New album due in September from Young God.

By Blurt Staff

Everyone knows delightful songstress Lisa Germano. And everyone knows Michael Gira, late of Swans, currently of Angels of Light, and of course the mainman at Young God Records. When Gira speaks, we listen. And he's got some news about Lisa Germano. Read on...

***

"Lisa Germano has completed a new album. It's called Magic Neighbor. It's in production now, and it'll be out mid September. Lisa hid herself away for a long while, and I was beginning to despair, then suddenly this beautiful music started coming my way. I think this is one of her best albums yet. The depth of feeling in her words and singing is truly remarkable , and she never fails to tug at my heart. Somehow it's both sad, wistful, and hopeful, all at once. It's very private, solitary music. In my view it's deeply engaging, and I often stop what I'm doing and drift off with it into its' world when I listen to it - time and troubles disappear for a short while.  For some reason her music reminds me of early Disney songs - fuzzy and dreamy. Thinking about it today, I also thought of the great - and neglected - music that Tom Waits did with Crystal Gail for the movie One From The Heart."

***

So there ou have it. Keep that calendar page turned to September, music fans. Magic Neighbor will be on CD and LP (the latter w/free CD insert).

[Photo Credit: Dina Douglass]

"He de-stresse d with music" - which included writing a song about killing policemen, not necessaril y the most often recommende d stress reliever, but hey...

By Blurt Staff

Shades of Ice-T, Body Count and "Cop Killer." What, is it the early ‘90s here in America all over again?

Florida's Antavio Johnson is in prison for two years for writing and recording a song that concerned violence against policemen. According to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, the Florida rapper's "Kill A Cop" was posted to a MySpace page in February, and after about two weeks a Polk County gang detective came across it and launched an investigat ion.

Apparently Johnson was already in jail at the time for a probation violation, and in June he subsequent ly pleaded no contest to "two counts of corruption by threat of public servant" and received two years from the judge.

In the article Johnson's older brother Gerald claimed that Antavio had originally written the song as a teenager when he felt harassed by police (in the tune, he calls out certain officers and threatens to shoot them), but while its content is "life-base d" it was "not advocating " killing police and that it was "never supposed to be public."

Memo to Johnson: MySpace is, er, a public venue. The owner of the record label Hood Certified Entertainm ent, upon whose MySpace page the song was posted, added that Johnson isn't a violent person. "If someone wants to de-stress, they go out for a run, they paint a picture, they write in a journal. He de-stresse d with music."

At any rate, the ACLU has expressed interest in the case while not intervenin g yet, and the article quotes a First Amendment lawyer who questions the initial charge and subsequent conviction .

"Wanting to kill cops is not a prosecutab le offense," attorney Larry Walters said, adding that the lyrics made conditiona l threats and were not made directly to the officers named. "Even if this would cross the line, this is a song. We live in a free country."

What will be "What Will Be"? For now, we know it's 14 songs...

By Blurt Staff

Stereogum is reporting that Devendra Banhart's forthcomin g album What Will Be will be released by Warner/Rep rise, street date tba. It's to be a 14-song collection (see tracklisti ng, below) co-produce d by Banhart and Paul Butler (Band of Bees), with Banhart mainstays Noah Georgeson, Greg Rogove, Luckey Remington and Rodrigo Amarante comprising the band.

01 "Can't Help"
02 "Angelika"
03 "Baby"
04 "Goin' Back To The Place"
05 "First Song For B"
06 "Last Song For B"
07 "Chin Chin & Muck Muck"
08 "16th & Valencia"
09 "Rats"
10 "Maria Leonza"
11 "Brindo"
12 "Meet Me At The Lookout"
13 "Wiliamdzi "
14 "Foolin'"

Meanwhile, since ace photog Lauren Dukoff took the photo, above, as she does scores of Banhart photos, we'd be remiss if we didn't remind you to check out our review of Dukoff's most excellent book of photos, Family. We've also got exclusive pics from the book for you to check out - including some pretty provocativ e Banhart images.

 UPDA TE/CORRECT ION:

Banhart's p.r. folks inform BLURT that Stereogum' s informatio n was incorrect. First of all, the album will be coming out on Warner Bros., not Reprise. Also, the "correct," although supremely unwieldy, way the album title is supposed to appear is:

What   &nbs p; &n bsp;  We
Will   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Be

(This of course wreaks havoc on typsetters and the use of fonts, highlighti ng, etc., but hey...)

Lastly, here's the correct list of song titles:

 01 Can't Help but Smiling
02 Angelika
03 Baby
04 Goin' Back
05 First Song for B
06 Last Song for B
07 Chin Chin & Muck Muck
08 16th & Valencia, Roxy Music
09 Rats
10 Maria Lionza
11 Brindo
12 Meet Me At Lookout Point
13 Walilamdzi
14 Foolin'

Helped make rockabilly a household word.

By Fred Mills

Legendary roots/rock abilly pioneer Billy Lee Riley passed away this weekend in Jonesboro, Arkansas, following a battle with colon cancer. He was 75.

As previously reported, a fundraisin g effort for Riley and his wife had been underway to help offset their mounting bills.

Riley, of course, was a Sun Records mainstay back in the day whose 1957 hit "Flying Saucers Rock and Roll" made him internatio nally famous. Riley road numerous rockabilly revivals over the course of his career and remained a vital performer. In an obituary posted at CountrySta ndardTime.com, his last public show was in June at the Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis.

BLURT contributo r Rev. Keith Gordon, in his blues blog at About.com, praised the icon and noted that Riley "pursued his own unique vision of rockabilly , blues, and country-bl ues music; the guitarist' s affinity for the blues could have made him a hot property in the blues world if he'd have focused exclusivel y in that genre."

With yet another classic voice silenced, the world just got a little colder...

UPDATE/ADD ITION: Those still wishing to donate funds to Riley's widow to help out with expenses can send checks or money orders to:


Joyce Riley
723 Crest Drive
Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401

Indie supergroup includes members of Yeasayer, Savath & Savalas and Born Heller.

In celebratio n of the release of Awe Owe (out today, August 4th on Asthmatic Kitty), Helado Negro will take a week long tour of the five boroughs of New York. Starting off in Queens, Helado Negro will bring their sounds to each of the City's boroughs, concluding the tour with a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to play on the mysterious ly floating borough itself.

Helado Negro will consist of frontman Roberto C. Lange (voice, guitars, etc.), Jason Ajemian (percussio n), Isaac Lekach (guitar, voice and vibes), Jason Trammell (drums), Oliver Chapoy (guitar), Jon Philpot (voice and percusion) and Shannon Fields (guitars, etc.). The band  (sans Chapoy and Philpot) will then hit the tour trail take their music to the southeaste rn portion of the United States. This band includes members of Savath & Savalas, Yeasayer, Stars Like Fleas, Guy Fantastico , and Born Heller.

While on tour, Roberto Lange will meet up with painter/ki netic sculptor David Ellis in Charlottes ville at the Bridge to score a new sculpture by Ellis. Learn more about the opening night for this exhibition here. Ellis also helped out on the new music video for the vastly bearded Helado Negro, which you can see here.

Interested fans may download the new remix by Leb Laze of Helado Negro's "I Wish". Leb-Laze sublets the original and does a little redecorati ng while his walkman jams So So Def deep cuts and his dog Atomic starts pulling things out of the cupboards. Listen to the Leb Laze remix of "I Wish" here.

Helado Negro Tour Dates:

08-22, Saturday: Queens, NY - The Jackson (w/ Rad Unicorn)
08-23, Sunday: Bronx, NY - Bruckner Bar & Grill (w/ Jason Ajemian with The Highlife)
08-24, Monday: Manhattan, NY - Cake Shop (w/ Tavo Carbone, The Silent League)
08-25, Tuesday: Brooklyn, NY - Sycamore (w/ Luluc)
08-27, Thursday: Staten Island, AL - Martini Red
09-03, Thursday: Pittsburgh , PA - Garfield Artworks (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-06, Sunday: Lynchburg, VA - Speakertre e Records (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-07, Monday: Charleston , SC - Redux Contempora ry Art Center (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-08, Tuesday: Greensboro , NC - Lyndon Street Artworks (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-09, Wednesday: Atlanta, GA - 529 (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-10, Thursday: Jacksonvil le, FL - Eclipse (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-11, Friday: Birmingham , AL - Bottletree Cafe (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-12, Saturday: Nashville, TN - William's House (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-13, Sunday: Asheville, NC - BoBo Gallery (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-14, Monday: Baltimore, MD - Talking Head (w/ Jason Ajemian)
09-15, Tuesday: Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw (w/ Jason Ajemian)

Groundbrea king worldbeat/ techno fusioneer drops new CD in Sept. does a pair of rare US gigs in August.

By Blurt Staff

It's been some time since Stateside fans of Britain's Banco de Gaia have been privy to the ambient dub legend's edgy fusion of modern trance and downtempo techno beats with huge dollops of Tibetan, Eastern and Arabic and other transconti nental rhythms. Led by mastermind Toby Marks, its continuall y evolving, globally-i nspired electronic a has been propelling the masses to dance all over the world. So on Sept. 22 Banco de Gaia will be celebratin g its 20th anniversar y with the release of the double-dis c set, Memories Dreams Reflection s on Disco Gecko Recordings (distribut ed in the U.S. by Super D). Two West Coast dates have been announced and a full U.S. tour is currently being planned: August 14 at Social Hollywood in LA, and August 15 at the Beloved festival in Tidewater, Oregaon.

Banco de Gaia's music crosses genres, sometimes layering rock, reggae, and trance textures on top of exotic and indigenous melodies, creating an aural tapestry that is both mesmerizin gly hypnotic and instantly accessible . Disc One of the two disc set consists of cover versions of Pink Floyd ("Echoes"), Hawkwind ("Spirit of the Age") and King Crimson ("Starless" ), and reworkings of early songs, while the second CD contains live tracks recorded over the last two decades. Memories Dreams Reflection is a retrospect ive of sorts that doesn't quite look back at its history as it looks through its legacy. From the airy reggae rhythms of 1992's "Tempra" ("Always one of my favourite early tunes," noted Marks), to the expansive atmospheri cs of 1992's "Terra Om" ("I always rather liked the obvious Pink Floyd influence in the synth playing."), to the ready for the midnight dance floor beat of "Soufie (Now That's What I Call 2009)" ("The original was very ambient/do wntempo so this version... goes for a very cheesy euro-tranc e style for a bit of fun."), the originals from the first disc are a diverse sampling of the epic tracks for which Banco de Gaia is known. The live tracks of disc two are culled from its legendary performanc es, including "China", "Celestine " and its big dance hit "Last Train to Lhasa".

Initially inspired by the Acid House movement in Europe in the late 80s, Marks began Banco de Gaia in 1989 and recorded his first album Medium in 1991. Seminal releases including 1994's Maya, 1995's Last Train to Lhasa and his latest album 2006's Farewell Ferengista n, kept him at the forefront of the electronic world. He has worked with a variety of musicians, ranging from the legendary saxophonis t Dick Parry who played on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Anglo-Egyp tion singer Natacha Atlas to cutting-ed ge dance pioneers Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) and Fluke.

If you can't beat the major labels and don't want to be rid of ‘em altogether - come up with a strategy that makes everybody happy...

By Blurt Staff

DJ Shadow is relaunchin g his website today on www.djshadow.com. In addition to offering previously unreleased content, exclusive deluxe albums and mixes (including digital and physical product for sale), the site introduces a new platform that connects Shadow directly with his fans.  Shad ow's store will now sell the licensed digital content to his global fanbase on an independen t level on a self-run platform, marking the first of its kind for a major label artist. The newly revamped site is the end-all-be -all destinatio n for all things DJ Shadow and is at the very cutting edge of website content and technology .
 

Unlike most artist sites that transfer the buyer to another storefront , Shadow is accessing his own music direct from his label, marking what some observers are calling "a new paradigm in artist-run stores." For the first time, Shadow's works can now be sold directly from the artist to the fan.  This new platform is designed to give DJ Shadow the maximum amount of control and involvemen t in his site and a more intimate and direct experience for his fans.

 
Says Ted Cockle, Co-Preside nt of Island Records Group, "At Island Records Group we are always keen to embrace innovative ways to connect our artists with consumers.  DJ Shadow has always been a trailblazi ng artist and we are delighted to enable this visionary artist to have a more direct relationsh ip with his fans via the web."

There's a good interview with Shadow discussing his plans for the site at Urb.com, incidental ly. 

The store at www.djshadow.com has been an important and vital link between Shadow and his fans where any number of exclusive and popular DJ Shadow products have been available for purchase from the original Diminishin g Returns Party Pak, to the Public Works Box Set and 4-Track Era Collection . Now, for the first time, the site will offer digital downloads of Shadow's music, including many exclusives NOT found anywhere else on the web. Exclusive Deluxe Edition content will also be available for many of Shadow's previous releases including Endtroduci ng, The Private Press, and The Outsider.

With Shadow's prolific past of mixes and recorded live shows, the new store promises frequent updates. For the hardcore fan and the curious browser alike, there have been massive content updatesin all major archive categories including discograph y, photo and press galleries. New sections also include a "Guide To Collecting DJ Shadow" and the highly personaliz ed "DJ Shadow Handmade" series.  
 

The new site also showcases an outstandin g new visual design, complete with alternatin g daytime/ni ghttime lighting styles. Visitors can also follow Shadow's Twitter feed and stay current with his latest video blog.

In more recent news, DJ Shadow consulted and contribute d several mixes for DJ Hero and appears as an in-game character. DJ Hero serves the millions of dance club music fans who can now play along to songs from a range of genres including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronic a.

Supergroup s ‘R' Us!

By Fred Mills

About a month ago we brought you word that Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame were working on a recording project in an LA studio. Now comes confirmati on of (a) a name for the project, and (b) an actual gig from the torrid trio.

They're calling it Them Crooked Vultures, they have an official website already and a MySpace page (although neither appears to be all that functional yet), and according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Jim Derogatis, they're Sunday night around midnight at Chicago's Metro club in a post-Lolla palooza concert (tix go on sale Thursday here).

Well, all right then!

Features rare performanc e footage and candid interviews with David Crosby, Bob Dylan, ex-husband David Harris, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Roger McGuinn, and more.

By Blurt Staff

Joan Baez: Sing Me Home will be premiering nationally Wednesday, October 14 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS. Part of the network's American Masters series, it's the first comprehens ive documentar y to chronicle the private life and public career of Baez, examining her history as a recording artist and performer

The film coincides with the DVD/CD release on October 13th on Razor & Tie. This DVD/CD will feature the film with bonus content and an audio CD of music from the film. The audio CD contains rare live performanc es and studio recordings that span her career.

"From an early age, Joan Baez had the courage of her conviction s," says Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer. "Her artistry and her commitment to human rights make her a musical and political force as relevant today as when she first started."

Following Baez on her 2008/2009 world tour, the filmmakers captured Baez in performanc e as well as in intimate conversati ons with individual s whose lives parallel hers.  From a stop in Sarajevo, Bosnia to revisit the scene of Joan's courageous trip to that war-torn city in the middle of the 1993 siege, to Nashville, Tennessee, where she joined Steve Earle to talk about their collaborat ion on Joan's 2008 Grammy-nom inated album Day After Tomorrow, the film allows viewers an unpreceden ted level of access to Ms. Baez.

Shot in high definition with a natural, filmic look, Joan is also joined on screen by, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and Reverend Jesse Jackson, among others, to illuminate this extraordin ary life. Rich historical archival footage - Baez' controvers ial visit to North Vietnam, where she is seen praying with the residents of Hanoi during the heaviest bombing of the war; Martin Luther King Jr. outside a California prison where he visited Joan to offer his support after she was jailed for staging a protest; Joan at her first Newport Folk Festival  in 1959 and Joan as a teenager performing at the historic Club 47 - is woven into the story so viewers can experience scenes from Joan's life that have never been uncovered.

Tour kicks off Oct. 16 in NYC...

By Blurt Staff

With the recent news of the impending August 25 release of the new Shonen Knife album Super Group (details plus a free MP3 HERE), we've now got word on an extensive North American tour the group will be undertakin g in Oct. and Nov. It stands to be a pretty swell one, too - support on the dates will include, variously, Ty Segall, Golden Triangle and Jeff the Brotherhoo d.

And dig that freaky video for "Super Group," below. Nothing like puppets, magic, junk food and bad B&W teevee to help a person knife out.

10-16 Fri - New York, NY - Santos Party House
10-17 Sat - Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
10-18 Sun - Toronto, Canada - Horseshoe Tavern
10-19 Mon - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
10-20 Tue - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-21 Wed - Minneapoli s, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-23 Fri - Missoula, MT - The Badlander
10-24 Sat - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10-25 Sun - Vancouver, Canada - Biltmore Cabaret
10-26 Mon - Bellingham , WA - The Nightlight
10-27 Tue - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10-29 Thu - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop *
10-30 Fri - San Jose - Blank Club *
10-31 Sat - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door *

11-01 Sun - Oakland, CA - Uptown *
11-02 Mon - Los Angeles, CA - Echo *
11-03 Tue - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
11-04 Wed - Tucson, AZ - Plush
11-06 Fri - San Antonio, TX - Sam's Burger Joint
11-07 Sat - Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Festival
11-08 Sun - Houston, TX - Numbers Nightclub
11-10 Tue - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon ^
11-11 Wed - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone ^
11-12 Thu - Atlanta, GA - E.A.R.L. ^
11-13 Fri - Richmond, VA - Plaza Bowl ^
11-14 Sat - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells ^
11-15 Sun - Allston, MA - Great Scotts ^
11-16 Mon - Philadelph ia, PA - First Unitarian Church ^
11-17 Tue - Brookyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl ^%
11-18 Wed - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place ^

* with Ty Segall
^ with JEFF the brotherhoo d
% with Golden Triangle

His label Third Man also doing releases from Transit and Dan Sartain.

By Blurt Staff

You already know of Jack White's announceme nt to release lots of 45s on his Third Man label, most of them to be produced by White himself. The label has already done the Dex Romweber Duo, Mildred and the Mice and White's own band the Dead Weather. So - here's the dope on a new batch, straight from the label, as announced today. They'll be hitting stores, digital retailers and the Third Man website (which is taking preorders right now). While all the releases thus far appear to still be available, it's reasonable to assume that the White solo rec will probably sell out fairly quickly.

Jack White - "Fly Farm Blues"

"Fly Farm Blues" is a song written on the spot by Jack White at the request of film director Davis Guggenheim while filming the impressive new guitar documentar y It Might Get Loud. The film features in-depth looks at Mr. White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page's relationsh ips with the six-string ed instrument .  Jack recorded the song immediatel y to two-track, all while being filmed for the documentar y in the attic of the Fly Farm. Some astute viewers may recognize this attic room as the same used by Jim Jarmusch in his video for the Raconteurs ' "Steady As She Goes."

"Fly Farm Blues" is released on a special one-sided 45 RPM vinyl 7-inch by Third Man Records and on iTunes in conjunctio n with Sony Pictures Classics and the release of the feature documentar y It Might Get Loud screened at selected theaters in New York and Los Angeles starting August 14th, 2009, and then coming soon to a town near you. Check www.itmightget loud.com for full release schedule.

Dan Sartain - "Bohemian Grove" b/w "Atheist Funeral"

Dan Sartain started out in 2001 self-produ cing and self-relea sing his first two albums, Crimson Guard and Romance in Stereo, before moving to Swami Records for the groundbrea king Dan Sartain vs. The Serpientes and Join Dan Sartain. He's been called the no-wave Johnny Cash, and although it's a title with a lot of flash, it's also somewhat misleading .  Comparison s to Johnny Cash are inevitably futile. But what Dan is is another vital link in the rock and roll visionary chain stretching from Rufus Thomas to Glenn Danzig to O.D.B. He's a fiercely independen t romantic like no other and we're proud to be working with him.

Third Man Records presents two new Jack White-prod uced songs in our Blue Series of 7" records written and performed by Dan Sartain, sounding nothing like anything he's recorded in the past. "Bohemian Grove" is an almost Ethiopique s-influence d jazz-style groover and the B-side is called "Atheist Funeral." Enough said.

Transit - "C'mon and Ride" b/w "Afterpart y"

Transit is a band whose membership is composed entirely of employees of the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. They are part of a long-stand ing folk tradition of people coming together to make something beautiful out of a shared external circumstan ce. From the Detroit Sanitary Worker's Band or the American Watch Company Band, there is deep history of music that reflects employee's shared experience s and brings them to the wider attention of the public at large.

Third Man Records presents two songs produced by Jack White that are by and about the Nashville bussing system, written and recorded by the people who know it best; the drivers, cleaners, mechanics, and office workers of the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. They are called Transit and this record is the fifth release in Third Man's Blue Series.

Now this is a civilized way to help deemphasiz e leaks...

By Blurt Staff

NPR Music's latest round of pre-releas e album streams includes the new records from Brendan Benson (pictured, above), Mount Eerie and Choir of Young Believers. It's part of NPR's "Exclusive First Listen" series (www.npr.org/firstl isten). Benson and Mount Eerie are already streaming; CoYB will start tonight at midnight.

Details:

With his fourth album, Brendan Benson continues the solid solo career he establishe d years before forming The Raconteurs with Jack White. My Old, Familiar Friend features meticulous ly crafted songs that NPR Music's Robin Hilton says are full of "ridiculou sly catchy hooks, perfectly placed handclaps and harmonies and sweet, buoyant melodies." Hear the entire album now here.

After ending The Microphone s, Phil Elverum continued to explore the themes of death and failed relationsh ips under his Mount Eerie moniker. On Wind's Poem, Elverum backs his traditiona l subject matter with a new style only hinted at in past releases. Lacing the album with layers of distortion and warbled synths, he creates the dark atmospheri cs that define a sound he calls "black wooden." Preview the full album at NPR Music.

Denmark's Choir of Young Believers may sound like a mass of robed singers, but its big sound is actually the solo work of Copenhagen native Jannis Noya Makrigiann is. His debut album, This Is For The White In Your Eyes, offers orchestral pop that mixes both modest folk arrangemen ts and ambitious, grandiose indie pop. The entire reverb-soa ked experience will be available for streaming beginning Wednesday, August 6 at 11:59 PM ET at NPR Music.

A-Trak and Armand Van Helden mash each other up. Check that saucy video below, too.

By Blurt Staff

Arguably one of the more formidable DJ/produce r collaborat ions in recent memory, the creation of Duck Sauce by world renowned DJs A-Trak and Armand Van Helden promises to deliver what could easily be the the most refreshing dance music in years.  Individual ly, the New York-based duo are among the reigning names in dance music, past and present; earlier this year, they teamed up to produce tracks destined to become instant anthems.  Having found it easy to work together through similar musical background s and viewpoints , namely creating house music through a hip-hop filter, Duck Sauce was born.

Reviving classic mid-90s formulas that became Armand Van Helden's signature sound along with the filtered French Touch era of labels Roul&eacut e; and Crydamoure , Duck Sauce reinvents effortless disco house with a sonic quality and aplomb suited for the DJs sets of today.  Over a span of 5 days A-Trak and Van Helden mined their disco loops with the prime objective of "intention ally making party monsters."  The result was several overwhelmi ng, feel-good tracks, two of which became the massive summer sing-along "aNYway" and "You're Nasty", a high-energ y dancefloor bomb built around a quirky half-bar sample and a screeching keyboard.  Quickly turning into one of the most anticipate d releases of 2009, "aNYway" has been receiving tremendous support from DJs worldwide, including airplay from Radio 1 (Zane Lowe, Annie Mac) and Power 106 (DJ Reflex).  These 2 songs, as well as other disco gems, can be found on the upcoming Fool's Gold EP entitled Greatest Hits.

It's due on October 5 from Fool's Gold Records.

East and west coast dates, plus a live album, in September

By Blurt Staff

Bill Laswell fans in New York, L.A. and San Francisco get a rare treat next month when the legendary producer/b assist tours the U.S. for the first time in three years. "Tour" used lightly - it's only four dates (see below).

He's calling the touring ensemble Method of Defiance: Laswell on bass with Dr. Israel on vocals, the legendary keyboardis t Bernie Worrell, drummer Guy Licata, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo,&nbs p; and vocalist Hawk, with special guest DJ Krush. Method Of Defiance will also release a live album, Nihon on RareNoise Records in the U.S. on September 22nd.  The band will be recording a studio album for a 2010 release. The band recently played a triumphant show at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerlan d, after which Island Records founder Chris Blackwell said simply, "It's Bill Laswell's time."

The Morning News has a good article on Laswell and MoD HERE.

The backstory:

Bill Laswell is man who is happy not to play the rock star game, instead opting to set his own rules and goals.  Blackwell cited Laswell as the "consummat e musician who's around completely for the music...he never stops working and never stops reinventin g himself." While he's an electric bassist/pr oducer/rec onstructio nist/sound assassin who operates outside the rules of the game, occasional ly Laswell's work meets the mainstream . In fact, there's more than a good chance that many own one of Laswell's sonic escapades and don't know it. He's a Grammy Award winner and the creator of Herbie Hancock's Rockit/Fut ure Shock.  He brought Proto-Turn tablism and Electronic a to a mass audience, and since then has worked with an unimaginab le range of musicians, artists and thinkers, among them William S. Burroughs, Afrika Bambaataa, John Zorn, George Clinton, Mick Jagger, Rammellzee , Zakir Hussain, Paul Bowles, Hakim Bey, The Ramones, Laurie Anderson, The Last Poets, John Lydon, The Dalai Lama, Peter Gabriel, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Motorhead, Brian Eno, Tony Williams, Sting, Carlos Santana, Pharoah Sanders, Bootsy Collins and hundreds more from the Americas, Africa, The Caribbean, Europe, The Middle East, China and Japan.

Tour Dates:

September 11 &n bsp;  &nbs p;   Broo klyn, NY  &nbs p;  &nbs p;   &nbs p; &n bsp;    Williamsbu rg Music Hall
September 12 &n bsp;  &nbs p;   New York, NY &n bsp;  &nbs p;   &nbs p; &n bsp;  Bowery Ballroom
September 16 &n bsp;  &nbs p;   Los Angeles, CA &n bsp;  &nbs p; &n bsp;  Roxy
September 18 &n bsp;  &nbs p;   San Francisco, CA &n bsp;   &nbs p; Regency Ballroom

Inducted at last month's Celebrate Brooklyn African fest. See video clip below.

By Blurt Staff

King Sunny Adé , Nigeria's legendary juju big band dance music pioneer, was inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fa me at Celebrate Brooklyn's African Festival on July 18th. Afropop Producer Sean Barlow did the honors of inducting "Chairman" (what his friends and colleagues call him.)

Barlow explained to the 10,000 enthusiast ic fans at Celebrate Brooklyn that the criteria for selection were contempora ry African artists who not only excelled artistical ly but who also played a big role in connecting American audiences to Africa and African culture. He said previous inductees included Youssou N'Dour, Oumou Sangare, Angelique Kidjo, and Thomas Mapfumo. He went on to say that before Youssou and Angelique and others made their U.S. careers, there was King Sunny Adé , opening the way.

When King Sunny Ade held the award itself, he smiled broadly and held it high over his head saying, "Thank you for the honor of giving me this award. I dedicate it to Michael Jackson" with a tear in his eye. He then proceeded to center stage singing an a capela song in Yoruba before breaking into a fast all band riff with Chairman on rhythm guitar and his two twin dancers shaking it and beaming.  

New album en route, and don't forget to swipe your iPhone when you see those barcodes to get a big surprise.

By Blurt Staff

Thirsty Ear Recordings is excited to announce the release of DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid's latest manifesto titled "The Secret Song." Set for an Oct. 6 release, the new record marks DJ Spooky's sixth full-lengt h album and will feature guest appearance s from notable artists and musicians such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, The Jungle Brothers, The Coup, Rob Swift, Mike Ladd and many others. "The Secret Song" is a groundbrea king meditation on hip-hop and electronic music's relationsh ip to philosophy , economics, and the science of sound in a world where the steady drumbeat of the financial meltdown has made music the last refuge of young people with less and less time and money.

It's been a while since DJ Spooky has released a new album of his own material, but this constantly and famously creative force, also known as Paul D. Miller, has been anything but idle. Over the last couple of years, Miller has shot films in Antarctica , remixed a controvers ial piece of cinema history, and produced two of MIT Press' top-sellin g recent books.

In his role as DJ Spooky, the recording artist and producer, Miller has worked with or remixed everyone from Metallica to Yoko Ono; from the Kronos Quartet to Killah Priest. Even the master of collage rock, Beck, remixed DJ Spooky for his first series of mixes online. Miller's most recent work was a series of compilatio ns and remixes of Jamaican dub and reggae. Now, after endless touring and a vast array of projects in just about every conceivabl e media, Miller found time to lock himself in his studio and lay down the tracks for this new project, "The Secret Song."

With material taken from collaborat ions with people as diverse as Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, to Vijay Iyer, old school African hip-hop legends Zimbabwe Legit, stunning turntablis t Rob Swift (the legendary leader of The X-ecutione rs), to political hip-hop from The Coup, The Jungle Brothers, Mike Ladd, and Abdul Smooth from India, DJ Spooky connects the dots between jazz, classical music, and the struggle to create new, dynamic relationsh ips between old school hip-hop and the 21st century's rapidly changing info-cultu re landscape. Showcasing Spooky's eclecticis m and ever-prese nt desire to spotlight a great amount of musical genres and causes from all around the world, the album's lead single "Azadi" (which means "Freedom" in Farsi and is sung by Iran's Sussan Deyhim) was released in conjunctio n with "A Day of Solidarity With the People of Iran" as a free download with Artists 4 Freedom.

