NPR STREAMING BOB DYLAN'S BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 8: TELL TALE SIGNS

NPR's All Songs Considered is currently streaming Bob Dylan's outstanding eighth volume of his long-running Bootleg Series, entitled Tell Tale Signs, today. Peep it!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95047293

MACCA TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM AS THE FIREMAN IN NOVEMBER

As IRT has come to grips with the truth that we are, in fact, McCartney folk here after spending many years under the impression we were more Lennon people, we are happy to pass along the news of Macca's intentions to release a brand new album under his electronically-minded alter ego, The Fireman, his excellent and underrated collaborative duo with producer Youth, this November. Details below from the Fireman's esteemed publicist:

The Fireman Finds His Voice With Brand New Album
Electric Arguments
U.S. Release Date: November 18, 2008

The Fireman has returned after a ten-year break with something to sing about. Electric Arguments, the brand new third studio album from the mysterious duo--out in the U.S. November 18 on MPL/ATO--is their first release to feature vocals.

"Ambient dreams in rainbow arches describe the circles of The Fireman", is how the duo described their music in a rare interview around the release of their last album 'Rushes' in 1998. Their first album 'Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest', released in 1993, was a solid ambient dance album heavy on electronics. Around this time the identity of The Fireman was unknown until the press exposed the duo as none other than Paul McCartney and Youth. The now defunct music bible Melody Maker heaped praise on the project, "Paul McCartney has discovered dance music - the results are staggeringly brilliant. They (The Fireman) take a melody and, with dexterous genre-hopping through ambient, trance and house, evolve a number of breathtaking variations."

Last year The Fireman returned to work again to start work on what would become Electric Arguments, ultimately finding thirteen days and recording a song on each of those days over the course of a little more than a year. The results this time are entirely different from any previous Fireman release.

Earlier this year The Fireman donated a new track, Lifelong Passion (which appears on Electric Arguments) to the charity Adopt-A-Minefield. This new track marked a directional change for The Fireman, showcasing a more traditional song based sound with vocals, completely unlike anything on the previous two albums. Speculation increased as a 'studio source' was quoted in The Times of London as describing their new sound 'like Arcade Fire meets Led Zeppelin'. So what had The Fireman been up to and what does the album sound like?

Electric Arguments is an eclectic and varied album consisting of thirteen tracks, each written and recorded in the space of one day. McCartney and Youth went into the studio with no master plan or clear direction. Instead they let the project take a life of its own, with the results surprising them as much as anyone.

The record opens with a stylistically diverse trifecta: Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight is a classic rock attention grabber followed by a hairpin turn in the form of the acoustic driven Two Magpies and yet another direction with Sing The Changes, a euphoric upbeat song with an undeniable and instantly memorable melody. Electric Arguments continues in this fashion, each track with an entirely different personality yet all meshing perfectly. Other standouts include 'Light From Your Lighthouse', 'Sun Is Shining' and 'Dance 'Til We're High', all in keeping with the genre-hopping spirit of the first two Fireman albums and demonstrating Paul McCartney's unending interest in pure musical possibilities. This is an album set to both surprise and delight the listener. Made with no record company restraints or a set release date to work to, Electric Arguments is a work of complete artistic and creative freedom.


The Fireman
Electric Arguments

Track listing:

1) Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight
2) Two Magpies
3) Sing The Changes
4) Traveling Light
5) Highway
6) Light From Your Lighthouse
7) Sun Is Shining
8) Dance 'Til We're High
9) Lifelong Passion
10) Is This Love?
11) Lovers In A Dream
12) Universal Here, Everlasting Now
13) Don't Stop Running

Produced By Paul McCartney & Youth
All tracks written by Paul McCartney

"Lifelong Passion" video by the Fireman:

TOBACCO MIXTAPE UP ON XLR8R WEBSITE

Hey,

Tom Tobacco from Black Moth Super Rainbow is one of IRT's favorite acts.

Click here http://feeds.xlr8r.com/xlr8rmp3 for an exclusive mixtape he has created for XLR8R Magazine in anticipation of his amazing solo album, Fucked Up Friends, due out October 14 on anticon.

