Jayhawks reunion features two Vic shows
Good news for fans of alt-country greats the Jayhawks. The band is doing a handful of shows in January, including two nights at the Vic. This is the lineup featuring both Mark Olson and Gary Louris. Hollywood Town Hall, one of the best albums of the ’90s, and the band’s follow-up, Tomorrow the Green Grass, are being reissued January 18.
Go here for the tour dates. The band plays Chicago January 27-28
UPDATE: Tickets go on sale Saturday, December 4, for the Chicago shows, though there’s a presale Friday through Jam and WXRT. The Jayhawks will play Hollywood Town Hall in its entirety on the 27th and Tomorrow the Green Grass on the 28th. Tickets are 29 bucks each plus a ton of service charges.
Bradford Cox tells Sony to fuck off
Bradford Cox ended up releasing four albums worth of Atlas Sound demos last week for free on his blog. In a bizarre twist, mega record label Sony took down volumes 2 through 4 of the Bedroom Databank releases, citing copyright infringement.
“Apparently Sony Music Owns my bedroom,” Cox says on his blog. Neither Atlas Sound or Cox’s other band, Deerhunter, is signed to Sony. So what’s the fuss about? Cox speculates that a Bob Dylan cover may have upset the suits at Sony. But that song, This Wheel’s on Fire, was on volume 1 of the Bedroom releases, which wasn’t removed. It’s disturbing how myopic and reckless the big labels can be.
Cox uploaded the links again and you can find them here. I’m still processing the massive music dump but there’s some good stuff in these recordings. And Sony doesn’t have a thing to do with any of them.
Check out this fan video below (before Sony tries to shut it down for no reason):
UPDATE: Pitchfork reports that Sony apologized, responding to anyone who inquired about the tracks: “The Bradford Cox tracks were mistakenly removed. We advised Mediafire that the titles were mistakenly taken down. We have communicated all of this to Bradford Cox and his manager. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Empty Bottle hosts free night of noise rock
This might get noisy. But I guess that’s the point.
The Empty Bottle hosts what it bills as “an evening with some of the best heavy noise bands Chicago has to offer” on Monday as part of its weekly free local band showcase.
Locrian leads this cool, droney mess followed by Helen Money, aka Alison Chesley, a cellist fresh off a tour with Shellac. (Steve Albini recorded her newest release In Tune.)
Anatomy of Habit plays last. The band features former members of Animal Law. With songs weighing in at upwards of 17 minutes, I figure we’ll get maybe three to five nightmarish tunes out of them.
Stick around for a screening of Locrian’s Crystal World video program.
Have a look at this video of Helen Money playing this year at The Hideout:
And here’s a spooky clip of Locrian at The Mopery:
This is Anatomy of Habit at Cobra Lounge:
Sea and Cake hits Lincoln Hall
The first time I saw the Sea and Cake was way back in the day at the legendary Lounge Ax. That club is long gone but Sea and Cake, which started out in the early ’90s, is playing a few doors away at Lincoln Hall Saturday night.
The band has been opening for Broken Social Scene but headlines its own show tonight. There’s no new album for Sea and Cake. These guys are still supporting the 2008 release, Car Alarm. The video below is for the first song off that album.
Radio Clash: Hear Joe Strummer via podcast
Joe Strummer hosted a radio show on BBC called London Calling in the late ’90s that ended in 2001. The broadcasts featured music that he loved, both then-current and older music that clearly influenced his work with the Clash and other projects. The radio show’s eclectic mix featured African, Caribbean, Calypso, American blues and soul, Elvis Presley and everything else that Joe thought was cool. The broadcasts are now available for free download via iTunes.
A big thanks to Aquarium Drunkard for pointing out this cool feature on iTunes. AD also notes that the blog Radio Clash offers downloads of Joe’s shows.
Atlas Sound releases free albums
Two free albums released in two days? Maybe Bradford Cox feels others are trying to one up him for giving away music and he’s striking back? Cox is offering two Atlas Sound releases, Bedroom Databank Vols. 1 and 2 here. He’s given away Atlas Sound and Deerhunter songs in the past. But no-cost, full-album releases are less common. Lately, there seems to be more full-length freebies offered by both new and established artists.
Gregg Gillis just offered his latest Girl Talk album for free. Kanye West released early versions of songs off the just-released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. New Zealand buzz band Secret Knives is offering its album for free.
UPDATE: Bradford Cox is unstoppable! On Wednesday, he released Volume 3 of Bedroom Databank. That’s 14 more songs — 41 total. Once again, go here to download.
