LISTEN: Hail Social, "Hands Are Tied" (mp3)

You’ve probably hit your quota for trendy indie-dance bands masquerading as blue-collar hard-rock degenerates, but HAIL SOCIAL just might make our cut, by virtue of being one of the most completely shameless bands to hit our desk since Death from Above 1979. Their skull logo is as necro as that Glenn Danzig “Who Killed Marilyn?” poster, and after touring with Interpol and Secret Machines, they’ve just signed with Polyvinyl. Check the new song above: the singer hints at just enough stoner-age glory that you almost forget how the rest of the band thinks they’re in the Bravery or something.

They're coming to town September 1, which is not today. Thursday, maybe?With Rainer Maria and Certainly, Sir? At the Middle East, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge 617.864.EAST.

But we're coming at you early for a reason: The first 150 people to text "mideast" to 22122 get in free, courtesy of the Middle East and Phoenix Media's new g8wave division. It's the jumpoff for this new thing called "Rocklist," which is sort of like the indie-rock equivalent of frequent-flier miles, except it's run through your cell phone. Sign up to get free tickets, food and drink specials, and line priveleges by texting 22122 with the message "ROCK."

8/31/2005 2:22:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Ashlee "Fuck You SNL This Time I'm Doing Oprah" Simpson
With Barefoot
At Avalon
Saturday, October 1, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $30.00
Tickets go on-sale Friday, September 2, 2005 at 10:00 am

WATCH: Ashlee Simpson, "I Didn't Steal Your Boyfriend" (barefoot @ Cypress Gardens; crappy audience video plays in QuickTime)

Digable Planets
November 10 at the Middle East, Cambridge
$25 on sale Friday at 10 am 617.864.EAST

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
November 17 at the Middle East, Cambridge
$12 on sale Friday at 10 am 617.864.EAST

New to us:
THE RAVEONETTES October 5 at Axis, Boston $15 617.262.2437
BUSTA RHYMES October 8 at Avalon, Boston $15 617.931.2000
DUNGEN + MIA DOI TODD October 13 at the Middle East, Cambridge $12 617.864.EAST
LINDA PERRY November 2 at the Paradise, Boston $15 617.562.8800
SPOON + MARY TIMONY November 3 at Avalon, Boston $18.25 617.931.2000
DWARVES + MONDO GENERATOR November 13 at the Middle East, Cambridge $12 617.864.EAST

8/30/2005 4:47:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Apparently the THIEVES were just too damn American-sounding to make a go of it in their home town of Oxford - the one in England, not Mississippi. So they resettled in California, hooked up with a shitkicking sleaze-rock label, and recorded a Stooged-out album - Tales from the White Line - that's due in early October. Tonight bringing the longish hair and the wah-wah guitars to Bill's Bar, 5.5 Lansdowne St, Boston 617.421.9678.

LISTEN: Thieves, "Gimme Some Lip" (mp3)

***


Could AMY MILES be the next Liz Phair-style blow job indie queen? She's got a great sense of humor and solid rock credentials (in other projects, she's a frequent collaborator with SNL's Amy Poehler and Shudder To Think's Craig Werden), and her Noble Hatch (Redeye), a paean to the first teenage delinquent to break her heart, landed her an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show last week. Miles is at the Paradise Lounge as part of the Boston Pop Underground Cabaret hosted by Ad Frank 969 Comm Ave, Boston 10 pm 617.562.8814.

LISTEN: Amy Miles, "Heavy Packer" (mp3)

8/30/2005 11:27:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

1. New "Circuits" columnist David Day, whom some of you may know from his other gigs around town, just returned from hanging with the Kompakt krauts in Koln (um, speaking of which, anyone know how you get a umlaut up in this bitch?), and he brought back pictures and mp3s.

2. New Orleans, What's On Your iPod?

3. "Reloaded or Retarded?": the MTV VMA-premiered version of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet: Part 6." The lip-synching. The knowing smirk when he avoided so much as miming a man-on-man kiss with an imaginary partner. Note to folks complaining that the hetero ending to this chapter is a little heavy-handed: if you think Rufus has seen the last of Chuck, you're out cho natural mind.

4. New Annie track ripped at Fluxblog.

5. We were this close to posting some "we can't blog these songs, but you should listen to them anyway" type shit before Lemon beat us to it. Which is as it should be, seeing as we got half of 'em from him. Seconding #10, #7, #1 (more on these soon), the other two Richard X remixes we came across (Bravery's "Fearless," an M.I.A. rework of "Goodies" that no one told us about) and will pimp the (trendier, but fuck it) Lindstrom remix of LCD's "Tribulations," the Cavemen remix of the Kills that Catchdubs pointed at the other day, and some crazy 1986 Dr. Dre mixtape we got off a message board.

8/30/2005 12:11:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Mission Rockland and Rock Vegas repping that thugged-out Boston hardcore thing real big right now. Especially that dude with the Paul Wall grill and the neck-skull-tattoo-so-trill. Triple-threat label/store/skate-team game: focused.

LISTEN: Colin of Arabia, "Casual Casualty" (mp3)
LISTEN: Shere Khan, "This World" (mp3)
LISTEN: Cut Throat, "Another Day" (mp3)

Check Thursday's Phoenix for calendar info on "Fallen Friends II," an all-day blowout September 4 at the infamous Brockton club Roman's. They've added a few bands since the paper went to bed, so expect to see some more empeefree action closer to the date.

8/30/2005 12:08:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Harvard educator, dancehall scholar, blogger, and DJ Wayne Marshall, a/k/a WAYNE AND WAX, drops into the weekly "Beat Research" night at Enormous Room to spin a bit of history: his DJ set will trace a single pattern, the "Mad Mad" riddim, from its first appearance - Alton Ellis's 1967 Studio One-produced "Mad Mad Mad" - through more than three decades of reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, and reggaeton offshoots. Check Camille Dodero's interview with Marshall here, or just show up at Enormous Room, 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge 617.491.5550.

Wayne was also scheduled to show up this week in David Day's debut "Circuits" column, which covers local happenings in the electronic-music, dance-music, DJ, and club scenes. But we had to cut that part out because, well, shit like that happens sometimes at newspapers. So, to pass along and also second David's unpublished recommendation, you should really read Wayne's blog as much as possible. It's some of the smartest writing you'll read about the Jamaican musical diaspora, but also much more than that. This post is one of the best things we've read on reggaeton, ever.

READ AND LISTEN: to Wayne Marshall's mp3-annotated dissertation "Mad Mad" Migration: Caribbean Circulation and the Movement of Jamaican Rhythm

LISTEN: to the audio-book version
Mad Mad Radio, Part I (mp3)
Mad Mad Radio, Part II (mp3)
Mad Mad Radio, Part III (mp3)

8/29/2005 10:28:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Sugar, would you like some cream?

COFFEE CHARMS I: The above picture of frontsiren Ellie Vee comes from the Charms' appearance at their pal Little Steven's garage-rock festival last year alongside the Lyres, the New Yawk Dollz, the Stooges and whatnot . . . sponsored, you may recall, by Dunkin' Donuts.

COFFEE CHARMS II: But now, the traitorous lugs, they've gone and switched brands! To Marylou's! And we don't mean Lord's! (Although, in retrospect, with stage clothes like that, someone shoulda seen this coming.) Read about it in Sarah Tomlinson's new local-music column, which we're calling "Notes" until we can think of something better to call it. (For those of you who don't know Sarah, get familiar: in addition to scribbling for us and a little for them, she's known to DJ a bit and is shopping her first novel. We think she's pretty ass-kicking.)

DOWNLOAD: The Charms, Marylou's Coffee Commercial (wmv, less than 6 mb)

8/27/2005 7:38:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [1] |  

LISTEN: Bury Your Dead, "Legend" (mp3, via cnet)

We suppose now we have to give you the local angle.

Almost immediately after the Ozzfest-eggs-Iron Maiden story broke last week, dudes on message boards started fingering the Boston-via-NH hardcore band Bury Your Dead as being among the culprits who were rallied from the mess tent to do the dirty deed. Within hours, the band refuted those allegations on its web site. Earlier today, BYD told MTV.com News that they'd received death threats from Iron Maiden fans. But that wasn't nearly as interesting as the jiggy alibi provided by bassist Rich Casey (note: our links).

"In fact, Casey claims Bury Your Dead even have video footage, shot during Maiden's set, proving that most of the band 'wasn't even near the main stage.' That's because for the last few weeks a camera crew's been following them around at the behest of actor Will Smith [scroll down] who's been tagging along on this summer's Ozzfest with wife Jada Pinkett Smith and her band, Wicked Wisdom. Smith hopes to take the footage and convert it into reality-television gold."

Somehow we let that whole Jada-sings-metal thing go by without comment over the summer (the last second, someone asked us to review her first Ozzfest gig, but she was on at like 9:15 a.m.? This train don't leave that early for nobody). For the record: it's wicked creepy. We'll let it slide because she rocks an It Dies Today shirt. And if Will and Jada wanna take over The Battle for Ozzfest, we won't be mad at that.

8/27/2005 12:02:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Not sure what's funnier about this: the part where Sharon calls herself the "real Iron Maiden," or the part where you realize Iron Maiden's manager's actual name is "Rod Smallwood." Holy crap: and we thought "On the Download" was a cruel thing for a momma to put on a birth certificate. In any case, this is what we miss about The Osbournes: the parts when Sharon gets all Suge Knight on motherfuckers.

From: "Marcee Rondan"
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 19:03:38 -0700
Cc: "Mitch Schneider" "Lathum Nelson"

Subject: AN OPEN LETTER FROM SHARON OSBOURNE TO ROD SMALLWOOD

An open letter to Rod Smallwood (Manager: Iron Maiden; Chairman: Sanctuary
Group)

Rod,
I found your statement to be completely void of the facts that led up to Saturday's show. Your press release was written like an old time 80's manager, trying to use every opportunity to try and sell the record and the upcoming shows instead of just dealing with the truth.

These are the facts:

You claim to have been in the business for 30 years and have been to hundreds of gigs, but can you tell me how many times you have heard of an opening band talking sh*t about the headliner during their set and getting away with it? Not only is Ozzy the headliner, but he is also the man who is paying your band $185,000 a night. We gave Iron Maiden a chance to play to the biggest audiences they have ever played to in the U.S.A. We accommodated them with their stage set and at the band's request we even scoured the audience for people wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts and brought them down front during their set to make them feel more comfortable. Tell me, what other headliner would do that? Unfortunately those gestures were completely lost on Bruce Dickinson who for over 20 shows continually berated Ozzy and Ozzfest during his set.

Over the last 10 years of Ozzfest we have worked with over 200 bands. None of them were ever disrespectful to Ozzy or any of the other bands on the tour. But for 20 shows we were forced to hear Dickinson's nightly outbursts from the stage: "When we come back to America, we'll be back with a proper sound system" or "We won't be playing the same old songs every night (like Sabbath)," "We don't need a teleprompter (like Ozzy)" and "We don't need a reality show to be legit (again, like Ozzy)." Night after night we heard his complaints from the stage about how "corporate" the venues were and how "outrageous" the ticket prices were. Strangely enough,
if you want to get a general admission ticket to stand in a field to see Iron Maiden at Reading this weekend it's going to cost you over $120. I would say that's very pricey, wouldn't you?