"Songs to get killed in the woods to" - a mixtape for XLR8R by Tobacco: http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2008/09/tobacco-songs-get-killed-woods

Here's the complete track list for Tobacco's mixtape available exclusively through XLR8R:

SONGS TO GET KILLED IN THE WOODS TO:

1. brother russell "alive and well" from melba comes alive! 00:00
2. lone "phthalo blue" excerpt from lemurian 02:08
3. alias feat. WHY? "well water black (tobacco remix) unreleased 03:17
4. the lava children "i am a pony" unreleased 05:54
5. ruth white "owls" from flowers of evil 08:24
6. john trubee prank call 11:06
7. beck "mexico" from don't get bent out of shape 12:09
8. allegheny white fish "backwards song #2" from ep96 17:26
9. "introducing linda loveface" from the deep throat soundtrack 18:02
10. boards of canada unknown song 20:03
11. butthole surfers "pittsburgh to lebanon" from locust abortion technician 21:11
12. ivanhoe "humphrey's farewell to ebm7" from days and knights 23:27
13. longmont potion castle "helium socket" from volume 5 27:13
14. freescha "moving" from head warlock double stare 29:06
15. dreamend "are you waking" from the long forgotten friend 33:55
16. butthole surfers "kuntz" from locust abortion technician 36:54
17. black moth super rainbow "milk skates" from drippers ep 39:09
18. height "hanging out late all alone" from winterize the game 40:36
19. boom box 2000 "girls we like" from s/t 43:33
20. silke f. "dancing with a ghost" from n/a 46:51
21. lansing-dreiden "spectrum of vapor" from a sectioned beam 49:50
22. the seven fields of aphelion "grown" from periphery (coming 2009) 54:30
23. tiny tim "strawberry tea" from god bless tiny tim 60:06



On Fucked Up Friends, his first solo album, Tobacco explores a darker, starker and altogether more badass dimension of his complex vision. With his group Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobacco distinguished himself as a master of jagged beats, glowing melodies and pronounced tension. This time, he works alone, in rural Pennsylvania, away from conventions and interference.

As always, Tobacco recorded Fucked Up Friends using analog synths and tape machines, which gives his work a timeless distance from digital pop music at large. His tracks evoke sonar, mellotrons and deteriorating cassette tapes. His windshield-rattling beats thump hard against their technological limitations. His hooks emerge from thick ponds of distortion, which heightens their hypnotic power. His music is equally cosmopolitan and self-contained, the soundtrack for an imaginary underwater cop show, a welcome stranger anywhere in time and space.

Much of Fucked Up Friends is instrumental. Sometimes, electronically mutilated vocals do emerge. The lyrics are never "about," but always "of." They don't clarify. They only make the mystery that much more enticing.

Tobacco creates unique, compelling pop from the power and constrictions of his available technology. He makes music that is at once buoyant, danceable and unmistakably eerie. He plays "lo-fi" music for high yields, and he gives his simplest constructions a powerful dramatic sweep. He makes music with suave passion, burning vitality and cinematic depth. And he never stops searching for the perfect beat.

At times, such as on the sunny celebration "Hairy Candy," Fucked Up Friends recalls BMSR's woozy daydreams. But, taken as a whole, it's a much more sinister affair. This album is anxiously driven, effortlessly smooth, and unapologetically uncanny. These tracks will stick in your head like a crooked get-rich-quick scheme. "Hawker Boat" and "Dirt (featuring Aesop Rock)" strain stadium-rock grandeur through a dirty filter and serve it with rocks and salt. "Side 8 (Big Gums Version)," "Backwoods Altar" and "Get My Nails Did" slowly expose a deep menace beneath their enticing rhythms.

Fucked Up Friends defies all expectations, rocks the boombox, and casts a menacing, irresistible spell. It bleeds under a blacklight. It knows where you live.



