Tampa Calling

The mid-90’s Britpop feud between Oasis and Blur has become the stuff of legend. Noel Gallagher once famously hoped Blur frontman Damon Albarn would “catch AIDS and die” (he since recanted, blaming drugs for the outburst).  Surprisingly, he’s 100% behind the current Blur reunion: “I’m right into the Blur reunion, ’cause it’ll finish off the Kaiser Chiefs and put them to bed. There’s nothing worse than a shit Blur. And at least the original shit Blur are back to finish off all these other shit Blurs. I’m bang into the Blur reunion.”

From an old reunion to a possible new one: Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor no longer thinks very highly about former friend and collaborator Marilyn Manson.  Reznor calls Manson “a malicious guy and will step on anybody’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency … Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown. He used to be the smartest guy in the room.  And as a fan of his talents, I hope he gets his shit together.”

Lots of news on the Flaming Lips, The Cult, STP, Moz, and more after the jump!

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A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, April 27: The All-American Rejects
Tuesday, April 28: Dolly Parton
Wednesday, April 29: Manchester Orchestra
Friday, May 1: Bat for Lashes (pictured)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC
Monday, April 27: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Tuesday, April 28: Country Bones
Wednesday, April 29: Zac Brown Band
Thursday, April 30: Starsailor
Friday, May 1: Ziggy Marley

Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, CBS
Wednesday, April 29: Antony and the Johnsons Read the rest of this entry »

Ticketholders for the Nine Inch Nails/Jane’s Addiction tour (May 9 at Ford Amp), cross your fingers that Jane’s makes it that far. They’ve been fighting again. Perry Farrell isn’t concerned though. “I’m not going to tell you it’s been all smooches and hugs. But it shouldn’t be because that would be a bore … As long as they can handle it, I can handle it.”

Morrissey (pictured right) gave Coachella concertgoers a moment to remember last weekend. Midway through the set, he said, “I can smell burning flesh, and I hope to God it’s human.” A few minutes later, Moz left the stage! He would return, explaining, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I just couldn’t bear it.” The rest of his set concluded without incident. Moz, you may remember, is an outspoken vegetarian. One of The Smiths‘ albums is titled Meat Is Murder, after all.

More stories about Depeche Mode, The Cure, Pixies, Breeders, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins after the jump.

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A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing the five-nights-a-week late night talk shows (and SNL); set your TIVOs or DVRs.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, March 23: Bloc Party (pictured)
Tuesday, March 24: White Lies
Wednesday, March 25: Jesse Harris with Norah Jones
Thursday, March 26: U2 (rerun, March 6)
Friday, March 27: Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt (rerun, Feb. 4)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC
Monday, March 23: Playing For Change
Tuesday, March 24: PJ Harvey and John Parish
Wednesday, March 25: Prince
Thursday, March 26: Prince
Friday, March 27: Prince Read the rest of this entry »

TV on the Radio’s serene guitarist-falsetto singer Kyp Malone had a pretty nice chat with Pitchfork last week. (Pitchfork writer Ryan Dombol likened him to “human chamomile tea.”) In the interview, he talked about TVOTR’s Saturday Night Live debut (”I was immediately told how shitty the sound was by people who were outside the room”), the Jonas Brothers’ performance on SNL last week (”The Jonas Brothers probably had Mickey Mouse standing in the control room with a gun. I’m sure it was a handgun, not an assault rifle.”), and being hand-picked by David Bowie to contribute a cover of “Heroes” to the War Child: Heroes album.

Another concert announcement that came down the pipelines last week: Hall & Oates. The duo plays Ruth Eckerd Hall Wed., April 15. Tickets are $49.50 to $79.50.

Also on the concert radar is a solo concert by Dresden Dolls songstress Amanda Palmer (pictured) at State Theatre March 26 ($16); Blue October plays Jannus Landing April 22 ($25); and Manchester Orchestra at State Theatre June 2 ($11).

If you missed it Friday night, the Whites Stripes played Conan O’Brien’s last Late Night show, marking their first live appearance since they canceled their 2007 Icky Thump tour due to Meg White’s anxiety problems. Read the rest of this entry »

Recognizing the release (and very good reviews) of Morrissey’s new album, Years of Refusal, out today, Paste has released a list of the 10 best Smiths songs. Let’s see if we at CL agree with it:

10. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”—One of three Queen Is Dead songs on this list, “Bigmouth” features a nice anachronistic lyric about Joan of Arc and a Walkman. The song rocks fairly hard by Smiths standards; a colleague recently told me that “Morrissey actually growls on the live version off Rank,” then played me the clip. (Sure enough, he does.)

9. “Ask”—A highlight among highlights on Louder Than Bombs, in which our narrator spends “warm summer days indoors / writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg.”

8. “Rusholme Ruffians”—An underrated Meat Is Murder track, which makes our list for three reasons: Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar, Morrissey’s schoolboy angst and the hopelessly romantic lyric, “I might walk home alone / but my faith in love is still devout”

7. “Girlfriend in a Coma”—A vicious two-minute pop song that leaves you reeling.

6. “How Soon Is Now”—Thanks to Marr’s epic riff, this may be the most widely known Smiths song amongst the general public. For a band that specialized in intimacy, “How Soon” works surprisingly well as an ’80s anthem.

