The Walkmen, Awkwardly Interviewed By Fox 5

There's also a performance of "On The Water," and despite how much we love You & Me, it's the awesomely awkward banter that's worth the click. Also it's a nice guide of things not to try and small talk about with Ham: inspiration, buses, Paul Shaffer, anything at all. Watch it at Fox 5.

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Rosanne Cash Upset Over Campaign Remarks

Country legend Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne has taken aim at John Rich for suggesting her father would be a John McCain voter at a U.S. presidential campaign rally.[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/08/20/rosanne_cash_upset_over_campai
gn_remarks

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Good Flying Day

Photo by Frank YangI'm very much an urban soul, but that doesn't mean I don't like to get back to the country every now and again - at least once a year, at least, for the Dog Day Afternoon mini-fest that takes place annually at a small farm just outside Guelph, Ontario. Sure, I've only been going two years now, but it's such a comfortable setting I have no problem making it a tradition.

This year's edition on Sunday marked the party's tenth anniversary and to mark the occasion... well, they pretty much did the same thing as always. Why mess with a good thing? As always, the incomparable Sadies would be on hand to close things out and the rest of the bill was made up of talent mainly from the Toronto and K-W/Guelph region as well as from further afield. Though there had been vague threats of rain the day before, we were treated to a beautifully sunny day, perhaps feeling a bit more early Fall than late Summer, but splendid nonetheless for the couple hundred (maybe) guests lounging around in lawn chairs and on blankets, working hard at doing nothing.

Kitchener's One Heart Many Hands was originally slated to kick things off, but had to withdraw and was replaced with a couple of Guelph artists. One Kevin Barnhorst got the opening slot and playing solo on electric guitar, offered a short set of singer-songwritery pop that probably sounded fuller in the context of his band, Elbow Beach Surf Club.

He was followed by Jessy Bell Smith, who impressed armed only with her Gretsch and a big voice. Though naturally inclined to country-soul stylings, she showed she was more versatile than just that with a set peppered with covers ranging from Nina Simone to Bruce Springsteen to a hilarious, rapid-fire version of Akon's "Smack That". Folkified rap covers are a bit cliche, but when they're done as well as this one was, they're still tremendously entertaining.

I'd seen Toronto one-man space-rock act Now YR Taken a few times before and always felt that while his instrumental compositions, built on guitar loops and drum machine samples, were quite impressive, his songwriting and vocal work really didn't measure up and diminished the overall experience. This time out, he stuck largely to the instrumentals and despite some technical glitches managed to create an interesting and hypnotic electronic-y atmosphere that contrasted but didn't conflict with the decidedly rural setting. Unfortunately, he opted to end his set with an almost completely non sequiter, a capella version of G'N'R's "Don't Cry" - not just a quote, but an entire verse and chorus. Odd and unnecessary.

It was nice to see Guelph native Gentleman Reg perform live again - it'd been a while. And while he hasn't released a record since 2004's Darby & Joan, he hasn't been idle - he was now sporting a pretty impressive beard. Accompanied by a drummer and thus breaking the solo act trend so far, he played a set of angelically-voiced pop comprised of old favourites as well as some new material from his next album Jet Black, which is unfortunately no longer coming out in October but has been pushed back until the new year. There will still be some touring in the Fall, however, so at least there's that.

The D'Urbervilles marked the start of the "rock" portion of the day, and the four-piece brought in in fine style, playing tight, taut and lightly funky new wave from their fine new album We Are The Hunters. While the open-air setting probably made it feel a bit less impactful than if it'd had been experienced in closed quarters, it was still a rousing set that raised the bar as far as energy went. Still, I expect their set to be much more punch-in-the-facelike when they open up for Land Of Talk at Lee's Palace on September 27.

Where The D'Urbervilles were ultra-tight, Halifax's Dog Day were a decidedly shambolic, but charmingly so. Like the band before them, the effect of their grunge-friendly, melodic pop was mitigated somewhat by the pastoral setting - the blasts of fuzz guitar seemed a bit at odds with the bales of hay and fields of sunflowers behind the band - but I still enjoyed their set though neither time I've seen them live has been as satisfying as the recordings that make up last year's Night Group LP.

Up to this point, the lineup had been largely of the alt.rock variety, whereas last year there was more of a prevalent roots vibe to things. Penultimate act The Shovels certainly made up the twang quotient, the five-piece coming off like a very proficient country-western house band. There was certainly nothing revolutionary about the band's output - male/female vocals, pedal steel, hot lick guitar solos - but it was friendly and well-played.

