Compulsive Gamblers/Oblivians hero steps out with a new solo release, Rat City, out this week on Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum. Check the stream of the title track, below.

By Rev. Keith A. Gordon

As a founding member of both the Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivans, Jack Oblivian is as close to Memphis garage-rock royalty as you'll find. For all that Oblivian has accomplished through the years, it's often his solo work that shines the brightest.

Jack Oblivian - "Rat City" by rockedition

Rat City (Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum) is Oblivian's latest shot at glory, a boiling, rumbling stewpot of fatback punk-blues, spicy garage-rock, and sweet pop delivered in the Memphis tradition. Whereas the title track is a streetfight with clashing instrumentation and city-slang lyrics that would make Armand Schaubroeck blush, cuts like the rollicking "Kidnapper" evince a Duane Eddy twang and Alex Chilton soul. "Girl On The Beach" is a melodic romantic ode with an undeniable hook while the stunning "Girl With The Bruises" is what the Clash would have sounded like had they come from Memphis.

There's a lot to like in this musical gumbo-Jack Oblivian's one of rock's lovable outcasts like Chilton, Willie DeVille, and all those others who dared walk on the edge with heart and soul.

Tour dates listed below as well.


By Blurt Staff


One of our big faves around the Blurt bunker of late is the new self-titled album by NC's Megafaun. It's due out next week on the Hometapes label, and over at RollingStone.com they've put up a stream of it for your listening pleasure.


Trust us, it's ace. Get right with the 'faun before the 'faun gets past YOU.


Tour dates:


09/22/11 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle #
09/23/11 - Washington, DC @ Red Palace ^
09/24/11 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge*+
09/25/11 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge*+
09/27/11 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern*
09/28/11 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas*
09/29/11 - Madison, WI @ High Noon*
09/30/11 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center*
10/01/11 - Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room*
10/04/11 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor*
10/05/11 - Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl*
10/06/11 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir*
10/07/11 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe DuNord*
10/08/11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Satellite*
10/09/11 - Santa Monica, CA @ McCabes*
10/10/11 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah*

# w/ Perry Owen Wright
^ w/ Matthew White
+ w/ Cat Martino
* w/ Doug Paisley

Inspired Carpenters, Beach Boys, Elvis, Vince G... merry Christmas, kids!

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, She & Him have a holiday album due this season, and it's now been set for Oct. 25 on Merge. A Very She & Him Christmas brings together holiday tunes inspired by seminal holiday albums by the likes of The Carpenters, Vince Guaraldi, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and more. According to Merge, "She & Him have set out to create an intimate holiday recording of Christmas classics that helps bring new emotions out of old songs."

Recorded in Los Angeles and NYC at various points in 2011, A Very She & Him Christmas sees the duo stepping back slightly from the layered, lush aesthetic of their critically acclaimed second album, Volume Two. On A Very She & Him Christmas, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward let the songs speak for themselves, oftentimes recording them with just acoustic guitar and vocals. Consistent in everything are the elements that have made She & Him one of the most loved bands of the last few years - Deschanel's soulful vocal delivery and Ward's impressive guitar work.

Tracklisting:

The Christmas Waltz

Christmas Day

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Christmas Wish

Sleigh Ride

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Silver Bells

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Blue Christmas

Little Saint Nick

The Christmas Song

Brian Eno lecture also confirmed for the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 29.

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, the second annual Moogfest music festival celebrating all things Robert Moog and the musicians the late analog synth pioneer inspired happens Halloween weekend, Oct. 28-30, across numerous venues and installations in Asheville, NC. (Unlike many American music festivals, Moogfest takes place indoors. Go here to read about the 2010 Moogfest.) As of this writing a few weekend passes are still available, although those are expected to dry up soon; today at noon, single-day tickets go on sale - details at the official website.

