Virtual friends of SM & The Jicks received the following missive earlier today :

You will need a wristband to get into the show. Writsbands will be available for pick up at Music Millennium’s “east” location between 5:00 and 7:00 P.M. on the day of the show.

ALSO, wristbands will be available at the club at the normal door times. However, THIS SHOW IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVED, so get there early and stay in line.

It might’ve required a 6:30 am wakeup call for the band, but when it comes to entertaining the loyal listeners of America’s most beloved morning radio program-that-doesn’t-feature-Artie Lange, no sacrifice could be too great.  You can hear Cat Power in about an hour from now (say, 11am PST) on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic”

Matador’s Jesper Eklow filmed the process of cutting the vinyl for the Mission Of Burma LPs at Sterling Sound from the original tapes. Featuring legendary mastering engineer George Marino, this is the first of several clips we’ll be releasing on the subject.

Family tree connections to The Fluid aside, the above single is the greatest thing that ever happened in the city of Denver other than the time Denny Neagle sang “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth” at karaoke. Thanks to the folks at Smooch Records, it is now available on the popular compact disc format for a price everyone can afford.  Well, everyone except Denny.

If you’re not as Syked as we are, please, keep it to yourself. Wanda will be Jay Leno’s guest tonight at 11:30pm EST.

(also appearing : Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues).

The above is the first chapter in the “random single from the collection” series, which will be happening as long as I can annoy people with it. This one is, appropriately enough, an incredibly boring French-Japanese childrens-lounge music single from 1997, recommended me by Yasuharu Konishi at a store in Tokyo the year it came out. Maybe one day it will be cool.

I’m sure many of you have grappled with this problem before. After eating (and drinking) at Sammy’s Romanian Steakhouse, and you inevitably have some steak left over… how do you heat it up? Because no way that shit’s gonna fit in a pan. (See above.) I ended up using aluminum foil in an inventive way. With a little Vouvray (ideally pronounced in the Cockney Wanker accent), steam it a bit, and yeah, it was pretty tasty. Especially served with the dry cauliflower recipe from central-northern Indian I’ve been promoting hereabouts. Support Sammy’s, btw

Happening this coming Sunday (March 2) on WFMU :

“From 5-8pm Gaylord Fields and Bob Brainen mark the halfway point of the WFMU fundraising Marathon by once again enlisting Yo La Tengo to take your calls, pledges and most importantly cover song requests, which will then be brought to life over the air! The band’s long history with the WFMU Marathon has proven that Yo La Tengo is unstoppable, and tonight’s show is a special longer 3-hour broadcast just in case that extended version of “Hocus Pocus” comes up. Gaylord co-hosts the rest of Bob’s show from 8-9pm after the band packs up as well. “

If you’re feeling like donating loot to the only non-profitable organization I’ve ever supported besides Father Bruce Ritter’s “Mittens For Boys” campaign, here’s where you can do so.

The whole of ‘Real Emotional Trash’ (LP/CD, coming March 4) can be heard at the Jicks’ MySpace page. Please, someone befriend this band so they can get some decent looking people in their Top Whatever.

In addition, the dashing quartet pictured above will be performing in the following record shops next week :

March 3 – Sonic Boom, Seattle, WA (Ballard location)
March 5 – Amoeba, San Francisco, CA (1855 Haight Street)

After Matador’s ‘07 reissue of the critically acclaimed ‘Palo Santo’, we’ve been waiting & wondering about the next Shearwater full-length. We’re happy to report the resulting LP/CD ‘Rook’, not only lives up to the ridiculously high standards set by its predecessor, but should well stand as an early album of the year candidate. Produced by Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg
and recorded by Matthew Barnhart at Denton’s Echo Lab this past November and December, ‘Rook’ is an extraordinarily original work ; only on a handful of occasions have we heard an album this powerful and so rich in detail, both musically and lyrically. Shearwater’s knack for the epic is already well documented, but with all due respect to their prior efforts, the broad sweep of ‘Rook’’s 10 songs is like nothing else you’re likely to experience in 2008.

“Rooks” (mp3)

We’ll have more details about ‘Rook’ in the weeks ahead, but in the meantime, Shearwater have confirmed the following US dates in support of Clinic.

FRI 5/9 BOSTON, MA Paradise
SAT 5/10 MONTREAL, QC La Sala Rosa
SUN 5/11 TORONTO, ON Lee’s
MON 5/12 CHICAGO, IL Empty Bottle
TUE 5/13 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 7th Street Entry
FRI 5/16 SEATTLE, WA Neumos
SAT 5/17 VANCOUVER, BC Richards
SUN 5/18 PORTLAND, OR Doug Fir
MON 5/19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Independent
TUE 5/20 LOS ANGELES, CA Troubadour

4/15   Hoboken NJ Maxwell’s
4/16   Washington DC   Black Cat
4/17   Philadelphia PA Johnny Brenda’s
4/18     Brooklyn NY             Williamsburg Music Hall
4/19     Danbury CT              Heirloom Arts Theatre
4/20       Boston MA               Middle East Downstairs
4/21      Northampton MA  Iron Horse
4/22  Winooski VT     Higher Ground
4/23    Montreal QC     Club Lambi
4/24    Toronto ON              Lee’s Palace
4/25        Buffalo NY              Sound Lab
4/26   Rochester NY            Bug Jar
4/28     Newport KY      Southgate House
4/29    Bloomington IN  Bluebird Nightclub
4/30    Cleveland OH    Beachland Ballroom
5/1     Columbus OH     The Basement
5/2     Detroit  MI     Magic Stick
5/3     Chicago IL      The Abbey               with    Indian  Velcro Lewis
5/5     Madison WI      High Noon Saloon
5/7     Minneapolis MN  7th Street Entry
5/8     Fargo ND                Aquarium
5/9     Sioux City SD           Nutty’s
5/10     Iowa City IA    Picador
5/11    Omaha NE        The Waiting Room
5/12    Lawrence KS             Jackpot
5/13     Denver CO       Larimer Lounge
5/15    Salt Lake City UT       Kilby Court
5/16    Boise ID        Neurolux
5/24    San Francisco CA        Slim’s

I recently wrote here about Ottomanelli on Bleecker Street, a great old-style New York butchers. They have the pork chops pictured above, a heritage breed from Western Massachusetts, ‘black pig’ Berkshires. This is what pork was like before it became the other white meat. Look at that fat. Liz Hart and I have recently been trading pork strategies for avoiding the overcooked phenomenon, a real danger with modern lean chops – you have maybe 30 seconds after it becomes done but before it becomes dry, and pulling it out during that window can be a matter of pure luck. (See my post about pork chops with vinegar peppers.) Liz recommends brining, and I tried that, with the good old Julia Child spice marinade, and it was great. But I found with these heritage chops, no brining was necessary… nor was there need for that constant worry about hitting the 30 second window. With these well-marbled chops, the fat provides the moisture. They were amazing. And they were also $7.99 a pound. I served ‘em with steamed white rice (Carolina) and boiled green beans (a little bit of Lurpak butter and some salt).

While Jim DeRogatis will probably hit the roof tonight if “Juno” pulls an Oscar upset,  a recent online poll from Pearl & Dean of some 3000 cinephiles resulted in the following list of “films that should have won an Academy Award but never did.”

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Fight Club
4. Blade Runner
5= It’s a Wonderful Life
5= The Great Escape
7= Taxi Driver
7= Psycho
9. Singin’ in the Rain
10. Dr Strangelove

The BBC site didn’t reveal what came in 11th place, but there had to be at least a couple of votes for another neglected classic.

You always hear about Southern Indian vegetarian – at least in New York – you know, dosai, iddly, sambar etc. It’s virtually been trademarked by the restaurants on lower Lexington who now all have rabbinical supervision and have gathered in the orthodox Jewish market. But of course vegetarianism exists all over India… the Vedic cookbook ‘Lord Krishna’s Cuisine’ if anything focuses on the north.

The dish pictured above is evocatively called ‘dry cauliflower’ and comes from Uttar Pradesh, the north-central part of India. The cauliflower flowerets are flash-fried in oil that’s been seasoned with whole spices, then steamed for about 5-10 minutes, covered, in the same pan, and finished with garam masala and amchoor (dried mango powder). The cauliflower is crisp and pungent, its own flavor still there but in contrast with the multiple spices and whole herbs from the cooking.

I served this with potatoes smothered with shallots, a southern recipe but one that almost could come from Pennsylvania or a similar northern state in the US. Potatoes are cut to thick old-style french-fry size and fried in butter (ghee); the shallots are fried in the remaining shortening; the potatoes come back and are steamed. The only condiments are salt and pepper (the prologue to the recipe says that green chilies are added in India, but I missed that, fortunately or unfortunately). The result was filling and plain; I liked it as a foil to the first dish.

Cauliflower by Madhur Jaffrey, potatoes by Julie Sahnee. Finger by Jesper.

snazzy, albeit brief video footage (above), in honor of Dave Bass’ Distortions releasing ‘Government War Plans’. OK, maybe it came out a while ago, but I just found a copy the other day.

As far the clip above, I recognize Dave Smalley and Jamie Sciarappa in the chorus line. Who knows? Maybe you’re in there, too.

(A.C. Newman pic from Move Mountain’s Flickr page)

The final disc of the New Pornographers Buy Early Get Now promotion, the Challengers ‘Executive Edition’ box set, is now ready for download and burning.

You will get both videos (“Challengers” and “Myriad Harbour”) along with tons and tons of photos: air-guitar-ing candids, set-lists, cover art mockups, and a massive collection of live photos.

For those of you who didn’t get into this the first time, a limited number of Challengers box sets are still available:

Buy from the Matador Store

or from your favorite local retailer.

If you already have the regular edition of Challengers on CD or LP, you can upgrade to the box set – see the option in the Store above (or at your local retailer).

While we’re smack in the middle of planning for the new Matmos LP/CD ‘Supreme Ballon’ (yesterday’s marketing meeting was a doozy — especially the pronounciation debate over “mobile”), Drew and Martin will be in New York this weekend, presenting two shows at The Stone (Avenue C and 2nd Street) on Saturday night at 8 and 10pm.

Matmos will be performing their version of Robert Ashley’s ‘Perfect Lives’ along with additional material. Tickes are $10 (half price for students between the ages of 13 and 19) and are not available in advance.

Cleveland guitarist Jim Jones, a member of Pere Ubu from 1987-2002, and a player with bands including Home & Garden, The Mirrors, the Styrenes and the Easter Monkeys passed away on Monday evening. Jones was 57.

(an obituary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s John Petkovic)

Just a quick plug for suet, which is the light, crumbly fat from around the kidney and liver. This piece came from O. Ottomanelli on Bleecker. It rendered easily and quickly and smelled delicious – I browned chuck for chili in it. Suet is not easy to find these days, at least in New York.

In addition to a European jaunt with Band Of Horses that starts tomorrow in Glasgow, The Cave Singers have confirmed the following shows in support of their Plug Award nominated ‘Invitation Songs’ LP/CD. The big rooms are w/ Death Cab, the small rooms, well, without Death Cab.  More summer festivals will be announced soon.

Fri 04/18/08 -Bremerton, WA @ Admiral Theatre*
Sat 04/19/08- Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre*
Mon 04/21/08 -Arcata, CA @ Humboldt State University – Van Duzer Theatre*
Tue 04/22/08 – Davis, CA @ UC Davis – Freeborn Hall*
Wed 04/23/08 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore*
Sat 04/26/08  – Milwaukee WI @ Mad Planet
Sun 04/27/08 – Chicago IL @ Schubas
Mon 04/28/08 – Cleveland OH @ Grog Shop
Wed 04/30/08 – Toronto ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Thu 05/01/08  – Montreal QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Fri 05/02/08  -Ottawa ON @ Zaphods
Sat 05/03/08  – Portland ME @ Space Gallery
Sun 05/04/08 – Boston MA @ Middle East Upstairs
Mon 05/05/08  Brooklyn NY @ Union Hall
Tue 05/06/08 – New York NY @ Mercury Lounge
Wed 05/07/08 – Philadelphia PA @ North Star
Thu 05/08/08 – Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
Fri 05/09/08 – Chapel Hill NC @ Local 506
Sun 05/11/08 – Atlanta GA @ The Earl
Tue 05/13/08 – Baton Rouge LA @ Spanish Moon
Wed 05/14/08 – Houston TX @ Walter’s on Washington
Thu 05/15/08 – Austin TX @ The Mohawk
Sat 05/17/08   – Phoenix AZ @ Modified
Wed 05/21/08 – Los Angeles CA @ The Echo
Thu 05/22/08 – San Francisco CA @ The Independent
Sat 05/24/08 -Portland OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Sat 08/02/08  0 Portland OR @ Pickathon Roots Music Festival

* – supporting Death Cab For Cutie

“Cold Son” (mp3) is the second track we’re previewing from Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks’ upcoming ‘Real Emotional Trash’. While the album is hitting stores March 4, if you’re willing to brave the goody-windfall that is Buy Early Get Now #5, we’re confident you’ll be gratified (in a slightly delayed manner, however). Amongst the items on offer :

- an instant stream of the album (within 24 hours of signing up)
- the album’s first unreleased B-side (within 24 hours of purchase)
- a full live show recorded last December 21 at Portland’s Doug Fir (within 24 hours of purchase)
- in-studio, making-of-the-album video clips (launching tomorrow)
- a second unreleased B-side (Tuesday, February 26)
- the LP or CD, plus a free poster (in your hands on Tuesday, March 4)
- more stuff we’re cooking up. And you know how we love cooking.

(“Out Of Reaches”, from the forthcoming ‘Real Emotional Trash’ LP/CD, shot at soundcheck, Great American Music Hall, December 2007. Digital video by Katie Stanford)

From CMJ.com :

Long-running independent label TVT Records has reportedly terminated a majority of its employees and is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the week, according to Billboard and Allhiphop.com. Started in 1985, the label—now home to artists ranging from Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz and Ying Yang Twins to the Polyphonic Spree—first found success with Television’s Greatest Hits collection, a compilation of TV themes songs, and has also released albums by artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Guided By Voices and Sevendust (above).

A few weeks ago, TVT artist Pitbull criticized label head Steve Gottlieb for insufficiently promoting his album The Boatlift, and urged fans to download it rather than purchase it.

Around the Matador offices, we’re always gonna think of February 19, 2008 as the day the music died. I’m sure this is hard for you kids to fathom, but back in the late ’80’s when Chris Lombardi was contemplating leaving the Peace Corps and I was still earning big money in the modeling industry, we’d sit around late at night in our one bedroom Upper East Side apartment and fantasize about starting the ultimate independent label. Sure, you had your Factory, Rough Trade, Touch & Go, Dischord, etc., but we were thinking of something so much bolder and adventurous. The kind of label that leave an aesthetic stamp on contemporary culture that you couldn’t wash off no matter how hard you scrubbed.

We never quite got around to starting that kind of label, but that’s mostly because TVT beat us to the punch. From the very first time we heard Sevendust’s “Black” — clearly that generation’s equivalent of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy In The UK”, we could see the writing on the wall. Music had changed. The world had changed.

Anyhow, that’s all ancient history. Once upon a time, this business was ruled by risk-takers and people who really loved music. The end of TVT Records — easily the most visionary independent imprint since the heyday of Enigma — should send a chill down the spine of every man, woman and child.

(as seen on BBC 2’s “Later…With Jools Holland”)

May
26 Lisbon Coliseum
28 Porto Coliseum
30 Barcelona Primavera Sound Festival

June
01 Paris-Olympia
08 London Hammersmith Apollo
09 Bristol-Colston *
10 Birmingham-Academy *
11 Manchester-Academy *

* – tickets go sale Wednesday, 20 February.

You can hear Cat Power on WXPN’s “World Cafe” this coming March 6 (2pm eastern standard time), preceeded by an appearance on NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday, February 28.

