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"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" trailer
"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" is an intimate musical portrait of legendary singer/songwriter Neil Young, filmed on the occasion of the world premiere of Young's Prairie Wind concert at Nashville's hallowed Ryman auditorium last summer. Young's music provides an emotionally rich view into this unique artist's relationship to family, friends, mortality and the passage of time.
The Dissociatives: "Young Man Old Man"
The Dissociatives are Daniel Johns and Paul Mac and together they have crafted their critically acclaimed debut album, a unique collision of classic songwriting smarts and adventurous electronic production.
Kacey Jones: "San Francisco Mabel Joy"
She's been virtually the laughing stock of the music industry for years. She's been laughed at outside the Nashville city limits by the likes of People Magazine, USA Today, Billboard, and on National Public Radio as Garrison Keillor's special guest on "A Prairie Home Companion." With KACEY JONES there's a lot to laugh about. Her new CD on IGO Records, "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music," proves that Kacey Jones won't be taken seriously anytime soon. The follow-up to her last music-comedy project, "Never Wear Panties to a Party," the newest creation is not only bottomless in comedy appeal, but in establishing the vocal talent and comedy genius caught in the grooves. In the hard work-a-day world of carving a national name as one of the brightest new musical humorists to break through in recent years, Kacey Jones is used to breaking the mold. Singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, producer, and publisher--all distinct descriptions that fit only one unique piece of this puzzle. When completely assembled, the one that emerges is one of a delightful, born and bred in the San Francisco Bay Area, madcap redhead who sees the world at large with laser perception and a funny tilt. The naked truth is that many of the songs on "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music" were divinely inspired by three best-selling Sweet Potato Queen books written by Kacey's friend and ally, Jill Conner Browne. "The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Cookbook & Financial Planner" written by Conner Browne and published by Three Rivers Press/Random House, hit #1 on the NY Times bestseller list for three weeks in March of 2003. Boasting a worldwide membership of 50,000, the Sweet Potato Queens can also boast that Kacey Jones holds the Official Title: "Royal Minstrel To The Sweet Potato Queens' Court" among the ranks of those who consider the sweet potato a sacred vegetable and have raised its perception to a national art form. If it all seems off the wall, it's totally sane in the world of Kacey. Hers was, after all, the brilliant mind that conceived one of Nashville's most unique and revered cult groups, the all-girl "Ethel and The Shameless Hussies," who broke above the waves in the late 80's to mainstream nominations as "Comedy Act of the Year," as well as a major contract with MCA Records. As lead singer and lead comedy writer, Kacey put the Shameless Hussies on America's national radar. Further proving that her talents could produce more than just a few good laughs, Kacey went into the studio with legendary cult artist, Kinky Friedman, only to emerge as the producer of his critically acclaimed project, "Pearls in the Snow." The album reached the #1 spot on the Americana radio chart in 1999. She added further weight to her professional portfolio by producing tracks for Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Tom Waits, Dwight Yoakam and Delbert McClinton for the same project. Movies were next to fall under the spell. Kacey contributed three original songs to the soundtrack of the award winning cult film, "Sordid Lives" starring Beau Bridges, Olivia-Newton-John, Delta Burke, Bonnie Bedalia, and Leslie Jordan. Could television be next? The WB Television Network currently has a sitcom in development titled, "The Sweet Potato Queens." "I hitched my wagon to the Sweet Potato Queens' rising star four years ago," stated Jones in a recent interview, "I've got 50,000 fabulous women (and a few Spud Studs) who worship me like I'm their Elvisit's a Royal ride and I'm enjoying every minute of it." The simultaneous release of "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music" and a three-book-box-set by Conner Browne titled, "The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Box of Love," may just be the puff of wind under the dress that lifts Kacey Jones' career to new comedy heights.
SF Bay Bridge sliding in new section
Over the Labor Day weekend, the Bay Bridge will have a whole chunk of its eastern span destroyed and a new section put in as part of a major seismic retrofit project. CNET News.com's Daniel Terdiman talks through the details as an artist's rendition of the project is displayed.
