Boredoms update, and Acrassicauda/Metallica

Pitchfork has the scoop on the Boredoms’ latest, Super Roots 10, which has just been released and is apparently already a rarity. Their news item is titled “It Exists!”:

First off: an apology. Sometimes we get so busy pawing through Decemberists album cover news that we miss something big. And so we’re late to the punch on this one: Super Roots 10, the latest entry in the ongoing EP series from monolithic Osaka scene kingpins the Boredoms, is out now. It exists. There aren’t any copies up on Ebay yet, but if you keep a watchful eye out, you can probably own a copy for somewhere in the low triple-digits.

The EP went on sale last Wednesday, though CDJapan says that the first pressing is already completely sold out, unsurprisingly enough. The EP comes with typically headache-inducing cover art from frontman EYE, who also produced the thing. Thrill Jockey, the band’s U.S. label, has no word on an American release, so tough titties and happy downloading.

In other news: The story I was teasing about is now up. I went with Acrassicauda, the Iraqi band featured in the film Heavy Metal in Baghdad, to meet their idols Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Metallica machine was like nothing I’ve ever seen, a whole traveling army to put on their huge show and manage every backstage detail. And yet each member of the band spent a great deal of time meeting with Acrassicauda — privately, leaving celebs and industry well-wishers waiting — and encouraging them to keep the rock ’n’ roll faith. You’ll have to read the story to find out the astonishing extent of Metallica’s graciousness.

When I get time I will post the full interview with Acrassicauda.

Boredoms rumors: 9/09/09?

For various reasons, I didn’t go to the New York version of “88BOADRUM” on Friday night, which was led by Gang Gang Dance while the Boredoms themselves performed the piece in Los Angeles. “77BOADRUM,” last year, was one of the concert highlights of my life. But I knew that this one, while cool, could not compare; I’d rather hold on to the memory. (More important were conflicting social plans — I had a date with a very important 4-month-old that no number of indie drummers and freeloaders in skinny jeans was going to keep me from.)

But a source in Los Angeles tells me that when Eye was asked whether he would gather 99 drummers on 9/09/09 for a third iteration of the “BOADRUM” cycle, he had a surprising answer: 99 drummers was “too much,” but he would consider doing it with 9.

So who knows whether the show will happen, but we at least have learned one thing about Boreology: 77 is good, 88 is good, 99 is too much. I would love to know what the exact cutoff is.

Boredoms sign to Thrill Jockey

They had been on Vice, who seemed to have been very good to them. (And were the force behind “77BOADRUM.”) Why did they leave?

2007: The year in live music

In 2007 I saw 135 shows, not counting theater, TV tapings and some other nonmusical events. Here’s the list, with faves in bold itals. The hands-down winner is the Boredoms’ epochal “77BOADRUM” on 7/7. Runner-up: Dirty Projectors on 12/4. Worst is probably Mos Def on 1/17.


