It's a mandate for Morrissey and Marr! Too bad about that little detail regarding the lawsuit and the court case, however...

By Fred Mills

The BLURT readers have spoken, and it's a comparative landslide: a full 29 per cent of you who voted in our most recent poll want to see the original lineup of The Smiths to reunite. Call it a victory for the Bedsit Nation!

We asked you:

"Guided By Voices has announced their early/mid ‘90s incarnation will be touring! What other ‘classic era' lineup would you like to see tour?" In addition to the early ‘80s Smiths we included artists from the classic rock era (Rolling Stones, Grand Funk Railroad, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Monkees), core alt-rock acts (Hole, Pussy Galore, Royal Trux, Palace Brothers, the other GBV lineup) and a handful of wild cards - Roxy Music, Prince, Spacemen 3 and, er, M.I.A. ("back when she wasn't so goddam obnoxious").

As you can see from the chart tally, above, out of 101 votes cast, the Smiths snagged 29 of ‘em, for 29%. Nobody came close to matching that; the Rolling Stones and Roxy Music took 14% and 13% of the vote, respectively, with everyone else coming in at 6% or less.  (The Pavement mention was a goof, of course, but some dimbulb still cast a vote for the band.)

And you can analyze the statistics all day long, but there's just something oddly comforting at knowing that Grand Funk Railroad is almost as popular as M.I.A. among BLURT readers...

Latest pick of cool emerging artist in our ongoing collaboration with Sonicbids.

By Fred Mills

The BLURT staff put our heads (and ears) together and we have the latest (June 2010) pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Boston's Alice Austin.

She describes herself as "indie-rock with spurs," and that's an apt phrase - in her compelling vocals we hear a little bit of Neko Case, a little bit of Jenny Lewis, hints of P.J. Harvey and Holly Golightly, all wrapped up in a steamy-yet-twangy package of garage, pop and roots. Meanwhile, Austin also plays some stomping electric and slide guitar while incorporating stylophone and lo-fi drum loops (her friend Sean Toohey sits in on lap steel and additional guitars), so random comparisons to White Stripes, Black Keys and the Pack A.D. are not totally offbase, either.

Last year she released her fourth album (and first that was completely performed, produced and recorded by Austin), To A Star In The Yard. Prior to doing the solo thing she played with Boston outfits The Stark Raving Mad and the Lavas, and before that she was based in Burlington, VT, where she played with Queen Tangerine and Zola Turn. Along the way she experienced firsthand the vicissitudes of the music industry, which included a frustrating experience with now-shuttered L.A. label Brick Red Records (a subsidiary of the notorious Gold Circle Entertainment).

We'll have an interview with the songwriter posted to the site shortly in which we fill you in on all this and more. Check out her MySpace page and official website for song samples, tour dates and more. And congratulations to Ms. Austin. She's one of the good ‘uns, trust us.

***

Bands, go to www.sonicbids.com/blurtonline to submit and have us review your materials for feature consideration.

>Our November ‘08 Best Kept Secret: The Handcuffs, from Chicago.

>Our December Best Kept Secret: Black Swan Green, from Brooklyn

>Our January Best Kept Secret: stephaniesI­d, from Asheville

>Our March Best Kept Secret: Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle, from England

>Our June Best Kept Secret: Wiretree, from Austin

>Our August Best Kept Secret: Bulletproof Vests, from Memphis

>Our November Best Kept Secret: The Vivs, from Boston

>Our January Best Kept Secret: The Public Good, from D.C.

>Our February Best Kept Secret: Dirty Dancing, from Austin

>Our April Best Kept Secret: Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents

>Our June Best Kept Secret: The Rebel Set

Track "Palm Tree" taken from forthcoming album, Two, due Sept. 14.

By Blurt Staff

So they've been out on the road this summer, touring as part of She & Him's band (opening selected shows as well), and still garnering accolades for their 2008 debut album Lake Bottom: that's the Chapin Sisters, a/ka/ Tom Chapin's little gals Abigail and Lily. With their second album Two arriving in stores on Sept. 14, we've got a preview in MP3 format. Just click the link to get a free download:

MP3: "Palm Tree"

To record the album Lily and Abigail, along with co-producers Jesse Lee (Gang Gang Dance) and Louie Stephens (Rooney), retreated to an old family farm in rural New Jersey where they put-together a studio and recorded. The record incorporates lush keyboards, layered percussion, electric guitars and warm, rich vocal tones, in addition to the staple acoustic guitar and three part-harmonies that the sisters are already known for. (The third Chapin Sister, Jessica, is on temporary hiatus at the moment in order to spend time with her new baby.) After the album comes out, expect more touring from the sisters - dates tba.

[Photo Credit: Sita Marlier]

No word yet on what's happening with those recently discovered early Kurt Cobain demos, however... Smells like a lawsuit in utero to us...

By Fred Mills

According to reports published today by Billboard.com and the Associated Press, a long-simmering million-dollar lawsuit between Courtney Love and management firm London & Co. has been settled and last week a judge dismissed the case. The dust-up had originally arisen over profits Love reportedly accrued in the wake of a sale of the Nirvana - aka Love's late husband Kurt Cobain - publishing catalog.

