Pete Doherty... Sober??

Sober Pete Doherty.. oxymoron much?? Well, according to the cover story of Spin's Feburary issue, not so much. The frontman of Babyshambles (formally of The Libertines) is putting forth a valid effort to kick his hard-drug ways which has, up to this point, sadly overshadowed his musical and lyrical genuis in the public eye.  Some powerfully insightful quotes of Pete's include, "I'm clean now, I really am. I have to be. If I started piping or doing brown again, then I'd let everyone down, and I just can't do that." and, "I'm only just now starting to enjoy making music. I'm only just starting to be allowed to." It will be a long and difficult road for Pete no doubt, but fingers crossed he will make it through these tough times and continue to make amazing music for many years to come..

here's Doherty doing an accustic track,"Lost Art of Murder," from Babyshambles' latest, Shotters Nation..

Get up off your back
Stop smoking that
You could change your life.

Murder by Death Announces New EP and LP

Murder by Death has announced the release of their new EP Fuego! for February 12th.  This comes as a prelude to the long awaited Red of Tooth and Claw, the LP due for release on March 4th.

If you're unfamiliar with the group, they're definitely worth a listen.  Infusing strings, keyboards, guitars and a smooth southern jazz style into modern day rock and roll, Murder by Death is definitely paving new ways in the indie world.

Here's a free Download of the group's song "Killbot 2000".  Don't worry, the members of Murder by Death have generously made this available... it ain't illegal.

Killbot 2000

Furthermore, here's a music video from their most recent album, In Bocca al Lupo.  The song is called "Brother":

The Blur is Clearly Gone

The members of Blur have been planning a reunion for some weeks now.  Rumors were abundant that the group was considering even creating a new album together, the first new work from the group since the album 13 in 1999.

However, the long awaited reunion happened this last weekend and it seems that, while the members had a nice time catching up, the conversation never got around to music.

Oh well.  It's hard to tell where Damon Albarn (of Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good The Bad And The Queen) will wind up next.  We'll have to keep a look out.

1. 2. 3. EXPOSE! (my bruise)

[Peel layer upon layer of clothing off. Clamber into my beige outerwear (ie. trench coat). Walk out into the world and reveal]

I am taking the plunge into the blogosphere as I join cahoots with Mr. Roby, whom I have been serving as an editor per say for this project which the aim of is to "expose" good ol' indiecent music to the masses. I will admit that I am a bit apprehensive and a tid bit self-conscious but am simultaneously eager and am overcome with feelings of exuberance to shed my layers as I share some of my favorite musics with the internet world.

For my first exposure, I would like to talk about a track that I myself have stumbled upon just this past week. And stumbled is pretty much really an understatement for the song North by the band Phoenix has really hauntingly left its mark on me. Before I delve too much into the bruise (if you will) causing song I shall discuss a little about the band first.. Phoenix is a four man band hailing from France and they formed in the late 90s with their debut album being released in 2000. United was met with enough mild success to win the band a recording contract, therefore two more studio albums have followed in 2004 and 2006 respectively with another on the way, due to hit shelves sometime this year. Some of the most interesting things I have learned of Phoenix are:

1. Laurent Brancowitz (one of two guitarists) was in the band Darlin' with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. The latter two went on to form Daft Punk.

2. They formed as a backing band for the the French electronica duo Air.

3. Phoenix is drumerless.. however.. on their last album, It's Never Been Like That, Thomas Hedlund from the Perishers did the honors on drums as well as accompaning Phoenix on their tour.

Overall, Phoenix's sound may be classified as indie-electronic pop. Although.. getting back to North, my bruise causer, strays a bit from this indie-electronic pop sound. It is a five minute long instrumental with a simple yet, startlingly beautiful and moving melody. It opens softly with one sole guitar and as it gathers some speed the drum beats and the accompanying guitar chimes in. The song has a raw feel as it crescendos and then decrescendos only to crescendo again. Some electronics becomes evident about half way through the song as well as in the end. And it is the end that has really bruised me, the noise is hard to describe other than it reminds me almost of the cry of a whale mixed with some sort of woodwinded instrument.. I am not exactly sure why this song has hit me so hard, but I find it hauntingly seductive as it evokes a whirlwind of emotions from deep within. I definitely recomend a listen, or two, (or three.. or hell just put it on repeat.. I know I have) and be prepared for it to leave a bruise or at the very least stick with you for awhile.. And if perchance it does indeed leave a bruise, it will be one of the greatest bruises ever.

R.E.M. Tours with Modest Mouse and The National

R.E.M. recently announced the release date for their new album Accelerate.  The Album will appear on shelves on April 1st, 2008.  The album is R.E.M.'s 14th studio release.

So naturally, it's time to go on tour again.  But who would've guessed they'd pick such phenomenal running mates as Modest Mouse and The National?

This dream team was announced officially last Monday, but Matt Berninger of The National let the cat out of the bag some time before on a radio interview.

Of course, one has to ask if this is all for real.  It seems too good to be true, and with the announced release date of Accelerate being April 1st, it very well could be an elaborate and cruel april fools joke.  

Let's hope not...

Without further ado, here's the schedule:

May 23:  Vancouver (Deer Lake Park)

May 29:  Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl)

May 31:  Berkeley, California (Greek Theatre)

June 3:  Morrison, Colorodo (Red Rocks)

June 6:  Chicago (United Center)

June 8:  Toronto (Molson Amphitheater)

June 10:  Raleigh, N.C.  (Walnut Creek)

June 11:  Columbia, Md.  (Merriweather Post Pavilion)

June 13:  Mansfield, Mass.  (Tweeter Center)

June 14:  Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)

June 18:  Philadelphia (Mann Center)

June 19:  New York (Venue TBA)

June 21:  Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre)

Guess who's back... back again...

No not slim shady... he's good and dead and I can't imagine anyone being all that upset about it..

No, its Gnarls Barkley.  Confirmed for 2008 is the groups second album "The Odd Couple".  A leak suggests that the single off the album will be entitled "Run", but the specifics aren't officially released yet.  Expect to hear about it in the upcoming weeks when the full track list hits the web.

For those of you who missed Gnarls Barkley the first time around with their debut album "St. Elsewhere" in 2006, here's a quick recap:

DJ Danger Mouse:  A god among men.  Mouse is most widely known for his creation of the "Grey Album", a DJ mix of the Beatles'  "White Album" and Jay-Z's "Black Album" (get it?  do you get how he got the name?  do you?).  He also was a participant of the Dangerdoom Adult Swim album, "The Man and the Mask", which was a collection of Hip-Hop songs created from sound clips and theme songs of different shows off of the Adult Swim program on Cartoon Network.

Cee-Lo:  Cee-Lo hit the music scene as part of the four man hip-hop group "Goodie Mob".  After 3 fairly successful albums, he attempted a solo carrer (which unfortunately didn't work out...).  Now Cee-Lo works on a strange mix of music with different groups and people, traveling the music scene and broadening his horizons.  He still works with the original members of Goodie Mob as well as producer Jazze Pha.  He's an extremely talented rapper who has the ability to sing as well (no, not chris brown type singing... like... real singing... like something you would actually want to listen to... that kind...).

So now what happens when we throw these two together?

MAGIC!

If you still can't recall anything about the debut album, I'm sure you'll remember the single off of it.  Here's the music video:

Crazy