Coachella is calling

We are off to the desert for the weekend. Two ten-hour days of music and sun await us. Starting Monday, we will have a week long Coachella re-cap, so be prepared.

Also, the Little Ones contest is almost over. Go here to sign up!

Reasons to lose hope.

I'm starting to feel like Andy Rooney (aka grumpy old man). Everything I see or read pisses me off. I don't understand why the whole world decided to get a collective lobotomy. Where has logic gone? That isn't meant as a rhetorical question. I really want to know what universal head trauma occurred to homosapiens, which caused these things to happen:

1. The Da Vinci Code: How does a nation come to the understanding that a dime novelist (Dan Brown) somehow stumbled upon the keys to the universe? The man has a 300-word vocabulary. Although he does refer to events in history (only picked it up once, but I know Da Vinci and the New Testament are wrapped up in it somehow), it does not make it anymore historically valid than any other fiction. These are simple concepts that I hope our readers understand; however, a legion of Christians and Atheists feel the fate of human history is at stake over this book. Let the fiery debate begin.

Atheist: Oh man Dan Brown totally just rocked Christianity. How can you believe in Jesus anymore?

Christian: Oh my gosh Dan Brown just toppled my understanding of the Bible. My life is over. I better go burn my copy of The Da Vinci Code.

If people used this kind of brainpower getting dressed in the morning, everyone would be wearing underwear on their heads.


Part II coming soon... Republican Scandals

Saul Williams @ Freud Playhouse (UCLA)

"Described as 'poet-preacher-actor-rapper- singer-muscian-artist-extraordinaire,' Saul Williams is one of the most powerful artists of the hip-hop generation. To thousands of youth across America, Saul Williams has defined and re-defined poetry as an accessible, living art form. His poetry is the archetype for a new generation of poets and spoken word artists." (UCLA-SCA)

On Tuesday, May 16, Saul Williams will be gracing the stage of UCLA's Freud Playhouse for a very special evening of poetry and music. This event is part of an eight night free series at UCLA entitled RAW that incorporates hip-hop, theater, poetry, and dance. Tickets are free and on a first come first serve basis.

5/16/06 - Freud Playhouse - 8pm (for tickets call 310.825.2101)

For more info go here.

"Mesothelioma Lawyers get Lasik surgery in NJ while they invest in diamonds and trade stocks and bonds."

Exclusive: Win the Little Ones debut Sing Song EP/Limited Edition Poster

That’s right, kiddies. The Content has three of the Little Ones' debut Sing Song EPs to give away. Of the three winners, one will also receive the beautiful limited edition poster (seen here) featuring artwork by the clever genius Jesse LeDoux (the Shins, Elliott Smith). The contest will run through Monday, May 1, so be sure to tell your friends that they have a chance to win, too.

To enter, simply send us a note at rewriteablecontent@gmail.com with The Little Ones as the subject. Winners will be selected at random and notified on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 by email.

Airplanes Landing On Foreheads covers Iron & Wine

So our beloved Airplanes Landing On Foreheads (the second half of the Content) did this little cover of Iron & Wine's "On Your Wings" and submitted it for a covers contest over at the Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands. Well, it turns out Chad over at ECEU really enjoyed the song and included it in his top entries for the first ever covers contest. Be sure to go over and check out this song and the other entries here and become friends with Airplanes on their Myspace page.

If you enjoy what you hear then check out Airplanes' performance at the recent Rewriteable Content show on YouTube.

"Mesothelioma Lawyers get Lasik surgery in NJ while they invest in diamonds and trade stocks and bonds."

The Secret Machines: Two Shows - One Free

The Secret Machines are planning a trip through Los Angeles, making three stops in three days. First, the Machines will come by Amoeba Records on May 2 to allow fans, new and old, some taste testing of their new material off Ten Silver Drops, available April 25. The following date, May 3, the boys will be taping for "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." Finally, on May 4, there will be a full band, strobe light, lava lamp catastrophe at the El Rey Theater. Consider their first two days a warmup for the heavy hitting sound explosion that will erupt at the El Rey.

Ouch, my ears already hurt.

