Miracle for a Maggot: Funkraiser for P-Funk Graphic Artist Pedro Bell concert on Saturday iintended to raise much-needed funds; Donation details below

By Fred Mills

Black rock website Bold As Love is reporting that this Saturday night, Jan. 2, at New York's Santos Party House there will be a fundraiser for legendary artist Pedro Bell - who, if the name doesn't click right off with you, surely the images displayed here will. Bell of course was the designer behind many of those mindblowing Funkadelic and Parliament LP sleeves (not to mention the equally brain-blasting Sun Ra cover, below). The concert is being called "Miracle for a Maggot: Funkraiser for P-Funk Graphic Artist Pedro Bell."

Doing Funkadelic and Jimi Hendrix classics will be keyboard maestro Bernie Worrell (who was in Funkadelic, natch), guitarists Ronny Drayton (Nona Hendryx, Defunkt) and Andre Lassalle (Burnt Sugar), bassist Melvin Gibbs (Elevated Entity, SociaLybrium, Rollins Band), J.T. Lewis (SociaLybrium) on drums and Kelsey Warren (Pillow Theory) on vocals. Proceed will go to a fund that is being established by the Black Rock Coalition to help Bell out.

According to Bold As Love:

Bell, whose subversive and psychedelic work has appeared on every Funkadelic album cover since "Cosmic Slop," has been in extremely poor health and living a life a virtual squalor in his native Chicago. Bell has seriously considered selling off his collection in order to cover his medical and living expenses.

The Black Rock Coalition hopes to raise money to help offset Bell's costs and place the artist in a more stable living environment for the time being. The BRC also hopes to help Bell retain his collection while helping his family develop opportunities to best use his in-demand works.

Santos Party House is at 96 Lafayette Street between White and Canal Streets. Tickets are only $15 and the show starts at 8pm. Details: www.santospartyhouse.com.

We're also advised that people unable to attend can still make a donation via PayPal:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10581525

Becker and Fagen go reeling in the years for the Blurt braintrust Nov. 10 & 11 at Cincinnati's Taft Theatre. No hoodies, messenger bags or ironic indie stances allowed.

BY STEVEN ROSEN

There's something touching, if not always exciting, about musicians performing their older albums - sometimes classic, sometimes overlooked - in toto at concerts. It has a "do not go gentle into that good night" quality about it.

As album sales drop and the public increasingly responds only to individual songs experienced in scattershot manner - a radio hit here, a TV or commercial soundtrack there, a cute YouTube video in between - artists who once believed in albums (their albums) want to get out there and prove they were right. They want to lobby for their records having legacies as coherent artistic statements.

Certainly, Steely Dan - Donald Fagen and Walter Becker - hope that. In their prime, they took years between albums, painstakingly working to wed sophisticated jazz-rock arrangements to their opaquely hipster (but also often achingly romantic) lyrics. They even refused to tour, afraid their concerts wouldn't live up to their albums as statements of value. Now, they certainly don't want all that work to fade away, like 78 or 16 rpm records did earlier.

So, with a jazz-rock big band complete with three female back-up singers who can soulfully croon "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart" to mark a stage-show transition, they've hit the road on the Rent Party '09 tour. They're doing (mostly) two-night stands in cities, spotlighting 1977's Aja one show and 1976's The Royal Scam the next. Both full-album performances are followed by greatest-hits sets. Based on their engagement at Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, Aja certainly endures as a whole. Royal Scam, not so much.

But the big surprise about Steely Dan live in 2009 is what an enormously empathic figure Fagan has become. Once considered to be as prickly and standoffish as his cryptically put-down lyrics indicated, he's aged into a professorial figure  -- white/gray hair, slightly hunched, unassumingly casual dress except for sunglasses with big, showbiz-kid-style frames. When he bows to acknowledge applause as he takes the stage, he exudes graciousness.

At the keyboard, facing the audience but head pointed upward to better sing out, he recalls Ray Charles. His voice has always been conversational, more organic than mannered and thus more nuanced than powerful, so it's impressive just how well he maintains clarity and diction through two long shows. He also stands and plays melodeon on a few songs, like "Aja" - such a pleasantly exotic sound.

Becker, looking dapper and a bit mischievously cherubic, stands front and center and serves as a kind of slightly ironic ringmaster. He parses out his guitar solos - Jon Herrington plays many of the flashy leads - and sings but one song, "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More." But he introduces the band and gives a droll monologue that breaks up the otherwise-too-long instrumental break in "Hey Nineteen." Mostly, he makes himself a presence.

As do the band members, bathed in brilliantly changing stage lights, as they fill out the songs with equally colorful, impeccable solos on trumpet (Michael Leonhart), trombone (Jim Pugh), sax (Walt Weiskopf), baritone sax (Roger Rosenberg), and even a drum solo or two (Keith Carlock).

Aja, which opened the first night, flows live like a suite, with the extended instrumental passages enriching the poignancy of the lyrics. The songs have just the right groove - the jazz passages from the horn section push the bluesy rock ‘n' roll underpinnings of "Black Cow," "Deacon Blues" and "Aja" forward and bring out the swaying brightness of "Peg." "Home at Last" and "I Got the News" are the lesser-known cuts, but the first provides Becker a good showcase for his slightly discordant guitar work.

On the first night, the Aja performance had the crowd enthralled and high, and everyone stayed that way during the show's remainder. But on the second night, people mostly sat through Royal Scam. It has neither the majestic sweep of Aja nor the vivid lyrics, and there's a plodding quality to some of the more blues-based numbers. It also never quite recovers from opening with its best song, the funky "Kid Charlemagne," which like a fighter fires off its quick, deft rhythmic changes and sizzling guitar solos while never losing balance, repeatedly returning to its euphoric chorus whenever it seems in danger of getting lost.

A few other Scam songs had life to them - singers Tawatha Agee, Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery and Catherine Russell did a sexy take on "The Fez." The reggae-flavored "Haitian Divorce" also had an alluring major-minor key chorus that is a Fagan specialty. But the title number, a long one, is flat - it's all words trapped in a fancy arrangement without being a well-realized song.

Steely Dan wisely included several Aja songs in the greatest-hits segment of the second night's show, and those along with favorites like "Reelin' in the Years," "My Old School," "Black Friday" and "Dirty Work" (with the back-up singers taking the lead) left everyone standing and cheering.

Judging from the lack of Pretzel Logic songs on the playlist, as well as only a couple from Katy Lied, we might see Steely Dan hit the road doing those albums next year. If so, don't lose that number for tickets - it'll probably be a draw.

Intimate tour, an outgrowth of the celebrated radio show, starts in January.

By Blurt Staff

"An Acoustic Café Evening" tour begins January 20 featuring Austin songstress and multi-instrumentalist Carrie Rodriguez and Kentucky indie/folk cellist Ben Sollee. The tour continues into February and Northampton lit/pop darling and multi-instrumentalist Erin McKeown will be signing on then.

"We're thrilled to start off this tour concept with these three exceptional artists," said Rob Reinhart, producer and host of the weekly syndicated radio program Acoustic Café, which is helping to present the tour. "With Acoustic Café, I look for artists who are pushing the boundaries and have unique talents and vision. Carrie, Ben and Erin are three textbook examples!"

After three critically acclaimed duo albums with Chip Taylor, Carrie Rodriguez (pictured above) rode onto the scene as a solo artist in 2006 with Seven Angels On A Bicycle. Her sophomore release She Ain't Me was lauded by critics. On November 24 she released Live In Louisville recorded during her 2007 tour with Lucinda Williams.

Collaborations with Otis Taylor and Bela Fleck earned Ben Sollee a spot on NPR's Top 10 Great Unknown Artists of 2007 before the release of his debut Learning To Bend in 2008, which landed on numerous year-end best-of lists. Next up is a collaboration with Daniel Martin Moore on Sub Pop due out in February 2010 called Dear Companion.

Meanwhile, Erin McKeown's latest release is Hundreds of Lions, on Righteous Babe Records. A constant on the road, she regularly holds down a rigorous tour schedule of 200 shows a year.

"An Acoustic Café Evening" tour dates:

January 20        NORTHAMPTON, MA    Iron Horse Music Hall^
January 21        NORFOLK, CT        Infinity Hall^
January 22        FAIRFIELD, CT        Stage One^
January 24         HOBOKEN, NJ        Maxwell's^
January 26        PORTLAND, ME        One Longfellow Square^
January 27        BOSTON, MA        Club Passim^
January 28        EASTON, MD            Avalon Theater^
January 29        ARLINGTON, VA        IOTA Club & Café^
January 30        ARDEN, DE            Arden Guild House^
January 31        CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA    Southern^
February 2        PITTSBURGH, PA        Rex Theater*
February 3        GRAND RAPIDS, MI    Wealthy Theater*
February 4        AUBURN HILLS, MI        Callahans*
February 5        BENTON HARBOR, MI    The Livery*
February 6        KENT, OH            Kent Stage*

^ Carrie and Ben only
* Carrie, Ben and Erin

Apples In Stereo mainman Launches Heavy Psych Side Project - Thee American Revolution. Album - Buddha Electrostorm - Is First In Years To Carry Iconic Elephant 6 Logo. Free MP3, below, and video for casual viewing.

By Blurt Staff

Lo-fi heavy psych-pop acid rockers Thee American Revolution began as a home-recording collaboration between Elephant 6 co-founder Robert Schneider and brother-in-law Craig Morris. Schneider is best known as front-man of The Apples in stereo, and producer of many beloved records, including both Neutral Milk Hotel albums.

According to legend, Thee American Revolution came together under the tutelage of W. Shears, a secretive British musician primarily active during the 1960's who relocated to Kentucky (where the band lives). Joined onstage by a rotating cast of friends, including drummer Otto Helmuth (Blueberries), Bill Doss (Olivia Tremor Control) and John Ferguson (Big Fresh/The Apples in stereo), Thee American Revolution shred with chaotic exuberance.

Check out an MP3 here for the track "Power House".

The band's highly anticipated debut album is built upon slabs of fuzz guitar and reckless troglodyte drumming, soaked in Mellotron seas, bright harmonies and bursts of pure noise. The record joyfully explores the terrain between Blue Cheer and The Beatles, with songs ranging from druggy pop to sloppy biker-rock anthems. Featuring album artwork by W. Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control/Circulatory System) and bearing the classic Elephant 6 logo, Buddha Electrostorm is certain to turn on fans of garage rock and psychedelic pop.

Video for "Grit Magazine":

Shameless shill, but hey, it's officially the shoppin' season now, and it IS news, so...

By Blurt Staff

A timely message from Oscilloscope Labs and Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys...

***

It is with pride and honor that we (those who forged the circle) have devised a way that you (the Chosen One) can enter the sacred realm and fulfill your true destiny. Until now, Mars was in the house of Neptune's second moon, and as such, you were prevented from journeying into this sacred cipher. Now, as worlds align, the chalice is within your grasp. Heed the omen, reach for the grail, let no man put asunder what has been ordained as yours. We await inside to break bread with you.

 
The meager sum of 150 bones will get you the next 10 DVD's we release (about 1 a month, give or take...)

 
Why go out and risk catching swine flu? Your Christmas shopping is already done. Even Oprah recommends buying our DVDs as a holiday gift. Check this link out.

 DVD's will arrive about a week before the street date. (Your friends will envy and covet your collection.)

If you are interested in our back catalog, you can buy previously released DVD's at half price while you have the subscription. (Say what?!!??)

We know you'll be satisfied with the result it will have on your constituency, and if not, at least you'll have something to talk about at parties. You can slag us off and call us liars... that's always fun.

 
This gift idea might not be right for the little ones, but we don't ever release films that suck, at least none that we know of.

 
Adam Yauch, the Minister Of Information at Oscilloscope Laboratories commented "There's a real void in the marketplace since Columbia Record club is no longer active, so we're hoping to hire a staff of tens of thousands to call our valuable membership over and over again and harass them until they cry."
 

The realm of trust seeks you, mount your steed and come hither! 

About Oscilloscope Laboratories:

Oscilloscope Laboratories is a film production and theatrical distribution entity launched in 2008 by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Yauch modeled the company after the indie record labels he grew up around, choosing films and then marketing them with the same artistic integrity with which they were made.  The company, which is an extension of Yauch's recording studio of the same name, has an in-house DVD distribution and production arm, and the paper packaging is reminiscent of the heyday of LP record jackets. All of the company's DVD packaging is (free of any plastic) printed on FSC Certified 80% post-consumer waste paper and produced in a carbon neutral, hydroelectric, ISO-9001 and ISO-14001 certified plant.  

Other Oscilloscope theatrical releases include Yauch's GUNNIN' FOR THAT #1 SPOT, Irena Salina's FLOW, Caroline Suh's FRONTRUNNERS, Kurt Kuenne's DEAR ZACHARY, Kelly Reichardt's WENDY AND LUCY starring Michelle Williams, So Yong Kim's TREELESS MOUNTAIN, the Academy-Award® nominated THE GARDEN from Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Anders Østergaard's multi award-winning BURMA VJ, Nati Baratz's UNMISTAKEN CHILD, and Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's NO IMPACT MAN. Upcoming releases include Lance Daly's award-winning Irish film KISSES, the re-release of Jules Dassin's classic THE LAW, Gabriel Medina's offbeat comedy THE PARANOIDS, and Michel Gondry's personal family documentary THE THORN IN THE HEART. Recent releases include Oren Moverman's award-winning drama THE MESSENGER, starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Samantha Morton.

New tune "Paranoia" comes from forthcoming album due Feb. 2 from Vice.

By Blurt Staff

First we gave you the lowdown on the awesome debut album from the Pierced Arrows, titled Straight to the Heart - the Pierced Arrows, of course, are Fred and Toody Cole from Dead Moon plus drummer Kelly Halliburton.

Then just recently we tipped you to the news that the Arrows have signed to the Vice label and have a new record, Descending Shadows, due out on Feb. 2. We've heard it and it smokes, trust us.

But if you DON'T trust us, you can get a taste of it right here at the BLURT video kiosk: we're premiering the video for the tune "Paranoia", and it's not to be missed. Watch it, and genuflect, say ten "Hail Coles" and get psyched for February....

You can also nab a free MP3 of the track - check out "Paranoia"

[Photo Credit: Simone Muller]

Band comes up with unique way to connect with fans, pimp the new album and, oh yeah, make some money.

By Fred Mills

In today's "not sure if we were exactly waiting to hear this news" news, the New York Times is reporting that classic rock gimps REO Speedwagon is unveiling a genuinely novel twist on traditional advertising. They've turned themselves into a video game - but before all you Guitar Hero and Rock Band doofuses out there rush out to Best Buy to be the first on your block to play "Keep On Loving You," "Take It On The Run" or "Can't Fight This Feeling" (whoah... just typing those song titles resurrects long-dormant teenage memories of Boone's Farm wine, cheap weed and back-seat gropes...), read on.

REO has a new album, Not So Silent Night: Christmas With REO Speedwagon, and the game, REO Speedwagon: Find Your Own Way Home, is aimed at promoting the album, as opposed to re-priming the pump for sales of the group's none-too-tiny back catalog. Although if the buzz surrounding the new record casts a halo effect, nobody will be complaining.

The plotline of the game concerns REO vocalist Kevin Cronin's "disappearance," so presumably you, the gamer, is trying to track him down (depending on your mindset, for high musical crimes and misdemeanors against rock ‘n' roll hairstyles). In the process you might come across a so-called "golden ticket" in the game as the band will be offering 20 prize packages for a 2010 concert.

According to NYT, the online game was created by digital agency Curious Sense and "joins the ranks of online video games sponsored by or created for marketers. Among them are DQ Tycoon, for Dairy Queen, and The Office, inspired by the sitcom "The Office." Starting today, Dec. 2, fans will be able to download the game from various sites including BigFishGames.com, MSN Games and Yahoo games, at a price tag of $8.00 that allows you to play a session that can last up to 10 hours, with the first hour offered free. You also get a coupon code good for 25% off the cost of the new album.

"We build digital experiences beyond a typical Web site, which offer long, interactive times between the content and the consumer," Adam Blumenthal, president/chief executive at Curious Sense in Durham, N.C., told NYT.

This, of course, may mark a milestone in the modern advertising era. Instead of having to sit and squirm through a 30-second or 1-minute TV or website ad while waiting for a show to come on or a program to load, consumers will essentially be paying eight bucks to sit and, er, interact with a ten-hour ad.

Meanwhile, the game clearly represents a potentially lucrative new revenue stream - for musicians, entertainers and more. Fans, of course, are nuts, and they'll fork over all kinds of dough to feel like they're getting something cool out of the fan-band relationship.

"It's a great concept and we're very happy to be involved," Tom Consolo, at REO's management (Front Line of Los Angeles), told NYT. "You have your ups and downs" as a band, so "you're always looking to reach a broader audience. And with the advent of the Internet, you can reach around the globe."

Can't fight this feeling, can ya!

Here's one that will tweak the memories of all you first-gen new wave fans and vets: first new album in 18 years from Canadian avant-pop legends. See video below.

By Blurt Staff

Described by UK critics as "one of the most innovative of their era" and that "even to this day they sound brave and fresh", Martha and the Muffins return on February 2nd with Delicate, their first new studio album in eighteen years on their own Muffin Music label. The album was five years in the making and mixed by David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Robert Fripp). The songs range from the horn-inflected "Drive" and the anthemic groove of "Mess" to the perceptive "Life's Too Short To Long For Something Else" and "Love Began With Eve", a song that Daniel Lanois stated was "one of the most beautiful, original songs I've ever heard."

Martha and the Muffins emerged from the early punk/new wave/art pop scene in 1977 which was centered around various clubs along Toronto's Queen Street West and the Ontario College of Art, where several members of the band were students. The band was the first Canadian band to sign to a UK label and recorded their first album, Metro Music at The Manor Studio near Oxford, England. After "Echo Beach" became a top ten single around the world in 1980 and earned them a Juno for Single of the Year, Martha and the Muffins toured extensively in Britain, Europe and North America.

Since then, the band has released seven studio albums, three of which they co-produced with Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel). The songs they worked on together included the groundbreaking singles "Women Around The World At Work", "Danseparc", "Black Stations/White Stations", "Come Out And Dance" "Swimming" and "Cooling The Medium".

Martha Johnson and Mark Gane spent much of the '90's scoring music for various television and film projects. Over the past few years, EMI Canada has reissued several Martha and the Muffins albums on CD, including Metro Music, This Is The Ice Age and the CD compilation Then Again - A Retrospective.

"Making Delicate was like a TV reality show: love, hate, sex, death and disease, it was all happening at once. If the music hadn't been good, I would've been totally lost", says Mark Gane.

Summing up, Martha Johnson concludes, "Delicate is so personal I feel like my skin is transparent and I've invited the whole world into my head."

The video for "Mess" from the new album:

Yes, those capital letters are intentional... would you expect anything less of the man? Tour starts in January.

By Blurt Staff

HENRY ROLLINS trades in his airline miles for a tour bus with the launch of his Frequent Flyer Tour in early 2010. ROLLINS's latest talking tour kicks off January 12 in Dublin, with the 45-date first North American leg departing from San Diego on February 17. Following stops in Australia and South Africa, ROLLINS returns for a second North American leg in mid-May.

As he did for last year's Recountdown tour, Shepard Fairey designed the promotional posters for the Frequent Flyer Tour.

"Since I was last on tour, I have been working in television and radio, traveling all over the world," says ROLLINS. "And like everyone else, dealing with the changes America - and the world - is going through. I thought America would become a more peaceful place in 2009. I had no idea the country had so many lunatics. There's a lot to remark upon, of course. There always is."

When ROLLINS talks about traveling the world, he's not referring to plush resorts and genteel European cities. ROLLINS's current and most recent travels include stops in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, China, and Senegal. These global experiences - like past excursions to such vacation hotspots as Pakistan, Myanmar, and Siberia - not only supply humorous anecdotes for ROLLINS's talking shows, but they inform his worldview. As Fairey's tour poster bills it, "Knowledge without mileage equals bullshit."

Tickets for the Frequent Flyer Tour go on sale December 4; a presale is already underway.

Now comes word that ROLLINS will return to South Africa where in 2008 he filmed his highly acclaimed special "Uncut from South Africa" for IFC. The following dates will be available soon through the local Computicket office: May 6 in Pretoria, May 7^th at the Bassline in Newtown-Johannesburg and May 8^th in Cape Town at Baxter Hall.

Amidst his extensive globetrotting, ROLLINS the actor, author, and radio host remains as busy as ever. ROLLINS recently concluded an extended guest run as rival thug A.J. Weston on the FX biker drama Sons of Anarchy. He continues to do his weekly radio show on L.A.'s revered NPR affiliate KCRW.

ROLLINS's latest book, A Mad Dash, is now available at www.Rollinsrollins.com, through his own 2.13.61 imprint. Picking up where 2007's A Preferred Blur left off, A Mad Dash is a frenetic travelogue spanning over one hundred live performances and the filming of five documentaries on five continents. ROLLINS has also been tracking his travels - and sharing his thoughts on politics and the state of the world - on his "Straight Talk Espresso" blog at VanityFair.com.

For more on  ROLLINS and the Frequent Flyer Tour, go to www.henryrollins.com.

Dates for the first North American leg of the Frequent Flyer Tour are as follows:

DATE                                     CITY                                      VENUE                 

Wed., Feb. 17                       Solana Beach, CA               Belly Up Tavern

Thu., Feb. 18                        Phoenix, AZ                          Marquee

Fri., Feb. 19                           Albuquerque, NM                Kimo Theater

Sat., Feb. 20                          El Paso, TX                           TBC

Sun., Feb. 21                         Oklahoma City, OK            Diamond Ballroom

Tue., Feb. 23                         Houston, TX                         House of Blues

Wed., Feb. 24                       Dallas, TX                             Lakewood Theater

Thu., Feb. 25                        Little Rock, AR                    Juanita's

Fri., Feb. 26                           New Orleans, LA  House of Blues

Sat., Feb. 27                          Birmingham, AL                  Workplay Theater

Sun., Feb. 28                         Atlanta, GA                          Variety Playhouse

Tue., Mar. 2                          Clearwater, FL                     Capitol

Wed., Mar. 3                         Fort Lauderdale, FL            Revolution

Thu., Mar. 4                          Orlando, FL                          House of Blues

Fri., Mar. 5                            Charleston, SC                     Music Farm

Sat., Mar. 6                           Asheville, NC                        Orange Peel

Sun., Mar. 7                          Richmond, VA                     The National

Tue., Mar. 9                          Washington, DC  Birchmere

Wed., Mar. 10                      Washington, DC  Birchmere

Thu., Mar. 11                       Philadelphia, PA  First Unitarian Church

Fri., Mar. 12                          New York, NY                      Irving Plaza

Sat., Mar. 13                         New York, NY                      Irving Plaza

Tue., Mar. 16                        Bayshore, NY                       Boulton Center

Wed., Mar. 17                      Somerville, MA                    Somerville Theater

Thu., Mar. 18                       Portland, ME                        Space 538

Fri. Mar. 19                           Halifax, NS                           Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

Sat., Mar. 20                         Moncton, NB                       Capitol Theatre

Mon., Mar. 22                      Montreal, QC                       Le National

Tue., Mar. 23                        Ottawa, ON                           Bronson Centre

Wed., Mar. 24                      Kingston, ON                        Sydenham St. United Church

Thu., Mar. 25                       Kitchener, ON                      Conrad Centre

Fri., Mar. 26                          Toronto, ON                         Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Sat., Mar. 27                         Syracuse, NY                        Westcott Theater

Sun., Mar. 28                        Ithaca, NY                            Castaways

Tue., Mar. 30                        State College, PA State Theater

Wed. Mar. 31                       Pittsburgh, PA                       Hazlett Theater

Thu., Apr. 1                           Kent, OH                               Kent Stage

Fri., Apr. 2                             Columbus, OH                     LC Pavilion

Sat., Apr. 3                            Newport, KY                        Historic Southgate House

Sun., Apr. 4                           Lexington, KY                     Buster's

Mon., Apr. 5                         Bloomington, IN                  Buskirk-Chumley Theater

Wed., Apr. 7                          Chicago, IL                           Vic Theater

Thu., Apr. 8                           Milwaukee, WI                    Turner Hall Ballroom

Fri., Apr. 9                             Madison, WI                        Barrymore Theater

Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Petkovic from Cobra Verde and Sweetapple from Witch Sets late March date for album release by Sweet Apple.

By Blurt Staff

Sweet Apple - an indie rock supergroup comprising members of Dinosaur Jr, Cobra Verde and Witch - will be issuing their debut album Love and Desperation via Tee Pee on March 30.

As the legend goes, the band was born "by accident and friendshipi, out of death, and after a cross-country drive. Singer-guitarist John Petkovic got in his car heading eastward days after the passing of his mother -- to smoke cigarettes, listen to music and clear his head. He didn't even know where he was going or where he'd end up.

He ended up in New England, the home of long-time friends Dave Sweetapple and J. Mascis, who told John to start writing some songs so they could start a band. Within weeks, and after recruiting Cobra Verde guitarist Tim Parnin they started working on an album.

The result is Love and Desperation. The 12-song disc casts a wide net, reflecting the disparate sounds of all their bands:  catchy power-pop, crushing rock and wounded ballads.

"I hadn't even played the guitar for months," says Petkovic. "And then, out of the blues, there were all these songs just coming out."

Recorded in Cleveland and Massachusetts, "Love and Desperation" was mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and The Hold Steady) and Don Depew (Cobra Verde, Guided by Voices).

"I tell people that I saved John's life by starting this band," says Mascis. "But they don't believe me."

Sweet Apple is currently working on a video for the opening track, "Do You Remember," a driving, rock anthem. The band plans to tour and perform at South by Southwest.

In which the erstwhile Talking Heads frontman gets in the van, er, make that, gets on the wheel....

BY JAKE CLINE

"I don't think my personal life is very interesting or unique," David Byrne admits by way of explaining that Bicycle Diaries (Penguin Books) will offer no juicy details about what went on backstage, behind closed doors or underneath those infamous oversize suits during the performer's days with the Talking Heads and beyond, as if anyone would want to read about such things, anyway.  Providing a welcome antidote to the ever-present glut of celebrity tell-alls and self-aggrandizing autobiographies, Byrne focuses on the external in his book, namely the artists, thinkers, musicians and other interesting people he's met while pedaling his fold-up bicycle through and around some of the world's greatest cities. Along the way, he makes a convincing argument that there may be no better way to get to know a place, its people and its culture than while seeing it from two wheels.

Armed with a wide-open mind and a seemingly boundless curiosity about all manner of subjects, Byrne makes for an ideal traveling companion. He largely eschews familiar landmarks and tourist attractions in favor of small art galleries in Berlin; nightclubs at which indigenous musicians perform in Buenos Aires; solitary detours (by car) to the Australian Interior; and, in Manila, a karaoke bar where he is surprised to find a "guy who looks like an '80s Bon Jovi" singing "Burning Down the House." Nearly every encounter with a resident or visit to a local institution sets Byrne to musing about a more-universal  topic. A dinner with a gallery owner in Berlin leads to a discussion about the meaning of beauty. A bike ride through the outskirts of Istanbul  causes him to consider the "religious, ideological, and emotional element inherent" in the cheaply made new buildings that are crowding out old and historic ones. A visit to a museum in London, where everyday objects such as plastic combs and toothpaste dispensers are on display, prompts a brief discourse on the act of creation, a topic he revisits after attending a wild, impromptu party in San Francisco complete with a marching band and guests dressed in "Victorian hats and fake mustaches on some of the men, wigs on some of the women, and some folks [wearing] not much at all." Try finding any of that in a book by Rick Steves.

Byrne closes Bicycle Diaries with an essay about the benefits for cities that adopt bike-friendly attitudes and policies. In large metropolitan areas such as New York, he argues, bicycle transportation can provide a cheap and clean way to minimize congestion, pollution and other traffic-related problems. But he's also pragmatic enough to realize the world would not suddenly become a more peaceful and beautiful place if everyone were to toss their car keys into the deep, blue sea and begin exclusively riding bicycles. In the end, he admits, "I don't ride my bike all over the place because it's ecological or worthy. I mainly do it for the sense of freedom and exhilaration."

