The good folks at truthexplosion have put up both of Feist's performances from this past weekend on Saturday Night Live over here. The diminutive songstress obviously didn't sound as good as she would live or on record - c'mon, it's television - but damn if she didn't rock out, even if we're all probably sick of '1234' from that Apple commercial already.
After the success of Mutiny!, Set Your Goals hit the bricks hard, touring worldwide behind the Eulogy release, including a 60-show European trek with an equally-rad little band called No Trigger - and now they're gonna take a well-deserved winter break to work on the next album. The title track on their debut remains one of my favourite songs of the year. [lambgoat]
The seemingly-snakebitten Nodes of Ranvier have had to drop their second tour in two months; they were scheduled to rock with From A Second Story Window and others, but due to a family emergency they're unable to go. So if you were gonna be stoked to see them - and I would've been - now you're screwed. Having seen how awesome NoR are live, I'd be pissed.
Word is that Immortal Records(30 Seconds to Mars, Korn etc) may have shut its doors over the weekend; a blog from one of the bands on the label, Escape the Frame, indicates such. Innnnteresting. That was sneaky, if rumours are accurate. [buzzgrinder]
Did anyone else see the Sex Pistols on The Late Late Show last week? Did anyone else - like myself - think they sounded pretty good? For real. I was expecting a horrific display, but John Lydon was his usual snotty self, and the band seemed relatively with it. Good on them.
The entirety of the new Dillinger Escape Plan album Ire Works can be streamed on their Myspace page. The band will hit the road in December right through the spring, covering the United States and Europe.
Good news for Dead Poetic fans: that pesky internet thing bred rumours that the band were capital-D dead, but a Myspace bulletin informs us that they're very much still together, releasing a best-of on Tooth & Nail called The Finest on November 20th, and will start work on a new album in the "near future."
Wow - today's Essential Listening, for November 5th, is Sky Eats Airplane, who aside from having a killer name, ply a multidimensional sound ranging from dead-on Thrice worship(the heavier side of Thrice) to ultra-melodic passages to mindcrushing chaos, almost akin to Dillinger, all atop skyrocketing electronics and craziness. I really dig this. Check 'em out for realz.
Speaking of Thrice, their new album, Volumes 1 and 2 of The Alchemy Index are in stores and online and everywhere - and while I thoroughly dig both the heavy and quiet sides of the band, someone is having a harder time appreciating the merits of Water. Hi Jordan!
This really isn't "news," but I guess it's the first real shot anyone's taken at Clear Channel's stifling business practices. The upshot of the class-action lawsuit talked about can be summed up in this statement by the prosecution: "The upshot is that if bands don't use Clear Channel venues, they will be playing to empty houses." Indeed. [Paste]
Okay, this is really good news: the incomparable Derek Webb, one of America's best and most relative-unknown songwriters, will lend 'Name' to this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy, which is just huge for him and for good music in general. Congrats, Derek! And for the record, he was a year ahead of Radiohead in the Going Directly To The Fans department with his freederekwebb.com endeavour. Just stating facts. [JFH]
Posted by mike at November 5, 2007 11:01 PM