Not exactly Prince’s favorite band, however…

By Blurt Staff

These Arms Are Snakes — who describe themselves as “four men with a chronic black cloud overhead; bitter, bummed out, and bored” — are set to release their third album, Tail Swallower & Dove, on Suicide Squeeze. It’s due in early October.

The Seattle band, comprising Chris Common (drums, percussion), Brian Cook (bass, guitar, keyboards), Ryan Frederiksen (guitar, keyboards), Steve Snere (vocals, effects), have been around since 2003, forming from the Ashes of Botch and Kill Sadie. Since then, they’ve toured virtually nonstop and become reknowned for the intensity of their performances.

Here’s the scoop from the label:

TAAS play with their history, with their personalities built deep into the music. You hear it in every innovation, behind each note. A beautiful collision of what has always been with what is completely unexpected. It's evident in the weight of the words, structure of the songs, the linkage of current and construction: concrete writing, coupled with a natural approach to recording, that brought the band – helmed by Chris Common, to produce and engineer – back into the semi-secret Red Room, in Seattle, Washington, to track and mix.

The result is more an album – a coherent whole – than a cycle of individual songs. The music circles around, from beginning to end, looping seamlessly and devouring any sense of arrested motion. The first single, “Red Line Season,” is all guitar-hook-squirm, leading to an anthem of a chorus. “Seven Curtains” explodes into being after thirty- seconds of gorgeous, low volume riffing. It’s here that the band’s strength in the studio really shows. From the textural depth of the keyboards and guitar tones, to the vocal delivery, the attention to detail is incredible. Each sound sets up huge spatial relationships, creating a dynamic tug-o-war, and building up a groove that continues throughout - marked by impossibly nimble drumming - blowing up the room with resonant vibration.

Relentless, and restless - nothing in nature says no. And from this direction comes These Arms Are Snakes, a dark cloud of sound thundering, waiting to burst and drown everything in their noise.

Track Listing:

1 Woolen Heirs
2 Prince Squid
3 Red Line Season
4 Lucifer
5 Ethric Double
6 Seven Curtains
7 Long and Lonely Step
8 Lead Beater
9 Cavity Carousel
10 Briggs

FUN FACT: The band blipped the mainstream radar earlier this year thanks to a bizarre intersection with Prince, as this news item from HollywoodToday.net illustrates:

Prince may have succeeded in convincing YouTube administrators to remove fan videos of his rendition of These Arms Are Snakes' "Crazy Woman Dirty Train" from their servers, but footage of the performance has already been reposted by users of the popular site who dispute the "Purple Rain" singer's right to do so.

The controversy stems from Prince's appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. in April. There, he performed the well known These Arms Are Snakes hit for the audience, but had his label, NPG Records, file copyright complaints with YouTube when video began showing up online.

When asked for comment by AP, These Arms Are Snakes lead singer Steve Snere stated his discontent with Prince's efforts to censor the performance, suggesting the musical icon should be told to unblock the material posted on YouTube because the song did not belong to him.

In contrast to These Arms Are Snakes' generally permissive attitude toward the online distribution of the band's material, Prince has staunchly fought against copyright violations of his own work, including unauthorized use on unofficial fan sites and bootleg material for sale on popular online auctioneer eBay.

The Artist Formerly Known As Wooden Wand promotes his debut solo LP.

By Fred Mills

You’ve read the official BLURT review of the album.

You’ve read the official BLURT interview with its creator.

Now you can catch James Jackson Toth (a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As Wooden Wand) on tour in support of his debut solo platter, Waiting In Vain issued last week by Ryko. According to his label Toth, wife Jexie Lynn, Wymond Miles on guitar and keys, Shayde Sartin on bass and Richard Gowen on drums will be on the road starting in mid August and running through September, joined with what Ryko describes as “surprise guests in select cities. The 5-piece band will play mostly songs off of the new album, though they will be drastically overhauled and changed from the album versions.”

