The Pixies Make Four-Song Live EP Available For Free Download

The Pixies are offering a free download of a four-song live EP that was recorded on October 16th at Le Zenith in Paris on the last night of the reunited band’s European tour. The EP can be downloaded from The Pixies’ official Web site. The tracks featured on the EP are “Dancing The Manta Ray,” “Monkey Gone To Heaven,” “Crackity Jones,” and “Gouge Away.”

The Pixies are marking the 20th anniversary of their landmark Doolittle album by performing the entire album as well as its associated B-sides on this tour. They are playing in Oakland, CA tonight and begin a three-night stand at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Monday, November 23rd.

For more on The Pixies, see:
http://www.pixiesmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/pixies

Carbon/Silicon To Release Their New Album As A Free Download On Saturday

Carbon/Silicon, the London-based four-piece that features Mick Jones (pictured above, left) from The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite  and Tony James (pictured above, right) of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, have announced that their new album, The Carbon Bubble, will be released as a free download from the Carbon/Silicon Web site this Saturday, November 14th. In addition to the 12 new songs on the album, the CD cover and booklet artwork will also be available for free download.

To watch a video preview of the new album that features three new songs, click below:

To watch another video preview of the album, click below:

To watch the video for “Reach For The Sky,” a terrific track from the new album, click below:

The Carbon Bubble is the fourth full-length album to be released as a free download by Carbon/Silicon. They also released one full-length album, 2007’s The Last Post, as a conventional CD.

For more on Carbon/Silicon, go to:
http://www.carbonsiliconinc.com
http://www.myspace.com/carbonsiliconinc

Loss of Indie Drummer Jerry Fuchs

Condolences to the family and friends of indie drummer Jerry Fuchs (sometimes listed as Gerard Fuchs), who lost his life in an elevator accident in Brooklyn.

34 year old Fuchs also played drums for  exceptional indie bands,  like !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk), ambient rock instrumentalists Maserati, Juan Maclean, and Turing Machine.

Juan Maclean stated, “Jerry was one of my best and most loyal friends. He was hands-down the best drummer I have ever played with or seen for that matter.”

Finally Official? Steven Tyler Quits Aerosmith

Las Vegas Sun broke the news that guitarist Joe Perry confirms the departure.

Or did he?

“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry said.

“… as far as I can tell” says it all.  It’s not necessarily definite.

And Joe Perry claims Steven has not given 100% to the band in a long time.

Well, the guy is rumored to be 71!

Everyone should wait til an official statement from the band.

And, if it is official: Perry and the guys, please don’t get a new singer. Let’s remember Aerosmith with Steven Tyler as the only frontman.

All Good Things Must Come to an End. Even a Judas Priest Listening Streak

Jim “Superfan” (as he is now labeled) Bartek has declared that his Judas Priest listening streak of the concept album release “Nostradamus” will be coming to an end. The streak will officially stop at 524 straight days on Nov 21st. Why did he pick Nov. 21st? Who knows. Why listen to the album for 524 straight days to begin with?

Thank God he’s stopping though. No one should be listening to something that many times. Not even a good album.

And who has proof that he didn’t skip a day? Who was supervising his “record”? His dog Clarence?

But Bartek wants it to be known that he will still listen to the album (even though — c’mon — he could probably just hum the whole thing).

“Let it be known this does not mean “Nostradamus” will never be played again. I love this record. It will still get a couple of plays a week. How could anyone possibly get tired of a masterpiece? I may miss not playing it everyday but all great things must come to end.”

Yes. “Let it be known.” Proust had his one madeleine cookie. Bartek has an entire Judas Priest concept album.

Thrown Beer Hits Morrissey in the Head

Morrissey was hit in the head with a beer bottle while singing in Liverpool tonight. Glass or plastic was not confirmed, but the singer was in good enough condition to walk offstage very pissed off.

Who would throw beer at Suedehead? I guess, November did spawn a monster after all.

And last month, Morrissey collapsed onstage.

I take all this as a sign: Reform The Smiths!!! Now!

A Christmas Song That’s F’ed Up

The Canadian hardcore punk band Fucked Up will re-release the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” with musicians from bands such as Vampire Weekend, TV On the Radio, Broken Social Scene, No Age, and … well, the band is looking for even more musicians to contribute.

Explains frontman Pink Eyes:

“I’m still waiting on confirmation from Feist, Jarvis Cocker and MIA. We wanted the biggest people we could get. If we could get a Jonas Brother on this, I would get a Jonas Brother.”

Money will go to charities such as Justice For The Missing.

www.myspace.com/epicsinminutes

Hey, if Rob Halford can sincerely do good heavy metal Christmas songs, why can’t Fucked Up do a nice remake of “Do They Know It’s Christmas.

AC/DC Fans Demand a Change to Setlist

Some hardcore AC/DC fans have gotten together on www.acdcfans.net (known as “The AC/DC forum for serious fans”) and have sent an open letter to the band, asking for a change in their current setlist.

Here’s the request:

Dear  Malcolm, Angus, Cliff, Phil and Brian,

acdcfans.net represents an extremely vocal group of your most loyal fans. Just a handful of us have collectively attended more than 157 of your concerts (and counting) since 1978 and estimate we’ve contributed more than USD $84,000 (and counting) to the AC/DC juggernaut. We are just the tip of the iceberg.

Now while those numbers may seem insignificant given your touring history and estimated wealth, for us the numbers represent a passionate investment of time and hard earned money in your music. We are AC/DC fans for life, and we wouldn’t change that for the world.

However, there is something we’d like AC/DC to consider changing…

The setlist.

“On the current Black Ice World Tour, during which some of us having travelled across Europe, the United States and flown between the two continents (with flights already booked to Australia to catch the Australian leg), we have listened to you play the same great songs each and every night. We absolutely appreciate every song you play, but we can’t help but wonder if the band is getting a little bored of playing the same songs night after night.

Are you aware there are thousands of fans just like us who have spent months discussing the Black Ice World Tour setlist, every one of them hoping that the band will play something other than songs geared towards casual fans? — the sort of fans that put money in your pockets, but who don’t have the same level of passion for your music as us. They may cheer at the concerts, they may go home happy… but they only came to hear “Thunderstruck.” They don’t eat, sleep and shit AC/DC like we do.

As the greatest band on Earth, we think it is a travesty that you are not playing songs that are dear to yourselves and your long term loyal fans — the songs from albums that critics wrote off, but which we both know are some of the finest from your back catalogue.

So, we’d like you to consider changing the setlist. We won’t be rude and say ‘play this’ or ‘don’t play that’ — we’ll leave it to you to decide — surprise us!

“Please give us, and the many thousands like us, some hard-hittin’, heavy rockin’ tracks that we, the true long term fans of AC/DC, know and love.

It must be interesting for fans to “eat, sleep and shit AC/DC” day after day. Malcolm, Angus, Cliff, Phil and Brian are the ones who truly “eat, sleep and shit AC/DC” and they don’t seem to care about changing things.

Interestingly enough, I asked Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest about mixing up their setlist on tour, and he said that the band sticks to a strict setlist because of the size of the production:

“… when you do production of a Priest show you got to think about safety … and there are places you shouldn’t be at certain points during the set, and once you start mixing things up it’s a recipe for disaster. We’ve had a few bike accidents in the past so… once we decide on a set, we pretty much tend to keep it the same.”

It’s probably a similar story for AC/DC.

Yankee Fans Favorite Song? “Enter Sandman,” Of Course!

It has to be their favorite pick. When that bullpen door opens and the first notes of the Metallica classic are heard, everything is alright with the world. Yankee fans know that there’s a great certainty that the great closer, Mariano Rivera, will put the opposition to sleep. What could be a more appropriate song to attach to the future Hall-of-Famer?

The former Mets closer Billy Wagner once tried to use “Enter Sandman” as his game entrance, too, to inspire the faithful. It just wasn’t the same. And baseball fans knew it. But you can’t fault him for trying to bottle some of that magic.

Hey, even Lady Gaga likes to use Mariano as an anology when talking about success:

“I get asked, ‘Do you feel pressure? How do you feel when someone says this? Or do you feel like you have to top yourself?’ I say I do feel like I have to top myself. But I feel like I’m Rivera. I’m a closer.”

And when the fans heard the song last night in the 8th inning (as seen and heard above), they knew another game would be closed. They knew another World Championship would be theirs. #27. Since 96, many of those Championships have a great deal to do with Mariano Rivera. The Sandman.

Time to listen to Enter Sandman to celebrate.

Congratulations, New York!

More Signals from Aerosmith that the End May Be Near

After a show in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Steven Tyler openly talked about life post-Aerosmith:

“I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but it’s definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself — brand Tyler.”

It’s always nice to talk about yourself in the Third Person.

Not sure “Brand Tyler” would be better than the Joe Perry Project. Even though, I have to admit (and almost embarrassed to say, being a Joe Perry fan), that I really liked Rock in a Hard Place as an album.

But, to top it off, according to a rumor reported on timeoutdubai, Tyler is actually 71 years old. Supposedly, fellow travelers saw the frontman’s passport while entering Dubai and claimed he is actually nine years older than Tyler is known to be.

71 years old means that any Brand Tyler could easily be amongst his peers if he played a tour of retirement communities.