

            Cain’s Ballroom w/ The Black Crowes           Tulsa, Oklahoma

Jul 24 2008      7:00P

            The Crossroads           Kansas City, Missouri

Jul 26 2008      12:00A

            The Shoe at Ceasars Indiana w/ The Black Crowes   Elizabeth, Indiana

Jul 27 2008      7:00P

            Orbit Room w/ The Black Crowes     Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jul 29 2008      12:00A

            House of Blues w/ The Black Crowes            Cleveland, Ohio

Jul 30 2008      12:00A

            House of Blues w/ The Black Crowes            Cleveland, Ohio

Aug 1 2008     12:00A

            Sleeping Bear Dunegrass Festival       Empire, Michigan

Aug 3 2008     5:50P

            Wolf Trap w/ The Black Crowes        Vienna, Virginia

Aug 5 2008     7:00P

            Byham Theater w/ The Black Crowes            Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Aug 6 2008     12:00A

            The Madison Theater w/ The Black Crowes   Covington, Kentucky

Aug 7 2008     7:30P

            Birdy’s            Indianapolis, Indiana

Aug 8 2008     12:00A

            The LC Amphitheater w/ The Black Crowes             Columbus, Ohio

Aug 9 2008     8:00P

            Chameleon Club w/ Hoots and Hellmouth     Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Aug 10 2008   6:30P

            All Points West Festival         Jersey City, New Jersey

Aug 16 2008   5:30P

            Burlington Waterfront            Burlington, Vermont

Aug 24 2008   12:00A

            Outside Lands Festival           San Francisco, California

Sep 7 2008      5:45P

            Britt Pavilion w/ The Black Crowes   Jacksonville, Oregon

Sep 13 2008    7:30P

            Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival            Fredericton, New Brunswick

Sep 25 2008    7:00P

            Wilbur Theatre            Boston, Massachusetts

Oct 24 2008    9:00P

            Voodoo Music Festival           New Orleans, Louisiana

Oct 24 2008    9:00P

            Voodoo Music Festival           New Orleans, Louisiana

Jan 4 2009       12:00A

            Jam Cruise 7    Florida Belize and Mexico, TBD

[Photo Credit: Johnny Buzzerio]

Much-loved string virtuoso also performed with symphonies.

By Fred Mills

On Thursday, July 3, Noel Sayre, violinist for the groundbreaking Columbus band the Black Swans, passed away. Sayre, 37, had been at the Southern Ohio Medical Center on life support and in critical condition since almost drowning in a nearby community pool on Tuesday. In a report published by The Columbus Dispatch a sheriff’s department spokesman was quoted as saying the cause of death “appeared to be a massive heart attack.”

Sayre, originally from West Virginia, had a degree in music from Ohio University, had performed with several symphonies and also gave violin lessons. In the early ‘90s he played with Columbus’ Pretty Mighty Mighty, then on New Year’s Eve of 1995 he got together with singer-songwriter Jerry DiCicca to form the Black Swans, and the band went on to release two albums (a third was in the works) and tour the U.S. to huge critical acclaim.

In addition to the Swans, Sayre recently played on an album by 1970’s country-funk songwriter Larry Jon Wilson. Released last week on Sony in the UK, Larry Jon Wilson is slated for a domestic release his fall on Hacktone and is already notching both critical praise and kudos from the likes of Rick Rubin and Will Oldham.

A memorial service is being planned in Huntington, WV on Saturday July 12. Donations are being accepted to pay for the expenses. You can contact the Black Swans at theblackswansband@gmail.com for details on the service and how to make donations.

Yesterday evening, DiCicca sent out an email to fans and friends of the band to provide a more personal account of his friend and bandmate Sayre. It’s a very insightful, moving portrait of Sayre, and parts of it are worth reprinting here:

Noel and I began playing music together on New Years Eve of 1995, opening a show for the Yips and the Bassholes at Bernie’s Bagels in Columbus, Ohio. We split $100 for that gig, and so began a partnership that quickly became a strong and lasting friendship that the Black Swans based themselves upon.

We were always more Heckle & Jeckel and Penn & Teller than Simon & Garfunkel, as we shared an idea about music as art, posing as entertainment, that we explored over hundreds of gigs and several recordings. Musically, I always stood in Noel's shadow and Noel always felt he was my shadow. We spoke in code, a short-hand, that sometimes alienated others and sometimes amused them. We were kindred spirits in many ways and couldn't be more different in others. He was quiet and articulate, rowdy and beyond shy, hyper intelligent and incredibly
dense. I think I knew him better than anyone and it is safe to say there was a lot I never saw. It is shocking to think he will no longer be a part of my physical life. We both imagined that we'd be standing on stage together when we were 80, an appropriate age for our favorite tempo.

Too, I'm happy to say he already recorded his parts for the next Black Swans album and, as always, played with intelligence, humor, and a transcendent pallet of emotions.

Noel taught me a lot about myself. As we played witness to one another, we stuck to our guns, charting each others growth as a person and a musician. We went through a lot together, good and bad, always expressing ourselves in different ways, but never an unkind word was exchanged, always caring and supportive. I can't imagine my life or music without him.

BLURT would like to extend our deepest condolences to Sayre’s family (we are told he only had a cousin surviving him) and to DiCicca.

Watt and Thurston Moore w/Tom Rapp’s Fourth Day of July”

By Fred Mills

Mighty Mike Watt is away from the United States this weekend: “I'm in Spain, ain't home and on tour,” he writes, apologizing for not getting the missive that follows to us on July 4. No apologies needed, Watt (on bass, natch).

He’s talking about a cover of a Tom Rapp (Pearls Before Swine) song, “Fourth Day of July,” that he and Thurston Moore recorded in 2003 and made available as a free download via the Protest Records site. Wrote Watt, “I posted this song last year on the Fourth of July. It seems like a good tradition to maintain, so here goes. Like last year, I’m not going to say much about the song. I want you to hear it the way I heard it: with zero preface. This song will haunt you.”

Check it out (lyrics posted below):

Fourth Day of July

Links:

Protest Records

Mike Watt Hoot Page

Mike Watt MySpace

“Fourth Day of July,” lyrics by Tom Rapp:

And it came to pass on the first day of July
The last man home from Vietnam was going to arrive
The ship came in so silently, its bow a ghostly white
And when they looked upon the decks, there was not a man inside

Then the sea began to roll and from the ship a moaning
A line of broken children, all from the ship a-coming
The light of death was in their eyes
The broken children of Vietnam
On the first day of July

Like a war beyond control, to Washington at dawn
A line of ghostly children upon the White House lawn
Grown men did turn away, not to see it anymore
To see the burning child running to the White House door
No one found a place to hide
The burning children of Vietnam
On the second of July

All across America a line ten miles long
The dead children all coming home
From the land of Vietnam
To men who got too far away
From what was done in their name
Someday must all have to pay
Who never saw a child die
The dead children are coming home
Four days in July

On every door and window across this sad gray land
A mark that would never go away of a thousand thousand hands
A voice like voices in a dream
A voice like somebody else’s scream
Or not somebody else’s scream
A voice within a fire
The burning children of Vietnam
On the third day of July

Then they came upon the sea, it did open up before them
A line of children all with wounds, upon the ocean walking
Then the sky began to rain
And beat the land with tears of rage
And every year upon that day if a hundred years go by
It rains upon America
On the fourth day of July

Compiled by Blurt Staff

57 channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Heart

10:00 AM BET Jazz: Masters of American Music: Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker

12:00 PM MHD: U2: Rattle and Hum

2:00 PM Biography: Celine Dion

2:00 PM MHD: NME Awards 2007: Primal Scream , Kasabian , The Killers , View , Kaiser Chiefs , Jarvis Cocker

2:05 PM Showtime Next: Beastie Boys - Awesome; I F**kin' Shot That!

2:30 PM MOJO: London Live!: Mark Ronson , Biffy Clyro , Feist , Groove Armada

3:35 PM Showtime Next: Made in Sheffield w/Human League , Cabaret Voltaire , Heaven 17 , ABC , Pulp

7:00 PM MHD: FNMTV Premieres: Rihanna , Maroon 5 , T.I. , No Age , Day 26

10:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Beck

11:00 PM Comedy Central: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Coldplay

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Kid Rock

12:00 AM MOJO: Reform School Girls (1986) w/Wendy O. Williams

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Matt Costa

1:00 AM Encore: Repo Man (1984)

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Tristan Prettyman

Reviews of Waits in Columbus June 28, Hold Steady in Baltimore June 27

By Blurt Staff

We’ve got you-are-there live reviews from the front lines of two of the hottest concert tours going on right now. Tom Waits may have wrapped up the American leg of his “Glitter and Doom” jaunt — he’s off to Europe later this week — but we can give you a flavor of what you missed via Mike Shanley’s report on the June 28 show in Columbus, OH. “Waits barreled into Columbus’ Ohio Theater and held court for just over two hours,” writes Shanley, “putting all his various personalities on display and in the process coming off like a family guy who lets his kids sit in with the big guns.”

Meanwhile, Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen was on hand for the Hold Steady’s triumphant performance in Baltimore on June 27. Observes the writer, “Although the band’s gotta be tired of the Springsteen comparisons, all I could keep thinking during their show at Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore was ‘This is like “Rosalita” for 90 minutes.’” The Hold Steady are in the UK this week but never fear: they’ll be back next week to resume the party.

Check ‘em out in our Concert Reviews section:

Tom Waits 6-28-08

Hold Steady 6-27-08

Tom Waits Tour Dates:

Jul 12 2008      8:00P

            Auditorium Kursaal    San Sebastian

Jul 14 2008      8:00P

            Auditorium Forum      Barcelona

Jul 15 2008      8:00P

            Auditorium Forum      Barcelona

Jul 17 2008      8:00P

            Teatro Degli Arcimboldi         Milan

Jul 18 2008      8:00P

            Teatro Degli Arcimboldi         Milan

Jul 19 2008      8:00P

            Teatro Degli Arcimboldi         Milan

Jul 21 2008      8:00P

            KCP    Prague

Jul 22 2008      8:00P

            KCP    Prague

Jul 24 2008      8:00P

            Grand Rex      Paris

Jul 25 2008      8:00P

            Grand Rex      Paris

Jul 27 2008      8:00P

            Playhouse        Edinburgh, Scotland

Jul 28 2008      8:00P

            Playhouse        Edinburgh, Scotland

Jul 30 2008      8:00P

            The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park    Dublin

Jul 31 2008      8:00P

            The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park    Dublin

Aug 1 2008     8:00P

            The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park    Dublin

Hold Steady Tour Dates:

Jul 8 2008        8:00P

            Liverpool Summer Pops - Echo Area             Liverpool, UK

Jul 10 2008      7:00P

            The Irish Centre          Leeds

Jul 11 2008      7:00P

            Carling Academy 2     Newcastle

Jul 12 2008      8:00P

            T In The Park Kinross, Scotland

Jul 13 2008      5:00P

            Oxegen Festival          Kidare CO

Jul 16 2008      8:00P

            Late Show with David Letterman      New York, NY

Jul 17 2008      8:00P

            Beachland Ballroom   Cleveland, Ohio

Jul 18 2008      8:00P

            Crofoot Ballroom        Pontiac, Michigan

Jul 19 2008      5:00P

            Pitchfork Music Festival @ Union Park         Chicago, Illinois

Jul 21 2008      8:00P

            Majestic Theatre          Madison, Wisconsin

Jul 22 2008      8:00P

            First Avenue (SOLD OUT)    Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jul 23 2008      8:00P

            Fargo Theatre Fargo, North Dakota

Jul 26 2008      8:00P

            Capitol Hill Block Party         Seattle, Washington

Jul 27 2008      8:00P

            Crystal Ballroom         Portland, Oregon

Jul 29 2008      8:00P

            Mezzanine       San Francisco, California

Jul 30 2008      8:00P

            Avalon            Los Angeles, California

Aug 1 2008     8:00P

            Casbah (SOLD OUT)             San Diego, CA

Aug 2 2008     8:00P

            Rialto Theatre             Tucson, AZ

Aug 5 2008     8:00P

            The Loft          Dallas, Texas

Aug 6 2008     8:00P

            The Parish       Austin, Texas

Aug 7 2008     8:00P

            Chelsea’s         Baton Rouge, LA

Aug 8 2008     8:00P

            Proud Larry’s Oxford, Mississippi

Aug 9 2008     8:00P

            40 Watt           Athens, Georgia

Aug 10 2008   8:00P

            The Pour House          Charleston, South Carolina

Aug 12 2008   8:00P

            Cat’s Cradle    Carrborro, North Carolina

Aug 13 2008   8:00P

            The Norva       Norfolk, Virginia

Aug 14 2008   8:00P

            930 Club         Washington, DC

Aug 16 2008   8:00P

            V Festival - Hylands Park       Chelmsford, UK

Aug 17 2008   8:00P

            V Festival - Weston Park        Staffordshire , UK

New EP The Gleam II also en route, plus a shitload of touring.

By Fred Mills

It’s been a poorly kept secret that uber-producer Rick Rubin had been expressing interest in working with North Carolina’s hard-twangin’ Avett Brothers, and now the word is official: the Avetts have signed a contract with Rubin’s American Records (which is distributed through Columbia), and are presently working on their next album with Rubin manning the boards. In a posting to their MySpace site, they call it “our distinct pleasure and honor to be in such fine company.” The full text of that post appears below.

Meanwhile, the Avetts are knee-deep, as usual, on the touring circuit — latest itinerary is listed below also — and BLURT can definitely guarantee that an Avetts concert is an experience not to be missed. You can check out one, ahem, fan’s hyperventilating reaction HERE. And there’s also the upcoming Avetts EP, due July 22 from their longtime label Ramseur, entitled The Gleam II, so be watching for that.

BLURT extends our congratulations to the Avetts & Co. Keep a rockin’, gentlemen.

***

To our dearest fans,

Since we first performed as The Avett Brothers, we have been fortunate enough to find and build a genuine and mutual respect with those who care to listen. It is this kind exchange that champions our music, and allows us the forum to continue on our path, with this work, this art. We believe this to be an appropriate time for a brief update, as we would like for you all to know of the most noteworthy of present developments.


We have recently begun working on a new full length album with Rick Rubin. The recording process has been, and will no doubt continue to be, an experience defined by heightened levels of commitment and conviction. It is our distinct pleasure and honor to be in such fine company as we build and bring this most current chapter of songs to fruition.


With this union has come another ,as we have just completed and signed an agreement with American/Columbia Records, the label with whom we will proudly release our next record. It is our sincere hope, in regard to this news, that our ongoing relationship with Ramseur Records is understood. There have been, and will be no hard feelings or abandon-based resentment from either party involved. The Avett and Ramseur camps remain strongly and truthfully connected, both personally and professionally. There has been no change in these matters through this momentous transition.


For all of you who have gone to such great lengths to show your appreciation, we continue in our most sincere efforts to return the sentiment. The music would go nowhere without you. Our hearts and our minds are on the recording of this next album, and we look forward with great anticipation to sharing it with you all. Until then, thank you as always, and we will see you somewhere on that open road...

Sincerely,
The Avett Brothers
July, 2008

***

Avett Brothers Tour Dates:

Jul 9 2008        8:00P

            River to River Festival            New York, New York

Jul 10 2008      8:00P

            Bottle & Cork             Dewey Beach, Delaware

Jul 11 2008      8:00P

            All Good Festival       Masontown, West Virginia

Jul 12 2008      8:00P

            Paramount Center For The Arts          Bristol, Tennessee

Jul 18 2008      8:00P

            Master Musicians Festival       Somerset, Kentucky

Jul 26 2008      8:00P

            Koka Booth Amphitheatre     Cary, North Carolina

Jul 27 2008      8:00P

            FloydFest        Floyd, Virginia

Jul 29 2008      8:00P

            Higher Ground            Burlington, Vermont

Jul 31 2008      8:00P

            Outerland        Edgartown, Massachusetts

Aug 1 2008     8:00P

            Shangri-La Music Festival      Blue Hill, Maine

Aug 2 2008     8:00P

            Pearl Street      Northampton, Massachusetts

Aug 3 2008     8:00P

            Newport Folk Festival            Newport, Rhode Island

Aug 17 2008   8:00P

            Jackson Hole Music Festival   Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Aug 19 2008   8:00P

            Strings Music Pavilion            Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Aug 20 2008   8:00P

            The Depot       Salt Lake City, Utah

Aug 22 2008   8:00P

            Big Easy Concert House         Boise, Idaho

Aug 23 2008   8:00P

            Secret House Vineyards         Veneta, Oregon

Aug 24 2008   8:00P

            Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre      Portland, Oregon

Aug 27 2008   8:00P

            Woodland Park Zoo   Seattle, Washington

Aug 28 2008   8:00P

            Britt Festival   Jacksonville, Oregon

Aug 30 2008   8:00P

            Strawberry Music Festival      Camp Mather, California

Sep 5 2008      8:00P

            Delta Fair & Music Festival    Memphis, Tennessee

Sep 6 2008      8:00P

            Copper Dragon           Carbondale, Illinois

Sep 7 2008      8:00P

            The Canopy Club        Urbana, Illinois

Sep 10 2008    8:00P

            Cain’s Ballroom          Tulsa, Oklahoma

Sep 11 2008    8:00P

            Granada Theater         Dallas, Texas

Sep 12 2008    8:00P

            Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival   Ozark, Arkansas

Sep 14 2008    8:00P

            Monolith Festival        Morrison, Colorado

Sep 19 2008    8:00P

            Jefferson Center - Shaftman Performance Hall          Roanoke, Virginia

Sep 20 2008    8:00P

            Charlottesville Pavilion           Charlottesville, Virginia

Sep 21 2008    8:00P

            Pier Six Pavilion - with the Drive By Truckers           Baltimore, Maryland

Sep 25 2008    8:00P

            The Jupiter      Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Sep 26 2008    8:00P

            War Memorial Auditorium     Nashville, Tennessee

Sep 27 2008    8:00P

            Coyote’s Music & Dance Hall            Louisville, Kentucky

Oct 2 2008      8:00P

            Georgia Theatre          Athens, Georgia

Oct 3 2008      8:00P

            Georgia Theatre          Athens, Georgia

[Photo Credit: Crackerfarm]

Levon Helm, Yonder Mountain String Band, Abigail Washburn, Presidents of the USA and more.

By Fred Mills

The mighty moe. have announced that their annual moe.down — the 9^th, if you’re keeping count — happens Aug. 29-31 up in Turin, NYC, at the Snow Ridge Ski resort. The site is about an hour northeast of Syracuse, at the edge of the Adirondack Mountains. Ski lifts will be open, and camping is available. The festival boasts a pretty stellar, and dare we say it, jamming, lineup:

The Levon Helm Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sparrow Quartet featuring Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck, The Presidents of the United States of America, Fishbone, Benevento-Russo Duo, Cornmeal, American Babies, U-Melt, The Macpodz, The Bridge, Lynch, The PMG, Swampadelica, The Brew

Oh, and moe. as well: just to make sure everyone remembers who’s throwing the bash, moe. plan to perform a total of six sets throughout the weekend!

