The Decemberists

The music industry and politics often overlap due to business interests, SOPA/PIPA, presidential endoresments; but rarely does a decision hit as close to home for a band as this one has for The Decemberists.

Accordions for the Cure

On May 3, 2011, it was announced on The Decemberists official site that Jenny Conlee had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would miss most of the band’s 2011 tour dates while recovering [Wikipedia]. The band started raising funds by selling “Team Jenny” t-shirts on their website shop and donating proceeds to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. That changed today as the band released this statement via The Decemberists website:

The Decemberists are deeply troubled by Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s recent decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a vital resource in the battle against breast cancer. Providing cancer screenings to low income women is integral to the prevention and defeat of breast cancer and it is unconscionable that Komen should politicize this very important issue by bowing to the fear campaign being waged against PP by the right. We’ve decided to redirect the proceeds of the Team Jenny t-shirts and buttons away from Komen for the Cure. 100% of the net profits of these items will be instead donated to Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Emergency Fund

Please help to support this essential institution. And, if you’ve supported the Team Jenny effort in the past, please write to Komen for the Cure via their site (http://ww5.komen.org/contact.aspx) or via twitter (@komenforthecure) and let them know that undermining women’s health for political reasons is unacceptable.

In a related story, the Komen for the Cure was hacked and changed to display this amazing message.

HACK YOU!

All this publicity has donations to Planned Parenthood soaring.

There you go. Rock and Roll!

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El Oso performing on Radio Milwaukee 88.9's 414 Music show

Jim Hanke, Jeff Grabowski and Jasen Kinart of the band El Oso sat down for a performance and interview on the Radio Milwaukee 88.9 show 414 Music to promote Saturday’s January 28 concert for the Pablove Foundation at Turner Hall Ballroom. You can stream or download the show at the Radio Milwaukee website. Do it NOW!

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In retaliation to the shutdown of Megaupload, hackers from Anonymous performed DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks on the websites of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), and the freaking Department of Justice. While mainstream media will have you assume that the takedown was orchestrated by the entire Anonymous group, WIRED reports that a sub-group within the hacktivist organization created a different version of their LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Canon) program that unwittingly directed bystanders to attack these sites. Not everyone in the organization agrees with this tactic, stating that what they “consider to be the modern-day equivalent of a sit-in (denial-of-service attacks leave no lasting damage)” was ethically corrupted by the new version.

“Preying on unsuspecting users is despicable,” said one anon, speaking to Wired in an online chat. “We need to fight for the user, not potentially land them in jail.” via WIRED

St. Vincent has announced new tour dates

The Flaming Lips and Bob Mould are set to The Soft Bulletin and Copper respectively at the Noise Pop Festival

Opponents of SOPA and PIPA (including this site) took part in a blackout Wednesday to protest these bills in congress. Ars Technica reports that SOPA has been pulled and is going back to the drawing board. PIPA on the other hand has just been postponed. There were tons websites that “blacked out” in protest this week, Wikipedia being the most reported, and many that showed support by posting in depth news and analysis of the bills. Check out their reporting on SOPA and PIPA, it’s damn good.

Bruce Spingsteen will be releasing his 17th studio album March 6th on Columbia Records.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre are going out on tour in 2012, a world tour to be exact. Their new album Aufheben drops May 1  via ‘a’ Records.

West Coast Dates 2012

Fri April 27 Dallas @ Granada Theatre
Sat April 28 Houston @ Fitzgeralds
Sun April 29 Austin @ Psych Fest
Thu May 3 Vancouver @ The Venue (To Be Confirmed)
Fri May 4 Seattle @ Neptune Theatre
Sat May 5 Portland @ Wonder Ballroom
Tue May 8 Denver @ Bluebird Theatre
Wed May 9 Salt Lake City @ Urban Lounge
Fri May 11 San Francisco @ The Fillmore
Sat May 12 Los Angeles @ The Wiltern

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Singer Etta James passed away this morning due to complications of leukemia in a California hospital. While the versatile songstress’ biggest hit “At Last”, may arguably be the most popular first dance song at weddings around the world, she recorded other songs too! She signed to Chicago’s Chess Records in 1960 and spent much of her career there singing on hits such as the aforementioned ”At Last”, “All I Could Do Was Cry”, and “Trust In Me”.

Along with a stunning voice came addiction issues as well with heroin, cocaine, and probably some marijuana and booze; through it all Etta certainly delivered the goods a rose above her personal demons to provide awesome music for fans . She ended up in both the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame and won 4 Grammy awards during her lifetime.

Instead of posting a video of “At Last”, I figured it would be interesting to include A Sunday Kind of Love above instead.

Former guests of the Sock Monkey Sound podcast Heather Hladish, Marky Hladish, and Dustin Currier (Venna, The Felix Culpa) performed a killer version of “At Last” for Jim and Jen Hanke at their wedding. Check it out below.

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Although this news has been circulating for a week since Ted Leo made mention of it on his website, punk label Lookout! Records has made an official announcement on their blog about shuttering it’s doors. Here is the announcement re-printed for your ease of perusal:

So that’s it.

What are your thoughts about Lookout folding? Is punk dead? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Aaron Freeman ditches Gene Ween

Aaron Freeman (website), better known as Gene Ween of Ween, has ditched his pseudonym in favor of his given name to record his first-ever solo record, ‘Marvelous Clouds’ (Partisan Records). Out April 10, the album features 13 heartfelt interpretations of songs written by 20th century poet/songwriter, Rod McKuen.

For those unfamiliar with McKuen, the dude lived some life. After running away from home in the 1940′s at age 11, Rod McKuen (wikipedia link) emerged from the influence of the San Francisco Beat scene to become one of the most prolific and top-selling poets and songwriters of the 20th century, earning two Oscar nominations, one Pulitzer nomination, and selling tens of millions of books and records. His songs have been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Johnny Cash to Madonna (WTF?).

Having sold over a million albums with Ween worldwide, Freeman’s use of McKuen’s work to articulate one of his most personal efforts to-date marks a new milestone in a career well known for its use of a wide range of vocal styles and song characters.

‘Marvelous Clouds’ reunites Freeman with Ben Vaughn, who produced Ween’s classic ’12 Golden Country Greats.’

I’ve had the chance to listen to the title track and As I Love My Own off the forthcoming LP and I must say that, having been a Ween fan, that Freeman’s presentation is looking to be very, very cool indeed with more of a straightforward approach with a couple Ween-ian style flourishes thrown in.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming interview with Aaron… or is it Gene? Or Mister Freeman…I’m f@#king confused!

‘Marvelous Clouds’ track list:

1. As I Love My Own
2. Jean
3. Marvelous Clouds
4. A Man Alone
5. The Beautiful Strangers
6. Doesn’t Anybody Know My Name
7. One By One
8. Pushing The Clouds
9. The Lovers
10. Mr. Kelly
11. Love’s Been Good To Me
12. Lonesome Cities
13. The World I Used To Know

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THE NEWS DUMP IS BACK IN 2012!!!

Every Friday we give a rundown on some of this past weeks music news and other crap.

• The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney took a dump on Nickleback in the pages of Rolling Stone.

It’s funny cuz it’s true!

You can check out more of the cover story excerpt here.

• Dave Grohl has collaborated with members of 80′s hair metal and Aquanet spokesmen RATT  for a new project. (NME)

• Kanye West is apparently the next Steve Jobs. Or at least he likens his new company Donda to Apple. WTF? (Mashable)

• Lana Del Rey signed with Next Model Management. Who the hell is Lana Del Rey? (Billboard)

I looooove Van Halen!!!

• Van Halen has announced a massive new tour and a new album. Steve from Minotaur is excited about this but is anyone else? (CoS)

• Björk is bringing her multimedia extravaganza Biophilia to New York City for a 10 night residency. It’s educational too! (AltSounds)

• EMI is suing Grooveshark… again. (Digital Music News)

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Champaign/Urbana’s Parasol is shutting down it’s mail order and physical store operations on December 17th. This message was posted on their company website:

After 20-plus years of pulling, packing & shipping orders all over the world, and serving Champaign-Urbana area music fanatics’ needs locally, we’re sad to announce we’re pressing pause on Parasol Mail Order and our record store.

Longtime Parasolarians Roy and Angie will be moving on to other endeavors, while Geoff and Jim will focus on Parasol Label Group’s in-house labels.

PMO’s last day of regular operation will be Saturday, December 17th. Between now and then we will be putting our existing mailorder/store stock on sale, so if ever there was a time to buy music for the holidays, this is it!

It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that we owe all of you a huge THANK YOU for your support over the years. It’s meant a lot, and will continue to as we re-boot the franchise.

So it seems as though they may be shutting down for now but as indicated in the above message, the company might just be in the process of re-inventing itself. This closure does not include the Parasol Label Group, home of previous SMS podcast guests like Ryan Groff of the band Elsinore and Cameron McGill.

Pick up something from their online store for 15% off till the December closing. It seems as though closings like this are happening across the country as of late. Hopefully, the bleeding will stop. Buy local this holiday season from your local record stores.

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Reunited?

According to the Twitterverse, it seems as though Milwaukee, WI band The Promise Ring are reuniting. While the extent of the reunion is unknown at this time, or if it’s just a hoax, all signs are pointing to the fact that this actually happening are quite strong. I think I just saw a dog and a cat having relations in the street. Is it the end times?

Not sure yet, but till then you can follow the The Promise Ring on their brand new Twitter account. Check out our interview with Maritime from last year featuring Davey Von Bohlen and Dan Didier of The Promise Ring.

oh, and el promise ringo @thepromisering has a tweeterer…for tweetering…about stuff…that could potentially happen…if it happened.

11/18/2011 9:25 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@daveyvonbohlen

Davey

Hello, again…

11/18/2011 9:18 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ThePromiseRing

The Promise Ring

My former band (@ThePromiseRing) is now on twitter. Please follow for some exciting news coming up…

11/18/2011 9:19 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@didierdan

Dan Didier

YES!!! @didierdan @daveyvonbohlen Holy crap. RT @ThePromiseRing Hello, again…

11/18/2011 10:39 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@misterhanke

Jim Hanke

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The Pinkerton Diaries and Alone III box set

Rivers Cuomo announced via his online store details to his long-awaited “Pinkerton Diaries” detailing the years between 1994-1997. Fellow music news sites and blogs (Consequence of Sound and Stereogum) have already written about this, which is no surprise considering that no website having anything to do with indie rock should overlook what might be the best Weezer related release in several years.

According to his website the release contains, in his words,

a collection of my journals, emails, letters, photos, and school papers — so you get an inside look as to exactly what I was thinking (when I wrote Pinkerton)

While salacious insight into Cuomo’s relationship during this period with original bassist Matt Sharp may be absent, one at least hopes that insight can be gained by exploring the contents of The Pinkerton Diaries and the companion Alone III demos. It will be interesting to see where this guys head was at while penning indie masterpieces such as “Tired of Sex” and “Across the Sea”; as well as the abandoned Weezer rock opera “Songs From The Black Hole” that birthed what was to become Pinkerton. While shunned by Cuomo for years after it’s release, Pinkerton became an underground cult fave and eventually the indie rock blueprint to follow. The album influenced everyone from The Get Up Kids to Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day and even David Bazan. After all this time, it seems as though Rivers has come to grips with the albums impact and it’s genesis or he realizes he can cash in on its legacy with The Pinkerton Diaries and Alone III. Either way, I’m buying.

A box set is available for pre-order on his site for $75. Here’s the track list for Alone III:

01. I’m So Lonely
02. Getchoo
03. Lisa
04. Negativland
05. You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
06. When You’re Alone
07. Susanne
08. There Is No Other One
09. Let Me Wash at Your Sink
10. Waiting on You

Suite From the Black Hole
11. Oh No, This Is Not For Me
12. Tired of Sex
13. She’s Had a Girl
14. What Is This I Find?
15. Now I Finally See
16. Longtime Sunshine

Fulton Avenue Suite
17. I’m Lonely on a Saturday Night
18. Oh God I’m Hungry
19. I’m on Fire, You’re a Liar
20. The End of My String
21. I Can’t Break Your Heart Slow
22. Money Makes Me Happy
23. My Mind’s on You

24. Defeat on the Hill
25. Clarinet Waltz
26. A Glorious Moment

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Daytrotter (Sean Moeller interview) has posted their recent live session with David Bazan. We’re big fans of both Bazan and Moeller’s Daytrotter and do our best to stay informed of everything they do. Check out both our podcast interviews with Dave and Sean on our website or on the Sock Monkey Sound iTunes page.

Head over to Daytrotter.com and download the session for a minimal monthly fee. While you’re at it check out all the other awesome sessions Daytrotter has to offer. A ton of great artists have come through their studios over the years and you can listen to all of them  for only a paltry $2.00 monthly membership fee.

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El Oso: Reunited and it feels soooo good.

Chip: Hey Jim.

Jim: Hey Chip.

Chip: So tell our readers about El Oso, man.

Jim: El Oso was a band from late 2003 through Spring of 2006. We were based in Milwaukee and played out quite a bit in both Rockford and DeKalb. After we split up, we all went on to play in other bands such as John The Savage, Kid You’ll Move Mountains, Transmit Now and Those Royals.

Chip: So how did the reunion come about?

Jim: We’d been casually talking about reconvening for a show or two over the last few years but nothing ever came to pass. When we were approached to open the final show for our friends The Felix Culpa though, we thought of no bigger honor to even be on their radar. Our last show was actually with them at the ELB in Rockford, and we still talk about how crowded that show was (the fire marshall had to be called to allow more people in). So we’re getting back together Friday, December 9. It’ll be at The Metro in Chicago and people can purchase tickets for a discounted price here when using the special code “ELOSO”.

Chip: Awesome dude, where can everybody get some El Oso music?

Jim: Why Chip, I’m very glad you asked that! We’ve decided to put up pretty much everything we released on Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want scale. If people want it for free, they’re more than welcome to it. We’re just happy to be getting everything out there. I’m still shocked that folks want to hear El Oso songs when I do acoustic shows, so we hope everyone can have some fun reliving these old sounds. The Bandcamp address is http://eloso.bandcamp.com.

People can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook, because there’ll be more news as we get closer to the Metro date. We’re very excited to be playing together again and we hope everyone will be able to join us, or at least enjoy the catalog.

Chip: Well, thanks for having this dry ass email conversation with me. TTLY!

Jim: LOL, no problem. Stay classy.

Watch Jim Hanke perform the El Oso song “Julie Ann Fitzpatrick” at Sock Monkey Sound!

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Former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh passed away this last Saturday on the eve of Weezer’s headlining gig at this years Riot Fest. According to his Facebook page (which I follow), Welsh posted on Oct. 1st (below) that he was going on vacation and that he was looking forward to seeing “the mighty =w= rock out”.

Mikey replaced Matt Sharp as the bassist for the band between 1998-2001 and recorded with them on their mainstream comeback “The Green Album”. After some time with the band, Welsh quit due to what he said in a 2007 interview with Rock Salt Plum as “a lifetime of doing drugs and being undiagnosed as having bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder finally caught up with me when I was 30 yrs old”. After he left Weezer, Welsh quit music and dedicated himself to painting and fine art, selling paintings through his Facebook page and website as well as commissions for tattoos and Skateboard companies. He had said many times that his art was his therapy and helped him deal with his own personal issues.

Long time Weezer web master Karl Koch had this to say about Welsh in a blog post on Sunday via the Weezer website:

“Dear friends and fans,
It saddens me and the guys in Weezer so much to say that our beautiful, creative, hilarious and sweet friend Mikey Welsh has passed away at the very young age of 40. A unique talent, a deeply loving friend and father, and a great artist is gone, but we will never forget him. His chapter in the weezer story (’98 – ’01) was vital, essential, wild, and amazing.”

While the cause of death is unknown at the moment, it is suspected to be drug related. It really sucks because having followed him for a few months now, he came off as someone who really enjoyed life in spite of his troubles and was a gracious artist who really gave back to his fans. He seemed to be truly appreciative of his online fans and followers, even reaching out to those online in his times of need for encouragement and support. I like to think he knew how much his fans loved and appreciated his humor, spirit and talent. I know I did.

Thanks Mikey.

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I’m writing this on an iMac. You’re going to read this same statement over and over and over again today from many others who are writing obituaries for the man. It’s kind of weird. I never thought that I would be emotionally impacted by his death but here it is, the day has come and I feel saddened by his loss. Steve Jobs; a man I never met and quite possibly a man I never would. My closest connection to him was that of a consumer of products that were spearheaded by Jobs, designed by Jonathan Ive with a team of industrial designers, software developers and manufactured by Chinese workers across the sea. Then finally sold to me by Apple, the company Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded with others in April 1976.

The good thing is that his legacy lives on through his companies products; his focus, determination, intellect, creativity and spirit, no doubt, will be admired for generations to come.

Personally, I make a living using Apple products every day. Am I an Apple fanboy? I consider myself an enthusiast but I’m too poor to own everything they put out. And I’ll admit, I do have a PC at home so there’s that. But you can’t deny the influence OSX has had on Microsoft or Windows 7. Someday though I hope to trade that in for a Mac Book Pro. I guess I am a fanboy.

I’m also listening to music on an iMac. This will be his and Apple’s most relevant contribution to how he helped shape the modern music industry with the introduction of the iPod and iTunes. A device and service which were the forbearers to the iPhone and very soon iCloud, which could be another game changer in the music industry.

As I’m writing this I’m thinking about how Apple and Steve Jobs has affected Sock Monkey Sound and I’ve come up with this list:

• 90 podcasts have been recorded on a Mac and edited in Garageband
• 90 episodes are available on iTunes, by far the single most popular way our listeners consume our podcast
• 40% of visitors to this website use a Mac or an iPhone to engage with our content
• 19% of our visitors used an iPad to get their Sock Monkey Sound fix over the last month
• 12 videos or interviews we have done were recorded with iPhones

Who knows what the future will bring for Apple in this world without Steve Jobs. One thing is for certain, it will never be the same because of him.

Feel free to leave your thoughts below in the comments.

And finally a remembrance by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak

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Kevin Devine is annoyed by Brandon from Sock Monkey Sound

Former Sock Monkey Sound guest Kevin Devine has released a version of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, recorded from front to back, as a tribute to the landmark album for FREE. Devine has recreated the entire album mainly just for fun and has made it available to his fans via this link. Devine stated his intentions via his Twitter acount:

FYI: we did it for fun. We weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel or “improve” upon perfection. We were trying to play flawless songs well.

09/26/2011 12:29 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@KevinDevineTwit

Kevin Devine

And pay tribute to a record that in many ways was the skeleton key to each of us playing music in a serious way. That’s all. Have some fun.

09/26/2011 12:30 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@KevinDevineTwit

Kevin Devine

Chris Bracco produced and played bass, Mike Fadem played drums.

09/26/2011 12:31 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@KevinDevineTwit

Kevin Devine

Having listened to his version I must say that I really enjoy his rendering of the songs. In many ways, I enjoy the plain and pure interpretations more than the original. It sounds more stripped down and quite possibly, here’s a shocker, grungier. Take a listen, fans of both Nirvana and Kevin Devine will find something there to appreciate. I think that even my cohort Patrick would enjoy it.

What do you guys think? Share below in the comments.

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If you’re a working musician, you’ve probably asked yourself this very question. It’s a fair one due to the fact that many artists consider all the different ways they could generate revenue but never really hit the right combination to be successful. Well ask no more cuz Future of Music Coalition is getting some answers.

Future of Music Coalition co-founder Kristin Thompson (ex-Tsunami) broke it down in October 2009, when she posted a blog entry called The 29 Streams, which laid out all of the possible revenue streams available to composers, recording artists, performers, session musicians and teachers based on the contours of copyright law and business practice. The list, which has been re-blogged and re-posted hundreds of times over the past two years, was heralded as the go-to inventory of revenue streams for musicians.

This blog post was just the beginning of a much more ambitious project. In 2010, FMC launched Artist Revenue Streams, a multi-method research initiative that’s examining just how many revenue streams musicians are relying, and if the ratio among revenue streams has changed over time, and why.

The project employs three methodologies: in-depth interviews with more than 25 different types of musicians — from jazz performers, to classical players, TV and film composers, Nashville songwriters, rockers and hip hop artists; financial snapshots that show individual artists’ revenue pies in any given year; and a wide ranging online survey in which they hope thousands of musicians will participate in fall 2011.

You may be asking yourself right now “Where have I heard of this Future of Music thingy?”. Well, a year ago I had the pleasure of talking with Future of Music Coalition’s then communications director Casey Rae-Hunter on an episode of the podcast about the the organization in depth. We briefly covered the ARS survey in the conversation but it’s a worthwhile listen just to get a sense of the organization and what they do.

I could try and fumble my way through explaining the grand purpose of the project is, but it’s late and I’m getting tired. Luckily, FMC has provided some excellent press material that they have permitted lazy writers like myself to copy and paste!

Hey, I’m just being honest here and citing my sources. (Some of the above text was copied and pasted with permission too!)

There is some great info below.

From the FMC website:

Thanks Kristin, I couldn’t have said it better myself. To participate in the survey head over to www.futureofmusic.org/ars and take the survey.

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L>R: Rosenquist, Ropp, and Garvey

Micky Rosenquist, Rockford, IL area musician, instructor and drummer for many midwestern bands (Cameron McGill & What Army, Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts, Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons, & more) has launched his his own solo project. Production on “Micky Rosenquist & The Black Squirrel“ record began in late August at Rosenquist’s own studio space, Underground Squirrel Studio in Rockford, IL.

The record will feature Rosenquist’s songs with many musicians he’s played with or befriended over the years making appearances throughout.  Rosenquist is taking the reigns on many instruments while handing off the rhythm duties to session drummer/percussionist, Darren Garvey (Cameron McGill & What Army, Andreas Kapsalais Trio) & bassist, Karl Ropp (The Snaggs, Das Boton, The Gomows).  Appearances by Cameron McGill, Miles Nielsen, Kevin Schwitters (The Braves), Barrett Martin (The Gomows), and many more are planned to flesh out a full-length album by 2012. The Black Squirrel Project is being co-produced by Daniel McMahon, Andy Whorehall and Rosenquist.

For now, enjoy 2 Rosenquist originals (“A Song”, and “Your Blood”) below that were recorded by Barton Bishoff, hootenanny style, last winter at his studio (featuring many past SMS podcast guests).  They’re anticipated for a formal release on Rosenquist’s debut record, due in 2012.

> To follow “Micky Rosenquist & The Black Squirrel” project as it unfolds, click here.
> For more info on Underground Squirrel Studio, click here.

SMS

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While this might not be as cool as the Judgement Night soundtrack, this promises to be another entertaining product from this group of fine folks. Some of the music in the trailer makes me want to grab a bowl of mash potatoes and watch reruns of  Welcome Back Kotter.

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Middlewest Music and Arts Festival (Sept. 9-10, Dekalb, IL) headliners Tokyo Police Club have been busy recording 10 covers in 10 days, a single song representing each year from 2000 to 2010. The ambitious project has roots all over the internet on Polaroid, Livestream, and Soundcloud.

The band takes a crack at Jimmy Eat World, The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, Moby, and even Kelly Clarkson. Check out the the recording of the last few covers over at Livestream until this Friday Sept. 2nd and be sure to get your Middlewest Festival tickets now!!

 Check out our interview with David Monks of Tokyo Police Club recorded at Middlewest Festival 2011

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Sock Monkey Sound

Photo by Anton Corbijn

“It’s maybe the best thing done by anyone, ever. It could create another planetary system. I’m not joking, and I’m not being egotistical.” – Lou Reed (source: New York Magazine, 6/29/11)

It hurt to type it but you read it right.  Lou Reed & Metallica’s project, “LULU“, sees a worldwide release date on Halloween, October 31st, 2011; and a formal North American release date of November 1st. Will you care? Do I care? It’s either going to be all kinds of bad, or all kinds of bad ass.

Lou Reed’s catalog, from the Velvets to solo and everything in between, is synonymous with pushing an artistic envelope along with commercial appeal- or anti-commercial appeal (see “Metal Machine Music”, the 70s follow up to Lou’s big commercial hit, “Transformer” which featured “Walk on The Wild Side”).  Lars Ulrich’s drums rattling against Lou’s monotone delivery sounds like a disaster… but Lou’s disasters are always worth listening to. To be determined.

Read more about it here, at their website.

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Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor has released another song by his other project CANT via Soundcloud. Check out “Believe” from the forthcoming Dreams Come True out September 24 on Terrible Records/Warp. Share your thoughts on the song in the comments below.

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It looks as though The Felix Culpa are done. After 8 years, 2 LP’s, a couple EP’s, an awesome episode of Sock Monkey Sound, and a some cool videos; the band announced it was disbanding on their website today.

The Felix Culpa have been very good to Sock Monkey Sound, not just as supporters of the podcast and website, but as friends as well. As a band they will surely be missed and on behalf of the whole SMS crew we wish Marky, Tristan, Joel, and Dustin all the best in their future endeavors.

Here’s the message that was posted:

So, while they have announced the end, they also have promised a farewell show later in the year. The question remains whether the band will still be performing at this years Middlewest Festival in Dekalb, IL. We’ll update you if we find anything out. Until then, feel free to leave your thoughts on the news in the comments below.

UPDATE: The Felix Culpa posted this on their Twitter 45 minutes ago.

To clarify, Culpa will not be playing @middlewestfest in Sept. To make up for it a tiny bit, Marky will be playing a solo set of fun stuff.

08/12/2011 12:17 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@theFelixCulpa

the Felix Culpa

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According to  Hollywood Reporter his body was found at a Comfort Inn in Woodland Hills, rumored as the preferred hotel chain amongst former 80′s Heavy Metal icons. The cause of death is unknown at this time, but it an unnamed source has stated that it was not asphyxiation by a slice of cherry pie.

Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald) is best known for writing and performing “Cherry Pie” with his band Warrant (the song featured C.C. Deville on lead guitar) in the late 1980′s. At the time of his death it is not known whether that song or their other Top 40 hit “Heaven” was written in a hotel room. After Nirvana killed Warrant’s career, along with the careers of many other fashion minded metal masters, Lane suffered from alcohol abuse problems and quit Warrant on 3 separate occasions. He released a solo album in 2003 , Back Down to One, based on his stays at various motor inns throughout the country (another rumor). He was also featured on VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club!

While Lane’s death is tragic and a blow to the hard working citizens of Machesney Park, IL; this will not impede Great White from performing at the Winnebago County Fair on August 18.

Friends and admirers of Jani Lane took to Twitter to send their condolences:

Super sad news. Jani Lane, dead at 47. His body found in a So Cal hotel. No cause yet. #RIP Jani Lane.

08/11/2011 9:43 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@MarthaQuinn

Martha Quinn

I just heard the sad news about Janie Lane. So hard to swallow when people have kids. RIP.

08/12/2011 12:20 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@NikkiSixx

Nikki Sixx

We’d like to offer our deepest condolences to the family of Jani Lane regarding their loss. Respectfully, Bret and all at MEGI

08/11/2011 10:48 pm via FacebookReplyRetweetFavorite

@bretmichaels

bretmichaels

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Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s collaborative effort Watch The Throne has been released exclusively on iTunes today. The physical release drops August 12th, until then check out some tracks from the record below and go buy the album if you dig it.

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Miles Nielsen and The Rusted Hearts have a Kickstarter that began recently to help raise funds for their, as far as I know, upcoming untitled album. The reward tiers for backing the Kickstarter campaign include every thing from a $10 “you get the cd” to $750 “Waterstone Guitar signed by Miles Nielsen and The Rusted Hearts”. Check out the video above to hear what Miles has to say about what your donation will be going towards. Guitarist Dan McMahon was quite excited about the upcoming record when I saw him recently at Kryptonite Bar during a recent Matthew Santos set and mentioned the involvement of Darren Garvey on some songs.

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A revolutionary concept in it’s infancy, MTV now sucks shit and does nothing but show insipid f#@k+@&d programing like Jersey Shore, The Deficient Teen Mom Power Hour, Crap I Don’t Give Two Sh*ts About, and commercials. I hear Teen Wolf is pretty cool though and Beavis and Butthead is making a return!

Take a look at the first 10 minutes of programing that includes The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star”. Stereogum has posted the entire first hour of programing on their website including some awesome early 80′s hairdos and appearances by all the original “Vee Jays”.

In related news, MTV’s old indie and alternative Sunday night programming 120 Minutes is coming back! Granted it’s on the music friendly MTV2, but still, this show was instrumental in showcasing new music and artists 1995-1999. Black Francis stand-in Matt Pinfield is returning to host the updated show and our friend Whitney Matheson recently interviewed him about the comeback over at POPCANDY, check out the interview.

It would be great to see 120 Minutes on the main channel but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. I might be crapping in a depends by the time that happens. It is great to see that Beavis and Butthead will be taking the piss out of MTV’s crappy excuses for “stars” on their reality programing. Wouldn’t it be great to see Liquid Television make a comeback?

What are your thoughts?

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Yeah, so I guess the big story over the last few days was the death of troubled singer Amy Winehouse. Friends, family, and fans have been sobbing non-stop after the news of her death was reported non-stop by the media. But I can’t can’t help but wonder: Was everybody waiting for this to happen?

According to Mashable.com. Paste Magazine is going to debut Slow Club’s sophomore album on Turntable.fm . I got a chance to play around on Turntable.fm and have to admit that it’s pretty addicting. It’s a chat room with music perfect for Mr. Lutmer.

It appears as though Cameron Crowe has been making a Pearl Jam documentary over the last 20 years. Whether you dig their music or not, you gotta respect these guys for staying together as a band when so many of their peers from the 90′s broke up or died of heroin overdoses. Uberfan Steve will be excited I’m sure.

Pitchfork reported more information regarding the upcoming Nirvana Nevermind 20th Anniversary Box Set. I’m personally looking forward to 4 disc 180 gram vinyl version and will definitely be giving Skylar at Culture Shock a call.

Did The Strokes REALLY need a covers tribute album to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Is This It? Well, if you think so then head over to Stereogum and download the tribute entitled Stroked.

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St. Vincent

St. Vincent’s Annie Clark has made a track off her new album “Strange Mercy” available for download on the website StrangeMercy.com. The song “Surgeon” will be available with others on September 13th when the the album drops.

Apple might buy Hulu according to a report on Mashable.com. Yahoo and other players are in the mix as well (which would be a help for a flagging Yahoo) but if Apple bought Hulu, what would that mean for Apple TV?

Proving that not everyone in politics is a square (am I square for saying that?), White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, talked about Mitch Mitchell and Guided by Voices. Check out the proof HERE.

On a San Diego Comic Con note: IDW Publishing is planning on bringing James O’Barr’s comic book series The Crow back to print in a new series and reprints of old material. Why do I bring this up you ask? Because arguably, the soundtrack for the movie featuring Brandon Lee raised the bar for licensed songs in movie soundtracks, which is how many bands make their money today. [via Robot 6]

If anyone is headed to the sold out Lollapalooza this year, you might wanna check out the free Lollapalooza Apps for iPhone and Android phones. Read about the App features, including group texting, at Mashable.

In other Lollapalooza news: if you didn’t get a ticket don’t worry! You Tube will be streaming that festival (August 5-7) as well as the Austin City Limits Festival (September 16-18). Our very own Andy Whorehall will be attending Austin City Limits this year and will be… doing something.

CNET reported on a suit against Grooveshark in which music publishers and songwriters assert that the service enables users to actively infringe on copyrighted material. With the launch of Spotify and other streaming services like Rdio, the spotlight is turning on Grooveshark, which allows users to upload songs and stream that content and the RIAA doesn’t like that.

In the world of television, The Walking Dead is returning with Season 2 October 16th. F#@K YEAH! The trailer below also features Wye Oak‘s “Civillian”!

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