Shutterbug's images rank among the most iconic ever in rock, pop and jazz history.

BY FRED MILLS

The title, we learn in the introduction, is instructive. "Without trust between the subject and myself," legendary photographer Jim Marshall (pictured above) writes, "I couldn't work the way I did and still do. I have to have total access, be allowed where I want, when I want, and do my thing the way I do."

The book is called Trust: Photographs of Jim Marshall (Vision On/Omnibus), and the theme is, indeed, trust. You know Marshall's work: iconic images of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding at the Monterey Pop festival; LP sleeves for Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison, The Allman Brothers At Fillmore East and the first Moby Grape album (the classic photo of Johnny Cash flipping the bird at the camera is also Marshall); photos both onstage and off- of the Rolling Stones from their '72 American tour (particularly if you're old enough to remember Life magazine, which put one of Marshall's shots of Jagger on the cover); some of the most penetrating portraits ever taken of Miles Davis - former president Bill Clinton owns a  print of Miles backstage at the 1970  Isle Of Wight Festival, resplendent in crimson shirt and silver-studded jeans and staring off into space while clutching his horn.

The 166-page, coffeetable-sized Trust: Photographs of Jim Marshall chronicles a life in music photography, in particular illuminating that total access Marshall was lucky enough to be granted (or insist upon, take your pick). The photos aren't arranged chronologically or thematically, but merely according to what was satisfying to Marshall himself; for most of them he adds brief anecdotal or explanatory text. Some are live, capturing his subjects in full flight - the aforementioned Jagger, Redding and Hendrix photos, a pair of Janis Joplin images depicting her framed against an astonishingly bright blue sky, a multiple-exposure take of jazz great Rashaan Roland Kirk for the Bright Moments album cover, a black-and-white shot of BB King at the Fillmore West in '68 whose uncharacteristically grainy and blurred-action quality is what lends it authenticity (King has just thrust his arms wide and Marshall captured the motion of his hands and guitar headstock). And some were specifically posed for some project or assignment, such as a backstage shot of Dr. John in full voodoo-shaman regalia, the Grateful Dead in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park forming a circle and staring down at the camera, and more contemporary photos of Velvet Revolver, John Mayer, and (ahem) Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst.

It's the candid, unscripted portraits, however, that form the heart and soul of this wonderful volume; they're indicative of what photographers mean when they say they try to capture the essence of their subjects. Three here in particular stand out to this longtime lover of music photography:

• A black-and-white shot of Miles Davis at a San Francisco gym, interrupted in the middle of a workout and talking intently on a pay phone - clutching the receiver while still wearing his boxing gloves.
• John Coltrane looking pensive while standing in the back yard of his Queens home, illuminated from behind with what appears to be late afternoon sunlight; the photo shoot was for an album, but a different image was ultimately selected, and this particular one evokes that "what is he thinking about?" feeling in the viewer.
• Frank Zappa (also color), sitting up in bed in the morning sun, shirtless with mussed hair, a quizzical smile on his face; Marshall's note indicates that he'd made Zappa sit up long enough to take a couple of shots, then the musician went back to sleep. Talk about trust. It's not particularly composed other than to ensure the natural lighting was good, and its charm comes from the very fact that you realize it is indeed spontaneous and totally candid; I don't know if I've ever seen a picture depicting Zappa with that exact type of smile.

Marshall, whose first album cover was for a Horace Silver LP (Prestige Records paid him the princely sum of $75), indirectly summarizes his experience in his introduction:

"I had the trust of the artist, I would work with them, and they knew I wouldn't fuck around or do anything they didn't like... No one I've shot, not Dylan, not Miles, not Cash, has ever complained about how my pictures of them have been used."

One can't help wondering whether that long, rich journey Marshall traveled would have been a different one in another era, one marked by the elbowing, intrusive antics of paparazzi and a corresponding lack of trust from the artists. In their heyday, Marshall and his peers - virtuoso lensmen and lenswomen like Baron Wolman, David Gahr, Annie Liebowitz, Ethan Russell, Elliott Landy, etc. - unquestionably broke new ground. Some would say they broke the molds, too.

Many of Marshall's classic images can be viewed (and purchased) at his official MarshallPhoto.com site.

Indiedom's nü-Bard makes the most of trying circumstances at Philadelphia's Theatre Of Living Arts, Nov. 24, 2009.

BY ZACHARY HERRMANN

From the second the concert was announced, something about Devendra Banhart playing the Electric Factory just didn't seem right. Whether or not he could bring out enough of an audience to fill the notoriously awful Philadelphia venue was one worry, especially when many of his free spirit demographic would be across town seeing Phish at the Wachovia Center.

But the bigger issue would have been one of sound and scope. Banhart - despite having a real kicking live band, dubbed the Grogs - started his days as a solo acoustic act and still devotes a great deal of his set to those songs. The cavernous design of the Electric Factory doesn't really cater much to intimacy, and frankly, the result probably would have been somewhat disastrous.

As luck would have it, a water main break forced a last second venue change to the much smaller, better-suited Theatre of Living Arts (TLA). In concert, as on album, Banhart requires some patience and sifting through, especially of late. Not surprisingly, his live show is very much a reflection of that. You have to get past some lightweight hippie-dippiness, but when you do, the guy has some real gems in his catalog.

In this sense, Banhart's music is a pretty accurate reflection of the musical era he most channels: the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. His stage persona is loose and spacey, which belies his more complex, darker sensibilities. Maybe it's just a matter of personal preference, but "Long Haired Child", "Rats" and "A Sight To Behold" have a lot more going on lyrically and musically then his lighter fare.

Critical consensus has been sort of lukewarm on Banhart's latest, What Will Be, and not completely without reason. The album tracks "Baby" and "Angelika" slowed things down early after the opening buzz of "Long Haired Child". "First Song for B" put even the most zealous Banhart followers into a lull.

Banhart certainly didn't help his case by taking the album's best pure pop song, "16^th & Valencia and Roxy Music", and grinding it to a barely mid-tempo halt. Similar to the way Ryan Adams started playing a slow-build version of "New York, New York", Banhart's shift sapped the number's potential as an early-set crowd pleaser.

Eventually, Banhart acquiesced to a lot of what the cat-calls were crying for - "Little Yellow Spider", "Seahorse" (silly, but well jammed) and several others that were in highly audible demand. Oddly enough though, Banhart and the Grogs had some of their best moments playing the non-Banhart tunes, which carried the band into the late set highs ("Lover", "Carmensita").

In addition to all being extremely versatile musicians, the four members of the Grogs are all fairly talented songwriters in their own right. Noah Georgeson's "Find Shelter" fit naturally into Banhart's set, while drummer Greg Rogove's "Diamond" displayed a dirtier, thrashing blues buried under the group's Tropicalia/neo-psychedelia. Ever the gracious band leader, Banhart stepped back to handle bass duties at one point, encouraging his band members to step up and take the spotlight.

As much as the group gives up a clear communal hippie vibe, the Grogs are an incredibly tight and disciplined band. And Banhart - who came on in a bowtie and jacket and left the night shirtless - may not look the part, but he is every bit the serious musician. His guitar work - acoustic and electric - is both clever and tasteful, referential (Nick Drake and The Electric Prunes both come to mind) but independently wrought. 

With or without the Grogs, Banhart got the best out of the sound at the TLA, the crowd mostly hushed in the quieter moments, even when everyone had cause to get a little restless. "16 & Valencia and Roxy Music" aside, the weaker moments had everything to do with the material, not the performances.

A couple years from now, it would be nice to see a few of those What Will Be numbers drop out of the set list rotation. But for now, as long as the guy offers up 105 minutes of music, we can let a few indulgences slide.

***

Set list:

1)      Long Haired Child

2)      Baby

3)      Shabop Shalom

4)      Angelika

5)      16^th & Valencia and Roxy Music

6)      Little Yellow Spider

7)      A Sight To Behold

8)      I Remember

9)      First Song for B

10)   Charles C. Leary

11)  You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover)

12)  How's About Tellin' A Story

13)  Maria Lionza

14)  It's Gonna Take Some Time To Get Alone With You (The Pleased)

15)   Foolin'

16)  Find Shelter (Noah Georgeson)

17)  Seahorse

18)  (Rodrigo Aramante song)

19)  Lover

20)  Diamond (Greg Rogove)

21)  Carmensita

22)  Rats

23)  Chinese Children/ I Feel Just Like a Child

More of the same ol' bullshit, only this time with an even smaller pool of nominees hogging the whole goddam field.

By Fred Mills, Blurt Managing Editor

It's either an indicator of the Grammys' inexorable, torturously slow decline into irrelevance or simply another sign that in the 21^st century the query "If a celebrity falls in a forest, does he or she make a noise if there's not a camera crew to film the event?" is no longer merely a rhetorical one.

Last night, as you've probably heard, judging by, as of this writing, the approximately 1,800 Google citations listing "Grammy nominations," there was a special prime-time broadcast of the noms and the accompanying concert, all held at Los Angeles' Club Nokia. Performing were the Black Eyed Peas, DJ Guetta, Maxwell, Nick Jonas & The Administration, Sugarland, and LL Cool J, who hosted. There were celebrity presenters on hand too: Linkin Park, George Lopez, Katy Perry, Smokey Robinson, Ringo Starr, T-Pain, and Dwight Yoakam.

"The nominations this year truly reflect the talented community of music makers who represent some of the highest levels of excellence in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, in a statement. "Once again, the Grammy Awards process has yielded a well-rounded and diverse group of impressive nominees across multiple genres. Coupled with the second year of our primetime nominations special, which featured stellar performances by past Grammy winners and nominees, the road to Music's Biggest Night and the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in January is off to an exciting start."

Right. As you might imagine, once again there were no real surprises in the nominations, with all the usual suspects being named, as you can read at the Associated Press report here or the official Grammys site here. Beyonce and Taylor Swift landed 10 and 8 noms, respectively, while the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell and Kanye West all landed 6. Following close behind: David Guetta, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga received five each; and Colbie Caillat, Michael Giacchino, Kings Of Leon, John Newton, RedOne, Bruce Springsteen, T-Pain, and Keith Urban each received four nominations.

See what I mean about "irrelevance"? Sure, if you look at the full, unexpurgated list, there are tons more nominations, many of them reasons to cheer - for example, Best Americana Album has Dylan, Levon Helm, Willie Nelson, Wilco and Lucinda Williams all getting nominations (we're not sure if Wilco can be called "Americana" anymore, but we'll take it for now). But when you have folks basically hogging the field with four, five, six, eight and ten noms apiece, the sheer level of white noise drowns out everyone else as far as the public is concerned, and the media is overtly complicit in this stuff, too.

The nominating "event" has always been pimped to a degree by the industry - as I write, p.r. emails are trickling in to my inbox from labels and publicity firms expressing their congratulations to their clients who received nods -  but having a concert is a relatively new twist clearly aimed at giving the Grammys a bit of preemptive shelf-life boost as we lead up to the January 31 presentation ceremony in Los Angeles. But does manufactured buzz equate with genuine "buzz"? Is everybody glued to their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, sucking all this shit down like chocolate milkshake, or can people actually detect the stench? (Hint: you actually have to get up and walk away from the computer or smartphone since no one has created scent apps yet.)

It's a further sign that public interest in the Grammys is on the wane in an era when every time you turn on the television there's yet another peoples'-choice type ceremony or a ceremony involving a musical niche or subgenre. Before the dust settles, I fully expect to be viewing the National Kazoo Association Awards

Initials add up to an impressive collection of names.

By Blurt Staff

Pennsylvania's Initials, the more-or-less punk supergroup made up of former members of Hot Rod Circuit, Once Nothing and the Color Fred, just announced they've made another addition to their colorful roster. Joining guitarist Fred Mascherino, guitaris Andy Jackson and bassist Steve Lucarelli will be drummer Josh Eppard, previously of Coheed & Cambria. He replaces original drummer Anthony Martone.

According to Alternative Press, Mascherino was quoted as saying, "We'd been trying out a bunch of drummers looking for the right fit. We had some shows coming up and Anthony Martone took the time to do us a huge favor and learn the songs and play them with us. Since the lineup hadn't been totally solidified yet, and Anthony had other projects coming up, we wanted to makes sure we were all committed to Initials, and that's when Josh [Eppard] walked in and the chemistry was solid. Anthony is a good friend and an amazing drummer, and we wish him well on his other projects!"

You can see a video interview with Initials from October at the A.P. website.

More tuba!

By Blurt Staff

Brooklyn's Clare and the Reasons get the opportunity of a lifetime in February when they tour with legendary singer-songwriter Van Dyke Parks. Parks collaborated with the group on their debut release, The Movie, and Clare and the gang say they are "eager to join up with him once again"behind the release of their new album, Arrow, out now on Frog Stand Records. As the band prepares for tour, they are releasing their tuba and strings-laden cover of Genesis' song "That's All" for free mp3 download - this just might redeem the British band in the eyes and ears of indie rockers after all these years of smirks and stifled giggles.

"That's All"

Clare and the Reasons is fronted by collaborators Clare and Olivier Manchon. Their sophomore album, Arrow, features a guest appearance from Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and live, they have a steady list of contributors (including members of The National and Beirut). The band recently returned from a North American tour with The Vic Chesnutt Band, and will be playing a final NYC show of the year with Keren Ann at the Knitting Factory on Monday, December 14th.

The band talks about their upcoming dates with Parks here:

Some things come along, like a sunny day after weeks of rain, or a good baguette, or a comfortable, yet good looking pair of shoes... That stuff is exciting, brings joy. When you find out you're touring with Van Dyke Parks, well, that's something entirely different.

The legendary musical genius will be playing some rare (as rare as a good baguette in a small US city) concerts of his very own songs - not anyone else's - his masterpieces. I'm assuming you will want to come to these shows,I know we would - wait, we are! Some Reasons will be joining Van Dyke on stage.

If the world is still a good and decent place, these tickets will go fast. Don't wait until the last minute, procrastinators will be missing out on goodness. Guest appearance by songwriting wunderkind Josh Mease.

We're so honored to be sharing this tour and making evenings filled with music with THE REAL VAN DYKE PARKS.

Clare and the Reasons tour dates:

12/14 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory w/ Keren Ann
2/9 Seattle, WA  - The Triple Door w/ Van Dyke Parks
2/10 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios w/ Van Dyke Parks
2/12 San Francisco, CA - The Swedish American Hall w/ Van Dyke Parks
2/14 Los Angeles, CA - McCabe's w/ Van Dyke Parks

First, we take the Bay Area: three musical legends mount epic concerts in San Francisco and San Jose in October and November.

BY JUD COST

Music fans were vividly reminded of the temporal nature of the lifespan of the touring musician during a particularly fertile recent fortnight in the San Francisco Bay Area. From October 29 through November 13, you could have witnessed epic concerts by master Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, American free-jazz alto saxophone legend Ornette Coleman and Canadian singer-songwriter-poet Leonard Cohen.

Shankar and Coleman appeared on different nights at San Francisco's upscale Davies Symphony Hall as part of the fall season of SF Jazz, and Cohen wrapped up the most recent segment of his world tour at San Jose's cavernous HP Pavilion. Houses for all three events seemed to be running at about 90 percent capacity, perhaps filled with fans who realized these three musical icons won't be touring forever. Cohen, at 75, is the relative youngster of the group, Coleman is 79 and Shankar is still going strong at the ripe old age of 89.

Unlike revenge, its more volatile cousin, regret is a dish that lingers on the tongue, no matter what temperature you dish it up. And its pungent after-taste doesn't go away anytime soon. In the summer of 1966, I entered the box office of the St. Claire Hotel in San Jose, Calif. to buy a pair of tickets to see the Beatles at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. I was stunned to learn the coveted cardboard strips would set me back a gaudy $5.50 apiece. It may be hard to comprehend in the era of the six-dollar hamburger, but eleven bucks was a lot of money back then. Reckoning that I might have a little more ready cash the following year, I reluctantly passed on the Beatles tickets. I've regretted it ever since. When it was announced the Fab Four would stop performing live, I grabbed a fistful of red Georgia clay and took a retooled version of the Scarlett O'Hara oath: "I swear I will never again miss an important musical act."

Easier said than done, of course. I decided not to go to a local appearance by R&B star Jimmy Reed in 1976, and then he died the following week. When I tried to buy tickets for the 1980 U.S. appearance of Joy Division at tiny East Bay club Berkeley Square, I found out the tour had been canceled due to the suicide of Ian Curtis. Over the years I somehow missed seeing Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Little Richard, but not much else.

Recent weeks have seen a mother lode of musical genius pass through northern California.

Ravi Shankar: In his introductory remarks, SF Jazz founder Randall Kline announced that the evening's first set would be played by Shankar's daughter, Anoushka, also a master of the sitar. But Anoushka appeared moments later on the arm of her esteemed father, and the two of them enthralled the audience for the next two hours, trading off thrilling, improvised runs on the ancient Indian instrument. Accompanied by the dynamic yet sensitive rhythmic patterns of Tanmoy Bose on tabla and Pirashanna Thevarajah on mridangam (a longer drum, about twice the size of the tabla), some were lengthy and complex, others as soft and caressing as the first rays of the morning sun. Ravi mentioned that he's always loved playing in San Francisco (probably the reason he decided at the last moment to play the entire program, rather than just the second set) since the very first time he visited the city as part of his older brother's dance troupe in 1932. It's obvious that when Ravi decides to retire from public concert, Anoushka is fully capable of carrying on the family name in customary grand style.

Ornette Coleman: The first time I saw Ornette Coleman play with his own group he was accompanied by bassist David Izenzon and drummer Charles Moffett at San Francisco's tiny Divisadero district jazz club Both/And in 1966. Last week he was flanked by two bassists, one acoustic, the other electric, and his son Denardo on percussion, continuing a tradition begun in 1966 when Denardo first played drums on his dad's Empty Foxhole LP at the age of six.

Ornette's mostly playing that familiar white plastic alto sax these days with only occasional forays on violin and Don Cherry-inspired trumpet that lasted no more than half a minute. He sounds as lucid and forceful as ever. Coleman began his set with the ear-opening "Blues Connotation," an exciting number first heard on his 1960 album This Is Our Music. Coleman's songs, of course, are just launch pads for his mercurial improvisations that leave behind the bebop tradition of using chord changes for a roadmap. Coleman sent the crowd happy into the night with an encore that included his eternally sad "Lonely Woman" from his landmark 1959 longplayer The Shape Of Jazz To Come.

Leonard Cohen: As he apparently does for every show he plays these days, Leonard Cohen literally ran onto the stage of what on other nights serves as the ice surface for the San Jose Sharks. Dressed in a sharp blue serge suit and rakish fedora, Cohen has brought along a crack band that doesn't need to play loud-or vary the tempos much from a gentle stroll-to penetrate every dark corner of the arena. Whether he's serenading the audience on bended knees in his rich, weatherbeaten baritone or roaming the stage like a troubadour in search of a balcony, Cohen never fails to connect with his adoring crowd. He didn't use the classic, self-deprecating line from the three shows he played at Oakland's Paramount Theater last spring. When mentioning that he hadn't performed live here in ten years, Cohen referred to himself back then as "just a crazy 65-year-old kid with a dream." It's such a thrill to hear him perform his classics-"Suzanne," "Hallelujah," "Bird On A Wire" and "First We Take Manhattan"-that the nearly three hours Cohen spent onstage went by like a bullet train headed for points unknown. He certainly got no argument from his energetic legion of fans when he burst into the title song from his 1988 album I'm Your Man.

75 minutes and home in bed before the 11:00 news: Mozzer keeps it short and sweet before and adoring audience November 30 at the Roseland, Portland, OR.

By Tim Hinely

On the video screen before Mozzer's start time the venue played some vintage - and appropriate - video clips: New York Dolls, Lou Reed, Alain Delon. Then the singer and his crew burst onstage at exactly 9 PM.

Morrissey made quite a splash for his first Portland concert in 7 years. He and the band arrived in matching outfits and immediately ripped into the Smiths' first album classic "This Charming Man." It definitely lacked the nuance of the original, a bit more rawk, but still a pleasant surprise nonetheless. (As for other Smiths songs they played "Cemetery Gates,"  "Ask" and "How Soon is Now," the latter of which found the singer ripping his shirt off at the end and running offstage.) The solo material sounded just as good as Morrissey launched into razor-sharp versions of "Ganglord," "If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me," "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" and the classic "The World is Full of Crashing Bores."  The band was especially tight (although the bass player really didn't need to grimace after every note), with guitarists Jesse Tobias, who has played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Boz Boorer, Morrissey's longtime sideman, engaging the crowd with tasty licks. Mozzer himself interacted with the sold-out crowd quite a bit, responding to one girl's plea of I love you! with "Oh...it'll pass - trust me," and taking a small gift bag from another female, smiling and appearing to listen to it before looking inside. (Is there a bomb in there?)

The adulation for Morrissey hasn't waned a bit over the years, and in fact has gotten much stronger. This was proven over and over again tonight with the fans' over-the-top reactions to nearly every move he made. The band ended the set with a ripping version of "First of the Gang to Die" (from 2004's You Are the Quarry) and then left the stage a mere 75 minutes after they came on. The entire crowd was hoping, stomping for an encore, but there would be none. Morrissey & Co. came, saw and conquered, leaving us all wanting more.

Eagerly awaited EP due in stores on December 15. Meanwhile, the group is going to Sundance next January.

By Meryl Trussler

In its first many moments ‘Graze' tips tinny synth chord into tinny synth chord, back and forth like one of those executive toy see-saws full of strange immiscible liquids, and you get to worrying that maybe the new Animal Collective EP, Fall Be Kind (Domino), will be about as affecting/relevant to your fervent hipster lifestyle as said little see-saw - because maybe you've seen Animal Collective on the Merriweather Post Pavilion tour, and maybe in between tweet-worthy crescendos of awesomeness you've had to check your watch to see how long they've been faffing around with white noise, fading out of one song and not, perceptibly, into another - and maybe you're sort of unnerved at this seeming return from the pop beats to the unending, groggy experimentalism, experimentalism without the batshit crazy folk stuff that made the early albums so good - and maybe you're thinking that's what AC are now, they're all about the drone and delaying the pleasure and never playing goddamn ‘For Reverend Green', and that's seeped onto record for good and you have to give them up and they have to be one of those bands you get really heartrendingly mournful about, like a dead dog but then -

But then halfway through ‘Graze' and the lazy chant of  "let me begin..." it kicks in. Cymbals! Bass stripes! Pan flutes! "Why do you have to go? / WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GOOO-ooo?"  Back to that Strawberry Jam ecstasy that crawls over you like kittens. But, but -

But then they present this turd called ‘What Do I Want? Sky' which relentlessly slobbers out the title over this sunny California one-hit-wonder pop melody that sounds simultaneously like Len (remember ‘Still My Sunshine'?), the New Radicals (‘You've Got the Music in You'?) and Sugar Ray (‘Every Morning' there's a halo hanging something something?) except far less enjoyable. But and yet and bloody however -

But there's this gem called ‘On a Highway', that starts off slow with the same three-chord, Fuck Buttons-kinda pulsations they dig, that grows to a happy, hippy drumbeat and rising harmonies, and Avey talks about being, yeah, on a highway, jealous of Noah's dreaming. And ‘I Think I Can' comes in with another queer, quacking, thundercracking synth riff, and demonstrates their abilities to make any old mutant made of notes catchy as hell, and culminates in a jubilant "I think I can I think I can I think I..."

I think they can too. But on this EP they don't. They can't achieve whatever it is. Unity, perhaps. The constant inconstancy, the tugging about between good and bad and mediocre like a failing marriage, is taxing to listen to. That said, with albums as near-unanimously adored as the last three looming behind them, one patchy EP is naturally going to stick out so sorely and so ten-thumbed. Not one to have on a ten-lap repeat, but worth its half-hour's attention, and not in the least worth throwing in the towel over (you know, the tea towel embroidered with Noah Lennox's face - I saw it). It is nice to not be hit over the head with AC's talent every now and then.

And damn, those are some tasty pan flutes.

***

More Animal Collective News:

Fall Be Kind is released December 15 and was recorded by Ben Allen at Sweet Tea in Oxford, MS in February 2008 and at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, NY August 2009. From the band: "It includes recent live favorites Graze and What Would I Want? Sky (featuring the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample). Fall Be Kind will be available worldwide on CD, 12" vinyl and via digital download."

Track Listing
1 - Graze
2 - What Would I Want? Sky
3 - Bleed
4 - On a Highway
5 - I Think I Can

Animal Collective kicks off a short tour next week; details and dates at their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/animalcollective.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Sundance Film Festival will be showcasing an Animal Collective film titled ODDSAC, directed by collaborator Danny Perez. Speaking to NME.com, bandmember Avey Tare commented, "We tried to make the music go along with the visuals as much as possible.  We didn't want it to sound just like a soundtrack, but then we didn't want it to be like a music video either. It's kinda like a psychedelic film, it's not like a narrative film or anything. There are more cohesive moments in it, but then there are some that are a little more abstract."

[Photo Credit: Adriano Fegundes]

Things apparently are "better." Oh, and something about live dates, too.

By Fred Mills

Yesterday both Billboard and the BBC broke the news that the Arcade fire is just about done with its next album and is eyeing a May release. It will be the followup to 2007's Neon Bible and features, as with that album, the engineering talents of Markus Dravs (Bjork, Coldplay, Maccabees, Mumford and Sons).

While the Arcade Fire has been notoriously close-mouthed about the sessions, the BBC was able to pry some details out of the latter group's Marcus Mumford, who apparently got his news directly from Dravs.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this but yeah, he's working on the next Arcade Fire record at the moment," said Mumford. "I'm sure that's public knowledge, because he's been there for about six months. I keep asking Markus how it's going and he's like, 'Yeah, it's okay', and I'm like, 'What are the songs like?' And he goes, 'Better'."

Well there you go. That's what we in the biz call "really specific and detailed information"...

Billboard wasn't able to supply much more, only adding that their "sources" say a single will precede the album, and that the group is "weighing multiple offers" for live dates, including summer festivals.

"The classic-album-in-sequence trend is a lamentable one": Alt-rock godfathers perform their classic album in sequence at DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, DC, Dec. 1.

By Chris Klimek

So, what can we learn from watching the no-longer-newly-reunited Pixies march professionally through their major-label debut, Doolittle, 20 years later?

The album, with its surreal lyrics and volume-seesawing dynamics and abrupt finishes, is aging just fine.  This we know because on Dec. 1, at the second of two nights at DAR Constitution Hall, the band - after a subdued opening of four Doolittle-era B-sides that sounded like the sketches they were - conjured it up faithfully, with plenty of muscle but sans interpretation or elaboration.  It was as it was.

Also, frontman Black Francis (a.k.a. Frank Black, nee Charles Thompson) remains the owner of a nonverbal war cry to rival any in the arty-indie genre his band did so much to shape during its first go-round, circa 1986-1993 - you know, back when they made new music together.  He's been more forthcoming than most nostalgia merchants about the purely fiscal motive for the Pixies 2004 reunion and for this latest outing, ostensibly celebrating 20th anniversary of their quintessential disc.  Back in '04, he even claimed that a new album was in the works, but none has materialized in the half-decade since.  Where's the money in new tunes?  You're better off selling a $25 official bootleg of each Doolittle redux tour performance on a "collectible" USB drive bracelet.  (The encore set of Tuesday's show replaced "Caribou" and "Nimrod's Son" from the prior night with "Vamos" and "Broken Face," so maybe each show on the tour isn't entirely identical -- just 92 percent.)

It's perfectly honorable for the Francis and company to pay some tuition bills this way, of course, especially given the quality of the product.  On stage Tuesday night, his old band sounded committed and even feral at times, biting into Doolittle's deeper cuts ("There Goes My Gun," "Silver") with as much firepower as they brought to "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and the epileptic "Into the White" that closed the first encore set, after Doolittle had done finished.  The 2007 Police tour happened sans the usual, nominal raison of new music, too, but in that case the band couldn't have sounded more bored, or boring.

