Some music is fashioned for lazy Sunday afternoon listening. The Between EP by Vetiver is an ideal illustration of this. For me Sunday has always been tinged in desirable melancholy. A weekend behind, another week ahead, sad and reflective music works best for doing nothing. Careless and wistful, the songs on Between envelop you in melodic tranquility. For a few lost moments in these tunes, Monday morning no longer exists.

Vetiver is Andy Cabic, a Virginia-born, San Francisco dwelling folkie with the right friends. Devendra, Joanna, Hope Sandoval, My Bloody Valentine's Colm O'Ciosoig. They helped Andy record Vetiver's debut self titled album that caught the attention of tastemakers like Pitchfork, 3Hive, and Stylus. Released in June 2005, Between, as its title suggests, is the ground between the first album and what is to come for Andy and his friends. It is available via Insound and iTunes.

Listen to clips from Between:

- "Been so Long"
- "Save Me a Place" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
- "Busted (Brokedown Version)"
- "Maureen (Live in Bolinas)"
- "Belles (Live at WMBR)"

FreeWilliamsburg interviewed Vetiver in June, 2004.

Since reuniting in April, 2004, the Pixies have toured the U.S. (including nine shows in the NY area), Europe and played just about every festival imaginable. What's left to accomplish? How about a new album? NME has the story:

"We do discuss making a record in the most casual kind of way," Frank Black told NME. "We don't want to overstay our welcome in terms of performing under the banner of a reunion. With the exception of Australia we've kind of played everywhere that we can play, so we're thinking, gee, we enjoy being in a band together again. So even if we just get together once in a blue moon to play the old songs, how are we gonna do that without coming off as tacky? So I suppose one way to accomplish that is to work on some new material."

He continues:

"We haven't jammed but I don't really know what it would sound like. Joey (Santiago, guitar) told me not to worry about it, he said, `just write some songs and the Pixies will make it sound like the Pixies'."

In case you missed it before, here is a link to BBC 1 Radio's Pixies documentary, narrated by Josh Homme.

- The downstairs cave, er, performance space at the Lit Lounge is one of the smallest and hottest venues I've ever been to, but still I'm glad I saw Night Rally there last night. A midnight curfew meant they only played for close to a half hour, but what they fit in was very enjoyable. Night Rally has just released a split 12" with fellow Boston band Clickers. This is the last record for Clickers as the band broke up in June. Click here to download Night Rally's songs from this release.

- In their next issue, Mojo magazine will reveal "Bob Dylan's 100 Greatest Songs", as picked by songwriters like Paul McCartney, Bono, Patti Smith, Richard Thompson and others. A CD of Dylan covers will accompany the magazine and will feature new interpretations from Bright Eyes, Andrew Bird, Roger McGuinn and more. Going out on a limb, I'll say "Like A Rolling Stone" is the top Dylan song. I know that's a risky pick...

- In today's edition of the Bittorrent Brunch, Largehearted Boy points out a Dungen show from Philadelphia on July 15, 2005. Registration with Dimeadozen.org is required to download this show.

- Check out new videos from Editors, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Psapp, Goldfrapp, and Magic Numbers

- Molly O'Poverty is a new MP3 site that links to free and legal downloads.

Cliktrax Productions is a music video program airing on Manhattan Neighborhood Network and Brooklyn Community Access TV in New York. Each week they feature music videos, interviews, live footage, specials, and more from artists like LCD Soundsystem, Bloc Party, Electrelane, M.I.A., and the Duke Spirit.

To celebrate their new role as the video provider for Insound (check out the top right corner of the Insound site), Cliktrax is throwing a party at Happy Ending tonight. Here are the details:

Cliktrax presents:
the hush hush weekender

Free Harp from 10-11pm

Special guest: JDH (fixed / we are 138)

Plus residents:
- Rok One (the Bangers)
- Mattie (the Rapture)

Friday July 29th @ Happy Ending (302 broome st)
between Forsythe and Eldridge sts.
10 PM - 4 AM, free!
See yer friends, hush it up.

Cliktrax on TV airs in Brooklyn on the fourth Saturday of each month at 11:30 PM on Time Warner channel 34 and Cablevision channel 67. In Manhattan, the program airs every Sunday at 9:30 on TW channel 56 and RCN channel 108.

Here's another event that my One Louder cohort Rajeev would have been all over if he was here in New York this weekend:



"An all day summer spectacular Sunday July 31 2-9 PM Free!! At Grand St Ferry Park, Grand Street + East River, Williamsburg Brooklyn. With Carlos, Phil + Anton plus special guests. Refreshments available."

What's missing from this flyer is one of Rajeev's favorite DJs Tim Sweeney will also be a part of this party. Read Rajeev's "Taking Tim Sweeney For Granted" post from June 9, 2005.

About a week ago I was prepared to trash Editors and their debut album The Back Room. It would be easy to do, I thought. On first listen, Editors struck me as very adroit Interpol impersonators. On second, third, fourth listens, they still sounded like Interpol. Simple. Call them copycats and get on with it.

But I kept coming back to the album. Around the fifth play it began to be less and less about Interpol and more about itself. Other influences started to surface, namely Kitchens of Distinction. Hearing a KOD inspiration in any band makes me happy. KOD never received the respect they deserved. If you're not familiar with the Kitchens, I recommend picking up Strange Free World (1991) and The Death of Cool (1992) and visiting these sites.

Back to Editors and keeping it short lest this post risk losing its quick take title, ignore the "sounds-like" obsessives (like me) and listen to a album ornate in grand and thrilling moments that stand confidently on their own merits.

The Back Room was released on July 25 in the U.K. by Kitchenware Records.

Stream The Back Room via the NME Listening Post.

Continuing the photo theme, here's another eagerly awaited edition of Tale of Two Cities' hipster glamorama gallery "Blue States Lose: ToTC's Dont's and Dont's".

Sadly, no Ultragrrrl this week.

Uploaded this week to our New York Indie Rock Shows Flickr group:

Taken by Wassanova:

The Wrens


Taken by Coolfer:

Tsar


Taken by i rock i roll

The Cribs


Taken by Debbie C.B.'s NYC

Blondie

- Sigur Rós - "Glósóli" (Live from Paris, 7.12.05): This is a live version of the second track on the new SR album Takk. Beginning slowly with the sound of drums like soldiers marching or a unborn baby's heartbeat, the song builds and builds in inimitable SR fashion. "Glósóli" tells the story of a boy searching for the sun that has been taken out of the sky.

- Cocteau Twins - "Blue Bell Knoll" (Live): The first Cocteau Twins album I heard was Blue Bell Knoll. I picked it up on a whim after reading a review in Rolling Stone magazine. Not knowing what to expect, I was stunned to say the least. And instantly in love with Elisabeth Fraser.

- Nick Cave - "The Mercy Seat" (Live from Piazza del Plebiscito, Ancona, 7.14.02): Another instant obsession. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds tearing through "From Her to Eternity" in Wings of Desire is my favorite scene in one of my favorite movies. "The Mercy Seat" is from Nick's 1988 album Tender Prey. It's a standard of his amazing live shows and was even covered by one of Nick's heroes, Johnny Cash.

- New Order - "Thieves Like Us" (Live from the Hacienda, Manchester, 7.20.83): The summer of 1987 will always be linked to New Order for me. Substance was my first New Order album and it was on in the background of every party, high school romance, and late night bout of teen angst.

- The Cure - "Play For Today" (Live from Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 5.30.84): At age 15, the dark allure of the Cure was powerful enough to make me throw away my Huey Lews & the News tapes and embrace the goth side. There was nothing remotely tragic or depressing about my life, but I could pretend, couldn't I?

From the Matador newsletter (sign up here, it's definitely worth it):

Interpol will re-release Antics on August 23 with a bonus CD containing "Song Seven", a remix by each band member and three Antics videos. Paul Bank remixes "NARC", Daniel Kessler tackles "Not Even Jail", Sam Fog gets some help from Bob Mould on "Length of Love" and Carlos D appropriately handles "Public Pervert". The videos are "Slow Hands", "Evil", and "C'Mere".

Even if I was a bigger Interpol fan than I am, it's doubtful I'd ever purchase this album. My advice: save your money and buy an import copy of The Back Room by Editors. It was released this week in the U.K.

Kieran Hebden is a very busy person. Not only is he touring under the Four Tet name, but he's also developing two new projects: a new Fridge record and a collaboration with jazz drummer Steve Reid. Throw in all the remixes he does and a new Four Tet DVD and you start to wonder if Kieran is becoming the indie eletronic version of Jude Law.

Check out this article on Billboard.com for more on Kieran's current workload.

Leaders drummer and former co-worker Teen Wolf turned me on to Boston's Night Rally. They'll be making the short trip down the Throughway or Turnpike or whatever to play at Lit tomorrow night at 9 PM. I highly recommend checking them out. Admission is just $5.

In a profile published in Boston's Weekly Dig, Night Rally were described as equal parts Fugazi, Talking Heads, Polvo, Unwound, Unrest, and even U2. Take your pick or reject them all, it doesn't matter. Or better yet, decide for yourself, as the band has two EPs you can download from their site. I'd start with The Elegant Look of You EP and specifically the track "A Birthday Party" (MP3).

Find the rest of the MP3s here.

House is a Feeling is a new group blog focusing on "dance music." The site debuted on July 25 with this post:

This is a group blog about dance music. The boundaries about what constitutes "dance music" are pretty fluid (hence our cheesy name), and though we are all amenable to the "anything you can dance to is dance music" line of reasoning, you will probably not be reading much about AC/DC or Vybz Kartel or Faith Evans. (I am resisting using a phrase like "post-acid house" because someone will eventually contradict it, but, at least in terms of the time frame, it's post-1985 all the way.) There may be mp3's from time to time, but let's not be greedy. We hope you enjoy it.

Take a minute and check it out. They're off to a great start.

[Thanks NYLPM]

Coolfer pointed out new U.K. band My Computer turned up at number one on the NY Post's Hot List. Glenn wasn't awed by the two tracks he heard, "Stay in Bed" and "Duty Free". Apparently they weren't pastoral, languid, or furtive enough for him. Joking of course, Glenn.

UPDATE: Apparently those two tracks that Glenn heard and I linked to are not from My Computer. Whoops. Thanks to Mark E from I Really Love Music for straightening me out. If you downloaded the songs already, you've unwittingly introduced yourself to a band named Grand Mal. Hope you liked them.

Anyhow, NME has the full debut album from My Computer, entitled No CV, streaming on their site. I listened to each track last night and while it wasn't the most idyllic, slow or foxy music I've ever heard, it's not bad.

Turning on their trusty hyperbole generator, NME tell us more about My Computer:

Manc duo My Computer debuted their album 'Vulnerabilia', a beautiful, bewildering mixture of Jeff Buckley, post-Prodigy electronica and classical flourishes in 2002. Their follow-up album, 'No CV', is released now and is equally stunning: As emotionally brutal as 'OK Computer', as much fun as 'The Love Below' and as ambitious as either; 'No CV' is the real head-wrecking, heart-stopping deal.

Stream the tracks here.

Sigur Rós has told NME that Takk, its forthcoming album, is "a bit more happy, with more hope in it." It will also include real lyrics, rather than the made-up Hopelandish language used on (). Singer/guitarist Jonsi Thor Birgisson explained the themes of the album:

"The lyrics are small adventures, maybe like children's stories or something," he explained. "I think the songs are quite simple and naÏve and they have a central character to them."

He added: "There's one called 'Glosoli', and he wakes up and everything is dark outside and he can't see any light. He thinks that the sun is gone and somebody has taken it from the sky, so he makes a journey to look for the sun. He finds it in the end."

Sigur Rós will release Takk, on September 13 in the U.S.

- Related: So you can sing along at their upcoming shows at the Beacon, Always on the Run has English translations of the Icelandic lyrics from Von and Ágætis Byrjun.

Blogcritics put out a call to a number of music bloggers requesting their help putting together a list of the Top 10 Worst Song Lyrics Ever. They asked: "Which song contains the worst lyrics you ever heard." Paul Banks of Interpol escaped mention, but Stylus magazine dedicated an entire article to his lyrical travesties. Here is the list. Check out the article for full commentary:

1. "Your Body is a Wonderland" - John Mayer ("We got the afternoon / You got this room for two / One thing I've left to do / Discover me / Discovering you")

2. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" - Meatloaf ("there ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box")

3. "MacArthur Park" - Donna Summer ("Someone left the cake out in the rain / I don't think that I can take it / 'cause it took so long to bake it / And I'll never have that recipe again... Oh, no!")

4. "Fix You" - Coldplay ("When you try your best, but you don't succeed / When you get what you want, but not what you need")

5. "Burrito" - Pete Yorn ("It's a 7-11 / Do you want to take a walk outside / If you want a burrito / You can have another bite of mine")

6. "Cherry Pie" - Warrant ("Swingin' in there / Cause she wanted me to feed her / So I mixed up the batter / And she licked the beater")

7. "One in a Million" - Guns `n' Roses ("Radicals and racists /Don't point your finger at me/I'm a small town white boy / Just tryin' to make ends meet / Don't need your religion / Don't watch that much TV / Just makin' my livin', baby ,/ Well that's enough for me")

8. "Muskrat Love" - Captain & Tennille ("And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed / Singin' and jingin' the jango / Floatin' like the heavens above / It looks like muskrat love")

9. "I Write the Songs" - Barry Manilow ("I write the songs, I write the songs,")

10. "Candy Shop" - 50 Cent (""I'll break it down for you now, baby it's simple / If you be a nympho, I'll be a nympho / In the hotel or in the back of the rental / On the beach or in the park, it's whatever you into / Got the magic stick, I'm the love doctor ")

[Thanks Donewaiting.com for the link]

This record is broken now: September 9 - 15 is a sick week for shows. I've said it twice before and now I'll say it again. Do we really need the overkill of Of Montreal, Saturday Looks Good To Me, and the Bill Nayer Show at the Knitting Factory on September 15? Of Course! I'm guessing this is a CMJ show; Brooklyn Vegan could probably confirm that for me.

