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The 757s, Black Joe Lewis, The National, Hungry Loris   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, May 11, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE shows off their "Summertime Clothes" at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

THE 757s stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set steaming via MPR.  From the Twin Cities, and sound like it, with a touch of Americana.

AMANDA PALMER of Dresden Dolls talks to NPR about adapting Neutral Milk Hotel's Aeroplane Over the Sea as a high school musical.

HORSE FEATHERS performed a Tiny Desk concert for NPR.

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS: Joe talks about his gritty, funky style of old soul with the Houston Chronicle, with embedded audio samples.

THE NATIONAL played "So Far Around the Bend" for Jimmy Fallon.

THE SHINS frontman James Mercer is profiled in the L.A. Times.

JARVIS COCKER talks to The Independent about his upcoming solo LP, advocates revolution, etc.

GRAHAM COXON talks to the Mail On Sunday about how glamorous things were not in the 90s.

FLAMING LIPS give a progress report on their next LP to Stereogum.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Star Trek went boldly to the top of the chart -- as expected -- with 72.5 million (76.5 counting Thursday advance screenings).  This is disappointingly less than Wolverine's opening last weekend, but far above the average for a Star Trek movie (indeed, this reboot outgrossed the total box office of the last Trek movie on Saturday).  Of course, this one also has a 150 million budget, and may need overseas receipts to pay off the total cost (which includes the massive ad campaign).  Paramount will likley be happy with 200 million in the US.  Trek may do well again next weekend, as Angels & Demons may draw a different demographic, but the Termiantor arrives two weeks hence.  Wolverine took second with 27 million, but that's a 70 percent drop inflicted by the Enterprise and bad word-of-mouth.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, being counter-programming, dropped a modest 32 percent to take in 10.5 million.  Obsessed dropped 45 percent and made another 6.6 million, but has made almost three times its 20 million budget.  17 Again rounds out the Top Five with 4.4 million.

STAR TREK MOVIES PAST, ranked by Armchair Commentary.

RHIANNA is fighting nude pics leaked on the Internet, though they don't clearly show her face, and she is vague about whether they are of her.

SEAN PENN left ROBIN WRIGHT for Natalie Portman, according to the ever-reliable Star magazine.

TOBEY MAGUIRE his wife, Jennifer Meyer, welcomed their second child Friday, a baby boy with radioactive blood.

LANCE ARMSTRONG & SHERYL CROW split because she wanted children, according to the cyclist.

TERMINATOR: SALVATION has a four-minute trailer online,

KATE WINSLET is suing the Daily Mail over a story claiming that she had succumbed to Hollywood pressure to slim down.

A SOLDIER'S MIRACLE: Gen. David Petraeus brings a soldier out of a coma.  Here's the video version of the story.

PAKISTAN faces a dual test it has often failed before as soldiers again square off against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley: The country is fighting a counterinsurgency campaign while caring for those displaced by the conflict. The battle to drive insurgents from the Swat Valley has left refugees fearing they may never return home. Gen. Petraeus, who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in an interview that Pakistan has become the nerve center of al-Qaeda's global operations.

AFGHANISTAN: In a NYT op-ed, Hassina Sherjan reminds us that the Taliban are not really interested in peace.

IRAQI security forces, despite significant improvements, remain hobbled by shortages of men and equipment, by bureaucracy, corruption, political interference and security breaches.

SONYA the LORIS, who loves being tickled, eats worms in her latest video.

GIANT VENOMOUS SPIDERS have invaded an Outback town in Queensland.

SUCKLING MONKEYS: The women of a tribe in the Amazon jungle breast-feed small primates and other animals.

AN INGENIOUS ORANGUTAN short circuited electrical wires and climbed a fence using a makeshift ladder in an aborted escape attempt from the Adelaide Zoo. Cue King Louie.

