The Pop Group join Sonic Youth for a very special ATP New Year’s Eve
By Liz Louche on Oct 4 2010
Year after year, you hear the same complaint: “This New Year’s… I don’t know, it’s just lacking something. Cheap champagne, making out with a stranger, sequins — what this New Year’s really needs is English post-punk legends The Pop Group. [Sigh…]” Well, the New Year’s fantasy of so many will finally become a reality. For, as 2011 dawns, our newly-reunited friends in The Pop Group shall take the stage at ATP’s Strange Days event at the Hammersmith Apollo. DJ Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and DJ Cherrystones have recently been confirmed too. Also in the house that night will be Sonic Youth, Shellac, and Factory Floor. No Mayan could have predicted an event of such rocktacular proportions.
The Pop Group will also join Sonic Youth onstage at their show at Manchester Academy.
12.30.10 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Academy *
12.31.10 - London, UK - Hammersmith Apollo &
* Sonic Youth
& Sonic Youth, Shellac, Factory Floor
• The Pop Group: http://thepopgroup.net
• ATP Concerts: http://www.atpfestival.com
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood go Hollywood, assist on Robert De Niro/Ed Norton movie score
By Liz Louche on Oct 1 2010
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood have gone Hollywood, scampering through the studios behind Junebug writer Angus MacLachlan’s latest venture Stone like two mystical elves bringing otherworldly magic and joy and some form of what Ed Norton calls a “divine-like tuning sound” to the film. In an interview with Variety, Norton discussed the film, which also stars Robert De Niro and Milla Jovovich, and how Radiohead got involved. Apparently Norton is friends with the good people of Radiohead, and got Yorke and Greenwood to do some kind of listening party for the film’s director and composer. Says Norton,
I started talking to [Greenwood] about this idea: ‘What would you use to record this divine-like tuning sound?’ And he and Thom (Yorke) had been playing a lot of weird ambient stuff at the time and so, amazingly, they just unloaded tons and tons of files to us of these sound experiments that they had been doing.
It’s unclear yet as to whether any of that “weird ambient stuff” will make its way onto the film’s score, but if you’re viewing Stone and suddenly think, “Oh my! What IS that absolutely divine-like tuning sound?,” well, then I think you’ll know.
• Radiohead: http://www.radiohead.com
Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew turns 40; somebody’s gonna make a buck
By Harold Shueberg on Oct 1 2010
For the jazz fan of any level or jazz musician of whatever style, it cannot be ignored that Miles Davis has had some sort of say within your listening or playing repertoire. The man, whether loved or loathed, has had more of a lasting influence on popular culture’s concept of jazz and its sublimates than any other individual. Davis has had a rare staying power within popular music and his name is mentioned in probably any conversation you have with your buddies about the 10 or 12 jazz musicians you’re actually somewhat familiar with. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it says something. The man’s merit can be questioned and re-questioned, but the fact of the matter is that he was in the right place at the right time, and his music spoke a singular language that is rarely spoken correctly by any musician within his or her lifetime. The language he spoke was ever-present on 1970’s Bitches Brew, what some would consider an album released in his twilight that recreated himself and popular jazz forever.
So the fine capitalists over at Legacy have decided to make their buck by celebrating the 40th anniversary of the recording by releasing a box set of Bitches Brew that features not only the original recordings on double 180-gram vinyl, but also 3 CDs of edits and outtakes, along with a live concert. But wait, what’s more? Also included is DVD footage of a concert from 1969 and a 52-page booklet that has some photos and shit that you can brag to your buddies at the office about. Regardless of the overwhelming packaging that Legacy has decided to dupe you into on this one, the original album remains intact and has made a statement in the musical voice of America. If you feel like you’ll get something out of three hours of outtakes that Davis himself chose not to release, be my guest.
• Miles Davis: http://www.milesdavis.com
• Legacy: http://www.legacyrecordings.com
Ted Leo reunites with his old hardcore band, isn’t as sensitive as you think
By Annapocalypse on Oct 1 2010
You might know him now as the sensitive vegan singer/songwriter, but did you know before he launched his own solo career that Ted Leo used to play in bands like Animal Crackers, Puzzlehead, and The Juiceboxes? Okay, I made that last one up, but in all seriousness, he was pretty hardcore. If you’re bummed you never got to see young hardcore Teddy playing live, lucky for you Leo announced this week that he’s reuniting with his former bandmates of Citizens Arrest. For those not in the know or younger than 35, Citizens Arrest is a New York-based hardcore band that existed from 1989-1991, with Leo as their original singer/guitarist. The band is currently planning shows in New York and Philadelphia, and maybe your city too, if you’re tough enough.
• Citizens Arrest: http://bit.ly/c3WWqT
• Ted Leo: http://www.tedleo.com
Help pay off Steve Albini’s studio mortgage!
By Nobodaddy on Sep 30 2010
Steve Albini — the hunky dreamboat behind such top-40 balladeers as Shellac and Big Black and proprietor of the famed Electrical Audio recording studio on Chicago’s northwest side — is seemingly always down to help struggling bands make records on the cheap… apparently, even to the detriment of his own finances. He’s a regular Jimmy Stewart from It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s not that his studio is in any immediate danger of closing like Stewart’s character’s bank was in the movie; it’s just that the man has reportedly racked up an outstanding mortgage balance of $230,000 (er, and I guess there’s also the Stewart parallel that he might jump off a bridge at any moment, too). But thankfully, Tim Midgett (of Silkworm and Bottomless Pit) is kinda like Jimmy Stewart’s hot-ass 1940s wife from that movie, because he has single-handedly launched a campaign to pay off Electrical Audio’s mortgage!
As A.V. Club Chicago points out, Midgett has launched the “Pay Off Electrical Audio” online campaign. The idea is beautiful in its commie simplicity: if 2000 people donate $115 a piece, the total will cover the rest of the mortgage, thus freeing Electrical Audio from the shackles of The Man for good, allowing Albini to focus more on “making art,” yadda yadda yadda. As Midgett wrote on the donation page, “I think the place should be paid off by now, and I think we have the ability to do it.”
The campaign, which just launched today, has already raised almost $15,000 in donations. And to answer your annoying questions, no, no one has to pay unless the goal is met, and no, there’s no minimum donation amount. So throw in a couple bucks if you’ve got it. Who knows, maybe Albini will give you naming rights. I can see it now: Tiny Mix Tapes Presents Electrical Audio. Nice.
• Electrical Audio: http://www.electrical.com
• Steve Albini: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Albini
• Shellac: http://www.myspace.com/shellacband
• Silkworm: http://www.myspace.com/silkworm
• Bottomless Pit: http://www.bottomlesspit.us