A limited number of tickets are available at $105 until they are sold out or until August 5th. Visit the official moe.down website for up-to-the-minute information and to purchase tickets.

moe. are urrently on tour supporting the recently issued Sticks and Stones. Upcoming tour dates are:

Jul 10 2008      7:00P

            Cape Cod Melody Tent 10 & 11        Hyannis, Massachusetts

Jul 12 2008      5:00P

            Pier Revue - july 12th and 13th          Portland, Maine

Jul 18 2008      8:00P

            Fox Theatre     Boulder, Colorado

Jul 19 2008      5:30P

            Mile High Music Festiva         Commerce City, Colorado

Jul 20 2008      8:00P

            Mangy Moose             Teton Village, Wyoming

Jul 23 2008      6:30P

            Whiskey Roadhouse   Council Bluffs, Iowa

Jul 24 2008      7:00P

            The Crossroads           Kansas City, Missouri

Jul 25 2008      9:00P

            Diversafest      Tulsa, Oklahoma

Jul 26 2008      6:00P

            The AMP (The Arkansas Music Pavilion)      Fayetteville, Arkansas

Jul 27 2008      7:30P

            Moonlite Gardens       Cincinnati, Ohio

Jul 30 2008      6:00P

            Lifestyle Communities Pavilion          Columbus, Ohio

Aug 1 2008     1:00P

            Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Fest          Empire, Michigan

[Photo Credit: Danny Clinch]

Would YOU hire a buncha mimes to play your frat party?

By Fred Mills

File this under “useless news item of the day,” or simply geek out if you’re inclined to waste your time trolling for obscure bands like all of us at BLURT do!

So, my colleague-in-obscure-bands, the Rev. Keith Gordon, and I have been getting our mojo workin’ talking about the late, maybe not so great, Hello People. Described by certain pundits as a “mime rock group” — somewhat inaccurately, since a mime rock group technically wouldn’t make any sound, now, would they? — they performed in, yes, a mime’s white greasepaint and, occasionally, mime-like attire.

Forming in the late ‘60s, they issued their first, best known album, The Hello People, in ’67 and went on to release records well into the mid ‘70s before breaking up. Along the way they also toured and worked with Todd Rundgren, but for the most part they never really mustered more than a blip or two on the public consciousness radar. The albums were decent enough, a mixture of flower-powery folkrock (watch out though – Flute Alert!) and have-a-nice-day pop, so isn’t it about time for some of this band’s back catalog to be reissued for the digital era? Admittedly, one might want to dig out the bong for maximum “appreciation” of the band, but hey.

You can read more about them, if you are so inclined, at the Cool Groove site, which includes the photo above — really, a picture says a thousand words — along with some other pics and an archive of videos, including the one we’ve got for you below.

There’s just something about a mime in mustache and huge sideburns that’s wrong…

Join the throngs of assholes selling their collectibles on eBay for ridiculous sums!

By Fred Mills

Along with the big Sub Pop 20^th anniversary celebration happening this week in Seattle — check out our preview info HERE — the indie label is also announcing the resurrection of its legendary Singles Club. Those of you with long memories (or good record collections) will recall that Sub Pop started the Club way back in the day as an ingenious marketing tool for the label and its acts, pressing up 45s for the likes of Nirvana, Tad, Mudhoney, etc., in limited quantities that ensured the platters became collectors’ items when the Seattle scene took off. (How limited? How collectible? Let’s just say that when yours truly was putting in some much-needed home repairs a few years ago, the first Nirvana 45, duly eBayed in a fit of financial need, “single”handedly paid for the new flooring in the living room and hallway.)

Later the Singles Club featured non-label artists (e.g., Sonic Youth) in addition to showcasing up-and-coming Sub Poppers, and the whole concept of fans buying a subscription that brought an exclusive 45 to their mailbox each month subsequently was adopted as a model by a number of other labels.

Oft-imitated, never bested, however, the Sub Pop Singles Club was the real deal — and a good deal, too.  Inflation means that a subscription now costs $75 for a year ($90 outside North America), but that’s basically six bucks a record, including shipping and postage, so what ya complaining about? As Sub Pop puts it, “Here’s your chance to join the throngs of assholes selling their collectibles on eBay for ridiculous sums! All you have to do is: SEND US YOUR MONEY!”

Here’s the “deal” from the label:

The Sub Pop Singles Club is back, all tan and rested after a shockingly long sabbatical. It is a somewhat louche, world-weary thing with its eye on your wallet. This run of The Sub Pop Singles Club will run for 1 year only, include records (of the 7” variety) with music from such artists as Om, Unnatural Helpers, Tyvek, Black Mountain, Black Lips, Arthur & Yu, Mika Miko, Blues Control, Notwist, plus some stuff we’re not yet at liberty to divulge.

In addition to the singles themselves, each subscriber will receive a coupon enabling the download of high-quality MP3s of each record. No need to worry about how you’ll jam that 7” into your disk drive, we’ve got all you technophiliacs with your new-fangled gadgets covered.

We will mail subscribers 1 record per month, every month for an entire year beginning on August 15th with a fantastic pair of songs from Om. We will be pressing 1,500 copies of each single and so the number of subscriptions available for sale will be correspondingly limited. When these subscriptions are gone, that’s it! If you want in, better go here now:

http://www.subpop.com/releases/sub_pop/misc/sub_pop_singles_club_3_0

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

10:00 AM MHD: Scissor Sisters Live at the O2 Arena

10:30 AM IFC: Tapeheads (1988)

11:00 AM BET Jazz: The Duke - Duke Ellington

2:00 PM Comedy Central: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Coldplay

2:00 PM MHD: MTV Live: Coldplay

2:30 PM MOJO: London Live!: Manic Street Preachers , Charlotte Gainsbourg , The Coral , Dizzee Rascal

4:00 PM RAVE HD: From The Basement: The White Stripes , The Shins , The Divine Comedy

4:00 PM VH1C: ZZ Top: Live From Texas

6:05 PM FLIX: The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

7:00 PM Great American Country: The Collection: Alison Krauss

7:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: The Streets , Automatic , Nelly Furtado , The Feeling , The Automatic

8:00 PM FLIX: End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

8:30 PM MHD Concerts: Gorillaz: Live in Harlem

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Los Lonely Boys

12:00 AM BET Jazz: Club J Concerts: Jonathan Butler Live

12:00 AM Showtime 3: Backbeat (1993)

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Little Jackie

1:00 AM MHD: Radiohead: From The Basement

2:50 AM Sundance: Black, White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe w/Patti Smith

Sept. 3-6 w/TV On The Radio, Vampire Weekend, Mogwai, Menomena and more.

By Jamie Gadette

Good news for anyone counting down the days to South by Southwest (that's eight months, to be approximately exact)—Willamette Week's Musicfest NW lineup is up and boy does it look good. This year's festival, to be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area September 3-6, features a mix of homegrown favorites and nationally renowned acts including TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, The Murder City Devils, Mogwai, Del the Funky Homosapien, Xavier Rudd, The Cool Kids, The Helio Sequence, Menomena, Death Vessel, The Builders and The Butchers, Starfucker, Deerhunter and many more.  Wristbands good for the entire four-day event are a cool $50—cheaper than a tank of SUV gas! Shows are first-come, first-served. Visit MusicFestNW.com for complete details.

Following the most successful MFNW to date—2007 organizers really pulled out all of the stops with appearances by Wolf Parade, Spoon, Rilo Kiley, Aesop Rock, Viva Voce—the 2008 festival arrives with great expectations for a bigger, better, faster, stronger showcase of diverse talent. If you can't afford a wristband and/or misplaced your neon Ray-Bans, tune in to Seattle's KEXP radio, broadcasting live from the Doug Fir Lounge September 4-6, with live performances by featured artists.

2008 MFNW CONFIRMED LINE-UP

TV on the Radio

Vampire Weekend

The Murder City Devils

Mogwai

M Ward

Del the Funky Homosapien

Xavier Rudd

The Helio Sequence

Menomena

Polvo

Nada Surf

The Builders and The Butchers

Trans Am

Old 97's

The Cool Kids

The Night Marchers

The Whigs 

Seaweed

Steel Pole Bath Tub

Deerhunter  

Centro-Matic

Crooked Fingers

Bobby Bare Jr.

Death Vessel

Blitzen Trapper

Dan Deacon

John Vanderslice

Jedi Mind Tricks

Monotonix

Old Time Relijun

Mirah

Matt and Kim

Fucked Up

Poison Idea

Witchcraft

Supernova

The Joggers

Forro in the Dark

Rupa and The April Fishes

These Arms Are Snakes

U.S.E.

Walter Meego

Port O?Brien

Oxford Collapse

Nebula

Totimoshi

Shaky Hands

Calvin Johnson

Pseudosix

Starfucker

Akimbo

Danava

Colour Revolt

Bodies of Water

Throw Me From The Statue

Past Lives

The Devin Phillips Band

School of Seven Bells

Space Cookie

The Muslims

Silver Summit

Blue Giant

Pierced Arrows

The Blakes

Micah Blue Smaldone

Pwrfl Power

And many other bands.....

[Pictured: Menomena, by Alicia J. Rose]

“The Clash of bluegrass music… an American Band - even more so than Grand Funk Railroad!” — producer Don Was.

By Fred Mills

Twangin’ Americana merchants Old Crow Medicine Show have just announced the impending release of Tennessee Pusher, due to drop Sept. 23 on Nettwerk. It’s produced by none other than Don Was (of Was Not Was, also producer for Dylan, the Stones, Bonnie Raitt and scores more), and is described by the label along lines of “13 infectious tracks that offer a virtual American road trip, populated with characters that seem to span a century of the South. Down and outers, hustlers, freighthoppers - these are just a few of the archetypes we meet along the way. OCMS continues to create their special blend of American roots, rock, blues and country, but on the new album the band has truly found their own voice.”

The album comprises a dozen originals plus a cover of “Always Lift Him Up” by Blind Alfred Reed, and it also features a pair of stellar guests: drummer Jim Keltner and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Tennessee Pusher is preceded by a digital EP on July 29 titled Caroline; both the title track and “Next Go ‘Round” are from the full-length album.  The EP also includes an exclusive bonus track called “Back To New Orleans.”

 Don Was sang the band’s praises in a statement:  “People ask me what The Old Crow Medicine Show are all about. If I’m in a hurry, I just say that they’re The Clash of bluegrass music, but that doesn’t really do anyone any justice. I could tell ‘em that they’re a rock ‘n roll band who use fiddles and acoustic guitars instead of Les Pauls and Marshal stacks, but that’s only one small part of the story. They’re an American Band - even more so than Grand Funk Railroad! In fact, it’s not hyperbolic to say that, as musicians, songwriters and singers, they are the smartest and finest purveyors of American music to come down the pike in decades.”

Track listing:

1. Alabama High-Test        

2. Highway Halo    

3. The Greatest Hustler of All  

4. Methamphetamine      

5. Next Go 'Round

6. Humdinger 

7. Motel in Memphis         

8. Evening Sun

9. Mary's Kitchen           

10. Crazy Eyes

11. Tennessee Pusher 

“Insidiously catchy, deceptively simple Swedish earworms to drive us mad.” — BLURT

By Fred Mills

As previously announced by BLURT, minimalist-pop songbird Lykke Li is headed to the US in August for a string of shows to roughly coincide with the release of her Youth Novels album, due Aug. 19. We’ll have concert reviews as well as a review of Youth Novels, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, you can flash back to our Lykke Li interview by clicking HERE.

Lykke Li Tour Dates:

7-17 London, England - KOKO at the iTunes Festival)
7-19 London, England - Lovebox Weekender
7-20 Southwold, England - Latitude Festival
7-23 Stockholm, Sweden - Mosebacke
7-27 Huntingdon, England - Secret Garden Party
7-31 Östersund, Sweden - Storsjöyran
8-02 Ledbury, England - Big Chill Festival
8-07 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
8-08 Rees-Haldern, Germany - Haldern Pop Festival
8-09 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West
8-25 Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Cafe
8-28 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
9-05 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
9-29 Sheffield, England - Plug
10-01 London, England - Scala
10-02 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
10-05 Birmingham, England - Glee Club
10-06 Bristol, England - Thekla
10-08 Liverpool, England - Academy 2
10-09 Edinburgh, Scotland - Cabaret Voltaire
10-10 York, England - The Duchess
10-19 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-23 Boston, MA - Paradise
10-24 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
10-25 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10-28 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
10-29 Seattle, WA - Neumos
10-30 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
11-01 San Francisco, CA - The Independent

Quite possibly the best band currently operating in North Carolina. Quite.

By Fred Mills

Whattaya get when you combine such dubiously-phrased monikers as Frank Backgammon, Donnie Yale, Conrad Vacation and Bobby Freedom? Why, Charlotte’s Sammies, of course! Sandwich, their sophomore effort, will drop Sept. 23 on MoRisen, the same label that issued their well-received 2006 self-titled debut.

Recorded in Kernersville, NC at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium, it was produced by Ben Holst (Drive-By Truckers), Billy Bennett (Drive-By Truckers, The Whigs) and The Sammies. The label describes it as a “fusion of classic rock, early punk and indie rock” featuring 13 new songs including “Golden Sun,” “In the Basement,” “Treat Her Like a Queen,” and “Old Grey.” The band has already lined up some pre-album release gigs in and around the South (dates listed below) — their live shows are pure firestorms — and you can expect the full-court push when the album hits stores.

Meanwhile, over at the band’s MySpace site you can check out some samples of the new material, notably the Who-meets-Plimsouls anthemism of “Sleep In My Clothes” and the glam-slam sonic KISS that is “Treat Her Like A Queen.” Goddam, this is a good band. Way back when BLURT was still known as Harp, we advised you thusly:

“North Carolina’s the Sammies are a quartet of self-proclaimed country boys whose idea of roots music is more Echo and Iggy than Johnny and Willie. The music is supercharged beer-and-babes rock, but the Sammies draw inspiration from so much of the rock ’n’ roll canon they’re impossible to pin down. Their party-perfect debut romps through double-time Ramones tempos, spiky post-punk, Stooges ’tude, AC/DC power riffs, DEVO robot rock, Byrds jangle and early Roxy Music textures.”

We still stand behind that description. Sam on!

Sammies Tour Dates:

Jul 25 2008      9:00P

            Barley’s Taproom        Knoxville, Tennessee

Aug 1 2008     9:00P

            Grey Eagle      Asheville, North Carolina

Aug 9 2008     9:00P

            Visulite Theater           Charlotte, North Carolina

Aug 23 2008   9:00P

            Raleigh Downtown Live | The Pour House    Raleigh, North Carolina

Sep 6 2008      9:00P

            The Hummingbird       Macon, Georgia

Sep 9 2008      9:00P

            The Pour House Music Hall    Raleigh, North Carolina

Sep 13 2008    9:00P

            The Soapbox Lounge Wilmington, North Carolina

Sep 19 2008    9:00P

            Tasty World!   Athens, Georgia

Sep 20 2008    9:00P

            The Nick         Birmingham, Alabama

Oct 17 2008    8:00P

            Duke - Campus Concert Series           Durham, North Carolina

We’re still getting by with a little help from our friends.

By Fred Mills

You know, it seems like just yesterday when we were at Woodstock, flying at 180mph on “the rainbow” (if you know what I mean — we wisely avoided “the brown”), helping Hendrix restring his Strat (unfortunately we set it for right-handed player, hence his delay in getting started), and balling our brains out under the stage with nubile earth mamas. But dangit, we missed Joe Cocker’s career-making set! WTF!?!

Luckily, some wiseacre has posted Cocker’s classic Woodstock anthem “With A Little Help From My Friends” to YouTube, helpfully adding subtitles for those of us who have trouble sometimes with thick British accents. Enjoy!

Finale of Surfers Reunion Tour Set for Webster Hall, July 29, w/Paul Green School students.

By Fred Mills

Back in February Butthole Surfers/Gibby Haynes and his Problem frontman Gibby Haynes joined the talented teens of the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars for a six-city tour, performing some of the Butts’ classics such as “Graveyard,” “I saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas” and “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave. The tour was part of the Paul Green School of Rock Guest Professor Series, which gives some of the school’s most promising young musicians the chance to study the fine art of rock performance with music world icons. (Previous guest professors included Peter Frampton, Eddie Vedder, John Wetton, Alice Cooper, Ike Willis, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Adrian Belew, Perry Farrell, and Jon Anderson.)

Now, after a nearly decade-long hiatus, Haynes and the Butthole Surfers have reunited for a world tour and they are bringing along — you guessed it — 25 students from the Green School, effectively forming, as we are advised, “a virtual Butthole Surfers orchestra.” The tour is set to return to the U.S. after its European leg for two special final performances: one at the Stone Church in Newmarket, NH on July 28, followed by one in New York City at Webster Hall on July 29.

The tour marks the first time since 1989 that the Surfers have joined together for a world tour. Frontman Gibby Haynes, guitarist Paul Leary, and drummer King Coffey are coming together with bassist Jeff Pinkus and percussionist Teresa Taylor, effectively recreating the band’s classic mid ‘80s lineup.

Butthole Surfers Tour Dates:

Jul 15 2008      8:00P

            Melkweg         Amsterdam

Jul 17 2008      8:00P

            Minnemeers     Gent

Jul 18 2008      7:00P

            Carling Academy        Bristol, Southwest

Jul 19 2008      8:00P

            Academy 2      Manchester, Northwest

Jul 20 2008      9:00P

            ABC    Glasgow, Scotland

Jul 22 2008      9:00P

            Wulfrun Hall   Wolverhampton, Midlands

Jul 23 2008      8:00P

            Rock City        Nottingham, Midlands

Jul 24 2008      8:00P

            Vicar Street     Dublin

Jul 26 2008      7:00P

            Kentish Town Forum London, London and South East

Jul 28 2008      8:00P

            The Stone Church       Newmarket, New Hampshire

Jul 29 2008      9:00P

            Webster Hall   New York City, New York

Getting the juices flowing for the new album, due in September..

By Blurt Staff

On September 9, Quarterstick Records will be releasing a new album from Calexico, Carried To Dust, and BLURT has this short video trailer for the record for you to check out – see below. Calexico will be the cover stars of the July/August digital issue of BLURT, so keep your eyes peeled for that as well.

Meanwhile, we’ve got the Calexico tour dates for ya:

7/08/08 - QC Summer Festival, Quebec City, Canada
7/09/08 - Ottawa Blues Fest, Ottawa, Canada
7/11/08 - Folk Festival, Winnipeg, Canada
7/25/08 - Calgary Folk Music Festiv, Calgary, Canada
7/27/08 - Robert Z Hawking Amp, Reno, NV
8/03/08 - Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI
9/10/08 - Tripod, Dublin, Ireland
9/11/08 - Queens Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
9/12/08 - Carling Academy, Oxford, United Kingdom
9/13/08 - Leadmill, Sheffield, United Kingdom
9/14/08 - End of the Road Festival, Dorset, United Kingdom
9/24/08 - Webster Hall, New York, NY
9/25/08 - World Music Festival, Chicago, IL
9/26/08 - The Moore, Seattle, WA
9/27/08 - Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
9/28/08 - The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
9/29/08 - The Fonda, Los Angeles, CA
10/09/08 - Colombiahalle, Berlin, Germany
10/10/08 - E-Werk, Koln, Germany
10/11/08 - The Forum, London, United Kingdom
10/13/08 - AB Club, Brussels, Belgium
10/14/08 - La Cigale, Paris, France
10/15/08 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
10/16/08 - Muffathalle, Munich, Germany
10/17/08 - Volkhaus, Zurich, Switzerland
10/18/08 - Rolling Stone, Milan, Italy
10/19/08 - Mousontrum, Frankfurt, Germany
10/21/08 - Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
10/22/08 - Alter Schlachtof, Dresden, Germany
10/24/08 - Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
10/25/08 - Nalen, Stockholm, Sweden
10/26/08 - Rockerfeller, Oslo, Norway

Oklahoma-based festival boasts 30 headliners, including The Roots, The Apples in Stereo, Helmet and Ghostland Observatory.