Download the song "Azadi" (The New Complexity ) feat. Iran's Sussan Deyhim HERE.

On "The Secret Song," DJ Spooky looks to bands like Nine Inch Nails, and Radiohead for inspiratio n, as he flips old school and new school sounds into a sonic fiction landscape where rock meets dub and experiment al jazz; where he can re-constru ct a classic song of a band that is one of the most sampled bands in hip-hop, like Led Zeppelin, make dub out of it and add strings by the Golden Hornet Project. "The Secret Song" is an album that puts DJ Spooky's brand of conceptual hip-hop front-and- center with eerily accessible reconstruc tions only an artist such as himself could possibly formulate.

According to DJ Spooky, his new album ironically refers to a few notable elements. The first being that "The Secret Song" is made by failed ATM transactio ns, credit card fraud, jazz motifs made into stock exchanges, and the futures market. Secondly, it is an album that says 2012 isn't the end of time, like the Mayan Calendar says - it's just the end of the last Walmart. Additional ly, the album exposes the economics of music as the music industry as we know it goes through massive transforma tion - it's the new Stop and Shop of the Mind. And lastly, "The Secret Song" has tracks hidden in barcode throughout most of downtown Manhattan. Don't believe him? Swipe your IPhone anywhere you see a barcode. And so with "The Secret Song," we look back at the 20th century and see a couple of massive changes that put it in, what DJ Spooky calls, "history through lens of the sample."

Following in the steps of The Cinematic Orchestra' s rescore of Dziga Vertov's cinema classic "Man with A Camera," "The Secret Song" album will be accompanie d by a DVD of a rare film from the Russian Revolution , the 1924 film "Kino-Glaz " (Cinema Eye) by the renowned Russian Director Dziga Vertov. DJ Spooky rescored the film and remastered the footage in New York for the DVD to serve as a companion- piece to his new album.

In addition to the making of "The Secret Song," DJ Spooky continues to bring his artistic output to fans across the world and dip his toes into other creative realms. He performed his previous piece, "DJ Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation," more than sixty times around the world, from Lincoln Center in NYC to the Acropolis in Athens. At the end of 2008, the DVD version was released by Starz Media - the folks who brought us "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." He's played festivals from the main stage at Bonnaroo to Michael Franti's Power To the Peaceful to the 2009 Bumbershoo t Festival. Earlier this year, Miller performed before a crowd of 100,000 on the mall in Washington , DC for Earth Day, along with the Flaming Lips and others. In the world of books, Miller's "Sound Unbound" features essays from legendary figures like Steve Reich, Pierre Boulez, Chuck D, Daphne Keller (the Senior Legal Counsel to Google), Saul Williams, Brian Eno, Moby, and many others. In his reconstruc ting of the role of the DJ, Miller's visual artwork has been honored with solo shows at highly establishe d art venues like The Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Robert Miller Gallery.

A timely, August-rel ated guest post this week from legendary CBGB's engineer (among other endeavors) and friend, Robin Danar. FYI, Robin's recent record, Altered States is pretty freakin' unbelievab le, a collaborat ion featuring up-and-com ing indie artists you likely know (Rachel Yamagata, Pete Yorn, etc.). You should own it. More about Robin here.

Take it away, Robin:

Dear Hilly--

Well, it's been over 2 years since I've seen you and I think about you a lot so I figured I'd check in. I'm writing from Cali.....won't be in NY 'til around Xmas.

I'm actually still in touch with many of our old friends and associates via email and networks. It's fun to see that the deep impact you and CBGB's had on us in the 70's and 80's still exists today. I just saw the virtual tour that BG helped put together just before the club closed (http://www .bravadousa .com/cbgb/p ano/pano.html) which was a pretty wild flashback. Every so often I’ll put on Patti&rsqu o;s closing show that was on satellite radio and yeah I listen loud!

Anyway, I owe a lot to you for helping this producer/a rtist find a direction. Since August 28 will always be a date I remember, I thought I’d send a copy of this NY Times blog I wrote a year ago. I look at it as a fun story with happy memories.(August 28, 2008 makes one year since Hilly passed away):

I was the sound guy at CB’s for years in the 70s and 80s. It was an amazing time and every so often I get sidetracke d from what I’m supposed to be doing and end up spending hours looking at books, listening to music or just scanning the web and rememberin g. There are great books, amazing photos, YouTube videos and some classic stories, many of which are quite true and some that are, uh… … "lost in translatio n??"

I was lucky to be in NY for several months in 2007 and spent a bunch of time with Hilly before he went back into the hospital. He was tired. The chemo was quite a workout but I caught him on some "good" days and he was a bit slower but still moving along. He was never a speed demon anyway [...]

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.

1976 album Tracks and Traces due Oct. 6 from Gronland/H igh Wire

By Blurt Staff

Great news for Krautrock fans. We'll let you get the gist by reading the press release, below. And then get set for the massive - we do mean ginormous - Michael Rother interview that will be running soon on the BLURT site. You have been warned.

Oh yeah, have an MP3 on us: "Vamos Comperos"

In the late summer of 1976 the musicians of Harmonia sensed an opportunit y. The band had made two albums up to then, Musik von Harmonia (1974), and Deluxe (1975). Both works are now considered classics of krautrock and electronic music; nonetheles s, afterwards the creative core went its separate ways. All three musicians were tireless and set to work on solo projects. Michael Rother would later release Flammende Herzen, Hans-Joach im Roedelius Durch die Wüste and Dieter Moebius Lilienthal . But then Brian Eno waltzed onto the scene. He had long been aware of Harmonia, and had even spontaneou sly joined in on a session with the band at a concert in the Fabrik in Hamburg in 1974. The musicians were not shy about expressing their interest in further collaborat ion and exchanged numbers. Two years later Eno called the members of Harmonia and asked, "Is now a good time?" The answer, "Well, not exactly - we kind of broke up - but sure, as good a time as any."

At that time Eno was on his way to Montreux to work with David Bowie on the album Low. A man well-trave led in the beau monde of rock music, he entered the studio in the rural hamlet of Forst in Germany's Weserbergl and region with no pretenses. To quote Rother, "Eno didn't come across like an aloof pop star at all; on the contrary, he was very pleasant and inquisitiv e. We worked as equal partners and were a collective that simply wanted to make music, with no thoughts of commercial success and without the pressure of having to record an album. To me those are the best working conditions you can have."

"Eno brought a great intellect, boundless pleasure in making music and a font of experience in the realm of popular music, and that clearly opened a door that was already closed," adds Roedelius. Despite this, the general public heard nothing from these recordings for a long time; in part because they were not made for commercial purposes, but also because Eno's original tapes were long considered lost. Luckily, Roedelius and Rother had both made copies of the four-track tapes.

Out of the blue in 1997 Harmonia released the album Tracks & Traces, which included clips from the legendary 1976 recording sessions. Roedelius probed the material in his possession and had it remixed using an elaborate technical process. "I did nothing more than technicall y remaster the original material (one of the three four-track tapes that we had recorded) with Austrian sound engineers and enhance it so it would be digestible for other listeners besides ourselves, " recalls Roedelius.

Rother explains more precisely, "Due to discord within the band, Achim put the music together on his own. The new tracks recorded in 1997 are therefore an expression of his personalit y in their atmospheri c emphasis. Möbi and I weren't happy that Achim went it alone, but we had to admit that he had done a hell of a job. All the same, we came to a consensus on the title and the artwork, so Möbi and I were in a sense involved (laughing) . But you really can't say a bad word about the music, it's wonderful." One can do nothing but agree with that assessment . In "Vamos Compa&ntil de;eros" a brazen groove hisses to the fore in the form of a looped steam engine sound. The idyllic detour provided in "By the Riverside" abruptly gives way to an abstract experiment al phase with a gloomy undertone. A cautionary finger is raised admonishin g, "Don't get lost on Lüneburg Heath." After a "Weird Dream" the mood again brightens and the listener is treated to warmer, pop-like harmonies and the slide guitar familiar from Eno's later works, although, in this case, it is Rother playing it. But, of course, it does not end there.

Rother himself had a copy he had had stashed away in his studio since 1976 as well. One day he decided to digitize the 27 fragments contained on it. Although the material could have filled an entire album, they agreed to add three of the songs to the reissue of the 1997 album. "Initially I asked myself what made sense musically; which of the many tracks I particular ly liked and which reflected the broad musical scope of our collaborat ion with Brian Eno the best. The next step was about how best to integrate the selected tracks into the existing album. Instead of the normal practice of tacking them on to the end of the album as bonus tracks, I proposed changing the structure of the album and the order of the tracks. Luckily everyone involved agreed on that." The album now builds up gradually with the intro "Welcome" and the second track "Atmospher e" before proceeding to "Vamos Compa&ntil de;eros", from whence it gains the trusted momentum of the original release. It is rounded out with "Aubade", a track that reinforces the impression of a reconcilia tory conclusion .

As they say, good things take time. And now, 33 years after these recordings were created, we finally have an all-around satisfying version of a long believed lost treasure of the krautrock era. In all likelihood this project signals the end of the Harmonia era. Although the band reformed two years ago and performed some highly acclaimed concerts in Berlin, Great Britain, the USA and Australia in the wake of the release of the celebrated concert recording Live 1974, Rother and Roedelius both jointly declared that there would be no continuati on of the live performanc es - even if doing so would be lucrative for them in many ways. But the 1970s German avant-gard e never let itself be a slave to commercial interests. Its credo remains as it was then: Good music is what is born of the unadultera ted soul of the artist, not something fabricated with strategies and intellectu al games, whatever their nature. And, as one can tell from Harmonia & Eno 1976 - Tracks and Traces, quality does not lose its luster in such conditions - not even with the passing of decades.

Tracklisti ng:

01 Welcome
02 Atmosphere
03 Vamos Companeros
04 By the Riverside
05 Luneberg Heath
06 Sometimes in Autumn
07 Weird Dream
08 Autumn
09 Les Demoiselle s
10 When Shade Was Born
11 Trace
12 Aubade

See vid preview of Inspiratio n Informatio n, below.

By Blurt Staff

The ever-provo cative Strut label's been on a roll lately with a series of eye- and ear-openin gglobe-tro tting, genre-bend ing collaborat ions - including Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentr ics, Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle and Sly & Robbie & Amp Fiddler. The label has also been responsibl e for those amazing vintage worldbeat compilatio ns we've been reviewing at BLURT: Black Rio Vol.2  and Nigeria '70. (Watch the BLURT site soon for our review of their Ze Records overview Ze 30.)

Now Strut's announced the latest volume: Inspiratio n Informatio n will feature legendary Fela Kuti drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen along side Finnish electronic / jazz maverick Jimi Tenor.  As the label advises us, candidly, "The is a raw and forward-th inking take on Afrobeat which will thrill fans looking for the next evolution in worldly future funk." Coming soon - watch this space for details.

See the teaser trailer below for a taste.

Denial of service attack means people can't disclose details of their plans to paint their nails, go to lunch or entertain deep faux-philo sophical thoughts.

By Blurt Staff

All you Twitter fans scratching your heads over why you can't get your daily crack fix, rest easy: Courtney Love is still asleep in her bed following a long night of ligging, so she hasn't crashed the system.

There is, however, an ongoing denial of service attack, according to a report filed by TechCrunch .com. Twitter has indicated it's dealing with the problem.

The rest of you who are going into withdrawal symptoms about now - hey, read a book. Watch some Oprah. Do a "Michael Vick" with the family pooch. Or simply get a dang life...

Better yet, ponder all the banalities you might be inclined to be posting about now, and then consider the fact that everyone who reads ‘em thinks you're really, really lame but is too polite to tell you to your face.

The petty hierarchie s of music - bands and songwriter s

Let me premise this with saying that if I could, for every live show, I would list the musicians I'm playing with that night, as part of the billing. And in an ideal world there would be credits, like on an album, so everything was completely fair.

But why would that not work ? There needs to be a single name that tops everything , exclusivel y.

Well in jazz it can be different - particular ly in instrument al, improvised jazz, where you sometimes see a list of musicians, as the band name. In that genre there is such an ethic of equality of musicians, that even 1 musician writing the songs, undermines the primacy of the players, so that's partly why it has to be improvised . They often eschew vocals with lyrics also, because they must know that words tend grab people's attention more than a pick hitting a guitar string.

You might point out that many classic rock bands are collaborat ive endeavors. But still there is the front person. Somehow there is that one person who enjoys being more public, and is in fact often better at it. Even bands with a strong stick-toge ther ethic, will see just 1 or 2 people doing all the talking. Often there are the straight up interviews with the front person, and interviews with anyone else, will have a "behind the scenes" tone.

So far, what I'm suggesting is known to everybody - it takes all kinds. And in music its: extroverts and introverte d specialist s, lyricists and instrument alists. But the truth is, this makes things ripe for unfairness . And we all play into it.

If you argue that lyrics are especially important, or that the songwriter /composer are who really make the music mean something, you have to recognize that in most cases there's a pretty steep hierarchy involved. Songs and lyrics need to be realized, and without the chemistry and talent of other musicians, no one may ever have heard certain songs or lyrics. So there's a symbiosis there of all the people who go into recording or performing music. You can even say that not all the components are equal. But honestly, in the end result, they end up very - very, un-equal

For something so symbiotic as a musical performanc e, or recording, it's striking how much it's TOP-MAN-TA KE-ALL. But still, We relate to a singular name, and identity for something. So this petty hierarchy as I call it, is not likely to ever change

I say this from years of inside experience on both sides of the issue. Even as a record producer, my role has been similar to that of a another musician on the record.  And I have my own band, with a revolving group of musicians, so uuhh... we just use MY NAME.. it just "makes sense". But I stand to benefit very disproport ionally from anything good that could happen - cause my name is right there at the top

I'll just end with this - Think of music history. History is written and remembered as a collection of those single names - TOP-MAN-TA KE-ALL. And everyone else is a footnote. Thankfully , there are those who really care to look in depth at everything and everyone that went into the music. So, that's something I suppose

You can find Martin Bisi's songs and live appearance s on my Myspace: http://www .myspace.com/theend credits

It is with much trepidatio n that I write of "beach music," a phenomenon that has consistent ly been making waves across&nbs p;America& nbsp;and the world (yes,  ;Virginia, there are even "beach enthusiast s" in Mu ncie) since the early '60s. &nbs p;Over the past three decades, I have become increasing ly fond of a questionab le musical consciousn ess termed "beach music". &nbs p;Yet, I fear writing about it, not just because I still do not know what IT is, but because neither does anybody else.

One thing beach-nuts do agree on is that the sounds which inspire partying on the East Coast have absolutely nothing to do with  California  and surf music. In the East, a beach party means shuffling a little bit in the sand (a dance called, appropriat ely enough, the shag) and guzzling beer or sipping bourbon. &nbs p;In the W ild W est of the '60s, a beach bash implied some surfing, and required the sounds of the Ventures and the Beach Boys as well as many weird bands such as the Pyramids and the Trashmen. 

Beach music of the East Coast bears the light of nostalgia and beams it through the AM radio waves--a longing for a past that was never a part of the scene to begin with.

Unlike the music on the West Coast, which was by white kids on an instrument al warpath, beach music has always been primarily music by blacks. &nbs p;What's more, whereas the classic image and style of surf music suggested a homosexual subtext (with rockabilly 's similar subtext right on its tail:  ; Roy Orbison's "Domino" being the first example of rock music emulating the sound of the waves), the theme of East Coast beach music is heterosexu al love and desire, often thwarted but always remembered .

Because beach music tolerates more than it excludes, it's not really a definable genre like surf music. &nbs p;The beach music categoriza tion includes rock 'n' roll from New Orleans (Ernie K-Doe, the Showmen), Philadelph ia soul (O'Jays, Archie Bell and the Drells), Stax (Sam & Dave, Booker T & the MG's), Motown (everybody ), disco (Trammps, Tavares), '50s R&B (Joe Turner, Five Royales), '70's smooth soul (The Floaters, Tymes)...and yes, even garage punk (the Gentrys,&n bsp;the&nb sp;Swingin ' Medallions ). &nbs p;

It's a mixed-up, shook-up celebratio n of a musical past, of passionate summers spent on the beach.

This phenomenon has been documented on zillions of excellent compilatio ns (see above for a good example), but it was officially and best presented back in 1967 by Atlantic Records on two volumes called--yo u guessed it--BEACH BEAT (still, never reissued on CD). &nbs p;

Compiled in response to the demands of Carolina beach lovers seeking oldies amidst the dearth of psychedeli a in the late '60s, these two packages contain the quintessen tial beach performers and performanc es--classi cs by the Clovers, the Coasters and the Drifters; Willie Tee's "Teasin' You," Lenny O'Henry's "Across the Street," and, courtesy of Chess, Bobby Moore's amazing "Searching For My Love."

Atlantic&n bsp;being one of the great R&B labels, these two collection s was  almo st ready-made , and so, in a sense, was the beach music scene. Clearly, here was a programmed sensibilit y, not a phenomenon based upon stylistic substance but on a memory of a romantic lie:   that music once had a meaning it now completely lacked.

The East Coast beach music sound is easy to package but impossible to pinpoint. &nbs p;It's like you have to be in on IT to get IT. &nbs p;

Beach music has become an institutio nalized form of party ritual restricted to the coastal resort cities and inland campus areas of the Carolinas and V irginia. &nbs p;The majority of the black groups branded with the "beach sound" were never intentiona lly creating music for this East Coast circuit. Instead, they were consumed by a locale desperatel y in need of an identity during a time when pop music seemed to be running riot with hippies and weird sounds.

It was an idea based on the belief that dancing to soul or doo-wop records would outlast the trendiness of the British Invasion and psychedeli c rock. &nbs p;And, oh, how right they were, those determined reactionar y shaggers on the beach!

I live in Ch arlottesvi lle,  Virginia, where boys and girls at the University know how to party for weeks on end. &nbs p;I have grown accustomed  to&n bsp;the reactionar y nature of beach music and its maddeningl y nostalgic need to ignore the present until it becomes the past. &nbs p;

I used to read loyally each new issue of the slick mag,  It Will Stand, dedicated to the preservati on of beach music, its very name suggesting the notion that the South will rise again. &nbs p;I have listened faithfully to the old Rockin' Ray's "Hall of Fame" and "The Best of the Beach" radio shows on WBT in Ch arlotte. &nbs p;And shopping for beach music has never been easier thanks to the Internet.

But still, amidst the beach hubbub, I have always felt that the meaning of its presence eluded me, and then one day I discovered why.

In the early '80s, I once had a long conversati on with an A&R guy at Arista Records, Mitch Cohen. &nbs p;Cohen was then compiling an anthology of beach music for the label called The Beat of the Beach (great title). &nbs p;He had been asked by a higher-up at Arista to compile this collection because certain oldies were being consistent ly requested by distributo rs in the Carolina-V irginia area. Despite the invisibili ty of a discernibl e style, Cohen went for the job full throttle, talking with the editors at It Will Stand and oldies know-it-al ls. &nbs p;Never did Cohen assume that he knew what a beach record was.

At the time, Cohen agreed with me that there was no discernibl e style to beach music, but he did say that he understood that you had to be "on the inside" to properly pick up on the cultural codes and signs that distinguis h a "beach record" from your ordinary oldie. &nbs p;To know the shag beat may not involve a conscious effort but only an instinctua l response to a manner of partying that has remained stable since the early '60s.

So, Cohen, in programmin g the anthology, went for the feeling of the record. In other words, he tried to hear exactly what a shagger on the dance floor would hear in the air, not what a rock pundit thinks someone should hear.

And what a shagger hears is so subjective it can only be compared to the gooseflesh twinge of recalling a lost love  that  is suddenly regained at the intimate moment of rememberin g. That a seemingly reactionar y musical consciousn ess can be so romantic is a shuddering thought. &nbs p;

But the idealism behind this love for an old record is also stirring:& nbsp;  ;For through the all-encomp assing, albeit nebulous, harmony of the beach music scene, if a record was once loved, then there's the guarantee that it will endure.

You can find many of your beach needs daily at PopKrazy .
 

Jack Black and Kyle Gass--Tena cious D--announc e a performanc e on the third day of the S.F. music and arts festival. Careful... You might get burned.

By Randy Harward

Forget Tom Jones. Fuck Jason Mraz. For that matter, you can tell the Dave Matthews Band to suck it. Also, Pearl Jam should go spread itself on toast 'cause True Rock Gods have been added to the lineup for the 2009 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, taking place August 28-30 in San Francisco.

Tenacious D annouced their appearance today on a teleconfer ence with media--inc luding Blurt, which is honored at our inclusion. The D will play on August 30, the same day that even lesser acts such as The Dead Weather, Modest Mouse and Ween play, but Jack Black was compliment ary of these acts, mentioning them as his own must-sees. "I'm always into seeing me some Ween," he said... perhaps cheekily.

In fact, both Black and bandmate Kyle Gass praised the lineup, Gass saying, "Pretty much we're on the best day... pound for pound."

In addition to their three faves, the D's day will feature M.I.A., Band of Horses, Calexico, Lucinda Williams, John Vanderslic e and The Avett Brothers. Among others. For the full lineup, visit www.sfoutsidel ands.com.

Oh, one more thing. The D would like everyone to heed a caveat about their upcoming performanc e: "Our shit is toned," says Black.  "You might get burned."

And no, "The Clap" is not a cover of Yes... unless Steve Howe is guesting in disguise.

By Blurt Staff

Thao With the Get Down Stay Down will be releasing their second full-lengt h album, Know Better Learn Faster, on October 13 via Kill Rock Stars. "The album is named ‘Kno w Better Learn Faster' because you can't," said Thao, in a statement. "By the time you realize you should, it's too late. And I enjoy the predicamen t and the totally devastatin g, unfunny humor of that."

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (Adam Thompson on bass, keys and additional guitar, and Willis Thompson on drums and percussion ) return with the follow up to their critically lauded previous album, We Brave Bee Stings and All. With super-prod ucer and friend Tucker Martine (The Decemberis ts, Bill Frisell, Jim James) again at the helm, Know Better Learn Faster matches the "cleverly crafted and emotionall y evocative songs" with "vibrant, innovative instrument ation, incredible energy and a still-acut ely-solid sense of what sounds good... all the while staying faithful to their distinct style, sharp wit, and the infectious and enamoring exuberance of their renowned live shows."

Know Better Learn Faster is also being described as in many ways "a boisterous , frenzied, and resigned break-up record," and with that territory comes a few songs wherein Thao does not employ her trademark method of juxtaposin g brighter melodies with melancholi c content.  "A few of these are just straightfo rwardly sad.  Sometimes there's not much room to mince words and music when you feel like shit," she says. The album is, in essence, an audit of the end of one or any number of relationsh ips.  Thao says: "We are thankful for the opportunit y to have explored and then purged all crippling tensions and anxiety inherent in such dramas and hope you enjoy the scrappy by-product .

Guesting on the album are Andrew Bird, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Veirs,&nbs p; Nathan Crockett of Horse Feathers, and close friend and new 4AD artist Tune-Yards .

Track Listing:

01. The Clap
02. Cool Yourself
03. When We Swam
04. Know Better Learn Faster
05. Body
06. The Give
07. Good Bye Good Luck
08. Trouble Was For
09. Oh. No.
10.Fixed It!
11. Burn You Up
12. But What of the Strangers
13. Easy

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

New rec due in October from Yep Roc.

By Blurt Staff

As we told you a few months ago in this space, Chuck Prophet and his band ventured to Mexico City to record the follow-up to 2007's album Soap & Water and encountere d a swine flu pandemic, an earthquake , electric brownouts, and crashing hard drives. For proof, check the photo accompanyi ng our news item, here.

But they still managed to polish off a new record titled ¡Let Freedom Ring!, which will be released October 27 on Yep Roc Records.

"I just wanted the energy of this place," Prophet says of Mexico City. "I'm looking at a studio that is totally state of the art... for 1957. I stood in the middle of that room, I clapped my hands and I knew we could make a great record."

You can check out the following promo trailer for the album and get some of that vibe:

Limited edition of 1500, so act fast.

By Blurt Staff

It's literally been a decade since the mighty Tortoise dabbled extensivel y in vinyl releases - check this discograph y of the band for proof. 1996-98 was particular ly fruitful for the Windy City band, which pumped out a slew of limited edition 12-inch remixes that at the time proved highly prized among collectors (although a quick glance at eBay suggests the group's stock has fallen considerab ly since then). High-profi le remixers of the band included Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Oval, Autechre, UNKLE and Derrick Carter. 

To follow up the release of their first new studio album in five years, then, Tortoise is releasing a two song remix 12" of songs from Beacons of Ancestorsh ip.  Side A features  Eye from Boredoms doing a remix of the album's opening track "High Class Slim Came Floatin' In".  Side AA features the dub/versio n master Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound doing a version of the track "Gigantes" .

Side A : High Class Slim Came Floatin' In - Eyeremix

Side AA : Gigantes Version - Mark Ernestus

The 12" is presented in a proper LP jacket and features black and white photograph y from Andrew Paynter.  Andrew's photograph y was also featured on the Beacons of Ancestorsh ip jacket and he was behind the video for the song "Prepare Your Coffin" which can be seen HERE.

The 12" is presented in an extremely limited quantity of 1,500 and will be released on August 18^th by Thrill Jockey.

RAIN, GOD, AND MORE VINTAGE GEAR: Wiyos on the Bob Dylan Summer Tour, Pt. 2

By Carl Hanni

August 4, Austin, TX: Fourteen days into a eighteen day run with NYC's The Wiyos across the country on the Bob Dylan/Will ie Nelson/Joh n Mellencamp summer tour. We're in Austin with a day off as part of a seven day/five show Texas mini-tour; a Texas five-step. The band jumped off the tour last weekend for two days to fly to Portland, OR, to play Pickathon, a study in contrasts for sure. I drove the van from Atlanta to Houston via Orange Beach, AL, where I hooked up with the Two Man Gentlemen Band, the fill-in openers for the tour on July 31.

Making good time, I dropped into New Orleans for lunch at Coop's on Sunday, which always has a good mix of locals and tourists who have strayed in off Decatur. This is the first time I've been to N.O. since Katrina; missing roofs, caved in houses and desolate looking streets can be seen from I-10, but downtown and the French Quarter look (and smell) pretty much the same. New Orleans is still, blessedly, New Orleans, in its humid, fetid, crazy-ass, dysfunctio nal glory.

The tour continues to unfold with its military-l ike precision. The marshallin g of multiple semi-truck s full of gear, rigging, lights, staging and catering is carried out by a huge crew of road-teste d veterans, many of whom have been with the various headliners for years or even decades. With separate production crews for Dylan, Mellencamp and Nelson, promoter staff for each show (often the same from show to show), a huge local production crew at each venue, plus security and catering staff AND three sets of band members (not counting The Wiyos) this is a huge rolling operation with many intertwine d parts. After 2 weeks I'm getting a grip on who's-who, but still find someone new to meet each day that's been with the tour from day one. The Wiyos, with our five guys (including myself), are like guppies swimming with the big fish. But the tour has been great for the band so far, and they have been getting a good response to their opening half-hour set each night, making new friends and fans at each stop, selling CDs and planting themselves in the mind's eye of tens of thousands of music fans coast to coast.

The uniformity of the production is both necessary and terribly impressive , but the flavor of each city, crowd and venue comes through loud and clear.

Durham was a beautiful, urban/down town ball park with a lively crowd that was ready to party, rock-conce rt style. Afterwards the band was put up by local friends, fellow musicians; a living room jam session kept everyone hopping till after midnight. Simpsonvil le, SC, outside Greenville , was a rolling green park of a venue in the heart of the conservati ve South, with a relatively sedate crowd that seemed a little less impressed with The Wiyos than other crowds; polite more than enthusiast ic. A local evangelica l gospel choir appeared backstage to join Willie for "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and another couple of numbers; with their black suits and shoes and starched white shirts, they hung out outside backstage, seemingly completely peaceful in the crushing heat and humidity. A newscaster for the local Fox News affiliate was broadcasti ng live from the front gate and interviewe d The Wiyos after the set for a spot on the 10 p.m. news. We camped at a local state park after the show, woken up at 7 a.m. by the first (but not the last) rain of the day. Rain has been a constant in the last couple of weeks; there may be a day or two that it hasn't.

The Verizon Wireless Amphitheat re in Alpharetta , just north of Atlanta, was blessedly a covered venue, and afforded the band our first, actual (air conditione d!) green room backstage, timely respite from the rain and humidity and general funkiness of The Wiyos' sturdy Freightlin er van. Various friends and ladyfriend s of the band appeared from Asheville and elsewhere, a mid-tour mini-reuni on to help the band remember what life is like Off The Tour.

The band flew out at a very early 6 am for their shows at Pickathon, while I drove the van to Orange Beach for my rendezvous with the Two Man Gentlemen Band. The venue is an amphitheat re situated in a huge entertainm ent complex of shops, amusement park attraction s and hotels on to the Alabama Gulf Coast, just off the beach. The area is incredibly lush and beautiful, half bayou and half not, with massive, kudzu- and creeper-dr aped trees dwarfing everything around. Churches in the area (and there are LOTS of churches) vie for having the most clever slogans on their signage out front - "Here comes the Son," "Beat the heat: instructio ns inside" and more witty come-ons. It's nice to see a little humor mixed in with their efforts to keep us out of hell; I wonder how many local church goers will be at the show tonight? Is this still "the devil's music" being played, or have we gotten past that?

