Sarah Palin is not a model Alaskan, say Wasilla indie rock native
Wasilla, Alaska, isn't exactly an indie-rock mecca, but one band of note does hail from the area -- the loud and dreamy rock combo with the odd name Portugal. the Man. Singer-guitarist John Baldwin Gourley and bassist Zachary Scott Carothers grew up and started playing music together near the isolated town and still spend considerable time there. (The band's MySpace page lists its home as "Wasilla/Willow/Portland/Seattle/World, Alaska.")
As a native, Gourley's been observing the rise of the town's former mayor, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, with increasing consternation. This morning he decided to act on it, posting a moving argument against her candidacy on the band's blog. Gourley's words of protest led me to investigate the matter, and I discovered that some of the group's anti-Palin sentiments stem from her allegedly standing in the way of a skate park's construction in Wasilla when the band members were teens.
Gourley's blog post is mostly philosophical. Under the heading "Sarah Palin, Because We Don't Need It," he writes of the first time his father took him hunting for moose, when he was about 6. The pair quickly spotted their quarry, but his father pulled back. They didn't kill the moose "because we don't need it," he explained to his son.
" 'Because we don't need it' was something that has been taught to me every day of my life through these amazing people," Gourley writes of his parents, who were Iditarod dog-sled mushers and continue to live an Alaskan life. "And to watch Sarah Palin get so much attention based on what? Two years as governor of the state of Alaska? Or is it based on her time as the mayor of Wasilla? The town of 5,000 at the time."
KCRW calls off 'Sounds Eclectic Evening' show
Public radio station KCRW-FM (89.9) is calling off its annual "Sounds Eclectic Evening" multi-artist concert fundraiser this year after shifting the time frame of the event earlier this
year from spring to fall.
The show had been slated this year for Oct. 12 at the 6,200-seat Gibson Amphitheatre with headliner k.d. lang and support acts including Bajofondo, the Duke Spirit and “more artists to be announced
and special surprise guests.”
But the rest of the bill didn’t materialize because the summer concert festival circuit “which was particularly robust this year, created a challenging environment for filling out a seven-band bill,” according to a statement the station issued today [FRI5].
“We’ve always had a high standard for the bands we’ve invited to play this concert and changing the date to fall -– at the end of the summer festival season -– proved to be a bigger
hurdle than we were expecting,” said Nic Harcourt, KCRW music director and host of its
“Morning Becomes Eclectic” show.
Lang’s performance will be shifted to the 500-seat Malibu Performing Arts Center on the same night and it will be presented as part of the station’s recently inaugurated KCRW Sessions series. Refunds will be made to those who bought tickets for the "Sounds Eclectic Evening" show, and they will be given priority to buy seats for the downscaled lang concert, KCRW’s statement said. Tickets will be $150
and $250, and proceeds will benefit the station.
— Randy Lewis
Photo by EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Britney Spears is coming to the VMAs
Oops, she's doing it again. Britney's coming to the VMAs, according to MTV. The official word is that Brit will "open the show." What that exactly means is anyone's guess. Maybe a slithery song and dance with British cad host Russell Brand? That would be fun, but probably not -- Spears is not officially slated to perform. Something tells me that Britney would do best, as Perez Hilton so sagely states, to simply smile and wave. If only Sarah Palin's job were so easy tonight. Hmm, whose shoes would you rather be in?
--Margaret Wappler
Photo by Jae C. Hong / AP
Slipknot edges past the Game for No. 1 album
In a neck-and-neck race to the top of the national sales chart, Slipknot has slipped past the Game, with the hard-rock band’s “All Hope Is Gone” edging out the rapper’s “LAX” for the No. 1 spot.
It gives the band its first chart-topping album, with 239,516 copies, compared with 238,382 for “LAX.”
Solange Knowles entered the Top 10 at No. 9, Beyoncé’s little sister selling 46,000 copies of her sophomore album, “Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams,” according to the Nielsen SoundScan sales monitoring service.
