Inspiral Carpets

Inspiral Carpets appeared on BBC Radio 5 a couple of days ago and chatted about songwriting and their upcoming tour with fellow Madchesters, Happy Mondays. Take a look at short clip of the interview below:



Back in November Inspiral Carpets performed a short set for XFM. Check out video of the session:

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Joy Division as performed on...cats?

I have no idea what the deal is with this video. I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

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The Rise & Fall Of The Smiths

The Rise & Fall Of The Smiths is a documentary on the band that was featured as part of the BBC's Young Guns series in 1999. Though the film has been available on You Tube previously, a better quality version was recently uploaded. Watch it below:

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

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The Smiths--Stephen Wright photos

Last Saturday, photographer Stephen Wright executed his plan to recreate a classic 1985 photo of the Smiths featured in the gatefold artwork from The Queen Is Dead. Fans showed up outside Salford Lads Club in Manchester to participate in the recreation and you can view the results of the photo shoot here.

An exhibit featuring Wright's work will be on display in Manchester's Holden Gallery through the beginning of May. Visit his official site to view vintage photographs he's taken of The Smiths and to purchase select prints.

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Radiohead

Radiohead continues to pull out new songs and rarities for their North American tour. During last night's show in Dallas, the band debuted the song "Skirting On The Surface," which has previously only been played live by Yorke's project Atoms Of Peace. Take a look at the Radiohead premiere of the song:

"Skirting On The Surface"



Radiohead also dusted off "The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy" (b-side track from the "Pyramid Song" 2001 single) and played it live for the first time ever!

"The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy"



You never know what Radiohead might debut live next! Don't miss them live on their North American tour. The Detroit show is June 11th at the Palace--the pre-sale kicks off Thursday and the general onsale is Saturday at 10am.

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Jarvis Cocker

If you love Jarvis Cocker as much as I do, you are going to gush like a schoolgirl over NME's latest feature on the Pulp frontman. 'The Wisdom Of Jarvis Cocker' is a collection of quotes from Jarvis from over the years. There are SO many great quotes (and pictures) listed it's really hard to pick a favorite, but this one is a major contender:

"I always find it very traumatic when you have to pick a new pair of glasses - it's like picking a new nose."

AWESOME. Take a look at the feature here.

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Andy Rourke

Besides the dj gigs Andy Rourke does from time to time with his Jetlag project, and working with Peter Hook in Freebass, The Smiths' ex-bass player hosts a weekly two hour radio program on East Village Radio on Mondays. Rourke plays mostly old school music and personal favorites, and you never know what he might play--it's kind of an eclectic mix.

He kicked off the most recent show with "Death Of A Disco Dancer" by The Smiths and played Primal Scream, Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop, Massive Attack, Pink Floyd, The Temptations, Donna Summer, Magazine, Sex Pistols, and even Morrissey. As an aside, I hope he's not typing up his own playlist--kind of a major faux pas to spell your old bandmate's name wrong regardless of whether you're on speaking terms or not.

At any rate, visit the EVR page to access archives from Rourke's show dating back a couple of years or just start with the most current show here.

Rourke/Smiths fans might also want to check out the 2011 video below of Rourke chatting about Johnny Marr, playing bass, Manchester, The Smiths and more:

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Radiohead comes to Detroit!

No, it's not April Fool's Day--Radiohead really HAVE announced a Detroit date. I'm not kidding. It's been over a decade since the fine lads from Oxford have ventured to Detroit and it's exciting to announce that they'll finally return for a show. Don't miss this:

Radiohead will play the Palace of Auburn Hills on June 11th.

First crack at tickets happens this Thursday (March 8th) through a W.A.S.T.E. internet pre-sale (I'd advise you to sign up for a W.A.S.T.E. account now if you haven't already) and the general onsale will be March 10th at 10am.

Radiohead announced a slew of other dates today as well. Here's the full tour itinerary.

Radiohead "Codex" (from tour opener in Miami on 3/1)

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Morrissey

The full Morrissey concert from Vina del Mar in Chile has been uploaded to YouTube. The show was professionally shot and broadcast on Chilean television, so this DVD quality!

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Super Morrissey Bros.

What happens when Super Mario Bros and The Smiths collide? Pure awesomeness. Via Chris Laine

Super Morrissey Bros "This Charming Man"

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The Smiths--David Cameron steps down

Earlier this week Johnny Marr was interviewed by NME and made the following comments when asked about a Smiths reunion:

"We won't be reforming this week. Maybe if the government stepped down. If this government stepped down, I'll reform the band. How's that? That's a fair trade, isn't it? I think the country would be better off, don't you? I'll do it if the coalition steps down."

In the past British Prime Minister David Cameron has professed his love for The Smiths (much to the dismay of Morrissey and Marr), but can he, will he, make the Ultimate Sacrifice???

If nothing else, a YouTuber has gotten the, uh, resignation speech ready for Cameron:

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The Smiths--Stephen Wright

Tomorrow, photographer Stephen Wright will attempt to recreate his legendary photo of the Smiths taken 27 years ago. The classic picture, considered by many to be the Abbey Road shot of the 1980s, was shot outside the Salford Lads Club in Manchester in 1985 and used in the gatefold artwork of the Queen Is Dead. Wright is hoping fans will join him tomorrow at the scene of the original photo shoot to help him recreate the photo. Read more about tomorrow's event here, and visit Wright's website to view other classic shots he's taken including the Strangeways road sign for Strangeways Here We Come.

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Ian McCulloch

A book collecting the lyrics of over 150 songs written by Ian McCulloch will be published next month. The lyric book spans McCulloch's entire career--Echo & The Bunnymen, solo records, Electrafixion and even a few songs from his forthcoming release Pro Patria Mori. The Lyrics of Ian McCulloch is available to pre-order here and will be released on April 30th.

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Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe premiered his first video in almost 18 years--take a look at the official video for "Sensitive Man"



"Sensitive Man" is from Lowe's new record The Old Magic which dropped last fall. Lowe told NPR that he was inspired to write the track after reading a book about Sam Cooke called Dream Boogie:

"I thought it was such a great book, and this song called "Sensitive Man" came almost fully formed after I read it... It's a really good title. I'm sure someone has done it, but I don't know of another song with that title. "

Lowe will be hitting the road for a North American spring tour. Take a look at the (Detroit-less) tour itinerary here.

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Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols are offering up a free download of their new song "Well They're Gone" when you sign up for the band's mailing list. Take a listen to the full song below:

Dandy Warhols "Well They're Gone"



The Dandys will release their tenth album, This Machine on April 24th.

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The Wedding Present

A comic about The Wedding Present will be released soon. Here's the info regarding Tales From The Wedding Present Issue 1:

For Issue 1, Gedge's long-time bass player, Terry de Castro, teamed up with cartoonist Lee Thacker to create a surreal hotchpotch of on-the-road tales. If the band aren't being menaced by furtive hotel critters, they might be getting pulled over by the Nebraska State Police. Gedge has been touring for more than 25 years, and, with over 250 songs under his belt, he's not short of tales to relate. And "semi-legendary" is not a glib overstatement; The Wedding Present currently holds the tied position for most Top 40 hits in a single year with Elvis Presley.

Tales From The Wedding Present Issue 1 is available to pre-order here.

The Wedding Present is getting ready to release the new cd Valentina later this month. Check out the new song, "You Jane" below and don't miss The Wedding Present live on the road this spring for their Seamonsters tour. The Detroit show is March 26th at The Pike Room in Pontiac.

"You Jane"

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Johnny Marr

Uh oh--is Marr talking about the NME Award he won last night???

Hazy morningBrighton beach. Something happened with Rhys from The Horrors and Florence in a great dress and the award went into the sea.

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) March 1, 2012

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Mark Lanegan

An interview with Mark Lanegan has been published in today's edition of The Telegraph. It's a pretty interesting read--Lanegan revealed he wrote his new record, Blues Funeral, on a keyboard and said that he listened to "too much Kraftwerk" before writing the album. Much of the article centers around Lanegan's musical history (pre-grunge days and with Screaming Trees), songwriting, and his fondness of Josh Homme. Read the full article here.

Don't miss the Mark Lanegan Band on tour this spring. The Detroit date is May 16th at Smalls.

"The Gravedigger's Song" (live at KCRW)

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World Party

World Party are releasing a five-disc set featuring 70 previously unreleased songs recorded over the band's 25 year history on April 10th. Arkeology contains old songs, live material, b-sides, covers, and a handful of new songs recorded in 2011. The first taste of the collection is the dancy, catchy number "Words" which you can preview on the official Fontana Records website. Fair warning--the World Party song is the second track on the player--the first track that starts playing is a horrifying Candlebox song, so make sure you quickly skip over to song two for the sake of your ears.

Fans may also be interested in watching an Australian interview from 1993 with Karl Wallinger, plus a World Party performance of "Is It Like Today" below.

Interview + "Is It Like Today" (performance is ~ 4:30 in)

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Here come the Smiths rumors (again)

The internets are about to be agog with Smiths' reunion rumors (again) all because of one comment Johnny Marr made to the NME. Marr attended the NME Awards ceremony in London tonight to accept the award for Best Reissue for The Smiths Complete, plus present Noel Gallagher with the Godlike Genius award. On his way into the event Marr was asked about Gallagher being this year's recipient of the award. Here's how Marr responded:

"I think he's a bit young to win it, but it's well deserved." As for The Smiths? We never won many awards so it would be nice to one day, One day..."

Yes folks, Marr said "one day" and now NME writers are in a tizzy thinking this is a hint about a Smiths reunion. From NME's live blog:

"Did we mention earlier that Johnny Marr said he STILL hoped one day to win more awards with The Smiths? That's gotta be a reunion hint, right..?"

Here we go. When the NME gets into a tizzy, it all generally spirals out of control. Be warned.

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