1/10: Love Arcade @ Bowery Ballroom
1/10: Cold War Kids @ Pianos
1/17: Mos Def’s Big Band (Lincoln Center American Songbook) @ Allen Room
1/24: Camera Obscura, Essex Green @ Warsaw
2/2: Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver, Adem, CocoRose, Cibelle (David Byrne Perspectives: “Welcome to Dreamland”) @ Carnegie Hall
2/3: Estrella Morente (World Music Institute Flamenco Festival) @ Town Hall
2/4: Haale, Alarm Will Sound, Camille (David Byrne Perspectives: “One Note”) @ Zankel Hall
2/7: Libby Johnson @ Rockwood Music Hall
2/7: Essie Jain, Mike Wexler @ Tonic
2/8: Calexico (Lincoln Center American Songbook) @ Allen Room
2/16: Arcade Fire @ Judson Memorial Church
2/17: Gang Gang Dance @ Studio B
3/19: Chris Daughtry @ Irving Plaza
3/24: Lightning Bolt, Barr, Marnie Stern @ 3rd Ward
3/30: “Festival of India: Colors of Rajasthan,” Gulabi Sapera and Party (World Music Institute) @ Symphony Space
3/30: Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra @ Zankel Hall
3/30: Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (ReTros) @ Luna Lounge
3/31: LCD Soundsystem, planningtorock @ Bowery Ballroom
4/4: Alfred Brendel (Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart) @ Carnegie Hall
4/5: Land of Talk, Mahogany @ Mercury Lounge
4/9: Iggy and the Stooges, Sistas in the Pit @ United Palace Theater
4/10: Klaxons, Bonde do Rôle @ Bowery Ballroom
4/11: Lily Allen, the Bird and the Bee @ Irving Plaza
4/13: The Locust, Daughters, Cattle Decapitation @ Rebel
4/13: Roky Erickson and the Explosives @ Southpaw
4/14: Jandek (w/ Tim Foljahn & Pete Nolan) @ Abrons Arts Center @ Henry Street Settlement
4/14: Cloud Cult, Young Galaxy @ Mercury Lounge
4/30: Lou Reed, Okkervil River @ Highline Ballroom
5/4: Northern State, Boyskout @ Galapagos
5/5: Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio (screening/concert, Tribeca Film Festival) @ Pace University
5/9: Arcade Fire, The National (High Line Festival) @ Radio City Music Hall
5/16: Spanish Harlem Orchestra @ SOB’s
5/17: Ken Nordine (High Line Festival) @ Kitchen
5/19: Ricky Gervais (High Line Festival) @ Theater at Madison Square Garden
5/22: Vinicio Capossela @ Joe’s Pub
5/22: Bebel Gilberto @ Gramercy
5/27: Brand New @ Bowery Ballroom
6/1: Animal Collective, Danielson @ South Street Seaport
6/9: Bee Thousand 33⅓ “microshow” w/ Marc Woodworth (Todd P.) @ Don Pedro’s
6/14: Welcome, Georgie James @ Mercury Lounge
6/14: Jealous Girlfriends, Woggles @ Pianos
6/17: The Whitest Kids U’ Know @ Pianos
6/19: Erik Friedlander @ Marquee
6/19: White Stripes, Citizens Band @ Irving Plaza
6/21: Richard Thompson, Ollabelle @ Celebrate Brooklyn
6/24: Superchunk, Oakley Hall @ McCarren Pool
6/24: Arms and Legs @ Cake Shop
7/7: Boredoms “77BOADRUM” @ Brooklyn Bridge Park
7/11: Deerhunter, Ex Models @ Bowery Ballroom
7/12: The World Without Magic, Ford & Fitzroy @ Pianos
7/13: Menomena, Beat the Devil @ South Street Seaport
7/13: Jealous Girlfriends, Dappled Cities @ Mercury Lounge
7/17: Os Mutantes (Lincoln Center Festival) @ Rose Theater
7/17: Slint @ Webster Hall
7/20: Nick Lowe @ Housing Works Café
7/21: Siren Music Festival: M.I.A. etc. @ Coney Island
7/21: Gogol Bordello @ Irving Plaza
7/25: M.I.A. @ Studio B
7/26: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings @ Castle Clinton
7/27: Melvins @ Troubadour, LA
7/28: Rentals @ Spaceland, LA
8/12: Ted Leo, Thermals @ McCarren Pool
8/21: José González @ Spiegeltent
9/10: Dina Dean @ Rockwood Music Hall
9/10: Live Rock ’n’ Roll Karaoke @ Arlene Grocery
9/13: Ollabelle Taj Mahal people @ Banjo Jim’s
9/19: Nick Lowe, Holmes Brothers @ 7 World Trade Center
10/3: Modern Sky Festival day 2 (New Pants, Supermarket, Peng Tan, others) @ Haidian Park, Beijing
10/3: Joyside, Queen Sea Big Shark, Banana Monkey @ D-22, Beijing
10/4: Modern Sky Festival day 3 (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Carsick Cars, Arms and Legs, ReTros, S.A.W., 641, Submarine, The Young Kids, Tibet, Dead J, others) @ Haidian Park, Beijing
10/4: Notch festival (Kira Kira, Johann Johannsson) @ Yugongyishan, Beijing
10/5: ReTros, Birthday Boyz @ 2Kolegas, Beijing
10/6: Lonely China Day @ 2Kolegas, Beijing
10/7: Lie Tie Qiao (sax/drum improv) @ D-22, Beijing
10/9: Improv night (Yan Jun, etc.) @ 2Kolegas, Beijing
10/11: Birthday Boyz, Last Choice @ 4698, Changsha, China
10/12: Birthday Boyz @ Vox Bar, Wuhan, China
10/17: TK Webb and the Visions, Douglas Armour (CMJ) @ Glasslands Gallery
10/17: Fool’s Gold showcase w/ Cool Kids, Kid Sister, Nick Catchdubs (CMJ) @ Hiro Ballroom
10/18: We Are Wolves (CMJ) @ Fader CMJ space
10/18: Yo Majesty, Elk City (CMJ) @ Pianos
10/19: Yeasayer, Black Kids (CMJ) @ R Bar
10/19: Essie Jain, Leah Siegel (CMJ) @ Living Room
10/19: Sons and Daughters, Maccabees (CMJ) @ Bowery Ballroom
10/20: O’Death, Old Time Relijun (CMJ) @ The Yard, Brooklyn
10/20: White Willams (CMJ) @ Fader CMJ space
10/20: Justice (CMJ) @ Terminal 5
10/26: Brunettes, Wows @ Union Hall
10/27: Gamelan Cudamani @ Skirball Center @NYU
10/27: Bill Charlap Trio (Kenny Washington, Peter Washington) @ Village Vanguard
11/3: The Exit @ BAM (“BAM Takeover”)
11/4: Band of Horses, the Drones, Tyler Ramsey @ Terminal 5
11/12: Pipettes, Nicole Atkins @ Gramercy
11/16: Berlin Philharmonic (Kurtag, Mahler) @ Carnegie Hall
11/23: Black Dice, Sightings, Awesome Color @ Highline Ballroom
11/26: Julie Hardy @ 55 Bar
11/26: John Wolfington and friends: Tim Foljahn, Alexa Wilding @ Living Room (upstairs)
11/26: Antihoot: David L.K. Murphy, etc. @ Sidewalk Café
11/26: Jim Boggia, Jim Campilongo Electric Trio @ Living Room
11/26: Live Rock ’n’ Roll Karaoke @ Arlene Grocery
11/27: Cross Pollination #169: Bess Rogers, That Fleeting World @ Pianos
11/27: Michael Daves @ Rockwood Music Hall
11/28: Joel Frahm Trio (w/ John Ellis not Frahm) @ “The Salon at Arthur’s IP” (a.k.a. Arthur’s Invitations and Prints)
11/28: Tinariwen @ Other Music (in-store)
11/28: Defibulators @ Rodeo Bar
11/29: Dog Day @ Sound Fix Lounge
11/29: Howard Fishman @ Pete’s Candy Store
11/29: Anistar @ Zebulon
12/1: The Clean, Times New Viking, the Mad Scene @ Cake Shop
12/4: Ansel Matthews @ Zinc Bar
12/4: Terry Waldo @ Banjo Jim’s
12/4: Eli Degibri Trio @ Louis 649
12/4: Dirty Projectors, White Williams @ Bowery Ballroom
12/6: Taylor Mali, David L.K. Murphy @ Bowery Poetry Club
12/6: Old Time Jam with Zot’s Dream @ Freddy’s Back Room
12/6: Rachelle Garniez @ Barbès
12/6: Flying Lotus (not seen: El-P) @ Studio B
12/7: Harry Partch’s “Delusion of the Fury” @ Japan Society
12/8: Doc Marshalls @ Hill Country
12/11: Yo La Tengo @ Maxwell’s
12/12: Neil Young @ United Palace Theater
12/19: Trefoil @ St. Bartholomew
12/20: Harlem Blues and Jazz Band @ Trinity Church
12/20: Boys of St. Thomas Choir @ St. Thomas Church
12/21: Ethel etc. @ World Financial Center Winter Garden
12/27: “Roméo et Juliette” @ Metropolitan Opera
12/30: Chuck Berry @ B.B. King’s

