Andrew Wood

Andrew Wood would have been 46 years old today. R.I.P.

The footage is somewhat bad quality (hey, it was 1989) but the audio is awesome:

"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" Mother Love Bone



"Times Of Trouble" Temple Of The Dog

Read More

Happy Birthday, David Bowie!

Happy 65th to David Bowie! What can you say that hasn't already been said? Bowie was a true creative genius who gave the world so much and changed our culture and life for the better.

If you haven't seen it, why not watch the 2003 documentary David Bowie: Sound & Vision:



Sound & Vision Part 2
Sound & Vision Part 3
Sound & Vision Part 4
Sound & Vision Part 5
Sound & Vision Part 6
Sound & Vision Part 7
Sound & Vision Part 8
Sound & Vision Part 9
Sound & Vision Part 10

I've posted a few other Bowie classics for your viewing pleasure

"Ziggy Stardust"



"Starman"



"The Jean Genie" (Top of the Pops footage, 1973)



"Fame" (Soul Train, 1975)



"I'm Afraid Of Americans" David Bowie + Nine Inch Nails




David Bowie + Arcade Fire "Wake Up" (from Fashion Rocks 2005)

Read More

The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present will release a double live record on January 9th. The release, Live 1990, is the latest in the rare 'live tape' series. Back in the late 80's and early 90's the Wedding Present sold a series of cassette tapes exclusively at their live shows, and over the past couple of years the band has been releasing this rare material on cd via their official site, plus as digital downloads from iTunes, Amazon, and other digital retailers.

Check out the track listing for Live 1990:

Disc 1 ‘Live at Hoboken, New Jersey, Maxwell’s’

Don’t Talk, Just Kiss
Make Me Smile [Come Up And See Me]
Corduroy
Kennedy
I’m Not Always So Stupid
Heather
Brassneck
Bewitched
Take Me!
Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
Crawl
What Have I Said Now?

Disc 2 : ‘Live at London Kilburn National Ballroom'

Dalliance
Don't Talk Just Kiss
Kennedy
Crawl
Heather
Brassneck
Corduroy
Take Me!
Bewitched
Dare
What Have I Said Now?
I'm Not Always So Stupid
Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
Niagara

Meanwhile a brand new album from the Wedding Present will drop in the spring, plus the band previously announced dates for a North American tour which brings them to the Crofoot in Pontiac on March 26th. The Wedding Present will be playing their 1991 cd Seamonsters in its entirety on the tour.

Lastly, if you haven't checked out the Wedding Present's cover of "Hand In Glove" from the Smiths' tribute record, why not listen to it below:

Read More

Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher appeared on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 earlier today and you can check out audio from both interviews.

Here's Noel's interview with Radio 1's Zane Lowe:

Noel & Zane--Part 1



Noel & Zane--Part 2



Here's Noel's interview with Radio 2's Steve Wright:



If you'd rather watch an interview with Gallagher, check out a recent interview he did on CBC TV below:

Read More

Adam Ant

UPDATE--edited with new info/make up dates have now been confirmed:

Adam Ant has postponed his new album and North American tour, but he has rescheduled most of the tour dates including the Detroit area show. The show previously scheduled for February 17th at the Crofoot in Pontiac has been moved to October 11th. You can view the entire rescheduled tour itinerary here and check out Adam Ant's official statement about the tour below:

Due to circumstances beyond the control of Adam Ant, his band and representation, the release of Adam's new album has been delayed resulting in the rescheduling of his February USA tour dates to September and October 2012.

Please check with your local venue for the date of the rescheduled performance at which advanced purchased tickets will remain valid.

Adam Ant and all those involved with the tour are disappointed with the delay and apologize to the many of you that have purchased tickets in advance, however he greatly looks forward to bringing an amazing show to you all on the revised dates.

Read More

Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher appeared on BBC Radio 1 with Zane Lowe this morning. He played an acoustic version of "AKA...What A Life" and chatted it up with Lowe. Gallagher revealed one Oasis song he won't play live is "Slide Away" because, "it's a Liam song." He also implied that he'll be opening up some shows for the Stone Roses this summer. The full audio archive is posted here (geo limited, so you can't hear it in North America) and I'm sure it'll be ripped later, so I'll post when I can.

