Psychedelic Furs to Perform 'Talk Talk Talk'

NME announced today that The Psychedelic Furs are slated to perform the second LP, the incredibly excellent Talk Talk Talk, in its entirety during a quick UK tour this fall.

Shows are scheduled for London, Manchester and Glasgow this November. I absolutely adore the Furs and Talk Talk Talk is my favorite album. To be there would be quite fantastic. I suppose I'll just have to settle for the Furs' show -- the Happy Mondays are also on the bill -- at NYC's Roseland Ballroom on Friday, October 9th.



**UPDATE** (Sept. 25): According to the Furs fan site, Burned Down Days, the dates in London, Manchester and Glasgow have been postponed for the time being, and there is no further information on when they'll be rescheduled. BOO!

Editors Shed Some 'Light'

I've been on a massive Editors kick as of late. Their 2005 debut, The Back Room, is still quite stellar, and sophomore LP, 2007's An End Has a Start, shows incredible growth and promise. So yeah, I am incredibly excited for Editors' new album, In This Light and on This Evening, out September 21.

NME -- via the band's official site -- recently posted remarks from frontman Tom Smith, who is growing especially tired of all questions regarding the band's 'dark' sound.

"I am so fucking bored of people asking us why we're so 'dark' ... or worse questioning our integrity for being this way. This is how we do it, it excites us to express ourselves like this, to be honest we don't even understand what the alternative is and the alternatives we can imagine are too boring for us to even consider."

Smith elaborated further on the album's noir aesthetic, adding: "But this is still a dark record, a record that sings of no God, a record of broken love songs, a record where the filthy city [London] is so close you can smell it, taste it, a record of drunken violence, a record which has lost all trust in those in charge of our world.

"We must be four miserable people to make a record like this though right? I must be troubled to write words like these?

"No, absolutely not, dark is interesting, dark is exciting, dark can be funny, there’s real life in the dark, real life IS dark, when an album feels like this the fragments of hope and love that do occasionally shine through shine through ten times brighter than they would normally do so."

Apparently, too, the synthesizer-heavy In This Light and on This Evening is a bit more sci-fi and influenced by films like Ridley Scott's 1982 movie, Blade Runner says NME.com. Produced by Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, New Order), the album includes song titles like "Papillion," "Bricks and Mortar," "Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool," and "Like Treasure."

What's up with the Blade Runner influences in music this year? First Doves, now Editors?

New Flaming Lips Album

Hooray for The Flaming Lips! The cleverly cool and quirky trio is slated to release a new double-disc set this fall entitled Embryonic. Seems appropriate, yeah?

NME via BBC 6 Music said frontman Wayne Coyne 'likened the recording sessions for the follow-up to their 2006 album, At War With the Mystics, to working in a kitchen.

I think it must be like being a cook in the kitchen you’re preparing this great thing but by the time it's ready you’re sick of it because you’ve been smelling it, you’ve got it in your hair and in your fingers and all that."

Embryonic is the band's 12th album overall. All songs titles and a tracklisting will be finalized shortly.

Blur's 'Midlife' Crisis

Blur is set to release a new spanning compilation, Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur July 28 via Capitol/EMI (it's out June 15 in the UK). Do we need another Blur retrospective? I quite fancy the Best of Blur that the band issued in 2000. But it's Blur, after all ... and we need some of that Think Tank stuff, right? And it's fabulous to see the Brit-pop foursome back together, thus this cleverly titled double-disc is highly welcomed. In addition to featuring 25 songs from the band's seven studio albums, Midlife will also feature a long out-of-print track. Oooooooooh! Wish I could see them at Glastonbury this summer.

YAY! "Popscene" and "Advert" made the cut!

Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur
CD1:
1. Beetlebum
2. Girls & Boys
3. For Tomorrow
4. Coffee & TV
5. Out of Time
6. Blue Jeans
7. Song 2
8. Bugman
9. He Thought of Cars
10. Death of A Party
11. The Universal
12. Sing
13. This Is a Low

CD2:
1. Tender
2. She's So High
3. Chemical World
4. Good Song
5. Parklife
6. Advert
7. Popscene
8. Stereotypes
9. Trimm Trabb
10. Badhead
11. Strange News From Another Star
12. Battery In Your Leg

Thanks NME

Steven Patrick Morrissey Turns 50

Happy (Unhappy?) Birthday to my favorite handsome devil, Morrissey, who turns the big 5-0 today. Tonight, he'll celebrate with a few special gigs in England, including one at the Manchester Apollo.

Mozzer to NME on growing old: “Age shouldn't affect you. You're either marvelous or you're boring, regardless of your age.

In the NYC, there are a bunch of shindigs going on to honor the former Smiths frontman, including The Music Slut's Trash party at The Studio in Webster Hall. Also, Kaki King is playing a special set at Glasslands in Brooklyn. Bodega Girls, the Stationary Set, and Beta Beta are also slated to perform.

Also, to commemorate Morrissey's big birthday The Music Slut has issued the digital LP, TMS Hearts Moz. This 19-song set features Morrissey or Smiths covers from the likes of digital LP features artists like Chris Garneau, Exit Clov, The Glass, Laura Palmer, Mixel Pixel, Pattern Is Movement, Sharon Van Etten, and more. Each afternoon at 4pm, TMS debuts a new mp3 for free download and will continue to do so through May 28th. Hot stuff!