Also unlike last year, the Sadies weren't stuck in traffic and were able to take the stage on time, just as the sun was setting, and put on one of their trademark amazing shows. I've seen the band maybe a half-dozen times now, and they've never given anything less than 100%, it's remarkable. Spinning a set of psychedelic country/surf/punk-and-roll, the brothers Good and compatriots Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky again made a case for themselves as one of the most talented bands in the country today.

One new (to me) addition to their repertoire was a cover of Love's "A House Is Not A Motel", which fit them so perfectly that I hope they somehow become the spiritual keepers of the song, in the same way that Calexico have essentially adopted "Alone Again Or". Their version was just sublime. When they closed out their encore with a call for requests, they sadly declined to give the Judas Priest song a go, instead opting for Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine", but I have a feeling that if they'd gone with the Priest, they'd have a) actually known exactly how to play it and b) absolutely killed it. If you go to either of their shows at the Horseshoe on October 3 or 4, I suggest you demand they play Judas Priest. Don't take no for an answer.

Sun, straw, Sadies. Cheers, Dog Day Afternoon. See you next year.

Chart was also in attendance and has a review.

Photos: Dog Day Afternoon 2008 - August 17, 2008
MP3: The Sadies - "Anna Leigh"
MP3: The D'Urbervilles - "Hot Tips"
Video: Dog Day - "Oh Dead Life"
Video: Gentleman Reg - "The Boyfriend Song"
Video: Jessy Bell Smith - "Archie"
MySpace: The Sadies
MySpace: Dog Day
MySpace: The D'Urbervilles
MySpace: Gentleman Reg

Final Fantasian Owen Pallett talks to New York Magazine about his forthcoming EPs - Spectrum, 14th Century and Plays To Please - which are due out this Fall. No word on the Heartland full-length, so presumably that's been pushed back until 2009. Final Fantasy plays the Danforth Music Hall on August 27.

Pitchfork talks to Carl Newman about putting away the New Pornograper overcoat for a bit and putting the A.C. name tag back on in order to turn out his second solo record Get Guilty, tentatively due out in January of next year.

BrookylnVegan has an interview with Wolf Parader/Handsome Furrier Dan Boeckner. The Handsome Furs are at Lee's Palace on Friday night.

Young & Sexy have a date at the Drake Underground on October 11.

Blast and Filter have features on Constantines. They're playing day one of V Fest on the Toronto Islands on September 6.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.chromewaves.net/?itemid=3116

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Daily Downloads (The Broken West, the Little
Ones, and more)

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Amazing Baby: free and legal Infinite F*cking Cross EP [mp3] "Headdress" [mp3] other Amazing Baby posts at Largehearted Boy And the Moneynotes: "Too Sweet" [mp3] from New Cornucopia! And the Moneynotes: "A Pirate's Confession"...

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/largeheartedboy/~3/fMIdJUDji_s/daily_downloads_165
3.html

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Kristin Chenoweth To Release Album 'For The Gays'

Beloved Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth is set to make her gay fans happy by recording an album full of camp anthems. The "Wicked" and Pushing Daisies star,[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/08/20/kristin_chenoweth_to_release_a
lbum_for_t

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Music Review: Uh Huh Her Doesn't Have Much There

Uh Huh Her is a pretty picture on paper: Its face is the well-dressed duo of "The L-Word" actress Leisha Hailey and singer-producer Camila Grey. [...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/08/20/music_review_uh_huh_her_doesn_
t_have_muc

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Toby Keith Praises Obama

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Barack Obama is getting praise from Nashville, courtesy of one big, patriotic country star.[...] Read more!

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http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/08/20/toby_keith_praises_obama

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Dave Matthews Band Sax Player Dies At 46 From ATV
Wreck Injuries

LOS ANGELES (AP) - LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, [...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/08/20/dave_matthews_band_sax_player_
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North vs. South Music Festival

This weekend marks the 5th anniversary of The North vs. South Music Festival, held in Lawrence, KS for the last four years but moved to Kansas City for this go round.

Conceived by Mike McCoy, Hunter Darby, and Grant Johnson, three of the more prolific musicians operating along the IH-35 corridor (amongst other parts of the country), the idea originally was to take the best indie bands from the two notorious music cities at opposite ends of IH-35 and have them meet in the middle roughly on the anniversary of Quantrill?s Raid on Lawrence, KS during The Civil War (look it up ? I ain?t your history teacher). Not a competitive event at all, the philosophy was to bring together two very different and yet oddly similar musical scenes for the purposes of fun, networking, seeing a lot of great music one might not be exposed to, and getting shit faced drunk. It has been a smashing success the last four years, and there?s no reason to expect the fifth won?t be as well.

In the last five years the festival has expanded to include acts from all over the country and, this year, even an international act (Australia). If this isn?t a sign of expanding success I?d be hard pressed to say what is.

The point here is that this is a grown from the ground up, DIY music festival showcasing unsigned and indie acts. This kind of shit doesn?t happen anymore, and it?s a Goddamn shame it doesn?t. I?ve been accused of harping incessantly on the ?good old days? of the music scene of the 1980?s and it?s probably true ? that was the milieu in which I came up. At the same time, there was an entirely different culture and approach to underground music at that time that seems to have all but disappeared. A music festival like North vs. South, while still cool, wouldn?t have been such an anomaly back then, as such things were cropping up in towns and cities all over the nation. In Austin alone you had the Woodshock festivals, not to mention the staggering juggernaut of South by Southwest had equally inauspicious beginnings. Houston hosted The Westheimer Arts Festival, which gave more than equal time to indie bands.

What?s missing here in the 00?s? A spirit of cooperation? An idea that we?re all in this together and, while there are only so many of us that will ever make a dime off playing music, we should be supporting one another and applauding those that break out rather than treating it as a cut throat competition that plays directly into the smarmy club owners and promoters hands? An inspiration to, if the clubs won?t come across, find some like minded artists and make your own venues wherever you can? Guerilla promotion? All these things, unless I?m just missing it. The internet seems an ideal, not mention inexpensive, way of accomplishing a lot of this, but every music ?cooperative? I?ve found on line smacks of some kind of ponzi scheme whereby you, the artist, shell out for a ?premium? package which ultimately buys you exactly nothing, and which is even less help for those that opt for the ?free? services they offer. They also, through ?top rated band? bullshit, engender that same sense of cutthroat competition that is strangling the indie scene.

There are a few exceptions I know of. While exclusive, the Orange 6 collective out of Athens, GA seems to be pretty effectively circumventing the powers that be, and God bless them for that. Nothing else comes to mind at the moment, but consider I?m sleep deprived, stressed out, clinically mentally ill, and have to get on an airplane in 18 hours when I absolutely detest flying (like, panic attack detest ? I have to be sedated).

I?m really not one to talk. While I have organized and promoted indie shows with some degree of success (and am currently trying to put one together with extremely limited success so far), I?ve never gotten together some like minded people and attempted something on the scope of North vs. South. The idea has occurred to me, and even entered preliminary planning stages, but fallen apart due to lack of interest and the daunting amount of work and capital it would take to make it successful. That?s not to say it can?t be done. It?s just to say I?m kinda lazy.

I?m proud to be a charter member of North vs. South, having played all four previous festivals and playing this one this coming Saturday, even when, as last year, I had to pull something together at the last minute. It reminds me of the good old days of indie music, as sick as I?m sure you are at hearing that term.

It would do America?s ailing underground music scene a universe of good to see events like North vs. South cropping up around the country. It would certainly do my ailing faith in the vitality of underground music a universe of good - people doing it just because they love it, not because they want to be Conor Oberst. In the words of a Homestead Records era J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. (then simply Dinosaur), ?I?ll just keep on hopin?.?
You can find info on North vs. South at www.myspace.com/northvssouthmusicfestival.

Read The Full Article:
http://culturalsenescence.blogspot.com/2008/08/north-vs-south-music-festival.html

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LeRoi Moore RIP

LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and co-composer for The Dave Matthews Band, died yesterday at the age of 46 from complications arising from an ATV accident June 30th. Talented motherfucker but honestly, with the exception that the loss of any human life is a tragedy, from a musical perspective I don't really give a shit. Dave Matthews is lowest common denominator pablum - music for the masses in the worst possible way. It's a shame to me that Moore chose such a vapid vehicle in which to express himself.

My opinion of Dave Matthews was not improved by the fact that the band went ahead and performed with the ringer who's been sitting in for Moore since his accident at The Staples Center last night, the night of Moore's death. Seems to me the death of a bandmate and, ostensibly, a friend would merit not a moment of silence, but an entire evening. Concerts can be rescheduled. Tribute shows can be planned. Dead bandmates aren't coming back. The lack of respect is reprehensible and certainly indicates where Dave Matthews priorities lie. It ain't with the music.

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