The Village Voice Announces Initial Lineup for the
5th Annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival ™
at Coney Island
Saturday, July 16, 2005

SPOON, MATES OF STATE, BRENDAN BENSON, VHS OR BETA, DUNGEN, Q AND NOT U, THE DEARS and many more scheduled to perform

New York, NY (May 31, 2005) The Village Voice, the nation’s largest alternative weekly newspaper, is excited to announce the initial line-up for the 5th Annual Village Voice SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL(tm) at Coney Island on Saturday, July 16th from 12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m. Scheduled performers include Spoon, Mates Of State, Brendan Benson, VHS Or Beta, Dungen, Q And Not U, and The Dears, with many more to be announced.

This free, all-day, all-ages, music festival will feature live international, national and local bands performing on two outdoor stages in historic Coney Island. Now in its fifth year, the Village Voice SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL(tm) has solidified its status as a leading outdoor indie rock event, drawing over 170,000 music fans last summer, establishing itself as a leader in showcasing indie rock veterans and emerging artists.

Budweiser returns to the Village Voice SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL(tm) as the exclusive beer sponsor for the fifth consecutive year. Tower Records has signed on to be the exclusive music retail sponsor, Xbox will be the festival’s exclusive gaming console and Garnier Fructis the exclusive hair care. Other sponsors include: LG Mobile Phones, Music Player Live, Converse, Astroland and the US Army.

Please visit www.villagevoice.com/siren for continued festival updates and general information.

OK, just where the fuck do i start with this? the us army’s sponsorship? bands who are anti-war? just the general idea that rock concerts, traditionally the bastion of anti-establishment culture, can now act as recruitment posts?

and on a weird tangent, today’s class consisted of shot-by-shot analysis of head, specifically its opening sequence. the film itself is a critique of american culture during the vietnam war and the bands beatles-approved attempt at career suicide.

ive got some more to say but for now, ill leave it at that. oh, and this: im so glad i decided not to attend siren this year.

Clockcleaner is a pretty decent Philly band, when they’re not throwing road flares at me, that is. Anyway, they’re heading out on tour and you should check them out if you’ve got the chance. Also, dont forget to tell a friend.

Already banned from numerous concert venues despite their still young career — and proud of it — Philadelphia natives Clockcleaner are bent on resuscitating punk rock’s original spirit of adventure and imminent danger. To do so, vocalist/guitarist John Sharkey, bassist R. Slegel and drummer Richard Charles unloaded all of their unorthodox songwriting tricks into their 2004 debut E.P., The Hassler, released by Manic Ride Records.

Like the bastard children of the Butthole Surfers or the Jesus Lizard, Philadelphia’s Clockcleaner write punk rock songs for people who are tired of punk rock. Too weird and unruly for typical alternative rock as well, their six-song, seventeen-minute debut EP, Hassler, unfolds in lurching stops and starts, confounding expectations as much with convulsing, sub-two-minute sputters like “Bad Man” and “Black Baby,” as it does with the seven-minute freak-out “Shingles.” When it’s all over, Clockcleaner’s unpredictable arrangements and ear-shattering bursts of feedback aren’t for everyone, but they’re also anything but boring. (All Music Guide)

Clockcleaner May/June 2005 Tour
http://www.myspace.com/clockcleaner/
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05-26 Philadelphia, PA - Manhattan Room w/ New Flesh

05-28 Louisville, KY - The Wormhole w/ Kodiaks, Science

05-29 St. Louis, MO - Lemp Arts Center w/ Corbeta Corbata

05-30 Lawrence, KS - Solidarity

05-31 Denton, TX - J & J’s Pizza w/ Signal Lost

06-02 Austin, TX - The Bridge w/ Modern Needs

06-03 Austin, TX - Emo’s (Chaos in Tejas Festival w/ Tragedy, the State, Signal Lost & others.)

06-05 Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory w/ Vertonen, Jason Talbot

06-10 Akron, OH - Annabelle’s w/ Self Destruct Button

06-11 Clair Shore, MI - 21615 Grand Lake Street (House Party!)