When an artist comes on stage and says he's not playing the 55 minutes that he was allotted and that he is going to play for as long as he wants (cutting into Sabbath's set), I'm not going to let that happen. Dickinson was under the delusion that the 46,000 people in San Bernardino had come only to see Iron Maiden. He even proclaimed "This is not the Ozzfest, This is Maidenfest." I guess no one told him that we have an audience of 45,000 to 53,000 people every year in San Bernardino.

Here's another fact for you. Bruce Dickinson's own band was embarrassed by him. Iron Maiden leader, Steve Harris, even came to Ozzy's dressing room to apologize to Ozzy for Bruce's behavior before Maiden took the stage in San Bernardino.

It's shameful that Dickinson felt he had the right to air his issues publicly onstage every night as a way to boost his own ego. Dickinson never once came up to Ozzy and me to voice any concerns. He certainly had the opportunity to do so every night. If he wasn't able to show us that courtesy then why should I give him the respect to air my grievances with him in private? Ozzy's only interaction with Dickinson was on the first night of the tour. Ozzy, being the true gentleman that he is, passed Bruce in the hall and said "Good luck and have a great show." Unfortunately
Dickinson felt the need to turn his back to Ozzy and walked away. Frankly, Dickinson got what he deserved. We had to listen to his bullsh*t for five straight weeks. He only had to suffer a couple of eggs on the head.

On closing, yes, I did cut Iron Maiden's sound. This is the way I look at it: Ozzfest is our tour. We built it into something that's lasted 10 years now. We've been responsible for breaking many new bands and resurrecting the careers of former superstars. Part of our success stems from the fact that when a band is on Ozzfest we treat them with nothing but kindness and respect just as if we had invited them into our home. You can ask all of the bands who have been on the tour. They all describe it as the "ultimate summer camp." It's like one big family. Unfortunately Dickinson doesn't have the manners to realize that when you are invited into someone's home,
are seated at their dinner table, are eating their food and drinking their wine, you shouldn't talk disrespectfully about them (Ozzy, Black Sabbath and Ozzfest), otherwise you just might get your ass handed to you. Every action has a reaction. Was Dickinson so naïve to think that I was going to let him get away with talking sh*t about my family night after night? I don't think he realizes who he's dealing with. I will not endure behavior like this from anyone.

I know you would love to keep talking about this because this is the most
press that Iron Maiden has had in the U.S. in twenty years, but let's move
on, shall we?

Sincerely,
The "Real" Iron Maiden
Sharon Osbourne

8/26/2005 10:32:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

LISTEN: The Faux, "War, Pestilence, Famine" (mp3, via Honeypump)

A magnetic presence on Boston's art and music scene before her death last year at age 29, Kirsten Malone exuded as much energy in her visual art as she did on stage with the Faux. "Kirsten A. Malone: Retrospective," a three-day exhibit, collects her photography, video, sculpture, and performance art, including "Love Résumé Project," in which she explored on-line matchmaking and the universal search for love by posting a hysterically business-like accounting of her own dating history. It's at the Copley Society, 158 Newbury Street, Boston August 25-27 617.536.5049.

READ: Phoenix obit of Kirsten Malone
READ: Kirsten Malone memorial fund benefit show, 2004
READ: Kirsten Malone memorial fund benefit show, 2005
LISTEN: Lady K Benefit show mp3s, via Honeypump
BUY: The Faux discography at Honeypump, to benefit the Kirsten Malone Memorial Fund at Massachusetts College of Art

8/25/2005 2:39:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

1. Just when you'd got really sick of dudes playing "1 Thing" and "Pull up the People" at parties, acting like they're the man who invented fire and whatnot, some asshole decides to "mash" them "up" . . . .

Oh, hell, who're we kidding: this is really fun. Plus, if you play it at the beach you don't even need fireworks: just watch hipsters' faces pop clean off. (OK, if pressed we'd admit that if they made a bleach pen for remixes, there's three bars of gratuitous synth-dropping we'd get rid of, but seriously, this joint is not nit-pickable.)

LISTEN: Carasco, "M.I.A.'s Thing (M.I.A. vs. Amerie)" (mp3, via Fat Planet and Carasco)

2. Texas is the reason right now. If you know it, clap your hands hit cocaineblunts and check out the original UGK tape that Jive apparently screwed up, and not by slowing it down either.

3. Rollie is remixing that benefit Halloween song we posted about, and he's also posting all kinds of craziness like a remix of the ubiquitous Jr. Gong song that FNX just added (er, what?!) only with a Biggie verse and another song from the Kanye album (which is, as you probably know, is kinda in the midst of a torrential downpour right now.)

4. So many shrimp posts that tune by Robyn -- expect her to be the next Annie, for sure (esp. if this guy has anything to do with it, which we know he does). Song: an explicit retort to Gwen's "Harajuku Girls"? It would have to be, with a title like "Konichiwa Bitches," right?

8/25/2005 12:18:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

If you look to the right, you'll find that exclusive track from the forthcoming Cave In album.

To hear the rest of the album, check out the brand-new Perfect Pitch Black media player. (For the record: there was no awesome-looking dedicated album page when they were on RCA. Hydraheadvicemoneysoreal!)

No dates yet, but a press release went out yesterday that teased a Cave In/Doomriders tour in October. We've already soiled ourselves.

Those of you who would like to listen to the album whilst drinking a beer and chatting up the band members should mark your calendars for September 7: Black Out Bar will host just such an opportunity, with live performances by Adam's (yellow shirt, back to camera) band Clouds and a solo Stephen Brodsky (is that the State of Euphoria t-shirt?)

