TheMovieRambler’s Neighbors

Patti Smith/Kevin Shields - The Coral Sea

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:30:03 -0700

07/09/2008 00:25:58 ♥ written by vu ()

Patti Smith and Kevin Shields - The Coral Sea (excerpt of Track 1)

Patti Smith and Kevin Shields

Patti Smith Tour Dates

07/08/08 Byblos International Festival
07/10/08 Rockwave Festival Athens
07/11/08 Musilac Aix-les-Bains
07/12/08 Traffic Festival Torino
07/13/08 Arena Vienna
07/16/08 Moldejazz 2008 Molde
07/17/08 Bukta Festival Tromsø
07/18/08 Stockholm Jazz Festival
07/20/08 Expo Zaragoza 2008 Zaragoza
07/21/08 Santana 27 Bilbao
08/24/08 Roots of America Festival NY

Kevin Shields Tour Dates

10/04/08 Belgie Hasselt
10/08/08 Extrapool Nijmegen
10/10/08 Montreuil @ Instants Chavirés Paris
10/11/08 GROUND ZERO Lyon
10/22/08 NOG Gallery London
10/23/08 Bardens Boudoir London

Patti Smith and Kevin Shields have released The Coral Sea officially on July 7^th worldwide.

I won't go into details about Smith & Shields, as you guys are probably familiar with their earlier works, including the influential Horses album by Smith and Shields' work with noise artists/shoegazing pioneers, My Bloody Valentine.

The origin of the live performances of the The Coral Sea is written inside the CD case:

My great friend, the artist Robert Mapplethorpe, died of complications from Aids on March 9, 1989. His mortal suffering was so profound that I wept through much of his illness. After his death I wanted to give him something other than tears, so I wrote the Coral Sea.

This live recordings are from two sold-out shows from June 22, 2005 and September 12, 2006. I wanted to also mention that this double-disc digipack set is very handsome, designed by Xiaofei Zhang. He used a mix of greys and blacks of what looks like water color paintings and a photograph of a mountainous landscape, giving you a sense of eeriness as you listen to the spoken words.

Although the reading of the 1996 book is pretty much the same in both dates, the ambient sounds by Shields in the background are slightly different. I only say slight different because if you were to play them to me, I couldn't tell you which show it came from.

I wish there was a video of this performance, because listening to this album, I imagine a great visual and deeply personal performance from Patti Smith, especially at the end where she almost scream "What is the point?"

However, just like audio books, you'll most likely listen to this once and that will be good enough for you, so I can't say that I would recommend this to casual listeners. That is, unless you already love poetry/spoken words and/or are hardcore Patti Smith and MBV fans.

If you want to hear the two hours of The Coral Sea, you can pick it up at most online retailers, but Patti Smith's website suggest Rocket Girl Records.

Bonus: Below are songs from Patti Smith and My Bloody Valentine.

Without Chains

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

Links: pattismith.net myspace.com/pattismith myspace.com/kkevinsshields

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News: Ben Sollee's "Dear Kanye"

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:34:40 -0700

07/08/2008 19:32:00 ♥ written by vu ()

Ben Sollee - Dear Kanye

Ben Sollee

Read More

Ben Sollee Learns To 'Bend' : NPR Music

http://www.npr.or...

All Things Considered, July 5, 2008 - Ben Sollee just wants us to get along. On his debut, full-...

Kanye West Defends Self at Bonnaroo

http://www.kanyeu...

I am sick of negative people who just sit around trying 2 plot my downfall... Why???? I unders...

Thanks to Bookishly Fabulous for pointing out that Ben Sollee was recently on NPR's "All Things Considered" (July 5, 2008).

It would be seem that Sollee is looking for a fight with Kanye West, who recently disappointed fans at Bonnaroo for being two hours late (performed at 4:30 am). He made national/internet news by blogging about the venue's inability to setup the lighting and Pearl Jam was already an hour late.

This "open letter" song to Kanye West basically tells off West that "you don't need a light show, just good flow".

It's Not Impossible

You can read more about Ben Sollee on our previous W♥M articles.

Other interesting music news: Facebook's a hotbed of celebrity gossips. Lilly Allen and The Chemical Brothers' Ed Simon are back together. Apparently they both changed their facebook status to "in a relationship" and immediately thousand of fans wrote to congratulate them.