From Pollstar :

It’s too late to be any consolation to John Lennon or George Harrison, but Israel has apologized to the surviving Beatles for banning them from the country in the 1960s.

It was believed at the time that a live appearance by the band in Tel Aviv could be a threat to the morals of the nation’s youth.

In a barely related note, it’s still impossible for Klaatu to play Israel. Not because they’re banned, mind you, but rather because no one’s going to invite them.

The first 7″ in Jay Reatard’s singles series for Matador, “See Saw” b/w “Screaming Hand”, will be in shops April 8 (preorders available from us, soon). Recorded at Shattered Studios this past January, both songs are unlikely to disappoint those who’ve been pestering us EVERY FUCKING DAY with questions about when these singles are coming out. Sure, the customer-is-always-right. But the customer isn’t always polite. Is it really necessary to threaten a hardworking label general manager with bodily harm? Is there any acceptable reason for someone to leave me a voice mail stating “I know what you’re wearing and I’m watching you right now?”

OK, admittedly, that message came in several weeks before we announced we were working with Jay. But regardless, this is an awesome single that totally lives up to the crazily high standards Jay Reatard has set, and we fully expect it will quell your consumerist fury for at least a day before we start being threatened about single no. 2.

Though we posted a bunch upcoming Jay Reatard dates already, all of the old ones plus a bunch of newly confirmed dates are below. Jay will be playing multiple times during the week of SXSW, but we’ve been asked to keep you guessing exactly where and when.

Thu Mar 6 Sydney The Annadale
Fri Mar 7 Melbourne E Brunswick Club
Sat Mar 8 Brisbane Club Phoenix
Sun Mar 9 Meredith Golden Plains Fest
Mon Mar 10 Melbourne The Tote

Fri 2/22/08 Reggie’s Chicago IL
Thu 3/27/08 Rialto Theater Tucson AZ w/The Black Keys
Fri 3/28/08 Marquee Theater Tempe AZ w/The Black Keys
Sat 3/29/08 House of Blues San Diego CA w/The Black Keys
Sun 3/30/08 The Glass House Pomona CA w/The Black Keys
Tue 4/1/08 Wiltern Theater Los Angeles CA w/The Black Keys
Wed 4/2/08 Warfield Theater San Francisco CA w/The Black Keys
Fri 4/4/08 Crystal Ballroom Portland OR w/The Black Keys
Sat 4/5/08 SoDo Lounge Seattle WA w/The Black Keys
Sun 4/6/08 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver BC w/The Black Keys
Wed 4/9/08 OgdenTheater Denver CO w/The Black Keys
Thu 4/10/08 Slowdown Omaha NE w/The Black Keys
Fri 4/11/08 First Avenue Minneapolis MN w/The Black Keys
Sat 4/12/08 Riviera Theater Chicago IL w/The Black Keys
Sun 4/13/08 The Vogue Indianapolis IN w/The Black Keys
Tue 4/15/08 Royal Oak Theater Royal Oak MI w/The Black Keys
Wed 4/16/08 Babylon Ottawa, Canada ON w/CPC Gangbangs
Thu 4/17/08 Silver Dollar Toronto ON w/CPC Gangbangs
Fri 4/18/08 La Sala Rossa Montreal QC w/CPC Gangbangs
Sat 4/19/08 Barn@Cornell University Ithaca NY
Sun 4/20/08 Harper’s Ferry Allston MA w/Cheap Time
Mon 4/21/08 Bowery Ballroom New York NY w/Cheap Time
Tue 4/22/08 Europa Brooklyn NY w/Cheap Time
Thu 4/24/08 Terrace Club @ Princeton Princeton NJ w/Cheap Time
Fri 4/25/08 Swarthmore College Swarthmore PA w/Cheap Time
Sat 4/26/08 Black Cat Washington DC w/Cheap Time
Sun 4/27/08 The Milestone Charlotte NC w/Cheap Time
Mon 4/28/08 Lenny’s Atlanta GA w/Cheap Time