Also as previously announced, Brian Eno will be on hand to present one of his "Illustrated Talks"; his 77 Million Paintings "visual music" art installation will open in Ashville during Moogfest weekend. It was just announced that the Eno lecture will take place at 2pm on Oct. 29 at Asheville's Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Also, the day-by-day lineup of performers has been announced, with specific showtimes still being finalized and should be revealed in mid October, along with any additional acts. Promoter Ashley Capps told the local newspaper, "There is definitely a juxtaposition of programming that we like to create, a way we want (the evenings) to flow. It's a very unscientific process."

Among Friday's acts: Moby, TV On The Radio, Tangerine Dream, Atlas Sound, Anika, Chromeo, Flying Lotus, Little Dragon, Holy F**k, The Antlers, Mayer Hawthorne, and Matthew Dear.

Among Saturday's acts: Flaming Lips, STS9, Amon Tobin, Twin Shadow, Roedelius, Moon Duo, Cloudland Canyon, Crystal Castles,Battles,  Suicide, Dan Deacon, Sbtrkt, St. Vincent, The Naked And Famous, and Yacht.

Among Sunday's acts: Passion Pit, Umphrey's McGee, M83, James Murphy, Pat Mahoney, Ghostland Observatory, Childish Gambino, Beats Antique, Kode9, John Maus, Active Child, Glasser, and Toro Y Moi.

A full list of acts can be found at the Moogfest website.

The original lineup, natch. Accept no substitutes.

By Perez Mills

Okay folks, don't let that furry facsimile of Gene Simmons' tumescent tongue get you too excited - it's just a doll, not, er, a "toy." But we'd be remiss if we didn't tip you, and all the fanboys out there who will collect anything KISS related, to next week's launching of the Kiss Plushies by FUNKO.

The 7" high stuffed dolls have the expected original lineup makeup/costume designs (nobody would buy dolls of the Unmasked-era KISS, of course), as in The Demon, Starchild, Spaceman and Catman: Gene Simmons 'The Demon', Paul Stanley 'The Starchild', Ace Frehley 'The Spaceman', and Peter Criss 'The Catman'.

According to the manufacturer, The "Demon" makeup reflected Gene's cynicism and dark elements, as well as his love for comic books. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" due to his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." Ace Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of him wanting to go for a ride in a space ship and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss' "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Peter had nine lives due to his rough childhood in Brooklyn. 

Well, Criss always was delusional. Or maybe that was Frehley. Whatever. You KNOW you gotta have one of these goodies. Delay or eBay, as the saying goes!

From new album due out early October.

By Blurt Staff

If you don't remember Britain's Comet Gain, shame on you; they've been operative since around '92, sometimes under the radar and sometimes not. The beloved indie group has a new album out Oct. 4 on What's Your Rupture? titled Howl of the Lonely Crowd, and you can check out  new song, "Clang of the Concrete Swans," right here:

01 Clang Of The Concrete Swans by What's Your Rupture?

Advises the label, "Not since Springsteen's ‘Born To Run' has a song so poignantly cried out ‘we're young and alive as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!' Long live romantic and youthful intentions over the practical hell our lives are declining toward."

Hype, sure. But before you scoff, maybe ask that Comet Gain fan over there in the corner of the store browsing the import record bins what his opinion is...

Film unveiled last night in Toronto. "Lou Reed's glasses, Jim Morrison's pant, Elvis' jacket (and a little bit of his haircut)": now THAT explains a lot!

By Blurt Staff

Barely a day after after news broke that the U2 Achtung Baby film documentary From the Sky Down (directed by Davis Guggenheim) would be airing on Showtime on Oct. 29, the official film trailer has now been unveiled by the cable channel. It is, to say the least, one of the best 3 minutes' worth of trailer we've seen in a long time. You'll see what we mean:

Meanwhile, the film had its official premiere last night at the Toronto Film Festival with both the director and bandmembers The Edge and Bono in attendance. The Associated Press quoted Bono as telling the crowd, "We're very, very protective of our privacy, and especially, our creative process. Not because we're that precious, which we are. But more because of that old adage, if you knew what went into the sausage, you wouldn't eat the sausage."

Rest assured, a lot of U2 fans are ready to chow down, Bono.

Both clips, below, are from forthcoming October single.