Björk seems to be canceling a few concerts, citing throat ailment. I'm not sure why that's so closely followed by the media, but Ex-Whitesnake guitarist is dead. Does anyone even know his name?

The outrageous headline of "Kylie Minogue Saves Fan from Suicide" makes it sound as if Minogue was there on the rooftop talking that person down. The truth is, the fan was listening to his iPod and her song came on and he suddenly didn't want to stab himself. (Lame, right?)

Also, some idiot stole the headstone to Joy Division's Ian Curtis' grave. I hope his ghost haunts him.

The sad news of the collector's mentality of the CD box sets are on its death bed (hint: maybe it's because it's too expensive). The Yahoo story (written by Ed Christman) paints a picture that "Boxed-set sales have fallen off the cliff; they went from something to nothing".

Even at price slashed to about $29.99 (from the regular $49.98), sales continues to decline. At the end of the article, they mentioned that the limited-edition box for Nine Inch Nails' "Ghosts I-IV," ($300) sold really well.

Reunited: Lily Allen is back together with Chemical Brothers' Ed Simon http://www.welt.d... It appears that the young singer (28) has reconciled with her 38-year-old ex-boyfiend Ed Simons ...	Björk Cancels Another Gig Due to Throat Ailment http://www.pitchf... Photo by Ashley WilliamsonBjörk is still struggling to beat the bug that kept her from playing a ...	Headstone Swiped from Joy Division Singer's Grave http://news.yahoo... Curtis, who was recently played by Sam Riley in the well-received biopic Control, hanged himself...
CD boxed sets face uncertain future http://news.yahoo... Only a handful of enticing boxed sets are due out at year's end. Among them are Rhino's long-in-...	Ex-Whitesnake Guitarist, R.I.P. http://news.yahoo... Galley played for the hard-charging, Led Zeppelin-influenced group from 1982 to 1984, joining sh...	Kylie Minogue saves fan from suicide http://www.nme.co... Kylie Minogue has saved a fan from stabbing himself to death. A peace campaigner who goes by the ...

Links: weheartmusic.com

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Vox Hunt: Silly Song - Muskrat Love

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:04:56 -0700

"Share a song that makes you laugh."

One of the worst songs ever written, Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille is so sweet sounding until you realize what its about! So bad it makes me howl with laughter every time. It may make you groan but this video just sells the hilarity!

Quick funny story! My parents had both The Blues Brothers and the Captain and Tennille 8-Tracks... somehow a button was pushed and songs went from one 8-Track to another. My sisters and I cackled in anticipation when we heard Soul Man start up. "Shhh!!! Here it comes," one of us would yell. And Muskrat Love pounced like a hawk on a field mouse out of the giant speakers. Our mom would roll here eyes and just chuckle at our simple pleasure. Good times!

Now if Stefan only knew that this is a definite starter song at our wedding late next year! (evil laugh)

Muskrat Love - Captain and Tennille

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Best. News. EVER.

nobody@vox.com(Kelly) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:00:43 -0700

At least if you like the Twilight series.

A bunch of Barnes & Noble stores are selling Breaking Dawn at midnight August 2, so there is a really good chance I'll be heading to my local B&N at 10pm Saturday night to get myself a copy.

Huzzah! :)

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Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llama

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:18:02 -0700

03 Lisa

Albert Hammond, Jr.

This is Mr. Hammonds sophomore album and I've got to say, it's pretty good. Then again, I am biased. Albert Hammond Jr. is my favorite member of the Strokes, or I should say, would seem like less of an a-hole. Don't get me wrong, I like all their albums, but they just don't seem like nice dudes. I don't know, I'm probably wrong. Anyway, I have always liked him and I really loved his 2006 debut album Yours To Keep (which I also wrote about ^.^).

A. Hammond Jr.

This time around, it does seem like he's having a hard time fixing on a "sound", but that doesn't necessarily mean the album isn't good. Perhaps he's just trying to distance his own sound from his other band. But I wouldn't have found anything wrong with that. Sounding like the Strokes that is. So yeah, I picked the song Lisa and I hope you like it too.

So go ahead and pick up a copy of Como Te Llama today. It's out today

actually. I wanted to do this a couple of days ago, but I've been too busy. So just in time right? Oh, and about a week ago I was at his webpage and it's got this little feature where you can add your picture to the checkerboard background. Well it's pretty much filled up now. I don't know, I thought that was a cute idea. So here is the song I picked and a few links to follow. Commence enjoyment!

Oh yeah! Tour Dates!! go check him out ladies and gents.

Jul 8 2008

8:00P

Virgin Megastore (Union Square) In-Store Performance

New York, New York

Jul 11 2008

8:00P

Spaceland

Los Angeles, California

Jul 30 2008

8:00P

Prince Bandroom

Melbourne, Victoria

Aug 1 2008

8:00P

The Gaelic Theatre

Sydney, New South Wales

Aug 2 2008

8:00P

The Zoo

Brisbane, Queensland

Aug 9 2008

6:00P

Summer Sonic Festival

Tokyo

Aug 10 2008

6:00P

Summer Sonic Festival

Osaka

Aug 11 2008

8:00P

Club Quattro

Osaka

Aug 12 2008

8:00P

Club Quattro

Tokyo

Aug 15 2008

5:00P

McCarren Park Pool

Brooklyn, New York

Albert Hammond Jr on MySpace // A. Hammond Jr. dot com

emelia@weheartmusic.com

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Hidden Former Lies

nobody@vox.com(Hieronymus) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:36:46 -0700

Some recent books:

Hidden Empire (The Saga of Seven Suns)

Hidden Empire by Kevin Anderson - the first book in a long sci-fi series called Saga of Seven Suns, it was recommended in the Audible.com list. It tells the story of the humans and the Ildirans, who are an ancient alien race who helped the ten colonist ships sent out by a dying Earth to find homes (one was never found). The Klikiss are an extinct(?) race represented by robots they left behind. A human experiment with a Klikiss artifact gives rise to the Hydrogues, a race bent on destroying human and Ildirans alike.

Told in the now typical fashion of each chapter coming from a different character, this is a fairly interesting book that labors under the usual problems of the first book of a big series, in that there is a lot of 'splaining going on. Much like GRR Martin, Anderson isn't afraid to kill off story telling characters, which is fun. A few things are hard to swallow (like a human / Ildiran child?), but the book was interesting enough to have me check out the second book in the series.

Also from the list, I tried Death Qualified by Kate Wilhelm, but unfortunately I could only get about 1/3 the way through this "mystery of chaos". Never could get into the writing or the characters.

Annals of the Former World

I have barely begun Annals of the Former World by John McPhee, which is a trilogy in the Audible.com list but comes all bundled together in one gargantuan book these days. It's nearly 700 pages is daunting, as is the prolix prose. Telling the story of North American geologic history, it is pretty fascinating stuff, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and all. A solidified collection of his trilogy, New Yorker articles and over 20,000 new word, this is quite the heavy tome and I'm just not sure I am up for it. But perhaps some day...

The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport

The Downhill Lie : a hacker's return to a ruinous sport by Carl Hiaasen is a hilarious book about golf. Hiaasen, who played a lot with his dad as a teenager, gave up the sport until he got into his 50s and started back. All of us hackers will appreciate his sublime humor as he quests for the perfect equipment and shots. Given my scores lately, his complaints about his scores ring a bit hollow, although they are hard to compare. He says that if you fill out for a handicap, you can't take any score over a 7, which makes it impossible to compare his scores with mine, as I keep the 7s (and above!). But still, a short, funny read.

Hidden River

Hidden River by Adrian McKinty is his second book, after Dead I May Well Be, although it isn't a sequel at all. Still a mystery, as a disgraced Irish cop tries to find redemption and the killer of an old flame in Denver. As well written as his first, with some great turns of phrases (and using quotation marks this time), it still didn't feel as good. The main character was a bit of a whiner and complainer (as well as a heroin addict). And the final chapter solution felt dumb and tacked on. Still, a solid read and one that makes me want to get the second in the Dead trilogy ASAP.

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Wire - Object 47

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:42:40 -0700

07/08/2008 08:39:14 ♥ written by vu ()

Wire - One Of Us

Wire

Tour Dates

07/11/08 Traffic Free Festival Torrino
08/30/08 Offset Festival London

Album Discography

[Dec 1977] Pink Flag	[Aug 1978] Chairs Missing	[Sep 1979] 154
[Apr 1987] The Ideal Copy	[May 1988] A Bell Is a Cup... Until It Is Struck	[May 1989] It's Beginning To And Back Again
[May 1990] Manscape	[Apr 1991] The Drill	[Oct 1991] The First Letter
[May 2003] Send	[Jul 2008] Object 47

Wire have been around for a long time! I'm so very pleased to see that they are still making music, and having listened to their new album, Object 47, I can tell you that they are still amazing after all these years.

Since forming in 1976 in London, this band took their influences of the UK punk scene (Sex Pistols, after all was quite huge from 1975-1978), although I have never really thought of them as pure punk. They reminded me of more art rockers, with a talent for writing very catchy melodies.

Their short, but influential debut album, Pink Flag (1977), seem to have inspired a slew of bands either covering their songs (REM, The Urinals, Minor Threat) or ripping them off (Meanswe@r, Elastica, Clinic). Elastica and Wire eventually settled out of court for "Connection" infringing on "Three Girl Rhumba". Be sure to also check out Line up the Fly article for even more comparison between Elastica and Wire.

Wire - Three Girl Rhumba

Elastica - Connection

See Also

Elastica

http://weheartmus...

Cristina requested a comparison between Elastica vs Wire. So here it is: There's really no do...

With Object 47 already released in the UK (it looks like July 15^th in the US according to amazon), this will be the first studio album in over five years. The album's name comes from this is the 47^th release from Wire since their very first Mannequin EP in November 1977.

If you're a fan in the UK, you'll probably already bought the album. Here's a guide to the best songs on the album:

I absolutely thought "One Of Us" was brilliant. The bass instantly will make you move, while the lovable singing of one of us will live to rue the day we met each other will remind you of old school Wire. The song is a free download on their official website.

"Are You Ready?" should make a great object 48, as a single. Let me to try to explain the song to you, it seems to be Colin Newman asking a series of questions, and his guitar answering back.

Are you part of the future, part of the plan?
Are you willing and able to do what you can?
Are you part of the problem, or part of the band?
Are you willing to draw a line in the sand?
Are you true to your friends loyal to your brand?
Are you smoking for China, Iraq or Japan?
Are you searching for something you don't understand?
Do you still hold ambitions of being a man?

The last song is an energetic, driving song, "All Fours". It seems to build up with some excellent drumming here. It is really too bad that it doesn't just keep going on, but it does send the album to a great finish.

So what I have noticed here is that they are more or less sticking with what works here, kind of minimal guitars, bass and drums, and less art/experimental of their early 90s work, after the loss of their drummer, Robert Gotobed.

Speaking of losses, it seems that their longtime guitarist, Bruce Gilbert, was not involved on this album. They look, currently, to be a three-piece band.

Wire's Object 47 was released in the UK yesterday, July 7^th, and in the US, July 15^th. If you have always loved Wire, then you'll love the new album. They are only doing some music festivals this year, so good luck on finding a good spot to see this legendary band.

Links: www.pinkflag.com myspace.com/wirehq

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I have never... (stolen from Sara)

nobody@vox.com(Kelly) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:30:33 -0700

I have never seen an installment from any of the following series:

1) Rambo

2) Lethal Weapon

3) Beverly Hills Cop

4) Police Academy

5) 48 Hours

But I have seen every installment of:

1) The Godfather

2) Nightmare on Elm Street

3) Halloween

4) Rocky

5) Terminator

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Mr. Gnome

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:43:21 -0700

07/07/2008 19:40:42 ♥ written by derek ( / www.pegritz.com)

Mr Gnome - Night of the Crickets

Mr Gnome

Tour Dates

07/12/08 Annabell’s Akron, OH
07/19/08 Mickey Finn’s Toledo, OH
08/08/08 Southgate House Newport, KY
08/09/08 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
09/07/08 Benefest Greensburg, PA

Discography

[2005] Echoes on the Ground (EP)	[2006] Mr. Gnome (EP)	[2008] Deliver This Creature 7"
[2008] Mr. Gnome • Echoes on the Ground (Double EP)	[2008] Deliver This Creature LP

Sounds Like

Dead Can Dance

http://weheartmus...

is a band comprising Lisa Gerrard, (contralto) and Brendan Perry, (baritone). Formed in Melbourn...

Mr. Gnome (MySpace) is a great name for a band, isn't it? It conjures up pleasant visions of little rolly-polly Santa Clauses in pointy red felt caps sitting in contemplation beneath dew-heavy dandelion blossoms or riding on fox-back through the halls of a sepiatoned forest. But, wait a sec, here....The cover of Mr. Gnome's first full-length album, Deliver This Creature (available now on Ohio-based label El Marko Records), is a rather creepy affair: silhouettes of children running from or supplicating themselves before an eerie rabbit-eared, blade-fingered eidolon against a washed-out sky. Strange, ethereal imagery that is backed up by the opening chords of the album's lead track, "Pirates": a light guitar melody and vaporous vocals floating over a soft but insistent beat--that suddenly explodes with harsh guitar riffs and vocalist's Nicole Barille's unearthly shouts.

Since their inception in 2005, Cleveland, Ohio's Mr. Gnome have released two EPs that have both raked in a lot of acclaim and comparisons to everyone from Massive Attack to Tool, Portishead to Death From Above 1979 and Bjork. The music of Nicole Barille and Sam Meister has been described as Alt-Rock, Metal, Post-Punk, and Progressive Rock. Basically, that means that no one can really pin 'em down--but I think I can. Imagine a somewhat harder, harsher Dead Can Dance--with more grinding, fuzzy guitars and less medeival instrumentation--and you've prettymuch nailed Mr. Gnome's sound. And it is a good sound (which only adds more credence to my belief that Cleveland, OH, is the northeast's equivalent of Athens, GA).

The combination of ethereal elements (almost always delivered via female vocalists) and heavy music is familiar to any who likes artists such as Evanescence, Lacuna Coil, and Within Temptation. Mr. Gnome definitely sounds similar to those bands, and will no doubt appeal to their fans, but one cannot compare Mr. Gnome to them too closely, for Mr. Gnome's songs are a lot more musically adventurous that anything the more "pop"-oriented Evanescence and others have produced. Traditional song structure is scarce on Deliver This Creature, as Mr. Gnome favors songs that come and go following dramatic patterns unique to each song. Whereas opening track "Pirates" is built upon a pretty straightfoward loud-soft-loud-soft formula, later tracks like the beautiful but somewhat chilling "Night of the Crickets" and the aggressive, screaming "I'm Alright" are as complex as many a prog-rock anthem with their dynamic orchestration. Barille and Meister write songs that scamper up and down the musical spectrum from quiet, breathless interludes and introductions to full-on hard-rock blasts of headbanging power. Nicole Barille sounds a lot like Lisa Germano during Mr. Gnome's quieter moments, and every song has a melodic center that carries it through its convolutions and helps to keep listeners centered. Each song may be a miniature, self-contained psychodrama, but one need not be an experienced prog or Dead Can Dance listener to be able to grab onto each song's hook and ride it while the music bucks and dances beneath them.

In fact, I would think that Mr. Gnome would be an excellent album to introduce fans of "ethereal" music to harder, more intricate acts like Porcupine Tree, Canvas Solaris, and perhaps even Tool. Music that can serve as a bridge between two worlds is always interesting, and very marketable, too. So definitely check out Mr. Gnome's debut album, Deliver This Creature, and see them live at the following shows. You can bet I'll be there in the audience at the Greensburg, PA date!

Links: elmarkorecords.com myspace.com/mrgnome

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This and that

nobody@vox.com(Kelly) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:04:18 -0700

1) I'm reading Possession right now. It's really good. I saw the movie (ages ago) and I liked it so much I bought the book which I didn't read for years. But I'm reading it now. It's about two people who are researching two different poets (Roland is researching Randolph Henry Ash and Maud is researching Christabel LaMotte) and it turns out there's a connection there. I'm not going to spoil it but I'm sure if you thought about it, you'd figure it out. Once I'm done reading it, I'll watch the movie again. But I don't remember the movie that well and I don't want anything spoiled for me.

2) I think I'm ready to start dating again. So if you're local and you know any single lesbians, please set me up. (As a note--and I'm sure I don't need to say this--I am a folk music lesbian. I am not a sports playing/watching lesbian and I am most emphatically not a "Hey, let's go hiking or camping this weekend" lesbian.)

3) I need to remember to watch or DVR Celebrity Feud tomorrow night; members of the Office are competing against some of the American Gladiators. (I hope the Office people win.)

4) I have been re-watching Weeds and my love of that show knows no bounds.

Weeds - Celia - Drunken Crusader

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