I’m too sick to my stomach right now to even speculate what will be said at a press conference on Friday held by ear x-tacy’s owner John Timmons. The press release (below) only says that potential changes to ear x-tacy will be addressed. The tone of the release was not encouraging. Ear x-tacy is too important to lose, not only for the local music scene, but the Louisville community at whole. From now until Friday, lets make a pact. For every album you would go buy online (or “borrow” online) and for every album you would purchase at Best Buy, go to Ear x-tacy this week and pick it up (they even have a digital online music store). We’ll start there and then work our way forward. I’ve been collecting vinyl for a while now and there is no greater feeling than flipping through the stacks at ear X-tacy, finding that “gem” and enriching the collective music experience by knowing that you are contributing to something you love so much. We can start tonight. Louisville’s own The Watson Twins are playing an in-store show tonight at 5pm (I just got off the phone with ear x and the show is on despite the snow). Enjoy some great music and buy that album you’ve been thinking about all week. That is all for now. I’ll be at the press conference on Friday and I’ll let everyone know what I find out. Feel free to voice your opinions below. We need to show our support.
Via a press release:
ear X-tacy Owner Addresses Potential Changes
John Timmons, founder of the independent record store and owner for nearly 25 years, is expressing his concern for the survival of ear X-tacy, as we know it. Timmons will announce details of the store’s situation during a press conference Friday, February 12, at 10:00am, at the store,1534 Bardstown Road.
With the 10,000-square-foot prime location’s lease about to expire in March 2010, Timmons is focusing attention on the realities of a dire situation and the potential impact of losing one of the nation’s top 10 record stores. The absence of this local treasure would have a financial impact on the local media, especially public radio. It would affect concerts, promoters, and leave a void on Bardstown Road in the Highlands, an area already severely impacted by the economy’s downturn. The synergy of Louisville’s local businesses would be affected and the city’s music and cultural landscape definitely would be altered. The dynamics of “keep Louisville weird,” a local movement founded by John Timmons, would suffer from such a loss.
“This is not about business. It’s about something my customers have built and have come to expect. It’s about a place to experience music,” Timmons said. “Many tourists seem to make ear X-tacy a destination point as out-of-towners have learned about ear X-tacy through national exposure. I think the store is a place that makes Louisvillian’s proud. It’s been a community effort to build it and it’s going to take a community to sustain it.”
The Pomegranates are an amazing band from Cincy that has played Louisville a number of times. With each year, they get bigger and bigger and now their debut album, Everything is Alive, is going to be released on vinyl. It is going to be limited to 500 (100 black, 200 green, 200 red).
Oh where to begin. The third concert stop on my Morrissey Pilgrimage took me to San Diego… for all of about 3 hours. Since the show was an assigned seat type, I didn’t have the opportunity to queue for 10 hours. What a shame. So I didn’t get to see all the wonderful sights of San Diego, such as… well, I have no idea what else I would even want to see besides a concert hall where Morrissey is performing. Is there really anything else? There’s more to life than music you know, but not much more. No, not much more.
After a short two hour drive that expanded into a grueling three and a half hour trek, my friend April and I finally arrived in time for the doors to open, just 1 hour before show time. As we pulled into the parking lot that stole ten dollars from us to store our car we noticed a small gathering near the stage entrance. It was about time for Morrissey to walk into the venue, we just knew. Good thing it was a one-way street that I ran across, for I certainly didn’t look both ways while running to see what was about to happen. We saw our friend Wayne waiting behind a metal barrier, ready to say hello to Morrissey and offer him a gift. Just seconds after stepping to the sidewalk, and Moz’s car pulls up to the heavily guarded pathway. He stops for only a second, just to look at but not accept Wayne’s gift, and then in the building he goes. This is a giant leap for someone who normally does not even acknowledge that anyone is waiting around to meet him. I can understand this too, as there are some weirdos out there (myself included).
