FAITH NO MORE REUNITE!

According to a report on Rollingstone.com, it looks like our favorite band from high school, Faith No More, is reuniting for their first shows in 10 years with a European summer tour and a possible jaunt across these united States.

Official Statement from the band:

“Faith No More has always stood out as some sort of unique beast; part dog, part cat — its music almost as schizophrenic as the personalities of its members. When it all worked, it worked really well, even if the chemistry was always volatile.

Throughout our 17 years of existence, the mental and physical energy required to sustain this creature was considerable and relentless. Though amicable enough, when we finally split, we all followed paths seemingly destined to opposite ends of the universe. Yet during the entire 10 years that have passed since our decision to break up we’ve experienced constant rumors and requests from fans and promoters alike. Nevertheless, for whatever reason, none of us kept in regular touch, much less to discuss any possibilities of getting together.

What’s changed is that this year, for the first time, we’ve all decided to sit down together and talk about it. And what we’ve discovered is that time has afforded us enough distance to look back on our years together through a clearer lens and made us realize that through all the hard work, the music still sounds good, and we are beginning to appreciate the fact that we might have actually done something right. Meanwhile, we find ourselves at a moment in time with zero label obligations, still young and strong enough to deliver a kick-ass set, with enthusiasm to not only revisit our past but possibly add something to the present. And so with this we’ve decided to hold our collective breaths and jump off this cliff…. BACK, GOD FORBID, INTO THE MONKEY CAGE!!!

“We can only hope that the experience of playing together again will yield results erratic and unpredictable enough to live up to the legacy of FNM.

Who knows where this will end or what it will bring up… only the future knows. But we are about to find out!”

It sucks that Jim Martin is still being a curmudgeon about rejoining his old bandmates, but needless to say, having grown up with We Care A Lot, The Real Thing and Angel Dust in heavy rotation throughout most of our teens and twenties, this is big!

More soon as it comes in...In the meantime, enjoy these live videos from FNM at their peak:

"War Pigs" Live from the Brixton Academy 1990:


"Caffeine" Live on MTV 1992:


FNM Interviewed on MTV 1992:


Live at Pinkpop Festival 1995 (with Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle on guitar!)


"Midlife Crisis" Live at Rockpalast 1997:

LEONARD COHEN LIVE AT THE BEACON THEATRE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON NPR

You would be wise to get to the NPR All Songs Considered website and download Leonard Cohen's amazing return to NYC with his Feb. 19 performance at the legendary Beacon Theatre, the folk bard's first New York show in 15 years.

Download the MP3 of the entire hour and seventeen minute long concert here.

Here is NPR All Songs Considered's host Bob Boilen's eloquent blog about the show:

NPR.org, February 26, 2009 - First, this concert is historic and a knockout. Leonard Cohen is a brilliant poet and songwriter. Second, Cohen may be coming to a town near you — details are in this recent blog post. If you have a chance to see him live, don't pass it up.

At 74, Cohen is no spring chicken. That said, his voice was in fine form and his stage presence is so graceful and passionate that you may rethink all those other great shows you've seen by younger artists.

This concert, from the gorgeous Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, finds Cohen revisiting a body of work that's more than 40 years deep and full of songs that have inspired every generation of songwriters since: "Dance Me to the End of Love," "Bird on a Wire," "Chelsea Hotel," "Sisters of Mercy," "Suzanne," "Hallelujah," "I'm Your Man," "Famous Blue Raincoat."