Doolittle's unimpeachable standing aside, the classic-album-in-sequence trend is a lamentable one, wherein the artist abdicates an opportunity to recontextualize the songs for us.  (Bruce Springsteen is the shining, eternal exception, if only because he's been playing Born to Run with an additional 18 or 22-song grab-bag on top of that.)  You can still see why it's caught on:  In a sluggish concert market, it lets a performer satiate fans' thirst for hits and deep cuts alike, and without having to think about it too much.  It also addresses the near-impossibility of surprising a live audience in the 21st century.  Most acts play the same setlist every night, and if the song selection and sequence can't be delivered fresh to any audience with an Internet connection, well, here's a sequence the audience already knows they love.

As at other dates this tour, The Pixies left what little talking there was to loveable bassist/singer/Breeder Kim Deal, whose incandescent smile - perceptible from the nosebleeds - said more than her superfluous banter.  "We're gonna do B-sides," she said at the top of the show, as if apologizing that we'd have to wait another 10 minutes for them to rip into "Debaser."  (Totally worth it.)  "This is the last song on Side One," she announced later.   "These songs aren't on the record," she explained before the final sprint, comprising bloody readings of "Broken Face," "Vamos" and "Where Is My Mind" and "Gigantic," all performed with house lights up, possibly thanks to the intruder who'd managed to shimmy his way across the stage during "Into the White" before leaping back into the crowd.

If Deal's vapid chitchat at least come off as friendly, Francis's attitude toward the whole enterprise seemed captured in the film that accompanied their biggest hit, "Here Comes Your Man," featuring four continuous close-ups of each band member listening, presumably, to the recording of the song.  Deal played air bass and cracked up at regular intervals.  But Francis wore an irritable expression, rolling his eyes, bobbing his head, and clapping out of time to the virulent melody he pretends to be mad that he wrote.  The truth hurts, but the tune kills.

***

Veteran Danish (would-be) stadium-rockists Mew opened the show with dizzying 45-minute space odyssey through their best-loved tunes, drawing heavily from 2006's "And the Glass-Handed Kites" and dipping a toe into this year's "No More Stories."  Swirling, widescreen daydreamers like "The Zookeepers Boy" found their natural habitat in the (kinda) cavernous hall.  If anything, the venue might have been too small for a group that dreams, and sounds, this big.

--

Photographer - http://www.photokyle.com
Writer -  http://www.informationleafblower.com
Twitterer - @kgustafson

Iconic indie guitarist had been praised as this generation's John Fahey and much more.

By Fred Mills

Philly-based guitarist Jack Rose, who came to fame in the ‘90s on the Amerindie underground via his work with ambient/drone/noise outfit Pelt, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 5. The apparent cause of his death was a heart attack, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. He was 38.

Word quickly spread over the weekend of Rose's passing, with music websites such as Arthur and Pitchfork.com singing his praises (Arthur posted a number of videos as well). Pitchfork additionally reported that Cory Rayborn of the Three Lobed label, for whom Rose recorded a number of solo records, issued a statement, saying, "Jack was a warm, caring person and was always a pleasure to be around. His larger than life spirit will truly, truly be missed even moreso than his inspired musical ability. Our deepest sorrow goes out to his wife."

In the 2000s Rose further elevated his profile and reputation as a steel string auteur via albums for Three Lobed, Eclipse, VHF, Tequila Sunrise and others, typically issuing records on vinyl and limited-edition CDRs. He frequently garnered glowing comparisons to guitarists such as John Fahey, Peter Walker and Robbie Basho, excelling in everything from folk, ragas, ragtime and country blues while demonstrating a strong maverick, experimental streak. He also worked with a who's-who of indiedom, including members of Charlambides, Cul de Sac and Borbetomagus. Rose was sometimes lumped in with the freak-folk movement - due, no doubt, to his appearance on Devendra Banhart's 2004 f-f compilation Golden Apples of the Sun - but as anyone who owns one of his records or saw him play can attest, Rose was a true American classicist for whom labels or strict genre was meaningless.

At the time of his death the Thrill Jockey label had already announced his signing to the label and plans to release Luck in the Valley on Feb. 23.

Rose will be greatly missed and we extend our condolences to his friends and family.

You lookin' at me, Frodo? Rumors swirl. We report.

By Fred Mills

If you're Tom Waits, it ain't enough to celebrate your 60^th birthday; the musical legend was born on this day in 1949, and we at BLURT would like say, "Happy birthday, Tom!" (You can read our review of his recent album Glitter and Doom Live here.) And for most folks, just blowing out the candles would suffice. But not Tom.

Waits is easing into his 60^th year to the rumors that he's under serious consideration for a major role in Peter Jackson's upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit. The director's apparently already holding auditions for various parts, and while no specifics have emerged from the Jackson camp, other actors reportedly in the possible mix include Daniel Radcliffe, Martin Freeman, James McAvoy and David Tennant. The only confirmed roles thus far have ben for Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis.

Waits, of course, has appeared in many films over the years, sometimes in main roles and sometimes more cameo-based. They include Down By Law, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mystery Men, Short Cuts, Myster Train and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Filming for The Hobbit  scheduled to begin sometime in the middle of 2010. Tom, drop us a line and keep us posted...

Let's take a look at what we know about those ace remasters, shall we?

By Fred Mills

Beatles completists have begun to queue in anticipation of tomorrow's (Dec. 8) release of the remastered Beatles back catalog in digital format, as an Apple-shaped USB device, although there's a good chance that if you didn't preorder it you're out of luck for now: the limited edition (30,000 units worldwide) is currently showing as being on back order at most online retailers, such as Amazon, which indicates customers can "sign up to be notified" when it becomes available.

So we thought this was a good opportunity to revisit those remasters via Blurt editor A.D. Amorosi's September overview, which is republished below. Happy holiday shopping!

Meanwhile, it was reported late last week that a small, maverick minded website called BlueBeat.com has been selling Beatles MP3s despite the fact that Apple has not licensed individual tracks for sale on iTunes, Amazon or other digital music portals. As a result, EMI has filed for copyright infringement against BlueBeat's partent company, Media Rights Technologies. Read the background story here.

**

THE BEATLES REMASTERS

BY A.D. AMOROSI

The Beatles thing is a lot to get through if you let it; the televised network interviews you knew would come (who knew Mary Hart was so close to them in the day?); the utter creepiness of the The Beatles: Rock Band video game (what happened to Ringo's nose?) and its ad campaign (a digitally enhanced furriness added to Lennon's beard that you'd never expect); the rush of good feelings warranted and unwarranted.

There's the technology of engineers at EMI's Abbey Road Studios sitting down for four years with vintage studio equipment, 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converters and the ideas behind what would stay (bum notes, microphone vocal pops) and what would be cleaned up (bad edits) so to keep the original dynamics of the original analog recordings.  

After that though, the 12 Beatles albums in stereo, the Magical Mystery Tour LP and the Past Masters Vol. I and II combined as one title (along with each CD's enhanced content (save on Past Masters) featuring documentaries, photos and related album art; all compiled onto a single DVD if you purchase the stereo box), is what I sat down with.

Before that, though, is where the process starts- remembering as much of the music as you could before THE BOX.

The crackle and pop of vinyl albums and singles, the din of lousily mastered first pressing CDs: I checked these things for myself. At that point in the listening (months ago, when THE BOX became, finally, THE REALITY) is where the joy started: this is how we know these songs for however long we've been here. And radio - don't forget AM (if you're over 30) and FM. And television. It keeps going. It does. You can't avoid that you know "Norwegian Wood," "Every Little Thing," or "Helter Skelter" beyond the past week or so.

These songs were the personal soundtrack to sex, violence, laughs and so many more occurrences, you'd had to have felt them a first time (or hundred) to feel them anew now.

That said, there's not one aspect - save for the real time memories connected with the originals - of hearing every new track from every new CD from the heavy kinda-Velcro-ed BOX that isn't a more dubious, depth defying sonic experience.

From Please Please Me, not only does Lennon's infamous first-take-last take on "Twist and Shout" reveal every polyp scratching breath; the entirety of the production now feels as urgent and teen-incendiary as it was in 1963 (not that I'd know), from the kick of "I Saw Her Standing There" to the bossa's bounce of "P.S. I Love You." The same can be said of the covers-laden With The Beatles for sure, but the punch-and-rush away of a re-mastered "I Wanna Be Your Man" and it descending chords' crunch can't be overstated.

A Hard Day's Night, truly my first fave of the Fab Four, pulled me in in a fashion I can't quite comprehend. "I Should Have Known Better"'s newly heard Lennon seems more pulsating than the past, his voice more yearning for me to get to him.  Meanwhile, the folk-ish "I'll Cry Instead" portrays a rougher past (musically, personally) than Merseybeat might have and the heavy blues in McCartney's voice on "Can't Buy Me Love" isn't so far away anymore; not something you knew would happen because you have the later albums in hands.

The transition and sophistication of songwriting, singing and playing - to say nothing of arranging - can be more richly realized in re-hearing Help and Rubber Soul. Though the previous effort pops while Paul does "The Night Before" and "Another Girl," - a deepness in his voice that rumbles more at present - the latter CD reveals the leaping harmonies of "You Won't See Me," the rhythmic heft of "Drive My Car" and Harrison's Byrds-ian jangle for if "If I Needed Someone" finally to its fullest effect. "Taxman" sounds greasier and more galling. Starr's sticks on "Good Day Sunshine" seem to tap dance. There's a riff-and-rhythm roughness to "I Want To Tell You" only vaguely hinted at on the original. The brass on "Got to Get You into My Life" has balls and "Tomorrow Never Knows" is as succulent a stoner symphony as you knew it could be.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour?

You can sense the Mellotron-tracked whistle and innovation that went into "Strawberry Fields Forever" - the jazz of its drumming, the lope of its bass. It's sexier than I remember it. So is the ballad-that-bloops "The Fool on the Hill." Though its carnival environ comes first, this hilly goofball has needs and a plaintive Paul's yearning ache comes across greater with this master. Even the nasty "I Am The Walrus" sounds more kitten-ish than nasty now.

Is THE BOX getting me horny after this many hours listening?

Sgt. Pepper, for all its magic, always sounded as if had thudded on CD; flat-lined in its hope for the grandeur. Yet, from the slap of its title song to the bludgeoning slam and echoing hollow of "A Day in the Life" and all the sinewy orchestration in between: I could write as much as I have already on the innovation of this remaster. Leave it at this: Sgt. Pepper sounds fresh, new, now. If Justin Timberlake or MGMT or King of Leon or Maxwell or Calvin Harris did these songs it wouldn't sound newer.

The Beatles - or rather The White Album - was my true test. Would one of my five favorite rock albums of all time prove better than the vinyl version (the CDs are trebly, terrible and thin, so...)? The answer is yes. But not as effortlessly as Sgt. Pepper. Every voice sounds realer here - the high squeaking Lennon on "Dear Prudence" and his more ruminatively insular "Julia"; the playful yodel-y Paul of "I Will" and his screechy deep "Back in the U.S.S.R"; the glistening nasal Harrison of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." This master shows and sounds off the Beatles' solo vocal prowess like nothing else. No wonder these guys went off on their own. They could make a goldmine.

The same can be heard within the silken degrees of Abbey Road and the more natural parts of Let It Be. The shunt-dun-din-delin-din of "Come Together"'s guitar is the glue that binds its bass line to the voice. You may think the Lennon-McCartney vocal teaming is great. But it's here that you feel the harmony, get what being a band is all about without having to see it in a video game. "Here Comes The Sun" is fresh and airy, as is the rush of harmonies of "You Never Give Me Your Money." Let It Be? Paul's hopeful haunted vocals throughout and his interplay with the piano is rich and effortless. This is the blues I mentioned earlier - "I've Got a Feeling" - with a crushing guitar ascension that could've made these guys into Cream before Cream barely got of the ground if they'd bothered. You finally hear the progression from 1963 to 1969. You get why he pushed for this recording even if bringing in Spector (not his idea) made these songs unnecessarily sweeter.

The Past Masters' mish-mash finally, in this realm, sounds connected with the background voices on the dear and playful "Love Me Do" - it's nearly worth buying the entire box for, were these CDs not sold separately. 

Worth every penny just for re-lightening the memory banks.

Worth double for making bright the darkness cast upon the reed-thin original CDs.

Worth triple for anyone who never got what the Beatles meant to their generation and every one that followed.

Exclusive photos from the Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC, November 30, 2009.

By Blurt Staff

Having read Blurt editor Andy Tennille's in-depth interview with David Rawlings - go here - you'll no doubt be wanting your visual fix as well. Tennille also photographed  the Dave Rawlings Machine last week at the Cat's Cradle, and below we present some of his choice images. Yes, that is the lovely Gillian Welch appearing in several of them. Enjoy!

Hotly tipped indie band to drop new album next March on FatCat.

By Blurt Staff

From the insistent synth buzz that rings throughout album opener, "Things," to the mechanical onslaught that introduces the six-minute centerpiece, "Skip The Youth," Frightened Rabbit's The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due March 9 on FatCat Records, is the band's exploration into new sonic and thematic terrain. Recorded by Scott Hutchison (vocals/guitar), brother Grant Hutchison (drums), Billy Kennedy (guitar) and Andy Monaghan (guitar/bass/keys), the Scottish lads are now bolstered by fifth member Gordon Skene (formerly of Make Model), who has joined the band to facilitate this new material and flesh out the older tunes live.

The fivesome, who are currently breaking in their new member as they crisscross Scotland on tour, will conclude the year with a hometown headlining show in Glasgow following a handful of dates opening for Modest Mouse in the UK and Ireland. They will return to the U.S. for SXSW in March followed by a headline tour and festival appearances.

The follow-up to their sophomore album, The Midnight Organ Fight, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks comes after nearly two years of incessant touring of both Europe and the States. In April of 2009, frontman Scott Hutchison sought isolation and decamped to the beautiful seaside town of Crail on Scotland's Fife coastline to decompress and write the new record. There, he conjured up lead single, "Swim Until You Can't See Land" which set the course for the theme of the album and inspires the nautical imagery that permeates the album. "'Swim Until You Can't See Land'  takes up where we left off and is central to the new record," reveals Scott.

Produced and mixed once again by Peter Katis at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and recorded by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound Studios in Scotland, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks sees the band transistioning from jangly indie-folk to a more expansive sound. The 11-song collection, filled with stunning string arrangements (courtesy of labelmate Hauschka), majestic keys and glitchy electronics, is a more ambitious and confident album than its predecessor.

"Most importantly, I'm happier with this record," proclaims Scott. "Sonically, it's closer than ever to the way I've always wanted Frightened Rabbit to sound."

Whereas the heartbreaking dissolution of Scott's longstanding relationship was detailed on the previous album, he took a different approach to the song writing for the follow-up. "I guess there's still a main protagonist in there but I feel like I'm telling a story this time, as opposed to exposing my innards to the listener," says Scott. Thoughout the album he ruminates on mortality, celebrates recpatured freedom and explores the idea conveyed in "Swim Until You Can't See Land: "It's all about losing your mind in order to reset the mind and the body - forget what's gone before and wash it out."

Track Listing:

1. Things
2. Swim Until You Can't See Land
3. The Loneliness And The Scream
4. The Wrestle
5. Skip The Youth
6. Nothing Like You
7. Man/Bag of Sand
8. Foot Shooter
9. Not Miserable
10. Living In Colour
11. Yes, I Would

Postal Service effectively brings the hammer down on the producer's annual program to distribute gifs to the needy.

By Fred Mills

The lights of Christmas dimmed just a bit over the last few days as word got out that due to a shift in policy by the US Postal Service regarding kids' letters to Santa, famed Chicago producer (and Shellac frontman) Steve Albini might not be able to distribute gifts to needy children as he's done in the past.

According to a Chicago Tribune report Albini, along with his wife, had in years previous taken clothing, cash and toys around the Chicago area at Christmastime, having tapped funds raised through a charity. The figure cited in the report was "more than $100,000" - that's not just reindeer food. Albini would obtain letters to Santa - not specifically children's, but from families asking for help - from the USPS and determine which families were the neediest.

Albini told a reporter, "There's so much money that it can literally save a family's entire year." He and his wife would personally deliver the items on Christmas day, surprising the recipients "with no strings attached."

What's now happened, however, is that the USPS has changed its policy as regards issues of privacy, meaning that they black out names and addresses on the Santa-bound letters, and although Albini stressed that he had "only used letters written by adults" and not children "looking for computer games or a new scooter," the policy will be enforced despite his protestations.

"Try to imagine how desperate you'd have to be to write a letter to an anonymous Santa asking for help. That's how desperate people are," Albini said. "I hope the post office can be made to see how much damage they're doing and change their policy."

Just the same, the postal service decided to "err on the side of caution" in the wake of a sex offender in Maryland obtaining a letter written to Santa by a young girl last year. Albini subsequently contacted his U.S. Representative Danny Davis but Davis opted to side with the postal officials, saying "Better to be safe than sorry, that what my momma used to tell us. You can't be too protective."

As a result, the Albinis are exploring other options, including working with the local Jane Addams Hull House Association about determining who some of the neediest families are. The JAHHA is reportedly soliciting letters starting today and will work with the Albinis so that they will "have the same experience they used to have with the post office."

Read the entire, disappointing storey here.

(Thanks to Pitchfork and the Daily Swarm for the news tip.)

Teams w/Marvin Ayres for second album; has also been touring with reunited Curved Air.

By Blurt Staff

MASK are actress/singer Sonja Kristina, who initially came to fame with ‘70s prog legends Curved Air, and modern classical composer/producer/Cellist Marvin Ayres . Both are established innovators in music and performance; Ayres's album Cellosphere (Mille Plateaux) established him as a groundbreaking composer/producer. They are releasing their second album 'Technopia on r.a.r.e (Repertoire) Jan 2010 and will be performing in UK and Europe in April - May 2010. This is MASK's first release since their UK Top 20 Club hit single 'Waking The Dream'.

Sonja Kristina has been touring with the reformed Curved Air in support of the band's recent CD release Reborn (featuring two of Marvin's productions) and incorporating music from the first three classic Warner Bros Curved Air Top 20 albums, Air Conditioning, Second Album and Phantasmagoria.

In the summer of 2010 Ayres will be performing/touring his latest composition 'Harmogram' using 3D sound design, in association with Martyn Ware (Heaven 17/Human League), at major international festivals.

Accompanied by their band, this will be a rare opportunity for audiences to enjoy MASK's Technopia tour on their first European dates since 2005, playing London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm and Moscow along with other towns in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

Imagine a post apocalyptic futurustic barren terrain, in which the MASK protaganists Jack and Virginia (from MASK's 1st album 'Heavy Petal') are ghostly lovers who reunite to revisit their darkly passionate relationship from the last volatile years of their past lives. Combining a musical sensibility of Bjork/Elbow/Sigur Ros/Bat For Lashes/Massive Attack, with the macabre darkness of Tim Burton, this theatrical and dramatic performance of MASK's music laced with stunning visual (Quadratura) and sonic effects will bring to life the album.

On the web:

www.myspace.com/maskuk
www.sonjakristina.com
www.myspace.com/marvinayres

No big surprises here... one list is hip and cool, while the other is, um, how the other half lives.

By Fred Mills

This morning NPR Music and online music retailer announced - separately - their best-of 2009 lists.

For NPR's "All Songs Considered" the venerable media outlet conducted a poll that yielded albums by Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Phoenix, Neko Case and Andrew Bird representing the five best of the year. That's pretty encouraging overall, but it should be noted that popularity polls frequently represent the tastes of a highly selective sampling.

Still, most of the NPR titles are on ours, too. Here's the top 25. The entire list, song samples, commentary and more can be found at www.npr.org/allsongs.

1.  Grizzly Bear:  Veckatimest

2.  Animal Collective:  Merriweather Post Pavilion

3.  Phoenix:  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

4.  Neko Case:  Middle Cyclone

5.  Andrew Bird:  Noble Beast

6.  The Decemberists:  Hazzards of Love

7.  Wilco:  Wilco (The Album)

8.  Bon Iver:  Blood Bank

9.  The Avett Brothers:  I And Love And You

10.  St. Vincent:  Actor

11.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs:  It's Blitz!

12.  Regina Spektor:  Far

13.  M. Ward:  Hold Time

14.  The Swell Season:  Strict Joy

15.  Monsters of Folk:  Monsters of Folk

16.  The Dirty Projectors:  Bitte Orca

17.  Passion Pit:  Manners

18.  Various:  Dark Was The Night

19.  Camera Obscura:  My Maudlin Career

20.  Metric:  Fantasies

21.  Beirut:  March of the Zapotec

22.  The xx:  XX

23.  Bat For Lashes:  Two Suns

24.  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros:  Up From Below

25.  Modest Mouse:  No One's First, And You're Next

Meanwhile, iTunes' "Rewind 2009" pretty much sums up the ACTUAL state of pop music, via consumers voting with their wallets, in America right now - predictable, safe, and boring. Seriously - Michael Jackson as Artist of the Year? And the Kings of Leon as the best selling album? We're in serious trouble folks.

Someone you know may have downloaded more than one item on the lists below, so blame them. The full list can be found at www.itunes.com/rewind2009

TOP-SELLING SONGS

1. "Boom Boom Pow," Black Eyed Peas

2. "Right Round," Flo Rida

3. "Poker Face," Lady GaGa

4. "I Gotta Feeling," Black Eyed Peas

5. "Gives You Hell," The All-American Rejects 6. "Just Dance," Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis 7. "Party in the U.S.A.," Miley Cyrus 8. "The Climb," Miley Cyrus 9. "Dead and Gone (feat. Justin Timberlake)," T.I.

10. "Use Somebody," KIngs of Leon

TOP-SELLING ALBUMS

1. Kings of Leon, "Only By the Night"

2. Various Artists, "Twilight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)"

3. Lady GaGa, "The Fame"

4. Taylor Swift, "Fearless"

5. Dave Matthews Band, "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King"

6. Michael Jackson, "The Essential Michael Jackson"

7. The Fray, "The Fray"

8. Jay-Z, "The Blueprint 3"

9. Eminem, "Relapse"

10. Black Eyed Peas, "The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)"

EDITOR'S PICKS:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR - Michael Jackson

ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Kings of Leon, "Only By the Night"

BEST NEW ARTIST - Lady GaGa

BEST ROCK ALBUM - The Dead Weather, "Horehound"

BEST HIP-HOP ALBUM - Raekwon, "Only Built for Cuban Linx, Pt. 2"

BEST ELECTRONIC ALBUM - Fever Ray, "Fever Ray"

BEST ALTERNATIVE ALBUM - The Boxer Rebellion, "Union"

BEST POP ALBUM - Angel Taylor, "Love Travels"

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM - Taylor Swift, "Fearless (Platinum Edition)"

BEST R&B/SOUL ALBUM - Joe, "Signature"

BEST SINGER/SONGWRITER ALBUM - Grant Lee Phillips, "Little Moon"

BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM - Stile Antico, "Song of Songs"

BEST LATIN ALBUM - Zoe, "Reptilectric"

BEST JAZZ ALBUM (VOCAL) - Melody Gardot, "My One And Only Thrill"

BEST JAZZ ALBUM (INSTRUMENTAL) - Christian McBride, "Kind of Brown"

BEST SOUNDTRACK - Various Artists, "(500) Days of Summer - Music From the Motion Picture"

BEST CHRISTIAN & GOSPEL ALBUM - Hillsong United, "A_CROSS // The EARTH: Tear Down the Walls"

Now that's one roots super group... move over, Monsters of Folk!

By Blurt Staff

When Luther Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Jimbo Mathus got together to make music, it certainly wasn't out of commercial consideration.  This troika of roots-imbued musical pros coalesced through a shared vision and consuming passion for the music of their forebears, most notably the Mississippi Sheiks, Memphis Jug Band, Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and other practitioners of pre-blues era roots sounds. They dubbed themselves the South Memphis String Band. 

Home Sweet Home, their first album, out on Memphis International January 19^th, showcases their passion for the old timey tradition that is underscored by the group's name: South Memphis String Band.  South Memphis, of course, is that rough and tumble area of the Bluff City extending from downtown to the Mississippi border, and beyond.  It's where Stax Records as well as, literally, hundreds of churches thrived.  The sacred and profane, holy rolling and dice rolling, were cheek by jowl in old South Memphis and its modern day namesake reflects that ecumenicism quite brilliantly.  For Luther, Alvin and Jimbo, South Memphis is more of a musical state of mind than a specific geographical location.

They've been called a "regional roots music supergroup" but the alliance of Dickinson (from the North Mississippi Allstars and, of late, the Black Crowes), Hart (the Grammy winner who is as equally adept at thrash rock as he is at country blues) and Mathus (of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) is more like three good friends just putting it down in a very traditional way. Mathus explained, "Luther, Youngblood Hart and myself have been musical co-conspirators for over a decade. It is only fitting that we should come together with acoustic instruments and perform Mississippi music." 

Michael Hoinski, writing in the Austin American-Statesman witnessed what's so special about SMSB at a recent performance noting, "The American experience is the main unifier of this slap happy yet sureshot trio... Each player is principally a bluesman but also well-schooled in country, folk and gospel."

When asked about the subject matter of SMSB's repertoire, Alvin responds without hesitation, "Natural disasters, bushwackers, train songs..." Home Sweet Home's tune stack with songs identified with Gus Cannon, Blind Willie Johnson, The Mississippi Sheiks, Carter Family underscores that thought with titles like "Jesse James," "Bootlegger's Blues," and "Bloody Bill." The latter song, along with  "Worry  'bout Your Own Backyard" is an original but is reflective of the old timey ethos that, thanks to the Luther, Alvin and Jimbo, continues. Whether you hold a degree in ethnomusicologist or are just a person who is moved by authentic acoustic American music, Home Sweet Home speaks your language, in beautifully measured tones.  As Jimbo notes, "We decided the South Memphis String Band will never be in a hurry."

Home Sweet Home tracklisting

1.     Jesse James

2.     Deep Blue Sea

3.     Old Hen (3:23)  - Gus Cannon

4.     Worry  'bout Your Own Backyard 

5.     Things Is ‘bout Coming My Way

6.     Let Your Light Shine On Me

7.     The Carrier Line

8.     Bloody Bill 

9.     Eighteen Hammers

10.  Bootlegger's Blues

11.  Dixie Darling

12.  Home Sweet Home

In a new coffeetable book, that is, complete with collectible  tchotchkes and gee-gaws. Oh yeah, the text is pretty good.

By Fred Mills

You'd be forgiven for squinting a few extra times at the recently published Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls (It Books/Harper Collins) and its $50 price tag. With its deluxe, boxed set-styled packaging and gimmicky design - numerous fold-out pages; several "pockets" that house reproductions of concert tickets, programs, press releases, even a 2-sided repro of a 1975 issue of Melody Maker; not to mention the inclusion of an audio CD featuring a 1977 Jimmy Page interview for Trouser Press - one might imagine that Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls, written by veteran Seattle scribe Charles R. Cross, would turn out to be long on style, short on substance, just another instance of collector catnip published in time for the holiday shopping season.

Well, sure; there's definitely some of that going on here. Publishing houses aren't stupid, and music bios rarely hit the New York Times bestsellers' list anyway, so if there's a unique angle that can be exploited to drive sales - particularly when it's an artist or band like Led Zeppelin about whom, let's face it, there's not really anything new to say - why not?

Still, I initially looked somewhat askance at LZ:STTOS when it arrived. The last few years we've seen equally gimmicky, and pricey, volumes dedicated to the Velvet Underground (the recent The Velvet Underground: New York Art is, like the Led Zeppelin book, $50 - and if you spring for the "Deluxe Edition" it'll you back 300 bucks); John Lennon, Grateful Dead and Jim Morrison (The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, The Grateful Dead Scrapbook and The Jim Morrison Scrapbook, featuring Bob-, Jerry- and Lizard King-related facsimiles and interview CDs) and Kurt Cobain (Cobain Unseen, likewise, includes sundry artifact repros). The latter four, incidentally, have in common the design company Becker & Mayer whose specialty is "innovative, high-quality, illustrated books."