Let's review that week again:

September 9 - The National and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Bowery Ballroom)- SOLD OUT
September 9 - Bloc Party and the Kills (Roseland) - SOLD OUT
September 10 - Nouvelle Vague (Joe's Pub)
September 11 - Seu Jorge (Bowery Ballroom)
September 12 - Sigur Rós (Beacon Theatre)
September 12 - A-Ha (Irving Plaza) - SOLD OUT
September 12 - Seu Jorge (Bowery Ballroom)
September 13 - Sigur Rós (Beacon Theatre)
September 13 - Nouvelle Vague (Joe's Pub)
September 13 - Rolling Stones (MSG) - SOLD OUT
September 15 - Arcade Fire (Central Park Summerstage) - SOLD OUT
September 15 - Of Montreal + Saturday Looks Good To Me (Knitting Factory) - Not on Sale Yet

Deadbeat, the fantastic electronic dub work of Canadian Scott Frederick Monteith, returns to New York this Friday. The occasion: The Bunker's Ableton Live 5 Release Party at subTonic.

Here is Rajeev's review of Deadbeat's performance from the Mini-Mutek NYC night at subTonic on May 5, 2005:

...Deadbeat owned Subtonic. It was a bit too crowded down there but his digital dub set was fantastic, one of the danciest I've ever heard. (And he gets pretty into it himself.) He was playing mainly selections from his new one New World Observer, lots of DEEP bass grooves and intricate rhythms drenched in echo.

Joining Deadbeat on the bill are DJ Brokenwindow, Wolf + Lamb, and Sean Smith. Admission is just $5 and the party lasts from 9:00 PM till 4:00 AM.

- Download Deadbeat - "N'Importe Quoi" (MP3)

Thanks to Scandinavian music blog It's A Trap! for pointing out Dungen's new video for "Panda" (Flash required). The video features scenic shots, Dungen playing in or around a tent, animals, but no pandas. What, are pandas not indigenous to Sweden?

- Brooklyn Vegan names the "10 Recent Albums You Should Own in Addition to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Sufjan, M.I.A, and Bloc Party" for Insound. Somewhere, Manhattan Carnivore is preparing his/her next post.

- The Independent UK interview Daniel Lanois.

- Are You Familiar introduces the nifty Familiar Audio Stream with songs from Tom Vek, Junior Boys, Man Man, Out Hud and many, many more.

- Avant orchestra Alarm Will Sound release an album of Aphex Twin covers. Read the Tiny Mixtapes review here.

- Boston's Weekly Dig has a run-in with BJM's Anton.

- The Seattle Weekly's Michaelangelo Matos reviews Rhino's new 90's boxset Whatever: The 90's Pop & Culture Box.

- Play the Chemical Brothers' Galvanize game. [Thanks Screenhead]

- Check out Black Diamond, "An Unreal Neil Diamond Experience"

- During a recent Music Exchange program on KCRW, Nic Harcourt and Steve Lamacq described Test-Icicles as Arcade Fire meets Slayer or Arcade Fire with Afros. Listen to a few Test-Icicle songs here.

- Central Village returns from Lollapalooza with pictures and a review in two parts.

Don't confuse the UK's Brakes with The Brakes. The Brakes are a band from Philadelphia with a broken website. Brakes are Eamon Hamilton of British Sea Power, Alex and Tom White of Electric Soft Parade and Marc Beatty of Tenderfoot. Yes, they're an indie supergroup. No, they don't suck like most supergroups. Brakes booked a studio for a week, recorded the album in five days, mixed it in two and got Rough Trade to release the results on July 4 in the UK.

Oh, these results: punk-country-abilly, short, short songs and even a cover of Johnny Cash's "Jackson" with vocals from the Duke Spirit singer Leila Moss. So don't go to www.brakesband.com. Go to www.brakesbrakesbrakes.com and listen to samples of Give Blood.

- Steve Lamacq loves Brakes too. Read his review here.

2005 may become a great year for fans of classic Goth. First Bauhaus played Coachella in the Spring and then announced a forthcoming world tour and new album. Now the entire Siouxsie & the Banshees catalog will be remastered and reissued.

The first album to be upgraded will be The Scream, the Banshees' debut album released in 1978. NME provides the tracklisting for the original material, plus a bonus CD of early demos, singles, and a Peel session.

Here's the full tracklisting:

Disc One

Pure / Jigsaw Feeling / Overground / Carcass / Helter Skelter / Mirage / Metal Postcard / Nicotine Stain / Suburban Relapse / Switch

Disc Two

Make Up To Break Up (Riverside Session) / Love In A Void (Peel Session) / Mirage (Peel Session) / Metal Postcard (Peel Session) / Suburban Relapse (Peel Session) / Hong Kong Garden (Peel Session) / Overground (Peel Session) / Carcass (Peel Session) / Helter Skelter (Peel Session) / Metal Postcard (Pathway Session) / Suburban Relapse (Pathway Session) / Staircase (Mystery) (Pathway Session) / Mirage (Pathway Session) / Nicotine Stain (Pathway Session) / Hong Kong Garden (7" Single Version) / Staircase (Mystery) (7" Single Version)

Besides Marsen Jules's Herbstlaub, I haven't found a more beautiful album this year than The Golden Morning Breaks by French electronic artist Cécile Schott, aka Colleen. On Breaks, Colleen abandons the sample collages found on her first album Everyone Alive Wants Answers and embraces the more individual sounds of unprocessed and unusual instruments.

Instead of synthetics, Colleen uses glockenspiels, cellos, concertinas, and music boxes. Instead of familiar influences, she found inspiration in Indonesian folk and the sounds of Ethiopia and Rhodesia. If this seems a little too National Geographic, fear not. Breaks can be simply enjoyed as a vivid work of imagination and personal expression.

Colleen plays with A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Joe's Pub on August 9, at Other Music (free in store) on August 15, and a venue to be named in Brooklyn on August 16.

- Listen to The Golden Morning Breaks on Colleen's website (requires Flash).
- View the video for "The Happy Sea" (Quicktime or Windows Media), created by Carolina Melis.
- Read an interview with Colleen as well as an excellent review of Breaks at Posteverything.com
- Read the Village Voice review of Breaks.

I missed Mates of State at the Siren Festival this year. My attempt at finding someone who did see them - basically searching the blogs I linked to afterwards - failed to turn up anyone who did. I did find one comment on them from Heart on a Stick, but it's rather harsh:

"And no, I didn't stay for Spoon...or wander over for Mates of State...who I like in small doses... but hearing anything more than three songs makes me want to self-lobotomize myself with a meat thermometer."

Ouch. So are Mates of State worth catching at the Bowery on October 20?

I received word today that Embrace have canceled their upcoming U.S. tour with Longwave. No explanation was given. The tour was suppose to visit 15 cities, including New York at Irving Plaza on August 1st. Longwave have announced one new show in Los Angeles on August 16 at Troubadour. Their website indicates dates for an August headlining tour will be announced soon.

No, it's not the name of Jeff Tweedy's new band. It's the actual number of new ideas Wilco claim to have for their follow-up to 2004's A Ghost is Born. Tweedy spoke to Jam! Showbiz about his current mental state and the status of Wilco.

"I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm feeling pretty good and definitely it translates into being able to enjoy things going well in the band," Tweedy said. "In spite of however I've been feeling over the years, the band has continued to get better and grow."

Wilco will be touring Europe, the U.S. and Brazil this fall. Check out the dates on Tiny Mix Tapes. Unfortunately, no NYC dates are planned currently.

Read the full article here. Thanks to Keith over at Suicide Girls News for the link.

OL favorites Other Passengers have completed writing their debut full length album and will commence the recording process in New Orleans for the next month at least. They're playing one last show before departing, at the Cake Shop this Thursday, July 28 with Sonoma Aero and A Place To Bury Strangers.

Other Passengers hit the stage at 10:00 PM and will follow up the gig with an afterparty at Motor City Bar. No cover.

Cake Shop is located at 152 Ludlow, between Stanton and Rivington. Motor City is at 127 Ludlow.

- Download OP's "In the Belly" (MP3).

BBC Radio 1 will air an exclusive Pixies documentary on August 1 with narration by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme. Here's the details from the BBC site:

In part one of our Time for Heroes series, Queens Of The Stone Age frontman and Pixies fan Josh Homme charts the return of one of the most influential bands in alternative music.

The programme features the notoriously interview-shy Pixies first UK broadcast interview in 13 years, plus contributions from Nine Black Alps, the Raveonettes, the Liars, producer Gil Norton and journalist Steve Sutherland.

The broadcast will be streamed via Real Media beginning August 1. Bookmark this link.

UPDATE: A commenter pointed out that the streaming audio for this documentary is already live. Have at it!

- Take Your Medicine reviews the year so far in song and proffers downloads of the Subways, Tom Vek, Clor, Go Team and others.

- Download Math and Physics Club's new single "Movie Ending Romance" via angryrobot.net.

- From NASA, listen to Saturn's eerie radio emissions.

- From Bars & Guitars, download and/or stream videos from Okay, Okkervil River, Sleater-Kinney, the Unicorns, and Maximo Park.

- Scenic NYC is hosting the Brian Jonestown Massacre afterparty on Saturday with Mr. BJM himself, DJ Anton Newcombe. There's no cover and a Bud open bar between 1-2 AM. [Thanks Dirt for the link]

- Downhill Battle interview M.I.A. [Thanks Big Stereo]

The concept of music podcasting is very interesting, but the reality so far has been more often underwhelming for me. The limited number podcasts I've downloaded have been worth the time invested. I have no complaint with their qualities. Quantity is my issue. There just aren't enough music podcasts available today. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place?

Granted, podcasting is still a developing format, one that has the potential for longevity if embraced by the right people and organizations. There are positive signs this is happening: influential radio stations KCRW and KEXP have begun podcasting their respective music programs; select music blogs and record labels are joining in as well. With the recent addition of primitive podcasting functionality in iTunes 4.9, podcast creators will hopefully gain the exposure to justify their investment.

But there are many more compelling resources that have yet to get in the game. Here's my podcast wish list:

1. MP3 and Music Bloggers: For the amount of time spent reading MP3 blogs, I download only a small percentage of the songs they offer. While I'd love to listen to every song posted on Fluxblog, Sixeyes, and many others, there's never enough time. Besides that, I usually do most of my browsing at work, which prevents me from burning CDs or synchronizing my iPod. I could set aside a few hours every day to dig into their archives to catch up, but it's likely that I'd never get current. What if they offered a podcast that accumulated a month's worth of posting? Or just a week? Or just their favorites? I could subscribe to their podcast and easily check them out at any time and any place.

2. Record Labels: Rather than producing and handing out ready-made coasters, uh, sample CDs at concerts why not offer podcasts? Offer one per month highlighting new releases, bands on tour, etc.

3. Online and Print Music Magazines: Pitchfork offers free downloads so why not create podcast out of these? Throw in selections from their Best New Music picks, Daily Features and Top Stories. For power hungry Pitchfork, this would be a simple way of spreading their influence even further. I'd also like to see podcasts from Stylus, Tiny Mixtapes, Rolling Stone, Spin, NME and a number of other online and print magazines.

UPDATE: Thanks to a couple commenters for pointing out that Spin has started a podcast. It's called the SPINsider podcast and it's available here on iTunes 4.9.

4. Record Stores: I would be all over an Other Music podcast. Once a week, the NYC-based record shop sends an email, profiling key new releases. It's a logical extension to include a podcast with tracks from these artists. The same would work for Amoeba, Picadilly Records, etc.

I can only hope that podcasting continues to grow in popularity and a few of these resources will get on board. My fingers are crossed.

Levy is a New York band that has somehow stayed well outside my scope. Candidly I'd never heard of them until yesterday when I received an email from a promoter. Only a few moments into their elegiac "Rotten Love", I was smacked upside my head by this great tune. Checking out the press section on their site, I noticed a couple of my favorite MP3 blogs, Sixeyes and Mystery and Misery featured Levy many months ago. Where have I been?

Levy work on a similar epic scale as Coldplay, but their emotional kick hits and holds effortlessly and without the subplot of world domination. Walls of guitars surge and pound while singer/guitarist James Levy's elegant voice drifts along coolly and calmly. The droll yet bitter lyrics on "Rotten Love" remind me of a young Morrissey. Apparently the song was written for Regina Spektor. With a classic Coldplay strum, "On the Dance Floor", starts to rise, but rather than attempting transcendence, it remains in the dark of the club, grounded in the fear and ultimate rejection from the girl who takes another boy home instead.

Levy was recently signed to One Little Indian Records and will re-release their debut LP Rotten Love sometime this summer. The band performs at the Pussycat Lounge in New York on August 4.

- Download "Rotten Love" (MP3)
- Download "On the Dance Floor" (MP3)

Music Hurts is a new online music magazine that intends to observe and comment upon the force music has upon individuals, cultures, and societies. "We're here to chart that impact," They write in the introductory essay. "To lay bare the truth that an online music title can be beautiful and challenging; that it can get involved from unexpected angles and get to grips with the look as much as the sound of music." It's an ambitious goal.

