Yamuna's Table is a fascinating book, filled with flavorful vegetarian Indian dishes. If you enjoy Indian food, I highly recommend this cookbook, even if you're not a vegetarian. Many thanks to Lalitree for the recommendation.
Next on my list is Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, by Michael Azerrad. I picked this book up several years ago, read the chapters on Sonic Youth and the Replacements, then put it down, only to lose it in the clutter that is my "to read" pile. With chapters on Big Black, Mission of Burma, and Beat Happening (among others), I'm looking forward to this book of indie rock history.
1 Million Free & Legal Music Tracks is a wiki filled with resources for free and legal music (of course). Since it is a wiki, feel free to add your favorite applicable sites and make a great resource even better.
Check out No Love For Ned's streaming radio show this week, especially for the new theme song by Evil Wiener.
Freecycle is an online swap meet, where you can give away instead of throw away, and even request items.
The Toronto Globe and mail enjoyed Kent Haruf's sequel to Plainsong, Eventide.
Mountain Goats: 2003-06-06, Minneapolis [mp3,ogg,shn]
Mountain Goats: 2003-09-27, Austin [shn]
Mountain Goats: 2004-05-21, KEXP [mp3]
Mountain Goats: 2004-05-26, San Francisco [mp3,ogg,flac]
My Morning Jacket: 2003-09-26, Louisville [mp3,ogg,shn]
Edith Frost: Comfort Stand album (demos) [mp3]
The Mary Janes: several tracks [mp3]
Tim Miser: several tracks [mp3]
Stina Nordenstam: January, 1991, Stockholm [mp3]
Beatles vs. Hanson: "In MMMy Bop Life" [mp3]
Romance novels are growing increasingly serious and legitimate, according to the Arizona Republic.
Drive-By Trucker Mike Cooley talks to the Winston-Salem Journal about the band and the financial side of being a musician, "Merchandise is now the only way a band can make money. So I tell people that I sell T-shirts for a living, and play music for fun."
The new Ted Leo album has leaked (hint).
The Associated Press profiles Mike Skinner of the Streets. (via)
The Guardian profiles Woody Allen.
Newsday previews Rilo Kiley's upcoming NYC show at the Knitting Factory Wednesday.
Billboard talks to Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo.
Jay Farrar bemoans the state of music to the Orlando Sentinel, "Everything has to be marketed a certain way, so it's unfortunate that people just can't get it all from the same source. In the '70s, AM radio was incredibly eclectic. You could hear all kinds of music coming at you."
Patterson Hood & Friends: 2004-07-25, Richmond (bittorrent) [flac]
Morrissey: 2004-06-27, Glastonbury (bittorrent) [mp2]
Ben Kweller: 2004-05-05, Portland [flac]
Mogwai: 2003-09-02, Phoenix [shn]
Aerogramme: several live shows, sessions, videos [mp3,real,windows, qt,avi]
Pink Floyd: rarities [mp3]
Pink Floyd: 1969-09-17, Amsterdam [mp3]
Metallica: 2004-05-31, Chorzow (audio & video) [mp3,avi,wmv]
Depeche Mode: two shows [mp3]
Twin Atlas: unreleased tracks [mp3]
The New Yorker reviews the new Drive-By Truckers release, The Dirty South.
My Morning Jacket has been added to the Live Music Archive of the Internet Archive. Check the daily downloads below for the first three live shows made available to all.
The Las Vegas Mercury goes back in time and relistens to the Vibrators' 1977 release, Pure Mania.
Soundgenerator is pretty unimpressed with Smitten by The Martinis, Pixie Joey Santiago's band.
Athens' Flagpole interviews Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura.
Elf Power kept a tour diary of their recent trip to Spain.
The Telegraph wonders about Lou Reed's "rave makeover."
My Morning Jacket: 2004-05-28, Toronto [mp3,ogg,flac]
My Morning Jacket: 2004-05-16, Boulder [mp3,ogg,flac]
My Morning Jacket: 2004-06-12, Bonnaroo [mp3,ogg,flac]
Yo La Tengo: 2004-06-05, Austin (bittorrent) [flac]
Steve Earle: audio, video [mp3,real,wav]
Metallica: many shows [mp3]
Eltro: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: tracks from Post Parlo Records artists [mp3]
Various Artists: spoken word pieces from Ubuweb [mp3]
Actionslacks: rotating acoustic track [mp3]
Thanks to Salon's Wednesday Morning Download for calling Largehearted Boy "a wonderful resource in the search for free music online", and for also giving well-deserved props to Douglas Wolk's excellent mp3 blog, Lacunae.
RiloKiley.net has posted the lyrics for the band's upcoming More Adventurous album.
Luna Music is taking preorders for Guided By Voices' August release Half Smile of the Decomposed (cd & lp), the Scat Records release Bee Thousand: The Director's Cut (lp), and Tobin Sprout's Demos and Outtakes II (cd).
Elmore Leonard talks to the Telegraph about writing his latest novel, A Coyote's in the House.
Zach Rogue talks to ChartAttack about forming Rogue Wave through Craig's List, signing with SubPop and being compared musically to the Shins.
Portland State's Daily Vanguard interviews Sufjan Stevens, who talks about how faith plays a part in his songwriting, his last two albums and his fifty albums for fifty states project.
Nashville's Tennessean previews the Curiosa Festival, which hits town tonight at the Starwood Amphitheater.
Speaking of Nashville, I just learned of Opryland's Opry Plaza Parties, a series of Friday and Saturday night free outdoor shows. Pollstar lists Kelly Hogan and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts performing Friday night, along with Jon Langford & the Waco Brothers and Paul Burch & The WPA Ballclub.
The Financial Times reviews the Womad Festival of world music.
The Chicago Daily Herald reviews Monday night's Hives show at the Metro, as does Jim DeRogatis for the Sun-Times.
Who wrote the new Spiderman theme? The same guy who wrote the TV themes for "Green Acres" and "The Addams Family," of course.
The Calgary Sun reviews the new Marah album.
You can go home again... at least the Darkness can (temporarily).
Minneapolis's City Pages hates 1984 (the year, not the novel).
John Vanderslice: 2004-07-02, Iowa City [mp3]
John Vanderslice:
Kristin Hersh: 1994-03-29, BBC Radio Leeds [mp3]
Victoria Williams & The Creekdippers: rare tracks [mp3]
Avril Lavigne: 2003-05-05, San Antonio [mp3] (for my niece, I swear)
Marah: several tracks [mp3]
Pidgeon: several tracks [mp3]
Part Chimp: "Chimp Happy" [mp3]
Joe Rathbone: "Windows Breaking" [mp3]
Marah: "Freedom Park" [mp3]
Pidgeon: "Fortunately Gone (Breeders cover)" [mp3]
If you'll be near Durham, North Carolina on August 20th and 21st, the Durham Music Festival has again lined up some great acts, including:
Richard Buckner
The Butchies
Circulatory System
Early Day Miners
Enon
The Mountain Goats
The Rosebuds
Chris Stamey
Twenty bucks for a two-day pass gets you in to all the shows, and tickets go on sale August 1st.
