Photo by marcus jb

It’s odd that of all the congeries of dead-end weird ass rock places around CBGB, Mars Bar is the last to go. Apparently it will be at the end of this month, to be replaced by a “12-story luxury high rise.” There is no more CBGB, there is only DBGB and John Varvatos, a good miniature for what this city has become.

I was at Mars Bar at 8 PM on a Monday night a couple of months ago – apparently early enough to avoid the throngs of tourists who now crowd into it nightly. There were regulars hunched over their bourbons, and a shuffling personage programming and barking over the jukebox. It was the first time I’d been there in years and years. It was the place where I first did cocaine (summer of 1988). Nothing had changed.

You have to wonder where the equivalent places are nowadays. I’m guessing the inner suburbs.

Mostly because he’s more of a Don Dokken George Lynch kind of guy.   Tracii Guns on “The Price Is Right”, Ladies & Gentleman.   For no other reason other than I’m pretty sure that no matter what happens next, your weekend can only get better after this.

So, the time of Primavera and ATP festival (sadly their last ever May weekender) rolls around again and a ton of our bands decide it’d also be a good time to visit our (at the moment, rather sunny) shores. Just like last year.

With 3 European tours starting over this weekend, plus more to come over the next we have the following shows taking place over the next 25 days….. (though I’m not sure how much Golf they’ll have time for)

Esben and the Witch

9th – Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany

10th – Mascotte, Zurich, Switzerland

11th – Spazio 211, Turin, Italy

12th – Circolo degli Artisti, Rome, Italy

13th – Plastic, Milan, Italy

14th – Covo, Bologna, Italy

16th – Palace, St Gallen, Switzerland

17th – Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany

18th – Doornroosje, Groningen, Netherlands

19th – Bitterzoet Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands

20th – Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands

21st – Charlatan, Ghent, Belgium

22nd – Les Nuits Botanique (Orangerie), Brussels, Belgium

24th – Gleiss 22, Munster, Germany

25th – Karlstorbahnhof, Heidleburg, Germany

26th – Atomic Cafe, Munich, Germany

27th – B72, Vienna, Austria

28th – Seewiesen Festival, Linz, Austria

29th – K4, Nurnberg, Germany

Kurt Vile (& The Violators)

8th : King Georg, Koln

9th : Feierwerk, Munich (+ O’Death)

10th : Chelsea Club, Vienna

11th : Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin

12th : Vega (Small Hall), Copenhagen

13th : Voxhall, Aarhus

14th : All Tomorrow’s Parties. Minehead (curated by Animal Collective)

15th : Tivoli, Utrecht

16th : Bitterzoet, Amsterdam

17th : Les Nuits de Botanique (Rotunde), Brussels

18th : Charlatan, Gent

19th : Rough Trade East, London (free in-store, 1pm)

19th : Corsica Studio, London SOLD OUT

20th : Kazimier, Liverpool (Sound City)

21st : Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (Stag and Dagger Festival)

22nd : The Hope, Brighton SOLD OUT

23rd : La Maroquinerie, Paris

24th : L’Abordage, Evreux

25th : Place Saint Michel, Bordeaux

26th : Top of the Folk @ L’antipode, Rennes

28th : Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona

29th : Ghetto, Istanbul

June

29th : Vega, Groningen

30th : Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg

Fucked Up

6th – White Rabbit, Plymouth – UK (tickets)

7th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff – UK (tickets) *MATINEE SHOW

7th – The Croft, Bristol – UK

8th – Institue, Birmingham – UK

9th – The Well, Leeds – UK

10th – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh – UK (tickets)

11th – The Cluny, Newcastle – UK (tickets)

12th – Future Sonic – Sound Control, Manchester – UK

13th – Vera, Gronigen – Netherlands (tickets)

14th – 013 Small Hall, Tilburg – Netherlands

15th – Melkweg, Amsterdam – Netherlands (tickets)

16th – Festaal Kreuzberg, Berlin – Germany (tickets)

17th – Underground, Cologne – Germany (tickets)

18th – Batofar, Paris – France

19th – Trix, Antwerp – Belgium (tickets)

20th – Stag and Dagger @ Village Underground, London – UK (tickets)

