Virtual Jarvis Cocker on The Lower East Side

This could be awesome.

From the press release:

Big news folks: One of the foremost forbearers of Brit Pop will be making an in-person appearance in our beloved vLES on April 30 at 3 PM EST. That's right, the bespectacled, wiry one – Jarvis Cocker – will be in the virtual Bowery Ballroom for a Q&A session. He'll be joined by representatives from Oxfam America to take your questions on everything from Jarvis' music to OXFAM to how nicely music integrates into activism. So, start getting your questions ready now, and submit them in the here. Afterward we'll be showing you a full concert from the last time he visited NYC in order to get you excited for this. This probably ain't gonna happen again, so we suggest you start planning how you're going to get out of work/class/court NOW!

About vLES.com:

The Virtual Lower East Side is a new online music community based on one of the world's most vibrant music scenes.

The Lower East Side is a legendary New York neighborhood because of its history, its unparalleled concentration of venues and live music, and its role as a proving ground for new artists.

With a website and a virtual world, vLES is an entirely new way to experience music and culture online. Just as the Lower East Side was the setting for seismic shifts in American rock music, the Virtual Lower East Side will revolutionize online music communities and offer bands a new way to reach their fans.

Jarvis Cocker - "Running The World" mp3

Coachella Streaming Live Right Now

Coachella is streaming right now here.

Here's the rest of the broadcast set schedule (times listed as EST):

Saturday 4/26
09:30 PM DeVotchKa
10:25 PM Hot Chip
11:25 PM Animal Collective
12:15 AM Portishead
01:10 AM Flogging Molly
02:10 AM Yelle

Sunday 4/27
06:00 PM Brett Dennen
06:50 PM Electric Touch
07:40 PM Shout Out Louds
08:30 PM Duffy
09:20 PM Manchester Orchestra
10:15 PM Stars
11:10 PM Spiritualized
12:15 AM Gogol Bordello
01:10 AM Metric
02:05 AM Love and Rockets

Hot Chip - "Made In The Dark" mp3

Shout Out Louds - "Tonight I Have To Leave It" mp3

Echo And The Bunnymen "Ocean Rain" Radio City Gig Pre-Sale Ticket Link & Password Here.

Tickets for the recently announced Echo & The Bunnymen show at Radio City Music Hall on October 1, feturing the performance of the entire Ocean Rain album complete with a full orchestra, go on pre-sale Saturday (4/26) at Noon EST here.

The pre-sale password is: porcupine

Echo & The Bunnymen - "Stormy Weather" mp3

Wilco Brooklyn Tickets On Sale Today

Tickets for Wilco at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn on 8/13 go on sale today at noon here.

Click here to get tickets for all shows at McCarren, including Devo, The Black Keys, M.I.A., Ween, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Death Cab For Cutie, and Gogol Bordello.

Get in there early and beat the scalpers!!

The Black Keys - "Set You Free" mp3

It's just like 1980...Feelies To Play Maxwell's, Tickets On Sale Today

The Feelies are playing Maxwell's in Hoboken on July 1 & 2, seemingly as warm-up gigs for their giant July 4th NYC show with Sonic Youth.

Tickets go on sale at noon today (Wednesday) here.

That ought to be like a cheap trip in a time machine. I'm SO there.

Black Crowes Pick NYC To Play First "All Acoustic" Shows Ever

From today's press release:

April 16, 2008 -- The Black Crowes announce a tour that will kick off on June 28th and conclude with a five night run at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Chris Robinson's birthday, December 20th.

The 90-city tour follows the success of their seven special "One Night Only" shows which featured their hit album WARPAINT, performed in its entirety. All of these special shows sold out instantly and were followed by shows in London and Amsterdam.

This six month itinerary will take them across the USA and Canada performing songs from WARPAINT, the band's first studio album in seven years, and favorites from their catalog as well as surprises.

