Conor Oberst Goes Solo...Again

Best known for working under the Bright Eyes moniker for the past decade-plus, Conor Oberst will release a self-titled solo album on Merge Records on August 5th. It's his fourth solo effort, but first since 1995's Soundtrack to My Movie.

According to Merge: This recording was made in Tepoztlán, Morelos, México during the months of January and February 2008. In Tepoztlán, a place known for Aztec Magic and Extra-Terrestrial Sightings, a temporary studio was created in a mountain villa called Valle Místico at the outskirts of town. It was produced by Conor Oberst with much help from engineer and long time associate Andy LeMaster. A special band was assembled for the recording, known amongst themselves and to friends as the Mystic Valley Band. It was there at Valle Místico that Conor and the band lived and worked for that time in near perfect harmony, often unaware of the hour or the day.

Track list in full:
1. Cape Cañaveral
2. Sausalito
3. Get-Well-Cards
4. Lenders In The Temple
5. Danny Callahan
6. I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital)
7. Eagle On A Pole
8. Moab
9. NYC ”“ Gone, Gone
10. Valle Místico (Ruben's Song)
11. Souled Out!!!
12. Milk Thistle

(FYI: The Mystic Valley Band is said to comprise Oberst, singer-songwriter Nik Freitas, and Rilo Kiley drummer Jason Boesel.)

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R.I.P. Danny Federici

Danny Federici, longtime keyboardist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, died earlier today of cancer at age 58. He'd been battling melanoma for three years, and had taken a leave of absence from the band in November to battle the disease.

A posting on Springsteen's website read as follows:

"Danny Federici, for 40 years the E Street Band's organist and keyboard player, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three year battle with melanoma.

The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. A web site for the Fund is being established and we'll post its link when it is on line.

Bruce Springsteen's concerts scheduled for Friday in Ft. Lauderdale and Saturday in Orlando performance are being postponed. Replacement dates will be announced shortly."

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Rock 'n Roll Squabble-icious!

Who doesn't love a great — if totally ridiculous and childish — rock 'n roll feud? The latest is a fantastic verbal rumble between Scott Weiland and the other members of Velvet Revolver (Slash, Duff, et al), which has escalated wildly over the past two days. Two weeks ago, Weiland announced from the stage during a VR show in Scotland that the crowd was witnessing the band's "last tour," then got into a very personal back-and-forth blog-war with drummer Matt Sorum.

Yesterday, in a not-April Fools'-prank statement, VR announced it had fired Weiland and would soon be seeking a replacement singer: "This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott Weiland isn't 100% committed to either," wrote Slash "Among other things, his increasingly erratic onstage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on."

Today, Weiland — who is reuniting with his old band, Stone Temple Pilots, issued his own completely excellent retort in an e-mail to MTV, which you can read after the jump...

Continue reading "Rock 'n Roll Squabble-icious!"

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Get Schooled on Sub Pop's Dime

They might not want to listen to your bands demo just yet, but the benevolent folks over at Sub Pop will read your one page essay, as long as you're a graduating senior in Washington ot Oregon and " involved and/or interested in music and/or the creative arts in some way."

Why? The label is coughing up a total of $13,000 in college scholarship bucks to three lucky high school seniors.

The one page essay should touch on one of the following topics:

Lamestains and why you love them
How grunge lexicon changed my life
Why the Singles Club should be revived

Kidding. These are the real ones below:

What are you doing in the arts/music field in your community?
How and/or why did you become interested in artistic outlets?
Why do you need this scholarship money?
What are your influences and/or who inspires you?
Who are some of your favorite bands or artists?

Full details after the jump.

Continue reading "Get Schooled on Sub Pop's Dime "

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Coachella Expands

Still on the fence about going to Coachella this year? This might tip you toward a plane ticket — Aphex Twin and Goldfrapp have just been added to the lineup, as well as Kate Nash and Redd Kross (yes!). Coachella happens Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA. Full updated line-up after the jump...

