According to their website, The Walkmen are writing new songs, which is just fine with me: last year’s You & Me (TMT Review) solidly rocked. In fact, to prove just how fine this is, listen to The Walkmen perform on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectichere or check out their video for "Four Provinces."
Meanwhile, The Walkmen are going on a cross-country tour with the Kings of Leon, with dates starting in April. In May, the Walkmen will be playing the Sasquatch Music Festival.
U.S. tourdates with Kings of Leon: 04.18.09 - Boston, MA - Agannis Arena 04.19.09 - Boston, MA - Agannis Arena 04.20.09 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa* 04.21.09 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre 04.22.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palumbo 04.24.09 - Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center 04.25.09 - Philadelphia - Spectrum 04.27.09 - Norfolk, Va - Constant Convocation Center 04.28.09 - Raleigh, NC - Koka Booth Ampitheatre 04.30.09 - Charlotte, NC - Bojangles Coliseum 05.04.09 - St, Augustine, FL - St Augustine Ampitheater 05.05.09 - Orlando, FL - UCF Arena 05.07.09 - Miami, FL - Bank United Center 05.08.09 - Tampa, FL - Sundome 05.08.09 - Charleston, SC - North Charleston Coliseum 05.12.09 - Cincinnati, OH - National City Pavillion 05.13.09 - Cleveland, OH - Tower City 05.19.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Mesa Ampitheatre 05.21.09 - San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
March Madness is almost upon us. Meaning, every crappy, local, "hipper than thou" band will be headed down to Austin, TX for the annual SXSW Music and Media Conference. This is every unsigned hometown "indie" band's so-called chance for super stardom. "Hey, look Mom, we're playing South By Southwest; we finally made it. We might get signed!" Likewise, thousands of people are going to pack their vans and head south in hopes of catching the "next big thing" (or maybe a chance to rub shoulders with Moby). Well, I'm not. I'm staying home -- away from all the madness, away from the young high school kids with their Radiohead t-shirts and their shaggy hair, away from more bad bands than you can shake a stick at. Don't get me wrong -- there will be many great bands to see among the array of bad ones, and in fact I'd like to provide some details on a handful of them.
Parenthetical Girls and No Kids will set out on a tour, with dates that will sandwich their SXSW appearances. They will be joining fellow Tomlab artist Casiotone For the Painfully Alone for the SXSW Tomlab/K/ Asmatic Kitty showcase, which will also include performances by Tara Jane O'Neil and Jeremy Jay.
Seriously though, Keep Austin Weird! 03.12.09 - Seattle, Washington - Sunset Tavern 03.13.09 - Portland, Oregon - Backspace 03.14.09 - Boise, Idaho - Neurolux 03.15.09 - Salt Lake City, Utah - Kilby Court 03.16.09 - Denver, Colorado - Hi Dive 03.18.09 - Austin, Texas - SXSW* 03.19.09 - Austin, Texas - SXSW 03.20.09 - Austin, Texas - SXSW 03.21.09 - Austin, Texas - SXSW 03.22.09 - Austin, Texas - SXSW 03.23.09 - Phoenix, Arizona - Stinkweeds 03.24.09 - San Diego, California - Bar Pink 03.25.09 - Los Angeles, California - Spaceland 03.27.09 - San Francisco, California - Cafe Du Nord
* Tomlab/K/Asmatic Kitty Showcase: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Jeremy Jay, Tara Jane O'Neil
Ever since Conor Oberst went out on that album-naming limb and dubbed his 2008 solo album Conor Oberst (TMT Review), he's been traveling and playing and singing his little heart out with The Mystic Valley Band (Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, Macey Taylor, Nathaniel Walcott and Jason Boesel). This same, fabulous quintet of talented musicians is again lending a hand to Conor's upcoming album, more adventurously named Outer South. It'll be coming to us May 5 through Merge Records.
Taking a break from the Bright Eyes moniker, Conor gave us sing-songy goodness on the topics of time, heartache, life, and death on his eponymous album. We can only hope Outer South will be more of the lyrical adeptness that we've become accustomed to.
While patiently waiting for the album release, you can view a performance of "Nikorette," one of 16 tracks being released on Outer South, here. Meanwhile, those of you living on the Left Side can catch Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band in the flesh.