London & Co. filed the suit two years ago and claimed "she failed to share the earnings of a deal in which [she] sold a portion of Nirvana's catalog for nearly $20 million," said Billboard.com.

Meanwhile, Courtney Love is reportedly still on the wagon, and moderately sane, while Saint Kurt is still very much dead. Let's see what Rick Astley has to say about all this, below.

Followup to acclaimed Beatles Box Of Vision that was released earlier this year.

By Blurt Staff

In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birth, THE JOHN LENNON Box Of Vision, a limited edition individually numbered collection similar to the Beatles Box Of Vision (detailed previously at BLURT).

Officially licensed by Yoko Ono Lennon, the stunning new collection includes:

A 166-page hard bound book containing all of the John Lennon, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono, LP artwork, brilliantly restored in pristine new LP-size art prints. This is the first time that all of the album artwork has been collected together in a single LP sized book.

The book includes front covers, back covers, gatefolds, and inserts arranged to create the feeling of holding and enjoying the entire LP collection in your lap. It includes the complete artwork from WEDDING ALBUM, arranged for the first time in book form; the complete calendar artwork for LIVE PEACE IN TORONTO 1969; and the complete artwork for all of John's, and John and Yoko's, studio albums, officially released worldwide compilations and live albums originally issued in LP format.

The "Catalography" is a brand new, full colour discography of John's, and John and Yoko's, album catalogue, with an exclusive essay and textual guide; newly restored reproductions of classic Lennon album advertisements; John's handwritten sound notes to DOUBLE FANTASY and MILK AND HONEY; and much more.

The patented Box Of Vision CD storage system, built to store all of John Lennon's official CD releases, can hold up to 32 different CD albums in an expandable and adaptable format to accommodate any fan's collection (CDs not included). The limited edition collection includes 2 art-adorned recordable DVDs, and 2 different recordable CDs, intended for fans to record and store audiovisual and audio content they choose. Yoko Ono has given her permission to create these unique recordable discs using classic John, and John and Yoko, art elements. 

The limited edition set (less than 7500 numbered copies will be made available worldwide) is intended to complement to Lennon's re-mastered albums and new collections, to be released October 5th by EMI Music. The JOHN LENNON Box Of Vision is being released in conjunction with the John Lennon Time Capsule project, three time capsules which will be sealed on October 9, 2010 to be unsealed in a worldwide ceremony on October 9, 2040. More details on the Time Capsule can be found here at BLURT.

Teletubbies meets Spirited Away?!?

By Fred Mills

Britain's Saint Etienne has written the theme tune (with Sarah Cracknell singing) and scored a new children's cartoon series called Maryoku Yummy - kind of Teletubbies meets Spirited Away - which is going to be shown starting October 10th on a new US channel The Hub .

Have a look at the Maryoku Yummy website where you can see (and hear) a few clips and - kid alert! - play a few games. You can also check out the show at Facebook.

Taken from forthcoming new album Mixed Race.

By Blurt Staff

With the news still fresh from last week of a new Tricky album, Mixed Race due Oct. 5 on Domino, let's take a look at a video for the lead single "Murder Weapon"... It was directed by Fluer and Manu and features Frankey Riley on vocals.

It's actually a reworking of the classic dancehall hit from Echo Minott, a track Tricky cam across and was determined to see how it would sound with a female vocalist.

Stopgap mixtape to tide fans over while the UK band completes their next album.

By Blurt Staff

English trio Friendly Fires - Ed Macfarlane (vocals, bass, synth), Edd Gibson (guitar) and Jack Savidge (drums) - follow up their surprise hit 2008-09 release Friendly Fires with a new mixtape for Bugged Out!. Titled, tellingly enough, Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck Mixed by Friendly Fires,  it began to take life following 12 months of promotion and touring. The band found itself curating a Bugged Out event at The Coronet in South London: "We had the choice of doing a Brixton Academy gig or Bugged Out," says Macfarlane. "We ummed and ahhed about, but in the end we decided that a club event was more the kind of thing we would want to go to." As well as a performance by the band themselves, they got Kompakt boss Michael Mayer, UK post-rock trio The Invisible and Joe Goddard from Hot Chip to play.

It was the start of a mutual appreciation that led to this mix. It's a combination of rock solid party tracks, such as "City & Industry" by BDI and "Coma Cat" by Tensnake, to the lush reflective sounds of "Lost In The Streets of NYC (Boris Werner Lost In Malta Remix)" by Tom Trago and classic cuts like the party favorite "Din Daa Daa" by George Kranz. "It's more of a party compilation than anything, but there's lots of variation too," says Savidge. "Music for the dancefloor isn't as one dimensional as it's often painted. There's a lot of dance music that's thoughtful and sad. We wanted to combine that with some of the more banging stuff that's elsewhere in the mix."

Continues Savidge, "When we formed the band one of the main things we wanted to do was make danceable music because dance music was one of the things we bonded over." The three of them grew up listening to progressive thinking labels like Warp, and Macfarlane released tracks on respected Manchester electronic imprint Skam and Hooj Choons offshoot Precinct. "I mean, I've been DJing for longer than Friendly Fires has existed," he notes.