Natalie Portman talks about appearing in the Star Wars movies, her new film (The Garden State), and the possibility of her doing a nude scene, "It’s been really cool to be in kids’ movies. It’s been really awesome to be able to go and walk past a kid in the street and see that they’re like, 'Hey!' and they’re smiling and excited."
Rilo Kiley has announced late summer and fall tourdates to promote their new album, More Adventurous.
Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell was the fourth largest seller in Australian indie record stores last week.
Xfm talks to Blur's Graham Coxon about his new solo releases, Spectacular, Pt. 1 and Spectacular Pt. 2.
The Denver Post reviews Monday's Modest Mouse show.
Explosions in the Sky: 2002-09-22, Paris [mp3,ogg,flac]
Mogwai: 2001-09-14, Paris [mp3,ogg,flac]
John Vanderslice: remixes of his most recent album, Cellar Door [mp3]
Wckr Spgt: Five Years [mp3]
My Dad Is Dead & Related Bands: many tracks [mp3]
Pink Floyd: 1970-04-29, San Francisco (disc two) [mp3]
Mark Huff: two tracks [mp3]
Leonard Cohen: live rare tracks [mp3] (via)
Various Artists: Illegal Art's July mix cd [mp3]
The Killers: "Somebody Told Me" live video from Coachella [wmv]
What a great mid-summer cd release week. I'll be hitting the local stores and eventually picking up every cd listed, with the possible exception of the new Tommy Stinson. Can anyone give me some feedback on it?
When the best DVD offering of the week is a VIP edition of Showgirls (complete with commentary by David Schmader, commemorative shotglasses and a "Pin the Pasties on the Showgirl" game), the odds are good that I'll be staying away from the video store.
Am I missing anything? Our new kitten has been waking me up at 4 every morning to play, so my mind has been constantly fuzzy the past couple of days.
Badly Drawn Boy: One Plus One Is One (extra tracks) [cd]
k.d. lang: Hymns of the 49th Parallel [cd]
Pete Seeger: American Favorite Ballads 3 [cd]
Tom Carter: Monument [cd]
Comets On Fire: Blue Cathedral [cd]
Tanya Donelly: Whiskey Tango Ghosts [cd]
Half Japanese: Loud and Horrible [cd]
Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street [cd]
Mercury Rev: Yerself Is Steam / Mint Humbucker (reissue) [cd]
Old 97's: Drag It Up [cd]
Sahara Hotnights: Kiss & Tell [cd]
Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters [cd]
Tommy Stinson: Village Gorilla Head [cd]
Various Artists: 2003 Collection: Live From Austin Texas (ACL Festival) [cd]
Various Artists: Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo [cd]
Bill Plympton's The Tune [dvd]
Brakhage [dvd]
Dark Shadows Collection 13 [dvd]
NOVA: War Machines [dvd]
Rocked With Gina Gershon [dvd]
Showgirls (VIP Limited Edition) [dvd]
The Integral has posted Campaign Songs, an album of remixed presidential ads from 1952 to present. The Integral is "a Congressional staffer who has released the album under a pseudonym in order to maintain privacy."
"Bloggers: Gadflies or Pretend Journalists?" The Washington Post examines the issue of bloggers at the Democratic National Convention.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram looks at others' summer reading lists.
godspeed you! black emperor: 2002-01-22, Bagnolet [mp3,ogg,flac]
Bob Schneider: 2004-06-19, Wakarusa [flac]
The Apes: several tracks [mp3]
Dirt Bike Annie: several tracks [mp3]
Puny Human: audio & video [mp3,mov]
Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham: several tracks [mp3]
Virgil Shaw: several tracks [mp3]
Carla Bozulich: many tracks [mp3,real]
Lydia Lunch: several tracks [mp3]
The Fall: many videos [avi,real,mpg,wmv]
The Fall: two videos [avi]
Of Montreal: several tracks [mp3]
Bob Schneider: 2004-07-08, Dallas [flac]
Wolfhounds & related bands: many tracks [mp3]
Soviettes: several tracks & videos [mp3,real]
The Nice Device: two tracks [mp3]
Strawberry Switchblade: unreleased and live tracks [mp3]
Bergman Rock: several tracks [real]
Gore Gore Girls: several tracks [mp3]
The 7-10 Splits: "I Love Your Mum" [mp3]
Of Montreal: "Know Your Onion (Shins cover)" [mp3]
Buy a bit of Guided By Voices memorabilia: the bass guitar used by Tim Tobias during his stint with the band, complete with the cheat sheet to "Gold Heart Mountaintop Queen Directory" taped to it.
The New York Times runs a piece on the marriage of indie designers and indie musicians.
The Musical Box will be performing the epic Genesis prog album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in NYC on 12/11 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
TV On The Radio: live & demo tracks, video [mp3,real,
Barbara Manning & Yo La Tengo: two tracks [mp3]
Cheap Trick: unreleased Steve Albini collaboration tracks, including In Color album (bittorrent, registration required) [flac]
Wckr Spgt: Shindig/Codf*cker [mp3]
Various Artists: tracks from Dragnet Records artists [mp3]
Crime In Choir: several tracks [mp3]
Last Great Liar: several tracks [mp3]
The Colour: demo & live tracks, video [mp3,wmv]
Electro Group: "Glistened" [mp3]
Waxwings: "All The Fuss" [mp3]
Recently added to my sidebar: a photobooth, my del.icio.us postings, and our new food weblog, Too Much Pork.
Spin magazine, never one to wait more than a couple of months to jump on a bandwagon, reviews Franz Ferdinand's Darts of Pleasure, giving it a B+.
Minneapolis's Free Time lists their "ten best local CD's... so far." (registration required)
Jim DeRogatis reviews recent notable Chicago self-released music.
Toronto's Globe and Mail calls the Scissors Sisters debut album, "the freshest breath of air in years."
The Independent has a great music section today, interviewing Shane MacGowan, the Hives, Tanya Donelly, and Blur's Damon Albarn.
Celebrate Lynda Carter's birthday tomorrow in a way that befits Wonder Woman. The Oregonian gives you the definitive party plan for this under observed holiday.
Jim Kerr talks about his band, Simple Minds, and their reunion last year.
The Arrogants: two ep's [mp3]
The Arrogants: compilation tracks [mp3]
vcr: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: tracks from Spune Records artists [mp3,real,mov]
Ole: several tracks [mp3]
Arco: three tracks [mp3]
Ikara Colt: audio & video [mp3,quicktime]
Misfats (Misfits cover band and food lovers): several live tracks [mp3]
Nixons: several demo tracks [mp3]
The New Year: several tracks [mp3]
Cocteau Twins: video [real,mov]
Mogwai has been added to the Live Music Archive. Look for live shows to be available for download soon.