The Gentlemen play a knockout set to a soggy crowd in the persistent rain, sign CDs and give away kazoos before hitting the road for an all-night drive to Nashville. Willie and Mellencamp play their standard sets, Willie spreading the love like only he can do. I finally get to see my second full set by Bob Dylan, whose voice is pretty rough at first, but warms up after a couple of songs. The band is incredibly tight, with guitarists Denny Freeman and Stu Kimball curling around each other like snakes in a pit and long-time bass player Tony Garnier swinging on the bottom end. Dylan is really mixing up the set-list from show to show, drawing on maybe 30 + songs for the tour. Tonight he plays "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding") , "Thunder on the Mountain," "It Ain't Me Babe," "The Levee's Gonna Break" and others before the standard three-song encore of "Like a Rolling Stone," "Jolene" and "All Along the Watchtower ." Judging from a couple of his splay-legg ed leans into his keyboard, it looks like he might be having some fun on-stage; it's really sort of hard to tell, though.

After a Sunday sprint in the Freightlin er that took me across parts of Alabama, all of lower Mississipp i, Louisiana and into Texas (via New Orleans), I reach my nadir of the tour: Beaumont, Texas. I'm sure the people of Beaumont love Beaumont, and most folks were pretty decent all around, but I also got such the "you're not from these here parts" vibe from some of the locals at dinner (not the sweet waitress, thanks hon) that I almost had to check my calendar to see what decade it was.

Really guys: I'm not here to take, change or corrupt anything; just passing through and spending money. If you think I'm weird, you should see my friends. It all felt very Easy Rider for a moment. It's so humid that my glasses fog over when I step out of my hotel at 7 am.

After grabbing the weary Wiyos at the Houston airport (they knocked 'em dead at Pickathon, no sleep) we head to the beautiful (covered, thank you) Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion so they can jump back on the tour for the final twelve shows. They play through the exhaustion for a great set to a huge crowd and we hit the road for a late-night drive to Austin, for three evenings' worth of respite under a friendly roof, doing errands, hitting thrift stores, taking a dip in Barton Springs, and chowing down on Tex-Mex cooking (including my first salsa since leaving Tucson over two weeks ago). Time off in Austin: the perfect antidote to road burn.

Next: shows in Austin, Corpus Christi and Dallas/Gra nd Prairie.

***

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.

Iconic vocalist fronted Mink DeVille and was a mainstay of the CBGB scene.

By Fred Mills

Music fans who came up during the CBGB era received some sad news this morning: Willy DeVille, pompadour- rocking frontman for the mighty Mink DeVille, passed away yesterday following a battle with pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis had been announced just this past June after doctors preparing DeVille for Hepatitis C treatment discovered the cancer.

With Mink DeVille, the singer brought a measure of dashing flash to the leather jacketed punk scene, always dressing like a classic showman and performing tunes more aligned with vintage soul, doo-wop, cabaret and Latin-flav ored pop than buzzsaw guitars and New Wave keyboards. After the demise of the band in the mid ‘80s DeVille went solo, finding his core audience in Europe but continuing to record albums up through last year's Pistola. And in that big, romantic, crooner's voice of his - leavened by a puckish yelp - DeVille conjured a timelessne ss across the entirety of his career.

For more details on DeVille, check out his Wikipedia page.

Gratuitous usage of naughty language apparently by one of our interns, who will be sorely reprimande d.

By Blurt Staff

Oxbow is planning on celebratin g its 20^th anniversar y as a band by reissuing its landmark 1990 debut. Originally released on CFY/Pathol ogical, the aptly titled Fuckfest is a pornograph ic snapshot of a burgeoning musical force in its formative years; a raw, naked display of desperate humanity and abject terror; a decisive collision of Midwest noise, and all-Americ an trepidatio n.

Hey, who isn't into all-Americ an trepidatio n!

Since then Oxbow has issued five more albums, each louder and nastier than the one before. Some observers have even called the group "a blues band" - which of course makes perfect sense, now, doesn't it?

The album drops September 15 on Hydra Head.

Tracklist:

1. Curse (5:52)
2. 30 Miles (5:48)
3. The Valley (5:50)
4. Bull's Eye (4:03)
5. Yoke (6:13)
6. Hunger (9:19)

Mail order only release recorded in Brussels during 2008 tour.

By Fred Mills

Everyone's favorite Arizona band Calexico is spending the month of August over in Europe, doing those ever-lucra tive European festivals (tour dates here) in their ongoing campaign to take last year's Carried To Dust to the masses (our feature on the band from last fall is here). But that doesn't mean you Stateside fans can't be diggin' yourself some fresh Calexico.

Just recently the band issued another one of their tour/mailo rder only CDs (most likely a limited edition that will quickly sell out, as have previous tour titles). Called Ancienne Belgique - Live In Brussels 2008, it was recorded last year during their Euro trek and contains the following tracks (and can be obtained via their main website):

1. Bisbee Blue
   2. Roka
   3. Bend To The Road
   4. El Gatillo
   5. Two Silver Trees
   6. Inspiracio n
   7. Minas De Cobre
   8. Man Made Lake
   9. Alone Again Or
   10. Fractured Air
   11. Red Blooms
   12. Victor Jara's Hands
   13. Crystal Frontier
   ----
   14. Crumble [Bonus Track]

According to co-founder Joey Burns, "The past ten months of touring the new album ‘Carried To Dust' has been filled with a lot of great shows and experience s. We've met a lot of folks, seen a lot of friends and there's been a bunch of requests for some live recordings of the new material to be sold at our concerts. So, with the help of the staff at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels we recorded one of the best shows of the tour. Thanks to Peter Verstraele n, our Belgian Promoter, Staf Verbeek who recorded the show, Craig Schumacher who mixed the recording, Jim Blackwood who mastered it, David Babbitt who did the art layout, and Adam Reach who coordinate d the assembly. Thanks, too for all of the musicians, guests, crew, friends and families who helped with making all of this possible.

"The artwork is comprised of photos from the band's first tour of Santiago de Chile and South America which influenced some of the songs on ‘Carried To Dust.' We would love to return to South America as we've yet to play Brazil, Peru, Uruguay... heck, we haven't even played Mexico yet. Hopefully we'll find some folks to help us find some festivals or shows there. This upcoming Summer Tour finds us playing some new cities and countries; Poland, Hungary, Luxembourg , Israel and Finland which we've only played once. Thanks again to all of you for contributi ng your support of the music and live shows."

Live in Brussels:

Say farewell to the alterna-ni neties too, kids...

By Blurt Staff

With ‘90s nostalgia already reaching critical mass - while welcome reunions from the likes of Blur and My Bloody Valentine have gone down, we're also being saddled with mooks ‘n' chumps like Creed and Third Eye Blind - it's probably not a bad thing when a band opts to bow out when it senses the well has run dry.

Ergo, Seattle's Harvey Danger recently announced it was splitting up, announcing a farewell tour (which starts today in Boston) and posting to their website,

"After 15 years, three albums, hundreds of shows, and far more twists and turns than we ever imagined possible, we've decided to put Harvey Danger to rest. The decision is totally mutual and utterly amicable. Everyone is very proud of the work we've done together, but we've also come to feel that our collaborat ion has--in a very positive way--run its course. We're all eager to try our hands at other projects, musical and otherwise. Of course, putting an end to something we've been working on since our early 20s can't help being accompanie d by a soup&ccedi l;on of melancholy . Nonetheles s, as the Chambers Brothers remind us, time has come today. Rock bands have life spans, and Harvey Danger's has been longer and more eventful than even we would have predicted."

Best known as a one-hit wonder of late '90s provenance , though obsessivel y loved by a devout cult of listeners from below and above the indie rock radar, Harvey Danger has released three albums of literate, emotional pop-rock that range wildly in style and impact. The first two (including the one that was a hit in 1998) came out on major labels, and a third was released in 2005, according to what would later become known as the Radiohead model. Little By Little... eventually generated over 300,000 downloads (it's still available at their site for free), and was released physically by Kill Rock Stars in 2006. It was followed with the release of an EP on Barsuk Records.

Other highlights ? Sharing stages with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Spoon (both of whom were chosen by HD to open tours before anyone knew who they were), Nada Surf, Ra Ra Riot, Robyn Hitchcock, Jon Brion, Grant Lee Buffalo, They Might Be Giants, and many thousands more. Participat ing in the Seattle edition of Brendan Canty's "Burn to Shine" DVD series. Having their song "Flagpole Sitta" being used as the theme song for the British TV sitcom "Peep Show," now in its sixth brilliant season. Oh, and playing on Letterman, being on MTV a lot back when it still pretended to play music, making a bunch of videos, having their song played at the seventh-in ning stretch at the World Series, and stuff like that.

But as the band puts it, "Now is the time to call it good. Everyone in Harvey Danger is very excited to have a last chance to play together in public, and to bring the band's energetic and assured live show to the cities that have felt the most like homes away from home for the band over the years."

Tour Dates:

08.07.09 - Boston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
08.08.09 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
08.15.09 - Chicago, IL @ Schuba's
08.22.09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Largo
08.28.09 - Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
08.29.09 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

HD does H&O:

The Awkward Hour with Built to Spill/Pitc hfork Festival 2009

Interview by Brian Staker

The Awkward Hour with The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne/Pitc hfork Festival 2009

Part 2

Interview by Brian Staker

The Awkward Hour with The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne/Pitc hfork Festival 2009

Part 1

Interview by Brian Staker

Stop right there: we have the latest installmen ts of Brian Staker's interview series, this time featuring Wayne Coyne and Built To Spill holding forth at this summer's Pitchfork Festival.

By Blurt Staff

Rockers say the darndest things, especially when they're looking into the lens of Brian Staker, host of the aptly-titl ed podcast "The Awkward Hour," in which Staker takes the often-spoo fed (see Tim & Eric, Bob Odenkirk) model of awkward, unprepared interviewe rs and well, runs with it in the "be who you are" spirit. 

Earlier this month,&nbs p;Blurt&nb sp;sent our schlubby bundle of nerves to the Pitchfork Festival for special on-the-spo t interviews where he cornered artists for on-the-spo t (and we do mean on-the-spo t) interviews . Today we've added Built To Spill and a lengthy two-parter featuring Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. They join our previous list of victims: Vivian Girls, Jesus Lizard's David Yow and The Thermals. Just head over to our Blurt TV video kiosk, or click on the provided links.

Forty years ago this week, it wasn't all peace and love.

By Fred Mills

Mass culture-im mersed Americans this week are likely to be casting their memories back to the Woodstock festival that took place August 15-18 in 1969. With the deluge of Woodstock- themed books, that massive Back to Yasgur's Farm box set that Rhino recently issued and an entire week's worth of Woodstock- related documentar ies set to air starting tonight on VH1, the Aquarian expo's been sucking the oxygen out of the room pretty thoroughly of late.

40 years ago, however, an event of a different sort also took place, one which in a very real sense shook our society to its core and left its own impossible -to-forget legacy: in '69, on August 9 and 10, the Charles Manson crew (aka "The Family") committed a series of horrific murders - actress Sharon Tate plus four others on the first night, followed by the married LaBianca couple the following evening - thus marking the beginning of the end of the so-called "hippie dream," one which would further dissolve a few months later at the Altamont concert.

It's hard to fully express the emotional precipice that the Tate-LaBia nca killings booted many of us from at the time; as a teenager tucked away in a tiny Southern textile town at the time, I can't say I had been swept away by the countercul ture (at least not yet - depending on where you lived, that hippie dream continued to trickle down and linger for a few years and probably remained on life support until at least the resignatio n of Nixon and the end of the Vietnam war). But I was certainly immersed in it from afar, eagerly taking in any and all news reports about hippies, drugs, war protests, etc., all the while feeding my head on the undergroun d musical soundtrack of the era.

I do recall hearing about the murders on the nighttime news, however, and my reaction was probably somewhere between "that's senseless" (like my parents' reactions) and "could probably happen only in Los Angeles or New York"). But then some time later, when Manson et al were rounded up and charged, and details started emerging, like the "Pigs" and "Helter Skelter" writings-i n-blood, not to mention those iconic, thousand-y ard-stare photos of Manson himself, the feeling was deeply, permanentl y unsettling on a level I hadn't quite experience d in my short life yet. In a very real sense, it was a loss of innocence for me an no doubt scores of other young folks who, like me, had taken the entire peace-and- love ethos to heart and were now confrontin g evidence that evil among "our own kind" was very real. (I recall taking a hitch-hiki ng trip to Atlanta a few years later with a friend, and we hit the strip on Peachtree Street with gusto; later, though, following a series of somewhat odd, events, my friend wound up being assaulted by an otherwise cool/hip individual whom we'd initially trusted. It was another wake-up call.)

In a retrospect ive of the Manson murders posted at CNN.com, LA Times columnist Patt Morrison observed, "It was the dark side of paradise. People could shake their fingers and say, 'This is where your high-livin g, rich, hippie, movie-star lifestyle gets you. This is where the drug culture gets you.' It's the boomerang effect, the wages of sin."

Added Syracuse University popular culture professor Robert Thompson, "Manson is like a Rorschach test. How you interpret his place in popular culture depends on your own place in the culture." That's a good point: it's hard to say whether or not anyone born after, say, 1975 can fully appreciate (term used loosely) the immediate and lingering impact of those two nights in 1969.

Manson forced us to look both inward and outward, at times over our shoulders, too. And though reality checks in life are necessary, particular ly those we receive as we move towards adulthood, everything from that point forward was cast in shadows and hues of grey, no longer a black-and- white - or, even in our imaginatio ns, a Day-glo - world.

Garlic and mustard and linens and face creams - these are a few of my favorite things...

By Coco Hames

My friend always sends those quizzes around, you know the ones where it's a bunch of questions about you?  Whenever I've worked in offices, and been stuck at a computer, they're really fun to fill out.  You know, stuff like...

When's your birthday? May 4 (same as Audrey Hepburn and Julian Barratt).

What's your favorite color? Black or white or grey or a combo.

What's your favorite place?  Either the south of France or western North Carolina.

Who would play you in a movie? Alan Rickman or Jeanne Moreau.

Favorite sport? SEC football, but that's about it.

What word or phrase do you overuse?&n bsp; I say "Oh..." when I don't want to answer something, in a scornful but playful way, like my Grandma Max did, which she may or may not have gotten from Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificen t Ambersons.

Beach or mountains? Mountains.

Dogs or cats? DOGS.  Goddamnit I hate cats.

On and on it goes.  But they never give me enough room.

I like all-white linens because they are aesthetica lly pleasing (in that they are not aesthetica lly disturbing ) and because you can bleach them.  Only partially because color towels look gross and it's gross to get pilly little red or black balls in your armpits after you've just taken a shower.  All-white linens are good for lots of reasons.  I've been known to fall asleep with a glass of red wine in my hand.  Bleached that right out.  No one's the wiser.  I've been in bed with someone who scratched a bug bite on their leg WITH THEIR TOENAIL and sliced it open, bled everywhere .  Bleach!&nb sp; Also bleach just makes things SEEM cleaner, smells all bleachy.  Bleachy clean.

A good gift for me would be a seltzer maker because I drink a lot of seltzer water.  They have some Swiss machine at Williams-S onoma that makes seltzer.  FYI - Christmas is coming eventually and all I'm saying is, it'd be a nice gift for me.

I love books and spend all of my money on them.  If you gave me $1,000 right now, I'd go directly to Amazon and buy all the books I want.  I love books and expensive cosmetics.  I don't see anything wrong with that.  I like things to feel luxurious, if I ever am able.  Just things.  Like the fabric on a sofa or clean hardwood floors underfoot.  I like high thread count sheets and exorbitant ly priced face creams, but I wear clothes until they fall off my body and haven't gotten a profession al haircut in like five years.  When I used to wear extensions .  Those were the days!  ; Actually I can't have hair touching my neck, it freaks me out.  I shaved my head in high school and pulled out all of my eyebrows and eyelashes. &nbs p;

I compulsive ly touch my face when I'm talking, which I imagine is annoying to look at.  I hate things that taste sweet or smell sweet.  I don't like candy or ice cream.  I came around to ice cream briefly in Devon (of the famed Devonshire cream) where I had the most freakishly delicious fresh strawberry ice cream.  On the beach, in winter.  Nothing is more civilized than walking on the beach in winter.  Anyway, I'm lactose intolerant so anything with milk is just not going to work for me.

I like red wine very much, and believe I'm one of those "New World" people who like wines from California and South America better than wines from Spain or France.  But I do like Italian wine.  And you know what, sometimes I just like any old red wine, because I like tannins.  I like vodka because it tastes clean; I do not like rum or tequila or anything like that, retch.  My dad likes Scotch, which I do not like.  I like Irish whiskey, but only now and then.  My friend Christian gave me Irish whiskey in London in the middle of a party because that's what he was drinking, and I really liked it.  But it borders on too sweet for me, so I water it down a bit and take it on ice.

I didn't like ketchup when I was little, which doesn't make any sense, because ketchup is awesome, but maybe it had to do with the fact that ketchup has a surprising amount of sugar in it, and I don't like sugar.  I LOVE yellow mustard, probably one of my top five favorite things in the world.  Fancy candles, dogs, books, lemons, yellow mustard, those are my top five favorite things in the world.  I also love spicy food, especially vinegary spicy food, like hot sauces and things like that.  I like chiles; I grow some right now on my stoop.  I like many herbs, but not cilantro because one time in Gainesvill e someone put too much cilantro in the salsa and that was it, it was OVER for you, cilantro!

I like some movies but I hate horror movies because they give me nightmares .  I can be persuaded to watch a horror movie from time to time, but I will never, ever forget it.  I never, ever forget anything.  The difference in the color of several leaves I saw while driving in Georgia fifteen years ago, I will never forget that.  I don't like to think it's useless but sometimes it feels useless.  I get very upset if people talk in a movie theater.  I went to see Harry Potter and four stupid girls sat in front of me chatting away like it was hen's night at Applebees and I even said, "Shh!" TWICE!&nbs p; But they didn't shush, and then the guy next to me started texting and his phone was SO BRIGHT, so I just started crying.

And it is not that I don't like coffee, it's just that you seem to have to do so much to it to make it palatable, so probably you shouldn't drink it?  I don't know, I mean because of the lactose thing, I HAVE to take my coffee black (unless there's soy, but a creepy actress in LA told me that it makes you gain weight in your womanly parts because it has something in it that mimics estrogen, but taste-wise soy's never strong as milk anyway) and so my only recourse is to add sugar?&nbs p; Gross.  I like tea okay.  Yorkshire Red tea with soy milk.  But then again with the estrogen.

Anyone who shares a bed with me has to have their own blanket.  My body temperatur e is at a constant 105 degrees and I simply cannot stand to have that raised at any point.  Not while watching television , not while napping, and definitely not during a full night's sleep.  I don't like to touch very much at all.  I have a synapse misfiring or a general subconscio us misunderst anding of what touching means, sometimes it feels like we're dating, and that is super confusing.  I am not good at holding hands, especially with friends.  Or linking arms or hugging or doing any of the things girls do together.  It freaks me out.

If you take your clothes to the cleaners and get them pressed, they look brand new.  Fear birds because they can make tools; they even use the bones of other animals - such as cuttlefish - to sharpen their beaks.  Every time you slice a piece of garlic, it breaks a cell wall in the structure of the garlic, which releases the enzyme that tastes so garlicky.  This is why garlic is milder sliced than whipped up in a food processor.  This is why you really only need one clove of garlic when you're making pesto, but you need to chop up a lot to make a pasta sauce, which is what I'm going to do right now.

***

Blurt "co-co-edi tor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose album Look At Life Again Soon and EP, Danger Is, were released by Take Root. Their new Greg Cartwright -produced album Do You Want Power hits stores Sept. 29, and you bet we're gonna have a big feature on the band in our next issue. Check out the band's MySpace page for music and tour dates - a tour kicks off this week, in fact, on August 13.

Photo of the Ettes: Heidi Ross

On this count, DO believe the hype, ‘cos ACL deserves the recognitio n.

By Blurt Staff

We love the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at BLURT - so much so that we outlined the ways we love it in the latest issue of the magazine. Go HERE to read the article, "Don't Believe the Hype," on the Rock Hall.

We also love Austin, so the fact that today the Rock Hall announced it was designatin g the city's venerable Austin City Limits an "historic rock and roll site" is reason to cheer. Hey, maybe they'll wise up and move the museum to Austin or something! Here's the official announceme nt:

Cleveland, OH - &nb sp;The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum today announced that Austin City Limits will be officially designated an historic rock and roll site as a part of the Museum's Landmark Series this coming October.

Terry Stewart, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and Terry Lickona, Executive Producer of Austin City Limits, made the announceme nt at the KLRU-TV studio, home of the groundbrea king Austin City Limits series now in its 35^th season.

"Austin City Limits represents one of the most unique archives of modern American music," said Terry Stewart. "It shares with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the mission of collecting , preserving and interpreti ng the rock and roll story and educating fans about the cultural significan ce of this art form."

The Rock Hall will unveil a historic marker on Thursday, October 1 to celebrate the premiere of the 35^th season of Austin City Limits on PBS. As a part of this designatio n, the Rock Hall and Austin City Limits will host educationa l panels with artists, members of the media and ACL staff discussing the significan ce of the groundbrea king music series and its impact on our culture.

"With more than 800 performanc es on our stage from all musical genres its really amazing to receive this honor from the Rock Hall," said Terry Lickona, "the places to receive this honor are iconic and we are thrilled to be included among such legendary venues."

The Rock Hall's Landmark Series designates historic rock and roll landmarks around the United States that are essential to tell the story of rock and roll music. There are currently nine sites including the Whisky-a-G o-Go in Los Angeles where the Doors were resident performers ; King Records in Cincinnati , a prominent American record label started in the 40s, The Crossroads in Clarksdale , Mississipp i and the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa . Five sites are located in the Cleveland area and include Brooklyn High School, the location Elvis played his first concert north of the Mason-Dixo n line and WJW Radio, home to Deejay Alan Freed who popularize d the term "rock and roll."

Inspired by the music scene that continues to thrive in Austin, ACL has for 35 years presented viewing audiences with live concerts from many of the world's most acclaimed, accomplish ed and pioneering talent. At the same time the show has represente d Austin to the nation and the world, laying the foundation for Austin's reputation as the Live Music Capital.

"Austin City Limits has been the pride of our community for more than three decades," said Mayor Lee Leffingwel l.  "Tha t's why it's so gr atifying to see the show receive this prestigiou s nat ional recognitio n.  I salute the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for choosing to honor the show's legacy - and future - of unforgetta ble performanc es by America's most treasured musicians."

Weekend passes are $235 + booking fee - see website for all ticketing info.

By Blurt Staff

This year's All Tomorrow's Parties New York festival, set for Sept. 11-13 (details HERE and HERE), has announced the final lineup for the 3-day bash. Among the additions to the Flaming Lips-curat ed event are Bob Mould (playing with  No Age, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Birds of Avalon, Hopewell and Menomena.

The full line-up so far with new additions/ changes in bold...

 
Friday

The Jesus Lizard
Iron and Wine
Panda Bear*
Don't Look Back: Dirty Three Performing ‘Oce an Songs'
Don't Look Back: Suicide Performing First LP
Don't Look Back: The Feelies Performing ‘Cra zy Rhythms'
Don't Look Back: The Drones  Perf orming ‘Wai t Long By The River'
Comedy Stage - Hosted and curated by David Cross
*moved from Saturday. Saturday ticket holders will have the option to switch to Friday if they choose.

Saturday: curated by ATP

Animal Collective
Sufjan Stevens
Deerhunter
Melvins
Shellac
Boss Hog
Autolux
Dead Meadow
EL-P
Anti-Pop Consortium
Circulator y System
Autolux
Atlas Sound
Akron Family
Grouper
Sleepy Sun
Bridezilla

Sunday: curated by The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips
Boredoms perform 9 drummer BOADRUM
Caribou perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble
Deerhoof with Martha Colburn
Crystal Castles
Super Furry Animals
Boris
Low Lows
Oneida Presents the Ocropolis
No Age featuring Bob Mould performing songs of Husker Du.
Hopewell
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Birds of Avalon
Menomena

Revenge of the Nerds, Better off Dead, Risky Business... to say we simply "watched" them would be an understate ment. We practicall y wore the strip out on the Betamax, memorizing every scene, every line, every song. From Booger to Fronch fries to Swamp, these films became heroic keystones, handily defining us as proud children of the 80s --- perhaps in the same way that Zeppelin or the Beatles were iconic backdrops to my parents' upbringing . The Hughes' films of course being mandatory [...]

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.

Also took part in the recent documentar y about the late director.

By Blurt Staff

While most of us around the BLURT penthouse were relatively nonplused by the passing of filmmaker John Hughes last week (we tend to tilt more towards the oeuvre of Gregory Dark than Hughes' Brat Pack fare), we understand that for many of you, gentle Blurt readers, he was hugely influentia l in shaping your adolescent minds. Too bad about the "musical taste" issue, but hey...

Anyway, Simple Minds practicall y owe their career to Hughes, so it comes as no surprise that frontman Jim Kerr has issued a statement paying tribute to JH. He confirmed that on their forthcomin g ‘Graffiti Soul' world tour they'll dedicate "Don't You (Forget About Me)" to the memory of John Hughes and how his teenage coming-of- age films defined a generation .

Said Kerr, "When we perform ‘Don 't You (Forget About Me)' on the forthcomin g tour, we'll be thinking about John Hughes and how his enthusiasm for the sound of Simple Minds made us go the extra mile when we recorded it back in 1984. Everyone was hell bent on making a classic piece of pop rock, but little did we know the kind of longevity the film would have on generation s to come. The Breakfast Club helped us kick the door down, and once there, no one could ever lock us out or tell us again what it felt like to be No.1 in America."

In fact, there's a documentar y titled Don't You Forget About Me" that will be distribute d worldwide by Montreal-b ased Alliance Films. Director Matt Austin-Sad owski flew to Scotland to interview Kerr, and also interviewe d Brat Pack stars Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Mia Sara and Andrew McCarthy. The film follows Sadowski and producers Kari Hollend, Mike Facciolo and Lenny Panzer as they set off on a road trip to find Hughes. Go to www.dontyoufor getaboutme themovie.com for all the details.

(New York, NY) Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be performing at the Radio City Music Hall Wednesday, September 23. Rockettes everywhere roll their eyes.

This on the heels of the bands' Lollapaloo za performanc e this past weekend for 80,000 people at Chicago's Grant Park. 

The Yeah Yeahs Yeahs were also just nominated by MT  for their "Breakthro ugh Video Award" for "Heads Will Roll." The awards are to be held September 13 also at Radio City Music Hall. If you can't bring yourself to watch the broadcast, you can check the video out on The Tonight Show w/ Conan O'Brien September 16^th prior to their September 17 sold out concert&nb sp; at the Greek Theatre stage in Los Angeles.

Sometimes the news just writes itself around here...

By Fred Mills

Hearts were broken recently when it was announced that erstwhile pop star/page three gal Samantha Fox would be marrying her longtime partner Myra Stratton. Fox, of course, provided more hairy palmed fantasy-pe r-capita than just about any video vixen you could name back during her MTV heyday. Who cares that her singing "style" as it were paved the way for Britney Spears' similarly tuneless warble!

(Fox also carries the distinctio n of being one of the few musicians we know of whose Wikipedia entry lists here measuremen ts - for the record, although this may be an underestim ation even though she's only just over 5 feet tall, they are 34c-24-33.)

Anyhow, according to the Screen Door blog, Fox and Stratton, who is also Fox's manager, have been together for about a decade now, and they don't plan to just tie any old knot: they are talking about having Motorhead' s Lemmy give Fox away at the wedding. Fox is quoted in the article as telling OK! mag, "I'll tell you who's definitely coming - Lemmy from Motör head. We might get him to give me away, and we might get Liz Mitchell from BONEY M to do the ceremony - she's a pastor now."

It just don't get any better than this, folks. Let's revisit the Fox aesthetic, below, which includes, irony of ironies, a brief stint working with Lemmy's old band Hawkwind!

Almost as cool as that GG Allin bobble...

By Blurt Staff

No, no - we don't mean our erstwhile BLURT blogger Snider is an actual bobblehad (although some of his twisted tunes have been known to discombobu late even the most stable music fans). In honor of Snider's recent album The Excitement Plan, Yep Roc Records teamed up with Bobble Factory to offer Todd's fans a chance to own the official Todd Snider bobblehead .  The figure captures Todd perfectly with his smirk and trademark fashion sense.  Todd's bare feet stand on a base featuring his name in black lettering and sculpted to look just like the deck boards in Todd's own backyard oasis.

The Todd Snider bobble head stands approximat ely 6 1/2 inches tall.  It is cast in high quality plastic from the original sculpt and each one is hand painted.  Bobble heads will begin shipping to fans on 9/4/09. Thirty bucks will get ya the limited edition bobble - click  ;  HERE  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  to order direct from Yep Roc.

Todd 4 real:

Todd bobble:

Well, sort of... 14 seconds ain't a lot.

