Chris Mills Announces New Release, First Tour in Three Years

Chris Mills is one of those singer-songwriters who just melts your heart with his lyrics. Word came today that Mills will release a new record, Alexandria and start his first U.S. tour in three years come mid-January 2014. His new album features nine originals recorded in New York, Chicago, and Oslo, Norway, and mixed by Grammy award winning engineer Ryan Freeland (Tift Merrit, Ray LeMontagne, Aimee Mann). Mills will head to Europe for a run of dates in February before returning to the states to perform at SXSW in March. Other U.S. dates to be announced soon.

Chris Mills U.S. tour
 1/19 - Cambridge, MA - Atwoods
1/23 - St. Louis, IL - Off Broadway
1/24 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's
1/25 - Madison, WI - Kiki's House of Righteous Music
1/26 - St. Paul, MN - Amsterdam
1/29 - Yipsilanti, MI - Woodruff's
1/30 - Cleveland - Grog Shop
1/31 - Toledo, OH - Frankies
2/1 - Cincinnati, OH - House Concert
2/2 - Chicago, IL - Saki Store In-store
2/8 - Peacedale, RI - Roots Hoot House Concert

Back in Business...

Hey friends, It has been some time since we've talked eh? Feel like I've been shooting and writing for so many other outlets, like here, here, and here, I haven't had the time to do much on my own. But I feel like the time has come as I've been shooting some amazing things as of late like...

Camp Freddy at the 9:30 Club  

Published article here, more photos here  


Nine Inch Nails at the Verizon Center
   
Published article here, more photos here


Paul McCartney at the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium  
Published article here, more photos here


 I also got to shoot the The Replacements reunion at the Chicago Riot Fest. But that's a whole post in itself.

 Happy to be back in action. You're looking sexy as hell. Let's hang out!

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Portlandia Tour @ 930 Club (2-22-2012)

I covered the Portlandia Tour stop here at the 930 Club last night for the 930 Club and the Washington City Paper. (WCP piece going up here later today.) Full of kooky humor, music, and special guests, like DC's own Ian Svenonius and Mary Timony, among others, it was just as entertaining live as it is on the show. Now if they'd only make the bit on the DC music scene an accessible video!

Additional photos from the show can be seen here.

Portlandia: Shooting Star Preschool
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Ex-Replacements Guitarist Slim Dunlap Suffers Stroke

Blurt-Online passed on a story today from the Star Tribune paper in Minneapolis that ex-Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap suffered a stroke this week.

Minneapolis paper the Star Tribune is reporting that Slim Dunlap, late of the Replacements and still a musician on the Twin Cities scene, suffered a stroke this week and is intensive care. Wife Chrissie posted the details at Facebook:

"Bob is in the SICU at HCMC. I am not going to sugarcoat this -- this morning he suffered a right middle cerebral artery stroke. He then fell and hit his head, resulting in a left vertebral artery dissection and a right subarachnoid hemorrhage.

"The good news is that he is sharp and aware, his speech is fine, and all of the nurses and doctors have commented on his unique sense of humor. The bad news is that he cannot move the right side of his body and will be in for some serious rehab. They will be giving him more tests tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage. I will try to post updates as we learn more. Louie will be with him all night and I will be back there tomorrow. We don't need a thing but your good wishes for his full recovery."

Godspeed with that recovery, Slim.

Dave Grohl Addresses His Comments on Electronic Music at the Grammys

Gah what a week. But we return with this most awesome decree from our favorite and yours, one Dave Grohl, about the comments he made about electronic music at this year's Grammy's. It's baffling why folks thought he was referring to anything other than the "human element" especially as we had to suffer through his performance with Deadmau5 later-I don't think he did that at gunpoint, cmon.

Oh, what a night we had last Sunday at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The glitz! The Glamour! SEACREST! Where do I begin?? Chillin' with Lil' Wayne...meeting Cyndi Lauper's adorable mother...the complimentary blinking Coldplay bracelet.....much too much to recap. It's really is still a bit of a blur. But, if there's one thing that I remember VERY clearly, it was accepting the Grammy for Best Rock Performance...and then saying this:

"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do... It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]."

Not the Gettysburg Address, but hey......I'm a drummer, remember?

Well, me and my big mouth. Never has a 33 second acceptance rant evoked such caps-lock postboard rage as my lil' ode to analog recording has. OK....maybe Kanye has me on this one, but....Imma let you finish....just wanted to clarify something...

I love music. I love ALL kinds of music. From Kyuss to Kraftwerk, Pinetop Perkins to Prodigy, Dead Kennedys to Deadmau5.....I love music. Electronic or acoustic, it doesn't matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician's personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and.....human.

That's exactly what I was referring to. The "human element". That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became "bad" things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily "fixed". The end result? I my humble opinion.....a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.

