Some Muse to take us into the holiday weekend

I hope most of you out there have the luxury of a 4-day weekend. I'm going to throw out a couple Muse b-sides from Black Holes and Revelations. Enjoy the songs and the 4th.

MP3: Muse - "Crying Shame"
MP3: Muse - "Glorious"
Buy the album on July 11

In the next few days I'm also going to post a couple Franz Ferdinand b-sides from the "Fallen" single.

W.A.S. @ Black Cat, June 27

Inmytree pretty much summed it up, short and sweet. As much credit as we can give these guys for touring their balls off this year, the show did not match their SONAR performance we caught on Jan 18. Maybe it was the venue, maybe it was the booze, maybe it was those recockulous REC-SPECS; who knows. Here's a couple of poor quality pics from the show...

Wolfmother Live @ AOL

Get some.

Setlist:
"Woman"
"Love Train"
"Dimension"
"White Unicorn"
"Joker & the Thief"

Band of Horses on Lettermen, July 13th

A MySpace bulletin:

On Thursday, July 13th our own Band of Horses will appear on TV's The Late Show with David Letterman!

Please tune in to your local CBS affiliate at 11:30 pm ET/PT on July 13th to see Band of Horses perform "The Funeral" from their album Everything All the Time.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with The Late Show with David Letterman, here is some info from their website:
"We have featured a nurse who saved her son's iguana by giving it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; a 10-year-old boy who was home alone and punched out a burglar who was trying to break into his house; and the man who George Steinbrenner dubbed the "Number One Yankee Fan" because he waited on line 33 hours for play-off tickets."

Though we have no idea who the celebrity guest will be that same night, the more sophisticated Sub Pop staffers are pulling for anyone from the movie Little Man, which opens that same week.

More 2006 Half-Year Lists

Here I was, proud of my list of top 10 songs and CMG has gone ahead and listed the top 28 albums of 2006 complete with enough downloads to occupy a decent sized playlist. I know for a fact that InMyTree is going to be very pleased with the first two selections. It is, as expected, a very indie-centric list (I know mine won't be) with exceptions coming from Ghostface and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's a good introspective of this year's releases and worth checking out.

The Black Keys: Coming to an East Coast Venue Near You

East Coast friends, you're in for a treat. I don't hide my admiration for The Black Keys, they're unassuming, underrated and unbelievably solid in a live setting. Apparently, I'm not alone here - two shows at 9:30 club?? They'll be stopping by to support their first release on Nonesuch, Magic Potion. No word yet as to when these go on sale.

11-02 Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom
11-03 New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
11-04 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11-05 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11-06 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

Here's a classic from their album, Thickfreakness.

MP3: The Black Keys - "Set You Free"

Top 10 Songs Through June, 2006: Why Not?

I'm not ready to start picking my favorite albums just yet but now seems like as good a time as any to look into my favorite songs of the year. I couldn't bring myself to choose any songs from Editors or Arctic Monkeys only because I've been listening to that music for over a year. Honorable mention also goes to La Rocca's Sing Song Sung, Sound Team's Your Eye's Are Liars, White Whale's The Admiral, The Little Ones' Lovers Who Uncover, Island's Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone, and RHCP's Wet Sand. Without further adieu, here's my first crack at it:

10. TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me" - Posted about this song (including a live version) here. I can't wait to get the album version of this song in my hands.

9. Tunng - "Tale from Black" (mp3) - I don't really like a lot of their other stuff but I LOVE this song. This folktronica concept is really working here.

8. Muse - "Assassin" - I could have chosen a couple other songs from this album but I love the fierceness that the band brings on this one. Can't wait to hear it live. The more I listen to this album, the more I feel that it stands up to any of their past work.

7. The Strokes - "Vision of Division" (mp3) - The handful of solid songs on this album get lost in the far-too-long 14-song track list but this is one really stands out for me. You can feel the angst in Julian's voice on this one and it sounds great live.

6. Hot Chip - "No Fit State" (mp3) - I was wrestling with "Over and Over" and "Boy from School" with this one but this is the song that I'm listening to the most on The Warning. I love that there is a complete change in direction around the 2:50 mark and then again at 4:30 and they pull it off masterfully.

5. Pearl Jam - Unemployable - I could have chosen almost any song off of the new PJ album but for the moment, this one is my favorite. Great lyrics, great chorus, great everything.

4. Wolfmother - "Colossal" (mp3) - "Mind's Eye" was the first Wolfmother song that I heard last year but I when I found a stream of the UK version of the album, this was the first track. After listening to this one, I knew these guys could be huge.

3. Band of Horses - "The Funeral" (mp3) - What hasn't been said about this song?

2. Tool - "Vicarious" (mp3) - The first song we all heard from the new album, 10,000 Days. This one floored me.

1. Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" (mp3) - I love the rhythm of this song and as a whole it just gives me a nostalgic feeling of the great guitar songs of the 90s. The growl in Brian Aubert's voice at the 2:40 mark gets the blood flowing.

UPDATE 7/27: I've since made some changes. Hot Chip and Pearl Jam are out. Midlake's "Young Bride" and Tokyo Police Club's "Nature of the Experiment" are in. "Map of the Problematique" replaces "Assassin" for my favorite Muse track.

Cuckoo for Coco Crisp

OK, so it wasn't Coco Crisp that hit that shot, it was A-Gon. That's what happens when the game is on ESPN. I have to mute it, turn on Boris, and drink. I take Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy over Overated Hershiser and his ESPN lackeys any day of the week. Sorry for the errah.

Pedro's return to Fenway had already been spoiled after he gave up four runs in the first inning (two earned), but Coco's blast with one on into the Monster seats later on was a little something extra. The Red Sox organization could not have done a better job welcoming Pedro back. Complete with standing ovations and a pre-game video montage yesterday, the Red Sox and fans showed a lot of class and kept the door open, of course, if Pedro's arm is still rocking in two years.

MP3: stellastar* - "My Coco"

New York Doll

New York Doll is a wonderful documentary that traces the fascinating trajectory of Arthur "Killer" Kane from his involvement in the meteoric rise of the influential New York Dolls in pre-punk New York City to his conversion to Mormonism and eventual reunion (at Morrissey's behest) 30 years later with the other surviving members of the New York Dolls, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain. I have just come to know the music of the Dolls in recent years and the film has inspired me to learn more about the life and times of this band as well as their legacy in rock and punk. Regardless of your taste in music this movie is a beautiful, touching experience that will leave even the casual viewer affected.

MP3: New York Dolls - "Pills"

Official Site
Buy New York Doll

The Crimea

We Are Scientists were a little subpar last night. Definitely not as tight as when we caught them at Sonar last year. They seemed rather drunk and their conversations between songs continues to push me further and further away. We didn't have the benefit of a band like The Crimea saving the show for us last night, as was the case with Billy Corgan's set at 9:30 Club last year. Corgan was a terrible disappointment, but The Crimea made it a worthwhile experience for me. In a strange twist of fate, I happened to be wearing my Crimea T-shirt last night that says "Lottery Winners On Acid," (I don't follow the unwritten rule some speak of in regards to wearing band shirts to shows, etc.). While I was hanging out in the back of Black Cat watching the always entertaining freestyle walkers (there is always one, and it is someone different every time), a girl approached me and asked me where I got the shirt because The Crimea had never played DC. I told her that I had the good fortune of catching them open for Billy Corgan last summer and she was pissed that she missed it. We spoke briefly about how much we enjoy The Crimea and then went on our way avoiding the freestyle walker. Here is a little taste for the uninitiated...

