From BBC News:
Wolfgang Wagner, former director of the Bayreuth Festival and the grandson of composer Richard Wagner, has died aged 90 in Germany.
A statement on the festival’s website said that Wagner died on Sunday, but did not give further details.
“Wolfgang Wagner dedicated his whole life to the legacy of his grandfather,” the festival website said.
• Wolfgang Wagner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Wagner
• Bayreuth Festival: http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de
RIP: Bruce Roehrs, columnist for MaximumRocknRoll
From MaximumRocknRoll:
Bruce Roehrs passed away peacefully in his home.
There will be a memorial. As soon as we know more we will let you know.
If you’d like to contribute any memories of Bruce, please get in touch: mrr {at} maximumrocknroll(.)com
We will miss him and can hardly imagine MRR without him. Play Agnostic Front “Victim in Pain” as loud as you can — and see you fucks at the bar.There will be an informal get together and memorial at Molotv’s (582 Haight st) which is in the lower Haight on Saturday the 20th of March from Noon til close.
Spread the word…
If you’d like to donate to Bruce Roehrs’ memorial service, click here.
• MaximumRocknRoll: http://maximumrocknroll.com
Carrie Brownstein talks new Sleater-Kinney record, forms band with Janet Weiss, gives me a million excitement-induced heart attacks
Do you miss Sleater-Kinney? We do. Like, a lot. It’s been four long years since they announced their sudden hiatus that pretty much everyone has assumed to be a breakup. In that time, we’ve seen a lot of musical action from drummer Janet Weiss (see: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Bright Eyes, Quasi), but nearly nothing from guitarists Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. Well, no longer! In a recent interview with IFC, Brownstein mentioned that she has started a new band with Weiss. Other than that, one can count the details about this new group on a single hand: they have seven songs written, there are four members in the band, and they’re mostly based out of Portland.
As exciting as that news is, Brownstein dropped a potentially even more exciting bit of info. When asked about Sleater-Kinney, the guitarist said that “[they] will probably do something” and that that something might just be a new record released “sometime in the next five years.” This is good news and all, but now I have to live in constant fear of my heart exploding from glee sometime within the next five years. Yay?
• Sleater-Kinney: http://www.sleater-kinney.com
YouTube goes indie, launches channel for indie musicians
YouTube has announced a new initiative to promote indie music. Titled Musicians Wanted, the program gives selected bands the opportunity to make money through embedded videos on blogs, with advertising revenues based on pageviews. As YouTube music manager Michele Flannery said, “Whether you make hip-hop, folk, noise-rock, jazz or a genre of your own invention, we are looking for all types of original music video content.”
YouTube employees will decide which bands get into the YouTube Partners Program. The artists will then have control over posting tourdates, adding “buy” links for their music, and the design of their pages. YouTube’s ultimate goal? To have a “browsable, searchable section dedicated to independent music.”
The channel was announced at a little festival in Austin, Texas known as South by Southwest. One of the first bands to apply was the distinctly un-indie OK Go, who left EMI/Capitol earlier this month partly because the label wouldn’t allow the band’s videos to be embedded on blogs.
This is certainly one initiative that should be administered by indie powerhouse Tiny Mix Tapes. Your correspondent can’t think of anything more blood-curdling than YouTube executives deciding what’s “indie.” *shudder*
So much hair! Imaad Wasif goes on tour with Dead Meadow
Eternal sideman Imaad Wasif (see: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Deerhunter, Raconteurs, etc.) and eternal psych-rock bandits Dead Meadow are hitting the road together later this month. Eternal tour? Not so much, more like a month-long tour. Wasif will be supporting last year’s The Voidist, while Dead Meadow will be supporting their new live record, Three Kings, due next Tuesday.
Surely one can expect the following from this tour: a hair-growing contest (advantage: Wasif), a beard-growing contest (advantage: Dead Meadow), and a psych-guitar solo contest (it’s anyone’s game there). Surely.
03.26.10 - Brookdale, CA - Historic Brookdale Lodge *
03.27.10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
03.31.10 - Eugene, OR - WOW HALL *
04.01.10 - Portland, OR - The Doug Fir *
04.02.10 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret *
04.03.10 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven *
04.05.10 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
04.07.10 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge *
04.08.10 - Lawrence, KS - Riot Room *
04.09.10 - Omaha, NB - Slowdown *
04.10.10 - Sioux Falls, SD - Nutty’s North *
04.12.10 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
04.13.10 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle *
04.14.10 - Madison, WI - Annex *
04.15.10 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
04.16.10 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
04.17.10 - Athens, OH -The Union *
04.19.10 - Columbus, OH - The Basement *
04.21.10 - Buffalo, NY - The Mohawk *
04.22.10 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace *
04.23.10 - Montreal, QB - Club Lambi *
04.25.10 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
• Imaad Wasif: http://www.imaadwasif.com
• Tee Pee Records: http://www.teepeerecords.com
[Photo: David Belisle]
Minus the Bear announce sitcom, album, tour; minus sitcom
…Fourth album’s a charm, right? Omni, Minus the Bear’s newest full-length, is slated for release May 4 from Dangerbird Records, their first LP since 2007’s Planet of Ice. Over the years, their albums have ranged from decent indie stock (Highly Refined Pirates, TMT Review) to merely bearable (TMT Review), diligently chugging through the age of animal band names whose mammalian titles aren’t worth commenting on anymore. Albums aside (whatever you may feel about them), legend has it they put on a damn good show, and so Minus the Bear have announced spring tourdates to promote Omni all over.
Plus! “My Time,” the first single from Omni, is available for free download here.
03.19.10 - Austin, TX - Relix Magazine Party (Antones)
03.20.10 - Austin, TX - Stubbs (9 pm)
03.20.10 - Dangerbird Records at Mellow Johnny’s (11:20 pm)
04.19.10 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Concert House
04.20.10 - Billings, MT - The Railyard
04.22.10 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
04.23.10 - Bonner Springs, KS - Sandstone Amphitheatre
04.25.10 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew’s Hall
04.26.10 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
04.28.10 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater
04.29.10 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
04.30.10 - Hartford, CT - Webster Theatre
05.02.10 - East Rutherford, NJ - Bamboozle Festival
05.05.10 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
05.06.10 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
05.07.10 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05.08.10 - Richmond, VA - The National
05.09.10 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore
05.10.10 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
05.11.10 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
05.12.10 - Tampa, FL - The Ritz
05.14.10 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
05.15.10 - Dallas, TX - Granada
05.16.10 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
05.18.10 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
05.19.10 - Las Vega, NV - House of Blues
05.20.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theatre
05.21.10 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
05.22.10 - San Diego, CA - SOMA
05.23.10 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
05.26.10 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
05.27.10 - Reno, NV - Knitting Factory
05.28.10 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
05.29.10 - George, WA - Sasquatch Music Festival
• Minus the Bear: http://minusthebear.com
• Dangerbird Records: http://www.dangerbirdrecords.com
"Listening to something is an act of surrender." - Brian Eno