Toth added, “Some of this is going to be hard to recreate live, so we may try to change and adapt it, maybe do ‘Midnight Watchman’ loud and fast, then slow another number down. The idea that people merely want to hear a record recreated in a crowded, smoky room and pay seven dollars for drinks – I never understood that.”

TAFKAWW is joined on tour with The Dutchess & The Duke, a duo of childhood friends who play dark folk music reminiscent of early Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.  Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz are the pair who released their She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke debut on Hardly Art in July, and you can read the BLURT review HERE. Toth will continue touring after his solo bout by opening up for the Silver Jews, starting in mid-September. 

James Toth tour dates (w/Dutchess & Duke unless otherwise noted):

Wed. Aug. 13             San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop

Thurs. Aug. 14            Santa Cruz , CA @ The Crepe Place

Sat. Aug. 16                Los Angeles, CA @ Echo

Sun. Aug. 17               San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink Elephant

Tue. Aug. 19                Austin, TX @ Mohawk

Wed. Aug. 20              Houston, TX @ Mink

Thu. Aug. 21                New Orleans, LA @ Rykodisc Party*

Fri. Aug. 22                  Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon

Sat., Aug 23                Birmingham , AL @ The Bottletree

Mon. Aug. 25               Athens, GA @ Tasty World

Tue. Aug. 26                Atlanta , GA @ E.A.R.L.

Wed. Aug. 27             Asheville, NC @ Harvest Record

Thu. Aug. 28                Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506

Fri. Aug. 29                  Charlottesville, VA @ Gravity Lounge

Sat. Aug. 30                Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head Club

Sun. Aug. 31               New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

Mon. Sep. 1                 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall

Wed. Sep. 3                Cambridge , MA @ TT & The Bear's

Thurs. Sep. 4              Albany, NY @ Valentine’s

Fri. Sep. 5                   Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place

Sat. Sep. 6                  Bloomington, IN @ Uncle Fester’s

Sun. Sep. 7                 Pontiac , MI @ The Cro Foot (Pike Room)

Tue. Sep. 9                 Rock Island, IL @ Daytrotter*

Wed. Sep. 10             Chicago, IL @ Schuba's

Fri. Sep. 12                 St. Louis, MO @ Billiken Club*

Sat. Sep. 13                Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone*

* Without The Dutchess & The Duke

Dates with Silver Jews:

Wed. Sep. 17            New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack's
Thurs. Sep. 18           Houston, TX @ Orange Show
Fri. Sep. 19                Austin, TX @ Emo's

Sat. Sep. 20              Denton, TX @ Hailey's
Sun. Sep. 21              Drive Day
Mon. Sep. 22             Tucson, AZ @ Plush
Tues. Sep 23             San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Thurs. Sep. 25           San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
Fri. Sep. 26                Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex

Meanwhile, check out the new “Doreen” video, from the album:

New album on Yep Roc, new band lineup, new American tour… so what else is new, Howe?

By Fred Mills

It’s been four years since an official Giant Sand album, and nearly as long since head Sand-man Howe Gelb — who in the interim issued a slew of solo projects — took his freewheeling band on the road for a full American tour. All that changes in September, however: Sep. 2 marks the arrival of new Sand platter proVISIONS, issued by indie tastemaker Yep Roc, and then a couple of weeks later the quartet will embark on a tour that initially finds them opening for Neko Case then, in October, breaking off for a West Coast trek as headliners. After that Gelb will head to New Zealand and Australia for a vacation and perform a series of solo shows.

