The thing with me and music is upon first listen to a song I either love it immediately or I mentally file it away for another listen at a different time and headspace. When I have done the latter, I would say 50% of the time I fall in love with the tune, 25% of the time I file it away again and the remainder falls in the “it’s just not for me” category. The whole purpose of my current MySpace blitz on bands in my friends is to have a quick listen, check out what the band is about and write about them if they float my boat. No time for going back to the well in a couple of months unless the band sends me their CD. This is all about instant rock and roll gratification.

Nooner are from Austin, Texas and have 2 songs posted on their page from their “It’s Time” album, Confide and Kids. I really liked Confide but I actually went through the effort of downloading Kids so I could listen to it loud again and again and again. Including all the stuff that makes my rock and roll heart beat faster like melodic guitar and vocal hooks, a driving beat and harmonizing backing vocals, Kids is just another one of those perfect rock and roll songs to absolutely blare on the car stereo or during that backyard keg and pool party. Really good shit. Look for it on Rock and Roll Report Radio soon. Check out their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/nooner

Here’s the video for Kids. Enjoy!

Later.

Mark

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I have been swamped over the last few weeks with getting the new Rock and Roll Report launched and as such I feel that there has been a bit of a dip in quality posts about hot up and coming bands on the site but fear not! I have now turned my attention away from the geeky and back to why I started this whole thing in the first place so expect more bands and more stuff to listen to starting tomorrow. If you have a MySpace page and you are not a friend of The Rock and Roll Report then you better request an add ASAP. I have started to prowl that site in earnest, the results of which will start appearing on this site shortly. And if you don’t have a MySpace page, do yourself a favour and get one. It’s not just for people who want to get laid!

At the same time, I am making the switch to a Mac from a Windows based PC. I am in the process of ordering a brand new mid-level MacBook. Any hints and tips from any Macheads would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading. Get ready to work out those woofers and blast those tweeters! By the way, Rock and Roll Report Radio returns to the airwaves of CKUT FM on June 18th. Tune in and rock out. Details to be posted later.

Take care everybody.

Mark

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I have been a huge fan of The 88 ever since I heard “Battle Scar.” I have reviewed them on The Rock and Roll Report and played them on Rock and Roll Report Radio numerous times so I was happy to hear that they have signed with Island Def Jam Records. As you all know by now, the mission of The Rock and Roll Report is to showcase great Indie and D.I.Y. rock and roll and treat those artists as if they are in the so-called “big leagues” but I certainly have no problem applauding and continuing to support those bands that have managed to make the big step up to the majors. I don’t discriminate on “mode of distribution” and I have never been one of those to look down at a band because they have landed a major label contract. As long as the music continues to float my boat, how it is distributed is of secondary importance. Way to go guys!

CMJ reports that a new compilation is set to be released featuring indie bands singing covers of songs by artists like Journey, Eddie Money and the Spice Girls. Called Guilt By Association the CD features Petra Haden singing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, Mike Watt doing Blue Oyster Cult’s Burning For You and Luna getting busy on Straight Up by Paula Abdul. The full track listing is listed below. And if you tell me that you don’t secretly like at least one of these songs you are full of shit!

Tracklist For Guilt By Association:
01. Petra Haden - Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey)
02. Devendra Banhart - Don’t Look Back In Anger (Oasis)
03. Mark Mulcahy - From This Moment on (Shania Twain)
04. Luna - Straight Up (Paula Abdul)
05. The Concretes - Back For Good (Take That)
06. Jim O’Rourke - Viva Forever (Spice Girls)
07. Goat - Sugar We’re Going Down (Fall Out Boy)
08. Will Oldham/Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Can’t Take That Away (Mariah Carey)
09. Woody Jackson Orchestra feat. Money Mark - Love’s Theme (Love Unlimited Orchestra)
10. Porter Block - Breaking Free (High School Musical)
11. Mooney Suzuki - Just Like Jesse James (Cher)
12. Geoff Farina - Two Tickets To Paradise (Eddie Money)
13. Casey Shea - Chop Suey (System Of A Down)
14. Superchunk - Say My Name (Destiny’s Child)
15. Mike Watt - Burning For You (Blue Oyster Cult)

A BBC rock documentary conducted a poll and has decided that Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA is the “greatest rock album.” The Beatles’ White Album only comes in 6th. I know, I know! Let the arguments begin!