By Jamie Gadette

OK. We give. It used to be so simple to track summer festivals. You had your Lollapaloozas, your failed Woodstock revivals and punk-only Warped Tours. Now, many cities are following Austin’s lead with South by Southwest-styled events. Oklahoma got in on the action in seven years ago with DFest, now one of the Midwest’s largest music festivals and conference. The two-day Tulsa gig features nearly 30 headlining acts, 120 unsigned bands from 17 states and three countries. Dfest 2008 runs July 25-26 and includes such luminaries as The Roots, The Apples in Stereo, Helmet, Ghostland Observatory and Zappa Plays Zappa.

Tickets are $30-$45 good for both days of the festival. Conference badges run $50-150.

Visit the Dfest site for details.

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

8:00 AM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Steve Winwood

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Alanis Morissette

10:00 AM TVONE: Krush Groove (1985)

10:50 AM Starz Black: Michael Franti & Spearhead: Live In Sydney

11:00 AM ABC: The View: Joe Cocker

2:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Paramore

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Lostprophets , Gomez , Paul Weller , The On Offs

4:00 PM FUSE: Steven's Untitled Rock Show: The Briggs , The Bronx , Against Me!

4:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Umphrey's McGee

6:30 PM MHD: All-American Rejects: Tournado

8:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Dixie Chicks , Gogol Bordello , The Fratellis , The Dresden Dolls , Paolo Nutini , Jools Holland

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Leona Lewis

11:50 PM Encore Wam: Fatboy Slim: Big Beach Boutique II

12:00 AM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Damien Rice , Autolux , eels , Architecture In Helsinki

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Joe Cocker

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Shooter Jennings

Ya gotta love those let’s-fuck-or-fuck-off vocals, eh?

By Fred Mills

The Kills resume touring North America in support of their latest album, Midnight Boom. It will be a mix of headlining shows, festival dates and opening slots for the Raconteurs. Kudos for both the band’s live prowess and for the album have steadily followed in their wake — your friendly neighborhood BLURT, for example, in our CD review, hailed the “guitar fuzz, distorted percussion and let’s-fuck-or-fuck-off vocals [that] make the Kills’ primal sensuality more magnetic than ever.”

Don’t miss ‘em.

Kills Tour Dates:

8/1/08                  Chicago, IL @ Grant Park @ Lollapalooza

8/2/08                  Toledo, OH @ Headliners #

8/3/08                  Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre #

8/4/08                  Montreal, QC @ Park Jean Drapeau

9/14/08                Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

9/16/08                Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre *

9/17/08                Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre*

9/18/08                Vancouver, BC @ Malkin Bowl @ Stanley Park*

9/19/08                Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theater*

9/21/08                San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival

9/22/08                Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre*

9/23/08                Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre*

9/24/08                San Diego, CA @ SDSU Open Air Theatre*

9/25/08                Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl*

9/28/08               Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival

9/29/08                Memphis, TN @ The Cannon Center for the Performing*

9/30/08               Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium*

10/1/08                Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle*

10/3/08                Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

10/4/08                Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

*- w/ The Raconteurs              #- w/ The Black Keys

By Blurt Staff

So if you're paying attention to your BLURT news updates you already know that the reunited Fluid is playing a secret gig in Seattle tonight. Now comes word that the band will be doing a live mini-set on Seattle's KEXP-FM this afternoon at noon PST, which of course is 3pm BLURT-Time (EST).

If you have iTunes, the radio station streams through it. Otherwise you can go to the KEXP website and stream it from there.

Playing Thursday night at Sunset Tavern as warm-up for “official” Saturday night Sub Pop set.

By Fred Mills

BLURT has learned — this isn’t the world’s best kept secret, but hey, we think it’s pretty fucking cool just the same — that the mighty Fluid will be performing a secret show in Seattle leading up to its spot at the Sub Pop 20^th Anniversary bash (which you can read about HERE).

According to vocalist John Robinson, the band is appearing Thursday night at the Sunset Tavern, located at 5433 Ballard Ave NW. The show is officially listed on the venue’s website as featuring The Press Corps “with special guests,” but the fact that it’s also listed as having already SOLD OUT probably indicates that this “secret” gig, indeed, ain’t such a big secret at this point.

Robinson tells BLURT that having done extensive rehearsals, plus a pair of preliminary gigs at the Fluid’s old stomping grounds in Denver on June, the Fluid is in fine form and that all five members — Robinson on vocals; James Clower and Rick Kulwicki on guitars; Garrett Shavlik on drums; Matt Bischoff on bass — are feelin’ the love like it’s the late ‘80s and early ‘90s all over again.

“We’ll probably play the same songs [in Seattle] as we did in Denver,” says Robinson, “and I don’t think anyone’s going to be disappointed.” The band got back together specifically for the Sub Pop 20^th event after being encouraged by the label’s Jonathan Poneman and Megan Jasper; the Fluid were Sub Pop’s first non-Northwest band and were peers of Green River/Mudhoney, Nirvana, Tad, Soundgarden, etc. The two Denver gigs were their way of saying “thank-you” to their old hometown crowd, and YouTube videos of the shows confirm that said crowd was pretty damn chuffed.

“But we’re also doing this out of no expectations other than to please ourselves,” he adds.

Watch for the July/August digital magazine of BLURT for our exclusive Fluid feature. We’ll also have the Green River story for you. Why? Because we care, gentle readers. We care.

Legendary D.C. band gets together (smile on your brother) after decade-long break.

By Fred Mills

They said it couldn’t happen. They said it WOULDN’T happen. Hell, some even said they weren’t sure if they even cared if it happened. But not BLURT, pal: Shudder To Think have officially reunited for the first time since 1998 for a rare 10-city trek across North America, and we’re tingling. Speaking as one who saw the band perform a couple of times in the early/mid ‘90s, I can testify that even if STT has only one-half its old mojo working, that’ll be ten times more than most indie bands from that era who’ve played the reunion card of late.

Explained frontman Craig Wedren, in a press release, “Our music is continuing to seep out, like syrup from a tree or the remains of a sweet, sticky picnic. Every day, new people - many too young to have caught us during the first go-round - are contacting us after discovering our music. I’m constantly meeting people who feel the same way about our music that we do, and it makes me feel indescribably good. This tour is our way of saying ‘thank you.’”

Vocalist Wedren, guitarist Nathan Larson, drummer Kevin March and supporting musicians Mark Watrous (Gosling) on guitar and bassist Jesse Krakow (Time of Orchids) will comprise the remade/remodeled STT. The drummer from 1994’s Pony Express Record, Adam Wade, will be on hand for West Coast dates, but original bassist Stuart Hill will not be part of the reunion.

“We're gonna get up and play the old shit for ya,” said Larson. “If anybody can send me guitar tabs for the Pony Express material, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Well, Nathan, that’s why God created the Internet, now, isn’t it?

After forming in ’86,  Shudder To Think enjoyed a decade-plus run, issuing records on indies Sammich and Dischord before making the leap to the majors with the Epic-released Pony Express Record. After a second Epic album, however, the group gradually moved into soundtrack work, lost focus, and split up. Or went on hiatus. Or simply took a vacation, depending on who’s telling the tale.

“We pressed the pause button when we stopped playing in ‘98 or 2000, or whenever that was,” said Wedren. “It never felt like a full stop. I’ve always felt my finger hovering near the button. The band recently wound up performing together again by happenstance, and the music felt so alive and still fresh ‘bleeding-bloody-heart-stuff’ without the ego, animosity and frustration. It was clear we never actually really left the middle of our creation. We simply needed an extended breather.”

A “breather” it was, then. Welcome back gents.

Shudder to Think Tour Dates:

 
8-10 Baltimore, MD - Virgin Mobile Festival
9-05 Chicago, IL - Park West
9-06 Toronto, Ontario - Virgin Festival
10-03 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of the Living Arts
10-04 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-11 Boston, MA - Paradise
10-25 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Festival
11-01 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
11-02 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

Well-received European album to get U.S. release.

By Blurt Staff

After several years of recording and extensive touring with his band the Miracle 3, Steve Wynn will be releasing a new album on September 9 in the U.S. on Rock Ridge Music.  Entitled Crossing Dragon Bridge it is his first solo album since 2001’s Here Come the Miracles.

Said Wynn in a statement,  "I associate this record so much with the time I spent writing and recording in Slovenia last fall.  Hearing it again as a U.S. release feels almost like a suitcase that I forgot to unpack.  I'm really glad that Rock Ridge is allowing me the chance to share this music with people on this side of the Atlantic and give me the chance to turn off the lights and give my own version of an aural slide show from my musical holiday."

The record was recorded in Ljubljana with Chris Eckman of the Walkabouts who also plays and sings on the record.  “It felt like a good time to get up under the hood and strip everything back down to the song,” Wynn says about the project.  “Most of the tracks began with the song and my acoustic guitar and then we just built it back up from there.”  But the record is anything but a solo folk record—additional elements include a Slovenian choir as well as a Czech orchestra overdubbed in Prague.

“I would say that this record sounds like nothing I’ve done before but it also sounds more like me than anything I’ve done before,” Wynn says.  “I was able to follow the same reckless and spontaneous flights of fancy that I would normally only feel safe enough to indulge myself at home.  But Chris was a great co-conspirator and helped me to empty out the insides of my skull onto the tracks.

“We had a ball.  I would wake up each morning in my apartment on some old, narrow street in Slovenia, grab a coffee, shake off the cobwebs and then make my way to the studio with a song, some ideas and pretty much limitless possibility.  The life there is easy, the food is heavy and the beer is good.  It all made for the right combination.”

The record was mixed in January by Tucker Martine (Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Sufjan Stevens) and was released in earlier this year in Europe to much press acclaim. No less than BLURT, in fact, in a review of the European release, called it “a diary of Wynn’s observations, written with a folk poet's heart and a rock ‘n’ roll soul.”

Watch this space for news of a fall tour from Wynn.

By Blurt Staff

We've got two brand new videos on the BLURT site now:

Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal"

Teddy Thompson's "In My Arms"

The former comes from the band's recently-released self-titled album on Sub Pop, while Thompson's is from his new A Piece of What You Need, on Verve Forecast. Enjoy!

Currently on tour with Feist, too – catch her if you can.

By Blurt Staff

Un Dia, the fourth release on Domino Records from Argentinean artist Juana Molina is set to be released on Oct 7. It’s being called “a brave departure from her previous work (with pronounced rhythms and bold low end) [but] every bit a Juana record, as personal and intimate as always.”

The album was recorded by Molina, with guitar assists by Gareth Dickson (from Vashti Bunyan's band) at her home outside Buenos Aires.

Commenting on the record, Molina noted, in a statement, “I noticed the rhythm in the music on previous records was tacit. There, but concealed. Some people didn't feel there was any kind of rhythm at all!  On this album I decided to make what was pretty obvious for me, more obvious to others, to bring it to the front.  All that was insinuated in the past is now more tangible, hearable.”

More background from her label:

For the uninitiated, Juana Molina grew up in Argentina, and was exiled to Paris with her family at the age of 12. Her father is THE coolest of cool old school Tango singers and her mother an actress. Juana herself spent many years as a comedic TV star in South America but made a complete break with acting at the height of her career to return to music (a move that, which must be noted, was met with nothing short of hostility back home).

Since releasing her first album, Juana has won praise from all corners. She counts David Byrne, NPR and The New York Times among her many supporters. She is adored by a loyal fanbase drawn by a sound that is like no other.

"Un día voy a cantar las canciones sin letra y cada uno podrá imaginar si hablo de amor, de desilusión, banalidades o sobre platón," says Juana.

Or in English "One day i will sing the songs with no lyrics and everyone can imagine for themselves if it's about love, disappointment, banalities or about Plato. Un Dìa (one day).”

Juana Molina Tour Dates (w/Feist):

Jul 9     Prospect Park Bandshell         Brookyln, New York

Jul 11 Ravinia Festival                        Highland Park, Illinois

Jul 12 Memorial Park Festival             Omaha, Nebraska

Jul 13 Starlight Theatre           Kansa City, Missouri

Aug 14  Santa Monica Pier        Santa Monica, CA

Track listing:

1. Un Dia
2. Vive Solo
3. Lo Dejamos
4. Los Hongos De Marosa
5. Quien (Suite)
6. El Vestido
7. No Llama
8. Dar (Que Dificil)

European Dates Kick Off This Summer with UK and USA Dates Following This Fall.

By Blurt Staff

With his Knowle West Boy (Domino) album released over in England this week, Tricky has now announced a series of concerts in support of the record. He’ll first hit Europe, Australia, Japan, Russian and South Korea starting tomorrow and running through the end of August; it’s expected  that U.S. dates for the fall will be announced soon.

The album arrives on these shores September 9. Meanwhile, remixes of debut single "Council Estate" by South Rakkas Crew, Drums Of Death, Toddla T and more are available exclusively through iTunes starting today. The single will be released on CD, 12" single and wide digital release on August 5^.

Tricky Tour Dates:

July 10th            Turin, Italy                                 Traffic Free Festival

July 10th            Dublin, Ireland                         Oxegen Festival

July 18th            Porto, Portugal                                   Marés Vivas

July 19th            Valencia, Spain                      Benicassim

July 26th            Japan                                     Fuji Rock

July 27th            Seoul, South Korea                  Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival

July 30th            Sydney, Australia                      The Metro        

July 31st            Melbourne, Australia               Prince of Wales

August 2nd        Byron Bay, Australia                 Splendour in the Grass

August 3rd         Brisbane, Australia                   The Arena

August 9th        Pully, Switzerland                     Lausanne For Noise Festival

August 14th      Hasselt, Belgium                      Pukkelpop

August 15th      Dievenkiskes, Lithuania           BE 2 Gether Festival

August 16th      Salzberg, Austria                      Salzberg Frequency Festival

August 18th      Holland                                    Lowlands Festival

August 21st      Moscow, Russia                                    B1

August 22nd     St Petersberg, Russia                 Manesh Kadetskogo Korpusa

August 28th     Saint-Cloud's Park, France        Rock En Seine

October 6th       London, UK                             Barbican

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

10:05 AM Showtime Next: Smithereens (1982)

12:05 & 5:00 PM IFC: Grand Theft Parsons (2003)

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: The Zutons , Yeah Yeah Yeahs , Corinne Bailey Rae

3:00 PM Great American Country: Master Series: Emmylou Harris Hall of Fame Medallion

3:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: New York Dolls

4:00 PM VH1 Classic in Concert: Poison - Live, Raw & Uncut

7:00 PM RAVE HD: Other Voices: Daniel Lanois , Kate Walsh , Super Furry Animals , Sons & Daughters

7:00 PM VH1: Rock Docs: The Drug Years: Break On Through (1950s-1967)

8:00 PM VH1: Rock Docs: The Drug Years: Feed Your Head (1967-71)

9:00 PM VH1: Rock Docs: The Drug Years: Teenage Wasteland (1970s)

9:00 PM Biography: Guns N' Roses

10:00 PM Biography: John Mellencamp

10:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: Stereophonics, Colbie Caillat & Joan Armatrading

10:00 PM VH1: Rock Docs: The Drug Years: Just Say No! (1980 - Present)

11:00 PM MHD: CMT Crossroads: Steve Earle and Rosanne Cash

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Panic at the Disco

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Willie Nelson , Wynton Marsalis

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Lil Wayne

12:45 AM Showtime 2: Backbeat (1993)

1:00 AM VH1C: The Last Waltz (1978)

1:10 AM Starz Cinema: Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Getting some of that T Bone Burnett magic dust.

By Fred Mills

John Mellencamp drops his new album next week, Life, Death, Love and Freedom (Hear Music), produced by T Bone Burnett. He’s just kicked off the accompanying tour that runs through July.

Mellencamp will be performing music from the album on Late Night with David Letterman on Thursday, July 17 and on the CBS Early Show in a special remote concert broadcast from Chicago on Monday, July 21 — and if you eye BLURT’s TV listings for TODAY, you’ll notice that the Biography Channel is running a special on him tonight at 10 p.m.

In our forthcoming review of the album, critic Jake Cline notes that Mellencamp “soberly tackles the big issues raised in the album’s title… [it is] something of a mild shock to find how good this album actually is. Produced by the ubiquitous T Bone Burnett, the disc is decidedly low-key, with understated guitars and organs complementing the singer’s morbid, reflective lyrics.” Watch BLURT next week for the full review.

Notes Mellencamp’s camp,  “The album is the very first ever release employing the ΧΟΔΕ (CODE) format, developed by Burnett and his team, offering high resolution audio playable through any DVD player.  All copies are packaged with a standard CD at no additional charge.  Hear is also releasing the album on vinyl, as well, to address the analog renaissance.”

John Mellencamp Tour Dates:

July      10 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY

      11 PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ

      14 Bank of America Pavilion - Boston, MA

      15 Bank of America Pavilion - Boston, MA

      18 DTE Energy Music Theatre - Clarkston, MI

      22 Charter One Pavilion @ Northerly Island - Chicago, IL

      23 Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH

      25 Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK

      27 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO

      30 Santa Barbara Bowl- Santa Barbara, CA

     31 Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

Aug 2 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA

First album from Atlanta band since 2006’s Cryptograms.

By Fred Mills

Not only has Atlanta’s Deerhunter been tapped to open for Nine Inch Nails in August and September, the band is readying the release of Microcastle (Kranky), the follow-up to 2006’s Cryptograms. It’s set for an October 28 arrival, and a national headlining tour is expected to be announced soon.

Microcastle’s origins stretch back to a week at Rare Book Studios in Brooklyn, New York with indie uber-producer Nicolas Verhes. The band: Bradford Cox, Lockett Pundt, Joshua Fauver, and Moses Archuleta.

The label advises us that among the album’s notable tracks are “Saved by Old Times" which features a vocal collage by Cole Alexander of the Black Lips plus two songs with lead vocals by guitarist Lockett Pundt: "Agoraphobia" and "Neither of Us, Uncertainly." The first single is “Nothing Ever Happened b/w “Little Kids” (demo).

