Hard bob pioneer Max Roach died last week at 83 in Manhattan. His contributions to Jazz are immense, as he likely played on far more Jazz recordings than I knew about, over 70 in all. He’ll always be one of the top Jazz drummers, and someone I’ll listen to for the rest of my days, [...]

File under “That’s News To Me”, but apparently Johnny Marr and Morrissey are still friends, according to a recent Marr interview.  “Johnny Marr and Morrissey often “hang out” together but never talk about the Smiths, the legendary guitarist has revealed. The pair are known to have fallen out when the iconic indie group split 20 [...]

Ah, just what I need, another new way to get more music online; Moozaget. This one seems to employ a special search with specific options that I used to have bookmarked, for example it will search for “Index of” servers, in other words ones without websites, just a bare directory listing. If you [...]

Of all the brit pop bands to have gone away, The Verve were a great one, and a fitting one to reunite. “Silent since 1999, U.K. rock act the Verve is reuniting for a new album and fall live dates. According to a post on the group’s newly launched Web site, Richard Ashcroft, Nick [...]

Free Jazz legend Ornette Coleman collapsed from heat stroke ”…during his performance Sunday at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn. Sunday night he remained in a local hospital under doctor’s supervision.  After collapsing on stage, the 77-year-old saxophonist was rushed to a nearby medical tent and given intravenous fluids, according to a Bonnaroo spokesperson. Coleman was [...]

“Let this be a warning, this is what 48 looks like… So you may not want to stick around.” This is how Morrissey started his Saint Louis show, celebrating a birthday, and giving an all out incredible show, his first here since 1992.

Appearing completely at ease, he commanded the stage while the crowd went [...]

I’ve been reading a bunch of reviews about Elliot Smith’s new release, New Moon while playing it on the iPod. It’s a compilation of mostly acoustic bsides and demos from his fertile period between 1995-1997 when he recorded for Kill Rock Stars, and includes gems that folks familiar with Elliot’s music will enjoy uncovering. [...]

I recently *re-bought* The Jesus and Mary Chain “Psychocandy” on the reissue DualDisc…and what a nice package. The stock album is a great upgrade in fidelity (props to them for NOT adding bonus tracks to the original recording - even going so far as taking out the ‘bonus track’ that appeared on the 1980s [...]

I’ve been a Lala member since November 2006 (I wanted to wait awhile before I came out and recommended it) and it rocks.  (takes on a Dr. Cox voice) Look, here’s the deal, you create a profile, and then a list of cds you have that you are ready to trade, and then a list [...]

UPDATE 10/31/2007: “Jeanette Sliwinski of Morton Grove was found guilty of three counts of reckless homicide with mental illness, as a grueling two-week trial concluded in the Skokie courthouse. Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 26, where she could receive up to 10 years in custody, prosecutors said.” Full coverage 
Also, a fellow poster on digg.com [...]

Longtime (since ~1988) fav band, The Wedding Present, are set to recreate their classic CD from 1987, George Best  live this fall.  “To mark the 20th anniversary of its George Best (Reception Records), the band will hit the road in a special tour where it’ll play the 1987 album in its entirety. Not content to [...]

I’ve been listening to Explosions in the Sky like crazy recently. I really love the new cd, and shows of theirs are available in a few places online. You can grab one from the current tour on npr.org, as part of their ‘NPR Live Concert Series’. It’s easy to download, as they [...]

I’ve written before about Shellac, as they’ve been a favorite of mine for a long time. I’ve only seen them on their fist tour, which may have been some 13 (?) years back, but their recorded work wears well. They’ll release their new record, Excellent Italian Greyhound, on June 05, 2007, their first [...]

UPDATE: Tickets onsale for Tue 22 ST LOUIS, MO : The Pageant - 10 a.m., March 31. I’m assuming this is via Ticketmaster, but I’ll try to find out ahead of time. Also, the Austin show goes onsale at the same time.
Just announced, Morrissey is doing a Spring US tour, but for the [...]