Take a peek at the trailer below for a little British football movie coming out October 9th. Starring Michael Sheen ( Frost/Nixon), Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge) and Colm Meaney (he’s the new Michael Caine! What hasn’t he been in?), The Damned United tells the confrontational and darkly humorous story of Brian Clough’s doomed 44 day tenure as manager of the reigning champions of English football Leeds United. Previously managed by his bitter rival Don Revie, and on the back of their most successful period ever as a football club, Leeds was perceived by many to represent a new aggressive and cynical style of football – an anathema to the principled yet flamboyant Clough.
Frontman Jay Farrar heads up Son Volt’s new album, “American Central Dust.” They’re part of that whole Midwestern-Americana-JayHawkes scene. While not known for their bouncy upbeat tunes, album highlights include; the rootsy shuffle of album opener “Dynamite,” on which Farrar declares “this love is like celebrating the 4th of July with dynamite,” the tremolo soaked rocker “Down To The Wire,’ the gorgeous, piano led “Cocaine And Ashes,” an empathetic tribute to Keith Richards, references a man who’s “the same as everyone, just kind of lucky,” and ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’-esque rocker “No Turning Back.” Learn and hear more here.
Wilco’s new album is all about moving forward and its as straight ahead a rock album as Wilco’s had in recent years. SPIN magazine gave Wilco (the album) four stars and wrote, “The band’s seventh studio effort treats verse-chorus-verse basics like holy truths. The result is the rare rock album about acceptance. And it’s fantastic.” They also had one of the best reviewed sets at Bonnaroo (if Bruce Springsteen hadn’t shown up, they might have had the best reviewed set. Curse you Bruce Springsteen!) And, the set contained tons of new songs that people were already singing along to. A particular fav was “Wilco (The Song)”. Largeheartedboy has downloads of the Wilco Bonnaroo set. Also, the Wilco iphone app is free, top rated and just pretty great. Click here to check it out. (That’s our view of the stage at Bonnaroo, waiting for Wilco to appear).
Here’s a few tips on what to see and do this weekend.
The highly recommended Hurt Locker opens today in New York and Los Angeles. It’s a gritty story about a bomb diffusing unit in in Iraq. This is the first Iraq war film that was filmed in Iraq. Heady stuff. See the trailer here.
All of the festival tickets will be given away with the public onsale kicking off here at 10 a.m. east on Saturday. If you’re a previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyer and/or a Virgin Mobile customer, you’ll have first dibs on the tickets with an invitation to a “free-sale” (like a pre-sale but it’s free) today.
Virgin Mobile is encouraging people to text “FREEFEST” to 20222 (regardless of wireless carrier) to donate $5 to select U.S. youth homeless centers, via The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobile’s charitable arm.
And, in the ongoing spirit of doing something good and being kind to others, here’s one of our fav Michael Jackson songs below.
Mars Volta are at the forefront of a new progressive rock movement. In fact, let’s just call them ” new prog innovators”. The new album, “Octahedron,” is chock full of jams—some are very long extended jams. But, the people seem to love ‘em and the band is highly respected by their fans and other musicicans alike.
Enjoy “Teflon” from the new album below.
Pete Yorn is a great live performer, talented singer songwriter and all-around good guy. To our ears,”Back and Forth” is one of his best records. Plus, Pete just got off the Coldplay tour and is about to embark on his own solo tour. Catch him live, and you’ll be a fan forever. Click here for more Pete and tour dates.
Enjoy Pete performing the first single from the record “Don’t Want To Cry For You” below
The Lemonheads are back! The new album, “Varshons.” is full of covers including songs by Leonard Cohen, Gram Parsons and Miss Christina Aguilera. Spin magazine gave the album three stars. It’s worth a listen.
Enjoy the Lemonheads doing Gram Parsons “i Just Can’t Take It Anymore’ below.
One of our music correspondents came back from Bonnaroo raving about Justin Townes Earle. His dad is singer-songwriter Steve Earle and this guy deserves to be big. Deeply personal songs, crooner chops and a vibe that is uniquely his, he’s all we want to hear right now. There is so much junk blaring out of radios right now, take a minute and enjoy this live performance of a real artist and a real find. Click here to see where he’ll be touring in the next few months.
Click here to learn more about Justin. Enjoy the video of Jason performing at SXSW below:
Sonic Youth brings out the rebel in everyone. The original alternative rockers are back with their latest album, “The Eternal.” Rolling Stone magazine gave the album four stars and wrote, “’The Eternal’ sums up almost everything this band has done over three decades, punk sneers and psychedelic guitars pimping over a proudly pretentious belief in art rock.”
Lucky for you, they’ll be touring extensively this summer. Here’s a sampling of a few of the dates:
June 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre (2nd show added!)
June 28 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
June 29 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
June 30 Toronto, ONT Massey Hall
July 2 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
July 3 New York, NY United Palace
July 6 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
July 7 Washington, DC 9:30 Club (2nd show added!)
July 8 Richmond, VA The National
July 10 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theatre
July 11 Nashville, TN War Memorial
July 12 Birmingham, AL Sloss Furnace
July 13 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
July 15 Dallas, TX House of Blues
July 16 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
More dates and all things Sonic Youth here. Enjoy a sampling of songs from Eternal below.
Rhett Miller‘s self-titled release also got a four-star review from Rolling Stone magazine. The magazine wrote that the Old 97s frontman “made his strongest set yet,” and added, “his wise, barbed lyrics are what elevate things.” Now’s the time to put Rhett Miller on your radar. He’s also hitting the road hard this summer. Get all the dates and more Rhett info here. Rhett’s new single is streaming here.
Sugar Ray may bave seen better days, but they still have a great sense of humor about themselves and that’s why they get some props. Calling their next record ”Music For Cougars” pretty much sums it up: know who your audience! The guys are out on tour this summer and the new stuff may not be fantastic, but they’ve always been pretty great live. Two beers in, you’ll be digging some sun, some Sugar Ray and hoping a big beach ball lands near you so you can push it back toward the stage.
Here’s the tour dates:
July 24: Hankinson, ND (Dakota Magic Casino)
July 25: Lac Du Flambea, WI (Taste of the Torches Resort)
July 26: Chicago, IL (Taste of Lincoln Ave.)
July 28: Detroit, MI (Hall)
July 29: Cleveland, OH (House of Blues)
July 30: Dewey Beach, DE (Bottle & Cork)
July 31: Baltimore, MD (Sonar)
Aug 1: Binghampton, NY (Spiediefest)
Aug 3: Albany, NY (Northern Lights)
Aug 4: Boston, MA (Paradise)
Aug 6: Stamford, CT (Columbus Park)
Aug 7: New York, NY (Fillmore)
Aug 8: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Aug 10: Norfolk, VA (Norva)
Aug 11: Charlotte, NC (Amos’ South End)
Aug 12: Atlanta, GA (The Loft)
Aug 14: Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Culture Room)
Aug 15: Orlando, FL (Downtown Orlando/Orange Ave.)
Aug 16: St. Petersburg, FL (Jannus Landing)
Aug 18: Nashville, TN (Cannery Ballroom)
Aug 19: New Orleans, LA (House of Blues)
Aug 21: Austin, TX (La Zona Rosa)
Aug 22: Houston, TX (House of Blues)
Aug 23: Dallas, TX (House of Blues)
Sept 11: Seattle, WA (Showbox)
Sept 12: Portland, OR (tba)
Sept 14: Sacramento, CA (Empire)
Sept 15: San Francisco, CA (Grand Ballroom)
Sept 16: Santa Cruz, CA (The Catalyst)
Sept 18: Newport Beach, CA (Taste of Newport)
Sept 19: Santa Margarita, CA (Pozo Saloon)
Sept 20: Ventura, CA (Ventura Theater)
Sept 22: Tucson, AZ (Rialto Theater)
Sept 23: Phoenix, AZ (The Marquee)
Sept 25: Las Vegas, NV (House of Blues)
Sept 26: San Diego, CA (Hard Rock)
You gotta love the title of the New York Dolls new cd, “Cuz I Sez So”. Producer Todd Rundgren, who produced their 1973 debut album, has reunited with the Dolls for this cd. 11 out of the 12 tracks are new original songs, including the first single ‘ ‘Cause I Sez So’ and the final song is a new version of ‘Trash,’ which was on the debut album. ‘It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present,’ says frontman Johansen and we agree.
And, the Dolls are still great live. Click here to see where they’re playing next.
Coldplay wants to give you their music for free! At all the remaining dates of their tour this year, the band will be giving away FREE live CDs to everyone that attends their shows, just not at festivals.
According to the band’s site, starting May 15th in West Palm Beach, Florida, “every fan attending a show will be given a free copy of the nine-track CD, which won’t be available elsewhere.”
Also on the 15th, LeftRightLeftRightLeft will be available as a free download on the band’s site. Way to help us stay recession proof!
Coldplay claims that “Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.” Thanks Coldplay!
The highly recommended Hurt Locker opens today in New York and Los Angeles. It’s a gritty story about a bomb diffusing unit in in Iraq. This is the first Iraq war film that was filmed in Iraq. Heady stuff. See the trailer 
