Via Buzzfeed & Laughing Squid, comes this handwritten list Kurt Cobain made, as published in Journals in 2002. Read the whole thing typed, below...

Continue reading "Kurt Cobain's 50 favorite albums"

Jeffrey Lewis @ Space Ducks party (more by Greg Cristman)

Jeffrey Lewis, who is on tour and opened for Pulp on April 11th, was added as the special guest to the Gary Lucas show happening at Joe's Pub on April 17.

Gary Lucas meanwhile can be found TONIGHT (4/13) at the Bell House (at a tribute to the Shaggs), as well as at Rockwood Music Hall on April 22nd as a guest with Jann Klose, and again at the Bell House on May 18th.

TONIGHT/FRIDAY's show looks like this:

A BENEFIT FOR THE FREMONT, NH TOWN HALL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
STILL BETTER THAN THE BEATLES:
A TRIBUTE TO THE SHAGGS

On Friday April 13th, a collection of musicians from the rock, pop, jazz, blues, folk, metal, prog, & experimental worlds will be gathering together at The Bell House to pay tribute to the music of legendary 60's female power trio The Shaggs. Performers include Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart/Jeff Buckley), Elliott Sharp, Chris Butler (The Waitresses), Supercute!, Laura Cromwell (God Is My Co-Pilot),Mike Fornatale (Moby Grape/The Monks), Ira Elliot (Nada Surf), Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), Julie Slick (Adrian Belew Power Trio), Weasel Walter (The Flying Luttenbachers), Christy & Emily, members of The Loser's Lounge, and many more.

The evening will conclude with a live Q&A session with Dot Semprini, Betty Porter, & Rachel Gould (aka The Wiggin Sisters) of The Shaggs.

The concert is being held in connection with The Fremont, NH Town Hall Historical Society, with proceeds to go to The Fremont, NH 250th Anniversary Committee - in honor of the The Shaggs' hometown and the location of many of their shows.

The May 18th show is with Gary's supergroup, Gods and Monsters, whose lineup includes:

Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley) on guitars and vocals; Billy Ficca (Television) on drums; Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers) on bass and vocals; Jason Candler (Hungry March Band) on alto sax; and Joe Hendel (Latest Show on Earth), trombone and keyboards. Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) occasionally joins the group live on stage and in the studio on keyboards.

For this show, "Gary's guest French underground chanteuse Beatrice Demi-Mondaine" will be sitting in with Gods and Monsters. Institutional Prostitution are also on the bill and Gary Lucas will be guesting with them. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All Gary Lucas dates are listed below...

Continue reading "a Shaggs tribute tonight, a show with Jeff Lewis @ Joe's Pub & other upcoming Gary Lucas dates"

"The band is primarily notable today for their perceived ineptitude at playing conventional rock music; the band was described in one Rolling Stone article as "...sounding like lobotomized Trapp Family singers." As the obscure LP achieved recognition among collectors, the band was praised for their raw, intuitive composition style and lyrical honesty. Philosophy of the World was lauded as a work of art brut, and was later reissued, followed by a compilation album, Shaggs' Own Thing, in 1982. The Shaggs are now seen as a groundbreaking outsider music group, receiving praise from mainstream artists such as Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa." [Wikipedia]

A musical based on '60s girl-rock oddities the Shaggs will be coming to Playwrights Horizons on 42nd St in NYC in spring 2011. The show, written by Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen, premiered in LA in 2003 and played in NYC during the NY Musical Theater Festival in 2005. The new production will be co-produced by New York Theater Workshop.

More info on "The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World" at the NY Times, and videos are posted below...

Continue reading "a Shaggs musical is coming (back) to NYC"