After the anti-climactic event of watching a person walk into a building, we decided it was time to take our own selves into that very same building. As we rounded the corner towards the front door I started to see many familiar faces. It’s nice to go to a city that I’ve never been to and immediately see ten or more certain people I know. Upon entering the venue everyone was groped and manhandled (or womanhandled) by security. As it was so elegantly spoken later in the evening, I was given a “taint massage”. No, not the good kind. Guess they thought my blazer and tie and big bright healthy smile were threatening. Of course they are. Everyone was then placed in a holding area lobby before doors were allowed to open. Though a seated venue, everyone couldn’t wait until we got to run down the aisle and into our seats. “No running! NO RUNNING!”, uh, sure. I don’t think that has ever worked for anyone. Everyone got in safely and nobody ran over another person, so we all passed on good conduct to enter the seated pit. I say a seated pit because that’s technically what it was, though the two rows of seats were abandoned quite promptly. A rail? With about a 4 foot gap to the stage? No person would be sitting for this. One of the best parts of this show was that everyone standing on that rail and the very few who got second row were all my Morrissey friends. It was as if Morrissey was playing a private show just for us. How nice.
The seats were hardly filled when Doll & The Kicks took stage, but the pit crew were certainly paying attention. We get our own private Doll & The Kicks show too?! Where do I sign! It was a treat seeing them open every night, and this was one of their best performances. By this show a few of my friends knew most of the words and were able to sing along with them. Even in the big venue it felt like our own intimate show as Doll was smiling while watching us sing along. I think the rest of the people in attendance took kindly to them as well. When the house lights came on after their set there were a lot more seats that were filled with clapping and cheering patrons. I was also able to finally be close enough to get a few decent iPhone pics of them. No way I could have got a real camera in after the above mentioned taint massage. I still urge you to listen to them, as I still have their CD playing in my car.
Then there is this charming man
Every time Morrissey arrives on stage an angel gets its wings. That’s a little known secret I heard on the internet and I believe it to be very true. Moz and The Lads hit the stage where he proclaimed, “San Diego, I give you my heart.” and then burst right into This Charming Man, pulling everyone into the show. Not that everyone wasn’t already anxiously awaiting to hang on every word during the set. However, when Morrissey walked on to the stage he was holding an Elvis record that he signed. Morrissey signed it, not Elvis (that would have been even cooler though). M was waving it around throughout singing This Charming Man, covering his face with it at times as if to sing through Elvis. If anyone is allowed to do that, it is Morrissey. I brought a gift into the venue of an Elvis vinyl record titled Let’s Be Friends, I figured he’d get a kick out of the title if he saw it. Seeing him come out with an Elvis record too made me smile; he has incredibly good taste. Nearing the end of the first song I knew that record couldn’t last, one can’t hold vinyl for an entire set. What was to come of it? Hold your horses and I’ll tell you. The song ended and he is moving across to stage right, where I just so happened to be standing. Morrissey takes the record, looks right square at me, and says ,”For you.” Other than looking at the setlist, I couldn’t tell you what he played next. I stood there holding my new record, unable to move. Someone could have set me on fire and I would not have even blinked an eye. I was not able to fully comprehend what had just happened (I’m still having trouble with it). Morrissey, possibly my favourite artist of all time, OF ALL TIME KANYE STYLE, presented me with a gift. It was like a scene in a movie where everything is in slow motion and you can’t really hear anything, just murmurs for a while until everything comes back in focus. What made it even better was that all of my friends were surrounding me and congratulating me, I felt at home. So yeah, I was having the best week ever.
*High quality MSPAINT skillz right there
The passing of the record wasn’t all there was to the show though. Morrissey crooned through the now typical setlist with Smiths classics such as Ask, Cemetery Gates, and Is It Really So Strange?, and solo b-sides like Ganglord, Teenage Dad On His Estate, and the song that is becoming an all time favourite of mine – Because Of My Poor Education. Somewhere in the midst of the set I noticed a stage invasion attempt was about to happen. If anyone was ever going to try it, this was the time and place to do so. Out of nowhere comes a friend of mine making a flying leap that would shame Superman. He made it up for only a second, but the bruises that would follow were worth the effort. After the song ended Morrissey looked at the successful invader and said “Action Man! Where’s Action Woman?”. We in the know were shocked by this, as the song title Action Man has been floating around for years but has never seen the light of day. Was this a hint at something to come?
