Serge Gainsbourg’s Lolita-Esque Classic Histoire De Melody Nelson Released for the First Time in the U.S.
By Kat Gardiner on 02-09-2009
On March 24, Histoire De Melody Nelson, Serge Gainsbourg's classic collaboration with chic lover Jane Birkin and composer Jean-Claude Vannier, will be released in the United States on Light in the Attic, 38 years after it was originally released. Often considered the psychedelic pillow-talker's greatest work and clocking in at a little under 30 minutes, Melody Nelson is a compact, semi-autobiographical, Nabokovian concept album that follows the story of Serge hitting a young nymph named Melody (Birkin) with his car and getting lost in a deeply passionate French love affair with her, much like the love affair (and later marriage) he had with Birkin, 20 years his junior.
The reissue includes deluxe packaging inspired by the original release, as well as extensive liner notes, translations of interviews, and lyric sheets that you'll still be reading long after the needle has started spinning itself in silent circles.
For a preview, I highly recommend checking out Melody, the 1972 musical of the album filmed. In it, you follow Serge driving and hitting Jane; strutting around before rotating red hearts; walking with her in and out of hallways filled with two-dimensional stills of nudes from the 1600s; then minutes of Birkin hypnotizing you with a repetitive hippie-mating-dance movements in white thigh-highs on top of wicked guitar solos. Hot.
Histoire De Melody Nelson tracklisting
1. Melody
2. LA Ballade de Melody Nelson
3. La Valse do Melody
4. Ah! Melody
5. L' Hotel Particulier
6. En Melody
7. Cargo Culte
Quintron and Miss Pussycat Hit the Road with Psychedelic Horseshit on the Fantastic Fucking Names Tour ’09
By Mike McHugh on 02-09-2009
So, in case you didn’t already know, Mr. Quintron is basically the Bill Nye the Science Guy of pants-shaking fun-times. Inventor of the light-harnessing electro miracle Drum Buddy, Mr. Q (no relation to our own beloved Mr P) makes musical mischief in his eponymous band Quintron, alongside his enticingly creepy maraca-shaking foil/puppetmistress Miss Pussycat. Together, the two put on a scientific and sweaty show that may just include a puppet show if you’re lucky!
In case you weren’t about to control-T it to Ticketmaster already, fucking Psychedelic Horseshit is gonna be with them every step of the way. Actually, that’s not completely true. Quintron and Pussycat will play a hometown show in New Orleans February 13 with none other than the burgher of Funhavia, Andrew W.K.. So if you like to smile, celebrate life, or just generally enjoy yourself, get your ass to some place where these folks are playing. It will be, dare I say, a significant hoot.
02.14.09 - Lafayette, LA - Blue Moon Saloon
02.23.09 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks $
04.03.09 - Dallas, TX - The Prophet Bar #
04.04.09 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar#
04.06.09 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room #
04.07.09 - Fargo, ND - The Aquarium #
04.08.09 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry #
04.10.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle #
04.16.09 - Columbus, OH - The Summit #
04.17.09 - Williamsville, NY - Club Infinity #
04.18.09 - Toronto, ONT - The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern #
04.19.09 - Montreal, QC - Club Lambi #
04.23.09 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs #
04.24.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotell #
04.26.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's #
04.29.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
05.01.09 - Savannah, GA - The Jinx Nightclub #
05.02.09 - Atlanta, GA - Center for Puppetry Arts
# Psychedelic Horseshit
$ Andrew W.K.
Attention All Members of the TMT Tote Society: Compose a List of Your 20 Favorite Songs from Merge Records and Perchance Win a Tote Bag!!!
By Mike McHugh on 02-09-2009
Esteemed members of the venerable Tiny Mix Tapes Tote Society: As you well know, 2008 was a landmark year for toters the world over. Who could forget the night Orson Tagliacozzo set New York’s Spring Tote Week ablaze with his unctuous bricolage of pre-Jacobin debasement and post-Verhoeven dystrophy? And what of that enchanting Milanese afternoon when Howard Bacchiglione sent Totecon ’08 into hysterics with a deeply sexual yet staunchly antediluvian tote-isé on Tajik callipygia? Yet despite its myriad peaks, this sublime year, of course, was not free of tragedy’s snares… we’ll see you and your immaculate totes at the crossroads, Sherman de Montefeltro.
Many of you thought that once ’09 wrenched ’08 of her breath with time’s annual garrote, toteistry’s zenith was poised to pass into memory. Fie! Fie I cried on you then, and an even more furious fie I cry on you now! Behold: Merge Records has proposed a challenge to tote, t-shirt and mixtape lovers alike. In conjunction with their mammoth 20-year anniversary compilation SCORE!, Merge wants you, the tote-adoring consumer, to shoulder the task of curating your very own Merge compilation CD. Simply pick 20 of your favorite songs available from Merge’s digital store, put them in a list, post them on Merge’s Make Your Own SCORE! message board, and wait until March. A winner will be chosen at random, and along with the dubious honor of having their mix made available for sale in the Merge digital store, they will also be able to choose between either some pitiful, most likely rabies-laden t-shirt or this exquisite, penguin-bearing tote.
Your choice is simple, seasoned toter. I know not how the rest of you feel about this “indie-rock,” but I do know this: Were that sumptuous tote possessed by the Morningstar himself, I would hasten forthright to Abaddon to massage his loins until his demon seed gushed an unholy fountain upon all the damned. I know what I must do, and I trust you do as well. Semper Tote!
Pelican Sign to Southern Lord, Announce Tour
By Kid Midnight on 02-09-2009
As announced to me personally through telepathy, instrumental metal band Pelican have left one respected indie-metal label and signed with a new respected indie-metal label. Pelican have up until this point released the bulk of their recordings through Hydra Head Records, including their amazing debut full-length Australasia and their most recent work City of Echoes. However, upon the release of their forthcoming EP (currently being recorded at Red Room studios in Seattle, WA), they will officially be under the Southern Lord label.
Guitarist Trevor De Brauw gives us a hint of what we can expect from the newest material: “The new material promises to be heavier, darker and very "riff-oriented." Well, butter me up and call me excited! I love riffs! The band further teases us that a “very special guest guitarist” who “has been very influential to the band” will be making an appearance on the EP. I’m betting that it’s a guy with a bunch of tattoos and some sort of interesting facial hair. That or Kevin Shields -- he’s everywhere these days.
In addition to the new label, Pelican are also heading out on a tour. Yay! The tour, alongside new label mates Wolves in the Throne Room (this is surely the best Wolf-related band name yet!), features a return to SXSW for the Southern Lord showcase. The band also assures us that, upon completion of the musical road-trip, the band will hunker down in their power cave and begin hammering out their fourth full-length.
Pelican March/April 2009 tour:
03.15.09 - Iowa City IA - The Picador *
03.16.09 - Kansas City, KS - Riot Room *
03.17.09 - Tulsa, OK - The Marquee *
03.18.09 - San Antonio, TX - Scout Bar * plus Tricky
03.19.09 - Little Rock, AR - Vino's **
03.20.09 - Austin, TX - Elmo's - SXSW
03.22.09 - Austin, TX - Red 7 **
03.25.09 - Tempe, AZ - The Sets **
03.26.09 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah **
03.27.09 - West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour **
03.28.09 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's **
03.29.09 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre **
03.30.09 - Bellingham, WA - Nightlight **
03.31.09 - Seattle , WA - Neumo's **
04.02.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas **
04.03.09 - Denver, CO - The Marquis Theatre **
04.05.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle **
* Tombs, Dredg
** Tombs, Wolves In The Throne Room