Book publishers have taken to calling the addition of memorabilia and tchotchkes to books "interactive features," a term which to most consumers would suggest something a bit more digital in nature than the overtly analog experience a book provides. But again, as with my comments in the second paragraph, above, why not? Your appreciation for these undertakings, and indeed, your willingness to go into hock to own them, is directly proportional to your obsession with the artist in question; the more casual - fiscally prudent; "sane" - fan is usually happy with a straightforward, well-researched and -written biography.

At any rate, LZ:STTOS is a handsome affair no matter how you pilot it, dotted with photos, record sleeves and posters that even many of the staunchest Zep fans probably haven't seen before. For example, one particularly candid B&W photo shows Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in Boston 1969, standing in what appears to be a filthy tiled-floor corridor; they look... puzzled, or at least waiting for something to happen, with Jones holding a small zeppelin-shaped helium balloon. (Perhaps they were about to do a photo shoot?) Elsewhere, a 1980 European tour poster depicts a man in a military-styled jacket and flat-brimmed helmet gazing skyward: the explanatory text calls the iconic image "one of many never explained by the band," adding that it's one of the most collectible Zep posters. And of course there are tons of live photos, among them, a long shot of the band at Oakland 1977 on the outdoors Stonehenge-themed stage that the Bill Graham organization had built - no minor source of inspiration some years later to the mockumentary-minded folks behind This Is Spinal Tap.

Text-wise the book has heft, too. Cross' bonafides as a journalist and a writer are long-established - in fact, he previously co-authored the 1991 Zep book Heaven and Hell, and he's although got a couple of Kurt Cobain/Nirvana books on his CV - and here, true to his stated intention not to just rehash old, well-worn war stories about Led Zeppelin, he achieves, as he puts it, "a songs first" treatment of the band. Each chapter roughly concerns the making of and events proximate to a specific Zep album, with the first chapter detailing how the band initially came together and the final one covering the last tour and John Bonham's death through the subsequent reunions (Live Aid, the Atlantic Records' 40^th Anniversary bash, the December 2007 concert at London's O2 Arena).

At 98 pages and liberally decorated with visuals, LZ:STTOS isn't an exhaustive or definitive narrative and it doesn't pretend to be. Rather, it's an entertaining read that recaps the basic tale alongside a skillful and contextual appreciation of the music itself - while, of course, offering up a liberal dose of the aforementioned collector catnip.

Now available as a download from Merge, with physical CD coming in February. Open up those wallets, people - this is one that's important.

By Blurt Staff

If you've picked up the latest issue of BLURT you've seen our tribute to New Zealand legend Chris Knox, he of the mighty Tall Dwarfs, in which members of the Bats, the Clean and others offer their anecdotes and observations on Knox, felled earlier this year by a stroke. It's also got commentary provided by Knox himself to writer Jud Cost, who interviewed the man a few years ago. Cost also disclosed some of the details behind the forthcoming Knox tribute album, titled Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox that came out last month in New Zealand and arrives Stateside in February via the Merge label.

Merge, in fact, is already offering the album in download form at their website, where you can also pre-order it.

Fans can cheer the news, posted recently at Knox's blog, of his gradual-but-steady recovery along with a tracklisting for the 2-CD album, which is stuffed to the gills with a who's who of NZ and American indie rockers ranging from the Verlaines, the Chills and David Kilgour to Portastatic, Jay Reatard and Yo La Tengo. Full tracklisting is below.

And if the tracklisting don't sway ya - at Knox's official blog you can hear samples of most of the songs currently streaming. Go here and prepare to have the socks charmed off ya. (There's also a link you can use to order it from NZ in case you can't wait until Feb.) This is a tribute with meat on its bones, and it's for a good cause too, kids. Stroke, like the Sweet Relief (Victoria Williams) and Inner Flame (Rainer Ptacek) tributes before it, represents the music community rallying together for one of their own.

Tracklisting:

CD1 (Yellow Disc):

01 Jay Reatard: "Pull Down the Shades"
02 The Checks: "Rebel"
03 The Bleeding Allstars: "Ain't It Nice"
04 Peter Gutteridge: "Don't Catch Fire"
05 The Chills: "Luck or Loveliness"
06 David Kilgour: "Nothing's Going to Happen"
07 The Crying Wolfs: "All My Hollowness to You"
08 Stephin Merritt: "Beauty"
09 Portastatic: "Nostalgia's No Excuse"
10 The Mint Chicks: "Crush"
11 Jay & Sam Clarkson: "I've Left Memories Behind"
12 Sky Green Leopards: "Burning Blue"
13 Shayne Carter: "The Slide"
14 Pumice: "Grand Mal"
15 Hamish Kilgour: "Knoxed Out" *

CD2 (Black Disc):

01 Boh Runga: "Not Given Lightly"
02 Red&Zeke ft. Bill Doss and Neil Cleary: "Bodies"
03 Bill Callahan: "Lapse"
04 Genghis Smith: "Growth Spurt"
05 Yo La Tengo: "Coloured"
06 A.C. Newman: "Dunno Much About Life But I Know How to Breathe"
07 Alec Bathgate: "Glide"
08 Don McGlashan: "Inside Story
10 Lambchop: "What Goes Up"
11 The Mountain Goats: "Brave"
12 The Tokey Tones (and Friends): "Round These Walls"
13 The Bats: "Just Do It"
14 Will Oldham: "My Only Friend"
15 The Finn Family: "It's Love"
16 Jordan Luck: "Becoming Something Other"
17 The Verlaines: "Driftwood"
18 Lou Barlow: "Song of the Tall Poppy"
19 The Nothing: "Napping in Lapland" *
20 Tall Dwarfs: "Sunday Song" *

* bonus tracks

Free MP3 of the song available too - from Chomp album, reissued.

By Blurt Staff

Fresh off the DFA re-release of their legendary sophomore record Chomp - reviewed here at the BLURT site - PYLON has unearthed the original video for their single "Beep." Shot by the band and their crew on Super-8 and VHS in the early '80s, the video is a trippy is a glimpse into the Chomp-era Pylon on the road. 

"It captures pretty much what we were about at that point in time," said frontwoman Vanessa Hay. "We were a playful, irreverent bunch of artists who also happened to be musicians."  

Check out the video below, and nab an MP3 of the song while you're at it: "Beep"

Originally conceived as "video postcards" from Pylon's travels around the country, the music video for "Beep" documents the band as they traveled the US in the early '80s, stopping at skeevy hotels between shows, performing at venues large and small (including a Manhattan rooftop), and even paying a visit to the Reagan-era White House. Edited together by Pylon's Michael Lachowski, the video saw the light of day exactly once, when it aired on MTV's "120 Minutes." After showing up on MTV, the video was forgotten until it was re-discovered earlier this year, and is now available for public consumption. 

You can read a Pylon feature, "Everything Is Cool," featuring an exclusive interview with vocalist Hay at BLURT here.

[Photo Credit: Laura Levine]

Pylon - Beep from DFA Records on Vimeo.

Deluxe edition of Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space isn't available in the US but we still have a sneak peek at it for you.

By Fred Mills

While yours truly previously declared, in a review of Spiritualized's 2008 album Songs In A&E, that "the 21^st century hasn't been especially kind to Jason Pierce thus far" - citing myriad illnesses, band woes and creativity blockages the band's frontman had been going through, that album still signaled a clear, welcome return to form for the songwriter. I also noted that A&E, in all its sonic majesty juxtaposed with sinewy rawk, represented the studio effort that should have followed 1997's masterwork Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space.

Now fans get an opportunity for a reappraisal of that earlier record via a choice deluxe reissue, which as previously announced in this space comes in three formats: a super-limited Collector's Edition featuring twelve 3-inch mini CDs and two bonus discs; a Special Edition featuring the original album on one CD plus the two bonus discs (that is not as limited but will still be deleted eventually); and a standard, unlimited one-CD version. You can read more about the details, along with the complete tracklistings, here.

At the moment there does not appear to be a U.S. release scheduled, but in the UK it hit stores on November 30 and BLURT is lucky enough to have obtained a copy of the Special Edition. Watch our website for a full review later this week, but in the meantime, we thought we'd offer up a few initial impressions, preview-wise. View the artwork below as well.

Ø      The three discs and liner notes come housed in an outer 6" x 6" x ¾" box decorated with black and silver art that roughly corresponds with the white and blue art of the original release (instead of the front legend reading "1 tablet 70 min" it now says "3 tablets 180 min").

Ø      The album proper - presumably remastered from the original tapes, although no notations in the liner notes specifically say this - is additionally housed in a foil/blister packet similar to how the 1997 UK release was packaged. This means, of course, that if you're a totally obsessed collector, you'll automatically devalue the album if you crack open the packet. Sob! No bonus tracks on the album, but...

Ø      Discs 2 and 3 amount to a full 110 minutes' worth of bonus material, 18 tracks on Disc 2 (a/k/a Spiritualized SP 50) and 17 tracks on Disc 3 (Spiritualized SP 60). There range from a 7-song "suite" of sorts composed of the title track (including a gorgeous a cappella rendering of the "Can't Help Falling In Love" theme, the band sounding like a gospel choir backing Pierce's fragile lead vocal) and a pair of wild demo takes of "Come Together" (in different keys, no less); to a tingly recording of just the strings arrangement for "Broken Heart" that segues into the "vocal harmony/Angel Corpus Christi" version of the song and a spooky demo for "Cop Shoot Cop" that's immediately followed by a track labeled "Dr. John ‘The National Anthem'" (which is indeed The Night Tripper himself tinkling the ivories against the backdrop of noise that, on the original album, eventually grew so fearsome that it obscured his contribution to the track). Via the assorted demos and isolated backing tracks you begin to get a fly-on-wall perspective of what exactly went into the making of the whole record.

Ø      Those two bonus discs, incidentally, are pressed on solid black CDs, and they are housed in their own mini-LP styled gatefold jacket with track annotations.

Ø      The liner notes come as a fold-out insert and more or less duplicate the liners from the '97 release, although added to the myriad "instructions" and "precautions" related to taking a "dose" of Spiritualized is a short section outlining how the three "tablets" should be "stored." Hint: in a dry, safe place "where children cannot see or reach them." Pay attention, parents!

To be... continued...

Only thing more enticing would be catfight photos of Bettie Page and Edie Sedgwick....

By Blurt Staff

Save your pity - Scarlett Johansson doesn't need it (and certainly doesn't want it). No matter that the gal can't sing her way out of a Zip-lok bag, as evidenced by that jaw-droppingly atrocious 2008Tom Waits tribute, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which barely mustered a "4" out of 10 stars in the BLURT review. Fair or not, on the basis of that collection of sonic howlers we didn't even bother to consider the recently released Break Up, her collaboration/canoodle with Pete Yorn, for coverage here at BLURT (although, in all fairness, Yorn's presence probably helped smooth out SJ's rough edges).

But anyhow, she's a successful actress for whom music as a second language isn't necessarily a requisite to entrée in rarified circles. Plus, she makes for one helluva cover gal. Just check the January 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar - the UK edition -  in which she appears in a faux-animal print getup on the cover looking soft-focused and with a pouty come-hither look. She was interviewed for the magazine by none other than Bono, who knows a thing or two about actresses and models.

The good folks at The Lipstick Diaries blog have posted the magazine cover and some of the interior images which, we have to admit, are borderline cheesecake shots - one of ‘em appears above. Go here for the entire gallery and see what you think.

The commentary is appropriately breathless, too. Writes TLD:

She has everything! She's talented, she's up to date in the fashion world, she sings, she looks like she has great character, and she is also doing some charity work with Bono from U2 in Africa.

We can't possibly top that...

File under "more entertaining than any of the Tiger Woods/mistresses mashup videos currently in circulation" - Roky Erickson fans, unite. Lines of meth optional.

By Fred Mills

As one commentator at YouTube sagely observes - "video off the chart."

That's BLURT's Guru Of Grooviness, Mike Edison, in the clip below, fronting his Space Liberation Army (which features players from such classic ensembles as Blues Explosion, Capt. Beefheart's Magic Band, Murphy's Law, Boss Hogg, and GG Allin - see if you can spot Gary Lucas and Jon Spencer in there) and advocating for methamphetamine. He proposes that it's not meth destroying the fabric of American life, but daytime television. While this may appear to be a self-evident truth, keep in mind that if you've already been zombified by daytime TV (it's not called the boob tube for nothing), your level of self-awareness is, frankly, nil.

Adds Edison, "Meth is a fine thing when it is used for what it is designed for... winning wars... and playing the bass in Motörhead. Meth is not an activity. It is what you do when you are doing something else. And if it was good enough for Johnny Cash, it is good enough for me."

All this and a Roky Erickson soundtrack to boot? Yeah....video off the chart. Have a meth-white Christmas, everyone!

Incidentally, go here to read the Blurt interview with Edison and Jon Spencer, talking about Edison's 2008 book and CD I Have Fun Everywhere I Go.

Yeah, he's talking to YOU, New Jerseyites. As the saying goes - right on, Boss.

By Blurt Staff

Bruce Springsteen, fresh off being honored at the Kennedy Center this weekend (not to mention notching four Grammy nominations last week), issued a statement at his website this morning about marriage-equality legislation. We think it speaks for itself:

A BRIEF STATEMENT FROM BRUCE

Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I've been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, "The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is -- a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law." I couldn't agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their v

Jam By Day, Comedy Jam, Film Screenings and more...

By Fred Mills

Following up on our announcement of the 21^st Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam that takes place this Saturday, Dec. 12, in Asheville NC, some updates.

First of all, the Pre-Jam jam will take place the previous evening at Asheville's Orange Peel and it will be broadcast live by our good friends at WNCW-FM - you can tune in over the web at www.wncw.org starting around 6 pm EST. The Pre-Jam features many of the artists who appear at the Jam proper, but often it's the uncertainty of who actually arrives in town by Friday that helps make the Pre-Jam such a great musical wild card.

As things stand now, the performers list has been expanded somewhat recently, and there are always rumors of late adds to the lineup too (we've heard one particularly enticing rumor of a certain legendary guitarist who may turn up, but nothing confirmed as of yet). You can get full details at the official Xmas Jam website, but among those locked in to play are Counting Crows, Ani DiFranco, Gov't Mule,moe. and George Porter Jr., Eric Krasno, Nigel Hall & Adam Deitch with a "Very Special Performance"from William Bell of Stax Records fame.

Special guests slated to appear are Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Jeff Austin, Mike Barnes, DJ Logic, Jackie Greene, Col. Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring and Kevn Kinney.

"The Jam and collaboration possibilities are endless this year. Diversity and eclecticism is what helps make such a long show work," Haynes told WNCW. Anybody who's ever attended a Christmas Jam know that the former two terms remain operative - and that "long show" is, technically, an action verb.

This year Haynes has also put together an official "Xmas Jam Band" that will feature  Fred Eltringham, Audley Freed, Ron Holloway, Robert Kearns and Collective Soul's Ed Roland. In a recent interview with WNCW-FM, Haynes noted that they'd been tossing around the idea for a few years about having such an ensemble on hand to back up some of the artists who arrive solo in order to make the stage transitions smoother. In the past, for example, you'd typically have members of Gov't Mule plus a few other players pitching in for the likes of Steve Earle, Joan Osborne or Peter Frampton. So the Xmas Jam Band will now be a formal segment of the show.

As usual, the Jam is to benefit the local chapter of Habitat For Humanity, and this year they've come up with an official beer of the Jam - the Asheville Brewing Company created a special "Christmas Jam Ale" and profits from the sale of that will also go to Habitat.

Another recent tradition of the Jam has been the "Jam By Day" events going on around Asheville on Friday and Saturday. These are all individually ticketed so consult the Xmas Jam site for more info - you can make it an entire musical weekend, in other words. Here are the basic details:

Stella Blue
31 Patton Street
Fri December 11th
1:00pm - Sol Driven Train
2:00pm - Caleb Claude & The Bayonets
3:00pm - Moon Taxi
4:00pm - DJ Logic vs. Thunderdrums
Sat December 12th
1:00pm - Bloodkin
2:00pm - Cornmeal
3:00pm - Jennie Arnau
4:00pm - Eric Krasno, George Porter Jr., Adam Deitch & Nigel Hall

The Emerald Lounge
112 North Lexington Ave
Fri December 11th
1:00pm - Velvet Truckstop
2:00pm - Sons of Bill
3:00pm - Livingston Leo
4:00pm - The David Fiuczynski Group
Sat December 12th
1:00pm - Dangermuffin
2:00pm - Backyard Tire Fire
3:00pm - Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance
4:00pm - The Jamie McLean Band

Jack of The Wood
95 Patton Street

A Very Special All-Star Acoustic Jam Hosted By Kevn Kinney
Featuring Performances By Anders Edison (Ed Anderson From Back Yard Tire Fire), Jennie Arnau, Back Row Baptists, Connor Christian & Southern Gothic, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ray Sisk, Aaron Lee Tasjan & Many More guests & surprises. These performers will be backed by a band featuring Rob Heath, Mark Stepro & Aaron Lee Tasjan.


THE COMEDY JAM
Funny Business Comedy Club
56 Patton Street


CHRISTMAS JAM BY DAY ART SHOW
The Satellite Gallery
55 Broadway Street
Open Friday & Saturday Noon-7pm (An Opening Reception Friday From 4-6pm)
The gallery will feature photos from Jay Blakesberg, Danny Clinch, Allison Murphy, Dino Perrucci & The Incredible Xmas Jam Portrait Photography of Stewart O'Shields. Art & Posters will be featured from Gary Houston, Steve Johannsen, Eugene Serebrennikov, Jeff Troldahl, Jeff Wood, & Many More.


CHRISTMAS JAM BY DAY FILM SCREENINGS
The Fine Arts Theatre
39 Biltmore Avenue
Friday December 11th
1:00 pm - REM: Live @ The Olympia | An REM Concert Film
4:00 pm - Icons Among Us: Jazz In The Present Tense
7:00 pm - Stark Raving Black | An Unreleased Lewis Black Concert Film
Saturday December 12th
1:00 pm - Please Call Home (Allman Brothers) - w/ a Q&A w/ Kirk West
4:30 pm - Captured

Blurt's Celebrity Heat Index rules....

By Blurt Staff

For the inaugural installment of the official BLURT Celebrity Heat Index we have a hotter-than-hot item, or items: it's Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and actress/arm candy Jessica Simpson.

That's right. According to PopSugar.com, which to be honest just regurgitates a lot of shit from the tabs and celebrity rags (in this instance, OK!), "Jess is smitten with none other than Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan after meeting him at a party. She's already referred to him on Twitter two times, so they're clearly in some form of contact. He's single after a recent dalliance with Tila Tequila, and Jess is obviously a free agent following her breakup from Tony Romo."

Wow. We feel strangely... unclean after copying and pasting that quote.

Up next: a roundup of all the Tiger Woods Twitter jokes we've had the misfortune to read over the past couple of weeks. Current fave: "Whats the difference between Santa and Tiger? A: Santa stops after 3 "Ho's"!  :-D

Sixth album finds him inking a deal with Fat Possum.

By Blurt Staff

Erstwhile Moldy Peaches better half Adam Green will release his sixth studio album Minor Love next February in the U.S. via Fat Possum - it's the followup to last year's Sixes & Sevens and is already notching critical kudos overseas (British magazine Artrocker recently described Minor Love as his "best work to date").

 
Minor Love reveals a more serious side of this prolific, truly original New York artist.  Already recognized for his irreverent, idiosyncratic, charming, and sometimes-controversial songwriting (The New York Times called him "clever and ruthless" in reviewing his previous record, Sixes & Sevens), the new album spotlights Green's talent with 14 folk-rock songs reminiscent of the '60s and '70s that redefine him as an artist.  His warm baritone recalls Lou Reed or Leonard Cohen, and Green infuses the songs with a keen sense of tenderness and melancholic humor, making Minor Love his most personal, cohesive, and accomplished album, from the ruefully ruminative opener "Breaking Locks" to the grooving, velvety "Buddy Bradley," the '70s glam stomp of "What Makes Him Act So Bad" to the haunting "Cigarette Burns Forever" and "Boss Inside."

Recorded in Los Angeles, CA, in late spring with producer and friend Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newson, Little Joy), Green plays the majority of the instruments on Minor Love himself.  Guest players include Rodrigo Amarante of Little Joy on guitar and Georgeson on bass.

 
Green has released five albums over the past seven years: Sixes & Sevens (Rough Trade, 2008), Jacket Full Of Danger (Rough Trade, 2006), Gemstones (Rough Trade, 2005), Friends Of Mine (Rough Trade, 2003), and Garfield (Rough Trade, 2002).
 

Track listing:
 

1. Breaking Locks

2. Give Them A Token

3. Buddy Bradley

4. Goblin

5. Bathing Birds

6. What Makes Him Act So Bad

7. Stadium Soul

8. Cigarette Burns Forever

9. Boss Inside

10. Castles and Tassels

11. Oh Shucks

12. Don't Call Me Uncle

13. Lockout

14. You Blacken My Stay

 
Green is set to open for The Cribs on part of their January U.S. tour dates, and will also then travel to the UK and Europe on his own headlining tour.  Full itinerary below.
 

Adam Green tour dates:
 
JAN. 13         CHICAGO, IL                    LINCOLN HALL*
JAN. 14         FERNDALE, MI                  THE MAGIC BAG*
JAN. 15         TORONTO, ONT                PHOENIX CONCERT THEATRE*
JAN. 16         NEW YORK, NY                 THE FILLMORE AT IRVING PLAZA*
JAN. 17         BOSTON, MA                    PARADISE ROCK CLUB*
JAN. 19         WASHINGTON, DC            9:30 CLUB*
JAN. 20         ATLANTA, GA                    THE EARL*
JAN. 22         DALLAS, TX                      GRANADA THEATRE*
JAN. 23         AUSTIN, TX                      THE PARISH*
JAN. 26         DUBLIN, IE                       ACADEMY
JAN. 27         BELFAST, GB                     SPEAKEASY
JAN. 29         GLASGOW, GB                  STEREO
JAN. 30         NEWCASTLE, GB               ACADEMY 2
JAN. 31         LEEDS, GB                        COCKPIT
FEB. 1           MANCHESTER, GB             CLUB ACADEMY
FEB. 3           CAMBRIDGE, GB               JUNCTION
FEB. 4           LONDON, GB                    ELECTRIC BALLROOM
FEB. 5           BIRMINGHAM, GB             ACADEMY 2
FEB. 6           BRIGHTON, GB                 CONCORDE 2
FEB. 8           LILLE, FR                         AERONEF
FEB. 9           BRUSSELS, BE                  AB BOX
FEB. 10         AMSTERDAM, NL               PARADISO (Upstairs)
FEB. 11         AMSTERDAM, NL               PARADISO (Upstairs)
FEB. 13         STOCKHOLM, SE               STRAND
FEB. 14         OSLO, NO                         PARKEATREAT
FEB. 15         GOTHENBERG, SE             PARKEN
FEB. 16         COPENHAGEN, DK             LOPPEN
FEB. 18         HAMBURG, DE                   UEBEL & GEFANRLICH
FEB. 19         COLOGNE, DE                   GLORIA
FEB. 20         BERLIN, DE                       POSTBANHOF
FEB. 22         VIENNA, AT                       ARENA
FEB. 23         MUNICH, DE                      FREIHEIZ
FEB. 24         ZURICH, CH                      MASCOTTE
FEB. 25         LAUSANNE, CH                  DOCKS
FEB. 27         BOLOGNA, IT                    COVO
FEB. 28         MILAN, IT                         MAGNOLIA
MAR. 2          BARCELONA, ES                RAZZMATAZZ
MAR. 3          MADRID, ES                      TBA
MAR. 4          LISBON, PT                       SANTIAGO ALQUIMISTA
MAR. 6          MARSEILLE, FR                  LE POSTE A GALENE
MAR. 8          PARIS, FR                         L'ALHAMBRA
* with The Cribs

Untamed, uncensored, unfiltered and, here, unedited... Avril Lavigne's a bitch, yo, according to the Everybody Was In The French Resistance... NOW!

By Blurt Staff

Art Brut's Eddie Argos just dropped by the virtual office with the below communiqué in which he, er, does some serious dishing - on Avril, Jacko, U2, Dylan and Kanye West, among several. Naturally he's pluggin' something, and it just happens to be his side project Everybody Was In The French Resistance... NOW! (featuring Argos and Dyan Valdes from The Blood Arm), whose debut album Fixin' The Charts, Volume One arrives Feb. 16 on Cooking Vinyl. It's a concept album, and wotta concept: the songs, as you will read below, are reactions to other, considerably more famous, songs.

Fixin' the Charts:

01 Creeque Allies

02 G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N (You Know I've Got A)

03 (I'm So) Waldo P Emerson Jones

04 The Scarborough Affaire

05 Billie's Genes

06 Think Twice (It's Not Alright)

07 Hey It's Jimmy Mack

08 He's a "Rebel"

09 Coal Digger

10 My Way (Is Not Always the Best Way)

11 Superglue

12 Walk Alone

Take it away, Mr. Argos....

***

By Eddie Argos

Avril Lavigne is a bitch. When she's not gloating about her totally undeserved success or berating and sneering at young mothers, she is attempting to steal men from loving happy relationships.

 
Do not worry. Everybody Was In The French Resistance....Now have the "motherfucking princess" in their réticule.
 

Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now are correcting the mistakes of pop songs past. So far they have defended the belittled blue-collar worker from Kanye West's "Gold Digger," told Gerry and the Pacemakers that in fact it is okay to walk alone, dumped the manipulative Martha Reeves on behalf of poor Jimmy Mack and have taken the misguided instructions of a 17th century ballad to its logical conclusion.

 
THEY ARE FIXING THE CHARTS.

 
And unlike U2, they actually recorded their album in Joshua Tree (and didn't just get their photograph taken next to one).
 

Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now is Eddie Argos from Art Brut and Dyan Valdés from The Blood Arm.

 
Tracklisting :

1. Creeque Allies

Response to "Creeque Alley" by the Mamas and the Papas

"Creeque Alley" by the Mamas and the Papas is the story of the late sixties West Coast folk scene and the formation of their own band in the midst of it. "Creeque Allies" is the story of the early forties French resistance scene and the formation of the freedom fighters who eventually drove the Nazis out of France.

 2. G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N (You Know I've Got A)

Response to "Girlfriend" made famous by Avril Lavigne

Pop songs have traditionally been "boy meets girl," "girl meets boy," "boy/girl overcome a problem," or "boy/girl break up" - in the last decade or so, there has been an alarming new archetype in pop songwriting: "girl steals other girl's boyfriend." This is a divisive message to send to young girls everywhere, and songs like "Girlfriend" (see also "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift) only teach young women that they can derive more worth and status from stealing each others' boyfriends than they can from realizing their own achievements.

3. (I'm So) Waldo P. Emerson Jones

Response to "Waldo P. Emerson Jones" made famous by the Archies

The Archies can't figure out Waldo P. Emerson Jones, a new character on the block who impresses all of their girlfriends and generally shows everyone up. The Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now! version tells Waldo's side - he was a little-known "nerd" at their school who spent the summer reinventing himself and came back with added confidence, a new haircut and a much cooler name (Waldo P. Emerson Jones is clearly not the name his mother gave him).

4. The Scarborough Affaire

Response to "Scarborough Fair," traditional

The singer of the 17th-century ballad "Scarborough Fair" instructs the listener to locate his former lover and charge her with a series of impossible tasks. The Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now response takes his unreasonable demands to their logical conclusion.

5. Billie's Genes

Response to "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson

The kid is your son.

6. Think Twice (It's Not Alright)

Response to "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" by Bob Dylan

Breaking up is hard. Not everyone can be as tough as Bob Dylan, who claims that he needs to "travel on" when his lover wastes his "precious time." Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now! have read between the lines, and have rewritten the song based on how Bob Dylan most likely actually felt when he bid "fare thee well."

