Johnny Marr w/ Andy Rourke @ MHOW 5/3/2013 (via @fabiomoretti)

Johnny Marr played the second of his two sold-out NYC shows last night (5/3). The setlist was the same as Irving Plaza, but there was one big difference: he brought out Smiths bassist (and lifelong friend and current Brooklyn resident) Andy Rourke out to play on "How Soon is Now?" That's about as close to a Smiths reunion as we're likely to get these days. Video of that is below.

Continue reading "former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke joined Johnny Marr for "How Soon is Now?" at MHOW last night (video)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Johnny Marr @ Irving Plaza, 5/2/2013

Everyone obsesses over why the Smiths broke up. But can you tell me about one of your happiest memories in that band?
Tons of them! When we gate-crashed Glastonbury festival '84 or '85 -- I can't remember the year, but I remember the situation. Glastonbury was very different then, of course, but it was nevertheless an alternative festival. And we were outsiders. We'd had a couple of hits by then, but just kind of stood out on our own. I felt part of something new. It's easier to be alternative at the Grammys. But to be alternative in a field full of English snobs was quite a feat. There were many, many amazing times that filled me with pride like that.

And all of a sudden, your following became fanatic. And legion.
When we gained success, we had that thing going, like a lot of bands did, where people jump out in front of cars and pull you off the stage. They climbed on the outside of hotels to try to get into windows. Those kind of things. Used to go on quite a lot, really. That was kind of freaky, especially because I was so young.

And now you're going to be 50. How do you plan to celebrate your birthday?
Probably in a tour bus between Nottingham and Liverpool. [Laughs.] I'm not freaked out by getting to 50. I never really paid too much attention to those things. But it's also because I've been able to mark out periods of my life with records and bands and those kinds of things. That's always what I've wanted. I have to say that playing the Inception soundtrack with an orchestra at the Cannes Film Festival was probably a bigger kind of marking point in this period of my life. I'll remember that more than a day on the bus with some candles. As long as people [book] me decent gigs, that's all I'm about, man. - [Vulture]

Johnny Marr's solo tour hit NYC last night at Irving Plaza, the first of two sold-out shows here. The former Smiths guitarist, who has spent time in Electronic, The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs as well, is supporting his not-too-shabby solo debut, The Messenger, but wasn't shy about recognizing his past either. Irving Plaza got five Smiths songs: "Bigmouth Strikes Again," "London," "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before," "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," and "How Soon is Now?," which was the final song of the evening. And he did a bang-up job, too, and seems to be having a blast playing them. To quote our photographer, who has shot Moz more than once, "he sings them so much better than Morrissey!!!" Marr also did a few Electronic songs (his collaboration with New Order's Bernard Sumner), including their discofied hit "Getting Away with It." Setlist below.

Johnny Marr and tourmates Alamar play NYC again tonight (5/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg (sold out). Seeing how it's his second night here, maybe he'll switch up the Smiths songs. Toronto got "The Queen is Dead" instead of "London." More pictures and the setlist from Irving Plaza below...

Continue reading "Johnny Marr played Irving Plaza (pics, setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

Johnny Marr @ Coachella 2013 (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

Guitar legend Johnny Marr is currently in NYC for two sold-out tour stops -- tonight (5/2) at Irving Plaza and Friday (5/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg -- and last night he stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform live. On the show he performed the title track to his new solo album, The Messenger. But then for the online exlusive, he and his band pulled out The Smiths' classic "How Soon is Now?" (aka "the indie Stairway to Heaven"). Marr is one of my heroes, and I love the Smiths as much as any sane person does, but it's a little strange (but not really so) to see him sing Morrissey's lyrics. I didn't watch his Coachella performances and wasn't expecting him to do any Smiths songs at all. He does a pretty good job though, and it's a thrill to watch him play those riffs for sure.

In fact he's also been playing a lot of Smiths on this tour: "Bigmouth Strikes Again," "London," "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," in addition to "Getting Away with It," "Get the Message" and "Forbidden City" which he wrote with Bernard Sumner for Electronic. So expect trips down Memory Lane if you're catching him live.

Meanwhile check out those Fallon videos below.

Continue reading "Johnny Marr is here, played "How Soon is Now?" on Fallon"

photos by Wei Shi

Passion Pit / Alt-J / Purity Ring & Danny Brown / crowd

Coachella 2013 is currently going down in Indio, CA for its second weekend after kicking off this past Friday (4/19). We've already posted pics of day 1 (HERE and HERE), day 2 (HERE) and day 3 (HERE) from weekend 1, and now we've got pictures of day 1 from weekend 2 in this post. This time around we caught sets by Passion Pit, Earl Sweatshirt, Polica, Youth Lagoon, Purity Ring, (who were joined by Danny Brown, whose new album they appear on), Foals, Modest Mouse, Alt-J and more.

Check out more pictures from 4/19, along with a "Coachellavated" video of the festival filmed from the top of director Chris Crutchfield's head and a video of Passion Pit's full set from weekend 1, below...

Continue reading "Coachella Day 1 Weekend 2 in pics (Passion Pit, Polica, Earl Sweatshirt, Youth Lagoon, Purity Ring, Modest Mouse & more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin (more at BV Chicago)

Stone Roses / How to Destroy Angels / Johnny Marr

Coachella 2013 is underway and streaming live. if I had to choose a theme musically for day one (Friday), it would have to be new, solo and side projects. The NY Times agrees...