"Giant Sand is a mood," deadpanned Howe Gelb, no stranger to understatement, in a recent press release from Yep Roc. The label goes on to note that Gelb,  “the creative force behind the extended family that has comprised Giant Sand over the years, speaks of  ‘yippity and happenstance’ that arise to inspire the soundscape that is Giant Sand. Gelb has steadily amassed a prolific catalog of Giant Sand and solo material that spans the wealth of southwestern roots and lo-fi. Thick with musings scattered by desert winds, and soaked with eroding guitars and dusty piano, proVISIONS  sonically explores love and loss in the socio-political climate of the modern world.” The bulk of the record was cut last summer during Gelb’s annual family sojourn to Europe and it was produced by Gelb and Kent Olsen, who previously worked with him on his Arizona Amp and Alternator project.

You can check out some new and past GS/Gelb sound samples at the group’s official MySpace Page, or at the Yep Roc artist’s page for the band. In particular, “Increment Of Love” has the kind of spooky, burying-bodies-in-the-desert vibe that has always marked Gelb’s most memorable tunes, while “Without a Word,” featuring Neko on haunting background vocals, ploughs into a classic Sand-worthy garage-skronk groove. And after you’re done with the new tracks, scroll to the bottom of this page for some of BLURT’s fave clips from the man and the band.

With a family tree that would flummox even the mighty family tree majordomo Pete Frame, Giant Sand currently features Gelb (guitars, keys, vox, brakemanship) plus  Danish musicians Thoger T. Lund (bass), Peter Dombernowsky (drums) and Anders Pedersen (slide guitar). For the album the likes of Case, M. Ward, Isobel Campbell, Henriette Sennenvaldt, Lucie Idlout and Lonna Kelley also pitched in, but as always, it’s Gelb’s singular, sunbaked vision — as filtered, increasingly, through a distinctive European sieve — that drives the bus.

“Drives,” indeed: while the press release coincidentally characterizes the new album as “a creeping cruise down a dark desert highway,” speaking personally, as a fan of the band since that first Giant Sandworms seven-inch all those decades ago (not to mention as an erstwhile Tucson resident who was privy to some monstrously fine Giant Sand and GS-related performances during my ten-year tenure in the Old Pueblo), I can attest to the viscerality and velocity that a trip with Giant Sand provides.

One interesting side tidbit about the record: promotional copies were sent out to the press in July, but since then Gelb came across a “lost” track, “Belly Full Of Fire,” that he wanted to include. Apparently it was a song he’d cut some time ago while on tour with PJ Harvey in Europe, but then it got “stashed away” and subsequently forgotten. Much later, while poking around in his archive, Gelb found the song. “Somehow it made sense there at the very last minute to get this new found treasure of a song in the record,” Gelb told Yep Roc. “It made the whole record click. It woke up the songs that came after it beautifully.” The finished, commercially available copies of the album, then, will include “Belly,” which subs for the nine-minute “The New Romance Of Falling,” originally on the promos. The latter, a drop-dead awesome track incidentally, will be made available ass a digital-only bonus track with purchase of proVISIONS (and yes, sharp-eyed Giant Sand fans: the tune is indeed descended from an earlier GS track: "Romance Of Falling," from 1992's Ramp, although needless to say it's been pretty radically overhauled for the new millennium). Meanwhile, ahem, it would appear some of us done got ourselves a nice collectible in our mitts! [Stop gloating, you geek. – Weekend Copy Editor]

In the current, July/August digital magazine of BLURT, you can read our interview conducted by Lavinia Jones Wright with Gelb about his band and the new album. Of his recording and touring beast that just won’t die, Gelb observes, “Every record always seems like the very last record. It is, literally, always the last record. You can assume you’re going to do another one if a bus doesn’t run you over today, but it really is all you know. It’s one of the good things about getting older, that you realize that. When you’re on a tour you think, ‘This is my last show,’ or ‘This is the last time I’ll ever play this song…’ because you really enjoy it when it’s the last time.”

Meanwhile, keep an eye peeled for our forthcoming coverage of proVISIONS. “In today’s cookie cutter universe – and that includes the hordes of indie recycling bands – there’s little room for true eccentrics like Gelb, the ‘squeaky hinge out here on the fringe’ as he sings here,” writes John Schacht, in his review of the album. “[But]  proVISIONS rivals anything in the vast Gelb/Giant Sand catalog… these are the most polished and accessible off-the-cuff improvisations Gelb’s ever done.”

