Upset The Rhythm Knows How to Party: Gets Drunk, Wakes Up in the U.S. in Time to Host Three Shows

By Jon Lorenz on

Upset The Rhythm, a U.K. record label and pretty much nightly organizer of the best shows in town, has been filling up my Facebook inbox almost daily ever since I made the mistake of joining the Facebook frenzy. Even though I would never decide to hop on a plane to London just to see one of their shows, I still get an invite to every show that they put on. Almost every time, I get a little upset that I've yet again been fooled into thinking maybe that show was actually happening in my town.

Well, if you're one of the lucky ones who has the chance to go to every other good show, then maybe Upset the Rhythm is coming to your town. Yep, they will be partying it up in New York, L.A., and San Francisco during the first half of July. Each party will feature many of the bands on Upset the Rhythm's roster, including Lucky Dragons, Death Sentence: PANDA!, Bird Names, Future Islands, Wet Hair, and the reason this is all happening: Foot Village. As recently reported, Foot Village's Anti-Magic is coming out on UTR, and instead of just having a record release party, they decided to have UTR showcases in these three lucky cities. Upset The Rhythm's Chris and Claire are going to be flying over and joining in on the festivities.

I'm sure any day now I will get invites on Facebook to all three of these shows, and just as quickly I will hit the "No I Will Not Attend This Event" button. I will continue doing so until one fine day when I get a relevant invite from UTR. Highly unlikely!

The lineups for these shows are as follows:

- PARTY NUMBER ONE: NEW YORK

Friday, July 3 @ Monster Island Basement

Ambergris / Lucky Dragons / Silk Flowers / Bird Names / Soft Circle / John Maus / Future Islands / Wet Hair (Shawn from Racoo-oo-oon)

- PARTY NUMBER TWO: LOS ANGELES

Saturday, July 11 @ The Smell

Foot Village / Lucky Dragons / Gowns / Death Sentence: PANDA! / KIT / Softboiled Eggies / Former Ghosts / The Urxed (Rob from High Places) / BARR / No Age (DJ set)

- PARTY NUMBER THREE: SAN FRANCISCO

Sunday, July 12 @ The LAB

Foot Village / Gowns / Lucky Dragons / Death Sentence: PANDA! / T.I.T.S. / KIT / The Urxed / Former Ghosts

Today’s Pavement Vinyl Reissue to Brighten the Corners of Your Mouth, Frighten the Corners of Your Ears, and Enlighten the Corners of Your Mind

By David Nadelle on Jun 23 2009

Things couldn't get worse for wax cylinder collectors, but vinyl buyers haven't been rendered obsolete old hags just yet. There has and will always be smart little labels providing gold soundz to those who refuse to give up the vinyl ghost and, for now, bigger independent labels and even some majors still issue actual spinning records. Following the reissue of Pavement's Brighten the Corners: Nicene Credence Edition (CD Version) comes Brighten the Corners: Nicene Credence Edition (LP Version), released today by the "venerable mega-indie" Matador Records.

Of course, the original album, first released in February of 1997, is included, as are a lot of tasty unreleased, live, and rare goodies, all on four glorious vinyl records. Whether you rate it as a classic in their arsenal or not, a set that looks as good as this might even be worth whatever extravagant sum Matador will ultimately be charging. It's worth owning regardless. (Although Brighten the Corners came out a long time ago, it was not really all that long ago. It never came out on Edison Records, for instance.)

Record 1:

1. Stereo
2. Shady Lane / J Vs. S
3. Transport Is Arranged
4. Date w/IKEA
5. Old To Begin
6. Type Slowly
7. Embassy Row
8. Blue Hawaiian
9. We Are Underused
10. Passat Dream
11. Starlings of the Slipstream
12. Fin

Record 2:

1. And Then (The Hexx) [7" Version, originally released as the B-side to "Spit On A Stranger," May 1999]
2. Beautiful As A Butterfly
3. Cataracts
4. Embassy Row Psych Intro
5. Nigel
6. Chevy (Old To Begin) [previously unreleased mix of a session song featuring different vocal overdubs]
7. Roll With The Wind (Roxy) [previously unreleased mix of a session song featuring different vocal overdubs]
8. Westie Can Drum (Elastica) [reviously unreleased mix of a session track]
9. Stereo (Remix) [remixed by Steve Fisk]
10. Birds in the Majic Industry (previously unreleased full length vocal version)
11. And Then (The Hexx) [unedited full version of the "Spit on Stranger" 7" B-side, previously unreleased; originally was supposed to be opening track of Brighten the Corners]

Record 3:

1. Agony of the Stars (from the film Sweethearts)
2. Westie Can Drum
3. Winner of The
4. Birds in the Majic Industry (originally released as the B-side to "Stereo," January 1997)
5. Harness Your Hopes
6. Roll With The Wind (originally released as the B-side to "Spit On A Stranger," May 1999)
7. Slowly Typed
8. Cherry Area (originally released as the B-side to "Shady Lane," June 1997)
9. Wanna Mess You Around
10. No Tan Lines (originally released as the B-side to "Shady Lane" June 1997)
11. Oddity (Originally appeared on the God Save The Clean - A Tribute To The Clean album, 1997)
12. Date w/IKEA
13. Fin
14. Grave Architecture
15. The Classical (recorded for Radio 1's John Peel Show at BBC's Maida Vale Studio 4, 1997)

Record 4:

