Look The Fuck Out: Mike Patton and The Melvins Are Curating ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas 2008!
By Mango Starr on 05-29-2008
How terrifyingly appropriate! This year's Night Before Christmas celebration -- which, by the way, is presented proudly by All Tomorrow's Parties -- is being curated by Mike Patton and The Melvins. Taking place at Minehead Butlins Holiday Resort on December 5-7, the three-day fest will feature Melvins-curated artists like Isis, Neil Hamburger, Dälek, Big Business, and of course themselves, as well as Mike Patton-curated artists, such as Fantômas, The Locust, and Zu. Patton's Fantômas is scheduled to play their 2001 album, The Director's Cut, in its entirety!
LESS ABOUT PATTON, AND MORE ABOUT THE VENUE. According to ATP: "Butlins Minehead looks out across a superb sandy beach. The new site not only has a supermarket, newsagent and cash points, it also has Burger King, Pizza Hut, Finnigan's fish and chips, Sun and Moon, Skyline Cafe and Yacht Club Dining room. Onsite facilities include a cinema, Splash Water World - a sub-tropical environment that has a huge wave pool, a swimming pool, 3 flumes and also a flume based raft ride -- Ten-pin bowling and amusement arcade. Sports include Archery, Football, Basketball, Darts, Petanque, Fencing, Kwik Cricket, Netball, Rounders, Table Tennis, Outdoor Bowls and Crazy Golf (some of these subject to availability but most usually operate during the weekend)."
Who needs music when you have pentaque and kwik cricket!
The schedule for Nightmare Before Christmas 2008 is obviously in its early stages, but we at TMT have full confidence that this nightmare will be one to remember. AHHH!!! NO!!! YES!!! Mwahahahahah!! Blood dripping out of decapitated human head, etc.
Jello Biafra Turns 50, Plans Awesome Birthday Shows, Has New Band, Still Hangs Out With The Melvins, Pretty Much Forces Two Generations of Cynical Punks to Grudgingly Admit He’s Still Cool
By Joe B. on 05-29-2008
Jello Biafra, former lead vocalist of R&B mainstays The Dead Kennedys, is turning 50 soon. So is my father. However, announcements of Jello’s birthday celebrations have seemingly put my longstanding suspicious that the two men were one and the same to rest.
I am reasonably sure that my father will spend his birthday eating at a steak-based restaurant within ten miles of his home and, maybe, eventually getting drunk with me and one or two of his friends. Jello, on the other hand, has arranged a weekend of concerts at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, showcasing both a new, unnamed band and his work with longtime collaborators The Melvins. Both nights will feature the “Jelvins,” the new band and The Melvins playing Mangled Demos from 1983 in its entirety.
Reunited skate-rock legends Drunk Injuns/Los Olvidados (listed separately on the press release, even though they’re the same band?) round out the first date, while relative newcomers Triclops! and Akimbo finish up the second.
The concerts will be held June 16-17. Tickets can be purchased at the GAMH website, and more information can be found at Alternative Tentacles. Advanced tickets to my father’s birthday aren’t available at this time, but if you show up early, you should be able to get in.
The Mae Shi Are Definitely Touring The U.S. in July
By Mango Starr on 05-29-2008
Tonight, The Mae Shi will wrap up its European tour in Berlin, Germany. Tomorrow, who knows? Maybe travel back to the U.S.? Maybe listen to their fourth album, HLLLYH, on vinyl? Maybe clean the bathroom? Maybe do some landscaping? Maybe play online pictionary? Maybe stretch before running? Maybe come up with an excuse to not go to Saturday's party? Maybe kick a dog in the face? Maybe choose a salad this time? Maybe figure out the lyrics to "Who Could Win a Rabbit"? Maybe consider switching locations? Maybe give a friend a ride to the airport? Maybe look for fragrance-free hand lotion? Maybe imagine what it'd be like to live in a yellow house? Maybe try a nylon guitar? Maybe grab some organic coffee? Maybe go biking around the lake? Maybe masturbate before hitting the bars? Maybe make a music video? Maybe find a new hobby? Maybe watch a Godard movie? Maybe RSVP to Jon's wedding? Maybe try creating a board game from scratch? Maybe go to Best Buy to return that media box? Maybe relax more? Maybe join a knitting club? Maybe listen to the new Weezer? Maybe read Pitchfork? Maybe switch to paper-less bills?
