Trunk-Or-Treat? Kids Collect Many Treats, Few Trunks

While taking candy from strangers is a well-known danger -- and thus, a particularly delightful aspect of Halloween for many kids, in my day, gathering all that candy from strangers required lots of tiresome exercise walking from house to house.

Why should kids have to work for their candy? They're kids! Also, why is there a Mother's Day and a Father's Day, but no Kids' Day? And don't tell me every day is Kids' Day. That's nonsense. Heard of homework? Chores? Alright then.

At least someone is thinking of the children. "Halloween tailgating" (or, if you prefer, "trunk-or-treating"), merely requires kids to walk around a parking lot seeking candy from vehicle trunks, many of which are decorated for the holiday. With this practice, there's less risk of burning away the calories they'll consume from the candy -- and children are still growing, they might need all those calories.

"Trunk or treat!", however, makes no sense. Is someone going to give them a trunk? I think not. Come on!

A P.T.A. President quoted in today's New York Times article about trunk-or-treating, says parents don't have "to worry about whose house our kid is going to, or if the kid will get hit by a car or get lost in the woods."

She lives in a rural area, and perhaps trunk-or-treating is ideal for such areas, but parental supervision is still key whether you're walking with your kids on a public street or in a parking lot. They don't have to be clad in an invisible pedestrian costume to be at risk. Hopefully, Halloween tailgating, and similar arrangements, set up at least partially for the convenience of parents -- and to set their minds at ease -- do not breed complacency.

Not quite a Halloween song -- it's late to post a Halloween track... this is a weird, and great song that feels suitable for the day:

Shudder To Think Feat. Liz Phair - Erecting A Movie Star (YSI link, available on the soundtrack to First Love, Last Rites)

Awards Presented To Musicians During Ceremony

Oasis won Best Act in the World Today at the Q Awards in London today, while Muse won Best Live Act.

Anthony Mandler directed the The Killers' video for "When You Were Young". Tim Burton presented the award to the band, and by a nonshocking noncoincidence, he also directed their latest video.

It's not all about sheer promotional value, or the Killers wouldn't consent to that video being taken down from YouTube... unless they and/or their record label think making vigorous efforts to stop fans from spreading promotional videos (much like a virus!) is somehow in the bands' best interests. The Q Award-winning video is also being removed from the site. The Killers don't want you to see it, so it's not posted here. My suggestion is that if you think that sucks, don't buy anything by the band or see them in concert. Don't financially support the group if you think their policies blow.

The awards for Oasis, Muse, and the Killers were chosen by Q readers, but such a plethora of awards were chosen by Q itself that there might have been a risk that no one was going to leave the ceremony without a Q Award.

The Awards have many iffy elements -- from corporate-sponsored awards to presenters chosen with the winners in mind. But then this is an award presentation ceremony, and not intended to be surprising. Perhaps we should be grateful that the event is not televised.

Because the audience loses some entertainment from missing a surprise at who wins each award, they might appreciate the surprise factor of seeing who will trash who. Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner takes early (dis)honors this year, though more reports of nasty comments are likely. Turner trashed Take That. He also made a gay joke about Boy George, though to give him the benefit of the doubt, it's hard to tell if in the context of the ceremony it was not obnoxious, and, why, not even annoyingly laddish. Earlier, "Karma Chameleon" had won The Q Classic Song Award, and Take That the Q Idol Award. Arctic Monkeys also reportedly "refused to pose for pictures with other artists."

Oasis' Noel Gallagher said his brother Liam took his kids to the zoo instead of going to the awards, and said, "The monkeys are bringing their kids to have a look at him." By Oasis standards, that's pretty darn mild.

The Q Award Winners:

Best New Act: (Presented by Edith Bowman and Danny McNamara)

Lily Allen
Corinne Bailey Rae
The Kooks
Arctic Monkeys
Orson

Best Track: (Presented by Larry Mullen)

Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars"
Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
Scissor Sisters - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"
The Feeling - "Never Be Lonely"
Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"

Best Live Act: (Presented by Emily Eavis)

Oasis
Razorlight
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Arctic Monkeys
Muse:



Best Album: (Presented by Sugababes)

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Kasabian - Empire
Keane - Under The Iron Sea
Razorlight - Razorlight
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open

Best Video: (Presented By Tim Burton)

Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Kasabian - Empire
Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?
The Killers - When You Were Young

Best Act In The World Today: (Presented by Ricky Tomlinson)

Muse
Coldplay
U2
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Oasis

Oasis - Acquiesce (available on The Masterplan, etc.)

Oasis - I Am The Walrus (Live) (from Q's Lennon Covered #1 CD, a studio version is a B-side on the "Cigarettes & Alcohol" single, an edited version is on The Masterplan)

The People's Choice Award: (Presented by Jonathan Ross)

Winner: Arctic Monkeys

Award Winners Chosen By Q:

The Q Inspiration Award (Presented by Girls Aloud)
Winner: a-ha

a-ha - Less Than Pure (available on Lifelines)

The Q Outstanding Contribution To Music Award (Presented by Jay Kay)
Winner: Smokey Robinson

The Q Groundbreaker Award (Presented by Russell Brand)
Winner: Primal Scream

The Q Icon Award (Presented by James Dean Bradfield)
Winner: Jeff Lynne (ELO frontman)

The Q Idol Award (Presented by Jonathan Ross)
Winner: Take That

The Q Outstanding Performance Award (Presented by Danny Rampling)
Winner: Faithless

The Q Classic Songwriter Award (Presented by Paul Weller)
Winner: Noel Gallagher

The Q Lifetime Achievement Award (Presented by Moby)
Winner: Peter Gabriel

The Q Merit Award (Presented by John Cale and
Johnny Borell)
Winner: Manic Street Preachers

The Q Innovation In Sound Award (Presented by Jonathan Ross)
Winner: The Edge

The Q Classic Song Award (Presented by Jamelia)
Winner: Culture Club for Karma Chameleon

The Q Classic Songwriter Award (Presented by Paul Weller)

Winner: Noel Gallagher

The Q Legend Award (Presented by Muse's Matt Bellamy)
Winner: The Who

The Q Award Of Awards (Presented by Q Editor Paul Rees)
Winner: U2

Oxford American Southern Music CD

Oxford American's annual music issue includes coverage of cover songs, country music, Southern music, Bob Dylan, DJ Ayres, music production, and music writing (good versus bad). They also have stuff about artists who have tracks on the disc that comes with the magazine.

All links are YSI

2006 Oxford American Southern Music CD Track Listing:

Intro: Music From "The Middlin' Suite" by Slade Lewis, spoken words by Joey Lauren Adams.

1. Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers - Goin' Back to New Orleans
2. Jeannie C. Riley - Words, Names, Faces
3. Uncle Dave Macon - Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy
4. Big Star - Stroke It Noel (so original and lovely)
5. Tex Williams - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
6. Junior Kimbrough - I Cried Last Night
7. The Armstrong Twins - Beetle with the Boogie Woodie Beat
8. Sharon Jones - How Long Do I Have to Wait for You (Radio Edit) (poor Sharon sings this while Katherine's so blissful. But by gum, we need both kinds of songs)
9. The Swan Silvertones - Oh Mary, Don't You Weep
10. Bob Dorough - Three Is A Magic Number
11. Muhammad Ali - Theme from Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay
12. Louis Moreau Gottschalk played by Amiram Rigai - Souvenir de Porto Rico
13. Drivin 'N' Cryin - Straight to Hell
14. Gary Stewart - Single Again
15. The 6ths Featuring Katherine Whalen - You You You You You (by jove, I think she's smitten smitten smitten smitten smitten! But possibly also infatuated -- she says she's only met the person recently, and she might really creep them out with this song! She already wants to "choose the day" (to marry?!) It is quite pretty, though... aside from the "kinda creepy" angle.)
16. Bob Dorough - Right On My Way Home
17. Andy Griffith - Mama Guitar
18. The NuGrape Twins - I Got Your Ice Cold NuGrape
19. We The People - She Does Everything For Me
20. Eartha Kitt - C'est Si Bon
21. Richard Hell - Blank Generation
22. Sam Cooke - Tennessee Waltz
23. Townes Van Zandt - Nothin'
24. Sun Ra - We Travel The Spaceways (experimental jazz)

Mixmag's DJ Touché''s House Party Dynamite CD

Not only are Basement Jaxx on the cover of October's Mixmag, they're deemed heroes -- and as far as I know they can't even paint the future or stop time. But this is a different kind of heroism. "50+ stars of rave" have spoken and named "their heroes of dance music" for Mixmag's cover story. More on that later. For now, a sampling of their free CD, Mixmag Presents DJ Touché's House Party Dynamite.

(All links are YSI)

Mixmag Presents DJ Touché's House Party Dynamite Track Listing:

1. Wekan - Skid (Touché Nu Club Edit)
2. Whitey - Wrap It Up
3. The Futureheads - Worry About It Later (Switch Remix)
4. Chameleonic - Apex
5. Philipe De Boyar - Formerly Unknown
6. Sebastian - Ross Ross Ross
7. Djvt - Watskeburt (Touché Remix)
8. The Digital Blonde - Dirty Blonde
9. David Farlow - How I Roll (Boy 8 Bit's 42nd St Grindhouse Remix)
10. Phunk Electric - Video Games Crash (Touché Mixmag Edit) (DJTouché: "just released on Southern Fried. I love this mix!")
11. Mark Romboy and Stephan Bodzin - Phobos (DJ Touché: "An astonishing record I can listen to in any situation. It hits all the right buttons.")
12. Surkin - Radio Fireworks
13. Erick Morillo Feat. P. Diddy - Dance I Said (Touché Vocal Mix)
14. Hostage - Let's Pretend
15. Neat People - Baby I'm Bored (Kissy Sell-Out Remix)

Fan Bets She'll Marry Robbie Williams

"We have a lot in common, because like me he's around the same age and has no children." With that reasoning, a 33 year-old Robbie Williams fan bet £10 the two will marry. At 1,000/1 odds she stands to make £10,000 if the two do wed.

Frances Ingram, a store supervisor from Chester, England, also placed a £40 bet that Williams will ask her on a date. That one could make her £4,000.

Ingram says she has had two long "discussions" with the singer in his website chatroom, though she didn't mention whether the two discussed marriage plans.

A spokesperson for the casino that took Ingram's bet notes that "it is the sort of wager that could become self-fulfilling."

Civilians do sometimes win dates with famous folks by gaining their attention with wacky schemes. A chap named Zach Slow raised $10,000 to get a date with Lady Sovereign, the last $500 in exchange for an hour of brainstorming about "viral campaigns" for "a company in Santa Barbara".

The idea that celebrity does not equal inaccessibility is appealing, and why shouldn't creativity be rewarded? Still, just because a woman is "Emotionally Invested In Jennifer Aniston's Well-Being", she doesn't have the right to spend time with her. Even if she thinks of a clever and/or successful way to attract media attention.

It's manipulative to try to think of a creative way to force a celebrity - or anyone - to spend time with you. Ingram could well be thinking Williams will look like a cad if he doesn't ask her out. These encounters offer celebrities free publicity, and they milk the "dates" for all they're worth. It's difficult to find these stories cute when it boils down to each side manipulating the other, as well as the media and the public.

Robbie Williams - Making Plans For Nigel (from the "Old Before I Die" (CD1) single, You Send it link. Uploaded it to EZ Archive last night and didn't make a note of the link. I tried to figure out the new EZ Archive to afternoon, to no avail. Couldn't figure out the link, the site wasn't allowing MP3s to be downloaded, and then I was locked out of the site. When there are technical difficulties, I'll use YSI, and include a (YSI link) note.)

On a technical note...

The currently-uploaded MP3s are being transfered from the old EZArchive to the shiny, new EZ Archive 3.0. This process "could take anywhere from a few minutes to many hours", it's sort of like [insert your own trite joke HERE. May I suggest something about delayed flights?].

Just wanted to explain the temporary unavailability of music, especially if it stretches on for longer than "a few minutes".

Peace, out!

Paste Magazine November CD

"tHE IMPENEtRABLE Beck HANSEN" graces the cover of the latest Paste. If he's truly (metaphorically) impenetrable, that might make for a fairly short cover story. Perhaps the use of large, wacky fonts could add length and interest. Even the most experienced and caffeinated reporter could only quiz him so long about his bright pink bow ties before collapsing with fatigue, forced to conclude that the man will just not give up any answers about his fashion choices.

Track Listing For Paste Sampler CD No. 26:

1. Beck - Strange Apparition
2. The Zutons - Valerie
3. Copeland - Control Freak
4. Joseph Arthur - Black Lexus
5. Shawn Colvin - Fill Me Up
6. The Hold Steady - Hot Soft Light
7. Jay Bennett - Replace You
8. Commuter - Chapters
9. Dashboard Confessional - Stolen
10. Melody Gardot - Goodnite
11. The Dears - Ticket To Immortality (Radio Edit)
12. Pernice Brothers - Somerville
13. Hacienda Brothers - Cowboys To Girls
14. Chris Thile - Stay Away
15. Caleb Engstrom - Screeching Bugs
16. Alex Woodard - Open Road
17. Steve Baskin - How I Feel
18. Barton Carroll - Cat On A Beach
19. Gran Bel Fisher - Moment
20. Bright Eyes - I Will Be Grateful For This Day, I Will Be Grateful For Each Day To Come

*rushing to publish this post before the latest Blogger outage, hence its brevity*

Roundup (Psapp/Zero 7/C86/Halloween Music)

While you're not blogging this afternoon*, you might buy a ticket or two to this Saturday's Zero 7 José González and Sia-enhanced concert. Psapp is opening, and that also adds the prospect of catching a Psapp-made cat during the show. 'Course if you're not within reasonable commuting distance of London's Brixton Academy, not sure why you'd want to spend money on the concert, but life is quite possibly at least partially about choices.

*non-bloggers are not excluded from this statement/post as they will not be blogging this afternoon either.

You might, though, instead choose to spend some time reading, perhaps Nicky Wire's tribute to C86 bands. This Friday and Saturday, in honor of the anniversary of the legendary C86 compilation, a series of concerts, film screenings, and exhibitions will be held at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

A new CD86 collection, CD86: 48 Tracks From The Birth Of Indie Pop, compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley, is out this week. There's of course also Indie MP3, dedicated both to "Keeping C86 Alive!" as well as to new groups.

Instant-messaging remains a reading alternative... sort of... Last week, a new beta of Gaim was released.

Firefox 2.0 was released yesterday, but if you're like me in terms of when you discovered Firefox 2.0 was released, you didn't learn that it's been released until today.

If you're already on the hunt for Halloween music, check out this nifty mix.

Psapp - This Way (available on The Only Thing I Ever Wanted)

Zero 7 - Speed Dial No. 2 (available on When It Falls )

Thomas Dolby To Tour With BT, Will Likely Wear Pants

Thomas Dolby and BT are set to embark on "An Evening With BT and Thomas Dolby" North American tour next month. The tour kicks off November 28 in San Diego's Solano Beach at Belly Up and ends December 22 at a to-be-announced location in New York City.

