Tampa Calling

For what we assume will be a very limited time, Pitchfork is streaming the entire epic Guided By Voices documentary Watch Me Jumpstart on its site, for free.

The 1998 film tells the story of the unlikeliest of rock stars (featuring Dayton, Ohio born Robert Polllard, an ex-4th-grade teacher) who never actually became rockstars to the general public but still managed to spawn a new sub-genre of DIY music-making, from recording albums on cassettes to printing T-shirts and album covers in their garage.

You can watch the whole thing by following the link below the jump:

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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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One of the ways people find out about new music is by listening to what their favorite trusted music critics have to say. Whether it’s a local newspaper or Rolling Stone, getting reviewed is very important to bands, especially the songwriters. Reviews provide professional validation and encouragement when they are positive, and derail genius if they are negative or overly critical.

But even knowing the perils, thousands of bands stills send in their CDs to music critics everywhere, hoping that that one person will explain their music in such an accurate and flattering way that fame would be the only logical result from these words being printed. Here’s some advice that may help put things in a more realistic perspective, and why the review doesn’t really matter.

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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 review by The 941 and Tampa Calling blogger and Creative Loafing Sarasota editor Cooper Levy-Baker.

Sign o’ the times: Band records album, band plots April 13 release date, album leaks, band quickly unleashes album digitally, band moves physical release date up to March 31. Such is life for a hot young rock group these days, and even the artists can’t get too worked up about it.

“We wanted to build toward a date, get excitement up and release it so everyone had it at once,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O told Pitchfork two weeks ago, discussing the file-sharing-induced rush release of her band’s third LP, It’s Blitz! ”But I guess that doesn’t really happen anymore. We’re still kinda stuck in 2003. I mean, even 2006 was a totally different time to release a record than 2009. It’s insane how quickly everything’s changed.”

The YYYs have, in a sense, been lapped. After all, the band was one of the first Internet-darling indie groups. They earned their early rep thanks to a mere 13 minutes of music on their 2001 self-titled debut EP. (A reputation for hellacious live shows, punctuated by O pouring beer all over herself certainly didn’t hurt.) By the time they released their first full-length, they’d already made the jump to a major label, Interscope, and ran into a distinctly ’00s trend: backlash that emerges even before a band has broken out. (For the most virulent example of this trend yet, please “read” these two Black Kids reviews, both from the same outlet.) Read the rest of this entry »

It’s lunch hour on a Tuesday afternoon and I’m doing what every descent red-blooded American that has managed to keep their job is doing — I’m using the company’s bandwidth to watch videos. Today has been especially good and I thought I’d share some with y’all:

• My distaste for Pitchfork has been well documented on my web site but today on the video portion of the net rag’s site, they’ve redeemed themselves for a week. Real-life bad muthafucker (sorry Samuel), Andre Williams is the focus of the documentary, Agile Mobile Hostile and PitchforkTV is streaming the entire thing. Go Watch It Now! Read the rest of this entry »

In a new, thorough interview with Pitchfork, Stephen Malkmus talks about his memories of albums past and about the possibility of a Pavement reunion.

SM: Well, I don’t think about it too much. It’s sort of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind type thing. It’s just standard question #10 on the interview circuit for Real Emotional Trash. It’s almost as if it’s a script. Most bands will tell you, make sure you like your press release, because everything is going to come off of that, and you know what’s coming. That’s part of the formula, so I usually just say “No, it’s not happening.” People say stuff about Pavement, and I say that I’m really honored and proud that a lot of people at the show are into Pavement, and there wouldn’t be as many people there, we wouldn’t have the dialogue, or play the same venues, frankly, if we were just a new band. So I’m happy about it. But I’m into the new thing.

Pitchfork: Do you think your bandmates in the Jicks ever feel weird about it?

SM: I think they’re used to it at this point. Maybe for Janet it was a new thing. She was in Sleater-Kinney, and that’s it own thing.

Pitchfork: Yeah, “When are Sleater-Kinney going to get back together again?

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