Indie Rock Cafe - Alternative indie rock music blog

Badly Drawn Boy Kicks Off Three Month Tour in Manchester at Charity Concert

Friday, December 22, 2006

Badly Drawn Boy played to a full house in Manchester last night at a charity concert to kick-off his three-month tour of Europe and the United States.

- Listen/download Gough's MP3s instantly

The one man band is actually Damon Gough, a singer and songwriter who achieved recognition with a song on the 1997 celebrity-filled UNKLE LP Psyence Fiction. The following year, Gough, or Badly Drawn Boy, quickly ascended in the U.K. indie scene with the single "Once Around the Block," which was a marginal hit.

With the momentum rolling, Badly Drawn Boy (it's strange calling a guy by a name that sounds like it's a band), released Hour of Bewilderbeast, and the critics and music fans loved it. So much so that it won Britain's Mercury Prize for Best Album of 2000. That made BDB a big deal on the indie scene, and spread his music to the United States and elsewhere.

Sailing from the success of Hour of Bewilderbeast, Gough returned with the soundtrack for the movie About a Boy.

Most critics, movie goers and music lovers hailed the film, especially Gough's score. The exploration and experimentation of music that is the theme of the score reveals Gough as one of the most prolific and astonishing artists on the indie scene.

Amazon.com called the score "heads and shoulders above the vast majority of pop albums and soundtracks." Gough was also given credit for his dedication to capturing the essence of the original novel.

The Hour of Bewilderbeast is an amazing piece of work that should be in the music collection of a hard-core indie rock pop lover. The movie is pretty good too.

So, if you get a chance to see BDB, you'll witness an experience. Gough will be touring for three months sharing his musical genius with indie fans nationwide.

Listen or download:

All Possibilities [mp3]
I Was Wrong [mp3]

TOUR DATES

Jan 25 2007 - Frison, Fribourg
Jan 26 2007 - Backstage Werk, Munich
Jan 27 2007 - Gloria, Cologne
Jan 29 2007 - Kesselhaus, Berlin
Jan 20 2007 - Uebel & Gefahrlich, Hamburg
Jan 31 2007 - Paradiso, Amsterdam

FEBRUARY
Feb 11 2007 - Olympia, Dublin
Feb 12 2007 - Mandela Hall, Belfast
Feb 13 2007 - Queens Theatre, Edinburgh
Feb 15 2007 - Toff's (Chip Shop Gig), London
Feb 16 2007 - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Feb 17 2007 - Magnet (Chip Shop Gig), London
Feb 17 2007 - St George's Hall, Bristol
Feb 19 2007 - City Varietes, Leeds
Feb 20 2007 - Sage Theatre, Gateshead
Feb 21 2007 - Smiths (Chip Shop Gig), Grimsby
Feb 23 2007 - Plaza, Stockport

MARCH
Mar 3 2007 - Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia
Mar 5 2007 - Somerville Theatre, Boston
Mar 6 2007 - 9:30 Club, Washington DC
Mar 7 2007 - Webster Hall, New York
Mar 9 2007 - Majestic Theatre, Detroit
Mar 10 2007 - Metro, Chicago
Mar 11 2007 - Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis
Mar 13 2007 - Exit/In, Nashville
Mar 14 2007 - The Loft, Atlanta
Mar 16 2007 - Stubbs (SXSW), Austin
Mar 18 2007 - Fox Theatre, Boulder
Mar 19 2007 - Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City
Mar 21 2007 - House of Blues, San Diego
Mar 22 2007 - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Mar 23 2007 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
Mar 25 2007 - Aladdin Theatre, Portland
Mar 26 2007 - Neumo's, Seattle
Mar 27 2007 - Richards on Richards, Vancouver

Labels: About a Boy, Badly Drawn Boy, Best Soundtracks, Damon Gough, Indie Rock Artists, Indie Rock Concerts, Indie Soundtracks, My Boy Soundtrack, Once Around the Block, UNKLE LP Psyence Fiction

by IRC @ 11:54 AM

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Stephen Colbert vs. The Decemberists Green-Screen Finale - Or Not?

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Who really "won" last night in the month-long green screen challenge between a wacky news anchor and an indie rock guitarist? (IRC was first to report it on the web).

Thursday night's The Colbert Report showcased a mismatched parade of VIPs including a creaky, almost freaky, gala of old rockers, like Peter Frampton, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (umm, ok), a new rock star (Chris Funk, the guitarist), and not to be forgotten, of course, the energetic, ever ego-tripping, flag-waving prankster Stephen Colbert.

Morley Saffer of 60 Minutes kicked-off the show with an opening that probably spooked some folks that it might be Sunday evening.The Apples in Stereo aslo dedicated a song Colbert called "A Bullet" and the "Shred Down" master himself rocked out with Frampton.

But take a look at this video. Did Colbert even really play the guitar? If not, Funk won and he should counter-challenge again (all in the matter of comedy, or is it somthing more?)

When The Decemberists launched their green-screen challenge to encourage animation fans to complete their music video "O Valencia", it was right here at IRC that the question was posed – were The Decemberists stealing Colbert’s idea?