Tracklist:

1. Cover Me (Slowly)

2. Agoraphobia

3. Never Stops

4. Little Kids

5. Microcastle

6. Calvary Scars

7. Green Jacket

8. Activa

9. Nothing Ever Happened

10. Saved by Old Times

11. Neither of Us, Uncertainly

12. Twilight at Carbon Lake

Deerhunter Tour Dates:

Aug 1  The Boot         Norfolk, Virginia

Aug 5  Air Canada Centre w/ Nine Inch Nails           Toronto, Ontario, Ontario

Aug 6  Big Orbit’s Soundlab Buffalo, New York

Aug 7  Mohegan Sun Arena w/ Nine Inch Nails        Uncasville, Connecticut

Aug 8  DCU Center w/ Nine Inch Nails        Worcester, Massachusetts

Aug 10            Garfield Artworks      Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Aug 11            123 Pleasant Street     Morgantown, West Virginia

Aug 12            Knoxville Civic Coliseum w/ Nine Inch Nails            Knoxville, Tennessee

Aug 13            Gwinnett Arena w/ Nine Inch Nails   Duluth, Georgia

Sep 2   Red Rock Pavillion w/ Nine Inch Nails          Morrison, Colorado

Sep 3               E Center w/ Nine Inch Nails   Salt Lake City, Utah

Sep 5               Oracle Arena w/ Nine Inch Nails        Oakland, California

Sep 6   The Forum w/ Nine Inch Nails

(pictured above: Deerhunter; pictured below: THE Deerhunter… any questions?)

Yeah, but isn’t it about time for a new record, hmmm?

By Fred Mills

Sea Wolf has announced plans to do a West Coast tour with Okkervil River in September, and as we’ve just been prompted by his (Sea Wolf is Alex Brown Church) handlers, it will mark the one-year anniversary of his debut full-length album, Leaves in the River, released last September by Dangerbird. Church and his band have been busy charming British audiences, including a well-received appearance last weekend at the Wireless Festival in London.

And get this: believe it or not, VH1 has, in the words of the Wolf camp, “taken notice of the Los Angeles' band's misty melodies.” The channel has been airing the video for "You're a Wolf" on late-night music show "Nocturnal State" — or simply by clicking HERE.

Sea Wolf / Okkervil River Tour Dates:

September 17 - Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox

September 18 - Vancouver, B.C. @ Richards on Richards

September 19 - Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom

September 20 - Eugene, Ore. @ McDonald Theatre

September 23 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Henry Fonda Theater

September 24 - San Diego, Calif. @ Belly Up Tavern

September 25 - Tempe, Ariz. @ The Clubhouse

September 26 - Tucson, Ariz. @ Club Congress       

Both Brendan Canning’s and Kevin Drew’s albums to be showcased.

By Blurt Staff

Toronto collective Broken Social Scene is set to drop Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning Something For All of Us on July 22 (Arts & Crafts), and shortly after that the amazing group will embark upon a string of dates, first at Lollapalooza on August 1 and then, later that month, some West Coast shows followed by a trek down to Brazil (where the group has reportedly amassed a HUGE fanbase) and Argentina.

For this tour the lineup will be Canning, Kevin Drew, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Sam Goldberg, Leon Kingstone and Apostle of Hustle's Andrew Whiteman. They’ll be performing songs from Canning's album, material from the 2007 release, Kevin Drew's Spirit If and choice nuggets from the estimable BSS back catalog.

Broken Social Scene Tour dates:

8/1/08             Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza

8/2/08             Chicago, IL @ The Metro

8/21/08           Salt Lake City, UT @ Twilight Concert Series

8/22/08           San Diego, CA @ House of Blues

8/23/08           Los Angeles, CA @ Sunset Junction

8/24/08           San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands

8/27/08           Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Canecao

8/28/08           Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Citibank Hall

8/31/08           Buenos Aires, Argentina @ La Trastienda Club

Two-CD set covers his Rykodisc label tenure.

By Blurt Staff

Singer-songwriter Josh Rouse has a two-CD set due in September from Rhino that will cover his seven-year, five-album tenure with Rykodisc. In addition to cherrypicking the best songs from his Rouse’s back catalog, the 32-song collection also includes rarities, outtakes and demos.

See below for the full track listing of Best of the Rykodisc Years — the albums covered include debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska (1998), Home (2000), Under Cold Blue Stars (2002), 1972 (2003), and Nashville (2005), plus Chester, Rouse's 1999 EP collaboration with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, and the 2001 EP Bedroom Classics Vol. 1.

See below also for a list of tour dates scheduled to run through fall into early winter.

Here’s the scoop, courtesy the record label:

Rouse started out on Rykodisc where he released five albums and two EPs of literate and engaging guitar pop. During his early years with the label, the singer/songwriter won a devoted audience with his sharply observed lyrics and melodic pop sensibility. A decade after his debut, Rouse picks his favorites from his Rykodisc years for a two-disc anthology that includes his best songs, rare tracks and seven unreleased demos and outtakes.

Years and musical styles may separate these songs, but ultimately they are linked through the warmth of Rouse's voice, the conversational ease of his singing and his unfailing melodic gift. From the folk-rock of "Late Night Conversation" to the knowing country of "It's The Nighttime," from the smart pop of "Feeling No Pain" to the rhythmically sly white-boy soul of "Comeback (Light Therapy)" -- each bears Rouse's unmistakable musical fingerprint.

 
The collection includes "Directions," a song from Rouse's second album that also appeared on the soundtrack for the Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky and is perhaps Rouse's best-known song. "65" refers to the highway that runs through Nashville, which is where he and Wagner recorded Chester when the two were neighbors. The first disc ends with songs from 1972 and Nashville, a pair of dreamy and playful albums Rouse recorded with producer Brad Jones.

 
The second disc opens with all six songs from Bedroom Classics Vol. 1, and closes with several demos, outtakes, rarities, and never been released songs, including a demo for the 2003 single "Christmas With Jesus," an early version of "Little Know It All" from Home called "Be On The Lookout," an outtake from Dressed Up Like Nebraska ("Cannot Talk") and a rarity from the 1972 sessions ("Princess On The Porch").

 

Track Listing
 
Disc 1

1. "Late Night Conversation"
2. "Dressed Up Like Nebraska"
3. "Invisible"
4. "Laughter"
5. "Directions"
6. "100m Backstroke"
7. "65" (Josh Rouse + Kurt Wagner)
8. "Under Cold Blue Stars"
9. "Nothing Gives Me Pleasure"
10. "Feeling No Pain"
11. "Ugly Stories"
12. "1972"
13. "Love Vibration"
14. "Comeback (Light Therapy)"
15. "Rise"
16. "Winter In The Hamptons"
17. "It's The Nighttime"
18. "My Love Is Gone"
19. "Streetlights"
 
Disc 2

1. "Miserable South"
2. "A Night In"
3. "A Song To Help You Sleep"
4. "Sad Eyes"
5. "Sunshine"
6. "Michigan"
7. "Suburban Sweetheart" (Demo)*
8. "Flair" (Demo)*
9. "Be On The Lookout" (Demo for "Little Know It All")*
10. "Cannot Talk" (Dressed Up Like Nebraska Outtake)*
11. "Christmas With Jesus" (Demo)*
12. "Camping In Copenhagen" (Demo for "Summer Kitchen Ballad")*
13. "Princess On The Porch" (1972 Outtake)*
 
*Previously unreleased

Josh Rouse Tour Dates:

September 17 Joe's Pub         New York, NY          

September 18 Joe's Pub         New York, NY          

September 23 Largo   Los Angeles, CA       

September 24 Largo   Los Angeles, CA       

September 26 Swedish American Hall          San Francisco, CA     

October 10      Old Town School Of Folk Music       Chicago, IL    

October 11      Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee, WI          

October 12      Cedar Cultural Center             Minneapolis, MN       

November 11 Gleis 22           D-Münster, Germany

November 12 Gebäude 9       D-Köln, Germany      

November 13 Centre Culturel Opderschmelz           L-Dudelange, Luxenbourg    

November 14 El Lokal          CH-Zürich, Switzerland        

November 18 E-Werk            D-Erlangen, Germany            

November 19 Beatpol            D-Dresden, Germany

November 20 Moritzbastei    D-Leipzig, Germany  

November 21 Lagerhaus        D-Bremen, Germany  

November 22 Knust D-Hamburg, Germany           

November 23 Maschinenhaus            D-Berlin, Germany    

November 24 Objekt 5          D-Halle, Germany      

November 28 The Black Note           Valencia, Spain          

November 29 The Black Note           Valencia, Spain          

December 3     Union Chapel London, England       

[Photo Credit: Paz Suay]

“Blazing a trail far ahead of his peers…”

By Blurt Staff

Aesop Rock along with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz  are heading out to the highway in support of Mr. Rock’s None Shall Pass (Def Jux) album, issued last year. The man his mom calls Ian Bavitz also is planning an Adidas show model through Upper Playground slated for retail sale at the end of July 2008.  Details, as the saying goes, “coming soon.”

Way back when we were advised by the label that the record was “created over a two year period and documents not only a vast amount of personal change that Aesop experienced over this time, but deftly depicts scenes and stories relative to all ages of life. Production is a vital strong point on this album, with the majority of production duties handled by Aesop's longtime partner Blockhead. El-P and Rob Sonic each make offerings, while Aesop himself confidently produces a large portion of his own tracks as well. The duality of Aesop's hectic stream-of-thought coupled with the complex production on this album makes no exception to Aesop Rock's consistent pedigree, blazing a trail far ahead of his peers with an album that will be followed for years to come.”

But you knew that, right?

Aesop Rock Tour Dates:

8/15/08               BOSTON, MA              THE ROXY
8/16/08         NEW HAVEN, CT           TOAD'S PLACE
8/17/08             BROOKLYN, NY            MCCARREN POOL
8/19/08            PHILADELPHIA, PA                TROCADERO THEATER
8/20/08                WASHINGTON, DC          9:30 CLUB
8/22/08                COLUMBUS, OH            SKULLY'S
8/23/08         CHICAGO, IL             ABBEY PUB
8/25/08                SIOUX FALLS, SD         NUTTY'S
8/26/08          DULUTH, MN              PIZZA LUCE
9/12/08               POMONA, CA              GLASSHOUSE
9/13/08               LOS ANGELES, CA         TROUBADOUR
9/14/08               LOS ANGELES, CA         TROUBADOUR
9/15/08               LOS ANGELES, CA         TROUBADOUR
9/17/08               SAN DIEGO, CA           BELLY UP
9/18/08         FRESNO, CA              THE EXIT
9/20/08         SAN FRANCISCO, CA       TREASURE ISLAND FESTIVAL

9/22/08         BEND, OR                DOMINO

Sometimes we write the news... other times, the news writes itself.

By Blurt Staff

This just got slipped over the BLURT transom. We asked our new intern Bambi — the one who favors wearing nurse outfits and who listens to Journey on her iPod — to post it for us. Why bother with some cheesy edit? Cheers!

DAVID LEE ROTH SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT

(Los Angeles) With a story circulating about David Lee Roth being helped by the local police in Brantford, Canada because of anaphylactic shock due to a peanut allergy, Mr. Roth issued the following statement to set the record straight.

"I was in Canada only from July first through the fourth for a performance at the Quebec City Summer Festival.  I had no encounters or incidents with the police. The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism."  -- Love, Dave

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

8:00 AM The-N: All That: Tony Toni Tone

9:00 AM Rave HD Concerts: Elvis Costello Live from Montreal

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Jonas Brothers

11:00 AM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Chris Isaak, Greatest Hits

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Belle & Sebastian , Archie Bronson Outfit , Mojave 3 , Orson

2:30 PM MOJO: London Live!: Hard-Fi , Amy Macdonald , Kanye West

3:10 PM Showtime Next: Beastie Boys Awesome; I F**kin' Shot That!

4:35 PM Starz Black: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

6:30 PM TMC: Standing in the Shadows of Motown

8:00 PM MHD: Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen

9:00 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Circle Jerks

9:30 PM Comedy Central: Chappelle's Show: Slum Village

10:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Radiohead , Mary J. Blige , Feist , Cat Power , Robyn Hitchcock

10:00 PM Sundance: Sigur Rós: Heima

10:00 PM VH1C: The Last Waltz (1978)

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Dr. John

12:00 AM MOJO: London Live!: The Kills , Sugababes , Boy Kill Boy, Elbow

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Cyndi Lauper

1:30 AM VH1: Behind The Music: Pantera

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Sheryl Crow

[Pictured: Sigur Ros] 

Four voices, three chords, two guitars and the truth.

By Blurt Staff

CSNY: Déjà Vu LIVE (Reprise) is a sixteen track audio companion to CSNY: Déjà Vu, the new documentary film directed by Neil Young that opens in theaters and video-on-demand July 25 via Lionsgate. The album, likewise, arrives in stores on July 22.  

The film chronicles Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 2006 North of American Freedom of Speech Tour that focused on the musicians’ stand against the War in Iraq and the impact that conflict has had on public opinion.  While the documentary deals with the interaction between the band, audience, media and general population, the album includes full-length versions of songs that are heard as excerpts in the film.  In some ways, the album serves as a kind of live greatest hits collection augmented by key songs from Young’s earlier, controversial Living With War album. It offers the listener an opportunity to experience the legendary group’s repertoire through the prism of contemporary conflict.   In the film, songs from the tour are woven together with archival material, news footage, and audience reaction and observations, as issues surrounding the integration of politics and art are examined and observed.

The performances are presented as they happened, with no overdubs — with the exception of a 100 voice choir which was recorded prior to the tour at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood.  Concert audiences heard the choir’s performance piped into concert venues so that aspect is retained in the album as it serves to replicate the actual concert experience. 

In a recent Billboard interview, Young who produced the album with filmmaker L.A. Johnson explained the idea behind the approach: “It really is CSNY. It’s not overdubbed, There’s no fixes. It’s straight from the board.  The basic mixes are the mixes that people heard when we were playing it. So it's got rough spots all the way through it, which I think is refreshing, especially considering the subject matter. It is what it is, and that's the message of the music.”  Backing musicians who performed on the tour and heard on the album include Rick Rosas (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), Spooner Oldham (keyboards), Ben Keith (pedal steel) and Tom Bray (trumpet).  100 Voices Choir was conducted by Darrell Brown and Rosemary Butler.

Track Listing:

 1.  What Are The Names (David Crosby)

 2.  Living With War Theme (Neil Young)

 3.  After The Garden (Neil Young)

 4.  Military Madness (Graham Nash)

 5.  Let's Impeach The President (Neil Young)

 6.  Déjà Vu (David Crosby)

 7.  Shock and Awe (Neil Young)

 8.  Families (Neil Young)

 9.  Wooden Ships (David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Paul Kantner)

10.  Looking For A Leader (Neil Young)

11.  For What Its Worth (Stephen Stills, Richard Furay)

12.  Living With War (Neil Young)

13.  Roger And Out (Neil Young)

14.  Find The Cost of Freedom (Stephen Stills)

15.  Teach Your Children (Graham Nash)

16. Living With War Theme (Neil Young)

Reviews of the Avetts in NYC July 9, Afrika Bambaataa & Seun Kuti in NYC July 5

By Blurt Staff

We’ve got more you-are-there live reviews from the front lines for ya. The Avett Brothers tore it up Wednesday night at Stuyvesant High School in New York, and Anthony D’amato was there to smell the greasepaint and hear the roar of the crowd. “By the time the Avetts hit the stage there were nearly 1500 people in the auditorium (whose capacity was 900!),” writes D’amato. “At the end of the night when the Avetts returned to the stage for an encore, the crowd reached an ear-piercing volume, and while hyperbole is the enemy of any levelheaded concert review, I would be amiss to describe the atmosphere as anything but euphoric.” (We’ve got exclusive Avetts photos too, courtesy Crackerfarm.)

Meanwhile, mighty Mike Edison was on hand July 5 to catch an installment of NYC’s Summerstage concert series, this one featuring hip-hop godfather Afrika Bambaataa (manning the digital wheels of steel) plus Afrobeat upstart Seun Kuti (son of the late Fela, and brother of Femi). “Brutal in funk and force,” summarizes Edison, of the latter’s band.

Check ‘em out in our Concert Reviews section:

Avett Brothers 7-9-08

Bambaataa/Kuti 7-5-08

[Photo Credit: Crackerfarm]

RatDogs and Mules and Bucketheads and hula-hoops, oh my!

By Blurt Staff

The High Sierra Music Festival celebrated its 18th anniversary this year with four days of music — and no shortage of hula-hoopery! —  over the Fourth of July weekend in Emeryville, California. Among the many performers were Gov’t Mule, Eric McFadden Trio, Bela Fleck, Mike Gordon, The Slip, Built To Spill, Bob Weir & RatDog, Buckethead, Keller Williams, Akron/Family and many more.

Embedded at the Shady Grove campground, BLURT Associate Editor Andy Tennille captured many of the highlights of the weekend onstage with his trusty lens, so we're presenting a few teasers for you. 

 (above, Warren Haynes/Gov't Mule; below, Eric McFadden)

You can check out the rest of his gallery from the event at Tennille’s Flickr.com page. Enjoy!

Actually, we do know what we are getting into…

By Fred Mills

Fall tour dates were announced this week for Does It Offend You, Yeah?, who are currently wrapping up a short American trek with Bloc Party as well as a layover for Lollapalooza, followed by a trip to Japan. The band’s recently-released album You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into (Almost Gold) has been tickling the ribs and shaking the asses of critics and fans alike — including the official BLURT reviewer — with the band’s blend of postpunk and ‘80s new wave.

The band had a hot recent appearance (July 24) on Jimmy Kimmel doing “Dawn Of The Dead,” and you can check out the video (dig those ghoul outfits!)  for that following the tour dates…

08/27 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center w/ NIN
08/29 Philadelphia, PA @ The Wachovia Center w/ NIN
08/30 NYC, NY @ Bowery
08/31 Boston, MA @ Great Scott
09/02 Montreal, CANADA @ Les Saints
09/03 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
09/04 Brooklyn, NY @ Studio B
09/05 Washington D.C. @ DC9
09/06 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
09/07 Atlanta, GA @ MJQ
09/08 Nashville, TN @ 12th & Porter
09/10 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
09/11 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
09/13 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion
09/14 Morrison, Colorado @ Monolith Festival
09/16 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
09/17 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
09/19 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
09/20 San Diego, CA @ Street Scene
09/22 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
09/23 Orange County, CA @ Detroit Bar

Absolutely no film stock was harmed in the making of their new video.

By Blurt Staff

Whew… talk about a dense-reading press release. We don’t even know where to begin so we’ll just hand it over to you, dear readers…

 
In keeping with their decision not to make conventional promotional music videos for any of the tracks on In Rainbows, Radiohead used absolutely no cameras in the making of its new "House Of Cards" clip.

Instead, "House Of Cards", directed by James Frost of Zoo Films, was created utilizing two technologies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar. The Geometric Informatics scanning system employs structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity, and was used to render the performances of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the female lead and several partygoers. The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture large environments in 3D, in this case 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots. Geometric processed their own data while 510 Systems processed the Velodyne Lidar data. The data was then manipulated by Union Editorial and the Syndicate to create the final result.

Google will premiere the video early next week at http://code.google.com/radiohead

Additionally, the band will be making available the data used to create the video for fans to manipulate into their own unique short clips. A short documentary detailing the unique process used to create the video will also be available via this link, as will 3D renderings of selected scenes.  

Of Radiohead's decision to eschew cameras for the "video," Thom Yorke commented, "I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn't meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points--and how strangely emotional it ended up being."

Think global, act global – get mobilized!

