Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks, a reunited Sex Pistols played Jay Leno last night, which is punk as fuck, obviously. And this candy-ass version of “Anarchy in the UK” makes Motley Crue’s utter shit version sound like vintage punk. (via Brooklyn Vegan)

[Read more →]

In high school for every Halloween my local college radio station would invariably play “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, so the day feels incomplete without it. This is a live version from 1982.
And the lyrics are absolutely genius in all their timelessly kitschy pomp:
White on white translucent black capes
Back on the rack
Bela Lugosi’s dead
The bats have left [...]

[Read more →]

Guitar TV Online recently conducted an interview with Graham Coxon, wherein the erstwhile Blur guitarist delves into chord structure, tunings, and which guitars he prefers to play with live. Coxon is a severely underrated guitarist, who has never been given his proper due. Despite a respectable solo career since leaving Blur in 2002, rumors of [...]

[Read more →]

Last night at a show in Columbia, SC Murder By Death announced that its new record, Red of Tooth and Claw, would be out by the end of February. And Blabbermouth has word today that the typically pop-punk home Vagrant Records will be releasing it. The band tried out several new songs last night, and [...]

[Read more →]

This photograph just absolutely blows my mind. The lead singer of one of the greatest rock bands of all time conversing with a talentless rack of fake tits with ears. I cannot fathom what these two would have to chat about, and Plant’s expression is astounding. He looks as though he’s fully aware how irretrievably [...]

[Read more →]

Typically precious and bizarre yet ultimately uneventful mock interview between director Wes Anderson and actor Owen Wilson. It was billed as Owen Wilson’s first interview since his alleged suicide attempt, but anyone familiar with either of these guys will immediately pick up on the utter contrivance and affectation implicit in both men’s disingenuously casual banter. [...]

[Read more →]

Win Butler of Arcade Fire wrote a lucid and unpretentious letter in response to Sasha Frere-Jones’ controversial piece that ran in The New Yorker recently regarding race and indie rock. Butler accompanied his letter with an audio response mp3, which included samples of Arcade Fire’s music to support his points:
“Being as I am in [...]

[Read more →]

I honestly can’t complain too much about this arbitrary list of the 11 best Joy Division songs, even with some unsurprising balkers making some noise. I’d probably jumble the order around a bit, while, perhaps, swapping out one or two selections, but, overall, it’s nothing to get a Joy Division fan’s dander up. Control opens [...]

[Read more →]

Sidewise video? It’s worth it, trust me. 400+ Calvin Johnson’s can’t be wrong as they fill in for the “sample” at the end of “Pocketful of Money.” If you have the opportunity to catch Jens on this tour, I highly recommend it. In fact, it was by far the best show I’ve [...]

[Read more →]

By complete happenstance I came across Beat Crappening on YouTube the other day while trying to dig up a clip of Beat Happening. I only recently discovered that these talented cover artists are actually students from my Alma Mater. Kismet. Or some crap like that.

[Read more →]

Via House of Tomorrow comes word that the new Magnetic Fields release, entitled Distortion, will drop on January 15th, 2008. No details regarding a potential Volvo tie-in were mentioned.
New single “I’m in a lonely way” is available now on iTunes.

[Read more →]

Rolling Stone is citing a post on a forum as its source, so whether this is legitimate news is up to you, but the rumor is that Heroes star Hayden Panettierre is set to portray the Plasmatics’ legendary front-woman, Wendy O. Williams, whose decade-spanning on-stage antics resulted in beatings, bans, and endless controversy. Williams is far more famous [...]

[Read more →]

Sufjan talks with WNYC host David Garland about the music and the ideas behind his new instrumental composition “The BQE.”, which include the story of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the consequences of urban planning, and hula hoops. (listen)

[Read more →]

New video from The Good Life features a group of freaks dressed up in ghetto Wizard of Oz outfits, terrorizing an ice cream shop with axes and guns. It’s an intriguing juxtaposition with the song’s jaunty swing and the gratuitous spatter of blood.

[Read more →]

Maybe you’ll find this confusing as well: Tommy Lee claims he would never stoop to be on a frivolous show like VH-1’s Rock of Love, starring Poison’s Brett Michaels. Quoth the Crue’s proudest phraseologist: “Just to stop the rumors… I AM NOT nor would I ever do a stupid show like the ‘Rock of Love’!!” [...]

[Read more →]

For a band that lost any semblance of credibility years, albums, and haircuts ago, Metallica must be a glutton for punishment by continuing to trot out new material. In a deftly worded statement, drummer Lars Ulrich claims, “these new songs echo some of our stuff from the ’80s - long, epic journeys through different musical landscapes, heavier, but [...]

[Read more →]

There’s no real justification for fucking fans over the way record labels do some times. Reissuing a record that just came out in July is embarrassingly crass. Alas, Capitol’s scruples have never been held in high esteem on this front. Regardless, Radiohead’s former American home will re-release Interpol’s Our Love to Admire packaged with a DVD, [...]

[Read more →]

After a decade together, art-punk noise terror-mongers, The Blood Brothers, are rumored to have broken up, as a post on the Three One G forums attests, but there has been no official announcement from the band or its defunct label, Virgin subsidiary V2, which crumbled earlier this year. The Blood Brothers released its final record, [...]

[Read more →]

Slate gushes over Jens Lekman today in a fanboy piece that is so self-deprecating and honest that it doesn’t seem to offend on any level, despite its reckless superlative-tossing (”Lekman is a fully realized pop genius, and each of his full-length records is its own masterpiece”). Focusing on Lekman’s lyrical gift of gab, author [...]

[Read more →]

Cringer and J Church frontman Lance Hahn has died from kidney complications. In addition to his punk bands and zine contributions, Hahn also owned and operated Honey Bear records, which released Unwound’s self-titled “first” album.
“as far as the doctors can tell, this collapse was due to a sudden, drastic drop in blood pressure, [...]

[Read more →]