Cohen performs these songs with a talented band of musicians, including his collaborator and singer Sharon Robinson, as well as his other backup vocalists in The Webb Sisters. Here's the lineup:

Roscoe Beck, musical director, electric bass, stand-up bass, background vocals
Rafael Bernardo Gayol, drums and percussion
Neil Larsen, keyboards
Dino Soldo, wind instruments, harmonica, keyboard, and background vocals
Bob Metzger, lead guitar, pedal steel guitar
Javier Mas, banduria, laud, archilaud, 12-string guitar

Of these musicians, Mas is the one that Leonard Cohen would often get down on one knee and serenade — when he's not stopping to listen. Mas' performance on a variety of stringed instruments gave Cohen's sound a European flavor, and reminded me at times of a sound I heard in Portugal, called Fado. Fado is a bittersweet style music filled with longing and yearning. I heard it in Leonard Cohen's music while watching him perform at the Beacon Theatre, and it was wonderful to know that, at 74, he's still injecting new life into his old classics.

Special thanks to MSG Entertainment and the Beacon Theatre.

Leonard Cohen performing "Hallelujah" at the Beacon Theatre:

Jane's Addiction to Release Rarities Box on Rhino in April

If the rumor Trent Reznor started about the possibility of a NIN-Jane's Addiction tour and the apparent full-time return of long, lost bassist Eric Avery into the Jane's fold wasn't enough for us aging Gen-X types, Pitchfork Media just this week announced that Rhino Records is putting out an amazing-looking rarities box set entitled A Cabinet of Curiosities on April 21. Though a good amount of us diehard Jane's fans most likely have a fair portion of the stuff featured on this collection (most of which appeared on the 1998 single-disc rarities package Kettle Whistle as well as the hard-to-come-by 1991 Warners import Live and Rare, this collection nevertheless contains some worthwhile nuggets, including some demos dating back to 1986 and 1987 and an entire December 1990 show originally recorded by MTV from a gig in Milan, Italy, not to mention the long-awaited DVD debut of their indelible VHS tape Soul Kiss.

Additionally, for this year's Record Store Day, Rhino will also be releasing their two Warners albums, 1988's Nothing's Shocking and 1990's Ritual De Lo Habitual.

For more information, visit www.rhino.com.

A Cabinet of Curiosities:

Disc 1:

01 Jane Says (Radio Tokyo Demo) *
02 Pigs in Zen (Radio Tokyo Demo)
03 Mountain Song (Radio Tokyo Demo)
04 Had a Dad (Radio Tokyo Demo)
05 I Would for You (Radio Tokyo Demo)
06 Idiots Rule (Demo) *
07 Classic Girl (Demo) *
08 Up the Beach (Demo) *
09 Suffer Some (Demo) *
10 Thank You Boys (Demo) *
11 Summertime Rolls (Demo) *
12 City (Demo) *
13 Ocean Size (Demo) *
14 Stop! (Demo) *
15 Standing in the Shower ... Thinking (Demo) *
16 Ain't No Right (Demo) *
17 Three Days (Demo) *

Disc 2

01 Ted, Just Admit It... (Demo) *
02 Maceo (Demo) *
03 No One's Leaving (Demo) *
04 My Time (Rehearsal) *
05 Been Caught Stealing (12" Remix Version)
06 Ripple
07 Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey [feat. Ice-T & Ernie-C]
08 L.A. Medley: L.A. Woman/Nausea/Lexicon Devil (Live)
09 Kettle Whistle (Live) *
10 Whole Lotta Love (Live) *
11 1970 (Live) *
12 Bobhaus (Live) *

Disc 3:

01 Drum Intro (Live) *
02 Up the Beach (Live)
03 Whores (Live) *
04 1% (Live) *
05 No One's Leaving (Live)
06 Ain't No Right (Live)
07 Then She Did... (Live) *
08 Had a Dad (Live) *
09 Been Caught Stealing (Live) *
10 Three Days (Live)
11 Mountain Song (Live) *
12 Stop! (Live)
13 Summertime Rolls (Live) *
14 Ocean Size (Live) *

DVD:

Soul Kiss:

01 Mountain Song (Unedited Version)
02 City

Music videos:

03 Had a Dad
04 Ocean Size
05 Stop!
06 Been Caught Stealing
07 Classic Girl
08 Ain't No Right

Live at the City Square in Milan (for MTV Italy, October 1990)

09 Whores *
10 Then She Did... *
11 Three Days *

* previously unreleased

Jane's Addiction "Three Days" Live at City Square in Milan:

CAPTAIN'S DEAD

Illustration by Jason Puglese

Just a quick note to let you guys know to hurry up and visit the amazing boot blog The Captain's Dead and grab some of the amazing live recordings he has up there before he scrubs his storage space and they are gone. I would start with this sick, sick audio of My Bloody Valentine's triumphant return to NYC at the Roseland last September and work your way from there.