By Blurt Staff

Amnesty International will be feting the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this fall with the Small Places Tour. The call is currently out for musicians and bands “to raise their voices in song and action in hundreds of concerts held around the world in fall 2008,” according to Amnesty.

In addition to musical performances on the Small Places Tour, the hope is that musicians and fans will become engated in supporting Amnesty's “Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60” campaigns: stopping torture, demanding the closure of Guantanamo, ending the killing in Darfur, campaigning to stop violence against women, protesting China's actions in Tibet and working for the release of Aung San Sui Kyi in Burma.

In a statement released by the organization the details are outlined:

For nearly half a century, Amnesty International has been fighting the good fight on behalf of the underdog and the oppressed. And from Pete Townsend's "Won't Get Fooled Again" at the first Amnesty International Secret Policeman's Ball gala in 1979 to Green Day's stirring rendition of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" for Amnesty's 2007 Darfur campaign, musicians have always answered Amnesty's call, and have been willing to stand on the front lines of the war to counter terror with justice and human rights.

Now musicians are being asked by longtime Amnesty supporters such as Peter Gabriel and The Edge to answer that call again. Starting on September 10th and running until the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR") on December 10th, Amnesty International will be running the Small Places Tour, its most ambitious global music and human rights project since the Human Rights Now! Tour in 1988.

The Small Places Tour is named in honor of human rights pioneer Eleanor Roosevelt, who spoke of human rights mattering "in small places close to home." This is a "tour" with a difference. No one has to travel to join the tour, or change any performance commitments.  Musicians will have many different ways to engage with the tour, including performances as well as offering premium seating packages, meet & greets and other unique fan experiences. Gabriel and The Edge are hoping the Small Places Tour will represent the "passing of the torch" to the next generation of musician-activists.

The Small Places Tour can be reached via its MySpace page, where you can also hear music from Amnesty International supporters.

Meanwhile, watch Peter Gabriel and Amnesty's Bill Shipsey talk about the Small Places Tour:

Whoah – “an even dancier, inclusive direction that continues to emphasize the ritualistic elements of their music while upping the transcendent aspects” !

By Blurt Staff

This just in over the BLURT transom… overcaffeinated though it may be (watch those superlatives, kids!), it pretty much sums things up for GGD, so why mess with it? Cheers!

***

Named after the patron saint of outsiders, taboo subject matter and general disorder, Gang Gang Dance have completed Saint Dymphna - a stunning follow-up to the critically acclaimed God’s Money.  The album is set for release Oct 21, 2008 on The Social Registry in North America (and in the UK, Europe and Australia on Warp). Finally! After three years of complex and sporadic recording, complete with jetsetting, breakdowns, an acclaimed Whitney Biennial appearance, plus the Retina Riddim DVD+CD and RAWWAR EP, the band have yielded a true masterpiece to add to its canon. We couldn’t be happier to throw this one out and let the world become enamored again.

If you’ve seen a Gang Gang Dance show since 2005, you know that Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit  and Josh Diamond have taken an even dancier, inclusive direction that continues to emphasize the ritualistic elements of their music while upping the transcendent aspects. This is apparent (times ten) on Saint Dymphna. The record opens with “Bebey” – a preview of coming attractions that is like an organic, eastern Aphex Twin with spinning percussion, face-fuzz ambient textures and oral rebirth. The track melts into “First Communion,” which is a great representation of the new, more-accessible-than-ever version of the band. After a dreamy introduction, the unit pummels in with a truly global punch – we’re talking Brazilian guitars, punk snarl on the vocals and a beat that resembles the omnipresent sound of reggaeton flooding the NYC streets during summer months.

“Blue Nile” touches on 80s techno, trip-hop, interstellar travel and Hot 97 R&B without really sounding like any of those things. “Princes” is the real shocker of the bunch. The first appearance of London-based MC Tinchy Stryder and his “Oh shit! Gang Gang!” toast will cause more than a few moments of “Did I accidentally switch records?” before the conclusion that this stuff is smashing apart genre conventions in a way that few bands have been willing to experiment with.  The song plays like the weirdest Grime track (or the weirdest Gang Gang Dance track for that matter) you’ve ever heard. Either way, it re-emphasizes the group’s club potential, experimental success and beyond all, true understanding of good music no matter what label critics decide to obsess over on a given day.

The arc and trajectory on which Gang Gang Dance has propelled themselves since their inception at the turn of the century can only be described in terms of evolution. Four individuals with strong ties to the art community and almost boundless creative energy orienting themselves into a musical collaboration, the direction of which has been almost as unpredictable as it is focused. Their ambition and individuality did not go unnoticed through 2007 as they were approached by The Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art to be included in their 2008 biennial, an offer rarely extended to musicians. For the exhibition, the four again chose to incorporate visual manipulation into their performance; utilizing film projections, a number of participants dressed in ceremonial masks – all elements combining to create a spectacle that was by all accounts breathtaking.

Like God’s Money, Saint Dymphna is envisioned as a LP experience, although each track is more than strong enough to stand alone. The production is pristine cinematic headphone candy with 70s Eno intricacy and 00s Timbaland immediacy that will firmly hold your attention while Gang Gang Dance continue to push things forward.  The album will be preceded by the Single “House Jam” that is backed with a remix of the track by Hot Chip, and accompanied by a free digital download of a remix by XXXChange. Highly recommended and well worth the wait!

Live Dates:

July 24th at M Room in Philadelphia, PA

July 26th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC

July 27th at Middle East in Cambridge, MA

Aug 16 at Central Park Summerstage in NYC

Track Listing:

HOLY COMMUNION (3.05)
BLUE NILE (3.10)
VACUUM (4.13)
PRINCES (4.26)
INNERS PACE (4.16)
AFOOT (3.25)
HOUSE JAM (4.45)
INTERLUDE (NO KNOWN HOME) (1.16)
DESERT STORM (5.10)
DUST (5.30)

[Photo Credit: Aylin]

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

SATURDAY JULY 12

8:00 AM RAVE HD: Beautiful Noise: Voxtrot

11:00 AM RAVE HD: The Dave Fanning Interview: R.E.M.

12:00 PM MHD: The Who's Back

2:00 - 8:00 PM VH1C: Seven Ages of Rock

3:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Athlete , Robin Thicke , The Go! Team , Sugababes

3:30 PM MOJO: London Live!: Girls Aloud , The Game , Howling Bells , The New York Dolls

4:30 PM The-N: All That: Nas

5:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Green Day

5:30 PM FUSE: Loaded: Weezer

6:00 PM HBO: Flight of the Conchords: Bret Gives up the Dream

6:00 PM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Sonic Youth , Jose Gonzalez , Laura Marling

7:00 PM MHD: MTV Live: Coldplay

9:00 PM MHD: The Who & Friends w/The Who , The Cure , Judas Priest , Bloc Party , Noel Gallagher , Paul Weller

9:00 PM PBS: Austin City Limits: Los Lonely Boys / The Gourds

9:00 PM VH1C: Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

10:00 PM MTV2: Saturday Rock The Deuce: MGMT

11:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Paul Weller , Carlos Santana , Anthony Hamilton , Bettye Lavette , John Cale , Sheryl Crow

11:00 PM - 2:00 AM VH1: Rock Docs: Heavy - The Story of Metal

11:30 PM BET: Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

11:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live: Mariah Carey , T-Pain

12:00 AM Comedy Central: Chappelle's Show: Mos Def , Kanye West

12:00 AM MHD: The Who & Friends

1:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: The Kooks

SUNDAY JULY 13:

8:00 AM A&E: Biography: Jerry Garcia

11:00 AM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Steve Winwood

1:30 PM FUSE: Loaded: Fall Out Boy

1:30 - 5:30 PM VH1C: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s

2:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Lil' Wayne

2:20 PM FLIX: End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

3:00 PM HDNet Concert Series: Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

4:00 PM MHD:  SoulStage: Erykah Badu

5:35 PM HDNet Concert Series: Merle Haggard Live at Billy Bob's

6:00 PM MHD: Radiohead: From The Basement

6:30 PM VH1C: Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

8:00 PM Great American Country: Alison Krauss: A 100 Miles or More

9:00 PM MHD & VH1C: On Tour: The Who Virtual Ticket

9:30 PM HDNet Concert Series: Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones

9:30 PM VH1C: Classic Albums: The Who "Who's Next"

10:00 PM MHD: The Who & Friends

10:00 PM TCM: It Happened At The World's Fair (1963) w/Elvis Presley

12:30 AM VH1C: Live Aid: The Day the Music Changed the World

Editor’s Note: BLURT’s Gillian G. Gaar, embedded as she is in all things Seattle and with a long legacy of covering the NW scene, is filing daily reports from the Sub Pop Records’ 20^th Anniversary bash. For general info about what’s going on, read our earlier preview HERE. Then check out Gaar’s travelogue through all things Sub Pop today, tomorrow and Monday.

 By Gillian G. Gaar

Thursday, July 10 & Friday, July 11

Bruce Pavitt/Jonathan Poneman Oral History - Experience Music Project (Thursday)

Opening Night Party – The Space Needle (Thursday)

Green River, The Press Corps., The Fluid - Sunset Tavern (Thursday)

Comedy Show w/Flight of the Conchords, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry - Moore Theatre (Friday)

As the architectural icon most associated with Seattle, it’s not surprising that the Space Needle is the focal point for celebrations; flying the Seattle Seahawks’ “12^th Man” flag when the football team made it to the Super Bowl, or setting off fireworks from the structure’s top on New Year’s Eve. Still, it was a bit of a jolt to see a giant flag with the Sub Pop logo flying from the top of needle, unfurled on Thursday, July 10^th, as the inaugural event of the record label’s 20^th anniversary celebrations.

The rest of the day brought a history lesson, a party, and a “secret” show that left a packed house of attendees all hot and bothered. The evening began at the Experience Music Project museum, where Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman were interviewed for one of EMP’s Oral Histories by senior curator Jacob McMurray. And there was a surprise guest in the house; Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who read aloud the official proclamation naming July 11-14 as “Sub Pop’s Utterly Lost Weekend,” further urging the city’s residents “to join me in celebrating Sub Pop’s questionable taste in music, generous nature and improbable solvency.” As for the talk, Pavitt and Poneman shared various nuggets of trivia (had it not been for Poneman’s skill in urging the phone company to not shut off Sub Pop’s phone during the first year, the label may have made good on its “going out of business” slogan rather too soon), and assured those endeavoring to start up labels that though there is now much more competition in the marketplace, the rise of the internet has also led to greater media opportunities.

Then, following Poneman’s final words, “Let’s party!” invited guests decamped to the Space Needle, where a party was held on the “Observation Deck” (a mere 100 feet up, as opposed to the restaurant, where Elvis dined in It Happened At The World’s Fair, which is 500 feet up). In the elevator on the way up, Pavitt joked to BLURT he heard a rumor there was no free food or drink available (knowing our penchant for such things), but not only was plenty of each on hand, there was even a special brew for the occasion: “Loser” pale ale, crafted by the Elysian Brewing Company, a sweet, hoppy brew that at 6.5% alcohol provides a nice kick. The event had a feel of a high school reunion — a very cool high school reunion — as past and present Sub Pop employees and bands reconnected; BLURT spotted Kim Warnick (Fastbacks), Steve Fisk, Mark Pickerel, Carla Torgerson (Walkabouts), author Michael Azerrad, and Carla DeSantis (of the late ROCKRGL magazine). Kelley Stoltz, Death Vessel, and Sera Cahoone provided musical entertainment, though attendees seemed to spend most of their time waiting in the long drinks lines.

(Kelly Stoltz, Sera Cahoone)

But the label had created a dilemma for attendees; those at the Space Needle party missed a “secret” show at the Sunset Tavern that occurred at the same time, featuring spots by Green River and The Fluid (warm-up sets for their SP 20 appearances this weekend), and an ad hoc group with members of both bands, billing themselves the Press Corps. Mark Arm didn’t pull quite the stunts he used to during Green River’s heyday (at one memorable show he leapt from the stage to swing on a light fixture, which began breaking apart; “Not one of my brightest moments,” he says today, adding, “I was pretty high on MDA”), but he did manage to dive into the audience, later surfacing on the bar. Fluid singer John Robinson also made forays into the crowd, which moshed like it was 1989, even attempting a little stage diving, though most present seemed to have outgrown such tomfoolery.

(Green River)

Friday night’s entertainment included a comedy show — yes, Sub Pop has released comedy records — with a lineup boasting a few Flight of the Conchords alums (yet another act playing SP 20), beginning with host Kristen Schaal, who kept the program moving with such chipper commentary as “Happy birthday, Mr. Sub Pop! And the weather is perfect today…even if this is the suicide capital of the world.” Todd Barry also wryly lauded Sub Pop with the observation “Years ago when other labels wouldn’t sign me — [Sub Pop] also wouldn’t sign me,” dropping hints that the evening’s set would make a great live release on the label. Eugene Mirman even devised a special “Memories of Grunge” video in honor of the occasion, donning a blonde wig and flannel shirt while claiming credit for suggesting Sub Pop bands try using two names (“Green River…Pearl Jam…Soundgarden”) and that before the term “grunge” was conceived he’d wanted to call the new Seattle music “jazz not.”

(Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry)

Political commentary was a prevailing theme, with Barry hitting on the hypocrisy of “narrow minded fake liberal fuckers,” and Mirman disparaging an anti-abortion slogan he’d seen at a rally (“America is better than abortion”) as a “grammatically incorrect protest sign.” Patton Oswalt conceded that George Bush material was no longer edgy, given the president’s general lack of popularity, comparing people who’d liked the prez back in 2000 to Creed fans (“Okay! I was wrong!”), before going on to somehow compare Republican candidate John McCain to both Syd Barrett and G.G. Allin in less than five minutes.

(Patton Oswalt, David Cross)

Both Oswalt and David Cross, each a proud atheist, took shots at religion, Oswalt providing a particularly good destruction of how religion was invented and manages to continue provoking havoc in the world. Cross also went off on an amazing absurdist rant about the latest useless product he’d seen advertised in the Sky Mall catalogue — the Time Mug, with a clock built right into the mug, thus eliminating the need to look at your watch. But when a baby in the audience began squawking, he missed the opportunity to plug the title of his first Sub Pop release — Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!

In a nice coincidence, the venue, the Moore Theatre, was where the first Sub Pop “Lame Fest” had been held June 9, 1989 — a show that had Mudhoney, Tad, and Nirvana sharing the bill.

(Additional reporting by Kris Sproul and Mike Ziegler.)

Photo Credits:

*Green River courtesy/copyright Kris Sproul

*Sera Cahoone and Kelly Stoltz by Shawn Brackbill/courtesy Sub Pop

*Moore Theatre comedy show (Kristen Schaal, Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, David Cross) by Shawn Brackbill/courtesy Sub Pop

Editor’s Note: BLURT’s Gillian G. Gaar, embedded as she is in all things Seattle and with a long legacy of covering the NW scene, is filing daily reports from the Sub Pop Records’ 20^th Anniversary bash. For general info about what’s going on, read our earlier preview HERE. Then check out Gaar’s travelogue through all things Sub Pop —  you can also read yesterday’s breakdown of Thursday-Friday happenings, and tomorrow she’ll recap the Sunday concert.

By Gillian G. Gaar

Saturday, July 12

SP 20 — Marymoor Park, Redmond WA 

Time was, you’d never have expected the phrases “Sub Pop” and “family friendly” to go together. Yet there they were: a punk rocker wearing bondage pants and a hat sporting a pentangle, next to a little girl romping around in a red dress with white polka dots. The first day of the SP 20 festival drew a sell-out, inter-generational crowd; evidently, the kids who grew up listening to Sub Pop bands have now seen fit to bring their own progeny to experience the finest in “grunge,” past and present.

A section of the park (which is quite large) was cordoned off for the event, with two stages side-by-side, which allowed for rapid-fire changeovers; no downtime between sets. There were the usual overpriced food and beverage offerings (one unfortunate attendee found a staple in his collard greens), and if the beer price of $6 a cup made one grumble, there were at least an impressive nine selections of brew available (causing one woman to learn Black “Butte” Porter isn’t pronounced “Butt”). Among the booths promoting all-ages Seattle venue The Vera Project, skateboarding for girls (and women), and Obama ’08 (“We’ve given out a few thousand stickers,” a staffer proudly informed BLURT), there was actual swag to be had: the “Official Free Thing” compilation CD.

Music got underway shortly after noon, with a fine garage rock-tinged set from New York’s own Obits. At the same time, outside the SP 20 gates, another garage rock flavored Sub Pop act, Girl Trouble (whose lead singer, Kurt Kendall, sounds like the brother of the Cramps’ Lux Interior), miffed at not being able to play the event proper, pounded out an acoustic set while tossing bags of chips to onlookers, an act later deemed “punk fucking resistance!” by John Robinson, the Fluid’s lead singer. Back at SP 20, a pair of Canadian bands followed; the Constantines, who turned in a sizzling set, and Eric’s Trip, the first Canadian band to be signed by Sub Pop.

(Obits, Constantines, Eric’s Trip)

Loud continued to be the order of the day for a while; how do The Helio Sequence manage to kick up such a (pleasing) racket with only two people? Then it was time for a little old school rocking on the second stage, starting with Seaweed, still as tight as they were back in the day, even drawing Sub Pop co-founder Bruce Pavitt down to the front. Not to be outdone, the younger Pissed Jeans, whose first Sub Pop album came out last year, were just louder than loud.

(Helio Sequence, Seaweed, Pissed Jeans)

The press area, off to the left, was actually a decent enough viewing place, with picnic benches, shade, and, most importantly, free beer (the Elysian-brewed Sub Pop “Loser” pale ale). But the real action, as always, was in the VIP area, where folks chowed down on ribs and soft tacos, made frequent visits to the ice cream truck, and drank more beer. David Cross was seen being interviewed by Billboard (he was most looking forward to the Vaselines); Linda Derschang, of trendy Seattle nightspot Linda’s Tavern was on hand; Eugene Mirman, dismayed at the length of the food lines, instead exchanged pleasantries with BLURT; former K Records co-owner Candice Pedersen was spotted; author Michael Azerrad was still hanging out; and BLURT found the time to talk shop with LA Times scribe Ann Powers, who was once a Seattle resident herself, before she moved on to the bright lights big city. Indeed, as much as the bands represented the musical side of the Seattle scene of the last 20 years, the backstage attendees featured many of the movers and shakers that helped get the scene up on its feet.

(Fleet Foxes)

It was somewhat ironic to see a man wearing a t-shirt reading “I don’t give a fuck how they do it in California” as the Fleet Foxes began their set, for the Foxes’ croonings on “Sun Giant” were straight out of the Beach Boys’ playbook. There was actually a hush over the crowd during their set, though that mood was broken soon enough when the Fluid took over the second stage. John Robinson wore a nifty purple shirt and black vest, and was soon leaping about, holding the mic stand above his head, and finally jumping into the crowd for a spate of body surfing.

(Fluid)

And then came Mudhoney. Who doesn’t love Mudhoney? Only fools, my friends. And they didn’t disappoint, not only bringing back classics like “Touch Me I’m Sick” and “Sweet Young Thing (Ain’t Sweet No More),” but also more current, timely tunes like “Hard-On For War.”