God bless Margaret Cho. Check out her "marriage equality resource site." It's probably too late to get her on the ballot in all 50 states for this year's presidential election, but I say we start the "Cho in 2008" campaign today!
Thescout.net lists several mid-year top five album lists, including mine.
The Asheville Mountain Express reviews two books on southern dialect, Suddenly Southern: A Yankee's Guide to Living in Dixie and The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English.
The Orlando Weekly writes a stirring elegy for Elvin Jones.
The Denver Westword interviews the Minders' Frontman Martyn Leaper.
The Indiana Digital Student talks to Cex about his latest album, Maryland Mansions."The whole album is about leaving Baltimore, my home town," Kidwell says. "(Stillnaut Rjyan) is a metaphor for my experience of running away from home. I felt like an astronaut in space that was in a nightmarish situation and could not return home."
Blisspix has posted a list of songs about libraries, librarians, books and reading, complete with lyrics.
Billy Bragg: 2004-06-27, Glastonbury [mp3,ogg,flac]
Iron & Wine: several shows, home recordings, b-sides and video [mp3,mpg]
Wilco: 2004-05-20, DeKalb (disc two) [mp3]
Fleetwood Mac: 2003-09-23, Boston [mp3]
Robyn Hitchcock: rarities [mp3]
Pablo Brazil: two tracks [mp3]
Coastal: two tracks [mp3]
Wonderful: several tracks [mp3]
Dagons: "Heaven Wasn't In The Sky" [mp3]
Giant Drag: "Blunt Picket Fence" [mp3]
I want some wacky Japanese t-shirts.
Thanks to 50 Quid Bloke for putting together the MP3 Blog Aggregator.
The Guardian gives the Streets the edge in this year's Mercury prize competition, and gathers album and show reviews of nominated artists.
ChartAttack buys into the Killers hype, reviewing a recent Toronto show, "In under 90 minutes, The Killers proved that they are worthy musicians deserving of every shred of hype that surrounds them."
Ken Tucker reviews PJ Harvey's Uh Huh Her for NPR's Fresh Air.
Ken Stringfellow fills in Athens' Flagpole on his busy schedule last year, "I recorded in Memphis with Big Star and Seattle with the Posies both of which will be released on Rykodisc. The Posies material is 90 percent done and the Big Star material is done it will be their first release in 27 years, the Posies' first release in 6 years."
Also in Flagpole, Brother Danielsen's Dan Smith talks about the Danielsen Familie, folk art and his music's connection to Christian music, "That's why when people say I make Christian music, I say 'I don't make Christian music. Did Johnny Cash make Christian music? Did John Coltrane make Christian music?'"
Neutral Milk Hotel: 1997-05-05, St. Louis, demos, unreleased projects [mp3]
Iron & Wine: 2003-09-25, KEXP [mp3]
Mike Cooley (of Drive-By Truckers): 2004-07-16, Athens (bittorrent, registration required) [shn]
Fruit Bats: several tracks [mp3]
Old Canes: two tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: audio & video from Swami Records [mp3,mpg]
Juune: "What I've Done" [mp3]
Juune: "Why Not Stop?" [mp3]
Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck: "Homeward Track" [mp3]
Bright Eyes featuring Neva Dinova: "I'll Be Your Friend" [mp3]
Neva Dinova featuring Bright Eyes: "Tripped" [mp3]
Rosie Thomas: "I Play Music" [mp3]
Rosie Thomas: "Wedding Day" [mp3]
Today is the 35th anniversary of man setting foot on the moon, so here are the Drive-By Truckers performing "Putting People on the Moon" live on KEXP earlier this year. The song, written by Patterson Hood, is on the band's August release, The Dirty South. Listen, and learn why north Alabama once had "rocket envy" for Huntsville.
One Little Indian Records has made available some samples from the forthcoming covers album from the Twilight Singers, She Loves You.
The album is released August 24, here's the tracklist:
1. feeling of gaze (hope sandoval)
2. too tough to die (martin topely-bird)
3. hyperballad (bjork)*
4. strange fruit (billie holiday)*
5. what makes you think you’re the one (fleetwood mac)
6. real love (mary j. blige)*
7.hard time killin floor (skip james)*
8. a love supreme (john coltrane)*
9. please stay (once you go away) (marvin gaye)
10. black is the color of my true love’s hair (nina simone)
11.summertime (george gershwin)
* also featuring mark lanegan (Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees) on vocal
Author ZZ Packer talks to Suicide Girls about her book of short stories, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, her forthcoming novel and growing up in Kentucky, "For me I had a tough time growing up in Kentucky and on the other hand it was good for me. But I’m not here to spread propaganda about the state of Kentucky. It’s not to say that I have a problem with everyone in Kentucky because I don’t know them all."
USA Today says the Hives "break out the retro punk," in reviewing Tyrannosaurus Hives.
Make your own iPod speakers with headphones, Altoid tins and two playing cards.
The Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley reconsiders Houseguest, by John Cheever.
The Mercury music prize shortlist has been named, here with current odds by William Hill:
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand 3-1
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free 3-1
Keane - Hopes and Fears 6-1
Snow Patrol - Final Straw 6-1
Amy Winehouse - Frank 6-1
Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash 10-1
Jamelia - Thank You 10-1
Joss Stone - The Soul Sessions 10-1
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress 12-1
Ty - Upwards 12-1
Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland 12-1
The Zutons - Who Killed ... The Zutons 12-1
It's official: Andre 3000 of Outkast is the world's sexiest vegetarian.
Ellen Goodman presents us with a midsummer reading list.
Staggering Statistics: debut album [mp3]
People Like Us: albums, individual tracks, interviews, live performances [mp3]
Monkees: rarities and interviews [mp3,midi]
Bruce Springsteen: two Italian shows (rename to .mp3) [mp3]
Hank Williams III: 2004-01-19, San Antonio [mp3]
The Brett Rosenberg Problem: several tracks [mp3]
Brand New: demos, live performances, miscellaneous tracks [mp3]
Charles Atlas: several tracks [mp3]
Sally Crewe & the Sudden Moves: audio & video [mp3]
Liz Janes: "Guitar Guitar" [mp3]
Tomorrow is a light music release day. I'll be picking up both the Hives new record and the new release by the Chinese Stars, pondering both Ladytron reissues, and pawing the new Thelonious Monk box set longingly.
Ashlee Simpson's made for tv album is out tomorrow, as is a Sufjan Stevens reissue of A Sun Came (definitely worth picking up if you don't already own it).
On the DVD front, it's a great day for fans of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, with releases of Sealab 2021 Season One and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 2. For all you Wilco fans, Jeff Tweedy's soundtrack can be heard on Chelsea Walls.
The Chinese Stars: Rare Sensation [cd]
Joe Ely: Settle For Love [dvd]
The Hives: Tyrannosaurus Hives [cd]
Ladytron: 604 (reissue with extra tracks) [cd]
Ladytron: Light & Magic (reissue with extra tracks) [cd]
Thelonious Monk: Introspection: Complete 1947-52 Blue Note Sessions [cd]
Rick Moody: Rick Moody & One Ring Zero [cd]
Pan American: Quiet City (with bonus DVD) [cd]
Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters [cd]
Ashlee Simpson: Autobiography [cd]
Sufjan Stevens: A Sun Came (reissue) [cd]
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 2 [dvd]
Chelsea Walls [dvd]
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen [dvd]
Early Summer - Criterion Collection [dvd]
The Kennedy Mystique - Creating Camelot [dvd]
La Femme Nikita - The Complete First and Second Seasons [dvd]
Port of Shadows - Criterion Collection [dvd]
Sealab 2021 - Season 1 [dvd]
Soap - The Complete Second Season [dvd]
Giant Sand has been added to the Live Music Archive.
Looking to buy some Tupperware? Folk singer Phranc can hook you up, even throw you a party!
Newark's Star-Ledger offers some summer beach reading suggestions.
Daniel Lanois talks to the Desert Sun about music, "We may think everything’s been used up and done, but I believe we can still find new ways of intertwining music and expressing ourselves."
Black Dice: 2004-02-13, New York [mp3]
Jad Fair: free Sunshiney Sun album [mp3]
Vibracathedral Orchestra: several tracks [mp3]
Smashing Pumpkins: many live shows [mp3]
Erase Errata: two tracks [mp3]
Paradise Island: several tracks [mp3]
Slumber Party: several tracks [mp3]
Sleater-Kinney & Pearl Jam: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: legal downloads from our French friend at indiepoprock.net [mp3]
the pAper chAse: "Don't You Wish You HAd Somemore?" [mpg]
Perhaps the best review I can give of the three short books I read this week is that after finishing them, I immediately ordered and preordered the rest of the series.
Joe Pernice's The Smiths' Meat Is Murder stood out among the three as a lyrical novel. Set in 1985 (just as the Smiths album came out), the book will captivate anyone who ever associated strongly with an album. This book alone captures the spirit of Continuum's 33 1/3 series.
Andy Miller's The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society takes another tack, chronicling the recording of this Kinks record.
I found Sam Inglis's Neil Young's Harvest to be my least favorite of this threesome, but still a worthy read for music fans.
Next up is Yamuna's Table: Healthful Vegetarian Cuisine Inspired by the Flavors of India by Yamuna Devi. Many thanks to Lalitree for recommending this book, the first Indian cookbook on my shelf.
Swen digs up legal downloads from artists mentioned in the WIRE.
The Oregonian calls Jonathan Ames "an edgier David Sedaris."
Calexico has been added to the Live Music Archive! Stop by and download some live shows.
The Observer lists ten books for the beach, all rock music tomes.
When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do on a rainy day was to visit my best friend and listen to his brother's Firesign Theatre albums. I just discovered the comedy troupe's interactive website, complete with abandoned blog and sound bites.
The Sunday Herald reviews Wilco's recent Glasgow show.
Largehearted favorite Michael Chabon is taking part in Winston-Salem's Bookmarks writing festival on September 11th, along with poet Galway Kinnell and others.
The Observer reviews Juliette Lewis and the Licks July 4th Vegas show.
The New York Daily News asks, "Can NYC's Scissor Sisters,
big in Britain, make it here, too?"
The Times-Picayune embraces the literary life of Oxford, Mississippi, both past and present.
Calexico: 2003-04-25, Stockholm [flac]
Cowboy Junkies: 2004-07-14, Atlanta [mp3,ogg,flac]
Bob Dylan: several live tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: courtesy of x-type [mp3]
X-Wife: one track and samples [mp3]
Octagon: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: many streaming live shows [real] (thanks)
Abby Travis: several tracks [mp3]
Peachfuzz: several tracks [mp3]
Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson: "Pancho & Lefty (live)" [mp3]
Why did Belle & Sebastian choose Trevor Horn to produce last year's Dear Catastrophe Waitress? Frontman Stuart Murdoch explains to the Guardian, "I was a big Yes fan," admits Stuart. "It was the musicality of it that attracted me. That wasn't why we chose him, but it didn't do any harm. We recorded the album at his mansion, and we would be at 'high table' when members of Yes would pop by and I'd try and eavesdrop on their conversations. That was nice."
The Independent chronicles the rise and fall and rise again of Juliette Lewis.
The Contra Costa Times publishes "Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz." Test your literary knowledge.
The Globe and Mail positively review the book of stories by Julian Barnes, The Lemon Table, saying the book has "a feeling of poetic thoughtfulness."
Wilco: 2004-07-15, London (bittorrent, registration required) [flac]
Paul McCartney: 2003-05-23, Moscow (bittorrent, registration required) [flac]
Lovemakers: several tracks [mp3]
Ozma: several tracks [mp3]
Plain Jane Automobile: several tracks [mp3] (via)
Chris Garneau: several tracks [mp3]
Chad Van Gaalen: two tracks [mp3]
Hunter S. Thompson: 1977-11-01 (bittorrent, registration required) [shn]
Beastie Boys: 2004-06-12, KROQ Weenie Roast video (bittorrent, registration required) [mpg]
Dreams Go Disco: videos [mov]
Guided By Voices has announced tourdates for the last tour by Bob Pollard and friends (under the GBV moniker). Former GBV member Tobin Sprout will open some dates.
Jeff Tweedy guest stars this week on the animated show "Odd Job Jack," performing "Inner Voice" (mp3 download available if you register).
The Guardian publishes an excerpt (an interview actress and musician Juliette Lewis) from Chuck Palahniuk's latest book, Stranger Than Fiction.
Newsweek interviews John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, calling him a "postpunk darling." Flansburgh says, "Since the whole MP3 revolution began, we’ve really found it’s an incredibly powerful vehicle for finding our audience."
Bob Pollard is selling some of his album collection...
Streamsicle is a streaming MP3 server with a built-in web server, and is an interesting way to stream your home music collection (thanks to Ned).
The Philadelphia Inquirer discusses political music past and present. (registration required)
Bumbershoot announces its full schedule for the Labor Day weekend Seattle festival.
