New Radiohead DVD Out Next Week...Win One Here Now.

When folks talk about the innovation and uniqueness of Radiohead, they are usually speaking about the music. In my opinion, nearly as important as Yorke & Co.'s musical output have been their amazing contributions to the art form of music video.

Like their albums, Radiohead's accompanying visuals are always compelling, exciting, and boundary-stretching. Having said that, I'm thrilled to hear the news that Radiohead: The Best Of DVD will be released here on June 3.

Check out this impressive line-up of songs and directors:

1. Creep (directed by Brett Turnbull)
2. Anyone Can Play Guitar (directed by Dwight Clarke)
3. Pop Is Dead (directed by Dwight Clarke)
4. Stop Whispering (directed by Jeff Plansker)
5. My Iron Lung (directed by Brett Turnbull)
6. High and Dry (UK version) (directed by David Mould)
7. High and Dry (US version) (directed by Paul Cunningham)
8. Fake Plastic Trees (directed by Jake Scott)
9. Just (directed by Jamie Thraves)
10. Street Spirit (Fade Out) (directed by Jonathan Glazer)
11. Paranoid Android (directed by Magnus Carlsson)
12. Karma Police (directed by Jonathan Glazer)
13. No Surprises (directed by Grant Gee)
14. Pyramid Song (directed by Shynola)
15. Knives Out (directed by Michel Gondry)
16. I Might Be Wrong (directed by Sophie Muller)
17. Push Pulk / Spinning Plates (directed by Johnny Hardstaff)
18. There There (directed by Chris Hopewell)
19. Go To Sleep (directed by Alex Rutterford)
20. Sit Down Stand Up (directed by Ed Holdsworth)
21. 2+2=5 (Live at Belfort Festival) (directed by Fabien Raymond)

If I were curating a film festival of my favorite video directors, I could cut and paste from the above list and be satisfied that I had the world's best.

extrawack! would like to give its readers a chance to win a copy of Radiohead: The Best Of DVD before it's even on sale! Send an email to extrawack@gmail.com with "Radiohead DVD" in the subject line, and we'll have a copy of the DVD sent to the 5th, 10th, and 15th entrants. Contest open to US residents only. Sorry Turkmenistan!

More info on Radiohead: The Best Of here.

Buy the DVD at the Radiohead Store.

Official Radiohead Site.

Radiohead - Karma Police Video (directed by Jonathan Glazer):



Bonus download:
Radiohead - "Videotape (Live BBC)" mp3

K-Fed, Rivers Cuomo, Dramatic Gopher & Tay Zonday...Together At Last!

I know we're a little late on this one, but the new video for Weezer's "Pork and Beans" just kills:

Hot Chip Tickets On Sale Today For Two At T5 In October

Tickets for Hot Chip's two Terminal 5 shows on October 3 and 4 go onsale today at Noon here.



Hot Chip - "Made In The Dark" mp3

Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor" (Live on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"):

Fujiya & Miyagi Hit The Festivals...Album & US Tour in Fall

As I was pondering a playlist I'm creating for a backyard picnic this coming weekend, it occurred to me that one of my favorite albums to listen to outside last summer was Fujiya & Miyagi's Transparent Things...so naturally I was fired up to find new info on F&M's new album and summer festival appearances in our mailbox today:

"Fujiya & Miyagi celebrate the recent recording of their most anticipated sophomore LP, due out this Fall on Deaf Dumb + Blind Recordings, with a no holds barred World Summer Tour. They were asked to join 11 world festivals, including the most prestigious UK Meltdown Festival by everybody’s favorite, Massive Attack. They will be showcasing new songs from the upcoming LP, as well tunes from their now classic and critically acclaimed debut, Transparent Things. Oh and they added a new member, the drum machine has been replaced but don’t fret, please help us welcome the most amazing and dynamic drummer, Lee Adams. So their new live show is not to be missed (its truly perfect now, we just saw them at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival last week). Look out for US Fall Tour too. "

World Summer Festival Tour

6/12- Hultsfred Festival, Sweden
6/14 - Rabarock Festival, Estonia
6/21 - Meltdown, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
6/26 - Motorokr Band Warz, Buenos Aires, Argentina
6/28 - Motomix Festival, Sao Paolo, Brazil
7/4 - Opener Festival, Gdynia, Poland
7/12 - Obstwiesenfestival, Ulm, Germany
7/18 - Benicassim Festival, Castellon, Spain
7/9- Melt Festival, Berlin
7/20 - Dour Festival, Dour, Belgium
8/2 - Big Chill, Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, UK

I'd love to be at that Meltdown show. And Benicassim, too.

For your summer grooving pleasure, here's video and an mp3 download of their "Ankle Injuries":



Fujiya & Miyagi - "Ankle Injuries" mp3

New Dandy Warhols Album Available Today...Sort Of.

The new Dandy Warhols album, ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols..., is released today, but you're gonna have to pony up $35 to get it.

Here are the details, in their words:

We like to think that this is something pretty major. For us, the biggest advantage of declaring independence from major labels is being able to call the shots on how our music gets into your hands. So we're here to introduce our new Dandy Warhols ...EARTH TO THE DANDY WARHOLS...subscription service. First off, you get the new record, ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols... ,as a high quality digital download. That's today. Right now. But we feel that a record just isn't a record unless you can hold it right in your hands. So we're going to mail you a copy of the compact disc before it hits the stores along with a limited edition silkscreen poster created just for us by our friends, The Christopher Twins - two of the most visually talented cats we know. Click Here to view the poster. What else? We are throwing in ten percent off of all our merchandise at our webstore plus, you're going to have access to pre-sale concert tickets (US Only) - buy 'em before they go on sale to the general public. Now here's the real big idea. To get an ...Earth To the Dandy Warhols... B-side, you don't have to fly to London, bid against other fans on eBay, or slog through the internet just to hear a new Dandys tune. B-sides, Live tracks and videos from ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols... will be posted throughout the year for you to download and keep. Listen to them on your computer, your iPod, burn them to a disc, throw it in the garbage - whatever you want. ADDED TO ALL THIS, one member will win a custom, one of a kind guitar pedal built just for one of the songs on the album. Check it out here How much bread is this going to set you back? Just $34.99 FOR A YEAR.

I streamed much of the album this morning, and I like it a LOT better than their last, 2005's Odditorium or Warlords of Mars...but is it $35 good? You be the judge. Stream it here.

The Dandy Warhols - "The World The People Together (Come On)" mp3

(courtesy Stereogum)

Concert Review: DeVotchKa in Atlanta

Nick Urata rocking the theremin (photo courtesy of Wes Cummings)


Note: Normally I won't wait nearly a week to publish a concert review, but real life rudely intruded and delayed me considerably in writing it. My faulty memory and the leaving of my notebook in the car contributed greatly to the lack of songs mentioned in this review.


DeVotchKa (with opener Basia Bulat)
13 May 2008
Variety Playhouse
Atlanta, Georgia

Admittedly, I didn't know a lot about DeVotchKa going into this show. I was quite familiar with the Curse Your Little Heart EP and purchased their latest album A Mad and Faithful Telling just days before the show. Besides that my only exposure was having seen the movie Little Miss Sunshine and having heard How It Ends a few times at a friend's house.

I was told I could I have could a free ticket for this show by said friend if I did the driving to Atlanta, an arrangement to which I gladly obliged. All of that goes to say that I was somewhat familiar with their music going in - really digging what I'd heard and well into the process of becoming a fan.

Though their music evokes Spainish, Eastern Europen and a host of other "foreign" sounds, it is also somehow distinctly American. I can't imagine many locales around the world where it would be possible for this music to spring up. At one point singer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Urata was playing guitar and theremin along with a supporting cast of musicians on tuba and drums accompanied by what was essentially a string quartet. To make something simultaneously exotic and familiar is quite a task, but one that appears to be DeVotchKa's hallmark.

Urata effortlessly commanded the crowd's attention with what my friend described a "combination of Morrissey's charisma and George Clooney's quiet confidence." If the four women I attended the show with were any indication, he seemed to have a particularly strong effect on the female portion of the audience.

DeVotchKa managed to leave me thoroughly satisfied at the end of the performance, but still wanting more. Assuming they stick together, this was but the first of many times I will see them in concert. I've been to 23 concerts this year already and this show has a solid grip on the second spot. Other bands will have a tough time unseating them from this position.