Again, speaking personally, I learned firsthand that in the Gelb universe, “improvisation” isn’t merely a noun — it’s an action verb. A goddam fine state of mind, too.

Giant Sand Tour Dates:

(opening for Neko Case)

Sep 15 2008    8:00P

            Sokol Underground    Omaha, NE

Sep 16 2008    8:00P

            Hoyt Sherman Auditorium     Des Moines, IA, Iowa

Sep 17 2008    8:00P

            Mitchell Auditorium   Duluth, Minnesota

Sep 18 2008    8:00P

            First Avenue   Minneapolis, MN

Sep 19 2008    8:00P

            Orpheum Theatre        Madison, WI

Sep 20 2008    8:00P

            Hideout Block Party   Chicago, IL

Sep 21 2008    8:00P

            Blender Theater - Gramercy   New York City

Sep 23 2008    8:00P

            Beachland Ballroom   Cleveland, OH

Sep 24 2008    8:00P

            The Pageant    St. Louis, MO

Sep 25 2008    8:00P

            The Lyric         Oxford, MS

Sep 26 2008    8:00P

            Diamond Ballroom     Oklahoma City, OK

Sep 27 2008    8:00P

            Granada Theater         Dallas, TX

(headlining)

Oct 3 2008      8:00P

            Modified Arts             Phoenix, AZ

Oct 4 2008      8:00P

            Club Congress             Tucson, AZ

Oct 8 2008      8:00P

            The Echo         Los Angeles, CA

Oct 9 2008      8:00P

            Cafe Du Nord             San Francisco, CA

Oct 11 2008    8:00P

            The Doug Fir Lounge             Portland, OR

Oct 12 2008    8:00P

            The Triple Door           Seattle, WA

(Howe Gelb solo)

Oct 23 2008    8:00P

            Sammies          Dunedin, NZ

Oct 24 2008    8:00P

            San Francisco Bathhouse        Wellington, NZ

Oct 25 2008    8:00P

            4.20     Auckland, NZ

Oct 28 2008    8:00P

            The Troubadour          Fortitude Valley, QLD

Oct 30 2008    8:00P

            Clarendon Guest House          Katoomba, NSW

Oct 31 2008    8:00P

            The Factory Theatre    Enmore, NSW

Nov 1 2008     8:00P

            Northcote Social Club            Northcote, VIC

Nov 2 2008     8:00P

            Northcote Social Club            Northcote, VIC

Nov 3 2008     8:00P

            The Jade Monkey        Adelaide, SA

Giant Sand on YouTube: Take a Tucson travelogue with Gelb via the GS track “Shiver.” Next, go all the way back to the beginning, circa 1983, for Giant Sandworms doing “Body Of Water” (dig those Saguaro alien invaders). And then, finally, glom onto the best version of X’s “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline” that X never cut. Now THAT is entertainment…

Compiled by Blurt Staff

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

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

SATURDAY AUGUST 2:

9:00 AM MHD: FNMTV Premieres: Tokyo Police Club , Pink , Gnarls Barkley , Danity Kane , Bow Wow , Missy Elliott

10:00 AM SUNDANCE: We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen

1:00 VH1C: Hard Rock Calling Concert w/             

Eric Clapton , The Police , Sheryl Crow , The Bangles , John Mayer , Jason Mraz

3:00 PM MOJO: London Live!: Joe Lean , Amy Macdonald , The Young Knives , Sheryl Crow

3:00 PM TVONE: James Brown: The Man, The Music & The Message

5:00 PM VH1: Rock Docs: The Drug Years:

