John Lydon Discusses Public Image Limited Tour, New Material, and the Delicious Taste of 100% British Butter

By Liz Louche on

It’s always a good day for music fans when John Lydon is in the news. Hell, it’s a good day for everybody, especially those of us who enjoy wacky stories on the internet. Most of the recent hype concerning the Sex Pistols/Public Image Limited vocalist has been as a result of his appearances on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Judge Judy, and a now-notorious butter commercial. Apparently the butter commercial has both a) given Mr. Lydon the capital to mount several Public Image Limited tourdates in the U.K. (the first such dates in 17 years) as well as b) gotten him a lot of guff from people who think hawking butter isn’t punk rock. Which begs the question: is butter not punk rock? What would be? Margarine? Not putting anything on your toast? Because that’s not hardcore. It’s just boring.

So Lydon’s butter money is helping to finance the dates below. And if those dates sell well enough, Public Image Limited is seriously thinking about recording again. It’s truly the Circle of Life. When asked if the band would be playing the hits during their upcoming tour, Lydon said, “Don't be ridiculous! What do you think this is? The Beatles? She loves you yeah yeah yeah? No no no! You get what you're given and it'll be even better then.” Take that, butter haters

12.15.09 - Birmingham, England - O2 Academy
12.16.09 - Leeds, England - O2 Academy
12.18.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - O2 Academy
12.19.09 - Manchester, England – Manchester Academy
12.21.09 – London, England - Brixton Academy
12.22.09 - London, England - Electric Ballroom
12.23.09 - London, England - Electric Ballroom

Judge Rules in Favor of RIAA in Malicious Prosecution Lawsuit

By Brom on Nov 19 2009

In 2007, Tanya Andersen was exonerated in a lawsuit brought against her by the RIAA. The child labor-exploiting, baby-eating, SUV-driving music industry argued that the defendant had downloaded gangster rap over Kazaa, a P2P file-sharing application. She countersued in the same year, claiming that the RIAA had attempted to prosecute her maliciously.

Unfortunately for Ms. Andersen (and millions of internet users who hate child labor, eating babies, and SUVs), Judge Anna J. Brown has ruled that "the RIAA had sufficient legal justification to initially file suit against Andersen, saying that they could have ‘reasonably believed’ that she was responsible for sharing copyrighted tracks on a P2P network in 2004." Andersen originally claimed that the suit should never have been brought in the first place, saying there was no way of knowing who the person was "behind the computer when the MediaSentry investigator detected KaZaA user gotenkito's shared folder."

There's still a chance of the RIAA getting a kick in the nuts, with the court yet to decide on whether the organization's conduct was appropriate in attempting to secure the prosecution of Andersen.

Belle and Sebastian Hint at New Album

By Mr P on Nov 18 2009

From Belle and Sebastian's official website:

[Thanks to Fausto Koerich for the tip!]

WFMU Needs Your Money Right Now; Seriously!

By Jon Lorenz on Nov 18 2009

WFMU, one of the greatest radio stations out there, is in emergency mode as of yesterday. Code green! Just like everyone else in the world, WFMU is having a rough time in our crappy economy. The station's latest fundraiser came up short by $100k, and the lease on its transmitter has ended. And since the station is 100% listener-supported, it needs our help. In fact, WFMU has given its listeners 24 hours to send some cash. This 24-hour time period started yesterday at 7 PM, so time is extremely limited.

So, get out your credit cards, log in to your PayPal account, or just go sell a kidney, because WFMU needs you now more than ever. Click here or give them a call at 1-800-989-9368 and pledge anywhere from $15 to $3000. They'll make sure to repay you with some sweet WFMU swag and years of awesome weirdness.

By Mr P on Nov 18 2009

To all those hardcore TMT fans out there wild applause], you probably already know how a lot of us here love Graham Lambkin (ex-Shadow Ring, Tart, Elklink, etc.). Last year, he released The Breadwinner ([TMT Review) with Jason Lescalleet, and the year before he self-released Salmon Run (TMT Review) on his own label, Kye. This year? Well, it looks like he's taking a stab at musique concrète with another self-release, Softly Softly Copy Copy.

Featuring two 20-minute tracks, Softly Softly was described by Scott Foust (who recently released his own solid album, Jungle Fever) as "very disorienting, like a long exhausted train journey where you awake once in a while for a few minutes to a new, beautiful, and odd situation." Sound good to you? If so, make your way to Swill Radio and order a copy (FYI: Kye has a collection from Moniek Darge available too).

Meanwhile, Lambkin is also set to release a limited-edition book + CD. According to Penultimate Press, "'Dumb Answer to Miracles is the first official publication of writings by Graham Lambkin. Previously 20 copies of a signed private edition entitled Tomb of Speed were circulated amongst friends, collegues and mail order customers. This collection gathers all the Tomb of Speed writings, a handful of Lambkin's lyrics he wrote for the band Shadow Ring and many unpublished works." You can pre-order the book here. You know, IF YOU WANT TO.

[Artwork: Graham Lambkin]

By Annapocalypse on Nov 18 2009

This week, Dev Hynes from Lightspeed Champion announced the follow-up album to his 2008 debut, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge. The new album is happily titled Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You and is due out on Domino February 1. According to the press release, the new album contains 12 songs, two instrumental intermissions, and even one piano étude (which is “a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity” according to The Free Dictionary). None of that is really as important as the artwork, though. It’s time to start placing bets on if Hynes can top the ridiculousness of his 2008 album artwork. Maybe this time he’ll be holding a kitten and wearing a different-colored sweater. The possibilities are endless!

Tracklisting:

1. Dead Head Blues
2. Marlene
3. There’s Nothing Underwater
4. Intermission
5. Faculty of Fears
6. The Big Guns of Highsmith
7. Romart
8. I Don't Want to Wake Up Alone
9. Madame Van Damme
10. Smooth Day (At the Library)
11. Intermission 2
12. Sweetheart
13. Étude Op.3 ‘Goodnight Michalek’
14. Middle of the Dark
15. A Bridge and a Goodbye

News
  • Recent
  • Popular

Music Reviews
  • Recent
  • Popular