The new laws are apparently being driven by fears that these “dangerous teen trends” encourage depression and suicide.

Of course, with every story and joke, there is a punchline. The article also goes on to point out both actions from both sides of the coin:

The legislation was presented last month at a hearing held by the State Durma, where critics claimed that the “negative” emo culture encourages anti-social behaviour and glorifies suicide.

Emo kids were described as teenagers who wear black, have facial piercings and black hair with fringes that “cover half the face”, reports The Guardian

The weekend saw mass protests by Russian emo kids.

In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, where laws are already being implemented, protestors in a march held signs saying “A Totalitarian State Encourages Stupidity”.

The Russian legislature seems to be following protocol in the vein of the events that took place in the UK just a few months ago with the death of 13 year old English My Chemical Romance fan, Hannah Bond.

What does the future behold for emo music? It could fade away, but from the looks of things, it seems to be putting up a big fight. We’ll just have to wait for the outcome.

After all, with names like the Melvins, No Age, Fucked Up, Matt & Kim, and Denali in the forefront of rumor mill, how couldn’t you grow a bit excited for the festival currently scheduled to go down between August 30 and 31 at Echo Park?

Earlier today, Fuck Yeah offered its first official taste of some of the names set to appear on this year’s schedule via a posting on its myspace. And while several of the previously confirmed and rumored acts make up the announced initial lineup, the rather cryptic and unorganized wording brought just as much confusion as it did clarity.

The bands playing this years fest are No Age, Negative Approach, Fucked Up, Matt & Kim, Glass Candy, Ladyhawk, Two Gallants, Monotonix, Sex/Vid, Mika Miko, High Places, 60 Watt Kid, David Vandervelde, The Strange Boys, War Tapes, Crystal Antlers, + so many more. Insane Clown Posse will be doing a spoken word set then going into an oral history of the group. Polvo, Trans Am, & The Drones are doing a show the following night that we are putting on. Same with Dan Deacon but that show is a secret. We are also organizing the LA Scavenger Hunt on Sunday, August 31st, the day after the fest. And we are putting on 2 shows with Hot Water Music & Strike Anywhere that weekend… Then we are doing a west coast run of the F Yeah Tour.

August 31 is now the day after the fest? Then why is Fuck Yeah V billed as taking place between August 30 AND 31. And what about these secret shows?

Thankfully, more details will be revealed soon, while tickets will apparently go on sale begining this weekend.

In the meantime, if you check out our Outlook page, you’ll find some more names expected to appear at the festival thanks to independent confirmations…

Big Business, Converge, Denali, Dillinger Four, Hawnay Troof,  Mannequin Men, The Melvins, Murder City Devils, Silverghost, Witch Hats, Wolf! Wolf!

From the moment Gillis hit play on his saran wrapped laptop, myself and 400+ other club bangers were in the palm of his hand. The endless supply of Canadian beer and German cough syrup certainly heightened the experience; however, Gillis definitely rocked the house. Too many artists to list or recall but the usual suspects were being mashed and mixed: Daft Punk, Sinead O’ Connor, Smashing Pumpkins, Too Short, Weezer and Jay-Z  to name a few. By the time Sinead was serenading us with “Nothing Compares 2 U”, the stage was filled with eager fans wanting to smell the sweat from Gillis’ armpits. Even with all the pushing and grinding on stage, Gillis maintained a strong focus for his craft.

Ripping through most of Feed the Animals and various other unheard re-mixes, the show was very up-tempo. Although his albums are quicker with switching from artist to artist, it was nice to digest some of the material before he quickly switched to a new beat or sample. Feed the Animals is definitely the best mash-up album I’ve ever heard, but it can be too fast at some points. When great combinations are made, Gillis is sometimes too quick to change to something else. His live show slows down the material slightly to make his music that much better. Often building the crowd up to a frenzy then dropping the bomb and exploding everyone into a massive pit of adrenaline.