21st – Liverpool Sound City @ Kazimir, Liverpool – UK (tickets)

Perfume Genius

14 – Sheffield City Hall (Grand Ballroom), Sheffield

15 – Bodega, Nottingham (tickets)

16 – Bush Hall, London (tickets)

17 – The Kings Arms, Manchester (tickets)

18 – The Sugar Club, Dublin (tickets)

20 – Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels (tickets)

21 – De Duif Church, Amsterdam (tickets)

28 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona

Glasser

26th – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain – Pitchfork stage

Thurston Moore

28th – Paris, France – Le Grande Halle (Villette Sonique Festival) *playing a non-Demolished Thoughts set

29th – Brussels, Belgium – AB Concerts *playing a Demolished Thoughts based set

30th – London, UK – Union Chapel *playing a Demolished Thoughts based set

even the alumni are getting in on the act….

Matmos

14/05/11    Glasgow (UK), Old Fruitmarket

15/05/11    Birmingham (UK), MAC Art Centre *

16/05/11    Dublin (IE), Button Factory *

17/05/11    Belfast (UK), SARC *

19/05/11    London (UK), Auto-Italia *

21/05/11    Milano (IT), Leoncavallo (new venue!) *

23/05/11    Rome (IT), Circolo degli Artisti *

24/05/11    Bologna (IT), Scuderia (new venue!) *

26/05/11    Paris (FR), La Gaite Lyrique *

27/05/11    Brussels (BE), VK *#

28/05/11    Metz (FR), Les Trinitaires *

29/05/11    Berlin (DE), Hau1 *

30/05/11    Leipzig (DE), Centraltheater *

* w/ John Wiese

# w/ Oval

Yo La Tengo

Fast forward to June and they’re here to bring the ‘Spin The Wheel’ tour to the UK.

So if you live in Europe and none of those shows come by somewhere near you, well, its probably time to up sticks and move.

I consider myself a somewhat culturally aware, open-minded person. Heck, I’ve been to Canada a couple of times. And I don’t consider myself to have a knee-jerk, negative reaction when it comes to themes of overt sexualty, demonic imagery or collaborations with Klaus Meine. All of that said, I have NO FUCKING IDEA what is going on with the record cover above.

I am not hear to disparage Ms. Pesch’s impressive musical achievements (even if her website crashed my computer several times while composing this post) but I’m thoroughly baffled by this sleeve. Were the title of the album, ’25 Years In Torn Clothing While Presiding Over A Mass Burial Ground”, I’d have a much easier time with it. In any event, as someone in the music business who recently celebrated an important anniversary, I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone at Matador in congratulating Doro on hitting the big 2-5.

God knows there’s a bunch of fun stuff going on during the annual College Music Journal Music Marathon, but we want to make sure everyone’s aware that we, along with the other Beggars Group labels — True Panther, 4AD, Rough Trade, XL and Young Turks — AND our buddies at Sub Pop, are going to be throwing a bit of a rager this Thursday, October 21, from 10pm to 4am. All the info is above on the flyer, and below for those of you on dial-up connections.

4AD/Matador/Rough Trade/Sub Pop/True Panther/XL/Young Turks CMJ Party

Thursday, October 21

10pm to 4am

Stanton Public (17 Stanton Street, btw. Bowery and Chrystie)

FREE, no RSVP needed

Ages 21 and up

DJ sets by Lemonade, True Panther Soundsystem, Dave Martin (Matador Records) and Gerard Cosloy (Matador Records), plus special guests (you never know who’ll show up to these things)

Drinks courtesy of PBR

Giveaways from Converse

Free t-shirts from the lovely folks at I Buy Music

Don’t miss it!

Fucked Up‘s latest entry in their Zodiac series of EPs (see “Year of the Dog”, “…Pig” and “…Rat”) is the majestic orchestral piece, “Year of the Ox”.

On CBC3′s Bande à Part series, the group unleashed an early preview of the track, featuring guest vocals from Annie-Claude Deschênes of Duchess Says, a string section and an arsenal of guitars. Fucked Up also performed “David’s Plan”, the title-track from their recently-released charity single.

Click for video

A recorded version of the track is forthcoming with a different set of special guests. Be on the lookout for an announcement on Looking For Gold.

Fucked Up on tour:

May
Sun 02 Newport, KY Southgate House Parlour
Mon 03 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall
Tue 04 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Fri 07 Las Vegas, NV Sunset Station Ampitheatre
Sat 08 Pomona, CA TBD
Wed 12 Victoria, BC CA Sugar Nightclub
Thu 13 Vancouver, BC CA The Biltmore Cabaret
Fri 14 Edmonton, AB CA Avenue Theatre
Sat 15 Saskatoon, SK CA Amigo’s
Sun 16 Regina, SK CA The Exchange
Mon 17 Winnepeg, MB WECC

September
Sun 05 Monticello, NY All Tomorrow’s Parties

We here are True Panther are pretty damn excited and honored to announce this year’s True Panther showcase for SXSW. No official stuff or badges or RSVP’s, just good music free and open to the public for more hours than one would think is humanly possible. There are two stages so break times will be short and a dj after the live shows are over. The line-up is bands we’ve done records with, bands we are doing records with, or bands we’re just plain big fans of.

Here is a static flyer in case you are seizure prone: FLYER

Thu 3/18 7pm-2am
Delorean/Lemonade/Tanlines/Magic Kids/Morning Benders/Teengirl Fantasy/Hunx & His Punx/Tamaryn/Rainbow Bridge/Shannon & The Clams…. DJ set from Matias Aguayo.
@Cheer Up Charlies (formerly Ms. Beas) 1104 E 6th St East Side Austin.

(above : one of NYC’s most beloved icons/public figures. And on the left, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe)

Jeff Jensen, one half of the terrorist telephonic duo that brought you the monumental comedy recording, ‘Just Farr A Laff (Vol’s 1 & 2)‘, will be making a rare stand-up appearance tomorrow night at Brooklyn’s Bruar Falls. You know the old saying, “how do you get to Bruar Falls?” To tell the truth, I’ve never heard that saying, but here’s a google map link.

(photo by Connie Tsang)

Fucked Up are the winners of Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. Awarded annually to the best Canadian musical artist, there is only a single artist chosen and it is an highly prestigious award.

Liisa Ladouceur, who oversees the voting for Polaris, talked about the intensity of the process.

“We ask the jury to vote regardless of genre and they truly did,” stated Liisa Ladouceur, Representative of the jury. “Members of the jury believed that the Fucked Up’s Chemistry Of Common Life was not only the best hardcore album of the year, not only the best Canadian album of the year, but was the best album of the year in the world – period.”

The 2009 11-member gala Grand Jury are: Bryan Acker (Herohill), Brendan Murphy (Hour), Stuart Derdeyn (Vancouver Province), Mary Dickie (Elle), Brad Frenette (National Post), Nicholas Jennings (freelance journalist), Robert Mersereau (CBC), Mia Parang (Musique Plus), Ben Rayner (Toronto Star), Brad Wheeler (The Globe And Mail) and Lisa Wilton (Calgary Sun).

For their performance on the show, Fucked Up were joined by Final Fantasy and Lullabye Arkestra. Not to mention Mrs. Falco, better known as Jonah’s mom (she plays the flute intro that leads off The Chemistry Of Common Life). You can view their Polaris performance of “Son The Father” on the Much Music site if you visit this link and then expand the “MOST RECENT VIDEO” tab.

Don’t forget, Fucked Up will be doing a full-album performance of Chemistry at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on November 5… with additional musicians to truly bring the multiple layers of density and allusiveness that make up that album. Get ticketing info here.

Buy ChemCom.

If you grew up in New England, it’s very difficult to stomach what passes for chowder in the rest of the country. Thick white concoctions packed with cornstarch and a few unidentifable clams, or worse, tomatoes. True chowder is buttery and only barely thickened by the crumbling of the potatoes. Milk or at most, light cream, are the dairy ingredients, and the flavor is based on salt pork and the freshest seafood you can buy.