5/2/06 - Amoeba Records (Free)
5/3/06 - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (tix)
5/4/06 - El Rey Theater (tix)

A heavy dose of Deerhoof news

Pitchfork really outdid themselves today by giving a detailed update on Deerhoof happenings. Before arriving at Coachella next week, the band will provide live scores for not one, but two, films at the Castro Theater in San Francisco on April 27th. Perhaps our friends at New & Used Records will be able to attend. Here are a few tour dates, but be sure to read the rest of the Pitchfork article.

04-27 San Francisco, CA - Castro Theater (San Francisco International Film Festival)
04-29 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
05-28 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Ampitheater
06-03 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
09-02 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot

Man Man need to come to LA

My dream last year was that The Rapture would come out of hibernation and play a show at the Troubadour. Well that dream came true in December, and it kicked some major booty. This year my dream is that Man Man come and play Spaceland. I'm hoping to go two for two with my dreaming, but we'll just have to wait and see. For now let's all enjoy Stereogum's coverage of the recent Man Man show at NYC. Sigh...

We Are Wolves @ SXSW

Our blogging hero Brooklyn Vegan has some great photos of We are Wolves, taken from the now ancient SXSW fest in Austin. Unfortunately, The Content was forced to miss The Wolves perform at Spaceland last month, but hopefully these tour dates can help some of you.

WE ARE WOLVES TOUR DATES
5-31 - Detroit, MI - Mac's Bar
6-1 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
6-2 - Minneapolis, MN - Entry
6-3 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
6-4 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
6-5 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
6-6 - Washington, DC - DC
6-7 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
6-8 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian
6-9 - New York, NY - Rothko
6-10 - Boston, MA - Great Scott

Haven't heard We Are Wolves? Gasp! Listen here

Sparklehorse finally returns

Walking down the hall today, an intern turned and asked, "what ever happened to Sparklehorse?" Well now I have an answer. According to Pitchfork ,we should be finally seeing a follow-up to 2001's It's a Wonderful Life sometime in September! Joy.

"The band's website reports that most of the currently untitled album was made "in the style of VivaDixie/Good Morning Spider by Mark[Linkous, songwriter and Sparklehorse leader]alone in Static King Studio." The rest of it was "mixed at Smart Studio in Madison, Wisconsin with Danger Mouse and engineered by Alan Weatherhead and Bo Sorenson." With all those details, how could it possibly be postponed?

And like a kindergarten report card that includes the comment "plays well with others," the album features collaborations with Danger Mouse, Christian Fennesz, Sophie Michalitsianos, Johnny Hott, Scott Minor, Stephen Drozd of the Flaming Lips, and super-producer/past collaborator Dave Fridmann as well as an unreleased song from It's a Wonderful Life with Tom Waits on piano. Whoa!" (PF)

KCRW Rocks

As you all know I am a big fan of KCRW, and during their last pledge drive I finally became a member. I paid 50 dollars and recieved a discount card for shops all around LA, a free cd and tons of chances to win concert tickets. I've already saved at least 10 dollars on discounts, got a free CD and just yesterday won my first ticket give away. The membership basically just paid for itself.

Anyways, the point of this post is that I get to see Girls in Hawaii tonight at The Mint for free, all thanks to KCRW. For the last month I had heard some mention of Girls in Hawaii, but blew them off until they played Morning Becomes Eclectic. I became immediately excited by their set, and called in right after the show to win tickets. I haven't heard any of their full band recordings, but judging from their acoustic set, I don't think I will be disappointed.

As always we will give you a full recap of tonight's show, as soon as humanly possible.

The Books @ KFLA

After seeing the Books at the J. Paul Getty Museum last month, it seems that I could have ended my relationship with them then because, to be honest, it would have ended on a great note. The Getty was the perfect place, the perfect atmosphere, and the perfect time. With a perfect memory of how the Books envision a performance of their art, why would I now want to experience anything less than, well, um...perfect?

Upon entering the Knitting Factory in Hollywood to get my second fill of the Books in just as many months, my expectations were low. Basically I just wanted to sit back and enjoy their show of song and film, without thinking about how the overcrowded, stuffy, hot Knitting Factory was not going to be the Getty.