(Mudhoney)

The (bitter) sweeter-than-thou Vaselines couldn’t have provided more of a contrast. The reunited group’s first ever Seattle show (indeed, their first ever US show was July 9 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken) had all the songs most people know because Nirvana covered them (“Son of a Gun,” “Molly’s Lips,” “Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam”), interspersed with plenty of ribald commentary. Despite Frances McKee’s pleas to make it a “smut-free zone,” she then cheerfully informed the crowd the band’s extended absence was due to her being kidnapped and sold into white slavery, with Eugene Kelly unable to pay the bill. “Just give Frances $20,” Kelly deadpanned back, “and you can dry hump her.” McKee later queried whether the crowd’s low energy level was due to all their “dry humping in that field over there.” Alas, no such activity was observed by BLURT.

(Vaselines)

Iron and Wine then provided the calm before the storm, with Sam Beam simply standing center stage, quietly playing acoustic guitar, not something many people can do while still holding one’s attention; his cover of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” was a highlight. Then the energy ratcheted back up again for Flight of the Conchords, who unfurled a jolly cache of tunes to end the evening on a high note, “Robots (The Humans Are Dead),” “Boom (She’s So Hot),” “Jenny,” and “Ex-Girlfriend” among them. Comedian Todd Barry was brought onstage for “Business Time,” and all and sundry were then sent home at a reasonable hour.

(Iron and Wine, Flight of the Conchords)

And, oddly, BLURT saw no one wearing a backwards baseball cap — once the trademark of “grunge” fashion — the entire day.

Photo Credits:

Shawn Brackbill (courtesy Sub Pop)

The Fluid by Brian Tamborello/courtesy Sub Pop

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Kid Rock

10:00 AM RAVE HD: Other Voices: w/Ray Davies , Candie Payne , Mick Flannery , Glen Hansard , Markéta Irglová , Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

2:00 PM FOOD: Emeril Live: Sam Moore

2:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Chris Isaak

4:00 PM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Sonic Youth , Jose Gonzalez , Laura Marling

5:30 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Circle Jerks

7:00 PM MHD: Bob Dylan Don't Look Back

7:00 PM VH1C: Jailhouse Rock (1957)

8:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: New Order , The Coral , Faith Evans , Rufus Wainwright , Acoustic Ladyland , James Blunt

9:00 PM VH1C: The Who: Six Quick Ones

10:30 PM VH1C: The Who's Back

10:30 PM MHD: Dispatch: Zimbabwe

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Jason Mraz

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: James Hunter , Will Ferrell

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Billy Idol

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Chris Isaak

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Lupe Fiasco

3:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: Tori Amos

Lions and tigers and Bushes and Cheneys, oh my!

By Fred Mills

Henry Rollins is gearing up to hit the road with, as we are advised by his camp, “an eye to the future and a disapproving nod to the past.” We’re talking, of course, of the impending end to the Bible Thumper In Chief’s sordid reign in Amerika. That’s right: Rollins will be putting his mouth where our money is with his latest talking tour, dubbed “Recountdown.”

The tour kicks off September 19 in Berkeley, CA and will run past Election Day in November to ensure no irregularities as polling places. Tickets for the tour go on sale July 17 and July 18, with pre-sales starting TODAY, Monday, July 14 at 10 a.m. at www.Rollinsrollins.com and www.21361.com.

“Hoping that the bad times are almost over, I am taking advantage of the current situation to spend the last few nights of the catastrophic Bush administration onstage,” Rollins said in a statement. “Things will be so different after he's gone. For me, the new century will have finally arrived. Since I was last in the cities that I will be visiting on this tour, I have been fairly far and wide and have a lot of new stories to tell. I look forward to spending autumn in my favorite country.”

It’s guaranteed to be a two-fisted, multifaceted journey through Rollins’ hyperactive ID, across our political and cultural landscape, and perhaps a smidge of punk rock ‘tude. Tattoos optional.

Before “Recountdown,” Rollins will be in Thailand and Burma, followed by a string of European tour dates in August. Meanwhile, IFC recently filmed his performances in Cape Town, Belfast and at Tipitina’s in New Orleans for TV specials to air later this year.

Rollins Tour Dates:

Thurs, Sept. 18         Ames, IA                                Stephens Auditorium

Fri., Sept. 19  Berkeley, CA             Zellerbach Auditorium (Univ. of California/Berkeley)

Wed., Sept. 24          Nashville, TN                        Tennessee Performing Arts Center

Thu., Sept. 25           Atlanta, GA                Variety Playhouse

Fri., Sept. 26  Lake Buena Vista, FL         House of Blues

Sat., Sept. 27            Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution

Sun., Sept. 28           Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution

Mon., Sept. 29          Tampa, FL                 Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

Fri., Oct. 3      Stafford, TX               Stafford Centre

Sat., Oct. 4     Dallas, TX                  Lakewood Theatre

Sun., Oct. 5   Austin, TX                 La Zona Rosa

Tue., Oct. 7    Albuquerque, NM                Kimo Theater

Wed., Oct. 8   Tempe, AZ                Marquee Theater

Thu., Oct. 9    Las Vegas, NV                     House of Blues

Fri., Oct. 10    San Diego, CA                     4^th & B

Sat., Oct. 11   Santa Barbara, CA              SoHo Restaurant & Music Club

Mon., Oct. 13 Portland, OR             Newmark Theatre

Wed., Oct. 15            Missoula, MT                        Wilma Theatre

Thu., Oct. 16 Spokane, WA                       Knitting Factory

Sat., Oct. 18   Bend, OR                  Midtown Ballroom

Sun., Oct. 19 Vancouver, BC                     Centre for Performing Arts

Mon., Oct. 20 Calgary, AB               Jack Singer Concert Hall

Tue., Oct. 21  Edmonton, AB                      Winspear Centre

Thu., Oct. 23 Duluth, MN               Sacred Heart Music Center

Fri., Oct. 24    Minneapolis, MN                  Pantages Theatre

Sat., Oct. 25   Chicago, IL                Vic Theatre

Sun., Oct. 26 Detroit, MI                  The Fillmore Detroit

Mon., Oct. 27 Toronto, ON              Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Tue., Oct. 28  London, ON              Centennial Hall

Wed. Oct. 29 Buffalo, NY               Town Ballroom

Thu., Oct. 30 New York, NY                       Town Hall

Fri., Oct. 31    Albany, NY                The Egg

Sat., Nov. 1    Boston, MA               Orpheum Theatre

Sun., Nov. 2  Philadelphia, PA                  First Unitarian Church

Mon, Nov. 3   Alexandria, VA                     Birchmere

Wed., Nov. 5 Louisville, KY                       Headliner’s

Thu., Nov. 6  St. Louis, MO                        The Pageant

Sat., Nov. 8    Boulder, CO              Boulder Theater

Sun., Nov. 9  Aspen, CO                Belly Up Tavern

Mon., Nov. 10           Salt Lake City, UT                Murray Theater

One-two-three-four, monsters walking ‘cross the floor…

By Fred Mills

Someone has posted a clip of Feist performing “1234” with at gaggle of Muppet monsters – it’s either been pirated or leaked from her upcoming August appearance on Sesame Street. It’s 2:27 minutes of sheer bliss. Now THIS is how I want my next kid to learn how to count. Take it away, Leslie… “I love counting….”

They went to the fortune teller and the fortune teller said…

By Fred Mills

As expected, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are extending their Raising Sand tour. It’s been one of the runaway touring success of the year, the two-hour concerts selling out all over the U.S.

You can read the BLURT review of one of those concerts HERE if you don’t believe ME.

Plant & Krauss Tour Dates:

September 23th - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
September 24th - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
September 26th - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
September 27th - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
September 30th - Portland, OR - Theatre Of The Clouds
October 1st - Seattle, WA -WaMu Theater at Qwest Fields Event Center
October 3rd - San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
October 4th - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor
October 5th - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery

[Photo Credit: Pamela Springsteen]

To be released on their own Big Brother Recordings label.

By Fred Mills

Dig Out Your Soul, the new Oasis album, is due for release in the States on October 7 — in an interesting move that puts the battling Brit brothers in the same rarified league as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, it will come out independently on their own label, Big Brother Recordings.

The album was produced by Dave Sardy (of 2005’s Don't Believe The Truth tenure) and was recorded at Abbey Road and mixed in Los Angeles. First single will be "The Shock Of The Lightning.”

Check out the artwork to the album above – it was created by London designer Julian House.

Track Listing:

Bag It Up
The Turning
Waiting For The Rapture
The Shock Of The Lightning
I'm Outta Time
(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady
Falling Down
To Be Where There's Life
Ain't Got Nothin'
The Nature of Reality
Soldier On

Editor’s Note: BLURT’s Gillian G. Gaar, embedded as she is in all things Seattle and with a long legacy of covering the NW scene, has been filing daily reports from the Sub Pop Records’ 20^th Anniversary bash. For general info about what was on tap, read our earlier preview HERE. Then check out Gaar’s travelogue through all things Sub Pop —  in addition to her Sunday report, below, you can read about the Thursday-Friday happenings and the big Saturday concert.

By Gillian G. Gaar

Sunday, July 13

SP 20 — Marymoor Park, Redmond WA 

The second day of SP 20 was a more laid-back affair for much of the day than Saturday had been. Attendance was a bit lighter, though the sun just as hot, and security just as vigilant at chasing away folks hanging around outside the gates, lest they experience too much of the show for free (I saw cops telling some folks sitting at a picnic table waiting for the friends who had their tickets, “It’s time for you to do your waiting in the parking lot now”).

But in general, the day started off in a mellow fashion. First up were the Ruby Suns, down to a duo for this performance, with Ryan McPhun holding down most of the fort on vocals, drums, and turntables, the band veering between bright pop and soothing trance sounds that were rather at odds with the bright sunlight. Grand Archives produced swaths of swirling sound in their set, a motif continued by Blitzen Trapper, with a folky undercurrent bursting through their layered harmonies.

(Ruby Suns, Grand Archives, Blitzen Trapper)

Things began taking a harder edge with Kinski, whose hard-driving instrumentals created a powerful droning that was stealthily hypnotic, especially after you’d been sitting in the sun drinking beers for a few hours. Foals, who suffered a few equipment problems at the start of their set (“Every time we come to Seattle shit breaks”), played a sharp, brittle dance rock that harkened back to the cool, clinical beats of ‘80s new wave. France’s Les Thugs turned in the first truly blistering set of the day, pounding out a ferocious punk assault, once some minor sound problems had been worked out; this was the kind of sound that fought its way out of Seattle’s clubs on the route to “World Domination,” as Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman would say.

(Kinski, Foals, Les Thugs)

One fun thing about SP 20 were all the vintage t-shirts people unearthed for the event; Green River’s “Ride The Fucking Six Pack,” Soundgarden’s “Total Fucking Godhead,” and the classic “Loser” tee (with a Sub Pop logo on the back). Ben Scheelhaase, of Medford, Oregon’s Vile Donations (myspace.com/vdoregon), who’d picked up just such a shirt at the event, was lucky enough to acquire the signatures of Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Chad Channing (Nirvana), Jack Endino (ace producer), and Charles Peterson (photog supreme) on the shirt during the day. Asked what he liked about Sub Pop bands, Scheelhaase replied “Everything!”

I myself wore a “Lamestain” shirt, drawing on the fake “grunge slang” Sub Pop employee (and now vice president) Megan Jasper had infamously made up for a New York Times reporter back in 1992. “I never thought it would make it into print,” she told me, and indeed, who could ever have believed that we “grungesters” actually used expressions like “Swingin’ on the flippity-flop” (for “hanging out”)? But a “Lexicon of Grunge” duly appeared in the Times’ November 16, 1992 issue, with rival label C/Z Records quickly printing up some t-shirts with various slang terms.

Just as much revelry was going on backstage, with Kobe beef burgers available, kegs soon drained dry of “Loser” pale ale, and such folks as Jack Endino, Kevin Whitworth (Love Battery), Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, who couldn’t be persuaded to reunite for SP 20), Chad Channing and Channing’s neighbors, Carrie and Vince Stamper, hosts of Tractorfest, the biggest unknown music fest in Washington state (which this year will feature burlesque acts; no, the fest has no tractor pulls). All of which thrilled Chris Pugh, guitarist with the reformed Swallow (who didn’t perform at SP 20, but are recording for Seattle-based Flotation Records). Pugh was busy interviewing attendees for a documentary on Seattle’s pre-grunge scene which he hopes to have done in two years. “It’ll have many many hours of footage,” he promises, and so it should after that length of time.

I also briefly caught up with Frances McKee (Vaselines), when Brandon Summers of Helio Sequence graciously let her cut ahead of him in the beer line, taking time to praise the Vaselines’ set as he did so. I did the same, then expressed my doubt that she wasn’t getting any “action” on tour, as she’d bemoaned the previous day onstage. She laughed and said if she had, “My husband would probably have something to say about that,” wise words in this era of YouTube (and internet blog postings). On learning I was an Actual Media Person, she insisted on giving me a copy of her wonderful 2006 release Sunny Moon, which I agreed to take on condition that she sign it for me, which she did: “Lots of love Gillian, From Frances.” Ah, how sweet.  These are the perks, folks.

(Frances’ CD)

As the evening began, the crowds in front of both stages began to thicken in anticipation. A reunited Beachwood Sparks kicked off at 6:40, and though singer/guitarist Chris Gunst admitted they hadn’t played in some time, their set betrayed no sign of nerves. Their alt-country stylings (including “Confusion Is Nothing New” and “Silver Morning After”) offered a clear demonstration to anyone paying attention that Sub Pop may have been rooted in “grunge,” but they’ve had little problem in embracing other genres as well.

(Beachwood Sparks)

But of course, if it hadn’t been for the g-word, there might not have been an SP 20 at all, which is why the Green River reunion was the day’s — heck, the entire festival’s — main event. Mark Arm, wearing the same “Green River Summer Camps” t-shirt he wore at the band’s warm up show July 10 at Seattle’s Sunset Tavern, proved once again he’s Seattle’s answer to Iggy Pop (and aren’t we glad to have him!), as he writhed around the stage, contorting his body like a pretzel, surpassing even Mudhoney’s performance the previous day. Classics like “Swallow My Pride” and “Come On Down” were present and accounted for; Arm playfully accused the Melvins of stealing “Leeech” from a Green River demo and taking it for their own, Led Zeppelin style (“Making us the Willie Dixon of grunge…but we’ve melded the legal power of Pearl Jam and Sub Pop and we’re going to crush those bastards!”); and the audience got a mini-grunge history lesson with Arm introducing the band members by referring to their previous bands undoubtedly unknown to most of those in attendance (Jeff Ament and Bruce Fairweather, Deranged Diction; Steve Turner and Stone Gossard, The Ducky Boys; Alex Shumway, Spluii Numa).

(Green River)

“And I’m the evil genius behind Mr. Epp,” Arm cracked with a grin. At the end of the band’s set, Shumway dove into the crowd, and the rest of the band tossed out brand spanking new “Ride the Fucking Six Pack” t-shirts (Shumway later hurling a handful of drumsticks in the same direction), causing an even greater frenzy than the mini moshpits that had broken out.

Wolf Parade didn’t throw out any t-shirts or drumsticks, but managed to work the crowd up in their own way, such as choosing “Kissing the Beehive” (from their latest album, At Mount Zoomer) to perform, which burns along for a heady 10 minutes. Was it odd to end the festival celebrating a Seattle label with a band from Montreal? The crowd didn’t seem to mind, swept up in the delirium of such numbers as “An Animal In Your Care,” “I Am A Runner,” and “Soldier’s Grin.” As the last band on stage, they were actually allowed to do an encore, choosing “I’ll Believe in Anything,” from their debut album, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Those quick on the uptake can catch both Wolf Parade and Foals at Neumo’s in Seattle this evening (June 14).

(Wolf Parade)

For a label known for its penchant of hyperbole, it was somewhat odd to not have Pavitt and Poneman take the stage at some point to engage in some self-congratulatory badinage. Instead, the two could be seen in the crowd throughout the day, checking out the bands, clearly still as interested in experiencing music the old-fashioned way as they were when they started their label.

And so it was perhaps fitting that at SP 20, they chose to let the music speak for itself.

Photo Credits:

Shawn Brackbill/courtesy Sub Pop

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM MHD: Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop

11:30 AM Showtime Next: Beastie Boys - Awesome; I F**kin' Shot That!

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Richard Ashcroft , Heavy Trash , James Dean Bradfield , James Morrison

3:00 PM Rave HD Concerts: Oasis Live at Manchester City Stadium

5:00 - 8:00 PM VH1C: Heavy: The Story of Metal

6:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: Stereophonics, Colbie Caillat & Joan Armatrading

8:00 PM RAVE HD: Montreux Jazz Festival 2002: Bush , UB40 , Buddy Guy

9:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Counting Crows and Shelby Lynne

9:00 PM VH1C: Tommy (1975)

11:00 PM PBS: Charlie Rose: Neil Young

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Jakob Dylan

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Shwayze , Minnie Driver

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Daryl Hall , KT Tunstall

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Julie Andrews

1:00 AM Starz Edge: American Pie (1999)

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Hellogoodbye

1:40 AM HBO Zone: Dune (1984)

[Photo Credit: Pegi Young]

Is Beck feeling any "modern guilt" for not  giving us much of an extensive tour, hmmm?

By Fred Mills

With Beck’s Danger Mouse-produced album Modern Guilt in stores and doing gangbusters — you can read the BLURT in-depth review HERE — it’s time to start thinking about some road work. To that end, the Eclectic One has announced a U.S. tour that will start in August.

Full itinerary below, although it's not a very extensive tour, and with just a couple of exceptions it's restricted to major markets (which, if you've been paying attention, is increasingly the norm for a lot of acts mindful of gas and transportation costs these days, although the Beck tour still seems unnecessarily chintzy). Tickets go on sale July 18, so check out Beck.com for more details.

Also, this just in from the Beck camp:

As always, Beck's creativity extends into the presentation of his music. The vinyl edition of Modern Guilt, which will be in stores July 22, includes download codes for high-fidelity (320 kbps) MP3s produced from a playback of the vinyl master. In other words, the first MP3 starts with a needle drop, and the ten MP3s will sound like a vinyl playback. Leave it to Beck to invent the first mobile turntable.

Beck Tour Dates:

08/21/08 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
08/22/08 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
08/24/08 - Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphiteater
08/30/08 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09/19/08 - San Diego, CA - Street Scene Festival
09/20/08 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Bowl
09/22/08 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theater
09/23/08 - Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium
09/25/08 - El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theatre
09/27/08 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park, Austin City Limits Festival
09/29/08 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
09/30/08 - Minneapolis, MN - Wilkins Auditorium
10/02/08 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
10/03/08 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom

Followup to acclaimed 2006 album robbers & cowards.

By Blurt Staff

Loyalty To Loyalty is the title of the forthcoming Cold War Kids album, due September 8 from Downtown Records — it’s the followup to their gangbusters 2006 release robbers & cowards and is described by the label as “a huge musical progression for the band… brimming with the poignant, intimate narratives and brooding atmospherics they’re famed for.”