Click here to send the Mozzer some birthday wishes.

The Eternal

[Rob Gretton (center) with New Order]

NME.com announced today that the notebooks belonging to Rob Gretton -- manager to Joy Division and New Order manager -- will be published Tuesday, October 7th.

Entitled 1 Top Class Manager, the collection will include posters, letters, diaries and studio notes, dating from August 1978 to late 1980. Gretton's widow, Lesley Gilbert, culled the book from over 20 notebooks of material. The first print run will consist of 1,500 copies available to order only through the 1 Top Class Manager website. Get it now! It will surely sell out.

Some of the info inside? Who knew that New Order almost named themselves Man Ray? Radical Jesuits, Arab Legion and Sons Of God were also considered as names upon the loss of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.

For more on Gretton, Joy Division, and New Order, check out the fantastic Joy Division documentary from The Miriam Collection. English actor Paddy Considine also did a great job portraying Gretton in 2002's 24 Hour Party People. Gretton died of a heart attack May 15, 1999 at age 46. RIP.

Lily Allen Hates NME, Ready to Break America in 2007

I absolutely adore Lily Allen. The cheeky cutie-pie made quite a splash in her native U.K. this year with her own stylish brand of saucy pop, and she's readying herself to do the same in the New Year when her chart-topping debut Alright, Still... finally arrives stateside in January 30th!

Upon the release of NME's Cool List last week, Allen had a few choice words for the veteran music mag. I give mad props to the mouthy Brit for telling it like it is. They nominate a bunch of cool rock women, yet the polished boyish faces of Muse land on the front cover? Psssh. But cheers to NME, too, for giving the #1 spot to the Gossip's Beth Ditto. Talk about a surprise, hello? Ditto's surefire kind of soul is undoubtedly out of this world, and it's great to see the Gossip take top honors. Their latest, Standing the Way of Control is a must have!

But getting back to Miss Lily Allen. Here's what she had to say about NME and how cool they really are. [via her official blog]

Current mood: aggravated

I probably shouldn't be writing this , but I have to get it off my chest . I am not a big fan of the NME , as they sold me down the river when I last talked to them , I did and interview and made a sarcastic joke using the word "gak" which is slang for cocaine . They glorified my joke and used it out of context , then their public relations dept , contacted the tabloids in a shameful attempt to sell more copies . And , I have ever since been known as " Lily Allen , Pint sized potty mouth popstar who once admitted she would celebrate her no 1 single by taking cocaine ! " .

Thanks NME . Now , I have read many articles in the NME , where male band members freely admit to, or associate themselves with the taking of drugs , and I havent seen many of them ending up in the tabloids . Take Klaxons for example, and the ongoing MDMA references. " MDMAZING " I believe was the title of a recent article ( how responsible! ) .

The only reason I can think of , for recieving such a different form of treatment , is because I am a woman . I did recieve a written apology from Conor Mcnicholas ( the editor) . But i vowed never to work with the NME agian . As I thought, if there was one publication I could trust and be frank with , it would be the theirs .

Anyway , I was aproached by them again , with regards to the "Cool List Issue 2006" , five women had made it into the top 10 and , subsequently we (the women) were asked to pose for photos to be the main feature for the cover . As I said before , I vowed not to work with them again , but as the context was so important ie; a a strong female presence in music . I thought i might aswell put aside my differences and do it . Now i don't care for " the cool list " , and I said this to them in the interview , which is probably why they didn't print it . I don't really think the NME are in any position to tell us who is cool and who isn't , personally I don't think a bunch of people sitting in an office drinking tea , inventing musical genres , and watching Nathan Barley DVD's are leading any kind of cool brigade , do you ? But i did find it interesting that they wanted to put five women on the cover , and wanted to name 2006 , our year .

I went to get a copy yesterday , and this is what we ( the women ) got . Another fuckin MUSE cover . I like Muse , infact , Black Holes and Revelations , is one of my favourite albums of this year . But the NME have covered them so much this year already .

Now usually you might expect a call , just out of courtousy telling us we had been pulled off the cover , but we recieved nothing .

This is Conors ( the editors) comments on this issue , He has obviusly put out some press release , stating how supportive the NME is to women in music

Conor McNicholas, the editor of NME, said he was pleased that the Cool List was full of women who had brought "new energy" to the music world.

"This year's Cool List is a testament to the raft of hugely talented women who have taken hold of the music scene in 2006," he said. "From Beth to Lily to Karen, they've brought new energy to a scene dominated by men. They're also living proof that you can still rock a crowd when you're wearing stilettos."

I mean how fucking patronising " you can still rock a crowd wearing stilletos "

Is that all we are , stilleto wearing people , is that all he could say ,that we brought a " new energy" to the music scene . Don't make me sick , wev'e always been here you arrogant prick , this was your chance to actually show you meant it . And instead you put Muse on the cover . Cause you thought that your readers might not buy a magazine with an overweight lesbian and a not particularly attractive looking me , on the front . Wankers .

You should take your heads out of you New Rave arses , and actually think about your responsibilities to youth culture , and to women in general .

Oh and by the way , theres not enough RAVE in New Rave .

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