-- Randy Lewis
Photo of Slipknot by Neil Zlozower
Rufus Wainwright and Met Opera part ways
Rufus Wainwright and the Metropolitan Opera have parted ways over the singer-songwriter’s new work that the Met had commissioned from him, over both the language and timing of the piece, his publicist said Thursday.
Wainwright, who is French Canadian on his mother’s side, insisted on writing his first opera in French, while Met officials wanted this and other new works it commissioned recently to be in English to appeal to the largest possible American audience. In addition Met officials said they wouldn’t be able to premiere Wainwright’s “Prima Donna” earlier than the 2014 season, while Wainwright said he wants it to be staged as soon as possible.
He now plans introduce “Prima Donna,” about a day in the life of an opera singer, next summer at the Manchester International Festival in England.
--Randy Lewis
Jay-Z will open renovated Hollywood Palladium on Oct. 15
Who’s big enough to throw some attention back on the venerable Hollywood Palladium, which has been shuttered for most of the last year while undergoing a complete makeover? Think of a rapper whose name rhymes with cray-zee, which is what hip-hop fans are likely to go at the prospect of catching one of the genre’s biggest names in a facility with a maximum capacity of about 4,000.
Yes, Jay-Z will bring his game to the Palladium on Oct. 15, backed by a 12-piece band. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 5.
U.S.A wins Air Guitar title in Finland
Forget the Olympic medal count, America just won the only title that matters Friday at the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. San Francisco's Hot Lixx Hulahan, who beat out over 20 aspiring air guitar gods earlier this month in his hometown to take the nationals Aug. 8, apparently bested stiff competition from countries like Germany and the Netherlands to bring air guitar bragging rights back to the States for the first time since 2004.
More details as we get them (the event just wrapped around 1 p.m. PST), but rest assured over the weekend that America is once again tops at air guitar (Japan's Ochi Yosuke held the title of the world's best for the past two years).
-- Charlie Amter
Photo of Hot Lixx at the nationals earlier this month by Misha Vladimirsky
Nic Harcourt becomes the boy with the Moz in his studio this month
L.A. Anglophiles who regularly tune into KCRW-FM (89.9) may well crash their Union Jack-themed Aston Martins when they hear a certain beloved voice on the air later this month. None other than the sultan of sad sacks himself, Morrissey, will guest DJ on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" with the surely beatific fellow Brit Nic Harcourt on Aug. 29 at 11:05 a.m.
The guest appearance, taped a few weeks ago in KCRW's Santa Monica studios, is quite a get for Harcourt, who had been courting Moz to drop by for more than a decade. Morrissey will talk tunes and news about his new solo album, "Years of Refusal," and spin from the few records he can tolerate these days, including cuts from the New York Dolls, Sparks, Buzzcocks and the newbie Manchester quartet the Courteneers.
It's surely required listening for SoCal's considerable Britpop contingent, but we just hope that Harcourt took a cue from Art Brut and cracked open some Hennessy with Morrissey on the air.
-- August Brown
Photo by Gregg Lewis
Hey, a new Bloc Party album this week!
To combat the election of a Minotaur politician pupetteered by space apes -- as seen above -- Bloc Party is throwing its hat in the ring of new albums released mere days after confirmation of their existence. The 10-track "Intimacy" follows up the band's sophomore LP, "A Weekend in the City," with a digital release Thursday and a physical edition Oct. 28, and again finds them working with old-hand producers Paul Epworth and Jacknife Lee, with My Bloody Valentine vet Alan Moulder behind the mixing board. To judge by the lead single "Mercury" and between-albums teaser single "Flux," the band has been indulging its electronica fix lately and might be returning to the dance-floor ethos that made them so inescapable in 2005.
Jackson Browne sues John McCain for using 'Running on Empty'
Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" could be considered the crown jewel in Browne's '70s repertoire of deeply personal songwriting. It was never meant to be a political song, least of all for a conservative candidate; in fact, the leftist connotations with the song itself and Browne's own liberal political history are well entrenched in pop culture. In 1988, Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty," written by Naomi Foner (a.k.a. Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal's mom), follows a fugitive couple who, with their two sons, bounce from town to town in order to thwart FBI prosecution for blowing up a laboratory in radical protest of the Vietnam War. It earned a couple of Oscar nominations, including one for River Phoenix. Also, the video above is from "No Nukes," a 1979 concert where Browne performed "Running on Empty" to protest, well, you can figure that out. More recently, Browne has made appearances at rallies for Ralph Nader and John Edwards -- not exactly a GOP scene.
So then it wasn't a surprise to hear that Browne is suing John McCain for using the song "Running on Empty" in a campaign ad. Geoff Boucher at the Top of the Ticket blog has more on Browne's lawsuit and the response from McCain's camp:
Jackson Browne is suing John McCain for using the song "Running on Empty" in a campaign ad -- and the veteran rocker is also calling the candidate a great pretender when it comes to standing up for constitutional rights.
Sam Moore pays tribute to Isaac Hayes at Sunset Junction
Isaac Hayes has been given plenty of well-deserved tributes in the wake of his death. But Hayes' passing leaves a particular hole in the lineup of this year's Sunset Junction, where he was the scheduled headliner. That's a mighty baritone to fill, but Sam Moore will do his best to compensate. Moore, one half of the R&B duo Sam & Dave, popularized many of Hayes' tunes, including "Soul Man" and "You Don't Know Like I Know," as his Stax label mate in the '60s. He's been booked to perform a Hayes tribute to close out Day 1 of the Junction -- on the Hoover Stage at 9:30 p.m. on Aug 23 -- and while nobody can quite match Hayes' virtuosity as a musician and general bastion of awesomeness, the Junction picked quite a worthy singer to remember him by.
-- August Brown
Moore photo by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
So, this is what Burial looks like
The camera-shy U.K. dubstep producer Burial is probably the single most unlikely victim in human history of a tabloid-unmasking campaign, courtesy of the British fish wrap the Sun, which opined ridiculously that it might be an Aphex Twin or Fatboy Slim side project. The U.K. paper the Independent put some fuel on the fire by dropping Burial's real name in a February article about the Elliott School in south London, which Burial attended. So as the producer prepares to possibly appear at this year's Nationwide Mercury Prize ceremony (his fantastic album "Untrue" is hotly tipped for a win), he decided to put the kibosh on the reclusiveness thing and make his public debut.
Gear thief makes a lifelong enemy of the Stooges
If I were to come up with a list of people whom I'd feel comfortable stealing a truck's worth of irreplaceable musical instruments from, the Stooges would not be on it. I can imagine Iggy Pop coming in through my air vents, unhinging his jaw and consuming my innards like that one yellow-eyed "X-Files" villain. And Mike Watt would probably just whale on me in a parking lot somewhere. Nonetheless, some cowardly soul in Montreal decided to disembark with the Stooges' entire tour truck worth of gear this morning, including Watt's classic Gibson bass. Full list of lost equipment after the jump from the e-mail that's being forwarded around, and how you can help ensure they have the gear to try and make a better album than "The Weirdness" in the future.
NPR’s Bryant Park Project no longer living on the air
Got the official news from producer Jacob Ganz that the Bryant Park Project, NPR's drive-time show for Gen X-Y-Z-whatevers, has been canceled. It's sad: I loved their Onion-like sensibility, their vivacious and super-smart host Alison Stewart -- who's been fighting the good fight since her early-1990s days at MTV, when she spearheaded "Choose or Lose," the network's award-winning voter awareness campaign -- and their smart music coverage. (They even had me on once, so they must be geniuses.)
Russia to ban emo?
Perhaps fearing that the spread of HIV, rampant drug addiction and a nasty depopulation crisis may be putting Russian teenagers on edge these days, Russia's government is currently mulling over legislation that would regulate emo-centric websites and curtail goth wear in schools and government buildings. NME reports that Russian lawmakers cite fears of emo's alleged glorification of suicide and depression as reasons for the bill.
Critic’s Notebook: On Pitchfork and kingmaking
Yesterday, August Brown offered an impassioned take-down of Pitchfork's snarky "review" of the new Black Kids LP. For me, the whole little mess raises questions beyond whether a snapshot of a pair of pugs -- one black, the other white -- is an effective emblem for artistic failure. (Though I'd like to get some of my friends who have written on minstrelsy and racialized pop imagery to weigh in on Pitchfork's decision to use those particular animals to represent an interracial band).
I'm not quibbling with turnabout reviews, or the ratings drop from 8.4 to 3.3 from the Black Kids' first recorded effort to the band's second. Critics often thrill to a young band's first, rough outbursts only to question its (slightly) more polished later efforts. And though I'm with Neil Young's dad in "Powderfinger" in saying, "Numbers add up to nothing," readers do respond to scores and stars. Making a statement that way is a time-honored critical gesture -- an easy middle finger raised.
What interests me about this tiny Black Kids backlash is the one word that accompanies the picture:
"Sorry :-\"
Just another day in the life of (former prison guard) Rick Ross
Did Miami rap impresario Rick Ross crib his best coke-dealing stories from inmates while working as a prison guard?
Perhaps.
The Smoking Gun has cleared up a minor controversy surrounding the hot-right-now rapper. Turns out, Ross was in fact a Florida corrections officer, despite his claim that pictures circulating online showing him in uniform were "fake."
Sex Pistols’ John Lydon linked to racist attack on Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke
Britain's Guardian newspaper has this hugely depressing story alleging that Sex Pistols singer John Lydon was involved in a racially motivated assault against Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke.
China’s music markets are forbidden cities to some singers
Just as the world media is beginning to dip a toe into the busy Chinese underground music scene, the New York Times has this unsettling story of how in anticipation of the Olympics, the government in Beijing has passed new laws forbidding foreign entertainers who have run afowl of their censorship policies. The vague but fairly sinister new rules ban from China "Those who used to take part in activities that harm our nation’s sovereignty" and also artists who "advocate obscenity or feudalism and superstition.”
It's hard to say exactly who or what qualifies as advocating "superstition" or "fuedalism" in song, but after the government's severe frowning over Bjork's Tibet-amended edition of "Declare Independence" at a Shanghai concert this year, that topic is presumably off-limits for foreigners. It'll be interesting to see how or if these rules will affect homegrown acts, as these new laws apparently also apply to performers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, two territories governed by China but who enjoy a greater degree of political and cultural autonomy.
It's hard to imagine how China can continue to ramp up its economy while keeping such draconian rules about who can entertain its growing concert-going classes, so after the Olympics are over, wait and see if these new rules indicate a larger grab at media and entertainment control by Beijing.
-August Brown
David Lee Roth says ‘nuts’ to allergic reaction report
David Lee Roth has scotched reports that he recently suffered a near fatal allergic reaction after eating nuts while he was in Canada.
According to the report that originated on Southwestern Ontario’s CTV station, Roth had been pulled over for speeding in Ontario in June and told officers he was having a medical emergency, and they subsequently called paramedics.
"I was in Canada only from July 1st through the 4th for a performance at the Quebec City Summer Festival,” Roth said in a statement issued Thursday. “I had no encounters or incidents with the police."
Van Halen’s on-again, off-again lead singer added: “The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism."
We shudder to think of the perils on the road awaiting Peanut Butter Wolf.
--Randy Lewis
[Photo: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times]
American Apparel sample sale ‘08: come for the unitards, stay for “Secret French musical guest”
As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.
Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.
--August Brown
Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times
Exclusive: Hard Festival lineup to make for some hard choices
Steve Aoki or N.E.R.D.? DJ A-Trak or MSTRKRFT? Kid Sister or Danny Masterson?
Those and other weighty questions (OK, so two of them were difficult, anyway) face attendees at the inaugural Hard Summer Music Festival, scheduled for July 19. An exclusive preview of the event's two-stage lineup reveals some interesting head-to-head match-ups. One stage will be erected outside the Shrine Auditorium in downtown L.A.; the other will be indoors. The all-ages event -- staged by the same folks who put on the Hard New Year's Eve fest in downtown L.A. -- will feature ambitious visuals and demonstrations from street skater Terry Kennedy and friends.
Capacity is 7,500 and ticket sales are said to be brisk.
After the jump, the schedule for Hard:
Nickelback signs with Live Nation
It practically jumps out of Live Nation’s press release trumpeting Nickelback’s new contract with the entertainment giant: The 12 areas of the band’s career covered by this long-term deal include the usual stuff: recorded music, touring, retail merchandise, clothing, DVD and broadcast rights and … literary rights.
Literary rights?
Because we love America, here’s the new Heidi Montag single
Speidi's less Iago-ish half has a new club-pop joint that blows the unfortunate "Higher" away easily. Yet the wantonly Euro-dancey "One More Drink" still sounds like what I imagine a breakfast smoothie of Adderall, Froot Loops, Plan B and the hot tears of regret tastes like. Happy Fourth of July, kids.
-- August Brown
Photo of Heidi Montag by Jeff Gentner/ Getty Images
Knitting Factory in jeopardy of losing its permit
The Hollywood gentrification story is an old one by now, but the potential fate of the usually all ages rock club the Knitting Factory may be symptomatic of the latest phase -- the loss of the first wave of gentrifying businesses. The Knitting Factory, which has become a haven for alt-rap, world music, death metal and punk acts in recent years, faces a public zoning hearing over its conditional use permit, a document that sets the standards that a venue needs to legally operate. Without one, a club can't function.
Shakira joins Madonna, Jay-Z and U2 at Live Nation
Hips, and checkbooks, don't lie: It looks like Live Nation, the giant concert promoter, has developed itself a multi-million-dollar fixation. The company has signed Colombian superstar Shakira to another of its long-term, wide-ranging contracts, a 10-year deal that various music industry sources are estimating to be worth $70 million to $100 million. That's a lot of laundry service.
Zach de la Rocha spends One Day as a Lion on upcoming EP
Now I know why Zach de la Rocha looked so relaxed the other day, sitting outside at Oinkster in Eagle Rock with a couple of friends (one of whom, I think, was former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore). It's just been announced that One Day as a Lion -- the new collaboration between Rage's erstwhile frontman and Theodore -- has signed to Anti- records, home to the classiest, rawest grown-up music in rock. And music will be available soon.
Buzz Bands: Little Ones sign to Chop Shop; album due in September
The Little Ones, who lost their U.S. record deal with EMI/Astralwerks early this year, have been signed to Chop Shop Records, the year-old imprint that was spun off Chop Shop Music, the music supervision company that has curated the soundtracks to television shows such as "The O.C.," "Grey's Anatomy," "Gossip Girl" and "Boston Public," among others. Look for the Little Ones' debut album, "Morning Tide," to finally be released in September -- more than two years after their "Sing Song" EP marked the L.A. outfit as a band to watch.
"They're growing and we're growing," singer-guitarist Ed Reyes says. "It's back to basics for us -- it's great to deal with a group of people who are enthusiastic about our music."
Cops won’t quit with the Coup’s Boots Riley
Norfolk, Va. police sure picked a belated time to come to the realization that hip-hop artists occasionally use four-letter words. During his set with the funk band Galactic at the Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Food Festival in Norfolk on June 21, the Bay Area-based rapper Boots Riley of the Coup came under fire for the obscure charge of "abusive language," under a law that the city hasn't invoked in 26 years, and never against a performer.
T.I.’s show at the Wiltern is canceled
Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.
Dear State Department, do you really wanna hurt him?
The only thing stranger than Boy George's planned concert for the City of New York Department of Sanitation’s annual Family Day on Aug. 17 is the latest bit of info that he won't be coming to the States after all. Boy George, who wanted to perform for the department in gratitude for "the kindness shown to him during his community service with them in 2006," has been denied permission to enter the U.S. This means his U.S. tour is scrapped too. A representative from the U.S. State Department declined to comment, stating that it is against policy to talk about individual visa cases.
Reporter’s Notebook: Why doesn’t Josh Homme’s homophobic rant mean the end of Queens of the Stone Age?
Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme had some disappointingly ironic timing in unleashing one of the most spectacularly offensive dressing-downs of a fan I've ever seen. At Oslo's Norwegian Wood festival Friday, a feverish and justifiably peeved Homme called out a young audience member for chucking a bottle at him during a performance of Queens' song "3's and 7's." But what followed was a diatribe that demolished all boundaries of taste (the kid didn't seem to mind, though, as he tossed devil horns and grinned the whole time he was being escorted out).
The rant is deeply un-postable on a family music blog (though it's easy to find on YouTube if you search for "Josh Homme" and "Norwegian Wood"), but highlights include repeated use of the word "faggot" coupled with an odd threat from Homme to have forcible sex with the male fan in front of his friends. Whether he was right or wrong to stop the show and yell at the kid is one thing, but does this disgusting meltdown mean one should re-think their QOTSA fandom?
Pop music is certainly not immune from blatant homophobia, and Homme was admittedly in a volatile spot after the bottle altercation. But still, when an artist says something this ugly, even in a heated onstage fight, should fans still support them afterward? If Homme had used other minority epithets, like ones used to slur African Americans or Latinos, he'd likely never be able to make another major label record. Homophobia seems to be the last bastion of socially acceptable (or at least less socially punishable) discrimination and hate speech, and whatever Homme's personal thoughts on homosexuality are, this kind of casual ugliness and gross machismo only reinforces the double-standard in using particular epithets. Are some slurs just more career-ending than others?
-- August Brown
Photo by Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times
R. Kelly acquitted of child pornography charges
R&B superstar R. Kelly may be still "Trapped in the Closet," but he is no longer trapped in the courtroom. A Cook County, Illinois, jury today acquitted him of child pornography charges, ending a high-profile trial that involved a caterpillar-shaped mole but, regrettably, no midgets.
For the full lowdown from the Chicago Tribune, click here.
So what do we think? Was justice served? Leave your comments below.
-- Margaret Wappler
Photo of R. Kelly waving to fans today after leaving the Cook County Criminal Court Building by M. Spencer Green / Associated Press
Korn’s Davis ready to stretch with Britney’s old producer?
Curiosity has been running high in Korn Nation about the nature of singer Jonathan Davis’ solo album, but here’s a twist that fans of the L.A.-based metal monolith might not have anticipated: Davis will do some tryout work in the studio with English producer Guy Sigsworth, who’s made his name working with artists of a distinctly different temperament and gender — notably Björk, Imogen Heap (he was her bandmate in the group Frou Frou), Britney Spears and, most recently, Alanis Morissette.
Davis’ reps say nothing is confirmed, but Sigsworth says Davis called and proposed a session in L.A. “It felt so right because it was so completely, utterly unlike everything else I’ve worked on,” says the producer, who stresses that it’s strictly an exploratory get-together that might or might not click.
Did Davis give any clues about his musical goals?
“He was saying to me that he wanted to sort of crash together the madder bits of Frank Zappa with the madder bits of Peter Gabriel. And I thought, ‘OK, that’s a good starting place, let’s see what happens.’ It has to be worth a shot, doesn’t it? I’d love it if it pans out.”
When Sigsworth comes to L.A. to brainstorm with Davis this month, he’ll also spend time in the studio with Spears. He’s produced three songs for her, including the 2004 hit “Everytime.”
“It’s weird to think I’m doing him and Britney at the same time,” he says. “I don’t know if I’ll try to persuade them to do a duet together. That might be pushing it too far.”
Please, Guy, push it. That’s something the world needs to hear.
— Richard Cromelin
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is in rehab — for his foot
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler checked himself into an unidentified rehab facility earlier this month to recover from recent foot surgery. A spokeswoman for Tyler said the surgery was done "to correct longtime foot injuries resulting from his ... athletic stage performances."
Tyler checked himself, but his spokeswoman said, "I have no further information available" on the nature of the rehabilitation. No further word on whether it is for physical treatment for the foot itself or substance-related due to medications used in the course of the surgery and post-surgery.
“The doctors told me the pain in my feet could be corrected but it would require a few surgeries over time,” Tyler said in a statement issued today. “The ‘foot repair’ pain was intense, greater than I'd anticipated. The months of rehabilitative care and the painful strain of physical therapy were traumatic.
"I really needed a safe environment to recuperate where I could shut off my phone and get back on my feet," Tyler's statement continued. "Make no mistake, Aerosmith has no plans to stop rocking. There’s a new album to record, then another tour.”
-- Randy Lewis
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Accidents, and a secret show, will happen?
Veronica, Alison, get thee to the El Rey tonight: Rumor has it that your favorite bespectacled Catholic (lapsed?) will be playing a secret show after his turn tonight at the Hollywood Bowl. We confess we know no more than that but a phone call to the El Rey revealed someone rehearsing in the background, though there is nary a name on the official schedule for tonight.
--Margaret Wappler
Photo by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Calling all L.A. female drummers — Chromeo needs you
For all you wannabe Mo Tuckers, Cindy Blackmans and Susie Ibarras out there, your time has come. The electrofunk duo Chromeo is looking for a lady drummer to perform "Fancy Footwork" with them on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on June 17. What are the requirements? According to the call out sent by a band representative, you need to be in the studio "roughly 2pm to 8pm" and you need to be down for "some costuming and movement + snare drum playing." Oh, and you "don't need to be Sheila E. or anything." Sounds like an easy way to make $308 to me. To be considered, contact Mac Burrus from "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" at jklmusic@gmail.com.
-- Margaret Wappler
Photo by May Truong
Sunset Junction adds some punctuation — !!!
Dance party on Sunset Boulevard -- alert the authorities.
Brooklyn eight-piece !!! (Chk Chk Chk) will be announced as a Sunday headliner for the Sunset Junction Street Festival, sources say. The two-day, three-stage fair -- with carnival rides, food booths and plenty of toasty pavement -- goes off Aug. 23-24 in Silver Lake.
Isaac Hayes and Stephanie Mills will join the party too -- along with the likes of Langhorne Slim, Menomena and Health. Previously confirmed for the festival were Cold War Kids and Broken Social Scene on Saturday night, and Sister Nancy, Kinky and the Black Keys on Sunday night, as well as a reunion of psych-rockers Beachwood Sparks.
The Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra will be headlining the Sanborn Stage on Saturday night.
The annual steamy shindig always offers a pretty decent barometer of the local scene too, with SoCal bands occupying the afternoon and early-evening slots on the rock-oriented Bates Stage. This year's no different -- besides ascendant noise-rock outfit Health, the Happy Hollows, Radars to the Sky, the Henry Clay People and Gram Rabbit are a handful of the locals said to be playing the festival. Stay tuned for more.
The schedule so far is posted here.
-- Kevin Bronson
Photo/collage of !!! courtesy of Warp Records
Reunited Beachwood Sparks to join Cold War Kids, Broken Social Scene at Sunset Junction
Beachwood Sparks, the L.A.-based band that breathed some new life into California psychedelia in the early part of this decade, will play the Sunset Junction Street Festival in August as part of a reformation that will see the group begin work on its third full-length album.
"It just feels like everybody involved, including the audience and the fans, are ready for it," singer-bassist Brent Rademaker says from Tampa, Fla., the hometown to which he returned two years ago. "We started the process a while back, and when Chris [Gunst] came down for my wedding, we said, 'You know, we've got to get Beachwood Sparks started again.' "
According to the festival's website, Cold War Kids, Broken Social Scene, the Black Keys and Kinky are acts confirmed so far to play Sunset Junction, the annual street fair on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. This year's dates are Aug. 23-24.
Beachwood Sparks never actually broke up, but the band has been idle since 2003. It released two albums and an EP on Sub Pop, which announced last spring that the group would reunite to play July 13 in Seattle in honor of the label's 20th birthday. It turns out -- and Rademaker acknowledged the band wasn't quite certain of this -- that Beachwood Sparks is still under contract to Sub Pop for a third album. Now he says the band is aiming to hit the studio this winter -- somewhere around an Australian tour, the details of which have not yet been announced.
During Beachwood Sparks' down time, its members have been involved, variously, with bands such as Mystic Chords of Memory, the Tyde, Frausdots and All Night Radio, among others. The reunion shows will likely go off without key member Farmer Dave Scher, who is working as the touring keyboardist for Interpol. The lineup will look something like this: Rademaker (vocals/bass), Gunst (vocals/guitar), Aaron Sperske (drums), Jen Cohen Gunst (Gunst's wife and collaborator in Mystic Chords, on keys), Ben Knight (guitar) and Dan Horne (pedal steel).
No word yet on which night Beachwood Sparks will play. Stay tuned for lineup updates.
||| Download: Beachwood Sparks' "Confusion Is Nothing."
-- Kevin Bronson
Photo courtesy of Sub Pop
Metallica to play Wiltern on Wednesday
Legendary Bay Area rock band Metallica has just announced a special concert benefiting Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea's Silverlake Conservatory of Music, taking place Wednesday, May 14, at the 2,200-person-capacity Wiltern in Los Angeles. Tickets for the gig go on sale tomorrow (Sunday) at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster and will set you back $200 (plus handling fees) -- an arguably small price to pay to see the metal gods in such an intimate setting.
Metallica will headline the show, with Scars on Broadway (featuring members of System of a Down), opening.
VIP packages at $500 are also available; these will include a gift bag and admission to the after-party. For more information on how to purchase VIP tickets for the event, contract Jennifer Rey at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music.
Update: As of Monday at 12:30 p.m., $200 tickets are still available for the show via Ticketmaster's website.
-- Charlie Amter
Photo of frontman James Hetfield in 2003 by Stefano Paltera / For the Times
Porker MIA: Reward offered for Coachella’s missing plastic pig
The critical information inquiring minds want to know about the giant stage prop that disappeared during Roger Waters’ closing performance Sunday night at Coachella isn’t so much where it is now but exactly how a two-story inflatable pig masterminds a daring escape in front of tens of thousands of fans in the first place.
Festival organizers are mum, except for offering a $10,000 reward plus four lifetime passes to Coachella to whoever can bring about the safe return of the plastic porker. Contact them at lostpig@coachella.com.
Conspiracy can’t be ruled out, considering this isn’t the first pig to float off into the night sky in recent times. On Waters’ 2006 tour centered around complete performances of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” the graffiti-inscribed oinker was allowed to drift away on several occasions, including the opening show of his three-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl. Local authorities said Waters would face charges if it happened again, and, to no one’s surprise, Porky remained contentedly tethered during the other two L.A. shows.
But what of those that did break the bonds of their terrestrial masters? Did they just fly off in search of bluer pastures? Or is it something more sinister, perhaps a protest against the wanton disregard of the inalienable right of synthetic gaseous critters to life, liberty and the pursuit of inflatable corn husks? Perhaps Waters needs a less-feisty breed of helium-filled animal. How about a nice, loyal inflatable Holstein? He could call it the Dark Side of the Moo.
--Randy Lewis
Photo: Steve C. Mitchell/EPA
Coldplay to play free show at MSG
Setting the stage for the arrival of Coldplay’s new album, “Viva la Vida,” the British group is making the first single, “Violet Hill,” available for free download for one week starting today, and has announced free concerts in London and New York City around the time the album comes out June 17.
The shows will be June 17 at Brixton Academy in London and June 23 at Madison Square Garden. Tickets will be available through a contest on the band’s website, which also will be the platform for downloading the single before it’s available from digital retailers on May 6.
The new album, the follow-up to Coldplay’s multi-platinum 2005 collection, “X&Y,” is widely considered one of the year’s biggest releases and was produced by Brian Eno and Markus Dravs.
- Randy Lewis