Susperia was started by Tjodalv ( Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child ), who everybody should be familiar with by now, and Cyrus (Session: Satyricon, Old Mans Child ) in October 1998. After Tjodalv left Dimmu Borgir in the middle of march 1999 he started to concentrate fully on Susperia together with Cyrus, which are old time friends. But before that, sometime in 1998 Tjodalv and Cyrus started to write and work on the music that we know today. This was the start on the band we today know as Susperia. It all started to happen at the Wacken Open Air Festival in august 1999 when Athera meet Tjodalv when they where both traveling with Mayhem to help them out with their show. Tjodalv had brought with him some pre-production stuff of some music, and he told Athera he was looking for some musicians to get this band up and running. Athera had a band on a nonprofessional basis and he told Tjodalv that he was interested in listening to his stuff, so he borrowed the CD when he got home to Norway. The music immediately caught Athera's attention as it was totally free of synthesizer's and was almost like pure extreme metal to the bone, and there was a special originality to it that made him listen to the CD`s 7 songs over and over again. Finally he called Tjodalv and told him he liked the music very much and was interested in trying something out. Tjodalv and Cyrus in addition to Athera as a vocalist, they also needed a bass player and a second guitar player, so Athera brought with him his long time bass playing friend (Memnock), and another friend to play the guitar (Elvorn), both of them was at that time playing in Atheras band. Susperia met up for a rehearsal in September 99 and after the session they agreed that this could work out great! And they decided to aim for a demo within the end of the year, the demo was recorded in December 99 at Pitfire Studio outside Oslo, the demo was mixed and mastered by L.Argedick. Synth and piano on this recording was done by Mustis (Dimmu Borgir). The demo which contains 5 songs is called "Illusions of evil". The demo was sent out to different record companies and the response was fucking enormous! Susperia received about 10 solid offers from mainly major companies and after reviewing it all, they decided to start working on the deal with Nuclear Blast. In early 2000 Susperia signed a 4 record deal with Nuclear Blast. Susperia was first named Seven Sins, and the inspiration to that name came from the original seven death sins, greed, lust and so on. But due to copyright reasons they changed the band name to Susperia. The music style of susperia is highly original and can be described as brutal metal together with some melodic twists, Susperia feel that originality is the essence of surviving the music industry today. So they have united elements from what they feel is essential music. On the "Illusions of evil" demo they where using synt and piano wich is common in this style of music (BM) but on their debut album there will be no synt or piano, this to give a more aggressive sound and to differ from other bands in the same category. Susperia played their first live gig at John Dee in Oslo, They headlined after their country men in RAGNAROK and ALSVARTR had heated the crowd up. And just a few months later they again entered the stage at the Scream 10 year party and did a energic concert that showed the people there that Susperia have a big future in front of them. Susperia is put together of 5 different personalities and highly skilled individual musicians, that have a strong foundation in the Norwegian Black Metal scene. The guys in the band are true best friends, and they have a great time together and they spend most of their time together both in music and in private. Susperia are not a Satanic band but through their lyrics they tend to criticize and question the views and moral of Christianity. They do not believe in God, but they don`t believe in Satan either. They highly believe in their music and in their individual selves. All the guys in Susperia are very serious about their commitment in the band and it would not be any major understatement in saying that Susperia is a project, their commitment and goals for the future makes them nothing but a genuine band! The debut album, Predominance, was recorded in Abyss Studios in October 2000 and supervised by Peter T?gtgren. Upon its release March 26th, 2001, Susperia was invited to support Dimmu Borgir on the entire European part of their world tour. Susperia toured Western Europe with Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Nevermore and Lacuna Coil in April, and Eastern and Southern Europe with Dimmu Borgir and Destruction in May. They were also flown over to headline the Extremo Open Air Festival in Portugal of June that same year. Susperia sold over 10,000 albums in the first 3 months and inked a deal with Ponycanyon Records for distribution in Korea. Susperia got a 2-page article in Terrorizer, which garnered the band massive coverage in England, and they were also featured with articles and interviews in the majority of German music magazines in addition to many other countries. The reviews praised the coming of this group and the fresh breath of extreme metal they brought with them. The media was astonished by the powerful debut album and can hardly anticipate what will come next. What you have been waiting for is here. On May 6th, 2002 Susperia released their second full-length album entitled Vindication. Again recorded in Abyss Studios, Sweden, Vindication serves as possibly the last piece of work Peter T?gtgren agreed to do before closing down his studio, maybe for good. Peter believed so strongly in the material for the new album that he decided to co-produce and assist totally free of charge! So the music was recorded in Abyss in November and December 2001 whilst Athera hooked up with vocal producer Bj?rn Boge (Da Vinci) and recorded all the vocals in BBM studio in Oslo, Norway at the same time. Susperia are not black, not death, just pure energetic, aggressive METAL. They make a strong team together and you will never know what hit you when they start playing.
