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TVotR, New Releases, Ron Sexsmith, Glasvegas, Elephant |
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - 08:00 AM Posted by: Karl
TV on the RADIO have released a clip for "Stork and Owl." And you can hear 'em cover Bowie's "Heroes" at the 'Gum. NEW RELEASES: Mark Olson & Gary Louris, Of Montreal, The Bird & Bee, Loney Dear, Pat DiNizio, Springsteen and more are streaming in full from Spinner this week. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE played the Bowery Ballroom last week; you can stream the gig via Stereogum. RON SEXSMITH does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, all from his Exit Strategy of the Soul. THE ULTIMATE BEATLES COUNTDOWN: Every song ranked and analyzed by JamsBio. GLASVEGAS perfoms a mini-set for The Interface, which is more than Twofer Tuesday. A.C. NEWMAN tries to explain his solo process to MetroNews Vancouver. BRIAN WILSON talks to LAist about Chris Montez, his latest album, the Wondermints and more... ANDREW BIRD talks to New York magazine about learning via the Suzuki Method, joining a punk-ska band, current faves and more... BILLY JOEL: At Slate, Ron Rosenbaum tries to explain the Piano Man's awfulness. (Thx, Belle!) TOM CRUISE was quizzed about his flatulence habits by controversial British TV host Jonathan Ross. SIR PAUL McCARTNEY has told friends he plans to wed his new girlfriend Nancy Shevell. MICKEY ROURKE may participate in WWE's "Wrestlemania 25" in Houston on April 5. ALEC BALDWIN celebrated his double SAG award win with the teenage daughter he once called a "rude little pig." Now that you mention it, she loonks like a Baldwin. OPRAH WINFREY coulda been a Senator, had impeached Illinois Gov. Gov. Rod Blagojevich been just the tiniest bit wackier. UGLY BETTY got some ugly news. HARRY POTTER and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE: There's new footage in the Japanese trailer introduced by Daniel Radcliffe. THE OSCARS has an entirely convoluted system for counting nomination ballots. THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD is wracked with infighting over a planned strike-authorization vote. The schism has split SAG's high-profile members in a way that few can recall. "They've got a mutiny of stars, and SAG leadership cannot stand up to a mutiny of the stars," said David Prindle, author of "The Politics of Glamour," a well regarded history of the union. PAKISTAN: Mullah Fazlullah ordered 43 political and tribal leaders to stand trial in front of a Taliban court in Swat. AFGHANISTAN: Last year, 3276 IEDs were detonated or detected in Afghanistan, a 45 percent increase over 2007 and a new record. IRAQ: Less than four months after the disbanding of the Sons of Iraq, or Al Sahwa, auxiliary force, the Iraqi Interior Ministry has overseen the formation of a new unit created to thwart Al Qaeda strikes. Provincial elections this month highlights the ascendancy of tribes, esp. the Anbar tribes. BABY ELEPHANT turns 5 months old at the Oregon Zoo. Awww... some pics and video at the link. A CAT is recovering after an arrow is removed from its head. Video at the link. That's one wild and crazy cat. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: 48 dead whales beached on the north west tip of Tasmania. PET HOARDING: A 53-year-old man was arrested Sunday at a rural Van Zandt County, TX, property where 185 animals were living in squalid conditions with no food or water. At least 50 goats and sheep, 41 dogs, 30 chickens, 18 ducks and geese, seven rabbits, three turkeys, two cats and one alpaca were found alive at the home Sunday. ALSO: 600 dogs rescued from puppy mills in Washington State pregnant with an estimated 1500 future puppies. A FIESTY RACCOON has bitten off a pervert's penis as he was trying to rape the animal.
