March 2008 Archives

The Black Crowes kicked off their "Warpaint" club shows last night at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. The eight-piece ensemble started the evening off by playing Warpaint straight through and unlike the last time I saw the Crowes, they seemed totally on fire. Dueling guitars, pounding drums and Chris' voice sounding better than ever.

The lead off track, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution," sounded just as hot as the single does. The jam-friendly "Walk Believer Walk" sounds flat on the album but came alive in a big way on stage. The ballad "Oh Josephine" gave way to a pretty inspired jam.

Towards the end of the first set, during the New Orleans meets "Shake Your Hips" sounding "God's Got It," drummer Steve Gorman made his way to the front of the stage to play some acoustic drums, as well as a supersized marching band bass drum, and made the already intimate show feel that much more special.

While the first set was just the new album played straight through, it was exciting and the crowd was way into it. The second set though, that's when the band lots their mojo. Starting off with a cover, then going into "Jealous Again" into "Wiser Time" into the same solo I've heard this band fail at a million times. Then into another two covers then it was over. A five song second set with three of the songs being covers. A bit of a rip.

One final note, the new guitarist, Luther, was really, really stellar..........

BLACK CROWES | STARLAND BALLROOM | 3-2-2008
Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution / Walk Believer Walk / Oh, Josephine / Evergreen / We Who See The Deep / Locust Street / Movin' On Down The Line / Wounded Bird / God's Got It / There's Gold In Them Hills / Whoa Mule // Poor Elijah (Clapton) // Jealous Again // Wiser Time // Rocking Chair (The Band) /// Hey Grandma (Moby Grape)

Win Butler, Will Butler, Regine Chassagne and Jeremy Gara of the Arcade Fire played a free rally for Barack Obama at Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio in support of Barack Obama..

At the show, they played a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"

The mini-version of Arcade Fire will also be playing a free show at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on Monday, March 3rd. Doors are at 7 p.m., and the show is 18 and over, first come first serve.

Tuesday is another big day with primaries in Texas (228 delegates), Ohio (161 delegates), Rhode Island (32 delegates) and Vermont (23 delegates)..............

Trent Reznor has embraced the digital revolution like almost no other major artist. The man has gone gaagaa for google!

Without warning, he's released a new Nine Inch Nails instrumental album, Ghosts I-IV, through his website. I actually thought his instrumentals on The Fragile and Year Zero were the album highlights. Anyway, there are multiple ways to get Ghosts I-IV, which range from free for a 9 track collection to a $300 signed 36-track 4XLP. Here's your options:

FREE DOWNLOAD Ghosts I - The first 9 tracks from the Ghosts I-IV collection available as DRM-free MP3s (320kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged) including complete 40 page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack - various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.

$5 DOWNLOAD
Ghosts I-IV - All 36 tracks in a variety of DRM-free digital formats (320 kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged; FLAC Lossless; Apple Lossless) including a 40 page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack - various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.

This version is also available from the Amazon MP3 store.

$10 2XCD SET
Ghosts I-IV - 2 audio CDs in a gatefold digipak package with a 16-page booklet. To be shipped TBD. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in same choice of formats as $5 Download option. Download will include the 40 page PDF and the digital extras pack - various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.

This configuration will be released to retail April 5 in Australia and Japan, and April 8 in North America, the UK and most European territories.

$75 LIMITED EDITION DELUXE PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV - Hardcover book holding 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD of all 36 tracks in multi-track format (in .wav files readable by Mac and Windows), and Blu-ray disc featuring stereo recordings in high-definition 24 bit 96Khz with exclusive slide show. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in all formats and with all extras mentioned above. Also includes 48-page hardcover of photographs by Phillip Graybill and Rob Sheridan. Discs and art book both housed in fabric slipcover.

$300 ULTRA-DELUXE LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV - Contains all elements from deluxe package, along with exclusive 4XLP 180-gram vinyl set, and two limited edition Giclee prints available exclusively in this package. Disc book, art book, and prints are all housed in a fabric slipcover. 4XLP vinyl set comes in its own fabric slipcover. INCLUDES immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in all formats and with all extras mentioned above. LIMITED TO 2500 PIECES, NUMBERED AND PERSONALLY SIGNED BY TRENT REZNOR.

A $39 4X vinyl version will be available at retail April 8.

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree is running as the Labour candidate for a seat in Parliament.

Rowntree is of the chair of London's West End branch of the Labour party. He has been selected by the Cities of London and Westminster Constituency Labour Party to stand against Conservative MP Mark Field at the next general election.

So, does this mean that Blur is officially finished?

John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, is a music blogger?!

Yep, the graudate of the liberal Columbia University is blogging over at McCainBlogette, with their tag line "Musings and Pop Culture on the Campaign Trail" Here's her most recent post:

Yes, the playlists continue! Starting out with one of my favorite bands, The Fratellis, singing one of my most favorite songs, "Chelsea Dagger". The Beta Band's "Brokenupadingdong" is a song I have recently been playing on long bus rides between events. Starlight Mint's "Inside of Me" is a song suggested by a friend of mine and I have had it as the first song on my wake-up playlist for the past week and a half. We wrap things up with Rise Against's "Swing Life Away". The lead singer's voice reminds me of Dashboard Confessional. I want to dedicate this song to a close friend of mine in whose wedding I'm going to be maid of honor next month. I love you guys so much. This song reminds me of how beautiful you are together. Congrats!

I bet she wanted to go to the Obama rally with Arcade Fire...maybe she did! Ha.......

I love this trend............

WE ARE MAKING THIS RECORD AVAILABLE AS A 100% FREE DOWNLOAD ALL WEEK. The .zip is going to be de-activated Saturday night, 3/8 at midnight. Please feel free to take this information to the public!

The Octagon dropped their remarkable 2nd album Nothing But Change (SBR14) last year. They toured and toured. We yelled and screamed on their behalf. Take this opportunity to download the record for free, and tell your friends to follow suit. You'll get an unsung nuevo indie-rock classic in your ear-holes. You'll hear 17 hook-laden songs propelled by a raw, scrappy band that plays expertly on the edge. There's infinite nuance and detail in every performance, all captured live in the studio by Jerry Kee (Spuerchunk).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE .ZIP ! -
http://seriousbusinessrecords.com/releases/show/27-Nothing-But-Change

Noah & the Whale are one of the best new bands in America. They're awesome and they need to soundtrack Wes Anderson's next film. They are making their U.S. debut with four shows at SXSW. Do not miss them. You will be very sorry.....

NOAH & THE WHALE SXSW TOUR DATES
Mar 13 8:00P SXSW - Famingo Cantina@Team Claremont Party Austin, Texas
Mar 13 8:30P SXSW- Clash Magazine Party@Friends Austin, Texas
Mar 14 5:00P SXSW- SX San Jose Event@San Jose Hotel Austin, Texas
Mar 15 12:45A SXSW- Press Here Party Austin, Texas

Laura Marling, another one of our absolute favorite new artists, will be playing three shows at this years SXSW. She then heads to Los Angeles' Hotel Cafe.

Here debut album, Alas I cannot Swim, is an early favorite for our #1 album of the year..........

LAURA MARLING TOUR DATES
Mar 14 9:00P SXSW - Ninety Proof Lounge Austin, Texas
Mar 15 5:00P *Check times* SXSW - Bootleg BBQ Austin, Texas
Mar 15 6:00P *Check times* SXSW - Press Here Party Austin, Texas
Mar 17 8:00P Hotel Cafe LA, California

The Peter Bogdanovich directed documentary Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will be shown in theaters across the country for one-night only. That night is tonight, March 3rd.

The film will be playing at the Park Slope Pavilion and the Lower East Side's Landmark Sunshine Cinema.

The Last Shadow Puppets are new band from Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of The Rascals.

They'll play a show tonight, March 4th, at Sound Fix Records in Williamsburg. The doors open at 9:45pm and the band will play at 10pm. First come, first served. All ages, no tickets, no guest list.

The Last Shadow Puppets will release The Age Of The Understatement on Tuesday May 6th, 2008.

What are the odds that Alex turns up tomorrow to perform with Lightspeed Champion at the Mercury Lounge? Hmmm.........

This was just announced.........

Nu Music presents "Family Matters" with...

Akron/Family & Megafaun

Thursday, March 6th
Doors @ 8:30
All ages, open to the public

NYU's E&L Auditorium (60 Washington Sq. S.)

