The Kickback (Chicago's Answer to The Walkman) are Recording Daytrotter Session in Advance of Full-Length CD / March Residency at Schubas in Chicago

Violently Carsick by The Kickback"We recorded this after our fans helped us win a Deli reader's poll and got us some free studio time. The song was originally supposed to be a take on the song "Route 66" for a Red Bull tour diary, but they didn't seem to be down with our turning it into a six-minute ramblethon and not really using the words, and we can't really blame them. But they still suck. Thanks for making this yours." -- from The Kickback's...

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Dinosaur Jr. - "Bug Live at 9:30 Club: In the Hands of the Fans" DVD Review (MVD Video)

Last summer, Dinosaur Jr. went out on a small run of East Coast dates where they played their 1988 album Bug in its entirety. Bug was the band’s second release for SST and was the last disc to include bassist Lou Barlow prior to the band’s 2007 reunion album. Looking back, Lou Barlow reflects that the album that many fans cite as their favorite (and the disc is listed as one of the “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” was actually anti-climatic...

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Black Bird White Sky: Brooklyn Electro-Rock Band Announces March Shows at Bar Matchless and Grand Victory

Formed in 2011 in Brooklyn, Ronnie Shingelo, singer and creator of Black Bird White Sky teamed up with producer/engineer/mixer Nic Hard (The Bravery, Aberdeen City, Church, The Ropes) and co-producer/engineer Jonathan Goldstein. Recorded on an MBox with software at Ronnie’s private home studio and later at Nic’s studio, they worked with what they had, and what results is a beautiful collection of new songs loaded with catchy hooks and in your face...

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Prima Donna - "Bless This Mess" CD Review (Acetate Records)

Prima Donna released their sophomore album Bless This Mess earlier this month on Acetate Records. While the band is often lumped in with bands from the Southern California post-punk scene, Prima Donna blurs the lines between glam-punk and garage rock similar to East Coast bands like The Strokes, D-Generation and Star Spangles.Prima Donna is a five-piece band from L.A. that got together in 2003 and has toured aggressively with acts that include old-school...

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George Harrison: The Guitar Collection iPad App Released Today

Bandwidth Publishing, in conjunction with the George Harrison Estate, announces the release of a special iPad app celebrating the guitarist and his historical guitar collection. The Guitar Collection: George Harrison iPad app is available through iTunes today, two days before Harrison’s birthdate.The app brings George Harrison’s private guitar collection to life through photographs, detailed descriptions, audio, and video footage. For the first time,...

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Reptar Posts "Sebastian" from Forthcoming Full-Length "Body Faucet" / Show at Bowery Ballroom on April 14th

Athens, GA band Reptar has announced that their debut full-length album, Body Faucet, will be released on May 1st via Vagrant Records. Produced by Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, Washed Out), Body Faucet is the follow up to the group’s heralded debut EP "Oblangle Fizz Y’all", which Rolling Stone praised for its “…blend of upbeat rhythms, reggae-infected vocals and psychedelic textures.”“When we were recording the album, we tried to...

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The Residents - "Talking Light: Bimbos" DVD Review (MVD Visual)

The Residents - Talking Light: Bimbos DVD is a live concert film from the final night of the band's 2011 "Talking Light" tour. This show was filmed in front of a sold-out crowd at Bimbo’s in San Francisco on April 16, 2011 and runs just under two hours. While the show was filmed in 3D (and there was a limited 3D-DVD edition of this show that was made available to project Kickstarter supporters), the ‘standard’ version is beautifully filmed and...

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Hidden Hospitals: Chicago Alt-Rock Band (x-Damiera & x-Kiss Kiss) Release Debut EP / Show at Sullivan Hall on April 13th

EP 001 by Hidden HospitalsConsider their first release, "EP 001", to be a prototype. Written between Chicago, New York, and Nashville, singer David Raymond has taken this collection of songs and carefully crafted the sonic base for this band. “Addition by subtraction” is how producer J. Hall describes the orchestration within "EP 001". “Whenever a new sound is introduced, another must be scaled back to accommodate.” The result is an album rooted...

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The Residents - "Is Anybody Out There" DVD Review (MVD Video)

While I’ve reviewed a number of Residents’ discs over the past few years, the DVD Is Anybody Out There had slipped through the cracks. Prior to starting in on the band’s latest limited edition, Night Train to Nowhere, I wanted to close out the last of the Bunny Boy and Talking Light discs. Is Anybody Out There follows the Bunny Boy story arc – a large portion of this footage was posted to the internet as a multi-part docudrama as a run-up to...

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Tu Fawning - Download "Bones" from Forthcoming Sophomore CD "A Moment" (City Slang)

DOWNLOAD: Tu Fawning - "Bones" (from forthcoming CD A Moment - out May 15th)Portland, OR's Tu Fawning will release their sophomore album A Monument in the US on May 15th, 2012 via City Slang. The album is preceded by the free MP3 download premiere of "Bones", a 7+ minute-long opus of fluttering and pulsing primal beats. Led by Corrina Repp and Joe Haege (31Knots), Tu Fawning expands upon the dark, vaudevillian vibes of their 2010 debut LP Hearts...

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The Jettisoundz Promo Years - "The Promos From 1983 Onwards" DVD Review (Screen Edge)

Anyone who didn’t grow up in the 80’s may not appreciate how important music videos were to discovering new bands. While MTV predominately catered to mainstream artists, there were programs like 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball that featured bands that fell outside of FM-radio standards and USA Network showed a mixture of videos from punk and indie-artists and concert films like "Urgh! A Music War" and Johnny Thunders live on its Night Flight program....

