Nobodaddy’s “Obvious News” Roundup: Flaming Lips Soundtrack Mushroom Movie, The Number Two Announces Its Equivalence to One Plus One, Sugar Tastes “Sweet,” Experts Say
By Nobodaddy on 02-02-2009
Lose the watch, man. According to Pitchfork, there’s a new independent film coming out soon (and in glorious TECHNICOLOR at that!) called Know Your Mushrooms, and its soundtrack will feature contributions (musical and possibly otherwise) by everyone’s favorite white men on the chessboard: The Flaming Lips. (Animal Collective must have been deemed a little too bad-trip-prone for this one... oh, plus they’re probably busy charting...)
Directed by Grass documentarian Ron “Maaan” Mann and featuring ’shroom expert Larry Evans, the film will apparently, you know, steer pretty clear of any attempts to legitimize its subject and will likely reinforce the HELL out of every hallucinogenic stereotype in the book as it "opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place… with extra cheese…" according to its website.
But hey, that’s just, like, my opinion, man. Besides, there’s no stopping this multi-colored microbus of a film now! Know Your Mushrooms premiered this past December and is already hitting the festival circuit and art houses in North America. Stops on the magical mystery tour will include screenings at SXSW March 14, Cinematheque Winnepeg March 13-15, and Vancouver's The Vancity April 3-6.
And in celebration of the film, our boys the Lips have put a brand new song from the movie called "Anything You Say Now I Believe You" on their MySpace page. The movie also features "The Wizard Turns On..." from At War with the Mystics and The Soft Bulletin's "What Is the Light?" Wizards? Mysterious light? Man, what a geeky ass drug mushrooms are!
Flight of the Conchords Announce Tourdates, Suspiciously Play Two Shows a Night in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Berkeley
By Emceegreg on 02-02-2009
I almost blew my load... of laundry as I overloaded my washer while reading an urgent text message that Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand's fourth most popular folk duo, have announced a tour in support of their sophomore album for Sub Pop. Here's a list of things you can do while waiting for the not-so-secret pre-sale to the facial hair of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, up close and personal.
- Read sheep jokes
- Make a toothbrush fence
- Participate in a Team-Building Exercise
- Watch new episodes of the second Season of Flight of the Conchords on HBO.
- Read list of tourdates below, repetitively, for an unhealthy amount time until everyone who loves you leaves and all you have left is seeing FOTC live. After that, you have nothing to live for
04.06.09 - Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center *
04.07.09 - Coral Gables, FL - University of Miami BankUnited Center *
04.08.09 - Orlando, FL - UCF Arena *
04.10.09 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
04.11.09 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre *
04.13.09 - Washington, D.C.- Constitution Hall *
04.14.09 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall *
04.17.09 - Boston, MA - Agganis Arena *
04.18.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre (2 shows) *
04.19.09 - Kent, OH - Kent State University *
04.21.09 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall ^
04.22.09 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall ^
04.24.09 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre ^
04.25.09 - Bloomington, IN - IU Auditorium ^
04.26.09 - Madison, WI - Overture Center for the Arts ^
04.28.09 - Chicago, IL - Aerie Crown ^
04.30.09 - St.Louis, MO - Fox Theatre ^
05.02.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theatre (2 shows) ^
05.03.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium ^
05.05.09 - Dallas, TX - Nokia Theatre ^
05.06.09 - Houston, TX - Jones Hall ^
05.07.09 - Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall ^
05.10.09 - Vancouver, BC - Center in Vancouver for the Performing Arts %
05.11.09 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre %
05.12.09 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre %
05.14.09 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall %
05.16.09 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre %%
05.17.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Abravanel, Hall %
05.19.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre %
05.20.09 - San Diego, CA - RIMAC Arena %
05.22.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl %
05.23.09 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint %
05.24.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre %
05.25.09 - Berkeley, CA - Berkeley Community Theatre (2 shows) %
* Kristen Schaal
^ Eugene Mirman
% Arj Barker
%% Iron & Wine AND Arj Barker
It All Adds Up Eventually: Throbbing Gristle to Play First U.S. Shows in Ten…Times Seven… Teen… Carry the Four… TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS!
By David Nadelle on 02-02-2009
If I close my eyes, I can still clearly envision my first encounter with Throbbing Gristle. The scene was a common one at that particular time in my life: after-school retail hell at a record store. The degenerate staffers took turns manning the stereo, pimping their cred by playing whatever stone cold classic or latest thing no one else had ever heard before (it was a regular Empire Records or High Fidelity, it was!). However, the customer is always right, so any requests to hear a release trumped the unknown nonsense that was being played at that time (this was before listening posts became de rigueur).
Naturally, some customers would monopolize the stereo, and a French DJ named Louie was one of the biggest time hoggers. He spun exclusively industrial-type music and harsh sound, and if he liked something, he would shout out, “Ooh, I like dat!” If he really liked something, he would grab the record like a seagull snatches an errant french fry and smell the vinyl. No joke. More often than not, when he LOVED something, he would take a huge whiff of wax, then pop his boner out of his flies and slap it against the record while stuttering, “I-I-I.. looove it so much… p-p-lease… pplease. Oooaaahhh!” Okay, that last part was a white lie, but he did get overly excited for his “most favorites” like Throbbing Gristle. You know, Louie wasn’t that over the line with his enthusiasm; after an endless barrage of stock beats, Gristle was always a welcome and interesting change of pace.
There are plenty of Throbbing Gristle recordings to pick and choose from, depending on your mood -- from wanting some severe pain or a dash of devastating carnage -- but according to our friends at The Daily Swarm, the quartet of Peter Christopherson (TMT Interview), Chris Carter, Genesis P-Orridge, and Cosey Fanni Tutti will actually be playing LIVE in the U.S in April, their first dates since 1981! In fact, by my calculations, if it weren't for two shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco that year, these new gigs would be the very first Stateside for the pioneers.
Apart from the confirmed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival appearance on April 19 (playing fourth on the bill, before Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and The Cure), performances in three other cities have allegedly been announced. The New York and San Francisco visits will apparently comprise both an afternoon set featuring a performance of their 1981 soundtrack to Derek Jarman’s avant garde film In the Shadow of the Sun and an evening show of hits and killer filler
04.17.09 - New York, NY - venue TBD *
04.19.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04.23.09 - San Francisco, CA - Grand Regency Ballroom
04.25.09 - Chicago, IL - Epiphany *
* afternoon and evenings sets
