This sign appeared on the outside of the handicapped bathroom door in our building. (The extra additions came later.) It's been up for a few weeks now and building management have mysteriously not removed it.

Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch is looking for vocalists for the musical film, 'God Help The Girl' which he has been developing over the last year or so. To do this, he has teamed up with iMeem to conduct a search for female vocalists who are interested in taking part. At the God Help The Girl profile you can read much more about the project and, if you are interested, submit a version of one of two songs for his consideration.

You can read Stuart's introduction to "God Help The Girl" here and even if you are not considering entering - drop by and join up with iMeem to keep up with the project and hear the songs - 'The Psychiatrist Is In' and a  new version of  'Funny Little Frog' as sung by Catherine Ireton.

Good luck!

For every Television, there was an Inflatable Boy Clams.  For every Ramones, there was a Rude Buddha. For every Agnostic Front there was Envelope…there was Agnostic Front.  You get the idea.

(left to right : Hily, Paul Simon. Not shown : Jimmy Gestapo, Donny The Punk)

An inconsistent booking aesthetic and life threatening chili aside, we'll choose to remember the late Hilly Kristal fondly, and for all the "it's not as good as it used to be" grumblings about CBGB's (some of which, to be fair, started in 1978) there's no disputing that some of the greatest shows we ever witnessed took place on the Bowery between 1st and 2nd.

Heck, some of 'em even took place inside the club. 

What in blazes does soul legend George McRae have to do with Matador Records and Filmworks?  Well, unless you count Yo La Tengo's inspired cover of "You Can Have It All", of the Frogs' paen to George's longtime muse, "Gwedolyn McRae", absolutely nothing.

That disclaimer aside, the official George McRae website is a terrifying blast from the past.  The past in this case being the heady interweb design days of 1994.

Former Panty Line Fever editor Rick Hall was moved to write, "check out his rather primitive WEBPAGE that makes my browser crash. Read his grandiose BIO that, with its superstar hyperbole, deserves an audiobook reading by the guy from J&H PRODUCTIONS".  And Hall's right on the money, it's a doozy.  Were you aware, for instance, that McRae was the recipient of the Luxembourg Golden Lion Award for Outstanding Achievement By A Foreign Artist in Germany ? ("Frank Sinatra is the only other U.S.A. Recipient of this award" - huh, eat shit and die Hasselhoff!)

Anyhow, read it at your own risk. And if there's anything about the site's layout that seems a tad familiar, just remember that George isn't merely "The Disco Pioneer", he's also an HMTL innovator to boot. 

(while t-shirt sales may or may not prove lucrative, we cannot argue with the results of the controversial "Clone Miwa Okumura Project".  4 product managers, one paycheck!)

As mentioned previously, to commemorate Matador's barely legal status (ie. we're celebrating our 18th this year), we have commissioned a series of t-shirts. Created by artists, musicians, friends, and friends of friends (including Mogollon, Yo La Tengo's James McNew, Blair Kelly, and others) these shirts are limited to runs of 200 per design, and once they're gone, they're gone.  The first batch are available now, and, as inevitably as sequels to Shrek "Police Academy, more are coming soon.

We're selling them through the Matador Store, as well as through select retailers.  As they become available more designs will be added here where you'll also find the spiel on the individual designers.

10/9 - Pittsburgh at the Warhol Museum
10/10 - Bloomington at Buskirk Chumley
10/11 - Chicago at the Lakeshore Theatre
10/13 - Grand Rapids at Calvin College
10/18 - Bennington, VT at Bennington Center for the Arts
10/19 - Long Island at Jeanne Rimsky
10/20 - Woodstock at Colony Cafe
10/22 - Philadelphia at First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
10/23 - Alexandria, VA at the Birchmere
11/10 - North Adams, MA at MassMoca

The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour is a rare opportunity to see this ever-surprising band in a setting more intimate and interactive than any tour in their 23-year career.   A little bit Storytellers, a little bit Unplugged, with a soupcon of their famously varied Hanukkah shows, it will feature the band playing an almost-acoustic set of songs from their entire catalog, with stories about their life as a band, and an encouraged back-and-forth with the audience. Already famous for never playing the same show twice, this fresh look at Yo La Tengo offers rare insight into one of the most important, unique, and beloved bands in American rock.

Further dates will be announced soon.

Yo La Tengo's covers of Bob Dylan's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Fourth Time Around" will appear on the forthcoming 2XCD soundtrack album (Columbia) to Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There".   Cat Power and Stephen Malkmus are amongst the album's other contributors.

"The Summer" - October 15, 2006  KEXP session (mp3)
"I Feel Like Going Home" -October 7, 2006: KCMP (mp3)

Not actually a photograph of Chris Lombardi's personal rumpus room.  However, now that the idea's been successfully planted in the mind of 304 Hudson's most devoted Phil Lynott fan, check back in a few months. 

(due to circumstances beyond our control, Karl Lagerfeld will not be appearing on any of the dates below)

10/14  Norfolk VA              The NorVa
10/15  Washington DC   9:30 Club
10/16  Carrboro NC             Cat's Cradle
10/18  Tallahassee FL  Club Downunder / FSU
10/19    Savannah GA     Savannah Coll. of Art & Design  Trustees Theater
10/20   Orlando FL              Club Firestone
10/21     St. Petersburg FL       State Theatre
10/22     Miami FL                Studio A
11/4    Austin TX               Fun Fun Fun Fest

Since CBS refused to sell us 4 minutes + of uninterrupted commercial time during Letterman last night (something about a check bouncing), once again, we've had to ask the musicians to go the DIY route.

Q:  Why are the extra discs in my 'Challengers' Executive Edition box set blank?

A : Don't worry, they're not defective.  They're supposed to be blank. 

Here's how the Executive Edition works :  the box set you've bought is packaging for 3 screen printed CD-Rs.  The content for the box set will be made available to download a track at a time from www.buyearlygetnow.com.  When all the tracks and files have been made available, you can burn them to the appropriate CD-R.

Q: What file formats will this stuff be in?

A: Audio files will be provided as 256kbps MP3, as well as in FLAC format.  Most people are familiar with mp3s, they're the download format of choice and play in virtually any portable audio file device like the iPod.FLAC is a lossless, open source format that provides audio at the same quality as factory pressed CDs.  The file size is significantly larger than mp3, and the files don't play in iTunes.  For more info on FLAC, go to http://flac.sourceforge.net/.

Q: How will I know when to burn the CDs?

A: At www.buyearlygetnow.com there's a burn meter that shows you how much Executive material we've released, and how much more is left to go until you can burn each disc.  We've got material lined up for the next couple months, so expect not to burn the discs until then.

Q: I'd like to watch late night television tonight but haven't done so since Ted Koppel left "Nightline". Do you have any recommendations?

A: Absolutely.  The New Pornographers will be performing tonight on CBS's "The Late Show With David Letterman."  Dave's other guests will be Hayden Panettiere and Jeff Goldblum. Hopefully the latter will have some good stories to share from his days playing opposite Ben Vereen on "Tenspeed & Brown Shoe", though perhaps he's done something since, too.