Blur will always hold a special place in my heart. Their album The Great Escape was one of my first purchased Britpop albums, and bought in England while I was there on vacation to boot. I was in high school and this was my first real taste of what would later be my favorite musical genre. (But that is a long story for another time). For today’s Friday Jam in the Austin office, I have dug up the 7” of Blur’s “Charmless Man.” The b-side is “The Horrors.” One thing worth mentioning is I love the singles artwork (hell, all the artwork) that Blur used on their releases. When looking at the “Charmless Man” artwork, the little voice in my head comments, “Hey, look at that awesome polo dude on the cover. Damn, I wish all American sports were that sexy.” Ah, Blur. I hope that you make your reunion shows in the UK head our way in 2009.
The crew over at Coachella kept the official lineup for this year’s music festival under lock and key up until the very last minute, but we’re happy to officially announce that our own Silversun Pickups will be performing this year. They will be taking the stage on Friday, April 17, sharing the day with legends Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen and Morrissey. Tickets are on sale today over at Coachella.com. Here is the full lineup:
Friday April 17th:
Paul McCartney
Morrissey
Franz Ferdinand
Leonard Cohen
Conor Oberst (And The Mystic Valley Band)
Beirut
The Black Keys
Girl Talk
Silversun Pickups
The Tings Tings
The Crystal Method
Ghostland Observatory
Crystal Castles
The Airborne Toxic Event
We Are Scientists
N.A.S.A
Patton & Rahzel
M. Ward
The Presets
The Hold Steady
A Place To Bury Strangers
Felix Da Housecat
Buraka Som Sistema
Ryan Bingham
Bajofondo
Peanut Butter Wolf
Noah & The Whale
White Lies
The Bug
Alberta Cross
Los Campesinos!
Craze & Klever
Molotov
Switch
Gui Boratto
Steve Aoki
The Aggrolites
People Under The Stairs
The Courteeners
Cage The Elephant
Deer And The Headlights
Saturday April 18th:
The Killers
Amy Winehouse
Thievery Corporation
Tv On The Radio
Band Of Horses
Fleet Foxes
MSTRKRFT
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Atmosphere
Mastodon
TRAV$DJ-AM
Henry Rollins
Crooker
Turbonegro
Hercules And Love Affair
Superchunk
Glasvegas
Dr. Dog
Drive-By Truckers
Booker T & The DBT’s
Amanda Palmer
The Bloody Beetroots
Surkin, Para One (Live)
Calexico
Liars
Bob Mould Band
Zane Lowe
Electric Touch
Blitzen Trapper
James Morrison
Drop The Lime
Glass Candy
Thenewno2
Gang Gang Dance
Billy Talent
Ida Maria
Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti
Zizek
Cloud Cult
Tinariwen
Sunday April 19th:
The Cure
My Bloody Valentine
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s
Throbbing Gristle
Lupe Fiasco
Paul Weller
Peter, Bjorn & John
X
Antony And The Johnsons
Ronni Size
Public Enemy
Jenny Lewis
Groove Armada
Paolo Nutini
Christopher Lawrence
Lykke Li
The Kills
Okkervil River
M.A.N.D.Y.
Clipse
Sebastien Tellier
Fucked Up
Perry Farrell
The Horrors
Late Of The Pier
K’naan
Junior Boys
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Supermayer
No Age
Vivian Girls
Shepard Fairey
Themselves
Friendly Fires
Gaslight Anthem
The Knux
Mexican Institute Of Sound
The Night Marchers
Marshall Barnes
So I have a new favorite television show for the moment: One Way Out. I caught two episodes last night, which were both amazing enough for the show to be added to my DVR to-be-recorded list. I do love me some Discovery Channel, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that this one rules.
One Way Out revolves around a British escape artist named Jonathan Goodwin, who explores the science around stunts that he attempts. Trust me, the science part is minimal, but the stunts are quite insane. For example, one featured Jonathan covered head to toe in bees, placed in a large box on top of a washing machine. His hands were placed in thick mittens and then duct taped together. Finally, the door to the box was closed with three separate knotted shoe laces. He then had thirty seconds to escape from the box before the washing machine kicked to the spin cycle, causing him to shake around, which is never a good thing while covered in bees.
Set your Tivo/DVR/VCR/whatever you use for Mondays at 9pm for One Way Out. C’mon, you totally want to watch this guy perform an escape with an angry scorpion in his mouth. Do it!
The great tradition of Dangerbird Austin’s Morrissey Fridays has returned. It was sparked by the fact that tickets officially went on sale today for his upcoming Austin performance on April 12 at the Bass Concert Hall. To celebrate the purchase of our tickets, we’re spinning some Smiths vinyl this afternoon. Right now we’ve got “What Difference Does It Make” on the turntable, making it our official Friday Jam at the office. This particular 12″ single features “Back To The Old House” and “These Things Take Time” as the b-sides. Perfect for kicking off the weekend!
Ever wondered what a $64,000 turntable looks like? Well here ya go. This sucker features four arms (so you don’t have to trade out pickup cartridges) manufactured in the same factory in Italy that makes Ferrari parts. Now, I can totally appreciate the sound that comes from a quality turntable, but for a sticker price this high it had better be on a level far beyond amazing. To read more about the Gabriel Turntable, roll over to CNN. Peep some footage of this vinyl spinning beast below.
