"The band is continuing to make waves in the US with its new single, 'Joker The Thief,' which can be heard in trailers for the forthcoming movie 'Jackass Number 2.' "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville and his crew are featured in the song's music video." [ ]
are on sale for @ Hammerstein Ballroom on 11/22.
All dates below...
09/15 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
09/20 - Nashville, TN - Exit In
09/29 - Alpine, CA - Viejas Concerts in the Park
Its either the horrible weather, or just general exhaustion that keeps me missing so many shows I mean to go to lately. One such show was "Jesse Malin ( ) + special guests" . Were you there?
If so, wWhat happened? I just found this:
...jesse was awesome, his keyboard player / harmony vocalist rocks. we saw a bit of his d generation bandmate's set, and saw one song with a guy from bad brains, but we got tired and took off.
.. i'm sure the show went till 3am with tons of special-er guests.
.." [ ]
Bad Brains – Live CBGB 1982 displays why Bad Brains became one of the most important bands in the history of American Hardcore.There's a $3.00 screening at at in Brooklyn on Tuesday, September 19th at 9pm.On Christmas Eve 1982, Bad Brains began their three-day stint at a Hardcore Festival hosted by legendary CBGB. This DVD represents the very best of these shows, culled from over 4 hours of footage. Their live performances were legendary, their visual recordings were impossible to find.
Now, for the first time on DVD, that powerful performance is revisited in extraordinary fashion.
There's . All screenings everywhere, and more CD/DVD info, below..
..
4.
I and I Rasta
6. King of Glory w/ Dave Hahn
10. Banned in D.
C.
20. Right Brigade
22.
Redbone in the City
24. Pay to Cum
We were in indie-pop heaven last night at Warsaw in Williamsburg last night, when Rogue Wave was joined by Nada Surf frontman Matthew Caws and drummer Ira Elliot onstage for their take on the Who's 'Kids Are Alright.' [ ]
"I COMPLETELY forgot about those guys!
I seriously have not thought about them since the nineties.)." [ ] ( )
Though it would have been even better if Feist had joined Jason Collett on stage during , she didn't -- I just liked better than anything I could find from this show.
September 13th marked the 10 year anniversary of Tupac Shakur's death. Has it really been a decade? That means all the kids on the subways with their Tupac shirts were mere toddlers when he died.
with rare interview videos and more.
The least secret of secrets, Jay-Z's upcoming un-retirement and new album, was finally officially confirmed - in Entertainment Weekly no less. In an upcoming cover story titled "Jay-Z Returns," the Brooklyn rapper-turned-exec tells us about his return to music after three years of retirement.
"It was the worst retirement, maybe, in history," Jay tells EW. "I believed it for two years." Jay's new album Kingdom Come (in stores November 21) features production from Dr.
Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West and Coldplay's Chris Martin.
Flavor Flav, hip hop's court jester and member of Public Enemy, announced his first-ever solo album. Rap icon and reality TV star Flavor Flav (please cancel your show Flav.
Dignity!) is set to release the still to be named record on 10/31.
The NY Post, the unpaper, reports that DMX is on a mission against.
...
flip flops. He calls them 'sissy soles' and protests against Jay-Z wearing them. He states, without irony, "It's Beyoncé.
He's a sucker for love. Thugs don't do flip-flops." He started a prayer circle right afterwards.
Read more .
Native Tongue legends Black Sheep are about to re-enter the market place with their upcoming digital only release 8WM/Novakane. The album won't be released until October, but they gave us a great preview last night at Mo Pitkins with an unannounced show with a 6 piece band and crazy amounts of energy.
Keep an eye out for an interview with Black Sheep's Dres on BV soon.
Former The Source owners/publishers Dave Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott are attempting to re-enter the hip hop world by way of a new publication tentatively title The Truth. Ironic name seeing that they were ousted from the Source after numerous examples of a lack of journalistic integrity leading to several staff walkouts.
Read more over at .
Talib Kweli is set to perform at the Nokia Theatre Times Square on October 15th with a great support cast of Pharoahe Monch, Lupe Fiasco, Nice Smooth, DJ Scratch and DJ Eclipse. are on sale.
Method Man is going on tour later this month. All dates below..
..
02 Sat Boston, MA Avalon Ballroom
CD/DVD press release.
...
(CD release Sept 26; DVD release Oct. 31 -- ATO/RCA Records)
"Following the release of their fourth critically acclaimed full-length, Z, My Morning Jacket is about to release what is surely to become their quintessential body of work: Okonokos, a 2-disc live recording and concert film capturing MMJ in all their glory.
Okonokos, conceived by Jim James, and it is as much a question as it is an answer.
It is an enigma wrapped around a riddle. Okonokos is whatever you want it to be.
The live concert was created with the aid of the trailblazing lighting designer Marc Brickman (well-known for his work with Pink Floyd), and filmed by director Sam Erickson.
Okonokos: Double Live Album was mixed by Michael Brauer (Bob Dylan, Coldplay) and mastered by pre-eminent engineer Bob Ludwig."
"Independent record labels in North Carolina are growing and so are their rosters. MoRisen Records in Charlotte features a handful of local artists gaining national attention.
