Photos: Jose Gonzalez Live on KEXP [Chicago, IL; 10/04/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

Because his records are so unadorned, because he is largely disinterested in flourish, because I suspect there is a strong streak of perfectionism running through his every gesture, there's really very little separating a live performance by José González (like the one I caught at Chicago's Engine Studios yesterday afternoon as part of a live radio session for KEXP) and his records. That said, the serene beauty you've heard etched into wax is preserved in concert, as is that nagging feeling that you wish he wasn't so goshdarned straightfaced about it.



Not that José isn't lovely, as a person, singer, and guitarist. That voice, those plucked strings, that gentle hush seems to emit from the core of Mr. Gonzélez, and he (rather admirably, considering) batted KEXP DJ John Richards' overager softballs right back with a genial shrug. His songs seem more delicate on first blush than they truly are, and "How Low" and "Fold", however indebted to Nick Drake, could never be as sweet coming from anyone else.



But whether it was the air conditioning or the forced friendship from Richards or José's gossamer voice and the soft strings of his guitar, I felt a bit sleepy. No complaint: I suspect perhaps this is the idea. These are political songs, some of 'em, and love songs otherwise, and both those things, when done just right, oughta ooze passion. José's passion, I suspect, is closer to perfectionism, and though I'm sure it made for fine radio-- as it makes for fine records-- it wasn't a sight to behold.



Setlist:

Down the Line
How Low
Fold
Abram
Killing for Love

Hear it HERE. [MORE...]

Lily Allen To Play Lydia Bennet in Austen Spoof Flick
Suddenly, 300-level English TAs all rewrite their syllabi in unison

In a role one suspects won't be too great a stretch for the sassy (and very funny) British songstress, Lily Allen will portray Lydia Bennet, the bratty, class-obsessed younger sister of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in the forthcoming "parody" flick Jane Austen Handheld, according to RollingStone.com.

Though it's unclear at this point what kind of liberties will be taken with Austen's beloved narrative, in the book, Lydia Bennet (spoiler alert-- though you should really read more) runs off under false pretenses with a George Wickham, to be portrayed in Handheld by British TV/radio personality Russell Brand. No word on who'll take the other roles in the film or just who's directing this thing, but shooting is set to begin next spring.

Apart from lining up acting gigs, digging on Chrissie, and kicking it with Common, Lily's been keeping fairly quiet lately. Though she's doing Fashion Rocks (hosted by Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson!) at London's Royal Albert Hall on October 18, no proper live dates have been announced for the fall, and no new jams have emerged as yet. A recent MySpace blog mentioned that she'd "spent the past couple of weeks in a twee little cottage in the cotswolds starting on the next album," which has "gone so well." She added that "I won't say much but it's a different musical direction and really quite exciting. Everything just seems to be falling into place." Well, good! Remember, Lils, we fell in love with your music, not your way around a cue card.

Stream: Lily Allen: LDN [South Rakkas Crew Crack Whore Riddim]

Be Your Own Pet Announce Little Tour
Kicks off with awesome Halloween party

Photo by Stefano Giovannini

Be Your Own Pet will come out of the studio to pla-ee-ayy! on a short tour that starts with a Warriors-themed costume party on Halloween. As you can see in the flyer for the event (after the jump), the Bravery will host the D.C. party, which will also feature the DJ talents of Leave the Lights On and Deep Sang.

BYOP are still hard at work readying the follow-up to their self-titled debut for release early next year, though a specific title and release date are still forthcoming.

Those with a completely insatiable appetite for Pet can tide themselves over with two CMJ appearances by guitarist Jonas Stein and drummer John Eatherly's Turbo Fruits side project. The shows are on October 18 and 19. [MORE...]

Video: Be Your Own Pet: Bicycle Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle [from the Be Your Own Pet LP]

Photos: Imperial Teen Live on KEXP [Chicago, IL; 10/04/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

Roddy Bottum and his Imperial Teen crew kept things rolling at KEXP's remote session from Chicago's Engine Studios yesterday, jamming through a set of their twisted pop tunes, mostly culled from this year's LP, The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band.



Host John Richards' typical fanboy gushing took on a more personal tone at the Teen's appearance than the previous few bands. "I've been a DJ as long as you've been a band," he revealed. "I think I've played you since the first week I was on the air, so it's a particular honor to have you on the show."



"Now that I've buttered you up," he added, "I'm ready for a great show. No pressure." If they did feel any pressure, they certainly didn't show it, and quickly launched into Baby and the Band's "Do It Better". They later revisited their late-1990s hit "Yoo Hoo" to wrap up the set.






Setlist:

Do It Better
One Two
Baby and the Band
Shim Sham
Yoo Hoo

Hear it HERE.
[MORE...]

Ratatat Open for Bjork, Soundtrack the Birth of a Child
Baby born doing this: \m/

Björk's infatuation with beatmakers has grown to encompass the lovably scruffy guys of Ratatat, as she has asked them to open for her at shows on December 12 in L.A. and December 15 in Vegas. Being sane, they of course accepted, and those are now the only tour dates on the duo's schedule.

