
Patti Smith hurt herself a bit at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire yesterday. Smith, 60, was in the capital performing one of her Rock N Rimbaud gigs, dedicated to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, when, during a fiery encore of 'Rock N Roll Nigger', she tripped on a speaker and fell flat on her face, cutting her elbow. MP3: Patti Smith - Everybody Hurts

One might think that I spent a ridiculous amount of time in front of my monitor this weekend, but I honestly didn't. I had a pretty productive weekend. I got the majority of my place packed and ready for my move. I took care of all the mail forwarding, UHaul renting, and other bullshit I could at the moment. It felt good to get that stuff out of the way. I've always wanted to put together a mix of the metal covers that are floating around in my head from time to time. There are a million others, [...]

Is it better to burn out than fade away? Would you prefer your favourite artists to never record again rather than sully their reputation? It's a tough call. Countless bands have muddied their legacy by hanging around an album or two too long. They become self indulgent. Creatively bankrupt. Or worse, terrible self parodies that are a shadow of what they once were. Too many bands hang around too long and it impacts on your opinion of the records that were their peaks. But how hard must it be to have the courage to walk away [...]

My god, I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone by. A year ago I did a special birthday post for my husband featuring a selection of classic rock-type songs that I thought he would enjoy, and it's already time to do it again. Next thing you know it's going to be Christmas! (Incidentally, that entry is my all-time most-read post. Ever. I'm not even going down the path of why.) So here you go, honey. Hope these are "classic" enough to satisfy. The Allman [...]

The story of punk rock in America would have inevitably happened without CBGBs in New York, but it certainly wouldn't have been the same. Giving credit where credit is due: Punk Rock influenced Mainstream Music and the entire world. CBGB owner Hilly Kristal played a role in it all. CBGB proprietor Hilly Kristal, music supporter and keeper of the punk rock flame for three decades, dead this week at 75. This is a tribute.. CBGBs - opened for business in 1973 [...]
Hilly Kristal was Googling, and re-Googling, the name of his club. "See, now it says [number] matches," he said to the woman sitting across from him. He tapped the screen a couple times, let his finger slide down. This was October 29th, 2006, two weeks after Patti Smith and her band and her guests and a room full-to-bursting with well-wishers stopped by for one last stomp on consecrated ground. Places have power. If you don't believe that, then you've never gotten close to the bathrooms at CBGB's. The awning had been pulled [...]

DOWNLOAD: The Ramones - Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Hilly Kristal - Rock N Roll Jackson (excerpt) (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (naive Melody) (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Patti Smith - Piss Factory (MP3) (clip) DOWNLOAD: Patti Smith - All Along the Watchtower (live @ CBGB) (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Television - Elevation (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Dead Boys - 3rd Generation Nation (MP3) [...]
Nostalgia doesn't often grab hold of me, but when you get older the nostalgia pool gets bigger and deeper and harder to avoid. Back in 1968 I bought my first records, I can remember buying Elvis' '68 Comeback TV Special on vinyl and being in awe of him after actually seeing most of the special on TV. But what stands out the most about the album is how my younger brother (by five years) picked it up one day and started up the staircase with the album in both hands and resting atop his head, but after a couple of [...]

Let's be honest for a minute. The '60s weren't the best decade for music. The '80s weren't an abomination on music. The best bands don't come from America. They do make 'em like they used to. And downloading isn't killing music. Whatever you believe to be true, probably isn't. The only 'truth' is that people choose to be selective in their views. They make sweeping statements. Replace facts for opinion. And yes, before we go any further, it could be argued that I'm about to do the exact same thing. But I'll continue nevertheless. [...]
If you're under the age of 45, chances are you probably aren't too familiar with Tom Snyder, the former news anchor and chat show host who died Sunday in San Francisco of complications associated with leukemia. He did the news in Philly, New York City and L.A. He hosted the late-night program Tomorrow from 1973-82. It came on after The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson , in an age where there was no David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel or Conan O'Brien. He briefly did a program on [...]
W hen did Chicago become the summer music festival capital of the world? First Pitchfork , then Warped Tour , and finally Lollapalooza . That is a lot of music to my ears. Coupled with all the individual street festivals, the Taste of Chicago, and you might as well spend you entire summer vacation here. So here is another round of MP3 previews from Lollapalooza 2007. I'll see you tomorrow at Warped Tour. In the meantime, check out all our previous Lollapalooza MP3 previews. Part one [...]
I Missed Again The sceptics among you will automatically believe (from the title that is) that the Vicar has gone completely doo lally and admitted to a secret past of Phil Collins albums amongst the varied detritus of his past (maybe or maybe not). But the reality is shamefully in the present. Yet again I have failed in my task of getting on the contrast podcast and I am peeved. This is, of course, completely my fault as yet again I spend the entire week 'umming' and 'aahhing' [...]

Black Bettie Genre: Alternative Noise From: Liverpool (The Devil's home), United Kingdom A brand spanking new band on the Devil's blog, a band so fresh they're still shrink wrapped. Black Bettie are Lula Blue of Dirtblonde and Nisha ex of Horror Horror who play sensual , experimental garage rock drawing on influences from The Evens [...]
"Wenn an Siebenschläfer die Knochen pochen, so pochen sie vier ganze Wochent". So oder so ähnlich lautet eine hildemässig abgewandelte Bauernregel zum heutigen Tag. Dabei wollt ich am Sonntag nur ganz harmlos meine neue Bergbereifung testen. Seither lauf ich mit offenen Schlappen durch die Gegend, und das bei dieser Kälte. Hat irgendjemand Mitleid? Nein? Dann kann ich weitererzählen. Zwei
The above photo is of the Beastie Boys old G-Son Studio located about a mile east of me in Atwater Village. It has nothing to do with The Mix-Up, but it is here that they recorded many a jam in the '90s before heading back east to NYC. Like the B-Boys 1996 compilation The In Sound [...]
gimmick post time This is my first loop mix. You'll see what a mean in a second here. A "loop mix", as I'm calling it, is a mix where every song is tangibly linked to the songs before and after it and the last song is linked to the first, forming a loop. This mix, the links are by covers. the "Rules" : unusual covers or covers with a big of the "huh?" or "what were they thinking" quality were preferred the song [...]
With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker Getting Better - The Wedding Present She's Leaving Home - Billy Bragg Within You Without You - Patti Smith Music MP3 music

Sorry for the interruption in broadcasts there folks, had a megabusy day tuesday and then last night went to see the Manics at the Astoria, which was rather fun if a bit weird (as the last time I saw them was about 5 years ago!). Still a good night and they played a few songs each from Gold Against The Soul and The Holy Bible , which made up for the deluge of BAD new stuff. Anyway today I thought i'd post a little selection of cover versions. None of them that rare or unheard of, but [...]
Left of Center has been playing the shit out of Wolf and Cub's " This Mess " recently. I finally picked up the CD, and it's pretty good! They're an Australian indie rock band who know how to rock pretty well, so I like it. I highly recommend. --- Patti Smith is pretty awesome, I'll just throw that out there. I really should own some of her CDs. But she did a cover album recently, and among the leaked covers that [...]
... uz idealan dan za rostilj idu i dve sjajne obrade... Camera Obscura u krajnje intimnoj interpretaciji classica sastava Abba, i legendarna Patti Smith u jednoj od nama najdrazih pesama omiljenih The Decemberists... prijatno! Camera Obscura - Super Trouper (Dermot O'Leary Session) (mp3) Patti Smith - Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect (mp3)