And, unfortunately, some of these great advances have taken the focus off of the actual craft of performance. Look, I am not Yngwie Malmsteen. I am not John Bonham. Hell...I'm not even Josh Groban, for that matter. But I try really fucking hard so that I don't have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that's what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.

I don't know how to do what Skrillex does (though I fucking love it) but I do know that the reason he is so loved is because he sounds like Skrillex, and that's badass. We have a different process and a different set of tools, but the "craft" is equally as important, I'm sure. I mean.....if it were that easy, anyone could do it, right? (See what I did there?)

So, don't give me two Crown Royals and then ask me to make a speech at your wedding, because I might just bust into the advantages of recording to 2 inch tape.

Now, I think I have to go scream at some kids to get off my lawn.

Stay frosty.
Davemau5

Happy Valentine's Day, Pop-Ska Style

Happy Valentines Day from those of us here at BL&L and the happy sounds of Madness. Cause who wouldn't want to fall in love to a little pop-ska? (Truth? Always had a bit of a crush on Suggs, the lead singer of the pop-ska band Madness. Must of been the hair.)

Guided by Voices "Classic Lineup" Disbands...Maybe

The management company for Guided by Voices denies it, but word came today that sounds very much like the GbV "classic lineup" has, once again, disbanded.

Nada Mucho.com posted an interview with GbV guitarist Mitch Mitchell that spoke of the reunion, generated when "Matador Records came calling in 2010, inviting the “classic” GbV line-up to perform at the label’s twenty-first birthday party in Las Vegas." A year long tour was done (See our piece from the 930 Club show here), and the record, Let's Go Eat the Factory was released.

But two days after this very recent Nada Mucho interview, "Pitchfork and All Tomorrow’s Parties reported that GbV had once again disbanded and cancelled all of their 2012 dates. GbV’s management company promptly denied the break-up, and Mitch had made himself available for comment." Mitchell said the following:

I don’t think Bob’s feeling comfortable about a European tour, but I don't know if it’s permanent or temporary. I don’t know if we’ll play shows again or maybe we'll just record. There might be other records, you just never know. If it is over, it’s hard to complain. We had a good run.

Sure sounds like a break up to us. Sadness abounds.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: George Clinton & Parliment Funkadelic @ 930 Club

Glory be, the funk was on me. My piece on George Clinton and Parliment Funkadelic goes live tomorrow over at the WC Paper that is.... Update: Read all about it here.

Jim Lockey Creates "The Visible Tom Waits"

UK artist Jim Lockey created this amazing overview of what he envisions the insides of Tom Waits must look like.

Waits' latest record, Bad As Me came out in October. It is his first record of all new material in seven years. True to form, it includes many monsters indeed, all designed to make a body shimmy and shake.

Seen Your Video: Justin Vernon of Bon Iver Shows Up to Play "The World Cafe" with Kathleen Edwards

Philly.com reported that Kathleen Edwards was joined by her beau, Justin Version of Bon Iver, for a few songs last night in Philly on "World Cafe."

Edwards latest record, Voyageur came out last month, which Bon Iver also produced. She is playing the here tomorrow at the 930 Club.



Kathleen Edwards - Wapusk (featuring Bon Iver) by Kathleen Edwards

Fishbone Takes Over "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Last Night

Part of the reason I was so excited for this year's Voodoo Experience Festival in New Orleans was because I was finally going to get to see the legendary Fishbone live. How I missed them all these years is beyond me. I'd heard their live show was non-stop energy and, as I was on three hours of sleep and no coffee when I arrived for their 1:45 PM set, it would be a good test.

To set the tone, the band started crowd surfing almost immediately (as you can see, and much to the chagrin of the security guy who'd obviously, wasn't informed in advance). But even being passed around on the hands of the audience, lead singer Angelo Moore never missed a beat. Sometimes video can capture the essence of a show better than photos, but this was one of those shows that the essence was obvious, not matter the medium. (You can see the rest of the photos from the set here.) Truly one of the top 10 shows of all time, no doubt.

A documentary, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone came out in October to rave reviews. The band hit the stage of Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, and as par usual, brought the house down.

Garbage to Release New Record in May, First Record in Seven Years

The gritty sound of Garbage will hit the streets again in May with the release of a new record, Not Your Kind of People, their first in seven years.

Not Your Kind Of People will be the fifth studio record from Garbage and will be released on the band's label STUNVOLUME. "It has the same kind of adventurism that we had with the first stuff," says Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson.

Europe will be toured in the spring, and US dates will follow. "Thinking about going back on the road is both thrilling and terrifying in equal measure," says Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson. ".........but we've always enjoyed a little pain mixed in with our pleasure."

