Happy Birthday, Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor is celebrating his birthday today!  Take a look back at some old NIN/Reznor footage

In 1994 Nine Inch Nails headlined Woodstock.  Watch the full performance below.

"Ringfinger" live, 1991

Short interview with Nine Inch Nails from 1992

FYI, in the video above, Reznor referred to some comments he made about Front Line Assembly/Bill Leeb* in a 1992 interview in Spin.  The comments are posted below:

"Front Line Assembly is a textbook case of a band that - I can't listen to a fucking song, let alone an album. Just monotonous, boring, uninspired bullshit. And they're far more traditional and far more exemplary of 'industrial' than NIN is."

In the video above, Reznor also talked about the crazy experience of opening for Guns & Roses. In the same Spin 1992 article with the FLA comments, Reznor also went into detail regarding the G & R drama:

"So we open up. First song, people are, like, 'Yeah, there's a band onstage,' and they're slowly realizing that we're not Skid Row. Second song, 'Okay, these guys are not Skid Row and I _think_ i hear a synthesizer.' Third song, 'We definitely hear a synthesizer - this is bullshit. These guys suck, they're fa**ots, let's kick their ass.' There is something about the feeling of standing in front of 65,000 people giving you the finger ... An intense terror took over. In a word, it sucks...from there, things went rapidly downhill ...I decided just to make it the worst half hour of this crowd's life."


Read the full 1992 Spin interview with Nine Inch Nails here.

*By the way, Bill Leeb's previous band Skinny Puppy weren't big NIN fans either. To illustrate, Ogre made these comments to a music fanzine back in the day:

NIN are totally cock rock...I think the biggest thing about industrial music was it trying to break all those stereotypes and it succeeded but has ultimately failed again in a way. It’s just a name attached to cock rock and f***ing hate cock rock.

Finally here's a television interview from 1985 that focused on Reznor's band Exotic Birds

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Mode Moderne - Strange Bruises

Fans of dark, shoegazery, dream pop (think New Order or Factory Records) will swoon over Vancouver's Mode Moderne.   Back in 2010 the band released the album Ghosts Emerging and followed that up with their stellar single (and video) "Real Goths" last year:

[If the Vimeo doesn't play for you, listen to "Real Goths" on Bandcamp.]

Yesterday Mode Moderne dropped their new album Strange Bruises. Take a listen to the exclusive full stream of the album here on Chart Attack and buy the album now on iTunes. 

Don't miss Mode Moderne live on the road next month.  The band have scheduled a Detroit area June 2nd at the Magic Stick/Garden Bowl and it's a FREE show.  Take a look at the full Mode Moderne tour itinerary below.

06/01 - Toronto @ Parts & Labour

06/02 - Detroit @ Magic Stick/Garden Bowl

06/03 - Cleveland @ Now That's Class

06/04 - Philadelphia @ Silk City

06/07 - New York @ Lit Lounge

06/08 - Brooklyn @ Shea Stadium

06/09 - Montreal @ Jackie & Judie

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Gary Numan - Machine Music tour + promo interview

Gary Numan is kicking off his Machine Music tour of the U.K. next week, and this morning he appeared on British television for a brief promo interview. Watch the interview below:

Numan's new DVD Machine Music: The Best of Gary Numan will be available to purchase at his live shows and will be released worldwide on June 11th. Watch the trailer (includes the tracklisting for the DVD) below:

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Gaz Coombes - Here Come The Bombs

Gaz Coombes from Supergrass is about to release his debut solo album, Here Come The Bombs.  The album drops in the U.K. on May 21st and in Canada on May 22nd (unfortunately there is no U.S. distribution deal in place, but it will be available on import).

Listen to a full album stream of Here Come The Bombs exclusively from The Guardian.

Coombes performed "Hot Fruit" as part of a live session for the Guardian. Bonus: Lawrence "Loz" Colbert from Ride is playing drums in Coombes' band!

On April 24th, Coombes performed Here Come The Bombs in its entirety at The Barfly. Watch some live video from the show below:

"Subdivider"

"Simulator"

"Sleeping Giant"

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Ultravox - Brilliant + U.K. tour

Ultravox drop their new album Brilliant later this month and today they announced dates for a fall U.K. tour.  Take a look at the dates below and visit the official Ultravox website for info on the internet pre-sale.

