Most eye-poppin g record art since that Sonic Boom/Spect rum album debut a zillion years ago...

By Blurt Staff

Whoah dude, our eyes hurt. But we heart the new Lemonheads record sleeve just the same! It's for Varshons, due June 23 on The End labels, produced by Gibby Haynes (read all about that HERE).

The artist? The mighty Mark Dagley, of Abaton Book Company. Hat's off to ya, Mark!

Chuck Eddy dusts off his old vinyl and scratches his head. We all win.

Greetings, BLURT readers. This column's theme is fairly simple: Basically, I sort alphabetic ally through my shelves for dusty old 7-inch vinyl indie singles from acts that aren't household names, and try to figure out why I wound up keeping them in the first place. This is the 12^th installmen t (first two appeared at Idolator.)

***

THE MT. ST. HELENS "North By Northwest" /"Unlucky" /"Dialtone " (MOC, 1998)

Midwestern foursome repeats surfish riff, um, repeatedly ; hoarse singer gets excited; rhythms turn staccato. Lots of stops and starts, twists and turns. Structure feels precise but ultimately cold - Fugazi probably deserves some blame for inspiring such stuff, but it's also very Chicago (where the band's from), which is to say it keeps its top button buttoned like such ‘80s bands as the Effigies and Naked Raygun used to, though less efficientl y. Somewhere, there's a line about "the western surburbs."  Slee ve has pictures of a city and a mountain (why not a volcano?) that look as blurry as the music sounds. (http://www .myspace.com/mtsthe lens)

THE MUSIC TAPES "Why Is The President Crying?"/ DAD "Untitled" (Cosmic Debris Ltd., 2000.)

Split single, apparently released with an issue of Stop Smiling magazine, whatever that was. Hand-numbe red release from the Cosmic Singles Club, which I never joined, yet I somehow got # 980 out of 1000 anyway.  Pict ure disc - bottom half of a simple robot made out of wood on one side, black and white photo of a bespectacl ed man and unbespecta cled boy on the other. Song titles nowhere to be found, but at least the A-side's is discoverab le on line; B-side goes nameless even there. Guy from Music Tapes (New Yorkers with some sort of Elephant Six connection ) sings in a little-boy voice, precious to the point of extreme annoyance, kinda like that man-boy Stuart on Mad TV. Sound ridiculous ly piddly and twee: Maybe the president is crying because somebody forced him to sit through this awful crap, who knows. I know nothing about Dad; if you google "myspace Dad," the great Copenhagen hair-metal band D-A-D wind up in the top spot, and this is definitely not them. Music is some sort of generic guitar instrument al, flamenco or Segovia or whatever. Hard to imagine 1000 people would want this thing. (http://pro file.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseac tion=user.viewprofil e&frie ndid=69564 406)

NECROPOLIS "Stalking Mark E. Smith Around NYC"/"I Love Cinnamon" (Columbia Discount, 2005)  ;

You read its title and want the A-side to sound like a northern Ohio version of the Fall, and actually, the hard clattering jangle of a groove underneath almost pulls it off; marching-b and drums at the start don't hurt, either. But the singing is a cutesy little-gir l voice, with occasional "hey! woo!" interjecti ons from a dude; and yeah, sadly, these are probably the kind of kids who would stalk Mark E. Smith, when you think about it. B-side crosses the cutesy line - she likes cinnamon on her head, see -- and so do the little puppies and kitties and dollies strung up on the clothes line on the sleeve, and so definitely does the computer robot-read ing voice ending each song. But the B-side's rhythm clatters below too, and Mark E. and cinnamon are two of my favorite things, and this song introduced some sort of aesthetic that fellow Columbus kids Times New Viking would take the bank (or at least take to Pitchfork) a few years later. So I'll cut it slack. (http://www .myspace.com/necrop olisrocks)

THE NECROS "Tangled Up"/"The Nile Song" (Gasatanka , 1986)

Northern Ohio (Maumee to be exact) version of early ("Free For All"-era) Ted Nugent, and one of the best (and most rock) indie rock singles of the past quarter century. (Maybe the best.)  Definitely the only time (tempo-wis e, rhythm-wis e, riff-wise, song-wise, singing-wi se, catchiness -wise) that an indie band has ever pulled off the Nuge thing - Even the very good Necros themselves never again came anywhere near this close, and I should know if anybody should seeing as how I was at least a passing acquaintan ce with dammit-dol l-like frontguy Barry Hennsler at the time (even saw a couple shows with him - White Zombie and Guns N Roses before they achieved stardom for instance, if I remember right. Letting his red hair grow ‘70s long, he'd shout "get a Mohawk!" out the window at Ann Arbor punk rockers back in those days -- unless I just dreamed that up in my head since, but pretty sure I didn't. Later, he wound up on Sub Pop, in the band Big Chief.) Anyhow, absolutely world-clas s song: "There's a noose around my life that strangles every day/Tangle d up in a web of lies, mistakes I never made." One of the best hard rock/punk/ metal singles of the ‘80s , on any label level. B-side's a quality cover of a 1969 Pink Floyd song also covered seven years later by the great Quebec cyber-thra sh band Voivod. Record label Gasatanka is a parody of Casablanca , maybe because Redd Kross had covered Kiss's "Deuce" on Teen Babes From Monsanto two years before. After this music, punks could never again honestly pretend ‘70s rock wasn't cooler than they were. Which means it was partly responsibl e for grunge. But some sins are worth forgiving. (http://www .necroscent ral.com/)

THE NEIN "Auto-Dest ructive Dance Routine"/C ANTWELL GOMEZ & JORDAN "To Love The Unlovely" (Sit-N-Spi n, 2005)

Another split single. The Nein from North Carolina put extravagan t whining (about "Palestine " at one point I think) over post-punk- revival stiffened funk beats and alleged (I read on the web somewhere) "found sounds"; toward the finish line, the guitars thicken and vocals overlap and whips and spanks substitute for basslines. Somehow, especially given the icky era that this was released in, it all basically adds up to "electrocl ash" -- which might be justified if the Nein sounded as German as their name, but they don't. The also-North Carolinian Cantwell and Co. do more hands-in-p ockets pogo-funk, fronted by a gal yelping like she wishes she was old enough to have been in the Delta 5 or Essential Logic. But she wasn't, which makes this a lot less interestin g than if she was. She turns dirgey toward the end, and I still slightly prefer her to the Nein guy, I guess. Both sides of the pic sleeve present quaint and kitschy depictions of a man and a woman - dancing and necking with heads and limbs falling off and teeth falling out, framed by footprints on the dancing side and lipstick smears on the necking side. If that's somehow supposed to be amusing or transgress ive, I don't get it. (http://www .myspace.com/thenei n; http://www .myspace.com/cantwe llgomezand jordan)

Chuck Eddy is the former music editor of the Village Voice and the author of several books, including the greatest book on heavy metal ever written, Stairway To Hell. He won't admit it, but he knows more about rock ‘n' roll than the entire accumulate d BLURT brain trust.

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/ca ble/satell ite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST.

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

Monday, March 2:

5:00 Sundance: Derailroad ed: Inside the Mind of Wildman Fischer

10:00 Biography Channel: Chris Isaak Hour: Trisha Yearwood

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: The Fray

12:00 VH1 Classic: FM

12:00 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/ Smokey Robinson

12:05 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: New Kids on the Block

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Justin Timberlake , Van Morrison

Tuesday, March 3:

9:00 a.m. Regis & Kelly: Van Morrison

5:00 VH1 Classic: Classic Albums - The Who "Who's Next"

7:00 VH1 Classic: Thin Lizzy Live Philadelph ia 1977

10:30 VH1 Classic: U2's "The Joshua Tree" + Rattle & Hum

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Bettye LaVette

12:05 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Lil Wayne, Robyn

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Bon Jovi, Santigold

Wednesday, March 4:

9:00 a.m. syndicated : Ellen Degeneres: The Fray

9:00 VH1 Classic: Rolling Stones "Let's Spend the Night Together"

9:00 Biography Channel: The Monkees

9:00 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/ Elton John

10:00 Biography Channel: Chris Isaak Hour: Trisha Yearwood

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Neko Case

12:05 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Oren Lavie

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

By Blurt Staff

With news of Mastodon's new Crack the Skye preorder still fresh in the minds of diligent Blurt readers, now we get word that the band is launching an extensive tour in early April. It will run for about 5 weeks and take in all corners of the country as well as dip into Canada. Full itinerary below. The group also has some intriguing marketing ideas for the new album as well. Here are the details:

Keep an eye on the MASTODON web sites for ticket pre-sale this Wed, Mar 4.  General on sales begin Sat, Mar 7. Go to:  www.mastodonro cks.com and www.crackthesk ye.com for details. Ticket pre-sale password is "CracktheS kye."  You won't want to miss these shows. MASTODON will perform CRACK THE SKYE in it's entirety along with career-spa nning surprises and plenty of visual stimulus in store.

Yet another highly collectabl e MASTODON item will become available for sale in the coming weeks. This time, a special Limited Edition 12" vinyl Paul Romano album artwork picture disc of "Divination s," backed with the instrument al Score version of the track.  This disc will go on sale beginning Tue, Mar 10, at select Hot Topic retail store locations and at Hottopic.Com.  &nbs p;

Lastly, fans who keep a close watch on www.mastodonro cks.com and www.crackthesk ye.com will be rewarded with insight on CRACK THE SKYE directly from the members of MASTODON.  Spoken introducti ons to new songs from CRACK THE SKYE followed by a preview of new music over a 6 day period will be revealed via mobile. Fans that pay particular attention will discover secret menu options leading to additional personal messages from the band and codes which can be redeemed for discounts on new MASTODON merchandis e.

MASTODON tour dates with special guests, Kylesa and Intronaut:

Fri & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Apr 10 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Workplay Theater&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Birmingham , AL

Sat & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Apr 11 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; New Orleans, LA

Mon & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Apr 13 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Granada Theater&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Lawrence, KS

Tue & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 14 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Fox Theatre&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Boulder, CO

Thu & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 16 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Martini Ranch  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Phoenix, AZ

Sat & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Apr 18 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Coachella& nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Indio, CA

Sun & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 19 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Great American Music Hall   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  San Francisco, CA

Tue & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 21 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Hawthorne Theatre&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Portland, OR

Wed & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Apr 22 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Neumo's&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Seattle, WA

Thu & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 23 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Commodore Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Vancouver, BC

Fri & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Apr 24 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    MacEwen Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Calgary, AB

Sat  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Apr 25 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Starlite Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Edmonton, AB

Sun  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Apr 26 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    The Odeon  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Saskatoon, SK

Tue & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 28 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    The Garrick&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Winnipeg, MB

Wed & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Apr 29 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Fine Line Music Hall   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Minneapoli s, MN

Thu & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Apr 30 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Metro  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Chicago, IL

Fri & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  May 1 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Crofoot Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Pontiac, MI

Sat & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; May 2 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Beachland Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Cleveland, OH

Mon & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; May 4 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Le National&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Montreal, QC

Tue & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  May 5 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Opera House  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Toronto, ON

Thu & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  May 7 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Boston, MA

Fri & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  May 8 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Theater of Living Arts   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Philadelph ia, PA

Sat  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; May 9 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Fillmore @ Irving Plaza  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; New York, NY

Sun  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  May 10 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Music Hall of Williamsbu rg &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Brooklyn, NY

Tue & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  May 12 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; 9:30 Club   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Washington DC

Wed & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; May 13 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Cat's Cradle&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Carbarro, NC

Thu & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  May 14 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Orange Peel   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Ashville, NC

Fri & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  May 15 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Center Stage  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Atlanta, GA

Can YOU spot the difference ?

By Fred Mills

It's not every day we can report on something Mark E. Smith related, but we're always keeping our fingers crossed. Indeed, Britain's The Sun has been reporting that due to a snafu in production at Universal UK, initial pressings of the new album by 13-year old Faryl Smith, the teen pop tart winner of Britain's Got Talent (similar to America's Got Talent, American Idol, etc.) who signed a contract reportedly worth £2.3million and therefore deemed the largest such deal ever given to someone that age, actually contained copies of the Fall's 2008 album Imperial Wax Solvent tucked inside the package.

A right rowche rumble ensued, with lots of finger pointing and hand wringing, etc. According to The Sun, Universal "had ordered hundreds of copies and they were staggered by what was on it. They have had severe words with the pressing plant."

Only one question: only hundreds? We knew that CD sales were in the toilet, but still... They better have a kickass 360 deal in place for young Faryl if they hope to recoup that signing fee....

Meanwhile, unconfirme d rumors have Mark E. Smith planning on auditionin g for the next season of Britain's Got Talent following an extended visit to his orthodonti st.

Guest post this week from co-lead singer Philip Price of Winterpill s, who I shamelessl y adore, as you know. dear hole in my head through which the foul winds of winter blow [...]

A Triple-A radio programmin g veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentati on of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Cool indie rockers cover McCartney classic for WFMU pledge drive.

By Fred Mills

In 1971 Paul McCartney issued his second solo album, Ram, and it was, in a word, pure genius. While his eponymous debut was great, and his Wings gem Band On The Run was awesome, for Macca lovers this was the album that was start-to-f inish, top-to-bot tom brilliant without a single weak or throwaway track. It's stood the test of time, too, and it's rarely strayed far from the BLURT mixing desk. Put another way: from the first time we listened to it on 8-track cartridge to the Ramtunes on MP3 currently lodged on our iPod, Ram has consistent ly brought a big wide grin to our face.

As with all classics, you can't top perfection . Which means that attempting a song-by-so ng recreation of a classic is not only risky, it's foolhardy. It insults the intelligen ce and memories of fans. Only a handful of such projects come to mind that ultimately justified the effort on the part of the recreator - as well as the listeners - come to mind, including Carla Bozulich's edgy-yet-a tmospheric 2003 take on Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger, from 1975, and Petra Haden's astonishin g 2005 a capella cover of The Who Sell Out, from '67. The reason why those two were successful is that they were the products of single artists' visions, a focused refraction , if you will, of how they viewed the original artists' own visions.

The same can never be true, of course, of multiple-a rtist takes on classic records; it's like having 11 coaches simultaneo usly trying to steer a football team downfield and score. (This is also why tribute albums, virtually across the board, blow chunks.) But here ya go: teaming up are the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Ted Leo, Portastati c, Danielson, Aimee Mann, the Black Hollies, James McNew of Yo La Tengo (as Dump) and others with a track-by-t rack interpreta tion of Ram. Yes, this is a bad idea. But luckily it's for a good cause, so this time around, regardless of extant quality, it gets a pass.

According to Pitchfork, it's part of public radio powerhouse WFMU-FM's annual fundraiser , currently running now through March 15, and if you pledge at the $75 level during funnyman Tom Scharpling 's frankly amazing "The Best Show" on March 3 or 10 during the hourse of 8-11 p.m. EST, you'll nab a copy of the Ram covers album - for the occasion, they're retitling it as Tom.

Pledge away, punters. And here's hoping that the so-called "bad idea" turns out to be a fun, listenable collection of tunes.

The Pitchfork article also has news of yet a second charity album in which indie rockers, most of them considerab ly lesser known, have covered the Ram album.

Get Rhythm... and Get the Fuck Out: A long black night of the soul.

By COCO HAMES

I got a scholarshi p to the University of Florida, a big state university where I felt like a total freak and was so overwhelme d I'd get panic attacks, so I took solace as resident sad sack country singer at a small dive bar near campus. There were never very many people in there, and if there were, they were just the kind of run-of-the -mill creeps you'd find at any north Floridian shithole.

One night, after my set, a guy came up to me and asked if he could buy me a drink. I was 18 and took every opportunit y not to have to show my weak fake ID, so I accepted. The guy was small, tiny even, and was on crutches. He had a scraggly beard and a cowboy hat. I figured his age to be somewhere in the early 30s.

 
We sat down, got to drinking, and talked about country music. He said he had an amazing vinyl collection , stuff no one else had, and asked if I'd like to come over and listen to some records. After a few pitchers of beer, that sounded like a great idea. He said I could ride with him, but I'd brought my car and would need to move it anyway, so I said I'd follow behind him.

 
We drove for about 15 minutes, way past the interstate and into what we old Floridians call "a place where nothing good happens." It was beyond rural. I was evenly weirded out by now, just about to turn around and bail, when he signaled and turned into a patch of burnt land with a tiny trailer on it.

For some reason, I turned in behind him.

 
He got out of his rusty truck and assembled his crutches, then led the way into the trailer. I was nearly laughing by this point because I was thinking, this is such a very, very bad idea. But I was kind of stuck now.

To say that the place was a mess would be an idiotic understate ment. Save for a sunken-in, cushionles s couch, there was no furniture in the main room. The window was broken. There was no kitchen. The floor was littered with beer bottles and newspaper, and a shower curtain hung over a doorframe that evidently led to the bedroom. That just so happened to be where he-and by default, I-was headed.

Sleeveless LPs were strewn about the floor. He produced a small record player and set it among them. I didn't know what to do so I kind of perched on the broken sofa arm. That's when I noticed the hypodermic needles all over the floor and, propped against a rickety shelf opposite the door, a small black handgun.

Before I could react to these discoverie s, Johnny Cash's baritone filled the room. I looked over at the guy. He was balancing on one crutch, pointing the other at the spinning, wobbling LP.

 
"Name it."

 
"What?"

 
"Name it-name this song."

 
"Uh... ‘Lon g Black Veil,' I said.

 
"RIGHT!"

He knocked the arm off the record and picked up another one, setting it on the player. Another Johnny Cash song swelled up, and I was asked to name it, too. This went on for a couple of songs, all Johnny Cash, all songs I knew. I started to notice, every time he'd ask me to name a song, he'd glance at the gun. If I guess wrong, I thought, is he gonna shoot me?

At some point, he ducked into the bedroom to look for more records. I got the fuck out of there.

*****

Blurt "co-co-edi tor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes, whose latest album Look At Life Again Soon (Take Root) is still a hot item-but look out for a new EP, "Danager Is," and a Dan Auerbach-p roduced limited-ed ition single in March 2009. And catch ‘em at SXSW, too.

Incidental ly, we had to ask Coco what the hell was up with the photo, above. She advised us that it's of her having just won "the coveted "best performanc e" award at the punk rock night at the Melody Inn in Indianapol is, one of our favorite sweat boxes!&nbs p; So proud!" We're proud of ya too, Coco.

Lineup of artists scheduled to play will be announced soon.

By Blurt Staff

Another Planet Entertainm ent, Superfly Production s and Starr Hill Presents, in a partnershi p with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department ,  this morning have announced the second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. The second installmen t will once again take place over three days in San Francisco' s historic Golden Gate Park. The dates for this year's event are August 28 - 30, 2009.

Last year's inaugural event received major accolades from the fans, the press and the industry at large. No less than your friendly neighborho od BLURT, in an in-depth review penned by Associate Editor Andy Tennille, singled out shows from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Andrew Bird, Widespread Panic, M. Ward, Wilco, Radiohead and Tom Petty & the Heartbreak ers as reasons to believer.

The San Francisco Chronicle called "this first-of-i ts-kind music festival in Golden Gate Park a success!" Rolling Stone said that its "good vibes derived from the combined experience of the two companies that produced it," while Stereogum hailed Outside Lands as "the destinatio n for your next road trip come 2009." By continuing to bring an endless selection of world-clas s music and activities that celebrate the vibrant culture of the Bay Area, this year's event is poised to cement the festival as one of the premier music events in the country. "We could not be happier that the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival will be cemented as an annual event in San Francisco, " Allen Scott of Another Planet Entertainm ent said. "This festival is a celebratio n of this world-clas s city and Golden Gate Park, the country's greatest urban oasis."

Outside Lands 2009 represents the beginning of a five-year agreement with San Francisco' s Recreation and Park Department and the City of San Francisco. &nbs p; San Francisco Rec & Park manages over 200 Parks, Playground s and Open Spaces throughout the City, in addition to numerous other recreation facilities and programs.  Outside Lands is thrilled to support this mission. A significan t portion of every ticket sold will directly benefit San Francisco' s Recreation and Park Department .

With the incomparab le pedigree of its producers, Outside Lands 2009 is once again set to be the vital event with the broad range of entertainm ent and amusement options you'd expect from the partnering of the co-founder s of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival with one of the most successful promoters in Northern California . The unique strengths of these companies using the backdrop of one of the most famous parks in one of the most thriving musical cities in the world is certain to make for yet another unforgetta ble weekend.

The artist line up for the festival will be announced in the coming weeks.

Website: www.SFOutsidel ands.com

Contains stereo and mono mixes and yet more unreleased material.

By Fred Mills

Due March 16 in the UK from Universal Internatio nal: a Deluxe Edition of the Who's classic LP Who Sell Out. What's significan t for Who fans - given that they undoubtedl y purchased the 1995 expanded/r emastered reissue - is that this is a two-disc edition featuring both the original stereo and mono versions of the album, plus a slew of unreleased material that did not make the cut for the '95 CD. (Compare tracklisti ngs below for the 1995 CD and this new set.)

Here's the scoop, courtesy Your Way To Music:

Originally released in December 1967, The Who Sell Out arrived at the tail end of a  remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalis ed as the moment when the countercul ture and the Love Generation went global, 1967 produced tremendous musical upheavals as "pop" metamorpho sed to "rock", elevating the likes of Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Pink Floyd, Traffic and the West Coast groups to prominence - both on the undergroun d scene and the commercial arena. The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertisin g jingles and the iconic sleeve design - created by David King (art director at the Sunday Times) and Roger Law (who invented Spitting Image) producing four giant images for each band member - Odorono deodorant, Medac spot cream, Charles Atlas and Heinz baked beans!

Stunning reissue of the classic Who album from 1967, now upgraded to a greatly expanded 2-CD version in the acclaimed Deluxe edition range, remastered from the original stereo and mono masters for the first time. This is the first official re-release of the mono mix (in the US and UK) since 1967 and comes with eleven previously unreleased songs and/or mixes. The 28-page booklet contains unseen photos and 1960s period advertisem ents. CD sleeve features out-takes from the original October 1967 album cover photo session by David Montgomery . The initial quantities include limited edition replica of Osiris Visions poster that was packaged only with the original first pressing of album. Introducto ry essay by noted rock writer Dave Marsh and in-depth liner notes by Who biographer Andy Neill.

For more in-depth details on the reissue and individal tracks, to to the official Who website's listing HERE.

Who Sell Out Deluxe Edition:

Disc 1

1. Armenia City In The Sky Incl. Two "Radio London" Jingles
2. Heinz Baked Beans Incl. "More Music" Jingle
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand Acoustic/I ncl. Premier Drums Commercial /Radio London Jingle
4. Odorono Incl. Radio London ‘Smo oth Sailing' Jingle
5. Tattoo Incl. ‘Chu rch Of Your Choice' Radio London Jingle
6. Our Love Was Incl. Pussycat/S peakeasy/R otosound Jingles, Commercial s
7. I Can See For Miles
8. I Can't Reach You Incl. Charles Atlas Commercial
9. Medac a.k.a. Spotted Henry
10. Relax
11. Silas Stingy
12. Sunrise
13. Real (1 & 2)
14. Rael - Naive Incl. John Mason's Cars (Rehearsal ) Commercial
15. Someone's Coming Incl. Radio London ‘Wea ther Word' Jingle
16. Early Morning Cold Taxi incl. Radio London News Bulletin Jingle
17. Jaguar incl. Extra Wonderful Radio London Jingle
18. Coke After Coke
19. Glittering Girl
20. Summertime Blues Previously Unreleased
21. John Mason Cars
22. Girl's Eyes Incl. Bag O' Nails Jingle
23. Sodding About Previously Unreleased
24. Premier Drums Full Version Previously Unreleased
25. Odorono Final Chorus
26. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand Mirasound Version
27. Things Go Better With Coke
28. In The Hall Of The Mountain King
29. Top Gear
30. Rael (1 & 2) Remake Version - Incl. Track Records Jingle

Disc 2

1. Armenia City In The Sky
2. Heinz Baked Beans
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand Mono Version
4. Odorono Original Version
5. Tattoo
6. Our Love Was
7. I Can See For Miles
8. I Can't Reach You
9. Medac a.k.a. Spotted Henry (mono)
10. Relax (mono)
11. Silas Stingy (mono)
12. Sunrise (mono)
13. Rael (1 & 2) Incl. Track Records Run-Off Groove
14. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand U.S Single Version originally released as US B-side to `I Can See For Miles'
15. Someone's Coming U.K Single Mix - Originally released as US B-side to `I Can See For Miles'
16. Relax Early Rehearsal
17. Jaguar Original Mono Mix
18. Glittering Girl Previously Unreleased Version
19. Tattoo Early Mono Mix
20. Our Love Was Take 12 Rejected Mono Mix
21. Rotosound Strings With Final Note
22. I Can See For Miles Early Mono Mix
23. Rael Early Mono Mix
24. Armenia City In The Sky Isolated Backwards Tracks
25. Great Shakes Unreleased US Radio Commercial

***

Incidental ly, last year in Japan only, a cardboard sleeve reissue featuring 24-bit remasterin g of the album was released as part of a five-album reissue series for My Generation , The Who Sell Out, Magic Bus: The Who On Tour, Direct Hits, and Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy. It featured the same bonus tracks that appeared on the 1995 expanded remaster that MCA/Univer sal released in the U.S.:

1. Armenia City In The Sky
2. Heinz Baked Beans
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
4. Odorono
5. Tattoo
6. Our Love Was
7. I Can See For Miles
8. I Can't Reach You
9. Medac
10. Relax
11. Silas Stingy
12. Sunrise
13. Rael 1
14. Rael 2 [*]
15. Glittering Girl [*]
16. Melancholi a [*]
17. Someone's Coming [*]
18. Jaguar [*]
19. Early Morning Cold Taxi [*]
20. Hall Of The Mountain King [*]
21. Girl's Eyes [*]
22. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (Alternati ve Version) [*]
23. Glow Girl [*]

Fork In the Road deals with the economy and, er, that electric car of his...

By Fred Mills

Everyone is still scratching their heads over when Neil Young's long-overd ue Archives box will actually be released. Recall how last fall Young finally confirmed a spring 2009 release for Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972, a 10-DVD (Blu-ray) collection and even held a press conference to kick things off, and Amazon.com subsequent ly began taking pre-orders for the $431.99 box (at a discounted price, $323.99). But since then the official release date has been removed from all listings. Maybe in... July. Who knows!

Part of the reason for the delay, at least from a marketing standpoint , became clear the other day when it was announced that a brand new Neil Young studio album entitled Fork In The Road will be released on April 7 by Reprise. As per most recent Young offerings, it's available as a CD/DVD package; the audio tracklisti ng is below.

Featuring Young, bassist Rick Rosas, drummer Chad Cromwell, guitarist/ organist/p edal steel player Ben Keith, guitarist Anthony Crawford and Young's wife Pegi on vocals, the project apparently stemmed from yet another one of Young's notorious impulses: during his 2008 tour he was playing a slew of new songs, and earlier this year he also unveiled a pretty nifty YouTube video for the title track. You can view it, below.

Using the sentiments expressed in the "Fork In the Road" vid - the economic crisis, natch - along with his current project, his electric LincVolt guitar, Young apparently is dipping into various economy- and automotive -themed lyric motifs, if the songtitles are any indication .

Tracklisti ng:

1 When Worlds Collide
2 Fuel Line
3 Just Singing A Song
4 Johnny Magic
5 Cough Up The Bucks
6 Get Behind The Wheel
7 Off The Road
8 Hit The Road
9 Light A Candle
10 Fork In the Road

Neil Young - Fork In The Road

How much would YOU pay? Time's a-wasting!

By Blurt Staff

Sunday, Saddle Creek and Cursive began offering the band's new album Mama, I'm Swollen as a digital download for only $1 through the Saddle Creek website, launching a special promotion to allow fans to buy the album early at a lower cost.  For the next eight days, the new album will be available as a digital download at a pro-rated price that will increase by $1 each day (i.e., the price was $2 yesterday, $3 TODAY on March 3rd, $4 on March 4th, etc.). When the record hits stores on March 10th, the digital album will then remain at the regular price of $9.

The band will be on the road during March, playing eight shows around the release of Mama, I'm Swollen and leading up to multiple performanc es at SXSW. 

Cursive will also make their national television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman on Friday March 13th.

Last week, Cursive debuted two tracks from Mama, I'm Swollen online - "From The Hips" and "I Couldn't Love You" - which Stereogum deemed "an anti-intel lectual think piece" and "insanely catchy, wild-eyed ‘80s pop...rad", respective ly.  "From The Hips" is currently available for a free mp3 download here.

Saddle Creek also has CD and deluxe LP physical editions of Mama, I'm Swollen available. These include a download card for additional bonus music and videos, varying artwork with handwritte n lyrics by Cursive frontman Tim Kasher, and an instant MP3 download of the record.  For more informatio n on these album versions, please visit the Saddle Creek website: www.saddle-cre ek.com

Cursive March tour dates:

MAR. 9 &nb sp;   &nbs p;  BROOKLYN, NY &n bsp;   &nbs p;  MUSIC HALL of WILLIAMSBU RG (sold-out)
MAR. 10 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  NEW YORK, NY &n bsp;   &nbs p;  BOWERY BALLROOM (sold-out)
MAR. 12 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  LOS ANGELES, CA &n bsp;   &nbs p;  SPACELAND (sold-out)
MAR. 13 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  LOS ANGELES, CA &n bsp;   &nbs p;  THE TROUBADOUR (sold-out)
MAR. 14 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  SAN DIEGO, CA &n bsp;   &nbs p;  THE CASBAH (sold-out)
MAR. 15 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  PHOENIX, AZ &n bsp;   &nbs p;  RHYTHM ROOM
MAR. 16 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  ALBUQUERQU E, NM &n bsp;  THE LAUNCHPAD
MAR. 18 &n bsp;   &nbs p;  SAN ANTONIO, TX &n bsp;   &nbs p;  WHITE RABBIT

Bassist Dengler produces, stars in, and composes score for new 26-minute short. He also muses at length on the nature of celebrity.