During the late summer, Colbert had challenged his viewers to send in their repurposed video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser against a green-screen back drop.

The final video was played on The Colbert Report but it, well, sucked.

IRC First to Raise Colbert vs. Decemberists Controversy

Shortly afterwards, The Decemberists announced their own green-screen challenge encouraging viewers to complete their "O Valencia" video, it was the Indie Rock Cafe that first blogged the similarity to Colbert's contest.

The following day, Pitchfork Media reported the unmistakable likeness of Colbert’s challenge to The Decemberists' contest, and never gave IRC credit.

A night or two after Pitchfork "broke the story", Colbert opened his show with a bitch-slap of The Decemberists for "stealing his idea" and presented a number of challenges in retaliation, including encouraging his audience to mess up The Decemberists video by flooding the group with repurposed video of "O Valencia" containing video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser. Then The Decemberists counter-challenged which culminated in to last night's widely-viewed "Shread Down".

While it’s no surprise that Colbert claimed victory last night, it's clear that The Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk stole the show with a blistering, Jimi Hendrix-style guitar solo.

Now, we ask: Is it the end of the green-screen challenge for Colbert and The Decemberists, or the beginning of a blog-off challenge between the overly verbose Pitchfork Media and IRC.

The Indie Playlist Challenge for Pitchfork Media

IRC is completely ready to have a blog-off with Pitchfork Media to settle the score. But what would the challenge be? How about a Top 10 List of rare indie songs that few people have ever heard of?

How the Contest Would Work

The way it would work is we would post our indie playlist on our websites with the ability to easily listen to or download the songs. Then, let our loyal indie rock fans choose from the two playlists and see which one gets more votes.

The Top 10 list can be published in a number of formats, including MP3 samples and downloads, music streams or an Indie Podcast.

Finally, please use the Comments section below (no registeration required and anonymous postings allowed) or email Pitchfork. Not only will the contest be interesting and fun, it'll also introduce to rare, but jeminy great, indie rock and pop songs.

Email us Pitchfork. We’re waiting to see if you're serious. Let's call it the "The Greatest Top 10 Indie Rarities" contest.

(Un)related story:

Stephen Colbert was nailed by ACLU lawyer Mark Rosenbaum in today's New York Times as representing the secrecy of the federal government to the peril of Americans and that he had top-level government authority to keep the FBI files of Beatle rocker John Lennon conciled for decades.

At first, even news junkies, thought, oh wow, is it true? Is it the real Stephen Colbert? If so, would there be a green screen challenge broadcast between Colbert and the ACLU over the final and "complete" release of John Lennon's FBI files?

Can you imagine if it was the same Stephen Colbert? It's not, though. It turns out the other Stephen Colbert is a right-wing strategist who fought the ACLU for years trying to block the release of Beatles legend John Lennon.

New Idea for The Colbert Report

Maybe Colbert will have the other Colbert and the ACLU on his show to get to the bottom of it?

Stephen, if you're reading this blog (which we think you are), email IRC if you think it's a good idea for the show.

Labels: Colbert vs. Lennon, Indie Rock Comedy, Indie Rock Event, Indie Videos, Star Wars, Stephen Colbert vs. The Decemberists, The Colbert Video, The Green-Screen Challenge

by IRC @ 12:33 AM

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Wilco's Jeff Tweedy Hits The Road Solo, Announces Concert Dates

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Jeff Tweedy has announced a list of concert dates and venues for his January solor tour across the south. (IRC has a Podcast of Wilco's best live performances coming up. Want to be alerted when it's launched?)

The Wilco front man and perhaps alternative rock country’s most popular singer and songwriter, Tweedy has been going on his own more frequently in past years, something that has irked many Wilco fans of late.

But no worries, they are coming out with a new album in March on NoneSuch Records.

With that aside, one of the honorable things about Jeff Tweedy is that he is truly one of the musicians, who despite his success going solo or with Wilco, who seems genuinely trying to stay as “indie” as possible, and in more ways than one (such as insisting on his own terms when recording).

As an iconic figure on the indie - or alt country, if you will – stage, Tweedy (who die-hard fans call Jeff) dresses in flannels and jeans, sports a shaggy beard and keeps his music real. Notwithstanding, he is also true to his fans. Just look at the venues he’s playing on his upcoming tour:

01-16 Memphis, TN - Germantown Performing Arts Center
01-17 Nashville, TN - James K. Polk Theater
01-19 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
01-20 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
01-21 Marfa, TX - Liberty Hall
01-23 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-24 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
01-27 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
01-29 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle01-30 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
01-31 Charlottesville, VA - Paramount Theater Additional dates are expected, so check back or send us an email now to remind you when dates and venues are added. Here's Wilco's tour announcement hompage.

IRC will be launching beta pages for http://www.indierockconcerts.com and http://www.indierocksongs.com in the next few months, making it much easier for our readers and visitors to get exactly what they want and when they want it.

As the domain names imply, those websites will function as separate entities but will be part of, let’s say, the suite of Indie Rock Café’s websites on the Internet.

by IRC @ 3:11 PM

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