One highlight of the tour will be two special evenings featuring all acoustic performances by The Black Crowes at the famed Town Hall in New York City on November 3 & 4. These shows will mark the first ever all acoustic performances in America in their eighteen year career. Tickets for the majority of the first leg shows will go on sale starting May 2 & 3 at 10am (est).

Special "Midnight Pre-Sales" will be available at http://www.blackcrowes.com/. A limited number of prime seats in each venue have been set aside by the band for fans and will go on sale at MIDNIGHT (est), the Friday one week before the public on-sales. Fans who purchase "Midnight Pre-Sale" tickets will receive free downloads of unreleased live material.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes had this to say of their 2008 tour announcement: "Set your mind to fly...come join the jubilee."

Their "Euphoria Or Bust" Tour follows the release of the band's new album WARPAINT, which debuted earlier this yeart at # 5 on Billboard's Top 200, # 1 on Billboard's Digital Chart, # 2 on the Indie Chart, as well as # 2 on iTunes.com.

I haven't seen the Crowes since they played Radio City Music Hall with Oasis a few years back (see image above), when they went toe-to-toe with the Mancunians in what turned out to be an amazing dead-heat of "who rocked harder". I'm pretty psyched to catch them again.

TOUR DATES (for "pre-sale" and "on-sale" info go to http://www.blackcrowes.com/):
06-27-08 -- Hershey Stadium -- Hershey PA
06-28-08 -- Hampton Beach Casino -- Hampton Beach NH
06-29-08 -- Hampton Beach Casino -- Hampton Beach NH
07-01-08 -- The Fillmore @ TLA -- Philadelphia PA
07-02-08 -- The Fillmore @ TLA -- Philadelphia PA
07-03-08 -- The Fillmore @ TLA -- Philadelphia PA
07-05-08 -- Charlottesville Pavilion -- Charlottesville VA
07-06-08 -- Penn's Peak -- Jim Thorpe PA
07-08-08 -- Metropolis -- Montreal QUE
07-10-08 -- Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest -- Ottawa ONT
07-11-08 -- Sarnia Bayfest Festival -- Sarnia ONT
07-12-08 -- Massey Hall -- Toronto ONT
07-15-08 -- Burton Cummings Theater -- Winnipeg Manitoba
07-17-08 -- North Alberta Jubilee Auditorium -- Edmonton Alberta
07-18-08 -- Jack Singer Theater -- Calgary Alberta
07-20-08 -- Mile High Festival -- Denver CO
07-22-08 -- Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's -- Kansas City MO
07-23-08 -- Cain's Ballroom -- Tulsa OK
07-26-08 -- The Shoe @ Caesar's -- Elizabeth IN
07-29-08 -- House Of Blues -- Cleveland OH
07-30-08 -- House Of Blues -- Cleveland OH
08-01-08 -- Gathering Of The Vibes -- Bridgeport CT
08-02-08 -- Newport Folk Festival -- Newport, RI
08-03-08 -- Filene Center @ Wolf Trap -- Vienna, VA
08-05-08 -- Byham -- Pittsburgh PA
08-06-08 -- Madison Theater -- Covington KY
08-08-08 -- LC Amphitheater -- Columbus OH
08-09-08 -- Alpine Valley -- East Troy WI
08-10-08 -- Alpine Valley -- East Troy WI
08-14-08 -- Arkansas Music Pavilion -- Fayetteville AR
08-15-08 -- Stir Cove @ Harrah's -- Council Bluffs IA
08-17-08 -- Jackson Hole Jazz & Heritage Festival -- Jackson Hole WY

LEG 2
08-29-08 -- 105th Harley Davidson Celebration -- Milwaukee WI
09-03-08 -- Royal Theatre -- Victoria BC CANADA
09-04-08 -- Orpheum Theater -- Vancouver BC CANADA
09-05-08 -- Edgefield Concert Park -- Portland OR
09-07-08 -- Britt Festival -- Jacksonville OR
09-08-08 -- Western Washington Fair -- Puyallup WA
09-10-08 -- Van Duzer Theater -- Arcata CA
09-12-08 -- Wells Fargo Center -- Santa Rosa CA
09-13-08 -- The Joint -- Las Vegas NV
09-16-08 -- Ikeda Theatre --Mesa AZ
09-17-08 -- The Greek Theatre -- Los Angeles CA
09-19-08 -- Santa Barbara County Bowl -- Santa Barbara CA