06-12 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern

07-01 Boston, NY - Shitzstock

let us now remember the great grunge lexicon of 1992:

yesterday i had the television on when i heard some kind of pell mell-ish indie rock instrumental, so i turned to see what it was. you can imagine my horror to discover it was a chico’s commerical.

also: has anyone seen that starbucks commercial featuring michael bublé? i am mildly obsessed with it and cant seem to find any screen captures online, mainly because i think i know the guy who turns into bublé at the very beginning! normally id say, “oh, that dude, he’s a dead ringer for so-and-so” but no — im almost 100% positive that its him. the object of his affection in the commercial, is totally the kind of girl this guy would fall for in real life. ever notice how indie rock she looks?

back when i was in my personal dark ages, i spent quite a bit of time crashing on my co-conspirator’s couch. somehow, the stereo was always on and whenever i slept id have incredibly messed up dreams due to the music; one which was brought on by a dr. dog cd the band had sent us. i remember standing in the room, watching myself sleep.

i suppose i remember this more than any other dream from that time period not because it was really out there, but because im not sure what my subconscious saw. i tried playing that dr dog cd in the awake hours but it didnt hold up. and thats why im kind of fascinated by the band, but for an entirely set of different reasons than kelefa sanneh.

just like any band with a clue, dr dog made sure to play as many out of town shows and take advantage of whatever opportunities were available. the rock adage is “it isnt what you know, its who you know”, right? trying to get into the late night parties during sxsw is all the proof you need to know this idea is still alive.

while part of me will always be on a conquest to quell the haters that keep philly’s music scene from reaching the sublime, i dont see anything wrong with not liking a band. there’s a difference between one social group writing off another [for example, graff thugs making fun of indie rockers, indie rockers making fun on Y100 fans and so on] and when a band just fails to impress. a matter of taste isnt anti-community.

after spending many years in art school being forced to find appreciation in the least impressive of things, its no surprise i couldnt deal with the navel-gazing. my education robbed me of the ability to form a list of criteria upon which to evaluate work.

when david raposa wrote about dr dog’s new record for pitchfork, i stopped feeling like a crazy person. someone else out there understood what was so problematic about their work. its like that other saying, “you cant say what you want on the internet” except that its more like, “you cant just heavily borrow from the beatles and expect no one to take issue with it”.

but i suppose everything that is destined to be huge, has to be in some fashion, fairly sanitized. i think thats why dr dog grew in popularity and a band like the teeth are only getting their fair shake of the recognition now. in listening to their forthcoming record, carry the wood, there’s a lot more meat on these bones and plenty to pick apart. unleashing something as complex as the teeth, who borrow from so many different sources, might be perceived as a possible liability for a label. a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, or in this case, an easy beat makes it easier to ask the listeners to endure the task of carrying wood.

yes, im in school. again. well, sort of. im sitting in on a course but im pretending to be a student, for all intents and purposes. and its a mindbender of a class, for me at least. keep in mind that art school should have prepared me for stuff like this. the sad truth is that it took me a few moments, especially at such an early hour, to remember what the hell “paradox” means:

“Writing Seminar in Film: Discovering the Rock and Roll Sublime”

Filmmakers have tried to capture the essence of rock and roll since the early 1950s. What is it about this form of music that has made it irresistible to directors as interesting and as disparate as Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Alan Parker and Dennis Hopper? As we explore the question of how to frame our reactions to a popular cultural phenomenon in rigorous intellectual terms, we will briefly touch on definitions of beauty and the sublime in authors such as Longinus, Edmund Burke, Nietzsche, Ultimately, these theoretical considerations will merely form the frame: the main work of the class will consist of engaging in understanding representations of a rock-and-roll aesthetic on film. We will view films like Apocalypse Now, A Clockwork Orange, and The Wall. The class requires active participation; you will also attend weekly mandatory screenings outside of class, keep a journal and participate in frequent in-class writing exercises, in addition to writing several polished essays.

today we watched the video for “try try try” by the smashing pumpkins in class. you can see stills here. just a brief warning — not for the weak or stomach and/or heart. and im just referring to the billy corgan parts!

Big news — well, big to me, I guess, and perhaps you might care: I’ll be hosting my very own radio program on WPRB this summer:

“Two States: Music from both sides of the Delaware” Tuesdays, 4:00 - 7:00PM EST, beginning June 7th.

Whats cool about this, as opposed to every other time I’ve done a radio show is that it will be 3 hours of local music. And by local, I’m talking about both stuff from PA and NJ.

