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Monterey Pop (day 1), Ron Sexsmith, Camera Obscura, Super-Hogzilla |
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Monday, January 08, 2007 - 08:00 AM Posted by: kbade
OTIS REDDING at the MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL: An uncle gave me the Criterion Collection for Monterey Pop at Christmas, so I looked to see whether you too could chase away the Winter doldrums this week with music from the Summer of Love. Lo and behold, here's Otis with Booker T & the MGs and the Mar-Keys, playing "Shake," "Ive Been Loving You Too Long," "Respect" ("a song that a girl took away from me... a good friend of mine..."), "Satisfaction" and "Try a Little Tenderness." The clips vary in quality, but Otis never did. RON SEXSMITH, championed by folks like Elvis Costello, Steve Earle and Chris Martin, has a new LP, Time Being, coming out this week. You can see the video for "All In Good Time" at his website and stream "Some Dusty Things" (which I might prefer) from HisSpace (which is also streaming his cover of "I Don't Like Mondays"). THE JACKIN' POP CRITICS' POLL results and ballots for 2006 are posted at Idolator. DAVID BOWIE turns 60 today. London's Independent had a bref career overview on Sunday. I surveyed rare and odd Bowie videos last week. ELVIS PRESLEY, coincidentally, would have turned 71 today -- most of the links from this video roundup still work. RYAN SHAW, whose debut album doesn't arrive until March, brought his classic Soul sound to the World Cafe Friday, so you can stream his full set from NPR now. CAMERA OBSCURA has a trippy new video for "If Looks Could Kill," the Motown-influenced third single from Let's Get Out Of This Country. (Thanks, Chromewaves.) CANUCK ROCK: Emily Haines of Metric talks to the Boston Herald about her excitement over the Canadian music scene: "This is maybe the first generation of Canadian musicians that don
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Mountain Goats, David Vandervelde, Cutout Bin, and a Two-Faced Calf |
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Friday, January 05, 2007 - 08:00 AM Posted by: kbade
THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE... ...with the MOUNTAIN GOATS at the M-SHOP, which Pate fans know is a fabulous, initmate venue in the Memorial Union at Iowa State University. There are four clips in total, though I'm partial as always to "This Year" and especially the anthemic finale of "No Children." Nice to see the kids in Ames are still as enthusiastic for the indie as they were in the 80s. BONUS: John Darnielle taks songwriting with the Sydney Morning Herald. SXSW 2007: The Stooges, Bloc Party, Hoodoo Gurus, the Watson Twins, and the Stax 50th Anniversary Soul Review are among the first batch of confirmed acts. Pete Townshend is the keynoter; the interview series will include Gilberto Gil, Emmylou Harris, David Byrne, Terry McBride, Ricki Lee Jones, Booker T and Joe Boyd. The more curious can check the speculation at Donewaiting's unofficial festival blog. WILCO: Rbally has posted a 2004 Italian gig, and we all know that TweedyCo is bootleg-friendly, so it's a guilt-free download. You can also jukebox it on the ol' HM. DAVID VANDERVELDE is a wunderkind from my neck of the woods, so it's sad that Stereogum mentioned him first. He cites ELO, T-Rex, Todd Rundgren, and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies as influences, while his new label name-drops David Bowie as well. I recommend you stream a few from HisSpace, particularly "Jacket" and "Feet of a Liar." STEPHEN MALKMUS: The former Pavement frontman talks about being a family man and drawing inspiration from "obscure Jesus music" he hunts down on eBay and elsewhere. MODEST MOUSE gave up trying to stop the latest leak, so you can stream "Dashboard" from Pitchfork or at TheirSpace. SEEN YOUR VIDEO: Me and Zero request you watch "This Beat Goes on/Switchin' to Glide" by The Kings. Sure, you're laughing derisively now, but you will click when no one is watching. If nothing else, it's an excellent job of editing archival footage. MY MORNING JACKET frontman Jim James talks to the L.A. Times about the annoying Southern rock label, the new live album/DVD and how the band was hurt by Sony's rootkit debacle. ALSO: The Stranger compares MMJ and Band of Horses, complete with the annoying Southern rock label. THE FAKE FICTIONS got a nice profile in the Chicago Reader. You can stream their primitive power-pop at TheirSpace. APPLES IN STEREO: Stereogum has posted a new track from the New Magnetic Wonder album due in February. You can stream "Energy" in all its lo-fi Beatle-esque goodness from the Hype Machine. THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortutitous finds on the