Subject header says it all...


By Perez Mills


It's a sad state of affairs, no pun intended, when the rock press decides to start salivating on par with grocery story checkout tabloids, but that appears to be the level we've finally descended to, judging but all the recent interest in the breakup of Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore - and now, Zooey Deschanel and Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard.

Pitchfork, for example, breathlessly reports today (on a USA Today-originating report; see what I mean?) that Ben and Zooey's two-year marriage is now on the rocks, and tons of other blogs are doing likewise. It's the sorrry-ass TMZification of the music press, and there's not much else we can add, other than to say that maybe normal people - as opposed to, say, Kim Kardashian -  would like to be left alone when they are sorting out marriage issues. Bah.

Not every day you get a dose of pagan folk metal...

By Blurt Staff

Russian pagan folk-metalliers Arkona will be touring North America for the first time, first as headliners and then as direct support to Nuclear Blast recording artists Korpiklaani. Supporting their brand-new  album Slovo (Napalm), the band will begin a string of headlining Canadian dates on November 11th and then join up with Korpiklaani on the 25th, as they enter the United States, and then finally conclude back in Canada on December 18th.

In a prepared statement by the band: "After a long absence due to endless touring worldwide and recording a new album, 'Slovo,' ARKONA tours North America for the first time. Again and again, traveling thousands of miles and visiting dozens and dozens of cities, ARKONA brings the 'Word' - or 'Slovo,' in Russian - to every soul which respects the legacy of their ancestors and those still-sleeping hearts which are still alive with the will of our fathers. After more than 300 concerts, two years of hard work went into our new creation 'Slovo,' which has received positive reviews worldwide, thus giving the group the ability to rise one more step up. Moreover, this tour will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the group, which means that in addition to the presentation of new songs from the album 'Slovo,' you will get to hear classic songs from all ARKONA albums. By tradition, ARKONA invites all brothers and sisters to a grand celebration!"

Tour Dates:

November 11 - Montreal, QC @ Théatre Plaza*
November 12 - Toronto, ON @ WreckRoom*
November 13 - London, ON @ Music Hall*
November 14 - Ottawa, ON @ Maverick*
November 16 - Quebec City, QC @ Bar l'agité*
NOvember 17 - Sherbrooke, QC @ Bar le Magog*
November 18 - Drummonville, QC @ Salle Gaston Mandeville*
November 19 - Saint-Hyacinthe, QC @ Bar le Thrash*
November 25 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
November 26 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's
November 27 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club
November 29 - Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theater
November 30 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange
December 01 - Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
December 02 - Calgary, AB @ The Distillery
December 03 - Vancouver, BC @ TBA
December 04 - Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
December 05 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
December 06 - Oakland, CA @ The Pound
December 07 - Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
December 08 - Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse
December 10 - Austin, TX @ Emo's
December 11 - New Orleans, LA @ The Hangar
December 12 - Orlando, FL @ Firestone Live
December 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
December 14 - Columbus, OH @ Alrosa Villa
December 15 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
December 16 - Reading, PA @ The Reverb
December 17 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
December 18 - Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Theater

* = ARKONA headlining

Contributors includes some heavy hitters.

By Blurt Staff

With news of that comprehensive Smiths box set still fresh, now comes word that American Laundromat Records has enlisted a herd of indie-rock luminaries - including The Wedding Present, Built to Spill's Doug Martsch, Throwing Muses co-founder Tanya Donelly, Telekinesis and Stars - to contribute covers of more than 20 classic songs by The Smiths for a new tribute album to be released December 13. It's titled, naturally, Please, Please, Please.

In a fitting touch, the label secured a photo of '60s U.K. pop star Sandie Shaw for the cover art; Shaw was a favorite of both Morrissey and Johnny Marr who, in 1984, covered The Smiths' "Hand in Glove."

