UK Long-Retired, Now-Active UK Songstress Vashti Bunyan To Play One NightAt 92nd Street Y in Tribeca Tonight; Screening Her Documentary Vashti Bunyan: From Here to Before Both Tonight and Tomorrow Night [Brooklyn Vegan]

Stream New Brooklyn Duo Coasting’s First Song “Coasting” (It’s Solid Garage Fuzz, With More Sprawling Guitar Than Wavves); Hopefully Their Album Will Also Be Called Coasting, And They Just Make Videos of Them Skimboarding on the Atlantic Coast [Gorilla vs. Bear]

Vampire Weekend Play a Bunch of Songs off Upcoming LP Contra (Released January 12) at London Show; NME Gives No Indication of Whether Songs Were Good or Bad, Or What They Sounded Like…I Create Vendetta Against NME For Lacking Such Opinions [NME]

Stream New LCD Soundsystem Single (That Alan Vega Cover He Mentioned Last Week) “Bye Bye Bayou” – It Is Quite Disco…More Disco Than Usual (And That’s Pretty Disco) [22 Tracks]

Watch Pavement’s Spiral Stairs’ Video For “Stolen Pills”…Which Realy Just Consists of Uhh…Stealing Pills. Stairs’ The Real Feel Released October 20 [Pitchfork]

The Flaming Lips To Record Track by Track Cover of Dark Side of the Moon; Only One Appropriate Joke For the Occasion: Fucking Hippies. [Pitchfork]

Ticketmaster Prints “Free Denny’s Hamburger” Coupon on Morrissey Ticket; Morrissey Vegetarian (If Meat is Murder Wasn’t Convincing Enough For You); This Writer Laughs, Animal Ethicist Peter Singer Cries (Probably; I Do Not Know The Man) [Idolator]

Jack White’s Other Garage Rock Band Dead Weather Already Halfway Through Follow-Up To This Year’s Horehound; Expecting Release Before End of 2009…I Convinced Jack White’s Business Proof That Sleeping = Optional For Human Beings [Spin]

compiled by Max Sebela

DAILY NEWS PICKS

Yesss!!! Listen To Big Boi’s New Song With George Clinton and Too $hort. Though Honestly, It’s Not As Crazy As We’d Hope [Prefix]

Getting Bored With Your Buddha Machine? No Worries, Throbbing Gristle Has Made Their Own Version: Helloo Gristleism! [Pitchfork]

Listen To New Best Coast, “Wish He Was You.” You May Be Sick Of These Lo-Fi Beachy Songs, But We Who’re Already Dreading Winter Need This! [Gorilla vs. Bear]

Morrissey To Release B-Sides Album, Tour West Coast [The Tripwire]

Whaaaa? FAC Supports Lily Allen After All. We’ll See What This Means For Our Theory On The Whole Debacle… [Pitchfork]

San Francisco’s Girls New Single Due In November. Watch Them Perform It Here! [Pitchfork]

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers To Release Fatty, Four-Disc Live Anthology [Rolling Stone]

Have You Ever Wondered What The Inside Of Kyp Malone’s Apartment Looks Like? Don’t Worry, We Have Too. You Can Get All the Mundane (and Exciting) Details Here  [NY Post]

Hells Yeah. Mos Def Making Punk Documentary [The Tripwire]

Stream All Of Ghostface’s Wizard Of Poetry Here [Prefix]

In More Wizard And Music-Related News, ?uestlove and Friends To Play Free Screening Of Wizard Of Oz in Central Park Next Week [Brooklyn Vegan]

compiled by Erin Sheehy

No More Radiohead Albums? AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH! [The Tripwire]

Watch The Drums New Video for “Let’s Go Surfing,” Look Out For Their Upcoming Shows [Brooklyn Vegan]

C-Murder Convicted of Second-Degree Murder [NME]

Co-Owner of Matador Records Loses House In Fire [Brooklyn Vegan]

Don’t Look A Gift-Horse In The Mouth and For God’s Sake Don’t Punch It!!! Man Arrested For Punching Police Horse After Lollapalooza [Pitchfork]

Watch The Trailer For Tom Waits’ Upcoming Film, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” [Prefix]

And In More Tom Waits News…Anton Corbijn Is Publishing Book Of Tom Waits Portraits [The Tripwire]

If Morrissey Ain’t Making Money Off It, Why Bother? Morrissey Tells Fans Not To Buy Reissues [Rolling Stone]

I Always Secretly Hoped Elton John Would Work With Alice In Chains, Now My Dreams Are Fulfilled [Prefix]

821 Entertainment To Make Hank Williams Biopic [Prefix]

compiled by Erin Sheehy

LIVE JOURNAL
JezebelMusic.com @ The Bell House
August 8, 2009 | Harvey Danger, Jukebox the Ghost, Valley Lodge

photo by Jessi Bautista

Last Saturday The Bell House in Gowanus, Brooklyn, hosted the second show of Harvey Danger’s six-stop farewell tour. It was one of those rare existential crisis-inspiring shows that makes one wary of the ageist nature of rock music and the fickleness of pop. It was a show that ultimately inspired a sort of optimistic and perhaps obvious understanding that the real impact of a band isn’t the amount of records sold (or the popularity of a single), but its meaningful influence on a small number of people.

The opener, Valley Lodge, had a ’90s-inspired sound that was remarkably appropriate for the occasion. The band blasted into the song “Every Little Thing”, which sounded like the slacker side of Dinosaur Jr., or a loving tribute to the Old 97’s. Lodge is a project of the writer/comedian/UCB regular Dave Hill, who introduced each song as one of their “greatest hits,” and shredded his fair share of guitar solos. The band is a treat to watch, and I recommend that everyone in the New York area check them out.
More on Harvey Danger, Jukebox the Ghost, Valley Lodge @ The Bell House | 8.8.09

FRESH BAKED
Morrissey
Years of Refusal
2009 | Lost Highway
A-

The Tuesday, February 18th edition of NPR’s Soundcheck featured a weekly segment called “The Soundcheck Smackdown.” For those who’ve never listened, this segment pits music critics and arbiters against each other over their love, hate, passion for, or persecution of a particular artist, album, movement, or musical trend. The subject of this edition was Morrissey, whose new album, Years of Refusal, was officially released in the U.S. on the 18th. The first question posed by Soundcheck’s lovable, chuckling, informed host, John Schaefer, went something like this: “Morrissey: Witty or washed up?” to which Marc Spitz’s responded (Spitz is the author of How Soon Is Never?, a novel about an attempt to reunite The Smiths), “Uh, witty… I’m going with witty… Because he’s a genius; I think he’s a genuine pop icon in a world where there are a lot of contenders for that status. I’ve met him. He smells like an icon. He’s the real deal.” Marc’s sparring partner replied: “I wish Morrissey would just be quiet and just sell cologne.”
More on Morrissey | Years of Refusal

FRESH BAKED
Morrissey
Years of Refusal
2009 | Lost Highway
A-

The Tuesday, February 18th edition of NPR’s Soundcheck featured a weekly segment called “The Soundcheck Smackdown.” For those who’ve never listened, this segment pits music critics and arbiters against each other over their love, hate, passion for, or persecution of a particular artist, album, movement, or musical trend. The subject of this edition was Morrissey, whose new album, Years of Refusal, was officially released in the U.S. on the 18th. The first question posed by Soundcheck’s lovable, chuckling, informed host, John Schaefer, went something like this: “Morrissey: Witty or washed up?” to which Marc Spitz’s responded (Spitz is the author of How Soon Is Never?, a novel about an attempt to reunite The Smiths), “Uh, witty… I’m going with witty… Because he’s a genius; I think he’s a genuine pop icon in a world where there are a lot of contenders for that status. I’ve met him. He smells like an icon. He’s the real deal.” Marc’s sparring partner replied: “I wish Morrissey would just be quiet and just sell cologne.”
More on Morrissey | Years of Refusal

Hidden Gem:
Morrissey
Viva Hate
1988 | Sire

Considering the amount of records in my collection (somewhere upwards of two thousand), it’s amazing to me how embarrassingly unfamiliar I’ve been with Morrissey, ex-Smiths singer and perennial provocateur, until about a week ago. I’ve been largely blank on 1980’s “alternative rock” (barring the subjects of Michael Azerrad’s chronicle of the 80s DIY scene, Our Band Could Be Your Life), finding the “state-of-the-art,” digital production quality of most 80’s rock music unlistenable. Replacements, Hoodoo Gurus, Killing Joke, etc., all have great songs, but the tinny production quality – all treble, drums sound synthetic (and usually are), lead guitars mixed as though they’re in the next room – drives me up the wall.
More on Record Review: Viva Hate

Call it a “best-of compilation” but what we’re really dealing with here is a Smiths Greatest Hits album.

On November 11, Rhino Records will be releasing The Sounds of the Smiths. The album is available as either a single or double disc: the first disc contains a chronological tracking of the band’s singles; the second disc features b-sides and live/alternate versions of some Smiths classics.

Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr were involved with choosing the songs on The Sounds of the Smiths, and Marr supervised the mastering.

Read more to see the full track list…
More on The Smiths Release Greatest Hits Album