Chapel Hill's regarded indie, , is known for breaking bands like Superchunk and the Arcade Fire.
But , near Chapel Hill, with a roster of legendary artists and bands with feverish cult followings, is clearly one of the state's most prolific outfits..
.." [ ]
The is out 10/17 on Yep Roc Records.
Billy Bragg tour dates below...
IT'S BEEN AN HONOR THAT I'LL NEVER FORGET.
OCTOBER 11TH @ 9pm.
THANK YOU, TRIGGER
The of shows at are upon us.
Richard Bienstock, whose band is playing there Friday night, wrote an article called for the Village Voice.
"We signed our record deal with EMI in the Continental's bathrooms," says the band's former singer, Jesse Malin, who was also a partner in the late Coney Island High on St. Marks Place and is currently co-owner of the Avenue A bar Niagara.
"Television had CBGB, and the Velvet Underground had Max's, but for my little punk rock group it was this room on the corner of Third Avenue. It was our home, and it's where we made our name."
Hmmm, that's three of the five original D-Generation members explicitly listed right on the bill.
"Special guests" are listed twice. One of them is "Really". Strangely/sadly/obviously (depending on how you look at it) are still available.
Enquiring minds will also want to know:
** Jesse Malin also with the NYC punk band , who as you can see above, are also on the evening's bill. It'll be their A.P.
P.L.E.
's first gig in 18 years. Their second one will be opening for later this month.
** Original D-Generation guitarist and New Yorker Georgie Seville (he was replaced by Danny Sage) is doing well as part-owner of along with Johnny T, Justine D, and Michael T.
The rest of the schedule...
..
Has there been an influx of well-rated music and associated-rock-like shows by somewhat-popular electronic (or electronic-like) artists all of a sudden?
Take for example the 39 (wow, 39?) upcoming Webster Hall shows that are now on sale: One of them is Hot Chip ( ), are The Knife, the Rapture Presets, DJ Shadow, Ladytron, Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, and Basement Jaxx. Gorilla vs.
Bear is Cassius, and Daft Punk . DFA DJs . Jamie Lidell is , and Girl Talk and Diplo are .
Nitzer Ebb is . , , , and the list goes on. Danceable artists who very-recently filled Irving Plaza and Bowery Ballroom include Matthew Herbert, Junior Boys, and Ratatat.
I missed all three for one reason or another...
"The set wasn’t a long one, but it was quality." [ ]
RATATAT not @ BOWERY BALLROOM | SEPT 11, 2006 ( )
"last night i went to see ratatat. as they started playing, a threesome of those obnoxious people who shove their way forward at the last minute shoved their way in my way.
a tall guy parked himself right in front of me. i tapped his shoulder, intending to ask him to move. before i could say anything, mre shoved him.
it was really too funny. mre, i love you for doing that." [ ]
HERBERT not @ IRVING PLAZA | AUG 27, 2006 ( )
"Herbert With Live Band is at best something of a paradox, at worst something confusing and special: live musicians playing sample-based music that's meant to sound live.
" [ ]
"But then at New York's Irving Plaza, Herbert was just a tiny guy wearing boxers and a lavender dressing gown (good eye, Jess) and acting like a complete doofus...
" [ ]
"What Herbert is doing in the live setting is incredibly complex, and though these small strainings of time and genre bow beneath the completeness of the artist's vision for each song and the force of his beats, moments of doubt are perhaps unavoidable." [ ]
Were you there?
P.
S. starring Moby, John Digweed, Soulwax, Junkie XL, Boris and Waxman goes down in Central Park on 9/22.
I would like to personally thank all the bands that played, the whole Hideout staff, all of the tireless volunteers, the City Of Chicago Department of Fleet Management, the Touch and Go staff, the sound and stage staff, the drivers, and all the fans that attended the block party this past weekend!
It has taken me a couple days to write this because there are really no words that can express just how amazing and meaningful the whole event was. And there are no words that can express the love and gratitude I have for everyone involved in making it happen. It will forever be three of the very best days of my life.
Thank you.
Much love and undying appreciation to all the bands that played. You took time out of your busy schedules.
You came from hundreds and thousands of miles away. You agreed to make no money so that the profits could go to local charities that help people less fortunate than all of us. I know you did all this to show your support for Touch and Go and the family of bands that you are a part of.
You indulged my desire to have you all in one place at the same time. You all played some of the best sets of your lives. You have overwhelmed me.
You have made me cry. I can’t thank you enough.
Also, a special thank you to the bands who reformed just for the block party.
On top of everything the other bands went through to be part of this, you re-learned songs you had long since forgotten. You had to reconnect with people you hadn’t been in touch with for many years, and you had to re-learn how to play music with them. You practiced long and hard to be able to show the thousands of people at the block party what your music and your energy were like during the years you were making records for Touch and Go.
You pulled it off with heartfelt enthusiasm...
you kicked ass. The intensity of your performances was as though you had never stopped playing together. You blew me away.
I can’t thank you enough.
Sincere thanks and love to Tim, Katie, Jim, Mike, Jessica, and everyone at the Hideout. This event never would have happened if you had not agreed to do all the hard parts.