Friday's lineup was teeming with such line-jumpers, performing with various degrees of laurel-resting. Early in the day came the Shouting Matches, a shambolic blues-esque outfit whose sales pitch is that it includes Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The group took almost a half-hour for sound check, and its set was almost as loose. Mr. Vernon, such a precise and processed singer in Bon Iver, was here far more at ease, pushing his vocals no harder than the amiable songs demanded.

Later, in the dance-centric Sahara tent, Dog Blood performed a loud but not thunderous set. It's a collaborative project of Skrillex and Boys Noize, and does not quite live up to Skrillex's typical punishment or Boys Noize's characteristic exuberance.

There was also Divine Fits (Britt Daniel of Spoon + Dan from Wolf Parade), Deathfix (Brendan Canty of Fugazi on drums), Grinderman with Nick Cave, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Trent Reznor of NIN in How to Destroy Angels (who made their live debut days earlier), Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys with his band The Guantanamo School of Medicine, and more. And of course reunions and britrock galore with Blur, The Stone Roses, Sparks, and Jurassic 5 all also playing Friday. Here are our pictures from day one (which do not include Polica, but check out our instagram for a shot of Justin Vernon joining them on stage).

UPDATE: Day Two pictures are HERE and Day Three pictures are HERE.

Day One pics continue at BV Chicago and below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2013 Day 1 photos (Stone Roses, Blur, Trent Reznor, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Divine Fits, Sparks, Johnny Marr, more)"

Check out the dates, Coachella, Irving Plaza and Music Hall of Williamsburg included (ticket info forthcoming), below...

Continue reading "Johnny Marr announces US tour around Coachella, two NYC shows included (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Among the many acts announced for Coachella 2013 was indie guitar royalty Johnny Marr, and his appearances on the two Fridays (April 12 and 19) of the fest are his first-announced solo shows in North America -- but a proper tour has been promised.

After the Smiths broke up in 1987, Marr became a guitar-for-hire, playing with Talking Heads, The Pretenders, The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. He also briefly formed The Healers ten years ago who made one record and toured (anybody go see them at Bowery Ballroom?) but The Messenger, due out February 26, is his first solo album. While he moved to Portland, OR a while back, he relocated his family back to Manchester to make the album. He told MOJO:

I had to come back to Europe to make this record. It was like wehn I moved THe Smiths from London back to Manchester to write Meat is Murder and The Queen is Dead -- I knew the vibe there. I needed to get rained on, I needed to be around people playing The Velvet Underground in the next room, sitting in cars with the windscreen wipers going, all that lovely stuff.

For those longing to hear him pull out those Smiths-style riffs, The Messenger is rife with them and generally steeped in his post-punk upbringing. ("European Me" is especially Smithy.) As a lyricist and singer, Marr does a pretty good job, though I caught myself thinking a few times, "What would Morrissey have done with this tune?"

Videos for "The Messenger" and "Upstarts," plus a stream of album-opener "The Right Thing Right," are below...

Continue reading "Johnny Marr schedules live date (Coachella)"

Click it for the bigger poster.

by Bill Pearis

As mentioned before, Johnny Marr's solo debut, The Messenger, is out February 26 and finds the guitarist pointing the spotlight on himself after years of taking a backseat in bands such as The Cribs, Modest Mouse, The The, and Electronic. (The Smiths were okay too.) Unlike his band The Healers from 10 years ago who made Oasis-style Britrock, the tracks released so far off The Messenger have some of the flair that made Marr one of the most influential guitarists of the last 30 years.

The new single off album is "Upstarts" and the video for that track just debuted and you can watch it below. For more on Johnny Marr, check out the February issue of MOJO which has him on the cover. A North American tour is in the works as well.

Johnny's old songwriting pal Morrissey just played his first-ever Brooklyn show.

"Upstarts" video is below as are two other tracks from The Messenger, plus album tracklisting.

Continue reading "Johnny Marr releases new video from upcoming solo LP"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin; words by Bill Pearis

Morrissey at BAM, 1/11/2013

Morrissey made his first trip to Brooklyn on Friday night (1/11) for a show at BAM, the second of four shows the former Smiths frontman is doing in the NY area this month. Opening the show with new-ish song "Action is My Middle Name" (which he performed recently on Letterman) and a handful of different oldies ("How Soon is Now," "Please, Please, PLease," "November Spawned a Monster") swapped in, the setlist was different enough for Moz fans to justify going to see him again after he was just here in October. (Setlist is below.) Of course for some, the only justification needed is he's playing. And those are the people who try and get on stage and hug him.

Like the shows in October, Kristeen Young opened. Morrissey plays House of Blues in Alantic City tonight (1/12) and The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on January 19.

In other Smiths-related news, Morrissey former co-writer Johnny Marr is on the cover of the new issue of MOJO. The issue comes with a CD featuring many of Marr's colaborations over the last 25 years, including Sandy Shaw's somewhat rare version of"Hand in Glove" which she recorded with Marr and the rest of the instrument-playing Smiths in 1984. It's also got "The Right Thing Right," the opening track from Marr's upcoming solo album, The Messenger (out Feb. 26), and you can stream that below.