One of the album's high points is "Stay Here," a collaboration between Friendly Fires and Toronto house crew Azari & III. Written exclusively for this compilation, it's a stunning fusion of classic house beats, spoken vocals from the band and a belting chorus from Macfarlane, with Azari & III providing the verse. All three members of Friendly Fires were big fans of Azari & III, having played the Canadians' tracks "Hungry For The Power" and "Reckless With Your Love" in their respective DJ sets. However, when they were approached by Cedric Gasiada at an after-show party in Toronto while on tour in North America at the end of 2009, they didn't recognize him. "I think I'd just played "Hungry For The Power," and Cedric came up and said hello," remembers Savidge. "I didn't know who he was. Then Ed found out that he was Cedric from Azari & III and everyone was like, Oh my god. We love those guys. We found him a microphone. He sang the lyrics to our song Paris over this banging house tune."

Making a track together was the obvious thing to do next. "We'd been wanting to make a tribute to that New York house sound for a while," says Gibson. "It's an interesting sideline for us to make a house track because we listen to a lot of house music."

Proceedings close with "New Day" by Round Two, a blissful moment of bubbling synths and silky keys. "It's easily among my favorite pieces of music of all time, and a complete no-brainer when it came to thinking of a closing record," says Savidge. "A beautiful, beautiful song, the ultimate dancefloor tear-jerker."

Working on the compilation has helped the band with their second album, due out next year. "Writing a follow-up can feel a bit serious because, if you've had a bit of success, there's a lot riding on it, whereas with a debut you've got nothing to lose," says Savidge. "This reminded us that to make good music you have to enjoy it and be excited about it."

 Tracklist:

1. The Egyptian Lover - Freak-A-Holic

2. Bot'Ox - Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show

3. The Phenomenal Handclap Band - You'll Disappear (Munk Remix)

4. Tom Trago - Lost In The Streets of NYC (Boris Werner Lost In Malta Remix)

5. Ryan Crosson - Metro Bunker (Original Mix)

6. Lindstrom & Christabelle - Baby Can't Stop (Aeroplane Remix)

7. Rebotini - 777 (Discodeine Remix)

8. Tensnake - Coma Cat

9. Munk - La Musica (Azari & III Remix)

10. Friendly Fires and Azari & III - Stay Here

11. Redshape - Dog Day

12. The 2 Bears - Be Strong

13. Butch - No Worries

14. George Kranz - Din Daa Daa

15. Jody 'Fingers' Finch - Jack Your Big Booty (BHQ No Acid Vocal)

16. BDI - City & Industry

17. Alan Fitzpatrick - Green Light

18. Boo Williams - Mortal Trance

19. Round Two - New Day (Club Vocal Mix)

Blurt shutterbug Scott Dudelson attended the August 11 Warped Tour show in Pomona, Callifornia, and we've got a selection of his photos, below. He previously covered the June 27 show in Ventura and you can view his pics here. (You can also check out Dudelson's photoblog for BLURT elsewhere on our site.)

(above) Neo Geo

Alkaline Trio

Andrew WK

Anti Flag

Artist Vs. Poet

Breathe Electric

Dropkick Murphys

Emarosa

Everclear

Everytime I Die

Face To Face

Fight Fair

Green Jelly

Harris Grade

In Fear & Faith

Jack Grisham of TSOL

Left Alone

Manic Hispanic

Mighty Regis

Reel Big Fish

Riverboat Gamblers

The Rocket Summer

The Scurvies

The Untouchables

We Are The In Crowd

Photos & Captions by Gillian G. Gaar

Ed. note: In conjunction with Elvis biographer/aficionado Gaar's two-part feature on The King "Always On Our Minds," running this week at BLURT, we present a selection of photos Gaar snapped during her research. You can read Part 1 right here; the second part appears on the website tomorrow.

(above) Elvis Vendors  - Brother, can you spare some time: Elvi promote the Las Vegas Monorail on the strip

(below) Billy G - Walk a mile in my shoes: a photo op with Billy Gouvier. 

Buckle - The King's Bling: belt buckle commemorating Elvis' first season at the Hilton

Dinner Event - In The Shadow of the King: Elvis associates nurse Marion Cocke, drummer DJ Fontana, Memphis Mafia insider Joe Esposito, and DJ George Klein at Klein's annual reunion dinner in Memphis

Elvis On Beale - Come on over: hustling the tourist trade on Beale Street in Memphis

Elvis Statue On Hilton - Welcome to my world: Elvis statue at the main entrance of the Las Vegas Hilton

Fan Tribute - Lights in the darkness: fan tribute on the streets of Memphis

Glasses - Through my eyes: Elvis' sunglasses at The King's Ransom exhibit

Helen G - All ethnicities, both genders: Seattle tribute artist Helen Gately, aka "Hellon Wheels"

Jesse Garon - Your all-purpose Elvis: Jesse Garon, the "Official Elvis of Las Vegas" 

Jesse Caddy - You may drive a pink Cadillac: Jesse Garon and his wheel