ULTRAVOX U.K. TOUR

 SEPTEMBER 2012

  21 Bristol Colston Hall

  22 Oxford New Theatre

  23 Portsmouth Guildhall

  25 Nottingham Royal Centre

  26 Birmingham Symphony Hall

  27 Hammersmith HMV Apollo

  29 Guildford G Live

  30 Manchester Palace Theatre

  OCTOBER 2012

  02 Southend Cliffs Pavilion

  03 Ipswich Regent Theatre

  04 Sheffield City Hall

  06 Blackpool Opera House

  07 Glasgow Clyde Auditorium

  08 Gateshead Sage

To pre-order Brilliant, follow the link from the official Ultravox website per their request.  Brilliant drops May 28th.  Take a listen to the title track from the album below:

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The Blue Angel Lounge - Ewig EP

If you like Joy Division, Echo + The Bunnymen, Chameleons, or Interpol, odds are you'll love Germany's Blue Angel Lounge.  The band has been around since 2006 and they have two full length studio albums out to date.  Last year's full release, Narcotica, was produced by none other than Anton Newcombe from Brian Jonestown Massacre.  Newcombe is a huge fan of the band--besides producing their album, he invited them to open for BJM on their recent U.S. tour.  Blue Angel Lounge accepted the invite (of course) and their set even featured Newcombe joining the band on stage for part of the show* (more on that below).

Blue Angel Lounge just released a four song ep called Ewig featuring the brilliant song "In Distance," which is one of my favorite songs right now.  Watch the video for "In Distance" and buy the Ewig ep on iTunes or Amazon:

*My friend JV, being the big Brian Jonestown Massacre fan that he is, flew out to San Francisco to see their show last Saturday night.

JV's official report: 

BJM were stellar musically, but the vocals were way too low.  The opening band (Blue Angel Lounge) was better--everything they played sounded great.  Newcome joined Blue Angel Lounge on stage halfway through their set, played some tambourine (off his boots!) and it was pretty incredible.  

JV's review led to a major internet search to find out more about the band, and the subsequent purchase of both albums and new ep. 

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Happy Birthday, Brian Eno!

It's Brian Eno's birthday today! 

Eno got his start playing synth in Roxy Music, but is best known for being a music producer.  He co-produced several U2 records along with Daniel Lanois, and he's worked with major players like David Bowie, Robert Fripp, David Byrne, Depeche Mode, and most recently, Coldplay.  Eno has also enjoyed a successful solo career, with his main focus on the ambient genre.   Celebrate Eno's birthday with some video from his amazing career.

 

The documentary More Than This: The Roxy Music Story is an in depth look back on Roxy Music's history.  A good portion of the film focuses on the power struggle in the band between Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, leading to Eno's eventual exit. 

"Third Uncle" (from Eno's 1974 album Taking Tiger Mountain)

FYI, Bauhaus does an amazing cover of "Third Uncle" if you're interested

Eno has released several ambient records, including his 1985 album Thursday Afternoon.  The album is just one track (one hourlong track) and the video that accompanies it is a collection of seven video paintings designed to be viewed in the vertical format (thus, the viewer would need to turn the television screen onto its side).  In the '90s the DVD version of Thursday Afternoon was released and provided two sets of videos (one in landscape, one in portrait format, 14 videos total) so viewers no longer need to manipulate their screens.  To get an idea of the video paintings take a look at the full video for "Thursday Afternoon" here.

In 2011 the Royal Museum for Central Africa named a spider after Eno.  I attempted to find a picture of the elusive Pseduocorinna brianeno, but alas, all I could pull up was a reference to prove it exists.

"Spider and I" (1977)

MGMT "Brian Eno"(studio version released on MGMT's 2010 cd Congratulations)

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Morrissey - live in Manila + world tour extended

Morrissey played a show at the World Trade Center in Manila, Philippines on May 13th. Watch some high quality footage from the show below.