Among the other great recordings these guys have up include Keith Richards' Complete Honeymoon Tapes, a sick Replacements show from Dekalb, IL at the Duke Ellington Ballroom in 1985, Tom Waits' demos for his 1993 black box theater classic The Black Rider and a batshit good June of 44 show from Kentucky circa 1995.

Get over there!

New Sonic Youth Due June 9th on Matador, Features Stunning Cover Art by late John Fahey

From Matador's Matablog:

Sonic Youth’s 16th album, The Eternal, will be released on double vinyl, compact disc and digital album by Matador Records on June 9. Produced by John Agnello and the band, The Eternal not only marks Sonic Youth’s return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen, but more importantly, ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career.

Recorded through November and December of last year at the band’s Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, NJ, The Eternal features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston, and Lee, and the studio debut of former Pavement/Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold, a member of Sonic Youth’s touring band for the past few years.

The band’s current extracurricular activities are as always, quite varied. The Kunsthalle in Dusseldorf, Germany is now hosting the touring museum exhibition SONIC YOUTH ETC.: SENSATIONAL FIX, which focuses on the band’s multidisciplinary work since the band’s formation in 1981, including their collaborations with visual artists, filmmakers, designers and musicians. Kim Gordon launches a clothing line, Mirror/Dash, at Urban Outfitters on February 16, and is showing at The Armory Show in NYC March 5-8. Lee Ranaldo, with co-conspirator Leah Singer, just opened installations at the Konsthall in Stockholm and the CNEAI in Paris, and he has a piece in the travelling exhibition “Bad Moon Rising 3″, currently at Boots Contemporary Art Space in St. Louis. A Beck/Sonic Youth split 7″ is being released by Matador on April 18 for Record Store Day. And the band recently collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (along with former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and mixed-media sound composer Takehisa Kosugi) on a work celebrating, and being performed for, Cunningham’s 90th birthday on April 16 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Upcoming SY shows include April gigs in Austria and Germany (including the closing of SENSATIONAL FIX in Dusseldorf) and May 16 at the No Fun Festival in Brooklyn. They will be touring throughout the summer in support of ‘The Eternal’.

Of The Eternal, Matador’s Gerard Cosloy says, “We’ve not had a record in our recent history that’s been the subject of nearly as much speculation and anticipation. Suffice to say we’re pretty amazed at the way the band delivered something this neoteric while still sounding like, well, themselves. Less of a reinvention and perhaps more to do with a particularly awesome dozen songs.”

Matador will shortly announce a Buy Early Get Now scheme for the album with some very interesting bonus material.

Sonic Youth are:
Steve Shelley
Lee Ranaldo
Kim Gordon
Thurston Moore
Mark Ibold

Track listing:

1. Sacred Trickster
2. Anti-Orgasm
3. Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)
4. Antenna
5. What We Know
6. Calming The Snake
7. Poison Arrow
8. Malibu Gas Station
9. Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
10. No Way
11. Walkin Blue
12. Massage The History

Sonic Youth performing "The Diamond Sea" at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia circa 1995:

Touch & Go Records Closes Distribution Arm, Lays Off Staff

Touch & Go never really gave much support to IRT. In fact, we haven't gotten a record serviced to us by them since 2006.

Nevertheless, they are still one of our favorite labels and have put out some of the best albums we have heard in the last 25 years, so with that this news of their imminent albeit temporary demise does, in fact, bring a bit of a tear to our little eye as we gaze at our vinyl copy of Shellac's Terraform in their memory.

