More details emerge about Des Moines' planned 80/35 music festival July 4-5 in Gateway Park West downtown. No band names yet, but...
We’re looking at progressive acts under multiple genres – indie-rock, metal, alternative, jam, singer-songwriter, electronic, punk – it will be an eclectic mix.
We’ll have a national headliner both nights with medium-sized acts leading up to the headliners. And regional and local acts filling in between.
Man, I really hope the planners can pull this off.
It's time to admit a guilty pleasure. Yes, I watch Corner Gas on WGN. Sigh. I'm not happy to admit it. It's a completely innocuous Canadian sitcom that is amusing sometimes and corny most of the time. As one reviewer put it: it's the fall's "best, least objectionable comedy series." What can I say, it comes after Scrubs and it helps me fall asleep.
So all day today, the theme song has been running through my head ("You think there's not a lot going on? Look closer, baby, you're so wrong.") It is a delightfully catchy and punchy few seconds of pure power pop. It's good enough to be something authentic and not some tossed-off theme song, right?
Right. And come to find out, it's from a whole album (released almost two years ago) of supposedly similar tunes, which, from the looks of it, leans a bit toward roots rock. Northey Valenzuela is responsible for the joy, and if you're familiar with the Odds and Gin Blossoms, then you know these guys. Craig Northey made some stellar music with his Canadian band the Odds, while Jesse Valenzuela is the source of some of the goodness that came from Gin Blossoms. They decided to get together and make their own album, which is readily unavailable! Well, you can get it used or as an import from Amazon.com, or you can always check eBay, which is where I'm going to get my copy.
I'll let you know how it is as a whole, but in the meantime, you can listen to the theme song to Corner Gas right here (lower right of your screen), and you can watch it after Scrubs on WGN.
Ain't it great when you find a gem where you least expect it? Look closer, baby...
Read more here. Visit Jesse Valenzuela's website here.
The Eels are swimming their way across the US this spring. Get it? Swimming. Eels. C'mon, that's high comedy. Maybe you don't get it because you can't hear my tone on the Internet. Swimming...
March 28 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church 29 Washington, DC Sixth & I Historic Synagogue 31 Boston, MA Somerville Theatre April 1 New York, NY Highline Ballroom 2 New York, NY Highline Ballroom 4 Toronto, ONT The Mod 5 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre 6 Chicago, IL Park West 7 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre 9 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre 11 Seattle, WA Showbox Theatre 13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom 14 San Francisco, CA Palace Of Fine Arts 15 16 Los angeles, CA El Rey Theater
R.E.M. is touring in support of their upcoming album Accelerate. The National and Modest Mouse will open. Dates:
May 23: Vancouver (Deer Lake Park) May 29: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl) May 31: Berkeley, Calif. (Greek Theatre) June 3: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks) June 6: Chicago (United Center) June 8: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre) June 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek) June 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion) June 13: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center) June 14: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach) June 18: Philadelphia (Mann Center June 19: New York (TBA) June 21: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre)
Seriously, Des Moines is right between Colorado and Chicago. It'd be a perfect stop.
Tonight at Midnight a new music service launches. Yawn you say? You've seen them come and go before? No one can loosen Apple's grip on the music download business? Well, think again.
Qtrax is launching with 25 million songs. That's 19 million more than what iTunes has. It includes ringtones, lyrics, album art, videos and more. And the cost? Free. Yep, you heard that right. Download 25 million songs LEGALLY for FREE.
So what's the catch? Well, there are a few. The biggest (at least for me) is probably that the DRM'd music is not compatible with the iPod. They will be tracking how many times a song is downloaded and played. You have to have the Qtrax software installed to download and play. And the music is paid for solely by advertising, something that is generally annoying and a business model that rarely succeeds in the long term (unless you're Google). But they do have Ford Motor Company, Microsoft and some other big gun advertisers so you never know. And I'm sure someone will (illegally) crack the DRM so you can play music wherever you want.
Lastly it's only available on Windoze at first. The Mac OS X version will be out in March.
I'll still download it and give it a whirl.
Update: According to AppleInsider, Qtrax has found a way to make their DRM compatible with iPods.
Update 2 (from 2poppy): According to this AP story, a deal with Warner has not been struck at all, and deals with Universal and EMI are pending final execution. Also:
The company also promises that its music downloads will be playable on Apple Inc.'s iPods and Macintosh computers until April 15. That's unusual, as iPods only playback unrestricted MP3s files or tracks with Apple's proprietary version of DRM, dubbed FairPlay.
In an earlier interview, Klepfisz declined to give specifics on how Qtrax will make its audio files compatible with Apple devices, but noted that "Apple has nothing to do with it."
Sounds like their announcement was a bit premature. We'll see how it all shakes out.
Update 3It's a bust. The service went live last night with all of zero songs, a repackaged music browser and no record deals. Apparently now there are about 10 million songs but downloads are "coming soon". Like when a record deal actually happens? Engadget has more.
After two consecutive albums dominated by mid-tempo fare, R.E.M. gets back to its stripped-down, fast-paced rock roots on "Accelerate," due April 1 via Warner Bros. The 11-track set, which gets in and out in a lightning-quick 34 minutes and change, is led by the single "Supernatural Superserious."
Excellent. Can't wait. Full track list:
"Living Well's the Best Revenge" "Mansized Wreath" "Supernatural Superserious" "Hollow Man" "Houston" "Accelerate" "Until the Day Is Done" "Mr. Richards" "Sing for the Submarine" "Horse To Water" "I'm Gonna DJ"
"Four minutes (3 minutes and 40 seconds, actually) seemed like an appropriate amount of time for a former Beatle. Mr. Gelman apparently felt Ringo's musical legacy should take a back seat to additional banter about the size of Ms. (Kelly) Ripa's derriere," [Ringo's collaborator Dave Stewart] said in a statement.
Liam Finn's I'll Be Lightning is finally released in the states today. Download it here via iTunes. Argh. I have to wait another 6 hours to be done with work so I can download it. Stupid work.
Like his dad, Liam has an ear for hooks and a predilection for melodic craft, but he is not only his own man, he is certainly the product of his own generation, raised on classic pop dating back to the Beatles but obsessed with indie singer/songwriters of the '90s, specifically Elliott Smith.
The reviews don't come much better in the world of Too Poppy. His dad is Neil Finn, btw. For the uninitiated, Neil was/is in Split Enz and Crowded House - he obviously knows how to write killer tunes.
A recent purchase for the family (I have received no joy or happiness from this purchase) was Guitar Hero III for the Wii. Of course, it's as fun as everybody says it is. But the one thing I wasn't prepared for was for it to influence my music purchases. I just downloaded Kaiser Chiefs after disregarding the overwhelming coverage on other, much cooler blogs, which, I admit, is ironically too often a turn-off for me. Nevertheless, after "purchasing" the privilege to "perform" Ruby on GHIII, I have to say I was hooked and intrigued. Way2Poppy's comment to me off-line that one song sounded like Grapes of Wrath piqued my interest as well.
So after one listen, I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Although the Grapes of Wrath sound was isolated to one song (as far as I could tell) and Ruby was easily the hookiest tune, the album is otherwise full of catchy britpop tunes that remind me quite a bit of Blur pre-Song 2 (sorry, W2P.) Of course the similarities to the Jam are not lost on me either, but Blur is more of "my generation."
Anyway, NME reports that Kaiser Chiefs are already working to release new material this year. According to drummer Nick Hodgson:
“We want to break the routine of having to make an album every two years. It’s totally boring,” he continued. “In the charts there are tons of indie bands playing chords and singing songs about the weekend. We’re going to be doing the opposite and being the best.”
Today, the Des Moines Register features the blog Daytrotter, which is based in Davenport, Iowa. I think I've run across Daytrotter in the past but have never kept it on my daily checklist. That may have to change.
Catch bands as their tour vans roll through the Quad Cities and record them performing revamped versions of their own songs or intriguing cover tunes; then give away these exclusive songs online – thereby helping to promote the bands as well as put a friendly, Midwestern face on underground music.
Kudos to fellow Iowans for making good on the promise of the web and the music industry, even in Iowa.
Ever wonder what it would sound like if the early Beatles covered Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven? Check out the pure genius of Australia's The Beatnix:
In what sounds pretty shady to me, Billboard reports Fuego Entertainment (aka Echo-Fuego) claims the rights to a Beatles Star Club live show from 1962 that has never been heard.
No release date has been set for the recordings, which the label claims are the first to feature drummer Ringo Starr as part of the group.
Other live Beatles tracks the label says it holds (a claim Billboard was unable to verify) also include "Twist and Shout," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Hippy Hippy Shake," "A Taste of Honey," "Money," and "Ask Me Why," which can be heard in other recorded Beatles performances at the Star Club.
Is this a bootleg recording trying to go legit? The Beatles' lawyers are on it so this may never be released.
Wow. Jellyfish fans, listen very closely to the newly recorded theme song to the Cartoon Network's Transformers Animated series. Now if we could just convince Andy Sturmer that there are enough fans that would absolutely love to hear a full-length solo album from him rather than just flashes of brilliance in things like this.
UPDATE: Download the stereo version MP3 right here while you can.
Ringo Starr is releasing a new album on Tuesday called Liverpool 8. The most under-appreciated Beatle actually has a pretty decent solo catalog, and judging from the title song of the new album, I'd say he might have another winner on his hand. In fact, Rolling Stone even deviated from their ubiquitous three-star rating and bumped it up half a star.
Liverpool 8 is a celebration of everything Ringo — his musical wit, his cheer, his commitment to the Sixties ideals of peace and love.
Dan Wilson - I don't really need to say "of Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic fame" anymore, right? I mean, he has won a Grammy - so, anyway, Dan Wilson of solo fame is heading out on the road as part of the "Hotel Cafe" tour and is hitting a few choice Midwest locales (not Des Moines, sigh), including his hometown of M-Town Minneapolis.
