Photo © kevinlhenderson

I hate to say it, but My Morning Jacket have been dethroned as Best Live Band, by the road veterans Wilco, in my book. Sure, MMJ have held the title for quite awhile, and I’m sure that they still do with many of you out there, but if you were witness to the mind boggling performance that Wilco put on Sunday night @ Stubb’s, you would agree. Absolutely amazing and easily in the top 5 live performances I have witnessed in my lifetime.

My Morning Jacket have the opportunity to seize the title once again, when they hit the same Stubb’s stage on 8.28. Tickets for the show go on sale 5.16. Get em quick.

Evil Urges is set for a June 10th street date, and word around the scene is that it is great, but very different. It might challenge a few fans out there.
Mp3> My Morning Jacket ‘Evil Urges’

MMJ Tour

06/20 New York, NY @Radio City Music Hall

08/16 Louisville, KY @ The Great Lawn at Louisville Waterfront Park

08/18 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre

08/19 Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove

08/21 Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater

08/23 Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom

08/24 Austin, TX @ Stubbs [Tickets]

08/27 Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre-Atlanta

08/29 Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach@ the Jackie Gleason Theater

08/30 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues, Orlando

08/31 Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues, Myrtle Beach

09/02 Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion

09/03 Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall

09/05 Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier @ Penn’s Landing

09/06 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion

09/19 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre

09/21 Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre

09/23 Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee

09/24 Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint

09/25 San Diego, CA @ SDSU Open Air Theater

09/27 Portland, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield

09/28 Seattle WA @ McCaw Hall

10/02 Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre

10/03 Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater

10/04 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore

10/09 Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre

10/10 Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre

You can find this list on any local Austin bloggers site, but I feel it’s my duty as an Austinite to post it as well.

Who on this list am I excited about?:Beck, Mars Volta, Iron & Wine, Neko Case, Silversun Pickups, Band of Horses, Gogol Bordello, Against Me!, Spiritualized, Heartless Bastards (are they back together?), Colour Revolt (Hell Yeah!), and many more.

For the past couple of months, Navdo has been putting on showcases of the best local and national talent in Austin, Texas at The Parish!

Navdo and with the help Synaesthesiax provides bands with professional lighting and the best sound in ATX.

Make sure to mark your calender for these awe-inspiring shows

March 12 “Friends of The Parish #1″ SXSW DAY SHOW

214 E. 6th Street, Austin, Texas 78701

Free w/Music Badge

$3 w/Wristband

$6 Non-Badge/Wristband

12:00 – 12:30 – Creature – www.myspace.com/creaturecreature

12:45 – 1:30 – Trilobite - www.myspace.com/trilobite

1:45 – 2:15 – The Boxing Lesson – www.myspace.com/theboxinglesson

2:30 – 3:15 – Audrye Sessions – www.myspace.com/audryesessions

3:25 – 3:55 – Paleo – www.myspace.com/paleo

4:05 – 5:00 – Autolux – www.myspace.com/autolux

March 14 “The Boxing Lesson CD Release Party” SXSW DAY PARTY *OUTDOOR SHOW*

Guero’s 1412 S. Congress, Austin, Texas 78704

FREE

2:00 Rademacher – www.myspace.com/rademacher

2:45 Zykos – www.myspace.com/zykos

3:30 Frankel - www.myspace.com/frankel

4:20 The Big Sleep – www.myspace.com/sonofthetiger

5:15 Radar Bros. – www.myspace.com/radarbros

6:00 {{{SUNSET}}} *Bill Baird from Sound Team* - www.myspace.com/lobosunset

7:00 The Boxing Lesson – www.myspace.com/theboxinglesson

8:00 Gliss – www.myspace.com/gliss

9:00 Har Mar Superstar – www.myspace.com/harmarstar

March 15 “Friends of The Parish #2″ SXSW DAY SHOW

214 E. 6th Street, Austin, Texas 78701

1:00 – 1:20 Gabe Hascall - www.myspace.com/gabehascall

1:20 – 1:40 Monster Girl – www.myspace.com/themonstergirl

1:40 – 1:50 Le Ren – www.myspace.com/lerenmusic

1:55 – 2:25 The Boxing Lesson – www.myspace.com/theboxinglesson

2:40 – 3:10 Run Run Run – www.myspace.com/runrunrun

3:25 – 3:55 The Breathers – www.myspace.com/thebreathers

4:10 – 5:00 Emily Grace – www.myspace.com/emilygracemusic

Free w/Music Badge/Wristband

$4 Non-Badge/Wristband

Portishead are putting out their first recorded piece of material in 10 years, and I for one, am curious. It’s funny, as I look back, because back then we didn’t have the fast and furious blog scene to turn us on to the music as we have today, and my acquaintance with Portishead happened the old fashioned way..word of mouth (literal mouth). My love for Portishead is limited. The recording that captured my complete attention was the live recording @ the Roseland Ballroom in NYC with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I had heard earlier recordings and my interest was peaked, but this one for me seemed to seal the deal on the efforts of the band. I do have a copy of an EP that features as many versions of “Sour Times” as you could imagine, and I’ll share a few of those.