Fortunately, the less than appropriate arena did not keep the Books from performing at the top of their game. Below you will find a video for the song “That Right Ain’t Shit” with a found film piece of early Mormon leaders. Their “found film” has proven to be more than just a fixture of distraction, as it guides the audience throughout their live performances. These short films have become such a staple of their live set that it is hard to separate the visual from the aural in performances of The Books' art. This fusion of sound and vision may prove to be the next step in Zammuto and De Jong’s creations.


Another fun bit was the introduction of the “Magic Zammuto Smoke Sender” that sent perfect smoke rings out over the audience in the final song. Made of spare parts from a gramophone, lampshade, toilet plunger, and vacuum, the Smoke Sender is one of the many handheld works of genius that Zammuto has created. Check out other pieces that he created here.

The Racounteurs announce first West Coast show

The male half of the White Stripes, Jack White, is going to be in town with his new band The Raconteurs. The show, taking place at the Henry Fonda Theater on June 7, is the band's first show on the West Coast. This show will only be the second time the Raconteurs have played in the US. So for all of you that want to tell your friends that you, "saw Jack White the first time he played LA with the Raconteurs," then you better get ready to jump on the phones, because tickets go on sale tomorrow (4/20) at noon.

Recently The Racounteurs stopped by AOL's The Interface to perform some of the songs from their forthcoming release, Broken Boy Soldiers. You can watch their performance here.

Also, Jack White has recently broken into the commercial jingle industry with his new Coca-Cola ditty, "What Goes Around." Be sure to check out the video below.



6/7/06 - Henry Fonda Theater (tix)

Anti-Spring

Being in the work world makes you hate a lot of things, and Spring is definitely one of them. My window tells me it is hot and sunny outside, but I can't do anything about it (i.e. swim, ride bikes, breathe un-recycled air). So I'm starting an Anti-Spring playlist, to be played during lunch hours and/or designated breaks. Song one is going to give Spring a knockout punch:

Joy Division - New Dawn Fades

A change of speed, a change of style.
A change of scene, with no regrets,
A chance to watch, admire the distance,
Still occupied, though you forget.
Different colors, different shades,
Over each mistakes were made.
I took the blame.
Directionless so plain to see,
A loaded gun won't set you free.
So you say.
We'll share a drink and step outside,
An angry voice and one who cried,
'We'll give you everything and more,
The strain's too much, can't take much more.'
I've walked on water, run through fire,
Can't seem to feel it anymore.
It was me, waiting for me,
Hoping for something more,
Me, seeing me this time,
Hoping for something else.

Great Interviews

Originally, I wanted to write a post about a Man Man interview, but since there are so many great interviews at the moment - I thought I'd expand. Here's a nice little list:

Man Man interview with PrefixMag

Yeah Yeah Yeahs interview with Pitchfork

Jose Gonzalez interview with TinyMixTape

Forward Russia interview with The Content (plug)

Lastly, here is an old Black Dice interview with TinyMixTapes that I just happen to love.

Preview Thursday Album

Thursday's Myspace page is now streaming A City By the Light Divided in its entirety!

Why are you still here?

Stop Smiling: The Last Great Literary Magazine

It's a gloomy, dark scene - in an anonymous room.

The only source of light comes from the amber glow of a lit cigarette.

My love affair with Stop Smiling started during the Christmas of 2004. It started hard and it started fast. Alright, screw this - I don't have the time to get all noir for you. I did see Brick twice this weekend though, which probably fuelled that intro.

Anyways, the point of this post is to promote my favorite magazine: Stop Smiling. Never heard of it? What a shock. In the land of Us Weekly and People, it's hard to believe a print magazine might offer something of value; however, SS provides an intelligent glance into all aspects of culture (art, music, film, politics...). The magazine is so full of articles that it takes me a week to consume an issue. SS feels more like a collection of essays than anything else.

Unfortunately, Stop Smiling is only released every other month, and so the wait between issues is often torture. The time gap makes sense when you look at how much work goes into the magazine.

The world has turned its back on the English word, and I see SS as one of the final survivors (in the magazine realm. NPR takes the prize for radio).