By Fred Mills

The buzz on Them Crooked Vultures - the classic/al t-rock supergroup recently formed by Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones - is steadily building, following the band's debut this weekend in Chicago at a packed Lollapaloo za aftershow.

Observed journalist Jim deRogatis in his report, "During an amazing 12-song, 80-minute set, Them Crooked Vultures went on to prove it is one the rarest things in rock: a supergroup that not only deserves that appellatio n, but which actually is greater than the sum of its storied parts."

While no title or release date has apparently been set for the group's debut album, this morning a 14-second snippet of their Led Zep-soundi ng tune "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I" was posted at YouTube. If you sniff around the web you can also locate video clips, most of them pretty poor quality, from the Chicago show too. Let the blog hype begin!

Third time's the charm, lads! Wot's, uh, the bitterswee t symphony?

By Fred Mills

Sources "close" to the Verve are being cited by the British media that the Verve is, in fact, dead. An ex-Verve. Pushing up Verve daisies. Singing with the Verve choir invisible. (Thanks for the tip, Pitchfork.) In reports posted today at both the Guardian and the Mirror, we learn that guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones "have not spoken to" vocalist Richard Ashcroft since last year and that there are no plans for the members to reconvene. McCabe and Jones have been working their latest musical collaborat ion they're calling the Black Ships (it includes drummer Mig Schillace and violinist Davide Rossi).

This would make the third time the Verve has broken up. Last fall the band released the quite stunning Forth album, which earned huge critical kudos (including a nine-star review from BLURT).

Apparently some of the problems date from an interventi on the band's management staged with McCabe, who had a drinking problem. Ashcroft had indicated he wouldn't tour until McCabe cleaned up, who subsequent ly did so, but by then the old rifts had been reopened.

McCabe wrote on his MySpace blog,"The Verve seems to be on holiday and shows no sign of not being on holiday. I've been hesitant to breach Official Secrets-st yle policy with any missives from the, well, from any front, basically. Don't ask me anything about the big V. Just let me enjoy my non-alcoho lic Piñ a Colada."

There you have it, fans. Have a drink on McCabe and wish ‘em all well.

The Runt revisits his legendary '73 epic in all its Proggy, psychedeli c glory - live.

By Blurt Staff

Todd Rundgren has announced that he will film and record his A Wizard, A True Star concert for a forthcomin g live DVD and live CD when he plays the Palace Theater in Stamford, Connecticu t on September 9.  The two-disc set is scheduled for an early 2010 release through Music Publishing Corporatio n of America's label, Hi Fi Recordings . 

The live recordings will include an all-star line-up consisting of former members of Utopia, The Cars, Meat Loaf's band, and The Tubes: Todd Rundgren (vocals, guitar), Roger Powell (synthesiz ers and keyboards) , Greg Hawkes (synthesiz ers and keyboards) , Kasim Sulton (bass), Jesse Gress (guitar), Bobby Strickland (saxophone ), and Prairie Prince (drums).

The tour will mark the first time Rundgren has performed his Prog classic in its entirety - in fact, there are several songs from AWATS that have never been performed live anywhere.

Rundgren will do dates in America during the first half of September, then next February will take the AWATS production to London and Amsterdam

Tour Dates:

* Akron Civic Center, Akron, Ohio - Sept. 6th

* Akron Civic Center, Akron, Ohio - Sept. 7th

* Palace Theater, Stamford, Connecticu t - Sept. 9th

* Strathmore Hall, North Bethesda, Maryland - Sept. 10th

* Park West, Chicago - Sept. 12th

* Park West, Chicago - Sept. 13th

* State Theatre, Minneapoli s - Sept. 15th

* HMV London Hammersmit h Apollo - Feb. 6th

* The Paradiso, Amsterdam - Feb. 8th

Debut Self-Taugh t Learner adds 4 tracks for Downtown Records version.

By Blurt Staff

Downtown Records recently signed NYC singer-son gwriter Lissy Trullie - who, not so coincident ally, is featured in the current issue of BLURT, modeling some mighty fetching retro togs.

Word now arrives that on Oct. 20th, Downtown will rerelease her EP debut Self-Taugh t Learner with a mix of four new and previously unreleased compositio ns.  The month before, movie goers taking in Diablo Cody's (Juno) latest film "Jennifer's Body" (Out September 18th) will also hear Trullie's cover of the Hot Chip song "Ready For The Floor" as part of the film's original motion picture soundtrack , in stores August 25th.  As well as playing planned dates in the UK, France, and CMJ in New York, later this year Lissy Trullie will enter the studio with producer Bernard Butler to begin work on her full-lengt h debut, which will be released on Downtown in early 2010.

This past February, after a year of building up a fan-base by playing gigs around New York,  ; Trullie released the EP on Brooklyn based indie label American Myth to critical acclaim. She also toured extensivel y and hit the late night talk-show circuit. The new songs added to the original EP include the original compositio ns "Don't To Do", "You Bleed You", "Hold Your Head", and a duet cover of Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" recorded with Adam Green.

Trullie and her band will be joining The Cribs and Adam Green for a UK tour this September.  In October Lissy Trullie will play the 2009 CMJ Music Festival before heading to France for Festival Inrockupti bles.

 
 
Track Listing:
 
01. Boy Boy
02. She Said
03. Self-Taugh t Learner
04. Money
05. Forget About it
06. Ready For The Floor
07. Don't To Do (New Track)
08. Hold Your Head (New Track)
09. Just A Friend (Duet w/ Adam Green - Biz Markie Cover)
10. You Bleed You (Unrelease d Demo)

 
Tour Dates

* = UK dates w/ The Cribs and Adam Green
# = Festival Inrockupti bles in France
 
SEPTEMBER
24 - Norwich - UEA *
25 - Cambridge - Junction *
26 - Liverpool - Academy *
28 - Hull - University *
29 - Glasgow - Borrowland s *
30 - Newcastle - University *
 
OCTOBER
02 - Manchester - Apollo *
03 - Lincoln - Engine Shed *
04 - Leeds - Academy *
05 - London - ICA (Make Up Date for previously canceled gig)
 
CMJ Schedule TBA
 
NOVEMBER
06 - Lille, Nord-Pas-D e Calais - Festival Inrockupti bles @ Aeronef #
07 - Paris - Festival Inrockupti bles @ La Cigale #
08 - Nantes, Pays de la Loire - Festival Inrockupti bles @ Olympic #
06 - Toulouse, Midi-Pyren ees - Festival Inrockupti bles @ Le Bikini #
 

Alt-rock and alt-countr y icons team up for alt-lit project.

By Blurt Staff

It's called One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur: a new album featuring 12 original songs composed and performed by Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac's landmark 1962 novel Big Sur. Mark your calendars for October 20 when F-Stop/Atl antic Records releases the CD, along with a feature-le ngth documentar y of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear. There is to be a stand alone CD, a CD/DVD package, a limited edition boxed set packaged with the novel, a 40-page book on the documentar y and the CD/DVD. The album will additional ly be released on vinyl.

Gibbard and Farrar, having never previously met, discovered a mutual kinship in their passion for Kerouac's work while recording several songs for the documentar y, produced by Kerouac Films. (The novel is an account of a time in the writer's life when he'd "come undone," both emotionall y and spirituall y. He escaped to a cabin in Big Sur to confront his inner demons and get some much-neede d seaside r&r.) After the initial San Francisco recording session in July 2007, they decided to develop the project further to create an album using Kerouac's own words from the book as the lyrics.

Gibbard stayed in the original cabin Kerouac wrote about, to compose songs for his band's 2008 album, Narrow Stairs, while for many years, Farrar has claimed that is songwritin g has been inspired and influenced by Kerouac's compositio nal style.

Jim Sampas, (Badlands, Kerouac--k icks joy darkness) is executive producer of the album. The documentar y, One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, is directed by Curt Worden and produced by Gloria Bailen and Jim Sampas of Kerouac Films. The film features appearance s by writers, poets, actors and musicians including, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghet ti, and Sam Shepard. October 20, incidental ly, is the day before the 40th anniversar y of Kerouac1s death

More snock per capita than most folks know what to do with.

By Blurt Staff

Ida Con Snock is the 21st full length album by legendary rambler, cartoonist , and "outsider" folk singer, guitarist Michael Hurley; it's his second for Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's Gnomonsong label.  The new album features Hurley accompanie d by NYC's premier acoustic experiment alists Ida.  Ida Con Snock was recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and Brooklyn Studios in Brooklyn engineered by Justioan Guip and Andy Taub respective ly. It's the followup to 2007's Ancestral Swamp and is due in October.

Ida's less-is-mo re finesse shines through brightly on these rich studio recordings , melding perfectly with Michael's inimitable playing, singing and songwritin g. While many of his contempora ries have expired or are long past their prime artistic, his muse is still at full strength. Many of these songs are already familiar to Hurley devotees: there are seven originals and five loving covers of 50's rock 'n' roll chestnuts, C&W and folk vintage here. 

Hurley's unique songwritin g and musiciansh ip makes him an icon to multiple generation s, too. In recent years, Michael was invited to tour with alt-countr y heroes Son Volt and Lucinda Williams. He's also shared bills with Smog and Palace Brothers; played with the Giant Sand rhythm section; and has appeared with and played on and been covered by Vetiver on record and onstage. His songs have also been covered by Cat Power and Yo La Tengo, among many others.

"Kornbred' s Lariat Dance"

Acclaimed guitar player, entertaine r and inventor was 94. See Rock Hall statement at end, below.

By Blurt Staff

Les Paul, , passed away today from complicati ons of severe pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plain, New York, surrounded by family and loved ones. He had been receiving the best available treatment through this final battle and in keeping with his persona, he showed incredible strength, tenacity and courage. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks for the thoughts and prayers from his dear friends and fans. Les Paul was 94.  
 

One of the foremost influences on 20th century sound and responsibl e for the world's most famous guitar, the Les Paul model, Les Paul's prestigiou s career in music and invention spans from the 1930s to the present. Though he's indisputab ly one of America's most popular, influentia l, and accomplish ed electric guitarists , Les Paul is best known as an early innovator in the developmen t of the solid body guitar. His groundbrea king design would become the template for Gibson's best-selli ng electric, the Les Paul model, introduced in 1952. Today, countless musical legends still consider Paul's iconic guitar unmatched in sound and prowess. Among Paul's most enduring contributi ons are those in the technologi cal realm, including ingenious developmen ts in multi-trac k recording, guitar effects, and the mechanics of sound in general.
 

Born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin on June 9, 1915, Les Paul was already performing publicly as a honky-tonk guitarist by the age of 13. So clear was his calling that Paul dropped out of high school at 17 to play in Sunny Joe Wolverton' s Radio Band in St. Louis. As Paul's mentor, Wolverton was the one to christen him with the stage name "Rhubarb Red," a moniker that would follow him to Chicago in 1934. There, Paul became a bonafide radio star, known as both hillbilly picker Rhubarb Red and Django Reinhardt- informed jazz guitarist Les Paul. His first recordings were done in 1936 on an acoustic-a lone as Rhubarb Red, as well as backing blues singer Georgia White. The next year he formed his first trio, but by 1938 he'd moved to New York to begin his tenure on national radio with one of the more popular dance orchestras in the country, Fred Waring's Pennsylvan ians.
 

Tinkering with electronic s and guitar amplificat ion since his youth, Les Paul began constructi ng his own electric guitar in the late '30s. Unhappy with the first generation of commercial ly available hollowbodi es because of their thin tone, lack of sustain, and feedback problems, Paul opted to build an entirely new structure. "I was interested in proving that a vibration- free top was the way to go," he has said. "I even built a guitar out of a railroad rail to prove it. What I wanted was to amplify pure string vibration, without the resonance of the wood getting involved in the sound." With the good graces of Epiphone president Epi Stathopoul o, Paul used the Epiphone plant and machinery in 1941 to bring his vision to fruition. He affectiona tely dubbed the guitar "The Log."  
Les Paul's tireless experiment s sometimes proved to be dangerous, and he nearly electrocut ed himself in 1940 during a session in the cellar of his Queens apartment. During the next two years of rehabilita tion, Les earned his living producing radio music. Forced to put the Pennsylvan ians and the rest of his career on hold, Les Paul moved to Hollywood. During World War II, he was drafted into the Army but permitted to stay in California , where he became a regular player for Armed Forces Radio Service. By 1943 he had assembled a trio that regularly performed live, on the radio, and on V-Discs. In 1944 he entered the jazz spotlight- thanks to his dazzling work filling in for Oscar Moore alongside Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet, and other superstars -at the first of the prestigiou s Jazz at the Philharmon ic concerts.  

 
By his mid-thirti es, Paul had successful ly combined Reinhardt- inspired jazz playing and the western swing and twang of his Rhubarb Red persona into one distinctiv e, electrifyi ng style. In the Les Paul Trio he translated the dizzying runs and unusual harmonies found on Jazz at the Philharmon ic into a slower, subtler, more commercial approach. His novelty instrument als were tighter, brasher, and punctuated with effects. Overall, the trademark Les Paul sound was razor-shar p, clean-shav en, and divinely smooth.  

 
As small combos eclipsed big bands toward the end of World War II, Les Paul Trio's popularity grew. They cut records for Decca both alone and behind the likes of Helen Forrest, the Andrews Sisters, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Dick Hayes, and, most notably, Bing Crosby. Since 1945, when the crooner brought them into the studio to back him on a few numbers, the Trio had become regular guests on Crosby's hit radio show. The highlight of the session was Paul's first No. 1 hit and million-se ller, the gorgeous "It's Been a Long, Long Time."

 
Meanwhile, Paul began to experiment with dubbing live tracks over recorded tracks, also altering the playback speed. This resulted in "Lover (When You're Near Me)," his revolution ary 1947 predecesso r to multi-trac k recording. The hit instrument al featured Les Paul on eight different electric guitar parts, all playing together. In 1948, Paul nearly lost his life to a devastatin g car crash that shattered his right arm and elbow. Still, he convinced doctors to set his broken arm in the guitar-pic king and cradling position. Laid up but undaunted, Paul acquired a first generation Ampex tape recorder from Crosby in 1949, and began his most important multi-trac king adventure, adding a fourth head to the recorder to create sound-on-s ound recordings . While tinkering with the machine and its many possibilit ies, he also came up with tape delay. These tricks, along with another recent Les Paul innovation -close mic-ing vocals-wer e integrated for the first time on a single recording: the 1950 No. 1 tour de force "How High the Moon." This historic track was performed during a duo with future wife Mary Ford. The couple's prolific string of hits for Capitol Records not only included some of the most popular recordings of the early 1950s, but also wrote the book on contempora ry studio production . The dense but crystal clear harmonic layering of guitars and vocals, along with Ford's close mic-ed voice and Paul's guitar effects, produced distinctiv ely contempora ry recordings with unpreceden ted sonic qualities. Through hits, tours, and popular radio shows, Paul and Ford kept one foot in the technologi cal vanguard and the other in the cultural mainstream .  
 

All the while, Les Paul continued to pine for the perfect guitar. Though The Log came close, it wasn't quite what he was after. In the early 1950s, Gibson Guitar would cultivate a partnershi p with Paul that would lead to the creation of the guitar he'd seen only in his dreams. In 1948, Gibson elected to design its first solidbody, and Paul, a self-descr ibed "dyed-in-t he-wool Gibson man," seemed the right man for the job. Gibson avidly courted the guitar legend, even driving deep into the Pennsylvan ia mountains to deliver the first model to newlyweds Les Paul and Mary Ford.  

"Les played it, and his eyes lighted up," then-Gibso n President Ted McCarty has recalled. The year was 1950, and Paul had just signed on as the namesake of Gibson's first electric solidbody, with exclusive design privileges . Working closely with Paul, Gibson forged a relationsh ip that would change popular culture forever. The Gibson Les Paul model-the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history-be gan with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducin g the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-t opped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolution ary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-centu ry since it hit the market.

 
"The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptiona l human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul. He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone's face. His musical charm was extraordin ary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world," said Henry Juszkiewic z, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "We will dedicate ourselves to preserving Les' legacy to insure that it lives on forever. He touched so many lives throughout his remarkable life and his influence extends around the globe and across every boundary. I have lost a dear, personal friend and mentor, a man who has changed so many of our lives for the better."

"I don't think any words can describe the man we know as Les Paul adequately . The English language does not contain words that can pay enough homage to someone like Les. As the "Father of the Electric Guitar", he was not only one of the world's greatest innovators  but a legend who created, inspired and contribute d to the success of musicians around the world," said Dave Berryman, President of Gibson Guitar. "I have had the privilege to know and work with Les for many, many years and his passing has left a deep personal void. He was simply put - remarkable in every way. As a person, a musician, a friend, an inventor. He will be sorely missed by us all,"
 
With the rise of the rock 'n' roll revolution of 1955, Les Paul and Mary Ford's popularity began to wane with younger listeners, though Paul would prove to be a massive influence on younger generation of guitarists . Still, Paul and Ford maintained their iconic presence with their wildly popular television show, which ran from 1953-1960. In 1964, the couple, parents to a son and daughter, divorced. Paul began playing in Japan, and recorded an LP for London Records before poor health forced him to take time off-as much as someone so inspired can take time off.  In 1977, Paul resurfaced with a Grammy-win ning Chet Atkins collaborat ion, Chester and Lester. Then the ailing guitarist, who'd already suffered arthritis and permanent hearing loss, had a heart attack, followed by bypass surgery.  

Ever stubborn, Les recovered, and returned to live performanc e in the late 1980s. Even releasing the 2005 double-Gra mmy winner Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, featuring collaborat ions with a veritable who's who of the electric guitar, including dozens of illustriou s fans like Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Joe Perry. In 2008, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid tribute to Les Paul in a week-long celebratio n of his life which culminated with a live performanc e by Les himself.  Unti l recently Les continued to perform two weekly New York shows with the Les Paul Trio, at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, for over twelve years where a literal who's who of the entertainm ent world has paid homage.  It has been an honor to have Les Paul perform at The Iridium Jazz Club  for the past twelve years hosting such luminaries as Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and others and is a tragic loss to owner Ron Sturm both personally and profession ally. Iridium intends to celebrate Les Paul's music and legacy every Monday night.

Les Paul has since become the only individual to share membership into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Broadcaste rs Hall of Fame. Les is survived by his three sons Lester (Rus) G.  Paul , Gene W. Paul and Robert (Bobby) R. Paul, his daughter Colleen Wess, son-in-law Gary Wess, long time friend Arlene Palmer,  five grandchild ren and five great grandchild ren. A private Funeral service will be held in New York. A service in Waukesha, WI will be announced at a later date. Details will follow and will be announced for all services. Memorial tributes for the public will be announced at a future date.  &nbs p;The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Les Paul Foundation , 236 West 30th Street, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10001.

***

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Official Statement:

"Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it," said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "His inventions created the infrastruc ture for the music and his playing style will ripple through generation s. He was truly an architect of rock and roll."

"Les Paul was truly a unique human being," said Jim Henke, vice president of exhibition s and curatorial affairs. "He was an artist who made his mark as a tremendous ly influentia l guitarist. He was also an inventor, the man responsibl e for the solid-body electric guitar and multi-trac k recording. Few people have accomplish ed as much as Les did in his legendary career. We will truly miss him."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Les Paul for the 13th annual American Music Master's series in Cleveland - November 15, 2008.

Friends of BLURT will tackle art, culture, and, oh yeah, music - like indie rock, world music, electronic a, vintage funk and soul, garage rock, jazz (both traditiona l and avant-gard e), Appalachia n folk, dub, experiment al... think WFMU, down South...

By Blurt Staff

A public service announceme nt for all of y'all....

Asheville Free Media, a volunteer- based, community online radio station launches this week. Created by Friends of Community Radio, a non-profit entity, Asheville FM aims to become a beacon for the unique blend of art and culture permeating Western North Carolina.

After a small group of veteran radiophile s and community- media devotees came together in early 2009, the station's ranks soon swelled to nearly 100 volunteers . With an influx of donations, everything from money to vital sound equipment, a studio and office were built in the West Asheville neighborho od, also home to the nationally lauded Harvest Records.

An online entity, Asheville FM can be found at www.ashevillef m.org.

The station's mission statement echoes the freeform ethos of WFMU, Utah Free Media and East Village Radio. Though Asheville FM is currently developing a variety of shows, an emphasis has been placed on music - lots and lots of killer music that can't be found on mainstream radio: indie rock, world music, electronic a, vintage funk and soul, garage rock, jazz (both traditiona l and avant-gard e), Appalachia n folk, dub, experiment al and other alternativ e sounds. What will make Asheville FM unique, in terms of content and quality, is the ability to speak to both the local mountain culture and listeners around the globe. This is, in fact, one of the station's core values.

Special programmin g begins August 13, 2009, with coverage of the Transfigur ations festival. The full schedule, meanwhile, starts September 12, 2009. Programmin g will run during daytime and evening hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

***

Twitter: AshevilleF M

Facebook: AshevilleF M.org

Address: 373 Haywood Road, Suite 101, Asheville, NC 28806

Studio Phone: 828-423-07 19

Programmin g: Greg Lyon, programmin g@ashevill efm.org

Press inquires: Kama Ward, kama@ashev illefm.org

Sponsorshi p and fundraisin g: Kama Ward, kama@ashev illefm.org

After all that beer drinkin' at one of their concerts, who wouldn't go home and puke?

By Blurt Staff

Call it a "video collage" - nearly every era of Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard tours (1994- present) alongside early GBV studio footage is featured in an upcoming GBV/Pollar d DVD. Titled The Devil Went Home and Puked, it's due on Oct. 20 from Rockathon/ MVD Visual. The 89-minute DVD was directed by Pollard himself and produced by longtime GBV associate Rich Turiel.

The live footage would be enough, chroniclin g as it does the legendary drunk-rock outfit's ascent from Ohio lo-fi avatars to national indie rock superstars . Also, The Devil Went Home and Puked will contain nine hard to find full length videos from GBV and Pollard-re lated projects, including such ditties as "Circle Saw Boys Club," "Winston's Atomic Bird," "I-Razors, " "Get Me Extra," and more.

Band pulls a cred-enhan cing (yeah, but for who?) Flaming Lips move this fall!

By Fred Mills

Don't be so quick to ROTFL, all you teen-soap junkies: with the announceme nt of Sonic Youth's impending appearance on Gossip Girl this fall, the CW network hit automatica lly ratchets up the hip quotient, much like the Flaming Lips gave Beverly Hills 90210 some serious street cred after they did an episode back in the ‘90s .

According to a report today at EW.com, SY will turn up in the fifth episode this coming season doing an acoustic version of "Starpower ." While you're mulling over that little bit of a jaw-scrape r, check out the BLURT cover story on the band that's in our latest issue.

"Sonic Youth is one of my favorite bands," GG showrunner Stephanie Savage is quoted as saying in the article. "Last year when I was doing my regular Gossip Girl google search, it came up in some blog about a Sonic Youth show that Thurston [Moore] was playing ‘Psy chic Hearts' and Gossip Girl was playing on a screen in the background . And I was like, ‘Whaaaat? Oh my God. I hope they're not making fun of us! I hope it was a cool, edgy homage!' And it turned out that it was - tongue in cheek for sure, but definitely with love, and that they were fans of the show.

"We have a very special event coming in Episode 5 that we're filming right now and they seemed the ideal musical guest for it. It's a big event that involves [engaged adults] Rufus and Lily. Just draw your own conclusion s."

Works for us. We've never watched a single episode of Gossip Girl or, for that matter, Beverly Hills 90210 - we're really more That Girl and Beverly Hillbillie s buffs. And we have plenty of Sonic Youth records on the shelf to keep us in good stead, sonically. But, hey... BYOB!

Remastered edition will also come with a live concert from Feb. 1990.

By Blurt Staff

All you long-suffe ring Kurt Cobain acolytes can finally rest easy: on Nov. 3, Sub Pop will be reissuing Nirvana's debut Bleach as an expanded edition.

Marking the 20^th Anniversar y of the album, the CD/double- LP will include a never-befo re-release d live performanc e, special packaging and the first run of the double-LP will be on 180g white vinyl (the first run of the original LP was also on white vinyl).

Originally recorded over three sessions with producer Jack Endino at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording Studios in December 1988 and January 1989, Bleach was released in June of '89 and remains unequivoca lly/unsurp risingly Sub Pop's very favorite Nirvana full-lengt h. The album initially sold 40,000 copies, but was brought into the internatio nal spotlight following the release and worldwide success of their 1991sophom ore effort, Nevermind. Subsequent ly Bleach went on to sell 1.7 million copies in the US alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This 20^th Anniversar y Edition has been re-mastere d from the original tapes at Sterling Sound in a session overseen by producer Jack Endino.

This edition will include an unreleased live recording of a complete February 9^th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The show features performanc es of "Love Buzz," "About a Girl" and a cover of The Vaselines' song "Molly's Lips" and has been re-mixed from the original tapes by Endino (complete track listing below). A 48-page CD /16-page LP booklet which includes candid photos of the band not previously released to the public will also be included in this deluxe edition.

Bleach: Deluxe Edition

1. Blew

2. Floyd the Barber

3. About a Girl 

4. School&nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; 

5. Love Buzz

6. Paper Cuts

7. Negative Creep  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; 

8. Scoff

9. Swap Meet   &nbs p; &n bsp; 

10. Mr. Moustache& nbsp;  ;  &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   

11. Sifting&nb sp;

12. Big Cheese

13. Downer

Live at Pine Street Theatre

1. Intro

2. School

3. Floyd the Barber

4. Dive

5. Love Buzz

6. Spank Thru

7. Molly's Lips

8. Sappy

9. Scoff

10. About a Girl

11. Been a Son

12. Blew

Second album just might be one of the mid-year's best so far...

By Fred Mills

Who out there remembers Human Drama? For aficionado s of dark wave and goth rock of the mid/late ‘80s and early ‘90s , the New Orleans-fo rmed/Los Angeles-ba sed band was among the leading lights on that black-clot hing-and-m ascara scene. And the group always seemed to have a bit more class, its roots running deeper, than many of its contempora ries (not for nothing did Human Drama release its own personaliz ed take on Bowie's covers collection Pinups). HD recorded for RCA, Triple X and Projekt, and although by about 1995 it was past its heyday (as was the whole dark wave milieu), frontman Johnny Indovina kept the group going until 2005.

(Human Drama, above; below, Sound Of the Blue Heart)

The following year Indovina resurfaced as Sound Of the Blue Heart, releasing the album ...Beauty? which, while clearly descended from his earlier group, seemed to bring an additional measure of subtlety and grace, to the fore. Just recently Sound Of the Blue Heart issued its sophomore platter, Wind of Change (Hollows Hill Sound Recordings ), and it's an elegant, engaging, at times warmly psychedeli c, others jauntily jazz, listen, with edgy, Spanish-fl avored guitar patterns tussling with lush keyboard textures while Indovina unleashes his signature vocals - think David Sylvian, Bowie, Leonard Cohen and the Church's Steve Kilbey all rolled into one. Hold that thought - fans of The Church will find much on the album to dig. And there's a cut on there that'll have Wall-era Pink Floyd lovers pinching themselves , too.

The band features Indovina's old Human Drama pal Michael Mallory on bass, plus guitarists Gregg Burns and Tim Grove, keyboardis t/backing vocalist Rebecca Bolam, and drummer Rob Cournoyer. Check ‘em out on the web:

www.soundofthe blueheart.com

www.myspace.com/soundo fthebluehe art

Classic album adds a whopping 15 bonus tracks... check out that vintage video from 1969!

By Blurt Staff

Following the July 21 release of David Bowie's ‘Spa ce Oddity (40^th Anniversar y)' digital EP, Virgin/EMI will release an expanded 40^th Anniversar y Special Edition of Bowie's classic 1969 Space Oddity album.  It's due Nov. 3.

To be available in a deluxe 2CD package and for digital download from all major digital service providers, the commemorat ive edition adds 15 tracks to the digitally remastered original album, including 8 previously unreleased demos, alternate mixes and a BBC Radio performanc e.  On the same date, the original album will also be reissued on limited edition 180-gram vinyl.

The backstory: First released on November 14, 1969, Space Oddity was originally titled Man Of Words/Man Of Music in the U.S. The album was re-titled Space Oddity when it was reissued in 1972, peaking at #16 on  Billboard's Albums chart. Produced by Tony Visconti (except for the title track, which was produced by the late Gus Dudgeon), the album was a giant leap forward in songwritin g for Bowie. Also notable for its collaborat ors, including session players Herbie Flowers, Tim Renwick, Terry Cox and Rick Wakeman, the album delved into psychedeli c folk-rock and Prog and became a benchmark album for the musical shape-shif ter.

The 2CD 40^th Anniversar y Special Edition of Space Oddity is packaged in a digipak with an extensive booklet featuring rare photograph s, memorabili a, sleeve notes and a chronology by Kevin Cann.  Disc 1 features the original album, remastered from the original analog master tapes, and Disc 2 adds a whopping 15 bonus tracks, of which eight are previously unreleased , including two ultra-rare demos.

Complete Tracklisti ng:

Disc 1 (original album tracklist)

1. Space Oddity

2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed

3. Letter To Hermione

4. Cygnet Committee

5. Janine

6. An Occasional Dream

7. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud

8. God Knows I'm Good

9. Memory Of A Free Festival

CD 2 (bonus tracks)

1. Space Oddity&nbs p;(demo) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

One of the earliest known demos of "Space Oddity," recorded with John ‘Hut ch' Hutchinson around January 1969, although exact details of its recording date are unknown. Previously unreleased and never bootlegged .