By Blurt Staff

Apologies for the Pitchfork-style headline, but it seems appropriat e here. My Friends Told Me About You is the filmmaking debut of Carlos Dengler, bassist for Interpol. The 26 minute short film targets "the idea of celebrity as affliction " - see Dengler's slightly eggheaded, Freudian explanatio n below (something about ego and the phallus) - and premieres in New York City at Anonymous Gallery on April 17^th and runs through May 5.

Filmed around Chicago in 2007, MFTMAY charts the journey of a man at the beginning of a downward spiral. Paranoia, confusion, and anger start to color all that he knows to be true and as reality blurs with his subconscio us fears, an alternate world propelled by violence and mistrust begins to take over. As sonic as it is visual, Dengler also composed the original score for MFTMAY in collaborat ion with acclaimed English clarinetis t Ian Mitchell.

Carlos Dengler produced, stars in, and composed the original score for My Friends Told Me About You. MFTMAY is co-produce d by Todd Eckert, producer of award-winn ing Joy Division biopic, Control, which won the 2007 Cannes award for Best European Feature.

According to Dengler, "Making My Friends Told Me About You was a chance to explore the narrative potential of sound and spectacle. The idea was to achieve the expression of film as a compositio n, a tone poem of carefully selected cinematic effects and gestures."

My Friends Told Me About You is a main feature in Wholphin DVD Volume #8, due Spring 2009. (Wholphin is the quarterly DVD magazine of short films published by McSweeney' s.)

To view the trailer for My Friends Told Me About You go to:

www.myfriendst oldmeabout you.com

***

Carlos Dengler on "The Onset of Celebrity" :

Celebrity is a kind of affliction , a malaise, in essence, a condition.

It is part of a psychosis derived from the overabunda nce of positive value assignment s made by a crowd choosing a particular visage to carry these assignment s.

The wearer of this visage experience s this assignment as something against his will. And thus, understand ing that he will never be able to meet all the people who have assigned his visage this positive value within his lifetime, as there are too many to meet in the limited time frame of his lifespan, the wearer of the visage experience s this fact as a wound. This deep wound leads to the psychosis called the onset of celebrity.

The inability of the man to manage all of these positive value assignment s within his lifetime is a crisis of identity in that he no longer is in charge of his face; the crowd has taken it from him.

Upon the onset of celebrity the man experience s a fundamenta l rupture within his psyche that transforms him into the famed-ego.

From the moment of the onset, the path of the famed-ego leads inexorably to dehumaniza tion. The famed-ego is in a continual state of mismanagem ent of its relationsh ips with the crowd as it is powerless to control the gradations of esteem accrued upon the visage of the person ensconced around it. This abject powerlessn ess produces a failure in causality between choice and consequenc e, reducing the famed-ego to a state of total arbitrarin ess.

The visage is the chief signifier of singular, personal identity; it is the meeting-po int between the subjective reality of the ego and the objective reality outside of the ego. Since the famed-ego is in a continual state of mismanagem ent of this gateway, the social reality that has inundated it with positive value assignment s has effectivel y stolen his face.

In this vacuum of meaning, the famed-ego is disconnect ed from the self's personhood . The inability to establish meaning for itself places the famed-ego in an interminab le bind of nihilism of action, a purgatory where no action or reaction produces stability nor stepping-s tone to personal fulfillmen t. This is existentia l imprisonme nt, which is to say a total loss of free will. The self can not feel its own humanity, know or show love; the crowd has stolen the face and with that, the self collapses into the void of the onset of celebrity.

There is no break from this condition, no more than a person in a wheelchair may break from his affliction and walk on two feet for a moment. Because the onset of celebrity is an attenuatio n on the value of the visage dictated by a social imperative , it places the famed-ego in a space over which it has no control, under a condition of paralysis. The famed-ego inhabits a world in which the social reality blockades its path choices. These blockades have a logic known only to the collective responsibl e for positionin g them, but the famed-ego has no epistemolo gical access to this logic. Thus, the famed-ego experience s its reality as caprice.

Shackled in the catacomb of a universe of caprice, the famed-ego is barred from participat ion in the agreement of the crowd; so it continues its life in isolation from the crowd, in its own separate universe. As the agreed-upo n social reality of the crowd rubs against the isolation- universe of the famed ego, a rupture from historical complicity occurs. In its isolation, the famed-ego is banned from the shared historicit y the crowd enjoys.

Celebrity is indeed a psychosis. But as one can glean from this account, it is no simple hallucinat ion nor mental condition. It is not treatable by medication or therapy. It is an ontic-psyc hosis, a psychosis not of the mind but of existence, the existence of the merciless electrical current that bonds the crowd with the famed-ego.

The affliction of the onset of celebrity is a result of one of the logics of the ontic plenum establishe d by the crowd via their positive value assignment to the visage. Thus, the famed-ego can not even locate a point of origin for its psychosis within the developmen t of its own ideation. That point of origin is located from without the famed-ego' s universe, at some arbitrary coordinate within the ontic plenum of the crowd logic.

If celebrity is a malaise, it is a malaise acquiring its éla n from social forces willingly conspiring with each other in a type of concealed Totentanz. This interactio n congeals to the phenomenal realm, to the universe of things.

Celebrity is not just psychosis, a distortion of cognition isolated to synaptic verities of particular mentation. It is ontic psychosis, a condition in which the psychopath is a unity of social forces that bond the crowd with the famed-ego and thrust the condition of celebrity into the milieu of an ontic plenum establishe d via social contract. Thus, the ontology of celebrity relies heavily on the understand ing that existence is an agreed upon reality.

---------- ---------- ---------- --

The famed-ego is entrenched in a hysterical purgatory.

This hysterical purgatory is the ontic node of the famed-ego' s psychosis. It is continuall y reposition ed by the unknowable crowd logic that sets its condition in the first place, like a pebble rolled over and over by the undulating movements of a gigantic centipede.

As the centipede rolls this pebble over, the famed-ego, locked in its purgatory, experience s life as a state of tragedy.

Tragedy is process. Process has procedure. Therefore, the onset of celebrity has a procedure.

My Friends Told Me About You is the photograph ic documentat ion of the nature of the procedure of the onset of celebrity. It is the synaptic interface through which data transmissi ons leaked from the onset of celebrity bottleneck into the filmic-nar rative apparatus. The real estate the movie occupies within the filmic-nar rative apparatus is a display case of the most excessive plot points from the onset of celebrity, the points intense enough to push through the bottleneck and into the display case.

The film recasts the tragic procedure of the onset of celebrity as surrealist ic-tragic melodrama. It distills the highest degree of truthful moments within the conceptual framework of the onset of celebrity and weaves them into an arabesque depicting a collapsibl e reality across a comprehens ive experienti al spectrum. It photograph s an empirical tableau of excessiven ess from the vantage point of a Cartesian ego under the duress of fame. It amplifies the conceptual nodes of the onset of celebrity as a crusade rife with the agonies of the pursuit and acquisitio n of fame.

My Friends Told Me About You deploys the dramatizat ion of this pursuit as a primordial conflict between Man and Woman. It assigns the famed-ego the phallus and instantiat es it as a genderized polarity called Man. To depict the rubbing-ag ainst of the famed-ego as-Man with the "city limits" in which the crowd has ostracized him, it places Man in opposition to Woman. In its isolation, the famed-ego can not see the crowd that has placed it into its purgatory. However, in order to live the struggle of its purgatoria l realm,&nbs p; as Man, it contracts the horizon of the crowd forces that constrict it into a genderized locus that opposes it. This opposition is Woman.

The opposition between the famed-ego- as-Man and Woman is characteri zed in My Friends Told Me About You as misogyny. In its tragic fall from grace, once it has acquired a genderized articulati on of identity, the famed-ego experience s its purgatoria l isolation as a total Loss of Love. The absence of Love is Hate, and thus the opposition this absence spawns takes on the character of Disrespect for Woman, or misogyny.

Misogyny in My Friends Told Me About You is an effusion of imaginatio n that results from the catatonic rupture occurring in the psyche of the famed-ego from the onset of celebrity. It is a component of the epic complex of suspicion and paranoia that constitute s the empirical tableau exhibited across the photograph ic slideshow of then film's display case. The failure to establish a reliable temporal axis of linearity and the excursiven ess of the event horizon of the film's narrative are necessaril y symptomati c narrative structures emanating from this epic complex, of which misogyny is but one component.

The process of narration of the procedure of the onset of celebrity involves the operations of the handed-dow n filmic-nar rative apparatus colluding with the conceptual axes of three resonances , nonlineari ty, surrealism , and misogyny, which operate on a metatextua l level.

This totality is the instructio n of a tragedy.

The onset of celebrity is a tragic fall from grace and dehumaniza tion of the famed-ego by the crowd agreement to assign its visage positive value. It is an atemporal process resultant from the concurrenc e of psychic-on tic effusions from the social reality. Thus, the onset of celebrity can not be a story per se; but it requires narration, a specific type of narration, to illustrate itself. As the onset of celebrity acquires articulati on through narrative, its conceptual framework is infused with particular ity. As the narration unfolds, we see this particular ity, of necessity, as devastatio n.

First installmen t of garage-pop combo's frontperso n debuts today at Blurt site.

By Blurt Staff

That's right, you read the headline correctly: the lovely Ms. Coco Hames, one-third of the mighty Ettes, is officially now a Blurt Blogger. (That's the singer/gui tarist in the photo above, standing between drummer Poni Silver and bassist Jem Cohen.) Her blog is titled "Look At Life" - named after the Ettes' 2008 album Look At Life Again Soon , reviewed HERE - and that's exactly what she'll be doing for us.

The first Hames blog went live on the BLURT site today and you can link through from the list of bloggers on the right hand side of the homepage or simply click HERE. In it, she lets you know why young girls should not follow freaks with scraggly beards and cowboy hats home late at night to their trailers in order to listen to old Johnny Cash records. (Memo to self: purchase some Cash CDs soon.)

In the weeks to come Coco will be sharing with us all manner of hard-won wisdom, like why you shouldn't get your socks mixed up with a bandmates while on the road, what it's like to be the opening act on a Kings of Leon tour, and possibly what Katy Perry was like during her pre-fame years.

And this isn't Coco's first foray into journalism for BLURT: back in January she authored the initial installmen t of our ongoing series "Most Fucked Up Thing I've Ever Seen" - which you can read HERE.

Meanwhile, there's also that news about the new Ettes' EP Danger Is along with their upcoming SXSW shows. Don't miss the band if you're in Austin...

[Photo Credit: Matt Wignall]

Digging out from under all that snow as well...

By Fred Mills

God bless YouTube and the Santa's elves that keep it hummin' 24-7. At our advanced age we're tucked away in our bunks long before 11:30 EST - that's when David Letterman comes on, and since most of the musical guests don't perform until the end of the show, staying up until almost 12:30 is a recipe for feeling like a real dog the next morning. (You say you're not an early riser? Wait'll you have kids, punk.)

So Monday night U2 began their week-long residency with Dave, and on the first show they performed "Breathe" from No Line on the Horizon. See below for the performanc e clip, along with an additional one in which the Letterman cameras caught the Irish rockers shoveling snow (and taking a smoke break). Literally.

Then last night they did "Magnifice nt," which is one of the stronger tracks on the admittedly flawed album - classic U2 territory. The clip of that is below as well.

Meanwhile, you  can check out our somewhat-c autionary, 6-out-of-1 0-stars review of the new album HERE. Raise your hand if you forked out the big bucks for the super-dupe r deluxe edition....

Presumably a No Line on the Horizon outtake... the one the band didn't want you to see....

By Fred Mills

The lyric sheet turned up too... obviously it was a smart move for them to delay releasing the album last fall as there were a few kinks that still needed working out...

Time + Ridiculous Idea = This

When you reach puberty your body changes everything
I never seen a bush like this can you see it too

Hairs growing everywhere people trying not to stare
Someone laughs and starts to point their finger at you

Hey, Sexy Pubes
Check out my pubes, yeah

Feel how curly they can be overflowin g out my jeans
Oh it's like a forest in a fairy tale

Here's where I hide my weed no one will ever see
I can put a block of cheese right in there as well

You don't know how beautiful
You donl't know how beautiful they are

You don't know You don't get it do you
You don't know how beautiful they are

Some of them are falling out most of them are growing out
Women like to braid them after fornicatio n

I got to keep them clean you like the waxing scene
Man you wanna talk about a burning sensation

Alright now Sexy Pubes
Oh yeah, check out my pubes

You don't know how beautiful
You donl't know how beautiful they are

You don't know You don't get it do you
You don't know how beautiful they are

Check out my pubes
Check out my pubes
Check out my pubes

Let me in the house Let me in the house
Let me in the house house Let me in the house house
Let me in the house...

Check out my pubes, Hey hey hey

Party like it's 1991, kids....

By Blurt Staff

The envelope, please: this year's Alterna-Er a Nostalgia Award goes to.... Jane's Addiction and Nine Inch Nails, for their upcoming co-headlin ing tour just announced last night by Trent Reznor at the Nine Inch Nails message board.

Break out those Docs, flannels, eyeliner and black nail polish, kids, and get ready to party like it's, uh, 1991. Too bad most of these shows will be held at outdoor sheds, which may be good for maximizing ticket sales but absolutely suck from a concert experience point of view. Still, don't forget, this might be Trent's final hurrah for NiN, as he's mulling over some kind of retirement ....

Tour Dates:

Fri-May-08 West Palm Beach, FL [Cruzan Amphitheat re]
Sat-May-09 Tampa, FL [Ford Amphitheat re]
Sun-May-10 Atlanta, GA [Lakewood Amphitheat re]
Thu-May-14 Albuquerqu e, NM [Journal Pavilion]
Fri-May-15 Phoenix, AZ [Cricket Wireless Pavilion]
Sat-May-16 Chula Vista, CA [Cricket Wireless Amphitheat er]
Mon-May-18 Las Vegas, NV [The Pearl]
Wed-May-20 Irvine, CA [Verizon Wireless Amphitheat er - Irvine Meadows]
Fri-May-22 Mountain View, CA [Shoreline Amphitheat re]
Tue-May-26 Englewood, CO [Fiddler's Green Amphitheat re]
Wed-May-27 Kansas City, MO [Starlight Theatre]
Fri-May-29 Chicago, IL [Charter One Pavilion] NINE INCH NAILS Only
Sat-May-30 Noblesvill e, IN [Verizon Wireless Music Center]
Sun-May-31 Clarkston, MI [DTE Energy Music Theatre]
Tue-Jun-02 Toronto, ON [Molson Amphitheat re]
Wed-Jun-03 Darien Lake, NY [Darien Lake Amphitheat re]
Fri-Jun-05 Camden, NJ [Tweeter Center At The Waterfront ]
Sat-Jun-06 Holmdel, NJ [PNC Bank Arts Center]
Sun-Jun-07 Wantagh, NY [Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater]
Tue-Jun-09 Columbia, MD [Merriweat her Post Pavilion]
Wed-Jun-10 Burgettsto wn, PA [Post-Gaze tte Pavilion]
Fri-Jun-12 Charlotte, NC [Verizon Wireless Amphitheat re

From the Fairports to the present.

By Blurt Staff

It's not the first time Richard Thompson has been given the archival treatment. In 1993 Rykodisc/H annibal put together a three-disc collection , Watching The Dark: The History of Richard Thompson, which dipped back to 1969 and the guitarist' s Fairport Convention days then brought things up through his solo career, to 1988. And there have been assorted best-ofs and rarities collection s (some of them mail order only) over the years as well. Just the same, on June 30 Shout! Factory will pay tribute to Thompson with a new 4-CD box Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009 ), and while it doesn't necessaril y go deep in terms of rarities (aside from a handful of motion picture soundtrack cuts), it does cover the man's entire career, dipping into his extensive back catalog.

See the full tracklisti ng below.

That aforementi oned stretches back over 40 years. Songs from every Richard Thompson album are represente d on Walking On A Wire, beginning with the trail-blaz ing folk-rock group Fairport Convention , of which he was a founding member as a teenager, to his duo albums with then-wife Linda Thompson, as well as his 20 plus years as a critically acclaimed solo artist. Thompson will tour the US and UK this spring and summer.

The songs chosen for this selection of his work were carefully assembled and aim to provide a real sense of Richard Thompson, as well as to celebrate the diversity of his music - rock 'n' roll with folk, jazz, rockabilly and the odd waltz thrown in - the scope of his songwritin g, and the sheer virtuosity of his playing. Walking On A Wire impressive ly includes 71 tracks from albums released by 15 different labels, and includes a 60 page booklet with new notes by Patrick Humphries.

Early on in his career Thompson was singled out as a songwriter of distinctio n; as a guitarist, he was being compared by critics to more establishe d "guitar heroes" such as Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. He reached a new level of critical and commercial success in the 80's and 90's during his Capitol Records period, during which he recorded what is perhaps his signature song, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning."

Declared by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 20 Guitarists of all time, the iconic British folk-rock legend is one of the world's most critically acclaimed and prolific songwriter s. Thompson's songs, of which he's written more than 400, have been covered by R.E.M., Elvis Costello, the Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, and many more. Thompson has been received by rock royalty, such as Bruce Springstee n, and Elvis Costello, as well as by real royalty, Queen Elizabeth II. Thompson is also the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award for Songwritin g, the Orville Gibson Award for guitarists , and the 2006 BBC Lifetime Achievemen t Award.

Richard Thompson has carefully chosen his projects over the years, including the score for Werner Herzog's film Grizzly Man, 2003's stripped-d own The Old Kit Bag, which included the sombre " Gethsemane " and the atmospheri c "A Love You Can't Survive," and 2007's Sweet Warrior (Shout! Factory), from which the final three tracks of this collection are taken, and which featured the provocativ e reflection of the Iraq War "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," the ballad "She Sang the Angels to Rest," and "Needle and Thread," which recalls prime Fairport. Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009 ) finally provides fans a comprehens ive collection of Thompson's work.

Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009 )

Disc One :

1. Time Will Show The Wiser - Fairport Convention Fairport Convention

2. Meet On The Ledge - Fairport Convention What We Did On Our Holidays ( U.K. ), Fairport

 &nbs p; Convention ( U.S. )

3. Genesis Hall - Fairport Convention Unhalfbric king

4. Crazy Man Michael - Fairport Convention Liege & Lief

5. Sloth - Fairport Convention Full House

6. Roll Over Vaughn Williams Starring As Henry The Human Fly

7. The Poor Ditching Boy Starring As Henry The Human Fly

8. The Angels Took My Racehorse Away Starring As Henry The Human Fly

9. The Great Valerio - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

10. When I Get To The Border - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See

 &nbs p; &n bsp;  The Bright Lights Tonight

11. Withered And Died - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

12. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See

 &nbs p; &n bsp;  The Bright Lights Tonight

13. Down Where The Drunkards Roll - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Tonight

14. The Calvary Cross - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

15. I'll Regret It All In The Morning - Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey

16. Old Man Inside A Young Man - Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey

17. For Shame Of Doing Wrong - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

18. Night Comes In - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

Disc Two:

1. Dimming Of The Day/Dargai - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

2. A Heart Needs A Home - Richard & Linda Thompson (guitar, vocal) ( U.K. ), Live! (More Or Less)

 &nbs p;  ( U.S. )

3. Don't Let A Thief Steal Into Your Heart - Richard & Linda Thompson First Light

4. Strange Affair - Richard & Linda Thompson First Light

5. Sunnyvista - Richard & Linda Thompson Sunnyvista

6. Sisters - Richard & Linda Thompson Sunnyvista

7. Rockin' In Rhythm Strict Tempo!

8. Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

9. Man In Need - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

10. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

11. Wall Of Death - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

12. Walking On A Wire - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

13. Tear Stained Letter Hand Of Kindness

14. How I Wanted To Hand Of Kindness

15. Hand Of Kindness Hand Of Kindness

16. Beat The Retreat (Live) Small Town Romance (Live/Solo In New York, 1982)

17. I Ain't Going To Drag My Feet No More Across A Crowded Room

Disc Three:

1. Little Blue Number Across A Crowded Room

2. She Twists The Knife Again Across A Crowded Room

3. Valerie Daring Adventures

4. Turning Of The Tide Amnesia

5. I Still Dream Amnesia

6. Waltzing's For Dreamers Amnesia

7. Read About Love Rumor And Sigh

8. I Feel So Good Rumor And Sigh

9. I Misunderst ood Rumor And Sigh

10. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning Rumor And Sigh

11. Put Your Trust In Me Sweet Talker (Original Soundtrack )

12. From Galway To Graceland (Live) Watching The Dark

13. I Can't Wake Up To Save My Life Mirror Blue

14. MGB-GT Mirror Blue

15. Mingus Eyes Mirror Blue

16. Beeswing Mirror Blue

17. Taking My Business Elsewhere Mirror Blue

18. King Of Bohemia Mirror Blue

19. Don't Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes At Me (Live) - Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson Live

 &nbs p; &n bsp;  At Crawley 1993 - Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson

20. Razor Dance (Voltage Enhanced) you? me? us?

Disc Four:

1. Hide It Away (Voltage Enhanced) you? me? us?

2. Last Shift - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

 &nbs p;  Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

3. Big Chimney - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

 &nbs p;  Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

4. Lotterylan d - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

 &nbs p;  Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

5. Persuasion (Live) - Richard Thompson Celtschmer z (Live UK '98)

6. Cooksferry Queen Mock Tudor

7. Bathsheba Smiles Mock Tudor

8. Hard On Me (Live) Semi-Detac hed Mock Tudor

9. Gethsemane The Old Kit Bag

10. A Love You Can't Survive The Old Kit Bag

11. A Legal Matter (Live) 1000 Years Of Popular Music

12. Main Title From Grizzly Man Grizzly Man (Original Soundtrack )

13. Al Bowlly's In Heaven (Live) Live From Austin TX

14. I'll Never Give It Up Sweet Warrior

15. Dad's Gonna Kill Me Sweet Warrior

16. She Sang Angels To Rest Sweet Warrior

Hot on the heels of their recent album Sonic Portation.

By Fred Mills

Diligent BLURTers who were intrigued by our recent review of the psychedeli c legends YaHoWha 13's Sonic Portation album are now going to get a chance to grok the fullness up close and personal as the band mounts a handful of east coast concerts near the end of this month.

Shows in Philly, Baltimore, D.C., NYC and New Haven have been announced at the official YaHoWha 13 website and they come highly BLURT-appr oved, so you know a good time is going to be had by all. Support for all gigs will be the equally cranium-un corking Kohoutek, from D.C., with notable others depending on the city. (Kohoutek, incidental ly, are longtime fans of Y13 and took their name from the title of the group's first album.)

The shows will be filmed for a possible future DVD release, so those of you in the audience, wear your best finery.

Tour Dates:

• March 25 / Philadelph ia, PA: Johnny Brendas - with Kohoutek + Niagra Falls
• March 26 / Baltimore, MD: Talking Head Club - with Kohoutek + Mopar Mountain Daredevils (ex Acid Mothers Temple)
• March 27 / Washington , DC: / Velvet Lounge - with Kohoutek + more
• March 28 / NYC: The Old Knitting Factory Main Space - with Kohoutek & others
• March 29 / New Haven, CT: Free Show TBA - with Kohoutek and Gringo Star   

It was the invasion of the sleazoids in deadly dull black and white, and I have the flyer somewhere. If it ever shows up, I will scan the damn thing, and post it on this blog. I’ve looked all over the web, but can find neither hide nor hair evidence of this grand event that occurred in downtown Wilmington somewhere in 1975.

The filthiest bunch of skum ever descended upon the incredibly dead city of the Chemical Capital of the World to romp and barf in mindless abandonmen t under the banner of the First Annual World Sleaze Convention . (Not really the first, fact hounds: Tokyo had several before this one, usually with Ultraman look-alike contests and various Mothra color slide shows, and once, Johnny Sokko of Albany, NY, showed sleazee snapshots of his mom’ s undies for 50 cents a peep, AND, if you want to stretch a point, every flea market worth its weight in garbage is a first-clas s sleaze con minus the pretension s of cult fondling), but like all convention s, whether it’s for babyfat Trekkies or Beatle mop tops, its spells CON, and the fix is for the hustlers. In Wilmington , the dada was squelched as the wares were foisted on every burned-out creep who flopped near each “biz arro bazaar.” Actual moolah was exchanged for stuff best left near Rover&rsqu o;s daily dump.

Apocalypti c Production s were the hoodlums responsibl e for this three-day gathering of sleaze. The gyp was so well-conce ived that you could even purchase a two-dollar Convention Kit for not attending (although the kit did not include anything swell like an old tampon, chewed pizza, snot, or mangled Bazooka Joe).

The agenda was centered on what seemed like a 24-hour loop of and anything associated with this subversive crass moment in cinematic history. Of course, nothing as arty as the appearance of John Waters was ever promised, but Pink FlamingosEdith Massey did arrive to sit on her flabby butt. (Divine never made it to gobble her own poopoo as was rumored by certain bored spectators .)

Other phooey films were unmentiona bles such as House of Horrors, Not of This Earth, Little Shop of Horrors, The Dianne Linkletter Story, Zsa Zsa GaGa Bore as a Venusian Queen of Outer Space, and the forgivable Plan 9 from Outer Space. Lotsa good flicks were shown, yessirree! !

In fact, a tremendous list compiled from those 2-am horror/sci -fi jokes which were once beamed into the homes of insomniacs and offbeat scuzz puds everywhere just after the late-great Tom Snyder&rsq uo;s Doo Dah Theater snooze. Better to watch that slop in the privacy of your own bedroom, though, just you and the tube (before you and the You Tube), without all the crud who call themselves “hum an beings&rdq uo; picking their noses and bums, smelling like rotten tins of Sea Hunt.

Yes, those were the days&helli p;.long before the freak show of reality TV.  Of course you can do your own Virtual Sleaze Convention anytime with social networking to boot.  But nothing beats face-to-fa ce witnessing of the cultural debris, and I am proud to say I was there at the onslaught.  It’s kinda like saying you first heard Bruce as a garage band on the Jersey Shore. 

Conversati on with the band's Ed Droste incoming....

By Blurt Staff

Now it can be revealed: Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear - or, technicall y, the band's resident blogger and bon vivant Edward Droste - is one of six musical leading lights who grace the cover of the debut print issue of BLURT. (Who are the other five? If you've signed up for the BLURT newsletter , you might find out tonight...)  In it, we've got a conversati on with Droste about his band and their hotly-tipp ed sophomore album Veckatimes t (due from Warp Records on May 26^th), as well with musings on how Grizzly Bear has slowly but surely moved to the forefront of the contempora ry indie-rock scene.

"I think we're just a slow burn type of band," Droste tells BLURT. "I mean, we're not a pop band. All I can attribute it to, is time after time, we'd hear people say, ‘at first I thought it was boring and then a year later I revisited it and I love it'."

We'll late you wait for the issue to read the rest of the interview, but meanwhile, enjoy the sneak visual preview, above.

So here's the scoop on the album, along with details on the band's upcoming tour, direct from Grizzly Bear Ground Zero....

***

 
Upon releasing their acclaimed debut album, Yellow House in 2006, Grizzly Bear - comprising of singer/son gwriter Ed Droste, drummer Christophe r Bear, woodwinds player/bas sist Chris Taylor and singer/son gwriter/gu itarist Daniel Rossen - have become one of independen t music's most internatio nally-reno wned talents. Tours opening for Radiohead, Feist and TV On The Radio, co-headlin ing a show with the Los Angeles Philharmon ic, playing on David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, participat ing in a five-night tribute to Paul Simon at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and performing their own BAM show with the Brooklyn Philharmon ic solidified their well-deser ved reputation as one of the most exciting, unique and truly adventurou s bands to come out of New York City in years.  Yellow House's twilight-l it charm and sleepy Sunday morning glow won the hearts of music fans all over the globe. Their ever growing fan base has given rise to an almost pathologic al thirst for new material, with websites and blogs speculatin g on the new songs and tracking every rumor or nugget of informatio n throughout the recording process.

 
Produced by the band's own Chris Taylor, Veckatimes t - named for a Massachuse tts island the band visited during recording - is a stunning collection of twelve songs, featuring guest turns by composer Nico Muhly (whose string parts grace four of the tracks) and Beach House's Victoria LeGrand. It's an album of homespun elegance, bubbling with orchestral flourishes , haunted harmony vocals by all four band members, and a graceful, unrestrain ed beauty.  Spli tting their time between recordings in Cape Cod and a church hall in their native Brooklyn, Grizzly Bear's attention to details in the studio is felt on every track. The songs and arrangemen ts are more complex than any of their previous compositio ns, a result of the band writing together in solitude for months on end.  Desp ite their many layers, there remains a sparse, singular quality to these tracks that ultimately makes them so affecting - in between their fine lines are slow-burni ng emotions and dynamic melodies. Veckatimes t is ultimately confident and delicate, sophistica ted and alive; a line no one walks with quite as much panache as Grizzly Bear.

 
With opener "Southern Point," Veckatimes t exudes a quiet strength, as drums roll, percussion sparkles, acoustic guitars pitter-pat ter and strings sweep in behind Droste's emotive vocal delivery.  "Two Weeks" - already known to fans from a 2008 David Letterman performanc e - is otherworld ly pop complement ed perfectly by Victoria LeGrand's swirling backing vocals, while "Fine For Now" lilts with choral castles of voices and gorgeous, reverb-bat hed guitars.  "Rea dy, Able" radiates with tempo shifts, a psychedeli c organ part, plucked guitars and swooping backing vocals, and "While You Wait For The Others" is heart-poun ding pop encased in feathery harmonies whose deceptivel y simple chorus has one of the album's finest melodic hooks.  Clos ing song "Foregroun d" fills a plaintive piano line with an angelic choir, hollow drums and four-part singing to a dazzling effect. Truth told, though, this sort of dizzying high is what their legions of ardent fans have come to expect from Grizzly Bear, and on Veckatimes t, they deliver it and then some.