8/24/2005 9:04:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

SAGE FRANCIS
October 6
The Roxy, Boston
617.931.2000

THE PERCEPTIONISTS & LYRICS BORN
October 6
The Paradise, Boston
617.562.8800

We've heard these guys hated each other to begin with. But this is just stupid booking. Somebody -- two somebodies, maybe, who don't want to lose their shirts -- need to quash this and unite the bill, even if they can't unite the parties involved. If anyone wants to set up a summit, shout at us: onthedownloadatphxdotcom.

8/24/2005 10:03:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Dancing on indie rock's grave: Amsterdam's Zea.

LISTEN: Zea, "We Buried Indie Rock Years Ago" (mp3, via Zea).
LISTEN: Fiery Furnaces, "Single Again" (mp3, via Insound)

1. No idea how we missed these when they came out in 2003 and 2004, respectively, but we came across them again thanks to Tommie Sunshine's "Lobotomy Eyes Rock N Roll" mixtape, just serviced to press types. (We're checking on whether the link is share-able.) We swear, the Fiery Furnaces track wasn't meant as a response to sour Lemon, but check it: not only does this sound like the Stones circa Tattoo You when the guitars kick in and like Kraftwerk muzak on a diet of twinkies and slinkies when they don't, it's also a cover of a really fucking old and sado-masochistic gospel-blues tune. "He beat me he banged me again" is just so direct and brutal and thug. Eleanor is killing shit on this.

Guessing that Tommie found "We Buried Indie Rock" from these guys, but wherever it came from, it deserves another shot. The plot: Amsterdam electro-pop boys bang their head on the punk rock and then dance on its grave, recalling how they fell in love with Tanya Donelly and Juliana Hatfield in '91-'92-'93, wished they were Evan Dando, geeked out to Yo La Tengo, to the Swirlies and to Polvo, started bands, scenes, and fanzines . . . and have now become a bunch of nostalgic old hacks? I mean, this isn't just our theme song -- it's our fucking epitaph:

"We buried indie rock years ago
What once started out with Mascis and Barlow
Hardcore kids getting stoned and all
We buried indie rock years ago

Gordon, Shelly, Moore, Ranaldo
Malkmus, Pollard still do shows
But we buried indie rock years ago"

Burying indie rock and roll in late 2005:
2. Death Cab for Cutie still do shows. Their Plans is streaming via MTVu's "The Leak."
3. Grandaddy, "Pull The Curtains " (mp3, via Insound).
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Rich (Josh Patrick Remix)" (mp3, via Ayres)
5. CocoRosie, "Noah's Ark" (mp3, via Touch & Go)
6. Copy, Right? compiles a shitload of Magnetic Fields covers, and then discovers there's an ENTIRE SITE dedicated to commissioning Magnetic Fields covers.
7. New Foetus track and video (directed by Karen O?) over at Music for Robots.

8/24/2005 12:05:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

1. The good news: the above gentlemen are playing a free show at Avalon Axis next month. The bad news: it's one of those contest-winner-only deals. Click for details on a bunch of Half.com's back-to-school gigs in Boston, September 9+ 10: Dashboard Confessional + Tegan & Sara, DangerDoom + RJD2, Phantom Planet + Damone, and more.

2. Blender's "Hot 100" list this month says Avenged Sevenfold is "the best band ever to have a bassist named Johnny Christ." And we were like what? Oh, right, bassist. That was pretty close, though: thought we were gonna have to fight that dude.

3. Or at least get babygirl to hurl eggs and bottle caps and ice at him, then have wifey go call the bitch a prick. Because that's how you do metal beef these days. (Shit's turned into a soap opera, if you feel like reading the whole story.)

4. The 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Photos of All Time.

5. Son Of the 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Photos of All Time.

Which suggests a musical question:

6. LISTEN: "Do They Know It's Halloween?" (stream).


"An epic journey into the pulsating heart of fear." Beck, Sum 41, Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sloan, Peaches, Feist, Devendra Banhart, Wolf Parade, Postal Service, Buck 65, David Cross, Malcolm McLaren, Elvira, Roky Erikson, Sparks, and many more team up to expose the Halloween season for what it is: a godless holiday responsible for the damnation of millions of souls. In stores October 11.

8/23/2005 4:51:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

BRIGHT EYES
Feist
The Palladium - Worcester, MA
TUES. NOV. 22
7pm doors / 8pm show
ON SALE FRI AUG 26 AT 10AM
Tickets are $25
(800) 477-6849

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
Alkaline Trio / Reggie And The Full Effect
Tsongas Arena - Lowell, MA
SAT. OCT. 15
6pm doors / 7pm show
ON SALE SAT AUG 27 AT 10AM
Tickets are $19.99
(617) 931-2000.

Judas Priest
With Anthrax
At Tsongas Arena
Friday, October 7, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $38.50
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 26, 2005 at 12 noon

Amos Lee
At Somerville Theatre
Friday, October 7, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $17.50
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 26, 2005 at 10:00 am

Rolling Stones
At TD Banknorth Garden
Friday, January 13, 2006
Tickets are $450.00, $160.00, $99.00 and $60.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 10:00 am

The Dresden Dolls
At Avalon
Monday, October 31, 2005 at 8:00 pm
Tickets are $22.25
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 26, 2005 at 10:00 am

ROCK AND SHOCK
Gwar / Turbonegro / Devil Driver
The Palladium - Worcester, MA
SAT. OCT. 8
5pm doors / 6pm show
ON SALE NOW
Tickets are $29.00
(800) 477-6849

AVENGED SEVENFOLD
Saosin / Death By Stereo / Opiate for the Masses
TUES. OCT. 25 6 pm doors
ON SALE FRI AUG 26 AT 10AM
Tickets are $15.00
(800) 477-6849

Mix 98.5 Presents MixFest 2005
With Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper, Gavin DeGraw, Howie Day
At Bank of America Pavilion
Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $67.50 and $47.50
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 10:00 am

8/23/2005 4:39:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Roaring metal riffs, primal screams, sacreligious face paint, capes, loincloths, pyro . . . and that's not even including the kids popping ollies off the transplanted halfpipe in the background. Fuck Hellfest, man: we're talkin' Hellgate 2005, dude! I missed Shanghai Valentine and We're All Gonna Die and the other who-knows-how-many metal/hardcore bands that played at the house on Highgate all of the day and into the night on Saturday, but got there just in time for Motherboar to blow my mind and -- thankfully -- not any limbs.