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The Residents - "Coochie Brake" CD Review (MVD Audio)

Coochie Brake is the latest CD from the Residents and this disc marks a clean break from the band’s recent "Bunny Boy" and "Talking Light" related output. To put this disc in context with the band’s recent releases, The Residents toured as a three piece on their "Talking Light" tour with long-time vocalist “Randy, “Chuck” on keyboards and “Bob” on guitar. During the "Talking Light" live shows, Randy announced that, while the Residents had been...

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George Clinton: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music

Last night in Boston, Berklee College of Music awarded funk icon George Clinton an honorary doctor of music degree and celebrated his music with a performance from the college's P-Funk Ensemble. After the presentation, Clinton traded his doctoral robes for a silver suit to perform with student musicians on "Testify," "Give Up the Funk," and "One Nation Under a Groove," among other P-Funk hits. Clinton's longtime horn players Bennie Cowan and Greg...

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Town Hall: Brooklyn Indie-Folk Band Release Valentine Video Tribute to Ja Rule

Town Hall "sold me" with their acoustic re-interpretation (and the vocals trade-offs between Stefan Weiner and Phoebe Ryan) of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" and the band is playing a CD release show for their new EP "Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps" sometime next month. This new disc is a mellow "late night" listen that is powered by the two vocalists with instrumentation like mandolin and omnichord carefully woven in beneath the vocals. Most...

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Spiritual Beggars - "Another Way to Shine" CD Review (The End Records)

I probably would have found Spiritual Beggars’ second disc, Another Way to Shine (1996), more satisfying if I hadn’t recently reviewed the band’s fourth disc, Ad Astra (2000). As compared to the hard-rock/grunge of Ad Astra, Another Way to Shine is more of a psychedelic outing that doesn’t have the same pummeling intensity of this later release. The difference in the sound between these two albums is somewhat akin to comparing Alice in Chain’s...

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Sex Pistols - "Live: The Broadcast Archives" DVD Review (IMV Blueline)

As dozens of poorly labeled or incorrectly labeled Sex Pistols' archival releases have hit the market over the last twenty years, it always takes a bit of detective work to figure out exactly what material is covered on any new archival release. This new DVD from the Sex Pistols, “Live: The Broadcast Archives” (how’s that for a descriptive name?) is a great addition to the band’s catalogue as it captures a full concert from the band on their 1996...

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HELLYEAH Announces Third Disc, "Band of Brothers" Out in June on Eleven/Seven Music

Fingers crossed for this release as I found the band's 2007 self-titled debut such a snoozer that I didn't bother with their second disc.Hard rock supergroup HELLYEAH is back with a their third album, entitled Band of Brothers. The album, the band’s first effort for their new label home, Eleven Seven Music, was recorded in Dallas at drummer Vinnie Paul’s home studio, VP’s Upstairs Studio, and was produced by the band and Jeremy Parker (Godsmack,...

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Paul McCartney Played "My Valentine" at The Grammys / Posts Video from "Kisses On the Bottom" Photo Shoot

(Photographer: Mary McCartney)Earlier this month, Paul McCartney released his first new disc in five years, Kisses on the Bottom. The disc takes its name from a lyric in the Fats Waller song “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” and McCartney’s cover of this song serves as the lead-off track on his new disc. This new disc is predominately comprised of little-heard cover songs and Paul’s approach to this disc is similar to his 1999...

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Harley's War - "Harley's War 2012" CD Review (MVD Audio)

Cro-Mags/Harley’s War bassist/vocalist Harley Flanagan posted a new track, “Comfort the Children”, to YouTube in late 2008 but little was heard after that. Seemingly out of nowhere, Harley’s new disc, Harley’s War 2012 (MVD Audio), hit the streets earlier this month. There isn’t much in the way of liner notes with this release so I’m taking some guesses as to the source of this material. The disc’s first five tracks are previously unreleased studio...

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GEORGINE - Debuted Her Fall/Winter 2012 Collection at 7Eleven Gallery on Feb. 12th

Head designer Georgine Ratelband of GEORGINE debuted her Fall/Winter 2012 collection as part of New York Fashion Week on Sunday, February 12 at 7Eleven Gallery in Chelsea. It is an impressive collection (photos below) and I can see why Georgine's designs hang alongside those of Jason Wu. The evening kicked off with a performance from DJ Mia Moretti and Caitlin Moe (who opened for Janet Jackson at The Louvre and played at Chelsea Clinton's wedding)...

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Margot and the Nuclear So and So's Premier Video for "Prozac Rock" / Show at MHOW on April 11th

Margot and The Nuclear So and So's premiered the first video, "Prozac Rock", off their upcoming fourth LP Rot Gut, Domestic earlier this month which was directed by Dom Bloink. A "Prozac Rock" single, featuring B-side "Fingertips", is currently available digitally via iTunes and Amazon. Rot Gut, Domestic will be released on March 20th, 2012 on the band's own Mariel Recording Company. The band has also announced a spring headlining tour throughout the eastern US and into Canada. The tour will launch on March 31st with a performance at the sold...

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X - "The Unheard Music": Interview with Alizabeth Foley (aka Paulene)

Silver Anniversary Edition Liner Notes from Director W. T. Morgan:A quarter-century ago THE UNHEARD MUSIC premiered at Sundance.To get there, Angel City Productions – Chris Blakely, Everett Greaton, Alizabeth Foley and I – spent a lifetime in wolf years shacked up with X and their uniquely charged punk poetry. We found kindred spirits in John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom and D. J. Bonebrake, and tried to capture lightning in a bottle during that electrifying run when they made Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun and More Fun in the...

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