 
Grizzly Bear Tour Dates:

5/24 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
5/25 George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
5/26 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
5/28 NYC @ Town Hall
5/29 NYC @ Town Hall
6/01 Washington DC @ 930 Club
6/02 Philadelph ia, PA @ Trocadero
6/03 Boston, MA @ Berkley Performanc e Center
6/04 Montreal, QUE @ Le National
6/05 Toronto ON @ Phoenix
6/07 Minneapoli s, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
6/08 Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
6/09 Bloomingto n, IN @ Buskirk- Chumley
6/11 Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle
6/12 Manchester , TN @ Bonnaroo
6/13 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle (With TV On The Radio)
6/15 Dallas, TX @  Gren ada
6/16 Austin, TX @ The Parish
6/19 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
6/20- Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
6/21 San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
6/22- San Francisco @ Fillmore

[Photo Taken Exclusivel y for Blurt by Dennis Kleiman]

Just like having the milk delivered straight to your doorstep each morning....

By Blurt Staff

In preparatio n for the release of the official mix album Infinity +1, DJ A-Trak is launching a special Infinity +1 countdown site which will feature one new piece of content released daily leading up to the album release on March 31st.

Leading off this digital onslaught is an 8 minute downloadab le teaser minimix showcasing some of the many high points of Infinity +1 along with a personal video introducti on to the site from A-Trak and his sidekick, Jonathan the Gorilla. Future content posts include interviews and exclusive downloads from artists and remixers featured on Infinity +1, tour video diaries, science lessons and possibly more ventriloqu ism.

An extremely active Twitter user, A-Trak will be utilizing a Twitter based campaign to keep people up to date about new content posts on the countdown site and his life in general as he ramps up to the album release with a nonstop month of touring and promotion. Be sure to check the Infinity +1 Countdown Site each day to stay up to date on new music, video, and blog content!


A-Trak's Infinity +1 Countdown Site: http://www .thrivemusi c.com/infini typlusone/


Tour Dates:

3/13/09 TORONTO, ON CIRCA
3/14/09 BROOKLYN, NY STUDIO B (w/ DJ Mehdi)
3/17/09 BOSTON, MA THE ESTATE
3/19/09 AUSTIN, TX PALM DOOR (Fool's Gold)
3/20/09 LOS ANGELES, CA AVALON (w/ Sinden)
3/21/09 SAN FRANCISCO, CA PARADISE
3/22/09 LOS ANGELES, CA LAX
3/26/09 MIAMI, FL BEATPORT POOL PARTY
3/26/09 MIAMI, FL LOUIS CLUB
3/28/09 MIAMI, FL RALEIGH HOTEL
3/28/09 MIAMI, FL WHITE ROOM (Fool's Gold)

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/ca ble/satell ite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST.

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

Wednesday, March 4:

9:00 a.m. syndicated : Ellen Degeneres: The Fray

9:00 VH1 Classic: Rolling Stones "Let's Spend the Night Together"

9:00 Biography Channel: The Monkees

9:00 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/ Elton John

10:00 Biography Channel: Chris Isaak Hour: Trisha Yearwood

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Neko Case

12:05 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Oren Lavie

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Thursday, March 5:

12:00 noon & 6:00 Biography: Billy Idol

1:00  & 7:00 Biography: ABBA

2:00 Biography: Private Sessions - Linsdsey Buckingham

4:30 VH1 Classic: Thin Lizzy Live Philadelph ia 1977

8:00 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/ Elton John

9:00 VH1 Classic: Pink Floyd's The Wall

10:00 Biography: Chris Isaak Hour: Stevie Nicks

11:00 Biography: Chris Isaak Hour: Trisha Yearwood

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Tom Jones

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Raphael Saadiq

12:30 CBS Craig Ferguson: Andrew Bird

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Ludacris

Friday, March 6:

9:00 syndicated Bonnie Hunt: Plain White Ts

5:30 VH1 Classic: Classic Albums - Judas Priest's "British Steel"

11:30 CBS David Letterman: U2

11:35 CBS Jay Leno: Papa Roach

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Crooked X

12:00 Sundance: Joe Strummer Let's Rock Again

12:30 CBS Craig Ferguson: M. Ward

1:15 Sundance: Live From Abbey Road: Rascal Flatts, Kate Nash, Herbie Hancock

1:35 NBC Carson Daly: NASA

Our magic 8-ball: "All signs point to yes."

By Fred Mills

RollingSto ne.com is reporting that sources close to Bob Dylan have indicated he has a new studio album, as yet untitled, headed for stores in late April. Apparently the bard, upon completing a song for filmmaker Olivier Daham (La Vie en Rose) for the film My Own Love Song, starring Renee Zellweger, was inspired to keep "writing and recording with his road band and guests."

The song in question, "Life is Hard," is described as "a bleak ballad with mandolin, pedal still and [Dylan] singing in a dark clear voice," while another song slated for the 10-track  albu m, "I Feel a Change Coming On," according to Rolling Stone, takes in "raw-count ry love songs, sly wordplay and the wounded state of the nation... the disc has the live-in-th e-studio feel of Dylan's last two studio records, Love and Theft and 2006's Modern Times, but with a seductive border-caf e feel (courtesy of the accordion on every track) and an emphasis on struggling -love songs. The effect - in the opening shuffle, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," the Texas-danc ehall jump of "If You Ever Go to Houston" and the waltz "This Dream of You" - is a gnarly turn on early-1970 s records like New Morning and Planet Waves."

Keep your eyes peeled for more details soon.

Emily Haines also slated for new issue of BLURT.

By Blurt Staff

With Metric's fourth full length studio album Fantasies en route April 14 (it's to be released on the band's own, newly-form ed label Metric Music Internatio nal), frontwoman Emily Haines has been talking to BLURT, naturally. She'll be in our debut print issue (due at newsstands March 24), and as she puts it, of the band's decision to go the grassroots route, "I think it was the logical decision we made. We weighed our options, entertaine d a lot of scenarios, and strangely, this was the safest move. [The record companies] wanted to get between us and our fans. I am constantly amazed by what's possible when you get an audience in a room. It's rock ‘n' roll church. We need it as much as our audience needs it."

The followup to 2005's highly acclaimed Live It Out, Fantasies  was written by the band in a farmhouse outside Seattle following what the band describes as "a soul-clean sing sojourn to Argentina" by Haines. Fantasies is a densely textured modern mix of psychedeli a, electro, and rock with a "really big and really dreamy" sound, says guitarist/ co-founder Jimmy Shaw.

Haines added, in a press release,  "For me, the major influences on the record were the places we wrote it: Bear Creek, this utopian farmhouse studio, and then our own studio in Toronto, which definitely brought in the electro, dance and rock elements because the city feels so good right now and so many of our musician friends were around. And then for me, being in Buenos Aires, most of the songs I brought to this record came out of being in exile with just a piano and a guitar. And then in the final stages, mixing at Electric Lady in NYC brought everything around."

Track Listing:

Help I'm Alive
Sick Muse
Satellite Mind
Twilight Galaxy
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Collect Call
Front Row
Blindness
Stadium Love

Metric is offering fans a free download of the acoustic version of "Help I'm Alive".  This version will not appear on the album and is offered for free in exchange for an email address.  All you have to do is enter your email address in the widget below and you'll receive the MP3 in only a couple of minutes.

How To Enhance Your Listening Experience By Stealing The Music You Love

Ever since I can remember, I've loved music. I don't mean loved so much as I mean I NEEDED music. Being an only child, music and books were my best friends.

My parents quickly realized that I could be placated with a weekly trip to Standard Drug Store, which sold a wide variety of 45 rpm records and even a few of the top-sellin g LPs of the day. The first thing they bought me was Deep Purple's version of the Neil Diamond tune "Kentucky Woman." My folks likely thought it was a "safe" record to buy their young son because it was a Neil Diamond-pe nned song, but my incessant listening to Purple's brutally loud and cool take on the song nearly drove my dad crazy.

After that, it was a steady diet of Creedence Clearwater Revival 45s. CCR seemed to have a new #1 single every month in those days, and it was a form of rock n' roll that my folks deemed non-threat ening, at least compared to the mind-warpi ng acid-rock of Deep Purple.

Soon, I inherited a box of 45s from a family friend who was being shipped off to fight in Vietnam and wanted me to have his collection . The gift was a goldmine: The Who, Sly & The Family Stone, The Turtles...not to mention other assorted one-hit wonders like The Bubble Puppy and the 1910 Fruitgum Company!

As my fierce desire for new music grew, my parents decided that it was time I graduated from the Mickey Mouse turntable - where Mickey's little arm served as the tone arm of the turntable - to an actual stereo system. The door was opened for the LP, and so began my endless journey from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin and beyond.

By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, my appetite for new music had outstrippe d my allowance, and I was forced to get creative. A paper route seemed like a sensible method of earning some money as I wasn't yet old enough to be a bag boy at the local Safeway. I lived in a compact neighborho od consisting mostly of little old ladies who paid up on time and sometimes gave the polite, young paperboy an extra tip. At the end of every week, I pooled my hard-earne d cash from the paper route for my weekly bike ride to Gary's Stereo and Record shop in Willow Lawn.

Gary's was an amazing place, a stereotypi cal ‘70s multi-purp ose cultural establishm ent. Upon entering the store, the customer was greeted on the right by a lengthy glass display counter filled with a rainbow assortment of what was then called "paraphern alia." Behind this counter lurked a couple of not-so-hel pful sales clerks in the classic "too-stone d-to-help- you-yet-to o-snobby-t o-care-abo ut-your-de cidedly-un hip-needs" mode.

Every square inch of the walls at Gary's were lined with vinyl and posters proclaimin g the newest major label releases. It was something beautiful to behold. To the left were the newest the Top 40 45s displayed in racks, six feet high. On the other side were the shelves where the LPs resided. Beyond the records, the store opened up into a much larger showroom that housed the stereo department .

Gary's was a wonderland to me: a place where I could go and just dig through the 12 x 12 inch pieces of art to my heart's content. I would go back and forth from one end to the other like a typewriter working my way from bottom row to top, repeating the process on the other side of the shelves until I'd zeroed in on just the right album to buy. I always stopped before I got to the Classical music section...that was for the old folks.

I was a huge Pink Floyd fan, having been turned onto them a few years earlier by my camp counselor, Klaus, who had come to Camp Greenbriar from Germany with tapes he recorded off of Berlin radio stations that were filled with "The Pink Floyd Sound" and other strange kraut rock.

The gap between Floyd releases was interminab le to their fans, usually two or three years. It was during the period between Wish You Were Here and the release of Animals that I discovered and became enchanted by the cover of a Floyd LP that I had never seen before: Ummagumma.

Ummagumma was a much-sough t-after double LP containing both a studio album and live show recorded in the U.K. in June 1969. My paper route earnings, when combined with my allowance, only amounted to enough cash to purchase a single LP for $5.99. Ummagumma was a bargain priced at $10.99, but it was still too pricey for my wallet. But I needed that music NOW. There was no way I could wait for two weeks and actually save up the money needed to purchase it, so I devised a plan to STEAL the record.

I always had a few extra copies of the evening paper in my shoulder satchel and would often take them into Gary's after my route to give to the guys who worked in the store. Over time, they warmed up to me as I became a regular and faithful customer. My loyalties wouldn't allow me to go to Peaches Records; besides, Peaches was way out on Broad Street, far beyond my bike-ridin g range.

Testing out the size of my paper satchel with a record or two at home, I discovered that if I slipped the record between the extra copies of the paper, no one would be the wiser. I planned to wait until a day when the papers were thick and heavy with advertisem ents - usually Wednesdays or Fridays - in order to smuggle the double record out of the store.

The days crept by until that next Wednesday afternoon when I nervously began the bike ride from the end of my paper route to the Willow Lawn shopping center with a few extra copies of the Richmond News Leader in my bag. I excitedly entered Gary's, said my hellos, slipped the extra copy of the paper to the guys at the register, and began my usual routine of perusing the record shelves.

Having spent so much time there, I knew the layout of the store fairly well and had found a few blind spots where I could stand and pretend to look at records while performing the "lift." No store employees would be able to see me, especially if I waited until the guy in the stereo department was busy with a potential customer. He loved to tell his customers stories about his days as a roadie in the 60s, as if this would somehow soften even the toughest buyer into purchasing a new hi-fi system.

I picked up a copy of the double live Status Quo record and carried it to where the Pink Floyd records were located. Pretending to be fascinated with the liner notes, I placed it on top of a copy of the coveted Ummagumma LP, which I had put in the front row for easier access earlier that week.

As the moment of truth approached , the FEAR began to grab hold of me. I hadn't even smoked pot yet in my life, but suddenly for the first time, I understood paranoia. The bottoms of my feet went numb, and I was engulfed in a cold sweat. My ears felt hot and I could feel my face, red and glistening . Surely the clerks at the front counter knew what I was up to and were calling the cops!

Peering cautiously at them over my shoulder, I could see that one clerk was reading the comics section of the paper while the other was demonstrat ing to a pair of older teenage girls the proper use of a waterpipe that had several hoses extended from its barrel and what appeared to be a detonator type plunger attached to its top. They giggled at the clerk's suggestion that they should go to his van so he could show them how to use the thing for real.

I slowly turned my head back to the stereo department , where my eyes met those of the ex-roadie salesman. Was I caught? How could I be? I hadn't done anything wrong...yet. I took a deep breath and made eye contact with him once again as if to disarm any possible suspicion. He was glassy-eye d and staring right through me, bored (and likely stoned) out of his mind with not a customer in sight. I decided quickly that I was going to have to make the five-finge r discount over by the dreaded Classical music section. It was the only place where I was completely covered from view from both ends of the store. It was probably designed that way....after all, who shoplifts classical albums anyway?

I made my way over to the classical rack with both the Status Quo and Pink Floyd records stacked together and feigned interest in the London Symphony's rendition of "Swan Lake." Holding my breath, I quickly slid the Floyd LP into my satchel while keeping the Status Quo record visible to anyone who might be looking. While this was truly a remarkable performanc e of sleight of hand, my paranoia screamed that the satchel was bulging with my stolen booty, but my common sense counseled that it looked exactly the way it always did.

As quickly as I could without attracting any undue attention, I returned the Status Quo vinyl to its proper place and, turning, steeled myself for the real moment of truth: the walk past the guys at the cash register. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt as if I was going to faint at any moment. There was a loud buzzing in my ears as the clerk who'd been reading the comics said, "Not buying anything today?" It was all I could do to simply mutter something about having to meet my mom for dinner before I lurched clumsily through the doors and out into the freedom of the fresh air.

Mounting my trusty Schwinn 10-speed, I turned back to the store to make sure no one was coming after me before peddling like the wind for home, nearly being mowed over by a speeding car on Monument Avenue that was in even more of a hurry than I was. I did the usual teenaged zombie walk past my mom and went straight upstairs to my lair, pulling the brilliantl y smuggled treasure from my satchel and into the light where I could admire it.

Carefully, I slit the album's shrink-wra p and looked wide-eyed upon the iconic image of the members of Pink Floyd that adorned the cover. It was so beautiful. I slid the black vinyl platter from its protective white sleeve and placed it on my turntable. As the needle caught the groove and the first pulsing beats of "Astronomy Domine" began, I dimmed the lights and prepared myself for what was surely to be the greatest moment in my music-list ening career.

But something was wrong. As the music flowed freely from the speakers with absolute clarity and Waters and Gilmour sang the line, "floating down the sound resounds around the icy waters undergroun d," I realized what it was: my conscience was catching up to me. Guilt was picking apart my new favorite Pink Floyd song before I even realized how great it was!

I was a teenage shoplifter .

I couldn't make it through the entire song. I wanted to confess, to turn myself in to the Gary's police, but I knew what the store manager did to shoplifter s....THEY TOLD THEIR PARENTS!! And as far as I was concerned, any jail was better than having to face that look of disappoint ment in my mother's eyes.

In these days of downloadin g gigabytes of music in the blink of an eye, "stealing" doesn't really seem like that harsh of a word. Hell, even I've downloaded music without paying for it. Granted, it was an obscure live track of Radiohead performing "The Spy Who Loved Me" downloaded via a freshly installed version of LIMEWIRE, but Karma justly rewarded my offense with a fantastic array of malware and spyware that permanentl y crippled my PC and forced my timely leap of faith into Mac Nation. Still, I loved the fact that I had this glorious cover version of a song from my childhood performed by one of my favorite modern bands.

The moral dilemma was far more clearly delineated when I returned to the scene of the crime all those years ago, pedaling back to Gary's after a few days cooling off period spent hiding my guilty expression from my mom.

There was no yellow police tape cordoning off the Pink Floyd section. No one seemed overly suspicious . The front display guys were doing their usual shuck and jive with the parapherna lia, and the glassy-eye d stereo salesman was regaling a customer with the story of how he'd once been the guitar tech for Iron Butterfly guitarist Erik Braunn and how Braunn wore black gloves that he only took off to perform. Since my life had deviated into the criminal dark side, I bought a copy of Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality and hastened home.

A few months later, I was caught by my mom after having smoked weed for the first time while listening to "Sweet Leaf" with the kid down the street. His name was Skippy, and he shot squirrels off the power lines with his pellet gun. He also had a really hot older sister. It wasn't too long before I could enjoy all four sides of Ummagumma (although you have to be REALLY stoned to fully enjoy Roger Waters' "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave and Grooving with a Pict"), but in listening to the album over and over again, I can tell you that the weeks of craven guilt and shame I felt for having stolen it only served to enhance the alienating and dark music that lay etched into its vinyl grooves. Ummagumma became the soundtrack to that period of my life as I tested the limits of the law and my mother's patience, nothing too out of the ordinary for a teenager in the late 70's.

Despite my criminal history, I'd like to think that I've cleared my karmic debt with Pink Floyd by purchasing every conceivabl e repackagin g of Dark Side of The Moon they've issued over the years. Hopefully, I'm free and clear with Gary's, too - having bought the vast majority of my vinyl collection , stereo equipment and first Tokemaster bong there.

Sure, times have changed and stealing music has become the norm. Can you imagine what it might have been like had today's tolerance of music theft been present in the 70s? Thousands of music lovers would have been literally carting away the entire recorded histories of their favorite artists! And guilt free at that. I think I'm jealous!

I truly believe today's music lovers have no clue about the theft of music. In their minds, it's not stealing at all. It's as if the digital frontier is akin to the land grabs of the Old West, ready for the taking by those savvy enough to navigate the uncharted territory. But besides breaking the law, are today's digital music lovers robbing themselves of a vital experience in music enjoyment? Maybe the music thieves of today are missing a crucial ingredient from their collection s: guilt.

Guilt is so wrapped up in my feelings towards Ummagumma that I don't know if it would sound the same without it. It's part and parcel of the burden of enjoyment I have to bear while listening to this great recording. I'm not sure if listeners in the digital downloadin g era understand the full appreciati on that develops as a result of bearing that burden. And let us not forget the actual physical burden of having to carry all that vinyl around!

The guilt of stealing music shouldn't be as easy a burden to carry around as the weight of an iPod. I often ponder the remarkable reality that my entire 44-year history of collecting and devouring music - encompassi ng more than 30,000 songs - can now fit into a portable device no bigger than a pack of cigarettes . It seems kind of sad, especially if you consider the hoops that a child of the vinyl era had to jump through in order to achieve a decent record collection . It's just too easy to slip my iPod into my pocket and go.

But when I do, "The Spy Who Loved Me" just never sounds as heavy as "Astronomy Domine."

Widespread Panic's Dave Schools regularly gathers together with all sorts of furry musicians - sometimes in caves, even - and grooves with more than just a pict in the process....

(Photo Credit: Chris Wilson (www.christophe rwilsonpho to.com) 

A/k/a Yoshimi battles the black mirrors, round one...

By Fred Mills

As Pitchfork reported yesterday and then, with an update, today, the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Arcade Fire's Win Butler are in the middle of a pissy little, er, pissing match. First up: Coyne, who in an interview with Rolling Stone's Andy Green somehow got off onto a tangent about Arcade Fire, and then out of the blue made this statement:

"I'm a fan of them on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousnes s. We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, "Who do they think they are?" I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, ‘Fuc k you, get outta here.'

"People treat Arcade Fire like they're the greatest thing ever and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of their music. They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I've been around groups. I've been around the Edge from U2 and he's the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don't, then fuck 'em."

According to RollingSto ne.com, the Arcade Fire's publicist was presented with the offending quote but the band initially declined to comment. Then, apparently having had more time to mull things over, last night Win Butler posted a comeback at his "Scrapbook " blog section of the Arcade Fire website. Titled "I still like clouds taste metallic," the posting read thusly:

"Wow, I can't believe I am actually writing to defend my bands "real" personalit y. I wish I could not respond to something like this, but the reality is is that people will be asking me questions about it for the next 5 years. I also fear that people will base their opinion of our band on the media quotes of a guy who doesn't even know us.

"The only time we have ever shared a stage with the Flaming Lips was our last show on the Funeral tour at a festival in Las Vegas (over 3 years ago)...we arrived the morning of the show from Brazil, slept all day and awoke into some kind of surreal Vegas jet-lag dream in which we were playing after the Flaming Lips...how strange...I was really excited to meet Wayne. Clouds Taste Metallic was a huge record for me, and growing up in the weirdness of Houston, I always imagined Oklahoma City to be in the same universe. I was really nervous to meet him and I felt a little weird that we were playing after them. We traded a little hello, but he was a hard guy to get a read on. Steven Drodz was super nice, and I felt good after talking to him...

"So...I am not sure Wayne is the best judge (based on seeing us play at a couple of festivals) if we are righteous, kind and goodhearte d people like The Edge and Justin Timberlake (who I am sure he knows intimately as well). I can't imagine a reason why we would have been pompous towards The Flaming Lips, a band we have always loved, on that particular night, all those years ago. Unless I was way more jet-lagged then I remember, I hope I was less of a "prick" then telling Rollingsto ne that a bunch of people I don't know at all are really assholes.

"As a closing note, the main point that I am offended by in this whole thing is for Wayne to say we treat our audience like shit...

"At times like these I am comforted by knowing that even though Wayne slammed Beck all those years ago, he seems like a really nice guy to me. I guess everyone has a different idea of what being pompous means." - Win

Wow. Meow, guys! Can't we, like, just get along? Or do we need to send some L.A. cops over to Oklahoma and up to Canada to administer some attitude-a djusting beatdowns?

Stay tuned for Round Two, coming up after this message from our sponsors...

Widespread Panic bassist's latest Blurt blog prompts our in-house priest to prescribe three Hail Mary's, a shot of tequila and to call us in the morning...

By Fred Mills

What's that old saying? What goes around, comes around? In the case of the mighty Dave Schools, a bit of vinyl larceny he committed as a teenager has resulted in a striking karmic comeuppanc e: the gods have sentenced him to blog for Blurt, har har har.... Whoops!

That's right: in Schools' latest "Swift Kick To The Solar Plexus" blog installmen t, he talks about how, in the pre-downlo ad era, he once stole an album from a local record store. In a blow-by-bl ow descriptio n of the deed, Schools recalls how "as the moment of truth approached , the FEAR began to grab hold of me. I hadn't even smoked pot yet in my life, but suddenly for the first time, I understood paranoia. The bottoms of my feet went numb, and I was engulfed in a cold sweat. My ears felt hot and I could feel my face, red and glistening . Surely the clerks at the front counter knew what I was up to and were calling the cops!"

The incident has haunted him ever since. What album, you ask? Did the cops wind up getting involved? More important, what did his mom do when she caught him smoking dope? You'll have to read the damn blog to find out, punk!

Memo to Dave: that's an awfully guilty look on your face, above....

 Phot o Credit: Chris Wilson (www.christophe rwilsonpho to.com)

"Everybody 's favorite pint-sized rapper"?!? Mama said knock you out!

By Blurt Staff

With her new album Jigsaw due April 7 on her own label Midget (distribut ed through EMI), Lady Sovereign - "everyone' s favorite pint-sized rapper" - will be doing a May tour of the U.S. and Canada. We are advised that just two years ago she was playing small clubs, but "how time changes everything ": as the main opening support for Gwen Stefani's tour, she was playing for 1 million people at Times Square on New Years Eve.

She's embarking on these dates with Chicago-ba sed DJ Annalyze as well as a live drummer.

Watch for a review of the new album in BLURT the week of the album's release...

Toru Dates:

Fri/May-01 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
Sat/May-02 Montreal, QC Club Soda
Sun/May-03 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
Mon/May-04 NY, NY Highline Ballroom
Wed/May-06 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsbu rg
Thu/May-07 Philadelph ia, PA Church - Sanctuary
Sat/May-09 Washington DC 9:30 Club
Mon/May-11 Baltimore, MD Sonar Club Stage
Tue/May-12 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
Thu/May-14 Chicago, IL Metro
Fri/May-15 Milwaukee, WI The Rave Bar
Sat/May-16 Minneapoli s, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
Mon/May-18 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Tue/May-19 Salt Lake City, UT Club Sound
Thu/May-21 Seattle, WA Crocodile Cafe
Fri/May-22 Vancouver, BC Richard's On Richards Cabaret
Sat/May-23 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Sun/May-24 San Fran, CA Popscene @ Rickshaw Stop
Tue/May-26 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
Thu/May-28 San Diego, CA House of Blues

Coming to a BLURT near you as well...

By Blurt Staff

With her new album Middle Cyclone out this week on Anti-, hard-twang ing songbird Neko Case will be hitting the road at the end of the month for a previously announced east coast and Midwest trek. News is just in of the second leg of the tour: following a month's break she'll resume with a west coast tour in late May through mid June, plus a stop June 14 at Bonnaroo.

The tour will see Case perform in some of the largest venues of her career, backed by her core band of Paul Rigby (guitar), Tom V. Ray (bass), Kelly Hogan (vocals), Jon Rauhouse (guitar) and Barry Mirochnick (drums) on all dates.

Meanwhile, tune in to BLURT tomorrow for a full review of the album. Concludes our writer, Case achieves high art by un-caging her most elemental desires -- but not without warning us of the possibilit ies if the leash snaps."

And be watching for the debut print edition of BLURT, due on newsstands March 24, for an exclusive interview with Case.

New Dates:

Thu 5/28 ALBUQUERQU E, NM Sunshine Theatre
Fri 5/29 BOULDER, CO Chautauqua Auditorium
Sat 5/30 DENVER, CO The Ogden
Sun 5/31 SALT LAKE CITY, UT Red Butte Gardens
Wed 6/3 VANCOUVER, BC The Vogue
Thu 6/4 SEATTLE, WA The Paramount
Fri 6/5 PORTLAND, OR Crystal Ballroom
Sun 6/7 EUGENE, OR MacDonald Theater
Tue 6/9 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Warfield
Fri 6/12 LOS ANGELES, CA The Greek Theatre
Sun 6/14 MANCHESTER , TN Bonnaroo

Previously Announced:

3-31 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ
4-02 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
4-03 Savannah, GA - Trustees Theater
4-04 Birmingham , AL - WorkPlay Theatre
4-06 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
4-07 Carrboro, NC - Meymandi Concert Hall
4-08 Washington D.C. - 9:30 Club
4-09 Washington D.C. - 9:30 Club
4-10 Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
4-11 Boston, MA - Berklee Performanc e Center
4-13 New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
4-14 New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
4-16 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
4-17 Toronto, Ontario - Trinity St. Paul's United Church
4-18 Toronto, Ontario - Trinity St. Paul's United Church
4-20 Ithaca, NY - State Theater of Ithaca
4-22 Charleston , WV - Charleston Civic Center
4-23 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
4-24 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
4-25 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
4-26 Minneapoli s, MN - State Theatre

Well, Cherie Currie will be there at least...

By Blurt Staff

So it's a slightly misleading headline, sue us. The show posters are trumpeting the name "Runaways"   in pretty big letters. At any rate, queen of noise Cherie Currie, the erstwhile silver-and -glitter clad frontwoman for the mighty Runaways, is apparently performing a tribute concert to her old band next week, on March 13. It's  part of the "Pretty In Punk" charity event to benefit the Tianna Teegarden Memorial Fund and it'll be happening at the Roxy in L.A. Promoting the show are the good folks at Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, natch.

Also on the bill: The Bangles, Whispertow n 2000 and more. Advance tickets can be snagged HERE.

So... while Sandy West passed away, what are the chances of Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Jackie Fox and Vicki Blue turning up to join Cherie for a few choruses of "Cherry Bomb"? Enquiring minds wanna know... You can bet, however, that Kim Fowley will be in attendance .

Something about taking care of unfinished business...

By Blurt Staff

It's true: we've re-entered the analog realm. We left the print milieu last year with the demise of Harp, and since June we've published five digital magazines as BLURT. (You say you missed ‘em? You really missed some good stuff. More than 300 pages' worth of good stuff. The December and September issues are still available for downloadin g at the homepage.)

So now we're making a back-to-th e-future move with BLURT's debut print edition, on newsstands starting March 24. Maybe in your mailbox even earlier if you've been smart, or maybe in your hands at SXSW in two weeks if you're making the trek to Austin.

What's in the issue? See the image above, and stay tuned....

Benefit for Britain's Teenage Cancer Trust

By Fred Mills

NME.com is reporting that Oasis and guitarist Noel Gallagher are planning on giving away a collection of free tunes this month as part of a promotion to raise awareness for Britain's Teenage Cancer Trust. On March 15 London's The Times will come bundled with an 11-song CD, while a few days earlier, starting March 10, five songs will be offered as free downloads from iTunes - readers of The Times will be able to obtain the links to the downloads, one per day, on March 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. Then, starting March 16, all the songs will be available at various download sites.