7. Hey! It's Jimmy Mack

Response to "Jimmy Mack" made famous by Martha Reeves and the Vendellas

Jimmy Mack heard Martha's song. So he's never coming back.

8. He's a "Rebel"

Response to "He's A Rebel" made famous by the Crystals

The Crystals sang a love song to "dangerous" men. Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now! opened up the conversation to other men, who see through the "rebel" schtick and argue that it's all just an act.

9. Coal Digger

Response to "Gold Digger" by Kanye West

Kanye West patronizes the chip-shop janitor who is working his way towards cooking the fries. Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now! know that the janitor is just working to make ends meet until he gets his shit together and releases a hit record.

10. My Way (Is Not Always the Best Way)

Response to "My Way" made famous by Frank Sinatra

Paul Anka admires a selfish man's death-bed declaration that living his life according to his own convictions and desires alone is enough. Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now! think that one should take others' opinions into consideration.

11. Superglue

Response to "Vaseline" by Elastica

If Elastica had used superglue instead of vaseline (or for that matter, heroin) maybe they would have stuck together.

12. Walk Alone

Response to "You'll Never Walk Alone" made famous by Gerry and the Pacemakers

Gerry and the Pacemakers (and all of Liverpool) are terrified of being alone.  Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now are comfortable with their own company.

 
Fixin' the Charts, Volume One (COOKCD512) is a companion piece to all of these pop songs, but can be appreciated as a work in its own right.  Pop music transmits all of our culture's most valued ideals from one generation to the next; let's make sure we get it right. Vive le Resistance!

Apparently planning to rock ‘n' roll all night and party every day at their new label...

By Blurt Staff

ATO Records has signed the Drive-By Truckers and their label debut (and tenth overall), The Big To-Do, will be released March 16. The Big To-Do features thirteen new tracks from the Drive-By Truckers and was produced by their long time producer, David Barbe (Sugar, Bettye LaVette). "It's very much a rock album," says Patterson Hood of the Trucker's upcoming release. "Very melodic and more rocking than anything we've done since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera."

The inspiration for The Big To-Do came to the band during their time on the road. "We've often set our songs and albums in different periods of time, but this one finds us directly in our present. Riding all through the highways of America (and Europe) trying to make sense of a very different world than the one we grew up in," says Hood. "I don't write a lot of songs on the road, but I did more than usual on this album and many more were inspired by or set there, either in a literal sense or something I witnessed or heard about while I was out there."

Hood and Mike Cooley continue to be the chief songwriters of the group, continuing a musical partnership that has lasted over twenty-three years. Bassist, Shonna Tucker, flexes her songwriting muscles once again by contributing two original songs to the album. Brad Morgan (drums), John Neff (guitar/pedal steel) and Jay Gonzalez  (keyboards) round out the current Drive-By Truckers lineup.

The Truckers will be hitting the road at the beginning of the new year. A full tour supporting The Big To-Do will be announced in early 2010.

Track Listing:

1. Daddy Learned to Fly
2. The Fourth Night of My Drinking
3. Birthday Boy
4. Drag the Lake Charlie
5. The Wig He Made Her Wear
6. You Got Another
7. This Fucking Job
8. Get Downtown
9. After the Scene Dies
10. (It's Gonna Be) I Told You So
11. Santa Fe
12. The Flying Wallendas
13. Eyes Like Glue
14. Girls Who Smoke (Bonus track - vinyl only)

Drive-By Truckers on tour:

1/28 Huntsville, AL  Crossroads Music Hall
1/29 Mobile, AL        Soul Kitchen
1/30 Tuscaloosa, AL  Jupiter Bar & Grill
2/11 Greenville, SC   Handlebar
2/12 Raleigh, NC       Lincoln Theatre
2/13 Raleigh, NC       Lincoln Theatre
2/14 Knoxville, TN    Bijou Theatre
2/25 Charlotte, NC     Neighborhood Theatre
2/26 Charlottesville, VA  Jefferson Theatre
2/27 Charlottesville, VA  Jefferson Theatre

Photo taken by Erika Goldring on Halloween at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans 2009.

LtoR: Jay Gonzalez, Brad Morgan, Patterson Hood, Shonna Tucker, Mike Cooley, John Neff

Are YOU battle ready, punk? Huh? Well, ARE YOU?!?

By Blurt Staff

In which metal mistress Otep Shamaya, frontwoman of OTEP, serves up the latest steamy, salacious, satirical, scatological and otherwise surreal installment of her BLURT blog "Battle Ready." A sample:

The "disco" was actually a private sex club for the wealthy elite. Reed and Pervis flashed their Platinum VIP cards and we were ushered in. The place was a dive. They paid for freedom and secrecy - not luxury.

The music was a deafening mix of techno-trash and German trance. The stench of cigarettes, cheap cologne, latex, old lube, and assorted bodily fluids was equally overwhelming.

This was definitely NOT my scene.

I tried to get Jonah's attention but Cassandra suddenly dropped her skirt (no panties) and jumped on top of the bar. A crowd collapsed around her, staring wildly at her mature meat-curtains slapping and clapping to the rhythm of the music. I expected her husband to object, but Reed was busy making out with a black transvestite in the back of the club.

Pervis and Jonah plopped down at a booth and started slamming back Jaeger-bombs while Eustace gave a handjob to a Limbaugh look-a-like.

I commandeered an adjoining table to survey this insane circus from a safe setting. The waitress brought me a bottle of tequila infused with scorpion venom. Perfect. I wanted swift amnesia.

Reed sidled up next to me and said, "So sport, wanna play?" I punched him in the dick and he slid to the floor. I roared, "Game over. Fuck. Off."

Read the entire "Wish You Were Here" chapter of Shamaya's Battle Ready blog here. Don't forget to click on the "leave comment" button at the end so you can see what her legions of fans have to say - her last entry generated hundreds of gobsmacked reactions.

OTEP's latest album is Smash the Control Machine (Victory Records). Check out the band on the web:

http://www.myspace.com/otep

http://l3gi0n.ning.com/

Live at Lime with Tom Morello features a pair of iconoclastic cover tunes. Check the Morello-Rollins video interview too.

By Blurt Staff

To coincide with International Human Rights Day today, December 10, LimeWire Store releases Live at Lime with Tom Morello, available only at LimeWire Store. Morello - Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman -performs two covers: "Human," originally released by The Killers in 2008, and "Joe Hill," a classic folk song based on a poem written by Alfred Hayes in 1925 about Swedish-American labor activist Joe Hill. In keeping with his dedication to human rights, all net proceeds from Live at Lime with Tom Morello will go to Amnesty International, an organization Morello supports.

Live at Lime with Tom Morello was recorded and mixed at Galt Line Music in Los Angeles by Eric Robinson and produced by Marshall Altman. Tom Morello performs guitar, harmonica, and vocals on "Joe Hill" and "Human." "Human" also features David Gibbs on guitar and Eric Robinson on piano.

An accompanying video interview (see below) features musician, artist and activist Henry Rollins in an exclusive conversation with Morello. Taped on the day of the recording, the interview features Rollins and Morello in the studio discussing a wide range of issues including Morello's involvement with Amnesty International, activism in music, and President Obama.

"It's not every day you get to assemble such a high-caliber group of folks and produce something as cool and meaningful as this Amnesty benefit," said Tom Monday, LimeWire's Director of Partner Relations. "Morello really walks the walk-he speaks his mind and supports causes close to his heart. We're beyond excited to be working with him. And having Henry Rollins participate is absolute gravy."

Karen Scott, Amnesty International's Music for Human Rights Program Manager, said: "The people at LimeWire Store have been a pleasure to work with and everyone involved put their heart and soul into this project. Both Tom Morello and Henry Rollins are dedicated activists and supporters of Amnesty International and the fight for Human Rights. You can really hear and feel their passion both in the music and in the interview."

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on December 10. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights.

Preorders start today, sale priced at only $179 until the end of the year.

By Blurt Staff

Looking for a Christmas gift you don't have to wrap but just can't hang with a Target gift card? Here's a good option - and hey, it comes in red and white, just like Target stuff!

Starting today, surf over to the official White Stripes website where you can pre-order The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights, a limited edition box set featuring two DVDs, a live CD and a live 7", plus a hefty book. It will be available for shipping on March 16.

If the title sounds familiar, that's because it's also the name of the band's new documentary film about their 2007 tour of Canada, which premiered back in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. You can see a trailer of the film here. That will be one of the DVDs in the box, with the other one being a DVD of the band's 10^th anniversary show. Here's exactly what you'll get for your money, which at the moment will be $179 on pre-order and then when the calendar turns to 2010 it will go up to $229.

Ø      Documentary DVD

Ø      DVD of 10^th anniversary show

Ø      16-song live album on CD and 180g vinyl

Ø      Live 7" of "Icky Thump" and "The Wheels on the Bus"

Ø      208-page book w/Jim Jarmusch foreword and photos by Autumn de Wilde

Ø      Silk screen print by Rob Jones

Give it to someone you love, won't you?

 UPDATE - ADDITTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS FROM THE BAND:

All orders placed before January 1st will receive a special holiday card from the band, as well as three exclusive live mp3's of tracks from the 10th Anniversary show instantly upon ordering: "A Martyr For My Love For You," "Hotel Yorba," and "Hello Operator." Additionally, members of The Vault, Third Man Records' groundbreaking online subscription service, will also be sent a special slip mat for their orders placed before the end of the year.  

 
In celebration of the announcement of this limited edition box set, The White Stripes will be premiering footage of their song "Let's Shake Hands" on Myspace.com (myspace.com/thewhitestripes) worldwide at 9 pm PST tonight. This performance of the song was filmed at the band's 10th Anniversary show and can be seen on the second DVD, which goes under the name  Under Nova Scotian Lights.

But not exactly the way you expected, or the way Neil planned...

By Blurt Staff

The knock on the door was from the mysterious midnight courier who delivers his illicit parcels under cloak of darkness. "Pssst," he hissed. "Here's the fifth of the Missing Six, or the first of the Doom Trilogy, take your pick..."

Sure enough: Time Fades Away, the legendary 1973 live album that Neil Young notoriously disavows, calling it his worst record ever. Never officially issued on CD per Young's wishes, it's long been the object of almost fetishistic scrutiny among Young fans, and for long-suffering collectors it eventually had to go the way of the bootleggers in order for it to enter the digital era.

It's now made its second or third appearance on an underground label, and it arrives on the heels of an unusually busy year for Young, release-wise - among them, his Archives box, a box collecting his first four, classic, solo albums, and the Dreamin' Man Live '92 album (the latter reviewed here).

Will this new iteration of Time Fades Away finally prod Young into returning to the drawing board and remastering it officially for CD? Only Young knows for sure, but meanwhile, we have the story of the creation of TFA and its tangled trajectory over the years. Go here to read the story and the review of the bootleg.

Latest album for Constellation the Canadian band's first with the new lineup.

By Blurt Staff

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (SMZ) returns with its sixth full-length recording and first since the band's line-up change in summer 2008. Having shed three members and recruited a new drummer, the group officially dropped the "Tra-La-La Band' from its name, played a debut performance as a newly minted quintet at All Tomorrow's Parties in upstate NY, and embarked on an extensive European tour through the Fall of 2008. The new album is titled Kollaps Tradixionales and is due Feb. 16 from Constellation, which advises that "the band has lost none of its raw and frazzled anthemic power and continues to forge bold new ground in its search for a unique hybrid of punk, blues, psych, folk and modern orchestral idioms."

Anchored by the fried electric guitar and plangent voice of band leader Efrim Menuck (who previously co-founded Godspeed You! Black Emperor) SMZ continues to slide towards an expansive, loose and blues-inflected balladry - not so much the inexorably riffing blues shuffle of the title track from its previous effort, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, but a more languid waltz-time marking the smouldering dynamic arcs of the new album's opening track "There Is A Light" and gorgeous closer "'Piphany Rambler."

Whatever the blues influence, the slow burn of SMZ bears little relation to typical notions of musical seduction, relaxation, or hip-swinging satisfaction. What crackles here is much more precarious and anxious, driven by some of this decade's more devastating lyrical conjurings of the universal outsider and the antinomies born of 21st century western psychic oppression. As the lyrics to "There Is A Light" attest, these are no simple paeans to the human spirit, but songs of complex, desperate and thorny hope. The words to this song (and so many others too often misunderstood in the SMZ canon) should dispel the oft-repeated charge that Menuck is some sort of miserablist or glib pessimist.

And of course there is plenty going on here that ain't no blues at all, particularly the two middle sides of this double album. "Metal Bird" (as it has been known to fans from set lists over the past couple of years) has been a crowd favorite in concert in recent years, careening through a throbbing 7/4 template of intertwined ascending and descending lines, coalescing into unison melodies and pumping breakdowns. The sonic references are abundant - from Afrobeat to bouzouki music to hard bop to punk rock. The three phases of the album's title track on Side Three are indeed 'traditionals' of a sort, playing on tropes of American and Anglo-Saxon folk, marching song, sea shanty and hymnal. Together they make for perhaps the most overtly enchanting ("Kollapz"), tender ("Collapse") and terrifyingly rapturous ("Kollaps") music on the record.

Kollaps Tradixionales is available on standard CD (in a custom gatefold paperboard jacket) and limited-edition deluxe CD (which is packaged together with a 6"x9" 16-page perfect-bound art book and poster). The album also comes in a deluxe first pressing on double 10" vinyl, with the art book, a CD copy, and two different posters inside. The album is also available digitally.

Tracklisting:

1. There Is A Light
2. I Built Myself A Metal Bird
3. I Fed My Metal Bird The Wings Of Other Metal Birds

4. Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Olde Dirty Flag)

5. Collapse Traditional (For Darling)6. Kollpas Tradicional (Bray 3 Dynamos)

7. 'Piphany Rambler

The band has posted a new song, entitled "Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos)," which appears on their newly launched website, located here:  http://www.tra-la-la-band.com/

Frank Black, Bobby McFerrin, Bob Mould, Gaslight Anthem, Matt Nathanson, Sondre Lerche, The Postelles, Warren Haynes & Govt. Mule, Living Colour, Robyn Hitchcock, The Smithereens and Mose Allison among the first announced that will play the concert.

By Blurt Staff

Ya gotta hand it to Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who - they are busy mofos of late. It wasn't all that long ago that they got to hang with former President George W. Bush, and coming soon is The Who's halftime appearance at the Super Bowl.

Earlier this year they released a deluxe 2CD edition of their classic Who Sell Out, and word has it that they're about to issue yet another greatest hits-styled iteration of their back catalog.

Now word arrives that the Who and their music is to be honored at Carnegie Hall next March as part of a series of annual tribute concerts produced by Michael Dorf to benefit music education programs for underprivileged youth. Dorf announced yesterday the first artists confirmed to play the special tribute concert to take place March 2 celebrating the anthemic, insurgent music of The Who.

The initial group of artists honoring the group's unparalleled repertoire include: Frank Black (of the Pixies), Bobby McFerrin, Bob Mould (of Husker Du), Gaslight Anthem, Matt Nathanson, Sondre Lerche, The Postelles, Warren Haynes & Govt. Mule, Living Colour, Robyn Hitchcock, The Smithereens and Mose Allison (author of The Who hit "Young Man Blues"). As many as ten more artists will be added to the line-up in the coming weeks.

This will be the sixth concert in a series to raise crucially needed funds benefiting music education programs for underprivileged youth. Previous sold-out concerts presented by Dorf have honored the music of such timeless artists as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and R.E.M. 100% of the net proceeds from the March 2 concert will be given to six music education non-profits: The American Symphony Orchestra Music Notes, Church Street School of Music, Young Audiences , Music Unites All-Youth Choir, The Pinwheel Project, and FIKS (Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools).

"I grew up listening to The Who," said Dorf, "and while the artists we're bringing together to honor them are incredibly diverse, they share a certain authenticity that has also defined music of The Who. This series has produced some unforgettable moments - including seeing Bruce Springsteen and REM make surprise appearances at their own tributes - and I expect the Who night to be one of the most memorable shows yet."

Fans will have a number of ticket options for The Who tribute concert, including a VIP package that guarantees the best seats in the house plus an after-party hosted by City Winery (155 Varick St. New York, NY) to be attended by all the performing artists.

For tickets, plus more information on the concert and the organizations is will benefit go to: http://www.carnegiewho.com

Intended as tribute to the late Jake Drake-Brockman.

By Blurt Staff

Iconoclastic chanteuse Elizabeth Fraser will have her new EP "Moses" issued Jan. 26 via Rough Trade, It is dedicated to celebrating the life of Jake Drake-Brockman, a close personal friend of both Fraser and her partner and musical collaborator, Damon Reece (Spiritualized, Massive Attack, Echo & The Bunnymen, BOM).

The musician was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in September. Fraser and Reece said in a statement, "That the passing of such a wonderful man and great friend cannot go unmarked." All proceeds from the sale are going to Jake's family.

For early adopters, the iTunes EP version can be found here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/moses-ep/id340381781


Jake was a pivotal latterday member of Echo and The Bunnymen as well as with BOM and The Hook ‘Em Boys; he was also a highly respected sound engineer for the BBC.

Add Fraser and Reece:

"A talented musician, a technical genius/blagger, a jack-of-all-trades and master of many, Jake was a vibrant reminder to us all of what it is to be alive. His lust for life, keen intellect and Dunkirk spirit were a beacon of light in a world that is rapidly fading into mediocrity and convenience. As unique and individual as the classic motorcycles he loved so much, Jake was the last of the Mohicans. The Earth is a duller planet without him."

"Moses" was written and performed by Jake, Elizabeth and Damon and is backed with two re-mixes: the first by Thighpaulsandra (Julian Cope, Spiritualized, Coil) and the second by Andy Jenks (previously of Alpha and presently of The Flies, Spaceland).

Read an interview with Fraser about the EP in Britain's The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/26/cocteau-twins-elizabeth-fraser-interview

Pre-sale and layaway plan starts TODAY.

By Blurt Staff

Dates for the 2010 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival have now been confirmed:  Friday, April 16, Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18, 2010 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. Artists slated to appear at the festival will be announced in the near future.

Festival organizers have announced a pre-sale and layaway plan starting Monday (December 14) at 10:00 AM for those interested in planning their travel in advance of the lineup announcement. In addition, the 2010 event will offer concert-goers expanded camping options including car, RV and traditional tent camping. 

For more information on festival tickets and camping options, please visit www.coachella.com. 

Among the initial signings: Magnetic Fields, Mark Kozelek, Rogue Wave, Atlas Sound, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Four Tet, John Vanderslice, We Were Promised Jet Packs, Wallpaper, Zee Avi, The Limousines & Foreign Born.

By Blurt Staff

Noise Pop 2010 - he 18th annual Noise Pop Festival - will take place February 23rd through March 1 at venues throughout San Francisco. Early artist confirmations include Magnetic Fields, Mark Kozelek, Rogue Wave, Atlas Sound, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Four Tet, John Vanderslice, We Were Promised Jet Packs, Wallpaper, Zee Avi, The Limousines & Foreign Born.  More shows will be announced in the coming weeks along with films, art shows, and more.

In addition, the confab Industry Noise will take place on Saturday, February 27^th at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco. Noise Pop's mini-conference discusses independent music, technology, and the changing industry.  Attendees can meet industry pros, listen to influential speakers, advance their artistic and business ventures, and learn more about current possibilities and opportunities. In addition to panels and speakers, there are small discussion groups and individual mentoring. Panelists and Keynote speakers will be announced soon. 

Badges went on sale last week - Festival badges are $150, while admission to Industry Noise is an additional $50 (or $65 if you don't purchase the festival badge). A limited number of badges include access to the Magnetic Fields show at the Fox Theater on Saturday February 27th, or the Herbst Theater on Monday March 1, 2010. Tickets to individual shows are on sale as well.

Details, tickets, etc: http://www.noisepop.com

It's right here in black and white: acquisition pointedly, though legally, does not include provision to do the right thing and compensate musicians for moneys owed.

By Fred Mills

In one of the more fascinating stories to come over the newswire over the weekend, the Wired.com editorial "MySpace/Imeem Deal Leaves Thousands of Artists Unpaid" is definitely the most eye-catching one. Provocative, too - in a resoundingly depressing manner.

Reporting on the recent deal struck between MySpace and Imeem (Imeem basically ran out of money and MySpace scooped it up at firesale prices), Wired.com notes that the deal pointedly did "not include Imeem's liability to more than 110,000 independent artists with Snocap storefronts" when MySpace purchased its assets.

Writes Wired.com, citing an unnamed source close to the situation:

"Those artists' contracts mandate they be paid each month if they're owed more than $20. Some artists have been owed money for more than a year, and the chance of them seeing any money now is, for all intents and purposes, zero.

"Artists attempting to get paid for songs sold through Snocap stores - many or most of which were on MySpace itself - must get in line with Imeem's bank and other creditors. MySpace Music paid less than $1 million for Imeem, so it's doubtful much will remain for the artists."

Basically, then, if you're a musician who hasn't settled your account with Imeem, you're fucked.

MySpace, responding to the Wired.com editorial, defended itself in a statement, writing, "MySpace Music bought a limited set of Imeem's assets including the domain name and certain technology and trademarks. The asset sale to MySpace Music was part of a foreclosure process which resulted from the lien certain secured creditors had on all the assets of Imeem. MySpace Music did not acquire Imeem's outstanding debts, including the money Imeem owed to artists under the Snocap relationship.... MySpace Music has its own distribution platform, which includes relationships with prominent aggregators and indie labels, that provides indie artists ways to monetize their music on our site."

Well, this all speaks for itself. It's always a grand day when the big guys can use legalities and loopholes to avoid doing the ethically right thing and stomp on the little guys - in this instance, all the musicians out there reading this right now. Maybe even those same musicians who are rethinking their current and future business relationships with MySpace Music, in fact.

The entire Wired.com article is well worth reading. All together now: the chance of seeing any money now is zero.

At least one BLURT editor and one BLURT writer feel that way. It's because, as Glen Hansard says, "The Conformist is just fucking beautiful."

By Blurt Staff

Posted to the site this morning is our CD review of Doveman's The Conformist, issued recently by the Brassland label. So why are we also posting a news item about the album? See the dek, above.

Reviewer Ian Mathers awards it a "10" out of 10 possible stars, and we don't chuck that many stars in the direction of an artist lightly. But it really is one of the year's finest efforts, something we sensed might be waiting in the wings for Doveman, a/k/a Thomas Bartlett, ever since his 2007 album With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead and, more recently, his 2008 recasting/reimagining of the Footloose soundtrack - the latter left us so smitten we even ran a feature on it, which you can read here. Bartlett has been working with folks like the Swell Season and the National, and he's greatly admired in certain artistic circles, but we suspect with this new album he'll be hailed as one of America's premiere young composers and performers in his own right.

At any rate, you need to take a look at Mathers' review, and more to the point, you need to hear The Conformist. Writes Mathers, "Normally with a record this gorgeous and accomplished I wouldn't spend much or any time talking about the guest musicians; the music is so great that doing so feels like a waste of words.  But The Conformist is so good, and Thomas Bartlett's music as Doveman is usually so undervalued, that I'll take pretty much any opportunity to get people interested."

Needless to say, we agree. It's because the album is just fucking beautiful.

And it's also a benefit for Feeding America, so do the right thing.

By Blurt Staff

Yoni Gordon and the Goods with Franz Nicolay (of the Hold Steady & World/Inferno Friendship Society) and Emilyn Brodsky have cut a cover of the Pogues holiday hit, "Fairy Tale of New York."  They are doing a special 2 song single and are asking people who download it from their site to donate five dollars to Feeding America.

Feeding America is an organization that partners up with local foodbanks across the country to help feed some of the millions of Americans who are spending the holidays without enough money to put food on their tables.

Here is the link to the music for download.

And...

 Here is a link that will take you right to the donation page! So come on folks, step up, and make sure you go to BOTH links. You're on the honor system.

Some Pogues for you:

Stooges, ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, Hollies and... David Geffen?!?

By Fred Mills

That's right - David friggin' Geffen, record industry mogul, artist manager, label president, and at various points in time the most hated/feared man in the biz. Geffen (pictured above with a pair of fans) is among the non-performers getting nods at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony next year. Songwriters Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, plus Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell are also to be honored as recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

But the big names, of course, are the artists, and after several previous nominations between them, both the Stooges and ABBA are finally getting in - deservedly so.

The bones of contention, and there are always plenty of those each year, are the other inductees: British Invasion alumni the Hollies, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff and prog-rock mooks Genesis. But overall, the field was considerably stronger this year than usual, so we won't complain much.

"We are very happy to present this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they represent a great cross-section of artists that define the broad spectrum and history of rock and roll and people that have contributed immeasurably to our business" said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President & CEO Joel Peresman, in a statement posted at the Rock Hall website.

The ceremony: March 15 at NYC's Waldorf Astoria in New York City. This year it will air live on the Fuse network, which is probably better than airing it on MTV or VH1, but not by much.

Meanwhile, let's revisit what we know about the Rock Hall, shall we? Go here to read Chris Parker's expose published in the fall issue of BLURT...

Year of the Black Rainbow purports to tie up all those loose ends of the first four albums.

By Blurt Staff

Columbia will be releasing the next Coheed and Cambria album Year of the Black Rainbow early next April. It's the prog/metal/jam band's fifth studio effort and will be made available in a a deluxe package including a 300+ page prose novel of the same name, co-written by Claudio Sanchez and New York Times bestselling author Peter David. The book promises to "tell the origins of Coheed and Cambria, and much more."

Wow. We are all about origins, having grown up on Marvel and DC comics! "The new album will be the 'Origin Story' or 'The Prequel,' and likely the final story of the ongoing concept story of 'The Amory Wars.'," says a recent post by the band at their official website.

Presale information on the deluxe edition will be announced toward the end of December.

Year of the Black Rainbow provides the "prequel"to the band's four previous interrelated concept albums -- The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002); In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003); Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2005) and Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow (2007) --  which comprise "The Amory Wars," the conceptual narrative driving the band's lyrics, penned by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez.

Through the group's career, Coheed and Cambria have created consistently complex and challenging musical soundscapes to frame the psychological and narrative arcs of the band's futurist mythic visions.

Year of the Black Rainbow is produced by Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction) and Joe Baressi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool).  According to Coheed and Cambria, "They have helped us evolve our sound to be more powerful and dynamic than ever and we think it's definitely our best work to date."

Auspicious debut from one of the year's most promising newcomers.

By Blurt Staff

Borrowing from some of the production tactics of classic dub recordings, with a small dose of noise rock, Austin, Texas-based THE LAUGHING has constructed an album of songs that bears only slight resemblance to its broad spectrum of influences, in turn creating something special and unique. It's the band's debut, titled Fever, and co-produced by Erik Woffard (Okkervil River, Black Angels Explosions in the Sky). A self-released effort, it's already available.

The Austin Chronicle has already praised it, describing thusly: "The LP alternately shakes Byrne & Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts with the pop playfulness of Paul Simon's Graceland."

Of the album title, band leader Logan Middleton explains, "'Fever' was the title of a book I discovered as a child that had extensive accounts of my now deceased grandfather's work as a missionary doctor in West Africa and his discovery and treatment of highly fatal disease known as Lassa Fever."

Though grounded in a traditional rock line up of guitar/vocals (Logan Middleton), bass (Sean Neesely), drums (Grant Van Amburgh), and organ (performed on Fever by Austin Jenkins and Middleton), THE LAUGHING also utilizes a vast array of percussion, bells, dulcimers, ukuleles, synths, clarinets, flutes, blankets of noise and lush harmonies.  Varied instrumentation and ornamental arrangements adorn core song structures and melodies that take cues from the likes of Harry Nilsson, Os Mutantes, Jorge Bem, Silver Apples, Love, Roxy Music, Sonic Youth, 13th Floor Elevators and more.

Following up the success of first single "Runner," THE LAUGHING has now made the album track "Help Me" available - see below for the links.

MP3: "HELP ME"

MP3: "RUNNER"

Slated for April 27 release on Columbia/Legacy. No word yet on that limited edition "peanut butter jar" packaging...