Tracklist

Disc 1

1. "Panic" - Kitten

2. "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" - The Rest

3. "What Difference Does It Make?" - Joy Zipper

4. "Shoplifters of the World Unite" - Tanya Donelly w/Dylan in the Movies

5. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" - William Fitzsimmons

6. "I Won't Share You" - Sixpence None the Richer

7. "Well I Wonder" - Sara Lov

8. "Half a Person" - Greg Laswell

9. "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" - Dala

10. "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" - Chikita Violenta

Disc 2

1. "Sheila Take A Bow" - Telekinesis

2. "Is It Really So Strange?" - Solvents

3. "Hand In Glove" - The Wedding Present

4. "How Soon Is Now?" - Mike Viola and The Section Quartet

5. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" - Trespassers William

6. "Rubber Ring" - Girl in a Coma

7. "I Know It's Over" - Elk City

8. "What She Said" - Katy Goodman (La Sera, Vivian Girls)

9. "London" - Cinerama

10. "Reel Around the Fountain" - Doug Martsch (Built To Spill)

Exclusive Limited Edition Bonus 7-inch (pre-orders for bundles; check website for details)

1. "Asleep" - Stars

2. "Girl Afraid" - C'est la Mort

3. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" - The Caulfield Sisters

"Fly on the wall": released this week by Capitol as a massive 5CD box bursting at the seams with session material, Brian Wilson's lost masterpiece is finally resurrected after decades of being plundered by bootleggers. See below for links to both official and, er, unofficial streams of some of the material.

By Jud Cost

So, this is what it felt like to be a fly on the wall during the 1966-67 sessions for mythical Beach Boys' album SMiLE. Capitol/EMI has finally released the longplayer whose sweeping vistas danced tantalizingly in the head of Brian Wilson for so long he would eventually abandon the project. But not before rolling tons of tape. Some of the SMiLE material was released on subsequent Beach Boys Capitol albums Smiley Smile and 20/20 and Surf's Up on Warner Bros.

 With the full cooperation of surviving Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, the rabid and the curious alike have now been allowed behind the curtain to see what really went on. The casual fan can purchase a two-CD version of SMiLE, but for the hopeless addict, only the five-disc package will do. The album proper occupies disc one and sounds just as breathtaking as it did in your sweetest dreams (or on Brian's immaculate SMiLE re-recording for Nonesuch in 2004). Every bit as appealing here are baby pictures from SMiLE, swathed in lush fragments, destined to languish in Capitol's tape vault; listen to Brian tweaking arrangements on the fly to "Good Vibrations" for A-list studio players (such as percussionist Hal Blaine and bassist Carol Kaye, whose joyous laughter infuses the sessions).

Every bit as riveting as the groundbreaking music is the ever-present studio chatter. At one point, Brian barks to his fellow Beach Boys, "If there's not any more cooperation than this, I'm splitting, and I mean it." A trippy sequence finds Brian pretending to be trapped inside a microphone while his bandmates accidentally electrocute him. "We'll have to get a new Brian now," someone says. "Would you order one?" "Wonderful" once featured a gritty doowop interlude of "Rock With Me Henry," while the dazzling combination of Van Dyke Parks' unorthodox lyrics and Brian's melodic sophistication reached full fruition on "Surf's Up."

Despite rumors surrounding SMiLE, there's little evidence here that the other Beach Boys were dragged, kicking and screaming, into the studio to cut their vocal parts. Realizing Brian was navigating through uncharted waters, they seem eager to grab a paddle.

***

Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMiLE! Over at Spinner.com they are streaming the streamlined two-disc version of SMiLE. Meanwhile, below you can also check out the Genuine Pig's "underground" interpretation of the album via his Soundcloud stream - it's a choice monophonic mix of most of the key tracks. For, ahem, comparison purposes only....

The Beach Boys - SMiLE (Original Monophonic Mix) by TheGenuinePig

January-February US tour dates announced too.

By Blurt Staff

The Kills have released a new video for their track "Baby Says," directed by Ben Crook, from the Blood Pressures album (reviewed here at BLURT). The video's style is reminiscent of Almadovar meets Wong Kar Wai; a heartbreaking look at a man living in one of Barcelona's subcultures.

Meanwhile, The band is currently on tour in South America and will be touring in Europe from early November. They will be returning to North America with dates in January and February 2012.  The tour will be making stops at Chicago's Rivera, Austin's Stubbs, DC's 9:30 Club and will culminate in their return to NYC's Terminal 5 for the band's 10^th anniversary, which they'll celebrate with a special show for the occasion. Jeff the Brotherhood and Hunters will join them on all dates.