$4 NYU, $5 non-NYU
Must buy tickets at ticket central: 212 998 4941

AKRON/FAMILY TOUR DATES
Mar 4 2008 8:00P Wesleyan College Middletown, Connecticut
Mar 5 2008 8:00P Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey
Mar 6 2008 8:00P NYU Kimmel Center - E&L Auditorium New York, New York
Mar 7 2008 8:00P Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 8 2008 8:00P Terrace Club at Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
Mar 9 2008 8:00P Jammin Java Vienna, Virginia
Mar 13 2008 2:00P Flamingo Cantina (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 14 2008 12:00A Emo’s Inside Room (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 14 2008 2:00P Design Within Reach (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Apr 20 2008 8:00P Bunkhouse Saloon Las Vegas, Nevada
Apr 26 2008 8:00P Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Indio, California
Apr 29 2008 8:00P Crepe Place Santa Cruz, California
Apr 30 2008 8:00P Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, California
May 1 2008 8:00P Cellar Door Visalia, California
May 16 2008 8:00P 4th Annual Nelsonville Art and Music Festival Nelsonville, Ohio
Jun 21 2008 8:00P Popped Festival Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 24 2008 8:00P Castle Clinton at Battery Park New York, New York

The world is at war.

Columbia vs Venezuela vs Ecaudor

Turkey vs Kurds in Iraq

Kosovo vs Serbia (& Russia?)

Israel vs Palestine

Lebanon vs Israel

America vs Iraq

Afghanistan vs Taliban vs America vs NATO

North Korea vs South Korea & America

Pakistan vs Itself

Sri Lankan vs Militants

Africa vs Itself

And sadly, I could go on........

We've got two sets of tickets to give away to Daft Punk cover dj crew Faux Punk's show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, March 7th. They'll be on the bill with Low B of Hollertronix, Afrobots and others. Email productshopnyc@gmail.com with the subject "FAUX PUNK" to enter.

You can buy tickets here............

"A Change Is Gonna Come"

"Heroes"

Music critic Michael Azerrad reviewed by Dan Kennedy's ROCK ON in last weekend's New York Times Book Review. Here's a sample of the rave review

The music industry’s decline has been swift, merciless and bloody; perhaps it’s best to broach such a dire story by laughing. A memoir of Dan Kennedy’s 18-month stint in the music business, “Rock On” is a succession of gently mordant vignettes, with hilariously spot-on asides about media image-making, music-biz hierarchies and sensitive singer-songwriters. It’s also a coming-of-age story.

Kennedy, a contributor to McSweeney’s....attends a meeting about Jewel’s song “Intuition,” which she has licensed to a line of women’s razors, also called Intuition. “Anyone in the room who knows the irony of a song about not selling out being used to sell razors,” Kennedy writes, “displays a perfect professional poker face. I, on the other hand, am most likely doing the thing where I stifle disbelief and then start getting paranoid that I totally don’t understand what’s going on and that it’s showing on my face, and then I get paranoid that you can get cancer this way.”

Kennedy doesn’t expound on the music industry’s decline; instead, he simply lays out reams of damning evidence. The time frame is circa 2003, when illegal file sharing was starting to dent the bottom line; fatally, the industry played down the Internet. As he notes, “anyone above middle management has to yell to their assistants for help with something as technical as, say, an e-mail attachment.”

Or maybe the industry has lost touch with its product. Rock ’n’ roll is “sadly missing in this newly merged, trimmed, refinanced, restructured, freshly scrubbed, wide-eyed, suited and tied record company.” In a bravura passage, Kennedy finds real rock at a concert featuring Iggy Pop, who climbs a wall and harasses the flabby grandees in the V.I.P. section. By contrast, in one of the many McSweeney’s-esque lists that punctuate the book, “Rock On” offers choreography advice to singers in aspiring bands: “Moves should be odd combination of sexual advances and a temper tantrum, punctuated with moments of apparent hypoglycemia.”

Eventually, investors buy Atlantic’s parent company, the Warner Music Group, and lay off hundreds of employees, including Kennedy. About a year later, he spots his childhood hero, the once flamboyant Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, in conservative suit and tie, leaving the New York Stock Exchange after attending Warner Music’s public sell-off. Neither Kennedy nor the music business will ever be the same.

Buy ROCK ON here........

MySpace Secret Shows is very pleased to present:

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS!
March 4, 2008
Doors @ 8:30 PM
@ Satyricon
125 NW 6th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209

Info on how to into the show after the jump.......

Senator Hillary Clinton won big last night. She took Texas, Rhode Island and, most importantly, Ohio. This means the Democratic primary race will almost definitely go until the Pennsylvania primary on April 22nd. Ugh. I am so sick of this.

Meanwhile, McCain has officially gotten enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination. Today, McCain will be at the White House to be endorsed by his best friend President Bush. McCain also now gets access to the voter registration list and can start his national campaign months in advance...........

If the setlist is any indication, it looks like folks got their $75+ worth......

BEASTIE BOYS | TERMINAL 5 | MARCH 4, 2008
Mmm / Root Down / Flute Loop / Sure Shot / Shake Your Rump / Time For Living / Remote Control / Ricky's Theme / B For My Name / Egg Raid / Triple Trouble / Pass The Mic / Body Movin / Rhyming + Stealin / Off The Grid / Tough Guy / Lighten Up / Mark on the Bus / Sabrosa / Super Disco Breakin / 3 MC's and One DJ / Ch-Check It Out / So Watcha Want // Intergalactic // Heart Attack // Sabatoge

A presale is going on right now for the Wu-Tang Clan at The Fillmore NY. Tickets are $55 and I'm going to take a wild guess that this is going to sell out immediately. General sale is tomorrow at 10am........

Cyndi Lauper has put together a pretty spectacular line-up for the second annual True Colors Tour. The rotating line-up will feature Cyndi, The B-52's, Tegan And Sara, Wanda Sykes, Regina Spektor, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Joan Armatrading, Indigo Girls, Nona Hendryx and Deborah Cox & The Cliks.

The New York shows will feature Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks, with Host Carson Kressley.

Tickets to all shows go on sale March 15th, with a presale on March 10th....

TRUE COLORS TOUR DATES
5.31 - Boston MA US BOA Pavilion
6.1 - Wantagh NY US Nikon @ Jones Beach
6.3 - New York NY US Radio City
6.4 - Toronto ON CA Molson Amphitheatre
6.6 - Mashantucket CT US Foxwoods Casino
6.7 - Washington DC US DAR
6.9 - Minneapolis MN US US Bank Theater
6.10 - Chicago IL US Chicago Theatre
6.11 - Clarkston MI US DTE Energy Theatre
6.13 - Atlantic City NJ US Borgata
6.14 - Bethel NY US Bethel Woods Center
6.16 - Atlanta GA US Chastain Park Amphitheatre
6.17 - Atlanta GA US Chastain Park Amphitheatre
6.18 - Clearwater FL US Ruth Eckerd Hall
6.19 - Fort Lauderdale FL US Sinatra Theatre
6.21 - Houston TX US CWM Pavillion
6.22 - Dallas TX US Superpages.com Center
6.25 - Phoenix AZ US Dodge Theatre
6.27 - Alpine CA US Viejas Casino
6.28 - Los Angeles CA US Greek Theatre
6.29 - Berkeley CA US Greek Theatre
7.1 - Seattle CA US WaMu Theater
7.2 - Vancouver BC CA Deer Lake Park
7.4 - Salt Lake City UT US USANA Amphitheatre
7.5 - Morrison CO US Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Shoegazer legends Swervedriver have announced their first couple of reunion tour dates.

Tickets for the New York City shows go on sale this Friday at noon.......

SWERVEDRIVER TOUR DATES
Sat 05/31/08 Los Angeles, CA Music Box @ Fonda
Wed 06/11/08 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Thu 06/12/08 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg

Camping, single day and multi-day tickets for Sasquatch go on sale today. This is looking like the festival of the year to me.........

Saturday, May 24th
R.E.M. / Modest Mouse / M.I.A. / The New Pornographers / The National / Ozomatli / Beirut / Dengue Fever / Fleet Foxes / The Breeders / Okkervil River / Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator) / Destroyer / The Little Ones / Dead Confederate / Grand Archives / David Bazan / Joshua Morrison / Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio / Throw Me The Statue / The Shaky Hands

Sunday, May 25th
The Cure / Death Cab For Cutie / Michael Franti & Spearhead / Blue Scholars / Cold War Kids / Tegan & Sara / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / The Kooks / Mates of State / Rogue Wave / White Rabbits / The Heavenly States / 65daysofstatic / Sera Cahoone / The Blakes / The Cops / J. Tillman / "Awesome"

Monday, May 26th
The Flaming Lips U.F.O. Show / The Mars Volta / Flight Of The Conchords / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Built To Spill / The Hives / Matt Costa / Ghostland Observatory / Jamie Lidell / Battles / The Cave Singers / Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down / Pela / Kinski / Dyme Def / Say Hi / Siberian

The initial V Festival - not to be confused with Baltimore's Virgin Festival - line-up has been announced......

WESTON PARK SUN AUG 17 / HYLANDS PARK SAT AUG 16
V STAGE - Muse / Stereophonics / The Kooks / Maximo Park / Alanis Morrissette / The Futureheads
CHANNEL 4 STAGE - The Prodigy / The Pigeon Detectives / Newton Faulkner / The Hoosiers / DUffy ? Amy MacDonald / Shed Seven
JJB ARENA - Ian Brown / The Pogues / Jamie T / The Twang / Sugababes / David Jordan

WESTON PARK SAT AUG 16 / HYLANDS PARK SUN AUG 17
V STAGE - The Verve / Kings of Leon / Amy Winehouse / Lenny Kravitz / The Feeling / Girls Aloud / Squeeze / One Republic
CHANNEL 4 STAGE - Kaiser Chiefs / The Zutons / THe View / Reverend & The Makers / Cousting For Girls / The Courteeners
JJB ARENA - Chemical Brothers / The Charlatans / Hot Chip / Travis / Robyn

This reads like copy from an Onion article......

Rihanna has banned fans from bringing umbrellas to her gigs in a move based on security fears.

Security guard Andy McDonald told the newspaper: “We don’t normally ask people to leave an umbrella outside. But we were taking precautions over a potential accident.

“We were told that Rihanna’s song features dancing with umbrellas on stage. We didn’t want the crowd following her actions and someone getting their eye poked out.”

President Bush even gave a little "Fuck you" to John McCain while endorsing him. How many stupid things can come out of the President's mouth? Seriously, shame on McCain for even accepting his endorsement.

Oh, and oil closed at $104.52 a barrel. Both Bush and McCain continue to favor major tax cuts to U.S. oil companies........

This year's SXSW keynote speaker is Lou Reed. There will be a screening of Julian Schnabel's documentary of Lou Reed's Berlin in Austin on Wednesday, March 12 at 4pm at the Paramount Theatre. There will be an after-party following the screening, featuring The Ravonettes, The Black Angels and more.

In addition to SXSW, Lou Reed will once again be taking Berlin on thr road with a 30-piece ensemble, including his regular touring band, a string and horn section and a children's choir..........

LOU REED'S BERLIN TOUR DATES
Cork Marquee (June 23)
Belfast Waterfront (24)
Edinburgh Playhouse (25)
Nottingham Royal Centre (26)
Paris Salle Pleyel (28)
London Royal Albert Hall (30)
Munich Philharmonie (July 3)
Hamburg CCH - Congress Centrum (6)
Copenhagen Opera House (7)
Stockholm Annexet (9)
Tallin Saku Arena (Estonia) (11)
Latvia Riga Arena (12)
Warsaw Towar (14)
Brussels Bozar (16)
Lisbon Campo Pequeno (19)
Loule Moinumento Dujarte Pacheco (20)
Malaga Terral Festival (21)
Madrid Conde Duque (22)
Girona Portaferrada Festival (25)
Benidorm Bullring (26)

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan are set to release Sunday At Devil Dirt, their follow-up to their beautiful 2006 debut collaboration, Ballad of the Broken Sea.

While Mark is currently on tour with The Gutter Twins, who just released their debut album, he will take some time off this summer to tour with Isobel. You may recall that Mark didn't tour with Isobel to support The Ballad of Broken Sea and The Vaseline's Eugene Kelly took his place. So far, only UK dates have been announced, but I'm crossing my fingers for U.S. dates......

ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN TOUR DATES
London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire (June 10)
Brighton, St Georges Church (11)
Manchester, Academy (12)
Glasgow, ABC (13)

Lollapalooza sent out a newsletter that hinted that super-cheap three-day passes to this summer's shindig will be made available this weekend:
.

Keep your eyes on the website throughout the week. At some point before the week’s end, we’ll post a link with your chance to grab a $60 three day passes. Quantities are limited, so keep mining the site and maybe you’ll strike it rich.

Lollapalooza is scheduled for its fourth year Aug. 1-3 in Chicago's Grant Park. No other artist or ticket information has yet been announced..........

The show sold out in five minutes, but more tickets just went on sale for tonight's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at Nassau Coliseum.........

The RIAA has sued over 20,000 music fans to “protect artists’ copyrights“, but the money still isn’t being shared with the artists. A large number of artist managers claim that their clients have seen little to none of that money, and are now considering legal action.

“Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for,” said lawyer John Branca, who has represented Korn, Don Henley, and The Rolling Stones, among others. “Some of them are even talking about filing lawsuits if they don’t get paid soon.“

Obama won another state this Saturday. So much for Clinton's momentum....

The Pavement reunion rumors continue to swirl.

The band have pencilled in the forthcoming Matador Records party, due to be held in 2009 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the record label's conception, as a possible date for their live return.

How quickly New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has fallen:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, a first term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform an end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

UPDATE: Spitzer just gave a quick press conference where he didn't resign. Seriously, what a hypocrit douchebag! This failed Democratic Governor regarded himself as a moral ethicist, who made his name as New York's Attorney General and spoke of his revulsion to prostitution. WTF! How is it possible to be a worse Governor for New York State than George Pataki! Somehow, Spitzer managed to do it...........

UPDATE #2: Spitzer is one of Hillary's superdelegates.....

McSweeney’s contributor Dan Kennedy will be at the Apple Store in soho tonight, March 11th, at 6:30pm to talk about his new book, Rock On: An Office Power Ballad, a memoir of working at a record company.

The book is brilliant and he was excellent on NPR's Soundcheck yesterday. Have a listen........

Friday 3/14, 7pm
The After the Jump Backyard @ 1204 Salina St. - East Side
Free and open to the public + Free beer and bbq!
7 Laura Palmer
745 Senryu
830 The Physics of Meaning
915 Salt and Samovar
10 Oliver Future
1045 These United States
1130 The Lisps

Saturday 3/15, High Noon
ATJ/Indie Outlaw/Paper Garden Day Party @ Lucky Lounge 209 W 5th St,
Free and open to the public, Open bar + bbq!
1215 Peasant
100 The Pendletons
145 Darla Farmer
230 The Answering Machine
330 LoveLikeFire
415 Morning State
5 Cloud Cult

Saturday 3/15, 2pm
The After the Jump Backyard @ 1204 Salina St. - East Side
Free and open to the public + Free beer and bbq!
215 Bell
3 Laura Gibson
4 Luke Temple
5 The Lisps
6 White Ghost Shivers
7 Jukebox the Ghost

Saturday 3/15, 7:30pm
ATJ Official SXSW Evening Showcase at Lambert's BBQ
401 W 2nd St - badges and limited tickets @ door
8 The Teenage Prayers
9 Care Bears On Fire
10 Neimo
11 Tigercity
12 Cassettes Won't Listen
1 Project Jenny, Project Jan

Find out more about us and our causes at www.afterthejumpfest.com and stay tuned for some big announcements in 2008!

Here who will take over as the Governor of New York state when Eliot Spitzer resigns.......

David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and the current Lieutenant Governor of New York. He is the first African American and the first legally blind person to hold this position. He was selected as running mate by New York Attorney General and Democratic Party nominee Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election. With current news reports indicating that Governor Spitzer may resign as soon as the evening of March 11, 2008, Paterson could become the first African-American Governor of New York and the first legally blind governor in the nation.

Vanity Fair cover gals Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Sarah Silverman will be participating in the second biannual "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Jon Stewart will host the second biannual "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" on April 13 at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show will air live on Comedy Central (8 p.m. EST).

The night will feature standup routines, sketches and short films from a gluttony of comic talent, including Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler.

It's the second such benefit and was organized in part due to Robert Smigel, whose son, Daniel, is autistic. Smigel's most famous character, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, will also be attendance.

The night will raise money for schools and education programs for autistic children and adults. A portion of the proceeds will also go to the advocacy group Autism Speaks. The first "Night of Too Many Stars," held in October 2006, raised more than $2.6 million.

Also appearing will be Matthew Broderick, Jonah Hill, Kevin James, Rosie O'Donnell and Susie Essman.

Tickets are now onsale. The benefit tickets run $104 to $504.....

The 2008 Pitchfork Festival will take over Chicago's Union Park on Friday, July 18, Saturday, July 19, and Sunday, July 20. Here's how the line-up looks:

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back
Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
+ more, to be announced

Saturday, July 19:
Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes
+ many more!

Sunday, July 20:
Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho
+ many more!

Tickets for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival go on sale this Wednesday, March 12 at 12 p.m. CDT. Three-day passes are $65, two-day passes for Saturday and Sunday are $50, and individual day passes cost $30........

Senator Barack Obama has won the Mississippi Democratic primary. Taking the delegates from this win and Wyoming, Obama has completely erased any gains Senator Hillary Clinton made in Ohio.

Three things that can't be helping Clinton this week:

1. Paid advisor and former Vice President nominee-and a usual class act-Geraldine Ferraro saying that "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Way to play the race card. So sad and disgusting. The Clinton camp has opted to support Ferraro and not remove her from their campaign.

2. Casey Knowles, the girl in Hillary's 3am Fear Ad, is not only an Obama supporter, but also a delegate. Ha. The video of Casey on Good Morning America is above.

3. Just days after Obama's camp fires Pulitzer Prize-winning Samantha Powers for calling Hillary a "Monster," the Clinton camp goes and compares Obama to Kenn Starr?!? Really?? You really want to go there?

Anyway, this race has gotten way to nasty and needs to end asap. I don't care if Hillary or Obama is the nominee at this point, they just need to stop these attacks on each other...........

How are people like Steve King elected to office? Sheesh.

Almost forgot, Steve has been campaigning with and for John McCain.........

See President Bush entertain the wimpy press corps with a little dance as he waits for John McCain to arrive at the White House for his endorsement.

See Presidet Bush entertain the wimpy press corps with a little song that jokes about outing a CIA agent, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War. Three hysterical topics.

Maybe if the press spent a little more time grilling the President, rather than buddying up to him, we wouldn't be in such a sad state of affairs..........

Are you at SXSW? Here are the eight bands I wouldn't miss if I were you. In the comments, feel free to recommend other bands.

All dates listed below are for Austin, Texas............

DOWNLOAD: The Mae Shi - "Power Politics"
DOWNLOAD: Bearsuit - "Steven Fucking Speilberg"
DOWNLOAD: Laura Marling - "Ghosts"
DOWNLOAD: Noah & The Whale - "Rocks & Daggers"
DOWNLOAD: Alina Simone - "Half of my Kingdom"
DOWNLOAD: Sissy Wish - "Float"
DOWNLOAD: Lightspeed Champion "Dry Lips"
DOWNLOAD: Los Campesinos! - "You! Me! Dancing!"

BEARSUIT
Mar 13 12:00P Brush Sq BBQ w/Scouting For Girls & The Rascalls
Mar 13 8:00P SXSW Chain Drive w/VEG CLUB, No Age, Mika Miko
Mar 13 11:00P SXSW West’s Art Gallery
Mar 14 5:30P SXSW Piaptk records & HHBTM records party
Mar 14 10:00P SXSW Thirsty Nickel w/Scissors For Lefty
Mar 15 12:30P SXSW KVRX Radio Stage
Mar 15 3:00P SXSW - Waterloo Cycles
Mar 16 6:30P Art Outside @ The ENCHANTED FOREST

NOAH & THE WHALE
Mar 13 8:00P SXSW - Famingo Cantina@Team Claremont & Under the Radar Party
Mar 13 8:30P SXSW- Clash Magazine Party@Friends
Mar 14 5:00P SXSW- SX San Jose Event@San Jose Hotel
Mar 15 12:45A SXSW- Press Here Party

LAURA MARLING
Mar 14 9:00P SXSW - Ninety Proof Lounge Austin, Texas
Mar 15 1:30P SXSW - Press Here Party Austin, Texas
Mar 15 3:30P SXSW - Bootleg BBQ Austin, Texas

ALINA SIMONE
Mar 12 10:00P SXSW 2008 Official Showcase: Hilton 18th floor Austin, Texas
Mar 14 4:00P Topple Records Party @ Vortex Theater Austin, Texas

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION
Mar 12 12:00P SXSW: Antone’s (DOMINO RECORDS SHOWCASE)
Mar 12 3:30P SXSW: Good Magazine Party, Hotel San Jose Austin, Texas
Mar 13 2:00P SXSW: Urban Outfitters Instore
Mar 14 11:45A SXSW: Paste Party at Volume Night Club
Mar 14 3:45P SXSW: Filter Party @ Cedar Street Courtyard
Mar 15 2:15P SXSW: Press Here Publicity Party
Mar 15 3:45P SXSW: Q Magazine Party at The Driscoll

LOS CAMPESINOS!
Mar 13 4:00P Canvas Party (Emo Jr) SXSW
Mar 14 1:30P Filter Party (Cedar St Courtyard) SXSW
Mar 15 11:00P Arts&Crafts Showcase (Parish) SXSW

SISSY WISH
Mar 13 3:00P SXSW, Chain Drive
Mar 13 5:00P SXSW, The Wave (Downstairs)
Mar 15 TBAP SXSW, TBA

THE MAE SHI
Mar 11 7:00P whitis house
Mar 12 1:15P the fader/levis fort
Mar 12 3:30P EMOs [Terrorbird Party]
Mar 12 5:30P The Parlor
Mar 12 9:00P solar stage
Mar 12 11:00P the mohawk (cakeshop showcase)
Mar 13 11:30A emo’s lounge (brooklynveganparty)
Mar 13 2:15P lucky lounge (LA independant media/spaceland)
Mar 13 8:00P ms. bea’s (todd p patio party)
Mar 13 10:00P The Whiskey
Mar 13 11:45P Children’s Museum (kvrx after PARTY)
Mar 14 1:00P the opera house (smell party)
Mar 14 4:30P Victory Grill (Vice Party)
Mar 14 7:00P spiderhouse
Mar 14 11:45P Flamingo Cantina (Panache Showcase)
Mar 15 2:00P Wests Wine Art Music (Higher PR showcase)
Mar 15 5:00P Tfssinbhe Penales Lohus in the cou@$&ard
Mar 16 8:00P beerland (panache party)

Beth Orton has scheduled two intimate solo acoustic shows in New York City. Tickets are now on sale for her at the Hiro Ballroom on March 30th and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 31st.

She also will play the El Ray Theatre in Los Angeles on March 28th and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on March 24th. Those tickets go on sale Sunday at 10am.......

The 2008 Coachella Music & Arts Festival have announced the addition of Aphex Twin, Goldfrapp, Kate Nash, Serj Tankian, Redd Kross and Adele.

Good additions, especially the score of snatching a rare U.S. liver performace from Richard "Aphex Twin" James!

Also, tickets just went on sale for Goldfrapp at New York's Beacon Theater on April 29th. (Thanks Tovar)............

"If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."
- Geraldine Ferraro, April 15, 1988, Washington Post

It looks like the race-baiting comments made by Clinton advisor Geraldine Ferraro about Obama are quite similiar to comments she made about Jesse Jackson during his 1988 failed Presidential bid (Great find from Politico.com). So, so pathetic. The Clinton camp really needs to axe her......

The Chicago Sun-Times' Jim DeRogatis is saying that Lollapalooza will feature Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine and Wilco!

Other acts that are strongly rumored for Lollapalooza include Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Coldplay, Flogging Molly, Stone Temple Pilots, Black Lips, Bloc Party and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.

Festival of the summer?

The limited quantity souvenir tickets sold out immediately. A very limited quantity of early-bird tickets, priced at $60, will go on sale March 25th...........

It was an embarassing week for Democrats that will end with the resignation of Eliot Spitzer as the Governor of New York State and Geraldine Ferraro resigning from Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign staff.

Good riddance to them both.

Seriously, only a racist would think Obama is where he is because of his skin color and not the power of his words. Ferraro has real fucking issues. Sick woman.

And as for Spitzer, who the fuck pays $5,000 for sex?!? Seriously. At least Larry Craig was frugal and was hitting on dudes in an airport bathroom. He's a fucking hypocrit and should get thrown in jail the same way that he threw other folks in jail for prosititution.........

DOWNLOAD: Ashley Dupre - "What We Want"
via minneapolisfuckingrocks

R.E.M. has kicked off their Accelerate tour with headlining shows at the Langerado Festival and SXSW. Similiar setlists, with the SXSW set focusing lots more on the new album.

You can listen to R.E.M.'s entire SXSW set on NPR.org's website. Or you can download mp3's of the entire show here.

And to see who Michael Stipe endorsed at Langerado, check out the photo after the jump........

REM @SXSW | STUBBS | MARCH 12, 2008
Living Well is the Best Revenge / Man Sized Wreath / Second Guessing / Drive / Hollow Man / Animal / Auctioneer / Mr. Richards / Fall On Me / Great Beyond / Houston / Electrolite / Accelerate / Until the Day is Done / Final Straw / Bad Day / Horse to Water / Walk Unafraid // Supernatural Superserious // Imitation of Life // I'm Gonna DJ // Man on the Moon

REM @ LANGERADO FESTIVAL | FLORIDA | MARCH 8, 2008
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? / Living Well is the Best Revenge / Bad Day / Drive / Hollow Man / So. Central Rain / Fall on Me / Imitation of Life / Man-Sized Wreath / Begin the Begin / Orange Crush / Accelerate / Electrolite / Houston / Losing My Religion / Horse to Water / Walk Unafraid / The One I Love // Supernatural Superserious // Auctioneer (Another Engine) // I'm Gonna DJ // Man on the Moon

While Radiohead refused to release information on how In Rainbows sold, Nine Inch Nails have released the first week sales of their internet only instrumental album, Ghosts I-IV:

Nine Inch Nails' 36-track instrumental opus Ghosts I-IV, released March 2 via NIN.com, has amassed a first week total of 781,917 transactions (including free and paid downloads as well as orders for physical product), resulting in a take of $1,619,420 USD.

As previously reported, the $300 Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition of Ghosts I-IV immediately sold out its run of 2500. The $5 Download, $10 2XCD set and $75 Limited Edition Deluxe versions are still available at NIN.com.

I wonder how much of that $1.7 will end up being profit. It's really an amazing achievement that Trent has pulled off.........

The Pemberton Festival is the latest music festival to come to North America. This one will happen in Pemberton, B.C. from July 25th to 27th.........

Pemberton Festival | Pemberton, B.C | July 25-27
Coldplay * Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers * Nine Inch Nails * Jay-Z * Flaming Lips * Interpol * Death Cab For Cutie * The Tragically Hip * Serj Tankian * My Morning Jacket * Metric * Sam Roberts Band * Vampire Weekend * Black Mountain * Minus The Bear * Wintersleep * Buck 65 * Secret Machines * MGMT * Brazillian Girls * SIA * Fiery Furnaces * Mates of State * The Airborne Toxic Event * Carolina Liar * Grand Ole Party * Monte Negro * Low Vs Diamond * Annie Stela * The Crystal Method * DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist * Junkie XL * David Seaman * Booka Shade * MSTRKRFT * M.A.N.D.Y. * Tommie Sunshine * Chromeo * Deadmau5 * 3 OH! 3 * Kevin Shiu * Timeline * Tony Pantages

First the fucked up new.......

Karen Lee Cooper told arresting police she was sick and tired of Kevin Lee Watson telling her what to do during their two years of living together.

``I couldn't even play Bruce Springsteen on my stereo...can you believe that, can you believe that?`` Cooper told police.

She repeated her claims in a formal police interview when she said: ``I mean who doesn't like Bruce Springsteen? I am 49 years old and I want to play my own music.``

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane today, Cooper, 50, was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to Watson's manslaughter on July 8, 2006.

In related news, Springsteen was amazing at Nassau Coliseum. At the show, we had general admission tickets and we happen to be standing right by this dad who took his two young sons to the show. The younger of the two, who was probably 12, seemed to be enjoying himself, but the 15 year-old looked absolutely miserable. The old brother was a total alterna-teen. The long hair, the glasses, the hoodie. He didn't smile once. Never clapped. And starred at the floor for most of the show.

The sad thing is I know that kid, not literally, but I was him. I get it. When I was fifteen I thought Bruce Springsteen sucked. Fuck Born in the USA! But then I discovered Nebraska, then Asbury Park, then Darkness, and so on. And I'll put money that in fifteen years that kid will be bragging to his friends how he saw Bruce back in 2008 and it was awesome cause it was..........

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN | NASSAU COLISEUM | MARCH 10, 2008
Night / Radio Nowhere / Lonesome Day / Adam Raised a Cain / Gypsy Biker / Magic / Reason to Believe / Because the Night / She's the One / Livin' in the Future / The Promised Land / Waitin' on a Sunny Day / Incident on 57th Street / Devil's Arcade / The Rising / Last to Die / Long Walk Home / Badlands // Girls in Their Summer Clothes // Jungleland // Born to Run // Ramrod // Dancing in the Dark // American Land

Disgraced Former Attorney General John Ashcroft was handed a no-bid contract worth as much as $52 million.

The contract was given to the consulting firm Ashcroft started after he left his AG post by U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie of New Jersey, a Republican who once worked for him in the AG offices.The job, worth $52 million, is to simply oversee compliance by a corporation that was under threat of being prosecuted unless it changed the way it did business.

"There is not a conflict," Ashcroft said. "There is not an appearance of conflict."

These kind of government sweetheart deals are why America's government is falling apart.......

In the last week, Senator John McCain has accepted the endorsement of two religious fanatics: televangelist John Hagee, who has a long history of anti-Catholic statements, and Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, an influential televangelist and political figure who campaigned alongside him in the run up to the Ohio primary

Rod Parsley, who McCain considers his spiritual advisor, is on record as saying, "The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed." Hmmm. That actually does sound like McCain who wants to continue war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and, eventually, IRan.

For Obama's part, he has rejected endorsements from religious kooks like Louis Farrakhan......

President Bush isn't hearing what he wants from his military. How long until Petraeus is fired?!

With a Senate appearance looming to explain the success of President Bush's surge in Iraq, Gen. David Petreaus has offered his starkest commentary yet on the state of Iraq reconciliation, reports the Washington Post:

Petraeus, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services.

The general's comments appeared to be his sternest to date on Iraqis' failure to achieve political reconciliation. In February, following the passage of laws on the budget, provincial elections and an amnesty for certain detainees, Petraeus was more encouraging. "The passage of the three laws today showed that the Iraqi leaders are now taking advantage of the opportunity that coalition and Iraqi troopers fought so hard to provide," he said at the time.

You may recall that U.S. Central Command in the Middle East Admiral William Fallon was forced to "retire" after he told Esquire magazine that he opposed a war with Iran. And you know how President Bush feels about anyone who disagrees with him..

And March 18th is the 5th anniversary of American's invasion of Iraq........

During Jarvis Cocker's trip to South America last week, he debuted a new song. Here's a taste:

"Girls Like It Too"

The Kids in the Hall are heading out on their first North American tour since 2002's Tour of Duty! They'll play four shows at the Nokia Theatre in New York City, for which tickets are now on sale.

The tour will feature all the original members - Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson - doing some new and some classic skits......

THE KIDS IN THE HALL TOUR DATES
April 4th – Merrillville, IN Star Plaza Theatre
April 5th – Milwaukee, WI Riversid
April 6th – Columbus, OH Mershon
April 9th – Austin, TX Paramount.
April 10th – Austin, TX Paramount.
April 17th – Boston, MA Wang Centre.
April 18th – New York, NY Nokia Theatre
April 19th – New York, NY Nokia Theatre **Early & Late Shows**
April 20th – New York, NY Nokia Theatre
April 22nd – Houston, TX Verizon Theatre
April 23rd – Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre
April 24th - Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater.
April 25th – Madison, WI
April 26th- Minneapolis, MN.
April 27th - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre.
April 30th – Philadelphia, PA Keswick Theatre.
May 1st – Providence, RI Providence PAC.
May 2nd – Niagara Falls, NY Seneca Casino
May 4th – Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House.
May 8th – Anaheim, CA The Grove.
May 9th – Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum.
May 10th – San Francisco, CA War Memorial.
May 11th – Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer.
May 15th – Seattle, WA WaMu Theatre.
May 16th – Vancouver, BC Boulevard Casino.
May 17th - Calgary, AB - Jack Singer Concert Hall.
May 18th - Edmonton, AB - Jubilee North.
May 20th – St. Louis, MO The Pageant.
May 21st – Nashville, TN Ryman.
May 22nd – Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live.
May 23rd – Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall.
May 24th – Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy Center.
May 25th – Charleston, SC North Charleston PAC.
May 29th - Chicago, IL.
May 30th – Detroit, MI Royal Oak.
May 31st – Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square.
June 1st – Green Bay, WI Weidner Center.
June 4-5th (?)- Toronto, ON Massey Hall.

Original line-up of Iron Madien. Check.
Greatest Hits. Check.
No crappy new songs. Check.
Egyptian-themed stage. Check.
Giant robot. Check.
Lots of theatrics. Check.
Pyrotechnics. Check.
Lots of falsetto. Check.
Hyperactive crowd. Check.
Awesome. Check.
Great pictures by Hardcore Shutterbug. Check.

IRON MAIDEN | IZOD CENTER | MARCH 14, 2008
Aces High / 2 minutes to midnight / Revelations / The Trooper / Wasted Years / Number of the Beast / Can I Play with madness / Rime of the ancient mariner / Powerslave / Heaven can wait / Run to the hills / Fear of the Dark / Iron Maiden // Moonchild // Clairvoyant // Hallowed be thy name

For those of you missed the Maiden, they'll be back in the spring. Here's the updated tour schedule:

IRON MAIDEN TOUR DATES
6/11/08 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena*
6/12/08 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center***
6/14/08 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center*
6/15/08 New York, NY Madison Square Gardens*
6/17/08 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Centre***
6/18/08 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion***
6/20/08 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center for The Peforming Arts**
*on sale 3/22/08
**on sale 3/28/08
***on sale 3/29/08

The Pogues played New York City last night.

Saint Patrick's Day, colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461 AD), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.

The date of the feast is occasionally moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and is happening again in 2008, being observed on 15 March (though the State holiday in Ireland is not affected). March 17 will not fall during Holy Week again until 2160.

The Pogues play the Roseland tonight (with Billy Bragg) and tomorrow, which is not - but kind of is - St. Paddy's Day........

THE POGUES | ROSELAND | NEW YORK, NY | 3-15-2008
Streams Of Whiskey / If I Should Fall From The Grace Of God / Majestic Shannon / Turkish Song Of The Damned / Pair Of Brown Eyes / Dark Streets Of London / Tuesday Morning / Sayonara / Kitty / Sunnyside Of The Street / Repeal Of Licensing Laws / 1000's Are Sailing / Body Of An American / Boys From County Hell / Love You Till The End / Greenland Whale / Fisheries / Dirty Old Town / Bottle Of Smoke / Sick Bed // Sally McLellan // Rainy Night In Soho // Irish Rover /// Star Of The County Down /// Poor Paddy /// Fairytale Of New York (w/ Ella Finer) /// Fiesta

The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony happened early last week and has been airing on television. I finally got a chance to watch it and it was pretty painful. Especially painful was Justin Timberlake's awful induction of Madonna and her boring/pretentious speech. The Material Girl didn't perform, instead leaving The Stooges to cover two of her tunes. Sadly, it didn't work well.

On the other hand, Billy Joel delivered a great induction of John Mellencamp, who gave a really sweet speech. Also, Lou Reed inducted the great Leonard Cohen.

The Stooges perform "Burng Up" and "Ray of Light"

Billy Joel inductes John Mellencamp

More videos and performances after the jump..............

Gay Robot

Comedy Central has announced a list of new shows set to debut in 2008/2009. Here are the highlights:

Untitled Andy Richter Sketch Show A sketch show starring Andy Richter executive produced by Kent Alterman ("Semi-Pro," "Elf") and Tim Sarkes.

"Speed Freaks"
A scripted show starring Zach Galifianakis and A.D. Miles about two small town losers who are on the run from a redneck mafia hit-man after blowing up a local meth lab. As they fumble around the south trying to find odd jobs and shelter, the faceless hit-man is always hot on their trail.

"Michael and Michael Have Issues"
A sketch comedy from comedians Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter ("The State," "Stella"), this show features segments addressing issues each of the stars has with themselves, each other and the world at large.

"David Alan Grier's Chocolate News"
A fake magazine show hosted by "In Living Color" alum and Tony® Award-nominee David Alan Grier that covers inherently urban pop culture topics. The pilot is executive produced by Grier ("Little Man"), Robert Morton ("Mind of Mencia"), Fax Bahr and Adam Small, and Generate's Peter Aronson and Jordon Levin. (previously listed in COMEDY CENTRAL's 2007-2008 development slate announcement as a presentation deal)

"Search and Destroy"
Executive producer Troy Miller ("Viva La Bam," "Flight of Conchords") brings viewers along on a scavenger hunt where nothing is off limits. Hosted by radio personalities Opie & Anthony, two teams of comedians run amok in New York City with a list of assignments and head-to-head competitions.

"Gay Robot"
An animated, scripted series composed of two eleven-minute stories per episode about a gay robot, voiced by Nick Swardson ("RENO 911!," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"), and his friends Nick, Pat and Matt living together after college. The show follows the day-in-the-life adventures of Gay Robot and the guys partying their way through life while trying to find their way in the world. Produced by Happy Madison and Sony TV and co-written by Nick Swardson and Aaron Lee.

Let's see if the third (fourth? fifth?) time is a charm for the Michael's to reach some stardom.

And "Gay Robot" has been a popular myspace.tv video, hosted on Adam Sandler's official page, for quite some time... ......

Feeding the panic of a recession, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates another, desperate 1/4 point on a Sunday evening (Editors Note: What's the point in saving if we don't get any interest?!?). This had to be in response to the incredible, shocking downfall of Wall St giants Bear Sterns:

Bear Stearns Cos. reached an agreement to sell itself to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., as worries grew that failing to find a buyer for the beleaguered investment bank could cause the crisis of confidence gripping Wall Street to worsen.

The deal calls for J.P. Morgan to pay $2 a share in a stock-swap transaction, with J.P. Morgan Chase exchanging 0.05473 share of its common stock for each Bear Stearns share. Both companies' boards have approved the transaction, which values Bear Stearns at just $236 million based on the number of shares outstanding as of Feb. 16. At Friday's close, Bear Stearns's stock-market value was about $3.54 billion. It finished at $30 a share in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday.

Bear Stearns shares, which traded as high as $170 in January 2007, fell 47% on Friday after the firm was forced to seek emergency funding from the Federal Reserve and J.P. Morgan to stay afloat amid a severe cash crunch.

Gas is at $110-a-barrel and continuing to go up. Foreclosures are at an all-time high. Virtually every company I know has a hiring freeze and has started pink-slipping folks. And the forecasters are only predicting this to get a lot worse.

Meanwhile, both President Bush and John McCain are confident that a quick-fix tax refund will fix everything. Feeling a bit of panic? So are most Americans......

HBO aired the first two parts on their seven-part John Adams mini-series and it was truly excellent. .

The series stars Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson (all sure to win Emmys) and is based on David McCullough's brilliant book, John Adams, which if you haven't read, you really should. For that matter, you should also pick up McCullough's 1776 and David Hackett Fischer's Washington's Crossing. And yes, my bookshelf is a great mix between rock biographies and world history books.

The story may seem familiar, but the first two episodes, much like McCullough did in his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, demand your attention and show you the strange and noble path that Adams took on his road to shaping our country.

In a time when we start unnecessary wars, ignore the cries of help from the poor and the middle class, have a government that knowingly deceives its own people, it's stories like John Adams that Americans need to hear.

The show will surely be on HBO In Demand. Part 3 airs next Sunday at 9pm, a time that has been left void by the sad, unfortunate ending of The Wire.........

Last night, we talked a bit about the historic collapse of the 85 year-old Wall Street giant Bear Sterns. After a day of reflection, we asked our brilliant friend Scorpashana to comment:

It's fucking ridiculous. And i can't stand how Bernanke, who just keeps cutting the interest rate, knowing that won't solve this problem. And Bernake is planning to cut a full percentage point this week! I can't even believe there's anything LEFT to cut.

The other thing is, a recession is not like this horrible thing. The economy can't expand indefinitely. THAT scares me, when the stock market gets super inflated. You know it's going to burst! So, if we come down slowly, it's better than a hard hit

Meanwhile all these interest cuts are depleting our savings earnings and encourage people to spend instead of save when we have such a giant problem with debt in this country.

Also, bailing out Bear Sterns, a private company, with our money? These assholes espouse free market theory till they're blue in the face, then go and bail out corporations with public money? Unbelievable! Then you have Bush saying the government shouldn't help individuals with the housing crisis? It just makes me furious.

The fact is that Bear Sterns - one of the brains behind the sub-prime mortgage crisis - are finally reaping the consequences of their unchecked greed. And then they get bailed out with our tax money? Which is NOT going to education, or health care, or other social safety nets?

This is just more short term thinking to try and solve the problems caused by short term thinking. I can't BELIEVE how bad this administration is.

Wednesday, March 19th will mark the fifth Anniversary of President Bush's "Shock and Awe" campaign in Iraq.

IRAQ WAR DEAD & WOUNDED STATISTICS
U.S. Military Combat Deaths in Iraq: 3,993 (as of March 15, 2008)
U.S. Military Combat Wounded in Iraq: 29,314
U.S. Contractors Killed In Iraq: 1,016
U.S. Contractors Wounded in Iraq: 10,596
Iraqi Civilian Deaths (Reported): 89,710
U.K. Military Combat Deaths in IRaq: 175
Wounded (No Medical Air Transport Required): 20,416
Wounded (Medical Air Transport Required): 8,904
Non-hostile-related Medical Air Transports: 31,325
Non-Hostile Injuries (Medical Air Transport Required):8,273
Diseases/Other Medical (Medical Air Transport Required): 23,052
Medical Air Transports (Hostile & Non-Hostile): 40,229
U.S. Military Self-Inflicted Deaths: 145
Media Members Killed in Iraq: 152

On March 19th at Noon, a protest will be held at the Brooklyn Office of Congressional Rep. Vito Fossella (8505 4th Avenue, corner 85th St, Bay Ridge). Rep. Fossella continues to vote unconditional funding to support the Iraq war.

On March 19th at 4:00 pm, there will be a rally at City Hall to protest Mayor Bloomberg's education cuts and his support of the Republican's war.

Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican John McSame made weekend visits to Iraq. They still think we're winning..........

Every year when the Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey Circus arrives in Manhattan, the elephants do the final leg of the journey to Madison Square Garden on foot, because they're a too big to truck or train into the city. They've made this little trip into a mini-parade:

Ringling Brother’s Circus Elephant Walk: Tuesday, March 18th, 11pm - 2am. The parade goes from the Midtown Tunnel onto 34th Street, between 2nd and 7th Avenues.

Elephants on the street is surreal, it's the clowns scare me, maybe even as much as the psycho PETA folks who throw themselves in front of the numerous families with young children who attend this parade.......

Is it a celebation or memorial service?

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the country will celebrate “Record Store Day.”

On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.

Record Store Day is supported by:

Paul McCartney:
There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store. When I recently played Amoeba in LA, I realised what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come. Cheers!

Bruce Springsteen:
"I buy CDs all the time. I'll go into a record store and just buy $500 worth of CDs. I will! I am singlehandedly supporting what's left of the record business. I hate to see record stores disappear, and I'm old-school in that I think you should pay for your music. But what my kids do is download a lot of things, pay for them, and then if they love something, they'll get the CD. That may be the future.”