Accepting Björk's invitation isn't, however, the only thing Ratatat have done recently. A few weeks ago, Public Radio International's "Weekend America" ran a story in its "Listening In" series about what women choose to listen to while giving birth. A listener-generated playlist consisted of songs by Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, the Ramones ("I Wanna Be Sedated", har har), and Jimmy Buffet (life is full of disappointments, son). In the story itself, though, one woman revealed that Ratatat's "Wildcat" was her song of choice.

In a follow-up piece prompted by a listener's letter asking for more info about "that song with the cat's reeaaarrrrgh in it," "Weekend America" caught up with Ratatat for an interview on the subject, which you can listen to here. They explained how they recorded the roar, apparently obtained by going outside and capturing the sound from an actual wildcat, though one of the Ratatats pointed out, "I don't think it was giving birth at the time." They also revealed their own cheeky pick for Baby's First Song: "The Happy Birthday Song". Touché, gentlemen.

Also, we're sure that tons of people have noticed this already, but still:

[MORE...]

Stream: Ratatat: Weekend America interview
MP3: Z-ro, Devin the Dude & Juvenile: The Mule (Ratatat remix)

Justice Launch North American Tour
Add dates with CSS

Whether or not Kanye decides to crash their party again and appear on stage saying "Hold up, hold up, this is my crowd. I paid a million dollars for this crowd!", we fully expected Justice to hold it down on their tour of almost-- but not quite-- everywhere in the world.

That tour's North American leg begins tonight, October 5, in Mexico, and, as if their own crunchy beats weren't enough, they've added a handful of UK dates in December with notorious party-starters CSS. Not a bad addition to a tour that just keeps going, and going, and going, until December 15.

Lest any one of us forgets just how giving Justice are, there is also the matter of that "D.A.N.C.E." remix EP, which is out now. [MORE...]

Stream: Justice: D.A.N.C.E. (Alan Braxe remix) [from the D.A.N.C.E. (Remixes) EP]
Stream: Justice [ft. Pase Rock of Spank Rock]: Waters of Nazareth (Erol Alkan's Durr Durr Durrrrrr Re-edit) [from the forthcoming Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles mix LP]

RIAA Wins File-Sharing Suit, Woman Fined $222,000
Now they can buy 222,000 Radiohead albums

$9,250 per song. According to the New York Times, that is how much Brainerd, Minnesota's Jammie Thomas will have to shell out for each of the 24 disputed tracks she reportedly shared on the Kazaa network. This is due to a decision made by a federal jury in a Duluth, Minnesota court yesterday, ruling in the favor of lead plaintiff Capitol Records, along with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, and Warner Music Group.

Thomas is the first person in the United States to be convicted of music sharing copyright infringement in a jury trial, and the decision sets a startling new legal precedent and serves as a major symbolic victory for the RIAA.

Thomas' case is particularly interesting, as she was convicted of having copyrighted material in her Kazaa shared folder, but not necessarily sharing them herself. The Times reports, "Earlier, the judge in the case, Michael J. Davis of Federal District Court, ruled that for jurors to find her liable, the record labels did not have to prove that songs on Ms. Thomas's computer had actually been transmitted to others online. Rather, the act of making them available could be viewed as infringement."

In the last four years, the labels have brought around 30,000 lawsuits against file sharers, but Thomas is the first to be found guilty in a jury trial. Most opt for a settlement, with an average payout in the $4,000 range. The Times points out that "the verdict is likely to reinforce the notion that computer users who do become targets of lawsuits-- a small fraction of the population using file-swapping networks-- are better off settling." Thomas maintained her innocence throughout the proceedings, claiming she'd never even had a Kazaa account, but evidence was presented that she had replaced her hard drive in order to eradicate the files.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Thomas shared files by such artists as AFI, Aerosmith, Green Day, Journey, and Guns n' Roses. Thankfully, now these struggling entertainers will be able to feed their families.

In other RIAA news, they recently sent a back-to-school present to 22 U.S. universities in the form of 403 "pre-litigation settlement letters," which, with this new decision, just became a lot more serious. Be careful out there, folks.

For more about the RIAA and how it operates, read J.T. Ramsay's 2006 feature "Live at the Witch Trials". 

Video: Jane's Addiction: Been Caught Stealing [from the Ritual de lo Habitual LP]

Photos: The Twilight Sad Live on KEXP [Chicago, IL; 10/04/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

Watching the members of Glaswegian noise-pop group the Twilight Sad warm up for their live KEXP broadcast yesterday afternoon at Chicago's Engine Studios, one might have thought the band had come from their hometown's school of sensitive, navel-gazing popsters like Belle & Sebastian. Singer James Graham timidly slouched in front of the microphone, drummer Mark Devine crouched unassumingly behind his drum kit-- until they cranked into song number one, they seemed like the shyest guys in the world.