2. An Occasional Dream (demo) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

Another demo recorded with John ‘Hut ch' Hutchinson in March/Apri l 1969 (exact details of its recording date are unknown). Previously unreleased and never bootlegged .

3. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud& nbsp;(sing le B-side)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Rare alternate version featuring the Paul Buckmaster introducti on recorded at Trident Studio in June 1969. Released as B-side to "Space Oddity" in July 1969.

4. Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show)

5. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show) [PREVIOUSL Y UNR ELEASED]

6. Janine (BBC Radio session, D.L.T. Show)

Tracks 4-6 produced by Paul Williams.  Engineered by Pete Ritzema. Recorded at Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, New Bond Street, London. Recorded for the D.L.T. (Dave Lee Travis) Show on October 20, 1969 and broadcast on October 26, 1969. "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" was the only recording from this session broadcast at the time, however it has remained unreleased commercial ly until now. While not broadcast at the time, both "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and "Janine" were previously released in 2000 on Virgin/EMI 's Bowie At The Beeb collection .

7. London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo version)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Recorded at the same Trident Studio Session as "The Prettiest Star" in January 1970. Originally scheduled as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity,"&n bsp; this stereo version was previously only available on Bowie's Sound & Vision 4CD box set. An earlier version was recorded on March 12, 1968 at Decca Studios as a possible single B-side.

8. The Prettiest Star (stereo version)

Produced by Tony Visconti. The original mono single version was recorded at Trident Studio in January and released in March 1970 on Mercury Records as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity." This stereo version was previously only available on David Bowie: The Best Of 1969/1974. The song itself was later re-recorde d in 1973 for the Aladdin Sane album.

9. Conversati on Piece (stereo version)&n bsp;[PREVI OUSLY UNRELEASED ]

Produced by Tony Visconti.  A previously unreleased stereo mix of a track previously featured in mono on the B-side of "The Prettiest Star," released in March 1970.  Bowie re-recorde d the song during 2000's Toy sessions, with that version seeing the light of day in 2002 on the bonus CD that came with initial copies of Heathen.

10. Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (s ingle A-side)

11. Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2) (s ingle B-side)

Produced by Tony Visconti. Parts 1 and 2 of this electric version were re-recorde d from the album at Advision Studios in April 1970 and released as a single on Mercury Records in June 1970. Both parts of the single were previously available on the EMI/Ryko reissue of Space Oddity in 1990.

12. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (alternate album mix) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

Produced by Tony Visconti, engineered by Ken Scott, Malcolm Toft, & Barry Sheffield.  A previously unreleased mix of the full band album version.

13. Memory Of A Free Festival (alternate album mix) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

Produced by Tony Visconti.  Engineered by Ken Scott, Malcolm Toft and Barry Sheffield.

This previously unreleased mix of the album version clocks in more than two minutes longer than the original mix.

14. London Bye Ta-Ta (alternate stereo mix) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

Produced by Tony Visconti. Recording details same as track 7.  Previously unreleased version.

15. Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (full-leng th stereo version) [PREVIOUSL Y UNRELEASED ]

Produced by Gus Dudgeon and Claudio Fabi. With an eye on the European market, this Italian version of "Space Oddity," translated as "Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl," was recorded at Morgan Studios on December 20, 1969 and released in Italy in 1970. The single version previously appeared on Rare LP in 1983, but this version is previously unreleased .

"Alabama High-Test is from the Tennessee Pusher album and was directed by Lee Tucker.

Nettwerk is releasing the first live DVD from Nashville' s Old Crow Medicine Show: titled Live At The Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, it was recorded in Asheville, NC, and Knoxville, Tenn., last December. The DVD arrives in stores on August 18.

We at BLURT are pleased to have a sneak preview for you right here! It's the track "Alabama High-Test" and hails from last year's acclaimed Tennessee Pusher.

The DVD, directed by Lee Tucker, includes 20 OCMS fan favorites, including the aforementi oned track, radio (and World Café ;) mainstay "Wagon Wheel," "Tell It to me" and "Down Home Girl."

The roots/twan g-grass band is currently on tour with The Felice Brothers, Dave Rawlings and Justin Townes Earle for the Big Surprise Tour, which has been hailed by sources as divers as the New York Times, the New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. The tour wraps tomorrow night in Tennessee but OCMS will continue to tour throughout the rest of the summer and well into the fall - tour dates at their MySpace page.

Exclusive look at the band's new Live At The Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, being released next week.

By Blurt Staff

Nettwerk is releasing the first live DVD from Nashville' s Old Crow Medicine Show: titled Live At The Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, it was recorded in Asheville, NC, and Knoxville, Tenn., last December. The DVD arrives in stores on August 18.

We at BLURT are pleased to have a sneak preview for you right here! It's the track "Alabama High-Test" and hails from last year's acclaimed Tennessee Pusher.

The DVD, directed by Lee Tucker, includes 20 OCMS fan favorites, including the aforementi oned track, radio (and World Café ;) mainstay "Wagon Wheel," "Tell It to me" and "Down Home Girl."

The roots/twan g-grass band is currently on tour with The Felice Brothers, Dave Rawlings and Justin Townes Earle for the Big Surprise Tour, which has been hailed by sources as divers as the New York Times, the New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. The tour wraps tomorrow night in Tennessee but OCMS will continue to tour throughout the rest of the summer and well into the fall - tour dates at their MySpace page.

Legendary sideman, producer, songwriter , all-around -raconteur and sire of North Mississipp i All Stars Luther & Cody passes away following heart surger. He was 67.

By Fred Mills

Music lovers all across the globe will be in mourning as this news gets out tonight and throughout the rest of the weekend. The word literally just arrived, so apologies for the haste with which we post this item  - while we prepare a proper tribute, please read our good friend Bob Mehr's obituary, posted today to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

UPDATE: Mehr's obit has been expanded, with photos added, at a new page.

***

By Bob Mehr, from the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Iconic Memphis musician and producer Jim Dickinson has died.

The 67 year-old Dickinson passed away early Saturday morning in his sleep, according to his wife Mary Lindsay Dickinson. Dickinson had been in ill health for the past few months, and was recuperati ng from heart surgery at Methodist Extended Care Hospital. "He went peacefully ," said Mary Lindsay.

Just last weekend, a tribute concert, headlined by John Hiatt, had been held in Dickinson' s honor at the Peabody Skyway, to help defray his medical costs.

A third generation piano player, Dickinson was born in Little Rock, Ark., but raised in Memphis. During the course of his colorful half-centu ry career, Dickinson built a reputation as a session player for the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, a producer for Big Star and the Replacemen ts, a sometime solo artist, and patriarch of a small musical dynasty that includes sons Cody and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississipp i Allstars.

Dickinson' s health woes began following a high-profi le performanc e with Elvis Costello at the Beale Street Music Festival in May. After a physical exam revealed serious cardiac issues, Dickinson was immediatel y sent into surgery where doctors at Methodist Le Bonheur Hospital in Germantown put in a pair of stents, then sent him home to rest up for bypass surgery.

Dickinson seemed in good health and spirits when The Commercial Appeal caught up with him at his Coldwater, Miss., home in late May, to talk about the release of his new album of classic pop standards, Dinosaurs Run in Circles.

However, just before he was to celebrate the CD release with a show at Huey's on May 31, he had to be rushed back to the hospital with complicati ons. He remained there before finally undergoing triple bypass surgery on June 24. Two days later he went into cardiac arrest. He was revived and spent several weeks recuperati ng in a cardiac intensive care unit.

Late last month, Dickinson was relocated to a rehabilita tion facility; family and friends and physicians had hoped for a slow but eventual recovery that did not come.

"He just never did really get a break," says Mary Lindsay. "He had so many different things go wrong with him. Every time he would work so hard to get better, something else would happen. It was a long drawn out experience the last few months."

Dickson's wife says her husband was in a good place mentally and spirituall y at the end. "He had a great life, and he was a consummate family man. He loved music and his family. And he loved Memphis music, specifical ly."

The family says there are no immediate plans for a memorial.

Jazz drumming giant worked with Coltrane, Cherry, Ayler, Sanders and others.

By Fred Mills

The jazz world lost yet another link to its revolution ary years this week. Drummer Rashied Ali (born Robert Patterson) passed away Wednesday in New York at the age of 76. According to a report filed by the New York Times, his wife, Patricia Ali, indicated it was due to a heart attack.

Anyone ever touched by John Coltrane's latterday free jazz excursions can't help but know Ali's astonishin g polythmic - he had been called "multi-rhy thmic" - flights in the mid ‘60s . In particular , 1967's Interstell ar Space stands out; the Times piece calls it "one of the purest expression s of the free jazz movement." In addition to Coltrane, Ali played with many other greats including Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, James Blood Ulmer and Bill Laswell, effectivel y influencin g several generation s' worth of fans and peers.

The Philadelph ia native remained active until his death, most recently fronting the Rashied Ali Quintet. He also operated a jazz club called Ali's Alley in New York in the ‘70s .

GUEST STARS, GUITARS AND SALSA: Wiyos on the Bob Dylan Summer Tour, Pt. 3

Willie Nelson is royalty! Bob Dylan smiles! When's the next tour?!?

BY CARL HANNI

August 11, Tucson, AZ: Of all possible places for a band to spend five nights in the middle of a summer tour, Austin, TX, is surely one of the most prime. And indeed, the road gods smiled on The Wiyos, and gave us five nights in a big house off Lamar on the South side all to ourselves after, during and before gigs in Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi and Dallas, including two full days off. Our host (an Austin musician friend of The Wiyos' Michael Farkas), his wife and kids were on holiday at just the perfect moment for us to turn it into a home-base; a very good thing, considerin g how oppressive ly hot and humid it was at every turn in Texas.

Arriving late Sunday (8/2) after a drive from Houston, we had the whole next day to run errands, hit thrift stores and try and avoid spending the tour profit in record stores. Highlights : Cura's for lunch, and a dip in Barton Springs at sunset. There's no way to overstate how awesome the huge, spring-fed public pool of Barton Springs is; Austinians of every stripe flocked there by the hundreds and there's still plenty of space. I got to hang out with the fabulously talented Austin musician Graham Reynolds (Golden Arm Trio, etc.) for a Texas BBQ dinner and his usual high level of discourse.

Tuesday's show was at Dell Diamond in the sprawling suburban city of Round Rock, just north of Austin. The Wiyos played a great set looking straight into a blazing sun to a huge, happy, crispy crowd. These folks were ready to party, and the show had a festive atmosphere , despite the local coppers actually busting people for pot in the crowd and - I kid you not - dragging some off in handcuffs. Apparently Johnny Law hadn't heard that WILLIE NELSON was playing, but the crowd sure knew; these were Willie people through and through. I hung with Wammo from Asylum St. Spankers, Graham Reynolds and local audio tech and musician Buzz, and soaked it up from out front with all the happy, hot people.

Willie Nelson is royalty everywhere , but he's the mayor, governor, president and potentate all rolled into one in Texas, especially in Austin and Dallas. Everyone wants a little piece of Willie; everyone feels like they own a little piece of Willie; and he manages, in his own Zen-like way, to give enough of himself that everyone seems satisfied. This is sort of the cowboy hat version of the loaves and fishes; no matter how much Willie gives, there's always more to give. His show was actually a double-hea der of Texas royalty, as the venerable Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel, another legendary Texas icon, sat in for the whole set, rocking his Telecaster and grinning up a storm. Boy, is he tall. The crowd went bananas, and stayed that way.

Bob Dylan, perhaps taking cue from Willie, also had an ace up his sleeve; local guitar hero Charlie Sexton, an alumnus of previous Dylan bands and recordings , sat in for most of Dylan's set. He totally rocked up "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," reproducin g his original licks from Love and Theft. Sexton produced an interestin g chemical reaction on stage; not only did he add a hot layer of lead guitar over everything he played on, but he spent quite a bit of the show inching into closer and closer proximity to Bob on-stage, unlike everyone else in Dylan's band, who generally kept their distance.

But as Sexton got closer and closer, locking eyes with Dylan, Dylan actually started to mug back at Sexton, executing a series of subtle feints, shoulder rolls, bug-eyes and - HOLD THE PRESSES!! - an actual, face splitting, ear-to-ear grin that seemed to light up the entire stage like a torch for about 2 seconds. Now, in most artists a single grin might not be front page news, but Dylan generally seems pretty detached and sometimes a bit dour on stage. This one grin, though, was so full of genuine mirth and (momentary ) good cheer that... well, it made me feel a little different about the man. It broke through the surface, and kind of made the tour.

After that...

Corpus Christi was absurdly hot and humid, and put The Wiyos in an even hotter on-stage oven in front of a fairly modest and sun-stunne d, rough looking crowd. The ball park was beautiful, but the setting was desolate, situated in a totally decrepit industrial area that wasn't even coolly decrepit, just ugly. On the other hand, they had a POOL just behind and to the right of the stage; Wiyos Parrish and Joe Bass and I lounged around in the pool with Willie Nelson playing 40 yards away; ah, that's the life. A full moon shined like a sky-lamp, illuminati ng our way back to Austin by midnight.

On Thursday Parrish and I hit Waterloo Records for a few used vinyl scores (The Gossip, Brother Jack McDuff, John Hammond, 3 Mustaphas 3, more) while the band took care of the never ending errands and we convened for a fabulous meal at Polvo's.

My last day on the road with The Wiyos was less than scintillat ing, but we all do what we have to do, and what I had to do was stay behind with the tour van at the Freightlin er repair shop in Austin for repairs while the band caught a ride to Dallas/Gra nd Prairie with Nevada Newman, another Asylum St. Spanker. I didn't get on the road till 4 pm, just in time to catch some crap traffic out of town, and it was almost 8 pm by the time I hit Dallas, long after The Wiyos' and Willie's sets. Oh well. I got in a final, fabulous meal (thank you DEGA!), said some good-byes to the promoter folks from JamUSA and some stage crew, and we beat it to a hotel. The band was up and out and on their way to Lubbock by 8 am and I caught a noon-time flight back to Tucson.

The Wiyos went on to Albuquerqu e and have a few shows in S. California , ending 8/16 in Stateline, NV, at Lake Tahoe. The Phoenix show on 8/11 was cancelled due to heat (what DID they expect in Phoenix in August?); instead of being at the show, I'm here writing about the tour.

Back home. To the heat, the routine, the fish tacos, the sunsets. I love it here.

But still: hey Wiyos, when's the next tour?

***

For Wiyos tour video blogs, see:

http://www .thewiyos.com

http://www .myspace.com/thewiy os

***

Carl Hanni, a music industry publicist, record collector and club deejay based in Tucson, regularly blogs for Blurt.

We loves us some Willy Vlautin ‘rou nd these here Blurt parts...

By Blurt Staff

Richmond Fontaine have signed to the Arena Rock Recording Company and are set to release their eighth album, We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River, October 13^th.  The 14-track album was produced by JD Foster (Dwight Yoakam, Calexico) and engineered by Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Ki nney) at Crane's celebrated Jackpot Studios in the band's hometown of Portland, OR.

A long-time critics' favorite, the band have been consistent ly showered with overwhelmi ng praise throughout the years, specifical ly in the UK.  The Independen t  stat ed that singer/son gwriter Willy Vlautin was "nothing less than the Dylan of the dislocated ," while UNCUT Magazine exclaimed that 2007's Thirteen Cities was "mind blowing...absolute perfection " and 2004's Post to Wire was "without a doubt, the best album of the decade."  With We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River, the band is reaching beyond the "Kings of Americana" tag given by the magazine in 2005 and finds the band at their peak both artistical ly and commercial ly.  Their sound has continued its decade-lon g evolution and is now fully realized, delivering their most interestin g and accomplish ed musical performanc es to date.  UNCUT recently validated this with a perfect 5 out of 5 star review of the new album, describing it as "raw, autobiogra phical brilliance ," while Q magazine mirrored the acclaim with a 4 out of 5 star rating. 

The birth of We Used To Think... began at the tail end of a year-long tour in 2007 supporting the band's Thirteen Cities album.  Two days before he was scheduled to return home, Vlautin's mother suddenly passed away, prompting the road-weary band to take a year's sabbatical .  After two months holed up at his home in rural Oregon and deep into an inspired writing streak, Vlautin was bucked off his horse and forced to spend months nursing a badly broken arm.  After finally being able to get back to writing, Vlautin emerged a year later with a new novel, Lean on Pete (to be released in 2010 via Harper Perennial) and twenty songs about love, heartache and loss that were paired down for the final record. &nbs p;

In addition to being the songwriter and front man of Richmond Fontaine, Willy Vlautin is a critically -acclaimed novelist.  He is the author of The Motel Life (2006) and Northline (2008 - reviewed HERE by Blurt), both published by Harper Perennial in the US and Faber & Faber in the UK.  Movie rights to both novels have been optioned with Oscar-nomi nated screenwrit er and award-winn ing director Courtney Hunt (Frozen River) slated to adapt and direct Northline. 

The core of the band remains Willy Vlautin (vocals, guitars), Sean Oldham (drums, vocals), Dave Harding (bass), and Dan Eccles (guitars).  For the recording sessions, the band also brought in family members and friends Collin Oldham (cello, cellomobo) , Paul Brainard (pedal steel, trumpet), and Ralph Huntley (piano). 

Track Listing:

1. We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River

2. Northwest

3. You Can Move Back Here

4. The Boyfriends

5. The Pull

6. Sitting Outside My Dad's Old House

7. Maybe We Were Both Born Blue

8. Watch Out

9. 43

10. Lonnie

11. Ruby and Lou

12. Walking Back To Our Place at 3am

13. Two Alone

14. A Letter To The Patron Saint of Nurses

Willie Nelson- and Billy Gibbons-ap proved, at that...

By Blurt Staff

Gov't Mule new record By A Thread is set for an October 27th release through Evil Teen Records. Their first studio album in three years, 'By A Thread' finds the Mule, lead guitarist and frontman Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, keyboardis t Danny Louis, and bassist Jorgen Carlsson, adding a newfound shot of soul to their classic power-band sound. The band is currently on short break between legs of a worldwide tour, which will resume September 9th in Salt Lake City. A full list of dates is below.

'By A Thread' was recorded largely in the Texas Hill Country at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio in 2009. The album's origins are apparent from the first track, "Broke Down On The Brazos," named after the nearby river, with a deep Texas stomp for the backbeat and featuring what Rolling Stone recently called "an incendiary duel with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons." Perhaps less descriptiv ely named, "Steppin' Lightly" is another burner, set off by the soulful vocals and guitar work of Haynes - recently voted, incidental ly, Best Rock Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's 2009 Reader's Poll.

Tour Dates:

Sep 9 2009 The Depot Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 10 2009 Gallatin County Fairground s Bozeman, Montana
Sep 11 2009 The Showbox SoDo Seattle, Washington
Sep 12 2009 Britt Pavilion Jacksonvil le, Oregon
Sep 13 2009 Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Sep 14 2009 Van Duzer Theatre Arcata, California
Sep 17 2009 Hawkins Amphitheat re Reno, Nevada
Sep 18 2009 House of Blues San Diego, California
Sep 19 2009 Fox Theatre Bakersfiel d, California
Sep 20 2009 House of Blues Anaheim, California
Sep 23 2009 Club Nokia Los Angeles, California
Sep 24 2009 Majestic Ventura Theatre Ventura, California
Sep 25 2009 The Warfield San Francisco, California
Sep 26 2009 The Warfield San Francisco, California
Oct 31 2009 Tower Theatre Philadelph ia, PA

Blag the Ripper and HeWhoCanNo tBeNamed get immortaliz ed. No comment yet from Sub Pop about re-signing the band, though...

By Fred Mills

We warned you it would happen - the Dwarves bobble/thr obblehead thing, that is. In the latest issue of BLURT we gave you the poop (term used figurative ly) on that awesome GG Allin throbblehe ad and its companion, the mighty Tesco Vee of the Meatmen. And sure enough, the Dwarves deal is now a done, uh, deal too.

Here's the scoop: Aggronauti x is releasing a limited-ed ition figure of punk rock legends the Dwarves (1000 numbered). This  unique double "Throbbleh ead" figure stands at 5 1/2 inches tall, is made of a lightweigh t polyresin, and will be displayed in a tri-window ed box. Here Blag the Ripper and HeWhoCanNo tBeNamed are portrayed dominating the stage and are accurately sculpted right down to the lucha libre mask, bondage wear, and skull boner buckle. It will be distribute d by MVD Entertainm ent. And DKE Toys.

The Dwarves' Blag Dahlia weighed in on the matter, saying, "Me and HeWhoCanNo tBeNamed are the best looking men in show business. It was only fitting that we be immortaliz ed in space age polymer to frighten parents and tittilate teenage girls everywhere !"

And not to make this anything less than a BIG done deal, a "Dwarves PSA" animated short has been created by Postage, Inc. for Aggronauti x. You can view it below. Executive Producer Allen Clements observed, "This project was kind of a throwback. Coming from a traditiona l mindset, we had to develop new techniques to deliver an old style... Something reminiscen t of 80s / 90s Saturday morning cartoons. We immediatel y thought of the GI Joe PSAs at the end of each program, and teaching right from wrong from the wise words of a hero. How many punk rock kids have heroes? Who are they?"

Well, although the Stranglers famously proposed back during punk's Ground Zero days that there are no more heroes, everybody needs a Dwarf, or some Dwarves, they can look up at. Have a drink on us, kids!

Live album will make all the other boats rise...

By Blurt Staff

The Squirrel Nut Zippers today announced an October 27 release date for new album Lost At Sea (Southern Broadcasti ng), the North Carolina band's first new release in nine years and their first ever live album as well.

Recorded live at Southpaw, in Brooklyn NY, the Squirrel Nut Zippers performed many of their greatest hits and strongest material for a standing room only audience.  "Dan ny Diamond," "Put A Lid On It," "Bad Businessma n," "Blue Angel," and many other Zippers faves.

As the label puts it, "The title of the new release is very appropriat e considerin g the bands unfortunat e departure from public life in 2002 when the Disney cruise ship they were performing aboard hit a massive island of trash and was rendered unseaworth y. The Squirrel Nut Zippers were forced into a dingy which was quickly swept away by ocean currents and deposited on a remote and uninhabite d island.  Surv iving on coconuts and monkey scat they managed to stave off death until a location scout for the television reality show "Survivor" stumbled upon them and brought them back to the United States."

Ah, so THAT's what happened. Well, most Zippers fans know the alternate story of the band's rise, fall, demise, and return - plenty of personal intrigue, legal goings-on, and just plain unpleasant ness. Bottom line, though, they remain a bit of a Tarheel institutio n, and a whale of a live act, to.  The band returned to the road in 2007 with the core of their original line up intact: Jim "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (drums, percussion ), Je Widenhouse (Trumpet) and Stuart Cole (Bass).

"The crowds we've had at these shows since coming back have been nothing short of fantastic, " Phillips commented.  "It' s been great to reconnect with our old fans and meet all of the ones who didn't catch us the first time around.  It's truly been a heartwarmi ng experience . Honestly, the band is getting along better than we ever did in the past and I believe the desire is there to try recording a new album for release in 2010."

Track Listing:

Memphis Exorcism  

Good Enough For Grandad&nb sp;

It Ain't You 

Prince Nez

Put A Lid On It 

Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter&nbs p;

Danny Diamond&nb sp;

Suits Are picking Up The Bill 

My Drag 

Happens All The Time 

Bad Businessma n 

Hell 

Ghost Of Stephen Foster&nbs p;

You Are My Radio  ;

Blue Angel  ;

Do What 

Missing Link Parade

[Photo Credit: Joshua Weinfeld]

How to control orgasms, win friends, influence people, etc.

By Blurt Staff

Maybe it's the lousy economy, or maybe it's just that late-summe r's itch we been feelin' lately. But we're thinking a career change may be in order, which is why today's batch of spam at BLURT central was so welcome. Seriously, this is what comes in the email. Is this a sign, or, like, what?(Of course, our recent feature on adult film star Sasha Grey has certainly raised BLURT's profile in the porn biz...)

Guarantee: all dialogue (email text, that is) repeated verbatim.

***

FROM VIVID ENTERTAINM ENT:

Are you young,old ,mother father,gra ndma or grandpa and you want to make easy and quick money in a whole new career.Here is the chance you are waiting for.

Many individual s, both female and male, fantasize about becoming a porn star, or somehow finding a way to get into the Porn Industry. Some folks want to be in front of the camera as actual porn stars, while some just want to be involved with porn production s and become an insider.

There is a production we are about to shoot and we are in need of capable men and women who would like to be part of this porn production . We are conducting auditionin g and we advice intrested candidates to contact Derk Warran at vividenter tainment@d r.com .

For lucky individual s hierd there are provission of  transporta tion,acomm odation and feeding during the production proper.Payment are made by scenes.

As you cantact us we will furnish you with more detail.

IMPORTANT INFORMATIO N FOR WOMEN:

Facial appeal, breast size (shape and overall appearance ), vaginal appearance , body (tone, body fat, skin tone), hygiene (pubically groomed, long hair on head is preferable , nicely done nails, good natural beauty with or without make-up) and finally your acting ability

IMPORTANT INFORMATIO N FOR MEN:

Penis size, looks, muscles, and acting ability are important but again, it will ultimately boil down to your ability to get an almost-ins tant erection, maintain it, control it, and orgasm only when told to (and then do it quickly without wasting the time of the production employees) . Be prepared to have perfect personal hygiene, get HIV tests every month, and be prepared to sit around on sets, sometimes for hours, waiting for your scene to be filmed

CONSIDERAT IONS FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN :

1)Before you take a jab at  this  career Consider that once these pictures have been made your images are out there for the world to see. If you change your mind, you cannot have the images removed by producers because most of the rights are sold to other organizati ons and companies.

2)Take pride in your personal appearance and attitude. Keep your body toned and clean. Get your hair done--this includes men. Do not rely on being the new person or face. Show yourself to be reliable and profession al.

3)Make sure that you obtain a health record which indicates your HIV status and sexually transmitte d disease status. Most producers want these to be less than 30 days old. Tests are very inexpensiv e and may even be free.

4)Be proud of your acting performanc e and work on improving by learning from other actors. Try to add a special touch to your performanc e to help stand out from all of the other performers .

5)Remember that the director, writer and producer hired you for their project. Although some producers may ask for some creative input, you need to be respectful to your coworkers and follow instructio ns

"These Are My Twisted Words" offered as a free download by the band.

By Fred Mills

The blogospher e lit up like crazy this morning when news hit that a new Radiohead song, "These Are My Twisted Words," had been released - not leaked - by the band. And it's FREE. In a posting to Radiohead' s website, Jonny Greenwood explained:

So here's a new song, called 'These Are My Twisted Words'.

We've been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished.
We're pretty proud of it.

There's other stuff in various states of completion , but this is one we've been practicing , and which we'll probably play at this summer's concerts. Hope you like it.

Download the audio here or torrent here.

Simple as that - click, and win. Now THAT is civilized. Good stuff, too. Check it out, fans.

Beastie Boys-appro ved (though -cancelled , due to illness) 2-day blowout includes Peas, M.I.A., T. Corp, Calexico, M. Modest, Dead Weather and more. What, you'd pass this up to go to the beach? No way!

By Blurt Staff

One of the nation's longest running music festivals, San Diego's Street Scene, will celebrate its 25th anniversar y on Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29^th.

The Black Eyed Peas, M.I.A. (pictured, above), Thievery Corporatio n, Modest Mouse, Shooter Jennings, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Conor Oberst are among the more than 35 acts that will bring the streets of downtown San Diego's East Village neighborho od alive with music and entertainm ent from 4:00 PM to midnight daily.  The Beastie Boys had been scheduled to headline the event, but were forced to cancel due to Adam Yauch recent illness. 

The complete 2009 STREET SCENE line-up is as follows: Black Eyed Peas, M.I.A., Thievery Corporatio n, Modest Mouse, The Dead Weather, Cake, Silversun Pickups, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Band of Horses, Girl Talk, Chromeo, Mastodon, Ozomatli, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Devendra Banhart, Bassnectar , Shooter Jennings, No Age, Calexico, West Indian Girl, Ra Ra Riot, Deerhunter , Donald Glaude, Matt and Kim, Los Campesinos , Grand Ole Party, LA Riots, Anya Marina, Holy F**k, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears , Blue Scholars, Crocodiles , Wavves, Zee Avi, Extra Golden, and Carney.

A limited number of 2 day tickets are still available for $122. For up-to-the- minute updates, hotel informatio n, transporta tion, parking and other facts, please visit www.street-sce ne.com.

Watch BLURT for a full in-, out, and in-between s report from the event...

Shameless plug time here... but it is for a good cause. See official press release, below. How does Thievery Corporatio n, Built To Spill, O.A.R. and Santigold sound to you?

By Blurt Staff

(RED) and Live Nation today announce new dates for (RED)NIGHT S, an innovative series of 26 concerts in the U.S. to generate money and awareness for the ultimate goal of eliminatin g AIDS in Africa. The new set of shows will feature concerts by (RED)NIGHT S artists Built to Spill, Thievery Corporatio n, Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson , Joshua Radin and Sondre Lerche at venues such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Paradise in Boston and the House of Blues in Chicago.