Wilco: 1999-10-04, Sessions @ West 54th (registration required) [mp3]
Emmylou Harris: two live performances (registration required) [mp3]
Neil Young: two live shows and unreleased material (bittorrent) [flac,shn]
Cure: 2004-07-06, AOL Sessions [mp3]
The Dead: 2004-06-19, Morrison [mp3]
Explosions in the Sky: several live tracks [mp3]
Wckr Spgt: Mudworm Talk Sex Films album [mp3]
Nickel Creek: "Poor Places (Wilco Cover)" [mp3]
Nickel Creek: "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (Wilco cover)" [mp3]
Rachel's: "Moscow Is in the Telephone" [mp3,m4a]
The Haunted: "99" [mp3]
Radiohead: videos [real,windows,mov]
For all you New York readers, there is a $2 Insound show at Volume in Brooklyn tonight (with free beer). If that's not enough to sway you, it's a great lineup:
815-850 BLOOD ON THE WALL
905-940 LES GEORGES LENINGRAD
955-1035 ERASE ERRATA
1050-1135 WEIRD WAR
1150-1235 MOVING UNITS
1250-135 THE UNICORNS
GYBO has another project finished, this time remixing Blur's essential album, Parklife. The resulting project, Parkspliced, is available for download, but please respect the GYBO's wishes and donate to one of the worthy charities listed at the top of the page before downloading this interesting bootleg project.
Thanks to John Sakamoto and his ever-enlightening Anti-Hit List for kindly mentioning LHB this week.
Athens' Flagpole profiles one of my favorite songwriters, Jason Isbell of the Drive-By Truckers. Isbell and fellow DBT songwriter Mike "Stroker Ace" Cooley will be playing solo shows tonight in Atlanta at the Earl, Friday in Athens at the 40 Watt, and Saturday in Birmingham at the Nick.
David Sedaris charms a sea of butterscotch marshmallows.
NPR's All Songs Considered lists their "best songs of 2004 (so far)."
Wes Freed has some cool show posters available for sale on his site.
Robert Smigel talks to Suicide Girls about his life in comedy writing, and in particular, his creation Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
Mike Skinner of the Streets describes writing his current album, A Grand Don't Come For Free, in an interview with Venuszine: "I just kept writing stories. I like albums that reference other songs within the album so, you know, it was a continuation of that, really, and I just kind of kept taking it further."
Billboard thinks Rogue Wave "may be able to follow labelmates the Shins out of the indie pop ghetto and closer to something approaching the mainstream" in a review of Out of the Shadow.
Mike Skinner is profiled on NPR's Day to Day, where he explains his unique sound: "The production side of it is just purely because I work on my own and I don't have a really expensive mix engineer to finish it all off." Three tracks off the album, A Grand Don't Come For Free are also presented in Windows Media and Real format.
Visit the National Endowment for the Humanities' online exhibition of the life and works of Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Caroline Kim-Brown profiles Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Múm talks to the Miami New Times about their songwriting process, "We don't write entire songs before going in the studio. Our albums are finished when we have successfully pieced together the many parts. We don't worry about where they will go until the end."
The Telegraph reviews a recent PJ Harvey show, but her accompanying picture looks a little too much like Steven Tyler for me.
The New York Post interviews teenage memoirist Abigail Vona, who critics have called the next Elizabeth Wurtzel (meow). Vona's editor envisioned her book, Bad Girl: Confessions of a Teenage Delinquent, to be "the literary answer to Alanis Morissette."
Amy Sedaris as Mrs. Kravitz? Brilliant casting, indeed.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: 2001-09-28, Toronto [mp3,ogg,flac]
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: 2003-05-16, Lyon [mp3]
Beatles: rarities [mp3]
Charles Bukowski: assorted poems [mp3,wma,real]
Various Artists: tracks from The Crutch [mp3]
New Black: several tracks [mp3]
Espers: 2004-05-28, WNYC [real]
Call and Response: "Trapped Under Ice" [mp3]
n.Lannon: "Demons" [mp3]
The Fall: "Mountain Energai" [mp3]
Few bands have aged as well as New Jersey's Wrens. Here's the secret to their energetic live shows, via the East Bay Express: "The way that we structure our live sets is, uh -- we know we're old," admits Wrens drummer Jerry MacDonnell. "We also know that we write some pretty good rock songs, like, energy-wise. So we come out strong, only 'cause we know at the end of the set, we probably won't have it."
PlanetOut profiles Kylie Minogue (a belated birthday offering for Max). By the way, my spell-checker offers "munge" as an option al spelling of Minogue.
Cincinnati's excellent indie radio station WOXY has been reborn as an internet radio entity, offering both Windows media and mp3 streams. Well worth adding to your iTunes and Winamp bookmarks.
Chris Stamey explains his songwriting style to Popmatters: "When I'm the person who writes, I am young, and I feel pretty young every day anyway. All records are a combination of euphoria and digging ditches -- you've got to have both of those elements going on." Stamey's new album, Travels in the South, was released last month.
Newsday gives us a scorecard to tell the "pop girls" apart. If you can't distinguish Diana DeGarmo, Hilary Duff, JoJo, Maria Sharapova, and Skye Sweetnam, it's a must read.
ChartAttack lists Sarah Harmer fall Canadian tourdates, yet another reason I wish I lived north of the border.
NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Ilan Stavans, editor of the new three-volume series Isaac Bashevis Singer Collected Stories, to be released next Tuesday.
Kathie Smith of the Toledo Blade examines food in children's books, and offers a recipe for treacle tart.
Bohemia comes to the middle America: the Cincinnati Post is fascinated with the absinthe phenomenon.
Rilo Kiley: 2003-09-26, London [mp3]
Guided By Voices: several live tracks from the upcoming album [mp3]
Muse: 2004, Glastonbury [mp3]
Pinky Salute: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: tracks from Badman Records artists [mp3]
Red Hot Chili Peppers: video [avi]
Aarktica: "Indie" [mp3]
Washington Social Club: "A Simple Sound" [mp3]
Secret Mommy: "The Beach" [mp3]
Secret Mommy: "An Apple a Day Keeps the Mac Voice Away" [mp3]
I have to admit that when I first heard that Jack White was slated to produce Loretta Lynn's latest album, Van Lear Rose, I was skeptical about the quality of the finished product. Then I heard Jack cover the title track on a February Peel session, and my worries lifted. The White Stripe treated the song with respect and allowed the lyrics and simple arrangement to shine, and the same could be said for the resulting album by Ms. Lynn. Enjoy "Van Lear Rose," performed by Jack White.
Jeff Tweedy: 2002-05-02, NPR'a Fresh Air (registration required) [mp3]
Xiu Xiu: several live shows, video [mp3,wmv]
Hope of the States: audio, video [mp3,avi]
Phosphorescent: two tracks [mp3]
Splashdown: unreleased Blueshift album [mp3]
A.C. Newman: 2004-07-06, Seattle video [mov,wmv,real]
Cursive: "Frankly Mr. Shankly (Smiths cover)" [mp3]
Garrison: "Panic (Smiths cover)" [mp3]
My Awesome Compilation: "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths cover)" [mp3]
Fiery Furnaces: "Chris Michaels" [mp3]
Phosphorescent: "All of It All" [mp3]
Tomorrow is Blueberry Boat day, I'll be picking up the Fiery Furnaces excellent album, my favorite of the year so far. I'll definitely be grabbing the Polyphonic Spree's new release as well, is there anything else I should be searching out? On an interesting note, Metallica is releasing their EP with an optional t-shirt...
Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading Live: All the Way from America [cd]
Carbon Leaf: Indian Summer (cd)
Tom Carter: Monument (cd)
The Clash: Clash/London Calling/Combat Rock (reissue) [cd]
Miles Davis: Jazz Biography Series (cd)
Dread Zeppelin: Re-Led-Ed: The Best Of (reissue) [cd]
The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat [cd]
Dexter Gordon: Doin' Allright (Bonus Tracks) - reissue (cd)
B.B. King: Anthology: Sound+Vision (2 CD & DVD) - reissue [cd]
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (ep) [cd]
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (ep & large t-shirt) [cd]
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (ep & extra-large t-shirt) [cd]
Minus the Bear: They Make Beer Commercial Like This [cd]
The Polyphonic Spree: Together We're Heavy (cd & dvd) [cd]
The Roots: Tipping Point (cd)
Rogue Wave: Out of the Shadow [cd]
They Might Be Giants: Spine [cd]
The Waxwings: Let's Make Our Descent [cd]
Charles Bukowski:Bukowski at Bellevue [dvd]
The Dreamers (NC-17 Edition) [dvd]
The Manchurian Candidate (Special Edition) [dvd]
Metafilter had a thread Saturday about mp3 blogs, Monkeyfilter had one today. Both are filled with nuggets of sonic goodness.
Ad Age examines the technology and economy of instant live music CD sales.
The Manchester Evening News reviews Morrissey's recent show.
Urge Overkill: 2004-02-06, New York City [mp3]
Smashing Pumpkins: 1995-08-25, Reading [mp3]
Allman Brothers: 1994-08-20, Darien Center [mp3]
Stevie Ray Vaughn: 1983-06-20, Houston [mp3]
Drugstore Cowgirls: several tracks [mp3]
Budhi Brown: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: Sonic Unyon artists [mp3]
Midstates: several tracks [mp3]
Clorox Girls: several tracks [mp3]
My Morning Jacket: 2003-10-28, KCRW session (registration required) [mp3]
Neko Case, Kelly Hogan and Jon Rauhouse: 2003-03-30, Seattle (registration required, bittorrent) [flac]
Smashing Pumpkins: 1999-04-23, San Diego [mp3]
Cooler King: several tracks [mp3]
Tsunami Bomb: two tracks [mp3]
The Mansions: audio & video [mp3,real]
For Stars: several tracks [mp3]
Radiohead: live tracks & a remix [mp3]
Harry and the Potters: several tracks [mp3]
Stone Temple Pilots: several unreleased tracks [mp3]
Max posted his review of the Streets show we saw with him last week, along with some photos. Max has also been posting two weekly mp3's, drop by for the tunes and stay for the daily pop culture fix!
Britney Spear's Amazon Wedding Registry
The Times Online interviews the Fiery Furnaces.
"I’m not the kind of artist who feels that I have a mission of any kind whatsoever. The 19th century was about that. What right do I have? In many ways it robs people of a lot of things. I’m an average enough person to point to the things that I’ve gotten to see that are awe-inspiring and look toward those things. It’s pretty open as an agency and pretty amazing that they would call up an artist." Laurie Anderson on her role as NASA's first artist in residence.
Happy 89th birthday to great American novelist Saul Bellow (author of the great American novel, The Adventures of Augie March).
In the 80's lists their "Top Five Songs About Masturbation From the 80s," along with copious honorable mentions.
The Strokes: "A Salty Salute (live Guided By Voices cover)" [mp3]
Mountain Goats: 2004-02-11, Oakland [shn]
Beta Band: 2004-06-10, Paris [mp3]
Oasis: 2004-06-23, Poole Lighthouse [mp3]
Travis: 2003-11-22, Vox [mp3]
Muse: 2003-10-30, Paladozza [mp3]
Blur: 2003-11-11, Vox [mp3]
Roger McGuinn: various folk songs [mp3]
Pink Floyd: audio & video [mp3,mov,real,windows]
Matt Schickele: several tracks [mp3]
I wouldn't recommend Shanghai Baby, but wouldn't actively deter anyone from picking it up. Reading like a Chinese version of an early Bret Easton Ellis novel, the book is too predictable and (in my opinion) either poorly written or shabbily translated. The cultural transition of Chinese youth was at times fascinating, but I was expecting that theme to be further developed. This book is a good vacation read, but unfortunately not much more.
As I wait on my cooking selection to be delivered, my next book will consist of three chapbooks. I have raved about Continuum's 33 1/3 series of books about albums before, and will read three of these short tomes (because 33 1/3 * 3 =100, it makes sense to me) as my next book:
The Smiths' Meat Is Murder, by Joe Pernice
The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society, by Andy Miller
Neil Young's Harvest, by Sam Inglis
Get your mix on this summer, or just borrow someone else's. Yewknee has posted several summer mixes for your downloading pleasure, and Mix of the Week offers weekly compilations of "soulful dance music and other beautiful sounds."
"With a story I tend to write more subconsciously without knowing the ending and where things are going. With a novel I think I'm more aware of the architecture of plot and structure." Author Dan Chaon chats about the difference between writing short stories and a novel. His first novel, You Remind Me of Me, was published this spring.
"I truly believe that the best music just comes from a subconscious guttural place. It’s kind of barfing out." Melissa Auf der Mar is her own best critic, talking to Suicide Girls about her self-titled solo record.
Happy 10th Birthday, Isaac Bashevis Singer. (registration required)
In a rare angelic combination, Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists) publishes his book, The Replacements' Let It Be in Continuum's 33 1/3 series on August 30th.
The Centre Daily Times lists their "forty defining moments in rock history."
Steve Winwood is using P2P networks to his benefit.
The BBC calls David Bowie "pop's most enduring star".
"I printed it out and [my agent] sent it out on a Thursday afternoon, and by noon Monday I had a book deal," Semisonic drummer and Harvard alum Jacob H. Slichter talks about his new book, So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life with the Harvard Crimson.
Beck: several rarities [mp3]
Mr. Airplane Man: several tracks [mp3] (recommended by her)
Blasting Trout Overbite: several tracks, including some fun covers [mp3]
Tampoffs: several tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: live Boston rock [mp3]
Various Artists: classic mashups [mp3]
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: "Crowning of a Heart (demo version)"
Various Artists: A Siren Festival preview from the Village Voice [mp3]
Who says you can't fit 100 songs on a mix cd? Download "Big Songs for Little Attention Spans."
Even Indianapolis will celebrate the centennial of poet Pablo Neruda's birth.
"If an English indie band draw more than 10 people to a New York gig, the NME will announce that said band are conquering America. Any UK rap act that manages to get through a live set without being attacked is described as a raging success." The Guardian explores the success of UK bands in the United States.
"The blog also serves as a musical diary for my own purposes," Perpetua said. "It's interesting to go back through it and see what I was interested in, and how my tastes ebb and flow." Matt Perpetua of the wonderful mp3 blog Fluxblog talks to Reuters about his weblog and the genre.
"Already familiar to anyone who caught the band on tour for Turn on the Bright Lights, this striking return nails the precarious balancing act between affirming an established sound and expanding upon it, something that seems to elude 99 per cent of acclaimed bands after their first album." John Sakamoto lurves the new Interpol single.
The Boston Phoenix chronicles Continuum's 33 1/3 series on author's favorite albums.
"What I've learned through my life and through my singing is that the less you give and the quieter you are, then the more people will listen," says Stevens. "And there's just a lot of hype and flourishes and circus acts going on all over the place in popular music, and everyone's vying desperately for attention. But I think that what that does is it exhausts the listener, and that people are really ready for music that's quiet and sophisticated and that's soft-spoken." Sufjan Stevens preaches on in an interview with Atlanta's Creative Loafing.
"What thrills the blogerati is that unlike the indie-rockers who've raided the territory (Notwist, Postal Service), Greenspan is a techno adept whose beats yield no quarter." Toronto's Globe and Mail credits bloggers for at least part of the Junior Boys recent success.
Mountain Goats: 2004-03-03, New York [mp3,ogg,flac]
Mountain Goats: 2002-03-10, Iowa City [shn]
Wckr Spgt: Live '82-'87 [mp3]
Catherine Wheel: 2000-07-11, New York (under "listen") [mp3]
Drive-By Truckers: 2004-07-03, American Music Festival (bittorrent, registration required) [flac]
Various Artists: the mod-pop-punk archives [mp3]
Andy Warhol: various recordings [mp3]
Syd Barrett: covers & live tracks [mp3]
Wckr Spgt: "Happy About the Food" [mp3]
Fly Pan Am: "Partially Sabotaged Distraction Partiellement Sabotee" [mp3]
"I am totally in favor of tape trading, and file sharing never did anything wrong by me. People got into The Mountain Goats after downloading my stuff. The only people who are afraid of file sharing are the people whose albums are so dull presentation-wise that nobody cares about owning the actual finished product, and the people who have so little connection to their listeners that said listeners have no reason to care whether the artists they like are getting reimbursed for their efforts." With these inspired words of John Darnielle (that echo my own feelings on the subject), the Mountain Goats will now be available at the Internet Live Music Archive. There are no shows currently available, but check back often.
What does this mean? Live Mountain Goats shows will soon be made available to download, and a deserving musician will hopefully gain adoring fans. An advantage to the Live Music Archive is the availability of individual tracks versus entire shows (like Sharing the Groove), so you can sample a show or artist before committing to a show download. Browse the archive, grab some live tunes from your favorite bands or discover something new. There are even lossy (mp3/ogg) shows available for the bandwidth-challenged.
Let's all do the Morrissey Dance (thanks to Drew).
"We don’t really have time to deal with either one of being even slightly iffy about anything so with this it is pretty easy for us to both be happy with the music at all times." Benjamin Weikel of the Helio Sequence talks about the benefits of being a two-piece band with Suicide Girls.
Jeff Tweedy = Best Songwriter of Our Generation? (discussion from the Sonic Youth message board)
"Suddenly I remember two things: 1) that I'm curled up in a vehicle that's backing up at high speed on a major Manhattan expressway, and 2) that I'm on tour with a rock band." Melissa Maerz chronicles ten days on tour with Friends Like These.
"I haven’t changed fundamentally. For me, the idea of growing up is this idiot idea, because I was more grown up when I was thirteen than I am now. I had aspirations and an absolute idea of the world, as I’m sure that all thirteen year olds have. I've kept my life absurd." Robert Smith of the Cure is interviewed by Spin.
Kings of Convenience: live show [mp3]
Interpol: live tracks [mp3]
Decemberists, et al: tracks from Hush Records artists [mp3]
Hayseed Dixie: 2004-07-02, Hanging Rock [shn,ogg,mp3]
Los Lonely Boys: 2004-06-20, Wakarusa [flac]
Malkmus & PSOI: assorted tracks [mp3]
Gorge Trio: several early tracks [mp3]
Bonnie Prince Billy: videos [mov]
Grandaddy: "Here (Pavement cover, live at Bonnaroo)" [mp3]
Brittlestar: "For You" [mp3]
Anomoanon: "Ballade of Things Known" [mp3]
Gorge Trio: "The Age of Almost Living" [mp3]
When Jason Isbell joined Drive-By Truckers, I wondered how adding yet another songwriter would affect one of my favorite bands. Isbell not only meshed well, he stood out with some of the strongest tracks on last year's DBT album, Decoration Day.
On this week's Tuesday Tune, he covers "The Assassin" from fellow Trucker Patterson Hood's solo release, Killers & Stars. The song will also appear on Jason's solo record, scheduled for a spring, 2005 release.
The third songwriter in the Drive-By Truckers, Mike "Stroker Ace" Cooley, was recently asked if he would be releasing a solo album. He replied that he already did, it was called "Decoration Day."
Steve Burns (Blues Clues, Songs for Dustmites) has a rarely updated weblog.
Music piracy is booming in Mexico. (registration required)
BMG is launching a three-tiered CD pricing scheme in Germany next month.
Chart Attack examines the White Stripes documentary controversy.
The Oregonian profiles Jack Bogdanski as he puts his weblog, Jack Bog's Blog, on hiatus.
Rilo Kiley: various KCRW tracks from the new album [mp3]
Oasis: 2004-06-25, Glastonbury [mp3]
Wilco: 2004-05-20, DeKalb (disc one) [mp3]
Tori Amos: many live sets (updated since last post) [mp3]
REM: 1984-07-14, Rouen [mp3]
Morrissey & Smiths: rarities [mp3]
Bob Dylan: 1984-05-27, Verona (rehearsal, disc two) [mp3]
Fat Boys: audio & video [mp3,mpg]
Various Artists: assorted tracks courtesy of Decay hardcore netzine [mp3]
Badly Drawn Boy: "Year of the Rat (acoustic)" [mp3]
What is your favorite mp3 blog at this very moment? I've been digging through the archives at fat planet, expanding my musical boundaries with the incredible range of music presented. The genre is exploding with new sites every day, share your favorite.
On the topic of mp3 blogs, any suggestions for a better name for the genre?
The holiday week offers little selection in new releases. Most interesting are a couple of reissues, notably the Dickies' Incredible Shrinking Dickies album. Fortunately for me, I own this already, and am not a big enough Killers fan to pick up their Mr. Brightside 2 single, so I can skip my trip to the record store.