I enjoyed the debut issue, particularly the articles on female drummers, band logos, and the influence of Iggy Pop. It's effective that each article is accompanied by songs (purchasable in the iTunes UK store) relevant to each piece, but a streaming audio player would work better in my opinion. The articles are concisely written and the page layouts are arty but still readable. I'm not a big fan of Flash-based magazines, but I'll be interested in reading future issues. I'm curious to see if Music Hurts will live up to the promise of its mission.

Thanks to Devil In The Details for the link

Alfred Lee, proud Texan and senior writer for UCLA's Daily Bruin wants everyone to know that Texas has more than hicks and assasins. They have Hipsters too. Austin is of course Hipster central, with Spoon, Okkervil River, SXSW, Richard Linklater, and Robert Rodriguez running around the "live music capital of the world".

Lee seems pretty worked up that Texas is not getting the respect it deserves. Try being from Tucson, Arizona Alfred. While I haven't lived there for almost six years, I can only name two Tucson bands: Calexico and Giant Sand. Famous directors? I can't think of any. Steven Spielberg is from Phoenix, so he doesn't count. Same with Alice Cooper. Sure Gary Shandling went to the University of Arizona, but he's not exactly at the forefront of comedy these days. Then there's Linda Ronstadt. The less said about her the better.

When you put it into perspective with Tucson Alfred, Texas is just about the friggin' cultural capital of the world.

It's not our party, but with a name like One Louder how could I not mention it? The GBH folks are hosting another OL extravaganza at Movida (28 7th Avenue, at Leroy) this Saturday and have lined up the legendary Lady Miss Kier of Dee-Lite to DJ. Larry Tee will also be on the decks and Daai Lo will be spinning downstairs.

The party starts at 10 PM with drink specials between 2 AM and 3 AM. For complimentary entry, RSVP to cheeky@gbh.tv with your name and number of guests. Or don't and pay $10, it's up to you.

Also on the GBH schedule, David J of Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets fame will DJ on August 17 at the Hiro Ballroom.

No joking around, September is going to be completely overloaded with interesting stuff to do. I posted last Wednesday about everything happening between September 9 and 15.

Now in addition to that very tempting Chad VanGaalen show at the Bowery on 9.17, you can add this: Devendra Banhart at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square on September 13. Time TBD. Thanks to All The Young Mod Soldiers for the tip.

Recent Sub Pop signee Chad VanGaalen is hitting the road with labelmates Fruit Bats and Rogue Wave. The brief tour will visit five cities, including New York on September 17 at the Bowery Ballroom. No ticket information has been posted on Ticketweb yet.

- Check out the short review I wrote about Chad back in November.
- Read Cokemachineglow's interview with Chad.
- Download "Clinicly Dead" (MP3)
- Download "Somewhere I Know There's Nothing" (MP3)
- Download "Traffic" (MP3)
- Download "Blood Machine" (MP3) From Teaching The Indie Kids...

Chad's Full Tour Itinerary:

09-07 - Kilby Court Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
09-09 - Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO
09-11 - Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
09-14 - Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
09-17 - Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY

At the beginning of July, DJ Tim Sweeney picked Lindstrom & Prins Thomas's remix of LCD Soundsystem's "Tribulations" as his song of the summer for New York magazine. Now, courtesy of Survey Sound Blog, this remix can be downloaded and enjoyed for the remainder of our hellish summer months.

From Hyde Park Records comes this artifact from 1975: Picking Up Women Made Easy. Download the MP3 here. Single guys, you can thank me later.

This is not completely Safe For Work, so please listen with caution. It's also extremely un-PC. Disclaimer: this post does not construe an endorsement of the content contained within the Picking Up Women Made Easy MP3.

With family in town, I missed checking out the Juan Maclean at Tribeca Grand on Saturday. Rajeev is still lost in the jungles of Southeast Asia, so he missed it too. Judging on his negative review of their set opening for LCD Soundsystem, he may have skipped it anyways. Conventional wisdom has generally backed up that opinion: great on album, horrible live.

Perhaps it may be time for a re-think. The Simple Mission was there on Saturday and had these positive comments:

"Juan might be in the business of creating the soundtrack to a night of reckless booty shaking but more importantly, he understands the mechanics of orchestrating and performing live dance music and has the power to make everyone ruminate a little less and move a little more."

Check out the full review here.

Goth pioneers Bauhaus are plotting a return from the grave with a world tour and new album later this year. The album will be the band's first new studio work since 1983's Burning From the Inside.

The band has reformed before. In 1998, Peter Murphy, David J, Daniel Ash, and Kevin Haskins reunited for a series of live dates. Their Hammerstein Ballroom performances in NYC were recorded and released as Gotham.

In 2005 Bauhaus came together again to play the Coachella festival and a surprise show at The Glasshouse in Los Angeles. Click here for a photos from Coachella and The Glasshouse. Exploding Plastic has a review of the Glasshouse performance here.

- Download "Spirit in the Sky" (MP3) from Bauhaus Sounds.
- Download Bauhaus live at Coachella (Bit Torrent).

From A Guide To Jandek comes this news:

"Jandek will be playing live in three U.S. cities, on the following dates:

- August 28: Austin, TX (Scottish Rite Theatre)
- September 2: New Orleans, LA (Dixon Hall, Tulane University)
- September 6: New York, NY (Anthology Film Archives)

See the following sites for more information: http://www.jandekinaustin.com/ (Austin and New York shows) and http://www.wtul.fm/jandek/ (New Orleans show). The latter bills the show as "Jandek plus special guests".

One fan E-mailed Anthology Film Archives about the New York show and received the following in reply: "I can indeed confirm the performance. Tickets will be released on sale August 8th and will be available in person at Anthology Film Archives and Other Music. There will be no phone or internet sales. Price: TBA."

These will be Jandek's first live show in the U.S. Jandek performed live for the first time ever, in Glasgow, Scotland on October 17, 2004. A Guide To Jandek has a comprehensive review of the show here.

With its Live 8 webcast, AOL proved that a live concert can be enjoyed via the internet. Let's see if SBC Yahoo can get it right with Lollapalooza 2005. SBC Yahoo will be streaming live Lollapalooza footage on its Blue Room main stage site. Give it a try here.

[Thanks Arjan Writes]

On September 13, Bloc Party will release a remixed and reinterpreted version of their debut album Silent Alarm. The album will feature the work of Ladytron, Whitey, Pretty Girls Makes Graves, Phones, Four Tet and others.

"We'd commissioned a bunch of remixes for B sides and singles and thought it'd be nice to collect them all together," Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong told Rolling Stone. "Asking people to do a bunch of remixes can seem like a vanity project, but we were intrigued to see what other people could come up with."

Check out the Bloc Party site for a full track list and background information on each remix. Paid members of the Bloc Party Fan club can preview the album now.

We asked Bloc Party about the remixes when we interviewed them in March:

"We got in touch with lots of different people and asked for remixes. We got them all back and some were better than others. Some of them were real disappointing, but some were interesting. You have no idea how someone is going to change a song. It's interesting to hear someone reinterpret a song.

What I can't stand is when people change just one thing about it. It seems really lazy. I hate that. Anything that implies someone has actually engaged with the song is really exciting. The M83 remix of "Pioneers" is really lush and ambient. Overall we received about 10, but many of them weren't that good."

- Download "So Here We Are (Four Tet Remix)" (MP3)
- Download "Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)" (MP3)
- Read our full interview with Bloc Party.

- Music Cherry profiles the new Dandy Warhols album Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, a most Bowie-esque title. Music Cherry wonders if the entire album is a tribute to the Thin White Duke.

- Welcome to the M!dwest! continues to offer up interesting downloads, this time posting a solo Sufjan Stevens show from Judson College in 2003. The setlist includes a cover of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love". Enjoy!

- From WFMU's Beware the Blog, watch Iggy Pop rub peanut butter on himself during a 1970 concert in Cincinatti.

- Seattle's KEXP is now offering two Podcasts, "Northwest Music" and "Live Performance", on its website and iTunes (here and here).

- This is why I love Wikipedia: an excellent collection of Internet Phenomena.

- The 100 Oldest .COM domain names. The oldest is Symbolics.com. Surprisingly, there are no porn-related domains in the list.

It's been nearly 40 years since a fan shouted "Judas" at Bob Dylan during a performance at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in May, 1966. For all of these years, an audio recording of the concert has been the only way to experience this legendary moment in rock history. Until now.

The BBC has announced it will air film footage of this moment in an upcoming Bob Dylan documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese. Entitled No Way Home, the film features an exclusive recent conversation with Dylan, footage from his early days, and interviews with friends and associates.

No Way Home will air in the U.S. on PBS and on the BBC on the same days, September 26 and 27.

More great photos uploaded to our New York Indie Rock Shows group on Flickr. Here are a few of my favorites:

Taken by Kathryn:

Andrew Bird


Taken by Wassanova:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah


Taken by This Twilight Garden:

Hard-Fi


Taken by Extrawack:

Undertones


Taken by Littlepants:

The Ponys


Taken by Coolfer:

The Dears

EDIT: I really don't know where my mind has been. For some reason I originally titled this post "Thursday Links" even though it's Friday. Ugh. I'll come back to Earth soon.

- I'm starting to really look forward to Tale of Two Cities's weekly Do's and Dont's column. These hipster pictures remind me that my life is incredibly normal and boring. No crazy parties, no irony, no neoprene clothing. I've long since accepted my fate as a corporate wage slave. Sigh.

- Earvolution names the best and worst cover songs of all time. Sheryl Crow deserves her own wing in the horrible cover hall of fame.

- Statute of Frauds braves the heat at Webster Hall to see Mercury Prize favs Kaiser Chiefs. How was it? Dave writes: "Their live show is not unlike their record; energetic, crowdpleasing, and more than a little bit cheesy."

- Sonic Youth, or at least 3/4 of the band, played under the fake name of the Heavy Creeps at a club in Easthampton, MA and debuted four SY new songs: "Helen Lundeberg", "Or", "Do You Believe in Rapture", and "Pink Steam". A video clip of the performance is available for download. [Thanks Smudge of Ashen Fluff]

- Brooklyn Vegan points out that tickets for Sigur Rós' upcoming NYC shows at the Beacon are now on sale. MP3s from the band's July 13, 2005 performance at the Paradiso in Amsterdam can be downloaded here.

First there was the Brooklyn Vegan, now there is the Manhattan Carnivore. How does the Carnivore introduce himself/herself? By bashing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and just about everyone who attended the second night of the Vicious 2nd Anniversary Show.

Yesterday I posted about Dead Meadow playing at the Knitting Factory on August 4 with the Childs Ballads and the Willowz. I'd never heard of the Willowz at that point, but thanks to a recommendation from Paul, I did a little research. Here's what I found:

1. Two Willowz songs were on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. The tracks, "Something" and "I Wonder", are on their 2004 self-titled album. "They didn't have a big budget for music," Willowz singer-guitarist James Follin told Rolling Stone. "His [director Michel Gondry] people found us on MP3.com."

2. Their self-titled album was #67 on Robert Christgau's 2004 Village Voice Pazz and Jop ballot.

3. The Willowz are from Southern California, Orange County to be precise.

4. Rolling Stone describes them as "a sweet-and-sour cocktail of buzz-saw guitars, Stooges propulsion and coed shouting about boredom, bad love and youthful uncertainty."

5. They've released three albums to date. Talk in Circles, their latest, is on Sympathy For The Record Industry. It was released on April 26, 2005. Rolling Stone gave it 3.5 stars.

6. You can download "Equation 6" (MP3) from the 2005 SXSW Showcase. This track is from the album The Willowz Are Coming.

7. The Willowz MySpace page has four great songs from their new record.

8. I shouldn't show up at the Knitting Factory just to see Dead Meadow.

After opening for Sleater-Kinney at Roseland in June, Dead Meadow will return to NYC for a much more intimate performance at the Knitting Factory main space on August 4.

Rajeev would normally be the one posting about Dead Meadow here, as he knows them far better than me. I've listened to Feathers, the band's most recent album, a few times and would describe it as sludgey, tripped out space rock loaded with monster riffs. It should be a good show, based on Rajeev's reviews (here and here). Tickets are available now for $10. The Childs Ballads and The Willowz open.

Download:
- "At Her Open Door" (MP3)
- "I Love You Too" (MP3)
- "The Whirlings" (MP3)
- "Sleepy Silver Door" (MP3)
- "Dusty Nothing" (MP3)
- "Everything's Going On" (MP3)
- "Good Moanin'" (MP3)

If mashups are your thing, Metafilter pointed out this site with 40 fresh mixes. You can also find several more if you look through the comments on Metafilter. I haven't listened to them all, but here's a few of my picks:

- Steriogram vs You Two: "Walkie Talkie Vertigo Man" (MP3)
- Hives vs Prodigy: "Hate to Smack My Bitch" (MP3)
- Missy Elliot vs Black Sabbath: "One Minute Man" (MP3)
- New Order vs Madonna: "Bizarre Light Triangle" (MP3)
- Stereo MCs vs Oasis: "Superconnected" (MP3)

Influential Los Angeles radio station KCRW will begin distributing podcasts of its legendary Morning Becomes Eclectic program today. Each podcast will be available on KCRW.com or iTunes for two weeks.