Though there were no more successful stage invasions, there were plenty of handshakes going around as Morrissey seemed to be in a pleasant mood. Dare I say it again, was he… happy? As they came back on stage to take a bow before the encore, Moz passed by and I motioned him a thank you for my record and he gave a graceful motion of “you’re welcome”. I’ll still go to as many shows as I can, but I don’t believe anything will ever top this one.
Yeah – I said it…I’ve been converted and Lady Gaga beat out the new project by former members of Joy Division and New Order as well as The Smiths frontman Morrissey.
YOUNG WIDOWS Settle Down City LP Reissue on Auxiliary Records. Out of print for over two years, YOUNG WIDOWS debut album is now available again on 12″ LP. All copies on various mixed colored vinyl.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy has announced a new live LP (with digital download) through Drag City with The Picket Linecalled Funtown Comedown. I could not be more excited for this album. The album comes out November 17th December 15th, but you can PRE-ORDER HERE. (Thanks to Dan Lubbers for the heads-up.)
From Drag City:
LIVE (in the studio) is the Bonny one with next-generation bluegrass band known as The Picket Line. They’re the official dance band of Funtown, a metaphysical little community in the woods outside Louisville. Bonny and the boys (and girl) run through a set of BPB classics, some Palace songs and a few classic country covers. VINYL ONLY! (And download exclusively on the new-and-retro-improved www.dragcity.com!)
Abut the pressing…
Vinyl LP pressing. 2009 intimate live recording by Will Oldham (AKA Bonnie Prince Billy) and young Bluegrass band The Picket Line. In the wilds of greater outer Louisville Kentucky, there is a place called Funtown. You won’t find it on any map, and you might just lose yourself in the woods out there trying to pin it down to the ground as well. Yet, Funtown is a place, as much as it is a place of mind. It was in this place, in a clearing and on the shores of a pond, that Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy and The Picket Line combined forces to play his music and their music and other people’s music for a community of people to hear and watch and swing and step to. Live in front of friends and family is the way of Funtown. It was as fun as it sounds and more, in ways which have mostly been channeled down to the two sides of a groove and presented to you here, wrapped twice in full-color sleeves.
THE TEETH will finally be releasing their long awaited seven inch EP Clatter & Jive at a show on Saturday, November 14th at The Cathouse (747 s. preston st. one block south of broadway). Straight A’s opens. Doors at 9:30pm, music at 10pm with the sharpness. $5 covers your admission to the show plus gets you a FREE copy of the new record. On top of that there’s sure to be some additional freebies as well. Now that’s a deal that can’t be beat.
Here are some Karate Body related upcoming shows this month:
Nov. 2: eremy*JIrvin w/ Zee Avi @ Zanzabar. JIrvin’s exclusive track, “On My Own” appears on Vol. 9 of Louisville Is For Lovers. Copies of the limited edition red and white double vinyl available from karatebodyrecords.com. Nov. 6:The Fervor w/ Smug Brothers @ Zanzabar.The Fervor’s new song, “No Apology” appears on The Green Belt limited edition split 7-inch, available now from us, ear X-tacy and Underground Sounds. Copies will be for sale at this show. Smug Brothers features former members of Guided By Voices. 9 p.m. $6. Nov. 14:Wussy @ Headliners (Dare To Care Food-raiser). Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker open the show. Wussy’s exclusive track “Fly Fly Fly” appears on The Green Belt split 7-inch. Harper Simon and Company of Thieves also perform.
Nov. 14:Joe Manning @ Rudyard Kipling. Manning’s new song, “Lately at A Lesser Table” appears on The White Belt split 7-inch with riverboat soul provider Pokey LaFarge. Manning appears at The Rudyard Kipling alongside Scott Carney and Sardren Wells. It also happens to be Ken Pyle’s 69th birthday. Nov. 20:Phantom Family Halo @ Zanzabar. Phantom Family Halo’s double LP Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die is out now, and available from us, ear X-tacy and Underground Sounds. The band hits the road for a tour of the east coast and Canada Nov. 27 with Russian Circles and fellow Louisvillians Young Widows. NOTE: Each double LP comes with a free download card of the entire Phantom Family Halo album.
I was in Underground Sounds the other day and Phantom Family Halo’s new album Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die was playing. I didn’t recognize it at first, but what I heard was epic. Every track seemed lifted from a timeless album that changed music, but in a mirror reflecting PFH’s own image. It’s messy, its distorted, it’s trippy, it’s perfect. I’ve seen them a number of times in the past and I’ve always been a fan, but this album has taken them to a whole new level for me. The album throws pretension and convention out the window and does whatever the fuck it wants. Fast, slow, melodic, electric, old, new, hard, soft…they do it all at their pace, not yours. White Stripes, Velvet Underground? I raise my head and wonder if I’m listening to the same album, only to be reassured that, yes, it is still PFH. Get a taste of the album below, but you MUST listen to this WHOLE album. It’s one of my favorite albums of the year. No question. Take notice.
On a related note, Karate Body Records is KILLING IT!! Let’s review: This album (a beautiful 2xLP), Bonnie Billy and Cheyenne Mize (10″ Cream), Louisville is For Lovers Vol. 9 (Pink/White mix), Ben Sollee (White LP), Rachel Grimes (w/ Sheet Music), Wussy/The Fervor (Green Vinyl), Ume EP (Gold vinyl), Pokey LaFarge & Joe Manning 7″ (heavy as hell white vinyl)… It’s all ridiculously awesome and I can’t get enough of it.
Phantom Family Halo will open for Russian Circles and Young Widows on the following tour dates:
FRI NOV 27 – Detroit MI, Magic Stick
SAT NOV 28 – Buffalo, NY Soundlab
MON NOV 30 – Milford CT, Daniel Street
TUE Dec 1 – New York NY, Bowery Ballroom
WED DEC 2 – Cambridge MA, The Middle East
THU DEC 3 – Washington DC, DC9
FRI DEC 4 – Philadelphia PA, First Unitarian Church
SUN DEC 6 – Montreal QC, Il Motore
MON DEC 7 – Toronto ON, Lee’s Place
WED DEC 9 – Kalamazoo MI, The Strut
THU DEC 10 – Cleveland OH, The Grog Shop FRI DEC 11- Louisville, Kentucky, Skull Alley
Also:
PFH’s double LP Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die is out now and you can get it online at Karate Body or at a fine record store near you. Mark it down: Their record release show will be Nov. 25 in Louisville at Lisa’s Oak Street Lounge with Softcheque. Cost is $5.
We’re very pleased to announce the upcoming release of the new Second Story Man album, Screaming Secrets. It will be released on December 5th on both CD and LP. This record has been over two years in the making and is easily the best work they have ever done. The release show will be at Skull Alley on 12/5 with openers Straight A’s and Softcheque.
EvergreenWholeness of the Soul can now be ordered at www.louisvillenoise.com and is available locally at Ear Xtacy Records. It will pick up national distribution on October 27th. You can also purchase it as a digital download right now at www.thinkindie.com and it will be up on Itunes in the next few weeks. We would also like to thank everyone who made it out to the release show last month and made it such a great night.
Metroschifter’s European tour commences next month and the dates can be found at www.louisvillenoise.com. Their newest album Carbonistas is available now along with a new “greatest hits” style collection entitled Whatever’s Wrong With Me Is Here To Stay. Go to our site for more info.
Bonny Billy and The Picket Line Funtown Comedown
LIVE (in the studio) is the Bonny one with next-generation bluegrass band known as The Picket Line. They’re the official dance band of Funtown, a metaphysical little community in the woods outside Louisville. Bonny and the boys (and girl) run through a set of BPB classics, some Palace songs and a few classic country covers. VINYL ONLY! (And download exclusively on the new-and-retro-improved www.dragcity.com!)
BPB is also releasing a 7″ single with “Stay” performed with Joshua Abrams, Jennifer Hutt, Emmett Kelly, Michael Zerang and “People Living” performed with Emmett Kelly and Cheyenne Mize! It comes out October 20, 2009. You can pre-order it here for just $5 bucks.
No, I didn’t get a Golden Ticket (read all about it here), but I still went to Third Man Records last week on my way through Nashville. It was my second trip there, but, luckily for you, this time I remembered my camera, and luckily for me, cash. If you do ever go, then you should know that it is cash only. That is right, if you want that limited edition Get Behind Me Satan LP promo, make sure to bring $250 in cold, hard cash. I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much for a record again (at least on this trip…), but thought it was cool that they would have it. Even if it is Jack White’s own band. There are quite a few gems like that around the shop, some even for sale at a reasonable price. However, if you want the last copy of that Let’s Shake Hands 7″ for $100, then go right now, they only have 1 left.
Anyway, enough about how much stuff costs. You can, however, window shop by looking at the pictures below (note: I spend too much on records to afford a DSLR. So if the pics look bad, stop complaining and go buy me a DSLR).
As soon as you walk into the place you know it is something different and unique. It is rather small, but it packs in a lot of cool items. Most of the things are White Stripes related (you know, the band Jack White plays for), but not everything there is just some limited-edition rare White Stripes vinyl. They do have plenty of vinyl though. Vinyl ranging from The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather, to bands you may not have heard of like Mildred And The Mice, and Dex Romweber Duo. By the way, read the story about Mildred here, it’s a cool way how she got on to Third Man Records. One of the tags on their website is: “Your Turntable’s Not Dead”. I couldn’t agree more.
So enough of me and my jabbering on and on about how great Third Man is and how much I love them. It really is something you have to see for yourself. Also, you never know, the person keeping shop that day could very well be Jack White.
…and no, I didn’t buy a copy of Horehound, rip it open to see no Golden Ticket, then go buy another in hopes of one. Though I really wanted to go back and say, “Could I have one more Horehound CD? It’s for my grandpa Joe.”
My brother put me on to this band a while ago after they played a “Silverlake Steps” show for We Listen for You out in L.A. (see video below). I put off listening to them, figuring it was going to be just another obscure indie rock album that I would dismiss after a week or two of being excited about it. I listened to a track here and there, but then I sat down and listened to the whole thing after picking up the LP at Underground Sounds. While it might not be the perfect 10.0 that my brother gave it, it is my second favorite album of the year (behind Animal Collective’s MPP). It released Tuesday and I highly recommend checking out the tracks below and then picking up a copy. A five member band consisting of an ex-Unicorns member (Alden Penner) and an ex-Arcade Fire member (Brenden Reed), they alreay had a lot to live up to in this release and they successfully created a masterpiece that stands by itself and not an extension of their former bands. I’m crossing my fingers that they tour somewhere close to here because I can only imagine how amazing they will be live.
Back to wearing a this vinyl thin.
Clues- Perfect Fit [audio=http://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/06-perfect-fit.mp3]
Clues- Remember Severed Head [audio=http://www.pluginmusic.com/music/Clues%20-%20Remember%20Severed%20Head.mp3]
There has been a lot of talk recently about vinyl. Nick even gave you all a pretty solid vinyl buying guide. Recently the sales figures of vinyl have gone through the roof while CD sales continue to plummet as the market shifts toward the duality of embracing digital media and vinyl. As a child with a father who was a former DJ, we were fed nothing but the vinyl sounds of Motown, The Beach Boys, and The Beatles with a little bit of Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie” 45 thrown in for good measure. Since high school, I’ve been amassing my own collection to complement the vast quantities of pre-1970s 45s and albums that I inherited (AKA took with me when I moved out).
