And Abbey - er, that would be Avril Lavigne - wonders why she has zero credibility in the rock ‘n' roll community. Can a  tour with Gwen Stefani and Courtney Love - who made the term "kinderwhore look" a piece of the vernacular - be far behind?

By Perez Mills

You just can't make this shit up. Plus, we are all about rayon blends, metallic foils, and of course Pretty Please Platform Booties. All content, below, taken verbatim from the musician-turned-designer's latest press blast outlining her upcoming fashion line. Don't worry: we're only wasting 12 seconds of your day (we timed it).

Avril Lavigne's Abbey Dawn is rocker chic with feminine attitude. In spring 2012, Abbey Dawn will introduce an even broader lifestyle collection, embracing dresses, denim, skirts, footwear, handbags, metallic foils, purses and eyewear, along with its first full men's collection.  The pieces, constructed in soft sheer cottons, poly/cotton burnouts, acid washes, garment washed fleece and rayon blends, are paired with bright colors, bold graphic, and metallic foils. Abbey Dawn is available on www.AbbeyDawn.com

[Pictured Above: After Dark Dress and Pretty Please Platform Bootie. Photo credit: Abbey Dawn]

"Emerging artist" sticks foot in mouth.

By Fred Mills

It's no secret that we here at BLURT are big fans of independent record stores. (Hell, yours truly worked as the indie/import buyer for one such shop from 1992-2001. Not that I am biased...) So when we got the latest newsletter from the Alliance of Independent Media Stores, dated August 3, the following blurb caught our attention:

Greetings, Everybody. When asked by Pitchfork to name his favorite record shop, an emerging artist had this to say:

"You don't know how happy it makes me that the days of the record store are coming to an end. $20 for an LP? Do you remember going to the record store and not getting what you want because there was no other place to get it? Now we can get it all for free, and I think that's wonderful. There was always something really depressing to me about record stores and music equipment stores. There's something oppressive about them, like the guy who looks you up and down and looks at what you're buying. You're bound up in exchange with the snobby clerk. So I'm glad they all have little 'closed' signs on their doors now."

I'm going to call him emerging, as I personally wasn't familiar with him and an AIMS member brought the above quote to my attention. I went to the floor of the store and found three copies in stock. I asked one of my staffers, "What's this all about?" He replied, "Pitchfork likes him, he played in town last month, we've sold some," and then promptly returned to his conversation with a customer.

The AIMS missive included some pertinent commentary, including the notation that, "When we speak to our customers in the aisles of our stores and over the counter, we will talk to them about what we love. We'll ignore what we don't. We all look forward to working with partners and artists that we want to celebrate and honor. We want to be tight with them."

And to their credit, they didn't mention by name the "emerging artist" who originally made the disparaging remarks in the Pitchfork interview, which was published today as part of the ‘fork's generally respected series "Guest List." Now that's classy on the part of AIMS.

We don't worry about being classy around here, though. The musician in question is John Maus, a nominal Ariel Pink associate who Wikipedia classifies as "experimental." He's been around since the early ‘90s, so one would imagine that if he's an "emerging artist" at this late stage in the game, maybe a position at Best Buy - that bastion of "emerging artists" - stocking DVDs and video games is a better career fit for this experimentalist.

Sorry John, it's not us - it's you. Feel free to keep biting the hands of the music lovers who feed your so-called career by tipping you to their record store customers and engaging with them on more than a superficial level than your average blogger. Enjoy the free publicity, too. Dickweed. Meanwhile, gentle BLURT readers, make up your own mind and choose your side, if you will:

AIMS: http://www.thealliancerocks.com/Home

Maus: http://www.myspace.com/johnmaus

 UPDATE:

Maus has already posted a mea culpa via a link from his Twitter feed. Too late, bro; it don't wash, but maybe Pitchfork will publish an audio transcript of the entire interview to back up your out-of-context claims. A lot of us - especially those of us who have put in a FUCK of a lot of sweat equity in indie stores - are deeply offended. So you already revealed your true colors - good luck finding your music at Target or Best Buy. Those "megastores" that you propose you were actually referencing in your screed haven't put "little 'closed' signs" on their doors lately, at least not that we've noticed. But a ton of the indie DIY shops sure have over the past few years. You got this much right: the damage HAS been done.


Maus wrote:



I wish everyone who is (rightfully) upset about my Pitchfork �guest list� would grant me the benefit of the doubt, but I suppose that is too much to ask seeing as how I did come off so incredibly mean. I can�t understand why anyone would think I was referring to the small DIY record shops of the world (the only type that would carry my records in the first place, and many of which I have played in) and not the Megastores of the world, but I guess I didn�t make that clear enough. For whatever it is worth now, the only reason I didn�t make that clear enough was because I foolishly supposed anyone reading the �guest list� would grant that I was referring to the latter and not the former. I mean, what could anyone possibly have against the small DIY record stores of the world (unless they worked for one of the big ones)? If anything, by saying �I�m glad to see [big] record stores closing down� I imagined I was speaking on behalf of small DIY record stores everywhere! What I�d ask anyone who is (rightfully) upset to remember is that the �guest list� was torn unrecognizably from its context as a telephone call. The interviewer asked me what my favorite record store was, and I jokingly responded �torrents.com� or something like that, laughing about how wonderful it is that music and movies are becoming easier and easier to get for free. I then explained to him that where I grew up we had none of these little DIY type stores but only the big chains, and that I once worked in a Megastore and it was very unpleasant. Finally, I began to go on about the experience, which I cannot imagine I am alone in having, of being looked up-and-down by a snobby clerk when purchasing a record, or of not having enough money to get all the records one wants. I thought all of this would get laughs of identification, not accusations of my wanting small record store owners to die penniless! (Why would anyone, especially a musician, want this?) I hope those little store owners would grant me that I wasn�t talking about them. But perhaps the damage is done. Finally, I just want anyone who is (rightfully) upset to know, that whenever I get up on the �platforms� offered in interviews and so on, I always try to imagine a world emancipated from interested exchange and the extortion of surplus. Even if it is a little too naive or too utopian of me, I don�t see what is wrong with trying imagine a world where we share everything with each other for free. I always joke with the promoters and the labels about the contradictions involved in doing this from our standpoint, and I guess I just thought I could do it with the record stores as well. If what I said came across as anything other than this desire then I can only assure you that that was not my intent. The fact that anyone would react to anything I say is still a novelty to me, and I�m afraid I�ve made a terrible use of that novelty.

UPDATE NO.2:


It's still not us; it's him. The ripples from Mausgate continue outward. Respected indie archival label Numero Group issued the following missive to its followers via Twitter a few minutes ago:


numerogroup Send in your @JOHNMAUS CD/LP to us (if you can still find a retailer willing to stock it) and we'll give you 30% off your next mail order.

Meanwhile, scores of music heads have reblogged Maus' record store quote and added their own observations on the matter. One recurring comment: "Douchebag."

Taped Friday, July 22 at the Mother & Son Bistro in Asheville.

By Blurt Staff

Three  of the guys from popular Asheville indie band Kovacs and the Polar Bear sat down with Lingua Musica host Joe Kendrick for a chat in advance of their appearance at the annual Bele Chere Festival. There's also a terrific exclusive performance clip included. Videographer Jesse Hamm also edited this video. 

You can visit the band and find out more details at their Facebook page.

The videotaped conversation marks the latest in the new Lingua Musica Interviews series and we're looking forward to many more in the very near future. (Previous installments have included Dex Romweber Duo, Paper Tiger, Kellin Watson, Dubtribe, Dehlia Low, Ryan Montbleau, Brian McGee, Jon Dee Graham, and more.) BLURT is a proud co-sponsor of Lingua Musica. Please visit the LinguaMusicaAlive.com website, and meanwhile, check out the video.

Courtesy NPR Music, natch.

By Blurt Staff

Tonight NPR Music will be audio streaming a Bon Iver concert live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The webcast will be available online and on the NPR Music iPhone app starting at 9:30 (ET).

We reviewed the new Bon Iver album recently - a nine-star review at that - and noted how the record "breaks the listener's heart. And to experience an album (an oft-dreaded sophomore album, no less) that evokes such deep emotion is a welcomed pain."

To listen live visit http://www.npr.org/2011/08/01/138890247/live-tuesday-bon-iver-in-concert

First shows in two years from beloved band; indicate that the album is scheduled for 2012.

By Blurt Staff

And you thought they'd broken up. Well, it's not the same Shins you knew at the outset of the Northwest indie rock icons' career, but it's still helmed by James Mercer, who took a bit of a sabbatical to work on other projects. Mercer, in fact, is the only musician listed or pictured at the Shins' official Facebook page.

So anyway, the Shins' first full band outing since May 2009 will be on August 8 at W.O.W. Hall in Eugene, OR. The tour could charitably be described as "intermittent" since there are only 4 shows this month and three next month. There will also be a final October 15 appearance at the DeLuna Festival in Pensacola, FL, but keep your eyes peeled as additional dates get announced.

For this tour James Mercer will lead a Shins lineup consisting of Yuuki Matthews (bass), Jessica Dobson (guitar), Richard Swift (keyboards) and Joe Plummer (drums). The setlist will likely feature material from the long awaited fourth Shins album, which Mercer will complete following the tour. Due out next year on Aural Apothecary/Columbia, the new album will be the band's first since 2007's Grammy-nominted gold-certified Wincing The Night Away.

Tour Dates:

08/08/11 - Eugene, OR - W.O.W. Hall

08/09/11 - Bend, OR - The Domino Room 

08/10/11 - Portland - The Doug Fir Lounge 

08/12/11 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival 

09/22/11 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre 

09/23/11 - Philadelphia, PA - Popped! Festival 

09/24/11 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club 

10/15/11 - Pensacola, FL - DeLuna Festival 

You gotta love a record that contains a track called "Clockwork Cockwork."

By Blurt Staff

Don Fleming 4 is the smartly-titled fourth solo release from Don Fleming; not coincidentally, it contains four songs. It's the legendary musician/producer's first solo release since 1998 and was recently released on his own Instant Mayhem imprint.

Fleming, of course, had been involved with some of the wildest outfits of the alterna-universers, among them Velvet Monkeys (recently reviewed here), Gumball and B.A.L.L. And of course he's manned the boards for key releases from the likes of Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Hole, Screaming Trees, Posies, Andrew W.K. and Alice Cooper.

The EP is being streamed all this week by AOL/Spinner.com.

Don Fleming 4 includes collaborations with Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth, Free Kitten), Julie Cafritz (Pussy Galore, Free Kitten) and R. Stevie Moore. "My Little Lamb" finds Don on vocals and R. Stevie Moore on all instruments with lyrics by Don. "Torn by the Hands That You Could Not See" is built around a guitar piece by Kim Gordon with vocals and all other instruments by Don, with lyrics by Kim Rancourt of When People Were Shorter. "Clockwork Cockwork" features a Julie Cafritz guitar composition with Don on vocals and all other instruments, with lyrics by Don. "Adam's Fall" is Don on vocals and all instruments, with lyrics excerpted from the writings of Irish playwright Brendan Behan.

The question of course becomes: will anyone care about 3D films anymore by the time Fall rolls around?

By Fred Mills

A month ago we ran contributor David Iskra's in-depth review of Peter Gabriel's June 26 concert in Camden, NJ. Gabriel has been touring backed by an orchestra dubbed "The New Blood Orchestra" in which the entire Scratch My Back album is performed during the first half of the show followed by a second half of Gabriel classics specially arranged for the 50-piece ensemble.

Wrote Iskra, "[The] level of craftsmanship makes the live show something to see and worth the steep ticket price.  Ever the consummate showman, Gabriel didn't strip down the theatrics for the jaunt.  He is the ultimate technophile and brought along some unique and very tastefully used Susquehanna video screens used in conjunction with old fashioned theater tricks (the mirror during "San Jacinto") that made quite a visual impact on the crowd.... The orchestra, led by conductor Ben Foster, was composed of musicians both locally and from Europe. They were muscular, tight and well rehearsed.  Anyone wanting to see a rock band that night got it, albeit in a different form. Foster whose angular moves and rock star energy kept the crowd entertained during instrumental passages which had the crowd in a frenzy."

Meanwhile, Gabriel has been prepping another studio album, New Blood, and now word arrives that a 3D theatrical movie of one of his orchestral concerts, March 23 in London, is being readied for a fall release as well. According to media reports, Eagle Rock Entertainment and Gabriel are putting the finishing touches on Peter Gabriel's New Blood 3D.

"The Eagle Media production was directed by Blue Leach - whose credits include tours for Snow Patrol, R.E.M. and Toto - and will be co-produced by Peter Gabriel's company Real World. Eagle Rock will distribute it later this year the year across 3DTV, theatrical, digital, DVD and Blu-ray platforms in all territories."

"I have long been fascinated by the potential of 3D to go beyond the gimmicks and immerse people in an experience," said Gabriel. "We had our first 3D filming experiments in the '80s, but at that time there was no audience or place to show them."

Not your standard promotional vehicle. Watch out for those arrows, kids.

By Blurt Staff

As we noted awhile back, the debut self-titled album from Wild Flag - the 4-piece Portland, OR- and Washington, DC-based rock group including Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss - is due September 13 on Merge Records. Featuring members of Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, Helium, the Minders and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks to name just a few, Wild Flag premiered with a tour of small west coast rock clubs in the fall of 2010 and has been performing to hefty acclaim since. (Blurt caught the band in Austin at SXSW and also in D.C. this spring and can testify to the band's musical prowess.)

