Cat Stuck in Wall Waves Paw for Help

A cat stuck in a wall at a house under construction initiated his rescue when he caught the attention of a prospective buyer by meowing and waving his paw out a small hole.The cat had gotten stuck behind the wall but found a gap between a gas pipe and the wall board where he could stick out his paw. Collierville Animal Services supervisor Nina Wingfield said she heard a "hoarse meow" after she arrived at the house. "When he knew we were there, it was a very hoarse, frantic meow," she said." The animal shelter is calling him by a new name: Wally.

Jose does Conan

Jose Gonzalez performing "Heartbeats" on Conan O'Brien on March 29, 2006.

Two Hipsters Angrily Call Each Other 'Hipster'

AUSTIN, TX—An argument between local hipsters Dan Walters and Brian Guterman has devolved to the point where each is angrily calling the other "hipster," those close to the pair reported Monday. "Hey, hipster! Here's 12 bucks—why don't you go get yourself a bucket of PBRs at the Gold Mine?" Walters, 22, is said to have told Guterman, 22, invoking the name of a local bar known for its "poseur" clientele. "Whatever you say, scenester," Guterman allegedly replied. "Don't you have a Death Cab For Cutie show to be at right now?" Acquaintances of Guterman and Walters trace the long-running conflict back to high school, when they reportedly threw pencils at each other and argued about who was more "emo."
From The Onion

Millions of fans beg Morrissey to dig in.

On the heels of the comments made by Johnny Marr that the Smiths were offered even more money (10 million dollars supposedly) to reunite and play New York's Hyde Park, Morrissey had this to say in Uncut Magazine “I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian.”

"When I'm in San Francisco, I'm dreaming all the time"

Man, I really love the new Jolie Holland song "Springtime Can Kill You" from her upcoming album of the same name out in May. It has such bright sway to it, a waltz-like step to it's rhythm, just kinda floats up and around, you'll hear what I mean.

Around the time I discovered her last record Escondida two years ago, I was taking lots and lots of walks around the city and this record pretty much became my soundtrack during that therapy.

From Springtime Can Kill You
Jolie Holland - Springtime Can Kill You

From Escondida, these two songs are perfect for when you're crying like a little baby.
Jolie Holland - Darlin' Ukulele
Jolie Holland - Damn Shame

I Am High...On The Subway Home video

This is a really beautiful hand-painted video by David Enos for Casiotone For The Painfully Alone's song "The Subway Home"

Crazy cat with six toes terrorizes Connecticut Town

A ferocious feline terrorized a quiet Fairfield neighborhood, to the point that residents are seeking help from the law to stop the so-called "Terrorist of Sunset Circle."

Lewis, a 5-year-old, black-and-white longhaired cat, attacked at least a half-dozen people on the cul-de-sac and even took on the local Avon lady, neighbors say.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot each with a long claw," Sunset Circle resident Janet Kettman said. "They are formidable weapons.""I was walking along the sidewalk
when he sprang at me. I never saw it coming, but that's how it often is. He comes at you from behind, springs and wraps himself around your legs, biting and scratching," she said.


"The last time I had three bites and eight scratches and I ended up at the walk-in clinic.

"The Avon lady was getting out of her car when Lewis attacked her from behind," Kettman said. "She ended up going to the hospital."

Solveira was so concerned about Lewis' attacks in the neighborhood of neatly kept homes off High Street that she placed a restraining order on him. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in Fairfield and possibly in the state. In effect, Lewis is under house arrest, forbidden to leave his home.

Cisero said she adopted Lewis three years ago and he never attacked her or any members of her family. "He's a cat's cat, he climbs trees and sits on people's roofs but now he's forced to be in the house all the time."

She theorized that Lewis may be acting in self-defense. "One day he came home covered in eggs because someone had egged him and another time a woman sprayed him with a hose. They have been tormenting this poor animal."

But Bachtig sees a more sinister side to the feline.

"The neighborhood is afraid of this cat," Bachtig said. "Lewis will stare you down, and you never know how he will react."

Watch the VIDEO

Mini-Heed

A 9-week-old kitten in El Cajon, Calif., is expected to win a place in the record books as the smallest cat in the world, Heed the cat is only 3-inches tall and weighs in at just 1.2 pounds. Once Heed is full-sized in about six months, veterinarians believe he will become the new smallest cat in the world. Heed's owner has already contacted the Guinness Book Of World Records

The Concretes to disband after new record gets 4.7 out of 10 rating on Pitchfork

Swedish band The Concretes have decided to call it quits after a disastrous Pitchfork review declared the new songs as "Elton-meets-Lilith piano-led pounce".

Lead singer Victoria Bergsman wrote us to say "Maybe the Pitchfork is right, we are no Surfjan Stephens (sic), we start all over."

You can preview the record (which we think should have gotten a 7.4) "In Colour" here. This will be the only place you can hear it as it's been decided that the CD will be pulled from stores and all copies burned.

Fat Cat Is Living Large

Kailee the cat who is a native of Minnesota weighs in at 40 pounds, that's the average weight of a 4-year-old child or two Strokes members combined. When the 5-year-old little guy rolls over, he gets stuck. They say he's in good health, he's got low cholesterol (they test cat cholesterol?) and OK blood sugar. Kailee eats about 20 pounds of food a week. He often steals from his older brother, who weighs 14 pounds.

Video of Slim

did i forget that i said to you that i'd be there

Pinback on tour during April and May

I swear that every time Pinback comes to my city, I'm always away, it's been happening the last three years, it's my curse.

I read in a recent interview in Billboard that Pinback will have a new album out in the Spring of 2007 and after four thousand years there will be be a new Three Mile Pilot album and tour next year.

Pinback have released tour only ep's which are great addendums to their proper releases, you can check them out at the band's site

Tripoli (Live in Donnys Garage) (Taken from 2000 tour ep)
Offline PK (Taken from the 2002 tour ep)
Sleep Bath (Taken from the 2003 tour ep)
Tripoli (Tin Foil Remix) (Taken from the Tripoli single)

The song Tripoli is an all time favorite and was what really sold me on Pinback.

War on Terror Exclusive

War On String May Be Unwinnable, Says Cat General

listen to the report

Skinny Wolves

Eventually your entire life will be on YouTube for everyone to download

The Comet Gain video for Strength



Two songs from Comet Gain's brilliant 2002 "Realistes" a record that flew criminally low on the radar.

Comet Gain - The Kids in the Club
Comet Gain - Carry On Living

They just released a record on Kill Rock Stars entitled "City Fallen Leaves"

Comet Gain - Just One Summer Before I Go

Dr. Jack Shepard is Indie

"I'm obsessed with Wolf Parade. I like finding music that's not in the mainstream."
- Actor and hunk Matthew Fox who portrays Dr. Jack Shepard on the hit ABC television show Lost

Related Post:
Hurley is Indie

Rolling Stone Magazine goes Real World

MTV and Rolling Stone are teaming for a reality series that will focus on amateur journalists as they compete for a one-year staff position at the magazine ''The series will capture the drama and excitement of the fast-paced world of Rolling Stone,'' said Lois Curren, executive vice president of MTV programming, in a statement Wednesday.

Excitement will consist of chilling with Shakira, the new cast of Laguana Beach, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. Bonus additonal responsibility will include helping Senior Editor David Fricke with his hair every morning.

The losing contestant on each episode will be told by publisher Jann Wenner "Hey! You! Get Off of My Cloud" and then be subjected to a writing gig with Alternative Press Magazine.

Applications for the show

The State I Am In

After a very late night of festivities at the Belle and Sebastian show last night, the staff is very hungover.

BM Rant Blog has broken down into individual song MP3's from the concert that was aired on NPR a few weeks back or you can enjoy the whole concert from start to finish at NPR

Piper skydives without a parachute

Piper, a family cat in South Carolina was stuck in a tree for eight days fell 80 feet to the ground, landed on its feet and then ran away uninjured.

Watch Video

Sibylle Baier

I discovered this gem over at the Unchanging Window Blog... A young Sibylle Baier recorded this album 'Colour Green' at her home in Germany during the years of 1970-73. After a "particularly dark and moody period" she took a road trip to Strasbourg and returned invigorated and wrote the songs that would comprise the album. This record is beautiful, it breaks my heart, I love it.

"When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone" (T.Williams)

Saved from obscurity by Elf Power's Orange Twin label

Forget About
Colour Green
The End

Ted Leo bleeds for your sin.

I love Teddy, he's one of the most energetic performers and nicest men in the 'biz'. Whenever I see live photos of him he's dripping with sweat, playing his heart out for you.
















In this next one he's bleeding for you.









From hitting his head over and over with his mic during one of the songs.








Demos of some new songs that are really dynamite
Ted Leo - Some Beginners Mind
Ted Leo - Army Bound
Give support to Lookout Records, buy some of his old records

Kitten Idol

Great Britan's The Sun newspaper has chosen it's ten finalists for their Kitten Idol contest. Two hundred kittens have been battling it out for a place in the final 10 and the opportunity to win a year’s supply of cat food.

Pickle from Huntingdon, Cambs

Glasgow Movement

Music and Movement, a Glasgow band that I don't know much about yet but I like. Their song "I Saw You" is a perfectly written pop number, it just beats it's point into you without complications. A less distorted My Bloody Valentine, a more feminine Felt...sometimes and sometimes not...I don't like to compare bands but I just wanted to get your attention.

Here's a snippet of some songs

Music and Movement - I Saw You
Music and Movement - Caravan

You can hear the full versions at their Myspace site.

A Kitten World

A Fatboy Slim video for the song The Joker starring little kittens in a little kitten world on the day they go see Fatboy Slim in Concert.

Exclusive Interview with The Smiths bassist

The Smiths were offered 5 million dollas by Coachella to reform for this years festival . Morrissey was asked if he considered it. "No, because money doesn't come into it," a response that drew applause from the SXSW crowd.

My telephone interview with Smiths bassist Andy Rourke

ISSFT - Andy, I heard you turned down 5 million dollars to reunite
AR - Yeh, I couldn't take any more vacation days from my job
ISSFT - Where are you working these days.
AR - I work at W H Smith, my stores in the London Westminister Underground Station. OK, gotta run and alphabetize the magazines.
ISSFT - Thanks Andy, I love you, I miss you
AR - I love and miss you too.

Fred Fernando Commercial

A Japanese Commerical for the Sony Walkmen Connect with the band Frank Fernandez

The Walkmen Van

On The Walkmen website they've created a hillarious page dedicated to their Van.
Walkmen Van

My Favorite Seat 3
- What they write is all true, I own this seat in our van and have occupied it about 90 percent since forever. People don't even bother going for it and there is a little look of fear on everyone's face when newcomers sit there oblivious to the law. Shotgun is totally overrated and too much trouble. If I can get out of driving more power to me.

My favorite song done by The Walkmen

The Walkmen - Look Out The Window
From The Walkmen/Calla split on Troubleman Unlimited

Big Boy vs. Little Boy

This possibly wins the award of best cat clip we've ever seen.

The Lois

I've been a big big fan of Lois Maffeo since I bought her first solo L.P Butterfly Kisses back in 92. I had the blues big time back then and it was the perfect record at the perfect time to find ( I wrote an explanation why but had a hard time making it not sound cliché...so I'll spare you the pain).

One song by the band Dub Narcotic Sounds System and one by The Red Stars Theory, both featuring the guest vocalist Lois.

Red Stars Theory with Lois - A Sailors Warning
Dub Narcotic Sound System with Lois - Ship to Shore

iTunes has most of her entire catalog.
Go buy Butterfly Kisses and move down the list, they're all winners.

Oh No Amen Birdmen

Bonne Pioche, the Oscar-winning production team behind "March of the Penguins," are chronicling a French band's trek toward “success” across the US. in the rockumentary "Amen Birdmen: Across the Atlantic”. Darondeau says "If Amen Birdmen scores big, their legend will be forever immortalized on tape. If they fail, the cameras will be there to capture their Icarus-like fall."

If anyone is curious about what the band sounds like I've posted a link to their myspace site. You’re going to love them if you’ve waited for an artist to fuse Dave Matthews with the band Bush and topping all that off with a more tripped out Survivor (The “Eye of the Tiger” band) .

This is from their website about the origins of their band name – I’m totally not pulling your leg:

“We started thinking of names that would evoke our common feelings: some kind of loneliness, sadness, the feeling of being lost and at the same time, power, flying animals and every supernatural things…We finally understood that it could be the name of a lost civilization of flying men called the Birdmen, something mythological! A full name appeared to us: Amen Birdmen. The meaning of the band’s name would be: We believe in Birdmen. Amen. “

Legalize Mouse-Cat Marriage

Exclusive Video

A cat in Tunisia has given birth to something strange. According to the owner of the cat, the litter included 5 regular kittens, and one that more resembles a mouse. The owner says the nose, mouth and ears look like that of a mouse, but the rest of the body is that of a cat. The mother cat doesn't seem to notice or mind. She's nursing and taking care of it, just like the kittens.

Blip Blip Blop Blip...It's The New Matmos

How high am I ?

Remember Matmos's 2001 record 'A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure' with the club hit “Lipostudio (And So On...)” which paired the sound of human fat being sucked during liposuction surgery with screetching from the clarinet. That whole record was composed and elaborated on with samples from the operating rooms... a kick drum from the sound of bones being broken, "the droney buzz of human skin conducting electricity through acupuncture points".

The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast is the new record by the San Francisco duo. After reading the biographies of 10 different individuals, Matmos " re-enacted events from their lives... making songs out of the sounds of the re-enactments."

"The album features Matmos’s most extremist and gutsy sound design (the sound of semen, burning flesh, and the embalmed reproductive tract of a cow are all featured)"

Example 1: The Patricia Highsmith song was made as a collaboration with her favorite animal, the snail (they aimed a laser at a light sensitive theremin, and then got snails to crawl across the path of the laser, triggering changes in the theremin's pitch).

Example 2: the Darby Crash song is dark electronics made out of the sound of Drew Daniel crying out in pain getting burned by the Germs’ Don Bolles, combined with the noise of M.C. Schmidt shaving his head

The record is out in May from Matador Records

Matmos are genius.

MP3's

Matmos - Roses and Teeth for Ludwig Wittgenstein (the Wittgenstein song is just an exploded view of a single paragraph from his text "Philosophical Investigations")

Matmos - Lipostudio (And So On...)

Podcast Obscura

Merge Records has a 10 minute Podcast interview with Camera Obscura and includes snippets of four songs from their new album. No subtitles needed. Click on Tracyanne or Carey's face.

Psyched! Folk part III

From Sundays NY Times article Gender Bender featuring Devendra Banhart

The Tyde is High

A new The Tyde song and video for "Brock Landers", full length release in April via Rough Trade.

Howee

There is much to like about this photo:
A) His name is Howie Mandel.
B) Someone corrected the spelling of Howie from Howee.
C) Howie has obviously done some modeling.
D) The little patch of color above his left lip looks like Cartman.

Hey Dude

One of the Beatles most beloved songs contains the words "Fucking hell!" The hidden lyric to "Hey Jude" is just one of the revelations in Geoff Emerick's new book "Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the music of the Beatles". Although "Hey Jude" was one of the rare Beatles tracks that Emerick didn't engineer, he reveals in his book that the mix to the song contains curse by Paul McCartney. "Just after the start of the third verse, right between the lines 'The minute you let her under your skin / oh, then you begin,' you can clearly hear Paul curse off-mic, saying 'Fucking hell!'" John Lennon caught the curse during the playback and said "Paul hit a clunker on the piano and said a naughty word, but I insisted we leave it in, buried just low enough so that it can barely be heard. Most people won't ever spot it… but we'll know it's there." From Antimusic.com

Paul Says Fuck ( I can make it out with headphones on but he could easily be saying "Benny Hill" )
Taken from The Face of Today blog

Deaf Jam

A Deaf kitten D.C missing from its Bondi, Australia home for two weeks was found more than a thousand kilometres away at Melbourne's St Kilda beach. A woman walking her dog on St Kilda beach picked up the cheeky boy, who was playing on the beach and handed him over to a local vet, who checked his microchip. It will never be known what adventures DC had or just how he came to be about 1050km away but his fate would never have been known had he not been micro-chipped. Veterinarian Ian Russ from 4 Paws Neutral Bay said it would've been impossible for DC to walk that far in two weeks. "He probably hitched a ride, either by car, bus, truck or boat and ended up in Melbourne and then he set up camp when he got a bit hungry," Dr Russ said At eight months old, DC is barely more than a kitten.

