Video: Justin Townes Earle @ Village Idiot...

Witnessed a hell of a local show as Justin Townes Earle tore up The Village Idiot in Maumee, Ohio last Thursday (8/27). I managed to get some decent video...more to come.



Can't Hardly Wait

On Stage With The Flaming Lips...

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1 in Tokyo, 9 August 2009 from Kliph Scurlock on Vimeo.

From FlamingLips.com:
I don't do anything during "Yoshimi" except smoke cigarettes.....and the audience at our show in Tokyo was amazing, so I filmed it. It's not the best thing ever (mainly because I'm still getting used to the camera), but I find it enjoyable and I hope you do too. At the very least, it's a less blurry look at my perspective on things while on stage.

Kliph

The Flaming Lips are running a Tour Costume Contest on their Facebook Page - Great Idea to capture the love of their fans.

Video: Wilco on CBS Sunday Morning...

Watch CBS Videos Online

Video: Mumford & Sons ~ Little Lion Man...

Mumford & Sons / Little Lion Man video

HotChaCha to Play Bowling Green & Toledo...

Time to show some home state love to HotChaCha! They will be playing at Howard's Club H in Bowling Green on September 3rd & Woodchuck's in Toledo on September 4th.

From Exitstencil.org:
HotChaCha started as a girl band on an early Friday morning (in late March of 2007) at the West Side Market in Cleveland.

Mandy Aramouni and Jovana Batkovic were sipping on coffee and decided that due to Mandys’ brilliant guitar sound, and Jovanas’ outrageous stage presence, they had something HUGE going on. A few days later a local drummer, Lisa, was txt messaged to come and jam with the above mentioned broads.

For three months the girls consumed large amounts of beer, peed in the garbage can at the practice space, wrote music, and jammed. Finally, one night under the influence of large amounts of alcohol, they agreed to play their first show. At this point the band consisted of Mandy- guitar, Lisa-drums, and Jovana- vocals.

After they rocked, offended a bunch of people, and inspired everyone to masturbate and cry, they realized how HUGE they could be.

Another thing became apparent- they needed a bass player! Local bass playing boys were all in their business trying to get in on the HotChaCha phenomena, but the girls were firm- they wanted a girl bass player. That night Heather Gmucs saw the show and fell in love with the band. The next practice she joined HotChaCha and never left. It is than, that HCC was truly created.

Mandy, Lisa. Heather, and Jovi became one ultimate machine that will make you laugh, and cry, and masturbate all at once. You can’t deny the love.

Video: Mason Jennings ~ Blood of Man...

In this short film, director Barry Kimm visits Mason Jennings at his studio in Minnesota, illuminating the creative process behind his new record Blood Of Man. Mason will be playing the Magic Bag in Ferndale, Michigan on October 24th.

KCRW Set to Launch Eclectic24...

On Labor Day, KCRW will launch Eclectic24 -- a new, online, all-music channel blending the collected talents and tastes of all the station’s DJs into a single voice streaming 24 hours a day. Always on, no time slots, no appointment needed – just the best of KCRW whenever and wherever you want it. The stream will encompass the whole scope of the public radio station’s musical footprint over the last 30 years, integrating musical discoveries from across KCRW’s talented team of DJs -- favorite new releases, the best of our rich live performance archives -- with the voices of numerous musical icons that have appeared on the station over the years.

The new channel will debut – on air at KCRW 89.9 FM and online at KCRW.com – on Monday, September 7 from 9am to midnight (with a break for All Things Considered from 5 to 7pm) and into the early morning on September 8.

“Music fans still want to be surprised and turned on to something completely unexpected -- that’s the beauty of radio. What’s special about this new channel is that it combines those fresh ideas with the rich history of our station in a non-stop music stream for our fans worldwide,” said KCRW Music Director and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic Jason Bentley. “Our online-only music stream is already one of the chief reasons people visit KCRW.com and Eclectic24 will truly reflect the essence of everything that we are, musically.”

Eclectic24’s programming curator is current KCRW DJ and former Music Director Chris Douridas, who is tapping into the station's vast and ever-growing digital library of over 500,000 songs and its exclusive archive of 2000+ live performances and interviews, as well as exclusive KCRW music features like the Guest DJ Project and Today’s Top Tune(KCRW’s free song a day).

The impact of Santa Monica-based public radio station KCRW has always reached far beyond the community in which it is based, with listeners streaming the station in more than 180 countries – from Singapore and Iceland to Ghana and Peru. The station’s move online in 1998 and early foray into podcasting exposed a huge international audience to their programming and Eclectic24 cements KCRW’s place as a unique and vital resource for independent music discovery.

Video: Fanfarlo ~ The Walls Are Coming Down...

Video: Avett Brothers ~ Laundromatinee...

What's New With Lou (Barlow)...

Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown Documentary from Merge Records on Vimeo.

In the four years since his career-redefining, mostly acoustic record Emoh, Lou Barlow has reunited with Dinosaur Jr. and reissued three of Sebadoh's classic albums. But as the brilliant new Goodnight Unknown illustrates, he's hardly living in the past. Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has built on Emoh's full production and written a set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as, "a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh... to my ears, anyway."

Goodnight Unknown will be available on October 6th, 2009.

Click here to see upcoming Lou Barlow videos.

U2 Fans Show True Colors in Poland...

From Examiner.com:
Thursday night in Chorzow, Poland was extra special. The crowd joined the band in celebrating The Edge’s birthday. Also, Poland is the inspiration for U2’s classic “New Year’s Day”. This year is the 20th anniversary of free elections in Poland once Communisim had ended and the band wrote the song inspired by the “Solidarnosc movement with its leader Lech Walesa”. U2.com has a video spot (see below) from The European Commission embracing the song.

At U2’s show in Chorzow, Bono said, “This country is going somewhere very special. Is it faith? Faith in the future. Poland! Europe needs more countries like Poland…” The overwhelming response from the crowd as “New Year’s Day” played only made this statement more true.







From U2.com:
'New Year's Day' is the soundtrack to a new TV spot from The European Commission, celebrating the 20th anniversary of free elections in Poland this year.

The video takes place on the birthday of a Polish girl Marta who was born on the 4th of June 1989 - the date of the first elections in Poland after the fall of Communism. It documents key events and people in the recent history of Poland: the Solidarnosc movement with its leader Lech Walesa, Polish Round Table Talks, integration with NATO and the EU.

New Year's Day, the band's debut UK ten hit back in 1983, was inspired by Solidarnosc.

The Avett Brothers @ Bojangles Coliseum...

Video: David Gray ~ Fugitive...

Hoots & Hellmouth to Play Village Idiot...

Hoots and Hellmouth will be bringing their live act to The Village Idiot in Maumee, Ohio on September 12th of this very year. These guys TEAR IT UP...so get out there & support "alternative energy" sources. You won't be disappointed!

Free Eels Download on Myspace Transmissions...

EELS "In My Dreams" from The MySpace Transmissions


Click here to get to the FREE MP3 downloads of The EELS Myspace Transmissions session.

40 Years Ago Today, Woodstock Began...

Rolling Stone has called it "the most famous event in rock history." The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, on a 600-acre farm in the township of Bethel, New York, from August 15-18, 1969, represents more than a peaceful gathering of 500,000 people and 32 musical performances. Woodstock has become an idea that has suffused our culture, politically and socially, as much as musically. Joni Mitchell, who didn't attend but wrote an anthemic song about it, once said, "Woodstock was a spark of beauty" where half-a-million kids "saw that they were part of a greater organism." According to Michael Lang, one of four young men who formed Woodstock Ventures to produce the festival, "That's what means the most to me – the connection to one another felt by all of us who worked on the festival, all those who came to it, and the millions who couldn't be there but were touched by it."

Taking Woodstock is based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber, the comedy stars Demetri Martin as Elliot, who inadvertently played a role in making 1969’s Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Featuring a standout ensemble cast, and songs from a score of ‘60s musical icons including The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe and the Fish – plus a new recording of “Freedom” from Richie Havens – Taking Woodstock is a joyous voyage to a moment in time when everything seemed possible.

The movie will be released on August 28th.

"It Might Get Loud" in Royal Oak...

It Might Get Loud, the upcoming movie that tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes) will be shown at Main Art Theater 3 in Royal Oak, Michigan beginning September 18th.

Neko Case to Play in Bowling Green, OH...

Neko Case will perform at the Clazel Theater in Bowling Green, Ohio on November 7th. Tickets go on sale at www.etix.com on August 21st.

From Neko's Myspace Page:
Ultimately, for Case, the songs and themes on Middle Cyclone express a long internal struggle, a pitched battle between nature and nurture. "Things like animals and nature, they're located in the tender receptor of my brain. And I'm just now trying to come to terms with the notion of loving people as much as I love those other things - because I grew up in a way that made me love the one but not the other.'

"So, I guess I've been working that out for myself, and these songs are my way of reconciling those feelings."

Video: Swell Season ~ NPR Tiny Desk Concert...

Thievery Corporation Plans Royal Oak Date...

Thievery Corporation will be bringing their tour to Royal Oak Music Theatre on October 21st. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 14th.

Additional Tour Dates:
8/28 @ Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, San Francisco CA
8/29 @ Street Scene, San Diego CA
10/02 @ Austin City Limits Festival, Austin TX
10/04 @ House of Blues, Dallas TX
10/06 @ House of Blues, Houston TX
10/08 @ House of Blues, Orlando FL
10/09 @ The Fillmore, Miami FL
10/10 @ Ritz Theater, Tampa FL
10/11 @ Tabernacle, Atlanta GA
10/21 @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Detroit MI
10/23 @ Kool Haus, Toronto ON
10/24 @ Metropolis, Montreal QC
10/26 @ House of Blues, Boston MA
10/28 @ The Norva, Norfolk VA
10/30 @ Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA
10/31 @ Terminal 5, New York NY

Sufjan Stevens Tour Dates Include Pontiac...

Sufjan Stevens will be playing some intimate shows this fall. He will be playing Beachland Ballroom on September 24th & Crofoot Ballroom on September 25th. To avoid ticket scalping issues with these smaller venues all tickets will be held at Will Call.

Ticket Info from Asthmatic Kitty site:
We wanted to make this as equitable for all of the fans so there are a few things to read carefully here. Due to the sizes of the venues, tickets will be limited. With that in mind, we wanted to avoid ticket scalpers and ensure that as many fans as possible could attend these shows. Tickets must be picked up at will-call the night of the show (not mailed), tickets are non-transferable and purchaser must present a government-issued photo ID. Also, there is a two ticket limit per purchaser. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Tickets go on sale Saturday the 15th. We'll post the purchase links on Thursday, but the venues will be handling the purchasing and will turn those on when they can (we have no control over what time Friday they turn the links "on").



9-12 Monticello, NY @ ATP New York
9-21 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
9-22 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
9-23 Ithaca, NY @ Castaways
9-24 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
9-25 Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
9-26 Champaign, IL @ The High Dive
9-27 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
9-28 Madison, WI @ The Majestic
9-29 Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk Chumley
10-01 Toronto, Ontario @ Lee's Place
10-02 Montreal, Quebec @ Cabaret
10-03 Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
10-04 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10-05 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10-06 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10-07 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Sea Wolf Offers New Music & Columbus Date...

With the release of Sea Wolf's sophomore record, White Water, White Bloom, a little over a month away, anticipation for new material is palpable. To hold curious and eager fans over, Dangerbird Records is offering a taste of the cinematic journey that Sea Wolf's music undeniably possesses with the free download, "Stanislaus".

A featured bonus track on the vinyl version of the record, "Stanislaus", continues in the melodic tradition that remains Alex Brown Church's signature.

DOWNLOAD THE TRACK

White Water, White Bloom drops September 22 courtesy of Dangerbird Records.

Sea Wolf Tour Dates:
September
14 Santa Barbara, CA – Soho
15 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
16 Pomona, CA – The Glass House
17 Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour
18 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s 365 Club
21 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
22 Vancouver, BC – The Media Club
23 Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
25 Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue
26 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
29 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
30 Milwaukee, WI – Mad Planet

October
1 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
3 Indianapolis, IN – Radio Radio
4 Newport, KY– Southgate House
7 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center for the Arts
9 Toronto, ONT – Sneaky Dee’s
13 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
14 New York, NY – The Mercury Lounge
16 Brooklyn, NY – Union Hall
17 Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
18 Baltimore, MD – The Talking Head Club
19 Washington, DC – DC 9
24 Nashville, TN – Exit In
28 Austin, TX – Emo’s Jr.

A Little Change Will Do You Good...

After a series of shows that generated rave reviews in Los Angeles, New Orleans and the U.K., it was announced that Playing For Change will launch a national concert tour. The fall tour will bring the Playing For Change movement to over 20 cities nationwide. The Playing For Change band features musicians from around the globe, many of whom appeared in the now ubiquitous "Stand By Me" video (which has been viewed on the internet more than 30 million times) including New Orleans based blues singer Grandpa Elliott and soul singer Clarence Bekker from Amsterdam.

Grammy-winning producer/engineer/filmmaker Mark Johnson founded Playing For Change on the simple idea that the world can be connected through music. Starting in Santa Monica, California, Mark captured a performance of “Stand By Me” by legendary street blues singer Roger Ridley, then he took the show on the road. In New Orleans, he put headphones on Grandpa Elliott, who harmonized with Ridley’s soulful rendition of the song. And he didn’t stop there. Using innovative mobile technology and travelling the world, they filmed and recorded more than 100 musicians, largely outdoors, in parks, plazas and promenades, in doorways, on cobblestone streets and amid hilly pueblos. Each captured performance created a new mix in which essentially the artists are all performing together, albeit hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

Tour Dates
10/20 Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
10/22 Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater
10/23 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater
10/24 Albany, NY @ Empire Center at the Egg
10/25 New York, NY @ Town Hall
10/27 Glenside, PA @ The Keswick
10/29 Annapolis, MD @ Ram’s Head on Stage
10/30 Cleveland, OH @ Masonic Auditorium
10/31 Toronto, Canada @ Phoenix Music Hall
11/02 Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
11/03 Chicago, IL @ The Park West
11/04 Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
11/06 St. Paul, MN @ O’Shaunessy
11/07 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
11/09 Santa Fe, NM @ Lensic Performing Arts Center
11/12 Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
11/13 Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
11/15 San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts
11/17 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
11/18 Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
11/19 Vancouver, Canada @ Commodore Ballroom

Playing For Change Official Site

Youtube

Myspace

W.P.A. Makes Progress in Ann Arbor...

Introducing Works Progress Administration


A Letter from Glen Phillips about W.P.A.:

Good People -

Many years of friendship and musical collaboration have finally jelled into what I consider to be the most exciting project I've ever been involved with. Works Progress Administration (WPA) is the new band, and we'll be releasing our debut album in stores on September 15 (with some digital content available earlier).

We play our first out of town shows this week, beginning on Thursday, June 18 in San Diego at Anthology. This weekend we play the Telluride festival, and much more is to come.

WPA is an expandable collective. At our smallest core, the band is Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), Luke Bulla (Jerry Douglas Band, Lyle Lovett) and myself. The other five members are Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams), Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Imposters) and Davey Faragher (The Imposters, Cracker). We will also be being joined on tour by bassists Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Neil Finn) and Byron House (Emmylou Harris, Nickel Creek). We will play as much as possible as an octet, but will often be on the road as a quartet.

I'm deeply in love with this project. The quality of songwriting, exquisite musicianship and pure love of music that the other seven players bring in is something that I would be perfectly content to absorb as a fly on the wall. To actually be playing and singing with them is humbling, inspiring, and generally completely freaking awesome.

So. Please: Come to shows! Talk about us on the interwebs! Sign up for the mailing list (street team, too) and help spread the word! This is an independent release, a labor of love put together by friends without a label or other well-funded sugar daddy, so you are our greatest resource. We hope you'll enjoy being a part of this as much as we do.

Be well,
-glen phillips

W.P.A. will be at The Ark in Ann Arbor on December 5th.

A Day in the Life of an Abbey Road Web Cam...

Today marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most celebrated album covers of all time: The Beatles’ Abbey Road cover, taken on August 8th 1969.

From Abbey Road's Website:
Welcome to Abbey Road, one of the most famous, authoritative and popular names in the world of music.

We have been at the heart of the music industry for over 75 years and have welcomed thousands of the worlds most celebrated artists, record labels, producers, managers, composers, orchestras, film companies, directors and actors, to the studios.

One of our most famous clients, The Beatles, recorded 90% of their recordings at Abbey Road studios. In April 1969, they came together to record their final album as a group and titled it ‘Abbey Road.’ This album became their best selling work and featured Abbey Road Studios and the now iconic image of the zebra crossing on the front cover.

Here, you can see for yourself the most famous black and white stripes in London by viewing our webcam, which is trained on the crossing 24 hours a day.

Click here to view the Abbey Road Web Cam.

Mayer Hawthorne Sets Show in Ann Arbor...

Mayer Hawthorne will be at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor on September 26th. Look for his debut album, A Strange Arrangement, in Fall 2009.

From Stones Throw:
Mayer Hawthorne’s debut album A Strange Arrangement grew out of a childhood steeped in Detroit soul. Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, he vividly remembers driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul, deep funk and swinging jazz the region provided. As he grew up, and his obsession with soul records grew into a passion, Hawthorne discovered that sweet soul existed on both sides of the commercial divide. He discovered the same beauty in the polished sound of Issac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as he did in the deeper, darker grit of the obscure Symphonic Four and Detroit-cult soul slingers The New Holidays.

His album draws from the inspiration of Leroy Hutson, Smokey Robinson, and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland Jr. At the same time that it revels in the raw sounds of those independent musicians who aspired to achieve a level of success akin to their famous peers. A Strange Arrangement is an album full of original compositions and one cover (he had to give The New Holidays “Maybe So, Maybe No” a whirl) that underlies a heartfelt nostalgia to the sweet soul of yesteryear with a clear desire to show that his Strange Arrangement is no passing fancy. “It’s old soul,” Hawthorne explains, without an ounce of irony. “But it’s new.”

The Flaming Lips Lock in Columbus Show...

The FLAMING LIPS digital 3 song EP, "SONGS FROM THE FUTURE ALBUM EMBRYONIC" is now available at all digital retailers.
Featuring these brand new tracks from the band's first studio album in over 3 years!

“Convinced of The Hex”
“The Impulse”
“Silver Trembling Hands”

Full album will be available this FALL!!!

Watch The Flaming Lips at Pitchfork (July 2009)

In the meantime, The Lips have just confirmed a General Admission show in Columbus, OH on September 18th at LC Pavilion (outdoors). Tickets go on sale on August 8th.