Wayne Coyne:
"The 'cool' record store. It is where you can talk to people who are like you. They look like you, think like you and, most tellingly like the same music as you - the only comparable experience these days would probably be an art museum - an actual place where you can stand and simply be surrounded by your heroes."

Damon Albarn:
“My local independent record shop (Honest Jons) is a library, where you can go to listen to music, learn about it, exchange ideas about it and be inspired by it. I think independent record shops will outlive the music industry as we know it because long term their value to people is far greater, because even in our era of file-sharing and blogs, you cant replace the actual look on someone’s face when they are playing something they really rate and think you should listen to it too. It’s special.”

Fat Mike of NOFX:
"If it wasn't for independent record stores, I would be a San Fernando valley real estate agent."

Florence & The Machine are another band associated with PSNYC favorites Laura Marling, LIghtspeed Champion and Noah & The Whale.

Florence has an amazing voice and does the sultry anti-folk thing very, very well. She even does nifty covers of groups like Springsteen, GIrls Aloud, Green Day and Beirut......

DOWNLOAD: Florence & The Machine - "Girl With One Eye"

The Picffork-endorsed El Guincho made his US debut at SXSW and is now heading to New York City for two big show.

Tonight's show at the Mercury Lounge should be pretty bonkers...............

EL GUINCHO TOUR DATES
Mar 17 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY - w/ Cut Copy, Holy Ghost (DFA), The Fashion
Mar 18 - Union Pool - Brooklyn, New York - Other Music Party + Guest DJ's

DOWNLOAD: El Guincho - "Antillas"

The Hold Steady will be kicking it at the Hard Rock Cafe tomorrow, March 19th, for FREE.....

When PRI's Fair Game with Faith Salie asked Andrew WK to turn a minute of chatter between John McLaughlin and Pat Buchanan from a recent episode of The McLaughlin Group into a song, who could have predicted the results would have been so amazing.

And special props to Scott Bateman for making a hysterical cartoon to go along with the hysterical dialoug and song. Enjoy............

The divorce between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills seems to be finally over. They were married for four years.

Paul originally offered the whore (and that's what you call someone who fucks someone just for money) $30 million, but she wanted $300 million. In the end, the one-legged bitch from hell will walk away with $50 million.

I love the way, in the above clip, Heather makes it sound like Beatrice is only her child and that Paul won't take care of her. He should go and get full custody of Beatrice. You know that she's going to royally fuck her up.

What was Paul thinking by not getting a prenup? Stella has to be pissed.....

A friend passed these two recent television clips onto me. They're pretty funny.

Feel the love at Good Day New York......

Let's just call this the new mascot for Channel 7...

The Raconteurs continue the model - with the major difference that they're still being released by a major - of releasing their new album with only a week's notice...........

The Raconteurs are happy to announce that in one week's time their second album, entitled "Consolers Of The Lonely", will be available EVERYWHERE Tuesday, March 25th.

"Album" meaning: full length vinyl, CD and digital formats; and "everywhere" meaning: local mom and pop Indie retailers, corporate superstores, supermarkets, iTunes, Amazon, the band's own website and any other location that could get the record up and going this quickly (some places couldn't move this fast, so they will join in as soon as they can).

It contains 14 new recordings and is being released globally on Third Man Records in conjunction with our marketing/distribution partners, XL Recordings and Warner Brothers Records.

The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement.

The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding it's availability, reception or perception.
With this release, The Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important "first week sales". We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by it's first weeks sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it.

Another purpose was to also allow people to have their own choice as to exactly which format they would like to hear the album in IMMEDIATELY, rather than having to wait for their favorite format to become available. The band are also not releasing any version of this record that contains bonus tracks. Musically this album will be the same as the band created it no matter what format it is purchased in (The sound quality of each format however, is a different story. The Raconteurs recommend hearing it on vinyl, but the choice is of course up to the listener).

The band also prefer that fans buy the album as a whole instead of breaking up the tracks, but until iTunes and other digital services allows bands to release their albums with the option of NOT breaking it up, it will be sold in that fashion on those particular sites. On the band's website however, the album will be sold in its entirety as an mp3 at 320kb bit rate. Also in Japan, fans will be able to download the record via their mobile phones, as that is how a majority of recorded music is consumed there.

The reason we are announcing this release one week ahead of time is because of retail pre-ordering and stocking, information about this album's imminent release was bound to come to light and could be confusing to fans. Also in the event that the record leaks, we didn't want this method of release to be seen as a REACTION to such a leak. It's not. The actual worst thing about a leak is the usual poor sound quality, akin to watching a movie on a wristwatch instead of in a theater. Which for the album's creators is a bit of a letdown, but again, it is completely up to the listener.

There will be a video up on the internet for the first single, "Salute Your Solution", on the 25th as well, provided it gets edited in time. We just filmed it the other day!

We hope not to confuse anyone with too many options, or deny them the formats that they like best. The Raconteurs feel very strongly that music has worth and should be treated as such. Thank you to all those who respect music in this fashion, and thank you to our label partners for working with us to get this album to fans in as many formats as possible all at once.

Thank you, and we hope that you enjoy "Consolers Of The Lonely".

Sincerely, The Raconteurs

THE RACONTEURS TOUR DATES
Apr 20 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 21 Neumo’s Seattle, Washington
Apr 22 Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Apr 23 Bimbo’s 365 Club San Francisco, California
Apr 25 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Indio, California
Apr 26 The Joint Las Vegas, Nevada
Apr 28 The Fillmore Auditorium Denver, Colorado
Apr 29 Uptown Theatre Kansas City, Missouri
May 1 House of Blues Dallas, Texas
May 2 Stubb’s BBQ Austin, Texas
May 3 Stubb’s BBQ Austin, Texas
May 4 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival New Orleans, Louisiana
Jun 13 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 26 Hove Festival Arendal, Norway
Jul 12 T in The Park Kinross, Scotland
Jul 13 Oxegen Festival Naas, Ireland

With the writer's strike over and television shows starting up again, iTunes has to deal with shortened seasons for all pre-sold season passes that they've sold. They just sent out a letter regarding the issue.

As you may have heard, the Writers Guild of America, the union representing TV and movie writers, has settled its strike and its members have returned to work. Because of the strike your season pass may have fewer episodes than were scheduled by the network at the time of your purchase.

We will make all additional episodes which are broadcast during the 2007-08 season available to you as we receive them. If the season does end up with fewer episodes, you will receive a partial refund to make up for the difference.

For now, I have granted two free video credits to your account which you can use to purchase any two TV episodes, music videos, or short films on the iTunes Store.

Your video credit balance should display in the upper-right corner of iTunes next to your account name. If it does not, please sign out and sign back in to refresh. The sign out/sign in functions are found under the Store menu of iTunes. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for being an iTunes customer.

I wonder how much money this is going to cost iTunes. At least they're doing the right thing......

Senator Barack Obama delivered a speech on the issue of race in America, a topic that no politician usually touches. Have a listen and let me know what you think.......

Seeing as their sophomore effort has already been shared on just about every peer-to-peer network for the last month, the executives at Downtown/Atlantic decided to push the release of Gnarls Barkley's "The Odd Couple" to today!

The record, which was slated to drop on April 8th, is now for sale on iTunes.......

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Prince is a last-minute addition to the 2008 Coachella Music & Arts Festival!!!!

This is the exact kind of mega-headliner that the festival needed from the very beginning. It certainly makes up for Jack Johnson. Now with Prince attached to Portishead, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin (another great last minute addition), The Verve, Spiritualized, My Morning Jacket, The Breeders and The Raconteurs, the festival seems more grandiose.

With the festival just over a month away, this is about the same time that Coachella announced that Madonna was being added to the 2006 line-up. She was billed as "Performing in the Dance Tent" and it was made clear that it would be a mini-set. She was brought in because the festival hadn't been selling as well as they had hoped it would with Depeche Mode headlining. I wonder how bad this year was selling for them to shell out for Prince?

I'm hoping he does a full set on the main stage. No word yet about what day or stage he'll be performing on. ........

With their April 12th date at Terminal 5 long sold, Hot Chip have just announced a last minute addition to their schedule.

On April 8, Hot Chip will play the much smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets go on sale Monday at noon, with a pre-sale scheduled for this Friday at noon. Password = "madeinbrooklyn".

Free Blood is scheduled to open for Hot Chip Terminal 5. No word if they'll also open at Music Hall of Williamsburg........

Last night, St Ann's hosted "SPEAK UP! A Benefit for Peace in Iraq & Justice at Home", a benefit for NYC United for Peace and Justice and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Here's how the event was described to me (including an incomplete setlist):

I got to St Ann's right before David Byrne went on and he only played two songs, "One Fine Day" and "Ain't So Far," a song he co-wrote with brian eno. Then Laurie Anderson and Blonde Redhead each did two songs. The Scissors Sisters did "Lights", "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" and "Man in Uniform". Moby then did an unknown cover and then one of his popular ones, cant think of name, maybe "Honey"?

