...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

Earth Day Albums: 10 Overlooked LPs That Deserve Recycling

22 Apr 2009 07:52:00 EDT

Rediscover these gems that deserve a second chance, in Bigger Than the Sound.
By James Montgomery

Photo: MTV News

If you hate non-biodegradable Styrofoam packaging as much as I do, well, then today is like spring break, Christmas and your 21st birthday all rolled into one. It's Earth Day, the annual celebration of environmentalism, ecological awareness and, uh, recycling (or something). But, of course, you probably knew that already.

Anyway, if you're like me, you're celebrating Earth Day by churning the compost heap, grilling up seitan patties and — most importantly — recycling some old albums.

And when I say "recycling," I don't mean "using them as coasters" or "trading them in to SecondSpin.com for a copy of 'MLB '09: The Show.' " No, I'm talking about rediscovering some gems that warrant a second chance — albums that, whether it was due to the fickle nature of the scene or your evil college girlfriend stealing them from you, never really got the shine they deserved.

And since this is the final Earth Day of the decade, I've decided to focus on albums from the 2000s. So here are 10 overlooked albums that should be recycled ... and not just because music really is a renewable resource. Consider it as yet another way to think globally (and act locally), only, you know, you don't really have to do anything at all. Every one you listen to will save roughly 10,000 trees and offset your entire family's carbon footprint. Or something like that.

The Glands, S/T (2000): A swoony, spindle-legged indie album from Athens, Georgia, that plays like a tour through the town's musical history (R.E.M.'s jangle, the B-52s' bizarre party-pop, the entire Elephant 6 collective's sun-dappled retro-ism). The brainchild of singer/guitarist/songwriter Ross Shapiro, the Glands' self-titled second album laid the blueprint for the success of acts like the Shins with songs like "Mayflower" and "Livin' Was Easy," and the fact that the band has yet to release a follow-up only adds to its mystique.

Green Day, Warning (2000): After the prom anthem ("Good Riddance") and before the rebirth (American Idiot), which is to say "at the exact time when no one cared about them." Warning is the band's worst-selling album, though it's rather unjustly overlooked. Billie Joe Armstrong's writing is super strong — he really begins his blue-collar period here — and tracks like "Minority" and "Warning" proved that GD could still be plenty snotty when they wanted to.

Modest Mouse, The Moon And Antarctica (2000): The album where Modest Mouse got arty. Not as urgent as The Lonesome Crowded West or as uniting as Good News for People Who Love Bad News, the wandering Antarctica is a conceptual work of sorts, about loneliness and isolation (it's reportedly about the soul-crushing time frontman Isaac Brock spent in seemingly disparate locales like Seattle and Gainesville, Florida). Not exactly listener-friendly — the middle section of the album consists of three songs spanning 17 downward-spiraling minutes — it's where Brock began to mature as a lyricist (and a musician). Uneasy listening at its finest.

Q and Not U, No Kill No Beep Beep (2000): Jagged, art-damaged post-punk from impossibly skinny D.C. kids, this is probably the finest record Dischord released this decade. It's also probably the most overlooked, for reasons I'm not exactly clear on. Songs like "Little Sparkee" and "Y Plus White Girl" bristle with spastic energy, the kind the band would forgo on following albums (2002's Different Damage and '04's Power, both of which are plenty good too). They called it quits a few years back, which is a shame. They'll be missed.

Mewithoutyou, Catch for Us the Foxes (2002): Ignore, if possible, the rather bizarre rantings of frontman Aaron Weiss (who is sort of like a Freegan preacher, if that makes any sense) and focus on the searing guitar work on tracks like "January 1979" and "Paper Hanger," or the slow burn of "The Soviet." Actually, Weiss is really good here too, sounding very much like he's on the verge of mental collapse ... which he actually could be. Sorta Christian-core, kinda post-hardcore, Mewithoutyou have always been indefinable. And this is their most indefinable album. It's also their finest.

Brand New, Deja Entendu (2003): Sure, kids in the scene (whatever that is) can claim this one, but can you? Probably not ... though you probably should. Originally intended as a sort of commentary on the state of modern rock, Deja has become a landmark album of so-called "emo-punk" (even though it's nothing of the sort), thanks to songs like "Sic Transit Gloria ... Glory Fades" and "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light," both of which sound like they could be part of a Fall Out Boy set list today. If you want to trace the evolution of punk from Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come to FOB's From Under the Cork Tree, this is your middle stop.

The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat (2004): A highly conceptual, overlapping work of art-rock (and art-wonk), Boat confounded pretty much everyone who had buzzed about the Furnaces' debut, Gallowsbird's Bark, though it remains one of the decade's greatest accomplishments. Featuring more than 20 instruments, songs that stretch to 10 minutes and lyrical mentions of Damascus and the 1917 World Series, it's an album that deserves to be heard. And debated. And probably misunderstood.

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of Dead, Worlds Apart (2005): A total and complete disaster of an album, one that effectively destroyed all the good will Trail of Dead had built with 2002's monumental Source Tags & Codes. The epic World's Apart is a testament to ego and excess, full of chanting choirs, screaming eagles and violin workouts. It also happens to feature thunderous guitars and drums, not to mention one of the greatest album intros of the decade. TOD deserved better than the backlash they got for this.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Some Loud Thunder (2007): Hey, speaking of backlash, this is maybe the most backlashiest album released this decade. From the self-release to the production to the shrillness of "Satan Said Dance," CYHSY went for broke on Thunder, and, well, it broke them. Given a few years, I've grown to appreciate this one, if not for the sheer amount of risks the band took, but for the really great second half, highlighted by songs like "Yankee Go Home" and "Underwater (You and Me)."

Panic at the Disco, Pretty. Odd. (2008): I have a love/hate relationship with this band and this album (and I've written plenty about them/it that falls under either category), but I will just say two things: 1) A year after its release, I still listen to P.O. regularly; and 2) Give this one a decade ... we could have another Pinkerton on our hands.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

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New Releases: Game, Fat Joe, (+44), Panic! At The Disco, Akon & More

14 Nov 2006 06:01:00 EST

Also due Tuesday: Trail of Dead, Michael Jackson, Clash, Tenacious D, Cassettes, Entrance, Army of Anyone.
By Kurt Orzeck

Game's Doctor's Advocate
Photo: Geffen Records

Coast to Coast: When Fat Joe tapped the Game to appear on "Breathe & Stop," the second single from his Me, Myself and I LP, little did Joe know that he was actually sleeping with the enemy. After all, Game's new Doctor's Advocate drops this week too, which means the two will go head-to-head for consumers' dollars. If the albums are judged by their guest stars, NYC Joe is in trouble. He enlisted Lil Wayne for two Me tracks, "The Profit" and "Make It Rain," plus Scott Storch for production purposes. But Game has him beat: Kanye, Jamie Foxx, Nas, Snoop, Xzibit and Swizz Beatz all contribute to his LP, in varying capacities. And to top it off, Weezy was one of the 20-plus artists who just participated in a remix of Game's new single, "It's Okay (One Blood)."

Name That Band: Blink-182 always said they chose the "182" randomly. But there's no doubting where Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker got the name for their follow-up band, (+44): It's the international dialing code for the U.K. Theirs isn't the most unconventional band name this week, though. That honor belongs, as it always does whenever they rear their scrawny heads, to ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, who have a new CD to share this week as well. While (+44)'s When Your Heart Stops Beating also features ex-Transplant Craig Fairbaugh and Shane Gallagher of the Nervous Return, Hoppus did all the singing, wrote all the lyrics and even played some guitar. Barker did his part by taking piano lessons and chalking up some keyboard contributions. Trail of Dead reached beyond their five-member cast and out to Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer and King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto for help with So Divided, which has some of the most gorgeous album art in recent memory and also includes a Guided by Voices cover song.

'Kon Session: Akon is a singer, not a rapper, and he grew up in Senegal, not exactly one of hip-hop's capitals. But that hasn't stopped Eminem, Snoop and Styles P. from taking him under their respective wings. All three of them lend a hand on his sophomore disc, Konvicted, a release that has bounced around from November 21 to December 12 to this date. 'Kon, who has run into his fair share of trouble with the law, repents with the anti-gangsta track "Runnin' " and branches out even more with a ballad, "Never Took the Time," and an Africa-awareness track, simply titled "Africa." Konvinced?

Tenacious D.G.: Foo Fighters just put out the concert disc Skin and Bones last week and have a DVD version dropping in two weeks, but apparently Dave Grohl is trying to make an appearance every Tuesday in November. He plays drums throughout the "Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny" soundtrack, which was produced by the Dust Brothers' John King and has a limited deluxe version with tarot cards, a guitar pick and special slipcase. Grohl crops up on another soundtrack too: "Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi," for which he contributed "Vile." That song is actually the product of his teaming with DJ C-Minus — who, incidentally, has collaborated with Grohl buds Queens of the Stone Age in the past.

You and Whose Army?: You might know Richard Patrick as the guy who kept saying, "Hey, man, nice shot," in Filter's song of the same name. But you probably won't recognize the guys joining him for Army of Anyone: They're the Stone Temple Pilots who got constantly upstaged by media darling Scott Weiland. While they're going to war with their self-titled debut, Yusuf is more apt to find a diplomatic solution. You might not recognize him either: After finding mainstream popularity as Cat Stevens, the Islam convert changed his name to Yusuf Islam, and now he's just Yusuf. Among the spiritual and romantic songs on his album An Other Cup, he finds space to set the record straight with a cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," made famous by Nina Simone.

Let the Reissues Floweth: When sales fail, and they sure have been failing lately, there's always the mighty reissue. Labels have been pumping out deluxe versions of today's biggest releases, and this week proves no different, with a collector's edition of Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out hitting stores. The album looks to go beyond its platinum success with this limited run, enhanced with a bonus DVD (tour, live and backstage footage); phenakistoscope (one of those spindle viewer doohickeys); lyric cards; a tour program; and more.

But unlike other weeks, this one also sees a wide range of re-releases by recent but lesser-known bands. In case you've forgotten (we did), Wind-Up — home to Evanescence, Creed, etc. — was originally Grass Records, which put out more indie-friendly releases in the mid-'90s. Commander Venus, a project featuring Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, are recalled with a straight reissue of 1997's The Uneventful Vacation, and New Jersey's the Wrens find their first two LPs, Secaucus and Silver, also re-released in frill-free form. And metal fans get their fill with digipak versions of doom deacons Electric Wizard's Come My Fanatics, Dopethrone and Electric Wizard. All three come with bonuses.

A Clash Indeed: If you ever wondered what Michael Jackson might have in common with the Clash, the mystery has been solved: Both artists are being heralded with monster singles boxes. Visionary: The Video Singles has a whopping 20 DualDisc singles, each of the original tracks plus accompanying videos. The Clash's The Singles falls one CD short at 19 but has six songs never on CD plus a giveaway EP that hasn't been commercially available. Oh, and the liner notes include contributions from the Edge, Pete Townshend, Damon Albarn and more. Can you beat it?

Lovers' Row?: When Noah Georgeson produced Joanna Newsom's 2004 album, The Milk-Eyed Monster, he probably didn't think his girlfriend's follow-up would be pitted against his debut. But that's exactly what's happening this week. Georgeson, who plays guitar in Devendra Banhart's live band, wrote, produced, scored, arranged, etc. Find Shelter beginning in 1999, when he lived with Newsom. Her Ys has just five songs but includes contributions from engineer Steve Albini, egghead Jim O'Rourke of Sonic Youth, not to mention legendary arranger Van Dyke Parks.

... And That's a Fact: This one's for the books, really: Originally pressed on vinyl in 1955, Charlotte Rae Sings Songs I Taught My Mother: Silly, Sinful & Satiric Selections is seeing its first-ever release on CD some four decades later. So who is Charlotte Rae, you ask? Well, you probably know her better as Mrs. Garrett: Rae, now 80 years old, is the woman who played the mentor on "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" — and she sang the latter show's theme song to boot. Relive the olden days as Rae hums along to "Gabor the Merrier," "When I Was a Little Cuckoo" and "The Sea-Gull and the Ea-Gull."