You secured the space, interacted with the city, coordinated all the logistics of the PA rental, the food, the beer, the tickets, the security, the medics, the fences, the tents, the hundreds of volunteers, etc… I could go on and on. You are pros with endless energy and dedication, and I feel very fortunate that you were gracious enough to let Touch and Go be the theme for your 10th annual block party. Everyone who attended and everyone who played at the block party owe you a massive thank you.
Personally…I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to the hundreds of tireless volunteers. I only met a small fraction of you, but the block party was flawless from start to finish, and this never could have been without all of your efforts.
You gave up your time to help Touch and Go, the bands, the Hideout, the fans, and the charities. All of the bands kept telling me how well taken care of they were and how nice everyone working the event was. You are very kind people.
I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to the City Of Chicago Department of Fleet management. I never met you in person, but the Hideout staff has told me multiple times how accommodating and gracious you were.
You moved a lot of machinery, concrete, and steel to make this a safe and enjoyable event for all. This is not a part of your normal job. You didn’t have to do it….
but you did, and you did it with a smile. I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to the whole Touch and Go staff.
• Ed, we all know this would have never happened, and certainly would have never been so smooth, without your continuous efforts over the past 9 months. You took a big load off my shoulders. I truly appreciate it.
• Jamie, thank you for all your work with the bands and the backline. I know it was all very complicated but in the end, the bands had what they needed. That was important to me, and crucial to them.
• Dave, you came through with all the last minute art needs (and there were lots of them), with lightning speed. Postcards, signs, passes, food tickets, etc…, thank you for making sure we had them when we needed them. They all looked great.
• Justin, Joe, and Jim, thank you for the T G 25th mini-site. You were always ready to update it with the latest information. Without the mini-site, there would have been a lot of confusion.
Your efforts made the event a more organized place for the fans.
• Miranda, Chad, and Sara, you got the word out. The volumes of press and radio pieces about the T G 25th anniversary and the block party event are proof of all your hard work.
Wait a minute… am I really thanking you for making me do all those interviews? Yeah… I am. We would have never had all those thousands of people there if you hadn’t pushed me into it and convinced all the publications and stations that it was an event worth covering.
Krista, thanks to you too, for co-coordinating all the T G 25th press in foreign countries. We had fans from all over the world in attendance and your efforts helped spread the word in all those far away places.
• Taylor, if you had not suggested I speak with Tim Katie at the Hideout, I would not have thought to do so myself, and this event would not have happened.
• April, I know there are thousands of happy fans who bought records and CDs at the Reckless tent. You came to the warehouse Saturday morning and Sunday morning to pull inventory for the Reckless booth to replace all the items that had sold out each day. Speaking of which… thank you to Reckless Records for putting up a booth to exclusively sell Touch and Go and Quarterstick records to the thousands of music hungry fans.
I know it was a lot of work.
• Everyone else at Touch and Go also did their part by picking up the slack for those who were busy doing what needed doing for the event. All your efforts are greatly appreciated.
You all kick ass! I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to the sound engineers, stage managers and their crew.
• Bob Weston enlisted some of this country’s best sound engineers. He offered to do this as though it was no big deal. He then proceeded to coordinate all their schedules and take care of all the details.
I could never have done this myself. Everyone should be lucky enough to have great friends like Bob. Scott Adamson, Che Arthur, Tim Iseler, Jeremy Lemos, Kris Poulin, Jason Ward, and Bob Weston… thank you for making our event sound great.
You are the best.
• Howard Greynolds and Ryan Hembrey, the stages were run so smoothly that we were on time for every set all 3 days. That’s no small feat!
You and your crews busted your asses all weekend with no breaks and no time to just enjoy what was going on around you. I can’t thank you enough. Howard, you have been a friend to Touch and Go and our bands for many years.
Thank you for putting so much energy into all the little details leading up to and during the block party. You made a positive difference for everyone involved!
I also want to thank Carol, Nate, and Evelyn who were our shuttle drivers.
They drove back and forth between the Hideout and the band’s hotels for over 12 hours every day…in Chicago traffic! A thankless job, and one done with cheer. I know you were well appreciated by all the bands, and by myself (special thanks for bringing me all those coffees between runs!
). I can’t thank you enough.
And, a very big thank you to all the fans who attended the block party this weekend.
You raised tens of thousands of dollars for important charities. You showed an unbelievable amount of love and enthusiasm for a group of bands and people who mean the world to me. And you showed support for my life’s work: Touch and Go.
I hope you all had as much fun and treasured every moment of the festival as much as I did, because I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun for 3 days running! I can’t thank you enough.
As many of you saw, we had a video crew documenting the whole event.
Over the next twelve months, we will be putting up short video segments from the block party on the Touch And Go Records web site (www.touchandgorecords.com) every couple of weeks.
We will also be posting photos from the event over the next couple weeks too.
Thank you.
" are a Canadian indie rock band.
The four band members, Tim Fletcher, Dave Hamelin, Liam O'Neil and Oliver Corbeil, have known each other since around the age of 12 and played in various bands prior to forming The Stills in 2000. The band members are art students from Montreal, Quebec. On a two-month trip to New York City, they recorded several songs with the help of a four-track recorder.
After landing a record deal, they began working on an EP entitled Rememberese EP which was released on June 17, 2003. Their debut album Logic Will Break Your Heart was released later that year, and touring with Interpol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs gained them a steady following. Their latest album, Without Feathers, was released May 9th, 2006 on Vice Records.
" [ ]
BrooklynVegan interviewer Mike caught up with Dave and Oliver of the Stills after at in Montreal on September 2nd, 2006. They discussed the new album, Land of Talk, Ratatat, and revealed the mystery behind the guy in the blue jacket at Siren..
..
This wasn't the first time Mike interviewed the Stills.
...
BrooklynVegan Mike: I interviewed Tim around the eve of Logic and he spoke of how the second album will not sound like anything from the first album. And for the most part, that is true. So is the material that appears on Feathers in its genesis at that time?
Dave: Some of it, maybe. We knew we wanted to do something very different but we didn't know what. It was only later that we figured it out.
Oliver: It's hard to know exactly. Once you start fucking around with the songs and everything, it takes a sort of life of its own.
Dave: We never know what it's gonna be like until it's over.
It could have turned out a million different ways, even with the same material.
BrooklynVegan Mike: I hadn't seen it, but I had read and heard first hand accounts of the band receiving a negative reaction when you premiered some of the new stuff. Is that true?
Oliver: At shows, it wasn't so bad.
Dave: There were a couple of hecklers.
Oliver: But it was minimal.
I think it was more the media and the blogs.
Dave: So we put out a record, Logic Will Break Your Heart. So some people buy it, some people love it.
We put out another one. Blogs are now this big thing. So all of those people are like, "The Stills.
I love The Sills. I'm gonna review that record." Then they hear its differences and they are like, "OH MY GOD!
I hate this record, rah rah rah rah." [laughs]. Basically, all of those reviews are from fans of the old record.
You can just tell.
Oliver: Most of them start with, "Logic Will Break Your Heart, this MASTERPIECE…" Like, take it easy, it was a good record but….
Dave: Masterpiece?
We got . I'm reading all of this "critically acclaimed 'Logic Will Break Your Heart," like… opened with "The most deafening blast of mediocrity you are gonna hear this year." All of a sudden now, people pick it as a classic.
Oliver: When we put out our third record, they will say "Without Feathers, the classic record…."
BrooklynVegan Mike: Do you guys feel adversarial towards the first record because of the attention it gets?
BrooklynVegan Mike: I've seen you live a few times, the first behind this record, and I have always enjoyed how you toy with the structure of the songs.
I was curious how you would reconcile the two albums on stage and it was very good. Will this be a constant for the band, no matter the sonic changes?
Dave: We don't know what our record is gonna sound like.
We have an idea…actually, no, I don't know what the next record is gonna sound like [laughs]
Oliver: The reason why we do that is it is really hard to play like a 150 shows a year and play the songs exactly as it is and actually look like you give a shit. You have to change it up, or else it's a lie. It's imposssible to play a song 570 times and still like "yeah," be really into it.
Dave: I think that's why you change your songs up live. That's why you hear people say, "I like them live better."
Oliver: And there are people who are like, "I'd go see them live, but I wouldn't buy their record.
" It doesn't make any sense.
Dave: I would actually rather hear a band on record then see them live. I think that most of them are shit, live.
BrooklynVegan Mike: I guess unless you are a band like The Strokes who refuse to change anything live. Whenever they play, it is by the note.
Dave: Yeah.
I have seen them live but their records have a sound and an aesthetic to them. And like live sound is kind of like the same for everybody. There is very little subtlety going on there.
I like the studio.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Do you guys feel it is an uphill challenge to convert people through your live show?
Dave: No.
I actually think it is easier to convert someone live.
Oliver: In our case, I think so.
Dave: We are trying to get people into the new songs.
Live, they kind of sound like they could have been on the last record. It doesn't sound that different, I don't think.
BrooklynVegan Mike: You guys just finished up a tour with Sam Roberts.
Was it odd that he opened for you in States and you opened for him in Canada?
Oliver: [Sam Roberts] is really big. He's like platinum and half here in Canada.
. The new Neil Young or the new Tragically Hip or something. He's a really big deal.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Was it strange to see him only get his half hour before you, but then jump the border and he's playing an hour plus after you?
Oliver: It was strange to see him open up for us on the East Coast. I thought it was funny.
Dave: We just think of it like, "hey, we're playing together."
BrooklynVegan Mike: And you picked to open for you on . How was that?
Dave: Land of Talk is interesting. Liam, our keyboard player, plays in a jazz in this jazz sextet called the Snow Brothers. Actually, they are called Tempest Fusent, but I like the Snow Brothers better.
The drummer from Land of Talk plays with Liam in that band. And the singer, Liz, actually sang a song on our record that didn't make it on the record..
..The guys in Land of Talk are really buddies of ours and they are a 3-piece.
And it is really amazing that a 3-piece can make music like that with no hassles.
Oliver: No disrespect, but the best band that ever opened for us is Ratatat and they are just two guys.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Have you heard the new record?
BrooklynVegan Mike: , you had some strange guy on stage with you playing tambourine if I recall. What was that about?
Oliver: The Great Belghazi.
He lives in upstate New York and he makes weird films.
Dave: He is part of an art collective called that does artwork for albums.
Dave: Actually, he is a weird guy.
He's a friend but he's really weird.
Mike at the festival too.
".
..Seven thousand fans — ranging in age from 12 to 62, but largely sporting more-obscure-than-thou tees — packed two outdoors stages at the Hideout, located fittingly enough in one of the city's most industrial areas.
Thirty-two acts threw down over the course of 25 hours, from the Shipping News' math-rockin' 5 p.m. set Friday up through Calexico's water-logged feast that wrapped up the once-in-a-lifetime gala by 10 p.
m. Sunday..
.." [ ]
".
..The Hideout block party was several times its normal size, and all weekend Tim was running around doing everything from fixing toilets to snagging working amps when things went wrong.
He was a one-man crew, and I reminded him that my VIP bracelet had both a "10" and a "25" on it. "25" for the Touch and Go anniversary, but "10" for the number of years the Hideout has held its block party. He seemed genuinely touched but also proud like a new papa.
.." [ ]
".
..First, let us take a look at who was not at the festival: Blonde Redhead, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – three of the most powerful indie rock bands to come around in the past decade.
Now let’s look at who was there: Arcwelder, Didjits, The Monorchid. Yeah, I don’t know who they are either..
.." [ ]
Continued below.
..
"Then came Pegboy who were hilarious and easily the most fun band of the weekend.
The lead singer proclaimed his complete drunkenness, at 2PM, at the outset of their set, and flipped us all off." [ ]
"No gimmicky light show or practiced cover band can match the majesty of seeing Roger Waters recreate his visionary work with Pink Floyd. And even though he’s currently touring under the guise of performing the legendary 'Dark Side of The Moon,' that’s literally only the half of it.
'Dark Side' was originally performed as Act 2 of a Floyd show - exactly how Waters did it last night before a capacity crowd for the first of two gigs at Mansfield’s Tweeter Center.
For all the anticipation surrounding Act 2, the first set was a much more compelling display. That’s not to knock Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece, which the musically muscled 11-piece band did commendable justice to.
But hearing him lead his troops through crisp renditions of 'Have a Cigar,' 'Sheep' - during which an inflatable pink pig circled the venue - 'Wish You Were Here,' the opener 'In the Flesh' and 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5),' complete with multiple images of the late Syd Barrett flashing across the video screen, was infinitely more satisfying." [ ]
15 Sept Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY
tour dates below..
.
Sep 15 2006 Dibden Center for the Arts (Johnson State College) Johnson, VT
Sep 20 2006 The Milestone Charlotte, NC
BrooklynVegan interviewer Paula Pou caught up with singer-songwriter while he was He took a break to chat with her on the phone from his hotel room..
.
BrooklynVegan Paula: How’s Chicago treating you?
Pete: It’s nice.
The nights have actually cooled down a bit so it’s nice out. A taste of that fall weather you can’t get in LA.
You’re from brooklynvegan, right?
My cousin is super hipster. He just graduated from Wesleyan. He actually won best senior film there.
I asked him what some of the cool blogs were these days and he said brooklynvegan was one of them. When I told him I was talking to you guys he was really excited.
BrooklynVegan Paula: Thanks for the props -- So what have you been up to for the past three years?
I was still supporting , so was either on tour on getting ready to go on tour with R.E.M.
I toured until the beginning of 2004 when I came off the road and went home to Los Angeles and kind of settled back into some sort of normalcy. I’d been touring so much with the first record and I kind of rolled right into with the second one and I missed being around my family and friends and having a normal life, so I kind of just hung out for a while and readjusted, which was weird at first. When you get off the road—after being out there for so long—when 8 o’clock comes around at night something would kick in in your body.
I would feel like I needed to be out playing a show; it was like some sort of energy would kick in and it would usually manifest itself with me having to go to the pub to have a drink. That happened a lot for a while, but then I started getting ideas for song and started writing a lot of songs and recording on and off up until I decided I was going to put out the record that eventually became Nightcrawler. I just spent a lot of time in different studios developing songs and enjoying being in one place for a while.
BrooklynVegan Paula: I heard you actually recorded a lot of songs. How did you decide what would ultimately make the cut on Nightcrawler?
Pete: I didn’t decide—the record label just said, “This is what we’re putting on.
” [Awkward pause, followed by laughter]. Nah, I’m kidding—I’m completely kidding. It was hard because I went through a lot of phases.
I went through a phase where I was really into this ‘acousticy’ kind of country-like stuff and I kind of got to sneak that out in a little EP called Western that is only available at my shows right now. But then I went through a different phase where I started rocking out more. Actually, most of Nightcrawler feels to me more like a rock record.
But yeah, leading up to it, I think I recorded something like 50 songs. I always record too much and I guess it’s always good to have a bunch of stuff.
BrooklynVegan Paula: Are you going to pull a Ryan Adams and release like four CDs in the same year?
Pete: I don’t know if I need to do that right now. One thing about the record label, and I don’t know if it’s because of the way they like to sell records—I mean they really want to sell records right now because of the state of the business; which is fine, that’s the business they’re in. I get it.
But the record label said, “Please, just 12 songs on the record. No more than 12.” And I settled for 14.
At one point I was thinking 19 and I was going to go double, but now I’ve just been sneaking out all these extra tracks I did. There’s the Western EP, which has 5 songs that aren’t on Nightcrawler.
These days, in order to boost get good placement in stores, you usually throw in a bonus track exclusive, which at first I was hesitant to do because I thought it was just going to piss off my fans—you know, making them buy the record again to get a track.
But we did the exclusives and then I just started encouraging the fans to download the extra tracks for free on my website. For people who’ve never heard of me before, then the better store placement means they’ll see my record and maybe get turned on to my stuff. So, between all the bonus tracks, I think there are about 24 new songs floating around.
I guess I did eke out a double record, but not really.
BrooklynVegan Paula: You seem to get more experimental in Nightcrawler. A song like “Vampyre” comes off as darker than your earlier material, but you also delve into Americana (with help from the Dixie Chicks) on “The Man,” you play around with electronic beats, and Rolling Stone called “Georgie Boy” Kinks-like.
Were you going for such a spread out sound or is it just something that emerged while you were in studio?
Pete: I feel that’s always been who I am. I’ve always thought my records are all over the place—that’s just what I do.
I’ve never been really concerned with making a record that has the same aesthetic from song to song. There are artists that do that, and it works for them, but that’s not my intention and that’s not who I am. My moods are ever changing and the things I’m into are ever changing.
Maybe one day I’ll make a record that has just one sound. For my first record ( ), before I put it out, I knew it was all over the map. You have a song like “Just Another” which is a total 60s little ditty and then a song like “For Nancy".
They don’t really fit together, but they do in a weird way. Also, for me as a live performer, I like having that kind of diversity because it really adds to the act—I kind of become all of these different characters as I do the songs that are so diverse sounding…at least in my own mind.
BrooklynVegan Paula: When you were doing press for musicforthemorningafter, you often said that every song on that album actually began as a drum beat.
Is that the case in Nightcrawler?
Pete: Certain songs did. “ ” was obsessed with Native American rhythms at the beginning of it.
[Demonstrates by chanting “Pom, Pom, Pom, Pom…Pom, Pom, Pom, Pom”]. Actually there’s weird footage of me in the studio that somebody got. It’s actually quite funny.
I was trying to explain, “It’s got to be like Native American drums. Just make it sound that way.” But then that song blows up into something else completely at the end.
In the studio sometimes I would start with the drums, but the songs were already sort of written on guitar or piano. It really varies from song to song.
BrooklynVegan Paula: Some critics hailed musicforthemorningafter as an instant classic.
Did the automatic pressure that comes attached to statements like that influence Day I Forgot and/or Nightcrawler?
Pete: Just pressure from myself really. I’m really hard on myself.
Musicforthemorningafter is an interesting record because there’s an innocence to it sonically and it reflects who I was at the time. When I hear it, and I haven’t listened to it in a long time, but if I hear a song come on I think, “Wow, I sound so much younger” or “I sound like a kid.” It was a very organic affair.
No one had any impressions of me and I didn’t have any thoughts in my mind about what people would expect from me. I just wanted to make music that I liked and that I enjoyed and that moved me, I guess. Once you put out your first record you’re out in the public eye and it’s hard to put blinders on and distance yourself from everything people say about you, whether it’s positive or negative.
It’s always been important for me to not really pay that much attention to anything - even if someone says I’m the second coming of Elvis Presley, which I actually don’t think anyone’s ever said - it’s always been important to me to just stay focused on what moves me and that’s what I try to put into the records.
BrooklynVegan Paula: Having worked with producer before, how much do you think you’ve evolved together?
Pete: I worked with him on the Westerns EP and we have an entire record that we did together, which we recorded live with my backing band.
I want to put it out as a piece for sure. We’ve worked the same way we’ve always worked. We have such a wonderful relationship from years ago.
I made a record with him in 1997 that hasn’t been released. It was before I was signed to Sony. I actually took "Simonize" from it and put it on musicforthemorningafter.
If you’re familiar with that song, that’s the sound of the unreleased record. We’re really great friends and always enjoyed working together. Recently, I spent a lot of time working with , who’s a brilliant producer, but he can be very difficult to work with for a long period of time.
His process is very slow and my process is very fast. I like do get things done quickly once I’m in the studio. I think as a reaction to working with Michael for such an intense time, I decided to do a bunch of songs with Don just to kind of balance things off.
What was supposed to be like five songs, turned into a whole record, but we’ll see what comes of it. There’s a song called “Old Boy” from that session that I had put on and when I took it down everyone started asking, “Where the hell’s ‘Old Boy?’” So I put it back up by popular demand.
BrooklynVegan Paula: Who’s backing you up as a live band?
Pete: There’s four of us right now. I’m playing guitar and singing.
An old bandmate of mine, Joe Kennedy, plays electric guitar and piano—he’s been with me since the beginning. The rhythm section is from a band called . They’re these British kids—Malcolm Cross on drums and Sid Jordan on bass and background vocals.
They’re great. It’s a really loose band. We’ve gotten much tighter, but when I say “loose” I’m thinking about my old band—they’d learned the record exactly; every single part and I was really into that for a while.
For the first three years it was a very robotic show in that sense, and now it’s more in real time. It’s an organic band and everyone’s a great player, and those guys have the ability and talent to stretch out wherever I want to go at any given time. Basically, we’ve been playing these 2+ hour-long marathon shows with no setlist.
I just call out the songs. We all have this mental connection that I haven’t had since I used to play with my brother. My middle brother, , was the drummer in my band when I was just starting out and we had that sort sibling connection, you know?
All of us now in this band kind of seem to have the same connection and it’s really very nice. It makes the shows for me and I think for the audience, just over the top.
BrooklynVegan Paula: You’re known for playing live covers.
What made you want to cover Warren Zevon’s “Splendid Isolation” on Nightcrawler?
Pete: That song was suggested to me by his son, Jordan Zevon. We have a mutual friend and when they were putting together the tribute record (Enjoy Every Sandwich) Jordan reached out to me and asked if I wanted to be part of it.
To be honest, at the time, I was not familiar with a lot of Zevon stuff. But Jordan said he had this song called “Splendid Isolation” which would be good for me to do and I remember I went to the Tower Records on Sunset, which probably won’t be there for much longer, and I couldn’t find it on a regular CD, but I found a live recording of it. I listened to it and I thought it was great, but the lyrics especially I just thought were so hysterical.
I love the lyrics, you know, it’s all about this guy who’s just like, “Leave me the fuck alone. I just want be by myself.” And I can relate to that character.
Usually I like being around people and I have a lot of friends, but maybe one day a week I feel like that I just want to be by myself and that’s how I got turned on to the song. I went and recorded it in the mountains up in Lake Arrowhead in California at my friend’s house and it just came out really nice. It was on the tribute record, but then I realized not that many people heard it.
I actually called someone to find out how many copies that record sold and I think it was like 50,000 and this was like eight months ago after it had already been out for a while. I thought, “Damn it! People need to hear this.
” For me, it fit into Nightcrawler and I wanted to play it live, so I just threw it on there so more people could hear it. I would play it for friends and they’d ask what it was—they hadn’t even heard it. I just wanted that song to get more exposure.
Pete: The Dixie Chicks reached out to me a couple of years ago to ask if I wanted to write songs for their new record, Taking the Long Way, which just came out in May. It’s a really angry record. I’d met them once before at a party in New York and they’d seemed pretty nice so I said yes and I went down to Austin—that’s another thing I was doing over the past three years; I went and visited them three times.
We would hang out at either Natalie’s house or Martie’s house and just jam and come up with song ideas. I remember just being blown away the first time I went, because I never really wrote with anyone before—I was more of a solitary writer. And I said, “Alright girls, show me what you got.
” I mean, I really wasn’t that familiar with their music—I’d heard their “Landslide” cover, as well as “Wide Open Spaces,” but that was it. Next thing I know, I found myself in this really surreal moment where I’m sitting on the couch and the three of them are sitting across from me—Martie had a fiddle and Emily had an acoustic guitar—and they just started singing and they have this three-part harmony where, whether you’re a fan of their music or not, is just angelic and it blew me away. But they’re super down to earth and we came up with a bunch of song ideas.
They ended up coming to LA to make their record with Rick Rubin and I was happy to end up with a song on their record called “Baby Hold On.” They also happened to be in LA when I was working on my record. I had a couple of songs that I thought would be great to have Natalie sing on and when I called them up, they were totally up for it
BrooklynVegan Paula: So you’re going to be one of the last acts to play at CBGB’s before it shutters.
Pete: That’s what I hear. This will actually be my first time in CBGB’s. I’ve never been—I grew up in New Jersey, but I was too young for the whole Ramones thing and after that I never really went into New York that much.
I hear they’re opening a CBGB’s in Vegas and I bet it’ll do well there. I mean if House of Blues can do well there, why can’t CBGB’s do well? If they do it right it could be good.
BrooklynVegan Paula: What’s your dream venue in New York?
Pete: Madison Square Garden, for sure. I’m on a quest to get to the Garden.
I’ve played the other room at the Garden (the Theater), but I’d really like to play the Garden proper.
BrooklynVegan Paula: On you’re playing some pretty intimate venues. Are there plans for a larger scale tour later in the year?
Pete: Yeah, definitely. I love playing really small sweaty clubs as well, it’s super fun, but this is kind of a promotional thing for the new record. I’m playing really intimate shows for the really hardcore fans first and then I’ll be in Australia for most of October.
I’m doing two headline shows there, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne, and then we’re with the Dixie Chicks. I’ve never been to Australia before so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve wanted to go for a while.
Then I’ll come back and do some more headlining shows.
BrooklynVegan Paula: What are you listening to these days?
Pete: I don’t have that many records on my iPod—just my song list.
Let’s see…what comes on first? “19th Nervous Breakdown” by the Rolling Stones comes up. “A Million Miles Away” by comes up next—all the songs with numbers come up first.
You know what song’s really been hitting me great lately? “Allentown” by Billy Joel. I never even liked that song when I was growing up, but I just realized it’s a great song.