3177 Reads

Beat Farmers, John Vanderslice, Cutout Bin, Star Trek, Donkey B-Ball   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, May 08, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEAT FARMERS!  Because I was in the mood for an encore of this more sober than usual, professionally-shot, early BF gig recorded at Universal Studios, including "There She Goes Again" (VU); "Road to Ruin," "Bigger Fool," "Reason to Believe" (Springsteen), "Powderfinger" (N. Young), "Happy Boy," "Big Ugly Wheels," "Bigger Stones," "Gun Sale at the Church," "Dallas Blues," "I Wanna Be Free," "Lakeside Trailer Park," "Death Train," and "Seven Year Itch."  If you're new to the band, my picks would be "Bigger Stones," "Happy Boy" and the cover of your choice.  SUPER-SPECIAL BONUS:  Now how much would you pay?  But wait... there's more!  If you really want to see someone put the "bar" in "bar band," watch these NSFW clips from Houston, TX of the late Country Dick Montana leading the band through "Lucille" (K. Rogers) -- complete with his favorite beer bottle stunts -- followed by "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Wino," "Are You Drinkin' With Me, Jesus?" and "Mondo."

JOHN VANDERSLICE is advance streaming his album, Romanian Names, via NPR.

NOMO stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand via MPR. The Current refers to avant garde jazz, funk and Afrobeat, but they sound more accessible than that might suggest.

ST VINCENT: Annie Clark talks to the New York Times about rocking out and more... 

SPINAL TAP is streaming a new song, "Back From The Dead," via Billboard.

BOB MOULD talks to The Quietus about Sugar, Husker Du, being a trance DJ and his sexuality.

SIR PAUL McCARTNEY: "Birthday."

BOB DYLAN, btw, would like to work with Sir Paul McCartney

JANE'S ADDICTION: Perry Farrell talks to Billboard about the pros and cons of the band's reunion.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS guitarist Benjamin Curtis answers the infamous 20 Questions for PopMatters.

CUTOUT BIN: From Leonard Nimoy to Alice Cooper, from the Vogues to the Tom Tom Club, from The Move to Mazzy Star, plus The Who, The Replacements, The Kinks, Calexico, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

STAR TREK, apparently, was a TV show in the 60s, and it's now this movie by JJ Adams, the guy who created Felicity and Lost -- and the creator of Lost turns out to be a good choice for what goes on this movie.  The Onion was right that it is fun and watchable, though I didn't hear too many disappointed Trekkers coming out of the screening.  There are some major violations of Trek canon built in, but there were also plenty of nods to quirks from the original series for the more hardcore fans.  None of this should detract from enjoyment by casual fans or strangers to the original series (though it's good to know what nacelles are). Ebert is correct that there's not a lot of deep thinking or diplomacy in this reboot, but that's okay, as it gives them something to work into the sequel.  It would be unfair to pigeonhole it as another summer action flick -- the dialogue and characterizations are pretty snappy, well-delivered by the cast.  Although this franchise is all about Kirk and Spock, I must say that Karl Urban and Simon Pegg steal scenes as McCoy and Scotty, respectively.  And that Zoe Saldana makes a hawt -- and smart -- Uhuru.  It's not a perfect movie -- Kirk's childhood is a bit ham-handed, there's a slight bit of slack in the second act, etc. -- but given the magintude of the job and the expectations for it, Abrams delivers.

NOW SHOWING: Aside from the Star Trek reboot, whcich is currently scoring a whopping 94 percent on the ol Tomatometer, this weekend's only wide release is the comedy Next Day Air, which has not been screened for critics.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND will surrender to prosecutors in several weeks and face only a minor assault charge for headbutting a fashion designer at a party.

PAULA ABDUL claims he was never addicted to painkillers and never checked into a rehab clinic.

LINDSAY LOHAN has another sleepover at Samantha Ronson's pad.

MY LITTLE PONY: Reign of Buttercup Sprinkles. The surpsise action smash of the Summer.

MARY STEWART MASTERSON is knocked up. Some kind of wonderful.

FARRAH FAWCETT: Ryan O'Neal speaks for the first time about the devastating illness of his longtime partner, Farrah Fawcett, who has battled cancer for the past two and a half years.

AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban have momentum that makes any effort to negotiate with them difficult, says US SecDef Gates.

IRAQ: Times are tough for the Iraqis who build concrete security barriers. The AFP managing to see the gey lining to the silver cloud.

WATERSKIING MONKEYS: Let's go to the video.

DONKEY BASKETBALL appears to be thriving in south-central Iowa, but PETA is on the case. The Daily Mail has pics from the dark heart of Moravia.

MAN SAVES DOG Saves Man. From a mountain lion!

WAITER, there's a severed snake head in my soup.

3447 Reads

Grizzly Bear, Dawes, Maximo Park, Wilco, Groundhog   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

HAPPY ODD DAY: This only happens six times per century.