6:00 PM RAVE HD: George Jones, 50 Years of Hits

9:00 PM PBS: Austin City Limits: James Blunt / James McMurtry

10:00 PM VH1C: The Night James Brown Saved Boston

11:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen / Spoon

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

1:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: Robyn , Kevin Bacon

2:00 AM Bravo: Crossroads (1986)

SUNDAY AUGUST 3:

8:00 AM Bravo: Crossroads (1986)

9:00 AM A&E: Private Sessions: Cyndi Lauper

9:00 AM CBS: CBS News Sunday Morning: Steve Winwood

11:00 AM Sundance: Iconoclasts: Quentin Tarantino and Fiona Apple

12:00 PM HDNet Concert Series: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

1:00 PM HDNet Concert Series: The Tragically Hip: That Night in Toronto

2:35 PM HDNet Concert Series: Black Eyed Peas - Live from Sydney to Vegas

4:00 PM HDNet Concert Series: Incubus Alive at Red Rocks

5:00 PM HISTORY: Hippies w/The Beatles , Allen Ginsberg , Charles Manson

6:00 PM MHD: MTV Live: Foo Fighters

6:30 PM FUSE: Loaded: Weezer

6:30 PM VH1C: The Night James Brown Saved Boston

8:00 PM VH1C: Jailhouse Rock (1957)

9:00 PM Gospel Music Channel: Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan

10:00 PM ETV: Pam: Girl on the Loose: The Uncensored Confessions  of a Trailer Camp Tramp

10:00 PM Planet Green: Battleground Earth: Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee

10:00 PM VH1C: Hard Rock Calling Concert

11:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Heart

11:30 PM HDNet Concert Series: Ol' Dirty Bastard aka Dirt McGirt  -Free To Be Dirty Live

1:00 AM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: The Cure , Jackson Browne , Anita Baker , KT Tunstall , The Futureheads , Embrace

Helm, Hoge, Isbell, McMurtry, Duhks, Louris & Olson and tons more…

By Blurt Staff

The Americana Music Association has announced an initial line up of artists, below, confirmed to play the 2008 Americana Music Festival in Nashville Sept. 17-20. Festival showcases will be held at downtown venues The Mercy Lounge, 3^rd & Lindsley, The Cannery, The Station Inn and The Basement. Showcase wristbands are $35 and can be purchased over the web at the Americana Music website.

It’s all part of the 9^th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference. Registration for the entire conference, including a ticket to the Honors & Awards show and daily panels, workshops and daytime showcases is $350 for AMA members and $450 for non-members until August 13; register at the above website.

The seminars and panels will be held at the Nashville Convention Center in the day before activities shift to the nighttime showcases.  Levon Helm will officially kick off the festivities September 17 with his Ramble at the Ryman Auditorium (tickets available at the box office or through Ticketmaster).

The capstone of the festival will take the form of the annual Americana Music Association Honors and Awards, scheduled for September 18 at the Ryman Auditorium. Hosted by Jim Lauderdale and featuring a band led by Buddy Miller, the ceremony will toast winners in six member-voted categories and also bestow Lifetime Achievement Awards on John Hiatt, Jason and the Scorchers and longtime Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona in the categories of Songwriting, Performance and Executive, respectively. The AMA will also present the unique "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech award to Joan Baez.

Confirmed Performers (more tba):

Peter Bradley Adams
Nels Andrews
Marcia Ball
Band of Heathens
Randall Bramblett
Laura Cantrell
Chatham Country Line
John Cowan Band
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Dailey & Vincent
Dedringers
Christopher Denny
Joe Ely
Mike Farris
Rosie Flores
Folk Ute
Kylie Harris
Malcolm Holcombe
Will Hoge
Jason Isbell
Jason & The Scorchers
Kane Welch Kaplin
Randy Kohrs
Ben Kweller
Langhorne Slim & the War Eagles
Jim Lauderdale
Gary Louris & Mark Olson
Kathy Mattea
Anne McCue
James McMurtry
Chuck Mead
Tift Merritt
Buddy Miller
Jennifer Nicely
Dave Peterson & His Old Time Country Review
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Red Stick Ramblers
Kim Richey, Will Kimbrough & Mando Saenz
Bruce Robison
Romantica
Patty Hurst Shifter
Shurman
Sierra Hull & Highway 111
Patrick Sweany
The Belleville Outfit
The Coal Men
The Duhks
The Everybodyfields
The Farewell Drifters
The Gougers
The SteelDrivers
The Wrights Band of Annuals
Paul Thorn
Those Darlins
Ricky Young
Jim White
Robin & Linda Williams