Well, of course the label would say that. But with the CWK brand, we think it’s one you can trust in.

A few tour dates occur prior to the album’s release, followed by a more extensive trek after it hits the stores.

Tracklisting:

 
1. Against Privacy                                                     2. Mexican Dogs
3. Every Valley Is Not A Lake                                4. Something Is Not Right With Me
5. Welcome To The Occupation                            6. Golden Gate Jumpers
7. Avalanche in B                                                      8. I've Seen Enough
9. Every Man I Fall For                                           10. Dreams Old Men Dream
11. On The Night My Love Broke Through         12. Relief
13. Cryptomnesia
 

Cold War Kids Tour Dates:

08/22/08    Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
08/23/08    Sunset Junction Festival, Los Angeles, CA
 08/24/08    Les Schwab Amp, Bend, OR
09/20/08    Street Scene, San Diego, CA
09/27/08    Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
09/28/08    Richards on Richards, Vancouver, Canada
09/29/08    The Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA
10/01/08    The Neurolux, Boise, ID
10/02/08    In The Venue, Salt Lake City, UT
10/03/08    Boulder Theatre, Boulder, CO
10/10/08    Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis, MN
10/11/08    Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
10/14/08    Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
10/15/08    Webster Hall, NYC
10/16/08    Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
10/17/08    Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
10/18/08    Nightclub 9:30, Washington, D.C.
 10/20/08    Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
10/21/08    Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
10/23/08    Lola's, Ft. Worth, TX
10/24/08    Emo's Alt. Lounge-Outside, Austin, TX
10/25/08    Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
10/26/08    Voodoo Music Experience, New Orleans, LA

Event happens July 25-27 in Portland.

By Blurt Staff

Portland, Oregon’s PDX Pop Now! hits five this year, and the free, all-ages music fest takes place July 25-27 at Rotture (formerly Loveland) on 320 SE 2nd Ave. in Portland. For complete details go to the PDX Pop website.

 The performers:

Andy Combs and the Moth
Atole
A Weather
Bark Hide and Horn
Blind Pilot
Bodhi
the Builders and the Butchers
Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights
Cower
Devin Phillips Band
Dragging an Ox Through Water
Dykeritz
Eat Skull
Eskimo and Sons
Experimental Dental School
A Ghost’s Face Two Inches From You Own Face
Grouper
Guidance Counselor
JonnyX and the Groadies
Living Proof
Loch Lomond
Love Menu
Mattress
Meth Teeth
New Bloods
Nick Jaina
Norfolk & Western
Nurses
Panther
Pure Country Gold
Podington Bear
the Portland Cello Project
the Rainy States
Reporter
the Revisions
Sandpeople
Sleep
Starfucker
the SubArachnoid Space
Sweater!
Swim Swam Swum
the Tenses
Tu Fawning
the Warfield Experience
White Fang
Wooden Indian Burial Ground
World’s Greatest Ghosts
Y La Bamba

Already available is the The 2008 PDX Pop Now! compilation — available locally in Portland or from CD Baby online — with proceeds going towards funding the festival and the rest of organization’s activities. (PDX Pop Now!, incidentally, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to “stimulating and expanding participation in” local music in Portland.) Among the artists featured on it are Panther, Chromatics, Au, Blitzen Trapper, Pink Martini and Faux Hoax (a project featuring Gang of Four's Dave Allen and Menomena's Danny Seim). It’s the fifth compilation from the organization.

According to the festival’s organizers, in the past they’ve hosted such well-known acts as the Shins, The Thermals, Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, Viva Voce, Stephen Malkmus, Lifesavas, Quasi, M. Ward, Menomena, The Blow, Mirah, Talkdemonic, The Gossip and Helio Sequence. The events “have provided the public the opportunity to see up to 50 of Portland’s finest bands in one safe venue [and] have drawn audiences in the thousands. The compilations have generated considerable play from local FM radio and have sold thousands of combined copies, mostly through local independent record stores, and helped fund the festivals.  Through outreach programs, PDX Pop Now! successfully worked with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, local businesses and the broader community to make more all-ages concerts possible in a safe and responsible manner, allowing young Oregonians to participate more fully in their local arts communities.”

PDX Pop Now! 2008 Track Listing:

 Disc 1

01 Au: "Are Animals"

02 Blue Cranes: "S.T.I.L.L."

03 Meth Teeth: "Unemployment Forever"

04 The Joggers: "Golden Wage"

05 A Weather: "Spiders, Snakes"

06 New Bloods: "Oh, Deadly Nightshade!"

07 Portland Cello Project [ft. Heather Broderick]: "For Misty"

08 Copacrescent: "Do My Thing"

09 Y La Bamba: "Fasting in San Francisco"

10 Valet: "We Went There"

11 Strength: "Wilderness"

12 Swim Swam Swum: "Not in Your Way"

13 Andy Combs and the Moth: "Let's Ride"

14 Still Pending: "Drivin' to California"

15 Yellow Swans: "Velvet Water"

16 Kelli Schaefer: "Lasso the Moon"

17 Nick Caceres: "The Victorian Hoedown"

18 Blitzen Trapper: "Crushing the Wheat"

19 Sandpeople: "The Count"

20 Panther: "Puerto Rican Jukebox (Lips and Ribs Remix)"

Disc 2 Track:

01 Devin Phillips: "Frenchmen Street Strut"

02 Bodhi: "Nadine"

03 SubArachnoid Space: "Honorable Mention"

04 Fist Fite: "Grandma Surprise"

05 Braille: "The IV"

06 Eliot Rose: "Brightness and the Blood"

07 Pseudosix: "Apathy & Excess"

08 Horse Feathers: "Road to Ruin"

09 Hey Lover: "She's the Girl for Me"

10 Dragging an Ox Through Water: "Houses & Homonculi"

11 Southern Belle: "Sunnyside"

12 Pink Martini: "Hey Eugene (Watch Your Back)"

13 YACHT: "Ring the Bell (Premix)"

14 Living Proof [ft. Liv Warfield]: "Sky High City (Bluebird)"

15 Faux Hoax: "Foxworthy"

16 JonnyX and the Groadies: "Castle/Face"

17 The Woodlands: "Until the Day Dims"

18 Chromatics: "Night Drive"

19 Talkdemonic: "Silvertone"

20 Guidance Counselor: "Pull Over

Swingin’ on the flippity-flop for two decades and counting!

By Fred Mills

In honor of our Seattle and Sub Pop coverage over the past several days — go HERE, and HERE, and HERE — we had our crack team of private investigators unearth this choice artifact from the dawn of the grunge era.

Reports our own Gillian G. Gaar, “Sub Pop employee (and now vice president) Megan Jasper had infamously made [a grunge lexicon] up for a New York Times reporter back in 1992. ‘I never thought it would make it into print,’ she told me, and indeed, who could ever have believed that we ‘grungesters’ actually used expressions like ‘Swingin’ on the flippity-flop’ (for ‘hanging out’)? But a “Lexicon of Grunge” duly appeared in the Times’ November 16, 1992 issue, with rival label C/Z Records quickly printing up some t-shirts with various slang terms.”

Incidentally, if you also fell for the ruse and tried your best to be in with the “now” crowd, donning the requisite uniform — flannels, Docs (kickers!) and backwards ball caps — and cracking the above jargon with all your friends, don’t feel stupid. Hip-hoppers are still doing the same thing every day with their own silly uniforms and verbal gibberish!

Okay kids your assignment for today: Use each of the terms in a complete sentence today. Last night after the Alice in Chains show I was such a big bag of bloatation that I threw up three times. Class dismissed.

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Christina Aguilera

12:00 PM RAVE HD: From The Basement: Thom Yorke , Envelopes , Albert Hammond, Jr.

12:20 PM Encore Drama: American Hardcore

1:00 PM VH1C: Live Aid: The Day the Music Changed the World

2:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Lily Allen , Guillemots , Razorlight

2:30 PM MOJO: London Live!: Mark Ronson , Akon , Rufus Wainwright , Calvin Harris , Kate Nash , Maroon 5

3:30 PM FUSE: Loaded: Rise Against

4:00 PM VH1C: 46664 - A Concert for Nelson Mandela

8:00 PM MHD: FNMTV Premieres: Katy Perry , Daughtry , LL Cool J , She and Him

9:00 PM VH1C: Electric Proms: The Who

10:00 PM Great American Country: GAC Nights: Tift Merritt

11:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Supergrass , Vampire Weekend , The Kills , Dianne Reeves , Chris Barber

11:30 PM Comedy Central: The Colbert Report: Rush

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: The Hold Steady , Neil Young

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Gavin Rossdale

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Nas

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Fat Joe

[One of the artists pictured on this page is a Blurt-approved kickass band appearing on Letterman tonight. The other is a pop tart best known for imitating other pop tarts and who appears on the Ellen show this morning. How’s THAT for a musical bookend?]

Chastened after bandmate’s death, but tickled pink to get back to work.

By Blurt Staff

Although bassist Johnny Schou recently passed away, Fort Collins-based pop/punk outfit Tickle Me Pink has, after a proper mourning period, announced plans to move ahead and has hired a replacement, Joey Barba. Noting that Schou “would have wanted it this way,” the band is firm about fulfilling its touring commitments to support its Wind-Up Records debut Madeline. The tour will re-start this week in San Diego and run well into September; a full list of dates is below.

Singer Sean Kennedy observed, in a statement, “Johnny always wanted to bring purpose to other people's lives.  He had a quiet leadership that lives in all of us as a band. His legacy is in his music and every show we play we are sharing a piece of Johnny's heart with our listeners. Not only would he want us to carry on, but we owe it to him. We have had to do some major soul searching as a band. We not only have lost a band member, but our best friend. The process is just beginning. We will never be able to replace Johnny, but through this tragedy we have all grown even closer together and are going to make him proud.” 

Drummer Stefan Runstrom added, “Following a period of mourning over the loss of a great friend, it was only natural to want to move on. For two weeks, we were wrapped up in what seemed to be an enormous setback for our band. Now, it's proven to be more of an opportunity to unite and see something through till the end.” 

Of the selection of Barba, a longtime friend of the band, Kennedy states, “Joey has been a long time band friend. His old band, The Brotherhood of Dae Han, and Tickle Me Pink have grown up playing shows together. Through this, we have all made a special bond, especially with Joey. He appears on our nationally released live DVD on a few songs, and was in the studio with us during some of the recordings. Joey is not only a brilliant player; he is a great friend to us and was to Johnny. Johnny would want it this way if he could somehow have a say.”

Says Runstrom, “Joey has been a great friend of ours and Johnny's since the very beginning. In addition to being an amazing musician with reputable songwriting ability, he is also one of the nicest guys I know.”

Summarizes Kennedy, “It is somewhat ironic that many of our songs deal with death and a higher purpose. We don't think it is a coincidence that these songs came about on our record. We want to let the world know how short life is; embrace the ones you love and treasure each moment without regret.”

The 22-year old Schou was found dead in his Colorado home on July 1, the same day that Madeline was released. Initial medical reports as to the cause of death were inconclusive and a toxicology investigation was ordered. The band camp remained mum in terms of speculation although Runstron told a reporter at the time, "Obviously everybody who knows Johnny knows that he had a lot of struggles in his life. There were various things going on.”

Tickle Me Pink Tour Dates:

7/18        SAN DIEGO, CA                 SOMA

7/19        POMONA, CA                                      THE GLASS HOUSE

7/20        POMONA, CA                                      THE GLASS HOUSE

7/22        ST. GEORGE, UT                                THE ELECTRIC THEATER

7/23        LOAS VEGAS, NV                              HOUSE OF BLUES

7/24        LOS ANGELES, CA                            THE KEY CLUB

7/25        VENTURA, CA                                    MAJESTIC VENTURA THEATER

7/26        SAN JOSE, CA                                     PBSJ

7/27        SAN FRANCISCO, CA                      SLIM’S

7/28        SACRAMENTO, CA                          THE BOARDWALK

7/30        PORTLAND, OR                 HAWTHORNE THEATER

7/31        SEATTLE, WA                                    EL CORAZON

8/01        BOISE, ID                                             THE BIG EASY

8/02        SALT LAKE CITY, UT                      AVALON THEATER

8/03        DENVER, CO                                       CERVANTE’S MASTERPIECE BALLROOM

8/04        ALBUQUERQUE, NM                       SUNSHINE THEATER

8/27        ST. PAUL, MN                                     STATION 4

8/28        CHICAGO, IL                                      METRO

8/29        DETROIT, MI                                      ST. ANDREWS HALL

8/30        CLEVELAND, OH                              HOUSE OF BLUES

8/31        BUFFALO, NY                                     XTREME WHEELZ

9/02        CAMBRIDGE, MA                             MIDDLE EAST

9/03        NEW YORK, NY                 IRVING PLAZA

9/04        BALTIMORE, MD                             RAMS HEAD LIVE!

9/05        SAYREVILLE, NJ                               STARLAND BALLROOM

9/06        PHILADELPHIA, PA                         TROCADERO THEATER

9/07        NORFOLK, VA                                    NORVA THEATER

9/09        CHARLOTTE, NC                              TREMONT MUSIC HALL

9/10        NASHVILLE, TN                                ROCKETOWN

9/11        ATLANTA, GA                                    MASQUERADE MUSIC PARK

9/12        LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL                HOUSE OF BLUES

9/13        ST. PETERSBURG, FL                      STATE THEATER

9/14        FT. LAUDERDALE, FL                     CULTURE ROOM

9/16        METAIRE, LA                                     THE HIGH GROUND

9/17        HOUSTON, TX                                    MERIDIAN

9/18        DALLAS, TX                                        HOUSE OF BLUES

9/19        SAN ANTONIO, TX                            WHITE RABBIT

9/20        AUSTIN, TX                                         ANTONES

We just flew back from Rome—and boy, are our arms tired!

By Fred Mills

BLURT’s own resident jet-setter, Jose Martinez, was on hand the other night in Italy to catch Sigur Ros weave their Icelandic magic. “The stunning surroundings, under the Roman stars, provided for a very memorable evening,” writes Martinez. “And when the band’s futuristic looking light show, comprised of seven oversized space light bulbs, kicked in, a very cool party atmosphere was created.”

Check out the party atmosphere in our Concert Reviews section below, or simply click straight in HERE.

Not gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more, no sir.

By Fred Mills

So, let’s see if we got this right: the Secret Machines’ 2006 release Ten Silver Drops came out on Reprise — and promptly went nowhere. (Being a blog juggernaut in 2006 didn’t count for as much as it would nowadays.) Gee, you don’t think the band got soured on its major label experience, do ya? Anyhow, the New York psych/dreampop outfit is now with the World’s Fair Label Group and has plans to self-release a full-length, its third, in the fall of 2008 with assists from World’s Fair.

While you Secret Machines fans digest that news, the band will be hitting the road this weekend for a U.S. tour that’ll stretch into mid August. Catch ‘em live….

Secret Machines Tour Dates:

July 19  Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
July 22  Missoula, MT @ The Badlander
July 25  Pemberton, BC @ Pemberton Music Fest
July 27  West Hollywood, CA @ The Viper Room
July 28  Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
July 29  El Paso, TX @ Club 101
July 30  Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre
Aug 01  Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
Aug 03  San Antonio TX @ White Rabbit
Aug 05  Jacksonville, FL @ Plush
Aug 06  Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Aug 07  St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing
Aug 08  Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues
Aug 10  Jersey City, NJ @ All Points West Fest - Liberty State Park

[Photo Credit: Mike McNamara]

Hey, check out this vid for “Lightning Blue Eyes” too while you’re at it.

No, that is not Russell Simmons pictured above.

By Fred Mills

Sigh. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: sometimes these news items just write themselves.

If you’re a BLURT reader, you know that we get deluged by press releases every day, right? Some we save, some we cull info from in order to create brilliant copy for our website, some we shamelessly copy verbatim because we’re too bored, tired or drunk to rewrite ‘em ourselves, some we delete immediately, and some we, uh, stare at for awhile and THEN delete.

So we’ve been getting daily email blasts about this upcoming Art For Life benefit being hosted by hip-hop/media mogul Russell Simmons this Saturday. Definitely a charity worth supporting, yo.

It’ll be held at Russell’s East Hampton estate, and in conjunction with Charitybuzz.com, Art for Life is auctioning off celebrity experiences like a birthday gift from John Legend in the form of singing Happy Birthday, a trip to the Vatican, tickets to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, two tickets to meet Tyra Banks at a taping of her talk show and receive a personal mini-catwalk lesson by Tyra Banks herself, a date to check out a NYC sporting event at Madison Square Garden with model Petra Nemcova, a personal training session with Olympic gold medalist and 2008 Wimbledon finalist Serena Williams and many others.

Where’s our corporate checkbook!

Anyhow, today’s email blast (the second of the day, actually, but we deleted that one) included the above photo, plus this helpful text. Seriously, this is the kind of email BLURT gets. Yes, we know you are jealous.

Now we KNOW we gotta find that checkbook, fire up the Hummer and head to the Hamptons. Well, right after we finish meditating and relaxing of course. See ya there!

Playboy Playmate Destiny Davis (destinydavis.com) has a dilemma. "I want to learn to meditate and relax," she says. So who does she turn to but her "favorite celebrity couple," Russell Simmons and Porschla Coleman. Russell and Porschla may not be making love anymore but they sure are still doing yoga! So Destiny is plopping down $2500 to bid on a yoga lesson with Porschla and Russell in Russell's NYC apartment as part of this year's Rush Philanthropic's Art for Life benefit event this Saturday, July 19 at Russell's East Hampton estate. Can you just see Destiny in downward dog now?

Blurt does not condone or endorse the consumption of any illegal or mind-altering substance. No, we don’t. Really.

By Fred Mills

BLURT contributor Mike Edison, whose new book I Have Fun Everywhere I Go we excerpted in the June digital magazine edition of BLURT (click on the image of Joan As Police Woman above and you’ll find the story inside, along with our sidebar on Edison cohort Jon Spencer), knows a thing or two about pot, porn and punk rock. Not necessarily in that order of preference. He also knows a thing about making fun YouTube videos: if you haven’t checked out his Chronicaster bong guitar video yet, you’re missin’ out.  

Edison just hepped us to his new “Cocaine Blues” video, filmed during his West Coast book tour promoting I Have Fun. Writes Edison, “We're not expecting Bong Guitar Greatness, but ain't it cute???”

You can view it (along with the bong guitar thing) below. Meanwhile, Edison adds that there’s more fun in store. “This is just a souvenir from the West Coast tour. Coming soon: video from Brooklyn, USA, with the Delta Science Arkestra featuring Jon Spencer, Michael Chandler, Hollis Queens and Mr. Dean Rispler, plus the debut of the long-awaited video for “I Like To Hurt People.” Stay tuned.”

‘Deed we will, Mike.

”Hard hitting and acerbic” narratives… and much more.

By Blurt Staff

Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis has her second solo album, titled Acid Tongue, due from  Warner Bros Records in September. It’s the followup to 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat and marks her debut for the major label — sort of. While RFC was on indie Team Love, with Rilo she’s already got a home at Warners, which issued last year’s Under The Blacklight album (Warner Bros Records, 2007). Tour dates will accompany the release of the album; full itinerary below.