MP3: The Crimea - "Lottery Winners On Acid"
MP3: The Crimea - "White Russian Galaxy"

Buy The Crimea - Lottery Winners On Acid [EP]
Buy The Crimea - Tragedy Rocks

Official Site | MySpace

Get Well Soon, Pete

[Photo Credit]

A friend of mine sat next to Peter Gammons on a flight from Boston to Seattle in 2002 and told me that he was one of the nicest people he had ever met. Friendly, intelligent, funny...just about everything you think he would be from reading his articles. Gammo suffered a brain aneurysm last night and is currently in an ICU recovering from surgery. He is a great guy and the only guy on ESPN I listen to and trust. He is also a Pearl Jam fan. Next week, on July 4th, he is scheduled to release NEVER SLOW DOWN, NEVER GROW OLD, a collection of cover songs featuring Pete on guitar and vocals with a little help from some pro ballplayers and musicians like George Thorogood and Juliana Hatfield. The proceeds from the CD's sales will benefit Theo and Paul Epstein's Foundation to Be Named Later, a newly formed foundation that will benefit kids in the Greater Boston area. For a taste of Gammo's eloquence, humility and humor read his Hall of Fame Induction Speech.

In March of this year, Pete treated ESPN Insider readers to the Top 20 tracks on his iPod during Spring Training (everything below is written by Gammo, I just changed those songs that I posted .mp3s for):

1. MP3: Tom Petty - "Mary Jane's Last Dance". She "had a good-lookin' momma who was never around ... you never slow down, you never grow old."
2. "Riding in the Backseat," The Gentlemen. Download it. You're (---) right.
3. "(---) Up," Pearl Jam
4. "I'm No Angel," Gregg Allman. "So you find me hard to handle, Well, I'm easier to hold."
5. "Someone Else Is Steppin' In," Buddy Guy
6. MP3: Editors - "Munich"
7. MP3: Ben Harper - "Both Sides of the Gun"
8. "On Your Way Down," Little Feat. "You think the sun rises and sets on you, but the same sun that rises and sets on poor folks too."
9. MP3: Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"
10. "Model Citizen," Warren Zevon
11. "Perfectly Good Guitar," John Hiatt. "There ought to be a law with no bail/Smash a guitar and you go to jail/With no chance for early parole/You don't get out 'til you get some soul."
12. "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley," Robert Palmer, "when up pops the wife."
13. "You Got the Silver," Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks
14. "I Feel So Good," Richard Thompson, "I'm gonna break somebody's heart tonight."
15. MP3: Pete Yorn - "Strange Condition"
16. MP3: The Killers - "Mr Brightside"
17. "Summer," Buffalo Tom
18. "Down the Road Apiece," Rolling Stones
19. "You're My Girl," Rhinoceros
20. "This Is Us," Emmylou Harris

Get well soon, Pete!

More from TV on the Radio

Last week, I posted some information on the new TV on the Radio album, Return to Cookie Mountain. As many of you know, most of these tracks have been floating around on the internet for quite some time now and a domestic release on Interscope is still tbd. With a July 11 release in the UK, you can now stream the album on NME. While Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes absolutely blew me away with the first four songs on the album, I hardly ever listen to the rest of it. Cookie Mountain is consistently strong throughout. If there is one unbelievable stand-out track, for me, it's "Wolf Like Me." This is the tune that will exist in my playlist for the foreseeable future. I'm posting a live track for the moment, unfortunately, this is all I kind find floating around at the moment.

MP3: TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me" (Live)

There is also an excellent feature on TVOTR on the Village Voice.

Listen to the new Muse on MySpace

If you felt guilty downloading the leaked Muse tracks to Black Holes and Revelations, well now you can listen to the new album a full two weeks in advance and it's all guilt free. Head over to their MySpace page and be prepared to be blown away.

This Shit Is Mawkish, Muthaf*cka!

Brian Howe makes me a better person. He helps me study for the GRE and keeps me busy reading his bullshit when I could be filling myself up with far worse bullshit elswhere on the web. But, it seems like Mr. Effulgence is running out of words. Time to variegate your vocab, Brian! A little more than a month apart and mawkish and maudlin reappear together (The Stills | Tilly and the Wall). I guess these 50-cent "m" words were meant to be. Mawkish actually appears twice in three sentences in The Stills' review:

Where Logic couched its mawkishness in a sumptuous, shadowy mantle of sophistication, Feathers lets it all hang out: The jaunty pianos and major key leads, Fletcher's openly maudlin lyrics, and his cheerful/wistful phrasing all downplay the aching drama of Logic in favor of a peppy enthusiasm.

The change is evident from the first song, the cheerfully galloping "In the Beginning". Pianos plink with abandon over a hitch-and-gallop rhythm guitar; a bright lead skims through the mix like a day-glo Frisbee; former drummer Dave Hamelin (the band's primary songwriter) belts out winningly mawkish platitudes ("a hero never turns around") like he means them-- which, by God, he probably does.

This isn't that funny except that Brian seems to be a smart guy. And he seems to want me to know that he is smart guy. Thanks for pushing me, man. And don't sweat it, my criticism is ephemeral, I will be back tomorrow looking to inhale more of your verbose, diffuse piffle. Until then, Pitchfork needs some Editors.

MP3: Editors - "All Sparks" (Cicada Remix)
MP3: Editors - "Fingers In The Factories"

At the Drive-In

All of the jawjacking on the comments portion of this article at DrownedInSound.com got me thinking back to the earlier days of Cedric & Omar. These tracks are beast. Turn it up loud. Prepare for greatness.

MP3: At the Drive-In - "Catacombs"
MP3: At the Drive-In - "Cosmonaut"

If you do not own RELATIONSHIP OF COMMAND you need to buy it. Ferocious stuff.

Pearl Jam: Covers

The trigger shook, it was aimed right at my head. Yeah, Daniel e-mailed us in the middle of our almost legal proceedings with Thom Yorke and EZArchive and hit us up about how swell this fucking post was and how sweet it was that we kept it up for a whole two days. Well, here it is Daniel (first time e-mailer, long time reader), in it's entirety and I will add PJ's cover of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" when I get out of my cave and back to my house.
I'm the guy. I'm the one. The blogger with the subscription to Rolling Stone. I know what you're thinking and that's fine. If you've been reading the blogs lately you realize that Rolling Stone is running a reality TV show on MTV with their interns and that these interns are complete d-bags. Gotcha. But, I've been sucked into the vortex. It happened a long time ago and the $12 a year continues to be worth it. Yes, it has its moments of boy bands on the cover and features on the likes of AFI and Good Charlottte, but I hang in there...and this week was one of those weeks when it felt good to open up the mailbox and see a new Rolling Stone, mainly because Eddie Vedder was on the cover which reads (as you can see): "RELUCTANT WARRIOR Eddie Vedder & Pearl Jam Return From Exile." Now, as Ben Harper puts it, "[i]t's not a comeback - they've never gone anywhere in my world."

Without going too far in depth in regards to the article I will say that it is worth it just to hear (or read) how mellowed out Vedder has become and how much influence the death (and life) of Johnny Ramone had on the recent album. I wasn't surprised to learn that Eddie, John Frusciante and Vincent Gallo (in his Black Cat spoken word appearance last year, Henry Rollins talked about being a habitual visitor as well) were frequent crashers at Ramone's house before he died, I was, however, surprised that Rob Zombie was:

Vedder, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, Vincent Gallo and Rob Zombie spent hours at Ramone's house, where he would play them music (on a jukebox, not on a guitar) and show film clips of acts from Gene Vincent to the Dead Boys. "We were the students of Johnny Ramone, and forever bonded," Vedder says. "Never have I experienced a loss of someone I talked to with such frequency, in such depth, with such intimacy."

My favorite quote was from Eddie, early on in the piece, when he says "I feel like we've been handing in our work on time, and we've been getting A's and B's, but we haven't really raised our hand and spoken out in class...This record is us speaking out in class." There are some Online Extras at RollingStone.com.

I could go on and on about how much Pearl Jam has meant to me over the years, but I think the single, most important thing they gave me is a respect for the elders. I'm talking about The Who, Neil Young, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, Dead Boys, The Clash, etc. On top of their own diverse catalog Pearl Jam has managed to take many songs under its wings and cover them at an extremely high level. One of the best parts of going to their shows is wondering if you will catch "Baba O'Riley" or "Sonic Reducer" or what Mike might do differently in the "Crazy Mary" solo this time. They have introduced me to a number of artists and also forced me to research different genres and get outside of my own niche. Growing up I wasn't exposed to great punk music or bands like Sonic Youth. But, through Pearl Jam I have to come to appreciate, and in many cases, love the bands that influenced them (Bad Religion, Fugazi, etc.) and the bands that they covered.

