VAGUE SPACE

At Mount Zoomer

Ok, now they're just fucking with us.  Wolf Parade has announced that the title of the new LP (as yet unleaked) is not the ridiculous "Kissing the Beehive", but the equally ridiculous "At Mount Zoomer."  According to Pitchfork, Mount Zoomer is the name of the band's studio.  So LP2, of which I've heard 2 tracks - and neither has actually overwhelmed me, and there's only 9 tracks, and this album naming trouble has got me worried enough - has been named and awaits release on June 17th.  Also from Pitchfork:

In an interview with Billboard a few weeks ago Spencer Krug said, "We didn't know that was the title of a book. We might have to change it, but we might not. And we'll have to make it clear that it's not [named] after his book. It's a complicated situation."

On the bright side, they are coming to Philly and NY this summer on back to back days, and one of those days is my freakin' birthday, so it will indeed be a happy birthday for me.  Here's the full tour as of right now:

07-07 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
07-08 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
07-09 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
07-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
07-13 Seattle, WA - Marymoor Park (Sub Pop Anniversary Party)
07-15 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
07-17 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
07-18 Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
07-19 Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
07-20 San Diego, CA - Cane's
07-21 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
07-24 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
07-25 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
07-26 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
07-28 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
07-29 Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo
07-30 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
07-31 New York, NY - Terminal 5
08-02 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
08-09 Toronto, Ontario - Koolhaus

And you probably want some songs?  Well, again, I can't post new tracks pre album release, but in case you haven't heard this one -- and it's the better of the two leaked ones in my opinion.  But I'm sure you can also find "California Dreamer" if you look hard enough, and then you can compare for yourself!

• Download Wolf Parade - "Call it a Ritual".mp3

And here's a couple of bootlegged live tracks that are appearing on the album in a probably altered version.  These tracks (#8 and #1 on the new album, respectively) were recorded live at Sala Rossa last August (8-26-07).  And yeah, I absolutely love both of them, so believe me, I'm still expecting an album that will blow me away.  Here's hoping...

• Download Wolf Parade - "An Animal in Your Care (live)".mp3
• Download Wolf Parade - "Soldier's Grin (live)".mp3
• (and here's "California Dreamer" in the version which was called "Stevie" back then -- the version hasn't changed much)
• Download Wolf Parade - "California Dreamer (live)".mp3

New Music Tuesday

I'm sick.  My company is selling the business today, so I'll be stuck in lawyer's offices all afternoon signing crap and then going out to dinner with the new owners.  I don't think I'll be feeling better after all of that.  So anyway, here's some tracks.  I wish I had more to say.  I just feel like crap.  Enjoy!

• Download Tokyo Police Club - "Juno".mp3
  
  • Buy Elephant Shell  from Amazon (out now)

• Download Nina Nastasia & Jim White - "Your Red Nose".mp3
  • Buy You Follow Me (the album this track was an "extra cut" from) at Amazon

• Download Frightened Rabbit - "Head Rolls Off".mp3
  
  • Buy The Midnight Organ Fight from Amazon (out now)

• Download Constantines - "Time Can Be Overcome".mp3
  
  • Buy Kensington Heights from Amazon (out today)

• Download No Age - "Eraser".mp3
  
  • Pre-Order from Amazon (out May 6)

• Download Sea Wolf - "Song of the Magpie".mp3
  • Buy A Wolf at the Table from Amazon (out today)
  • This is the new memoir from Augusten Burroughs, which includes exclusive songs on the audio CD accompanying the book, including this new track from Sea Wolf

• New Wolf Parade - "California Dreamer" (Spencer!)
  • This is a live version of "Stevie" which was renamed "California Dreamer" for the new album.  It hasn't changed much since this version.
  • Download Wolf Parade - "California Dreamer (live)".mp3

The 9/11 Commission Series, Final Part

• Intro Here
• Part 1 Here
• Part 2 Here
• Part 3 Here
• Part 4 Here

In my final post about the 9/11 Commission Report and its failure to inform the American public of the failure of the Bush administration in protecting us from 9/11, I'd like to discuss the longest (and only) Republican defense of the administration's shortcomings -- it was all Clinton's fault.  Let's see how accurate that is.

President Bush was never known to be much of a reader -- he preferred to receive intelligence reports through face-to-face meetings -- so the length of the PDBs was cut back in the Bush administration to no more than 10 pages.  President Clinton, by contrast, was a voracious reader.  He would read as many pages as were put in front of him, and his copy of the PDB would often be returned to the CIA covered with his scrawled notes; passages that interested him would be circled, with questions scribbled in black or blue ink in the margins.  The CIA would try to get the questions answered for a subsequent briefing.  Bush would usually hand back his copy of the PDB with no markings at all.

Donte Leave

Ok, this might only be of interest to someone who is both a Syracuse basketball fan and addicted to Lost, but this video from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician is absolutely brilliant.  It's about the defection of Syracuse freshman Donte Greene to the pros, a probably disastrous move for him (he's not ready) and a hard hit on a team that was likely to be a preseason Top 10 next year by returning the entire starting five of freshmen and sophomores along with the injury recovered veterans Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins.  Now, no Donte, and there's really no one with his size and skill to replace him.  A very disappointing decision by the kid.  But this video nearly makes it all worthwhile.  Enjoy.

Handsome Furs Live

In anticipation of the still as yet unleaked release from Wolf Parade, here's a few live tracks from a recent Handsome Furs date in Seattle, including some new music.  I think I heard something about Dan putting out a new album this year, which would be pretty damn awesome.

• Download Handsome Furs - "Cannot Get Started (live)".mp3
• Download Handsome Furs - "Office of Hearts".mp3
• Download Handsome Furs - "Radio and the Heart".mp3
• Download Handsome Furs - "Legal Tender".mp3
• Download Handsome Furs - "Snakes on a Ladder (live)".mp3

Season Opener

The Rounders started their 2nd summer season as participants in the Manalapan Slo-Pitch Softball League, coming off a fall season of unprecedented success and the hopes that the new expensive bats, along with the new uniforms and several months off to heal a slew of injuries, might bring about a strong start that leads to an extended playoff run.  And the result of last night's contests?

The Rounders are 0-2.

Mercy Rule both times.  Nice.  On the bright side, the Phillies and Mariners both won to move to 11-10 on the season -- the first time either team has been over .500 since the Mariners started 2-1 (although they opened with the Rangers, so that doesn't really count).  On the down side, Hillary beat Barack by 10 points, inexplicably continuing this race even longer.  I have no fucking clue what PA voters were looking at.  Democrats still like her?  Even after the past 2 months?  Even after she turned her campaign into a complete and utter farce, echoing all the Republican talking points and smears (sometimes echoing McCain's exact words) in order to stay in the race.  And she won.  By a lot.  I lost a ton of faith in the American voter last night.  And I didn't have a lot of faith to begin with.

New Music Tuesday

A new track from Mogwai appears in the magazine Plan B, titled "Dracula Family."  It's a little different, a little bit like The Octopus Project or something with computer effects, but I have to say it's wonderful.  According to the Mogwai site, a new EP has been mastered and I assume this track is part of it.  When it will be released, I don't know. 

• Download Mogwai - "Dracula Family".mp3

New My Morning Jacket track, from the upcoming album in June:

• Download My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges".mp3

The new album from Frightened Rabbit is pretty awesome.  It's called The Midnight Organ Fight and was released last week.  Here's what Wikipedia says about the band, since I know nothing about them, except that, again, I love the new album:

Frightened Rabbit are an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. A quartet, the band was founded on 2004 by brothers Scott and Grant Hutchison. Billy Kennedy joined in 2006 followed by Andy Monaghan in 2008.

The band released their debut album 'Sing the Greys' in May 2006 on the local Hits The Fan label It was subsequently picked up for distribution in the USA by Universal Records vis their UK subsidiary Fiction Records. However the band ultimately decided not to sign with the label. In January 2007 The Self-Starter Foundation brought the band to the east coast for a short tour, and they returned in March to play SXSW. Brighton indie label Fat Cat Records released a remixed/remastered version of the album in the USA in Oct 2007 which was distributed by Caroline Distribution, after which the band embarked on a full American tour.  The album was released in the UK in Nov 2007 and distributed by Vital UK, which has recently been renamed [PIAS] UK .

Earlier in 2007 the band recorded a new album, to be called The Midnight Organ Fight, at the Connecticut studio of producer Peter Katis, Tarquin Studios . This album was released April 15, 2008

• Download Frightened Rabbit - "The Modern Leper".mp3
• Download Frightened Rabbit - "The Twist".mp3
• Buy the album at Amazon

Are You Better Off?

On the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, a question that needs to be asked that has been lost in the all the horrible meaningless bickering over bitterness and bowling and orange juice at local diners is: "Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?"  Economically, that is.  I mean, if you're an Iraqi or a New Orleans resident, or a member of the Army National Guard we know the answer is an emphatic "No."  And if you are Osama bin Laden, we know the answer is "Yes."  But what about if you're someone else, one of the vast majority of middle and lower-class citizens who are paying exorbitant gas prices and home heating prices and insane health care costs and rising food prices  (has anyone seen the price of milk lately?) while your salaries have stagnated or you've lost your job.  Do you think John McCain -- who not only openly admits that economics is not his strength and has yet to even propose a health care plan -- is going to help you?  Well, he would first have to admit that there is a problem.

The 9/11 Commission Series, Part 4

• Intro Here
• Part 1 Here
• Part 2 Here
• Part 3 Here

John Ashcroft was appointed by President Bush as Attorney General in December 2000, following his defeat for re-election in the Senate a month earlier in Missouri, to a dead man.  Yes, the deceased Mel Carnahan beat a sitting Senator by a narrow margin (his widow ended up taking over his office) and that sitting Senator was rewarded by the incoming Bush administration by being appointed the chief law enforcement officer in the United States.  Missouri voters picked a dead guy over Ashcroft in a Republican-winning year and Bush rewarded him for his loss.  If only Missouri had actually voted for the man the author quotes as "among Senate Republicans, Ashcroft was considered an intellectual lightweight," then we might have had an Attorney General who was interested in stopping al Qaeda before 9/11.  Instead, we were left with a guy that actually covered up the nude statue of the Spirit of Justice  with blue curtains, because his church was against pornography.  Yes, that really happened.  Alberto Gonzales, for all his faults, had the curtains removed when he took over the office in 2005.

Former Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton commented on Ashcroft's nomination: "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."

Oh, and also there was this:
Ashcroft, a fervent lifelong member of the Assemblies of God church, helped bring the denomination more mainstream recognition in his book Lessons From a Father to His Son (1998). In the book Ashcroft writes of his anointing himself in the manner of Biblical kings, before both terms as Missouri Governor, using Crisco cooking oil when no holy oil was available.

Yes, he was the guy in charge of the FBI, the INS, the US Marshals, and The Border Patrol.  I'm glad these law enforcement agencies were in such good hands.

Colbert in Philadelphia

Quick note for anyone who missed it -- The Colbert Report last night (live in Philadelphia) featured appearances by Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Iraq War veteran Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA), and via satellite, Barack Obama.  Wow.  Hillary's appearance was quick, stilted, and awkward, but she had fun with a "3 am" joke.  Congressman Murphy made some excellent points about the Iraq war -- that he fought in (Stephen: "Just because you've actually been on the ground in Iraq, don't think you know more about the situation on the ground in Iraq than me") and talked up his support for Obama.  Edwards had one of the best appearances ever by a politician trying to be funny, giving his version of "The Word" (Ed-Words), with just as many brilliantly pithy comments as Stephen usually has, making fun of the fact that his own "white male vote" is sought after so highly by Hillary and Obama.  He didn't commit to either candidate, but did stipulate what he needed from them (namely, a commitment to universal health care, helping the poor, and getting him multiple jet skis).  And then, in the final segment, our next President, Barack Obama, appeared via satellite to denounce the media-fueled distractions in what was apparently the worst debate moderation ever on Wednesday on ABC, and he got Stephen to pull out the "On Notice" board to add "Distractions" to the list.  It was awesome.  I'll admit I'm a Barack supporter, but I definitely thought the whole thing was brilliant.  Watch the entire episode here.  Have a good weekend.  Go Phillies!