By Fred Mills

"There is only one Raw Power."

Or so a new promo blurb touting the Stooges' incendiary 1973 classic goes. Actually, as most fans know, there are actually TWO Raw Powers: the David Bowie-mixed version originally released on LP, and the 1997 CD reissue that was remixed by Iggy Pop, Danny Kadar and Bruce Dickinson. The latter prompted a moderate degree of head-scratching among fans, for while the Bowie mix always had a weird combination of murk and tinnyness to it, in general most consumers prefer to listen to a record the way it sounded first time around (though a good clean digital remastering is expected).

But by then the arc of the album's mix was already tangled enough, as the Raw Power Wikipedia entry explains: "[In 1972] Pop produced and mixed the album by himself. Unfortunately, Pop's botched first attempt mixed most of the instruments into one stereo channel and the vocals into the other. MainMan [Pop's management company] demanded that the album be remixed, but Pop suddenly refused. When MainMan informed Pop that if the album were not remixed by Bowie, the album would not be released. Pop agreed, but insisted that his own mix for "Search And Destroy" be retained. Due to budgetary constraints, Bowie remixed the other seven songs in a single day in an inexpensive Los Angeles studio."

Anyway, anybody who bought the '97 reissue undoubtedly also had the '73 LP in some format, so it wasn't as if history was being rewritten.

Now, though, Columbia/Legacy is about to hop in the Wayback Machine with a deluxe 2-CD reissue of the album, which will restore the LP's Bowie mix. It's due April 27. Here are the details:

Unleashed on an unsupecting public in 1973, Raw Power was a primal scream in the face of the then-prevalent sounds of soft rock and glam.  Now, with the Stooges officially set for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, and with Raw Power-era guitarist James Williamson back in the fold for live dates, the time is right for Raw Power to roar again. 

 This 2CD Legacy Edition will feature the original '73 album mix on disc 1, newly remastered by Sony engineer Mark Wilder for ultimate fidelity.  The second disc will feature a previously unreleased 1973 live show in Atlanta - never even available on the bootleg market - recently unearthed in Iggy's private tape stash. 

Legacy adds that the new edition will also be bolstered by some choice bonus tracks to be announced soon. Will 2010 be The Year of the Stooges, what with the the Rock Hall induction, a full tour, and this timely reissue? Market Penetration, baby!

Ten days and 30 parties' worth of DJ music in sunny Mexico.

By Blurt Staff

The 3^rd annual BPM Festival, taking place in the resort town of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, on January 1 - January 10, 2010.

Last year saw over 15,000 event tickets sold and this year promises to more than live up to high expectations. Once again, this year's festival will feature a full 10 days of over 30 day & night parties brimming with first class international DJs, miles of sun-baked white sand beaches, and a beach town full of partygoers revving up for the winter holiday. The BPM Festival is the perfect getaway destination for dance music industry professionals and clubbers alike after the heady holidays leading up to New Years Eve.

"This year's BPM Festival will be bigger than ever!" said BPM Festival Co-Director and DJ Craig Pettigrew. Fellow Co-Director Philip Pulitano added "We will be hosting numerous day and nighttime events this year in order to offer alternative music options to our discerning crowds. Mark your calendars for BPM as the first important date on 2010's global dance music calendar."

With a stellar line-up of over 70+ globally renowned DJs, BPM will surely have something to offer for every electronic music aficionado. After a day at the beach, the evenings will be propelled by a diverse roster of artists including: Pioneering DVJ SANDER KLEINENBERG, dark and evocative Sci-Tec leader DUBFIRE, NYC tribal and techno titan VICTOR CALDERONE, Ambassador of soulful dance music and Gotsoul Records honcho JOJO FLORES, Israeli techno export GUY GERBER and second wave Detroit techno mainstay STACEY PULLEN, Italian electro dons THE CUBE GUYS, VIVa Music rising star SEAN MILLER, Mannheim house innovator NICK CURLY, British tech-house sensation SIMON BAKER, Cielo Paradizo resident NICOLAS MATAR, resident Swedish House Mafia boss STEVE ANGELLO, dark, sexy, house music purveyor STEVE LAWLER, glamorous disco beach house provocateurs HED KANDI.

Then segue into the daytime with daily beach parties to kick-start each day in the sun with artists including: house music maestro BEHROUZ, Space Miami resident CEDRIC GERVAIS, Toronto techno upstart CRAIG PETTIGREW, Freak n Chic's SHONKY and ANTHONY COLLINS, Bal en Blac's ANAPAULA, NYC's dance temptress LAUREN LANE and nefarious MICHAELANGELO, Hotbox Digital's ADAM K & many, many more.

Aside from the pumped up atmosphere of the party scene, Mayan adventures abound with plenty of activities and cultural experiences to choose from. The festival's backdrop of Playa Del Carmen is a stunningly beautiful, vibrant part of the Mayan Riviera, located on the pristine Caribbean coast of Mexico. Blessed with miles of unspoiled white sand beaches and crystal-clear Caribbean waters, Playa Del Carmen offers an unforgettable time and endless excitement. It is filled with a variety of beautiful and affordable boutique hotels, and an endless number of places for dining, dancing, beach parties, outdoor activities and clubbing.

BPM Festival 10-day VIP Passes are currently available at www.wantickets.com/bpm-festival. VIP passes include entrance to 30+ events during the BPM Festival, VIP entrance, VIP Stage Access, and VIP discounts at local stores & restaurants in Playa del Carmen. Single day/event tickets will be available for sale beginning December 1st. 

For more information on The BPM Festival, including official events, sponsors, VIP passes, and partners, as well as travel packages and festival details, please visit our website at www.thebpmfestival.com. Additional festival details and event lineups will be announced shortly.

BPM FESTIVAL 2010 ARTISTS

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

Behrouz

Sander Kleinenberg

Cedric Gervais

Dubfire

Victor Calderone

Jo Jo Flores

Guy Gerber / Stacey Pullen

Anapaula

Cube Guys

Sean Miller

Nick Curly / Simon Baker

Nicolas Matar

Steve Angello

Mindcontrol Feat. Richie Santana & Peter Bailey

Steve Lawler

Hedkandi

ALONG WITH:  (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Adam K

Addy

Boris

Cedric

Craig Pettigrew

Daniel Dubb

Deepack

DJ Kingdom

Dosdos

Emerson Todd

Fary

Franco Fabi

Freak'n'Chic {Shonky & Anthony Collins}

Jester

Joey Cons

Julien Loreto

Karizma

Kenyon Clidero

Kimio

Lars

Lauren Lane

Luis

Lyne P.

Manzone & Strong

MichelAngelo

Mike Fuller

Mikel Curcio

Nancy Kyd

Neno

Niknik

NikoGlenn & Neurono

Nitin

Robbie & Rodrigo Madrid

Robbie Akbal

Steven Letigre

Tini Tun

Uppercut

First album in four years due in March; digital EP also coming in Jan. See video teaser, below - seriously, that is a kickass tune.

By Blurt Staff

Bettie Serveert's new album, Pharmacy of Love, will be released on March 23rd by Second Motion Records in the U.S. and by Sound of Pop in Canada.

With the band employing a "back to basics" approach, Pharmacy of Love captures the kind of raw, contagious energy that has long characterized Bettie Serveert's live shows. Recorded earlier this year in a Belgian recording studio, founding members Carol van Dyk (vocals/guitar), Peter Visser (guitar) and Herman Bunskoeke (bass) were joined on the new album by special guest Joppe Molenaar (of the Dutch band Voicst) on drums.

The back story:

Bettie Serveert released its debut album, Palomine, in 1992. Signed to Matador Records in the States, the band was championed by critics and quickly became a favorite at college radio with singles "Tom Boy" and "Kid's Allright" getting substantial airplay. Lamprey, which Melody Maker praised for having the most tangled, desolate, real life guitar sound of the year, was released in 1995, followed by 1997's Dust Bunnies, which the band recorded in Woodstock, NY with producer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Lemonheads). The band toured extensively, opening for bands such as Belly, Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom, Superchunk, Jeff Buckley, Wilco and Counting Crows. After its 1998 live album of Velvet Underground covers, Bettie Serveert Plays Venus in Furs and Other Velvet Underground Songs, the band released a string of studio albums - Private Suit, Log 22 and Attagirl - on its own label, Palomine Records. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, Bettie Serveert released Bare Stripped Naked in 2006. A semi-acoustic CD/DVD package of primarily new material, it was hailed by allmusic.com as "a rousing and heroic reminder of what a great band they were and continue to be."

Fans will get a preview of the new material via a digital EP, Deny All, which will be available beginning January 26th on the iTunes Music Store.   In addition to lead single "Deny All," the EP will include a long version of "Calling (XL)", a small version of "Souls Travel (small)" plus "Waiting for Control," a bonus track that won't appear on Pharmacy of Love.

Check out the video for "Deny All" below. Incidentally, there are TONS of vids and tunes at the band's official website.

Tracklisting:

1.    Deny All
2.    Semaphore
3.    Love Lee
4.    Mossie
5.    The Pharmacy
6.    Souls Travel
7.    Calling
8.    Change4Me
9.    What They Call Love

Awesome lineup of performers includes Ed Harcourt, Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell, Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, Candi Staton, Edwyn Collins and more.

By Blurt Staff

Ashley Beedle's Mavis project incorporates seemlingly disparate influences ranging from 60s soul to reggae soundsystem culture to shimmering Phil Spector style production, brought together by an experimental recordging approach to yield music that transcends genre.  The inspiration for the project struck three years ago when Beedle and musical partner Darren Morris were blown away by a cover version of Burt Bacharach's "A House Is Not A Home" performed by ‘60s icon Mavis Staples.  The duo ended up producing an instrumental inspired by the track, and sending it to a series of favorite vocalists they hand picked to deliver their own take on the music.  The producers then subverted the backing track, suggesting a reggae riddim approach, for a collection of unique tracks informed by the same chord structure and points of influence.

To Ashley, Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers have always been hugely iconic. "They're the glue in our DNA", says Ashley, "Not only was their recorded work amazing but their involvement in the Civil Rights movement really meant something to me."

The respect for Mavis' work is shared by the collaborators, who have contributed their own stories and tales from the heart, following the inspirational Mavis trail, steered by Ashley and Darren. Revered artists such as Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, Candi Staton, Ed Harcourt, Edwyn Collins, Cerys Matthews and Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell have thrown themselves heart and soul into the concept, paving the way for a palette of fresh talent such as Crazy P's Danielle Moore, John Turrell of Smoove & Turrell, Disa from Reykjavik and Dear Reader's Cherilyn MacNeil from South Africa. The vocal talent appearing on Mavis is evocative, aspirational, inspirational and honest.

On listening to the album, one can hear how the project grew and gained musical form from the input of collaborators Kurt Wagner, Disa and Edwyn Collins, whose individual tracks sweep across a similar landscape.

Mavis is a project that prides itself in being steeped in rich musical history, which will not only reach out to and seduce a more mature music-loving audience, but will also tantalise the eclectic taste buds of younger generation of fans. Ashley, Darren and this team of talented artists have steered this music of classic heritage into a contemporary context, the result being a modern and timeless musical adventure which still maintains the messages and inspirations of the original piece.

"Listen. Dreaming of Mavis, some singers, some kindred spirits, lovingly selected, having never met, each other or her, passing on their feelings, from song to song, meeting place to meeting place, finding their Mavis, loving her in the imagination, praising Mavis, the way her hands moved, how she breathed, the rebellious wisdom, the faith, sorrow and trust, the inner mystery, gracing Mavis, the city she built, the mountains she moved, the beautiful and tough songs she sung, out of heavy shadows and great light, ruins and fragments, mouth and nerve." - Paul Morley 2009

Tracklisting:

Gangs of Rome feat. Kurt Wagner
What You Looking For feat. John Turrell
Nemesis Required feat. Cerys Matthews 
Revolution feat. Candi Staton
Puzzles & Riddles feat. Ed Harcourt
When I Walk With You (Heartbreak Song) feat. Sarah Cracknell
Sinful Love feat. Disa
Dreamers (Interlude) feat. Chris Coco
Let Your Love Shine feat. Danielle Moore
4:14 feat. Cherilyn MacNeil
Feeling Lucky feat. Edwyn Collins

Easier than trying to push a health care bill through Congress!

By Blurt Staff

BLURT contributing photographer Brantley Gutierrez - whose fantastic shots of the Monsters of Folk grace our current issue - needs your help. 

Gutierrez has entered Nikon's "Your Day in 140 seconds" contest. Here's the scoop on the contest from Nikon:

To celebrate HD video within the Nikon D5000, Nikon is asking photographers to show "A Day through your Lens."

Capture the essence of your day in a video of 140 seconds or less. It can be funny, touching or profound. It can be about everything you did, everything you didn't do, the day's biggest dilemma or its most telling detail.

Videos will be judged on image quality, originality and the ability to capture a day through your lens in 140 seconds. 

More info on the contest can be found at the Nikon site.

Got it? Ok, now here's Brantley's video: http://www.nikonfestival.com/blog/2009/12/13/rule-of-three/?rand=4b259a385a0fd

If you dig it, leave a message in the comment section below the video as Brantley will be judged on the number of comments he receives.

Wanna see more of Brantley's work?

Check out his video of Band of Horses here: http://vimeo.com/4520451

Thanks y'all!

Along with Brokeoffs partner Lawyer Dave, the femme-rocker bum-rushes Philadelphia's M-Room on December 12. No ego, just great tunes and charisma to burn.

By Zachary Herrmann

It's easy to look (and sound) like the professional outfit of the night when the band before yours calls themselves "Tough Shits". Not to the rag on that raucous Philly opener too hard. The guys understand the pop hook and showed a flicker of the New York Dolls here and there, sloppy though they may have been. But seeing the completely ego-less, swagger-less Holly Golightly take the stage afterwards...well, it was just night and day.

Lately, the British musician has been harping pretty heavy on the American roots thing, appearing as Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, the latter half being her longtime associate, Lawyer Dave. On stage, the two come off like a psychedelic reimagining of American Gothic, grasping guitars in place of the pitchfork. Aside from the occasional playful bit of banter (a lot of hate for Hoboken, NJ, home to Maxwell's, the previous venue the duo played), the two of them are all about business. In a subdued sort of trance during songs, Ms. Golightly and her Lawyer friend plowed through 17 tunes in just under an hour, about all you could ask for in the cramped M-Room between the hours of 12:30 and 1:30 am.

Aided by a tricky little kick drum and cymbal setup, Dave simultaneously handles percussion and slide duties, providing a simple little stomp to go along with the buzzin' and a-strummin'. Given the lousy sound during the two preceding bands, it was pretty shocking to hear just how clear and full Holly and Dave's dirty electrics came across in a venue that resembles something of a large, packed hallway.  Most of the time, they kept a pretty steady mid-tempo going through a large portion of 2008's fantastic Dirt Don't Hurt.

"Indeed You Do" got kicked up a notch from the studio version, a bit nasty even as Holly let out a snarl or two. As on album, Holly and Dave's original songwriting mixes in seamlessly with traditionally arranged numbers like "Boat's Up The River" or Buddy Griffin and Claudia Swann's "I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya".

With Dave seated throughout (due to the constraints of drumming, playing guitar and singing all at once) and Holly swinging along, eyes-closed, their show is a pretty laid back affair, though no less passionate for the approach. It's part of the appeal of the music - they could just as easily be playing on your back porch, singing "Crow Jane" and "My 45". Brits (Dave clearly isn't one) like Holly have had a great tradition of appreciating traditional American music forms just well if not better than anyone else stateside, and in that sense, she's doing more than just writing and performing great songs: It's a public service of sorts.

The two of them look, speak and play like storyteller relics from a bygone era. Trying to paint a picture doesn't really do them justice. A fake Lawyer and a British singer dressed like a woman straight of something written by The Band - seems disingenuous, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs are the real deal, two excellent musicians doing the work of many, many more.

Read the BLURT review of Dirt Don't Hurt here.

Eyeballs attached to inanimate objects, long cheap wigs, naked breasts or direct movie allusions - what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

Beck.com  has unveiled the virtual art gallery Colorspace (http://www.beck.com/colorspace) as the newest of the site's expanding array of exclusive features. Colorspace will serve as an online showcase for new visual talent, featuring new artists every month, and also making available limited edition T-shirts, prints, posters and more.

The first artist to be featured at Colorspace will be Olaf Bruening. Breuning's artistic sensibility was developed, steeped in and informed by the music of Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Grace Jones, the photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Jeff Wall and Cindy Sherman, and the sculpture of Jeff Koons. He cites as influences everything from sci-fi to horror via Vikings and haunted houses. His photographs, installations, and films feature a recurring vocabulary; face-painting, eyeballs attached to inanimate objects, long cheap wigs, naked breasts or direct movie allusions.

Bruening's most recent showcase took place this March at the Whitney Biennale in New York. Taking inspiration from one of the exhibition buildings, the 18th century Upper East Side Armory, he created an installation called The Army, consisting of 30 miniature metal soldiers with identical spherical bodies and different heads resembling sci-fi robots marching as if to war.

For further information, check back at http://www.beck.com/colorspace  hourly.

Bernie Worrell, Blackbyrd McKnight, Melvin Gibbs and J.T. Lewis - record due in January.

By Blurt Staff

P-Funk alums Bernie Worrell and Blackbyrd McKnight join forces with Melvin Gibbs and J.T. Lewis  to release their debut album as SociaLybrium - a whole 'nother breed of funk-rock supergroup.  For You • For Us • For All is oming January on LiveWired Music.

True funkateers know the history. From the fat Minimoog bass lines of "Flash Light" and "One Nation Under A Groove" to the percussive piano runs of "Chocolate City" and "Give Up the Funk," Bernie Worrell is synonymous with the legacy of Parliament-Funkadelic; in fact, he's one of the originators of the psychedelic funk sound, having written the lion's share of the music going back to Funkadelic's formative years, with an eclectic ear for everything from Chopin to the Chi-Lites.

 
These days the terms "living legend" or "funk icon" really don't come close to doing him justice. "Funk iconoclast" is probably more apt, considering the breadth of Worrell's contributions to seminal albums outside the P-Funk canon-including Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense and Public Image Ltd's Album, to name two of the more monolithic examples. Keith Richards, Yoko Ono, Bootsy Collins, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Mos Def, Deee-Lite, Bill Laswell and many more have recruited him in the studio and on tour-all for his versatility, vision and feverish creativity whenever he gets his hands on a keyboard.
 

"I really have no concept behind what I do," Worrell confides. "I just play. The music comes first. But lately I'd been thinking of the people I like to play with-the people who I thought would fit a new genre, which probably isn't all that new, but because it's me, it's always different. It's stuff that I've been doing all the while and will continue to be doing. I mix musics and different genres. I have to play it and hear it first before I know what to call it, and then I arrive at a name. This time out, we're calling it SociaLybrium."

 
The sense of freedom, balance and all-inclusiveness conveyed by the name is intentional. When Worrell first contacted guitarist Dewayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight with the idea of starting up what he felt was a long-overdue collaboration (McKnight took over as musical director of George Clinton's P-Funk All-Stars in 1980, shortly after Worrell had left Parliament-Funkadelic), both men saw it as an opportunity to turn loose a different kind of monster that had been waiting to get out during all the collective years they'd spent with P-Funk.

 
"We really have the same personality, with the same stubbornness and fire and all that," Worrell quips. "Blackbyrd's a gifted musician and a leader, and he can play anything. Before P-Funk, he was with the Headhunters, so that just added to his capability with different styles. When I heard that he had left P-Funk, I thought it would be perfect because we'd always wanted to do something together outside of that. We finally got in touch with each other, and I asked him if he wanted to start a group."

 
The only thing missing was the rhythm section. At first, bassist T.M. Stevens and drummer Cindy Blackman were brought on board, and while the chemistry clicked for a while, outside commitments put Socialibrium (as the group's name was then spelled) on the sidelines. But it wasn't long before the Brooklyn contingent of Melvin Gibbs (bass) and J.T. Lewis (drums) stepped into the breach. Gibbs had played with Worrell before, and had even talked with McKnight in the past about playing together. More recently, Gibbs' own group Elevated Entity has featured Worrell as a special guest-an opening slot for Femi Kuti and Positive Force at a June 2009 show in Brooklyn's Prospect Park drew an estimated crowd of 5,000-while McKnight appears on Gibbs' 2009 album Ancients Speak (LiveWired Music).

 
"Versatility is one of the main ingredients," Worrell explains. "That's how it is between me, Blackbyrd, Melvin and J.T. We're all on the same page. I wanted to work with musicians and artists who are on the same page and can play anything-not just funk, not just jazz, but everything. That's what I do, and these guys can do that too."
 

Recorded during a week-long burst of creative jamming, in an intimate Brooklyn studio with minimal overdubs, the group's debut For You • For Us • For All documents a communal trip into the unknown where four high-caliber musicians can play together on equal footing, but also where the listener is encouraged to join in the fray. The result is a raw, wide-open statement that invites comparisons to post-psychedelic funk acts like Chairmen of the Board, Fantastic Four or McKinley Jackson and the Politicians (whose 1972 Hot Wax classic "Free Your Mind" gets updated here); even so, there's a foretaste of previously unexplored islands in the hard rock riffs of "Swamp" and "BQE" (the album's standout track), and a nod to today's hip-hop DJs in the smoldering grooves of "We Painted It Colors" and "Rockin' Uptown." Call it freestyle Afro-fusion, electric church music or gutbucket street funk-however you slice it, SociaLybrium can get down in any style, at any given moment.

 
Back when certified Worrell-penned hits like "Flash Light" and "One Nation Under A Groove" ruled the airwaves, funk was more than just a groove-based fashion fad; it was a full-fledged live experience that in the right context, and with the right players, invited its devotees to expand their collective consciousness. Asked to encapsulate SociaLybrium and its mission, Melvin Gibbs points to this phenomenon as a key element, and as he sees it, high-end live musicianship is ripe for a return to the touring circuit.

 
"This is a group that knows how to bring it live," he says, "and in my opinion this is where music needs to go. Funk is probably some of the most powerful music when it's played live, and between Bernie and Blackbyrd you've got two of the greatest live musicians in America, period. What SociaLybrium has to offer is the DNA of the funk-that expansive energy that goes back to groups like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and of course P-Funk, and then moving that forward. The whole history is there, but I think we're on the edge of a resurgent funk era, and I feel very comfortable saying that I see us as the emissaries of it."

Photos, song sample, videos: http://www.myspace.com/socialybrium

[Photo Credit: Brian Diescher]

Call ‘em the Pet Shop Girls North America: a cross between Human League, New Order, Depeche Mode and Soft Cell.

By Blurt Staff

Along the lines of "new music alert" we've lately been smitten by Vancouver synth-pop revisionists Fan Death. The duo has a new EP, A Coin for the Well, due out Feb. 23 on Last Gang.

Fan Death is Marta Jaciubek-McKeever and Dandilion Wind Opaine, and as Marta explains, "Dandilion and I first became friends in Vancouver around 2004; she had a "notorious" personality locally and perhaps due to our similarly unusual upbringings we hit it off right away (I immigrated from Poland to Canada when I was 12 and didn't speak English; Dandi lived with hippie parents in a log cabin near Alaska without running water until she also was 12.) Immediately we hoped to collaborate on a music project."

It took awhile, but they eventually did. If you can tear your eyes away from that pic above, go to their MySpace page where you'll find some pretty ace song samples, and, er, lots more photos...

Acclaimed new album has also been made into a film.

By Blurt Staff

All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, the film that accompanies Califone's new album of the same name, will be making its theatrical premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah this January. The film was written and directed by Califone frontman Tim Rutili, and is his debut feature length film. The band will also be performing a live soundtrack alongside the film at the opening screening at Sundance.

Read the recent BLURT interview with Rutili, in which he talks about the film and album, here.

The screenplay for the film, draws on the same themes and inspirations as the album. The story revolves around a fortune teller named Zel (played by respected cult actress Angela Bettis) who lives and works in an old house crowded with ghosts. When a mysterious light appears in the woods, the ghosts realize they are trapped and begin to rebel.

The live soundtrack to the film has been a part of Califone performances throughout the fall touring in support of All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, and KEXP's Brian Cullen witnessed one of these performances and wrote about it for the KEXP blog. The LA Times recently covered the album and film project before the band's performance at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, which you can read HERE. IFC.com also recently took the time to speak to Rutili and the interview is well worth the read, check it out HERE.

Even with all of the excitement surrounding the film, the band are spending the bulk of their February on tour, supporting Wilco on dates in the United States and Canada. These shows will not accompany the film, and include an appearance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Additionally, the band has announced two shows in their hometown of Chicago, one alongside the film on March 9, and one as a standard rock show on March 10.

Califone's All My Friends Are Funeral Singers at Sundance:

1/26/10 Park City, UT @ New Frontier on Main, 9pm (includes live performance by Califone)

1/27/10 Park City, UT @ Egyptian Theatre, 9pm

1/28/10 Park City, UT @ Holiday Village Cinema II, 2pm

1/29/10 Salt Lake City, UT @ Broadway Centre Cinemas IV, 7:30pm

1/30/10 Park City, UT @ Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1, 3pm

TOUR DATES:

2/07/10 Missoula, MT @ Adams Center w/ Wilco

2/09/10 Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall w/ Wilco

2/10/10 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre w/ Wilco

2/12/10 Victoria, BC @ Royal Theatre w/ Wilco

2/13/10 Vancouver, BC @ David Lam Park w/ Wilco

2/15/10 Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee w/ Wilco

2/16/10 Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee w/ Wilco

2/17/10 Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place w/ Wilco

2/19/10 Duluth, MN @ DECC Auditorium w/ Wilco

2/20/10 Madison, WI @ Overture Center for the Arts w/ Wilco

2/21/10 East Lansing, MI @ Wharton Center w/ Wilco

2/22/10 Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Place Theatre w/ Wilco

2/24/10 London, ON @ Centennial Hall w/ Wilco

3/09/10 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

3/10/10 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

How does Marco Benevento, Butch Trucks, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Railroad Earth and others sound to ya?

By Blurt Staff

Jamband avatars moe., fresh from the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam where they pulled out the stops for two consecutive nights (one memorably moment came when Jimmy Herring joined them onstage; full review here),  is planning to celebrate their 20th anniversary throughout 2010 with an itinerary that would exhaust the most eager newcomer. More than just a series of shows, the events scheduled for 2010 are a reflection of moe.'s commitment to their fans, their community, and their planet. In addition to their rigorous schedule of upcoming gigs, moe. will release an anthology that combines some of their best-loved material, an unrecorded concert favorite and further evolved re-recorded versions of songs from their two major label releases. Honored with multiple Jammy awards for both their recordings and their marathon concert appearances, moe.'s unique hybrid of careful songcraft and fearless improvisation have earned them a substantial, devoted following. They have shared bills with the Allman Brothers Band, Robert Plant, the Dead, the Who, and Dave Matthews Band, and have collaborated onstage with artists ranging from Bela Fleck, Bob Weir, and Trey Anastasio to Peter Frampton, Blue Oyster Cult, and Warren Haynes.

The 20th anniversary festivities commence with a two-night stand at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on January 22 and 23, with the first night being a benefit for World Hunger Year (WHY) www.worldhungeryear.com. Founded in 1975, WHY focuses on creating awareness of poverty and hunger around the world, and recognizing and implementing realistic solutions to this ongoing crisis. Throughout 2010, moe. will also continue their commitments to such organizations and causes as Headcount, Free Burma, autism awareness, and other social and environmental issues. For the first night of their stand at Roseland, moe. will be joined by a number of special guests, including Butch Trucks (Allman Brothers), Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), and Marco Benevento (The Benevento Duo). Following Roseland, moe. will take to the road for the rest of the winter and early spring, culminating on March 26, 27, and 28 with the third snoe.down taking place this time in Killington and Rutland, Vermont: a three-day music and winter sports festival founded by moe. with Great Northeast Productions. In addition to multiple moe. sets, this year's snoe.down will feature performances by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Railroad Earth, Hot Day at the Zoo, the McLovins and more to come. (A limited number of Early Bird tickets remain. For more information visit www.snoedown.com.)