Here's the news piece from Billboard.com:

February 18, 2009 ET
Cortney Harding, N.Y.
Revered Chicago indie label Touch & Go Records, which has been to such iconic bands as Slint, the Jesus Lizard and Big Black, will stop releasing new albums and operate going forward as a catalog label.

A source at the label confirms the closure and adds that all albums slated to come out through the spring will still be released.

The source also said the announcement came as a complete surprise to everyone on staff. "Last week we were talking about South by Southwest, and now this has happened," said the source.

The label will cut 20 staffers, who will work for another six weeks and then exit. The label will then operate with a "skeleton crew" through the end of the year. Their distribution company will fold; a source says all the labels that use the service have been notified.

"It was business as usual on Friday, then I called in to a meeting on Monday and was told about the layoffs," said another source at the label.


Corey Rusk formed Touch & Go in 1981 at age 17, while living with his grandmother near Toledo, Ohio. He operated it in the early '80s from Detroit, but has called Chicago home since 1986.

The label has since been home to some of the most important and influential bands in the punk, indie, hardcore and experimental worlds, including Don Caballero, Scratch Acid, Urge Overkill, Calexico, Blonde Redhead, Silkworm, Rachel's, Mekons, Girls Against Boys, Shellac, June Of 44, the Dirty Three and Seam.

In recent years, it released early albums from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV On The Radio before both bands jumped to Interscope.

"Throughout the 25 years there have always been challenges," Rusk told Billboard in 2006. "Ultimately our goal is still the same. Doing the best job for the bands we work with does not mean selling as many records as possible. It means we have to be representing each band in a manner that's acceptable to them. Everyone we work with is different, and every band is going to be OK with you doing different things. One of the reasons we've lasted so long is that we're very conscious of feeling like we work for the band. They don't work for us."

Touch & Go 25th Anniversary Documentary:

RIP

Louie Bellson

YEAH YEAH YEAHS RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM DUE OUT APRIL 14

Check out SPIN.com for an exclusive interview with Nick Zinner, Karen O and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as they talk about their promising new album, It's Blitz!, their first since 2006's Show Your Bones.

Recorded in various rural locations across America and produced by Dave Sitek and Nick Launay, the album promises to have a more disco feel than their previous outings, which is fine by us!

It's Blitz! tracklist:
1. "Zero" (4:25/ Eric Biondo - trumpet, Stuart Bogie - saxophone)
2. "Heads Will Roll" (3:41)
3. "Soft Shock" (3:53)
4. "Skeletons" (5:02)
5. "Dull Life" (4:08)
6. "Shame and Fortune" (3:31)
7. "Runaway" (5:13 / Jane Scarpantoni - cello, Greg Kurstin - piano)
8. "Dragon Queen" (4:02 / Tunde Adebimpe - vocals, Stuart Bogie - saxophone, Kyp Malone - tambourine)
9. "Hysteric" (3:50 / Eric Biondo - trumpet, Stuart Bogie - saxophone)
10. "Little Shadow" (3:57/ Imaad Wasif - guitar)

Sick album cover, by the way.

For more information, visit the band's website at www.yeahyeahyeahs.com

"Maps" Live at the MTV Movie Awards 2006:

COMPANY FLOW TO REISSUE FUNCRUSHER PLUS ON DEFINITIVE JUX MAY 5

At $60 for a new copy on Amazon, its about damn time!

Definitive Jux will be reissuing Company Flow's seminal 1997 full length debut, Funcrusher Plus. Out of print since 2006, this certified classic album has been remastered and will be available worldwide on May 5th, 2009 on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.

The digital release of Funcrusher Plus will include the rare pre-1995 tracks "Juvenile Techniques" and "Corners 94", as well as the last post-Funcrusher Plus songs "Simple", "DPA", and "Simian Drugs". It will be presented in its original artwork both by the late great Matt Do and the now legendary artist EWOK.