Top seafood chowder can be had at the Maine Diner in Wells, ME – a day trip from Boston. This chowder was based on their recipe, with some hints from John Thorne’s Down East Chowder (since reprinted in the sublime Serious Pig. Since good salt pork is impossible to find in New York (if anyone has a source, please post), we used nitrate-free bacon from Vermont, blanched to remove as much of the smoke flavor as possible. Potatoes are ideally from northern Maine, Aroostook County, but if you can’t find them, use small yellow potatoes such as creamers. They need to be firm, not crumbly like Idaho or russet potatoes. Seafood was the picked meat from a whole lobster (discarding the tomalley), rock shrimp, medium scallops and cherrystone clams. None of this was ideal except for the excellent scallops – you want a lobster right out of the Penobscot, tiny coldwater Maine shrimp, and steamers or soft-shell clams rather than cherrystones.

The lobster bodies were simmered in water to make a stock, and the other seafood was cooked in a strainer in the same water. Meanwhile the blanched bacon was rendered and fried. One diced onion is added to the bacon frypan along with a half stick of butter, and fried until translucent. The potatoes were chopped into half-inch cubes and boiled until cooked but still firm. Lobster shells continued to simmer until close to suppertime, then the broth strained off along with the grit at the bottom, and reduced a bit. 2 cups milk and 2 cups light cream were then added slowly. The translucent onions, butter and blanched bacon are added to the milky broth, and simmered – the seafood goes in at the last minute, along with salt to taste. One eater preferred some fresh ground pepper in his bowl. Common crackers should be sprinkled on top, but since these no longer seem to be made, we used non-salted oyster crackers instead. The result was sublime, as you can see from the photos.

Hey, laugh at this guy all you want, but at least he was out there plugging vinyl at the height of the CD revolution. Video link swiped from Boing Boing.

It’s Dutch nieuwe haring season, raw fillets of herring from the first catches of the season. I guess you’re supposed to drag it through the raw onions and then dip it into your mouth holding it by the tail, but I preferred it the way I got it at various shacks around Amsterdam: on bread and butter with the raw onions on top. It’s meltingly delicious, and does not shy away from being raw fish. This is not sushi. It’s very robust. Fantastic with beer, probably even better with vodka or champagne. For those of you in New York, Russ & Daughters still has it, flown in fresh from Holland. Get it now – it won’t last long.

With their “Young Con Anthem”, they’ve made me nostalgic for M.C. Bud Bundy.  (video link taken from Boing Boing)

video link courtesy Stuart Braithwaite.  On the (Scary) Super Fan scale, it seems Dave Wills must relinquish his crown.

It would be an exaggeration to claim most of my non-Matador related posts for the Matablog are culled from that awesome treasure trove of metallic press releases, Blabbermouth.net. Just as it would be the height of hyperbole to say I visit said site 5, 6, maybe 7 times a day. Even so, the ‘Mouth provides a daily glimpse into an alternate musical universal where somewhere on this planet (quite possibly in Eastern Europe), news of Rudy Sarzo’s advances in digital animation are eagerly absorbed.

Today, Blabbermouth informs us that L.A. Guns vocalist* Phil Lewis has the lead role in “Witchmaster General”, a motion picture hopefully described as a “supernatural thriller”.

Lewis plays Dr. Gorgon, a charming but sinister witchdoctor who uses his evil powers — as well as his close personal relationship with Satan — to run a sort of “murder-for-hire” business. A tough-as-nails cop (Martino) and the county coroner (Bud Stafford of “Grave Danger”) are hot on his trail, but are no match for the power he possesses or the evil he unleashes upon them.

“The film is a nice mix of great old-fashioned haunted house horror and all the sex, violence, and dark humor we’ve come to expect these days,” says filmmaker Jim Haggerty of his fourth feature film. “It’s kind of like an old Vincent Price movie on acid.”

As a longtime fan of L.A. GUNS, Haggerty is extremely delighted to have the opportunity to work with one of his musical heroes. “I have always been such a fan of Phil in L.A. GUNS,” he says. “He was — and really still is — such an exciting performer with such great charisma and talent on top of an amazing voice. He really was the right man for the job and it was an honor and a pleasure to work with him on this — I’m already writing the sequel!”

(* – I should stress that neither I nor Matador Records is taking sides in the dispute over the ownership of the L.A. Guns name.  Los Angeles has the greatest copyright / entertainment attorneys in the world and we fully believe in letting them do what they do best). 