GRIZZY BEAR previews "Two Weeks" on Later with Jools Holland.

DAWES did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter. Nicely done.

MAXIMO PARK drops an advance track, "Let's Get Clinical," along with tour dates, at Pitchfork.

THE SHINS have a new lineup.

WILCO is getting sued by former member Jay Bennett; Jeff Tweedy responds by e-mail at Paste.

AMPLIFIED: ABCNews anchor Dan Harris interviews his favorite indie bands, including The Hold Steady, Camera Obscura, Neko Case, Andrew Bird and more...

THE THERMALS frontman Hutch Harris talks to The Badger Herald and The Hartford Advocate.

THE VON BONDIES drummer Donny Blum answers the infamous 20 Questions for PopMatters.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS Nicky Wire and James Dean Bradfield to discuss their new album at The Quietus.

BROOKLYN is declared "indie music central" by the Times of London.

KEIFER SUTHERLAND "defended" BROOKE SHIELDS by headbutting a man at an after-party for the Met costume gala in NYC. However, Shields does not have Sutherland's back.

KIRSTIE ALLEY: Bigger than ever.

RYAN REYNOLDS may star in a Wolverine spinoff.

RENEE ZELLEWEGER is taking an extended absence from Hollywood and "working on getting bored." Might I suggest she watch her past few films?

SHERLOCK HOLMES: There's an "early look" at the Robert Downey Jr./Jude Law/Guy Ritchie reboot at USA Today.

BETWEEN TWO FERNS welcomes Natalie Portman and her dog, Whiz. Likely NSFW.

STAR TREK:  JJ Abrams talks to Charlie Rose about the reboot.

TREME, the new project from Wire creator David Simon, has been greenlit by HBO.

IRAN: US SecDef Gates tells allies in the Mideast that the prospects for closer ties to Iran are remote: "We'll just have to see how the Iranians respond to the offer from the president. Frankly, some of the first things that have happened as a result of the extension of that open hand have not been encouraging."

AFGHANISTAN: A wandering goatherd held up a lethal attack on Taliban roadside bombers.

PAKISTAN: The information minister for the North-West Frontier province predicted as many as 500K people may flee the Swat Valley. He said the government is preparing temporary camps to house those who have nowhere else to go.  Coordinated attacks - along with other threats  - suggest that the Taliban are bleeding out of their traditional havens in the Northwest Frontier Province into Pakistan's Punjab heartland.

OBNOXIOUS GROUNDHOG: Let's go to the video.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Montreal is doing its part. Are you?

HAVE BREAKFAST, photograph a python devouring a cockatoo.

AFGHANISTAN'S ONLY KNOWN PIG has been locked in a room, away from visitors to Kabul zoo where it normally grazes beside deer and goats, because people are worried it could infect them with the virus popularly known as swine flu.

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Jason Lytle, Illinois, Dent May, Otters' B-Ball   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

BAT FOR LASHES make their US TV network debut, playing "Daniel" at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

JASON LYTLE of Grandaddy is advance streaming his album, Yours Truly, The Commuter, via NPR.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Sonic Youth, Bat For Lashes and Manchester Orchestra are among those streaming in the latest edition of the NPR series.

ILLINOIS did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, with introductions.

THE BEST DRIVING SONGS, according to the Montreal Gazette, in a piece examining the death of the car song.

DENT MAY & HIS MAGNIFICENT UKELELE play "Howard" from his current album, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele.

THAO NGUYEN talks to Decider Denver and the Idaho Statesman about gender issues and more...

BEIRUT frontman Zach Condon gives Filter a guide to Santa Fe, NM.

BOOKER T. talks to The A.V. Club.

SONGS ABOUT FOOD & BEVERAGES, compiled by Idolator.

STAR TREK: Chris Pine and Zach Quinto interview each other about the imminent reboot, and being cracked up by Simon Pegg.  Although Trekkies bash the film as fun and watchable, there's already sequel chatter. I'll be seeing it Thursday, solely as a service to you.

DOM DeLUISE, the portly actor-comedian whose affable nature made him a popular character actor for decades with movie and TV audiences as well as directors and fellow actors, is dead at 75.

PAULA ABDUL recently kicked a 12-year-long painkiller addiction. Who knew?

