Photos: Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues [New York, NY; 02/06/08]

Photos: Black Lips [Portland, OR; 02/05/08]

The last Black Lips show at Dante's in Portland resulted in some black eyes and at least one arrest. Tuesday night's festivities at Dante's never quite erupted into fisticuffs, but that didn't mean fans of the scrappy rock quartet were any less batshit thrilled to see their beloved Black Lips.

The Lips returned the love, too, doubling up their PDX gigs with an afternoon performance at Jackpot Records (to the best of our knowledge, nothing was broken). That Lips lovin' knows no bounds, and Cole, Jared, Ian, and Joe will continue to spread it across the U.S. through late March, and-- provided they can secure a visa for that love-- in the UK and Ireland come May.

BLACK LIPS AT DANTE'S








JACKPOT RECORDS IN-STORE

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Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige Co-Headline Tour
Lots of love in the heart of the city, after all

A dozen years ago, a hungry kid from Brooklyn who'd taken to calling himself Jay-Z met up with a rising R&B star named Mary J. Blige to record "Can't Knock the Hustle", the leadoff track from his soon-to-be-classic Reasonable Doubt LP.

Already a couple albums deep into her storied career, Mary was then and is now the queen of hip-hop soul. And Jay's hustle has been pretty much unknockable ever since. They've recorded and performed together plenty of times over the years, including that incredible take on their first collaboration from the must-see Fade to Black concert flick.

This spring, the two icons and old friends will once again join forces to co-headline the 25-date "Heart of the City" tour.

The tour's initial run of dates has been announced, with more to come. In addition to these 11 dates, shows in Houston, New Orleans, and Las Vegas are promised. (Chicago, please!!)

Jay, as you know, recently left his post at Def Jam, though if it means more stuff like this and American Gangster and yanking Glastonbury's headlining spot from Razorlight or whatever, it's looking more and more like a wise move. And Mary's pretty damn good Growing Pains LP dropped in December. [MORE...]

Video: Jay-Z: Pray (live) [from the American Gangster LP]
Video: Mary J. Blige: Just Fine [from the Growing Pains LP]

Gorillaz Documentary Debuts, Monkey Comes to U.S.

Although there's been no hint of a new Gorillaz album any time soon, the band/art project/cartoon collective centered around the music of Damon Albarn and the graphics of Jamie Hewlett has plenty of stuff going on.

The behind-the-scenes documentary Bananaz, directed by Ceri Levy, will premiere at the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival this week. The unveiling begins with industry-only showings of the doc today and tomorrow; public screenings run February 9 and 13-15. Bananaz will also screen in America as part of the SXSW Film Festival, taking place March 7-15 in Austin, TX.

But Berliners will have to trade one Gorillaz experience for another, as the summer run of performances of Monkey: Journey to the West, their spin-off "circus opera," has been cancelled. The production will be coming to the USA, however. It will be performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina on May 22-26 and 28-31, and June 1, 3, 5-8.

If you're in London, you can get a taste of Monkey this Saturday, February 9, at the British Museum. As part of their Chinese New Year celebration, the museum will present "Monkey Suite", which is "chamber music and visual excerpts" from the opera.

Hewlett also has another project in the works: "Phoo Action", a kung fu action comedy he's developing for the BBC, according to NME. Carl Weathers is in it! It airs February 12 on BBC3.

Video: Gorillaz: Clint Eastwood [from the Gorillaz LP]

Spend Valentine's Day With TV on the Radio's Malone
How romantic!

Photo by Greg Silver

Wait, it's a week before Valentine's Day, and you still don't know where you're taking your main squeeze for the most ooey gooey evening of the year? Golly, Casanova, step that game up. Sure, a quick stop at the friendly neighborhood Taco John's and a showing of The Hottie and the Nottie might seem like a no-brainer, but you've got that significant other to think of.

You could while away your evening with bean burritos and Paris Hilton... OR you could spend the evening with TV on the Radio guitarist and all around cool dude Kyp Malone! He's hosting an "all you can eat Italian feast" and playing a set this Valentine's Day at Brooklyn's Glasslands Gallery. (Apparently it's an annual thing.)

Hey, why the hell not? Nothing sets a mood like eating a truckload of baked ziti with a famous person.

In addition to the wining and dining, there'll be a show, courtesy of your host and his musical accompaniment for the evening, John Dwyer of Coachwhips/Thee Ohsees. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson will also perform, as will the Suckers, and DJs Megan Lee and Jaiko Suzuki will round out the musical portion of the evening. Then it's on to the lovin'...or a quick trip to the Duane Reade for some Pepto-Bismol. 'Tis (almost) the color of love, after all.

So what's Kyp up to when he's not elbow deep in the gnocchi? Well, musical stuff, of course. He and TVOTR crooner Tunde Adebimpe will perform as a duo at the Brooklyn Next fest later this month, as well as join the Roots on a track for the Soundtrack for a Revolution, uh, soundtrack.

MP3: Kyp Malone: Playhouses/Winter Song [live on Ma Fama]

Kurt Cobain: About a Son Coming to DVD

In his review of the soundtrack to Kurt Cobain: About a Son, our own Chris Dahlen wrote that AJ Schnack's documentary "has the uncanny effect of making its subject seem like he's still alive." It's true. By combining audio of early 90s Cobain interviews conducted by journalist Michael Azerrad with visuals of the present-day Pacific Northwest, the film presents Cobain in a late-00s context. The people and places Cobain discusses in the film are still around: depressed logging communities, idyllic Olympia, cosmopolitan Seattle. Kurt hated them all, and he probably still would.

Here's one thing I took from About a Son: Kurt Cobain was kind of a jerk. He talks about despising people just from the way they look and how when he's on tour he just wants to sit by himself in a corner rather than talk to people. He talks about how angry he's gotten with his bandmates over songwriting credits. How if he ever loses his family and his money, he's going to seek out bloody revenge on those who have wronged him. Not exactly the kind of guy I'd really want to hang out with.

I understand that he was in a lot of pain; that certainly comes through in the film. But About a Son did a lot of damage to my teenage idealization of Cobain as a saintly fighter of the good fight, cut down in his prime by evil mainstream corporate America (the very channels through which people like me first heard Nirvana, of course.)

For somebody like me who grew up idolizing and obsessing over Cobain, About a Son is eye-opening and heart-breaking. It humanizes him in ways that his music, performances, and videos never could. Sure, most sane, rational adults realize that every rock star is also a real person. But when you spend years fascinated with the mystique, it's sometimes difficult to come to terms with that realization.

So basically what I'm saying is if you want your childhood dreams shattered, go see About a Son. (Kidding.) But really, it's an essential movie for Nirvana fans. (For people who don't care about Nirvana, I'd recommend steering clear.)

On February 19, just one day before what would have been Kurt Cobain's 41^st birthday, Shout! Factory will release the film on DVD. It includes commentary by director Schnack and the features "The Voices Behind About a Son" and "On Location: Scouting Video to Scene Comparison".

Video: Kurt Cobain: About a Son: Trailer
Video: Kurt Cobain: About a Son: Clip

White Stripes Do Spanish Version of "Conquest" Single

Viva Las Rayas Blancas! Viva rock'n'roll! Say hello to "Conquista", the latest single from Las Rayas Blancas, better known to us English-speaking sorts as the White Stripes.

Wait a second. Didn't the Stripes have a single with an awfully similar name not too long ago? Well, yep. But this is different: "Conquista" features Jack crooning the Patti Page classic en español, a muy bien idea if you ask me. The single, in both CD and vinyl form, hits the States February 19 from Third Man/Warner Brothers, though you may have a bit of a time finding it in the usual spots, as the disc will indeed be credited to Las Rayas Blancas. Record store employees of the world, shelf this one responsibly.

The two-track single contains "Conquista" backed by "Conquest (Versión Acústica De Mariachi)", which we're pretty sure means it's acoustic and features a mariachi band.

A Spanish language version of the totally awesome Diane Martel-directed video for the tune will premiere on the music video channel mun2 Thursday, February 7, along with an interview with Jack.

In other news from the Stripes, there's an old sample driving them a bit loco lately, an appearance in alta definición February 22, and a potentially excellente collaboration between Mr. White and Mr. Dylan in the works. Alas, no live dates are in the works appear to be in the works at the moment. Qué malo! Okay, okay, silencio. The Raconteurs are playing Coachella and Bonnaroo, though.

Video: Las Rayas Blancas: Conquista (English version) [from the Icky Thump LP]

The Breeders Announce Mountain of New Dates

Video: The Breeders: Cannonball [from the Last Splash LP]

The Twilight Sad Schedule Tour

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Autumns and Winters are on their way out, and for the Twilight Sad, spring's where it's at. After a one-off later this month, the saga-recounting Scotsmen with the oversized sound have a quick little late-March swing around the UK to attend to before, uh, doing whatever the Twilight Sad do when they're not touring.

Yearning, probably. [MORE...]

Video: The Twilight Sad: And She Would Darken the Memory [live at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival]

Jesu/Fog Members, Marnie Stern, Tunng Do Singles Club

Jamie Lidell Reveals Jim's First Single, Tour

Video: Jamie Lidell: Little Bit of Feel Good [from the Jim LP]

Shout Out Louds Issue New EP, Add Dates

Video: Shout Out Louds: Impossible (It's Possible remix by Studio) [from the fortthcoming Impossible EP]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)