RIP: Tim Krekel, songwriter/guitarist
By Shane Mack on Jun 29 2009
From Rolling Stone (via Reuters):
Songwriter/guitarist Tim Krekel passed away June 24 at his home in Louisville, Kentucky after his health deteriorated following surgery for abdominal cancer, Reuters reports. He was 58. During his career, Krekel performed with Jimmy Buffett, Bo Diddley and Kris Kristofferson, serving as Buffett’s lead guitarist during the late ’70s and early ’80s and appearing on the album Son of a Son of a Sailor. Krekel released his first solo album Crazy Me in 1979, his official site writes. Artists like Canned Heat and Rick Nelson also covered Krekel’s songs. Krekel was diagnosed with cancer in March 2009, and his condition worsened over the past few months.
- Tim Krekel official page
- Tim Krekel Myspace
- Tim Krekel Wikipedia entry
Islands Promise Chest-Congestion Relief with New Album Vapours
By Kid Midnight on Jun 29 2009
The members of Islands, and especially newly returned drummer Jamie Thompson, have always been staunch opponents of the common cold. Everyone knows that. So, accordingly, the members have concocted a new musical statement that attempts to lessen the effects of the pesky virus.
On September 22, just when cold season is beginning to kick into high gear, ANTI- will release the band's third album, Vapours, which the band describes as “a record that flits back and forth between moody synthesizers and drum-machine-heavy beats, while remaining firmly rooted in the classic pop sensibilities and multitude of melodic hooks that Islands is known for.”
The new album/cold suppressant is produced by band maestro Nick Thorburn and Chris Coady, who has worked with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, TV on The Radio, and countless other bands that you, the reader, may or may not enjoy. When I conducted a fake interview with Thorburn, he had this to say about the new album: “When you press play on the CD (or vinyl, or mp3, or Mini-Disc) an enchanting wave of effervescent relief will flow outwards from your stereo. All you need to do is breathe in the healing vapors and the cold symptoms will dissolve immediately. Also, the music will be radical.”
Mr. Thorburn also promised to go to the home of every fan and quietly rub their chest until they peacefully fall asleep, just like Mom used to do.
Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Round Up: Air Announces Fifth LP Slated For October, Walkmen dates with Cass McCombs, Arctic Monkeys US Dates, Michael Gira Sells Drawings
By Mario Speedwagon on Jun 26 2009
- Frenchie duo Air announced plans to release their fifth record Love 2 October 6 via Astralwerks. The band will also embark on a European tour sometime in the beginning of next year and a U.S. tour in the spring.
- The Walkmen are doing a mini tour with Cass McCombs. The Walkmen will first perform at both Benicassim Festival (Barcelona, Spain) and Super Bock Super Rock (Lisbon, Portugal) before heading off on a small five-date tour with McCombs. They’ll be hitting up Milwaukee, Cincinnati, the Cleve, Toronto and Pittsburgh. The Walkmen also have some Chicago and New York City dates. Check out the dates on the band’s MySpace page.
- Arctic Monkeys are releasing their third album Humbug on August 25, 2009 and playing a few U.S. dates in support. This August, you can catch the band at various festivals and clubs in the Jerz, Montreal, New York, Boston, and Chicago. If you’re in the UK, they’ll be playing both Leeds and Reading Festivals. Additional details can be found at the bands official website.
- Michael Gira (Young God Records, Swans, Angels of Light) is selling prints of a set of 20 drawings he completed over the last six months. The collection is called “I Am Not Insane” and is pressed on 100% recycled paper via Stumptown Printers (the same people who helped bring you the CD version of our TMT comp). More details and thumbnails of the prints can be found on the Young God website. I want #7. It reminds me of my megabeast ex-roommate.
RIP Michael Jackson, yo.
By David Nadelle on Jun 26 2009
There are some things that defy explanation. Gurning, the act of contorting one’s face into something quite sinister and grotesque, is a very old pastime, laugh, and sport, with its own world championship competition held annually at the Egremont Crab Fair in Cumbria, England. This dude seems to win a lot, for good reason. While it may seem like the most ridiculous thing in the world, it really should be taken as a refreshing tonic if not downright soul-cleansing. How can you not forget about the foibles of people and tragedies of life when you look at this? Or this. Or this. See? The day just got a whole lot better, didn’t it?
If any music (when not doing its job repulsing you) has the same therapeutic qualities as a good gurn my vote would be for giddy viddy trio What’s Up. Just listening to Robby Moncrieff’s messed-up missives gets my Duchenne going in overdrive. Moncrieff, with conspirators Teddy Briggs and Brian Marshall, will be playing some dates with Dirty Projectors -- who were recently involved in a van accident (TMT News) -- in July (Moncrieff helped produce DP's Bitte Orca (TMT Review)) so put your best face forward and try to catch one of these too few West Coast shows. Before and after these gigs, What’s Up will strengthen their strong bond with the city of Portland with bookend shows in “Little Beirut.”
As a last resort, contort:
06.28.09 - Portland, OR - Superfest at Rotture $
07.02.09 - Vancouver, BC - Richard’s on Richards %
07.03.09 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey %
07.04.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene %
07.07.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent %
07.08.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour %
07.24.09 - Portland, OR - PDX Pop Now
$ Starfucker, Nice Nice, Explode Into Colors, Atole, Mattress
% Dirty Projectors
Here’s the tracklisting for What’s Up debut disc, Content Imagination (TMT Review), which was recently released by Obey Your Brain. I hate to push any sort of product in favor of another but there is no reason why you should not own this remarkably mad album.
Content Imagination:
1. Yes
2. Seasoning’s Greeting
3. Fool’s Gold
4. A Longing Expression
5. Content Imagination
6. Harper
7. The French Song
And as I mentioned, you’ll notice What’s Up dates in Portland above and one that name-checks a mysterious entity known simply as PDX Pop Now!. It would take your average, clueless halfwit three seconds to figure out that PDX Pop Now! is no mystery at all (it took me two-and-a-half days). It is a nonprofit organization working to promote Portland’s music community and it has a pretty cool compilation (available now!) that includes a lot of good tracks from good acts, including What’s Up’s “Seasoning’s Greeting.” If you haven’t bought our comp yet (why the #$@% not!), try this on for size and give some love to Portland, a city that's desperate to get something going musically (har, har).
Disc 1:
1. The Mint Chicks - "Hot on Your Heels"
2. At Dusk - "For A Reason"
3. aed & Quiet Countries - "Moving Day"
4. M. Ward - "For Beginners"
5. Luck-One and Dekk - "The Coolax"
6. Dirty Mittens - "The Dock"
7. Ethan Rose & Laura Gibson - "Sun"
8. Third Angle New Music Ensemble performing Bryan Johanson - "The Rat Catcher’s Dance"
9. The Thermals - "You Dissolve"
10. Thrones - "Trmph Lfe"
11. Mirah - "Generosity"
12. Magic Johnson - "Las Malas"
13. Chilly Willy - "Grab and Glow"
14. Ravishers - "Keep You Around"
15. Silentist - "Hex"
16. Dykeritz - "Chasing the Wheel Away"
17. Explode Into Colors - "Paper (Hot Sax Version)"
18. The Cysts - "Human Garbage"
19. Caleb Klauder - "Can I Go Home with You"
20. Plankton Wat - "Dawn of the Golden Eternity"
21. Chervona - "Reality Show"
Disc 2:
1. Jared Mees and The Grown Children - "The Tallest Building In Hell"
2. What’s Up? - "Seasoning’s Greeting"
3. Blue Skies for Black Hearts - "Jenny and Steve"
4. Starfucker - "Boy Toy"
5. Lightheaded - "HardRock"
6. Grouper - "Rising Height"
7. Lovers - "Igloos For Ojos"
8. Sandpeople - "Hate Aside"
9. Blue Giant - "Target Heart"
10. Cootie Platoon - "Divided"
11. Benoît Pioulard - "Idyll"
12. Ah Holly Fam’ly - "EIEIO"
13. Breakfast Mountain - "J Hollerday"
14. Gejius - "Let Down"
15. Tara Jane O’Neil - "Dig In" (feat. The Ecstatic Tambourine Orchestra)
16. MY-G - "Take Back Our City" (feat. Liv Warfield)
17. Bird Announced Land - "Sweet Dreams"
18. Blue Cranes - "Broken Windmills"
19. The Taxpayers - "Black Batons"
Whartscape 2009 Lineup Announced: Dan Deacon, C Spencer Yeh, Hair Police, Ponytail, Wolf Eyes, And Dozens Upon Dozens of Others to Keep the Devil Way Down in the Hole in Baltimore
By Mike McHugh on Jun 26 2009
Soooo I’ve been watching a whole heckload of The Wire lately, and let me tell ya’ll something, Baltimore: Even though your city and mine (St. Louis, MO) have a lot in common (governmental separation between the city and county, decaying inner city neighborhoods and schools, big fans of The Pogues), I’m scared to death of your city. Pop culture, however close The Wire may be to its apex of quality, has viciously skewed my vision of what I’m sure is a fine town.
In order to combat my HBO contracted ignorance, I think I’m just gonna have to shuffle on over to this stupid mad awesome Whartscape Festival, organized and funded entirely by all those fine folks at Wham City. Just check out this lineup: Adventure, Air Waves, AK Slaughter, Alexis Gideon, Allen Cordell, Ami Dang, Andy Abelow, Annex Theater, Art Department, At the End of Infinite Rope, Bad Brilliance, Barky, BDRM PPL, Beast Master, Bedlam Theatre, Big Bear, Bird Names, Black Vatican, Blood Baby, Blue Leader, Booge Border, Butt Stomach, C Spencer Yeh, Cars Will Burn, Celebration, Chandeliers, Charlotte and Joe, Child Bite, Child Bride, Clarissa Gregory, Connor Kizer and Adam Endres, Crazy, Dreams Band, Dan Deacon Ensemble and on and on and on and on!
That’s just the list through the D’s, people! Here’s the rest, and keep in mind even that’s just the people who are listed at the moment! Last year, over 300 bands performed at the three-day extravaganza, so get yourself a ticket quick! And boy oh boy do I mean quick. Only 300 Mega-Passes — that is, passes that’ll get you into every show — are available, and at $45 a pop, I can’t imagine those things will hang out on the shelves too much longer. But don’t fret all that much; individual day passes clock in at $18, still one steal of a deal.
Performances will be held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art Studio Center Parking Lot, and Load of Fun. America, this shit looks monster.
Oh, and a shoutout to loyal TMT reader Greg for the tip! You are as beautiful as a lotus on the Nile, young traveler!