As an aside, after seeing this show I decided there needs to be a quadruple bill of DeVotchKa, Beirut, Calexico and Gogol Bordello. That would be an unstoppable tour of genre-bending genius.

Download "Along the Way" via Pitchfork.

DeVotchKa - "Somethin' Stupid" mp3 (Frank Sinatra cover)

"Control" and "Joy Division" Documentary Out On DVD...Win Them Here!

A couple weeks ago, someone asked me at a party if I'd seen any great films lately. I thought about it for a second, and replied that my favorite films this year were both about Joy Division. I happen to be a huge Joy Division & New Order fan, but I feel that Control, Anton Corjbin's dramatic profile of Joy Division's late and enigmatic singer Ian Curtis, and Joy Division, the remarkably insightful documentary directed by Grant Gee, are easily the most entertaining and compelling movies I've seen recently.

I've always considered myself a Joy Division expert and completist, and I was amazed at how much info these films contained that I never knew. Further, I'm told by folks who'd know that much of the insight in Joy Division provided by Peter Hook, Bernard Summer, and Stephen Morris had never been revealed publicly before.

Because of my love for these movies, and because I love collecting rock-docs to watch at home, I'm thrilled that both of these films are being released here in the States next month on DVD, and both with extra features.

Control's extras include:
Audio commentary with director Anton Corbijn · The Making Of Control · Out of Control: A Conversation with Anton Corbijn · Extended Live Concert Performances - Transmission, Leaders of Men, Candidate ·"Transmission" music video by Joy Division ·"Atmosphere" music video by Joy Division · "Shadowplay" music video by The Killers · Still gallery

Joy Division's extras include:
75 minutes of deleted/extended interviews · Transmission Music video

Control is released on June 3rd, and Joy Division is released June 17th.

extrawack! would like to give one lucky reader a copy each of Control and Joy Division! To win, send an email to extrawack@gmail.com with the subject "Joy Division DVD" and tell us your favorite Joy Division song. The 20th email entry to land in our mailbox will win the DVD's. Contest open to US residents only...sorry Papua New Guinea!

Check the trailers:

Control:



Joy Division:



Buy Control and Joy Division here.

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne in Tony Awards Shock

OK, so it's not that much of a schock...I just kind of felt like writing a London Tabloid-style headline tonight...

A couple weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to catch a preview of the new Broadway version of John Waters' "Cry Baby". As a big fan of the movie (starring Johnny Depp, Patty Hearst, and Traci Lords, among other legends-for-various-reasons), I was glad that they more or less stuck to the original story, but I was really thrilled to hear the new songs...and especially the witty lyrics. After about the third song that struck me as way smarter, catchier, and funnier than most of the written-for-tourists tunes in Broadway shows these days, I opened the Playbill and was surprised to see the songs were co-written by the awesome Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne.

By the end of the show, I was convinced that the score just HAD to be nominated for a Tony.

From today's press release:

(New York, NY) -- The new Broadway musical Cry-Baby: The Musical, with songs co-written by Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and "The Daily Show's" executive producer David Javerbaum, was nominated yesterday for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score. This is the first time Schlesinger has scored for Broadway. He has received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for the title song to the Tom Hanks' film, That Thing You Do, and Fountains of Wayne was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Cry-Baby: The Musical is based on the 1990 John Waters' film of the same name and features a book written by Hairspray writers Tom Meehan and Mark O'Donnell.

Schlesinger is currently at work producing the new Dashboard Confessional record, due out in the fall, and writing songs for the next Fountains of Wayne album.

So, yeah...I was right, Maybe we should be posting Broadway reviews here too. Or not.

And how great is the news that Schlesinger's producing the new Dashboard record? Maybe he can cheer-up ol' sourpuss Carrabba and teach the band how to write a proper radio hook. That would be cool.