I will be stopping by Best Buy to pick up my favorite Woody Allen film, Take the Money and Run, though, doing my part to jumpstart the economy.
Am I missing anything?
Rocket From The Crypt: Circa Now [cd]
Runaways: Flaming Schoolgirls (reissue) [cd]
Dickies: Incredible Shrinking Dickies (reissue) [cd]
Tom Carter: Monument [cd]
The Killers: Mr. Brightside 2 (cd single) [cd]
Various Artists: Off The Charts Companion CD Soundtrack [cd]
Batman - The Animated Series, Vol. 1 [dvd]
A Fine Romance - The Complete Collection [dvd]
My Voyage to Italy [dvd]
Six Feet Under - The Complete Second Season [dvd]
Six Feet Under - The Complete First Two Seasons [dvd]
Sonic Revolution - Celebration of the MC5 [dvd]
Still, We Believe - The Boston Red Sox Movie [dvd]
Take the Money and Run [dvd]
Wholly Moses [dvd]
Whatever happened to the Slits?
"Because he's so lyrical a writer, the language comes so fluently to him, people would often misread him, thinking that the surface humor, the surface conflict, the surface autobiographical elements, could line up exactly with the person himself." Philip Roth's biographer, Ross Miller, talks to the St. Petersburg Times about his friendship with the author.
"This is a single that’s very, very grown up and at its fundament has a vulnerability that is compelling and instant." Drowned in Sound loves the new Streets single, "Dry Your Eyes."
The San Francisco Chronicle compares Sony's new portable music players with the venerable iPod.
"Joan Jett Turns MILF for Hoobastank" (I just liked the headline)
Franz Ferdinand: 2004, Glastonbury [mp3]
Bright Eyes: live tracks [mp3]
Damon Albarn: collaboration & solo tracks [mp3,wma]
Graham Coxon: interviews, live Blur, remixes,video [mp3,wav,windows]
teargas & plateglass: several tracks & remixes [mp3] (via)
Andrew Coleman: three tracks [mp3] (via)
Bodenständig 2000: two tracks [mp3] (via)
Various Artists: tracks from City Slang [mp3]
George W. Bush: public domain audio archive [mp3,wav]
Pink Floyd: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (1968 BBC footage) [wmv]
Libertines: 2004-04-15, Rhythm Factory [mp3]
Pearl Jam: 1996-09-29, Randall's Island [mp3]
The Long Blondes: two tracks [mp3]
Be Good Tanyas: audio & video [real,mov]
Scout Niblett: two tracks [mp3]
New Grand Smoking Palace: several tracks [mp3]
This Busy Monster: several tracks [mp3]
Sunset Valley: two tracks, three more tracks [mp3]
The Go Machine: several tracks [mp3]
Bubba Sparxx: audio & video [real,windows]
Sigur Ros: video [asf,real,mov]
Hope For Agoldensummer: several tracks [mp3]
A Fir-Ju Well: audio & video [mp3,wmv]
David Garza: several tracks [mp3]
The Sems: several tracks [mp3]
cLOUDDEAD: "The Velvet Ant" [mp3]
Billy Bragg: "The Price of Oil (live)" [mp3]
Jesse Malin: "Hotel Columbia" [mp3]
Myssouri: "Landlocked Blues" [mp3]
Matthew Dear: "But For You" [mp3]
My First Days On Junk: "From a Parked Car" [mp3]
The Sems: "What Was Said" [mp3]
Rock For Democracy is hosting several shows this summer, kicking off with Patterson Hood in Boston the first night of the Democratic convention.
Speaking of Patterson Hood, tickets for the Drive-By Truckers' Dirty South release party dates in Athens (August 27th and 28th at the 40 Watt) are on sale now.
They Might Be Giants are looking for street team members.
knot.magazine examines the world of celebrities penning children's books, and why most are not very good.
Former Nothing Painted Blue frontman, Extra Glenn and personal favorite Franklin Bruno writes a blog!
The new Interpol album, Antics, has leaked, check your favorite filesharing service.
The Dickies have an internet radio stream! I know what I'll be listening to today.
"I couldn't get any real judgment on my music because I would just get credit for being different. I wanted to put myself in an environment that would be tougher." DJ Danger Mouse explains to Flagpole why he had to leave Athens.
The Washington City Paper explains why you didn't want to go to Lollapalooza.
"I never take myself too seriously because I could be here today and gone tomorrow. It's a terrible time we live in. No one wants arrogant rock stars, anyway." Peter Frampton is still alive, and talks to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Radiohead: recreated albums (using live tracks) [mp3]
Various Artists: Tribute to Townes van Zandt (registration required) [mp3]
Manu Chau: May 2003 show [mp3]
Various Artists: tracks from Skingraft Records artists [mp3]
Neko Case and Her Boyfriends: 2000-03-30, Calgary (bittorrent, registration required) [flac]
Led Zeppelin: 1977-04-09, Chicago video [mpg]
Led Zeppelin: 1977-04-10, Chicago video [mpg]
Neko Case: 2000-10-26 video [real]
Kelly Hogan: 2000-10-26 video [real]
Neko Case: "Furnace Room Lullaby" [asf]
"In my lyrical style, I try to go for something straightforward. To me, a song about wanting to hold someone's hand can be more meaningful than having some kind of overbearing, over-the-top proxy for a new generation." The Reverend Horton Heat explains his songwriting style to the Las Vegas Mercury.
"Though it suffers from some injudicious editing and occasional repetitiveness, Moanin’ at Midnight is finally a heroic study that succeeds in giving a larger-than-life figure a human size." LA City Beat reviews Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf, the first full-length biography of the legendary bluesman.
John Sakamoto publishes yet another great Anti-Hit List for Toronto's Eye.
NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates lists her "literary equivalent of two weeks at the beach."
"The less attention we get, the better," he says. "The more obscure we become, the better. I'm looking forward to a completely obscure future." Gibby Haynes talks to the San Antonio Current about the Butthole Surfers, his side projects, and motorcycles.
The St. Petersburg Times lists "reasons to know Brian Eno."
The Boston Globe reviews Tuesday night's Aimee Mann show.
Bright Eyes: 2002-09-19, Hoboken [mp3]
Drone Loop: several tracks [mp3]
Wckr Spgt: 'Til You Stop album [mp3]
Pablo Brazil: several tracks [mp3]
Central City Transmission: several tracks [mp3]
Vue: several tracks [mp3]
Your Enemies Friends: two tracks [mp3]
Various Artists: K-Punk recording artists [mp3]
Jounce: several tracks [mp3] (for Pete & Pete fans, blame Slatch and Ryan for pointing this out)
West: several tracks [mp3]
Surefire: "Seems To Me" [mp3]