Tampa Calling

Random news bites from the last several days (excluding anything about Michael Jackson … well, mostly).

Regina Spektor’s new album, far, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 this week and the lovely Russian-born songstress is scheduled to perform on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Thursday, July 30. Slipping to the No. 2 spot this week are the Jonas Brothers with Vines And Trying Times, which held last week’s No. 1 position. Black Eyed Peas have moved to the top of the charts with The E.N.D. And in case you BEP fans were worried, the title doesn’t foreshadow the band’s immenint break-up, but stands for “The Energy Never Dies.” Clever.

Seattle grunge metal makers Alice in Chains have confirmed the dates of their upcoming world tour, sans lead voice Layne Staley, who, if you recall, faded away into reclusivity before he speedballed to his death in 2002. The tour supports the band’s first new studio release in more than 10 years, Black Gives Way to Blue (in stores September 29). The first single, “A Looking View,” is currently streaming on their MySpace page and definitely has the feel of classic Alice in Chains, complete with the hard-meets-soft harmonies by vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrel and Staley replacement, vocalist/guitarist William Duvall. Here’s a statement the band released about the new song: “The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on.” Current confirmed U.S. stops include Detroit, DC, Chicago, NYC, Milwaukee, Portland and San Francisco. No telling whether the tour will bring them to Florida. Read the rest of this entry »

The Dodos perform solid, straighforward, no-frills-attached acoustic-driven pop music, and their 2008 album, Visiter, was among one of my favorites last year. Here’s the band performing “Red and Purple” and  “Eyelids” from Visiter, and what seems to be a new song, “Fables,” on Pitchfork TV. (See the video after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

As an addendum to my recent column, “Traveling to see music without losing your money (or your mind),” I’ve put together this small group of shows and fests that provide some good selections for music-motivated travel. If you haven’t already made travel plans this summer, here are some of your best bets.

Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio
Saturday, June 13, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
If you wanna go, get your tickets now — it’s a Saturday night co-headlining bill featuring of two of Brooklyn’s most hip and beloved bands, both with recent albums — Grizzly’s just-released Veckatimest, TVOTR’s fantastic Dear Science from last year — so the show will most definitely sell out. I would be at this show, front row, if I wasn’t just returning from a music-motivated vacation that same Thursday.

The Decemberists (pictured) with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot
July 18-19, Edgefield, Portland, Oregon
The chamber rock quintet only comes as close as Atlanta and plays that date on Wednesday, June 3 — not at all convenient for a road trip unless you plan on taking that week off. But the tour also includes this appealing Saturday-Sunday run in Portland, and with whistling singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, and Portland’s own indie pop duo, Blind Pilot. Read the rest of this entry »

Guitar World recently offered up a list of the “Top 10 Stupidest Band Names of All Time” and I gotta say, it doesn’t look like they put a lot of thought into it, like someone had a good idea but didn’t use enough brain power to carry it out properly. Here’s the list:

1. The Beatles
2. Limp Bizkit
3. Boy Parts – Throbbing Gristle, Revolting Cocks, Iron Sausage
4. Girl Parts – Nashville Pussy, Bush, Pussy Galore, Hot Tuna
5. Scatological Names – Butthole Surfers, Fudge Tunnel, Butt Trumpet
6. Place Names – Nantucket, Boston, New York City, Europe, Asia, Chicago, Wakefield, Landale
7. Yes
8. Toto
9. The Presidents of the United States of America
10. The Band

First off, it’s not even an authentic Top 10 (see numbers 3 through 6). Second, The Beatles? You’re a writer at a marginally well-known rag that covers music, solely, all the time, and you can’t come up with a better bad band name than The Beatles? And you stick it up top, in the number one slot, as if to say it’s the worst band name of all time, even though the list is supposed to be in no particular order. And if it really is in no particular order — The Beatles were the first band you thought of? Really? I don’t want to judge, but I am. So I’ve made my own highly subjective, somewhat thoughtful list of awful band names in response. In no particular order: Read the rest of this entry »