For Dolby, the tour coincides with the release of his live retrospective CD and DVD The Sole Inhabitant, which will be released via his own label on November 21.

BT will play music from This Binary Universe, a CD/DVD set of music and computer animation and art for which he created the soundtrack.

In addition to making "music in a garden shed" in his pajamas and planning just the right combination of "vintage oscilloscopes and signal generators" for his concerts, Dolby blogs

If you want to know why he thinks Cyndi Lauper hates him or which Depeche Mode songs he's partial to, wonder no longer.

He writes engagingly, for example taking a charming approach to writing about his discovery (at YouTube) of an old interview he did on a Japanese TV show. He uses the clip as an opportunity to discuss his love for YouTube, and writes self-deprecatingly about the interview ("I look completely spaced out"). He also posts pictures to illustrate his (understandable) displeasure with his wardrobe choices. Pointing people toward a less-than-flattering video would have been impressive enough, writing about it so amusingly is even better.

The interview:



Thomas Dolby Concerts:

Oct. 28 - San Francisco, CA - Cow Palace (Exotic Erotic Ball)
Nov. 15 - Cerritos, CA - Cerritos Center

BT "Laptop Symphony" Concert:

Nov. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

"An Evening With BT and Thomas Dolby" Tour Dates:

Nov. 28 - San Diego (Solana Beach), CA - Belly Up
Nov. 29 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
Nov. 30 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
Dec. 1 - Albuquerque, NM - El Ray Theatre,
Dec. 2 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up
Dec. 3 - - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
Dec. 6 - Austin, TX - Elysium
Dec. 7 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
Dec. 8 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Dec. 11 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
Dec. 15 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
Dec. 16 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
Dec. 17 - Tampa, FL - State Theatre
Dec. 19 - Norkfolk, VA - The Norva
Dec. 20 - Baltimore, MD - Recher Theatre
Dec. 21 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
Dec. 22 - New York City, NY - TBA

Thomas Dolby - One of Our Submarines (available on The Golden Age of Wireless, Retrospectacle, etc.)

Thomas Dolby - Airhead (available on Aliens Ate My Buick, etc.)

Thom Yorke 's Culture Show Interview

During an interview on BBC Two's The Culture Show Saturday night, Thom Yorke was asked what one song he'd like to be remembered by and quickly named Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" "because it's the most beautiful thing we ever did."

Although acknowledging that he seems like "a miserable bastard", Yorke said he believes "the whole point of music is it's life-affirming."

"Music is basically like mathematics, you know," Yorke told interviewer Lauren Laverne. "You're trying to form patterns, patterns that make you understand what is around you and patterns that help you get through the next day."

In the interview, Yorke also praised both official and unofficial forms of Internet media as far more important to Radiohead than any other form of coverage. He singled out his band's official website, unofficial Radiohead websites, and YouTube for praise.

Part one of the interview:



Part two of the interview:



A live 2001 Paris performance of "How to Disappear Completely":

Placebo At the Virgin Megastore Oct. 21

Placebo played a brief, but strong set to a large, enthusiastic crowd at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood yesterday.

From the opening "Because I Want You" to the closer "Meds", Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal, and Steve Hewitt played their signature bittersweet music and sounded cohesive through some audio problems during the second song, "Song To Say Goodbye".

Fans began lining up outside Virgin's Hollywood Boulevard storefront Saturday morning, awaiting the 2 PM concert, as alleged Winnie the Pooh and Superman dopplegängers walked by in search of tourists who would rather see Winnie the Pooh or Superman than some alternative band.

Once the crowd was let inside, shrieking ensued a few times as Brian Molko entered from a door near the back of the room. He entered the room, then left a few times, possibly to toy with us, or possibly to test how well everyone was obeying the "no flash photography" rule which had been announced over the loudspeaker several times. It's understandable that flashes could be distracting to a band, apparently to the extent that Molko felt comfortable grabbing a camera from someone who was flashing-away early during the set. The crowd cheered the move. At one point Molko got a shouted "I love you Brian". "You have exquisite taste young lady" he responded. A shouted "I love you Stefan" and some fan love for Hewitt followed.

The event was mismanaged by Virgin in several respects, but the patience of the band and the fans was impressive. Placebo stayed to sign autographs for everyone in line, which not every band does when faced with a huge in-store crowd (an employee said he didn't know how many wristbands were given away but guessed 300+. One fan had been told 50 would be given away. The purchase of any Placebo item was required to get a wristband, and the band would sign any one item.) Fan affection for Placebo seems to have encouraged warmth, or possibly the band just has nice fans; they were pretty well-behaved under some difficult circumstances, including dual autograph lines that resulted in one long line of fans being sent to stand behind the other after being told to stay where they were.



The Virgin Set:

1. "Because I Want You"
2. "Song To Say Goodbye"
3. "Jackie" (the band's cover of the Sinéad O'Connor song appears on the bonus disc of special editions of Sleeping With Ghosts and on the This Picture DVD)
4. "Meds"

Placebo's upcoming tour dates - all upcoming USA dates are part of their tour coheadling with She Wants Revenge:

Oct. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater
Oct. 24 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
Oct. 25 - Portland, OR - Roseland
Oct. 26 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
Oct. 28 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater
Oct. 29 - Kansas City - Beaumont Club
Oct. 31 - Mexico City - Palacio, De Los Deportes

Nov. 2 - Minneapolis - Fine Line
Nov. 3 - Chicago - Riviera
Nov. 4 - Cleveland - Agora Ballroom
Nov. 6. - Philadelphia - Electric Factory
Nov. 7. - New York - Nokia Theater
Nov. 8. - Boston - Roxy
Nov. 19. - Geneva, Switzerland - Arena
Nov. 21. - Lyon, France - Halle Tony Garnier
Nov. 22 - Toulouse, France - Zenith
Nov. 23 - Clermont, France - Ferrand
Nov. 25 - Jesolo (Venice) Italy - Palazzo Del Turismo
Nov. 26 - Bologna, Italy - Paladozza
Nov. 28 - Antwerp, Belgium - Sportpalais
Nov. 30 - Oberhausen, Germany - Arena

Dec. 1 - Rotterdam, Holland - Alloy Halle
Dec. 4 - Nantes France - Zenith
Dec. 6 - Glasgow, Scotland - SECC Glasgow (Archie Bronson outfit + Howling Bells opening)
Dec. 7 - Nottingham, England - Nottingham Arena (Archie Bronson outfit + Howling Bells opening)
Dec. 9 - London, England - Wembley Arena (Howling Bells + Archie Bronson Outfit opening)
Dec. 10 - Manchester, England - Evening News Arena (Howling Bells + Archie Bronson Outfit opening)
Dec. 13 - Vienna, Austria - Stadthalle
Dec. 15 - Berlin, Germany - Treptow Arena
Dec. 16 - Hamburg, Germany - Sporthalle
Dec. 17 - Leipzig, Germany - Messehalle
Dec. 19 - Hannover, Germany - AWD Hall
Dec. 20 - Mannheim, Germany - Sap Arena

Sonic Youth's Destroyed Room

Not only is Blogger down, but it's down with a new and interesting error page. It's as though it's called in sick with an exotic and mysterious X-Files type rash rather than with a cold.

If the poor dear's Servlet New Frontend is currently unavailable, then it's currently unavailable. I just wish I could bring its Servlet some cups of hot tea to help it recover.

This is an attempt to post-by-mail; hopefully these words will eventually show up on the site. I'll edit the post to improve the formatting when Blogger is back online and, naturally, when I'm back at ye olde computer.

Sonic Youth's forthcoming rarities compilation was about as quick-and-dirty as this post. The collection will be called The Destroyed Room: B-sides And Rarities and will be released December 11. Beyond that scant information, the album is a mystery, but the group has a wealth of tracks to draw from, including their cover songs such as "Ca Plane Pour Moi" and "I Know There's An Answer", many instrumental and experimental tracks, and numerous songs for compilations. Until The Whitey Album's reissue this past March, that would have made perfect material for Destroyed, but the Ciccone Youth songs should no longer qualify as rarities...

A couple of possibilities for the album:

Sonic Youth - Ca Plane Pour Moi (available on Freedom Of Choice)

Sonic Youth - Kim Chords (available on the UK edition of Sonic Nurse)

Sonic Youth Tour Dates:

Dec. 8-10 Somerset, UK - Nightmare Before Christmas
Dec. 11 and 12 - Brussels Belgium - Les Halles
Dec. 13 - Paris, France - Zenith
Dec. 15 - Den Haag, Holland - Paard Van Troje
Dec. 16 - Berlin, Germany - Fritz Club

edited to add: Blogger's message on the outage:

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Wow. Ok. So it hasn't been Blogger's weekend. Blogger was down for a little over three hours this evening, due to the near-simultaneous failure of a critical component and its backup. This outage also impacted the loading of many Blog*Spot blogs, which rely on Blogger for a CSS file.

We apologize profusely for this outage. Blogger should be working as normal now. The new version of Blogger in beta was not affected.

Nice try on the Beta Blogger thing, guys. Last I heard, it's had more than its share of problems too.

Portastatic & Sean Lennon

A pair of songs tonight - one by Portastatic and one by Sean Lennon



Portastatic - You Blanks (available on Be Still Please)

Portastatic is playing Oct. 21 in Atlanta, GA at The Earl.



Sean Lennon - Parachute (available on Friendly Fire)

Sean Lennon Tour Dates:

Nov. 1 Glasgow - Oran Mor (18+. I think this is the only show specified as 18+ that Jim Noir isn't mentioned as the opening act for. Is Noir's act not wholesome enough for kids?)

Nov. 2 - Dublin - The Village

Nov. 4 - Liverpool - Stanley Theatre

Nov. 5 - Manchester - Academy 2

Nov. 6 - Coventry - Warwick Arts Centre

Nov. 9 - London - St. James Church

Nov. 11 - Gent - Handelsbeurs

Nov. 12 - Paris - La Boule Noire (Part of Les Inrocks Festival)

Nov. 14 - Amsterdam - Melkweg (Old Hall)

Nov. 18 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre

Nov. 19 - San Fransico, CA - Great American Music Hall

Nov. 21 - Vancouver - Richard on Richards

Nov. 22 - Seattle, WA - Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room (all ages, possibly because Jim Noir might not be opening. I'm just saying.)

Dec. 11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue (with Jim Noir and 18+)

Dec. 12 - Chicaco, IL - Park West (all ages, possibly because Jim Noir has a) some sort of incredibly filthy act and b) other plans this evening.)

Dec. 13 - Toronto, ON - Opera House

Dec.. 15 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts

Dec. 16 - Boston, MA - Paradise

Dec. 17 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere

Dec. 18 - State College, PA - State Theatre

Dec. 19 - NYC, NY - Bowery Ballroom (with Jim Noir, and what do you know, it's 18+)

Dec. 22 - Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Tavern

Muse Is "Best Headline Act", Deserves Headlines

Muse won the most awards and arguably the most bragging rights at tonight's V Festival Awards, walking away as the voters' choice for Best Headline Act and Best Rock Act.

The Kooks took the Best Breakthrough Act prize, while The Streets, Prodigy, and Girls Aloud won the awards for Best Urban Act, Best Dance Act, and Best Pop Act, respectively (although a zany mix-up in which they won each-other's awards might have proved amusing)

Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" won the Anthem of the Summer award. Primal Scream was deemed "Festival Feel-Good Act" and Radiohead's V Festival performance of "Creep" was recognized as the Most Memorable Moment.

The V Festival Award Winners:

Best Headline Act: Muse

Muse - Endlessly (available on Absolution)

Anthem of the Summer: Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor"

Best Rock Act: Muse

Most Memorable Moment: Radiohead performing "Creep" at the V Festival:



Best Urban Act: The Streets

Festival Feel-Good Act: Primal Scream

Primal Scream - Slip Inside This House (available on Screamadelica)

Outstanding Contribution To Festivals: Melvin Benn (the managing director of Mean Fiddler Festivals, which includes the Reading and Leeds Festivals)

Best New Festival: End Of The Road Festival

Best Breakthrough Act: The Kooks

The Kooks - Eddie's Gun (available on Inside In/Inside Out)

Best Innovation: The Carling Cold Beer Amnesty

Best Dance Act: The Prodigy

Best Pop Act: Girls Aloud

Best Family Festival: Guilfest

Best One Day Festival: Monsters Of Rock

Best Toilets: Larmer Tree Festival

Party People Award For Dance Music: Lovebox

Fan-Friendly Festival: Isle of Skye

Best Grass Roots Festival: Beautiful Days

Shelter Award for Most Socially Responsible Festival: Sunrise Summer Solstice Celebration

Best Small Festival: The Summer Sundae Weekender

Best Medium-To-Large Festival: Bestival

Best Major Festival: T In The Park

Assorted Tuneage (The Tragically Hip, Richard Cheese, etc.)

Five Assorted Tunes:

The Tragically Hip - Fly (from their new album World Container.) "Fly" is one of the songs on which the Hip unfortunately resort to filling in lyrical gaps by singing "That's right", a crutch they're too good to need. It's something that might make the song annoying on repeated listens but so far, it's still one of my favorite songs on the album. First single "In View" is jangly fun. "Family Band" and "Luv"(sic) are also standouts. "The Lonely End Of The Rink" is likely a future single but I think it's just okay. It feels calculated to me, a bit too consciously trying to be a Great Song. Some of the songs could be a bit tighter lyrically ("Yer Not the Ocean") but Downie and co. sound great and are still producing catchy, smart rock.

Richard Cheese - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode's song transformed into a Christmas song, sort of, for Cheese's Christmas album Silent Nightclub, which includes covers of songs not generally thought of as holiday tunes such as, well, "Personal Jesus", as well as "Like A Virgin" and "I Melt With You". Keep a listen to the end of that one for a little surprise...)

Liquinova - Whatever Comes Along (a pretty electronic song by a duo working on their first album; available on Music For Cocktails (Part 6))

Josh Kelley - Beautiful Goodbye (lovely, twinkly ballad, available on the new album Just Say The Word)

Mirah - Telephone Wires (available on You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This, which is from 2000; I've wanted to post this for a while. Lots of songs express yearning; this is a wistful song with vocals that have a nostalgic, 50s quality and fuzzy guitars and bursts of mild feedback that sound unmistakably modern)

They Might Be Giants Announces Benefit Shows

They Might Be Giants has announced a handful of full-band shows - one is in Barcelona, Spain (on December 1) and the others are benefit concerts.

Funds from the shows, with the exception of one daytime Brooklyn show "for kids", will be donated to Generation Schools, a nonprofit organization that plans to open schools where children can receive an "academically rigorous, physically and creatively demanding, and socially and emotionally supportive" education. Money raised from the daytime Brooklyn show will go to Brooklyn PS146.

The They Might Be Giants Benefit Shows:

November 18 - Nyack, NY - a daytime show for kids and a nighttime show for adults

December 9 - Philadelphia, PA - two shows for kids

December 16 - Brooklyn, NY - a daytime show for kids (benefits Brooklyn PS146) and a nighttime show for adults

They Might Be Giants - Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas)

The Q Award Nominations Are Out

The Q award nominations have been announced. Arctic Monkeys and Muse received the most nominations (four and three, respectivey). Both groups were nominated for Best Live Act and Best Album. Muse was also nominated for Best Act In The World Today. Arctic Monkeys picked up additional nods for Best New Act and Best Track (for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", a song that is over a year old, albeit not in its album format).

Voting is open until October 20. The awards will be given October 30 at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London, where guest rooms offer bottled water for a fee. Any artists planning on spending the night may want to bring some extra money (or pack bottles of water in their luggage).

The Q Award Nominations:

Best New Act:

Lily Allen
Corinne Bailey Rae
The Kooks
Arctic Monkeys
Orson

Orson - So Ahead Of Me (available on Bright Idea)

Best Track:

Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars"
Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
Scissor Sisters - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"
The Feeling - "Never Be Lonely"
Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"

Best Live Act:

Oasis
Razorlight
Muse
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Arctic Monkeys

Best Album:

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Kasabian - Empire

Keane - Under The Iron Sea

Keane - Atlantic (available on Under The Iron Sea)

Razorlight - Razorlight
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open

Best Video:

The Killers - When You Were Young
Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Kasabian - Empire
Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces:



The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?

Best Act In The World Today:

Muse
Coldplay
Oasis
U2
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Celebrating The Squeezebox

The 2006 International Accordian Festival brought squeezebox players from as far away as China to San Antonio to celebrate their favorite instrument.

In honor of the accordian, and the Festival, which concluded today, this awesome video:

12 More Songs You Have To Hear

The latest issue of The Word includes another installment of their series "12 More Songs You Have To Hear":

1. Gary Portnoy - "Where Everybody Knows Your Name"

(Chosen by Bob Hardy of Franz Ferdinand, who explains, in part: "It's the theme from Cheers! Whenever my mind is clear and I'm walking down the road in a good mood, it just comes into my head. It's my default song. Probably never fashionable and never gonna be, but it makes me feel good. And no, I don't associate it with Ted Danson's face! I don't even like Cheers that much. The song was the best bit, although it's quite funny to have such a successful sitcom about, basically, a bunch of alcoholics. The Wedding Present did a cover of this song on a singles collection a few years ago and I thought it was really good. So I tracked down the original on iTunes and it's just as good.")

2. The Who - "Baba O'Riley"

(Chosen by Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno, who calls it "such an incredible track for the way it mixes early electronica with this all-out anthemic feel.")

3. Jackson C. Frank - "Marcy's Song"

(Chosen by Bert Jansch who says "it's just the sort of thing I'd sing, actually! In fact, I might do my own version one day.")

4. Les Fleurs featuring Minnie Ripperton - "Les Fleurs"

(Chosen by Lily Allen, who calls it "a beautiful, big sounding song, maybe like a song from a Rufus Wainwright album if they spent a million quid on it.")

5. Otis Redding - A Change Is Gonna Come (available on Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology)

(Chosen by Paul Rogers: "There's an emotional depth, an experience of life that comes into it. He's not just singing for himself, he's singing for you. Whatever your challenge is in any situation in life, you stick that on and you can do it. You're not just listening to music, you're being spiritually charged and inspired to go and do whatever you have to do, and that's what I look for in music.")

6. Simon and Garfunkel - "America"

(Chosen by Jon Ronson, who deems it "brilliant" and the lyrics "incredibly good".)

7. Portishead - "Sour Times"

(Chosen by Jim Noir who begins with "I know it's basically a Lalo Schifrin sample with a breakbeat on it and some singing by a miserable cow" -- and this is for a song he loves! He continues -- "but it's a mixture of all these things that make it such a special sounding tune." He praises the drums and bassline and says, "Basically, I wish I had written this song and, to be honest, I hate it for exactly the same reason.")

8. Johnny Boy - "You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve"

(Chosen by Word reader Stephen Davies who thinks the song should be "piped on permanent rotation in shopping malls the length and breadth of the land as a public service.")

9. Suicide - "Ghost Rider" (Chosen by Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx who says it's "subtle and eerie, even if I'm not entirely sure what they're on about. 'Ghost Rider, motorcycle hero, America is killing its youth.' Eh?")

10. Nic Jones - Annan Water (Chosen by James Yorkston who loves the lyrics, "the weary singing and the understated, controlled guitar playing."

11. Antonin Dvorák - "From The New World"

(Chosen by Roger McGuinn, who says Dvorák's "folk influences are all over this thing and I just find that fascinating".)

12. Billy Swan - I Can Help (available on Super Hits of the '70s: Have a Nice Day, Vol. 13)

(Chosen by Shakin' Stevens. He recalls that when he and studio head Dave Robinson first heard it they looked at each other and said, "That's gonna be massive!")

The Best And Worst Songs About Work Part 2

Some songs from Uncut's top ten lists:

Two Of The Worst Songs About Work:

5. The Police - Dead End Job (available on Message In A Box)

9. Hue And Cry - Labour Of Love (available on Hit Me Baby One More Time)

Two Of The Best Songs About Work:

2. Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It (available on Soul & The Edge: The Best of Johnny Paycheck)

10. The Jam - Smithers-Jones (available on The Sound Of The Jam)

The Ten Best And Worst Songs About Work

Lists from the latest Uncut, songs from it to come...

The 10 Worst Songs About Work:

1. The Rolling Stones - Salt Of The Earth
2. Mick Jagger - Let's Work
3. Sheena Easton - 9 To 5
4. Bob Seger - I've Been Working
5. The Police - Dead End Job
6. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
7. The Offspring - Why Don't You Get A Job
8. Bernard Cribbins - Hole In The Ground
9. Hue And Cry - Labour Of Love
10. Deacon Blue - Wages Day

The 10 Best Songs About Work:

1. The Smiths - Frankly, Mr Shankly
2. Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It
3. The Clash - Janie Jones
4. The Clash - The Magnificent Seven
5. Roy Orbison - Workin' For The Man
6. The Who - The Dirty Jobs
7. Go-Kart Mozart - On A Building Site
8. The Specials - Maggie's Farm
9. Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
10. The Jam - Smithers-Jones

Uncut November Issue/Playlist CD

The Gallagher brothers of Oasis provide a "World Exclusive!" to Uncut, sharing who knows what exciting "stories behind their greatest songs". It must have been burning at those poor lads, having held in all these stories for so long, just waiting for the right moment to tell them.

Now at last Noel can tell the world that the title of "The Importance Of Being Idle" comes from the title of the book, The Importance Of Being Idle. "It's also one of my personal favourites," he says of the song. And now you know the rest of the story. More or less.

Sufjan Stevens speaks to the magazine about his hobbies, hopes, and fears.

"All musicians have that anxiety about a shelf life," he shrugs. "Am I going to be outdated? And I think that's a good fear to have. It's also because for some reason the music industry really romanticises youth, and rock n'roll is based on a rebellion that happens when you're a teenager. But there are people that have staying power. Dylan and Neil Young and Willie Nelson. He has a lot of class. David Byrne, too."

"Creatively I'm not sure where I am he admits," he admits. "I'm stull dissatisfied at times with my writing. I think that's something you determine much later in life. You look back and retrospectively decide if it's valuable music. How it resonates with you. Did I have that moment when I turned 30? No. No, I haven't had that moment yet."

Reader-submitted questions made this month's "An Audience With..." feature with Beck, along with questions from a few musicians. Kasabian asks who his tailor is; he doesn't have one.

A reader asks what "draws you to Scientology?"

Beck: "Well, I kind of grew up around it. My dad's been doing it since the mid-'60s or something. So it's kind of always been around and it's been helpful. My grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. And my mother was very devout, into Judaism. I had Japanese friends who were Buddhists. I grew up in an area where Central Americans, Catholics and Vietnamese people all mixed. So it's just tolerance that is the key."

He later praises R Kelly as "the king of the slow jam" with nary a mention of his status as "the prince of the music-making scumbags who should be in prison" so I guess Beck's "tolerance" extends to being groovy with someone whether or not they might have committed illegal sexual acts with children as young as fourteen, made child pornography, forced someone to have an abortion, or engaged in acts of physical and verbal abuse.

The Good, the Bad & The Queen's Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon talk to Uncut about their forthcoming, self-titled debut album. Albarn says it contains stories, many of which were inspired by the area around the "west London manor" where he lives with Simonon. Albarn says says he found inspiration in "moments around where I live - the streets, bridges, canals, gasworks, late nights and early mornings."

The magazine also includes an interview with an Tony Curtis, an article about the making of Free's "All Right Now", an album-by-album look at the works of John Martyn and a debate between Suede's Brett Anderson and Badly Drawn Boy as to whether music awards are "just backslapping bollocks"? 1993 Mercury Prize recipient Anderson says yes. 2000 Mercury Prize winner Badly Drawn Boy begs to differ. Uncut wants to know what readers think about music awards, and will run the poll results in a future issue.

* right-click to download any/all songs below *

Uncut: The Playlist - November 2006 Track Listing:

1. Bright Eyes - I Will Be Grateful For This Day
2. Townes Van Zandt - Poncho & Lefty
3. Echo & The Bunnymen - Rescue
4. The Pernice Brothers - High As A Kite (available on Live A Little) I didn't like it on the first listen, found it overblown and didn't like the writing, but I liked it more the second time I listened to it. Not entirely sure about it though. Something about the music still reminds me of something like a melodramatic showtune about a high school... I really like the Pernice Brothers. I know they can write and perform very beautiful, romantic songs that might seem a bit dramatic without veering into melodrama or sounding overblown ("The Weakest Shade Of Blue").
5. Tilly & The Wall - Rainbows In The Dark (a lot of people love them, but my tolerance level for Tilly & The Wall is low)
6. Dan Sartain - Hangers On
7. John Phillips - Topanga Canyon
8. The Black Angels - The First Vietnamese War
9. Donald Fagen And Walter Becker - Roll Back The Meaning
10. Mansun - Wide Open Space
11. Albert Hammond Jr - Scared (available on Yours To Keep) Sweet, irresistible new wave song from the Strokes guitarist's solo debut, which Uncut gives a 4-star review. Sounds like Nine Inch Nails for a moment, then sounds more like an old Elvis Costello tune, then a bit Nine Inch Nailsesque at the end again.
12. Mercury Rev - Goddess On The Hiway (available on Stillness Breathes: The Essential Mercury Hiway) Endlessly gorgeous.
13. The Gothic Archies - Crows (available on The Tragic Treasury: A Series Of Unfortunate Events, which contains a song for each Lemony Snicket book. It's being released in conjunction with the last one, The End)
14. The John Doe Thing - Broken Smile (available on The Best Of Us) These songs were recorded "a decade ago", when John Doe didn't have a record deal. And now he does... Uncut, in their 4-star review of this album, calls this song, along with "Bad Bad Feeling", "primal screams with a beat". It's more pleasant than that might sound, really! The most solidly "rock" song I'm posting today. Strong lyrics: "She's got a smile that would break a thousand hearts though one hardly ever sees it/She's got a smile that would break a thousand hearts/and she's breaking her own right now."
15. John Martyn - Solid Air

The Word: October Magazine & Now Hear This! CD

The cover story on the latest issue of The Word is Chris Salewicz's biography, Redemption Song: The Ballad Of Joe Strummer.

There's also an interview with Sigur Rós

"Ninety nine percent of the Icelandic population are nature lovers," says [bassist Georg] HHólm. "We all go camping. We enjoy nature." Urbanisation and overpopulation have served to remove most of the West from the land. We are disconnected from our past, our tradition, our culture. Folk heritage is either under siege or under contract. Not in Iceland. If you say you think there are elves in a boulder people won't necessarily think you have bats in the belfry.

The magazine also includes interviews with Badly Drawn Boy, Ray LaMontagne, and journalist Toby Young, as well as an article about Anthony Perkins, and another about Malcolm Hardee.

A feature on the death of the concept of indie strikes a chord with me. It's profitable to perpetuate the myth that "indie" and "indiepop", as mentioned in the article, are genres, so that will continue, regardless of how inaccurate and obnoxious it is. "Could it be that indie is actually a meaningless term, rendered obsolete by misuse and overuse?" writes Andrew Collins. I've been making that argument for a while; I think a fair amount of people feel that way. The term really has never been descriptive of a type of music so it should never have been used as though it was. "I play indie music" could mean someone plays folk, country, rock, or just about anything.

As usual, The Word includes a Now Hear This! CD.

All tracks today are YSI. Tomorrow's are EZArchive. There will be no quiz on all this.

Now Hear This! Track Listing:

1. Easy Star All-Stars Feat. Horace Andy - Airbag
2. Rhett Miller - I Believe She's Lying (available on The Believer) An excellent cover of a Jon Brion song (which is also excellent).
3. Helene - Nothing To You
4. David Lowe's Dreamcatcher - Sadhu
5. Peter, Björn & John - Amsterdam (available on Writer's Block) Bouncy, fun indiepop! Just seeing if anyone is paying attention with that description. Make that bouncy, fun synthpop, with handclaps.
6. Mary Gauthier - I Drink
7. The Walkmen - Lost In Boston
8. Duke Special - Brixton Leaves
9. Dan Arborise - Let Me Be
10. Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Funeral Face
11. Micah P Hinson And The Opera Circuit - Diggin' A Grave
12. Yo La Tengo - Black Flowers (available on I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass) Beautiful, sweetly-sung, sax-and-trumpet-enhanced tune, with great lyrics.
13. M. Ward - Chinese Transaction
14. Charlotte Gainsbourg - AF607105 (available on 5:55) Creepy track, about a doomed flight and a passenger who's happy about what's happening in the plane toward the end... The song is strong, with really good lyrics, and Gainsbourg's suitably ghostly voice well-matched to the electronic space-lounge music. I do feel a little weird about the airline-crash-fetish angle though.
15. Davy Graham - Anji

Club NME Presents Dancefloor Distortion CD

The current issue of NME includes Club NME Presents Dancefloor Distortion, a CD with 15 songs mixed by Simian Mobile Disco, a.k.a. James Ford and Jas Shaw.

The Soulwax remix of the Gossip's "Standing In The Way Of Control" pwns the other tracks. Plenty of other good songs on the disc though.

Club NME Presents Dancefloor Distortion Mix: Track Listing:

1. Sebastian - Ross Ross Ross
2. Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen (Justice Remix) (Jas Shaw: "This is one of the get-out-of-jail cards if things are going wrong when you're DJing! The crowd always kicks off when we play it.")
3. Zongamin - Bongo Song
4. Mystery Jets - Crosswords
5. The Gossip - Standing in The Way of Control (Soulwax Nite Version) (Jas Shaw: "The original version is so good but Soulwax have nailed it. They do really amazing mixes." Plus, this one is my favorite.)
6. The Emperor Machine - Selka Wants Your VCS3 (Jas Shaw: "It's out of step with everything. People would be be foolish to ignore it.")
7. Klaxons - Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Mix)
8. Datarock - Fa-fa-fa
9. Material - Secret Life
10. Para One - Du Dun-dun
11. These New Puritans - Elvisss (Demo)
12. Shitdisco - I Know Kung Fu (James Ford Edit)
13. Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
14. Digitalism - Jupiter Room (Martian Assault Edit)
15. Hot Chip - Boy From School (Erol Alkan Extended Rework)

Lloyd Cole: Antidepressant

Antidepressant offers all the elegance and eloquence Lloyd Cole's fans have come to expect from him. He's said on this album he tried "to represent little lives, because little lives are often struggling nowadays". A feeling of quiet desperation does run through the album.

Probably the most cheerful track, "Everysong", offers a reminder that not every song can be depressing, while cheekily providing such a break:

Surely clouds are coming soon
But as of now I can see nothing but blue
No use to go second guessing
Can't cry everysong

"New York City Sunshine" is the low point. Some of the New York contrasts feel like clichés ("Walking with the junkies and the millionaires"). The music and the lyrics also don't quite gel, largely due to the clunky lyrics.

"Traveling Light" (or "Travelling Light" depending where you live) is being highlighted but while it's good, I prefer several other tracks, including "Slip Away", "How Wrong Can You Be?", "Antidepressant", and "Woman In A Bar" (a.k.a. the one about having no interest in Scarlett Johansson - and thank goodness someone is giving that poor lass some attention; she needs the publicity!)

Lloyd Cole Tour Dates:

Oct. 7 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
Oct. 9 Stockholm, Sweden - Sorda Teatern
Oct. 10 Gothenburg, Sweden - Stenhammarsalen
Oct. 11 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
Oct. 13 Paris, France - New Morning
Oct. 14 Gent, Belgium, - Handlesbeurs
Oct. 16 Barcelona, Spain - La 2
Oct. 17 Madrid, Spain - Caracol
Oct. 20 Bristol, UK - Fiddlers
Oct. 22 Soho, London, UK - The Arts Theatre
Oct. 23 Soho, London, UK, London, Soho, The Arts Theatre
Oct. 24 Manchester, UK - Lowry
Oct. 25 Edinburgh, UK, Edinburgh - Queens Hall

Nov. 3 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Nov. 4 - Montreal - Les Saints
Nov. 5 - Toronto - Mod Club Theatre

More dates to be announced.

Lloyd Cole - Slip Away (available on Antidepressant)

Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - Cut Me Down (available on 1984 - 1989)

Lloyd Cole - Chelsea Hotel (available on I'm Your Fan - The Songs of Leonard Cohen)

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's Design Contest

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's want you to design their Spring 2007 Backstage Pass. Well, not you, necessarily, and definitely not you if you're under 14.

They do want someone 14 or older to design "one-of-a-kind backstage pass that captures the energy of Margot & the Nuclear So and So's." Their advice: "Be wildly imaginative. Be incredibly innovative."


The winner gets:

- "handwritten lyrics to "'Quiet as a Mouse'"
- "a signed, limited edition & hand-numbered 7-inch CD with 2 previously unreleased songs"
- "Limited edition art print from the 'Quiet as a Mouse' video"
- "two 3-day VIP tix to the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival" (hopefully this is not a trick, and "tix" will actually gain someone admittance to the Festival on an equal footing with "VIP tickets").
- "and much more"

Also: "Lucky runner-ups win a signed, limited edition & hand-numbered 7-inch CD of the debut 'The Dust of Retreat,' stickers and buttons."

For better or worse, the band will pick a winner from among the top entries. Until that point, the competition is both a popularity contest ("Tell your friends to come... and vote for you!") as well as a promotional vehicle for the website hosting the competition. Registering at that site is required in order to enter the contest or vote on entries. That sort of sponsorship and oversight has its benefits - like efficiency if the site is well-run - but it risks alienating people who find it offputting. Life might be about compromises. Or choices. It's definitely about something.

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's are currently on tour supporting the Elected, whose Blake Sennett made the choice to go on tour rather than stay in the studio, working on the next Rilo Kiley album.

"Quiet as a Mouse" video:



Margot & the Nuclear So and So's Tour Dates:

Supporting The Elected:

Oct 14 - San Francisco CA - Café Du Nord
Oct 16 - Portland, OR - Towne Hall
Oct 17 - Seattle WA - Paradox
Oct 18 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club
Oct 20 - Edmonton AB - Powerplant
Oct 21 - Calgary AB - The Liberty Lounge
Oct 23 - Winnipeg MB - The Collective
Oct 25 - Omaha NE - Sokol Underground
Oct 26 - Madison WI - Club 770
Oct 27 - Grinnell IA - Grinnell College
Oct 28 - Minneapolis MN - Triple Rock
Oct 29 - Chicago IL - Abbey
Oct 30 - Cleveland OH - Grog Shop
Oct 31 - Cincinnati OH - Mad Hatter (all ages)

Nov 3 - Boston MA - TT the Bears
Nov 5 - New York NY - Knitting Factory
Nov 6 - Philadelphia PA - First Unitarian Church
Nov 7 - Washington DC - Black Cat
Nov 9 - Atlanta GA - Drunken Unicorn
Nov 10 - Mt Pleasant SC - Village Tavern
Nov 11 - St Augustine FL - Café 11
Nov 13 - Orlando FL - The Social
Nov 14 - Tallahassee FL - Florida State University - Club Down Under
Nov 16 - Austin TX - Emo's
Nov 17 - Houston TX - Walters on Washington
Nov 18 - Denton TX - Hailey's
Nov 20 - Tempe AZ - Modified
Nov 24 - Pomona CA - Glass House
Nov 25 - Los Angeles CA - Troubadour

Solo Dates:

Nov 28 - Salt Lake City UT - Kilby Court
Nov 29 - Denver CO - Larimer Lounge

Dec 1 - Dekalb IL - The House Café
Dec 2 - Chicago IL - Subterranean


Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Skeleton Key (available on The Dust of Retreat)

Pet Shop Boys With Strings, Frances, Rufus, & Robbie

For their next album Pet Shop Boys decided to go the Eels with Strings route and perform backed by an orchestra, in this case the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The double-disc Concrete includes a selection of the Boys' songs, and with its October 23 U.K. release date, manages to beat The String Quartet Tribute to the punch by releasing their own classical renditions of their songs first, albeit not purely instrumental versions.

The album features three guest vocalists. Rufus Wainwright lends vocals to "Casanova In Hell" and Robbie Williams sings "Jealousy". Frances Barber, who performed in the 2001 production of the Pet Shop Boys' musical Closer to Heaven, sings "Friendly Fire".

There's no word on whether the Mermaid Theatre concert will get a DVD release.

Concrete Track Listing: (from the Pet Shop Boys'website)

Disc One:

1. "Left To My Own Devices"
2. "Rent"
3. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk"
4. "The Sodom And Gomorrah Show"
5. "Casanova In Hell" (Sung By Rufus Wainwright)
6. "After All"
7. "Friendly Fire" (Sung By Frances Barber)
8. "Integral"

Disc Two:

1. "Numb"
2. "It's Alright"
3."Luna Park"
4."Nothing Has Been Proved"
5."Jealousy" (Sung By Robbie Williams)
6. "Dreaming Of The Queen"
7. "It's A Sin"
8. "Indefinite Leave To Remain"
9. "West End Girls"

Pet Shop Boys - Jealousy (YSI link, available on Pop Art - The Hits. I think this will sound great backed by an orchestra.)

Robbie Williams - I Wouldn't Ordinarily Do This Kind Of Thing (right-click to download, available on the compilation Angels, an import in most countries)

East 17 - West End Girls (right-click to download, available on The Very Best Of East Seventeen)

"Music's Secret Weapons"

For Friday's edition of The Guardian, 49 musicians, producers, and writers were asked to name and discuss the one album they play when they "want to amaze people."

