Archive for January, 2009

PJ Harvey Announces UK And European Tour Dates With John Parish As Well As Tracklisting Of New Album

Posted in British music, British rock, Music, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2009 by John Curley

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In her MySpace blog, PJ Harvey announced on Friday her upcoming UK and European tour dates with John Parish (pictured above with Harvey) in support of their collaborative album, A Woman A Man Walked By, which will be released on March 30th. The pair did another collaborative album, Dance Hall at Louse Point, in 1996. Songs from both albums will be performed during the tour. Backing Harvey and Parish on the tour will be Eric Drew Feldman, Giovanni Ferrario, and Jean-Marc Butty.

Tickets for all of the shows except Oslo go on sale on Monday, January 19th at 9 a.m. GMT. Tickets for the Oslo show go on sale on Wednesday, January 21st.

The tour dates and ticket info are listed below:

UK TOUR DATES:
Wednesday April 15th – Corn Exchange, Brighton www.gigsandtours.com .. & 01273 709 709
Thursday April 16th – Regal, Oxford www.gigsandtours.com .. & 0871 2200 260
Saturday April 18th – Anson Rooms, Bristol www.gigsandtours.com .. & 0844 444 4400
Monday April 20th – Shepherds Bush Empire, London www.gigsandtours.com .. & 0844 477 2000
Wednesday April 22nd – Town Hall, Birmingham www.gigsandtours.com .. & 0121 780 3333
Friday April 24th – Ritz, Manchester www.gigsandtours.com .. & 0161 832 1111
Sunday April 26th – Queens Hall, Edinburgh www.seetickets.com .. & 0871 220 0260
 
EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:
Saturday May 2nd – Portugal, Porto – Casa Da Musica www.casadamusica.com ..  & +351 220120200
Monday May 4th – Italy, Milan – Auditorium www.ticketone.it .. 
Wednesday May 6th – Germany, Stuttgart – Theaterhaus www.tickets.de ..   & +49 (0)69 – 944 36 60
Thursday May 7th – Germany, Berlin -  Passionskirche www.tickets.de ..  & +49 (0)69 – 944 36 60
Saturday May 9th – Sweden, Stockholm – Nalen www.nalen.com ..  & 0771-47 70 70
Sunday May 10th – Norway, Oslo – Rockefeller www.rockefeller.no .. & +47 815 33 133
Monday May 11th – Denmark, Copenhagen Vega www.billetlugen.dk ..  & +45 70 263 267
Wednesday May 13th – Holland, Amsterdam – Paradiso www.ticketservice.nl ..  & + 31 20 6211288
Thursday May 14th – Belgium, Brussels – Ancienne Belgique www.abconcerts ..  & +32 2 548 24 24
Sunday May 17th – France, Paris -  Bataclan  www.fnac.com ..  & +33 1 41 57 32 28
www.ticketnet.fr .. &  +33 1 46 91 57 57

Here’s hoping that Harvey and Parish bring their road show across the Atlantic for some shows here in America.

Also on Friday, Harvey released the tracklist for A Woman A Man Walked By on her official Web site. The tracklisting is as follows:

  1.  Black Hearted Love
  2. Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen
  3. Leaving California
  4. The Chair
  5. April
  6. A Woman A Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go
  7. The Soldier
  8. Pig Will Not
  9. Passionless, Pointless
  10. Cracks In The Canvas

To watch the video for “That Was My Veil” by PJ Harvey and John Parish from the Dance Hall At Louse Point album, click here. (Embedding of the video was disabled by request.)

For additional information, see:
http://www.pjharvey.net
http://www.myspace.com/pjharvey
http://www.johnparish.com

Boy George Is Sentenced To 15 Months In Jail

Posted in British music, British rock, Music, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2009 by John Curley

boy-george

Former Culture Club frontman Boy George (pictured above, and looking very much like Uncle Fester of The Addams Family these days) was sentenced to 15 months in jail on Friday for falsely imprisoning a male escort. Last month, Boy George (real name George O’Dowd) was convicted of holding Audun Carlsen against his will. Boy George stated that he believed that Carlsen had stolen photos from his laptop computer and had handcuffed Carlsen to a wall in his East London flat until he could get the photos back.

Snaresbook Crown Court Judge David Ratford stated that Boy George’s “premeditated callous and humiliating handcuffing and detention of Mr. Carlsen shocked, degraded, and traumatized him.”

Boy George, 47, has had run-ins with the law in the past. He had to perform community service in New York City in 2006 after being charged with wasting police time. In the late 1980s, he faced charges after a friend died of a drug overdose in a house owned by Boy George.

For more on this sad tale, see the articles from BBC 6 Music, XFM London, The Times of London, and NME.com.

The Dimebag Brand

Posted in Heavy Metal, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , on January 16, 2009 by Patrick Prince

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Here it is, the new Dimebag Darrell amplifier called Blacktooth.

Sweet.

It was on display today at NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) in Anaheim, CA.

btw, recognize the girl in the photo? She’s probably louder and raunchier than the amp itself.

FREAKY FRIDAY LYRICS: Damn Yankees — “Coming of Age”

Posted in Freaky Friday Lyrics, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2009 by Patrick Prince

Damn Yankees — “Coming of Age”

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Written by Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, Ted Nugent

Dressed to kill and looking dynomite,
with her high-laced stockings and her sweater so tight.
I asked her her name, she said her name was “Maybe”

Well she walked up to me, and she asked me to chance
I said, “I am looking for some wild romance”
She gave me a wink–she said I should think about it, maybe

She said, “What you got babe, is what I need.
Your kind of love got me on my knees.”
I’m so tied up
What you got got a hold on me, your kind of love make a man outta me
I’m so tied up, you got me so fired up

Little sister, hits the stage
She can’t help it, she’s comin’ of age
Little junior, he’s all in a rage
Did you notice she was comin’ of age

If looks could kill, I’d be dead on the floor
You got me all tied up, honey, beggin’ for more
Somebody call a doctor, I think I’m goin’ crazy

(Because) What you got, babe, is what I need
Your kind of love got me on my knees
I’m so tied up
What you got got a hold on me
Your kind of love make a man outta me
I’m so tied up
You got me so fired up

Little sister, hits the stage
She can’t help it, she”s comin’ of age
Little junior, he’s all in a rage
Did you notice she was come, come, comin’ of….

[various ooohs and yells]

Little sister, hits the stage
She can’t help it, she’s comin’ of age
Little junior, he’s all in a rage
Did you notice she was come, come, comin’ of…

Yeah she come, she come, she come

The song is all very cut and paste: Come = cum. Maybe = yes.

The song’s all part of this supergroup collaboration.

You may think Ted Nugent’s behavior borders on wacky now, but looking back at Damn Yankees, Gonzo must mutter to himself, that was temporary insanity.

Was it Nuge who wrote the lyrics about Little Sister and Little Junior? The key word here is little. Little = jailbait. Nugent’s conservative friends would surely agree that anyone that pens these kinda lyrics over the age of, say, 30, should be a candidate for a sex offender.

Shaw was 37 at the time, Nuge 42

Little Junior and Little Sister are all grown up by now and now they’re just pissed that some bubblegum pop rock song was written about them.

Powerline A.D.’s Best Of 2008 Is Now Online

Posted in British music, British rock, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock Music with tags , , , , , on January 15, 2009 by John Curley

paul-weller-xfm

the-kills-bbc-6-music

Powerline A.D.’s choices for the Best of 2008 can now be found on the main Powerline A.D. Web site by clicking here.

Paul Weller (pictured above, top) was my choice for Solo Artist of the Year. Overall, it was an interesting year in music (and a dreadful one for those in the music retail business).

Since Pat Prince and I attended the  amazing show in May at New York City’s Webster Hall by The Kills (pictured above, bottom) and we both picked The Kills’ “Last Day of Magic” as Best Video, I have posted the “Last Day of Magic” video below:

Again, Don’t Mess With Sharon Osbourne

Posted in Heavy Metal with tags , , , , , , on January 15, 2009 by Patrick Prince

sharon_osbourne

Unless you want your head bitten off like a bat’s.

She doesn’t take any shit. We all know that. And, according to the press, she’s very vindictive.

She just won a libel suit against the British tabloid, The Sun.

The Sun had reported in 2007 that She was driving Ozzy “to destruction”.

She accepted an apology and a nice (“undisclosed”) sum of cha-ching. Her lawyers say the Sun report was “extremely distressing, hurtful and damaging” But, really, who believes anything a lawyer says?

She may be reported to be a bitch to people. But, it does seem evident that if anyone has driven Ozzy off the rails of the crazy train, it wasn’t Sharon. She turned his life around. Where would Ozzy be without his wife? She deserves praise for that.

So, perhaps Sharon deserves this win.