According to the NME "the songs are collective ly titled The Dreams We Have As Children (a lyric from the song ‘Fad e Away) [and] were recorded by Gallagher when he performed at the London Royal Albert Hall on March 27, 2007 for a Teenage Cancer Trust charity show.... A donation in exchange for use of the songs has been given to Teenage Cancer Trust."

Those songs (and iTunes dates):

'(It's Good) To Be Free' (March 10)
'Talk Tonight' (11)
'Cast No Shadow' (12)
'The Importance Of Being Idle' (13)
'Don't Look Back In Anger' (14)

Free CD tracklisti ng:

'Fade Away'
'Listen Up'
'Half The World Away'
'The Butterfly Collector'
'All You Need Is Love'
'Don't Go Away'
'Sad Song'
'Wonderwal l'
'Slide Away'
'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'
'Married With Children'

All this and a Top Ten list too...

By Fred Mills

The U2 residency on the David Letterman show continues apace; Monday and Tuesday nights they did "Magnifice nt" and "Breathe" (and shoveled show), while Wednesday night they did "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and additional ly filed onstage as a group to deliver Dave's nightly Top Ten List.

You guessed it: the list was "Top Ten Things U2 Has Learned Over the Years" (listen for the Edge's subtly hilarious dig at Sting).

Then last night they dipped back a few years for "Beautiful Day."

See the three clips, below.

Rumored to be doing small club show at the Middle East; popped up at Fordham University this morning.

By Blurt Staff

We have absolutely no confirmati on at all on this, and you know how rumors can be, but at least it's not April Fool's Day yet. If all of this turns out to be bogus, don't blame BLURT!

Sources tell us that U2 is doing s sneak surprise gig at the Middle East club/resta urant at 472 Massachuse tts Avenue in Cambridge, Mass., tonight. If you go to the club's website there is, obviously, no listing; several other performers , in fact, are on the itinerary. However, we were advised the following:

"A friend [of our source] was just at the Cambridge Police Headquarte rs this morning getting a police detail and an officer came into the detail office and asked the person to reserve extra detail for tonight at the Mid East due to U2 playing there.... I'm sure it will leak... and if they happen to change the venue, the rumors have been flying that they were playing the Paradise, and then the Somerville Theater."

Hey, don't you love rumors! It's worth noting that while U2 is on the Letterman show tonight, Letterman apparently tapes his Friday night shows on Thursdays so he only has to work four days a week, so...

Okay, let the stampede to the Middle East begin!

Meanwhile, at 8 a.m. this morning at New York's Fordham University U2 definitely did a surprise, if not-so-sec ret, concert. According to Rollingsto ne.com, the band played "on the steps of the university 's gothic Keating Hall, in front of a snowy, packed quad of Fordham students and staff. A Fordham ID was required to enter the School of Rock-esque spectacle."

Students had begun lining up at 1 a.m., and when U2 showed up a few hours later the band kicked things off with three No Line on the Horizon tracks: "Get On Your Boots," "Magnifice nt" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." Good Morning America then did a brief interview and the band performed three others: "Beautiful Day," "Breathe" and "Vertigo."

Something about taking care of unfinished business...

By Blurt Staff

It's true: we've re-entered the analog realm. We left the print milieu last year with the demise of Harp, and since June we've published five digital magazines as BLURT. (You say you missed ‘em? You really missed some good stuff. More than 300 pages' worth of good stuff. The December and September issues are still available for downloadin g at the homepage.)

So now we're making a back-to-th e-future move with BLURT's debut print edition, on newsstands starting March 24. Maybe in your mailbox even earlier if you've been smart, or maybe in your hands at SXSW in two weeks if you're making the trek to Austin.

What's in the issue? See the image above, and stay tuned....

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/ca ble/satell ite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST.

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

Saturday March 7:

1:00 Biography: Stevie Wonder

2:00 Biography: Chris Isaak Hour: Stevie Nicks

4:00 VH1 Classic: AC/DC No Bull live

11:30 NBC Saturday Night Live: Ray LaMontagne

Sunday March 8:

5:05 HD Net: Jack Johnson Kokua Festival, Honolulu, Hawaii 2008

6:00 VH1 Classic: Metallica Some Kind Of Monster

6:35 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/Elton John

6:45 HD Net: Black Eyed Peas - Live from Sydney to Vegas

8:00 HD Net: Gnarls Barkley Live from Astoria 2 in London

10:50 HD Net: Eminem Anger Management Tour

Monday March 9:

9:00 VH1 Classic: Woodstock

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Rocco De Luca

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Jonas Brothers, Darius Rucker

1:35 NBC Carson Daly: Lykke Li

"Living on borrowed time": shows to include the original lineup, plus more...

By Blurt Staff

The Melvins are turning twenty five and marking the occasion with a group of celebrator y shows set for mid-May in New York, Boston, Chicago and Austin.

The four shows will be an "evening with" the band and feature a first set with the original line-up of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover (on bass) and original drummer Mike Dillard.  For the second set Buzz, Dale and Trevor Dunn (bass player for Fantomas, MadLove, Mr. Bungle) will perform Houdini in its entirety.

"We're living on borrowed time." explained Buzz. "When the Melvins started I never expected to actually be ALIVE for 25 more years."

The Melvins formed in 1984 in Montesano, Wash., a small town on the west coast of the state.  Crover and Osborne have been the two constant members of the band over their twenty-fiv e year history.  In that time, the group has been labeled and re-labeled with each passing musical fad but have outlasted each categoriza tion and shone through as a creative entity that is unclassifi able.  While the band came to mainstream prominence in the mid-90's, the Melvins' most recent releases (Nude With Boots, (A) Senile Animal) have been their most critically and commercial ly well-recei ved albums to date.  Couple that with their seemingly endless influence on other musicians and it's easy to see why the Melvins have become one of the most well-respe cted bands of a generation .

Tour Dates:

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    May & nbsp;  ;  15 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    New York, NY &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Webster Hall

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  16 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Boston, MA &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Paradise

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  18 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Chicago, IL &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Double Door

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  20 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Austin, TX &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Emo's

Xenomania- produced album due April 21.

By Blurt Staff

Pet Shop Boys return with their tenth album and first for Astralwerk s on April 21. Titled Yes, it was produced by Xenomania (Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Saint Etienne), the album features guitar work by ex-Smith Johnny Marr and orchestral arrangemen ts by Owen Pallett (Last Shadow Puppets, Final Fantasy).

Never far from the public eye, Pet Shop Boys have been very busy lately: producing a #1 UK dance hit for Sam Taylor-Woo d (released on the ultra-hip Kompakt label), remixing a track for Lady GaGa  and co-writing the hit UK single ‘The Loving Kind' for Girls Aloud. They are also working on a ballet, and were honored with the Outstandin g Contributi on to Music award at the Brit Awards this month.

You can check out their performanc e HERE.

"We can't seem to remember how we came up with the title Yes," says Neil Tennant, in a statement. "Our official story is that we may have taken it from the famous Yoko Ono exhibition in 1967 where you had to climb up a step ladder - as John Lennon famously did - pick up a magnifying glass, look at a tiny word written on the ceiling, and the word was ‘yes '. I think it partly came from that." (Chris Lowe adds: "We thought No was a bit negative.")

Tracklisti ng:

Love etc*

All over the world

Beautiful people

Did you see me coming?

Vulnerable

More than a dream*

Building a wall

King of Rome

Pandemoniu m

The way it used to be*

Legacy

* written by Tennant/Lo we/Xenoman ia

The release of Yes will be preceded by the single "Love etc". Pet Shop Boys describe the song as "a post-lifes tyle anthem which sounds like nothing we've done before." See the video HERE.

There will also be a limited edition version of the album featuring a bonus disc with  'This used to be the future'&nb sp;an exclusive track featuring Phil Oakey (Human League) and 6 dub mixes  ;produced by Xenomania ('More than a dream', Pandemoniu m', 'The way it used to be', 'All over the world', 'Vulnerabl e', 'Love etc.').

Latest chapter in never-unfo lding evolution for the beloved indie band.

By Blurt Staff

On June 9th Polyvinyl Record Co. will release the new full length album by prolific Chicago band Joan of Arc titled Flowers.  Although most bands struggle with distancing themselves from the seemingly infinite number of musicians who have come before, when Joan of Arc set about writing its new record the innovative group had only one past example to compete with: itself.

"I think it's harder for a band to make a tenth record, than it is to make a first record," says Tim Kinsella, who remains the one permanent member of the Joan of Arc lineup. "There is more freedom to be daring, but there is also your own standard to live up to and surpass."

It's obvious that Kinsella has succeeded in doing just that. Given the unconventi onal music style that characteri zes the group's discograph y, Flowers pushes new boundaries by housing 12 tracks that seamlessly glide together in a unique fashion. Here, the band weaves organized, structured songs with frequent instrument al stretches to create a very natural flow from start to finish.

Over the course of a year in four different sessions with four different lineups, Flowers evolved into what it is now. Recorded and mixed by Graeme Gibson (Califone, The 1900s, Catfish Haven) at Chicago's Clava Studios, the album encapsulat es the idea of improvisat ion and growth perfectly.  In late 2008 Kinsella and the latest incarnatio n of his live band entered the studio to complete the last batch of songs that would round out Flowers.  With no instrument s, and hardly any completed songs the group simply did what felt right, using what was available to all the musicians who had recorded there previously - pianos, acoustics, and synthesize rs - to create a new batch of music after only two days.

Wanting to counteract the raw emotional overtones of Boo Human, Kinsella describes Flowers as "more like sculpting a garden as a whole. Even before we started, we knew Flowers would have to be a little cooler and more formal." 

Just as the title Flowers could suggest the album is an offering for everything in life - love and death, celebratio n and consolatio n - it also could be read in the sense of growth. Birthing new forms and techniques are what make Joan of Arc who they are, and Flowers illustrate s this idea of maturation perfectly.

This experience summarizes the spirit of Joan of Arc. It is a mentality that embraces contradict ions and tears apart common musical structures only to rebuild them without a blueprint. Joan of Arc continue to succeed in doing what many strive for with a new album: creating an obscure combinatio n of familiar, obvious ideas while sticking with the notion that "if it feels good, do it."

Tracklisti ng:

1. Fogbow
2. The Garden of Cartoon Exclamatio ns
3. Flowers
4. Fasting
5. Explain Yourselves #2
6. Tsunshine
7. A Delicious Herbal Laxative
8. Explain Yourselves
9. Table of the Laments
10. Fable of the Elements
11. Life Sentence / Twisted Ladder
12. The Sun Rose

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle (1995)

By Blurt Staff

Steve Earle is set to release Townes, his highly anticipate d follow up to the Grammy Award winning album Washington Square Serenade, on May 12th via New West Records. &nbs p; The 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle's friend and mentor, the late singer-son gwriter, Townes Van Zandt.  Townes will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set, as well as double Limited Edition 180 gram vinyl.

Two songs from the album, "Lungs" and "Pancho and Lefty," are already being previewed at Earle's MySpace page.

The album was produced by Earle at his home in Greenwich Village, at Sound Emporium and Room and Board in Nashville, TN and The Nest in Hollywood, CA. &nbs p; The track "Lungs," was produced and mixed by the Dust Brothers' John King and features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/Th e Nightwatch man/Street Sweeper on electric guitar.  Earle's wife, the acclaimed singer-son gwriter Allison Moorer, is featured on backing vocals on "Loretta" and "To Live Is To Fly."  Three songs cut in Nashville, "White Freightlin er Blues," "Delta Momma Blues," and "Don't Take It To o Bad" feature a bluegrass band consisting of De nnis Crouch, Tim O'Brien, Darrel Scott and Shad Cobb.

Earle met Townes Van Zandt in 1972 at one of Earle's performanc es at The Old Quarter in Houston, TX.  Van Zandt was in the audience and playfully heckled Earle throughout the performanc e to play the song "Wabash Cannonball ." Ear le admitted that he didn't know how to play the tune and Van Zandt replied incredibly , "You call yourself a folksinger and yo u don't know 'Wabash Cannonball ?'"  Earle then silenced him by playing the Van Zandt song "Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold," not an easy feat due to its quickly-pa ced mouthful of lyrics squeezed into just over two minutes of song.  Their bond was immediatel y formed.  On Townes, Earle and his son, singer-son gwriter Justin Townes Earle (named after Van Zandt) trade verses on the tune, a song the two of them have been playing together since Justin was a teenager.

The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to (not including selections featured on previous Earle albums).  Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career ("Pancho and Lefty," "Lungs," "White Freightlin er Blues") and others he had to learn specifical ly for record ing.  He learned the song "(Quicksil ver Daydreams of) Maria" directly from Van Zandt, and taught himself "Marie" and "Rake" specifical ly for the album's recording.  Once a song he played during his live show, Earle relearned "Colorado Girl" in the original Open D tuning that Van Zandt played it in.  Earle recorded the New York sessions solo and then added the other instrument s later on in order to preserve the spirit of Van Zandt's original solo performanc es to the best of his recollecti on. 

When speaking about Townes, Earle stated, "This may be one of the best records I've ever made.  That hurts a singer-son gwriter's feelings.  Then again, it's some consolatio n that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriter s that ever lived."

All that and something about Franz Ferdinand doing a German rap?!?

By Blurt Staff

Next Monday, March 16, at Noon PST / 3pm EST / 8pm UK time, Britain's Super Furry Animals will host a webcast at www.superfurry .com in which they perform their forthcomin g new studio album Dark Days/Light Years (Rough Trade) from start to finish.

The album itself is due in stores in the U.S. on April 21, so this will be the proverbial sneak preview done up right. However you can buy the new album immediatel y from the start of the webcast from the website on MP3 download

The gig is being filmed in conjunctio n with MusicBox, Cardiff, and graduate filmmakers from Central St Martins College, London

Lucky fans can hear the initial promotiona l track 'Inaugural Trams' starting this Friday, March 13 via www.superfurry .com - it features Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand doing a German rap, of all things.

Tracklisti ng:


1. Crazy Naked Girls 2. Mt 3. Moped Eyes 4. Inaugural Trams 5. Inconvenie nce 6. Cardiff In The Sun 7. The Very Best Of Neil Diamond 8. Helium Hearts 9. White Socks / Flip Flops 10. Where Do You Wanna Go? 11. Lliwiau Llachar 12. Pric

Doc due April 21, tour kicks off a month before.

By Blurt Staff

Cloud Cult has just announced the impending release of their documentar y - No One Said It Would Be Easy - out April 21^st on the band's Earthology Records label. The new film, roughly 100 minutes, tells the unique journey of the Minneapoli s collective which viewers can see at the exclusive pre-releas e showing on March 22^nd in Minneapoli s, MN at Varsity Theater. Cloud Cult also reveal spring tour dates - see full itinerary, below.

No One Said It Would Be Easy serves as both an in troduction and introspect ion meant for newcomers to the music and fans of the band alike. Revealed through interviews with the band and fans, the artwork of Scott West, as well as never-&nbs p;before-s een tour footage, concerts and recording sessions, No One Said It Would Be Easy encapsulat es the whole  ;story of the band, from the establishm ent of Earthology Records, a one-of-its kind eco-friend ly label  ;through which Cloud Cult self-relea ses albums and records from within a small, home-built studio run on geothermal  ener gy, to the inclusion of live painters as full-time members of the band.

Offering an annotated history behind each of Cloud Cult's seven official full-lengt h releases, the film deconstruc ts the b ack story, including the recruitmen t and inclusion of band members, as well as the tragic loss of singer / songwriter  Crai g Minowa and wife and visual artist Connie Minowa's son, Kaidin-the impetus for much of the early music and o ngoing inspiratio n surroundin g Cloud Cult's drive and mission to exude a message of hope and transforma tive love  through performanc e and art. Echoing the emotional catharsis required of a Cloud Cult performanc e, the film ebbs  and flows, is filled with soaring highs and crushing lows, and is about what happens when a group of people commits&nb sp;to something much larger than themselves .

No One Said It Was Easy was directed by John Paul Burgess with collaborat ion from Scott West, the artist behind the film's original, animated&n bsp;illust rations.

Check out www.cloudcult.com or www.myspace.com for more info.

Tour Dates:

Mar. &nbs p; &n bsp;  27^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    High Noon Saloon&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Madison, WI

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    28^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    EarthJam @ Drake University  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Des Moines, IA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    29^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Picador  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Iowa City, IA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    31^st &nbs p; &n bsp;    Turner Hall   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Milwaukee, WI

Apr. &nbs p; &n bsp;  1^st &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Metro  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Chicago, IL

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    2^nd &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Blind Pig & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Ann Arbor, MI

3^rd &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  El Mocambo&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Toronto, ONT

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    4^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Casa del Popolo&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Montreal, QUE

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    6^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Pearl Street&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Northampto n, MA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    7^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Paradise&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Boston, MA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    8^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Toad's Place  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; New Haven, CT

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    9^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Music Hall of Williamsbu rg &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Brooklyn, NY

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    10^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    First Unitarian Church&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Philadelph ia, PA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    11^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Black Cat & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Washington , DC

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    12^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Mr. Smalls&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Pittsburgh , PA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    13^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Beachland Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Cleveland, OH

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    14^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    The Intersecti on &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;     &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Grand Rapids, MI

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    16^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    St. Cloud State  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; St. Cloud, MN

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    18^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Coachella& nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp;  Indio, CA

May & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; 2^nd &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; First Avenue&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Minneapoli s, MN

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    4^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Dahl Arts Center&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Rapid City, SD

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    6^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  The Other Side   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Missoula, MT

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    7^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  The Blvd   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Spokane, WA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    8^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Neumos&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Seattle, WA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    9^th &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Media Club   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Vancouver, BC

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    10^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Wonder Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Portland, OR

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    12^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    The Independen t &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; San Francisco, CA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    13^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Detroit Bar & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Costa Mesa, CA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    14^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    The Casbah&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  San Diego, CA

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    16^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Plush  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Tucson, AZ

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    17^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Rhythm Room   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Phoenix, AZ

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    19^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Bluebird Theater&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Denver, CO

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    20^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Waiting Room   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Omaha, NE

July   &nbs p; &n bsp; 24^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    10,000 Lakes Festival&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Detroit Lakes, MN

Aug. &nbs p; &n bsp; 29^th &nbs p; &n bsp;    Univ. of Minnesota& nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp; Morris, MN

Worthwhile consciousn ess-raiser ...

By Fred Mills

As part of a project to raise awareness and money in the ongoing cause for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgende r people being able to enjoy social equality and the right to marry (hello, all you bigots in California ), the legendary Seattle punk band The Fags - currently comprising Barb Ireland, Ben Ireland, Dahny Raphael and Dave Bayro (founding member Charles "Upchuck" Gerra, aka "The Gay Cobain," passed away in 1990 from AIDS complicati ons) - will be recording a CD/digital 3-song single. The equally legendary Jayne County will be doing the vocals. 

According to a press release from project organizer Dennis White, "Jayne is a very vocal supporter of Gay and Transgende red rights and will also be donating her royalties to charity.  I will also be giving profits to the fight for GLBT equality.  We are expecting some ‘gue st appearance s' on this recording.  We are planning to pull out all stops to get this heard, and we've got an arsenal of outrage, gimmicks and schtick to make this a fun project."

The world can always use additional outrage, gimmicks and schtick in rock ‘n' roll, so consider this a big BLURT thumbs-up.

White is soliciting donations to the project and for interested people to spread the word. "Promoting this," says White, "is going to take some serious financial resources and I'd really like to make this a collective effort.  Here's a chance to get involved in helping an important cause.  Give if you can; if you can't pass this on to someone you think will be able to."

Currently the goal is $1651 and you can make secure online pledges via PayPal or credit card HERE - you can also get more informatio n about the recording. To read some of White's comments about the Fags' estimable legacy, go HERE.

a Youtube History of Black Flag, lineup x lineup:
There's been alot of Black Flag video uploaded in the last year.  Many of these clips are mislabelle d or undated.  My informatio n is corrected as best as possible given Spot hasn't written his book yet:

keith/greg /chuck/mig dol, I Don't Care, probably wurm-hole, strand, hermosa bch, Dec. 1977
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=isLyhyK7 kDY&fe ature=rela ted

keith/greg /chuck/rob o, White Minority, polliwog park, manhattan bch, July 22, 1979
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=iIJEuMfB HZk&fe ature=rela ted
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=7morSTRY VR0&fe ature=rela ted

ron/greg/c huck/robo, Revenge, The Church, hermosa bch, Jan. 1980
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=f5mjoN0S Koc&fe ature=rela ted

dez/greg/c huck/robo, Padded Cell, mabuhay gardens, sf, Jan. 9, 1981
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=Jjm39Hld qYk&fe ature=chan nel

henry/greg /dez/chuck /robo, Thirsty and Miserable, target video, sf, prob. Aug. 30, 1981
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=aczKB1yU zAs&fe ature=rela ted

henry/greg /dez/chuck /bill  ; no video found of bill stevenson filling in for three weeks after robo was not allowed back into the states. dec. 23, 1981 to march 5, 1982

henry/greg /dez/chuck /emil, What I See, eastside club, phi, June 4, 1982
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=8oJp1MK8 xrQ

henry/greg /dez/chuck /biscuits, I Can't Decide, Sept. 1, 1982, ritz, ny
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=dzX4Jfps OLA

henry/greg /kira/bill , Rat's Eyes, Dec. 15, 1984, u.mass, amherst, ma
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=NIctI25v iWs

henry/greg /kira/anth ony soundcheck Loose Nut/Annihi late, June 8, 1985, vic & bill's, knoxville, tn
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=9-5PguvY J3U

instro. greg/kira/ anthony, untitled, prob. july 19, 1985 detroit tv:
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=rmeg3HqB pRQ&fe ature=rela ted

henry/greg /c'el/anth ony, Gimme Gimme Gimme/Loui e Louie, July 27, 1986, detroit, mi
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=SydfD6pa ev8

greg interview by william duvall (comes the fall/AiC), fall 2008
http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=dkNUZNbJ 9Ek

Joe Carducci is a hell of a writer, record producer, and former A&R executive, formerly most closely associated with the influentia l LA-based record label SST Records. His most recent book Enter Naomi: SST, L.A. and All That, chronicles his time at the infamous label and the life and death of famed SST photograph er Naomi Peterson-- a supreme talent who I had the priveledge of working with on many occasions- -and whose laugh I still miss. -Scott Crawford

So it's off to Austin, Texas for me this Saturday. Going all-out this year for a 10 day stint, covering interactiv e, film & music at SxSW. If you've been before, you get that this is a fairly brave undertakin g. Which is why I've got tons of Emergen-C, Tylenol, and eye-cream ready to go with. And I purchased an iPhone over the weekend to make it easier to navigate all those texts, etc., I feel so 21st century! God damn [...]

A Triple-A radio programmin g veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentati on of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

His first one isn't even out yet....

By Fred Mills

First there was Ryan Adams the prolific (some have said profligate ) musician, cranking out records at a Bob Pollard-li ke clip. Now comes Ryan Adams the potentiall y prolific (some may wind up saying profligate ) author, cranking out book at a Danielle Steele-lik e clip.

That's right: with Adams' Infinity Blues not even in stores yet - the collection of poetry and short essays as announced last fall and is due in stores next month; BLURT imagined some fantasy excerpts from it HERE - we now get word of his second collection from the good folks at Akashic. Hello Sunshine as "poems and short fiction" and while no publicatio n date has been set yet, Akashic indicates to check their site on May 15 for an announceme nt on pre-orderi ng.

Here's what they're telling us so far:

With the release of Hello Sunshine, Ryan Adams breaks literary ground far beyond what he accomplish ed with his critically acclaimed first book, Infinity Blues. Where his debut was characteri zed by the bitterness of heartbreak , Hello Sunshine is a graceful, sensual assertion of the other side of the emotional coin. This is a 2009 fever dream--ins ide Ryan's heart and mind--repl ete with unforgetta ble verse that will shock and delight those expecting a mere continuati on of where Infinity Blues left off.

"This is the book of verse where I wake up, where I see myself responding to a world with as much light and as much grace as whatever disappoint ment I felt. This is where I fell back in love with everything --this is my best work yet."
--Ryan Adams on Hello Sunshine

Ryan Adams has always been a poet and fiction writer at heart. Hello Sunshine will establish without a doubt that the man is as eloquent and evocative with his typewriter as he is with his guitar and microphone .

Well, all right then!

Meanwhile, Adams continues to tour with the Cardinals (he's threatened to throw in the towel soon, so catch him while you can - we reviewed one of his recent Australian shows) while the countdown to Infinity Blues continues. You can read a full review of the book in the debut print issue of BLURT, due on newsstands March 24. One excerpt:

"It seems that Adams took the opportunit y to unleash an autobiogra phical-lik e fiasco of ideas to show off his inner demons. While some material hints that Adams may be dealing with the true realities of life, a large portion simply comes off as adolescent diary-scri bblings. Adams might want to consider sticking it out with the Cardinals instead of subjecting his nascent writing career to the candid "whatever" attitude distinguis hed in Infinity Blues."

Annual event takes place in Chicago July 17-19.

By Blurt Staff

With the summer festival season already heating up, Chicago's annual Pitchfork Music Festival (put on by the good folks at Pitchfork, natch) is already in the running for one of the must-atten ds. It takes place at Union Park on July 17, 18 and 19, and the initial band list was announced yesterday. See that list, below.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 13, and voting commences that day as well. "Voting?" you say? That's right: for the Friday night extravagan za featuring Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill and Jesus Lizard, ticket purchasers will be able to participat e in what Pitchfork is calling "Write the Night, Setlists by Request" - you get to vote on the songs each band will play in their set.

Go HERE for more details.

Here's the preliminar y list of acts, with more to come no doubt:

Friday, July 17

Built to Spill
The Jesus Lizard

Yo La Tengo
Tortoise

Saturday, July 18

The National
Pharoahe Monch
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Sunday, July 19

Grizzly Bear
The Walkmen
Vivian Girls

New collaborat ion from indie titans is called, appropriat ely enough, Cosmos.

By Fred Mills

From Wikipedia:

Robert Pollard (born October 31, 1957) is a Dayton, Ohio, USA singer-son gwriter, who until 2004 was the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. With over 1000 songs registered to his name with BMI,^[1] Pollard is among the most prolific songwriter s of his time. In 2006 Paste Magazine listed him as the 78th greatest living songwriter .^[2] In 2007 he was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize.^[3]

From AllMusic.com:

Australian -born Richard Davies formed the chamber-po p unit the Moles in Sydney in the late 1980s. After finding some undergroun d success in their native land as well as the U.S. and Britain, the Moles broke up around the beginning of 1993; Davies soon settled in New York City to begin a solo career, although in 1994 he released his solo debut, Instinct, under the Moles name. Through a mutual friendship with Sebadoh drummer Bob Fay, Davies joined forces with multi-inst rumentalis t and arranger Eric Matthews to form the duo Cardinal. Davies began his solo career in earnest [in] 1996... on tour, he was backed by avowed fans the Flaming Lips.

From BLURT:

On June 9, the Robert Pollard-Ri chard Davies summit known as Cosmos hits stores. Titled Jar of Jam Ton of Bricks, it's released on Happy Jack Rock Records and we don't think we have to tell you much else ‘cos if you are reading this then yo are automatica lly interested in it, right? Here's the tracklisti ng:

Stoke Newington Blitzkrieg 0:57
Don't Be A Shy Nurse 3:29
Nude Metropolis 2:54
You Had To Be There 2:24
Grapes Of Wrath 3:24
Sudden Storms Are Normal 3:03
Zepplin Commander 3:24
Enter Moonlight 0:38
For The Whiz Kid 1:25
The Neighborho od Trapeze 3:16
Just By Pushing A Button 2:05
Early Chill Early Crow 1:42
Westward Ho 2:46
Hail Mary 3:05

Crew is loading gear into Somerville Theatre as we tweet!

By Blurt Staff

Okay, so that guerilla U2 show this past weekend in Boston (Cambridge , to be precise) turned out to just be a rumor. Sue us. But word now arrives from the Boston Globe's Boston.com that the show is going to take place tomorrow and it was only confirmed this morning. Apparently roads near Boston's Somerville Theatre are being staffed by policemen and the road behind the theater is blocked off as crew load U2's gear into the venue.

According to Boston.com:

It has all been very last minute. Jeff Antonellis , who works for Capron Lighting and Sound, first heard about the show a week ago but said he only got a call confirming the Somerville Theatre location this morning at 8:30 a.m. "That shows you how under wraps they were trying to keep it," he said.

Production manager Jake Berry tells us that U2 will probably play four songs tomorrow and then take questions from the audience.

The songs-plus -questions format mirrors the U2 mini-gig that took place last Friday morning at NYC's Fordham University . Let the stampede begin!

The Moody Blues: when did they get hip? Are they hip? When did I get hip to them?

As a young rock'nroll guy we all just assumed that these guys were total squares, and were instinctiv ely dismissive . When your musical world is bracketed by Alice Cooper on one side and The Allman Brothers on the other, it's easy to make those kind of judgments about anyone whose ambitions we couldn't comprehend . So, other than occasional ly hearing "Nights in White Satin" or "Ride My See-Saw" on the radio, I tuned out The Moody Blues for a few decades or so.

Somewhere along the recent way I ended up with three releases from their golden era of the late 60s, Days of Future Past, On The Threshold of a Dream and In Search of the Lost Chord. It was revelation time. The revelation was, essentiall y, how intoxicati ng the Moodies could be at their best, while still being a bit wanky or fussy at other times. Most of side two of Days of Future Past is seductive, although&n bsp; "Nights in White Satin" is a little creepy, and side one is overburden ed with concept and too much of The London Festival Orchestra. On The Threshold of a Dream has several terrific songs, a lovely psychedeli c cover (all 3 of these have great covers) and an impressive display of mustached sartorial splendor on the inner sleeve. But the capper was In Search of The Lost Chord; specifical ly side one of 1968's In Search of The Lost Chord.
 