Read More

Morrissey

Morrissey was named PETA's 2011 'Person of the Year' in 2011. According to reports, Morrissey recently wrote a letter to PETA's founder Ingrid Newkirk expressing his gratitude:

"I am honoured beyond words to be named as PETA's Person of the Year! Higher praise is hard to come by! I make no sensational claims for myself... I simply say 'No' to any form of animal suffering, and to the execution of innocent beings. PETA remains indefatigable and visionary, and together we have the executioners on the run."

Read More

Primal Scream

Update: band is now saying via Twitter that they have NOT confirmed new bass player. Stay tuned...

Mani has now officially left Primal Scream to resume bass duties with the reformed Stone Roses. He played his last show with Primal Scream last weekend in Scotland, and Bobby Gillespie told the crowd on New Year's Eve the new bassist for the band will be Damon Minchella. Minchella recently worked as a session player with Amy Winehouse, Paul Weller, and the Who, and previous to that was bass player for Ocean Colour Scene until he got fired after an altercation with his bandmates in 2003.

Check out Minchella playing bass in this video along with Paul Weller, the Gallagher brothers, Steve White (from Weller's band) and Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene).

"Carnation"



"The Circle" Ocean Colour Scene

Read More

Creation Records

Creation Records chief Alan McGee chose 8 records from Creation's catalog for a "how to buy" list published by Q magazine a couple of days ago. McGee placed the 9 records into three categories: 'essential,' 'recommended,' and 'for the connoisseur.' Oasis, Primal Scream, and My Bloody Valentine made it to the essential list, Sugar, Teenage Fanclub, and House of Love were on the recommended list, and Ride and Keeping the Faith (a various artists compilation) were selected for the connoisseur. Read the full list with McGee's awesome commentary here.

Probably McGee's most insightful comment was the following revelation about Ride:

"I hold myself responsible for f*cking up their career by introducing them to The Byrds and The Beatles."

Sadly, you pretty much have to agree with that if you're a Ride fan--they kind of jumped the shark, if you will, once they started recording 60's influenced music post 1992's Going Blank Again.

"Unfamiliar" Ride

Read More

Tim Burgess

Penguin Books is publishing a memoir by Tim Burgess from the Charlatans U.K. on April 26th. Telling Stories promises to be a pretty good read, as the Charlatans were a big part of the whole Madchester scene in the late 80's/early 90's. Expect lots of stories about sex, drugs & rock & roll, plus Burgess even detailed late bass player Rob Collins' infamous drama/armed robbery arrest. Read more about Telling Stories here.

FYI, the archive of Burgess' New Year's Eve BBC Radio show is still available to listen to for three more days right here.

Read More

Jane's Addiction

Jane's Addiction will be announcing dates for a North American tour on Monday (January 9th). Pre-sale tickets will be available on January 11th, with general onsale starting in most cities on January 14th. You might want to register for the band's list to have access to pre-sale tickets.

Jane's Addiction played a show on New Year's Eve in Aspen. Check out some footage from the show below (there's some f-bomb droppage, so it may be NSFW, fyi):

"Three Days"



"Ted Just Admit It"

Read More

Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr has his own signature Fender guitar! Ah, but if only buying one could give you Marr's talent. You just haven't earned it yet, baby!



The guitar will only set you back ~$2,500. Get the rest of the details about Marr's signature Fender here.

Read More

New Order tribute

Mojo (the magazine) is releasing a New Order tribute, Power, Corruption, & Lies Covered later this month. All of the tracks from New Order's 1983 record have been covered, and you can listen to samples from the tribute below or go here:

Power, Corruption & Lies Covered + Blue Monday 12" Revisited - MOJO CD Preview (January 2012) by MOJOmagazine

Full disclosure: I'm having a hard time getting behind this--the original Power, Corruption & Lies truly a classic and I wish Mojo would have just left well enough alone.

Read More

Tim Burgess/BBC

Tim Burgess from the Charlatans did a special three hour radio show on BBC Radio 6 on New Year's Eve. Lawrence from Felt, and Clint Boon from Inspiral Carpets were among the guests on the program, plus he played some great music from Felt, Friendly Fires, Black Lips, and more. The audio archive is available for a few more days, so check it out here while you still can.

