Pop Noise

Jay-Z at the Arena ... he likes us?

2009-11-06T20:20:00Z

It was looking like we weren't going to see Live Nation around these parts until summer came along.

But the promoter, which does no club bookings in Pittsburgh and often steers clear of the market in the off-season, is jumping back in early with Jay-Z and Young Jeezy at the Mellon Arena on March 16. Tickets are going on sale at www.LiveNation.com on Nov. 13.

This is the kind of tour that's been skipping Pittsburgh for years, so it's surprising to see Jay-Z add us on the second leg. The last time Hova (can I call him that?) was here was five years or so ago at the Star Lake Amphitheatre, so it was beginning to look like he had something against us.

Perhaps if this show does well, we'll see more like it. Beyonce, Kanye, Mary J. Blige, Madonna ... they've all skipped the market on recent tours, making Pittsburgh look all the more like a classic rock town.

Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list

2009-11-05T17:52:00Z

OK, so I guess I should go back and listen to Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" a few more times.

It didn't make all that big of an impression on me when it came out in March. But now it sits on top of Amazon's Best Albums of 2009, one of the first year-end lists to hit the web (they do, after all, need to sell stuff).

The top 10 is:

Neko Case

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Phoenix

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Avett Brothers

Girls

Animal Collective

K'Naan

Jay-Z

Camera Obscura

My favorites on the list are the Avett Brothers and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It forced me to go to the myspace page for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and I wasn't blown away by the band's retro-pop, which falls somewhere between the Pet Shop Boys and Jesus and Mary Chain. Girls' "Album" sounds really good, a bit like a lo-fi Elvis Costello with a noisy bent.

I'm glad I have another month to work this out...

Cuddling up with the Weezer Snuggie

2009-11-04T18:12:00Z

The brilliance of Weezer has expanded by leaps and bounds with the introduction of the official Weezer Snuggie, which will bear the band's logo.

It is designed to "allow fans of the band to stay warm while keeping their hands free to rock out."

Fans who purchase the Weezer Snuggie online for $29.99 get a copy of the new album "Raditude," a return to form for the irony-laced power-pop band with should-be hits like "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," "The Girl Got Hot," "Can't Stop Partying" and "I'm Your Daddy," with none other than Lil' Wayne.

The Weezer Snuggie may not be as fun as, say the Kiss Potato Head, but it sure has greater utility in allowing the Weezer faithful to channel-surf without coming out from under the blanket for the remote.

Judging by the attached photo, it seems to be less effective as stage attire.

Kelly Joe Phelps drops off Jill Sobule bill

2009-11-03T19:56:00Z

Guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps has dropped off the Calliope double bill with Jill Sobule Saturday night at Carnegie Lecture Hall due to personal reasons.

Sobule, a quirky singer-songwriter who hit with "I Kissed a Girl" in 1995 (before Katy Perry's version), will be joined by Mia Dyson, an Australian blues-rocker who's toured with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and Joe Cocker.

I was still scratching my head over why Jill Sobule and Kelly Joe Phelps were on the same bill anyway. This girl power bill might make a little more sense.

According to Calliope director Patricia Tanner, "We will issue a refund to those folks that purchased the ticket to see Kelly Joe but Mia will blow them away."

Dashboard Confessional tour is postponed

2009-11-03T14:59:00Z

Dashboard Confessional, scheduled to play the Ice Garden in Rostraver on Dec. 5, has postponed their North American tour due to a family issue within the band.

The emo band released the statement: "Due to a family situation that is beyond our control, we have to cancel our upcoming tour with New Found Glory, Never Shout Never, Meg & Dia and Single File. We don't take this lightly but family has to come first. As this is a last-minute development, we are still figuring out what we will do -- as soon as we know, you will know. We apologize to everyone who planned on coming to the shows. We will find a way to make it up to you."

Obviously, this is a setback in their plans to promote "Alter the Ending," a new album coming out Nov. 10. The band is still playing with the Louisville Orchestra on Nov. 7 and plans to re-schedule the proper North American tour in 2010.
Refunds for the show are available at the point of purchase.

Osso does Sufjan at Warhol

2009-11-02T20:54:00Z

New York's modern string quartet Osso, whose members have worked with such varied artists as Jay-Z, The New Pornographers and Antony and the Johnsons, bring an adventurous tour to the Andy Warhol Museum on Wednesday.

Osso is showcasing its new project on Asthmatic Kitty Records, a re-arrangement of Sufjan Stevens' electronic instrumental song cycle "Enjoy Your Rabbit." Osso previously worked with Stevens on his much-acclaimed "Illinois."

Also part of the show will be a screening of Stevens' "The BQE," described as "a 40-minute symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway."

Indystar.com recently caught the show and said of "Enjoy Your Rabbit," which deals with the Chinese zodiac, " ‘Year of the Monkey' featured two violins, a viola and a cello grating against one another in futility, finally getting together for one triumphant chord at the song's conclusion. ‘Year of the Boar' was aggressive, repetitive and dissonant in the tradition of iconic movie composer Bernard Herrmann. Solo passages by violin player Jannina Barefield were as abrasive and unhinged as a listener might expect from Sonic Youth guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo."

Depending on your musical orientation, you're either lured by that description or planning to stay as far away as possible. You can hear Year of the Boar at http://www.myspace.com/ossonyc

The show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12. 412-237-8300.

New Spoon album due in January

2009-11-02T19:58:00Z

Indie-rock heroes Spoon will release their seventh album, "Transference," on Merge Records on Jan. 26. The followup to 2007's "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" was produced by the Austin band and features 11 new songs.

The track listing is:

Before Destruction
Is Love Forever?
The Mystery Zone
Who Makes Your Money
Written In Reverse
I Saw The Light
Trouble Comes Running
Goodnight Laura
Out Go The Lights
Got Nuffin
Nobody Gets Me But You

"Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" landed on Top 10 album lists in ROLLING STONE, PITCHFORK, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, SPIN, THE ONION, PASTE and more.

The album brought Spoon to Pittsburgh a few times, although the shows were a little disappointing, including an appearance at the New American Music Union festival that paled compared to the likes of Gnarls Barkley and the Raconteurs.

Still, we forward to checking out the new stuff...

RIP Chuck Biscuits...or not

2009-10-29T16:08:00Z

Update: Chuck Biscuits' condition has improved considerably since last week. Reports are that he is in fact alive and that his death was a hoax played upon a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist that went viral on the Internet. If this is true, and it appears to be so, Biscuits had the rare privilege of reading his obits. And now rock writers across the country have pre-written ones ready to go for when the day actually comes. We hope it's a ways in the future... Now, please tell me Michael's alive too.

The punk rock scene has lost one of its most beloved drummers with the death of Chuck Biscuits Saturday to throat cancer at the age of 44.

Biscuits, born Charles Montgomery in British Columbia, was best known as the original drummer for Danzig, playing on the hardcore band's first four albums in a stint that lasted from 1987 to 1994.

Prior to that, he was a touring member of Black Flag for five months in 1982 and went on to play with the Circle Jerks and Fear. His most recent high-profile gig was with Social Distortion from 1996 to 1999, appearing on "Live At The Roxy."

Through his association with Rick Rubin, Biscuits also played drums on Run-D.M.C.'s 1988 record "Tougher Than Leather."

In addition to drumming, Biscuits was a sculptor and a collector of vintage breakfast cereal.

His last visit to Pittsburgh was likely in the summer of 1997 on the Warped Tour.

Nanci Griffith's unintentional protest song

2009-10-22T18:34:00Z

The title track of Nanci Griffith's new CD, "The Loving Kind," about the Loving v. Virginia case that ended the ban on interracial marriagesin 1967, became oddly topical in 2009 last week when a Louisiana court judge banned a such a marriage.

In protest, Griffith is making the sweet country-folk ballad a free download on her web site www.NanciGriffith.com, for the next 30 days.

Griffith said in a statement that she was moved to write the song after reading Mildred Loving's obituary in The New York Times last year. "It just floored me," Griffith said. "Tragically, Richard died in a tragic car accident just months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the couple's favor. "

"The Loving Kind" is Griffith's first album of new material since 2005's "Hearts In Mind." It also includes a song called "Not Innocent Enough," about the celebrated case of Philip Workman, who was convicted in 1981 of killing a Memphis police officer and executed in 2007 despite new evidence that may have proved his innocence. She's joined on the track by John Prine.

"Up Against The Rain" is her tribute to country-folk legend Townes Van Zandt.

An old Seeger session in the 'Burgh

2009-10-21T18:23:00Z

Pete Seeger's forthcoming "Live in '65" will have a familiar ring to some of Pittsburgh old folkies.

The two-CD, 31-track set -- previously unreleased and sonically updated -- was recorded Feb. 20, 1965 at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

Seeger acknowledges his surroundings right away, opening the concert with a song he says "hit the charts" in 1848 -- "Oh, Susanna" by Stephen Foster, on which he accompanies himself on banjo.

He follows that immediately with "He Lies in an American Land," a song about a mill accident written by local steel worker Andrew Kovaly in Slovakian and translated to Seeger by a music superintendent in the Pittsburgh schools. The liner notes indicate that the song served as inspiration for Bruce Springsteen's "American Land," which Springsteen did on "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions."

The live record also features such folk classics as "If I Had a Hammer," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Greensleeves," plus a cover of Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."

It's available on Appleseed Recordings on Nov. 10.