The first band to be featured in the podcast is L.A.'s Goldspot. Check out the Goldspot site for track previews or their MySpace page for four streaming songs. Goldspot describe their sound as "`Bollywood' undertones within Western guitar-pop templates." Interesting combination. Download the podcast after 5 PM EDT today.

[Thanks Hypebot]

It was fitting that a Clash song came on the PA immediately after Hard-Fi finished their quick and fun set last night at Rothko. It was appropriate because the reggae and dub that so influenced the Clash also infuse Hard-Fi's de rigueur Brit Pop. It's an adventurous distinguisher for a band that could easily be overshadowed by their more glamorous peers.

Their set picked from the best tunes on the Cash Machine EP - "Tied up Too Tight" and the title track - as well as the forthcoming (in the U.S., at least) full length, Stars of CCTV. I've yet to hear that album, but based on the songs played last night, the Mercury Prize seal of approval seems warranted, if a little premature. The future may be now for Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs, but keep an eye on Hard-Fi. They may have the chops to prove worthy of the early honor.

Other Hard-Fi reviews:

Central Village and Chris' Music Snobbery review The Cribs, Hard-Fi, Nine Black Alps, and Sam Champion at Mercury Lounge.





More photos on Flickr.com

According to a message posted on the Spiritualized message board, Jason Pierce, AKA Jason Spaceman nearly died twice from an undisclosed illness, but has now recovered and is convalescing at home.

The issue was addressed by Juliette, Pierce's partner:

So nearly dying twice in the last 2 and half weeks jason has now and fantastically made an alarming and brilliant recovery and is due home today.
He is still fragile and really weak weighing in at maybe 8 stone but love and happiness on his side.
weirdly he is still jason though
no thoughts about how lucky he is
just mentioned how mad it is that his record is written almost like he was ill before
not that he's into esp and stuff
just in the most beautiful way
love to all and everyone who sent him get well wishes
cos he needed it and must have heard it
and thankfully he's here and back and coming home

All I can say is best wishes to Jason Spaceman on a fast recovery from whatever ails him.

[Thanks NME]

With the limelight focused on the over-analyzed (guilty am I) and (some say) undeserving Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, it's easy to overlook that other New York band, the National. It's easy to forget that CYHSY is opening for the National on an upcoming U.S. tour, and not the reverse.

But for some who don't get CYHSY and see a Pitchfork power play in all of the attention dedicated to an unsigned band, the National have become heroes. For an example of this, I'd recommend reading Deviated Septum's passionate "The National vs. The Clap."

The gist of Marnie's argument: The people who are driving the buzz surrounding CYHSY, namely Pitchfork, are doing so just for the glory of breaking a band. It happened with Broken Social Scene, then the Arcade Fire, and now it's CYHSY. In the rush to claim responsibility for sold out shows and mainstream media praise, the fact that the National are a better band (at this stage) with a better album (Alligator) has been lost.

I agree that Pitchfork has become obsessed with itself and its star-making influence. I also agree that the National are a better band *currently* and Alligator is a much more pleasing album. But it's my opinion that the majority of love given to CYHSY is genuine. I am baffled by the intensity of praise for CYHSY, but I can't question the motivation behind it.

More on the National & CYHSY:

- Read Deviated Septum's review of Alligator
- Download the National live on KEXP, ripped by Welcome to the M!dwest.
- Alternate Tuning on the CYHSY hype and backlash.

Last Friday I mentioned that I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness have begun work on their debut album, tentatively scheduled for early 2006. Secretly Canadian announced today the signing of ILYBICD, or Chosen Darkness as they call them, and will release the album.

Unless the album tanks, expect big things from this band with a big name. Too soon to say if I Love You But I've [insert pun here] will be the new Clap Your Hands [insert clever pun here] for headline writers, hype haters and the like, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Download "When You Go Out" (MP3)

- Franz Ferdinand talks to NME about "Do You Want To", the first single from their new album. Click over to FranzFerdinand.org to download a live version of the track. [Thanks Stereogum]

- Stream the new Hard-Fi video for "Tied Up Too Tight": Real, Windows Media (450/300/100), Quicktime (450/300/100/56) or Flash.

- Stream the debut album from Clor, via the NME Listening Post.

- Download "Maybe You Can Owe Me" (MP3) from Architecture in Helsinki. [Thanks NME]

- WPRB will broadcast a live 5-song set from the Constantines, Wednesday July 27 at 8:00 PM EDT. Bookmark this site.

- Outsideleft ranks the top 10 hottest female guitar players ever. [Thanks Next Big Thing]

- Hallmonitor.org updates and includes this rant. I couldn't agree more Paul.

Crashin' In will be screening Last Days (the new Gus Van Sant film about Kurt Cobain) and 9 Songs (porn with indie bands, see Peephole's review here) at Supreme Trading in Williamsburg this Friday.

EDIT: Rachel points out in the comments for this post that the films won't be screened at this party. It's just a promo night for the films. Too bad. The details are still available the jump:

Crashin' In Party Friday July 22, 2005 No Cover

(10:00pm-11:00pm)
*Last Days, the new Gus Van Sant film (loosely based
on the last days of Kurt Cobain's life) giveaways
(movie posters, t-shirts, guitar picks) from Filter.

*9 Songs, new film, directed by Michael Winterbottom,
who did the 24 Hour Party People movie. This film was
released in England earlier this year and is already a
hit. The soundtrack features BRMC, Primal Scream,
Elbow, Dandy Warhols, Franz Ferdinand, and more
playing live. Giveaways from Filter.

*Telepopmusik giveaways(cds, vinyl, posters) from
Girlie Action.

(11:00pm-4:00am)

Djs: Oil(KanineRecords), Toby Rascal(KanineRecords),
Gerald(OtherMusic), and Guest Dj Kyle Eagle(If James
Brown were still in his 20's he'd be thumpin' like
Kyle Eagle. Oh wait, James Brown is still amazing, I
just saw him at his 72nd Birthday show. So there you
go, Kyle has his younger mojo in his skinny white
bones.) playing a mix of
Brit/Indie/PostPunk/Grime/Nu-wave/Remix dance music.

Hosted by Lio, Sonia "Sunshine", Alex(Highspire),
Sophia, and Marc

Supreme Trading, 213 N.8th Street (between Driggs &
Roebling), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Courtesy of iFilm, check out an unfinished video for Depeche Mode's new single "Precious". Great song too. Classic DM. Someone please get an MP3 rip of this, STAT.

[Thanks Screenhead]

If you haven't noticed, there is an overload of very tempting shows happening between September 9 and 15 in New York. The more I look at those seven days and try to decide what to see and what to miss, the more ridiculous it seems. Take September 9. Bloc Party just announced at show at Roseland with the Kills. Thanks a lot. I already have tickets to see The National and Clap Your Hands that night at the Bowery. If you see Bloc Party and notice a dearth of hipsters and bloggers, you know what's going on.

Then there's the money question. Do I fork out up to $50 + fees for Sigur Rós on 9/12, or do I save myself only a few bills and see one of the heroes of my teenage years, A-Ha, at Irving Plaza for $30? How about paying a scalper several hundred for a Rolling Stones ticket for September 13 at MSG? If I make it through these with anything left in my wallet, it will be spent on beers and hamburgers at the Arcade Fire show in Central Park on the 15th.

Time to count my blessings that I live in New York, I suppose. It's better to have too many choices than none at all. Here's the rundown of shows announced so far for 9/9 - 9/15:

September 9 - The National and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Bowery Ballroom)- SOLD OUT
September 9 - Bloc Party and the Kills (Roseland)
September 10 - Nouvelle Vague (Joe's Pub)
September 11 - Seu Jorge (Bowery Ballroom)
September 12 - Sigur Rós (Beacon Theatre)
September 12 - A-Ha (Irving Plaza)
September 12 - Seu Jorge (Bowery Ballroom)
September 13 - Sigur Rós (Beacon Theatre)
September 13 - Nouvelle Vague (Joe's Pub)
September 13 - Rolling Stones (MSG) - SOLD OUT
September 15 - Arcade Fire (Central Park Summerstage) - SOLD OUT

Bedroom Dancing names "5 bands that aren't as great as you think they are": !!!, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Roxette, the Arcade Fire, and Wilco. Some may disagree...

[Thanks Goldenfiddle]

The Kills will open for Bloc Party on the band's upcoming U.S. tour. See our post yesterday for full details on tickets and dates. The lineup will be in New York on September 9, at Roseland.

Does this make the show more enticing? I really liked the Kills' last album and missed the opportunity to see them at the Bowery Ballroom. Still, I'm undecided about buying at ticket for this show. Roseland is an awful venue.

As I placed Hard-Fi's Cash Machine EP CD into my CD-ROM drive, this thought jumped to mind: God I hope this is not just another Kaiser-Razor-Crib-Kasabian Brit pop Xerox copy machine band. Well, not that exact thought, but you get my drift. Sure, I'm guilty for pre-judging Hard-Fi based solely upon their association with the abbreviation NME. Not very fair, I know.

I'm relieved to say that while Hard-Fi may live in the same neighborhood as those other bands they're not flatmates. There are enough unique moments to differentiate and validate their existence. The title track has a funky bass groove that I swear was stolen from a Michael Jackson tune and maybe the best use of a melodica since "Love Vigilantes". The fat synth that plunks around "Tied up Too Tight" is a clever combination with the fuzzy guitars and "na na na na na" chorus. My only complaint is inclusion of an unnecessary cover of "Seven Nation Army". It's not bad, but why bother?

Download "Cash Machine" (MP3) from Insound.

Hard-Fi play tonight at Mercury Lounge with The Cribs, Sam Champion and Nine Black Alps.

Yes, Portland's zany, software writing indie rock experimentalists Menomena are still alive and still kicking it. We received their newsletter today and it contained some good news. They've finished their second album! Finally. No word on when it will be released, but I'm guessing October or November. They're also releasing a new 7" - no release date on this one either. Come on. Give us some specifics. I'm fairly excited by all of this and I hope the second Menomena album gives this great band the exposure they deserve.

Side-note: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah opened for Menomena at Mercury Lounge on March 12, 2005. Think that would happen now? Funny how fast things change.

If you're not familiar with Menomena, read Rajeev's review of their Sin-e performance on 11.10.04 and download "Cough Coughing" (MP3).

Here are your 2005 Mercury Prize nominees, along with odds from Ladbrokes. Would someone please explain to me why Kaiser Chiefs are the current favorites?

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (5/1)
Hard-Fi - Stars Of CCTV (9/1)
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment (4/1)
MIA - Arular (10/1)
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers (7/1)
Coldplay - X&Y (8/1)
The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning Strike (12/1)
Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now (12/1)
KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope (6/1)
Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger (10/1)
Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay (14/1)
Polar Bear - Held On The Tips Of Fingers (12/1)

[Thanks DJ Martian]

Bloc Party have announced a short list of September U.S. tour dates, including Roseland Ballroom on Friday, September 9. Here is the ticket sales information from Ticketmaster:

Internet Onsale Info
Onsale to General Public:
Fri, 07/22/05 12:00 PM EDT

Internet Presale Info
KROCK PRESALE:
Start: Wed, 07/20/05 09:00 AM EDT
End: Thu, 07/21/05 10:00 PM EDT

RDP PRESALE:
Start: Wed, 07/20/05 09:00 AM EDT
End: Thu, 07/21/05 10:00 PM EDT

Tickets are $25 + those annoying fees.

The full Bloc Party tour itinerary:

09/08 - Boston, MA Avalon
09/09 - New York, NY Roseland
09/10 - Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
09/12 - Toronto, ON The Docks
09/13 - Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
09/14 - Chicago, IL Congress Theatre
09/16 - Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
09/20 - Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium
09/21 - San Francisco, CA SF Weekly Warfield
09/22 - San Francisco, CA SF Weekly Warfield
09/24 - Austin, TX Zilker Park (Austin City Limits)
09/26 - Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

I really want to give in to the Magic Numbers's debut self-titled album. I really do. On some levels it isn't difficult. How can I not instantly like music this summery? "Mornings Eleven" is overloaded with undeniably faultless pop moments; "Long Legs" kills with its rollercoaster riffing and hand clapping; and the build-ups in "Love Me Like You" are just plain perfect. But there are many excesses on the album and I can't help but feel frustrated and even a little bored at times.

The Magic Numbers stretch their songs to the point of breaking and sometimes beyond. If I could play God, Stylus-style, I'd nip and tuck many extraneous sections on several songs. For example, the aforementioned "Mornings Eleven" could lose a few interludes, "Wheels on Fire" takes its sweet time getting to the point, and "Love is Just a Game" lingers just a bit too long. There's a concise classic buried in here somewhere. Too bad the Magic Numbers couldn't hold back.

- My last words on this subject: Apparently a few bloggers (and electronic artist Mocean Worker) were at this year's Siren Festival: Central Village / Chelsea Peretti / Chronically Hip / Coolfer / Heart on a Stick / The Modern Age / The Simple Mission / Stereogum / Yeti Don't Dance / Vocal Siren / Technorati Siren Festival tag

- There's a video clip on the Spiritualized web site that captures the band in the recording process for a new album. [Thanks Chromewaves]

- Kim Cooper is writing a book about the Neutral Milk Hotel album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. 33.33 have a lengthy excerpt from the manuscript.

- Other Passengers are heading South to New Orleans to record their debut album, but before they go, they're playing a couple shows in the area, including tomorrow night at Tonic and July 28 at Cake Shop. The Tonic show is an album release party for openers Saxon Shore. Other Passengers are scheduled to play at 10:45; My Best Friend precedes them at 9:45. Expect to hear plenty of new tunes from OP.