5. “Panic”—I’ve always wanted a radio show with this as my theme song. (Bonus points if you can watch the video without vomiting.)

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Abe Vigoda, Reviver EP (PPM)

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, The Century of Self (Richter Scale)

Asobi Seksu, Hush (Polyvinyl)

Beirut, March of the Zapotec/Holland EP (Pompeii/ Ba Da Bing)

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Lightning Rod Records)

Annie Lennox, The Annie Lennox Collection (Sony)

Minus the Bear, Acoustics EP (Suicide Squeeze)

Mishka, Above the Bones (J.K. Livin)

Morrissey, Years of Refusal (Attack/Lost Highway)

Mountains, Choral (Thrill Jockey)

M. Ward, Hold Time (Merge)

N.A.S.A., The Spirit of Apollo (Anti-)

Psapp, The Camel’s Back (Domino)

Sam Roberts, Love at the End of the World (Rounder)

Soulfound, Live at Zen Recording EP (Mohawk Bomb Records)

William Elliott Whitmore, Animals in the Dark (Anti)

Various Artists, Dark Was the Night (4AD)

A regular weekly bulletin on musical guests playing the five-nights-a-week late night talk shows; set your TIVOs or DVRs.

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Wednesday, February 4: Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt
Thursday, February 5: Mark Olson & Gary Louris
Friday, February 6: Beirut (pictured)
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Morrissey and his band stuck 7″ records to their dicks and got someone to take a picture of it.

According to fansite sources, the photo will appear on the inside sleeve of his new single, “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris”.

Follow the jump to see genuine Smiths pubes:

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Pitchfork recently ran a comprehensive guide to releases coming up in 2009. I’ve scaled it down to the highlights (no box sets, re-issues, vinyl, 7″ or overseas releases) and added a few as well. Click here to see Pitchfork’s complete guide.

JANUARY

06
*The Brighton Port Authority, I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Southern Fried)
Glasvegas, Glasvegas (Columbia)
The Gourds, Haymaker! (Yep Roc)

13
Late of the Pier, Fantasy Black Channel (Astralwerks)
Lymbyc System, Carved by Glaciers (Magic Bullet)
My Dear Disco, Dancethink (Dancethink)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Greatest Hits (Columbia Wal-Mart exclusive)
This Will Destroy You & Lymbyc System, Field Studies (Magic Bullet)
*Derek Trucks Band, Already Free (Sony Legacy)

20
*Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
*Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)
*Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar)
Calexico, Live From Austin, TX (New West DVD)
John Frusciante, The Empyrean (Adrenaline Music)
Ice-T, Live in Montreux 1995 (MVD DVD)
Matt and Kim, Grand (FADER)
*The Modern Skirts, All of Us in Our Night (Modern Skirts Recordings)
A.C. Newman, Get Guilty (Matador)
Ben Nichols, The Last Pale Light in the West (The Rebel Group)
Or, The Whale, Light Poles and Pines (Seany)
Public Enemy, Revolverlution Tour 2003 (MVD DVD)
*Squarepusher, Numbers Lucent EP (Warp)
*Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis (Sci Fidelity)

27
*The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not the Future (Blue Note)
Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol DVD)
Circlesquare, Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
*Cotton Jones, Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze)
*Dan Deacon/Adventure, Split 12″ (Carpark)
*Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Hot Chip With Robert Wyatt and Geese EP (Astralwerks)
Kylie Minogue, Boombox: The Remix Album (Parlophone)
of Montreal, Jon Brion Remix EP (Polyvinyl)
Owen, (the ep) (Polyvinyl)
Rush, Retrospective 3 (Atlantic CD/DVD)
*RZA, Afro Samurai: The Resurrection (Wu Music Group)
Duncan Sheik, Whisper House (Victor)
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream (Columbia)
*The Sway Machinery, Hidden Melodies Revealed (JDub) Read the rest of this entry »

Former Smith and indie boy icon Morrissey will bring his melodramatic croon and hopeless romanticism to Jannus Landing on March 4. Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 19 at 10am through Ticketmaster, or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. Moz will begin the U.S. leg of his world tour in support of his new album, Years of Refusal, this February. Morrissey will be backed by his longtime band including Boz Boorer, Jesse Tobias, Matt Walker and Solomon Walker. Video clip after the jump.

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Isn’t this the way the Internet works: Without even trying, you occasionally stumble upon something wonderful.

I’d never heard of or even heard Timi Yuro before today. But as I was perusing a Beatles set list from 1963 that had been posted online, I noticed a song titled “If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody” a version of which was recorded by James Ray, a soul singer who died shortly after finding some success in the early ’60s. While I sought out Ray’s version of the song, I happened upon a recording by Timi Yuro on YouTube.

I was duly impressed by Yuro’s brassy, soulful vocals, and so I ended up listening to her other recordings, many of which were standards of the day: “All Alone Am I,” “Cry,” “I’m Sorry,” to name just a few.

According to Yuro’s entry in Wikipedia, she was Morrissey’s favorite singer, and counted Elvis among her biggest fans.

Yuro released her last album in 1984, Timi Yuro Sings Willie Nelson, which was produced by Nelson. Take a listen to one of her lovely duets with Willie, “Did I Ever Love You.” Yuro died of throat cancer in 2004. If you don’t already know of her, take the time to discover a stunning talent.