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