Song Title of the Week:

"The Sea-Gull and the Ea-Gull" from Charlotte Rae Sings Songs I Taught My Mother: Silly, Sinful & Satiric Selections

Other Notables:

The Low Frequency in Stereo's The Last Temptation of ... the Low Frequency Stereo, Vol. 1: The Norwegian groovesters invoke the Jesus and Mary Chain and other post-psych greats on their third album, which was partly crafted using an old living-room organ. Recorded on analog but mixed digitally, Last Temptation boasts "Jimmy Legs," "Bahamas" and "Red Flag."

Entrance's Prayer of Death: The fourth LP by 25-year-old wünderkind Guy Blakeslee was inspired by, in no particular order, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, LSD guru Timothy Leary and Delta blues legend Charley Patton. Co-produced by and featuring contributions from Paz Lenchantin of A Perfect Circle note, Prayer purports to be "a conceptual meditation on the urgency of life-awareness and death-awareness in a war-torn world." Far out.

Various artists' Cursed - The Head Trauma Movie Project: Ever synced up Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with "The Wizard of Oz"? It's the same deal here, except label Park the Van aligned unreleased songs by Bardo Pond, the Capitol Years and Bitter Bitter Weeks with "Head Trauma," a grisly indie horror film that appeared at the Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this year. Bet Rob Zombie wishes he had thought of this one.

New Releases: · (+44) - When Your Heart Stops Beating (Interscope) Read: "Plus-44 Address Blink Breakup On LP, Want Fans To 'Hear The Truth' " · Akon - Konvicted (Universal Motown) · Ali B - Ali B Presents ... Air Breaks (Air) · ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - So Divided (Interscope) [Buy Now] · April Wine - Roughly Speaking (April Wine) · Army of Anyone - Army of Anyone (Firm) [Buy Now] Read: "Army Of Anyone Want To Be Judged By Their Fifth Album, Not Their Debut" · Bad Astronaut - Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment (Fat Wreck Chords) · Cassettes - 'Neath the Pale Moon (Buddyhead) · Ronnie Day - The Album (Militia Group) · Disco Biscuits - Rocket 3 (limited-edition EP; Sci Fidelity) · Entombed - When in Sodom (Candlelight) · Entrance - Prayer of Death (Tee Pee) · Fat Freddys Drop - Based on a True Story (Kartel) · Fat Joe - Me, Myself and I (Virgin) [Buy Now] Read: "Fat Joe On September Release: 'Bet The Kitchen Sink On Me' " · Christine Fellows - Paper Anniversary (Six Shooter) · The Game - Doctor's Advocate (Geffen) [Buy Now] Read: "Game Says Song On New LP Makes Him 'The One-Man N.W.A' " · Noah Georgeson - Find Shelter (Plain) · Nanci Griffith - Ruby's Torch (Rounder) · Imperial - We Sail at Dawn (Pluto) · Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (Mr Bongo) · Jon B - Holiday Wishes From Me to You (Arsenal) · Kenny G - I'm in the Mood for Love ... The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time (Arista) · Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - Real Live Roadrunning (with DVD; Warner Bros.) · The Low Frequency in Stereo - The Last Temptation of ... the Low Frequency Stereo, Vol. 1 (Gigantic) · Marah - Sooner or Later in Spain (enhanced live LP; Yep Roc) [Buy Now] · Paul Michel - Quiet State of Panic (Stunning Models on Display) · Joanna Newsom - Ys (Drag City) · Nickodemus - Endangered Species (Eighteenth Street) · Joan Osborne - Pretty Little Stranger (Vanguard) [Buy Now] · Laura Pausini - Yo Canto (Warner Music Latina) · Paybacks - Love, Not Reason (Savage Jams) · Polly Panic - Painkiller (Greyday) · The PoPo - The PoPo (Buddyhead) · Damien Rice - 9 (Heffa/ Vector/ Warner Bros.) [Buy Now] · The Red Krayola - Red Gold (EP; Drag City) · Bianca Ryan - Bianca Ryan (Columbia) · Sasquatch - II (Small Stone) · Emilie Simon - The Flower Book (Milan) · Bob Sinclair - Cerrone (Recall) · Tahiti 80 - Fosbury (Militia Group) · Tamia - Between Friends (Image) · Tenacious D - "The Pick of Destiny" soundtrack (limited-edition deluxe version also available; Epic) [Buy Now] · Tralala - Is That the Tralala (Audika) · White Magic - Dat Rosa Mel Apibus (Drag City) · Winks - Birthday Party (Ache) · Yusuf - An Other Cup (limited-edition version also available; Atlantic) · Various artists - Cursed - The Head Trauma Movie Project (Park the Van) · Various artists - ESL 100 (ESL) · Various artists - Fabric 30: Rub-N-Tug (FabricLive) · Various artists - George Jones: 50 Years of Hits (available as a CD or a two-CD/two-DVD set; Rounder) · Various artists - Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba (Hip-O) · Various artists - "Bobby" soundtrack (Rhino) · Various artists - "Casino Royale" soundtrack (Sony Classics) · Various artists - "Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi" soundtrack (Image)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Johnny Cash - At San Quentin: Legacy Edition (two CDs and one DVD; Columbia/Legacy) · Cee-Lo - Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine (Arista/Legacy) [Buy Now] · The Clash - The Singles (19-disc box set; Epic/Legacy) · Ornette Coleman - To Whom Keeps a Record (Water) · Commander Venus - The Uneventful Vacation (Wind-Up) · Depeche Mode - The Best Of: Volume One (also available with DVD; Sire/Reprise) · Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics, Dopethrone and Electric Wizard and (digipaks; Candlelight) · Emmylou Harris & Carl Jackson - I've Always Needed You (Music Avenue) · Michael Jackson - Visionary: The Video Singles (20-disc DualDisc box set; Epic/Legacy) [Buy Now] · Nickel Creek - Reasons Why (The Very Best) (with DVD; Sugarhill) · Panic! at the Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (deluxe collector's edition with DVD; Decaydance/ Fueled by Ramen) · Charlotte Rae - Charlotte Rae Sings Songs I Taught My Mother: Silly, Sinful & Satiric Selections (P.S. Classics) · Slot - The Sweet Black Bear (Small Stone) · Solange - Solo Star (Music World) · Staind - The Singles: 1996-2006 (Flip/Atlantic) [Buy Now] · String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Anchorage, AK - 07-23-06 (two CDs), On the Road: Eugene, OR - 09-06-06 (four CDs), On the Road: Redmond, VA - 08-02-06 (three CDs) and On the Road: Travelogue - Summer 06 (three CDs; Sci Fidelity) · Sublime - Everything Under the Sun (box set with three DVDs and one CD; Geffen/ UMe/ Gasoline Alley/ Skunk) [Buy Now] · Witchcraft - Witchcraft (Candlelight) · Wrens - Secaucus and Silver (Wind-Up) · Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore 1970 (with DVD; Reprise) · Various artists - Classic Country: Outlaws (Time Life) · Various artists - If I Sing: The Songwriters Album (P.S. Classics) · Various artists - Retro:Active 5: Rare & Remixed (Hi-Bias) · Various artists - So You Think You Don't Like Swing (Time Life) · Various artists - Ultimate Classical Chill Out: The Essential Masterpieces (five-CD box set; Decca)