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DeVotchKa, Hold Steady, R.Hitchcock, Cat in the Vase |
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Monday, January 26, 2009 - 08:00 AM Posted by: Karl
PETER BJORN & JOHN "Lay It Down" in a new video that's probably NSFW for language.. DeVotchKa played the World Cafe on Friday, so you can stream the gig on demand via NPR. THE HOLD STEADY: Craig, Tad and Franz stopped by the latest edition of Sound Opinions. ROBYN HITCHCOCK gives Aquarium Drunkard a tour of NYC and an advance MP3 from his upcoming album. ROYAL BANGS did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, one previously unrealeased. RICHARD THOMPSON talks to the Yorkshire Evening Post about the UK tour of 1000 Years Of Popular Music, which is as good an excuse as any to relink this one. FRANZ FERDINAND talks to Eye Weekly about their new album -- which is already streaming -- axe-throwing and Win Butler's "paddle hand." THE SILVER JEWS: David Berman has disbanded them. SHE & HIM: Zooey Deschanel spills a few details about their next album during an interview with MTV at Sundance. OF MONTREAL: Kevin Barnes gives advice on love, drinking, footwear and more to Drowned in Sounders. WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Paul Blart: Mall Cop repeats atop the b.o. with another 21.5 million, reminding everyone it's January. The Underworld flick had to settle for second -- 20 million against a 35 million production budget isn't bad, though the two prior installments tended not to have legs. Gran Torino drops to third -- it will cross the 100 million mark this week and be Clint's biggest grosser in unadjusted dollars. Hotel For Dogs moved up to fourth place, but hasn't made even half of its production budget yet. Slumdog Millionaire leaps up to round out the Top Five; it's 56 million total to date far exceeds its 15 million production budget. Below the fold, Inkheart debuted in seventh place, doing better overseas than in the US. JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON: Two prominent Bahamian citizens and a paramedic were detained in the Bahamas in an alleged extortion scheme targeting John Travolta following the death of his son, according to reports. One, Obie Wilchcombe, the island's former Minister of Tourism and a friend of the Travoltas, was also arrested but later released, according to TMZ.com. KELLY OSBOURNE returns to rehab. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT: Why she called off her wedding (hint: insecurities on both sides). Former LFO frontman Rich Cronin told Howard Stern he would have married her. TOM HANKS apologizes for calling Mormon support for California's Proposition 8 "un-American." JOHN CLEESE is dating a 27-year-old? Or a 45-year-old? MOLLY RINGWALD is expecting twins. MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE, contrary to prior reports, are still wrangling over arrangements for their children. THE SAG AWARDS went to these actors. On the TV side, 30 Rock and Mad Men took home statues. Slumdog Millionaire won the ensemble actor for a movie. TOM BRADY & GISELLE BUNDCHEN are not engaged, according to the latter. FRED ARMISEN & ELISABETH MOSS, otoh, are engaged. Funnyman + Mad Woman = Crazy Delicious. KELLY RUTHERFORD of Gossip Girl wins a round in her custody dispute. ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. should be awarded Best Reaction Ever to a supporting actor Oscar nomination. ISLAMISM DOWN UNDER: A Muslim cleric in Melbourne has sparked outrage by telling his followers it is acceptable to rape and beat their wives. THE STANS: David Kilcullen (an advisor to Gen. Petraeus) is among the authors of Enduring Interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a new policy brief from the Center for a New American Security. CAT IN THE VASE: Like Dr. Seuss, but with a vase. A GOAT was busted for attempted auto theft in Nigeria. A BOSTON TERRIER stopped a rape attempt in Pompano Beach, FL, sheriff's deputies said. THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Rampaging squirrels are attacking nurses on their way to work in County Durham, meaning health chiefs have been forced to give advice to their employees to protect them from the animals. TWO HORSES tested positive for an equine venereal disease in Wisconsin. So many punchlines, so little time.
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3153 Reads |
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Power Pop, Rivers Cuomo, Cutout Bin, Dalmation Cycles |
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Friday, January 23, 2009 - 08:00 AM Posted by: Karl
THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE: ...with POWER POP! Dennis Cooper has helpfully compiled 24 Tubed power pop videos. A few may be well-known generally, like Cheap Trick's "Way of the World" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" (performed here with Rockpile). And some well-known to fans of the genre, like Shoes "Too Late," The Records' "Starry Eyes," the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away" (seen here in a rare live TV slot). Others are well-known to longtime Pate fans, like The dB's "Neverland" (a new yet vintage video) or Let's Active's "Waters Part." But that leaves 16 more gems for you to discover. RIVERS CUOMO show cases demos of Weezer songs and unheard solo material in a lengthy Fres Air segment at NPR. JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter. ANDREW BIRD, according to the Chicago Reader, is "Pop White People Like." NTTAWWT. KAKI KING talks to AfterEllen about religion and why she hates "The L Word." FLEA will play bass for the reunited Faces, according to Ron Wood. Ooh La What? ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: "My Girls" is the first video from Merriweather Post Pavillion. MAVIS STAPLES has a mini-set streaming on demand via the World Cafe and NPR. PREVIOUSLY ON LOST is exactly what the name implies: A recap band. Through short spurts of musical whimsy, the island aficionados summarize the week's plot, focusing on themes and characters that are especially entertaining. And you can stream a few, though there may be spoilers for those not caught up. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH are on a break, not a break-up. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: Mick Harvey, Nick Cave's longest serving musical collaborator, has quit the Bad Seeds, citing "a variety of personal and professional reasons" -- but calls the split amicable. CUTOUT BIN: From Prince to Art Brut, from Frankie Valli to Buzzcocks, from The Sonics to Queen, from Ian Dury & the Blockheads to Gladys Knight & the Pips, plus Eels, the Rave-Ups, Devo, The Donnas and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM. NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide debuts are Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which is currently scoring 39 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and Inkheart, currently scoring 43 percent. Oscar bait Slumdog Millionaire (95 percent) expands wide, while Revolutionary Road (67 percent) and Frost/Nixon (91 percent) expand near- wide. The Wrestler (95 percent) expands to 400 screens. Oddly enough, classically-trained Welsh actor Michael Sheen stars in both the Underworld flick and Frost/Nixon. OSCAR NOMINEES are here. There's analysis of the races anjd the snubs at The Envelope and the Gold Derby. The Dark Knight was robbed, natch. Some are surprised by that; I'm not. The Best Picture nominee that is the biggest hit often wins. Thus, had The Dark Knight been nominated, it would have been favored to win. And Hollywood is far too self-important to give its top award to Batman... so no nomination. GEORGE CLOONEY will be filming scenes for an appearance on "ER" this week. And it looks like Julianna Margulies will also make a cameo before the show ends its run. TOM CRUISE gets a Nazi Teddy Bear from Entertainment Tonight. RACHEL McADAMS & JOSH LUCAS were... wait for it... caught canoodling (heavily!) at the Purple Inaugural Ball. SEX & THE CITY will be inflicting a sequel on the movie-going public. PETER FALK's wife is opposing a bid by the Emmy-winning actor's daughter to place him under a conservatorship. THE WRESTLER is essentially the anti-Rocky, a portrait of what happens to a pro wrestler 20 years on from the height of fame. Mickey Rourke deserves the accolades he is getting for his lead performance; Marisa Tomei is also good, generally transcending the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold role that would have really stuck out as a cliche in a lesser movie. Evan Rachel Wood sadly fails to to lift her game in her role as the wrestler's daughter. The screenplay is very good, though marred slightly by the inclusion of a climactic speech which makes unduly explicit what the viewer already should know. THE 99 TOP WOMEN OF 2009, according to AskMen.com. OMG has highlights and analysis; Katherine Heigl is way down, while Anne Hathaway is way up, with Britney Spears returining after a three-year absence. Call it Gratuitous Friday. FANTASTIC VOYAGE: A microscipic submarine that can swim through blood vessels is set to become a reality. AFGHANISTAN: Michael Yon has a soldier's photoessay on the hashish trade, which is overlooked in the media focus on opium. IRAQ: Gen. Ray Odierno , the commanding US general in Iraq , said that if the country held peaceful elections this year, the relative calm that had settled on Iraq would be "irreversible." DALMATION RIDES A BICYCLE on Japanese TV. Pics and video at the link. CLINICALLY DEPRESSED POODLE mauls former French president Jacques Chirac. RARE ORPHANED LEMUR clutches a cuddly teddy bear. Awww... some pics at the link. THE BIRDS: Apocalyptic pigeons strike fear in town. Hitchcockian pic at the link. THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant squirrel sets wildfire, causes school evacuation in Jones, OK. DUNG BEETLES are evolving into vicious carnivores.
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Lemonheads, Pazz & Jop, Of Montreal, Subwoofer Cat |
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Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 08:00 AM Posted by: Karl
OVER SEVEN MILLION SERVED: Thanks, y'all! THE LEMONHEADS: Evan Dando & Co. turned out an A/V mini-set of covers and classics for the Laundro-Matinee. VILLAGE VOICE PAZZ & JOP POLL 2008: The ol' grey mare ain't what she used to be but still worth a gander. OF MONTREAL: You can stream and download the band's almost all-covers NYE set at the 40 Watt via YANP. The selections range from Aerosmith to the Jesus and Mary Chain to Katrina and the Waves to Buzzcocks to Donna Summer and more... DARK WAS THE NIGHT, an upcoming charity double-disc, is streaming a track a day through Feb1. I managed to miss the new The National track, but there will be something to surprise all of us today. NEIL YOUNG's next effort is... a "concept album about eco-friendly cars." M'kay... THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER, in five video flavors, courtesy of NPR. MARK OLSON & GARY LOURIS talk to Muzzle of Bees about the recording of Ready For The Flood, the Internet and more... SONIC YOUTH is Twittering the mixing of their upcoming album, CALEXICO: Filter may be right to say you should already know them, but if not, it's a nice intro. THE 2009 BRIT AWARD nominees are announced. Coldplay and Duffy lead the pack with four apiece. THE CURIOUS CASE OF FORREST GUMP: I heard that the two movies are pretty similar, but the voice talent really sells it. IRON MAN 2: CHUD tries to sort out the casting rumors surrounding what is shaping up as a potentially over-stuffed sequel. Meanwhile, it appears that Marvel is continuing to lowball actors for this and other projects. Hey, if you didn't stuff a zillion characters into a movie, you could pay each actor more money. JENNIFER ANISTON & JOHN MAYER: Off again, apparently. SHIA LeBEOUF has had his driver's license suspended for a year, for failing to take a breathalyzer test after his July 27, 2008 car crash. Maybe the robot will have to drive him now. JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON face more heartache as reports of extortion threats against the family are revealed by police. MICHAEL CERA doesn't want to commit to the Arrested Development movie until he sees a script. Meanwhile, the writers don't want to do a script until they have confirmed their cast. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS in 60 Seconds. KELLY RUTHERFORD: The Gossip Girl star's divorce gets nastier. THE UNITED NATIONS: A high-ranking human rights worker with UN ties was nabbed at Kennedy Airport Tuesday with kiddie pr0n in his suitcase. The NYDN notes that this is merely the latest UN-related sex scandal, as I've noted before with respect to UN peacekeepers and aid workers in Liberia, the Congo, the Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti, to name a few. THE STANS: The US struck deals with Russia and others for supply lines to American troops in Afghanistan, needed both because of attacks in the Khyber pass and to supply the planned troop buildup over the coming year. More than 60 militants including several key commanders were killed in clashes between militants and security forces in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday. Taliban militants threatened suicide attacks against bus drivers who played music or movies for their passengers. IRAQ: A top official of the biggest Sunni party escaped assassination in a Baghdad car bombing, just ten days before provincial elections. ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISTS who blackmailed companies linked to Huntingdon Life Sciences in an attempt to close down the animal testing lab have been jailed for between four and 11 years. CAT ON A SUBWOOFER: Let's go to the video. ORPHANED LAMB wears a woolly jumper to cope with sub-zero temperatures this winter. Awww... some pics at the link. A LIZARD found on a piece of supermarket broccoli has become a much-loved family pet. COW engages in person-tipping.
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Fleet Foxes, new U2, Emmy the Great, Matrix Kitteh |
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 08:00 AM Posted by: Karl
FLEET FOXES played "Mykonos" and "Blue Ridge Mountains" live on a weekend comedy show. U2 is streaming a new song, "Get Your Boots On," via Last.fm ANDREW BIRD talks to The A.V. Club about the recording of the Noble Beast album. MINIPOP did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, three previously unreleased (incl. a Flaming Lips cover). ANIMAL COLLECTIVE talks to Pitchfork about the new album, an upcoming box set and more... EMMY THE GREAT unspools her "First Love" from her upcoming debut album. JOHNNY MARR takes time from working with Neil Finn and the Cribs to teach the popular-musicology degree course at the University of Salford. ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO talks to Creative Loafing about working with songwriter-guitarist Chuck Prophet (Green On Red) on the Real Animal album. THE ANNUALS bassist Mike Robinson talks to Mpls CityPages about the year that was and the economic uncertainty to come. PETE DOHERTY is inspired by the example of Amy Winehouse. Yes, really. JOAQUIN PHOENIX RAPS: Let's go to the video, or skip to the part where he falls offstage. BRITNEY SPEARS may be paid £10million to stick her name on a ghost-written autobiography. TOM CRUISE: Italian publication LeiWeb opened its interview with Cruise by describing all the restrictions imposed by the movie star's publicists, including that the interviewer must have liked Valkryie. MADONNA will not be happy that these unretouched promo pics have leaked online. SEAN PENN denies being a stooge for left-wing dictatorships. BOY GEORGE signs autographs in prison. FRED AMISEN & ELISABETH MOSS were... wait for it... caught canoodling at the Chateau Marmont. MISS USA 1991 is joining the adult film industry. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER may be the Zooey Deschanel movie we've been waiting for. BLACK DYNAMITE, previously spotlighted here, has been picked up for distribution by Sony. NARNIA: The secret history of why Disney divorced Walden Pictures after the release of Prince Caspian. THE PRISONER: Why it endures. AL QAEDA has problems in Pakistan, which is not necessarily the case with the Taliban. AFGHANISTAN: Most voters in leading European countries believe their governments should resist any request by incoming US President Barack Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday. IRAN has renewed efforts to supply advanced weaponry to Hamas and the IDF is concerned that the terror group will try to smuggle long-range Fajr missiles into Gaza. IRAQ: Positive signs from US invasion of Iraq beginning to be seen. THE MATRIX KITTEH: Agent Smith = Puppies. BABY ALBINO HEDGEHOG saved from almost certain death. Awww... some pic at the link. BABY BLACK RHINO, abandoned by its mother, trots after his keeper all day, scared to let him out of his sight. Pics at the link. FROGS marry 7-year-old girls in India, do not turn into princes. A TALENTED GOAT performs during the opening ceremony of the 33nd Monte Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco, but I'm not sure what its talent is.
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3085 Reads |
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