1- Bruce Springsteen – ‘Born In The USA’
2- Dire Straits- ‘Brothers In Arms’
3- Nirvana – ‘Nevermind’
4- The Clash – ‘London’s Calling’
5- David Bowies– ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’
6- The Beatles - ‘White Album’
7- Black Sabbath - ‘Paranoid’
8- U2 - ‘Achtung Baby’
9- The Stone Roses – ‘The Stone Roses’
10- Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin IV’

Later.

Mark

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Rolling Stone does do this type of thing well I must admit. They have published their 25 Best Rock Rumors Ever and some of them are hilarious. My favourite: “Charles Manson auditioned for the Monkees.” And would I ever like to try Grandma Vedder’s pearl jam!

Later.

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Editors Note: I am excited to introduce a new contributor to the virtual pages of The Rock and Roll Report. Tova Jansen has been involved in the rock biz in some form or other for quite awhile but what impressed me most was her passion for rock and roll. She is a true music fan and I am pumped that she will be contributing to the site. Welcom Tova!

If you love it, you live it and as long as I have had a heartbeat music has coursed through my veins and is the air I breathe. I have had the privilege to work in the music business as a manager in prestigious clubs with live bands, working in promo, hosting Fender Guitar Wars, served as a judge on several Q107 Home Grown competitions, managed bands, booked them and hosted live jams. Moved by music as we are Vibrational by nature, I am inspired to pay it forward. So tune in, turn it up and let the music do the talking.

Tova

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Now we know the truth. The real eggheads are not into Bach and Mozart. More likely they are into Ozzy and Megadeth. So says a recent study by a team at the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth at Warwick University in the UK. According to the study mentioned recently on KNAC, “the researchers believe many bright children often feel isolated because of their high IQs - so they tend to seek comfort in loud music.”

If this is in fact the case, for all these years I must have been a genius! Now it is all starting to make sense….

Later.

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I rely on iTunes for pretty much all my music needs. From downloading podcasts, loading up my iPod and creating my play lists for the radio show it is an indispensible tool for Rock and Roll Report business and it gets even better with the plug-in iConcertCal.

iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that “that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X and supports worldwide searches.” Now how cool is that! This is great, especially when I download new music on my iPod since it will let me know if the band in question is playing nearby. I will be playing with this for the next few weeks and let you know how well it works but I can’t get over the concept. Brilliant IMHO. Try it out and let me know your thoughts.

Later.

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I’ve come to the conclusion that the controversy surrounding who has control of James Brown’s body was orchestrated by the Godfather himself. After all, he was, for the most part, a savvy businessman who undoubtedly had an army of attorneys at his command. It’s impossible to believe that at least one of them didn’t advise him of the importance of leaving explicit instructions about making funeral arrangements.

However, since he left behind a number of ex-wives and a assorted relatives and hangers-on who probably caused him all kinds of trouble while he was alive, I can’t help believing he knew exactly what he was doing andis getting the last laugh by leaving them with a big mess to deal with after his death. It’s not hard to picture him spinning around and exuberantly shouting, “Oww! I feel good!”

Posted by Wayne Wayne

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David Fricke, senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, has chosen 25 of the best guitarists in modern rock for the latest issue of the magazine. He named John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mayer and Derek Trucks all guitar gods, as well as 22 other axe-men that Fricke found worth of mentioning inside the article. Frusciante, Mayer and Trucks are all featured on the upcoming cover of the magazine, which hits stands tomorrow.

Source: 2007 Punmaster’s MusicWire http://www.punmaster.com

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I don’t like to post too many press releases (hard to believe today eh!) but this kind of shit drives me up the wall. Censorship is plain evil in my opinion. You be the judge. (Mark)

‘Dirty Folk’ Comic Jessica Delfino Explodes Out of the Box with “My Pussy Is Magic”

NEW YORK (Jan. 31, 2007) – Ongoing efforts by the Political Correctness Police to ban the new hot-button music video from critically acclaimed “dirty folk” comic JESSICA DELFINO are instead having an adverse effect on its mounting popularity.

The video’s resilience to a recent Catholic League denouncement, coupled with its prior resurrection from YouTube banishment, is further vindication. Nothing can seemingly stop the power of MY PUSSY IS MAGIC.

Since its latest YouTube reinstatement, over 45,000 viewers have flocked to the wildly popular website to see what the Catholic-raised woman named “Best Potty-Mouthed, Guitar-Slinging Comedian of 2005” by the Village Voice has conjured with director Matt Davis (Mad TV, Martin Short’s Primetime Glick, MTV’s upcoming Human Giant). Thousands more websites also have linked, including ComedyCentral.com, Gawker.com and Denmark’s VKmag.com.

