ATP Celebrates 10th Anniversary; If My Mom Had It Her Way, There'd Be a Cosmic Bowling Party and a Jonas Brothers Birthday Cake

By Annapocalypse on

This year, the All Tomorrow's Parties festival is turning 10, so they’ve decided to celebrate with not only the Nightmare Before Christmas event curated by My Bloody Valentine on December 4-6, but also with a special “Ten Years of ATP” event, taking place December 11-13. No fair! For my tenth birthday, all I got was a bowling party, a new boombox, and a Silverchair CD. I guess my parents don’t have the same clout as ATP. Or maybe Daniel Johnson was busy that weekend.

Either way, the Ten Years of ATP fest will be way cooler than my tenth birthday party, with an initial lineup that includes previous ATP favorites: Explosions in the Sky, Dirty Three, Shellac, Tortoise, Melvins, Mudhoney, The For Carnation, Papa M, Deerhoof, Fuck Buttons, The Drones, Sleepy Sun, and Bardo Pond. The festival will take place at Butlins Resort in Minehead, England. Tickets are £160 per person for "room only" accommodation and £170 per person for self-catering, which, according to Google, equals about $262.59 and $279 in U.S. dollars, respectively. Not sure what all of this ticket business means? ATP has included a handy calendar on their website that gives you the lowdown on when to buy tickets:

- June 19: Tickets go on sale to people who have already bought tickets to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Limited number of £20 discount tickets and full-price tickets available.
- June 22: Tickets go on general sale. Limited number of £10 discount tickets and full-price tickets available.
- September 30: Second installment due for those buying tickets using the installment scheme
- December 4-6: ATP: The Nightmare Before Christmas, curated by My Bloody Valentine
- December 7-10: Week-in-between accommodation available
- December 11-13: Ten Years of ATP Festival

For more information on early bird ticket specials, check out the Ten Years of ATP press release.

RIP: Sky Saxon, founding member of The Seeds

By Shane Mack on 06-25-2009

From Austin360:

Sky Saxon, founder of the brilliant ’60s garage band the Seeds, died Thursday morning at St. David’s Hospital.

The newly minted Austinite, born Richard Marsh, was hospitalized Monday with what doctors suspected was an infection of the internal organs, but cause of death has not yet been released.

Saxon fell ill last Thursday, but performed at Saturday at Antone’s with recent Austin collaborators Shapes Have Fangs.

- Official Sky Sunlight Saxon The Seeds website
- The Seeds Wikipedia entry
- The Seeds fansite

Spiral Stairs of Pavement Announces Solo Album; Panders to The Rulebook for Musicians

By Annapocalypse on 06-25-2009

- Musician Rule #547: If you have a cool nickname, you need to release a solo album to show it off. This is precisely what Pavement co-founder Spiral Stairs (a.k.a. Scott Kannberg) has decided to do. Although he has released albums under the name Preston School of Industry, Kannberg is striking out on his own this time around with his first solo album, The Real Feel, due October 20 from Matador.

- Musician Rule #723: You must recruit your famous musician buddies to help out on your debut solo album. In Kannberg’s case, he enlisted some old friends from Preston School of Industry, members of The Posies (Jon Auer mixed the album), guitarist Ian Moore, and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew.

- Musician Rule #288: Package the vinyl edition of your debut with goodies and make sure you tour to support it. The Real Feel vinyl will feature a different tracklisting and a limited-edition 7-inch. Kannberg is also planning a North American tour this fall.

- Musician Rule #45: Preview a song to drum up attention for your debut. You can listen to a track from The Real Feel entitled “Maltese Terrier” right here.

- Musician Rule #72: Ridiculous album artwork always helps. No seriously, it does.

Devendra Banhart Finishes Sixth Studio Album, Set for Release in Fall 2009

By Mango Starr on 06-25-2009

Devendra Banhart, that one dude, has finished his sixth full-length release. Recorded in a house in Bolinas, CA, the album features Banhart alongside Noah Georgeson (guitar, vocals), Luckey Remington (bass, vocals), and Rodrigo Amarante (guitar, vocals) -- all of them weighing in on the song arrangements. The album is currently untitled, which is why I've decided to call it Wake Up, Friend: I'm Airing Out the Wild Side (For You).

The album is expected sometime in the fall, but since he left the awesome Young God after 2004's Niño Rojo and has since departed with XL Recordings after two releases (Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon), "that one dude" is now label-less. We'll keep you updated on a firm release date and label. As for the title? We'll just go with mine.

Big Star Box Set to Be Released; Most People to Still Not Notice

By Kid Midnight on 06-24-2009

Eternal cult favorites Big Star are attempting to make one last splash for widespread listener appeal by giving you everything they ever recorded (except for the official albums!) in one nice, neat little package. The band announced plans to release a four-disc box set containing a motherload of record store employee-approved demos, live material, alternate takes, and other rarities.