Music DVDs: · Asleep at the Wheel - "Live From Austin TX" (New West) · Leonard Cohen - "I'm Your Man" (Lionsgate) · Dillards - "A Night in the Ozarks: An Audiolithograph - The Video Documentary" (Varèse Sarabande) · HIM - "Love Metal Archives Vol. 1" (Republic) · Takagi Masakatsu - "World Is So Beautiful" (Carpark) · Paul McCartney - "The Space Within US: A Concert Film" (A&E Home Video) · Mobb Deep - "Life of the Infamous: The Videos" (Loud/Legacy) · Staind - "The Videos" (Flip/Atlantic) · Junior Wells - "Junior Wells and Guest" (Immortal) · Widespread Panic - "Earth to Atlanta: Live at the Fox Theatre 2006" (two DVDs; Sanctuary) · Various artists - "The Best of the Jammys Volume One" (Relix) · Various artists - "Drive-Thru Records DVD Volume IV" (Drive-Thru) · Various artists - "George Jones: 50 Years of Hits" (available as a two-DVD set or a two-DVD/two-CD set; Rounder)

Coming Attractions:

November 21: · Jay-Z - Kingdom Come (Roc-A-Fella) [Preorder] Read: "Jay-Z's 'Retirement' Is Finally Over: New Album Due In November" · Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies (Roadrunner) [Preorder] Read: "Killswitch Engage Turn On The Heavy For Glass-Shattering As Daylight Dies" · U2 - U218 Singles (limited-edition; with DVD; Interscope) [Preorder]

November 28:

Light Grenades

[Preorder]

"Incubus' Mike Einziger Lends Agent Sparks A Hand Making The Best Brunch LP Ever"

Chemically Imbalanced

[Preorder]

Buck Tha World

[Preorder]

December 5: · Ciara - The Evolution (enhanced; LaFace) [Preorder] Read: "Ciara Talks Single Life, Dreams Of Acting Like A Boy On Evolution" · Lil Scrappy - Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live (Reprise) [Preorder] Read: "Lil Scrappy Enlists Eminem, 50, Lil Jon For 'Half Sorry, Half Party' LP" · Metallica - "The Videos: 1989-2004" (Warner Bros.) · Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape (Interscope) [Preorder] Read: "Gwen Stefani's New LP, The Sweet Escape, Set For December" · Various artists - Eminem Presents the Re-Up (Shady) [Preorder] Read: "Eminem, New Shady Artists Join 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks On The Re-Up" · Various artists - "Fast Food Nation" soundtrack (Park the Van)

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Blood Brothers Chop It Up About Machetes, Brace For Trail Of Dead Tour

18 Jul 2006 01:30:00 EDT

Album due October 10; tour with Trail of Dead starts later that month.
By Chris Harris

The Blood Brothers
Photo: Robin Laananen

Johnny Whitney, one of the Blood Brothers' two singer/screamers, thinks the experimental angst rockers' forthcoming fifth album, Young Machetes, is not only the "most accessible" record they've ever produced, but also "the crown achievement of this band thus far."

But fans of the Brothers shouldn't expect the straight-ahead lyricism that saturated the group's previous outing, 2004's Crimes, on Machetes, which is due October 10.

"I tried to take a very different approach on the lyrics for this record," said Whitney. "I actually wrote the majority of the lyrics during that Coheed and Cambria tour we were on last fall. With Crimes, there were certain things that were weighing on me — political issues — and the presidential election was in the not-so-distant future. I wanted to try to address that in a sort of direct and poignant way. But with this record, I tried to do the opposite. Rather than addressing things topically, the way I wrote most of the lyrics was through free-writing and associating."

And the band's experiences on the Coheed run (see "Coheed And Cambria Plot Fall Trek") did wind up bleeding into Whitney's words.

"That tour was a little bleak for us," Whitney admitted, "just in terms of not really feeling any emotional connection to the band we were touring with, and getting a bit of flack from the audience on a pretty regular basis. So, that had an effect on the lyrics, because, in hindsight, they seem a little bit darker than our last record.

"Before that tour, we were headlining," he continued. "So, we became used to playing for people who were familiar with our band and stoked that we were coming to their town to play. Like it or not, the Coheed audience is a very mainstream audience, and a lot of people weren't ready to hear our band. And I think that's great. A part of me loves the challenge of getting up in front of 2,000 people who were extremely skeptical of what we do, and try to make this effort to convince them we were worth listening to. But it was a long tour, and after a while, that gets old."

This fall, the Blood Brothers will hit the road once again, this time with a band they feel is a better match. Afer a spate of club gigs in October, they'll team up with ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead for a full U.S. trek later that month. Whitney said Trail of Dead are the sort of band the Brothers should be paired with.

"It's hard to find bands that we can tour with," he said. "People want us to tour with bigger bands, but there aren't that many new bands that we're excited about. Trail of Dead is the one band we can all collectively agree is pretty awesome, so it will be a fun tour."

Of course, the Brothers need to tour if they're going to get the word out about Young Machetes. The band started recording the LP at Robert Lang Studios in its native Seattle in late April, with former Fugazi guitarist Guy Picciotto (Blonde Redhead) and John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, the Gossip) producing. Five weeks later the album was in the bag, and, at 15 songs, it's the band's longest offering by far.

"It's weightier than any record we've done," Whitney said, adding that the album is extremely eclectic. "There are a lot of really short songs, and a lot of really long songs. There's songs that expand on the basic ideas that we laid out on our first two records, in terms of trying to create these really short, chaotic soundscapes — just bursts of energy and noise. But then again, there are songs that go the opposite route, and try to create something that's more restrained and maybe a little bit more emotionally charged, because of that restraint."

And believe it or not, Whitney believes the album contains at least five songs that could hold their own on commercial rock radio, including "Lazer Life," the likely first single. Other tracks include "Set Fire to the Face on Fire," "Lift the Veil, Kiss the Tank," "We Ride Skeletal Lightning," "Street Wars, Exotic Foxholes," and "You're the Dream, Unicorn!," which he added is "one of the more spastic, chaotic numbers."

"Of all our albums, this is the most accessible to the average music listener," he said, adding that the band doesn't consider this the make-it-or-break-it record. "We started this band when we were 16 years old just to have fun, and we won't stop being a band unless it stops being fun."

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Trail Of Dead Give Student Filmmaker An Education In Chaos

25 May 2005 07:04:00 EDT

Emerson College senior wins chance to direct a video for Texas rockers.
By James Montgomery

Trail of Dead's Jason Reece in "Caterwaul"
Photo: Interscope

For many college seniors, extracurricular activities are limited to mailing out résumés, organizing rallies in the campus quad and hitting up the occasional nickel-beer night.

But for 20-year-old Emerson College senior Pearl Wible, her after-school schedule included directing a music video for bombastic Texas rockers ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, which, as fate would have it, just happened to fall during exam week.

"It was pretty much the week from intense hell," Wible laughed. "I'm also an RA on campus, so in addition to exams and shooting the video, I also had to help a whole bunch of kids move out of their building too. But the whole thing was a total résumé-builder. It was a super-good experience."

Wible got the opportunity to direct the clip for "Caterwaul," the second single off Trail of Dead's Worlds Apart album (see "With Choirs, Copyright Violations And Attitude, Trail Of Dead Shoot For The Top"), thanks to a collaboration between MTV's mtvU channel, Emerson's on-campus TV station and Interscope Records to highlight student-created content. After hearing about an open call for campus filmmakers, Wible wrote a treatment (well, five of them, actually), won, and was handed $10,000 to make the video, which she filmed at landmark Cambridge, Massachusetts, rock club the Middle East.

"When you're a student working with no money, $10,000 seems like a whole lot, but then you get to the location, and you're like, 'Oh, man, where'd all the money
go?' " Wible said. "But in the end, everything worked out fine, and I'm pretty happy with the video, which is something not a lot of directors can say."

In the "Caterwaul" video, Trail of Dead are rocking a packed house at the Middle East, while a host of the band's fans — including one "hot blond girl" (as the treatment puts it) — is denied entry by a beefy bouncer. Determined to see the show, the girl sneaks in through a side door and finds herself onstage with the band. Suddenly — and pretty accurately, given Trail's chaotic live-performance history — the fans rush past the bouncers and bound onstage with the band, bashing drums and leaping with joy as the show comes to an end.

"I've seen Trail of Dead live and I wanted to make a performance video that captured the energy of their concerts," Wible said. "We shot it from the crowd, so you see the sweat, you see the elbows and the crowd-surfers and the spit."

But the whole thing didn't go off without a few hitches. First of all, the video's casting director had arranged for 180 extras to pack the club, but only 40 showed up, so Wible had to make some on-set adjustments. Then she had to submit three cuts of the video to Interscope before the label would give the final thumbs-up. But probably the biggest problem was controlling the band itself.

"As soon as they showed up on set, it was very, very difficult to keep them in one place at one time. Their manager said they had collective ADD, and I would agree with him," Wible said. "It was like they were playing tag to see which one would be the difficult one, and they were putting paper bags on their heads, but in the end, they ended up being OK."

Wible — who had previously directed a video for Boston ska-punk goofballs Big D & the Kids Table and just shot a rock opera in San Francisco — hopes the "Caterwaul" video (currently airing on mtvU) will land her more work when she graduates from Emerson later this year.

"I want to direct more music videos, especially for bands that want to do really crazy things," Wible said. "I love Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930s, and I want to incorporate a whole bunch of water dancing and things like that into a video. So far it's been hard to find bands who want to do that, but we'll see what happens."

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...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

Game KO'ed By Country Heartthrob On Albums Chart

2 Feb 2005 01:51:00 EST

LeeAnn Rimes, Bright Eyes also enjoy high debuts.
By James Montgomery

The Game (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Arnaldo Magnani

Well, that didn't last long.

The Game's reign atop the Billboard albums chart came to an end after just one week, as he was bumped from the top spot by country troubadour Kenny Chesney, who sold more than 310,000 copies of his Be as You Are album to claim #1 on next week's chart, according to SoundScan.

The Game's album The Documentary slides to #2 after a 55 percent drop in sales but still sold more than 265,000 copies. The West Coast's newest phenom probably isn't too concerned — after all, he's the one who rapped "I don't need SoundScan, I'm doing my own numbers" on The Documentary's "Higher."

Up next is LeAnn Rimes, whose This Woman album sold more than 100,000 copies to claim the #3 spot. Woman was the only other album to break the 100,000-sales mark on next week's chart.

Falling two spots to #4 are Green Day, who sold more than 94,000 copies of American Idiot. Despite the drop in chart position, sales of the album actually rose by 11 percent from the previous week, but it was no match for the unlikely threesome of Chesney, Game and Rimes. Following Green Day is Eminem's Encore, which sold more than 77,000 copies in its 12th week of release.

John Legend continues to hold strong in the top 10, selling more than 63,000 copies of his Get Lifted album to claim the #6 spot. Just behind him are Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, whose Crunk Juice slips to #7 on more than 62,000 copies sold.

Up next at #8 is Kelly Clarkson, whose Breakaway album sold more than 61,000 copies, which pushed her total album sales to just under the 2-million mark. Usher follows at #9, as his Confessions sold more than 57,000 copies in its 45th week of release.