So, mucho excitement. For those in Southeast PA and pretty much most of NJ, you can tune into WPRB on your home stereo at 103.3FM. If you live far away or in West Philadelphia, wprb.com is your best bet.

Requests are welcome!

what kind of town is this? look, its bad enough the city goes out of its way to prevent shows from happening. you’ve got the whole drinking issue, which makes it difficult for all-ages shows to be a reality. its illegal to post flyers on exteriors and now, you can get arrested for flyering outside a venue post-show.

joey sweeney (of TTWS & philebrity fame) is learning this the hard way. last night, he was arrested for handing out flyers outside the TLA, to promote last night’s echo & the bunnymen after-party a couple doors down at the pontiac grille.

herjazz: joey in the clinker!?
herjazz: what happened?
herjazz: or is this a TTWS publicity stunt?
friend: no
friend: totally real
herjazz: WTF?
friend: flyering outside TLA
friend: Philly cops
herjazz: wow, thats lame.
herjazz: i mean, where else are people going to flyer for shows?
friend: exactly

sean agnew chimes in on a lame messageboard:

it falls under “soliciting” which is illegal on South Street

they probably did warn him - he was probably like - but its for the afterparty down the street - cops say : we dont care you cant do it - joey thinks that no one will go at all now, so he continues to flyer - cops say : “okay dickhead you getting locked up” . He most likely ended up at the mini-station but could have ended up going to the holding celll at 20th & Pennsylvania till a judge signs off on it / gets a summmons to appear in court

stay tuned to philebrity for full details!

» on a rather unexpected noted, i wound up seeing the decemberists on thursday. there i was, sitting outside maoz relishing my falafel [if i only i lived closer! id eat here everyday] when My Pal Jon appeared out of the blue and asked if i had plans to see the concert. not really, so i wound up being his +1.

the opening act was rebecca gates and after reading amy’s take on her performance in NYC, i wasnt sure how well-received she’d be in philly. i hate to say it but one of the good things about that city is everyone is seemingly more open to new things. here, you need the validation of Important People & Things before anyone musters up the courage to check something out.

surprisingly enough, philly’s crowd was much more pleasant than expected. they clapped to the beat during a song she had written for found, they laughed at her imitation of sheryl crow when someone jerk asked her to play “every day is a winding road”. the setlist was great — an arthur russell cover, some old spinines songs ["stupid crazy" & "entire"] and a few other things, including some new work.

turns out that we were on ms. gates guestlist and were invited to go backstage to watch the show. i got to meet her and most of the decemberists [but sadly, NOT petra haden] and drink half a case of bottled water. ive never been backstage at the TLA so it was pretty exciting for me! i have some pictures of the decemeberists that ill post as soon as i get them off my phone.

» thanks to fluxblog, i discovered a really great new compilation, não wave: brazilian post punk 1982-1988. if you combined gilberto gil, os mutantes and fad gadget, you’d probably get something like this. soul jazz has a similiar compilation due out called the sexual life of the savages, which has some overlap and is said to be quite good as well.

» OK, WTF?! im having a hard time trying to figure this out but it seems as if superchunk had session people for the recording of on the mouth? i kind of dont want to believe this because i’ve seen them play OTM tracks and they’re, uh, OTM. while you’re at it, please tell me santa claus is real and the easter bunny does indeed exist.

yes, im djing at this. five bucks i break out the new princess superstar single, “coochie coo”.

MON 5/9
At Silk City (5th and Spring Garden Streets)
10PM, FREE!, 21+

9 - 11PM: Listening party for SPOON’S GIMME FICTION
The long-awaited follow-up to 2002’s” Kill The Moonlight”, Spoon’s “Gimme Fiction” comes out on Merge Records May 10th! And it’s amazing, by the way. Come out to Silk City, enjoy some drink specials and listen to the record in its entirety!

We’re going to be giving away so much awesome free stuff that will make Philebrity’s Captain Freeshit look more like that stingy, cheap ex of yours. Here’s a sample:

Prize packages from Merge Records! Limited edition 7-inch records!! Tickets to Spoon’s 6/4 show at the Theatre of Living Arts!

11 - 2AM: ELITE JAMS TBA with Maria T (WPRB, Plain Parade)
Maria plays records NOT made by Britt Daniel! We know — what a CRAZY concept!