MY PUSSY IS MAGIC was hastily yanked from YouTube the day after Google snatched the site for $1.65 billion. Delfino since has been twice reinstated amid an alternate title change to Jessica Delfino Is Magic. Giant Magazine is among her media defenders.

The Catholic League made what Delfino declares are “anti-Muslim statements” in a press release charging her with obscenity and accusing her of giving “ammunition” to radical Muslims by rapping about her genitals and singing “it will become your true religion.” (Note misquote: she sings “new religion.”). Delfino, accusing Catholic League President William Donohue of being “a hypocrite and a bigot,” fired back: “I don’t know why he is afraid of refocusing attention on humanity’s true source of creation, the mysterious and magical womb. That doesn’t make him a better Catholic than me.”

Loose lips can’t sink this ship. See why at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFKd54Ijg7I

The Washington Post made a regional comedy gig “Our pick” despite noting Delfino is “provocative enough to be taken off YouTube.” She has appeared on Good Morning America and Opie & Anthony and has received accolades from Comedy Central, Jane Magazine, Time Out New York and Backstage.

MY PUSSY IS MAGIC mixes live action and animation in adapting Delfino’s wildly ribald act to video. She says it’s great to make music that inspires, particularly when she’s writing about what she loves…

Magic!

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Pitchfork has compiled the Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006. This album by Cex certainly looks…..interesting!

Later.

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Starting in January, PBS will begin airing “Rock ‘N’ Roll Safari,” an internet show featuring the stories and live music of local Detroit bands and select indie artists from across the country. James McGovern and Greg Sharrow, co-creators and local musician themselves, will be taking their camera crew into Detroit’s most rockin’ venues to capture live concert footage and interviews from some of the best up-and-coming bands in the indie scene today. Featured bands will include indie favorites Melissa Ferrick, Bob Schneider, and Detroit artists The Hard Lessons, The Muggs, Hotness and The Grande Nationals and more. Rock ‘N’ Roll Safari will air on PBS throughout Southeastern Michigan and nationally in Canada. Tune in to channel 56 every Saturday night starting at 11 p.m. For 24-7 access to Rock N Roll Safari log on to www.canyouhearme.tv.

Sharrow and McGovern started the Internet-based, music/ film network, to help create a platform for a handful of artists around the country. “We feel that there is a lot of talent our there, lost in the masses of mediocre bands, looking for a way to be heard.” McGovern sees Live Underground Concert Series as a filter that selects the bands that are unique and that have something new and fresh to say musically. “And most importantly” Sharrow adds, “You have to be amazing in a live setting”. To help support independent musicians and to raise money to continue to fund the show, Sharrow and McGovern produce DVD’s for each band from the live concert footage aired on PBS. The DVD’s include bonus footage and extras. “Most importantly,” says Sharrow, “we share the profits with the bands. So by purchasing a DVD, you are essentially helping to support independent music in America. The bands need and use this money to help cover the cost of touring, recording, and other band related expenses.”

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If you want to read something a bit different, the very cool Exiled on Main Street has just published issue # 42. It’s a webzine, a blog and all podcast all from the fertile brain of Bill Tuomala. Very cool stuff.

Later.

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MySpace.com, the leading global lifestyle portal, announced the official launch of two new programs, “MySpace LIVE!” and “Hey, Play This…” incorporating live video web streaming, instant messenger, and user profiles to create unique, live experiences for the MySpace community. The launch of MySpace LIVE! and Hey, Play This… join MySpace’s existing community music and film programs including Secret Shows and The List which engage the global network by coupling site functionality with offline events.

“With a diverse user community and massive social platform, MySpace is a natural fit for live, interactive content,” said Josh Brooks, VP of Content and Programming for MySpace. “MySpace LIVE! and Hey, Play This… add a new dimension to our music community and we hope to develop future original programming and partnerships that focus on the live experience.”

MySpace LIVE! will be the first live broadcast program on MySpace and allow users to submit MySpace messages to the fans and bands attending the performance. The first MySpace LIVE! event will feature Paul Oakenfold (http://myspace.com/pauloakenfold) in Miami at Club Space on Saturday, November 18 and will be exclusively broadcast on MySpace at http://myspace.com/sidekick3. The event celebrates the legendary DJ with an all-night music event in support of his new album, A Lively Mind. The six hour live web broadcast will also feature dance music pioneers Sandra Collins and Jonathan Peters along with various local performers, visual artists Fuevoz, and a myriad of MySpace user generated content.