And rounding out the top 10 is a name unfamiliar to these parts: Bright Eyes. Led by Omaha, Nebraska-bred troubadour Conor Oberst, the band released two albums on January 25, and one of them, the folky I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning sold more than 56,000 copies in its first week of release, by far the group's highest-ever chart debut. (Bright Eyes' previous album, Lifted, Or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, opened at #161 in August 2002). Indeed, the combined first-week sales of the group's two releases — the electro-oriented Digital Ash in a Digital Urn debuted at #15, selling more than 45,000 copies — topped 101,000 copies.

Other notable debuts included The Foundation — the first new album in almost a decade from reformed Houston rap crew the Geto Boys — at #19, Ani DiFranco's Knuckle Down at #49, the Chemical Brothers' Push the Button at #59 and ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's Worlds Apart at #81.

Ciara's Chart Step
Ciara's Goodies album continues to work its way back up the albums chart, thanks in large part to the success of her single, "1,2 Step." The track has held steady at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the past three weeks, and during that same period, her album has steadily climbed the chart, from #17 to #13 to #11. And with Goodies' sales on next week's chart, the album will cross the 1-million mark.

Some Call It Synergy
Three weeks ago, season four of FOX's "American Idol" debuted and last year's champ, Fantasia Barrino, had the #26 album in the country and the #73 single. As the "Idol" momentum has grown, so has Fantasia's: On next week's albums chart, her Free Yourself album sits at #13, selling more than 50,000 copies and boasting a 23 percent boost in sales.

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With Choirs, Copyright Violations And Attitude, Trail Of Dead Shoot For The Top

25 Jan 2005 08:32:00 EST

Against all odds, band releases its fourth LP — just a year behind schedule.
By James Montgomery

Trail of Dead's Conrad Keely and Jason Reece
Photo: MTV News

It's not like Austin, Texas' ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have been going out of their way to avoid the spotlight, but they've been doing a pretty good job of it lately.

Consider the following: First, there's the fact that their just-released fourth album, Worlds Apart, sat on the shelf for more than a year (see "Trail Of Dead's Plan To Save Rock And Roll Postponed Until January"). There's also the fact that Worlds is one of the most epic and ambitious albums to hit shelves in recent memory (check the choir, the timpani and the Old-World violin instrumentals), which usually spells Billboard bust. And now, there's the matter of the video for "The Rest Will Follow," the first single from the album.

"We're really picky. We want to do a video that's going to be different and challenging," drummer/singer Jason Reece said. "[Actor/comedian] David Cross wrote a treatment, but it was too controversial. There was just too much death and suicide in it."

"It was going to be this little girl who was walking down the street, and she was going to be talking to people, and after she would talk to them, they would go off and kill themselves," singer Conrad Keely explained. "They were going to blow their heads off or poison themselves."

There's also the issue of Worlds Apart's cover art, a giant painted mural featuring Roman centurions, knights on horseback, warrior gorillas and white wizards all locked in mortal combat. "The theme is 'The History of Conflict,' " Keely said, and he should know, because he designed it. But once again, the band's ambition got them into trouble when legal issues forced them to scrap the original cover in favor of the slightly modified version that now graces the album.

"[Our label] was like, 'Oh, you're going to have to clear all these images on here,' " Keely laughed, referring to copyrighted material he'd used in the artwork. "And I was like, 'Um, I don't know if I can.' So we had to change it up a bit, which just led to more delays.

"Now that the album is finally in stores, Trail of Dead can focus on making that video and hitting a road for a full U.S. tour, which is scheduled to kick off some time in March (they've been playing a smattering of dates in small venues for the past few months). And there's no doubt that they'll hit the road with the same mixture of aplomb and cockiness that has already caused so many delays and reworkings.

"With this album, we figured we'd leave all our peers behind, because this album sounds like nothing in rock music today," Reece said. "We weren't afraid to make music like that, because we're peerless."

And the fact that Reece doesn't even crack a smile while he's saying this makes it hard to tell if he's joking or not. But it's probably a safe bet that he's not. After all, that kind of attitude will get you nowhere. And everywhere.

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...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

New Releases: Bright Eyes, Trail Of Dead, Lil Scrappy, Chemical Brothers, Kenny Chesney

24 Jan 2005 08:38:00 EST

Folk-emo songwriter Conor Oberst releasing two albums this week.
By Alyssa Rashbaum

Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
Photo: Saddle Creek

Nearly three years after the release of Bright Eyes' last studio album, singer Conor Oberst is rewarding patient fans with two discs at once.

The Nebraska-bred emo-folk artist's brainchild, Bright Eyes, will release two albums this week, the traditional I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, and the more experimental Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Oberst didn't shoulder all the burden for the two albums, though; he brought in a couple of musically inclined friends for support, including Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who appears on five Digital Ash tracks, Emmylou Harris, members of the Faint and others.

Worlds Apart from Bright Eyes' style is the new ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead album. The album, which kicks off with a grandiose introduction featuring a choir chanting the names of Egyptian gods, was held back by the band's label to keep it from getting buried under a glut of holiday releases by big-name artists.

While he works on his solo debut, Bred to Die, due later this year, Lil Scrappy is tiding fans over with the chopped & screwed edition of his split album with Trillville, The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Lil Scrappy and Trillville, which was released in February 2004.

Also hitting stores this week are albums by the Chemical Brothers (Push the Button), Emma — of Spice Girls fame — (Free Me), Erasure (Nightbird), Ani DiFranco (Knuckle Down), Agnostic Front (Another Voice), Buck 65 (This Right Here Is Buck 65) and LeAnn Rimes (This Woman).