The Kills Winter 2012 Tour Dates:

* w/ Jeff The Brotherhood and Hunters

Jan 20    Chicago, IL @ Rivera *

Jan 21    Kansas City, KS @ Midland Theatre *

Jan 23  Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *

Jan 24  Houston, TX @ House of Blues *

Jan 25  Austin, TX @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre *

Jan 26  New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues *

Jan 28  Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution *

Jan 29  Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues *

Jan 30  Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Theatre *

Feb 1   Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *

Feb 2   Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *

Feb 3   Boston, MA @ Royale Boston *

Feb 5   Montreal, QC @ L'Olympia *

Feb 7   Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus *

Feb 11 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *

The Kills European Tour Dates:

^ w/ Weekend

*^ w/ Weekend and Gang of Four

Nov 11  Ameins, France @ Zenith ^

Nov 12  Paris, France @ L'Olympia ^

Nov 13  Paris, France @ L'Olympia ^

Nov 15  Lyon, France @ Le Transbordeur ^

Nov 16  Toulouse, France @ Le Bikini ^

Nov 17  Nantes, France @ La Carriere ^

Nov 18  Nancy, France @ L'Autre Canal ^

Nov 20  Lausanne, Switzerland @ Les Docks ^

Nov 21  Zurich, Switzerland @ X-Tra ^

Nov 25  Amsterdam, Holland @ Paradiso ^

Nov 26  Brussells, Belgium @ Cirque Royal ^

Nov 27  Koln, Germany @ E-Werk ^

Nov 29  Muchen, Germany @ Tonhalle ^

Nov 30  Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle ^

Dec 3     London, UK @ Brixton Academy *^

"Jet fuel energy" to get you revved up for next January...

By Blurt Staff

Barry Adamson, of Magazine and Bad Seeds and a prolific film scorer, releases his next album in January, title tba. He is giving us the first taste with "Destination", a roaring garage anthem for the road with jet-fuel energy.

MP3: "Destination"

The video is available on barryadamson.com where you can also get the mp3.

 
About the record: Thirty-four years on from the first album he played on, the seminal Magazine's post-punk classic "Real Life," Barry has made an album that touches on the sonic stepping stones he's used year by year to pave his way to the present. The memories and experience from performing and taking his work across the world with Magazine, the Bad Seeds, Iggy Pop, The Gun Club, writing for David Lynch, Danny Boyle, being nominated for the Mercury Prize, scoring an Olivier award-winning ballet, scooping the Best Short Story gong at Italy's Piemonte Noir festival for his debut work of fiction and writing, directing and editing a movie whilst simultaneously heading back to grace the stage with a reformed Magazine during their triumphant 2009 tour have directly informed this album, coloring it with a steady, sure-handed experience that emanates from the swagger and fingertip fire of rock numbers  to emotive, yearning noir ballads and new wave inflicted power pop.
 

Only 1500 copies, each personally signed - and wait'll you see the price tag...

By Blurt Staff

On December 6 Elvis Costellow will release the 3-disc (CD, DVD, 10" vinyl EP) live box set, Elvis Costello & the Imposters: The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!  (Ume), recorded over a 2-night stand at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 11 and 12, 2011. Limited to 1500 copies worldwide, each set is individually numbered with a special commemoration card personally signed by Costello.

The first disc is a CD recording culled from both nights' performances, shows which The Los Angeles Times said were "the kind of uniquely invigorating experience that warrants a buzzword all its own: inspiring."

The second disc is a DVD from Costello's show on May 12, 2011, including a special guest appearance by the Bangles. The DVD contains bonus footage including an alternate intro by Napoleon Dynamite (aka Costello), and behind-the-scenes moments captured with the Imposters - Steve Nieve, Davey Faragher and Pete Thomas -- as well as extra performances not included in the main set of the show.

The third disc is a 10-inch vinyl EP with four songs only available in this set. The super deluxe package includes a 40-page hardcover book packed with candid and concert photos, a tour diary of Costello's musings from each tour stop, a 20" x 30" concert tour poster and a limited edition postcard. This collection is housed in a lavish box complete with a spinning replica of "The Spectacular Spinning Songbook" on the front cover. 

"The Spectacular Spinning Songbook" made its first appearance in 1986 at the Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles during the "Costello Sings Again Tour." Earlier this year, Elvis Costello and the Imposters set out on The Revolver Tour and, for the first time in 25 years, Costello once again allowed his set-list to be chosen by "The Spectacular Spinning Songbook," a monumental game-show type wheel spun by select fans and featuring songs from National Ransom, plus new renditions of hits, rarities and very unexpected covers. Expanded from its initial short run in the spring to encompass summer and fall dates, the tour was greeted by popular acclaim and rave notice across the country, with Rolling Stone reporting, "Costello worked the stage like a burlesque-club emcee, cracking wise at a mile a minute and spinning a dandy's walking stick." 

Since the super deluxe version is a limited edition set, a single and double-disc version will be available next year.

Track listing:

DISC ONE

THE MUSIC

I Hope You're Happy Now

Heart of the City (Nick Lowe)

Mystery Dance

Radio Radio

Everyday I Write The Book

God Give Me Strength

Watching The Detectives

Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles

Out Of Time (Mick Jagger-Keith Richards)

I Want You

Stella Hurt

All Grown Up

Lipstick Vogue

Man out of Time

National Ransom

(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

Recorded Live at THE WILTERN, Los Angeles, CA, May 11 & 12, 2011

DISC TWO

THE FILM

I Hope You're Happy Now

Heart Of The City (Nick Lowe)

Mystery Dance

Radio Radio

Clubland

God Give Me Strength

Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles

Out Of Time (Mick Jagger-Keith Richards)

I Want You

Everyday I Write The Book

Stella Hurt

A Slow Drag With Josephine

Jimmie Standing In The Rain

Alison

Earthbound

(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

Bonus Tracks

Uncomplicated

Watching The Detectives

Monkey To Man

Filmed Live at THE WILTERN, Los Angeles, CA, May 12, 2011

DISC THREE (THE 10")

Side A:

Pump it Up (6/8)

Busted (Harlan Howard)

Side B:

Brilliant Mistake

Strict time

Neil Young, Tony Bennett, Eddie Vedder and the Foo Fighters bring down the house at Shoreline Amphitheatre (Mountain View, Calif.) on October 23, 2011.

By JUD COST

Unlike last year when it rained all-day on Sunday, pleasant temperatures in the high-70s helped make the 25th edition of Neil and Pegi Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre, a real treat. As always, rain or shine, the genre-bending music, most of it acoustic, was nothing short of inspirational.

After a brief welcoming spot from Neil and Pegi Young that included "Sugar Mountain" and "I Am A Child," Devendra Banhart, a well-deserved sub for Jenny Lewis, opened the Sunday portion of the two-day affair. With his shaggy mane trimmed, Banhart seemed to suffer a brief attack of "the Sampson syndrome," hitting a couple of vocal clunkers. Maybe you could chalk it up to nerves, opening for a roster knee-deep in star-power. Once he shifted gears with a song warbled in Spanish (he spent his youth in Caracas, Venezuela), Banhart finished his short set in fine style. And he dedicated his last number to the recently departed Burt Jansch of U.K. folk band Pentangle.

Norah Jones and her fine back-up outfit, the Little Willies, had to look no farther than downtown Bakersfield for the inspiration to kick-start an air-tight set of honky tonk. It's a direction that Jones, Ravi Shankar's daughter, chose for her sophomore album, 2004's Feels Like Home, for good reason. Wearing a white safari helmet with a turquoise band, she revealed that the Little Willies had picked that name as a tribute to Willie Nelson and now, even with its demeaning sexual overtones, they were pretty much stuck with it.  Jones and the boys handled Eddy Arnold's "Tennessee Stud" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene" with the same stylistic grace she'd employed on her critically-lauded pop/jazz debut longplayer, Come Away With Me. And her Floyd Cramer-like ivory-tickling was a nice fit for Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues."

Beck didn't play Hank's melancholy hit, but he dedicated his powerful set to the tenth (actually, the ninth) anniversary of Sea Change, his career-defining 2002 work whose heartbroken songs helped him recover from his split with a longtime girlfriend. With a battered, Neil-like stetson resting on his blonde mop, Beck made good use of a xylophone, whose glockenspiel-aping top end rode his tunes like a world-class surfer perched on a 30-footer at Mavericks, just over the hill near Half Moon Bay.

"Neil Young was one of the first to reach out to a new artist. He was right there," said a grateful Beck, who was joined onstage by Young for the latter's relatively obscure "Pocahontas." The show's host had sat in Saturday on the same tune without telling Beck ahead of time. "If I'd known he was going to do that, I'd have played that song last," Beck noted on Sunday. In keeping with the family vibe of this series, Beck brought his young son, Cosimo, up front to bang a tambourine on "Two Turntables and a Microphone." One of the day's warmest moments was the peewee hightailing it offstage afterwards with his long curls bouncing in the light breeze.

Mumford & Sons, a British acoustic folk act touted by Kinks frontman Ray Davies on his recent album of celebrity duets, got a great introductory response, presumably from all those who'd seen them play on Saturday's bill. They seem to cause the same kind of crowd havoc as U.S. stars the Avett Brothers, but the Avetts do the "Civil War-style punk rock" thing with only half the volume (and maybe twice the excitement). "It's so much nicer to see you all while the sun's still out," said frontman Lewis Mumford, before Neil Young joined in for a rousing version of his Crazy Horse-tailored crowd favorite "Dance, Dance, Dance."

The most surprising Bridge School 25 moment occurred when Carlos Santana played a set with Los Invisibles, a band he co-founded recently with his wife (and the band's drummer) Cindy. They opened with '50s pop standard "Autumn Leaves," done up to West Coast Jazz perfection with Carlos magically playing the part of Los Angeles guitarist Barney Kessel and Dave Matthews superbly filling the shoes of pianist Russ Freeman (with an occasional Erroll Garner flourish). I'd loved to have seen them continue in that vein, but they quickly shifted gears to a terrific Tito Puente-influenced Afro-Cuban big band sound. Most of the younger crowd who'd been on their feet for Mumford & Sons, sat slouched in their plastic seats for the jazz stuff. Santana thanked Neil Young for "being an architect of compassion" before returning to the more traditional Santana ballroom vibe of "Oye Como Va."

Eddie Vedder, solo, was easily the day's biggest unexpected treat. I'd briefly considered getting something to eat during his set. But I'm very glad I didn't. Accompanied by nothing more than an expensive version of that plastic dime-store ukulele you may have been given for Christmas, the extroverted Pearl Jam frontman preceded his set with an entertaining tale. "Last night I opened with a Neil Young song. I'm not gonna do that tonight. Big mistake. Neil told me, 'The only mistake was not telling me. We could have fucked it up together.' Oops, sorry about swearing in front of the [Bridge School] kids [seated onstage]. Neil and Pegi don't use the 'f-word."

Vedder made amends by dedicating the great death-rock classic, J. Frank Wilson's "Last Kiss," to one of the Bridge School graduates who'd recently earned a pair of degrees from UC Berkeley. "That's two more than I have," added Vedder, who further stoked the campfire-like feel with a heartwarming rendition of Patience & Prudence's "Tonight You Belong To Me," accompanied vocally by Arcade Fire's Regine Chassagne. He also brought out Jerry Hannan for a soundtrack gem from the Sean Penn-directed film Into The Wild. Next on Vedder's celebrity check-list was a real surprise. "Here's my friend Beck Hansen," said Vedder before they lit up a fine take of the Everly Brothers' "Sleepless Nights" with Beck on harmony. Vedder concluded his amazing program accompanied by Neil Young on Young's "Don't Cry No Tears Around Me." Whew!

The Foo Fighters ignited a NASA-like liquid nitrogen response under those in the audience of a certain, Nirvana-worshipping demographic. The 35-year-old in front of me was almost as much fun to watch as Dave Grohl & Co., themselves. He'd throw his left fist upward three or four times towards the stage, then punctuate it with the famous rock-star point to the heavens. At the height of Nirvana's fame, 20 years ago, Grohl (the trio's last drummer) said he felt "this is going to end, and I'll have to get a job. You can't do both: have a family and play music. And then I met Neil Young and found that you can do both at the same time." Grohl had told late-night TV host Conan O'Brien recently that they immediately regretted picking "Foo Fighters" as the new band's handle, but were now prepared to live with it.

The always superb Tony Bennett seemed like the perfect way to end a fine day. It takes real stamina to make it through to the end of a nine-hour extravaganza like this. Bennett recently celebrated his 85th birthday by releasing an excellent duet album with current stars Lady Gaga ("She's such a great singer," said Bennett) and the late Amy Winehouse, as well as evergreens Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson and others. Tonight, Bennett played his normal set with his brilliant backing quartet. No guest stars, none needed. "I Got Rhythm" and "Who's Got The Last Laugh Now" ("They all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round/They all laughed when Edison recorded sound"), both chestnuts penned by George and Ira Gershwin, dug a groove that just wouldn't quit.

Bennett's four-piece band showcased stellar pianist Lee Musiker and excellent guitarist Gray Sargent along with Marshall Wood on upright bass and percussionist Harold Jones, described by Bennett as "Count Basie's favorite drummer." Bennett, a true national treasure who was the favorite singer of no less than Frank Sinatra, wound things up with the always popular tribute to that city 30 miles to the north, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." And he got a hearty laugh from the crowd for the same line he's been using lately: "I've been doing this for 50 years. No, I've been doing this for 60 years!" One story he didn't repeat because he didn't play the song tonight concerned his cover of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," one of Bennett's earliest chart hits. He got what he thought would be a "thank you" call from Williams, he told an SF JAZZ audience last May. Instead, it was Williams asking him why he'd screwed up his song. Here's hoping Tony Bennett can one day tell an audience, "I've been doing this for 75 years." He deserves nothing less.

Rarities collection gets rescued from eBay purgatory.

By Fred Mills

The date was Nov. 4, 1997, and now the date is Nov. 8, 2011: Singles, Live, Unreleased was a 32-song, 3-LP, deluxe box set odds ‘n' sods collection from skronk-punk duo Royal Trux, and now it returns from the grave courtesy Drag City after more than a decade of being out of print. Loaded with rarities, including some genuinely oddball covers (such sa the "M.A.S.H." theme and a Grace Slick-penned Jefferson Airplane tune), it was a twisted favorite among Trux aficionados and collector-scum indie rock kids en route to becoming eBay catnip. Yours truly was working in a record store at the time of its initial release and it disappeared faster than the manager's morning coffee.

The original tracklisting tells the tale:

Side one

"Esso Dame" - 1:51

"Mercury" - 3:50

"No Fixed Address" - 3:29

"Red Tiger" - 5:12

"Lucy Peaupaux" - 3:44

Side two

"June Night Afternoon" - 3:54

"Steal Your Face" - 3:10

"Back to School" - 4:12

"Faca Amolada" (Ronaldo Bastos/Milton Nascimento) - 4:39

"Luminous Dolphin" - 3:16

"Spike Cyclone" - 3:59

Side three

"Vile Child" - 3:44

"Law Man" (Grace Slick) - 2:53

"Shockwave Rider" (Mike Fellows/Hagerty/Herrema) - 3:59

"Chairman Blow" - 7:02

"Womban" (Larry Kessler) - 3:49

Side four

"Cut You Loose" - 2:58

"Baghdad Buzz" - 4:08

"Hero/Zero" - 2:28

"Statik Jakl" - 4:03

"Gett Off" - 2:41

"Teeth" - 4:21

Side five

"Cleveland" - 4:00

"Theme from M*A*S*H" (Johnny Mandel/Mike Altman) - 2:11

"Strawberry Soda" - 1:50

"Sunflavor" - 3:08

"Love Is..." - 3:00

Side six

"Ratcreeps" - 4:47

"Hair Beach" - 3:42

"Sometimes" - 1:33

"Signed, Confused" (Hagerty/Herrema/Rian Murphy) - 5:56

"Aviator Blues" - 4:11

Get those credit cards ready, kids. As the label puts it ever-so-eloquently:

You may never understand unless you sit in a crouch for three days, on the balls of your feet with the keens pointing out like arrows before you. And then MAYBE you'll know how it feels. Some people in this life have no choice, they've been Indians since the day they were born. Others take it upon themselves. This was Royal Trux.

The skull's the thing!

By Fred Mills

Got $5000 to spare? That'll get you the new Flaming Lips album, or more accurately, their new 24-hour "song" titled "7 Skies H3." As the picture suggests, there's a small hard drive encased in an actual human skull. But act fast - only 13 copies reportedly have been made.

Or if you are not quite so well-heeled you can simply listen to it streaming over at the band's FlamingLipsTwentyFourHours.com.

Fascinatingly, at the moment this news item is being written, 977 people are listening to the track (so the counter at the Lips site indicates), with a maximum of 999 allowed at any given time. Not sure what all that means, come to think of it.