1. And Then (The Hexx)
2. Harness Your Hopes
3. The Killing Moon
4. Winner of The (recorded for Radio 1's Evening Session at BBC's Maida Vale Studios)
5. Type Slowly (Live) [originally appeared on the compilation album Tibetan Freedom Concert 1997]
6. Neil Haggerty Meets Jon Spencer in a Non-Alcoholic Bar
7. Painted Soldiers
8. Destroy Mater Dei
9. What Goes On
10. Kris Kraft
11. It's a Rainy Day Sunshine Girl
12. Maybe Maybe (recorded live at KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program, 1997)
13. Space Ghost Theme I (unreleased song recorded live at WFNX, 1997)
14. Space Ghost Theme II (unreleased song recorded live at WFNX, 1997)

Transfigurations 2009: Mount Eerie, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Kurt Vile, Akron/Family, and Others Show Up for Best 5th Birthday Party Ever

By Liz Louche on Jun 22 2009

Confession: I have never been to the South. For years, I have dreamed of roadtripping to Savannah, GA, or The Kentucky Derby, or this weird tourist attraction I read about as a kid called Fairyland Caverns at Tennessee’s Rock City Gardens. Alas: money, or a working vehicle, or friends who wanted to spend a week or two “enjoying” my deliriously tired conversation and disco-heavy roadtrip playlist always seemed to be lacking. And here I am now with another stop to add to my itinerary: Asheville, North Carolina’s Transfigurations festival. Sure, there might not be any eerily grinning gnomes hanging out in the silent depths of a sinisterly enchanted cave at this event, but I’ll tell you what there is: three solid days of solid tunes.

Transfigurations 2009 was put together to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Asheville’s Harvest Records record store. Putting on a festival in honor of your record store’s birthday is pretty boss in my book, and so is the planned entertainment. The lineup includes Mount Eerie, Kurt Vile, Circulatory System, The Books, Budos Band, Akron/Family, Jonathan Kane, Ice Cream, Espers, Villages, The War on Drugs, The Coathangers, Steve Gunn, Brightblack Morning Light, and the recently confirmed Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Plus there are discussions with Eric Isaacson from the Mississippi Records label, Lance Ledbetter of rare recording specialists Dust-to-Digital, and Nathan Salsburg, producer/archivist for the Alan Lomax Archive and curator of the Twos & Fews imprint on Drag City. The three-day event takes place across several Asheville venues.
08.13–15.09 – Asheville, NC – Transfigurations Festival

RIP: Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical musician

By Shane Mack on Jun 22 2009

From the Los Angeles Times:

Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, the master Indian musician and composer who was a pivotal figure in introducing the music of his homeland to the West, has died. He was 87.

The legendary sarod player and teacher died of kidney failure Thursday night at his home in the Bay Area city of San Anselmo, according to an announcement on the website of the Ali Akbar College of Music, Khan's teaching facility in northern California. The announcement said Khan had been a dialysis patient since 2004 but was still teaching at the college until just two weeks ago.

- Ali Akbar Khan Wikipedia entry
- Ali Akbar College of Music

Modest Mouse Announce Tour Dates; Isaac Brock Promises to Tone Down His Crazy Side This Summer, But Will Still Likely Knife You (or Himself) If Given the Chance

By Annapocalypse on Jun 22 2009

Whenever Modest Mouse go out on tour, frontman Isaac Brock always seems to do a bunch of crazy shit that gets the internet buzzing again with rumors of his mental unrest. Personally, I don’t hold it against the dude. Being on a tour bus for weeks is bound to do some unraveling to your mental state, no matter how stable you may be. Still, taking a knife to yourself is a little too Sid Vicious for me. Perhaps Brock will be calmer on this tour though; after all, he wouldn’t want to scare away Modest Mouse’s new touring guitarist, Grandaddy’s Jim Fairchild.

In news that’s not related to self-mutilation, last month Modest Mouse released a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single featuring the song “Satellite Skin.” On June 23, tomorrow, they plan on releasing another limited seven-inch, featuring “Autumn Beds” as the A-side and “Whale Song” as the B-side. Both records contain unreleased tracks.

Tour Like God's Shoeshine:
08.17.09 - Halifax, NS - Forum Mulipurpose Room
08.19.09 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
08.20.09 - Kingston, ON - Ale House
08.21.09 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy
08.24.09 - Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
08.25.09 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
08.28.09 - San Diego, CA - Street Scene
08.30.09 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands
10.01.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
10.02.09 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
10.03.09 - Billings, MT - Alberta Bair Theater
10.04.09 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater
10.05.09 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Concert House
10.07.09 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot

Precedent Set: Judge Instructs $1.92 Million Payment to RIAA in P2P Downloading Case

By Brom on Jun 22 2009

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old mother of four from Brainerd, Minnesota, was instructed by a Minnesota jury to pay $1.92 million in damages to four major labels after she supposedly downloaded and shared 24 songs on the Kazaa P2P network. This equates to $80,000 per track. (Holy mother-****ing ****!! That is an absolute ****-load of mother****ing cash! Those mother****ing monopolistic ******* mother****ers!) "We appreciate the jury's service and that they take this as seriously as we do," RIAA puppet Cara Duckworth said in a statement. (I’m glad you enjoy destroying other people’s lives for a few innocuous Sheryl Crow and Green Day tracks, you mother****ing, ****-filled, *******ized sons of ****!).

Thomas-Rasset argued in the trial that it was her ex-boyfriend or sons who were most likely to have committed this, err, multi-million dollar fraud. In fairness to the labels, they have said they do not intend to claim the full amount and are still happy to settle. (But they’re still mother****ing, ****-eating ****-suckers!!)

The case may lead to legislative reform with many feeling uncomfortable that individuals can be penalized so highly for what are fairly minor offenses. Currently, the Copyright Act allows for “statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, in the case of willful infringement.” Nevertheless, the recording industry still has strong support in Congress, with Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers and his fellow in the Senate, Patrick Leahy (both dirty stinking Democrats), both powerful defenders of the major labels. (Those mother****ing, climate change-humping, terrorist ****-sucking liberals!)

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