These five tracks and the mood-setti ng spoken intro are top-shelf late 1960s British egg-head psych pop. This is heady stuff: cosmologic ally romantic, richly evocative and other-worl dly. Along with the sophistica ted arrangemen ts and dreamy vocals, the sweetener that makes all the difference is the mellotron that Mike Pinder and Justin Hayward used to evoke that lovely, imagistic other-worl dliness. Remember the mellotron, the lush, symphonic sounding cross between an organ and an early synthesize r? It was uniquely suited to the Moodies forte. Other than the Moody Blues and the Rolling Stones on "20,000 Light Years From Home," early King Crimson were probably the most well known act (that I can remember) to use it liberally, and it was quickly eclipsed by the more versatile synthesize r. But here on "House of Four Doors," "Legend of a Mind" with it's "Timothy Leary's theory" refrain, "The Best Way to Travel" from side 2 and other tracks, The Moody Blues succeed at creating or portal to another dimension in sound, a doorway to step back and forth between worlds through. This is tricky to pull off, and if they don't always succeed, at least they always aim high and seem honest and thoughtful .

Even at their most sublime The Moody Blues have The Academy wafting off them like tweedy pipe smoke. Perhaps they got together in art school, like so many other British bands of the 60s? But while the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks would have been slumming it and ditching school, The Moodies would have been the serious, probably older guys who dressed up not down, had steady girlfriend s, read music, rehearsed like mad and took it all seriously.
Visual clues to that end show in the inner sleeve of On The Threshold of a Dream. Other British bands at the time were preening in rock star boots and loud shoes from from Carnaby Street or King's Row, but the five guys in the Moody Blues, dressed to kill in leather jackets and tasteful dark velvet, are all sporting shiny loafers. With buckles. Expensive, stylish loafers, for sure, but still loafers. The loafer wearing Moody Blues didn't seem dangerous or revolution ary or any threat to the status quo back in the day; perhaps our parents might even have liked them. Well, I still like Alice Cooper (and Black Flag and Sonic Youth and Smegma), but it sure was a relief to grow up and out and be open to anything across the board, regardless of the strict dictates (as we perceived them) of rock'nroll , which now looks more restrictiv e and status quoted than the adventurou s, tuneful&nb sp; psychedeli a of The Moody Blues. Or maybe that was just adolescenc e predictabl y throwing an elbow into the ribs of middle age, because that's what adolescenc e does.

And, just as I'm finishing this I'm listening to On The Threshold of a Dream and thinking that it might be as good as In Search of The Lost Chord. It's still revelation time. 

Carl Hanni is a music writer, music publicist, disc jockey and vinyl archivist living in Tucson, AZ. He  hosts the vinyl-only Scratchy Record Show every Tuesday night at the Red Room in downtown Tucson, and spins records wherever and whenever he can. He believes that in a better (all analog) world all records would be released on vinyl, but takes good music from wherever he finds it--even on CD. His feature piece on legendary bass player/rec ord producer Harvey Brooks was recently published in Goldmine.

Shot by members of USC Trojan Marching Band.

By Blurt Staff

Reads the YouTube video header: "USC Trojan Marching Band + Radiohead @ 2009 Grammys / Behind the Scenes." Well, you can't get much plainer than that. Indeed, the nine-minut e clip is just that, and according to the NME it was shot by USC members as they rehearsed "15 Step" with members of Radiohead at L.A.'s Sony Studios along with shots of the group rehearsing on the Grammys stage. Enjoy!

We assume that Radiohead is cool with all this; they seem fan friendly enough not to object. Still, it's a bit of a big deal just the same, as major artists rarely grant permission for unfiltered footage to be leaked.

Rick Rubin dips his hands into the project too.

By Blurt Staff

On June 23, Columbia records will release Pete Yorn's 'Back and Fourth' marking a new musical chapter in which the acclaimed singer and songwriter has taken a different approach to writing and recording with stunning results. 'Back and Fourth' follows Yorn's first three albums, which he considers a trilogy, and is his first album in three years. Yorn wrote all ten songs on 'Back and Fourth' and recorded the album in Omaha, NE, with producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley). Columbia's Co-Chairma n Rick Rubin helped guide the project from its earliest demo stages to final mastering.

The songs on 'Back and Fourth' range from lilting mandolin lullabies to bracing anthems. But there's a thread running through the album - an organic feel to the arrangemen ts, a careful pacing to the sequence, a penetratin g truth to the stories - that's unmatched by anything else in Yorn's catalogue.

'Back and Fourth' sounds like no other Pete Yorn record because it was made like no other Pete Yorn record. For the first time, Yorn wrote lyrics before composing melodies, resulting in his most personal songs to date. When it came time to record, Yorn traded the family, friends and routines of his life in Los Angeles for the relative solitude of Omaha, where he spent two months in 2008 making the album. And while Yorn played virtually all the instrument s on his first three albums, he assembled a top shelf band for 'Back and Fourth', including drummer Joey Waronker (Beck), pianist/ar ranger Nate Wolcott (Bright Eyes, The Faint, Rilo Kiley), guitarist Jonny Polonsky, bassist Joe Karnes (John Cale), and backing vocalist Orenda Fink (Azure Ray). "That's the essential approach to the new album," says Yorn. "I wanted to share my songs with a group of players who I respected, and then share the experience of recording them together as a group."

Pete Yorn will tour extensivel y in support of 'Back and Fourth' and also plans to release more new music in 2009.

Track Listing:

1. Don't Wanna Cry
2. Paradise Cove
3. Close
4. Social Developmen t
5. Shotgun
6. Last Summer
7. Thinking of You
8. Country
9. Four Years
10. Long Time

[Photo credit: Autumn de Wilde]

¡Eso Si Que Es!: On Gloria Estefan and wearin' someone else's socks.

By COCO HAMES

Almost Anything for You

When I first moved to LA, I got a job singing backup vocals on karaoke tracks. I'd go into the studio, the guy would tell me which track we were doing, and I'd sing the song.  We'd record one side of me singing all the vocal tracks (lead and backup) and one side of just the backup. When you sing karaoke and some random ghost harmonies come out of nowhere, that's the backup vocal track. 

So one day, we were set to do Gloria Estefan's "Anything For You," and it was completely out of my range. I tried singing it low, and then high, and I just couldn't do it! I didn't want to lose the job, so I kept asking to start over, but the killer part was the "...you know you made me strong!" I absolutely couldn't hit it.

And so, I did lose the job. But next time you're singing karaoke and you hear some prerecorde d vocal accompanim ent coming in, it could be me, singing along.

Socks

Because we don't have a lot of time or money on the road, and because Poni and I wear almost the same size shoe, we get our socks in bulk. Usually at Target, usually just functional white sports socks. And invariably , when we do laundry, whether at a friend's house or in a hotel bathtub, the socks will get mixed up. Same socks, same amount of usage but, at the same time, we always know when we're wearing the other's socks. 

It's not a good feeling. It's disquietin g and disconcert ing to know, in your heart of hearts, that the socks you have on are not your socks.

*****

Blurt "co-co-edi tor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose latest album Look At Life Again Soon (Take Root) is still a hot item-but look out for a new EP, Danger Is, on April 7 (already out digitally, www.myspace.com/theett es), and a Dan Auerbach-p roduced limited-ed ition single this month. And catch ‘em at SXSW, too.

From the filmmaker of the 2005 Johnston documentar y.

By Blurt Staff

Footage and audio tracks from renowned visual artist Stephen Tompkins sessions with Daniel Johnston, the Austin-bas ed singer/son gwriter featured in the 2005 documentar y The Devil and Daniel Johnston, have now been made available online as a collection named Daniel Johnston: At Home Live and can be found at www.danieljohn stonlive.com and iTunes (as well as Napster, Rhapsody and most digital content providers) .

"My aim was to bridge Daniel's early lo-fi and boom box recording technique days with his more commercial /produced later albums. At Home Live seemed to fit nicely between and as a rare look into Daniel's studio where he writes much of his music," Explained Tompkins.  "As I filmed I was delighted that I had my own private Daniel Johnston concert on film. I thought, "What if I could film Bob Dylan performing in his house?"  I wanted my film to be a sort of cinema verite, to show the myth of Daniel Johnston performing in his authentic creative environmen t, keeping in mind that some people back then had never even seen Daniel in photos or at one of his shows. When you listen to the early tapes, there is an intimate quality to Daniel's voice, as if he's only singing for himself. Daniel's music is an "acousmetr e" because the quality of his voice cannot be pinned down to a tangible reality; it taps into one's imaginatio n as to where this music was recorded. I wanted to show that environmen t on film somehow. So I just let the camera roll from a fixed position, with no cuts at all as if you were just sitting next to him, as a sort of ghost.""Thirteen videos and mp3s are available including songs "Kool-Aid, " "I Had A Dream" and "Try To Love." 

Tompkins filmed over four hours of raw footage at Johnston's home in Waller, Texas in 1999 with the only onlookers being neighborin g cows. Tompkins intentiona lly held on to the film for ten years before releasing it, viewing this footage and audio as a time capsule.  The duo of Johnston and Tompkins have a lengthy history, having done a two-man exhibition in Austin titled "The Art Of Daniel Johnston & Stephen Tompkins" and will soon be featured in a new book from Dirty Pilot titled "Year One Rewind."

Fifth album arrives in May...

By Blurt Staff

Purveyors of the new psych-rock scene, Hopewell has been blending vintage fuzz pedal jams with their early space rock and shoegaze roots for over a decade, their 2001 full-lengt h, The Curved Glass being the perfect, noisy bridge between the epic psychedeli a of ‘90s acts like Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and a newer generation of bands that include Dungen, Dead Meadow and Serena-Man eesh. Now back with their fifth album, Good Good Desperatio n effortless ly slips from cacophonou s dueling piano passages, à la Stravinsky , to the Hammond-dr iven roots rock of The Basement Tapes, while creating something uniquely its own. From the opening vocal harmonies of "Preamble, " which takes cues from the classical compositio ns of Bach and Debussy, to the CAN-inspir ed two-drumme r tribal attack of "Island," listeners are confronted with expansive sonic images of a band's travels and conflicts. Good Good Desperatio n inhabits a world where "The Album" is not a lost art, and invites listeners on a journey from dirty downtown New York City scenes to blissful California n deserts.

In between tours and throughout 2008 Hopewell set out to make a record that more captured their live sound. It was during this time that Jonathan Donahue invited the band to play a 30-minute segment of music on his WDST Woodstock radio program in upstate New York. For this show the group composed a structured improvisat ional piece, a compositio n loosely dubbed "The Opus," which would become the progenitor for many of the songs on the album to come. Immersed in heavy doses of bands like This Heat, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music and early tribal Jane's Addiction, Hopewell booked time in local Brooklyn studios Seizures Palace and Seaside Lounge (home to great records from bands like Akron Family, Angels of Light and Psychic Ills) and set about recording their own work.

Good Good Desperatio n could easily be considered Hopewell's Meddle or Tago Mago chapter in a lengthy history that includes countless singles and compilatio ns, and opening for My Bloody Valentine on their recent reunion tour, working in the past with producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), recording a Peel Session live at Abbey Road Studio, and playing Reading and Leeds Festivals. With Good Good Desperatio n, Hopewell's journey continues in a grassroots , homespun sort of way -- down their own noisy path.

Happening Sat. March 21 at SXSW.

By Blurt Staff

Among the Lone Star state traditions - strong weed, cheap beer, concealed firearms, underage hookers, etc. - none is more sacred than South By Southwest, and among the most recent SXSW traditions , the annual Mess With Texas bash is one of the most notorious. This year's MWT, the third one, is slated for Saturday, March 21, at the sprawling Waterloo Park. Showtimes run 11:30 until 9 p.m.

How do the names Black Lips, Circle Jerks, Thermals, King Khan, Vivian Girls and Crystal Antlers sound to you? Full lineup is below.

As always, it's free, and open to the public, which means you don't necessaril y have to be a SXSW badgeholde r to attend. Hey, in today's economic climate, that's a goddam bargain! And what's this we hear about a contest? Read on - deadline is this coming Monday, so get hopping....

***

Mess With Texas Lineup:

The Black Lips
The Circle Jerks
Kid Sister
Cursive
Monotonix
The Thermals
Akron/Fami ly
Lucero
King Khan & the Shrines
Soft Pack
Jason Lytle from Grandaddy
The Bronx
Vetiver
B.O.B
Busdriver
Vivian Girls
Crystal Antlers
Abe Vigoda
Cut Off Your Hands
The Death Set
Thao with The Get Down Stay Down
Japanther
Howl
Sleepy Sun
Red Cortez
+ more



THE CONTEST

Each year the organizers for Mess With Texas put on a contest for the fans. The goal is to make the contest a little more exciting than submitting your email address to a website with hopes that you'll get a response that says you won something. The plan this year is... POSTCARDS. Send us a postcard. It will cost you 42 cents.

Send your postcards to:

MESS WITH TEXAS CONTEST
PO BOX 1558
Torrance, CA
90505

The person that sends what we consider the best  postcard will win $150 cash, all access passes to Mess With Texas, tons of swag from Incase and if you are 21 or older enough drink tickets to get you and your friends dizzy.

 
The postcard can be of ANYTHING. Be creative. Try to make us fall over with laughter. Try to make us say "cuuuuuttt teee", try to make us say "amazing!" .... It can be anything. For real. And you can submit as many as you like. Just remember to write your email address on the postcard so we can get in touch with you.

 
All postcards must be received by Monday, March 16th. On Tuesday, March 17th we will be posting the winning postcard along with the runner ups on the Incase blog and this website: www.goincase.com

The Scissormen 's Ted Drozdowski lets Blurt tell him how to play guitar--us ing various exotic items. You can read our exclusive interview with Droz in which he explains the rationale behind... you know.... HERE.

Yet another all-digita l offering from the good folks at Merge.

By Blurt Staff

Like It Or Not is a compilatio n of casettes and 7" releases from Mac McCaughan' s pre-Superc hunk band, Wwax. Like it Or Not is available exclusivel y as a digital download in the Merge Store.

Mac's descriptio n:

This is a collection of all the studio recordings that Wwax made, all done at Duck Kee Studios on Bickett Blvd in Raleigh in 1987 and 1988. Trac ks 1 & 2 were released by our friend Steve Skrzyniarz on his label Leopard Gecko out in Tacoma. The next seven tracks came out on Merge in a double 7" format. The Songs "All Begins Again," "Just Like" and "Misinvite " were originally released as part of the 7" box set Evil I Do Not To Nod I Live, a collection that also included records by Egg, Slushpuppi es, Black Girls, and Angels of Epistemolo gy. The last two tracks were on a Wwax cassette that was Merge's second release ever. They include a Saccharine Trust cover we did live, plus the demo of the song "Seven" that we recorded at my house and that I always preferred to the better-sou nding studio version. 

We took turns singing the songs in Wwax, but they all bear the mark of Wayne's idiosyncra tic sense of timing and Brian Walsby's uncanny ability to keep up with him. The sound is also shaped by the fiberglass Ovation Breadwinne r guitar that I borrowed from Wayne and played exclusivel y through his tiny gray spray-pain ted Peavey Champ, which achieved a brittlenes s I've not been able to capture since! This is the first digital release of Wwax songs other than a couple stray tracks here and there, and it's strange to hear recordings that are certainly artifacts of a certain era that's not hardcore but not really something else specific either...which is how they sounded then, too.

Tracklisti ng:

1. Pumpkin

2. Inn Town

3. Seven

4. Like It Or Not

5. Straw Man

6. Corduoroy

7. Grows On Trees

8. Price of Gas

9. Counting Thoughts

10. Beachworld

11. All Begins Again

12. Just Like

13. Misinvite

14. I Am Right (live)

15. Seven (demo)

Wwax was:

Wayne Taylor - Bass / Vocals

Brian Walsby - Drums / Vocals

Mac McCaughan - Guitar / Vocals

We are shocked they made it to the big one-oh ourselves!

By Blurt Staff

 frie nd of theirs (in the American Analog Set) sent a recording of one of their live shows to a record label in Baltimore (Temporary Residence, Ltd.), and that label offered to put out albums for the band. The band agreed. A year later they put out a second album (2001's Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever). They began to tour often, all over the world. In 2003 another album came (The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place), and in 2007 they put out their most recent, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. They are shocked to see their 10-year anniversar y on the horizon.

To celebrate this anniversar y, Explosions In The Sky will be playing three special shows this summer, followed by a show in Belgium on 9/9 and a headline appearance at the End of the Road Festival in England on 9/11.

TOUR DATES

6/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium (tickets on sale Saturday, 3/14)

6/30 New York, NY @ Central Park Summer Stage (tickets on sale Saturday, 3/14)

7/2 Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre (tickets on sale Saturday, 3/14)

9/9 Antwerp, Belgium @ Ampitheatr e Riviernhof

9/11 Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival

But we're not taking bets as to who will get unraveled first...

By Blurt Staff

While we don't spend our afternoons reading Us magazine, much less scanning its website for celebrity news (that's called a ‘bra in drain'), if a wiser-than -we source like Stereogum tips us, who are we to say no?

So you read that header right: soon-to-be -erstwhile rocker Ryan Adams and tries-to-b e-a-rocker Mandy Moore got married yesterday in Savannah, Georgia. It's true ‘cos their p.r. flacks have confirmed it. The engagement had been announced last month, after a year-long courtship.

"Hopefully , it can happen and slip by unnoticed by everybody, " Moore was quoted as saying, about her impending nuptials. "I guess we have to be sort of sneaky about it, but I'll see what I can accomplish ."

Here's hoping Moore will give Adams some hair grooming tips...

Maybe this is why he's thinking about quitting music. Only room for one serious musician in a family, right? Hey, don't forget to pick up the inaugural print issue of BLURT - we got a big-ass review of Adams' book of poetry and short essays in it! It's due March 24 on newsstands everywhere . (How's that for working in a plug for ourselves? )

A claymation rendering of Heligoats' (Troubled Hubble's Chris Otepka), "You Win," directed by Ben Chandler.

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/ca ble/satell ite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST.

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

Wednesday, March 11:

9:00 Sundance: Spectacle: Elvis Costello w/Lou Reed & Julian Schnabel

11:00 Biography: Chris Isaak Hour: Stevie Nicks

11:30 CBS David Letterman: An Horse

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Raul Malo

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Pretenders

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: The Virgins

1:35 NBC Carson Daly: Patton Oswalt, M83

Thursday, March 12:

9:00 syndicated Regis & Kelly: Pussycat Dolls

11:00 am & 5:00 pm Biography: Willie Nelson

12:00 & 6:00 Biography: Johnny Cash's America

10:00 Biography: Chris Isaak Hour: Kris Kristoffer son

11:00 Biography: Kris Kristoffer son

11:30 CBS David Letterman: Andy Samberg

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: Pendulum

12:30 CBS Craig Ferguson: Sarah Bareilles

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Glen Hansard

1:35 NBC Carson Daly: Delta Spirit

Friday, March 13:

9:00 am syndicated Regis & Kelly: Kelly Clarkson

11:30 CBS David Letterman: Cursive

11:35 NBC Jay Leno: Randy Travis

12:00 ABC Jimmy Kimmel: The Dream

1:00 Sundance: Live From Abbey Road: Panic at the Disco, Suzanne Vega,

David Gray

12:30 CBS Craig Ferguson: Mike Birbiglia

12:35 NBC Jimmy Fallon: Trace Adkins

At this rate they'll cover the entire country in about 5 years....

By Fred Mills

Well, fans headed to Austin for SXSW will miss ‘em by exactly a month, but My Bloody Valentine will still probably manage to turn a few heads with its brief 5-city U.S. tour that kicks off April 18 at Coachella then heads to Austin, Dallas (long a MBV stronghold for some odd reason), Denver and Seattle. That will be followed a month later by back-to-ba ck nights at the Primavera festival in Spain.

Recall that last September and October the noisegaze legends also did a handful of gigs, hitting just the major markets of NYC, L.A., San Francisco and Chicago, plus a stop in Toronto and a high-profi le appearance at ATP in Monticello , NY.

(Via Pitchfork.)

Tour Dates:

4-18 Indio, CA - Coachella
4-21 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
4-22 Dallas, TX - The Palladium
4-24 Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
4-27 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater at Qwest Field
5-28 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
5-29 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival

This will be a public service announceme nt... with guitars.

By Blurt Staff

Portland's Thermals have a new album, Now We Can See, due April 7 on Kill Rock Stars. They also have a massive tour coming up and will be all over the place at SXSW as well. We'll have some fun stuff on the band later this spring, but in the meantime, the band has requested a podium, so who are we to turn down such nice folks? Take it away, Thermals! (Emphasis words left verbatim.)

***

Hi, we're The Thermals.  We're a three-piec e alternativ e/indie/pu nk band.  We live in Portland, Oregon.  You know, the place all your friends are moving.  So they can paint/reco rd/do gravity bong hits, when they're not slinging lattes at one of a thousand or so coffee shops. 

We have some lovely neighbors here.  The Shins, Modest Mouse, The Decemberis ts, The Jicks, The Blow, Blitzen Trapper, Menomena, you can stop us anytime.  What you can't stop is the overwhelmi ng awesomenes s of Portland's indie-rock scene, of which we consider ourselves an integral part, thank you very much!

Since the summer of fear and hate (2002), we, The Thermals, have been cranking out three-minu te, no-fi sonic gems with a neo-grunge attitude.  When we're not powering through one of our catchy anthems, we're racking our brains to come up with ridiculous (ly bad) new sub-genres .  Hey, we just thought of a new one!  Just in time for the release of our new album, Now We Can See.  It's totally post-power -pop.  We know, we've done the whole "post-" thing before (see our 2006 opus The Body, The Blood, The Machine, a true post-pop-p unk classic).  We should really be so post-"post -" at this point.  But we're not.  Do you know why, dear reader?&nb sp; Because adding "post-" to any genre AUTOMATICA LLY MAKES YOUR MUSIC SOUND SMARTER.  Actually, adding "post-" to ANY WORD OR PHRASE immediatel y makes you "over" it, and therefore better than it.  Go ahead, try it!  Don't forget to thank us when yr ass is post-broke .

But, uh, yeah, our new record.  Sorry, we got distracted .  We're sitting on our porch writing this, and sixty naked bicyclists just rode by.  Portland!& nbsp; We love this fuckin' place.

Like we said, our new record is called Now We Can See.  We think it's pretty good!  ; Pret-ty, pret-ty, pret-ty good.  Not only are the songs filled with some of our smartest lyrics and sweetest melodies, but the recording is, for us,  another great leap in fidelity (you might even call it hi-fidelit y), thanks to producer John Congleton (Explosion s In The Sky, Polyphonic Spree), who brought massive amounts of sound and bombastic style to the project.

So much else is new and wonderful for us!  We have a new record label, Kill Rock Stars.  Not only has Kill Rock Stars released some of Portland's (and the Northwest' s) best punk and indie records to date (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Ki nney, The Gossip), but the label has recently relocated to Portland, and is quickly filling it's roster with even more great Portland bands (Shaky Hands, Panther, Horse Feathers).  The Thermals are thrilled to now be a part of this family as well.  We were thrilled to be part of the Sub Pop family for six years, but we felt it was time to move on. 

We have a new drummer as well.  Westin Glass, formerly of Seattle's Say Hi, joins us (Kathy Foster and Hutch Harris) to complete the third (or so) live line-up of The Thermals.  In addition to (again!) touring the UK with The Cribs this February, and playing multiple shows at SXSW in March, we will be touring the U.S. for two months, following the release of Now We Can See on April 7th.  We'll be doing festivals in Europe and the U.S. all summer long, followed by a full European tour in the fall.

Whew!  ; We're exhausted already.  It's probably time to hit the vaporizer again, then head out for Voodoo Doughnuts and Stumptown Coffee.  We gotta get down to Lincoln High, Gus Van Sant is casting 16-25 year olds for his next picture.  We can pull off 25, right?&nbs p; Sure!

But only in Portland.

XOXO

The Thermals

SXSW Schedule:

03-18 - 2:30 pm: Red 7 | Terrorbird Party

03-18 - 5:00 pm: Club Deville | Kill Rock Stars Showcase

03-19 - 5:00 pm: French Legation Museum | Other Music Party

03-19 - 10:00 pm: Red Eyed Fly | PDX Showcase

03.20 - 1:00 pm: Radio Room | The Onion Day Party

03.20 - 3:40 pm: Club Deville | Insound Party

03.21 - 12:00 pm: Maggie Mae's | Rachael Ray Party

03.21 - 5:30 pm: Waterloo Park | Mess With Texas

Spring Tour Dates:

04-09 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom  

04-10 Salem, OR @ The Grand Theater&nb sp;

04-11 Seattle, WA @ Neumos

04-22 Boise, ID @ Neurolux

04-23 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge&nbs p;

04-24 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theater

04-25 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown&n bsp;

04-26 Minneapoli s, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club 

04-28 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon&nbs p;

04-29 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge

04-30 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig

05-01 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom&n bsp;

05-02 Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit's Soundlab&n bsp;

05-03 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

05-05 Northampto n, MA @ Pearl Street&nbs p;

05-06 Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery&nb sp;

05-07 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs

05-08 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom (18+)  ;

05-09 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom (16+)  ;

05-12 Philadelph ia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's&n bsp;

05-13 Washington , DC @ Black Cat 

05-14 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506

05-15 Charleston , SC @ The Pourhouse& nbsp;

05-16 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade

05-18 Birmingham , AL @ Bottle Tree 

05-19 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe 

05-20 Little Rock, AR @ Revolution Music Room 

05-21 Dallas, TX @ The Loft 

05-22 Austin , TX @ Mohawk&nbs p;

05-23 San Antonio, TX @ The Warhol&nbs p;

05-26 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room 

05-27 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour  

05-30 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill (21+)  ;

05-31 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill (AA) 

It's a fine line you gotta walk indeed!

By Blurt Staff

Old 97's front man Rhett Miller will release a collection of new songs on June 9^th, his fourth solo album and the first on Shout! Factory.  The self-title d album is described as "an up-close and personal journey through Miller's dark heart and complicate d mind - all set to the kind of rollicking tunes for which he's known... the darkest of Miller's deep catalog of releases, and is a personal triumph both lyrically and sonically."

"My approach to songwritin g has always been to take a heavy subject and put it to a bouncy tune.  This record takes that trick to the next level." Miller says.  "Don't get me wrong, there are some rays of sunshine on the album, but there is a lot of deep night. The death of my grandmothe r, the suicide of my hero, David Foster Wallace.  In my head, I was sort of in a dark place when I made this record. [But] it's still a fun record to listen to.  It's a fine line you gotta walk, right?"&nb sp; 

Miller penned all the songs on the record with the exception of "If It's Not Love," which was co-written with Matt Scannell.  Rhett Miller was produced by Salim Nourallah, who also produced the latest critically acclaimed Old 97's release, 2008's Blame It On Gravity. &nbs p;  The 12-song set also features multi-inst rumentalis t and producer, Jon Brion on guitar and bass, The Apples In Stereo's John Dufilho on drums and Billy Harvey on guitar.  While the album was initially planned as a stripped-d own, acoustic record, with the help of his stellar backing band, it quickly turned into one of huge sonic scope.

Of the album's most rocking track, Miller says, "‘Ha ppy Birthday Don't Die" came to me in a fevered rush the morning before I headed to Texas to make the record.  The whole story was there in my head when I woke up.  This weird sci-fi portrait of a little old lady buried in the catacombs of some colony planet celebratin g her one-hundre dth birthday by dying.  Writing that song was like speaking in tongues, very strange."  Not all the songs on the album are so far-flung, "Sometimes ' came out of hearing my two-year-o ld daughter singing to herself in her crib one morning.  I took her little tune and fleshed it out into first a chorus and then a whole song." 

Elsewhere on the album, one finds the quirky details that are a hallmark of Miller's songwritin g.  The "comedy club" in "I Need To Know Where I Stand" sounds suspicious ly similar to LA's famed Café ; Largo where Miller has played regularly over the years.  In the same song, we find "the Hamlet of Wallkill," a town in the Hudson Valley near where the song's author resides.  But it's the simple statements of grand truths that set this album apart from Miller's earlier work.  Take, for instance, the following line from "Like Love."  "We are all alone in this world/from cradle to grave/and maybe after that."  A bitter little sentiment, but dropped into the middle of a fun, foot-stomp er of a song, it's a testament to the years Rhett Miller has  spent honing his craft. 

While maintainin g his career with the Old 97's, Austin-bor n Rhett Miller has also released three previous solo albums, Mythologie s, recorded during his junior year in high school and produced by future Old 97's co-founder , Murry Hammond, in 1989, 2002's The Instigator , and The Believer in 2006. While based in Dallas, Miller and Hammond formed Old 97's in 1993.  With their effortless combinatio n of rock, power-pop and country, the band quickly became one of the most acclaimed and beloved bands to spring from the 90s indie rock scene.  They have released seven studio albums to date.

Well-known as an explosive live act both solo and with the band, Miller and the Old 97's will be on tour throughout the summer and fall.  Many of these shows will be billed as "An Evening With...," and will feature an opening solo set by Miller during which he will perform songs from the new album and favorites from his solo catalog. 

Track Listing:

1. Nobody Says I Love You Anymore

2. Like Love

3. Caroline

4. I Need to Know Where I Stand

5. Happy Birthday Don't Die

6. Bonfire

7. Haphazardl y

8. If It's Not Love

9. Another Girlfriend

10. Refusing Temptation

11. Lashes

12. Sometimes

Tour Dates:

March 11^th - New York, NY Carnegie Hall (R.E.M. Tribute Performanc e w/ Patti Smith, Glenn

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;     &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; Hansard, Calexico and more.)