Without further adieu, I rustled up some of my favorite covers and in the process touched about every live PJ album I own. I couldn't decide on which "Sonic Reducer" cover I liked best, so I just put them both up. Fug it.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"
@ State College, PA | May 3rd, 2003
Beatles cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Know Your Rights"
@ New York City, NY | July 9th, 2003
The Clash cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Gimme Some Truth"
@ New York City, NY | July 8th, 2003
John Lennon cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Soldier of Love"
@ Hamburg | June 26th, 2000
Arthur Alexander cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Fortunate Son"
@ State College, PA | May 3rd, 2003
Creedence Clearwater Revival cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Fuckin' Up"
from the album LIVE ON TWO LEGS
written by Neil Young | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Crazy Mary"
@ Seattle, WA | November 6th, 2000
Victoria Williams cover | Link
Note: Mike plays the "Stairway to Heaven" solo at the end.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Sonic Reducer"
@ New York City, NY | July 8th, 2003
Dead Boys cover | Link
Note: Tony Barber of the Buzzcocks joins on bass.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Rockin' In The Free World"
@ New York City, NY | July 9th, 2003
Neil Young cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Sonic Reducer"
@ New York City, NY | December 31st, 1992
Dead Boys cover | Link
This is from a live CD recorded at The Academy that was offered for pre-ordering PJ's latest CD through the Ten Club. The CD has early versions of "Leash" and "Daughter" with different lyrics, performed live.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Masters of War"
@ Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA | October 22nd, 2003
Bob Dylan cover | Link
My favorite protest song, ever. I screamed my lungs out ('til it filled the room) when PJ played it at the Verizon Center this past May. I still love the quiet pain and humble strength of this bare bones version. The words can stand on their own.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Don't Be Shy"
@ Boise, ID | November 3rd, 2000
Cat Stevens cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Chloe Dancer"/"Crown of Thorns"
@ Atlanta, GA | April 19th, 2003
Mother Love Bone cover | Link | Link
Pearl Jam has only played the first song, "Chloe Dancer," once, and this is the track. I was present that night and did not know this fact until now. Mother Love Bone was the band that Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament played in before doing Temple of the Dog and forming Pearl Jam with Eddie Vedder. You can find the studio version of this track on the SINGLES soundtrack, it is played quite frequently throughout the film. Best line of the movie? Xavier McDaniel: "And Steve, don't cum yet."

MP3: Pearl Jam - "25 Minutes To Go"
@ Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA | October 22nd, 2003
Shel Silverstein, Johnny Cash cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Baba O'Riley"
@ New York City, NY | July 8th, 2003
The Who cover | Link
Note: Steve Diggle of The Buzzcocks joins on guitar.

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Last Kiss"
@ Philadelphia, PA | September 2nd, 2000
written by Wayne Cochran | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "I Believe In Miracles"
@ Mansfield, MA | July 11th, 2003
The Ramones cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "The Kids Are Alright"
@ Seattle, WA | November 6th, 2000
The Who cover | Link

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Betterman"/"Save It For Later"
@ Philadelphia, PA | September 1st, 2000
The English Beat cover ("Save It For Later") | Link
My first PJ show ever. Opened with "Sometimes" closed the first encore with "Whipping," "Do The Evolution," "Crazy Mary," and "Porch." Second encore? "Yellow Ledbetter," naturally. If I wasn't using public transportation from halfway up the Hudson River to get to Camden, I would have caught Eddie perform "Dead Man Walking" as a pre-opener. What can you do?

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Daughter"/"Androgynous Mind"/"Hold On"
@ Philadelphia, PA | September 1st, 2000
Sonic Youth cover ("Androgynous Mind") | Link
There I was. 20 years old, a junior in college, and by the end of the night, a deflowered member of the Ten Club.

Finally...Arcade Fire

I've been waiting for news on this for a long time now and we finally get some details on the Arcade Fire album. Really, I have no idea what to expect from this album. Is it possible that they'll be playing arenas after this release? I'm curious by this.

Win had this to say:
"Just letting you know that things are going very well here in the studio. We have maybe 15 songs with little bits left to record and a few more we want to get to tape. We are going to try and record a couple of songs in me and Regine's living room, because the drums sound so great in there...Feeling excited and inspired, learning to play all these new instruments...Well mostly Regine to be honest! It's gonna be really interesting how we're going to fit all of these new sounds in a tour bus."

Don't Forget: Pearl Jam on VH1 Storytellers; Preview Below

As readers of this site may know, and as evidenced by InMyTree's monster PJ cover's post (MP3s will be back up soon), MD are huge fans of Pearl Jam and it goes without saying that we're fucking pumped for this Saturday's VH1 Storytellers episode. Reading the Rolling Stone interview with Eddie has only added to the anticipation.

The official press release reads as follows:

Pearl Jam performed on Wednesday, May 31 to a packed house at Avalon in New York City for a taping of VH1 Storytellers. Fans can watch this exclusive performance when “VH1 Storytellers: Pearl Jam” premieres Saturday, July 1 at 10pm.

The band (Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron) performed new songs from their latest self-titled album Pearl Jam in addition to past hits. The show will follow in the “Storytellers” format and include questions from fans as well as a new interview with the band about their new album and the stories behind the songs.

Your preview is here:



Get there...

Tunes on Entourage

I was a day late catching the last episode of Entourage but always a fan of British Rock, I was pretty pumped to hear tracks from both Bloc Party and White Rose Movement last night. As InMyTree mentioned after the season opener, HBO always seems to find the right music to fit the season. The gang at WRM should be pretty pleased after closing the episode out. If you don't already have these songs, you can buy all songs that appear in episodes from the HBO site. I'm posting a couple non-album remixes below.

MP3: Bloc Party - "Banquet (Boyz Noize Dub Mix)"
MP3: White Rose Movement - "Alsation (Phone Gone to the Dogs Remix)"

Cryptic words from Radiohead

Picked this up from Stage Hymns regarding Radiohead's MySpace page. In a message to "friends":

Subject: all good things..........
Body:
What goes up.....must come down. So it's been fun chatting with some of you lovely people and we've uncovered some great talent in smash & grab. There is a secret We have yet to tell. Also, keep supporting the good bands on this thing. it's only your support that gives these guys the chance we had. Thom says thanks for all of the 'Eraser' comments. Thanks to Rik for Jons site. The new material will 'most likely' come out as an album, but we are still farting about with the idea of multiple singles, EP's or online only!... (mmm!... that could prove problematic re: new artwork... which is NICE!) If you use the network here effectively, there are people who can get your messages to us. We'll be back for
the third time at some point soon, but time is a killer right now with shows and recording sessions etc... TALKING WITH YOU GUYS THIS CLOSELY HAS BEEN REFRESHING!

The secret?.......................
This may be our last album...... but I never told you that!
If you must take it at all....take it easy

radiohead
bye

There hasn't been an update on the official Radiohead site so maybe this will go down as a Radiohead conspiracy theory. We'll have to eagerly await with anticipation. I think anyone would agree that the quality of the new songs, whether heard live on this tour or through various MP3s suggests that this band is still producing exceptional material.

Next Up on Digital Downloads: Tower Records

Tower Records is unveiling their very own digital download service tomorrow. Why bother? Well, here are the features (and my comments):

~Initial prices are 99 cents and $9.99 for albums. (Ok, sounds familiar, so far so good)

~"The depth of catalog will be another difference between Tower Records Digital and its competition, Munyon said. "There's a gigantic gap in the market," he said. "Everyone's going for the big hit titles and the best-known names and not focusing on the true music fan consumers. We have a broad and deep catalog in all genres -- we're known for this, and we're experts at it." (Really? not sure about that one)

~"All of the music is in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format, encoded at a higher bitrate than most other online stores to provide better audio fidelity. It also can be moved to most digital music players, with the exception of Apple's iPod." (Ah genius, now the 20 "true music fan consumers" that don't own ipods can enjoy this great service - sell, sell!)