I think I like the drums. I’ve been digging . I just discovered their .
I absolutely love it. It’s raunchy. I think Keith Richards said it was better than Sticky Fingers.
In a later incarnation Flamin Groovies have "Shake Some Action" (1976) but this is actually earlier I’m talking about (1971), and it’s kind of got a little Stooges to it, but mostly it really does have that kind of awesome raunchiness to it. They cover “Louie, Louie” on it. It’s really good.
If Kings of Leon haven’t heard it they should, because it totally sounds like what they aspire to be. What else have I been liking lately? Anything new.
I sound like such an old fogy. People give me so much music that it’s become a blur of new material. When I’m in my car I listen to talk radio.
I’m surrounded by music at all times that talk radio is kind of a nice break—I listen to the news or .
STREAM Pete Yorn “For Us” feat. Dave Grohl on drums:
"NYC punk legends are pleased to announce their plans to reunite for one night, November 25th, at New York's famed Irving Plaza.
The band, whom abruptly broke up in early 1997 while on tour in Bielefeld, Germany, decided it would be the best way to offer closure on the whole experience — on both a personal level and for their fans. 'Texas Is The Reason did everything in broad strokes,' explains guitarist Norman Brannon, 'so breaking up when we did, quickly and silently, felt like an extension of that. The one thing we all agreed on, even back then, was that our last show should have been in New York City.
We've had reunion offers in other states, but we turned them down. This show has been in the back of our minds for a long time."
More below.
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"Texas Is The Reason was founded in late 1994 by Brannon, a former Shelter guitarist, and 108 drummer Chris Daly; bassist Scott Winegard and frontman Garrett Klahn rounded out the quartet.
After the release of a three-song EP, Texas Is The Reason became an underground smash. A split single with Samuel for the UK-based Simba label quickly followed before the band released their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are? — named after the last statement JohnLennon allegedly heard before he died.
Produced by Jawbox's J. Robbins and released through Revelation Records, Do You Know Who You Are? brought major-label courtship and widespread visibility for Texas Is The Reason, who were being hailed as the 'next big thing' in the growing punk explosion on MTV.
After issuing a final split single with The Promise Ring through Jade Tree Records, and on the eve of signing with one of the major labels in 1997, intra-band tensions
arising from these newfound pressures eventually caused the band to split.
Individual members moved towards various different musical projects over the years, with Garrett Klahn forming Solea and Daly co-founding the popular indie outfit Jets to Brazil. Winegard started his own record label imprint, GrapeOS, and played with a band called the Americans, while Brannon went silent until 2001, resurfacing with New End Original, a project featuring former Far frontman Jonah Matranga.
With their past clearly behind them, the original members are excited to play for the right reasons again. 'This is the first time in ten years that we've actually found ourselves living in the same city at the same time,' Brannon says. "But ultimately, we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think we could do it right.
It's that 'broad strokes' thing, really — we're thinking of this as less of a concert and more of a spectacle."
are on sale. Details below.
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Hey hey, NYC animal lovers!
Please join the Big Apple’s most compassionate musicians and celebs for “Gimme Shelter: Rock Rescue NYC” on Wednesday, October 4. Hosted by Rational Animal and the ASPCA, the charity event will benefit local rescue groups and New York City’s homeless animals, as we move towards our goal that all city shelters will be no-kill by the year 2010. Be there!
BEASTIE BOYS, JOE ALBERT BOUCHARD of BLUE OYSTER CULT, THE CHOKE, THE DUELLING BANKHEADS, JOE HURLEY AND THE GENTS, MARSHALL CRENSHAW, MURRAY WEINSTOCK NELLIE MCKAY, SIC F*CKS, THE STAR SPANGLES, The group MORE AND MORE GUESTS T.B.A.
performed at the 2006 Bumbershoot Festival in a trench coat. The speakers caught on fire. Sneakmove .
And we're sure you'll hear plenty of other avenues saying he was "so hot" or "so electrifying" that he set the speakers on fire, so we'll refrain from doing so, but know that at the end of his set, some of the speakers did indeed have flames coming from them. He was singing soul, but flaming speakers is fucking punk rock. [ ]Drpaulproteus has from Jamie's performance.
are on sale for .
Still no Jello, but anyway added more shows. They're playing at Northsix in Brooklyn in addition to the next day.
All dates below...
Wed. September 20 Brooklyn, NY Northsix
Fri. September 22 Boston, MA Axis
A few weeks ago I was at in Manhattan when I saw a seemingly expensive glossy poster on the wall for an August 30th show by a band called "La Dolce Vita".
I thought it was weird - all the other local bands that play Don Hill's on a regular basis don't get posters like that. It was dark, I didn't look close, and then I forgot about it.
A few weeks later I just so happened to be looking at a copy of the Daily News someone left on the train.
Inside was a picture of Christopher from the Sopranos holding a guitar. The caption read: "Michael Imperioli blew them off the stage at Don Hill's Wednesday night with his band, La Dolce Vita. The Sopranos star who plays guitar, sings in an arch punk style more like Richard Hell of the Voivods than his wiseguy character, Christopher Moltisanti.
" Then I knew.
There's a video from another show , and a picture I found of the poster-in-question is below..
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