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Apples in Stereo, Nick Drake, Peter Bjorn & John, "Peternity" Leave   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, February 01, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

APPLES IN STEREO singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Robert Schneider tells Harmonium why he's excited by the band's New Magnetic Wonder, his favorite cookie and more. The band sings along to "Same Old Drag" while driving through Park City, UT during Sundance. Plus, you can stream two more new tracks from TheirSpace (plus "Stephen, Stephen," which Schneider played at the Colbert-Decemberists guitar duel).

NICK DRAKE is getting another posthumous album of allegedly extremely rare material never officially released.  The link will also direct you to a streaming "best of" compilation.

THE EAGLES are close to releasing their first album of new music in almost 30 years? It's going to be tough to convince people about global warming if Hell keeps freezing over like this.

THE DECEMBERISTS frontman Colin Meloy is interviewed by Terry Gross for NPR's Fresh Air about the guitar duel with Stephen Colbert, The Crane Wife, and more.

MUSIC'S TOP MONEYMAKERS 2006: According to Forbes magazine, it's all about the touring, which doesn't surprise me, as I think it's been that way since I was a kid.

PETER BJORN & JOHN tell Pitchfork who they are listening to now, among other things. The band had its network TV debut recently, but the regular video for "Young Folks" is better, imho.  Plus, you can still stream their latest album from TheBooth this week.

THE SHINS do an interview (plus audio) with Rolling Stone, which starts with frontman James Mercer recalling his awe at the notion of selling 20K albums. The band's new album, Wincing the Night Away, debuted at number two o­n the charts, selling 118K copies. Do you think they have to pay royalties to Zach Braff and Natalie Portman? Anyway, you can stream a bunch via the ol' HM at the moment.

TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN! The Austin Chronicle looks at the growing complaints against super-loud, over-compressed recordings that tire the ears of the listener.

SINGER-SONGWRITERS: London's Independent examines their quiet, but growing, resurgence.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: London's Sun has video of the troubled singer shooting cocaine while reassuring the supposedly sober supermodel that he's "fine."

JESSICA BIEL: How did she steal Justin Timberlake? By answering his telephone call. That's not much of a seduction, but it's enough if you're Jessica Biel.

MISS CONDUCT: Freshly-rehabbed Miss USA Tara Conner says she used cocaine, antidepressants and other drugs prior to her treatment.

BRADGELINA: Pitt and Jolie's N'awlins home was o­nce Cosimo Matassas' recording studio, where Fats Domino, Little Richard, Professor Longhair, Allan Toussaint and more recorded in the 1950s. The house is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Professor Longhair.

LINDSAY LOHAN, stuck in rehab, reportedly text messaged bachelor-about-town Brody Jenner that all she wanted was "McDonald's and sex." I'm lovin' it.

COURTNEY LOVE was punk'd by someone claiming to be the exec producer of American Idol, who asked whether she would be interested in sitting in as a judge o­n the show.

SIENNA MILLER is denying rumors of any romance with either Diddy and that she and Hayden Christensen really "did it" for a love scene in Factory Girl. But there's a disputed story that Diddy's people took the memory card from a camera that snapped him and Miller at Crobar last weekend.

MADONNA: Contrary to all prior reports, adopting little David Banda from Malawi has worked wonders for Madge and Guy Ritchie's marriage.

RACHEL McADAMS is rumored to be the front-runner to replace Katie Holmes in the next Batman movie, perhaps playing Selena Kyle (a/k/a "The Catwoman"). The Dark Knight is scheduled to shoot in Chicago this summer.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON was snapped with Mark Wahlberg, but Scar-Jo's rep says it was all business.

TOM BRADY and GISELE BUNDCHEN, otoh, were officially caught o­n camera as a couple walking back to her NYC pad.

SIDNEY SHELDON, award-winning producer and novelist, died Tuesday afternoon of complications from pneumonia at 89. I'm sure he might prefer to be remembered for the novels, but who can forget The Patty Duke Show, which he also wrote, or I Dream of Jeannie?

RICH GIRLS GONE WILD: A new study of more than 600 high-net-worth individuals shows that the number of well-heeled women that lead more adventurous and exotic sex lives, have had an affair, or joined the mile-high club far outdistances that of men. But how can we judge these results as valid without knowing whether Paris Hilton was part of the survey?

MAXWELL'S DEMON: Nearly 150 years ago it was no more than a concept by a visionary scientist, but researchers have now created a minuscule motor that could lead to the creation of microscopic nanomachines.

IRAN: A new survey of Iranian and American attitudes about terrorism reveals both peoples have many of the same opinions: 70 percent of Iranians questioned felt international terrorism was an important threat to their country's vital interests; 76 percent said attacks against American civilians in the US are never justified; and 74 percent view Usama bin Laden unfavorably. Notably, Iranians were not asked about attacks o­n Americans in Iraq. Also, most Iranians view Hamas and Hezbollah favorably.

IRAQ: If it's a story about reconstruction, it must be bad news. The latest audit by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, paints "a grim picture of waste, fraud and frustration," according to the AP. What Bowen actually said was that "fraud has not been a significant component of the US experience in Iraq," but you won't learn that unless you read through to paragraph 15. Other stories highlight Bowen's comment that the potential loss could be 10 to 15 percent of the 21 billion allocated for US aid. That seems like a lot, but the GAO and others have estimated that 10 percent of all health care spending nationally is lost to "fraud and abuse" -- with New York losing as much as 18 billion yearly, and as much as 14 billion yearly in the Medi-Cal program. None of which justifies waste, fraud and abuse -- but such figures demonstrate that the levels seen in Iraq aren't far from the norm for a big government program (which surprises me, given it's a war zone). Little of the coverage even mentions what the US has accomplished in reconstruction, even though it would probably be news to most.

OXYGEN MASKS FOR PETS are becoming standard equipment for firefighters. They can be used o­n dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, even birds.

"PETERNITY" LEAVE: Companies in Britain are allowing employees to work from home or take days off to look after unwell pets.

ALBERTUS MAGNUS is a fat cat looking for a home.

SNAKES: A British mechanic spent two hours nervously dismantling a courtesy car to find a customer's pet python. PLUS: A new study finds Asian snakes like the Rhabdophis tigrinus eat poisonous toads and keeps their venom for themselves.

SHEEP are eating the sugar-based grit used to defrost icy roads in North Wales. Bad Sheep! Baaaaaaaaaad Sheep!

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The Pipettes on Ice, Broken West, Rare MC5, Mozart the Iguana   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE PIPETTES o­n ICE: Italian skater Valentina Marchei chose "Pull Shapes" for her performance at the Ice Gala 2006 ice skating competition (actually held earlier this month). And the crowd claps for more, even before she calls for it.

SUFJAN STEVENS: Thousands of fans and scalpers queued for free tickets to hear Sufjan play the Kennedy Center (with an orchestra) o­n February 5th. It looked like this.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH put out their sophomore album yesterday. Forgot to mention it, but you can stream a couple at TheirSpace.

THE BROKEN WEST: The World Cafe's David Dye calls their debut album "Brimming with catchy hooks and sweet harmonies." you can stream a couple via NPR. And if you did not stream the whole album last week, you can -- and should -- stream a number of tracks via the HM at the moment.

KISS has partnered with comic book production company Platinum Studios to create a new comic book entertainment company called the Kiss Comics Group. The first book will be three feet tall. Sadly, I do not think I have the original KISS comic books.

THE MC5: This take o­n the bluesy "Motor City is Burning" was shot for Beat Club, but was never broadcast, hence the bluescreen background. Normally, it would have looked like this uncensored take of "Kick Out The Jams."

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB has announced details of their upcoming album, Baby 81, due o­n May 1st. You can stream an unplugged version of "666 Conducer," via the ol' HM.

VIETNAM: People tend to fall into opposing camps o­n this band (not unlike the war). But I think it is fair to say they recall the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club more than the Black Crowes. NPR is streaming a couple from the World Cafe.

ROGUE WAVE drummer Pat Spurgeon received a kidney and underwent successful transplant surgery o­n January 12th.

LEE HAZLEWOOD: In the face of his impending "dirt nap," Australia's The Age takes an in-depth look at the pop master's life and legacy: "Today his sound is often called cowboy psychedelia, best represented by the trippy "Some Velvet Morning." But it's a genre of o­ne: No o­ne else has ever sounded quite like him." Much, much more at the link.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer and the supposedly sober supermodel checked secretly into a rehab facility together, though London's ever-reliable Sun seems careful to avoid claiming that Moss is in fact going into rehab.

SIENNA MILLER and DIDDY looked cozy at Sundance. Then they were spotted partying at NYC's Bungalow 8 last Saturday night and caught o­n camera being escorted to her NYC hotel around 9 a.m. by Diddy, whose people tried to obtain the film. Video of a very uncomfy-lookin' Diddy at that last link.

LINDSAY LOHAN'S extraordinary privileges at Wonderland have now driven disgruntled residents out of the rehab facility, according to TMZ. The center has reportedly become lax across-the-board to avoid charges of favoritism. The standard denials are issued. At least Li-Lo has a defender in Gwyneth Paltrow.

BRITNEY SPEARS is wearing the Star of David again, while o­n-and-off bf Issac Cohen buys the pop tart seven pairs of panties for Valentine

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New Releases, Flaming Lips & Cat Power, Steve Earle, Panda the Horse   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

DEAN & BRITTA: The former Luna-tics tell Harp about albums that changed their lives. As Dean names The Feelies -- and I just blurbed The Feelies last Friday -- I was in the mood to watch "Nightnurse" and the unplugged Le Blogotheque performance of "The Sun Is Still Sunny."

NEW RELEASES: The stateside arrivals of Lily Allen and Paolo Nutini are among those streaming in full from Spinner. The recently retired Lewis Taylor is followed by The Lost Album, which I'm glad was found. Beirut has posted "Elephant Gun" from a new EP. Melbourne's Love of Diagrams has posted three tracks from their EP, which is in a kinda Joy Div meets Wire with a hint 'o' Sonic Youth sorta space. And while it's not a new release, Peter, Bjorn and John's Writer's Block is streaming in full from the Booth. Unless they changed it this morning.

ROGER WATERS is tired of behaving like a "snotty kid" and trying to look o­n the bright side of life.

ARCTIC MONKEYS: You can stream the lads' surprisingly fantastic cover of the Barbara Lewis classic "Baby, I'm Yours" via Spinner. It's very Merseybeat.

THE POLICE are rumored to be playing the Grammys on Feb. 11th, most likely one of three songs: "Every Breath You Take," "Message in a Bottle" or "Roxanne."

OF MONTREAL bassist Bryan Poole talks to the Daily Californian about the degree of control frontman Kevin Barnes now has over the band's output.

FLAMING LIPS & CAT POWER crank out the Black Sabbath o­n ACL with a rendition of "War Pigs." (Thanks to Pate's first drummer, Ron Hahm, for tracking that down.)

PAUL WELLER, featured here yesterday, has turned down Queen Elizabeth's invitation to become a Commander of the British Empire.

STEVE EARLE: IckMusic has posted a live gig from Tradewinds in Sea Bright, NJ, circa Feb. 1998 in two-parts. Plus, you can jukebox via the ol' HM.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL MUSIC? Over the weekend, NPR interviewed Tom Heddon, o­ne of two composers for NFL Films, which shoots and scores the league's highlights films and blooper reels.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer has reportedly been asked to star in a new reality TV show, which will lock up celebrity drug addicts while they try to get clean. The supposedly sober supermodel may lose her endorsement deal with Rimmel, not because of any misbehavior, but because she is the ripe old age of 33.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes is having problems finding work because of her marriage to Cruise and his belief in Scientology, according to Hollywood insiders. Nevertheless, Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony continue to cozy up to TomKat, according to TMZ and Perez Hilton.

THE FRENCH HOTEL: parisexposed.com -- the website displaying personal dirt from the storage locker of the airheaded heiress -- has been shut down. But a lot of it seems to be floating around the 'net for free. NSFW, obvs.

GREY'S ANATOMY: Isaiah Washington's pals are saying he's not anti-gay, painting his slur as part of an anger management problem. T.R. Knight, who was the subject of the slur, is rumored to be threatening to leave the show, though his rep and the network deny it.

JESSICA SIMPSON is serving as John Mayer's band-aid. And his Grammy date.

CARMEN ELECTRA a pr0n starlet? No, but she is playing o­ne in an upcoming British flick, I Want Candy.

LINDSAY LOHAN is getting blacklisted by stars like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

HILARY DUFF, usually seen as a goody-two-shoes, took the opportunity of her split from Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden to get sloppy drunk at Hollywood hotspot Hyde. Indeed, the Duff sisters reportedly were "all over" their two man-dates.

SPIKE LEE will reportedly direct an NYC-based pilot for NBC, after planned NBC drama about post-Katrina New Orleans was scrapped. What would Kanye West say?

BRUCE WILLIS is kicked in the head for making Die Hard 4.

INDIANA JONES 4 will begin production in June 2007, with a release date of May 2008. Harrison Ford comments: "I don't know if the pants still fit but I know the hat will."

IS HOLLYWOOD TOO TIMID FOR THE WAR o­n TERROR? Novelist Andrew Klavan has a piece in the L.A. Times answering, "pretty much."

GEORGE CLOONEY flatly denies dating PAMELA ANDERSON. But he seems to be looking for love in his Nespresso coffee commercial.

IRAN: A coalition of leading human rights groups have called o­n UN officials to rebuke Iran for its campaign of Holocaust denial. Barry Rubin asks what a nuclear Iran would do, short of using nuclear weapons.

IRAQ: The US plans to go public with new evidence o­n Iran's role in fomenting Iraq's civil war and in working with terrorists killing American soldiers. Bill Roggio has more details o­n the huge battle near Najaf, where new estimates have 300-350 insurgents killed, with minimal losses to the Iraqi and US forces. ITM has more o­n "militants" fleeing to Syria.

IRAQ in the MEDIA: Agency France-Presse finds a new level of dumb with this lede: "The White House has stood by President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, despite growing public opposition and a chorus of criticism from lawmakers in Congress." What's more, VP Dick Cheney still supports it! Who'da thunkit?

PANDA is a miniature guide horse for her blind handler, Edie. A children's book has been written about them.

FROZEN DUCK RISES AGAIN: The duck that survived two days in a refrigerator after being shot by a hunter was declared dead during surgery, but perked up a few seconds later after some chest compressions and oxygen. Video at the link.

UNCAGED HEAT: Prison cats are paroled from Vermont's largest women's prison.

PYTHONS: A huge python believed to have eaten 11 dogs was captured by villagers near Kampung Pogoh, Malaysia. Meanwhile, Florida is considering requiring python registration.

SNAKE and RATS o­n a PLANE: A Bruneian couple o­n budget carrier AirAsia denied smuggling the pet snake, but admitted to the 46 baby rats found in their backpack.

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New Stooges, Rare Bowie, Rare Jam, New Apples in Stereo, Bar-hopping Dogs   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, January 29, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE ANNUALS played an unpluggedety mini-set you can stream or download from the Interface. They recently made their network TV debut with an electric, two-drummer version of "Carry Around."

THE STOOGES have posted the aptly-titled "My Idea of Fun," from their upcoming reunion LP, The Wierdness, for streaming via TheirSpace.

GUIDED BY VOICES: The Electrifying Conclusion, documenting the band's last performance (at Chicago's Metro, no less) airs tonight o­n Starz Cinema. Check your local listings.

DAVID BOWIE: Jefitoblog is killing music by posting Naked & Wired, which is 18 tracks of demos and TV appearances by the Thin White Duke. Those prone to guilty conscience can jukebox it via the ol' HM.

THE POLICE are rumored to be rehearsing a reunion tour at North Vancouver's Lions Gate Studios.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH drummer Sean Greenhalgh tells the New York Post that staying DIY made sense because it made dollars: "The reason that we decided to continue to do it ourselves is really economic as much as anything else. We make more money doing it ourselves than we would with a label." Hard numbers at the link.

PAUL WELLER: With a career-spanning CD in stores and a similar DVD o­n the way, Weller talked to Billboard about a number of subjects, including the demise of The Jam: "It would have been nice to have conquered America, but, ya know, I haven't lost sleep over it. I'll be more disappointed in the fact that there are an awful lot of people in America that don't know my music. If they did, I think they'd like it. But it doesn't stop me sleeping at night..." The Jam certainly gave the US a try, even stooping to be interviewed by Robb Weller o­n AM Chicago, a show whose final hostess was some woman named Oprah. When the band got to the West Coast, they performed "Heatwave" and "Strange Town" o­n a show that must remain nameless, with a crowd clad (inappropriately) in proto-80s fashion.

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have announced their first official tour dates, which are June festival dates in Germany.

THE APPLES IN STEREO have posted two new songs o­n TheirSpace. Two more new tracks, "7 Stars" and "Sundial Song," can be streamed via the ol' HM. All very much in line with their sunny psych-pop pedigree.

TOM WAITS settled his lawsuit against a German division of General Motors over television commercials that he says mimicked his vocal style without his permission. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but in a statement Mr. Waits

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The Feelies, Advance Tracks, The Tokens, Cutout Bin, Drunken Bulls   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, January 26, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with THE FEELIES: The Jonathan Demme-directed clip for "Away" -- shot at the legendary Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ -- probably best captures the band's more hyperkinetic live show, even moreso than this early clip of the title track to the band's first LP, "Crazy Rhythms." But songs like "Away" and "Deep Fascination" also had an etherial quality that I thought distinguished them from other groups inspired by the Velvet Underground. Their network TV debut o­n Late Night with David Letterman, "Doin' It Again," rocks more, though that's in part because it's really just Glenn Mercer, Bill Million and Dave Weckerman with Paul Shaffer's band. I like that Dave seems a bit unsure introducing them, but was clearly won over by the performance.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED is streaming new and advance tracks from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, Lucinda Williams, Erin McKeown and more.

JOHNNY MARR talks to Harp about being "the new guy" in Modest Mouse. Contrary to the rock stereotype, Marr is the stay-at-home type, with his family encoraging him to get out and about.

THE 2006 BLOGGREGATE -- a weighted survey of bloggers

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