Jennifer O'Connor: Always A Guest Blogger Never A Blogger (just how she likes it)
Shit You Hear At Parties, Pt. I
Once again, we're invoking the late Robert Haber to sell something. Hey, if it ain't broke, why pay for repairs. See you friday!
Ian Rilen, RIP
Rose Tattoo bassist Ian Rilen passed away yesterday at the age of 58.
In addition to being the co-author of Tattoo's "Bad Boy For Love", Rilen was a founding member alongside guitarist Steve Lucas and drummer Cathy Green, of the Sydney trio, X, whose first two albums, 'Aspirations' (1979) and 'At Home With You' (1981) are as propulsive, jagged and wildly original as any punk recordings from that era.
Long Awaited Chan Marshall / Sir Charles Meeting Hits Network TV
Tonight, on NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien", scheduled guests include Charles Barkley and Cat Power.
Chan and the MRB are hitting Rockefeller Plaza after blowing minds at Las Vegas' Vegoose Festival. The Round Mound Of Rebound is also no stranger to Vegas, nor is he unfamiliar with a provocative performance every now and then.
Chavez : One Show Dropped, Another Added
[youtube]MHeNrdEFF4k[/youtube]If the young people of Baltimore didn't have enough troubles already, Chavez' December 2 show at Ottobar has been cancelled. That said, we're happy to announce that along with the Dec. 16 show at Brooklyn's Warsaw (supported by Endless Boogie), Chavez will be playing Slim's in San Francisco on December 30th.
Dubious Benefit Gigs Of The 21st Century
From the Boston Globe's Joan Anderton.
Staind frontman Aaron Lewis is performing a concert at his alma mater, Longmeadow High School, to benefit the creative arts department there. Tickets to the show, Nov. 4 at 7:30, are $100 (includes a meet-and-greet with Lewis) and $60 and are on sale now in the school office.
Lewis, while possessing all the talent and charisma of a cardboard box, is clearly a benevolent sort. And based on his body of work, I think we can all agree that Longmeadow's creative arts deparment is sorely in need of help. With that in mind, let's consider the ticket prices ; $100 to witness a solo performance by Lewis is quite reasonable (compared to say, a $600 toilet seat), so why not up the ante a bit? $100 to enter, another $200 to leave early. $1500 for Lewis' frontal lobe. Either you're serious about helping the kids or you're not.
Let Me Sleep On It, I'll Give You An Answer In The Morning
Attn : Ladies and Gentlemen. The following serves as evidence that my spam filter really sucks. Thank you.
FIRST 200 ABSOLUTE MEAT LOAF "FANATICS" WIN RESERVED VIP ACCESS TO A SPECIAL LIVE PERFORMANCE ON THE TODAY SHOW IN NYC THIS FRIDAY, 10/27!All are welcome, but only a few deserve the VIP section. ;)
To enter to win, please send an email no later than 6PM EST, Tomorrow, October 26th to [email protected]. Your email should include:
-Your full name
-Your phone number
-Your date of birth (18 and older only)
-You must type this out beneath your date of birth: "If I win this VIP access to see the legendary Meat Loaf perform and promote his new album Bat Out Of Hell III. (releasing on 10/31), I PROMISE that I can be in New York on 10/27 between 5:30 and 6:30 AM EST for the show. I also authorize Meatloaf.net to email me in the future for Meat Loaf-related news only."
You will ONLY be notified if you've won VIP access. If you are chosen as a winner YOU MUST HAVE LEGAL ID FOR ADMISSION TO THE SHOW!
NO ONE AT THE VENUE MAY LOOK MORRISSEY IN THE EYE
Though I'm super impressed by these third hand claims of diva-dom, perhaps it is a good idea for support bands and headliners to keep a respectful distance from each other.
Until the end of the evening, all-star jam, of course.
Pitchfork Scraping For News?
I have much love for Espers, but since when did a $600 mahogany Martin getting dinged up on a flight make the muster for a longish Pitchfork news item. C'mon, this ain't akin to a van full of gear getting stolen nor is it a couple of mild-mannered indie rocker kids getting beat up by Houston's finest. I mean, if you're going to give some ink to La Familia Espers, why not talk about Meg Baird's freshly-minted solo album. Warning: It's okay to delete your copy of Pink Moon on the Nano to make room for this one. Don't sweat it, it's a worthy replacer.
Meg Baird: "Waltze of the Tennis Player" (mp3 deeplink thanks to Philebrity.com)
It's Official : Kurt Cobain Bigger Than Snoopy
From Billboard.com :
Elvis Presley has ceded his crown to Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain (above, middle) on Forbes.com's list as the top-earning dead celebrity. The list, published yesterday (Oct. 24), said Cobain earned $50 million between October 2005 and October 2006. Presley wound up in the No. 2 slot with $42 million, down from last year's $45 million.Forbes.com bases its dollar amounts on licensing deals for using the deceased celebrities' work or image in advertising or elsewhere. This was Cobain's first time on the list in its six years of publication. Presley has ruled the roost since its inception, said Forbes.com staff writer Lacey Rose.
Cobain's coup was thanks to his widow, actress and singer Courtney Love, who sold a 25% stake in the Nirvana's song catalog to New York music publishing company PrimeWave.
Ranked after Presley is "Peanuts" cartoon strip creator Charles Schulz at $35 million. Rounding out the top five were the Beatles' John Lennon at $24 million and groundbreaking physicist Albert Einstein at $20 million, whose estate profited from such licensing deals as the popular "Baby Einstein" educational videos.
No disrespect to the 1921 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, but if Tupac's estate isn't beating Einstein, someone is screwing up royally.
To Hell With The Cell : Nawlins Docs Say Extreme Gabbers Are Shooting Blanks
(a photograph of a sperm sample would be highly inappropriate for a family blog such as this, so let's enjoy the wonders of Sea Monkeys, instead!)
