Stars' New Single Plus a DVD

I always thought "The Night Starts Here" was their first. Hm.

From Filter:

Stars Announce DVD, Single
by staff | 08.21.2007

If you've decided to wait till September 25 to pick up your hard copy of Stars latest LP, In Our Bedroom After The War, then your patience will be rewarded. Stars has just announced the inclusion of a bonus DVD titled, Are We Here Now?. Directed by Anthony Seck, the DVD features 55 minutes of intertwined live footage and band interviews.

To add fuel to the Stars fire, the band has announced the release of the album's lead single, "Take Me To The Riot", on September 4th via Arts&Crafts.

Reason to Even Watch VMAs

As I recall, The Raconteurs have been the house band for an MTV awards show before. This year, it will be Mark Ronson's turn. I suppose it's a reason to watch. Hopefully they won't cut him off mid-song for commercial break like MTV did with The Raconteurs which pissed me off cause they deserved so much better than that. Truthfully, I'm not too fond of the whole house band idea.

From NME:

Mark Ronson to provide tunes for MTV awards

Super-producer will be joined by surprise guests

13.Aug.07 5:42pm

Mark Ronson and his live band will provide music for the MTV Video Music Awards, it was announced today (August 13).

Ronson, who his known for his production work with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, has been named the house band for the Las Vegas ceremony, set to take place September 9 at the Palms Casino Resort.

Members of Winehouse's band The Dap-Kings and Stu Zender of Jamiroquai will join Ronson, as well as guest vocalists who have yet to be announced.

Winehouse is nominated for three VMAs, including Female Artist Of The Year, and is competing with Allen for the Best New Artist Award, as previously reported.

Source

Further Proof MTV Should Die

As much as I absolutely LOVE Justice and Amy Winehouse, I'm selfish and I don't want to share. Justice should take home the win again over Kanye :)

Video of the Year
»Amy Winehouse: "Rehab"
»Beyoncé: "Irreplaceable"
»Justice: "D.A.N.C.E."
»Justin Timberlake: "What Goes Around ... "
»Kanye West: "Stronger"
»Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z): "Umbrella"

Klaxons Fall 2007 US Tour

Happy birthday to me!

From Rock on the Streets:

The Klaxons have announced a whole new fall North American tour which will kick off September 23 in Boston. Among the dates will be a performance with Bjork at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 24. Recently the band suffered a bit of a set back when bassist Jamie Reynolds broke his leg while jumping off stage at a gig in France. Reynolds injury forced the band to cancel their Australian tour. NME recently reported that Joe Daniel from The Violets is currently replacing Jamie Reynolds on bass while he recovers from his injuries.

Also supporting the band for select shows will Crystal Castles, Mystery Jets, Shitdisco, Justice, and Simian Mobile Disco.

Dates:

08-04 London, England - Luminaire
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival
08-17 Salzburg, Austria - Frequency Festival
08-18 Efurt, Germany - Highfields Festival
08-19 Flevoland, Netherlands - Lowlands Festival
08-21 Malmo, Sweden - Malmo Festival
08-24 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
09-23 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
09-24 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
09-26 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09-28 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
09-30 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
10-01 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
10-04 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
10-05 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
10-06 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
10-08 Washington, DC - 9.30 Club
10-09 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
10-10 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House Concert Venue
11-08 London, England - TBA
11-09 Paris, France - Zenith
11-10 Gent, Belgium - I Love Techno Festival
11-11 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
11-12 Hamburg, Germany - Grunspan
11-15 Cologne, Germany - Gloria
11-16 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
11-17 Zurich, Switzerland - Rohstofflage
11-18 Munich, Germany - Kleine Elserhalle
11-20 Rome, Italy - Qube
11-21 Torino, Italy - Hiroshima Mon Amour
11-22 Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
11-23 Lille, France - Le Zenith
11-25 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador
11-26 Manchester, England - Apollo
11-27 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange
11-28 Newcastle, England - Academy
11-30 Southampton, England - Guildhall
12-01 Leeds, England - University
12-02 Cardiff, Wales - University
12-04 Birmingham, England - Academy
12-05 London, England - Brixton Academy
12-06 London, England - Brixton Academy

Source

10 Things You SHOULD Know About Mark Ronson

From Harp Magazine:

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Mark Ronson

By Jose Martinez

Born in the U.K. but raised in the States, producer/DJ/label owner Mark Ronson grew up to be a dirty white boy who plays his own funky music and helps craft other artists’ jams (see: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen). Ronson’s Version (on his Allido Records via RCA) is a groovy collection of reworked favorites with Allen singing Kaiser Chiefs, Winehouse taking on the Zutons, and the late-great Ol’ Dirty Bastard doing Britney’s “Toxic.” But enough about the music. Did you know Ronson is the stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones? Well here’s another 10 things you didn’t know about him.

1) My guilty pleasure song is “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. For some reason whenever I bring it up I’m the joke of the room. I even went and bought the sheet music to it.

2) I used to read Judy Blume books in high school, which is weird because they’re books for girls who are just beginning to develop their estrogen count. I think I related to the characters.

3) I like chicken nuggets. Some people come home from a late night of drinking and brush their teeth so their wife doesn’t know. I have to brush my teeth so she can’t tell I’ve had McDonald’s. I actually didn’t have McDonald’s for about six years after I read Fast Food Nation, but I caved in because they’re so good when you dip them in honey.

4) I did the music for a Hanes commercial. In the beginning when I was supporting my record label from my DJ career I needed the money. The music wasn’t so bad, but the fact that I had to write jingles—I think the caption was “It’s the same for everyone, everywhere”—was pretty bad.

5) Happy Gilmore is one of my favorite movies. There are so many lines from that movie that I use all the time. Every line is a winner.

6) I DJ’d Martha Stewart, Inc.’s Christmas party in 2002. I was looking at a long night of Deee-Lite and Michael Jackson.

7) I ran the wrong way in a relay race in fourth grade, thus earning the name Wrong Way Ronson. It sounds like a character from Fat Albert.

8) I only learned how to drive a stick shift two days ago in L.A. shooting a video for “Stop Me.” I specifically told them that I didn’t know how to drive stick and they proceeded to get a classic 1960 Pontiac GTO stick shift car and mount $300,000 worth of camera equipment on the driver’s-side door. They were freaking out, but I said just give me five minutes and I’ll learn, and after 10 minutes I was fine driving around downtown L.A. with a police escort.

9) I’m a terrible singer. If it weren’t my band I’d be fired by now.

10) I read this ridiculous thing in the tabloids saying how angry I was at Timbaland for keeping my song out of the number one spot. That’s the most ridiculous, made-up thing. So I want to set the record straight with you.

Source

Mark Ronson in 'The Sunday Times'

By the way, one of Mark Ronson's US fall tour dates have been announced. He will be performing live at the Mezzanine in San Francisco, CA on Thursday, September 20th. It seems a lot of other things are going on that day. Anyway, if you're 21 or older, see Ronson live before he explodes with his latest album. Here's an article on Ronson from today's The Sunday Times:

Mark Ronson mixes in

An album of cover versions has taken the producer and DJ Mark Ronson into the charts. Will his single with Lily Allen send him into the stratosphere?

For someone who finds it hard to let go, Mark Ronson has chosen some pretty inappropriate friends. When he’s in London, the New York-based DJ and producer – whose second album, Version, shot up the charts earlier this year thanks, in part, to the big-name singers who feature on it – often hits the town with Lily Allen or Amy Winehouse. The Patty and Selma Bouvier of contemporary pop are scarcely shy and retiring types, so how on earth does Ronson cope?

A clue to his survival strategy is offered one evening in Milan, as Ronson and his friend and collaborator, the Australian singer Daniel Merriweather, sample the nightlife following a performance at a Dolce & Gabbana party. Ostensibly, Ronson keeps pace with everyone present, through the subsequent dinner and on, in the small hours, to a club. Sitting with an expression of Zen-like calm on his face, Ronson manages to avoid wincing as the club’s DJs make a hash of the task of whipping up the crowd. The man who span the records at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is no slouch when it comes to building dancefloor momentum. This evening, though, he keeps his own counsel, surveying his companions’ increasing incapacity through amused eyes. The next morning, he’ll be up with the birds; everyone else oversleeps.

Control – and not losing it – is a big deal for Ronson. His critics say that an inability to cut loose is precisely what hampers the music he makes. “It’s hard for me to let go,” the 29-year-old concedes in his mid-Atlantic drawl. “I have this guilt thing, or I feel that I have to set an example. I do have the odd night where Amy will have to pick me up off somebody’s couch and go, ‘Mark, we’re leaving now’ ” – now there’s a scenario to boggle the mind – “but it doesn’t happen that often.”

Ronson rejects the notion that he is musically cautious, too. In part, this perception has arisen not so much because of the records he makes, but because of his upbringing as the child of celebrities, born with a silver mix tape in his mouth – and his subsequent rise to local fame as the New York velvet-rope DJ of choice for stars such as P.Diddy and Prince. The son of the Big Apple socialite Ann Dexter-Jones, and the stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Ronson grew up in a house along the street from the McCartneys, where David Bowie was a regular visitor; later, when his family moved to America, he hung out with Sean Lennon and Michael Jackson. Musically “bookish”, his act of rebellion was to throw himself into the hip-hop scene, where he earned his spurs as a DJ.

“That was the real thing,” he says. “Not rich white kids throwing parties with a hip-hop DJ, but places where rappers and drug-dealers went. That kind of crowd wouldn’t be able to pick out my stepdad from a lineup if there was a million-dollar bounty on him. Someone could have gone, ‘Mark’s dad is in Foreigner’, and they would have said, ‘Who the f*** are they?’ ” In 2000, he got what he thought was his lucky break when he co-produced an album by the American singer Nikka Costa.

“Everyone was walking up to me after they’d heard [the single] Like a Feather and going, ‘Man, this is going to be incredible, you’re going to be able to retire after this.’ I was DJing at a party for Jay-Z and threw the record on, and he motions me over. I thought he was going to say, ‘Don’t ever use my parties to promote your own records again.’ But what he said was, ‘Promise me you’re going to let me be the one who raps over the remix.’ It was insane. And then it actually came out, and it did nothing.”

He laughs as he says this, and, if anything, it’s this quality – a refusal to get too hot and bothered about life, its highs or its lows – that informs his music, rather than his upbringing or his address book. “I hear things,” he says, “like, ‘Oh yeah, well, if I had his money and connections, I could have made a record like [Version].’ But the album came out of not having money, and just getting my friends to play on it.”

Ronson’s debut, 2003’s sample-rich mash-up Here Comes the Fuzz, was his second crack at the big time. “I had this huge budget to get every rapper and his mother on it.” Again, the breakthrough failed to materialise. In the meantime, the money was rolling in from those DJ bookings, but Ronson was beginning to have doubts.

“The fashion crowd discovered me,” he says, with a suspicion of a sneer, “and it was suddenly ‘overnight sensation’ – the term ‘celebrity DJ’ was almost invented for me. It was annoying, and it wouldn’t wash off. I realised I would have to stop if I wanted to be taken seriously for my music. I’d get calls saying ‘Will you DJ the Martha Stewart Christmas party?’, and there’d be this voice in my head going, ‘What would [LCD Soundsystem’s] James Murphy do? Would he say yes? Probably not.’ ” Despite pouring all his money into his own label, Allido, Ronson kept the bank manager happy with a succession of production jobs, including songs for Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Allen and Winehouse. He also, crucially, recorded a cover of Radiohead’s Just for last year’s tribute album, Exit Music – which sowed the seed of Version’s concept in his mind and gave him the confidence to refashion tracks by other sacred cows such as the Smiths and the Jam.

In addition, Ronson famously helped Winehouse to hatch her track Rehab, after hearing her describe her manager’s attempts to persuade her into a recovery programme and suggesting the anecdote would be perfect for a song. Allen was an unknown when he met her through her boyfriend, a fellow DJ. She sings on his new single, a cover of Kaiser Chiefs’ Oh My God, and is, along with Winehouse, the chief reason Version initially received the publicity it did. “It is a bit ironic,” he says, “that Amy and Lily turn round as these huge pop stars, and all of a sudden it looks like I have this super-premeditated superstar album.” Not that he sounds remotely vexed by this turn of events. How would he describe his music? “Oh, ‘Mark Ronson and his quirky brand of postBrithop funk dancefloor fillers,” he suggests with characteristic flippancy.

He’s cautious to a degree, watchful while everyone else is seeing double, with a gold disc for his wall but a reputation for fast-track privilege that he has still to shake off entirely. He has just remixed a Dylan song – “The first time he has ever allowed anyone to touch his master recordings,” he says proudly – and it’s unlikely he was asked because of his family tree. He may joke about the night he had a sleepover with Michael Jackson – “I haven’t seen him since; he doesn’t call, he doesn’t write” – but that’s because he can. So, which Mark Ronson are we getting here: the cover version, or the original? I tried to make him reveal the answer, but his body language said, no, no, no.

Oh My God, featuring Lily Allen, is released tomorrow on Allido/Columbia

Source

Stars' Fall US Tour

Are there any Sacramento Stars fans? Let me know.

From their Myspace bulletin:

On October 17th Stars will embark on a full USA tour in support of their new album In Our Bedroom After The War.

Go to arts-crafts.ca for complete details of each performance.

ADVANCE FAN TICKETING -- A limited amount of advance tickets will be for sale for every concert date via Arts&Crafts Fan Ticketing at www.arts-crafts.ca/starsticketing

As previously announced, Star’s fourth studio album, In Our Bedroom After The War, will be released on September 25th.

A Canadian and European tour will be announced in the coming weeks.

STARS USA TOUR DATES
October 17, 2007 / Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
October 18, 2007 / Town Hall, New York, NY
October 19, 2007 / Berklee, Boston, MA
October 20, 2007 / 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
October 24, 2007 / Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA
October 26, 2007 / Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
October 27, 2007 / The Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
October 28, 2007 / Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
October 30, 2007 / Stubb’s, Austin, TX
October 31, 2007 / House of Blues, Dallas, TX
November 2, 2007 / Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
November 3, 2007 / Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
November 4, 2007 / Slowdown, Omaha, NE
November 6, 2007 / Gothic Theatre, Denver, CO
November 8, 2007 / Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ
November 9, 2007 / House of Blues, San Diego, CA
November 10, 2007 / The Orpheum, Los Angeles, CA
November 13, 2007 / Bimbo’s, San Francisco, CA
November 14, 2007 / Bimbo’s, San Francisco, CA
November 15, 2007 / The Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR
November 16, 2007 / The Showbox, Seattle, WA

Survival of the Fittest: Klaxons

Klaxons/Fist Fite
11 July 2007
Great American Music Hall $20
San Francisco, CA

Shit, NorCal teens are crAzy. It was an excellent show, but personally I thought their Coachella set was even better. The SF crowd was really into them though, and a lot more than the crowd at Coachella. Security sucked by the way. Whoever thought of using round tables as barricades is brilliant! They're really fucking idiots. They hurt like a mother. I have bruises to prove it. Either I'm weak or I just can't keep up with those young folks in the crowd anymore. Trust me, I'm still young, but damn kids are crazy (and SOME are still immature bitches) nowadays. Klaxons are really nice guys though, and put on one of the most energetic performances I've ever seen. I'd see them again and again, but I think I'm getting a little too old for the pit.

And I don't even want to talk about Fist Fite. While they do have fans who love their music, the majority of the crowd hated them. I simply just disliked them. I like good screamo once every while, but I couldn't even hear the vocalist and their music was terrible. All I heard was little screams. I think it's great that they finished their set with enthusiasm since most of the crowd didn't seem too into them.

(Pictures coming as soon as I'm fully rested)

New Album from Stars

Just when I thought Do You Trust Your Friends? were going to be the only Stars album released this year, they're coming out with new tracks for In Our Bedroom After The War due on September 25th. I'm really psyched for this. Even though some people aren't as excited about the new track "The Night Starts Here" as expected, I sure am.

From Filter:

Stars To Release New Album
by Staff | 06.29.2007

Canadian Indie pop band Stars will release their fourth studio album, In Our Bedroom After the War, September 25th on Arts & Crafts. The follow-up to 2004's well-received Set Yourself On Fire was recorded in Vancouver and produced by multi-Grammy award winner Joe Chiccarelli, who has also worked with Beck, and U2 to name a few.

In Our Bedroom After the War Tracklisting:

1. The Beginning After the End
2. The Night Starts Here
3. Take Me to the Riot
4. My Favourite Book
5. Midnight Coward
6. The Ghost of Genova Heights
7. Personal
8. Barricade
9. Window Bird
10. Life 2: the Unhappy Ending
11. Bitches in Tokyo
12. Today Will Be Better, I Swear!
13. In Our Bedroom After the War

Source

Mark Ronson & Lily Allen on Friday Night Project

Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen performing "Oh My God" on Friday Night Project.

Air Tours California

After a bad day, this did put a smile on my face for a minute until I realized I won't be able to make it to Air's somwhat intimate show in San Francisco due to other obligations that require my presence. I mean, they did cut their set short at Coachella so this would make up for it, but again I can't be there :(

From NME:

Air announce west coast dates

They'll play four shows in California this fall

7 hours ago

Air have announced that they will play four shows in California this fall.

They'll kick things off in San Francisco on September 20, before heading south to play at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre on September 21.

They'll also play at the Grove of Anaheim, and at San Diego's Street Scene, as previously announced.

The French duo are supporting their latest album, 'Pocket Symphony', featuring vocals from Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy.

The tour dates are:

San Francisco, CA Bimbo's (September 20)
Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre (21)
San Diego, CA Street Scene (23)
Anaheim, CA Grove (24)

Source

Feist/Grizzly Bear at The Fillmore

Feist/Grizzly Bear
27 June 2007
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

Words can't explain how amazing the show was (Thanks to Interscope for the comp!) besides the no camera policy that the Fillmore yet again enforced so no pictures. I like Grizzly Bear's music, but this was the first time I've seen them live and I love them now. It made me smile when they did "Knife". They're one of the most talented bands I've seen in a long time, and their transitions were pretty good too. They are definitely a band you cannot miss seeing live, and I'm a bit disappointed that I missed them at Coachella now.

Feist was incredible. I think part of my life is complete now as corny as it may sound since she is my all-time favorite female vocalist. I was almost literally in tears when she performed "Lover's Spit" with boyfriend and fellow BSS member Kevin Drew until the song stopped and I was able to stop myself from crying. The performance of that song alone gave me chills. It was cute when Feist forgot the words to "One Evening". And was that Michael Tapper of We Are Scientists I saw on stage with the Grizzly Bears doing backup for Feist's "Sea Lion Woman"? I was too afraid to ask "Tapper" if he were indeed a scientist as I was too much in shock, and now it's annoying me.

We Are Scientists Tours w/ Kaiser Chiefs

We Are Scientists finally tours this fall, but unfortunately not in America :(

From Myspace:

User has been banned From We Are Scientists Date Jun 26, 2007 7:19 PM Subject Kicking It With Kaiser Chiefs This Fall: Presale TOMORROW! Body: You peckish piranhas: You ask and we have responded. At least two of you have specifically requested that we go out on tour with the gentleman Kaiser Chiefs this fall. Only god knows how many more of you have desired that this should happen, but been too shy to voice it. Possibly millions. Perhaps only hundreds of thousands. Does it matter? Is this a numbers game? Yes. Yes, it's a numbers game, and here are the numbers that matter: 29! Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 29th, at 9(!) a.m. (see box offices & http://www.gigsandtours.com). 27!! But there's a pre-sale! It starts tomorrow, Wednesday 27 June, at 9(!!) a.m. To get in on it, you'll have to navigate your internet web scanner to http://www.kaiserchiefstickets.co.uk (click the ticket icon at the top of the page). Only because you are on our mailing list or are our myspace pal *AND* have not sinned in the last 36 hours are you able to get in on this! But those aren't the only numbers you'll need: 21 NOV --- Exeter Westpoint Arena 22 NOV --- Bournemouth BIC 24 NOV --- Cardiff CIA 26 NOV --- Birmingham NIA 28 NOV --- Nottingham Arena 30 NOV --- Manchester Evening News Arena 3 DEC --- Sheffield Hallam FM Arena 4 DEC --- Hull Arena 10 DEC --- Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 14 DEC --- London Earls Court Can't make heads or tails of any of it? Those are the when's and where's, folks, wake up! Now for our final trick. Take all the numbers so far, add them up, and what do you get? 0871 2200 260! The 24hr ticket line that opens Friday morning! How did we do that? The devil taught us math! There are downsides! Arrogantly, some We Are Scientists p.s.: As you may have heard if you watch TV or read a daily newspaper, we're in Sausalito, California, right now recording a new album (tentatively titled "What # of $ Do That Cost?"). See our sweet myspace blog for constant updates -- sometimes so constant that they seem continuous! It's like you're on the phone with one of us all day and all night, all week, all month, and we're just feeding you the news AS IT HAPPENS. And yeah, like any phone call that lasts 7200 hours, there are long, super long quiet spells, but god, that has to be considered natural. http://www.wearescientists.com/ http://www.myspace.com/wearescientists

Amy Winehouse's "Tears Dry On Their Own" Video

New Amy Winehouse video directed by David LaChapelle. Unfortunately I woke up an hour too late to get a hold of Amy Winehouse tickets for her Warfield shows. Can anyone hook a sista up with floor tickets?

Mark Ronson/Lily Allen Interview

This interview is pretty damn hilarious.

Flowered up

She's the pop starlet from LDN. He's the pop producer and socialite from NYC. Together, Lily Allen and Mark Ronson are music's mouthiest couple. Peter Robinson runs for cover

Saturday June 23, 2007
The Guardian

Looking for a nice frock for today's photo shoot, Lily Allen walked into one shop in Ladbroke Grove and saw the assistant virtually dive across the room in an attempt to stop the Amy Winehouse CD playing in the background. She arrives back at the shoot and immediately starts discussing the possibility of gastric bypass surgery due to being "fat", then announces that it is all "off the record", even though she will post the whole thing on her MySpace blog within 48 hours. Mark Ronson, enjoying unexpectedly huge success with his Version album, seems less besieged by life, chatting happily about Prince parties and meeting Mani. She is the sort-of demure English rose. He is the smart-talking New Yorker. They are Dempsey and Makepeace of pop and today, On the eve of this weekend's Glastonbury festival Lily Allen and Mark Ronson seem like the best of friends

To kick things off, please introduce each other to the Guide.

Lily: This is Mark Ronson and he is an overrated, over-hyped pop producer from New York City. He's basically a DJ.

Mark: I think Lily Allen is one of the most gifted pop melody writers of her generation.

Lily: ONE OF? Who are the others? (Guffaws)

Mark: Anyway, Lily and I are friends even though I've never done anything nice for her.

When and where did you first meet?

Lily: It was at [Notting Hill club night] YoYo.

Mark: Yes, you put that smiley face pin badge on my really expensive leather jacket. I was almost crying.

Lily: I told Mark I was a singer and he went, "Oh, give me a CD then".

What was on the CD?

Lily: Smile, and a couple of demos from when I was signed to Warners.

Mark: I actually had to ask you twice for the CD.

Lily: Oh come on - you were not interested at ALL!

Mark: But then I listened to it on the plane, and ...

Lily: No you didn't! You listened to it about six months later!

Mark: BUT I WAS ON A PLANE. So anyway, I asked Lily if I could play it on my radio show, and then I asked her to come out to my studio [in New York] and sing Oh My God for my album.

Lily: NO! You asked me to suggest some songs for your album, then you gave all the good ones to other people! Then you went, "Oh, you can have the Kaiser Chiefs". THANKS! And then I said, "Oh, can you do some stuff for my album?". And you said, "Yeah, for $200,000". Hahahaha!

Busta Rhymes is on the new version of Oh My God. Was he expensive?

Mark: Well, as soon as I knew it'd be a single I called him up ... I thought he might not get it, but he understood it immediately. He gets about $60,000 every time he rhymes on a record!

Lily: $60,000 isn't much.

Mark: It's kind of a lot, Lily.

How much did you pay him?

Mark: Erm, something in the neighbourhood of a nice car.

Lily: Bentley or Golf?

Mark: Let's say a second hand Bentley. He got arrested half an hour after he left the studio ... (Distracted by mark on Lily's arm) Are you self-harming? What's this?

Lily: Yeah, I'm self-harming - I just want to be Amy Winehouse.

Mark: AHEM! You see THAT'S why you walk into a shop and the people behind the counter turn Amy's music off! You've got beef Tourette's!

Who's the worst drunk?

Lily: Me.

Mark: Yes.

Lily: I get really aggressive when I'm drunk. None of my label bosses will take me out any more because after one glass of champagne I'm standing up going "And another fucking thing! People like you are ruining music! You're ruining our country! Let me do it and I'll fix it!"

Would either of you say that you had normal childhoods?

Mark: I'll never say I had a normal childhood. My dad would manage bands - I'd come down in the middle of the night and Keith Moon was there playing air drums. That's not a normal childhood.

Lily: For the first 11 or so years of my life things were, well, not so nice, and we lived on a council estate. The thing is, I'm proud of being middle class now - my mum was working class, as was my dad, and they worked really fucking hard to provide me with what I had. Well, my mum did. It's funny when Lady Sovereign said that thing about me, "She doesn't have to work as hard as me because her dad's Keith Allen". Do you know what, Lady Sovereign? HAVE my dad. Go on! I'd love to see how many people buy your records. Go on! Take him!

Having said that, your first deal did come about because of your dad ...

Lily: Yeah, and it didn't work. It was rubbish folk music - my dad and another guy wrote it all. Then it didn't happen. Things only worked for me when I worked really, really hard myself.

Well done, Lily. Do you think the two of you would ever have met without having come from privileged backgrounds?

Lily: Probably not. You bump into people in LA, and they go "Oh, it's such a small world" and really it's not - it's just that you all go to the same places where you spend pounds 7 on a drink. We're bumping into each other in the middle of Ghana.

Mark: At the same time the reason we met is that I was DJing at YoYo. And so we could easily have met anyway. While I shouldn't care those exaggerated myths do just make me cringe. It's all stuff like "You hung out with Stella McCartney and had picnics with Michael Jackson".

Did you have picnics with Michael Jackson?

Mark: No. I did have a sleepover once ...

Lily: WHAT?

Mark: Er, yeah, I did. It was at Sean Lennon's house ... And ...

Lily: YOU DIDN'T! Did he do anything to you?

Mark: Oh, this is just going to get ridiculous. Thing is, Sean was friends with Michael Jackson when he was growing up and when we were about 12 years old he was like, "Michael Jackson's coming over tonight". I remember turning on Channel J which is the public access channel and ...

Lily: ... and Michael Jackson unzipped your trousers and ...

Mark: No, and so Channel J had this picture of this girl with her top off and Michael went (handbag action) "OOOH! Turn it OFF!" And me and Sean were like, "Why? This is great!".

What time did you go to bed?

Mark: We went to bed at one o'clock and we closed the window because there was a draught and he didn't want it to interfere with his voice. He slept on the floor.

Lily: FUCKING HELL. (Clapping like an excited seal) Ronson! I can't believe you slept with Michael Jackson!

Mark: Nothing happened!

Mark, is Stop Me still attracting hate mail from Smiths fans?

Mark: Not recently. I got two things from this little 15-year-old boy, going, "I want to stab you in the eye ..."

Lily: He phoned me up asking about what to do! I get things like "Give me a grand and I won't slit your mum's throat". So cheers for that. I've got five mobile phones because of all the hate phone calls. "I'm going to kidnap your dog." Please.

What don't you like about each other?

Mark: Lily's one of the few people I'm naturally intimidated by.

Lily: Why?

Mark: Not in a bad way ... But you're a bit "cult of personality" ...

Lily: No I'm not! People say I'm a complete bitch and I'm not, I'm just really insecure and when people meet me I'm just ... not very good at it. But I'm a nice person. I bought Mark a kebab only today.

What has Mark done for you, Lily?

Lily: He definitely needs to do more. It was my birthday the other week and I still don't have a present from him. One time I was on the fire escape of Mark's studio in New York, crying because I'd split up with my boyfriend. He came out, saw me crying, and went back inside! Hahahaha!

Mark: I'm not Joan Collins!

Lily: What?

Mark: Hang on. I'm still trying to think of something nice I've done for you. There must be something.

Lily: Mark, there's nothing.

· Lily and Mark play Glastonbury this weekend. Oh My God is out July 16. The Guardian sponsors Glastonbury

Source

Simian Mobile Disco's 'Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release'

Simian Mobile Disco's Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release

I'm obsessed with the track "Love" as that's "all you need to know".

Tracklisting:

1. Sleep Deprivation

2. I Got This Down

3. It's The Beat

4. Hustler

5. Tits & Acid

6. I Believe

7. Hotdog

8. Wooden

9. Love

10. Scott

King Mark Ronson

I have no idea when this interview with Mark Ronson was posted by Popworld, but I'm reposting it here. I have to agree with the comment on the Pussycat Dolls even though I do have respect for Interscope Records as a major label:

What's the first thing you'd do as King Of POPWORLD?
'I would ban the Pussycat Dolls from within 50 miles of the kingdom.'

Would you change anything about the music industry?
'I would make A&R people only sign music that they like, not what they think will sell records. I just think you'd just have millions of brilliant acts like Feist and Radiohead everywhere, as opposed to manufactured, chasing the trend kind of stuff that we have a lot of. It's definitely not as bad in England, I'm thinking more of in the US.'

Where would you have your palace?
'I would have it in London somewhere, or maybe on the land in Scotland that the movie The Queen is set. It would be nice to have my palace near to the real Queen because we could be like, 'Hey, we're both royalty.' I like that movie The Queen because she seems like a really strong, iconic woman.'

What would be your National Anthem?
''Tears Of A Clown' by Smokey Robinson'

Describe your coronation, who would perform?
'Stevie Wonder. And maybe the Kings Of Leon, but I'd make them grow their beards back for ceremonial purposes. Oh, and Feist because I saw her last night and it was one of the best shows I've seen.'

So what would the party be like?
'It would be great. It would be a Lord Of The Rings-themed fancy dress party.'

Who would you dress up as?
'Maybe one of the orks, you know, one of the scary ones. Or Bilbo Baggins and attach blue hair to my feet.'

Your motto?
'"If you don't eat your meat you won't get any pudding." My mother always said it, and I remember it from Pink Floyd, too.'

King Mark's promise?
'No war.'

Who would be your advisors?
'I'd have Bill Clinton; Al Gore, because he's good on the environment; Stevie Wonder, he'd deal with the music side of things; David Sedaris, he's an author; and Ricky Gervais. Imagine if you could have that guy around all the time, you would just never be sad. You'd be laughing all the time. I saw Martin Freeman who plays Tim in The Office at the Feist show last night and I was really star struck.'

What would be illegal in your kingdom?
'People rapping out loud when they've got their headphones on. For some reason it doesn't bother me with singing, but rapping's just too much.'

What would be the punishment if people broke the law?
'I'd make them have to do a guest verse on a Pussycat Dolls song.'

Who would you banish from your kingdom?
'Right-wing American radio talk show freaks.'

Who would you have as your queen?
'Can it be my girlfriend? Yeah, I'd go with my girlfriend. She's English but she lives in America.'

What would be the national food and drink?
'Shepherd's Pie and Ribena. Everyone's teeth would be purple and falling out.'

Who would you knight?
'Maybe my friend Callum. I don't know him that well but whenever I see him he's off to do some charity thing. I think he probably will end up being knighted at some point so I'd knight him.'

Who would be your successor?
'It would have to be someone younger. Haley Joel Osment [the little kid from The Sixth Sense] but he's probably not that young anymore so no, that's no good. He might die before me. I'd pick my little brother Josh because he's smarter than I am and he's only 10.'

SOURCE

Download Kevin Drew's "Tbtf"

Download "Tbtf" from Kevin Drew's upcoming album Spirit If... off of the Broken Social Scene Presents series that will be released on September 18th.

Mark Ronson's "Oh My God" Video

Featuring a cartoon Lily Allen. It's very Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Mark Ronson - Oh My God

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Arcade Fire at Berkeley's Greek Theatre (Day 1)

Arcade Fire/Electrolane
Friday, 1 June 2007
The Greek Theatre $40
Berkeley, CA

Paul McCartney's Apple Ad

Nice converses Sir Paul. I have to say this is a pretty cute Apple ad featuring Paul McCartney's track "Dance Tonight" off his new album Memory Almost Full.

Feist's "1 2 3 4" on Conan

With all the Mark Ronson news I've been posting, I may as well turn this into a blog on all things Ronson, but I bring you Feist! For those who missed her performance on Conan, catch it now! I'm pretty psyched for her SF dates.

"Stop Me" (Internation Version) Music Video

Here's the international version of "Stop Me" by Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather. It's the second time they shot a music video for the song that now features Ronson and Merriweather. I'm looking forward to the "Oh My God" music video now.

Kanye West's "Stronger"

Mark Ronson recently played the new Kanye West track that we've all been waiting for on his Authentic Shit show on East Village Radio. It's the track that samples Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

Listen to it here

Klaxons' Summer US Tour Dates

Who's excited for this? I am! You bet that "stint at Coachella" was fucking successful.

From Filter:

Klaxons Announce More US Dates
by Staff | 05.29.2007

English rockers the Klaxons have just announced more US tour dates. With the release of their March debut album Myths of the Near Future via Geffen records, the Klaxons are ready to continue taking over America. After a successful stint at Coachella and winning Yahoo’s “Who’s Next?” feature, the Klaxons will play a handful of west coast dates and then head off to the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago before starting their European tour.

Klaxons US Tour Dates:

July

10 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
11 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
12 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
13 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
15 Chicago, IL - The Pitchfork Music Festival
16 Minneapolis, MN - The Varsity Theater

Jarvis Cocker on the Late Show with David Letterman

Here's the performance of "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" by Jarvis Cocker on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

As one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, it definitely lives up to the hype. When I first heard "The Ghost of You Lingers", I didn't know what to think. It was a bit strange, and I was worried about what the rest of the album would sound like. After hearing the album though, I absolutely adore the tracks.

1. Don’t Make Me A Target
2. The Ghost of You Lingers
3. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
4. Don’t You Evah
5. Rhthm and Soul
6. Eddie’s Ragga
7. The Underdog
8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
9. Finer Feelings
10. Black Like Me

Hightlights: "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb", "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case", "Finer Feelings"

Lily Allen at The Crest Theatre

Lily Allen/The Bird and the Bee
Sunday, 1 April 2007
The Crest Theatre
Sacramento, CA

Yes, I know. It's been over a month, but I had to post these photos. I thought the show could've been a lot better. There was nothing wrong with Lily's performance, but the venue sucked. With a performance like Lily's, it's better to perform in a venue with an open floor. That's just my 2 cents.

Andrew Bird/Apostle of Hustle at The Fillmore

Andrew Bird/Apostle of Hustle
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

Apostle of Hustle





Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird - "Why"

Coachella 2007 Photos (Day 3)

Mika


Lupe Fiasco





Junior Boys (I couldn't really get any decent photos for the rest of the night)


Coachella during Rage Against The Machine

Coachella 2007 Photos (Day 2)

The Cribs


Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird - "Dr. Stringz" & "Fake Palindromes"

Justice

Justice - "D.A.N.C.E."

Gotan Project


The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Finally... Coachella 2007 Photos (Day 1)

Amy Winehouse




Rufus Wainwright


Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Cocker - "One Man Show"

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth - "100%"

DJ Shadow

DJ Shadow - "Six Days"