Who knows. All I know is that in July, the band will embark on yet another U.S. tour.
Do You Like The Sonic Youth You’ve Heard, But Find Yourself Thurston For Moore? Quench That At Your Local Starbucks June 10
By Papaya on 05-29-2008
Get it?
Anyway, you didn’t misread that -- Sonic Youth’s music will soon be sold in Starbucks. Total legends and creators of the now-ironic “The Sprawl,” Sonic Youth have teamed up with the coffee monolith’s entertainment division to create Hits are For Squares, a compilation of tracks from throughout their career, along with the recently recorded “Slow Revolution” as a bonus. And it has a cover:
It’s difficult to overstate Sonic Youth’s importance to the history of independent music, but album collaborator Eddie Vedder made an attempt: "From my experience nothing gets you going like putting on ‘Teenage Riot’ at full volume... 0 to 60, standing still... Play it twice and you will have cleaned the house and shoveled the walk. In a car you'll find yourself doing 95 and getting pulled over before the first chorus." Also cheaper than snorting a 30 mg Adderall every morning.
But I digress. Once the initial shock has been absorbed, it doesn’t seem like the end of the world. Equal or worse transactions take place every day without a fuss, and Coco’s college ain’t payin’ for itself. Those of you in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C. can buy the album in stores; otherwise, check The Starbucks Entertainment Website.
P.S. The entire tracklist was chosen by celebrities, but when Barack Obama, Holden Caulfield, and the movie Garden State were unavailable, the group was forced to look elsewhere for input. Check it:
Playoffs Update: Performance and Digital Royalties Trounce Mechanicals in Pivotal Series Win
By Nobodaddy on 05-28-2008
Boy, oh boy, what a win, folks! A real barn-burner! If you're just joining us, the collecting arm for U.K. mechanical and performance rights societies MCPS and PRS reported last week that combined revenue from those lovable underdogs, broadcasting and digital uses, have out-performed revenue from recorded physical product for the first time in league history in a dramatic, come-from-behind win in the late innings!
Yessiree! The MCPS-PRS Alliance, which collects performance and mechanical royalties from broadcasters, online service providers, record companies, and other performance businesses, dug in deep this post-season and announced that online royalties have managed to put up some big-time numbers! How big? Try L10 million ($20 million), an increase of 54% since last year. Oh, doctor! Can you say "triple crown?"
This year's MVPs? We here at TMT are attributing it to both a 20% increase in royalties from live pop concerts and improved licensing activity among leisure and industrial premises for their unmatchable contributions to the increase in overall public performance revenue.
But let’s take a look at the losing team this year. What went wrong for the Mechanicals? Many coaches and analysts are pointing fingers from the 11% decrease in royalties from the worldwide downturn in physical unit sales to £151.8 million ($303.9 million) squarely in the face of what they call "improvements in licensing other new formats," such as pre-loaded USB sticks and musical novelties. In other words, this is a classic example of a franchise being too interested in packing the seats and marketing t-shirts than with signing winning players. Are you listening, Chicago Cubs?
Still, the general managers of both teams seem pleased with the league's overall exposure as of late. "Much is written about the state of the music industry, but these results show a healthy story about the increased use of music in almost all areas of our business," says Alliance chief executive Steve Porter. And before we get carried away with Performance/Digital fever, this reporter would just like to remind our readers that, while the number of transactions processed by the Alliance increased by 40% since the prior year, the cost of collecting and distributing royalties was just over 10% of total revenues. So, you know, don't go doing anything stupid like flipping over juke boxes and torching CD racks. We are trying to live in a civilized society, after all. You listening, Boston?
