Archive for June, 2008
*** Dead Confederate
*** SoCo Music Fest
*** 06.28.08
I promise that this will be the last SoCo post for the day. Heather wrote a very nice piece over at Paste and Castro played with his new toy. I wish I had more to report about. The good ol’ Athens boys looked very awkward on stage to a very sparse crowd. Maybe it was the time of day or setting. I would be willing to give them a second chance given the right circumstances. At times there were shades of psychedelia mixed with grunge, but their sound was way too loud for the lax crowd sprawled on their inflatable SoCo couches…..
Dead Confederate-The Rat [mp3]
::: Gnarls Barkley
::: SoCo Music Fest
::: 06.28.08
I feel kind of bad. The guys sounded like they were giving it their all on stage and they were a tad on the boorish side. I don’t know if it was all the hype from their first album, or was it the crowd only being familiar with one song.
*** Blonde Redhead
*** SoCo Music Fest
*** 06.28.08
In a rare chance to catch this band live, I pounced on the opportunity and needless to say, I was not disappointed. The female/male vocal exchange is one of my favorite parlor tricks in the game. The shoegazy antics peaked the interest of a very tired danced out crowd as most were trying to stay sober enough from drinking too many SoCo Lemonade’s, or maybe that was just me. Did you know the drummer and guitarist are twins?
Blonde Redhead- Messenger [mp3]
*** Hot IQ’s
*** SoCo Music Fest
*** 06.28.08
It had been a long time since I had caught up with the kids with big brains that so happen to play music. At first I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive that they were going to have to battle over who would reign supreme in the noise battle (Dead Confederate was playing a very awkward set across the way that nobody really understood). All in all, their early set was a well attended one that had great sound at the second stage. Some of the material that I deemed as new material sounded not as forced as their earlier material and seems as though the group is easing into their musical genius one pop hook at a time.
Hot IQ’s – 3/4′s of a Ghost (live WOXY lounge act) [mp3]
::: Bassnectar
::: SoCo Music Festival
::: 06.28.08
Bassnectar was around before Girl Talk, but the only way I could describe him to people live was like a hippie/dub Girl Talk. The energy was pretty dead until Bassnectar hit the decks and brought some of his friends on stage.
Bassnectar-Burning Man Set 2007[mp3] ( this is kind of long but worth the wait)
Al Green
I don’t think his new album, Lay it Down, has gotten the due that it needs. The ?uestlove produced album is a shout out to the past works from REV. Al Green and he will be coming to town. I have yet to attend a show at the Botanical Gardens, but the place looks like a really good date place for all you lovebirds.
Al Green-Standing in the Rain [mp3]
08/31/2008 Denver Botanic Gardens Denver, CO
09/01/2008 Vilar Center for the Arts Beaver Creek, CO
The Notwist
Six years in the making since their smash Neon Circle hit the States, das Germans will be touring in support of their newest album, The Devil, You + Me.
The Notwist-Gloomy Planets [mp3]
Tour Dates
10-10 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace
10-11 Montreal, Quebec – Le National
10-12 Boston, MA – Roxy Theater
10-13 New York, NY – Webster Hall
10-14 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
10-15 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
10-16 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
10-17 Chicago, IL – Logan Square Auditorium
10-18 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
10-20 Denver, CO – Bluebird
10-21 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue
10-22 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
10-24 Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10-25 Portland, OR – Berbati’s Pan
10-27 San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s
10-29 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater
We Are Scientists Video
The new video for Chick Lit is available for your viewing pleasures. Too bad they’re touring everywhere but here, but I still put their album in my top 5 of the year, so far….
We Are Scientists-Chick Lit [mp3]
We Are Scientists Tour Dates:
7/1 – Los Angeles, CA / El Rey Theatre
7/2 – San Diego, CA / The Casbah
7/3 – Pomona, CA / Glass House
7/5 – Sacramento, CA / The Blue Lamp
7/6 – San Francisco, CA / The Independent
7/8 – Portland, OR / Berbati’s Pan
7/9 – Seattle, WA / Neumos
7/29 – Philadelphia, PA / Johnny Brenda’s
7/30 – Cambridge, MA / Middle East
7/31 – Brooklyn, NY / Music Hall of Williamsburg
8/1 – New York, NY / Bowery Ballroom
8/2 – Washington DC / Black Cat
8/3 – Columbus, OH / The Basement
8/4 – Detroit, MI / Magic Stick
8/5 – Indianapolis, IN / The Music Mill
8/6 – Madison, WI / The High Noon Saloon
8/7 – Minneapolis, MN / Varsity Theatre
8/8 – Chicago, IL / The Abbey
8/9 – Cleveland, OH / Grog Shop
8/10 -New Port, KY / Southgate House
UNKLE
UNKLE is churning out new material as fast as gas prices are going up…. I like the consistency on the new track and make sure you check out their other free tracks in the upcoming weeks. I guess everybody’s on the give your album out for free business model.
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‘END TITLES…STORIES FOR FILM’
A COLLECTION OF ECLECTIC RECORDINGS INSPIRED BY THE MOVING IMAGE
DUE OUT DIGITALLY JULY 15 AND AT RETAIL SEPTEMBER 2 ON SURRENDER ALL
UNKLE REMIXES X-FILES THEME SONG
FOR THE FEATURE FILM DUE OUT THIS SUMMER
This summer sees the return of UNKLE as they release their spectacularly beautiful End Titles…Stories for Film, a collection of eclectic recordings from UNKLE and various collaborators that were inspired by the moving image in the last two years since their last effort War Stories was recorded. End Titles…Stories For Film will be released in North America digitally July 15 and at retail September 2 on Surrender All–the all-encompassing label/studio/music company co-founded by James Lavelle. The current UNKLE line up comprised of James Lavelle and Pablo Clements.
This pioneering act are never prepared to stagnate or run out of fresh ideas about musical styles and collaborations and so they have teamed up with some of today’s most exciting and cutting edge acts with this album including Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Black Mountain, Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury (South) James Petralli from White Denim, Chris Goss (Masters of Reality, Queen of the Stone Age), Dave Bateman, James Griffith (from UNKLE’s touring band) and Aidan Lavelle.
In addition to a diverse mix of musical talent, UNKLE have always chosen to work with some of the most directional and avant-garde filmmakers in recent years and have become known for their inspired marriage of audio and visuals. From their cult music videos like the Jonathan Glazer-directed video for “Rabbit in Your Headlights,” to their mesmerizing visuals at live shows, Lavelle and company are masters of using the two media together to dramatic effect.
Highlights on this new release include “Heaven” and “Blade in the Back: which are featured on Spike Jonze’s skate video Fully Flared, as well as being the opening and closing title tracks from Odyssey in Rome, the Alex Grazioli documentary about celebrated director Abel Ferrera for which UNKLE provided the entire soundtrack. The album also covers collaborations with Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones who they worked with on the artwork for War Stories. Other tracks are collaborations with Philip Sheppard who recently scored the movie In The Shadow of the Moon, as well as pieces of music created in their Surrender All studio by James and Pablo themselves.
Compiling this collection has been a liberating experience for Lavelle. ”It covers a much wider range of influences than an album, like War Stories, which has a particular focus,” he says. “There is room for everything in this kind of collection, from classical all the way to beat-driven instrumentals and electronic rock.”
To celebrate the upcoming release of their new album End Titles… Stories for Film UNKLE will be giving fans the opportunity to download four separate album tracks via four different websites absolutely free. Although fans will have to collect the tracks individually, when all four cuts from the album are played consecutively in order, they play as one extended, mixed piece of music that comprises the middle section of the record.
The four tracks will be made available as follows:
Kaned And Abel via UNKLE.com on Fri, June 27
Chemical (feat. Josh Homme) via Pitchfork on Mon, June 30
Blade In The Back (feat. Gavin Clark) via Rcrdlbl.com on Wed, July 2
Synthetic Water via UNKLE77.com on Fri, July 4
Lavelle concludes, “A lot of the music we’re making ends up sitting on the shelf, neither properly released nor heard. A waste, really, we thought. So this album is our attempt to alleviate our musical frustrations while hoping that it will find a wider audience… It’s not a new album in the usual sense, but new music that has been inspired by the moving image.”
In other news, UNKLE recently remixed the theme song for The X-Files: I Want To Believe feature film due out July 25. This remix along with UNKLE’s song “Broken” from War Stories are the only works included in the movie not performed by Mark Snow, the creator of the world-famous title sequence and dark score for the TV show and film. The UNKLE remix and “Broken” will be released worldwide on the movie’s soundtrack July 21.
The complete track listing for End Titles…Stories For Film is:
01 End Titles
02 Cut Me Loose (ft Gavin Clarke)
03 Ghosts
04 Ghosts (String Reprise)
05 Kaned And Able
06 Blade In The Back (ft Gavin Clarke)
07 Synthetic Water
08 Chemical (ft Josh Homme)
09 Nocturnal (ft Chris Goss, James Petralli and Robbie Furze)
10 Cut Me Loose (String Reprise)
11 Against The Grain (ft Gavin Clarke)
12 Even Balance
13 Trouble In Paradise (Variation On A Theme)
14 Can’t Hurt (ft Gavin Clarke and Joel Cadbury)
15 24 Frames
16 In A Broken Dream
17 Clouds (ft Black Mountain)
18 Black Mass
19 Open Your Eyes (ft Abel Ferrera)
20 Romeo Void
21 Heaven (ft Gavin Clarke)
22 The Piano Echoes
http://www.myspace.com/unkle
End Titles…Stories For Film is available for pre-order at http://unkle.shop.musictoday
Protest! Protest! Protest!
Under the Radar is coming out with their protest issue that you can skim it here. I don’t think it could have come at a better time…
As with Under the Radar’s 2004 Protest Issue, publishers Mark and Wendy Redfern asked an eclectic array of artists to contribute to the 2008 issue. Under the Radar conducted photo shoots with musical artists holding protest signs of their own making that will be auctioned for charity (the magazine provided the materials and the artists painted a message of their own choosing on the signs). Artists who were interviewed for the issue and/or photographed with their signs include cover stars Stipe, Brock, Walla, Meloy, and Daniel as well as Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, British Sea Power, My Morning Jacket, Okkervil River, Built to Spill, Jarvis Cocker, Death Cab for Cutie, The Dresden Dolls, Elbow, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Fleet Foxes, Foals, Michael Franti, The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Sharon Jones, Talib Kweli, Jamie Lidell, Metric, Moby, Billy Bragg, OK Go, Peter Bjorn and John’s Peter Morén, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, St Vincent, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Rogue Wave, Stars, Supergrass, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and more. Each protest sign was autographed by its maker(s) and will be auctioned on eBay on Sept 30 to benefit War Child International, www.warchild.us, a nonprofit that helps children in areas of conflict across the globe.
Included in the issue, Under The Radar’s “Top Ten Protest Songs Of The 21st Century”*
10 Bruce Springsteen – “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live” (2006)
09 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes” (2002)
08 Elbow – “Leaders Of The Free World” (2005)
07 Sleater-Kinney – “Combat Rock” (2002)
06 Arcade Fire – “Intervention” (2007) [mp3]
05 Kris Kristofferson – “In The News” (2006)
04 Talib Kweli And Cornel West – “Bushonomics” (2007)
03 Tom Waits – “Hoist That Rag” (2004) [mp3]
02 Jarvis Cocker – “Cunts Are Still Running The World” (2006)
01 Bright Eyes – “When The President Talks To God” (2005)[mp3]
*honorable mentions include Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Radiohead and more. Complete list available in the Protest Issue.
