Spiral Stairs of Pavement Announces Solo Album; Panders to The Rulebook for Musicians
By Annapocalypse on Jun 25 2009
- Musician Rule #547: If you have a cool nickname, you need to release a solo album to show it off. This is precisely what Pavement co-founder Spiral Stairs (a.k.a. Scott Kannberg) has decided to do. Although he has released albums under the name Preston School of Industry, Kannberg is striking out on his own this time around with his first solo album, The Real Feel, due October 20 from Matador.
- Musician Rule #723: You must recruit your famous musician buddies to help out on your debut solo album. In Kannberg’s case, he enlisted some old friends from Preston School of Industry, members of The Posies (Jon Auer mixed the album), guitarist Ian Moore, and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew.
- Musician Rule #288: Package the vinyl edition of your debut with goodies and make sure you tour to support it. The Real Feel vinyl will feature a different tracklisting and a limited-edition 7-inch. Kannberg is also planning a North American tour this fall.
- Musician Rule #45: Preview a song to drum up attention for your debut. You can listen to a track from The Real Feel entitled “Maltese Terrier” right here.
- Musician Rule #72: Ridiculous album artwork always helps. No seriously, it does.
By Mango Starr on Jun 25 2009
Devendra Banhart, that one dude, has finished his sixth full-length release. Recorded in a house in Bolinas, CA, the album features Banhart alongside Noah Georgeson (guitar, vocals), Luckey Remington (bass, vocals), and Rodrigo Amarante (guitar, vocals) -- all of them weighing in on the song arrangements. The album is currently untitled, which is why I've decided to call it Wake Up, Friend: I'm Airing Out the Wild Side (For You).
The album is expected sometime in the fall, but since he left the awesome Young God after 2004's Niño Rojo and has since departed with XL Recordings after two releases (Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon), "that one dude" is now label-less. We'll keep you updated on a firm release date and label. As for the title? We'll just go with mine.
Big Star Box Set to Be Released; Most People to Still Not Notice
By Kid Midnight on Jun 24 2009
Eternal cult favorites Big Star are attempting to make one last splash for widespread listener appeal by giving you everything they ever recorded (except for the official albums!) in one nice, neat little package. The band announced plans to release a four-disc box set containing a motherload of record store employee-approved demos, live material, alternate takes, and other rarities.
The band have been cult favorites almost from the get-go, persevering through listener apathy, horrible distribution, and multiple personnel changes. However, despite the challenges, Big Star have cemented a place in history as a “Great Band That No One Listens To,” inspiring a wealth of musicians throughout the years to aspire to the same thing. Indeed, the sad truth is that, when the collection, Keep an Eye on the Sky, drops on September 15 via Rhino, it will most likely go unnoticed by the majority of music listeners. Though clearly a damn shame, most Big Star fans have come to grips with the fact that their questions of “Have you ever listened to Big Star?” are generally answered with a confused look and a “...huh? who?”
The box set will consist of 98 tracks spanning the years 1968-'75 and will include songs from pre-Big Star bands Rock City and Icewater, as well as solo work from band founders Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. Also included in the deal will be plenty of unreleased work from the sessions for all three Big Star albums. “Just when you're thinking everything has been released, apparently it hasn't," Big Star drummer Jody Stephens told Billboard, brilliantly.
The fourth disc of the set serves as an audio document of the band playing live in January 1973; it contains a collection of tracks from three nights when Big Star opened for soul legends Archie Bell and the Drells. Stephens recalls the experience: “Not exactly our crowd. After our performances, you can hear one person clap. Not a lot of energy coming back from the audience. The good thing about that particular recording is that there were mics set up in the room. It wasn't a board feed, where those can be kind of dry."
So, what’s the lesson here? Should you spend your time with a band that most people don’t even know about? Yes. To make a long story short, I recommend checking out the box set or, perhaps more appropriately, checking out Big Star. Break the cycle and help yourself. Discover “Rock’s Lost Band.” You won’t regret it.