More pics and setlist from BAM and that Johnny Marr song stream are below.

Continue reading "Morrissey played BAM (pics, setlist); Johnny Marr on cover of new 'MOJO' (stream a track from his new LP)"

words by Phillip Pantuso, photos by Gretchen Robinette

J. Mascis / Frank Black

Throughout the 90s and the first half of the 2000s, Dinosaur Jr. was one of the last rock groups you would have expected to get the old band back together, go on tour, and record new music--not to mention new music that's every bit as good as anything the original lineup made in the 80s. When J Mascis unceremoniously kicked out Lou Barlow, his high school friend and longtime bandmate, in 1989, it seemed like a mercy killing of the original lineup, which had devolved into a psychodramatic mess, marred by lack of communication and irreconcilable personality difference between Mascis and Barlow. ("It makes me sick that I spent six or seven years putting my heart and soul into that band," Barlow told Cut zine in 1990. "They're sleazebag snob pigs like no one I have met in my entire life. J's always been an asshole.") Mascis and Murph, and then just Mascis, went on to record a string of major-label records throughout the 90s that, though inconsistent, contain some of Dinosaur Jr.'s best and most well-known songs.

When Mascis killed Dinosaur Jr. in 1997, it seemed inconceivable that, a decade later, Mascis, Barlow and Murph would reunite. Time heals all wounds, I guess. It's perhaps less surprising that the band would be able to ably reprise their sprawling, melodic, blitzkrieg guitar-rock sound. Three records in to the latter-day reign of Dinosaur Jr., the band sounds as good as they ever have.

On Saturday at Terminal 5, Dinosaur Jr. celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of You're Living All Over Me, their second album and the one that made nonchalance cool, made the extended guitar solo cool (again), and wedded melodic tendencies with noise and feedback in a theretofore unheard of fashion in the indie rock underground. The band opened their set with "Thumb," from 1991's Green Mind, with Suzanne Thorp of Mercury Rev guesting on flute, before Mascis matter-of-factly announced that now they'd be playing You're Living All Over Me in full.

A sleepy-looking Lee Ranaldo came out to share vocals with J on "Little Fury Things." Guests, some announced ahead of time, would be a recurring theme throughout the night, but not until later. Dinosaur Jr. ripped through the songs on their best album as if it were 1987 all over again. "Sludgefeast" was a punishing onslaught of guitar and staccato, gunfire drums, with Mascis's high lonesome whine cutting through the gain and distortion. "Tarpit" set off joyous dancing, propelled by Barlow's chunky bass chords and a deafening roar from Mascis's Jazzmaster that threatened to draw blood from the ears.

Watching Barlow and Mascis play on stage, it's not hard to extrapolate the personality differences that created their rift. Barlow, with his black Rickenbacker slung low, literally bounces from one foot to the other when playing, the joy at doing just this very thing--playing to an audience--so evident. He smiles, he cracks jokes, he acts as if he's living through the music. Mascis, on the other hand, with his laconic, slowhands style and deadpan announcements ("All right. Thanks a lot. That was side one."), plays as if the music lives through him. He's the hermetic savant tuned in to a frequency no one else can hear.

Barlow brought out a ukulele for "Poledo," the "awkward end to the amazing record," in his words. The cavernous space of Terminal 5 made the strident desolation of the song even more acute.

The second half of the show is the stuff legendary bootlegs are made of. A succession of guests filed onstage to help Dinosaur Jr. play their songs, or to transform them into other bands entirely. The first was Frank Black, who sang and played guitar on "Almost Fare," from this year's I Bet On Sky. Next, the band plus Black covered one of Black's songs--"Tame," from The Pixies' Doolittle. Black roared the chorus, tossed a painting into the first rows of the crowd, and exited. Kurt Vile, whose band opened the show, and Al Cisneros from Sleep were next. Cisneros took over bass duties from Barlow for a couple of songs, including the doom metal glazer "Alone" from 1997's Hand It Over. Harvey Milk's Kyle Spence took the drums for that one.

Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr and Broken Social Scene guru Kevin Drew emerged to play "The Wagon" with J, Lou and Murph. Then they covered Smiths track "The Boy With the Thorn In His Side," the words to which J was, uh, a little unsure of. Melvins drummer Dale Crover relieved Murph behind the kit for a skin-searing rendition of "Training Ground," a song by Mascis and Barlow's pre-Dinosaur hardcore band, Deep Wound. Don Fleming of Gumball and Dante Ferrando of Iron Cross helped the band cover "Crucified," and Kim Gordon gave a tempestuous performance on "Don't", Barlow's song from Bug that directly addresses the fractured relationship between him and Mascis. Gordon screamed, bellowed and cooed the song's one lyric ("Why don't you like me?") over and over again, dropping to her knees and falling to the stage like she was having an exorcism. It was intense. If Sonic Youth is over, she should start a hardcore band.

The encore began with a cover of the Stooges classic, "T.V. Eye," with Tommy Stinson on bass and Fred Armisen (whose show, Portlandia, will feature an appearance from J Mascis in its upcoming third season) on drums. Dinosaur Jr. closed with two classics: "Start Choppin" and "Freak Scene," the song that invented the slacker generation. It was a poignant, circle-closing moment. "Because when I need a friend," J sang, "it's still you," we all responded. The night was an amazing tribute to a great band, 25 years removed from their (so-far) signature achievement and, improbably, still going strong.

More pictures, some videos, and the setlist from the show (which also counted John Petkovic of Death of Samantha as a guest), below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr. and many guests celebrated 'You're Living All Over Me' at Terminal 5 (pics, videos, setlist)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Al Cisneros with Om at Bowery Ballroom, Nov 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Sleep is honored to perform at Maryland Deathfest 2013.

Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), Matt Pike (High On Fire, Sleep) and Jason Roeder (Neurosis, Sleep) have been carefully balancing busy touring schedules to push forward with Sleep as a full, reunited band...

We look forward to MDF and beyond.

Praise thee who accept The Iommic in thine heart

- Sleep"

Good news, which hopefully also means the return of Sleep for recorded material as well. Wow. More details on the way including, hopefully, tour dates outside of their appearance at 35 Denton and at MDF.

Current Sleep bandmates have been busy with their other projects as of late. Jason Roeder just celebrated the release of the new Neurosis LP in Oakland (pics). Matt Pike is currently on tour with High on Fire, and will play two NYC shows this weekend. And last but not least, Al Cisneros played with Om at Bowery Ballroom on 11/21 (pics) and will return to join Johnny Marr (who has a new solo album coming) and Kim Gordon at Terminal 5 on 12/1 for Dinosaur Jr's celebration of You're Living All Over Me. Tickets are still available.

Dinosaur Jr recently added a grip of European dates to their current slate of shows. Check out those dates alongside a stream of the new live album recorded in 1987 titled Chocomel Daze (out now on Merge).

Continue reading "Sleep is now a "full, reunited band"; Al Cisneros appearing at Dinosaur Jr show (now with Kim Gordon too) (dates)"

Dinosaur Jr at FYFest, August 2012 (more by Debi del Grande)

The initial announcement of Dinosaur Jr's performance of You're Living All Over Me at Terminal 5 on December 1 teased "Very Special Friends Sitting In". One of those is now announced. Johnny Marr is set to appear at Terminal 5, where he'll appear for "a song or two" along with opener (and likely guest) Kurt Vile. Tickets are still available. All Dinosaur Jr. dates are listed below.

Just like Dinosaur, Johnny Marr has a new LP as well though his isn't available until the new year. Marr's solo debut, titled The Messenger will be released on 2/26 via Sire/ADA, and will feature twelve new tracks by The Smiths/Modest Mouse/Cribs guitarist recorded in the UK and mastered at Abbey Road with Frank Artwright.

All tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr adds special guest Johnny Marr, who is welcoming a new solo record"

In an interview with Herald Sun (via FACT), Morrissey claims that Coachella offered to go "100% vegetarian" if he would reunite with Johnny Marr and headline the festival as The Smiths:

At Coachella a few years you complained about the waft of burning flesh from a nearby barbeque. Has that been a problem since at outdoor shows?

Not at all, and interestingly the agents for Coachella offered a 100-per-cent vegetarian event for the following year if I would agree to headline with Johnny Marr as the Smiths. Fascinatingly they made it clear that they would 'not require' the Smiths' bass player or drummer ... which I thought certainly said something.

The Moz always has to get in a little barb at Smiths rhythm section Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, doesn't he? For more on the Smiths, you can pick up the October issue of MOJO which details the band's formation. And of course Morrissey will be in NYC next week for three sold out shows on his upcoming tour.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Orange Juice - Felicity (MP3)

In what I hope (but don't promise) to be a regular feature, I'm gonna recommend a couple notable new reissues. What with the holiday season it full swing, either of these would make good holiday presents for the serious indie music lover.

Firstly is Domino Records' new Orange Juice box set, Coals to Newcastle, that compiles nearly everything the Glasgow legends ever recorded. (The single mix of "Rip it Up" is mysteriously absent.) This marks the first time 85% of this material has ever been released in America. Polydor reissued their albums on CD in 1997 but they fell out of print almost immediately. You can now chart the band's progression from their shambolic, jangly beginnings on Postcard Records through myriad line-up changes and transformation into what could be called an indie equivalent of Chic. Even the weird stuff -- like the high life-inspired "Million Pleading Faces" on Rip It Up -- is pretty good. And even if, like me, you shelled out the dough in the mid-'90s for the Polydor reissues (which went out of print almost instantly) there's previously unreleased 12" mixes, dub versions, rough mixes, non-LP singles, radio sessions, live tracks, and interviews. There's also a DVD containing rare Orange Juice television special Dada with Juice, and a Derek Jarman-directed video for "What Presence?" that I'd never seen before. (Why is this not on Youtube?) At $70 it ain't cheap, but if you think of it as less than ten bucks a disc it's not so bad. And well worth the money. You can stream 18 tracks from the box set over at Domino's website and download classic OJ single "Felicity" above.

While on the subject, OJ's Edwyn Collins' new album, Losing Sleep, is one of the year's best. His first made since two brain haemorrhages nearly took his life in 2005 and left him at first without the ability to walk or talk, let alone write songs. That it exists at all is a miracle, that it's as great as it is a testament to his spirit. Helping him out on the album are a cavalcade of talent -- Johnny Marr, Roddy Frame, The Drums, The Cribs, Franz Ferdinand, The Magic Numbers -- but always in the service of getting Collins' songs on record. Like his last two albums, Losing Sleep hasn't been released in America but is well worth picking up on import. Hey Domino... how about putting this one out too.

Speaking of Domino, the label just reissued Robert Wyatt's entire back catalog on CD and vinyl. If you don't own Rock Bottom, Nothing Can Stop Us and Shleep... now is the perfect time. Then move on to the rest of his records.

The other notable reissue is the four-disc "Omnibus Edition" of The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall, my personal favorite Fall album. The 1984 record was the first fully made with Mark E. Smith's then-wife Brix, who brought pop smarts to the Mancunian band's somewhat difficult sound, and their first produced by the great John Leckie.  Along with guitarist Craig Scanlon, bassist Steven Hanley and drummer Karl Burns this is the classic Fall lineup in my opinion. The Omnibus Edition restore's the album's original running order, putting singles from the same time "Oh Brother!," "C.R.E.E.P." and "No Bulbs" on the second disc with their b-sides and rough mixes of album tracks. The third collects radio sessions, and the fourth is a live recording from their performance at the 1984 Pandora's Music Box Festival in Norway (set time 3:15AM) that shows what a powerhouse live band the Fall were at the time. The box set sold out in the UK, but seems to be easily gettable here in the U.S.

Beggars Banquet also reissued The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall on vinyl (just the album) which lets you hear classics like "2X4," "Slang King" and "Disney's Dream Debased" in their analogue glory. Also out on vinyl: its follow-up, This Nation's Saving Grace which is widely considered by people not me to be their best-ever album. (It is a very close second.) It gets the Omnibus treatment in January. Save up, kids.

An Orange Juice video below...

Continue reading "an Orange Juice box set, new Edwyn Collins, the Fall reissues"

As you can see in the above picture, The Cribs are bummed out that they're not going to make it to Coachella this year. Read their full statement about it, below...

Continue reading "The Cribs (Johnny Marr included) definitely not coming to US"

photos by Tim Griffin

Marr, best-known for his work with The Smiths, has been collaborating with the group since the end of The Cribs' tour for their 2007 album, Men's Needs Women's Needs. But this will be the first time the guitarist joins the band on a North American run. As the short version of the story goes, Marr met Gary Jarman at a Portland barbecue, and the two - who were mutual fans -struck up a friendship. The rest of the band met him at the 2007 Glastonbury festival some time later. "We ended up just being friends, and then we ended up laying music together - which is naturally what you do when you're musicians, and it just happened from there," Jarman explains.

"It's like a new best friend having Johnny in the band," says Jarman simply. He says he and his brothers "sometimes pick his brain about things he's done in the past, he's got a lot of history, he's been in some bands," but in terms of Marr's role in the group, they're all equals. "He's just one of the guys," he says. "He doesn't come across as a mentor or anything like that." [Dose.Ca]

As you know, The Cribs are back. Tickets are still on sale for their Saturday night (1/16) show at Irving Plaza with Adam Green, and we have one pair of tickets to give away. Details at the end of this post.

A never-published set of pictures from the second of two shows they played at Bowery Ballroom in November (the set we posted already was from the first night), continues (with the setlist) below...

Continue reading "The Cribs play Irving Plaza Saturday (win tix), played Bowery Ballroom in 2008 (here's a new set of pics) "

photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Bill Pearis

The Cribs @ Bowery Ballroom

The Cribs played two sold out nights at Bowery Ballroom last Thursday (11/12) and Friday (11/13) -- their first NYC shows with new band-member Johnny Marr. The Von Bondies opened both nights. Thursday the Cribs also played The Late Show with David Letterman, performing "We are the Same Skies" from their new album, Ignore the Ignorant. Video of that, along with the brand new official video for the same song with more pictures from the first night at Bowery Ballroom, below.

I was at the first of the two shows, and the Jarman brothers were in fine form. Maybe not as rowdy but there's been no signs of change with their increased popularity. I think Ryan Jarman was wearing the same clothes as the last time I saw them a year and a half ago. They are a down-to-Earth, no bullshit kind of group.

As for for their new addition, the Jarmans and Marr acted like it was no big deal that one of the greatest guitarists of the last 25 years was now in the group, but there was extra oomph on older tracks like "Hey Scenesters" and "Mirror Kissers," and you could definitely feel Marr's influence on the Smith-y current single "We Share the Same Skies" and Ignore the Ignorant's title track. Likewise, the crowd didn't seem to pay Marr's presence any mind -- maybe some of them didn't know who he was? -- as they were too busy going mental, at least near the stage. I'm a Cribs fan, but I do think this was the best I've seen them since they made the leap from smaller-sized clubs.

Meanwhile, The Cribs just announced dates for a North American tour in early 2010, including a January 16 stop at Irving Plaza. Adam Green & The Dead Trees open that show and most of the dates on the tour. Jemima Pearl then replaces him as opener for the last six dates. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Wednesdday at noon. All announced tour dates, plus those videos and pictures, below...

Continue reading "The Cribs played Bowery Ballroom (pics) & Letterman (video) - announced tour w/ Adam Green (dates) ++ new video "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Cribs - We Were Aborted (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Prince of Tacoma (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - We've Been Friends Since 1989 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Lately (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - I'm a Donkey for Your Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Last Cans of Paint (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pants Yell! - Cold Hands (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose - Thee Only One (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brown Recluse - Night Train (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brown Recluse - Contour and Context (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Ropers - Revolver (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nord Express - The Natural (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lorelei - Stale Houses (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Max Tundra - Which Song (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deastro - Reaction To Substance M (MP3)

Tonight (11/11) and tomorrow are the last two shows of The Answering Machine's extended NYC visit, playing Bruar Falls tonight (with Dinnosaur Feathers and Zambri) and Cake Shop tomorrow (11/12, with Sholi). As I've said before, this Manchester band make superior Brit Indie and like their debut album, Another City, Another Sorry, quite a bit. You can get the whole thing at their bandcamp.com page.

The Cribs

Speaking of superior Brit Indie, The Cribs fourth album, Ignore the Ignorant, was released this week, just in time for their shows at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (11/12, still tickets available) and Friday (11/13, sold out). As you may know, The Cribs are now a four-piece, having added Johnny Marr to their otherwise all-Jarman lineup for the writing and recording of the new album which actually does sound like what you might expect it to. You've still got the big choruses and raw energy The Cribs are known for, but now with the flourishes and panache the onetime Smith is known for. I'd even say Ignore the Ignorant finds Johnny Marr sounding like Johhny Marr for the first time since his days in The The. It's a really strong record. But The Cribs are almost always better live than on record. I will be curious to see how Marr will affect the usual antics of Gary, Ryan, Ross. Will brothers still act like brothers when there's a legend nearly twice their age on stage?

The shows I'm most looking forward to this weekend are from Seattle's BOAT, a truly fun live band whose new album, Setting the Paces, is just terrific, loaded with irresistible indie pop, as much as you can fit on tangerine-colored vinyl. We're talking giant hooks, lyrics that are funny without being novelty (and have just enough of the crying-on-the-inside clown thing going on too), and production that is neither slick nor low fi. This is how it's done, and I've no doubt this will find its way into my Best of 2009 list.

BOAT play Union Hall on Friday (11/13) and Bruar Falls on Saturday (11/14) and you really should do yourself a favor and go see one of these shows. They don't make it East very often. Their live shows are fairly interactive -- they pass out bags of confetti and homemade shakers, and often work with signs and props -- but it never feels forced. They just want you to have a good time. The Union Hall show on Friday is with How I Became the Bomb; Saturday's Bruar Falls show is with Miniboone and Shark?

Pants Yell!

I feel a little bad that BOAT's show on Saturday is competing with the Slumberland 20th Anniversary show at The Bell House for the indie pop consumer's dollar. As someone who spent his college years going on road trips to Washington DC to see shows and go record shopping, Slumberland is intertwined with my musical upbringing, be it thumbing through Velocity Girl, Henry's Dress and Aislers Set 7"s at Arlington's Go Records, or hearing Stereolab's Switched On for the first time at Smash on M Street.

It's kind of amazing that, after a few years of dormancy, Slumberland has come back stronger than ever in the last year with records that have achieved a national level of attention that seemed impossible in the '90s. I'm still stunned at how popular Pains of Being Pure at Heart have gotten. It's a label that continues to be a labor of love for owner Mike Schulman. Maybe the listening public (now with the wide-reaching abilities of the internet) has come around to his way of thinking.

Anyway, Saturday's eight-band spectacular is a hard-t0-pass-up bill for any indie fan, featuring label heavy hitters The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (previously unannounced) and Crystal Stilts. There's also Boston's Pants Yell!, whose new album Received Pronunciation was just released and is what I'd call a textbook "grower," one whose many pleasures don't reveal themselves till maybe the third listen. The band are also swearing it's their last, and plan to break up next year (Check out an MP3 of "Cold Hands" above). Additionally, the show has Philadelphia's baroque-ish Brown Recluse from the label's current roster, and what is likely to be most people's first time seeing Frankie & the Outs, who were really good opening for Grass Widow at the Woodser a week ago.

There's also sets from three bands from Slumberland's dreamy '90s era: Lorelei, who have been back together since 2003, and The Ropers, and Nord Express who I'm pretty sure are playing their first shows since disbanding. While I know some Slumberland fanatics were hoping, wishing, crossing their fingers Schulman and Bell House booker Skippy might pull a rabbit out of their hat with more classic Slumberland bands (The Aislers Set, Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl or Rocketship), it's hard to argue with this lineup. It's gonna be a great night.

Versus

While on the subject of '90s indie rock, Versus are playing at Knitting Factory on Friday (11/13). Now augmented with a violinist (at least at their fantastic Seaport set this summer), they're sounding as good as they did in the '90s. Maybe even better. I'm told there's a new Versus album in the can and they're just trying to work out the whens and wheres of its release. The whole line-up at the Knit is TeenBeat related actually, with label head (and former Unrest frontman) Mark Robinson's new band Cotton Candy; Plus Minus which features Versus' James Balyut and ex-member Patrick Ramos and who are equally popular in their own right; The Solitary Cyclist which includes John Lindaman of True Love Always, Plus Minus drummer Chris Deaner, and food blogger (and friend of mine) Ganda Suthivarakom who has also performed with Miho Hatori, as well as in David Byrne's Imelda Marcos opera, Here Lies Love. Which leads us to the other band on the bill: Filipino indiepop band Ciudad. They've been playing shows here for the last month or so but this looks to be the final one before they head back to the Philippines.

GhostDigital

A couple other quick shows of interest. If you ever wondered what became of Einar, the other vocalist in the Sugarcubes (the one who shouted things like "I really don't like lobster!"), his current gig is GhostDigital which matches weird electronics to his particular style of vocals. They play tonight (11/11) at Monkeytown with fellow homemade diode musician Caspar Electronics.

GhostDigital also play on Thursday (11/12) at Town Hall as part of Music For 16 Futurists, which is further described as:

An evening-length concert of original scores and newly commissioned compositions for the intonarumori, or "noise-intoners" As part of its celebration of the 100th anniversary of Italian Futurism, the Performa 09 biennial, in collaboration with the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) and SFMOMA, has invited Luciano Chessa to direct a reconstruction project to produce accurate replicas the legendary instruments (8 noise families of 1-3 instruments each, in various registers) that Russolo built in Milan in the summer of 1913. As the first instruments capable of creating and manipulating noises through entirely mechanical processes, the intonarumori can be considered to be the original analog synthesizer, and the ancestors to the latest electronic synthesizers used today.

The night also features Blixa Bargeld, John Butcher, Luciano Chessa, Joan La Barbara, Nick Hallett, Pauline Oliveros, Mike Patton, Anat Pick, Elliott Sharp, Ulrich Krieger, Jennifer Walshe with Tony Conrad, Ghostigital with Skuli Sverrison, Finboggi Petursson, and Casper Electronics.

Sounds pretty cool. Aside: I used to fantasize that Einar formed a band with Fred Schneider. The most annoying band ever created.

OK that's it for this week. Videos and tour dates follow....

Continue reading "The Cribs, BOAT, Slumberland, Pants Yell!, GhostDigital, Versus, Music For 16 Futurists & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Cribs - We Were Aborted (MP3)

Wakefield, England's finest all-brother trio, The Cribs, expanded last year to a four-piece with restless Smiths (and Modest Mouse) axeman Johnny Marr joining the Jarman brothers. The fruits of this colaboration, the band's fourth album, Ignore the Ignorant, is out physically in the U.S. on November 10, the same week they'll be playing their first American shows with Marr, including two consecutive nights at Bowery Ballroom: November 12-13, to which tickets go on sale Friday(8/21) at noon.

You can get Ignore the Ignorant digitally September 8, which is the same week as the CD comes out in the UK. Ignore the Ignorant, which was made with veteran producer Nick Launay (The Veils, Maximo Park, XTC, a slew of Midnight Oil albums) is the lead review in the September issue of MOJO and garnered four stars:

There's an ambition at play here that has nothing to do with the more mercenary aspirations of their lesser peers, and while the album presents The Cribs in widescreen and Technicolor where previously they had a more rustic, lo-fi approach, they're no sell-outs, preserving their grit despirte the relative grandeur of the production. Lead single "Cheat on Me" is a spophisticated tangle of hooks that drives its melancholic point home via the sad-eyed melodies of its chorus, Marr's slide-guitar swoon and Ryan's delivery of the song's anguished refrain -- a torn Cobain-esque howl that could provoke goose-pimples from a corpse. A key point of reference here is The Replacements' "Bastards of Young," which The Cribs covered as a b-side last year, and which "Cheat on Me" echoes, another anthem of post-adolescent alienation.

Grab a free MP3 of "We Were Aborted" from that album above.

There's also a "deluxe edition" of Ignore the Ignorant that is available exclusively through iTunes that comes with live tracks recorded at The Ritz in Manchester in February of this year. In a move that seems clearly designed to keep fans from downloading the album illegally, if you pre-order this digital version (which you can do starting August 25) you get the full 20-song set. If you don't pre-order, you only get 14 bonus tracks.

All Cribs 2009 tour dates, the video for "Cheat on Me", and the new album cover art, below...

Continue reading "The Cribs - new album, MP3, video & shows w/ Johnny Marr"

Paul Weller & Johnny Marr @ Coachella 2009 (ivankay)

"I could go on endlessly about the excellent yet heartbreaking Paul Weller set no one watched. I just might blather more about it once I get home and have time to properly assess and convey why it was such a meaningful (albeit needlessly stopped) performance, both for artist and audience. (It also might make my annual Kill List, a rundown, in ranked order, of the weekend's greatest performance. Look for that sometime Tuesday.)

After roughly a half-hour of top-notch rock 'n' soul, culminating in some extra-fine space-jamming on "Porcelain Gods," Weller was informed that he had a measly 15 minutes left. "Just not long enough in the desert," he sniffed in between expletives....

...to cap his Sunday show, the now silver-haired Weller, looking Armani casual cool in a black outfit, was left to kick against the pricks in a chugging rendition of his minor MTV hit with help from ... well, how nice, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who strummed a bit and shared in on the bop-bop-bop-bop harmonies." [OCRegister]

The above is an account of Paul Weller's shortened set at Coachella on Sunday. From there, the ex-Jam frontman was supposed to make his way to NYC for a show at the Nokia Theatre this Friday night (4/24), but I just realized that show is no longer happening "Due to Personal Reasons Ticket Refunds Available at Point of Purchase." UPDATE with some sad news:

23rd Apr 2009

Its with immense sadness that we can confirm that John Weller passed away yesterday.

John who managed Pauls career from the start of the Jam onwards will be missed by everyone. He was a larger than life character who was respected across the music industry and a much loved husband, dad, grandad and friend.

Our thoughts and love go out to the Wellers at this sad and difficult time. Ann, Nicky and Paul also really appreciate all the lovely cards, emails and messages from everyone.

R.I.P.

Johnny Marr's old bandmate Morrissey also played Coachella.

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Terror @ Europa
* NY Times Arts & Leisure
* The Lisps @ Zipper Theater
* Mos Def @ Highline Ballroom
* Forro in the Dark @ Joe's Pub
* World/Inferno Friendship Society @ Webster Hall
* Afterworlds, Gates of Heaven & Apple Deaf @ Cake Shop
* Endless Boogie, Psychic Ills & Mike Fellows @ Glasslands
* Camper Van Beethoven & Victor Krummenacher @ Bowery Ballroom
* Tyvik, Psychedelic Horseshit & Kurt Vile @ Less Artists More Condos
* Bear Hands, Holy Hail, Atarah Valentine & Statehood @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Great Lake Swimmers, Haley Bonar & Daniel Martin Moore @ The Bell House
* My Teenage Stride, The Jaguar Club & Bridges and Powerlines @ Union Hall
* Carcinogenic Static (members of Talibam! & USAISAMONSTER) @ Market Hotel
* John Brown's Body, Globesonic, Jenny Scheinman, Haale & Sulha Sound System @ (le) poisson rouge

Jimmy Page was born today in 1944.

Laundromatinee has in-studio audio and video from a session with the Vivian Girls.

Tom Cruise emotional over Travolta death
DRM-free iTunes Store to haunt Apple?
The Golden Globes are Sunday.
Obama gets his own Spiderman comic book.
Dolly Parton picked for Gospel Hall of Fame.
Stevie Wonder Helps Promote Technology For Visually Impaired.
Linksys offers full wireless alternative to Sonos.
Beatles music pulled from Norweigian podcasts.

Move over Animal Collective, Sanjaya's long awaited album is here.

Above is an alternate cover for Jaydiohead.

Below is a video from 7 Worlds Collide. In it, Ed O'Brien (guitar), Liam Finn (guitar), Jeff Tweedy (vocals/guitar), John Stirratt (bass), Phil Selway (drums), and Johnny Marr (guitar), are performing Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

Over Christmas 2008 and New Year 2009, [Crowded House's] Neil Finn has invited the core band from his 2001 Seven Worlds Collide project, plus some other special guests, to create a new album at Roundhead studios in Auckland, New Zealand.

Guests confirmed so far are Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, founder member of The Smiths and current member of US alternate rock innovators Modest Mouse, Soul Coughing's Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, along with NZ musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. All proceeds from this very special recording will go to support the continuing great work of Oxfam International.

There will also be a short series of intimate and informal live performances in New Zealand at Auckland's Powerstation on 5, 6 and 7 January 2009.

Wilco kick off their tour-ending two night run with Neil Young at Madison Square Garden tonight (Monday, December 15th).

Everest opens both shows. Everest frontman Russell Pollard's wife's band The Watson Twins (like Everest's album and) play Town Hall in NYC in February.

Johnny Marr as a Modest Mouse member (more by Ryan Muir)

The Cribs - complete with Johnny Marr as part of their line-up - have revealed that they plan to release a new single this year during an exclusive video interview with NME.COM. The band had already revealed that they will record a full album in early 2009, but made the single revelation while speaking to NME.COM at the Leeds Festival on Friday (August 22).

"We don't know when it's going to happen, but we'll try and do that [release a single before the year ends]," said Marr.

The Cribs were scheduled to kick off a U.S. tour at Irving Plaza in NYC tonight (Sept 5), but it looks like all those shows were cancelled (again).

(most) photos by Eric M. Townsend

Stipe, Buck, Mills, and their two amigos came out whaling and they never let up. Playing only a couple of ballads, and everything being short and sweet, R.E.M. made the case for arena rock to live on just a little bit longer. The hypnotic goings on behind the band - a series of screens that relayed the scene on stage as if it was an already edited and produced performance video - were not only beyond impressive, they were actually distracting. At one point, it was even safe to wonder if the show would have been half as interesting without it. But the ferocity of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and "Bad Day" easily silenced that. Other highlights included the Mike Mills-led "Don't Go Back to Rockville", the Johnny Marr-joined "Fall on Me", "Losing My Religion", "Supernatural Superserious", "The One I Love", and "Man on the Moon". Michael Stipe did something I never thought he did...ever: He smiled and laughed a lot. In his dapper striped suit, the ever chatty, chrome domed Stipe had his usual political things to say but had even more to say in the field of being friendly, open, and inviting. Like the band's music.
[Sonic Parthenon]

More pictures from last night's show at MSG (June 19, 2008), below....

Continue reading "R.E.M. @ Madison Square Garden, NYC - pics & setlist"