CHRISTINA AGUILERA will make her film debut in Burlesque, playing an ambitious small-town girl with a big voice who finds success at an L.A. neo-burlesque club. Does not sound like a stretch.

VICTORIA PRINCIPAL is accused in a lawsuit of threatening her former maid with a gun.

UP has posted an exclusive clip at at Hulu.

MICHAEL CAINE will leave Britain if taxes get any higher. Andrew Lloyd-Webber, too.

MIA FARROW is on a three-week hunger strike to support Darfur refugees.

AFGHANISTAN: A single company of fresh US troops has turned the Jalrez valley into a lab test for Pres. Obama's Afghanistan troop surge.

PAKISTAN: The porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan may hinder US efforts to rout the Taliban? Who knew? Intense gun battles are ongoing in the Swat valley. The US national security adviser says that Washington needs guarantees from Pakistan that its nuclear arsenal is safe from militants.

IRAQ: The Iraqi Integrity Committee vowed to arrest senior Trade Ministry officials who evaded arrest. Members of Iraq's parliament said Sunni parties are pressing for the release of jailed insurgents.

OTTERS PLAY BASKETBALL: Let's go to the video.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST RABBIT suddenly dropped dead - just hours before she was to star on a television show.

A WOLF PACK has taken up residence near Yellowstone National Park's headquarters.  Yogi has competition ofr those pic-a-nic baskets.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Chicago is doing its part.  Are you?

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Cinco de Mayo, New Releases, Chooglin', Piglet + Rabbit   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

LIZ PHAIR: "Cinco de Mayo." Obvs.

PEE WEE HERMAN: "Tequila." Obvs.

NEW RELEASES: St. Vincent, Conor Oberst, New York Dolls and more are streaming in full this week via Spinner.

CHOOGLIN' stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR, which describes the band as "somewhere between James Brown and the MC5."

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: David Johansen talks to PopMatters about the band's history, reunion and new album.

GRIZZLY BEAR is profiled by New York magazine and The New Yorker.

LOS LOBOS: "Evangeline" and "Will the Wolf Survive?" Both circa 1985.  Dosfer Cinco de Mayo.

RHETT MILLER is interviewed by author Ben Greenman as part of the "Largehearted Boy Cross-Media Cultural Exchange Program."

ART BRUT: Jasper Future talks to MusicRadar about recording Art Brut Vs Satan with Frank Black.

STEPHIN MERRITT of Magnetic Fields talks to Metromix about scoring the stage musical of Coraline.

PATTI SMITH may soon be Meg White's mother-in-law.

JESSICA SIMPSON: Vanity Fair has a think-piece on the pneumatic blonde at the crossroads of Obscurity and Re-invention.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL & PETER SARSGAARD tied the knot in an exchange of vowel-filled vows in Italy.

DAVID HASSELHOFF denies reports claiming he was rushed to an LA hospital after suffering alcohol poisoning.  He says it was food poisoning, with just a smidge of alcohol.

LINDSAY LOHAN falls down, goes boom outside a club in Montreal.

DENISE RICHARDS tortured Cubs fans with her version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," but it was for a good cause.

MEGAN FOX shot some video for her Esquire cover story, so it must be Gratuitous Tuesday.

DENNIS RODMAN rebounds to rehab.

IRANIAN AIRCRAFT attacked three villages inside Iraq over the weekend.  Meanwhile, the American journalist on a hunger strike for two weeks to protest her imprisonment in Iran was briefly hospitalized after she intensified her fast by refusing to drink water, Reporters Without Borders said Monday.

AFGHANISTAN: Justin Kelly, a recently retired Australian army officer with service in East Timor and Iraq, argues that a strategy focusing on the annihilation of Taliban power is the only way to achieve broad political progress.

IRAQ: The 130K American troops serving in Iraq are more likely to die in accidents, from natural causes, or in other "nonhostile" incidents than at the hands of insurgents, according to Defense Department statistics for the past eight months ending in April.

KITTEH VS. FAN: Who you got?

PIGLET & RABBIT, living together... mass hysteria. And Tigger, too!

A PREGNANT COUGAR returned safely from a day-long walkabout on her own late Sunday in Poinciana, FL, but her three kittens did not survive a Cesarian section.  This is a story about a wildcat... you know that, right?

HEY, IS THAT A SNAKE IN YOUR LAP, or... oh, it is.

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