ol' HM include: Cheap Trick - Come on, Come on; Redd Kross - Lady in the Front Row; Kelley Stoltz - Birdies Singing; The Essex Green - Don't Know Why (You Stay); Great Lake Swimmers - See You on The Moon!; The Wrens - Ex-Girl Collection; Viva Voce - From the Devil Himself; The Kinks - Mindless Child Of Motherhood; Rockpile (with Robert Plant) - Little Sister (yep, that one); Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - Tears, Tears And More Tears; Gnarls Barkley - The Last Time (theirs, not the Stones'); Love - Be Thankful For What You Got; Hot Chip - Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye); Lady Sovereign - Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols); Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag; Thea Gilmore - Ever Fallen In Love (Buzzcocks); Luna - Everybody's Talking (Harry Nilsson); The Greenhornes with Holly Golightly - There Is An End; and Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights. LINDSAY LOHAN had to have her appendix removed, after being diagnosed with appendicitis Wednesday. That's something even a million in jewelry won't fix. NOW SHOWING: This weekend's big releases are: the Shrek wannabe Happily N'Ever After, which is scoring a whopping 5 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; the janitor-turned-secret agent "comedy" Code Name: The Cleaner, which does better with a whopping 6 percent; inspirational classroom drama Freedom Writer, which scores 60 percent; and Alfonso Cuaron's dystopian Children of Men expands to 1200 screens with a score of 92 percent. AWARDS SEASON: The Screen Actors Guild Award nominees are announced. DAVID DENBY has an excellent essay in The New Yorker what is wrong (and right) with the movie biz in the Internet Age. I have mere minor quibbles with it; for example, i think that new theaters with stadium seating and built-in cup holders rawk. MISS-CONDUCT: Will Miss USA Tara Conner pose for Playboy when she leaves rehab? The Donald would insist it be in "good taste." So I'm guessing Playboy will lose interest. BRITNEY SPEARS is aware that her image has suffered lately, according to manager Larry Rudolph, who told USA Today: "Britney knows exactly what she needs to do. She's taking all the right steps. Britney Spears will be back and absolutely at the top of the entertainment industry very soon." And by "right steps," we mean "looking skanky and staying out until 2:30 a.m." But even better, the French Hotel reportedly tricked the pop tart into thinking she had jeopardized her chances of ever having an orgasm again by lighting the filter end of her cigarette. I couldn't make that up, so if the National Enquirer did, I congratulate them. THE FRENCH HOTEL, meanwhile, is reportedly sleeping with a monkey. A female monkey named Brigitte Bardot. NTTAWWT. JENNIFER LOPEZ cannot shake those questions about her desire to birth a child. But PEOPLE en Espa
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Candylion, Lennon-McCartney, Arcade Fire, Lewis Taylor, Albino Python |
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Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 08:00 AM Posted by: kbade
CANDYLION: The solo album from Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys is getting good reviews from Pitchfork and Gorilla vs. Bear, but while the Fork has it listed as a Team Love release, there's no listing for it at the label's site and GvsB was agnostic on a US release date. However, you can stream a few tracks from MySpace and watch the artsy-craftsy video for the title track. SIR PAUL McCARTNEY is planning to finish an unreleased track he sang with JOHN LENNON. McCartney wanted it on The Beatles Anthology, but George Harrison claimed it was not good enough. Of course, now that George is dead, man (miss him, miss him), he cannot object. MODEST MOUSE: Rolling Stone is killing music by posting a leaked track titled "Dashboard"from the band's upcoming LP. I looked for a streaming copy on the Hype Machine, but all posted versions have been wiped clean already -- which is impressive, as bands or labels have missed the HM in the past. Another version of "Dashboard" was posted at Let's Sexy Fighting, so it may turn up streamable on the HM by the time you read this (or not). Hearsay had a live version. ARCADE FIRE: For example, since the band's label mistakenly posted a second advance track on iTunes, "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" has turned up on Off The Record. But even if the label were to request its removal, a copy would still be streamable from the ol' HM for a while. JONI MITCHELL is the subject of an upcoming tribute album with tracks from Sufjan Stevens, Emmylou Harris, Prince and more. SEEN YOUR VIDEO: You can thank Sylvia Hauser for sparking me to search out Lewis Taylor's video for "Stoned (Part I)." He's old skool funky Soul in the mode of Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye and Prince. VANGUARD: The historic record label is opening a Digital Vault on iTunes this month, including rare and previously unreleased material. BISHOP ALLEN: The Village Voice has a piece on the band's "near-catastrophic" project to release an EP every month in 2006, including some tracks as free downloads. You can stream a bunch of them on the ol' HM at the moment. JENS LEKMAN has posted a brief essay on his next album, which he hopes to have finished by this summer. he talks about the humor involved -- and Ken King and I heard at least one very funny unreleased song at the Pitchfork Fest last summer. FAITHLESS is streaming a new song, "A Kind of Piece," featuring Chan Marshall, a/k/a Cat Power. BRITNEY SPEARS has reportedly checked into an exclusive spa for some "R & R," but some are wondering if one of those "R's" is rehab. Cindy Adams claims that her label thinks her new songs stink, which is saying something. The pop tart reportedly has commissioned a nude portrait of herself, apparently unaware she could just get the pics on the Internet. LINDSAY LOHAN has not completely lost her mind (yet), as evidenced by her summary dismissal of advances from Kevin Federline. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and SCARLETT JOHANSSON are competing for biggest diva on the set of his new video. JT cannot have people look at him, while Scar-Jo cannot have anyone watch her eat. WHITNEY HOUSTON is auctioning her underwear -- in addition to hundreds of her famous stage outfits and accessories -- an event that could earn her hundreds of thousands of dollars in welcome cash. GEORGE MICHAEL pocketed
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JB, Police Reunion, New Deerhoof, Sahara Hotnights, Fluorescent Pigs |
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 08:00 AM Posted by: kbade
JAMES BROWN: PopMatters has an incisive eulogy for Soul Brother #1, noting that the Hardest Working Man in Show Business was big on the philosophy of self-reliance (much like Ray Charles). Which is a good excuse to add that Mr. Dynamite had three costume change in three days for his various memorial services. It's also a good excuse to hook you up to these phenomenal clips of JB and the Famous Flames performing "Out of Sight" (introduced by Jan & Dean), "Prisoner of Love/Please Please Please" and especially "Night Train" on The T.A.M.I Show. It's no wonder The Rolling Stones were terrified to follow him. THE YEAR AHEAD: The Denver Post has its own calendar of notable upcoming releases. If I was the Major, I'd be circling Feb 13th, as Lucinda Williams would make a great Valentine's Day gift. CALEXICO'S Joey Burns shuffled his iPod for the A.V. Club and ended up discussing artists from Theolonius Monk to Scott Walker. I feel bad that I haven't mentioned Scott Walker more often, as The Drift got plenty of rave reviews. But it's pretty rough going, as you can stream for yourself via the ol' HM. THE POLICE is rumored to be planning a reunion tour to mark their 30th anniversary, coinciding with an anniversary release by the record label A&M in June. Meanwhile, many miles away, something crawls from the slime at the bottom of a dark Scottish lake... DEERHOOF: "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" is one of the Best Songs of 2007, according to Gorilla vs. Bear, which also quotes fab indie rock author Michael Azerrad: 'Matchbook Seeks Maniac' pulls a "99 Luftballoons" breakdown move in the middle, rocks a Brahms interval in the pop-narcotic chorus, and the Beach Boys and the Who are all over the mix - it's one of the most glorious things I've ever heard..." SEEN YOUR VIDEO: "Alright Alright" by the Sahara Hotnights, rawk grrls in the mode of The Runaways and The Donnas. Rawr! SEBADOH: Lou Barlow is a busy man in 2007. He not only plans to tour with the original Sebadoh lineup, but also is part of the first Dinosaur Jr. album in 18 years. Sebadoh is also hosting bootlegs ranging from 1991-2003 on their official site. TOM WAITS: "Lie To Me," the opening track of the Orphans set, made NPR's Song of the Day, with Tom Moon calling it "two minutes and 10 seconds of pure, unfiltered rock 'n' roll bliss." QUEEN edged out the Beatles to win the title of greatest British band of all time in a vote organized by BBC Radio. They really are the Champions? PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel's rep denies multiple reports that she married the troubled singer in Phuket, Thailand: "Contrary to various entirely false media reports today, there has not been any kind of marriage ceremony in Thailand. She is on holiday." JESSICA SIMPSON and JOHN MAYER rang in 2007 "full-on making out" at the Hudson Hotel party thrown by Christina Aguilera. Creepy dad-manager Joe was upset that his pneumatic daughter passed up a paycheck to do so. How long until Stereogum revokes Mayer's Strange New Respect? Meanwhile Nick Lachey and TRL host/ET infobabe Vanessa Minnillo were caught canoodling on camera, with Minnillo sufficiently excited or drunk to drop an "F" bomb on the MTV. CAMBERLAKE: Are Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz dunzo? Star magazine claims they are... MADONNA: The father of the Malawian boy being adopted by Madge wants to ask her how his son is getting on, but he doesn't have her phone number or mailing addresses. TERI GARR -- already diagnosed with multiple sclerosis -- is recovering after surgery to treat a brain aneurysm. Her rep says: "The prognosis is very, very good." COURTNEY LOVE has made a lengthy list of New Year's resolutions. Learning to spell is not one of them. BRADGELINA: Jolie tells Vogue: "I don't trust anyone." Pitt, meanwhile, is sharing skin cream with Cate Blanchett. It seems that the bald cap must be irritating him. NICOLE KIDMAN broke down in a roadside rage after requesting a police escort to help reach her Rosedale holiday home. It's the first sign that Kidman is not coping well with the public scrutiny of her marriage and hubby Keith Urban's fall off the wagon. Meanwhile Urban's tattoos may disprove claims he was two-timing Kidman during their engagement. MISS-CONDUCT: Former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees -- dethroned after racy photos of her surfaced online -- will not get a second chance from Donald Trump, according to pageant officials. VICTORIA PRINCIPAL and her plastic surgeon hubby have finalized their divorce, agreeing to split more than 50 million in assets and setting aside a prenup. RUPERT EVERETT usually does not interest me, but he has some amusing observations about being gay: "Being gay is a young man's game. Who wants an old gay man? No one let me tell you. I could set myself on fire in a gay bar, and people would just light their cigarettes from me." JESSICA ALBA: As post-holiday ennui creeps in, America's Sweetheart comes to the rescue with not one, but two new bikini appearances. GLOBAL WARMING: Amid the shouting lately about whether global warming is a human-caused catastrophe or a hoax, some usually staid climate scientists in the usually invisible middle are speaking up. MIT's Carl Wunsch: "Denying the risk seems utterly stupid. Claiming we can calculate the probabilities with any degree of skill seems equally stupid." SOMALIA: As Islamists flee the country, southern sea routes were being patrolled by the US Navy, hunting for three al-Qaeda suspects wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. IRAN: A top advisor to Pres. Ahmadinejad claimed in an interview that Adolf Hitler's parents were both Jewish and that Hitler himself was one of the founders of the State of Israel. Which would have been quite a surprise to the Nazis. WHO IS CAPT. JAMIL HUSSEIN? Although the name appears as a quoted source in over 60 Associated Press stories from Baghdad, former CNN Chief News Executive Eason Jordan, now blogging from Iraq, writes that "If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it" and that "Until this controversy is resolved, every one of those AP reports is tainted." The response from the AP is more stonewalling, with exec. editor Kathleen Carroll stating that she had not read Jordan's item, and likely would not. IRAQ: Multiple media reports suggest that Pres. Bush is planning to send more US troops to bring greater security to the population, rather than to train Iraqi forces. Some sort of campaign against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army may also be involved. This would mark a change from the strategy championed by Gen. Casey and hasten his departure from Iraq. It also differs from the Iraq Study Group report, which recommended increased troop levels to accelerate traning the locals. The Belmont Club picks up an analysis from the Small Wars Journal suggesting such an approach would likely increase the rotation time of Marine units from 7 to 12 months and Army units from 12-15 months. FLUORESCENT GREEN PIGS: Made In China. They are not the other white meat. "SICK THIEVES stole my dead hamster!" I wouldn't even try to top that hreadline. COWS stare unamazed as Huey and Black Hawk helicopters airlift hay to cattle stranded in blizzard-stricken areas of Colorado and Kansas. SNAKE knocks out a power grid in Florida. What will happen if the snakes join forces with the suicide squirrels? AUSTIN the PUG ricochets around the Ritz-Carlton hotel room, bouncing from bed to chair and leaping high to lick the face of his personal masseuse.
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Bowie at 60, The Slip, Jimi on the Rose Bowl, and Gay Sheep |
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 08:00 AM Posted by: kbade
BOWIE at 60: London's Observer looks forward to David Bowie's birthday next Monday with an essay and quotes from famous fans like Scarlett Johansson, Clive Owen, Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, and more. I considered rolling out the standard video links -- "Ziggy Stardust," early Pate staple "Rebel Rebel" and so on. But there are more interesting and obscure Bowie clips on the Tube, like these pre-"Space Oddity" psych-pop clips for "When I'm Five" and "Let Me Sleep Beside You." Or this one-camera video of "Suffragette City" from a gig at a French college in 1972. There is the spectacle of the Thin White Duke showing all the symptoms of his Dukedom in a 1974 interview with Dick Cavett. Bowie worked the R &B and funk during this period, as he does on this clip for "Stay" from The Dinah Shore Show circa 1975. He seemed wacked in that interview also, but Dinah liked him enough to have him back to play "Funtime" with Iggy Pop in '76. Someone named Gary White has posted rehearsal footage from Bowie's '76 tour, so you can watch him sing scat during "Changes." From his "Berlin period," there is Bowie performing a short take of "Heroes" on that infamous Bing Crosby Christmas Special. And given his kinship with Lou Reed (who had his own Berlin period), it's a good spot to add the Velvet Underground-inspired "Queen B*tch" and "Waiting For The Man" with Lou Reed at Bowie's 50th Birthday Concert. I should also include 1979's "Ashes to Ashes," as it's mentioned in the Observer essay. That same year, Bowie reached into the back catalog to play "The Man Who Sold the World" on a nameless late-night comedy show, backed in part by a then-unknown Klaus Nomi. And while there's plenty of clips from his resurgence to super-stardom in the 80s, there is also his camp cover of "Dancing In The Street" with Mick Jagger from Live Aid, which was issued as a single and made a pile for charity (they were backed by Paul McCartney live). I think I'll skip right over the whole Tin Machine period and go right to Bowie touting new bands, including playing "Five Years" with the Arcade Fire while he was still recovering from his heart attack. Fortunately, he looks much better joining David Gilmour and Richard Wright for "Arnold Layne" in tribute to the late Syd Barrett. So, early Happy Birthday, Dave. NEW RELEASES: There is nothing worth streaming from AOL again this week. Things start looking up next Tuesday, however. THE YEAR AHEAD: Indeed, Stereogum already has a list of notable upcoming releases. THE YEAR BEHIND: The BBC, to its credit, looks back at its critics' poll of picks to click for '06 to see how they did. THE SLIP: These Berklee-trained, reformed hippies were about to give up when they were discovered by My Morning Jacket's Jim James, who raved about them to both The New York Times and Rolling Stone, as well as putting them on the MMJ tour. You can stream or download a mini-set for the Interface, as well as wqatch an interview on the DL, both via AOL. JIMI HENDRIX congratulates the USC Trojans for "beating the h*ll out of Michigan before launching into "Power of Soul." Ripped from today's headlines! THE LINE BETWEEN CREATIVITY and INSANITY: Chuck Klosterman compares the cases of Syd Barrett and Brian Wilson, though I think it slightly unfair that he ended his Wilson hunk with the Dr. Landy period. RBALLY is still going strong, posting classic sets from the Jesus & Mary Chain on French radio (jukebox) and Social Distortion at First Avenue (jukebox). DUELLING CRITICS' POLLS: The L.A. Times looks at the new rivalry between the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll and the Idolator blog poll due Friday, following the VV firing founder Robert Christgau, who will nevertheless vote in both polls: "I'm flattered that people care. I'm flattered that it matters to people so much. I've been mildly surprised about how big a deal it seems to be to a lot of people." PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer flouted court-ordered travel restrictions in order to to see in the New Year with the supposedly sober supermodel on the appropriately-named island of Phuket, Thailand. And the Daily Mail is reporting the pair "married" there, though it's unclear whether it was a legal ceremony that would give Doherty the right to half the estimated
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