LISTEN: Motherboar on Myspace

8/22/2005 11:07:00 PM by Tia | Comments [0] |  

LISTEN: Turpentine Brothers, "Something's Not Right" (mp3)
LISTEN: Reigning Sound, "You Got Me Hummin" (mp3)
LISTEN: Reigning Sound, "As Long (Live)" (mp3)

She's an Airplane Man and a Turpentine Brother, and now she's a Missus. Congrats to Tara McManus, who's made an honest man out of Turps bandmate Justin Hubbard. Less than 48 hours after Mr. Airplane Man's final gig, the newlyweds celebrated Sunday afternoon with a private soiree at ye old Abbey Lounge, where the entertainment was to have been provided by none other than Memphis garage-punk/soul/R&B/etc. geniuses the Reigning Sound (who're personal faves over here). Alas, RS missed the gig (as well as their Maxwell's NYC show) when main man Greg "Oblivian" Cartwright came down with food poisoning. So, as Tara recounted, "the party turned into this ridiculous drunken sing along/jam from hell involving Konks, Tampoffs, Triple Thick, Curses, me and Justin, Spitzz, it was hilarious!" The good news is Reigning Sound are soldiering their way up to Cambridge as we speak: they're still on for TONIGHT with the Turps, playing an open-to-the-public shindig at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square. Anyone wondering what to do with themselves on Mick & Keef's off night is hereby instructed to buy the happy couple a drink after their opening set. Speaking of which, it wasn't so long ago that R(eignng)S(ound) frontman Greg Cartwight's old band put out this thing, with our favorite R(olling)S(tones)-logo appropriation of all time:

8/22/2005 1:22:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

We're counting the rehearsals, of course. PHX spotters reported great sound from the periphery of the park, as well as a heavier turnout than usual in the streets. Nice to see that people took us up on Lansdowne Street seating suggestions. Our report from inside the park will be in the paper this Thursday. Shame that woman didn't fall on Arnold, though. Thanks to Tia for the photos below. Also, this just in:

THE ROLLING STONES
A BIGGER BANG WORLD TOUR 2005/2006
CONFIRM DATE FOR BOSTON
JANUARY 13th AT TD BANK NORTH GARDEN

Monday, August 22– Following the thunderous response to THE ROLLING STONES – A BIGGER BANG – opening night performance last evening in Boston, Tea Party Concerts announced today that a new show in Boston at TD Bank North Garden on January 13th has now been confirmed. Tickets for the Rolling Stones will be $450.00, $160.00, $99.00 and $60.00. Tickets will go on-sale beginning Saturday, August 27th, 2005 at 10:00 am. Tickets are available at the TD Banknorth Garden Box Office and at Ticketmaster outlets, including Filene’s, by calling (617/508) 931-2000, or (617) 228-6000, or by logging on to www.teapartyconcerts.com.

8/22/2005 12:15:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

LISTEN: Tunnel of Love, "Paint It Black" (mp3)
BUY: Tunnel of Love, Tunnel of Love (ECA Records)

1. In honor of Sunday's Rolling Stones jumpoff at Fenway, we give you the world's greatest rock and roll band, covering a song by the pretenders to the throne. (Yes, we know the Unseen do it too.) This comes from Tunnel of Love's self-titled album on Weymouth's ECA Records. But it's also the inaugural installment of what is threatening to become a monthly OTD series (a-la LRMS) of your favorite Boston bands covering some real classic shit. We don't quite have the details in place yet, and we're still brainstorming for a catchy title for the series. (Suggestions, please: onthedownload at phx dot com).

8/21/2005 10:37:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

LISTEN: Caninus, "Kill Shelters" (mp3)

Vegetarian gore metal rules. And when humans do it, it's funny. But this post is our way of introducing you to the very best heavy metal band that ever barked: "The majority of grindcore orchestras have singers trying to sound similar to upset deranged animals anyhow so Caninus have decided to use a real thing. Vocals are executed by two pit bull terriers. Both were rescued days before euthanization from refuges. Caninus - all strict vegans. It has come time really to allow the animals to have their say."

Since the lad mags are picking up on these guys, prepare for worse puns than the one we headlined. Um, "Grindcore goes the the dogs," probably, but hopefully no one will sink to "Who let the dogs out."

Behind the masks, Caninus is Rachel and Justin from NYHC's Most Precious Blood with their thugged-out pups Budgie and Basil (presumably named for the NWOBHM band and the Misfits-beloved artist). New Caninus/Cattle Decap split is out now on Wartorn, complete with South Park-like commercial ("HUMAN BURGERS 39 CENTS BITCH").

8/20/2005 10:50:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Stones are playing "Shattered" as we speak. If you're in the Fenway, open your windows...

UPDATE:

Night two of the Fenway Stand was maybe longer? Although some kid from Philly who was there with his dad said maybe they'd kept playing after we left Thursday night until around 10:30? By the way, there were some spoilsports the other day who were trying to play that "Oh, I heard they're doing Mick's voice off a CD for the soundcheck." For the record, this was not books on tape, duders.