"Alma Matters"

"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris"

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"

"You Have Killed Me"

"The First Of The Gang To Die"

Morrissey has expanded his world tour and just announced dates in Portugal, Greece, and Israel.  The new dates are as follows:

July 16 - Athens, Greece @ Lycabettus Theater

July 21 - Tel Aviv, Israel @ Bitan 1

July 24 - Cascais, Portugal @ Cascais Music Festival

Morrissey heads to Hawaii this weekend for a pair of shows, then he heads to the West coast next week with shows in San Diego, Tuscon, Bakersfield, and Stockton on the docket.

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Soulsavers - The Light The Dead See

The new album from Soulsavers, The Light The Dead See, drops on May 22nd and features the vocal stylings of David Gahan from Depeche Mode.  Take a listen to a full stream of the album below:

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Iggy Pop - Apres

Iggy Pop was forced to self-release his new solo album after his record label Virgin/EMI declined to release it.  Apres, Pop's collection of (mostly French) cover songs, is the sequel to the 2009 record Preliminaires and can be purchased digitally from iTunes or Amazon. 

Watch two clips of Iggy Pop discussing songs on the album.  In the first video Pop discusses "La Javanaise," a song originally written and recorded by Serge Gainsbourg in 1962. The second video is about "La Vie En Rose," a song made famous in 1946 by Edith Piaf.

"La Javanaise"

"La Vie En Rose"

Iggy and the Stooges will be hitting the road later this week for several European festival appearances.  The full itinerary is posted here.

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The Cribs reunite with Johnny Marr at gig Manchester

The Cribs played a gig in Manchester last night and ex-member (and all around Rock God) Johnny Marr was in attendance, so the band invited Marr onstage to rock out with them.  Marr and the Cribs and played two songs "We Share The Same Skies" and "We Were Aborted."  Read a report on the show via NME and watch fan shot footage of the performance below.

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Ian McCulloch - Live at Union Chapel

Last night Ian McCulloch played a solo show at Union Chapel in London.  Watch video of his awesome version of  "Lips Like Sugar."  You will NOT be disappointed.

Ian McCulloch  "Lips Like Sugar"

Watch some video of Echo & The Bunnymen's recent gig in the Netherlands here.

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Blur - Olympic warm up gigs

Blur are playing a handful of warm up gigs ahead of their Hyde Park Olympics' Closing Ceremony gig.  The info was supposed to be announced first to fans via the official Blur mailing list on Sunday, however one of the venues spoiled the surprise and posted the gig info on the net (it's been taken down now).

The four gigs according to several reports are as follow:

August 1 - Margate Winters Gardens

August 5 - Wolverhampton Civic Hall

August 6 - Wolverhampton Civic Hall

August 8-  Plymouth Pavillions

Blur play the Olympics' Closing Ceremony Celebration Concert August 12th along with New Order and the Specials.

"Beetlebum"

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Echo & The Bunnymen - Liberation Festival 2012

Ian McCulloch played a couple of solo shows in Liverpool earlier this week and plays one final solo show tonight in London.  Video from his solo shows hasn't appeared online (yet) but you can watch some footage from Echo + the Bunnymen's set at last weekend's Liberation Festival in Haarlem, Netherlands below:

"The Cutter"

"Seven Seas"

"Rescue"

"The Fountain"

"The Killing Moon"

ending of "Do It Clean" + "Villier's Terrace"

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Graham Coxon - Ooh, Yeh Yeh live session

Graham Coxon dropped his eighth solo record A + E last month and now a video for the album closer, "Ooh, Yeh Yeh" has appeared online. The live black and white video and short interview with Coxon were shot at the O2 Academy in Oxford last month.  Watch the live session and interview clips below.

Graham Coxon "Ooh, Yeh Yeh" live session

Graham Coxon interview part 1

Graham Coxon interview, part 2

Buy A + E from Graham Coxon here (sadly, in North America it's only available on import) and (re)watch the official video for "What'll It Take" below

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Johnny Marr - Why David Bowie Is My Ultimate Icon

In celebration of NME's 60th anniversary, the magazine recently announced their search for the Ultimate Icon.  They asked Johnny Marr to weigh in on the matter and Marr chose David Bowie.  Read Marr's comments about Bowie here and read the picks from other musicians here.

Readers can still cast votes for the NME Ultimate Icon here.

David Bowie "Space Oddity" (original 1969 video)

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Happy Birthday, Greg Dulli

One of the best frontmen of all time is celebrating a birthday today!  Happy Birthday wishes go out to Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs.  It's an exciting year for Afghan Whigs' fans--the band are hitting the road for a series of live reunion gigs later this month.  If they're coming to your town BE SURE to see them, and if not, consider a road trip--they are THAT GOOD live. [FYI, they're playing Lollapalooza, but tickets for the Friday show are sold out].  

Check out Afghan Whigs' tour itinerary here and celebrate Dulli's birthday with some classic footage of the man in action below.  In addiction, an online party for Dulli commences at 11am ET: 

Greg Dulli + MTV's Donal Logue on MTV's 120 Minutes (Part 1)

Greg Dulli/Donal Louge (Part 2)

Afghan Whigs "Miles iz Dead/Rebirth Of The Cool" live, 1994

Afghan Whigs  "Gentlemen" Reading Festival, 1994

Greg Dulli  Philadelphia, 2010

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Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Ned's Atomic Dustbin have announced they'll release a DVD titled Nothing Is Cool on December 1st and that same day they'll play a gig with all five original members at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.  For ticket information click here.

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Sid Vicious - Born on this day

Sid Vicious was born on this day in 1957 and would have been 55 years old today.   Watch some films about Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols below.

Sid Vicious - Sid! By Those Who Really Knew Him

Sex Pistols - Agents of Anarchy

Sex Pistols 1978 tour documentary - D.O.A. -  A Rite of Passage

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My Bloody Valentine - Kevin Shields interview

Earlier this week three My Bloody Valentine reissues were released in the U.K. - Isn't Anything, Loveless, and EPs 1988 - 1991 (import versions in North America will be released starting May 15th.)   Not only is it awesome to have this material finally re-released, but Kevin Shields has been doing some interviews to promote the reissues.  So far, the best interview to come of this publicity tour is an interview posted today in The Quietus.  Taylor Parkes sat down Shields for two hours and the result is a fascinating read. 

In the interview Shields made a great argument for being sleep deprived--he revealed that many of the band's songs were written with an altered state of mind that had nothing to do with drugs:

"...it definitely wasn't about drugs. Pot, maybe. But very few of the songs were even written when I was stoned. And we certainly never played or mixed or recorded stoned. Mainly because we were too tired. The You Made Me Realise EP and the Feed Me With Your Kiss EP, that was when we got really into sleep deprivation...it's not that altered states of mind weren't involved, they were, big time. I had some pretty weird experiences. But that's what it was, sleep deprivation. That's what happens when you don't sleep much. It brings the subconscious into the present world."

Another topic discussed was MBV's influence on other bands:

...if I was to look out and see what we were doing then reflected now, I see it everywhere. Some of the better appropriations of ideas that we had, they've turned up in music that has nothing to do with our sound...I think we were definitely a bit ahead of our time though, in that we were synergising something that was going to happen anyway. It wasn't that these things were so influenced by us, just that that energy was being born anyway, and we were one of the first puppies out. I don't know if it came from us, but it came through us."

My Bloody Valentine fans - stop what you're doing and read the entire article Not Doing Things Is Soul Destroying: Kevin Shields Of My Bloody Valentine Interviewed in The Quietus, then watch a full MBV concert filmed in 1989.

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The Clash - Concert from 1983

Watch a full concert by the Clash filmed in 1983.  It's not the highest quality footage, but it's still awesome to watch.

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Morrissey - Live in Singapore

Morrissey has been on the road playing gigs in Asia. Tuesday night he played his first ever show for fans in Singapore at Fort Canning Park. Watch some footage of the show below--if you notice Morrissey looking kind of sweaty, according to reports the weather was incredibly humid.

"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"

"Ouija Board, Ouija Board"

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Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Reunion?

Ned's Atomic Dustbin have been tweeting out song lyrics for the last couple days.  Today's tweet announced "all revealed tomorrow" with a link directing fans to sign up for their mailing list.  Could this mean another reunion???  Stay tuned!