Compiled by Blurt Staff

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

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

9:00 AM MHD: CMT Crossroads: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

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

10:00 AM MHD: CMT Crossroads: Steve Earle and Rosanne Cash

2:50 PM Encore Love: Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

3:00 PM Showtime Next: End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

6:00 PM MHD: FNMTV Premieres: Tokyo Police Club , Pink , Gnarls Barkley , Danity Kane , Bow Wow , Missy Elliott

6:00 PM VH1C: ZZ Top: Live From Texas 

9:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: Matchbox Twenty, The Script & Def Leppard         

10:00 PM ABC: 20/20: Jonas Brothers , Carla Bruni

10:00 PM Sundance: You're Gonna Miss Me: Roky Erickson

11:00 PM VH1 Classic in Concert: Heaven & Hell - Live From Radio City

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: John Mellencamp , T Bone Burnett

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Huey Lewis

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

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Hold Steady

1:30 AM ETV: Saturday Night Live (E!): Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen / J-Kwon

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: The Heavy

2:15 AM HBOS: The Making Of...: Idlewild w/Andre 3000 , Big Boi

[Pictured: The Heavy]

Extensive North American tour with Leona Naess.

By Fred Mills

With his new album Gossip in the Grain en route, Ray LaMontagne will be kicking off an extensive North American tour in conjunction with the record, which is due Oct. 14 on RCA. LaMontagne hits the road on Sept. 30 with a show in Indianapolis; the tour wraps Nov. 9 in Seattle. Opening for LaMontagne is Leona Naess, who herself has a new album, Thirteens, out Sept. 23 on Verve Forecast (she also guests on LaMontagne’s record).

LaMontagne recorded with producer Ethan Johns in Box, England. Unlike his two previous albums, Trouble and Till The Sun Turns Black, which were largely solo affairs with Johns handling much of the instrumentation, Gossip In The Grain sees him joined by members of his touring band, bassist Jennifer Condos and guitarist Eric Heywood (with Johns on drum duties). According to his label, the album “touches upon a range of styles and musical settings- spanning pastoral folk, railroad blues, front porch country, and plangent balladry… his most creative and emotionally expansive collection to date.”

Well, of course it is!

Ray LaMontagne Tour Dates:


Sept 30       Murat Theatre                           Indianapolis, IN
Oct 1           Chicago Theatre                          Chicago, IL
Oct 3            Union Theatre                            Madison, WI
Oct 4           State Theatre                            Minneapolis, MN    
Oct 6           Royal Oak Music Theatre          Royal Oak, MI    
Oct 7           Queen Elizabeth Theatre          Toronto, ON
Oct 9           Opera House                            Boston, MA
Oct 10        Opera House                             Boston, MA
Oct 11       Radio City Music Hall                 New York, NY
Oct 13           Keswick Theatre                     Philadelphia, PA
Oct 14        The Strathmore Music Center    Washington, DC
Oct 16           Meymandi Concert Hall           Raleigh, NC
Oct 17        Bijou Theatre                             Knoxville, TN
Oct 18           The Tabernacle                        Atlanta, GA
Oct 19            Ryman Auditorium                 Nashville, TN
Oct 21            Uptown Theatre                      Kansas City, MO
Oct 23         Verizon Wireless Theatre           Houston, TX    
Oct 24         Majestic Theatre                         Dallas, TX     
Oct 25         Paramount Theatre                     Austin, TX
Oct 27            Macky Auditorium                  Boulder, CO
Oct 28         Murray Theatre                      Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 30         Wiltern Theatre                       Los Angeles, CA
Nov 1          Spreckels Theatre                     San Diego, CA
Nov 3            Paramount Theatre                   Oakland, CA
Nov 5          Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall     Portland, OR
Nov 6            McDonald Theatre                    Eugene, OR
Nov 8            Vogue Theatre                       Vancouver, BC
Nov 9           Marion Oliver McCaw Hall        Seattle, WA        
         