Here’s the scoop from the Lewis camp:

 
Some of Lewis' most steadfast collaborators appear on Acid Tongue: Johnathan Rice, Farmer Dave Scher, Jason Boesel, Jason Lader and M Ward. She also invited other notable musician friends into the fold, including Elvis Costello for a duet  ("Carpetbaggers"), Chris Robinson (of The Black Crowes), Benji Hughes, Zooey Deschanel (of She & Him) & Vanessa Corbala (of Whispertown2000) on backing vocals, Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle / The Entrance Band) and her sister Ana provided strings, Davey Faragher (of The Imposters) on bass, as well as Laurel Canyon's own Jonathan Wilson on guitar, and even members of Jenny's own family.  Her sister Leslie Lewis provided backing vocals on two songs while her father, harmonica virtuoso Eddie Gordon makes a star turn on rumbling bass harp.

The all analog, no Pro-Tools sessions were all part of a shared aesthetic between Lewis, her producers, and her musician collaborators, working quickly and tracking her vocals entirely live and without embellishment. Recorded at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California in just 3 weeks, the album's tracks, disparate as they are, share a sparkling vitality; Lewis' voice has never sounded so expressive and the narratives have never been so hard-hitting and acerbic.

Tracklist:

 1. Black Sand                                                7. Godspeed                        
 2. Pretty Bird                                                 8. Carpetbaggers
 3. The Next Messiah                                     9. Trying My Best To Love You
 4. Bad Man's World                                      10. Jack Killed Mom
 5. Acid Tongue                                              11. Sing A Song For Them
6. See Fernando                                    

Tour Dates:
 
9/16 –  Fox Theatre- Boulder, CO                                    
9/17 – Ogden Theatre- Denver, CO
9/19 -  Epiphany Church, Chicago IL
9/20 – Anchor Inn- Omaha, NE*
9/21 – Ryman Auditorium- Nashville, TN*                
9/22 – Bijou Theatre - Knoxville, TN*          
9/23 – George's Majestic Fayetteville, AK*              
9/24 – The Lyric Theatre - Oxford, MS*
9/25 – Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK*
9/26 – Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
10/2 - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue- Washington, DC
10/4 – Apollo Theatre- New York, NY
 
(*with Conor Oberst )
 

Performing all four studio albums back to back in NYC and L.A.

By Blurt Staff

What is NEVERENDER? Glad you asked: it’s something that Coheed and Cambria are hatching in October/November in which they perform over the course of four evenings in New York, then again in L.A., all four of their concept records in their entirety. The albums will be played in order from beginning to end, with each night's production will be specifically catered to the record being performed.

"NEVERENDER came about because the band wanted to celebrate the end of the Coheed and Cambria saga in a special way," said Coheed frontman Claudio Sanchez, in a presss release. "We wanted to come up with an idea that paid proper respect to this phase of our career, while at the same time gave our fans something truly unique and different. Many of these songs have never been played in front of an audience before so I think we're going to be freaking out at the same time our fans are. It's going to be a major challenge. We're psyched our fans have been so loyal and amazing. We figured they deserved this."

"We're really looking forward to going deep and revisiting not only the songs, but also the story," Sanchez added. "Interestingly enough, us going over all the old material seems to be influencing our writing of the next record, which we're sort of doing simultaneously. And to me, that seems apropos since the next story is the prequel to The Amory Wars."

Tickets for the shows go on sale THIS FRIDAY July 18 at 1pm EST through Ticketbastard. NEVERENDER itinerary is below.



CONCERT DATES:

New York - Terminal 5

Oct 22
The Second Stage Turbine Blade

Oct 23
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

Oct 24
Good Apollo...

Oct 25
No World For Tomorrow

Los Angeles - The Avalon

Nov 5
The Second Stage Turbine Blade

Nov 6
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

Nov 7
Good Apollo...

Nov 8
No World For Tomorrow

ADDITIONAL TOUR DATES:

Jul 25 2008      8:00P
    Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Poolside)     Las Vegas, Nevada
Jul 27 2008     7:00P
    Viejas - Concerts in the Park     Alpine, California
Jul 28 2008     7:00P
    Rialto Theatre - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Tucson, Arizona
Jul 29 2008     7:00P
    Club 101 - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     El Paso, Texas
Jul 30 2008     8:00P
    Sunshine Theatre - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Albuquerque, New Mexico
Aug 1 2008     8:00P
    House of Blues - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Dallas, Texas
Aug 2 2008     3:00P
    Zoo Amphitheatre - KATTFEST     Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Aug 3 2008     8:00P
    White Rabbit - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     San Antonio, Texas
Aug 5 2008     8:00P
    Plush - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Jacksonville, Florida
Aug 6 2008     8:00P
    Revolution - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Aug 7 2008     8:00P
    Jannus Landing - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     St. Petersburg, Florida
Aug 8 2008     8:00P
    House of Blues - w/ Secret Machines & Russian Circles     Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Aug 9 2008     8:00P
    House of Blues     North Myrtle Beach,

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM MHD: The Who & Friends w/The Who , The Cure , Judas Priest , Bloc Party , Noel Gallagher , Paul Weller

9:00 AM VH1: Rock Docs: Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

9:00 AM VH1C: The Who's Back: The Who

12:00 PM VH1C: On Tour: The Who Virtual Ticket

[NOTE: ABOVE PROGRAM AND OTHER WHO STUFF REPEATS THROUGHOUT THE DAY]

10:30 AM & 2:30 & 8:30 PM Comedy Central: The Colbert Report: Rush

1:00 PM RAVE HD: Beautiful Noise: The Ponys

3:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Supergrass , Vampire Weekend , The Kills , Dianne Reeves , Chris Barber

4:30 PM VH1C: Electric Proms: The Who

5:30 PM MHD: The Who's Back

5:30 PM VH1C: The Who: Six Quick Ones

6:00 PM MHD: Electric Proms: The Who

7:00 PM VH1C: The Who's Back

7:30 PM VH1C: On Tour: The Who Virtual Ticket

[NOTE: SEE WHAT WE MEAN?]

7:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Lil' Wayne

9:00 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: Early Man

9:00 PM Great American Country: Superstar Sessions: Gary Allan

9:00 & 11:00 PM VH1C: VH1 Rock Honors: The Who w/The Who , Pearl Jam , Foo Fighters , The Flaming Lips , Incubus , Tenacious D

10:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: Sheryl Crow, Hard-Fi & Diana Krall

11:00 PM PBS: Charlie Rose: Neil Young

11:00 PM Sundance: Iconoclasts: Batali on Stipe

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: John Mellencamp

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Coldplay

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Cool Kids , Justin Timberlake

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Dr. Dog

1:30 AM ETV: Saturday Night Live (E!): Will Ferrell / Queens of the Stone Age

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Serj Tankian

Frammin’ on the jim-jam on the day the GOP convention starts.

By Fred Mills

On September 1, Labor Day, the Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, will be the site of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Labor Day Festival. Not so coincidentally, that’s the same day the Republican National Convention kicks off in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Appearing at the Festival: none other than BLURT’s favorite commies, agitators and GOP-baiters Steve Earle, Allison Moorer and Tom Morello (plus friends, tba).

The concert and festival will take place from noon to 7pm.

Also on hand will be N.C. Senator John Edwards and SEIU leaders Andy Stern and Anna Burger. Oh, and with any luck, “tens of thousands of activists,” as SEIU literature is predicting.

Here’s the info you need; for more details go to the official SEIU website. Look for the homepage with Barack Obama’s pic proudly plastered across the top.

On the opening day of the Republican National Convention, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) —representing 2 million working people—will sponsor a festival to celebrate workers’ achievements and to promote a New Vision for the 21st Century that includes:

·         Affordable, quality healthcare for everyone;

·         Wages that can support families;

·         Freedom to join unions without intimidation;

·         Retirement security.

In addition to the Labor Day concert, the festival will include a YouTube station, a fully equipped blogger lounge, a children’s area, and a large audience-participation art project.

This fall, working people in America have the opportunity of a lifetime to change our country and create an America that works for everyone. The Labor Day concert and festival will mark the end of a three-state Labor Day Tour from August 29-31 that will offer journalists three days of interviews and discussions with SEIU members and leaders from across the US and at stops along the way.

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today’s global economy.

Okay, so it’s a bit more civilized than when the underground rose up and protested in Chicago at the ’68 Democratic National Convention. But it’s no less righteous.

[Photo Credit: Ted Barron]

Slow motion movie of a band gradually declining, deteriorating and dissolving…

By Fred Mills

Earlier this year Rhino issued the Replacements’ seminal quartet of records originally released by Twin/Tone in the early ‘80s, and to say that the expanded/remastered CDs were greeted with loud huzzahs from public and press alike would be an understatement. (They put to shame those half-assed, no-frills reissues that Ryko did a few years ago.) Now comes word that deluxe editions of the ‘Mats back catalog for Sire are incoming. Due Sept. 23 from Rhino are vastly expanded versions of 1985’s Tim, 1987’s Pleased to Meet Me, 1989’s Don’t Tell A Soul and the band’s 1990 swansong All Shook Down (the latter an inessential, lackluster effort, and in all but name only a Paul Westerberg solo album as the band was on its last legs).

Here’s the tracklisting for each:

Tim:

01 Hold My Life
02 I'll Buy
03 Kiss Me on the Bus
04 Dose of Thunder
05 Waitress in the Sky
06 Swingin Party
07 Bastards of Young
08 Lay It Down Clown
09 Left of the Dial
10 Little Mascara
11 Here Comes a Regular
12 Can't Hardly Wait (acoustic, Alex Chilton sessions outtake) [previously unreleased bonus track]
13 Nowhere Is My Home (Alex Chilton sessions outtake) [bonus track]
14 Can't Hardly Wait (electric, Alex Chilton sessions outtake) [previously unreleased bonus track]
15 Kiss Me on the Bus (Tom Erdelyi demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
16 Waitress in the Sky (outtake, alternate version) [previously unreleased bonus track]
17 Here Comes a Regular (outtake, alternate version) [previously unreleased bonus track]

Pleased to Meet Me:

01 I.O.U.
02 Alex Chilton
03 I Don't Know
04 Nightclub Jitters
05 The Ledge
06 Never Mind
07 Valentine
08 Shooting Dirty Pool
09 Red Red Wine
10 Skyway
11 Can't Hardly Wait
12 Birthday Gal (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
13 Valentine (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
14 Bundle Up (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
15 Photo (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
16 Election Day [bonus track]
17 Alex Chilton (alternate version) [previously unreleased bonus track]
18 Kick It In (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
19 Route 66 [bonus track]
20 Tossin' 'N' Turnin' [bonus track]
21 Can't Hardly Wait (alternate version) [previously unreleased bonus track]
22 Cool Water [bonus track]

Don't Tell a Soul:

01 Talent Show
02 Back to Back
03 We'll Inherit the Earth
04 Achin' to Be
05 They're Blind
06 Anywhere's Better Than Here
07 Asking Me Lies
08 I'll Be You
09 I Won't
10 Rock 'N' Roll Ghost
11 Darlin' One
12 Portland [bonus track]
13 Wake Up [bonus track]
14 Cruella DeVille [bonus track]
15 Talent Show (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
16 We'll Inherit the Earth (mix 1) [previously unreleased bonus track]
17 Date to Church [ft. Tom Waits] [bonus track]
18 We Know the Night (outtake) [previously unreleased bonus track]
19 Gudbuy T' Jane (Slade cover) (outtake) [previously unreleased bonus track]

All Shook Down:

01 Merry Go Round
02 One Wink at a Time
03 Nobody
04 Bent out of Shape
05 Sadly Beautiful
06 Someone Take the Wheel
07 When It Began
08 All Shook Down
09 Attitude
10 Happy Town
11 Torture
12 My Little Problem
13 The Last
14 When It Began (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
15 Nobody (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
16 One Wink at a Time (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
17 Torture (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
18 Attitude (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
19 Happy Town (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
20 Tiny Paper Plane (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
21 Sadly Beautiful (demo) [previously unreleased bonus track]
22 Kissin' in Action [bonus track]
23 Ought to Get Love [bonus track]
24 Satellite [bonus track]

Hi-def, animated indie film shot in Austin, will wrap post-production this Fall.

By Randy Harward and Lavinia Jones Wright

In an interview for Blurt’s July/August issue, Howe Gelb revealed he is scoring—and acting in—Mars, an animated feature film by writer/director Geoff Marslett (James Kochalka Superstar’s “Monkey vs. Robot” video).

“It was filmed in Austin last year, and it’s all about Mars,” says Gelb. “It’s animated and it’s hypnotic and involving. All the actors worked in front of a green screen. I got to play the bad guy [Dr. Fortunato], which was really fun, because all I had to do was be the cranky old bastard at NASA control.”

Marslett’s Swerve Pictures website describes his first feature-length work as “an interplanetary romantic comedy” that uses an animation technique he developed on the short film “Bubblecraft.” Similar to fellow Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, it combines “hi-def video, traditional rotoscoping and a processor written by Geoff. We are creating a unique new visual that falls halfway between reality and a graphic novel.” Shooting on the film—which also stars Kochalka, soul singer Nicole Atkins and actress Cynthia Watros (Titus)—was completed in September 2007, and Marslett says the film will be completed this Fall.

Gelb tells Blurt that the opportunity to score Mars was “really exciting” because his records, with Giant Sand or any of his side projects, “always feel like they’re soundtracks—but there’s no movie!”

Takin’ that Maestro down the road apiece. Word.

By Blurt Staff

Truth-in-titling: blues/roots maestro Taj Mahal will be issuing his first U.S. album in five years come Sept. 30 — Maestro (Heads Up) is the name, guest stars are the game, for pitching in with Taj are the likes of Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Angelique Kidjo, Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley and others who’ve all cited Taj as an influence.

Aw hell, he’s influenced everybody in AMERICA, and probably half the planet, too, in his 40 years of recording and touring.

Of the album, Mahal stated in a press release, “The one thing I’ve always demanded of the records I’ve made is that they be danceable. This record is danceable, it’s listenable, it has lots of different rhythms, it’s accessible, it’s all right in front of you. It’s a lot of fun, and it represents where I am at this particular moment in my life.”

He’s also announced an exhaustive touring itinerary that will kick off at the end of September and run well into November. BLURT has seen The Man several times and all we got to say is: Don’t miss him.

 Taj Mahal Tour Dates:

Thu Sept 25th Napa, CA Napa Valley Opera House
Fri Sept 26th Redding, CA Cascade Theater
Sat Sept 27th Arcata, CA Van Duzer Theatre
Sun Sept 28th Bend. OR Tower Theatre
Thu Oct 2nd Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre
Fri Oct 3rd Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall
Sat Oct 4th BB King Blues Club, NYC
Sun Oct 5th Washington D.C. Duke Ellington Jazz Festival
Thu Oct 9th Oberlin, OH Finney Chapel at Oberlin College
Fri Oct 10th Chicago, IL Morse Theatre
Sat Oct 11th Chicago, IL Morse Theatre
Sun Oct 12th Minneapolis, MN Fitzgerald Theater
Wed Oct 15th Missoula, MT University Theater
Thu Oct 16th Idaho Falls, ID Idaho Falls Performing Arts Center
Fri Oct 17th Boise, ID Egyptian Theatre
Sat Oct 18th Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
Sun Oct 19th TBA
Tue Oct 21 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre or Fox
Wed Oct 22nd Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Thu Oct 23rd TBA
Sat Oct 25th San Francisco, CA The Fillmore (Featuring Phantom Blues Band and Special Guests)
Sat Nov 1st Troy, NY Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
Mon Nov 3rd Brownfield, ME Stone Mountain Arts Center
Tue Nov 4th Brownfield, ME Stone Mountain Arts Center
Wed Nov 5th New London, CT Garde Arts Center
Thu Nov 6th Wilmington, DE The Grand Opera House
Fri Nov 7th Great Barrington, MA The Mahaiwe Theatre
Sat Nov 8th Fall River, MA Narrows Center for the Arts
Nov 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley

Available July 19 at all your fine neighborhood independent record stores.

By Blurt Staff

This news just got slipped over the BLURT transom. Meanwhile, be watching for the July/August digital magazine issue of BLURT — we’ve got a review of the new Earth to the Dandy Warhols CD, which is due out August 19 on the band’s homegrown imprint Beat The World Records.

In conjunction with Music Monitor Network, the Alliance of Independent Music Stores, and the Coalition of Independent Music stores, World's Fair Label Group, on behalf of the Dandy Warhols, will be giving away an exclusive EP, Earth to the Remix EP Vol. 1. With remixes by each of the Dandy Warhols themselves, the EP not only introduces material from the their upcoming album, it also shows off their musical versatility. The remixes move from spacey dub to edgy electronica but are never forced or insincere:  the spirit and energy of the original song is always maintained, it's only the immediate presentation that's changed.

Starting on July 19th and running through street date, fans can go to one of 400 stores nationwide -- including Amoeba, Virgin Megastore and Newbury Comics -- and pick up the EP themselves at absolutely no cost. For a complete list of participating stores, please go to Record Store Day.

Earth To The Remix Vol. 1 Track Listing:

1. Come the Fuck On – A Peter Holmstrom/ Jeremy Sherrer Remix

2. THE MONSTER MISH – A Taylor-Taylor / Jacob Portrait Remix

3. Welcome to the Skin-up Remix – Fathead / Jeremy Sherrer

4. Dub In The Lotus – A Zia McCabe / Jeremy Sherrer Remix Paul Brainard – Pedal Steel  

Meawhile, as previously announced, the band will be touring heavily this summer fall, coming off the heels of a UK and European tour. Those dates again:

Aug 29 2008  8:00P

            Citibank Hall - Sao Paulo       Sao Paulo, São Paulo

Sep 9 2008      8:00P

            First Avenue - MPLS Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sep 10 2008    8:00P

            Barrymore - Madison Madison, Wisconsin

Sep 12 2008    8:00P

            Vic Theater - Chicago             Chicago, Illinois

Sep 13 2008    8:00P

            Kool Haus - Toronto   Toronto, Ontario

Sep 14 2008    8:00P

            Club Soda - Montréal             Montréal, Quebec

Sep 16 2008    8:00P

            Wilbur Theatre - Boston         Boston, Massachusetts

Sep 17 2008    8:00P

            Terminal 5 - NYC       New York, New York

Sep 19 2008    8:00P

            Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn          Brooklyn, New York

Sep 20 2008    8:00P

            TLA - Philly    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sep 22 2008    8:00P

            9:30 Club - D.C.         Washington, Washington DC

Sep 23 2008    8:00P

            Center Stage - ATL    Atlanta, Georgia

Sep 26 2008    8:00P

            Liberty Hall - Lawrence          Lawrence, Kansas

Sep 27 2008    8:00P

            Gothic Theater - Denver         Denver, Colorado

Sep 28 2008    8:00P

            Belly Up - Apsen        Aspen, Colorado

Oct 1 2008      8:00P

            Belly Up - San Diego Solana Beach, California

Oct 3 2008      8:00P

            The Wiltern - L.A.      Los Angeles, California

Oct 4 2008      8:00P

            Warfield - S.F.            San Francisco, California

Oct 5 2008      9:00P

            Roseland - PDX          Portland

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin’ on? Not likely. Here are BLURT’s top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.