With the recent ‘Vinyl in the Ville’ and Record Store Day festivities over at Ear X-tacy, I thought I would share with you all my favorite vinyl scores both old (Inherited) and new (Purchased). These are my ultimate jams:
Audiophiles and vinyl geeks take note that on April 18, to celebrate this year’s Record Store Day, Rhino will release 180-gram vinyl versions of the seminal Jane’s albums Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual De Lo Habitual for a suggested price of $17.98 and $24.98 respectively. We have one copy of Ritual on vinyl to give away, so comment below and tell us your favorite place to buy vinyl in Louisville. We will pick a comment at random announce the winner the day before Record Store Day, April 17th.
Also, on April 21, Rhino will be releasing a 3-CD/1-DVD Boxed Set, A Cabinet Of Curiosities, with Never-Before-Heard Demos, Live Performances and Rarities, Plus Unreleased and Hard-To-Find Videos. Here are more details about the release…
LOS ANGELES — Jane’s Addiction aggressively melded avant-garde, funk, metal, and punk sounds with raw sexual energy and became an incomparable force. On April 21, Rhino celebrates the legacy of Jane’s Addiction and unearths A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES; a 3-CD/1-DVD Jane’s Addiction boxed set of demos, live performances and rarities that includes 30 unreleased tracks. The set will be available from Rhino in stores and at www.rhino.com in a striking, limited-edition wooden cabinet for a suggested price of $74.98. A digital version will also be available at all digital retail outlets.
The CABINET collection focuses solely on the band’s original incarnation of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins. Last year, this founding foursome played together for the first time in 17 years and has since raised eyebrows with a trio of celebrated secret underground shows in tiny clubs around Los Angeles. Now, with 43 tracks on CD, A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES offers a comprehensive look at the band from demo recordings of key tracks from Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) to live recordings of the band roaring through its best songs onstage.
The set opens with five songs recorded in 1986 during a session at Radio Tokyo studio in Venice, CA, including an unreleased version of “Jane Says.” The remaining 12 songs on disc one are unreleased demos from 1987 that feature futures Jane’s classics including “Three Days,” “Ocean Size,” “Classic Girl,” “Summertime Rolls,” and “Stop!”
The second disc contains more unreleased demos (“Ted, Just Admit It”) along with a recording of the band rehearsing “My Time” and a 12″ remix of “Been Caught Stealing.” The disc also rounds up stray songs from various compilations (Grateful Dead cover “Ripple,” “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” with Ice-T & Ernie C) as well as rare and unreleased live cuts including roaring covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and The Stooges’ “1970″ as well as the live staple dubbed “Bobhaus,” which features lyrics from Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” sung over the music of Bauhaus’ “Burning From The Inside.”
Jane’s Addiction made great albums, but it’s the band’s live shows that cemented its legacy. All of the darkness, soul, aggression, and musical zealousness came pouring out night after night as the foursome gelled into a thunderous and dangerous machine. The third disc features a complete live show from December 19, 1990. This performance was the second show from the band’s legendary three night run at the Hollywood Palladium and features a number of fiery, unreleased performances including “Mountain Song,”
“Whores,” and “Ocean Size,” and “Been Caught Stealing.”
The DVD included with A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES begins with Soul Kiss, previously available only on VHS, which features the video for “Mountain Song” that was banned by MTV, a video for “City” and candid home movies of the band. The DVD also brings together six additional music videos as well as a trio of unreleased 1990 performances taped in Milan for MTV Italy.
The wooden curio cabinet that houses the limited edition set looks like a shrine to the band made by an adoring fan. The box opens to reveal recreations of early concert fliers, ticket stubs, a set list and other
memorabilia.
For additional information, please visit www.janesaddiction.com.
![[funtown_comedown.png]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YX2Ueu3L_5w/SvMXVG29DhI/AAAAAAAAAps/N4e_sIRLfUE/s1600/funtown_comedown.png)