Here’s the Atlas Sound song Shelia off of last year’s excellent Logos album (you have to pay for it):
Hey Everyone: Kanye West has new album!
What else can be said about Kanye West’s new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which is out this week? Well, despite his releasing songs from the album on the Web in recent months, the tracks will be changed at least somewhat on the official release, according to this article in the New York Times.
The early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. The songs are good, but a perfect score? He samples Black Sabbath, Aphex Twins, Bon Iver and freakin’ King Crimson (21st Century Schizoid Man). Check out this post by Fake Shore Drive on the album’s samples. The list of contributors is insane. There’s Jay Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj on one song, Monster.
From the NY Times article:
“For an egotist Mr. West isn’t scared of collaboration, in part because, like anyone who runs a good salon, he understands one can be measured by the depth of one’s guest list. That explains the most amusing bit in this album’s liner notes, from the credits for All of the Lights: ‘Additional Vocals: Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Tony Williams, The-Dream, Charlie Wilson, John Legend, Elly Jackson (La Roux), Alicia Keys, Elton John, Fergie, Ryan Leslie, Drake, Alvin Fields & Ken Lewis.’ Maybe three or four of these people are audibly identifiable on the song. But Mr. West likes collecting, and what good is a collection if it’s not on display?”
Here’s the video of West performing Power on Saturday Night Live. (Thanks to The Audio Perv)
It looks like Amazon is going to sell the album for $3.99 at least initially. It’s truly music for the masses.
UPDATE: Indeed, Amazon is selling the (digital) album Monday for about $4.
Best bet: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti at Metro
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti plays Metro Friday night. The band, led by L.A. lo-fi folk freak Ariel Pink, is supporting the excellent album, Before Today.
As a bonus, the legendary Os Mutantes open.
Girl Talk gives away new album, ‘All Day’
In case you missed it, mashup king Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, just released a new album, All Day. You can download it for free by going here.
Gillis lets you download the album as one seamless file (clocking in at 1 hour and 11 minutes) or separated as individual tracks. Either way, I recommend it.
And, here are some previous offerings by Mr. Gillis …
Video: Male Bonding’s ‘All Things This Way’
Clocking in at a little more than a minute and a half, the new video for Male Bonding’s All Things This Way is short and sweet.
All Things This Way – Male Bonding
The song is off the very good album, Nothing Hurts, released earlier this year.
Generationals’ single ‘Trust’ is worth a listen
New Orleans three-piece indie pop band, Generationals, is getting a lot of mileage off its single, Trust. I have to admit its a very catchy song and makes me want to hear more from this band.
If you sign up for its emails, Generationals will send you a download of Trust plus four versions of an older song, When They Fight, They Fight (which is not nearly as good a song as Trust). Go here to sign up. Trust is the title track off a new four-song EP. I recommend it. You can buy it at iTunes for the bargain-basement price of $1.99 right now.
Secret Knives lives up to the buzz
New Zealand’s Secret Knives is getting a lot of buzz because a.) the band is good and b.) these guys are giving away their album, Affection, free. Check out the single The Northwest States below.
The Northwest States – Secret Knives
Go here to download the entire album free.
Marnie Stern will shred Empty Bottle
Marnie Stern doesn’t play guitar as much as she shreds it. She once described herself (jokingly) as the DIY lady shredder. She’s sure to tear up Empty Bottle Wednesday night.
Stern just released a self-titled album last month.
Tallest Man on Earth debuts new video
Sweden’s Kristian Matsson, aka the Tallest Man on Earth, just released a new video for the song Love Is All. Check it out below.
The song is on the excellent album The Wild Hunt, released earlier this year.
Punks’ election night coverage
Republicans are taking over the U.S. House and gaining in the Senate. It’s no wonder. Exit polls are showing Americans are fearful in a terrible economy. Unemployment still stands at almost 10 percent. That means close to 15 million people are out of work (and that’s just the folks who are counted).
A CNN analysis shows that most voters are deciding against an incumbent rather than endorsing a candidate. That’s too bad.
For decades, rockers lampooned politicians and their insincerity. A couple of songs that spring to mind every election are Urge Overkill’s The Candidate and Alice Cooper’s Elected.
The tea partiers seem to have made some inroads tonight. Kentucky’s Senator-elect Rand Paul says he’s going to organize a tea party wing of the GOP in Washington. Paul, of course, is the son of libertarian entertainer Ru Paul. Here’s a clip of the elder Paul.
