Thursday, June 30, 2016

OFFICIAL RECORD STORE CRAWL ANNOUNCES ‘SUMMER SERIES’, EXPANDS TO CITIES ACROSS THE US

OFFICIAL RECORD STORE CRAWL ANNOUNCES ‘SUMMER SERIES’, EXPANDS TO CITIES ACROSS THE US



Participants to be Escorted by Bus to Top Record Stores In LA, Austin, Nashville, NYC, Chicago, Washington DC, and Portland

Nico Yaryan, Big Jesus, Sammy Brue, Charlie Worsham, Heliotropes, Sleep On It, Good Old War and More to Perform

Audiophiles, record enthusiasts, and music lovers are invited to join the official Record Store Crawl “Summer Series”, taking place in various US cities throughout July and August. Participants will be escorted by bus to some of each city’s best record stores with performances from various artists along the way. Tickets range from $29.95 to $59.95, and can be purchased at www.recordstorecrawl.com. The event follows on the success of the recently held Record Store Day Crawl, which took place in New York in April, with performances from indie rockers, Bear Hands. The event was originally conceived in 2007 by John Kunz of Austin institution, Waterloo Records, as a local promotion with participating stores to celebrate Record Store Day.

Record Store Crawl participants will enjoy:
·      A seat on the Record Store Crawl bus;
·      A one-of-a-kind performance;
·      Food and drinks;
·      A gift bag including a mystery vinyl LP and other limited edition gifts;
·      KIND Snacks throughout the day;
·      Discounts at participating records stores; and
·      Various other giveaways.

Record Store Crawl “Summer Series” Schedule:
7/23 – Los Angeles, CA, performance by Nico Yaryan (Partisan Records)
7/24 – Austin, TX, TBD performance
7/30 – Nashville, TN, performance by Big Jesus (Mascot Records), Sammy Brue (New West Records), and Charlie Worsham (Warner Music Nashville)
7/30 – New York, NY, performance by Heliotropes (The End Records)
8/6 – Chicago, IL, performance by Sleep On It (unsigned)
8/6 – Washington, D.C., performance by Good Old War (Nettwerk Records)
8/13 – Portland, OR, TBD performance

The full Record Store Crawl itinerary will be revealed the week of each crawl. 

Record Store Crawl partners include: Amoeba, Artist & Fleas, Baby’s All Right, Bleecker Street Records, Brightest Young Things, Cheesie’s Pub & Grub, Do512, Do503, DoLA, doNYC, Everyday Music, Fond Object, Gibson Showroom, Gigantic Brewing Company, Grimey’s, HiFi Records, High-Fidelity, Illinois Entertainer, Joint Custody Records, KIND Snacks, Laurie’s Planet of Sound, Mascot Records, Music Millenium, Nettwerk Records, New West Records, Opal Divine’s, Permanent Records, Red Onion Records, Reckless Records, Rough Trade, Smash Records, Som Records, Songbyrd Music House & Record Café, Sunset Sound, The Basement East, The End Records, The Groove Nashville, The Record Parlour, The Vinyl District, The York, Third Man Records, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Two Boots, U-Turn Audio, Vinyl Tap, W Washington Hotel, and Warner Music Nashville. 

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

The Death of Photography

The Death of Photography: Punk & Hedonism Lives On, in Fascinating Photography Book by “Last Person” to see Sid Vicious Alive



Written and compiled by the man himself, Peter Gravelle, ‘The Death of Photography’ commences in the low-culture, underground world of punk rock at the height of its glory and tracks his career through fashion and high art. Gravelle was a pioneer in music and fashion photography and now, forty years after punk rock first hit London, he is back to share his uninhibited story. Told through a collection of bold images and a captivating narrative, Gravelle gives readers a unique periscope back into that filthy, fury-filled era; including newly-released information on Sid Vicious’s last night alive – with Gravelle by his side.

A book of sex, drugs and rock and roll (and fashion).

The End of Photography is a redemption, a confessional and a reflection on forty years of hedonism and making art. Gravelle burns the myths, tells the stories and reveals a textured and
intelligent picture of a truly maverick life.
Peter Gravelle is a photographer that has a body of work spanning 40 years of music, fashion, portraiture and creativity with a backstory overshadowed by the dark side of drug dependency.
From the filth and the fury to the elegant extravaganza, ‘Peter Gravelle’, the many named photographer, has remained in the shadows of punk rock, low culture and high fashion, deflecting attention while steadily producing an epic body of iconic work.

‘The Death of Photography’ is a tour de force, a high end art book showcasing forty years of the best punk, fashion and portraiture of Gravelle’s career. Heavily stylised images are woven together with Gravelle’s own fascinating recollections from a live lived in technicolour.
There comes a time when a man needs to testify. Gravelle has no axe to grind nor star ego to feed . . . His intelligent storytelling is a fresh perspective on some of the most pivotal moments in our pop cultural history told without exaggeration or romance. This truth telling is a catharsis, not prettified or censored just what happened, because it happened.

Behind the glittering facade of the fashion business, Milan, Paris, Athens, Tokyo, NYC, LA - he has been there, witness to the dark underbelly of the trade.

“There was a time when I was the punk rock photographer – as defined the world over,” explains the author, most notably known for his close and hedonistic relationship with Sid Vicious. “I wanted to showcase the warts-and-all story of my career before those who remember punk rock go senile. I can’t believe forty years have passed!”  “I cover everything from my first experience photographing The Damned for free, right through to the night I spent with Sid, eventually becoming one of the last people to be with him before he died of his overdose. Many of the book’s images and stories have never before been made public.”

Readers agree Gravelle’s work is unique. One reviewer commenting, “Gives an insight into what was and is still considered to be, an exciting time of change and expectations. Fabulous images with a narrative that is interesting and honest from a man who engaged with the famous and the infamous - Great read.”
Alistair Findlay adds, “A pot-pourri, a potage, a cornucopia of obsession, addiction and creativity, THE DEATH OF PHOTOGRAPHY still stands as a unique testament of the punk era, and so much more.”
‘The Death of Photography’, from Carpet Bombing Culture, is available now: http://amzn.to/1YpFw23.



Friday, June 24, 2016

Olive Films Releases Acclaimed "Lost" Film, Controversial Film about the Troubles, and Angie Dickinson's First Major Role







Olive Films, a boutique theatrical and home entertainment distribution label dedicated to bringing independent, foreign, and classic films to DVD and Blu-ray, is excited to announce that July 19th will be the Blu-ray debut of six films. Among these are The Ratings Game, Danny Devito’s acclaimed directorial debut that has been lost for over thirty years; The Outsider, a film about the Troubles that sparked controversy; and Gun the Man Down, an underrated but intriguing Western that features the debuts of several talents.




THE RATINGS GAME (1984)

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Showtime’s first original movie, The Ratings Game actor-director Danny DeVito and producer David Jablin sought to finally bring their passion project to the home video market. "Being collectors of Special Edition discs of our favorite films, we decided that if we were going to do it at all, we’d want to give our ‘baby’ the same kind of loving treatment and do it in a way that would appeal to comedy fans and video collectors like ourselves,” said DeVito.
“In looking for a distributor, we specifically wanted a filmmaker-friendly company that would recognize and respect that this was a passion project for Danny and I and still is" said Jablin. It’s been great dealing with everyone at Olive who have truly cared about getting all the details right as much as we have. Danny had the one print ever made of the film for its 1984 big screen premier party in storage all this time and Olive Films has done a absolutely beautiful job restoring it in full HD,” said Jablin.
In 1984, Showtime Networks made their first foray into original movies withThe Ratings Game starring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, which also marked DeVito’s feature directing debut. The hilarious and biting take-down of the ratings-obsessed network television industry was greeted with love-letter reviews from critics and fans alike. The feature also boasts an eclectic comedy ensemble with performances from Gerrit Graham, George Wendt, Vincent Schiavelli, Ronny Graham, Steve Allen, Huntz Hall, Michael Richards, and Jerry Seinfeld. Unfortunately, after its premiere, the film slipped through the cracks of the network's slowly evolving distribution channels and fell into obscurity as a result, "except with its many fans who continue to hound us for copies to this day" said Jablin.
With some notoriously bad, foreign-made bootleg versions floating around under the name The Mogul, the film has remained essentially lost for over 30 years. "The mere existence of those totally crap bootleg copies really stuck in our craw and definitely motivated us to set the record straight and put out our film in all of its original glory" said DeVito. 
In addition to the film itself, the DVD and Blu-ray will come with a liner notes booklet with photos and art from the film as well as a rare collection of four early short films directed by DeVito. Producer David Jablin said, “The bonus materials we included have also never been distributed on disc and were fan favorites from our early work. Altogether they tell the story of Danny’s journey as a film director of distinction.”
 
THE OUTSIDER (1980)


Olive Films' history of releasing forgotten and controversial films continues with The Outsider, a film about the Irish Troubles. The story of a disillusioned American Vietnam veteran who goes to fight for the I.R.A. only to discover he’s their pawn, the film received praise for its depiction of the moral murkiness of the Troubles. By all accounts, it is a war film with no heroism, glory, or ideals. Moreover, residents of Belfast frequently identify the movie’s portrayal of 1973 working class Belfast as one of cinema’s most realistic.

The Outsider became the subject of controversy at its release due to its depiction of a British officer torturing an Irish prisoner. The film proved so controversial, in fact, that it was actually dropped from the 1979 London Film Festival. Having never been on disc before in the United States, Olive Films will be giving it its Blu-ray and DVD debut on July 19th.

 
GUN THE MAN DOWN (1956)

Gun the Man Down is a relatively obscure but entertaining Western. It is also a film of firsts. It was Angie Dickinson’s first starring role and the first Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, who went on to direct McLintock!, 116 episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, and 96 episodes of Gunsmoke. McLaglen’s direction isn’t the only thing Gunsmoke fans will recognize, because James Arness, known for playing Marshal Matt Dillon on the show for 20 years, stars in the film. In fact, it was John Wayne (producer of Gun the Man Down through Batjac Productions), who recommended Arness for the Gunsmoke part. Besides being an intriguing installment in the Western genre, it should also be of interest to fans because of how many future icons contributed to it.
 
Other July Titles: Art & Facts
Blu-ray  debut of Hoodlum (1997), directed by Bill Duke, starring Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, Andy Garcia, Vanessa Williams, Cicely Tyson, and Queen Latifah.
 
Blu-ray debut of Gang Related (1997), directed by Jim Kouf, starring James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones, and David Paymer.
 

About Olive Films
Olive Films is a Chicago-based boutique theatrical and home entertainment distribution label dedicated to bringing independent, foreign, documentary, and classic films to life. Its catalog boasts over 500 titles ranging from Hollywood classics to contemporary titles. More information about Olive Films may be found at olivefilms.com or by contacting PR/Marketing Director Bradley Powell by email at Publicity@olivefilms.com or by phone at 630.444.1757.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Quintron & Miss Pussycat Announce Fall Tour

Quintron & Miss Pussycat Announce Fall Tour 



US Tour Dates
July 1 – Jacksonville, FL – Rain Dogs
July 2 – Orlando, FL – Will’s Pub
July 3 – St. Petersburg, FL – The Bends
Oct 7 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone Café
Oct 8 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird
Oct 9 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
Oct 10 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
Oct 11 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill
Oct 13 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Oct 14 – Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club
Oct 15 – Chicago, IL – The Hideout
Oct 16 – Detroit, MI – UFO Factory
Oct 18 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
Oct 19 – Rochester, NY – The Bug Jar
Oct 20 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East (Upstairs)
Oct 31 – New York, NY – Baby’s All Right
Nov 3 – Baltimore, MD – The Metro Gallery
Nov 5 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
Nov 9 – Durham, NC – The Pinhook
Nov 10 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
Nov 11 – Mobile, AL – The Merry Widow
Nov 12 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s

Quintron and Miss Pussycat have just announced a host of new dates for where they’ll return to New York and the East Coast. They’ve have been making genre-defying noise and hard rocking dance music in New Orleans for over fifteen years. The majority of their 14 full-length albums have the psychedelic soul of traditional New Orleans party music filtered through a tough distorted Hammond B-3 and a cache of self-made electronic instruments
The Quintron / Miss Pussycat experience is one of barely controlled electronic chaos, "Swamp-Tech" dance beats, small explosions, incredible clothes, and entertaining puppet stories. You can see them perform regularly at the SPELLCASTER LODGE New OrleansLouisiana or on one of their many tours around the world. This act somehow has equal relevance in sleazy nightclubs, pizza restaurants, and university lecture halls."

About Weather Warlock
Weather Warlock is the new project from New Orleans organist / instrument builder Quintron. This band is based entirely around his latest monster analog weather synthesizer (also called "Weather Warlock"). Side A starts in the mire of an electronic sunset with Quintron at the helm of the Weather Warlock synth, twiddling knobs and responding to the day's waning UV rays. Slowly, the Gulf Coast acid rock emerges courtesy of Aaron Hill (EyehategodKing Louie's Missing Monuments) on Drums, Gary Wrong (Wizzard SleeveVatican Dagger, etc) on supreme noise guitar, and Quintron on second guitar. Two of New Orleans more prolific free jazz reed players - Paul Grass (tenor sax) and Travis Blotskey (Baritone sax)  - help to glue this mass of southern scum rock to the lineage of serious free music shamans such as Sun Ra and Peter Brotzman.
Side B presents the Weather Warlock instrument alone in the drone zone - doing its solo thing during a very active and stormy New Orleans sunset with Quintron occasionally tweaking the controls in harmony. The resulting music is basically a greatest hits of what mother nature and Weather Warlock are capable of by themselves.

It should be noted that although the core members of this band are fairly regular - Q  and Gary Wrong on guitar / Aaron Hill on drums - the live show lineup is anything but constant. The touring version of Weather Warlock always includes improvisers and musical luminaries from whatever city the band happens to be in. A recent NYC lineup included Steve ShelleyNels ClineSean Ono LennonPaula Henderson (Sun Ra Arkestra), and Luke Smith (Sun Ra Arkestra). The Miami lineup included noise guitar legend Rat Bastard, two DJs, and a Cuban percussionist. You can learn more about the instrument here:www.weatherfortheblind.org


Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Andy Animal Announces Meltasia 2016

Andy Animal Announces Meltasia 2016
On Labor Day Weekend Sep 4th to Sep 6th At The Old Game Farm in The Catskills
Featuring Shannon and The Clams, Pentagram, Natural Child, Kool Keith and Sheer Mag among others

Prepare yourselves for three whole days & nights in what was once known as "America's Zoological 
Playground.” Opened in 1933, The Catskill Game Farm was the nation’s first privately owned zoo, but had been left untouched since its closing in 2006. Empty animal pens and feeding bowls dotted the outdoor space, overgrown and dilapidated. In 2012, a family bought the land and renamed it The Old Game Farm. Now, the beautiful ruins of the 206-acre property will be brought back to life, with Meltasia Music Festival.
Andy Animal has been throwing private psychedelic camping parties in Phoenicia NY with lineups that included Mungo Jerry, Cherie Currie from The Runaways and The Black Lips.  This year it’s open to the public and even bigger with Shannon and The Clams, Pentagram, Natural Child, Kool Keith and Sheer Mag as well as some very special surprise guests.
After taking a year off in 2015, Andy has announced 2016’s festival to take place in his home turf of The Catskills. The camping will be situated in the old animal enclosures with the DJ booth being located in the old monkey cage. It’s truly going to be a mind bending, not to be missed experience.


Monday, June 13, 2016

CHICAGO: Iggy Pop: Live in Basel 2015 hits the Music Box June 16th and 18th!



Iggy Pop: Live in Basel 2015 hits the Music Box June 16th and 18th!

Iggy Pop, the outstanding artist known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics, sings at the Baloise Session in Basel, Switzerland, where he was honored with a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Music Box Theatre is excited to offer audiences a second chance to see this legend in concert!  Fans can venture to the Music Box and experience his performance on the big screen June 16th and 18th.

Experience Iggy Pop: Live in Basel 2015 at The Music Box Theatre on June 16th and June 18th, 2016. For further information, please visit www.musicboxtheatre.com 

About the concert-
There‘s a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk — every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-‘60s/ early-‘70s band, the Stooges, who reunited in 2003 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Iggy Pop, an outstanding artist known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics, sings at the Baloise Session in Basel, Switzerland, where he was honored with a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award.

This fantastic performance features all of Iggy Pop’s top hits, including “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, “The Passenger”, “Lust for Life” and many more.

The Program –
1. No Fun
2. I Wanna Be Your Dog
3. Passenger
4. Lust For Life
5. Skull Ring
6. Sweet Sixteen
7. 5 Foot 1
8. 1969
9. Sister Midnight
10. Wild One
11. Nightclubbing
12. Some Weird Sin
13. Mass Production
14. I'm Bored
15. Funtime
16. Neighborhood Threat
17. Down The Street
18. Search And Destroy


About The Music Box Theatre-
For the last two decades, the Music Box Theatre has been the premiere venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films. It currently has the largest theater space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States.

Follow The Music Box Theatre on Instagram @musicboxchicago and Twitter @musicboxtheatre

Friday, May 6, 2016

J Mascis Buys Sensible Vehicle, Almost Breaks Internet

PUNKS NOT DEAD, BUT IS DOES HAVE A HANDICAPPED PARKING PASS NOW


Dinosaur Jr. frontman, J. Masics spent the weekend in NorthHampton, MA browsing for a sensible vehicle to drive his family around in. Dressed in his signature clear and red glasses, amazing purple vans, Teen Idles tshirt and eyeball hat Mascis inks the deal on the contract. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the salesman back the new VW Golf into a handicapped parking space, poses for a photo and is on his way. Little did he know, INTERNET BROKEN.

The tweets and Facebook shares began, shared over 600 times in 24 hours. The comments range from frantic indie fans sharing with their friends and an occasional laugh to the brilliant "A VW Golf is much too small to carry 6 Marshall full stacks. I don't know what he was thinking" from Tyler Zachow.

In a world where Donald Trump exists as an ACTUAL presidential candidate and posts racist remark after racist remark, I needed this. And I am sure you did too. So blast my favorite Dino Jr. album "You're Living All Over Me" and have a great weekend!




Thursday, May 5, 2016

Links to Get You Through The Week


From time to time I like to act as an aggregator and post interesting things that I find on the internet, its how my blog started and how its gonna be! So enjoy! The weekend is almost here!




An awesome interview with Tom Desavia about 70s LA Punk over at Night Flight

Check out a new documentary on The Dicks from Texas, one of the greatest punk bands of their time. also on Night Flight

THIS VIDEO OF LIT PERFORMING IN 1999 IS AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL ARTIFACT OF A FORGOTTEN TIME (from Vice Motherboard) I found this to be a hilarious(and true) read! But mostly hilarious!









(me with Exene and John Doe in 2010)





The new issue of No Friends is now available on their newly redesigned website. I write a column called "Let's Start a Fire" for No Friends that analyzes punk and things that I consider punk that other may not. The point is to expose punks to other things they may not know about.

Issue #3 has interviews with Oakland art-damaged, weirdo punks Violence Creeps, bleak Icelandic post-punks Börn, Los Angeles (by way of Chicago) stand-up comedian Kyle Kinane, ringleader behind Halo of Flies Records and Protestant -- Corey Von Bohlen, angular’n’dancey English punks Shopping, the composer of the soundtrack to the film It Follows – Disasterpeace, Vermont’s queer-centric record label Stickshift Records, comedian Caitlin Gill, long running zine editor and cartoonist Robin Bougie of Cinema Sewer fanzine, international DIY documentarian John Yingling of the World Underground series – focusing on East Asian DIY music and arts communites, Buffalo, NY’s one-woman lo-fi punk powerhouse Jamie and the Debt.

Plus tons of columns, hundreds of music reviews, and articles about stuff like how to go skateboarding in North Korea, 120 pages of some of the most interesting and most entertaining DIY punk/hardcore/whatever coverage you’re gonna find these days.

And as always, every copy of the zine comes with a 7” flexi record. Issue #3 will come with exclusive tracks from Oakland’s Violence Creeps, the straight-ahead screech and riffs of Brooklyn, NY’s Shockwaves, Chicago’s weirdo-punk noiseniks TV Slime, and the best goddamn teenaged punk band the city of Bellwood has to offer, Bleeding Gums.


If you are anywhere near Richmond, VA there is an amazing festival coming up on MAY 14-15th featuring Mooster Records very own Stiletto Bomb.

Break Even is a two day event in Richmond , and is proud to bring not only The Huntingtons back to RVA, but also The Parasites, (Who've had a 20 year absence in the city.) It will be kicking off Saturday May 14th at 9pm at Wonderland, and will be followed by a 4pm Start time on Sunday May 15th at The Camel. We have the basic guidelines, but there is still plenty of things to come, and quite a few more bands to be announced, so keep your eyes peeled! Nightly Rosters as they stand for now posted below!

Saturday : Wonderland RVA -9pm- 21+ $10
Huntingtons (Playing Get Lost in it's entirety!)
The Prozacs
Insubordination


Sunday : The Camel - 4pm- All Ages- $10
Parasites
Savage Remains
The Gospel
Clever Girl
Stiletto Bomb(MOOSTER RECORDS)
Burn In Hell (Vendor)





Tuesday, May 3, 2016


SOUTHBOUND
“Eerie to the extreme.”
– 
Rolling Stone

From the Creators of the V/H/S Trilogy

Available on DVD May 17
Now on Digital and On Demand

Bonus Features Include Commentary, Deleted Scenes Reel, Outtakes Reel, Plus Photo Gallery



All roads lead to terror in the acclaimed horror anthology SOUTHBOUND, available on DVD May 17, 2016, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. From the creators of the popular V/H/S trilogy, the movie follows the fates of a group of weary travelers who confront their worst nightmares over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway. Directed by Roxanne Benjamin (producer, V/H/S 1-3), David Bruckner (V/H/S), Patrick Horvath (Entrance) and the film collective known as Radio Silence (V/H/S), the movie stars Kate Beahan (TV’s “Mistresses”, The Wicker Man), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (V/H/S), and Mather Zickel (TV’s “Masters of Sex,” Hail, Caesar!).

An Official Selection at Fantastic Fest 2015 and the 2015 Scary Movies Film Festival, SOUTHBOUND had its World Premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was released by The Orchard theatrically and digitally earlier this year. Dubbed the “‘Twilight Zone’ for the indie horror generation” (Twitch), bonus features on the DVD include Commentary, Deleted Scenes Reel, Outtakes Reel, plus Photo Gallery. 

Synopsis:  On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers – two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation – are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in a series of interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.

SOUTHBOUND was produced by Roxanne Benjamin (V/H/S 1-3), Chris Harding (The Guest, You’re Next), Brad Miska (V/H/S ­1-3), Radio Silence (V/H/S) and Greg Newman (Stake Land, The House of the Devil). Executive producers are Malik B. Ali, Badie Ali, Hamza Ali, David A. Smith and Christopher Alender. It has a run time of approximately 89 minutes and is rated R for bloody horror, violence, language throughout, and brief drug use.


REVIEW TO FOLLOW