Pitchfork’s got the goods right here.
Hey, R.E.M. rocks again! Hooray!
Of course, in their inimitable style, the Pitchforkers damn it with faint praise:
“…they sound like an interesting corporate band…”
Whatever. I’m just glad it isn’t another mid-tempo, mandolin-fueled snoozer.
March 21st is the release date for the new Pugwash album Modern Antiquities, according to the cool new blog Red Track Music. Guests include Andy Partridge & Dave Gregory of XTC, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Michael Penn, Jason Falkner, The Section Quartet and Nelson Bragg of The Brian Wilson Band. You can get a preview of the album at http://www.myspace.com/11modernantiquities.
If you aren’t hip to Pugwash yet, and if you’re a fan of the jangle, you NEED to check out their last CD Jollity right now!
[ Thanks Harris ]
SXSW has published the list of showcasing bands for 2008. Check it out. Quite a few Rockhead faves on there!
[ Thanks Chris ]
R.E.M. have announced their first batch of tour dates to promote their upcoming disc, Accelerate:
Vancouver - 5/23 - DEER LAKE PARK
Los Angeles - 5/29 - HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Berkeley - 5/31 - THE GREEK THEATRE
Denver - 6/03 - RED ROCKS
Chicago - 6/06 - UNITED CENTER
Toronto - 6/08 - MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE
Raleigh - 6/10 - WALNUT CREEK AMPHITHEATRE
Washington DC - 6/11 - MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION
Boston - 6/13 - TWEETER CENTER
Long Island - 6/14 - JONES BEACH THEATER
Philadelphia - 6/18 - MANN CENTER
New York City - 6/19 - TBA
Atlanta - 6/21 - LAKEWOOD AMPHITHEATRE
Looks cool so far, but…. Lakewood? Argh…. Oh well. The opening bands will be Modest Mouse and The National.
Check out NinetyNights for some artsy video teaser goodness.
I wonder how much dough Sony BMG spent developing this idiotic scheme.
[ via Daring Fireball ]
Time for another installment of what the kids like to call "PTF." And by ‘the kids’ I mean no one. Let’s start this one off in the UK:
Although I generally try to stick to the subject of music for PTFs, I would not be a very good friend if I didn’t turn you on to The Bugle, a comedy podcast from London’s Times Online. Tagged as an "audio newspaper for a visual world," the show is hosted by former BBC Radio partners Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver, the latter now a Daily Show correspondent. It’s laugh out loud funny as I demonstrated recently after loading several episodes onto my DAP and trampling the reverent silence of my Subaru dealer’s service department waiting room, alarming its flannel clad denizens. In this sad world deprived of fresh fake news due to the writer’s strike, thank the imaginary friend/deity of your choice that these wacky Brits are bringing the funny. And don’t worry, it’s not so British that you won’t get it– except for the soccer (er, football) and political references.
Download this episode in glorious MP3, or perhaps this one. Better yet, visit the page, as there are eight episodes to choose from at the time of this posting.
"A Fiendish Thingy!!" In celebration of the reissue of The Beatles movie "HELP!" on DVD, Michael Palin of Monty (or "Marty," as my mom would say) Python fame hosts a series of 5 podcasts that look back at the film. Interviews with cast and crew are mixed with period interviews with the boys in the band, music, and clips from the movie to tell the story behind story. Anecdotes about George Harrison’s discovery of eastern instruments, fans trying to discover the band’s "willies," and dope smoking make for some interesting listening– I even found myself placing the DVD on my ‘wish list’ over at my favorite online vid retailer after fond memories were stirred. Effective marketing, indeed.
Click here to get the 1st installment (MP3), or go to the page to stream the episodes (via the ‘radio documentary’ link). However, if you want access to all of the episodes on MP3, you’ll have to subscribe to the feed.
If you haven’t paid a visit to NPR’s new music page yet, you should. Here’s a few of the concerts they’ve had recently:
As for song samplers with a nice mix of artists, I like KUTs Radio Without Borders. The station is based in Austin, which according to rumor, has a lot of live music going on! KUT serves up the best of their in-studio sets in the Without Borders podcast. Here’s a link to an episode featuring a song by Robyn Hitchcock. Perhaps Yo La Tengo is more your speed, in which case you should click this link to download the MP3 of that eppy.
I guess I can’t close out this installment of PTF without making mention of The High Holiday Season. If you’re like me and perfectly happy to humbug it along ’til mid January, then move on to the next item. But, if you’re in need of a holiday mix with some hipster cred, then All Songs Considered has you covered. Their annual holiday music show features a pretty stellar mix of holiday cheerleaders, including The New Pornographers, The Minus 5 ("Your Christmas Whiskey" — Yah!!), Magnetic Fields, The Apples In Stereo, and others. Here’s the episode page where you’ll find the complete list and can stream the show, or download the MP3.
Also, at 8pm ET on December 17th, NPR.org will webcast a holiday concert with Aimee Mann. Featured in the show will be guests Nellie McKay, Ben Lee, and comedian Paul F. Thompkins. WXPN will webcast The Smithereens Christmas Show on Dec. 21st at Noon ET. I’ll post the MP3s if they’re made available.
There you go. Enjoy. And hey, if you’ve got any podcasts you think I need to know about, please do pass them along!
The always-insightful rock critic Bill Wyman has developed an equation, known as “The Moby Quotient,” to quantify “the degree to which artists besmirch their reputations when they lend their music to hawk products or companies.” Check it out — there’s even a tool you can use to plug in your own numbers and see how it works. More about The Moby Quotient here.
[ via Kottke ]
From the review in NME:
You might think it couldn’t possibly live up to expectations, but, it transpires, the opposite is in fact true of Led Zeppelin’s first public appearance in 17 years.
They seem buoyed by the deafening roars that greet their every twitch tonight - everyone present in the O2 Arena is willing their performance to the realms of greatness. It’s almost impossible to be subjective, to not be sucked in.
It takes Robert Plant three songs before he offers a cursory “good evening”. By that time they’ve alreay blasted through an incendiary ‘Good Times Bad Times’, a dramatic ‘Ramble On’ and the stop/start rhythms of ‘Black Dog’. He needn’t say anything.