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The year in records.

Classic Eye

(Via somebody.)

Boredoms tour dates

You have no excuse.

Sat 03/15 - Canes San Diego CA
Sun 03/16 - Henry Fonda Theater Los Angeles CA
Tue 03/18 - The Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco CA *
Thu 03/20 - Crystal Ballroom Portland OR
Fri 03/21 - Neumos Seattle WA
Tue 03/25 - First Avenue Minneapolis MN *
Wed 03/26 - Logan Square Auditorium Chicago IL
Sat 03/29 - Paradise Boston MA
Sun 03/30 - Terminal 5 New York NY *
Wed 04/02 - Starlight Ballroom Philadelphia PA
Thu 04/03 - 9:30 Club Washington DC

Asterisk: “in the round”

(News via BV. Photo via random Flickr.)

Best of 2007

ALBUMS

1. Dirty Projectors, Rise Above. Much has been said about the concept. And it’s brilliant. But what got me was how Dave Longstreth advanced the emerging indie-boys-discovering-Afropop minigenre. He rips up highlife and uses just what he wants — the sunny, melodic dance lines, the manic guitar counterpoint — which is exactly what he does with/to Black Flag and those Stockhausen-esque alien harmonies. Oh, and it kicks ass, too. (Example; Black Flag’s original.)

2. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand. This seemed a potential trainwreck when I first learned of it, but it turned out to be a glorious surprise. Luxuriant and masterly, it’s the O Brother, Where Art Thou? of blues, country and rockabilly, with a center of gravity in the 1950s instead of the ’20s.

3. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I gave it a mixed review when it came out because the looser, jammier approach of latter-day Spoon seemed less compelling than the structure-mad minimalism of the Kill the Moonlight era. But I was wrong. This is Britt Daniel in magnificent command of sound and vision, and though it’s less compositionally compressed than before, not a single sound is wasted.

4. Battles, Mirrored. The nuttiest, tightest and most surprisingly danceable math(ish)-rock album of the year.

5. Feist, The Reminder. First impression: Sounds like Feist. Six months later: Pretty much a perfect archetype of what soft-rock can be in the ’00s, tasteful and grown-up but squarely in the indie idiom, not folk. That means its interests extend beyond the acoustic guitar, and the central emotional tone is mature vulnerability, not earnestness.

6. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black. It was clear long before her Lohanization that Amy is a star. Back to Black is a broadly conceptualized, flawlessly executed vision of neo-soul, with big, hip-hop-y beats that could be samples were Amy and Mark Ronson — who deserves his share of credit — not in love with real, live sound. But listen again to the suicide note that is “Rehab”: she was fucked up way pre-Perez Hilton.

7. M.I.A., Kala. Actually my biggest disappointment. Ms. Arulpragasam made a very, very good album instead of another freakin’ unbelievable one. Her agitprop also threatens to get boring eventually. But I had the pleasure of interviewing her, and found her very willing to be challenged and debated on politics. A simple egotist/ideologue wouldn’t be.

8. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible. Second-biggest letdown, because three years ago they made a supreme statement of optimism and joy at a time when the ruling dogs were the Strokes, Modest Mouse, etc. Neon Bible is their apocalypse album, and it’s excellent. But it feels like 47 minutes in purgatory, which by definition isn’t exactly satisfying.

9. Avril Lavigne, The Best Damn Thing. It’s the best pop record I heard this year. So fuck you.

10. Radiohead, In Rainbows. It’s a bad year when your top 10 includes three disappointments. This is a gorgeous, classic Radiohead album — how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! — but it doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about the band.

THE NEXT 13

The National, Boxer
Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil
Linda Thompson, Versatile Heart
Beirut, The Flying Club Cup
Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
St. Vincent, Marry Me
Yeasayer, All Hour Cymbals
Kanye West, Graduation
Neil Young, Chrome Dreams II
White Stripes, Icky Thump
Essie Jain, We Made This Ourselves
Tegan & Sara, The Con