- Check out hundreds, uh, more like thousands of interesting concert posters at Gigposters.com [Via Suicide Girls]

- MegaMegaMega reviews the Depeche Mode documentary 101.

XL Recordings informs that M.I.A. will release her next single, "U.R.A.Q.T." in September. The single will include remixes from Roll Deep, Plasticman and Hot Chip.

Rajeev mentioned this show before he left, but here's a reminder. The Juan Maclean will be at Tribeca Grand on Saturday night, July 23rd. Admission is free, but you must rsvp to weare138nyc@yahoo.com. The Juan Maclean are scheduled to hit the stage around midnight, which in Tribeca Grand time means close to 1 AM (or later).

More on The Juan Maclean:

- Rajeev's Top 5 (or so) of '05 (so far)
- LCD Soundsystem + The Juan Maclean - Webster Hall 6.10.05

Dungen


Diamond Nights


Spoon (from a great distance)


More photos after the jump

The Independent (UK) has an extensive interview with Bjork. In the conversation Bjork discuss her acting role in her husband Matthew Barney's experimental film Drawing Restraint 9. Bjork composed the film's score, which includes "Gratitude" a collaboration with Will Oldham.

On a side note, there will be vaseline in the film.

Curiously, Bjork reveals she and Barney are considering selling their home in New York and buying a boat to live on. "It could be our home and our studio and we could travel around and drop the anchor wherever we found inspiration," Bjork says.

Read the full interview here.

Before jumping into the roundup, I'd like to vent about the Siren Festival lineup this year. With the Intonation Festival and Lollapalooza draining the talent pool, I understand why it was difficult to put together a more appealing roster of bands. But I don't get why the Village Voice doesn't try to book a more diverse range of acts. No DJs or Electronic artists. One hip-hop artist. Is the Voice assuming anything outside of indie rock would not draw? Looking back at previously lineups, it's the same story. Am I off-base? OK, I'll shut up. On to the roundup:

- Brooklyn Vegan was a busy person, running from one stage to another to snap some excellent photos (as usual). Check them out here. Based on his review and comments on his site, I'll have to retract my statement about no one seeing Saul Williams. Seems he put on quite a show, which I missed unfortunately.

- Other commenters on BV and one here point out Morningwood as the highlight of the day. Yesterday I linked to their Myspace page, which is streaming three songs.

- There's a Siren Festival group on Flickr that has 53 photos so far.

- Extrawack not only went to Coney Island for Siren, but they also fit in a Cyclones game. They posted some pictures and review of the fest and the game.

More blog coverage:

- Blog Shamblogg camped out at the main stage and posted reviews on every band that played there.

- Gang of One nearly fainted from heatstroke but managed to catch Be Your Own Pet, Morning Wood and Diamond Nights.

More to come soon.

My day at the Siren Festival began somewhere in Brooklyn, stuck on a G train for 20 minutes. A dead train ahead of us meant I would miss most of Diamond Nights and Q and Not U. The other bands I wanted to see - Be Your Own Pet, Amublance Ltd., Nine Black Alps - would have to wait for another opportunity. Fortunately I made it to the main stage in time to see Dungen perform a impressively vigorous performance

Dungen has always seemed like an artifact from another world to me. The Swedish lyrics, the flights of psychedelia on Ta Det Lugnt and Gustav Ejstes' eccentric biography helped to create an idealized, otherworldly aura for them. To see the band on stage would humanize them and perhaps break the spell. Oh my overactive imagination. Dungen is just a rock band after all. To expect anything more is to face inevitable disappointment.

So as a rock band and not a mystical troupe of folk-rocking spirits from a distant land, Dungen succeeded in delivering the key pleasures found on Ta Det Lugnt. They cannot be faulted for not duplicating the studio flourishes of that album. Reduced by the setting, Dungen's songs were revealed as pure, trippy pop. Highlights of the set included the acoustic and piano freakout "Festival" and a rollicking jam through "Ta Det Lugnt."

The curious and respectful crowd seemed pleased with the introduction with this much hyped act. The band appeared genuinely surprised by the size of the audience and thanked everyone on multiple occasions. Bassist Mattias Gustavsson (I'm assuming that's who it was, based on this interview), joked about the odd combination of a large crowd, the Cyclone rollercoaster sitting next to the stage and a band singing completely in Swedish. Perhaps we were on another world yesterday afternoon.

Photos to come.

The skies are gray today. Will rain hold off or will I be soaked at Siren? The time has come to head out to Coney Island, but here's a few brief items before I go:

- A new Christgau Consumer Guide is up on the Village Voice website. Laptop music is a theme that runs through most of his recommendations, but he also finds time to praise records from the Pernice Brothers and the White Stripes. I have yet to hear the new Röyksopp album, but word of mouth has leaned heavily towards the negative. Christgau names it his dud of the month. His other duds include Junior Boys' Last Exit (what?), M83's Before Dawn Heals Us, and The Bravery.

- Hoboken Rock City saw Dungen at Maxwell's and reports back with photos and a review. Based on the stuff I read, Dungen is the band everyone wants to see at Siren this year.

- You have to feel bad for Saul Williams, who's set overlaps Dungen's today. To make up for following the herd over to the Main Stage at 5:00 and missing Saul's set, here's some links to listen to his music: Stream "List of Demands", "Black Stacey", "Grippo", "Telegram" on Myspace or download the Saul Williams Mixtape from Catchdubs.

- Here's more Siren-related downloads:

Nine Black Alps

- New EP: Stream on Myspace

Be Your Own Pet

- "Damn Damn Leash": Download MP3

Morningwood

- "New York Girls": Stream Real Media or Windows Media
- "Jetsetter", "Nu Rock", "New York Girls": Stream on Myspace

Diamond Nights

- "Destination Diamonds": Download MP3
- "Saturday Fantastic" and "Destination Diamonds": Stream on Myspace

Ambulance Ltd.

- "Primitive (The Way I Treat You)": Download MP3 from Insound
- "Primitive", "Stay Where You Are", "Fearless" and "Country Gentleman": Stream on Myspace

- Tale of Two Cities has another edition of its Do's and Dont's - "a fresh crop of images of ridiculous-looking hipsters acting in a ridiculous fashion."

- FREEWilliamsburg interviews Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I've complained about the CYHSY hype, but I'm just as guilty as anyone for propagating it. Despite my reservations, I have a ticket to the National/CYHSY show at the Bowery. I'll try to go in with an open mind.

- Plenty of reviews and photos of the Scissor Sisters recent "secret" shows at Mercury Lounge. MMM, Peephole, Brooklyn Vegan, Yeti Don't Dance and Central Village were at the "Bridget Jones' Diarrhea" night on July 13.

- Boards of Canada (remember them?) will release a new album in October. Warp describes it as being "very much classic Boards." We've had two albums of that so far, isn't it time for something different?

- About Alternative Music lists the Top 10 French Alternative bands, besides Air and Dimitri. I've heard some of these before, like St. Germain, Pink Martini, Serge Gainsbourg, and Stereolab, of course. Not to quibble, but I wouldn't consider Gainsbourg to be "alternative." Amazing and influential, but the label alternative seems beneath him. Still, it's an interesting list with a few names I'll have to learn more about.

Here's a few songs that have been on repeat lately:

This Mortal Coil - "Song To The Siren" (MP3): A bewitching cover of a Tim Buckley song from the This Mortal Coil album It Will End In Tears. My tribute to the Siren Festival. May I hear something nearly as good as this tomorrow.

The White Stripes - "My Doorbell" (Live at Glastonbury, 6.24.05) (MP3): The best song on Get Behind Me Satan? I don't know, but it's my choice.

Cranebuilders - "New Captain" (Live) (MP3): Cranebuilders are Tommy Roberts (vocals and guitars) and Simon Reynolds (guitar), two music clerks at Cranes Music Store in Liverpool, England. If you like the Tindersticks, you'll like Cranebuilders.

The Cribs - "Martell" (MP3): Oh to hear this one played live in a stadium. The sing-along would be amazing. An undeniable catchy tune that deserves to be a big hit.

Underworld - Untitled New Song (Live) (MP3): Just found this one and it's already taken over. It was played at the Exit Festival in Serbia on July 7, 2005 and broadcast on Radio 1 in the UK. This recording comes from the radio broadcast. Enjoy.

Thanks to everyone who uploaded some really great photos to the New York Indie Rock Show Flickr group I posted about here. As I said before, the invitation is open for anyone who takes photos at New York shows. Please request an invite through Flickr and we'll add you to the group. These shots prove to me just how much I have to learn about taking good concert photos.

Taken by This Twilight Garden:

Ian Brown


Taken by Aphrodite-in-nyc:

Gang of Four


Taken by Kathryn:

The Hold Steady


Taken by Debbie C.B's New York:

Sonic Youth


Taken by Coolfer:

Bloc Party


More photos from the group are here.

- As I explained yesterday, we're not selling ringtones, screensavers, etc. over at our old domain. But on a related note, Belle & Sebastian are now offering truetone and polyphonic ringtones here. So if you've been pining for an "I'm a Cuckoo" ringer or a B & S color graphic for your phone, you're in luck. I must point out that it appears you must live in the UK to buy anything. Oh well.

- That got me thinking: Who would be the most unlikely artist to offer ring tones? John Cage? Wolf Eyes?

- ADDED: Junior Boys are working on their second LP, to be released in early 2006. Their current influences: Italo-disco, Simple Minds, Tin Pan Alley/Gershwin, and R&B. This should be interesting! [Via Billboard]

- From Largehearted Boy: Stream Sufjan Steven's KCRW performance yesterday or download MP3s.

- Related: Donewaiting.com is getting scared by all of the Sufjan hype on music blogs.

- Get on the bandwagon now, because it might get crowded: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness will release their debut album in early '06. Paul Barker of Ministry and Lard is producing (!). [Via Pitchfork]

- Don't hold your breath, but the Pixies are planning on heading into the studio to record a new album. [Via NME]

- Iggy Pop on NPR's Fresh Air

This is an event Rajeev might have mentioned or attended if he were here:

James Duncan, trumpet player on the Morgan Geist (Metro Area) remix of the Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers" will be dj'ing at the Main Ingredients party at the Skinny tomorrow night. Duncan is also an artist in his own right, producing deep house tracks for his own label, Lesysteme records and others. If you're interested, I'd advise you to check this out as apparently Duncan doesn't spin very often.

Listen to a DJ mix by James Duncan (Real media)

The Skinny is located at 174 Orchard St (at Stanton). The party starts at 10 PM and there's no cover.

Although it might be more profitable than our current professions, Rajeev and I are not in the ringtone business. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out onelouder.blogspot.com, our old domain. I don't know how long it's been a ringtones site, but it has nothing to do with us.

I have to thank Glenn over at Coolfer for pointing this out as I had no idea until his post today.

Here's what happened, in case you're interested. When we switched domains, the old site was still available. Then about two weeks ago, the site was replaced by a 404 error page. According to Blogger, the old domain was supposed to go back into the general pile of available addresses as soon as we switched. When I tried to reclaim the address, I was told it was unavailable. When I emailed Blogger, I received no response. Honestly, I forgot about it at that point.

I was a bit dismayed to learn it had been taken over to sell ringtones, but I was more amused than anything. Does someone really think they're going to get mad hits to that domain? It's not like people mistyping Google or anything. Whatever...

I must confess that until his label emailed us here recently, I was not familiar with the work of hyper-prolific singer songwriter Ben Barnett, aka Kind of Like Spitting (KOLS). Hyper-prolific may be an understatement. Barnett released four albums in 2000 alone; he's planning to release his seventh full-length in October and an EP soon afterwards. Phew.

The email we received from the label, Redder Records, directed us to four covers by KOLS that are available for download. Based on these, I want to hear more. I particularly liked his cover of Yo La Tengo's "Tom Courtenay". I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know if I've ever heard the original, so Barnett may be murdering Yo La for all I know. Download them for yourself and decide.

- "Tom Courtenay" (by Yo La Tengo)
- "Some Girls Like Cigarettes" (by the Karl Hendricks Trio)
- "Thirteen" (by Big Star)
- "Labels" (by GZA)

- Buried in an East Bay Express article about MC Hammer was the following comment. You'll have to read the article to get the context, but I thought it was funny on its own:

White people: Rhapsodize about bands named "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah."
Black people: Actually clap hands, say Yeah.

Elsewhere:

- Rolling Stone profile the Hold Steady

- Bloc Party are already back in the studio and have written 25 new songs for possible inclusion on their new album, due early next year. New song titles include "Hero", "Two More Years", "Into the Blue", "Kids", and "The Present". The band are planning an October release for the album's first single.

Courtesy of Pop Bitch, 2ManyDJs's David Dewaele lists his current five favorite tracks:

1. Riton - "Angerman" (MP3 Clip)

2. Clor - "Love and Pain" (Real Media/Windows Media video)

3. John Starlight - "John's Addiction" (MP3)

4. Tomas Andersson - "Washing Up (Tiga remix)" (Real Audio clip)

5. The Juan Mclean - "Tito's Way" (Real Media/Window Media video)

I've received at least two unsolicited emails prompting me to read Duff Mulligan's New York Rock: A Critical History. At first I didn't really know what to make of it. I tried reading it, but it is so poorly written that I stopped about half-way through. Is this a joke? I admit I laughed when the writer claimed that Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet is the worst album of the millenium and is responsible for all kinds of evil.

Metafilter and ILX have also picked up on it. Read it for yourself on theduffer.blogspot.com, if you must.

They're preparing to tour South America, that's where. Billboard reports the band will visit Brazil, Argentina, and Chile in October. The tour precedes the release of the band's third record, currently untitled.

The Billboard article drops some hints about the sound of the new album, courtesy of Strokes manager Ryan Gentles. "A lot cleaner and brighter," Gentles said. "The vocals are up. [Producer] David [Kahne] really taught Julian how to accept his voice and hear it over the top of the mix."

The Strokes will also play a limited number of small club shows in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia. According to Gentles, the shows will be "sneak previews...Only diehards are going to know about these."

Rajeev normally handles the Stereolab business around here. Since he's currently in Singapore eating curry and doing god knows what else, it's up to me to report that Stereolab will release the following three new singles in September:

- "Kyberneticka Babicka Pt 1" b/w "Kyberneticka Babicka Pt 2"
- "Palstic Mile" b/w "I was A Sunny Rainphase"
- "Interlock" b/w "Visionary Road Maps"

The tracks will be released as downloads and on black vinyl, September 12. Check out Stereolab's site for more information.

Technorati tags: music

Here is the second and final part of my search for notable music landmarks on Google Maps.



Mud Island Park: On Thursday evening, May 29, 1997, singer Jeff Buckley and a friend were wandering around Memphis, Tennessee, lost. They ended up on Mud Island Park. Buckley decided to wade out into the Mississippi river - he'd swum from Mud Island in the past. His friend tried in vain to convince him not go in. Buckley swam further and further into the river and then disappeared under the water, likely pulled under by a strong undertow. His body was found nearly a week later. Jim Irvin wrote an excellent tribute to Jeff in Mojo magazine. Read the article here.



Chelsea Hotel: Located at 222 W 23rd St in New York, the Chelsea Hotel is famous for many reasons. Most notoriously, Sid Vicious murdered his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in Room 100 on October 11, 1978. Many famous musicians have stayed at the hotel, including Bob Dylan, who claimed to have stayed up all night writing "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for his then wife Sara Lowndes. Visit the Hotel's website here.



Hotel Yorba: The Hotel Yorba would be just an unknown, run-down half-way house in a derelict section of Detroit if it wasn't for Jack White of the White Stripes. White wrote a song about the hotel on the Stripes's album White Blood Cells. Read more about the hotel and the song here.



The Hacienda: Opened by Factory Records and New Order on May 21, 1982, the Hacienda was the epicenter for the Manchester rave and indie rock scene until its closure in June 1997. Sadly, the club was demolished eighteen months later. A facsimile was built for the film 24 Hour Party People and a party was hosted there for one evening of filming in March 2001. The replica was then torn down. Read Dave Haslam's personal history of the Hacienda here.



Stonehenge: Many unanswered questions remain about Stonehenge. Why was it built? How did the druids construct it? Was it the birthplace of heavy duty rock and roll? We may never know what really happened. Read Wikipedia's Stonehenge entry here.

Technorati tags: music

- The Onion interviews Sufjan Stevens; Stylus interviews the Juan Maclean.

- The Boston Phoenix explores the influence of Brian Eno on popular music.

- The Village Voice wonders what happened to Brit Pop and somehow decides to blame Oasis and Tony Blair. I've read the article two or three times and I might be dumb, but I'm just not convinced that one bad Oasis album and a politician had anything to do with the demise of Britpop.

- Broszkowski has a library of downloadable Pixies videos [via Screenhead]

The best description I can scratch out for Doveman's debut album, The Acrobat is midnight minimalism. The band's simple, elegant take on late night balladry compels listening in solitude in the depth of the night, preferably with a bottle or two of something strong. Often it's so quiet, cough and you'll miss its almost ephemeral beauty. Singer Thomas Bartlett's weary voice never rises above a whisper, drums barely register and the guitars are a slow and unsteady rain on tin. Meanwhile, saxophones, violins, trumpets and other apparitions haunt the perimeters. Yes it's downbeat, but it's also a work of fragile and captivating beauty. Highly recommended. Try "Honey" (MP3).

The Acrobat will be released July 26 on Swim Slowly records. The band will celebrate the release with a show at Joe's Pub on August 4th, at 7:30 PM. Check out Dovemanmusic.com, the Doveman blog, or their My Space page for more downloads and information.

When Google introduced its Maps site a few months back, like many other people I spent nearly an entire work day just scrolling around the world, enamored by the satellite images of places I've been and those I wish to visit someday. I recently found Google Sightseeing - a blog focused on discovering and cataloging all of the wonders found in those satellite views. It's an addicting site and it gave me an idea: I should try to find images of famous music sites. So after much searching, here is a list of some of the more famous locations in Rock music history, courtesy of Google Maps:



The Crossroads: At the crossroads of Highways 61 and 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, blues legend Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar. Unfortunately you can't zoom all the way in on this rural locale, but from this image you can get a rough view of the spot where Johnson made his famous deal. Read more about the legend of the Crossroads and Robert Johnson here.



Sun Studios: The studio of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Sam Phillips opened Sun Studios, located on 706 Union Avenue, in Memphis, TN, on January 3, 1950. The first rock and roll single, "Rocket 88", by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, was recorded at Sun in 1951. Besides Abbey Road, Sun Studios may be the most famous music recording facility in the world. Read the Wikipedia entry here.



The Day The Music Died: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the "Big Bopper" were killed in an airplane accident near Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959. This image shows the general area where the plane crashed. View photos of the destroyed plane here.



Folsom Prison: Johnny Cash played for a room of prisoners here on January 13, 1968. The prison can be found in Represa, California, 25 miles east of Sacramento. Read All Music's review of At Folsom Prison here.



Abbey Road: This location really needs no introduction. The studio the Beatles made famous is located on 3 Abbey Road, St Johns Wood, London, England. Visit the official site here.



Altamont Raceway: Located in Tracy, California, Altamont Raceway was the location of an infamous rock concert in 1969. Three people died at the festival, including Meredith Hunter. Captured in the documentary Gimme Shelter, Hunter was murdered by Hells Angels while the Rolling Stones performed "Sympathy for the Devil" on stage nearby. In a classic show of poor judgement, the Angels were hired for security by the Stones's manager, Sam Cutler. The event has gained symbolism as the end of the hippie era in the `60s. Read the Wikipedia entry here.



Riverfront Coliseum: On December 3, 1979, eleven people were killed during a concert by the Who at the Riverfront Coliseum, located in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The coliseum is now known as the U.S. Bank arena. Read the Wikipedia entry here.

Part II is available here.

This morning Coolfer commented about bloggers, including One Louder, using Flickr to post concert images. We have shots from several shows there currently, including Bloc Party, Kraftwerk, Deerhoof, and Stephen Malkmus. We've already included many of these photos in concert reviews, but if you missed them I've provided links below.

Coolfer also mentioned several music and concert related Flickr groups. We set up New York Indie Rock Shows and are inviting anyone who's interested to join. Please send us a message in Flickr and we'll add you to the group. Thanks!

Other bloggers on Flickr [from Coolfer]

Aeki Tuesday
Catherine's Pita
Central Village
Daily Refill
Information Leafblower
Soviet Panda

One Louder's Photos:

Andrew Bird / Bloc Party / Built to Spill / Dead Meadow / Deerhoof / Doves / Four Tet / Gang of Four / Iron and Wine / Junior Boys / Kraftwerk / LCD Soundsystem / Stephen Malkmus / New Order / Nine Inch Nails / Mouse on Mars / Sonic Youth

Three new videos for your morning view pleasure:

Gorrilaz - "Dare"

Baby Shambles - "F!ck Forever": Windows Media, Real Media

Louis XIV - "God Killed The Queen" (full of nudie bits as usual - NSFW, natch)

[via Screenhead]

This may be some people's idea of heaven or hell: On Thursday, July 28th, Cleveland radio station WBWC will broadcast 18 straight hours of Flaming Lips songs as part of the station's "2005 Summer Marathon Series." The show gets started at 7 AM and lasts until 1 AM and will include studio tracks, b-sides and rarities.

The broadcast will be available live online at www.wbwc.com.

If you choose to name your band the Cribs, you should be careful about fooling with the moniker's most pejorative definition. Plagiarizing may get you kicked out of school, but in rock it can either be an easy ticket to sudden fame or immediate derision. Where will the Cribs land in their sound-stealing ways? Somewhere in-between most likely.

On The New Fellas, the Cribs, who hail from Leeds, borrow mightily from a New York group very familiar with lifting a note or two - the Strokes. But where the Strokes trade in downtown sleaze and garage rock minimalism, the Cribs play for "the kids" with big hooks and plenty of "la la la's" and "waa ah ooh's". It's all very poppy, catchy, fun, and meaningless. Enjoy New Fellas for what it's worth: a guilty pleasure.

The Cribs play Mercury Lounge on July 19 and open for Kaiser Chiefs at Webster Hall on July 21.

Stream New Fellas, via NME

The Secret Machines - New Album in 2006: One of my favorite bands to pick on is the Secret Machines. I saw them open for Interpol on two occasions and found their live show to be nothing but pretentious, overblown twaddle. When their debut album, Now Here is Nowhere, received almost universal praise, I was forced to reconsidered my opinion. I listened to it a few times and have to admit it's actually pretty good. Good enough to interest me in the news that they've completed recording the follow-up. It will be released some time next year. Rolling Stone recently spoke to the band about the album and the recording process. Read the article here.

The White Stripes, "My Doorbell" - New Single: When I first listened to Get Behind Me Satan, the song that grabbed most me was "My Doorbell". I've become more familiar with the rest of the record since and while there are other great songs, "My Doorbell" still stands out as my favorite track. NME reports the Stripes will release it as the next single from Satan and will be backed with live recordings of "Screwdriver" and "Same Boy You've Always Known", recorded in Brazil.

Daniel Lanois, Belladonna - New Album Released Tomorrow: Producer extraordinaire (he worked on several records with you know who) and occasional artist Daniel Lanois will release his fifth album tomorrow. Belladonna is an instrumental album, built around Lanois's pedal-steel guitar and contributions from pianist Brad Mehldau and jazz drummer Brian Blade. Billboard reviewed Belladonna, describing it as a "cinematic beauty". Download "Agave" (MP3) via Insound.

It's been a long, long time since we've mentioned Art Brut around here. OK, only nine days. If you can't tell, Rajeev and I are rather keen for Art Brut and hope they play stateside someday soon. I've already dropped 25 quid into their Help Art Brut Play in the US Paypal account (no joke). Fingers crossed.

Anyhow, we also haven't been shy about our love for Bloc Party. But this presents a conundrum. In an interview with Playlouder, Art Brut's lead singer Eddie Argos was asked about his feelings on Bloc Party:

"...Bloc Party are okay. They're a bit like Oasis. Like a post punk Oasis, but instead of T Rex they've used Gang of Four. They're still got good lyrics about helicopters. [Pauses] I hate Bloc Party, hehehe, I really hate them."

So, is it OK to like both bands? Of course. Eddie's entitled to his opinion, but I'll have to respectfully disagree with him here. Eddie, I still want you to play a show around here very soon, OK? Just don't slag me off for enjoying Silent Alarm. Thanks.

Read the full interview here.

Rajeev feared I would post about U2 all the time, every time while he was out of the country. Funny, I think I'm actually in danger of turning this place into a Sigur Rós fan site. Today, 18 Seconds Before Sunrise, the band's official site, posted the name and track listing of the new album. Yes, the new record and the songs have names! No more hokey use of the parenthetical. Although, good luck pronouncing most of these names.

The album will be titled Takk and will contain 11 new songs. It will be released September 12/13 via EMI. Here is the track listing:

1. Takk
2. Glósóli
3. Hoppípolla
4. Með Blóðnasir
5. Sé Lest
6. Sæglópur
7. Mílanó
8. Gong
9. Andvari
10. Svo Hljótt
11. Heysátan

Also worth checking out, 18 Seconds Before Sunrise has set up a blog-style tour diary with photos, interviews, setlists and more.

The Cartoonist has created a PDF of a German Clash fanzine printed in 1977. The majority of it is in German, but it's still an interesting artifact.

From the Cartoonist:

The Clash in Germany. In 1977, the Clash toured Germany. Also in 1977, the German Punk fanzine The Ostrich published 'Total Control', a little A5 booklet full with articles about the band's gigs in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich. Because I think there's a certain historical value to this, I created a PDF [4.8MB] of the fanzine. It's partly written in English (the interviews with the band), but most of it is in German (the articles).

Download the PDF

[via Boing Boing]

Sigur Rós performed their first live show in two years last night in Glasgow, Scotland. 18 Seconds Before Sunrise posted the setlist, photos and a review. The band played five songs from the new album: Intro ("calm"), Glósóli ("a quiet start which turned louder with quite a lot of drums"), Sæglópur , Sé lest, and Andvari.

The setlist:

Intro / Glósóli / Ny Batterí / Svefn-G-Englar / Sæglópur / Vaka / Njósnavélin / Sé Lest / Gong / Andvari / Olsen Olsen / Hafssól / Popplagid

I haven't found a Bit Torrent of the show, but here's a few other Sigur Rós concerts available for download:

- Radio City Music Hall, 3.21.03
- Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, 6.27.03
- Schlachthof, Hamburg, 11.17.00

Technorati Tags: Sigur Ros, Music

With Rajeev away, will the Bono fanatic play? Perhaps, but 12-1 odds? Come on. OK, I may be more willing to comment on trivial U2 items than my cohort, but at least I don't have a man-crush on any Norwegian DJs.