The greatest characteristic of Gillis is his love for music and entertaining. Radiating throughout the crowd there was nothing but smiles and good times. Most club shows usually end up with a few meat-heads fighting in the pit or in-front of the bar, but not with Girl Talk. Everyone was there to shake their rumps and enjoy themselves. Gillis’ high energy and positive attitude definitely wear off onto his fans. Touching on close to every genre, people would have to search their brains to find a way to hate this guy.

After the show he was very approachable about sitting down for a chat, but we just didn’t have time to sneak in a few questions. From the few minutes we spoke, he was considerate and thankful that I enjoyed the show. Overall an amazing set of music. For those of you going to Lollapalooza and/or  All Points West Festival, do not miss out on Girl Talk. You’ll just end up regretting it.

Hat tip to Deaf Indie Elephants for the mp3 and Ear Farm for pointing out that Grizzly Bear are planning to release their followup to 2006’s Yellow House sometime next April.

Like what you hear? Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to check out the band in the coming weeks, some of which are in support of a certain band’s second U.S. leg. Oh yeah, and Droste’s other project, Department of Eagles, plan to release In Ear Park, a new album of their own, on October 7 via 4AD Records.

Check Out:
“Two Weeks” (Live on Letterman)

Grizzly Bear 2008 Tour Dates:
07/31 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
08/01 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/02 - Louisville, KY @ Listening Room
08/03 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center *
08/04 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center *
08/06 - Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean Drapeau *
08/07 - Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater *
08/08 - Jersey City, NJ @ All Points West
08/09 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
08/11 - Washington, DC @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
08/12 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center *
08/13 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts *
08/14 - Boston, MA @ The Museum of Fine Arts
08/15 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphiteatre

* = w/ Radiohead

After listening to Donkey, it appears they are committed to fixing those last two things. Donkey is polished, sophisticated, fun, more mature, and less “weird” than their first album. Sadly, though, that vibrant “devil may care” feeling of the first album is gone. That’s not to say Donkey is a bad album, but it’s clearly not the CSS longtime fans are familiar with. One of the big controversies before the album was released was Ira Trevisan leaving the band to pursue her design career. Recently though, it has been stated that she was not really practicing and didn’t really care for the direction the band was going in and they made a mutual split. Hopefully, we can see her in action again with the band or in a new musical project, because she clearly was part of their original sound.

One of the most common connections people enjoyed about the band is their guitar tones. They make some damn interesting guitar sounds in CSS and that is one of the main focuses of this album. Almost gone are the spacey retro sounds, rapidly changing tempos, and ridiculous song titles. Replacing these are a much more confident and trained Lovefoxxx, deeper in thought about the songs and an understanding that this is the time to make the move into the mainstream. Donkey is also much more of an “album”. It’s smooth and flowing, from beginning to end, and can almost blend into one long, thirty-nine minute track, that is if the listener is doing something else.

As for anyone familiar with CSS and their live shows, Adriano Cintra is the old guy who switches from drums to bass on a few of their tracks. This older guy taking shit over and busting out some phat guitar work is one of the more impressive parts of the show. How this relates to the album is that about halfway through, you realize he went from a seemingly small part of the band to what now amounts to the “genius” behind the band. Cintra is the one releasing information about Trevisan leaving the band and for the astute listener, he does a good amount of background vocals on the album.

“Rat Is Dead (Rage)” was released as a preview single a while back and is found early on the album. It showcases a softer, wider vocal range from Lovefoxxx, with some very solid guitar work. There’s even a little throwback to the good ol’ days with some bizarre screams and sounds here and there. “Let’s Reggae All Night” is one of these songs that comes to mind, carrying some excellent laser beam synthesizer sounds and a great reggae bass groove to add to the mix. Another standout track is the aptly titled “Beautiful Song” which features fast paced vocal stylings straight out of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” mixed with rhythm guitar work that is so happy-go-lucky you would be pissed if the song wasn’t called what it is. “Believe Achieve” is so blatantly influenced by the band’s time on tour with Ladytron, you almost expect “Ghosts” to come on next. “Move” is noteworthy for its extremely entertaining 80’s sound (complete with all the space), providing 2008 with the new phrase “Get your move on.” Speaking of 80’s sounds, check out track five, “Left Behind”, for some Devo-styled keyboard work.