"Grey Cell Green"

"Kill Your Television" (original version that MTV refused to air)

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The Smiths - South Bank Show documentary

Another documentary about the Smiths has appeared online.  The South Bank Show episode on the Smiths originally aired on U.K. television in 1987.  Watch the hour long special below:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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Courtney Love as Alice In Wonderland

In today's WTF video, watch Courtney Love take on the role of Alice In Wonderland for a Vanity Fair fashion shoot.

Hole fans might want to check out a full Hole concert recorded earlier this year

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Mudhoney Movie - I'm Now

Mudhoney have just announced that their highly anticipated documentary, I'm Now, will premiere at the Triple Door in Seattle on June 8th. Take a look at two teasers from the film below:

Trailer/teaser #1:

 Trailer/teaser #2

The documentary takes its name from the band's 2008 song "I'm Now."  Watch the official video for "I'm Now" which features footage from the upcoming film:

Mudhoney fans also can look forward to a new book about Mudhoney which is expected to be released in August 2013.  Fans who would like to contribute to the book can contact author Keith Cameron here.

So far no other news about a Mudhoney album or tour, though the band was just announced as one of the acts playing Bumbershoot 2012.

"The Money Will Roll Right In" (Mudhoney w/Kurt Cobain)

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David Gahan - Happy 50th birthday!

David Gahan from Depeche Mode turns 50 today! 

Take a look back at the rich history of Depeche Mode with a series of documentaries chronicling the band's impressive career.  Fans in Detroit should note that the city/underground scene gets props by the band for helping break "Get The Balance Right." Derrick May is featured talking about Depeche Mode and the single in the 1983 portion of the documentary below.

 Depeche Mode 1980-1981

Depeche Mode 1980-1981 (part 2)

Depeche Mode 1982

Depeche Mode 1983

Depeche Mode 1984

Depeche Mode 1991-1994

Depeche Mode  1995-1998

*Note that there were episodes filmed for other Depeche Mode years (1985-1990), however the videos have been pulled from YouTube

David Gahan considers himself lucky to be alive after a fighting heroin addiction as well as a series of botched suicide attempts in the 1990s.  After a long struggle (which included an overdose and subsequent visit to jail) Gahan later found his way and was able to get clean and stay clean.  Last year his sobiety was celebrated at the annual MusiCares event in Los Angeles.

More footage from MusiCares 2011 featuring Gahan's set of covers is posted here.

David Gahan recently appeared on the new Soulsavers single, "Longest Day" which was released as a limited edition single for Record Store Day.  The full Soulsavers album The Light And The Dead See drops May 21.

Depeche Mode are currently in the studio working on their 13th studio album.  According to the band, they've demoed about 20 songs and are hoping to release the new album early next year, with a world tour to follow.
 
Finally, Depeche Mode fans may also be interested in a recent BBC documentary about electronic/synth music. Watch the BBC's Synth Britannia below:

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Theatrical production: Unhappy Birthday

Smiths' fans may be interested in a new one-woman theatrical production making the rounds in the U.K. this month.  Unhappy Birthday stars uber-Smiths' fan Amy Lame.  The plot centers around Lame's birthday party that quickly turns unhappy after one of the invited guests--Morrissey--doesn't show up to the gala.  His absence prompts a discussion of Lame's awkward formative years growing up, her experience being a Morrissey/Smiths fan, and a discussion of fan/celebrity relationships in general.  

Unhappy Birthday opened in London's Camden People's Theater last week and will tour the U.K. through the end of June.  To find out more about the production visit Lame's official website.

"Unhappy Birthday"  The Smiths

 

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Mark Lanegan - 4AD Session

Mark Lanegan performed a 4AD live session featuring four songs from his new album Blues Funeral.  Take a look at the session (and set list) below.  Lanegan is preparing to hit the road later this week for his North American tour.  Many dates are already sold out (including the Detroit show at Small's on May 16th) so grab tickets for the tour while you still can.

1. The Gravedigger's Song
2. St. Louis Elegy
3. Riot In My House
4. Harborview Hospital

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Spiritualized - Letterman 'Hey Jane'

Spiritualized performed "Hey Jane" on Letterman last night.  Watch the performance below:

While searching for the Letterman performance I stumbled upon a Spiritualized four song set recorded for MTV's 120 Minutes in August of 1992. Watch and bask in the awesomeness below:

Fans should also check out a recent interview with Spiritualized's Jason Pierce in selftitled.  He talked about digging Raw Power, Spiritualized's early days, and how getting sick and spending time in an ICU affected him.  Click here to read the interview.

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Garbage - Full album stream

Update: Enjoy a full album stream of Not Your Kind Of People from Garbage here exclusively via NME.  Not Your Kind Of People drops May 15th.

 

Watch some video of Garbage ripping it up in Los Angeles on Saturday here, and take a look at two mini-films from Not Your Kind Of People here.

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Soundgarden - Live

Soundgarden were the surprise guests at this weekend's Weenie Roast concert in Los Angeles.  Watch the band's live debut of "Live To Rise" plus their classic track, "Rusty Cage."

"Rusty Cage"

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Garbage - Live in Los Angeles

Garbage performed Saturday night in Los Angeles.  Watch footage from their set below.  Garbage will drop their new album Not Your Kind Of People on May 15th and have revealed they'll be streaming the full album later this week.  Details on the stream will be announced soon.

"Vow"

"Stupid Girl"

"I Think I'm Paranoid"

"#1 Crush"

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Gaz Coombes - Here Come The Bombs

Gaz Coombes is preparing to drop his solo record Here Come The Bombs on May 21st.  Coombes talked new album and his Supergrass days with the Guardian.  Read the interview here and watch a live session with Coombes below.  Pre-order Here Come The Bombs in the U.K. here or as an import in North America here.

"Hot Fruit" (live session)

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Garbage - Not Your Kind Of People

Garbage have announced that they'll be streaming their entire album Not Your Kind Of People later this week (details to be announced soon.)  The band also recently announced they'll be making mini-films for each song on the album and you can watch the first two short films below.  Not Your Kind Of People drops May 15th.

"Man On A Wire"

"Big Bright World"

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Morrissey - Kill Uncle tour - London, 1991

Watch footage from Morrissey's Kill Uncle tour below.  The concert was filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on October 4, 1991. 

"Suedehead"

"Interesting Drug"

"The Last Of The Famous International Playboys"

"Picadilly Palare"

"Sing Your Life"

"November Spawned A Monster"

"Our Frank"

 

"The Loop"

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Happy Birthday, Ian McCulloch

It's Ian McCulloch's birthday today...celebrate with some Echo + The Bunnymen. 

"Ocean Rain," the title track to the band's 1984 album, is one of the best songs ever recorded.  Everything about it is just so right...

"Ocean Rain"

"The Killing Moon"

"Bring On The Dancing Horses"

Echo + The Bunnymen concert recorded in 1983

Ian McCulloch is about to release a new solo album, Pro Patria Mori through Pledgemusic.  McCulloch has met his pledge goal, so the album will definitely be released, though the date has not been announced yet.  You can still pledge and take advantage of the album incentives here.

Echo + the Bunnymen fans may also be interested in McCulloch's newly released book, The Lyrics of Ian McCulloch.  Lyrics from over 150 songs spanning McCulloch's entire career have been compiled in a 236 page hardcover book.  More information on the book and ordering information is available here.

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Spiritualized - Live at Majestic Theater

Watch some video from last night's Spiritualized show at the Majestic Theater in Detroit courtesy of JoeDrivesBlind.

"Lay Back In The Sun"

"Stay With Me"

"Lord Let It Rain On Me"

"Rated X"

"She Kissed Me"

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Happy Mondays live at O2 Academy in Glasgow

Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets kicked off their tour of the U.K. this week and footage from last night's show in Glasgow at the O2 Academy is posted below.  The bands will play a hometown gig in Manchester at the Manchester Arena tonight.

Bez opening the show

"Step On"  Happy Mondays

"Wrote For Luck"  Happy Mondays

"Kinky Afro"  Happy Mondays

"24 Hour Party People" Happy Mondays

"Bob's Yer Uncle"  Happy Mondays

"This Is How It Feels"  Inspiral Carpets

"She Comes In The Fall"  Inspiral Carpets

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Ride - Classic album 'Nowhere' covered by Boston bands

Ride's classic 1990 album Nowhere has been covered by bands from the Boston area.  Read more about the bands who contribute to NofuckingWhere here and download the entire compilation for free here courtesy of clicky clicky music blog.

