A Second Wave Of Nouvelle Vague

In today's Guardian, Nouvelle Vague producer Marc Collin discusses the band's history, reaction to their bossa nova style covers of 80s-era songs, his taste in music, and future plans.

The group (whose name means "New Wave") first gained attention when their songs were used in advertisements and then on soundtracks. Their debut album was released two years ago; their second, Bande A Part is out on Tuesday in the UK, in August in the US. According to the Guardian it includes some Jamaican and Cuban styles. Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself", Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love", New Order's "Blue Monday", and Yaz's "Don't Go" are among the songs covered.

Collin, who is French, says the French were the most resistant to the group. Members of the Clash, the Cure, Depeche Mode, and the Specials have praised covers of their songs; Collin hasn't heard any negative feedback from bands. During one concert, Tuxedomoon's singer asked to duet with Nouvelle Vague on "In a Manner of Speaking".

Count on a third album, but not necessarily a fourth. Collin does not like listening to modern alternative bands (the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, et al), regardless of whether he thinks the music is "good". He'd just rather listen to the older music he loves. He rules out covering 90s music... at least with Nouvelle Vague...

Nouvelle Vague Tour Dates (more to be announced):

July 10-12 - Picadilly Circus, London (Residency at The Pigalle Club, advance tickets £16)

July 22 - Milan (Flippaut Festival)

August 5 - London (Fruitstock)

August 6 - Herefordshire (The Big Chill festival)

August 12 - Leicester (Summersundae)

August 13 - London (Jazz Cafe Picnic)

August 17 - Belgium (Pukkelpop Festival)

August 19 - Hague, NL (Pure Jazz Festival)

August 20 - Cambridge (Sercret Garden)

August 25 - Jugendpark, Cologne, Germany ("Monsters Of Spex" Open Air)

August 26 - Reading (Reading Festival)

August 27 - Leeds (Leeds festival)

Getechno recently posted "Ta Douleur" (Your Pain) and two videos by Camille Dalmais, one of the singers on Nouvelle Vague's first album. She's no longer with the group, but has released a solo album Le Fil (The String) under the name "Camille".

Nouvelle Vague - Just Can't Get Enough (available on Nouvelle Vague)

Kristin Hersh To Tour With Throwing Muses, Solo, With 50FootWave

Throwing Muses has announced three US concert dates in August. They'll play a night each in Cambridge, MA, and New York City on the (presumably chilly) heels of their previously announced set at the Innipukinn Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. A third concert has been added, for Los Angeles on August, 19th, with no venue yet announced.

Hersh and Bernard Georges will open for themselves (and we probably don't all know how painful that can be) at all three dates, since their "other" band 50FootWave is opening for Throwing Muses. 50FootWave will also be playing at a couple of free festivals, and Hersh is playing three solo dates in July. Whew.

Any rumors that she plans on touring under an assumed name as a hip-hop artist during this same time period are strictly rumors at this point, albeit intriguing ones.

Throwing Muses Tour Dates:

Saturday, August 5th - Reykjavik, Iceland - Innipukinn Festival

Friday, August 11th - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East (tickets available directly through the venue, $20, 18+)

Saturday, August 12th - NYC - Bowery Ballroom (tickets available directly through the venue, $21, 18+)

Saurday, August 19th - Los Angeles, CA - Venue TBA

Kristin Hersh Tour Dates:

Tuesday, July 11th - Portland, OR (with Paul Hiraga)

Tuesday, July 25th - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile (with Grant Lee Phillips)

Wednesday, July 26th - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan (with Grant Lee Phillips)

50FootWave Dates:

(along with the aforementioned ones)

Friday, July 14th -West Seattle, WA (SummerFest - free)

Saturday, July 29th - Portland, OR (PDX Pop Now! Festival - free)

Throwing Muses - Green (available on Throwing Muses)

Throwing Muses - Honeychain (available on The Real Ramona)

Kristin Hersh - Your Ghost (available on Hips & Makers)

Kristin Hersh - Summer Salt (available on Sunny Border Blue)

CMJ CD: Issue 140

Sonic Youth is on the cover of the new CMJ New Music Monthly. Evidently they have a new album out. The Futureheads felt like a chat as well, and it just so happens that they have a new disc out too!

Speaking of discs, this month's CMJ disc is pretty good, notwithstanding one track that sent me scurrying for the "stop" button.

The magazine itself includes several short interviews, including ones with Mr. Lif (explaining three of his songs), Smoosh's drummer Chloe (discussing a recent read), Dabrye, Psapp, and Cut Chemist.

Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche is also interviewed. He has a solo album, Mobile, which he's promoting with an interactive monkey chant player on his website. I tried it a couple times and felt it needed more monkey.



CMJ Vol. 140 CD Track Listing:

1. Sonic Youth - Incinerate
2. The Futureheads - Skip To The End
3. An Albatross - Hairobics (ACK! MAKE IT STOP!)
4. The Lashes - Please, Please, Please
5. Annie Stela - It's You (available on the There Is A Story Here EP. Swirly, bouncy pop, with handclaps)
6. Dead Celebrity Status - We Fall We Fall
7. Blow Up Hollywood - WMD
8. Brandi Carlile - Throw It All Away (available on Brandi Carlisle Plaintive, lovely, alt-country. It's a bit twangy too)
9. Aberdeen City - God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me
10. Myriad - Stretched Over
11. Joshua Radin - Closer
12. SCANNeRS - Lowlife
13. Ane Brun - Song No. 6 (Featuring Ron Sexsmith) (available on A Temporary Dive. Brun sings a bright, cheery love song, but Sexsmith's vocals don't quite mesh with hers, and are pretty droopy. Perhaps we are to conclude that they're not such a happy couple. Or we can watch the video and then draw our conclusions)
14. Deflator Mouse - Bright Eyes
15. Persephone's Bees - City Of Love (available on Notes From The Underworld. Silly, groovy synthpop concoction)
16. Smoosh - Find A Way
17. Motorhead - King Of Kings
18. Donavon Frankenreiter - Move By Yourself
19. Coheed & Cambria - Ten Speed (Of God's Blood And Burial)
20. David Ford - I Don't Care What You Call Me (available on I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I've Caused. Angsty singer-songwriter with romantic problems, talent)

Pulp Reissues, Bonus Discs August 21

Three Pulp albums, His 'n' Hers, Different Class, and This Is Hardcore are being reissued, each with a bonus CD including B-sides and rare songs.

The albums will be re-released on August 21 (at least in the UK), according to NME.com, which reports that "full details" on the contents of those bonus discs will soon be confirmed.

Pulp has a fair amount of scarce B-side material in their virtual vaults. Expecting fans to buy three albums they already own to get ahold of the new material is a trifle unfair, but no one said the music business is the happiest place on earth.

(That's Disneyland, and even they don't know any better than to muck with my favorite ride)

Pulp - Lipgloss (available on His 'n' Hers)

Pulp - Mis-Shapes (available on Different Class)

Pulp - Dogs Are Everywhere (Acoustic Version) (a B-side on Part 2 of the "Common People" single)

Aussies Announce Hall of Fame Inductees

On August 16th, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) will induct an unspecified number of artists into its 2006 ARIA HALL OF FAME at Melbourne's Regent Theatre's Plaza Ballroom.

Three artists in the 2006 ARIA HALL OF FAME have been revealed so far: synth-pop band Icehouse, Divinyls, who did more than that one song no one wants to hear you sing, and Daddy Cool. Official word is only that there are "more to be announced", but it's "believed" that Rose Tattoo and "a veteran" singer" will also be added to this year's Hall of Fame, while Midnight Oil is said to be a "likely" inductee in the October class. The band's manager said the band would show up if they were offered the honor, but not perform. They're not quite up to snuff, performance-wise, it seems.

Icehouse, Divinyls, and Daddy Cool will all perform at the August 16th ceremony, which will air exclusively on subscription television. FOXTEL and AUSTAR Digital subscribers can see the program on VH1 on Sunday, August 20 at 8:30 PM.

Divinyls - Pleasure And Pain (available on Living In Oblivion: The 80's Greatest Hits, Vol. 5)

Divinyls - I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore (available on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Icehouse - Great Southern Land (available on Primitive Man)

Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart (available on Diesel and Dust)

There, There, America

It's difficult being an American right about now. Much of the world is cross with us, and about 43% of us devote our time to coming up with statistics to make us feel worse about ourselves. To wit, Americans are "far more socially isolated" than they were twenty years ago, and it's partly the Internet's fault. We're a bit isolated from the global community as well, due to our disinterest in the World Cup, as well as the world's declining views of America, Americans, and American foreign policy.

Young Americans who watch the Daily Show are allegedly more cynical about politics. Regardless of their viewing habits, a new study concludes that Americans are staying immature well into adulthood. The "virtues" of youth, such as "cognitive flexibility" set the tone for our culture, but so do the faults of youth, such as a short attention span.

According to a recent study, Canadians are more healthy and active than Americans. Canadians! The people who go on and on about
Tim Hortons as though the place invented the donut. But they have universal health care, and they might have plenty of social contact as they eat all those donuts and sip their coffee.

What to do about all of this (the problems, not the Canadians sipping their coffee)? Listening to music may increase intelligence, mental health, and immunity. So:

Step 1: listen to a lot of music.

Step 3: Profit.

No, wait.

Step 2: Improve intelligence, and health, and all that stuff that requires work.

Step 3: Then a miracle happens (or: Figure out the rest).

As consolation, we've never earned more, spent less on necessities, or had a higher standard of living (than we did in 2002-2003, the most recent year for which statistics are available).

Oh no, now the non-Americans hate us even more.

Fountains of Wayne - Mexican Wine (available on Welcome Interstate Managers)

Sam Phillips - Power World (available on Omnipop (It's Only A Flesh Wound Lambchop))

Great Lake Swimmers - Imaginary Bars (available on available on Bodies and Minds)

Yo La Tengo - Cherry Chapstick (available on And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out)

Beulah - Night Is The Day Turned Inside Out (available on The Coast Is Never Clear)

Band Of Holy Joy - What The Moon Saw (available on Manic, Magic, Majestic)

The Album Leaf - Asleep (available on One Day I'll Be On Time)

Nerina Pallot - "Fires" and "Geek Love"

Although Nerina Pallot's "Everybody's Gone To War" insists, "Don't tell me it's a worthy cause/No cause could be so worthy", Pallot believes there are times when military intervention is appropriate. She names World War II, Bosnia, and Rwanda as worth risking lives. Pallot calls the song "anti this war".

She has been called "brave" for taking a stand against the Iraq War, but it's hardly a shocking, seldom-voiced viewpoint.

It's a viewpoint I share, but I find the track a shade too self-righteous and overwrought ("I don't want to die"?). The song's breezy catchiness is such a stark contrast to the lyrics, the whole thing ends up feeling overly calculated to produce a Pop Hit. The wacky food-fight-in-a-grocery-store video doesn't do much to change that perception. But maybe the merciless pelting of Pallot (Pallot-pelting?) with assorted food products after she strikes a Christ-on-the-cross pose will convince some people that the Iraq War in particular is wrong, or at best, kinda unfair.

"Everybody's Gone To Die" is the first single from Fires, which was first released last April, but, alas, failed to set the world afire. It's having better luck this time.

The album is heavy on songs about leaving, driving, roads, home, and, naturally, fires. Her lyrics are sometimes quite lovely and evocative. They're also unusually literate for a record this mainstream-friendly, for instance sneaking in a reference to Phaedrus here, a play on an Ayliffe quote there, and mentioning "cumulus nimbus" clouds instead of thunderstorm clouds.

Pallot reminds me a bit of Nellie McKay on her cheekier songs, such as the infectious "Geek Love". Other standouts include the wistful "Idaho" ("I don't want to fall asleep and watch my life from fifty feet/My hands are on the wheel so I'm driving to Idaho") and "Damascus", which is beautiful and hopefully will not get a video shot in an ice cream parlor or in a mall.

Nerina Pallot - Geek Love (available on Fires)

Nerina Pallot - "Everybody's Gone To War" video

New Dictionary Words/Most Common Words

According to the Oxford English Dictionary folks, they are "asked all the time", "What is the commonest word?"

Man, that must get annoying. Maybe the last freaking thing you'd want to think about after a long, tough day at the at dictionary office is words. And they're asked that one question, all the time? (I don't know that anyone's ever said "commonest" to me, but I am a Californian and perhaps too common to say "commonest".)

Taking the Oxford English Dictionary staff's word that they really are asked about the commonest word all the time, now they can reply with a hearty "Why, you can find that answer on the World Wide Web, friend!" OED has listed the 100 most common English words found in writing (a-ha! not the same thing as what they're asked all the time. A subtle bit of revenge, that!) They've also listed the top 25 nouns, verbs, and adjectives. What of the adverb? Perhaps the popular adverbs are disclosed in English Uncovered: the hundred commonest English words. It's been issued as a supplement to the Eleventh Edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, which costs £20.

How did they figure out that "the" is the most common word? Surely they didn't sit around and agree that, "Yeah, that one's pretty obvious."

"Based on the evidence of the billion-word Oxford English Corpus", they were able "to identify the hundred commonest English words found in writing around the world". Maybe the supplement contains more information.

Before anyone's overly impressed by that "billion-word" business, consider some of the new words they've allowed into their newly revised, Concise Dictionary this year.

best
- phrases
best of breed
- any item or product considered to be the best of its kind.

elephant
- phrases
the elephant in the room a major problem or controversial issue which is obviously present but avoided as a subject for discussion because it is more comfortable to do so.

I'm pretty sure "best" and "elephant" were already in even concise editions of their dictionary. I hope they haven't been counting it as a new word every time they add a new phrase to their dictionary. If so, they should have been able to get to a billion words long ago.

Other newly-added "words" include identity theft, civil partnership, aerobicized, crunk, pig in the python, plugged-in, keylogging, moblogging, and shoulder-surfing.

Possibly trying to raise a controversy or possibly bringing their fondness for Google Fight to work, OED declares it "still very much a man's world" because "man" is the 7th most common word, "child", the 12th, and "woman", 14th. "Person" trumps all of them at #2. Even if it's true that "woman" is written down less often than "man" -- and neat trick, managing to write "woman" without writing "man"! -- the wannabe-cheeky conclusion that it's a man's world does not necessarily follow. Maybe "women" is written down more than "men". Maybe "woman" is said more often.

Maybe men like to write about themselves and their exciting exploits at work, making money, whereas women are more apt to talk about themselves. And go out crunking a lot.

Most Common Words:

1. The
2. Be
3. To
4. Of
5. And
6. A
7. In
8. That
9. Have
10. I

Most Common Nouns:

1. Time
2. Person
3. Year
4. Way
5. Day

Most Common Adjectives:

1. Good
2. New
3. First
4. Last
5. Long

Most Common Verbs:

1. Be
2. Have
3. Do
4. Say
5. Get

(partial lists - full lists available at AskOxford.com)

The Pursuit Of Happiness - New Language (available on One Sided Story)

The New Pornographers - Miss Teen Wordpower (available on Electric Version)

Ben Folds - Time (available on Songs For Silverman)

Everything But The Girl - Time After Time (available on Acoustic)

Mae - This Time Is The Last Time (Wave Remix) (available on Destination: B-Sides)

New Order - Fine Time (available on Technique)

Mirah - Person Person (available on You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This)

The Five Mod Four - I'm The Funniest Person You Know (available on The Wrens/The Five Mod Four EP)

Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes (available on The Kick Inside)

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Honey Child What Can I Do? (available on Ballad Of The Broken Seas)

Josh Ritter - Good Man (available on The Animal Years)

Embrace - All You Good Good People (available on Fireworks: The Singles 1997-2002)

The Kills - The Good Ones (available on No Wow)

The Beautiful South - Good As Gold (available on Solid Bronze - Great Hits)

The Wire June Tapper 15 CD

Sonic Youth are on the cover of the June issue of British magazine The Wire. Their interview covers both expected territory (they don't know how much longer the group will continue) and more unusual ground (Lee Ranaldo disagrees with the suggestion that "surely" reprinting "throwaway record" The Whitey Album is "contrary to the concept and motivation of the album").

Also interviewed in this issue: drummer Terry Day, artist Jutta Koether, Yellow Swans, and Ekkehard Ehlers.

For the "Invisible Jukebox" feature, cornet player/electronic musician Rob Mazurek, listened to eight tracks and commented on them. He correctly guessed Massayuki Takayangi New Direction Unit's "My Friend, Blood Shaking My Heart" (from 1975) was Japanese, and identified Tom Zé as the artist on "Ogodô, Ano 2000".

"The primer" offers a guide to the work of guitarist John Fahey. Music, music books, music DVDs, and music films are reviewed, as are concerts and art exhibits.

The Wire Tapper 15 compilation is included with this issue.

The Wire Tapper 15 Track Listing:

1. Humcrush - Hornswoggle (available on Hornswoggle. The Norwegian duo of Ståle Storløkken and Thomas Strønen offer up a "hose-down of skewed systems-funk")
2. Leafcutter John - Let It Begin (Edit)
3. Machinefabriek - Somerset
4. Reverbaphon - Nothing Beyond The Zero (Pretty, distant, and slightly strange. The group consists of Scot Paul Smith and German Eva Cadario, who say they improvise "since you never have to practice")
5. Yannis Kyriakides & Andy Moor - Vamvakaris (Edit)
6. Jozef Van Wissem - Catoptromancy
7. Hwyl Nofio - Broken Again ("Hwyl Nofio is Welsh for 'emotional swimmers', and is the name for an ever evolving ensemble around the central member of Steve Parry, who plays harmonic and disharmonic guitar... 'Broken Again' additionally features Gorwel Owen on 'imagined banjo'".)
8. Giuseppe Ielasi - Untitled Track 4 (available on Giuseppe Ielasi. His second album for Swedish label Häpna, which calls it his "most complex work to date, both in regard to instrumentation and compositional form. A well-prepared decoction of dark cinema, wanderlust and experimental sound manipulating techniques.")
9. Gerritt And John Wiese - The Disappearing Act
10. Dub Trio - Illegal Dub
11. Izu - Get UR Fleece On
12. Mekon - GSE
13. Lawrence English & Ai Yamamoto - A Silent Kouta (Edit) (available on Plateau, on which "they create evocative and intricately textured sound passages masking location recordings taken around the world, especially in Yamamoto's home base of Nara in southern Japan.")
14. Herbert - Movie Star
15. Sol Seppy - 1 2
16. Trevor Watts - Solarsonic
17. Gricer - Land
18. Spooncurve - She Doesn't Know
19. Isnaj Dui - Catoctin (Edit)
20. Det Gamla Landet (The Old Country) - Kiruna

NME Presents Festival: 15 Songs to Soundtrack Your Summer

The current issue of NME includes NME Presents Festival: 15 Songs to Soundtrack Your Summer, the track listing of which is:

1. Kaiser Chiefs - Na Na Na Na Naa (Live)
2. The Automatic - On The Campaign Trail
3. The Ordinary Boys - (Little) Bubble (B-side to "Talk Talk Talk" single)
4. Boy Kill Boy - Killer (Demo Version)
5. 747s - Missed That Sun
6. Panic! At The Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage
7. Razorlight - Leave Me Alone (Live)
8. Fall Out Boy - Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued (if you hear their band's lawyer has sued them for defamation, it's probably a publicity stunt)
9. Franz Ferdinand - Outsiders (Live) (the original version is available on You Could Have It So Much Better)
10. The Cooper Temple Clause - Damage
11. Howling Bells - Low Happening (from Howling Bells. Good song, but in their native Australia, it was more like part of the the soundtrack for spring. Can this CD be trusted?)
12. Archie Bronson Outfit - Got To Get (Your Eyes) (with a title like that, no)
13. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood (abandon all hope!)
14. Plan b - Kidz (Acoustic)
15. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Remix)

Scott Huckabay at Bala Yoga

Scott Huckabay at Bala Yoga, 6/16

Many guitarists merely strum or pick at their guitar strings when they play. Why not take a violin bow to them every now and again? "Guitar Alchemyst" Scott Huckabay did that and used many other techniques you don't see everyday during his Spirit Moves show at Bala Yoga. He seemed determined to soak every bit of musical potential out of his guitar. He's put something in it enabling him to shake it for a rattle-like effect. Huckabay used the guitar's wood to achieve a variety of sounds (kids: you too can sound like a dolphin. All you need is a bit of saliva on an index finger, a guitar, and, probably, some practice).

Huckabay does actually strum the strings of his guitar, too, though with an unusual amount of talent and sometimes with a very unusual amount of speed, his fingers a blur on the strings. Songs ranged in tempo but were almost always quite catchy (the exception: the last song of the night). Huckabay's use of an E-bow and bands of bells worn on each ankle (one with shells, one without) made the show more lively and very entertaining. They also kept Huckabay busy, which seems necessary, given his high level of energy. Thanks to the yoga studio setting, the somewhat New Age-y introductions for a few songs probably went over better with the large crowd than they might have at, say, a Young Republicans meeting.

Huckabay's ability to seemingly go into his own creative zone while playing can be a big asset, but it was occasionally a hinderance. During one song, he wandered into the crowd to serenade several people. Huckabay's focus on the music, while understandable, detracted from the performance as it wasn't always clear that he was paying attention to where he was walking and swinging his guitar. Also, given the choice between being serenaded while sitting at a table and sitting on the floor, I'd pick the former. Given my druthers (and please do give them back), I'd pick neither, but I especially felt for the poor, shoeless folks who were serenaded to by a comparative giant.

More notably, during the last song of the evening, "Secret Portal", Huckabay was joined by a female singer and a male hand drummer, who he repeatedly motioned to stop performing so he could go on obviously improvised, long jams without accompaniment. Why call other performers to join you and then hold them hostage to lengthy solo jams? Here my discomfort was initially for the other musicians, then for them as well as for the audience, then for Huckabay as well, who seemed to only have the best of intentions.

This was not like an improvised Slow Music set, where the applause of a single audience member has been taken as a cue to move on. At a point where several endings had come and gone, it seemed as though the end had come at last and many people applauded. Sure enough, it was not yet over. Huckabay truly seemed deeply into his own creative experience, and not operating from arrogance. Still, his colleagues showed some fatigue and irritation after they had been given "stop" and "start" hand signals for a while, and he didn't seem to notice. Giving the others a chance to shine would be nice too, as long as they've been invited to share the spotlight. Else, why share it? It was more than worth the last song for the exhilarating fun and amazing music of the rest of the show.

Music clips from Scott Huckabay's five albums are available at his website.

Scott Huckabay's Tour Schedule:

7/1 - Las Vegas, NV - Lassen Galleries (special performance) - 8 PM

7/4 - Yachats, OR - Yachats Commons - 7:30 PM
7/9 - Veneta, OR - Oregon Country Fair (Energy Park Stage) - 6 PM
7/12 - Detroit, OR - Breitenbush Hot Springs - 8 PM
7/15 - Bend, OR - The Grove - 9 PM
7/16 - Ashland, OR - Ashland Summer Music Festival - 9 PM
7/20 - Mt.Shasta, CA - Flying Lotus Movement Center (315 S. Mt Shasta Blvd) - 9 PM
7/28 - Eugene, OR - Cozmic Pizza - 9 PM (8th & Charnelton)
7/29 - Veneta, OR - FaerieWorlds Festival (Secret House Winery) - 2:30 PM
8/5 - 8 PM, mainstage. For more info: Island EarthFair Vashon Island, WA - Island EarthFair
8/12 - Vashon Island, WA - Bishops - 8 PM
8/26 - Bodega Bay, CA - Bodega Bay Art & Wine Festival - 11 AM & 2 PM
9/16 - Arcata, CA - Arcata Country Fair
9/17 - Laytonville, CA - Earthdance

Split Enz Tour Ends Early

The Split Enz reunion tour has apparently ended in Perth, leaving the band's "Australia and New Zealand 2006" tour t-shirts inaccurate but more interesting. According to the band's management, there was no suitable venue in Auckland. Tim Finn had hoped to play in Los Angeles, New York, and London but that seems unlikely anytime soon. There was also talk of a studio album, but Neil Finn is moving to London, although his family will keep a house in Auckland. It seems that a studio album isn't likely anytime soon either.

However, a live DVD filmed during the tour is on the way.

The setlist for the first Brisbane show:

Shark Attack (from 1980's True Colours)
Poor Boy (from True Colours)
One Step Ahead (from 1981's Corroboree)
Give It A Whirl (from 1979's Frenzy)
Nobody Takes Me Seriously (from True Colours)
Jamboree (from 1977's Dizrhythmia)
Double Happy (from True Colours)
I Hope I Never (from True Colours)
Message To My Girl (from 1983's Conflicting Emotions)
Dirty Creature (from 1982's Time and Tide)
Years Go By (from 1984's See Ya Round, 1984)
Stuff And Nonsense (from Frenzy)
The Devil You Know (from Conflicting Emotions)
Matinee Idyl (129) from 1976's Second Thoughts)
Straight Old Line (from Conflicting Emotions)
Pioneer (from Time and Tide)
Six Months In A Leaky Boat (from Time and Tide)
I Got You (from True Colours)
What's The Matter With You (from True Colours)
I See Red (from Frenzy)
Take A Walk (from Time and Tide)
Charlie (from Dizrhythmia)
My Mistake (from Dizrhythmia)
Bold As Brass (from Dizrhythmia)
Time For A Change (from 1975's Mental Notes and 1976's Second Thoughts)
History Never Repeats (from Corroboree)

Uncut July 2006 Magazine

In the July Uncut, the cover story looks at the making of Led Zeppelin IV.

Another article looks back at "Ceremony", New Order's first single, released in January 1981. It was one of the last songs written by Joy Division's lead singer, Ian Curtis, who had killed himself the last May.

Ian Hunter (who was in Mott the Hoople) is interviewed, as is Elvis Costello, for a page-long piece, in which he discusses his collaborations with Bono and Paul McCartney (who apparently is 64).

Paul Simon pens a guest editorial suggesting that almost all of the most famous artists in his generation have been commercially punished when they've tried to be inventive. Therefore, he says, we get in the case of the Rolling Stones, an "incredibly entertaining" act "parodying what they were" which is "what people want to see".

A photographer was allowed to document a "hard day's night on the road" of the Racanteurs' UK tour. At first blush, one might wonder, "Hey, isn't it inconsistent for the band to allow that and not allow pictures to be taken at another show? Not necessarily, "one"! First, this piece was shot at night. Is it that hard to believe any rock musicians might be "night people", let alone Jack White? The Amoeba in-store was at 11:00 AM. Second, there's a distinct possibility it's the photos in Uncut that led the boys to take a second look at their "let's allow some photography" policy. In the photos, White is rockin' the Boy George look, circa 1984. The hat, the hair, the pants that resemble pajama pants. Meanwhile, Brendan Benson sets a bad example for the kids and does his body and voice no favors either by smoking.

Bassist Jack Lawrence stands, holding some iced tea, but attention hog White, pouring his drink in an apparently showy manner makes Lawrence look down and diverts much of the photographer's attention for himself. We want more Jack! Er, the other Jack! Both are talented, but we're already getting plenty of one. Meanwhile, socially responsible drummer Patrick Keeler sends one less plastic cup to a landfill by chugging Jagermeister directly from the bottle. Nicely done! Still, he might feel his pro-environment agenda is bound to be as overlooked as Lawrence's standing-around-and-holding-iced-tea, as long as there are a couple of smoking-and-pajama-wearing-singers around. Keeler and Lawrence should totally start a side project to get the attention they deserve.

Elsehere in Uncut, Billy Bragg shares his thoughts about six of his albums (Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, Workers Playtime, Don't Try This At Home, Mermaid Avenue, and England, Half English).

"I'm a love songwriter who writes political songs, not the other way round. I don't mind being labelled a political songwriter, but not being dismissed as one. The only political song here is 'Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards' which is where I say 'mixing pop and politics, they ask me what the use is?', and I shrug and say, 'You gotta try.' It's an admission that you can't change the world through singing about it, written not through disillusionment, but through honesty and weariness."

- Billy Bragg, from his comments on Workers Playtime

Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards (from Workers Playtime)

Appropriately enough the best and worst protest songs according to Uncut are listed in this issue.

The 10 Worst Protest Songs:

1. Culture Club - The War Song
2. The Beach Boys - Student Demonstration Time ("Pro-fascist bully boy pish from Surf's Up!")
3. John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance
4. Wings - Give Ireland Back To Ireland (from Wild Life)
5. Simple Minds - Belfast Child
6. Yes - Don't Kill The Whale
7. Bob Dylan - Masters Of War
8. Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City
9. Kenney Jones - Mr Brown (You're Robbing Me)
10. George Bowyer & The Countryside Alliance - Guardians Of The Land

The 10 Best Protest Songs:

1. Edwin Starr - War
2. The Special A.K.A. - Nelson Mandela (from The Two Tone Compilation: A Checkered Past)
3. The Exploited - Beat The Bastards
4. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
5. The Redskins - Kick Over The Statues
6. Bob Dylan - The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
7. Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device (from All The Best)
8. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
9. Country Joe - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag

Country Joe And The Fish - The Fish Cheer & I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag (from I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die)

10. Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA

There's also a short list of bands named after songs, such as Sisters Of Mercy, Radiohead, and Right Said Fred.

Leonard Cohen - Sisters Of Mercy (from Greatest Hits)

Talking Heads - Radio Head (from True Stories)

Bernard Cribbins - Right Said Fred (from The Very Best of Bernard Cribbins)

EMI Settles Payola Claims

Yesterday Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced a $3.75 million settlement with EMI Music North America in a case involving allegations they had, in various ways, made payments to radio station employees and others in exchange for airplay for particular EMI artists. Settlement documents released by Spitzer's office name not only the artists, including Norah Jones, Coldplay, and the Rolling Stones, but also individuals alleged to have accepted bribes..

The settlement spells out activities EMI agrees to not engage in (eg, "EMI shall not give, offer arrange for or provide cash, gift cards, gift certificates, or any monetary payment to a Radio employee."), although they do not admit having engaged in such activities.

Also of interest is the list of activities that EMI, and independent promoters they hire, are allowed to engage in, such as providing radio station employees with a total of 20 trips (including lodging) per station per year to see their artists perform. They can also give away up to 20 copies of a particular CD. If they want to give away more copies, they may be able to do so, but they need to seek approval in writing first.

"Modest personal gifts for life events and holidays" are also allowed, but EMI can't spend more than $150 per recipient/year, again, at least not without prior written approval. "Life events" is a useful phrase, and one I think we should all consider adding to our general vocabulary.

EMI can also continue to buy "meals and entertainment" for radio station employees, and here the agreement stipulates the amount not "exceed $150 per person provided that the event is attended by a EMI employee, has a legitimate business purpose." Is the sketchy grammar ("a EMI employee") an indication that this section was written in a hurry and the lack of a "per year" limit was an oversight? It would seem not, as there is no per year limit for a similar $150 per television station employee lunch/dinner/entertainment provision.

It looks like wining, dining, and "entertaining" people for the "legitimate business purpose" of convincing them to promote particular artists remains a reasonably safe bet. The pricey meals, like the settlement itself, are arguably largely subsidized by consumers, through, for instance, bloated CD prices. Legal and ethical are not synonymous. Paying for expensive dinners and trips in hopes of winning someone's business, with consumers ultimately footing the bill, is of course not exclusive to the music industry. The pharmaceutical industry is notorious for the practice, and hardly a shining example of a consumer-friendly business. Surely promotion need not be done via $150/person meals.

Rush - The Spirit Of Radio (available on The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987)

The Ramones Musical Coming to London

Tommy Ramone, the only living member of the seminal punk band, The Ramones, is the musical director of, and making guest appearances in, the upcoming London musical, Gabba Gabba Hey!, billed as the first punk rock musical. The production also boasts Hugh Cornwell as a cast member.

The play runs July 31 to August 5 at the Koko Nightclub, following stints in Australia and Germany. Tickets are on sale now, online. They're 20 and 25 pounds each, not including VAT.

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (available on Greatest Hits)

Sunset Junction Street Fair

The artist line-up for this year's Sunset Junction is shaping up quite nicely, with Eels, Redd Kross, The Elected, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club conveniently scheduled on the same day. The 26th Annual Sunset Junction Street Fair, which takes place on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, August 26th and 27th. The hours are 10-11 both days. In addition to an abundance of things to buy, do, and eat, Sunset Junction offers a wealth of live music. Eels and the other aforementioned groups are playing on Saturday, as are Isaac Hayes and Great Northern. It turns out, Great Northern are a favorite band of a friend with especially great taste in music, so I'm eager to check them out. Sunday's line-up includes The Cramps and Hank Williams III.

Ticket prices are up this year, but they're still a bargain. $12 in advance (plus a minimum $3.24 service fee), and $15 after 4:00. Tickets are available now through Ticketweb.

Eels - I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart (available on Blinking Lights and other Revelations)

Redd Kross - Dancing Queen (from the "My Secret Life" single)

The Elected - Would You Come With Me (available on Sun, Sun, Sun)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Love Burns (available on B.R.M.C.)

The Cramps - She Said (Hasil Adkins cover, available on Bad Music for Bad People)

The Arrival Of Blipverts?

The, late, great television show Max Headroom envisioned a bleak, vaguely familiar future. Its people were a bit obsessed with television. The corporations were bloated and relatively unconstrained by law or notions of scruples.

A fine example of corporate misbehavior in the world of Max Headroom can be found in the first episode, which introduced blipverts, commercials which displayed a series of images at a very fast speed, so they took much less time to air. Advertisers only intended to subliminally implant their messages with viewers, which some might find unethical enough. The speed and intensity of the flashing images caused some viewers to explode, which is pretty unequivocally unacceptable.

Now Clear Channel is considering selling one-second radio ads, dubbed "Blinks". The company is in talks with media buyers and marketers about the potential market for very brief ads.

The consensus seems to be that brands already known to the public could use such ads to reinforce their brand identity with a quick sound aired as the entire ad. They give the example of a Mini Cooper's horn honking.

Whether the advertising would work or not is unclear. Less open to speculation is whether or not this brings Clear Channel a lot of attention. It does, and that's unfortunate. They deny it's all a publicity stunt. Given other instances of blipvert-like advertising (all minus the exploding-people part), it's easy to believe them. Which is... fortunate?

Art Of Noise (Featuring Max Headroom) - Paranoimia (available on Best Of Art Of Noise)

Paul Weller - Blink And You'll Miss It (available on Catch-Flame: Live at the Alexandra Palace)

Wire - The Commercial (available on Pink Flag)

Music to Operate By

The use of patients' favorite music during surgery has been shown to lessen the need for sedation. The New York Times' examination of the use of music in operating rooms points to studies showing that music improves surgeons' performance.

While preferences vary widely, it's hard to argue with Dr. William B. Inabnet's take on the Red Hot Chili Peppers. "That's good pancreas music," he says. He favors upbeat music for more complicated operations, but ordinarily would rather listen to jazz standards. He names John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday as favorites.

Dr. Marc Bessler puts in a vote for Abba, adding, "There's no gangsta rap in my O.R."

Dr. Paul Ruggieri said he's in a Sinatra and Diana Krall phase, but likes "Smoke In The Water" when he's in a "hyped mood".

The retired Dr. Nas Eftekhar used Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" to help him time key moments during joint replacement surgeries.

Meanwhile, in St. Paul, a surgeon plays reggae for "closing" during brain surgery.

John Coltrane - Acknowledgment (available on Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: John Coltrane)

Boston Symphony - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Allegro (available on Mozart: The Greatest Hits)

Elefant - Why (available on the Scrubs 2 soundtrack by digital download and on Elefant's The Black Magic Show)

Abba - Waterloo (available on ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits)

Diana Krall - Temptation (available on The Girl In The Other Room)

DJ Promo To Attempt World Record DJ Set

From June 12th, 9 AM Australian Eastern Standard Time, to June 15th, 1:00 PM AEST, in Melbourne, Australia's Federation Square, British-born DJ Promo (a.k.a. Matt Solo) will try to set a new world record for the longest continuous DJ session. His 100-hour goal would put him well ahead of Genix's current 84-hour record, set just last April. In the process, he'll raise funds for charity and be studied by sleep researchers. He's even doing it all drug-free! (unless you consider caffeine a drug. Or taurine. Or guarana).

Look, he's not a superhero. However, DJ Promo has undergone a transformation of sorts, aided by diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and training. He tells Aussie Electronic music site TranZfusion the world record attempt was the inspiration to change his life which he thought was "losing direction". While DJ Promo worked hard to see improvement, you can try visualizing the changes via a Rocky/Karate Kid-style montage.

The new, leaner, super-efficient DJ is still allowed a whopping ten seconds of silence between tracks, but he may not even need seven seconds' grace.

But wait, there's more. The entire time, at least one person must be dancing. Fortunately, it need not be the same person. In fact, the rules specify that no one is allowed to stay in the "dancing audience" for longer than four hours at one time.

To keep people dancing for just under four hours and motivate them to return later, DJ Promo will spin house music, hold the ambient and trance. He plans on "trying" to not repeat any tracks and estimates about 1500 4-minute songs during his 100-hour set.

Like Genix, DJ Promo is using his epic-length DJ session to raise funds for charity. Contributions will be collected for two organizations. The Big Issue, a magazine that "campaigns on behalf of homeless and socially excluded people", is also sold by people who are homeless, so it gives them a source of income. Melbourne's Challenge provides provides recreation and a support network to both children who have cancer or other life-threatening blood disorders, and to those close to them.

DJ Promo will also assist the University of South Australia's Centre for Sleep Research as a case study in the impact of sleep deprivation on performance. He's agreed to wear a monitoring device and answer questionnaires about how sleepy he is and "any symptoms he's experiencing".

In addition to helping sleep research, DJ Promo may be glad to have some busywork to keep him occupied during his set. Filling out a questionnaire about how tired he is may be just the thing!

Indeed, the Centre's Dr. Jill Dorian predicts mood changes, possible "micro-sleeps", and warns that DJ Promo is "certainly going to feel very sleepy." If she's going to bring that sort of a negative attitude to Federation Square, I hope she at least plans on dancing.

Idlewild - As If I Hadn't Slept (available on Warnings/Promises)

The La's - I Can't Sleep (available on The La's)

The Deathray Davies - Plan To Stay Awake (available on The Kick And The Snare)

Saint Etienne - Carnt Sleep (available on Foxbase Alpha)

Electric Six - Dance-A-Thon 2005 (available on Señor Smoke)

Music Week Music Vision Awards

Each "small piece of marble with plastic decorage" has been handed out at the Music Week Music Vision Awards, which honor achievements relating to music videos, DVDs, commercials, and music channels. Information about who won the awards this year is slowly trickling out.

Dom&Nic won both Best Electronica Video and Best Video for The Chemical Brothers' "Believe".

Arni & Kinski won the award for Best Rock Video for Sigur Ros' "Glosoli". The other nominees were Mew's "Special", Oasis' "The Importance Of Being Idle", Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", Franz Ferdinand's "Walk Away", and Kaiser Chiefs' "Modern Way".

Several of the nominees have similar themes and imagery (such as death, suicide, jumping into water one-by-one, a sort of near-flying, and a nonchalant, sometimes jaunty attitude toward death).

Sigur Ros - "Glosoli":



Mew - "Special":



My favorite in the category is Franz Ferdinand's "Walk Away", which did win Annie Gregson an award for Best Art Direction:



Sigur Ros - Glosoli (available on Takk)

The Chemical Brothers - Believe (available on Push The Button)

Scott Lyon of Factory Films won the award for Best Video Director, and Zeno Campbell, also of Factory Films, won Best Producer.

Undergrads Possibly Consider iPods More "In" Than Beer

In a recent Student Monitor survey, undergraduate college students were asked to name the most "in" thing, choosing from a list of items.

Despite the many headlines proclaiming that
students prefer iPods to beer, the results aren't quite that clear.

According to the survey, iPods were named as "in" the most frequently. 73% of the survey's 1,200 students said iPods are "in", edging out drinking beer and facebook.com which were both named by 71% of students. However, the poll's margin of error is 2.3%. Given the difference between the leading contenders and the margin of error, that still makes the iPod the probable winner, but we can't be sure. We can't know that the iPod is more "in" than drinking beer or facebook.com.

USA Today neglected to mention the survey's margin of error, but did speak with a representative of Student Monitor and get a bit of additional information. For instance, they ask whether "chasing the opposite sex" is still "in". "What we have seen in the past 10 years is they are more likely to be doing that in groups than individually," Student Monitor's Eric Weil replies. "Maybe they think there's strength in numbers."

Maybe they hope the other people will keep your designated-driver/date distracted while you listen to music, mess around on the computer, and drink.

The Get Up Kids - Beer For Breakfast (available on Eudora)

Reel Big Fish - Beer (available on Turn The Radio Off)

Joss Stone - Understand (available on Mind Body & Soul)

"I keep our song on repeat
On my iPod, even when I sleep"

The Raconteurs at Amoeba, Hollywood

This morning in Hollywood, the Raconteurs, performed nearly every song on their debut album to a packed house in the first of their two Amoeba Music shows of the day. (They played at the San Francisco Amoeba at 9:30 tonight)

The band might not have felt fresh off their Wednesday night Henry Fonda Music Box concert, as the crowd was repeatedly advised that "per the artists' request" no photography or taping of the concert was allowed. A few people defiantly took photos and recorded video with their cellphones anyway. The footage will likely not prove shocking to anyone who knows musicians sometimes don t-shirts.

Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, Patrick Keeler, and Dean Fertita may not be morning people but they rocked quite well at the 11 o'clock hour today. After the opening "Hands", one of the strongest songs in the set, "Level", found Benson and White trading playful vocals and dueling sulky guitar riffs. The quirky "Intimate Secretary" was another highlight, particularly for its shimmering synth work by Fertita. Keeler's drumming was perhaps most attention-grabbing for its sheer ferocity on "Store Bought Bones", while Lawrence's strong basslines propel "Bones".

The band was not chatty, but the singers did greet the crowd, and Benson called Amoeba the greatest record store in the world. More unusually, White dedicated the set's last song, "Blue Veins", to "the Mexicans in the crowd." A fairly small portion of the crowd cheered, and a beat later, White added, "We're all immigrants." Maybe so, but only Mexicans (and not Mexican-Americans) would get a Raconteurs song dedicated to them at the Hollywood Amoeba show. Trend-watchers, take note: white/black/Asian/non-Mexican Latino shame may be "in" soon. Granted, it's hard to tell whether some of the crowd were standing stock still and silent for the first portion of the song in shame, silent contemplation of their immigrant status, or perhaps reminding themselves to get their parking validated. Whatever the answer, they seemed to surrender to the song's groove soon enough. The band puts on a strong live show, even at 11 AM.

The Raconteurs - Level (available on Broken Boy Soldiers)

The Raconteurs Tour Dates:

July:

16 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
18 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
19 - San Diego, CA - SOMA
20, 21 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern LG
22, 23 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
25 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
26 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Malkin Bowl
27 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre

August:

3 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
4 - Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
5 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
6 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues

September:

14 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
15 - Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Live
16 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
19 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
20 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
22 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
24 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
26 - New York, NY - Roseland
28 - Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
29 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
30 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis

Mojo Honours List 2006 Winners

Mojo magazine announced all the winners and handed out pointy "M"-shaped awards during their Mojo Honours List 2006 ceremony.

The Jesus and Mary Chain won the Maverick Award but a scheduled reunion of the band's brothers did not occur. Jim and William Reid have a stormy history and reportedly have not spoken in eight years. Jim showed up; his brother did not. Jim Reid accepted the award and said, "I would like to thank my big brother - for not coming."

Scott Walker won the Mojo Icon Award. Elton John was inducted into the Hall of Fame, though Axl Rose had been scheduled to present him with the honor, and did not show up at the ceremony.

Corinne Bailey Rae won the Best New Act Award. David Gilmour won the Lifetime Achievement Award. Chrissie Hynde was presented the Mojo Songwriter award by Mick Jones. The award is intended for "an artist whose career has been defined by their ability to consistently pen classic material." Buzzcocks won the Mojo Inspiration Award, and the nominees were given Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat.


The Winners:

Best New Act: Corinne Bailey Rae
Hall of Fame: Sir Elton John
Lifetime Achievement: David Gilmour
Mojo Icon: Scott Walker
Songwriter Award: Chrissie Hynde
Les Paul Award: Brian May
Mojo Medal: Jools Holland
Catalogue Release: Legend by Johnny Cash
Vision Award (Film/DVD): The Fearless Freaks by Flaming Lips
Classic Album: Tago Mago by Can
Mojo Maverick: Jesus and Mary Chain
Mojo Hero: Prince Buster
Inspiration Award: Buzzcocks
Roots Award: Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham
Mojo Merit: Bert Jansch

Corinne Bailey Rae - Like A Star (available on Corinne Bailey Rae)

The Pretenders - Message Of Love (available on Greatest Hits)

The Pretenders - Precious (available on Pretenders)

The Jesus and Mary Chain - April Skies (available on 21 Singles 1984-1998)

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Snakedriver (available on 21 Singles 1984-1998)

Buzzcocks - Fast Cars (available on Another Music In A Different Kitchen)

Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman Do Right Man (written by Roots Award winner Dan Penn, along with Chips Moman. Available on Greatest Hits)

It's *not* the end of the world?

So, it's almost 6-7-06, and we're all still here. What's the deal? All that hype and no end of the world? I was pretty sure that was it. World over. Okay, good. Business as usual. Music!

Coldplay - Clocks (available on A Rush of Blood to the Head)

Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand - Tell Him (available on Let's Talk About Love)

The Brady Bunch - It's A Sunshine Day (available on It's a Sunshine Day: The Best of the Brady Bunch)

John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (available on St. Elmo's Fire: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Ed Harcourt - Rain (by request... available on Mojo - Revolver Reloaded)

Dylan Covers

The July Q includes a couple of playlists containing Bob Dylan covers, one by Q, the other by the reader who won this month's playlist contest.

Below, the Q playlist, followed by some Dylan covers from neither.

Q's Bob Dylan Essential Playlist:

1. The White Stripes - Love Sick (live) (available on whitestripes.net
2. Scott Walker - I Threw It All Away (available on the Five Easy Pieces box set)
3. Pearl Jam - Masters Of War (available on Benaroya Hall)
4. PJ Harvey - Highway 61 Revisited (available on Rid Of Me)
5. Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (available on These Foolish Things)
6. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity - This Wheel's On Fire (available on Get Auger-nized!)
7. Fairport Convention - Percy's Song (available on Unhalfbricking)
8. Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower (available on Electric Ladyland)
9. Them - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (available on Them Again)
10. The Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man (available on Mr Tambourine Man)

Other Dylan Covers:

Elvis Costello - I Threw It All Away (available on Kojak Variety)

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Death Is Not The End (feat. PJ Harvey, Anita Lane, Shane MacGowan, and Kylie Minogue; available on Murder Ballads)

Stereophonics - Positively 4th Street (from some versions of the "Pick A Part That's New" single)

Paul Westerberg - Positively 4th Street (from Uncut: Hard Rain Vol. 2: A Tribute To Bob Dylan)

Willard Grant Conspiracy - Ballad Of A Thin Man (from Uncut: Highway 61 Revisited - Revisited)

Drive-By Truckers - Like A Rolling Stone (from Uncut: Highway 61 Revisited - Revisited)

Q Magazine: Mellow Gold CD

Purchase the July Q in the UK and the cover looks as pictured above, with the mag's festival coverage the main focus. An interview with Keane is also highlighted, and the band is pictured (albeit in a smaller size than most Q cover subjects). Buy this Q in the States and you get a rather unflattering photo of a vacant-looking James Blunt with the cover line: "James Blunt: 'There's 53 ways I could kill you.'"

In context, what he actually said in the interview:

(Q is asking Blunt about his time serving with the NATO-led forces in Kosovo)

How does it feel to be shot at?

You expect to be in a war zone. It's interesting. You hope that instinct kicks in. I was always happily surprised at how well the training does actually work.

Could you still kill someone with a spoon?

Throughout this interview I've been assessing you and all the various instruments around you, and I've found 53 items with which to destroy you if you ask the wrong question.

The actual line might not sound as menacing (or obnoxious), but at least it's accurate (assuming Q transcribed it correctly).

Q lists 50 summer anthems in this issue, but at first glance the list didn't impress me by including 10 songs each from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Who. More interesting is some quirky content in the mag, such as their recommendation of an MP3-playing Swiss army knife as an "essential buy". It's probably essential partly because it could help you destroy someone in a couple dozen ways (if you needed to, strictly to save your own life).

If you ever have to do that with your MP3-playing Swiss army knife, and the person you're destroying happens to be Tom Jones, he's helpfully listed the last ten songs he wants to hear before he dies. The top three: #1: his own "It's Not Unusual", #2: Prince's "Little Red Corvette", #3: Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You). (He's trying to kill you; don't take the time to play him more than three songs)

Included with this month's issue: Mellow Gold, a compilation of "15 Soothing Sounds For Summer".

Q Mellow Gold Track Listing:

1. Elliott Smith - A Fond Farewell
2. Sondre Lerche - Track You Down
3. Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Skin
4. Clayhill - One Nerve (available on Mine At Last)
5. I Am Kloot - From Your Favorite Sky (available on I Am Kloot)
6. Shack - Shelly Brown
7. Billy Bragg - Walk Away Renee (Version)
8. Evan Dando - Shots Is Fired
9. Big Star - Thirteen
10. David Kitt - Dancing In The Moonlight (Thin Lizzy cover, available on The Black And Red Notebook)
11. Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos (available on The Big Star Story)
12. Neko Case - John Saw That Number
13. Wilco - Jesus Etc. (Live)
14. The Tenderfoot - Still Holding My Stomach In
15. Jim Noir - Turn Your Frown Into A Smile

50 Favorite Albums Poll

The Official UK Charts Company, which compiles music and video charts in the UK, is conducting a favorite albums poll. The goal: "THE definitive, official list of your favourite NO. 1 albums of all time: from 1956 to the present day." You can choose 1-50 albums out of a list of 780 choices. The list begins with Frank Sinatra's Songs For Swingin' Lovers and ends with Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium. While it would make sense for the poll to be only for UK residents, I didn't see such a restriction.

Songs from a few albums on the list:

Athlete - Trading Air (available on Tourist)

Mansun - Wide Open Space (available on Attack of the Grey Lantern)

Elastica - Car Song (available on Elastica)

New Polaris Prize For Best Canadian Album

On June 6th, a new $20,000 music award, the Polaris Music Prize, "will be launched". However, according to one of their jurors, a reporter for Jam! Music, as of today, the award "has been launched".

So there are a few bugs in the system. This much is clear: on June 6, organizers will announce (again, only in-person), the new award, which they compare to the UK's Mercury Prize. The 10-album Polaris Shortlist will be announced on July 4th in a blatant attempt to steal thunder from the United States' Independence Day.

American music bloggers will no doubt feel Torn Between Country And Duty, as they pound they their desks (if they have more than one) with frustration, crying out, "What do I write about today? Something patriotic or the Polaris Prize?" Torn Between Country And Duty would surely make a stirring TV-movie. However, to save on costs it would likely wind up shooting in Canada.

The Polaris Prize winner will be announced (and given the cash) in September, in a blatant attempt to detract attention from a possible stirring Wham reunion in England. Clever Canadians.

The only standard for the Prize is "artistic excellence, irrespective of genre or sales"

The aforementioned reporter quotes the letter she received inviting her to serve on the Polaris jury:

Polaris winners will be selected solely on artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation...If you accept, you'll be asked to submit a list of five Canadian albums you think represent the best music of the year. There are no criteria other than your own impeccable taste. There is no entry process. No big box of CDs will land on your desk, no salesman will call.

Albums must be at least 30 minutes or 8 tracks long and have been released between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006.

The Polaris Music Prize organization is a registered, not-for-profit organization, with major funding from the Retail Music Association of Canada and the Canadian Recording Industry Association. A compilation of tracks from Shortlist-nominated albums will be released by Warner Music Canada, with funds going to the Polaris organization.

The Executive Director is Steve Jordan, former A&R Director for True North Records. He cites the initial success of Canadian artists such as The Arcade Fire, Kathleen Edwards, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sarah Harmer, The Weakerthans, Buck 65, The Constantines, K-OS, Feist and Broken Social Scene in Canada, as they were "embraced by journalists and progressive radio programmers" before they became successful elsewhere. Jordan says, "With Polaris, we will harness that energy and turn it into something that Canadian music fans will get excited about."

Kathleen Edwards - Summerlong (available on Back to Me)

The Weakerthans - This Is A Firedoor Never Leave Open (available on Left & Leaving)

Buck 65 - The Suffering Machine (available on Secret House Against The World)