Best reason to go to NYC and, uh, swelter this summer!

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, the new investment group behind the storied-yet-tarnished CBGB brand is holding a big NYC-area CBGB festival July 5-8, which will include the participation of some 30 venues along with panel discussions and film screenings. Set to play at Summerstage are Pains of Being Pure of Heart, Guided by Voices, Cloud Nothings and the War on Drugs as well as shows by the Baseball Project (featuring ex-members of REM), Craig Finn, Hollis Brown, Poppa Chubby, Radio 4, Rocket from the Tombs and L.A. Guns. Meanwhile, among the films will be Sid and Nancy, 24 Hour Party People, The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy and Lou 1971 - 1973, The Devil and Daniel Johnston and the premiere of The Rise and Fall of the Clash.

Here's the full lineup, with more no doubt to be announced. Watch the CBGB's website.

Guided By Voices
Pains Of Being Pure at Heart
Cloud Nothings
War on Drugs
Craig Finn D Generation
The Cro-Mags
Sick Of It All
Vision of Disorder
The Baseball Project
David Johansen
Sister Sparrow & The DirtyBirds
Willie Nile
Rocket From The Tombs
LA Guns
Dirty Pearls
Ben Taylor
Popa Chubby
MXPX
Harry Waters
Escort
Cerveris
Xylos
Firehorse
Gary Lucas With Gods and Monsters
Eytan and the Embassy Richard Lloyd Waldos
Radio 4
Shayfer James
Sophie Madeleine
My Pet Dragon
Bardot Jon DeRosa
So So Glows
Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan
Men
PS I Love You
Orion Experience
Empire Beats featuring Camille Atkinson
The Killing Floor
Ingrid and The Defectors
Bebe Buell
The Noise
The Bowery Tones
Faith NYC
Weekend
Two Lights
The Bamboo Kids
The Indecent
Romans
Brass Knuckle Evangelists
Mary C
New Cassettes
Waking Heroes
Daddy Long Legs
Van Hunt
Hollis Brown
Andy & The Rattlesnakes

Last three get double-disc CD/DVD treatment.

By Blurt Staff

One more set of remastered and expanded reissues of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' CD/DVD Collectors Editions will be released on August 14 on EMI. They include Nocturama (2003), Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2004), and DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!! (2008), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth studio albums, respectively. 

Each deluxe Collectors Edition of Nocturama, Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus, and DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!! includes the remastered original stereo album, the new 5.1 surround mix, a specially commissioned short film made by UK artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, non-album b-sides from the singles, videos, and exclusive sleeve notes.

Tracklistings:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Nocturama (2012 Remaster) - CD/DVD  

CD 

1.   Wonderful Life

2.   He Wants You

3.   Right Out of Your Hand

4.   Bring It On

5.   Dead Man in My Bed

6.   Still in Love

7.   There Is a Town

8.   Rock of Gibraltar

9.   She Passed By My Window

10.   Babe, I'm On Fire

DVD 

1.   Wonderful Life

2.   He Wants You

3.   Right Out of Your Hand

4.   Bring It On

5.   Dead Man in My Bed

6.   Still in Love

7.   There Is a Town

8.   Rock of Gibraltar

9.   She Passed By My Window

10.   Babe, I'm On Fire

11.   Shoot Me Down

12.   Swing Low

13.   Little Ghost Song

14.   Everything Must Converge

15.   Nocturama

16.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 12: Nocturama)

17.   Babe, I'm on Fire

18.   Bring it On

19.   Wonderful Life

20.   He Wants You

21.   Right Out of Your Hand

22.   Bring It On

23.   Dead Man in My Bed

24.   Still in Love

25.   There Is a Town

26.   Rock of Gibraltar

27.   She Passed By My Window

28.   Babe, I'm On Fire

29.   Shoot Me Down

30.   Swing Low

31.   Little Ghost Song

32.   Everything Must Converge

33.   Nocturama

34.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 12: Nocturama)

35.   Babe, I'm on Fire

36.   Bring it On

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2012 Remaster) - 2CD/DVD           

CD 1

1.   Get Ready for Love

2.   Cannibal's Hymn

3.   Hiding All Away

4.   Messiah Ward

5.   There She Goes, My Beautiful World

6.   Nature Boy

7.   Abattoir Blues

8.   Let the Bells Ring

9.   Fable of the Brown Ape

CD 2 

1.   The Lyre of Orpheus

2.   Breathless

3.   Babe, You Turn Me On

4.   Easy Money

5.   Supernaturally

6.   Spell

7.   Carry Me

8.   O Children

DVD

1.   Get Ready for Love

2.   Cannibal's Hymn

3.   Hiding All Away

4.   Messiah Ward

5.   There She Goes, My Beautiful World

6.   Nature Boy

7.   Abattoir Blues

8.   Let the Bells Ring

9.   Fable of the Brown Ape

10.   The Lyre of Orpheus

11.   Breathless

12.   Babe, You Turn Me On

13.   Easy Money

14.   Supernaturally

15.   Spell

16.   Carry Me

17.   O Children

18.   She's Leaving You

19.   Under This Moon

20.   Hiding All Away (Live at Maida Vale)

21.   There She Goes, My Beautiful World (Live at Maida Vale)

22.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 13: Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus)

23.   Nature Boy

24.   Breathless

25.   Get Ready for Love (Live)

26.   Get Ready for Love

27.   Cannibal's Hymn

28.   Hiding All Away

29.   Messiah Ward

30.   There She Goes, My Beautiful World

31.   Nature Boy

32.   Abattoir Blues

33.   Let the Bells Ring

34.   Fable of the Brown Ape

35.   The Lyre of Orpheus

36.   Breathless

37.   Babe, You Turn Me On

38.   Easy Money

39.   Supernaturally

40.   Spell

41.   Carry Me

42.   O Children

43.   She's Leaving You

44.   Under This Moon

45.   Hiding All Away (Live at Maida Vale)

46.   There She Goes, My Beautiful World (Live at Maida Vale)

47.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 13: Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus)

48.   Nature Boy

49.   Breathless

50.   Get Ready For Love (Live)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!! (2012 Remaster) - CD/DVD     

CD

1.   Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

2.   Today's Lesson

3.   Moonland

4.   Night of the Lotus Eaters

5.   Albert Goes West

6.   We Call Upon the Author

7.   Hold On to Yourself

8.   Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)

9.   Jesus of the Moon

10.   Midnight Man

11.   More News from Nowhere

DVD 

1.   Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

2.   Today's Lesson

3.   Moonland

4.   Night of the Lotus Eaters

5.   Albert Goes West

6.   We Call Upon the Author

7.   Hold On to Yourself

8.   Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)

9.   Jesus of the Moon

10.   Midnight Man

11.   More News from Nowhere

12.   Accidents Will Happen

13.   Fleeting Love

14.   Hey Little Firing Squad

15.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 14: DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!!)

16.   Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

17.   More News from Nowhere

18.   Midnight Man (Live)

19.   Night of the Lotus Eaters (Extended Version)

20.   Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

21.   Today's Lesson

22.   Moonland

23.   Night of the Lotus Eaters

24.   Albert Goes West

25.   We Call Upon the Author

26.   Hold On to Yourself

27.   Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)

28.   Jesus of the Moon

29.   Midnight Man

30.   More News from Nowhere

31.   Accidents Will Happen

32.   Fleeting Love

33.   Hey Little Firing Squad

34.   Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 14: DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!!)

35.   Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

36.   More News from Nowhere

37.   Midnight Man (Live)

38.   Night of the Lotus Eaters (Extended Version)

By Blurt Staff

Late last year U2 announced a sweet treat for its fanclub members: a chance to vote on their favorite live songs, as performed on the "360 Tour," with the top 22 vote-getters slated to be compiled onto a double-disc live album available exclusively for those members.

U22 is now arriving in mailboxes all over the globe. See the list of tracks, below, after checking out this HD fan-shot live clip from the tour.

DISC ONE

1. EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING
Recorded at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, 15th November 2011

2. THE FLY

3. MYSTERIOUS WAYS

4. MAGNIFICENT

5. UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

6. I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

7. STAY (FARAWAY, SO CLOSE!)

8. ONE TREE HILL

9. BEAUTIFUL DAY

10. ELEVATION

11. BAD

DISC TWO

12. ALL I WANT IS YOU/LOVE RESCUE ME

13. THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE

14. ZOOROPA

15. CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS

16. MLK/WALK ON

17. ONE

18. WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME

19. ULTRA VIOLET (LIGHT MY WAY)

20. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

21. MOMENT OF SURRENDER

22. OUT OF CONTROL

Acclaimed songwriter, singer, dog owner and bacon enthusiast from Portland, Oregon, checks in with a new installment in his blog of artist interviews.

By Fred Mills & Randy Harward

We are very pleased to welcome once again musician Kasey Anderson to the digital page of BLURT - for his latest blog, he interviews fellow songwriter Matthew Ryan (in previous installments he also talked to musicians Peter Case and Rachel Flotard, writer Marc Maron and former MTV veejay Dave Holmes).

Writes Anderson, "I started this column two years ago with the intention of interviewing fellow musicians, actors, comics, friends, and enemies (which would be difficult as I have none - ask around, that's a science fact) about the songs that matter most to them. Unfortunately, after a few installments, and for any number of reasons, everything fell by the wayside. With Blurt's move, we figured now might be a good time to dust this thing off and see what we can do with it."

Indeed! Head over to Anderson's blog and check out the insightful, free-ranging conversations he stirs up with his subjects. Good to have ya on board, Kasey.

Below, check out a recent video clip, from SXSW in March, featuring Anderson joined by a very special guest...

You have the most beautiful face:  The "Electric Madman" himself, Wayne Coyne and his Flaming Lips play Centennial Park in Atlanta Georgia with openers Young the Giant, AWOL Nation, Dawes, and Ponderosa for the "Party in the Park" on May 19^th with ten thousand in attendance.

Story and Photos by Michael Plumides

The Flaming Lips:  Wayne Coyne, Mike Ivins, Steve Drozd and Kliph Scurlock brought their frequency-filled freak out festivities once again to Centennial Park on May 19th, a repeat act I was fortunate enough to witness during the 2006 At War with Mystics tour. 

A brilliantly lit stage, donning dancing bears and Dorothy Gayles, the giant disco ball, streamers, smoke machines, and psychedelic nudie movies as the piece de résistance to the elaborate projection and laser show - all the more provocative and tantalizing for newbies and seasoned vets alike. 

There was no surprise visit from Mastodon (the Atlanta metal maestros cover The Soft Bulletin's -"A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" on Pink Vinyl) but the show was thoroughly enjoyable all the same. I happened to catch the set in its inception and it gets better with age - like a bottle of bombastic bubbly. (Go here for my coverage of the 2011 show at the Fillmore, Charlotte: http://blurt-online.com/news/view/5008/ )

The band opened  with Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" as the beloved Mr. Coyne made his cosmic bubble jaunt as an Embryonic polyurethane power ball emerging from a sparkling, pulsating, video vagina - then Coyne surfed the crowd in his porta-pod with the finesse of a cosmic orchid thief. 

The set also included;  "See the Leaves", "Is David Bowie Dying?", "Worm Mountain", "She Don't use Jelly" "Do You Realize",  Pink Floyd's "Eclipse" & "Brain Damage"  (with special guests Phantogram), "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - Part 1", "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song",  "Pompeii AM Gotterdammerung", and "The Observer."

Also appearing on the bill were Young the Giant, Awolnation, Dawes, and Ponderosa.

Kill the Music author Michael Plumides is a Blurt contributor, also the creator of Ghost Trek, a faux-paranormal reality series he has recently partnered with ThinkFactory Media (Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, Hatfields and McCoys) to develop. 

Female-fronted punk rock par excellence: Internal Logic, out next week on HLR, balances the sharp and the smooth amid delightful vocal harmonies.

By Jennifer Kelly

Grass Widow's third album balances the sharp and the smooth, easing jittery obliqueness with the soft solace of vocal harmonies. Last summer's single, "Milo Minute" runs anxious Delta Five bass vamps (that's Hannah Lew)  into sawtoothed guitar lines (Raven Mahon) and punchy, half-slanted drum beats (Lillian Maring). It would be classic late-1980s post punk (the band has, after all, opened for the Raincoats) except for the singing, all three Grass Widows together, voices twining and soaring in well-manicured harmonies. Check the new issue of BLURT (Spiritualized on the cover) for an interview with the band, incidentally.

Grass Widow - Goldilocks Zone by GIMMETINNITUS

Female-fronted punk rock with really good vocals is, lately, it's own genre - witness Reading (now Bleeding) Rainbow, Dum Dum Girls and Veronica Falls - but Grass Widow is one of the best at this game, their songs precise but unraveling at the seams, carefully plotted but offhandedly delivered.  A girls' choir in torn fishnet tights, Grass Widow bashes and pops through sci-fi spooky "Goldilocks Zone," razor-guitared "Hanging Around," and wonderful  "Spock on Muni," where surf-crazed licks give way to the giddiest kinds of la's and ah's. "Light in the Attic" demonstrates Raven Mahon's prowess at Spanish-style guitar, a skill not much exercised in this jangly, jittery set of songs.   Internal Logic pits fractious churn and friction against head-spinning harmonies, and here's the surprise, everybody wins.    

Annual event struggling to attract A-list talent?


By Blurt Staff


New York's Irving Plaza this week (245h, 25th) is set host Dylan Fest 2012, billed as "A Night to Get Drunk and Celebrate Bob Dylan's 71st Birthday."  Thus far the organizers had been having trouble attracting much in the way of top talent, with only Boz Scaggs, Nicole Atkins, the Strokes' Fab Moretti and Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes) signing on in terms of any measurable name recognition. More recently Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and garage monsters The Whigs were added to the bill, however.

The rest are decidedly underwhelming: Cory Chisel, Adam Green, Ryan Miller (Guster), Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Matt Vasquez (Delta Spirit),  Christopher Chu (POP ETC), Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne), Petter Erickson Stakee (Alberta Cross), Tyson Ritter (All American Rejects), Sammy James, Jr. (the Mooney Suzuki), Ben Trokan (Robbers on High Street), The Tangiers Blues Band, Jack Dishel (Only Son), Steve Schiltz (Longwave), Tracy Bonham, Jamie Burke, Mikki James and actor Justin Long. (What the hell do Jason Sudeikis and Justin Long have to do with Dylan, hmm?)

Anyhow, in addition to banging and twanging for Bob, the show will feature a nicely-themed Levon Helm tribute, and the concert will also be donating some of the door take to Amnesy International, so we suggest you get out and support the show.

Reissues to be followed in the fall by a new Mould album. View promo trailer, below.

By Fred Mills

Fresh off his recent appearance at the Merge Records-hosted Concert To Defeat Amendment One, Bob Mould is now set to start reissuing his classic Sugar albums - 1992's Copper Blue, 1993's Beaster EP, and 1994's File Under: Easy Listening - via Merge as expanded remasters. This fall he'll also be doing a new solo record for the NC label, but meanwhile, longtime Mould fans can start drooling over the tracklistings of the reissues, listed below.

The first two records will arrive as a triple-CD set that incorporates bonus tracks and a 1992 concert originally released as a promotional-only LP, while File Under will be a double album loaded with B-sides and another live show, from 1994. Watch for ‘em in the bins on July 24.

Copper Blue/Beaster:

Disc 1 (Copper Blue):

1 The Act We Act
2 A Good Idea
3 Changes
4 Helpless
5 Hoover Dam
6 The Slim
7 If I Can't Change Your Mind
8 Fortune Teller
9 Slick
10 Man on the Moon
11 Needle Hits E *
12 If I Can't Change Your Mind (Solo Mix) *
13 Try Again *
14 Clownmaster *

* B-sides

Disc 2 (Beaster EP):

01 Come Around
02 Tilted
03 Judas Cradle
04 JC Auto
05 Feeling Better
06 Walking Away

Disc 3 (Live at Cabaret Metro Chicago, Illinois, July 22, 1992:)

1 The Act We Act
2 A Good Idea
3 Changes
4 Running Out of Time
5 Helpless
6 If I Can't Change Your Mind
7 Where Diamonds Are Halos
8 Hoover Dam
9 Beer Commercial
10 Slick
11 Anyone
12 Clownmaster
13 Tilted
14 Armenia City in the Sky
15 JC Auto
16 The Slim
17 Dum Dum Boys
18 Man on the Moon

File Under: Easy Listening:

Disc 1 (File Under: Easy Listening):

1 Gift
2 Company Book
3 Your Favorite Thing
4 What You Want It to Be
5 Gee Angel
6 Panama City Motel
7 Can't Help You Anymore
8 Granny Cool
9 Believe What You're Saying
10 Explode and Make Up
11 Mind Is an Island *
12 Frustration *
13 Going Home *
14 In the Eyes of My Friends *
15 And You Tell Me *
16 Believer What You're Saying (Campfire Mix) *

* B-sides

Disc 2 (The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes - Live at First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2, 1994:)

1 Gift
2 Company Book
3 Hoover Dam
4 After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere
5 Where Diamonds Are Halos
6 Slick
7 Going Home
8 Running Out of Time
9 Frustration
10 Changes
11 Can't Help You Anymore
12 Helpless
13 If I Can't Change Your Mind
14 In the Eyes of My Friends
15 Clownmaster
16 Gee Angel
17 Explode and Make Up
18 The Slim

Tallahassee dream-folk/pop outfit Carrousel premieres clip for "15."

By Blurt Staff

Amusement parks are made to seem like a dream - of magic kingdoms, mountains, all that stuff. In this clip for Carrousel's "15," writer/director Patrick Gines and editor Bryan Zhang show park rides ascending, descending, rotating and tilting in a series of 3,000 still images and several slow-shutter scenes. The feast of gorgeous, colorful lights is juxtaposed with Piedt (who also co-wrote and -directed) sleepily confronting the dizzying ups and downs of a relationship and deciding it's all worth it - and he'll happily wait for the object of his affection to decide likewise.

Alas, the track is from Carrousel's debut album 27 rue de mi'chelle (available on Carrousel.Bandcamp.com), a concept platter about a woman Piedt has already lost. But that makes the band's mini-symphonies that much more compelling.

CARROUSEL - "15"

Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, Fountains of Wayne, Eleni Mandell, John Doe, The Sadies and more, plus John Wesley Harding as m.c., for October event.

By Blurt Staff

The mighty Yep Roc label, founded in NC in 1997 by Tor Hansen and Glenn Dicker, will celebrate its 15th anniversary with Yep Roc 15, a three-night concert blowout October 11, 12 and 13, at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC, featuring once-in-a-lifetime performances, collaborations, and recording sessions by current and past Yep Roc artists.

The stellar initial Yep Roc 15 line-up includes Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, Fountains of Wayne, Eleni Mandell, John Doe, The Sadies and many more with additional artists to be announced soon. John Wesley Harding will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

"YEP ROC 15" INITIAL LINEUP:

Dave Alvin
Chatham County Line
John Doe
Liam Finn
Fountains Of Wayne
Robyn Hitchcock
Los Straitjackets
Nick Lowe
Eleni Mandell
Mayflies USA
Cheyenne Marie Mize
Chuck Prophet
The Sadies
Sloan
Jim White
+ more TBA