You can expect the newest from the band entitled Third to become legal April 14th.

MP3> Sour Times

MP3> Airbus Reconstruction

MP3> Numbed In Moscow

Not only do they have a new recording, but the band is touring as well.

I’m sure that you want the dates: Read more

I finally checked out the Ian Curtis biopic Control the other night and was completely thrilled and moved by the film. The examination of Curtis’s life dealing with relationships and fronting a band on the rise to fame, was in-depth, visually appropriate, and what one could only believe to be quite accurate. The live performances by the actors who portray Joy Division have me wishing that I may have had an opportunity to see the band perform live if only for once. Check out this video mash-up I found on Stereogum that compares the film version to the original BBC viewing of “Transmission”.

Joy Division “Leaders of Men”

photo : michael maly

The guys in Wild Sweet Orange write crafty poetic, dreamlike indie rock songs with a bit of a Southern feel and great guitar work as the backbone. Growing up childhood friends in Birmingham, AL, Preston Livinggood, Chip Kilpatrick, Garret Kelly, Matt Parsons, and Taylor Shaw are quickly catching the attention of folks with 2 EPs produced and a full length coming soon. The band has signed with Canvasback Music for the release of their full length, which houses another band that I have become fond of over the past year, Manchester Orchestra. I recently caught the bands live show, purely out of curiosity and not knowing much about the music, and was pleasantly surprised with the overall talent and performance. These guys managed to hold my attention for the entire set, which is a feat in itself, and had me wanting more as the closed out the show with a new song that energized the band to another level of playing. Chances are the boys will be back in town for SXSW 2008 and I’ll be looking forward to the second round of Wild Sweet Orange.

Mp3>>Ten Dead Dogs

Mp3>>House Of Regret

If you haven’t been keeping track of what’s been going on with Radiohead, then you are missing what could be one of the most unexpected, mysteriously entertaining event put on by any band…ever. Who knows what they have up their sleeve next? You can bet one thing though. Their next tour is going to be one of the biggest tours ever! Take into consideration the self generated hype that these guys are building up right now, music fans around the world are going to feverishly rabid for a chance to see them live.

A nod to the late great Smiths by the greatest band in the world right now from Radiohead.tv , broadcast day 2.

“Headmaster Ritual”

It’s that time again. Time to support the greatest radio station in the country, KEXP out of Seattle, WA which is quite possibly responsible for turning me on to most of the music that I cover on this site. Free of corporate corruption, and completely listener supported is what makes this radio station great. The station has been very supportive of many Austin bands, and if you haven’t noticed have become more involved in the local scene by sponsoring shows around town. John Richards in the Morning and Cheryl Waters on the Midday Show have kept me company on many a day while banging away on the key pad, and they never fail to put a smile on my face with the diverse selections that they continually play. Do yourself a favor and start tuning into KEXP @ KEXP.org and discover a world of radio that you always wanted to exist, because it does, and it’s great. Oh yeah, give them a little love $$$ so that they can continue doing what they do for years to come.

Bands I’ve discovered as of recent because of KEXP

The Blakes Mp3>>Modern Man

Dead Confederate

Manchester Orchestra Mp3>>Golden Ticket

The Shackeltons

Just to name a few.

The Hype-Machine is a great website that allows you to find all the mp3s that you love, on all of the thousands of blog-sites that post mp3s for your listening pleasure. The new Hype-Machine needs to be fed apparently and won’t show it’s face until it is satisfied with 10,000 strong proving their loyalty to the machine. Log on to the new Hype-Machine page and help get it back to it’s lovable old self. Last I checked it was about 6,000 + viewers away from it’s goal.

By the way. Have you downloaded In Rainbows yet? Here’s is one reason to do so.

Mp3>>Radiohead ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’

I’ve been doing my best to keep up on every move that this band,The Shackeltons, makes in anticipation of the new recording becoming available, and hopefully a tour that will bring them closer for a view. John Richards of KEXP fame, liked the band so much he signed them to his own label Loveless Records and the band soon went into the studio with Sam Jones to cut a self-titled album that should becoming legal sometime in early 2008. This video was shot during a performance at Seattle’s High Dive, and is the work of Sam Jones as well. I hear reports of the live show by these guys to be quite the experience.

Mp3>>Your Movement

TOUR DATES
Fri, Oct 12 Pittsburgh @ Brillobox
Fri, Oct 19 Planetary’s Skewer CMJ Party @ Pianos 1pm – 6pm
Sat, Oct 30 CMJ @ Cake Shop, 9:00pm
Wed, Dec 5 Harrisburg, PA @ Indie at Abbey

The long awaited and much anticipated release from Radiohead, the 7th full length from the band, In Rainbows is finally available for you to download, and you get to decide how much you want to pay for the album. How much better can it get? Chances are, that the site’s bandwith will be tested to it’s fullest and you may have to try a time or two, but it’ll be worth it in the end. October 10th will surely be a day to be remembered in music history.

Do your business here.

Some live In Rainbows mp3 action

Mp3>>Nude

The Arcade Fire put up the beonlineb.com site early this week indicating that something was to transpire on Saturday 10.6 sparking the minds of many with guesses of what may lie in wait for fans on this day. The band was scheduled to play a date in NY with LCD Soundsystem, so several ideas flirted with the thought that their might be some sort of collaboration between the two. What transpired was a playful little interactive video of Win Butler singing “Neon Bible”. It’s fun for a few minutes, but might have some fans a little disappointed.

Play why don’t you…beonlineb.com

Mp3>>Neon Bible

Someone brought up The Young Ones to me the other day, and the memory of how much I enjoyed this British sitcom from the 80′s prompted a visit over to YouTube for turned out to be several minutes of me laughing hysterically. Let’s keep in mind that I wear a few more years that most you reading this, so my memories probably assisted with triggering the reaction.Never heard of The Young Ones?

The Young Ones first appeared on BBC2 in the 8o’s and quickly found it’s way into popularity amongst the youth of the time, as well as a regular time slot on MTV. Granted, this was a time when music dominated the airwaves at MTV, and a sitcom that appealed to the MTV generation was a welcomed addition. The show was based around the lives of 4 undergrad students that shared a house together: the violent punk rocker Vyvyan, pimple faced anarchist Rick, veggie lover/hippie Neil, and odd curiosity Mike. The offbeat, crass, dirty, foul, anarchist style of humor was considered by many to be complete rubbish, but paved the way for a lot of the similar style comedy that still exists today. Along with bizarre plot twists and surrealistic scene changes, the show also featured some popular music artists of that time performing on the set. Madness, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Motorhead, and The Damned are among the few instilled in my memory.

I have compiled a video pile of some funny clips from the show. I hope that you enjoy.

The Young Ones – University Challenge

The Young Ones- Vyvyan Is Pregnant

The Young Ones- Summer Holiday Pt1

The Young Ones- Summer Holiday Pt2

The Young Ones – Summer Holiday Pt3

The Young Ones – Summer Holiday Pt4

Just a few notable news bits circulating the digital blog ’0′ sphere:

-Radiohead Closin In On Deal For ‘In Rainbows’ CD

‘In Rainbows’ will be released digitally as scheduled, but the band is looking to secure a deal with a label in order to release CD worldwide.

-Nirvana’s Unplugged Appearance Comes To DVD

14 years since it’s original broadcast, Nirvana’s Unplugged performance on MTV, which featured The Meatpuppets brothers, will be available to the publis for the first time in video format.

-Portishead Promises Surprises On New Album

-Jury Finds Minnesota Woman Guilty Of Using P2P Program, Must Pay Richard Marx $9,250

The first ever file sharing lawsuit to make it to trial, finds Jaimme Thomas quilty. Kaaza users beware! The record industry is pissed and will make you pay! Record labels are reporting loses in the billions over the past couple of years as a result of file sharing.

-Spiritualized Finishes New Album, Plays New York Show

Speaking of NY, CMJ is quickly closing in and hopefully some of you will be attending this year. Want to take a preview listen of performing artists? Here’s a little player all loaded up with songs, that you can snag for yourself if you care to do so.

Thanks to the kind folks over @ My Old Kentucky Blog for turning me on to this. Explosions In The Sky played the Wall Of Sound Festival in Ft. Worth a couple of weekends back, and A Silence Production recorded the event in video format. Check back with their site for more videos from the event to come in the near future.

Don’t forget that Explosions will be playing Fun Fun Fun Fest here in Austin, in about a month.