From the Guardian's Ian "I'd Like To Collect A" Sample.
Men who use mobile phones for long periods at a time may be at risk of damaging their sperm, according to research by American scientists.Samples taken from men attending a fertility clinic revealed that their sperm declined steadily in number, quality and ability to swim as mobile phone usage increased. Where men used their mobiles for more than four hours a day, researchers found a 30% drop in sperm motility or movement and viability when compared with men who did not use a mobile phone.
Scientists believe the study is too preliminary to prove an unequivocal link between mobile phones and falling sperm counts, but the work received a cautious welcome from other scientists who called for further studies to rule out other factors known to influence sperm quality, such as age, weight, smoking, stress and whether people had sedentary jobs.
Ashok Agarwal, who presented his findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in New Orleans, stressed the study did not prove mobile phones were damaging male fertility, but urged scientists to investigate the possibility.
On behalf of the cellular phone industry, I'd like to challenge these finding. Not me, personally (I stood too close to a microwave oven while watching "Three's Company" as a youngster, and well, the rest is history), but there's a mountain of evidence that runs contrary to Dr. Argwai's claims. For instance, Lee Atwater hasn't impregnated anyone in years.
The New Pornographers - Barcelona & Australian Dates Confirmed
12/2- Barcelona, ES at Primavera Club 06 - ESTRELLA DAMM STAGE:
(with Teenage Fanclub, The Rapture, The Wrens, Bob Log III and more)
12/8-Melbourne AUS at Meredith Music Festival
12/10-Sydney NSW at The Factory
12/11-Adelaide SA at Governor Hindmarsh
12/13-Melbourne AUS at Prince of Wales
14-Melbourne AUS at Prince of Wales
15-Sydney NSW at Gaelic Club
(tickets available from All Moshtix outlets including Fish Records, stores, Electric Monkeys, Red Eye, Coogee Bay Hotel, Central Station or moshtix.com.au, phonecharge Gaelic Club (02) 9211 1687 or moshtix (02) 9209 4614
Chavez Walk Among Us
The first public appearances of Chavez since, well, that last ones, have been confirmed.
Dec 2 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Dec. 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (16 +)
Endless Boogie will provide support (moral, spiritual) on both dates.
Tickets are on sale now.
Concerto Review : The World's Greatest Money Making Enterprise
Like a not so small portion of Austin, TX I am recovering today from the Rolling Stones' first-ever appearance in our humble town. What conclusions can be gleaned from the Stones playing what we in the trade charitably call "secondary markets" (ie. Missoula, Boise, Regina, Wichita, El Paso, etc.) are not worth mulling in the wake of such a historic event. Amongst the highlights the local press neglected to mention :
1) A tremendous cover of Spoon's "Don't Buy The Realistic", certain to displease tour sponsors Radio Shack.
2) The equally improbable cover of "Dicks Hate Police". "We've never played this one in public," admitted Mick, "and we might never play it again."
3) Excellent security provided by the Hells Angels.
4) A surprise appearance by Mick Taylor. Selling hot dogs.
5) Quoted boost to the local economy : $25 million. Damage done to the psyche of neighborhood dogs by the show's pyro : incalculable.
Reich in the Freak Zone
image via wikipedia
Lack of funds, time and all sorts of other obstacles kept me from attending any of the Steve Reich 70th Birthday celebrations at the Barbican, so yesterday's Freak Zone on BBC 6Music was especially agonising, as Reich himself dropped by to discuss his major works.
If you're a Reich fan (and I sincerely hope you are), you can listen to the show here.
Personally, I find it really heartening that BBC's 'indie' radio station can actually spend a show celebrating a modern composer when they're not playing Italian 60s jazz rock, monster psychedelia, soundtrack funk and pastoral folk.
Brightblack are soooo going to fit in when they're on the show on the 5th November.
Dead Meadow In Austin, TX All-Dayer
In addition to their upcoming US dates supporting Wolfmother, Dead Meadow have been confirmed as participants alongside Spoon, Peaches, Prefuse 73 and Negative Approach (!!!!) at the inaugural FunFunFun fest, taking place at Austin's Waterloo Park, Friday, December 1st.
I Am Very Afraid Of Ric Dube
[youtube]KR-ILlMfFFw[/youtube]When the album goes gold, we're sending one to this guy, and that's a promise. (thanks to Miwa for the link)
Let's Drop The Big One...
...now.Since the clips of Randy Newman's visit to "The Colbert Report" will probably be taken down fairly soon, here's a more vintage take of the former's "Political Science". (helpful suggestion : fast forward past the first 57 seconds)
[youtube]1Vb0Mu0mhlw[/youtube]
Men Of Chavez (.com) Brought To Life
When thinking about how to best interactivate the two luxurious booklets in the "Better Days Will Haunt You" 2-CD set, we had a few ideas. Chauncey, our marketing intern, suggested a fancy sticker thing where everyone could make their own artwork!!! Our grumpy direct sales staff shut that down faster than you can say "gimmicky way to paint a turd."
Then Donovan at our indie PR company suggested that we run a blog contest to design a t-shirt inspired by the artwork. Our art director said, "silly indie publicists, we already have the greatest t-shirt design of ALL-TIME."
Finally, we just kicked it over to interactivator extraordinaire, Sergio (who did this and that), and the boy went all Delgado and hit one out_of_the_park.
Remember the times, the laffs and the Men at MenOfChavez.com.
Wow Out! Web Site
That is the official Wow Out! web site. It says just about everything Gerard says below but in a flashy-interactive do up. Bookmark it because unlike Sony Music Exec profiles on MySpace, this URL: will deliver as promised.
(BBspot link thanks to Idolator)