Personal Statement Of Clarity For Anyone In Doubt (and the rest of us…)

By Fred Mills

On his official website, Ryan Adams sometimes makes really interesting blog-like postings — which, due to the really weird navigation and archive functions of his site, are sometimes impossible to find! For example, as of this writing, the only one immediately visible is accessible via the “Impersonal Swordfish” button on the upper right side of his homepage, and that’s a posting about heavy metal and the first two Vinnie Vincent Invasion albums being reissued on CD. Not that there’s anything wrong with Vinnie Vincent…

As a public service, then, we would like to reproduce, below, a fascinating Adams post bearing the curious title “Personal Statement Of Clarity For Anyone In Doubt.” It addresses, generally, the notion of celebrity and rumor (which clearly bothers him — recall the big Ryan-Mandy Moore paparazzi dance that was going on earlier this year. But it also takes a swipe, though veiled, at Courtney Love and her recent accusations leveled against Adams of theft. (You can read her entire rant at BLURT’s previous news item titled “Courtney Love Rips Ryan Adams A New Asshole” HERE.) About time someone called the erstwhile Hole singer on the carpet...

Meanwhile, check out the July-August digital issue of BLURT — we’ve got a super-secret sneak peek at leaked prose from his forthcoming book, due sometime next year…

***

From Ryan Adams:

to whom it may concern,

these days i find myself working harder than ever at being at my best, overcoming my fears and pushing myself creatively in my every endeavor. my only wish after the work is completed is that it may prove further evidence that no matter how isolated we all may all feel at times, as sad or misrepresented, we are not alone. there's hope for and within each of us.

I've been dealing with the truth that i have at times been a bad example and/or glorified self destructive behavior. this was never intentional, but rather a consequence of leading a public life in plain sight and never expecting any sort of preferential treatment, isolation or protection.

Regardless of varied judgments as to my cultural relevance, i am thankfully alive and exercising my joy in creating. i only hope anyone who hears, reads or sees any of my contributions will permit the work to speak where i cannot.

i've realized and accepted that if people decide to dislike me, they're going to find reasons to justify disliking me. there's nothing i can do about that. that said, it still does pain me to be accused of fictional crimes against innocents or to be implicated in romantic gossip involving the possibly reality-challenged--however unreliable the source or outlandish the accusations. in the end, however, i know that i have never done or even meant anyone any harm.

anyway, the lives of public figures are so much more boring than anyone can imagine. honestly.

and also i like metal. A LOT. (even more than last time).

“Palpable joy” from Portland.

By Blurt Staff

When Portland, Oregon, outfit  Au dropped their second album Verbs (Aagoo) recently, the gasp emanating from critics and the blogosphere was more than just audible — it felt like a tremor in the popverse. As BLURT ourselves (itself?) uttered in a review, “Pitched somewhere between the arty campfire songs of Animal Collective, the whole-grain, free-jazz clap-alongs of Akron/Family, and the choral ephemeries of Grizzly Bear, Luke Wyland's Au plays feel-good experimentalia. It is joyful, explosive and improvisatory… one of this year's most joyful experiments.”