Mar 27, 2008 Mr. Smalls Theatre Pittsburgh, PA Mar 28, 2008 Park West Chicago, IL Mar 29, 2008 High Noon Madison, WI Mar 31, 2008 Fine Line Minneapolis, MN Apr 1, 2008 Record Bar Kansas City, MO Apr 3, 2008 Fox Theatre Boulder, CO Apr 4, 2008 Bluebird Theatre Denver, CO Apr 5, 2008 Avalon Theatre Salt Lake City, UT
Crazy Rain and Boredom comes out April 15 followed by two more EPs May 13 and June 24. The full-length album All You Need Is Nothing is scheduled for release August 5.
It's an incredibly ambitious release schedule and I applaud him. I hope the quality of the music matches the quantity, but with Arthur, that's a pretty safe bet.
Atlanta Boston Charlotte, N.C. Chicago Cleveland Dallas Houston Indianapolis Los Angeles Miami Montreal New York Philadelphia San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara, Calif. Seattle St. Louis Tampa, Fla. Toronto Vancouver Washington, D.C.
Groovy. Boing Boing shares a video isolating the tracks on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's. There is much discussion about how professional this is and whether they're from alternate takes and just what the hell sloating is (har har). Regardless, below is the video BB shared and here's a site where you can grab more of the tracks for your bootlegging pleasure. Again, groovy.
It's not often you get a comment to a post from nearly a year back, but this one is worth sharing. "BleuReivers" informed us that Dhani Harrison's band, thenewno2, now offers it's first EP, brilliantly titled EP001, on iTunes. Evidently, thenewno2 has offered it there since February 1 of last year. I have failed.
Anyway, excellent. Now I know what to spend my xmas gift certificates on.
Download here. Unfortunately, it seems a hard copy is still hard to come by.
Wisely's new album is out today. Download here. Tour dates:
1.07.08 The Note, Chicago IL 1.09.08 Living Room, New York NY 1.10.08 P. A.’s Lounge, Boston MA 1.11.08 KISS 94.5FM 6am, WERU-FM 11am, WHSN 89.3 FM 2pm, Eastern ME 1.11.08 Maine Grind Cafe & Coffee Bar, Ellsworth ME 1.12.08 Lums Pond Estates, Bear DE 1.13.08 Concerts at the Beach House, Lansdowne PA 1.14.08 The Red & The Black, Washington DC 1.15.08 Durocher’s, Annandale VA 1.17.08 Lucas School House, St. Louis MO 1.18.08 DuKum Inn, Kirksville MO 1.19.08 The Majestic, Scott City KS 1.20.08 Hi-Dive, Denver CO 1.21.08 Yussman's Charity Ball, Denver CO 1.22.08 The Record Bar, Kansas City KS 1.24.08 Blue Devil Lounge, Menomonie WI 1.25.08 KARE Channel 11 TV, Twin Cities MN 1.25.08 The Wine Thief, ST. Paul MN 1.26.08 Olde Town Creamery, Maple Lake MN 1.30.08 Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco CA 2.01.08 KSCU 103.3FM 5pm, Santa Clara CA 2.02.08 Norman Compound 2pm, Sunnyvale CA 2.05.08 Grand Forks Art Gallery, Grand Forks BC 2.06.08 Sunset Tavern, Seattle WA 2.07.08 Gerding Theater at the Armory, Portland OR 2.08.08 Flying Colors Comics, Concord CA 2.09.08 Old Ironsides, Sacramento CA 2.16.08 Back To The Grind, Riverside CA 2.22.08 El Cid, Los Angeles CA
Wisely has also set up a special website for those of us big fans who'd like to do a little more to get the word out. For example:
High praise in my opinion. Mark Oliver Everett has written a book called Things the Grandchildren Should Know about his life that sounds likely to make you feel better about yours, yet appreciate the talent behind The Eels.
"E's story is a good example of the way an adverse life in childhood and adolescence shapes an artist, creates eccentricity and ultimately contributes to brilliance. This is one of the best books ever written by a contemporary artist. I learned more about my own business and my own methods by reading this book than I did by reading the life of Chuck Berry, Elvis or David Bowie." - Pete Townshend
Interested? Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, it's not being released in the states until Fall 2008. Come January 17, you can order from Amazon.co.uk if you can't wait. Not familiar with The Eels' music? Shame. Download here.
Embarrassingly, I do not own a Death Cab album, yet I am familiar with much of their music and count myself as a potential fan. I'd like to rectify this unfortunate situation and start purchasing past releases. Any recommendations on where to start?
The Greater Des Moines Music Coalition released the following request via TheirSpace:
The Greater Des Moines Music Coalition is seeking Iowa bands to play at the 3rd annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on March 29th, 2008 in Des Moines.
In the two years GDP has taken place, it's created an enthusiastic following of indie music lovers from across the state. This year's GDP looks to be no different. We're looking for 8-10 acts from indie to punk to play on two stages. The first two GDP's featured acts such as The Envy Corps, Poison Control Center, General Sherman, and more.
Professional, hard-working bands interested in performing at this year's GDP are encouraged to send information or EPK's to info@desmoinesmc.com or mail press kits and demos to DMMC PO Box 41490 Des Moines, IA 50311. Include information about your most recent or upcoming projects, tours, and shows.