News from Beck on album, cover art

Beck has revealed some details on his new album. A couple things of note, first being that most of the tracks (produced by Nigel Goodrich) will be mostly hip-hop. Here is the part that I find the most intriguing:

"It's really pretty amazing. The artwork is laid out in stickers, it's modular, the cover is blank and you get a sheet of stickers and you make your own cover."

I love when a band - or in this case, a person - goes the extra mile with the cover art. If you want people to still buy cds, then present consumers with the notion that you've put some thought and effort into the artwork because it is, in many ways, art. Tool is a perfect example, the artwork for 10,000 Days is the craziest that I've ever seen. It creates a compelling argument for people deciding on downloading it online (legally or illegally) or spending an extra couple bucks to buy the disc.

Oddities & Endities

The closest we can get to news in regards to DFA '79. News about MSTRKRFTRFRTSKFTKSKTKTKFTKFKRFT. Dag!

The Crutch talked with Ben Tegel from The Vacation. We love The Vacation. We love The Crutch.

Phillies Wife-Beater

Fenway needs to let this moron have it today. So do the Sox bats. Part of me wishes we could yank the DH for one game just so this knucklehead can catch some chin music from Nipper's crew.

The Soxaholix

There is nothing I like more in the morning than a hot cup of Irish coffee and The Soxaholix. Especially when they are baggin' on Dan Shaughnessy. C'mon. Look at this guy! He's up there in my list of most hated sports media members with Joe Morgan, Bill Walton, and Keith "King of the Retirement Pumpfake" Jackson. The Soxaholix is the first blog I ever read. And still the funniest. Sometimes I get nostalgiac and go through their archives to remember what it was like after Game Three of the 2004 ALCS. The feeling of utter helplessness. And then laugh my ass through the next week. I do this about as often as I pop in my FAITH REWARDED DVD. Sometimes I just rewind "The Steal" and watch it over and over again.
[Photo Credit]

Lollapalooza

Schedules for all 8 stages, all 3 days.

I feel a whole lot better about not going to this when I see how long these bands get to play for. For example, headliners doing 1 to 1.5 hours when it could easily be arranged for more thant that.

Official Site

Pearl Jam - "Comatose" @ AOL

Maybe my favorite song on the new album. YouTube is so delicious.

Beirut in DC

On August 23rd, Beirut is playing Warehouse Next Door with Curtains and Get Him Eat Him. They are blogger favorites, Pitchfork approved [in a > 7.5 kind of way (important to some, not important to the rest of us)], and a top seller at Insound. At this point I would post mp3s if EZArchive wasn't such a complete biesofzhit.

Official Site

The Strokes: "You Only Live Once"

The first time I heard this song was on The Strokes' SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE performance. I liked it much more than they other song they did ("Juicebox"?), but it was still a very lukewarm performance. That being said, Top and I were completely won over by The Strokes' performance at DAR Constitution Hall this past Spring. Complete with Julian Casablancas performing all of "Reptilia" in the crowd to a roaring version of "Heart In A Cage" leading things off, it was fantastic. This video is decent. Nothing special, just a rising tide of sewer water while the bands rips through the track. The thing that gets me is seeing Julian do the little run-in-place-stomp during points of elevated energy in the song. Part of me is jealous, I think, that he is able to pull off white jeans and vintage high-tops with such ease. Of course, at DAR, he was bringing the black jeans out. Regardless, FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH continues to grow on me, and these guys are going to be around for a while. Whether you dig it or not.

Radiohead Got Hot @ Bonnaroo

Providing a link to Stereogum and saying "check this out" is like providing a link to Google and saying "this search engine might be worth your while." At any rate, the aforementioned link contains the perfect Radiohead setlist. Almost. My favorite song off of HAIL TO THE THIEF is missing, "Where I End and You Begin," but the "Street Spirit" to the "The Bends" (I, of the "testosterone set") to "Myxomytosis" would have crushed me. I would fire up some links to these tracks but there is something terribly wrong with EZArchive right now.

The Mars Volta: Amputechture Tracklisting

InMyTree has introduced you to the title, Amputechture, and of course, the potential. Now, the always entertaining and confirmed tracklisting:

Vicarious Atonement
Tetragrammaton
Vermicide
Meccamputechture
Asilos Magdalena
Viscera Eyes
Day Of The Baphomets
El Ciervo Vulnerado

At this point, there is only confirmation that John Frusciante appears on one song (not sure which).

Some Tool Tour Dates

From Toolband.com:

Here's a few confirmed dates, with tickets going on sale this weekend (except for the Honolulu shows, I believe). Keep checking as there will be A LOT MORE SHOWS ADDED once they're confirmed... as well as some other things that should make certain people very happy.

SUN-AUG-6 FRESNO/SELLAND ARENA
FRI-AUG-18 HONOLULU/BLAISDELL CONCERT HALL
SAT-AUG-19 HONOLULU/BLAISDELL CONCERT HALL
TUE-AUG-22 VANCOUVER/GM PLACE
THU-AUG-24 CALGARY/PENGROWTH CENTER
FRI-AUG-25 EDMONTON/REXALL CENTER
SUN-AUG-27 SEATTLE/THE GORGE
TUE-AUG-29 SALT LAKE CITY/E-CENTER

Stay tuned for some additional East Coast dates and in case you missed it, here is the 10,000 Days "secret" song.

MP3: Tool - "10,000 Days Secret Mix"

The Jury is Still Out: Some MP3s

Seems to be a pretty slow day today and the US World Cup team has really been robbed by officiating once again, although I guess they're really not that good anyway. In the meantime, I thought I'd throw up some random MP3s from bands that I haven't quite decided whether I'm into.

Black Angels: Another Austin band, these guys are re-living the 70's and even singing about them. This is a great tune and I think this is an album that I can really get into.
MP3: ">Black Angels - "The First Vietnam War"

Figurines: This Danish band has seemingly reached mainstream with some press from the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin. Interestingly enough, this song is followed by Franz Ferdinand's "The Fallen" on my work iTunes and I can't help but hear some similarities.
MP3: Figurines - "The Wonder"

Black Fiction: This, I believe, would fall under the trip-hop folk category along the likes of Tunng. Soothing beats, good tune.
MP3: Black Fiction - "Magic Hands"

Midlake: A very highly regarded band in the blogger circle but it's a little too mellow for me. Regardless, when you're in for some downtime, this is a good song to start with.
MP3: Midlake - "Young Bride"

Dirty on Purpose: Just received a respectable 7.7 from Pitchfork for their new album, Hallelujah Sirens. Dream Pop, Space Pop, whatever you want to call it, they're playing in front of the home crowd in NYC next week (along with the Little Ones) so I plan to see for myself.
MP3: Dirty on Purpose - "No Radio"

When He's Sixty-Four

[Photo Credit]

Paul McCartney turned 64 this past weekend. Here are all the details, and of course, the song itself:

Forbes | The Independent | Telegraph | Philadelphia Daily News

MP3: The Beatles - "When I'm Sixty-Four"

Silversun Pickups Tour Dates

This really bums me out, first I had to get rid of my New Pornographers tickets because Muse is coming to town on the same date. Now I find out that the Silversun Pickups, easily my favorite new band right now, have also chosen that precious August 3rd date for their show in NYC. Cruel. So instead of seeing these guys in a tiny venue, I'm going to settle for checking them out in a random pool in Brooklyn which apparently has a capacity of 5000. At least it's free. Dates below.

07.06.06 - Los Angeles, CA (Hammer Museum sponsored by Indie 103.1)
07.23.06 - Brooklyn, NY (McCarren Pool Party) - FREE
07.28.06 - Portland, OR (The Doug Fir)
07.29.06 - Seattle, WA (Capitol Hill Block Party)
07.30.06 - Vancouver, BC (Richard's on Richard's)
08.03.06 - New York, NY (Mercury Lounge)
08.05.06 - Boston, MA (Great Scott)
08.06.06 - Washington, DC (Black Cat)
08.09.06 - Cincinnati, OH (WOXY in-studio performance)
08.10.06 - Indianapolis, IN (Midwest Music Summit venue tbd)
08.11.06 - Milwaukee, WI (Stonefly)
08.13.06 - Chicago, IL (New New at Hideout)
08.31.06 - San Francisco, CA (Popscene)

MP3: Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"

Seriously, if you don't already own it, buy their EP here.
Carnavas as I mentioned previously is out July 25th, pre-order at Insound.

Heat

[Photo Credit]

Vincent Hanna: You know, we are sitting here, you and I, like a couple of regular fellas. You do what you do, and I do what I gotta do. And now that we've been face to face, if I'm there and I gotta put you away, I won't like it. But I tell you, if it's between you and some poor bastard whose wife you're gonna turn into a widow, brother, you are going down.
Neil McCauley: There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We've been face to face, yeah. But I will not hesitate. Not for a second.
[Heat at IMDB.com]

I didn't watch one minute of the NBA Finals, but for the past week or so, I have been catching all of the highlights. I like the NBA about as much as I like Shaq, which is not a lot. Basketball, as a sport, reaches it's pinnacle every March during the NCAA Tournament. Since Michael Jordan left the league has continued to lose me more and more each year. The only people that keep me somewhat interested are Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. But, it is minimal interest at best. Guys like Mark Cuban, a fellow blogger and fellow gazillionaire, push me further and further away. This guy is a young Jerry Jones, an owner who thinks he is part of the show, that people come to see him blow up at refs and commissioner David Stern, when, in reality, he is just a really wealthy guy that owns a sports team (one that just came in second).

I read a couple of his posts and they are humorous, but I wonder how the players feel about the owner being in the locker room. I remember playing college basketball and hating it when the Athletic Director rolled his fat ass into our team space. Enough about basketball. The fact that the Heat won got me thinking about songs named purely "Heat" and then I decided to grab a few songs with the word "heat" somewhere in the title, you can find them at the bottom, we cross a few genres and in the process, post our first hip-hop songs, I believe.

Now that we established that the NBA, Mark Cuban, and Shaq aren't friends of Metro D, lets discuss film. HEAT. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about HEAT is watching FINDING NEVERLAND. For real. My buddy Callo and I are Johnny Depp fans. One night after work he had to crash at my house and there was no Sox game on. We decided to hustle over to Hollywood Video and find something to kill the time. Neither one of us had caught FINDING NEVERLAND, so we picked it up. That movie is depressing as fuck. Very good, but very, very sad. At the end of the movie both of us were just staring straight at the screen, both wanting very much not to allow the other to see how "affected" we were. As soon as it wrapped up, I jumped up and yelled, "Fuck! I need the bank robbery scene from HEAT, right now!" We still laugh about that.

Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors of all time. LAST OF THE MOHICANS, THE INSIDER, MANHUNTER (far superior to Ratner's futile RED DRAGON), COLLATERAL, and ALI to name a few. They don't always hit the mark exactly, but you can count on a killer script and magnificent filmmaking everytime. HEAT is great for many reasons, here are a few: it is loosely based on a true story from Chicago and Michael Mann spent a significant amount of time with the real-life cops involved in that story (learn more on the 2-Disc Special Edition, which came out last year and has excellent extra features to compliment the film), it features the first on-screen meeting of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, and has a fantastic soundtrack (Eno, Moby, Moby covering Joy Division, Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton, etc.).

Vincent Hanna: My life's a disaster zone. I got a stepdaughter so fucked up because her real father's this large-type asshole. I got a wife, we're passing each other on the down-slope of a marriage - my third - because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block. That's my life.
Neil McCauley: A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner." Now, if you're on me and you gotta move when I move, how do you expect to keep a... a marriage?

MP3: The Velvet Underground - "White Light/White Heat"
MP3: Common - "Heat"
MP3: 50 Cent - "Heat"
MP3: AC/DC - "Heatseeker"
MP3: The Roots - "Rolling With Heat"

New Album News

News regarding the new TV On The Radio album, including a track list - which we kind of already knew - and cover art - which we didn't know - have been released. A domestic release is still mysteriously absent.

Audioslave's 3rd album is set to be released on Sept. 5. The first single, "Original Fire" - perhaps the precursor to "Sleep Now in the Fire", will be out July 18 which probably means the album will leak around the same time.

The new Killers album will hit shelves on Sept. 19 and with songs like "Uncle Johnny Took Cocaine" and "Bling," how could it miss? Note the sarcasm.

Too Tired to Be a Rockstar

Who the Fuck Are the Arctic Monkeys? Not Andy, he quit. No word yet on whether Top, already an accomplished tambourine player, will be trying out.

MP3: Arctic Monkeys - "Who the Fuck Are the Arctic Monkeys"

Not Your Ordinary Mash Up: Secret Tool Song?

If this is in fact true, then this is fucking intense. As a huge Tool fan, I love hearing about stuff like this and while I wouldn't put it past the band to do this, it also wouldn't surprise me if some dude stumbled upon this while messing around on his Mac. Regardless, a single free-flowing (melodies, beats, lyrics, etc.) song can be created by combining "Viginti Tres," "Wings for Marie" and "10,000 Days" and it actually sounds pretty damn solid. You can read more about it here from Digg.

MP3: Tool - "10,000 Days Secret Mix"

Late Night Tonight

ABC
12:05 AM Jimmy Kimmel Live: WOLFMOTHER, JACK BLACK

CBS
12:37 AM The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: THE CHARLATANS UK

NBC
11:35 PM The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: KEANE, MARIAH CAREY
1:35 AM Last Call with Carson Daly: BUBBA SPARXXX, YING YANG TWINS

The Skinny

Madonna's latest album is a scam. Kind of like her 6 song performance at Coachella.

Jay-Z without Cristal is like Metro D without Bud Heavies.

The latest is that Thom Yorke will be playing a solo set on The Henry Rollins Show. Now I really have to set the fucking DVR. And figure out which one of my Comcastic TV channels is IFC. Does Comcast qualify as a monopoly? Is someone working this issue?

Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, no relation to Jack-Attack Bauer from 24, sold for a record $135 million. In 1990 the painting was van Gogh's portrait of Doctor Gachet and the price was $82.5 million. The book, Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a Van Gogh Masterpiece, Money, Politics, Collectors, Greed, and Loss, by Cynthia Saltzman, is an interesting, well written look at the art world and market.

Brooklyn Vegan was all over New York Magazine's "Secrets of the Radiohead Setlist". So why are we putting those links out? Well, (1.) because they're cool and fascinating and (2.) because JK and I are wondering how many songs Pearl Jam must rehearse if Radiohead is doing 45. I have neither the time or energy to calculate a guess, but it is definitely something to think about. My one knock on The Mars Volta live experience last year was that the set I caught in Philly was the same as the one I caught in Providence. Then again, they have 2 LPs and an EP out, so I guess it is something that a band gradually evolves in to.

I don't wish the d-bag factor at shows on anyone. Everyone knows that it can get high in even the most unsuspecting of shows (Ben Harper, TV On The Radio) and from the most unsuspecting of individuals (middle aged women), but it was a relief to read that NYC is not void of it.

Bumper Sticker of the Day: "Don't Hit Kids, No Really, They Have Guns Now."

Top's favorite band to play tambourine for, Birdmonster, has a downloadable set at WOXY.

John Frusciante & Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

[Photo Credit]

I posted this last week. Originally the songs were .m4a files labeled as .mp3 files. Then they were .m4a files labeled as .m4a files, perhaps causing problems for people that don't run iTunes. These people exist. We are equal opportunity bloggers. After some research we have mastered the file name v. the title on EZArchive and we are pretty sure that we won't be causing these problems again. .mp3s it is, it makes our music more recognizable on Hype Machine as well, so it should be easier for those folks that use Hype Machine for a podcast, etc. to listen to everything that we are offering. Again, our apologies, we are learning. If you haven't checked it out already there is some great stuff with John and Omar on it below. I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it.

I am feeling a little celebratory after learning of the new role that John will be playing in The Mars Volta. The details aren't quite clear yet, but some places are intimating that it is more than just the solos that we have seen in the past. Even if it is just in the studio, I am pumped. You may or may not know that there is a long history of collaboration between the two...

Where to begin... The first time they collaborated was on Omar's A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1. They recorded this in 2001 following the break-up of Omar's band before The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In. The album wasn't released until 2004. It's companion, A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 2 will be released later this year. The two albums are the soundtrack to a film of Omar's that is yet to be titled and yet to be released.

John's next guest spot was on The Mars Volta's overwhelming debut, De-Loused In The Comatorium. He is featured on the seventh track, "Cicatriz ESP." Throughout the album Omar does some interesting things with riffs that he has already played and some of it is most noticeable in the song just prior to "Cicatriz," titled "Eriatarka." At different points he will play previous riffs backwards, and other riffs (from the opener "Son Et Lumiere") will be played at barely audible levels beneath a new riff. You will notice that "Cicatriz" is somewhat cyclical in nature as well. There is a definite ebb and flow to the tempo of the song and it is a great example of the sound of The Mars Volta. This song is a monster at their live show because of the very distinct beginning and the building intensity.

MP3: The Mars Volta - "Cicatriz ESP"

The two would join forces again on John's first of seven solo albums to be released in the following twelve months (early 2004 to February 2005). The first one, oddly enough was the most polished and produced out of the bunch and remains one of my favorite albums from 2004. Titled Shadows Collide With People it featured Omar playing slide guitar on two of the tracks, "Chances" and the instrumental "23 Go In To End."

MP3: John Frusciante - "Chances"
MP3: John Frusciante - "23 Go In To End"

John's next three solo albums did not feature Omar, but, at different points, they did feature Josh Klinghoffer of Bicycle Thiefs (drums & vocals on The Will To Death, Automatic Writing*) and Joe Lally of Fugazi (bass & vocals on Automatic Writing). Omar next appeared on John's Inside of Emptiness, contributing ferocious lead guitar work on "666."

MP3: John Frusciante - "666"

John's next album, A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence ended up being credited to both him and Josh Klinghoffer and added a heavy electronic twist to Frusciante and Klinghoffer's instrumentation. It also reminded fans of John's broad range of influences (including among many others, Nirvana, Captain Beefheart, Devo, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, and Elton John). Elements of electronica were first seen clearly in John's work on his 2001 solo release To Record Only Water For Ten Days, a synth-laden album that bared his child-of-the-80s soul. John's final solo release before returning to the Chili Peppers was the aptly titled Curtains. Omar once again contributed to some of the lead guitar duties, lending his services on "Lever Pulled" and "Anne."

MP3: John Frusciante - "Lever Pulled"
MP3: John Frusciante - "Anne"

In 2005, The Mars Volta released their second full-length album Frances the Mute. To use the phrase "concept album" with The Mars Volta is kind of pointless. It's what they do. Whereas their first album, De-loused In The Comatorium, focused on a man's journey through pain and suffering and an attempted suicide through morphine, the second was loosely based on a journal discovered by TMV's sound tech, Jeremy Ward, shortly before Ward's heroin overdose following the release of De-loused. Never has John's signature sound been more apparent to me then on the first two solos of "L'Via L'Viaquez." I knew it was him, before I knew it was him.

MP3: The Mars Volta - "L'Via L'Viaquez"

This brings us up to the present day and the most recent release from the Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium, if you've been listening up until this point, it won't be hard to notice Omar's fierce solo on "Especially In Michigan." I thought that Omar was going to have a few more guest spots on this album considering it's length and the fact that Anthony Kiedis somewhat hyped the idea. At any rate, his solo on "Michigan" is mind-blowing and classic Omar...

MP3: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Especially In Michigan"

Buy albums:
John Frusciante | The Mars Volta | Red Hot Chili Peppers

*Automatic Writing was released under the band name Ataxia.

Sound Team! A Review! Capitol, WTF?!?!

Holy shit! Someone reviewed Sound Team's MOVIE MONSTER. Great work, Capitol Records, you clowns sure know how to pump an album. It is interesting to read the comments on "TV Torso," the track that I couldn't stop talking about. The album version doesn't stack up with the live performance. I haven't heard the album as a whole yet, but I have heard the majority of the songs. I can appreciate where this guy is coming from in regards to that track. It sounds a little empty compared to the quality and fullness of the other tracks (as studio versions, that is).

The Automatic: Not Accepted Anywhere

Next up on the British rock scene is The Automatic. Their debut, Not Accepted Anywhere, was the album of the week on the Zane Lowe show on BBC Radio 1 last week. The band combine many of the successful elements that you'll find with other British acts: layered vocals, keyboards, catchy choruses and even the occasional cowbell. The album is out today in the UK, no word yet on when it will be released in the states but it's never too early to jump on the bandwagon. Below are a couple of my favorite songs on the album. You can download an additional track on their MySpace page.

MP3: The Automatic - "Raoul"
MP3: The Automatic - "Keep Your Eyes Peeled"

Ben Harper - Live at Tramps, NYC

[Photo Credit]
First off, apologies for the lull in the posting. Secondly, we are trying to improve the posting of our .mp3s and improve the way it shows up on Hype Machine. I have been enlightened on how you can rip CDs on a Mac and have it imported as a .mp3 as opposed to an AAC file. It's not that hard and requires no additional software, just go into the preferences on iTunes. God, I love my Mac.

At any rate, long ago in an Audiogalaxy far, far away I stumbled across this Ben Harper performance from Tramps in 1996. It was bootlegged from an MSN OnAir syndicated promo and somehow made the rounds on iMesh, Napster, Audiogalaxy and the rest of those early wonders of file-sharing. I did a quick Google for "Tramps NYC Live Music" and learned a little bit. It turns out De La Soul recorded a live album there in 1996 and that it closed in 1999. Here is a quick portion of a Village Voice article from 1999 that sums things up:

And now, Tramps. After a two-night stand by Son Volt Wednesday and Thursday, a private party will mark the end of this popular Chelsea club, which, thanks to brilliant booking, has consistently brought audiences the city's most eclectic range of music. Tramps has been a one-of-a-kind haven for musical multipersonalities who could dig anything: hip-hop, funk, punk, country, ska, zydeco. With such an inconsistent clientele, a move might work— a "plan to reopen" is rumored. Given Tramps's history, it'd hardly be a surprise.

Though the club has been in operation for 25 years, the current location hasn't always been home. In fall 1988, drastic rent increases around Tramps's original 15th Street address prompted a move. In 1992, when owner Terry Dunne renewed the lease for the club's current 21st Street location, a clause banning noise before 6 p.m. was accidentally left intact. "It was an oversight," says Steve Weitzman, Tramps's talent buyer for the past 10 years. "Even so, it wasn't enforced until recently." The situation made preparing for shows, particularly multiple-act bills, difficult. "Who wants to play an important gig with a rushed sound check, or no sound check?" Weitzman asks. "Maybe the landlord was looking for an out. My impression is that when we moved into the area, it wasn't as desirable." He notes that more profitable businesses like Barnes & Noble and Bed Bath & Beyond have since opened shop, as well as other pricey restaurants like Puffy Combs's Justin's. Now an upscale restaurant-lounge is due to slide into Tramps's space. It all adds up to more green for the landlord.[Quote Credit]

I never caught a show at Tramps, being all of 19, naive and uninformed at the time it closed, but I have caught Ben a number of times and had the pleasure of meeting him after his show at Fairfield University in 2001. At the time of this show at Tramps he was 8 months shy of releasing the album that would become my introduction to him.

When I was in high school the Boston Globe used to do an end of year wrap up in the Living/Arts section. Just about every writer they had would submit his Top Ten Albums and then throw a few sentences down about why they liked the album, why the picked it, etc. Some guy picked Ben Harper's THE WILL TO LIVE and used a sentence along the lines of "Jimi Hendrix meets Bob Marley." I went out and bought it that day and "Glory and Consequence" quickly became one of my favorite riffs to begin any song, ever. THE WILL TO LIVE led to FIGHT FOR YOUR MIND and I have been hooked on Ben ever since. I had a listen to this live set on my flight out of Atlanta this past weekend. I was in desperate need of something quiet and something with some healing power after experiencing the security line at Hartsfield International and barely making my flight. This also goes out to my buddy CK who just got married this weekend (why I was in Georgia) and oddly enough he and his wife chose Ben's "Forever" as their first song. For brevity's sake I used Ben Harper as the artist name on these, the concert was performed by Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals.

At the beginning of "Don't Take That Attitude..." Ben introduces the band with Oliver Charles on drums. Oliver first played with the Innocent Criminals in 1994 and following the recording of FIGHT FOR YOUR MIND, he left the band. Oliver returned to BHIC in 2001 after a five year hiatus. Dean Butterworth, I believe, was the drummer in between Oliver's two stints. Enjoy...

MP3: Ben Harper - "Introduction" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Ground On Down" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Don't Take That Attitude To The Grave" > "Concrete Jungle" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Excuse Me Mr." (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Promo Ad" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Gold To Me" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Sexual Healing" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Please Please Me Like You Want To" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)
MP3: Ben Harper - "Burn One Down" (Live at Tramps 9.27.96)

Rescheduled Snow Patrol Dates

From Snow Patrol:

Hi everyone
As promised, we've finally finished re-routing the diary for 2006 to enable us to come back to America, to play for all those who didn't get to see us this June. Below are our new tour dates, some have changed venues, one is cancelled completely.
All tickets will be valid for these re-scheduled shows. Any queries, please contact your ticket provider.

August 2006
15th Boston - Bank of America Pavilion
September 2006
6th - Atlanta, Tabernacle
8th - New York, Roseland
9th - Philadelphia, Electric Factory
10th - Washington DC, 930 Club
12th - Montreal, Metropolis
13th - Toronto, Kool Haus
14th - Detroit, Clutch Cargoes
16th - Chicago, Riviera
17th - Minneapolis, First Avenue
21st - Vancouver, PNE forum
23rd - Portland, Roseland
24th - San Francisco, Warfield
26th - Los Angeles, Wiltern
27th - Los Angeles, Wiltern
28th - San Diego, House of Blues

Seattle has sadly been cancelled, but we will be playing at the KNDD Radio Show on August 12th. We will also be playing Portland KNRK on 13th August.

See you all there, and thank you for being so cool about everything!
The Eskimos

T N A

[PHOTO CRED]

It's not what you think. No gratuitous images here, just some original, post-punk music that has really got a hold of me courtesy of The North Atlantic. I am really keen on the first of these tracks and the video track. I love the unconventional lyrics on "Scientist Girl" and the frontman's voice which ranges from a gentle plea on "Bottom of this Town" to a scorned shout on "Scientist Girl" that manages to stay in key. There are moments of sheer punk energy and then hush new wave vibes. The ability of a band to cross genres effortlessly usually leaves a lasting impression on me. So far, that is the case with The North Atlantic.

MP3: The North Atlantic - "Scientist Girl"
MP3: The North Atlantic - "Drunk Under Electrics"

VIDEO: The North Atlantic - Bottom of This Town

Radiohead @ Theater at Madison Square Garden, 6/14

The vibe at the Theater felt like a room full of lottery winners and everyone seemed to have that permanent smile face. We got there early to catch The Black Keys and found swarms of people in line at the venue for ticket cancellations - I've never seen anything like it. The Keys only played a 30 minute set but they did not disappoint. Patrick hits the drums harder than anyone in the business and I'm probably in the minority here but in a live setting, I think they're better than the Stripes (no comparison on the albums, however). Radiohead took the stage at 9 and that's probably where I blacked out with excitement. We were seated 20 rows back and to the left of the stage and I knew that it was highly unlikely that I'd ever have better seats at a Radiohead show again - not to mention in a venue that size. It's a real treat to watch that little freak, Thom, parade around the stage - nothing else quite like it. The mp3s floating around of the new songs don't do them any justice, you need to hear them in a live setting to fully understand the quality. The exception is Bangers 'n Mash - that just feels like a b-side to me. Thom had very little to say to the crowd although at one point after thanking the crowd for listening to their new stuff and the old stuff, made a comment about why anyone still "gives a shit." Nice try, Thom. I heard my two favorite Radiohead songs, Paranoid Android and Idioteque so the rest was gravy. 2 hours later, The Tourist as the closer was also pretty huge. Here is the setlist:

01 The Gloaming
02 The National Anthem
03 15 Step
04 Arpeggi
05 Kid A
06 Dollars And Cents
07 Videotape
08 Nude
09 I Might Be Wrong
10 Paranoid Android
11 Bangers 'n Mash
12 Pyramid Song
13 My Iron Lung
14 Bodysnatchers
15 Myxomatosis
16 No Surprises
17 Everything In Its Right Place
---
18 A Wolf At The Door
19 Down Is The New Up
20 Like Spinning Plates
21 Spooks
22 Idioteque
---
23 Just
24 The Tourist

Of course, there were the celeb sightings. Through various accounts on last night's show, I've noted Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Heath Ledger & Michelle Williams, Michael Stipe, Elijah Wood, Ed Norton, and Ryan Adams. If you're into that sort of thing...

More News Re: The Vacation

From MySpace:

The Vacation will once again be on Fearless Music TV this week - Saturday, June 17th! Fearless Music TV is on Saturday nights at 1am on Fox 5 in NYC. If you are not in NYC, check out the time and channel listing here: FearlessMusic.tv to find out when the show airs in other states. Check it out...it's cool.

There are some completely random ass towns on the list of stations. I'm not talking shit, just curious to see if the Charlottesville or Norfolk hook-up makes it happen up here in the Comcastic Cable Monopoly.

The Mars Volta: Amputechture

This great news courtesy of Frusciante.net:

Tuesday, 13 June 2006
According to the German music magazine Visions the next release from The Mars Volta will be entitled "Amputechture" and released in mid August. With this record John's involvement in The Mars Volta is going to be taken a step further. He has now become basically the rythmn guitarist of the band. Omar himself lately has been quoted that if he would have someone to play only his notes, he would have recorded everything by himself. This leads to the conclusion that John was given the space to put his own ideas and thoughts into the project.

There is probably nothing that gets me more excited than finding out news regarding The Mars Volta. I am not really sure why. I love them as a band, they put on a breathtaking live performance, and they are outrageously talented, but then again, so are a lot of the bands that we talk about...for some reason TMV just gets me excited.

I still remember listening to DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM for the first time in the parking lot outside of a Best Buy and just getting my mind blown. The album drop (August 11th) is supposed to coincide with their dates with the Chili Peppers which gives me outrageously high hopes for them bringing out a fairly big set before the Chilis. And of course, the hope for John and Omar to rip it out on "Especially In Michigan." At a minimum. A blogger can dream. I will probably be able to post more about this news once I get back to my house and have the ability to access dirty websites like MySpace without recieving electrical shocks through my mouse from Big Brother. Here is the actual article that the news came from, a background in German might prove helpful.
Flea, Omar, John (l-r)

Don't Let the Pretty Eyes Fool You...

I like Lily more and more each day. Not only does she come correct with the infectious pop songs, she likes to talk smack on her blog about Carl Barat and Luke from the Kooks.

Keane: NYC In-Store

Birdmonster @ Black Cat 6-13-06

Inmytree and I have caught nearly 40 shows together just this year. Every now and then, the situation dicates that I end up rolling Han Solo, and more often than not, these nights somehow make for some of my best stories. Although last night didn't match me hanging out with George Clinton and P-Funk in the Green Room @ 9:30 Club, it was a memorable night on many accounts.

First things first: chow. Decided to kick it up a notch by grabbing an outdoor seat at il raddicio, compared to my previous choice of cuisine. Made good time getting into DC, and found my favorite parking spot wide open. Life is good. The opening act is Rob Pierangeli, lead singer/guitarist for the band Hard Tomorrows. Apparantly the Hard Tomorrows and Birdmonster met at this year's SXSW. And apparantly Birdmonster called up Mr. Pierangeli at the last minute before the show and asked if he'd open for them, Han Solo as well. The solo/acoustic set was well done...given the cinderblock walls of the Black Cat's Backstage (another popped venue cherry for MetroD), his Guild and voice sounded great. He played a variety of old and new songs, neither of which I was familiar with, but all of which the small crowd seemed to enjoy. I am looking forward to digging into some of this band's material, and as a local DC band, they will be playing numerous shows nearby over the summer. This Friday they'll be playing a cover set at the Velvet Lounge for a friend's bachelor party - all are invited.

And then came Birdmonster. I did as much research as I could on the band prior to the show, but there wasn't an overwhelming amount of info out there. Some compared their sound to Modest Mouse...I could agree on some levels, or maybe just some songs, but regardless, I dismissed the comparison. Simply because, I hate comparisons, because they're just typically unoriginal. What everybody seemed to agree upon, however, was how hard these guys fucking rock live. Ding!

I knew I was in for a treat when the first thing Birdmonster did after their final soundcheck/ before their first song was get into a little huddle around the drumset. Handshakes/high-fives across the board. I'm seeing and feeling genuine cohesion and unity, circa Hoosiers basketball here. They kicked off with Ice Age, all the while dancing, abusing a lone crash symbol that got whored throughout the band, smiling, and just emitting a positive aura that immediately seeped into the crowd. The energy never once stopped or slowed down, but rather, it intensified throughout the set - all the while doing a great job interacting with the fans (roughly 40) and bringing out a much appreciated west coast vibe. This goes for the sweet dance moves as well. On top of it all, the actual music was sick. It was the total package. I remember reading a quote from one of the band members earlier that day, something along the lines of 'our goal when we play is for one of us to pass out from playing so hard.' That right there is what it's all about. And that right there is the antithesis of Army of Me.

Not to steal any thunder from band, but I've been up 36 straight hours now and I have to mention the whole tamborine incident. Prior to Alabama, band offers the role of tamborine man/woman to any willing fan. No takers. Silence. Another offer from the band. Silence. "I'll play that shit!" may or may not have come out of my mouth from the front row in a loud and thunderous roar. Sometimes you just have to step up to the plate. I'm warned: "If you fuck it up, we're taking it right back." Well that didn't happen; truth be told, I have a bit of a musical background. And I've always been a firm believer of never half-assing anything. I'm envisioning a great Rollin's quote: “Don't do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts.” Maybe that really doesn't fit here, but anway, I rocked out, kept a perfect beat, stopped on my cues, and hit that damn tamborine until my hand bled, and then I kept on going. Literally. Part of me felt like a rock star for a few minutes. Part of me felt like that little shit on the Partridge family. Song complete. I respecfully ask to upgrade to guitar for the next song. Request quickly denied. I get a thanks through the mic and after the show from the bandmembers...apparantly few have stepped up to the plate and successfully executed. Fellas, if you need a tamborine-man come B'More or the next DC trip, I'll be there. And if you need a guest guitar player...

Main Set:
-Ice Age
-Skeleton Suit
-Cause You Can
-Balcony
-The Bar in the Back of the Basement
-Ball of Yarn
-Alabama (w/ special guest TOP on tamborine)
-Resurrection Song
-Janine
-All the Holes In the Walls

Encore
-Spaceman

Birdmonster will be within driving distance of MetroD on the following dates/locations, and stated that they are planning another full tour around September. Spread the word. We'll be waiting.
-June 29 @ SONAR (Baltimore)
-June 30 @ Sin-E (NYC)
-July 1 @ Knitting Factory (NYC)

Birdmonster.com
BirdSpace

Muse Tour Dates

No love for DC at the moment but stay tuned. 8/3 in NYC just happens to be the same night of my New Pornographers show @ Central Park Summerstage. No brainer on my part. Tickets are $32 on ticketmaster with an internet presale on Thursday at 9 a.m. and general sale to the public at 11 a.m. on Friday (6/16).

18-Jul San Francisco The Concourse
19-Jul Los Angeles Greek Theatre
21-Jul San Diego Soma
22-Jul Phoenix Celebrity Theatre
24-Jul Denver Fillmore
26-Jul Minneapolis State Theatre
27-Jul Chicago Aragon Ballroom
28-Jul Detroit State Theatre
30-Jul Toronto Docks Concert Hall
31-Jul Montreal Cartier Pier
2-Aug Boston Bank Of America Pavilion
3-Aug New York Hammerstein Ballroom
4-Aug Philadelphia Electric Factory
6-Aug Atlanta Tabernacle

UPDATE: You can still pick up pre-sale tickets from the Muse ticketing site (I was able to pick up NYC today but that has since sold out, along with LA and SD). Ticketmaster presale as mentioned above is tomorrow at 9 a.m. Password is Arcana.

Where is the Love from Capitol Records for Sound Team?

Much was made of Sound Team's major label debut (on Capitol Records) but I have not seen any press - outside of a few blog plugs - for this album whatsoever. What benefit is to this band if the label isn't going to help them sell any records? I haven't even seen one "official" review of the album either. I checked out the Capitol Web site and there isn't even a hint of the new release on it nor does the band even show up in the browse artists section. You have to do a search on the Capitol site just to find their page. I realize that they don't stand up to the Radioheads, Coldplays and Chili Peppers of the world but hell, even Morningwood is promoted on their home page. This is just annoying to me because it's a very good album and they deserve some exposure and it makes me wonder why majors even bother picking up indie bands like this.

Buy the album at Amazon.
Support them on their live dates as shown here.

RHCP - "Don't Forget Me" (Live in Paris)

This show took place at La Cigale in Paris on April 20th, 2006. This might be the best live version of this song that I have ever heard. From the lovely intro, to the guitar breakdown at the end, it is simply amazing. Goosebumps. The effect John is using at the beginning is supposedly the same one he uses on "Venice Queen" on the Live At Slane Castle DVD. Click here to see the whole concert from Paris. On another note, until I see drummer Chad Smith and Will Ferrell in the same place at the same time, I will continue to believe that they are one in the same. Ditto Reggie Miller and his "sister" Cheryl.

Mark Your Calendars: July 25, 2006

What May 2 was for major label release euphoria (for me at least - Pearl Jam and Tool), July 25th is quickly shaping up as a momentous release date for some of my favorite new bands. Witness the following and join in on the excitement next month:

White Whale (cover art pictured) is releasing their debut WWI.
MP3 - "Nine Good Fingers"

Silversun Pickups is releasing their full length debut, Carnavas.
MP3 - "Kissing Families" (from Pikul EP)

Boy Kill Boy (definitely not to be confused with fellow Island Records labelmates, Fall Out Boy) is releasing their debut, Civilian, in the US. MP3 - "Suzie"

Mew is going to be supporting Bloc Party during some upcoming dates (Boston and Brooklyn included). The album is And the Glass Handed Kites.
MP3 - "The Zookeepers Boy"

Helmet Head Rock

"So Coach, let me get this straight...you want me to wear this helmet when I go out there?"

ESPN: Big Ben In Serious But Stable Condition
ESPN: "It's not the law."

Disclaimer: We wish Ben Roethlisberger a safe and speedy recovery, and are glad that his injuries are not as severe as they could have been. That being said, there is no truth to the rumor that Ben refused to wear a helmet while playing football before he got smoked in the face by a middle linebacker in college. Here's a few tracks that Ben's stubborn ass made me think of, the Pearl Jam track because it starts with the line "don't need a helmet, got a hard, hard head..." and the Helmet track because, well, you catch my drift...

MP3: Pearl Jam - "Whipping" (Live in Chicago 5-17-07)
MP3: Helmet - "Oven"

Epic Showdowns Call For Epic Muse Tracks

In honor of the epic showdown that will take place tonight between two of the game's best pitchers (Johan Santana and Curt Schilling), I will give you some new Muse, of epic proportions of course. "Knights of Cydonia" is a killer finish to this album, which, despite the hesitation I had after my first few listens of "Supermassive Black Hole," seems to be shaping up to be everything that I expected. Hopefully tonight's showdown between Johan and Curt will live up to the hype as well, although it does put me in a strange position, Johan being the ace of my fantasy team and Curt being the ace of my hometeam. Not that hard of a decision. Go Sawx!

MP3: Muse - "City of Delusion"
MP3: Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"