Yes, this site will be a little light on obscure electronic content for a few weeks. But I'll try to fill in the gaps with interesting bits of non-U2 information. I promise that I won't mention that Bono changed his shoes on stage during a show in Berlin yesterday, or that U2's road crew set up a blog, or that Polish fans created a giant Polish flag during U2's recent performance in Chorzow. No, I won't talk about any of these things while Rajeev is away. Instead I'll mention stuff like this:

- Watch this space, a new Shins video for "Saint Simon" will be appearing soon.
- Drowned in Sound list their top albums of June 2005.
- An MF Doom mask is up for auction on eBay.
- WFMU has bushel full of Psychedelic Christian songs dating from 1967, available for download.
- The Smudge of Ashen Fluff has a high quality Arcade Fire video of the band performing "Wake Up" live in Spain.
- Billboard profiles the new Silver Jews record, Tanglewood Numbers. Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich are once again involved.
- A hilarious gallery of "hipsters acting in a ridiculous fashion", courtesy of Tale of Two Cities. I think I spot Thomas, the evil doorman, in shot #5. Nice man-boobs Tommy.

So you see, no U2. It can be done.

Big life changes are in the air for me - after five years in the workforce, I've decided to head back to school and I'm celebrating with almost a month's worth of wandering through SE Asia. It all kicks off tomorrow with a journey to Bangkok that's more than twice as long as my iPod's battery capacity - a sobering fact, for sure. I can't rule out a post from abroad, but chances are you won't hear from me again till August.

Until then, Jason will be handling things solo. (FYI - the odds of this becoming a U2 fansite for the month are currently running at 12-1.) He'll have things well-covered, though oddly there aren't too many July shows I'm bummed about missing. Seems a slow month. The beats, though, are another story - among the stuff I wish I could attend:

- THREE weeks of Warm Up at P.S. 1, starting tomorrow with Lindstrom & Prins Thomas. The Norwegians were also last night's special guests at Pop Your Funk, and these are their first-ever US gigs. I really dug what I heard of them - thumbs up to the live keys in the DJ booth - but, as usual with APT on Thursdays, it was still picking up when I left around 1:45. Tomorrow afternoon's party looks to be an excellent one, and they'll also be at the Tribeca Grand tomorrow night (RSVP to weare138nyc@yahoo.com required). Maybe you'll get to hear their new "Tribulations" remix, in which case I'll be extra jealous - very curious about it. To get a taste of their sound, try Lindstrom's "There's A Drink In My Bedroom And I Need A Hot Lady" (MP3).

Next Saturday will bring Detroit techno king Juan Atkins to P.S. 1, and the Saturday after that has Tim Sweeney, Darshan Jesrani, and Maurice Fulton and Mu. What a run, and I'll miss all of it.

- The Juan Maclean at the Tribeca Grand on July 23. Yeah, his June set opening for LCD Soundsystem pretty much sucked, but this will be free and with an album as awesome as Less Than Human under Maclean's belt, I'd give him another chance.

- Superpitcher at Cielo on July 26. After Here Comes Love, I saw Superpitcher as one of Kompakt's weaker links - totally misguided after I heard his other singles, remixes, and most recently his new mix Today. The sequencing isn't as crucial with Today as it is with some of the label's other mixes, but the track selection is aces - lots of hooks and hits, an approach that could kill live. I hope this goes well. Cielo is a beautiful space and should bring in big DJ's more often.

Plus a bunch else, I'm sure. The best electronic events often don't surface too far in advance - DJ Spinoza's weekly calendar can be an invaluable resource for keeping tabs on things. (Subscribe by sending an email to nyc_electronic_events_calendar-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.) And when in doubt, there's always AllDisco/The Beat Club at Capone's every Friday and Saturday - free admission and free pizza to go with the good music.

On that note, I'm off ... see you all in August!

On Siren Eve, July 15, Insound, Woxy.com, Dailysonic, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are hosting "Sound The Alarm 2", a pre-Siren Festival party at Rothko.

Helping us get into a Siren state of mind will be Ponys, Chin Up Chin Up, Be Your Own Pet, and Rahim. Tickets are $5 and available here. The fun gets started at 8 PM.

Technorati Tag: music

Nearly everyone has punched, kicked, and bitch-slapped this dead horse, but I'll add just one more blow to the MTV Live 8 coverage issue. MTV executives are - shock - acknowledging they blew it. "Knowing what I know now, I probably would have made the decision to go commercial-free," MTV Executive Vice President Van Toffler admitted.

Meanwhile, after years of bad news, AOL finally has a reason to celebrate as its web cast of Live 8 has been highly praised. Five million people hit the AOL site to watch the concerts. Usage peaked at 175,000 simultaneous streams at different points throughout the day, an internet record AOL claims. [Information from the LA Times]

Finally, every Live 8 performance, I mean every performance from every city is available here. Wow. Here's a few interesting clips:

- Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft - "Bittersweet Symphony"
- Travis - "Why Does It Always Rain on Me"
- Scissor Sisters - "Laura"
- The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again"
- Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
- Neil Young - "Rockin' In the Free World"
- A-Ha - "Hunting High and Low"
- The Cure - "Open"
- Bjork - "All is Full of Love"


Technorati Tags: live8, music

The Double and Cass McCombs were scheduled to play a free show tomorrow at South Street Seaport. That show has been officially POSTPONED due to all the rain in tomorrow's forecast.

The Double plan to make up the show on August 24. They're one of Matador's newest signings and, based on the promising clips available at The Simple Mission, their upcoming record Loose in the Air (due out on September 13) should be a keeper. No word yet on if Cass McCombs will still be on the bill - though I hope he is. I got into Cass by seeing him live, opening for the Shins last February. Now that I've heard his albums - last year's A and this year's PREfection, both excellent - I'd love to see him again, especially since I'll be missing his Northsix gig this weekend. More to come on this show as we hear it...

We recently received an email from Hangnail Phillips promoting his new album, Wit's End. I usually approach solicitations for reviews with caution and skepticism. I'll try anything, but it's rare to find quality. With nothing to lose, I downloaded Wit's End (It's available on CD or as a legal, free download from Hangnail's web site.) and to my delight and surprise, found that it's actually quite an enjoyable homemade album.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of The Beatles, Beefheart, Zappa, and a host of other leading names in psychedelic and folk rock, Phillips's songs are dense, eclectic, yet always melodic. Heavy reverb drapes over pounding drums and Phillip's twangy vocals. Two instrumental tracks, "All Tied Up" and the title track are collages of synth, discarded samples, and ringing telephones.

Wit's End would be the perfect soundtrack for my life if I owned a van and smoked lots of pot. But for this mundane corporate wage slave, it's still a fun, psych-rock trip. Try "Be Yourself" (MP3).

Pop Your Funk is one of my favorite parties in NYC. For over a year now, my plans for the first Thursday of every month have been pretty predictable - I head down to APT to listen to Roy Dank and Brennan Green on the decks, along with whatever excellent guests they may have. (Andrew Weatherall's May appearance was the highlight this year.)

Unfortunately, tonight marks the last ever Pop Your Funk. I'm a bit crazed right now getting things together for an upcoming vacation, so I'll let APT's email take it from here:

How sad we are to announce that Pop Your Funk, the Thursday night phenomenon that celebrated, as the residents once described it, as "the kinda sh*t you wish you heard more of out these days," is shuffling off this mortal coil...

(but you know, we never like to say goodbye at APT... we've heard rumors that the duo might stop by every once in a while in a one-off sort of basis!)

So tonight, come on over and help us change the locks on Brennan and Roy with an all-star style blowout... the lads promise that they'll play a bevy of epic party jams that'll have the mythical "Roy Drank" back on the dancefloor, including weird disco, punky-funky stormers, no-wave classics, and much more.

And oh yeah, there are going to be some special guests in the house for this last PYF... big big big guests.
Hottest producers-of-the-moment-style guests.
Hailing from northern Europe.
That's all we can give you right now. Do your research.

Oh yeah, this is going to be a good one. Make sure to swing on by for this blowout. And yeah, we've added an open bar on vodka drinks from 9-10pm, and a bunch of $5 drink specials as well!

As for those special guests - I have a sneaking suspicion they're DJ's I've talked about here quite a bit, so I'm pretty psyched for this tonight. See you there.

EDIT - someone thought I was talking about Optimo - makes sense given the above. I wish, but these DJ's are actually a bit more Scandinavian and have a couple new DFA remixes out...

So far I've missed every opportunity available to see Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings live. I really need to get my act together and make it to Madison Square Park on August 3, at 7 PM. It's a free show, so I have no excuse.

Check out the Madison Square Park Conservancy site for more information on this and other shows in the park.

To distract you from our sad reality, some links for lunch-time reading:

- The Village Voice on the state of CCM. That's Christian Contemporary Music to you heathens.

- Listen to Comets on Fire's studio performance on WFMU [via Sub Pop]

- Between Thought and Expression's Top 20 LPs of 2005 (so far). Sufjan gets more love.

- From More Cowbell: Devendra Banhart at Webster Hall, October 20.

- Depeche Mode name their new album Playing the Angel and plan an October release date. A Fall US tour is also in the works. [via Billboard]

- L.A. Sigur Rós fans - if you're wary of seeing Sigur Rós at the Hollywood Bowl, the band will be playing the more intimate Avalon Hollywood on August 11. Tickets go on sale today at 10:00 AM PDT.

- More Sigur Rós - Watch the Royal Danish Ballet's re-enactment of H.C. Andersen's Tale of the Little Match Girl, which includes a new song written by Sigur Rós. The composition will not be included on the new SR album. 200 Kbps or 450 Kbps.

I was saddened to hear the news of bombings in London this morning. Events like these tend to give perspective on our every day concerns. Suddenly, scouring the Internet for random bits of interesting music information seems silly. My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by today's attack.

- For a London music blogger perspective, check out Simon's No Rock and Roll Fun.
- NME: London Gigs Cancelled
- Drowned in Sound: London Bomb Blast
- Gothamist's Londonist blog
- Wikipedia's London Bombing page - an excellent source for information
- Update: BBC News is reporting that R.E.M. and Queen have postponed concerts that were scheduled for this weekend in London. Both shows were to be held in Hyde Park.

Technorati Tags: London, London Explosion, Music

A return NYC date, as promised by Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, has been established - October 10 at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are on sale now for $16.

Initially Pollstar listed just Four Tet, which is probably not enough to inspire me to get a ticket. Thankfully, the bill for that night is filling up with some other known and unknown (to me at least) acts. Yesterday Pollstar added Koushik (?) and Jamie Lidell. I've never heard of Koushik, but am familiar with Lidell. His record, Multiply, has been receiving lots of praise. This could turn out to be a show worth attending.

- Stream Four Tet's "Sun Drums and Soil" from Everything Ecstatic.
- Stream Jamie Lidell's Multiply.
- Stream Koushik's Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style Mix (30 minutes, Real Media).

- Sufjan Stevens's new record Illinois was scheduled to come out yesterday, but Asthmatic Kitty has stopped all sales to sort out the legal issues around the Superman image on the cover. (I believe they're removing it.) This sort of thing would be a setback for any label; for a small indie with presumably limited resources, I have to think it's catastrophic. Best of luck to them. (And I guess my presale copy is now officially a collector's item - see y'all on eBay!) My initial reaction to Illinois was that Greetings From Michigan did it much better, but the more I listen to the new record, the more it stands on its own. I still think all the sprawl (in name and in song) works against it, but I do like what I hear.

EDIT: I wasn't being serious with that eBay comment, but check out how much people are paying for the original cover - crazy!

EDIT 2: Looks like it's back on sale. Pitchfork has more details.

- More Sufjan - apparently he has three albums of Christmas music that have never been released. Download all of them at Irresponsible Journalism.

- According to Playlouder, Conor Oberst called the late John Peel a "cokehead" from the stage of Glastonbury last week - that would be the John Peel stage, no less. Classy, Conor. (Though he did later apologize.)

- Speaking of Mr. Peel, 2ManyDJ's turned their recent Sonar Festival set into an unspoken tribute to him by climaxing their set with the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks," Peel's oft-declared favorite song. Earplug has more on that set and the rest of the Barcelona festival - sounds like it was a blast.

- Pitchfork's Jess Harvell recently gave the latest Optimo mix CD Psyche Out an 8.2 rating, saying "the last twenty minutes of this mix are maybe the most exciting thing I've heard this year." Me too.

- Pitchfork also filled in the gaps in my Kompakt news from last week - they've got the tracklisting for the Total 6 double disc, due on August 15, and they report that DJ Koze's full-length will be out on September 12 and called Kozi Comes Around (grabbing the lead for Worst Album Title of '05). Unrelated, they've also got details on the new Deerhoof full-length, called The Runners Four and due on October 11. Can't wait to hear it.

- Pearl Jam and Sleater-Kinney will be playing Atlantic City's Borgata on September 30 and October 1. Strange, but I'm down.

- File under freaky - check out "Rubber Johnny," a cool (and unquestionably weird) new short film from Chris Cunningham using music from Aphex Twin. Sean Collins found this, calling it "real nightmare material."

- MMM reports that the Chemical Brothers will be headlining the Ultra New York festival in Central Park on September 16. Also on the lineup - Paul Oakenfold (or, as we call him, Jokenfold), Danny Tenaglia, Erick Morillo, and Timo Maas. I've seen the Chems DJ a couple times but never a live set, so this is tempting. Advance tix are on sale now - $50 is steep though.