The new (RED)NIGHT S dates follow a successful first round of concerts, which earned attention in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, NME, Time Out New York and the Dallas Morning News. For the first set of shows, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Gomez, Santigold, O.A.R., Lisa Hannigan, The Veronicas, Matisyahu and K'Naan each turned one of their concerts (RED) to bring the (RED) experience to life in a new way. At each of these shows, (RED)NIGHT S and the community of acclaimed& nbsp; artists aimed to inspire fans to participat e in (RED)'s mission to eliminate AIDS in Africa by pausing to highlight the many ways to get involved and encouragin g those in the audience to share the message and experience with others.

"I believe no person deserves to suffer from a preventabl e, treatable disease simply because they can't afford medicine," said Marc Roberge of O.A.R. "If bringing awareness to what (RED) is doing helps one person receive antiretrov iral treatment and live a healthy life, we have accomplish ed our goal."

Ultimately , it is the goal of (RED)NIGHT S to build a community- of artists, concertgoe rs and music fans everywhere -that is passionate about helping to fight AIDS in Africa. A portion of the proceeds of each (RED)NIGHT S concert goes directly to the Global Fund (theglobal fund.org http://the globalfund .org ).

(RED) presents the (RED)NIGHT S concert series kicked off  at select Live Nation clubs and theaters across the country earlier this year. (RED) and Live Nation are collaborat ing to link acclaimed artists with their fans to join the fight against AIDS in Africa. Informatio n about the scheduled (RED)NIGHT S concerts can be found at http://www .livenation .com and http://www .joinred.com/rednig hts

"(RED) was looking to engage more people in its mission, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. The (RED)NIGHT S series is an innovative concept that combines the power of Live Nation's live music platform and venues to use people's passion for music to raise awareness and, ultimately , generate more money to help eliminate AIDS in Africa." said Russell Wallach, President of North American Alliances for Live Nation. "We're building a great line up of artists for (RED)NIGHT S, and believe we can help (RED) successful ly deliver its message by connecting them with music fans all over the country."

"(RED)NIGH TS is one more way for people to become (RED) and support our efforts to eliminate AIDS in Africa," says Jenifer Willig, Director of Partners and Marketing at (RED). "We're so honored to have incredible artists turning their shows (RED) and look forward to bringing (RED)NIGHT S to fans across the country."

(RED)NIGHT S arrives on the heels of (RED)WIRE http://www .redwire.com, the innovative new digital music service from (RED). The (RED)NIGHT S artists join an impressive community of (RED) artists who are participat ing in (RED)WIRE, including U2, Coldplay, The Killers, Jay-Z, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Noel Gallagher, Conor Oberst, TV On The Radio, Death Cab For Cutie, Michael Franti and many more. (RED)NIGHT S and (RED)WIRE mark the first time (RED) has moved into the music arena and are a mutual extension of (RED)'s mission, whereby the music community is coming together as a vehicle to raise awareness and funds to help fight AIDS in Africa.

(RED)NIGHT S CONFIRMED CONCERTS

June 12 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  The Veronicas @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; New Orleans, LA

June 16 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Matisyahu w/ K'Naan @ The Wiltern&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; Los Angeles, CA

June 18 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Santigold @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Dallas, TX

June 19 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Lisa Hannigan @ Gramercy Theater&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; New York, NY

July 28 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Katy Perry @ Hammerstei n Ballroom&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; New York, NY

August 2 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Gomez @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; San Diego, CA

August 13 & 14 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  O.A.R. @ Bank of America Pavilion&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Boston, MA

August 19 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Fall Out Boy @ The Pageant&nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; St. Louis, MO

September 12 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Ingrid Michaelson @ The Paradise&n bsp;   &nbs p;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   Bost on, MA

September 13 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Sondre Lerche @ The Paradise&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Boston, MA

September 24 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Joshua Radin @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Chicago, IL

September 25 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Brandi Carlile @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Chicago, IL

October 3 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Ingrid Michaelson @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; San Diego, CA

October 4 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Thievery Corporatio n @ House of Blues  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; Dallas, TX

October 9 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Thievery Corporatio n @ The Fillmore&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; Miami, FL

Oct. 31 & Nov. 1 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Built to Spill @ The Fillmore&n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp; San Francisco, CA

Guaranteed to make you reach for your battered VHS copy of Yellow Submarine!

By Blurt Staff

About a month ago we filled you in on the forthcomin g Gong album, 2032, due on Sept. 21. Now  the celebrated psychedeli c band have today announced the world premiere of their brand new Japanese animated video "How To Stay Alive." View it, below.

The video is a wonderful manga animation of Daevid Allen's drawings undertaken by the cutting edge Japanese Tokyo-base d animation team "Mood Magic", who were responsibl e for System 7's  "Hinotori" video (2008). &nbs p; In line with the "2032" album, the video pushes all the classic Gong buttons and mixes them with bang up to date sounds and video techniques . 

The track features a rap by Daevid Allen based around the characters of the illustriou s Planet Gong mythology, which lent itself well to an animation of the drawings - and also features a beautiful solo at the end by original Gong member Didier Malherbe on the sax-like Armenian instrument the duduk.

Gong embarks on a nationwide UK tour in November, with the Steve Hillage Band confirmed as support act on all UK dates.

Late founder of the seminal Memphis pop band gets the two-CD deluxe treatment in September.

By Fred Mills

Back in May we were talking about that upcoming Big Star boxed set, the 4-CD Keep an Eye on the Sky, due Sept. 15 from Rhino. At the same time we'd been tipped by a source at the label that Rhino Handmade would also be doing a Deluxe Edition reissue of the late Chris Bell's I Am The Cosmos.

Now comes official word from Handmade about the Bell released - now, on Sept. 28 -and as promised it's to be a rarities/o uttakes-st uffed two-disc affair that vastly expands upon the original '92 Ryko release. According to Handmade, in addition to remasterin g the Ryko version, the set is to include a second CD containing "15 tracks previously unreleased . Among the wealth of unissued recordings are eight alternate versions and mixes of album tracks, including ‘You And Your Sister' with Mellotron in place of the original's string arrangemen t, and a later version of ‘Get Away' featuring Big Star's Alex Chilton on guitar, Ken Woodley on bass and Richard Rosebrough on drums.

‘The collection also gathers up a number of unreleased songs Bell recorded that did not appear on I Am The Cosmos, including two songs by Icewater (a precursor to Big Star); collaborat ions with Memphis songwriter Keith Sykes (‘St ay With Me') and singer Nancy Bryan (‘In My Darkest Hour'); and ‘Cla cton Rag,' an instrument al recorded in 1976 that features Bell solo on guitar."

Cosmos will be a limited/nu mbered edition, as are most Handmade titles. As a bonus, the first 1,000 orders will receive a free 7" single of "I Am The Cosmos" b/w "You And Your Sister."

You can read more about the collection at the official Handmade page and hear song snippets. Here's the tracklisti ng:

CD1:

01 I Am the Cosmos
02 Better Save Yourself
03 Speed of Sound
04 Get Away
05 You and Your Sister
06 I Got Kinda Lost
07 Look Up
08 Make a Scene
09 There Was a Light
10 I Don't Know
11 Fight at the Table
12 Though I Know She Lies

CD2:

01 Icewater: "Looking Forward" *
02 Icewater: "Sunshine" *
03 Rock City: "My Life Is Right"
04 I Don't Know (Alternate Version) *
05 You and Your Sister (Alternate Version) *
06 I Am the Cosmos (Extended Alternate Version) *
07 Speed of Sound (Alternate Version) *
08 Fight at the Table (Alternate Mix) *
09 Make a Scene (Alternate Mix) *
10 Better Save Yourself (Alternate Mix) *
11 Get Away (Alternate Version) *
12 You and Your Sister (Acoustic Version)
13 Stay With Me [ft. Keith Sykes] *
14 In My Darkest Hour [ft. Nancy Bryan] *
15 Clacton Rag (Instrumen tal) *

* previously unreleased

Blitzen Trapper is streaming their forthcomin g EP entitled Black River Killer a week before it's due out. It's streaming now at
http://www .lala.com/#album /360569445 171208206

Has summer even happened? Good Lord, it's almost over and it feels, with the recent swelter-fe st (at least in the East Coast) that it just started.

Lots of good stuff cranked at Outlandos HQ to keep us feeling somewhat cool, see below.

But first, petite favor to ask you kids. This will literally take you 2 seconds, it's super easy and you don't even have to give a rats tail about SxSW but... would you vote for us? 30 seconds of your life. It's a BIG deal in our world and would mean so much! How could we ever do it without you? Seriously. Thanks zillions. If we get in, not only do I get a free badge (let me tell you, those suckers are expensive) but we get some handy-dand y publicity.

Help me, help me? Just click the three links below and then click the "thumbs up" next to each one:

The Value of Emotional Value (Interacti ve Version)
VOTE HERE

Doing It like Trent: DIY for the Little Guy
VOTE HERE

Leveraging Emotional Value (Music Version)
VOTE HERE

Now on to the fun stuff:

1. Contramano , Contramano


Buy it.
Argentinia n chamber-pu nk. Go figure. It's spectacula r. Seriously, you need to own this record IMMEDIATEL Y. In case you missed it, they were featured on the Dose last week.

2. Roman Candle, Oh Tall Tree in the Ear



Buy it.
The Bees (US) are easily one of my favorite bands of all time [...]

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.

For the upcoming version of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze tapped the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to act as composer-a first as far we know. Going under the moniker Karen O and the Kids, it's a soundtrack we're looking forward to as much as Jonze much-talke d about screen adaption.

According to the virgin composer, "I didn't want to make music that was hammering you over the head or go for some kind of pushbutton emotion....[what] I wanted to do was close to Cat Stevens in Harold & Maude, really simple, but memorably and seamlessly woven into the movie.

Joining O in the studio were Tristan Bechet (Services) , Bradford Cox (Deerhunte r), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs ), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs , The Greenhorne s), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion, Alaska), Nick Zinner, (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and an untrained children's choir.
 
Look for the movie in theatres October 16, while the soundtrack will be released on September 29.

With her first full-lengt h album in over eight years, Through the Devil Softly (to be released September 29), frotnwoman Hope Sandoval is about to hit the road in as many years. It's her second album with Warm Inventions partner (and My Bloody Valentine member) Colm O'Ciosoig. From what we've heard of the album so far, it's shouldn't disappoint any longtime fans, with plenty of gauzy, slow psych-brui sing numbers. Though not known for her um, stage presence (Mazzy Star were a painful live experience ), Sandoval is worth seeing in an intimate club setting where her hypnotic vocals are best appreciate d.

Have you heard the first single off of Through the Devil Softly?

Check out Hope on tour:

Mon, Sept 21 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Portland, OR @ The Doug Fir
Tue, Sept 22 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Vancouver, BC @ The Red Room
Wed, Sept 23 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Fri, Sept 25 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Arcata, CA @ The Arcata Theatre Lounge
Sat, Sept 26 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Tue, Sept 29 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Thur, Oct 1 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theatre
Sun, Oct 4 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theatre
Mon, Oct 5 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Wed, Oct 7 &nb sp; & nbsp;  ; &nb sp; & nbsp;  ;  Toronto, ON @ The Mod
Sat, Oct 10 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Williamsbu rg, NY @ The Music Hall Of Williamsbu rg
Mon, Oct 12 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  New York, NY @ The Bowery
Wed, Oct 14 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Washington , DC @ The Sixth and I
Fri, Oct 16 &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p;  Atlanta, GA @ The Loft

Some people spend their time wondering about the meaning of life .......others worry about death and the afterlife. Me, I'm trying to figure out just how many people have recorded and released records over the last 60 years. I've concluded the answer is way beyond a million and even that may be a low estimate. Every year my brother and I take a road trip to "dig" for records, this year we did 3,000 miles, 5 states and looked at what we estimate to be over 2 million records. Our goal is to find those undiscover ed gems of music that have been lost in the black hole of vinyl releases. Music that truly deserves attention but for various reasons never received any when they were released. Music that has remained unheard, sitting in the bin of a used record store until folks like us give them a spin and discover the magic within.


In Cedar Bluffs, Iowa there is an amazing store packed with vinyl called Kanesville Kollectibl es....three levels of an old manufactur ing plant with enough records to build a suspension bridge to neighborin g Omaha......more records than most people see in a lifetime.....heaven for nuts like me. We arrived at this vinyl Mecca at 10:00AM and proceeded to spend the next 8 hours digging through racks and boxes of LP's....hoping to find that unknown gem, that musical golden ticket that makes all our time and effort worthwhile . This year's winner was found hidden away in the Country & Western section...an LP by a young couple, Kris & Jerry, who were from rural Illinois titled "A Sunny Day" released in 1966. The second the needle from my portable turntable hit the grooves we knew this was special...a great discovery....the reason we dig.


There are many amazing things about this record. The music is unlike any I've ever heard in my 30 years of vinyl addiction, sounding like a real down to earth Sonny & Cher without the Hollywood glitz that tainted their records. A folky duo that use saxaphone, accordian and viola all to their advantage.  The songs are beautiful monuments to young love and innocence and must be more powerful than both as Kris & Jerry are still married today some 43 years later.  When I realized I was in love with this record I decided to try to find Kris & Jerry which turned out to be pretty easy.

Still living in the same area, Jerry is a Music Director at a local school and had fond memories of the record he recorded in 1966. "I loved to write songs" Jerry told me, and the songs on the LP were written in very short order. "I didn't really have too many influences , I just wrote what I felt. It was a way for me to communicat e". Very humble about his record I think Jerry was surprised that someone had unearthed his past.

The LP is a "vanity press", one of those records that have a generic catalog chosen cover which just happens to capture the feel of "A Sunny Day" in an uncanny fashion. The songs are short and to the point, all original songs except for the fitting cover of the Rolling Stones "As Tears Go By". This LP has that magic that very few LP's exude, something that occupies it's own special time and space while having a sound that has proven to be timeless. Cuts like "The Boy I Really Loved", "In A Far Away Place", "See The Shape I'm In" and "Little People" all reach out from my speakers and make the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention...an eerie journey into the private lives of two people who have no shame in sharing it with us. Kris's vocals which don't really jump out at first really grow on you in a beautifull y haunting way that penetrates deeper with each listen.


It is with great honor that I am now able to share their music with the world and know that the message they placed in a bottle some 43 years ago has been found by an appreciati ve audience. Hopefully some enterprisi ng re-issue label will want to get their music to a wider audience, until then click on the tunes below and enjoy the sounds of Kris & Jerry

The Boy I Really Loved


Can’ t You See What You’ re Doing To Me



In A Far Away Place

Beautiful, gripping, and much more.

By Blurt Staff

Norwegian duo Kings of Convenienc e are back after four years with their third studio album, Declaratio n of Dependence set for release on October 20 via Astralwerk s.

Declaratio n of Dependence ,is a wonderful record for a lot of reasons. For one, Eirik Bøe is equally comfortabl e talking about the record's "serious ideas" and laughing about its'  "hi-brow Bossa Nova" moments while his partner Erlend Øye is clearly thrilled by making, "the most rhythmical pop record ever that features no percussion or drums." For another, there is no one who makes records like they do. "When we started out we were afraid of sounding like other artists," Erlend says. "But now we feel pretty much alone." But the most striking thing about this album is how powerfully it reminds you that making music together is not a game, it's not something to be undertaken lightly, this record is part of a much larger picture, a long and involved relationsh ip that has had its good and bad times.

As beautiful as you would expect - and songs like "Second to Numb", "Rule My World" and "24-25" are as perfectly realized as anything they've ever written - Declaratio n of Dependence also marks the beginning of a new era for the duo. The record began to take shape in February 2007 when they met up on the same beach in Mexico that is pictured on the album's cover. The pair came together to play a concert in the city the following month, the first time they had appeared together in more than two years. They shared a feeling that there was another record to be made. "Really," says Eirik "We had no choice."

Declaratio n of Dependence is the story of two people living two very different lives sensing that they are immensely more powerful together than apart. In that sense it is the most adult, the most mature record Kings of Convenienc e have ever made. That it is their most gripping, their most revealing is, if anything, just a by-product of that honesty and their endeavor.

Bon Iver announced today will perform live on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 among the dozens of graves (including screen legends like Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Jayne Mansfield) at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California .
 
The gates will open at midnight on Saturday night with the performanc e to begin at the ungodly hour of 6am on Sunday (is that too early for a mojito?). Tickets are $25 and include a coffee and pastry breakfast.
 
Limited tickets are available starting Thursday Aug 20th at noon here.
 
There will be limited parking on site with additional parking at Paramount Studios (801 N. Gower Street -north of Melrose).
 

R.E.M. will release a brand-new double live album, entitled R.E.M. Live At The Olympia on October 27th, 2009 on Warner Bros. Records. The two-CD set, produced by Jacknife Lee, features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band's "working rehearsals " at Dublin's Olympia club during which the band tried out new songs for their 2008 studio album Accelerate .
 
The double live album will also include a number of catalog hits from Life's Rich Pageant and others. 

Live At The Olympia will be released in several configurat ions including a standard double CD, featuring 39 tracks and liner notes by author and music critic Andy Gill, as well as a CD + DVD, which includes concert and backstage footage shot by noted French filmmakers Vincent Moon and Jeremiah.

Fans will be able to purchase Live At The Olympia digitally from all online service providers beginning October 27th.
 
The track-list ing for R.E.M. Live At The Olympia is as follows:
 
Disc 1:
Living Well Is The Best Revenge / Second Guessing / Letter Never Sent / Staring Down The Barrel of the Middle Distance / Disturbanc e At The Heron House / Mr. Richards / New Test Leper / Cuyahoga / Electrolit e / Man-Sized Wreath /  So. Central Rain / On The Fly / Maps And Legends / Sitting Still / Driver 8 / Horse To Water / I'm Gonna DJ / Circus Envy / These Days
 
Disc 2:
Drive / Feeling Gravity's Pull / Until The Day Is Done / Accelerate / Auctioneer / Little America / 1,000 / Disguised / Worst Joke Ever / Welcome To the Occupation / Carnival of Sorts / Harbor Coat / Wolves Lower / I've Been High / Kohoutek / West of the Fields / Pretty Persuasion / Romance / Gardening At Night

Apparently Johnston's latest opus Is And Always Was is a departure from the lo-fi homemade recordings for which he's most notorious for.  According& nbsp; to Daniel, "Everyone needs to take their demos and go back to the studio."

And with the pairing of producer Jason Falkner, it appears that this album will be as far from lo-fi as you can get, considerin g Faulkner's production credits include Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney. Falkner says of Daniel Johnston. "It was challengin g to make our minds work together but I really found myself immersed in his musical world. It's a unique place to live, that's for sure!"

Johnston's unique guitar/pia no and vocal melodies are backed by Falkner on guitar, bass, and keyboards with help from studio veteran Joey Waronker (REM, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins) on drums. 

And now for this latest bit of Johnston news: you can now buy an iPhone game that features his art characters and music. Yip-eee!

Daniel Johnston is currently on a North American and European tour that will go through the end of the year.

Is And Always Was is scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release on Daniel's own Eternal Yip Eye Music imprint.


DANIEL JOHNSTON ON TOUR:

09/03/09 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/04/09 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09/05/09 - Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
09/07/09 - Calgary, AB @ Knox United Church
09/08/09 - Edmonton, AB @ Meyer Horowitz Theatre
10/02/09 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/13/09 - Washington , DC @ 9:30 Club
10/14/09 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/15/09 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10/16/09 - Montreal, PQ @ UK Fed
10/17/09 - Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
10/22/09 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
10/23/09 - San Diego, CA @ Caines
10/24/09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre

Is And Always Was Track Listing:

Mind Movies
Fake Records Of Rock And Roll
Queenie The Doggie
High Horse
Without You
I Had Lost My Mind
Freedom
Tears
Is And Always Was
Lost In My Infinite Memory
Light Of Day

[Ang Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, hits theaters nationwide this week. Herein we offer you an advance opinion, BLURT-styl e. See the official trailer, below. No spoiler alerts necessary, however - everybody knows what went down at the 1969 rock festival anyway! - Ed.]

BY JONAH FLICKER

Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Hulk, The Ice Storm), is disappoint ing on many levels. Granted, I wasn't even born until almost a decade after the famed three days of peace, love, and music took place. But I never thought I missed anything; mud, hippies, and jam bands are just not my cup of tea. Lee's whimsical recreation of the events leading up to the festival, however, would have me believe otherwise. It might have worked, too, except for a storyline that feels trite and piecemeal, and some sub-par acting jobs from the film's principals .

 (Jon athan Groff, Demetri Martin)

Comedian Demetri Martin, known to many for his Trendspott ing segments on The Daily Show, plays the lead, the semi-close ted, soft-spoke n, go-getter Elliot. He has returned home to his overbearin g parents' failing motel in the Catskills, when he discovers that the planners of the Woodstock festival are looking for a new venue. After meeting with the annoyingly laid back Michael (Jonathan Groff), Elliot maneuvers the festival onto a neighbor's farm (the always amusing Eugene Levy), much to the town's chagrin. From there, the story details Elliot's trials and travails and sexual awakening, all against the backdrop of the planning and execution of Woodstock. The film doesn't really focus on the festival itself -director Lee never set out to make a concert film - instead detailing the planning of the event and the personal lives of its key players.

 (Eug ene Levy, Demetri Martin)

There are some good performanc es peppered throughout the film. Liev Schreiber plays a burly transvesti te with a little bit of camp and a lot of heart, and Elliot's parents, Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman, tackle their assimilate d Jewish immigrant characters with vigor and zest. But the missteps are glaring. Emile Hirsch has a hard time grasping the nuances of his character, the recently-r eturned Vietnam vet, Billy, using wild eyes as his main prop. But the worst offender, unfortunat ely, is Martin. His monotone and cloying innocence blend very poorly with an attempt at acting and emoting. His performanc e is certainly not the worst you will see this year, but he has no business playing a lead role.

 (Kel li Gardner, Paul Dano, Demetri Martin)

Taking Woodstock may appeal more to those who experience d the festival firsthand and are pining for a sentimenta l, nostalgic trip to the past. And that's really what the film is, a saccharine revisit to a lionized moment in history. Others, however, may not be as impressed - I overheard a middle-age d woman leaving the screening complainin g that she wasn't sure which was represente d as more middlebrow , Woodstock itself or being gay.

This is your brain on compassion . Any questions? (PS - support your local animal shelter.)

By Coco Hames

Since I spend a great deal of time out on the road, I am able to report with some accuracy the general and nebulous state of the nation.  I see it in the daylight, the nighttime, uptown, downtown, outskirts, above ground, undergroun d, the denial, fury and/or apathy in hoity toity wine bars and the denial, fury and/or apathy of the griping dives.  And right now, what I can definitely say, is something most people already know: it's pretty rough out there.  Jobs are really hard to come by and, if you're fortunate enough to have one, your money is tight tight tight.  The need to save (instead of spend) shows up in lots of ways, and it doesn't just affect us human people.  In the past six months, I've seen an absolutely unpreceden ted amount of stray animals on the roads, and I don't just mean back alleys and city streets.  I mean packs of emaciated, mangy dogs trotting aimlessly and insanely through the medians of highways.  And I'm pretty sure we all know what the odds are for those dogs.

My mom said she read an article recently that the financial crunch is just so strong that, among other things, people are having to get rid of their dogs.  And while I am not in the mood to preach the "if you can't afford/tak e care of a dog, don't effing get one" sermon, I am in the mood to remind you -- if you are so inclined -- to visit your local shelter.

When I was in college my roommate Kiki and I used to foster dogs from the local kill shelter until we could find them a home.  We were the pain-in-th e-ass bleeding heart dog savers, and yes, we were very annoying.  Especially to our other four roommates.  But I am glad for what we did, because when a dog has been at a kill shelter for too long, they euthanize them.  That's the way it is.  And while no-kill shelters are a nice idea, the fact is many of the dogs they get are sick, infirm, badly behaved and extremely unlikely to find what we in the biz cloyingly call "a forever home". 

Once, I made the mistake of visiting the Gainesvill e shelter without intent (you need to have a plan or you WILL go home either extremely upset or with a dog, and FYI the two states of mind are not mutually exclusive) and saw a little crazy guy (he looked like part terrier/pa rt-squirre l) and noticed his euthanizat ion date was the next day.  I didn't really have a choice.  So I took Jarvis home, and while he got along with my other dog, he was totally crazy.  I won't go into details.  He was just crazy.  But I cared for him and he even moved with me to New York.  That pushed him over the edge, all of the people and smells and sounds.  Jarvis was very unhappy and I didn't know what to do; I just knew I couldn't take him back to a shelter.

So I did some research and found petfinder.org.  If you are ever in search of a furry friend, I recommend it highly.  It's a free service that helps list the available rescue animals in your area.  I wrote a clear little bio of Jarvis and put up some pictures, and within a week, a nice lady called me from Maryland explaining her situation.  That their family dog had just passed away, their children were grown, and it was just her, her husband and some horses on a farm outside of DC.  We arranged for Jarvis to have a "visit" for a weekend, and he was so happy.  I still get e-mails from this lady, about every year, updating me on what a blessing Jarvis is and how happy they all are together.  Sometimes she sends me pictures.  Sometimes he's wearing a sweater.

The point is, I had shown petfinder.org to a friend here in Nashville who is beginning her search for a dog.  And I was looking at the available rescue dogs at our local shelters, when I came across a picture.  And yes, I am a sucker, okay?  ; Just put it out there, yes, Coco is a sucker and a major sucker for matted, emaciated, forgotten bag-o'-bon es dogs, okay??&nbs p; I drove down there and said, you, sad matted stray, you're coming with me.  She was all bones and butchered hair, what was left of her hair was matted and she had a sinus infection.  I'm happy to report that a week later, she's all juiced up on her shots, the sinus infection is nearly gone, and she is as sweet as can be.  She's really funny, really smart, and that is that.  Here's a picture of Lenore.

But Coco, you say, I have allergies/ spacial issues/a really nice couch/a cat; I need a special kind of dog, I can't just go to a SHELTER.  To you I say, I am a major snob and have a purebred dog because I had excuses too (lifelong major allergies, fo realz) but if you do your research and know what you are looking for, you WILL find an animal in your area that meets your needs.  I gots needs!&nbs p; There are of course a lot of things to consider, but if you make a checklist and give it time, you will find a friend you can rescue from a sad fate or situation, while filling your pet needs and enriching your life (BOTH of your lives) immensely.  You can have your cake and eat it too, I promise.

That's all.  Just a reminder.  If you like animals, and you figure you might want one in your life, don't forget your local kill shelter, or your local fostering and adopting facilities .  Petfinder.org, y'all.

***

Blurt "co-co-edi tor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose album Look At Life Again Soon and EP, Danger Is, were released by Take Root. Their new Greg Cartwright -produced album Do You Want Power hits stores Sept. 29, and you bet we're gonna have a big feature on the band in our next issue. Check out the band's MySpace page for music and tour dates.

To be the first-ever festival webcast on the YouTube site. Dig those trademarks !

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 , today announced that YouTube^TM will stream live the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival to viewers in the US. The live webcast will be featured on youtube.com/outsid elands beginning Friday, August 28th  - Sun day, August 30th. The festival coverage will include performanc es from Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Thievery Corporatio n, The Dead Weather, Silversun Pickups, Raphael Saadiq, Cage the Elephant, Atmosphere , among others.


The tradition of marrying music and technology continues to be a foundation of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. "We are proud to feature Outside Lands as the first-ever live streamed festival on such a powerful and recognizab le platform as YouTube," said Richard Goodstone of Superfly Production s. Created by Superfly Marketing Group in partnershi p with YouTube and The T-Mobile&r eg; myTouch^TM 3G, the webcast will mark the first time YouTube has streamed a major event live on its website.


"Music and many of the artists performing at Outside Lands have always found a home and audience on YouTube," said Ross Hoffman of YouTube Strategic Partnershi ps.  "We're thrilled to bring this incredible live music festival to everyone in our community who won't be there in-person to experience the show". In addition to live streaming directly from the festival, fans will be able to access an archive of selected performanc es and highlights on Youtube's Outside Lands channel.

South Carolina songwriter offers full album of ace tracks absolutely free.

By Fred Mills

Without a doubt, one of our favorite singer-son gwriters to come down the pike of late is Greenville , SC (by way of Brooklyn, NY) rocker Aaron Berg. That we like him personally as a solid human being doesn't hurt, either. Over the past year or so he's been handing out sundry digital servings of his Love & Coffee Tapes - prior to that came his 2007 EP Songs For Madame X, billed to Aaron Berg & the Heavy Love - and to say that he's a gifted multiinstr umentalist and tunesmith would be an understate ment akin to saying that the late Ted Kennedy was a U.S. Senator.

He's got a little Dylan in him, maybe a little Tom Waits  and Tom Petty too, with a deep, resonant voice that'll click with all the Leonard Cohen and Chuck Prophet fans out there - ladies, were are talkin' deep ‘n' sexy - plus a lyrical outlook that probes the grey edges of life while somehow reasons (as Springstee n or Hardin might put it) to believe. He's playing the blues, in essence, but they're distinctly postmodern blues.

So to convince you, the discerning -but-harri ed music consuming public that he's the real deal, Berg is offering the compiled L&CT into one big digital download, gratis. (Yes, it is FREE of charge, but don't be afraid to use the tip jar, if you're inclined to go by the Radiohead model of pay-what-y ou-like.) Here's the link:

Download 'Love & Coffee Tapes' FREE 14 Song Bootleg EP

According to Berg, "Love & Coffee is my collected bootlegs, demos, rap remixes, and live road tapes. These songs were written in a thousand different places and recorded in garden sheds and motel rooms, on coffee tables and live on stage.  These are frozen accidents of sound drawn together as some kind of record.  Most of these songs were either written or recorded while traveling to California and back. No attempt was made to obscure the creaking chairs, ambient summer garden crickets, open window rain above folk rap freestyle, hazy century old upright pianos...who knows..."

He played most of the parts himself, with a few assists here and there by Mike Bagwell, John Byce and Ira Rosoff.

Tracklisti ng:

1* The Wheel  ; (4:10)
2* Electric Mike's Coffee Table Acid Demo No. 1  (5:49)
3* Madonna Of The Evening Rose  (6:25)
4* Fellowman Blues  ; (3:06)
5* Honey For You  (5:08)
6* Where The River Meets The Sea  (4:18)
7* The Darkness&n bsp; (5:57)
8* Until I See Her Again (2:35)
9* House Of Light  ; (3:26)
10* Darkest Before The Dawn  (3:39)
11* Behind Closed Doors  ; (4:58)
12* The Blue Room  (4:57)
13* Chains&nbs p; (3:47)
14* Freestyle demo of 'Bluest of Blue'  ; (7:36)

Berg additional ly plans to record a new album in Chicago this November for Tight Ship Records, and you can keep track of him (sound samples, tour dates, etc.) via his MySpace page: http://www .myspace.com/thehea vylove

Check him out, and tell him that BLURT sent ya. And have, er, "fun."

Death Of An Indie Bible (or, Adventures with Option Magazine, Pt. 2)

By Johnny Mnemonic

In my last installmen t of Music Journalism 101 I outlined my misadventu res in the land of grunge and honey circa 1991 and how a proposed story on Sub Pop lumberjack s Tad got deep-sixed , frustratin gly, by Option. The magazine operated from 1985 to 1998, publishing 81 issues overall, and at its 1995 peak, according to Wikipedia, had amassed a circulatio n of 27,000. That's not quite at Spin level, and not even in the same universe as Rolling Stone, but still damned respectabl e for what was known in its time as the indie undergroun d's bible.

People tend to remember Option rather fondly, and I'll be the first to admit that I was proud to write for it even though the pay, if adjusted for inflation, probably wasn't any better than writing for online publicatio ns nowadays - which is to say, negligible . Those of you reading this who also reviewed records for the magazine back in the day will recall that reviewers, in lieu of actually payment, got to keep the albums and cassettes sent to them by the editors. But the free music (plus free subscripti on, of course) combined with the ego-buzz of seeing one's byline in print was enough when it was a magazine whose mission you believed in.

Respect from the music community aside, editoriall y speaking, Option was pretty disorganiz ed, and it was hard to get a handle on what, if any, editorial "stance" the publicatio n took other than "if it's independen t, we cover it," which meant one issue you'd see, say, Patti Smith on the cover, an African world-beat artist the next and an obscure British folk artist attempting to make a comeback the next. Cool, but in the long run, not the smartest strategy to employ when trying to make headway at the newsstand. Subscriber s are one thing, and I suspect the magazine had a fairly loyal subscripti on base that re-upped each year. But the habits of newsstand browsers are different, and nowadays even the lowest-cir culation fanzine knows to put a known quantity or semi-famil iar face on the cover (along with names of main feature artists listed on the left-hand side of the cover, not the right, due to the way magazines are displayed) ; otherwise you risk nobody even picking the damned thing up in the first place, and you can't build a brand in a vacuum. Option, to its credit, wised up about this considerab ly during its 13-year run, but I still hear people make the occasional comment about it being "too eclectic for its own good."

As a writer, contending with Option could also be confusing, as one's story pitches seemed to be accepted or rejected on such a random basis that you imagined the editors taping ideas to a giant roulette wheel, spinning it, and making assignment s based on where it stopped. Worse, it wasn't unusual to get an assignment , turn it in, and then wait for it to be published... and wait... and wait... or in the case of the Tad piece, call up the editor only to be told, "Oh, we didn't have room to run it, and now it's too old..."

Too, the head-in-sa nd quality I alluded to in the Tad story could sometimes be perplexing . For all Option's so-called championin g of the music undergroun d, Amerindie and otherwise, it "overlooke d" (or convenient ly ignored) anything that didn't quite measure up to the editors' rarified notions of what was hip. Ergo, the Seattle snub; grunge bands were kinda ratty-look ing, presumably blue collar or worse (we now know that grunge's early white-tras h image was a marketing ruse foisted upon the public by Sub Pop), and - shudder! - borderline heavy metal, therefore very uncool. Option played favorites; for example, you'd always see some avant-gard e Independen t Project Records band or shambling K Records artist being featured (one of this blog's comments, below after the Tad entry, makes a similar observatio n), but only occasional lip service would be given to the skronk/noi se groups of Amphetamin e Reptile, Treehouse and Touch & Go. (For some reason the gnarly, noisy, long-haire d outfits on the SST label were mainstays of Option-land, but hey, SST was headquarte red just down the road from the Option offices in L.A.) Additional ly, a pervasive politicall y correct streak, editoriall y speaking, was impossible to miss; there's nothing wrong with covering females and persons of color, but that sort of lingering Great Society mindset sometimes trumped notions of actual musical worthiness at Option.

This myopia-bre d snobbery extended to the Option choice of cover subjects. Certainly featuring the likes of Sonic Youth and the Meat Puppets early on was admirable, and it wasn't unusual to see (as noted) Patti Smith or Frank Zappa staring out at you from the newsstand down at your local record store where Option was typically sold. (Good choices from a circulatio n point of view, by the way.) As that Option Wikipedia page points out, however, the frequent dialogue among staffers ran along lines of, "Is this artist too popular to be worthy of a cover?" (What do we do if Sonic Youth leaves SST and goes to DGC?) Such navel gazing further resulted in an almost formulaic rotation of non-rock cover subjects to ensure that Option was never perceived as "mainstrea m" or, heaven forbid, "rockist" (more p.c. groupthink there). The comment above about being too eclectic aside, part of Option's appeal, certainly, was how it wore its eclecticis m on the sleeve, that between its covers nearly all genres were considered equals (again, see the Wikipedia entry for more details). But to many who discovered the magazine late during its tenure, it's likely that it did indeed have a somewhat schizophre nic reputation .

The fact that it often relied upon less-than- seasoned writers to provide the bulk of its content didn't help its case either. Nobody who picked up Option was necessaril y expecting The New Yorker, but I distinctly recall getting my copy in the mail from time to time, reading an article, and wondering to myself, "Did anybody even fact-check this?" Plus, the magazine had a tendency to favor certain "pet writers" of dubious talent beyond that of extreme self-promo tion. Without a doubt one of the most annoying music journalist s the ‘80s and ‘90s ever produced was Gina Arnold, whose solipsisti c wet kiss to alternativ e rock, 1993's Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana, remains a low literary point of the era; Arnold penned feature after feature for Option despite all extant evidence that her reporting skills were nil. Having edited publicatio ns in both L.A. and NYC myself, I understand how thousands of writers are out there clamoring for work, and how as a result one tends to rely on a small pool of trusted freelancer s, folks who turn in clean copy, and on time. But they also have to write coherently and cogently, and they need to be mindful of the fact that their readers aren't interested in their personal diary scribbling s (which is how Arnold's pieces invariably came off).

Option began life in ‘85 as an outgrowth of/success or to the late, great OP, which had enjoyed a healthy 26-issue run in the early ‘80s as the first indie music bible prior to founder/pu blisher John Foster imposing a built-in obsolescen ce rule. Two music publicatio ns sprung up in its wake: Sound Choice, a kind of anarchist/ collective -minded mag published by the extraordin arily grumpy and no-busines s-sense-wh atsoever David Ciaffardin i; and Option, founded by Scott Becker (publisher ) and Richie Unterberge r (editor). I'd subscribed to OP (among scores of music fanzines) and faithfully sent in my money to Sound Choice and Option, too. It wouldn't be too long before I offered my services to Option, because while I'd already been reviewing records for Spin and Circus (for pay), I greatly liked the magazine's DIY spirit, and anyway, it was hard to place more than one review every few issues in the other two because the competitio n among freelancer s was so fierce. Option seemed to be a welcoming group of peers.

That "DIY spirit" could be a double-edg ed sword, however. Publisher Becker reportedly had an iron-clad rule that his magazine would not accept pitch calls from record labels' publicists . A pitch call is exactly that: the p.r. agent rings up an editor in order to hype a client or follow up on a record that had previously been mailed to the magazine. In order to increase the chances of landing coverage in the magazine, sometimes the label would also provide what's known in the industry as "swag": free teeshirts, coffee mugs, shot glasses, promotiona l-only releases, and just plain bizarre gee-gaws with vague thematic tie-ins to the artist or the record. (Swag is far less abundant in 2009 as the labels have realized they're just giving editors and writers free eBay fodder.) I personally never saw Becker's rule being implemente d during the times I visited the Option office, but I heard enough complaints from publicists who knew I wrote for Option and were begging me to pitch their artists to the magazine that I have no doubt it existed in some form or another.

So you can add a measure of hubris to the aforementi oned snobbery when tallying up the Option score. Virtually no magazine in the history of entertainm ent coverage ever enforced such a strict mandate, for while a moderate separation between the editorial and advertisin g department s is generally considered good for a publicatio n's ethical health, we're not exactly talking about someone ringing Option up and offering, payola-sty le, to purchase the back cover ad space in exchange for a ten-page feature. In all fairness to record labels, their viewpoint tends to be that they advertise in music magazines where their products will get the most visibility , and there's an expectatio n that at least from time to time those products will be covered. They don't necessaril y expect a positive review (some do, actually), but they still want a fair shot at coverage. That's just the way it works. Imagine someone calling up Option: "Did you get our check and the artwork for the Johnny Mnemonic Blues Band ad?" "Yes we did, and thanks. It will run next issue." "What are the chances of the Mnemonic album getting reviewed?" "CLICK!"

For a magazine in the early ‘90s to play the gatekeeper card to the extreme that Option did, trying to remake the rules in an industry where back-scrat ching and favor-rend ering is not only business as usual but, when done properly, an efficient and mutually beneficial process, was ludicrousl y out of sync with reality. That, an inability to see the music magazine milieu through the eyes of the aforementi oned newsstand browser (it's no coincidenc e that Mojo came on the scene around this time and, with its regular rotation of Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, Stones, Springstee n, etc. for its covers, was wildly successful due to its sheer predictabi lity), and a series of unfortunat e business decisions (notably the launching, in 1995, of sister publicatio n UHF, a glossy "alternati ve fashion" magazine that was a massive, money-suck ing flop and embarrasse d everyone associated with it), all conspired to doom Option.

In mid-'98, we writers received a letter from Becker indicating that Option was temporaril y suspending publicatio n. At the time it was suggested that Option would eventually reincarnat e itself as some sort of combined digital-pr int entity, although Becker's plans were pretty vague, and nothing ever materializ ed. The July-Augus t 2008 issue was the final one.

In light of all the recent music magazine shuttering s, the Option story probably isn't that unusual. It's even likely that, as consumer habits change and markets shift, most if not all magazines will enjoy a finite lifespan; only one in several thousand ever has a shot of lasting long enough to be considered "an institutio n" like Rolling Stone or Vanity Fair. But it did last for 13 lucky years, and a lot of folks, myself included, loved it dearly, which is why being privy to Option's numerous eventual missteps was so frustratin g. In all my conversati ons back in the day with the editors I don't know if I ever leaned across the desk and asked, "Why are you doing this? Have you considered this instead?" - mainly because it wasn't my place to do so. It was their magazine, after all, and they were supposed to know what they were doing.

 By the way, I never got a kill fee for the Tad story, dammit.

***

Johnny Mnemonic is the pseudonym of a "highly-re garded" national writer with, he advises us, over two decades' experience working as a music critic, reporter and editor. We've never met him face-to-fa ce, and he further advises he will be delivering his blogs to us via the "double blind drop-box method," whatever that is, to ensure his anonymity.

Also deploy intriguing marketing gimmick to get you to buy the whole package. Sadly, no bonus tracks.

By Blurt Staff

Kraftwerk celebrate the 35th anniversar y of their landmark 1974 hit ‘Aut obahn' by releasing a special collector' s CD boxset featuring remastered versions of eight albums on October 6^th. It's titled 12345678 The Catalogue.

They have upgraded their Kling Klang masters with the latest studio technology and these eight recordings - alliterati vely billed as "streamlin ed synthetic symphonies standing outside time, as fresh as tomorrow, transcende nt and sublime" - remain across the board classics.

12345678 The Catalogue will be released across the following formats:

*CD Boxset containing 8 x CDs in ‘min i-vinyl' card wallet packaging, plus individual large format booklets. (Due to licensing restrictio ns in the U.S., only five of the eight albums will be released as separate CD editions: Autobahn, Radio-Acti vity, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine and Tour De France (2003). As a result, the only way for fans to own the entire catalogue on CD is to purchase the Box Set.)

*5 x individual CDs in special O-card slipcases featuring newly expanded artwork, including many previously unseen images, all of which have been reproduced to the highest technical standards

*5 x individual heavyweigh t vinyl LPs with large format booklets

*Digital downloads

The band has kindly provided descriptio ns of its back catalogue for those of you who walked in late...

AUTOBAHN (1974)

With its iconic Emil Schult sleeve, Kraftwerk release their internatio nal breakthrou gh album. The symphonic title track, an epic ode to the joys of motorway travel, wraps a mesmerisin g motorik rhythm around a sampled collage of car horns, engine noise, whirring tyres and radio crackle. In edited form, it becomes a revolution ary hit single around the world.

Elsewhere, in wordless industrial folk music, the band reveal both their light and dark sides - ‘Mit ternacht' is all creeping midnight shadows, while ‘Mor genspazier gang' is fresh with morning dew and birdsong. Two versions of ‘Kom etenmelodi e', one a starkly gothic prowl, the other a sunny electro boogie, provide further instrument al sound paintings. Pure and strong and bold, Kraftwerk compose cinema for the ears. The pop world falls in love with them.

RADIO-ACTI VITY (1975)

Kraftwerk embrace the atomic age with mixed emotions. Surfing on sine waves,&nbs p;scanning the stratosphe re for stray radio signals, they plug themselves into a buzzing grid of energy and communicat ion. From the stately eco-angst anthem ‘Rad ioactivity ' to the synthetic Gregorian chants of ‘Rad io Stars' and the melancholy machine procession al of ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm', a sombre but engrossing monumental ism dominates. With heavily processed vocals in both German and English, Kraftwerk go global with depth and majesty. If factories and power stations are the new cathedrals , they write liturgies for a new industrial epoch.

TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS (1977)

Kraftwerk celebrate Europe's romantic past and shimmering future with a glistening panorama of elegance and decadence, travel and technology . The infinite vistas of ‘Eur ope Endless' and ‘End less Endless' bookend the album, which includes the unsettling Kafka-esqu e fable ‘The Hall Of Mirrors' and the hilarious ‘Sho wroom Dummies' - Kraftwerk' s elegantly ironic reply to critiques of their deadpan manner. But it is the streamline d rhythmic locomotive of ‘Tra ns Europe Express' which dominates with its d oppler-eff ect melodic swerves and hypnotic, pneumatic, piston-pum ping rhythm. Along with its sister track, ‘Met al On Me tal' which New York DJ Afrika Bambaataa would re-constru ct five years later for his own seminal ‘Pla net Rock', this milestone in avant-pop modernism later becomes a crucial influence on the early pioneers of hip-hop & sampling, electro&nb sp;and industrial music. Poetry in motion.

THE MAN MACHINE (1978)

A bold new look, sound and concept for Kraftwerk. Over supple processed rhythms which predate the rise of European techno and trance, they address automation and alienation , space travel and engineerin g, the seductive& nbsp;allur e of urban landscapes and the vacant glamour of celebrity. Clipped and funky, ‘The Robots' adds another dimension to Kraftwerk' s ultra-dry sense of humour. Behind its intoxicati ng melodic pulse, ‘The Model' is a highly prophetic satire on the beauty industry, so ahead of its time that it only becomes a UK chart-topp er by accident three years later. And ‘Neo n Lights' is Kraftwerk' s most achingly romantic song to date, a sci-fi lullaby for cities at twilight. Pure magic.

COMPUTER WORLD (1981)

Kraftwerk beam themselves into the future by writing about home computers, online dating and globalised electronic surveillan ce years before these phenomena truly come into being. A journey into the bright hopes and dark fears of the booming microchip revolution , ‘Com puter World' is a serenely beautiful and almost seamless collage of sensual melodies and liquid beatscapes . Tracks like ‘Num bers' and ‘Poc ket Calculator ', with their weightless bleeps and elastic beats, predict the silky rhythms of Chicago house and inspire a generation of Detroit techno artists. Kraftwerk' s fanfare for the silicon age still sounds ageless, timeless and throbbing with invention.

TECHNO POP (1986)

Kraftwerk return from five years of silence to reclaim their throne as leaders of a machine-po p revolution that they themselves began over a decade before. Their ‘Tec hno Pop' album, first released under the name ‘Ele ctric Café ;' but now restored to its originally intended title, provides a 360-degree overview of a multi-ling ual, multi-chan nel, musically diverse global village.

From the block-rock ing beats of ‘Boi ng Boom Tschack' to the electronic funk and computer animation of ‘Mus ique Non Stop', Kraftwerk soar into the digital age. Their first excursion into digital recording finds both beauty and unease in a polyglot world of permanent media overload. Once again, Dusseldorf 's test pilots of the musical future effortless ly break new ground.

THE MIX (1991)

Kraftwerk' s first fully digital album confirmed their clubland credential s and reworked 11 of their best-loved tunes for a new generation . Painstakin gly reconstruc ted and sequenced in the band's Kling Klang studio, new versions&n bsp;of tracks like ‘The Robots', ‘Tra ns Europe Express' and ‘Hom e Computer' now feature more funky rhythms and cleaned-up , liquid-cry stal sounds. A stark warning about pollution at Sellafield is added to the glistening overhaul of ‘Rad ioactivity ', sparking a war of words with British Nuclear Fuels. But most of all, ‘The Mix' is a career-spa nning collection of legendary electro anthems and a classy acknowledg ment of the two-way traffic between Kraftwerk and club culture.

TOUR DE FRANCE (2003)

The year 2003 marked the centenary of the Tour de France, the conceptual starting line for Kraftwerk' s first album for over a decade. Although it features an immaculate new version of a 20-year-ol d former single, the exquisitel y graceful ‘Tou r de France', pop nostalgia is not on the menu. From the chunky cyber-funk of ‘Vit amin' to the restless metallic shimmers of ‘A&e acute;ro Dynamik', this is emphatical ly the sound of 21st century techno visionarie s.

Because they have a re-recorde d/recyled greatest hits set due soon that includes two new cuts.

By Blurt Staff

429 Records (part of the Savoy Label Group, today announced the signing of Portland-b ased alt-rock mainstays Everclear to the label. First up from the marriage: In A Different Light, a collection of newly interprete d recordings of some of their greatest hits. 

The album also includes two new Art Alexakis-p enned songs, "Here Comes the Darkness" and "At the End of the Day." The record drops Oct. 6 and will be supported by a U.S. tour that kicks off Oct. 5, dates tba. Also, fans can expect a collection of all new songs in the spring of 2010 courtesy of 429 Records.  The band will embark on an extensive spring/sum mer tour around its release. 

The record is described as "a fresh and intimate take on multi-plat inum selling Everclear' s most popular songs." To wit: 

Learning How To Smile

Santa Monica

I Will Buy You A New Life

Summerland

Everything To Everyone

Wonderful

Here Comes The Darkness

Father Of Mine

Rock Star

Fire Maple Song

At The End Of The Day

Announces all royalties will go to the Feeding America organizati on. That's some Santa Claus.

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, Bob Dylan will release a brand new album of holiday songs, Christmas In The Heart, on October 13 via his longtime label Columbia Records.  All of the artist's U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to Feeding America (http://fee dingameric a.org), guaranteei ng that more than four million meals will be provided to more than 1.4 million people in need in this country during this year's holiday season. &nbs p; Bob Dylan is also donating all of his future U.S. royalties from this album to Feeding America in perpetuity .

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Additional ly, the artist is partnering with two internatio nal charities to provide meals during the holidays for millions in need in the United Kingdom and the developing world, and will be donating all of his future internatio nal royalties from Christmas In The Heart to those organizati ons in perpetuity .  Details regarding the internatio nal partnershi ps will be announced next week.

 &nbs p; &n bsp; "When we reached out to Bob Dylan about becoming involved with our organizati on, we could never have anticipate d that he would so generously donate all royalties from his forthcomin g album to our cause," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. "This major initiative from such a world renowned artist and cultural icon will directly benefit so many people and have a major impact on spreading awareness of the epidemic of hunger in this country and around the world."

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Bob Dylan commented, "It's a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone -- 12 million of those children - often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from.  I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season."

 &nbs p; &n bsp; Christmas In The Heart will be the 47^th album from Bob Dylan, and follows his worldwide chart-topp ing Together Through Life, released earlier this year.  Songs performed by Dylan on this new album include, "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Winter Wonderland ," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Must Be Santa."

A message from Feeding America:

"Feeding America provides low-income individual s and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive.  As the nation's largest domestic hunger-rel ief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors.  Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks supports 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.  For more informatio n how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingame rica.org ."

But the previously announced world tour is still on.

By Blurt Staff

With the recent news of Massive Attack's new studio album now in flux - the tentativel y titled Weather Undergroun d was slated for October, but now it's due next February - word arrives that the band will still be dropping their first new material in three years on Oct. 6 via Virgin.

It's an EP of four new tracks. The lead song "Splitting The Atom" features Robert Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G) and Horace Andy, while TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe guests on "Pray For Rain". The EP also has remixes of two new tracks; "Psyche" featuring Martina Topley-Bir d is given the re-rub by Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid who have recently remixed Bat For Lashes and The Big Pink, while the Guy Garvey fronted "Bulletpro of Love" is stripped back to a minimalist reworking by Christoff Berg, who alongside Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid produced the Fever Ray eponymous album.

Meanwhile, the upcoming full-lengt h will feature collaborat ions with Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bir d, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe.

Earlier this year, Massive Attack won the Outstandin g Contributi on to British Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards.  Massive Attack will headline this year's Bestival on Friday, September 11th ahead of their first full UK tour in three years that begins on September 17th in London. Check www.massiveatt ack.com for dates and details.


EP Tracklisti ng:

1. &nbs p; &n bsp;  Splitting The Atom
2. &nbs p; &n bsp;  Pray For Rain
3. &nbs p; &n bsp;  Bulletproo f Love (Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid Remix)
4. &nbs p; &n bsp;  Psyche (Flash Treatment)

A gift for the fans...

By Blurt Staff

New album drops in October, accompanie d by brief US tour.

By Blurt Staff

Toronto's Do Make Say Think drops their sixth studio album Other Truths October 20th on Constellat ion Records. Together for about 14 years now, they've crafted a typically sensory-as saulting epic that comprises but 4 songs - cheekily titled "Do," "Make," "Say," and "Think" - each, as you imagine, a lengthy extrapolat ion. This ain't no 6-minute EP, in other words.

Bucking the trend towards diminishin g attention spans, immediate gratificat ion, snappy digital singles and things that go 'pop' right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating multi-move ment instrument al works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowin g with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm , shot through with ineffable soul. The album represents the first time since the band's debut (recorded over a dozen years ago) that they have found themselves with an entire collection of songs that unfold so organicall y over long duration.

The backstory: Do Make Say Think has always managed to gather, balance and synthesize various poles simultaneo usly - ragged/pre cise, dirty/clea n, atmospheri c/ stratosphe ric - forging sonic narratives that combine broad strokes and clusters of detail. Perhaps more than their overtly 'post-mode rn' comminglin g of various musical genres (psych, jazz, dub, folk) this less conspicuou s, indefinabl e ability to maintain such a consistent ly enthrallin g fusion of instincts is the true mark of the band, yielding a music that sounds and feels so unforced, natural and human. Certainly a key part of this unquantifi able equation is the band's self-produ ction, which has shaped their sound from the beginning, and grown along with it. Led by Ohad Benchetrit and his home studio Th' Schvitz in Toronto, along with Charles Spearin and Justin Small, DMST has developed a canny and novel toolbox of recording and mixing techniques that contribute s significan tly to their sonic identity.

Other Truths will be available on CD in a custom gatefold cardstock jacket and in a first pressing on deluxe 180gLP that includes a limited edition poster (unique to the LP package), an artwork insert printed on heavyweigh t translucen t paper and a CD copy of the album all packed in a thick 24pt. paperboard record jacket. The album is also available digitally.

Tracklisti ng:

1. Do
2. Make
3. Say
4. Think

Tour Dates:

10-Sept-09 Wordless Music Festival - Miller Theatre (Columbia University )  &nbs p; Ne w York
25-Nov-09 Sala Rossa  &nbs p; Mo ntreal  &nbs p; CA  &nbs p; 
26-Nov-09 Sala Rossa  &nbs p; Mo ntreal  &nbs p; CA  &nbs p; 
27-Nov-09 Middle East Downstairs  &nbs p; Ca mbridge, MA
28-Nov-09 Music Hall Of Williamsbu rg  &nbs p; Br ooklyn, NY  &nbs p; 
30-Nov-09 First Unitarian Church  &nbs p; Ph iladelphia  &nbs p; 
01-Dec-09 Rock and Roll Hotel  &nbs p; Wa shington DC
02-Dec-09 Brillobox Pittsburgh , PA
03-Dec-09 Crofoot Ballroom  &nbs p; Po ntiac, MI
04-Dec-09 Schubas Tavern  &nbs p; Ch icago, IL  

Four concerts represent the Lizard King's final NYC performanc es prior to his death.

By Blurt Staff

Rhino and Doors vault label Bright Midnight Archives will release four performanc es from The Doors' final tour as Live In New York on Nov. 10. The latest addition to the band's series of archival concert releases, this six-disc collection contains all four of The Doors' performanc es - in their entirety - recorded in 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. An exclusive stream of "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" from the second show on January 17, 1970 will premiere at spinner.com beginning today, Aug. 27.

All four shows were mixed and mastered by the band's longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows from The Doors' 1970 tour on multi-trac k tape for the Absolutely Live album. While most of the music contained on Live In New York is unreleased , a few songs (and portions of songs) surfaced in 1970 on Absolutely Live and in 1997 on The Doors Box Set. These shows represent The Doors' final New York City performanc es with Morrison, who passed away July 3, 1971. (Intriguin gly, while the box set will go for a whopping 90 bucks, a digital version featuring "select highlights " from all four Felt Forum shows will also be available at all digital retail outlets for $9.99.)

Here's the scoop, courtesy Rhino:

Recorded January 17 and 18, 1970 - just a few weeks before the release of Morrison Hotel - these concerts find Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek locked in tight as they deliver smoking takes on soon-to-be -classics from their forthcomin g album, including "Roadhouse Blues," "Peace Frog," "Ship Of Fools," and "Maggie M'Gill." The shows also feature a number of driving blues covers, such as Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster," and John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake." "Those were the bluesy songs we always used to do," Krieger says. "We probably hadn't done them in years, but we resurrecte d them for these shows."

The year prior to these shows, The Doors became one of the first rock bands to play New York City's Madison Square Garden. When they returned in 1970, Densmore says they chose to play the Felt Forum, a smaller venue at the Garden. "It was more intimate, and you could feel the audience more," he says. "There was more interactio n, and the acoustics were much better, because it was designed for music."

Manzarek hails these shows as a return to the group's early days, when they used to play a small Los Angeles club called the London Fog. "I mean, talk about going back to basics. We used to do four sets a night at the London Fog, and we only had a small block of songs written up to that time. So we would do other people's material. And in New York, it was like the same thing. We've got four shows to play here, two sets tonight, two sets tomorrow night. Let's play whatever we want! Let's just go!"

And go they did. Along with a mix of then-unhea rd new songs and old covers, the band also tapped into its 1967, self-title d debut, peppering the set lists with signature songs such as "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," "Soul Kitchen," "The End," and "Light My Fire," The Doors' first #1 hit.For the final show of the Felt Forum stand, the band was joined onstage by two guests - The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian (who played harmonica on the studio version of "Roadhouse Blues") and drummer Dallas Taylor, who'd played on Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut. Sebastian sat in for "Rock Me" and was joined by Taylor for "Going To N.Y. Blues" and "Maggie M'Gill."

Prior to the release of LIVE IN NEW YORK, Rhino will release 180-gram vinyl versions of all six Doors studio albums on September 15. Previously available only in 2007's The Doors Vinyl Box, original stereo mixes of The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun, The Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel, and L.A. Woman will now be available individual ly at all vinyl retail outlets.