After a reprise of night one's "Shattered," the set list included "Beast of Burden," "She's So Cold" (in classic Stones-punk mode), "Miss You," "Satisfaction," and "Honky Tonk Woman": the hits for free! Perfect summer night, another mural-ish fullmoon hanging above the park like a fat breaking ball up and in, polite applause after each song from the peanut gallery at the Cask, plus this time about a dozen people set up a makeshift lounge area on the Gold's Gym grate. After a few songs, two cabs deposited a dozen denim-clad, tongue-logo'd fan-clubbers from Amsterdam, who'd come straight from the airport and promptly started lobbing cries of "Keeeeeef!" over the outfield walls. Mr. Richards responded by singing a tune. Band took a break around 10 and we took off for the train, but by the time we got to Kenmore we could hear they were at it again. We know some people spent a lot of money on tickets for Sunday and Tuesday, but for serious: you guys missed out. Those guys were great. (Thanks to Cami for dropping a dime, or whatever the cell-phone equivalent is.)

8/19/2005 8:40:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Leave me alone, Brian. You're no Conor!

We were in the middle of drafting a “Riff Raff”-inspired post about Amanda Palmer, she-males, and sex tapes (though now that we think about it, that threesome might be redundant) when the sleepless-blogging machine also known as OTD beats us to the mouse. So anyways, we’ll just elaborate a bit that the Dresden Dolls are about to get the sort of endorsement that turned Aston Kutcher into a Demi-god. See, in next week’s installment of “Savage Love,” after comforting an afflicted she-male and afflicting a comfortable sex-smoker, Seattle’s finest sex-mentor gives a sloppy one to the Dolls:

"Apropos of nothing: I’m listening to the Dresden Dolls sing ‘Coin-Operated Boy’ as I write these words. The Dolls are a terrific post-punk/goth/Brechtian rock duo. Everyone on earth needs to buy their CDs.”

We smell a New York Times piece on the "Savage factor."

2. Speaking of our favorite local goth-streak queen, we completely missed this when it happened, but apparently Amanda Palmer made out with Conor Oberst completely naked the same night he shat on John Peel’s grave. Like, WTF?

3. Old-school Amanda Palmer living-statue site here. This was back when she had real-person eyebrows and did interviews with our venerable Mahler-loving Arts Editor. Those were the days.

8/19/2005 1:16:00 PM by cami | Comments [0] |  

8/19/2005 12:48:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Not like the Dresden Dolls want for influential fans, but now they've got another: syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, who shouts them out nationwide is an upcoming column. You can read it in next Thursday's Phoenix, along with some other news about the band. We have one detail that has to go out early, though: online presale goes live at noon today for their Halloween show at Avalon.

8/19/2005 9:54:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

The Rolling Stones kicked off their Fenway Park stand tonight around 8 pm in front of a paying crowd of zero, performing what bystanders who showed up before us said was a seven-song soundcheck. OTD -- departing late from the offices down on Brookline Ave, iPod blasting the new Ashlee tracks -- damn near missed the gig entirely, and would have had we not noticed the unusual knot of raggedy old dudes standing shock-still on the corner of Lansdowne Street, glaring up at the poker-faced Green Monster as if it had just sprouted Yankees penants. Under a full moon, with the windows open and the Pats on the flat screens across the street at Game On!, the patio at the Cask hosted what felt for a few minutes like the world's cheapest Rolling Stones living room party. Fenway soundchecks are a neat fringe benefit of working near the park: you can be walking down the street at lunch and suddenly get a big, booming "Star Spangled Banner" belted at you, as if it were just another hoary old hit someone felt like taking a whack at down at Jake Ivory's. Better yet when it's Jagger. Stripped of Mick's lips-puckered prance, disembodied and distant, an ambient voice in the warm bustling eve -- with Keef (presumably Keef; coulda been a devoted roadie, sure) hacking his away around the chord without ever settling on it; also with what sounded like a gospel choir on backups -- the one song we heard and don't know the name of felt stately and luminous, communal and humbling, oddly intimate and unexpectedly beautiful. It was as if by playing for free in such a dense civic space, the Rolling Stones had become, however briefly, a public utility. Like electricity or water or sewage removal. Something that just is: a part of the night you walk under and share and pass along.

[UPDATE: Rolling Stones soundcheck makes the Noise Board happy, too.]

Practical lessons learned: if they play at commensurate volume this weekend, the Cask and the Lansdowne Street parking lot are really not bad seats. It may be just a coincidence, but the one obviously illegal vantage point on Brookline Avenue -- a roof-access chimney atop a warehouse -- has been scaffolded up: can't tell whether it would help or hinder someone trying to see into the park, though. Looks pretty shaky. Stage appears to be backed against the center-field wall, PA pointed back at an angle towards Brookline Avenue, which means that those little causeways like Overland and Fullerton may not be bad, and there may even be prime squatting territory down at the corner of Yawkey and Van Ness.

8/18/2005 11:13:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

1. Ah, Promosquad. It's like ghetto Napster. Ashlee Simpson's got a couple new clips up on it. And if you don't care, we don't like you. Not on any ironic shit, either. If you come over to our house we'll play you this joint called "Sorry" that they left off Autobiography -- really pithy, get-even type lyrical content and a killer hook: imagine if "Shadow" and "LaLa" had been the same song. Totally feeling this new "I Didn't Steal Your Boyfriend," which is like the long-awaited final song in the Hollywood cat-fight trilogy that includes Lindsay's "Rumors" and Hilary's "Haters"? Also, ever since Kelly C.'s people stepped up the teen-pop game by raiding the ProTools hard drives of prominent alt-rockers for guitar sounds, we've been wondering which CMJ showcasees were gonna get their chain snatched next. Sure enough, "Boyfriend" has an answer: Radio 4, your groove has been jacked. God, we love it when professional songwriters fuck hipsters in the butt like this. New Ashlee movie, Undiscovered, drops August 23; new album, I Am Me, out October 11.

LISTEN: Ashlee Simpson, "L.O.V.E." (mp3, 2-min clip)
LISTEN: Ashlee Simpson, "I Didn't Steal Your Boyfriend" (mp3, 2-min clip)



2. We apologize if this has been all over the internet already. We just got around to checking our email, and Arts & Crafts have posted a track from Broke-ass Social Scene's forthcoming and imaginitively titled Broken Social Scene (due October 4). Generally we're the type of guy BSS fans hate: the dude who goes, "Well, no, but that Feist girl is quite nice." That said, this is not bad:

LISTEN: Broken Social Scene, "7/4 (Shoreline)" (zipped mp3 file, via Arts and Crafts)

3. So we just discovered that All Things Rock is alive and well -- better, even, since it's without the old hosts -- on MTV Overdrive. Watching it, we felt like we'd woken up and it was 1986 again, with A7X in the role of Motley Crue and System of a Down as some weirdo hybrid of Frank Zappa and Megadeth. But good god, what the bitch happened to Coheed and Cambria? All the sudden, dude with the frizzy hair is rocking Gary Cherone's three-day growth, Jimmy Page's double-neck, and the string swells from "Kashmir"? Note to emo-prog stylists: bloated-Kip-Winger-gets-struck-by-lightning is NOT A GOOD LOOK.

WATCH: Coheed and Cambria, "Welcome Home" (real video stream)

4. Transplants fans want answers, but maybe only Paul Wall knows: WAS IT THE PURPLE DRANK?

8/18/2005 7:24:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

(Unreadable Spoon comic is courtesy of, and far more readable at, Fluxblog.)

LISTEN: Spoon, "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine" (mp3)

When you think of the bands most likely to play sun-drenched gigs in wide-open public spaces, Spoon probably don't come to mind. But perhaps they should, if only as an antidote to the heat. Britt Daniels is fond of chilly keyboard tones and wiry guitars, tempering new-wave pop with cool precision. In support of their new Gimme Fiction, Spoon play the Boston Phoenix/WFNX New Music Series, with LONGWAVE, at the DCR Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade (green line to arlington st. stop, walk towards the river), Boston 6 pm 781.595.WFNX.

8/18/2005 1:31:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

LISTEN: Simian Mobile Disco, SMD Mix 02 (mp3, via supmag)

So we've been checking up on these Simian Mobile Disco dudes, who are coming to town tomorrow on the hush-hush. Let's see, they're a Euro rock band turned remix/DJ team . . . so if you're already smelling Soulwax's sloppy seconds, you're not entirely barking up the wrong soundsystem. SMD's downloadable hour-long mixtape might be a little 2ManyDJs, but like imagine a 2ManyDJs that's not trying to brain you with the LOOK AT THIS FUCKED-UP ELECTROTRASH MASHUP WE JUST MADE shtick every 15 seconds. And sure, Simian ease their way under your skin with old-school nostalgia, but they're going for the older and rappier stuff we actually grew up on instead of the new-wavy pop shizz that made better reruns. Eventually, natch, they work their way up through all the MIA/LCD/SOV hits of today (um, "Ch-Ching," though? Haven't we all graduated to "Random" or at least "Sad Ass Stripper" or something?), while filtering everything through razorblade-synth blazzow and custom-built zappy grinding stuff that we can't place because we hate "electronic" music. Also, unlike Soulwax, Simian have heard of dancehall and they're not mad at it. We realized even whilst listening to the Simian mixtape that it wouldn't translate on paper -- the ADD/DJ stuff never does -- but, all yammering aside, it's quite heated. Like, if you ever wondered whether the Sonics' "Have Love Will Travel" was club-droppable, well, now you've got your fucking answer. (As a bridge between French retard-disco and No Wave New York no less?!) Not only that, but the way they isolate that one corrugated-tin guitar riff and foreshadow the drop for five minutes is, like, nuts. UGLY, as in eating-weapons-of-mass-destruction-for-breakfast foogly-ugly. We couldn't love this routine more.

How are they in the studio? Who cares? OTD has really limited tolerance for bleepy shit, so we're not the best people to ask, but we haven't heard anything by these dudes that isn't bearable, and their Air remix was pretty sturdy, and since we're pretty much fags for anyone who does songs about vampires, we're giving their club banger "The Count" a thumbs up, mostly on the basis of the cover (See above: MAX SCHRECK STAND UP). Think the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" in robot form.

In case you declined to click on this link five seconds ago, more details on Simian Mobile Disco show available courtesy of secret-show support DJ David Day.

8/17/2005 12:18:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Report on last night's Click Five record-release show at the Middle East coming in print, but not for a week. For what it's worth, less than 24 hours after their album came out, those kids have the #1 most downloaded song on iTunes. They're gonna be on Conan tomorrow night. INSANITY. Rucker saw the perfect-storm clouds gathering before anyone else, but honestly, OTD had no idea these kids were coming with such a focused marketing game. It's been fun to watch them roll the damn thing out -- way more fun than watching them perform. But seriously, we're this close to throwing our cynicism out the window and just going Inside Track -- y'know, like, reporting on them everytime they go to Felt or eat at Sonsie or stiff a cab driver or whatnot. We've already been in contact with someone who's slept with the drummer. DON'T THINK WE WON'T INTERVIEW THE GROUPIES. We hope it doesn't come to that, though.

CLICK ONE: Send in your receipt for Welcome to Imrie House, win a bro-down with the Click Five.

CLICK TWO: Stuff the ballot box for the Click Five on TRL! But remember! "After about 50 votes change the state you are voting from, because MTV only accepts a certain number of votes from each State." (Sorry, buried the lead: "Make sure the date of birth you put is after 1986. MTV only accepts votes by individuals 20 years of age or younger.")

CLICK THREE: ARE YOU THE ULTIMATE CLICK CHICK?

CLICK FOUR: "My name is Jackie. I live on Long Island NY!!! Im 18 and going to Berkeley College to study fashion!! I met The Click Five when i went on TRL July 27 2005! Then I met them again July 30 2005!!

CLICK FIVE: 13-year-old hoochies heartbroken: "No more meet and greets?!!"

8/17/2005 1:00:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Huuuuuuuuuge week. Scroll down for details on Boston Phoenix-sponsored indie-rock season at the MFA with Black Dice, Fiery Furnaces, 13 & God, many more.


Death Cab for Cutie, seconds after leaking Plans to Soulseek.

1. Franz Ferdinand
At Orpheum Theatre
Saturday, October 15, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $35.00
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 19, 2005 at 10:00 am

2. Death Cab For Cutie
With Youth Group
At Orpheum Theatre
Monday, October 17, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $22.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 12:00 noon
(Go here to get in on pre-sale)

LISTEN: Death Cab for Cutie, "Love Song" (mp3, Cure cover)

3. Liz Phair
At Avalon Friday, October 14, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $20.25
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 10:00 am

LISTEN: Liz Phair, "Everything To Me" (mp3)

4. Saves the Day + Senses Fail
With Early November, Say Anything
At Avalon
Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 6:00 pm
Tickets are $17.50 adv, $21.00 dos
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 10:00 am

5. Thrice
With Underoath + The Bled + Veda
At Avalon
Sunday, October 30, 2005 at 6:00 pm
Tickets are $17.50 adv, $21.00 dos
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 10:00 am

6. My Morning Jacket
With Kathleen Edwards
At Avalon
Saturday, October 15, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $20.00
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 19, 2005 at 12 noon

7. Joss Stone
At Avalon
Sunday, October 2, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $28.50
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 10:00 am

8. Built to Spill
At Avalon
Monday, October 3, 2005 at 8:00 pm
Tickets are $17.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 10:00 am

9. Story Of The Year
With Funeral For A Friend + Anberlin + He Is Legend
At Avalon
Thursday, October 6, 2005 at 5:30 pm
Tickets are $17.25 adv, $19.25 dos
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 12:00 noon

10. NO ON-SALE YET:
Atmosphere, 10/13 at the Roxy, Boston
Bright Eyes, 11/22 at Chapin Auditorium, Northampton

PART II.

BOSTON PHOENIX/MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FALL INDIE-ROCK SERIES
Tickets are available in person at the Remis Box Office, by phone at (617) 369-3306, and online at http://www.mfa.org/concerts.

Black Dice
with special guest Sam Jayne
Friday, September 9, 7:30 pm
Tickets are $12 MFA members, students, and seniors; $15 general admission.

The Notwist and Themselves perform as 13 & God
with special guest Boy in Static
Sunday, September 18, 7:30 pm
Tickets are $16 MFA members, students, and seniors; $20 general admission.

Fiery Furnaces
Wednesday, October 12, 7:30 pm
Tickets are $16 MFA members, students, and seniors; $20 general admission.

The Dirty Three
Sunday, October 16, 8 pm
Tickets are $16 MFA members, students, and seniors; $20 general admission.

The Mountain Goats
Thursday, October 27, 7:30 pm
Tickets are $14 MFA members, students, and seniors; $18 general admission.

Belle Orchestre (members of Arcade Fire) and Clogs
Friday, November 4, 7:30 pm
Tickets are $14 MFA members, students, and seniors; $18 general admission.

8/16/2005 4:45:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |  

Yeah, every wire service and his blogger's got a link to the Wm Jefferson Clinton promo CD. Still doesn't top our favorite audio reminder of the Clinton presidency (seen below in the jukebox at the late Ernie K. Doe's Mother In Law Lounge). We bought Skippy White's last two copies of this back in 1998. If anyone sees Larry Shannon Hargrove, give us a shout:

8/16/2005 1:09:00 AM by onthedownload | Comments [1] |  

Story goes that Victory at Sea finally decided on a name for their new album: All Your Things Are Gone. Two weeks later, drummer Dave Norton's apartment (in same building as the band's practice space) burnt up from a freak electrical fire. Irony aside, the band's equipment ended up justa little wet from the hoses, but all of Dave's things are gone. To help raise some money, Vic @ Sea plus 11 other bands got together at theMiddle East downstairs on Saturday night for a benefit show. Captions first, then photos to match (by Tia, despite how the byline reads).

1. Mad Man Films' George Lewis fronts a rare performance by the Middle East employee punksupergroup Dorkbot.

2. Jordyn rests up her vocal chords for CMJ while Joel Big Bears through his own personal Rivers Cuomo wet dream, playing an entire set of Blue Album Weezer tunes.

3. Bro-Bro, star of the weekly sitcom Certainly, Sir, auctions off the star of the bakesale: the burning boobs cake. Asking price: $15/tit.

4. Per order of the cake's anonymous purchaser, two unidentified men engage in a titty-eating contest.

5. Mona Victory at Sea shouts (fire?) in a semi-crowded basement, unveiling some of the new songs the band's recording with Andrew Schneider.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.



ALSO: thanks to everyone who came out on Friday night for the Certified/Catchdubs party at Enormous Room. Shitloads of fun, despite the PA troubles. We have a feeling a few interesting developments might come out of this.

8/15/2005 11:22:00 PM by onthedownload | Comments [0] |