Check it out: 04.09.09 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown 04.10.09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre 04.11.09 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up 04.12.09 - El Paso, TX - Barnett Harley Davidson # 04.13.09 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre 04.14.09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre 04.15.09 - Pomona, CA - Glass House 04.17.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella Music & Arts Festival 06.18.09 - Telluride, CO Telluride - Bluegrass Festival
Back in December, viewers of CBS' Late Show with David Letterman let out a terse but piercing cry as perennial man-child Adam Sandler performed a pedestrian cover of Neil Young's winding guitar epic "Like a Hurricane." It was a chilling performance, if not so much for its mere terribleness then for the spooky revelation that Adam Sandler's annoying baby voice actually sounds a lot like Neil Young.
Well, those of you who saw the performance and still didn't develop a tremor in your remote-flipping hand will be thrilled to know that Warner Bros. is releasing Sandler's cover alongside 11 more contemporary covers of classic WB-owned songs. Covered: A Revolution in Sound, which will be released exclusively on Amazon.com March 10 and in stores everywhere on March 24, begs fan to consider questions such as "What could a band so bereft of melody as Taking Back Sunday possibly do with a Tom Petty song?" and "Is there any way I could dislike The Used more than hearing their what-is-sure-to-be-awful cover of The Talking Heads' ‘Burning Down the House’?" Oh, and, "Are the Flaming Lips really so bored that they need to take part in this?"
Okay, sure, there's a few eye-catching tracks on the list: it'd be near-impossible for Against Me! to screw up The Replacements' classic "Here Comes a Regular"; Mastodon are pretty solid for a ZZ Top cover; and The Black Keys get class points for covering a non-Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart tune (though minus points for the fact that it's the only other Beefheart tune most people know because it's on the Big Lebowski soundtrack). But let's be honest: in a year's time, it's a safe bet that, like all covers compilations, the only place Covered will be making any sort of "revolutions" is in the dollar bin.
And now, Adam Sandler's Dec. 15, 2008 performance of Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane" on the CBS Late Show:
Covered: A Revolution in Sound tracklist:
1. Mastodon: "Just Got Paid" (by ZZ Top) 2. The Black Keys: "Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles" (by Captain Beefheart) 3. Michelle Branch: "A Case Of You" (by Joni Mitchell) 4. Against Me!: "Here Comes A Regular" (by The Replacements) 5. Missy Higgins: "More Than This" (by Roxy Music) 6. James Otto: "Into The Mystic" (by Van Morrison) 7. Adam Sandler: "Like A Hurricane" (by Neil Young) 8. Taking Back Sunday: "You Wreck Me" (by Tom Petty) 9. The Used: "Burning Down The House" (by Talking Heads) 10. Disturbed: "Midlife Crisis" (by Faith No More) 11. Avenged Sevenfold: "Paranoid" (by Black Sabbath) 12. The Flaming Lips With Stardeath And White Dwarfs: "Borderline" (by Madonna)
Are you interested in following the path that our freshly restored nation chooses to follow? Do you believe major mergers like that between Ticketmaster and Live Nation (TMT News) affect us as consumers and concert attendees? Are you still pissed about your Bruce Springsteen ticket purchase ($350 per ticket or six male legs)? Do you find super managers and CEOs wringing out their neckerchiefs at a steady interval while being filmed strangely intimate?
Well, hurry up and click here because the parade and subsequent proceedings are streaming live today at 2:30 PM (EST), and Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff will not repeat his final joke. House hearings will follow on Thursday, and Friday is judicial recess for the i:Scintilla show.
When questioned last year about the possibility of a Faith No More reunion, Mike Patton (Fantômas, Mr. Bungle, etc.) said "I highly doubt it," yet in another interview said that he "wouldn't rule it out." Well, guess what? Last night, Patton's publicist confirmed that a Faith No More reunion is indeed in the works, with a European tour slated for the summer. Faith No More's last show was way back in April 1998.
Details are currently scant, as the news was tacked onto the bottom of a press release about Mike Patton completing his first major motion film score -- for Crank 2: High Voltage -- but we'll be sure to keep you updated. Oh, which reminds me: Patton just completed his first major motion film score for a movie called Crank 2: High Voltage.
Meanwhile, Patton will perform with labelmates Zu (who are awesome) March 19 in San Francisco and at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival April 17 with beatboxing extraordinaire Rahzel.
