import/export...and everything in between

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Velvet Underground Reunite (Well...Sort Of)

The Velvet Underground may be reuniting...but not for a performance unfortunately. Former frontman Lou Reed, bassist Doug Yule and drummer Maureen Tucker will be gathering for a public appearance at the New York Public Library on December 8th to chat with journalist David Fricke about their legacy and impact on the world of music.

The event is one of many in the “Live from the NYPL” that is currently going on and with any library of course comes books...which the band currently is promoting. The Velvet Underground: New York Art is the latest book on the band that contains a collection of handwritten music and lyrics by Lou Reed, designs by Andy Warhol (manager to the band) photographs and a load of other paraphernalia.

More information and tickets can be found HERE

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Deluka's Cascade Gets A "Full On" Remix By Mattie Safer

Ever wonder what Mattie Safer has been doing since he left The Rapture? Well, seems like he's been remixing Deluka for starters.

The band gets a little more dancier (is that possible?!) with a little help from Mattie that will find itself creeping up your iTunes "Top 25 Most Played" tracks very very soon.

Deluka - Cascade (Mattie Safer Full On Remix)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Lilely Looks: Lily Allen - Who'd Have Know

Leave it to Lily Allen to push the button a little bit and bring up her old feud with Elton John in her latest video "Who'd Have Known".

Capturing Elton, serenading him and feeding him pizza is just a small part of this eerie yet intriguing video thats just been released.

I guess a good feud never dies...

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Likely Looks: Fever Ray - Seven

Karin Andersson (aka Fever Ray) takes an "older" approach to her new video for her single Seven and puts on her best sparkly dress to have a dance in a farm in back of a Chewbacca-like character.

A bit odd but SO interesting. Could you expect any less from Fever Ray?

Yes, The Pavement Reunion Is True

Can you believe it? Its been 10 years (a longgggggg wait!) but Pavement is reuniting in 2010 for a New York show in at Central Park Summerstage.

September 21, 2010...be there!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Nico Vega Announces Support Dates w/ Manic Street Preachers!

After originally booked to support Placebo on their tour tour (which sadly got canceled), Nico Vega has announced that they will be supporting legends in their own right, Manic Street Preachers.

Hoping on the tour for 6 dates, the band will play several West Coast, Cannda and Midwest dates with the band.

Here are the tour dates:

9/21/09 - Neumo's, Seattle, WA
9/22/09 - The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
9/24/09 - The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
9/25/09 - The Avalon, Los Angeles, CA
9/28/09 - The Bluebird Theatre, Denver, CO
9/30/09 - The Varsity Theatre, Minneapolis, MN

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Likely Listens: Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps

What happens when you mix a fiery red head with a little bit of alt-country? Well, Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps of course!

Hailing from Minneapolis, this trio has a sound that will lure you in upon first lesson. Combining the unique voice of Caroline Smith and a little pop, alt-country and mellow singer-songwriter type vibes all rolled into one make them absolutely wonderful.

With a new album out entitled Backyard Tent Set they will be the band to watch very very soon.

The band will also be on tour this fall and hopefully coming to a city near you! Here are the tour dates:

Sep 16 2009 The Cedar Cultural Center (Caroline Solo Show) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 18 2009 Campus Arts Festival (Caroline Solo Show) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 20 2009 Nomad World Pub Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 22 2009 Black Hills Amphitheater Spearfish, South Dakota
Sep 23 2009 The Filling Station Bozeman, Montana
Sep 25 2009 High Dive Seattle, Washington
Sep 26 2009 The Finger Complex Olympia, Washington
Sep 29 2009 The Partisan Merced, California
Oct 1 2009 Armadillo Music (In-store Performance) Davis, California
Oct 1 2009 Sophia’s Thai Kitchen Davis, California
Oct 4 2009 The HangArt Tucson, Arizona
Oct 5 2009 Winning Coffee Company Albuquerque, New Mexico
Oct 6 2009 The Lounge On Elm Street Dallas, Texas
Oct 8 2009 Rice University Houston, Texas
Oct 9 2009 White Water Tavern Little Rock, Arkansas
Oct 10 2009 The House Little Rock, Arkansas
Oct 11 2009 Eighth Street Taproom Lawrence, Kansas
Oct 12 2009 Off Broadway St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 13 2009 KRUI In-studio @ Public Space One Iowa City, Iowa
Oct 13 2009 The Mill Iowa City, Iowa
Oct 16 2009 Pioneer Place On Fifth St. Cloud, Minnesota
Oct 17 2009 Kitty Cat Klub Minneapolis, Minnesota


Kanye West Apologizes On Jay Leno...

After Kanye West's atrocious appearance at Sunday night's VMA he mustered up the courage to apologize on national television to Taylor Swift.

His actions are really irreversible but his apology did seem heartfelt. Even so, this isn't the first time he's been a complete ass on an award show so its clearly a reoccurrence that he doesn't learn from.

Let's also mention how incredible it is that Taylor Swift has branched over from country to win an MTV VMA, which is such an accomplishment. Taylor is a talented, one of a kind star.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Lily Allen Stands Up For The Little Guy...

Good or bad, you have to hand it to Lily Allen for speaking her mind.

This time around. she tackles British music and illegal file sharing and actually does make some valid points. One can argue for or against her but rising to fame on MySpace you must admit she is quite familiar with the workings of how a band blows up in this day and age.

Taking her opinion to her MySpace blog, Lily has written the following:

"I havent written on here for a while but I've taken the time to write this as I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead don't seem to think so. Last week in an article in the Times these guys from huge bands said file sharing music is fine. It probably is fine for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent though, file sharing is a disaster as it's making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge. Heres a link to the article http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6828262.ece
Mason, O'Brien and the Featured Artists Coalition say that file sharing's "like a sampler, like taping your mate's music", but mix tapes and recording from the radio are actually very different to the file sharing that happens today. Mix tapes were rubbish quality - you bought the real music, because you liked the track and wanted to hear it without the DJ cutting off the end of each song. In digital land pirated tracks are as good quality as bought tracks, so there's not a need to buy for better quality. The Featured Artist Coalition also says file sharing's fine because it "means a new generation of fans for us". This is great if you're a big artist at the back end of your career with loads of albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don't have this luxury. Basically the FAC is saying 'we're alright, we've made it, so file sharing's fine', which is just so unfair to new acts trying to make it in the industry.
You don't start out in music with the Ferraris. Instead you get a huge debt from your record company, which you spend years working your arse off to repay. When you manage to get a contract, all those pretty videos and posters advertising your album have to be paid for and as the artist, you have to pay for them. I've only just finished paying off all the money I owe my record company. I'm lucky that I've been successful and managed to pay it back, but not everyone's so lucky. You might not care about this, but the more difficult it is for new artists to make it, the less new artists you'll see and the more British music will be nothing but puppets paid for by Simon Cowell.
And it's not like there aren't alternatives to illegal downloads anyway. Sites like Spotify give us access to new music and different music without having to rip someone off - you can listen to tracks and see if you like them before you buy them. Then obviously there's MySpace, that streams music and helps acts like me get enough fans to convince record companies to sign us up.
If this sounds like I'm siding with the record bosses, I'm not. They've been naive and complacent about new technology - and they've spent all the money they've earned on their own fat salaries not industry development. But as they start to lose big from piracy, they're not slashing their salaries - they're pulling what they invest in A&R. Lack of funds results in A&R people not being able to take risks and only signing acts they think will work, which again makes British music Cowell puppets.
Is this the way we want British music to go? Now, obviously I'm going to benefit from fighting piracy, but I think without fighting it, British music is going to suffer.
I don't think what's out there is perfect. It's stupid that kids can't buy anything on the internet without credit, forcing them to steal Mum's credit card or download illegally. It's this kind of thing that the record company bosses, artists, broadband providers and government should be sitting down and discussing. I'm off to South America on tour today, but i'm going to be writing British artists, saying just this.
File sharing's not okay for British music. We need to find new ways to help consumers access and buy music legally, but saying file sharing's fine is not helping anyone - and definitely not helping British music. I want to get people working together to use new digital opportunities to encourage new artists."

Thoughts?

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Amy Winehouse...The Musical?!!!

It seems to be the new thing...after a movie and everything else under the sun about your life you do a musical...

The latest is that Amy Winehouse: The Musical could be a possibility and will show her rise and fall to stardom complete with booze, drugs, of course BLAKE and even childhood memories.

According to The Sun, her brother Alex stated, "Amy is much better. I think one day there could be a musical of Amy's life...You just don't ever know how far things can go these days - look at all this talk of a JADE GOODY musical."

This would be absolutely bizarre...let's see if it ever sees the light of day.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Nine Inch Nails Announce Their Last Ever Shows

Trent Reznor has changed his mind about Nine Inch Nails' final live show being at Bonnaroo earlier this summer...and he's announced 10 shows to prove it. Playing their last ever shows, the band will hit several different venues in New York and Los Angeles, while playing 2 shows in Chicago at the same venue.

The Horrors are to open all dates...

These tickets are possibly going to be the hottest tickets of the year...so good luck in attempting to score a pair!

Here are the dates:
8/22/09 NY, NY Bowery Ballroom
8/23/09 NY, NY Webster Hall
8/25/09 NY, NY Terminal 5
8/26/09 NY, NY Terminal 5
8/28/09 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
8/29/09 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
9/2/09 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium
9/3/09 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theater
9/5/09 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
9/6/09 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex

Likely Looks: Lily Allen - 22

Lily Allen comes out with her 4th video from "Its Not Me, Its You" for 22 and its a lovely display of late 20 somethings doing the ins and outs of a single life.

The concept is fabulous and so is the dress that Lily is wearing throughout the video (very Hollywood of her...).

Check it out here:

Friday, July 10, 2009

Bloc Party - One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix)

Bloc Party usually have no problem making an incredible track on their own but this time around they've commissioned Alex Metric to do a remix of their track "One More Chance". The result? An absolutely killer remix of the song

They have my vote to keep teaming up...

Bloc Party - One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix)

Thanks to Welikeit.indie

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Michael Jackson's Final Rehearsal Video Surfaces

A video of Michael Jackson's final rehearsal for his "This Is It" 50 date London stint has finally emerged. The footage which was exclusively released to CNN sees Michael performing "They Dont Care About Us" with dancers on stage at the Staples Center.

How he performed like this less than 48 hours before he died just blows my mind...he STILL had it. Michael you are SO missed...

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Lily Allen To Record A Song With Kate Moss?

Kate Moss has been known to randomly sing on her famous friends' records (Primal Scream anyone?) but the latest is that she is dying to record a song with Lily Allen.

"Kate knows it'll be easier to persuade Lily to work with her. She's always making Lily do karaoke with her at home. Lily adores Kate and it seems like she'd do anything she suggests," claims a source close to Kate.

Let's see if it comes through...

Friday, June 26, 2009

Lisa Marie Presley: "He Knew"

A very touchy blog from Lisa Marie Presley, once married to Michael Jackson about his passing titled "He Knew".

"Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.

I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death.

At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did."

I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.

14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.

A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened.

The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.

All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.

I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.

Our relationship was not "a sham" as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.

I wanted to "save him" I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened.

His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.

At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.

He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.

When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.

Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.

I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.

I was in over my head while trying.

I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.

The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.

After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.

Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.

At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.

As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.

Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.

He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.

I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.

He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.

I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.

The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.

I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening.

~LMP"

Such a sad loss to the world of music...and the world in general. R.I.P. Michael.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

The King of Pop has passed at the young age of 50 years old today. This is just so incredibly sad to lose such an important musician that will forever be remembered. Rest in peace MJ...

My thoughts go out to his 3 children and family on this sad sad day.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Likely Looks: Lily Allen - Fuck You

Surprisingly, Lily Allen and her record label managed to make a clean version of "Fuck You", which is quite impressive in itself...but a video too?! Now, that takes the cake...

The video itself doesn't actually feature Lily but its a day in the life with a little twist. Somehow she's got the ability to make people look like they do in crazy circus mirrors and other things courtesy of a green screen.

Check it out here:

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hole To Reform!

Well...sort of. it is more like the Smashing Pumpkins situation where the main person (because what would Hole be without Courtney Love?!) is in the band and there are some former familiar faces joining in with the project.

After failing to release her solo album "Nobody's Daughter" that has been set to come out for some time now, she will resurrect the name Hole and release and tour under it. The album should be out at the end of 2009 or early 2010...we have yet to find out.

Joining her is her new partner in crime and former Larrikin Love member Micko Larkin and former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Mar, who also added backing vocals on the record.

Get ready to add some 90's grunge back into your life...

Friday, June 12, 2009

Likely Listens: Deluka

World...meet Deluka! Hailing from Birmingham but spending a lot of time in Brooklyn, this female fronted 4 piece will knock you out with their gritty electro pop rock.

I was hooked after hearing their first single, "Cascade" where I caught myself singing along after my second listen. Plus, the other songs on the MySpace page are just as good...

They've already gotten love from NME and Dazed And Confused so it seems they are on their way to becoming the next buzz band both here and in the UK.

Download the MP3 for "Cascade" here:
Deluka - Cascade

I think you'll all dig it!