Damien Rice did two songs and I dont know the names of them, but the second one he unplugged his guitar and sang without the mic. The place got totally quiet and it ended up being one of the highlights.

Antony rambled for 20 minutes, half the crowd left, it was totally annoying, and then finally sang a song that was very beautiufl

Lou did "Christmas in February" then "Voices of Freedom" with guests. Then he came out for an encore of "Voice of Freedom" AGAIN, but this time with everybody.

(photographs by aphrodite-in-nyc)

Today marks the 5th anniversary of President Bush's war in Iraq. While we mark this day by remembering that the reason we went to war in Iraq were 100% lies and gross manipulations, we need to also ask ourselves if our country is safer because of the war.

In addition to the 4,000 soldiers killed and 30,00 soldiers injured in combat in Iraq, we also seen horrific terror acts in England and Spain, numerous attacks on U.S. embassy's around the world, the anthrax attacks, secret prison camps, Abu Ghraib, waterboarding, torture, total chaos in the Middle East, a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the breakdown of stability in Pakistan, an economic downfall, the rise of Iran as the most powerful country in the Middle East, the loss of respect and support from our allies, the establishment of Hamas as a leading and legitimate political power and an even more global presence by Al Qaeda.

Are we safer? Thanks to this administration, the answer is no.

In related news, warmonger Senator John McSame, the candidate with the most knowledge of foreign policy (TM), can't seem to get his facts right. Just yesterday, as he continues to try and create a reason to go to war with Iran, he said this:

As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq.

Al Qaeda is Sunni. Iran is Shiite..........

A couple of days ago, we raved about Florence & The Machine. We've been listening to their demos - yes, they're unsigned - pretty non-stop. While we love their originals, we also love their numerous stripped down covers, with their take on Beirut's "Postcards From Italy" taking the cake.

To cover Beirut is not an easy thing. First, Zach has such a beautiful and distinct voices. Then you have the horns. And to strip it down to just ukulele and vocals, one would think, would make the song lose all its essence. Thanks to her amazing voice, Florence and the Machine were able to make the song sound awesome..........

DOWNLOAD: Florence & The Machine - "Postcards From Italy"

While McCain keeps marching towards war with Iran, the Democratic Presidential candidates are killing each other. Hillary broke DNC rules yesterday by going to Michigan to campaign, even though she agreed and said numerous times that the Michigan and Florida votes should not count. And Obama is mum on having a re-vote as it's not in his best interest, even though it kind of goes against his unity message.

I personally think that Florida and Michigan should never have been an issue. All the candidates agreed it wouldn't count, no matter what, but now that Hillary has successfully embarassed her own party, I think a re-vote is necessary.

Last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews actually put out the exact right plan:

Here‘s a compromise—Here‘s a compromise...How about if he says look, Senator Clinton, I‘ll let you have another vote. I‘ll help you raise the money. I‘ll let Rendell raise the money, and Corzine, the rest of the big guys, know how to raise money; on one condition: whoever gets the most votes at the end of this process—the most votes—is the nominee. No more talks about super delegates.

I will play by the rules of who gets the most votes if you‘ll play by the rules and stop right there.

At the end of the whole process, the candidate who gets the most votes from voters in all of the primaries, re-held primaries, all the caucuses, the original primaries, total vote wins, winner take all, no more talk.

If they would agree to a simple Jeffersonian principle, the person who gets the most votes gets to be the nominee. No more talking. What‘s wrong with that deal? And he can say, I‘ll let you have those retakes if you promise to shut up and quit and hand over the sword if I get the most votes.

Either guy can win, but at least it was Democratic and would stop all this plutocratic stuff about, well, when it‘s all over, the smart people will decide whether you were right or not, right?

And when Hillary still doesn't have the popular vote or even the delegate vote, I bet she says this race has always been about superdelegates........

Pillow Fight NYC will rampage into Union Square this Saturday, March 22nd, at 3pm. Soft pillows only. Let the feathers fly.....

Bonarro headliners Pearl Jam have announced some East Coast dates, including two nights at Madison Square Garden. No on sale date has been announced

The opening act for dates June 11-17 will be Kings of Leon. Opening act for dates June 19-30 will be Ted Leo and The Pharmacists............

Pearl Jam - 2008 Tour Dates
11-Jun West Palm, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
12-Jun Tampa, FL St Pete Times Forum
13-15 June Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
16-Jun Columbia, SC Colonial Center
17-Jun Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
19-Jun Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
22-Jun Washington, DC Verizon Center
24-Jun New York, NY Madison Square Garden
25-Jun New York, NY Madison Square Garden
27-Jun Hartford, CT Dodge Amphitheater
30-Jun Mansfield. MA Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts

Lou Reed, who inaugurated the HighLine Ballroom last year, will headline the HighLine Ballroom's one year anniversary show on Monday, May 5th. Tickets are $75 and go on sale this Friday at noon............

New Jersey's finest, The Bouncing Souls, will make a rare stop in Brooklyn on May 3rd when they play Europa. They'll be joined be Tim Barry, Avail's frontman gone acoustic-troubadour. Tickets are $18 and now on sale.

And just a note about Europa, the Greenpoint club has really stepped up their bookings. They've got some great up gigs lined up, included Jay Reatard, Bonde Do Role +The Death Set + Holy Hail + Gang, Suicide + Aa + Diako Diakoff and Slick Rick............

Ever see a product get diluted? Meet the Mile High Music Fest........

MILE HIGH MUSIC FEST | DICK'S SPORTING GOODS PARK | JULY 19 & 20
Dave Matthews Band * Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers * John Mayer * The Black Crowes * O.A.R. * Michael Franti & Spearhead * Rodrigo y Gabriela * Steve Winwood * Spoon * Flogging Molly * The Roots * Moe. * Leftover Salmon * Andrew Bird * The Photo Atlas * Tea Leaf Green * Josh Ritter * State Radio * Citizen Cope * Grace Potter & The Nocturnals * And More

The Mountain Goats just played the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall. They'll return to Brooklyn on Friday, May 16th, to play an AIDS Walk NY Benefit at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple with special guests including The Daily Show's John Oliver. Tickets are $25 and now on sale........

Thanks Matador!

For the first time, we’re making our annual ‘Intended Play’ label sampler available digitally. Click on the link to get a zipped file of all 12 tracks plus front and back artwork, and burn it yourself (or just listen to it digitally):

Intended Play 2008 (zip file)

Track listing:

1. Jay Reatard Always Wanting More (from 7″ #3, due out June 17)
2. Times New Viking DROP-OUT (from Rip It Off, released January 22)
3. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Cold Son (from Real Emotional Trash, released March 4)
4. Shearwater Leviathan, Bound (from Rook, due out June 3)
5. Cat Power Metal Heart (from Jukebox, released January 22)
6. Matmos Polychords (from Supreme Balloon, due out May 6)
7. Mission Of Burma That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate (from Vs.: The Definitive Edition, released today, March 18)
8. Jaguar Love Bats Over The Pacific Ocean (from Take Me To The Sea, due out this summer)
9. The Cave Singers Helen (from Invitation Songs, released last September)
10. Dead Meadow I’m Gone (from Old Growth, released February 5)
11. The New Pornographers All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth (live) (from Live From Soho (iTunes Exclusive), released March 11)
12. Earles & Jensen Bleachy Is Back In Town, Look Out (from Just Farr A Laugh Vols. 1 & 2: The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever!, due out April 22)

The sharp-eyed among you will note that some of these tracks are not the ones released as promo MP3s to date.

Before Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Tom was a member of the Gainesville, Florida act, Mudcrutch. The band broke up, Tom went solo, got two members of Mudcrutch to be in The Heartbreakers and that was that. Until now.

Thirty-plus years after breaking up, Tom Petty has gotten together the original members of Mudcrutch (Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Tom Leadon, and Randall Marsh) to record their debut album. The 14-track set was recorded in two weeks last August and will feature songs that were originally written back in the early 70's, as well as a couple new ditties. The self-titled album will drop on April 29th.

Mudcrutch will also be doing a small West Coast club tour. Good luck getting into any of these shows......

MUDCRUTCH TOUR DATES
April 14 - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA
April 16- Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
April 17- Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
April 19- Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA
April 20- Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA
April 22- Concerts in The Park, Alpine, CA
April 25- Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA
April 26- Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA
April 28- Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA
April 29- Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA

Steely Dan are plotting another summer tour. They've announced three shows at Beacon Theatre (6/13, 6/14, 6/17), which have a presale on March 24th and general on sale of March 31st.......

STEELY DAN TOUR DATES
Jun 09 - Ruth Eckerd Hall - Clearwater, FL
Jun 13 - Beacon Theatre - New York, NY
Jun