ALSO RECOMMENDED

Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare
Nicole Atkins, Neptune City
Meg Baird, Dear Companion
Big A Little a, gAame
The Bird and the Bee, s/t
Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
Bonde do Rôle, With Lasers
Deerhoof, Friend Opportunity
Deerhunter, Cryptograms
Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
Julie Doiron, Woke Myself Up
Dolorean, You Can’t Win
Justine Electra, Soft Rock
Tim Fite, Over the Counter Culture
Frames, The Cost
Fratellis, Costello Music
Erik Friedlander, Block Ice & Propane
José González, In Our Nature
Jesca Hoop, Kismet
Jennifer Gentle, The Midnight Room
Jesu, Conqueror
Klaxons, Myths of the Near Future
Lavender Diamond, Imagine Our Love
Bettye LaVette, The Scene of the Crime
LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
Nick Lowe, At My Age
Nellie McKay, Obligatory Villagers
Nina Nastasia & Jim White, You Follow Me
No Age, Weirdo Rippers
Okkervil River, The Strange Names
Josh Ritter, The Historical Conquests Of
Shins, Wincing the Night Away
Elliott Smith, New Moon
Spanish Harlem Orchestra, United We Swing
Mavis Staples, We’ll Never Turn Back
Marnie Stern, In Advance of the Broken Arm
Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior
Teddy Thompson, Up Front & Low Down
Ween, La Cucaracha
Tinariwen, Aman Iman
KT Tunstall, Drastic Fantastic
David Vandervelde, The Moonstation House Band
Voxtrot, s/t
Rufus Wainwright, Release the Stars
White Williams, Smoke
Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

REISSUES

Young Marble Giants, Colossal Youth
Betty Davis, Betty Davis/They Say I’m Different
Pylon, Gyrate

SINGLES

1. Amy Winehouse, “Rehab”
2. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
3. Avril Lavigne, “Girlfriend”
4. Bonde do Rôle, “Gasolina”
5. Lil Mama, “Lip Gloss”
6. Robin Thicke, “Lost Without U”
7. M.I.A., “Boyz”
8. Fratellis, “Chelsea Dagger”
9. Spoon, “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”
10. Grinderman, “No Pussy Blues”

HONORARY MENTIONS

Radiohead, “House of Cards”
Kanye West feat. Mos Def, ““Drunk and Hot Girls”
Bruce Springsteen, “Livin’ in the Future” (time travel theory here)

NOPE

Fall Out Boy
Architecture in Helsinki
I’m From Barcelona
Mos Def
Polyphonic Spree
Dean & Britta
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Sage Francis
Dntel

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Keyshia Cole
Rilo Kiley
Bjork

BLANK STARE

Levon Helm (he’s great and everything, but album is terrible, and gushy reviews are inexplicable)

REALLY, REALLY BUMMED OUT THAT I MISSED LIVE

Daft Punk

REALLY, REALLY GLAD I SAW LIVE

Dirty Projectors

TRULY IS THAT GOOD

Feist

SPECIAL CITATION FOR OPENING A PORTAL TO THE BORE-UNIVERSE FOR 77+ MINUTES

Boredoms, 77BOADRUM, Brooklyn, 7/7/07 (I was behind this guy, at position #69)

POOR THING

50 Cent

COOLEST TITLE

Tom Zé, Danç-Êh-Sá

DUMBEST TITLE

Radiohead, In Rainbows

BEST NEW BLOG BAND

Vampire Weekend

MOST OVERRATED NEW BLOG BAND

Black Kids

BEST USE OF ‘WOLF’ BY A CANADIAN INDIE BAND ...

AIDS Wolf

... AND WORST

Sea Wolf (because they’re from L.A.)

MOST PATHETIC KERFUFFLE

Fallout from Sasha Frere-Jones’s misguided essay on the whiteness of indie-rock. David Brooks should never write about music, with the possible exception of political allegories drawn from Marx Brothers musical numbers. As has been noted, Carl Wilson performed an excellent tear-down of Frere-Jones’s piece.

BIGGEST LIE

Live Earth. It had nothing to do with saving the planet and everything to do with Al Gore’s ego. Ever wonder why the musicians most outspoken about environmental issues — Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Radiohead, U2, even emissions-credit-buying Coldplay — were not involved?

WORST ALBUM OF 2007 (tie)

Prince, Planet Earth. Come on people, it sucks. And let’s all just admit it: he hasn’t done anything worthy since Diamonds and Pearls (’91) and nothing truly great since Lovesexy (’88). He’s awesome in concert and looks good and all, but please.

Jesse Malin, Glitter in the Gutter. Bruce, say it ain’t so.

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The year in live music.