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Jim Anderson's Archives

I had heard this was in the works and according to librarian-in-the-know Dan Halligan over at 10 Things, it looks like the sprawling audio archives of former Crocodile soundman Jim Anderson will soon have a permanent home at the UW Library. This is fantastic news. Major props to Halligan for helping make this happen.

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Death and Near-Death

First off, R.I.P. Jeff Healey — the blind, Canadian blues/jazz guitarist known for his distinctive style of playing his instrument on his lap, as well as his hit 1988 ballad "Angel Eyes," died Sunday of cancer at age 41. It was a rare cancer, retino blastoma, which claimed his sight at the age of one, and he had been fighting the disease for much of his life. His final, just-completed album, Mess of Blues, comes out later this month.

Secondly, a weird story emerged over the weekend: Seems that the Hell's Angels planned to kill Mick Jagger in 1969, after he fired the notorious motorcycle gang from the Rolling Stones' security detail following the Altamont disaster in which a teenage fan was stabbed to death. According to a BBC radio documentary airing today — with information obtained from an FBI agent — Jagger's would-be assassins tried to reach the singer's vacation home in Long Island, New York by sea, intending to sneak onto his property through his gardens, but "the boat was hit by a storm, and all of the men were thrown overboard." They all survived, and no further attempts on Jagger's life were planned.

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A Damn Good Reason to Watch the Grammy Awards

Daft Punk are making their television debut! With Kanye West, no less. From the just-issued press release:

The iconic and critically acclaimed French duo Daft Punk made a surprise appearance at the 50th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night. For their first ever television performance, they teamed up with Kanye West to perform his 2007 smash hit "Stronger", which samples the group's 2001 single "Harder Better Faster Stronger" from their landmark album Discovery. For the Grammy Awards, Daft Punk and Kanye West performed an original version of "Stronger" they created specifically for this event, marking Daft Punk's only television performance in the 14 year history of the band.

The Grammys air at 8 pm PST on CBS.

UPDATE: O.K., that wasn't the highlight, for sure (watch the video over here). Amy Fucking Winehouse getting it together made my week.

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Singles Club: Call it a Comeback?

Nirvana's "Love Buzz"

From Sub Pop staffer (and Coconut Coolout) Lacey Swain's February entry of her new monthly column, "A Form of Paying Attention", on the label's blog (emphasis ours):

Sub Pop turns 20 this year and I’ve heard rumors of lots of surprises this year including, but not limited to, a crazy huge show in the summer sometime and a limited-time-only rebirth of the somewhat legendary Singles Club. Stay tuned for more.

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Bon Voyage, Melissa Quayle!

photo by Shilo Byrd

You know this face. If you've been involved in Seattle's music scene in the last eight years, Melissa Quayle's work has likely touched you in some way. She started volunteering at the Vera Project at 19, eventually becoming the all-ages organization's Program Director in 2006. For the story of her trajectory, check out Aja's interview with her from that year here).

Other places you might recognize her from include Neumo's, where she spent a year in management, and the various alleys and parking lots she's double-dutched in with the Tina Turners. When I moved here in 2004 and knew about two people, she welcomed me into the music community with my first job as a Neumo's door girl. I came to know her as one of the warmest and most ambitious people I've ever met, and that's a combination you don't run across every day. Now she's taking off to New York City—but not before saying goodbye to the West Coast and spending a month on the beach in Jamaica. You can toast her tonight at her official going-away party at the Cha Cha, starting at 9 p.m.

I only had two questions for her about this soiree:

How are you feeling today? Nervous? Excited?
"I'm ok. I think my bronchitis is coming back, so that's not cool. And now I don't have insurance. So I'm gonna put out a donation bucket so people can give me money for medicine (laughs)."

Are they going to play hip hop for you at the Cha?
"Well, I'm trying to [get them to], but yesterday the owner said I couldn't bring a DJ. I know a lot of the bartenders, so I might just put in mixtapes and connect Ipods, but yeah, there should be lots of hip hop."

I suggest Mos Def's "Travellin' Man." Big up Melissa!

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