Torr

Wednesday bits & bobs

• Rufus Wainwright covering "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" live.

• Four tracks from the new Phoenix album It's Never Been Like That.

• Three tracks from the new Plus Minus (+/-) album Let's Build A Fire.

• Two tracks from the Electric Soft Parade's new Human Body EP.

• Two tracks from the new Charlatans album Simpatico.

• Another new Mojave 3 track, "To Hold Your Tiny Toes."

• Mayflowers mixtape (Rogue Wave, Mercury Rev, etc.)

• 1991 mixtape (REM, Massive Attack etc.)

• Another good mixtape (The Dears, Rufus Wainwright etc.)

• Dream of Horses celebrates it's 1st birthday with a horses mixtape.

• Margot & Nuclear...  say their Atlanta show was cancelled last night because the door came off their bus. But this guy was told the singer had pneumonia. They best not cancel Thursday's Dallas show, which btw has been moved from Gypsy Tearoom to Club Dada.

The Hourly Radio set national tour

Dallas 4-piece The Hourly Radio have announced details of their first ever national tour. The 2-month trek will take them to every little rock venue in this country. Click below to see the dates. The band will warm-up for the tour by supporting Radio 4 in Dallas & Austin in early June. THR's brilliant full-length debut album History Will Never Hold Me hits CD shops on 8/22. And if you can't wait that long you'll be able to get it from all the digital shops (itunes, emusic, napster, etc.) starting 6/13. So to wet your appetite, here's one of the more groove-oriented tracks on the album:

• The Hourly Radio - "Crime Does Pay" [3:38]

Bits & Bobs

• Two tracks from the new Mojave 3 album Puzzles Like You.
  You're gonna love it as much as I do.

• Four tracks from Howling Bells' debut album.
  Someone give these female-fronted Aussies a U.S. record deal.

• Two new Keane b-sides + one new album track live.
  One uptempo good one, and one slow weak one with an abrupt ending.

• Four of The Killers 2002 demos. 2 of 'em are cheesy piano tunes played on the cheapest keyboard I've ever heard, while the vocals are almost unrecognizable. Wow these are bad.

• shoegaze - mixtapes

• Snow Patrol have postponed Atlanta and DC due to voice problems.
  Any have video of them on Good Morning America last weekend?

• Pix of Moz in a tux & bowtie from his show last night.
  He also played "Panic" for the first time ever. Anyone have an mp3?
  Download his Nov '04 show in Santiago, Chile.

• Two handheld - live vids from a gig by The Upper Room.
  Low sound quality, but cool for someone in the U.S. like me to see.

• Four classic tracks from The Divine Comedy.

• Liverpool 4-piece The Open have called it a day.
  They had a few good singles, but both albums were only okay.

• Robbie Williams and Rufus Wainwright cover Pet Shop Boys at PSB's recent show with an orchestra. Robbie does "Jealousy" and Rufus does a new song. You can still stream the whole show at the BBC Radio 2 site. And here are streams of a few live tracks that weren't included in the broadcast:
  - You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk
  - Dreaming Of The Queen
  - After All
  - Numb

UK Chart Report

Here's the stuff of note that entered the UK charts this weekend.

Singles:

• #5 Primal Scream - "Country Girl" [1st single from their new album.]
• #15 Keane - "Is It Any Wonder" [Download-only till this week.]
• #22 Robbie Williams - "Sin Sin Sin" [Quite a low entry for him.]
• #24 The Futureheads - "Skip To The End" [1st single off their 2nd album.]
• #39 The Darkness - "Girlfriend" [Their days looked numbered.]
• #40 Little Man Tate - "What? What You Got" [Debut of Sheffield 4-piece.]
• #41 Mystery Jets - "Can't Fool Me Dennis" [Re-release from their album.]
• #55 The Spinto Band - "Did I Tell You" [2nd single off DE 6-piece's album.]
• #71 Paul Simon - "Father & Daughter" [Download-only till this week.]

Indie-label singles:

• #10 The Boyfriends - "Adult Acne"
• #14 The Hazey Janes - "Always There" [2nd single Scottish 4-piece's album.]
• #18 Every Move A Picture - "Signs Of Life" [Debut release from SF 4-piece.]

These singles did not chart:

• Midlake - "Young Bride" [1st single from Denton 4-piece's 2nd album.]
• Doloroso - "High Times In Middle Management" [Debut of London 4-piece.]
• Eighteenth Day Of May - "Hide & Seek" [3rd single off 6-piece's album.]
• This Et Al - "Sabbatical" [2nd single from New Yorkshire 4-piece.]
• Lorraine - self-titled EP [Norwegian electro-pop 3-piece.]

Albums:

• #4 Zero 7 - The Garden
• #5 Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental
• #16 Boy Kill Boy - Civilian
• #34 Hot Chip - Warning

Cosmic Rough Riders - Stars Looks Different From Down Here
indie label chart never updated.

Download the chart show podcast which has a chart Q&A with Grant from Feeder.

Bits & Bobs

• Download the new James Dean Bradfield single.
  Dissapointing after the tremendous Lifeblood.

• Top 10 shoegaze songs of all time.
  Slowdive will always be my #1 by a mile.

• Ryan Adams on Jools Holland a few years back.
  During his rock-phase (my fav.) "This House Is Not For Sale" is greatness.

• A bunch of classic British songs from the mid-late '90s.
  I love me some Space and Babybird.

• Belle & Sebastian live in 1998.
  Back when I still cared.

• Three classic solo Art Garfunkel songs.
  My fav of his has always been "Traveling Boy" from Angel Clare.

• Three rare Pulp videos + the 2001 Peel Session.

• A few solo Emily Haines tracks (of Metric) from 10 years ago.

• Bush and Blair sing a duet.

• mixtape

• Gorkys... have decided to call it a day.
  I never really cared much for them.

Out in the U.S. on Tuesday

Here's the good stuff that's out in the U.S. on Tuesday May 30th...

Under Electric Light - Blue EP [mp3. Great new electro-pop duo out of Montreal!]

Asobi Seksu - Citrus [mp3, mp3. 2nd album from female-vox Brooklyn 4-piece.]

Amy Millan - Honey from the Tombs [Folk-rock solo debut from Stars singer.]

• The Radio Dept. - Pet Grief [2nd album from Swedish 4-piece.]
• Boards of Canada - Trans Canada Highway [EP] mp3s
• Snow Patrol re-issues w/ xtra trks: ...Polar Bears & When It's All Over...
• Rescue Me - soundtrack [ft. Stereophonics, Tom McRae, Twilight Singers]
• The Charlatans - Live at Brixton Academy [DVD]
• The Beatles' Liverpool [DVD]

       
F.U.B.A.R. : America's Right-Wing Nightmare [hardcover] by Sam Seder of Air America Radio's The Majority Report.

Thirteen:13 revisited

Thirteen:13 were an English 4-piece who formed in 1999 and split in 2001. The band were voted one of Melody Maker's top ten new bands to watch out for in 2000 and toured with the likes of JJ72 and My Vitriol.

Polydor Records released four singles between October 2000 and October 2001 but none of these broke the UK top 40 and the band were dropped just before Christmas 2001, prompting the group to disband.

Their debut album, Deny Everything, had been fully recorded by the time the band split but was never released. However the album has recently been made available at Thirteen13.net with the blessing of singer Wayne Murray. Here are a few of my fav tracks:

• "Truth Hurts"
• "Perfect Imperfection"
• "I Need An Army To Protect Me"

The bands chief songwriters, Toby MacFarlaine have Wayne Murray are both still active in music. MacFarlaine is currently playing with new band Reunion Square as well as playing in the live bands of Graham Coxon, Charlotte Hatherley and JJ72. And Wayne Murray is touring guitarist for James Dean Bradfield.

Out in the UK on Monday

Here's what's out in the UK on Monday May 29th.

Singles:

Keane - "Is It Any Wonder?" [Great 1st single from Under The Iron Sea.]

Ed Harcourt - "Visit From The Dead Dog" [Nice 1st single from The Beautiful Lie.]

• Gomez - "GirlShapedLoveDrug" [2nd single from How We Operate.]
• Andy Bell - "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" [2nd single from his solo album.]
• Paul Simon - "Father and Daughter" [1st single from Surprise.]

And three decent debut singles:

• 747s - "Night & Day" [English 4-piece.]
• The Ghears - "4 Minute Mile" [Belfast/London/Glasgow 4-piece.]
• The Bishops - "The Only Place That I Can Look Is Down" [English mods.]

Albums:

The Upper Room - Other People's Problems [Debut from great English pop-band.]

Keith - Red Thread [Debut from good Manchester 4-piece indie-rockers.]

• The Futureheads - News And Tributes [I've never liked this band.]
• Stuart A Staples - Leaving Songs [Solo album from Tinderstickers singer.]
• The High Dials - War Of The Wakening Phantoms

Bits & Bobs

• A new Moz b-side! "If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me"
  Another b-side that's better than most of the weak ROTT.
  BTW: Moz's manager gave meat to the homeless.
• A really thorough description of Snow Patrol in Dallas last night.
  Nobody ever hooked me up with a ticket. Oh well, EO is weak.
  Snow Patrol song "Chasing Cars" as a comic.
• Mp3s of My Morning Jacket on Austin City Limits.
• Five classic Muse b-sides.
• Delays "Valentine" b-sides:
  Someday Soon You're Gonna Happen
  Talking Me Down
  Shadows On Our School

Bits & Bobs

• Nada Surf video for "The Blankest Year."
• REM live in 1982.
• Beth Orton live in 2003.
• KCRW MBE live pt. 2.
• Supergrass on KCRW MBE in 2005.
• Stream the album from The Upper Room.
• A couple Keane and Coldplay rarities.
• New vid from The Rifles.
• A couple Howling Bells tracks from their album.
• Three Mystery Jets tracks.
• Downloads of the Mojo Honours List.
• Moby speaks at the Save The Internet Coalition's launch.
• A couple - good - mixtapes.
• www.BrettAnderson.co.uk - a solo album out in early '07!
  "It's quite orchestrated, lots of string lutes, that sort of thing. I guess there's a Scott Walker feel to it. I'm very proud of it; it's a very exciting record for me. I've played more than I ever have before (on this album). I've played a lot of electric guitar on it; I've written a lot of the electric guitar parts. It's my baby and I've obviously been pretty obsessed with it." - Brett Anderson to NME