"Sproston Green" Charlatans



"Primitive Painters" Felt

Read More

Looking back 2011: Morrissey

Morrissey was in the news quite a bit in 2011. In April he revealed in a BBC interview that he was working on his autobiography, he debuted three new tracks in June, and in July he got bit by a dog and fans were allegedly patted down for meat products before allowed entry into concerts.

Morrissey launched a North American tour in November which was scheduled to kick off in Chicago, but two days before the opening date the Chicago show was postponed (and rescheduled for December) due to an immigration issue with a member of the band. Chicago fans were crushed, but somehow were under the belief that Morrissey was somewhere in the Chicago area, prompting Scotland Yard Gospel Choir to react to the frenzy by recording this little ditty:

"Morrissey's In Chicago" Scotland Yard Gospel Choir



Fans in Oakland were dealt the low blow of having their Morrissey show cancelled (this time due to an eye issue with a band member), and fans there didn't take the news well.

Morrissey booked a couple of late night television appearances, but Jimmy Kimmel canceled on him due to a scheduling snafu. Luckily Conan O'Brien had the good sense to have him on the show and Moz performed one of his new songs:




Moz played his final show of the North American tour at the Royal Oak Music Theater, which was awesome except for some aggro security issues.



A few days after the tour's conclusion, Morrissey sounded off about security at the ROMT.

He ended 2011 by revealing the records of which he's "most proud," and was named PETA's Person of the Year.

Read More

Looking back 2011: the Cure

The Cure played a handful of shows on the Reflections tour--the tour featured Robert Smith and the band playing the first three Cure records in their entirety followed by a greatest hits encore.





Watch more footage from Reflections here.

In December, the Cure released a live collection, Bestival Live 2011, which was recorded during the band's September appearance at Bestival.

Read More

Looking back 2011: R.E.M.

After 31 years together R.E.M. packed it in and called it a day in 2011. The band posted the following announcement on their official website on September 21st:

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.

In November R.E.M. went on to release the double disc career retrospective R.E.M: Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011 which featured three new songs. The also band made a couple of videos for one of the new songs, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong."

Goodbye R.E.M., your music will live on...

"Shaking Through"



"Harborcoat"



"Driver 8"



"Fall On Me"



"The One I Love"



"World Leader Pretend"



"Texarkana"



"Nightswimming"



"Strange Currencies"



"Electrolite"



"At My Most Beautiful"



"Imitation Of Life"



"Leaving New York"



"Supernatural Superserious"



"Blue" (with Patti Smith)

Read More

Looking back 2011: New Order/Peter Hook

In 2011 New Order reunited for some live shows in Paris, London, and South America, but WITHOUT key member Peter Hook. Hooky was pretty mad about not being asked to participate and made some cheeky comments on his official website and to the media, but at the end of the day, the New Order reunion went on without him.

"Temptation" New Order WITHOUT Peter Hook



Watch more live New Order footage WITHOUT Peter Hook here.

By the way, New Order will release a live recording of their December 10th concert as a 2-cd set Live At The London Troxy in January.

Don't feel too bad for Hooky because he wasn't sitting around at home doing nothing. In the fall he toured North America with his band the Light and performed classic Joy Division albums Unknown Pleasures & Closer. Some surprise guest vocalists even showed up at a few of the shows to sing the encore:

"Transmission/Love Will Tear Us Apart" Peter Hook & the Light w/ Billy Corgan



"A Means To An End" Peter Hook & the Light w/ Moby



"Isolation" Peter Hook & the Light w/ Perry Farrell

Read More

Paul Westerberg

It's Paul Westerberg's birthday today

Read More

Red House Painters

Red House Painters is one of the best bands to listen to when you're feeling sad. You can't go wrong:

"Glass on the pavement under my shoe...without you is all my life amounts to"

"Katy Song"



"I've had enough of these brutal beatings and name callings. To lose me to this bed, bruised internally, eternally..."

"Mistress" (original version)



I think the piano version of "Mistress" is even 500 times better than the original version:

"Mistress" (acoustic/piano version)

Read More