Please support this magazine by subscribing here

Daniel Johnston: The Devil Told You So

Don't say we didn't warn you. The Daniel Johnston show at Spaceland that we previously reported is officially sold out (what did you expect? It's his first show here in five years). However, there will be a limited number of tickets available (approximately 100) at the door the night of the show. Fortunately, those that didn't act on the Content's advice can still get their fix of Daniel Johnston via film.

A documentary on the life and art of Daniel Johnston has just recently been released, appropriately entitled The Devil and Daniel Johnston. The film depicts the troubled life of the struggling artist throughout different periods of his life and career. The flick has been receiving some critical acclaim, most notably for its award at the Sundance Film Festival. The Devil and Daniel Johnston is now playing in LA at the Laemmle Sunset 5.

Also, when Johnston comes to LA next month he is going to stop by for a performance on the Henry Rollins Show that will air on IFC.

And finally, Johnston is releasing his first collection of greatest hits today (4/18) entitled Welcome To My World. The disc should be a helpful tool for fans, and for newcomers, as a solid introduction into the prolific world that is Daniel Johnston.

Check out the trailer for The Devil and Daniel Johnston below.

Band of Horses: Ticket Update

We previously reported that Band of Horses are coming around to play the Echo on June 30. Tickets just went on sale. Get up on it.

6/30/06 - Echo (tix)

Rewriteable Content on YouTube

Our plan to take over YouTube is in full effect! Head over to our profile and watch some fine videos.

Candid Karen O

So we've been trying to get an interview with Karen O for a while. Our people talking to her people, dates being tossed around. You know the deal. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen, so enjoy Pitchfork's sit down with the YYY front-woman instead.

Pitchfork: On the new record, there's more sound to it. Are you getting away from the three-person set-up, the more basic sound?

O: Yeah, the motive of songwriting shifted gears from tape to computer. We wrote this album on ProTools and that opened up infinite tracks-- nonlinear songwriting, you know, to the max. And really the sky's the limit with that kind of thing. And that was probably one of the most difficult things for us to do as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was like a real full-on challenge for us, but it seemed worth exploring because it would be hard not to sound really similar to what we sounded likebefore without working that way. ( pitchfork)

Radiohead digging Liars

Do you need anymore proof that Drums Not Dead is the best release (to date) this year? Really? Alright then, check out what Thom wrote as a Happy Easter message on DeadAirSpace.



P.S. this week is going to be full of posts! Long weekend = Lazy Content. Never again.

Oh my Vicarious! (A recipe for success)

That's the first reaction from the Content after listening to the new Tool single, "Vicarious," off of their soon to be released 10,000 Days. But the "Oh my" response is much more winded then just a statement of utter approval. It's a response to how crazy obsessive Tool fans are over anything Maynard is attached to.

Hitting the airwaves today, "Vicarious" was planned to be released to radio stations through a secure online download system rather then the usual CD single. This was all done in order to try and outsmart the fanbase and keep the track under wraps till its due date. Fortunately for us, the online download station-thinga-ma-gigger was left unprotected (oops) sometime on Friday, allowing some savvy Tool fan to get in there and snag the seven-minute gem.

After the stolen song was passed around the internet, Tool fans really started to get into it, releasing all of their pent-up obsession in order to dissect every aspect of the new song. By Friday evening, Tool fans had already found the news clipping the band had used at the 5-minute mark in the song, created intricate tablature for both the bass and guitar parts, played the song in reverse searching for symmetry, transcribed the lyrics, and interpreted various song meanings. Did I mention that this was all by Friday evening, less then half a day from the initial leak?

For all of you that think this is a perfect example of how overzealous Tool fans can be, just wait until May 2, when 10,000 Days is officailly released. At that time, rest assured that those Toolheads will be finding the geometric mapping to the lost tomb of the Neptune god, Zorathungeon, who is hidden within the album's artwork. But that map would be useless without the ability to find the coordinates of Zorathungeon's lifeblood (a mixture of mayonaisse, donkey dung, crushed acacia leaves, and Maynard's man juice baked for exactly 27.3476 minutes at 350 degrees) that is presented to the listener when each track of 10,000 Days is played simultaneously, backwards at high noon. Oh my "Vicarious."

Oh and I almost forgot. The songs rocks!

4/30/06 - Coachella (Tool headlining)

The Odd Lamb - Words and Aliens on the Deck

More Living Room goodness.

Who the F*** is Pete Doherty?

Please watch this documentary on Libertines/Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty.

With all the press surrounding Doherty, I originally avoided his music (thinking it was all hype); however, I eventually heard "Pipedown," and quickly realized that Doherty is extremely talented, and transcends his rock star image.

Watch it here

Wolf Parade - Modern World

Oh my awesome...

The Boy Least Likely To battling again (No we're not Liars)

A few months ago we reported that The Boy Least Likely To and Forward Russia were at war over a tour date at Spaceland. Well it seems a similar fiasco has come about again. The Boy has announced its summer headlining tour, and it includes a stop at our very own Roxy Theater. The date is set for June 3, which is the same day that Liars are coming to town at the Troubadour.

Come on guys! Do we really need to go through this again? The Boy Least Likely To should rename itself to The Boy Most Likely To Have A Show On The Same Day As Your Other Favorite Band.

If you haven't bought your tickets to either show, then you have a dilemma on your hands. As for the Content, we don't want to lose out on any money, so you'll see us at the Troub. In these moments, I wish I could split myself down the middle and be hyper productive with my music adventures; however, my damn biology won't grant me anything of the sorts.

See you where?

6/3/06 - Roxy (The Boy Least Likely To) (tix)
6/3/06 - Troubadour (Liars) (tix)

Alex Gardner is a God.

I have two equally important parts to this post, and I hope you focus on both. Most apparent is the video directly below. It is of my good friend Alex, playing one of his many incredible songs, at our show last weekend. Easier to miss are the song lyrics found beneath the video. I really encourage you to read the lyrics both with and without the song playing. I am in awe of this man, and I hope you'll join me.

Well the gold plated lyre on which David did play

on a sunny hill where the gods sat and drank their time away

Well I don't really care about the luxuries of the obscenely rich

it was all fair and square so why should I care

And if you're keeping a tally that's the third dream this week

in which I met you on a stage and kissed you on the check

And the crowds that you drew and you appeased them with all of your tears

they had to applaud but now you're a fraud

But still you are that one in my dreams

and no matter how hard we try to believe it was someone else

it's to lie to ourselves

Well the Pharaoh was a brave man he was steadfast and wise

he rounded up all his children and then he gouged out their eyes

And when the invaders came at morning, his children they could not see

him beat to the ground but they heard the sound

But still you are that one in my dreams

and no matter how hard we try to believe it was someone else

it's to lie to ourselves

A Small History, A New Show: Elf Power @ Spaceland

After falling completely, madly, deeply in love with Neutral Milk Hotel, it just made sense to start following the other bands associated with the Elephant 6 Recording Company.

In the mid 90's, as the radio spewed angst-ridden grunge from Seattle, Elephant 6 was feverishly creating angst-ridden pop from Athens, GA. In particular, NMH used their songs to focused on the love, heartbreak, and alienation associated with growing up.

However, as the Elephant 6 ringleader and NMH frontman, Jeff Mangum, went into hiding, the road less traveled was left to other E6 artists such as Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal, and Elf Power.

Fortunately, we'll get to see some of the remaining ghosts of the Elephant 6 community, when Elf Power comes to Spaceland this May.

Grab your Christmas sweaters and hug your neighbor.

5/13/06 - Spaceland (tix)

Check out Elf Power at You Ain't No Picasso for a new song and other dates.

The Lovely Natalie Citro...

This was the highlight of my night. duh.

Oh Sunset, Rub Me Down!

In our eyes, Spencer Krug is the leader of Wolf Parade. It's not because he is the cutest, or because he can bang the piano harder than Arlen Thompson can hit the drums. Spencer is the leader because he's written some of the most infectious rock songs of the last few years.

Krug got my foot stompin' on "You Are A Runner," my body shaking with the royal rumbler "Fancy Claps," and set my lungs afire on last year's anthem "I'll Believe in Anything." All in all, Krug created one of the most beloved albums of 2005; luckily that was just the beginning.

As previously reported, Sunset Rubdown (Krug's solo project) will be releasing its second LP on May 2, entitled Shut Up I Am Dreaming. Fortunately, LA will get a nice preview of the album on May 1, when The Rubdown comes to fondle our humble ears at the intimate Echo. I think the news of this future molestation just made my day. Tickets are on sale now.

5/1/06 - Echo (tix)

Direct Links!

Click play from the bottom left-hand corner to watch the videos from this site. It does take a bit longer to load, so feel free to click through straight to YouTube. If I'm insulting anyone's intelligence - I apologize; however, their are a lot of proud mothers trying to navigate this site, so please humor me.

Videos from the show

I'm still working on how to put YouTube videos directly onto the site; however, for now a couple of the vids are on Youtube, and we have links.

Jonathan performing Brazil












Dave performing an untitled song














This is only part one of our several part re-cap, so sit back and enjoy.

Thank You!

The Living Room Show was a complete success and I just wanted to thank everyone for coming. We filled our one bedroom to the max, cracked open a Pabst and gave our ears a treat. To everyone that played: You're all so fucking talented that you forced me to use "fuck" - just to get my point across. To the audience: The show would have been nothing without you, so thank you for making the party come alive.

We are going to have videos and photos up all this week, so come back soon and often!

XO

Nick

MSTRKRFT playing the Echo

Jesse Keeler from Death From Above 1979 and producer Al-P have been doing remixes together for sometime under the moniker MSTRKRFT. It was pretty fancy of them to force us to slur our speech by leaving out all the vowels in their name; but, it was even fancier to bring the DFA1979 dance-fuzz into our favorite Bloc Party, Annie, and Wolfmother tunes. I'll thank them for the latter.

MSTRKFRT will be releasing an album entitled The Looks on June 20, through Last Gang Records. Go and check out the new tunes on their Myspace, and then get your dancing shoes on, because Mr. Keeler and Mr. Puodziukas are going to be throwing down the elecrto-fuzz-beats, on the floor of the Echo on June 16. They will also be doing a special DJ set at Little Radio that same day. Consider it a special preview to all the parties you'll be going to this summer, because I'll bet a song or two of their's will be on the playlist.

Four to the floor.

6/20/06 - the Echo

DFA1979 - Sexy Results (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Panthers - Thank Me With Your Hands (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Bloc Party - Two Years (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Check out their video for MSTRKRFT's track "Easy Love" here.

Who's coming with us?

PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006 LINEUP
July 29-30, 2006
Union Park, Chicago

SATURDAY, JULY 29:
* Silver Jews
* The Futureheads
* Ted Leo/Pharmacists
* Art Brut
* Destroyer
* Mountain Goats
* Band of Horses
* Man Man
* Hot Machines

More to be announced...

SUNDAY, JULY 30:
* Spoon
* Yo La Tengo
* Devendra Banhart Band
* Mission of Burma
* Aesop Rock
* The National
* Jens Lekman
* Tapes 'n Tapes
* Chin Up Chin Up

More to be announced...

Living Room show this weekend

This Saturday at 8PM we are having an acoustic show in our living room. We want to fill the house floor to ceiling, so I hope everyone can come. If you know where we live... stop stalking us. If not just email me and I will give you directions (we live in Brentwood, just to give you the general area).

Anyone is welcome, so come enjoy a fun evening!

XOXO

The Content

New Flaming Hot LA Bands: The Little Ones and The Minor Canon

All this searching for new music really pays off every once in a while. Following high recommendations from Coolfer, Yeti Don't Dance, and the Underrated I decided to take a listen to The Little Ones. The verdict is still out, but now you have a fourth high recommendation that will lead to some good listening.

On April 18th The Little Ones will be releasing their new Sing Sing EP and throwing a party on that same day here in LA. The show is taking place at El Cid on Sunset and will include Graham McRae and our second addition to the list of Flaming Hot LA Bands: the Minor Canon.

After picking up a demo CD at their show with Jose Gonzalez, I certainly wanted to get to know the Minor Canon a lot better. Their stage show was flooded with instruments, and the notes were strung together to create a sound of swelling immensity that would subside at times to leave room for the crooning of singers Paul Larson and Ryan Blake. I couldn't wait to get my hands on their tunes.

This is when music gets exciting again.

4/18/06 - El Cid (The Little Ones, Graham McRae, Minor Canon) (tix)

Check these kids out:

The Little Ones - "Lovers Who Uncover"
The Little Ones - "Cha Cha Cha"
The Little Ones - "High On A Hill"

Check out Minor Canon on Myspace to download four of their new songs.

Daniel Johnston @ Spaceland

Knock, knock! Who's there? Daniel Johnston with a magic marker drawing of your face on a skillet topped with cookies and cream.

Don't believe me? Look!

Okay, maybe it's not of your face, and there's a lack of cookies and cream, but whatever Daniel Johnston brings to the table is certainly going to be a much more imaginative description of life than I could ever come up with.

Go and be a kid again.

5/4/06 - Spaceland

Read the Pitchfork article here.

Ex-Test Icicles member now in Naked Babes

Well that didn't take long. Devmetal has joined a new band called Naked Babes, and they have a myspace page up for your listening pleasure. There are four great songs for you to download, so head over there now before they break up!

As for the other two-thirds of Test Icicles, we can only hope that they are working on projects of their own. It would sure help ease the pain of losing such a great band.

Band of Horses @ the Echo

The Band of Horses' song, "The Funeral," is quickly becoming this year's anthem for anyone trying to work through their lonely winter blues. However, soon the flowers will start to bloom, and our winter skin will begin to blush in the spring sunshine as love resurges again. Luckily, Band of Horses can rely on their Sub-Pop cred, and My Morning Jacket/Iron & Wine comparisons to fuel their listeners into next season's lovefest- still allowing us to cry on their shoulder these last couple of months.

According to Yeti Don't Dance, Band of Horses will be making their rounds through L.A. in June. Check the Content for a heads up cuz these tickets will go fast.

Band of Horses - "The Funeral"

6/30/06 - The Echo

EXCLUSIVE: The Content stalk ¡Forward, Russia!

"Hey Nick, check out this band I just found."

"Cool. Play a song." (secretly having little hope for anything great)

Forward Russia's # 14 starts blasting through the speakers.

"Holy Hell, who is this."

"Forward Russia. I know."

Within that twenty second exchange, Forward Russia had a new diehard fan named Nick Ferrall. The only problem with this situation was that I had only four songs with which to feed my hunger. This lasted for several months, until I was able to slowly acquire the entire catalogue.

Now I needed to see them live, which posed a large problem since they were a small band from Leeds; however, last month they remedied this by coming for two shows in LA (Spaceland and Cinespace). We were able to catch their show at Spaceland, and interview the band at Cinespace. The show at Spaceland was unreal. I spent the entire night about two inches from Tom, trying to keep up with his frantic dancing. We later found out that the show almost never happened due to a flight delay.

Here is a perfect time to transition into our exclusive interview with Tom and Whiskas on the streets of Hollywood:

How was SXSW?

T: It was fun. Lots of stuff broke.

What was breaking?

W: The pedals were broken; the connections seem to keep breaking.

Everything sounded great last night.

T: Yeah, last night went pretty smoothly compared to some of the shows at SXSW . It was kind of weird having so little time to prepare. Our flight was delayed five hours, and we barely made the show. We literally went straight from the plane and onto the stage.

Was this your first show in LA?

T: Yeah, this is actually my first time in the United States.

Did it live up to your expectations? Laughs

T: It’s cool, yeah. I’ve enjoyed myself at both places. They’re obviously quite different, Austin and LA. It’s kind of like Wakefield.

Did you see any good shows at SXSW?

T: Katie got to see The Flaming Lips, and I went and saw the Editors who are friends of ours. There isn’t a lot of time since you are setting up and taking down equipment for so long in between sets.

What’s going on with the new album? Will we be hearing some of the singles or is it all new material?

T: There are some new recordings of the old singles, like 13. A new recording of 9 will be coming out in April. 12 will be on there obviously.

You guys have been self-releasing everything so far. How has that experience been?

T: Yeah, Dance to the Radio is run by this man (points to Whiskas).

W: The releases have gone quite well. We’ve been around for about a year, and have had ten releases -only two have been Forward Russia.

What is the concept behind the band name?

W: There isn’t really any concept.

T: We took a lot of work combinations that seemed interesting or had a strong visual element to them. That was just the one that we decided on in the end.

Are the numbers just a document of when you recorded the songs?

T: Yeah, when we started doing practices we only had like four songs, and instead of referring to them as the one with the thing that goes like this we used numbers. Sometimes when you don’t have words it’s just easier to make them numbers. Once you have an idea in your head about what a song is called, then it is very hard to change it. We just thought we might as well just leave it.

What kind of music are you listening to?

T: We listen to loads of different stuff.

W: I always say bands on my label, but I listen to just about everything. There’s some new band from New York isn’t there?

T: Some new band from New York. Laughs You sound sooo interested. Stroke something. I really like Stroke.

W: New band from Leeds. Gang of something - Gang of Five. Laughs

How is the music scene in Leeds?

T: It’s great. There are loads of bands playing right now. Everyone helps each other out. We’re starting to collaborate, with other musicians. I sang on a track for this hip hop band called Yes Boss. Their single on Dance to the Radio is coming out in a couple of weeks.

How is it releasing only singles?

W: It’s cool. Everyone is seems to fuckin love it. They are all selling out really quickly. The compilation is selling for like 60-70 quid on ebay (100 plus dollars). We did 2000 of our compilations. We are working on a European and a Japanese deal for the label, but I’m not sure what will happen in the US really. It seems like quite a separate thing; because it takes a lot to do stuff over here. I get the idea that you can’t do word of mouth stuff in the US. It will be so hard to tackle this country without any support backing us.

Is your writing process full band or do people bring separate things to the table?

T: It is very much a full band thing. Someone will start with one idea, and that gets worked around and added to another idea. And usually when it starts to form we will swap bits of the song around to make it sound less conventional – put the verse where the chorus should be or bring in some new instrument. Have bass parts and vocal lines that go in and out a bit, and may not be used on that song but…

Kind of like a stepping stone, you find some place to start…

T: Yeah this one song which hasn’t got the original bit that started the writing process. I think 1 hasn’t. The drums that started 15 aren’t there anymore. We take it all off ideas and play off each other.


Here are some photos from the Spaceland show, and yes, the last one has us with the band. We are dorks.

Thank you to Forward Russia for kicking ass and taking the time to talk with us. Also thank you to Braedon for snapping such insane photos!

The Rapture isn't settling for Echoes Part 2

Seeing The Rapture for two nights in LA confirmed both that the New York beat makers are brilliant, and that The Viper Room is full of stuffy idiots.

Their quick trip to the west coast was done to get feedback fromfans re garding new material. My feedback - Release it NOW. They talked to Rolling Stone recently about the whole process:

"You sit around in the studio wondering if people are going to like it, and then you play it for people and you know right away," Jenner says. "They can't fake it. It's really obvious. So we spent two months making the record, but a year getting ready to make it."

To ensure a new sound, the boys are currently working with producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse, which even Luke Jenner (lead guitar / vocals) admits is "the most far-out thing we've done."

Well I'm excited. Be sure to click that nice little Rolling Stones icon above to read the whole article.

Another piece of an increasingly uglier puzzle

Things that your TV hasn't told you yet:

A memo of a two-hour meeting between Bush and Blair at the White
House on January 31 2003 - nearly two months before the invasion of Iraq- reveals that Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a
second UN resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned
Iraqi weapons programme.

The memo, written by Blair's then chief foreign adviser, David Manning reveals:

-The start date for the military campaign was "pencilled in" for 10 March. (Jon Stewart had a great joke on The Daily Show regarding this)

-Mr Bush told Mr Blair that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of "flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours". Mr Bush added: "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]".

-Mr Bush even expressed the hope that a defector would be extracted from Iraq and give a "public presentation about Saddam's WMD". He is also said to have referred Mr Blair to a "small possibility" that Saddam would be "assassinated".

Read more here:

NYTimes

MediaMatters

BBC

Guardian