That perception, of course, was shattered about a minute into "Cold Days From the Birdhouse" (the lead-off track from the band's fantastic debut Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters), when Graham unleashed his Scottish brogue on the line "but this is where your arm can't go," as if to prove that this is where they can go. And once they'd gotten there, they really didn't stop over the course of four songs.



Devine had to keep a concrete block in front of his kick drum to keep him from pounding the whole kit into the sound booth (where the songs sound properly mixed; inside the studio, his endless pounding is the only thing anyone can hear). Host John Richards exclaimed, after their second song, that it was the most noise they'd heard all week.



But after a half-hour offering of such Fourteen Autumns tracks as "And She Would Darken the Memory of Youth" and "I'm Taking the Train Home", the fellows' meek demeanors returned. They gave a quiet, polite "thank you" to their host, and began packing up for two more U.S. gigs before heading back across the pond.


(The Twilight Sad with KEXP's John Richards)

Setlist:

Cold Days from the Birdhouse
Watching That Chair
And She Would Darken the Memory of Youth
I'm Taking the Train Home

Hear the full performance HERE.
[MORE...]

Debbie Harry Gets Evil on New Album

Photo by Joe Gaffney

It wouldn't naturally occur to us to think of a new Debbie Harry album as having anything in common with taxes, public transit, and doctor's office waiting rooms. Quite the opposite, actually. But the Blondie frontwoman insists on calling her first solo album in 14 years Necessary Evil, and who are we to contradict her?

Harry's supporting cast on Evil includes Blondie collaborator Chris Stein, the Jazz Passengers' Roy Nathanson and Bill Ware, the Toilet Boys' Guy Furrow, and NYC production duo Super Buddha (aka Barb Morrison and Charles Nieland). Alas, no Lily Allen.

Five Seven Music/ADA will release Necessary Evil on October 9. Harry has a few dates in support of the new album scheduled for this fall. [MORE...]

Video: Debbie Harry: Two Times Blue [from the forthcoming Necessary Evil LP]

Pitchfork Seeks Video Editor for NYC Internship

M.I.A. Does Track With Aussie Kids for Heaps Decent

Front page photo by Kirstie Shanley

Not that we'd ever suggest that M.I.A. was following in Diplo's footsteps, but she is indeed helping her old pal Wes' Heaps Decent project come back with power power. On a recent trip to Australia, M.I.A.-- along with French rapper Yelle, producers Tepr and Grand Marnier, and some young ladies from a school within an Australian youth detention center-- have recorded a track with the likely title of "Popo Mind Control".

Beyond describing the jam as the "HOTTEST CLUB TRACK YOU EVER HEARD," the Heaps Decent MySpace blog explains the sessions like this:

Early last week we got an email from M.I.A.'s management saying that M.I.A. was keen to get involved with us while she was in Australia for the Parklife festival. "Hell yeah!" we excitedly replied, and a few days later we were in the lobby of the Sydney Hilton with Maya and a bunch of Frenchies.

Turns out these Frenchies were pop starlet/gangsta rapper YELLE and her producers and bandmates TEPR and GRAND MARNIER! We were big fans of them too, so we asked them if they wanted to come and help record the greatest song ever. Lucky for us they did.

The next day we hit the road... after an hour or so of driving we reached our destination - an all girls school in a juvenile justice centre where we would spend the next two days making beats and rhymes with the small student population...

Produced by Tepr & Grand Marinier and featuring M.I.A and the girls from the centre this new song we did is CRAZY. I don't even know what it's called. Although M.I.A. screams "popo mind control!!" on the hook so maybe it's called that? How about we say it's a crazy hot new jam with the working title of POPO MIND CONROL?

The plan, it seems, is to "release this jam legit" once hott producer Switch-- whose touch is all over Kala-- is done mixing it. As Diplo mentioned when he told us about the project, all proceeds will go back into the Heaps Decent project.

M.I.A., who's currently in Japan, recently announced she'd pegged the Cool Kids to open much of her North American tour. Those dates after the jump. [MORE...]

Video: M.I.A.: Paper Planes [live on the Late Show with David Letterman]

Gutter Twins Reveal Debut Album Title

The Gutter Twins, aka the dynamic duo of Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, have announced the title of their debut album: Saturnalia.

According to their publicist, "Saturnalia was a feast/festival back in Ancient Roman times where the slaves became the masters. A fitting title for this album."

Oooooh...

As previously reported, the album is due out next year on Sub Pop. In early 2008, the Gutter Twins will play a few shows in the U.S. and abroad to preview the album.

Both men have been keeping busy popping up on other peoples' albums recently, with Lanegan pitching in on the Soulsavers' new album, and Dulli popping up on the debut album from Intramural, the new project from Desaparecidos guitarist / Statistics main man Denver Dalley.

Also, for some reason Dashboard Confessional cover "Crazy" by the Afghan Whigs on their new covers album, which is just weird.

Stream: Twilight Singers ft Mark Lanegan: Live With Me (Massive Attack Cover) [from the A Stitch in Time EP]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)