LEG 3
10-05-08 -- Verizon Wireless -- Alpharetta GA
10-07-08 -- The National -- Richmond VA
10-08-08 -- The National -- Richmond VA
10-11-08 -- The Borgata -- Atlantic City NJ
10-12-08 -- Calvin Theater --Northampton MA
10-14-08 -- Lupo's -- Providence RI
10-17-08 -- Boston Opera House -- Boston MA
10-18-08 -- Town Ballroom -- Buffalo NY
10-20-08 -- Higher Ground -- Burlington VT
10-21-08 -- Higher Ground -- Burlington VT
10-27-08 -- Hammerstein Ballroom -- NYC
10-28-08 -- Hammerstein Ballroom -- NYC
11-03-08 -- Town Hall -- NYC
11-04-08 -- Town Hall -- NYC
11-06-08 -- Neighborhood Theater -- Charlotte NC
11-07-08 -- Neighborhood Theater -- Charlotte NC
11-08-08 -- Lincoln Theater -- Raleigh NC
11-10-08 -- Ruth Eckerd Hall -- Clearwater FL
11-11-08 -- House Of Blues -- Orlando FL
11-12-08 -- Fillmore Miami @ Jackie Gleason Theater -- Miami FL
11-15-08 -- Alabama Theater -- Birmingham AL
11-16-08 -- Ryman Auditorium -- Nashville TN
11-18-08 -- House Of Blues -- New Orleans LA
12-15-08 -- The Fillmore -- San Francisco CA
12-16-08 -- The Fillmore -- San Francisco CA
12-18-08 -- The Fillmore -- San Francisco CA
12-19-08 -- The Fillmore -- San Francisco CA
12-20-08 -- The Fillmore -- San Francisco CA

Original Line-Up Jane's Addiction To Reunite For NME Awards

from today's press release:

After much speculation in the previous week, Eric Avery has agreed to join former band mates Jane's Addiction for a one-night-only performance at the first-ever U.S. NME Awards. The iconic foursome will be crowned with the Godlike Genius Award during the ceremony and performance, to take place at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, April 23. Jane's Addiction is joining the likes of The Clash, New Order, Primal Scream and Manic Street Preachers, who are among the acts to have picked up the Godlike Genius prize at the UK awards.

Avery has continually declined offers to reunite with the band and instead focused on his musical endeavors, most recently, a debut solo LP, Help Wanted, released last week on Dangerbird Records. "I've chosen to reject the prospects of reuniting in the past, for personal and philosophical reasons. I have always considered reunions to be a way to make a quick buck, and it sells short my own experience of it the first time around," Eric Avery attests. He adds, "The reason I started to even consider this is because it's honoring the past instead of trying to recreate it."
NME will bestow this award upon Jane's Addiction because, as they state, "[they’ve] done more than any other band to introduce American alternative music to the mainstream, founding the touring Lollapalooza Festival and giving what frontman Perry Farrell refers to as the 'alternative nation' a real cultural focus and voice."

In other news, Avery will join his former Jane’s bandmate Dave Navarro on his weekly "Spread TV" show on maniaTV, Thursday, April 17 at 11pm EST. Although the two have remained long-term friends, this is the first time Avery and Navarro will appear together on camera since the Jane's breakup. With their shared experiences in Jane’s as well as Deconstruction, nothing will be off limits in this setting for candid, free-form conversation. Links and archived episodes can be seen here.

Having seen the original line-up Jane's Addiction back in the day, I'd LOVE to see a follow-up tour happen here...