Overall, Donkey is pretty great, but if you were more than a peripheral fan of the band, it will take more than a few listens to warm up to the changes. However, this is the album that makes or breaks the band. Being the sophomore album, the old fans will warm up to it eventually and hopefully CSS becomes relevant in the US. Then everyone can have one more band in common to talk about. On a positive note, this band has changed and grown up, and for those looking for an awesomely polished indie band from Brazil, you have it. As for those looking for a quirky, Brazilian party band wanting to stay young forever, revisit their first album.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Check Out:
“Rat is Dead (Rage)”

Donkey is now available everywhere on Sub Pop Records…

After watching Bird’s Saturday set, which apparently featured a new tune, our friends at WNEW caught up with the Chicago singer/songwriter to discuss what the future holds. His answer will surely have fans jumping for joy…

“I’m just finishing the new record. As soon as we finished touring last February, I went straight into the studio and there is no lack of material…There are some songs I wrote even before Armchair [Apocrypha], Weather Systems, that I finally figured out how to record five years later. Some of them have been kind of gestating for a long time and they’re ready to be born. This new record is 10 songs, but I’ve really worked them over many, many times.

The working title right is A Non-Animal, and I’ll see if I can beat it, but so far that encapsulates most of the record. It was recorded completely differently than I usually record…there is a lot more finger style, acoustic guitar, delicate textures, more like Weather Systems. I recorded it all with two acoustic guitars and vocals, and tried to make it better from there. It’s something very, very simple.”

Bird went on to explain that the fourth-studio album, which could hit record stores by January, will be accompanied by an all-instrumental album as well. A live DVD may also be on the way soon. As for tour dates? Check them out below…

Andrew Bird 2008 Tour Dates:
07/25 - Calgary, AB @ Calgary Folk Festival
07/26 - Calgary, AB @ Calgary Folk Festival
08/08 - Jersey City, NJ @ All Points West
08/09 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (w/ New Pornographers)
08/10 - Baltimore, MD @ Virgin Mobile Festival
08/12 - Lenox, MA @ Tanglewood (w/ Wilco)
08/31 - Vancouver, BC @ Stanley Park Singing Exhibition
09/03 - Chicago, IL @ Pritzker Pavilion
10/02 - Tarrytown, NY @ Tarrytown Music Hall
10/03 - Bethlehem, PA @ Baker Hall
10/04 - Ithaca, NY @ State Theater of Ithaca
10/08 - Portsmouth, NH @ The Music Hall

Hollywood Undead

Yes, the six-piece outfit hailing from Los Angeles are indeed the winners of the year’s “Book the Band,” beating out the likes of Automatic Loveletter, We Are Scientists, The Parlor Mob, and The Virgins (in that order) to take home the prestigious crown.

Shocked?

I think befuddled might be the better term to describe our reaction. Not only do we have trouble finding out just exactly who/what Hollywood Undead is, but apparently Virgin Mobile Festival, set to take place between August 9 and 10 in Baltimore Maryland, will be the their FIRST EVER SHOW.

Last.fm describes them like this…

Rising to prominence via MySpace, these six masked marauders stood at number one on the site’s music chart, leading to endless friend requests and plays. However, Hollywood Undead have got the gusto to be earth shattering far beyond cyberspace. They’re already knocking at your door, and they’re about to break it down.

…though we like Urban Dictionary’s definitions a bit better…

While the chosen winners will indeed be kicking off Sunday, from past experience, it’s a safe bet someone else will be taking the opposing stage shortly after Hollywood Undead get going. Unfortunately, we still don’t know who, as Virgin has yet to unveil its schedule for the weekend. Sure, most of us have seen the rumored one floating around the web, but until the word “official” appears above the list of set times, we wouldn’t be all that confident in planning when to make that escape for those Maryland Crab Cakes…

Check Out:

Under the banner Counting Crows - Live from Hyde Park, ticket buyers will be offered a link to download five free live tracks of the same live performance from their sold out stint in Hyde Park. For those interested, the live tracks include: “Have You Seen Me Lately,” “Colorblind” (personal favorite) and “Anna Begins,” plus “Le Ballet d’Or” and “Hanging Tree,” from their latest studio album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, which we have reviewed for your reading pleasure, of course.

Tickets go on sale starting tomorrow, July 25th, which you can buy through Live Nation. Anyway, here are the dates for our UK readers…

Counting Crows 2008 UK Dates
Dec 2 - Newcastle Arena
Dec 4 - Nottingham Arena
Dec 5 - London Wembly Arena
Dec 7 - Manchester Men Arena
Dec 8 - Cardiff International Arena
Dec 10 - Bournemouth BIC
Dec 11 - Brighton Centre
Dec 13 - Birmingham NEC Arena
Dec 14 - Sheffield Arena
Dec 18 - Glasgow SECC*

* Ben Folds will not appear as support for this date

Check Out:
“1492″

-Michael Roffman, Editor in Chief

Originally, I was going to say Grunge killed music, but I think that might be giving too much credit to a small blip on the musical landscape. So, let’s go about it another way. How about this? Grunge was a complete waste of time on multiple levels. That sounds better and like last time, we’ll keep it to the lists…

1. The reason for its popularity was an overreaction to a fucking fad.

Just like people who get tired of eating the same food every day, listeners can get tired of the same music (unless they are coked up and having sex with Tawny Kitaen on the Sunset strip).

That’s right, the main reason people grabbed onto Grunge and those bands were able to put down the drugs long enough to make demos was 80’s hair metal. Pretty pathetic. I enjoy some Winger just as much as the average Joe, but few music fans or critics will truly defend hair metal to their deathbed. At least punk had progressive rock and concept albums!

So yes, Grunge tried to do the whole “simple music with meaningful lyrics geared to end the music industry and fuck shit up with the establishment”, but being the cyclical reaction to hair metal wasn’t exactly a good start.

2. The poster boy of the genre and movement was a pussy.

Many people love Kurt Cobain. His music speaks to them. They loved him when they were younger, and he inspired people to play power chords for the rest of their lives.

Too bad he was a colossal pussy.

I’m not condemning suicide as a way to go out, but let’s be serious here. Ian Curtis killed himself, but it was before their popularity. His wife and kid left him, he knew what he would become (an American rock star), and these are understandable things to end yourself over.

Cobain was already an MTV darling, a platinum record selling artist, and his wife was going to suck off his teat as long as she could. Either Cobain orchestrated the whole timing of his death to hopefully be remembered forever or he thought he was a sellout and couldn’t handle it. (No matter how many drugs you take, after the fifth or sixth music video, you are technically a sell out)

Speaking of Courtney “Jizzjar” Love, she is the main reason he was a pussy. He let her live and to a greater extent, he let her win. Cobain was smart enough to know she was going to capitalize on everything Nirvana related, that she was going to fuck up their kids, and she was going to ruin whatever else she got her grubby hooves onto. Knowing all that, he owed it to the world to not let that shit happen.

Roll call of music geniuses taken before they could become really old and forgotten:

• Hendrix - Drugs, black and left-handed.

• Lennon - Assassinated for still unknown reasons, which is kind of badass.

• Ian Curtis - See Above.

• Bob Marley - Obscure disease, made anti-white people music popular to whites

• Elvis - Completely stopped giving a fuck, and that is kind of cool.

• Old Dirty Bastard - Drugs, and he broke down the society-imposed barriers between pretty girls and ugly girls and why both are pretty to him anyway.

• Cobain - Courtney Love’s vagina combined with worries about being a sell out made him kill himself.

3. Flannel was used as a trendy ironic clothing choice.

I am usually all for music movements providing hilarious fashion senses, but there was a time when kids in urban cities were walking around in tattered jeans and flannel shirts because they were sooooo grunge. Fuck that shit. If you wear flannel, you listen to music you can chop wood too, not the music your rebellious kid (who happens to hate that you chop wood) listens to.

4. The 90’s sucked musically and Grunge is the most critically accepted genre of anything that came out of that decade.

Feminist rock (Lilith Fair), alternative pop (Weezer), the first wave of boy bands and packaged pop stars (not going to name them), mainstream rap and hip hop (I’m personally more East coast), and one hit wonders a plenty. These all are okay links in the musical chain, but grunge is somehow regarded as this diamond of achievement.

Next time you listen to your iPod, how much of what you are listening to is from the 90’s? Almost nothing if you are still progressing as a music listener. Let’s say you are super cool and listen to vinyl because they sound so organic. Do you own any vinyls from 90’s bands? I doubt it.

Stop fooling yourself and just admit the 90’s were a weak musical decade and grunge was just a “little” different. This is not a reason to hold something up above everything else.

5. Sorry, but grunge did not change shit on the musical landscape.

The late 80’s and early 90’s were a magical time in music. There were bands of men who roamed concert halls across middle America, wearing makeup like women and bringing this crazy, new music known as “metal” to suburbia. One such band was called Ratt. Also, music critics and college students celebrated this new thing called “indie music” and they created zines to publicize their love of bands like REM and the Talking Heads. Why? Because they weren’t covered by the mainstream press. Because of their weird lyrics and discordant sounds. Even more peculiar was this idea of groups of men, who didn’t play any instruments, coming together and dancing in unison. They called themselves things like The New Kids on the Block. In clubs, hard beats and dance sounds known as “House” music appealed to all different kids across the country.

But present day is also an interesting time in music. Bands of young men roam concert halls across middle America wearing mascara and pastels and bring this new music called “punk” to suburbia. They have crazy names like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. Music critics and college students celebrate “indie rock” on blogs to publicize their love of bands like Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio, also because these bands bring new things such as odd lyrics and discordant sounds. Furthermore, today we have men like Justin Timberlake who choose to forego instruments for dancing in unison. And in clubs today, hard beats and dance sounds known as “Electronica” appeal to different kids across the country.

The fact of the matter is that Grunge didn’t change the musical landscape. It was simple chords combined with very emotive singing and all the other shit it just imagined. All Grunge did was inspire people to delve further into music and eventually lose interest in grunge. As a whole, it was just a small little trend in a long history far more interesting.

And for you kids out there still clinging onto grunge as the music of your youth or the music that inspired you to pick up a guitar, I hope you enjoy all the post-grunge bands out there like Nickelback and Puddle of Mudd.

The main thing grunge does is let asshole music critics throw yet another genre term into reviews and articles. So, if I could say a word to the genre, thanks for making my job easier and for wasting my time by purporting to be more important than you actually are.

Court adjourned.

Check Out:

Homer Simpson’s “new” grunge band

Thankfully, the folks behind nyctaper captured not only this tune, something our own Michael Roffman perhaps describes best as a “a bouncy ballad that’s scattered yet concise in feeling,” but Malkmus’ entire set, and are now sharing it for all to enjoy. Their only request? “We expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Store at the Matador Records site.”

As for your next opportunity to check out Mr. Malkmus & the Jicks live? Well, of course, Lollapalooza (with all its conflicts) is quickly approaching as are a few other appearances…

Check Out:
“Astral Face” (Live at Siren Festival 2008)

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks 2008 Tour Dates:
07/27 - Naeba, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
08/01 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/26 - Birmingham, UK @ Glee Club
08/28 - Leeds, UK @ Club Varieties Music Hall
08/29 - Inveraray, UK @ Connect Music Festival
10/30 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
11/04 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
11/05 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall Theater

Hat tip to JP…