Mid April finds moe. hosting the tropical throe.down over four days on the pristine shores of the Dominican Republic. moe. will perform on the beach all four days, joining their fans in a thriving celebration of both the band's history and their future. In May, moe. will appear at the 10th annual Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, Illinois. Co-founded by moe., Jay Goldberg Presents, and Jam Productions, Summer Camp Music Festival will feature sets by The Avett Brothers, Umphrey's Mcgee, Gov't Mule, Yonder Mountain String Band, and many more to be announced. For more information www.summercampfestival.com/2010/

moe. is: Vinnie Amico (drums), Rob Derhak (bass, vocals), Chuck Garvey (guitar, vocals), Jim Loughlin (percussion, vibes), and Al Schnier (guitar, vocals).

Tour Dates:

22-Jan-10 Fri         New York, NY         Roseland Ballroom
23-Jan-10 Sat         New York, NY         Roseland Ballroom
27-Jan-10 Wed     Stroudsburg, PA         Sherman Theater
28-Jan-10 Thu     Rochester, NY         Harro East Theater & Ballroom
29-Jan-10 Fri         Boston, MA             House of Blues
30-Jan-10 Sat         Ithaca, NY             The State Theatre
31-Jan-10 Sun     Pittsburgh, PA         Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
25-Feb-10 Thu     San Francisco, CA         Fillmore
26-Feb-10 Fri         Los Angeles, CA         Club Nokia
27-Feb-10 Sat         Las Vegas, NV         Hard Rock CafÈ
28-Feb-10 Sun     Flagstaff, AZ             Orpheum Theatre
3-Mar-10 Wed     Tulsa, OK             Cain'sBallroom
4-Mar-10 Thu         Lawrence, KS             Liberty Hall
5-Mar-10 Fri         Chicago, IL             The Riviera
6-Mar-10 Sat         Chicago, IL             The Riviera
7-Mar-10 Sun         Davenport, IA         Capitol Theatre
10-Mar-10 Wed     Charlottesville, VA         Jefferson Theater
11-Mar-10 Thu     Greensboro, NC         Carolina Theatre
12-Mar-10 Fri         Atlanta, GA             Tabernacle
13-Mar-10 Sat     Atlanta, GA             Tabernacle
26-Mar-10 Sat     snoe.down               Killington and Rutland, VT
27-Mar-10 Sat     snoe.down               Killington and Rutland, VT
28-Mar-10 Sat     snoe.down               Killington and Rutland, VT

The Devil in Hope Sandoval...

By Fred Mills

The upcoming Massive Attack album Heligoland is due Feb. 9 from EMI. Read the previously announced details here; we here at BLURT have been listening to it nonstop for the past two weeks and are already willing to go out on a limb and call it potentially one of the must-hear releases of first quarter 2010, sleek and sensual with more than just a touch of evil to salt the sonic wounds it additionally inflicts.

One key song is "Paradise Circus" that features vocals by Hope Sandoval. The band has released a video for the song, directed by Toby Dye, and in it you see former porn actress Georgina Spelvin talking about the notorious '73 skin flick The Devil in Miss Jones. You can view it below.

Really, with a roster of bimbos like this, you expect anything less?

By Fred Mills

So you know all about that Runaways biopic slated to hit theaters next spring, right? The one starring Kristin Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie? The 1-minute trailer has hit YouTube, and based on the visual evidence therein, the film appears to be D.O.A. in terms of inspiration and execution. Admittedly, one cannot judge a movie by its trailer - well, not all the time. But unless you're one of those hairy-palmed girl band geeks (known to ladies who play in bands as GBG), this one looks like a dud. I say this as someone who actually saw the Runaways a couple of times back in the day, and to paraphrase a great philosopher, Kristin, you're no Joanie.

Here's an idea: maybe they should have taken some artistic liberties and filmed the entire deal using African American actors. I'm thinking Snoop Dogg as Kim Fowley and buffed-out L'il Kim as Joan Jett for starters... Hey, it couldn't be any worse than what they've got so far!

The film trailer is below, followed by a quasi-trailer created by some enterprising fan with, apparently, a huge trove of Runaways photos on hand. Just glomming those pics is far more interesting than the potential that the film itself holds out at the moment...

"Valencia" from forthcoming album El Turista, due next March.

By Fred Mills

As previously announced, songsmith Josh Rouse has a new album slated for a March 9 release via Yep Roc. Titled El Turista, it's a collection originals and covers, sung in English and Spanish - and as the Rouse camp advises us, "marinated in the folk musics of Cuba, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela and beyond." Among the material is a Civil War-era traditional number ("Cotton Eye Joe"), that Rouse once heard Nina Simone sing along with two songs popularized by Bola de Nieve (a/k/a "the Louis Armstrong of Cuba").

"It's kind of funny, this Midwestern guy doing Brazilian songs in Spanish," Rouse himself added, but the whole deal comes together seamlessly. You can check out a free MP3 of one of the tunes, "Valencia," below.

Listen: "Valencia"

[Photo Credit: Jim Herrington]

Photo Gallery by April S. Engram

Ed. note: BLURT writer/photographer Engram traveled to Montreal last month to take in the 4^th annual M for Montreal indie rock festival. Her impressions can be found here, but meanwhile, below are some of her choice images that she brought back with her.

Incidentally, she also covered M4M for us last year - check out that report here.

Four nights, 100 songs, and one potentially whopping live album.

By Fred Mills

Old 97's fans, here's a treat for you if you're in the Dallas area near the end of this month: The band will be recording four hometown shows when they appear at Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas on December 27, 28, 29 and 30.

Salim Nourallah  will be producing; he produced the band's latest album, Blame It On Gravity as well as frontman Rhett Miller's latest solo album, Rhett Miller.

There are no immediate plans to release the recordings but some form of live album would appear to be inevitable, with a projected 100+ songs being committed to tape over the course of the four evenings.

Miller and bandmate Murry Hammond will be doing solo sets prior to the Old 97's sets each night.

For details on admission to the shows, etc., go to the Sons of Hermann Hall website.

Legendary 1978 Concert At Hollywood High School Released In Its Entirety For The First Time On Live At Hollywood High.

By Blurt Staff

Elvis Costello was 23 years old when he performed a sold-out concert at the auditorium of Hollywood High School.  It was June 4, 1978 and he had been introduced to America with a controversial appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and two albums Rolling Stone would eventually rank among the 200 greatest of all time.  Twenty-five years later, in 2003, Costello would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the following year would be ranked by Rolling Stone among its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Now that historic 20-song concert will be issued for the first time in its entirety, including 11 previously unreleased recordings, on Live At Hollywood High released January 12 by Hip-O/UMe. This second installment in The Costello Show live performance series of complete concerts follows Live At The El Mocambo, released in September (and reviewed by BLURT here).

Just three months prior to the Hollywood High concert, This Year's Model had become his second album but first as Elvis Costello And The Attractions, with singer-songwriter-guitarist Costello joined by keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas.  Producing the concert would be Nick Lowe, who would helm Costello's first five albums.

From Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True, the show included "Alison," "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "Mystery Dance," "Waiting For The End Of The World," "Miracle Man" and "Watching The Detectives."  From This Year's Model, the band cranked out "Pump It Up," "The Beat," "Lip Service," "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" (only on the U.K. album), "Radio Radio" (only on the U.S. edition), "Lipstick Vogue," "No Action," "This Year's Girl," "Living In Paradise" and "You Belong To Me" plus the bonus single "Stranger In The House."

The band also previewed "Accidents Will Happen," "Party Girl" and "Goon Squad" from Armed Forces, which they would begin to record three months later.  That album released in early 1979 would become Costello's highest charter (#10) and his third straight to earn gold or platinum.  Included as a promotional giveaway with initial copies was a 7" single with the Hollywood High performances of "Accidents Will Happen," "Alison" and "Watching The Detectives."  A 2002 reissue of Armed Forces would add a disc with those tracks and six others from Hollywood High.

Unreleased, however, would be the concert's "Lip Service," "The Beat," "Living In Paradise," "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "(I Don't Wanna Go To) Chelsea," "This Year's Girl," "No Action," "Radio, Radio," "Pump It Up," "Waiting For The End Of The World" and "Miracle Man" - all of which make their debuts on Live At Hollywood High.

Upcoming releases of The Costello Show will include, among others, concerts performed at the Royal Albert Hall and Royalty Theater in London.

Nashville bassist was a mainstay of Ryan Adams' band and an in-demand player as well.

By Fred Mills

Chris Feinstein, bassist for Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, passed away on Tuesday, December 15, at his home in New York City, from undisclosed causes. He was 42.

Known as "Space Wolf" to friends and fellow musicians (the nickname was given to him by Adams), Feinstein had been with the Cardinals since 2006 and he played on Easy Tiger, Follow the Lights and Cardinology - his roots were in Nashville, where he'd played in high school bands (including several with Cardinals drummer Brad Pemberton). Over the years he also played and recorded with the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr., Jack Ingram, Patty Griffin, Tim Finn, Matthew Ryan and others - including Moby.

BLURT contributor Rev. Keith A. Gordon penned an in-depth obituary on Feinstein at ThatDevilMusic.com, charting the musician's trajectory. Offered Gordon:

"A multi-instrumental musician that was often overshadowed by the charismatic frontmen that he played behind, Chris Feinstein was undeniably an integral element in the evolution of rock music in Nashville, a talented and important member of several crucial bands that helped put the Music City on the map as more than the home of country music and gospel. As an ambassador of the local music scene, Chris brought an honest little bit of Nashville to audiences across the world. He will be missed...."

Incidentally, among the responses to Gordon's article was one from Feinstein's mother Gayle Escamilla, who wrote, "I do so appreciate all the kind words about my wonderful son, Chris. His family has always known what a genuine, fun and generous soul he was, and it is such a consolation to know he was so admired and esteemed as a musician and as an individual to so many others."

BLURT extends our deepest condolences to Mrs. Escamilla along with Feinstein's extended family and friends, and to the Adams & Cardinals communities as well.

[Photo Credit: Neil Casal]

"Like a high-decibel career retrospective worthy of a Pablo Picasso or a Jackson Pollack": the fretboard maestro destroys Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz on December 20.

BY JUD COST

A shingle-rattling power chord that rearranged some of the bottles  behind the bar at Moe's Alley, erupted from the dressing room at the side of the stage, startling the 200 patrons jammed into the place to see the return of "the king of surf guitar." Dick Dale strolled out to greet his adoring public, already well into one of his reverb-drenched, middle eastern-basted surf instrumentals that changed the face of rock 'n' roll in the early '60s. And where better to pull off this night of living history than Santa Cruz, Calif., one of the coastal towns glorified in surf music's foam-flecked lore!

Dressed in black with his hair combed straight back and held in place by a thin black headband, Dale somehow looked younger than he did the last time I saw him in 1992. He appears to be having more fun now too since he broadened his set list to include plenty of what some tight-assed aficianados might consider "non-surf material." But it all flows like grog at a pirates' picnic, giving a well-rounded snapshot of the early years of rock.

The 72-year-old Dale, who glides around the boards with the economy of motion of a revered family cat, is a member of the famed triumvirate of American guitarists that includes Link Wray and Duane Eddy, fretboard pioneers who made it cool for young boys to play an instrument during the Kennedy years. The Beatles then finished the job by making singing look ultra-masculine. Vocals, of course, were never Dale's forte, but he's fine-tuned his singing over the years to the point where he can pull off something close to Johnny Cash doing a medley of "Folsom Prison"/"I Walk The Line" or Sam Cooke (or Eric Burdon) doing "Bring It On Home To Me" with stylish aplomb. 

Capitol released a handful of seminal albums by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones during the years when the California pastime of surfing (and surf music) had reached epidemic proportions among the nation's teenagers. You have only to eyeball your pack of hometown skateboarders to see how far this revolution reached. Dale's historic southern California gigs at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa Beach ignited the surf music scene almost single-handedly. Accompanied by bass and drums, Dale is still around to thrill his fans with scalding versions of surf staples "Let's Go Tripping" "California Sun" and "Hava Nagila" as well as second cousins to surf music like Link Wray's "Rumble" and Richard Berry's "Louie Louie," the latter dressed up with the chicken-scratch vocal extras the Coasters used in "Little Egypt." To further show his versatility, Dale will toss off the intro to the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun" (accompanied by the Chuck Berry duck walk) scotch-taped onto the Animals' big hit, "House of the Rising Sun," then roar off into "Hey, Bo Diddley" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

Dale excels at playing directly to his audience, an especially effective proposition in a joint as cozy as Moe's Alley. He'll serenade a swooning, middle-aged lady in the front row, face to face, then bark at her husband, "Hey, you can look at her all year. I only have tonight!" Then he'll teach the crowd the response to one of his rare LP vocals, "Mr. Peppermint Man," before careening off in another direction to play Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." He warned the crowd eager to participate in signature tune "Hava Nagila" to punctuate the tune with "hey" not "oy" in all the appropriate spots.

Dale's firecracker of a show must have been particularly thrilling to Stretch Riedle, the drummer for fine opening act, the Concaves from Santa Cruz. "Can you believe I've been playing surf music for 25 years?" muttered the starry-eyed Riedle from the back of the club as Dick Dale soldiered on up-front with a high-decibel career retrospective worthy of a Pablo Picasso or a Jackson Pollack.

Issued just in time for the holidays, the ATP DVD makes a strong case for the event being the best live music experience ever.

By Jonah Flicker

Music festivals can be a huge pain in the ass. The crowds, the heat, the expensive food and beverages, trying to get from one stage to another so as not to miss a band... sometimes, it's just not worth it. However, if one is to believe the new DVD detailing the last several installations of All Tomorrow's Parties, it's the best fucking festival - nay, best live music experience - period - that has ever existed.

Though the film All Tomorrow's Parties (Warp Films) was produced by the Warp X studio collective, director Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) played a large role in its creation, helped along by "semi-found footage," democratically shot by "All Tomorrow's People." The resulting picture is a whimsical, sentimental, magical look at the bands, fans, and landscapes that have made up ATP over the years. The setting is a David Lynchian seaside summer camp in England, a 1950s ideal taken over by a host of purveyors and disciples of indie rock. The film zeroes in on this notion, mixing archival footage with beautifully shot live scenes. There is really no narrative, but there is no need for one. Performances are loose and inspired: Battles, Les Savy Fav, Slint, Dirty Three, Grinderman, Lightning  Bolt, and GZA are just a few of the acts that drift across the frame, offering fleeting moments of aural bombast.

It's not all roses; David Cross is booed off stage, Sonic Youth teases with just a few seconds of music, and there is a jarring snippet of someone describing ATP as "Auschwitz with good music." Flimsy Holocaust references aside, All Tomorrow's Parties is a dream of a concert film.

Near the end, Grizzly Bear appears on a beach performing a seemingly impromptu acoustic performance, surrounded by a crowd of spent onlookers. It's moments like these that encapsulate the ATP experience, or at least the one the filmmakers would have you take away. Best festival ever? Perhaps. Excellent concert film? No question.

Special Features: Full length performance cuts;  commentary from ATP promoters Barry Hogan and Deborah Kee Higgins; 40 page full colour booklet, including 10 years of ATP artwork and programme introductions; key that can be used to unlock exclusive bonus content online, including Vincent Moon's footage from ATP New York, interviews, more full length performances.

A holiday poem for YOU...

By Blurt Staff

Brendan Benson, Cory Chisel and their bands/crews put together this holiday video and have asked everyone to share it and spread it. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Revisiting a genuinely lost era - and place - for music via a new benefit album, due on Jan. 10.

By Blurt Staff

Cambodia's rock music of the '60s and '70s - unearthly, haunting, startling - receives an exciting retrospective in the new compilation Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia, available Jan. 10 from Minky Records.

            Proceeds from the album benefit Cambodian Living Arts (http://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/) , a project of the non-profit Massachusetts-based Marion Institute devoted to supporting the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and inspiring contemporary artistic expression.

            The 14-track collection, selected with care by the members of the internationally renowned Los Angeles rock band Dengue Fever, takes a deep look at the intoxicating rock produced by such noted Southeast Asian musicians of the era as singer-songwriter Sinn Sisamouth, one of the kingpins of the Cambodian music scene, and the brilliant female vocalists Pan Ron and Ros Sereysothea.

            A couple of the album's choicest numbers - Sereysothea's "Flowers in the Pond" and "Shave Your Beard" - have appeared in cover versions on Dengue Fever's widely praised albums.

            The music on Electric Cambodia is the product of a golden age literally lost in time. It disappeared after the Pol Pot regime took power in 1975; following the establishment of an agrarian dictatorship, the Khmer Rouge exterminated as many as 2 million on the country's bloody "killing fields."

            "Before the Khmer Rouge, it was a crazy, booming society, socially and economically - it was very progressive," says Dengue Fever bassist Senon Williams.

            The Cambodian music of the '60s and early '70s was a mating of Western and Eastern sounds. "In my opinion, they were trying to play Western rock songs," says Williams. "They incorporated their own folk music into psychedelic rock."He notes that while many of the songs used the kind of electric instrumentation heard on U.S. hits, the productions also employed traditional Cambodian instruments.

            Vestiges of the Cambodians' American inspirations can be heard on tracks like Pan Ron's "Snaeha," a Khmer adaptation of Cher's 1966 hit "Bang Bang," and Ros Sereysothea's "I Want to Shout," which takes some inspiration from the Isley Brothers' 1959 single "Shout."

            This exhilarating style was wiped off the face of the earth when Cambodia's best-known performers - including Sisamouth, Ron, and Sereysothea - became victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide. "They killed off the entire creative and forward-thinking gene pool," says Williams.

            While the artists vanished forever, their music somehow survived. Cambodia's electric music has been circulated hand-to-hand on cassette editions, duplicated cheaply at high speed and bearing little or no information about the songs or those who performed them.

            "The music on this compilation was anonymous," Williams says. "It was all off crazy mix tapes. We didn't know who was who."

            Fortunately, the older sister of Dengue Fever's Cambodia-born lead vocalist Chhom Nimol was able to identify the material - "She put names to the songs," Williams says.

            The songs and styles heard on Electric Cambodia have survived in their native land, though not exactly as they were originally performed. "Everybody knows them and loves them, but now it sounds like Chinese synth-pop," says Williams. "It doesn't seem like they're interested in playing it in its authentic fashion."

            The members of Dengue Fever show their respect for the music by performing their rocking renditions of '60s Cambodian music in their live shows - and by committing proceeds from Electric Cambodia to the nurturing of Khmer culture today.

            "We thought it'd be nice to give something back," Williams says.

***

Dengue Fever on the web: http://www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic

Tour Dates:

12/31 @ The Mint, Los Angeles, CA.
01/07 @ SoHo, Santa Barbara, CA.
01/08 @ The Independent, San Francisco, CA.
01/09 @ Berbatti's Pan, Portland, OR.
01/10 @ Neumo's, Seattle, WA.

Almost as much fun as that National Lampoon magazine cover involving the dog!

By Blurt Staff

While you ponder the true meaning of Christmas - the above image was posted to the web by the good folks at Craftastrophe.net, who meditate upon whether it's a statement on the commerciality of the season or simply an attempt to shock and offend - we'd like to wish everyone a merry one.

Is the spiritual side of Christmas being held hostage by the commercial side? We don't know; we just like getting gifts. But we do attend Christmas Eve services, just to hedge our bets.

Anyway, thanks for all the support, encouragement, brickbats and free music over the past 12 months, folks. See you in 2010!

Much loved Athens singer-songwriter passes away following an overdose of muscle relaxants; had been in a coma since early yesterday.

By Fred Mills

 Vic Chesnutt, 45, passed away this afternoon, following a suicide attempt Wednesday evening that left him in a coma. Initially, friends and family were notified and word gradually got out via his friend and  fellow musician Kristin Hersh, who Twittered the news (see below), which rapidly spread across the internet. Chesnutt's family confirmed that he was indeed in a coma, as did his record label, Constellation (see below). Late last night a close friend of Chesnutt's, Maureen McLaughlin, posting to an Athens, Georgia, music-related message board, added this update:

"Here is an update on Vic: he took 100 pulls of an anti-spasm medication. The pills were in his system at least 9.5 hours before Tina found him unresponsive. He stopped breathing for a period of time, which may have caused brain damage. if he lives through the night, further testing will be done in the morning. S...end your prayers and good wishes to Vic, [wife] Tina, and his family: Lis, Lorenda & Pete and their children Ethan and Emma."

This morning news outlets began reporting that Chesnutt did not make it through the evening, but with no confirmation coming from the family or label, several of them, including Billboard, deleted the information from their websites. Starting a couple of hours ago, however, confirmation finally came and it was reported at both the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.

Wrote EW: Vic Chesnutt died today at age 45, the head of his label tells  [us]... Some reports have said Chesnutt attempted suicide before the coma, but the cause of death has not been announced. A statement on Constellation Records' official site reads in full: ‘Surrounded by family and friends, Vic Chesnutt died in Athens Georgia this afternoon, Friday 25 December at 14:59. In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic's absence unfathomable. We will make more information available according to the wishes of Vic's family and friends.'"

Added the NYT:  "[Chesnutt] died on Friday in a hospital in Athens, Ga., a spokesman for his family said. He was 45 and lived in Athens. He had been in a coma after taking an overdose of muscle relaxants earlier this week, said the family spokesman, Jem Cohen."

Chesnutt's musical career has been long and not without incident, including struggles with substance abuse and previous suicide attempts. However, his musicality and resilience left him loved and respected across the board by the musical community, from R.E.M. and Michael Stipe, who produced his early albums; to the Cowboy Junkies, who enlisted his help a couple of years ago when they remade their classic album The Trinity Sessions; to Elf Power, who collaborated with him on the 2008 album Dark Developments. There was also a 1996 tribute album, Sweet Relief II, featuring R.E.M. Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Indigo Girls and others.

2009 saw the release of two album, At the Cut and Skitter on Take-Off, and just this month he was profiled on NPR by Terry Gross of "Fresh Air." The fact that he seemed on the verge of an accelerated career arc makes his death all the more tragic, and a waste. His acerbic wit and dark humor, not to mention his haunting yet to-the-point tunesmithery, will be greatly missed. Anyone who ever saw him in concert, scrunched up in his wheelchair and playing his guitar like his life depended on it - and perhaps, in one sense, it did - while alternately crooning and bawling into the microphone, will tell you this much: he was a real as they came, a genuine product of the pre-alternative era when "alternative" actually meant an alternative to everything else out there.

***

Below is our initial reporting from Thursday:

Word has just been getting out that Vic Chesnutt is in a coma - according to the New York Times, the 45-year old singer-songwriter's family "has confirmed" the news but "did not say what caused the coma."

As of this writing, the NYT blog posting is the only hard news source, but that posting indicates that ex-Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh, Chesnutt's friend, began spreading the news yesterday via Twitter. Three tweets in particular, posted, respectively, 7 hours ago, 4 hours ago and 3 hours ago, make it sound like a suicide attempt was involved, although we can only hope it's some kind of cruel hoax:

no calls in the night-well, only to talk about how much we love vic-and no news is good news...if we lose him i'll have lost my equilibrium

yeah, i can tell you what i know, but no one knows much: another suicide attempt, looks bad, coma--if he survives, there may be brain damage

this time, it's real scary: *this* time, he left a note, *this* time, he asked them to call me

BLURT's prayers will be with Hersh, Chesnutt and Chesnutt's family and friends.

 UPDATE: No Depression is reporting that Vic took an overdose of muscle relaxants, but there's no indication yea or nay whether it was intentional yet, so the suicide angle remains speculation.

UPDATE: Constellation Records (Vic's label) issues brief statement this afternoon (via Access Atlanta): "Vic is in the middle of a serious medical condition. He is in a coma, but we have no statement about the specifics of the situation. His family and friends are with him. His doctors are continuing to assess his condition."

Dedicated to keeping alive the format of choice for anyone serious about listening to music - initial releases include Cocteau Twins, Cult, Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance.

By Blurt Staff

The Vinyl 180 label produces new vinyl editions of classic ‘80s post-punk albums, remastered from original analogue tapes and pressed onto 180g heavyweight vinyl  to capture the warmth and depth of sound that currently  only vinyl can offer... just as they were meant to be heard. All releases are packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves on heavyweight cardboard stock.  The titles are distributed domestically through ADA.

In 2009 Vinyl 180 has been working with 4AD and Beggars Banquet labels, producing new super high quality versions of albums from Cocteau Twins, The Cult and Dead Can Dance.

Upcoming exclusive releases for Vinyl 180 feature titles from Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard.

First of all there's a new addition to the Bauhaus catalogue, This Is For When, a live document of the band's concert at Hammersmith Palais - 9th November 1981. This is a brand new release and is available initially as a limited edition of 2000 copies pressed onto two 180g VINYL LPs and housed in two heavyweight card sleeves wrapped in a printed transparent PVC wallet. Remastered and remixed from the original analogue tapes, this unique pressing features the whole live show, capturing the band at their incendiary best.

After that, in December, the label is releasing for the very first time on vinyl, Lisa Gerrard's debut solo album, The Mirror Pool. This is presented as a double disc set with new gatefold artwork designed by Chris Bigg who, along with Vaughan Oliver was the creative genius behind 4AD's striking visual identity.  Originally released in August 1995, this new LIMITED EDITION of 5000 copies has been remastered from the original tapes. The Mirror Pool sees Gerrard accompanied by the Victoria Philharmonic Orchestra. It is an album that defies categorisation, causing one impressed but perplexed reviewer to describe it as "ambient, orchestral, folk and new age all at the same time."

Looking beyond, there will be more from Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance and The Fall.

Cover of Tegan and Sara's "Hell" plus a new original titled "gaga, palmer, Madonna."

By Blurt Staff

Now THIS kicks ass - twice. BLURT fave Amanda Palmer - who we profiled a little over a year ago here and was also the subject of an exclusive video photo shoot we did here - has just posted a pair of new videos to the web.

The first is a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Hell," which Palmer tells us was "inspired by Tegan's explanation of what the song is really about." She did it with director Michael Pope in NYC las month.

The second is for a new original titled "gaga, palmer, madonna" - she calls it "a kitchen ukulele blogsong" - and Palmer immediately made a live video at home to share with fans. Check ‘em out below.

No, nothing to do with the IRS - this time, it's a mission of compassion.

By Blurt Staff

A letter from Willie Nelson...

Dear Friends:

My family and I are joining the Barbi Twins and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in their efforts to save the last of America's wild horses. This is an important bipartisan cause and I am asking all Americans to join with us before it is too late.

I'm a little prejudiced when it comes to horses. I have always loved them. I currently have about 68; 25-30 were rescued directly from slaughter. I got involved 8 years ago, when AWI first made me aware that American horses are being slaughtered and shipped overseas for human consumption. It's a shame horses - or any animal - be treated this way when horses are the foundation of America. Horses were a way to travel to get to where we are today, and it is our job to protect them.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency in charge of protecting wild horses, has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction. I believe that we should leave the horses to run naturally on their land. Wild horses evolved in North America before spreading throughout the world so it is important that we protect them from the BLM. The polls show that over 70% of American's agree. The people have spoken.

Folks, please join my family and friends at the Animal Welfare Institute by visiting, http://www.awionline.org/wildhorses, before December 28 2009 to see how you can help with this important American cause.

Willie Nelson

Blurt Senior Editor Randy Harward discusses what just might be the year's most significant reissues. No, seriously.

By Randy Harward

On Neil Young's Official Release Series: Discs 1-4 (Reprise; www.becausesoundmatters.com): The first time I heard Neil Young was on my stereo while lying on the top bunk in my room. Sunlight beat down on the east-facing window, heating the curtains until the must smelled up the whole room. That copy of After the Gold Rush was clean, being a recent purchase by my friend, who lent it to me. I thought he was nuts to have purchased an LP when cassettes were the wave of the future. I also thought the artwork-patchy jeans, acoustic guitars-screamed "country and western" artist and, when I played the record and it didn't sound like Kiss or Prince & the Revolution, decided it sounded country enough to be country, whether it was or not.