- Two new interviews with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are up at Tiny Mixtapes (where they talk about all the hype around them and much more) and Yeti Don't Dance (via BV). From the YDD piece, I learned that "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" - the song I like the most on their debut - also happens to be the only song they've written as a group.

- Via CSTB, check out Greece's own Melodic Warrior. Someone get this man a contract!

One glance at yesterday's Battery Park lineup locked up my July 4 plans long ago - Yo La Tengo and Stephen Malkmus are two anchors of my indie rock fandom, and a free concert with the both of them is something I'd never pass up. It also helped that Laura Cantrell was on the bill - she's one of Matador's newest signings and, being the Matadork that I am, I was looking forward to checking her out. Alas Cantrell's set got overshadowed by the general hubbub of the show, but I did enjoy what I heard. She has a nice countrified sound that I'm curious to hear more of.

Mr. Malkmus took the stage with the Jicks a few minutes after 4:20 (shocker) and launched into "Dynamic Calories" from the Pig Lib bonus disc. I loved hearing it last month at Irving Plaza and I loved hearing it again. But though that Irving show left me hungry for more old material, yesterday's setlist was just perfect with plenty of old stuff to go with the new Face the Truth tunes. The new record is certainly good but I still prefer Pig Lib, and "Do Not Feed The Oyster" and "Animal Midnight" sounded lovely yesterday. The band was in great form and very jammy, sounding relaxed and having much fun. "No More Shoes" and "Baby C'mon" were my favorite of the new songs, but "Jo Jo's Jacket" was the set highlight for me. It was the one song I missed the most at Irving Plaza - hearing it yesterday made my day.

Or, should I say, it made half my day - the other half being made when Yo La Tengo opened their set with "We're An American Band," a song that shines live but I always seem to miss. The closing guitar solo was noisier than usual (and awesome), and the set in general was louder than the past few I've seen from Yo La. I love their live shows but admit that they can struggle when the crowds get too big - intimacy goes a very long way with them, especially since they've mellowed out over the years. My favorite songs from yesterday, then, were the rockers - "Tom Courtenay," an extra droney "Big Day Coming," and a loose "Cherry Chapstick." "Cherry Chapstick" is one of only two YLT songs I've seen James McNew play drums on, and his relative inexperience shows - but it also lets the sheets of guitar noise hold the song down, and it works. My favorite song was one I didn't recognize, though - it ended their main set and was really long, with lots of melodic noise jamming. Though "noise" is all over this review, they did play some quieter stuff, most notably a funked up "Autumn Sweater." I could've done without "Tears Are In Your Eyes" (as always), and I would've preferred the guitar version of "The Summer" (like at Maxwell's), but overall it was a satisfying show.

That sums up my feelings in general - the show was very satisfying. Big free outdoor shows will rarely blow you away, but I liked pretty much everything I heard yesterday and that's all you can ask for. I've seen YLT and the Jicks each do better and worse - but never together, and never for free, so kudos to Matador for putting this together. It even proved to be a perfect excuse to battle the South Street Seaport crowds for the fireworks afterwards.

For more on the show, check out Fluxblog (who noted the setlists below) and Statute of Frauds. Brooklyn Vegan has some pictures too.

SM'S SETLIST

Dynamic Calories / Do Not Feed The Oyster / Post-Paint Boy / Pencil Rot / Water And A Seat / No More Shoes / Animal Midnight / It Kills / Baby C'mon / Church On White / Mama / Dark Wave / Loud Cloud Crowd (quickly aborted) / Jo Jo's Jacket / Witch Mountain Bridge

YLT'S SETLIST

We're An American Band / We're An American Band (Grand Funk Railroad) / Stockholm Syndrome / Tears Are In Your Eyes / The Summer / ? (cover?) / Cherry Chapstick / Autumn Sweater / Little Eyes / Big Day Coming (loud) / Tom Courtenay / ? (new?)

ENCORE: ? (cover) / Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (The Ramones)

With altruism all the rage these days, it's only appropriate that our patron saint of good causes, Bono, has launched a new line of products designed to provide aid to third world countries. The company, called Bono's Third World Products, Inc. was founded earlier this year. It offers life-saving products created by Bono, The Edge, Chris Martin, Sting, and Tom Yorke.

So help save the world. Order something now from Bono's Third World Products, Inc.

[Link via Screenhead]

LA Times writer Robert Hillburn concurs with the sentiment that MTV seriously botched coverage of the Live 8 concerts on Saturday. "MTV's coverage of Saturday's event, designed to combat poverty in Africa, was beyond embarrassing. It was pitiful," Hillburn wrote. As Zan pointed out in the comments to my earlier post on this subject, MTV ended its Live 8 coverage with this callous quote: "Well, guys, I think it's about time to go get a Philly Cheese Steak." So much for caring about starving children.

- More Live 8 commentary from the media: BBC Radio 1, CNN, The Independent (UK), Rolling Stone, USA Today, and the Village Voice.
- Largehearted Boy is compiling Live 8 downloads here.
- MegaMegaMega praises AOL's web cast and hates on MTV.
- Ricky Gervais's Live 8 video clips.
- Live 8 photos on Flickr.
- Technorati tag: live8

I'm half listening (via AOL's web cast), half watching Live 8 right now. Pink Floyd just finished up a short but amazing set in London. It was great to see Roger Waters back on stage with his old mates, even if he looked and sounded like a very, very old man. It was still a one-of-a-kind moment.

Pink Floyd's setlist: Breathe / Money / Wish You Were Here / Comfortably Numb

Based on their coverage, do MTV/VH1 realize this is a live concert event, not an excuse to promote the Real World? Their coverage has been horrible. Throughout the broadcast they've routinely been cutting out of songs to commercials, interviews or to their "hosts." They came close to showing the entire performance by Pink Floyd, but then cut to a host talking over the climatic guitar solo in "Comfortably Numb." I don't get it. Why do Road Rules marathons get more respect than actually music events on these so-called music channels?

Probably the only way to see full Live 8 performances will be via archived videos online or the obligatory DVD package. AOL Music has put up U2 and Paul McCartney's event-opening rendition of "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Hard to believe that it was the first time Macca ever performed that song live. Click here to watch (Internet Explorer only).

- Live 8 Photo Gallery
- Brooklyn Vegan live blogs Live 8
- NY Times covers Live 8: Jon Pareles posts his review of the Hyde Park performances, while Kelefa Sanneh was in Philadelphia.
- Technorati Live 8 Blogs

Had enough of the lists yet? I tried to keep this one to five albums, but the July release in here was an easy excuse to sneak in a sixth. This list would've been different three weeks ago, and I'm sure it'll continue to change - though there have been lots of really good albums this year, only a couple (nos. 1 + 5 below) have really pulled away from the pack for me. But for now, you know the drill. In alphabetical order, let's go:

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll. It's rare enough that an album makes me laugh once, but this one actually does it repeatedly without ever feeling like a novelty. Delightfully tossed off and oh so catchy, Bang Bang Rock & Roll uses Blur's "Parklife" as a springboard to new and noisier heights, a blueprint that might get old if the lyrics weren't so damn great. And for what it's worth, Eddie Argos runs laps around Craig Finn in my book. Try "Emily Kane" (MP3).

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm. You knew these guys would be big. What's nice is that I think they'll stay big. Though they certainly fit into the post-punk explosion, their songs have a depth that's lacking with many of their contemporaries. It's been a while since I was playing this every day (it leaked in November!), but Silent Alarm lodged itself in my brain early in the curve and I'm happy to keep it there. Try "She's Hearing Voices" (MP3).

Isolée - Wearemonster. For whatever reason, this passed me by on my first few listens save for "Schrapnell" and its can't-miss guitar hook. But that song kept me coming back, and once the rest started to catch it was all over. My favorite song has changed four or five times since then, and my favorite moments are piled even higher. (Lately it starts at the 2:35 mark in "Mädchen Mit Hase.") With obvious details to grab you, subtle ones to keep you coming back, and layer upon layer in between, Wearemonster epitomizes well-crafted electronic music. Try "Schrapnell" (MP3).

The Juan Maclean - Less Than Human. OK, so this isn't even out till July 26, but I've been digging this album too much to leave it off. Marrying Kraftwerk's linear melodicism with the DFA's immaculately produced rhythms, this album is like a sonic jungle gym; the synths and beats make me want to reach out and grab them. It also displays remarkable concision - the grooves could get hammered into the ground, but instead they just get you to push play again. And when Maclean does let it ride - the 14-minute closer "Dance With Me" - I kinda wish he'd never stop. (Live, it's unfortunately a different story.) Try "Shining Skinned Friend" (MP3).

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods. Few albums were as anticipated by me this year as The Woods, and none delivered quite as strongly. Loud and distorted but still sharp and catchy, these songs are among the best the band has ever recorded. You can tell they put a lot of effort into this album, yet ultimately it sounds rather effortless - I can picture Carrie, Corin, and Janet walking into the studio and just knocking these out, one by one. All three are at the top of their game, and this is the one album on this list I can rank with ease - #1. (Ace packaging too!) Try "Entertain" (MP3).

Tom Vek - We Have Sound. Mr. Vek actually plays everything on this album, but I'd be quite impressed even if he only handled the drums - they have a propulsive metallic sound that hooked me instantly. Vek covers a lot of ground musically and ends up with something you expect more from Brooklyn than his hometown of London - sort of a sunny punk/funk infused with electronics. Through it all, he shows a keen sense of melody and a creative attention to detail that's made this one of my most played albums of the year. Try "C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)" (MP3).

The Next Nine

The Duke Spirit - Cuts Across The Land, The Fiery Furnaces - EP, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Naturally, LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem, Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth, Cass McCombs - PREfection, M.I.A. - Arular, Superpitcher - Today, The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

If 2005 hasn't yet produced a true classic album (in my opinion), there has been quite a number of great releases. I've tried to pick my five personal favorites, but there's plenty more I've neglected to listen to or appreciate. My picks just happen to be the ones that connected with me more than others. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Art Brut - Bang, Bang, Rock & Roll. Art Brut dare not to care. They don't study and still ace the exam. They don't practice and still make the starting lineup. Art Brut is your bratty little brother's punk rock band. When you're trying to sleep or enjoy your Decemberist records, your little brother is screaming about forming a band or rocking out to Modern Art. You want to smack him around and tell him to get serious. No one disses the Velvet Underground. Who's this Emily Kane? You try to ignore him. You try to hate him. But the kid is just having too much fun. And you're not. Try "Emily Kane" (MP3).

Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Bird's previous album, Weather Systems is one of my favorite albums from the first half of this decade. My love for it was almost instant; songs with such sincere melancholy and longing usually do that to me. This will probably sound very melodramatic, but there are some albums, some songs that connect with me in an organic way. It's almost as if they were written in my own DNA. That's how I felt after listening to Weather Systems for the first time.

It's with these high expectations that I listened to Andrew's new album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Would it produce the same response from me? While it doesn't match the synergies I have with Weather Systems, Mysterious Productions evokes a different, but equally positive reaction. There's more joy and whimsy in this album. Hope replaces futility; mystery and opportunity replace inevitability and decay. Bird's strength is his emotional sincerity. The playfulness of this album never becomes meaningless frivolity and the seriousness never becomes overwrought angst. Try "Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the Left" (MP3).

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm. 2005 has been a great year for debut albums. Where sure-things (Coldplay) and vaunted veterans (New Order) failed to match my expectations, a handful of young challengers have delivered exciting and passionate first records. Of course, today's newcomers with nothing to lose are tomorrow's established artists with every reason to maintain the base and play it safe.

What does the future hold for Bloc Party? Silent Alarm is such a confident first step for this London quartet that betting on a sophomore letdown is a near lock. Will they expand their approach beyond the confines of choppy and angular art rock? The Bloc Party™ formula works so successfully on Silent Alarm that you can ignore its limitations. Will their fans forgive them if their next move is merely to tweak the blueprint? For now, none of that matters. Silent Alarm stands on its own as the high water mark for jumpy indie rock in 2005. Try "So Here We Are (Four Tet Remix)" (MP3).

The Cars Are The Stars - Fragments. I hate the term "indietronic". It's too corny for me. But it's the genre that best fits The Cars Are The Stars. Fragments, the band's second album, is the sound of the warm thud of live drumming and the morose twang of plucked guitar strings. And yes, it's also the sound of electronic pulses and looped voices coursing through human veins. Call it blood, sweat and gears. What makes this album really work is TCATS' masterly blending of its elements. The electronics never dominate or distract while the traditional never feels tired. They are woven together to near perfection.

This album is not a happy one. There are no pop tunes or catchy hooks to accompany a T.V. drama. The sound is often warm and present, but also forlorn and distant. Like an estranged lover lying next to you, Fragments brings you close to the source, but you still feel like a stranger. The ache you feel when it's over is the desire to try again, hoping this time you'll solve the riddle. Try "True" (MP3)

Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub. Combining live instruments, samples of strings and harps and symphonies to create an ambient classic, this album is the soundtrack for dreaming. Herbstlaub, the third project released by Martin Juhls under the Marsen Jules moniker is almost as beautiful and breathtaking as music can possibly be. Try "Fans D'Automne" (MP3)

Other Noteworthy Releases: Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness; Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth; Fiery Furnaces - EP; Efterklang - Springer EP; Four Tet - Everything is Ecstatic; M.I.A. - Arular; LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem; Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Naturally