Not from the musical, but excellent nonetheless:

Los Peyotes - "Cry Baby" mp3

courtesy: benn loxo du taccu

Concert Review: Radiohead in Atlanta

Photo courtesy of Maria Carullo

Despite barely being able to see the actual band members from my seat, Radiohead's performance was absolutely enthralling. This was my first time seeing them live since 1997 and I was glad to see they could impress in a 19,000 seat venue like they could in the 1,000 seat venue I saw them perform in 11 years ago. They could've been playing under one bare 40 watt light bulb and blown everyone away, but their light show on this tour was mesmerizing. Long, thin vertical tubes dominated the stage and bathed the band in a variety of spectral colors throughout the evening to match the wide palette of aural colors coming through the speakers. They opened with "All I Need," which has been the opening song for every show of the tour so far. Opening with a slow song like that is against typical rock convention (especially when the new album contains a real rocker like "Bodysnatchers") but Radiohead have never been one for convention.

They played all of In Rainbows except for "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" and even included "Bangers and Mash" from the In Rainbows box set bonus disc. "15 Step," "Nude," and "Videotape" were other standout performances from In Rainbows. "Videotape" included an interesting view of Thom Yorke via a camera mounted on the piano that seemed to find him being semi-playful with the audience. I was happy to hear songs from the tours I missed between OK Computer and In Rainbows like "Pyramid Song," "Idiotheque," "The National Anthem" and "Everything In It's Right Place."

Despite my love of The Bends, "Just" actually struck me as a bit out of place in the setlist. It's a song I adore (and my favorite music video of all time), but something like "Street Spirit" or "Bullet Proof" would've fit the overall mood of the evening a bit better. That being said, they rocked it though. The inclusion of "Paranoid Android" was nice and it made its first appearance on the tour in Atlanta. To their credit, they're a band that has put out so much quality material now that you couldn't possibly hope to hear all that you want to hear. Even the "surely they'll play ______" songs are too numerous to all be performed, so I can forgive them for passing on personal favorites of mine like "Climbing Up the Walls" for something like "Lucky."

My only real complaint about the evening was that the P.A. wasn't loud enough. I could easily hear those around me talking in a normal speaking voice. Maybe it was because I was in the 46th row, but I would've liked a bit more volume. If that's the only complaint one has during a 24 song set though, then you've seen a pretty amazing evening of music.

Setlist
=====
08 June 2008
Lakewood Amphitheatre
Atlanta, Georgia
=====

All I Need
There There
Lucky
15 Step
Where I End and You Begin
Nude
Pyramid Song
Optimistic
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The National Anthem
Idiotheque
You and Whose Army
Reckoner
Everything in Its Right Place
Bangers and Mash
Bodysnatchers
Videotape

Encore:
The Gloaming
Talk Show Host
Just
Faust Arp
How to Disappear Completely

Encore 2:
Paranoid Android
House of Cards

How You Can Help In Myanmar

A couple of regular readers of extrawack! who know what my day job is, have sent me notes asking how they can help somehow with the cyclone tragedy in Myanmar. My best suggestion is to donate to Oxfam America's Myanmar Cyclone Relief and Rehabilitation Fund.

From Oxfam's website:

Oxfam International is now assessing the situation. We have committed $800,000 to an initial response and together with our affiliate organizations we have a team on standby. Like all international aid groups, we are facing tight government restrictions while working to meet the needs of thousands of very poor people affected by the cyclone.

An estimated 24 million people—nearly half the country’s total population—live in areas struck by the disaster. When Cyclone Nargis slammed into the Irrawaddy delta it whipped up a massive storm surge reportedly 12 feet high. Reuters is reporting that Nargis is the most devastating cyclone Asia has seen since the 1991 storm that killed 143,000 people in Bangladesh.

“The aid effort faces huge challenges,” said Sarah Ireland, an Oxfam East Asia regional director. “Communications are down in the cyclone-hit areas, roads have been washed away, and getting aid to people will be very difficult. The international community needs to be quick to respond to this crisis and to ensure the needs of those most affected are met.”

Donate here.

Mission Of Burma - "Weatherbox (Live)" mp3

MGMT "Time To Pretend" Remix Download

I've been kind of obsessed with MGMT's "Time To Pretend" lately, listening to it countless times on the iPod, jogging to it, and even watching the video for it with my silly MGMT 3-D glasses. I don't know if it's the funky/hokey synth melody, the funny/scary/goofy lyrics, or the combination of the two, but I'm totally hooked.

Thankfully, I just received a link to a pretty sweet remix of the tune, which hopefully will help mix things up for me a bit.