The latest round of tour dates is listed below. Meanwhile, you can take a look at the forthcoming album's new video trailer. It was directed by Andrew Ellmaker and Lara Gallagher and is pretty whacked out, to say the least.

Wild Flag - Album Trailer from Merge Records on Vimeo.

August 12       Williamsburg Waterfront        Brooklyn, NY*

October 3        Varsity Theatre           Minneapolis, MN

October 4        Waiting Room             Omaha, NE

October 5        Record Bar      Kansas City, MO

October 7        High Dive       Champaign, IL

October 9        Empty Bottle Chicago, IL

October 10      Grog Shop       Cleveland, OH

October 11      Lee's Palace     Toronto, ON

October 14      Paradise           Boston, MA

October 15      Bell House      Brooklyn, NY

October 16      Maxwell's        Hoboken, NJ

October 18      Bowery Ballroom        New York, NY

October 19      Union Transfer            Philadelphia, PA

October 20      Black Cat        Washington, DC

October 21      Cat's Cradle    Carrboro, NC

October 22      40 Watt           Athens, GA

October 24      Bottletree        Birmingham, AL

October 26      One Eyed Jacks          New Orleans, LA

October 29      Emo's Austin, TX

October 31      Rhythm Room            Tempe, AZ

November 1    Casbah            San Diego, CA

November 2    Troubadour     Los Angeles, CA

November 3    Troubadour     Los Angeles, CA

November 4    Great American Music Hall    San Francisco, CA

November 5    Great American Music Hall    San Francisco, CA

November 7    Humboldt State          Arcata, CA

November 9    Doug Fir          Portland, OR

November 10 Doug Fir          Portland, OR

November 11 Neumo's          Seattle, WA 

November 12 Biltmore Cabaret         Vancouver, BC

* with Sonic Youth and Kurt Vile & the Violators

The distaff side of Fiery Furnaces torches the Hotel Utah in San Francisco with incendiary solo outing on July 26.

By Jud Cost

With the striking good looks of Zooey Deschanel, the hairstyle of Chrissie Hynde and a voice that's all her own, Eleanor Friedberger played her first San Francisco solo show before about 35 devotees, jammed into the smallest room in town, the Hotel Utah at Fourth and Bryant. She and brother Matthew Friedberger did an acoustic show as indie-rock duo the Fiery Furnaces at Cafe du Nord just last May. "The band's getting smaller every time we come," laughed Eleanor. "It's down to just me this time."

When I told her earlier at the will-call desk that I was going to do a live review, she groaned, "Oh no, really?" A minute later, she tapped me on the shoulder at the bar, "Why don't you come back in September," she urged. "We'll have the whole band here then." She needn't have worried. Her short, 45-minute set was a knockout, start to finish, one of the best I've seen by a singer with an electric guitar. Much like Eilen Jewell, Friedberger's joy of being onstage is impossible to conceal, even in as drab a joint as the Hotel Utah, whose five wooden ceiling-support beams make for the worst sight-lines of any music venue since The Rock Garden in London's Covent Garden, back in the '70s.

Playing mostly original material from her debut solo album Last Summer (Merge), Friedberger's quiet but deadly accurate picking and strumming and no-nonsense voice would have wowed 'em at the storied Greenwich Village and Boston basket houses back in the days of Fred Neil and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. "My brother bought this shitty guitar for $150 somewhere near our home in Oak Park, Illinois," she said, laughing it off when she hit a clunker to end a song. It was the only foot she put wrong all night. Friedberger introduced one tune, written by a male acquaintance who had a lot of girlfriends, then she kept the lyrics in their original gender, Joan Baez-like. The vocals to her own songs had the wide-eyed honesty and immediacy of Conor Oberst, high praise, indeed.

"Here's a song I wrote when I was 19, a couple of years ago," smirked Friedberger, now 34, as she lit up a confessional number that might have been an entry from her diary. "I'll send you on your merry way with a cover. Let's see, I've got the Ramones or Sparks..." she announced, unable to choose. Someone hollered out, "Ramones!" but she began playing one of her own songs, instead, then shut it down after a few chords. "Oh no, I've already played that one," she muttered. "Somebody please say something," she begged during the awkward moments before launching into another original gem.

Eleanor Friedberger is one very likeable performer who shines effortlessly in the phone-booth-like atmosphere of the Utah, but is clearly meant for bigger things, either with or without her brother. 

King Of Limbs gets suitably dismembered for the third time.

By Blurt Staff

The Radiohead King of Limbs remix series continues apace: the latest (third) 12" from the band feature Lone, Pearson Sound and Four Tet tackling, respectively, "Feral," "Morning Mr. Magpie" and "Separator." It'll be in stores next week but you can listen to it streaming now.