By Fred Mills

Nobody's every going to accuse Brooklyn pop tart Lana Del Rey of being a skilled lip-syncher, but that's not why you watch her spookily ethereal, retro-flavored videos anyway. (Hint: it's the actual lips.) Point of fact, it's a pretty amazing voice, like Nancy Sinatra meets Kate Bush crossed with Lykke Li and Belinda Carlisle, as one pundit noted, and that voice is well-served in the brand new video "Blue Jeans." It's the B-side to her forthcoming single "Video Games," which comes out Oct. 11 on Stranger Records. You can check out both clips below, plus a bonus by way of "Kinda Outta Luck."

Del Rey will play The Box in NYC on Sept. 21, followed by an appearance at Hotel Café in L.A. Sept. 27.

A man dressed in a bearsuit gets into a car and begins vogueing while a power pop legend sits in the backseat... no, you'll have to watch the clip to get the punchline.

By Fred Mills

There's nothing quite so much fun as watching a video for a kickass rock song and seeing the people in the video having what's clearly a load of good clean goofy fun. Such is the case with Tommy Keene's "Deep Six Saturday," which will make you want to line dance and play air guitar.

It's from his new album "Behind The Parade" (Second Motion; read the BLURT review here), which as long-time Keene fans we heartily recommend. Keep your eyes peeled for a Keene feature at BLURT soon, too.

Keene will be touring tonight (in Arlington, VA) through Sept. 16 along with openers Doug Gillard and Sally Crewe & the Sudden Moves. Check the dates at Keene's website.

[Photo Credit: Chris Rady]

Meow! Peter Hook responds to New Order's not inviting him to their reunion...


By Fred Mills


Rather than have to rewrite two complete news items from this past week, we shall simply copy them below, in order, to culminate with a post that Peter Hook put on his website today. Here we go....


***

First came word of the New Order reunion:

Rolling Stone is reporting that New Order plans to get back together in October after a five-year hiatus. Don't hold your breath too much kids: it will only be for a pair of charity concerts in Brussels on Oct. 17 and Paris on Oct. 18. (It's to help out filmmaker Michael Shamberg, battling a "severe illness.")

One cool item to note: joining guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Stephen Morris will be keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, who originally quit in 2001.

One not so cool item to note: estranged bassist Peter Hook was not invited to be part of the reunion. Hook and Sumner had a huge falling out some time ago and he has since been involved with other activities, including a solo tour in which he performed classic Joy Division.

***

Next came word of Hook planning to tour the US with his band and perform Joy Division:

Barely a day after we received word of New Order reuniting minus bassist Peter Hook, who had a huge falling out with guitarist Bernard Sumner some time ago, news arrives that Hook, not to be outdone, will return to North America this fall with his band The Light to perform the two landmark Joy Division albums CLOSER and UNKNOWN PLEASURES. The trek will kick off next week in New York City and wrap on Oct. 1 in Mexico City, and full itinerary is listed below - but note that depending on where you see the band, you will get one or the other album.

Hook and his band (bassist Jack Bates, guitarist Nat Watson, keyboardist Andy Poole, drummer Jack Kehoe) already enjoyed a successful run last year performing UNKNOWN PLEASURES; go here to read a review of the December concert in Washington DC. They subsequently  released their debut EP 1102/2011 digitally this spring on Hacienda Records, available exclusively at: www.fac51thehacienda.com. The EP features a previously unreleased Joy Division song titled "Pictures In My Mind" as well as new renditions of "Atmosphere," "New Dawn Fades," and "Insight."

Tour Dates:

***

And now comes word of Hook's snippy comments about the first item, above, posted to his website:

I first I heard about this on Monday and it has taken me completely by surprise! Everyone knows that NEW ORDER without PETER HOOK is like QUEEN without FREDDIE MERCURY, U2 without THE EDGE, SOOTY without SWEEP!

 

On a more serious note, I do not understand the decision THE OTHER THREE have taken. I wish they had approached me first. I do not agree with the methods they have used and feel it would have been courteous and professional to have spoken to me in advance of the announcements. It is very sad.

 

Love PETER HOOK x Sept ‘11