Both Quart Festival and Redfest Are Now Canceled, But Why Can't I Stop Laughing?

By Mango Starr on

Just kidding about laughing. I ain't laughing. This ain't no laughing matter.

This past Saturday, it was announced that Norway's long-standing Quart Festival was canceled due to "ticket sales being weaker than expected and budgetary concerns." And that's even with a pretty hefty lineup (Death Cab for Cutie, Gnarls Barkley, Battles, Liars, Spank Rock, Holy Fuck, Kool Keith, etc.)! Maybe people were sick of Bibles being burned on stage? Or pigheads being thrown in the audience? Or people having sex on stage? (These all really happened, FYI.)

And now, word has just come in that the debut of South East England's Redfest has been canceled too. "Due to the very disappointing tickets sales we have had no choice but to call the festival off," according to a post on the official website. Admittedly, the lineup wasn't quite as stellar -- Crystal Castles, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Los Campesinos!, Patrick Wolf -- but this still breaks my heart. Who the hell knows what kind of sexual or violent or religious scandal might've happened there. Maybe Patrick Wolf having sex with the lead singer of Does It Offend You, Yeah?, while barfing in the mouth of Los Campesinos' most religious member? IN YOUR DREAMS PERVERT! (Mine too.)

Beck Reveals Details for Modern Guilt And Shit

By Mr P on 06-12-2008

- Artist: Beck
- Album title: Modern Guilt
- Record Label: DGC
- Release date: July 8, 2008
- Collaborators: Danger Mouse, Cat Power (on "Walls")

Modern Guilt tracklisting:

Damon and Naomi to Tour with Helena Espvall and Masaki Batoh; Tom and Jerry to Hold Camera and Join in on the Fun Should Mood Strike Them

By Mango Starr on 06-12-2008

Helena Espvall and Masaki Batoh (Ghost) are set to release their debut, self-titled collaboration July 22 on Drag City. Featuring "6- and 12-string guitar, banjo, cello, hurdy-gurdy, harp, contra bass, chappa Tibetan bells, Kin (Buddist metallic bowl), timpani, bass marimba, vibraphone, thunder sheet," and more, you'd be right in assuming this doesn't sound like Ugly Kid Joe, despite how amazing that band was. (Fun fact: “Everything About You” peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart.)

Today, Espvall and Batoh begin a tour with Damon and Naomi, who are touring in support of 2007's Within These Walls (TMT Review). The duos will part ways after their Empty Bottle gig, with Damon and Naomi trudging forth on a short European tour and Espvall and Batoh sleeping on beds made out of the money earned from the tour.

Damon & Naomi and Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh tour:

EMI Gains Access to BBC Archives Containing a David Bowie Documentary, Live Pink Floyd, and Other Cool Shit

By Heidi Vanderslice on 06-12-2008

EMI is now able to open the BBC's own Cave of Broadcast Wonders, which gives me the mental image of a huge iron door laboriously wrenched open and Syd Barrett careening out, only to hit the opposite wall. In a deal forged this week, the BBC has agreed to grant unfettered access to EMI in exchange for use of EMI's artist performances in their programming. EMI plans to use this reservoir of material to create exclusive live DVDs, CDs, and digital download content.

"In the BBC vaults there is a wealth of unreleased and high quality material from EMI artists that we will now be able to bring to fans," says EMI senior VP Pete Duckworth. "At the same time, we can offer new revenue opportunities to our artists that simply weren't there before."

As mentioned in the headline, some of the hidden treasures include a 1975 Bowie documentary and a 1967 Pink Floyd performance of Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Hey, check it: EMI had a good idea! Devote time to the artists in your catalog that are actually good, and people will probably buy your swag! Oh man, this defies logic. Or follows it. I need to lie down (with David Bowie).

Cogito, Ergo Blow Your Fucking Mind; Indeed, Mars Volta Expands Tour

By Papaya on 06-12-2008

Dear Diary,

Is my mind more than a spot on the surface of a spherical flame? If so, how does its orbit establish my existence in relation to the emptiness of the void? Does it overcome insignificance and achieve true being, or does being simply achieve insignificance, overcome by truth? Are you there, God? It’s me, Cedric. I’m cold.

“Everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.” Yet still the carnal desire to tour this September wells up within me, to educate the masses, the plebeians, the scum who remain ignorant to the sonic goddess that is my masculinity, personified through poetry. Fact: there are certain metaphysical truths which reveal themselves only in the Dionysian ecstasy of a half-hour bass solo. How long have I been in this room?

My dharma, through events set into motion before the dawn of time, has been to overcome my status as sidereal Libra, omnivore, and American, and, through sound, manifest eternal triumph. Mine was a virgin birth, for I am the child of pure art and unconditional strength. I can rise to this challenge. I can create light. I can. I can! I am man! I am art! It shall be!

Oh, to be!

xoxo,
Cedric Bixler-Zavala

M.I.A. Cancels Tour Onstage Last Friday, Confirms Cancellation This Week

By Mr P on 06-11-2008

Last Friday, M.I.A. announced during her performance at McCarren Pool that she is canceling her upcoming tour. She confirmed the cancellation before her performance at MoMA's "Party in the Garden."

“This is my last show. I cancelled the UK tour," M.I.A. told New York Magazine. “Nobody knows. This is it. You’re hearing it first. My manager was supposed to cancel it yesterday, but he was watching football — don’t tell anyone — and he forgot. So nobody knows. I guess now they will.”

Why M.I.A.? Why?

“I’m canceling because I feel like physically I just have to stop for a second. It’s too insane. I was losing a sense of just, like, reality, you know what I mean? I think for an artist like me, it’s so important for me to be in the streets and go to the same shop every day and see the same people and, like, communicate. And it’s really difficult to do that when you’re in the city every day for 24 hours. Like, I love connecting with my band, but I want to actually help them and be a part of peoples’ lives. Which is really hard when you’re on tour.”

Oh, I see. But what about a new album?

“I’ve been writing on tour. I’m really into writing new songs. I’m going to put out a new record instead. At the end of the day, I’m here, you know.”

It's unknown whether or not the entire European tour is canceled or just the UK dates, but New York Magazine believes its the entire tour. Also unknown is if this cancellation includes her Bonnaroo appearance, but I'm guessing probably not. Really, your best bet is to simply show up at any of the following dates and wait and see if she shows up. If she doesn't, you can be all, like, "Wow, she's truly M.I.A.!"

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