Legendary NYC Record Store Bleecker Bob's to Close in April

When I was in undergrad, I was finally free as a bird to explore NYC on my own without supervision, so you can be sure that I took full advantage. One place I would always hit was Porto Rico Importing for some coffee and then Bleecker Bobs just down the street. Being a poor student, I tended to browse more than anything (the shirt above is one of the few things I could afford when I did buy). But I can't tell you the things I learned in that store about music; I felt like I'd found my mothership you might say.

Sadly, the NY Times reported today that Bleecker Bob's is closing now in April. And while I get the whole economy reality/record stores are having trouble like everyone else, it's becoming a Starbucks. Cause that's just what the NYC needs, another fucking Starbucks (shakes head).

RIP BB, your three minute records really did teach me more than I ever learned in school.

It’s all over but the reverb.

Two New York City musical mainstays — Bleecker Bob’s Golden Oldies, a record store in Greenwich Village and Southpaw, a performance space in Park Slope — are calling it quits. And what will replace them may provide fresh evidence that the city has traded its longtime rock ’n’ roll edge for something mellower, and a bit corporate.

Southpaw, which will close its location at 125 Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn in February, will become a New York Kids Club, an activity center for children.

And Bleecker Bob’s, which will close its store at 118 West Third Street at the end of April, will become a Starbucks, according to a manager, Chris Wiedener.

“It’s kind of disappointing,” said Giancarlo Caccamo, 19, a customer at Bleecker Bob’s on Thursday evening, upon learning the news. The vinyl records that pack the wooden bins and milk crates in the cluttered, narrow space are an increasingly endangered species, said Mr. Caccamo, who was in search of a record by Mott the Hoople.

The store’s closing seemed to sound a death knell for vinyl itself. “I just love the warm fuzz that you get,” he said. “There’s nothing like that sound.”

Javier Medina, 43, who began shopping at Bleecker Bob’s in the 1970s and has worked there as a salesman for the last decade, was more concerned about the loss of a piece of history. “This place should be a landmark,” he said while chatting with Gary Rookard, 53, who sells glass pipes on a table outside. “Everybody in the world knows it.”

Mr. Rookard, a 35-year Village resident, agreed but said the change fit the area’s continuing pattern of gentrification. “All that will be left down here are A.T.M.’s and bars, if anything,” he said.

Bleecker Bob’s, which began as Village Oldies Records in 1968, on Bleecker Street, and moved to two other locations before ending up at No. 118, had many rock ’n’ roll moments. Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s guitarist, tended the register there occasionally, as did Frank Zappa, according to employees, who said both musicians were friends with Bob Plotnick, the store’s owner.

In the late 1970s, the store sold punk rock records when few other shops did, customers and employees remembered. Even the building itself, near Macdougal Street, brushed up against fame: in the 1960s, it was also home to the Night Owl Cafe, where the Lovin’ Spoonful often played, Mr. Wiedener said.

What kept Bleecker Bob’s going for years was the back of the store, which was leased to a tattoo parlor, among other businesses, which helped pay the rent. But the last subtenant was a comic book store, which closed in 2008, Mr. Wiedener said, making it difficult to continue.

“I’m sorry I personally couldn’t have done more,” Mr. Wiedener said as he priced a new batch of records, including Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy” ($20).

The landlord, Greenwich Realty Associates of Long Island, did not return a call for comment. Neither did Starbucks.

Southpaw, meanwhile, will close on Feb. 20, after a four-day series called Americana Pie, which will feature bluegrass and alternative country music.

Its neighborhood, which was fairly dangerous a few decades ago, has rapidly added upscale shops and restaurants and become a magnet for families.

Despite the area’s changing face, Matthew Roff, one of Southpaw’s owners, says he was not having a hard time filling the club during shows, which took place most nights.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into keeping a business like this going,” he said. “I don’t think any place in New York for live music is really bringing in enough revenue these days.”

Like Bleecker Bob’s, Southpaw can also lay claim to memorable moments, including the time Bob Dylan dropped by — as a patron, not a performer — and the night the comedian Dave Chappelle jumped onstage to perform an impromptu two-hour riff on a newspaper someone had handed him, Mr. Roff said. The 7,500-square-foot space also staged Latin music and a popular Saturday night dance party.

Mr. Roff will now focus on Public Assembly, a Williamsburg club he owns, but he will not leave Southpaw entirely: he will sublet the space, which opened in 2002, to New York Kids Club.

He signaled that Park Slope’s changed vibe meant that concert places were no longer viable there. “You don’t want the venue you created, your baby,” he said, “to be mishandled.”

Palomar to Release New Record, Sense & Antisense, on 1/24

I first saw Palomar a couple years back when they opened for The Wrens at their two-night 20th anniversary throwdown in NJ at Maxwells. Comprised of three woman and a guy drummer, they played great kick ass songs with running streams of power pop and folk, and harmonic melodies that wrap around you and hold you tight.