Eric Avery - "All Remote And No Control" mp3

Pitchfork TV...We Likee

I don't know about you, but I've enjoyed what I've seen of Pitchfork TV so far...

It's easy to navigate, the streams load up quickly, and the content's pretty interesting so far.

There's an excellent full A Place To Bury Strangers set there, and I've especially enjoyed some of the "blast from the past" programming, like the live Kraftwerk footage, some old Tortoise, and a bunch of videos from Air...including this one, "Le Soleil Est Pres de Moi":

Nick Lowe Playing Maxwell's in May...Tickets On Sale Thursday

Yeah, the rumors are true...

Nick Lowe is, in fact, playing tiny Maxwell's in Hoboken on May 2nd. Bonus is the fact that it's a Friday night show. Awesome.


Tickets go on sale at Noon on Thursday here.



Nick Lowe - "Cruel To Be Kind (karaoke)" mp3

The Return of Curve's Toni Halliday

This weekend I was in Washington DC for business, and in-between meetings and stuff I ducked into the Smithsonian American Art Museum, turned on my iPod, and cranked up the remix of "Fait Accompli" by Curve.

As the bass grooves and sexy vocals guided my body around the scupltures and past the paintings, I was wondering what had become of Curve's vocalist Toni Halliday.

As if on cue, I received this press release today:

Toni Halliday of the UK group Curve is back as Chatelaine.

Halliday served as the lead singer and co- writer of Curve from 1990 to 31 January 2005. The group released a number of singles, EPs, and full-length albums; the latter include the following: Doppelgänger (1992), Cuckoo (1993), Come Clean (1998), Open Day at the Hate Fest (2001), Gift (2001), The New Adventures of Curve (2002), and the compilation The Way of Curve (2004).

During and since her time in Curve, Halliday has enjoyed successful collaborative stints with the likes of Leftfield (having notably co-written and performed on "Original" for their Leftism LP), Future Sound of London, Paul Van Dyke, Recoil (Ex-Depeche Mode's Alan Wilder) and most recently, the Killers' Christmas Charity single ("A Great Big Sled").

To see what she has been up to, you can chat with her live April 13th on Arual Bliss Radio at 10PM-Midnight EST. Join us!!

More info on Chatelaine: www.myspace.com/chatelainemusic

The couple of songs on the website sound great...and I had no idea she had anything to do with that Killers charity single! I'm gonna try to check out that chat and see what she's up to.

Download Chatelaine's "Stripped Out" at Coast Is Clear.

Curve - "Fait Accompli" Video:

extrawack! Bakers Dozen Downloads: Gary Numan, Aimee Mann, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Helio Sequence, Ladytron, and mor.

A new month, a new batch of thirteen sizzlin' sides for download.

And a photo of a monkey in a tux.

Have at 'em:

Gary Numan & Tubeway Army - "We Have A Technical" mp3

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "We Are Rockstars" mp3

The Helio Sequence - "Can't Say No" mp3

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - "Waiting For The Monster To Drown (Shoes Remix)" mp3

Ladytron - "Black Cat" mp3

Sally Shapiro - "Jackie Junior (Junior Boys remix)" mp3

Tina Dico - "Count To Ten" mp3

Pattern Is Movement - "Right Away" mp3

Aimee Mann - "Thirty One Today" mp3

Ladyhawk - "S.T.H.D." mp3

This Is Ivy League - "London Bridges" mp3

Make Believe - "Just Green Enough" mp3

Boys In A Band - "Black Diamond Train" mp3

Friday Night is for Getting Dirty (on Purpose).

Is it almost the weekend already? Damn.

If you ask me, the best way to kick it off will be this show:

Friday, April 4:
11pm DIRTY ON PURPOSE
10pm Mahogany
9pm Shooting Spires
8pm Sisters
@ Mercury Lounge
217 E Houston Street
New York, NY
Tickets here.

And check out and download new Dirty on Purpose music here: