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Tags: Photography / Galleries / Music / New York City / → All Tags

Music Photography Gallery to Open at CBGB Site

How refreshing that the skeleton of CBGB's old 313 Gallery performance-and-art space on the Bowery will sprout something other than a Starbucks. The space will hang on to the rock 'n' roll spirit when it is reborn as a second New York outpost of the Morrison Hotel Gallery.

The new space will lend itself well to visiting browsers, as it's over twice the size of Morrison Hotel's smaller SoHo gallery. The opening show, featuring works by Steve Joester, will debut this Thursday, March 27. After that, on April 24, will be Bob Gruen's "Rockers" exhibit.

Related Stories:
· CBGB's Gallery to Reopen as The Morrison Hotel Gallery [Relix]

[Photo: tornatore]

Tags: Shopping-In-Brooklyn-Map / Shopping / Music / Record Stores / → All Tags

Shopping in Brooklyn: Independent Record Stores

In addition to bars, boutiques, and overall snootiness, hipsters also bring independent record stores to their 'hoods. And since Brooklyn still reigns supreme as the place to live for twentysomethings, the borough is teeming with shops slinging everything from classical music on vinyl to CDs by up-and-coming bands guaranteed to boost your indie cred.

Though Manhattan has its fair share of worthwhile shops, Brooklyn's less chaotic atmosphere makes for a much more pleasant shopping trip. So, hop on the L train and skip Circuit City for your music fix.

THE BEST BROOKLYN RECORD STORES

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Tags: Music Festivals / Music / Bonnaroo / → All Tags

Summer Music Festivals: We Heart Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. is tired of SXSW getting all the glory. The event boasts a lineup that is both varied and overwhelmingly good.

This June 14 to 17, hippies, hipsters, and the committed unhip can all find something suitable for their ears. Performers include: The Police (not just Sting, the whole gang), Tool, Widespread Panic, Ben Harper, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The String Cheese Incident, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Franz Ferdinand, and about 100 other acts.

Some of our personal favorites in the lineup include: The Hold Steady (whose epic storylines remind us of The Who's Tommy); The Decemberists, because they have a song dedicated entirely to apologizing for losing a friend's bicycle; and Regina Spektor, who's unfortunately VH1's "undiscovered" artist du jour.

A four-day weekend pass, which includes camping and parking, cost $214.50. Organizers put together 15 or so activities in addition to the concerts: attendees can take yoga classes, see the interactive art performances, and visit a jazz club curated by Blue Note Records.

Tags: Music / Bands / Live Music / Festivals / → All Tags

"Come Together" at Abbey Road

After our expose on WiFi-friendly Blue Grass Airport, you're probably wondering why on Earth you'd ever fly there--despite the Interwebs access, of course. The Memorial Day weekend Abbey Road on the River in Louisville would be our tip, now that the Kentucky Derby is run and done.

Set up along the Ohio River, the Abbey Road shindig is "the Greatest Beatle Tribute Festival In The World," which means while The Beatles (obviously) won't be playing, a bunch of bands that look and sound like them will. The three biggest days are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when groups like "Lucy in the Sky," "Eight Days a Week" and "British Export" will be rehashing the golden days of Brit pop. To find out more about the bands--and we're not kidding about this--check out the festival's MySpace page.

[Photo: hddod]

Related Stories:
· Abbey Road on the River [Official Site]

Tags: YouTube / Music / → All Tags

HOWTO: Trash a Hotel Room, Only Not Really

Here's a video clip from 1994 in which Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley teaches American Journal viewers how to "trash a hotel room." Never mind that the first rule of respectable hotel room trashing is that you not have any pre-existing approval from hotel management. (The second is that your name must be Jimmy Page.) Oh well. Enjoy, if you can find it in you. Ace will host the first anniversary party of the Kiss Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC, on June 16.

Related Stories:
· Classic ACE FREHLEY Hotel-Trashing Video Available [Blabbermouth]

Tags: Celeb Travel / Live Music / Music / Fillmore / → All Tags

San Francisco: The '90s Are Half Back With Smashing Pumpkins Sorta-Reunion

If at first you don't succeed, you might be Billy Corgan. The most recognizable member of alternative standard bearers the Smashing Pumpkins has never quite been the same since the band broke up in 2000; short-lived side projects like Zwan and his solo album got noticed not as much for their musical merit as for comments Corgan made about his past among the squash fruit. Yet in 2005 Corgan took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times announcing he wanted to reunite the band. So, the Smashing Pumpkins are back!

...Kinda. It's true that a band called the Smashing Pumpkins will be in residence at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium from July 22 until August 1, playing new and classic songs both (according to the San Francisco Chronicle's CultureBlog). But guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky won't be there; they never agreed to be in the "reunion," and somehow that's not mentioned anywhere on the press releases. So, for full disclosure: That pie is only 50 percent Pumpkin. Buy tickets ($25) at your own risk.

[Photo: The Chronicle Baby Blog]

Related Stories:
· San Francisco Hotels [HotelChatter]

Tags: Eurovision / Music / Europe / → All Tags

Is Eurovision A Big Neighbors Scam?

Greetings to all who spent last night watching the usual odd servings of how-could-they-ever-think-they'd-win finalists in the Eurovision Song Contest. From Germany's jazzed up Roger Cicero explaining how women rule the world to Ukraine's weirdly-dressed-up song, "Dancing Lasha Tumbai," which curiously was the favorite to win.

When it came down to judging time--Europeans can call or text to vote for anyone except for their own nation--it was even more apparent than normal that the more neighbors you have, the more votes you get. Even when a tiny country gives you a top vote, you get the same number of points as if the whole of Germany or France vote for you. Poor old England got nearly no votes (their entry's quality was questionable too, but that goes for nearly all of them), and former eastern bloc countries with plenty of small neighbors did well. And the winner? A (we personally think) not particularly stunning song from Serbian singer Marija. Media explosions about votes from neighbors has reached higher levels than ever this year, so maybe a new voting system is on the cards for Eurovision 2008 in Belgrade.

[Photo: flickrwegian]

Related Stories:
· Eurovision: Need Good Neighbours [Times UK]
· Eurovision Song-O-Mat Rocks Our World [Jaunted]

Tags: Music / Festivals / Live Music / → All Tags

Bobby's Bein' Happy in Vienna

Bobby McFerrin (who doesn't worry and is happy) is alive and well, and about to headline the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) in Austria. This month-long party takes place every year and is full of music, dance, theater and even the circus. We know Vienna's so big on music that they pump opera into the subway, so any festival like this has gotta be good.

If you're in Vienna this week you can check out the free opening concert outside the city hall on May 11. For other events, check if you're eligible for the Wiener Festwochen young people's bonus that gives all kinds of people up to the age of 27 a discount. But if you're not in Austria this time round, don't worry. Be happy next time.

[Photo: UWSP]

Related Stories:
· Vienna to Fight Junkies With Opera [Jaunted]
· Vienna Festival 2007 [Official Site]

Tags: Music / Virgin / Advertising / → All Tags

Def Leppard Sells Virgin Atlantic

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (the lead singer, not the one-armed drummer, unfortunately) is currently shilling for Virgin Atlantic, presumably in some radio ads. Elliott's commercial is available online in MP3 format, as is a reel of outtakes. Because you've always wanted to go behind the whoring, and we only take travel tips from '80s stars.

Elliott will be doing a whole lot of traveling this summer, but not on Virgin Atlantic. Def Leppard will launch a gigantic, triple-whammy North American tour on June 27 in Cincinnati with Styx and, one some dates, Foreigner.

Suffice it to say that Ogilvie would never let this happen on Virgin America. He would at least get the drummer!

[Photo: crumj]

Related Stories:
· DEF LEPPARD Singer Promoting VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRLINES; Audio Available [Blabbermouth]
· Can You Have an Apocalypse With Only 3 Horses? [Seattlest]

Tags: Lists / Sights / Music / Seven Wonders of the World / → All Tags

Seven Wonders Sing-A-Long

Results of the The New 7 Wonders promotion are getting closer: on 07.07.07 (yep, that's July 7 this year), the big announcement will be made in Lisbon about which seven tourist sights should expect an environment-destroying boost in visitor numbers in the coming years. If you want to get into the spirit of world wonders before then, you can always listen to the official New 7 Wonders of the World song.

That's right--such a song exists. British band The Dolmen sing a sentimental try-hard tune with lines like "Dreaming as children/On the threshold of history" and a chorus repeating "New 7 Wonders of the World" a couple of times to often. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Related Stories:
· Rough Guides Can Make Lists Too [Jaunted]
· The New 7 Wonders [Jaunted]

Tags: Eurovision / Music / Contests / Live Music / Websites / → All Tags

Eurovision Song-O-Mat Rocks Our World

With the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest getting to semi-finals and finals in Finland on May 10 and 12, it's time we started watching to see which of the 42 competing nations will take the crown from last year's winners, terrifying Finnish metal band Lordi.

If you want a preview on who might be your own personal favorite, check out the official website's Song-O-Mat. Answer the questions about the kind of song you'd like--for example, you can choose a male or female singer or a group, the language of the song, the geographic location of the artist, whether you want the tempo to be quick, slow, moderate or breath-taking, and what you'd like the topic of the song to be: "about something that matters/just a jingle/about human relations."

We took the quiz and came up with the Belgian entry, "LovePower" from The Krazy Mess Groovers, which so far has come in at #5 on the list of Song-O-Mat results. That does sound a little more likely to win than the Ukrainian "Dancing lasha tumbai" (currently last on the list) or the German number which features a guy singing a tune that translates to "Women Rule the World." Let us know what you come up with.

Related Stories:
· The Nightmares of European Children Have Just Begun [Jaunted]
· We Want Eurovision Tickets! [Jaunted]
· Eurovision Song-O-Mat [Official Site]

Tags: Embedded Travel Guides / London Tour / Music / Live Music / Festivals / → All Tags

Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Camden Crawled

We are constantly searching for the most timely and useful travel information on locations around the world. We have always found that boots on the ground is a great way to sift through the marketing clutter and bring you the travel tips, information, and opinions you crave. However, now it is time to kick it up a notch. First, we are searching the world for folks who can take you on a field trip of their "backyard." When we find these folks, we then embed them into their local travel scene and ask them to be our eyes and ears out in the field.

We are expecting the same sort of grainy video, choppy sentences, and snapshot photos that you are use to seeing from embeds. The rub is, at the end of the day we should be left with a backyard travel guidebook like no other.

Our first embed is Benji Lanyado of London, UK. He is a budget travel columnist for the Guardian Newspaper in the UK. He also is the fearless leader of Youngin Europe, so expect his guide to skew young, but not that young, we intend to keep this thing legal. He lives in London and enjoys ranting about football.

Now that you have all the particulars, sit back and enjoy the trip.

London :: Live Music
A London Indie 101.

Today I bid thee farewell with a heavy head. I'm not being metaphorical here; my head feels like the first day on the Somme. Yesterday was the beginning of the Camden Crawl; a yearly two-day indie-a-thon that takes place in a collection of venues around Camden, which I undertook with vigour.

Now I realise this is a dramatically early heads up for next year's crawl, but more, much more than that, one should use it for educational purposes. The Crawl is pretty much a snapshot London Indie 101 on bands and venues.

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