Two brothers, 14-year-old Basilio and 12-year-old Bernardino, work deep inside the silver mines of Cerro Rico, Bolivia. In the mines, which date back to the sixteenth century, it is said the devil determines the fate of those who enter. The devil is everywhere, watching - carved statues called "Tios" are scattered throughout the tunnels, and the miners, including the young brothers, bring offerings to them daily. Raised without a father and living in virtual poverty with their family on the slopes of the mine, Basilio and his brother must work to help support their family and afford supplies vital to their education. As we come to know them, we see their fears and hopes for their future, and occasionally glimpse childlike souls peeking through their stoic faces. Trusting in an ancient belief that the devil determines the fate of all those who work in the mines, Basilio believes only the mountain devil's generosity will allow them to earn enough money to continue the new school year - their only chance of escaping their destiny in the silver mines.
"No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" DVD trailer
The film, which focuses on the singer-songwriter's life and music from 1961-66, includes never-seen performance footage and interviews with artists and musicians whose lives intertwined with Dylan's during that time. Dylan talks openly and extensively about this critical period in his career, detailing the journey from his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, to Greenwich Village, New York, where he became the center of a musical and cultural upheaval, the effects of which are still felt today. For the first time, The Bob Dylan Archives has made available rare treasures from its film, tape and stills collection, including footage from Murray Lerner's film Festival documenting performances at the 1963, 1964 and 1965 Newport Folk Festivals, previously unreleased outtakes from D.A. Pennebaker's famed 1967 documentary "Don't Look Back", and interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Maria Muldaur, and many others. In anticipation of the film, members of Dylan's worldwide community of fans also contributed rarities from their own collections.
Murder City Devils: "18 Wheels"
A compilation of live footage from MCD. This video is from the DVD "Murder City Devils: Rock and Roll Can't Wait".
Voices drifting into the lovers' room precipitate a young woman's downward spiral into the depths of her subconscious.
Over the past decade, New York City's Ida has mapped their own space in the American underground music scene, defying easy categorization with unpredictable, emotionally charged, frequently memorable live shows, and a series of distinctly voiced records. Driven by three strong singer songwriters and telepathic musicianship, Ida has never accepted the straitjacket of resting on their accomplishments. Whether playing and singing quieter than Joao Gilberto in his living room, or blasting full volume ecstatic guitar noise, Ida embraces a broad template of musical ideas- from acoustic chamber pop, old time folk, and free improvisation to minimalist drones, shimmering harmonies, Krautrock ambience, and bad Prince covers. Throughout it all, Ida has remained a steadfast pillar in the independent community, collaborating with numerous individuals from well respected bands, organizing and playing benefits for a wide array of political and artistic causes, and running their own record label, Last Affair. Ida formed in 1992 as a duo when fellow Brooklynites Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton began writing songs together. They soon enlisted friend and upright bassist Rick Lassiter to join them. The trio recorded the Songs from the Ranch tape that winter on their 4-track, and began playing shows in New York City. When a copy of the tape fell into the hands of Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thompson, owners of the staunchly independent and highly influential Simple Machines label, the two offered to put out Ida's debut full-length. In Spring 1994 at Excello Recording in Williamsburg Brooklyn, Ida recorded Tales of Brave Ida a collection of hauntingly beautiful love songs and ambient instrumentals. When Lassiter moved back to North Carolina, Daniel's brother Miggy (White Magic, Blood on the Wall) joined the band as drummer and multi-instrumentalist. Ida hit the road on their first tour opening for Tsunami. Tales of Brave Ida received enthusiastic reviews, eliciting comparisons to the forceful, somber sounds of the Velvet Underground and Nick Drake. Ida had arrived. The following year, Daniel began touring extensively with Liquorice, a 4AD band he founded with Jenny Toomey. Despite a relatively slow year on the Ida front, the band released a 7" on Simple Machines and wrote the songs that would make up their next album. On the first day of the Blizzard of '96, Ida literally dug their way into the studio to record their second full-length, I Know About You. The addition of Miggy on drums brought spartan, pensive rhythms that added a powerful new dynamic to Ida's quietly intense sound. Lassiter's string arrangements and the contributions of Daniel and Miggy's sister Cecilia on violin and viola, brought new layers of dissonance and sonic depth to the recording. That spring Ida toured nationally with Steve Immerwahr (Codeine) on bass and Elaine Ahn on cello. In the fall, Beekeeper bassist/vocalist Karla Schickele joined as permanent bass player for Ida just in time for their second full U.S. tour. 1997 brought constant touring as well as the band's third full-length, Ten Small Paces. The album was a scrapbook of sorts, nestling five covers from songwriters as diverse as Bill Monroe and Brian Eno between ten original tracks. Recorded in various stops while on tour (including a recording session with His Name Is Alive mastermind Warren Defever), the album exuded a loose, offhand "mixtape" feel that perfectly suited the warmth and intimacy of the group. These qualities helped make it one of the band's most beloved albums. Ida toured the first of several tours with the band Low, and began touring regularly with genius violinist Ida Pearle (Ted Leo, Magnetic Fields, William Parker). In Fall 1997, knowing the end of Simple Machines as a label was near, Ida signed with Capitol Records. In 1998, Ida released two EPs including The Ida Retsin Family, Volume One a collaboration with Tara Jane O'Neil (Rodan) and Cynthia Nelson (Ruby Falls, the Naysayer). Additionally, Liz, a former teacher at Roosevelt Island Day Nursery in NYC, recorded a critically acclaimed children's album of old time acoustic folk songs. Shortly thereafter, Ida entered the studio to record Ida's Capitol debut. It was the first time Ida had entered the studio with a recording budget. The Capitol album Will You Find Me was completed in May 1999. However some significant changes had taken place at Capitol Records since Ida's signing -the president was fired and the entire staff was replaced by robots- and the band spent the next six months in limbo. Ida realized that even though they had completed (recorded, mixed and mastered) one album, they had actually recorded enough songs for two full-length LPs on Capitol's dime. Ida eventually won back ownership of their Capitol master tapes. Miggy left the band in the fall of 1999. For their fall 1999 tour, Ida got quieter than ever with an ambitious 6-piece acoustic ensemble, including woodwinds and strings. Several of the shows were part of a series of benefit concerts for Low Power Radio and the grass roots movement to save community-based radio from the dominance of corporate radio stations and media consolidation. They released Insound Tour Support: Ida Live At Carnegie Hall, an 18-song live document, culled from performances at The Anthology Film Archive in NYC, a live WFMU broadcast, a raucous Derby show in Louisville KY and many stops along the road. In 2000, Ida found a new label home with New York's Tiger Style Record who released Will You Find Me. The release was named album of the week by Jon Pareles in the New York Times, August 18, 2000, and named among the year end "best of" lists in both Spin, and the New York Times. The quieter the band got, the more people seemed to pay attention. The band spent the year touring with various ensembles including longtime member Ida Pearle, original drummer Miggy Littleton and newer collaborators Trip Gray (Joe Morris Trio), Zach Wallace (Flashpapr), Dave Curry (Willard Grant Conspiracy, Thalia Zedek), Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, Flashpapr), Jacob Danziger (Flashpapr), Andrew Hall (The Moonlighters, Sparklehorse), and Amy Domingues (Threnody Ensemble). They toured with Pedro the Lion, Low, Shannon Wright, and Julie Doiron. A year later, Tiger Style released The Braille Night, the second of the Capitol-era albums which aptly re-created the intimacy and magic of Ida's live performances. The Braille Night served as a fitting companion piece to Will You Find Me, the perfect ending/beginning of a new century for the band. In the years since the release of The Braille Night, Daniel and Liz took time away from Ida's intense touring schedule to raise their daughter, Storey. They also released two childrens records, and an electro-acoustic duo called Nanang Tatang. Daniel toured Japan and recorded as a solo piano/harmonium/guitar singer songwriter. He also recorded and toured in Italy as an improviser/noisemaker with Geoff Farina (Karate, Secret Stars). Karla toured and performed as K., releasing two records on Tiger Style and a split EP with Low, and doing a dreamy stint as Low?s guest keyboardist opening for Radiohead in Europe. When Tiger Style went on hiatus in February 2004, Ida again found themselves without a label, after having completed a new record. After talking with the folks at Polyvinyl Records, Ida knew they had found the perfect label to help them to exist, and to put out their new record, Heart Like a River. This record marks a period of renewed creativity for the band including collaborations with longtime Ida co-conspirators Cecilia Littleton and original bassist Rick Lassiter as well as violinist Jean Cook (Jon Langford, The Beauty Pill) and cellist Dominique Davison (Threnody Ensemble). Heart Like a River also marks the first time the band has collaborated with producer/engineer Warren Defever on an album from start to finish. After a long touring hiatus, Ida will again return to the road this winter, with Jean Cook on violin and new drummer Ruth Keating (K, The Malarkies). Heart Like a River will be released February 22, 2005.
