Burned By The Sun........

I've had a hectic week, but there hasn't been much news to report on anyway. Here are some highlights (actually, it's all the stuff I could find).

- Eminem's new album is supposedly very political in nature. Which will probably be a good thing. Let's face it, the guy needed something new to discuss besides his mom and ex-wife. Sadly, none of the politics seemed to make it into the new single (mp3 link).

- The LA Weekly has an interesting article on the fall and future of the music industry.

- Green Day is considering a movie version of American Idiot.

- The Electric Six are going to host their next single, "Vibrator", on their website on October 11.

- Regarding shows last week:

Tuesday: My friend went to the Franz Ferdiand show and reported that they and the Futureheads kicked ass. He also said the new Franz song, "Your Diary", is really good, and he hated the Delays.

Meanwhile, I was at the Datsuns. They, too, kicked ass. Instead of some boring, stupid review, I'm just going to give two reasons the Datsuns are a great live band.

1) Every good live band has at least one song where, once you hear the first few chords, you think, "This is gonna ROCK!" And it does rock. It rocks hard and everyone goes crazy. With the Datsuns, pretty much every song is that song.

2) Pandemonium is likely to ensue. See Below:



(I'll try to get the rest of the pictures up this weekend)


Wednesday: I saw the Thrills at Amoeba. It was an acoustic performance and really boring. I saw them do a couple songs at Coachella and that was a lot better.

- The 10 Finalists for the Shortlist Prize were announced. They are: Air, Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, Ghostface Killah, the Killers, Loretta Lynn, Nellie McKay, the Streets, TV on the Radio and Wilco. It's a pretty predictable list, but it'll make for one interesting concert.

- For those who like to plan their summer road trips early, the people behind the Field Day festival are giving it another go, this time in the mid-Hudson Valley. The fest will be two days in July, and possiblities include Radiohead, Beastie Boys, and Norah Jones. Sure, Radiohead and the Beasties are cool, but isn't that kind of like Coachella reheated? You'd think they'd try to find a more unique headliner (and besides, Radiohead played Field Day last year).

- The Guardian presents 70 fun facts about Leonard Cohen.

- I just found out that Franz Ferdinand are playing at the Wiltern tomorrow night. I checked a few minutes ago and floor tickets were still available, but then I remembered that I'm already going to a show tomorrow (the Datsuns). And don't forget Rilo Kiley are supposed to be playing at the Echo tomorrow. People shouldn't have to make these kind of choices.

- In an amazing surge of productivity, I finally posted those Libertines and Franz Ferdinand pictures I had. And I have an mp3 for this week (that I recently found when I had been searching for this for like, six years).

"The Hammock"- Pure

You know, I can't help but wonder what we lose when we weren't around to experience the music of a particular decade for ourselves. I wasn't around for the sixties (my parents were but they couldn't care less about music. The only cool show they've ever been to was the Who when they played at my dad's high school in Detroit.), so all I know of are the people mentioned in the history books: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, etc. The closest thing I can think of that documents some of the other stuff happening at the time is the Nuggets collection. Can the feeling or particular vibe of the era really be summed up by just those artists?

To me, it seems weird that the 90s are going to be remembered for Nirvana, Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Pavement, etc. Yeah, a lot of the music that came out in the decade was influenced by those bands, but when I think of the mid-90s, the stuff I listened when I was in elementary/middle school, I'm going to think of songs like this. Strange lyrics ("You stole my bike/so I broke your nose") and a laid-back vibe. Maybe if we're lucky, in a few years, there will be some box set of all these kinds of songs that won't be mentioned in the history books.

-I don't know if this link still works, but if it does you can hear a new song by former Rage frontman Zack de la Rocha (produced by Trent Reznor).

-The Virgin Megastore is doing one of those Midnight Madness things (putting the album on sale at 12 am Tuesday) for the new Interpol album. And you can get it signed by the band. (The proof is here)

-What would we ever do without eBay? Somebody who's looking for a way to worship both Jesus AND Morrissey at the same time is in luck.

That reminds me, my friend Bobby brought that exciting link to my attention. He's looking for a floor ticket to one of the (LA, obviously) Interpol shows next month. At face value or face value + ticketbastard fees. I told him he could have my ticket if I got hit by a car, but I'm not planning on that (shit, he'd better not be planning on that!)

So if you've got a ticket and you found out your boss is screwing you over or your cousin is getting married or something and you want to sell your ticket to an actual fan instead of a scalper, email me (burnedbysun@hotmail.com) and we can work something out.

-The Guardian asks why people like Daniel Johnston.

-Rilo Kiley are playing at the Echo on Sept. 21. And the Warlocks and Dead Meadow are playing there on Nov. 14. On the 21 I'll be at the Datsuns, but you can be damn sure I'll be at the Echo on 11/14.

-"They both come from similar backgrounds and have been drawn together amongst the false celebrity world."
Gimme a fucking break.

-Billboard has some details on the Wilco book, including a tracklisting for the cd as well as info about what's actually going to be in the book itself (photographs, essays, paintings). When I first heard about this book I thought, "Oh great, that thing is going to cost a fortune." But the retail price is actually pretty reasonable. So that's cool.

-There's going to be a concert DVD of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' performance at the Fillmore coming out next month. "Tell Me What Rockers To Swallow" has the show, bonus songs, videos, and documentaries on it.

-The other day I was asking where are all the rock musicals we read about. Well, the one based on Queen, "We Will Rock You" is now playing in Vegas.

-It's been one year since the death of Johnny Cash, and the Guardian talks to some of his biggest fans (Dylan, Petty, etc) about their thoughts and memories.

-Random interviews: Detroit's Metro Times talks to the Scissor Sisters and the Old 97s, the Guardian talks to Interpol.

-That Ramones documentary, End of the Century is playing at the Nuart (that art house theater by UCLA) for the next week.

-When will people learn that books are better than movies?: 53 percent of people ages 16 and older in the LA area were deemed functionally illiterate, in a recent study.

-If you live in New York, the Strokes and Blondie, among others, will be playing a club show for a cancer research foundation.

-Guess all those bookies were right: Franz Ferdinand won the Mercury Prize. According to the BBC, they were unaware that the winner receives 20,000 pounds prize money. And therefore have no idea what to do with it. Which is kind of funny.

-Okay, the Nirvana boxed set really is supposed to hit stores this holiday season. Billboard is saying that it's a three disc set, and limited editions will have a bonus DVD that includes footage of the band playing at a 1987 house party (which will probably be horrible. Wasn't it one of their very first gigs? And they had to play to a bunch of surly rednecks?). There really isn't any other info at this point. As Nirvana fans may remember, the boxed set was supposed to come out in 2001 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Nevermind.

-Speaking of stuff you could putting on a Christmas list, there's going to be a Stones DVD coming out next month called "Rock and Roll Circus", which was a performance recorded in 1968 for television, but it never aired. Some of the bonus material sounds interesting, namely John Lennon jamming with Mitch Mitchell, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.

-I'm sure there will be nothing remotely humorous about this band at all:
Supposedly, Har Mar Superstar is going to front a band called White Slave, which will also features Ash's Tim Wheeler and the Darkness' Justin Hawkins as dueling guitarists. No word on a bassist or drummer yet.

-Oh, nevermind. Now the White Stripes aren't breaking up.

-This Wilco bootleg is sounding pretty good.

-I haven't posted in a week or so because I have been battling the ants in my apartment (in 90 degree heat because my a/c doesn't work). It is exhausting and not fun. Just thought I'd mention that because I have no intention of letting this site atrophy like it did during the summer.