TOBACCO

10/03 Purchase, NY SUNY Purchase
10/22 New York, NY Mercury Lounge (CMJ)
10/23 New York, NY TBA (CMJ)




Tobacco
Tobacco
Fucked Up Friends
(Anticon)
Street date: Oct. 14, 2008

01 Street Trash
02 Truck Sweat
03 Hairy Candy
04 Hawker Boat
05 Side 8 (Big Gums
Version)
06 Yum Yum Cult
07 Berries That Burn
08 Get My Nails Did
09 Dirt (Featuring Aesop Rock)
10 Gross Magik
11 Little Pink Riding Hood
12 Backwoods Altar
13 -
14 Tape Eater
15 Pink Goo
16 Grease Wizard

PAVEMENT UNVEILS DETAILS FOR THE REISSUE OF THEIR 1997 CLASSIC, BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS

From Pitchforkmedia.com:

It's an even-numbered year, which means we're due for another deluxe reissue of a classic Pavement album from Matador/Domino. This time around, it's 1997's Brighten the Corners that gets the treatment, and Matador has just revealed the details of its reissue package.

Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. comes on two discs. Together they contain the remastered original LP, all of the B-sides and compilation tracks from around the album's original release, and previously unreleased studio and live tracks. The package also includes a 62-page book of photos, writings and other nice things.

Matador will release Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. on November 18, and the label is currently working on a "Buy Early Get Now" promotion for the record with even more extras. Domino will handle the reissue's European release.

Finally, don't forget: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks have those North American dates with Blitzen Trapper coming up pretty soon.

Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed.:

Disc 1:

01 Stereo
02 Shady Lane / J vs. S
03 Transport Is Arranged
04 Date w/ IKEA
05 Old to Begin
06 Type Slowly
07 Embassy Row
08 Blue Hawaiian
09 We Are Underused
10 Passat Dream
11 Starlings of the Slipstream
12 Fin
13 Westie Can Drum ["Stereo" B-side]
14 Winner of the... ["Stereo" B-side]
15 Birds in the Majic Industry [previously unreleased vocal version taking place of released instrumental "Stereo" B-side version]
16 Slowly Typed ["Shady Lane" B-side]
17 Cherry Area ["Shady Lane" B-side]
18 Wanna Mess You Around ["Shady Lane" B-side]
19 No Tan Lines ["Shady Lane" B-side]
20 And Then... [full seven-minute+ version of "Spit on a Stranger" B-side]
21 Harness Your Hopes ["Spit on a Stranger" B-side]
22 Roll With the Wind ["Spit on a Stranger" B-side]

Disc 2:

01 Then [BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997]
02 Harness Your Hopes [BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997]
03 The Killing Moon [BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997]
04 Winner of the... [BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997]
05 Embassy Row Psych Intro [previously unreleased intro, BTC sessions outtake]
06 Nigel [previously unreleased, BTC sessions outtake]
07 Chevy (Old to Begin) [previously unreleased version, BTC sessions]
08 Roll With the Wind (Roxy) [previously unreleased version, BTC sessions]
09 For Sale! The Preston School of Industry [previously unreleased, VPRO "Lola da Musica" TV show, April 4, 1997]
10 Oddity [from the God Save the Clean compilation]
11 Type Slowly (live) [from the Free Tibet compilation]
12 Neil Hagerty Meets Jon Spencer in a Non-Alcoholic Bar [previously unreleased, KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic", February 25, 1997]
13 Maybe Maybe [previously unreleased version, KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic", February 25, 1997]
14 Date w/ IKEA [BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997]
15 Fin [BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997]
16 Grave Architecture [BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997]
17 The Classical [BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997]
18 Space Ghost Theme I [previously unreleased, recorded live at WFNX, Boston, February 12, 1997]
19 Space Ghost Theme II [previously unreleased, recorded live at WFNX, Boston, February 12, 1997]
20 Beautiful as a Butterfly [previously unreleased, BTC sessions outtake]
21 Cataracts [previously unreleased, BTC sessions outtake]

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks:

10-23 Calgary, Alberta - The Warehouse *
10-24 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite Room *
10-25 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Amigo's *
10-27 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabinet *
10-30 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
10-31 Iowa City, IA - The Picador *
11-02 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *
11-04 Omaha, NE - Slowdown *
11-05 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall *
11-06 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre *
11-08 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *

* with Blitzen Trapper

Pavement's "Stereo" video, filmed secondhand:

FORMER SOFT MACHINE FRONTMAN RELEASES SINGLE FROM FORTHCOMING RARITIES COLLECTION ON iTUNES

Kevin Ayers Releases "Crystal Clear"/ Exclusive New Tune From "What More Can I Say" LP Exclusive Early 1970's Private Sketches & Demos Out November 4th on Reel Recordings

Manager Tim Shepard: "This is Kevin's Holy Grail!"


A delectably triumphant treasure trove of previously unreleased performances, carefully remastered from Kevin's private reel-to-reel tapes. Featuring performances from friends such as bassists Mike Oldfield and Archie Legget, organist David Bedford, and legendary drummer Robert Wyatt, What More Can I Say is a one-of-a-kind personal collection that welcomes the who, what, where, when and why inquiries about its rarities.

Internationally celebrated founder of Britain's most important sixties psychedelic rock band, The Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers went on to compose and sing a string of strikingly magnificent songs across a series of classic albums throughout the seventies. Standing the test of time, reissues of Kevin records have garnered universal praise and found new fans in the 21st century. Recently, Kevin's return to recording was the critically acclaimed Unfairground which Mojo described as "gorgeous" and "one of the top albums of 2007"

Imagine the surprise when a cache of tapes, abandoned at poetess Lady June's London apartment in the mid-seventies, were found in storage with former flat mate (and master guitarist) Gerry Fitz-Gerald! Reel Recordings was granted the honor of caring for the reels and assembling a program on behalf of Kevin Ayers, and accomplished this with a stirring of love for the great man and the music found from his long forgotten private demos and studio outtakes.

This CD presents Kevin Ayers captured in warm intimacy with acoustic guitar and voice seldom sounding finer. For fans and newcomers alike, such a musical tonic is reason to raise a glass and rejoice. Rare Ayers indeed! What more can we say?

PINK FLOYD KEYBOARDIST RICHARD WRIGHT SUCCUMBS TO CANCER AT AGE 65

We here at the IRT are devestated to hear about the loss of founding Pink Floyd member and keyboardist Richard Wright. See story below from the Associated Press.

Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies age 65
By MEERA SELVA, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 31 minutes ago


Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

Pink Floyd's spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," was a hit.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and sang.

The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Us And Them" for that album, and later worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."

But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996).

In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London — the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.

Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On An Island" and the accompanying world tour.

Richard Wright performing "Love Scene, Version 4" off the Zabriskie Point soundtrack:

JOHN MCCAIN GETS BARACK'ROLLD

In the grand Mets tradition of Rick rolling, John McCain gets his, Obama style!

Sonic Youth Sign With Matador

From Matador's Matablog, posted by label head Gerard Cosloy:

Sonic Youth To Release New Material On Matador in 2009
September 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am by Gerard
After rampant speculation, Matador Records can confirm the label will be releasing a new studio album from Sonic Youth sometime in 2009. Having fulfilled their contractual obligations to the Universal Music Group, Sonic Youth recently reached an agreement with Matador to release the band’s 16th album of new material in all worldwide territories, save for Japan.

While Sonic Youth’s status as one of the more innovative and influential bands of the past 30 years needs little explanation, the group’s most recent recordings for Geffen — 2006’s ‘Rather Ripped’ being their final for the label — rank amongst the current decade’s best.

For Matador, the opportunity to work in partnership with a group who’ve made such an profound impact on our roster/hometown/collective consciousness was one to jump at. Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley will commence recording the new Sonic Youth LP/CD this autumn and we look forward to sharing further details in the very near future.

Please check out sonicyouth.com for details about their many recent and upcoming pursuits, including the travelling museum exhibition “Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix”, which focusses on the multidisciplinary activities of the band since 1981, and the recently self-released CD “Andre Side Af Sonic Youth”.

http://www.sonicyouth.com
http://www.matadorrecords.com


Sonic Youth "100%" video - check for Jason Lee cameo!



Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley on MTV, "Kool Thing" video:

GIL SCOTT HERON AND BRIAN JACKSON LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE

Thanks to Dexondaz at Blogger for this outstanding Heron/Jackson show from the summer of Sam in NYC.

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - 1977-08-20 - Bottom Line, New York, NY
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Bottom Line
New York, NY
8/20/1977

Setlist:
01. New Deal [10:19]
02. Gumbai [05:05]
03. Intro to Race Track In France [01:22]
04. Race Track In France [08:06]
05. Band Intros ~ Lead in to 95 South [02:45]
06. 95 South [04:49]
07. Intro to Hello Sunday, Hello Road [01:02]
08. Hello Sunday, Hello Road [03:45]
09. Intro to It's Your World [00:38]
10. It's Your World [06:59]
11. Home Is Where The Hated Is > [15:29]
12. Almost Lost Detroit [05:59]
13. Intro to Vildgolia [01:36]
14. Vildgolia [12:24]
15. Winter In America [06:54]
16. Under The Hammer [05:12]
17. The Bottle [15:07]
18. Intro to Johannesburg [00:53]
19. Johannesburg [05:37]

Total Time: [1:54:28]

Line Up:
Gil Scott-Heron - electric piano, vocals
Brian Jackson - piano, electric piano, clavinet, synths, flute, vocals
Allan Barnes - flute, tenor sax, synthesizer
Reggie Brisbane - percussion, drums
Siggie Dillard - bass
Tony Duncanson - timbales, percussion, djembe
Delbert Taylor - trumpet, electric piano (on "95 South" & "Home Is Where the Hatred Is")
Barnett Williams - djembe, congas

Source: SBD > ? > PCM > Cool Edit Pro 2.1 > WAV > FLAC

http://rapidshare.com/files/13831537...820FLAC_01.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/13834984...820FLAC_02.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/13842883...820FLAC_03.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/13846101...820FLAC_04.zip

Beastie Boys Live at the Kitchen, NYC 1983

Here is some footage I found on YouTube of The Beastie Boys playing live back in 1983 at the seminal early 80's underground joint The Kitchen. The Kitchen was a non-profit art space that opened in 1972 following the burning down of the Mercer Arts Center. The Kitchen was known for its more avant-garde bookings at the time, which included legendary gigs by Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Talking Heads and Phillip Glass among others. Certainly this particular evening when the hardcore-era Beasties loaded in, apparently during the Christmas season back in 1983, was one of the club's more memorable gigs. Playing all their Poly Wog Stew classics along with some choice covers, including Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize", the young Beasties kill it. A truly historical night for one of the most essential groups of the last 30 years, back in their salad days. Thanks to Beastieplaza on You Tube for the footage. Enjoy! -Ed.

Wooden Wand Disses Pitchfork

Below is a post from James Jackson Toth, the artist formerly known as Wooden Wand, on his MySpace blog re: that wack-ass 4.1 review of Toth's auspicious Rykodisc label debut, Waiting In Vain, and his first release under his own name. We at IRT love our former cover star's latest album, and totally hear his lament loud and clear. -Ed.


From Toth's MySpace Blog:

Thanks Pitchfork!

Hey Pitchfork! Thanks for the awesome review! 4.1! That's out of four, right? No? Oh well, better 4 than 1, 2 or 3! Err...right?


Just a few things I should clear up, for future reference. Just a *few* little factual errors. No sweat.

1. I already opened for Bright Eyes -about three years ago. It was a good time.

2. Lee Ranaldo does not play on this record.

3. The lyric you quote from "The Dome" is "in the telephone zone" not "in the television zone." I see how you could have missed it, the line only appears in the song eight times. I know you guys are pretty busy and all poring over the minutiae of the latest reverb-soaked pop masterpiece, so no biggie.

4. No one really say 'alt country' anymore, dude.
Anyway, despite these minor oversights, thanks so much again! I'm currently working on an eclectic little jumble of a record I know you're going to enjoy. Imagine a more 'yallternative,' animal mask-clad Haircut 100 playing Hanoi Rocks when they were "good" - but with BEATS! My friend has a Dr. Rhythm and everything.

Gratefully,

Toth

HEY, GUESS WHAT I FOUND IN A SMALL TOWN IN VERMONT

And for $1! On vinyl! It was at a place called Old Friends, a small secondhand shop in Hardwick, VT Michele and I passed through en route to a hike at Lake Caspian with her aunt and uncle. Also picked up the first Palace Brothers on CD for $5. Yes kids, it certainly does pay to hit the thrift store in these digital times. Now I can truly feel hip enough to run my own music magazine, having Slint's Spiderland on wax. -Ed.