I've moved the blog...
http://celestronicablogs.tumblr.com/

please make a note of it!

New Foals video!

FOALS - Spanish Sahara

If you can't see this video, click here: http://vimeo.com/9870041

Thanks Surfer Blood!

...for wearing the shit out of the shoes we gave you in New York in October. We heart you!


photo via Brooklyn Vegan

Fwd: Free Elliott Smith mp3s

ELLIOTT SMITH

Download "Twilight" and "Last Call" Today on KillRockStars.com

Today we are making available two Elliott Smith songs: "Last Call" from Roman Candle and "Twilight" from From A Basement On The Hill. Both albums will be reissued on Kill Rock Stars on April 6, 2010.

Roman Candle is Elliott Smith's first solo album and was originally released on Portland's Cavity Search Records in 1994.

Roman Candle had quite an impact on Slim Moon, Kill Rock Stars' founder: "In 1994, I had been asked to be on this five-person solo-act tour called Pop Chord with Tammy Watson, Carrie Akre, Sean Croghan and Elliott Smith. The first night at the Crocodile in Seattle, I didn't pay too much attention and people talked all thru Elliott's set. Sean Croghan got up next and said "all of you people who just talked through Elliott's set are bummed because you just missed something very very special." The next night of the tour, at The Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, I listened very closely to Elliott's set, and it was basically one of those life-changing moments. Instead of watching the rest of the performers, I went out to the tour van and popped Roman Candle into the player, and listened to it on endless repeat for the rest of the evening and beyond. It completely blew my mind. I have never heard music as heartwrenchingly, gut-checkingly honest, intimate, and wise  before or since."

Roman Candle has been remastered for the re-release by Roger Seibel and Larry Crane, editor of Tape Op Magazine and archivist for Elliott's family. Kill Rock Stars will also be releasing Roman Candle on vinyl for the first time in the U.S.

From a Basement on the Hill was released posthumously in 2004 on ANTI- records.

With the addition of these two records Kill Rock Stars is now the home for all of Elliott Smith's independent releases: Roman Candle, Elliott Smith, Either/Or, From a Basement on the Hill, and New Moon.


 

Roman Candle

1) Roman Candle
2) Condor Ave
3) No Name #1
4) No Name #2
5) No Name #3
6) Drive All Over Town
7) No Name #4
8) Last Call
9) Kiwi Maddog 20/20

 

From a Basement on the Hill

1) Coast to Coast
2) Let's Get Lost
3) Pretty (Ugly Before)
4) Don't Go Down
5) Strung Out Again
6) A Fond Farewell
7) King's Crossing
8) Ostriches & Chirping
9) Twilight
10) A Passing Feeling
11) The Last Hour
12) Shooting Star
13) Memory Lane
14) Little One
15) A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity to Be Free

Sometimes I miss my old apartment in Chicago.

Deerhoof LP reissues for Record Store Day!

Begin forwarded message:

DEERHOOF AND RECORD STORE DAY

I distinctly remember my first trip to an independent record shop. To my surprise, my arrival at the register (holding the Keith Richards solo album Talk Is Cheap) came with some un-asked-for commentary courtesy of the people working there: "I just saw him on Saturday Night Live, and boy did he look pale..." I felt simultaneously frowned-upon and ultra-impressed that someone could just walk in and buy anything in the place, and they'd have something to say about it.

Years later after Deerhoof was formed, independent record stores became central to our livelihood. Our first releases were 7" singles and an LP, and the only shops that carried them were independents. In some cases, it was finding our record in such a store that initiated relationships that would become important for us later. For example the owner of the label Menlo Park Recordings found Deerhoof this way, and went on to release a double 7" and two CDs (Halfbird and Green Cosmos). Also Thurston Moore discovered Deerhoof in this way and contacted us about opening for his band Sonic Youth, which we have now done several times.

We're going to celebrate Record Store Day this year with two LP reissues: APPLE O' and GREEN COSMOS.

In our era of Music Overload one never knows if one's songwriting efforts will be recognized in any way, let alone heard, let alone remembered...so it was with a genuine thrill that we discovered our 2003 album Apple O' lurking in some end-of-decade lists. Let it be enjoyed afresh! Record Store Day 2010 is approaching, and here comes Apple O' on vinyl for the first time in years. This time the vinyl is blue and the artwork expanded. 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks enhance the free download that is the automatic fringe benefit of a purchase of this LP, because you will get a download code. Most likely on a small piece of paper, careful don't lose it.