(more…)

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Forget the wheel, the transistor or the light bulb, the world’s coolest invention has to be the air guitar T-Shirt. A T-shirt that interprets your arm movements and converts them to guitar sounds! How cool is that? Stand back all you shredders out there! I am ready to rip it up with only the shirt on my back! This could be brutally dangerous to be honest.

Later.

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If you publish a blog and you use iTunes you can now embed your iMixes in a blog post for others to peruse and listen to 30 second samples according to Apple Makes iMixes Blog-Embeddable.

As soon as I get off my ass I’ll figure out how to do a couple here on The Report.

Later.

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My buddy Armitage Shanks sent me this hilarious video of Kurt Cobain getting beat up by his own security guy! We miss you Kurt.

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iLike.com today launched the first social music discovery service designed for iTunes and iPod users. iLike helps people discover new music and share their listening experience with friends. The iLike Sidebar for iTunes complements Apple’s popular media player with a “buddy list” and features for music sharing and discovery. The iLike website (www.iLike.com) gives users a profile of their music listening habits and helps them explore the music libraries of friends. iLike also provides personalized recommendations of free MP3 downloads from almost 200,000 independent artists, drawn from GarageBand.com, the company’s first website.

iLike’s key features are:

* Linking with friends. iLike’s first aim is to facilitate word- of-mouth music discovery. For example, with iLike, a consumer can easily see, “What music are my friends listening to that I don’t have yet?”
* Personalized Free MP3s. Intelligent recommendation of free downloads from hundreds of thousands of independent artists is achieved via integration with GarageBand.com’s award-winning collaborative-filtering engine.
* Designed for iTunes / iPod. The iLike Sidebar for iTunes offers a buddy list for discovering music through friends, inline music recommendations, and a one-click playlist generator.

(more…)

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Details are out on the retail version of the new U2/Green Day collaboration on the Skids classic “The Saints are Coming.” There will be two versions, the live version they performed at the NFL’s New Orleans Saints home opener last month and a studio version recorded at Abbey Road Studios and produced by Rick Rubin. All proceeds are to be donated to Music Rising, an organization that is replacing the musical instruments lost in the floods caused by Hurricane Katrina last year in New Orleans.

While I have been a fan of Green Day since their earliest indie days, I have a somewhat ambivalent attitude to U2. I definitely admire them on a number of levels but I just have never been able to really dig into their music aside from a bunch of the obvious “hits.” I am trying to change this by essentially re-examining all their albums and try and make up for lost time. I think the other major factor is that I have never seen them live and that is another thing I would like to rectify next tour. That is my U2 confession for the year!

Later.

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My 13 year-old self and 30-something self got into a brawl the night I was cruising ebay™ for music memorabilia when the opportunity to bowl with Jane Wiedlin(Go Go’s, VH1’s Surreal Life IV), popped up. 13 year-old me had 30-something me in a headlock just long enough to hit the “confirm bid” button. “Oh well” 30-something me rationalized “if I win, it’s for a really good cause.” Bowling for Boobies, sponsored by the Soroptimists of the Verdugos, raises funds to assist women experiencing financial difficulties as a result of their breast cancer treatment. In the US treatment without chemotherapy can exceed $100,000.00

I, along with two other charitable fans of the eternally youthful Miss Wiedlin, won ebay™ auctions to play on her team. These charity shindigs always promise a good time but rarely turn out that way. This was the exception. Not only did Jane bowl with us, she outfitted us with bowling shirts, lounged between games with us, bought us food and drink, all the while continuing to help run the raffle and auctions.

(more…)

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Canadian Music Week is calling all independent recording artists to apply for The Indies - the 2007 Independent Music Awards. The event will kick off the CMW 07 festivities held in Toronto on Wednesday, March 7, 2007. Applications are due on November 15, 2006.

This year’s submissions will be taken exclusively through Sonicbids at www.sonicbids.com/indies2007. Submission rules and regulations can be obtained from the CMW Web site at www.cmw.net.

Presented by inDiscover.net, The Indies celebrate outstanding achievement in sound recording. The awards are limited to independent artists and cover some 14 different genres of music. Winners in 27 of the 30 categories are decided by both a public vote and an industry vote. Four new categories have been added for 2007, including Live Artist/Group/Duo Of The Year, International Single Of The Year, International Breakthrough Artist/Group/Duo Of The Year, and International Video Of The Year.

(more…)

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