Au (pronounced 'ay you') is the brainchild of Luke Wyland, but for his sophomore outing he put together a “proper” band: multi-instrumentalists Johnathan Sielaff and Mark Kaylor, plus assists from a slew of Portland frends including vocalists Sarah Winchester (of Team Love recording artists A Weather) and Becky Dawson (of Ah Holly Fam'ly, Saw Whet), as well as members of Yellow Swans, Parenthetical Girls, and Evolutionary Jass Band.

According to the label the album was “recorded over three days at Portland's Type Foundry Studios and finished over a subsequent two-month period in Wyland's own attic studio… [It] seamlessly segues through new and unlikely ecstatic extremes with an arresting economy. Breakout Pop jams like "RR vs. D" rub shoulders comfortably with retreating meditations ("Two Seasons", "Summer Heat")-the record's several distinct movements working at once with more autonomy and cohesion-with arrangements that stretch in longhand across the album's length.

“Verbs is the elated realization of those many asymmetrical pop diamonds that shone so brightly throughout Au's artful debut (whose warm, Appalachia-informed gems found many favorable comparisons to the far-reaching likes of Arnold Dreyblatt, Animal Collective, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Grizzly Bear)-its many swift and unexpected evolutions shepherded confidently by Wyland's competent, classically-trained hand. As surprising as it is immediate, Verbs is infused with all of the earnest and palpable joy of its creation-the delightfully enveloping whole of which demands to be heard.”

Catch that palpable joy on tour – the band will be heading out to do dates with the Dodos and Deerhoof.

Au Tour Dates:

Tue-Aug 12- Brooklyn, NYC- Monkeytown (early and late shows)
Sun-Sep 28- Baltimore, MD- Sonar
Mon-Sep 29- New York, NY- The Spiegeltent
Tue-Sep 30- Middletown, CT- Wesleyan University
Thu-Oct 2- Boston, MA- Museum of Fine Arts
Fri-Oct 3- Hanover, NH- Dartmouth College
Sat-Oct 4- Montreal, QC- La Sala Rossa
Mon-Oct 6- Toronto, ON- Horseshoe Tavern
Wed-Oct 8- Chicago, IL- The Bottom Lounge
Fri-Oct 10- Richmond, IN- Earlham College
Sat-Oct 11- Columbus, OH- Milo Arts
Mon-Oct 13- Omaha, NE- Slowdown
Tue-Oct 14- Minneapolis, MN- First Avenue
Wed-Oct 15- Milwaukee, WI- Turner Hall
Thu-Oct 16- Bloomington, IN- Buskirk- Chumley Theater

You’ll be glued to our text ‘til your eyes will hurt, kids!

By Fred Mills

We’re not sure if it’s the way he puts shaving cream on his head and cleans up the ol’ chrome dome while taking a bubblebath that charms the bejeezus outta us, or if it’s simply the shameless bit of BLURT promotion that subsequently ensues when he picks up the guitar and strums a little ditty in our honor. Either way, though, you gotta check out Hamell On Trial’s latest installment of “Yap,” his BLURT video blog that is posted to our site every two weeks.

Check it out, over on the right hand side of the homepage, or simply click straight in HERE.

Then sing along with Hamell, and roll credits:

Calling every Patti and Johnny and Kurt

Music fans wanna tell ya ‘bout BLURT

Got culture and movies and politics too

We’ll do our best not to insult your I.Q.

BLURT-BLURT!

You’ll love it so hard you’ll want to spurt

We got an online mag, we’re calling it BLURT

So opinionated you’ll puke on your shirt

It’s a cyber rockin’ daddy we’re calling it BLURT.

BLURT!

Got our eyes in the heavens and our feet in the dirt

The watchful ghost Lester, callin’ it BLURT

We enjoy music, we’re devoted – don’t flirt

We are fanatics glued to BLURT.

BLURT!

You’ll be glued to our text ‘til your eyes will hurt

You know it’s gonna rhyme, I’m branding… it’s BLURT

We’re irreverent as fuck we’ll never be inert

I stretched it that time like we stretch it at BLURT.

BLURT!