Please enjoy Green Cosmos, it is coming on Record Store Day April 17 2010. I expect many have never heard it before, due in part to a substandard marketing campaign when it was originally released in 2005. It is not on any end-of-decade lists. It is the first time on vinyl of any color, let alone milky green and with free downloads and 4 bonus tracks. Careful - don't lose the small scrap of paper that contains the download code, until the download is successful, then discard, or recycle where municipal regulation allows. I have heard the 12" 45rpm test pressing and trust me this the definition of hi-fi, you can hear every last squiggle and clink, it is a thing of beauty.

Apple O' was about the Greek god of music and order, Apollo. Green Cosmos was about the Cosmos, i.e. space travel, galaxies, the big bang, and all the things in the universe.Apple O' was about the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, the ability to harness the atom, and its effect on Japan-US relations 1945 to the present. 

Jazzy - Enjoy.

- Greg

Apple O'
A1) DUMMY DISCARDS A HEART
A2) MY DIAMOND STAR CAR
A3) HEART FAILURE
A4) PANDA PANDA PANDA
A5) APPLE BOMB
A6) FLOWER
B1) SEALED WITH A KISS
B2) L'AMOUR STORIES
B3) HAYLEY AND HOMER
B4) DINNER FOR TWO
B5) THE FORBIDDEN FRUITS
B6) ADAM+EVE CONNECTION
B7) BLUE CASH

plus bonus tracks:

DUMMY DISCARDS A HEART live 2003
THE FORBIDDEN FRUITS chris demo
PANDA PANDA PANDA first performance 2002
MY DIAMOND STAR CAR live 2002

Green Cosmos
A1) GREEN COSMOS
A2) BYUN
A3) HOT MINT AIR BALLOON
A4) KONEKO KITTEN
B1) COME SEE THE DUCK
B2) MALALAUMA
B3) SPIRAL GOLDEN TOWN

plus bonus tracks:

SPRIAL GOLDEN TOWN greg demo
HOT MINT AIR BALLOON live 2004
COME SEE THE DUCK live 2005
KONEKO KITTEN rehearsal 2004

Upcoming Performances

mar 03 - Melbourne, AUS - The Corner
mar 04 - Melbourne, AUS - East Brunswick
mar 09 - Sydney, AUS - Spectrum (w/ Tenniscoates)
mar 10 - Wellington, NZ - San Francisco Bath House
mar 11 - Auckland, NZ - Kings Arms
mar 23 - Osaka, Japan - Akaso (w/ Ogre You Asshole)
mar 24 - Nygoya, Japan - Club Quattro (w/ Ogre You Asshole)
mar 26 - Tokyo, Japan - Liquid Room (w/ Ogre You Asshole)
mar 28 - Sendai, Japan - Shaft
mar 31 - Matsuyama, Japan - Hoshizora Jett (w/ Tori Kudo)
apr 01 - Fukuoka, Japan - Early Believers (w/ Folk Enough, Velocityut)
apr 02 - Okayama, Japan - Pepperland
apr 03 - Hamamatsu, Japan - Lucrezia
apr 14 - Moscow, Russia - IKRA
apr 15 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
apr 20 - Warsaw, Poland - Powiekszenie
apr 21 - Krakow, Poland - Klub Re
apr 22 - Bratislava, Slovakia - A4
apr 23 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
apr 24 - Budapest, Hungary - Trafo
apr 26 - Zagreb, Croatia - SC
apr 29 - Krems, Austria - Donaufestival (w/ Xiu Xiu performing Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures)
jun 25 - Omaha, NB - Waiting Room (w/ Southeast Engine, Broken Spindles)
jun 26 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue (w/ WHY?, Southeast Engine)
jun 27 - Fargo, ND - The Aquarium (w/ Southeast Engine)
jul 05 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project (w/ The Donkeys, Southeast Engine)
jul 06 - Portland, OR - Berbatti's (w/ The Donkeys, Southeast Engine)
jul 08 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (w/ The Donkeys, Southeast Engine)

Deerhoof and Plastic Ono Band at the Fox Theater, Oakland CA, February 23 2010, photo by Michael Zelner