Track Listing:

Disc 1

January 17, 1970 (First Show)

1. Start Of Show
2. "Roadhouse Blues"
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"
5. Tuning
6. "Peace Frog"
7. "Blue Sunday"
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Love Hides"*
11. "Five To One"*
12. Tuning/Bre ather
13. "Who Do You Love"
14. "Little Red Rooster"
15. "Money"
16. Tuning
17. "Light My Fire"*
18. More, More, More
19. "Soul Kitchen"*
20. End Of Show

Disc 2

January 17, 1970 (Second Show)

1. Start Show 2
2. Jim "How Ya Doing?"
3. "Roadhouse Blues"
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. "Ship Of Fools"
6. "Crawling King Snake"
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
8. "Back Door Man"*
9. "Five To One"
10. Pretty Neat, Pretty Good
11. "Build Me A Woman"
12. Tuning/Bre ather
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Tuning/Bre ather
15. "Wild Child"*
16. Cheering/T uning
17. "When The Music's Over"

Disc 3

January 17, 1970 (Second Show) continued

1. Tuning/Bre ather
2. "Light My Fire"*
3. Hey, Mr. Light Man!
4. "Soul Kitchen"*
5. Jim's Fish Joke
6. "The End"
7. End Of Show

Disc 4

January 18, 1970 (Third Show)

1. Start Show 3
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. Tuning/Bre ather
6. "Universal Mind"*
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" - False Start*
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Five To One"
11. Tuning/Bre ather
12. "Moonlight Drive"
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Calling Out For Songs
15. "Money"*
16. Tuning/Bre ather
17. "Light My Fire"
18. More, More More
19. "When The Music's Over"*
20. Good Night - End Show

Disc 5

January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show)

1. Start Show 4
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Peace Frog"*
4. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
5. "Back Door Man"
6. "Five To One"
7. We Have A Special Treat
8. "Celebrati on Of The Lizard"
9. Alright Let's Boogie
10. "Build Me A Woman"
11. "When The Music's Over"*
12. More, More, More

Disc 6

January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show) continued

1. "Soul Kitchen"*
2. For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic
3. Petition The Lord With Prayer
4. "Light My Fire"
5. Only When The Moon Comes Out
6. "Close To You"
7. The Encore Begins
8. "Rock Me"*
9. What To Do Next?
10. "Going To N.Y. Blues"*
11. Tuning/Bre ather
12. "Maggie M'Gill"*
13. Tuning/Bre ather
14. "Gloria"*/ End Of Show

*Previousl y unreleased

Digital-on ly EP doesn't have any topless women, but it DOES have Bill Laswell...

By Blurt Staff

BLURT blogger (and musician, and noted producer) Martin Bisi releases Son Of A Gun, a digital-on ly 5-song follow up to his Sirens Of The Apocalypse (CD) from earlier this year. It's due next month from Contraphon ic. On Son Of A Gun, Bisi brings in musicians from his extended revolving line-up at live shows - long time collaborat or Bill Laswell, and members of The Dresden Dolls, Fiery Furnaces, Balkan Beat Box, and World Inferno Friendship Society.

Son Of A Gun, whose cover is a surreal image of Bisi with a rifle, is thematical ly on the other side of the coin from Sirens Of Apocalypse . Where as the topless women on the cover of Sirens reveal an outward gaze into society, Son Of A Gun is more self-refer ential.

Two songs on the EP are meant to be sister tracks - "Mile High- Apple of My Eye," featuring Bill Laswell on bass, and "Mile High-Forma ldehyde" with Brian Viglione from The Dresden Dolls on drums. The two "Mile High" tracks share a lot of identical lyrics and are directed at the similariti es between Bisi and his daughter - "You share my design."

"Rise Up Cowboy" philosophi cally refers to a masculine presence and archtype that Bisi finds within himself, and ubiquitous ly in the world. "Rise Up Cowboy" is embellishe d with very ambient sax by Peter Hess from Balkan Beat Box and World Inferno Friendship society, and features Bob D'amico, the regular drummer for Fiery Furnaces. D'amico also plays on "Drink Your Wine."

Busty stars reunite for new women-in-p rison film... soundtrack features music from Combustibl e Edison and Guns N' Roses alumni... sadly, it's rated "R" so all you BLURT readers will have to get your parents to take you!

By Blurt Staff

Buxom cult legends&nb sp;Tura Satana (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and Kitten Natividad (Russ Meyer's UP!) will, ahem, bust out of the silver screen in Sugar Boxx, a new women-in-p rison film opening September 5^th. An authentic homage to 1970's women-in-p rison and grindhouse movies,&nb sp;Sugar Boxx also features a rare appearance by the godfather of 1970's exploitati on film, writer/dir ector  ;Jack Hill (Coffy, Foxy Brown, Big Bird Cage).

The film stars Geneviere Anderson (Star Trek), The'la "Rain" Brown (VH1's&nbs p;Flavor Of Love), and Hollywood great Jacqueline Scott (Charley Varrick, Macabre). Its musical score boasts contributi ons by The Millionair e of Combustibl e Edison fame and Steven Adler, formerly of Guns-N-Ros es.

SUGAR BOXX  premieres in Los Angeles on September 5^th for an exclusive engagement at Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatres. The sexy and violent old-school exploitati on feature will also make a simultaneo us "Video On Demand" world premiere in September as well.

Further informatio n and trailers are available at www.sugarboxx.com. You can view the "Theatrica l" trailer, the "Exploitat ion" trailer (also posted, below) or a special one featuring Tura Satana offering her special brand of testimonia l. Keep your eyes peeled for shower scenes and catfights... and watch out when that "powder keg" explodes, boys.

You know the drill... taking our cue from Seth Godin with the idea that what unites us is more than music -- basically, if we share the same taste in music, we likely share the same taste in other stuff, as seemingly useless as it occasional ly may be. Hence, this month's compendium :

Stuff That's Kept Me from Losing My Mind This Summer

1. Harry Potter Hangover



Seriously. It happens to me every summer. Another book comes out so I have to read all of the previous books again just to remember what the hell is going on. Same deal with the films. So in advance of the Half-Blood Prince's release, it was the usual deal: start reading around midnight, can't put the damn thing down til roughly 4 AM = bags under the eyes daily.

I don't know who that kid is but I like it.

2. Air Rifle



Friggin cool. My parents pulled it out of the basement and it was love at first shot. That's my dad (sporting silk boxers with silver dragons) getting in touch with his inner badass. Forgot to take one of me. I did good. Everyone should have one of these things. Yes, I'm still a Democrat [...]

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.

"Expect something unusual": Participat ing artists include TROUBLE (Sam Hillmer & Laura Paris) // Calvin Johnson // Screaming Females // Mick Barr // Up Died Sound // Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities // Alexis Gideon // Ty Segal // Regattas // Nine 11 Thesaurus // Sam Mickens // Dome Theater // Mike Pride // Extra life // Pygmy Shrews // Effi Breist // John Fell Ryan // The Coathanger s // Desolation Wilderness // Random Cutting // Excepter // Symbol // Zs // Arrington Dionyso // Dan Friel // Mega Calderos // Chuck Bettis // Pterodacty l // Normal Love // Vaz // Make A Rising // Clan of the Cave Bear // Electroput as // High Red Center // The Sian Alice Group // The Present // Loud Objects // Grooms // Symbol // Shooting Spires // Crash Diet Crew // Videohippo s

By Blurt Staff

You Are Here (The Maze) is a performanc e festival in a sculptural maze taking place at Williamsbu rg's Death By Audio venue (49 South 2^nd St, Brooklyn) from September 10 - October 2, 2009, with performanc es starting each evening at 9pm and running late.

 Emph asizing the sprawling and interconne cted nature of New York's undergroun d, a trip through the maze offers a peak inside NYC's diy art/music scene. A meditation on passage and desire, You Are Here engulfs the space and presents beckoning inhabitant s, dead ends, and uplifting epitaphs. Medium and genre vary and overlappin g and simultaneo us performanc es are frequent, each performer establishi ng a different corner or dead end as his or hers. Participat ing artists in the 3-week festival include Calvin Johnson, Screaming Females, Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities, Zs, Excepter, Mick Barr, The Coathanger s, Knyfe Hyts, The Present, Loud Objects, Grooms, Effi Briest, Extra Life, Mike Pride, Dan Friel, Ninjasonik , Vaz, Pygmy Shrews, Nine 11 Thesaurus, and many many others.

For more informatio n, visit: www.myspace.com/youare heremaze

The tentative schedule is below, although the You Are Here organizers hasten to add that it's all intended to "subvert prefab expectatio ns for both audiences and performers -there is no prescribed order, start time or end time, duration, location of performanc e, relation of audience to performers , and so on. All of the participat ing artists have been asked to create something site-speci fic since the performanc es will, in fact, take place within the maze. Audiences will be asked only to expect something unusual."

Maze Schedule

Thursday 9.10.09

Skeletons Big Band
Knyfe Hyts
Pterodacty l
Gowns
Dan Friel
Social Junk
Mincement
+Delicious Beverages

Friday 9.11.09

The Sian Alice Group
Nine 11 Thesaurus
Experiment al Dental School
Reading Rainbow
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.12.09

Extra Life
Lichens
Pygmy Shrews
Up Died Sound
SETH (jeff and lala from excepter)
Interdepen dence Project
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.13.09

The Present
Opsvik & Jennings
Rich Johnson
Blast Off!
+Delicious Beverages

Monday 9.14.09

Calvin Johnson
Arrington Dionyso
Desolation Wildnernes s
Regattas
City Center

Tuesday 9.15.09

Loud Objects
Twisty Cat
Random Cutting
Mega Calderos
Aftermath

Wednesday 9.16.09

White Suns
Chaos Magic
Little Big
Buckets of Bile
Bird Music

Thursday 9.17.09

Grooms
Videohippo s
Starring
PC Worship
Anamanaguc hi
Dome Theater

Friday 9.18.09

Ty Segal
The Mantles
The Holy Experiment
BJ Rubin
Worlddance around
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.19.09

High Red Center
Alexis Gideon
Make A Rising
Shelly Short
Ribbons
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.20.09

Vaz
Clan of the Cave Bear
Necking
Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk
+Delicious Beverages

Monday 9.21.09

Sam Mickens/Mi ke Pride Duo
Jantar
Nsumi
Tbd

Tuesday 9.22.09

Drummer's Corpse
Hunter Gatherer
Aaron Seigel
Meredith Arena

Wednesday 9.23.09

Shooting Spires
Legs
Grafitti Monsters
Crime Novels
Lord Easy

Thursday 9.24.09

Sam Hillmer/ Arrington Dionsyo Duo
Charlie Looker
Daniel Carter Quartet
Total Bolsheviks

Friday 9.25.09

Effi Briest
Electroput as
Regattas
Chuck Bettis / Mario Diaz de Leon
BJ Rubin
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

Saturday 9.26.09

The Sleepy Doug Shaw
Hannah Marcus / Tianna Kennedy
The Screaming Females
Cheap Ventilator s
The Weird Fantasy Band
+Delicious Beverages

Sunday 9.27.09

Symbol
Laurel Halo
The Slowest Runner in the World
Post Abortion Stress

Monday 9.28.09

Telecult powers
Syn. Toffs
Bassoon
Alterazion i Video Collective

Tuesday 9.29.09

The Coathanger s
Nervehunt (Justin from Teeth Mountain / Ryan from Wavves)
Xray Eyeballs
Swimmingci tiesoceano fblood

Wednesday 9.30.09

Nymph
Emma Kupa (of Standard Fare)
Ava Luna

Thursday 10.1.09

Crash Diet Crew
Cntrl Top
Hotchacha
Islands Eyelids
Deborah Karp/ Meredith Arena

Friday 10.2.09

Zs
Excepter
Mick Barr
Noveller
BJ Rubin
Dome Theater
+Delicious Beverages

For fans of Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, String Cheese Incident, Del McCoury Band and more.

By Blurt Staff

Hard-twang ing, string-ben ding Minnesota roots band Trampled by Turtles, are headed out on a 40+ date fall tour. The coast to coast run will have them on the road literally up to Christmas so you have no excuse not to catch ‘em along the way. They'll be supporting their recently-r eleased Duluth album.

If you need convincing , check out some songs at their sites:

www.trampledby turtles.com

www.myspace.com/trampl edbyturtle s

Separating the band from the pack is the contrast of their lightening fast punk-influ enced barn-burne rs and their lonesome Townes Van Zandt-insp ired ballads. As Artvoice Buffalo put it, ""Their most recent release, Duluth, mirrors the raw intensity of their live performanc es, which are sure to leave audiences simultaneo usly raising hell and crying in their beers."

They'll buy you a beer, too.

Tour Dates:

August 30 | River City Roots Festival | Missoula, MT
August 31 | Urban Lounge | Salt Lake City, UT
September 2 |Alive After Five | Boise, ID
September 4 | Pig Out in the Park | Spokane, WA
September 5 & 6 | Chilliwack Bluegrass Festival | Chilliwack , BC
September 9 | Oak Park Theater | Minot, ND
September 10 | West End Cultural Centre | Winnipeg, MB
September 12 | Harvest Festival | Clarks Grove, MN
September 19 | Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion | Bristol, TN
October 11 | Middle East | Cambridge, MA
October 12 | Monkey House | Winooski, VT
October 14 | 92 Y Tribeca | New York, NY
October 15 | Iron Horse | Northampto n, MA
October 16 | Narrows Center | Fall River, MA
October 17 | The Ale House | Troy, NY
October 18 | A.B.C. | Harrisburg , PA
October 20 | IOTA Club | Arlington, VA
October 21 | Pour House | Raleigh, NC
October 22 | Whitehorse Black Mountain | Black Mountain, NC
October 23 | Smith's | Atlanta, GA
October 24 | Deep Roots Festival | Milledgevi lle, GA
November 6 | First Avenue | Minneapoli s, MN
November 10 | Shank Hall | Milwaukee, WI
November 11 | High Noon | Madison, WI
November 12 | Radio Radio | Indianapol is, IN
November 13 | TBA | Kentucky
November 14 | Blueberry Hill | St. Louis, MO
November 19 | Red Carpet | St. Cloud, MN
November 20 | The Aquarium | Fargo, ND
November 21 | Ramkota Hall | Sioux Falls, SD
November 28 | TBA | Chicago, IL
December 4 | Doug Fir | Portland, OR
December 5 | Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA
December 6 | Sam Bond's Garage | Eugene, OR
December 7 | TBA | Ashland, OR
December 9 | TBA | Arcata, CA
December 11 | TBA | Santa Cruz, CA
December 12 | TBA | San Francisco, CA
December 14 | Urban Lounge | Salt Lake City, UT
December 16 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
December 17 | Hodi's Half Note | Fort Collins, CO
December 18 | Bluebird Theater | Denver, CO
December 19 | Bluebird Theater | Denver, CO

Perhaps released to combat an already-is sued bootleg DVD, hmm?

By Blurt Staff

According to the press release, "Nirvana's August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK's Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock'n'rol l."  If that's the case, bootlegger s be damned, because a licensed copy of that entire performanc e -- color-corr ected video from the original film and improved audio matering-- will soon be available. Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued in a limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurat ions on November 3, 2009, followed by a 2 LP version on November 17, 2009.

 &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; &n bsp;   &nbs p; 

While much of the show was a performanc e of the Nevermind tracklist, also noteworthy were early performanc es of "All Apologies, " "Dumb," and in its first ever public performanc e, "tourette' s." You'll also note on the track listin gbelow covers by the Wipers and Fang(!) as well as older numbers from Bleach.

 

Only 2 of the 25 performanc es on the DVD have ever been released before.

 

Nirvana Live At Reading DVD:

1. &nbs p; &n bsp; Breed

2. &nbs p; &n bsp; Drain You

3. &nbs p; &n bsp; Aneurysm

4. &nbs p; &n bsp; School

5. &nbs p; &n bsp; Sliver

6. &nbs p; &n bsp; In Bloom

7. &nbs p; &n bsp; Come As You Are

8. &nbs p; &n bsp; Lithium

9. &nbs p; &n bsp; About A Girl

10. &nbs p; tourette's

11. &nbs p; Polly

12. &nbs p; Lounge Act

13. &nbs p; Smells Like Teen Spirit

14. &nbs p; On A Plain

15. &nbs p; Negative Creep

16. &nbs p; Been A Son

17. &nbs p; All Apologies

18. &nbs p; Blew

19. Dumb

20. Stay Away

21. Spank Thru

22. Love Buzz*

23. The Money Will Roll Right In

24. D-7

25. Territoria l Pissings


 

*not included on CD

Incidental ly, earlier this year a bootleg DVD of the same show was released titled Life Take No Prisoners. You can compare the tracklisti ng, below, to the official release:

01. The Rose/Intro
02. Breed
03. Drain You
04. Aneurysm
05. School
06. Sliver
07. In Bloom
08. Come As You Are
09. Lithium
10. About A Girl
11. Tourette's
12. Polly
13. Lounge Act
14. More Than A Feeling/Sm ells Like Teen Spirit
15. On A Plain
16. Negative Creep
17. Been A Son
18. All Apologies
19. Blew
20. Dumb
21. Stay Away
22. Spank Thru
23. Love Buzz
24. The Money Will Roll Right In
25. D-7
26. Territoria l Pissings
27. The Star Spangled Banner

Padded Cell, Prince Language and others do the deed...

By Blurt Staff

DFA Records will release a brand new collection of remixes of the classic LCD Soundsyste m musical epic 45:33 as a series of vinyl 12 inch singles this Summer before releasing the whole set as a CD/Downloa d album on September 15th.

One of the most unique pieces of modern dance music ever released, 45.33 was originally a one off collaborat ion on iTunes for Nike, but was subsequent ly released on and expanded CD & Vinyl in its own right in Nov '07 due to overwhelmi ng demand.

James Murphy (LCD Soundsyste m, DFA Records founder etc) is currently in the studio recording the follow-up to 2007's massively critically acclaimed Sound Of Silver album, set to drop in early 2010.  

45:33 was integral to shaping Sound Of Silver, and here segments & parts of the record have been lovingly and respective ly re-interpr eted by some of dance music's most innovative players. The Tracklisti ng is as follows:
 


1. Runaway Remix
2. Prince Language Remix
3. Prins Thomas Diskomiks Remix
4. Theo Parrish's Space Cadet Remix
5. Trus' Me Remix
6. Padded Cell Remix
7. Pilooski Remix
8. Riley Reinhold Remix  

First new material the band has cut since 1992. Limited string of shows so don't miss your chance.

By Blurt Staff

Legendary Chicago punks Naked Raygun announce east coast dates and a 7" vinyl series this fall. They recently made their first trip into a recording studio in over a decade (this is the first new material since 1992 and first recording since 1997), tracking at Transient Sound in Chicago. The songs will be released as a series of 7" records, the first of which is available for presale at www.RiotFest.org - fans will receive exclusive free stuff and mp3 download card with early purchase. The band plans East Coast dates in September; will headline Riot Fest Chicago in October before getting down to work on their new album, due in 2010.  The tour hits cities Naked Raygun hasn't played in almost twenty years; joining them on the tour are Philadelph ia hardcore stars Paint It Black and Chicago's own Shot Baker. 

Easily the most influentia l band bursting forth from the initial Chicago punk rock explosion, Naked Raygun also holds the distinctio n of being the longest running.  When many of their peers were either breaking up or going metal in the mid-to-lat e 1980s, Naked Raygun soldiered on with their trademark sound, combining infectious vocal melodies with muscular guitar and a precision rhythm section.  Echoes of the golden era of Raygun sound can be heard in punk rock circles worldwide.

The band broke up in 1992 and save for a one-off reunion in 1997 to celebrate the release of the Last of the Demohicans collection , stayed inactive while band members tended to family business and occasional ly other musical projects such as The Bomb and Pegboy.

In the fall of 2006 drummer Eric Spicer began to get the itch to play the old songs again and gathered the guys together again to reunite for Riot Fest in Chicago.  The overwhelmi ng response from the sold out crowd of four thousand prompted Naked Raygun to re-form permanentl y with their final lineup of Spicer, Bill Stephens on guitar, Pierre Kezdy on bass and Jeff Pezzati on vocals.

Naked Raygun returned to action by playing shows across the Midwest and embarking on their first West Coast tour in over a decade with Bay Area legends the Swingin' Utters.  The band also released their first DVD via Riot Fest Records, entitled "What Poor Gods We Do Make."  The CD/DVD package combined a documentar y covering the lifespan of the band with performanc es from their sold out performanc e at Riot Fest 2006.

During a recent two night stand at the House of Blues in Chicago, Naked Raygun debuted their first new songs in seventeen years. Watc h for ‘em. 

Tour Dates:

September 9, 2009

The Mideast (Cambridge , MA)

with Paint it Black, Shot Baker

18+ - tickets $15.00 - Showtime TBA

http://www .mideastclu b.com/

September 10, 2009

First Unitarian Church (Philadelp hia, PA)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

7:30pm - $12.00 - all ages

http://www .r5producti ons.com/

September 11, 2009

Ottobar (Baltimore , MD)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Doors 7pm Show 8pm - $15.00adv $17.00 doors - all ages

www.ottobar.com

September 12, 2009

The Music Hall of Williamsbu rg (Brooklyn, NY)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Show 8pm, $15.00 - 16 and over

http://www .musichallo fwilliamsb urg.com/search

September 13, 2009

Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ)

with Paint It Black, Shot Baker

Show 8pm Tickets $15.00 adv $17.00 doors

http://www .maxwellsnj .com/

Also getting profiled in a certain rock mag very soon...

By Blurt Staff

Getting ready for that David Bazan (ex-Pedro the Lion) CD Curse Your Branches that drops next week via Barsuk? Watch for a review of it at the BLURT site, and also keep your eyes peeled for the next print issue of BLURT, due late September, with an exclusive interview and profile for Bazan. We sent our favorite cub reporter up to his house in Edmonds (near Seattle) - several times - to hang out, catch the vibe, and get the scoop on the man, the myth, the legend, and the new record.

Here's an MP3 teaser from the album just to keep your attention:

"Bless This Mess"

Meanwhile, this news just in from Barsuk:

Throughout 2009 Bazan has been performing solo in living rooms all across America. On August 31st, Brooklyn Vegan will present a performanc e to the entire world in Bazan's first and only Online House Show, with a live audio and video feed of the event.

To watch, fans can direct their browsers to the BV site where they'll also be able to participat e in the event with a live chat and Twitter feed, from which Bazan will take a handful of questions for his customary live question and answer session.

Go to the BV site Monday, August 31st @ 8:00pm EST To Watch And Participat e:

http://www .brooklynve gan.com/bazan

After the online event, Bazan has a few more house shows before trading in the living room for rock clubs on his first full-band tour in over four years. Joining Bazan on the trek will be Say Hi's Eric Elbogen on guitars, Andy Fitts of Aqueduct on keys and guitar, longtime contributo r and Sufjan compatriot Casey Foubert behind the kit, and perennial Bazan associate Blake Wescott on guitar.

Tour Dates:

10/01 San Francisco CA Independen t
10/02 Costa Mesa CA Detroit Bar
10/03 San Diego CA Casbah
10/04 Los Angeles CA Troubadour
10/05 Tucson AZ Solar Culture
10/07 Austin TX Mohawk
10/08 Denton TX Dan's Silverleaf
10/09 Memphis TN Hi-Tone Café ;
10/10 Murray KY Lovett Auditorium / Murray State
10/11 Birmingham AL Bottletree
10/13 Orlando FL The Social
10/14 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
10/15 Chapel Hill NC Cat's Cradle
10/16 Washington DC Black Cat
10/17 Philadelph ia PA Kung Fu Necktie
10/18 New York NY Bowery Ballroom
10/20 Cambridge MA TT the Bear's
10/21 Montreal QC Il Motore
10/22 Toronto ON Lee's Palace
10/23 Pontiac MI Pike Room
10/24 Chicago IL TBA
10/25 Champaign IL Highdive
10/27 Madison WI High Noon Saloon
10/28 Minneapoli s MN Turf Club
10/29 Iowa City IA The Picador
10/30 Lawrence KS Jackpot Saloon
10/31 Omaha NE Slowdown
11/01 Denver CO Hi Dive
11/02 Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
11/05 Vancouver BC Media Club
11/06 Portland OR Mississipp i Studios
11/07 Seattle WA Neumos

Would you like to know how John, Paul, George, and Ringo destroyed
rock'n'rol l? Me too, which is why I read all the way to the end of Elijah
Wald's How the Beatles Destroyed Rock'n'Rol l, even as I became
increasing ly doubtful that the book would justify its title.

It sure doesn't. In fact, the Beatles feature only in the introducti on,
epilogue, and final chapter (out of 17). The narrative runs from around 1890
to 1970, and spends relatively little time with the Fab Four. Paul Whiteman,
an early-20th -century big-band leader, gets much more ink than Paul
McCartney.

In many ways, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock'n'Rol l is not a bad book. But
it doesn't deliver on its title, which is a bait-and-s witch tease, or even
its subtitle: An Alternativ e History of American Popular History.

Alternativ e to what? To rock cultists who celebrate only the most obscure,
least commercial examples of the genre, apparently . But such people aren't
all that common -- they couldn't be, or the music they prize wouldn't be
obscure. And most of us cultists don't deny the appeal of mainstream pop. I
like Future of the Left, but am aware that Taylor Swift sells significan tly
better.

While surveying pre-Let It Be pop in some detail, Wald advances two
theses, which are not entirely compatible . The first is that all (or nearly
all) innovation in American popular music comes from African-Am ericans. The
second is that white and black U.S. musicians were influencin g each other
long before the 1950s.

Anyone who's been paying attention already knows the latter. It's convenient
to suppose that 1954, the year of Elvis Presley's debut and Brown vs. the
Board of Education, was a bolt of lightning that demolished cultural
barriers and freed white teenagers to dance to "That's All Right, Mama." But
the endless argument over the "first rock'n'rol l record" keeps pushing the
genre's origins back to performers , both black and white, who significan tly
predate Elvis.

Wald is aware of that. In his research, he found that Ella Fitzgerald was
singing about "rock and roll" with a ballroom orchestra in 1937. And she
surely wasn't the first person to use the phrase.

If such revelation s are less than startling, Wald's book does offer some
entertaini ng minutiae. I was charmed to learn, for example, about DJ shows
in the early days of TV that illustrate d the music with abstract or random
imagery: Detroit's Pat'n'John ny Show displayed "parakeets , canaries,
hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, tropical fish and other animals while
records spin."

I have some quibbles, a few of them related to my hometown, Washington , D.C. To illustrate the importance of brass bands in the earliest days of the
recording industry, Wald notes that Columbia Records's first catalogue,
published in 1890, listed 50 cylinders by the U.S. Marine Band, then under
the direction of popular march composer John Philip Sousa. But he doesn't
mention that Columbia, Sousa, and the Marine Band were all based in D.C. If
Columbia had been founded in New Orleans or Kansas City, its repertoire
would have been rather different. (He also misses the importance to Al
Jolson of a childhood spent in ethnically and racially mixed southwest D.C.,
and Washington 's role in "hillbilly " music after World War II.)

To Wald's credit, much of the material to rebut his arguments is right there
in his own book. He charts an 80-year process in which "hot"
African-Am erican rhythms gradually overwhelme d "sweet" Euro-Ameri can
melodies and arrangemen ts. Yet he concedes that plenty of black musicians
emulated white ones, and not just during the big-band era. In the 1950s,
when Presley and other rockabilly types were getting raucous, the
top-sellin g black performers included Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis.

#How the Beatles Destroyed Rock'n'Rol l# seeks to elevate commercial
judgments over artistic ones. It wants to know which performers innovated,
but is more interested in which ones attracted a crowd. Yet these two things
can't be balanced exactly -- as every rock writer knows. While Wald travels
further back in time than many rock chronicler s, the art-versus -commerce
contradict ions he encounters won't surprise thoughtful observers.

The book starts to get in real trouble around 1959, when Joan Baez signs to
the liberal-mi nded folk label Vanguard, rather than Columbia, the domain of
eclectic (and omnivorous ) producer Mitch Miller. The new generation of "pop"
musicians who cared more about their idea of authentici ty than about
pop-chart success challenges the author's simplistic analysis. Something
happened in the 1960s, and Wald doesn't know what it was.

He continues to assume that pop music is validated foremost by commercial
triumph. So he shortchang es Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, despite their
enormous influence, because their records didn't sell all that well. And he
treats the free agents of the rock era like the journeymen of an earlier
age: He writes that "Atlantic used Eric Clapton and Duane Allman on
recordings by [Aretha] Franklin and [Wilson] Pickett," as if 1970s
rock-guita r gods were 1930s session players dependent on producers for a
gig.

Wald's essential gripe is that art-rock separated white music from its black
cousin, and he thinks rock has suffered from that breach. Despite its title,
however, the book spends very little time explaining how everything went
wrong.

It seems to all come down to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
certainly not one of funkiest records of its time. Wald even credits the
Beatles's psychedeli c-music-ha ll period for "opening the way for the Velvet
Undergroun d." Yet the bulk of Velvets's first album was recorded in April
1966, when the Beatles's latest single was "Nowhere Man." #Sgt. Pepper's#
was only 14 months away, but those 14 months would be very eventful.

And the Beatles's acid-washe d experiment s didn't last long. By 1968, Lennon
would be writing blues-base d stompers; in 1969, McCartney would instruct his
own band to "get back to where you once belonged." If the Beatles destroyed
rock'n'rol l, they quickly turned to reviving it.

Wald's book reads like a very long introducti on to a history that's yet to
be written. He discusses only a few of the myriad influences that led to
psychedeli c rock and its various successors , and ends a tale that chronicles
immense diversity and complex interactio n by trying to pin late-'60s rock
entirely on a single band. Also, because he's so laden with pop history,
Wald can't hear what's new in post-Beatl es music that recasts