The Force Rocks

Limited edition exclusive video iPod cover "Star Wars Rocks" features the fantastic concert edition artwork by Hugh Fleming for the video iPod. Originally devised for a fan club exclusive poster in the '90s, this artwork translates perfectly to the cover of your video iPod

It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best...especially if you're ugly

Karen Dalton, known as the folkie Billie Holiday was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, drifted west into a life of alcohol and drugs and died in 1993 penniless.
Her voice hurts your heart.

Some MP3s
Karen Dalton - Are You Leavin For The Country
Karen Dalton - Sweet Substitute

She only recorded two records:
It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You
The Best & In My Own Time

Colossal Fuck Yes

I had every intention of going outside to smoke a cigarette during the Colossal Yes set last night at Hotel Utah but never made it cause every song they played I liked better than a cigarette

***Widely known as the 'drummer dude' in Comets on Fire, Utrillo Kushner's musical talents range far beyond the drunken-master-style wailing he unleashes on any given night with the Comets. It's his skills as a songwriter and bandleader that impress on the sentimental rock stylings of Acapulco Roughs. Having tickled the ivories for close to a decade, Kushner assumes command of the keys in Colossal Yes and steps it up as a full-fledged piano man.

3 songs for download at the Myspace Site

Buy the debut record Acapulco Roughs at Ba Da Bing Records

Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken

This single is out in May. This song is insane good. Stream here

Home, home and dry

Many people hated the fact that the remaining Beatles finished the John Lennon demo Free as a bird and included it in their Anthology collection. I've always loved and still love the song, even if it reminds me of spending a Thanksgiving in New York City in 1995 visiting a girl...who upon arrival I discovered had a new boyfriend. My timing is my curse. That George Harrison lead is not.

New The Concretes Video

A new song, a new video for the song Chosen One, it's really well done, let's hear it again for Sweden.

Are Your Cats Old Enough To Learn About Jesus?

Kittens' hearts, at birth, are filled with what theologians call "original mischief." Mischief, if left to grow on its own, can sprout into evil. That's why you must fill their hearts with Jesus instead. If you wait, your cats might find seductive role models among the back-alley strays and rough felines from the wrong side of town. You could also end up with an unwanted pregnancy.

From Wednesdays Onion

TheCrystalSkulls

One of my favorite records last year was The Crystal Skulls Blocked Numbers, it was instantly catchy with impressively smart writing.
A year later they've written and recorded a sophmore record Outgoing Behavior that's every bit as good. It'll be out on April 11th from Suicide Squeeze Records.

They are playing in Berkeley at the Bears Liar this coming Monday the 6th and are on tour of the western U.S throughout this and next month

From Outgoing Behavior
The Crystal Skulls -Baby Boy (My favorite of the year so far)
The Crystal Skulls - Cosmic Door

From Blocked Numbers
The Crystal Skulls -Airport Motels

Cowboy Cat Herders

I'd never seen this EDS commercial before this morning.

Tom Waits and the Dog Food Commercial

Tom Waits voice scares dog owners into buying Purina's Butcher's Blend dog food.



In 1981 Tom Waits decided to do voice-over work on a television commercial for Ralston Purina. The product was a dry dog food called Butcher's Blend. It appears this is the only time Waits has done an advertisement for a for-profit company.

Hurley is Indie

Actor Jorge Garcia who plays Hurley on the hit ABC show LOST listed what music he's been listening to these days:

Antony And The Johnsons
Clay Your Hands Say Yeah!
Wolf Parade
The Strokes

Vita Bite ad

A funny Australian commercial for Whiskas Vita Bites