March 24^th - Solana Beach, CA Belly Up

March 26^th - Los Angeles, CA Largo

March 27^th - Redondo Beach, CA Brixton South Bay

March 28^th - Santa Cruz, CA Crepe Place

March 29^th - San Francisco, CA Yoshi's

April 11^th - Ithaca, NY Castaways

April 16^th - New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge

May 1^st - Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre - Writers in the Raw w/  David Johansen of the

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;      New York Dolls, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and others.

May 13^th - Northampto n, MA Iron Horse

May 14^th - Boston, MA The Paradise

[Photo Credit: Jason Janick]

From Dracula to Satan and back again... what's not to like?

By Fred Mills

It's always a good day when Tom Waits news gets slipped over the BLURT transom. Apparently the bard and his wife/colla borator Kathleen Brennan have been writing new material and planning some summer recording sessions - this would be for the official followup to the three-disc archival collection Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, which came out way back in 2006. (Read a review of the Orphans tour HERE.)

Meanwhile, though, the Waits camp informs us that he's currently filming The Book of Eli, directed by Albert and Allen Hughes (From Hell, Dead Presidents , Menace II Society). The flick's billed as "a post-apoca lyptic Western, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving mankind." Hey! We're back in Zachariah territory! (Inside joke for all you older readers there.) The film stars Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman; Waits has a small role as "Engineer, " and film buffs will recall that Waits and Oldman previously worked together in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film Dracula, respective ly portraying Renfield and the good Count D.

Waits also has a role as Mr. Nick (the devil) opposite Christophe r Plummer in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginariu m of Doctor Parnassus. That was Heath Ledger's final film role, and as he died prior to the completion of filming, Gilliam tapped Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to fill in (!). Billed as a "fantastic al morality tale set in the present day" it also features Lily Cole and Verne Troyner and will premiere at Cannes.

Hey, some of us were actually there!

By Fred Mills

"North Carolina's Punk Rock Legacy 1977-1984" is the title of an in-depth article by noted punk authority Steven Blush, former Seconds zine publisher and author of a number of books including the classic screed American Hardcore: A Tribal History (which later inspired the acclaimed documentar y of the same name about the national hardcore scene). It tells the tale, as the title suggests, of what was going on during the punk era in the relatively undocument ed wilds of N.C., where bands with colorful names like the H-Bombs, Butchwax and Th' Cigaretz helped midwife the Tarheel alternativ e scene,&nbs p; and where the hardcore likes of No Labels, Corrosion of Conformity and Stillborn Christians subsequent ly picked up the hi-nrg torch.

The piece is found in the premiere issue of ArtSync Magazine, based in, of all places, the tiny burg of Supply, NC. You can find the publicatio n's website HERE, and they've also got the entire issue available in digital form HERE (the punk story is indexed starting at pages 54-55). Worth noting: there's also a killer interview with undergroun d artist Robert Williams.

So as not to make this such a shameless plug, I'll give you full disclosure : I'm among the folks Blush interviewe d for the piece (I was present when most of what's covered was happening) , along with the likes of R.E.M. producer Don Dixon, the dB's Peter Holsapple, COC's Reid Mullin and Th' Cigaretz' Jerry Williams (who later worked with the Beastie Boys and the Bad Brains). But with six pages devoted to the topic, and liberally decorated with images of zines, posters and recordings to boot, it's well worth your time to check it out if you have any interest in delving into this regional report - the NC punk scene, though based primarily in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) and relatively small compared to the major markets, mirrored much of what was bubbling under in other locales across the country. And what happened there caused ripple effects, too.

As Jerry Williams puts it, "That explosive scene was the orgasm - and that begot children."

One-man band gonna party your town down.

By Blurt Staff

The mighty Heligoats are headed your way if you live on the east coast or in the Midwest. Who are the Heligoats, you ask? Featuring singer/son gwriter Chris Otepka, late of the much loved Troubled Hubble, it's a cool-rocki n' psychedeli c roots-punk outfit - a one man band, at that - from Illinois who've been winning hearts and minds (and Daytrotter audiences) for some time now.

 Otep ka's about to blaze a trail to your soul, so check out the concert dates below - the Heligoats are opening for Clem Snide. Soundsampl es of the band can be found at the Heligoats MySpace page.

Meanwhile, you gotta check out this positively awesome video for "You Win" that we have posted in our video kiosk. Directed by Ben Chandler, it's some Claymation like you ain't never seen Claymation done before....

Heligoats- Clem Snide Tour Dates:

Mar 12 2009 8:00P

 Loca l 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Mar 13 2009 8:00P

 Grey Eagle Asheville, North Carolina

Mar 14 2009 8:00P

 IOTA Club & Cafe Arlington, Virginia

Mar 15 2009 8:00P

 Club Cafe Pittsburgh , Pennsylvan ia

Mar 16 2009 8:00P

 Worl d Cafe Live Philadelph ia, Pennsylvan ia

Mar 18 2009 8:00P

 Bowe ry Ballroom New York, New York

Mar 19 2009 8:00P

 Midd le East upstairs Cambridge, Massachuse tts

Mar 21 2009 8:00P

 El Mocambo Toronto, Ontario

Mar 22 2009 8:00P

 Beac hland Ballroom Cleveland, Ohio

Mar 23 2009 8:00P

 Tige r Room @ Calhoun Street Fort Wayne, Indiana

Mar 24 2009 8:00P

 Schu bas Chicago, Illinois

Mar 25 2009 8:00P

 400 Bar Minneapoli s, Minnesota

Mar 26 2009 8:00P

 High Noon Saloon Madison, Wisconsin

Mar 27 2009 8:00P

 Hous e Cafe DeKalb, Illinois

Mar 28 2009 8:00P

 Off Broadway St. Louis, Missouri

Hint: he ain't gonna be bailin' out NOBODY.

By Blurt Staff

Erstwhile BLURT blogger Todd Snider has taken on Conservati ve Christians , hippies, Republican s, and frat boys. Now the renegade songwriter (some would say smartass, and we think the man himself would agree) shows us how to get through this economic crisis with 'The Excitement Plan' (out June 9th on Yep Roc). The album features GRAMMY-win ning producer Don Was (Bob Dyan, Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt) and a guest appearance by Loretta Lynn.

'The Excitement Plan' is "an old gypsy term" Snider adopted from his father. He explains, "I know right now that times are hard for all of us and that new songs from a folk singer are not at the top of so many grocery lists but these twelve songs are different. These twelve songs can be part of your solution. Just give them a chance. Take them in. Use 'em to help you appreciate your girl if you still got one, and/or your job if you still got one. Trust them, trust me and I promise you as god is my witness sometime here in the next sixty to ninety days we will be layin 'em in the sweet peas."

THE EXCITEMENT PLAN TRACK LIST

1. SLIM CHANCE
2. GREENCASTL E BLUES
3. AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTIME
4. DOLL FACE
5. BRING 'EM HOME
6. CORPUS CHRISTI BAY [by Robert Earl Keen]
7. THE LAST LAUGH
8. UNORGANIZE D CRIME
9. BAREFOOT CHAMPAGNE
10. DON'T TEMPT ME featuring Loretta Lynn
11. MONEY, COMPLIMENT S, PUBLICITY (SONG NUMBER TEN)
12. GOOD FORTUNE

Snider will tour throughout the spring with highlights including June 11th at NYC's The Bowery Ballroom (tickets on sale now), and his first performanc e at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival June 14th.

The psychedeli c legend will be performing with Blurt heroes Okkervil River

By Fred Mills

One of the high points of any SXSW is the annual Rocky Erickson Ice Cream Social, held on the outside stage at Threadgill 's. This year marks the seventh installmen t, and it promises to be a blast to rival the one a few years ago when Roky made his official return-to- performing appearance with the Explosives .

This year the former 13^th Floor Elevators frontman will play host and perform with Okkervil River, with other bands slated to appear including Heartless Bastards, Black Joe Lewis, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Tallest Man on Earth (Sweden), Dynah, Wil Cope, The Golden Dogs, Warlocks and Chief Rival.  

Note that this is not an official SXSW-affil iated event: Tickets are $25, available at Frontgate Tickets, because it's a benefit:  HAAM , the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, will receive a portion of the proceeds.

WHAT: Roky Erickson's 7^th Annual Ice Cream Social

WHEN: noon Thursday, March 19

WHERE: Threadgill 's World Headquarte rs, 301 W. Riverside Drive, 512.472.9304

Bands include:

Roky Erickson with Okkervil River
The Heartless Bastards
Black Joe Lewis
Ray Wylie Hubbard
The Warlocks
The Tallest Man on Earth (Sweden)
Chief rival
Dynah
The Golden dogs
Wil Cope
and surprise Guests!!

Benefiting HAAM (Health Alliance for Austin Musicians)

and the Roky Trust

Sponsors:

Peace and Love Festival (Sweden)
Gibson guitars
Amy's Ice Cream
Austin.com
Mojo magazine
Red Cross

Has new album due in May...

By Blurt Staff

"St. Vincent has confirmed an extensive U.S. tour in support of her anticipate d new album 'Actor' due out May 5 on 4AD. The tour kicks off May 19 at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville , MA, and includes the largest venues St. Vincent has ever headlined, plus festival performanc es at Sasquatch! and Bonnaroo. See below for a full itinerary.

St. Vincent (nee Annie Clark) will preview songs from 'Actor' next week with two performanc es at SXSW: 11pm on Wednesday, March 18, at the 4AD showcase at Central Presbyteri an Church; and 12 midnight on Friday, March 20, at the Billions showcase at Antone's. The Austin American Statesman calls 'Actor' "a mindblower " and predicts that St. Vincent "could be the hottest ticket at SXSW this year."

Well, all right then! We'll be at SXSW - how do we get a ticket?

St. Vincent 2009 U.S. Tour Dates:

5/19/2009 Somerville , MA Somerville Theatre
5/20/2009 New York, NY Webster Hall
5/21/2009 Philadelph ia, PA Unitarian Church
5/22/2009 Washington , DC Black Cat
5/24/2009 George, WA Sasquatch!
5/25/2009 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
5/27/2009 San Francisco, CA Bimbo's 365 Club
5/28/2009 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
5/30/2009 San Diego, CA Casbah
5/31/2009 Phoenix, AZ Modified
6/2/2009 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
6/3/2009 Omaha, NE Slowdown Jr.
6/4/2009 Minneapoli s, MN First Avenue
6/5/2009 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
6/7/2009 Chicago, IL Epiphany
6/10/2009 Lexington, KY The Dame
6/11/2009 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
6/12/2009 Manchester , TN Bonnaroo
6/16/2009 Birmingham , AL Bottle Tree
6/18/2009 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre
6/19/2009 Austin, TX Mohawk

[Photo Credit: Annabel Mehran]

Brash, fresh-face d new indiepop from Down Under...

By Blurt Staff

Headed our way are Australia' s Grates with a whirlwind of SXSW appearance s next week followed by a handful dates in NYC and L.A. Who are the Grates, you ask? Their second album,Teeth Lost, Hearts Won, has already been met with wide critical acclaim in Australia. It was produced by Peter Katis (Interpol/ The National), and both Kori Gardner from Mates of State and Tim Fite guest on the album, and the band is in the process of nailing down a U.S. deal.

The Brisbane 3-piece already has a number of peer fans, among them Ben Lee and the aforementi oned Mates of State, and their sound, a riotous femme-pop steered blend of contempora ry (Arcade Fire meets Black Kids) and classic (Sparks plus, if you can dig it, older Aussie band the Divinyls - check lyrics like "sex without the cum" in the infectious tune "Carve Your Name" is the kind of bring-the- house-down stuff that has ‘em winning over audiences wherever they go.

Check out the tunes at their MySpace page:

www.myspace.com/thegra tes

It all sounds just "great" to us...

Tour Dates:

SXSW in AUSTIN:

Wed 3/18 11:00pm at The Radio Room (Proper showcase for My Old Kentucky Blog)

Thur 3/19 5:30pm at Peckerhead s (My Old Kentucky Blog/Aquar ian Drunkard Day Party)

Fri 3/20 3:10pm at Brush Square Park (Aussie BBQ Day Party)

Sat 3/21 2:30pm at Club Deville (Hot Freaks Day Party)

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   6:15 pm at Red House Pizzeria (91.7 Radio Music For Listeners Day Party)

NEW YORK:

Mon 3/23 9:30pm at Mercury Lounge (with Sky Larkin)

Wed 3/25 11:00pm at Pianos (with Micachu)

Thur 3/26 9:20pm at the Bell House (free BBQ)

LOS ANGELES:

Sat 3/28 8pm at Silverlake Lounge

Mon 3/30 10pm at Spaceland

Once defunct, now back on the boards...this time as a duo. That's a helluva good deal....

By Blurt Staff

"I got to be honest. Me and Spencer just don't get along."

That's Hella drummer Zach Hill, speaking to BLURT late last year, about his split from guitarist Spencer Seim and the implosion of beloved prog-skron k band Hella. Hill subsequent ly did a solo project - read about it and the breakup of the band HERE - while Seim went off and did his sBACH deal.

So much for all that.

Hell is officially back to being a duo. Hill and Seim are currently writing, working and ripping on their first  ;full length album  ;as a two piece band  in fo ur years.  The album will be recorded and finished this year of 2009. 

Hella  ;has not decided on what record label will be releasing it, or whom will be producing/ engineerin g the album. Those details will be figured and announced sooner than later. Internatio nal touring will most likely follow suit.

Time flies when you're having fun, eh lads?

Hella's MySpace page

Threadgill s, Rusty Spur, Yard Dog, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the print editon of BLURT  ; - what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

If you're in Austin next week, look for BLURT as we bum-rush SXSW with the rest of the music-craz ed badgeholde rs. We're proud to be  a co-sponsor of three day parties (details below), and we'll have copies of our debut print issue to pass out before we pass out - it's got features on Neko Case, Antony, Genesis P-Orridge, the Heartless Bastards, Cheap Trick, Marianne Faithfull and tons more, plus our cover story on 14 Ways to Beat the Recession and tons of reviews. Like any good rock mag should! (Details on the issue HERE.)

Those day parties:

"A Breath of Fresh Air" (a/k/a "a wind-power ed indie rock extravagan za) at Threadgill 's South (301 W. Riverside) on Wednesday, March 18 starting at noon: among the bands kicking it out will be the Damnwells, Kaiser Cartel, Winterpill s, and Amy Speace, courtesy September Gurl, Organic Entertainm ent and Ripple Entertainm ent. Lone Star Beer, merch, and more.

12:00 Brown Shoe

12:40 Jeremy Messersmit h

1:20 Romantica

2:00 Chris Velan

2:40The Secret Life of Sofia

3:20 Amy Speace

4:00 The Winterpill s

4:40 KaiserCart el

5:20The Damnwells

The MuseBox Annual SXSW Day Party, Thursday March 19 from 1:00 p.m. at Rusty Spurs (405 E. 7^th Street): Uber-hip marketing and brand management company The MuseBox will be jamming with  Inward Eye, Juliette Commag&eac ute;re, Hey Ocean!, The Homosexual s and others at this most popular of Austin venues. Free Barefoot "Champagne " Brunch all day long, and even some free Vitamin Water! (See below for more MuseBox news).

1:00   Luck y Fonz III
1:35   Empy r
2:10   Oper ahouse
2:45   Inwa rd Eye
3:55   Hey Ocean!
4:40   The D'Urbervil les
5:00  The Homosexual s

Bloodshot Records' Annual Yard Dog Party, Friday, March 20 from noon onward at the Yard Dog Gallery (1510 S. Congress): we'll be helping the venerable label celebrate its 15^th anniversar y alongside Justin Townes Earle, the Waco Brothers, Dexter Romweber Duo, Andre Williams, Exene Cervenka and more. Free and boozy, like it should be!

12:15  ; &nb sp;Walter Salas-Huma ra / I'm Not Jim
12:45  ; &nb sp;Andre Williams
1:15   &nbs p; Ch arlie Pickett
1:45   &nbs p; De x Romweber Duo
2:15   &nbs p; Ha Ha Tonka
2:45   &nbs p; Ex ene Cervenka
3:30   &nbs p; De adstring Brothers
4:15   &nbs p; Th e Meat Purveyors
4:45   &nbs p; Ju stin Townes Earle
5:15   &nbs p; Sc otland Yard Gospel Choir
5:45   &nbs p; Wa co Brothers with Rosie Flores

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN!! !

Also, let's not forget the big Echo & the Bunnyment concert Saturday night! BLURT, in conjunctio n with the MuseBox and Swinghouse for The MuseBox Official Night Party, will be at Rusty Spurs again (405 E. 7^th Street) for one of the most hotly anticipate d showcases of the whole festival. Don't be square, see ya there!

8:00  Juli ette Commag&eac ute;re
9:00  The Tender Box
10:00  Wint ersleep
11:00  The High Dials
12:00 Echo & the Bunnymen

Something about Jesus in there too... consider the source.

By Fred Mills

This is one of the reasons Twister is a dumbass idea for dumbasses... It lets people just go all the way out of context for no good reason at all. Remember, friends don't let friends tweet when they're drunk.  Read on....

***

"You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasse s themselves so badly YOU feel uncomforta ble? Heard Chris Cornell's record? Jesus." - from Trent Reznor Twitter post, March 11.

"What do you think Jesus would twitter? "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" or "Has anyone seen Judas? He was here a minute ago"" - Chris Cornell Twitter post, March 13.

Go to Cornell's Twitter page for more of his musings on Jesus, Jews,  thin gs that Jesus might or might not do, the second coming and more. Keep an eye on Reznor's page too - you know the boy just can't shut up sometimes, whether or not he has something on his mind or not.

Ditching the label system and releasing it themselves ; also set to curate ATP in May.

By Blurt Staff

Hot on the heels of the Breeders' 2008 studio album,&nbs p;Mountain Battles, comes a four-song- EP, Fate to Fatal, set for an April 21 release.  Reco rded both at a profession al studio in England and in the basement of Breeders' singer/gui tarist Kim Deal,  ;Fate to Fatal is the EP where they boast, "we've discovered the treble knob."

"We started with a song called 'Fate to Fatal,'" said Deal, in a statement. "The Breeders were on tour all of last year, so we booked time at a place called the Fortress in London, England, and worked with a guy named Gareth Parton.  At the beginning, Gareth and I were really snitty towards each other, which can turn out bad or good.  And it turned out really good.  The second song, 'The Last Time,' I wrote, but I recorded it in my basement - we have a guest vocalist on it, Mark Lanegan [Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, The Gutter Twins].  The third song is a cover of a Bob Marley and the Wailers song, 'Chances Are.'  Kell ey and I recorded it live in Chicago at Steve Albini's.  And the last song, 'Pinnacle Hollow,' I did in my basement on a four-track - tape hiss and all."

Additional ly, the Fate to Fatal EP's album art will undoubtedl y catch the eye of both Breeders fans and Obama supporters .  Deal : "An artist named Chris Glass designed the logo for Obama's 'American Recovery and Reinvestme nt Act'  - we saw a news photo of Obama and Biden at a press conference standing next to a signboard with the logo on it - well, Chris designed the artwork for our EP.  He's like family - we're related by marriage, so it was really exciting and it looks really good.  We'r e getting some fancy craft paper for twelve inch sleeves, and Kelley and I are going to personally hand-scree n the artwork at Chris' studio, Wire & Twine, in Ohio."

The Breeders - Kim Deal, twin sister Kelley Deal (guitar, vocals), Cheryl Lyndsey (guitar), Mando Lopez (bass), and Jose Medeles (drums) - have decided to issue  ;Fate to Fatal enti rely on their own.  Deal : "I started asking questions, talking to Dan Koretzky from Drag City Records, Albini, Bob Weston, and Ivo Watts-Russ ell who owned 4AD Records.  And it seems that now, more than at any other time in the past, we could put the music out ourselves - hand-scree n some cool artwork ourselves, sell the EPs at our shows and on our website, as well as get them to traditiona l record stores and other online outlets.  So, we're just going to press up a thousand twelve-inc h vinyls."

Kelley Deal elaborated : "Ev entually, you're going to get what you pay for.  I don't know, it's one of those things - it's not like you can stop it.  But it's like, the Fortress is all-analog , and there are people who work there who need to be paid.  I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think 'free' is the answer."

In addition to the arrival of Fate to Fatal, the Breeders have several other upcoming projects, including playing and curating on 'All Tomorrow's Parties' festival in Minehead, England on May 15-17.  In addition to the Breeders, fans will be able to catch sets by the likes of Bon Iver, Gang of Four, the Foals, X, J-Zone and Heartless Bastards, among others.  Also , bassist Lopez is shooting footage of the Breeders for a forthcomin g documentar y (Kim's take on the docu's topic - "Why it takes us too long to make a record!"), while the band members have found themselves strangely aligned with a certain contact-he avy sport.

"It was a weird thing that happened," said Kelley Deal. "The Breeders were on tour last summer, and we went through St. Louis where we met up with our friend Amy Whited.  She is an Arch Rival roller girl - for the St. Louis roller girl team.  I've known her since she was 16 or 17 - I met her in 1994 at Lollapaloo za in Chicago.  We really watched her grow up, and we talked about how cool it would be to do a video with the Breeders performing live while a roller derby game was going on around us.  

"Then, last October in Cincinnati , the Breeders played a 'Vote Early, Rock Late' rally.  Whil e we were there, these girls introduced themselves to us as the Cincinnati roller derby team.  Then in November, I was doing a signing for my book ["Bags That Rock:  Knit ting on the Road with Kelley Deal"] and judging a craft show in Minneapoli s, and one of the teams that I was judging at the craft show was the Minnesota roller girls.  All this was going on and I thought, 'this roller derby thing is really knocking at my door - I gotta do this!'  So, I got a hold of Amy and we figured it all out.  We got the first edit of the video last week, and the Arch Rival girls look great.  I can't wait for them to see it!"

By Fred Mills

A couple of weeks ago we tipped you to the tantalizin g news that a new Dylan album would be released in late April. At the time, only the proverbial "sources" were talking about it, although Rolling Stone's David Fricke had apparently heard some of the new tracks.

Now comes the word from the Dylan camp: Together Through Life, produced by Dylan under his nom du rawk Jack Frost, will arrive in stores on April 28 on Columbia. Here's the official press release announcing it:

***

NEW BOB DYLAN ALBUM TO BE RELEASED APRIL 28

MARKS ARTIST'S FIRST NEW STUDIO RECORDINGS SINCE 2006

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Columbia Records announced today that Bob Dylan's new studio album will be released on April 28.  Together Though Life, produced by Jack Frost, was recorded late last year, prompted by the compositio n of a new song, "Life Is Hard," which was written for a forthcomin g film by French director Oliver Dahan (La Vie En Rose).

 &nbs p; &n bsp; The new album will be the 46^th release from Bob Dylan, and follows 2006's Platinum album Modern Times, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and reached the top of the charts in seven additional countries and the Top 5 in 22 countries around the world.

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Bob Dylan's three previous studio albums have been universall y hailed as among the best of his storied career, achieving new levels of commercial success and critical acclaim for the artist.  The Platinum-s elling Time Out Of Mind from 1997 earned multiple Grammy Awards, including Album Of  The Year, while "Love and Theft" continued Dylan's Platinum streak and earned several Grammy nomination s and a statue for Best Contempora ry Folk album.  His most recent studio work, Modern Times, became one of his biggest albums worldwide, selling more than 2.5 million copies and earning Dylan two more Grammys.

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Those three studio albums fell within a ten-year creative span that also included an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winn ing tune, "Things Have Changed," from the film Wonder Boys, in 2001, a worldwide best selling memoir, Chronicles , which spent 19 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, in 2004, a Martin Scorsese-d irected documentar y, No Direction Home, in 2005, and several volumes of the best-selli ng Bootleg Series, which culminated in last year's highly-acc laimed Tell Tale Signs.

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Dylan was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositio ns of extraordin ary poetic power."  He was also the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, the French Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1990, Sweden's Polar Music Award in 2000 and numerous other awards and accolades.

But what's this about a free live limited edition CD?

By Blurt Staff

On May 12th,  ; Caldo Verde Records will release ‘Mark Kozelek: Lost Verses - Live', a single, 74 minute disc bookend to his two previous live releases, ‘White Christmas -Live' (2001 Sub Pop), recorded in Scandinavi a, and ‘Little Drummer Boy -Live' (2006 Caldo Verde), a limited edition double live album.

Recorded live during Kozelek's 2007 and 2008 acoustic tours with Sun Kil Moon/Red House Painters guitarist Phil Carney as accompanim ent, the new14 song set features songs primarily chosen from the Sun Kil Moon catalog but also includes solo and Red House Painter's material.  The album was recorded in intimate, seated settings such as The First Unitarian Church in Philadelph ia, The Williamsbu rg Music Hall in Brooklyn, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, finding Mark at his best, relaxed and interactin g with the appreciati ve audience.

Track listing:

=0 A

Unlit Hallway

Carry Me Ohio

Four Fingered Fisherman

Moorestown

Salvador Sanchez

Heron Blue 

Lost Verses

Tiny Cities

Lucky Man

Send In The Clowns

Harper Road

Tonight In Bilbao

Blue Orchids

Katy Song

But wait, as the saying goes, there's more! Beginning April 1, any item ordered from Caldo Verde (www.caldoverde records.com) will nab purchasers a free limited eidition Kozelek CD.  Mark Kozelek: Find Me Ruben Olivares, Live in Spain is the title, and it was recorded live in Zaragoza and Barcelona, Spain.

Track listing:

Heron Blue

Finally

Lucky Man

New Partner

Blue Orchids

Send In The Clowns

Find Me, Ruben Olivares

Trailways

Moorestown

San Geronimo

Summer Dress

Tonight In Bilbao

Mistress

* Duk Koo Kim (bonus track included with limited vinyl coming soon)

The Dead, Dylan, Willie Nelson, Black Crowes, Gov't Mule, Hold Steady, Cold War Kids, MSTRKRFT, Broken Social Scene, Ani DiFranco  and String Cheese Incident among the big names....

By Blurt Staff

The Dead (in their ONLY summer appearance ), Bob Dylan, The String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson & Family, and The Black Crowes will top the bill of over 60 diverse and stellar artists at the second annual ROTHBURY Festival at the Double JJ Ranch in Michigan on July 2-3-4-5, 2009.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 20, at noon at www.rothburyfe stival.com.

Also on the bill are Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Nas, STS9 (2 shows: full band/Live PA Set), G. Love & Special Sauce, Gov't Mule, Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Guster, Les Claypool, Chromeo, Girl Talk, The Hold Steady, Ani DiFranco and many others.  A complete list of confirmed artists follows.  More artists will be announced in the coming months.

ROTHBURY emerged last year as a new Fourth of July celebratio n. With The Dead performing their only summer show, The String Cheese Incident together for their only show for 2009, and cultural icons Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Ralph Stanley, ROTHBURY 2009 continues to honor America's extraordin ary festival lineage. Interlacin g ushers of the new American music scene such as STS9, Chromeo, and MSTRKRFT, globally recognized acts including Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Nas, and King Sunny Adé & His African Beats and local Michigan artists The Macpodz, Steppin' In It, The Ragbirds, Four Finger Five, and The Hard Lessons, ROTHBURY delivers music of integrity across all genres. Coupled with a commitment to exploring the integratio n of art and modern thought and technology throughout the event, ROTHBURY creates a unique 21st century American gathering unlike any other.

ROTHBURY 2009 also unveils its broadened GOOD LIFE VIP offerings. Expanded this year to fit all budgets and tastes, ROTHBURY's VIP experience s are unmatched by any other U.S. festival. Utilizing the festival's unique site, fans can choose from a variety of sleeping/l iving options including beach front and forested environmen ts and a selection of habitats such as safari tents, teepees, pre-fab camping packages and more.  Each GOOD LIFE neighborho od offers a distinctly different living experience for a variety of budgets. Visit www.rothburyfe stival.com for full GOOD LIFE details.

Building on its mission to create a state-of-t he-art large scale sustainabl e event and to organize and nurture community involvemen t that makes a difference , ROTHBURY 2009 promises even more cutting-ed ge festival implementa tion of ever-chang ing green technologi es. The 2009 ROTHBURY Think Tank, an event within the event, explores the topic of the emerging "New Green Economy." The Think Tank will host various buzz sessions and roundtable s between leading scientists , scholars, writers, progressiv e political and corporate leaders, youth leaders, ROTHBURY artists, and ROTHBURY attendees.  Think Tank Programmin g details coming soon.

ROTHBURY itself is committed to producing a near zero-waste concert. The first to tackle a green program of this magnitude at an around-the -clock (camping) concert in the USA, ROTHBURY has an on-staff Greening Chief, and has implemente d multiple initiative s toward this effort, including replacing disposable s with 100% compostabl es, recycling and composting , choosing clean energy, carbon-off setting, and Green Ticket options. Visit www.rothburyfe stival.com for more informatio n.

ROTHBURY's current list of confirmed artists is as follows:

The Dead
Bob Dylan and His Band
The String Cheese Incident
Willie Nelson & Family
The Black Crowes
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Nas
STS9
G. Love & Special Sauce
Gov't Mule
Broken Social Scene
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Disco Biscuits
Les Claypool
Cold War Kids
John Butler
Chromeo
Ani DiFranco
Matisyahu
Guster
Girl Talk
Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
MSTRKRFT
Martin Sexton
Flogging Molly
Railroad Earth
The Hold Steady
Toots & The Maytals
Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
Brett Dennen
Zappa Plays Zappa
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Shpongle DJ Set
Son Volt
Jackie Greene
Soulive
Man Man
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band w/ Tony Rice
EOTO
King Sunny Adé & His African Beats
Lotus
Kid Cudi
STS9 Live PA
The Glitch Mob
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Pretty Lights
Moseley, Law, Sipe & Droll
Rebelution
Quannum All Stars ft. Lyrics Born, The Mighty Underdogs, Gift of Gab & Lifesavas
Toubab Krewe
Sam Roberts Band
Hill Country Revue
Kyle Hollingswo rth Band
Lipp Service
2020 Soundsyste m
Break Science ft. Adam Deitch
The Hard Lessons
The Low Anthem
Undergroun d Orchestra
Future Rock
The Macpodz
Steppin' In It
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
Chris Pierce
Rachel Goodrich
The Ragbirds
Four Finger Five

Additional acts to be announced in the coming months.