Already ahead of its time when originally released in 1997, Funcrusher Plus is widely recognized as one the most influential hip hop albums ever, shattering conventions with its musical complexity and uncompromising lyricism. Comprised of producer/MC El-P, MC Bigg Jus and DJ Mr. Len, Company Flow's music rejected the conventional hooks and jazz/funk samples favored at the time, opting instead for jagged, lo-fi and punishing sonics crowned with confrontational and highly literate word-play and rhyme patterns. The group's musical approach and legendary D-I-Y ethic went on to influence an entire genre for the past decade.

Originally appearing as a self-released vinyl-only EP in 1995, their music caught the attention of underground hip hop and alternative music scenes worldwide, eventually landing them a deal with then unknown NYC hip hop label Rawkus Records. The release of the full length on Rawkus signified a new era in hip hop, and soon after the likes of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and others followed suit. Company Flow's attitude and urgent approach gave birth to a movement that defined a new era within the hip hop world.

Beyond amassing legions of fans across the globe, few independent releases in recent memory have received the level of accolades and kudos from journalists, critics, and artists of all strata as this landmark album. Now a new generation of music fans will have a chance to hear what the fuss was all about.

"A straight razor to hip-pop's gilded visage." VILLAGE VOICE

"The defining document of '90s hip-hop dissent" VIBE MAGAZINE

"8 Steps To Perfection" Video

New Quentin Tarantino flick!!!!

Quentin Tarrantino does WW2

"And I want my scalps"

TV ON THE RADIO KILL ON SNL

Simply put, this was one of the finest performances on Saturday Night Live by a musical act in many a year.

Radiohead At The Grammy Awards

Well, The Grammys certainly figured out how to increase their ratings. Entice the geeks to tune in!

CRAMPS FRONTMAN, LUX INTERIOR, DIES OF HEART FAILURE AT AGE 62

For Immediate Release:
February 4, 2009

Lux Interior, lead singer of The Cramps, passed away this morning due to an existing heart condition at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California at 4:30 AM PST today. Lux has been an inspiration and influence to millions of artists and fans around the world. He and wife Poison Ivy’s contributions with The Cramps have had an immeasurable impact on modern music.

The Cramps emerged from the original New York punk scene of CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, with a singular sound and iconography. Their distinct take on rockabilly and surf along with their midnight movie imagery reminded us all just how exciting, dangerous, vital and sexy rock and roll should be and has spawned entire subcultures. Lux was a fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a place of passion, abandon, and true freedom. He is a rare icon who will be missed dearly.

The family requests that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.

He will be sorely missed.

Learn more about the Cramps on this amazing blog:

http://c-60lownoise.blogspot.com/2007/11/cramps-songs-lord-taught-us-1980.html


Cramps live at their legendary show at Napa State Mental Hospital:

BEASTIE BOYS REISSUE PAUL'S BOUTIQUE FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Straight from the Boys' camp:

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Paul's Boutique there will be a plethora of big things jumping off. In fact, there will be more things than George Whipple's got eyebrow hairs.

First off, there will be a Paul's Boutique web site. it's a special place that defies explanation. Click here to visit this sanctuary. It's a must see. There will be games, photos, virtual bags of candy, but most importantly we are hoping that you will log in and tell us a Paul's Boutique related story, post pictures of yourself from when you were into the record.....

As for the album itself: It's been re-mastered and reissued with the original art work, finally 20 years later done as it should have been in the first place. It will be available in a variety of formats: From crappy MP3 downloads, all the way up to an exclusive Roy Cormier sexy sexy type limited edition package.

Come check it out: http://paulsboutique.beastieboys.com

Sincerely,
Allen

PS. Tell Paul he can kiss my ass.

Video for "Shadrach":

Yes I'm a dork.. but I'm pretty excited for this.- Brad Filicky

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED - 50 YEARS LATER

Today is the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. The day the music died....

Find the Complete Buddy Holly here

Buddy Holly live in New York City 1958: