Today is the day of the battle between Spoon and Interpol. I have always been a bigger Interpol fan so I am siding with them. I think most people are really either a Interpol fan or a Spoon fan. Or they don't really care about either. They both have big new albums out today. They both are on David Letterman this week. Spoon has been around a bit longer and has managed to stay on an indie label. This is their sixth abum and it is released on Merge. Interpol had two albums on Matador. And has now made the big jump to a major label with their third album, "Our Love to Admire." This album is released on Capitol Records.  It is kind of just how it works. Many indie bands have made the similar jump. Belle & Sebastian, Death Cab For Cutie, The White Stripes, and Modest Mouse have all done if before. They have all managed to somehow keep their indie fans and develop a whole new fan base that a major allows them. A whole new world is opened up with heavy rotation on mainstream radio and MTV. It works really well for some bands and will most likely work out for Interpol. Some bands don't do as good and end up back on the indies or just simply disappear into the clearance bin.

Don't expect a brand new sound for Interpol. They still sound most definitely like Interpol. The band that you have either fallen in love with or never liked to begin with. As one of those that actually likes Interpol, I am liking the new album. Like most albums, it took me a couple listens. On about the third listen on my headphones I was hooked. I don't think they will ever be able to top what was their first album "Turn on the Bright Lights." I still remember when my friend at Matador told me about this new band "Interpol" that they had just signed. She told me that I was going to absolutely love them. And she was right. This may seem like old news now, but at the time it was  exciting to hear a band that sounded like some new indie version of Joy Division. Now there is a whole new group of bands that have ripped of Interpol ripping off Joy Division. But at least they sort of did it first.

After a very slow week of nothing last week, this week coming up is crazy. July 10th is such a big new release date that I have to get an early start. It is the big week where Interpol and Spoon will battle it out for the number one spot at Amoeba. I am betting on Interpol.  Idlewild just put out a new album not too long ago. It was called "Make Another World." Around the same time Roddy Woomble, the singer with the group was working on slower and more folky songs. He decided to put out a solo album using these different, less Idlewild songs. This album, "My Secret is My Silence" is finally coming out domestic on Tuesday. It has been out for almost a year as an import. But I have patiently been waiting and actually have not ever heard it until a couple weeks ago.



Idlewild has been one of my favorites over the last 10 years. They got their start in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1995. I was first introduced to them with their first real album "Hope is Important." I really liked the album. But they quickly became one of my favorites with the release of  "100 Broken Windows" in 2000. The songs are super catchy and not really too far off from what you could expect from an indie band from the U.S. Sort of similar to R.E.M. It is really their lyrics that set them apart. Very literary lyrics. Its almost like reading a book or maybe a collection of poems when you read the lyrics. Much like Morrissey, Roddy is a man obsessed with literature and authors. He did name his band after the book "Anne of Green Gables." There is really nothing like 100 Broken Windows. It easily was one of my favorites of 2000. I still go back to it every once in a while. And it is still as great as it was when I first heard it.

So I just watched the new video for the new Siouxsie song "Into a Swan." I thought I would share it with all of you. I have known for a while that she is working on a new solo album. But I had no idea there is already a video. Things are now moving fast. The new album is called "Mantaray" and comes out October 2nd.  I have loved Siouxsie since I can remember liking music. She is amazing and is still amazing. She manages to stay brilliant and relevant after all these years. I met her about 8 years ago at an instore for the Creatures and she was not really the nicest person that I have ever met. But Budgie was such a wonderful nice little guy that he kind of made up for it. And she is Siouxsie Sioux so she can kind of get away with anything. There is really nothing like a Siouxsie fan. They are crazy fanatical devoted fans. So this is really something to be excited about.

You can check out the official Siouxsie website for more info. Here is the new video....
Siouxsie -Into A Swan



I am seriously excited for the new album. The countdown begins. Only 2 months to go. And a new albums means a new tour.

The Cure are also working on a new album! It will come out at some point this year. And Porl Thompson is back in the band! Tickets for the October 6th show in the bay area at Shoreline go on sale July 19th. Go to the Cure website for more info. I have never missed a Cure tour in the last 20 years or so. But unfortunately some really good friends of mine are getting married on the exact date of the Cure show at Shoreline. So I will most likely be driving down to Santa Barbara to catch the show there. But they are also playing at Red Rocks in Denver. And I have always wanted to see a show there. And there is nothing like a Cure show. They still put on the most amazing live show. Sort of like what a Dead show was like to a Grateful Dead fan. I guess.

In honor of the fourth of july the record labels are not putting much out today. Nothing worth me talking about at least. Besides Velvet Revolver, Collie Buddz, T.I. and Kelly Rowland. I don't really like to do bad reviews about things I know that I am not going to like. So I will not waste your time. But there is something I can't stop thinking about and that would be the new Transformers movie. I am allowing myself to talk about it only because the official soundtrack to the movie does come out tomorrow. So it kind of all ties in to today's street date.

It is really hard for this soundtrack to compete with the awesomeness that was the original soundtrack to the original 1986 Transformers movie. We have songs by Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, the Used, HIM, and a new theme song by Mute Math. Nothing too exciting. It just gets me a bit more excited for the film. I did pick up the 20th anniversary special edition DVD of the original 1986 "Transformers The Movie." And it really is awesome. Just in case you forgot, this movie "starred" the voices of Judd Nelson, Leonard Nemoy, Casey Kasem, Scatman Crothers, Orson Welles, Robert Stack, and Eric Idle. This was the last film for both Orson Welles and Scatman Crothers.  This movie was obviously a big deal. The original TV series was on from 1984 to 1987. I was ten when the show first started and became obsessed with the show and got a lot of the toys. The show was basically one big commercial to go out and buy the toys. But one can really say the same thing about Star Wars or any movie aimed at kids. I didn't know about any of this as a kid. I just knew that I loved myself some transformers. This movie was rated PG which allowed it to be a sort of more adult movie. This was the movie that killed off its hero Optimus Prime. The themes were a bit more mature and the 80s soundtrack was aimed at an older audience. The soundtrack is by Vince Dicola. Vince not only did most of the music for Staying Alive, directed by Sylvester Stallone, but also was featured on the Rocky IV soundtrack. Sylvester Stallone obviously knew a thing or two about music.  This DVD features some amazing extra features. Commentaries by the director and also fans. Tons of trivia and trailers and some documentaries. The movie really is a classic of its time but it really is the music that holds it all together. But don't worry the original soundtrack is still in print if you want to pick that up as well.

I love Piano Magic. I know that I may throw that word "love" around a lot. But I would take back all the times I have used it, if I could use it just this one time. This band has been around for a bit over 10 years, but I only just discovered them maybe about 4 or 5 years ago. One of my friends, June, was obsessed with them. Since I like all the same music as him (Cocteau Twins/Lisa Germano/Red House Painters/This Mortal Coil/His Name Is Alive/etc.) I figured I would also love this band like he had. So my first introduction was "The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic" back in 2003. I quickly discovered they were one of the bands that were made for people like me. I was excited for their next excellent album "Disaffected" in 2005. It is always exciting to discover a new band that has already been around for a while. It is like they somehow kept themselves hidden and their fans kept them a secret. Once you find about them, you want to keep them to yourself for a little bit. Until you just can't take it anymore and you to share them with everyone. When I always think I have already heard everything, it is nice to know there are still some great bands out there for me to discover. It's exciting.

They have just released their new album "Part Monster" on Important Records. They have  been on about 7 different labels and have had many different members. They are currently Glen Johnson, Jerome Tcherneyan, Alasdair Steer, Franck Alba and Cedric Pin. They are of course from England. They sort of fit into that ambient rock category. Dreamy and ethereal but still a rock band. Sad and emotional and all tragic. The vocalist sometimes reminds me of a mix of Jesus & Mary Chain and The Tindersticks. Sort of like what Slowdive sounded like as they were transitioning into Mojave 3. They also remind me a bit of bands like Field Mice but just with a little Black Heart Procession. That is enough band comparisons. They are just awesome and do sort of have their unique little sound.