I didn't listen to Neil Young-willingly-for years. If he came on the radio, I made fun, whining along to "Old Man" and "Rockin' in the Free World," even as those songs started to make sense to my (woefully slowly) maturing mind. Eventually, I grew to appreciate the work of Crosby, Stills and Nash, but only figured out Young's connection to them when I ordered 4-Way Street from Columbia House. On the strength of "Ohio" and "Southern Man," I penciled the corresponding numbers to the then-new Young album Sleeps With Angels into the boxes on the CH form.

When it came, I found myself only really connecting with "Piece of Crap" and, once more, emulating Young's voice, which had taken on a crotchetiness that made "Piece" sound like my grandpa bitching and moaning. Ha! He said ‘crap.'

I know. What a douchebag. Did I really get anything from listening to "Ohio" and "Southern Man?" Looking back, I was connecting only to the sound of the songs and not what they said. I hadn't learned, hadn't grown up enough, to appreciate the hypocrisy of a Bible-thumper's racism or the significance of a protest gone horribly wrong. I was happy in my bubble where the events of the world affected someone I didn't know-and where my Kiss Alive! poster, a symbol of all that was well and truly cool and relevant, towered above my headboard.

Makes me kinda sick, actually. I know pretty much everyone starts stupid and ignorant, but man... I took a long time to pull my head out.

When I finally did, it was because another friend, much farther down the road, found the CD copies of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Tonight's the Night he thought he'd lost and, somewhere along the line, had replaced. In that time, I'd learned about the discord between Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd over "Southern Man" and how "Sweet Home Alabama" was their response to the song, which forever altered how I heard both songs. The line "four dead in Ohio" now evoked a heaviness, a combination of dread and remorse, in my viscera, and sent a chill down my spine. 

Finally I got my own copy of After the Gold Rush-it was less than two years ago, and at least six years since I got Nowhere. Although I listened to them both plenty of times, start to finish, in car, in my office, alone and with company, life-and the flood of promotional CDs I've received since taking this job, pushed them to the outskirts of my collection, where staples languish while new artists file in and out, demanding various level of attention. Some of them leave strong, defined imprints on me and others mere footprints in the soft soil of my consciousness.

It's winter now, days before Christmas. The last time I listened to a Neil Young album was August, on a road trip through southern Utah while my wife and daughters slept. I don't think they heard a note, but I did. It was Harvest, and it was one of those magical uninterrupted listens that happen less frequently now as life hurtles past me. It was interesting to note how the red rock canyons of St. George gave way to the sagebrush-the normal, dry variety and the fire-blackened shadows of that-of central Utah as "Old Man" played. I didn't mimic Young. Instead, I pondered what the song means to me now as the grown son of an overgrown infant, and what it could mean to my daughters when they reach the age of reason.

This box set, the fancy 180-gram deluxe limited-to-3,000 copies audiophile's-wet-dream whose components I've considered for the better part of the last ten days? I don't know what the format has to do with anything. To me, it's just presentation. The quality of sound is superior to my compact discs and MP3s, but that's not what I get out of the music. Holding these records in my hand now, letting them play in my office as snow falls outside and I sweat road conditions and deadlines and Christmas, I don't know what the big deal is about the heavy wax and audio quality.  

I do know this: Every time I listen to Neil Young, I get at least one part of that summer day back... and then some. My youth and the accompanying sense of wonder and future have eroded, such that they're beyond my grasp, and I'm still ashamed for that boy who couldn't get a handle on Neil Young's music when it was handed to him on a slick black platter. But I'm happy for the not-quite old man who gets to hold the album cover again and hear the music and know just what Shakey means, why it's important, and how it pertains to my life now and my days to come.

As this would be a "review," it occurs I should tell you why it's good and why you should pay attention or money-assuming, of course, that Neil Young still hasn't creeped into your collection. I would cough up some adjectives, but since I'm pretty happy with the way I came to Shakey, I can only recommend that, when you decide you're ready for his songs, you listen well.

***

Neil Young's Official Release Series: Discs 1-4 features his first four albums on 180-gram vinyl with gatefold covers and a nice, sturdy box to keep ‘em lookin' real good. Incidentally, those four albums are Neil Young (1969, reissued with the original art/cover), Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969), After The Gold Rush (1970) and Harvest (1972). It retails for $149.98 and came out December 1. There's a gold-disc CD edition, too. That'll set you back $84.98. www.becausesoundmatters.com

Longtime Avett Brothers-related collectibles finally see a wide release.

By Blurt Staff

Ramseur Records will re-release all of Seth Avett's solo albums - originally released under the moniker Timothy Seth Avett as Darling - this week in both physical format and digitally via iTunes. Considered rarities by Avett Brothers fans (only a few hundred copies were pressed up), the timing is apt, considering that 2009 marked a watershed year for the Avetts, whose Rick Rubin-produced I and Love and You has been turning up on many a year-end best-of list (including BLURT's).

Avett released a statement explaining the genesis of the recording projects:

"In the year 2001, at twenty-one years of age, I recorded an album entitled To Make the World Quiet. The inspiration for the piece was urgent and impatient.  There was no managerial or label involvement. There was no funding. Without any consideration towards who (if anyone) would hear the result of this outing, I happily executed each aspect of the process, including all writing, performance of each instrument, engineering and modest production.  The following year, I again, by the same process was obliged to record an album.  Killing the Headlamps was the realization of this second venture as ‘Darling'.  Both albums were made on a 4-track cassette recorder. I initially mixed them both on a low-fidelity home stereo in my kitchen (to yet another cassette).  I spent a perhaps unhealthy amount of time with a ruler, an X-acto knife, and a real-time dual-deck cd duplicator, hand-assembling these two albums (along with the first couple thousand units of the first official Avett Brothers recording Country Was).  

"Until New Years Eve 2010, the only physical copies of these records laid in the hands of maybe a few hundred people that I sold them to personally.  I have been honored by the continued interest in these early works as expressed by those who have inquired about them at Avett performances.  It is this kind inquiry that has inspired me again; this time to make them readily available through a proper duplication and ordering process." 

Starting on December the 30th in Knoxville, TN, the first two ‘Darling' records (in addition to The Mourning, The Silver, The Bell), will be available at each Avett Brothers performance through January the 3rd.  From then on, all three albums can be obtained from the website (www.timothysethavettasdarling.com) by download or through a mail-order process for the actual physical copies.  They will be available on iTunes as well, starting December 29th.

In addition, a set of  5 videos have been created by Crackerfarm to coincide not only with the newfound availability of these recordings, but with the New Year as well. Each video is a one-camera/one-angle performance of a song from one of the 3 ‘Darling' records.  These visual pieces are defined by their simplicity, as there has been no editing or audio overdubbing of any kind.

Starting today, December 28^th two of these videos have been posted to Avett's site - and for the next three weeks, a new video will be posted on Monday morning at ten o'clock (EST) on the Darling website [http://www.timothysethavettasdarling.com/videos].

One possible way to spend that Christmas money...

By Fred Mills

How many out there got some cash for Christmas? Haven't squandered it yet on hookers, blow and other toxic assets yet? U2 has an offer you may or may not want to refuse, but if you did in fact score 50 bucks, that'll get you an annual subscription to the band's fan club at U2.com.

Those things are usually total ripoffs, of course, particularly those elusive promises of premium seats (that wind up to be expensive and not-so-premium) and sundry website "exclusives" such as videos, photos, band diaries, etc. (that eventually turn up for free elsewhere). However, this time around the band is going to serve up a remix album titled Artificial Horizon, comprising remixes (duh) from the No Line on the Horizon album. Admittedly, that was a pretty tepid affair, as we pointed out some time ago. But maybe this will help up the ante somewhat, even if you'll basically be paying $50 for a single CD in hopes that it tops that dollar amount on eBay sometime in the future.

Here's the info as posted at the U2.com site - go there for details on how to sign up.

It's almost 15 years since the remix CD 'Melon' was released exclusively to subscribers of the band's magazine Propaganda. Now comes 'Artificial Horizon' , an all-new limited edition album of U2 remixes only for U2.com subscribers. From Trent Reznor's remix of 'Vertigo' to Jacknife Lee's take on 'Fast Cars' and David Holmes's remix of 'Beautiful Day', this specially produced 13-track CD features stretches from the Grand Jury Mix of 'If God Will Send His Angels in 1997 to the Fish Out Of Water mix of Get On Your Boots. Conceived and produced for U2.com subscribers. 'Artificial Horizon' will be mailed to qualifying subscribers from late January 2010.

Donate now - it's easy, straight through PayPal - if you want to help defray the family's medical expenses.

By Fred Mills

In the wake of the sad news of Vic Chesnutt's death on Christmas (details here), his close friend Kristin Hersh has established a website where fans and friends can donate funds via PayPal to Chesnutt's family. Presumably some relatively high medical bills accrued in the wake of Chesnutt's suicide attempt (by overdose) and subsequent coma and hospitalization.

Friday Hersh Twittered the following note: "JesseCASH has set up a donation page for all of you asking to help Vic's family -  thank you for all your love & support." At the page, in addition to the donation link, is Hersh's tribute to Chesnutt, which reads, in part:

What this man was capable of was superhuman. Vic was brilliant, hilarious and necessary; his songs messages from the ether, uncensored. He developed a guitar style that allowed him to play bass, rhythm and lead in the same song - this with the movement of only two fingers. His fluid timing was inimitable, his poetry untainted by influences. He was my best friend.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to listen to his music again, but I know how vital it is that others hear it. When I got the phone call I'd been dreading for the last fifteen years, I lost my balance. My whole being shifted to the left; I couldn't stand up without careening into the wall and I was freezing cold. I don't think I like this planet without Vic; I swore I would never live here without him. But what he left here is the sound of a life that pushed against its constraints, as all lives should. It's the sound of someone on fire. It makes this planet better.

Stuff you just can't get anywhere else, prawns!

By Fred Mills

When Robyn Hitchcock established his new website a couple of months ago he promised all sorts of goodies - and  unlike U2 and other artists, he ain't charging ya 50 bucks a year to check ‘em out!

Indeed, if you skip over to still-under-partial-construction The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock you'll find, in addition of course to the usual news (such as details on his upcoming record with the Venus 3, Propellor Time, due March 22), tour dates, link to his online retail store and more, freebies he's calling his "Phantom 45s" series.

Currently available: "To Be Human" b/w "Belly Full of Arms and Legs" which can be had for download absolutely free simply by providing an email address. The former is a sweet Hitchcock solo ditty, while the latter is a full-band workout of "Belly Full of Arms and Legs", which will be featured in the film Elektra Luxx.

Check ‘em out below, and then go to Bob's site to download ‘em. You'll be glad you did.

"To Be Human"

"Belly Full of Arms and Legs"

Tour Starts this week; First Solo Full-Length Album Since 2006's ‘Nuclear Daydream' to be Released in 2010.

By Blurt Staff

"Jo is one of those rare writer-performers where you get the sense, whatever your belief, that something greater is being channeled through his music and voice...Like Patti Smith, Grant Lee Phillips, Thom Yorke, he trances, and the voice, the meaning, becomes bigger than him, bigger than a few pop chords or words strung together. It touches something very deep and universal." - Michael Stipe (for the LA Times)

Armed with an acoustic guitar, little electronic boxes and some magic, songsmith and visual artist Joseph Arthur is set to premiere inspired one-man looping orchestrations of his back catalog - everything from ‘Big City Secrets' to ‘Temporary People' and beyond - for his upcoming U.S. solo tour this winter.

Following the release of 2008's acclaimed ‘Temporary People' by the Lonely Astronauts and his four-EP solo collection, Joseph seized 2009 with an ongoing exhibition of his paintings at Toronto's 360 Gallery, television placements of new music in "House," "Lie to Me," "Hung" and "Friday Night Lights", the release of a coloring book comprised of his artwork, ‘Color Me Courageous,' two sold-out European tours (Arthur bootlegs himself and has made every show available for purchase), writing for his poetry blog, a continuing residency at NYC's City Winery, bicycling and painting - all the while crafting his first solo follow-up to ‘Nuclear Daydream' in his Brooklyn studio.   



Tour Dates:

Dec 30 - Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
Jan 1 - New York, NY  City Winery
Jan 12, 13 - Vancouver, BC Railway Club
Jan 15,16 - Seattle, WA Triple Door
Jan 17 - Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
Jan 19,20  - San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Shop
Jan 22,23 - Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
Jan 29 - New York, NY City Winery
 Feb 5,6 - Austin, TX  Cactus Cafe

A few surprises and a few expected entries.

By Blurt Staff

The Americana Music Association recently announced its year end Top 100 Albums of the Year - as expected, Buddy & Julie Miller and Steve Earle topped the chart, but among the surprises lurking in the Top 10 listings were Slaid Cleaves, the Tejas Brothers and Earle's kid Justin Townes Earle.

It's been a good year for Americana, and things will get even better next year, in a sense, when the Grammys formally recognize Americana as a bonafide musical genre rather than trying to shoehorn some of those types of artists into other categories.

The Top 100 albums are based on those records reported during the period of November 17, 2008 through November 16, 2009. (Note that a number of them also made the BLURT Top 50 for 2009.) The Top Ten most played albums, as charted on the Americana Airplay Chart are:

1. Buddy & Julie Miller

2. Steve Earle

3. Slaid Cleaves

4. Flatlanders

5. Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel

6. Gourds

7. Tejas Brothers

8. Levon Helm

9. Justin Townes Earle

10. J.J.Cale

To view the full 2009 Top 100 Albums visit the www.americanaradio.org and click the Top 100 Albums link or click HERE.

One disc apiece dedicated to each of the four Gibb brothers.

By Blurt Staff

On March 9 the Bee Gees will serve up "50 years of memories" with a musical and visual scrapbook box set titled Mythology (Rhino). It will contain four discs, each spotlighting a different Gibb brother, including one dedicated to Andy.

The songs were chosen by Barry, Robin, Maurice's widow Yvonne (and their children Adam and Samantha), and Andy's daughter Peta. "These are pretty much our personal favorites," Barry explains in the liner notes. "This is now the Bee Gees 50th anniversary. And by the Bee Gees, I mean all four brothers." "I always see our songs as ‘just us brothers' having a good time," adds Robin. "When I look back now, it is more about the journey, not the arrival." The box also features a collection of family photos, many never-before published, along with tributes from artists such as George Martin, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Graham Nash, and the band's longtime manager Robert Stigwood.

Spanning the Bee Gees' five-decade career, the set's 81 tracks touch on several of the group's best-known hits. But mainly, the collection digs into the Bee Gees' vast catalog to highlight deep tracks such as the early single "Spicks And Specks" (1966); the title track from the 1969 concept album Odessa; the single B-side "Country Woman" (1971); "Spirits (Having Flown)" (1979), the title track from the 35 million-selling album; "The Longest Night" (1987) from the multiplatinum E·S·P; "Closer Than Close" (1997) from Still Waters; and "Man In The Middle" (2001) from the Bee Gees' 20th and final studio album before Maurice's passing in 2003. It also features the debut of a pair of previously unreleased Maurice Gibb tracks: "Angel Of Mercy" and "The Bridge."

The final disc spotlights Andy Gibb who worked with his brothers throughout his career before his death in 1988 at the age of 30. Notably, Andy's first 3 singles all went to #1 in the U.S., a feat that had never been accomplished before. The compilation opens with the #1 smash hit "Shadow Dancing" (1978) from Andy's second album. Nearly all of the songs from his 1977 debut Flowing Rivers are featured, including the back-to-back #1 singles: "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water." The set contains "I Can't Help It," his duet with Olivia Newton-John, as well as several tracks from his final studio album After Dark (1980). It also marks the debut of "Arrow Through The Heart," a song Andy recorded shortly before his death that was intended for a comeback album.

Track Listing

Disc 1 - Barry

1. "Spirits (Having Flown)"
2. "You Win Again"
3. "Jive Talkin'"
4. "To Love Somebody"
5. "Tragedy"
6. "Too Much Heaven"
7. "First Of May"
8. "More Than A Woman"
9. "Love So Right"
10. "Night Fever"
11. "Words"
12. "Don't Forget To Remember"
13. "If I Can't Have You"
14. "Alone"
15. "Heartbreaker"
16. "How Deep Is Your Love"
17. "Love You Inside And Out"
18. "Stayin' Alive"
19. "Barker Of The UFO"
20. "Swan Song"
21. "Spicks And Specks"

Disc 2 - Robin

1. "I Am The World"
2. "New York Mining Disaster 1941"
3. "I Can't See Nobody"
4. "Holiday"
5. "Massachusetts"
6. "Sir Geoffrey Saved The World"
7. "And The Sun Will Shine"
8. "The Singer Sang His Song"
9. "I've Gotta Get A Message To You"
10. "I Started A Joke"
11. "Odessa"
12. "Saved By The Bell"
13. "My World"
14. "Run To Me"
15. "Love Me"
16. "Juliet"
17. "The Longest Night"
18. "Fallen Angel"
19. "Rings Around The Moon"
20. "Embrace"
21. "Islands In The Stream"

Disc 3 - Maurice

1. "Man In The Middle"
2. "Closer Than Close"
3. "Dimensions"
4. "House Of Shame"
5. "Suddenly"
6. "Railroad"
7. "Overnight"
8. "It's Just The Way"
9. "Lay It On Me"
10. "Trafalgar"
11. "Omega Man"
12. "Walking On Air"
13. "Country Woman"
14. "Angel Of Mercy"
15. "Above And Beyond"
16. "Hold Her In Your Hand"
17. "You Know It's For You"
18. "Wildflower"
19. "On Time"
20. "The Bridge"

Disc 4 - Andy

1. "Shadow Dancing"
2. "I Just Want To Be Your Everything"
3. "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water"
4. "An Everlasting Love"
5. "Desire"
6. "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away"
7. "Flowing Rivers"
8. "Words And Music"
9. "I Can't Help It" - With Olivia Newton-John
10. "Time Is Time"
11. "Me (Without You)"
12. "After Dark"
13. "Warm Ride"
14. "Too Many Looks In Your Eyes"
15. "Man On Fire"
16. "Arrow Through The Heart"
17. "Starlight"
18. "Dance To The Light Of The Morning"
19. "In The End"

Jerry Zaks-directed Who Do You Love already picking up some film festival love. Features Robert Randolph, Keb' Mo' and others in key musical roles.

By Blurt Staff

It's not the first time Chess Records has been portrayed on the big screen - the label was referenced in Back to the Future, of course, and more recently it was given a semi-fictional treatment with the Adrian Brody vehicle Cadillac Records (go here to see Blurt's coverage of that film).

But Chess remains fertile storytelling turf, so following the acclaimed premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival of Who Do You Love - the new film from four-time Tony Award-winner Jerry Zaks (Marvin's Room) - Chess will get a fresh look in theaters beginning in March/April 2010.

The film, which presents an intimate look into the lives of Leonard and Phil Chess, legendary founders of Chess Records, stars Alessandro Nivola (Coco Avant Chanel, Junebug), Jon Abrahams (Meet The Parents), acclaimed musicians Robert Randolph (as Bo Diddley), Keb' Mo',  Raheem DeVaughn and Ryan Shaw, David Oyelowo (Last King Of Scotland), Chi McBride ("Pushing Daisies," "Boston Legal"), Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke and Marika Dominczyk.

The film features authentic musical performances and a score steeped in hits from the Chess Records canon including Muddy Waters' "Stuff You Gotta Watch," Etta James' "At Last," and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love." The score is assembled by renowned music supervisers Budd Carr-who has provided his expertise to over 70 films including every Oliver Stone film (JFK, The Doors, Born on the Fourth of July, Natural Born Killers, etc.)-and Nora Felder, who has overseen A&R efforts for Paul Simon, Sinead O'Connor, Les Paul and Iggy Pop.

Who Do You Love tells the story of Leonard Chess, a Polish immigrant living in Chicago, who becomes enamored with the new blues sound emanating from the city in the mid-1940s. Chess and his brother Phil open a club called Macomba and gamble on producing "race records" with the help of bass player and songwriter Willie Dixon. After initial failure, they find tremendous success with the iconic bluesman Muddy Waters, and on the strength of his popularity, started Chess Records. Chess Records quickly grew into an influential label, launching the careers of Waters, Bo Diddley, Etta James, Chuck Berry, among others, and introducing the Blues to American audiences on a broader scale. Who Do You Love tracks the growth of Chess Records, but more importantly, presents a poignant look into the strains the label placed on Leonard Chess' family, namely his wife Revetta and his son Marshall.

Marshall Chess himself said, in a statement, "Who Do You Love is a great snapshot of the era in which the music that was to become the foundation of Rock & Roll was created. The music, the cars, the clothes, and the many amazing characters of my childhood are brought to life in this film, which also gives a taste of the many roads travelled by my family to make Chess Records one of the greatest record labels of all time."

From Boys Next Door and Birthday Party to Crime & the City Solution and These Immortal Souls, the man helped sculpt a guitar sound and an attitude that was quintessentially Australian punk.

By Fred Mills / Photos by John Raptis

As we near the end of a year that's been unnaturally dotted with deaths of much-loved and -respected rock musicians - from Ron Asheton on Jan. 6 to Vic Chesnutt on Christmas - we learn of another sad, premature passing. Guitarist Rowland S. Howard died early today in a Melbourne, Australia, hospital from liver cancer at the age of 50.

Howard of course formed the Boys Next Door and then the Birthday Party with Nick Cave, coming to international fame, and at times notoriety, in the latter outfit until its demise in 1983. He later wielded his dissonant/feedback-laden but potently bluesy six-string with Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls and has long been considered one of Australia's great musicians. He also recorded some memorable sides with Nikki Sudden and Lydia Lunch, no less. His most recent recording was a solo album titled, appropriately enough, Pop Crimes.

According to Australia's The Age, Howard had been in poor health for some time and had recently been forced to cancel several scheduled gigs, including one yesterday at Festival Hall supporting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Reports The Age, "Howard's last public performance was at St Kilda's Prince Bandroomin October. He struggled through the gig, coughing and spitting up blood, but a full house of older fans and young enthusiasts had come to pay their respects and celebrate his unique canon of work." (Photos on this page are from the final gig. orth adding, by way of a side note, is that Howard had cut his lip on the microphone, hence the source of the blood. But he was still in poor health at that point.)

Howard's close friend Mick Harvey (Birthday Party/Bad Seeds) told a reporter that Howard had hoped to beat the cancer: "Sometimes people are ready to go because they have been sick for a long time, but Rowland really wanted to live. Things were going well for him outside of his health and he wanted to take advantage of that and he was very disappointed that he wasn't well enough to do so.''

Read the full account, including a heartfelt summary of Howard's career, at The Age.

On a more personal note, I was a huge fan of Howard's guitar work and songwriting dating back to when I started collecting those early BND/BP records - an Australian pen pal had been sending me tapes of some of the bands Down Under, and I later began avidly doing overseas mail order in order to obtain the real artifacts. Not long after I would author a regular column about Australian and New Zealand music for east coast rock mag The Bob and anytime there was a Howard-related release, I'd cover it.

In the late ‘80s These Immortal Souls came to Charlotte, NC, where I was living at the time, and put on an entirely memorable show. Meeting Howard before the concert, I was struck by how completely non-rock star he was, seemingly humbled that someone would bother to come out to the soundcheck to welcome him to town (and get a few records signed too). He asked me to stick around until after the show, and  we must have spent two hours in the dressing room and out in the parking lot drinking and swapping music stories. A true gentleman and a bit of a musical scholar as well - he seemed to have a story about every single Australian band or artist I wanted to pick his brain about (including more than a few about Nick Cave!) - he instantly became my best friend for those two hours, and I have no doubt that he treated other fans he met on the tour with a similar level of grace.

He will be greatly, deeply missed.

Rowland S. Howard Wikipedia page is here.

[Australian photographer John Raptis took the shots on this page, and you can view many more from the same gig at his Visceral Industry website. He's also penned a nice remembrance of the guitarist at the site.]

Was there ever a band that sounded this good? The Belle and Sebastian offshoot, featuring Stuart Murdoch, charmed the collective pants off London's 100 Club on November 21.

By Meryl Trussler

The 100 Club is one of those legendary London clubs in which punk germs and jazz greats alike have germinated throughout some 67 years; so it feels strange to queue up in the plush, wood-panelled hallway upstairs, all the more eerily quiet without the musak its appearance would seem to substantiate. Also, it would be a little white lie to say we were all here for God Help the Girl so much as for the trickled percentage of Belle and Sebastian in its midst. But whatever scraps of rock history ectoplasm we are looking for by being in this place are soon forgotten, replaced by God Help The Girl's explosion of what is new, and old, and equal, and different.

These songs (a self-titled album and an EP's worth, by now, leading eventually to a musical film) have Stuart Murdoch at their heart and thus share plenty with that selfsame B&S - the casually literate, underdog-monologue lyrics, the Spector touchpoints and the galloping acoustic guitar that the diminutive ginger Stuart Murdoch himself sits and plays at the side of the stage - but they are condensed, oversaturated and lacquered into, well, the stuff of a musical. That is: as soon as the triumvirate female singers trot on, gorgeous and hideously talented, and launch into ‘Act of the Apostle' and ‘God Help the Girl' itself, every unshaven jumpered man in a ten-foot radius begins to dance and lip-synch with eyes ecstatically shut. There's high drama, high characterisation, and meowing, girl-band call and response, even if the only prop in sight is the looming white 100 behind them.

Despite StuMoch's* swooning instrumentation, and the best-laid plans of the players, these women - hush soprano Alex Klobouk (pictured, below), sublimely honeyed Catherine Ireton, and Celia Garcia, a sprite of sass - completely own the show. They sing with a mix of giggly modesty and pure competence, gasping for air and dancing like a bold new generation of Supremes, and it makes me so proud to be a chick. Ireton is a china doll with a voice bursting with maturity: she barrels through the incredible ‘Musicians, Please Take Heed' with the kind of girl guts torn out of everyone from Gloria Gaynor to France Gall. "Can you see the girls?" interjects Murdoch. "Then you've got your money's worth." (Very droll, our dearest Mr Indiepop Prodigy, but hearing them is the blessing.)

The set continues to feel a very special candied treat for this 350-something strong crowd, as the band scroll through all the album favourites like ‘I'll Have to Dance With Cassie', and mix in some songs from the newer release, the Stills EP, such as the sweet serenade ‘The Psychiatrist is In'; they even debut a special treat for the London crowd - ‘Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week', and not the Rat Pack kind either. They are as excited and reverent of the gig as the crowd is, with the backing band being about 3 years absent from the stage, and the girls ever in awe at the providence of the entire GHTG project, having been picked competition-style to sing on the album. They are thrilled. For the final song, ‘Perfection as a Hipster', Murdoch takes on the crooning male half of the vocals (sung on the album by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy) as the girls sashay and catcall "What happened? I want to go home / Where am I? What have I got on?" back at him.

Oh, bliss and satisfaction. Boys and a sirens' song. Belles and a Scottishman. Was there ever a band that sounded this good? I cannot recall.

*The author advises against using this term in front of approximately anyone.

The votes are in... the pundits have spoken... the artists have offered their lists, too... something about LEGOs... looking forward to 2010... oof.

By Blurt Staff

FAREWELL: Music World Passings 2009. We say farewell to Ron Asheton, Lux Interior, Vic Chesnutt and others.  

THE ARTISTS HAVE SPOKEN: Top Tens of 2009. Vivian Girls, Devendra Banhart, Marshall Crenshaw and others submit their fave raves.

2009 IN REVIEW: The Blurt Top 50. As the title suggest, the toppermost of the poppermost for the year just done, BLURT-style.

REVENGE OF THE WRITERS: Best & Worst of 2009. The staff and contributors weigh in with their personal picks ‘n' pans.

And in case you wanted to see what we spotlighted last year...

BEST OF 2008 REDUX: Top 50 And More

THE LAST WORD More Writers' 2008 Lists