The greatest Latin musician of them all is playing S.O.B.’s tonight (thanks to Jesper for the headsup0. Two sets, one at 8 and one at 10.

On March 10, Matador will be releasing the 7″ of “No Epiphany,” featuring No Age remixing the track on the B-side. It’s a rather astounding collaboration, and we recommend you buy it.

No digital release on this single.

Patrick Hughes “Sunlight”

When Chris comes to London, he stays at the Chelsea Arts Club, for some ridiculous rate like £36 a night. He does get a tiny garret room with the bathroom down the hall, but it comes with original Patrick Hughes works hanging next to the bed, and an incredible bar with a massive snooker table, and full of eccentric English types getting totally hammered.

The club was founded by James McNeil Whistler in 1891 as a reaction to the stodgy Arts Club in Mayfair, and cultivates a generally raffish, no dress-up personality. It is crammed to the gills with amazing artwork. Members include Peter Blake (who designed Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), Glen Baxter, Gerald Scarfe, and others. It’s in a low, unpretentious white stucco building on a side street in Chelsea, with a small and inconspicuous door.

I’m sorry about the above headline but it scanned better (barely) than “Don’t Call Her Countess Grishnackh”. From 3news.co.nz (thanks to Mark Ohe for the link) :

Italian news reports say the singer of a heavy metal band and her brother stabbed the band’s guitarist dozens of times, apparently because he wasn’t playing well.

The Genoa-based newspaper Il Secolo XIX is reporting that the 19-year-old Soul Cry singer, Cristina Balzano, and her 16-year-old brother have been arrested on charges of attempted murder.

The newspaper is quoting the victim, identified only as A.D., as saying from hospital that he was attacked late Saturday after a rehearsal with the band “Soul Cry.” He said band members had been criticizing his playing but that he never expected to be physically hurt.

Not to make light of what sounds like a near-tragedy, but how many past or present bandmates of C.C. DeVille read the above item and nodded their heads in empathy?

I consider myself a pretty hardcore Syd Barrett fan, but I was astounded to find that high-quality demos of pre-Piper at the Gates of Dawn material exist — from 1965, no less. The above slideshow is more or less irrelevant but the song, “Lucy Leave,” is fantastic. It features fifth Floyd member Bob Klose, who is responsible for the twangy guitar bits. It’s no Dog Police, but it’s still worth your time.

belongs to Dave Martin of Matador Direct. Speedy recovery Dave, see you in the pit!

Well, since Dick Urine, anyway.

This just in from the Monte RV depot in Linden, NJ:

Just leaving linden nj to pick up the hospitality vehicle el monte calls the “jamboree” – an appropriate name for the upcoming festivities we soon will encounter.

-Miwa

Look for this beast parked out front of the Rogan Store all day.

To celebrate the release of The Chemistry Of Common Life, in stores this coming Tuesday, Fucked Up will be playing live for twelve hours straight at a storefront in New York City THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY.

On Tuesday, October 14, from 2PM until 2 AM, the band will be playing a twelve-hour show at the Rogan store at the corner of Bowery and Bond. Admission is free. All ages are welcome to attend, though the free alcohol will be limited to those 21 and over. Additionally, a free limited-edition 7″ of “Royal Swan” will be given away to the first batch of attendees, with a second allotment given away at a later time in the show to be announced.

Special guests will be joining the band on stage to help them through this marathon, including the Vivian Girls, John Joseph, Matt Sweeney, Chain Gang, Mobb Deep, Ryan Sawyer from Tall Firs, Jeff Jensen, David Cross, John Cale, K-Taro, Chris Doherty, E.K., DJ Chris, DJ Anarki, Michael Gira, members of the Australian Scapa Flow, Jeanne Bovet, Gods & Queens, Akon, The Edge, Ben Blackwell, Russell Simins, the Boogie, and some megastars we can’t announce yet.

Seen below is the cover to the limited-edition 7″. Good luck.

The lyrics as well as a download of an alternate version of “Royal Swan” can be found here.

Looking For Gold
Fucked Up Wikipedia page
Fucked Up artist page on Matador