Get it here, for a limited time:

MGMT - "Time To Pretend (Jorge Elbrecht of Violens Remix)" mp3

Black Ghosts & Thunderheist for free in W-Burg Saturday night.

For the second consecutive summer VICE and Colt 45 will unite to present Tales of Colt 45, a touring series of free shows traveling to LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. From May through August, the tour will return once a month to the same venue, creating a Colt 45 summer residency in each market.

This month's party at Glasslands on May 10th features The Black Ghosts & Thunderheist.

RSVP here.

The Black Ghosts - "Face (Switch mix)" mp3

Concert Review: White Denim at Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama

Editor's Note:
With this review, extrawack! welcomes Birmingham, AL scenester and new contributor Joel Gamble:


Photo courtesy of hstoutzenberger

There are few joys for a music fan that can compare with discovering a new band in a live setting. It's one thing to peruse mp3 blogs until the sun comes up, but it's quite another to have an unknown entity unleash some fine on-stage rocking into your unsuspecting ears. It's a such a rare opportunity because not many people go see a band having no idea what to expect. That's just what I did though for White Denim's performance at Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama on April 30th. Perhaps it's an unorthodox approach, but I sometimes like going into a show as a tabula rasa with no expectations and no preconceived notions, especially after a band starts picking up a lot of buzz like they did after SXSW.

The opening chords of the instrumental "Migration Wind" perked my ears up immediately and I knew I was in for a night of music well beyond the typical ho-hum "next big thing" that always seems to be on tour. One thing that struck me immediately was that the band really seemed to be enjoying playing live music. They were occasionally smiling on stage and noticeably devoid of irony. Isn't that some sort of indie rock sin?

White Denim sounds immediately familiar, but not derivative or forced. It sounds as if these guys grew up on equal parts blues, rock and punk. After a driving, energetic and sweat-soaked set that I can't tell you much more about because I didn't know any song titles (and had to ask what the first song was called) I managed to pull guitarist and singer James Petralli aside for a brief chat.

Asked about their approach to music making, Petralli said, "There is an exuberance in what we do. We leave room in the songs for improvisation and input from everyone." He went on to mention that this was their first major tour and though they were playing to bigger crowds opening for Tapes n' Tapes than they would on their own and that crowds had been receptive so far. I certainly felt like I could sense the tide turn in the room when the majority of folks shifted immediately from indifference to nodding along to drummer Josh Block's infectious beats.

The interview nature of our conversation quickly fell away though (I'm such a bad blogger at times) and it wound up being two guys discussing various experiences touring (I used to road manage a band) and talking about everyone from Austin bands like Explosions in the Sky and Stars of the Lid to others like Deerhunter and The Dirty Projectors. We eventually realized we'd been outside talking during the majority of Tapes n Tapes' set and went our separate ways to go watch them. I left with that satisfied feeling of discovering a new band in concert, but quite upset with myself that I didn't bring any cash to buy their records....

http://www.whitedenimmusic.com/

Grab White Denim's "Goldie Locks" and a couple other tracks for free at RCRDLBL.

Bonus Bakers Dozen Downloads with Bell X1, My Morning Jacket, Street Dogs, Tokyo Police Club, My Brightest Diamond, and More!

Because of the lack of quality posting here lately, let us get you back in our good graces by hitting you with our monthly CD's worth of quality extrawack!-approved tracks for your gratis-downloading pleasure. We're even throwing in an extra track thismonth, making it more like a Drunken Baker's Dozen.

These tracks are more fun than Peaches Geldolf and a roll of ten pound notes...Have at 'em:



Bell X1 - "Rocky Took a Lover" mp3

Lykke Li - "Dance Dance Dance" mp3

Street Dogs - "Two Angry Kids" mp3

Saxon Shore - "Marked With The Knowledge" mp3

Everest - "Rebels In the Roses" mp3

Tokyo Police Club - "In A Cave" mp3

The Impossible Shapes - "Hey!" mp3

Four Tet - "Four Tet DJ Mix" mp3

My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges" mp3

Chin Chin - "Appetite" mp3

My Brightest Diamond - "Inside A Boy" mp3

Charles Bradley - "Now That I’m Gone" (from Daptone 7 inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2) mp3

The Morning Paper - "Fingers Crossed" mp3

Lousy Robot - "It's Getting To Me" mp3