Meanwhile, Mark Gardener recently announced a handful of shows on the West Coast, including a 20th anniversary celebration of Ride's 1992 album Going Blank Again.

Ride  "Leave Them All Behind"

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U.K. Subs - Live webcast

UK Subs have announced they'll webcast their upcoming gig at The Fleece in Bristol on May 19th.  The webcast will be available to view on Ustream at 2pm ET/7pm BST.  For more info and to access the stream, visit drummer Jamie Oliver's FB page, or catch up with U.K. Subs here.

Fans of UK Subs can purchase their 28 track double cd Complete Punk Singles Collection here, and take a listen to a Peel Session from 1978 below:

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Manchester - Madchester + the scene today

Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets, two huge bands from the legendary Madchester scene, kicked off their tour of the U.K. this week and they'll play a massive gig at Manchester Arena in Manchester tomorrow night.  The excitement prompted the BBC to write the piece: 'Can Manchester music move on from its past?'  The article takes a look at the recent high profile music reunions and talks about the current music scene in the city.  Read the full article here.

24 Hour Party People trailer

For those interested in catching up musically with Manchester today, Manchester: Beyond Oasis, the documentary about the current Manchester scene, is currently being screened in the U.K. Take a look at the screening dates here, view the official trailer below, and listen to an interview with the film's producers here.  So far there are no North American screenings for Manchester: Beyond Oasis and a DVD release date has not been posted.

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Mike Joyce - Book in the works?

Morrissey isn't the only member of the Smiths looking to release a tell all book in the near future.  According to the Toronto Sun, Mike Joyce is planning on releasing his own "explosive" book, but he won't write it until he reads Morrissey's autobiography.  Joyce recently told Record Collector:

"Someone's approached me to do a book, and I'm quite interested. I've heard Morrissey's bringing a book out, so I'll hang fire and see what we get out of that, and that might accelerate my side of things. Who knows?"

Joyce famously sued Morrissey and Johnny Marr for back royalities in 1989, and after years of litigation was awarded over a million dollars.  Morrissey is still pretty bitter about the whole case and it's kind of entertaining that Joyce is waiting to see what barbs Moz throws his way before he throws his own.  Morrissey's autobiography doesn't have an official release date yet, so it looks like we'll have to wait awhile before the sparks start to fly.  Stayed tuned for impending drama!

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Eric Erlandson - Acoustic performance

Eric Erlandson has been on the road promoting his newly released book Letters To Kurt.  The tour has visited several book stores and has featured Erlandson reading from the book and performing an acoustic set of songs.  Ex-Hole bandmates Melissa Auf Der Maur and Patty Schemel joined Erlandson at the New York City Barnes & Noble instore a few weeks ago. Watch a few songs from the performance below and order Letters To Kurt here:

"Paint A Vulgar Picture" (Smiths cover)



"Seasons In The Sun" (Jacques Brel/Terry Jacks cover)

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Soundgarden - Live To Rise official video

Soundgarden premiered the official video for their new single, "Live To Rise."  The song is on the newly released Avengers Assemble soundtrack.  Take a look at the video below:

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John Peel's Record Box

Yesterday, John Peel's massive record collection archive went live via interactive site, the Space.  Only a small portion of Peel's collection is archived (his entire collection is said to include over 25,000 vinyl albums and 40,000 singles) but there are tons of gems and rare tracks available to listen to.  Unfortunately you'll need a Spotify account to listen to most of the archives, but even if you don't, you can still flip through the mind blowing collection on the interactive site.

John Peel fans may also want to watch a 2005 BBC documentary about the legendary broadcaster which highlighted some of his most prized and valuable records in the collection.  The film features appearances by Jack White, Damon Albarn, Mark E. Smith, Laurie Anderson and more.  Watch John Peel's Record Box below:

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Morrissey - Rocking out in Japan

Morrissey is currently on tour in Japan.  At his show in Zepp Nagoya earlier today he dusted off the Smiths' classic, "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me."  Watch and swoon!

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"

"Let Me Kiss You" (complete with shirt ripping)

"First Of The Gang To Die"

"Alma Matters"

Meanwhile, according to a blurb in Queerty, while on tour in Japan, Moz guitarist Boz Boorer has been rocking out in drag on stage (note Boorer in a flashy, silver number in the "First Of The Gang To Die" video posted above). Here's another picture of the band (Morrissey, 4 band members in speedos, and Boorer in a shimmery dress.)

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John Peel Archive

John Peel's mammoth music archive went live today.  The John Peel Center, in cooperation with Peel's family, has launched the website The Space, with the goal of housing Peel's entire collection of records, live sessions (Peel Sessions), photos, radio shows, and videos/home movies.   About 100 Peel Sessions and 100 albums from Peel's vinyl album collection were made available today.  More albums will be added each week in alphabetical order (today 100 artists starting with the letter 'A' were added, next week 100 more starting with 'B' will be added, etc).  It should be noted that The Space isn't streaming the archives itself; instead there are links that direct you to listen to the material on iTunes and Spotify.  

Go and explore the John Peel archive by clicking on one of the yellow icons (the yellow album will take you to the record collection, the sound board takes you to the Peel Sessions, etc).   Scroll around and peruse Peel's collection--there's sessions from David Bowie, The Cure, The Smiths, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Pulp, PJ Harvey, John Cale, Ian Dury, Julian Cope, Killing Joke, and the list goes on and on.  You'll also see scans of index cards with Peel's typewritten notes/track listings, and the vinyl sleeves and artwork that house each record.  Super cool stuff.

Unfortunately it appears the Space only has funding until October 2012, so unless they receive additional funding, the project will likely only be accessible through the autumn.  

Read more about the Space and the John Peel Archive here.

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Crocodiles - Endless Flowers

Crocodiles return with their highly anticipated new album, Endless Flowers, on June 5th.  The band premiered the first single "Sunday" a few months ago and now the album's title track is streaming (via Spin.)  Take a listen to "Endless Flowers" below and watch the official video for "Sunday" below.  You can also pre-order Endless Flowers here.

"Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)"

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My Bloody Valentine - Good For You + new album

My Bloody Valentine fans, rejoice!  Yesterday NME revealed via a Mojo interview with Kevin Shields that a new My Bloody Valentine record and ep will be released later this year.  All of the "new" material was recorded in the mid-90's and has been shelved for years due to internal and record label turmoil.  Shields rediscovered the music while he was preparing the upcoming remasters of Isn't Anything, Loveless, and the compilation EPs 1988-1991.  From the Mojo interview:

"I listened to the stacks of CDs and thought, 'Shit, this is better than the unreleased tracks on the compilation'. I decided it would be insane not to finish it," he said. 

There is no release date for the album and ep, but if Kevin Shields says it'll be released, you know it's potentially not happening.  

Meanwhile, in an interview with Pitchfork, Shields explained why the reissues of Isn't Anything and Loveless have taken forever--he blames the delay on record label Sony and alleged that the label hid the master tapes from him:

"The contract we did in 2001 basically gave me ownership of the tapes, and then the Sony regime that existed when that contract was signed left. And when the new regime came in, the tapes disappeared. That was relevant because even though I was the owner, it would only revert back to me if I remastered from the original tapes-- if the tapes were gone, I couldn't remaster from them and hence I couldn't ever own them."

Take heart though, the reissues of Isn't Anything, Loveless, and EPs 1988 - 1991 will indeed be released starting next week.  Isn't Anything and Loveless are remastered, but won't contain any unearthed material, and Eps 1988-1991 will feature a handful of previously unreleased tracks, including the song "Good For You," which Pitchfork "premiered" yesterday.  "Good For You," however, was unearthed several years ago (though never released) and you can take a listen to it below.




Isn't Anything, Loveless, and EPs 1988 - 1991 will be released in the U.K. on May 7th and will be available on import in North America in the weeks that follow.  EPs 1988 - 1991 drops May 15th; Isn't Anything and Loveless drop June 5th. 

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