Mini-Documentary Featuring Oasis And NYC Street Musicians Is Now Available On Oasis’ MySpace Page

Posted in British music, British rock, Music, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2009 by John Curley

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Last September, Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, and Andy Bell of Oasis taught New York City street musicians how to play the songs on their latest album Dig Out Your Soul in a very unique album-promotion stunt. The musicians then played the songs at several New York City subway stations before the album was released in America, thus providing the first public airing of the material in America. The results form the core of a black-and-white 18-minute mini-documentary, Oasis: Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets, that was shot by The Malloys (who also have done several videos for The White Stripes).

The musicians who were part of the album promotion belong to the MTA’s Music Under New York program, which aims to provide quality music to the public throughout New York City’s transit system. After being taught the songs by the members of Oasis, the street musicians performed the tracks throughout the city, including subway platforms at Grand Central Station, Penn Station, Times Square, and Astor Place.

The documentary was interesting. It seemed like both the members of Oasis and the street musicians involved in the project had a great time. It was a genius way to promote the release of the album. I hope that more bands do promotional events like this in the future.

The mini-documentary can be seen in its entirety on Oasis’ MySpace page.

To watch a preview of the documentary, click below:

For additional information about Oasis, see:
http://www.oasisinet.com
http://www.myspace.com/oasis

Iconic London Music Venue The Astoria Is Set To Close Tonight

Posted in British music, British rock, Music, Rock Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2009 by John Curley

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Another one bites the dust.

One of Central London’s most famous music venues, The Astoria (pictured above), will be hosting its final show tonight before it is demolished to make way for a huge Crossrail construction project that will link East and West London via the West End.

Acts on the bill for The Astoria’s swan song include Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, The Automatic, My Vitriol, The King Blues, and VV Brown.

Many fans and artists are upset by the closing of the venue. Tom Clarke of The Enemy, who has played The Astoria many times, told BBC 6 Music:

“I’ve never seen a gig there where people are sat down upstairs not caring. It’s one of the most small, big venues you can play and it’s just the most amazing feeling.”

I never had the privilege to attend a gig at The Astoria, but from what I’ve been reading, it seemed like a pretty cool place to see a show. I hated it when some of my favorite rock venues closed (The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, The Ritz on New York City’s West 54th Street, etc.), so I can sympathize. There is supposed to be a new rock music venue that will be built near the site of The Astoria as part of the massive Crossrail project. Time will tell if that venue ends up being as loved by musicians and their audiences as The Astoria apparently was.

To read an article from BBC 6 Music about the closing of The Astoria, click here.

To read a host of Astoria memories from readers of NME.com, click here.

To watch Arctic Monkeys perform “Mardy Bum” at an October 2006 show at The Astoria, click below:

New U2 Sounds Promising

Posted in Rock Music with tags , , , on January 14, 2009 by Patrick Prince

u2_studio

Rolling Stone called the new U2 songs adjectives like blazing, slinky, churning, ambitious, hypnotic, bright, and so on — after the magazine spent time in the studio with the band.

And they took lots of pictures (like the one above).

“We’re not really ready for adult-contemporary just yet,” says Bono.

But the band definitely had me a little worried after some of the songs on the last album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

The Rolling Stone article does give me new faith that Bono’s quote is true.

Kreator: Hört das komplette neue Album im Pre-Listening!

Posted in Heavy Metal with tags , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2009 by Patrick Prince

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In other words, the new Kreator album, Hordes of Chaos, can be heard in its entirety via streaming audio, via MTV Germany. Click here to hear it.

Of course, wouldn’t you know, I couldn’t hear any of it since I have a MAC. Too bad. I wanted to check it out.

Personally, out of the foreign old school thrash metal genre, there are two bands whose music I’ve always liked, for their total guitar abandon: Sepultura and Kreator. That said, I’ve never been a completely die-hard fan of Kreator, but Powerline, the magazine, always supported and admired them greatly (I’ll have to post some our past interviews with them). Kreator always kept it real.

According to blabbermouth, Hordes of Chaos will also be available in the U.S. today and “in three different versions. The jewel case edition includes the ten regular album songs, and the deluxe version features an additional bonus DVD with an atmospheric making-of in super-8 quality courtesy of a Berlin filmmaker. As a third option, the ultra-deluxe version comes with a t-shirt, a worthwhile photo book and an extended version of the bonus DVD, as well as the CD.”

BTW, really, why couldn’t MTV America stream their music? Why did it have to MTV Germany? One friend put it to me like this: MTV has no balls.

Studio Teaser by director Jörn Heitmann:

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