Best Thing to Come Out of Seattle Since Flannel: Coconut Coolouts Tour the States
By Kat Gardiner on Jun 24 2009
Ready to party your behinds off? Ready to see a grown man in a dirty banana costume play some killer licks while one of two stand-up drummers sings songs about Pizza and Party Jail? Ready to have some friggin' fun? No standing around and crying to melancholia at a Coconut Coolouts show, no way. Just pure, bona-fide, shaking your booty good times. These guys blow my mind out of my head. Seeing them is so much fun, in fact, that strangers who I saw once at their show still yell at me when they pass on the street, just to ask if I know when and where they are coming back. No shit. But don't trust me. Trust the 'Nuts:
"Hey Boy, wanna laugh so hard the dust shoots out both nostrils? Wanna carve the bowls of hell on a cheese pizza? Can't skate? Guess you can van surf with Styles then, unless the vikes are too strong. Hidin' from the pigs in Dike Dale's Ponytail fingerpaintin' anarchy signs on your big brother's Elvis Costello record (the good one). The present sucks but no more than the future's gonna, so stuff everybody in that PARTY TIME MACHINE while flippin' the bird to the flux capacitor and setting the controls for LAST NIGHT. What!? We're outta whip cream cannisters? Then pass out some stand-up drums or just pass out, but you're gonna get some fully detailed Converse sharpied on yer feets and curlie pirate moustaches to match. (It matches). If you don't know who the COCONUT COOLOUTS are get an Orbitz ticket up to Seattle and watch them flush the other bands down the toilet of the FUNhouse, if only to realize what a miserable time you've been having show in and show out. Kinda like when that one babysitter (that only got to babysit once) let you stay up till your parents climbed up the driveway to mull over all the Whoppers (not the burger) and Suicides (Pepsi/Sprite/Dr. Pepper/Orange) and hot dogs ampin' up your brain while trippin' out on how awesome the F-word was in the Breakfast Club."
These guys are nuts. Crazyawesomefuntimesalwayshighfive nuts. I'd even go so far as to bet you $15 million dollars that you will have fun if you go see them on this tour. Fif-teen-million-bucks.
Tourdates:
07.09.09 - Seattle, WA - The Funhouse
07.10.09 - Portland, OR - Slabtown
07.11.09 - Davis/Sacramento, CA - TBA
07.12.09 - Oakland, CA - The Cereal Factory (afternoon)
07.12.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock
07.13.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
07.14.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Monitor House
07.15.09 - Las Cruces, NM - Bacon House
07.16.09 - Austin, TX - Red 7
07.17.09 - New Orleans, LA - TBA
07.18.09 - Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub (FLA IS DYING DANCE PARTY)
07.19.09 - Orlando, FL - Rich’s Backyard BBQ and SHOTGUN PARTY!!!
07.20.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
07.21.09 - Raleigh/Chapel Hill/Durham, NC - TBA
07.22.09 - Baltimore, MA or Washington, DC - TBA
07.23.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
07.24.09 - Brooklyn, NY - TBA
07.25.09 - New York, NY - TBA
07.26.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Gooski’s
07.27.09 - Detroit, MI - TBA
07.28.09 - Chicago, IL - Cobra... PIZZAFEST '09
07.29.09 - Milwaukee, WI - TBA
07.30.09 - Minneapolis, MI - TBA
12.31.10 - The Grand Canyon, USA
Kinski Tours Japan with Acid Mothers Temple Out of Lust, Not Love
By Jon Lorenz on Jun 24 2009
At the end of June, Kinski will trek out to Japan for a two-week tour, and who better for them to tour with than Japan's own psych troop Acid Mothers Temple? They will be starting things off June 27 in Tokyo and will come full circle to finish it off on July 11, again in Tokyo, with a very special performance by Acid Mothers Kaidan, the name given to a collaboration between Acid Mothers Temple and legendary Japanese noise group Hijokaidan. I would give my right testicle to see that one! Well, no, probably not. Anyway, check out these dates:
06.27.09 - Tokyo, Japan - Club Goodman *
06.29.09 - Kyoto , Japan - Takutaku +
06.30.09 - Kobe, Japan - Helluva Lounge +
07.01.09 - Yamaguchi, Japan - Indoyu ^
07.03.09 - Fukuoka, Japan - Decatant Deluxe *
07.04.09 - Oita, Japan - At Hall *
07.05.09 - Kochi, Japan - Chaotic Noise *
07.07.09 - Okayama, Japan - Pepper Land *
07.09.09 - Osaka, Japan - Sunsui *
07.10.09 - Osaka, Japan - Sunsui *
07.11.09 - Tokyo, Japan - Club Goodman #
* Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
+ Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Cosmic Blues Band
^ Acid Mothers Temple w/ guest Ichiraku Yoshimitsu
# Acid Mothers Kaidan (Acid Mothers Temple & Hijokaidan)