Since their inception in 1998, Palomar has released four full-lengths and one EP. Sense & Antisense, their fifth full-length, contains contributions by the likes of Charles Bissell (The Wrens guitarist/vocalist), Roman Kuebler (Oranges Band), and Jed Smith (My Teenage Stride), among others.



Says the band about the album:

Sense & Antisense is an album not about boys and girls, but husbands and wives, and not about cars, but car payments and re-financing home loans. The album is about the anxiety that comes with sitting in hotel rooms preparing for work meetings; lying awake at night, pregnant and worrying about how having kids might ruin your life; going to high school reunions; the ennui of sifting through relationships to find the ‘right one’ and then living and working with the right one. This is an album about a girl band that grew up.

Palomar's Sense & Antisense comes out tomorrow, and they're pairing up with Nada Surf for a double record release party tomorrow night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, so get there early!

Additional Pulp Live Dates Announced

A lot of bands are reuniting but Pulp's website is one that's done it with creativity than I've seen in some time. Check it out...Pulp People.

The announcement that Pulp is one of the reunited bands playing Coachella this year sent a lot of music fans into a joyous frenzy, so the additional US shows released-one on each coast thus far, with the NYC date preceding Coachella-should send them right into the stratosphere. No announcement of on-sale yet though, but it is interesting the date isn't even on the Radio City Music Hall website yet...

4/11: Radio City Music Hall, NYC
4/13: Coachella, Indio, CA,
4/17: Warfield, San Francisco, CA
4/20: Coachella, Indio, CA
5/4: SOS Festival, Murcia, Spain

We Interrupt Your Music News for the Following....Fight Protect-IP and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! - fightforthefuture.org/pipa

PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity". The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites-- they just have to convince a judge that the site is "dedicated to copyright infringement."

The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that's for a fix that won't work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.

Stop Online Piracy Act from Ricardo Granda on Vimeo.

NPR Streaming New Records from Nada Surf and Craig Finn Solo

NPR and its streaming of new records in their entirety is such a blessing. And a money saver! And a great way to start off a new week!

Yesterday, NPR began streaming The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, the seventh record from Nada Surf, and Clear Heart Full Eyes, the first solo record from The Hold Steady lead singer Craig Finn. Surf lead singer Matthew Caws and the boys display their signature catchy-as-hell guitar hooks ("Jules and Jim" for instance) and power pop beauty ("Looking Through," the chorus of "No Snow on the Mountain"). Finn takes on a bit more of a country-fried feel in spots on this vacation from THS and the testosterone-laden hooks of THS guitarist Tad Kubler, but his story telling of the down-and-outers and Jesus are still in abundance. This one may take a couple of spins, but it's got potential.

Both records drop for purchase on 1/24.

The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy-Nada Surf-NPR Stream


Clear Heart, Full Eyes-Craig Finn-NPR Stream

"TeBowie" Plays "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

I'm not a big football fan (baseball's more my thing), and up until this past weekend, I wasn't even sure who Tim Tebow was. But I do love a funny satire and this is one of the better ones I've seen of late. Ladies and gents, I give you Jimmy Fallon doing a mashup of David Bowie and Tim Tebow to Bowie's "Major Tom."

Of course, someone should have told Fallon that he also mashed up Bowie styles (makeup from the Aladdin Sane period, outfit from Ziggy Stardust) but maybe that was intentional too?

Happy 70th Birthday Clarence Clemons

Fans of Bruce Springsteen are chomping at the bit, eagerly awaiting the new E Street Band tour dates to be announced. This time out will be especially poignant, as this is the first E Street tour ever without "the Big Man," Clarence Clemons. Clemons, who passed away in June of last year, would have turned 70 today. In honor of that, we give you one of the greatest E Street Band showcases of Clemons wailing away on his horn, "Paradise by the C."

The Joy Formidable and A Place to Bury Strangers Touring Together in March

The Joy Formidable announced headlining tour dates today for March 2012.The band will be supported on all dates by A Place To Bury Strangers.

TJF's debut full-length, The Big Roar came out last year.

The bands comes to DC on 3/26 at the 930 Club. Tickets go on pre-sale tomorrow and on general sale Friday. From TJF Facebook page, "Looking forward to seeing you again before we (briefly) disappear to finish our 2nd record."

(See the rest of the photos from The Joy Formidable's tour with the Foo Fighters and Social Distortion last year here.)



The Joy Formidable with A Place to Bury Strangers Tour
Mar 12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Mar 13 - San Francisico, CA @ The Independent
Mar 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
Mar 17 - Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theatre
Mar 19 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
Mar 20 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
Mar 22 - Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird
Mar 23 - Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
Mar 24 - Atlanta, GA @ Masqureade
Mar 25 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
Mar 26 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Mar 28 - New York City, NY @ Terminal 5
Mar 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Mar 31 - Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Mile-End
Apr 02 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace