Author Archives: Craig Ness

Their new album, “The Great Destroyer”, is released here on the 25th, but you can get it here right now via streaming audio.

apparently, there are more dates to come:

20/Jan/2005 ULU London , UK (unconfirmed)
31/Jan/2005 Fox Theatre Boulder CO, USA
02/Feb/2005 Club Congress Tucson AZ, USA
03/Feb/2005 Casbah San Diego CA, USA
04/Feb/2005 El Rey Theater Los Angeles CA, USA
05/Feb/2005 Fillmore San Francisco CA, USA
09/Feb/2005 WOW Eugene OR, USA
10/Feb/2005 Alladin Theatre Portland OR, USA
11/Feb/2005 Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room Seattle WA, USA

[props doug and head full of wishes]

Kyle from Information Leafblower has compiled a list of the Top 40 Bands in America (the 2004 edition). His panel includes 19 of the top “MP3j’s/bloggers/industry folk” known to man.

A Donewaiting favorite, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, came in at the top. Check out the rest of the list here.

[ via kottke.org ]

As previously reported on NME and in the Donewaiting message boards, Bright Eyes had the two highest debuts on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.

You can share your theories on how this unexplainable event occured in this forum.

Most people heard about the cease and desist letter that the US Postal Service filed with Sub Pop in reaction to the band name “Postal Service.” But did you know that the dispute turned into a cross-promotional marketing deal between the band and the USPS?

(sorry you have to register for the article, but I can’t find it anywhere else)

I was hanging out with a vinyl junkie friend last weekend. I asked him to play something I’d probably never heard before. His pick was a gorgeous song called “Fly” by “JK & Co”. I’ll be damned if it didn’t sound like The Beatles with Thom Yorke on vocals. Check out this clip and see if you agree.

I read up on the band and discovered that the singer/songwriter was a 15 year old named “Jay Kaye”. He recorded the albumin 1968 in Vancouver after leaving his Las Vegas home on a “quest for enlightenment.”

The frontman of “The New Pornographers” is on tour this summer. I have not yet heard the album he released this year (The Slow Wonder), but I’ve heard nary a bad review. Plus, he’s playing some of these dates with a band I won’t shut up about.

* Sun 8/1/04 Saskatoon, SK, Amigo’s – with The Neins, All Night Radio
* Tue 8/3/04 Winnipeg, MB, West End Cultural Centre
* Wed 8/4/04 Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock Social Club – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Thu 8/5/04 Madison, WI, High Noon Salon
* Fri 8/6/04 Chicago, IL, Bottom Lounge – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Sat 8/7/04 Hamtramck, MI, Small’s – with The Neins, All Night Radio
* Sun 8/8/04 Toronto, ON, Lee’s Palace
* Mon 8/9/04 Montreal, QC, El Salon – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Tue 8/10/04 Cambridge, MA, T.T. The Bear’s – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Thu 8/12/04 New York, NY, Bowery Ballroom – with The Neins, All Night Radio
* Fri 8/13/04 Philadelphia, PA, North Star Bar – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Sat 8/14/04 Washington, DC, Black Cat – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Sat 8/15/04 Chapel Hill, NC, Room 4
* Mon 8/16/04 Atlanta, GA, Echo Lounge – with The Neins, All Night Radio
* Wed 8/18/04 Austin, TX, The Parish – with The Neins
* Fri 8/20/04 Lawrence, KS, Jackpot Saloon – with Rogue Wave, The Neins
* Sat 8/21/04 Denver, CO, Larimer Lounge – with The Neins, All Night Radio

The Mercury Prize celebrates the best in British music each year. Here’s the shortlist of this year’s nominees courtesy of the chaps over at NME.

Seeing these kinds of lists always reminds me that I have some record shopping to do.

• Basement Jaxx ? ?Kish Kash?
• Belle & Sebastian ? ?Dear Catastrophe Waitress?
• Franz Ferdinand ? ?Franz Ferdinand?
• Jamelia ? ?Thank You?
• Keane ? ?Hopes And Fears?
• Snow Patrol ? ?Final Straw?
• Joss Stone ? ?The Soul Sessions?
• The Streets ? ?A Grand Don?t Come For Free?
• Ty ? ?Upwards?
• Amy Winehouse ? ?Frank?
• Robert Wyatt ? ?Cuckooland?
• The Zutons ? ?Who Killed…The Zutons?

Past winners:

• 1992 – Primal Scream ‘Screamadelica’
• 1993 – Suede: ‘Suede’
• 1994 – M People: ‘Elegant Slumming’
• 1995 – Portishead: ‘Dummy’
• 1996 – Pulp: ‘Different Class’
• 1997 – Roni Size: ‘New Forms’
• 1998 – Gomez: ‘Bring It On’
• 1999 – Talvin Singh: ‘OK’
• 2000 – Badly Drawn Boy: ‘The Hour Of Bewilderbeast’
• 2001 – PJ Harvey: ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’
• 2002 – Ms Dynamite: ‘A Little Deeper’
• 2003 ? Dizzee Rascal ? ?Boy In Da Corner?

I’m not sure if this joke was funny enough to be worth the effort, but…

“David Crosby and Graham Nash Announce Their Candidacy for Joint Presidency of the United States of America; The Venerable Pair Are Running on the Party Party Ticket ”

Campaign website

A group of independent filmakers are doing a documentary about The Wrens which will include the story of the band’s battles with record labels.

More on the project and a paypal donation link can be found here.

And if you’re a Bay Area reader, you can catch The Wrens along with localites, “The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up” on July 16th at The Great American Music Hall.