Nick Hornby picks Olu Dara's In the World: From Natchez to New York, a 1998 album, which, according to Hornby, "delivers roots music without beardy gravity."

Phil Manzanera, guitarist for Roxy Music, names Tim Finn's 1993 album Before And After. He says Finn is "strong on all the essentials: he's a great songwriter and vocalist."

Razorlight's Johnny Borrell names Leonard Cohen's Songs from a Room. Everyone already loves Leonard Cohen, I should hope, or at least has heard him.

Alan McGee names The Sound's Jeopardy, and says they "should have been the Bunnymen. They destroy U2. They even gave Joy Division a run for their money."

Richard Hawley picks The Electric Prunes - Mass in F Minor

He explains:

"The important question is whether we'd be coming back to our house for a big session or a simmer. You don't want to be putting Hendrix on if you've got to go to bed in 10 minutes. But if someone's coming round for an evening and I want to play them something really amazing, it would have to be the Prunes. David Axelrod composed this, but it was played by the skeletal remains of the original Electric Prunes. To play something like this you'd have to be pissed but not too pissed. It straddles a lot of worlds. It's quite edgy: the guitar playing is hardcore, but it's quite beautiful, as well. There aren't any lyrics. It's basically Catholic or religious type songs set to psychedelic music. I'm not religious, I hate hippies, but this is a boss record. It takes you to another place. In the past - obviously - I have got totally out of my box listening to this. It's not like anything I've heard before or since.

Chrissie Hynde picks Andy Pratt's self-titled album ("He said: 'I'll take all you spoiled young hippies,' which I loved, because we were hippies. I haven't wanted to listen to much recently and this has really cheered me up.")

Johnny Marr names Roy Harper's 1971 album Stormcock ("intense and beautiful and clever: [Bowie's] Hunky Dory's big, badder brother. The words from the song Hors d'Oeuvres give you a glimpse: 'The critic rubs his tired arse / Scrapes his poor brains, strains and farts / And wields a pen that stops and starts / And thinks in terms of booze and tarts / And sits there playing with his parts / He says I'm much too crude and far too coarse / And he says this singer's just a farce / He's got no healing formulas / He's got no cure-all for our scars / He's got no bra strap for our bras / And our sagging tits no longer hold a full house of hearts / And you know what? I don't think this little song's gonna make the charts.'")

The Guardian article makes for nifty reading, with lots of ideas for "new" albums to check out.

There's also a contest to name the 50th secret weapon, in no more than 150 words. "The only rules are that your chosen album must be a) brilliant and b) obscure." They later have a link to more rules. Heh.

Man Sets Pi Record

Akira Haraguchi, a 60 year-old from Mobara, Japan, has reportedly recited pi to 100,000 digits, breaking his own unofficial record of 83,431 digits. The current recordholder is Hiroyuki Goto, with what his friends and relatives should reassure him is still a very impressive 42,195-digit memorization.

Haraguchi, who has alternately, and somewhat mysteriously been described as a psychiatric counseler and a business consultant and as just a business consultant, spent sixteen hours completing the record. He was videotaped the entire time and observed by at least three people. He took a five-minute break every two hours for bathroom breaks, and to snack on rice balls. No word on what beverage he sipped along with the rice balls, but he could have approached corporations about product placement for the event. It sounds like he didn't, which is refreshing.

But then Haraguchi's interest in π apparently has little relationship with money. It also isn't just about "memorizing figures". "I am thrilled by seeking a story in π", he says.

The number itself is of course infinite, and has only been calculated to a mere 1.24 trillion decimal places. You can read a whole mess of those digits, explore other π websites, join the Friends Of Pi Club, and when you need some time away from the computer, kick back with The Joy Of Pi.

One of the ways in which the big number represented by the little symbol can bring joy is with music.

Try making your own π tune (mine was beautiful).

The Bongos - Numbers With Wings (right-click to download, available on New Wave Dance Hits: Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 6)

Paul Simon - When Numbers Get Serious (right-click to download, available on Hearts and Bones)

Tindersticks - Sweet Memory (right-click to download, available on Waiting For The Moon)

Freqtric Drums: Playing Drums On People

One of the coolest YouTube clips I've seen lately features a lengthy Freqtric Drums performance.

Freqtric Drums is a musical gizmo that needs "human contact to conduct a signal that triggers drum sounds generated from MIDI through wires." There are two versions, a live model made for performances, and a version designed for home use.

The device was recently exhibited at the SIGGRAPH 2006 Conference On Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, where it had to compete for attention with the likes of the world's largest Etch-A-Sketch.

Those working on the Freqtric Drum Project say the "the interface of human skin contact has never been used before" in "electronic musical devices". (Somehow the concept seems familiar but it's nifty either way.) Everyone likely agrees on what really matters. "Through the digital technology of Freqtric Drums, we can enjoy music and skin contact." And how.

There are other clips of the gizmo in action on YouTube, and several videos on Freqtric Drum Project's website.

An especially cool Freqtric Drums clip:



The world's largest Etch-A-Sketch:



Unrelated song, for anyone just here for a song:

Le Tigre - Deceptacon (YSI link, available on Le Tigre. The kids like to dance to it)

Brits Ponder Funeral Music

In a new U.K. poll, 5,000 people were surveyed about the music that might be played at their funeral. 51% said they know what song they would want played, and 79% said they've discussed it. Despite all the thought the respondents would seem to have put into the matter, their top choice is James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover".

Some of the choices are maudlin, some defiant, some baffling ("Every Breath You Take"? Sting thinks it's "very, very sinister". That could be the vibe people are going for, but I think it's more likely they misunderstand the song.)

The Top Twenty Funeral Songs:

1. James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover
2. Robbie Williams - Angels
3. Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley - I've Had the Time of my Life
4. Bette Midler - Wind Beneath my Wings
5. Pie Jesu (Requiem)
6. Elton John - Candle in the Wind
7. U2 - With or Without You
8. Eric Clapton - Tears from Heaven
9. The Police - Every Breath You Take
10. Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
11. Daniel O'Donnell - Danny Boy
12. Sarah Brightman - Time to Say Goodbye
13. Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World
14. Bob Dylan - Knocking on Heaven's Door
15. Aerosmith - I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
16. Simon and Garfunkel - Bright Eyes
17. The Bangles - Eternal Flame (YSI link, available on Greatest Hits)
18. Bon Jovi - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
19. Fame - I Want to Live Forever (they likely mean Irene Cara's song)
20. S Club 7 - Reach for the Stars

"Just Can't Get Enough" Can't Get Used In Enough Ads

Via Side-Line, news of a television commercial for H&M clothing with an interesting soundtrack. The ad is set to Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough", but with a classical arrangement courtesy of Nathan Larson, formerly of Shudder to Think, who now works most often composing and producing music for film. (The commercials section of Larson's C.V. is amusingly headlined "MUSIC FOR COMMERCIALS/MONEY FOR BLOOD".)

Two years ago, Dave Gahan was in an H&M ad, so it's a sort of tradition.

If Depeche is going to whore out their songs, is it going to be this one over and over? Or is "Just Can't Get Enough" just so well suited to selling stuff, be it leather, as in the 1999 "Everybody In Leather" Gap ad, or... clothes... as in the 2006 H&M ad, that it's the one that's in demand? Actually, it may be preferable for the Depeche gang to sell the same song repeatedly than to sell their whole catalogue. I don't know that I want to hear every Depeche Mode song on a commercial. Eek.

The Swedish commercial:



The 1999 "Everybody in Leather" Gap ad