The band have been cult favorites almost from the get-go, persevering through listener apathy, horrible distribution, and multiple personnel changes. However, despite the challenges, Big Star have cemented a place in history as a “Great Band That No One Listens To,” inspiring a wealth of musicians throughout the years to aspire to the same thing. Indeed, the sad truth is that, when the collection, Keep an Eye on the Sky, drops on September 15 via Rhino, it will most likely go unnoticed by the majority of music listeners. Though clearly a damn shame, most Big Star fans have come to grips with the fact that their questions of “Have you ever listened to Big Star?” are generally answered with a confused look and a “...huh? who?”

The box set will consist of 98 tracks spanning the years 1968-'75 and will include songs from pre-Big Star bands Rock City and Icewater, as well as solo work from band founders Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. Also included in the deal will be plenty of unreleased work from the sessions for all three Big Star albums. “Just when you're thinking everything has been released, apparently it hasn't," Big Star drummer Jody Stephens told Billboard, brilliantly.

The fourth disc of the set serves as an audio document of the band playing live in January 1973; it contains a collection of tracks from three nights when Big Star opened for soul legends Archie Bell and the Drells. Stephens recalls the experience: “Not exactly our crowd. After our performances, you can hear one person clap. Not a lot of energy coming back from the audience. The good thing about that particular recording is that there were mics set up in the room. It wasn't a board feed, where those can be kind of dry."

So, what’s the lesson here? Should you spend your time with a band that most people don’t even know about? Yes. To make a long story short, I recommend checking out the box set or, perhaps more appropriately, checking out Big Star. Break the cycle and help yourself. Discover “Rock’s Lost Band.” You won’t regret it.

Best Thing to Come Out of Seattle Since Flannel: Coconut Coolouts Tour the States

By Kat Gardiner on 06-24-2009

Ready to party your behinds off? Ready to see a grown man in a dirty banana costume play some killer licks while one of two stand-up drummers sings songs about Pizza and Party Jail? Ready to have some friggin' fun? No standing around and crying to melancholia at a Coconut Coolouts show, no way. Just pure, bona-fide, shaking your booty good times. These guys blow my mind out of my head. Seeing them is so much fun, in fact, that strangers who I saw once at their show still yell at me when they pass on the street, just to ask if I know when and where they are coming back. No shit. But don't trust me. Trust the 'Nuts:

"Hey Boy, wanna laugh so hard the dust shoots out both nostrils? Wanna carve the bowls of hell on a cheese pizza? Can't skate? Guess you can van surf with Styles then, unless the vikes are too strong. Hidin' from the pigs in Dike Dale's Ponytail fingerpaintin' anarchy signs on your big brother's Elvis Costello record (the good one). The present sucks but no more than the future's gonna, so stuff everybody in that PARTY TIME MACHINE while flippin' the bird to the flux capacitor and setting the controls for LAST NIGHT. What!? We're outta whip cream cannisters? Then pass out some stand-up drums or just pass out, but you're gonna get some fully detailed Converse sharpied on yer feets and curlie pirate moustaches to match. (It matches). If you don't know who the COCONUT COOLOUTS are get an Orbitz ticket up to Seattle and watch them flush the other bands down the toilet of the FUNhouse, if only to realize what a miserable time you've been having show in and show out. Kinda like when that one babysitter (that only got to babysit once) let you stay up till your parents climbed up the driveway to mull over all the Whoppers (not the burger) and Suicides (Pepsi/Sprite/Dr. Pepper/Orange) and hot dogs ampin' up your brain while trippin' out on how awesome the F-word was in the Breakfast Club."

These guys are nuts. Crazyawesomefuntimesalwayshighfive nuts. I'd even go so far as to bet you $15 million dollars that you will have fun if you go see them on this tour. Fif-teen-million-bucks.

Tourdates:
07.09.09 - Seattle, WA - The Funhouse
07.10.09 - Portland, OR - Slabtown
07.11.09 - Davis/Sacramento, CA - TBA
07.12.09 - Oakland, CA - The Cereal Factory (afternoon)
07.12.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock
07.13.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
07.14.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Monitor House
07.15.09 - Las Cruces, NM - Bacon House
07.16.09 - Austin, TX - Red 7
07.17.09 - New Orleans, LA - TBA
07.18.09 - Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub (FLA IS DYING DANCE PARTY)
07.19.09 - Orlando, FL - Rich’s Backyard BBQ and SHOTGUN PARTY!!!
07.20.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
07.21.09 - Raleigh/Chapel Hill/Durham, NC - TBA
07.22.09 - Baltimore, MA or Washington, DC - TBA
07.23.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
07.24.09 - Brooklyn, NY - TBA
07.25.09 - New York, NY - TBA
07.26.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Gooski’s
07.27.09 - Detroit, MI - TBA
07.28.09 - Chicago, IL - Cobra... PIZZAFEST '09
07.29.09 - Milwaukee, WI - TBA
07.30.09 - Minneapolis, MI - TBA
12.31.10 - The Grand Canyon, USA

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