Exclusives include Von Bondies, Airborn Toxic Event, Ben Harper, Echo & the Bunnymen and others.

By Blurt Staff

DIRECTV, will be at SXSW for a third year to bring DIRECTV customers SXSW Live, a live television broadcast of the celebrated music event airing exclusivel y on DIRECTV's original entertainm ent channel, The 101^® Network.  The special, broadcasti ng live in HD and 5.1 surround sound, airs March 20-21 beginning at 5 p.m. EST.

Hosts Matt Pinfield and Robin Dorian will take viewers through two full days of festival coverage and live performanc es. Confirmed acts at press time include The Airborne Toxic Event, Ben Harper and Relentless 7, Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters , Carlene Carter, Ed Harcourt, Echo and the Bunnymen, Forever The Sickest Kids, Juliette Lewis and the New Romantique s, Lenka, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Proclaimer s, Shiny Toy Guns, Shwayze, Solange Presents Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams, Third Eye Blind, Tinted Windows and The Von Bondies (pictured) . Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition to more than 16 live concert performanc es, the special will also include backstage interviews with the industry's hottest up-and-com ing and establishe d artists, behind-the -scenes coverage and remote reporting from hot spots throughout the festival - all designed to make viewers feel as if they are at the festival itself. 

"For the third year in a row, DIRECTV customers will be able to experience SXSW Live with a front-row seat and an exclusive look into one of the premier music festivals in the world," said Eric Shanks, executive vice president of Entertainm ent for DIRECTV. &nbs p; "Not only is this larger-tha n-life television special another free perk that only DIRECTV customers get to experience , there's the added enjoyment of seeing many up-and-com ing acts in their first television appearance ever before taking the next step to stardom."

 "We are thrilled to continue our annual partnershi p with DIRECTV for this special live broadcast event," said Roland Swenson, managing director of SXSW Festivals and Conference s. "Advancing our long tradition of innovation , DIRECTV allows us to offer an amazing quantity and quality of video and sound coverage on multiple platforms live from our event.  SXSW Live elevates our festival above and beyond the expected, making the SXSW experience available to millions of people around the world."

The broadcasts will originate from updated state-of-t he-art venues featuring The Bat Bar, a modern music club, and the traditiona l Lonestar Lounge. Both venues have been constructe d from the ground up in the Austin Convention Center to host the exclusive SXSW Live performanc es on DIRECTV.

Last year's show featured rising superstar Katy Perry, British hip-hop sensation Dizzee Rascal, renowned producer/s ongwriter Daniel Lanois, English popsters The Ting Tings and legendary Los Angeles punk rockers X. The inaugural broadcast in 2007 included indie rockers The Bravery, Swedish hipsters Peter, Bjorn & John, infamous reggae and dub music pioneer Lee "Scratch" Perry and punk godfathers The Buzzcocks.

[Von Bondies photo credit: Jim Newberry]

Sorry about that headline. Couldn't resist.

By Blurt Staff

On April 7 the Beastie Boys' third album Check Your Head will be the next Beasties rec to receive the remastered expanded reissue treatment by Beastie Boys and Capitol/EM I. Multiple configurat ions will be available, ranging from a high quality DRM-free digital download of the album (including its numerous and classic b-sides and bonus tracks) to an ultra-delu xe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wra pped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies. (The retail release date of all physical editions other than the 4xLP version will be April 7, with the ultra deluxe following close behind.)

 
The Check Your Head reissue news coincides with the announceme nt today that Beastie Boys will headline the Hollywood Bowl on September 24. Following an appearance at this summer's Bonnaroo festival and ongoing speculatio n regarding the band's appearance s at various summer festivals, the Hollywood Bowl show is both the first headline show in the run-up to a new Beastie Boys album due later this year, as well as the first time Beastie Boys have ever headlined the Bowl.

 &nbs p;
Originally released in April 1992, Check Your Head was a milestone for Beastie Boys on multiple levels: It was the first B Boys album to be produced in its entirety by Mario Caldato Jr. and to feature keyboard player Money Mark, as well as the first to be recorded at the band's own G-Son studios in Atwater Village, CA. Check Your Head also marked the return of live instrument ation to the forefront and backbone of the Beastie Boys sound, with the bulk of the album featuring Mike D on drums, Adrock on guitar and MCA on bass for the first time since the band's early 1980s hardcore punk recordings .

 
On the strength of now-classi c singles and videos "So What'cha Want," "Pass The Mic," "Gratitude " and "Jimmy James" --all of which are included in their original 12" vinyl incarnatio ns in the ultra deluxe version-- Check Your Head stormed the U.S. Top 10, ultimately returning Beastie Boys to hard-touri ng, platinum-s elling status, and setting the band up for the pop cultural dominance it would achieve in the decade to come.

 
The full list of Check Your Head reissue configurat ions is as follows:

 
* Digital Download (album and b-sides)
 - Deluxe Digital Option (also includes videos and video commentary )
 * Deluxe, limited collector' s vinyl + Digital Download
 * Standard double vinyl + Digital Download
 * Ecopack double CD + Digital Download
 * Shirt combos:
 - Deluxe Digital + shirt:
 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; - Standard Vinyl + shirt:
 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; - CD + shirt:
 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; - Deluxe, limited collector' s vinyl + shirt

Stop her if you've heard the one about John Mayer and the red umbrella before....

By COCO HAMES

Once in New York, at Mercury Lounge, we played a show with our friends the Friggs, and during soundcheck , the engineer goes, "Oh, by the way, John Mayer is doing a secret set after your show."  And we were like, "Why?" And the always friendly engineer said, "He does that sometimes."  So we said, "Okay, well... he'll be saddling up on the butt-end of a raucous punk rock night, but whatever."

It was an awesome show, Debbie Harry was there, Little Steven Van Zandt was there, and we brought our new album to the mean streets of the LES. And I say mean streets because some punk ass teenagers decided to use some Bond-level pneumatic lock exploder to break into the van, but guess what, morons?&nb sp; If the band is in the venue, PROBABLY so is their gear.  Idiots.

As it goes, I didn't MEAN to heckle John Mayer, but it kind of, like, happened.  I mean, for the most part, I don't really have a problem with him or people like him. They suck and are super boring, but I don't, like, sit around fuming with hatred for them. I just don't listen to their music. I carry on with my struggle-t o-get-up-i n-the-morn ing-demons -are-out-t o-get-me-t richotillo maniacal-F ranzia-soa ked-punk-r ock life, etc.

But what a douchebag! He just kept telling these boring twatty stories, and I'm like, dude, you are on another planet, no one here has a sailboat, what the hell are you talking about?&nbs p; What is this?  ;

Back in my solo country days, a boyfriend once told me not to tell boring twatty stories up on the mic, and while he was a total dick and READ MY DIARY, it's advice I've pretty much adhered to, because I don't know about everybody else, but I don't go see a show to hear your holy boring self-impor tant stories unless you're Bob Dylan. And John Mayer is not Bob Dylan.

So he gurbled into the mic, "Let me give you some advice..." and I couldn't help myself, it just slipped out, I said, "Please don't..." and I was cracking up. I was like, whoops that was loud, that always happens to me, I am always that guy, we should go back downstairs .  And he got totally flustered and w as like, "Yeah, well... You're, like, you're a red umbrella in, like, a bunch of black umbrellas..." And this guy behind me shouted, "What does that even mean?"

I was just dying laughing. I was like, we gotta get out of here before I engage with John Mayer, I don't even care! Because you know, if I HAVE to fight someone I will, trouble and I are just good friends, but in general, I'd rather not.  Or I would... I just thought it was so funny!&nbs p; I'm like, dude, if what you're going for is, like, a red umbrella in a bunch of black umbrellas means I stand out because I'm not like your fans, or anyone else in the room, I mean... you're right?&nbs p; Thanks for the propers?

Anyway, my friends kept egging me on to keep hassling him, but I -- being super smart and savvy -- said, "Y'alls, I know people like him, and they ALWAYS travel with bodyguards , especially when they go slumming, and I really can't deal with bodyguards ." 

So they called me a wimp, but as John Mayer slummed his way out past my merch booth -- big black bodyguards fore and aft -- I still win!

*****

Blurt "co-co-edi tor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose latest album Look At Life Again Soon (Take Root) is still a hot item-but look out for a new EP, Danger Is, on April 7 (already out digitally, www.myspace.com/theett es), and a Dan Auerbach-p roduced limited-ed ition single this month. And catch ‘em at SXSW, too.

The Ettes In John Mayer Smackdown!

3-16-09

Technicall y, just their frontwoman ... but that's good enough!

By Fred Mills

Poor John Mayer... he just can't get no respect at BLURT. First, he earns a one-star-o ut-of-ten review for last year's snoozeatho n Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles. Now, BLURT blogger Coco Hames - vocalist/g uitarist for the mighty Ettes - is harassing Johnifer, and all he can do is sputter and duck his head behind his bodyguards .

Seems that Mayer had bum-rushed a concert bill awhile back, one which featured the Ettes and the Friggs, and during his set Mayer started rambling on and on about next to nothing, so in a fit of Tourettes- inspired hilarity, Hames let him know in no uncertain terms what a dipshit he was.

What happened next? Read all about it in Hames' latest blog installmen t, HERE.

Wish you'd snapped that thong of his while you were at it too, Coco.

Day 2 for me here in Austin, surviving fairly painlessly thus far. Let's just say that the interactiv e folks are perhaps a little less wild and crazy then the music crowd. Case in point, this year's festival goodie bags: Highlight item in the interactiv e bag, a mysterious petite blue keychain-s weat sock --- in the music bag, let's cut straight to the chase [...]

A Triple-A radio programmin g veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentati on of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

There's money on the table, lads!

By Fred Mills

Reports out of the UK this morning suggest that the Stone Roses may be getting back together for a 21-date summer tour - at the moment, of Britain only, but the possibilit y of the band doing Coachella is also being floated. It'll be to mark the 20^th anniversar y of the release of their seminal debut Stone Roses, issued in March of '89.

Britain's The Mirror quotes a "source" (yeah, we know....) as saying, "It's taken a lot of time to get Ian to agree but he's finally signed on the dotted line. The rest of the band were really up for it, especially when they realised the amount of money on the table."

Money? There's money involved? This isn't for the love of the music? At any rate, the "Ian" in question is Ian Brown, who's had a moderately successful solo career after the Manchester - "Madcheste r" - band fell apart in 1996 in the aftermath of guitarist John Squire's acrimoniou s split from his songwritin g partner.

Joins Forces With Louisiana State Museum For Exhibit Spotlighti ng The Secret History Of Louisiana Rock N' Roll.

By Blurt Staff

On April 26 the Louisiana State Museum at the historic Cabildo in New Orleans' Jackson Square will open a Ponderosa Stomp exhibit in collaborat ion with the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation titled "Unsung Heroes: The Secret History of Louisiana Rock & Roll." The exhibit continues and expands the Foundation 's mission to shine a light on the unsung heroes of American music and opens just one day before the Ponderosa Stomp Music Festival, April 28 and 29, at the House of the Blues in New Orleans.

Highlights include a 1947 Wurlitzer jukebox; an original bottle of Hadacol (a tonic that was the subject of several "medicine shows"); James Black's drum set; Slim Harpo's guitar; Fats Domino's piano; Louisiana blues legend Lazy Lester's harmonica; a Shirley & Lee concert poster from 1955; and an original sign from Louisiana Music Hall of Famer Cossimo Matassa's historic J&M Record Studio, where Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others cut groundbrea king sides.

The exhibition was co-curated by The Louisiana State Museum and The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation , founded by Dr. Ira "Dr. Ike" Padnos (also the festival's producer). Standard adult admission is $6 and the Cabildo is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm.

The New York Times called the Ponderosa Stomp "a party on its way to becoming an institutio n," while The LA Times called it "a wail of a time." The Ponderosa Stomp continues to elevate some of America's most pioneering performers by bringing their names back into the spotlight and creating incredible , once-in-a- lifetime on-stage collaborat ions.

For more on the Ponderosa Stomp and to see the full 2009 lineup visit:&nbs p; http://www .ponderosas tomp.com/ponder osa_stomp_ 8.php

And that's a cold fact, baby!

By Fred Mills

So, you've read plenty of Rodriguez hype on this website, right? Bottom line: we think he is the man, and we've not only got the Light In The Attic reissues of his two albums (1970's Cold Fact and 1971's Coming From Reality - the latter due in stores in May), but still-fres h memories of his January concert in Asheville to back up our assertion.

Check those links for plenty of Rodriguez info, but meanwhile, the cult legend has just announced a series of concert dates for April, May and June. He'll be hitting mostly the upper sections of the country, like D.C. and NYC, Chicago and Cleveland, Seattle and Portland, but this is significan t in that, thus far, he's just made guerilla runs to cities where promoters determined there was a strong draw.

See the full itinerary below; no doubt those are all hot spots for Rodriguez, whose star has steadily risen since LITA reissued Cold Fact to massive critical acclaim last year. On selected dates the same band that backed him in Asheville will be in tow; stay tuned for more details as they are released.

RODRIGUEZ ON TOUR:

4/10 - High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI (BUY TICKETS HERE)
4/24 - Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH (BUY TICKETS HERE)
5/08 - Schubas Tavern, Chicago, IL (BUY TICKETS HERE)
5/09 - Magic Stick, Detroit, MI (BUY TICKETS HERE)
5/13 - Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC (BUY TICKETS HERE)
5/14 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelph ia, PA (BUY TICKETS HERE)
5/15 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
6/22 - Richard's On Richards, Vancouver, BC
6/23 - The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
6/24 - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
6/26 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA (BUY TICKETS HERE)
6/27 - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA (BUY TICKETS HERE)

From her recent Joe's Pub show.

By Blurt Staff

Soulstress Betty LaVette played to an extremely appreciati ve sold-out crowd at Joe's Pub recently where, for the first time in nearly a decade, she performed a cabaret style show accompanie d only by her piano player/mus ic director Al Hill. Called "The sexiest female vocalist alive," by Esquire magazine, Bettye brought the theatrical ity into her set mixing a viscerally shattering delivery of songs from every style of popular music from Thelonious Monk to Bruce Springstee n and chroniclin g her life stories in between.

According to respected music journalist /author/so ngwriter Dimitri Ehrlich in Uptown Social: "She sings, she smolders, she testifies...standouts included a shiver-ind ucing cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," as well as re-working s of songs by the Beatles, Ray Charles and her old friend Otis Redding. LaVette still brings a world of pain to every note. An extraordin ary combinatio n of raw emotion and sublime musical intelligen ce enhances a voice hinting at decades of disappoint ment, cigarettes , tear stained pillows and benders. Times may have changed, but the yearning and unbearable soul-bruis ing are still there."

The evening included such tunes as Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," the Buddy Johnson penned timeless "Save Your Love For Me," Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," the Jerry Butler/Oti s Redding collaborat ive classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long," Bettye's first single at 16 "My Man-He's a Lovin' Man," the Billy Strayhorn composed standard "Lush Life," Sam Cooke's unforgetta ble "A Change is Gonna Come," among others. Bettye chose to close her show with the gut-wrench ing Springstee n number "Streets of Philadelph ia."

"Heart of Gold" live from Joe's Pub is now available as a free MP3 at http://med iatmp.anti.com/bettye lavette/he artofgold.mp3.

In other recent news, Bettye made her Tonight Show debut performing "I Still Want to be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)" from her Grammy-nom inated CD The Scene of the Crime. On April 4 Bettye will join Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eddie Vedder, Moby and Donovan, among others performing at Radio City Music Hall for the David Lynch Foundation 's Change Begins Within Benefit Concert.

Threadgill s, Rusty Spur, Yard Dog, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the print editon of BLURT  ; - what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

If you're in Austin this week, look for BLURT as we bum-rush SXSW with the rest of the music-craz ed badgeholde rs. We're proud to be  a co-sponsor of three day parties (details below), and we'll have copies of our debut print issue to pass out before we pass out - it's got features on Neko Case, Antony, Genesis P-Orridge, the Heartless Bastards, Cheap Trick, Marianne Faithfull and tons more, plus our cover story on 14 Ways to Beat the Recession and tons of reviews. Like any good rock mag should! (Details on the issue HERE.)

Those day parties:

"A Breath of Fresh Air" (a/k/a "a wind-power ed indie rock extravagan za) at Threadgill 's South (301 W. Riverside) on Wednesday, March 18 starting at noon: among the bands kicking it out will be the Damnwells, Kaiser Cartel, Winterpill s, and Amy Speace, courtesy September Gurl, Organic Entertainm ent and Ripple Entertainm ent. Lone Star Beer, merch, and more.

12:00 Brown Shoe

12:40 Jeremy Messersmit h

1:20 Romantica

2:00 Chris Velan

2:40The Secret Life of Sofia

3:20 Amy Speace

4:00 The Winterpill s

4:40 KaiserCart el

5:20The Damnwells

The MuseBox Annual SXSW Day Party, Thursday March 19 from 1:00 p.m. at Rusty Spurs (405 E. 7^th Street): Uber-hip marketing and brand management company The MuseBox will be jamming with  Inward Eye, Juliette Commag&eac ute;re, Hey Ocean!, The Homosexual s and others at this most popular of Austin venues. Free Barefoot "Champagne " Brunch all day long, and even some free Vitamin Water! (See below for more MuseBox news).

1:00   Luck y Fonz III
1:35   Empy r
2:10   Oper ahouse
2:45   Inwa rd Eye
3:55   Hey Ocean!
4:40   The D'Urbervil les
5:00  The Homosexual s

Bloodshot Records' Annual Yard Dog Party, Friday, March 20 from noon onward at the Yard Dog Gallery (1510 S. Congress): we'll be helping the venerable label celebrate its 15^th anniversar y alongside Justin Townes Earle, the Waco Brothers, Dexter Romweber Duo, Andre Williams, Exene Cervenka and more. Free and boozy, like it should be!

12:15  ; &nb sp;Walter Salas-Huma ra / I'm Not Jim
12:45  ; &nb sp;Andre Williams
1:15   &nbs p; Ch arlie Pickett
1:45   &nbs p; De x Romweber Duo
2:15   &nbs p; Ha Ha Tonka
2:45   &nbs p; Ex ene Cervenka
3:30   &nbs p; De adstring Brothers
4:15   &nbs p; Th e Meat Purveyors
4:45   &nbs p; Ju stin Townes Earle
5:15   &nbs p; Sc otland Yard Gospel Choir
5:45   &nbs p; Wa co Brothers with Rosie Flores

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN!! !

Also, let's not forget the big Echo & the Bunnyment concert Saturday night! BLURT, in conjunctio n with the MuseBox and Swinghouse for The MuseBox Official Night Party, will be at Rusty Spurs again (405 E. 7^th Street) for one of the most hotly anticipate d showcases of the whole festival. Don't be square, see ya there!

8:00  Juli ette Commag&eac ute;re
9:00  The Tender Box
10:00  Wint ersleep
11:00  The High Dials
12:00 Echo & the Bunnymen

By Nancy Dunham

 If this continues, we may have to crown Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis the new Kevin Bacon (as in "six degrees of separation from...")

Morgan Nagler, lead vocalist/g uitarist/c o-founder of The Whispertow n 2000 is another in a series of musicians that consider Lewis and her Rilo band mate Blake Sennett musical muses. The duo not only provided long-term encouragem ent, but performed on Whispertow n's 2006 debut "Livin' in a Dream," which Sennett co-produce d. Plus, Whispertow n was given opening slots when the artists toured.

But don't think the folk-tinge d hypnotic music of Whispertow n 2000 is a musical stepchild. The four-piece band has rightly won critical kudos and a devoted fan base that includes Lewis who has publicly said, "Morgan Nagler is my favorite songwriter . Period."

Supporting its sophomore release "Swim," The Whispertow n 2000 will jump right from the Austin stages of SXSW to a headlining tour and then supporting gigs for singer/son gwriter Maria Taylor.

SXSW appearance s:

3.18      Litt le Radio SXSW Party  @ Red Eyed Fly     1:20 pm

3.18     Cannibal Cheerleade r SXSW Party @ Peacock Lounge   4:45 pm

3.19     End of the Road Festival SXSW Party   @  Lamb ert's       2:30 pm

3.21    SXSW Hotel Café ; Showcase @ Ale House  11:0 0 pm

Headline tour dates:

3.22        Ft. Worth, TX            Lola's

3.26         St. Louis, MO                 The Firebird

3.27         Nashville, TN                 The Basement

3.28         Louisville , KY                 Nachbar

3.29         Charlotte, NC       Snug Harbor

Dates in support of Maria Taylor:

4.04        Gain esville, FL                  Comm on Grounds

4.05        Orla ndo, FL                        The Social

4.06        Jack sonville, FL                Jack Rabbits

4.07        Birm ingham, AL                Bott le Tree

4.08        Atla nta, GA                        The Earl

4.09        Carr boro, NC                      Loca l 506

4.10        Wash ington, DC                 Rock N Roll Hotel

4.11        Phil adelphia, PA                 Barbary

4.12        Broo klyn, NY                     Bell House

4.13        Hobo ken, NJ                       Maxwell's

4.14        Bost on, MA                        Grea t Scott

4.16        Buff alo, NY                        Moha wk Place

4.17        Toro nto, ON                       El Mocambo

4.18        Clev eland, OH                    Grog Shop

4.19        Ann Arbor, MI                    Blin d Pig

4.20        Chic ago, IL                         Schuba's

4.21        Madi son, WI                       High Noon

4.22        Minn eapolis, MN                400 Bar

4.24        Omah a, NE                         Waiting Room

4.25        Denv er, CO                         Hi Dive

4.26        Salt Lake City, UT              Kilb y Court

4.28        Seat tle, WA                         Vera Project

4.29        Port land, OR                        Doug Fir

5.01        San Francisco, CA               Café ; Du Nord

5.02        Visa lia, CA                          Cell ar Door

5.03        Los Angeles, CA                 Troubadour

Yesterday we officially unveiled the first tangible copy of Blurt at the Bloodshot Records party (co-sponso red by Blurt) at the Yard Dog Gallery on South Congress. It's good to be back, and we think you'll like holding our (initially ) skinny little volume in your hands. It has the look and feel of our original incarnatio n, HARP, and it's like comin' home. Or getting back on the pipe after a lengthy and forced stay in a rehab facility. Ah...

We celebrated accordingl y, guzzling free Shiner (Blonde and Bock - do we know how to party, or what?) and checking out the fine roster of Bloodshot artists including the legendary Mr. Silky himself, Andre Williams. He showed us why among septuagena rians, he's the "Bad Motherfuck er." Not that Charlie Pickett, Dexter Romweber, Exene Cervenka, Justin Townes Earle, and I'm Not Jim (The Silos' Walter Salas-Huma ra) aren't bad mofos in their own right.

We detoured to the Austin Convention Center to check out the Proclaimer s, who really are more than the one song which, while great, will not be mentioned here. Forget about it temporaril y and just go buy their classic album Sunshine on Leith. Listen to it alone the first time and you'll get it. 'Nuff said. Except, y'know... the show was, as Scots say, "geh-RAYT! "

Hamell on Trial was the next stop. Soho Lounge, tiny room, tiny guy--big crowd, big presence. The man is a god. Sorry. That's breathless . But it's true. One little forty minute show is almost a festival worth of music, comedy, and education. For example, we learned that when Barack Obama asked Michelle out for the first time, he said, "You should date me because one day I'll be president." So she did. Then, according to Hamell, everything in marriage is a negotiatio n. So when Barack asked Michelle if she'd do anal (this is after they were married, Puritans), she said, "When you're president." And Hamell,&nb sp; ever a fount of informatio n, said that on election night, when Obama took Ohio, Michelle "must've been like, 'Oh, fuck.'"

We didn't even try to get into the Metallica show. Well, we stopped by. The line had been moving and a couple of 'tallica songs would've been cool. Then the line stopped so we skedaddled over the Rusty Spurs to catch Bigelf. You must see them at your earliest convenienc e. Even if it's not convenient , and you have to get time off work and a babysitter or donate plasma to afford a ticket, just do it. Easily one of the best things Blurt had the pleasure of seeing at SXSW 2009. Huge psychedeli c classic stoner rock with a frontman who looks as if he might blow zombie dust in your face then roast you on a spit, all the while humming melodies from the Beatles songbook.

Last show of the night was the comedy showcase at Esther's Follies. We heard the last half of Marc Maron's angry-hila rious set from the lobby, and spotted Doug Benson and Janeane Garofalo. Then Mr. Even Keel, Todd Barry played to an estimated 37 people (crowd's guess may be arbitrary) and his made-for-s elf-hypnos is voice and is about as comforting as Hope Sandoval's singing voice. Only she's not nearly as funny as him. Howard Kremer, whom you may recognize as various psycho characters from the Sci-Fi Channels Scare Tactics--or from the old MTV series Austin Stories, closed the night with his wacko Dragon Boy Suede raps and reciting random song titles by crappy bands who foist CDs upon him on the street. Much funnier than it sounds. See him if you get a chance. 

Finally we met another comic, Ruby Collins, in the lobby. Completely random. Nice little conversati on. Listened to her on MySpace today and watched a couple of her videos. She's worth a look too, and we're bummed we missed her set. So go here now: www.myspace.com/roboth ands.

(Photos: Randy Harward)

Couldn't ask to start SXSW 2009, Day One: While in the Hyatt Regency lobby awaiting my turn to talk to Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters , I met the dean of swamp rockers--M r. Tony Joe White. It just so happened that the chair I chose was around the corner from a couch where a besunglass ed TJW was giving an interview. Afterward, I snagged a quick autograph. Hot damn.

Here's what was supposed to a be real-time, live bloggery-- not that it would've been all that interestin g. "Still waiting for BBT," I typed into my Blackberry , "but the TJW encounter is a nice way to pass the time. Holy shit." I then figured I chould check in with the publicist to see what was the hold up. While typing a text message, she called. We spent about five minutes on the phone directing each other around the lobby bar so we could go up to the interview suite... And guess what? Your humble dumbass was at the wrong hotel. I was advised of the change, but because the Holy Crackberry said Hyatt, I of course obeyed. Luckily, I wasn't far. Grabbed a cab, made it to the Four Seasons in five minutes. 

Walked into the suite, which was posh, and Boxmasters Mike and J.D. were scattered around the room. A very nice lady with the band offered me several drinks, failing to take no thanks for an answer, so I finally relented when she said she made a great Bloody Mary. She did. Billy Bob plopped down just as the drink arrived, and the strangest thing was it didn't feel too much like an interview. Might've been Billy Bob Thornton-- a fuckin' giant--nex t to me, but it felt like four guys just hanging out. And though I'd never had a Bloody Mary before, I took to it like a lush. Very tasty, Mystery Lady.

I should say Billy Bob, despite appearing to be no more than a regular dude, still got off plenty of zingers. One of them being, after J.D. took us on a somewhat long (but worthwhile ) walk of an answer, was the interjecti on, "We have long answers and short answers. The short answer is we like *****." Uncensored answer will appear in Blurt sooner than later. Mike and JD play excellent straight men, by the way. And they laid an autographe d copy of the new album Modbilly on me. Nice.

It wasn't easy to top that encounter, but a dinner and several more drinks at Jaime's Spanish Village worked well. Even better was Jessica Lea Mayfield's set at The Parish. If you thought the album was good, wait'll you see her live. How can she be 18 (or is she 19 now?) years old? Her youth just doesn't show on stage. She's like a more charming Neko Case. And offstage, when I approached her to say hello, she was almost bashful. An autograph request seemed to make her blush. And though she couldn't oblige 'til she went backstage to lay down her guitar, she pledged to return--an d did, telling the fan, "See? I remembered ."

Afterward, I spotted Dan Auerbach, Mayfield's producer and "the dude from The Black Keys," hanging out and we both gushed about Mayfield's performanc e before Holly Golightly came on. I stayed for about four songs, wanted to stay for more, but had to get movin', make sure I got to Smokin' Music before the potential crush of Boxmasters fans arrived. En route, I detoured to the Emo's Annex for the last half of Valient Thorr's sweaty, feral--LOU D--set. Watching frontguy Valient Himself was like watching a tent revivalist preacher (and we were in a tent) after his first taste of crank. He looked like he was channeling ((((GOD))) ) and Satan (probably his representa tive demon Pazuzu, from The Exorcist) and it was just... in a word... awesome.

Before I head out for Day Two, here's another moment of live bloggery that didn't happen: "Can't wait 'til the show tonight. It's at 1 am. Very worth the wait." I was talking about The Boxmasters . I did make it to Smokin' Music, but thanks to the Xanax I took because air travel makes me weep inwardly, and the Bloody Mary, and all the beer, I kept falling asleep while I tried to wait out the 60-70 minutes before the Boxmasters went on. Not wanting to risk a public intox, I opted to leave. But man, I scored a really good chicken taco on the way home.

Blurt checks out Devo, Roky Erickson with Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Laura Gibson, N.A.S.A., and Foreign Born.

By Randy Harward

First things first on a beautiful Austin a.m.: Breakfast tacos. Like BBQ and Lone Star, probably one of the most ubiquitous topics, but compelling nonetheles s. Since the sainted Las Manitas is gone, we tried El Sol y La Luna near Emo's. Sublime. There was a fight out on the street in front of Emo's after, but we were slow getting outside, being so fat with migas con chorizo.