Out Tuesday, January 25:

7 Seconds - Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over! (SideOneDummy)
Agnostic Front - Another Voice (Combat/Relativity)
Kelli Ali - Psychic Cat (One Little Indian)
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart (Interscope)
Read: "Trail Of Dead's Plan To Save Rock And Roll Postponed Until January"
Buy Now: Worlds Apart (Interscope)
Aqueduct - I Sold Gold (Barsuk)
Aura Noir - The Merciless (Tyrant Syndicate/Peaceville)
Lou Barlow - Emoh (Merge)
Adrian Belew - Side One (Sanctuary)
Big Business - Head for the Shallow (Hydra Head)
Big Noyd - On the Grind (Monopolee)
The Black Maria - Lead Us to Reason (Victory)
Bluerunners - Honey Slides (Bayou Vista)
Tim Booth - Bone (Koch)
Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek)
Read: "Bright Eyes Slam 'Off-The-Leash Administration'; Give Details On New Albums"
Buy Now:Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
Buy Now: I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
Buck 65 - This Right Here Is Buck 65 (V2)
Chemical Brothers - Push the Button (Astralwerks)
Kenny Chesney - Be as You Are: Songs From an Old Blue Chair (BNA)
Sean Costello - Sean Costello (Artemis/Tone-Cool)
Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines (Astralwerks)
Crash Kelly - Penny Pills (Liquor & Poker)
Cursed - II (Goodfellow)
Devlins - Waves (Nettwerk)
Stefano Di Battista - Parker's Mood (Blue Note)
Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down (Righteous Babe)
Buy Now: Knuckle Down (Righteous Babe)
Daz Dillinger - The Dogg Pound Gangsta LP (Gangsta Advisory/Daz Dillinger Music)
Buy Now: Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta LP (Gangsta Advisory/Daz Dillinger Music)
Dog Fashion Disco - The City Is Alive Tonight: Live in Baltimore (Artemis)
Dave Douglas & Nomad - Mountain Passages (Greenleaf/Koch)
Emma - Free Me (19 Recordings)
Buy Now: Free Me (19 Recordings)
Erasure - Nightbird (Mute)
Buy Now: Nightbird (Mute)
Marianne Faithfull - Before the Poison (Anti/Epitaph)
Forever Einstein - Racket Science (Cuneiform)
Tom Freund Copper Moon (Surf Road)
Inara George - All Rise (Everloving)
God Dethroned - Lair of the White Worm (Metal Blade)
Rosco Gordon - No Dark in America (DualTone)
John Hammond - In Your Arms Again (Back Porch)
Ray Wylie Hubbard - Delirium Tremolos (Philo/Rounder)
Jennifer Gentle - Valende (Sub Pop)
Jesu - Jesu (Hydra Head)
Kill Your Idols - From Companionship to Competition (SideOneDummy)
James King - Bluegrass Storyteller (Rounder)
Kyau Vs. Albert - Here We Are Now (Varese Sarabande)
Sonny Landreth - Grant Street (Sugar Hill)
Blaine Larsen - Off to Join the World (BNA)
Lemon Jelly - '64-'95 (XL/Beggars Group)
Lil Scrappy & Trillville - The King of Crunk and BME Records Present: Lil Scrappy Chopped & Screwed (Reprise)
Lumberjacks - Goodie Mob Presents the Lumberjacks: Livin' Life as Lumberjacks (Koch)
Low - The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)
Sylvain Luc - Ambre (Dreyfus)
Lucky - Who Shot Me (Thump)
M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute)
Machine and the Synergetic Nuts - Leap Second Neutral (Cuneiform)
Pat Metheny Group - The Way Up (Nonesuch)
Moaners - Dark Snack (Yep Roc)
Jeff Parker - The Relatives (Thrill Jockey)
Parker and Lily - The Low Lows (Warm Electronic)
Pierces - Light of the Moon (Universal)
Pitty Sing - Pitty Sing (Or Music)
Pony Up! - Pony Up! (EP, Ten Fingers/Dim Mak)
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness (Thrill Jockey)
Alex K. Redfearn and the Eyesores - The Quiet Room (Cuneiform)
LeAnn Rimes - This Woman (Curb)
Buy Now: This Woman (Curb)
Pete Rock - Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions (BBE/Rapster)
Romanowski - Party in My Pants (Future Primitive Sound)
Mando Saenz - Watertown (Emergent)
Bettie Serveert - Attagirl (Minty Fresh)
The Chris Stamey Experience - A Question of Temperature (Yep Roc)
Stands - All Years Leaving (Echo)
Stereo Total - Do the Bambi (Kill Rock Stars)
Street Dogs - Back to the World (Brass Tacks)
Hubert Sumlin - About Them Shoes (Tone-Cool/Artemis)
Supersuckers - Live at the Tractor Travern (Mid-Fi)
Keni Thomas - Flags of Our Fathers - A Soldier's Story (Moraine Music)
Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother F---ing A--hole (EP, Rounder)
Various artists - Come to the Mountain: Old Time Music for Modern Times (Rounder)
Various artists - Hi Power 2005 (Thump)
Various artists - Hotel D'Amour (Varèse Sarabande)
Various artists - "Mulan II" soundtrack (Walt Disney)
Various artists - "One Tree Hill" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)
DVD: BeauSoleil - "Live From New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival" (Shout! Factory)
DVD: Funky Meters - "Live From New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival" (Shout! Factory)
DVD: Old 97's - "Live" (New West)
DVD: Pietasters - "Live at the 9:30 Club" (Music Video Distributors)
DVD: Various artists - "Beyond Warped: The Vans Warped Tour 04" (Trinidad/Aloha Films)
DVD: Various artists - "Burn to Shine: Washington DC - 01.14.2004" (Trixie)
DVD: Various artists - "Tension and Release: Springing the Blues 2003" (Music Video Distributors)

February 1:

Mötley Crüe - Red, White & Crüe (Hip-O)
Read: "Original Lineup Of Motley Crue Reuniting For World Tour"
Tina Turner - All the Best (Capitol)
Various artists - 2005 Grammy Nominees (Capitol)

February 8:

Sage Francis - Healthy Distrust (Epitaph)
Brian McKnight - Gemini (Motown)
3 Doors Down - Seventeen Days (Universal)

February 15:

Blue Merle - Burning in the Sun (Island)
Goldfinger - Disconnection Notice (Maverick)
They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs (Disney)

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Trail Of Dead's Plan To Save Rock And Roll Postponed Until January

19 Oct 2004 08:00:00 EDT

Interscope pushes back Worlds Apart to protect it from late-year releases from big-name stars.
By James Montgomery

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (file)
Photo: Marina Chavez

You know a band is serious when the biography that accompanies its new album is titled "Death of the Enlightened Amateur: A Brief Summary of Key Developments in Western Music" and features the following passage:

"Western Music has had as its motivating force the idea of progress and development which appears to have run concurrently to great cumulative leaps in technological development."

But given that said bio comes attached to Worlds Apart, the new album from Austin, Texas' ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, it's really not all that surprising. For the better part of a decade, they've been making grandiose, challenging and slightly pretentious music with little to no fanfare. That all changed when they joined Interscope and released 2002's Source Tags & Codes, an album that didn't exactly set the charts on fire. Now with Worlds, they're taking aim at their competitors — and gunning for world domination.

"When I was writing the album and I was stuck for inspiration, I would turn on 101X [Austin's alternative rock radio station] and listen to how bad the music was," said frontman Conrad Keely, who, incidentally, also penned the aforementioned bio. "It was really inspiring to listen to Staind or Puddle of Mudd and AFI. They gave me an idea of how I didn't want this album to sound."

"You need stuff like that to fuel the fire, to know that there's mediocrity out there and that it's your choice to rise above that," added drummer/singer Jason Reece. "You have the chance to make something substantial and do something really great, and that's what we're trying to do. We're setting ourselves apart with this album because it doesn't sound like any of our peers."

There's only one thing holding them back: Their album doesn't hit shelves until January 25. Interscope decided to hold it until the new financial quarter to protect it from the bevy of late-year releases by big-name stars (Eminem's Encore, Destiny's Child’s Destiny Fulfilled, et al) and give it the push the label feels the record deserves. And though the waiting is tough, ... Trail of Dead know that with the added promotional muscle, Worlds Apart could become next year's Good News for People Who Love Bad News, the Modest Mouse album that Epic held until early this year that has since gone platinum.

"Waiting sucks," Reece said. "It would be nice to have the album out now, but I don't think it's ready. We need to make a video for MTV, and we want to make a great video."

Keely is not so certain that Worlds is destined for success. And you can't really blame him. After all, most records that open with a soaring string arrangement and a full choir chanting the names of Egyptian Gods ("Isis! Horus! Ra!") aren't exactly chart-burners. But he'd like to think people will be willing to give the album a listen.

"I don't think we make music that we want people to dislike, and I certainly don't want to make music for one small minority of people," Keely said. "I have constant anxiety that the record won't sell. We hope we appeal to not just people of this generation, but people of future generations. We're trying to do something that's timeless and timely. Something that's culturally significant. To have it overlooked would be, for me, a nightmare."

The fact that ... Trail of Dead have such lofty ambitions isn't the only thing that separates them from most of their rock brethren. They're also more willing to talk smack about other bands and the music industry than probably any major-label act out there (see "Trail Of Dead Smash Guitars, Conformity, Emo Bands"). It's a trait that has pretty much left them as loners. And they couldn't care less. They've got rock and roll to save.

"What excites me about music today? That there's a lot of room for improvement," Keely laughed. "Rock is so whiny and so full of complaints. And I blame Nirvana for that. All this whining about 'my life' and 'how miserable I am.' And it's so conceited and selfish. Especially since it's a bunch of white, privileged guys who are singing this sh--. What do they have to complain about?

"I just don't see why rock has to be stupid. Rock is our cultural idiom — it's the framework in which we work," he continued. "And it can be anything we want it to be. It doesn't have to be some backward-looking, Neanderthal, monosyllabic stuff."

Track list for ... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's Worlds Apart, according to Interscope:

"Overture"
"Will You Smile Again for Me"
"Worlds Apart"
"Summer 91"
"And the Rest Will Follow"
"Caterwaul"
"Classic Art Showcase"
"Let It Dive"
"Russia My Homeland"
"All White"
"The Best"
"City of Refuge"

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...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

Trail Of Dead, Breeders, Wire To Play At L.A.'s Parties

2 Jan 2003 02:30:00 EST

This year's shows curated by 'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening.
By Gil Kaufman

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Photo: Interscope

"The Simpsons" may have rocked with the Stones and Paul McCartney, but when show creator Matt Groening was tapped to curate the upcoming All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Los Angeles, his musical tastes proved more esoteric.

Groening's initial list of bands for the latest in the ongoing series of underground music festivals includes: ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Breeders, Wire, Yo La Tengo, the Fall, Neko Case and the Boredoms, according to an event spokesperson.

The shows are slated for June 18 and 19 at UCLA's Royce Hall and June 20-22 at three other as-yet-unannounced venues. Also scheduled to perform are: the Bangs, Blonde Redhead, DJ Coldcut, the Danielson Famile, Melt-Banana, Jah Wobble and the Melvins. The event will include a tribute to pioneering psychedelic rocker Captain Beefheart, featuring former members of his backing group, the Magic Band.

The tribute will mark the first time Magic Band members Mark "Rockette" Morton Boston (bass), John "Drumbo" French (drums), Gary "Mantis" Lucas (guitar) and Denny "Feelers Reebo" Walley (guitar) have performed Beefheart's music together in more than 20 years.

The Los Angeles event will be preceded by a U.K. edition April 4-6 in Camber Sands, England, curated by techno act Autechre. The Magic Band and the Fall will also perform at that event, along with Public Enemy, El-P, Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, Kool Keith, Jim O'Rourke, LFO and several dozen other artists.

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Queens Of The Stone Age Embark On ... Trail Of Dead

16 Jul 2002 06:38:00 EDT

Labelmates line up ear-hammering tour.
By Joe D'Angelo

Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme
Photo: MTV News

The pairing of unabashed riff mongers Queens of the Stone Age and ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead should make for a show that falls somewhere between rock and a harder place.

The bands are scheduled to hit the road together beginning August 30 in Washington, D.C., according to an Interscope spokesperson. Thirteen shows have been confirmed thus far, ending with September 21 in Columbia, Missouri. Additional dates will be added to the itinerary that will take the trek into October.

... Trail of Dead will support Josh Homme and the boys on all dates with the exception the September 9 stop in Detroit.

Following their performance at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan, Queens of the Stone Age have a month off before they take to the streets to promote their latest album, Songs for the Deaf, due August 27. A video for the LP's first single, "No One Knows," was filmed in late June in London and Malibu, California, with director Dean Karr (Dave Matthews Band, Cypress Hill) (see "Queens Of The Stone Age Choose Single For The Deaf") and is expected to surface next month.

... Trail of Dead, meanwhile, are continuing to support Source Tags & Codes, which came out in February (see "... Trail Of Dead Smash Guitars, Conformity, Emo Bands").

Queens of the Stone Age tour itinerary, according to Interscope Records (additional dates will be announced later):