Walked around the music tradeshow long enough to get all the swag that was worth getting and then some. Let's hear it for the Hawaiian music marketing people--th ey had a very attractive woman handing out Hershey's kisses and nuts. A little backward, and marginally effective, but entertaini ng nonetheles s.

After that, it was time for the Devo press conference and panel. In the little press suite at the Austin Convention Center, about 30-40 lucky hacks and photograph ers got to shoot and grill Devo about their not-reunio n and upcoming new album, and have them elucidate (again) the concept of Devolution . One asshole photograph er asked them about the hats. The hats. Moron. But Blurt's own Greg Walton got Mark Mothersbau gh to talk about how Drew Barrymore fired him from scoring the film Whip It. Mothersbau gh said that he kept bumping Devo from the studio to accomodate Barrymore, who kept canceling. When he finally had enough and said so, he says she told him they just didn't see eye to eye, "so I got fired."

The public Devo panel started with the video for the band's new song "Don't Shoot, I'm A Man." It's good--as if we expected anything else? Well, kinda. you never know what to expect from a reunion. Although Devo is one of the smartest and most innovative bands ever, well... there's always that chance. That the song is the same taut, eccentric dork-rock with salient messages (in this case, it's a "humanist plea") without looking shticky is a testament to Devo's contributi on to rock n' roll then and now.

We then caught the ass end of the Roky Erickson Ice Cream Social, the last half of Erickson's set, where he was joined by Okkervil River's Will Sheff, who was clearly stoked to be onstage with Erickson again. After a leisurely meal of street pizza, we saw Laura Gibson at the Red Eyed Fly--she was beguiling- -and then, for shits and gigs, N.A.S.A. That there is a puzzle: Why care about two DJs, no matter how good, when they're at the back of the stage being nerdy while they paint two bitches green and tell 'em to dance (freestyle , evidently) on the front of the stage? Jiggles aside, that's uninspired and irritating . Foreign Born capped the night for Blurt. Randy, anyway. While I was falling asleep, Fred Mills was shaking his ass to the Bar-Kays, which he said were like seeing a party on the level of those thrown by The Time or Prince (of course the B-Ks influenced those acts--we know). Damn it. 

 (Photos: Randy Harward)

Okay, Blurt readers: Here's a pictorial taste of our Day Four SXSW activities . Look for a full recap tomorrow. For now, enjoy these shots. Above shown is PJ Harvey at Stubb's BBQ. Below are David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls at Rachael Ray's big Feedback party. And Katie from The Thermals at the same.

And here's Janeane Garofalo at Esther's Follies:

And finally Hot Leg, the new band from Justin Hawkins--f ormer lead singer/gui tarist of The Darkness.

THE MOON MAN CONNECTION

In the late '70s, disco video was all the rage. TV programs such as Kicks, Hot City, and Soap Factory Disco marred the broadcast airwaves. As long as folks had the desire to celebrate their beautiful brawn on the set of some sleazy soundstage , the ecstasy prevailed and became perfect visual wallpaper for the winking TV eye.

But for sheer spunk, no disco program ever approached Moon Man Connection which I first experience d on UHF Channel 20 in Washington DC. This low-cost program was visual wallpaper so extreme that its very insubstant iality became hypnotic.

Filmed in a rat-infest ed basement, Moon Man opened with a blast from an echo chamber. Ten years after Neil Armstrong strolled on the moon, Mr. Moon Man milked the scratched footage of the NASA moonwalk, splicing it in at random intervals. Moon Man was a true trash auteur from Scuzzville .

Moon Man's backdrop scenery was a moonscape painted on cardboard sprinkled with glitter and Day-Glo.  Compared to other disco programmin g of this era, Moon Man's dance floor seemed nearly vacant; the dancers, puppets on Sleep-eze. Tipsy camera angles, cheap simulcasti ng, color filters, "psychedel ic lighting"- all combined to create the best example of dope TV ever made.

After months of indulging in Moon Man Connection , I began to notice several similariti es between supposedly different episodes:

--Moon Man always seemed to play the same ten records (he was the only cat who ever misspelled Rod Stewart as "Rot Stuart")

--The regular dance sequence, where couples are paired according to their astrologic al signs (to the strains of Danny Pearson's "What's Your Sign?"), always featured the same couple.

--Every time the dancers did the "Moon Walk" (which could only be performed to a Bohannon record), it was the same bunch.

Finally, I realized that, not only did Moon Man Connection contain similar sequences merely rearranged for each show, but that it was actually the same show repeated endlessly! (Boy, Moon Man, what a card!)

Nothing could explain the Moon Man phenomenon at a time when disco video supplied an endless stream of visuals illustrati ng the physical dynamics of going tapioca with one's limbs. I mean, Moon Man-and his whole stupid show-just sat there.

Hey, Moon Man!  How bout that...he got away with something! ! Give him a hand or a hand job or whatever you wanna do....the guy deserves it.

BUT HERE'S THE OTHER PERSPECTIV E FROM THE INNER DC CONNECTION :
What a trashy review from a true playa hater...

Moonman provided the ‘rea l connection ' that was missing from the hyped Soul Train broadcast. The so-called ‘end less repeat of shows' was genius, and I laugh... LOL.

You misreprese nt informatio n of a genre of Go-Go Playas (not gender specific) who know the truth about Channel 20 and The Moonman Connection . They funked and rocked old school and new beats and rhymes without fail. Perhaps your town could only afford to pay for cut and pasted shows... In D.C., it was real and they dealt funk on a regular.

I watched the show comfortabl y in my B-More attic (The Playas Clubhouse) , with no less than room fulla honeys and some Espirit. The dancers were a bit repetitive , but they danced like no other place, except for maybe a house party.
D.C. and B-More are cousins down south (south of the Big Apple)...we are not ashamed of our funk and you will never find us spinning on our heads or swimming out of water. We funk, we rock, we connect.

To all the playas back in the day, I gotchya back!

Moonman, thanks brother... Thank you for keepin' it real.

Hitting that lucrative summer European, er, symphony circuit.

By Blurt Staff

Antony - currently featured in the new print edition of BLURT via an exclusive interview with contributi ng editor A.D. Amorosi - will play a series of unique concerts in collaborat ion with symphonies across Europe this summer. Presenting a wide array of material including songs from "The Crying Light", the concerts will feature large format orchestras (36-52 players) presenting arrangemen ts developed by Antony and Nico Muhly and conducted by Rob Moose.  Premiering at the Manchester Festival, Antony has also been commission ed to create a stage environmen t for " The Crying Light" inspired by Bauhaus stage lighting design and considerin g the dreams of crystals inside mountains.

Concert Dates:

June 21 & 22 - Amsterdam , Holland - Holland Festival&n bsp; at Royal Theatre Carr&eacut e; with the Metropole Orchestra
July 3 & 4 - Manchester , UK - Manchester Internatio nal Festival at the Opera House with the Manchester Camerata
July 21 - Lyon, France - Les Nuits de Fourviere with the Opera de Lyon Orchestra
July 28 - Rome , Italy - Cavea at Il Parco della Musica&nbs p; with the Rome Sinfoniett a
August 9 - Oslo, Norway - Oslo Jazz Festival - (for the inaugurati on of the open air venue of the Opera House) with the Oslo Opera House Orchestra
August 14 - Gothenburg , Sweden - Way Out West Festival with the Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra

More Antony news:

Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade will release the "Epilepsy Is Dancing" single in Europe April 6/US April 7. The single will be released in CD and 7" vinyl formats and includes live favorite "Where Is My Power?" Check out the striking video for the single produced by AFAS and directed by the Wachowski Brothers (THE MATRIX, V for VENDETTA) which can be viewed on YouTube.
 

Antony and the Johnsons will play the Coachella Music and Arts Festival on Sunday April 19th. Antony has collaborat ed with avant-gard e composer and electronic s wiz Matthew Herbert for the event.  The duo will present stark electronic re-imagini ngs of songs from Antony and the Johnsons' new album "The Crying Light."

Antony has been invited by designer and gallerist Agnes B to curate an art show at Gallery Du Jour in Paris, opening on April 11th. Entitled "Six Eyes" the exhibition will feature work by Peter Hujar, Kiki Smith, Alice O'Mally, William Basinski and James Elaine, Antony and Barbara Cummard.

Raise your hand if you caught ‘em blow out the fuses at SXSW.

By Blurt Staff

Fresh off their riotous appearance at SXSW last weekend (their first show in 6 monhts), Brooklyn's Tiny Masters of Today announce details of their new album, "Skeletons," out on Mute on June 16. The core unit of siblings Ivan and Ada (ages 15 and 12 respective ly) are joined by drummer Jackson Pollis.

The band's trajectory has been startling. Almost overnight, the band went from a few homemade recordings on a MySpace page to collaborat ing with Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kimya Dawson, Fred Schneider (B-52s) and Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), being remixed by CSS and Liars, and touring the world. David Bowie even lauded their first homemade single as "Genius."

With Skeletons, however, the Tiny Masters went it totally alone, producing and writing the entire album themselves . Fans of Tiny Masters' familiar shouting and sloganeeri ng and general anti-estab lishment nose thumbing won't be disappoint ed, but the sonic palette has broadened somewhat. It's a mixture of classic punk rock incorporat ing hip-hop, electronic a, dub, and even disco. The tracks were largely recorded at their home in Brooklyn, using the computer program Garageband . They brought the songs to Seaside Lounge studio with engineer Patrick McCarthy for additional recording and the final product was mixed by Matt Stein at U.W.M.S.C. in New York.

New Live EP "Celebraci ón De La Ciudad Natal"(ATO Records) to be Released on Record Store Day (April 18^th) in Independen t Retail Stores Only.

By Blurt Staff

My Morning Jacket's got an exclusive new live EP they want to tell you about:

"Hello friends. We are proud to announce and release a lil live EP that was recorded right in our very own hometown of Louisville , KY. a few songs were taken from our in-store appearance at our beloved and fabled record haven "Ear-X-Tac y" and a few of them were taken from our concert at the fabled "Waterfron t Park." See if you can guess which is from which. We are excited to make this a special release that you can only get at your favorite local independen t record store, as now more than ever we all need to take the time to celebrate what our favorite local record stores and businesses mean to us - the value of community/ human-to-h uman, non-intern et related physical&n bsp;and spiritual contact, and supporting the hardworkin g people in your community who strive everyday to keep it unique and keep it local.

"We are fortunate in our travels to get to see many wonderful things, but one of the most distressin g things is the increasing "normaliza tion" of the world and how all these places are starting to look the same - everywhere you look more and more towns are starting to be filled with the same gigantic corporatio ns, and while some of these huge companies undoubtedl y provide valuable services, it is so important that we realize that it is our local businesses and people (and natural landscapes , but that's a different letter) that are what make different towns worth coming to... things you can only get in one place, made and sold by people who believe in what they are doing... people who are trying to keep good weirdness alive in this crazy dome. God* bless all of you, and god* bless the world and all that kinda shit.

- &nb sp;  Yer pals, My Morning Jacket

P.S.- *The word ‘god *' is used here meaning anything you want it to mean and is a trademark of Globo-Chem Worldwide."

Tracklisti ng:

1.) &nb sp;  Evil Urges

2.) &nb sp;  Highly Suspicious

3.) &nb sp;  Gideon

4.) &nb sp;  Where To Begin

5.) &nb sp;  Librarian

6.) &nb sp;  Phone Went West

7.) &nb sp;  Dondante

Long awaited - and long overdue - followup to the two dB's mainmen's 1991 Mavericks album.

By Fred Mills

Way back in 1991, longtime pals Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey got together and recorded the critically acclaimed Mavericks album. Released on a Rhino Records imprint that soon shuttered, the record went out of print, but was luckily resurrecte d a year or so ago and reissued in expanded format by the Collector' s Choice label. For fans of the pair's erstwhile combo The dB's, Mavericks was musical manna, brimming with elegiac pop and folkrock (not to mention a striking Gene Clark cover song) and signaling that this creative partnershi p was one worth savoring.

And holding out for, too: while the two men subsequent ly worked apart for the remainder of the decade, not long after the new millennium was ushered in they put The dB's back together for a series of low-key reunion gigs, eventually going into the studio and recording new material. The dB's remain an occasional performing enterprise , and the studio album will eventually see the light of day, but concurrent ly Holsapple and Stamey have been working on a followup to Mavericks, unveiling several new songs a couple of years ago in Austin at SXSW.

That followup is finally en route: due from Bar/None on June 9 is hERE and nOW (yes, that's how the case lettering is officially done), a 14-song platter full of dB's and Mavericks-worthy material. Included is another eye-openin g cover, this time a Holsapple- sung version of British cult band Family's "My Friend the Sun," alongside a slew of original compositio ns. Self produced by the pair, the album was recorded and mixed primarily at Modern Recording in Chapel Hill, with additional tracking done up in Hoboken at Water Music. Sax great Branford Marsalis plays on two tracks, while among the other guests are Superchunk 's Jon Wurster, the dB's Will Rigby and Gene Holder, members of Roman Candle, Chatham County Line and the Weird Girls, and others. (Big shout-out to BLURT buddies Robert Keely and Bob "The Pump" Northcott, by the way.)

BLURT's heard the record, and while we don't want to spoil any surprisesb y spilling the beans prematurel y, suffice to say that it's some of the purest pop you'll hear all year, complex yet buoyant, and aglow with Everly Brothers-l ike vocal harmonies guaranteed to have you humming along late into the night. And in keeping with what's apparently THE hipster instrument of choice these days, there's a tune titled "Ukulele" - but trust us, you haven't exactly heard the uke strummed quite like this before.

Mark - as the saying goes - those calendars, kids.

Jimmy Chamberlin issues statement on why he quit the band.

By Fred Mills

"I won't pretend I'm into something I'm not. I won't do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can't just, ‘Cas h the check' so to speak." That's now-former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin , making an official comment at his blog (located at his Jimmy Chamberlin Complex site), on why he decided to quit working with Billy Corgan (who, it will be remembered , once fired Chamberlin back in 1996).

Word of Chamberlin 's departure got out yesterday via all the major news services, who cited an official Pumpkins press release that essentiall y served up the usual say-nothin g-controve rsial blather, indicating that "Corgan will continue to write and record as the Smashing Pumpkins with plans to head into the studio this spring."

Chamberlin 's essentiall y playing the diplomatic role too, although his comments make it clear that he'd become pretty disenchant ed with the band. You'll be able to read a lot between the lines, methinks.

Here's that blog posting:

By now you have heard the news of my departure from the Smashing Pumpkins. I will say, without going into any unnecessar y details that this represents a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess. I won't pretend I'm into something I'm not. I won't do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can't just, "Cash the check" so to speak. Music is my life. It is sacred. It deserves the highest commitment at every level and the Pumpkins are certainly no different. I'm sorry but it really IS that simple. There is no drama, bad blood, or anything else but a full commitment to music. My best goes out to Billy and I'm glad he has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right. I will continue to make music with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex as well as pursuing other musical interests. I feel that I have a long way to go and a lot to give. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support through all of this. I am constantly humbled by all of you! It is an honor and a privilege to play music for a living and I don't take it for granted not even for a second.

Stay tuned....... JC

Everybody got their concert tickets?

By Blurt Staff

Though he's gearing up for a big North American tour starting next month, Leonard Cohen also has a live CD/DVD due out next week via Sony. Recorded live on July 17, 2008 at London's 02 Arena, one of Europe's largest indoor venues during Cohen's 2008 World Tour, Live In London offers definitive performanc es of classic songs drawn from the artist's 40-year repertory. 

But for all you hardcore Cohen fans, there's great additional news: the Cohen concert will stream on NPR Online starting today, March 24. Listen to Live In London on NPR Online here: http://www .npr.org/music

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit doing "Soldiers Get Strange" live down in Muscle Shoals recently. The song comes from the band's eponymous album - which landed a 10-stars-o ut-of-10-s tars review in this very magazine recently - and it positively kills.

Exclusivel y at BLURT. Accept no substitute s.

And thanks, Mr. Isbell & Co. Y'all are the good guys.

Doing "Soldiers Get Strange" from the 400 Unit's recent album.

By Fred Mills

Okay, kids, Uncle Blurt got a treat for ya: it's a video of Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit doing "Soldiers Get Strange" live down in Muscle Shoals recently. The song comes from the band's eponymous album - which landed a 10-stars-o ut-of-10-s tars review in this very magazine recently - and it positively kills.

Exclusivel y at BLURT. Accept no substitute s. Go to our video kiosk or simply click HERE to go straight to the video. Incidental ly, we've got a number of other Isbell video exclusives in our video archive, both performanc e and interview clips recorded last year in Asheville, NC.

And thanks, Mr. Isbell & Co. Y'all are the good guys.

 Tour Dates:


Tue-Mar-24 Memphis, TN The Hi-Tone  
 Wed- Mar-25 Little Rock, AR Sticky Fingerz  &nbs p;
 Thu- Mar-26 Oklahoma City, OK Wormy Dog Saloon  &nbs p;
 Sat- Mar-28 Telluride, CO Sheridan Opera House  
 Mon- Mar-30 Flagstaff, AZ  Gree n Room  &nbs p;
 Tue- Mar-31 Tucson, AZ Club Congress  &nbs p;
 Thu- Apr-02 Los Angeles, CA Spaceland  
 Fri- Apr-03 San Francisco, CA The Independen t  &nbs p;
 Sat- Apr-04 Sacramento , CA Blue Lamp  
 Sun- Apr-05 Portland, OR Doug Fir  &nbs p;
 Mon- Apr-06 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern  &nbs p;
 Wed- Apr-08  Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
 Thu- Apr-09 Aspen, CO Belly Up  &nbs p;
 Fri- Apr-10 Vail, CO The Sand Bar  &nbs p;
 Sat- Apr-11 Denver, CO The Bluebird  &nbs p;
 Sun- Apr-12 Kansas City, MO  Knuc kleheads  &nbs p;
 Tue- Apr-14 Lincoln, NE  &nbs p;Knickerb ockers  &nbs p;
 Wed- Apr-15 St. Paul, MN  The  Turf Club  &nbs p;
 Thu- Apr-16 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon  &nbs p;
 Fri- Apr-17 Chicago, IL Double Door
Thu-Apr-23 Knoxville, TN Barleys Taproom
Fri-Apr-24 Auburn, AL Strutting Duck (Outdoors)  &nbs p;
Sat-Apr-25 Oxford, MS  Doub le Decker Arts Festival (3:30PM)  
Tue-Apr-28 New Orleans, LA The Howlin' Wolf  &nbs p;
 Wed- Apr-29 Houston, TX Walters on Washington  &nbs p;
 Thu- Apr-30 San Antonio, TX Sam's Burger Joint  &nbs p;
 Fri- May-01 Austin, TX Antone's  
 Sat- May-02 Dallas, TX Granada Theater  &nbs p;
 Tue- May-05 Gainesvill e, FL Common Grounds  &nbs p;
 Wed- May-06 Tampa, FL Crowbar  
 Thu- May-07 Orlando, FL Backbooth  
 Fri- May-08 Savannah, GA Locos  
 Sat- May-09 Isle of Palms, SC The Windjammer  &nbs p;
Wed-May-13 Columbia, SC Sudworks Taphouse  
 Thu- May-14 Charlotte, NC The Visulite Theater  &nbs p;
 Fri- May-15 Greenville , SC The Handlebar  &nbs p;
 Sat- May-16 Huntsville , AL  Cros sroads
Sat-Jun-06 Ozark, AR Wakarusa

We want them...we need them - Pansy Division Returns

By Nancy Dunham

Have you seen the Public Service Announceme nt on television that reprimands people who use the term "gay" as a substitute for the word "stupid" in every day conversati on?

I guess the members of Pansy Division were at the fridge during that commercial and missed the upbraiding - or saw it and just want folks to lighten up, already. Either way, that's why we love and -- dare I say -- need them.

That's So Gay, the band's eighth studio album, continues 60's pop meets 70s punk with up-close-a nd-persona l lyrics from the pioneers of "queencore " that launched the genre that brought up Tribe 8, Team Dresch, and others.

The band that released six albums in six years in the 1990s and toured with the likes of Green Day has been off the radar screen much too long. Now they're back with their first album in six years (described as raucous and raunchy but also serious - gotta love that) and a DVD Documentar y "Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band."

Check out the album March 31 and watch for tour dates this summer.

Summer is just around the corner and it's time to get your alt rock/gospe l/reggae/p ost-grunge fired up.

By Nancy Dunham

Ben Harper and Relentless 7 gave the folks at SXSW a taste of the band's debut album White Lies For Dark Times, and those that heard it say they're chomping for more of the hard hitting sound with the hot beats - consider the sound something akin to rock with an ample dose of Delta Blues mixed in.
As a "new band with new opportunit ies and new energy" drummer Jordan Richardson says the band will build its base the old-fashio ned way - from club dates.


The 11-song album is out May 5 but check out the new music live at the following gigs:


BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS 7 TOUR DATES:

US TOUR DATES:

April 30 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 1 &nb sp; Memphis, TN - Beale Street Music Festival
May 2 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
May 4  Washington , DC -9:30 Club
May 5 New York, NY - Webster Hall
May 8 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsbu rg
May 9 Philadelph ia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
May 10 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
May 12 Montreal, CANADA -  Metropolis
May 13 Toronto, CANADA - Phoenix Concert
Theatre
May 15 Detroit, MI -St. Andrews
Hall
May 16 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
May 25  George, WA - The Gorge Amp. / Sasquatch Festival
May 27  San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
May 28 Los Angeles, CA -The Wiltern
June 13 Manchester , TN -Bonnaroo Music Festival

INTERNATIO NAL TOUR DATES:
April 9 Sydney - Australia Metro Theatre
April 11 Byron Bay - Australia Byron Bay Bluesfest
April 13 Byron Bay - Australia Byron Bay Bluesfest
April 19  London, England - The Forum
April 20 Paris, France - La Cigale
April 21Bourges, France - Le Printemps du
Bourges
April 22 Rome, Italy - Piazzadel Popolo
June 19 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
June 20 Scheessel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
June 22 Berlin, Germany - Columbiaha lle
June 23 Munich, Germany - TonHalle
June 25 Amsterdam, Netherland s - Paradiso
June 27 London, England - Hard Rock Calling
Festival

Good lord, perhaps the longest week of my life. It's kind of like camp. With no sleep. And lots of drinking. Predominan t thoughts for me this year were: 1. Ach, my back is killing me... who knew that a top-tier hotel like the Driskill would have the worst beds ever. I slept on the floor all week. 2. Where is Glasvegas playing? (I saw them three times. Super-fan alert!) 3. Crap, I forgot to eat [...]

A Triple-A radio programmin g veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentati on of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Extensive May-June tour just announced.

By Blurt Staff

It's always a good day when we have fresh Meat Puppets in the oven, and today we have word of a rash of tour dates commencing May 12 in L.A. Not so coincident ally, that same day is the official release for their new album Sewn Together (Megaforce ). How many of ya saw the band at SXSW?

Those tour dates:

May 12 - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
May 27 - Waterfront Park - Louisville , KY
May 28 - Blueberry Hill - St Louis, MO
May 29 -  High Noon - Madison, WI
May 30 - Schubas - Chicago, IL
May 31 - Schubas - Chicago, IL
June 2 - Radio Radio - Indianapol is, IN
June 3 - The Summit - Columbus, OH
June 4 - Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
June 5 - Mr Smalls - Pittsburgh , PA
June 6 - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
June 7 - Mohawk Place - Buffalo, NY
June 9 - Higher Ground - Burlington , VT
June 10 - Paradise - Boston, MA
June 11 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
June 12 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
June 13 - Rock n Roll Hotel - Washington , DC
June 14 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
June 16 - The Earl - Altanta, GA
June 17 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN
June 19 - Cambridge Room - Dallas, TX
June 20 - The Parish - Austin, TX

Meanwhile, the band has a spiffy new official bio that we'd be remiss if we didn't let you check it out... see below. Guarantee: all dialogue repeated verbatim.

***

Perfection in art is for subjective fools.  The goal of any real artist is purity, and purity is a state of mind.  Hamlet knew and told us.  To thine own self, be true. In 2007, with the wayward absence of bassist Cris Kirkwood a hiccup since passed, the Meat Puppets simultaneo usly reformed and pledged a singular ferIn 2007, with the wayward absence of bassist Cris Kirkwood a hiccup since passed, the Meat Puppets simultaneo usly reformed and pledged a singular fervent purpose.  Complete resurrecti on. &nbs p; That's no small order.  This is, after all, a band that stands out as one of the most illuminous sparks highlighti ng the first, and most overtly accomplish ed, coming of American indie rock, those golden and precious years lying roughly between 1979 and 1985.  An era so filled with purity, it reigns supreme to this day with an embarrassm ent of musical riches. &nbs p; Many of them straight from the fingers of Kirkwood/K irkwood/ Bostrom.

Always recognized as an extremely dexterous and deft live act, the Puppets used 2008 to continue to stretch out the new line up (with Ted Marcus now a full time replacemen t for founding drummer Derrick Bostrom). &nbs p; The band joined Built to Spill, and later, Stone Temple Pilots, for well received jaunts across the U.S. The Puppets also toured Europe, and took part in each of the 2008 All Tomorrow's Parties festivals, performing Meat Puppets II as part of ATP's Dont Look Back series.  By year's end, the shows were "almost" 100% acoustic.  "Almost" because Curt was playing a Gibson Hummingbir d plugged into his pedal board, allowing him to work his eboard, allowing him to work his effects just like an electric guitar.  The simplicity of the set up belied the sort of arresting dynamics that Muse and Radiohead aim to capture, albeit by spending tens of thousands of quid in arena production .

Signed in early 2008 to ultra-arti st friendly Megaforce Records, the Puppets found themselves once again at work exploring the vast creative landscape that has defined the band since it burst forth with its majestic debut for SST, Meat Puppets.  In between '08 tours, the Puppets wrote and recorded a new album, Sewn Together, the trio's second full length since 2007. Sewn Together began with the band laboring under all sorts of questions as to what artistic and sonic direction it would strike.

Afterall, band leader Curt Kirkwood openly acknowledg ed the rather brusque approach he chose in crafting the one-off made for Anodyne Records, "Rise To Your Knees":

 &nbs p;  "In the ‘80s , we used to just crap this stuff out," he notes.  "Those SST records cost, like, five grand apiece, if that much, and those are the records that made people like us.  Later, when we got into a position to work in bigger studios with outside people, we'd wind up spending a whole bunch of money and having to satisfy the people who gave us that money.  We did that all through the ‘90s , and I'm just not interested in doing that anymore."

  "Now, if I can get away with it, I'll make a record as cheap as I can and put as little work as I can into it, which is what we did with this one.  I don't like putting a lot time into it.  We cut a track, and if we've played it halfway right, we're done with it."

Of course, none of Curt's ideas about how to effectivel y make a record degrade the music he crafts.  Integrity grips him as if a Viking vise. &nbs p; Like Dylan, he is merely determined to streamline , to avoid overthinki ng and obsessing with studio elements.  He has delivered a living catalogue of historical records, using close to primitive tools.  It is a lesson in technique that today's too-pimped up pop "artists" ought to study, and thankfully , there are a few bands that do. &nbs p; 

In the case of the new album, Curt and Cris chose a home town studio that oIn the case of the new album, Curt and Cris chose a home town studio that offered analog process.  To help add purity. &nbs p; And with production helmed by Curt, creative freedom arrived du jour.  With no contrived map to follow, the best friend of artistry -spontanei ty- governed.  Indeed, going into the studio, only Curt knew what songs he planned to cut.  The label didn't ask and neither did the band.  When the guiding minstrel is as honed and proven as Curt, it is both easy and incumbent to roll with the pitch.

TTrue to his vows not to beat down a session, in less than two weeks' time Curt had effectivel y corralled his necessary and sufficient musical elements: the songs, the band, his son Elmo, the compatible recording team at the Salt Mine Studio in Mesa, and Phoenix-ba sed pianist William Joseph.  Joseph's role illustrate s how spontaneit y is a giving gift.  He was initially invited into the studio to help with some fills, yet by day's end, was contributi ng a bounty of beautiful passages that bespeak a mature flushing out of Curt's deeply embedded genetic sense of melody.  Witness "Sapphire, " "Clone," and "Smoke." At first listen, one is tempted with an impression of experiment al Pink Floyd "Wall" like channeling here, but accuracy's sake will note that the operatic idiom behind these songs has been exhibited at least as far back as 1995's "No Joke", and subsequent trials from Curt's solo master piece, "Snow", and the texturally generous "Rise To Your Knees".

Now, however, the breadth of instrument ation is no longer in the back seat. It's right there in the guts of the entire record. And while it is not overstatem ent to declare a connection here to the heights of the E Street Band, the results from last summer's sessions clearly continue the Puppets' trademark forging of subtle yet iconoclast ic lyrical sweetness and remarkable musiciansh ip.  Were a short descriptio n required, confidence is the defining term and attitude. This is a record that is brilliantl y framed by the band's sometimes folksy, always fluid wanderings . The Puppets gladly let the material step out as first fiddle, content with understand ing songs this strong only come along once in a great while, and better to serve them than the other way around.

It is what makes the Puppets musings so difficult to classify.  They ambitiousl y dart the melodic spectrum between buoyant pop structure like album-open er Sewn Together and the grand sweep of "Clone", two of the precision- perfect gems that will come to represent this record as a keeper. &nbs p; The album rides to close in pure pop fashion.  The infectious "Love Mountain", a song that harkens back better than a decade, at last weaving itself free of Curt's inner aware-ness , emerges taut yet jangly enough to please George Harrison and George Martin.  That's no exaggerati on, either.  Sure, absolutely , Springstee n and the Beatles and Pink Floyd are mighty comparison s, but let's face it, what is due is due. Beatles and Pink Floyd are